History of houses

When Hunnybunny and I got married, we moved into my two bedroom bungalow in Chattanooga.

It was built in 1958 and I think we paid 31K for it back in 1988, (that is, my ex-husband and I). Fast forward to 1998 when I got divorced: I kept the house with my two boys in it. I was barely getting by on my shipping clerk job at a ministry. Two bedrooms, galley kitchen, no heat source, an AC unit in the wal from 1969- you get the picture. The best thing it had to offer were the two 50 year old maple trees in the front yard. That made it pretty in the fall.
After Hunnybunny and I married in 2002, he moved into the bungalow with us. Crowded to say the least, but it was doable. 

 We added to our family in that house with the birth of The Dyl Pickle. But, life happens: Hunnybunny's job with the local FOX station ended, and we packed it up to move to Kentucky for his new gig. In television, you don't buy the house. So, for about 9 years, we rented this one. And we loved it! 1200 square feet, Hickory tree in the yard this time, and a less than perfect back yard, (all up hill). Finding we needed more room, we went on the hunt for another rental. Hunnybunny was now completely out of television, and I had recently become a nurse.

We find this gem 2 blocks away:1898 square feet! Oak tree in the front yard, super nice landlord, good neighborhood, good schools. And we stayed for 4 years. Hunnybunny was now in sales, working from home. I was still at the hospital I started at, The Dyl Pickle had gone through elementary school, middle school, and this year, had become a freshman. But we had always dreamed of having our own home. Now that moving out of Kentucky was off the table, we began house hunting. No easy feat as we were trying to stay within the high school district of Pickle. We met a wonderful young lady at an open house who was a buyer's real estate agent. She showed us a lot of houses, but we had found this one house in our neighborhood that we had visited the same day we met her: 1710 square feet.

It comes with a large kitchen, (yellow, so it will definitely needed new paint!) granite countertops, private backyard with lots of mature trees, deck, on a cul-de-sac that was within a cul-de-sac, so very little street traffic, and, of course, a tree in the front yard. I have been unable to determine what kind of tree.   So, we are moving here, and it's ours. This is Hunnybunny's first time as a homeowner. The Legal Adult has been helping me while Hunnybunny has been on the road. It's a split foyer, built in 1990.  4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, (they made the downstairs den a bedroom, so the Pickle is loving that he has his own bathroom.
I will keep you posted on improvements, because there will be a few.                                                                                                                           

Uninspired

That's how I have felt for awhile now....uninspired. It may be the fact that my age is showing. And it is really showing, y'all. I tend to wear the "I-don't-suffer-fools-gladly" face which the world calls something else. I won't bore you with that.  I remember when I had energy and drive to do things and meet people...and I don't anymore. Do you think as people we get to the point where enough is enough? We have heard all the stories, seen all the personalities, and nothing is truly new anymore. I can watch a sit-com that is new to air and determine where the plot line is going to go because I've seen it before. I had an acquaintance from work ask me how I could possibly be friends with a certain person since they are so much younger than I am. Simple: young people are not so complicated. They still have that eagerness and drive that most of us have lost long ago.  That is a very attractive quality and I miss seeing it in my own life. How does one capture lightning in a bottle again? I guess my first step is writing that I'm truly uninspired, and would like to be again. I've always handled bumps in the road by making a list--things to do, things I'd like to do, things I should do. Maybe I can start with that.

Until next time,

Jury

Quilting news and other stuff

I haven't really posted anything since my brother died, so I guess I'm getting back to normal. 
So, this is my new baby. I actually purchased her last year, but have had trouble making time to use her. She is a PFAFF Quilt Expression 4.2. Recently, I was asked by my quilt teacher/friend of many years why in the world would I pick a PFAFF when I could own a BERNINA? My answer was simple: I love it! Bernina is a great machine, no doubt. But I learned to sew on a HOBBY 1132, so I'm a little sentimental about PFAFF. Also, there is the affordability factor. I mean, for 5 grand, I could make a partial down-payment on a car, or a house.

I love the ease of use as well. Even for a novice like myself, I find that I don't have to work real hard at figuring out what to do to get the effect I want. 192 stitches! It's simply amazing! 

