Weekend Views

Hi All!

Once again I didn't get to post yesterday since I was out of the house early for an observation assignment. I am sure you all missed me!

Anyway - this weekend was full of fun and surprises! I am going to tell you about everything sort of out of order but . . . you will get the drift, I am sure!

Just look at this beautiful sunset! I took about a million pictures of this while Hubby and I were out spelunking.
cvn
Okay - technically, we were NOT exploring caves but we have adopted the term "spelunking" to reference our hunts for golf balls at the local course.
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It is a great place for me to take pictures too!

There is a nice little lake with a waterway just full of water plants and edged by plants starting to be tinged with fall color.

Sitting on the stone overflow outlet is the favorite way to sun for the local turtles. I know that this shot if far away but I don't have a good zoom lens at the moment and if I get closer the turtles slide off into the water!

Hubby wished he had brought his net with him once he saw this bounty of golf balls. He wasn't willing to take a dip to get them though - he has "been there, done that" before!

sfj

So - don't you wish you could have gone walking with us while we were hunting golf balls? Well, Hubby was hunting, I was busy taking pictures of the sunset!

vm

Trisha

xbn

Voice Update: Doing pretty well even though my throat is getting tight. I am trying to get that massage to loosen it up but . . . it is taking a while. I AM doing the massage and making sure I talk enough to keep things going!

The Wonders of Moleskin

Hi All!

Well, blisters on the bottom of your feet can be a bit . . . well, let's say . . . uncomfortable. However, I still needed to head out to an observation for class so . . I had to find a way to make things bearable.

Enter a wonderful thing called "moleskin."

Don't worry - no moles were harmed in the production of this material. It is all man-made! It is a soft material full of air bubbles to make it really cushiony. The kind I got is backed with adhesive so you can cut whatever shape you need and then just stick it on!

I cut out some shapes to surround my blisters (the intention is to support the blister area without putting pressure on the actual blister), stuck them on, slid on some socks and then put on my shoes (not the same ones that caused the blisters!!). Not too bad!

This solution helped me make it through my assignment. Of course, I kicked off my shoes as soon as I was in the car!

Oh well! At least I survived!

I got home and took everything off and put my feet up for a while . . . before I drifted off into a nap!

This morning my blisters are much better - not healed - but bearable without moleskin!

Moleskin is wonderful stuff!

Trisha

Voice Update: Believe it or not, I actually did voice exercises AND massage yesterday! No reading out loud but . . . I did massage! I am getting there!

Blisters!

Hi All!

Yesterday was another early assignment for my practicum class so I didn't get to blog. I missed you!

My day went really well - and really not well - yesterday!

It started out with me getting up half an hour early to squeeze my walk and swim in before my assignment. It was weird walking in the dark and swimming in the pool with the lights on. Sometimes it was almost peaceful and sometime it was a little creepy. Like when I thought I saw someone standing by the pool out of the corner of my eye and it was only the vine on the fence!

Swimming and walking did feel good and I am happy that I did it. I don't know if I would get up early every day to do it but . . . it was nice and refreshing (and maybe just a tinge chilly) yesterday!

Then I got ready and hopped in my beautiful car - you remember my "new" car. It is only a couple months old. I love this car!

I was headed to my first assignment and stopped at the stoplight. There was a big, red pick-up truck being driven by a high school boy behind me. Stopped. Well, until he pulled up and hit me! Now, it wasn't a hard hit. It wasn't at any kind of speed. But, it was definitely a hit. In fact, he had to back his truck up after hitting me so he wasn't still touching my bumper!

Out of the car I got to inspect for damage. The boy - he stayed in his truck looking like he was scared to death. I looked at the bumper of my car and all around - couldn't see a problem so - after a bit of a blare at the boy - I hopped back in the car and headed out.

According to Hubby this was very unwise! He says I need to always get a phone number and name in situations like this because I might find damage later. I know, I know BUT - I have looked at the car at least three other times (in bright sunlight too) and have not seen as much as a scratch!

Not the best way to start my day!

As least my first assignment went well.

Between assignments I had about half an hour for lunch. I decided to stop at a Mexican restaurant I see a lot while driving around. It turned out to be a nice time. The food was good - if a little cold by the time it reached me - and the service was fabulous. Because I was the only customer there! Needless to say, they don't get a big lunch crowd at this place. My meal cost a total of $5.41 and I got in an out within the allotted half hour. Nice.

Then I headed off to my next assignment. I parked where I was told to park and then got totally lost finding where I needed to be! I walked and walked and walked. After finding the correct place, I noticed that my feet hurt a bit. Hmmm. Oh well- focus on the job at hand. Then we had to walk to another site in the middle of the job. Again - the feet seemed a bit . . . tender.

