Our Dixie Chick

Last Monday our 5 year old cat's back legs all of a sudden seemed to become paralyzed.  They were sticking straight out and she was dragging herself across the floor with her front paws. I took her to the vet, they took x-rays but they couldn't see anything that could have caused that. This office just doing general practice did give me options of taking Dixie to other facilities where they can do better tests and possible surgery, but they were over an hour away and starting at $1600.00.   I opted to see what my local vet could do.  After 3 days, there was some improvement in one leg, but she couldn't control her bodily functions.  Two more days later, on a Saturday, we did finally bring her home because she did use her litter box in her cage. 
This is going to be quite an experience because Dixie loves looking out the windows.  We have some kind of perch at just about every window in the house, and now she won't be able to get up to them.
We also have a 2 story house so we need to shut the doors to the upstairs and the basement.  Unfortunately, the litter box has always been in the basement, so I bought a smaller one to use upstairs and that would fit in her little pop-up 'cage' we are going to use at night and when we leave the house.  One of the major concerns is that she doesn't get sores or rug burns from dragging herself around.
Oh, I forgot to mention that we also have another cat in the house, Lucy, that we have to open the door for her to the basement and make sure she doesn't pounce on Dixie.
Well, we got through our first night okay, and she didn't seem to mind the 'cage', sleeping downstairs by herself.   The real test will be Monday morning when  normal routines start.  I am home most of the time, with my part-time job, but Tuesday I will be working the election all day and I'm afraid Miss Dixie is not going to like being confined all day while Lucy roams around her.

Autumn

Autumn has arrived and harvest is in full swing.  With this summer's drought conditions yields certainly aren't very high for the corn that has been picked.  Soybeans may fair a little bit better, but still well below an average year.  Crop insurance may be expensive, but thank goodness for it!

I don't know if it's because I fell in love with a farmer, but Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love full moon, October nights riding in the combine with my hubby through the cornfields.  I may not do it as much as I did when we were first married, but that occasional 'date night' during harvest is needed time together.   I also now reflect on when our daughter was younger and would ride with her daddy for hours in the combine, occasionally even content enough to fall asleep.

My biggest challenge during this time is what to fix for meals to take to the field.  Hubby usually wants just a sandwich and drink but I always throw in chips and a snack.  He's kind of picky, so I basically just have to alternate between hamburgers, ham and sausage sandwiches.  Occasionally I can throw in hotdog, bologna, sub or even a pizza, but don't ever attempt a tuna or chicken salad sandwich.  I think he looks forward to not only getting harvest done before any winter weather comes in, but also looking forward to having a good sit-down hearty steak and potato meal. 

Iowa Trip

Twilight Riverboat

A friend had told me about a Mississippi Riverboat cruise that she and her husband had gone on that piqued my interest a little bit.  When she added that the Antique Archaeology store was in the town where you board the boat, I knew it was something we had to do.
My husband being a farmer, I was able to talk him into going on the boat ride so long as we go tour the John Deere combine factory while in the area.  So I booked our passage on the Twilight Riverboat that departed Le Claire, Iowa and headed north on the Mississippi river to Dubuque, Iowa.  The price included an overnight stay at the Grand Harbor Resort in Dubuque, then the next day heading back down south to Le Claire. 


Bridge outside the Grand Harbor Resort
in Dubuque

 

The cruise is about a 9 hour ride each day, so if you have a problem sitting still, it probably isn't for you.  My husband started complaining "What am I going to do for that long, stuck on a boat?"  I told him to sit back and relax, enjoy some down-time before it's time to start the rush of harvest.   Well, I made sure to have some magazines and puzzle books to do, but he never even touched them.  He was content to just sit and watch the scenery or go up to the top and bother the captain occasionally. 



The staff were all great and friendly, they served lunch and dinner and a snack in-between, played bingo and provided local musical talents.  We even enjoyed a cocktail or two from the bar on the 3rd deck. 

Getting back to Le Claire, I did not tell my husband that the American Pickers store was located there.  Happy to say I was able to keep that a surprise until we pulled into their parking lot. It is such a good feeling when you can surprise someone and they look so pleased or tickled.  Anyway, if you get the chance, Le Claire is a wonderful place to visit.  Besides the Pickers' store you'll want to check out the Mississippi River Distilling Co. and the Buffalo Bill Museum.   We had lunch at the Crane & Pelican cafe,   and a great pizza at Happy Joes. 

Since he held up his part of the bargain, we continued on our trip to Moline, Illinois and checked out the John Deere Pavilion and store, did the Harvestworks combine tour, then headed up to Waterloo, Iowa (last minute plans) to tour the Tractorworks plant. 




I think hubby enjoyed the whole trip and is relaxed and ready to tackle harvest.  Although with drought conditions this year, afraid there won't be much of a 'harvest' to enjoy any profit. 

