This Was A Big Labor Day... A Rejoicing Day...

Oh my goodness.. Today was a big Labor day for me. Pun intended.

Labor day weekend is usually time for the last big hoorah of the summer.

We had things to do. Husband finished mixing up the rest of the cement and re-did a portion of the sidewalk going up to the porch. He had already poured two new slabs on the patio where he had spent several days cleaning up, sorting and bundling vinyl siding a neighbor had given him a few years ago. The slab sections of the patio were poured years and years ago. and have heaved with the weather. He re-poured two of them. hopefully that will help me walk a little better out there.. LOL I tend to trip a lot in this yard..

I had a list of to do items:

1. juice and can the last of the tomatoes.

2. do laundry including several long sleeve items

3. get out some of the sweats and long pants

4. do dishes

I got the dishes done early.. Big Pat on my own back for that one. I even got up early. The first time all summer. Bigger pat on my own back. It seems I have turned into quite the lazy bones this summer. sleeping till 8:00 or so everyday. I'd like to blame the pain meds and the two knee surgeries, but some of it was just plain lazy bones.

The photo above is not mine. Not my tomatoes, but they sure look just like the ones I canned a week or so ago. My jars just don't look that pretty. We have hard water and lots of lime. I water bath can all my stuff. Just to be extra safe, anyway my jars come out all white and yukky with lime. I clean them off. but after a few years some of it just stays and doesn't wash off.

This photo is of my very own jars. Before I put them in the water bath. See pretty new jars and new lids (always use new lids) and new screw bands. Our canned stuff is stored in the basement and the screw bands tend to rust, so they don't last long. I love the look of these.. so pretty and new and yummy tasting.. shiny too.

I've been depressed again the last couple of days. Yesterday I put away the summer sheets, except for the ones still on the beds, and got out the flannel. Sigh, then I went through and got out the long pants, sweat pants, flannel pajama pants, and long sleeve shirts. The days are getting cooler as are the evenings. Big Sigh...

I have been pouting again about the Summer that wasn't. I pouted for me and poor husband who helped me with everything from toilet scrubbing, vacuuming, and dishes to canning tomato juice along with tending the garden, lawn work and other cleaning up projects throughout the summer.

I have been pouting cause there is no sun.. rain and cloudy just like my mood.

The garden is winding down. Soon it will be fall and then winter with cold, snow and ice. And then I came to the real reason I am dreading it all so much. It finally occurred to me. This will be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas when our family most likely will not be with us. Two of the grand kids have moved to Southern Ill with their dad. The youngest daughter and her boys are without a car (they live about an hour or so north of here) and most likely will just stay home to celebrate. The oldest grandson will be here I hope unless he has a girlfriend and then well , you know young men and girlfriends.. LOL He will pop in sometime during the day to grab something to eat and take home leftovers. The oldest daughter will most likely be gone up north with her friend to his cabin. It's hard to say. It will be especially difficult for her to stay here with her kids not being here. I imagine she will want to change her routine too.

So I have decided it's the huge change from the 11 gathered around our Thanksgiving and Christmas tables.. that is what is truly grieving me and making me so sad. I knew the day would come when they would be grown and gone and would call or drop by for the holidays, but only occasionally. I just wasn't ready for it to be now. This year. I'm hoping We can work out at least a meal on a weekend together. Maybe nothing on the actual day of.. just us. We need to get use to that.. just us.. kind of weird.

We sang a wonderful uplifting song yesterday morning in Worship..

"This is the day the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it".. I have to much to rejoice about to stay to depressed to long. So our holiday dinners may change somewhat, we can still enjoy them. Cause it's a day the Lord will make for us. Just like everyday..

So today. I'm rejoicing in the garden that gave us so much this summer..

way to go garden. I'm rejoicing in the sweaters and long pants of fall. That means Cider soon, and bon fires, and warm apple cider donuts. I am rejoicing in the friends and extended family we have here and other places. Who knows we may do something new and excitingly different this year.

So I am going to rejoice in the day I have today. I'm not going to moan over days that are past. or worry about days that have not yet come. I am going to rejoice in today, because

"Today is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it"..

It's September, But It Sure Feels Like Fall...

It's September, But it sure feels like fall. The last couple of days it's been cool. Dear husband and I have both been downright Cold.

I was out shopping today. I go the first week of the month to stock up on the necessities. I spent the afternoon at a couple of Super Stores in the area. The summer things have all been moved to a few aisles. They aren't marked down yet, well some are, but I'll bet next week the Clearance of summer will start.

