Time doesn‘t seem to slow down even though I have been parked by the side of the road. I figured it would seem forever to even get past the first few days. However, this is my fourth day of (shall I call it, “inactivity”) and it’s hard to believe I’m looking at the last day of August.

Have you ever been stuck in one place because of illness or some catastrophe and those who come to visit, call or write are experts on your problems? After the doctor’s diagnosis most every one says…..”well I thought you should have gone to the doctor sooner……..or…….I told you to rest and quit doing so much….or…..if you had listened to me…….”

Hummmmmm. I wonder if I’ve been guilty of the same? Maybe I am now having to chew on words I’ve spoken myself! If that is so I promise to wash my mouth out with soap and never do it again. I have noticed more than a few times “what” I speak, often comes home to roost, as my mother used to say. I think that must be why really smart people keep their mouths shut. Yes!! I’m sure of it.

Do not waste pity on me. I do not hurt, do not take pain pills and my mind is still entertaining me. It’s been great fun to wheel up to a drawer, now ‘even’ with the wheel-chair, and look through some of my stuff. I’ve found all kinds of things I had put aside to do……and guess what? Now I’m in perfect position to do them.

Those who know me say the good Lord has to make me sick or stuck somewhere or I’d never slow down. It is a great learning opportunity and I intend making the most of it. See you back here tomorrow…….good Lord willing.

Essentially Esther

………it is a fractured pelvic bone. I am to rest the pelvic area as much as possible, using a walker when I HAVE to get up. I am not ordered to bed rest but to stay off my feet so I’m pretty much grounded for me. Six to eight weeks should do the trick….and then X-rays to make sure. After that I guess I can be turned loose.

My osteoporosis showed up in the X-ray but so did some healing of the fracture. I’m sure that was from being the stubborn person I am. I had already started fixing myself. (Ahem…..well maybe not.)

All I can say is it’s a miracle I didn’t break where the fracture was as I have continued doing my work around here, in spite of one wing hanging a little low. When I think of the twists and turns and the heavy stuff I’ve lifted, I have to give credit where credit is due. A loving and compassionate Savior.

I have put up with this for over two months now and guess I’d still be waffling on whether to go to the doctor or not but the pain finally got beyond anything I could ignore.

So I will be busy getting better and being a good girl.

Right now pain pills are my best friend.

Essentially Esther

I went to the doctor today……then went for X-rays @ West Plains hospital. It was familiar ground as the cancer clinic is half of the Shaw Building. Brought back many memories……the folks that worked there when Rocky was getting chemo treatments have all gone to other assignments. Sad….they were a great bunch.

As for me, I had two X-rays taken and then came back to Willow Springs for an appointment with Doug at the Massage Parlor. The only thing I’m curious about was the woman who took my X-rays asked if I’d ever been in a car accident. I told her I hadn’t and that was that. She didn’t say any more.

The X-ray report will be sent to the Medical Clinic here and I’m assuming I will hear from my doctor tomorrow. When I know something I’ll get it on the blog for family and those who have shown concern.

That’s all I know for now so will let you know ASAP when I’m informed of the results.

Essentially Esther

Sometimes life gets pretty confusing. That isn’t fair…..I should say life with a PC gets confusing. I bought a new Lexmark combination scanner, copier and printer. Thrilled with my purchase I envisioned being able to put things together like a magazine. Well, not so fast, Miss Esther. My friend, Dode, worked all afternoon setting the thing up for me last week and it does copy and print……it also scans.

However I have always transferred my memory card to Kodak Easy Share and with just a few problems over the years have been satisfied. Now the new Lexmark over-rides Kodak Easy Share and won’t let me transfer pictures to Kodak. The end result is that I’m not getting the pictures transferred at all. I’ll have to call in the experts to see what to do.

Therefore I am putting a picture scanned as a trial run of me when I was five years old. That little girl is still in me……alive and well. She’s OK but I’m not doing so good. I’ve thrown in the towel and will see my doctor again tomorrow for X-rays in case this is a fracture instead of a muscle thing. She thinks we may be masking a bigger problem than the regimen I’ve been on.

