What are you up to today? This week?

[havanaholly]

That's a very enigmatic statement, Holly. What did he do during his Terrible Twos????

We have never met anyone in Atlanta who was born there, so he figured there is some unwritten law that people who were born there aren't allowed to live there; not that we mind; it's 'way too big a city for us, anyway!

We brought DS#3 over 6/10 to spend the month with us and took him and the camper to the state park in Gautier, MS, for his semi-annual week at the beach; only the closest public beaches are out on barrier islands, so we didn't go. We did go on a boat cruise of the esuaries around the Pascagoula River from the Audubon Center that was fascinating, and we spent a day in Ocean Springs letting him take in the Water Anderson Museum of Art (and I ordered a cicada from Shearwater Pottery to hang on our house). He and one of his friends had gone to Biloxi to the casinos, so he got to see the parts of Biloxi that aren't casinos when we went. We found several outstanding restaurants and Shepard State Park was gorgeous, but the yellow flies made it not much fun to stay outside. Next time we visit I think we'll try for a site at the Gulf Islands National Seashore campground in Ocean Springs, MS. Anyway, we got home around lounchtime and I have three more loads of dirty clothes to wash.

[pdlnpeabody]

I was in a bad accident 12 years ago. I was freshly showered, my apartment was clean, my underwear matched.........when I got to where I could understand the enormity of what happened the last time I'd had a shower and whether I left the house clean or not meant nothing. Since the accident people don't usually understand why I am so different. And me? I understand more than ever. One thing is that dollhouses have helped me more than counselors. When you have a reason to feel sad, you have a reason. You can't rationalize it away. But an escape into miniland, now you're talkin!

In the motorcycle community, we say "some people get mental health counseling when they're feeling down. The rest of us throw a leg over a bike and ride." Instant happiness with the twist of the throttle.

You remind me of a family friend who had an accident about 20 years ago. She was about to get in the shower when she slipped and hit her knee against the tub. It popped her patella around to the back of her knee. She was in agony, but dragged herself to the phone and called 911. It was about the time she heard the sirens that she realized she was still completely undressed. She couldn't get to her clothes in time, so she hid in a closet. It didn't take long for them to find her and she was mortified. She arrived at the E.R. with nothing but the blanket they threw on her after they put her on the stretcher. Fortunately her injury wasn't as bad as it looked or felt.

[woodland_miniatures]

Yeah, it's amazing the instant assessment of whether or not we're "decent" that sets in AFTER the 911 call, and usually when it's too late and/or we're too incapable of doing anything about it. One medic put it to me once that since I was sane, sober, and not trying to claw his or my own eyes out, he really didn't notice minor matters like BO or halitosis. Again, put it into perspective....

[morgansmith]

Jeremy~ My Dad was quite the well known rider when I was growing up. I even had a motorcycle back when. Go-karts too. I don't remember anyone we knew needing counseling

Don't get me wrong. I am a HUGE advocate of counseling for those who need it and benefit from it. I had to go to counseling after my accident as insurance required it 'under the circumstances' (The other driver was at fault and it was bad). Had I not been forced to go I would never have known I have severe ptsd. I didn't go to war and it never occured to me. My counselor was awesome. She educated me and gave me coping skills. She did not ask me to come back every week after awhile, she enabled me to deal on my own. But there are definitely such as hobbies like this that have real medicinal & psychological value and truly replace a need for therapy. I would love to be younger, get a therapists license and work with dollhouse therapy. It only makes sense.

[grazhina]

Sunday was the best birthday I've had in years. I happened to wake up early, so I went shopping and bought myself a few birthday presents, like an outdoor footstool stuffed with styrafoam pellets so I can put my feet up when sitting on my front porch glider, and a big beautiful pillow to put behind my back in my living room chair. My son keeps changing the adjustment on the chair, it's one of those old fashioned mission style ones with pegs in the back to adjust the back position. Now I can just pop the cushion into place and relax.The cushion was made in the USA! Yeay!!

I went to a new bakery to select a birthday cake - lemon, with raspberry filling and whipped cream frosting. It was delicious, I may have become addicted. It was one of the 3 best cakes I've eaten in the past 15 years. - Really!

