Talkin' Turkey

Today I made my first cup of real brewed coffee in over a year. Talk about yummy! Ok boring topic lol but serious business when one had a 3-4 cup a morning habit until almost 2 years ago. I only quit drinking coffee when I realised it was just too darned hot to drink it every morning.

I do have a coffee maker that C~ bought for me when I first came to visit him before we got married but it has remained packed away in a box until yesterday when I brought it out for dinner. We had dinner guests last night for the first time since we moved into our house earlier this year. I guess we just haven't had the time or the inclination as we have either been too busy or too tired or just plain didn't care too what with all the boxes hanging around that we had yet to unpack and didn't really have too much reason to get on with it, you know?

We knew we'd eventually get around to it, and so we did....eventually, which was last night. House was all cleaned up, boxes unpacked, turkey in the oven, and our guests thoughtfully brought a yummy pavlova for dessert. LUCKY US!

I LOVE to cook. Absolutely LOVE to cook, especially for guests. I like nothing better than to cook for holidays but here the main holidays happen to fall during the Summer which kind of puts the quietus on big, heavy meals that take hours to cook in an oven, but a few weeks ago C~ found a nice juicy turkey breast on sale ( about $20 for a 6 pounder - shocking eh?) and so he bought it knowing that I'd been wanting to cook one before Winter was over and he was also planning to ask a workmate and his girlfriend over to dinner.

So last night out came the good dishes -FINALLY! - and the turkey et al was prepared. We had roasted turkey with roasted pumpkin, fennel, and parsnips. Also broccoli casserole, salad, and mashed potatoes and gravy with homemade honey mustard dressing for the salad. Finished off with pavlova that our guests brought for dessert.

Honestly it wasn't my best effort where the turkey and dressing were concerned though they were both eaten with relish and C~ said he much preferred this style of dressing than the one I made last time. I found it too heavy and "cake like"...but he happens to like things "cake like" lol.
The gravy was also not the greatest but I was a bit rushed as the turkey took about 45 minutes longer than expected. I really hate it when that happens! Our guests had been here since 5:30 and it was nearly 7 pm so I was rushing things along as best I could. The tummy rumblings that could be heard from the next room were an indication I was about to have a riot on my hands if things weren't hurried along sufficiently....and that was just from Tiger.

Anywho, the table was already set by moving husband and I proceeded to load it down with about a half tonne of food which caused the guests eyes to nearly pop out of their heads (and Tiger's too!). So, The Tigez was ushered out onto the patio where he was temporarily pacified with a bone until about a quarter of said table food laden table was consumed and smiles replaced tummy rumblings. Even hubby who generally hates all things containing mustard, mayo, and sour cream ate the honey mustard dressing (on his turkey of all things) and proclaimed it very nice, indeed. My guests were astounded and complimented me on everything then lamented that they were wanting to reciprocate the invitation but were a little scared LOL.
Of course we told them that we'd be happy with tacos made from one of those Old El Paso box mixes. Hehehe, they didn't believe us til we showed them our stack of box mixes we keep just because we like them so much. Too easy!

What can I say? I love to cook and show off my skillz in the kitchen when given half a chance. Plus we have lots of leftover turkey and stuff to eat off the rest of the week, but I'm gonna have to get off my butt and make some better gravy, thank goodness I saved the rest of the pan drippings.

BTW, if you want an invite to dinner, just ask...but don't expect turkey for at LEAST another year or so cuz geez it's just a heck of a lot of trouble and once a year is more than enough for me to spend all frackin' day in the kitchen ya'll! Love ya, but NO! Ya'll will be gettin' frackin' fajitas or something easy like chipped beef on toast.

Interesting little doohickey

I found this really cool thing called an interactive Johari window. I was wondering if anyone would like to go my mine and see what comes up. You can add to it and even create your own. Just follow the link and then the directions. LINKAGE

For being critical go HERE and criticize moi.

Ok so be honest and I'm honestly hoping for the best lol, but I would like to know for my own interst what my faults are (as others see them anyway) so that I can improve.

