JUNCK, Vicodin & Super Glue…Don’t Try This At Home

Okay, here’s the deal…I have been doing a LOT of landscaping lately. My husband is on light duty as he has what might be a bulging disk, so I have hauled the equivalent of about 8,000 pounds of recycled rubber mulch. You would think I would be getting buff and toned. Instead, I got sore and cranky. YES, crankier than usual…

I had a few days off from the shop as our best buddy from our California days came to visit. When I went back to work, Joan took off to wing her way to Connecticut to visit her dad. It seemed like a good trade off…that was until I went to the Dr. before I headed in to work, and found out I have a torn rotator cuff and bicipital tendonitis. Yea!

I am given strict instructions NOT TO LIFT ANYTHING!!! I am also given some steroids and my lovely new best friend, Vicodin. I can see why people get addicted to this stuff. After not be able to sleep for several nights due to the pain, I slept like I haven’t slept since I’ve had kids. Heck, I slept better than I have since I’ve been married!!! Those of you who are, or have been married know the whole snoring, cover-stealing scenario is a nightly ordeal that can seriously affect the quality of your nighty-night time.

Back to the story…I put my key into the shop door and push it aside to discover the furniture Joan bought while I was out…sitting in the middle of well, EVERYWHERE! Naturally, I couldn’t leave boxes in the way, and furniture jammed willy-nilly everywhere. Besides, my shoulder was feeling MUCH better…thanks Vicodin! So I hauled furniture and rearranged existing inventory…including this 300 pound cast concrete garden statuary. Barely felt a thing. In fact, I talked to my friend, Tracie, who informed me I apparently feel a little too good as I am slurring my words. She says she might even have our friend, Jill, who works next door come check on me. Pshaw!

Then I began to feel again. Not good…A woman came in who had purchased an antique iron bed while I was on vacation, and needed it loaded into her pickup. She’s a good customer and all around pleasant gal, so…naturally, I helped her. I’ll be fine.

Day two finds my arm throbbing, and my friend Vic, has abandoned me. He’s fallen down on the job, and is not managing the pain, so I decide to rest in my workspace and bone up on some art techniques by reading my stack of books. Later in the afternoon, a very nice gentleman comes in and looks around, and we have an interesting conversation about sports and people we both know. The day progresses uneventfully until nearly closing, when the man comes back in with his wife. She decided she would like to purchase, you guessed it…the garden statue. Oh, and her husband who happens to be a well-known football coach around these parts has a hernia…Of course I’ll help. In fact, I hauled it out to their car by myself. Frankly, I’m glad to be rid of it at this point. They are a very nice couple, and I appreciate their business immensely…I just hope the next time they come the buy something a little lighter.

Day three, and I am back to not sleeping. I don a sling and head to work, determined NOT to lift or move anything. I did pretty good, and got started on a more artistic pursuit with the help of my lovely sister, Keri. I am creating some magnets from glass and copper, and decided to use some new metal glue that ‘PERMANENTLY BONDS INSTANTLY’ instead of soldering. All was going well…That is, until the glue decided it was going to keep coming out of the tube AFTER I stopped squeezing it. A big blob lands on my brand new khaki shorts, DAMMIT, and I bend over to grab a paper towel, and VOILA! I manage to glue the front of my shirt to my pant leg. DOUBLE DAMMIT! Then the phone starts ringing.

I manage to pry my clothing apart in time to answer the phone. It’s a customer who is coming to pick up the table and chairs she purchased a couple of weeks ago. SIGH…She, however, is an AWESOME woman, and brings her friends to help her. Debbie is new to town, and I am so glad she is here…I’m hoping we get to be friends, but since she’s a minister, I may have to curtail my swearing and kick my Vicodin habit. Hmmmmmm….From the time I’ve visited with her, and the damage I’ve inflicted on myself since I’ve been with Vic, I’d say it’s definitely worth a shot.

Well, I’m off to see if I can at least get this dried metal superglue off of my fingers…Wish me luck. Oh, and DON’T try this at home…or at work for that matter.

