~~~ Well -- seems like Summer is jus' tryin' it's best to stick aroun' -- the last few days have been WARM >> as in over 70-Degrees-WARM -- thus why I said it's just like the summer is not wanting to go away. Funny thing is -- we had the furnace on not three days ago, 'cause the inside of this older home gets chilly once the temps outside fall below 55 Degrees...not too much insulation, so cold seeps thru the cracks and teeny openings that we don't even see. Then, just when the Gas Company thot we'd get the gas blasting into the house...HA!! ....the temps climb back up into the 70 Degree range...makes ya feel like ya don' know whether your comin' or goin' --

AND -- so as not to be too comfortable with the weather bein' nice...this lil' ol Tlip Lady had a great time of fun and games last week....First some kind of NAHHHSTEEEYYY virus got ahold of my person, and made me have coughing fits that felt like my lungs were gonna come flyin' outta my body...very nerve racking, body racking, dog-lookin'-at-me-like WHAT-IS-THAT??!!! kinda stuff...not fun, an' made the more merry with this voice that sounded like I'd turned back to bein' 5 years old...sqeaky-teeny-lil' voice that hurt to say more than 10 words, an' after that the coughing - hacking- sneezy STUFF would start in. OK -- this is not what I'd thot of when I'd wanted a new month to kick off an' look forward to Fall...SO...

Jus' to make matters even more thrilling....I casually went into the Sunroom/Studio an' looked at the dog laying as usual, on the beat-to-a-pulp couch, an' thot, well, I do need to open the 2 side windows to let in a little bit of fresh air, then I was gonna get a final coat of varnish on a piece I'd been workin' on for the past couple days. Fine. 'Cept, I have to climb up on the couch to reach the window handle, an' so, jus' like I've done for EVAH...Igot up on the couch, but w/the dog in the way, I tried to jus' lean over to the right a smidge...but realized I was loosin' my balance. All within maybe 30 seconds, I start to fall over...sorta half-standin', half leanin' toward the couch, an' the leaning-falling-over chair...that was covered with junik...uhhh....so, Istart to try an' get my momentum goin' to the left a little bit, but then see out of the corner of my eye, my oldest son's bicycle, directly behind me...so the next quick thot is, UHHHH..let's not impale ourselves on the handle bars of the bicycle...let's not land on the brand-new paper shredder in front of the ratty chair.an' let's not fall on the dog....WHEEEEEEEE >>>>>>

What happened is I landed mostly on my right leg, smack dab on top of the paper shredder, sorta bounced off of that, an' landed on the floor of the room...Screamin' for my life. I'd really thot I'd broken my leg..the pain was jus' so $"&^}@ BAD...I almost started to hyperventalate (Oh --I know that's spelled wrong...so HUSH!!) --- the middle son came runnin' into the room, looked at me in a heap on the floor, an' quickly ran to get some ice..my leg was bleedin' from where it hit the paper shredder, an the swelling started in right away...my middle one got me to my feet (No easy task there....I could barely stand up..) an' got me into the house. Sat me down on the couch in the front room, told me STAY PUT!! an' got a pillow under my leg to keep it elevated. Needless to say a BIG bag of ice was the best thing in the world..kept the swelling from gettin' to bad, an' after puttin' a bandage on the cut smack-dab on the center of my shin, my son told me not to move. Ya think I was gonna get up an' go somewhere??

Finally after 'bout an hour, the pain started to get a little dimmer, an' I got someone to grab me some pain medication...Now I have these three HUGE black + blue bruises on my leg...the icky spot where my leg scraped the shreder is slowly healing, an' the sharp pains are startin' to go away...BUT -- I have to hand it to whoever builds those paper shredders...that lil' sucker didn't even crack..no nothing...jus' sat there like a lil' brick ______ house, no doubt wonderin' why I suddenly attacked it with my entire person...my shin tho, is not all that impressed with the thing, an' I think is intending on doin' something to it somewhere down the line...

BUT --- this is not all the fun + games I've had in the past few days...NO - NO !! Just so I don't have one part of me black + blue...My right arm must have felt somewhat slighted, so this is the next lil' thang that happened.....

The other night, jus' as I was gettin' to sleep, I started to have one of my heaving - hacking - coughin- fits...right when I thot it was safe to sleep in my own lil' bed an' not out on the couch in the living room ( The Husband didn't want to get sick, so Your's Truly slept on the couch for over a week...) -- HA!! No-sir-eee Bob....I get to couchin' so bad, my eyes started to hurt. So, stagering out into the dark-black hallway, I start stumbling down toward the front room, only to trip and start falling over the dog who happened to be lying smack-dab in the center of the hall...I start falling on her, I'm steppin' all over her back leg...she's tryin' her best to get outta my way, tryin' to get up an' move away from me...I start yellin' at her, an' while tryin' to get my self back sorta standin', I start to lean to the right to "maybe" hold onto the wall. All I did was succeed in havin' my right elbow rub along the wall while I was sliding - half-falling downthe hall way. Screaming once again, an' makin' more noise than is probably legal, I succeed in waking up my middle son, who comes flyin' outta his room, screams, "WHAT THE !!!______" an' then sees that 'm once again in another minor disaster of my own making...

Mind you...The Husband never got outta bed to see if I was ok...the oldest, I gues, took a brief vacation and avoided the entire situation like the plague...an' the youngest finally came stumbling out into the living room, once I made it out there, fumbled-bumped around an' stumbled back into his room, sayin', "Will you keep it down out here..."

I'm not sure if there was a Full Moon -- if there was some planet-moving situation out in space, or jus' what the $"&^*})(}@}was the THANG...but LAWDY!!! I've got more black + blue bruises than I've in 15 years...An' all I was tryin' to do was get some sleep...an' the other time was jus' tryin' to get some fresh air into the studio....I MEAN .... No wonder it's difficult for me to move around this week...my body jus' aint into doin' NOTHIN'!!!

An' I missed the deadline to enter a show I'd wanted to place some pieces in....been workin' 2 months on these thangs....but couldn't come up w/the entrance fee..jus' had to pay $250 for medications for The Husband. Not that I'm in any way ANGRY ~~ not that I'm in any way MIFFED ~~ Not that I want to rip off the head of the pharmacist who refused to accept a coupon that would have given us one of the medications FREE ~~ AND WAS AN EXTREMELY RUDE HAG ON TOP OF IT ~~ no-no -- not me....I"M FURIOUS!!!! 2 months....whoosh...gone an' nothin' to show for it. Well, I do have the pieces, but they didn't get into the show like I'd wanted and worked for. Maybe this is why I'm contemplating coloring my hair....something like PURPLE....

OK ~~ I'm takin' a deep breath now...I'm also gonna go an' get some coffee an' try to get another piece started up. Later will take a coupon to the art store & get some STUFF needed for my work.

I'd love to stay an' chat....but I feel like I better go take my, uhm....."Temperment" outside an' smash a few slugs to pieces that are crawlin' aroun' the tomato plants....that'll show 'um...

Lady Of The Tulips