Poof, another week has vanished! Which means it’s time for Friday Five, where we all share five random things from our week. Here are mine:

1. SNAKE!!! I looked out back on Wednesday, and saw Maggie staring down something that, at first, I assume was a lizard. They were on the other side of the pool, the thing in planter against the fence, and Maggie on the concrete about 18 inches away from it. I couldn’t see the critter’s body, just its head poking up over the lip of the concrete, frozen and staring back at Maggie. When I saw Maggie back up a couple of steps, a chill went down my spine. I thought, that’s not a lizard, she wouldn’t back up, she’d pounce on it. I called Maggie, and surprisingly, she came inside. I shut her in the house, then I went out to look, and got just close enough to see it was a SNAKE! I ran back inside and told Wizard. He rushed out and chased the snake away. He says it was a harmless garter snake. While he was doing that, I texted Biker Witch and said, “Maggie found a snake in the backyard, I’m moving today.” She totally supported me. Wizard, however, was completely unreasonable and insisted we were safe and not moving.
2. To repay Maggie for her amazing bravery in finding a snake (and last week she alerted me to a coyote on our walk) I took her to get her rabies shot, and renew her license. Maggie has informed me that is not a suitable reward. Too back for her, she weighed 19 pounds! She was 15 when we got her. Maggie claims it’s her new green collar, but I’m not buying that
3. So I have the shoes for the wedding! Much to my surprise, I kept the shoes from Pennys. It turns out Biker Witch was right about them. They are surprisingly comfortable, good for a beach wedding on hard-packed sand, and I’ll be able to wear them again. (I returned the other shoes to Amazon, they just didn’t work for me) Here are shoes I’m wearing: 
4. My health insurance has approved for my neck surgery, and the coordinator called Wednesday to let me know she was going to call the hospital to arrange a date. I haven’t heard back yet. I’ll probably check in with her today. I need that surgery date to arrange all my pre-op and get fitted for a cervical collar. I know logically this is the right thing to do, but it’s still not easy to jump into this. But, dang, I want my life back!
5. Wizard and I had a giftcard to Cheesecake Factory. I’ve been eating more than I should, out of frustration because I’m physically limited, missed deadlines, etc. But I’ve been trying this week a little bit. So at Cheesecake Factory, I chose something healthy and told Wizard to use the balance of the giftcard to get whatever dessert he wanted to take home. But Wizard is devious, and he ordered TWO pieces of cheesecake to go home with us, and worse, and was one of my favorites! What kind of wicked sabotage is this???? Wizard is normally supportive when I cut back, but right now, he is determined that I shouldn’t worry about weight as long as I’m eating generally healthy, and should just enjoy food and life. Sigh….this is why I love him despite his refusing to call movers to get us safely out of the house the day a garter snake got into our backyard….although I still think he was not being totally rational.

So my five, now it’s time to share yours! I hope everyone who sees this has a great weekend!

It’s hump day and time for our Wednesday Worthy candidate. Here he is:

So what do you think, is he worthy?

Quiet. That was my weekend, and I’m good with that. I worked, not making visible progress, but noodling around with some ideas on how to get from the middle to the end. I’m going back to the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) Method

Today, I’m getting my teeth cleaned because the fun never ends around here

How was your weekend?

TGIF!!! Every week is the same thing–I wake up on Monday, blink, and suddenly it’s Friday! Now it’s time to share five random things about our week. Here are mine:

1. It’s just over two weeks until Middle Son’s wedding! I’m really excited! So…you’re all gonna laugh. I returned dress number 3 and I’m going to wear a dress I already have. I think I’ve worn it once to a publisher cocktail party in a state I don’t even remember. I think it’ll be ok. I just can’t find something I want that fits and is in my budget.
2. Speaking of budget. Since I’m not buying a dress, I booked a hair appointment to have my hair done in an updo. Then I told Wizard how much it costs.I think he took it well I may change my mind and cancel it, but I can’t hold my arms up long enough to put my own hair up.
3. Tuesday, I went to lunch and shopping with Biker Witch (my sister). For lunch, we ordered two small plate appetizers to share, then split a piece of key lime cheesecake. So good! Then I found a pair of really cute shoes with a three-inch wedge heel. I very wisely put them back, after all I’m having neck surgery! So what did I do then? I came home and ordered them online. Forty minutes later, I knew that was stupid, so I called to cancel the order (with J.C. Penney) and was told it’s too late, they had already shipped. REALLY???? Color me doubtful. Anyway, I’ll likely be taking those back. Maybe
4. We went to see Baby Slayer yesterday for a while. Special K tried to go in her office and work while we were there (she’s working on her master’s degree). But every time she hears us exclaim over something Baby Slayer does, she comes running out saying, “What did he do? What did I miss?” She’s such a great mom! She’s doing excellent in school too. And in case anyone wonders, my son, CPA Boy is the best dad ever. He adores both his wife and son, as he should.
5. This last one some of you many want to skip. One or two people have asked me about this surgery on my neck, and I’ll give you some details here now that I’ve made my decision and am just waiting for a surgical date, most likely late October or November. The procedure is a two-level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF). So they have to go in through the front of my neck, and will make the incision from one side of my neck to the center, Once in there, they will nudge my esophagus and some nerves aside (I gagged the first time I heard this) to make room. Once they get to my spine, they will removed two disks at C4/5 and C5/6, replace those with donor bone, and clean up all the fragments that have migrated out from the degeneration of the two discs. Then they’ll make sure everything lines up as best they can, and put in a plate and screws to hold it together (that’s the fusion), and they’ll close up. It’s going to be a long recovery. I’ll have to wear a collar for two, possibly three months, and it can take a year or more for the bones to fuse (grow) together. This surgery is pretty successful, although I’ll lose some movement in my neck. I can’t turn my neck all the way now, so I’ll probably adjust to that fine. Yes, there are risks, but at this point, I’m willing to try. But now you all know why I tried so hard to avoid this. However, I’m ready to get it done and be able to live and write again. If you want to know more, you can go to YouTube and find animation videos.

