IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE

It could.

Always be worse.

But every so often I have a 'moment'.

A moment where I sob.

I don't get mad at God.

I just feel sorry for myself.

But, only for a moment and then I move on!

I am so blessed.

No matter what physical challenges I face,

I. AM. SO. BLESSED.

And, this week has been challenging.

Let's start with January 13th - right knee replacement.

Because of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

As you age, RA changes.

It becomes degenerative in a horrid way.

On March 21st I had outpatient surgery

to clean up the area around my torn meniscus in my left knee.

RA again.

If you don't know, I've been going to a podiatrist, 

two different ones actually, for about 8 or 9 years

because I snapped the inside tendons on the inside of both feet.

I finally came to my senses after so, so many years of

the wrong treatments prescribed by my podiatrist(s).

I've come to the conclusion, and this is just my thought,

that podiatrists should only be allowed to work on the toe nails

of prisoners on death row. 

Just sayin'.

And, to save you from having to listen to me go on and on,

which I have no desire to do,

let me simply tell you that I made an appointment with

one of the top foot and ankle orthopedic surgeons in Texas.

I met with him this past Tuesday.

After Dr. Castillas looked at the x-rays, MRI and Cat Scan

of my left foot and ankle 

(it's in the biggest mess - right foot and ankle will be next)

A treatment decision was made.

I have surgery this Monday.

It was urgent to have the surgery as soon as possible. 

And, without going into all of the details,

Dr. C. said I would have lost my foot if things continued

the way they were..

Amputation.

So, surgery on my left foot and ankle is this Monday - one more day.

It's a major surgery says Dr. C., but one he's performed regularly.

The recuperation time??

This is the best part, of course!

EIGHT WEEKS - MY FOOT CANNOT TOUCH 

THE GROUND FOR EIGHT WEEKS.

 I have a trip I've very much looked forward to

with my sorority sisters that is not going to happen for me.

(hoping I can get my airline ticket $$ back)

I have wedding invitations to my son, Blake's, wedding to finish 

and get mailed. And, I have a honkin' reception hall to decorate.

The wedding is July 25th.

Oh, and then I leave for an art retreat (still a couple of seats open:)

in the South of France and then to Germany to see my

"little girl" and her family.

Let's get it done!! Time's wasting and I have things to do!

Please pray for the surgery and for the resulting pain and my recovery.

I do need those prayers.

And, if you want to come and visit I've got some fun

things to make for the wedding reception AND

a great art studio for playing!

 P.S. What would I do without my family? My boys and girls and little girls are great support. 

But, my sister, Joan, is my biggest support. 

 She is my heart.

 And, I couldn't get through this upcoming procedure or any in the past, without the Tank.

He takes amazing care of me.

 My cousin, Melinda, is so caring and loving. She is my rock.

I want to end with thanking you for putting up with me.

You read my sporadic blog posts.

Some of you lurk and some leave comments on Facebook

instead of my post, but you read me and I think you "get" me.

And, I love all of you dearly - lurkers, too. *wink*

Blessings.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND PRESENTS FOR YOU!

I'll be 56 on September 1st. Or, you can think like I do - my 24th birthday is September 1st because I look just like Barbie. Either way, I'M HAVING A BIRTHDAY!

And, what could be better than to gift y'all??!! So, keep reading and you'll see just how you can be the one to receive gifts on MY birthday! This is just so much stinkin' fun!

Oh, my gosh, I almost forgot! The reason you're getting two gifts is because I'm also celebrating the fact that I have OVER 100 FOLLOWERS! I feel like a celebrity. One hundred followers is, to me, a really big deal. I'll probably keel over if I ever get over 200 - that would be rad!

The first lovely gift is a very cool vintage brooch that I bought at an estate sale. In the photo it looks about as big as my bum, but it's really just regular size - about 2 1/2 inches across, I think. It's simply gorgeous - not a stone missing. Just think of what you could use this on!

AND, you will also receive the gift of a vintage evening purse! It's made of black velvet and has intricate designs sewn on both sides with seed beads. It's absolutely fabulous! I bought it at an estate sale, also. I bought both the vintage brooch and the vintage evening bag especially for this giftaway. I wanted two very special gifts for you.
See how it opens? Very cool. It opens with some kind of spring thingy that bends in the middle so it's really easy to get into. The lining of the evening bag is black satin. It's just beautiful!
Now, this giftaway is not only for having over 100 followers, it's for my birthday so that I can gift you, my readers.

And, I'll be adding a lot of extras to this giftaway to make it REALLY special!!

I've given so much thought as to how I wanted to do this.....did I want to just take comments as entries since these are being specially gifted to you? Or did I want to have the odds tilt towards the faithful readers that have stuck with me over time?

