6/30/17: Celebrate the Small Things

Friday, June 30, 2017


It's Friday and time to post my Celebrate the Small Things on this blog.

If you'd like to join in the fun or check out some other participating blogs, click the image to the right or the link at the bottom of the page.

My small things for this past week, some not so small, but all great!

First is a wonderful weekend with family in celebration of our granddaughter's graduation from high school. We drove to NY, stayed in a B&B reserved for family It was a longer drive than expected but worth it. Time to talk, laugh, cry, hug, and eat our way through the short time together.

Second is hitting the road, heading home to our house in Tennessee. Best part was since hubby installed the new inverter, we got to Wallydock due to the cooler weather that had moved in. We had a few worries about things (Internet wasn't working so we had no access to our thermostat or security camera) but everything turned out okay (had to reset a GFI breaker)! But we did have a little storm damage, you can read it all in my last post. (coffee spew alert)

Last but far from least, I finally got my middle-grade fantasy short story compilation, 7 Days of Seven, published at Amazon!! I haven't publicized it yet, still trying to get some reviews. But it's live.

Click to see the other blogs participating in the Celebrate the Small Things blog hop.

Ciao for now!

Storms in TN while we were in MD

Thursday, June 29, 2017

When we are traveling, we always worry about how the house fares during a severe storm. There were several during the two months we were in Maryland. I got to the house first, Stu having stopped to get the RV/truck washed.

Everything appeared to be in good working order. I reset the outlet for the phone/internet, plugged in everything that had been unplugged and breathed a sigh of relief. Then I walked out on the deck...

OH NO! Wind storm damage!! I was stunned.... [giggle-snort]


Stu just HAD to post the photo and the following caption on Facebook:
We opened up the house. Everything was fine until we looked on the porch. Devastating storm damage. FEMA needs to be called. We need help. We will rebuild. WARNING graphic images! Donna, please be strong. We can survive!
The comments were hilarious....here are some of the best ones.
  • Gail C: I think the cow did it.
     Reply from Janice C: I agree with Gail. The cow did it on the deck with the chair. Lol
     Reply from Gail to Janice: I mean look at her. She's watching to see what their reactions going to be. She's smirking to herself.
     Reply from Janice to Gail: It looks like she may have had help. The other cow is hiding her face! Lol
  • Robert T: Nothing left to do now but burn it all down.
  • Jessalyn B: The cows don't look impressed with your crisis 
  • Rob H: The winds must have been horrific! Can you imagine what it took to toss that chair as though it was made of light aluminum and canvas??? I'm still picking up my jaw off the ground!!
  • William M: That's not storm damage..... That is clearly earthquake damage.... See it all the time here in California!
  • Kendall B: I've been there. You can rebuild!
  • Scarlet B: Oh no!!! not the folding chair!!!!! I'll come on the next flight!
Seriously, the house is fine. We've moved in all the food and other necessities. More to come into the house but we have time, no deadlines. Life is good!

Ciao for now!

Busy Weekend

Monday, June 26, 2017

We are so blessed to have our lifestyle, one where we can change plans pretty easily. And that is exactly what we did this past weekend. We had intended to leave Maryland on Sunday, arriving at our home in Tennessee on Tuesday. A last minute invitation changed that and we will now arrive at home on Thursday. Not a big change, but happy we could easily do it.

We headed north to the Hudson Valley of NY early on Friday morning, hoping to make it by 4ish for our granddaughter's high school graduation. Of course it was Friday and of course there was traffic, a lot of it. So that meant accidents and backups...after a couple of stops our five hour drive ended at a little over eight hours. But the graduation party had just started, so we were fine. LOL

Here are a few photos...oh, all taken with my little iPhone because guess who forgot their camera!

As soon as we got on I-95, there was an accident requiring HazMat - turned out a semi-truck had lost a saddle tank (fuel).


When we got the the New Jersey turnpike - repeat.


Scenery other than traffic....


On to New York state and a 54 minute backup! We opted to get off at the service plaza and wait it out.


The party is just getting started - five girls, their families and friends all celebrating their graduation from high school. The crowd grew as the evening wore on...everyone had a blast!






The graduate - Abbi. She is my late husband's youngest daughter's older daughter...phew!


I also got to see my youngest daughter and three grandkids...it had been too long and they are growing up so fast!






We left on Saturday, a day earlier than planned because I wasn't feeling all that great. A bunch of the kids all went hiking...it's such a beautiful area!


We did have some pretty sunsets on the drive home...








Sunday we laid back and just relaxed...in fact I took two long naps before finally crawling out of bed at 3pm. So today we are doing all the necessary de-oozing (putting away all the stuff that has oozed out over two months) as well as checking tire pressure, getting the garage ready to load the bike, cleaning the roof of tree debris, etc.

