Feline & Furball Friday

Trinity, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Captured Trinity in the middle of a good pouting session. What is she pouting about? Who really knows. She is just a bit of a moody doggy who really enjoys a good pout whenever she feels she has been wronged. Which in her mind she is wronged every minute of every day.

Trinity could be pouting about not having any links this week, but I've explained to her that people are very busy and with the whole change over may not realize where to come and visit, but we are going to keep doing the Feline and Furball posting regardless. So now it is your turn to take a picture of your feline or furball friend, post an entry and then leave a link in comments. The time frame is just by next Friday morning.
I hope that everyone enjoys a great weekend!

Thinking Thursday...A journey to stop smoking

IMG_6766, originally uploaded by torri_g.

As of today it has been one week since starting the Chantix. What can I tell you about this medicine? Well, it is interesting to say the very least. Between the hot flashes that I swear can meet or beat the heat of a Phoenix sunny summer day, there is the fun of feeling sick, or starving, or like your brain in a deep fog. Oh and when they talk about vivid dreams in the commercials for the medicine don't take that part as a joke! I have dreamt about things that I could live without ever dreaming about again...EVER!

Now for the difficult part of my plan for posting this weekly update. Admitting just how much I was smoking before starting this last week.(Yeah this part is the hard part couldn't I just tell you my weight instead sounds so much easier right now) Alright for the honest truth, I was smoking about two full packs a day. This isn't the first attempt to stop smoking, heck it isn't even the first one for this year. I've gotten down to less than a pack, I have even managed to go three weeks without any, but I always return to them. Why? It is an addiction and it is what I know. In the last week I have seen that number drop though, and I'm finding a will inside of me to keep trying to push longer till the next one. I can say the side effects of the medicine are far less than what hits you when you just try cold turkey quitting. My total smoked daily since starting this have average between 12-20 a day. I'm still miles from being done with them, but cutting it in one weeks time by half or better gives me real hope for actually getting through this time.
Army Guy and I have daily chats about how many we each have smoked, and how the medicine is making us feel, which really is so helpful. Although Army Guy is going to be quicker probably hitting that quit and done mark that I am, but he smoked less than me and I think he might be trying to be a show off too. :)

So this is the new Thursday plan for posting. Friday is our set quit date and that is the day that we are to try to just leave those cigarettes sitting in their packs. May be a very difficult thing to do, but I have promised myself to every week come here and be honest in my post about how I did. I'm also going to try to post a reason for stopping, my own reasons for stopping. I would have to say my reason for this week is just very simple...because I want to stop.

Alright there is my honest post for this Thursday. If you don't want to read about this journey, then don't plan on reading on Thursday.

Just a thought

I'm sitting here thinking that maybe, just maybe a nasty little "bug" maybe trying to work it's way into this house already. My Little Bug looks like she could sleep for about a week, but only if she is armed with a couple of boxes of tissues. Army Guy is starting to sound like he needs a couple of his own tissue boxes, and I would just love for my head to stop feeling like two sumo wrestlers are pushing on the sides of my head.

That is enough of me and my thought here for the night. I hope that everyone had a great Wednesday, and tomorrow I will have picture and my first of hopefully many new Thursday postings.

Great News Kind of Day

It is late and I don't have a picture to share that would come anywhere close to showing how I feel at what is the near the end of today. Binky Sue had her appointment with GYN today and the possibility of PCOS was quickly removed. She does have one good sized cyst on the right side, but that is all. We learned something about the people that read the ultrasounds of the ovaries today, and it seems that they tend to refer to just about everything as a cyst...even if it happens to be eggs! Binky Sue is starting treatment for the cyst and has a follow up appointment in three months. Binky Sue is very happy and feels so much better knowing just what is going on and how she is going to be treated for it.

Today was also an appointment for Army Guy. This was the one with the cardiologist and I'm very happy and oh so pleased to say that he will not be using any of the three follow up appointments that were authorized with the referral. His heart is perfectly fine, perfect, wonderful, good, healthy. Pick a word that you like best and go with it. His heart is working exactly how it is supposed and the people that did the first EKG really should probably go back to school and learn to do a better job and not scare the life out of people! Alright I feel much better now getting that off of my chest.

