O'Brother Sew Art Thou

Cataract Capsulation

2012-01-10T17:55:00.000-08:00

This is the information about the latest procedure that is scheduled for my bum eye...and by the way...one of the side effects from this procedure is a DETACHED RETINA!!! I feel like I am a character in a Laura Numeroff story...A circle story that you just can't get out of....Anyway...this info comes straight from google....

"One of the most common cataract surgery complications is a posterior capsule opacity (also called posterior capsule opacification or PCO). During cataract
surgery, your surgeon will remove the cloudy natural lens of your eye (cataract) and replace it
with an intraocular lens (IOL). When the cataract is removed, your surgeon makes every attempt to maintain the integrity of the lens capsule, and normally your vision after cataract surgery should be very clear. (Should be is the key word)
However, in about 20 percent of patients, which would be ME… the posterior portion of the capsule becomes hazy some time during cataract surgery recovery or even months later,
causing PCO. Posterior capsule opacification occurs because lens epithelial cells remaining after cataract surgery have grown on the capsule. In some cases, if the condition progresses
significantly, your vision may be worse than it was before cataract surgery.

Fortunately, a YAG laser can treat posterior capsule opacity
safely, effectively and painlessly. This procedure, known as YAG laser
capsulotomy, often can be performed in your doctor's office.
The procedure takes only a few minutes and is entirely painless; nor does
discomfort occur post-operatively. You must remain still during the procedure, however. Very
uncooperative patients, such as children and mentally disabled people, may
require sedation.
Although a YAG laser capsulotomy poses slight
additional risk, overall the procedure is extremely safe. The most important
risk is that the retina can become detached from the inner back of
the eye.

"Eye" thought it was over....

2012-01-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

today i went to mothershed's office to talk about corrective lenses for my bum eye...20/50...not so shabby for an eye that has been lasered, siliconed, gassed, and fitted with a new lens due to a cataract from all the above...not to mention the hundreds (or thousands) of stinking drops...after a few eye tests with bright lights and lots of small letters on charts it still appears that i have about 20-50 in that eye...things seemed to be okay and i was a little nervous about the style of glasses i would choose...would i go with a sarah palin look or a more sassy look that the young chicks are sporting...maybe some contacts...disposable, flexible, colored...the choices were going to be endless...just the thought of all the choices was making me a little nervous...i hate making decisions like that...wellllll ...when the dr. finished his exam, read the records and letters from dr. meyers he announced that i wouldn't be getting any corrective lenses today...since it had only been a few months since the cataract surgery(Nov. 17) there was still some film on the lens that would need to be cleaned off and that would have to be done and see if my vision improves any more... i didn't remember/understand all of "words that were coming out of his mouth"....capsulation, laser, cataract, insurance, simple procedure were about all that i heard...none of which sounded like really good news...I have since googled cataract capsulation and learned a little more about it...."eye" still don't like the sound of this....

Ain't they grand?!?!?!

2010-12-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

The grands all came during Thanksgiving and the weekend before Christmas...a "grand" time was had by all....Tripp and Garner loved playing together (especially in the pantry), strolling, and digging in the toy basket . Holder and Sims loved opening presents and wrestling...she may have a future...

Red Ribbon Week/We're off to see the Wizard....

2010-11-10T14:57:00.001-08:00

Since Red Ribbon Week and Halloween were so close together, my 2nd grade team decided we would dress as the Wizard of Oz characters ...it was hero or celebrity day so we gave it a shot. We planned it at about 3:15 on Wed. afternoon and this is how we turned out on Thursday morning....the kids loved it (and so did the rest of the staff). I had already made Ashley a skirt a few days earlier so I just used her scraps on Thurs. morning to make me one....got the red shoes and wig at walmart on wed. after school.

sick days - part 4 - re check in Tupelo

2010-10-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

On sat. morning i trucked on over to dr. mothershed's office to see dr. meyer and his staff...they come to tupelo every so often on a saturday so i didn't have to travel to memphis for the re-check of my bad eye...got there about 11:00 and the place was packed...after i signed in and picked a seat i asked the nice folks beside me just what happens in tupelo...the man had some detached retina issues and was a fishing guide from pickwick/corinth...he says it is the same in memphis and tupelo...lots of drops, tests and waiting , waiting, and more waiting. he was exactly right...the first girl, michelle, called me back after about an hour and a half to check my pressure...eye pressure..not blood pressure because i can assure anyone that my blood pressure was high...i hate sitting and waiting...i read one magazine before i went in to see michelle, but after the numbing drops and dialation drops i could only imagine what was in the magazine. she numbed my eyes and put her magic wand straight onto my eyeball...the bad eye took the test the first time...my good eye took 5-6 tries before it would take...if you haven't had this particular test it doesn't hurt but you can see a tiny tip headed straight for your eyeball and then see some wavy lines through all the drops...she said the pressure was great so just sit outside and wait...i waited in the dark room until i almost fell asleep...i moved to the front, bright room and flipped through some magazines and looked at the pictures the best i could...2 or three people came in with eye injuries...both got patched up and were lucky not to have any laser surgery...some young man finally called my name and all he did was check my pupils...yes they were dialated...and i waited some more...finally around 1:45 or so you could see some people coming out and you knew the doctor was working...the fishing guide had a 10:30 appointment so when he was called in i hoped i would be next...that is exactly how it worked...there was another woman across the hall that got a shot in her eyeball...i don't know exactly what was wrong but she was in some kind of pain and kept being called back and forth. i heard the doctor say "be still and i will let you know when there will be a little pain...i am a good shot giver"...i couldn't watch any more of that so i just laid back and listened...she didn't moan or cry and the doctor said she didn't even blink. she left with a patch on her eye...i then heard him talking to the fishing guide....he got a good report and then some fishing stories were told...something about an 8 year old boy catching an 8 pound crappie...then the doctor came in looked at my eye with his magnifier and said the leak was sealed and the tear was repaired...great job...i was so glad to hear that...next appt. dec . 4 in tupelo...left the office a little before three...starving again and ready to get home...and another round of drops to use 2 times a day for another week.

