Friday, May 29, 2015

A Soggy Week of Thankfuls

This was my first week of summer vacation. It rained every day. Every. Day. When it wasn't raining, it was so humid you could hardly draw a breath. My hair? Roseanne Rosannadanna. Hello, summer in southwest Missouri! Hello, Ten Things of Thankful!




1. Well, we aren't in a drought.

2. I don't have anywhere to be tonight, which is good, because I can't swim, and that seems to be the only way I'd get there if I HAD to go somewhere.


Local radar. That's a lot of rain.

3. Fresh local strawberries. My parents brought me a flat of freshly picked ones from an Old Order Mennonite farm not too far from them. Sweet as sugar.

4. Strawberry shortcake.


This would have looked even better if I had taken the picture using my light
box I made for A to Z Challenge. If Ruby hadn't destroyed it, that is.

5. Kittens who steal strawberries and make it halfway up the stairs with one before getting caught.


Not even sure how she did it.

6. Not finding any other strawberries tucked away around the house by the strawberry thief (hey, they're red, they roll, and somebody just LEFT a whole flat of them on the kitchen counter, where a certain someone wasn't supposed to be in the first place).


No strawberry shortcake for you, Ruby.

7. Strawberry Pretzel Salad. I made it before I knew we were getting a flat of fresh strawberries, but you can never have too much strawberry stuff, can you?

8. Linda the Cold is waning. Still have a cough and a little bit of a stuffy head, but that overall crappy feeling is pretty much gone.

9. Now annual trip to the general surgeon, Dr. Bumberry (or as I call him, Dr. Dorian Gray), he of the gorgeous auburn hair, where I was proclaimed to be in fine condition. He had a PA student shadowing him, and she also got to feel my magnificently awesome reconstructed boobies and admire the amazing nipples that Dr. Geter made for me (swear to GOD, they were part of the tour). She agreed with Dr. Bumberry that you would never know they were fake from just looking at them. I'd show you all if I could. Really, I would.


Doctor's office selfie. Because I get bored when I'm waiting.
Like my gown? Open to the front, please.

10. We have a tentative diagnosis! My poor mom has been run through the wringer with tests this spring, as her platelet count was very low with no other obvious symptoms. After a barrage of different diagnostic tests, she was diagnosed with COPD (which is not necessarily a GOOD thing, but at least it's SOMETHING) and was given two different inhalers to use (she had severe asthma as a child, which the pulmonologist feels is the cause). She hasn't felt BAD, but I have a feeling after a few weeks of using the inhalers, she will find that she was, indeed, not feeling as well as she thought, because she's going to feel so much better when she's getting more oxygen into her system.

How did your week shape up? What kind of thankfuls do you have? Link up with us. You'll be glad you did!




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44 comments:

  1. With a name like Burberry hes probably happy you call him Dorian Gray. That name sounds like he should be treating Christine's poison ivy bum.

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  2. Auto correct doesn't even like Bumberry as a name!

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  3. I hope your mom feels better with her inhalers. We don't have strawberries here yet, but one of my favorite things is strawberry rice salad. It sounds a bit odd but tastes pretty good.

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    1. Me, too, Vanessa! I think she'll be pleasantly surprised after a few treatments. Our local strawberries are almost done and yours haven't even started yet! We certainly live in different climates! I've never heard of strawberry rice salad, but I'm intrigued. There's really nothing "salad" about the strawberry pretzel salad. It's really a dessert, but is it ever good!

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  4. That sucks to have it rain your very 1st week! But at least it did while you're getting over Linda :)
    LOL Humidity and hair. Been humid here in VA. Don't know why I bother to flat iron..by the time I get to work I could be Rosannadanna's sister!
    I love, love strawberries. Ruby is one talented feline. All I gotta say.
    Glad your appt. with Dr.Gray, went well :) Very nice office selfie. Your necklace accents the blue trim of your gown rather well, don't you think? lol
    Hope your Mom starts feeling better. I agree that having a name to what's been ailing you is a start. Still, it must be a bit scary for her.

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    1. The weather has made for great napping, while I try to get over Linda :)
      I can tell the minute I take my hair out of the towel whether it's going to be a flat iron or let it go day.
      I love local strawberries, but the ones you get in the grocery store are tasteless. I can't imagine how Ruby got that strawberry out of the flat and up the stairs, but she tried it again later. My son caught her, and she didn't act guilty at all!
      I worried that the necklace was overkill with the gown, so I'm glad you think it was tasteful :)
      I think the COPD is much better than the other ailments that were eliminated by testing, including leukemia and heart failure. IF she'll use her inhalers every day like she's supposed to, she'll hopefully feel great.

