My wild garden

My garden is desperately overgrown. The grasses have invaded the beds and the vegetables need picking. I might add that is is had been over 100 degrees for weeks now and the only time to be doing yard work is in the early morning or evening.

The wildlife seems to like it though. This morning two cardinals were playing among the weeds. I wonder what they are finding to eat but it looked like they were chasing bugs. They are fun to watch as they dart in and out of the overgrown roses.

The rabbits snack in the evening and early morning too. They venture in to the yard when they know the dogs are in the house. We have such fat bunnies. I can't help but think it is too bad that we don't eat them. I can't imagine skinning them but I am sure I would not mind trying them.

Come Fall I will take my tiller and stir up the earth. I will add horse manure to try and enrich the clay based soil. I will wait until the rains come again to pull the weeds. They will be huge by that time and I hope they do not seed. My plan will be to forget the plants I love. I will try to be more practical and put more natives in. My rock rose is doing so well I should put more of that in. I will keep my antique roses but I am going to try and fill the garden with natives so the weeds cannot sneak in again. Functional and beautiful. That is my aim. I wish in these past three weeks I had been able to weed or do yard work. I feel so very useless.

No Pain Meds=No Sleep

It has been three days with out pain meds. I have been taking the super strength Ibufrofen but that honestly has not been making much difference. I was taking hydrocondone. It helped me sleep, that's about it. It dulled the pain enough to sleep.

I ran out so I called the pharmacy for a refill. They are supposed to fax it to my doctor. I called the doctor to let them know it was coming. I called the pharmacy to see if they had faxed it, nope but they would do it right away. It was too late in the day to call the doctor back. The next day, I called the pharmacy to see if the doctor responded. NO. I called the doctor and they said they didn't get a fax. I got a call from the doc's office who asked me if I had made an appointment with a back specialist. " I asked you for names of specialists and physical therapists last week," I told them.

" You did?" they seemed surprised. " Well make an appointment with the back specialist we recommend and we will take care of the pain meds. Call us back to let us know when your appointment is."

So, frustrated and annoyed I call the back doctor. I have to pay out of pocket because they do not take me insurance. If I submit the bill my insurance will pay 80% though. I make the appointment. I call my doctor back and let them know I made it. They assure me they will take care of the prescription.

I call the pharmacy. Nope, they have not heard from my doctor. Doctor's office has not heard from the pharmacy. This is getting insane. I have given up. I am currently self medicating with Jack Daniels before bed. It is not as effective but at least I can get a few hours of sleep.

I am going to give it one last try today at the pharmacy and if the prescription is not there, I am canceling the very expensive back doctor appointment that I feel blackmailed into making anyway. I HAVE been seeing the chiropractor who is a back specialist as well. He has never failed me in the 8 or so years I have been seeing him. I hate being in pain but what I hate more is feeling like I am not being taken seriously or listened to.

I hope I can get a good long nap today.

Some planet must be in retrograde

This has been a tough summer for most of my friends. Injuries to humans and pets, money troubles, not getting "sure-thing" jobs, break-ups and fights. Something powerful be in retrograde. I thought perhaps Saturn but on further inspection, I saw that is is actually Neptune and Pluto. But Saturn is the big nasty planet according to astrological sources. I do wish I had an idea.

Who knows? I am an Aries with a Cancer moon. That give me my domestic edge. Rising sign is Leo which I would think would give me strength and self confidence. My other match-ups are Venus/Aries, Mercury/Aries, Mars/Virgo, Jupiter/Taurus, Saturn/Pisces, Uranus/Virgo, Neptune/Scorpio and Pluto/Virgo. Now really, I have no idea what any of that means. If anyone has a clue, I would love enlightenment.

View from the couch...squash bug is finally off the screen on the porch. No grasshoppers either. I think our fat lizards are getting some good eats. The lemon trees are thriving on the porch since I remember to water them there and the grasshoppers cannot eat the leaves. I had to wipe all the scale off the lime tree. That seems to have revived it a little bit. Someday I would like to plant them outside but for now I htink the pots are best.

