What are you up to today? This week?

[KathieB]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/379884645488163/

New dollhouse builders group I started on FB, hope to see you there!

Joane, I joined, but then I left the group. I really want to keep my fb connections to family. The interchange I get from this group is enough to keep my mini fires burning.

[havanaholly]

The DH & I don't "do" social networks.

[Minis Over The Hill]

Thanks for letting me know Kathie. If you ever want to come back, door's open.

[JackieS]

Back at work fulltime now, already working on four projects and traveling... Missing the mini time I took for granted when I was on bed rest!

[havanaholly]

Joane, I sent you a PM. THANK YOU! :hug:

[CheckMouse]

Joane, just found your FB group and submitted my join-request. I have a FB group also, for the micro scales. There aren't too many places online to share the ideas on the tiny ones.

I've just finished working the Spring Fair here - 4 days of 8-12 hours each. This morning I saw on the news that one of the oldest buildings on the fairgrounds, which for this event housed the petting zoo, was gutted by fire last night! Fortunately, it was after the event had closed so there were not very many people around. The fire was confined to that one building and they got all the animals out safely except for one little piglet. Pretty scary to get a fire going in a place like that - lots of old buildings and everything is close together.

Those long hours keep me away from my Greenleaf home I can get online with my cellphone but it's hard to follow this forum on a tiny screen. I miss too much. So I am now trying to catch up!

[KathieB]

We are packing and cleaning, preparing for the trek North in a few days. See you all on the other side!

[havanaholly]

Travel safe, Kathie. I'll be packing food & clothes into the camper this afternoon for our weekend at Three Rivers State Park.

Went in for my doctor's check up this AM and all good news; weight & cholesterol are down!

[pdlnpeabody]

I got sent home early today. Yesterday someone decided to bring their animal into our office and it didn't take long for that animal's dander to get into everything, including my sinuses. Within an hour the chain sneezing and runny nose started, went on all night, and by this afternoon, my eyes were almost swollen shut. The same thing happened while I was at the Orlando Show last year, which is why I will no longer be a vendor there. Molly walks her dog in (right under the "NO PETS ALLOWED" sign) and lets it shed on everything. I really hate when people say "it's a breed that doesn't shed". Guess what? ALL animals, including humans, shed a certain amount of hair daily. Dog and cat fur just happens to be short and light enough to float at the slightest disturbance in the air and lands on everything. I've been up since yesterday morning and can hardly see anything, so I'm waiting for the Nyquil to knock me out.

[CheckMouse]

So sorry, Jeremy! I see people at the Trade Shows bringing their dogs in all the time, as you say - right under the No Pets signs! I've also seen some bring their pets in with a "working dog" vest - which is supposed to mean they are needed for some health reason. I knew a vendor once who had this microscopic dog, more fur than meat, and he put a small vest on it and brought it in every day. I finally asked him what medical service the dog performed - it looked too small to do anything. He admitted that it actually was not a service dog, but he needed the companionship and was lonely w/o his dog so he brought him in as a service dog. Guys like that make it hard for those who really have, and need, their service animals.

[chapchap73]

Oh Jeremy, I'm so sorry about your allergic reaction. It's sad to say, but a lot of people think that others are just "faking it" when they say they have allergies to dogs and cats. What makes me maddest is the people who pretend their dog is a service animal so they can skirt the rules like CJ mentioned. There is a seeing-eye dog school right near our local mall so there are often REAL service dogs in there learning how to help people. The fact that they are there working right next to some little nothing sitting in a stroller just makes me angry. I hope you are feeling better soon.

[chesterfieldzoo]

Jeremy I hope you feel better soon.

It makes me crazy when I see people with their little pocket dogs in restaurants and grocery stores and the mall. Leave them at home. Not only do people have allergies, but I don't want their pet cooties dribbling all over my groceries. And the fake 'service dog' coats are no better than people using the handicap parking spaces. More than once I have had to park down the aisle and struggle in the rain and snow with a walker or wheelchair while some agile, healthy person who took the last handicap space hops out of their car and runs into the store

[CheckMouse]

When I see someone abusing a handicapped parking spot, my thought is: this is for the PHYSICALLY, not mentally, handicapped. Not sure I've ever had the nerve to actually say it. Someone with that attitude would be just as likely to shoot me!

