I love, love, love to take naps.


When the kids are home for the summer, after lunch is quiet time. The Princess goes down for her nap, and the boys have to read for an hour in their bedrooms. I will go up and crawl into my bed, pull the covers and zonk out for about 2 hours. I wake up so refreshed and ready to finish the rest of the day. And the kids know that they had better not wake me up, because a cranky mama makes for a miserable afternoon!



When they are in school, I take my naps on the couch so that when The Princess wakes up, I will wake up as well. So they aren't quite as long as summer naps, but still refreshing.

Winter naps are the best. We get the afternoon sun in our family room, which sucks in the summer, but in the winter, after lunch, the sun is coming through the windows and makes it so cozy. I snuggle on the couch with a soft blanket and zonk out.

Sunday afternoon naps...ah, I love them! I lay on the couch in my front room and the house is quiet and church music is playing. It feels like heaven! Church at 1:00 really sucks because I don't get a nap. But church at 11:00 is the best because I can sleep in and still get a nap after church!
Last year when I was working afternoons, I really struggled because I never got to nap. Working in an office where it is quiet and trying to do taxes is not condusive to staying awake!
And napping outside, on a blanket in the shade, with a cool breeze blowing? Pure Ecstasy!

Do you like to nap? Where is your favorite spot?
Okay, so I am totally into this blogging thing. Maybe not always the writing part, but definitely the reading part. I am fascinated by everyone's lives. They are so much more interesting than mine!

But I was running into a problem. I now have 42 blogs that I read. And every morning (and afternoon, and sometimes evening) I would have to click on 42 links to see if anyone had posted anything new.

BUT!!!!!!

I discovered Google Reader! You set up a Google account, then enter the websites addresses and add them to your subscription. The reader will then look at every blog you have entered and list it if something new has been posted that you haven't read yet. It is so cool.

The websites that are private won't work, and there are a few others that don't, so I still have to click on those individually, but I am saving so much time! It is way awesome!

And if this is very confusing, call me and I will try to explain it better.
This is amazing! It makes my shoulder hurt even more watching it! lol

July 13, Sunday afternoon my arm started hurting so bad, specifically my shoulder. It was awful. Sleep was impossible.

Monday I went to work and just forced myself to keep going. When I got home, The Doctor took me right to the doctor. I was diagnosed with tendonitis, given Lortab, my arm put in a sling, and bound tight to my body, and I got an appointment to start physical therapy on Friday. It still killed the rest of the day and sleep was awful. I woke up every 45 minutes to shift to a new position.

Tuesday I didn’t work, just sat all day.

Wednesday I didn’t work, just sat all day.

Thursday I didn’t work, just sat all day, although it was starting to feel somewhat better, and I was sleeping in about 3 hour blocks. But my arm and underarm have the worst heat rash that itches so bad!

Friday I went to physical therapy. It was so painful. She taped my back so I had to sit up totally straight with my shoulders back and it hurts. I have to go twice next week. I then left The Doctor at home and I drove The Princess and The Teenager up to camping. I lasted about 2 hours before I left. I was really hurting. I left the kids and drove home and wasn’t sure I was going to make it. But I did.

By the time The Doctor got home, my shoulders and back were hurting so bad from the tape. I couldn’t get comfortable and I was just bawling. The Doctor took the tape off for me (we were supposed to wait until Sunday), and then I took a hot shower and then The Doctor iced it for me. I was then able to sleep a little.

Saturday I woke up at 4:30 and just couldn’t sleep. My shoulder was hurting so bad. I got up and got on the computer and updated my journal. Then I worked on my quarterlies for work. We bought a bunch of mangos last week and today I peeled them, sliced them up and bagged them. I froze them so we can make more mango ice cream. I did 32 mangos. I took it easy, I thought. Nope, I paid for doing too much. My shoulder hurt so bad. I just couldn’t sleep.

