Golden to Silver Val

To Be or Not To Be.....

2012-01-22T12:15:00.004-05:00

.....searching. Well, some of you have been with me since the beginning. I admit I've gone through several phases of writing about things, but I have never covered this one to any extent. Lately, my friends IRL have been bugging me about doing something and I'm quite confused over it because part of me thinks it may be interesting to try and another part of me is screaming....NO, NO, NO.

As you know or have surmised, I am divorced (my choice) and have been for 27 years. I was burned badly and I don't get over things quickly or easily. I don't have a lot of trust. I really need some advice from the ones I DO trust.....and all of you who have been loyal readers fall into that category. I'm going to ask a question and hope that I can get back some responses that will enlighten me and perhaps give me that little 'shove' toward doing something that could enhance my life. OR at least settle the debate I've been having with myself once and for all.

My IRL friends think I should look for a companion; someone who will be company for me; someone who has a lot of the same interests. I'm not a horribly complicated person.....but I AM complicated to a point, as most everyone is.

It's been suggested that I attempt to find a male companion for myself. I do NOT have marriage in mind at all. I can support myself so I'm not looking for someone else to do that. What I would like is to have someone else to share things with. I absolutely NEED someone who has a glorious sense of humor. I love to laugh and need to find someone who has the ability to keep me laughing.....and yes, my sense of humor is sometimes a strange one.

I really don't want to post my name on a match-mate web-site and I don't want to go to a meeting where everyone is looking for someone. I'm a bit above average intelligence, can make myself rather presentable with some powder and paint. I'm overweight past the "pleasingly plump" stage and somewhat closer to the housekeeper on "Two and a Half Men", except I'm short and (I think) more attractive.

I'd love to have someone other than my dog to enjoy a movie with, to discuss a book with and to visit some interesting places a gas tank away from home. I do have a bad hip and walking any distances is not anything I would consider. I know I'm not a great candidate......but maybe there is a man out there who is a lot like me and thinking the same things about himself.

All I really demand of someone else is that they are clean, honest, have enough money coming in to support themselves, believe in God, have no criminal record and no addictions. (drugs or alcohol) AND possess a great sense of humor. Part of me doesn't want to meet anyone new so it would have to start out with emails going back and forth until we felt comfortable. I realize I'm not getting any younger (67) and my 'companion' would have to be close to the same age. Ten years ago someone got me to put my name in for one of those on-line matching services and I was shocked to see that mostly males who were twenty-something in age responded. I didn't answer any of the responses mainly because I felt they were looking for someone to support them.

So.....what would YOU do. I do feel lonesome at times and would just love to sit and gab to someone that has some things in common with me. Tell me what you think.....tell me about some true stories you've heard....good or bad. Tell me if you think there are any old guys out there that would be interested in meeting someone like me. I retired after 25 years of civilian work in law enforcement, so have plenty of stories along those lines. LOL

I may even pull this post after I've thought about it for a while......(can you hear the chicken clucking?)

The Road Less Traveled.....

2012-01-07T12:14:00.003-05:00

I find roads like this relaxing if you're prepared to drive them. That means a car in good working order and a full gas tank, not to mention a fully charged up cell phone. In my younger days I would often venture down unfamiliar roads just to take in the scenery. So I guess you could say....'in the highway of life, I've taken the roads less traveled'.....but tried to prepare myself for the unknown.

I'm still doing that because, at my age, life in the fast lane would be more than nerve-wracking. Even though my career was one of high-stress and split second decisions that affected the lives of others, I chose to take things at a much slower pace away from the work-place. I am now in the twilight of my years and, due to my country road association in life, there are many things I have not done. Do I want to do them? Not so much. I honestly do not feel as though I've missed out on many important things in life, even though I never did find my soul-mate. I think that is the one single thing I mourn.

This last week end was a retrospective not only for TV but also for me personally. I whipped open the filing cabinet drawers in my mind and pulled out old memories; some happy, some funny and some regrets. Thankfully, the regret filing cabinet is not too full.

I guess I can attribute that to the fact that I usually think things out before doing them. It's that long quiet drive down a country road, rather than the freeway where life goes by in a blur. Oh yes, I've made mistakes, that's for sure. But the mistakes I've made never hurt anyone but me. In a nutshell, I think I've done pretty well with my life.....but one thing still bothers me.

The loss of who I thought was a good friend.

We met in high school and became close friends. We were both 'only children' and sort of adopted each other to be our sister. She and I were as close as any true blood sisters could ever be. For 35 years. We went through boyfriends, breakups, marriage, childbirth, new houses, death of parents and divorce to name a few. She was always there for me and I for her. I saw her nearly every day for those 30-some years. We were godparents for each other's children. We told each other everything. Or so I thought.

I didn't lose this friendship due to death......I lost it due to greed.

After the death of my father, she began to change. I found out she was stealing things from my father's house and giving them to her son. She attempted to push the blame of the missing articles onto my own daughter. Then she claimed serious injury on my property and sued me fraudulently. (eventually settled out of court for only 2 thousand dollars instead of the THOUSANDS she was requesting) Basically, she sold our friendship for 22 hundred dollars.

As long as I live, I will never understand why my best friend ever did such a thing. I thought I knew her......it was obvious, I really did not.

All this happened way over 20 years ago and I still mourn our lost friendship. Yes, I've cautiously made other friends and most of those have now moved away either to another state or otherwise......I wish I could forget about this. Sometimes I want to call her up and suggest we forget about what happened and continue our friendship the way it used to be. But then I realize the reality of it all.......I could never trust her again and real true friendships are built on trust.

I really need to find a way to get over this. Can anyone offer me some words of wisdom.....some words that will give me the courage to put this in the filing cabinet marked "to be shredded".....and then forever be done with it?

On a brighter note.....my computer at work crashed. Most of my work is saved on a network server and is safe but some of it had been saved to my desktop (my fault.....bad move) and those things may be gone. Probably 20 documents. Tech support will attempt to retrieve them but he told me not to hold my breath. But the good thing is, at work I now have a new Dell that is so much faster. I also have 2010 Microsoft Office, which I will have to familiarize myself with, plus a new wireless keyboard and mouse. Not that I'm not grateful, but I don't like the feel of the keyboard. I suppose I will eventually get used to it.

Til next time.....keep smilin'.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T18:51:00.003-05:00

My wish for all of you is to have a wonderful Christmas.....make memories and distribute your love generously.....and may those feelings of love stay with you all year through.

No matter what your income level or living arrangement is at the moment.....just take the time to connect with family and let them know how much you love them.

As little "Cindy Lou" was trying to get everyone to understand......Christmas is not about the "buying" but about giving of yourself.

Do something kind for someone and you'll get it back two-fold......I promise.