Cold packs, infra-red heat, my hand-held massage aid…….I’ve been to the Chiropractor, the Massage Parlor in town and only find relief in pain pills. They were my only hope of being able to sleep at night. Tomorrow at 9:00 am is my appointment so I will clue you in on what she wants to do.

I’m sure not everyone who reads Essentially Esther is even vaguely interested but I write this for my family far and wide who reads the blog for news of mom and home. This dilemma has dominated my summer and I’m ready for it to go.

I’m through playing “therapy doctor” and just want to get back to my “normal.”

Essentially Esther

Well, you knew it was going to happen. I just had to talk about my hero, Brett Farve. Contrary to some of the snippy media who are irked with his on-again-off-again playing this season, I stand firm in my appreciation for all he has given football.

How is it that no one is upset about Vick getting out of jail and signing on with the Eagles, having a mentor to “help” his image and blah blah…..the man used extreme cruelty torturing poor dogs just for sport. He and his bunch of “cultural” folks who think nothing of the abuse or breaking the laws about dog fighting. Everyone is so sympathetic about Vick.

Well, Farve happens to be the best football player in my lifetime (and it’s been a long one) all he wants to do is play football. He was too much of a gentleman to beg forgiveness because of arm injuries……he played on because he didn’t want to walk out on his team. He can still outplay most QB’s with only one arm. He retired because he didn’t feel he could come 100% healthy. PT and determination found him fit the past two summers when he signed with the Jets and now the Vickings.

I take personal insult from the whiny narratives on TV Sports who are tired of the Farve saga as they call it. They’re tired of talking about him. Well, listen up chumps !!! Get out on the field and see how much beating you can take in a gentlemanly way, never make excuses, never miss starting a game in all these years, has one of the highest records in football and never degrades his teammates when they goof up.

I say he’s better media watching or reading than Octa-Mom or either of the two Peterson men who murdered their wives, Madonna, or a lot of our sick politicians who always have their faces in the papers or magazines or worse…..on TV with their pandering and excuses. Tell me, did you get tired of talking about them?

Look, folks, Brett said it best if you’re tired of him…… “ Don’t watch.” I for one WILL watch, read, applaud, respect and admire him for the good sport…..and for being the best sportsman of my time.

He deserves it all……because he worked for it and did it with grace.

Thank you, Brett!!

Essentially Esther

Today would have been my aunt Mary’s 103rd birthday. Calendar dates stick in my mind for some reason. Birth dates, anniversary dates, first day on a new job, day I moved on to another etc; Some dates are happy to remember but others are, of course, very sad.

I have not experienced the birth dates of my elder family or friends but I have witnessed too many of their deaths. Recently, a lifelong friend of my oldest son, George, died of cancer. They had been together from first grade through high school graduation. They both went off to the Military after graduation to serve during the Viet Nam involvement.

Later on, the boys both bought homes in our old neighborhood because they grew up in it and felt at home in it. They lived across the street from one another and every time Becky and I went back to visit we always hooked up with Dennis and Kathy. There were hugs all around and we’d catch up on the news since the last visit.

Dennis was a neat kid. Always smiling, happy……even if he was irked about something it was always followed with a snide remark that was funny. I never saw him “mad.” I don’t remember just how he got started crocheting afghans, whether it was because Kathy had one started and never finished it….or what. This seems probable. At any rate I think she taught him how and he got busy.

I usually took an afghan in progress with me to George’s when we visited so I could crochet while Becky drove…..Dennis always wanted to see what I was working on and at one of the last visits he asked for a pattern I was working on. I mailed it to him and he answered with a phone call to thank me for it. That was so Dennis.

However, the last time to George’s, Dennis was in a recliner and in a lot of pain. He had been X-rayed and the outcome was diagnosed as trouble from an old car accident. The pain never got better and more investigation showed he was in the last stages of a fast moving cancer. Dennis died a few weeks ago. He was never able to start the new afghan.