went back to school today....the morning was fine but i got a little tired after lunch.

Cake

2010-10-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

A lady from our church called me back several months ago and asked if i could make a 60th birthday cake for her sister...I agreed to do it and couldn't believe i hurt my eye one week before the date. I guess it worked out that i was home and able to cook a layer at a time and started icing it on saturday after my re-check visit. it turned out really nice.

sick days - part 3- Dr. Meyers visit

2010-10-22T11:38:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday morning we took off to memphis to visit the meyer (meyer) clinic... that is what their signs says...We arrived for the 11:00 appt. at about 10:30 or so...filled out the forms, gave them the insurance card and drivers license and only had to wait a few minutes until a nice guy, Eric, called me back...he was very funny and charasmatic...i later learned he was a minister...well, in this room he checked my vision on two different machines. the next machine checked my peripheral vision. it was a white concave machine that had some small dots in the center. he gave me a mouse-like clicker and said each time i saw a flash i needed to click. he said some flashes were bright and some were dim and some were farther out than others. it took 3-5 minutes until the timer went off and the tunnel went dark. on my left (bad ) eye it was just the same but by then my eyes were tired and my a.d.d. kicked in...i sort of drifted off during that test but he said I did fine. and by the way he added 3 different kinds of drops to my eyes. then i had to sit outside this room in the hall and waited until a woman called my name...i went into her room and all she wanted was more information about the accident and to check all of my information that was on her screen. Granted nothing had changed since i gave it to the first lady...then she said just wait in the hall...i was beginning to get hungry since i have lunch at 11:40 everyday...i was too scared from the warning about not eating after 7:00. Dennis was hungry too, so he bought some snack mix and i had one tiinnnny bite...a good while later another man (stanley) called my to yet another room. He did some tests that looked like nuclear symbols and signs twirling all around...i didn't do anything but just stare at them...then they took some more x-ray kind of pictures of my eye...they added two kinds of drops and made me look up, down, left, right, and every direction in between. They couldn't find the tear so I was hoping that my prayers had worked and it had healed itself over night...the girl told stanley that he was going to get called in if the doctor found a tear...so they did a sonogram of my eye...this time it was a closed eyelid sonogram. still not very pleasant since they covered my bad eyelid with slimy, cold goop and then decided their machine was not plugged in correctly...after a few adjustments she got a good view of the tear. she helped wipe off the goop and sent me back to the hallway....this wait was longer than the rest. I was getting more hungry, tired and scared...there were people everywhere...the lights were very dim and not one person was headed back to see the doctor....at a little after 1:00 a woman came out and called 5-6 of us back. We were placed in little cubicles side by side and were instructed to lay down when the doctor came in...I could finally hear his voice next door and he told that woman her ailment had improved so he didn't have to do surgery...i was still hopeful at this point. he came in and looked at stanley's x rays and called him back just like the girl said. He told him the photos were beautiful but not one picture of the tear. He got out his magnifying glass and turned on his miners hat light and found the tear in no time flat...he then proceeded to talk into his tape machine and was sending dr. mothershed a message about my eye...he thanked him for his wonderful diagnosis. he then said that the tear was somewhat larger than was reported and he hoped he could get the laser to fix the tear. if not, he said, we will put in an air bubble and have her back next week for surgery. I was just hearing this by eavesdropping and it made me nervous again. He said just go around the corner and they'll get you ready for the laser...so off to another room...they had an elderly lady that was being set up in the head gear for the laser...the nurse said that she felt like the dr. would put me before the 3 other lasers but that you never know...all of a sudden another nurse popped in and said...put the retinal tear in front. i was glad because i was hungry and ready to go...
the procedure involved a funnel like plastic thing placed under the eyelid to hold my bad eye open ...it had some salt stuff on it that kept the eye from moving around...my head was against a metal bar and my chin on a ledge and the nurse pushed the back of my head to keep me from pulling back. all the time he is aiming and shooting the laser all around my eye saying "this is great, this is perfect...great job"...i had to keep my good eye straight, my head still and my mouth shut...i let out a small moan when he put in the funnel (my eyeball is bruised) and another small moan when he lasered close to the places that were bruised....sort of like having a filling in a tooth and it not being deadened all the way. Not real pain but not real good either...i forgot to mention that she put in at least 3 sets of drops for numbing and dialation...

