She wants to join the family

We live in a place where we’re lucky to see a lot of wildlife coming by at various times.  The last few weeks this female roadrunner has made it clear, she wants in the house. 

 Not the greatest pic but I had to hurry

 

She jumps up on the top of the bench we have on the back patio and pecks at the window.  This sends the cats into a frenzy watching with wild eyes.  I’m not sure what this lady has in mind because I don’t think her or the cats would actually want to meet face-to-face. 

Female roadrunner trying her best to adopt us

She makes her rounds of the backyard near the house, hopping from chair-to-chair and perching on the table.  Last week she even tried her best to fly up and land on the ceiling fans out there.  Maybe she got into some loco weed, or ate some juniper berries.

 Here she is on the patio chair

 

Today, she jumped off the patio roof and took her place on the bench to peck at the window.  Her eyes scan the place from floor to ceiling.  I imagine she’s looking for food and expects me to provide it.  I don’t have any lizards or bugs lying around to give her.  Right now I’m not sure what else she’s trying to tell me, but she looks plump enough and not starving.

At this point, I’m not sure how long this activity will last.  The bird of prey that was taking a daily bath here has gone to other areas.  I haven’t seen him in a while.

Other than that, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and spent a relaxing day being grateful for all we have. 

Below are a few pics from our Thanksgiving drive along the back highway to Mesquite NV and back.  These are taken from the car window so aren't the best photos in the world.  This country passes through an Indian reservation and is mostly sagebrush and Joshua trees.  But the day was beautiful and about 50 degrees.

 
It’s onward toward Christmas now.  Some neighbors already have their lights up.  I’m only perturbed at the one who put his up a week before Thanksgiving.  That’s disgraceful!  These days everyone rushes things. 

We have a few leaves left on our trees, but they’re quickly littering the ground.  I watched some flutter down in a gust of wind this morning and wished I had the camera ready.  I did spend the next half hour trying to capture some but didn’t have much luck.  I guess things like that are better in person.

 Most of these fluttered to the ground today

 

I hate to see winter coming but that’s beyond my control.  All I can do is count the days until spring – and I shall be doing that – in the near future.  December and January are in the deep freeze here some years.

Now that those awful ulcers are about gone from my mouth, I have a raspy cough to take their place.  I attribute this to working near the coolers all day at work last week.  I was chilled to the bone from head-to-toe by the end of my shift, so I’m now stocked up on all sorts of cold products and extra vitamin C to get me through the winter months without becoming too ill.

Added to all this was another car problem, a dead battery this time, but I can’t say my mechanics didn’t warn me about that when they replaced the radiator.  So I spent part of yesterday getting that fixed.  

Now if I can just fix the garage door, which has gone on the blink lately, I may be able to sit back for a while.  I’ll be opening it manually for the time being because the openers and the opener have become enemies apparently.  They aren’t talking to each other now and the batteries are fine.  It’s back to my old friend, Google, to see if I can find a solution.  What did we do before the internet?  It’s too bad they didn’t teach courses like this in high school – something we could really benefit from as adults.

Happy Thanksgiving

It’s so important to be thankful for all our blessings everyday.  I’m glad there’s a day set aside to do just that. 

I know many times life hands us lemons, but that’s just part of living.  Heaven knows I’ve had my share lately, but I believe all these set backs make us stronger and we enjoy the good times more with those lemons thrown in there occasionally.  But remember, even when things are crappy, we all still have many things to be thankful for.  Think about this.  Many people in the world are in wheelchairs, deaf or blind, or impaired in some other way.  Perhaps they don’t even have clothing or shelter and little food. 

My heart goes out to all those folks because anyone of us could be in that position.  We should never take anything for granted in this life because things happen and these established things could be taken away in an instant.  We all have to meet challenges because that what life’s all about.  How we handle those challenges is what counts.

I have great respect for people who are handicapped and not letting it get them down.  They do the best they can with what they’ve got.  We could all learn from this.

So today, as everyone sits down with family and friends to enjoy a meal together, take a moment to give thanks for all we have.  We still live in a free country, so far, and can enjoy independence many don’t have.  We have the Earth’s bounty before us, a roof over our heads, a closet full of clothes and we enjoy the privilege to drive wherever we want to go.  Give thanks for your health because without that, you’re greatly limited and any endeavor is harder to achieve. 

Things can always be worse in almost any situation, so we must always strive to look on the bright side when dark clouds hang over our heads.  The storm eventually moves away and we’re in the light again.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone other there.  Be safe, healthy and happy.

Is it Botox or something else?

From Web MD website

I swear guys; the last couple of weeks have been a total mess.  A week and a half ago I woke up a week ago Saturday with lips twice their size.  What’s going on?  Seriously, it looked like I had Botox injections.

At least I know what I’d look like now if I ever got them.  It’s so unnatural and I can’t drink out of a glass because I spill it on myself.  My lips are too big to feel the glass edge.

I had been dealing with mouth ulcers for the previous three days and this was an extension of that.  You know the kind you get from eating tomatoes and other foods that are too acidic.  I’ve gotten in the habit of washing all the seeds out of tomatoes because I love them so much, but I don’t always do it.  I guess this will teach me.

