Good day on the farm!

Finally, I was able to start the tiller (without having to call my brother), and till more of the garden. It was really hard work because it was still sort of wet and the tires don't help much with the self propelling! I got a lot done, but I am worn to a frazzel! Four more rows of corn are planted, okra is planted, and peas are planted. Dad had already planted the okra before I got there. My brother had started the tiller for him and he prepared one row before giving out. He cannot see well enough to plant, so there is no telling how the okra is planted. Bless his little heart though...he tries so hard.

Mom's pastor had brought her kale this morning, so she cooked kale and hot water cornbread for lunch. It was good. I never ate kale before, but it tasted just like turnip greens. Good!

Tonight we are going to eat catfish. Tomorrow I will be free and not obligated to anyone. Woohoo! It is supposed to rain again tomorrow, so that's why I was adamant about getting stuff in the ground today. The only thing I didn't get planted was my row of zinnias. We have sunflowers planted and I have a row all prepared for zinnias, but I ran out of steam!!!!

Guilt trip!

Very dear friends of the family have a son graduating tonight and he is valedictorian. I vowed many years ago that I would never go to another graduation. They are just so boring for everyone except the graduates and their families. Even my mom and dad, who are Big Mama and Paw Paw to this young man, are going. My brother is taking them because they wanted to go. I sent him a $50 bill. I hope that will suffice for my not attending his big night and hearing his valedictory address!!! I am, however, feeling guilty right about now!

I hate lizards!

OK...I'm a big ol' baby and I admit it, but I have lived here in a new home, on new ground, for 3+ years and I had my first lizard today.  Operative word here is HAD! He was in a window in my garage. I sprayed that little sucker with wasp spray trying to drown him. He thought it was a spa, I guess....unfazed! Finally, I got the broom and killed him. He's dead...but still on the window sill. I don't want to touch him! I can't help it...it's a phobia that also includes snakes and most anything that can move faster than me! These days....that's practically every living thing!! I know it's irrational so leave me alone!!!

Sweet day on the farm!

Mom cooked the potatoes, cornbread, and squash. I cooked the pork, which I did NOT like. It was one of those already seasoned ones from Sam's, but it had way too much garlic for my taste. In fact, I am throwing the rest of it away because I REALLY don't like it. After lunch my dad, my brother and I planted some sweet potatoes. My brother ordered 4 different varieties, so this is his project. It's still too wet to till the soil and plant the okra, but we did start to soak the okra seeds today, so we will be able to plant it later this week. No more rain is predicted.

WooHoo!

Worked in my WET yard today with the electric trimmer working over the azaleas. Didn't get finished because I kept switching to other jobs....perhaps a touch of ADD!!!!!! I'll finish it this week because I don't like unfinished projects.....ADD or obsessive compulsive!!!!

Tomorrow is the only day we can have lunch at Mom's, so I went to her house and dug some new potatoes out of the mud. My brother had already picked some squash. I have a pork loin marinating that I will cook tomorrow morning to take for lunch. Fresh vegies! YUM! The first ones from our garden. We still have more corn to plant and peas and okra, but it is still too wet to run the tiller. Brother has his sweet potatoes ready to plant as well. Have I mentioned how much I love growing my own vegies and especially how much I love eating them???????

Happy Mother's Day!

I went to my mom's church this morning to be with her on Mother's Day. It is painfully evident that very few more opportunities will be available for me to be with her on Mother's Day. She is so loved. Everyone in that church came and gave her a hug and told her Happy Mother's Day. She was the oldest mom there at age 84.

Good times revisited!

I got the coolest thing in the mail today. For several months now, I have been addicted to Facebook. Most of my friends on there are former students, but I have also re-connected with some college pals. One of them sent me a DVD that he had made from old 8mm film of us back when we were 21 and CRAZY! Of course, there is no sound and it is fuzzy, but so very interesting. Some of the people I don't even remember, but there  is some footage of when we were at Louisiana Tech and after we all moved to Lake Charles together and started our careers together. Good times!

Busy day!

The day was filled with familial duties, but it would have been a good day to catch up in my yard. Didn't happen. Had to take my mom to dinner on the grounds at the cemetery where all her family is and where the rest of us will be. I'm thinking that this will be a custom that I abandon after she is gone. I actually don't know anybody there and today even she didn't know many of them. The custom used to be that everyone would bring their hoes and rakes and clean the cemetery twice a year. Well, now it is all mowed, but people still come and bring a covered dish and flowers and eat together. It was fun when I was a kid...now....not so much!