Finally, I made some tasty enchiladas for dinner, and my husband had to eat them without complaint. Although he will take me to a Mexican restaurant once or twice a year, he doesn't want to eat Mexican at home. On the other hand, although he cleaned up the kitchen after dinner, he complained about how could I make such a huge mess cooking. He's a neat freak, thinks I should put each cutting board, bowl and implement into the dishwasher as I go along, while I'm listening to "when's supper" and "I'm hungry".

As to Monday - blech. Started out good......I was able to restart my exercise routine because my heel didn't hurt. About my heel - when I was doing my spring planting in early June I somehow hurt the bottom of my heel. I've since learned that I most likely did something to my back which caused a pinched nerve that made my heel hurt. It's a funny old world, isn't it? The pain in the bottom of my heel eventually caused pain in my Achilles tendon. The pain or discomfort has been coming and going all month. Yesterday morning I thought it was all gone for good. Boy was I wrong.

I wound up spending much of my afternoon sitting with my foot and ankle in a bucket of cold water. Last night I limped up to my bedroom to lie down and watch TV only to discover that later I couldn't get out of bed because of the excruciating pain in my Achilles tendon. I had to crawl to the bathroom, managed to get onto one foot by clinging to the tub, etc. etc.

I finally managed to get back into bed, my husband in his ever so sympathetic way said, "what the hell are you doing? What's your problem?" I guess he forgot how often he's seen me limping off and on around the house for the past 3 weeks, especially last night.

Eventually I drifted off to sleep, but I must have been making some kind of noise, cause he gave me a shove, which caused me to suddenly jiggle my foot, which made the pain come back. After 20 minutes I gave up trying to sleep, but I couldn't get up onto my feet, so I crawled out the door. My ever so sympathetic husband muttered "geeze - what are you doing?" As I closed the door I told him to shut up and go back to sleep.

I managed to get downstairs, dumped some ice into my bucket of water, and sat in my reading chair with a good book and my foot in a bucket for the next hour and a half.

Today the bottom of my foot feels ok so far, and my Achilles tendon is just a little sore. Walking around a little now and then is good for my foot, so I won't be too active. I'd like to try and work on some kind of project, but some of my stuff is in my studio above the garage, and some of it is in the dining room and some of it is in the basement work shop. I'll have to think about it and see how my foot feels.

[kat57]

God,bless your heart,grazhina! After such a great birthday,to have such a bad time with your foot seems so unfair! I'm sending lots of good thoughts and prayers your way!And please,no offense toward you,but this is a reminder to me that,yes,being divorced and still single IS a good thing sometimes!lol Hope you feel much much better soon!

[havanaholly]

Happy belated birthday, Grazhe, and I'm so sorry to hear about your foot. We stopped by our old house on our way to pick up DS#3 and bring him back, and got into chiggers; and about the time those stopped burning and itching, darned if I didn't get into more hiking around the MS Sandhill Crane reserves this past week.

[morgansmith]

Grazhina~ I ditto the 'bless your heart'. As for the details you shared, like Kat mentioned, your situation does give us things to be thankful for, however, you sound thankful yourself. Rather like you are in total disbelief as to all of this and glad to be taking every forward step. No pun intended. A piece of advice Keep everything for at least one project, where you are I feel deeply for you but the inability to get to what you need, I feel your frustration. Like, to heck with the pain, just get me my dollhouse! I wish you the best in healing.

And speaking of portable projects........I made the decision to get myself a tiny bjd. One that will fit in my dollhouses. (I have several bigger bjd's) I need something to make tiny clothes for I am envisioning a dollhouse with a giant walk in closet, filled with tiny clothes I make myself and collect from all over the world. Do I sound like I am closer to 5, or 50? But seriously, I NEED my sewing and knitting basket work. Guess it's time to take that to the dollhouse

[havanaholly]

Morgan, we are never too old to enjoy playing with our dolls and dollhouses.

[chapchap73]

Morgan, I totally understand! I feel I must warn you about those tiny bjds. I started with one; she got lonely so she needed a friend. Then they decided they had to have a "littler" sister...and more clothes. Don't forget wigs, shoes..the works. Little divas all 3 of them!