[havanaholly]

Then there is my eldest son, who took his medical discharge from the USMC after his truck went off the side of a mountain in Afghanistan (on a moonless night), reinjuring his back and ensuring he would spend the rest of his 30 year career (about 8 of them left at the time) riding a desk. While he has mostly good days when he can get around just fine, he has some when he can hardly move, so he has a handicap hanger to hang from his mirror that he uses, good days and bad. Not all physical handicaps include wheelchairs, canes, braces or service animals. I haven't seen anyone abuse the "service animals" most plaqces we go, but I remember one state park campground while we were checking in a lady brought hers; it was a very noisy (as in raucous) parrot that she said she took to nursing homes and children's clinics! I have also seen other drivers on the road with the handicap decal on their tags that I swear their handicap is visual!

We are packing the camper for a weekend of paddling kayaks and eating campground potluck.

[heidiiiii]

Busy Busy Busy. Yesterday I made a batch of blood orange jam. It has been too chilly to do any yard work. We had a bit of snow yesterday. Still cold today. I have Easter foods to buy and banking to do and a new neurologist to meet today.

Brrr!

[heidiiiii]

Most days I do not need to use my handicap parking placard. But there are days when I really really need it and two things anger me the most. 1. people that park there who do not have permission to do so. 2. People being rude to me because they assume I am like #1. I say "Honey, be glad you do not suffer with half of the stuff that I deal with on a daily"

[havanaholly]

I'm pretty sure the state park we're going to has no wifi, and I'm not sure about next week's trip to LA, so I may not be on here for a couple of weeks (for those of y'all who were concerned I'd fallen off the planet last trip).

[chapchap73]

Thanks for the heads-up Holly. You know how we worry when you aren't home

I have a handicapped sticker which I use quite frequently although if you saw me in the flesh I don't look like I need it. No walker or canes yet, but I can lose energy quite quickly. It's one of the reasons I like to walk with a friend; I never know when I'm going to need to sit down and rest, and it looks more "normal" to be sitting on a curb with someone else than alone

[havanaholly]

Sarah, that's like the eldest DS; he can go along fine and then his back injury incapacitates him at the most inconvenient times.

[Deb]

I have a handicapped sticker which I use quite frequently although if you saw me in the flesh I don't look like I need it. No walker or canes yet, but I can lose energy quite quickly. It's one of the reasons I like to walk with a friend; I never know when I'm going to need to sit down and rest, and it looks more "normal" to be sitting on a curb with someone else than alone

Boy, do I know that feeling well! I've reached a point where I'm kind of afraid to go anywhere on my own because I just can't guarantee that I'm not going to need some help or at least someone to keep me company and divert gawkers while I sit down to regain enough energy to make it back to the car. I'm not in a wheelchair yet and if I'm with Bruce I have enough confidence to use just a cane because he never gets more than a foot away from me, but I'd rather use the rollator if I have a choice because I can sit down when I need to. I hate the looks I get from people who assume that I'm panting and sweating because I'm overweight. On one hand I'm glad for them that they don't know the kind of pain that is so bad it makes you sweat and struggle to breathe, but then again, they need to stop with the eye rolling and quit assuming that someone is sick because they're overweight when the opposite is true and a person is overweight because they're sick. <pausing to reread that> Wow, apparently I have some issues there huh. LOL! But yeah, I'll join y'all in wanting to bellow "Tawanda!!!!" and then turn the parking lot into a demo derby when some young and obviously healthy person takes up a handicap spot, especially when I see them jumping out of their car and dashing inside with perfect (and enviable) ease and then almost knock me over as they dash out of the store with their bottle of water just as I'm finally making it to the door. It's especially bad in areas like ours where a good portion of the population is post-retirement and there are sometimes lines of cars waiting for one handicap spot to open up.

I'm sorry about my blue outlook today. I have ups and downs with various health issues and there have been some bad days with my thyroid lately so I haven't been around much. On days like this I'll spend an hour typing out a post and then read it and realize that it makes no sense so I delete it and run away from the computer. (or the muscle spasms will hit my hands making them flail around on the keyboard and delete me right out of the post I was typing) Today is better although I'm still backspacing more than I'm forward-typing. If you were talking to me face to face right now you'd see me waving my hands around, trying to pull the right word from thin air or fighting frustration because it's such a struggle to communicate that I can either talk or open my eyes, but I can't do both at the same time. For example, this post was just supposed to say that I've been quiet because I don't feel well; tell Heidi that I'm thinking of her today; wish KathieB a safe trip home; and tell Holly not to forget to pack extra warm socks just because you never know when you might need an extra pair of warm socks. Now that I've done those things plus had a small rant and a little cry, I'm going to head out to the patio where I'll watch the birds and clouds without trying to talk to any of them. <grinning> I'll still try to make use of today's talents by throwing pebbles at lizards (without coming anywhere close to hitting them) and yelling "mmeefppft!" at them when they come up on the patio. Even on bad days I try to leverage my strengths. hehehehe

[Roxxie2]

Busy here......trying to catch up all the chores and errands I didn't get done this past week. I am making a dent in it at least before another weekend sneaks up on me!
Kat, Stacey, I am not ignoring my friends........just running around like a nut.......
I will catch up to you soon ok?