it probably took 15 minutes to get it set up until it was over....i had a grip on the handlebars that were manly...my shoulders were arched up and so tight...the nurse even said...just loosen up a bit..."easier said then done" ...when that ended and they pulled out the funnel, all i could see was purple goo. the nurse used some eye wash and got most of it out but had to lead me by the arm back to stanley for more pictures...and you know you can't take pictures without....DROPS...to get good pictures this time the girl pulled my eyelid from the corner and stanley pushed my nose and then placed the camera right where he needed it and he got some great shots...all the while i had my bad eye looking up as high as possible to the left...

we went to the last station, check out, and the girl made my re check appt. for 11:00 sat. in tupelo...she gave me a tiny bottle of DROPS to use twice a day for inflammation.
Couldn't wait to get some food... i really think i could have eaten a sandwich while he did the procedure...

i didn't check my spelling or grammar...just trying to get it typed

part two - sick days-dr. mothershed

2010-10-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

I went straight to dr. mothershed's office, filled out the paperwork, and waited for just a little while. I had asked my friends at school "how will they be able to see the floaters inside my eye". I haven't been to an eye doctor in a very, very, very long time. (each very stands for 10 years)...So needless to say they have all types of machines for your eyes...they tested my vision in the first room, put in some drops,took some x-ray type pictures of the inside of the eye, (they looked just like a mammogram),put in more drops to dialate my eyes, took some more pictures, looked at the eye with bright lights and then moved me to another room and took a sonogram of my eyeballs... they put in numbing drops, used a little wand and stuck it straight to the eyeball and rubbed it around...all the while i had to be still and move my eye to certain directions...up down and all around...each person said that "that was great" and moved me to another room. Finally dr mothershed came in and looked at all the information on a screen and made me do some more letter tests on a screen across the room. they tested my pressure, it was fine...no cataracts...20/20 vision and i thought all was going just fine. He returned to the room after they added more drops and put a magnifying glass and the brightest light known to man straight on my eyeball. I could feel the heat building up. I once again had to look up, to the left, to the right, and straight down with my bad eye. we did this more than once when he finally said "yep, i see a horseshoe retinal tear. Still thinking that some cream and a patch on the eye would take care of this ....i was very taken aback when he said call the retinal clinic...dr. meyer in memphis...get her in as quickly as possible...she has to have surgery on this now....they made the call, sent some paperwork, and instructed me to go home and not look down, don't pick up anything heavy and sleep with your head propped up...this is serious....they gave me two kids of drops (by now you know i don't like drops) one for infection and the other for who knows what...drops 4 times a day....i have had more drops in the last few days than i have had in my entire life. So I paid my bill and got in the car and headed home. Things were a little blurry but I made it home fine...Called the school secretary, got a sub and laid down (after I put in my drops) Got to dr mothershed's office at 2:30 and left there a little after 5:00...the people there are super nice but hope i don't have to visit again soon.

part - 3...dr meyer

Sick days

2010-10-19T16:42:00.001-07:00

I have accumulated almost 90 sick days since i began teaching. Today I actually had to use a sick day for sickness...boy does that stink. I took a lick to my left eye on saturday while picking up limbs. It must have been folded back like a whip because it slapped my eyeball so hard and so fast that I never saw it coming. I cried worse than a baby...more like a baby calf that has lost its mother. I could hear myself crying and I couldn't stop it...sobbing, sobbing, sobbing...sitting in the dark garage in a rocking chair crying.....I think 30 minutes or so went by and I finally stopped the sobbing and then just softly moaned and cried...still thinking i was blind ...i felt the moisture and looked to see and it wasn't blood. I finally got up the courage to barely, and I mean barely, lift my eyelid...i could see some light so i assumed i wasn't completely blind...but the pain was still there. I said at last 100 (1000) times that "my eye is killing me". No matter what I did the eye hurt...if i kept it shut...it hurt. if i opened it...it hurt....and whatever my right eye did the left eye did too...it just hurt. we had lunch, cut down more bushes, moved in a kitchen table and headed home from fulton. I looked like Mike Tyson when I woke up on sunday morning...my eye was puffed and glued shut. after i loosened it and looked at the redness i was a little scared again. only when i kept brushing away a gnat in my sewing room did I realize that there were some black floaters in my eye...I knew a gnat should not be in the sewing room....my eyeball felt much better on sunday afternoon...very little pain but still floaters everywhere...I still didn't realize the seriousness of this injury and went back to Fulton to make sure we locked up and cleaned up everything on saturday. one thing led to another and I sprayed the dock, pier ,gazebo with some weather proofer and did the upper decks with some stain and a roller. Slept good Sunday night, eye not as glued together on monday but still red as blood and still having floaters... After a hectic day at school with a conference on an unruly child, TST on a child that is repeating and just the stuff that goes on at school on a monday, i finally got to call the doctor...they worked me in at 2:40...The other part of that story is...the lady that helps with my class had a death in her family and was off so there was no one to watch the kiddos. worked out that another lady could come in and keep the kids for my conference, tst meeting and stayed through dismissal.

and just so you know...dennis said he has never seen or heard me cry like that in 33 years. I am thinking 52 years...

part two - visit to mothershed

Chairs

2010-08-30T04:19:00.000-07:00

We bought a few of these director's chairs that can be personalized with names, initials, fraternity/sorority letters, mascots, slogans, etc. They fold up and can go in a closet or under a bed for storage. Perfect for dorm rooms, cabins, covered porches. They would make great Christmas gifts or even graduation gifts for next year. $35.00....

what's a girl to do!!!???

