The Collapse Is A Downer

(Taken from a Fibromyalgia Facebook Page)

"It looks like I will be making the bed for a second time, before I get back into it for the third time when I head back to bed tonight."

There are lots of moments inbetween what I do some days that not everyone sees, or what I don't allow people to see, as who wants to hear about the "down times" in a persons life all the time?  Sympathy I do not seek, but what I do appreciate always from my family and friends is simply understanding and caring without judgement placed on something that is far from my choice of being.

Between my degenerative disc disease neck pain, whole body pain from the Fibromyalgia, and headaches, there are days I can't even bare as it catches up with me and wears me down.  Really truly, "the collapse is a downer", which I find rather depressing when it happens more often then naught.

I was up from 3 am, finally going back to bed at 7:30.  Murphy was at my doorstep again as just as I began to drift off before 8 am (I think I emailed the VON SMART gals about 5:00 am to say I wouldn't be at exercise today) when of course the phone rang twice and someone sent me a text.  I gave it another go finally going into a bit of a lull then giving up after another phone call to finally getting up around 10:00 am.

"This was the view outside our Eastern window I seen this morning ... with both frost on the ground and fog seemingly animated by hanging in the air.  Is it not beautiful.  If nothing else today this sight made me feel good."

Other then attending to the needs of our "Checkerboard Aussies" I didn't get much done other then a pot of Beef Soup for my "Crabby Cabbie's" lunches.

"Beef Vegetable Soup that is .... "

After this was made I went back to bed about 1:00 pm.  Who other then my dear Rob called just before I headed off into a slumber, after I had called and told him I was going back to bed.  I did manage to sleep until around 3:00 pm, until AGAIN who else by my ROB called and woke me up again !!!  Jeez how do you not hurt someone when you love them so much ... not easy some days is it?  Ha !

My poor guy was having "Crabby Cabbie" vehicle problems and not such a great day himself.  It started with a flat tire after he had been over working Saugeen Shores for a bit, then after while driving a fare, a Rad hose blew, spewing anti-freeze up over the windshield.  Oh man ... poor guy had to borrow a screwdriver from someone on the street he was on to give it a temporary fix.

He did come back home up to our mechanics to get the spare tire off and put on another permanent one.   We really need to ensure the "safety" of his Customers, as that is a "Number One" priority of the "Crabby Cabbie" !!!

When Rob dropped back home to get a new tire, he had also brought me in the mail, as of course I had still been in bed.

"Happy Mail in the way of a Cupcake Post Card from Postcrossing, a letter from our local OPP (police) detachment acknowledging and thanking me for my letter of appreciation regarding one of their foremost "front line" employees, and an invite to some Christmas Festivities to the Golden Dawn Retirement home where my Mother resides.  Pretty good score in the mail department, with there not being one bill today!"

Oh yes, the Slow Cooker Turkey Dinner we had last night was totally awesome, even though it was rather late by the time we had sat down for it.

"Rob's is the one with the side of coleslaw, and mine with the roasted onions ... yummy."

Recipe please?  FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE, PLEASE *CLICK* HERE

Can you believe after spending most of my day in bed, which I hate doing no matter how necessary some times, I am still TIRED !!!

Before I "sign off" here, I need to let everyone know how much I care about my Family and Friends, those in my life daily in person or not.  I can NOT stress enough how comforting it is to know when you have friends or family who care ....

"All my Family and Friends who truly care about me and others deserve this Award !  Thank you always for being there for ME !!!"

Speaking of friends, a Facebook Friend of mine posted some info regarding the sending of a Christmas Card to one of our Countryman or woman who is serving on our behalf.  I blogged about this last year, and here it is again this year.  Remember when doing your Christmas Cards to address just one and send it off to the following address:

Any Canadian Forces Member

Op Attention:  Kabul

PO Box 5140 Stn. Forces,

Belleville, Ontario   K8N 5W6

... as you might just make someone else's day a better one by putting a *smile* on their face.  Need to confirm the address at anytime, please do so by *clicking* HERE.

I am off to attend shortly to our "Checkerboard Aussies" to having myself a restful night with hopefully sleeping past the hour of 3:00 am, as I am looking forward to a better day with tomorrow arriving, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

It Always Happens When You Are Hurting

"Hello November 2012, what do you have in store within your 30 days for us?"

 The 31 days in October went so fast, how am I ever going to manage with one less day in this month?  It most certainly will be a challenge for me, this I am certain of, being the "challenged" person I am ...hahaha.