Sunday I think I got maybe 2 hours of sleep last night. It was horrible. Church was okay. I just kept my arm folded against my body so no one would bump it. I should have worn the sling…

When it was time to go to sleep, my bicep was cramping from holding my arm in the same position all day. It was awful. I couldn’t find any position to get comfortable in. I cried most of the night.

Monday night was horrible. I maybe got 2 hours of sleep again. I was so tired and I hurt so bad.
I went to work and got everything done that had to be done, and then I left after 2 hours. I just hurt so bad and I was so tired.

I took a nap and was actually able to sleep. That felt so good. I also concentrated on keeping my arm down by my side to keep the muscle stretched out and that really helped. So when it was time for bed, I took an Advil PM sample that I found in my medicine closet, which has a sleeping aid. And I went to sleep on the couch, sitting up, leaning on my good arm.

Tuesday, about halfway through the night, I woke up just sweating. I went up to the bedroom and climbed into bed, laid down on my good side, and guess what? I went to sleep and slept until 8:00 the next morning! It was awesome! I had physical therapy at 11:30 and she commented on how much better my posture was. She was really pleased with how my arm was moving. She put warm, moist heat on my shoulder, we went through some new exercises, and we ended with an ice pack and electrical stimulation. The Doctor bought some sleeping pills for me and I took one tonight. I crawled into bed and I was comfortable! It was great!

Today I slept in again! I love being able to sleep. I feel like a completely different person. I napped this afternoon. It was wonderful.

Such is the saga of my arm thus far. I hate being sick, or injured. I would rather be poor than have health problems.
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.
we aren't moving to wisconsin! we are staying here! i am very excited. i would be even more excited if my shoulder didn't hurt so bad. can't i just chop it off?
hurt shoulder.
tendonitis.
arm in sling til friday, then physical therapy.
typing with one hand long and tedious.
not fun.
Boise called.

They offered.

We declined.

Scary!
So, The Doctor has a definite job teaching high school in Ogden, and will work as an adjunct teaching college at Argosy University. With that and me still working, we could finally start to pay off our student loans (and you really don't want to know how much we owe, just trust me that it's way more than any of you owe!).

Last week he flew to Boise to interview for a State job. Great benefits, not so great pay. We would be making what we had been making here, but I wouldn't have to work.

Next week he flies to Wisconsin to interview with a job at Lakeland College that pays more than either job, and I wouldn't have to work. But we would be far away from family, and I just don't feel that it's time to move.

I'm not saying this to brag, but to ask for your prayers. After so many years of no options, to have 3 amazing options that we have to choose from is a little overwhelming. Granted the other two jobs haven't even been offered to us yet, but just for The Doctor to know that someone finally wants him (3 different someone's at that!) has been amazing for his ego, which has definitely taken a lot of hits over the last 3 years.

I will keep you updated!
How to Shower like a Woman
1. Take off the fourteen layers of clothing you put on this morning because there was a distinct chill in the air due to the temperature dropping below 73 degrees. Carefully fold and place in clothes hamper.

2. Walk to bathroom. If you see your husband along the way, cover up any exposed flesh immediately.

3. Look at your womanly physique in the mirror and stick out your gut so that you can complain and whine even more about how you're getting fat.

4. Position the shower nozzle away from you and turn on water.

5. Get in the shower, once you have found it through all that steam.

6. Look for face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.

7. Wash your hair once with Cucumber and Lamfrey shampoo with 83 added vitamins.

8. Wash your hair again with Cucumber and Lamfrey shampoo with 83 added vitamins.

9. Condition your hair with Cucumber and Lamfrey conditioner enhanced with natural crocus oil. Leave on hair for fifteen minutes.

10. Watch fallen hair accumulate on drain & fret.

11. Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub until red.

12. Wash entire rest of body with Ginger Nut and Jaffa Cake body wash.

13. Complain bitterly when you realize that your husband has once again been eating your Ginger Nut and Jaffa Cake body wash.