Drive, Putt & Swing

The last Friday before school started,  I thought I would treat my nephews (ages 11 and 7) and niece (age 9) to lunch and something fun to do.  We went to a nearby city which is about a 25-30 min. drive and ate at Big Boy, a restaurant that they don't seem to frequent too often.  Oh my goodness, they picked at each other all the way there!  Made it seem like the longest ride EVER! I debated on whether to continue with the fun stuff, but they did behave in the restaurant. 
I took them to the local Putt-Putt center where they played a round of miniature golf, drove the go-karts around and took a couple of turns in the batting cages.  The youngest nephew was so excited because he could drive his own kart this time, whereas, 2 years ago he had to ride along with me.   He also was the only one to get a hole-in-one at putt-putt. 

I kind of liked the idea of putting them in the cage :)

All in all, I think they had a pretty good time and I must say even after all the bickering, that I did too.  I just hope the first day back at school isn't a fog day :)

Ok, well, it's been almost 3 months since my last post and had started that online training to improve my blog.  Yeah, you can see that didn't last long.  I never did like school.  Even now I wish I was smarter, and thought about taking some classes, but I just can't do that school thing again. 
I wasn't one of the popular girls, didn't make the cheerleading squad, didn't go out for sports, so I don't have many good memories.  I didn't have a lot of confidence then and I don't have a lot of confidence now. 
Dealing with issues lately of inferiority and invisibility and let me tell you that Facebook is probably not a good thing when you're feeling that way. 
Like when:
People don't show any recognition on your comments, but they do on all the other people that commented;
You notice friends 'liking' all kinds of status's and pictures, but never yours;
Your friend requests are ignored.
Now I live in a very small town, so I see these people that didn't accept my friend request, so it's very hard to even say hi or smile when I see them. 
I've stopped sending, but I also realize I'm not receiving any friend requests. 

What the hell is wrong with me?

Sorry to be such a depressive diva, but just not having a good day.

Blogging 101

This week I signed up with The SITS Girls http://www.thesitsgirls.com/ for a little online training to improve my blog.  After checking out some of the other blogs that signed on, I realized I have a lot more to learn than most do.  First thing I have to improve on is becoming a less boring person. 

Today I was finally able to get into the dirt and plant some flowers.  Normally I'm rushing to get plants in around the first week of June and hope by August the landscaping finally looks good.   But only working part-time now, I really have no excuse and I was actually itching to get started.  Just had to wait on some warm weather and no more frost advisories (fingers crossed). 

My husband was a pig farmer when I married him, so all my decor throughout the house and spilling out into the yard had to do with pigs or farming.  We've been out of the pig business for many years now and I have gotten rid of many of my pigs, but I do still have some I can't part with yet.  Hey, that sounds like another blog sometime!  I'll share my piggie pastime.

I'm not a crafty person, but I would really like to try my hand sprucing up the old deck and backyard this year.   One of my friends made the wine bottle hummingbird feeder that you see in the one picture and I just think that's adorable.  Why can't I think of stuff like that?  I think I will head on over to Pinterest right now and see what I can steal :)

Oh and one more picture of my rhododendron bush this year, the blooms are fantastic on it!  

Happy Planting!

One Woman's Trash.....

Every spring I have a big garage sale with my sisters and in-laws.  I love doing it, displaying items and being able to 'recycle' things.  I really hate just throwing things away when somebody, somewhere out there might be able to use them.  We are such a wasteful society now.  Although I'm not happy with myself after going through dresser drawers and realizing I have 2 sock drawers and some of them have been in there so long and are in bad shape.  How the heck did I end up with 2 sock drawers??

We have an old Hoosier cabinet that through the years we've thrown a lot of different things in its drawers.  I have NO idea what some of these wires and screws even go to anymore.  And those batteries must have been well hidden, because they have an expiration date of 2008!

While I go through drawers and boxes, I usually put in a dvd and this morning I'm watching the 6th season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm".  I think this show is giving me ulcers, but I just can't stop watching, lol.   Nobody can be that obnoxious, can they? 

Well, back to the business at hand.  I now have to get to one of the three t-shirt drawers. (yikes!)

Recipe Round-up

I used to work at a public library and had access to many cooking magazines and cookbooks.  Through the years I have acquired many copies of recipes to try.  Now that I am home more, I've started going through them and finally giving them a try.  Of course there are some that I wonder what I was hungry for when I copied them and I've thrown away, so my piles are dwindling down some.  As I try them I get a 'rating' from the DH and DD to decide whether to keep the recipe or not.  That rating is either an 'It's okay" or a crinkled up nose, which means 'don't fix that again'.

