Week 2&3 Aug 22-Sep 9

I had been hiking for several hours. Checking this canyon, peeking between those rocks, looking for something interesting. I found the Racecar Arch and the Molar. And then I went up the canyon to check a site we monitor. I figured what the heck I would just go further up and find the site on the way back. I found a mining claim from 1957 and some old corn cobs that the Natives ate. And then I happened onto the site. I walked around the other side and looked at an overhand and thought...if I were a native, I would hang here. I noticed a bird laying at the back. First impressions were it was a spirit from the past, a skinwalker. There had to be native stuff around here. I stepped back to see all the handprints they had left behind. They say the handprints represent ceremonial times...was it a skinwalker? I decided to leave the bird to rest in peace. You can see the bird just below the white line at the back of the overhang.

8/30--driving into uncharted canyons by me, I witnessed an abundance of wildlife today. And not one of them was caught on camera. First, we saw what we believed to be two coppers hawks. Then I dropped my coworkers off and traveled beyond. I was driving in a wash bottom when I came upon the red-tail hawk who casually flew it a snag and made it easily identifiable. The next few corners held a badger. First I just saw it moving away from the water in the wash and thought what the hell was that. I mean initially I thought it was a wombat, but those are in Australia. Then it paused on the bank as I scrambled for my camera. It gave me a dirty look and moved into the bushes. Then I went up the wrong canyon and came across a coyote running along the road and off trail. I even had my camera out, but it wouldn't stay still long enough. On my way out, I saw a grey fox. Initially, I thought it was the largest squirrel I had ever seen. Shit, do I need glasses? Anyway, it was a grey fox. And lastly, I saw either another Coopers Hawk or Sharp Shin. I would like to say sharp shin, only because I had already seen a coopers.

9/6--So I was driving back from the town to work this morning at some gosh awful hour. I had planned on being back last night, but the retarded rescue of the girl with a dislocated shoulder, who ended up walking herself out after we put a sling on that her friends could have easily done, required some hiking and by the time I got back to town, for safety reasons I stayed there. So I was driving back this morning to make work at 8am and was dodging all the animals...rabbits, deer, chipmunks, turkey...and I got thinking some serious thoughts.

1. No matter what time I drive that road, animals are darting across in front of my vehicle. ??? Do these animals ever sleep?
2. Do they ever run across the road when I am not driving it or other cars are not there? You always see dead animals. Why don't they dart across when no cars are coming?
3. And is it a game they play like chicken? Are their friends waiting on the other side hoping they make it across? Do they get initiated into some club for making it? And if they don't make it, then they weren't meant to be in the club?
4. What is exactly on the other side for them? Why must they go over there?
5. DO THEY NOT LEARN FROM SEEING THEIR FRIENDS RUN OVER THAT CROSSING THE ROAD WHEN A VEHICLE IS COMING IS PRETTY DAMN STUPID?

9/7--Driving along in the backcountry, I smell it quickly approaching. A rain in the desert is nothing like a rain in the mountains. A rain in the desert smells so damn good. But when it rains in the desert, it pours quickly and leaves a lot of water in minutes. I am driving on another road I had never been on and quickly starting wondering if I was going to have to cross any washes because by looking at the sandstone slabs to my left, they were pouring water into every drainage there was. I paused to take a photo of some water behind me on the road. When I turned back around I found this...




And those three photos were taken within seconds of each other. Not sure how much was coming behind that flow, I jumped in the vehicle and got the hell out of there.

Sorry for the weekly delay, but I haven't had a chance to upload photos until tonight. Enjoy as always.

Week 2

Week 3

Week 1-New Job

Hey folks:

I will be posting photos of each week I am at my new job. And here is a little tidbit of a visitor encounter....

Man walking toward me.... (italics indicate in mind)
Me: Hello
City: Sure is quiet out here.
Me: City Boy. That is the point of it.
City: Are you sure it is ok for me to be out here alone.
Me: It is much better when no one is around. We will be rescuing him later
City: "Jumps at site of lizard and then pulls out camera"
Me: I just laugh and walk away.