George was one of the pallbearers as his funeral and will miss him as a brother. I have grown tired of the things people say about a loved one’s passing. “Time heals everything”….no, it doesn’t, “everything happens for good”….no, read the rest of the verse, the worst is, “I know just how you feel”……no one knows how I feel. The list goes on and on. The best thing to do is be quiet. If your loved one wishes to speak…..just listen. A hand on theirs, compassionate eye contact, being still is all they need.

Dennis will be uniquely missed by all of us who loved him. He was a special guy!

Essentially Esther

Here is another recent picture of my oldest son's (yes, the Beetle wanna be) backyard berm. It is a nice place to look while having a glass of tea.

Well, Girl’s Day never happened. I could hardly make it out of bed because my left groin was in a knot. I tried to do the courageous thing and ignore it but I finally had to call the girls and cancel out.

It seems as though we all hit a snag. One friend was having pain issues all over her body which sound like the Fibromyalgia I’ve been living with for a long time. However, she’s been to different doctors and no one can find anything wrong. How does that happen in this day of modern technology? I hit a deep hole in my 50’s because my thyroid was terribly low and I was dragging around, trying to manufacture my usual energetic self.

I’m not one to run to the doctor but eventually I had to go and thankfully one little pill a day gave me renewed vigor and outlook. Thyroid can really screw one up….too high OR too low. I’m concerned for my friend and I can empathize. It took a long time to diagnose me on several occasions.

My other friend had been trying to hang a curtain rod and it wore her out just getting the old one down. It is amazing how stubborn nails and screws can be. How can they just fall off the wall in some cases and then refuse to come out when they have to? Poltergeist !! It has to be. Anyway, she went for a lab workup early yesterday and then back to putting the new drapery rod up. Some things are just not meant to be.

Next week we will rise from the ashes like the Phoenix and try again. Life is funny. When I was a little girl I wanted to grow up to be a princess……one that lived in a castle and a handsome prince would come and marry me. After all, it happened that way in all the books I read and I was a believer.

Next, in the teen years it was all about boys and gossip. Then comes your children. Women would get together and share horror stories with each other about their troublesome kids. Thank God mine were not old enough to hitch-hike to Woodstock. The worst thing was my oldest son getting off the bus and walking in the door with his hair combed like the Beetles. My jaw hit the floor and he was ordered to get his comb out and get it back where it belonged. I even threatened to tell his father. Something I never did. I always took care of things myself. (Remember the Rosy paddle?)

Once you live through the teen years it’s time for women to start talking about menopause. I don’t know where the “pause” comes from. It was irritatingly constant and a mean adversary. I won’t go into the Golden Years where many of us become widowed and the conversations are all about health issues.

Now that I’ve cheered you up, I’m going to hobble around and get my work done.
TGIF !!

Essentially Esther

The days fly by and we are getting some very nice summer days. The weather is what I would call perfect. Thought I’d put a picture on of some of the cards I’ve been making. Tomorrow is Girls Day at my house and we will put the cards aside to do a little quilting. Two of us have quilted before and have enjoyed it for some time but our third member has not. Therefore we will begin with a rudimental pattern which I still love a lot…..the Log Cabin.

It’s great for beginners as it is cut in 2 ½ in strips and then sewn together in a square. Almost everyone who quilts has at least one in their closet and those who have never quilted, have for the most part, heard of it. My friend and I went to a great sewing and craft store in our area and spent our time looking at both quilting and craft sections. I love both for different reasons.

Tomorrow, I hope to get a picture of Dode’s first quilt block and I’ll take pictures of her progress for her to remember. Her daughter lives in a beautiful log cabin home with a Western décor and Dode is making the quilt for her. Of course ! How perfect for living in a log cabin??

I will have to go with this as on our way home we stopped at a stand where two young Amish boys were selling roasting ears. They also had other veggies but we were happy with the corn. It’s my favorite…….white and yellow ears. It is sweet as candy. Guess who’s having corn for supper??

…….and guess who has to go shuck a dozen ears right now??