After the job I once more checked out my bumper (still didn't see anything) and headed for home. Thinking the entire time that my feet hurt.

When I got home I promptly changed clothes and took off my shoes and socks. Imagine my surprise when I saw HUGE blisters on each foot. The blisters were (are) at the base of my toes spanning the entire distance from the inside of my foot, across the area of my big toe, to the middle of my foot. On both feet! These things are big and nasty.

I hate blisters.

With these blisters acting like big airbags on the bottom of my feet, walking was a bit of an issue last night. I hobbled around like I was decrepit. Maybe I was. I will have to look up the meaning of that word!

Anyway - I soaked my feet. It felt good but did nothing to help the blisters. Then I read my medical "home remedy" book which I have had for years. It always give me good advice (and tells when you should go to a doctor) so . . . I followed its advice and "popped" the blisters.

Now, don't go imagining the worst. I actually punctured the blisters with a sterilized needle in the proper way to drain the liquid from the blisters without exposing the area to infection. Let me just say that there was a LOT of liquid in each of these blisters! Wow!

After letting the liquid out I liberally coated each blister site with antibiotic ointment, put on clean socks and went to bed. My feet still hurt like the dickens.

This morning things are better - my feet still hurt but I can walk without wanting to cry - and hopefully, thing will just keep getting better!

What a day!

Trisha

Voice Update: Still doing okay - I did a lot of talking to my interpreters during the two assignments I had so I didn't do my oral reading (I am procrastinating so much on that - need to put a Post-it on my forehead to tell me to do it!) last night. Besides, the feet sort of took my focus off my voice.

Rain and Noodles

Hi All!

This was a nice weekend. I spent all day Saturday learning more about fingerspelling at a workshop (and getting hours towards my 200 practicum hours that I need!). Sunday was basically just spent resting and doing some much needed laundry (about time!).

Yesterday I was out and about early so I didn't get to blog but . . . I missed you all (the three of you who actually read my blog!)!

I thought I would start off by showing you what Skor thinks of my walking/swimming each morning.
I honestly think that he believes that I won't go out if he is on top of my shoes!

sdghsfj

Just so you know - the jar of Vaseline is there because I put some on my heels before I walk - a good time to moisturize!

Do you remember I told you that it had rained in Texas? Well, one day we got something like 10 inches over 24 hours. I was "lucky" enough to drive through a lot of it. This is a pond near our house and I just had to show you.

sfj

In this picture, the pond is to the right of the trees. Normally, the trees are about four feet from the shore. Notice that in this picture, the water is about 8 feet PAST the trees!

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Luckily the pond is right next to the lake and the "excess" water goes into the lake so there was no flooding of nearby houses.

That was one wicked rain storm! I have included a video below of the storm I was driving through - fun, fun!

Before the storm, however, I thought I would show you this.

Home made pasta!

fj

I got the "urge" to try something different and found this recipe so . . . here are my noodles.

dfhj

Of course I don't have a pasta machine or any fancy cutting tools so . . . the rolling pin and a knife did my job. Not very "professionally" but it all tastes the same!

dghm

These were really good - even Hubby has some!

I will have try this again soon since I like pasta so much!
sfdj
Well, that is it for the past events (except for the two short movies I am adding at the end). On to today.
fj
I will be heading to the college for my weekly "work fest." I spend about four hours before class doing work which will help me become a better interpreter (I hope!) such as working on my receptive comprehension and practicing actually interpreting from ASL to English and vice versa.
fhj
At 4:30 class starts and then I am headed home by about 6:30! A big change from last semester when class started at 6 and ended around 10! Another big change is that I actually am enjoying this class a lot!
hk
Well - that is my "exciting" life for the moment! I hope you have an exciting day!
gh
Trisha
dgh
Voice Update: My voice is still doing okay even though I did notice on Saturday that I was having a few more hesitations than I would like - those darn hard C words! Oh well! I will need to get back to work on that - I still haven't gotten back into the "groove" so to speak, with that. Bad, bad, Trisha!

All Twisted Up!

Hi All!

This morning is beautiful in Texas! I had a lovely walk and swim. There was one thing that sort of bothered me a bit . . .

I was swimming and a car pulled into the parking lot. This isn't unusual but this car just parked and sat there. For something like 15 minutes! At first, I thought that the person in the car was just taking their time getting their swimming stuff together. Then the person didn't get out of the car. And didn't get out. And didn't get out. And didn't get out.

Perhaps they are waiting for me to finish up so they can have the pool to themselves, I thought. I went through my routine and got out of the pool And the car left.

I don't know what was up with the person in the car but, it just sort of creeped me out.

Oh well. It is probably just a person who was needing a place to finish a cell phone call or something. I hope!