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    2. See! Sleep is the best remedy for a lingering cold and let's face it - who can sleep when the sun is shining? The weather gods were with you:)
      Fresh local anything fruit or vegetable is heaven for sure. Cats are amazing like that.
      Well, your Mom will have to get in the habit of using those inhalers now won't she :D

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  5. Let's see those boobies! I mean, I'm just kidding. I'm not coming on to you, I swear, I'm just curious. It's fascinating, really.
    I'll shut up.
    Glad Linda is taking her leave. She was so unwelcome. I tagged you so you better not reject me.

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    1. I'll show them to you any time you want to see them. I consider it a learning experience :)
      I've never felt anyone else's boobies in comparison, but all my friends who have felt them say they feel like real boobies are supposed to feel (my old ones were NOTHING like this, all lumps and bumps).
      I hope the door doesn't hit Linda on the way out. Sheesh!
      I'M TAGGED?! YIPPEEEEEEE!!!

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    2. Sarah, you are hilarious. I think I like it that Dyanne is willing to show her boobies, you know, for the sake of education. That's awesome. :D

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  6. Boy, do I get it about the humidity hair. My friends call me "Pouf" or "Fluffy," so, yeah. Haha. ANYWAY, mmmmmmm, strawberries! I love 'em! And, did I read that right? Someone played with your boobies this week? And, you wanna show a photo? Um. . . ;) It does sound like you've got lots to be thankful for this week.

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    1. If I go to Memphis or Florida, it gets even bigger. I have AMAZING boobies! They are made entirely out of muscle and tissue from my stomach and are a true work of art! REAL strawberries, not those overblown, tasteless ones from the grocery store.

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  7. Your cat is so pretty! And obs she is having a blast with the strawberries so aren't you the good human for bringing so many home for here to play with?! I hope that your mom has good results with the inhalers. Fingers Xed! Have a lovely thank-filled week.

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    1. She is so ornery! Everything is a toy. She turns over my little wicker trashcan in my bedroom every time I turn it back upright and digs through it, looking for something to play with, so I usually just leave it on its side (like it is right now) and save her the trouble of tipping it over! And thank you, I hope this works for my poor mama, too!

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  8. Glad you are feeling better. I'm sure the rain forcing you to rest had something to do with it.

    I"m even more glad that your mom has something treatable and should be feeling better very soon.

    Ah, that strawberry shortcake looks good. We don't have strawberries in the garden this year, and I am very, very sad about it.

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    1. I may or may not have managed a few naps this week....
      Really glad we finally have an answer for my mom! So many other things had to be ruled out first.
      I wish you could have strawberry shortcake with me. Because I think I like it better than just about anything else.

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  9. I loved Roseanne Rosannadanna, but don't love looking like her. Humidity hasn't arrived here yet in western New York ... but it will. It always does. Your list is awesome. I'm still laughing from your list last week - that you name your colds. Glad Linda is better. Very glad your mom got some answers. COPD is not a great one, but hopefully the treatments will have her feeling better (than she thought she was) very soon. Great post! :)

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    1. Love her, don't love looking like her :) Linda the Cold is being kind of nasty today. She's added a productive cough and a sty (which may or may not be her fault, but gotta blame something). SO glad we have a diagnosis and that there are treatments for it.

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  10. When you are done with the rain, feel free to send it my way. Linda, however, I do not want.

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    1. I've been done with the rain for quite some time and have thought about you and your lack of it the entire time. If only I could figure out how to ship it to you....
      You sure you don't want Linda? The gift that keeps giving?

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  11. I love that strawberry pretzel recipe. My mother in law makes it every Christmas. The United Methodist Church in the next town always has a strawberry festival in June. Lots of good things to taste and a lovely recipe book of delicious strawberry treats. When the humidity comes to NJ (and it does, alot) my hair becomes limp and straight. Go figure. Glad Mom has some answers and your outstanding boobies are a work of art. You deserve that!

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    1. I pulled up a recipe for it from Pinterest rather than digging in my recipes for mine and got a rather disjointed one, which caused me to screw up the crust; however, it turned out to be a happy mistake (I put 1 cup of sugar in the crust rather than 1 T., because the ingredient list was rather sloppily laid out and the 1 cup of sugar was supposed to go in the cream cheese/cool whip mixture - oops!). My husband said he liked it better, because it was almost like a toffee crust, but it sure was a pain in the ass to get out of the pan!
      I have never had straight, limp hair in my life.
      It's been a good week at the doctor, I'd say!

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  12. MMMMMMM Strawberries. I love love love love that Ruby stole a strawberry. Well at least you have a diagnosis.

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    1. Ruby is SUCH a stinker. I would never have imagined that she'd steal a strawberry.

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  13. Humidity sucks. And in my world, it makes my hair nasty and makes my joints hurt. Double suck.
    Strawberries are awesome when they are fresh and perfect. Ruby is too cute stealing them. But I"m with you - definitely have to make sure none find their way under furniture or whatever. Because gross.
    You have such wonderful and happy little things here. What a great post.
    Good news (sorta?) about your Mom - you're so right that having an answer feels victorious. She will definitely realize how much better she is once those inhalers kick in. My lung issues are just allergies/asthma, not COPD, but when I got my current one I was like "oh, wow, I REALLY felt shitty, just didn't know it. Huh."

