Motivation… Where are you? It’s always something around here

Can I get a few hours added to the day? Please…. Just a couple of those hours thingies will do. Also if it’s not too much to ask… Can I add a couple sides of motivation? That could go a long way and compliment those added hours nicely… Please and Thank you

I’m thinking I got the slightest bit burnt out during the mass scramble to get my son to the Scoliosis Care Center last month. I honestly have no idea how that all came together. Rebuilt my transmission in 3 days, (1st time rebuilding a transmission) and 1 day later take it on a 1,000 mile trip. Replace my clutch slave cylinder that exploded the day before leaving, install a bad ass turbo setup… amongst other things when it comes to hauling my camp trailer 1,000 miles.

I look at my garage and I don’t even know where to begin. It was clean at one point… Where did that garage tornado come from?!?! Everywhere I look around this place something needs to be done. Motivation… where are you??

My son’s scoliosis treatment is going well and can become easily overwhelming. Trying to get in 2 rounds of each of his exercises/stretches/torture devices is very challenging.

Chair

21 minutes of pushing, pulling, and de-rotating the spine straight. We use the calendar to keep track during the month. Then will take a photo for documentation

Nerve Stretching

Each leg for 3 minutes - 5 times

Spinal Weighting

20 minutes - Strengthening the muscles of the spine and core

Core Exercises

6 different exercises targeted at specific areas

All that on top of trying to get him “comfortable” wearing his brace all day. The Dr. said at 6 weeks from the initial treatment he should be in it approximately 18-20 hrs a day. He just began trying to sleep in his brace. After about 4-6 hours he wakes up and takes it off. We are making progress. Those hours make a huge difference. Mama Splatts is running 2 full time jobs now. That women is amazing!!! We head back down for a week long follow up appointment at the end of July and we will see how things are going. They will make adjustments to his brace and chair. Along with another MRI to see how the spine is looking. We can already see a difference in his posture. That left shoulder is dang near level with the right! Progress…

If you want results it takes hard work and sacrifice

I thought I was done with auto repairs for a while… I was wrong. Our 2005 Lincoln Navigator developed a leak in the rack and pinion steering. Of course you can’t just change a gasket or seal. You have to pull the whole thing out. So it’s parked for the time because it marks it territory everywhere it is really bad. Plus it could end up burning up the power steering pump if you were driving it and it ran out of fluid.

yep, it’s empty

Then I finally got to changing out the shocks on my 2001 Excursion. What a difference it made in the front. They were loooooong overdue. The old ones would compress but they wouldn’t extend back out. Yep, that’s a problem. The rear… not available in the US for the brand I am using. So I wait… Plus who ever converted to dual shocks didn’t tighten the upper so so it was loose. It smoothed off the threads where it mounts to the bracket and they cross-threaded the nut that holds the shock on!! WTH!! So I had to find another stud. It happened to be a upper shock stud for an 80’s Chevy… 🤔

At 235,000 miles it finally developed a leak on the rear passenger side of the motor. This is going to be fun to chase down. Being that there are a bunch of oil lines, plugs, and seals that can potentially leak. It’s not a major leak but enough to leave a couple drops on the ground when parked. I’m going to clean it up the best I can and see if I can track that leak down.

It’s making a mess on the rear passenger side of the motor

My 1997 F-350 has a leak in the same spot. I’m willing to bet, it’s the same thing leaking. I guess that’s what you get when you drive older rigs. Hey at least I don’t have one of those car payment things…

I had big plans to get a bunch of work done on the house. That’s gonna have to wait. Especially with lumber prices the way they are!! WOW. Not to mention the added expense of my son’s treatment. Just gonna take things one day at a time and one project after a time… or rather one repair at a time. Shoot we didn’t even plant any extra goodies in the garden this year. We just have our Marion Blackberries, Strawberries, and Raspberries.

I’m contemplating planting one of our apple trees and the apricot tree but… I’m not sure where to put them where they would be out of the way. Maybe use them as a way to block the view of the sand blasting shop behind us. Plus I bet we could actually get some fruit off of them if they were planted in the ground. They have been in 1/2 wine barrels for a long time. Maybe I will do that today…

We can’t forget about our 12 year old Lab/Retriever mix Sadie… she has been doing amazing and always enjoys those evening walks. She gets a little slow on the way back but she keeps pushing on. If only I could keep her from laying on the cool tile floor in the kitchen. Just another obstacle we have to traverse. Lol

Alright that’s enough yappin’ about the stuff I need to do. I could sit here and think of a whole laundry list of things I would like to do but that stuff doesn’t get done unless you start somewhere.