He is Risen!

Happy Easter from the Smiths!

Oh, look! It's a fam. shot -- a rare, yet wonderful thing!

 In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,

You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade...

 Yep, we actually hid Easter eggs for the Smith "kids" to find. We learned that they are never too old to participate in this annual event -- especially since all of the eggs were filled with hard, cold ca$h. :-)

Brace Yourself!

Look who had a Good Friday appointment with the orthodontist.

 It truly was a good Friday.

 The tin grin is in.

Millie Girl will be sporting this stylish "accessory" for only about a year. And that's something to smile about. 

The brown, brown grass of home?

This past weekend, my favorite lawn boys worked through the rain showers and occasional lightning strikes to accomplish their goal. Thankfully, since I am still doing things one-handed, I was excused from helping with the shoveling and raking. However, it was my job to make sure my workers were hydrated and well-nourished. That's something I can do with one arm tied behind my back -- or in a sling, or whatever.

First of all, the guys scalped the Bermuda grass and bagged the clippings. Next, they aerated the heck outta the lawn. The final step involved spreading 7-ish cu. yards of a sand/soil mixture all over the yard to level things out. Oh, and there was that 100' long drain line that got installed, in the midst of it all. (Thank you, Muscles!) I think the trio worked for nearly ten hours, but they were still smiling after a full day.

I'm sure that the neighbors were wondering what in the world we were up to, as our lawn turned into a brownish muddy mess. Hopefully, within a few weeks, we will begin seeing things green up.

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!!! I don't think there will be any threat of us winning the HOA's "Yard of the Month" award for March... :-P  Look out, April just might be another story.

Taking the Good With the Bad

I am getting a wee bit weary of looking down and seeing this fashion accessory:

The upside to having my shoulder, arm, and hand immobilized is that my nails (at least on my left hand!) are growing nice and strong.

I decided to treat myself to a mani/pedi yesterday. Ahhhh! I went to see Sam at my favorite Southlake nail salon. Sam treated me to two hours of pure bliss. I think I was given the clumsy client special. It was not a terribly expensive outing, but I felt like I was given the deluxe spa treatment. My "pickers and kickers" now look terrific!

It was interesting that I saw woman at the nail salon donning a sling similar to mine. I would describe this fellow sling-wearer as a woman of society. She was dripping in diamonds and gold, and she had an air of sophistication about her. We eventually talked to one another, and I learned that "Mrs. Gotrocks" had fallen down stairs which resulted in a torn rotator cuff. I think I have had a luckier break than she. 

Her injury was on her right side, and she is right-handed. She was now recovering from surgery, and she was commenting on all of the things she had learned to do one-handed. 

I mostly listened. 

Writing, cooking, and driving left-handed topped her list of things that she had now mastered. But she didn't stop there. When she began getting into details of how "interesting" sex was, given her limited range of motion, I felt like plugging my ears and shouting, "La-la-la-la... I'm not listening! I'm not listening!" 

Things became even more awkward when "Mrs. Gotrocks" asked me if I could relate to what she was talking about when it came to our husbands and their sexpectations. Ewwww! I think she mistook me for a kindred spirit. We may have been twin "slingers," but I'm pretty sure our similarities stopped there. I effectively managed to evade answering that question.

She then launched into a tirade about how insensitive her husband has been by demanding physical intimacy, despite her injury. REALLY?! TMI once again. Based on her appearance, I would have never thought that she would be the type of person who would divulge such personal information. It was an awkward conversation, to say the least. I guess she REALLY needed someone to talk to -- a marriage therapist might be a better choice than an unsuspecting stranger with wet nails. Why did it have to be me?! I guess I looked as if I had a sympathetic ear -- or at least ONE good shoulder to cry on.

My shoulder may be the only broken part, but I am battered and bruised in other places. Both knees are still bruised. My ribs are still sore, and my arm has this beautiful contusion.

Lovely, huh?

When I tumbled, this is where my face slammed into my arm. I suppose it could've been far worse if my face would have hit the pavement. Dental work would have been likely. Thankfully, I am able to smile about this.

I had a follow-up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon this morning. It has now been one month since the stumbling mocha incident.

Good news? I am healing nicely.
Bad news? I've been ordered to wear the stylish sling (full time) for t-w-o more weeks.
Good news? I'm starting PT (Physical Therapy) this week.
Bad news? I'm starting PT (Pain and Torture) this week.
Good news? I don't have to go see the doctor for four more weeks.
Bad news? The bills have started rolling in.
Good news? No surgery is required!!!
Bad news? There is no bad news, actually. It's all good.
The REALLY good news? My husband isn't a jerk.

Spring Break

Although the title suggests "breakage," there is nothing broken about this entry. This post is quite literally about spring break. Ain't no bones about it...

All of the Smith kids were out of school this week, so four of the five Smiths made a quick trip to the southern part of the state.

First Stop: Katy, Texas

We visited with the Houston Thompsons for two nights. :-)

Millie Girl and her Aunt Jean are quite silly!

Next Stop: Rice, Rice, Baby... (With the obvious nod to Vanilla Ice.)

What a lovely day for a tour of the campus. The azaleas were in their full glory, the weather was perfect, and the gates to the Kingdom of Rice were indeed open and ready to be swung upon.

Our college girlie is interested in transferring to Rice, TCU, SMU, Stanford, or any other smallish private university for her junior and senior year of college. We were impressed with all that we saw. Bring on the scholarships for fall admission of 2014!

Third Stop: Galveston, oh, Galveston! (Thank you, Glen Campbell.)

We toured the MoodyMansion and learned that there was a connection between the Rice family and the Moodys, as Mrs. Moody's parents were the Rices who founded Rice University 101 years ago.

There certainly is a lot of interesting architecture to see in Galveston. It looks like we will have to make a return trip -- a one-day visit just didn't allow enough time to see everything.

Millie Girl wanted to feel the sand squish 'tween her toes, so we headed to the coast. It was only 65 degrees, but that didn't matter to our youngest. Life's a beach, you know!