I iz Dun

Yup, I iz dun, absoluteleh dun. Oh yeah, I've been reading waaaay too much lolcats. But that's how I feel after today.

Some days are just harsh, ain't they? "nuff said 'bout that.

Tigez heer agin....

Mah mummy has lawst it yawl!!!!!! I showed herbz dis linkage I'z gotz frum mah frind Katy Da Greaty at needlenoses and welll....mum's a gawnah. Herbz bin laffin awl day. Gud to heer butt...herbz sownds kinda rattly like sumfins cummin loose inside.

I finks herz is still sik. So sad. But I fawt I'd gibs yawl da linkys too cuz dey is funny cat pikshurs.

Cute Oberlode

An mah fabrit : I can Haz Cheezburgahs

Tiger sez...."Woe iz me"

The Tigez hear :

My mummy is sick so herz habs me to hep herz wite dis fuh herz. Pweeze escwuze da mizpellings cuz I's not berry gud at diz, but I's twying.

Mummy cawt a viwuss fwum sum bad persson at dat hopsitul last weekz win herz had to habs her spine injamectid wiv dem steroidz. I tode herz dat demz steroids wuz bad fuh herbz. LOL! Gud ting shez not gwowing inee hairs on herz face yet. Hahahah! Well, I's tawt it wuz funnee but herz din't beleeb me eever.

Inneehoo, herbz has a feber ob a hunnerd an wun tewday win herz wint to da doctuh ladee and lefted me at homez all by meself....INSIDE! Can yew beleeb it? Daddy tinks imma mess on da fowah (floor) but ima gud boy joo see so I dint go at all, I jus slepted on dat comfee bed mummy an daddy gotz fer us. Dey cawls it a Kings Eyes bed, whudebber dat meenz *shwug*. I certanwee dont nose whud a Kings Eyes bed iz...I'da tawt doze wuz on duh Kingz face? Who noze, but itz a big bed an Iz likes it lots n lots.

Well I bettah go now, mummy neez me to cuddle herz and keeps herz warm now.

Lubs an kissey lixxes to youz all,
Tigez

Feelings of inadequacy? Surely not!

Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
Do you suffer from shyness?
Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about White Wine.

White Wine is the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions. White Wine can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything. You will notice the benefits of White Wine almost immediately, and with a regime of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live.

Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past, and you will discover many talents you never knew you had.

Stop hiding and start living, with White Wine.

White Wine may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use White Wine.
However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

SIDE EFFECTS
Side effects may include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration, erotic lustfulness, loss of motor control, loss of clothing, loss of money, loss of virginity, delusions of grandeur, table dancing, headache, dehydration, dry mouth, and a desire to sing Karaoke and play all-night rounds of Strip Poker, Truth Or Dare, and Naked Twister.

WARNINGS
The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a crazy person.

The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

The consumption of alcohol may cause you to THINK you can sing.

The consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe that ex-lovers are really dying for you to telephone them at four in the morning.

The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.

The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

I'd sell my soul for a jar of Grape Jelly, ya'll

WOW !!!!! An entire week has gone by and I have zilch to show for it...no wait, I do have SOMETHING. I got a temporary contract with the government - doing the same job but in another location.

Hrmmmmm. Not too shabby me thinks. Also in my new place of employment, which we all know is the dental field, we don't have to see emergency patients. Yipppeeeeeeee kai yayyyyyyy! Nope , none at all. Good for me and good for you!

To make up for that this past week has been hell on wheels. I think I helped take out more teeth in 5 days than I did in the last 6 months. I think more fillings were done, too. How does that work? I dunno but it feels that way.

I even got a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from everyone on Friday at lunch...they even had lunch for me brought it. Ok, we all chipped in and paid $5 for a ginormous platter of sammies from Subway, plus all kinds of chips and dips and desserts, and choccies galore.