I'm working on a baby quilt that was entirely applique. Let me say it bluntly: not a good plan for me. Not only was I out of my league, I was using a new machine that I didn't fully understand how to use. Here's where I am with it:  

You'll notice that big, bunch of bananas. I'm ripping that out. I tried to make it look like a real bunch of bananas, but found it only confused people. In case you wondered, it's not my design. I bought it off of someone's Etsy shop. Her monkeys were alot bigger, even though I followed the pattern exactly. Won't be doing this again. 

I keep playing with the courthouse steps idea. I did one block that you see below. It was foundation pieced, which was very, very acurate. You'll have to forgive the material I used. I was trying to use scraps up.  This is what I hope to be making it look like without the blue center:

I got this badly taken picture from a television show from the 90's and thought how great would that look in my living room!  Anyway, that's about all I am doing sewing-wise. 

I started working out with a trainer recently. He's a very nice young man who is down to earth. I only started because I was tired of being sick and tired. My body strength was nil and my legs hurt constantly. Not a good thing for a nurse who is up on her feet for 12 hours at a time. He is putting me through my paces. And, of course, I'm hoping to lose weight, so I'm conferring with him on diet issues. 
Work is very busy, which is highly unusual this time of year. Our census is never maxed out in June, but it is this year for some reason. 27 patients is a lot of patients to keep content.

The Legal Adult moved out after having been with us for some time. He broke his leg last year, and now has a new apartment....again. I haven't written very much about him, but he has effectly made an old woman out of me this year by turning 31. 

Hollywood turns 21 in a week or so. He has an apartment across town, but has never invited me over except to pick him up to go somewhere. Hmmmmm......

The Dyl Pickle is 12 now and is sporting purple hair! Yeash......
But he is so very tall now, and he has grown men feet-size 12! Turns 13 and starts 8th grade in the fall. 

Hunnybunny is working for new company as the mid west sales rep. He just got back from Canada. Always happy to get back to southern cooking. We just celebrated number 14 Anniversary by heading to Hilton Head. It was very, very nice!

As for me, two more semesters of school and then I can sit for the NCLEX-RN. I am nearly as old as the teacher, but I like it. What I don't enjoy is going to school 4 days a week and then working every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, better get a shower so I can head to church. Later, y'all.......

The Top Ten Reasons I Hate Dealing with Grief

My brother JR died on April 28, 2015. I was heading into a restaurant, meeting my husband and his friends for dinner when I got a message from Facebook. "Aunt Z call me immediately". I went on to the table and showed Hunnybunny, excused myself to the sidewalk so I could hear. Then learned that my brother had died in his sleep. He went down for a nap and did not wake up.

 

I have no words for all that went through me after that. He raised me after my dad passed when I was no more than a year old. He had been sick this past year, and I had gone to see him in January when he was in rehab. Being a nurse actually helped because I was able to relate to my sister-in-law what was happening to him. JR rallied, came home, and talked to me on the phone the week before he died. It's just surreal....

 

I was called in to my supervisor's office yesterday. She was worried about me. I thought, "Had my work slacked?" but no, my work ethic wasn't in question. She just mentioned how tired and worried I looked. I told her I was having a hard time with JR's death. That same day, my attending doctor asked what was wrong. She hadn't heard about his death, and hugged me. Being a psychologist, she gave me some tools to start the actual grieving process. So, I sit before you today, blogging about what's going on in my head. Top ten lists are my typical way of using humor to make a point, I'm going to use them today to talk about my grief.

The Top Ten Reasons I Hate Dealing with Grief.

10. I don't feel like I have the right. My sister-in law was with my brother since they were 13. They were together almost 50 years. He was in my life consistently until I was 7. In comparison, there is no comparison.

 

9.   It shows up at unexpected and inconvenient times. So, I'm sitting there telling my sleep apnea doctor I didn't actually lose just 8 pounds, I lost 20. I put 12 back on after April. When she asked if anything happened, that's when I lost it. A complete stranger and I'm crying like an idiot.
 
8. My boys have never seen me like this. The Legal Adult is at a complete loss as to what to say, not say. He deals with my pain by not talking about it.
 
7.  My husband is trying to make me feel better.  Hunnybunny is the greatest. But he is trying way too hard to "fix my grief". Right now, I don't want to feel better. I just want to be.
 
6. Nothing seems as much fun anymore. I just don't have the will to do anything but work and come home. My birthday is this weekend, and I was asked what I wanted to do. NOTHING came to mind.
 
