The Brod Abode ~~ Where life's a hoot!

It has been a year since I posted nearly! How bad is that? This has been a super big year for me. Last November I had successful scoliosis surgery. When I was 13 I was diagnosed with scoliosis with a noticable curve in my back. The curve was not at a degree that warranted surgery. So in 1968 I was fitted with Milwaukee Brace which I wore for the next 2 years. Over the years, I'm 56 now, the curve progressed to  60 degrees by 2005. The doctor I went to discouraged surgery because at the time my symptons were not bad. In 2008 my father became sick and eventually went to a nursing home. Mom and I spent all of our time taking care of him and by that time I was beginning to have severe symptons. My father passed away in March of 2009 and I simply couldn't put the family through my surgery right after losing Daddy. I called the Southwest Scoliosis Institute in June of 2010 and scheduled an appointment to talk with the surgeon. I wasn't able to get an appointment until last August...

Actually, I wrote a nice, long blog the other day.  Computer went off line and it was gone.  Couldn't even find it in the draft area. I will try to do better.  Is anyone even reading this? Last winter I was diagnosed with celiac disease which is an auto immune delight!  I initially ignored all the warnings and my doctor's instructions because it was kind of "so what".  After beginning to research, I found so many of my health problems could, COULD, be attributed to celiac and having celiac is dangerous in and of itself.  My doctor told me if I did not follow a gluten free diet, I have a 16% higher chance of colon cancer.  Again, my response was, "that's all?"  I'll wing it.  I bought some books on Amazon and started reading.  I won't go into the list of side effects you MAY have if you have celiac but suffice to say it scared the peewaden out of me.  Gee, I may not be anemic anymore, or fatiqued all the time or really depressed....

Okay Klubees: Tomorrow is May 25. We are almost halfway to Christmas again and need to get in gear. Anything you do prior to December will help make your holidays more organized and enjoyable. Movie suggestions for tomorrow while you work are A Christmas Story or The Muppet Christmas Carol. I just love the Christmas Story. While I wasn't even born during the time the story was set, at one time or another I heard just about every warning used in that flick growing up. Starving kids in China, I'll give you something to cry about, don't play with your food, you get the idea. It's a comfort to me to watch and remember a time in America where The Wizard of Oz rocked and you listened to the radio instead of fixating on a TV, or worse, video game. I love the Muppets too. Such a sweet story and ofcourse, I always cry LOL. Or, listen to Christmas music and work on something. One thing that is good to start this time of year is your yearly Christmas newsletter, if you do that. Sc...

Tough girls come from New York. Sweetgirls - they're from Alabama. But us TEXAS girls, we have fire & ice in our blood! We can ride horses, be a debutante, throw left hooks & hang with the boys; all the while making sweet tea and pecan pie, calling you Darlin'...& if we have an opinion, YOU KNOW YOU'RE GONNA HEAR IT!! ...Nothing like being a TEXAS GIRL!! If you are a TRUE TEXAS GIRL, repost this!

I spent 2 hours in the house this morning and 1 in the back yard. I'm beginning to see the light of day in the den and the kitchen and dining room are getting back to normal. Now, the granite comes in on Tuesday and for a person who was totally against granite (that would be me) I'm excited beyond belief. I still am so grateful we found exactly the right blends I needed to make it work in my colonial style kitchen. When I go shopping for counters, furniture, etc. I tell the sales people to think east coast sea captain's house...in the 1700's. You can see their brains rapidly working on how to get me out of there, LOL. I went in to Lazy Boy and told them that all of their furnishings were lovely, I didn't like any of them and to show me austere wing back recliner selections. They were shoved in a little corner all by themselves begging me to take them home. And so, we did. They are unbelievably comfy and exactly what I was looking for. I put them on either side of th...

As promised, here are a couple of recipes for Christmas as well as ideas for Christmas preparation this month. I always have thought at this stage of the game we have TONS of time. Not necessarily so. The months fly by as I get older. It's summer and I barely remember last fall. For the Brod Abode, the holidays really kick off after Labor Day. Because our family is so crazy about All Hallow's Eve, I start decorating for fall/Halloween the first of September. I've been known to start in August. We pull out all the stops for Halloween (see my Facebook page) and when that is over, Nov. 1 is takedown day and I begin decorating for Christmas. I have 4 different villlages and each of them can take a day alone because I'm a tweaker. And they are my favorite decoration. So, whatever you get done now, you will appreciate so much as Thanksgiving approaches and you have all your shopping done and wrapped and are ready to decorate. Ofcourse, it is a bit awkward at my house as I don...