The photos: Week 1

Outta Here

I believe my blog days are over. One reason is that I don't get that many people reading my stories. However, I love the regulars for stopping by when they could. Second, I am leaving the world of civilization for a time being and blogging won't be a top priority. I will attempt to keep reading everyone else when I can.

Have a great year.

Adventure Day

I gotta say that I probably have one of the greatest jobs. I mean besides the usually traffic stops on a daily basis; there are days that I can leave the road and explore the unknown and untouched. So on Sunday BF and I did just that. Of course Jenna was not too pleased with us because she thinks she should get to go with us every time we leave the house. But since we were in the park, she had to stay home. Her fun would come later in the day.

We headed up the road and parked the vehicle in a position to slow down the speedy visitors. And we set out to uncharted rocks by us. Jack graced us with his presence almost immediatley. And we saw the occasional lizard, but not much else wildlife except the paw prints left behind. We scrambled over rocks, we crawled under rocks, and we squeezed through rocks. We, or mostly I, searched out cracks and areas for an arch I had not found before. I think we found one. There were many baby arches, but in order to be classified as an adult arch, you have to be three feet and most of the ones we found weren't there yet. We finally made it up one area, skirted around the back side, and then were looking for a way down into the valley. BF finally found what he thought would work just fine. Of course it was going to take some chimneying, but it was doable. Uh, CHIMNEYING? That is where there is a crack and you wedge yourself in there and go up or down. We used the back against one side and feet/knees against the other. Then just work your way down or up. Important information to know when you have a flashflood coming on you and you have to attempt to get above it.

After that we played it easy by following the wash and chasing after the fox prints. We once again came to a dead end. At that point, I was tired and hungry and ready to be finished with the hike. We went up and over the sand and came to another canyon area. And that is when we found the arch for my record. BF thinks it has never been found before which would mean I get to name it. But I believe it has. The photo is a joke for those who have ever been to Arches National Park.

BF went home after lunch and I went back to work cleaning the cache after our flood. I called BF at 3PM and asked if he had the boats loaded. He laughed and said no. Of course when I made the telephone call, I knew he didn't. We were heading up the river to drop in the boats for a short daily trip of paddling. And this is where Jenna got to have some fun. We paddled lazily down the river looking at nothing and the herons.

We were going to make one stop to check out a old mining rock house. It was a short stop as the storm was thundering and lightning. Once we got back in the boat and started down, Jenna decided she was done being in the boat and jumped out. BF put her back in, but within minutes she was out again. We decided to let her swim. After a few minutes and one photo op, she decided being back in the boat was ok. We came around the bend and could see the river bridge. The head wind was so damn strong I was making zero progress and actually moving up stream. We finally made it to the launch ramp and were graced with a sand storm. Oh I love the desert. We loaded up my vehicle and shuttled back to BF's. As we were driving we saw this guy running along the road in sandals. If I had to put a description on him at first glance I would say skinhead. I said we are not picking that guy up. When we got back to BF's vehicle, there was a kid sitting by a bunch of rafting gear. I said on second thought we are. So BF picked him up and shuttled him to his vehicle. Rule of thumb...always carry your lifejacket on that road because any local will pick you up. And if you have the child, hold him or her out there because the pickup will be quicker.

Hope you are having a great summer.

More photos under: Jenna's life, Utah (Wildlife, Adventure Stuff, and Flora)

James A. Haran

I went over to see Jenn the other day and found her writing about this...2996. So I did what it asked and signed myself up. And it immediately assigned me James A. Haran. And so I did some searching on who James A. Haran was...google is an amazing thing and a scary thing... James was a broker with Cantor Fitzgerald.

This is what I found...
September 11 Victims

9-11 Heroes

Remembering


I know that James photograph and memory will forever be etched into my mind. I am sorry for the loss to his family, especially his wife and children. May they know people every where think of them even though they do not know them.

Higher Ground

After working six days straight, two of those with overtime, and all those days over 100 degrees, and wearing a ballistic vest makes it 150 degrees, I decided to get the hell out of the heat and head to the LS Mountains. They are just behind the house somewhat. I mean I can see them from the house. All I knew was that is it cooler up there than it is down here. So I loaded up a cooler with one Corona and two cokes, grabbed a bag of grub, and told Jenna to get in the vehicle.

