The Drive

The drive was horrible. Worse than we imagined.

The windy roads of West VA were not fun.

The car we rented was a Buick SUV.  It was most uncomfortable.

Then, on the way home, there was a detour. Gave us an extra 55 minutes. 

We have never been so excited to see our little home.

The weekend was jammed-packed.  Not a minute of nothing, except the night we arrived. Most were coming in from the north, and it was only a 3 hr drive for them. They came down in the morning.

As is the case, we laughed a lot on the way down. Rick is telling me the back-handed compliments I'd probably hear. We played Guess Who Sang This Song? I won. He stinks, but he insists on playing because he is hell-bent on beating me, and it tickles me. I'm just as competitive as he is.

He made me laugh until he was a backseat driver.  We arrived at this rest stop.  He got out, grabbed his cane, and headed for the bathrooms.

I got into the glove box and took out the tape.  

When he got back in the car, I was holding the tape with it pulled out.

He went hysterical with laughter.  

I said, "So is this going on your mouth, or can you please be quiet?" 

 He said he was gonna try.  He did very good after that.  An hour later, we were quiet, and he began to laugh. I asked what was so funny. 

"That you really brought duct tape and you would use it."   Yep. :-)

There were no road signs in Columbus near the airport. It kept telling us to get on the International Gateway. We turned, but there was no sign that we were on this road. We heard this from everyone: how confusing this was. I was glad to know it wasn't just me, as Rick assumed. 

We finally get to our hotel. We drop off our luggage and unpacked. 

We were both starving. I brought lunch for the drive down and some pretzels but that wasn't enough. It was now 7:30pm. We wanted a real meal. 

We headed to the lobby. We bellied up to the bar. What a mess.

I asked for a T & T and they had no Tanqueray, only tonic.  

Asked if I wanted Bombay. Yikes, no thanks. I actually brought that back to a liquor store years ago because to me it tasted like Aqua Velvet.                  Okay, I will just have water.  No red wine, only white. Geez. A man across from us wanted a particular tequila, which they didn't have. Lucky Rick got what he wanted.

As we sat at the bar, people watching, a very pretty woman sat next to Rick at the bar. She said hello to us both. Rick said to me, "Doesn't she have nice braids?"  I told him to tell her because she indeed did.  

He told her, and she was all, "Aw shucks,"  

But we 3 talked and laughed the entire time. She was funny, and she was givin' Rick grief, which of course I enjoyed. 

She was heading off to Atlanta in the morning. She said she had to leave. Thanked us for a very nice evening, and that was that. We went to pay our bill and found out she had paid for our dinner and Rick's drink.  Wow.

They wouldn't tell us her room, so we asked them to give her a note. 

We can't believe she would do this.  She said we were nice people. Rick said we fooled her. :-)

It was so great to see my niece. Wowsa, has she gotten big, and I don't believe for a minute this baby is coming in another month. It will be sooner.

You asked, "What the hell do you know, Peg? You've never had children."  Correct, but I've seen enough. She was low and big, and she's ready to pop.

It was so nice to see my Mom. My sister, my cousins, nieces, and nephews. My goodness, my nephew is handsome as all get out. Again, have not seen anyone since 2019. 

I ate a lot, I laughed a helluva lot, and it was so much better than one assumed. But it wiped us out. We were tired. Saturday, after the main event Rick and I sat with family. I had coffee while they all drank. Then Rick said he really needed to lie down. I figured it was coming up quickly for him. He went upstairs while the rest of us went out to dinner. He slept for a few hours while we went to dinner, and I brought him back some food. 

So all in all, it was great except for the drive to and fro.

I will never do that again.

I miss the days of flying for free. So much better than driving. Sucks to have to pay to fly. Especially now that the service is far worse.

I flew to Maine once for 24 hrs. All my friends loved lobster. I went along. I had steak. They probably spat on it after the waiter called me "one of those," but I don't do seafood. It was beautiful there. We took a boat to this island, and it looked like a house. We ate there. Took a boat back to Portland. Headed to the airport and flew home. I miss those days. 

Now I have to pay (I know, poor me) or I have to drive. More often than not I prefer to drive. But this time was a mistake.  Huge mistake. North Carolina, VA, West Va, Ohio.  I couldn't wait for the straight, flat land of Ohio.

