fsu vs byu

We met my brother, John and his wife Linda and their two kids, Zack and Mav and had a wonderful lunch in Tallahassee at Food Glorious Food. And it was glorious. Loved it!

Then it was off to the home of the SemiNOLES.

We cheered for our Alma Mater.

We lost.

I loved the adventure though. I think Tallahassee is a beautiful city. I enjoyed getting to see a little bit of the school and spending 7 hours in the car with my husband, nearly uninterrupted, was fabulous!

effortless garden

When the killing freezes destroyed the flower garden growing next to the house and accenting the herb garden, I was very disappointed. However, I waited to see what came back to life and then planted more of the same. My garden received very little care this summer and now, none at all, and yet it is growing with happy abandon serving up daily doses happiness.

likening the scriptures unto me

I've read the Book of Mormon many, many times. Yet it never ceases to amaze me how answers to current situations seem to pop off the pages exactly when they are needed.

For example, I couldn't have imagined until today that in an account of the sons of the people of Ammon standing fast in defense of their liberty and faith, that I could find so much solace for my current situation in a matter of a dozen verses:

...therefore it became expedient that [I] should wait, that [I] might rerceive more strength...and it came to pass that [I] did wait in these difficult circumstances for the space of many months. [My family, friends and I] did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen [me]...and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit [me] with assurances that he would deliver [me]; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to [my] soul, and did grant unto [me] great faith, and did cause [me] that [I] should hope.

engine 2

When Tricia recently figured out that cow's milk was giving her heartburn, it prompted me to have a better look at my own diet. In an article about John Mackey, the Whole Foods CEO, he referenced the Engine 2 Diet, so I requested a copy from my local library.

Although Rip didn't convince me to become a vegan, nor even a vegetarian, inspite of the quoted facts, he did convince me that I need ALOT more grains, fruits and vegetables in my diet.

I am a huge fan of a breakfast recipe called Rip's Big Bowl. I like how he included quite a few recipes in his book. I am now geocaching my way through Publix looking for and finding items that I never noticed before.

The library book will be due back soon, but I ordered a personal copy on half.com that I can tear apart and use. This diet coincides with the counsel Joseph Smith revealed and recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants more than 100 years ago, including giving up alcohol and coffee. Since foodie fads come and go, I  feel good about incorporating ones that closely mirror my beliefs, as this one does, into my lifestyle.

greater tuberosity

I went back to see Dr. Manoogian today and had my shoulder x-rayed again. Everything looks okay, so no surgery necessary. He let me get an extra good look at my fracture on the "hot light" on my way out. I thought before that it was a straight line fracture starting at the top of my shoulder and running down about an inch. But what I learned today is that it is actually circular, called a greater tuberosity fracture. It looks like the little picture above, except it isn't detached like that. I go back to the doctor's on the 5th of October and if all is well, then I can start physical therapy. In the meantime...still, still, still.

no maintenance hair for high maintenance me

Nearly a month ago, I saw someone with cute hair, so I called her salon and made an appointment. It was not convenient to my house, but quite near where I played tennis, so I figured it would work out great...right up until I was no longer driving.

I was debating whether it was possible to even keep the appointment, but Doug said he would take me and then received a reprieve when Gail volunteered.

I told the stylist that I have to put the blow dryer between my knees and rotate my head back and forth and that I truly need a "no maintenance" haircut since I can't manage a brush, nor an iron.

My cute husband, who has never liked my hair short, let alone extra short, is coping.
Brianna tactfully said, "It's different."
My friends told me it was great though, and I am going to go with that ;)

This week, I have been the recipient of so many thoughtful

words,

gestures

and acts of kindness.

They have all been significant to me.

I feel very loved.

*In the end, I decided not to have the mri at all since the therapy for a torn rotator cuff or bicep is rest. All parts of my arm will get plenty of rest while waiting for my shoulder to heal.

splat calculator

I was wondering how fast I was actually moving when I hit the floor. It seems shocking that a fall off a bed could hurt me like this, but it is true. So  I laughed when I found this climbing website called the Splat Calculator.

