Friday, October 10, 2014

Thankful For Life As Usual

I can't top last week's Ten Things of Thankful if I tried. I GOT MY PICTURE TAKEN WITH VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN! Fan girl moment over. This week was life as usual. Here's the list:

1. Homecoming was last weekend. The game was Friday night, the dance was Saturday night. My daughter did not have a date this year, and instead, went with a group of girls. They had a fantastic time, and she looked lovely for the event.




2. While my daughter was at the homecoming dance, my husband and I went out for a spontaneous date night. We went to a restaurant in a nearby town that is a steakhouse with an arena where various horse events are held, mostly of the rodeo nature. We were seated in the part of the restaurant that overlooks the arena, and they were finishing up calf roping. The food is excellent, there are honest-to-goodness cowboys there, and if you can ignore that it smells like cow shit every time someone opens the door to the arena, one of the best restaurants around.




3. Both Monday and Thursday, the fire department visited preschool. They did not make me dress up like a firefighter, and for that, I am very grateful.


What they did to me 2 years ago.

4. My primary class went to the pumpkin patch on Tuesday. The weather was magnificent, and my little ones enjoyed hearing Farmer Tami talk about growing pumpkins. I brought money to pay for the mums I got a couple of weeks ago when I forgot that Farmer Tami didn't take plastic money, but I underestimated how much sales tax would be and was almost a dollar short (73 cents, to be exact). One of our preschool parents bailed me out, so I am now even steven with Farmer Tami and was able to pay back the parent when I got back to my car. Fortunately, the mums are GORGEOUS and totally worth it!

5. Tuesday night was Pink Out night at the home volleyball game. They honored me and my sweet friend Jenny, and it was a very special night.





6. My College Boy has fall break this week, so Wednesday, I picked him up and brought him (and his laundry) home. For the first time since he left for school in mid-August, I went to sleep knowing all my baby birds were in the nest for the night.

7. My husband and I drove what should be an hour trip to watch Emma play volleyball Thursday night in a monsoon. We couldn't go more than about 50 mph on the highway, with tractor-trailers passing us and throwing water all over the car. I was driving and stayed behind the same car the entire way, because just about the only thing I could see through the rain was those tail lights. The good news is we made it safely, and eventually, I was able to unclench my hands.

8. Two weeks ago, I took our cat, Fletcher, to the vet, because he had licked all the fur off his belly and was ralphing up food and hairballs. He got a steroid shot, and his fur is starting to grow back in, but he's still throwing up quite a bit. The vet ran a blood test on him, and it appears he may have pancreatitis. Not so thankful about that, but at least we know what's bothering him. And he has it in common with my dad (obviously, it runs in the family). They can commiserate about their dietary restrictions.


He is SO not thrilled.

9. At my oncology appointment this week, he told me I could take Aleve twice daily for the bone pain (I asked to pop them like Skittles and this was our compromise). I'm still awake a lot at night, but at least I'm not lying there, taking inventory of everything that hurts.

10. The windows are open tonight and a delightfully cool breeze is coming in my bedroom. It's going to be a good sleeping night!

How 'bout you? What are YOUR thankfuls this week? Link up with us, below.



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48 comments:

  1. I'm sorry for your sleepless nights, but I'm glad you are getting some relief from the pain.

    Hope your cat is feeling better soon, too.

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    1. Aleve is going to be my new best friend.
      If the cat doesn't start feeling better soon, he has to get an ultrasound to check his pancreas, liver and gall bladder. Can you imagine what that's going to cost? And my husband's rule has always been "no kitty dialysis". He says there is a limit to how much we will spend on a cat, and while he won't SET a limit, there is one.

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    2. I had a basset hound who developed pancreatitus. I understand that "limit." Fortunately, she did get better before the bill got too high, so we didn't have to make those hard decisions. Hang in there.

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  2. Ooh I totally missed commenting on your last week's TTOT - (I will go now) I did read it , I was thrilled for you -

    i hope you feel better soon,

    hope your cat is better soon

    your daughter - can I say stunning!

    Enjoy the weekend and week

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    1. It was beyond thrilling!
      Me, too! Hoping the Aleve helps.
      Me, too! I don't enjoy cleaning up cat barf any more than he enjoys barfing, I'm sure.
      Thank you! I love that picture of her!
      You, too!

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  3. ALEVE!!!! woohoo! Look , Im grasping at straws here try to go with me...

    How sweet is #5?

    After seeing Fletcher's level of upset in the car , pancreatitis is probably something he feels he can handle!

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    1. If only he would let me pop them like Skittles.
      Last year, they did a big thing for me, which was embarrassing but sweet. This year was more subtle, and I didn't know they were going to do anything, so I really wasn't paying attention - oops!
      Oh, he hates being in the car more than anything! At least I had Kyle to drive me this time and didn't have to wrestle him in my lap there.

