Boy is my face red . . .

I'm kinda outspoken.  I'm very outgoing.  There's not a whole lot of reservation in my personality.  I have to make a conscious effort not to speak out in most situations.  People very rarely forget me, because I tend to make a lasting impression.  :-/

I'm not saying any of this to brag.  It's one of my worst faults.  I'm obnoxious.  I'm impulsive.  I talk too much even when I'm stone-cold-sober.   I'm one of those people who needs to be reminded that I don't have to say every thought in my head!  I promise . . . I'm working on this problem . . . it is definitely a major fault in my character.  [ BTW:  Shane took this photo of me :) ]

So I had a little out-patient procedure on Wednesday.  I have painful varicose veins in my legs.  I have finally taken steps to improve my situation and met with a vein specialist, Dr. Guest.

Dr. Guest, who is the nicest guy ever, did the procedure on my left leg on Wednesday morning.  It's a procedure that he does in his office.  You aren't put under with anesthesia, but are sedated with another kind of medicine.  Kind of like the sedation you are put under when you have a colonoscopy.  I can't remember the name of the medicine, but let's just say . . . I think it really relaxes your inhibitions  . . . I think I may embarrassed myself during the procedure.

I can remember talking and talking and talking to the doctor and nurses. . . . while they were doing the procedure.  Every day, since the procedure, I remember something I said to them . . . to my total embarrassment!

I told them about my blog.  Really.  That's why I'm writing about it.  I promised them I would "blog" about it!
I made one of the nurses take a picture with me.

And then because I didn't like it, I made her take another picture with me.

Can you tell I'm on drugs in these pictures.  I don't remember taking these pictures!  I have a faint memory of doing it but I didn't remember it until I uploaded my pictures from the camera!  Guess what else I did?!?  I made Dr. Guest take a picture with me!

Imagine my embarrassment when I saw this picture on my camera!  I may have to find another vein specialist to fix the veins in my right leg!  Ha!

But hey, considering I had just had 21 veins fixed in my leg . . . I think I look pretty good!  Can you believe that?!?  Twenty-one veins.  I have 21 little holes in my leg where they inserted a laser and tube and injected some fluid into my veins.

And other than my leg being dark purple and blue and swollen . . . and the fact I'm so embarrassed by my behavior . . . I haven't had a terrible time recovering from this procedure.  It hasn't been too terribly painful. Ibuprofen has worked well.  There are some restrictions for the first two weeks after surgery.  But nothing too bad.  I have to wear compression hose for two weeks.  I can't get in the sun for 4 to 6 weeks.  I have to take ibuprofen for two weeks whether I'm hurting or not.  I can't swim or exercise for two weeks.

I can't wait to see what my leg looks like once it's healed.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the difference it's going to make as far as my legs hurting and aching all the time.

Really . . . though . . . I can't repeat some of the things I asked the doctor and nurses while they were working on my leg.  Let's just say that besides being a vein specialty clinic, it's also a hair removal clinic . . . . yes, I said hair removal . . can you imagine what all I asked them concerning that topic!

The entire episode is so embarrassing for  . . . 

                                 the Ferrell boys and me!

Weekend Fun and Projects Done!

Most of the time I feel like I'm doing okay as the Ferrell Boys Mom, but then other times I realize that I could do so much better.

Like for instance . . . the swimming pool.  I worked on getting the swimming pool totally cleaned up and even moved it up by the house so it would be more convenient for the boys and for me when they want to swim.  Most every time they ask to go swimming, I let them go swimming . . . I say let because if I don't watch them swim, then they can't go swimming.  They just aren't old enough to go swimming unsupervised yet.

But even though I fixed the pool up for them and let them swim whenever they want to swim, I still wasn't doing the best that I could do as far as swimming was concerned.  Of course, I had no idea that my children were being deprived in any way until this weekend.  What changed?

I changed.

I changed into my swimsuit (horrors) and got in the pool with them!  And the difference it made to them . . . who could have known that me getting in the pool would be that big a deal to these rowdy three boys I'm with all the time anyway?!?

But that's just it.  Apparently swimming is more fun when Momma is there with them.  Was it more fun for Momma?   Uh nope.  I got water in my ears.  My hair got wet.  And I need a vacuum for the pool cause I didn't like the leaves that had accumulated on the pool floor when I stepped on them.

But the boys loved it.  And I loved that.  I actually got in the pool on Friday and Saturday.

Zach and Alex both know how to swim.  Shane hasn't learned yet.  So I decided to give him a little swimming lesson while I was in the pool.

Lesson #1:  Learn how to kick your legs in the water.

Shane, "But I don't want to get water in my face."   Hey Shane, if you get in the pool, you're gonna get some water on your face!  

That's all the lessons we accomplished this weekend.  :)  

Zach demonstrated his version of the dead man's float for me.   

Besides swimming this weekend, we also did some cleaning around the house.  My sweet daddy came out Saturday and mowed our front yard and back yard.  The grass was almost to my waist . . . it was soooo high!  Our yard is about 3 acres to mow so it took Daddy several hours to mow it.  And then because the grass was so tall, there were rows and piles of grass clippings everywhere.  So Daddy came out Sunday afternoon with his grass catcher attachment to his mower and raked up all the grass clippings into the bag . . . and then dumped out the grass "hay" for the cows to enjoy.

My yard looks so good!  My Daddy does such a great job on everything he does.

And while Daddy was mowing, my sweet momma spent Saturday helping Alex clean up his room and go through his toys.  On Sunday she helped Alex clean out his closet AND clean up his bathroom (like under the sink and in all the drawers).  She helped him purge his toy collection and now he has a bunch of toys to give away.

Now I was busy too.  While my sweet parents were busy working in the yard and cleaning Alex's room, I was working on the breakfast area in my kitchen.  I'm almost finished with that project.

My friend Laycee came out one night last week and helped me decide where to put the plates and pictures I had purchased for the breakfast area.  I was having a hard time deciding where to hang everything.

Today,  Dave helped me hang everything.  But I'm still not completely happy with the way it looks.  I need some opinions please.  Here is what it looked like when Dave was finished:

My Daddy hung the Ferrell Farm sign for me a few weeks ago. 

Today, Dave added the plates on either side of the Ferrell Farm sign.  There are farm animals on the plates.

Dave also hung the cross and the two rooster pictures on either side of the window.

Here's my problem . . . I can't decide if I like the animal plates hanging beside the Ferrell Farm sign.  What do you think?

With the Plates:

Without the Plates:

With the Plates:

Without the Plates:

What do you think?  And should I put some white wooden blinds on the window?  I'm so close to being completely through with my breakfast area.  This is all I have left to do.  Help me please?!?

Also on Saturday, I got stung by a wasp helping my Daddy outside.  It was very traumatic.  I haven't been stung by a wasp in years so I had forgotten how bad it hurts.  My poor hand is still swollen and sore today.

On Saturday, Dave took Zach fishing as a reward for his hard work in the yard picking up limbs and trash.

We have 8 dogs -- part lab -- so they are constantly dragging things into the yard and tearing up stuff. Everyday, the boys have to pick up stuff in the yard, but Saturday, Zach did it all by himself  . . . getting the yard ready for PawPaw to mow.  All this hard work . . . so he could go fishing by himself with Dave.
(btw:  He's wearing my boots)

He loves to fish and getting to spend the afternoon fishing with Dave by himself was a big treat.  When you have 3 boys, it's hard to have one on one time with each of them, but Dave really makes an effort.

Of course, Dave was happy to go fishing too.  It sure beats working in the yard!

Well that wraps up my weekend at Ferrell Farm with . . . .  

                           the Ferrell boys and me!