This calculator simply calculates the ideal speed you're travelling at the end of falling a certain distance. It completely ignores things like friction (air, rock, rope, or otherwise).


If you fill in the height, you'll get the time and speed at the end of your fall. If you're kind enough to supply your mass, you'll also get the energy in joules (newton-meters) when you deck. :-

If I did it correctly, I figured that I was moving about 8 miles an hour and the fall took .4 of a second.

Enough of that...

I didn't get my MRI today. I was feeling quite nervous about it and the lady helping me was as kind as possible, but I am quite claustrophobic. Anyway, she had me all ready to go and said she would do a trial in and out and not to worry because she wasn't starting anything. So in I go,

and she had mis-centered me on the bed, and my shoulder, my poor sad broken shoulder, now encased in some kind of MRI paraphernalia bumps the side of the tube sending shooting pains across my chest and down my arm.

She re-centered me after I cried out in pain and did the trial run thing again, but I just couldn't manage it. I went back to my doctor's office and they said it happens all the time. Then they told me that they would re-schedule me for an open MRI, so I will hope for a better time there.

doctor manoogian

I have a proximal humerus fracture. The good news is that my shoulder is in the right place and if it stays there for the next two weeks, the chances of it moving to the wrong place go down significantly. If it doesn't stay in the right place, then surgery becomes necessary. Dr. Manoogian said that I need to keep my arm very still.

I can be very still.

He is concerned about my rotator cuff and bicep muscle. He is sending me for an MRI of my shoulder and elbow tomorrow. I presented a very colorful arm today.

doctor brown

I called Dr. Brown's office as soon as they opened this morning. They asked me to come over as soon as possible, so we arrived about ten minutes later. It was my first time ever in a chiropracter's office. Even though we ended up waiting about an hour for them to work me in, Dr. Brown was so attentive and made me feel as if I was his only patient. He spent about half an hour with us, but he felt quite sure that my injuries are out of his league and recommended that we go see Dr. Manoogian.  In the end, he called our visit a no-charge "consult" and only asked that we contact them and let them know how things turn out.

We drove straight to Dr. Manoogian's office. Doug filled out the paperwork for me and returned it to the front desk and then received a sheaf of papers and gestured to me that we were leaving. Once in the car, I asked if we were going to get x-rays. He said that we weren't and the papers were just to be filled out by my appointment on Thursday.

Keeping in mind, my fragile emotional state as well, of course, that made me cry. How is it that I can have an accident four days ago, but now I want to be seen right now, today! I asked him to take me back...and then I went in an begged for an appointment today. She told me that he was in surgery, but was able to schedule me for tomorrow. I can cope with that.

handled with care

On the bright side...today I can move my wrist. Having my hand back is wonderful. It is not strong and so I am doing one-handed internet searches and one-handed messages. But just knowing that I can move my hand is a good thing.

Brianna did my makeup for me. She has been an amazing helper, doing whatever is asked of her right away and with a smile. I normally hold the handrail when I go down the stairs, but since the hand near the rail is out of order, Brianna volunteered to treat me like Princess Victoria. I am royally escorted to the hallway.

I asked Missy at church if Jonathan would recommend a good orthopedic doctor. When I didn't see her after church, I assumed that they were busy with their little ones, but then Missy came running into the church and said that they had been looking for my car in the parking lot when she realized that I wasn't driving.

Jonathan was really an answer to my prayers today. He helped me to better understand what was going on in my body and encouraged me to go and see Dr. Brown tomorrow.

I received the sweetest notes from the Shipley family at church and then the Bishop and his family came "hymning" to my house. Mackay made cookies for me and wrote me a get well message.

Many people at church asked me about my arm. When I told them that I fell out of bed, their instinctive response was to laugh...and then apologize for laughing. Of course, it doesn't seem funny to me at all.
 