2010-07-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

With school fast approaching (and I am not wearing my glasses and my fingernails are really long so excuse my typing) I can't decide exactly what to do with my few remaining hours of freedom. I really , really, really enjoy relaxing but I feel the need to get some unfinished business behind me....but then again there is always tomorrow as Scarlet would say. SO today since G-baby has gone home , dennis is out of town for the day, and no calls from anybody needing anything ...I have decided to do a little of both. I sanded, stained and sealed the front door, did some laundry, made Tripp a shirt, weeded the flower beds, and organized and straigtened my sewing room.(which will be to do over as soon as I start another project)...oh, i forgot to mention that I did repair a HUGE hole in a pair of hunting overalls...I guess they were trash for some young man but they are now repaired and ready for some deer hunting . If you aren't a teacher you probably don't know this feeling of depression/anxiety that creeps up on us...Most people think we have it made but it takes 8 weeks to re-charge our batteries. I think most teachers are anxious to get back to work but it seems like just yesterday that we were getting those end of the year checklists completed. Monday at 8:00 am I will hear the things from our administration that they think will pump us up and make us better teachers...Tuesday is open house and Wed. the kiddos will be there...Their batteries will be completely charged and will not lose power until May of next year. Can't wait to meet them and have some FUN!!! So back to the pool now for the last few hours of sun and fun...they are priceless....

Garner and Tripp

2010-07-26T10:50:00.001-07:00

G baby is here for a few days since the rest of his family are at the Hottest Place on Earth...the Neshoba County Fair. We picked him up on Sunday afternoon and brought him back to civilization. The big kids enjoy the dirt and sweat but not Garner...he is just a sweet bundle of baby...There is only about 6 weeks difference in Garner and Tripp but they are about as different as they can be. Tripp will tolerate some Baby Einstein but Garner seems to really enjoy it...Garner loves to be held and rocked and cuddled...all of the things that Tripp will try his best to avoid. But both boys love to get their blankie and get into the baby bed for nap time and bed time. Garner is watching Baby Einstein and Tripp is taking a cat nap ...

Something fishy

2010-06-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

I read in the paper about a fish painting workshop in Fulton...$2.00....so I gave my retired friend a call and she jumped at the chance to be an artist for the day. We really didn't know what to expect...we started our adventure having lunch at Bishop's Gifts and Flowers...It is a nice little area that serves sandwiches, burgers (grilled on Friday), salads, breakfast and plate lunch specials...We opted for the plate lunch since we were on a tight schedule and had to be at our art class at 12:00...It was a very good lunch and Alice treated since it was my birthday a couple of days later...She is just toooo sweet....We headed on over to the MSU extension service Itawamba branch...We made connections with a couple of the women that were there and everybody was friendly and helpful...lots of laughing and fun. The two gals that taught the class have been around...i mean literally...they lived in japan for 20 + years and one lives in california now and the other lives in Fulton...she might have some type of culture shock but you would never know it...We ended up with some nice prints and I even printed on a t shirt...I think it will be a great craft to do with my kids at school...or maybe just the grands....We had a great time and can't wait to find us another adventure...

whoops

2010-06-22T07:30:00.001-07:00

Who would ever believe that sweet Simzy girl would ever cause destruction??? She came from the back bedroom with a little apprehension and some crocodile tears. Her story was "dada and Holder were throwing the ball and I tried to hide"...sounds very innocent ...but she failed to reveal that she hid in the curtains and then got a little tangled and yanked the entire rod down ...both brackets were pulled loose and the finial on one end was shattered...Not sure how she avoided the rod hitting her head but other than some paint, spackle and reattaching of the brackets nothing major came from the ordeal. She has also had a little incident with some of my little sewing scissors and a tassle on a pillow. Boy can she tell some stories about how things happen...

Smores

2010-06-21T10:58:00.001-07:00

100 hundred degrees and Dennis decided to build us a fire and the little kids brought the fixins for Smores. Den Den picked up some coconut covered marshmallows and they were the best smores I have ever eaten. We finished up the night with a game of keep away with a giant beach ball. Amazingly no one fell down or got really mad about being in the middle. All in all it was a great time spent with the kids and grand kids.

Dance party

2010-06-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Betsy and her 3 kiddos came for a visit this morning. the little girls decided to have a dance party and were really getting down when I peeped out to check on them. Ree and Sims both love dancing, fashion and girly things...can't wait to see them in about 10 years...watch out for them...they are double trouble.

Elvis Festival

2010-06-16T07:27:00.001-07:00

Dennis and I went to the Elvis Festival and somehow I thought I lost this picture to prove it...it suddenly appeared on my computer...oh well, we had a good time but had to leave before Paul Thorn came on...too much set up time between the bands so it pushed Paul Thorn way past his time of 9:30...we stayed until 10:45 and finally gave up...

Baby Blue

2010-06-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

Baby dedication will be at our church on Sunday...Tripp has been growing like a weed and can barely squeeze into a lot of his clothes...I decided to make a little sample to see what size he needs in the world of homemade clothing. I made a size 2 in a very tailored john john. I think it will be perfect...if not for this Sunday maybe another SUnday...he looks very cute in blue. He has a shirt to wear underneath...Can't wait to see how he looks in it.

