Check It Out

There are many athletes today that you seriously do not want your kids to emulate. The March/April  Arthritis Today has an interview with golfer Phil Mickelson. The last couple of years had been stressful for Mickelson since his family had been dealing with health problems. Then he was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. This is a very good article. Mickelson talks about thinking he would get treatment and things would get back to normal. He then finds out it is something he will deal with the rest of his life. Mickelson seems the real deal. If you have ever watched him play golf he portrays the idea of civility sorely lacking in many athletes today. Check out the article. It is informative about arthritis and the feelings people go through while dealing with this disease.

Feeling Better

Scout is feeling better after her bout with the 24 hour "thing".

While out looking for stuff for Scout's birthday party

Jo found this funny little Mardi Gras hat. Cracked me up.

She still has glitter in her hair.

Life

This is a quote at Nana & Blah Blah's house.

I like it.

Ahhh....Remicade

Today was my appointment with my Rheumatologist. It was Remicade infusion day. Yeah!! After all that cold (16 degrees) weather, ice and snow we then had some upper 70's and even an 80 degree day. Yesterday morning it was 67 degrees when I got up. Today it was 37 degrees. Welcome to Texas.

Friday

Cowgirl having lunch.

Nothing better than chocolate ice cream.

Shopped till they dropped.

Finally

Yes I am going to remember these last few cold days when it is 105 degrees this summer but it was sure nice to have 72 degrees and sunny today. The aches and pains are much improved.

No, Seriously, I am Done

Ok, I am really, really tired of the bone-chilling freezing cold weather. I am creaking around, aching all over, taking more pain meds. The ridiculous thing is that by Sunday is is supposed to be 70 degrees. Wonder how the joints will react to that drastic change. Ah, Texas weather if you don't like it just wait a minute.

Ok, I'm Done

Seriously, I am done with this weather. Yes I have said for the last week that I love snow and I do but enough already. I am now thinking that even with all the wonderful meds I take for my RA that really RA does not like 16 degree weather with snow and ice. Last night I was thinking I have had enough. The ache-ness was starting to take over. We had gotten up to 24 degrees in the afternoon but this morning we were back to 16 again. Out comes the Tylenol. Yesterday I had promised Jo we would do our traditional McDonald's today since we were pretty much house-bound yesterday. So off we went. Jo had to say hello to Ronald. Now even though we went out to the store and the sun was warm and it is now 35 degrees let's just say I have had enough of the bone aching cold.

24 Degrees

It is now 24 degrees. we decided to go out a little bit before all the snow and ice were gone. Jo had a bucket of snow that had not melted so she threw it around to pretend it was still snowing. Then she had to splash in the puddles.

The snow was melting off the roof and had dripped on the bushes refreezing and making icicles.

We went around on the other side of the house and there were tons of icicles hanging off the roof. Sadly we are at the end of this round of winter weather. It was fun while it lasted.

Snow.....Again

Yes, it snowed and iced again. Right now it is 16 degrees. They say it will only last two days this time. We will see. Jo came home with me yesterday from Nana's so this morning we went out and inspected the latest snowfall.

The ice was thicker in some spots than others and there was a dusting of snow on the street.

We scraped up the snow that was a little deeper up closer to the house. It was very fluffy and powdery.

Jo made a snow castle and then decided it needed to snow on the castle.

We stayed out a little while and then came in. It was fun but it was a little cold for hanging out too long.

Favorite Mug

I got this mug for Christmas from Jo and Scout. I love it and I love being YoYo.

New Mug

A few years ago when JE moved to Florida we began to love flamingos. Not because they are in Florida, there are very few there contrary to popular belief. We started liking them because everyone makes fun of them. They are really very fine birds with the most beautiful colors. We also found that I could find more things with flamingos on them here in Texas than JE could in Florida, weird. I have found plates, cups, placemats, socks, shirts, pajamas, stuffed toys, lawn flamingos (plastic and metal and yes I have both) even bed sheets (yes I have those too). Now lest this sound obsessive they are not everywhere, I have just a few I like to use and look at. Yesterday we watched the Super Bowl (big yawn for the game but the food was great) with Joseph and Caitlin. They had been to World Market and knowing my fondness for flamingos got me this new coffee mug. I love it. It is large and holds a lot of coffee. Let's hear it for those dang cute flamingos!