Like I said, it was a great news day for two of the people that I love dearly. I hope that everyone had a great news kind of day or at the very least a great day spent with the people that you love dearly.

Mindless Monday

IMG_6701, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I'm just going to keep this simple. Let's all look at the pretty busy picture. A mind is a horrible thing to waste, and mine is working over time to string what few words I have typed here, together today. I hope that everyone has a good Monday, and I'm off to try and see about getting my brain to work here today.

Feline & Furball Friday

Angel and Gypsy Rose, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Angel and Gypsy both proved to be difficult to photograph this week. They didn't care how much time was spent playing with them, or petting them, they really just didn't want their pictures taken. Something that was very clear to me when I finally got the blurry pictures downloaded. I think next week I'm going with the dogs, and hopefully Miss Angel will not "talk" to them in advance.

This week Carly and her boys Dylan and Hendrix stopped by to say Hi. Also stopping by this week was Suzanne and Socksie. Socksie is trying to find a cool place to spend the day with the summer heat.

Feline and Furball Friday means time to grab those camera's and take some pictures of your fur or feather covered friends, share your stories in a post, and stop by and drop a link here. The time line is just any time before next Friday morning.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend, and that all the felines and furballs manage to find nice cool spots to spend their days.

Hopping Around

Horse Lubber, originally uploaded by torri_g.

This is by far the coolest grass hopper I have ever seen! The fact that I was able to locate it in the tall grass the other day is nothing short of a miracle, and I tried to not torment it to much while getting it picked up and moved to a rock so I could get a better picture. If I hadn't moved it though we could have played a great game of find the grass hopper in the picture here on the blog.

Speaking about hopping around this post is going to take a big leap here now. Thursday are going to become my day to post about my stopping smoking journey. It has been years of trying and not being able to push through it. Last week however, Army Guy and I went to see the nurse for the smoking sensation class and as of yesterday we picked up the medicine to start this journey together. It is recommended to keep track of days because each packet holds seven days worth of pills. Since we are starting them this morning, looks like Thursdays will be the day. We have been put on Chantix and for the first 7 days we maintain with the smoking while the medicine builds up in our systems. Our basic quit date is set for next Friday. Basic quick date is the day that you want to try to put that pack of cigarettes down, but keep them handy for just in case. Since we both really want this for an number of reasons, I think this route with the medicine is going to be our best bet. So on Thursdays when the new packet of medicine is opened you are going to get to read updates about how it is going. It is going to be my way of keeping myself in check for this.

Anyway, I hope that everyone has a great Thursday, and see you back here tomorrow for Feline and Furball Friday.

Sunny Thoughts

IMG_6665, originally uploaded by torri_g.

My search for a field full of these flowers has failed this year. Without the usual high amounts of rain during the monsoon they just don't exist this year. Or at least not anywhere that I have found. Probably for the best though really, because yesterday dealing with trying to get around this one scratched up one of my arms pretty good. My thoughts though were if I can't find a field full of them at least I was able to find one with lots of activity going on with it.

Probably no time for pictures today since I have another busy day in my car planned. There is the back and forth to school for Binky Sue, an eye appointment for me, and an appointment for Army Guy and I this afternoon and then another Binky Sue class this evening. Wait I could take the camera and just shot pictures from my car since that is where I'm spending a very good share of my time this week!

I hope that everyone enjoys a great Wednesday.

Simplicity on Tuesday

IMG_6687, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Kids are all off to school today and Army Guy and I got out for a drive and a short amount of hiking down by the San Pedro. So basically a simple perfect day as far as I'm concerned. I hope that everyone has a great simple Tuesday.