Love and best wishes to all of you. Because of you, my life has improved. Each one of you have added something so the recipe "of me" is truly a good one but it wouldn't be what it is without you. I've learned so much from each of you. Thank you for continuing to come by my little place. I'm sorry that real-life caught up with me and I haven't posted much lately......I'll try to make your trip here worth-while after all the holiday rush. God Bless you all.

Be safe, Be happy and Be well. Merry Christmas with love.

Didn't I say "never again" last time.....

2011-11-28T05:59:00.002-05:00

I would say that I don't believe I've ever been so tired in my life, but I know that would be a lie. I HAVE been.....just last year as a matter of fact.

Every year I say "never again", only to repeat it every Thanksgiving and every Christmas. I've been trying desperately to "pass the torch" as they say, to my daughter. HA, She's no fool.....she's refusing to take the damn thing. I'm speaking, of course.....of the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. How we slave for hours upon hours only to have it devoured in less than 15 minutes.

And then..........there's the clean-up. Oh the dreaded cleanup. Everyone is so full, no one wants to move, but the food has to be put away, otherwise it will spoil. The dishes have to be done, otherwise the food will dry on them, making it twice as hard to clean. Thank God for dishwashers. When I was a teenager, I was the dishwasher.....me and my grandma. Now, teens disappear quickly after a meal, so mechanical dishwashers are a blessing. Nothing is more wonderful than to walk into a nice clean kitchen after a huge meal like that. Tell me what it feels like, will ya? By the time we get all the dishes cleared up, the men-folk have decided that they want some leftovers heated up......or maybe a turkey sandwich and oh yeah.....how about another piece of pumpkin pie. More dishes, more crumbs. It's never-ending.

Each year I cut one more thing out of the equation. Pretty soon, I'll be making turkey TV dinners in my robe and slippers. This year squash was the one to get the ax; last year it was sweet potatoes, year before that, rolls. Yes....we always had BOTH sweet potatoes and squash. Why? Well, when I foolishly accepted the torch from my mother, that was on the menu. I've been dropping items from that menu every few years....and the last few have bit the dust every year. In all honesty.....no one misses what I drop; there is just SO MUCH of everything else. Hate to admit it, but I have just about got it down to bare bones; if I cut much more, it will surely be noticed.....like the dressing for example.

My family LOVES my dressing. It's something they talk about in July and their eyes glaze over. Yes, I'm happy that I've made my contribution to history as the best lil' dressing maker around these parts, but I really do want to pass things along now. I'm tired. Really tired.

My email in box has been crammed with emails all shouting Black Friday. Never have I gotten so sick of a phrase in all my life.....except for this new one; CYBER WEEK or sometimes, CYBER MONDAY. Those emails began filling up my in box the very minute Black Friday was over. I have no idea what CYBER WEEK is....although I'm guessing it has something to do with GREAT, HUGE BARGAINS all week long if you buy online. BUY, BUY, BUY.

With the economy like it is..............how can people buy?

Ah.....but they ARE.

The stores are crammed. Black Friday found swarms of people climbing all over each other to BUY. I can understand a good deal...........but not this. And they don't stick to their word. Black Friday kept on boasting that you could get Black Friday deals early......like on Wednesday. Same with the Cyber Monday hoopla. Get Cyber Monday deals on SATURDAY....get a head start on EVERYONE cause only a choice several million people know about this SECRET. Bah.

So I hope everyone had a happy and a safe Thanksgiving. I hope you made some really good memories and most of all I hope you all really thought about why we should be thankful. And even though I've been grumpy about being tired, I do it because it's a joy to see my family come together for this meal of thanks in a land where we have much to be thankful for.

A Little of this and that.....

2011-11-18T16:21:00.008-05:00

They have discontinued my very favorite coffee. I had very little warning, just an email about 2 weeks prior to my shipment of K-cups, stating that my subscription had been cancelled and I'd have to find another brand. Wow....not so easy. I finally went to another website and ordered some Caribou coffee. Yes! It's very good. I like it. I don't like the higher prices of coffee in general though. It's almost enough to make you stop drinking it.......almost. Give me my coffee so I'll still be a nice person. LOL

My whole family is sick with the flu. Thank goodness I hadn't been around them for about a week or more before they came down with it. The kids are better already, my daughter is doing a much slower recovery; she says it's the sickest she's been in many years. And no....she did not get a flu shot. They should all be ok by Thanksgiving. Now.....if I can just keep from getting it, everything will work out fine.

That may not be easy though. I will be giving my flu shot a real test. A lot of my co-workers are sick. And......DA-YUM......I hate it when they come to work sick; hacking and coughing all over the place, spreading germs to everyone. It's enough that we have to put up with the public coming in that way. Sometimes people just lack common sense.

Yesterday it snowed here.......hard. Huge big fluffy flakes were coming down so hard and fast it was nearly a white-out. It may have lasted 10 minutes, then cleared up and not one single flake could be found anywhere on the ground or on anything. This is just a warning of things to come, I fear. And....yes, you guessed correctly. I'm not fond of snow.

For the second year, my co-worker and I split the cost to furnish a needy family with all the groceries necessary to have a very nice Thanksgiving meal. We don't know the family's name, just that they live in our community; we are doing it through the church. We do know that there are 3 adults and 4 children; two of which are teenagers. Teens can eat a lot, so we bought a little extra. We will also be 'adopting' a family for Christmas. Right now, I'm not sure if it will be the same one or not.

Every year I send money to the Rescue Mission for Christmas. It's amazing how many people they can feed with a small donation. I've been contributing to them and Toys for Tots for over 25 years. I imagine this year they will have a lot more people to take care of. God Bless them all.

I really do hate the time change. My system is all off schedule. It may be daylight when I drive into work, but it's dark when I come home and I don't like that at all. It's hard for me to drive after dark; the on-coming headlights tend to blind me, especially if its raining (or snowing) and you have to have your wipers on. I'm grateful I don't have far to drive. I wish they would just pick a time and leave it alone!

My anti-virus program did a software change recently. They sent a pop-up so I could upgrade but I kept getting an "error" through windows. I googled it and discovered it was a windows error and not the fault of the anti-virus program. I tried to fix the problem myself using recommendations I found online but nothing I did worked. I finally broke down and called the number I was given to Microsoft.....except it really wasn't Microsoft. It was a place called Omni Tech Support.

I'm not going to bad mouth this company because, after I managed to get through their high pressure sales pitches for their software and services, they did solve my problem and, consequently, anti-virus was upgraded just fine. I did have to pay for their services and I did let them remotely fix my system. I'm still a bit nervous over all that but I watched everything they did (not that I'm any expert....but it didn't look like anything covert was being installed or activated). I guess this may be what we can expect in the future......computer repairs done remotely. I sort of like that in a way because you can get service quickly. It did take them nearly 3 hours to repair my computer, which looked to me like something in my registry was wrong. The thing I didn't like was that I didn't get any kind of receipt and I didn't get any kind of explanation of what was wrong or why it happened.

