Observations from an Ozark Life

2011-11-07T09:35:00.001-06:00

2011-11-07T09:01:00.001-06:00

Surgery #19

2011-11-06T01:27:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-05T22:09:00.000-05:00

Presents

2011-02-02T11:47:00.001-06:00

Gifts of handmade soap for the surgeon and anaesthesiologist.

Cocooning

2011-02-02T11:45:00.000-06:00

Julius is hiding.

Surgery #18

2011-02-02T07:17:00.002-06:00

Off to children's hospital again for Julius. Looks like were down to twice a year. Great news! We thought we might be iced in today but it looks like the snow and ice has just passed us by and it will be smooth sailing on the road today.

On the water

2010-09-06T10:23:00.001-05:00

On the lake off the shore of Sugarloaf island.

Outhouse

2010-08-21T12:40:00.000-05:00

One of the reasons I love the country. This is just plain cool.

Running Again

2010-08-19T09:44:00.000-05:00

I'm running for a second term. Woohoooo! Dropping off my petition to
get on the ballot.

First Day of School

2010-08-19T09:43:00.001-05:00

Art Show

2010-08-13T18:29:00.000-05:00

At an art show. Stunning stuff!

Fun with the Doctor

2010-08-05T10:36:00.001-05:00

Scratch test at the allergy doctor. Too much fun!

Konked

2010-08-02T10:03:00.001-05:00

So sleepy from all the meds. Next door a child is screaming and
crying. I'm glad those days are over for us. I want to stick my head
in the door and say, "it seems bad now but believe me... It will all
be okay. Hang in there."

In Recovery

2010-08-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

Pudding is the magic cure-all. We will wait here for about an hour
then head out.

Gross Picture

2010-08-02T09:25:00.001-05:00

Avert your eyes if you are squeamish.

This is a "before" picture. I need to Google what normal vocal chords
look like so you can see the difference. Doc says he is maintaining
about the same. More vocal burden than airway issue. That's the good
news AND the bad news.

Waiting for Doc

2010-08-02T09:17:00.000-05:00

Surgery is done. Waiting for the doc to bring results.

Wheeling Away

2010-08-02T09:16:00.001-05:00

There goes my boy... Off for another surgery. I stood in the hall and
watched him wheel away. I'm sad but fine. It's weird to be both at the
same time but I am.

Sweet, Sweet Boy

2010-08-02T07:57:00.001-05:00

Meds Kicking In

2010-08-02T07:56:00.001-05:00

Meds are kicking in and he takes a snooze. The procedure is scheduled
to start in 30 min.

Video Game

2010-08-02T07:35:00.001-05:00

Thank you starlight starbright for providing video games for kids in
hospitals!

Dizzy Pill

2010-08-02T07:08:00.000-05:00

He just got his pre-med which he refers to as "the dizzy pill".

Dressing

2010-08-02T07:02:00.000-05:00

I can tell that soon he will no longer let me blog about him at the
hospital. Also he won't let me get in bed with him and have a nap. The
nurse said he is being selfish. I agree.

Blood Pressure

2010-08-02T06:58:00.001-05:00

My little "baby" is 4'6" and weighs 83 pounds. Holy cow!!!! When did
THAT happen?

Embarrassed

2010-08-02T06:53:00.000-05:00

I embarrass my son by taking a picture of him in front of Donnell, the
admissions guy.

Courtyard

2010-08-02T06:51:00.000-05:00

The courtyard looking down from the waiting room.

Going Up

2010-08-02T06:38:00.000-05:00

Giant baby

2010-08-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

When we come into the lobby there is a giant baby to greet is.

Sunrise and the Capitol

2010-08-02T06:25:00.001-05:00

I wish I could zoom in on this. The Capitol looms nearby but you can't
tell from this picture. We have arrived at the hospital.

Hitting the Road

2010-08-02T04:57:00.001-05:00

On the way to the hospital.

Are We Lost?

2010-07-31T18:21:00.001-05:00

Tristan tries to direct me via the map. A disaster, as you can imagine.

Surgery #17

2010-07-30T13:24:00.000-05:00

Surgery 17 is coming up on Monday. Progress will be reported here as usual. We made it seven months this time -- WOOHOOOOO!

Boys in the House

2010-07-26T07:56:00.000-05:00

This is how your house is decorated when you have boys.

Driving

2010-07-19T13:31:00.001-05:00

Julius and I were driving around getting pictures of houses today.

Learning Skills

2010-07-19T13:29:00.000-05:00

Julius is learning about sewing so he can be a self-sufficient
bachelor. He is a coaster-making machine.

Driving Through a Storm

2010-07-02T23:57:00.001-05:00

Driving through a storm in Texas. Crazy!