I avoid the camera like the plague. I hate having my photo taken. Hence why you don't see me much except old pics. But here is my sister and her daughter.  

Yes, we have a very multi-cultural family. White, Puerto Rican, Black, and everything in between. It works for us. Great food. LOL 

What I find funny is that they all feel like Italian Americans. They obviously had a very strong upbringing by you know who. As my niece said, I know good Mac 'n Cheese and Great Lasagna. That makes me smile. 

My sister's 3 girls from left to right (middle). My other sister's 2 children are on the right. The man in the middle, squatting, is the Daddy-to-be who is active-duty military home for the baby. 

I am glad to be home. I am doing a research survey/study for 2 days. I was asked if I was interested. They told me it was $600 for two days. That made me interested. So tomorrow at 8am, I am to arrive at the Sheraton in Raleigh. It is 8-4p I believe. We are given breaks and food.  I have a feeling this will be very, very boring. But I could use the $600 bucks so I'm going.

I signed up for clinical trials since there are so many here. Most I won't do. But there was one for Alzheimer's that I was very interested in, but they didn't choose me. I did another for being overweight, but apparently, only my doctor thinks my weight is an issue. I wasn't fat enough for this. I may have to eat more. 😉

Here is a song that Rick didn't win in the car drive down. I knew he knew the singer but he couldn't remember it. He says, "The one who just got new boobs."

Yes, she did, but that's not her name. It's a silly game we play in the car to pass the time. Her name is Beth Hart.

Exhausted

 Great trip but need a day to regroup and share.

On The Road Again.

I am driving 7 hrs to Columbus, Ohio, on Friday (Today)

I so miss Rick driving long distances. 

My niece's baby shower is on Saturday. Normally, I wouldn't do this. However, this young lady, being the youngest, has gotten the short end of the stick too many damn times. 

I also have not seen my family since 2019. 

My stepmom is so excited to see us. No one has seen Rick since his stroke. 

We rented a car. Our 18-year-old vehicle is great, but we believe this is a better choice. Besides, our radio died last week. 7 hrs with no Dateline or music? It can't be done.

We've planned a road trip package of food, good as well as junk, along with water. 

I think I've thought of everything Rick could need or want, including the mandatory road trip of beef jerky. 

Hopefully, the man will sleep so he isn't his usual backseat driver. I did put duct tape in the car glove box. I always tell him to just be quiet. I can see the car in front of me. Yes, I see that curb.  Oh, he drives me crazy. If he gives me shit, I'm going to pull out the tape at the next stop and tell him it is going on his mouth if he isn't quiet! I know he will laugh and shut up. Well, for a few minutes anyway.

My family has not seen me with white hair. I'm also heavier. Can I lose these 15lbs by Friday? Oh, Peg, your hair is somethin'.  Oh my, you've gained some weight, haven't you?  Oh boy, you're looking old. ha ha ha.  Yeah, that's my family.  Can't wait, can you tell? This is my immediate family, sisters, and step mom. Cousins, aunts, and others are all great and know enough to not say these things out loud to people.

Oh, I just can't wait! Root canal is a better day.

The co-ed shower is on Saturday. We will return on Sunday. Unpack and sleep for a week. That is my plan.

At least there will be alcohol. Food, but nothing I'll be able to eat, so I will eat alcohol.  I will smile as I do, and everyone will think I'm happy. Then I will go back to my hotel room, have a good scream in a towel in the bathroom, and then let it all go. Sounds like a plan. This is how good ole Margaret deals with her family. 

Here's to my family dysfunction.

And if that isn't bad enough, most are trumpsters except my nieces and 1 cousin who is attending. (and step-mother who hates him) 

Rick said to me last night, "I know you prefer that I not say anything, but I'm sorry if someone says something about that evil bastard, I am not shutting up." 

I begged him to let it go. They are stupid. You can't fix stupid!

Leave the table or walk away, whatever.  Don't waste your energy, please!

Will he listen to me?  He never does so, I am hoping this will be a first. 

having lived in a haunted house I get this. I'd rather have ghosts too.