My dear hubby, Rob, was so disappointed when he read my post from Yesterday with the exclamation of "Where are the Turkeys?"  ..... no worries dear husband, those you thought  to be Wild Turkeys, were actually really Goblins disguised as such ...

"Would you not think this yourself? especially with it being Halloween and all.  Gobble, gobble, gobble .... or should that be goblin, goblin, goblin?"

 I had myself some pretty exciting news  last night, precisely at 8:40 via email, which I first shared with Family members and friends, then "Cindy's Recipe Exchange" then my Facebook friends ... well I was pretty "Over the Moon" and still am, as I have won myself $350.00 worth of Knorr products !!!

How could this be you might ask?  Remember way back on the 22nd of October when I entered the "What's for Dinner" Knorr contest on Mardi's, eat.live.travel.write.com ?  if not, you can go HERE to read all about it.

The entry that won me this amazing "Gift Basket of Knorr products" was this one ....

"Savoury Cheese and Leek Scones ... I do LOVE me those Cheesy Leek Scones, and don't forget the Savoury part !"

Recipe please?  *CLICK* HERE .  

Thank you for hosting this Contest Mardi, and thank you Knorr Canada for sponsoring same !!!

Okay I really could hardly believe this myself, but this was not the ONLY thing I had won myself this week ... I also received a phone call that I had won a FREE BodyTalk evaluation after I had put in my name at the Harvest Craft and Vendor Event I had attended with my friend, Toni with an "i" which you can read all about HERE .

BodyTalk is all new "talk" to me, so I will be sure to find out all I can about it when I go on the 10th of this November, and report back here.  There is a website in the meantime for those people who would be interested in checking it out for themselves.  Just *click* HERE.

By the way, I did go out this afternoon to buy me a Lotto Max ticket which so happens to be sitting at $5 Million I believe?  if I don't buy I will never win now will I?  SHOW ME THE MONEY !!!

"It always happens when you are hurting" .... 2 am I am certain I was finally having a good nights sleep when Missy Mercedes started barking, barking and barking, then Lexus started up, then Buddy began whining, then Bandit put his head up to mine to try and get me up.

Finally just before 3:00, I hadn't known the time until I had first called my "Crabby Cabby" to see where he was at with hopes he was close to home to see what the problem with the girls had been.  No such luck he was just finishing up with his last call, still 40 minutes away from home.  Up I got myself, heading down stairs with Bandit way ahead of me.  One at a time I took out, Missy Mercedes, Lexus, then Buddy.  Everyone had themselves an equally long "pee".

I returned back to bed laying there until my "Crabby Cabbie" arrived home.  I had such a rotten sinus/migraine headache I never did get back to sleep properly.  Up I was again after 7 am to go back down to take the "pack" all out.  Jeez I was "ticked", as Missy Mercedes decided she wasn't going to listen to me this morning, taking off towards the road with her nose to the ground.  Just as she crossed through our cedar rail fence, she finally decided to turn about and come back.  Nevertheless, I was not too pleased with her.

It gets better ... once the girls and Bandit had been looked after it came to be Buddy's turn.  Oh man, I went to get him out to find he had made himself a mess in his crate ... what was one more thing to do feeling the way I was !

As I said, "it always happens when you are hurting", and boy did I ever get my three out of the way first thing today!  Really though to be honest, I was also thinking today, I LOVE each and every one of them regardless.  They are very much part of my life, all four of our "Checkerboard Aussies".

I got my Slow Cooker rocking with a new recipe today.

"Easy Peasy as 1-2-3 ... this is all it took."

"A few hours later, our Dinner was all ready for us before Rob had to adorn his "Crabby Cabbie" hat and leave for his day."

Recipe please?  *CLICK* FOR PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE.

This afternoon I did a couple of Post Cards through Post Crossing to be sent on their way, one to Russia, and the other to Germany.

"I also wrote out a Note to a couple of friends and family members."

I love writing letters, even long before I had been a teenager.  I wish my neck could take more, but the position of leaning over for any length of time does not do well for me.  This is why I am very content with sending off a Post Card or two, or three, once a month ... short and sweet, but still enjoyable.

*Sad* that letter writing has become such a thing of the past ... do you still write letters and cards?

"I happened upon this today.  Most days this is so ME, as I see myself and my life..."

"... Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

Lick & A Promise It Was

My dear "Crabby Cabbie", Rob, arrived home in the wee hours of the morn, waking me around the hour of 3:30 am to say, "Happy Anniversary", adding, "I got to say it first this time" .... oh yes I do have to LOVE him, now don't I? even after 16 Years and a proceeding 2 Years before "Married Life" in the mix.

"October 26, 1996 the day had been Sunny and Warm.  A beautiful Fall Day.  Why was this day chosen for us to be married on? well this day had been the Second Anniversary of our very First Date is why."

There most certainly have been many ups, downs, hills and valleys in our past 18 years together.   I have never once regretted marrying my "soul mate" in the least little bit ever.  There still are, and still will be, many more trials and tribulations ahead of us, with the knowledge we will always have each other as they unfold before us .... through all the "good times and the bad times" we will see them through together.

This day I was not to drive alone on my way up "North of the Checkerboard" to my weekly Doctor's appointment.  This day I had Rob to go along with me for Company as he was scheduled to get his Flu Shot today too.

Rob had not gotten home until 3:30 am, so had not much sleep by the time I had woken him to go as our scheduled Doctor's appointment was at 9:00 am.  Off we went just after 8:30 am, arriving 5 minutes earlier then our appointed time (he drives obviously a bit faster then I).  The Doctor had not been in yet, so the girls were kind enough to provide Rob with a much needed cup of coffee ... thank goodness !  We waited as long as we possibly could, but by the time the clock at struck 10 o'clock the Doctor had not yet shown.  We had to leave as Rob had to work this day from morning until evening.  We rescheduled another appointment for the upcoming Tuesday.

By the time we had gotten back home it was just after 10:30 am (he must have gone a bit slower on our return...ha!), with 2 hours of our day already behind us and nothing accomplished.  I really hate when my day starts like this.  What a waste of time and energy is about how I feel about it all.  Regardless the day was not going to wait any longer for me, so "on board" I got.

Lots of dust bunnies to be rounded up, along with a brand new Bandit I collected from off the floors (and carpets).  I am happy to say I might not have gotten any "deep" cleaning done, but I did give a couple rooms a good "Lick and A Promise"  ....

"I had somehow acquired a new front entrance area carpet ... looks pretty plushy and warm from this angle, does it not ? and I do love those white, black and grey colours throughout it."

How many paragraphs back had I raved about the wonders of 18 years of togetherness?  Upon going into to begin the "lick and promise" in our back spare bedroom I had the pleasure of coming across some unfinished business that I believe had begun days ago ....

"I was thrilled to come home the other day to the realization the window air conditioner unit had been removed, only to find out this day it had not only been removed but left laying, along with all tools that had assisted in removing it, on the floor still in the room !!!  
Oh my "shattered" nerves ....  !"

That could have been another "little" downside to my day, but on the flip side ....

"This pile of leaves in the drive is all that was left of that very very long pile of leaves which I had there Yesterday ... thank you Southern Winds !  good job well done !!!"

I also had lots of "Happy Mail" today.  Two in my Mailbox via Post Crossings and one in my Email Inbox.

"I was thrilled to have received this card from The Netherlands, and even more thrilled the Sender had translated for me .... "Are you going on a journey with me?"  How nice was this?"

"Just as thrilled to have also received this one from its Sender who had attended to the 3rd International Post Crossing Meet-up, in Bielefeld, Germany.  Not only was it signed by the Sender, but signatures of many attending at the Meet-up.  Thank you all!"

"The "Happy Mail" I received in my Email Inbox was from Sparkle's Mom, Marie, from way out in Western Canada.  Some might remember way back in June, Sparkle was adopted by Marie from Turtle Garden Animal Rescue, since having made each others lives "complete" by being together.  Here is the note and photo I received from Marie:  Sparkle got her new coat today, Vesta, the Librarian made it for her, pretty spiffy, eh? She wants to be a model but she doesn't know how to do it without leaving home!!!  Cheers Marie."  

I love hearing "Happy Tail" stories, don't you?  I am honored to have been there right at the beginning of Marie and Sparkle's "Happy Tail" story.   Life can be so good, even with those Hills and Valleys spread throughout it, can it not?

"What does your "pickle jar" look like?"



I don't know about anyone else, but I want LOTS of golf balls and pebbles in my life, and I don't even golf !

Almost 7:30 pm already here, with four "Checkerboard Aussies" soon needing my undivided attention, lots of little things yet to be done, and a phone call to my "Soul Mate" of the past 18 Years to be made before I call it a day, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

How Important Is Exercise ?