I've been especially sad all day. I could almost sit down and cry. My beautiful summer has come and gone without me. Oh I know, we'll still have a few warm days ahead. It's suppose to be 80 on Labor day. Thank goodness. I also see one or two more 80 degree days scheduled for later next week. So the warm days are not gone, but will be soon.

The garden is slowing down. There is a slight crispness in the air. I bought apples today. I plan to make hubby an apple pie this week. I bought some new flannel sheets, and looked at boots. I didn't look long. It's just to sad. I thought of how many more summers I may have in this life. I'm hoping for at least another 40 or so. I just hate that this one came and went so quickly.

I do like fall. My oven begins to bake more. The recipes for homemade soups and stews come out. The last of the canning stuff is put away, and I'll begin to start getting a few of our long sleeve shirts out. I pulled out a couple of sweatshirts today. So I know it won't be long till I start packing the summer things away for next year.

The first frost will be on it's way soon. The leaves will start their color change, Apple cider will start appearing in the grocery store along with Carmel apples and freshly dug carrots and potatoes. The mums are appearing in the stores, and soon we'll see pumpkins and Indian corn. Fall recipes are in all the magazines, and fall decorations are out in all the stores. I do like fall. I just need to grieve for the summer I missed. Then it will be Welcome Fall.. glad to see you.

One Huge Tomato

14 slices from one tomato !

This is one huge tomato.

I just had to show you our huge tomato. It was off one of the tomato plants that I bought at Wally world this spring, in April. I still can't believe how well the tomato plant did once it was put in the garden. It tried dying on me several times. I finally put it out on the front porch and left it there.

During the summer it grew into a 4ft. monstrosity. It was huge and covered with tomatoes. Dear husband could pick a plastic grocery sack full off of it every few days.

This was the largest tomato we had this year. a huge thing. As you can see almost covering a Dinner size foam plate.

I finally had to slice it up today. It was kind of sad. Hubby had picked it earlier in the week. It was breaking the stalk it was attached to. We have admired it and shown it off to neighbors and friends alike. Today I had to slice it, and it was soooo good. just perfect. I would love to have saved it for a mid-winter craving for fresh tomatoes out of the garden. That little extra sweet tingle in your mouth, that wonderful juice running down your chin. Yep, if I could have kept it I would have.

Two slices are safely in my tummy. They were perfection. We will continue enjoying the wonderful slices throughout the rest of the day. Then will most likely finish them off in the morning with biscuits and gravy. Hubby does love tomatoes and gravy along with his biscuits and eggs.

I hope you all get to eat a "Fresh from the garden" tomato soon. Things are winding down here. The tomatoes are smaller and are making their last push before the frost of Sept. finds them. I hope you get to eat a big one. One that makes big fat juicy slices. One that sends yummy juice down your chin. One that you can relish and enjoy.

Girlie Wisdom.. Thanks Julie !!!

Girlie Wisdom!

1 A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills... she now has 14 kids but she doesn't really care..

2. One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.

3. My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.

4. The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.

5. The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.

6. The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really good friends.

7. Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today...

8 Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.

9. I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my panties.

10. Amazing! You hang something in your closet, for a while, and it shrinks 2 sizes!

11. Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like...'You know sometimes I forget to eat!'.....Now, I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name, and my keys, but I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!

12. The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.

13. I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

My First Trip To Rite Aid Cost Me Only 18 Cents

My haul : Regular price about $21.00 I paid 18 cents !!

I'm just in heaven tonight. I got all this cool stuff for 18 cents.. You are probably thinking, " Karen, have you been doubling up on your pain meds". The answer is NO.. I really got these 6 items at my local Rite Aid store for a mere 18 cents.

I have a couple of Friends at Church who are big into couponing. They have taken a class and call me frequently screaming into their cell phones something like..

Karen, I just got 60 boxes of crayons.. guess how much I paid for them ??

I respond.. I have no idea.. $25.00.. No your not gonna believe it.. but I got them for 60 cents.. I faint.. then talk about what savvy shoppers they are.

I have signed up for the class. I can't wait. I have clipped coupons for years. I even use them. Usually they don't save me enough money to fool with. so I've let it go. Then I saw a news blip on one of those Coupon Queens who buy $300 worth of groceries for $4 bucks.. That is the person I want to be.

I joined up with a coupon site.. (there are about a gazillion of them now) and check it weekly for my local grocery deals and coupons that match the sale items. I no longer cut each coupon but instead save and date the circulars they come in. I then match the coupon and the circular to the sale item I want. I save some that way. But not like those Coupon Queens on TV.

