Sun, Park and 2 Boys =

It was a beautiful day yesterday so I forced the kids, and myself, away from all the screens in our lives.  I made The Greek take us down near the lake.  They have a great park there and a walking path and a fountain the kids can play in.

So we hit the park and the boys get busy taking Flat Stanley pictures.

Rabbit's Flat Stanley being eaten by a wooden fish.

Horse's pictures weren't in the camera.  We think he didn't press the shutter button down enough.

Then I take a few non-Flat Boys pictures.

Rabbit being eaten by said wooden fish.  Horse is always the one doing the eating!

Must go down with the ship!

Finally I release them to the playground.  They are free to run and climb and yell.  What do they do?  

Stand there.

They complain there are too many other kids.

I MAKE them go play.

They wander over then come back.

No no!  They've been whining for days about wanting to go to the park!  You WILL play!

Did I ever tell you that whining is one of my pet peeves?  Maybe the biggest one.  Nothing will put me in a bad mood faster.  Part of it is the pitch of the person's voice.  Like nails on a blackboard to me!  *Shudders*

The other part is the attitude it conveys.  It doesn't have to be verbal whining.  Sulking to me is the same as whining.  The Greek's youngest son, who is in his mid 20's, will wander around all day sighing.  He makes sure it's loud enough for everyone to hear.  I HATE it.  If you don't like how your life is going...get off your butt and change it!

Anyway, I had this wonderful short outing planned in my head.  Sunny day, moderate weather, kids playing and working off steam on the playground, me reading my Kindle, then we go for a walk before heading out for a little ... ice cream, maybe.  But NO-oooooo!

"I want to play on the playground but Rabbit won't come with me!"

I look at Rabbit

"But Mama, there are too many kids!"

"Just go by yourself Horse.  I'm right here"

*Sulking*  "I want Rabbit to go with me"

"Rabbit, just go with your brother for a little while"

"I don't want to, I'm just going to spin in place right here!"

"We could have done that at home!  Go Play!"

"Fine, I'm just going to sit there and bang my head on a pipe!  Horse, you go first!'

"No I don't want to go first, you go!"

"Both of you!  Go out there and play.  And have fun!  Go do 5 things each!  Or....no treats!"  Bad, yeah I know.

They grudgingly go.  Sit on the playground equipment and bang their heads on a metal bar for awhile.  Well that's ONE thing.  

It lasted 5 minutes.  

"Did you do your 5 things?"

"Nooooo, Rabbit does things I can't do!"

"Then do the things YOU want to do."

"I want Rabbit to do them with me too!"

I was ready to toss them both in the lake.  I made them pick up their purses and we went for a short walk.  Horse sulked the whole way.  Grrrrrrr!

My Flat Stanley with the boys' "Purses".   Pouches! (says Rabbit)

I came home with a huge headache.  The worst one in weeks.  To top that off we didn't get ice cream.  I was too mad to take them anywhere else.

My instructions to them when we got home.

"Go play, not with each other.  I don't want you to talk or touch each other!"

Then last night, I walk past their bedroom and see this...

Same boys?

Both of them in Horse's bed.  Did I tell you how much I love these guys?

On My Mind Or At Least My Head

It starts out to be a good day.  Weather is nice.  I have great plans for getting things done.  Then it happens.

A slight pressure between the bridge of my nose and my right eye.

I know what's coming.  I try to head it off and pop a single Excedrin Migraine and drink a glass of water.

Throbbing in my right temple.

Time for coffee.  I usually drink decaf so my heart doesn't race from the caffeine.  This time I make half a cup of mine and half a cup of The Greek's regular.  Hoping the extra caffeine kick works.

The back of my neck stiff and sore but only on the right side.  The right side of my head is tender to touch.

The Greek massages my neck and shoulder.  It feels so good but only lessens the pain for a few minutes.


My head is pounding.  My brain feels foggy and thick. 


My concentration is zip.  Even online shopping hurts, so you KNOW it's bad.  Time for that ice pack.

My Favorite Ice Pack

Light hurts my eyes.

It's a beautiful day outside but I have to close all the blinds...tight.  Then lie curled up on the bed with all the fans blowing on me.

Most sounds make my head pound.

Gentle piano is the only music I can listen to.  No strings, no percussion, no singing and especially no bass.  Only TV I can stand is a cooking show with a single host.  Mostly even keeled, no yelling.  Ina Garten or Giada is good.  Volume set to like 8.  (I usually listen at 10-12, The Greek's kids turn it to about 18)

Some smells make me nauseous.

Coffee, vanilla and chocolate are warm and soothing.  Taco seasoning and Manwich sauce are not.  Unfortunately for me, this is what The Greek's son eats most days.


This is how it's been almost every day since my surgery.  It's been going on more than 6 hours today and only starting to subside now.  I even had to cancel my show tonight.

The Dr. started me on a low dose hormone patch but it could take 2 weeks or more for all this to go away.  I'm hoping for sooner rather than later.