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    1. The big hair is bad enough, but to have humidity cause your joints to hurt would be horrid.
      These were fresh and beautiful and sweet and juicy and I wish it weren't the end of the season.
      Ruby is a turd.
      I'm glad to hear that your inhalers made you feel better when you didn't know you felt bad. I'm sure hoping the same works for my mom. The doctor seemed to think so.

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  14. Hope your mom's health looks up soon. I spent the last few weeks helping my mom get a heart monitor put in -- taking her to the doctor, etc. It's good she is close by so I can help out. Love your kitty. We have a new spot of fur around here. She seems very sweet but needs to learn to use that box. And I've got to check to see if the local strawberry farm is still producing. I've usually gone by now but haven't made it there. That shortcake looks sooo good.

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    1. Thanks! We went through the heart thing 10 years ago. She has a pacemaker and a stent in her carotid artery, and those are doing well. Just another hitch. My mom lives an hour away, but the doctors are where I live, so that's helpful.
      Ruby is a princess and knows it. I've seen your furball on facebook! So cute! I have no advice about the litterbox, because ONE of ours (it's not Ruby, because it pre-dates her - pretty sure it's Pete) occasionally professes his dissatisfaction with the litterbox by peeing somewhere else in the house, usually on clothes left on the floor (not by me). Sigh.
      The only good thing about the end of strawberry season is that means it's almost the beginning of blueberry season!

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  15. so, the only question I have is, in Item 5, are you telling us Ruby is working her way up the stairs?
    down-the-stairs, ok, normal enough, but up is an order of magnitude more interesting, (and, I suspect slower)

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    1. Yes, Clark, she took the strawberry from the kitchen counter, down a long hallway, and up several stairs before she was apprehended. Impressive, no?

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  16. I love the theme of strawberries! We have a great local farm that you can pick the yourself, and I just saw the other day that they have started picking. You have me wanting strawberry shortcake!

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    1. Have you ever picked your own strawberries? It's fun for about five minutes, then you realize it's backbreaking work and we're probably not paying the people who pick them for a living nearly enough. My great aunts had a HUGE strawberry bed when I was young. I would pick enough for a bowl for myself and I was done!

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  17. Ruby's a nutter! We had strawberries today cos Niece and Neff picked them to have as part of our picnic. The unwelcome part was sunburn, which I also got.

    At least you didn't have to go to work with the frizzy hair. I'm glad Linda's going.

    And maybe you should show your boobs in the TToT group. For education.

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    1. Ruby's a hot mess, without a doubt. And even though it's BAD for you, a little sunburn just makes it feel like summer, doesn't it?
      Linda the Cold is getting tiring.
      Do you really think Clark could handle that?!

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  18. oh boy the frizz blah! I suffer form the fizzy humid hair too. the strawberries yum great selfie and what wonderful news not only are you proclaimed to be in fine condition but you have magnificent boobs and nipples - awesome!

    hope your mom is feeling better we went through something like that a a couple of years ago - where my mom really could not get diagnosed. her blood count is or was low she gets check every three months and if need be they have to give her platelets transfusion - or just a shot of something else...its manageable but always scary too.

    by the way I love it how you name your colds - i'm going to start doing that too!
    feel better - :)

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    1. There's nothing like lying on an exam table while a doctor feels your (fake) boobies and tells the PA with him about how fantastic they are - and he isn't the one who made them! (He took off the old ones.)
      The oncologist/hematologist told us it was a diagnosis of elimination. Had to eliminate leukemia, RA, lupus, multiple myeloma, and some other scary stuff before this was found. Hopefully they'll find an answer for your mom, too.
      Naming your colds always helps. Helps WHAT, I don't know, but it helps :)

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  19. I love how much of your post was strawberry related! It's my favorite time of year too! I love strawberry rhubarb!

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    1. If I'd been thinking, I would have made the whole thing about strawberries, except I wouldn't have made it to 10, because I listed everything I had already! I have tried rhubarb with strawberries, and it wouldn't make my list of thankfuls. Glad YOU like it, though :)

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  20. Yay for a healthy you!!! You know, I think you should come over and join Violet at her swim class. Her instructor is true eye candy AND really good at what he's doing.. Just saying :-) I hope you get some nice weather now, and I agree, beign thankful for not having a drought is definitely a good one. Friends of ours from WA showed us a picture of the lake behind their house. Well, let's say it that way, at least they won't be annoyed by any jet skis this summer..

    Had our first home-grown strawberry today!!!!! :-)

    Have a wonderful week, Dyanne!!

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  21. We ARE in a drought--send us some, please! In the meantime, your soggy week makes me thankful for our perpetual sunshine. Now let's work on balancing it out!

    http://shrinkrapped.com/

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