We drove up the mountain to the O Lake. We left the heat of the desert where the lizards were scorching on the rocks. As soon as we left the black top for the dirt road, I could smell the green. The aspens and pine mixed together for a wonderful aroma that floated through the windows. When we arrived at the lake, the fisherpeople were throwing in their lines. I could smell the freshness of the water.

I let Jenna get a little wet and then we started up the trail with no destination in mind and zero time frame. The weather was warm, but it was not hot like the desert. Jenna ran ahead and crisscrossed the trail looking for something. Anything to chase really. I of course was looking for a bear the entire time. We finally came to a stream, crick, brook where Jenna enjoyed the water for a short moment before heading up the slight incline. That is when we ran into Washington. We talked for a while about things. He thought he was heading to W Lake. And I of course didn't know where the hell I was heading so he pulled out his map. I found out that there was a loop trail I could take so that is what I decided. He told me there was another lake up the trail. Looking at the map, I noticed the only way to get there was by hiking so I figured I would be alone when I arrived.

Well I was kind of right. Washington told me the Cow Woman would probably be there when I arrived. And sure enough she was and I asked her about the trail, but she didn't know about it. And although he said it would be signed, it didn't say the loop trail. She had told me that the G Pass Trail was a long ways, but I risked it anyway taking the trail. I figured it would loop eventually.

We kept behind the cows and enjoyed the side stepping of droppings. When we would hear them moo, we would stop to let them get ahead a little more. We finally came to a meadow and saw a trail head off to the right. I kept telling myself if the side trail wasn't around the next corner, I would turn around. Thank goodness that corner finally came. We started down the trail when I heard the 'boing, boing'. Okay, it didn't sound exactly like that, but it got my attention enough. Jenna wasn't sure if she should chase something that big so she just watched from the trail looking between me and the deer. After the deer, we were graced with the presense of numerous birds, but I was only to get a photo of this guy.





We continued on the trail and eventually made it back to the lake when Jenna immediately cooled off. We grabbed our Corona, grub bag, and a book and headed down to an area by the lake where the fisherpeople we not. After Jenna took a swim, we ate cold pizza. I read a chapter in the book and finished my beer. She took a couple of swims and then we headed home to the desert heat.

More photos at http://mtnbkaz.photosite.com/ under Everything Else, Jenna, Flowers

Highly Allergic

About three weeks ago, I escaped the confines of my yard and went around to the front of the house. Mom isn't sure what I got myself into, but she thinks I ate the dead bird in the front yard. She believes that possibly the bird had an insect on it and I got stung. Whatever it was, when mom kindly grabbed under my chin to say "what are you doing out here" she felt the grapefruit size lump on the left side of my chin.

She laid on the floor with me for quite a while. It was about 11pm. When my eyes started to get glazed over and I was looking like I was in dream land, she called my normal vet. No answer on the emergency number. When my breathing became labored and I stopped several times, she called the other vet. We rushed down there at midnight 20. After two shots, the vet sticking something up my arse, and his finger down my throat, we got to come home. Of course it was now 130am and the vet told mom to monitor me for the next 3 hours. Um, well she wasn't about to sleep on the floor for three hours, so I got to sleep in the bed. Interesting, may be I should have reactions more often. Dad was away so I spent the next three nights in the bed with mom.

On Tuesday, mom, Pheebs, Jake, and I went for another road trip. We had a good day until the last pitstop for a piss break. First, there was the water that mom kept us out of. Then there was a carcass of some sort. And then we started walking down this road. Mom and Pheebs started getting bit by mosquitoes and so that cancelled the walk. We got back in the vehicle and there were bugs in there and one was on my nose, which they slapped at numerous times. We drove on to the next town to get gas. Mom was gassing up when she noticed my face was very bumpy. Pheebs ran into the store and mom bought some benadryl. It was children's liquid and so I drank out of the cap. I wasn't having trouble breathing, but mom was still in a panic. She sped home where I was given another benadryl, which pretty much put my ass out for the rest of the night. Mom snapped photos of me...