Smells Like Grandma's House

 Remember when I shared with you that during my painful shoulder issues, I used cannabis for the pain.

I forgot to share this funny little boy in this story.

When we first moved here, this little boy would ride his bike by our house. He was 5. He would see the garage door open and come on in. He was in love with Rick and the tools. 

As Rick was building the deck, he wanted to know things like, what is this piece of wood for? What do you use this tool for? Can I bring this home mister Rick?

He drove Rick nuts, but in a good, funny way.  

Then one day, he doesn't see Rick in the garage with his tools, so he knocks on the door. I see him on the ring camera and say to Rick, "Hey, your little friend is here.  Note, I had just had a couple of hits of cannabis.

I open the door, and he asks if Rick is going to be out in the garage working today.

I said he will be in about 5 minutes if you want to go around back and meet him. Then the kid says, "Your house smells like my Grandma's house." and he skips down the sidewalk to the garage.

OH MY GOD. That made me laugh. Guess his Grandma is doing the same thing as me. We got such a kick out of that. When we saw his parents, Rick was telling him how this little guy needs some tools. His parents said, "So we have heard. He thinks you can build anything."

Cute kid, but I need to meet Grandma. :-)

Me

I'm avoiding things that need to be done.  

I have become a procrastinator since retiring. It's odd.

When my sister was here, my husband had to share stories about his wife's blonde moments, as he calls them. One of them is coming up.

I sure didn't think it was funny when it was happening, but I sure do now.

We were visiting Seattle, knowing we were about to move there.

We were dealing with all kinds of shocking discoveries, like how the women were hairy.  Sure, it only bothered me, but as I said to Rick, I will move here, but I will continue with hair removal. 

On one of the days there, we were not able to get into our hotel. It was blocked off with yellow tape and all these police and people in hazmat suits. The office told us that when we came back later, we should be able to get to our room.

It was a meth lab taking place in the hotel bathrooms. Guess we could have all blown up. We had never seen anything like this except on TV, so this was a weird day for us.

We went to get lunch at Red Robin. At the time, I had never been to a Red Robin before. As we were waiting for our beverages, I saw a placard on the table that said Cinco de Mayo.  

Again, this is 1993, and I had not heard of Cinco de Mayo. I know, hard to believe!

So knowing my grade school Spanish, I say to Rick, "What the hell is the 5th of mayonnaise?"  

Well, Mr. Rick about choked on his Pepsi. I got indignant. Why are you laughing at me all the time, I asked.  I know cinco is 5 in Spanish. Mayo?  

So what is the 5th of Mayonnaise, and why is this a big deal?

When Rick came up for air, he explained it to me. 

I felt like Emily Latella, on SNL, and just said, "Oh, never mind" with a sheepish grin, and boy did I feel like a Grade A ass.

So every 5th of May, my husband reminds me of this.

My little sister about peed her pants. 

They both decided that I have blonde moments to entertain them. Yes, that is why.

Well, at least I know it's my favorite day now, tacos and tequila are my favorite, so I will celebrate the 5th of Mayonnaise!

I've always been clumsy. Rick was also sharing with my sister of a time I was standing on the passenger side of his van. The window was open. I jumped through the window and twisted so I was sitting upright.  He said, "What the hell? How did you do that?"  I just did. 

You see, when I was young, I was flexible as all hell. I was a stupid high school cheerleader. I wore ankle weights and practiced jumping all damn day in my backyard. I could jump into a car, twist like on a trampoline, and sit upright. Flipped Rick out. Mostly because we were arguing and he wasn't getting away. LOL

Now, if I tried that, I'd hit the car door, fall backward, and probably get a concussion.  How the hell did this happen to me? 

I fell down the back steps of my childhood home, holding said sister. She was 4 or 5. I was pretending to throw her outside, and she was giggling up a storm. I lost my balance and went down the 4 steps. I covered her with my body, and only I hit the steps. She was giggling all the way down. 

Of course, the time I fell snow skiing and had to try out for cheerleading with a sprained ankle.  Another fall. So I have been playing all my falls over in my head. Accident-prone or something more?

In the meantime, I am going to wear only flat shoes. Which, I might add, I hate. 