I have joined a couple of new groups, http://www.afullcup.com

and http://www.moneysavingmom.com

They have wonderful forums, groups, and emails giving alerts to all the cool deals out in the grocery stores and drug stores in your area. This is where I saw the Rite Aid deals of the day. I didn't get the circular this time, but the website listed the specials and the coupons that could be used.

Here is what I used on the items above:

• 1- Bottle of Nivea Men's body wash Reg. price $4.99 Sale price $3.00. I used a $1 off manf. coupon so the price lowered to $2.00
• 4- bottles of gain dish soap reg. price $1.49 ea. Sale price $.89 I used 4- $1 off coupons = Free
• 1- tube of Boudreauxs butt paste reg. price $9.99 Sale price $3.99 $3 off Butt paste video value coupon and $1 off manf. coupon. making the Boudreauxs = Free

My Total for the 6 items was $2.18 less the $2 up Reward I can use on my next shopping trip.. my actual cost for all 6 items was $.18 Cents..

I can't wait to take that couponing class and learn some more tips. I may just become the next coupon queen.

When People Give, Great Things Happen

Ready for the Kids to Register....

You may be wondering what I've been doing with myself these past 3 weeks. Well this is one of the events that I've been helping to plan for a few months.

The "Back To School Blast".

I can't tell you who loves this event more Our Church members, or the Community that comes and participates. We have been doing this event for several years. I think it probably started about 7 or 8 years ago. I'm ashamed to say I donated to it, but never participated. No particular reason, this is just a very busy time of year, Summer is winding down and the garden is coming in full tilt.

About three years ago I joined the OutReach Ministry Team at our Church. We decided to continue the Back To School Blast, and we wanted to kick it up a notch or two. I think many people feel like I did. It was the biggest Community event we hold and we wanted to add some fun extras to an already great event.

This year along with games, face painting, popcorn, cotton candy, sno-cones, punch, dunk tank, Fire Truck/Fire Fighters/safety coloring books, goodie bags full of basic school supplies (folders, pens, crayons, pencils, spiral notebooks, glue sticks, bookmarks, erasers) free drawings for prize packages of school supplies and backpacks. We added a Child ID program and Haircuts.

Ummm Yummy Cotton Candy...

what a wonderful day !!! We registered over 100 kids. A local hair salon *HeadQuarters Family Hair Salon donated 30 free haircuts and 20 free mini-manicures. Our Local City Police dept. provided a special ID program that is all digital. The $7000 donation from the local Kiwanas allowed the City of Burton Police Dept. to purchase the special program. Everything is put on a CD and given to the parents. It's really cool.

Wow Look at the School Supplies !

All those School supplies were donated. Yep I said donated. Over 300 spiral notebooks, 1000 ink pens, well over 100 boxes of crayons, at least 100 glue sticks, and folders. hundreds of pencils and 79 Backpacks. Our local Meijers store donated a $200 gift card that we used for some of the supplies, and some of the food we used. Members also donated pencil boxes, markers, colored pencils, scissors, rulers, calculators, composition books, mechanical pencils, loose leaf paper, and binders.

I can't tell you how awesome it all was the night we put the bags of school supplies together.

face painted -check

New backpack full of school supplies-check

the best cotton candy on earth-check

Then the day of the event finally arrived. I can't tell you how many smiles we saw that day. Kids with fresh haircuts, and freshly painted faces. Kids playing games, blowing bubbles and hula hooping. Kids proudly showing off their new backpacks and putting their bags of school supplies in them. Smiles all around. On every child's face. On the faces of Parents, and Volunteers. All because people chose to give.

Many gave not only school supplies, but time and talent. Some sacrificed warm dry clothes for the cold water of the dunk tank. Some Sacrificed 20 minutes to clean out that gooey cotton candy machine, and others sacrificed clean dry hands and arms for sticky sno-cone syrup covered hands and clothes.

Four Hair Stylist Sacrificed 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon to cut hair on squirmy kids who didn't always look to happy about the way "mama" wanted it cut.

A Police Officer Sacrificed 2 hours of his time after working a full shift that morning. (He had also worked 16 hour days that week at a huge local event)

A great day of Fun...

When People Give Great Things Happen. A lot was given that Sunday afternoon. Smiles, kindness, The Love of Christ. It was spread around and it covered every adult and child.