I did see one of our roadrunners with a snake in his mouth yesterday morning. I hope it was a copperhead baby not a simple garden snake. I have not seen any deer lately. Wonder if the neighborhood cougar has been eating them or if they simply at staying closer to the river.

The grass is crunchy. I am having my sister move the sprinkler around the trees so they can have a drink. I am worried that the foundation of the house is going to crack with how dry it has been, especially the new addition. Even the sprinklers don't seem to be putting out as much water as I thought would keep the lawn green. I wish I could check them all but that is a bit too much mobility for me at this point, our garage where the controls are is like an obstacle course. More on the garage later....I shudder thinking about it.

The "Miss It" list

Things I miss since I have been limited by the horse fall.
1. driving
2. wrestling with my kid
3. riding my horse
4. gardening
5. mowing the lawn (yes I really like to do it)
6. baking
7. going to work for the whole day and being able to laugh at daily B.S.
8. sleeping 8 hours straight
9. the tough workouts with Minna at the gym
10. climbing at the gym
11. grocery shopping
12. drinking (my drugs and alcohol do not mix very well)
13. sitting down to eat dinner at the table
14. deciding to tackle any home project at the spur of the moment
15. taking the kid do day care and picking him up

I guess the universe was telling me I need to slow down and take a closer look at a few things in my life. Things I don't see or don't want to see when I am moving 100mph. I am going to have a few things to tackle when I am well. I wonder, will I? Or will I just get going again and ignore the problems I should be fixing.

Things I have enjoyed about the injury:
1. seeing friends and my sister
2. reading
3. naps
4. less responsibility

Slow Recovery

I gotta say, this has been the slowest recovery for me EVER. Yesterday at the chiropractor, we discovered another injury while trying to make an adjustment. Seems I likely tore my cartilage away from my sternum. OW! I thought it was muscle strain. This means no horse riding for at least 2 months while it heals. If I am patient and heal correctly, I can enjoy pain free riding in the future. The set back was depressing though. Then i went to the gym and worked with Minna on the power plate. People swear they recover from injuries twice a quickly when they use it so I am going to make it work. Minna has another client recovering from a car wreck that happened the day before my accident. I am hoping she get us doing rehab together.

I worked for about 4 hours and was very tired. I think the issue there is that I cannot lay down and work. There is just standing and sitting with walking as a break in the two. It makes me very stiff. The whole work thing is good for my brain though and I like being back in the action. I am just pitifully slow.

My sister Suzanne got in last evening to help out this week. I am so happy. I keep getting a vibe from husband that he is angry with me for having the accident and if he ignores it, it will somehow go away. I am sort of glad he left this a.m. even though our 9 year anniversary is on Thursday. Oh well, life with a self employed, traveling man.

Single Parenting with an Injury

Yesterday began easy enough. Terri stopped by to bring me horse feed and I asked her to leave her son at the house to play with the kiddo. She asked me if I was up for it and I thought yes because they play well together.

Those two little rambunctious dudes..... they were running around having fun. I laid down in the next room to read a book. They come running in saying " Look! We look like the domination puppies (translation: the Dalmation puppies)." They did in fact have little dark spots all over their faces, arms and shirts. Seems they had been shaking their sippy cups of chocolate milk and this was the result. I had to laugh but decided that I should be with them at all times.

Made the boys funny face sandwiches for lunch. They picked off the good stuff and decided yogurt would be much better. Terri came back and finished up the rest of te sandwiches, which were by now, peanut butter on bread.

Later in the afternoon, I tried driving. Kiddo and I went to a neighbor Karen's to play with her son and another hellion from the 'hood. I basically sat in the Lazy Boy watching the kids play. Then everyone wanted to go outside. I sat in the 100 degree shade in a zero gravity recliner which was heaven for my back. I actually ordered one later that night! Karen's husband made wicked cosmo's and since I had not had drugs since the am, I decided to partake. I must say it was a very relaxing afternoon as other neighbor's came by and hung out. We watched the boys play in the pool with Karen's husband. That part of the hood is very social and easy going. We begged off dinner and went home. Driving was a bit more painful. I was followed home by John B, the neighborhood handy at everything guy, whose wife is out of town. He had kiddo's friends in his golf cart and brought the stuff I didn't feel up to carrying.