So you can see I am clumsy. But of late, it has become worrisome.

I am falling a great deal. I get so dizzy. I walk into the kitchen and need to grab the island, or I'll fall. 

I mentioned this to my primary doctor, who is ready for maternity leave. I don't think her focus is where it should be. I list all the things going on, along with the falling.

She wants me to see a neurologist. Hmm.....

My husband put my symptoms into Dr. Google, and he has decided I have MS.

I don't think so.  My family has parkinsons but I have no tremor/s. So don't think it's that.

Oh well. 

I am sick to death of doctors. I am no longer in pain due to finding a good ortho, and my injections were put in the correct place. So I don't want to do this, but I think I may need to. Vertigo is probably all this is. But I don't know that they can do anything about that, can they? 

In the meantime, I will be paying bills today and sitting, so that should be safe. Baseball on the radio as I type this, and soon pay bills. If we win, it will be easier on the bill-paying job.😁

Tuesday

Our company left on Saturday morning. 

I slept most of the day after they were gone. I'm pitiful, aren't I?

The day before my sister arrived, I fell. 

I'll tell ya, being as clumsy as I am isn't easy.

I fell up the brick steps with the power washer in hand. My knee had somehow hit the brick step, and the right side of my chest had hit the corner of the brick step. It hit so hard it bounced me up, and I twisted and ended up going splat on my back onto the concrete very hard. Yep, up a step. Knocked the wind out of me.

Because I was coming up the front steps, the ring doorbell got it all. 

Rick heard the ring go off and opened the front door. I am lying on my back with one shoe on and one shoe off. One leg in the air and one down on the first step as I lie on the porch. 

My sympathetic husband says, "Whatcha doin', Margaret?"

"Oh, just taking a porch nap!"  

What am I doing?  Oh, brother.

After he hears my dripping sarcasm, he helps me up. I have a skinned, bloody knee. I am holding my right boob and told him it hurt. We laughed it off, glad that it was there to bounce me, we both thought.

But as the night went on, it was bad. I think I either pulled a muscle or cracked a rib again. Neither of which they can do a damn thing about, so I must rest it. Sure, I can do that with people arriving in mere minutes. 

Oh well, my clumsiness strikes again. It feels better to hold my right breast as I move about. My husband said he was willing to help me. What a hero huh?  I'll pass, buddy.

The first night she arrived after her 10 hr drive, she collapsed. 

She was so tired, and it was dinner time. I fed her, and she got settled into her room and her bathroom. We got into our PJ's and were sitting in the living room, and she decided she just needed to go to bed. Okay, fine, we get it. I'd be the same way after a 10 hr drive. She slept from 7:30 p.m. to 6am. That's tired or, for me a whole week's worth of sleep. 

The following morning, she and I were both up at just a bit before 6a.

We made some fancy coffee and sat in the living room, and as my family always says, "shootin' the shit."

We were laughing a lot. My husband came out of the bedroom and down the hall, saying he heard the Malizia cackle. (maiden name) 

I told him cackling was offensive. He said, "To me too this early morning."  We all laughed, and he grabbed coffee and joined in the laughter. My God my family and I can laugh. We do put the fun in dysfunctional.

My sister is 15 yrs younger than me. She and I have the same dad. Her mom married my dad after my mom died. She made me realize how much I've slowed down. Wow. She never stops moving. I was like this at 55 too, how soon I forgot. Seriously, it hit me in the face that at age 70, I am slower now. Damn it. I hate when my age slaps me in the face. 

We shopped. We had pedicures at a spa that were awesome!!

My sister likes to shop, so we shopped. I hate to shop for clothes, only stuff. I would like to shop too if I could go into a store, find something I like, and put it on and not hem it, fix the sleeves, etc. She is taller than I am. Out of the 5 daughters, 2 are what we call tall. 5'3" and 5'5".  The rest are all under 5'3" and some below 5'. We always joke that if they lined us up, they would all know who had what mom. One set got boobs and the other got bubble butts. :-)  You don't get both - more on that later.**

We ate. Oh, my God, did we eat. We did take her out to our favorite tacos and tequila joint. She LOVED the shrimp and fish tacos. Rick was in heaven because he loves seafood, and I hate it. So there was a lot of stuff I made that I hate, like crab-stuffed mushrooms, which they both moaned over. I guess those were very good. On an Asian night of food, I made vegetable stir-fry with rice and shrimp egg rolls, and egg drop soup.

