Chuck e Cheesy

A hair ball Petty situation Ecard :)

An E-card I made tonight.....about being petty


#petty#hairball#petthis#about being petty#congrats on that

My ricky RiCaRdO redone red chair

So I started on this chair awhile back and had it sitting under the patio until a few days ago when I finally finished painting it.   When I bought it the seat was thrashed and some of the wood on the chair looked kind of like a beaver had been chewing on it.  I still loved the style though and it reminded me of something from "I Love Lucy"....if you are as old as me you may remember watching that show and I can remember asking my mom why Lucy and Ricky slept in twin beds and she went into some kind of big 'splanation that Ricky probably snored too loud :)  Gosh that was a great show !
Okay so here's how the chair looked....

I decided I was going to use it to replace my desk chair for awhile and if I end up keeping it there I will probably end up putting some kind of casters on it.   Here it is how it turned out.   Vintage fabric on the seat and red and cream paint added after a bit of sanding.

It's pretty comfy and I have been calling it my Ricky Ricardo chair :)

#red chair #mid century chair #vintage recycle #redone red

When a Stroke is definitely not a joke

Okay I guess this is a bit of a serious post and I am not embarrassed to talk about it or anything like that...the only thing that embarrassed me about this situation is that I didn't even know it was happening when it did.  I am not looking for the sympathy card here but am hoping that maybe sharing my experience might help someone else out there. :-)
First of all I have often said that I am so dingy that I fart bells.  Known fact. :)
Second of all.... I am one who tends to simply blow things off.... if it is not a really bad thing.. I just tend to wait for it to go away.  I don't notice things all that well and with the situation of my arthritis and fibro for all of these years I am one who believes in the power of positive thinking and I believe that laughter heals so many things.
Another known fact--- I laugh a lot at the stupidest things and I don't pay attention to a lot of things.  And yet I've never been accused of being ignorant....once in awhile sadly mistaken perhaps LMAO...but I've always been a fairly intelligent individual.
Okay so enough already with the background carp.
Awhile back I went through about a week of leg and feet cramps and I hadn't been feeling all that well and had been having a lot of numbness in my arms and hands off and on.  Not all that unusual.... the arthritis in my neck causes a lot of pressure sometimes and it causes numbness.
So I wake up one Sunday morning and for no apparent reason at all... the left side of my tongue was completely numb.  I didn't really feel anything else out of the ordinary except for the fact that I had this weird numb tongue on one side that felt like I had been to the dentist or something.  So of course at this point what do I do? Like many peeps in this day and age....I googled "my tongue is numb on one side"  or something like that and of course a wide range of what could be going on filled up the screen ranging from minor to serious issues.
But knowing me...because I have read that maybe it isn't all that serious....I just blow it off and go about my day just waiting for it to simply go away..... and nothing else unusual happened that day except I felt pretty tired and went to bed early and didn't seem to sleep very well.
The next morning when I wake up I am feeling groggy and a little weird but nothing highly unusual.... I'm thinking it is because I did not sleep very well.  I get on the computer and things seem a bit blurry but once again I am thinking it is because I am tired.  Then about 30 minutes later..... the right side of my face on my jaw starts going numb and then I start to feel a throbbing numbness on top of my right eyebrow that kind of feels like a rock or something is on my head and I am looking out underneath it or something.  So I get worried at this point and call Kaiser.  
They end up patching me through to a nurse who walks me through these questions like "Can I touch my chin to my neck....am I losing power on one side....can I lift my arms over my head?" yada yada... and I must have passed her test because she simply told me that if my symptoms got worse to go to the hospital and that if my tongue was still numb the next morning to make a same day appointment with my doc.
Okay...so I looked in the mirror...my face didn't seem all wicky whack.... I didn't really notice anything.... hubby didn't notice anything.... and finally the numbness in my jaw stopped being so strong and I had some weird itching on my forehead and under my nose and it seemed like I had some difficulty swallowing later that eve....but I have acid reflux and marked it up to that.
I go to bed early and wake up the next morning feeling like crap (like a bulldozer had run me over) but went to work and made a doctors' appointment for 2 that afternoon. My tongue was still numb and my lips and face were numb but more of a tingling type of numb.
When I get to the doc he tells me that he can clearly see I had had a mild stroke. My mouth on the right side was drooped about an inch and when I really looked (I mean really looked it was clear as heck....yep it sure was. )  They sent me for an MRI....no brain tumors....(insert joyful joyful hollah! here )
Doc told me to take a baby aspirin each day and did a cholesterol test and said mine was perfect but put me on Lipitor as well because he said it helps prevent strokes. My potassium level was way low and I ate a bunch of bananas for a week and retook that test and it is back to normal now.  I had an ultrasound on my carteroid ? arteries a few days ago and haven't gotten the results back yet but doc seems to think that my blood pressure got too high and caused this minor stroke.
High blood pressure runs in my family.  My dad has it and both of my brothers have it.  I have been taking meds for irregular blood pressure since I was about 40...and it started when I was very healthy....140 lbs. and very active. Mine fluctuates between too high and too low.  And my meds have changed on and off in the past 12 or so years.
But I know now why they call it the "silent killer".  It has never been all that important to me because it is something that doesn't cause you apparent pain or that prevents you from getting through the day. And me there I was sitting in my desk chair chatting with the nurse and even laughing in the midst of having a stroke .
So in the few weeks since this has happened...my brain seems to be recovering pretty well.  I am still really tired.  I still find myself struggling for words and certain phrases when it all used to simply flow freely out of no where... I have short term memory lapses... finally after a very frustrating time for me in trying to use the key board and type things--- these past few days I have noticed that--I can actually type paragraphs without having to go back every other word and fix all the wrong typing by seeing all of the reds in the spell check.  And my family and friends around me can tell that I am doing waaaaaay better than I was the first few days after it happened. 
Maybe most people rush right to the doc or hospital at the onset of numbness. Maybe others like me are not going to be alarmed if it doesn't feel life threatening. So I am sharing this to let anyone out there know that if you experience a numb tongue and also have blood pressure issues.....get your arse to the hospital. IMMEDIATELY---Just do it.
I can't say that I have had any sort of an epiphany after this experience.  I have however purchased a blood pressure monitor and take my blood pressure twice a day now....and so far it is in the low 100's over low 70's.  This is where it usually is and has been whenever it has been checked over the years and when it isn't the meds have been changed. All I know now is that I need to stay on top of it and monitor my blood pressure daily because this has happened! We simply never know what is going to happen.  Doc says that we are going to give it a few weeks and if I am still feeling like I am struggling brain wise that occupational therapy is an option.  I just thank my lucky stars that it was a minor stroke. I am glad that even though I have a few health issues that I remain as active as possible and take pretty good care of myself.  And I know that keeping love and laughter in my life is the thing that truly allows me to thrive in any given situation :)
Sorry about the ramble....that's just another known fact about me hee-hee.
Here's a pic of me and my Chloe girl shortly after the stoke happened.  And my face was "working" when I smiled...and didn't look quite so droopy.  I say "Cheers to smiles" :)
It's the best thing we can do with our faces me thinks :)