Grazhina, so sorry to hear about your foot. Hope it feels better soon:)

Spent my Fling time at the dr getting tested for carpal tunnel in my left hand. I definitely don't recommend it. Not fun at all:( Test was negative so time to have another MRI. I'm sure it's just another MS present, but I might as well make sure. At least I got the laundry done:D

[GirlPiper]

Ouch! Hope it heals soon (sorry about the pun--no I'm not!)

[morgansmith]

Oh no! Sarah, you have MS? And Grazhina........your foot......Sandy? and Selkie with COPD, Mary with such challenge....it's like people with challenges find dollhouses, or perhaps dollhouses find them. And then there are the dolls and bears and fairies and dogs and cats.....and I don't have to cook for or feed any of them. Indeed, we build happy places in miniature. We aren't broken we are lucky.

[heidiiiii]

It is humid and I hate it.

Otherwise the garden is doing really good. I gave all three dogs a flea bath and when I get up from the computer, I am going to sprinkle the borax on the carpet in the living room. I hope this is not a horrendous flea year like last year.

On a side note, I think I need to go back to the ear dr but I do not want to. I wake up with fluid on the right side of my face from my nose. I fear I am going to have to have surgery again. I am not going to ignore it totally. I have not completely healed from the last surgery (nerve pain on incision site). So send out little prayer that it is nothing.

[grazhina]

Heidi, here's to you and hoping things clear up, and the fleas flee.

My foot is in the water only now and then so far today.

I don't want to wear an Ace bandage, cause they irritate the sole of my foot.

I certainly don't want to require a cast or surgery in the future, so I'm just gonna soak a little and walk a little so long as nothing starts to hurt.

Yesterday I updated one of my links pages on NEM

http://grazhinaslinks.blogspot.com/

I've also been adding Made in USA to American made items on NEM, but I'm not finished.

Did not work on any mini project after all, but since I had my heart set on getting back to my walks (lost 10 pounds last summer, but they came back within a very short time), I guess I may be able to squeeze in some creative time for me during the upcoming weeks.

[kat57]

Heidi, What sort of surgery did you have previously,if I might ask,ear or nose? I have almost 100% hearing loss in one ear,partly hereditary and-I will always believe-partly because I put off having an abscessed molar taken care of. My hearing went way down afterwards. Two different doctors ,years apart,told me they wouldn't know if surgery could help me until after they cut into me;if not,they would just close up and send me on my way,basically! Needless to say,I didn't choose have surgery! So,hopefully,whatever your case,you'll have it checked soon and it will be alright. Sending you good thoughts and a hefty prayer that all goes well! grazhina,Still have you in my prayers,too and I think it is so great that you are making note of Made In America products!

[morgansmith]

All of you........heal! My orders. Now. Get well. The mini world needs you to feel like having fun

As for 'Made in USA'. I remember when most things, made anywhere else, were obviously inferior. Now, I appreciate US made, alot, but........I LOVE the way the internet, etsy, ebay.....even this forum, connect me with people, artists, things from all over. Seriously cool. For my 2011 Spring Fling I made a game of it having something from every state and every country possible. And the people who made items all have stories which I kept track of. One woman, I wrote 'the only problem with your product is I love it so much I want more'. It was on ebay. Instead of listing more, she made more and sent them as a gift. I wrote again and thanked her. I intended to buy more and her items disappeared. I received a reply from her daughter days later. Her Mom had died unexpectedly and ebay was her life. I treasure the history of my houses. The artists and sellers who are a part. It's all a wonderful experience, not just a project.

[pdlnpeabody]

Fortunately, I haven't been in a situation where I had to worry about dirty dishes or what I was (or wasn't) wearing, even on the two occasions when I was getting the EMS escort to the E.R. My problem is locality. Gainesville, FL only has two hospitals that aren't part of the V.A., and I have worked at both of them, so I know their E.R. and other staff well. The fear of being in an awkward or embarrassing situation is one reason I avoid going at all if I can, and the few times I went for vehicle accidents, I refused any pain killers. I'd rather deal with discomfort and have the clarity of mind to refuse any embarrassing tests or procedures (what can I say? I'm modest). I once heard some of the E.R. nurses say "a sedated patient is a compliant patient." I would have to be in pretty bad shape to end up in that situation.

