hp hp hp and caw caw caw

Merry Christmas to all y'all and your mama'n them. Here in West Tennessee and Pecan Lane in specific, it is a balmy 70 degrees and the crows have taken over my yard for the end of the year.  There are plenty of pecans out there with stink bug spots but I doubt they mind that.  Tis early flu season around these parts so count your blessings if you are not afflicted.  I have heard that it's brutal.

Meanwhile, POTUS is playing golf and threatening Greenland again. And starting a war in Venezuela playing pirate games.  And the whole world is watching and waiting and getting ready for WW3.  And us?  Well we are mostly barely making ends meet and scared as shit of what is to come.  At this point, it's just damage control.  

I am slowly but surely making my way toward repair of a parastomal hernia.  Six years after I almost died from a serious colon infection I will be once again on the operating table.  I don't remember much about the last time but this go around I realize that the initial surgery that ended with a colostomy will need TLC through the years.  I could care less about a re-connection because I'm used to it but, this hernia?  It affects the fit of my bag setup so it has to be fixed.  

The Lord (and my late mother) moved me the other day to call Senator Marsha Blackburn's office regarding the Senate vote on ACA extension that never made it out of the House.  I was pleasantly surprisd that the woman who answered the phone was curious because I knew a lot about the evolution of healthcare in West Tennessee.  Why do I know?  Because I worked there for 41 years.

So I hope y'all are eating way too much and enjoying family, even drunk uncle.  Just say "bless your heart and pass the peas."  Peace on earth, good will toward men ^j^

if you see me

Please remember this...if you see me.  I cannot see your face unless I am up really close to you.  I can recognize your voice and see a silhouette of sorts but not really any features.  This is what happens when you have macular degeneration.  If I see you out and don't speak but we know each other, let me know.  I am not ignoring you I just can't  recognize you.  I thank the good Lord every day for the ability to get out of bed and live life ro the fullest.  At 70 I see the end of the tunnel!

And so, I have revised my bucket list to make it shorter.  I want to experience the beach one.more.time.  Just guide my sight impaired old self down to the water's edge and set me up with an umbrella.  I would dearly love to see our country returned to the honorable state of an ally for peace.  That's a shortening of the phrase "world peace" and we are not doing our part.  I would like to see some bands that I missed back in the day....The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers, etc.etc.  James Taylor just one more time.  I could not handle it now without a whole lot of help but I would be thrilled to raft the Ocoee River again. I have never visited my brother and his family in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  That would be a dream come true.  Reaves will graduate from high school when I am 80.  I would seriously adore watching that happen...with honors because she is awesome.  

Life is short here on mother earth.  Not realizing that is one of the biggest mistakes I ever made.  Now I take nothing for granted.  What my daddy told me is true, in that the older you get the faster it goes.  And the more you appreciate blessings.  

Happy birthday eve eve eve to Baby Jesus ^j^

poop happens

Howdy y'all.  The title was the name of my very first blog.  The design created by my friend Tamara in Canada featured an outhouse and lots of other goodies.  Back in those days people ran blogrolls and kept up with each other on a daily basis.  Now? Not so much.  If you have followers they see the posts but nobody else does unless you share on FB.

So, anywho...I am scheduled for parastomal hernia repair in late Januray.. My surgeon ordered a barium enema repair pre-op.  That was attempted yesterday and, as Old Hoss would say "not good."  The prep was brutal enough but when radiology attempted it on a rectum that hasn't been used in six years, well.  Also not good and very painful.  Sooo all that was for nothing.   Now I will have to do the prep AGAIN and have a orocto scope.  OMG!  At least you are asleep for that.

Meanwhile, Christmas is two weeks away and I am ill prepared except for the nativity scene.  And actually, that is what it is all about.  y,all keepn the faith ^j^