Monday Catching Up

IMG_6660, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Because of running on Friday, running on Saturday, running on Sunday and then the collapse of I refuse to do anything more, I'm going to play some catch up here today. Let me start with saying that Sweetpea and Little Bug are settling into the routine of school nicely and now that we finally got the last of the requested supplies, I should be done for at least a week or maybe more if I'm really lucky!

Binky Sue had her first freshman college class this morning, and with just that one class under her belt she came home and said that she was exhausted and needed a nap! Binky is very glad that we finally found out just how to access her scholarship fund from the Lions Club last week, and were able to get all of her books on Friday to the tune of $446.00. However, with her whole first year paid for by scholarships there is much happy dancing going on around here.
I know that I have mentioned here that Binky Sue was invited to be a honorary member of the Lions Club that gave her the scholarship, and that she has enjoyed attending the meetings, and even had an idea for how to advertise. I think I mentioned that the idea was well liked by the members and even promised to share pictures. Well, that is what this picture is for finally. It is a tee shirt design using the colors purple and yellow, and done with a youthful approach for the top one, and a more mature (doesn't make you ask how to pronounce a word) for the lower one. The vest was presented to her a couple of meetings ago and is part of what is required to wear to the meetings. This Saturday though, Binky Sue spent the day in Safford, Arizona for a cabinet meeting of the Lions Club. Her favorite comment coming from the president for the state of Arizona's Lions Club "Wow! You are young!" Binky Sue is the youngest member of the Lions Club of Arizona in the last 20 years. The local Lions club got to show off their young member, she got to show off her idea, and the day sounded as if it was a great one. Binky Sue is enjoying learning all about the club and their good work, and looking forward to being a part of it for the next two years. Now she just has to come up with some youthful ways of fund raising that don't require a lot of man power. (Hmmm...thinking about it now maybe there is an Aunt that could give some idea's on that one.)

There is probably tons more that I could type about, but I will spare you all of that. Binky Sue did point out that if you have the "Heart of a Lion" you should check out your local Lions Club. I hope that everyone had a great weekend and that there is a wonderful week ahead for all of us.

Feline, Furball, Plus Feathers Friday

The mini zoo, originally uploaded by torri_g.

It is Friday and that for me for the last several years has meant time to take a picture of one of the many animals of the mini zoo, and then head over to visit Steve and Pickle plus all of the great animals that would stop by. This week though is bring something different. I was asked by Steve if I would like to take over the Feline Friday, and I swear after taking forever thinking about it, I said I would be honored.
So welcome to the new home of Feline and Furball Friday! I have no plans of changing anything about the meme, except for maybe needing links by Friday morning since I tend to do most of my posting in the early morning quiet of my day. But other than that the meme has worked as is for many years so let's not mess with it.

Since this is the first week for my mini zoo hosting, I figured a collage with all of them was fitting. So from Trinity, Mia, Angel, Gypsy Rose, Honey, Mango, Puff, and Kiki, we say hello and look forward to spending time on Friday's with all of the wonderful animals that stop by.

This week there is only one link and it is to Steve and Pickle one last time. I hope that everyone enjoys a great weekend and remember just post your own and drop a link sometime before next Friday.

As close as I can

IMG_6627, originally uploaded by torri_g.

This dragon fly loved this stick. No matter how many times my movement scared it off, it would just circle around and land right back on the stick. Which was great because without the ability to get down on the ground because of my knee, I was able to at least get in as close as I could and use the telephoto lens that was on the camera that day.

Oh and I figure out how to make the monsoon rain show up again...just talk about trying to get out and take pictures! The down pour started yesterday afternoon, and has been pretty much coming down since then. Which is fine with me because we really do need the rain to fall. I hope that everyone is having a good week, and have a great Thursday.

Getting out

IMG_6633, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Yesterday Binky Sue, Army Guy and I got out of the house and headed out to Parker Canyon Lake. Lots of things to photograph out there so I have a couple of days worth of new pictures. Binky Sue located this tiny little horn toad for me, and then took several minutes trying to get me to see it. To bad her eyes didn't work as well while walking the trail so she could have missed tripping of the big rock. Don't worry though the only she hurt was her pride about not seeing the big rock that tripped over. Army Guy picked the flowers while he waited for Binky Sue and I to return from our adventure down the dirt and rock trail, so of course we had to get that in the picture too.
Thinking about maybe heading out again today and see if I can capture pictures of butterflies out in Huachuca Canyon to go with the tons of dragon fly pictures from yesterday.

