what's covered? hopefully all the important stuff!

i know i mentioned that bruno was limping since we had gone on spring break. he continues to not bear weight on his hind leg, so i took him into the vet, they sent him home, he kept limping...i took him back. they took x-rays yesterday afternoon and let me know that they couldn't really see anything in the knee, they would probably refer me to an orhto- do the mri, acl...like mother like dog....

but that wasn't all they saw in the x-ray, so they thought they should probably let me know that they saw bladder stones. looks like surgery. as i sit here reading about it, i am realizing that i need to get this done, like...next week, asap. (if the stones get caught in the wrong place, they can cause blockage and become a life or death situation. ugh). so it's a blessing in disguise that he had to have the x-ray! hopefully the pet-insurance i purchased will take care of the bulk of this and the knee thing...yikes. oh, and the tech said he would be on a special diet for the rest of his life... bruno asked if it could be ice cream and pupperoni...gross. 

because of the knee, the vet said crate-rest. so this morning, i put up the fenced area and placed a pee-pad, bed and small kennel inside, then closed the pen-with him and chaco inside. when i pulled up in the parking lot, i parked my car and with the car door closed, i could hear chaco barking. i thought, 'wow, does he know the sound of my car? why is he barking so loudly?' then i looked up to the 3rd floor window of the apt and saw bruno up there in the window..little son of a gun...he had shimmied and squeezed out of the bottom of the fencing because i didn't have the bungee cord tight enough. that will be fixed tomorrow. and of course, there was chaco inside barking like he was in pain...emotional distress-poor guy! he wasn't even supposed to be in there in the first place, he was just moral support for bruno, and bruno abandoned him. how rude. and i'm pretty sure it's going to be even worse tomorrow when i take bruno in, to the surgical place for his appointment.

i've had pet insurance since he was about 1, but i have yet to make any claims on it-although i should have many times over. that said, i am curious about how much will actually be covered-fingers crossed that it will be the majority.

did i mention that i looked EVERYWHERE for my care credit health card? i searched high and low yesterday and today, until finally i remembered that i had taken out all of my cards before i went to HONDURAS last summer and placed them in a pocket in one of the pieces of luggage that i left at mom and dad's and hadn't needed it since, so there it was still where i had left it. the worst of it, or rather the part that took so long was finding other things that distracted me...squirrel!

in other news, i would like to issue a public apology to everyone who was on I35E southbound between the minutes of 11:35 and 11:40 on friday march 27. i may or may not have cut across...6 lanes of traffic to get onto loop 12...and i may have been very rude, pretending it was everyone else's fault...when CLEARLY it was the fault of the lady in my phone. gps lady was not giving timely instructions. so yes, if you thought i was mouthing mean things at you, i was. pretty sure if the lady in my phone could've talked to me, she would've said that was uncalled for! thank God there is no 'attitude accountability' mode on my gps, because i'm pretty certain that the insurance people would stop replacing phones broken by sheer road rage at some point...

i got new address labels made, and the boys are super excited...and let's not lie, it kinda' feeds the desire to write more letters...it doesn't take much!

dapper young men!

we had our garden day last saturday. we got so much done!! thank you to bank of america, they sent volunteers who cam and worked SO hard! i was pretty excited about the pea plants and that they had survived the winter, but i went ahead and pulled them up so that we can plant more-i need to get some peas to 2nd grade so that they can come out and go through the process. 

peas!

the bulbs i planted last fall came up as well! that was a pleasant surprise! i actually planted 3 varieties of spring plants, but only the tulips and the other pretty flowers blossomed...perhaps next year the 3rd will show up!

i stopped by redenta's to get our reals school garden plants, and i was able to purchase some additional plants as well-they were precious cargo, so i was able to use the boys' car seats to transport them safely-here's hoping the boys don't get jealous.

ok, so back to boa. i was really glad that they showed up, because they really were helpful! had they not shown up, it would've just been dr. hughes, mrs. perez, sean, mrs. derse, one of our faithful parents, jose, and me! ouch. so i gave them the vision, and they headed off to conquer the garden! 