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  4. I somehow missed your post last week???? That is CRAZY EXCITING that you got to meet and get your pic taken with Biden! There is just something about that man's smile that makes my heart go pitter patter, then when you combine that with his politics and dirty mouth - mmm mmm mmm. I'm sorry to hear you are not feeling well, but sleeping with the windows open always helps me just a little. I hope you and Fletcher are feeling better soon, and by the way, I think you look kind of hot in the fire fighter's outfit, just sayin.

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    1. HIS SMILE IS BEAUTIFUL! He's a very handsome man, and I love that you never really know what he's going to say, but it's usually something YOU would say.
      At least I don't lick my belly and barf.
      That firefighter outfit WAS hot, only not the way you're saying :) The air tank on the back weighed 40 lbs.

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  5. Hey, Dyanne, you look cool as a firefighter, no kidding. Can picture you abseiling down walls in that outfit!

    On another note, the volleyballers were really sweet....I hope more young people will catch on to such things.

    And your little girl is LOVELY. Spectacular.

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    1. Well, thanks! I was glad to avoid dressing up this year, though. I got really claustrophobic in that get-up!
      I am not really big on the whole "pink" thing, but I do love the pink night at volleyball! Very sweet.
      Thank you! She's a beautiful girl.

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  6. Fletcher looks thrilled in that picture. it is hard to tell with cats because they are so hard to impress! lol.

    Glad you are getting at least some relief.

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    1. Poor guy just wants to stay home and sleep in comfy places, including laps. Cars are not his thing. Vets even less so.
      Yay for Aleve!

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  7. Your daughter is so beautiful! I love the volleyball pic too.It's terrific..the show of support for breast cancer awareness. I am always so proud to see pink at sporting events everywhere this time of year. I HATE driving in the rain, especially the hard stuff. It's still so hot here but I know the pumpkin patches will be opening up in the next week. I can't wait. It makes it feel at least a little more like Fall when that happens, even if it is still 90 degrees outside!

    I'm sorry to hear about the pain but I hope the Aleve offers relief and you get to enjoy sleeping in the coolness of the night!

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    1. Thanks, Sandy! She's a good girl. And I hope pink night really does make women (and men) aware of the risks of breast cancer and that they schedule overdue examinations and such.

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  8. Isn't that firefighter jacket and outfit heavy? Not to mention embarrassing. I think the firemen take extreme pleasure in "recruiting" a teach to don the equipment. So at least the kids aren't scared. A great week. Hoping the Aleve does the trick for you. Sorry about the pain.

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    1. It's VERY heavy. And the mask is horribly claustrophobic, and last year, I drooled a little bit in it. This year, Fireman Justice wasn't there to make me dress up (different crews came this year). I was very happy just to spectate!

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  9. So much good here, Dyanne!
    1. Your daughter is absolutely stunning. Does your Husband want to lock her up? The Hub already gives little boys the stinkeye around Kidzilla, so I'm afraid what will happen come the teen years.
    2. Restaurant sounds great, cow shit and all.
    3. I think you look great, but I wouldn't want to be the dress-up dummy, either. I hate that stuff.
    4. We have not been to the pumpkin patch yet and I'm so mad! The day we planned to go, I was too sick and there hasn't been an open day since. Too rainy today, which means tomorrow will be mushy as well. I really don't want to have to resort to grocery store pumpkins and mums. Although our store does have really nice ones...but it's just better at the patch.
    5. Simply awesome. I have my mammo scheduled for a year already; go at the end of the month.
    6. A great feeling.
    7. I HATE driving in the rain - I get such anxiety from it. Glad you made it safely through the rain .
    8. Cats. Our vet wants us to do some huge blood test on all three Rotten Cats. It is hugely expensive and the end result is they say the cat is healthy. Kind of feel like a bad cat parent for not doing it, but none of them has any symptoms of any problems except stupidity, which I'm pretty sure is incurable. If they had anything that made me suspect a problem, though, I'm sure I'd pony up and do the testing.
    9. Sorry for the sleepless nights, but Aleve is not a bad thing. I take that stuff for RA inflammation rather than other NSAIDS which my body did not like. Glad they help.
    10. Nothing better than that!