Mom also put more photos here under Jenna's life and Utah "Everything else"

New Photos

Click on the title to see new photos...

they are under Rock Art and Everything Else in the Utah album.

The Indian Country Drive

Monday seems to have become my day of adventure. I awoke and called Phoebe. Said I was up for an adventure and if she and Jake (her dog) were game. She said sure. Told her I would be there in an hour. I stopped at the Shell upon arriving in her town and bought two cokes and two pieces of beef jerky. I pulled up at her place and stupidly left my door open. Jake loves opens doors so he jumped right into the vehicle. And then I turned around to find Jake sharing my beek jerky with Jenna. Should that have been a sign? This would be an adventure of firsts.

We headed further south. It was now noon and probably 100 degrees. What were we thinking? So we missed the turn I wanted and cruised this dirt road into nowhere except to a blacktop road. It was really weird. So we followed it. And then it ended so we followed it the other way. And it ended, but it ended where it was going to take a 50 point turn to get turned around. I made the turn and started forward to a hole and kind of high centered the vehicle. We missed the opportunity for a photo because we were both in 'oh fuck' mode. This would be the first time I have had the Rocket in four-wheel drive. And she pulled her weight. We got her out eventually. Sorry no photo of that.

We did finally head up the CR Road and found the other side of the blacktop road. The dogs were dying so we were hoping for water. We found a small green probably infectious water and they laid down to cool off. We attempted to find more but as the mud got thicker, we bagged the idea. Actually, we pretty much bagged the entire hiking day. We went down to the San Juan River and spent the next two hours in next deep river water soaking in our bras and underwear. The dogs were loving it. We were getting exercise working against the current.

After the soak, we headed on the backroads to some Indian Ruins. It was mostly driving and short hikes out to the ruins. Jake and Jenna did a lot rabbit chasing. Not sure about Jake, but Jenna has slept most of the day and is walking really slow.

During our tour, we ran into some Texans. They were talkers. Well he was a talker. The female realized we didn't like talking and kept telling him to come on, come on, but he kept talking. We ditched them finally, but only because we missed one of the ruins.

We were heading what we were hoping was towards home, but it just didn't seem right. I mean we were heading west as we should have been, but it was a dirt road. I told Phoebe I would stop this truck coming towards us and ask him. The cowboy on the cell phone said we needed to turn around and head back 6 miles to Pleasant. We finally made it to Pleasant. We were tired and hungry and it was late. The sign to home said 35 miles. It was about 820pm and we needed to make dinner.

We made the diner and had a great meal. We were two of four customers. The waitress asked where we were from and we told her. Then the other customers said my town name wrong as so many visitors do. The waitress asked how to say it properly. Then he said they had been riding ATVs in our town earlier that day. And that ended our conversation somewhat. He later said "I noticed you frowned when I said ATVs". I said "I am about protecting the desert not destroying it." Thankfully they finally left and we had the place to ourselves to eat in peace.

Most of the photos are here, but here are a few....

The Wise One Canyon

On Sunday about midnight, I decided Jenna and I would embark on a mission on Monday. So Monday morning as the alarm went off for some damn reason, I wrestled with the thought of actually going. Ah, what the heck lets jam. I loaded the vehicle with food, clothing, sleeping bags, and other survival materials. I am always prepared for the unprepared. We jumped in the vehicle about 720 and headed south. I called and woke up Phoebe hoping she was in Cello so she could scrap the looking at grass today and head out with us. However, she was in her other town and couldn't accompany us. I told her I would call her when I reached civilization. Come Tuesday night, send out the troops. I also called upon my coworkers and indiciated if I wasn't at work on Wednesday, well come a looking in the vast area.

I have no idea what time we arrived at the trailhead and could care less because it is my day off. I already had a plan of what I was going to do. There are two canyons...The Pisces and The Wise One...normally this is a loop hike, a two day hike, but with zero water in the canyon, it definitely isn't a summer hike. We opted for the top of the canyon with minor level drops. Well I opted for that way, Jenna didn't have too much say.