SO, I start the new job on Monday, but have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off. Hehehe, life is so unfair. Actually, those days were already scheduled off for me as I'm going in bright and early on Tuesday to have an epidural injection of steroids ... wait for it....

in....my....SPINE!!!!!!! Ewwwwwwww. Doesn't sound good to me either, ya'll. But the doc insists that it MAY work. I guess if it does work then I could get some decent pain relief for up to 6 months. Then Wed. is a public holiday for us Queenslanders for the Ekka. Then Thursday I'm taking off just to be sure I'm a-ok to go back to work on Friday. Then the next week I'm up for an MR, woooohoooooo...2 hours in a tube, what a day to look forward too.

Back to the spine thingy. Nope, I'm not looking forward to it, but I'll be seriously sedated so I won't remember a thang. How cool is that? Apparently it's conscious sedation so I will be a wandering zomberina afterwards LOL! Can't wait to see the pictures? Me neither, perhaps I can be persuaded to share... send me lots of get well packets of Ranch Dressing mix, Smucker's Grape Jelly, and a REAL Mars Bar and we'll talk, k?

Okies, Imma run now so I can go watch something on the tube before I crash cuz tomorrow C~ and I are gonna flaunt The Tigez at the Ekka - GAP is having a promo in the doggie arena. Hopefully I won't forget the camera!

It's warm again....I think

Well, it WAS warm again - for a few days - now it's a wee bit chilly this morning. Not so good if one still has the snifflies from the flu, ah well. It will make it a good day to hang out and catch up on some tv. Not that I really need to do that since all I did while I was sick was watch tv and movies.

Went out to see Fracture with Anthony Hopkins last night at the cinema. Pretty good flick. Anthony Hopkins plays a good psycho. The ending was a little trite but how cool is it that they could maintain the suspense throughout when you knew in the first 10 minutes that the lead character killed his wife, admitted to it, went to jail, then played with the prosecuting attorney to make things go his way? HAH! Gotcha, now you must go see it!

Other movies I've seen recently are: 300, Sicko, Music and Lyrics, Miami Vice (for the send time cuz Colin Farrell is just too cute), Walk the Line, Children of Men, and the first half of Bowling for Columbine. I still can't figure out if Mike Moore is advocating guns or what. I hope not. The Sicko Documentary was awesome and those of us living outside America and know how great socialised health care is can definitely relate to what his message is.

Okies, gotta fly.

The Flu Sucks

The Tigez impression of a sleeping Jedi - in plaid wool, of course.

Yep that's right, the flu sucks and I got it last week. One more thing to add to the list of what could possibly go wrong right now. Grrrrrr!

Anywho, other than that stuff seems to be moving along slowly but surely. Next month I'm scheduled for an MRI and an epidural injection of steroids to hopefully reduce the pain in my back. I'm not all that hopeful to be honest, but the insurance is covering it and at this point I'll try anything that will help, short of smearing goat poo all over myself. Oh yeah, and sex with goats is out as well, even as much as montchan seems to think it cures everything that ails you *snort chuckle chuckle snort*.

Last week was pretty nice, the weather is warmer and we had a GAP Promo at the Samford Show last Sunday. The dogs had a great time, I finally got to meet Katy the Greaty in person and not just read her blog. GuacOMOle still has a leaky willy. For your viewing pleasure I give you the linkage to Katy's manpad expose. Tigez missed Gracie who seems to be his favorite girly greyhound who belongs to Brooke. Tiger actually was SO OVER the standing up all day thing while at a Promo and he did lie down, hey! I have piccies to prove it, too!

It was great, especially after we found some spinach and cheese rolls (like sausage rolls without the sausage lol) and I bought 2 so I could share with my boy...and of course I had to share with the other food hounds as well *sigh*. But it was much nicer to intentionally share than what Mister Wally booger was doing. He tried to sneak our tea cakes off the table and ended up getting scolded but not before chomping on a mouthful of yummy plastic container whilst dragging the cakes off the table. Don't worry, the cakes were saved by yours truly and Wally was given a treat so he wouldn't think I was mad at him.

Other than that the day was nice, we talked to lots of potential adopters and Katy and I drooled over things remembered from back home that we just can't get here...you know, like REAL Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream or truly excellent Mexican food. What else are southern wimminses gonna talk about except food? Hehehehe.