A +

2010-06-04T05:37:00.001-07:00

I try to donate blood every so often to keep them from calling me everyday. While I was running errands I decided to stop by and give a little of my A positive blood. This type is very common but I guess when they need it they need it....It only took about 45 minutes and they checked my blood pressure,gave out water and cookies, and will have my cholesterol numbers in a few days...they also threw in a free bumpers burger and a t shirt...

DONE

2010-06-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

Finally finished with the clorox/mildew battle...Dennis has been on top of the house like a spider monkey. He doesn't know how dangerous this is or maybe he just doesn't care...who knows...He did say this was his last time to do this chore....

3 out of 4

2010-06-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

Got my closet organized...3 bags of stuff to give away...
Got my ironing done...
The columns are sanded and painted...

Tackling the mildew after lunch and some sunning...

Can't wait to see if we can get everything done in one day...it is a marathon of chores.....

The not so lazy days of summer!!!

2010-06-02T05:16:00.000-07:00

As most people know, the Buse family is not much on relaxing on holidays...so it doesn't come as a surprise that we were up today by 5:30 making a list of things to get done...or should I say Dennis was making a list of things for "us" to get done. HOpefully "we" can get these few little jobs finished and the summer holiday will officially begin.
1. finish ironing...(haven't done it in a while)
2. clean mildew off of house with clorox
3. sand and paint columns on front of house (the martins have once again roosted on the top of one of the columns and now have a few babies.) This may have to wait until they leave the nest.
4. clean out my closet....it is out of control....

Can't wait for summer!!!!

2010-05-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

20 days of school and summer vacation will arrive....this year has flown by but as always i am ready for some rest and relaxation...Put in some new palm trees (hope they live) and re-did the pool pump fence.

New backsplash

2010-05-02T15:35:00.001-07:00

I haven't updated in a while but we put up a backsplash earlier this year. It turned out exactly the way we planned. Not too very hard...just time consuming and messy.

crawfish

2010-05-02T15:31:00.001-07:00

Our neighbors had a crawfish boil last night...so glad we were invited....I love crawfish better every year.His son brought the mud bugs (red bugs) up from somewhere down south...and boy can he cook...potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, corn,sausage...and it was all HOT...and really, really good.

Birthday Girl

2010-05-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday...

Simsy Girl is 4 today....I have a shirt ready but didn't get to go to jackson this weekend....her party is in a couple of weeks and she and holder will be having a joint skating party....

2009-12-29T07:37:00.000-08:00

Mount LeConte---revisited--- Dennis decided it was time for a mini-vacation /torture trip. Most people consider a trip to the mountains as restful but not Dennis. He is not one to sit around and enjoy the scenery. On our trip to Gatlinburg in October we got a good nights sleep and then hit the trail head early. It is about 5.7 miles up and I mean straight up....we made it up in 4 hours or so...can't really remember the exact times and rested around the lodge area for about an hour. We saw the llamas, ate some cookies, drank coffee and hot chocolate and then headed back down to civilization and a hot shower. The trip down is always the easiest unless one of us falls down and turns their ankle. Dennis has one ankle that continues to bother him...he probably doesn't let it heal from the previous injury before he referees, umpires or decides to hike 10+ miles in a day. In a very flat and thankfully wide area of the otherwise steep and narrow path he stepped on a stone that was standing vertically in the pathway. He took a pretty good tumble and grabbed his ankle. It was huge pretty quick but we managed to get down without the helicopter ($10,000 for a lift). I wasn't nearly as sore as i thought i would be but don't want to do that hike for a while.

Baby Garner

2009-12-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

Baby Garner arrived on dec. 11. It is the first time i have been able to make it to a grandchild's birth before they popped out. Holder, Sims and Tripp and were all cleaned up and wrapped in blankets before i got to see them. This time it was a little different...no one was in a hurry so I made it down in plenty of time. I even stayed in the delivery room and witnessed the whole (words can't describe it) thing. I thought for a while I was going to have to deliver the baby myself. They checked allison and said it was time to push but when they pulled back the sheets there was a little surprise waiting. The nurse had an almost panicked look when she asked that the doctor come alittle faster. They even told allison not to laugh again much less push. I guess I didn't know you could have a baby without pushing....oh well it was fast and furious and they both did great. Adam and I just stood close to the wall and waited for the time we could snap some pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T07:40:00.001-08:00

We certainly have lots to be thankful for...family(which is growing), friends, jobs, homes, churches, health and much, much more....The two Jackson kids are here for a few days...hopefully mom and dad will get some rest and get everything ready for baby Garner...He could be here at any time. Tripp and his family are headed to Cotton Plant and then to the Delta for some fam time... My helper fixed the deviled eggs today....

pictures

2009-10-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

my friend felicia was a little disappointed in my photos of the things i had made a few weeks back. It did look a lot like a big pile of things and didn't do any of the things justice. Allison took the time to send me pictures that she made of each outfit after she embellished them with rick rack, trims and embroidery. They did turn out cute and baby girl probably will be good for the fall and winter season. The only dress she didn't make a picture of was the dress that simsy girl had on at school on friday.

art

2009-09-19T07:17:00.001-07:00

promised some pictures of their finished work...finally had time to get it done. Their latest project was made in art class...their names are in the art work....very cute....