#numbness #numb tongue #stroke symptoms

The Rittle Grass Chloe

I think I've talked a bit about the first thing I ever started collecting....my ceramic dog collection.  I used to enter them in the Fair when I was a kid and was oh so gosh darn proud of my little blue ribbons :)  I have carted that collection around and around and awhile back hubby got the boxes down from the rafters in the garage and a lot of my little collection is looking a bit sadder as the years have gone by.  Many of my chalkware pieces are in crumbles.... a lot of the finishes on them have begun to crackle.... and there are so many more nicks and bumps and crazing on them now.  Nonetheless.... I keep hanging onto them and someday will pass what's left of them on to the grand kids.
So I was on eBay awhile back and saw this little dog figurine with a blond haired girl and her two dogs and it really reminded me of little Chloe.  At the last Fishing Derby we went to she was pulling and tugging at Nugget and Brownie on their rope leashes and kept telling them "Come on!" and "Hurry up!"  I laughed and laughed at her "Walking the dogs"  until I had tears in my eyes. I ended up buying the figurine and when I gave it to her I told her that I had found a "Vintage old Chloe" that looked just like her and also had two dogs just like she does.  When I took it out it just so happened that she was wearing this big bow in her hair that day and she said "Look Gamma...old grass (glass) Chloe has a bow just like mine!"  and she kept telling hubby "Be vewwy vewwy Careful Papa...old Chloe is grass"  I think she has developed an early liking to old things just like Gamma did a long time ago hee-hee.
Here's a few pics of the figurine and Chloe that day :)

Cheers to bows and old grass :)

#bows #vintage figurines #be vewwy vewwy careful #old grass
 

More succulents....

I kind of feel like my "crafty bug" has been on a bit of a vacay.... haven't been doing much besides the day job and taking what feels like much needed "breaks" at home :)  And even though it seems pretty relaxing I also feel like I am not getting anything done...YOLO right?
So-----
We went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market again last Sunday and had a great time....here's some of my "stash"..

I got a great deal on that ward robe trunk.....and it's in really good shape inside considering how old it is .
So of course I couldn't turn down another flat of succulents while we were there......
and I planted a few more of them yesterday on my day off....I used an old cake pan and a couple of old watering cans for planters....but didn't drill holes in the watering cans.....instead I put some small rocks in the bottom for some "drainage"...
hope ya'll have a wonderful weekend :)

#succulents #succulent city #how does your garden grow?
 

Pink Paris rescued chairs

I bought this set of chairs at the Rose Bowl swap Meet and the bottoms were knocked out of them but I thought they could be reborn again someday..and today was the day ....
 I had been saving this old vintage scarf that had some spots on it but I really liked the images.  
Today hubby cut out a couple of plywood circles and covered them with the scarf fabric for me. 
Then I added some glitter paint to the seats and some pink chalk paint and then  a slight metallic over wash to the chairs. Some vintage pink bias tape and a couple of vintage flower barrettes  completed the look. Hope your Sunday was a good one :)

#pink#Paris#recycled chairs#have a seat#Le Leaning tower

Rib Cage Canvas Flats from the Inked Shop

I got these rib cage canvas flats from the Inked Shop awhile back and today is the second time I have worn them to work ....  They are really comfy.  They have super fast shipping and some fun items in their on line shop.  I think these shoes were less than $20... :)  Hope you all are having a nice weekend so far!

#rib cage #skully #inked shop #canvas flats

Plaids and stripes kicks

Yesterday hubby and I went to Bingo and I wore these new shoes that I just got in from Zulilly.  Alas!  They turned out to be not so lucky shoes (as we didn't bag any extra money to take back home with us).... but I really like them anyways.... hee-hee
They are from a company called "Gotta Flurt" and came in a really cute box and had a matching key chain to go with the shoes that I will probably just use for some sort of a charm.  Quite comfy and I like the zipper on the side that means you can put these on without having to do anything with the shoe strings. 

 Hope ya'll had a nice Monday!

#what is black and white and red all over? # gotta flurt