You have no idea the ordeal I’ve been through with this.  I never get half a dozen in my mouth at the same time.  I probably don’t need to tell you how painful this is.  So, I started out using some Kankar on them because I had that in the medicine cabinet.  That wasn’t doing it, so I got on my old friend Google and searched for a solution to this issue.

Everyone was shouting out praises for alum, yes the pickling spice.  So, I decided to give that a whirl last Sunday and Monday nights.  Now warning, this is not for the faint of heart.  This stuff burns enough to send you through the roof for a few minutes.  Hubby helped me apply it.  The instructions were to count to one hundred and then spit, but not rinse and then go to bed. 

The next morning, things weren’t improved at all so I had another dose on Monday night.  On Tuesday morning, my lips were stuck together, so I gently wiped them with a wet paper towel and then rinsed my mouth.  I felt like crap, but got ready for work, hoping no one would notice.  I stuck some moisturizer in my jeans pocket and used that all day because it felt like my lips would crack at any moment.  That day I also used campho phenique recommend by the pharmacist at Walgreens.  Hubby was a bit concerned at this point, went down there, and talked to him.  The pharmacist said it was the best over the counter medicine for ulcers in the mouth. 

Does anyone remember this stuff?  We used it on mosquito bites as kids.

I had Wednesday off, so I decided to go to the doctor and have this mouth situation checked out.  I’m not one to run to the doctor for every little thing, but I was sick of fighting this.  I really wanted it gone by Thanksgiving.  I was down to eating bland mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs.  Those eggs reminded me how much I hate plain scrambled eggs, but almost everything burns my mouth.

My regular MD is on vacation until December 1, so I had to see the on-call doctor at the office.  He told me I had a virus going on that I most likely got from a water fountain.  Excuse me.  What?  I don’t drink from water fountains and certainly not with my lips right on them.  To make a long story short, he gave me an anti-viral pill and “magic mouthwash.” 

The next two days I had to spend talking all day at work, so that hasn’t helped things at all.  I also can’t just take off to doctor my mouth when I want to.  I did take my prescriptions to work and used the “magic mouthwash” on my breaks, applying it with a Q-tip.  This mouthwash deadens your whole mouth for a while.

Now on Sunday night as I’m writing this, my mouth is better.  I’m almost out of my anti-viral medication but the ulcers are still there (the swelling is gone.)  So, it’s back to the doctor in the morning before my shift at work to see if I can get a refill or if he’ll give me something else.  At this point, I figure what is still left in there will get worse because I have to talk at work for the next three days and then Thanksgiving is a holiday, so best to take care of this now.

I’ll be seeing a different on-call doctor this time because I couldn’t get an appointment, so I have to go in, wait until they call me, and hope it’s before I have to leave for work.

Hopefully, I won’t be having scrambled eggs for Thanksgiving.

Has anyone else out there had this situation?

More of life’s issues

My Caddy - I love this car and I'm going to have to love it a lot longer

As the old saying goes – when it rains it pours.  That seems to be the case right now with my car issues.  Of course, it is a sixteen-year-old car so I don’t expect things to be perfect.  I just hope this is the end of an expensive list of repairs for a while.

It all started out with the A/C, which had to be repaired this summer.  I could have let it go for a while if it wasn’t in the triple digits here.

Things went smoothly for a month and then the starter went out.  That happened when hubby was in Oregon taking care of his dad’s affairs, so I borrowed my neighbor’s car so I could get back and forth to work.  Thankfully, she has two vehicles and one sits in the garage most of the time.  After three days in the shop and about $500, I was able to get my car back. 

Now the car still had a shifter issue, which I’ve been nursing along for a year or more.  I wasn’t ready to shell out another couple hundred to have that looked into, so I’ve been putting up with it, although it’s getting to be a very sore spot having to fight to get the car out of park every time I get into it.  I think this is a brake switch and not a solenoid, which is a good thing because the brake switches are the cheaper of the repairs.

So back up a couple days ago when we were running around town and I had hubby drive my car so he could see how bad the shifter was.  He was getting pretty frustrated trying to get it into gear.  It smelled hot when we came home, but he couldn’t smell it, assuring me all was fine.

So the next day I went to work and noticed I left a trail of wet splashes and drops after I locked my car.  I touched it and it looked like water on my finger.  My car had the hot smell again, plus this time my heat gauge was slightly above the center spot, which it never is, so I knew there was another issue.  Things weren’t just fine.

Hubby brought a gallon of water and filled up my radiator.  The oil was fine.  I called the shop on my break and asked to bring it over after work.  The guys are so good over there and said they’d stay late so I wouldn’t be stranded and would take a look at it for me.  They even offered to give me a ride home, but hubby picked me up.