Fancy Gas

2010-07-02T16:53:00.000-05:00

They have fancy gas pumps in Texas.

Texas

2010-07-02T16:42:00.000-05:00

The Texas travel center rocks!

Car on Fire

2010-07-02T14:29:00.001-05:00

Girlie Socks

2010-06-26T16:52:00.000-05:00

Latest socks to be coming off the needles this weekend. They will be
sent off to the store for sale ($15). Proceeds are going toward a new
spinning wheel and a portion also goes toward philanthropic knitting
such as Knitting for Noggins and Warm Up America.

Learning to Fillet

2010-06-26T13:31:00.001-05:00

Grampa Kyle teaches Julius how to fillet catfish.

The Big Catch

2010-06-26T10:12:00.001-05:00

Julius caught two fish at the derby.

Fishing

2010-06-26T08:54:00.000-05:00

We're at the fishing derby at the summer festival. Julius has caught
two fish!

Current project

2010-06-18T08:58:00.001-05:00

Working on some arm warmers, custom job, in an adorable blue tweed.

My first thumb gusset... I totally rocked it. Go me!

Big moth

2010-06-15T11:03:00.000-05:00

I don't know what this thing is but it's HUGE. I wish you could see it
in context. It would easily cover the palm of my hand.

Five

2010-06-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

At Doctor

2010-06-15T10:46:00.001-05:00

We got smart finally and brought our own toys. Tristan is getting his
tonsils checked out. He stops breathing in his sleep so we are worried
about sleep apnea.

Groovy Baby

2010-06-14T15:46:00.000-05:00

2010-06-10T17:10:00.001-05:00

The boys are watching the bees work on the clover.

Blueberries

2010-06-05T21:13:00.001-05:00

Blueberries from the farmer's market. Yum...

Budget Gardening

2010-06-02T20:04:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when your gardener works for free. These poor
plants are dying in our lobby because nobody will put them in the
ground. And to top it off she stole my pepper plant. Moms... Can't
live with 'em, can't be born without 'em.

By the Side of the Road

2010-06-02T19:59:00.000-05:00

These lillies were by the side of the road where I was traveling
earlier today. I think it's wonderful that you can just drive down a
country road and find this kind of fabulousness that doesn't belong to
anyone but nature. To all of us, really.

Reading

2010-06-02T19:45:00.001-05:00

Hanging out by the pool in the paralytic heat, playing lifeguard for
the kids. They are making claims of recluse spiders with their babies,
bugs that bite andhorseflies. If it's that terrible, I don't
understand why they keep insisting on going in there.

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T09:54:00.000-05:00

This is the road in front of our veteran's memorial in town. Thanks to
all the soldiers here and gone who have served and still serve our
country despite hardship and sacrifice.

Semper Fi, Dad.

Flowers at the Roadside

2010-05-27T14:17:00.000-05:00

One of the things I love about living in Arkansas is all the cute
wildflower by the side of the road.

Welcome Home

2010-05-27T14:14:00.000-05:00

I think it would be so cool to live in a town named "Welcome Home".

Rain

2010-05-25T13:44:00.000-05:00

It's raining like crazy here!

Slow Crossing

2010-05-25T10:52:00.000-05:00

For some reason this sign cracked me up.

Old House

2010-05-25T10:47:00.000-05:00

A cool old leaning house.

Turtle

2010-05-25T10:42:00.000-05:00

Moved a turtle.

Down a country road

2010-05-25T10:41:00.000-05:00

Crazy Boy

2010-05-23T10:58:00.001-05:00

I found a cool app to make 4-panel action photos. So cool!

First Yarn

2010-05-22T17:18:00.000-05:00

Trying my hand at making yarn from wool roving. This is my first
batch. I'm waiting for it to dry. It's probably too little to do
anything with... I'm not sure what to do with it but really want to
try it out!

Back Home

2010-05-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

Back at the start!

We had a great turnout!

Shirley

2010-05-22T14:14:00.000-05:00

At the Red river store in Shirley I rolled another 15. One more roll
to go back at the start.

Detour

2010-05-22T13:34:00.000-05:00

I had to take a small detour to the Ozark Folk Center to get a drop
spindle and wool. Whee!

Mountain View

2010-05-22T12:35:00.000-05:00

At the Mountain view stop... Crummy roll of 15! Well the ride is
beautiful at least and Veterans are awesome and bikers against child
abuse rock!

Timbo

2010-05-22T12:10:00.000-05:00

Just finished my roll in timbo (18). Now on to Veteran's Memorial in
Mountain View.