My aunt turned 93 today and I didn't even make it get a piece of her birthday cake. I did see her yesterday though.

Tonight I went with the fam to eat catfish, so I have done the family thing all day.

Why oh why?

Sometimes you just gotta wonder what the hell were they thinking!!!!

Finally!

Today I believe I turned the corner on this sickness. I was able to keep some chicken noodle soup down and some ice cream. I even took a drive down to the garden to look it over and managed to spray the potatoes and turnip greens and pick a few radishes. I believe that next week we will be eating some potatoes and squash. YUM! Of course, as hungry as I am, everything sounds good to me right now. I'm off to lie down again...no energy!

I am HUNGRY!

This is day 2 that I have not been able to keep even one bite of food down and I am starving. I don't feel bad, but I have zero energy. I guess that could be because I have had no nourishment since Monday. All I have done is stay on my bed and watch TV. Last night I met my family at DQ and ate part of a chicken strip. It came up as soon as I got home. There is no way to know if anything will stay put without just trying it. I am getting tired and sore from losing everything I try. I guess I'll just give up!

Free to be me!

While I had only 3 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday, my parents had 6 inches and that's where our vegetable garden is. This will put our gardening on hold for several days until it dries up enough to run the tiller. My brother has ordered sweet potatoes to plant. This will be a new crop for our garden. We also need to plant okra and peas and lots more corn. I have nothing on my calendar this week, so I am free to do whatevah!!!!

Why?

Why would the people of Minnesota want this as their Senator?

Ooops!

Yesterday our Krewe had a pig roast, also known as a Cochon de Lait, and a golf tournament as a fund raiser. Just as we were kicking off the Cochon de Lait and awarding golf prizes, the heavens opened up and the floods came. It was brutal. As soon as I ate and the DJ started playing, I was out of there because..seriously, why would I want to watch other people dance? My car was blocked in, so I tried to go through some trees and get out. Unfortunately, the grounds don't have much parking space, so we were all over the place and it all turned to mud. I got stuck. Fortunately, a young man who works at the golf course, had a jeep with a wench. Keep in mind that it was still pouring down rain. Both that young man and and I got soaked. He finally got it out, but it took 3 tries. I tried to pay him, but he refused to accept it. What a nice young man! I would have felt better if he would have taken it.

Now, this is funny! I don't care what you say!

Love it!

Divine intervention!

We got yet another good report from Dad's oncologist today and we get two months before we have to go back. X-ray still has the place that was there last time, but it looks exactly the same and he thinks it's nothing to warrant further exploration. Dad was relieved as was I. I don't know how long we can continue to get these excellent reports because we were told from the beginning that this type of cancer was incurable, but treatable. He was just thrilled with the garden this morning because of the very beneficial rain it got last night. He said  it grew a lot. I didn't go look at it today because I didn't have on my garden attire and didn't want to muddy my shoes.

Update #2!

No fever today as of yet. If it hasn't raised its ugly head by now, it probably won't. Strange stuff to have fever high enough to cause chills one day and nothing the next! My energy is still non existent and lower back pains persist. I am pretty much worthless!

Update!

Something overtook my whole being...chills and fever came! Exactly the same thing as a few months ago when nothing showed up in any of the tests I had at the doc's office. He gave me an antibiotic then, so I am taking it again. Fever broke last night and I have none now, but as I recall, last time it came back with a vengeance every afternoon for a few days last time. When I say with a vengeance, I am serious. The fever goes high enough that I have to turn off all AC and fans and get under an electric blanket while shivering intensely.

Tomorrow I have to take Dad to the oncologist, so I have to be well. My brother has a big day filled with lots of stuff, so he will not be available to take Dad. I guess if we have to, we can change the appointment, but I don't want to because Dad doesn't feel well. So there, illness....GO AWAY! I'm too busy!

I guess I know now why I didn't hit a lick yesterday. After working in the garden Friday morning, stopping by a local pizzeria for some lunch, and going home to rest before going out to eat catfish....I was downed with stomach pains. They didn't go away, so I opted out of going to dinner and felt hungry and OK on Saturday....even went to McDonald's early and got their big breakfast....ate it all and went back to bed. No more stomach pains, but I still didn't feel very good. Today, got up, went to early church and Sunday School, then to the annual Tastes of Minden put on by the Chamber of Commerce. Back home for nap time, but the pains started again, but this time including lower back pain...as in kidneys! I took aspirins and found some antibiotics and started taking them. Still have some minor pain and discomfort. Guess that explains why I didn't move much yesterday....something is WRONG!