Oh wait, And I almost forgot Banjo, another of Brooke's boys. He's "special" but seems to get along with Tiger nicely, they even had a bit of a snuggle during the show.

Pics later but now I gotta run. Master of the house, C~ himself calls, and we MUST watch Doctor Who episodes before we retire.

Just for fun....

I was playing around on Dogster and found something I thought quite cute: This is Tigez' Peculiar Aristocratic Title:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Bishop Lord Tigez the Wholesome of Buzzing St Helens Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

And Mine LMAO!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Very Lady Kimmie the Coherent of Londinium-le-Thames Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

And C~'s (His is the best, I think)

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: His Most Noble Lord C~ the Evanescent of Leighton in the Bucket Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I'd like to thank the Academy... I mean uhhhhh Dupont *ahem*

It's freakin' winter and I'm dreaming of salads?!? Just what the frack is going on here? I think this is Mother Nature's way of screwin' with my poor little mind in just one more way, LOL!

I've only been here a year and a half and my body still thinks it's time for Summer although at the same time I'm terribly grateful for the much cooler weather we are having. Or should I just go ahead and say it's FREAKING COLD!!!!!!! BRRRrrrr!

Yup, last night it got down to 6 degrees Celsius, for the rest of us folks that is 33 F. A Wee bit too cool when one has no insulation to speak of in one's house. At this time I'd like to take a brief moment to thank the Dupont company for making carpet fibres.... Oh hell yeah I'm grateful for that carpet in my bedroom because the rest of my house qualifies as a meat locker between 4 pm and 12 noon. I'd also like to thank my husband for granting me the opportunity to turn the teensy electric heater all the way up to maximum every night and tolerating flannel sheets as well.

Now I shall take a bow, exiting stage left. I'm off to snuggle up to my male heaters a.k.a. C~ and The Tigez ( better known as The Hubby and The Faithful Dog) cuz mah tootsies are coooooold, ya'll.

Celebrating July 4th Down Under

I could have said Aussie style but sheesh all we had were some ribs I slathered with Emeril's Essence and some olive oil and baked them in the oven for a few hours. This we ate with relish and downed some Golden Grove Muscat Liqueur whilst watching the last State of Origin footy match betwixt Queensland and New South Wales. NSW won darnit but hubby shall live.

Hrmmmm, Tiger got in a very unfair fight with a cat a couple of weeks ago and he lost. When I got home from work I found a very small patch of kitty fur just beyond the back steps and Tiger was moaning and whining and all gimpy and refused to get off the sofa once he got inside, so what ensued was a long trip to the vet when C~ got home a few minutes later. After a checkup and some antibiotics, pain killers, and compresses were prescribed we got home with a dopey doggy that was mighty hungry and all sooky to boot.

Tigez is all better now thank goodness but he's been following me around like he's afraid of having me out of his sight. He even comes when I call him now, too. Dunno if the cat incident has anything to do with it but whatever, it's working lol.

I've been lucky enough to have had to call in sick the past 2 days with a bout of gastritis apparently picked up from work and today is my normal day off during this months schedule so I'm trying to get a few things done but all my body wants to do is take a nap.

It doesn't help that it went from nice and warm this morning to cool and windy, either. Feels like a knife cutting through ya when it blows....brrrrrrrrr. So, that's what I've been up to other than the usual housework on top of work work. GACK! Real life sucks sometimes don't it?

Ah well, life goes on and will improve I'm sure of it.

Oh! For the love of Cornbread!

I have been having some serious winter food cravings lately and last night I made some awesome cornbread to go with tonights black-eyed peas and corned beef.

Well, it started out with C~ telling me that we HAD to use up the milk quickly before it went bad, so we started thinking of stuff to cook with milk. For my share I made some scalloped potatoes, he pulled out a corned beef so he could make some fritters later on this week....ugh! the thoughts of all that grease flying everywhere sets my teeth on edge! LOL. He does clean it up, though...that is AFTER he left it overnight one time and I had the mother of all conniption fits one morning upon discovering cold grease covering every inch of the counter, stove, and floor closest to the stove. ALl I have to say about that is EWWWWWWWW!

