A house was not enough, we needed a barn

The builders did not seem to mind that it was very cold out

when they were building this barn. This was in January.
The completed project. It was completed by Feb 1st.

Still needs the side windows or whatever they are called


The inside almost ready for calving season
The heifers are here just waiting for their babies to
arrive.

A dining story that should not happen again....

One day while in Bismarck, Jerry, my mother and myself went to this fine dining restaurant a few minutes before noon.

Jerry and MB (my mother) ordered the salad, soup and bread sticks. The young lady who was our waitress told Jerry that this was her first day then asked each, "What kind of salad dressing do you want?" MB said she would like thousand island. Jerry ordered his choice. In this process she also asked what kind of soup do you want. Both wanted the Broccoli soup. She came back, "We don't have the broccoli soup ready. What other kind do you want? (Their choice was now down to two. ) Both said Tomato Basil. She left then came back, " We don't have the Tomato Basil, all we have is the Chicken Noodle soup." They both agreed to this although neither one wanted the CN soup. Now we were starting to chuckle about this but it gets worse.

Some time later the waitress came back, "Sorry, we don't have any Thousand Island dressing. What other kind would you like?" A new one was chosen. After several minutes the waitress brought the salads and said, "We are waiting on the bread sticks." After they were almost done with the salad the bread sticks arrived. Now I ask you, "Why would they not have Thousand Island dressing and the bread sticks ready for the noon crowd?"

She was again at our table several minutes later saying," the Broccoli soup was ready and if they wanted that they could change their order and get that". Both Jerry and MB agreed. Now this is getting rather ridiculous but better later then never. After some time she brings "ONE" bowl of soup and sets it down in front of MB.. Her next statement about sent us into bursts of laughter. "We don't have any more bowls". After another few minutes she is back and tells us, "We are still waiting for the bowl, it is in the dish". We have never in all our years of eating out had this kind of experience. Jerry waited patiently for his soup and it did arrive after several more minutes. Jerry's bowl was still hot from the "dish". :-)

Now we all agreed that the food was good, we were entertained although rather disturbed about the service. This was just before noon in Bismarck at a very busy restaurant and they should of been better prepared. We were there before the noon crowd, before the food should of all been gone and the food should of been fresh and just out of the oven/stove. They should of had the food ready, soup made, bread sticks baking, etc. They also overcharged us. We did not complain as it was just too funny.

Who knows maybe the chef was having a bad day or else someone was yanking this waitresses chain since it was her first day. She did not get flustered and was very friendly. As were we. We did not hassle her nor rant and rave. We should get an "A" for patience and tact. If anyone else had the same experience I hope they gave her respect and another tip as she deserved one. We had our laugh of the day.

I do not believe we will be in this particular restaurant for some time to come. We will take our chances somewhere else.

The final chapter!! ( I hope)

After 8 weeks, yes 8 weeks, I am done with the Shingles. I sometimes have a slight pain in my back but nothing like the 8 weeks of pain that was sometimes almost unbearable. Of course in the whole scope of things I became very tired and weak so I am still trying to recover from that. I hope the pharmacist is enjoying his tropical island that I helped pay for. He paid off his home and burned his mortgage before leaving for his vacation. All this thanks to the many medications that I took during this 8 weeks of hell. He probably deserves this has he had to deal with me.
Thanks to all of you for all your concern and many phone calls. I appreciate everything.

What a beautiful scene God created for us this morning!!

After a night of heavy fog this is the end result.Inches of frost everywhere.
The trees were spectacular.

Everywhere there was frost.

The latest chapter

Since my last ramblings I have pain yet in my back. The rash is gone but the pain lingers.