5. You wonder how much of this new attitude is grief and how much is just where you are in your life. Currently, I can't tell the difference. Am I just over 50 and "over it"? Or am I just grieving?
 
4. You begin letting your life fall apart. Goals you were working on just don't seem that important anymore. You let your health habits go because you don't see the point, you're going to die, anyway.
 
3. You become jealous of people who still have key members of their family. And as a result, you start harassing your significant other to call their family because they don't know how long they will have them.
 

 2. You beat yourself up for not going to see them more. Trips where you were in the same state during the holidays and you could have fought to go see them instead of your inlaws. One Christmas morning, however, I did leave and spent it with my brother. I will never apologize for wanting to go see my family.
 
1. You feel like an orphan. When my mom died, I had a taste of this. But when JR died, it came home full throttle. I've never felt like this, where I didn't feel like I had a family anymore.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biting the bullet

Oh, how true this is for me today. While I won't bore you with the saga of my knee problems, I will tell you that physical therapy helped me a lot. The idea was for me to get moving again and hopefully without as much pain. On the recommendation of my physical therapist, I decided to go somewhere I could start riding a bike. My misadventures with riding a bike on the road had me pretty fearful of trying again. So, I joined a local gym. It was a place I had been to previously and loved when I was 30 lbs lighter and swimming. I actually joined on the first of October but was afraid to try. My PT doctor essentially released me from his care and said to call him if I had any problems. Gee thanks....I just get used to this, and now you are leaving me. Anyway, today was the day. I put on my workout clothes and called down to Hunnybunny, "I'm headed to the gym," . "Okay, " he called back, trying hard not to sound very surprised. Believe me, I was surprised. Being a fat girl walking into a gym is very intimidating. But nontheless, I found a stationary bike that looked doable. It was complete with built-in fan, television, and computer system that kept track of my rpm's, heart rate, miles/distance traveled. Pretty snazzy. I ended up riding for 33 minutes with a distance of 4 miles. Not bad. I also tried the new and improved stairmaster and made it 2 flights of stairs. If you knew how bad my knee hurts, you would be impressed. 
Now I have to figure out how to do this: how many times a week, for how long and what to add. It will be interesting!

The Judge- A movie review

So, Hunnybunny took me to see Robert Downey, JR and Robert Duval in "The Judge".  I had seen the trailers, and loved just about every movie that they both were in. And truthfully, Tony Stark has done wonders for RDJ's career. The role helped him branch out as an actor. And it really shows in this film.

There are no spoilers here, so don't look for me to give anything away. The family dynamics are true to form. Robert Duval plays the perfect curmudgeon. Maybe you didn't know that the title of this blog pays homage to  my former life as paralegal. I did love the law, but lawyers were another story. They were fairly abusive and narcissistic. But courtroom theatrics were not the subject of this movie.

We get to see RDJ as a lawyer, dad, husband, son, and former resident of his hometown. So, while it would have been cool to see JUST the lawyer, the other roles were far more interesting.

Hank Palmer, (RDJ) also has to face his past demons, something RDJ has had plenty of experience with this past decade.  His dad, Judge Palmer, (Robert Duval) has his own problems which come to light while Hank Palmer has been home. 

My favorite line was "I have the work ethic of the Amish!" I think I'll be stealing that one in the future. 

Anyway, go see it and prove that we can enjoy a thinking, feeling movie just as much as a "shoot 'em up". It was awesome!

Beatles Quilt progress

So, here we are .....just five years later. Looks like the top is done. I keep thinking I will add another border or something, but honestly...I just want to get it quilted. The Legal Adult is absolutely thrilled. I guess he had just about given up on me. I bought black for the back of it, and I think I'm going to use colored thread in the bobbin to show up on the back. I just haven't figured it out yet. I have this cool dragonfly quilting stencil that I want to use on the back. Yeah, yeah....I know. Why don't I have musical notes or something like that. I don't know why, either. But anyway....

I wish I could find the motivation to want to more to this quilt, but I just don't have the energy for it. Truthfully, I am sick of working on this. I have a whole list of others I want to work on. Most people work on many simultaneously, but I have never been that organized. My goal for this year is to make at least 2 quilts. I've also been toying with the idea of getting a new machine. My dream has always been to have a Bernina.

But I'm having a hard time figuring out which machine to look into. Anybody have any ideas?