What an amazing day today it was Weatherwise !!! and otherwise too as it was being enjoyed so much.   I don't know about anywhere else in the World, but it just so happen to be almost 25*C (77*F) here in my little piece of Heaven.  Honest to Goodness !  and I am still counting on having an Indian Summer come our way too !!!  A long one is really what I am aiming for ... pleazzzz ?

I am happy to say I got two loads of clothing washed, along with a load of mats, and out on the load to dry all before 10:00 am., the bed made and some dust bunnies that required a bit of forceful removal from the dining room sideboard.  Next on the Bunny "hit list" will be our bedroom, hopefully getting done not too much later this day, or maybe tomorrow.

While milling around in our fridge a bit this morning I had to throw out some pretty yucky undesirables ... ewww I really hate when that happens.  I still had a lovely piece of Cabbage in there that I wanted to get used up, so what better way to use it then in my favourite salad.

"This salad is only really really good; it has a wonderful presentation about it too !  Love ME some Black Bean & Feta Salad, I do so .... "

"... and is there ever a simpler dressing then Fresh Lemon Juice and Olive Oil?  It never ceases to amaze me that every time I have made this salad, one Lemon has produced exactly the required 1/4 cup of juice !"

With the salad made and set in the fridge awaiting me to consume some for my supper later on, I got to thinking I hadn't really planned on anything for our Dinner today.  All the leftovers had been used up Yesterday.  Thank goodness having eggs on hand in the fridge have always been an easy "go to" solution for something quick, easy and good to make up a Dinner when I have been otherwise "stuck".

"First out of the Fridge is the Farm Fresh Eggs from my egg source, DeJong Acres Farm of course.  Then the green peppers and onions were diced , sauteed a bit before the eggs were added in."

"It wasn't too long before the egg was topped with Old Cheddar Cheese between two slices of  toasted Homemade Whole Wheat Battered Bread.  It was delish ... "

After our Dinner was over with there was then the matter of those dishes to be washed up.  This I did right away.  Still feeling a little bit weary I relaxed for a time this afternoon, while Rob "sawed logs" in his Lazy Boy chair.  Ha !  he wakes up just before it is time for him to adorn his "Crabby Cabbie" hat with a "why did you let me sleep so long".  My retort was, "do you think maybe you needed a bit more sleep?".  After all those long hours he puts in from Thursday until early Sunday morning, I really think he never gets "caught up" enough with his sleep most weeks.

Regardless it is Thursday night again.  Off further South my "Crabby Cabbie" headed towards Saugeen Shores to do what he does best, while I  ....

"Went out to check on our Wood supply for the arrival of the upcoming ... watch it there is a "dirty" word coming next, "WINTER" .  Wow they sure had cut, split and piled  a good lot in the drive shed the other day, as seen in the first picture.  The other two pictures is wood still left over from the previous Year.  I am hoping we will be good by the looks of things."

"I had also had Lexus out with me on Wood Inventory.  She was a pretty good help.  Then I had the little ripper, Missy Mercedes out for a "tear"."

After inventory was done, with everyone else having an out, around and about, I needed to get down to some serious business.

"Since I hadn't gotten around to it this morning, I needed to get my 1 Mile "Walk At Home" workout in with Leslie Sansone.  All the convincing in the World was not going to get Bandit participate."

I even tried to convince him he could do it no problem at all by first showing him this Video ....

... nope that still didn't convince him !

"Even explaining The Importance of Exercise to him didn't get him to budge.  Oh man, what am I to do with a couple of these Men in my life.  Don't they realize they aren't young, fit and as active as Buddy anymore and they have to "work it"?  Ha, I suppose not.|

It is never easy to get going, but once you do "get up and go" every day it gets easier and easier as the days go by .... really now, "would I tell an out and out lie otherwise"?, as I am certain I have only been known on occasion to tell the "odd" fiblet or two I am sure.

How Important Is Exercise?  To me pretty dang important especially when you read all the benefits going for it according to the above chart, as well as all the numerous testimonials and facts out there.  How important is exercise to you???  might I ask?

"Today I received another wonderful Post Card through Post Crossing.  This one arrived from Ostashkov, on the shore of Lake Seliger, in Russia.  I absolutely LOVE it !"

"Also after exercise and the mail had been collected from the Mailbox, I raked a these leaves away from the edge of the Rock Garden, onto the drive with hopes the prevailing South Winds will have them somewhere else but our property by morning.  Fingers crossed ...ha."