The generosity of all from the Kiwana's who made the Child ID program a reality.  to Meijers for the gift card,, the Stylists of HeadQuarters, the off duty Fire Fighters and Police officer, along with the members of Eastgate. A Great thing happened. The lives of children and their parents were made a little brighter.

And The Knee Saga Continues..

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. Well maybe I can believe it.

A lot has happened in that time. I finally got an MRI towards the end of July. If you look at the drawing above you can find the lateral Meniscus ( the left side) that is where I had an extensive tear.

I finally got the call that a Surgeon would see me, but only after some long and interesting days.

Referrals are many in our Dr.'s office. It's a large clinic where there are about 5 or 6 main physicians and upwards of 16 or so residents. I think I would be close in saying that 100 or more patients are seen in any one day. Referrals make all the testing apts. and referring apt's. for other Dr.'s.

Usually it takes about 3 days to get the call, from the place you were refered to, to set up the apt. When I spoke to one of the 2 referral people. I was flatly told " since you just had surgery on that knee in May, I can pretty much tell you that no one in Dr. D's practice is going to see you. Once one of them rejects you as a patient no one in this town will take you." She then told me that my Dr. had said to schedule the apt. in the next 2 weeks.. she scoffed and said " that's not going to happen". I asked what would happen if Dr. D. would not see me. She told me I'd have to try and find someone out of the area.. or go to Detroit to see the one that did the Surgery.

I left for my car upset, well more then upset. I was mad and upset. What would I do if Dr. D would not see me. I was so upset, that my usual trip to Burger King *cause hubby loves Burger King, Didn't happen. I prayed on the way out to the truck. God kept nudging me to go home and call my old knee Dr. I did. He was still coming to his office once a week. He was not completely moved yet, but he was only doing surgery in a hospital in the Detroit area. She also told me that there were two Dr.'s in town that were taking his patients. I was thrilled at least if no one in town would see me I'd have an option.

I called Referral person to tell her about the 2 Dr.'s to which she replied. Well I know one of them is in the same practice as the Dr. D but if Dr. D won't take you he won't either. Just because Dr. L told Old Knee Dr. that he would take his patients doesn't mean he has to see you. oh, I said. Now I was really ticked off. That negative little referral person was raining all over my wonderful visions of quick and wonderful knee surgery. She also put a whole lot of negative thoughts and fear in my mind. I let it stay there a little to long.

A friend at church pointed out the next Sunday (when I told the class how I just had to know what was happening so I could make plans) that I was a control freak, and maybe God could take care of it, and I didn't have to do anything. What kind of crazy talk was that. I can take care of this as soon as I can make a plan.

A week passed. Nothing. I called the referral person again. She told me she had gotten my message and reiterated that most likely none of the Dr.'s in that practice would take me. She was just waiting for the office to return her call.

another weekend passed. Another Sunday. Another time of realizing that I love God to do stuff for me, but I want to be in control.

Monday morning I prayed and told God I was giving up control. I didn't have to know who was going to do the surgery, when or where. He could make the plans. I'd just do what I was told.

I had planned on calling referral girl that afternoon. I didn't. God was in control, not referral girl. I quit being mad at her that day too. She wasn't trying to keep me from having surgery. She was just doing her job. She would call me.

That afternoon when I got home from some errand running. Hubby told me that the Dr's office had called and he had let it go to the answering machine. I played the message. It was referral person. Dr. D would see me. He had an apt. Wed. morning at 7:45.

Whooo hooo.. is God cool or what.. I went to that apt. tho I almost missed it cause my alarm clock didn't go off.. and I didn't wake up till 7:00.. yikes. I went to the apt. and Dr. D. looked over the x-rays, and reports. Surgery was the only option. "How is Friday" he asked. I was shocked.. you mean the day after tomorrow Friday I said.. He laughed.. that's the one. I can wait a week if you want. I took that Friday.

My surgery is done now.. it was done a week ago. I go see Dr. D this week for my first follow up visit. I can't wait. Hubby talked to him after the surgery but I didn't. I do have the pictures. they are really cool. I'm going to take them and get the lo-down. I think I will most likely start physical therapy next week. I'm going to take it easy this time. I've already heard that I have to lose weight.. another story for another day. For now I'm going to focus on recovery.

So is God cool or what !! by the way. the surgery was done on the 14th day. so I saw the Dr. and had surgery in that 2 week window. pretty cool huh..

I'll keep you posted on my progress. Lots of things to catch you all up on.

I hope you give up your control to God. He'll make things go so much smoother and you won't have to carry around all that stress.... :)