Maybe I needed to hear the laughter though, because I am feeling better. Or maybe it was those nice notes and the cookies!

three days

I have talked Doug into giving me three days to see how the injuries present themselves. The body is such an amazing miracle. Yesterday, I couldn't even move my fingers, but today I can. I am not in much pain, unless I move, therefore, I am not moving. But my body systems are busy taking care of business and mostly keeping me sleeping while they do so.

The right side of me is taking on all the extra duty. My right hand and arm is getting used to going from being the non-dominant helper to the total caretaker. Of all the new tasks, the thing I do the best right-handed is eating.

Word is beginning to travel about my accident. It makes me too sad to talk about it, so I haven't called many people that I should have. I hope they forgive me for that. Today I crawled into Doug's lap and just sobbed and sobbed.

My family and friends and even my new tennis team acquaintances have been so encouraging and supportive. It is wonderful how a phone call and/or an email can cheer one and specifically, how they have cheered me.

sleeping the day away

I am like a newborn today...sleeping and eating and crying...that's all...except for the ice. I love ice.

i fell out of bed

It was awful. The phone rang and apparently, I was startled into action, but not fully...and down I went. Brianna heard the clamour and the crying and ran to my room. She asked if she could call dad and told him to come straight home. I think he called back and asked Brianna if I wanted a blessing and when I said yes, he said he would bring Bishop Saunders home with him. A few minutes later, he called and said he would be home in five minutes and he told Brianna to have me wait downstairs. She explained to him that I was in the fetal position and shaking and it wasn't going to be possible.

Doug and the Bishop arrived. I was able to relax as soon as the blessing began.

After the Bishop left, Doug checked me over to make sure that there were not any bones obviously protuding in the wrong direction. Although he wanted to take me to the emergency room, I begged to stay home. In the end, I think that he knows that a trip to the emergency room would have been even more traumatizing for me than falling out bed and agreed to wait, at least until morning.

I love him for that.

He packed ice all down the left side of my body. I begged him to sleep with me because I was afraid to be alone. He reluctantly agreed. When I woke up a couple of hours later, I wanted more ice and he was sleeping so soundly, so I carefully threaded my way downstairs.

I spent the next half hour looking at shoulder injuries on the internet trying to decide what I had done to myself.

It was too much to manage to go back up the stairs, so I spent the rest of the night on the couch, inadvertently scaring Brianna half to death when she came downstairs for seminary.

pride night 2010

The Bulldogs and their parents went over to the stadium tonight for dinner and some school spirit.The 47 member band played.  We were introduced to the football squad.Brianna had loads of friends to visit.And we all gathered on the field to sing the alma mater.

Go Bulldogs!

queens of the court

After one year and eleven months

Linda and I finally beat Doug and Rick in doubles tennis.

Believe me...we are enjoying the moment!

6-3

sunday stake conference

Since we don't take pictures in the chapel, I never have a picture of my husband at the pulpit. However, there was a live broadcast to the Lecanto building and Brother Cash sent me this screen grab!

As a bonus, I also got a picture of Monica Rasband and her father, President Ingalls, who both gave excellent and inspiring messages as well.

saturday stake conference

My least favorite weeks of the year, at least for the past eight years, are the weeks of stake conference. I have actually had three least favorite weeks this year. Experience reminds me to recall the scripture that teaches after the trial comes the blessing. And that was how I dealt with distractions this week and just tried to carry on.

We had a small dinner party between the Saturday sessions of conference and got to know the new mission President and his wife, the Halls.

Danette Williams came and visited with me and helped out with all the finishing touches while our husbands were at the Priesthood session.

I actually love the conference days. They are among my favorite days of the year. They are wonderful and it is a blessing to have the opportunity of seeing all the hard work and effort come to life.

Dinner turned out well

and conference

                            ...was awesome!

what happened to the wallpaper

I first noticed that the wallpaper was looking like it was wet. It was wet. Then we discovered the water source.While we were away this summer the upstairs toilet started leaking. It leaked through the floor and down the walls to the downstairs bathroom. Although I haven't wallpapered in years, I recently did a repair at Tricia's house, and it went well and only took a couple of hours.

