I Saw the Light...Lazy, Prices, and Cats.

                                     Good morning, Friends...

Well, I had my cataract surgery last Monday, the 22nd. 

I must say it was all like a "cattle-call"...fast assembly line.  I was number #4. We got to the surgical center at 12...I didn't have to undress!  Loved that!  Just took my sweater off my left arm so they could put the blood pressure cuff on me.  Then inserted an IV on the top of my right hand and I was ready to go.  I was asked medical questions...met with the anesthesiologist...then with my surgeon.  Once that happened, it was time to roll to the operating room.  My head was taped down to the bed...They injected "happy juice" (fentanyl)...enough to help with that anxious feeling...but just enough to let me sleep and wake up if the surgeon asked me something while he was operating.   When I woke up...I had no vision in my eye!  It was totally black!  Scared the crap out of me!  They said that happens sometimes and to just give it a minute.  Finally, pink (love it) sparkles started appearing!  It was quite the light show!  Then I started seeing things...faces with auras around them...then finally, sight.  A tiny bit blurry (pressure in the eye causes this) but I could see.  Took about 5 minutes. 

It's now been 6 days.  My vision is sharp.  Now I just have to contend with eye-drops...7 weeks of medicated ones...and forever, as needed, Thera-Tears.  Just helps keep your eyes from feeling dry, if needed.

If you're thinking about getting the surgery, this was just my experience.  

This is all I've been doing since the surgery...must say, It's been nice.

I made breakfast this morning...good stuff.

Larry grilled sausage and made up a small pot of beans.

Hahaa...good one.

 

 

 

We went out to breakfast on Friday to a spot we hadn't been to in ages...Georges.  Cheap and lots of food!

 

 

 

 

Will you look at these prices?  For Cake?  I make my own but I guess, if you don't bake...this is an option.

Our great-gran Sloane with mamma Samantha...

It seems we have inherited a cat...It's been around the neighborhood  for several years but it's feral.  Larry made it an insulated box with towels.  It's been very cold here lately...and we're suckers for homeless kitties.

Kitty won't let us get too close but meows at Larry when it's chow time...lol

 

 

 

Larry also baked chicken and made my favorite veggie, yellow squash.  Delicious.

 

 

Well friends, guess I'll get off here, for now.  Hope you are all well (there's a stomach virus running rampant in the USA now...Keep using hand sanitizer!!)

Also, a question!

I seem to be missing my "About Me" information on my blog sideboard!  I've tried to figure out why but no luck...Blogger drives me nuts...

So, until next time...

 

Pecking Order...Pie, Gumbo and Badlands.

Good Morning, Friends...

The weeks are really buzzing by!   I keep hoping for slow days, but I never seem to get any.  It's been cold here with ice to contend with for several days.  I will have my eye surgery this coming Monday and it's supposed to be 80% chance of rain...no matter.  As long as temps don't dip into the freezing zone, we'll be fine.

Crystal (our daughter and Sloane's grandma, Lolli) sent me this photo of Sloane setting the "pecking order" with Critter, the cat.  They pretty well stay clear of one another but sometimes...Sloane feels the need to reinforce things...lol...she was promptly instructed to keep relations civil!

Moving on... I finally heard the call from hubby Larry, to get into the kitchen and make him a chocolate pie!  Of all days, the humidity was awful...cold and icy outside.  Meringues hate humidity so...mine fell flat.  He said it tasted great so not to worry...he'd suffer through, somehow. lol

For lunch yesterday I thawed some homemade chicken and shrimp gumbo poured over rice.  Tasted even better on a cold day.  We always make a huge pot of gumbo in the Fall and freeze it in quart sized Ziplocs.  It's nice not to have to create gumbo every time we want some.  Just thaw and heat.  I do this for soups and stews...chili and pasta sauce.  Saves so much time!

 

This is a dogfood that is being touted as a wonder food by Katherine Heigl, for your pets.  I watched the video and tended to agree!  The stuff they add to regular dogfood is scandalous.  Expensive but I think worth it.  There's another one called, Sunday for dogs that I might go ahead and order when the Badlands sack runs out.  You get twice as much for the money, same ingredients.  I saw it too late...had already ordered Badlands.  I'll let you know if Buddy and Libby like it. Or...go check it out for yourself.

This isn't or wasn't my tree or anyone's tree that I know.  I just saw it on the internet and liked it!  Don't know if I could manage to decorate ours like that but I'd love to try next year.

Well, this is a short post today only because I really didn't do anything this week.  (Aren't you the lucky ones! Lol) 

Hope you all are staying warm or cool wherever you are!

So until next time...

Sliders...Burritos, Bacon and Eyes.

Good morning, Friends. 

What a week...My daughter, Crystal had surgery on her left eye last Monday and will be having the second surgery (cataract) on January 22.  I also will be having cataract surgery on my right eye on January 22nd. lol...we didn't plan it this way but as she said, "Cool Mom!  We'll both be having bionic eye surgeries on the same day!"  She lives close to Houston and I'm close to Waco, Texas.

If you've had cataract surgery before, this next part may be boring...just keep scrolling.

The testing...forms...measurements...medications...web sites to create...took me almost all day to complete yesterday!  I was rattled by bedtime!  Didn't sleep well.  The actual surgery will be done at a surgical clinic, not a hospital.  They give you meds to sleep...procedure takes about 10 minutes then you need time to wake up.  About an hour and a half, all total.  No eye patches...you just get up and go home.  Sounds good to me!  The hardest part of it all is taking all the eyedrops.  Then, the next day, you go back into the office for them to look at the eye. After we left the clinic, I looked into the black bag they give to cataract patients...all that was in it were the glasses... :o)  No plastic patches...tapes...just the glasses.  Yeah! 

