sciatic nerve

Did you know that there is NOT one sciatic nerve.....I didn't? Yes yes yes.....there is one sciatic nerve in EACH hip! Silly me I thought it was a single [uno] nerve some where near/on the tail bone, hence one nerve. I suppose it would be VERY uncomfortable to have both sciatic nerves flaring up at the same time. And probably hardly anyone has that misfortune. Well my RIGHT hip has pain off and on and it's time to go see an orthopedic doctor that practices orthopedics. My wish is that one great big cortisone shot into the butt relieves the intermittent pain. [Then I'll see about another shot for my right knee]. 60ish and falling apart.

Lazy

I've been too lazy lately to post. Still covered with red marks where I chiggered. Chiggers haven't stopped me from gardening, but you should see all the precautions I take. Long sleeves, jeans, long socks and boots. Then I spray everything with industrial bug spray. After gardening, I strip off everything in front of the wash machine and run to take a shower. And chiggers are NOT the worst of bugs..... ticks, black widow and brown recluse spiders. Made me shiver just to type them. On to more tame thoughts-things. I joined 'weight watchers' Saturday. I'm NOT giving up dark chocolate or ice cream. I'm just learning how to portion control with their new "PointsPlus" program. This is not a diet...it's a way of life if you [me] want to be a normal size. My goal is to wear size 12 jeans again. And I like getting out of the house to meet people with a common goal. So far so good. I'm thinking it should take 8 months to lose 40 lbs. That will be my 'Christmas' present to me and my family. Just for the record - I gained all 40 lbs AFTER I turned 57. I was 126 average in high school and 135 most of my adult life. One time when I was 30 I weighed 100 lbs. { Brain surgery}. I did top 156 after Tim's birth. Then I lost a few lbs before getting pregnant with Dee. Enough about me. TJ is awesome. Toddles like a champ. Every other word out of his mouth is 'ball'. He is quite good at repeating words. He likes to hear familiar songs on Barney.

One week.

A WEEK has past since my last blog. I've been kinda pre-occupied with a red itchy rash all over my body. Looks terrible. The exterminator was here to look for bed bugs. Nada. I thought it might be poison ivy, but no tell tale blisters. I prayed that it wasn't 'scabies' but it sure looked like it might be, except 'scabies' is highly contagious...and no one else has it. When I took Lily to the vet to get her heart worm test, I asked the veterinarian if he could tell 'scabies' rash from poison ivy. He looked at my rash and said it's neither - it's probably 'chiggers'. Some of the other things about 'chiggers' he mentioned, were comparable to my rash. Thank you North Carolina! I have been gardening lately and chigger larva lives in the soil, but need human skin to mature. Google 'chiggers' for more detail. Bug spray on your skin and a shower after being in dirt, should prevent the buggers from sticking to your skin. [They don't burrow, they don't really bite for blood.] On a less itchy note...TJ is climbing, throwing, and falling a lot. He has beautiful blond curls on the back of his head. TJ is trying to talk and we can understand some of what he says. Today he said 'Lily" with lots of tongue action. I was surprised at such a young guy trying so hard to make a 'L' sound. Very Good TJ!

Another BIG step.

Today TJ moved up to a front facing car seat. Now I can see his cute face in the rear view mirror. I'm sure he likes seeing every thing better. Wish I could figure out what has taking a fancy to biting me. I'm covered with red spots that itch. I look like I have measles. Rubbing stick deoderant on the spots seems to reduce the itch. Yesterday I took an antihistime and took another 8 hours later, but Ann told me they were 24 hour pills...........ooooops. Yawn. I so hope it's not bed bugs. Everybody else has allergies. I'm wearing long sleeves when I go out because my arms look so bad. My first ever book arrived yesterday. "GG's blog 2 book." One for TJ and one for Jay. Everything I blogged for the last 12 months and some of the 'journal' I wrote to Jay when he was 2. Very happy about the book. I'll do another next year if I can.

12 month check-up

Today was TJ's 12 month check up. He weighs - 24lbs 4oz. He 30 1/4 inches tall. 35% of 1 year olds are taller and 30 percent are heavyer. I think he's perfect. Sunday he said; " kitty, kitty, kitty." I was impressed. It came out so clear and I never heard it before. He said it all day. TJ will probably have trouble saying 'Lily' because of the 'L's. Maybe Dee has stats on Jay's one year old check up. I'll see. I'm going to put whatever I can remember of Tim and Dee when they were little. I do remember that Jay could tell you he was 1 year old. I think most children can tell you they are 2 [ before they are three]. Dee could talk in short sentences when she turned 1. Tim was 2 1/2 before he talked well, but he is the only one of my offspring that walked at 10 months. The rest were 1 before they toddled. TJ and I adventured out to a garage sale Friday. Actually, he was asleep in the car. He is easier to haul around because he can stand and walk. Friday night [late 9:30pm] I went to Tennessee with my neighbor/friend. We stopped [1:30am] in Knoxville to spend the night. Saturday morning we drove to Chatanooga to meet up with other Min Pin [dog] rescuers. They were all VERY nice. Then we returned to Charlotte the scenic [white water rafting] way. Sometimes spell check refuses to co-operate??????

Tennessee

No blogging last night. Spent time with Tim and then watched two hour movie. No blogging tonight, going with a friend to Chattanooga Tennessee. Tell you why when I get back.

Soup.

TJ stirred pretend soup [Lily's empty water bowl & spoon] and pretended to eat it. His lips were smacking and he offered me some. [I showed him pretend food last week in the bath.] He is such a big boy....almost no crawling and he walked up the slide stairs by himself. TJ wanted me at the top of the 4 ft slide but, I would flip him over on his tummy and say; "feet first". He would push off and slide down landing on his feet at the bottom of the slide with a big smile. TJ walked from the slide to the steps 10 times today at the park. The last time I was not near the steps waiting for him. He just DID IT! I walk 1/2 mile to the playground which doesn't sound like much, but y0u should see the steep driveway and sidewalks I have to navigate - pushing a stroller, baby and hanging on to a dog. It's kind of downhill to the park and uphill on the way back. Then I have a steep driveway to push up up up up. You might think by the time I get to the park half my exercise is done - sorry to say most of my work/exercise is still ahead of me. Feel sad for me yet? I could go on and on and on.......

Happy 1st Birthday TJ.

Cake, camera, family, candle, presents, new clothes and new balls...........everything perfect for a 1 year old precious boy. Wished we could have skipped the boogie nose. Life in NC is great. Missing Jay and Dee [they left this morning]. Jay was sullen this morning. Dee commented that his attitude was sullen everyday at home. I remember a girl [Dee] child of mine that got sullen when she was 10. It wasn't fun then and it's not fun now. I'm not sure why Dee thought it would be any different with HER teen. Wishful thinking? Dee has her dad's temperment [make a mountain out of a molehill] and Tim has mine [live and let live]. The weekend went way too fast. My cat is glad that Sophi [dog] went home with Dee. Today was a quiet day with TJ. We did go to the park, hoping that the stroller ride home would put TJ to sleep. No luck, the baby/child is running on one short nap from 11:A to 12:p. I feel like crawling into my bed with the clean sheets I just put on it. I luv my bedtime.