So tomorrow we are off and if all goes well, we should arrive home in Tennessee sometime on Thursday. WOOT!

Ciao for now!

6/23/17: Celebrate the Small Things

Friday, June 23, 2017

It's Friday and time to post my Celebrate the Small Things on my blog. If you'd like to join in the fun or check out some other participating blogs, click the image to the right.

My things to celebrate in the past week:

I had a good one week check-up for my right eye. Looking forward to getting my final glasses next month in TN. Then the readers will be for early morning and late night reading.

found great sunglasses at Sam's Club - they have readers built in. Perfect for the drive to Tennessee.

After my checkup, we stopped at Baskin-Robbins for ice cream. I had a scoop of Jamoca and a scoop of Baseball Nut. Hubby had two scoops of differing mixtures of chocolate and peanut butter. 

Discovered a  FUN iPhone/Ipad weather app, aptly named WTForecast. Shared it on Facebook and several friends just had to have it...LOL! It has three profanity settings - none, some and no holds barred (I'm using the latter). This is what it showed Monday afternoon as a storm ran through.
Another great week...

Click to see the other blogs participating in the Celebrate the Small Things blog hop.


Ciao for now!

One Week Post Cataract Surgery - Right Eye

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

It's been five weeks since the surgery on my left eye and a week since the surgery on my right. Things continue to improve. I had the expected dryness and irritation in the right eye as well as things being fuzzier, first yellow tinted, then red tinted but that is all gone now.

Here is a little comparison of my post-op photos in case you missed them...left eye was taken in the truck, right eye in Denny's.


My left eye is 20/20 and at one week my right eye is between 20/30-35. That is actually better than I expected due to the severity of the nearsightedness in that eye. At 20/400, I was legally blind without correction. Needless to say, I'm thrilled!

The eye drops are minimal now, once a day for one kind and twice a day for another plus artificial tears in both eyes as needed for dryness. I still have to wear the patch at night for another week, as well as avoid exertion and lifting for another week.

I highly recommend Dr. Sachin, Kalyani and will see him again in another year. In the meantime, I will see an opthamologist in Cookeville, TN to get glasses which will correct my astigmatism in both eyes for distance vision and correct the farsightedness as well. Life is good!

Ciao for now!

6/16/17: Celebrate the Small Things

Friday, June 16, 2017


It's Friday and time to post my Celebrate the Small Things on this blog.

If you'd like to join in the fun or check out some other participating blogs, click the image to the right or the link at the bottom of the page.

My small things for this past week, some not so small, but all great!

First was attending & enjoying our granddaughter's 3rd birthday party. She had a blast as did everyone who attended.

Can you tell it was Troll themed? Her favorite...for right now.










A successful eye surgery for the cataract on my right eye. Thankful for a wonderful husband who takes care of me when I need it, whether I want it or not.


We seem to have won the battle of the ants - thank you, Terro! It has yet to fail us. We prefer the liquid we dispense, not a fan of the bait traps. We also got some powder to spread at the house.


Finally, I got an AMAZING bathing suit for $19.98. It fits, looks good and I would actually wear it in public. I haven't had a suit like that since 2010. I went back to the site to get a photo and saw it's down to $9.98 but only in small sizes. Oh well...I did snag a second one, I don't like it quite as well, but if I lose 10#, it will look better (too much belly-LOL).


A pretty darn good week!

Click to see the other blogs participating in the Celebrate the Small Things blog hop.


Ciao for now!

Second Cataract Surgery

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

For those who have been following along, I got my left eye cataract surgery done a month ago and got my right eye done this past Monday. While it was the same surgery (with a different strength lens implant), there were some differences.

First difference, the left eye was an afternoon surgery. This one had us at the medical center by 6:30 am and it's an hour drive! Way too early for me...yes, that's a sunrise. I don't see many of those...LOL!

With the first surgery, I was aware of going into the OR area, being prepped, having some discomfort, getting the drape pulled off (the anesthesiologist says everyone remembers that), eating/drinking my snack and walking out to the truck.

Not so this time around. In my discussion with the anesthesiologist (a different one, and my nurses were different as well - they seem to rotate), I mentioned the pain I had. He asked if I had said anything and I said no since I didn't want to move my face. He told me if I had any discomfort, speak up, it's okay! We had a nice chat while he mixed up my "cocktail". He injected it into my IV and BOOM! That's pretty much the last thing I remember clearly until I was eating at Denny's. Yes, I am definitely woozy.

You'll notice I've got a sweatshirt over my shoulders. I don't remember that. I don't remember going into the OR, the drape being ripped off, chatting with Stu while eating my snack. I don't even remember being unstable and getting taken to the truck in a wheelchair. LOL! The cocktail did the trick...I slept most of the way home after eating and I slept most of the rest of the day (off & on).

