Playing Hooky!!!

Yesterday was one of those rare days when Eddie was off and I could play hooky from the office, too!  So, we decided to take full advantage of the possibilities.....

After sleeping in til after 8:00 am, we got up and around and headed over to a huge church rummage sale.  Oh, my!  We were just darting from one thing to the next....it was nearly overwhelming to see so much in one place.  We did actually buy a few items ~ a wood magazine holder, some great produce baskets, fabulous Halloween votives (unopened) from Bath & Body Works, a couple of pieces of jewelry and assorted paperbacks for Eddie.  We even hit the bake sale table and indulged in some chocolate chip cookies!

While we were out, we went by Academy and Target did a little shopping.  I found some terrific little 3/4 length sleeve cardigans on clearance at Target ~ I am in heaven!  We also picked up some henleys for Ben and Sam at Academy, marked down to $4.88.  And I snagged some great clearance tee's there, also.  I see a major closet~cleaning/decluttering in my very near future......

After taking care of a few more errands and a late lunch, we headed home.  Once we arrived, I "hit a wall".....and "crashed".  I laid down and took a 3-hour nap!  It felt insanely wonderful!  Eddie cooked some simple hamburgers on the propane grill and then we lazed around and watched programs we had recorded on the DVR. 

So, my Prince and I had a terrific day together.  We didn't do anything "special", but we enjoyed each other's company ~ immensely!  And we had some much needed down time. 

Once in a while, you just have to steal a day and play hooky!!!

xoxoxo,
Jane

P.S.....Be watching upcoming posts where I will share some of our rummage sale treasures and a few ideas on how they will work into our decor!

The Prince Pulls a Stunt!

Well, Mr. Eddie Dale decided to take a little field trip today while I was at the office. 

He gathered up some items that needed to go to the post office....and then he just up and took 'em!  Even though we had talked about him not driving for a bit longer, he got in his big honkin' truck and drove to the post office.  The stinker...

The one-armed wonder - in Wranglers and boots for the first time - 9 days after surgery

I don't know whether to hide his keys tomorrow......or let him get out of the house and terrorize the streets with his good (or should I say dominant?) arm strapped to his body in a super-sling!

I guess we will just have to chalk this up to "healing".   Each day is a bit better.  His therapist is able to stretch his shoulder and arm a little farther at each P/T session.  He is now showering, dressing and shaving all by himself.  He wrote some "thank you" notes to friends with his left hand and they were incredibly legible.   He has even been doing a little cooking in the kitchen, with my help around fire, hot water and knives. 

Before you know it, he won't even NEED me!!!  I'm feeling a bit like a momma bird whose baby is about to spread its wings and fly.....

And I couldn't be more proud of his progress!  

Hats off to my Prince....

Jane

A Little Update from The Porch....

The last couple of weeks have been stressful, to say the least!  Where to start......

Remember when we had all that ice and snow and I was stuck at home with a bad case of "cabin fever" for a few days?  Well, on a couple of those really nasty days, Eddie had to make the treacherous drive in to work.  On his way to the truck one of those days, he fell on the ice in the parking lot and landed pretty hard, injuring his shoulder.

A week later, he still couldn't life his arm or rotate his shoulder.  So, he trekked off to the doctor, got an x-ray and was immediately sent to the imaging center for a MRI.  Within a week, we were sitting in an orthopedic surgeon's office hearing that he needed arthroscopic surgery to repair the rotator cuff and reattach tendons.

Surgery was last Thursday.  What was supposed to be a two-hour scope turned into 3-1/4 hours.  As his surgeon put it, his shoulder was "pretty boogered up!"

You see, Ed did a lot of bullriding over an 8-year period when he was younger, as evidenced by this photo.....

Don't we all just LOVE a Cowboy in Wranglers?!?!?!

During that time, he dislocated his shoulder on several occasions.  Consequently, he had quite a bit of "old" damage to his right shoulder.  He was relatively asymptomatic - until the fall on the ice.  When he fell this time, he injured the tendons and the rotator cuff - fixing everything turned out to be somewhat of a challenge.