Last week I tried this slow cooker recipe and it turned out really well.  Expecially since the Nascar race was on and I didn't have to miss a whole lot of it when it came time for supper!

Slow-Cooker Steak

Appx. 3 potatoes, peeled & quartered
4-oz pkg. baby carrots
2 stalks diced celery
Chopped onion ( I only used about 1 Tbs., original called for 1 whole)
6 beef round steaks (I used really thin slices)
12-oz jar beef gravy
10-3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1/8 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Brown the round steaks in 1 Tbs. vegetable oil.  Meanwhile combine the vegetables and place in a slow cooker.  Arrange the steaks on top.  Mix the remaining ingredients together; pour over steaks, stirring to coat both the vegetables and the steaks.  Heat on low setting for 6-8 hours.   Serves 6.

Enjoy!

Paradise in the D.R.

That's the Dominican Republic, not at the Doctor's :)  My husband and I spent last week at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Punta Cana.  Lovely 80 degree weather, beautiful beach and all the food and drinks you want!  I am totally convinced that All-inclusive resorts are the way to enjoy a real vacation! 
This resort was HUGE with 9 pools and about 15 different places to eat. 

We got a daily walk in either just by walking the grounds of the resort or a long, leisurely stroll along the beach, which didn't feel like work at all :)  Great exercise with a wonderful view.  Now that I'm back on the treadmill, I close my eyes to picture the ocean, but I have to hold on to the bars or I'll start sliding off the treadmill.  Relaxation......
They put on a show one night called The Michael Jackson Show and the interpreter had the moves down and looked just like him, you would have sworn he was still alive.  We played putt-putt golf, hung out by the pools and drank many fruity concoctions. 
The airport in Punta Cana was a different experience.  All I can say is, it is a good thing it wasn't pouring down rain.  No jetways here.....

I was real disappointed in the casino though, it took my money :(

Motivational Meltdown

Well it has been almost 4 weeks since I started walking on the treadmill and the only thing that I have lost is my motivation.  I've walked one mile for at least 6 out of the 7 days and I don't notice any change in my size.  The scale is my worst enemy right now, because it doesn't believe in change, just can't deal with that. 
On a lighter side, no pun intended, this has been a week of early spring cleaning.  I have to start early because it takes me so long.   Working on the little things like ceiling fans and chandeliers and WOW it's so much brighter in here!  It has been quite awhile since I cleaned some of them. 
Had a great night out with 4 other couples last evening.  Such a laid back time with lots of laughs.  We really don't do that often enough.  I should add that to my resolutions, I think I can get motivated to go out to eat :)

Walking and Winning

Been busy listing some of the DD's name brand clothing on Ebay.  Specifically the ones that still have tags, because there is no way I'm going to be able to get much money for them at my garage sale.   The kicker is the shipping though.  Asking a starting bid of $2.50 for an American Eagle top still might not sell because shipping will be $5.00.  But dang they cost enough at the store! 
Started walking one mile on the treadmill daily (at least 6 days a week).  I hope to start increasing every 2 weeks.  I am being realistic in knowing that I won't lose my tummy before vacation, but I'll feel better about myself.  Even my husband has been walking daily since it has arrived.  (you remember, the one that I won at a tweet party!).

Won some great products this week on twitter and facebook.  Tubes of cream from Udderly Smooth http://www.uddercream.com/   and a sampler box of hot chocolate for the Keurig from Green Mountain Coffee https://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/GreenMountainCoffee

Time to get back to the housework, the dryer just called me ;)

It's Winter, It's Normal

Yay, TGIF! Although the weather reports a snowstorm coming in around 3:00 this afternoon and accumulating snow overnight of 3-6". The temperature when I got up this morning was 1 degree, brrrr! I have to keep reminding myself that I do live in northern Ohio and this is normal, but I don't have to like it.
On the up side, I am farther along with my year-end reports for both the township and our farm business, than I have ever been this time of year. Ready to get back into a normal daily routine, and also get started on some clearing out and de-cluttering. That was one of my resolutions this year.
I need to get started on an exercise routine also (another one of those resolutions)and I am eagerly waiting on a treadmill that I won from Sam's Club (http://www.samsclub.com) during a twitter party. UPS freight called just yesterday and will be delivering next week!
Well, time to go get some more work done so that I can make time to get back on twitter and win some more great prizes!!

Too Busy to Blog

Well, it's that time of year again. Being a fiscal officer and married to a farmer, January is a very busy month for me. There are many year-end reports to get filed and get things set up for the new year. My husband's partnership with his cousin brought more acreage and landlords into the picture, which entails many 1099's to get sent out. This family business is no Mom and Pop operation! Thankfully a lot of my work I do at home, so when a winter weather advisory is in effect, I can still get things done and not have to go outside in the yucky weather. (Well, until I have to go out to mail those 1099's).