I hope that everyone has a good Wednesday.

Just because

IMG_6605, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Yes I'm posting another picture of one of the girls from Sunday. No I didn't rotate this picture to be like this, I shot it on purpose to look like this. Why? Because sometime listening to Sweetpea talk about things makes your head spin and gives you the feeling of something being off with the world. Her thing this week is talking about how her photography class is making her feel like she is back in pre-school, and yesterdays one class period was about equal to 3 years of pre-school. It is because the room is bright and cheerful, and anyone who knows Sweetpea, knows how she just can not stand that. Bright and cheerful is very annoying to Sweetpea, and I'm starting to wonder if she is going to stay in this class past this week now. Her mood seems to have been set with the first day, and it is just slowly going down hill from there. My only hope is that they start doing some actual work with camera's and distract her from the rest of it. Having Sweetpea in a mood with a class this early in the year is never a good thing.

I hope that everyone has a good Tuesday, and hopefully I will have some new pictures tomorrow since I thinking about running away from home today. My fingers are crossed that I mange to do just that.

Monday Morning Mindless

IMG_6589, originally uploaded by torri_g.

After sitting here yesterday afternoon taking mindless pictures of the girls being goofy, I've realized that I really need to get out of the house with my camera. It isn't that I don't enjoy taking pictures of my girls, but they are about all I have taken pictures of in the last couple of months. One can only shot so many pictures of Binky Sue doing her text messaging before it just gets old. Text messaging is her life line to the world by the way, or at least that is what I'm sure she would say if asked.

There isn't all that much planned for the first part of this week so maybe I will finally pick up the camera and get out of this house. I hope that everyone has a good start to the week.

Sibling Sunday

IMG_6573, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Well, the routine of the school year is back for two of the three siblings here. Sweetpea and Little Bug were very happy to see the weekend come after two hectic days of school. Little Bug is loving being in high school so far, but I think the schedule of it is kicking her butt already. However, after a summer vacation spent staying up very late and sleeping half of the next day away, having to get up at 0515 would probably kick anyone's behind. She is enjoying it though because she is now part of the group with tales about how the day went at the high school.

Sweetpea's first day had her coming through the door in the afternoon with a great big slamming of the doors. If you live in this house you know that means that she is mad. Actually as Mom I usually know that it means a level beyond mad. Once I got her calmed down enough to talk I found out that she had a great day in her first five periods, it was the sixth period that brought the anger. It is a young man that has been a bit of a stalker since 8th grade, and he just happens to be in her sixth period class. Since they are both seniors this year I'm personally blown away by the odds that he is in the one elective class with her and none of the other senior classes. There was talk of dropping the class, but I know my Sweetpea, without so form of artistic type class on her schedule, this year could be one of the longest on record. It is her photography class that is in question here since she decided to not take a fourth year of art, because of her favorite art teacher leaving prior to the budget and teacher cuts that have taken place. Sweetpea has always needed the artistic outlet to get through a day at school with all of the other classes she needs to take, so there has been a lot of conversation between her and I about how to deal with having this young man in that class. She has had to deal with this every year since 8th grade and is actually very good at it, but it just isn't going to change the fact that it angers her. Hopefully with this week being a full week of school and everyone moving into a state of getting moving with instruction, maybe she will get "focused" on the art of the class and be able to just ignore the fact that he is there. But someone better not aim their camera in her direction because this is still my Sweetpea that we are talking about. She may be little but she is one tough little cookie really.

Binky Sue seemed to be going through withdrawal without her sibling here. I think she felt a little strange being the one that had no place to go with the start of school. Her job searching is still finding her nothing right now, but she has enough applications in at places that at some point in time something has to work out. This week we head over to get her books for the fall term, and next Saturday is orientation. Her classes start the 17th, and I'm sure she will not feel so left out of the learning game then.

