Foot stuff

The year started with my neck problems and I've worked my way down to my feet. The foot thing happened in January but was minor compared to what was going on with the herniated disk in my neck. Now that I spend so much time on my feet, I definitely needed to do something to alleviate the issue. It is definitely plantar fasciitis (heel spur) that is causing the problem. I got a good explanation from the doctor on what causes it and what cures it. No cortizone shot which was a relief to me. I had to get a night splint which holds the foot in the walking position while I sleep or sit for long periods of time. I also had to come home and dig out my orthodic inserts that the foot doctor made for me 17 years ago. Apparently being flat footed is a major cause of this problem. God knows, I'm as flat footed as a person can be. I also bought a pair of Crocs since they're recommended to help, too. I love this foot doctor! He did bunionectomies on both of my feet back in 1991 and made walking possible again until this recent heel spur thing. He's confident that I'll be good as new soon.

Ha ha Oprah

I was checking out "O at Home" magazine on a break today. She shows her library in her California home. All her first editions and such. Actually has a guy who works full time at getting her first editions or signed copies. I wasn't impressed! There was mention that she had another bookshelf in the hallway and more in the powder room. (Hadn't thought of expanding in there but I'm sure my extra bath would not be big enough for bookshelves.) No softcover books on her shelves. All of her Oprah Book Club picks are softcover. When she weeds out her books she sends them to women shelters or prisons. Weed out books! How can you get rid of books. That's like amputation of a limb. She said that she was going to throw them out but found she couldn't do that and dug them out of the garbage and donated them. Anyway, couldn't she just put them in one of her many other houses? Her artwork limited her shelf space. Gee, I have that same problem! I would love to have a library and be surrounded by my treasures but it would have to be one like they have in those castles in Europe. Two storied with ladders that roll around to reach the uppermost shelves. I used to like Oprah but that was in her Baltimore days when she was one of the masses. What is the attraction! No, I'm not jealous of her billions......well, maybe at little!

Berg Lover

I picked up another Elizabeth Berg and I think this is one of my favorites so far. I'll say it again.....she's the best! "Never Change" was written in early 2000 and the character (Myra) is a well trained nurse who used to work in the ER and is now in her 50's doing home visitations. Never married and never dated much. She never had close friends but classmates would go to her for advise. She always remained aloof because she didn't think she was wanted. Her clientele vary from drug users to the elite in the community. She gets a call to add another patient to her clientele list and its a former high school classmate. He is dying of a brain tumor and refuses all treatment. He knows time is limited and that there is no hope for a cure just an extension of time through chemicals and suffering and he's not having that. He's thrilled to have Myra as his nurse and through his struggles she is changed. Couldn't put the book down! Even read it on our road trip to a special aunt's 75 birthday party. I think there are a few Berg novels I haven't tracked down yet but I'm on a quest. Of course, what will I do when I've read them all. She was threatening retirement!

I can't believe that it's time to be planning the holidays already. I think we're having a small gathering at Thanksgiving. We know the Hawaii gang won't be here and I haven't heard from some of the Maryland gang. Might just be a dining room group around one table.

Good read

I finished the Harlan Coben novel "Fade Away." The main character is a sports agents who used to be a basketball star in his high school and college days. When he got to his professional debute he was taken out by another player and his knee was gone along with his career in basketball. Suddenly he's called to play.......he's 32 and other than games with friends he hasn't played in years. The knee is still an issue. The "Dragons" want him to fill in for a missing player. He'll be a bench warmer basically but he will just be using being on the team as a means to find the missing player. He's not only is a sports agent, he's been a former FBI undercover agent who still dabbles in solving mysteries. His best friend was also an agent and is now head of a reknowned security firm. Together they unstoppable. Like I mentioned in the previous blog, this writer is very funny. I totally enjoy reading him and trying to figure out the ending.

Just get me through the day

The foot pain is getting so much worse and I'm counting the minutes until the foot doctor appointment next week. I limp off the job every day and rush home to soak my feet in ice water. Yesterday I sprained my wrist so I'm down to one functioning limb. What a joke my life is! I managed to pick up quite a few more hours of work this week since one of the other workers is off due to a death in the family. Glad for the work but wish I was tougher. Maybe with time!

Trying to get finished with my latest book. I've had the 6 am shift most of the week and it's difficult to find the time to read. My latest is a Harlen Coben novel. He writes an on going series once in a while about a sports agent who was a former basketball star. He's also a lawyer and former FBI undercover operative. Busy guy! I enjoy his books though because he has a really great sense of humor and I find myself chuckling through the pages. Maybe by the weekend I can get a chance to finish up.

Sometimes.......

When you're a woman, you just have to read a good romantic novel. Can't be helped! And if you're going to do it then the one to read is Nicholas Sparks. Yes, a male romantic novelist. Of course, on his bookcover it says story teller but we women know that he's more than that. Come on, he wrote "The Notebook", "Message in a Bottle", and the new movie out, "Night in Rodanthe." Well, he's done it again with his latest, "The Lucky One." The male character (you need one of them) is a college graduate and signs up with the Marines (just like Dad). He ends up in Iraq at the start of the war. While jogging around the camp early one morning he finds a picture half buried in the sand. The background is of a country fair and the rest is of a beautiful blonde woman wearing "Lucky Girl" on her t-shirt. He tries to find the owner but is unsuccessful so he keeps it in his pocket. It becomes his lucky charm. Friends are falling around him but he seems to be able to walk away from all the encounters with the enemy. His best friend is sure that it's the picture and tells him that he owes it to the woman to find her and thank her. The journey takes him cross country, on foot with his dog, to a small town in the south. Now, how does he repay this woman with a small child and an ailing grandmother? Got to read this one, ladies! You won't put it down.

Poor Queen Mary

After I got used to the new style of writing by Philippa Gregory, I thoroughly loved the latest novel. Written through the eyes of three characters; Mary, Queen of Scots, George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife, Bess of Hardwick. Alternating chapters gave us their story. Queen Mary flees to England from Scotland with Queen Elizabeth's promise of sanctuary and finds herself imprisoned as the "guest" of George and Bess. They are a newly married (though it is her 4th and his 2nd) and think that by serving Elizabeth in this capacity it will give them even more fame and riches. Instead it throws them into bankruptcy in their attempt to keep the imprisoned queen in her extravagant lifestyle. She is weaving a web of treachery and treason which is uncovered by the countries spymaster, William Cecil who is Elizabeth's right hand man. The treason causes the deaths of many great and powerful men. The strongest woman eventually won! I have to say, I did enjoy Bess the most. She went from poverty to being a very rich wife in a time when a woman's husband owned everything. All of her husbands increased her wealth and her fame and ended up leaving her with their entire fortunes instead of the typical sytle of passing it all to the oldest son. She learned the things necessary to run the farms, coal mines, etc. efficently and increased her lands and fortune only to see it squandered by her new husband on the care and keeping of Queen Mary. She managed to get part of her lands away from him in a legal agreement and they parted leaving him to take care of the Queen on his own. In the end she restored her loses while he went down in ruin. If you're a history buff, then this is the book to read.

Adventures for the weekend include a little real estate and then topped off with a big family reunion to be held at my daughter's home on Sunday. Lots of shopping to do for that. Our family is known to pack in the food. It will be great to see everyone. These are the cousins from my mother's side of the family and all of us are within 10 years of age. We are lucky to have some of our off spring coming, in addition to our last surviving Uncle and his wife, and the widow of another Uncle.