[Selkie]

I have a placard too and I try very hard to find spaces just as near as the HC ones w/o actually using mine. I'm more OK on my way in so folks don't think I need it but after being on the concrete floors for 5-10 minutes, I'm sweating bullets and in excruciating pain. I lean on the carts whether I need a cart to shop or not. I do have a cane but Twinkle hates for me to use it so I only use it when I don't have any other options. It embarrasses her. She is 14 after all. Uneven ground is a super trip hazard for me. I'll be flat on my face in 2 seconds. I'm hoping to have some surgery sometime this year to see if I can get some better mobility. We'll see. Guess minis and mobility issues are hanging out together lately.

[rackey]

So sorry, Jeremy! I see people at the Trade Shows bringing their dogs in all the time, as you say - right under the No Pets signs! I've also seen some bring their pets in with a "working dog" vest - which is supposed to mean they are needed for some health reason. I knew a vendor once who had this microscopic dog, more fur than meat, and he put a small vest on it and brought it in every day. I finally asked him what medical service the dog performed - it looked too small to do anything. He admitted that it actually was not a service dog, but he needed the companionship and was lonely w/o his dog so he brought him in as a service dog. Guys like that make it hard for those who really have, and need, their service animals.

You are right, CJ. People who stretch or abuse certain privileges make it hard for those people for whom the exception was made. Jeremy, I don't know why someone would bring a dog into an office, unless it was a service dog. People need to reaize that while their pets are a part of them, that is not the case with the outside world, so rules need to be followed and consideration must be given.

As a young child I was afraid of dogs because I was frightened by two hunting dogs that were harmless but had taken me by surprise. People who knew I was afraid would often tell me that their dog doesn't bite and wouldn't do anything to restrain the dog in my presence. Even if it didn't bite, which all dogs do, I was still afraid, so I used to tell people I was allergic to dogs. I got a little more respect then, but occassionally, I would get the "he don't shed" response.

When I was 12 my family got a toy poodle named Missey that helped me overcome my fear of dogs. Missey was so small I didn't think she would scare anyone; but whenever a person came into my home and acted afraid or bothered by her, I would take her in my room and close the door. I loved that dog like family, but I wanted to give my house guests the consideration I often didn't get as a child.

[rackey]

Selkie, you might want to tell Twinkle that her grandma will embarrass her much more if she falls in front of her friends than if she is seen wth a cane. Also, don't be afraid to use your handicapped placard. Very often I see people leave or walk toward their handicapped spots with ease, and I wonder if they are taking advantage of someone else's placard. But I don't question them as it is not my place, and they could very well have a less noticible handicap.

When my friend Mary Ann was going for chemo treatments and was losing her hair, she wore a wig and parked in a handicapped spot. Her doctor issued her a temporary handicap card because the chemo made her weaker. As she was hanging her placard on her rearview mirror, a woman knocked on her window and pointed to the handicapped sign. I guess Mary Ann didn't look handicapped, and nothing she said got through to the woman until she took her wig off. I bet that woman never questioned anyone since.

[Deb]

. Very often I see people leave or walk toward their handicapped spots with ease, and I wonder if they are taking advantage of someone else's placard.

I never question anyone who has a placard in their car because I know about invisible diseases and I figure that if they have the card, it means they deserve the spot. It's the ones who don't have a license but think it's okay to use the handicap spots because they're just "running in for a minute" that trip my trigger. Personally, I think they should go ahead and park in the fire zones to do that........a fire truck will just drive right over the top of their car if it's in the way and what better way to teach someone a lesson about parking where they don't belong.

after being on the concrete floors for 5-10 minutes, I'm sweating bullets and in excruciating pain. I lean on the carts whether I need a cart to shop or not.

I've been known to base my shopping choices on the store with the least painful floor. If you look at some store floors, you can actually see the dips and curves in them which is a good indicator that it's not a place where I want to spend an extended period of time. Do you have degenerative disc disease too Selkie or is it sciatica?