It rained

We had so much rain Friday Pm.hasn't rained liked this since T-giving. Good thing Allen was working from home, Trans Mtn. & west side got nailed. He had to take @ 9am to get my new leg brace & drop me off for a Dr's appt & lab work. We were as snug as a bug in a rug in our house when it came down. When it's beeen so dry, then when U get alot of rain here we do have problems w/flooding & the ponding effect.I luv to smell the rain It dropped down to 68F @ afternoon which is unknown @ this time of year here.

New leg brace!!

Yea !!!!! It fits like a glove,it's the most comfortable leg brace I ever had. It has the lightest joint ,the hinge is adjustable, I ever had. Hip pain has died down. I had a Dr's appt afterwards. I couldn't believe I sat in my w/chair w/o alot of pain. I even slept in my recliner Fri. early am. w/o any hip pain. I couldn't do that w/my old leg brace,the Swedish knee brace kept slipping on me. The hip socket pain got so bad,I went in to see Bryan@Precision Prosthetics here. My old custom brace is 18 yrs old, I only wore it @ night to go to the bathroom. I had lost so much weight the Swedish knee brace kept slipping. They didn't make a smaller size. I had to make a decision to go back into custom bracing. Bryan worked wonders, the joint is the lightest I ever seen on bracing. He tailored it go w/my ortho shoes when I wear them. Also he put extra Velcro on it so when I wear my Nikes around the house in my w/chair it fit so snugly. When he casted my leg for the brace, it almost fit inside my old leg brace. I have lost so much muscle mass from post-polio & the rapid weight loss. Even w/the rain that came it Fri.& Sat. the hip pain was really down.

PAIN IN THE BUTT!! GETTING OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

iIwas trying to finish up my lap quilt which the top I made in Oct. from fabric scraps. It's been laying on top of a box for a month. the problem was the top is made from strips of fabric scraps from 3 sewing projects. It needed to be squared off,I can't cut straight. I went & bought a small battfa mat. I have tried to sew on applique Seagulls on the cover. What a disaster,I can't hold the needle because of poor hand coordination.Pain in the butt!!!!! I broke 1 wooden embodiery frame,the other one got bent. My stitches aren't as neat as when I was younger. GRRRR!!!!!!
Sat. I decided I wanted to sew it on the machine. MISTAKE,the flannel kept getting caught underneath. My machine is getting old as I'm .I hate ripping out stitches,now it's even harder to see the small stitches. I gave up on that. I took it it in the bedroom to work on it,so I can sit in front of the a/c. the lap quilt is getting hot on my lap. I try to sew some buttons on it ,to hold the batt in place. Again the needle & the button w/the quilt, is a problem for me to coordinate. I finally gave up on trying to keep the flannel straight underneath since I'm struggling just to get the needle in the buttonholes on the quilt. Needless to say this is the LAST HAND SEWING PROJECT!!!!! AT LEAST I DIDN'T THROW IT AWAY!!!!!!!!! It's really sucks,it's isn't as neat as it would have been when I was younger. I will have a warm lap quilt for the winter.

DESERT RAT TIME

Cutting back on computer time. L. rm getting too hot. Temp's hitting 98. Asthma kicking in. Making my back spasms worse.Time to sit in front of a/c unit in my w/chair to read a book. No more surfing for awhile. Bony but from weight loss doesn't help either. Humidity is 6%.

HP restores 10% salary

Officially this paycheck we're supposed to get back 10% of our salary. we still have a 5% pay cut still effective. @least they kept their word. I was worried it could go on on for a few month. Now it is getting hot here,we're having to run the a/c for my asthma. Our electric bill payment has gone up since last year.

Provident Living

Elder Hales in conference reports for the Mormon church spoke on Provident Living. This became my focus for the month of April. We had gotten our salary cut to 15% by HP. We were broke students @ BYU when we got married.,& we were happy .
Last year we took our govt' check to put food into storage & bought personal medical supplies our insurance doesn't cover personal grooming supplies. I even used food items we had in the house for our Easter dinner instead of buying extra items. We had put lentils,olive oil,grape seed oil chocolate & vanilla Rice Dream. I had to go on a gluten free diet this winter. In my hard core storage, I found quioa,millet & buckwheat packed away in Mylar bags. I fixed the quiona in 2 dishes & found no problems w/taste after 7 yrs stored away. Our cashews were stored in Tupper ware containers,Zip-loc bags in the frig. I was really surprised they haven't gone rancid here in the desert. I kept part of them by the a/c unit in L.Rm last summer. I made nut burgers, with them,grind ed them up for protein for squash soup.
I found my Indian seeds hidden in a corner from a M/E store in Arlington ,Tx yrs ago. I popped them up in the skillet to put in my millet. I was amazed at the strong taste that was still in the seeds. Allen ate the millet w/o complaining. I also used it in our Lentils,which really added a pzazz!!
I had 2 bottles of juice I rotated out of the c/board. I had Papaya,added some OJ to stretch it. Pomegranate-blue berry. I added apple juice in a pitcher.
I had shampoo & conditioner in my personal supply box to use.
I was able to keep a positive attitude about the salary cut knowing we would be watched over if I did what I could to economize.
The twin's 30th b-day is coming up in July. Jan didn't want me to spend money on her & to not give her a gift. I made a pact with her I would use my stash & creativity to come up w/ a gift. I used c/board cereal boxes for c/board b/grounds for her collage. I found a gold mine in old vacation photo books from 20 yrs ago. Patterned paper, tags I had stashed away came in handy for these gifts. I got out ols stamps reused the with new ideas. I got out all my old Stampin Up c/logs,card magazines etc to look for ideas for Heidi's card s. I am tickled to report she has 30 cards for her gift w/ no extra cost. I found some b/l lace envelopes w/ some cards hidden away s/one had given me that made some elegant Mother's Day & Oriental card
I managed to s/bk my 1st C-mas on my mission w/found objects. I had to make all of my tags since I'm out. I found some C-mas templates I used for journaling tags. I repainted some c/board letters for my title. Then I filled in w. stenciled letters for the ones missing. I cut all my mats . I really used my scrap paper file, my stamped image file on these projects. I used up old Halloween stickers for a Halloween party on the Indian reservation.
My 12x12 paper box is 1/2 gone,my c/stock is all gone.
Since I made candles in March, I found a buyer for my supplies. I sold the 3 boxes as a kit. I did a demo for my friend to show how to set them up. I used the money to buy c/stock &s/bk paper on a clearance sale from Paper Wishes.
HP has given back 10% of our salary this coming pay check. I know we made thru this month by using our food storage as we have been commanded to. Also to decide what is want vs need. To improvise,to think outside of the box. We pay our tithing faithfully. I made a commitment to not to go into the store to buy any supplies & use what I had in my room. I made a list of things I really needed for upcoming projects & let it sit around before I went shopping Sat.