I had my one day checkup yesterday and everything looked good. My right eye was my extremely near-sighted eye, so I knew there would be differences. It's not clearing as quickly as the left and things have a yellow cast to them. I told the doctor and he wasn't concerned. I am still amazed at the crispness and sharpness of things with my left eye.

The biggest issue is now being very far-sighted, something I'm not used to. I can't see the kitchen counter clearly. I can't even see the toothbrush when applying toothpaste. LOL! Because my right eye was done last, I was wearing my old glasses with just the right lens. Now I have taken over every pair of reading glasses that Stu used before he got prescription glasses.

I have my one week checkup next Monday and will get my final instructions on the eye drops. I am still using the Prednisone drops in the left eye, but have stopped the other two. I continue to use Soothe artificial tear drops several times a day in both eyes. It really helps with the first week after surgery of irritated feeling in the eye, plus I suffer from very dry eyes under normal conditions.

So, I can see distance beautifully and will be able to drive to Florida. But I need to always keep reading glasses handy or I'm in trouble. I have one pair on an eyeglass cord...funny to be out wearing two pairs of glasses on cords - at the same time! One for my fitover sunglasses and one for my reading glasses. I look forward to getting my final prescription glasses next month. I have an appointment on July 12th with an opthamologist in Cookeville.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the entire procedure. Now to deal with two weeks of wearing my night patch, no exertion and no lifting. Ahhh, it's a tough life - NOT!

Ciao for now!

6/9/17: Celebrate the Small Things

Friday, June 9, 2017

It's Friday and time to post my Celebrate the Small Things on my blog. If you'd like to join in the fun or check out some other participating blogs, click the image to the right.

My small things for this past week:
  • A nice motorcycle ride with hubby, the first for me since we ,ent Florida in early April
  • Saw a great movies, Wonder Woman. Wow!
  • Drove for the first time since my eye surgery and did a little shopping by myself
Small in the grand scheme of things, but all in all, a good week.


Click to see the other blogs participating in the Celebrate the Small Things blog hop.


Ciao for now!

Busy as the ants in our rig!

Monday, June 5, 2017

We had a nice weekend, well except for the ant invasion. Thank goodness we already had a bottle of Terro on hand. It works wonders...usually within 24-48 hours. We are down to a couple of stragglers but just to be sure, we got the spreadable version for outdoors.

We've used this for several years, always trying to perfect where we place it. This time I think we found the perfect way - on the back side of paper plates. I will be picking up some smaller ones just for this purpose.

We did refresh the dots a couple of times, they do eventually dry out. The good thing is the ants take the bait back to the nest and they all die.

Saturday we headed out on the motorcycle for a ride, it was a gorgeous day. I hadn't been out since my eye surgery and found I still had some issue with the wind getting under my helmet shield and Fitover sunglasses. I solved that by taking off my glasses and just wearing the Fitovers which put them closer to my face and kept the wind from coming in from underneath. We rode to Rock Hall where we enjoyed browsing a couple of shops and, oh yeah, having ICE CREAM!

We have another couple of busy weeks ahead. Today is a home day - laundry and chores. Tomorrow is an early morning doctor visit for us both (primary care). Don't expect anything out of the norm but always happy to get it out of the way. Since Stu has to be fasting for his blood work, we'll enjoy breakfast out - somewhere.

Wednesday Stu will get to go to a retiree luncheon with his firefighter buddies. He rarely gets to these monthly gatherings so I know he'll enjoy it. Thursday he has a dermatologist appointment, we'll catch a movie (maybe "Wonder Woman") and then dinner with our Thursday night friends (no, they aren't friends just on Thursday nights...LOL).

Friday I start my eye drops in my right eye in preparation for getting the cataract removed from my right eye. We have no idea what my vision will end up due to the extreme nearsightedness in that eye. The ophthalmologist has already tweaked the prescription for the lens twice, in hopes of a better result. Me? I'll be thrilled if it's 20/60 like my left eye was at one week post-surgery.

Saturday is Waverly's birthday party - she'll be three. (Eeek! We need to start making plans for Disney next year.) It's a troll themed party and Waverly can't make up her mind on what hat/hairband to wear. LOL!

Monday is my surgery, Tuesday is my first check-up. That means a quiet week since I now know from experience how tired I will be. No exertion or lifting restrictions back in place and after giving up the eye patch for the first time last night, it will be back in place. So glad I figured out the eye mask solution...it works much better and saved my face from the irritation from the tape.

Right now we plan to leave here on Sunday, June 25th which will be two weeks after my second surgery. I should be fine to drive without glasses but will definitely be using readers for the close things. But as always, plans are set in jello!

Ciao for now!

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Also available at iBookstorekobo, Barnes&Noble

Ciao for now!

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