The verdict is it needs a new radiator and new radiator hose.  The tech pressurized the radiator for me, it was leaking in the front, and the main upper hose is almost worn to the point of having a hole in it.  So this problem is now being fixed, leaving me without a car again for a few days.  The shop ordered the new radiator right away, but they sent over a defective one and the mechanic can’t get another one until Monday.  That seems to be the story of my life, but things happen and it could always be worse.  Thank goodness, that’s my philosophy in life or things could get depressing in a hurry.

So I’m also having the shifter fixed as long as the car is in the shop again anyway.  Actually, hubby suggested it after his round with the car the other day.  I don’t have the estimate on that repair yet and am crossing my fingers because the radiator job is going to cost me $480.  Yikes!  You can see where my paycheck is going.

If things happen in threes, maybe this is it for a while.  I’m keeping a positive mind.

Challenges

Rising too all the challenges in our lives…or maybe not.  Sometimes days are full of one challenge after another, evident by my lack of blog posts lately.  Simply put, I have too much on my plate.

The newest, biggest challenge for me is getting to work on time and still having the time and energy to write, read and do the things I enjoy while also doing my chores of cooking, dishes, cleaning, laundry and taking care of the cats, etc.

A stormy desert

Today was a dreary, rainy day here and colder than I’d like.  I’m already counting the days until we see 80 again.  I don’t do well with cooler temperatures at all and am grateful that we don’t have long winters here.  So, as I always say, things could be a lot worse in so many ways.  Yet in winter, I really need to remind myself of this all the time.

Naturally, the day got off on the wrong track again and I never accomplished what I had intended when I got out of bed today.  There’s always tomorrow.  I’m off work so maybe I can get a few things done.

Inside the Mad Pita restaurant

 Hubby wanted to make a few stops today so, instead of staying home to do chores, I went along.  We decided to stop at the Mad Pita to enjoy gyros sandwiches as a late lunch about 3 PM.  We love that place and haven’t been there in quite a while.  While waiting for our sandwiches, we watched a poor man with tremors trying to eat his lunch.  It brought to my mind a couple of my friends with Parkinsons.  I was thankful I’m not in that situation and made a mental note to send a short message to them to let them know they’re in my thoughts.

That lunch ended up being our dinner when another friend, who is computer illiterate, stopped by.  She needed help filling out some forms for a job I helped her apply for a while back.  I’m so glad she’ll be working and hope she’ll stick with it because she really needs to get her act together and get on with her life (she’s going through an ugly divorce).  I was happy to help and again I felt fortunate that I could understand things like computers because I know not everyone can wrap their minds around that.  Don’t get me wrong, they still frustrate me at times but I don’t let them win, not if I can help it anyway.  Attitude is so important in everything you do in life.

I’m way too busy with my job, but it’s fun, the day flies by and I enjoy the extra income.  No one’s going to hand you a stack of money on a silver platter.  Wouldn’t that be nice?

I’m way behind on my NaNo word count this year, so far.  I don’t think I’ll finish by Thanksgiving this time, as I usually do.  I’m going to have to kick myself in the rear to finish at all.  I seem to be lacking in the motivation department.  I’ve been too tired to think clearly enough about my novel.  It’s pretty bad to fall asleep when you sit down too long at one time.  I’m either getting old, not used to working on my feet and talking all day long, not sleeping well or enough, or maybe a combo of all those.  My dear sister, Tedo, I know how you feel.  She’s always falling asleep when she sits down.

Koki

Of course, I have to mention my cats.  My furry friends are my constant companions, but sometimes I wish Koki wouldn’t sleep on my legs all night.  She gives me cramps in my legs and feet, and a backache from lying in one spot all night.  This cat knows I’ll never kick her out of bed though, as well as Raven who chews on my head.  When it’s cold, they want in the covers with me.  Tootie will be back in the bed soon too because she’s doing so much better on her arthritis meds that she can jump up on the couch again by herself.  Maybe we won’t even need blankets with three cats in the bed.

Tootie

Raven

Until next time…

My Birthday Boy

Raven - two years old

Okay, this a few days late.  I don’t know where the time goes and can’t believe he’s two already!  Raven’s birthday was the first, but I didn’t get my camera card downloaded until last night and then had 167 pics on it.  That took a while, especially when I need a new computer.  But that will have to wait for now.  There’s a few things wrong with this one, but so far, I’m managing as is.  I have to because my car needs a few repairs too, unfortunately.

Also hubby is back so it’s harder to get an hour or two to get on the computer.  That’s destroying my NaNo project, but it’s coming along.  I’m not too far behind yet.

We had to move the tropical plants into the garage tonight because were expecting the first cold front of the year tomorrow.  After work, it will be too cold and dark to mess with that.  I’m so NOT looking forward to winter.  Ugh! 

But I spent all day Monday in the garage rearranging things out there and throwing stuff out and generally cleaning it up.  What a mess!  Now I have cracks on my feet and fingers because it’s so dry here.  I guess I shouldn’t have done the job in flip-flops though, so that was my fault.  It was just so nice.  I couldn’t help it, knowing it would be one of the last days for a while. 

 Raven birthday dinner

 

Raven had a great time on his birthday.  But I think this cat is never unhappy about anything.  Enjoy the pics.

Playtime