14. Rinse conditioner off hair (this takes at least fifteen minutes as you must make sure that it has all come off).

15. Shave armpits and evaluate if there is time left for legs.

16. Slick hair back and pretend you're like Bo Derek in 10.

17. Use pumice stone to soften rough spots on feet.

18. Use massage mitt to reduce cellulite on thighs.

19. Use nailbrush to clean toenails.

20. Scream loudly when your husband runs faucet and you get a rush of cold water.

21. Cover your entire body in baby oil.

22. Turn hot water on full and rinse off, making shower dangerously slippery for husband.

23. Dry with a towel the size of a small African country.

24. Check entire body for the remotest sign of a spot, or new hair in an uncommon place.

25. Apply body lotion from the neck down. Moisturize, Moisturize!

26. Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head. If you see your husband along the way, cover up any exposed flesh immediately, and then rush to bedroom.


How to Shower Like a Man
1. Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile on the floor.

2. Walk to bathroom wearing a towel. If you see your wife along the way, flash her.

3. Look at your manly physique in the mirror and suck in your gut to see if you have pecs.

4. Turn on the water, get jet blast in ear because you left on the shower nozzle yesterday.

5. Check for pecs again.

6. Get in the shower.

7. Don't bother to look for a washcloth. (You don't use one.)

8. Wash your face (not compulsory).

9. Whistle a few bars of the Irish Spring song.

10. Wash your armpits (not compulsory).

11. Wash your groin area (compulsory).

12. Wash your behind (eh, whatever...)

13. Cough up anything that might be lodged in the back of your throat, like a fur ball, cat, beer top.

14. Shampoo your hair with the blue bar of deodorant soap. (no need for conditioner).

15. Make a shampoo Mohawk. That's cool!

16. Open the door and look at yourself in the mirror.

17. Sample your wife's Ginger Nut and Jaffa Cake bodywash. Ummm..Nice!

18. Pee. (In the shower.)

19. Blow your right nostril.

20. Blow your left nostril.

21. Rinse off and get out of the shower.

22. Return to the bedroom wearing a towel, if you pass your wife, flash her.

23. Throw towel on floor.
A few years after The Doctor and I got married, we bought an ice cream maker. I love homemade ice cream. That is the only strawberry ice cream I will eat. We made ice cream all the time. I use my mom's recipe that doesn't use eggs and it is so simple and inexpensive to make.

After about 10 years, the ice cream maker died, and we didn't have the money at the time to replace it. So we went several years without one, and boy have I missed it.


So, last week, we were at Walmart and they had ice cream makers. Not the kind where you have to freeze the bowl, the real kind that you use rock salt with, like we used to have. I was so excited. We splurged and bought it. I had to buy frozen fruit, ice and half & half (we already had rock salt at home), but that was it. On to the fun.
Homemade Ice Cream

1/4 c. lemon juice
fruit
1 quart milk
2 c. sugar
1 c. half & half

Blend lemon juice and fruit in blender. (I have found that if I fill the blender with fruit, I get better flavor. Because it's frozen, I have to add the milk so that it blends well.) Combine everything in ice cream freezer and freeze.

That's it! So simple! I have made strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, and my new all-time favorite, mango! It is so yummy! It seriously tastes like you are eating a frozen mango. You have to try it.

Plus the fact that I used fat-free half & half, so this is fat free. Next time I make it, I am going to experiment using Splenda, to see if I can cut down on the calories.
...Whatever happened to the fruit that used to be at the bottom of yogurt? Remember, you had to stir it in yourself? I used to eat about 3/4 of the yogurt plain, and then stir in the fruit so it was really fruity. I loved it!

...Why are my fingernails so crappy? They are flat and soft and fingernail polish won't stick to them, no matter what. I love fake nails, but they are so expensive to maintain. I have decided that I will just have crappy nails the rest of my life.

...Why do swarms of ants appear on my sidewalk overnight?

...Why does lettuce grow so fast, but there isn't a tomato in sight yet? A salad with just lettuce is, well, just lettuce!
...Why am I sitting here blogging when I could be scrapbooking? I don't have any work to do, my scrapbook room is clean, and yet here I sit.