After returning home late Thursday afternoon, my sweetheart spent most of the next three days in a drug-induced haze.  Thank heavens for modern medicine!  (And thank heavens we had the brilliant idea that he start practicing some "personal hygiene" procedures using his left hand before the surgery!  Sorry, but this is a practical reality....)

Here we are, one week out  and I only have good news to report.  He is starting to heal and he is adjusting to life as he will know it for the next six weeks - with his right arm immobilized.  He writes with his right hand (bummer!), but he does a lot of important things (like eat) with his left hand.  Hopefully, he will adapt easily and quickly.   He has already started physical therapy - just passive range of motion exercises done by his therapist - but, it's a start!

Between trying to play nurse, work, take care of things at the house, and get over an upper respiratory infection myself, I have been spread pretty thin the last few days.  Guess what was put on the back burner???  Janie's Porch, of course! 

But, with the weather warming up and Spring right around the corner, I'm longing to get out there on The Porch and start sprucing up for the season of rebirth.  Bear with me during this hectic time....soon we will sit on the steps and feel the sun on our faces as we squeeze in a little visit!  Until then, take a moment to leave me a note and tell me what you've been up to, Dear Friend.

Taking it a day at a time.....

Jane

A Day Off With Eddie....

What a wonderful day off - right here in the middle of the week.

My Husband is one of the hardest working men I have ever known!  Since he works in the retail industry, he has to work a lot of weekends.  Bummer!  But, it also means he has a day or two off in the middle of the week....a day we get to enjoy together while the rest of the world is working.

For those of you who don't know him, this is Eddie.

 I truly look forward to these days off!  Of course, there's always something that needs to be done....like today, it was the yard that needed mowing.  But, we worked together on that and, I must say - we make a "bang up" team!  I mow, sweep and clean up; he edges and does the "weed whacking".  When we were all done today, our little house sparkled like a gem!

Just look at that professional edging job!

Once we get the "honey-do" list done, we get to play some.  Today, we decided to hit the local Farmers' Market.  Pepper bounced and bounced, begging to go....so, we gave in....

Pepper always loves to ride along!

The market was smaller than I expected in a town this size, but it was still fun!  We saw alot of squashes, black-eyed peas and cantaloupes and watermelons.  One vendor even had some fresh figs, persimmons and a trio of early pumpkins!  I wanted one soooooo bad, but decided to wait until the real harvest comes in here in a few weeks.  It's early in the season yet.

After the excursion to the market, we headed to the barber shop for Eddie to get a good grooming.  It's a little backyard barber shop - literally, it is in a little building in the barber's backyard!  If he is in the house having a cup of coffee, you just ring the little doorbell on the shop door and he comes out the back gate to the shop.  It was amazing how fast he worked - I think it took all of three minutes for him to clip Eddie's (remaining) hair!

We finally ended up at Lowes to look at garage doors.  Ours is in a sad state of decay - no saving it!  While we there, we played the "Let's Pretend We Have All the $ in the World" game and looked at doors for the front and side entryways.  From the entire selection, we both picked the very same doors for both places!  Guess you could say we are totally in tune on such things.  (Thank goodness!)

Our choice for the front entry....

....and for the side entry.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent with some quality "down time".  The heat from yard work and all the running around had finally zapped us.  For me, this meant curling up with the dogs for a nap; for Eddie, it meant working on his blog.  (If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, just click HERE  for a sample - the man has Passion and an Opinion.)


As evening approached and the temperature outside started to cool, he fired up the grill and cooked some pork kabobs and grilled the summer squash and zucchini we bought fresh this morning.  Oh, gosh, it was wonderful!  How LUCKY am I to be married to a man who LOVES TO COOK?!?!?     

And now the moon has risen, and our day is winding down.  My heart is filled with Gratitude for this day.  It's been a good - no, make that a wonderful - day!  We didn't do anything "special", but we enjoyed working and being together.  That's what made it "special".

I'm linking up with Heart and Home for Wednesday Gratitude and Chatting at the Sky for Tuesday Unwrapped.  I hope you will check out both of these blogs for some wonderful inspiration! 

Did something Simple make your Heart sing today?  I sure hope so!!!

Jane