I got to go to town!!!

I got up at 7 to take my perco and then couldn’t go back to sleep. In less than an hour, Jeff would be watching his LSU game. He got up after I did and let the girls out (Tess and Nan). Tess will not leave her rug until Jeff calls her. When he let them back in, I actually watched them. Nan trotted to me and lay on the rug next to me and sniffed me, giving me the once over. Tess walked in, glanced over and saw Nan was on guard duty and wandered off. She came back a few minutes later and stood in the entry way. Nan was watching her. I was watching to see if Tess would kick Nan off the bed but instead she went to the dog bed on the other side of the living room. Nan relaxed then. It was interesting to see the interaction and the *changing of the guards”

I was just lying on the couch when Nan jumped up and growled. Lucky for me. I just had put my hot cup of coffee down which is good as I about fell out of the couch. I looked at Tess and she was in a protective stance and not growling. Nan was in full protective stance and I put my hand on her back and she was stiff and poised to attack. I got up and looked outside out bay window and saw nothing and then realized the dogs were looking at the front door.

No sense in being shy, I went and flung opened the front door. If a boogie man is out there at 7osh on Saturday morning, then I am going to say “Hello” in the boldest way.

There was a large raven on the deck and he was just as surprised as me. He was checking out the bowls on the deck, namely the bright shiny, steel bowl that my mom uses to feed Rigby his cat food.

The raven flew off and I am sure he won’t be back. I looked at the girls and they somehow had moved next to me in all of this. I was flanked by both girls and they relaxed. I praised Nan for going that extra step. She was very proud that she alerted me to the “Deadly Steel Bowl Inspector Raven”.

We all watched the LSU game. Ok, Jeff watched the game and I watched part of it. LSU played Appalachian State. The game was pretty one sided and LSU won (Score 41-13). During the game we had eggs and English Muffins and the dogs were rewarded for their loyalty to LSU.

My pain level is getting less each day so I am going try to take Advil instead of the perco on the days that I will be home and not active (Dr appts etc). Soon, I plan to be off the daily Oxycontin and only using it at night. I want to also be off the perco so I can drive. Next weekend is the goal to drop the daily Oxycontin. I don’t want to be on the narcotics for very much longer.

I dragged Jeff down to the barn on one of my daily walks. I wanted to move some stuff but since they weighed more than 5-10 lbs, I needed him. I tidied up the Tack room some what as it was starting to collect stuff. I like my Tack room in order so I can find items.

We let the girls, Scott and Kael run and have fun chasing the ball. Kael, in anticipation of seeing Audrey (maybe on Monday) prepared himself by rolling in some fresh duck poop. He couldn’t understand why I didn’t wrap my arms around like and kiss his snout like I normally do. But he forgave me when I gave him a cookie.

Scott was having fun and acting like a puppy. He is on thyroid medicine and it has made a huge difference. He is fast and runs like a puppy and most certainly acts like one too.

I decided to use Scott to move the cow. Scott was very happy to work the cow and with a few well placed heel grips, the cow decided that moving to the upper pasture was an excellent idea. Scott was pleased with himself and even jumped on me. He never does that but he was so pleased with himself that he couldn’t help himself!!

I worked Tess to move the sheep across to the marsh. I opened the gate so the sheep and Emma could go through to the marsh. Tess was pretty amped as she watched Scott work the cow. She was like a bullet and she had to do a couple of heel grips herself!!

Nan was the last to work and I just let her push the sheep around the marsh. By then I was getting tired but had to work her for a couple of minutes.

The next item on the to-do list was to go to town and return the battery that we got. We got one for our electric fence and it wouldn’t recharge. So we brought it back and we will get a new one on Wed. Then off to QFC for dinner shopping. I haven’t been anywhere for six weeks, other than Dr Appointments, so it was nice going to get groceries.

I had marinated some chicken legs with Sesame/Ginger sauce and got more chicken legs to add to the mix. Of course, I got more ice cream and Hershey’s chocolate sauce. We got other stuff, far more than if Jeff was shopping, but I wanted to get groceries so I could plan for dinner for the next few days.

Now that I am more mobile, I am trying to have the main dish planned for dinner each night. We took out beef stew fmeat rom our freezer so we will use our Crock Pot to have beef stew in the next day or two. I am trying to plan two to three meals in advance.

So we got home and I was wiped. If you count the tack room/walk and the town expedition, we were gone for 1.5 hours. I did a lot of walking and getting in/out of the car. I took a 1.5 hour long nap when we got home. My chest was just starting to hurt so instead of taking a pain pill, I took an Advil. I fell asleep and crashed hard. When I woke up I felt much better.

The girls slept next to me. We have a routine. Tess sleeps next to my head and Nan curls next to my stomach or legs. We all sleep hard and don’t move.

Nan, the ever watchful guard dog, woke me up by leaping off the bed and growling at the bedroom door. Tess was right behind her. I heard Jeff answer the door and it was Chuck. Nan and Tess came back to bed and we all fell asleep in seconds. Apparently, Chuck worked Teddy, Clip and Rainey and stopped by to say “Hello.”

Nan has taken the guard dog role very seriously. Anyone, whether it is animal or human, will be announced by her. She is a good dog and is very alert. I remember when she first was here. When we had someone at the front door, she would go to the office and hide. Now, she is the Guardian of the House. I love her dearly for this.

Jeff took the girls for a 2.5 mile run. It was more like a 2.5 slow amble for Tess and a trot for Nan. They have a trial in 3 weeks and need to get in shape. I’ll be working them each day but we will try to get some jogs in for them.

My goal as part of my daily walks is to work Tess, Nan and Lucy to get them ready for the trial. I will work Scott but not for the trial. I figure if I work each dog for 5-7 minutes then I will have my 20 minute workout. Do this several times a day and we will all benefit? I just have to make sure that I am moving all the time and not standing. I am so happy that I can even work the dogs now. It really has perked me up so much!!!

We had the marinated chicken legs for dinner. It was a good idea and we will have leftovers. I started the beef stew in the crock pot. Tomorrow I will add lots of beans, potatoes and onions. Hot beef stew on a chilly day is good. It probably will be a raging hot sunny day since I am making beef stew.

We hung out and watched music stuff on TV. For you music folks, that would be Austin City limits and Soundstage. Jeff picks those stations as I pick Animal Planet when we watch TV together. His comment is “Oh look, another elephant show” and then he falls asleep.

Altogether it was a semi boring day but busy too. It was nice to work the dogs and enjoy life again. I know my limitations and have a goal.

I am going to post every other day unless it is worth posting daily. I hope my progress keeps going as well as it has the last few days. I plan to take pixs and post them too. I appreciate you letting me know that you read my blog. Now I know that I am not writing for nothing. I went and read my prior blogs and it was enlightening. I could see on some of my blogs that I had improper grammar, misspelling and some *what the heck is she trying to say?” I am not going to correct them as it was how (mentally and physcially) I was in that timeframe. It shows the progress of when I first had the surgeries to my healing. As well as my musing and so forth. I was amazed on how many people read the blog. The blog is a good way for people to know how I am and how far I have progressed. Thanks to those who let me know they read my blog. It makes it worthwhile for me to write to it each night, knowing someone reads it.

Try not to laugh to hard at my errors though!!

Tomorrow I will post the x-rays they took of my chest. I’ll post the section of the x-ray that shows the wires that are looped in my chest. It’s quite interesting to look at.