Life Lessons From Farm Town

My husband can’t understand why I am drawn to Farm Town on Facebook. Much like I don’t get the attraction to X-Box, and those kind of games. I haven’t been playing all that long, and I’m sure I still have a lot to learn. However, there is something both relaxing and exciting about the game. I suppose with today’s economy, part of the allure comes from making money, even if it is pretend.

Since I have been playing Farm Town, I have noticed some things about the game that parallel real life, and wanted to take the time to jot them down, as we can all use some gentle reminders from time to time.

1.) Get out of your own way.

This may sound obvious, but playing on Farm Town proves this isn’t always easy to accomplish. It would seem that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Unfortunately, life seldom gives us a straight path to travel. Sometimes you end up going waaaaaay out of your way with seemingly little control, which can be extremely frustrating. Many times we have to get out of our own way, even if it is inconvenient and takes a bit longer, in order to reap what we have sown, till new ground or plant new seeds.

2.) In the end, patience is truly a virtue.

Sometimes we want things from other people RIGHT NOW! The problem is, sometimes they just don’t have it to give to you. Sometimes people mean well, and plant crops (or relationships), only to let them go to waste, or maybe they’re simply not ready yet. This is a reminder that like crops, life happens at its own pace. Be patient. That’s not to say you need to stand around a potato field (or a person) that has gone to waste, when there’s no visible effort on their part to make improvements. By all means, let your energy flow patiently in a new direction. This also reminds me of a favorite quote. I’m sorry to say I’m not sure who attribute it to, but it goes something like this…”Nature hurries not, yet everything is accomplished.”

3.) Nice matters!

This can be especially hard on days when other people may not have been very nice to us. However, even on your darkest day, there is almost certainly someone worse off than you. Take the time to say hello to someone, ask them about their day, hold the door, or offer help to someone struggling. It only takes a minute or two, and I promise you will feel better after you perform some random kindness.

4.) We’re all in this together.

Whether we have a large group of friends and acquaintances, or just a few people we interact with, we are all connected somewhere along the way. Therefore, it behooves us to get along and work together. What’s good for your neighbor, is good for you.

5.) There will be glitches.

No matter how hard we may try to do everything just right, there will be times when things don’t go according to plan. In Farm Town, you might be just getting started on some really sweet harvesting gig, only to get kicked off the mainframe. Admit it, you get a little angry when this happens, right? You find yourself asking “What did I do to deserve this?! How come I got kicked off while that snarky, Suzie HoeDown, was still smiling in the midst of the virtual pumpkin patch racking up coins?” You know what you did wrong? Absolutely nothing. You have no control over some things, and yet the ones we do have control over like our weight, our angry outbursts and the like, we don’t seem to give a darn about most days. The best course of action is to take a deep breath, plot an alternate course and don’t give up. You know that old, horribly non-PC saying, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat?” (Yes, I agree it’s gross and not condoned in any way by me.) Well, it’s true of everything. There is always more than one way to accomplish what you set out to do. Never, never give up.

6.) Lend a hand when you can, and ask for help when you need it.

Everyone needs a little help from time to time. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who has trouble with the latter. I could be up to my neck in quick sand, and if the National Guard showed up and asked if I needed help, my first instinct would be to reply, “Nah, I’m fine. You go on. I’m sure you have something more important to do.” I have a raging case of what every parent knows as “ME-DO Syndrome.” I often hesitate to admit I need help, and seldom ask for it until it’s very nearly too late…even when I find myself struggling or even failing miserably. I am always more than ready to lend a hand, but have an extremely hard time accepting one. Farm Town sets an excellent example by showing us that when we let others help us, it really benefits both parties in the end.

7.) Finish what you start…it’s a green thing.

A potato field is a terrible thing to let go to waste. So many of us only half finish things. (Just ask my husband how many unfinished projects I have scattered around.) So often we invest our time and energy to start something, only to stop part way through and leave it unfinished. Whether it is that afghan you started crocheting, that piece of furniture you began to refinish, the guest room you’d like to reclaim from storeroom status, or a Farm Town potato field, wasted personal energy and resources breed the belief that if we can’t accomplish these things, what chance do we have when it’s something really important. That is simply stinkin’ thinkin’ and has no place in our lives. Go green with yourself! You’ll be glad you did.