Afterward, I googled the company and found that reviews of them are mixed; people either love them or hate them. I didn't sign up for their "plan", which was horribly expensive.....so I can't tell you if it's a good plan or not. All I can say is that the tech did fix my problem and for a cost that probably was not any higher than what I would have paid for someone to do it at their shop.....but I had it fixed that very day, within hours......where taking it someplace.....well, you know how long you may have to wait when you do that.

That's about enough of my tidbits I would say.........are you asleep yet? LOL If I don't get back by Thanksgiving, I wish all of you happy times making good memories with those you love. Oh....and I have a recipe for a Pumpkin Dump Cake, if anyone wants it for the holiday. Just ask in the comments.

Keep Smilin'

Thoughts on Christmas

2011-11-10T11:54:00.002-05:00

I received the following as an email, then today a Blogger friend posted it and I copied it from her to pass it along. Give this some serious thought this year and every year until we are back on our feet again. (jobs come back home). Thank you, dc of Things I know for posting it.

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high

gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods --

Merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This

year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine

concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift

giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes

there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in

a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates

from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some

health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned

detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a

book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down

the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift

receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or

driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift

certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about

a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this

isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town

Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or

motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a

local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is

struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin

their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery

and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave

your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at

your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese

lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about

fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to

burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that

China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about

US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow

their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our

communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

Please make THIS the new American Christmas tradition.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-29T18:55:00.004-04:00

Click on the title of this post for a little "mood music" while you're reading.
The movie, Halloween, and its many sequels holds some vivid memories for me, but the most vivid is the very first one......Halloween. It was a whole new dimension of "scary" for me.

I had promised....so after getting out of work at 5, I threw on a wig to cover my deflated hair-do and hastily prepared myself so we could make the 6 pm showing. I took 3 young children (all under the age of 11) to see this at the theater, thinking it was a "kid's show"....tailored for the younger set. (first mistake of a frenzied working mom and wife) It was a weeknight so it wasn't crowded, in fact there was hardly anyone there at all. My kids and a friend of theirs wanted to sit in the front row....I sat in the middle about half way back in a nearly empty theater. The first scary thing happened within minutes and I had 3 terrified children screaming and frantically climbing over seats to get to me, throwing their arms around my neck and knocking my wig askew. They kept their choke-hold on me through-out the entire movie. I remember after about an hour of being terrified, I kept looking at the lighted clock on the sidewall and hoping the movie would end before I had a heart attack. It was relentless.....just one horrifying scary thing right after another. You just wanted to jump right out of your skin. I must have told my kids a hundred times "It's just a movie" and yet it was scaring me as much as it was them.....I just couldn't let them know it. And of course it had to end without a real ending.....and my 8 year old son kept asking all the way home...."so where did he go, Mom, huh?......where?......he's still out there!"

When we got out of the theater, it was dark and I actually looked under the car before we got in (sneakily of course so the kids wouldn't see me). When I got in the car, I anxiously looked in the rear view mirror and my wig was turned around sideways. Thank goodness my kids were too nervous to notice cause I certainly would have never lived that one down. At least it was a good thing that we had a station wagon at the time so I didn't have them (and me) thinking that someone was in the trunk. And of course it didn't help that our weather was exactly the same as the weather in the movie.....Fall, with lots and lots of crunchy leaves on the ground.....when darkness comes very early.

I'm sure I scarred them for life with that mistake.....not to mention aging myself about 20 years. So every time I hear this haunting theme song, this is the memory that comes to me. Now it brings a smile to my face, but back then, it was truly terrifying.

Heh heh heh.....Happy Halloween everyone!

Shots....not the Jello kind either

2011-10-27T12:05:00.005-04:00

Well, it's that time of year again. Last year I didn't get the Flu Shot because of all the controversy surrounding it. I made it through the year without getting sick at all and I know I'm lucky in that regard. However, I don't need to press that luck....so I decided I'd better get one this year. Last year was the first time I'd missed getting a flu shot in more than 30 years.

Last year I had also researched getting the Shingles vaccine but was told my insurance didn't cover it and it was just too expensive for me. So I didn't get it. Since that time I've heard of several friends and co-workers who have come down with Shingles and it's not pretty. Matter of fact, I'm hearing about a LOT of people who have gotten the Shingles lately. It can be triggered by stress and everyone is under a lot of stress these days. I looked into getting the vaccine again this year and discussed it with my doctor. He wrote out a prescription for me and told me what to do. I then called several pharmacies as well as the health department. The cost at the pharmacies.....those that even carried it....was in the neighborhood of $220 for the vaccine, including receiving the shot. The cost at the Health Department was about $156 and they would only accept CASH as payment, which tells me they must have had plenty of bad experiences with checks or credit cards.

Now I must say right here that my present pharmacy has been skating on thin ice with me. I've had numerous occasions in which I've been shorted pills, one time as many as thirty. They have a very bad record as far as making you wait.....and WAIT....for your prescriptions, even when they are called in ahead of time. What put the icing on the cake was that a friend of mine has a niece who worked for this particular chain and in her training she was advised to make the customers wait at least 30 minutes for their prescriptions so it would give them time to browse the store for additional purchases. I decided to switch over my prescriptions to another pharmacy that's been in business just as long and furthermore, it's a mile closer to me. I'm making the transition as each prescription comes up for refill.

So the pharmacy I'm using right now was the first one I called regarding the Shingles vaccine; they were rude (as usual) and the girl further said "we don't carry it because it has to be frozen and I don't know nothing about it". (bad grammar always makes my spine straighten). So I called a couple other pharmacies, the one I'm switching to included. This pharmacist at the one I'm switching to went that extra mile and actually questioned why my insurance company said they wouldn't cover it. They checked a little deeper and found out I have supplemental coverage which DOES cover it and so I was able to get this vaccine without having to pay $220 all because a pharmacist was exceptional at her job.

So, I've had my flu shot and the Shingles vaccine. I think I'm all set as far as that goes. As soon as I get the last mess straightened out that my present pharmacy has done, (only giving me a one month refill on a 3 month prescription and saying the insurance wouldn't cover it when it covered it the last time I got these refilled). I'm not looking forward to all the phone calls I will have to make and I'm not sure if I even can get it all straightened out. These prescriptions were supposed to carry me through to the end of February 2012....now since they've done this, I'm not sure about anything. Why would an insurance company fill a script twice for 3 months supply and then the third refill say they won't do 3 month refills.....and it's the SAME prescription. This just shows you the difference in pharmacies.....my present one, they expect YOU to call your insurance company....the one I'm switching to....THEY call the insurance company on your behalf. See why I'm switching? The name? Why yes, I'll give it to you proudly......the name of the pharmacy I'm switching to is Rite-Aid.