However, we wallpapered the bathroom quite a while ago, and unlike Tricia, I didn't have more than a few scraps left over. I did some research though and felt very fortunate to discover that Thibaut is still making the pattern.

The wallpaper arrived within a few days, but when I went to strip out the old wallpaper, it appeared that the plaster after having a dousing decided to attach itself to the wallpaper instead of the board on which it belonged.

In fact, the walls were still quite damp behind the wallpaper. Sooooo, now the walls are drying and before I can hang the paper, Doug will have to do a plaster repair.

That is how little projects turn into big ones. Arghhhhhh!

the kiteflyer returns to the birdhouse

He has a kite and his special camera.

He takes pictures like no one else that we know.

mdb

My schoolgirl is soooooo excited for school to start tomorrow. She has been a student of the Florida Virtual School for the past three years. As a parent, I have done junior high as a public school and junior high as a private school, and I hated them both. I loved doing junior high as a virtual school and highly recommend it.

Brianna is starting high school tomorrow. She will be attending Christian Home and Bible School, which is a private school in our community. The high school part of the school is called Mt. Dora Bible, aka MDB. The school has been servicing students since 1945 and several of the current teachers and administrators were previously students at the school. James Moore is the president of the school and has been there twenty years. He told us that his wife and children all attended the school.

Since Brianna did not want to do a photo shoot with moi on the first day of school, we wandered over there this afternoon.

It is a beautiful campus, very peaceful on a Sunday afternoon. We have actually been to the school twice already this week, once for the orientation for new students and the second time for a back to school event with all the high school students where they were reminded about the dress code, among other things, and we purchased her p.e. clothes.

There has only been one little thing that has given her pause:

and if you know Brianna, you will know why ;)

eye hath not seen

nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 2 Cor 2:9

One of the blessings of living in Florida are the beautiful skies.

I smile (and record with tongue in cheek) remembering when my well-traveled mother, who thinks that absolutely everything beautiful and wonderful is spawned in California, gasped and exclaimed over Florida skies. She said that she had never seen anything quite so spectacular followed by the comment that "she has been around".

Doug and Brianna and I were on our way home from playing tennis tonight when we pulled over to enjoy the moment, that, while fleeting, is memorable.

"...I God, saw that all things which I had created were good" Moses 2:18

and that includes you and me. It is important to remember that, especially on dark and dreary days.

garden reality check

I never like watching reality show tryouts. I guess I am one of the few people who do not think it is funny when truly untalented people audition among the genuinely talented. They have their moment, and I suppose, good for them.

Coming home after not tending to my garden for nearly six weeks of the tropical growing season, I am afraid of what I will find in my herb garden. Amongst the many weeds, there are imposters that almost look like herbs and others, that while interesting, do not belong. Then against all odds, I took this picture

to give a blog moment to the palm like thing

sprouting amongst the oregano, lemon-scented geranium and tarragon before I yanked it out.

 

.

The true star of my garden this August is the ginger. Even the surrouding trees seem to appreciate the beauty, angling the sun every morning, in such a way, that for nearly an hour, only these plants are spotlighted and showcased in their spectacular glory.

the egg is out

When Courtney was younger and her family lived in New Jersey, I went to visit.

Tricia told me that she thought it was funny because

Courtney always hid the ceramic egg decoration

behind a little door in the hutch in the living room.

So....

I had an idea.

When I took the egg out,

(you can see it there on the table)

I put a piece of candy behind the door.

Imagine her surprise!

and my delight!

at her reaction when she went to hide the egg again.

It has become a nanamoo traditon.

Sometimes one or the other of the kids will say to me...

Nana, the egg is in.

That is just a sweet little reminder.

I always laugh

and try to remember to hide something

when none of them are looking,

which is a little tricker nowadays.

Usually on the last day that I am there,

the kids will find extra surprises!

our bobcat

We are so excited to have a scouter in the family. Doug enjoyed helping Carter with several of his projects. Among those, I particularly liked helping with his quarter collection. Carter and I had a little joke about my magic wallet because new quarters kept showing up there for his collection!