Let's see what I decided as you read...

rules of the giftaway:

1. Leave a glowing (LOL) comment = ONE ENTRY

2. If you are already a follower of my blog = TWO MORE ENTRIES

That's right - you get two more entries if you're already a follower of my blog.

3. If you sign up TODAY to follow my blog (see the right column of my blog) = ONE

MORE ENTRY

4. If you already follow me on Facebook = TWO MORE ENTRIES

That's right - you get two more entries if you're already a follower of me on fb.

5. If you sign up TODAY to follow me on Facebook (see the right column of my

blog) = ONE MORE ENTRY

6. If you leave an enticing post on YOUR blog about this giftaway = TWO MORE

ENTRIES.

That's right, sweet ones, two more entries.

(BE SURE AND LEAVE YOUR BLOG ADDRESS SO I CAN VISIT IT AND SEE YOUR
ENTICING POST:)

.

7. If you send me a very nice birthday present you automatically win. hahaha

(JUST KIDDING!!)

Okay, that's it, girls! I hope you have as much fun reaching for the gifts as I have had creating this giftaway!

REMEMBER TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU QUALIFY FOR WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR COMMENT.

AND, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!

Thanks so much everyone for entering! You know what I always say, the more the merrier - that's what makes a great birthday party!!

XOXO, Jan

OMG, I'M GLAD I DIDN'T USE THE WORD "CREEPY"!!!

Oh, my gosh, Oh, my gosh, Oh, my gosh!

Okay, here's what happened.

Okay, so for some stupid reason I decide that I should be on Twitter.

I know, I know, I've been stuck in this chair entirely too long.

So, I'm thinking, well, what can it hurt; it'll be good marketing.

So, I join and, of course, I have no one to follow so I follow twittercritter - through the pet adoption site that I belong to that adopts out homeless dogs and cats.

Not much marketing there. Dogs and cats don't read, but it's a start, I think.

THEN, today, oh my gosh, I get this notice that this someone is now following me on Twitter.

See, on Twitter, you post things you're doing. It can be a post a day, 20 posts a day if you have no life.....it can be about anything from "I just folded the Tank's wife beaters." to "You should go to my etsy store at http://www.jthom03.etsy.com/ and buy something. You might win a prize."

(Of course, there's no prize, but I would think that the purchased item would be considered a prize.)

Okay, so I get that notice today that someone is following me on Twitter.

Get this.

This is the kinda creepy thing.

Maybe I shouldn't say "creepy" since I don't know who I'm dealing with.

Let's say "odd".

Should I say "odd"? Maybe that will set them off.

Okay, we'll go with....."I get that notice today that someone is following me on Twitter.

Get this.

This is the kinda different, but not creepy or odd thing."

I notice it, because it shows you, that this person is also following almost SIXTEEN HUNDRED PEOPLE.

What???

She takes her laptop into the head with her? (Sorry - three boys)

"SIXTEEN HUNDRED PEOPLE???"

Go-o-o-o-od grief.

And that's when the doubt sets in about being a part of this group.

But, it gets even BETTER!

I click on her name to check her (in all fairness and to give this it's due privacy, let us use "her/him") out and this message comes up:

"Sorry, the account you were headed to has been suspended due to strange activity. Mosey along now, nothing to see here."

"A-A-A-A-A-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H" *running around the room with my toe up holding my head in my hands*

What do I do???

How do you get off Twitter once they have you in their grip?

Is there a Twitter police force?

Anyone got their number?

Why aren't background checks done on 'different' people?

Who all is following me and why do strangers care what I'm doing this afternoon???

"Oh, look, Harry, it says that Jan Thomason is putting new sheeting around the bottom of their trailer."

Who are these people?

Do you think they're reading my blog, too?

LURKING?????

Ah, geez, and what about my FaceBook???

"Today I'm sitting with my toe in the air as per doctor's orders."

Why would strangers read that stuff about strangers?

Why would strangers want to be my friend?

Are they friendless?

Well, if they're friendless, I'm pretty sure I'm not the perfect pick for them.

And where does it all end?

If we think too deeply about our interactions with people through ANY medium, we can scare ourselves silly.

So, just so you know, we're moving.

Yes, we're moving to.....Scotland.

Yes, that's right.

Scotland.

And, we're moving tomorrow.

DISCLAIMER: NO DISRESPECT WAS INTENDED TOWARDS, TWITTER, TWITTER LOVERS, FACEBOOK, FACEBOOK LOVERS, BLOGS, BLOG LOVERS, DOG AND CAT LOVERS, STRANGER LOVERS OR LOVERS OF SCOTLAND.

.

XOXO, Jan