Yesterday I was in a weird mood. I just didn't feel good. I was tired and stressed (about what - I don't know!) and frustrated and cranky. The really odd thing is that I understood about the tired (I just can't seem to catch up from a late night on Monday) but the stressed and frustrated??? There is nothing going on that I feel stressed about (that I can think of) and nothing that is really frustrating me. Hmmmm!

Hopefully, today will be better. I did get a nice night's sleep but I still don't feel quite rested. Part of that might be my eyes - on left eye seems to swell overnight (the bottom lid) and swimming goggles (I did remember them today!) seems to make it worse. Maybe a little eyedrop action will help out.

Later today I have a haircut appointment. That always is good and soothing . . .

Anyway - today's "theme" is twisted.


Here is Skor all twisted up to fit in the little house on the cat tree. Note his back foot up by his left eye!


Here is some twisted vines from my Moonflower. The way the vines twist around each other just fascinates me!

Speaking of Moonflowers - look at this lovely flower!

These flowers never stop amazing me with their size (about eight inches across) and their beauty!

sdh

Have a fabulous Friday!

dgh

Trisha

xdvhj

Voice Update: Doing well but I did NOTHING yesterday in terms of exercises! Bad Trisha!

Garden Visitors

Hi All!

Yesterday I was out of the house early for class so I didn't get to post but . . . I'm here today!

I had another glorious walk and swim this morning even though I forgot my swim goggles at home! Such is life, right?

During my swim I was wishing I had swim goggles that were part binocular because I saw a large birds (the kind wasn't able to be determined with my non-binocular eyes!) swooping along the surface of the lake. Hunting bugs, I assumed. Wrong!

Suddenly, the bird went into a dive and actually went into the lake! Completely below the surface!

A few seconds later the bird popped back up and struggled to take off. I believe that there was a fish in its talons but . . . again - no binoculars!

The bird flew off and that, my friends was that. I went back to swimming while marveling at being able to witness nature in action!

Neat, huh?

Sort of along the same lines (think nature!) check out what I found in my flowerbed a few days back.

A neat moth!

Look at it closer - it has such a lovely shade of pink on it! What you really can't tell from these pictures is that this moth is HUGE! It is a member of what Hubby and I call "the Mothra" family of moths.

sfjh
This particular moth was probably five inches from head to tail with a wing span of around five or six inches.
sfj
This is the kind of moth which clings to the kitchen window and annoys the life out of Skor!



Another "visitor" to my gardens is this beautiful butterfly ornament.
The wings are on springs and move when the wind blows.

Here is the next "visitor" who is a cheeky little ladybug! Again the wings move in the wind. Fun to watch!
sfj

That is all from the garden for now! I have some work for class to do (as always!).

sfj

Have a fabulous day!

xdhj

Trisha

dghj

Voice Update: Still rockin' and rollin'! I did notice a little hoarseness last night but I had been talking a bit yesterday so . .. I did some massage and slept so it should be getting better!

Hello Again!

Hi All!

For my one reader who noticed that I haven't posted in quite a while (the reader OTHER than my mom!), I am back! I didn't post for a while due to several factors. First - I had a bad headache for a couple days and that knocked me out. I didn't want to complain so . . . I didn't! Next, class started to get involved. I am going out observing working American Sign Language interpreters and some of the jobs have been early in the morning so . . . there went my posting time. Finally, I just needed a break to find some interesting things to talk about!

Now I have a store of things to talk about so . . . going back in time a bit - I will start!

Look at these clouds!

You must admit that after our LONG dry and HOT spell, these clouds look like they just might bring some rain!

Here is a video of the first "real" rain we had in a long time. I was so excited that I had to take a video of it!

sjh

I will admit that since that rain storm, another storm, the headache, and the observations . . . I hadn't been walking/swimming for almost two weeks!!!! No wonder I was getting cranky!

sfj

Well, today I fixed that and pulled on the swimsuit, hit the sidewalk, and got back on track! I had a really, really nice time! The water was perfect - not to warm and not too cool. I felt like I relaxed completely for the first time in a long time. In fact, I took some extra time to just float and relax because it felt so darn wonderful!

fj

Hopefully, now that I have started again, this will be the start of another long spell of walking/swimming!

dfhj

That is is for today. I do have more to share, I promise, but, it will have to wait until tomorrow since I do have other things to do for class . . . .

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Have a fabulous Tuesday!

dghj

Trisha

xsfhm

Voice Update: My voice is still doing really well. I am not quite on my reading schedule again yet (it went up in smoke along with blogging, walking, and swimming!) but, I plan to fix that stating tomorrow. Today I won't have trouble getting my hour of talking in since I will be at school for a LONG time! I am squeezing more throat massage in while washing my face in the morning and evening and while putting on moisturizer after each wash. It seems to be working at keeping my voice steady!