So, I made the cornbread. The scalloped potatoes took way too long to cook and I ended up not even getting to eat them with supper, but that's ok there was plenty without it.

I have had some dried black-eyed peas sitting around for ages and keep telling myself I'm going to cook them when I get the right seasoning stuff. Well, a few weeks ago I bought some Speck.
It looks wonderful...it tastes wonderful, too. The first thing I tried it in was baked beans, ohhhh yummo! It's this cured bacony pork stuff known most the world round as MEAT and oh boy is it ever good. Hey, I was looking for fatback or streak of lean but they just do not seem to carry that here, so I opted to check out this Speck stuff and am glad I did. Hey! I was about to steal one of Tiger's bacon bones but felt I'd make that a last resort, though I have found tons of recipes for their use in human food...so, bacon bones, not just for dogs anymore *grin*. Just check out any British or Aussie recipe site and you will find plenty of them ... something like a hock but not exactly.

Anywho, I firgured I'd share my cornbread recipe with ya'll since I've had to learn to improvise with stuff on hand and cornmeal is very difficult to find here and when I have it's so very fine it makes awful cornbread so I use polenta instead. This is a recipe I found on the net and have altered it to suit the ingredients I have.

Alber's Cornbread
1 cup polenta
1 cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder (still use it because it makes it rise nicely)
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten

PREHEAT oven to 400°F or 200 C . Grease 8-inch-square baking pan.
COMBINE corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Combine milk, oil and egg in small bowl; mix well. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour into prepared pan.
BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Serve warm.

**I have also added 1 TBSP of honey to it as well to make it even sweeter and it is very nice.**

I am sooooo loving this! So far, my peas are boiling nicely and should be ready quite soon!

Ta Ta for now I'm off to speed supper up and check out the latest Torchwood episode and adventures in the T.A.R.D.I.S. . BTW, if any of you have never watched Dr. Who please check it out. You just don't know what you are missing. I feel so deprived to have had a childhood that was bereft of this wonderful show. Those in America will probably find it on the BBC Channel.

Back in the saddle

I haven't been blogging lately, so sorry. But there have been many reasons for it. One of them being that I was being "stalked" by someone locally which was a little scary for awhile, at least until I discovered who it was that was doing it. They were making some pretty nasty comments and just generally making me dread logging in to see what was said *sigh*. Luckily this person seems to have lost interest in me and my little blog. Thank God for small miracles!

So here I am once again. I have had so much happen the past few weeks I don't even know where to start.

Last week we bought a new king size bed!!!! Yippeeeeeee!!!!!!! Now we will be able to fit the both of us AND Tiger into it comfortably. At least I hope so, it will be delivered on this Saturday, so we shall see, eh? This past weekend was spent out shopping for all the new bedroom stuff to fit the bed, like sheets (flannel ones since it's winter) and new doona and cover for it, mattress protector, etc.

We will also be moving my computer into the bedroom so I will have a warm place to sit, right now I'm in the kitchen dinette and it is damn cold!!!!! We have a small space heater that warms up the bedroom quite nicely but doesn't do much for the rest of the house lol.

Since I've switched medicines, I'm really feeling the cold like never before and even though it is a relief it has been hard to sit down and type with frozen fingertips like I'm doing now. SO many mistakes grrrrr that it takes twice as long to type anything. So now I'm off to move my bookshelf and its contents to make room for the computer and desk and also unearth more winter clothing to wear....hopefully I shall find my fleece pajamas and some nice warm socks for my tootsies.

Tata for now!
K-

Viewing life through a stained glass window darkly....

Oh. My. Gawd! I have become one of THOSE people....you know the ones. The people that have no clue what the hell is going on in the world. I was reading something on a forum I frequent and was flabbergasted to read a blurb about Rosie not being on The View any longer....wait...since when was Rosie O'Donnell on The View? HUH?!?