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    1. 1. Thank you! Yes, he has threatened to do just that. Fortunately, she is very picky and no boys have really made the cut for her. (She has a litmus test when a boy starts acting interested: she asks them what math class they are in, so she can judge whether they are smart or not.)
      2. It really is delicious! Just weird to smell cow shit when you're eating and you're not out on the range.
      3. Drooling in the firefighter's mask last year was not one of my finer moments.
      4. We got rained out Friday when pre-k was supposed to go and had to reschedule.
      5. I'm glad you're getting your mammo on a regular schedule. Don't forget those monthly self-exams - that's how I found my tumor.
      6. Oh, SO great!
      7. I had a death grip on that steering wheel! Plus there was lightning around us.
      8. Poor Fletcher has been throwing up for years and years. And licking the fur off his belly periodically. If he hadn't licked it off from arm pits to his hind legs, I probably wouldn't have taken him. Now I feel like a bad cat mom. And there's no cure for stupid.
      9. I took Aleve, ate Hot Tamales and washed it all down with Diet Coke and gave myself an ulcer once. So I was a little hesitant to take it every day. even though it was my own fault that I burned a hole in my stomach.
      10. You said it! Felt so nice to snuggle under the warm covers with the cool breeze in the room!

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  10. Gosh, it's rotten to live in that kind of pain! I'm glad you can take the Alleve. And that your baby birds are home.

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    1. I hope the aches and pains go away, but I think I'm stuck with them as long as I am on the Fosamax. At least the charlie horses I was getting in my calves have pretty much gone away.

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  11. "…on the other side of glass, dirt and poo"
    How true!
    damn! I would have thought, (after your previous Firegirl adventure), they would totally have you do the demonstrating thing!

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    1. Different fire crew, and they didn't know I was experienced in making an idiot of myself in their gear.
      While we were eating, a cat trotted across the arena, stopped in the middle, dug a hole, and pooped, then trotted onward again. Obviously had an agenda.

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  12. Yes, she did look lovely. Great pic! I bet she had a blast:)
    Spontaneous date night sounds cool:) But Dyanne! Eating steak while watching...calf roping?!

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    1. Thanks! She had a good time. Hated it her freshman year, because (her words) all the boys were grinding on the girls. She was disgusted and wanted to leave. This year, she just found people who weren't doing that to hang out with.
      There is a certain amount of irony to eating steak while watching calf roping....

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  13. I am sorry that you are in pain. I have such a low tolerance for pain I am useless when things hurt. Your daughter is a beauty. Good thing she went with a group of girls! You look good in firefighter gear!

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    1. I have a really high pain tolerance, usually, so I hate that I'm so whiny about this. Thank you, my daughter is a good egg with good friends. The firefighter gear looks especially good because I had on cute shoes.

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  14. I forgot to mention the irony of watching calf roping while eating a possible family member. LOL I kind of like the idea.

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    1. The first time my kids went to the Youth Fair with my parents, where my dad used to buy 6-8 steers so each of his employees could have half a beef for their freezer, my kids were all excited about what we were going to do with that cow. They thought it was going in the backyard and were a little aghast when we told them it was going in the freezer....

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  15. You're list made me smile. So many good, exciting things. We haven't had a good rain here in two years so I don't miss driving through the car wash. I am glad you made it safely.

    Just something yummy about a barn smell to me. Congrats on all your chicks under one roof. There is nothing like a Firehouse trip companioned with a pumpkin patch to make it feel like fall.

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    1. Ugh, I hate driving in that kind of rain! We need the rain, but all at once?

      I actually like the barn smell. My dad had a farm supply store for over 30 years (and it was my grandpa's for about 15 years before that), so it smells like perfume to me. It was wonderful to have my son home, equally wonderful to send him back again :) Fall is here in the Ozarks, with the trees turning and the weather pleasant!

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  16. I hope you indeed have a good night's sleep! Pumpkin patch sounds wonderful, I'm still trying to find one around here! Should we not find one, I at least have one a friend brought us a week ago. Thinking pumpkin lasagna :-) Have a great new week, Dyanne!

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    1. I have never cooked a real pumpkin. There. I said it. My mom always said pies cooked with real pumpkin are watery and a little stringy, so I've always used canned....

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  17. So sorry to see you have such pain, but you are so brave about it. I'm glad you get some relief, and hope you and your cat both feel much better soon. How lovely that you were honoured for Pink Out night.

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    1. It's so annoying to have things hurt that never hurt before, and I'm glad I got the okay to use the Aleve. The cat is not faring so well. He HATES the medicine he has to take for the next 10 days or so, and it's really a minute amount. And allegedly, it tastes like chicken, but I'm not going to try it to find out. Ruby likes it; she licked up the medicine that spilled on the floor when I tried to give it to him. And it was really sweet of them to honor me; they did a big thing for me last year, so I wasn't expecting anything this time - it was a real surprise!

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  18. Like, HOW am I only here now! Ridiculous!

    I'm glad you can take big painkillers. That must help loads. And SO glad you made it safely through the rain.

    YAY for Farmer Tami and your 'mums :) and for the pink volleyball match, and Fletcher having a diagnosis (poor sod).

    But dude, that restaurant...it's a rodeo AND a steakhouse? Whadda they do, rope the calves and then just chuck them on the grill? GOOD GRIEF! You're worried about it stinking of cowshit when they open the door, meanwhile the calves in the ring are sniffing and thinking to themselves "Alas, poor Billy, I knew him well..."