Essentially Esther

It is a beautiful Sunday in the Ozarks. You know I’m a sky person and it is as blue as blue can be with big puffy white clouds lazily floating overhead. I have a friend who was a former classmate and now lives in Germany who said German clouds are different. I had sent pictures of the school we graduated from and he noticed right away in the pictures how different the clouds were. Never thought about it but I suppose Nature is different in different places.

Late July and August is Crepe Myrtle blooming time and mine are just so beautiful. I had to post a picture for all to enjoy. Flowers and blooming bushes/shrubs are my favorite thing about the seasons. I have a little something for every time of year.

Nothing much to report here. School starts here August 18th and things will calm down then. As a Driver-Examiner I was so happy to see school start up again. All summer long you have every 16-year old in the world who wants a driver’s license. It is a nice break……holidays are the same. The minute school is out for even a day…….here come the kids. Of course, that’s what we were there for but sometimes one has too much of a good thing.

Football starts today so I am deliriously happy. From now on I will be occupied with football all week long. Thank you for the NFL network Mr. Cable Man. The only sad thing is Brett Farve has ended his career for good and I for one will always miss him. He was a wonder to watch and such a nice guy too…….never gave in to blabbing in the face of the camera or strutting around like he was the king of football. He just simply loved the game…….and I simply loved him.

Time for me to post the picture so here goes.

Essentially Esther

Linda, this is for you. I took this picture in the dark, almost. Napoleon has been coming late and then looking in the window where he can see me…..I can feel someone staring at me and sure enough….it’s Napoleon. After he eats his cake he hurries off to roost.

He’s been changing roosting places lately for some reason but my yard is his favorite throughout the day. He digs up loose dirt and settles down in it like an old hen. It’s so funny…..you would think he would be afraid of predators but the neighborhood pets give him respect. He has pecked a few cats when they get too inquisitive about what he’s eating.

I have a friend coming to visit, shortly, so this is it for now. I will still get a daylight picture to send when I see him out and about. He’s lost the long feathers and has picked out a lot of his “down” and brown feathers. They are like a dandelion when it’s seed is ready to blow away…..so fine and fluffy…it’s amazing.

He will even lose more feathers than this so I’ll be sending more pictures your way.

Essentially Esther

During the 5-days I haven’t written, I’ve had company, put another half bushel of peaches in the freezer, visited my friend in the nursing home one afternoon and a few other things as well.

I didn’t like the relapse I had with my sciatica so I’ve been treating that as well, taking baby steps and doing as much as I can sitting down. It would have been OK but I lifted things that were very heavy and I was pretty sure of the outcome but what can you do when you are the only one? I have another appointment with the massage person on Tuesday so I hope he will do as much good as last time. I cancelled my Tuesday appointment this past week so I could be ready for George to come that afternoon.

He was with us until Thursday afternoon and went back to Shawnee. I’ve had the car in for it’s yearly physical and at 109,000 miles, plus, it seems to be in good shape. I guess us old gals are keeping up even if we have a lot of mileage behind us.

Tomorrow I will be meeting with friends to do some preparation for quilted pieces and that’s always nice. I am no longer making quilts as I have more than I can use so I’m working mostly on table runners and the smaller items. The beauty of that is that you can work on more patterns much sooner. I like lots of variety and there are so many beautiful quilt patterns……and I have so little time.

Napoleon has lost all his beautiful long tail feathers and spends his days pulling out the others that he needs to shed. I have collected as many of them as I find and will do something special with them when he’s through casting them aside. When he’s around in good light, I’ll get a picture for those of you who like hearing about him.

Our weather continues to be cooler than normal with more rain than we usually see in July. We’ve already had a good rain the first day of August so we’ll take all we can get. We’ve had some pretty hot, dry years recently. I know why they dubbed “Mother” for the name of Nature. Women are always changing things and that’s so true of Nature.

This is a picture of my favorite quilt. Completely hand pieced and hand quilted by me. Yes, it took a while but I love it and it’s worth it. The word Esther means a Star so you can guess the connection.

Essentially Esther