I had to Youtube it to find the episode which has her and ELizabeth Hassellbeck fighting. Wait, who the FARK is this Elizabeth chick? All I can say for sure (from watching the clips) is that she's some right-wing blonde that thinks Bush hung da moon all on his own. Ummm yeah, I like Rosie, k?

Then I read where Isaiah Washington is back on Grey's Anatomy. He LEFT? When? Ok, that I can live with because those of us Down Under are behind a season or so when it comes to the most poopular shows in America and Britain *sigh*. I can even live with movies being released later over here. What pisses me off is that unless I sit at my computer reading all the American pop culture websites or stay at home to catch Entertainment Tonight (yesterdays show in America) that comes on mid afternoon...which, of course, I do not remember that it is on or even what channel it airs on sheesh! Gimme a break...I'm still catching up with what evil Sammie Brady is doing in Salem (from last year of course!)...yeah yeah, don't give me a hard time, I've been watching Days of Our Lives since I was 12 - ever since Bo and Hope got married.

I find it odd that living in another part of the world people just don't get that no one here knows who the heck Katie Couric or Jay Leno are. Americans just automatically assume that the whole world watches American television, even tv shows that are blatantly US-centric...like The Today Show or Good Morning America. Of course even in Oz we have our own Today Show...and even Big W (no affilation with Wal-Mart) has the big smiley signs the same as Wal-Mart does.

Another thing...of course I don't watch The Weather Channel (from the USA) because ummmm our weather channel shows only Australian weather here, so no I do not know all about the latest hurricane or tornado that hit Kansas. I guess I've become jaded and unworldy not knowing what the heck is going on all over the place at once but then when I lived "back home" all the international news was so skewed to portray Americans and America in the best light possible and didn't really realise this until I was over here during the English Subway Bombings. I was quite shocked to see the comments made by President Bush to the British people that quite clearly showed his lack of caring and concern when he obviously expected the entire freaking world to back us up when the World Trade Center was bombed. Not surprisingly this interview where GB walked out on a BBC reporter was not shown within the USA...but was shown on Australian tv.

That gives one a bit of insight into how things really are and it is also not surprising that most of the world views most things American with disgust.

So while I may complain about not being able to be very up to date on the goings on of the rest of the world I am secure in the knowledge that I now have a little perspective even if I do miss a few things "back home"....one of those things being Taco Bell, of course.

This post is most definitely tongue-in-cheek and meant as total satire. As you can imagine I am proudly American, a card carrying member of the Democratic Party, and cannot wait until I am also eligible for Australian citizenship. I like being a part of the entire world. Kind of like peanut butter and steak, you never knows what you are missing until you take a bite out of life and let the juices run down your chin.

Smiling in the rain, just smiiiiiiling in the rain....

What a wonderful feeling....I'm hap-py A-gain.......wait, wrong words but what the hay!

Wow! This past couple of weeks has been an adventure to say the least. I went from excruciating gawdawful kill-me-now pain to less pain than I've had since '98. I'm feeling better, I'm smiling, and I've even laughed a bit the past few days.

Things are starting to look up but I'm kinda scared shitless that it will all end soon, that this is all a dream or a fairytale or something. I feel pretty cool to be honest. No ups and downs, well not many anyway and I can think clearly as well as get around and MOVE! Honestly, I do move kinda slow but it's gettin better lol.

I've done laundry and washed the dishes today and I'm still upright. I worked the past two days and haven't keeled over from walking home from the train station - which is a brisk 12-15 minute walk and believe me I walk FAST cuz it's dark early now and the streetlights aren't all that bright, not to mention we don't live in the safest neighborhood - not terrible like New Orleans, but not really great either.