I did so many veggie dishes I don't care to eat any veggies for a while. Do you know I crave meat now?  Who knew? After 6 days of no meat, I so wanted meat. When she left, Rick asked what I wanted for dinner, and I said a slab of meat. He just laughed, but I really am a carnivore. I never knew quite how much.

Then one afternoon, she was lying in the sun. Heaven forbid a Snowbird not go home with some color in their cheeks. 🌴

I sit under the gazebo and have another cup of coffee while we chat. As I sat there, my phone just stopped running. I brought it inside to charge.

It will not charge. It just stopped working. I noticed the back was lifting up. I went to the Verizon store, and they told me that meant my battery was fried. 

Great. So no phone for 3 days while I await the new phone. I hope I don't lose all my data. We shall see. So no pics from my week.

No calendar, and I know I have appointments that I will miss, and it's stressing me out.

** re: above comment.

I have a theory. Now I was the only girl on the northeast team where I used to work. One evening over cocktails after a long day of meetings, we were all at the hotel bar. I told the guys my theory. OH, MY GOD, they were crazy. The following week, I get an email from my friend Mark, who tells me that while on the beach in the Outer Banks, he told his wife my theory and now she helps me look at women, which he was thanking me for. That made me laugh.

You see, my theory works on the majority of WASP females. There is a 10% error, so to speak. This does not apply to hispanic or black women.

 

If a woman is at her fighting weight and she has boobs bigger than a C cup she probably has a flatter ass.

If a woman has little boobs, she probably has a bubble butt.

If she has both, she bought one. 

So when these boys went with their wives, they told them this theory, and Mark and Paul both shared how their wives would point out women on the beach, and they got to look without being yelled at. That, for some reason, cracks me up.

Miss Me?

 Been captured by visiting family.

Laughter, food, travel, and as my husband says, lots of cackling. 😁

Be back soon.

Random Items

 Well, you all convinced me that I should write to that bitch doctor who did the injection incorrectly. Rick was adamant that I do it.

I finally did last night.

Oooh, she did not like it. I was so nice too. Her response was terse at best. I wanna write back, but no point. It fell on deaf ears. 

I even said I did not wish to be a Karen. I was sharing this information so no other person has to suffer like this.  I appreciate all you did for me. yads yada yada

But apparently being nice wasn't good either because I could have been the real Peg and given her an earful. But I was professional, polite, and tried not to insult her "MD" ego.

Rick asked me after I sent it if I felt better. Actually, I do not. So be it.

Especially after seeing her snotty response. I bruised her doctor ego big time it appears. I wasn't trying to do that, you know. But she took from this what she wanted and, as usual, a doctor who neither listened in person nor via print.

_______

I finished the powerwashing of the patio. I took off all the covers to the furniture and vacuumed and cleaned everything up.  Got the rug out and powerwashed it too. etc.

My sister is coming from the very north (Erie, PA), and to her, 67 degrees is hot. So I know she will like being out there a great deal. She keeps saying she's bringing shorts, etc. I laughed and said I'm not as skinny as you and you may wish to have some warm clothes too, because you'll swim in my warmer clothes. I remember being a snowbird, so I get it. But it makes us chuckle. 

I finished everything. Came inside, made dinner, and collapsed.

I awoke to rain. NO. We were unaware of the rain coming. So were the weather people. So now I have pollen yellow dots on everything. Argh.

I sent her an old picture of the patio before the flowers and plants were out and she said she needs a nap out there. Made me laugh because that is what Rick says.  Case in point.

He is gonna kill me for this pic. Before stroke and when he had a belly. 

Speaking of my dinner. I can't use Shake 'n Bake for the obvious reason of bread crumbs being wheat. So I found a recipe online for homemade Shake 'n Bake.  I just substituted it with my GF Panko Bread Crumbs. 

OMG, it was easy and damn good. Better than the real stuff. I was shocked.

