I woke up this morning feeling like I was sleeping in a straight jacket. As it turns out... I was just being cuddled by three furry beasts. My camera was on the night stand so I grabbed it and snapped a picture first thing...
See that barely twelve inches of space allotted for my legs? Not as cozy as you might think. You can't see Stubby in this picture. He has just now figured out that he can climb up the little chair beside my bed to get up on the bed. We slept on top of an electric blanket because there was a chill in the air and my back was in spasms at bedtime last night.
Ever heard of the Princess and the Pea? On top of my mattress there is a foam mattress pad, a comforter, a down mattress pad (on just one side) a quilt, two fuzzy blankets, another comforter, an electric blanket, me, three cats and another fuzzy blanket. We will never freeze.
This is a picture of the kitties from the other angle. I had a devil of a time climbing out of the bed which is already a tad bit high for me.
I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing Little Kitty sleeping belly up... he looks so furry here!
That strange half-bald creature is Stubby, trying to find a place to stretch out since the other two cats were hogging the bed. I also really love it when my little penguin of a cat tries to groom his belly. It looks like he's doing sit ups!
Or like a turtle trying to flip over. Or like me trying to get out of bed when there are cats on either side of me. My stomach muscles are the pits after almost three years of not really being able to engage my core. And now that I have this new issue which Doctor Hottie thinks is a hernia but of course we're not sure until we do the costly work up that I can't afford to do. It could also be a cyst - there was one when they did my first MRI but it was another one of those, "let's leave it alone for now" deals. Either way... it comes and goes and although it's a different kind of pain, I'm growing accustomed to living with pain. Even when it's my day to pick up the girls.
Sarabeth has chorus on Mondays until 3:20. Jamie has to be picked up by... 3:15? I think? I'm not even sure. I just head over there some time between 2:45 and 2:55 and we're never the last in line. I pick Jamie up and then we sit in the parking lot for - however long it is - and I get some quality one on one with Jamie before Sister joins us. Today I painted Jamie's nails and she read to me. Man, I love that kid!
She loved the blue, by the way.
This afternoon I needed to go to Walmart to get yarn for Mawmaw to make a new afghan. She's crocheting as a way to entertain herself without putting too much strain on her heart. They ran a bunch of tests on her last week and things are ok other than her heart not relaxing in between beats like it should. She's had tachycardia (like me) for awhile. She gets out of breath and dizzy sometimes so she's taking on more sedentary things.
In addition to the yarn, I had promised the girls a few dollars to spend at the dollar store, which turned into a few dollars to spend at Walmart since we were going there. And since I hadn't gotten SB a birthday present yet, I gave her the option of picking out something for her birthday... and, to be fair, gave Jamie the option of an early birthday present (her birthday is in December) so she was able to shop, too.
I'm not great with Walmart because it's so big, which means a lot of walking. It wasn't bad today because we had a pre-determined game plan and went straight to the craft section and then straight to the toy section and they are both on the same side of the store.
The girls are still adjusting to the idea that I have a handicapped tag and are always worried that we're going to get in trouble for parking in the handicapped spots. Jamie saw the sign that said "maximum fine $500" and she wanted me to hang the little thing from my rearview mirror in addition to having the license plate "just to be sure". And then as it turned out there was an open spot right beside the handicapped parking (and no handicapped spaces available) so Jamie was worried that if you had a handicapped tag you couldn't park in a non-handicapped space. She's a worrier, that one. She also wanted to help push the cart so it would be easier for me.
Sarabeth wasn't sure what she wanted for her birthday. I suggested that she get another Georgia sweat jacket (the one I got her for Christmas two years ago has been her favorite jacket ever since!) and when she hesitated I teased her that "you might not want to advertise that you're for them right now since they've been losing". She said, "Aunt Heather you ALWAYS have to stand behind your team!". And she told me about a shirt she saw that said, "My favorite team is Georgia - and any team that is playing Florida". Football in the South is about good old fashioned hate and we teach the ways of rivalry to our young. She gets it already.
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| Sarabeth, 11 years old, tall and lean! |
Anyways... two girls trying to make a decision about how to spend their little birthday budget takes longer than I expected. I also didn't realize how hard it would be to have two girls who wanted to shop on two separate aisles of the store - not wanting to take my eyes off either one for a split second. I did a lot of standing in the end cap between two aisles darting my eyes back and forth like I was at a tennis match. In the end, Sarabeth picked the game "Apples to Apples" and Jamie picked some anime looking rainbow doll. Both went over budget but they're my only girls and you only live once! And with 2/3 of my children living a good distance away, these two girls may be the ones helping to pick my nursing home. I want them to remember that Aunt Heather always tried to make things good for them.
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| Jamie ponders the Barbie Microphone as a choice... |
It was funny... as we were talking about their budget and what kind of things they might want to buy, Sarabeth asked if there was anything they couldn't buy. I said, "yes. beer." and she added, "cigarettes" "Lottery tickets..." I added. She came back with "marijuana and other drugs". It's red ribbon week at their school so they're especially aware of the evils of these things.
Even mundane things like a trip to Walmart is so much fun when you can go with people that you love and enjoy spending time with. As a single, empty-nester, I spend way too much time alone in stores. It's not that I shop that often but even for things like picking up groceries... it's much nicer if someone will go with me.
As soon as we got back to their house, their dad was right behind us. I won't see 'em again until Sunday when we're all riding down into civilization together for Grandma's 90th birthday party. I've gotten to the point that I can take percocet without feeling altered at all mentally. I almost feel like my mind is sharper because I can focus on something other than pain. But if I take percocet, I can't drive and I will sort of crash physically at some point and get really sleepy... so even when it wears off I can't really drive until I've had a good sleep and since none of us is looking to spend the night at the Motel 6 in Woodstock, Georgia, me, mom and Austin will ride with Jim and Angie and the girls. I'm very excited about this party. It's going to hurt - it's a lot more sitting than I've been doing between riding the hour and a half (guessing) it will take us to get to the restaurant, a couple of hours there and then the long ride back. That's a lot out of my spine in one day but ninety is a big deal. Grandma is a big deal. She's had an amazing life. I'm so proud of the book I made for her. After the birthday party I'll make it available for any of y'all who want to look at a sneak peak of the project. I hope it's something she'll be happy with. I kinda sorta want to get my hair done one day this week so I'll look freshly coiffed for photos. I want this to be a very special day for our family.
Anyways... I've rambled on for about an hour. That's about all the goodies from today. Mama made peanut butter cookies today and they turned out really awesome. I'm anxious to do some holiday baking but I don't really have that many people I see that I would bestow that type of gift on. So if you're in Helen in December, stop by and say hello and get you some fudge or cookies or whatever.
We found another comforter to try with my purple wall. I really need some purple pillowcases or shams but for now... this is what we've got:
It's a really light pattern and I'm not sure it's what I'm going for. It's reversible so I may flip it tomorrow and see if it looks better that way.
Hope you all had a great day. Thanks for stopping by! Love and hugs, y'all!
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