what all did we get done? well, i'm so glad you ask! we moved all of the tree cookies into the courtyard to create an additional sitting area under the tree (we being not me...thank you sean and other strong man with a good back). sean also dug a hole to sink the post for our weather vane! a group of 4 built the new raised vegetable bed (remember how it took me awhile, but i put one together awhile back? well, i tried to stay out of this and let them figure it out themselves...walking away is not always easy, but sometimes it's easier than sticking around to listen). the beds are weeded and chopped to size. the strawberries and other transplants had to be planted or else they were sure to die. another group took out the dead bushes that the district 'gifted' us. (i think they were on their last leg when they were given, because they were dead within weeks), and then they put up the bedpost that i found near the dumpster last fall. in front of it, they planted 2 honeysuckle bushes that will vine up and smell sweet as ever! i strategically had them placed near my office window...honeysuckle is one of those smells that accompanies pleasant memories of branson! what else? well, we got the pallets painted white so that we can put them up to pretend they are picket fences (they will receive a face-lift with flowers painted on them). and then there are the river stones that were "painted" white. i may need to go back and redo some of them for the project that i have planned. and last but not least, i got someone to turn the compost!!! woohoo! i almost forgot two very important projects, the pond pump got cleaned out and some brick and pavers got laid. (got laid out? well, regardless, there is now a huge square of bricks and pavers....with a little fence-thing that creates the aura of a headstone...? we're working on that!)

now, there's always a story. so, while we were out there, i was doing a lot of facilitating and pointing people in the right direction.  for some reason, and i truly don't know how it began, but every time i went near this one guy, he would allude to 'unbroken'-the movie...the book...i have not seen it, i have no idea what it is about. have you ever had the pleasure of working with someone who acts like a 16 yr old boy, but they are really 50-60-ish? well...i have. comments from, "i was driving through colorado last winter and i was really worried about the other drivers-they smoke marijuana...it's the mile HIGH state!" laughs at own joke. later, i showed him how to turn compost and layer it. "wow, this looks like poop. you know, dung beetles eat poop. can you imagine that? how gross is that? eating poop!" at this point, i really didn't feel like carrying on the conversation, but i did think about the boys and the fact that when they get bored, they eat poop...but i just didn't want to open up another can of worms."wow, this is really tiring! now i understand the term back-breaking work. i feel like one of the characters from unbroken...like i'm in a prison!" but i can't complain...the compost got turned and tiered! then as things were drawing to an end, he looked over and saw three drills which had been used in the building of the raised bed, and he said, "can someone follow me home and drill two holes in my wall? i just need two holes. i lost my recharging cord, and they were going to charge me $10 at home depot to rent one! i'm not paying $5 per hole!! seriously, will someone follow me to my place to drill two holes? or lend me a drill? i'll bring it back." that's really how it went down. no embellishments. i'll let you try to figure out who in the picture you think i might be talking about. i'll give you a hint...it wasn't the young boy.

and of course, if you work in a garden in texas, there are always the fire ants to deal with. 

pretty sure fire ants are a cross between regular ants and one of satan's cousins. little jerks.

all in all, the garden looks great, it is ready for the summer veggies, and while there are still more things that need to be done, it is manageable!

i did get mail recently, and it was such a blessing! i love being in touch with some of my former kampers still! they mean the world to me! so when i got this, kamp memories come flooding back, but more importantly, it is such a joy to see how they are doing! one of my favorite erins (and there are a few!) sent this one-so creative and such a neat story going on in her life! i love that i have had the opportunity to see these beautiful friends grow up and become amazing influences on others! 

oh, and of course, i must give a shout out to HONDURAS! while i was in springfield, i stopped at mama jeans market, and i saw this before i slipped out. i was thrilled! yea for HONDURAN products!! i love the anecdote!

and last but not least, i like my avocados, but i don't like it when i use a half and then the other half gets all brown and crazy. i've seen a couple of different solutions for this. one is to use oil, another said rub onion on it... i decided to try coconut oil. i mean...it's liquid and then it turns into a solid at lower temps. so when i put it in the fridge, it solidified into a little wax-like coating. it worked overnight, and the next morning, it didn't disgust me enough to deter me from eating it-good news! 

thank you, coconut oil!

 and now it is time to get to sleep so that tomorrow i can live another day!
julie

nothing says spring break like buffalo, mo...nothing! (seriously)

picture men in colorful garb with feathers in their helmets and flags hanging from their trumpets with the CREST OF JULIE on them, dut-dut-dut- DUUUUUUU! yes, as a matter of fact, it is spring break. it came early for us this year. and i decided to come to spring break USA....buffalo, mo. creature of habit.

everyone knows the truth of the matter...i just don't want to pay range fees. more about that at the end of this post.

but in all fairness, i do love seeing mom and dad and the dogs enjoy the change of scenery. they always travel like champions! (not champions like rocky balboa making weird grunting noises and yelling, "adrian!") 