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    1. It's about time you showed up! :)

      These aren't heavy duty painkillers, but they are a good anti-inflammatory, as long as I don't take them on an empty stomach. With diet coke. And hot tamales.

      Farmer Tami is the best! I wish you could hear her talk to the kids about pumpkins! And yes, yay for pink night. And for a diagnosis for poor, sweet Fletcher.

      Well, now you've ruined Lucky J Steakhouse and Arena for me! Poor Billy!

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  19. 1. Great photo of your daughter. What made her smile so big. I know it wasn't you telling her to smile. :)
    2. I am so glad you said something about the glass between you and the rodeo. I would never eat there without the glass. I actually start gagging when we walk around the state fair and see the farmers eating in the animal barns. Ugh. I'm gagging now just thinking about it.
    3 and 4. You all do such fun things with the preschoolers.
    5. I admit, I get annoyed beyond belief about all of the pink in October. The football players and the gobs of pink things for sale. It just seems like a bunch of companies trying to make money. That being said, I like it when it is personal, and a volleyball team does it for certain people they know and love.
    I lost count, and I'm tired of scrolling through all the comments to figure out the numbering, so no more numbers.
    Sorry to hear about the cat. I hope the dear boy feels better without the need for you to spend lots of money.
    It's got to be good to have both the kids home, even if it means a lot of laundry.
    Oh I hope that Aleve keeps working for you. I'm sorry you're up so much at night. I don't often sleep through either, so I know what it's like. Waking up because you are in pain is horrible.

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    1. 1. She had two of her best friends on either side of her when I took that picture. In about 90% of the pictures I took of her, she had a fake smile. Then she looked at them and wondered why she used a fake smile all night....
      2. We have eaten bbq at the county youth fair while sitting in the sale barn for years, but they always spread fresh wood chips before the auction, so it doesn't smell bad. I would not want to eat a real meal that way, especially in a restaurant! The whiff you got when the door opened wasn't horrible. Too horrible.
      3-4. That's why we're the best preschool in town :)
      5. I think very little money from the sale of pink crap ever goes to breast cancer awareness or research non-profits. But the volleyball team raising money for an actual cause is awesome. And that they keep honoring me is sweet. Embarrassing, but sweet (I don't like all those people looking at me).
      You did your best with the number thing.
      I hope poor Fletch gets better without need for further testing. Because, as David says, there is a limit to how much we are going to spend. What do you suppose a cat ultrasound costs?!
      He has actually had to do some laundry at school, since he hasn't been home since he left, so he really had very little. Didn't start it until after lunchtime today, however.
      I haven't slept through the night since my surgery two and a half years ago. Lying there, awake, and counting all the things that hurt is not the equivalent to counting sheep. Here's to Aleve!

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  20. Since I married a MO boy it would be wrong for me to call them all stupid. But seriously, none of them came knocking at the door of this young woman? Stupid. I think they feared they could not live up to her beauty, brains and awesome singing ability.
    Glad they honored you at Pink Out! ~May

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    1. I think my daughter is intimidating to boys! She is beautiful and blunt and they know she is smarter than they are. (I married a MO boy, too - just one more thing we have in common!)

      Pink Out honors was very sweet, indeed!

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  21. This list is EVERY BIT as good as a visit from the VP! I hope Homecoming was as magical for her as your dinner was, but with less poo. That is hilarious! Love some cowboy decor hahaha. Too funny!
    You look fantastic as a firefighter! Probably SPARK more flames than you would put out, nyuk nyuk. But seriously, if I were you I would wear that jacket every day!

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    1. I don't know, that VP thing was pretty cool :)
      Last year, she complained about the boys only wanting to grind on the girls. This year, she found better guys (and girls) to hang around with. I'm assuming there was no poo involved in her night.
      I blush, I blush!

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  22. Nice work on the Joe Biden photo! I love it. Hope you feel better soon!

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    1. The best I was hoping for with Joe Biden was a selfie with him waaaaaay in the background.

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  23. I think I've officially heard of animals being able to get just about everything humans get. It's crazy. Poor thing. I would have never guessed that was the reason he licked off his hair. You are too funny with your Joe Biden obsession. :) Sounds like it was a great week!

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    1. Can you believe it? Pancreatitis! Ugh! Hopefully his antibiotic will make him feel better, although it won't if he keeps spitting it out.
      I GOT MY PICTURE TAKEN WITH THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STAAAAAATES!!! :)

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  24. Sorry about your cat. I hope he will be okay. My cat has hairballs a lot too. Sorry about your pain. I can't take aleve only Tylenol and Tramadol for mine. I identify. I hope you feel better soon. I glad you had a great date night at a rodeo and good food and fun times. ;)

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