You know that the birds in the yard are a big part of our lives. Well, we discovered a new one. For about three weeks we've been enjoying (and taking pictures of) a little yellowish bird that we thought was a goldfinch in its winter feathers. Then on a blog about birding that I follow, I saw a video of a Red Crested Kinglet. It looked just like the little bird we had been looking at except that under the smooth feathers on the top of its head were bright red feathers that he would flash every once in a while. I thought that was a little strange that they looked so much alike. Then about two days after I saw the video, the little bird in our yard flipped its tiny red feathers at us. We got so excited, but then I found out they are only here for the winter. I guess we'll just have to enjoy them while we can, right?

Neti-pot

Have you ever heard of a Neti-pot? Look it up if you haven't. Pen had to get one for Nick yesterday. He has a sinus infection + the ever present asthma. I'm going to copy two emails she sent last night after "they" (meaning him) used it, except I guess she tried it also.
"For Sale: One Neti-pot with 49 packets of sinus rinse."

When I asked her what happened, this was her response:
"It kind of feels like a controlled drowning:-)
Nick did it! But somehow he got some down his throat. He coughed it up and it was okay. He was laughing and smiling... like a nervous almost hysterical laugh. I said, "Let's do it again" and he got a funny look on his face like NO WAY. And really not a whole lot of "stuff" came out."


As soon as I saw what it was, I could have told her what the results would be! But she has gotten him to do some pretty yuky things in his young life. I'm truly impressed with the way he usually takes his medicine.

Good morning

Again, I'm just posting this review for a while because I like the pictures I used, and so you can see how important I am to the catalog ordering world!

My Review of Only Necessities™ Petite Woven crinkle cotton bigshirt

Originally submitted at OneStopPlus

Both of these pictures were taken at political rallies in Austin. The first one is with my husband and oldest grandson (who is president of the UDems on the UT campus), and the second one is with my oldest granddaughter on the UT campus. As I said, "I have that shirt in every color."

Woven crinkle cotton bigshirt in more sizes &colors. A flattering, easy-to-wear favorite by Only Necessities® with dyed-to-match buttons, patch pockets, shirttail hem. Machine wash. Imported. 28" long.

Sizes:
M(14W-16W), L(18W-20W), 1X(22W-24W), 2X(26W-28W),...

Only Necessities™ Petite Woven crinkle cotton bigshirt

One in every color

By mawmawpurple from Austin, Texas on 1/13/2009

5 out of 5

Sorry

I've already apologized to the other person who reads this, so I guess I can continue posting but with less whining. Again, I blame Meredith for the last post.

Today I face the day with new hope...Ok, ok, ok, maybe not "new hope", but at least with a "maybe this will be a better day". Absolutely nothing hurts right now, YAY! And that's enough about that!

Yesterday the boys, Nick 5 and Jake 8, came over after school so their mom could get some planning done in her classroom. It USED to be that they wanted to come over to talk and play cards with us. Now, they barely get in the truck before they start talking about going to play with Tommy, Big Nick (We add Big because of our Nick. Tommy and Big Nick are both in Pen's class at school - 4th grade), Joseph, Jonathan, and Nathan. All of these little boys live within a block of our house.

After about an hour, most of the boys had to go in and do homework, so Jake and Nick came home and visited with Jimmy and me in the back yard. Nick wanted us to video Jake and him. We had a big time videoing them making animal noises. I tried to download it, but I guess it was too big.

It's now 1:54 am, and yesterday was my best day since the shot...YAY, again!

Good Morning

Today I got a 4th cortisone shot in my spine for a condition called spondylolistheses. I haven't learned how to pronounce it, in fact, I just learned what it's called. ANYway, the doctors always tell you to monitor your blood sugar (if you're diabetic, and I am) and to call your doctor if it goes up.

Since it never has, I have forgotten what's too high. I couldn't sleep tonight, so about an hour ago I took it. It was 233. Ok, now what? I looked through all of the info they gave me, and all I could find is "if it gets too high". Now, I didn't want to wake up my doctor for no reason, so I called the All Night Nurses that my clinic has. Guess what, they now have a switch board for the nurses. Long story short, I woke up a nurse instead of a doctor. I now wish I had called the doctor. At least they make a lot of money and should to have to wake up during the night for a patient. Sorry nurse.

Now after all of this I need to go to sleep, take it again when I wake up, and call the doctor it it's above 300.

Wow, what a neat entry. Luckily no one reads it except Meredith. Sorry, Meredith, but you're the one who griped at me for not writing anything for a while. This will teach you to encourage me!

The after Christmas blahs

Here it is the Sunday after the big day, I haven't seen any of our girls and their families since yesterday morning. That's when the Prathers came to pick up Julia, who had spent the night with us. But since then, no one!

This is after three days of non-stop family. We started Christmas Eve with the Clarks at the Prathers where we enjoyed Darrell's enchilada casserole. Then we met at the Talaricos to open presents. The next morning it was back over to the Talaricos for Christmas brunch of egg and sausage casserole and sticky buns. Now that was two days of goooooood eatin' and goooooood fun! The next day it was back to the Prathers to enjoy some N. Carolina BBQ that one of Darrell's clients sends him every year. Again, yum.

Now after all of that, no one invited us for a meal all day yesterday (well, HJ did bring me two Dunkin chocolate filled donuts when she picked up Julia) or today. That meant that today Jimmy and I had to eat the leftovers that we had from yesterday's lunch at Chedders.

Oh wait, I forgot to mention that it was Madeleine's birthday on Christmas day, so after brunch, we helped her celebrate (and eat her "cake" that was actually Scotch-a-roos shaped in an 18 and covered with chocolate icing).

Ok, ok, ok. I'm just kidding about the blahs but not about the fun and good food that we both enjoyed with the girls and their families. We have three daughters, three sons in law, and 7 grandchildren, ages 5 to 19. Now that's a great family!