As Rick was chowing down his dinner, he said, "This is better than the original. You can certainly make this again!"  I said, "So can you!" 😉

We get these enormous chops from Wegmans.  They are the size of two chops you'd buy in a store. Thick and juicy and wonderful. Rick usually would eat 2 chops. Now that we get them at Wegman's, one is all he can eat. I ate 1/2- 3/4 of mine and saved the rest for lunch today. :-)

How about Bondi being fired? You know it's because she was to be subpoenaed, and she has all his secrets. She was with him and Epstein for years. We've seen the pics of them over 25 yrs ago at Epstein's parties.

This way, she can't talk. She wasn't fired cuz she sucks, which she does; she was asked to leave so she didn't have to testify. How dumb do they think we are? Oh sure, the Maga idiots believe everything he says, but those of us who've paid attention and have read in a book in our lifetime know what is really going on.

In other news - 

There was a post on Instagram asking, " If Canada let you in, would you go?

I wrote, "hell yeah,"  I can learn French past my high school French. I can eat poutine with the best of 'em. I love curling and Molson Ice.  (much better than ICE here, wink wink) I can learn their history and be a very good citizen. Not the biggest fan of their weather, but the people are great. 

Cold climate = warm people in my book.

Of course, BC has better weather, but not BC's biggest fan believe it or not, but still better than here now.

Boy, did I get grief. I had to block some men. Why are men so threatened by everything?

I saw a T-shirt that said Weak Men hate Strong Women. Spot on. I see this so often on Instagram. Boy, men get all nutso when a woman has power, smarts, or is a leader. That is so sad to me.  That shouldn't be a thing to be afraid of. I'm thankful I had a cheerleader besides me. As I climbed the ladder, he was cheering me on.

Then I saw a T-shirt that said trump should have been swallowed.  

OMG, it made me laugh. Could never wear it, though.

And the one my husband sent me that read, I may be a handful, but so are my tits.  Ah, Funny boy.  

Who the hell would wear such a shirt, I ask you????

And lastly, I am sharing that my sister is a vegetarian. We are carnivores.

She will eat fish and sometimes chicken. Strange but okay. 

I am making it work. I've got a menu planned. 

Then Rick asked me last night, "Hey, remember Bob M?"

Yep, where did that come from?

Remember how he came to a BBQ and had to leave because the smell of meat made him sick. 

"Yes, I do because remember he was so odd. I thought it was weird that he would come to a BBQ and complain about the smell of searing flesh. 

What did he expect, broccoli and tofu on the grill?"

We worked with this guy.

The manager had a house party, and he went into a bedroom and put a towel under the door so he didn't have to smell the meat. He spent most of his time in the kids' bedroom. Weirdo.  The manager's wife was so upset that she said she didn't know. I felt bad for her, not him.

Anyhoo, Rick said your sister isn't like that now, is she?  (this veggie thing is new) 

So I asked her, and she said she didn't give a @#!$ what I put in my body, she just didn't want to eat it.  Whew.  Not a complete weirdo. LOL

Whoops there is Goes

Since the last time I lost a full-on post, I started doing this in Word.

Well, I didn't yesterday. I hit publish and poof - into the world it went, and no one can see it or find it. Honestly, that is frustrating.

I had a 3rd opinion.  

To recap: I went to Duke Orthopedics to begin with. Dr. B was the surgeon. He is the first one to tell me this would require surgery. He felt he could give me some time with an injection. I had an injection, it went in the back of the shoulder and the front. It lasted a full year.

I went back to receive another shot, but I had to have the PA. 

Normally, I don't mind that, but this guy was an arrogant young shit. 

He gave me a shot in the back of my shoulder. I asked if he was going to the front, where the pain is really killing me, as Dr. B. did.  

He said, "Not today, you don't need it," and walked out and let the nurse finish up. WTH? Why did he think I didn't need it I asked the nurse. I got nowhere.

I got absolutely no relief from that shot. NONE.

So I went to a 2nd ortho near my home.  Bad choice.

I only saw a PA because all the doctors had no appointments until May. 

It was Feb. I didn't wish to wait. So I went in. I had X-rays. She gave me a shot in the back of the shoulder. I asked why not the front. She said it wasn't necessary.  I said, "I know you are the professional, but trust me on this, it is."