April challenges

Idid my 1st challenges on Scrapbook.com. 1 was to use UR stash,not go into the store, only glue & photo developing allowed. 2nd was to use UR supplies, the 1stt week was to do 4 tech. on a page, 2nd was to use stickers,3rd was to use UR old stamps, 4th was to use stitching,stickers,stamp w/ a stitch or hand stitching.
I was amazed @ what I pulled off I couldn't believe it!!!! I was surprised what I found in my stash. I set a goal of 5 LO's,20 cards. I would make 40+ cards, 15 LO's!!!!!!!
I struggled w/Heidi"s; Oriental theme. I had an idea in my head I couldn't get to gel. I went back to a few of sites I had saved favo's. I couldn't find the one I really like.
the others weren't what I wanted. I even typed in geisha c/art on a search To my shock I got pornographically sites. My back was acting up so I couldn't stay on the computer long,so I called it quits.
I found a tag stamp that says "sew nice", It had stamped stitching on it. I turned one tag into a flower& stitched the stem & leaves in green embroidery floss. This had been a sticking point on my 4th week challenge. I didn't want to drag up my sewing machine up onto my table. I finally figured how to get my holes even by using the gird on my cutting pad. I used the Exacto knife to go thru the hole. I found a blunt sewing needle in my g/ma's needles with a big eye on it. I used 3 strands of 3 embroidery multi-colored floss. After I figured out how to get the holes punched straight,it was easy to sew. I couldn't go out & buy a paper piercer,so I had to look for items to use.It was like sewing on the lace -up cards as a kid

LOYAL is my name

Blue,Blue we got the flu!!!!! Fluffy was on top, of me in the recliner. I slept alot out cold in my recliner. she usually settles down @ the bottom of my feet. When I would get settle in,she jump in & curl up in the middle of my lap. she would stay there. If she she did move it was down by by legs. If I slept too long.I would wake up with her slowly crawling to my chest,her brown eyes "would say are U okay?" Loyal is my" middle name."
George s/times would get up in his parking space on the left side of the recliner. O/times he would be aloof,go off to sleep on the couch. Fluffy would stretch out on my lap & stay there w/ me.

Hummus eating dog!!!

George loves hummus!!! As usual he begs for food,he will paw U on Ur arm. Then he barks @ U like I want it now. I told him it wasn't meat. To shut him up, I gave him a fingerful of hummus. He devored & proceed to demand more. He just lapped it down like gravy. I eat alot of hummus when it's hot since it's easy to digest.
Sunday nite it was too hot to eat in the kitchen,so we were eating in our bdrm. I had asthma attack, a/c unit is in there to help me breathe. The dogs came in w/ Allen. While he was eating,his plate was on his lap: George jumped up on the bed & heads to his plate. He was ready to eat off it. He didn't get off the bed when spoken to, he just gave us the look with his eyes " like where is my plate?" M/while Fluffy is still on the floor being obedient
I never met a dog like him,he definatly has his mind, regardless of what U may say. He doesn't have the pack mentality most dogs have..

Blue,Blue,the flu

,We have had the flu!! I didn't sleep well Mon. nite. I thought it was other problems. Slept all day Tue. after a morn, brace appt. Allen called Wed. @ noon to say he was coming home,he hadn't slept well. He slept couple of hours on the bed. I had an appt to get my back put back in,I had some nerves pinched & my hip socket out. Allen never comes early& sleeps or takes off time if sick!! Since my hip socket pain died down I slept till 4 pm Thur,all day!! Ihad spiked a temp Wed. nite. Allen didn't go to work Thur. or Fri.,he doesn't take sick days. We both slept, didn't feel like eating,slight chest congeastion, achy body.