We came to our first minor level drop. And she did what she always does even though it was so simple to go down. SHE FREAKED. But eventually she went down, but not without some serious pushing.

After viewing the above site we headed around the other side where I had seen another one. She wouldn't even walk down there and it wasn't even a level drop. So out came the rope so she would be presuaded again. This time knowing darn well she wouldn't be able to get down or up the level, I left her water and tied her to a tree.

Of course, as I was chimneying down the rock I was thinking to myself...would I be able to get up? Oops if not. But there had to be a way since there were ruins down there. As I climbed down into the area, I listened for the wind to speak to me. I listened for the voices of the past. And I spoke into the wind myself. I let them know I was here visiting not disturbing. I was here to listen to them tell their story and show me their life. I would leave when I felt I wasn't welcome anymore.

There were these ruins...I would say probably several rooms. Look closely at the photo of the small wall as you can see the fingermarks of them making the wall.

And then farther down the level was these two places...And I can't tell you how much I wanted to be able to peer inside those windows. To be able to peek into their world and souls. To be able to see how they spent their nights and days. How they made due in the harsh environments. And how in the heck they dropped the 200 feet into the canyon below for water?

But without a partner I wasn't going to risk it. Heck Jenna was above tied to a tree and I couldn't leave her like that.

After finally making it back to Jenna, we trudged on, but not without major difficulty as she was freaking about the edges. After checking out this one from above and lifting her up and up and up, I finally gave up looking down the levels.

We walked some more and finally Jenna sat down in the shade by a tree. She was done. I gave her some water and found some shade myself eating my PB&J. At 1215 PM, we started back towards the trailhead. It was getting hot and shade was pretty much nil. The rocks, sand, and crypto were hot on her paws. As she was pausing to see if the lizard was worth chasing, I paused to snap this...

We were almost to the vehicle and much closer than I realized as she turned left between some trees. I said ok, you want to stop in some shade and then I looked up to see we were at the trailhead. The sand was burning her paws, but she is smart and ran to the shade while I ran to the car to open it. She immediately jumped in and I immediately filled her dish with ICE water. We headed out shortly after she stopped panting at 90 MPH.

We stopped here so she could really cool off and I would wake up. Then we called Phoebe to say we were alive.

As always check out the other PHOTOS. Plus I have added some albums and chapters

Colorado River Trip

Boss lady came to me recently and asked if I would like to go on a river trip. Well, let me think about 2 damn seconds...um, well, I guess. She said I would have to eat my days off. Oh shucky darn. I figured it wasn't a bad way to eat my days off. I contacted my toe doctor and he said it would be just fine. So on Sunday, June 11, I set out around 8am with T-Berry, Doc, and Telluride. The raft trip would be three days two nights. My biggest concern was having to use the groover.

This wasn't your typical raft trip with oars. We had two Mercury motors on the back. Which seemed to helped quite a bit in the head wind flat water. We started down the river and I would say about 30 minutes to an hour into the trip, I was taking a nap. The sound of the water and the vibration of the boat was soothing.

We did some sight seeing along the way. We went to some ruins and petroglyph/pictographs and to a site of petrified logs. When we went to the first archaeological site, I forgot my camera. At the second one, my battery went dead. But I had a backup camera.

That night as we pulled into Spanish Bottom and T-Berry stopped at several camps to check names for permits, we met Toby and family. Toby had never run the rapids that were below us and asked T-Berry for support. Being a good park ranger, T-Berry said sure and that we were leaving about noon tomorrow. Keep that in mind. We camped right below them and had a wonderful dinner and hung out with the State Park crew. We all tried to stay up for the full moon, but most of us got a glimpse of it as we rolled over and opened our eyes for a moment. The river and sun suck the life out of you.

Monday morning, we arose early and hiked past Toby's camp saying good morning to them and headed up the hill to the Dolls House. The hike was primarily straight uphill, but it was worth every moment of it. It was even worth the pain I was enduring with my toe, which was now uncovered and covered in dirt.

