The MacKinnon

Hey girl. How've you been? I'll get DH to see if he can spot their outside entry into the kitchen. Hadn't thought about that angle, but it makes sense. 2 years ago we had an infestation of gopher rats despite a very mild winter (more like Austin than what I've gotten used to here in TN). I sure don't want a repeat of that mess!!

And on a lighter note, our little furry rodent 'friends' are back in the house after a year's hiatus. I had 3 nice cayenne peppers drying from my plant and the little darlins ate 2 of them last night. So the third will go in the trap tonight. Olé?

Hi Mt Rider! I'm here again. There's been so much going on it's crazy. I posted on Sunporch. Thank you all for the BD wishes. Turning 60 was a little weird. I had a margarita and pondered the meaning of life! And Happy Birthday to LaBella Vita and indy girl preps! Woot!

Good grief it's been awhile since I was here! For those of you who remember me, my mom fell in Jan of '12 and broke her hip. She's recovered and lives with us. We gave up our bedroom for her and have been camping out in our dining room for 19 months! Do I have the best husband ever or what?! I had spinal surgery last Thanksgiving, then another operation on my neck in June. It's been a long recovery; on the first day of school in August, I fell and hit my head against the wall. Had to get a stitch in my head and had a fractured skull. Sigh. It's always something. By the way - Oxyclean works! Had blood all over my pink LL Bean polo and it all came out! My DD had her second child in August; a boy so now she has one of each. I'm still teaching high school world history and hoping maybe I can retire after next year; I turned 60 last week. Argh. Anyway, I was missing the good folks around here and some of you met my mom a few years ago at Darlene's. She asks about y'all and really loved that visit. Mt Rider! Hi! Stephanie! Annarchy! Darlene! and every one howdy! Mac

It gets a little discouraging sometimes; my left leg is still numb & tingly at times. My left foot still feels heavy, too. Th doctor tells me that nerves repair at one (1) silly millimeter a month. The fact that my foot gets heavy means the damage is pretty extensive and will take months to heal. I tell myself it's only been a month, but I want to be back up to speed NOW! Lol.

Howdy ho neighbors! I'm trying to be good and wear my brace when I get up (it's felt & velcro - bustier in front and tortoise shell in back!) and remember to wear my "othofix" spinal stimulator force field, whatever the heck it is for 4 hours a day. And not bend, stoop, lift more than 10 lbs or twist. Sheesh. Got the stitches out a week ago (all 37 of 'em) and all say I'm mending nicely. I'll be glad to get out of this brace but I've still got about 8-9 weeks in it. Don't know about the force field. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts!

Ambergris, I was just glad I wasn't any the worse for the wear - Mt Rider, Mom is feeling a little better but this wasn't the best day for any of us. May be time to pack it all in for the night and get a better start tomorrow. Right now I'm wearing my brace and the ortho fit device (some sort of electric field contraption spose to make your bones heal faster and better). It's 4 hours a day, however you want to configure - 4 in one go, 2 here 2 there etc.

:happyBD: :balloons:

Hey y'all. Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts. I got to come home Thanksgiving afternoon. As most of you know, DH and I have been taking care of my mom. She's been doing alright, although she tries to do way more than she should. This morning, about 6:30, I heard her call to me. She sounded as if she were in trouble, so I pulled myself out of bed and in order to get to her, I didn't put on my brace - did take my walker though. Well I got to her room and she was disoriented and wasn't sure where she was or why she hadn't been fed (mini-stroke?) Anyway, I felt lightheaded so I got myself to the bathroom and on the toilet. I thought I'd begun to recover when I keeled over and landed squarely on my left cheek. I twisted my neck some, too. Mom got hysterical and DH got there fast and got me up. Called my home health nurse and put frozen peas on my neck and my icepack on my face. When I felt better, I bathed my face in warm water, applied Arnica gel to my cheek and neck. There is barely a red mark now on my cheek and my neck is loosening up as well. Back seems none the worse for the adventure, but I've taken a hydrocodone (first pain med I"ve taken in all this; there's really been no pain). The home health nurse came last night to change the dressing on my incision. She counted 34 stitches and she took a picture for me. Well that's my adventure. Whatcha y'all up to?

Well it seems to have gone well. DH brought DM down as I was waking up. Had a nice visit. They put me in a paper gown at first which could be ( and was!) inflated with warm air. Ahhhhh !!!!!! So all in all successful. Just wanted to drop by and say "hiya!!"

Thanks Mom M She's having a really rough day; Medicare has terminated her physical therapy and she'll really miss the women who came 2x a week. My DS (right now, the 'D' does NOT stand for 'dear'... ) hasn't called her in months (not even last month on her 91st birthday) and DH told me she'd spent 30 minutes this afternoon crying herself sick. She wasn't hungry at all (down to 88 lbs @ 4'10" and shrinking) but then thought a chili dog sounded good. Made her one, she enjoyed it and it seems to have made her queasy. She really wants to come as do I.