The amount of time we waited was 2 1/2 hours...!!  Beginning to end.  So glad to get out of there...

One day, I made some hamburger and cheddar sliders...turned out good!  

 

Another day, we ate breakfast out at a place called The Toasted Yolk in downtown Waco.  It was good...they served you more than you could eat at one sitting but there again...pricy. 

Notice they spelled Avocado wrong...Lolol...yep, only me!

And coffee?  $3.69??   Each...smh   (shaking my head)

Larry's Burrito plate...

I thought I ordered just one of these things...but two showed up!  They're called a "Southern Fried Arnold".... Had to get a doggy-bag to take home.

Coffee was pretty good...but it's not Larry's.  He roasts our coffee beans here at home...and the coffee is so smooth!

When microwaving bacon on a plate, pull the middles up...that makes for a no mess clean-up later on!  Grease doesn't drip off the sides of the plate.

Tim, our SIL and Sloane's "Pops", showing her the ropes of dirt biking! lol

He said she loved it... Taken pre-Christmas time while it was still in the 80's.

Larry made this cross on his laser...I love it.  Think I'm going to stain it. 

Well...guess that's going to be it for me.  Hope you all are doing well and staying warm/cool wherever you are.

So, until next time...

January...Styling, Cooking and Candles.

Good morning, Friends...  Well, it's finally gone...2023.  I just want to say, good riddance.  

I hope you all are doing well?  Getting over the flu or covid?  We did absolutely nothing for New Years.  At 12:05am, we were awakened by a loud "knocking" at our bedroom window.  Larry jumps up...well...sort of jumps up...more like a roll and jump maneuver...lolol...and went to check things out.  I grabbed my weapon...(yes, I am licensed and know how to use it)... because you never know what or who is doing the knocking!  Come to find out, it was fireworks down the street!  It's also illegal here in the city limits...morons!  I hope they had to pay a huge fine...  Police sirens everywhere.  Needless to say I was up for the remainder of the morning.  A nap was taken later in the day.  

I'd bought Libby the pug a new sweater for Christmas...she was not impressed.  She just stood there, not moving, until I took it off...lol

I woke up early needing a Dutch Baby!  So, waiting for  Larry to get back up, I started pulling out my cast iron skillet, and got busy throwing one together.  I made the blueberry topping first, then the pancake.  We loved how it turned out.  Can't beat lemon and blueberries!

I left out the orange zest and used just vanilla and also used whole milk in the Dutch Baby recipe here.

SO good!

I also came across a recipe for Ham & Potato Chowder...here's the link to the recipe...You will love it!  I love all of the Wyse Guide's recipes!

Then, of course, here in the South, we had to start the New Year off with black-eyed peas and cornbread!  I threw in ham...seriously yummy!

I try to keep it real here on the blog...This was our sweet Sloane about a week ago.  She's better now as you witness in the next photo.  This year has been a tough one for her.  Allergies...flu...ears...our poor sweetheart has had enough!  Please keep her in your prayers.  

This is Samantha's half-sister, Ema.  Looks like you should pronounce her name E-Ma...no... they call her Emma, but it's spelled, Ema...confusing.  Anyway, she turned 17.  Long story but she belongs to our daughter's Ex-husband,  Robert.  He remarried and had two more children.  

Well, I tried to cut back on photos.  We really didn't do much of anything between Christmas and New Years.  Caught up on paperwork...started pulling together the things I need for the Tax Man...oh yes...it begins.  

Everything that comes in the mail for taxes, I make a copy then put in my CPA file.  I have a cover sheet for the accountant so all he needs to do is check off the items on the cover sheet and if he needs the actual proof, I make copies to send along, as well. 

Larry & Donna____        Personal Tax List 2023

605 xxxxxx Street

Xxxxxx, Texas

Her cell#

His cell#

1. Property Tax Receipt:

2. CPA 2022 Receipt:

3. Larry SSA – 1099 Benefit Statement:

4. Donna SSA- 1099 Benefit Statement:

5. All Banks Savings Interest -(I list them all)

9. Larrys VA -PO Health Coverage Letter -

10. Scott & White Senior Care /Proof of Coverage - Larry

11. Scott & White Senior Care /Proof of Coverage - Donna

                                    12. Anything else that needs to go to CPA

When you're retired, there's not too many things you need to declare.  Most years we owe $0.   This is just the cover letter I include.  Our CPA likes it...saves him time and me...added expense and wasted time.  

I take care of everything that comes in the day it comes in!  Make copies, go into computer and add the item, save it.  I use the free software called, Libre Office 7.6... (you can download it from the internet) I don't procrastinate!   I usually have everything that comes in by mid-March.  So... I open my computer and print the list and a copy...open the CPA file...grab the Cover List copy...add the files I made copies of then, stuff it all into a large white envelope.  I add our address to the front, the CPA's address...what's inside...Personal Tax List 2023...then drop it off personally at their office.  It's usually back within days.  I file away all the originals and cover list in my file cabinet.  You never know if the CPA could misplace the files I gave him!  It happened to a friend of ours...she had no backup copy!  She had given her taxman all the originals!  It was miserable for her to have to find everything she needed, all over again!  

I don't know how you do it, but we've always used a CPA.  The same one that does our company taxes.  I don't do them myself...nor do I allow a family member to do them!  Years ago, Larry told me to let SIL do them...we ended up paying IN over $300 dollars to the IRS...I vowed, Never Again!  Larry never interfered again, in my book work...good boy.

Well okay then! Lolol...you probably aren't interested in how I get my IRS packet ready for the CPA...but you got it, anyway! Lolol

As we watch Santa head off into the sunset for a much-needed rest...have a great week...until next time...