You Have Got To Be Kidding!?!!!

It started with just an ache Friday evening when I coughed or moved quickly. Now I can barely move (think knife between your ribs). Caused by lung infections among other things, go figure. Solution: Ibuprofen unless you turn cyatic (blue) from lack of oxygen due to shallow breathing because it hurts. Really. Then you need to go to the doctors. What am I talking about? Just another chapter...

Pleurisy occurs when the double membrane (pleura) that lines the chest cavity and surrounds each of your lungs becomes inflamed. Also called pleuritis, pleurisy typically causes sharp pain, almost always during the act of breathing.
One layer of the pleura overlies each lung. The other layer lines the inner chest wall. The two layers of pleura are like two pieces of smooth satin rubbing against each other with almost no friction, allowing your lungs to expand and contract when you breathe without any resistance from the lining of the chest wall.
When inflamed, the two layers of the pleural membrane in the affected side of your chest rub against each other like two pieces of sandpaper, producing the pain of pleurisy when you inhale and exhale...or cough, or sneeze, or blow your nose, or roll over at night, or laugh...

I feel great and I've been laughing about this all as typical (or maybe I'm finally going nuts), but seriously... I want to go skiing! And I can barely move!

At least I didn't crack a rib coughing...

Germies:7; Me:4

So I have a viral respitory infection. Let me tell you just how much fun this is. Barrel of laughs folks. Actually, after a bunch of prescriptions I do feel much better than I did last Saturday and have been "teaching"(more like giving my classes busy work) since Tuesday. I also put a humidifier in the bedroom and that has seemed to help some though I think it's a bit loud.

So anyway, I no longer think I'm going to die and am actually only bumming over the fact that it probably isn't a good idea to hit the ski slopes this weekend without being 100% up to par.

Actually I know I must be feeling better today because when asked by a student why they only had a 23% in my class I replied in a smart-ass tone, "because you've only turned in 23% of the work assigned, what did you think?" Huh? Are today's youth getting dumber or is it just me?

I Want To Be Buried In The Backyard

Seriously, somebody shoot me. Last week Shane came down with a pretty bad cough and didn't feel good. However he still worked all day and seemed to be kicking it fine with the help of yours truly (what is it with men not being able to help themselves to medicine but need it forced down their throat?). Little did I know that as I helped him along the little germies were multiplying in my system. They were like setting up a personal attack on me for trying to kill them. Let me sum up the last 5 days:

Tuesday: Woke up with a 'heavy' feeling in my chest. No prior warning and no cough or stuffy nose. Achy by noon, took a few @dvil, felt fine. Drove to Sterling (way up north) for a firefighter class starting the next day.

Wednesday: Popping @dvil and cough drops. Dry hacking cough; still don't feel horrid yet but deciding to stay home from the evening social activities to try and kick this. Woke up in the middle of the night wondering if I needed to go to the hospital.

Thursday: Can't breathe. Instructor takes one look at me and excuses me from class. I sleep on and off all day taking various medicines. Every time I cough I think my head and chest are going to open up. By night I can't keep anything in my stomach because I gag when I cough. Still missing fun social activities.

Friday: Sit my exam for the test with about 10 pounds of drugs in me. Finish first, pass with 100...(see, I'm still smart, sortof) and hightail back to the valley. When I got home I buried myself in the bed. Shane came in later from doing my chores and said we were going to the hospital. I reasoned and he's taking me to my doctors' later today.

Germies: 5

Me: 0

Ah yes. Pictures. I don't have any new of Shaner, but here's a few repeats of the cowboy himself:

...And no, I didn't make up the nickname. His dad calls him that.

This is from when we brought in about 400 head from Pagosa, drove them about 9 miles and shipped. I keep trying to figure out why he looks goofy in the second pic, but he's either chewing on his lip or has a chew in! He does not have chipmunk cheeks. The horse is Snoopy, his Heading horse who taught me how to rope too.

Peachy Keen

All is well in the world today...

Actually, all is well everywhere. I'll admit I'm a bit stressed from not having much of a vacation, getting my classes started on new units for the semester and leaving for winter Fire Academy tomorrow after school, but stress aside, everything else is peachy!

Our lovely Farm Hand/ Shaner's Acquaintance who was supposed to come for harvest and never left has finally been removed by the landlord. He started making himself a nuisance about 2 weeks into his arrival, but they still got work out of him on the ranch. I think my letter to Joe from a few months back sum up my feeling about the guy, but when he knocked up a local girl, ran of to Vegas to marry her and tried to move her into the main Ranch house (where I live) last week, the doodies hit the fan. Everyone was just tired of him taking advantage of the situation and lying to boot. He told my landlord yours truly was a drug addict and I told my landlord I was going to give the guy something to really complain about if something wasn't done quick like. It was great. He didn't ever get any notice. He had to leave NOW and had three days to remove the rest of his stuff from the property. I just feel bad for the chick who married him. When she finds out what she married...oh boy.

I'm just really glad he's gone. Now that he's not vying for attention and sabotaging everything he looks at ,Shane and I can actually spend some time together without worrying about Joe having to be present or trying to start some kind of fight.

Still way cold here. Hoping it warms back up for February because I want to get more time on my Mustang and I know Shane wants to get one of his 2 years old colts started. I'd like to be using Maggie for roping by May or June.

Oh yeah - Everything is now thawed out. This should never be a problem again because a sub-pump was put in and those things are so far down in the ground it's almost impossible to freeze them up. And yes, this was a problem last year in the other house, except the pipe froze to the pump so I couldn't get ANY water. That and my landlord acted like it's wasn't his problem so I had to haul water to the livestock from my neighbors. This year my landlord took care of it ASAP and didn't leave until it was fixed. So he and his wife had to live in crappy conditions too until we were back up to par. Made me feel not so alone with it all... Roses to good landlords!

Welcome to My Life

2008 is definitely starting with a bang, but not the bang I wanted.

So Christmas was nice, but I should have stayed longer because I've had a lousy 2 weeks since. In a nutshell what has happened:

1. The morning we were leaving for Rifle to start out New Year's traveling for Rodeo I discovered the heater had gone out in the pump house and there was no water.

2. Shane left me behind 'cause he had to announce, but promised to come back the next morning and help sort things out and get back on the road to spend New Year's up north.

3. The pump casing cracked from the cold and leaked everywhere.

4. There were horrid snowstorms and the pass was closed. Shane could not come get me.

5. I spent 5 days in a frozen out house alone with no water except what I hauled in for New Year's.

6. The Landlord got the water situation sorted out 3 days later, but then we discovered the septic field was frozen and under the house flooded out.

7. We couldn't find the access to the field to thaw it out.

8. The Pump guy couldn't find the access to the field to thaw it out.

9. School started yesterday and the kids came back today and I've only had running water (that I could use) for 2 days of being home.

10. They found the field this afternoon but nothing is thawed and the pipes haven't been fixed where they burst.

Moral of the story: Stay in Michigan...and...I need a vacation from my vacation OR septics freeze when the water doesn't run so never let a heater go out again. I'm sure you can all imagine what my mental state is in at the moment. I need to write a book and become rich overnight.

On another note: Fun pics of the furry (and feathered) beasts that we keep collecting...