Tidbits

I have been a pretty neglectful blogger lately haven't I? No excuses really, but it may or may not have something to do with the 1,268 miles I put on Oscar the last two weeks. heehee

We even sleep in it:

I kid, I kid. 

We were testing out how comfortable the seats were in a fully reclined position.  I am happy to report that it is very comfortable and I am sure we could catch a nap at a rest stop on a long trip if necessary. It really is a neat car Tadpoles. I just love it.

We have been to Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and Gordonsville Virginia.  We also drove 180 miles round trip Saturday night to Cockeysville, MD during a storm so severe it knocked out power along most of the route.  We even lost power before we left.  Ever tried to style your hair in the dark? :D

It was for a very dear friend's wedding.  All I can say he really IS one of dearest friends and thank goodness for GPS.  GPS is so cool. I am so glad it is feature on Oscar. I have never had it before but it sure does give me [and Pooldad] peace of mind that it is there.  And hands free calling is fun!  When I voice activate it and call Pooldad he answers the phone with a different greeting each time.  Yesterday when I called he said "Thank you for choosing Burger King. Would you like fries or onion rings with your meal today."  Never a dull moment.  I can't wait to see how he does tomorrow.  Heck, I drive around just to call him for a giggle. ::wink::

So yes, busy, busy.

A week ago I was "hired" for my first paid job baking.  How exciting is that?  I put "hired" in quotes because it was our next door neighbor who asked me to make 32 cupcakes for her son's football team.  I had given her one on her birthday and she liked it so much she said she would pay me to do it for her.  I told her I didn't want to be paid but she could pay for the supplies.  She loved what I did so much she paid me $40!!! For a couple dozen cupcakes. WOO HOO!

Even better - I had found a baker's rack on Craigslist earlier in the week and we had made an appointment to go see it the same night I delivered the cupcakes.  The woman selling it said she had forgotten to mention they only took cash so she would cut the price to .....::drumroll::  $40!!!

TA-DA!

I had been searching for one for a long time.  I really needed it because I have so much baking STUFF and every time someone cleaned the kitchen I would have to search high and low for different utensils.  And all the different flavors, flours, oils - I REALLLLLY needed something like this - and this one is perfect.  It is solid iron and it is soldered not screwed together so it is really sturdy and of nice quality.  I am kind of proud of myself for being able to pay my own money for something I wanted and needed without dipping into savings or bill money.  I know that sounds goofy to a lot of you, but I have been so unproductive for so long I have to keep from pinching myself that I actually DID that.  YAY!

Also, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all the great wishes on my pain free days. :D  I could feel your smiles from here. [You don't think being free of pain and mobile has anything to do with me being away from blogging do you? Naaaah! giggle]  When the doctor prescribed the meds he also ordered a oodles of blood tests.  We received the results on Friday and thankfully it ruled out a lot of things [Lyme and West Nile for example] and my blood counts for the things we monitor closely every month are looking better than ever, YIPPEE!, but [always a but, always] my Rheumatoid Factor is 4x what it is considered normal.  It explains so much [the pain, the inability to sleep, etc.] but it doesn't explain why they didn't test for this before, especially considering my other health concerns.  Thank goodness I now have a doctor that is on the ball and actually listens. I am going to a new rheumatologist this week. She was referred by my doctor so I hope she is better than some of the others I have been treated by in the past.  Y'know - I betcha' that someone, somewhere has tested me for Rheumatoid Arthritis but those results got buried or forgotten under the piles of everything else.  Ah well-the condition may/might/will/is supposed to get worse, but at least now it has a name and a plan of treatment that may/might/is supposed to/I hope will enable me to improve my "quality of life". YAY! [Doesn't "quality of life" sound so serious? It does to me.]  It's all good Tadpoles. ALL GOOD!

Hey!  Speaking of Tadpoles - we had a visitor at dinner tonight that made me think of y'all.  I am so sorry I didn't get a pic' because it was the absolute smallest green frog we have ever seen.  He just hopped in through the back door to say hi!  Which was weird because our back door is off our stairless deck on the SECOND floor of our home. heehee  Forget the deck and no stairs for a minute, I couldn't figure out how he made it over the threshold on the back door. He was smaller than a quarter and barely bigger than a nickel so we have no idea how he made it up there.  Wallene caught him and tossed him outside before the dog had a snack.  She is crazy for frogs. And I do mean CRAZY [the dog not Wallene :D]

I hope those are enough tidbits to entertain you until I get back here again.  I have made an effort to keep up on my reading and commenting on your blogs - so I AM still around - I just get too tired before I can get around to composing something here.

My eyelids are getting droopy, so I will say see ya' on the flipside and leave you with a picture trio from the wedding this weekend. Enjoy your week!

Hugs from the pond, Skippy