Chinese Food

Today I had to go to Sam's to get the monthly haul of prescriptions. Hmm...what to have for lunch? There is a new restaurant called Royal Chopsticks right by Sam's. Well that is a no brainer...Chinese. They have very good food and large portions. I got Hot and Sour Soup, of course, and Hunan Chicken. It also comes with fried rice. Yum yum. I love Chinese food. The portions are so big that there is always enough left over for supper. Can't wait.

Deer Chili

Since we have bunches of snow and ice and it was about 22 degrees. I decided to make chili. Originally I was going to make a stew but while browning the meat I decided on chili. My great son-in-law TJ, the deer hunter, had given me some meat from his last deer. The recipe I use comes from a book called Bowl of Red by Frank X. Tolbert. The official title of this recipe is called Pedernales Chili named after the Pedernales River here in Texas.


Browning the meat.

 Deer meat is very lean. After browning the meat I just added good ol' Rotel and the spices.



Nothing is better than Original Rotel



Cumin is one of my favorite spices. The smell is wonderful.

After all the spices have been added the chili needs to simmer. It says simmer an hour on the recipe but I just kindof go with how long I can wait to eat it.



Simmering



The finished product.

The chili turned out fantastic. Just enough left over for tomorrow's lunch. 

Dogs in Snow

Our dogs are almost 11 years old. They have always been outside dogs. They don't even like the inside. But of course they have a doghouse each which is in a sheltered "condo" which has a tarp over it. So they are pretty protected. They also have about five blankets each inside their houses. A few years ago we got them heat lamp so they are pretty well protected. (In the summer they have their own swimming pool.) I have been worried because of the cold here, serious cold. Right now it is 22 degrees and that is about as warm as it has been this week. But being outside dogs I still wanted them to be comfortable in the cold. They have always eaten dry dog food but with their age and the cold we have been adding canned food to their meals. Allison gave us a can awhile back and we used it. They liked it so we got some more. I kid you not this stuff smells like beef stew. So we put it in their dry food, stirred it up and served it. They scarfed it down like it I would El Fenix cheese enchiladas.  After that they played in the snow. Now they are back in their houses taking naps. Not very different from humans are they.

I Love Snow

I love snow. I think it must come from living in Illinois when I was a little kid. I learned to ride my bike in the snow. I love the crunch it makes when you walk in it. I love the silence it seems to cause. If you just stand and listen you hear....quiet. I love the snow making the trees look lacey. The weather people told us it was going to snow again. We got not quite 4 1/2". It is 20 degrees. It is not going anywhere for a while. We have had more snow in the last three years than I can remember ever having in all the years I have lived in Texas and that is a long time. I have decided that it is because grand-daughter Jo LOVES snow. She just knows every year there is going to be snow. We always say don't count on it and then it does. Scout on the other hand is not impressed. So everyone, just enjoy this snow and cold weather. It won't be long before we will all be complaining that it is 105 degrees.

Not Going Anywhere

Yes I know it does not look like much but we are talking Texas here. Last night about 11pm it started raining, hard. Then about 4am the thunder and lightning started along with more hard rain. When I got up this is what it looked like. Of course it is not the gazillion inches of snow that they have had and are expecting in the north or even in the Oklahoma area but it was about 2" of ice with snow on top of it. Right now it is 19 degrees with a wind chill of Zero. The wind is blowing about 30 mph so it whips the dusting of snow on top of the ice. My car is one big sheet of ice. There is no going anywhere. I have only seen one person on the road, the mailman who lives across the street left about 7am. Bless his heart. They do not expect us to even get to 30 degrees till Friday. Stay home or you will be slip sliding away.