She said coldly, "You're correct, you are not the professional. "

She knew I still had an appointment for the dr in May and said, "He will want you to have surgery on this."  As cold as ice.

I left rather pissed off. I got absolutely no relief from this shot.

As I lay in Rick's ugly recliner, I told Rick I would admit to war crimes I've never committed to get out of this unrelenting pain. I had a major meltdown.  He suggested I call his ortho guy at Wake Med. To us, it's the best medical facilities and hospital around here. We have found this out time and time again. 

So I saw Dr. G., and he had me do new X-rays. 

I asked about a clinical trial for stem cells. Being that this area is HUGE in research and there are clinical trials for everything, I thought I'd try.

He told me he actually does do stem cells; however, he didn't think I was a good candidate. He pulled up the two computers and showed me my 2 shoulders. He went over all the reasons why he didn't think this was a great idea. I understood. Can I explain it to you? hell no, but I understood. He still let me decide and also told me that in these cases, on my shoulder, it is usually less than 50% effective. 

He knows Rick, so he knows what I am dealing with as a caregiver. 

He said he was going to try another shot. He was also going to help me find care for Rick through Wake Med. Wow. He also gave me some info on senior shuttles, some even though Wake Med. Not sure it's needed just yet, but it will come in handy if I can't drive and Rick can get somewhere. Someone will have to get me home from the hospital and to the drs when there are follow-ups and rehab.

Anyway, I got two shots. He asked how the last one was. I told him it did nothing. He asked me if I wanted to know why it didn't work. Sure!

He was reading the notes from the last PA who gave me the shot. 

He showed me where the shot was injected. 

I stated as I pointed to my X-ray that he said my issue was right here. 

He said, "Exactly."  The shot was not given in the proper place. Oh, for the love of God. More steroids for me that do nothing, just going through my entire body. Wonder why I can't get this weight off? Steroids, I swear!

So I got one in the front and one on the back of my shoulder.

I awoke the next day to pain, but very little, and I can live with this.

My pain on a scale of 1-10 was normally a 15. When I woke up it was a 4. 

4 is good. 4 is my lucky number, so I'm okay with it. :-)

I get an injection in my left arm on Monday. I swear I am going to hug him.

I have not felt this good in 6 months.

I told him that the pain was as if you put my shingles pain in a blender with the pain I was having before my back surgery and sigmoid colon surgery all together. Mix it all up, and you are loaded with pain. That was how I felt. 

He asked if I thought this was worse than the back. Oh hell yeah I do! Oh absolutely. 

So, as Rick likes to say, "Feisty Margaret is back!"

Not exactly, but getting closer.

I have so much to do before my sister arrives on Monday.

I don't wish to do any of it. And it will cause pain. But I can't just sit around. Been doing too much of that!

Yesterday I used the Pink Stuff. Have any of you used it? Wow, it really works, but my goodness, you need some old elbow grease.

After each shower, I have to squeegee the glass. Rick does not. Yes, it makes me angry. I haven't been doing it while my arm was in so much pain, and the glass looked horrific. I decided to take off my clothes, bring in a step stool, and go at it. Rick was in the living room watching The Price is Right, so I knew he wouldn't get in the way. 

It looked so good, I was happy. Then I took a shower.  There were two spots I could not reach, even with the step stool.  Rick came in when he heard the shower to join me.  He noticed the glass. I hit him. If you notice how good it looks now, why don't you just freakin' clean it after each shower? 

He looks at me seriously at first, then, smirking, he says, "Because I am lazy."

Of course, we're in the shower, so he squeezed my boob as though that makes it all okay. Honestly men!

Now, last night my shoulder was barking big time. But I didn't do a lot of heavy lifting the rest of the day, so by this morning I was okay again. Rick kept saying, " Do nothing the rest of the day."

How can one do that?  He tells me it's easy.  I need to learn this, he says. He will teach me. HA.

I just have to learn to be more lazy, we'll call it self-care. 

No type A running around shit. 

No kidding, I did this last week or so when weeding and mulching, etc. Then I remembered I live where there are red ants all over my yard, and I jumped up faster than you'd figure for this old gal.