It's Okay ... I'll Live

 It's morning again.  Something I'm very thankful for.  I would be MORE thankful if I didn't have to visit the Doctor's office for the results of that MRI.

I love my Doctor, even though she's not a real doctor.  She's not even a PA ... she's an NA.  A Nurse Practitioner.  Around here, Doctor's are as scarce as hen's teeth.  Her name is Wella and she has four of the longest Spanish last names I've ever seen.  She is very personable and loves her job.  She also loves steak and wants to go to the Elks Lodge for dinner.  I think I can fix her up.

But first ... let's see if we can fix those lights in the freezing cold.  Here's what I discovered.  I thought I bought just a multi plug thingy.  What I got was a multi plug thingy that you can program.  So I have a programmer plugged into an extension cord, plugged into a timer, plugged into the wall.  

There are a series of eight lights that mean something that escapes me completely.  Even the directions don't tell you what each light is for.  You just have to guess.  I gave up and went inside.

Ice cream will help.  It clears the mind and revs up your will to try and figure it out.  It also soothes the savage beast when you go to the Doctor's Office at 9:45 for your 10:00 appointment and have to answer 29 C-vid questions.  By 11:00 I could feel the Grumpy Old Lady rising to the top.  NINETY minutes later I was finally called in!!  I thought I showed great restraint by not screaming at the top of my lungs!!

Anyway, so the results were pretty simple.  I have arthritis in my back ... no big deal ... a bulging disc (not that bad ... just a little) ... surely from moving all that heavy furniture.  It's okay she said, I'll live.  You already know the results ... I can go to therapy, which generally does no good at all, or I can go to a back specialist for surgery.  Are you kidding me?  No and NO ... not going there, though I do imagine you don't have to wait 90 minutes to see THAT doctor.  

I have to say this getting old stuff is getting old.  Never in my life have I had to slow down, or take it easy, nor have I ever had anything other than a couple of broken toes.  I'm not liking this AT ALL.  Used to be I could go go go all day long.  Now I'd rather sit on the couch with Cooper.  

It's even hard to drag myself out of the house for another Days of Christmas meetup.  This time at the Elks Lodge.  In case you didn't know, some lodges (including ours) are not like any bar you have been to.  Our lodge serves up double shots in every drink.  You pay about half what the prices are downtown and get twice the alcohol.  Who knew?

Santa greets you as you climb up to the turret.  I laugh because everyone is completely out of breath by the top they reach the last step.  Me included!  

It was Whimsical Wednesday ... and the drink of the night was a Reindeer Special.  We have a bartender who excels when it comes to fancy drinks.  He even has classes every couple of weeks to teach everyone how to make crazy things you find at fancy up-town establishments.

 Somehow he always remembers to make mine light.  OH MOMMA!!!  I took one sip.  This is LIGHT?  It was crown royal with coffee liqueur, whipped cream and salted caramel.  This is definitely NOT my kind of sweet LIGHT drink.  I almost choked.  It didn't turn out so pretty either because I had to stir in all the whipped cream to take the edge off.  Whipped cream and ice don't mix.

Not wanting to be a party pooper, I choked it down.  The cream was wonderful ... but the crown royal ... oooowwweeeeee!!!

Had I been a beer person, I could have ordered this Antler Ale, whatever that is.  No thank you ... I'm not a beer person either.  We had a great time and ate up all the snacks including leftover tacos and burritos from Taco Bell ... cold I might add ... because no telling how long they sat on that table before we got there, or who they even belonged to.  This really is a great bunch of fun people, and they don't mind an old single gal joining in.  

Back home as I drove in the driveway, what did I see?  The left set of lights had decided to turn back on.  Woohoo!!  I ran outside and plugged in the right side trees.  Wasn't I shocked to see them actually light up!  That's when I noticed all the lights on the box.  So THAT'S how you program it!  I began pushing buttons but still couldn't figure it out.  

Not bad for $150!  Seriously ... these six little trees (from 5' down to 3' tall), completely made of plastic, cost me that much.  They actually are very pretty in real life.  Maybe I can use them for Halloween.  I'll be Mrs. Clause next year .. or maybe an elf!

My house is a disaster, so some cleanup is in order, as well as catching up on the latest NFR results.  Did I mention the Australian kid Ky Hamilton, traveling partner and best friend of Stetson Wright (7 time World Champion)?  Stetson is out for the rest of the year.  Ky got hit in the head and knocked out.  He still came in third place.  They took him to the hospital with a concussion, broken rib and a punctured lung.  

The next morning they said he didn't have any life threatening problems, so he checked himself out to ride in round 6.  He placed third.  On the SAME DAY he rode one of the eliminator pen bulls in round 7 ... the worst of the worst bulls, to weed out the contestants.  He was the only one to ride the entire 8 seconds.  Not only did he win first place, but he won $100,000 on that ONE ride.  Guess who is going to be the world champion of bull riders.  That is one tuff kid!!