W is for Why

    Why I've Been MIA

 Yes, I've been MIA lately.  I have a ton of posts started and in draft mode, but have not been able to finish much.  It's been a rough month for me.  I'm having some health issues that are causing me a great deal of pain.  I spent 4 of my 5 weekdays of my spring break with doctors.  At this point everything is a waiting game.

     What this means is that most of the time when I sit down with my computer I'm either too tired, hurting too much, or both so I cannot focus on writing decent content for my blog.  I am hoping that there will not be too many more days of pain, but not sure right now.  The biggest problem is, the worst part of the pain seems to happen in the middle of the night.  So, I'm not getting more than a couple hours of sleep at a time.

     I have five weeks left of work until summer break, so hopefully I can get through that without too much trouble.  In any case I can use all the prayer, positive thoughts, etc that anyone can muster.  

T is for Time

     We all wish we had more time.  This week really has me thinking about that, though.  This week was/is my spring break.  Normally, it means a lot of time to myself.  However, it's not been that way for me this week.  It's meant a lot of time spent with doctors.

     It actually started late night Friday into early morning Saturday when I spent almost 5 hours in the ER.  I've been having a great deal of abdominal pain this month.  It just did not seem to go away.  They did some blood work up and a CT scan to send to my GYN.  I already had an appointment scheduled with him anyway.

     On Tuesday I had my appointment with my GYN.  He ordered my annual Mammogram and an ultrasound.   So, I must go back out there tomorrow because of course they did not have time on their schedule to fit me in today.

     Tomorrow I have my appointment with my primary care physician.  It is for my annual check up, which will also mean a trip to the vampire lab to give blood.  That will not be possible tomorrow because I always have to fast before they draw the blood for this, which will mean another trip to a medical facility on Thursday.

     My appointment tomorrow will be my last with my primary as he is retiring.  My time with him is over.  He's the only primary I've had as an adult.  He became my doctor when I was 17, so it's going to be strange having to see someone else.

     My time with my students is almost over this year, too.  When I go back to work next week I will only have 5 weeks left with them, minus Memorial Day, so literally only 24 days.

     Time is just a funny thing.  It slips away when you're not looking, but stands still when you're waiting only for you to turn around and realize that it didn't really stand still.

S is for Spring Break

     Ahhhh, it's Spring Break for me, FINALLY!  Our spring break is much later than everyone else's this year.  Next year it's supposed to go back to a traditional time period.  But, for this year, waiting for Spring Break has been excruciating.

     My Spring Break started out great.  I got to spend a girls' day out with a very good friend.  We went to the historic district here in town.  It encompases most of our Main Street.  There are all kinds of cool little shops and restaurants down there.

     We started out by wandering around the shops that were open.  Then, we had lunch at one of my very favorite places.  It's called Old Mill Stream Inn and they had loads of outdoor seating.  The weather was perfect for sitting outside, chatting and having lunch.  Plus, they have these things called mill fries that are amazing.  They are little new potatoes that have been seasoned and fried.

     After a long leisurely lunch, we strolled along Main Street some more.  Going in and out of shops and just having fun talking and oooing and ahhhing over the things we found that we liked.

     Then, it was time for ice cream!  Yum!  There is the most delicious ice cream shop on our Main Street and I got my favorite, mint chip in a cone.  I splurged and got two scoops, too!

      We sat on a bench outside the ice cream shop and ate our ice cream and talked and talked and talked some more.  It was an hour past the time I'd planned on being home before I checked the time.  It was such a great day.  I enjoyed it immensely 

     I did come home with a few inexpensive purchases.  I got this wooden box that is divided into four sections that I'm going to turn into a planter.  I also got a birthday gift for my daughter.  And, I found these really cool coasters that are made to fit inside the cupholders of a car.  I got all of that for under $20, so it was not an expensive day.

Now That's a Big One

     This weekend is our annual Tartan Days Festival down on our riverfront.  There are booths selling Scottish/Irish wares, food booths, drink, music, and Scottish sporting events.

We always walk in the parade with St. Louis Scottish Terrier Rescue.  Our kids carry the banner for them and both our Scotties walk with all the other Scotties behind the banner.

     This morning the weather was amazing for a parade.  There were tons of Scotties that showed up. There was also a huge group of Shelties that showed up and walked the parade, too.  It's always so much fun to see people with their dogs at this parade.

     After the parade we stand around and talk with the other Scottie people for a while and then head back to the parking lot at the south end of the park.  We usually stop and watch some of the big burly Scottish men participating in their sporting events.  These all include trying to throw something that is really heavy.  Today we got to see some of the log throwing and this is one of the pictures I got.

I think that's the biggest one I've ever seen!

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Giant Snow Dog

   

Wordless Wednesday

(OK, so yes I did give some explanation, but it's mostly pictures)

     Spring started five days ago, but you can't tell it by our weather.  We had a snow storm that dumped over a foot of snow on our town yesterday.  Official total was actually 14.8 inches.  It was a wonderfully wet snow.  Perfect for building.  And, that is just what my husband and kids did.  It was supposed to be a Snow Scottie, but turned out looking more like Clifford.  Here are some pictures of the process and the finished Snow Dog that several people, even police officers have stopped to take pictures.  We've seen flashes from people taking pictures after the sun went down, too.

     The coolest part is one of my husband's co-workers sent a picture in to a local radio station and it was posted on their Facebook page.  It's gotten several comments.  There is a link to the radio's website at the bottom.

92.3 WIL

the radio station with one of my pictures

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