We have enough stressful situations in life, we certainly don't need it from a place of business we utilize. So, til next time, keep smilin'. My next post is about a Halloween adventure I had many years ago that's still vivid in my memory.

Update: I've received some emails about Shingles since I posted this. From what my doctor explained to me is that if you've had the chicken pox, then you can get the Shingles. The pox virus lays dormant in your system forever once you've had it, just waiting for the right trigger. If you've never had the Chicken Pox....what you would get would be chicken pox instead of Shingles. (if you're going to get it at all) The vaccine is good for the rest of your life and may not totally prevent you from getting the Shingles, but you will only have an extremely mild case. Shingles are contagious as long as there are blisters; as soon as the blisters scab over, then you are no longer contagious. You are contagious this way: If you happen to touch the blistered area, then say pick up the phone for example....the germ would be on the phone and could be transferred to someone else. Some people may never get the chicken pox and those who have, may never get the Shingles. It is thought that the Shingles are brought on by stress. The most vulnerable are people over 60 who have had the chicken pox. As always.....talk to your doctor about your own particular needs. Hope this has helped.

Another adventure and 2 movies

2011-10-23T11:46:00.009-04:00

Yes.....sigh......I sort of live under a rock. I no longer go many places that are out of a 10-mile radius. To work, which is 6 miles away; to the grocery store which is 2 miles away; drugstore, 1 mile....well, you get the idea. The last time I met my friend at the Cracker Barrel, I got lost. This restaurant is about 38 miles from me, one way. It's about 15 miles from my friend. So it is an adventure. Since I'd driven it before, I was fairly confident that I could do it this time and not get lost. We set a date to meet for lunch on Saturday.

Saturday was gorgeous; sunny skies, high of 58. I had previously checked out the online map to this place and memorized places of business along the way. So on Saturday I turned up the car radio that was tuned to the 'oldies' station and set out. I did fine until I came upon the spot where you either get on the expressway or not. I was in the wrong lane.

Now I need to tell you something about me and driving. I try to be a courteous driver. I try not to make problems for other drivers so I am always anticipating what they may expect of me. The thought of me tying up traffic because I'm in the wrong lane and need to get over is unthinkable. So......I had to go with the flow and found myself on the expressway, when I did not want to be there. I knew the direction in which I had to head and so continued that way. When I got to the town that The Cracker Barrel is located in, I chose an exit and got off. Again, I was at the mercy of having to follow the road ("right lane MUST turn right"). I followed it along and this is where memorizing the businesses came in handy. At one of the intersections I found businesses on two corners that I remembered from the map and so I made a left turn right there, which once again set me in the correct direction. I finally found the place and was only 20 minutes late this time as opposed to nearly 45 minutes last time.

We love to visit the Cracker Barrel. Not only is the food absolutely delicious, but they have so many unique things in their store. I stocked up on their Pumpkin Butter and Apple Butter, hopefully enough that will last through the winter. I doubt very much that I will make this drive in weather that could change quickly. That's half the enjoyment of going; experiencing the scenery along the way.

Expressway driving makes me nervous because of the speeds in which people travel. I was doing 70 and the majority of drivers were passing me like I was sitting still.

I was in the mood for a movie that would make me laugh that night after I was safely back home. I went through my movie collection and found one that is maybe 15 years old or more, Made in America with Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson. I'd seen it before but it had been many years so I decided to watch it again. OMG, I had forgotten just how funny it is. I laughed and giggled through most of it. Will Smith is in it too.....he looks like he's about 16! LOL. Anyway, it's a cute movie.....no bad language that I can remember, no nudity.....there are sexual innuendos but I don't think a kid would pick up on them. So if you want some giggles, check out this movie.

Last week I looked at Bridesmaids. It's a movie that has a little bit of most everything in it. Kind of high up on the "ewwww" factor and lots of bad language, a lot of sexual situations and simulated sex, although I don't think there is any nudity. It's a comedy and I did laugh. But over-all, it's more than just a comedy. As it covers love, friendship, jealousy, envy, depression, forgiveness and many more emotions, it's a good movie with some lessons for us all. Yes, it's definitely a 'chick flick' and I'll wager to say that most all of us women have experienced a lot of the things that went on in this movie.....that's what makes it so funny. If you get a chance, grab a fun girlfriend or two and check it out. Definitely NOT for the younger set or anyone easily offended. This is a movie for open-minded people who can laugh at situations that are off-color and in bad taste....for lack of better wording.

Til next time, when I cover news about the Shingles Vaccine, drugstores and prescriptions.
Keep smilin'!

I got pranked.....

2011-10-09T10:32:00.003-04:00

with the old "ring the doorbell and run" scenario. I was not amused.

It was Friday night and I was watching TV in my jammies. I was kicked back and relaxed after a hard day at work - the only light on in my house was light from the TV. It was late but not too late.....maybe 9:30 or so.

Suddenly my evening was disrupted by the ringing of my door bell....4 times rapidly....making it hard to distinguish whether it came from the front door or the back door. I checked the front door first......no one. Then checked the back door.....no one. Sliding glass door and the deck.....no one. Driveway.....no one.

Now, I've lived here for almost 40 years. Neighbors have come and gone but a lot of us have lived here for that long or longer. I have no teenagers that live close to me any more. This is a safe neighborhood and I've never been afraid. I have never been pranked before. But neighborhoods change over the years......sometimes not for the better.

I will admit that there have been times I have forgotten to lock my doors over night and have even left for the day and forgotten to lock them. My neighbors have done the same. But things change when different people move close by. I made a promise to myself that I will be more diligent about locking up.

After discovering "no one" at any of my doors and turning on porch lights and flood lights......I did become a bit concerned. I figured it was a prank, but there is always a little doubt in your mind that maybe something more sinister is at work. I called my grandson. I asked him if he had been here, by any chance....just clowning around. He said no, why? I told him. He became concerned. Within minutes he and his friends were here checking out my yard and then they retreated to an area where they could watch and sat there for about a half hour, just watching. Nothing was amiss and they didn't even see any gangs of kids. My grandson is grown and his friends are BIG. I was glad they had my back.

Now, although it did cause me some inconvenience and a little concern, I'm not really complaining. It was one of those "innocent" pranks.....nothing was taken, nothing was damaged. I didn't have the "bag of dog poo on fire" on my front porch. They just got a kick out of seeing the lights go on at each door I guess. I'm glad it took so little to amuse them. But my grandson and his friends will be watching from now to Halloween......and if the pranks get frequent or damaging, I would not want to be the prankster in this case.