I have seen a few counselors over the years, but every one of them were crackpots who needed the counseling. Their "bury your head in the sand and think only happy thoughts" mantra wasn't my cup of tea. I have been seeing Dr. Yamaha for the past 10 years and Dr. Honda before that. Aside from the occasional run in with a stop sign runner, the sessions have been great.

I'm trying to get everything packed for the move on Friday, but my 1 year old has been staying up past midnight every night this week. Last night I was packing up all of our kitchen items only to find him unpacking the previously packed box. He can climb out of his crib, so there's no way to keep him out of the way.

I can barely wait to get back to work on the houses. Mostly so I can get them sold or out of the way. Julianna has changed her mind about wanting a "doll castle". Now she wants a house. A purple one. Built by the end of the day. Obviously she has no idea what's involved, but she's 5, so she will soon find out when she helps me build it. Even my wife wants in on the action. I suspect she will want a Victorian. I'm ok with that, but I was hoping the next house would be a different style than what I have worked with before.

[havanaholly]

Jeremy, start on an ultra-modern one, just to see the reaction; betcha they'll love it!

[pdlnpeabody]

Holly, I know my wife will love it, but I'll have to show pictures of different houses to Julianna and see which one she likes the most. The important thing is I have to build it within a couple of years. I don't want it to turn into a 5 or 6 year odyssey that she may lose interest in.

[GirlPiper]

Think "toy" this time so she can play with it. Your other builds are museum quality so I would hate to see a small child being careful to the point of crushing her imagination.

[pdlnpeabody]

That's the other reason I'm not jumping on the Victorian bandwagon. My houses are as sturdy as any plywood or MDF house (if not sturdier), so I don't mind building her a masterpiece. But Victorians are notorious for fragile trim details, which she would break easily. I really don't want to put any effort into building a "starter" or simple house she may lose interest in. My plan is to build a collectible house with plenty of rooms, but hold off on things like lights and quality furnishings until she is older. She isn't rough with her toys like my boys are and has shown a great deal of restraint and caution when opening the doors and cabinets in the Tudor house. I'm more concerned with the boys causing damage to it if we don't get into a real house soon, where she can keep it out of their reach.

[morgansmith]

Jeremy~ You are so right about crackpot therapists. I tell anyone who MUST go, shop around until you like one. For those who need a hobby, I say buy a dollhouse

For your daughter (LOVE her name by the way) buy something off craigslist to rehab. I have a 5 year old daughter who loves dollhouses and she loves to watch the rehab transformation. It completely fascinates her.

[woodland_miniatures]

Second the comment about head-shrinkers in general, though I know there are some good ones out there. As someone who had a total emotional meltdown in 1989 (several psych ward stays, etc.) followed by 8-9 years of therapy, I've been there and done that and ain't never, ever gonna do it again. Right now I'm doing my best to help a friend who is in the middle of crushing and crazed family problems to deal with it and them, but mostly to protect herself from the damage her family is inflicting on her. Spent all morning and much of the afternoon with her, helping her decide what she MUST do to keep herself from being torn apart, and it frankly brought up some things for me that I'd much rather not have floating around in my head again. SIGH!!

So I shall be mini-ing rather heavily in the next little while - it's been better by far for my head than any counseling or therapy ever was.

[kat57]

I agree with you all about the wonderful therapy to be found in something carefree and fun like dollhouses and miniatures.I haven't had a break down exactly,but I have developed some very severe emotional problems that have taken their toll.With a mother who calls people like me crazy (not me directly,but people like me with issues) and who is part of the problem and just doesn't/won't recognize her part,and my ever-worsening fear of and isolation from being in public places,well,if I didn't have my 2 sons I don't know where I'd be.And now,connecting with this wonderful group of people that I have come to cherish so much!You must know what it means to me. :wub: Thanx!

[havanaholly]

When I took required coursework as part of a promotion I received when working at a state mental hospital the instructors were a Tallahassee clinical psychologist and his assistant, and I availed myself of the opportunity to get some professional counselling. The really GOOD pros give you the insights, the skills and the actual tools to identify and deal with whatever's trying to scramble your brains, and recognizing the therapeutic benefits of hobbies and play is a pretty darned useful tool!