I think that is about it for this entry. I hope that everyone is enjoying a great weekend spending time with those you care about most.

Feline & Furball Friday

IMG_6578, originally uploaded by torri_g.

It has been a while since one of the dogs let me take pictures of them, so I was very happy yesterday when Trinity stayed still so I could get a couple of pictures. Alright so staying still isn't entirely true, she did a whipping around of her head thing as if she was keeping watch to see who might see her getting her picture taken. My big girl Trinity is being driven crazy by the fact that there are yet again new neighbors moving in on the side that has brought nothing but tormenting people kids. I'm hoping that will not be the case with this new family.

The sad news for this entry is that Steve's cat Pickle passed away last Sunday. He said that he will be posting on more this week, and then not sure just what will happen with the meme. Reading the news of Pickle made me think about all of the great animal friends that have left in the last year. I hope everyone will stop by and visit Steve and leave comments of comfort for him. Steve's Blog

I hope that everyone has had a good week, and that there is a good relaxing weekend a head for all of us.

Update: Steve has posted for today and here is the link. Please don't forget to stop by and visit. Steve's Tribute to Pickle

Sweetpea & Little Bug

Sweetpea & Little Bug, originally uploaded by torri_g.

The first day of school is here and they are on their way! Time for another fun filled school year. Back packs were packed up and I'm sure checked several times yesterday. Oh and of course outfits were selected and then changed, changed, and then changed again this morning. By about 0530 this morning breakfast was being eaten and the dreaded "kill about an hours of time" started. Ah the first day of school, the one day that no one needs help getting up and being ready to leave on time. By the middle of next week that will change! This morning though will find Sweetpea the senior being very kind to Little Bug the freshman, but even that will not last all that long I'm sure.
I'm expecting tons of paperwork this afternoon and two very tired girls. The routine of school year is on its way back, and all the fun of having a senior again. My biggest hope for this year is that things with the high school go smoother than last year because I'm not sure that I'm ready for another year of wondering just where their brains are.

I hope that everyone is having a good week and that the first day of school goes well for both my girls.

Two Days Left

IMG_5809, originally uploaded by torri_g.

With only two days left till Sweetpea and Little Bug make their return to school, I feel as if we should get out of the house for one last adventure. Sadly this summer just has not been filled with to many of those, and it doesn't look like the last two days will be either. Monsoon seems to have forgotten that it is in fact monsoon time and the temperature is heading back over 100 again today. The irritating part is that usually it is the rains that brings the higher humidity, but for some reason this year even without rain we are having 40% plus humidity. Don't go laughing at me because of that one, I like the dry heat that is Arizona, and wish it would either return or at least rain so that the humidity would make more sense.

Army Guy is out this morning getting some clearing things done, and by this afternoon should be on the final stage leading up to retirement. He has ultrasound of his carotid artery Thursday, and appointment with cardiologist August 25 to see if they can figure out what was up with a couple of tests during his final medical exam, which for right now will put that final signature for that on hold, but he will still be able to do today's clearing and release. Of course he had to go into to talk to them about it and it took a powwow of three people to figure out if he could or not. He has put in several resumes for job postings that closed as of last Friday, so hopefully coming up here soon he will start hearing from someone. There is probably more that I could post about this topic but I'm not going to because is simply makes my head start to swim with all the other things that need to be done. It is enough to say that there is progress being made on all fronts.

I hope that everyone is enjoying a good week so far, and staying as cool as possible with the summer temperatures.

Sibling Sunday

I think I have gotten most of the mind clutter cleared out and feeling a little more back on track now. The problem...well one to many what if's and one to many wait for answers on things. Sometimes those are my worst down falls.