Okay that’s my 5 now it’s your turn to share yours! Hope everyone has a great weekend. I plan to try, again, to write because I never give up!

Yesterday was so busy with life stuff, I barely caught my breath, but I managed to find this guy for Wednesday Worthy:

So what do you think, is he worthy?

Awesome weekend! My niece’s wedding was at sunset against the rolling hills of Temecula Wine Country (in Southern CA).  My niece was beautiful, and both the bride and groom shined with love and graciousness. All three of our sons, their wives/fiances and Baby Slayer went, and I’m so proud that all of them really strive to make these important family occasions. It truly was a fun night, and of course, Baby Slayer was adorable as he was passed around the family and extended family. There was also a little flower girl from the groom’s side of the family who was so cute too. She did a great job of walking down the aisle and dropping rose petals from her basket. I’m guessing she was about three or four, and later that night, she was dancing up a storm on the dance floor. She was totally precious!

And of course Baby Slayer spent the night with us (along with his mom and dad). Baby Slayer was so keyed up he didn’t go to sleep until around midnight, but then he slept straight through until about 7:30 or so. He’s such a good baby! Here’s a pic of him with me right after waking in the morning when he’s mellow and just hangs out for a little while.

This is Baby Slayer with his dad (cut out of the frame cuz it’s all about Baby Slayer which makes CPA Boy pout and say things like, “Remember me, Mom, your first born son?” LOL!!) And look at all that hair on that boy! He’s still a bit young, and way too wiggly, for a haircut.

He smiles and laughs all the time, but I didn’t get any pictures of that, of course. I was too busy playing with him! By the time they went home Sunday afternoon, Wizard and I were toast. I don’t think I can lift my bad arm (from my neck issues), but it’s all worth it! Wizard, CPA Boy and Special K, watched me for the slightest wince of pain–honestly they’re all exhausting because nothing’s going to stop me from playing with Baby Slayer! But I do speak up if something causes hot pain, or I know I can’t lift him at a certain angle, so they need to trust me to tell them On the other hand, family care and be a little protective is a pretty good problem to have in life.

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

I hope everyone in the Florence’s path is okay! That hurricane/storm is looking very serious. If you are able to stop by, it’s Friday and that means it’s time to list five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. I got my nails done for the first time in months yesterday. Only a family wedding would inspire me to do this as it’s uncomfortable for me to sit in that position. But on the upside, Baby Slayer and his parents are coming over to go with us to the wedding, and they’ll stay the night here again!
2. The spin cycle on my washing machine is acting up. I can use it, I just have to fight with it about 40% of the time to get it to spin. We decided that rather than having it fixed, we’d invest in a new set. This should be easy, right? Bwhahaha! The biggest problem is that we have a smallish laundry room so when we find a set with the features we like, it’s too big. I’ve already paired my desired features down to the bare bones, things like a top loading washer with a laundry softener dispenser (Why would they sell them without one????), and a gas dryer with a door that opens down rather than swings to the side due to space limitations. That’s about it. We found one set online that hit the boxes, I tried ordering it–and it’s on backorder. Why does something so simple turn into a major pain-in-the-butt that eats up hours and hours of our time? I may rethink having my washing machine fixed and hope it hangs in there for a while.
3. The other day, I came out of the doctor’s office to find a twenty something man trying to open my car door and looking perplexed. He noticed me and said, “Oh, is this your car?” I nodded, and he grinned sheepishly, “I thought it was mine. Sorry.” Then he walked one row over, waved at me and got in a Toyota Camry that looked exactly like mine.  I cracked up in relief–for once it wasn’t me publicly embarrassing myself, and my second thought, of course, was that’s a great Meet Cute scenario for a romantic comedy if I amped it up a little bit
4. So after seeing two surgeons, and the follow-up consultation with the second one, I’ve decided to have the two level ACD&F surgery. It’s a pretty dramatic surgery, and it was not an easy decision. But I’ve done everything else, so it’s the only chance I have at improved quality of life. If I don’t do anything, the chances for things to get worse are pretty high. Now that I’ve decided, I’d like to get it done this year and move on. Also, I’m going to go into this with a positive attitude and confidence that it will be successful and I’ll have a full recovery.
5. I think I’m going stop even trying to write, at least through this weekend. Then I’m going to re-evaluate where I am in the book, and in my head, to see if I can find a way to draft the rest of the book before I have surgery. Trust me, I’m the one who’s gotten in my own way on this. Yes the pain and physical limitations are some of it, but I’ve also written an easy six or seven hundred pages (sadly, I’m not exaggerating but I’m trying to be honest), then I keep deleting scenes because nothing is good enough. This is a classic case of getting in my own way!

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear five things about your week! I hope everyone has a safe, good weekend!