so we took our time getting it together, and made it to buffalo around 7pm-and i was tuckered out. all i could think about all the way up here was hurts donuts in springfield. yes, i know...pathetic. i didn't stop, but i certainly thought about it! one of my friends lives in sgf, and i was hoping to meet her there for a donut and a cold one (milk), i rarely drink milk-if i need to induce vomit due to poisoning, or if i am having gourmet donuts...so this is truly a special occasion...or will be. if sabrina gets back in time, hopefully we can catch up-if not, i do not fear going stag-welcome to my world! but by jove, there will be a hurts donut to blame for any additional pound-age i may gain.

so, yesterday was sunday-church. i do enjoy my parents' church. it's a comfortable size. i especially enjoyed the message yesterday, because that is sometimes the way i feel lately. spoiler alert: pastor spoke on Jesus. the heart of Jesus. who Jesus was drawn to  and where he would likely be...hint: not in this church, or probably any other church in the city. he was drawn to those who were outcasts, the untouchables of the city. he could be found among the down-and-out. in my world, who would that be? if the essence of being a christian is to have the heart of Christ, are we missing the mark? do i find myself in the places he would be encouraging and caring for the unloving, those we wouldn't consider befriending? heart-check.

we'd gotten there early, so i had a chance to snap a picture of the cross. there used to be a giant glittery cross, but they decided to switch it out. dad worked up some designs, and this is what he loves to do. there are two smaller ones on either side. #proud

 and we were the last ones out of the building (i don't know if it's because of the saying and they just don't want to be least...), so we went out for mexican with the pastor and his wife. it was good conversation, although maybe we were there on an off-day. my fajita wasn't all i had hoped for. it didn't rank up there with my top 10, and it was about 2,000 miles behind el patio in tegucigalpa (is it even still there? oh to have un anafre!)

i was able to get some letter-writing done, which was on my to-do list...i brought all of my writing supplies...you laugh. i seriously chose a selection of cards, and stationery. markers, pens, 3-d glasses, my addresses, writing log, stamps.... all true. this is part of why it takes me so long to pack-trying to ensure that i have everything i need!

and when i looked out, at one point there were like 12 cardinals outside around the bird feeder! whenever i got close enough to get a pic, they'd fly off! jerks. but the birds are everywhere! one more thing to love about this area!

here you can see four red ones and one brown female. 

this morning after breakfast we went into town for some items, stopped at the post office and i mailed a package i've been meaning to send off for about the past 8 months...finally! and i purchased a new roll of stamps because i was getting low. and as it goes, i get a little anxiety going on when my stamps start to get low. i was even calculating in my head how much it would cost to get 10 rolls, 1,000 stamps...500 bucks! (but a thousand stamps...it would last me about 3-4 years. no worries, i only got one roll. BUT, if i win the lottery, i WILL purchase those stamps!!) but for now.

then we went to a little amish community to check out their wares. we stopped into dad's favorite shop-a furniture store. he loves the wood-working! and they did have some rustic furniture. although most of it looked very much like the next piece. sorry, but the lewis and clark collection was rather reminiscent of the alaskan collection...personally, i was taken in by the flooring. they sell this plank wood flooring that is gorgeous! there was nobody in the shop-not a cashier, no one. not that we were purchasing anything, but still that was a little strange.

we went from there, next door to the food shop and i made some purchases.  dad was going around on his own, as he was not interested in spices and flour. he found the deals: 5 butterfingers bars for $1! and 10 kool-aid packets for $1.00! he's the deal-master. when i got to the register, lady was not overly friendly-reminded me a little of the amish in the murder she wrote series-(so suspicious of outsiders). anyhoo, as she scanned the aleve, she said they were 'buy one get one free'! that's a pretty good deal!

they had all sorts of spices! and dried mango..maple syrup and so much more!

when we got home i took advantage of the beautiful day and yes, went out back to shoot. dad is always updating things, so he fixed up the target board and the slugs were dropping near the target, so i picked a few up; the .22s look so small compared to the 9mm. i've been thinking i'd like a 45...but then, i'm also thinking i'd like a motorcycle...

going to town for more ammo tomorrow.

my dad usually goes out to watch when i shoot, and this time when i finished, he was missing one of his hearing aids (those suckers aren't cheap at $2,000 a piece), so needless to say, we were on our hands and knees crawling around trying to find this little thing that was camouflaged in the leaves somewhere! after about ten minutes, i finally spied it-fortunately it hadn't been stepped on! (dodged a bullet!)

i'll be dropping mom and dad off at the airport on wednesday for their flight to fl, where they will enjoy epcot or disney world and then go on a cruise to the bahamas. i really hope they enjoy it! they deserve a fun vacation!

alright, i'm off to enjoy spring break; will likely write again after hurts!
julie