It's a little over a 2 hour drive - and a lovely one at that. We'll play it by ear, but I'm not counting on it. There are nights - and tonight is one of them - where I'm not sure she'll make it through the night. It's been a real roller coaster this year and as goofy as it sounds, playing "Margaritaville Online" on Facebook has saved my sanity. Last year's students were awful and added to a tough spring. Prayers are coveted. We'd sure like to see y'all again.

Well, dang. Had really hoped to make it to the gathering, Mom in tow, but doesn't seem likely now. She isn't traveling well - "fades out" on me even on short trips to the grocery store. I'm wary about taking her the 12 miles to Winchester and although she's done 2 trips to Chattanooga (about an hour) this past summer, it was tough on her. She's been having some strange dizzy spells - now mostly at night when she lies down to go to bed. CT and bloodwork don't show anything negative. Then I've got a back issue. An MRI showed a slight bulging disc and something on the root of the nerve where my left leg gets weak and wobbly. I went through physical therapy all summer; would rather go back to the chiropractor but CIGNA isn't a fan. If'n we don't make it down, y'all have a super time. Mom sure enjoyed the last visit and she was looking forward to this one. If it ain't one thang...

Happy Birthday to Indy Gal and LaBellaVita from me!! And thank you Mom M!

There is a link over on Survival Mom dot com about Faraday cages. DH sent the link to me yesterday but I haven't read through it. He said EMPs were on the Navy's "worry list" when he was at the Naval Academy (class of '68). So these are very real. The sun is very active this year (may account for drought & extreme weather this summer) so a solar flare ("CME" coronal mass ejection) could have the same impact on our power grid as a deliberate attack. I've read so many conflicting accounts of what an EMP (natural or act of war) would do: yes, it will disable post 1985 cars no it won't or it won't if the car is parked or its the third Tuesday and the chicken voodoo gods are getting their nails done) that I don't think anyone really knows what would happen. I suppose there are so many variables to sift through, too, that a "one size fits all" answer won't work. We've picked up a couple of micro wave ovens at yard sales - not sure how we'll use them as yet.

I'm going to try to make it and maybe bring my mom. She really enjoyed it last time!

Ack! Westie! You're back!?!? I've been in and out and away so I saw this and had to stop and say "hi!!"

Aaackkk! I've been missing too many birthdays!! So Happy Happy Birthday Zophie!!!

This is so exciting!! Congratulations ! I'll be looking for the Kindle edition. Hoooo raaaaayyy!

Doing genealogy for the Jones family is nuts and I've got 2 Jones lines and maybe a third. Both mine were in Sumner County TN about 1810 and one set stayed there while the others headed north to Butler County KY. You'd think I could find more on them since they were pretty settled in Sumner Co at least from 1810 through 1860 but noooooooo. And there a ton of "Love" families who seem to be related from the NC/TN region so you'd think I could find parents for my William Love, born about 1800 probably in Sumner County, some mention, clue, hint but nooooooo. And of course, one of the Jones boys married the Love girl and they meander off to KY while the other Jones boy marries a Neal girl (also of Sumner Co) and stays in Sumner County. I don't know if these two Jones boys are related - I hope not because the Kentucky couple has a daughter who marries a son of the Sumner Co Jones. Oh yeah and Mary Neal's father's name is "Britton JONES Neal" suggesting yet another Jones family tie. So Dee your information is heavy on an Iowa connection with some Kentucky, right? I'd be interested in finding out where in Kentucky they are. I don't have any of my direct Jones ancestors heading to Iowa. My grandfather's move to southeast Missouri was as far west as they went, at least as far as my line is concerned. One thing I did notice with my Jones clans: a couple of very Welsh names spelled phonetically, eg "Urildia" which I think would be closer to "Yrilda" in Welsh, along with a 'Gladys'.

Ah yes, looking for "Jones" connections. I have 2 of 'em - same family. I have an Allen Jones, born about 1810 (give or take) in Tennessee, who married Mary Jane Love in Sumner County Tennessee. They had several kids but went to Butler Co. KY by 1859, when my great-grandmother, Margaret E Jones was born. Then, Wiley Jones, born about 1820 (again, give or take) also in Sumner Co Tennessee married Mary E Neal. They had several boys until her death before 1870, including my great-grandfather, Isaac A Jones. Wiley remarried at least once, but stayed in Sumner County, Tennessee. I know Mary Jane Love's father's name was William Love and her mother was Polly. Found that on Mary Jane's death record from Butler County, KY. I'm pretty sure Mary E Neal was the daughter of Britton Jones Neal and Elizabeth McNeely, all of Sumner County TN. It would seem Britton, middle name Jones, has his own "Jones" connection. And, lucky me, Margaret Jones, daughter of Allen and Mary Jane, marries Isaac Jones, daughter of Wiley and Mary. I can't get back further on Allen and Wiley or Britton Jones Neal. Can't find anymore on William Love or wife, Polly. One Sumner County census has him married to Margaret. Assume it's same guy, but who knows. Witnesses/bondsmen for Allen and Mary Jane were Rich Charlton and William Wright. For Wiley and Mary it was William Campbell. There's a connection in all this somewhere, but so far, it's eluded me.

Who knew?

I grew up with kids names "Deveau" in San Antonio. Dad was Larry Deveau. Wasn't real common around there.