On Halloween, our neighborhood is one of those that doesn't give out candy anymore.....the kids around here all go to church, school or private parties so they are not out on the streets after dark. I used to get a kick out of seeing all the costumes, but it really is much safer for them to just have a supervised party. Besides that, the last few years that kids were coming around, I was only getting bigger high school kids, not even in costume.....the little ones were celebrating in a safer environment.

I have been seriously thinking of getting another dog and so has my daughter. In the spring, maybe.....when housebreaking will be easier. We want bigger dogs, that will double as watch dogs, taken seriously. Her number one choice is a Rottweiler/English Lab mix.....that's what she had before and that dog was absolutely the best. Hopefully we can get two puppies.....sisters.

Of course I have not cleared it with Queen Abby yet......my rat terrier who basically dictates the goings on around here. She does not think she is a dog. She hates squirrels. She thinks cats are just squirrels without fuzzy tails. She does not like other dogs......so it could be interesting.

This sounds like me.....

2011-10-05T22:59:00.002-04:00

....some of it.....sometimes.

You Are Highly Authentic

You're as real as they come... and quite modest too.

You are very self-assured, and you have a healthy amount of self-esteem.

You feel confident that you can take on the world.

You have a great sense of humor, especially when it comes to laughing at yourself.

The Watercolor Test

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

It Would Be Funny.....

2011-09-30T23:44:00.009-04:00

if it wasn't so sad. I received this from a friend and was speechless. Just listen. I wonder what color the sky is in her world.

Click on the title to play the file.....a caller and a D.J., over the air.....talking about illegal immigrants and Arizona. It's only about 2 and a half minutes long.

I can't believe so much time has gone by so quickly. It's actually been pretty boring in my life.....but sometimes boring is good. I'll take that over drama and trauma any day.

I'll be back in a couple days or so and see if I can give you all something to laugh about.

Just gimme my coffee.....

2011-09-05T16:12:00.003-04:00

that's all I ask.....just let me have my beloved cup of coffee.

In September of 2009 I bought a Keurig coffee maker. The coffee produced from this machine is purely heaven sent. The most delicious cup of coffee I've ever had, PERIOD. I was in love. Yes, the coffeemaker is expensive initially but it makes such a terrific cup of coffee in record time, you forgive it for being expensive. The K-cups (what you use to make your cup of coffee) I purchase through Amazon and figured out that it was costing me roughly .36 a cup, which is not bad at all. They have recently raised the price of coffee so now it's about .46 a cup. I run it through the same K-cup twice to make a 16 oz cup and the strength is just right for me. So, I'm getting a 16 oz cup of coffee for .46. In less than a minute.

Actually, I still am in love but I am now able to see the object of my affection without the rose-colored glasses; I'm able to see its major fault. That being: it seems to tire quickly and then refuses to do its job. In other words........it's moody.

The first coffeemaker quit 2 months out of warranty....just before Thanksgiving. I rushed to the store and bought a replacement. I was having a houseful of company for dinner and I had to have a coffeemaker! Now that pot has quit on me but thank goodness it's still under warranty. So, after trying everything I read to try and fix it to no avail I decided to call the company. This was yesterday (Sunday). I was shocked, amazed and very happy that they not only answered the phone (on a holiday weekend yet) but I actually got a real live HUMAN.

After taking my information and assuring that I was, indeed, still under warranty, she advised me that a brand new coffeemaker would be on its way to me and to expect its arrival within 5 business days. She also informed me that they would need a specific part from my present coffeemaker returned to them and would provide the means to do that. I'm more than happy to do so.....my present coffeemaker is of no use to me in its present condition.....i.e., not working.

I have to commend this company for doing everything possible to make their customers happy. The coffeemaker is superb when it's working right.....it's just temperamental. We've had a few summer storms that have caused intermittent power outages and maybe that had something to do with it.....I'm not sure. All I know, it was working on Friday and on Saturday morning, the settings were all messed up and eventually it shut itself down and wouldn't come back on.

If you research it on the Internet, you find many people having much the same problems.....but almost every one of them have nothing but praise for the company and how well it stands behind their product and how hard they try to please their customers as long as you're still under warranty. I guess that's all anyone can ask.

For the weekend, I went downstairs to the basement and pulled my old Bunn coffemaker out of retirement. I've had it for years and it still worked for me. I was able to make a pot of coffee, although it was not the best as I was using coffee from two years ago.....but it WAS coffee and I figure it's better than nothing at all. I am so used to being able to have a cup of coffee in a minute or less that I was pacing the floor waiting for the Bunn to make the pot and it couldn't have been more than a 10 or 12 minute wait. Funny how we become accustomed to the FAST life....it's an addiction.

If you think about it......that's how we expect everything to be. FAST......INSTANT.....we are a nation of no patience. And yep.....I include myself in that equation. Remember when (all you seniors out there) when we had to wait until something "warmed up" when we turned it on before we could get sound (radio) or a picture (TV). That would drive our present day younger population absolutely crazy. Well.....keep smilin' y'all And DO take some time to stop and smell the flowers!

Well, it's obvious.....

2011-08-25T12:08:00.005-04:00

that SOMEBODY in my neighborhood either took their graduation money and bought enormous car speakers or got the actual speakers for graduation. I've written before about the idiot who drives through and rattles all the pictures hanging on the walls.........well he was nothing compared to this new idiot.

This new one comes through and it honestly vibrates the organs inside your body. Its a sickening feeling and I can't understand how anyone could be in the vehicle with the power those speakers possess. You never hear any words to this so-called music....its just the bass that you hear.....and I can't even say you hear it....you feel it, and not in a good way.

No matter what, there always seems to be individuals who just HAVE to push the envelope. This idiot and ones like him will eventually be the cause of having laws written forbidding this type of display. It was bad enough when it first started but at least it was tolerable. Now, it has just gotten ridiculous......and dangerous. There is NO way the driver of such a vehicle could hear an emergency vehicle coming.

Come to think of it.....I haven't heard the first idiot in a bit now.....I'm beginning to think that he has upgraded and this new one isn't a new guy at all.....but the same one with bigger speakers. Unless you've experienced it, I can't begin to describe how irritating it is....especially at 2 or 3 in the morning.

Yep.....lawmakers.....get those pens busy. I'm sick of it.

Speaking of music.....the Woodward Dream Cruise had wonderful weather this last weekend. (click on link to see photos of a lot of the vintage cars that were there) There was some trouble here and there but you have to expect that when a large crowd of people are gathering anywhere. The 60's and 70's music was wonderful to hear again and the cars were gorgeous. It is, indeed, like stepping back in time. Well, except for the idiots that insisted on playing dirty rap music at ear shattering levels. That was not appreciated but people just moved on and left that area in search of a place where they could sit back and enjoy the music of the times.