Before it gets too much later here, I really think I should be digging into some of that "oh so good" salad I made earlier today, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

Another Challenge It Is !

"Good Morning North."

 "Good Morning South."

What a beautiful scrumptious weather day we had today with temps a high of 18*C !!!  Please stay all Winter long will you .... ha, no chance of that happening on the Bruce Peninsula now is there?  A girl can dream can't she? especially a Pisces girl.

I got at some cleaning done in the kitchen this morning.  All leftover unused canning jars, along with any canning equipment was removed from the kitchen area with all counters receiving a really good wipe down.

"The Black Bean & Corn Salsa I did down last Friday was all labeled, re-boxed up and set on the stairs for Rob to carry on down for me to get put away at a later date."

With the bed made, kitchen cleaned up, and all our Checkerboard Aussies happy (momentarily) I got to do a bit more happy stuff.

"The final touches were put inside the gift box for the Secret Sister Swap, with it wrapped and ready to be transported to the Post Office.  Off I went ...."

"I love the girls at our Wiarton Post Office.  I go in and ask Susan if she would mind if I took a photo of her along with my package.  She came back with a "would you like one of me working"? Life is so much fun with a bit of humour intertwined in with it .... thanks Susan you did a wonderful job, once again, of getting one of my packages properly weighed, measured and stamped.  Off to my Secret Sister it has gone with promises it of arriving within 3 days.  I am so EXCITED !"

I had been up again since 3 am.  Mercedes had started barking since a Coyote or two back in the bush had been howling up a Moon or two back there.  Sleep eluded me again, so up I got to start looking through the News Feed on my Facebook page only to come across a Challenge put forth by Knorr Canada which I found very appealing ... off I went to check that out HERE, where I also had the pleasure of meeting up with Mardi at her Blog, Eat.Live.Travel.Write ~ culinary adventures near and far ~ 

I was up to the Challenge by putting it into action this day ....

"Since I was going to be otherwise occupied what a better day then today to take Homemade Chili from the freezer to slowly thaw for our lunch that was going to go well with the Challenge fare I was making."

"This is how it all began .... "

"Water and Knorr Cream of Leek meet cream.  Flour is met by Baking Powder and Black Pepper."

"Here comes more Dairy goodness with the Kraft "Light" Old Cheddar Cheese mixed in with the dry, with wet following shortly thereafter."

"I don't do "sticky" well, but once I got the flour going ... managed just fine to the point of following the instructions almost to a "t".  You might notice there are 8 wedges cut out and not the stated "12"?  Ha ... it was all good."

"This is exactly how "good" it was .... "

Recipe Shared at Feeding Big and more

It even got better, as we were just about to finish up the last bit of our Dinner there had been an arrival into our driveway ....

"A Harley and a Yamaha Maximum ?  Two of my most favourite Biker Guys, Ralphy and Lyle ... who also got to sample the goods.  I spied on them for a little bit as they enjoyed every morsel of the Knorr "Savory Cheese and Leek Scones" which were still warm and lathered with butter."

This Knorr "Savory Cheese and Leek Scone" recipe will be a keeper in our household and added to my selection of "go to" favourites.  This blog post be entered as completing the Knorr Canada Challenge over at Mardi's Eat.Live.Travel.Write blog later this evening.

"I just happened to find this in my Pantry today.  Stay tuned for maybe yet another Knorr Canada Challenge submission coming your way ... ha!"

"I was able to go out to have a little visit with Ralphy and Lyle myself before they had to make their way further down South of the Checkerboard ... I can always count on them dropping on by at least twice a Year.  A perfect day to be out and about on a Motorcycle it was.  I was envious of them."

"The guys had just a little wait until they had been "waved by" this ditch digger out in front of our place."

I also retrieved our mail before going back into the house.  I was happy to have found some more "Happy Mail" in our mailbox.

"This Post Card is of Sami Children, received by its Sender from Finland, is my favourite to date.  I am truly enjoying being involved with Post Crossing."

Before I forget my manners, I must extend a warm welcome to my newest follower, Vicki E of "Watching What I Eat".  Thanks Vicki for joining me here along with my every day goings on, opinions such as they are, and all that I am.  Truly you are Welcome !  

Here it is 7 pm with darkness upon us even earlier then last week it seems.  I still haven't made us any Supper since we had such a late Dinner this day that had been filling and most satisfying with the new Knorr Recipe we both had loved.  I best be off and running, once again, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".