The Edster

Every Sunday Jordan comes over to do his laundry and of course he brings our granddog Eddy..or the Edster...or Eddy Spaghetti...well, you get the idea.  He makes me smile every time.  He's such a sweetie.  I had to laugh when I saw Jordan sitting with his feet up on the ottoman and Eddy with his paw up there too...best buds!

Sorry it's a bit blurry...I was in a hurry because I knew Ed would move as soon as I tried to click a pic!

Which he did because he really wanted to catch up on the news in our small town newspaper.   They always post dogs for adoption in there and maybe he was looking for a friend? 

I guess not...it was a nice morning to just relax and take a quick nap! Thanks for the visit!  Sunday I also had to go to the fair grounds to pick up my photos that I entered.  I received a fourth place for one of my sunsets and a third place for a pic of a tree frog.

Would have really like to have placed better with my shots, but I'll take this!  I sure wish I could have captured the blood moon last night but clouds got in my way.  At least the world didn't end! 

Amazing Is The Word Of The Day

Today is the first day of Fall. I love this time of year and was thinking I really need to post something amazing...ha! Nothing amazing has really been going on.  I even looked back at last year's September posts to see what I was doing.  Well, I posted about Cameron's soccer.  This year Cameron had a bit of a rough start to his season:

Yep, he broke his arm! So no soccer or football, so no posting about amazing Cameron and his games...darn! But I'm glad he's doing great and will be as good as new soon.  Last year I posted about taking a quick trip to see my Mom.  We're going to see her next week but it will be October by then and we'll also be going to a wedding with her and family so maybe I'll have something more amazing to write about.  So trying to come up with a post was bugging me until I realized what week this is...It's National Surgical Technologist Week.

I think we do make a difference. In fact I think we're amazing!  We're the ones patients don't see, or if they do see us they never will remember us because of all the good drugs they receive.  But we're there setting up the instruments the surgeon is going to need.  We make sure they are sterile and organized and every supply that will be needed is correct and ready to go.  We put all the pieces together and make sure all the sponges, needles, and instruments are counted at the beginning of the case and are still correct at the end.  We anticipate the surgeon's every move and help hold retractors, load up those needles, pass those hemostats, sponge up any blood, and sometimes we do it all at once! I've learned to use both my left and right hand and have been accidentally stabbed, poked, hit, smacked in the head,  bumped into, bruised daily and can stand for hours at a time....sleeping standing up is optional!  We take call and I've worked many times with very little sleep...and I can go from a deep sleep to wide awake in seconds...and I also can dress and undress with the speed of light.  I've been training an RN how to scrub.  She's been pretty frustrated because it's taking her longer than she thought it would.   I asked her  if she thought that what the Techs do was easy?  She said she never thought it was easy, but she never knew it was that hard.  I then said, "Oh, you mean we make it look easy?"  Yep!  I work in a small hospital and there are only 3 Surgical Techs in our OR. In large hospitals there are many.  We may be small here, but we pack a punch! Happy Surgical Tech week to my other amazing Tech buddies, and thanks to our whole operating room team for all the great work you do!

Kim and I put this post on Facebook today, but had to hold a picture of our other tech, Carla, because she's home on sick leave.  You guys are amazing!  Happy Fall and Happy Tech Week!

Fall? Not Quite...But Close!

This morning I took a quick pic of the outside temp my car was posting.  48de. was actually 4de warmer than the radio was saying it was! We've had some cool mornings but it looks like it will be a bit more consistent as the days draw closer to Fall.  This weekend the weather on Saturday was cool and rainy.  We took a trip to the apple orchard....it seemed the perfect day for it!

These quickly turned into this:

Apple pie......and this went quite well this:

A pot of chili!  I mentioned to my son I was making chili for Sunday and he and the gang came over to test it out!

 

Sunday the rain has cleared out and the temps warmed a bit and we enjoyed sitting out on the deck and the kiddos played some football in the yard.  The chili and goodies were eaten and we had a very enjoyable day!  Love it when food, fun and family all come together in perfect harmony!  I'm ready for Fall and more fun as my favorite season holds tons of busy family and friend activities..and more fun for blogging too!

What's Your Sign?

People seem to love signs.  Have you ever heard anyone say: "Oh, it's a sign!" when something happens to them?  Signs of the times....signs for road..."signs, signs, everywhere there's signs..." (lyrics for a song even!)  I looked around my humble abode and saw a few signs...

Gotta have the Grandma/YaYa rules!

Everyone should do this!

Just for me!

Like I'd forget to do this! Ha! Plus I have a place to put anything I want as my personal sign language.

Letters...hmmmm, what do they mean?

Favorite scripture put on a plaque.

You never know when a bunch of bears could invade...

The true meaning of strength!

This might be hard to read...it says: "With God all things are possible"..so true.

This is on the bottom of one of my favorite canvas paintings...I sure need this reminder many days.  So what's all this sign stuff anyway?  Well, today is National Literacy Day...So I encourage you to read signs, or better yet, a good book. Take the time to block out the world with the written word. 

Or better yet....read a good blog today!

September Blessings

I can't believe September is here already.  Fall will arrive in a few weeks.  We are seeing leaves turning color already and school will start here on Tuesday. Late for Ashland kiddos.  Our town just built new schools and they wanted to make sure they were all up and running so they decided to start after Labor Day.  It will make for a late closing next year but at least the kids will have wonderful buildings to go to every day. Blessings for sure!  Our little garden is producing beautiful tomatoes this year:

I'll be doing some freezing tomorrow so we can enjoy this bounty in the Winter...more blessings.  We finally are getting some needed rain.  After such a rainy Spring and early Summer, we hit a hot and dry spell in month of August.  But skies like this promise the water the farmers need:

Thunderheads on the horizon.  Last night after taking this shot I continued up my country road.  I thought even the weeds looked beautiful!

They make this old barn feel special!  Speaking of special....today is my #2 son's 38th birthday.   Happy Birthday Craig!  He's such a good guy....so fun and smart and spending time with him and his family in Oregon was great.  He went from this:

A cutie little baby....

To this...a cutie grownup who'll always be my baby!  Wonderful blessings for this month of September are all around us aren't they?  Hope you have many blessings and a great last Summer holiday weekend of Labor Day.  Enjoy your blessings!