The packages containing school clothes are coming in; 3 yesterday and 2 the day before that. I'm hoping we will get most of the remainder today. At least with this new school we won't have to worry that they are not going to be open next year or in the years following; they have plenty of students but not so many that it takes away from individual attention if its needed.

I can't believe that summer is nearly over. Fall is a favorite time of year for me (summer taking first place) but its also an emotional time. Fortunately...... not in a bad way. Keep smilin'. Make everybody wonder what you're up to. LOLOLOLOL

Stressed spelled backwards.....

2011-08-20T16:14:00.006-04:00

is desserts and I certainly felt like having a boatload of them after the news we received. Talk about frustration! I think I made up some new swear words! The christian school my granddaughter attends contacted my daughter to let her know that the school will no longer be open; registration was way down and it just wasn't profitable enough for them to do it. WHAT!!!!! School starts in less than 10 days!

She wore uniforms at this school and so we hadn't worried about shopping. She was basically all set except for a few small things. Now....we had to buy her an entire wardrobe....but first we had to find another school for her since public school is definitely not an option. That took one whole day but we did find another school. There are 10 times more children attending this new school and their curriculum is better. They have some different rulings in reference to a dress code and no, they do not wear uniforms. The kids can wear regular clothes but they have several restrictions. No jeans or slacks on girls. They have to wear dresses or skirts and they can NOT be above the knee. Art class is once a week in the evening; they are permitted to wear denim skirts or jumpers for this class. I had no idea how hard it would be to find a denim skirt that was knee length or below. No writing on any of the tops or jackets, only black closed-toe dress shoes for class, but tennis shoes for gym. Girls have to have one outfit that consists of a white blouse and black skirt. I'm sure we'll find out more as we go.

I got busy on the Internet and online shopped for HOURS. I am praying that we have time to get everything before the first day of school. Its all been ordered and so now we wait. I had absolutely NO idea just how hard it would be to find skirts and dresses that come to the knee or below. It has been a nightmare.....I feel like I've been through the Boer War. At this late date a lot of things were sold out, especially the types of clothing I needed. So many cute dresses out there, but almost all of them are short.....coming to the mid-thigh. Not acceptable. I had very good luck in finding sales and had promo codes and coupons to also help out. One pair of shoes only cost $7.60 after the deductions went into effect from the sales plus the promo codes.

I'm a lot angry at her old school for waiting until the very last minute to inform us. It was very inconsiderate as far as I'm concerned. Their excuse was that they were waiting for a last minute miracle to keep them open. Humph.....well maybe if they hadn't raised their prices $50. a month that would have helped boost their enrollment. Pardon me for being snarky but I'm tired from all that shopping. My mouse finger will never be the same. LOL I'm just thankful that I have the means to use a computer to shop. If we would have had to do all this by driving to various stores, walking, searching, waiting in lines.....lordy......how I remember doing that when my kids were little. If I had to do it again I think it would probably do me in.

How about you guys.....do you have all your back to school shopping done?

I don't know if it's in the stars.....

2011-08-09T09:19:00.003-04:00

or what.....but this picture describes pretty much how I feel about now. It seems like every time I turn around I'm spending money for necessary things that have to be done.....like repairs.

Last week I had plumbers here. They did manage to get the kitchen sink fixed, but the bathroom drains are still clogged. They are no better than they were before the visit....matter of fact, they may be a bit worse.

So I called them and they are coming back today. I let them know that I did not plan on paying them again because it was not fixed the first time they were here. I'm not trying to be difficult.....but I just want to get what I pay for.

On Sunday my daughter mentioned to me that I was losing cold air from around my freezer door. Well, I had thought that too but was also thinking that perhaps something wasn't sitting on the shelf right, not allowing the door to completely close. I had fooled around with moving stuff in there and thought I had the problem solved, but I guess it wasn't. I don't know if the hinge has gone bad or the seal.....but the refrigerator seems to be running constantly. The food is frozen, but the ice cream is not rock hard, which I think is a good thing....but definitely shows there is a problem with losing cold air.

I have an appliance insurance plan through my gas company. At only $9. a month, it has paid for itself a couple of times through the years. I called and YES, that problem is covered so they are supposed to be here today to work on it. At least this won't cost me anything more than I've already paid. But it did remind me that my refrigerator is getting old and is probably giving me warning signs that I'm going to need another one soon.

My small circulation fan I keep in the bedroom quit and I had to buy another one. During the hottest days of summer.....you know I paid an inflated price for the replacement, but I needed it. It just seems like a bunch of little things....a ripped screen, a broken downspout, a warped garage service door that will no longer close properly and lock.....just a bunch of "irritants" and all of them mean money flying out the window.

I think the fates felt sorry for me and gave me a small something to keep my spirits up. I checked my bank statement the other day and I had an extra deposit of $89 from social security. When I called to find out about what it was, cause I had no idea.....I was informed that it was some sort of back money owed to me. Its a one-time payment, but better than a kick in the teeth. Today in the mail I get a bill from my doctor.....$140....charges from over a year ago that my insurance didn't pay for some reason. I will be calling them today to find out what that is all about. Sigh.....win some, lose some.

And how is YOUR summer going? Just remember to keep smilin'.....it keeps people confused and off-guard, if nothing else. LOL

I was hoping for.....

2011-08-04T13:35:00.003-04:00

a Cha- chingle......but instead it was a CHA-CHING!

Ahhhhh yes.....two plumbers in my tub. And why YES, you DO see lip-prints on his boxers. I was hoping for Spongebob boxers to make me giggle....but I guess the lip prints are a close second.

They work in teams. This team snaked my drains. $162.50, thank you very much. The second team responded about an hour after the first team left and repaired the kitchen sink....it needed two new drains that attach to the sink. They put new washers in my faucet to prevent it from dripping and wrote out the bill; $160, thank you very much again. CHA-CHING.

Even though the boxers did give me a chuckle, it didn't crack me up.....so it wasn't worth $322.50 in my opinion. If you really think about it.....with the time involved, these guys make more than doctors!

It's never a good time.....

2011-07-31T20:15:00.003-04:00

for a leaky pipe. I just have to keep reminding myself that it could have been worse. At least the dishes were all done.

My niece and her son were here from Arkansas so I had a family get together on Saturday. Late at night after everyone had left, I didn't notice the puddle on my kitchen floor until after I noticed that my kitchen drain seemed to be clogged. The dishwater from earlier still hadn't completely drained out. I put some Drano in it and when I came back to check, it hadn't done a bit of good, which is unusual. I then noticed there was a puddle in front of the sink. (hey....I had a lot of my mind that day...lol) I opened the cupboard under the sink and water was all inside there and was overflowing out onto the floor. I could feel it coming rather rapidly from the sink pipe.