JonJon's, Jumpers and Jelly

2009-09-15T04:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I finally did some serious sewing. Allison had left about 10 different things to be sewn. She cut them out but just doesn't have time to sew. I on the other hand have "all the time in the world".HA...I guess sewing the bedding for the new baby just got me a little inspired and with Dennis working on some fences I did have some time on my hands. I finished up about 10 A-line jumpers, 7 pairs of pants , two jonjons for the two new babies and 5 jars of plum jelly...I monogrammed some cute monkey heads for bibs and one on a backpack for our neighbors little girl.

The first week

2009-08-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

During the first week of school we made self portraits...they studied some prints done by famous artists and then we drew the outlines of our faces with a pencil, traced it with glue and then covered them with foil and pressed out the glue lines. The kids called it "magic" They colored them with permanent markers...they had a really fun time and the finished products were very impressive during parent orientation on Thursday night. I will post the finished products later.

Classroom

2009-08-22T08:24:00.001-07:00

"Attitude is Everything"

After several coats of paint and a little sewing I finished my classroom. It is bright and cheerful and hopefully will make us all happy...

Bed skirt

2009-07-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

I stole this picture from Ashley's blog spot. I thought the bed skirt turned out very nice .

yum yum

2009-07-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

Some friends brought us some veggies from the Amish country in TN...They were certainly some of the prettiest vegetables that we have seen this season....I peeled and chopped and cooked every bit of it for lunch on Sunday...the Mexican eggplant casserole was delicious. http://www.cooks.com/ as was the zuchinni , yellow squash, a HUGE onion, green beans, and some peppers. Doug W. brought us some tomatoes...German running acidless tomatoes that were huge and some yellow tomatoes that were a little different than the typical red ones.

things from the camera

2009-07-25T08:29:00.001-07:00

I just looked on my camera and discovered a picture of Felicia and her friend Leslie (leslie teaches at parkway). they have been friends for a long time. We were at the closing luncheon at the Whole schools institute in oxford. I also took a picture of an elvis wall hanging and a quilt that i found interesting. the last picture i made was of den den and the kids in the pool...

too little time

2009-07-25T06:01:00.001-07:00

It seems like the days are just rushing by and things are not getting done around here...my new machine has been idle for several days but my friend Felicia came by with a small project and i fired it up....needless to say with both kids here it gets a little hectic. They wait until I am busy to decide they need something...getting sims some apple juice sounds like it should include a 911 call. she is always "bery" thirsty and needs it right now....Holder is pretty content to watch cartoons, play the computer games and play his Wii. Only when he needs a snack does he ever say very much. they have both enjoyed swimming and just relaxing. We don't have a real schedule when they are here and with Den Den gone to Al for two days we just took it easy...real easy....that is until I decided to complete my teacher of distinction paperwork. I have been nominated before but just never had the time to work on the paperwork...It is a lot more work than i thought it would be and with the two little ones coming in and out wanting things who knows how it turned out. Felicia helped when she came by. She kept them at bay while i typed, gave me advice on how to "beef" up my writings, and wrote me a very sweet letter of support.

My sister Kelly from FLorida and my niece anna blair from arkansas came by for a visit too. We swam and ate lunch and then they headed back to cotton plant. Did I mention that they also brought by two walmart bags of peas...just what i needed with my nerves frazzled by writing and thinking....the peas went quicker than I thought and we all watched a movie while I shelled. Sims wanted to be a helper so she put the empty hulls in the trash...only once did she get confused and put the full peas in the trash...maybe that is why it went quicker. Their mom went to the doctor and found out she is having a boy. Lots of new babies in the family for Christmas....Jennifer and Stacy both had girls and Lanna just had a baby boy. Morgan should be having a baby in september...and then the Buse boy and the Jones boy...The kids were wanting a sister...if you go to Lime-A-Beans you can read felicias take on the names....anyway, the kids rode down to the Neshoba county fair with Cindy F. and Kathy Wallace...can't wait to hear about their trip. The Jones family will be moving mid-week and I have a flex day next week, need to set up my classroom and the butterbeans will be in as well as that killer corn...too little time!!!! (i stole the pictures from Lime-A- Beans...)

Papier Mache Mask and pottery

2009-07-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Mask that needs to dry and be painted.

Pinch pot, shaker and a whistle that won't blow.

Hip Cats

2009-07-15T18:03:00.001-07:00

Notice the EP on his tag around his neck...and Tupelo on the musical gates...

Under the sea

2009-07-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

This has been an "art" week.