Anyway, let me play some catch up about the girls here instead of myself. I posted about Army Guy and Little Bug with school registration earlier in the week. Friday was Sweetpea and Mom at registration, and I have to say that it wasn't all that horrible. Oh don't get me wrong those lines were still terrible, but we only spent an hour and fifty eight minutes having to stand in them. Which with Sweetpea is a record low, and while we were walking back out to the baking in the sun car, there was a bit of a happy dance being done. For the very first time there wasn't any mistakes made on Sweetpea's schedule and it was just the stand in line and wait to get things done. The added bonus about senior registration is the photographers pushing their fliers at you trying to get your business. Parents were polite about for a little while, but after standing in line for 30 minutes and having the same person trying to push a flier in their hand 3-4 times some parents started to lose it. The photographers have tables in the main entrance, and to leave registration you have to walk right past them. Of the six that were there only one stayed right at her table, and I can tell you that she was the one that had the most people stop by to pick up information. I can understand wanting the business and being pro-active in trying to get it, but when parents are forced to spend upwards of 2-3 hours standing in line trying to get this done, no one is thinking about those senior portraits and really just want to be left alone! I think the best was the one who was told that portraits were already done, and the photographers response was "Well take this anyway because maybe you will want to have them shot again but by someone better this time." At which point in time the parent that was said to dropped the flier to the ground and got the attention of one of the teachers in the area to complain and ask that she be made to leave the area. However, that is my most interesting tale from registration this year.
So Sweetpea and Little Bug are all ready to head back to school this Thursday now. They did the walk about yesterday so Little Bug will at least have an idea of where her classes are located, and the school supplies have been bought. Four more days and another fun filled school year gets started.

Binky Sue...well I've got a bit to share about her this week. Binky Sue's advertising idea for the Lion's Club went over very well this week. She is showing them already that she wants to be an active part of the club, and has some very good idea's. They are looking for ways to increase their membership, and advertising is always a big part of that for anyone. They had talked about doing buttons, and while listening to talk of that Binky Sue had a different idea which she then asked for help designing and putting together samples to show. They are t-shirts and from the sound of it the idea was a huge hit. We put together printed samples of several different ways they could look, and she had two completed t-shirts done for the meeting. She did a youthful approach and a more mature and they liked them a lot. After the meeting this week we did some small edit changes for final look and she already has a couple of t-shirts here to put the transfers onto before the next meeting. To say that she was excited would be a great understatement about what she was when she got home. She has been invited to travel with them for another meeting coming up to show the idea off. YAY Binky Sue!
Now for the medical update about Binky Sue that kept a good share of this week filled with stress for her, and me trying to calm her down. Last September/October Binky Sue was hit with some extreme pain in her lower abdomen/pelvic area. Several trips to the doctor later they said it was probably her right ovary and it would pass...and it did. Then it returned in November, and passed, returned in January, and I think you get the idea. June brought the return of the pain, and this time it isn't going away. So an appointment was made to hopefully get someone to run the right tests and see just what is going on. Binky Sue got that with a P.A. that we will call Mr. KP. The same day as her appointment he put in for a ton of lab tests, an ultrasound for that same afternoon, and a referral to Ob/Gyn specialist. After a week of waiting for a phone call with test results Binky Sue got her first answers on Friday afternoon. Her final will wait till she meets with the specialist later in August, but right now what everything is pointing to is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom. She has numerous cysts in both ovaries, with a large one in right side measuring 2.4 cm and largest one in left measuring 1.7 cm. She has been upset because of the never ending pain that she is in, and she was upset to find out that it wasn't just the one side. She was caught off guard that they found it in both sides. However, she is doing better now at least having an idea where the diagnosis may be heading when she finally gets to see the specialist August 25th.

So that is the sibling update. It has been one heck of a week here in Arizona. I am going to try to get back to getting some picture's to post on here, oh and if you are family or close friend and haven't gotten an invitation to view Sweetpea's senior portraits let me know. I'm slowly finding out that there were some people that I missed with the first round of e-mails that I sent out. I hope that everyone has a enjoyed a weekend filled with laughter and time with those you care about the most. I also hope that there is a good week a head waiting for all of us.