I ran to get a bucket and hand-dipped the water out of the sink (cursing). I kept hoping that the Drano was mixed with enough water that it wouldn't burn my hands off. And I also wondered if maybe putting the Drano in there had caused the problem...I have PVC pipe under there. Since Drano comes in a plastic container.....I kinda doubt that it eats plastic. But when you're stressed, you think of all kinds of weird scenarios.

So today I made the call to the plumber that we use and asked the answering service if they could call me tomorrow so I could make an appointment with them. I can get by without my kitchen sink for a couple days. This month I have extra bills due and its a tight month. Of course.....it would happen at this time. But then again.....its never a good time to have plumbing woes. $$$$$

Never brag........

2011-07-19T09:43:00.003-04:00

only show gratitude. The picture is exactly what it looked like yesterday afternoon as we peered out of the office building window. In all my years I really don't remember seeing such black clouds envelope an area the way these did. I was reminded of the movie, Independence Day, where the alien ship slowly takes over the entire sky over the city.

It was in the 90's and miserable. A nice rain was needed....but not a storm. As soon as the black clouds were visible from the windows, we started trying to get to the Internet to see what was going on weather-wise. Over the fire radio, we could hear the fire departments west of us going out on run after run for downed wires, trees, etc. We knew we were in for it.....yet there was this faint glimmer of hope that it may miss us. We've been fortunate in the fact that a lot of storms go south of us. Something had happened because we were not able to get to the Internet....probably lines down somewhere. So we just had to depend on our own eyes and listen to emergency services do their thing.

Within minutes it was as dark as night even though it was only about 3 in the afternoon. Then the winds and the rain came......it poured so hard that cars were pulling off the roadway. The phones started ringing with people asking if we were under tornado warnings. What? People still haven't learned to tune in to their TV or radio for up-to-the-minute notices. I didn't know much more than they did.....that it was raining and dark. And yes.....frightful looking. Now here is where the selfishness creeps into my being. In the back of my mind I was hoping desperately that I would not lose power. I have a freezer nearly full of food, plus that.....its NINETY SOME degrees out and I love....LOVE my central AC.

The storm whipped through in about 10 minutes or so.....just long enough to cause havoc in some areas. The sun was coming out as I dialed my home phone number. If my answering machine picked up, then I would know that I still had power. We had heard on the radio that a major intersection a little over a mile from me was down due to a tree on a transformer. YES! I silently yelled to myself....the answering machine picked up. I had POWER! I was already thinking of sleeping in comfort during this hot spell.

Through-out the afternoon I heard from several co-workers.....a lot of them were going home to no power. One lived about 2 miles from me. Just before I left for home, I called my house again and heard my own voice answer as the machine picked up. I had a smile on my face. I was lucky! But I know not to brag. I've lived long enough to know what happens when you brag.

It only takes me 11 minutes to drive home. I saw evidence in that 6 mile drive of the storm's fury. Lots of branches and traffic lights out. I pulled into my driveway, got the mail, and hit the remote to open the garage door as I got back in the car. Nothing. I hit it again. Still nothing.

You know us humans are funny that way. When something won't work, we just can't seem to give up. We always have to keep trying it....3 or 4 times before we finally accept the inevitable.

Needless to say.....since my garage would not open, that meant that I had no power. I parked outside my garage door and came into my house. It was still cool inside but I knew it wouldn't stay that way for long. Thinking about all the power outages in the area, it could be days before I would be restored. What about my food in the freezer. I do have a generator, but haven't the strength to operate it any longer....if it still works. Its been a long time since I've fired that puppy up.

I came inside and laid across my bed.....ticked off. Yes, ticked off. I could hear my neighbor's generator running. I could probably get him to help me, even though I really hate bothering people. All of a sudden the power came back on and I felt truly blessed. So far, it has stayed on but.....nothing would surprise me. Its going to be in the mid-90's again today, tomorrow and over 100 the next day. I hope the storms stay away but we all know.....extremely hot weather and electrical storms just seem to go together. They are predicting strong storms again on Friday.

Good news.....

2011-07-15T07:52:00.003-04:00

I went to the eye doctor yesterday and my eye is improving nicely. The vision has improved remarkably. He was extremely happy about it....(not as happy as I was though). The very best thing was that I did NOT have to have another injection. That truly made my day.

So.....I go back in 3 months unless something unusual happens....then he wants to see me right away. I left there in a fog....for real because my eyes were dilated.....but I did notice a little jaunt in my 'get along'. I hope that I never have to go through that eye problem again.....and also hope that it never happens to anyone I know....or know of.

So today is Friday and its going to be a beautiful day. Tomorrow they are predicting the high's in the 90's again but its better than a blizzard any day of the week. Have a wonderful weekend.

I put it off as long as possible.....

2011-07-08T23:37:00.004-04:00

but I finally had no choice but to go grocery shopping. I was out of bread, milk and (gasp) dogfood! So after work, I trudged to the grocery store in 87 degree heat.....walking uphill 20 miles. No....wait....just kidding about that last part. Even though I felt like I'd done that.

Now I am able to walk.....I just no longer do it well. With my bad knee and my bad hip (I know I sound like Grandpa McCoy) I cannot walk for long periods of time. So I opt for the riding grocery buggy. When these things work well, they are fantastic! I can get my shopping done twice as fast because they move faster than I can walk. That's when they work well.

Most stores only have 2 or 3 of them available. Some of them have definitely seen better days. A lot of stores have a problem with PARENTS letting their kids play with them (take them for a ride through-out the store, terrorizing small children and seniors on foot.) So, the problem with going shopping late in the day is that the buggies are basically pooped. You may walk in and find them all neatly lined up with their cords plugged in getting charged, but that doesn't mean that they have been sitting there more than 5 minutes. It seems like I have a greatest knack for picking the buggy that will die halfway through the store at the farthest point from help. I will usually have a full basket when this happens. One time a checker rescued me by bringing me another cart and we swapped out the groceries from my totally dead buggy to the other one.

Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to ride one of these things when its nearly dead? A snail moves faster. I'm serious. They barely move and you inch your way toward the front of the store so you can unload your groceries. Grass grows faster than these things move. But.....ahhhh when they are working well and fully charged.....you breeze down the aisles, the wind whipping your hair back as scenery of cereal boxes and canned goods whiz by. Why....just the joy of it makes you forget about all the high prices of the items being offered.

Unfortunately, today was another day in which I chose the buggy that died within minutes of me taking it. Since I wasn't getting a lot, I continued to use it and inched my way through shopping. The red light blinking and the beep beep signal convinced me I'd better forget the last few things and head for the check out. I must have been a pretty pitiful sight. No wonder that 3 year old was looking at me strangely. I don't want to think about it.

Ahhhh.....