Coming down the trail was brutal on my toe and I watched as blood oozed out of it. Thank goodness we had a doctor along as he kept saying it was ok. We passed by Toby's camp and it was filled with other boaters. Keep in mind that Toby had to pass our camp before heading into the rapids. We loaded our gear and headed down river. T-Berry had told Toby to meet at the top of Mile Long Rapids. When we arrived, Toby was not there.

We checked the banks again and then continued on. After Big Drop 1, we stopped for lunch. I was freezing and had changed shirts and went to sit on the hot rocks to warm myself up. After finishing my sandwich, I was daydreaming when I heard a pop and then watched as a flare floated back down toward the river below us. We quickly gathered our lunch stuff throwing it every where and untied the boat. We went through Big Drop 2 to find Toby on river right with his boat upside down, his belongings all along shore, and only him. He was throwing up hand signals that we had no idea what they meant and shouting directions on how we should proceeded. I was the lucky one to get off with Schmuch (aka: Toby) with a radio. There were two females in the water, a woman and a 16 year old. We were concerned. I helped Schmuch flipped his boat. In the meantime, T-Berry and crew had found the females. We helped him re-rig his boat and T-Berry went over how he should proceed down Big Drop 3, the only rapid I did not get to run. Then we walked back to our boat and waited for Schmuck to scout it and run it. I look up to see him already going. T-Berry took one look at him and said get ready because he is going to flip again.

Now let me back up a bit...the first flip was probably at Rapid 15-17 and the young female was found at Rapid 26 I believe. So she had swam a long ways before hitting shore. Sure enough they flipped again. So she got to swim Big Drop 3 twice. But this time she was over to the shore quickly. As T-Berry drove, Doc, Telluride, and myself picked up Schmuck. This story surely isn't as funny reading it as being a part of it. We rigged a system again to turn over his boat. At one point, he attempted to tell T-Berry how to do something and the look T-Berry shot Schmuch pretty much said...well you can only imagine. We got the boat turned over and T-Berry suggested the girls ride with us through the last two rapids. He agreed. We had already rescued him twice, would there be a third or fourth?

Finally rid of Schmuch we continued on our peaceful way, but without making fun of Schmuch the entire time. We did a hike where I took a short nap with my Nalgene bottle as a pillow. We finished out the night with an unbelievable pasta dish. And I finally used the groover, but not without gagging and nearly puking.

The next morning, we finished the trip in Hite.

For more photos see: Photos

I head to the Doctor tomorrow because I believe my toe is now infected with a lot of sand and wonderful clean river water.

The Boys Left

My cousins have left and gone back to cool weather of the mountains. And I have pretty much been sad and moping around. But I still get my mom up early to take me for walks. It is not as much fun without the others, but now I can spend more time chasing lizards.

Mom goes on a raft trip on Sunday and hopefully by July she will be able to walk longer and her toe will be all healed up, but this little 30 minute walk sucks.

Have a good summer all.

Jenna

Cousin's Visitation by Jenna

My cousins have come to visit me while their dad is in Washington DC visiting the president. Their names are Hershey and Snickers. They are two chocolate labs.

Hershey is the oldest of our group at about 8 years old. But he is much older because he was a working hunting dog and it makes dogs older. He walks slower and doesn't run as much as Snickers and I do. He usually hangs out with the people and makes sure they are making it. With Mom having a hurt toe right now she is a lot slower so Hershey is her keeper right now.



Snickers is what mom calls a little shit. Of course she should know because that is what everyone still calls her. Anyway, the dog's dad gets up early every morning so they figure it should be the same while they are staying with us. Mom isn't a morning person and to be honest neither am I. So we've elected Snickers to be the one to jump in her face between 530-6AM. It gets her moving quicker so we can go for a morning swim. Snickers is more my age so we have been having a blast.

We have been getting two swims a day. One really early in the morning thanks to Snickers and then one in the afternoon. On this morning's walk, we met the cleaning lady with her dogs. They are fun for a while but then Harley gets all defensive and starts acting like a bitch. Harley is a good punting dog, but unfortunately I don't know how to kick.