Rushing

2010-05-22T11:48:00.000-05:00

Next stop... Timbo!

on the run

2010-05-22T11:13:00.000-05:00

Gassing up for the first leg of the run... Heading to Rushing AR.

CASA Dice Run

2010-05-22T10:55:00.000-05:00

I'm spending part of the day at the fundraiser to support CASA 20th
Judicial District. All money goes to support the efforts to help
abused and neglected children.

Diabetic Sock

2010-05-19T18:12:00.001-05:00

I'm making a set of socks to keep diabetic feet warm. I'm opening an Etsy shop too!

Hillbilly Wars, Day 1

2010-05-17T18:42:00.000-05:00

More about this at my main blog in a day or two.

CT Scan

2010-05-17T14:17:00.001-05:00

At hospital with mom getting a CT scan for kidney stones.

Waiting for the bouncy house

2010-05-15T20:56:00.001-05:00

We're at the Travs game in the playground. Tristan is waiting to get into the bouncy house.

Proud Parenting Moment

2010-05-04T14:28:00.001-05:00

Julius is doing his own blog post for the very first time. I might cry.

Crazy Socks

2010-05-01T15:46:00.001-05:00

The latest pair of socks I knitted. So cozy!!!!

Climbing the Walls

2010-04-26T10:50:00.001-05:00

We are at the doc's office. He is climbing the glass door.

Pinks and Irises

2010-04-26T08:06:00.001-05:00

The flower beds at my office need to be weeded. But today I will forgive them because the pinks and irises are in bloom.

Cooking Out

2010-04-13T19:01:00.001-05:00

We're hanging out in the woods cooking hot dogs. Nice fire, nice breeze. Life is good (except for that bug that just tried to fly up my nose).

Ham is Pork

2010-04-12T17:36:00.001-05:00

Is there anyone who doesn't knowthat ham is pork? Is it necessary to point it out?

Flowers for Mommy

2010-04-11T16:45:00.001-05:00

Julius picked me flowers yesterday.

Yummy

2010-04-11T16:41:00.001-05:00

This is part of dinner. Can't wait!

Please Go Away

2010-04-11T16:37:00.001-05:00

Tristan didn't want to be woken from his nap. He had the same disorder I had yesterday.

It's Spring

2010-04-11T16:36:00.001-05:00

Tulips are looking lovely!

Knitting in the Doc's Office

2010-04-09T14:04:00.001-05:00

They are an hour late and they wonder why my blood pressure is elevated...

White Flowers

2010-04-06T16:05:00.002-05:00

I have no idea what kind of flowers these are, but they were pretty enough that I couldn't resist stopping to take some pix!

Goose, Goose, Dodge

2010-04-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

Out taking pictures of a house by the river in Heber Springs. Great views of Sugarloaf in the front and lovely river in the back. When I stepped over the back of the hill I scared two geese and they scared me. Neither of us was expecting the other, I guess. They honked at me and gave me concerned looks. I have seen enough funny home videos to wonder if they were going to run after me and bite me. You'd think a grown person could take a goose down, but I know better.

Don't Look in This Hole

2010-04-02T12:39:00.000-05:00

You can see how well my boys follow instructions...

Sugarloaf

2010-03-31T13:21:00.000-05:00

Out taking pix. Great weather today!

Zeke Hatfield

2010-03-26T10:45:00.001-05:00

We're at Zeke Hatfield's ticket booth about to go in! We had an awesome game of Animal Vegetable Mineral on the drive up.

Road Trip Misery

2010-03-26T07:53:00.001-05:00

How come every time we go on a road trip Julius has this same horrible look on his face? We're about to head out to Branson to Silver Dollar City. Wooo!

The Big Blowout

2010-03-24T18:00:00.001-05:00

This is the condition my son was in when he came home. He doesn't seem to remember what happened.

More Kitties

2010-03-23T09:40:00.000-05:00

So sickening, I know!

Pile of Cats

2010-03-23T09:12:00.001-05:00

I'm at mom's house fixing her computer. This is what is sitting next to me.

Sprouting

2010-03-21T18:29:00.001-05:00

Trying to grow sprouts. I'm not sure these seeds are good, but can't hurt to try.

Work Day

2010-03-20T10:44:00.001-05:00

We're in the woods making a fire pit for the tiger cub scouts. Eating roasted dogs!

Yet Another Lunch Meeting

2010-03-19T12:53:00.001-05:00

I think if I have to go to one more lunch meeting I will explode. Can we just meet without eating something??

Old BBQ Joint

2010-03-15T13:51:00.000-05:00

This bbq joint has been around since I was a kid. They have a silly hillbilly menu.

Award For Julius

2010-03-14T16:21:00.000-05:00

Tonight Julius is getting an award for completing his basketball program.