The new prescription of Prednisone did nothing for me. Okay, now what do I do!! I went to the health food store and explained my problem. Now they were most helpful. Either they thought
1- she is old and needs our help
2-she is in a lot of pain and needs our help
3-here is a sucker we can load down with saleable items and maybe she will get some help
4-all of the above

I did buy some "Oil of Oregano and some Professional Strength Homeopathic Spray. Now I have a new essence to me. They said I would smell like Pizza, I do not!! I smell like Oregano. It is not bad but I doubt if it would catch on the new scent of the season. This oil is rubbed into the painful area on my back. The spray is is tasteless. Yes, you spray it in your mouth. What ever, I am willing to try it. The next day after trying this my pain wasn't as acute. I had also ran out of Vitamin B Complex and that was also started at the time too. Whatever of these 3 items is helping I am thankful for it. Now I did wonder about the Homeopathic spray but I figured, "I didn't buy this from some dude selling it on a street corner so maybe it will work" and therefore felt safe buying it. The actual name for it is RHUS Toxicodendron. I am thinking,
"If this works, I am so happy and will gladly pay the bill". And to be fair, the people at the health food store were very nice and very helpful.

The ongoing saga of my construction project from Hell

Since some of you are asking I will inform you to my take on Shingles.

They hurt like hell, they make your life miserable, you are weak and tired from lack of sleep and the constant pain, life goes on!!.

After three full weeks of constant pain I could not take it any more so called my doctor and pleaded for Prednisone as someone told me this is what to take. Hey, I am willing to take anything that looks, sounds, smells like it might help. If I have to inhale it, swallow it, eat it or rub it on; I am all for it. Jerry and I drove to Bismarck that night to get my prescription (as of course the doctors never call you back until after hours when the local pharmacy was already closed). A 120 mile round trip and we were back home after driving on icy roads and streets in Bismarck but "Hey, it was worth it". Well, after the first dose of Prednisone I felt better. The constant pain was gone just the lingering, "Shit, that still hurts but not as much" thing. Depression set in the 21st day. Don't talk to me, I will cry just thinking about it. This is not good as Christmas is just around the corner. The fact that my kids were coming home for Christmas helped soooooo much. Not all of them were able to get home for Christmas due to the snow storm but we survived with the ones that were here. We were all safe, warm and well fed. Lots of good food prepared mostly by the kids. I was mostly the onlooker this year. Thanks one and all. If I have to sit around for a few more days waiting for the Shingles to go away-I can do that. I'm flexible.
I am thinking 2010 will be better in the health department.

Happy New Year to all of you.

Construction from Hell

My construction project, as Ty calls it, is still under way. It has to do mainly with Shingles. Now if you have never had Shingles you can't quite imagine what it is like. I will tell you it is one horrible experience. First the pain starts then the rash begins. The pain is almost unbearable. Oh, an the rash keeps spreading. I was told and did read that Apple Cider vinegar would help the rash. I now smell like I fell in a jug of vinegar. But if it helps, hey, I am all for it.

I did discover one night as I walked the floors that my floors were really clean. No dust, no crumbs, no sand stuck to my tired worn out feet as I walked the floors all night long as the pain wouldn't allow me to either lay down nor sit down. I was so glad that I had had the energy to dust them that very day.

I have never liked needles but with the pain of my construction project I decided anything that might help would be worth a try. Jerry took me to Bismarck to a chiropractor that does acupuncture. I actually allowed him to stick those needles in my back. It did not hurt and I didn't have to watch him poke me as I was lying on my stomach. I do believe it might of helped the pain a bit. Of course I then had to go to my main doctor and get some pain medication as Tylenol wasn't cutting it. I now have some nerve medicine that does work. Alleluia!! Of course this I can only take 3 a day therefore I am in trouble when the pill wears off. Oh, I just remembered Jerry had surgery 2 years ago and he never took his pain pills. Alleluia!! I found those and in between nerve pills I pop the pain pills. The doctor also told me that Vitamin B Complex is good to take and to overdose on that as it does you no harm. More pills to pop. I read that Lysine is good for Shingles. I have that too. I am a regular medicine chest.

The only time I don't hurt is when I am in the shower. Now if I were a fish this would be great but being me I come out of their looking like a prune with a rash.

If anyone has any more ideas for me, please send them along as I am willing to try anything right now to relieve this miserable infection.