Tonight I MUST get on the ball and order Tigez some pj's. He was SO cold last night after supper that he was vibrating!!! I guess that's the greyhound equivalent of shivering. Poor fella. So he slept in his coat but first I stuck him in the bed with me and covered hims up like an eskeemo, turned off the ceiling fan, and cuddled with him til he started panting from being too hot...poor thang! This took a whopping 15 minutes lol, then I had to uncover him - I was freezing btw. My new medicines make me cold instead of hot, which is a nice change of pace.....shall we say Whhooooopeeeeeeee? I'd rather be cold any day of the week than hot. I mean sheesh! one can only get so nekkid, ya know? I'd rather wear layer upon layer of clothing despite the fact that I do sort of resemble the pillsbury doughboy .... or maybe the Michelin Man? *snicker*

Blahhhhging

I need a break from the pressures of trying to blog regularly. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop but it means that I may not be posting regularly until I get some stuff straightened out. My brain is mushy and all squishy...wanna poke it and see? Ewwwww you know you don't REALLY wanna do that!

I am having problems with my pain levels. I can't think clearly or do much of anything to be honest, just getting up in the morning and feeding my dog is about it. I have gone to my doctor and we are switching my medicine for my chronic back pain from a past surgery to remove tumour (just in case you didn't know what I was rambling on about).

Anywho, I have chronic pain. It makes me bitchy. It makes me cry. It makes me want to scream and somedays I get sort of left alone to do my thing. Not the past few months. It has just gotten steadily worse and worse so this past monday I went to my Doc and laid it on the line to her. Increase my meds, change my meds PLEASE! I am in pain, I need more, I need something because sitting hurts, standing hurts, and lying down hurts...basically just being hurts.

I have to live with this, I know it, I've known it from the day I was told I needed surgery or I would die. I consider myself lucky that I didn't end up a para- or quadriplegic which was a serious possibility after the surgery. So now I deal with pain every single minute of every single hour of every single day of my life. I try so very hard to not let it define me but that can be difficult. I know many people won't understand because they have never experienced pain to this degree but those who do will hope I get better soon *fingers crossed*.

I don't often talk about this pain with anyone and the only ones that have ever known just how serious it is is my doctors, family, and my husband. Why don't I talk about it I'll bet you're wondering. Well it's because most people can understand the pain of having a bad cough or an aching back...for a few days or maybe even a few weeks, but pain that doesn't EVER go away, and not only that but it pretty much guaranteed to last for a lifetime and get worse if anything, but never ever get any better.

The only things that have gotten better is the method of pain control. I don't mean an aspirin or even anti-inflammatories (which I'm allergic to - so that takes out an entire class of drugs for me), I'm talking about morphine type pain. Not the 5 or 10 mg someone might get for a kidney stone but 40-80mg per day and sometimes codeine to help with breakthrough pain. It's difficult to explain what knowing that I will always be in pain has done to me.

I have learned to accept it but it took months in therapy to accept that I even needed surgery and once that was over to accept my physical limitations.

I wish that having chronic pain didn't stigmatize people then more sufferers would be open and up front about it. But most don't understand that CP is as much a disease as diabetes is...it cannot be cured only controlled and sometimes control is very difficult. It causes depression and anxiety, which cause stress, which only serve to increase the pain and so it is a never ending cycle unless one can get (for a while at least) adequate pain control to break that cycle, but then tolerance sets in and the pain increases and the cycle begins once again.

Thankfully I have a wonderful, loving husband that is supportive and helps me out tremendously...even though I still have to do all the dishes lol.

I belong to a great support group which also helps me when I'm down and has been an invaluable source of information.

One of the reasons I haven't spent much time blogging is because I have been dealing with increasing pain and obviously I'd developed a tolerance to the medicine I've been on for the past year and some months. I had to decisions to make about my course of treatment, future plans, and whatnot. I decided to talk to my doctor about not only increasing the medicine but also changing it to something different (an equivalent) but different formulation that helps the medicine last longer. I was taking a med. that was supposed to last 12 hours but only lasted 8 for me. Through some research I came across one that is a sustained release of morphine that lasts the full 12 hours (for most people) so this is what I wanted to try, as opposed to what I've been taking which is basically a long acting percocet type of medicine.

The principle is the same with the long acting and sustained release but in reality it can work much differently for different people because of body chemistry, tolerance levels, and many other reasons besides.

