Your husband should have a checkup to see why there is a bleeding problem (which shouldn't have anything to do with long-ago Coumadin use, but could relate to other blood clotting problems including low platelets). Therapy should await a proper diagnosis.

Raw kale makes awesome salads, especially when paired with things like white beans, croutons, Parmesan shavings, avocado, and (of course) bacon. The trick to making it palatable is to heavily massage the leaves first. You'd never bruise and abuse lettuces this way, but it dramatically improves the texture and flavor. If you're tossing it with a light vinaigrette, you can actually massage the dressing into the leaves instead of giving it a light toss to coat. This time of year we sell a lot of those aerosol sprayers for oil at the kitchen gadget store for folks who are looking to make kale chips too.

Thanks for all of your support and prayers. They are looking deeper into the root cause of the dizziness. She's had several transient ischemic attacks over the past 10 or so years and takes Coumadin, which of course delays the surgery for her elbow because it's a powerful blood thinner. I personally think that she's having more of those, but the doctors are withholding comment until the tests are in.They have her on something called Special K to counteract the effect of the Coumadin. All of the tendons in her elbow are torn, so it will be repaired with lovely screws and rods. She has a rod and screws in her hip from the first fall that put her in the hospital 3 and a half years ago for 4 months. This injury bruised her shoulder (no break) and caused a compression fracture in her L1 vertebrae, in addition to the elbow damage. She did have a serious brain bleed and concussion in January of this year (the last fall) and the dizziness has been getting worse since that incident. She has the worst time with getting up in the night to go to the restroom. What do you do, forbid them getting out of bed to prevent injury? I really wish that I could find an inflatable suit to keep her safe! I'm just ranting, but she's spent more of this year in a hospital or rehab than at home. If it's discouraging to me, how must she feel? The weather dried up and got well above freezing, that's the way we get weather here, snow doesn't stick around for very long. At least the drive was not scary. Thanks again y'all, Pam

LOL@ Peke. I live in Phoenix and we have scorpions also, and lots of other poisonous critters. I used to live 5 miles away in a more urban area. I never saw much except a rare roach in the summer and an occasional gecko. Oh yes...and this guy/gal...they had fox puppies in the gutter and would sit on my front porch in the shade while watching the gutter/den. One year they had 9 puppies! Then I moved to an area that had larger lots and is on the side of a mtn. There are washes running through the property and lots of areas for animals to hang out. Right away I started seeing javelinas, coyotes and great horned owls. The house was abandoned for over 10 yrs and I had to gut it to the studs. I was horrified my first night in the house to hear something running along the ceiling. It turned out to be a roof rat/fruit rat that was dropping into the house through a drywall hole in the ceiling where a shower was being placed. He stole the treats from my two parrots dishes every night (luckily they sleep in night cages near the master bedroom). I finally caught the guy (after he outsmarted me several times) and took him to the desert near a canal and let him go. He does look well fed. They are a problem in my area. They eat the fruit that falls from the trees but are happy to move into homes if given the opportunity. Since then, I have found 3 scorpions in the house, so I am averaging about 1 a year, which I dont think is too bad for this area. I have also found a couple centipedes, which are HUGE. They cannot run on the slick floor and run in place. By the time I find them, they are exhausted. I let them go outside. They are poisonous and I hate finding them. Killing them would make a mess, and to be honest, I think they play a part in the environment OUTSIDE. All scorpions get killed. I HATE THEM. My grandmother's house was infested with them and I was stung while visiting. I found these in my new pool shortly after I installed it: I try to let spiders go, but sometimes I kill those that look poisonous. Wolf spiders I try to let go. Sun "scorpions" I leave alone (if small) or let go. This spider was very aggressive. Can you see the huge fangs on it? I dont know what it was, but it scared me (maybe a desert recluse?). Geckos I try to take outside as they tend to die in the house. I dont think there is enough food for them. I have one LARGE gecko who has been in the house since I moved in. I see her hunting at night around the house in the summer. I havent seen her for a couple mos. now and there is really not a lot of insects to feed her, so I hope she is okay. I would take her outside if I could catch her. Last summer, she lived for awhile under a lounge chair. I tried to feed her mealworms, but they were too big for her, plus I think I spooked her by always checking on her during the day. Every now and then I find her droppings, so I have hope she is still alive. I came home to find this bird (peacock) on my patio one night. Thinking it was a girl, I named her Ernestine. I fed her and did my best to take care of her while trying to find her owner. She learned to come when I called her. I worried constantly about the coyotes getting her at night. I used to go to petsmart almost every night on the way home to buy her mealworms. I finally got smart and bought a huge bag of freeze dried ones at a feedstore. She lived outside, but would follow me from room to room through the glass. I was getting ready to have a habitat built for her when I found her owner. Turned out Ernestine was a young male. Ernestine taking a tour of the house (very well behaved): I found this little guy on my patio last fall after a huge rainstorm. He was stuck and could not get any traction on the concrete. I brought him in to take pics and then let him go in the dirt. I thought he was so cute and beautiful. Look how tiny he is! Lastly, I found two whip scorpions in the house. I am ashamed to say, that I ignorantly killed one. When I learned that they are harmless and rare, I did feel bad. The second one I let go. They are very interesting creatures, with VERY long tentacles that they hold away from their body. I tend to find things in the summer. I think they are coming in to get water. I also think they are sneaking in under a gap under my 6 foot pivot door. I am working on getting a 6 foot long "snake" to fill the gap.