Maybe the day was too much for him but the meltdown began when I told him it was time for bed. He wanted to sleep in our bed. N - O! is always my answer. Being physically unable to carry him from our room to his like I normally would, I turned off all the lights and the TV. He turned the TV back on because he wanted to watch more Noggin. This went on a few times before I got the remote and put on the weather radar.

He cried more and would not go into either one of his TWO rooms. He has his play room with his old Thomas the Tank Engine toddler bed and his new bedroom with a double bed converted from his crib. I began taking way things..no going to swim at Nathan's tomorrow was the big one. Finally, I had to threaten to spank. "If you are not on your way to your room by the time I count to 3.." He just lay there crying. I could not physically move him.

One...Two....Three....Spank! Not hard but since I have not done it before, it was shocking and he ran into his room. By this time it was past my bedtime too. I got him in bed and lay down with him. He wanted me to go. "OK, when you lay down properly, I'll go." No he wanted me to stay. "OK, when you lay down with your head on the pillow, I'll stay." He snuggled with his leg across me as if to ensure I would be staying. He fell sleep in 10 minutes.

I wish I could have said the same for me. I could not get comfortable in my bed. He put his little toddler curse on it I think.

Today began as badly as it ended. He ate a frozen fruit bar for breakfast when I said no. Begged for cream of wheat and ate 4 bites old me he was full then wanted an Oreo. When I said no, he went to the pantry found the very old box of them and took the last one. I took the box and threw it away. Tried to get the cookie but he was too fast. I waited until he sat down to eat it. Then I took it away and gave it to the dog. More crying, more time out...I walked to get the newspaper and when I came back he was on the porch telling me he was sorry. He tried to be good the rest of the day.

So did he get to go swimming at Nathan's? Well no. But I needed some quiet time so badly, that Terri came up and got him. He'll get some energy out and I can have a healing nap.

By the Light of the Slivery Moon

I am jolted awake by the deep and throaty bark of Gatsby. I wait for him to finish and choose not to open my eyes yet. His bark is followed by the shrill and urgent bark of Daisy. She barks like a machine gun fires....aah raw raw raw raw raw! I think that if it were a prowler, they would surely be detered by now so I stay in bed but peep at the clock.

3:14am.

I hear the long nails come clickity clacking down the hall toward the guest room where I am trying to sleep. I feel a long nose snuffling me and reach my hand out to find Gatsby. I pet him and he slams his paw on my arm to prove he is the boss. I pull my hand away. He goes to the other side of the bed and jumps up. Please don't step on me, I think drowsily. He settles in, his back providing support for mine. Feels good. Feels good until he jumps up and gets excited about something he sees, dancing all over me and the bed. Daisy starts up again too.
Surrendering, I get up and let them out. I suspect they are going to chase something, perhaps kill something. They dash out the door like their tails are on fire. The just can't get out fast enough.

I go get more meds. They need to be taken with food so I grab a hand full of fruity cheerios in the dark, mix up some chocolate milk. After I take the meds and down my snack, I go to let the dogs in. I open the door and listen. I hear a nasty crunching sound, shut the door and go lay down for a bit. They will be occupied for awhile I think. I drift off on the sofa until I hear them barking again. Now 3:30 am or so, I think I better get them in before my crazy neighbor, who lives a mile or so away comes over with his gun.

Knowing they were into something. I let them in to the mudroom. They both come panting in. I turn on the light to give them water. Daisy has blood on her paws, and on her mouth. I am too sore and tired to see if it it hers or the unfortunate prey. I go back to sleep on the couch and fall into a deep sleep dreaming of adopting a pregnant dog who looks like Daisy.

I take a peek in the morning and see that this was armadillo #3. Mark across the street was kind enough to move it out of smells way this morning.