I have spent the last few days sleeping, eating (barely), feeling nauseated, and very very dizzy as my bodybecomes adjusted which will hopefully happen REALLY soon! So until that time I'll be dragging my bum around attempting to continue a daily routine.

Btw, if this posts sounds self-pitying it wasn't meant to at all just kind of laying it all out there in the most simplistic manner to get it off my chest and also to explain what's happening to me at this time - and has been in the recent past.

Namaste,
K-

Dog Tired

We awoke this morning to rain. Yippeeeeeee! Boy oh boy do we need rain and lots of it. But this made for a really tired puppers and moi. This is what Tigez looked like yesterday when we got home from the Ipswich Show. We went with several others to promote GAP to potential new adoptive parents and foster carers.



This is a REALLY tired boy and he doesn't mean to look so cute, but he can't help it.


Here we are just hanging out as the day sort of winds down, a few of the dogs were off for walks while it was slow. That's me petting Fred. You can't really see it well but Fred has the bushiest tail I've seen on a greyhound... it looked a bit like a possum tail, in fact, Fred was pretty fluffy ALL over. In the front of the pic as Taz (standing black female) and Amy (brindle lying down).

A good time was had by all, but it left those in our house kind of winded and down for the count. We got in, had supper and I started feeling a bit off, so I headed to bed and I think I was comatose for about an hour when I noticed that there was no hubby or pooch present. Hrmmm, a situation I needed to remedy fast. Tigez was passed out on the sofa, hubs in front of his computer. Tiger followed me back to the bed and curled up with me while I called out to hubby to come watch some tv whilst I was still sort of awake.

One out of two ain't bad in some cases. I fell asleep with Tiger on one side and hubby on the other only to wake a little while later with Tiger not having moved a muscle (unusual but not surprising since he was so tired) and hubby having rolled over and had my t-shirt pinned underneath him and I couldn't move. Aaaack!

Ok, shoved dog off bed, extricated myself from underneath C~ and drifted back to sleep. What a day, it was fun but I think I need a few days to recover.

Oh I'll bet you're wondering what happened to me. Well, last week a migraine had its way with me for 4 days and by the time I recovered it was time for weekly cleaning and back to work 3 days this week. I was pretty busy with all the stuff I had to do after being out of commission for so long. Not to mention I didn't want to read anything that might make that headache come back, so my online time was really limited.

Anywho, I'm back and feeling a bit better. I'm slowly catching up on reading blogs and housework (there's always more of that to do).

Da Plane! Da Plane!

This is a cute shot of Tigez watching our lorikeet friends in the backyard. What's cool is that he is SO intent on them. He isn't afraid of birds if they come swooping over him - well, so far he hasn't been dive-bombed by pissed off magpies lol.

He is also attuned to airplanes. It's just cool as heck watching him as he first hears the plane thentilts his head up, scanning the sky until the plane is in his sights and he stands there like a statue watching the plane fly overhead until it's completely gone, then he goes on about his business of sniffing out every corner of the yard...which he MUST do at least 3 times daily lmao!
He's like a guard dog sniffing his territory - too cute.

BTW, this pic is in our backyard, so on the upper left hand corner you can just see the edge of a bedroom window. Not much of a patio, but the carport is nice and big, we never park the car in it to give Tiger more play room.

Run Free Sweet Fletcher...

This post is just for Adele and Fletcher. Fletcher is going to the bridge this afternoon. He has cardiomyopathy and the little guy just can't get enough oxygen to support him. Adele took him knowing this day would come sooner than later, and today has become his day. I have never met either Adele nor Fletcher, but have read her blog and waited for updates on our yahoo group almost daily to see how he was doing. I will miss seeing pics of his big sooky and innocent looking face. Adele, please try to take comfort in knowing he won't be suffering or out of breath anymore and all the bridge babies will be there waiting to welcome him and show him what a great place it is. Fly free with the angels little one.

*pic taken from the Chicken's Blog since I don't have any of my own*