2009-07-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

Starting Sunday after lunch I have been commuting to Oxford to get sm"arter". I have had "fun with mud", architecture in the classroom, papier mache, under the sea, and hip cats...all of these classes were fun and i enjoyed the activites...painting, making pottery, making a mask, creating sea collages. making a false facade for a building, and painting...My best class however, has been "Drum Circles by Damm"...I know this sounds a little funny but the man's name was Robert Damm(dom)...it is one of the best things i have attended...no stress, no mistakes...just pure fun with drums, shakers, cowbells, a donkeys jaw, and other homemade instruments. We even played the Boom Whackers and did a little African dancing...I had one class on Monday for a couple of hours and then attended the curriculum track on Tues and Wed. He had cute books which had onomatopoeia in them and we duplicated those sounds with the drums.

kilzed

2009-07-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

I decided to go back to the school today and take a few(yeah right) more boxes of school junk. Hubby was working out of town so i had no schedule for the day but had planned to only work until 11:00. well, I watched Jeopardy at school, ate some lunch and attempted some painting...everything that i have is so old that it has oil based paint on it and i needed some primer...i decided to call it quits and headed home but made a u-turn at kfc and headed to walmart...got some KILZ...this stuff is named correctly...it will kill a person , if not by fumes, then by all the work of putting it on and then painting 1-2 coats of the real paint....i only primed 2 bookshelves at school but have primed 4 more tonight...after 12 years of scavenging for stuff, moving classrooms 5 times in 12 years, and just making do, I decided to try and color coordinate some things...i will keep you posted as to how long this continues...I always have good intentions but seem to get rushed and just throw things together....

12:34:56 7-8-9

2009-07-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Where were you at 123456789 today? It will not happen again during our lifetime (or that is what they said on tv this morning) I was at school unloading and putting away some good school junk. my friend felicia came to help but had car troubles and was late getting there. I think she made it in time for the 123456789. we ended the day eating pizza and swimming and brainstorming some back to school ideas. She already has the first 5 or six weeks planned out.

Holder and Sims

2009-07-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

she doesn't always cooperate during our pictures...

red, white, and blue monday

2009-07-06T13:42:00.001-07:00

today was a little depressing...could be because the kiddos were gone, the sun wasn't out or i have a flex day tomorrow...made a cute whale shirt today for Sims with some matching shorts with some eyelet trim...she is certainly a clothes hog...she "wuvs" everything...they are both getting a patchwork outfit for the beach in a couple of weeks...sewing was a little touchy today...moved everything to a new place and i am a little out of sorts...i am trying to embrace change...

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

We have had plenty of food, family, friends and fun the last couple of days. We swam a lot on Friday and ate some grilled burgers for lunch. We decided to have a fish fry on friday night and invited some old (former) neighbors and some of our new neighbors. We had a really nice time and the food was great. today we went out at about 11:30 and came in at 4:00..we are all really tired from swimming and sunning. Trying to make it until the fireworks at 9:30...

July 1st

2009-07-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

this is the official day that i start my back to school depression. could be that i had a birthday last week or maybe i had a flex day yesterday and went to the school....lots of work to be done...30 boxes to be unpacked at school and a whole garage of school stuff to take over to thomas street....painting of shelves and killing of bugs...my friend fe-fe has offered to help me...she seems like she is burning the candle at both ends but maybe i can get her to "school and pool" one day this week.
the flex day at school involved punching out little cards for games for the kiddos....it took the entire day and several boxes of baggies to put them in. hopefully they will be a great center activity but they look like a mess just waiting to happen.

who would ever imagine

2009-07-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

i have been wanting some music from the movie that i stole my name from....after playing around it appeared...hope you enjoy

weekend update

2009-06-29T09:24:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was very busy...we went to work on a habitat house for our 72 hours of service with our church. we had a really good time even though it was hot...really hot....dennis and a couple of other men put on some shingles and i helped with some siding...i lucked up to be in the shade most of the day but still managed to get a pink face...we had more projects planned for saturday afternoon at our house but just flunkered out when we got home that afternoon. on sunday i went to a baby shower for my sister ...it was in eupora..i printed out some directions on mapquest and didn't really pay attention to them until we were on Martin Luther King jr. drive....we decided the directions were not taking us where we needed to go and had to call someone to come lead us to the house...even the navigation thing in ashley's car couldn't locate the place...Sim's cried to go to tupelo but our car was full...

united blood services

2009-06-26T14:30:00.001-07:00

Today was a big day at the blood service...they were giving away prizes and food( i had already eaten)...some radio station was there and they were going to give away tickets to Hank Williams Jr. and some other event or vacation....i also went to the dream house to register for the drawings that they will have on Sunday...most importantly being the house ...very nice and a fairly decent floor plan...looks like they ran out of steam in the kitchen....

no news

2009-06-26T10:32:00.001-07:00

Taking a lazy day today...just going to relax...maybe....i made a john john and will post later...

mississippi state

2009-06-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

Made these for a gift...hope she doesn't check the blog....she hasn't chosen a name so i just went with msu

Sunny shirts

2009-06-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

I did these t shirts for the kiddos on my little machine...had to double hoop but wasn't any trouble....except the crazy machine ate up simzy girls shirt...just a little at the bottom...I will have to make her another one later...I was right there with it and the bottom just flipped up and got attached...the towels are for a wedding gift...did them on my big machine...

Summer at its best

2009-06-24T12:08:00.001-07:00

Today is a perfect day for being outside...breezy, beautiful, balmy...i just close my eyes and pretend i am in florida...no sand or sharks...I did RoundUp the weeds and then hit the floats...August will be here before i know it...