Not quite what I was expecting

Well, this is a pretty good duplicate of what happened with my knee. A complex tear of the medial meniscus was the diagnosis, but what I THOUGHT was they would do surgery. Uh, no...they said, I'm so sorry. But the tear is in a GOOD place and if we remove it, you will have bone on bone. I was so angry.  I just wanted this to be over with. The doctor is supposedly the very best in our area. Her bedside manner, not so much. I couldn't help that tears were rolling down my face after they told me. All she said was, " I know that's not what you wanted." (You think, Doc?) "And we are going to send you to physical therapy and see where we are after that." Lovely.
So, I have had 5 appointments now. And today the therapist informed me I have a dislocated tibia. He moved it back into place, which really hurt, by the way, and then, taped it. It feels much better right now. They are also using a PT therapy for the inflammation of the MCL/Medical Meniscus area called iontophoresis. They use electricity to drive drugs through the skin. The deal is the drug they use has to be ionizable (electrically charged).  Dexamethasone is the steroidal anti-inflammatory they use, and yeah, it hurts like a bunch of bee stings. Then it chills out, and begins to feel much better.  The therapist finishes with ultrasound therapy. And the jury is still out on what that is supposed to do, but they tell me it promotes healing.
While it is true that wasn't what I wanted to hear, I'm sure it's what needed to happen. My PT guy has told me to get more exercise, so Hunnybunny and I joined a gym. I'm really surprised he wants to work out with me, but I will take what I can get.

Time to get back to work

My hiatus from quilting is over. Nursing school is done, NCLEX-PN taken, and I am employed. So, it's time to go back to what I love to do....quilting!
Since I blogged last, we have moved to a bigger house. My quilting stuff is now in the garage with it's own workbench! Pretty cool! I finally finished fixing that purse that came back in my possession when the recipient broke up with my son. She had left it for me to fix, and then she broke up with him. Possession is 9/10 th's of the law in this case. So, I fixed it, and gave it to a very dear friend who loved it!

Anyway, it's a start. I have so many projects that are just waiting for me to finish. Such as the Legal Adult's Beatles quilt, and so many others I need to do something with. I did find that my machine had trouble as it had sat dormant for so long. Beyond just an occasional cub scout badge or fixing a button, it just didn't get used.
I am having to share the garage with Hollywood and his guitar stuff. But I don't mind, I'm just so happy he's home. Graduated this past June with honors!
The Dyl Pickle is a Weblos II cubscout now. He will cross over at the end of the school year. Working on his Arrow of Light with his buds, playing cello in the orchestra of his school, and just getting used to the fifth grade is what he is up to.

The Legal Adult has a new job, new apartment and most of the time, a new attitude. I don't get to see him as much as I'd like, but for awhile, I got to see him everyday. His apartment was 2 blocks from the hospital I work for and I used to get an hour for lunch. But now, we moved the hospital, and he works all the time, so there you go.
As for me, I work every other weekend, but so far, so good. You won't read anything about my job on here as I'd just as soon not lose my license. It's exhausting, but I like it so far.
Hunnybunny is doing well. He works for a new company out of Nashville, and they keep him on a plane every couple of weeks now. Incidentally, that part sucks. But I get to see him a lot during the week.
I'll try to keep up with your blogs a lot better, too. I have missed hearing about your lives.

Yeah, you can say it....I reek...

at blogging, currently anyway. My life has been all about school, and I never thought I'd be THAT person. You know, the one person who goes back to school, worries about school, whose whole life is school, and can't seem to have a life outside of school? Well, it's me. And I'm not liking that very much. I wrote to an old friend this week to ask her why she fell of the planet and realized, "Who am I to talk about anybody else falling off the planet?" This week, Hunnybunny had to go to Vegas for business, and I couldn't go with him due school. (Mine and The Pickle's). I had two tests, 2 quizzes, and 4 papers to complete by yesterday. Since Sunday, I may have gotten 20 hours sleep due to the aforementioned workload. I have about 9 days until I go into finals for this second semester, and have spent today getting ready for that last test in OB. Who knew having a baby was this complicated? If someone had told me this whole process in this kind of detail, I NEVER would have gone through with it....especially not 3 times. So many things could go wrong and it's not one life at stake, it's two. So I don't have any ambitions on being an OB nurse. During the midst of the chaos that it school, I got to see Hollywood. Here is his updated picture:

javascript:; It's okay, you can say it...he's beautiful, isn't he? Wearing a vintage tux to attend his junior prom. It's true what they say, "Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man!" I wish I could be down in Tennessee that night to see him off. He's going with friends, or solo, or whatever the term is now. If you say, "Stag" as we did in my day, it could mean something else. I try to keep current with all the slang, but there is slang out there I'd rather not know. Hunnybunny is doing well, and he keeps seeing parts of the United States and I don't have time to accompany him. Maybe we'll get around to Savannah, Georgia again. We haven't been back since our honeymoon almost 10 years ago, with the notorious "Wedding Virus" that sidelined my groom on the second day down there. The Legal Adult? Well, he's still the infamous L.A. you have come to know and love on these pages. His whole life has changed recently with the subtraction of one "Sweetthing" to the addition of another. And he knows how my memory is, so he was kind enough to find a girl with the EXACT SAME NAME as the last two girls he's dated for any length of time. So, practicing what I preach about agnostic dating, I lovingly refer to her as "Sweetthing the Third". Now, none of them are named "Sweetthing", I do that for privacy issues or in case one of them stumbles upon my humble blog. But I really do address her, "____________ the Third". It beats getting close to them and then they break up. He's also moving and moving the week before finals, so I'm out on helping him. I feel bad, but I can't blow this. Hopefully, I will be reporting soon that I have starting quilting again. Sigh...miss it so much. And all of you.

Happiness is a new Kirby!

 When my mother passed in 2003, she left me her Kirby 2000. Ever since, I have been a cheerleader for the company. Kirbys are like tanks. They can be a little cumbersome if you have to grace any steps, but otherwise, they now come with a "Drive" and "Neutral" feature. Most come with a ton of attachments, videos, instruction manuals and the like.  And they come with a mighty pricetag as well: upwards of $1500!
The Legal Adult has become very domestic of late. Apparently, it's not cool to have a dirty apartment anymore. And there are his allergies to consider. He bought a Bissel  from Wally World that ended up in pieces after only a few months. So, dear ole Mom has been lugging her machine over to his upstairs apartment, and up two flights of iron steps. (The things we do for our kids....sigh). Anyway, something inspired him to start looking for a used Kirby. Mom thought Craigslist, (the internet version of swapshop) might have something in his price range. And, sure enough, it did. Several, in fact. I found them and sent emails with L.A.'s  phone number. A seller called him, and he said he would think about it. In his head, it was just too good to be true. Then he left a message with her. She didn't call back, so he figured it was sold. Just as he was about to go with another seller, she called back. It turned out she lived a mile from my house! So, I picked it up and took it to him. Beautiful machine, all the attachments, manual, and even several bags and spot cleaners. He thinks he hit the lottery....but I know it was a God thing!

Things that have revolutionized my life....... lately

Now, before I even get started on this short list, please be aware that I am not receiving any compensation for telling you about it. These are only my discoveries, nothing more. Cool?

1. This is the Rubbermaid Reveal. It has a microfiber head that you can throw in your washer. No special fluid needed, just make up your own! With Snips and Fiona constantly underfoot with their muddy feet, this thing is a God send!One caveat: be sure you sweep really well BEFORE you use it. The dog hair tends to cling, making you have to change out the head.

2.  Keurig MINI Plus coffee maker. I have one credo that I live by: Life is far too short to drink old coffee. I used to have to drink my coffee in a hurry because I would make a whole pot and not want it to go bad. Now I don't have to hurry....one cup at a time! The drawback is that the cups are kind of pricey, almost $ .75 a cup. There is an attachment you can get to use your own coffee, but apparently, I haven't figured out the right amount to go in it yet.

3.  Betty Crocker Oven Liner. I recently chiseled, I mean cleaned out my oven and it took three days! My boys love a recipe of mine, Red Hot Apple Pie, which requires a 1/4 cup of red hots. You heat up candy and it bubbles to the bottom of the oven. Not anymore! I actually picked up the burned candy off the liner. It was so cool!

 

4. Redken Color Extend Shampoo. My hair is majorly coarse and hard to deal with. For years, I have been trying to use whatever I could find at the local grocery store. The results, not so good. I tried this on a whim, and my hair has never been happier! In the bottle shown, it can run as high as $15, but I get the huge bottle for $23 and it lasts me almost 3 months.