I normally lead the pack because this is my terrority. But geez those boys stop and pee quite a bit. I mean we are constantly stopping to sniff something. Then Snickers pees on it and then Hershey pees on the same spot. What is with boys.

This morning we walked all the way up to the Beaver pond, but didn't see the Beaver, but just the Beaver dam. Mom decided she would stop there because she didn't think she should try the water crossings with her shoe. Come to think of it, it would not have mattered since we drenched her feet during the retrieving activity. I have to say I am learning from the two duck dogs how to retrieve and bring back the stick to my masters. Wait, I am the master. Well you know what I mean.

We spent about an hour and half up the creek. Of course to us that is not long enough. Hopefully after mom goes grocery shopping, we can head back up to either the creek or lake for more swimming. After taking orders from Mom so she could get a photo with us, we came home and had breakfast and are taking a nap. By the way, the boys also snore loudly!

I Couldn't Resist

We were driving down to Arizona on Wednesday when we noticed this sign. On the way back today, we made a U-turn so I could take the photograph...

Here It Goes Again

Click on the title to take you back in time...

WARNING PICTURES TO MAKE YOU PUKE BELOW

Friday I drive an hour and half to have that toe operated on again. Hopefully this will be the last time ever. Not sure if they will be taking the edge off, but I am not looking forward to the operation. The receptionist said I would be on my feet the next day. I am still having the doctor's note saying "I HAVE TO WEAR TEVAS TO WORK FOR WEEKS, NO MONTHS".

We are driving up early to do some big city shopping. Then we are coming straight home as I will be required to lay with my foot in the air. Oh boy I am looking so forward to tomorrow.

UPDATE: The appointment went just fine. I had a little anxiety about the whole deal, but you can't blame me considering this was my 35th shot and 3rd time of having this done. I didn't even cuss when the shots went into the nerves. Then he showed me the nail he pulled off. And that was about it.

Today, I soaked my foot to take the gauze off. The dog drank the water after I moved and gagged in doing so. Anyway, then I had to clean it with cotton balls. I couldn't do it so BF had to. BF's son had some friends over so BF said "if you hear screaming behind closed doors, it is because we are cleaning the nailbed." It was painful, but not unbelieably. I have yet to take a pain killer today, but the day is still early.

My problem is that when I am required to stay in bed, I have a hard time doing so. Any other day, I could stay in bed all day because I don't have to, but today I want to get up and do things. I want to go to work, but BF is saying no and I know deep down within 20 minutes of going to work, I'd be screaming anyway. So two more days of keeping the foot up and reading, watching tv, and making my way back and forth from the bathroom.

At least it gives me time to check other's sites.

UPDATE #2: I have reached the point of I can't be in bed anymore. My back is killing me and I am pretty sure I am developing bed soars. Tomorrow, hurting or not, I am heading back to work because I am going insane in this house. People better not piss me off because every one will be getting tickets. Have a good day.

This Recipe Rocks!!!!

You are going to read over the ingredients and say no way in hell is this going to taste good, but I will tell you it is probably one of the greatest things I've eaten in my life.

I'll call it Mindy Bars because she is the one who gave it to me:

You will need:
brown sugar
butter
Pam or like spray
chocolate chips/butterscotch chips
saltines/soda crackers
baking soda
tin foil

Preheat oven to 375 F
Line cookie sheet with tin foil
Spray with Pam or like product
Place a layer of soda crackers or saltines (same damn difference) on the cookie sheet. About this time you are saying gross
Mix together in a saucepan:
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter (butter, butter)--By the way this is a fat-free dessert (HA)
Boil the fatness for 1 minute
Stir in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda--Be prepared as it will move quickly
Pour the mixture over the crackers making sure they all are covered
Bake for 8 minutes
Remove from oven and pour over chocolate chips (Optional-I like to pour some of butterscotch and chocolate chips)
Let melt for a little bit and then spread over evenly.
Let cool. Mouth watering---place in freezer

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!

Breast Cancer for May

Hey folks:

Please drop over to the BreastCancer site and click on the mammogram button. They are counting as double this month. Thanks.