It is HOT

2009-06-24T06:12:00.001-07:00

I barely went outside yesterday...too hot to swim (i never thought i would say that). Really and truly I decided to try my new machine out and had to gather a few supplies...after several failed attempts at downloading and saving files and that kind of stuff we finally got started (cindy came by for a lesson). we made two cute USA t shirts for the kiddos...and a bath mat for me...Cindy brought her "fastframes" for me to try too. They are probably the best thing to get for embroidery....they hook on with one small screw and you can get purses, shirts, stockings, etc in the hoop with no problem. of course they are extra...but well worth it. I am trying to get my sewing stuff organized and in one central location. did i mention that it is HOT!!!!

curriculum mapping

2009-06-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Today was my first flex day of the summer...8:30-3:30 talking about each nine weeks and what we will study...it has to be included in the curriculum for the state and tpsd and not overlap with any other grade level... The 3 things we have to keep in mind...written, taught and tested....Not one time today did anyone mention FUN...The group seems very ecclectic...and by the way I think I am the oldest teacher in the school...This should be an interesting year.

I'm "sew"excited!!!!

2009-06-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

well, today was the day to make the big purchase...the brother pr620 embroidery machine. I love my little machine but with two new grands on the way i decided i probably needed to bite the bullet. My friend and sewing partner in crime, cindy, came to heirlooms to make sure i followed thru...it is a done deal and it is now at home with me.

baby martins

2009-06-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor, Eddie Lindsey, put up a really nice bird hotel for the Martin birds...there is a lake nearby (pond?) and is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitos. He says he was a little late getting it up and some sparrows built in it first and are keeping the martins away. We , however, had been noticing the birds flying under our porches and thought it was great that they were looking for the bugs around our house...great until we noticed there was a nest on top of one of the columns on the front porch. We noticed this while we were painting them one morning and the birds were like dive bombers...they had dove down on me as I went to get the paper on several mornings but i thought they just couldn't see well that early and thought i could be a big bug...a really big bug...We finished painting the columns and have sat out and watched the two birds fly back and forth with some food ...still thinking awwww that is so cute...cute until i had to wash up the pound of poop from the bottom of our freshly painted column...I just got it all off yesterday and today it is back. How can two birds poop that much?

Don't know why

2009-06-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

The loving the outside post is a little crazzzy...just read down the side and it says"we traded back an old patio set

Loving the outside!

2009-06-19T06:47:00.001-07:00

We traded back a patio set with D-ray and Ashley ( it was a set we had at our old house)...the cushions were old and dry rotted on one side and a little mildewed all over....I tore them apart and made a pattern and bought some sunbrella fabric at the warehouse down by the dog pound...I had never made a cushion with a side piece (gussett?)...they went together easy but sewing them shut by hand was a pain since there was some waterproof backing on the inside it made the needle sort of gummy. I had sore fingers for days. The water really beads up on the cushions and I hope it shows up in the picture...I also made some for the front porch and a little table out back. The green cushions make me smile.

Crayon Caddies

2009-06-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

These caddies were pretty easy to make( i made about 30 in two mornings)....the most labor intensive part is sewing the little pockets for the crayons...i used my finger as a guide...and as always"there are no two exactly the same"...I thought they were cute but when a mom at Holder's T-ball game told me how much she liked the party favor i decided they were really a great idea.

something for me

2009-06-19T06:35:00.001-07:00

I never sew much for myself but decided to copy some flip flops that I saw that a friend had...they were sooo cute....just a covered button with the metal snipped off the back and a piece of sticky back velcro...you could also sew the button on some cute ribbons and attach to some $1.00 flip flops too. I had some purse handles that I got half price at Hancocks and decided to try a purse...it was quick and easy...i looked it up on the internet but you can design your own pattern...just a rectangle...didn't line it and sewed the casing on the machine with the handles inside....quick and easy....just the way I like it.

John John Time

2009-06-19T06:24:00.000-07:00

I had a few minutes to sew when school ended so I decided to make some JohnJohns for whomever in the family had a boy...well it turns out that D-ray and ashley are having a boy. I also bought some blue blankets the same day that they found out...what a coincidence....(but since my daughter and sister are both pregnant too I decided that at least one blue blanket would be given away). The fish on the blue john john and the frog on the khaki johnjohn were freebies from bunnycup.com. The green jj will get a monogram when they pick a name.

crazy camera

2009-06-18T09:10:00.001-07:00

I have been charging my camera for 24 hours and was ready to show some pictures of the things i have made this summer but the crazy thing will NOT work...just when I am ready to blog and get with the rest of the world with technology....oh well, i guess i will just have to lay by the pool and think of something else to do...this morning i finished up 2 monogrammed towels for a girl in ripley and a burp pad, bib, and ole miss (baby)panties for a lady from my church. i still have my eye on the PR 620 but get a little anxious when i think about being married to it...the sale goes off on Monday...$6,899.00 plus tax...with a $620 rebate and a $620 shopping spree at heirlooms...How much embroidery would a girl have to do to feel like she needs one??? ANY COMMENTS

Holder's birthday number 5

2009-06-17T06:59:00.000-07:00

Holder really wanted SpongeBob Squarepants for his cake but his mom nixed it. I made some crayon caddies for party favors out of some scrap bandana print. They turned out so cute that we decided bandana was the theme. The cake was super quick and easy. The caddies were easy too and young moms like to carry them in their purse for the kiddos to color and be quiet while doing it. They don't rattle like boxes or baggies. Perfect for church or just going out to eat with friends. I will post a picture of them later....