2011-07-04T23:50:00.002-04:00

my day off and I could sleep in a bit. I looked over at the alarm clock on the nightstand and it said 8:45, which meant it was actually 8:15 because I have my clock set 30 minutes fast so I won't be late. (don't think about that statement too much, ok?) I stretched and decided that I would sleep in a bit longer.....after all, it was my day off and I had no plans.

I turned over and snuggled against the pillows and started to drift off again. At this point I heard a firecracker so loud and powerful that it actually shook the house. I mumbled to myself, shaking my head. Some people have no sense, I thought. Here it is, not even 9 in the morning and they are already shooting off fireworks. I hoped that it was going to be the only one for a while and then I drifted off to sleep. I awoke about 45 minutes later. I'm not quite sure of the time because when I looked at my clock, the face was dark. I knew in an instant what had happened. I put things together immediately..........I'm quick like that. The loud noise I'd heard a while before.....it was no firecracker, it was the transformer again and guess what? I had no power! And.....there was for sure a fried squirrel laying on the ground at the back of my or the neighbor's yard.

This is a never-ending war between us, the power lines and the squirrels in our neighborhood. The squirrels are always the loser,but we end up suffering because it knocks out our power. Sometimes the power company is not busy and they can get us up and running again within a couple hours......sometimes, its 5 hours. This time it was 2 hours.

You know when you are without power......it seems like everything you want to do involves electricity. I ended up reading a book without my morning coffee.

You can understand why none of us around here are fond of squirrels.....even if they do have those huge brown eyes and that cute fluffy tail.

Dana's been hacked.....

2011-06-30T23:44:00.004-04:00

If any of you are followers of Dana of LIFE IS GOOD, I'd like to tell you that her blog, her Facebook account and her yahoo email address were all hacked into. She was able to get her email back, but the Facebook and Blog are history at this point. The passwords have been changed and she can no longer post.

Yes....she suspects it was done by the same people who have been terrorizing her.....unfortunately, they are family members or ex-family members. Right now she's trying to figure out what to do. So please, if you know anyone who follows her, pass on this info.

You know Dana.....SHE WILL BE BACK!!!

Also, if you have any ideas on how she can protect herself in the future and still post a blog (which she enjoys immensely), please let her know. Thanks to all of you.

Update: Go into the comments section of Dana's last post for a message from Joe.

Some days work is actually fun.....

2011-06-29T00:45:00.004-04:00

The other day, in the afternoon, this guy comes into the building carrying a bucket, some bottles and a small hose. He stands in the hallway looking a bit lost, looks up at the sign above the door that says "Supervisor's Office" and walks in. He looks at me and asks if this is the Supervisor's Office.

Now, the corner of my mouth twitched but I managed to hold it together as my mind was saying, "not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are ya?" I nodded solemnly that it was indeed the Supervisor's office. He then proceeded to tell me that he was going to be spraying for ants around the offices and the perimeter of the building. I let my eyes drift down to his shirt, which has his name embroidered on one side and the name of the pest control company on the other. I state to him that we usually have a different company do that and asked him if he was new. (since I only work part-time I don't know everything that goes on) He said he was and left to go about his job.

A little bit later he came back and handed me one of those digital receipt thingies where you sign with a special pen and it looks all shakey. I start to sign and then noticed that the address on the invoice was that of the library, which is the building on the other side of the parking lot from ours. I tell him about this and his reply.............are you ready? Here it comes.............
He says....."Oh....ya know, I was kinda wondering where all the books were."

I swear.....this is a true story. I figure it's one of the rewards you get once in a while to make up for the fact that you have to work. The maintenance man and I had a good laugh about it after the guy left, headed toward the library. LOLOLOLOL Keep Smilin'

A problem solved.....

2011-06-24T00:22:00.005-04:00

My daughter's refrigerator quit working. It's never a convenient time for something like that to happen. Thank goodness she hadn't just shopped, but she still had substantial food in it that had to be thrown away.....which she can't afford to do.

I've been working a lot more than usual lately and she wanted me along....more for moral support than anything else because I really don't know anything about refrigerators....other than I hate to clean them out. Of course it's not as bad as it used to be before frost-free ones came out.

Anyway, her kitchen is very small and the space for the refrigerator is also very small. She was going to have to measure carefully because a regular sized one just would not fit. So, armed with said measurements, we decided to make it a fun day and we picked Thursday because its the only day off I have this week. The only things I could tell her was to make sure it was frost-free.....and I guess they all are now....and to make sure the store would take away the old one. Free delivery would be great but not every place would offer it. An ice-maker would be wonderful if it doesn't cost too much extra.

So we had breakfast first and enjoyed that. Then we set off to store #1. We've had a couple of bad experiences with this store before.....the salespeople there seem to be uncaring and rude. But we had been told it was a good place to purchase a refrigerator, so we decided to check it out. We were treated the same way as before. Once they found out that she wasn't going to be spending a sinful amount of money on one of those refrigerators that do everything but balance your checkbook, the salesmen were uncaring and lost interest. When they found out that she needed a particular size......they implied that no such size was available and she'd have to settle for a tiny dorm sized one that was ridiculous. One was even suggesting she rip out her cupboards to make a bigger one fit. She was upset and getting stressed and looked at me with a "what do I do?" look on her face. One thing about getting old.....you can say what you feel and get away with it. I simply said "let's go someplace else.....I'm sure we can find something better elsewhere" and I said it loud enough for the salesmen to hear it. We promptly left.

She sadly said that we'd probably have to go to this one store that boasted of their low low prices. She was sad about it because this store is located in a not very desirable part of town and being two women and a child.....we felt quite vulnerable. I didn't want to go there either. We started to head in that direction when I said....."you know, I just don't want to go there, let's go to this other place right here around the bend and see what they have and if they say the same thing, then we'll have to make some phone calls". She said ok and actually breathed a sigh of relief.

Store #2 had friendly employees and the salesman who took care of us was knowledgeable and low pressure. He had exactly what she needed.....the size was perfect; the same size as the one in her kitchen right now. To top it off, it was on sale, they will take the old one away free of charge and delivery is free, free, free. The only thing she did that I really didn't agree with is that she wanted it in black, like the one pictured. Since her kitchen is so small, I'm afraid that black fridge is just going to leap out like a big black bear.....but it's her kitchen......so I didn't say too much. The only thing that matters is that it will be delivered by next Tuesday and this is one major problem solved. Oh and by the way.....it rained all day long.....sometimes it poured rain, so it was not exactly a perfect day for shopping, but it ended well and we made a memory.

Update: Well by popular demand.....the name of the store where everyone was so friendly, courteous and knowledgeable.....and where we made the purchase.......none other than HOME DEPOT. Great Store!! I would not be afraid to recommend them to anyone. Never have I seen so many smiling faces under one roof. Good Job, Home Depot Employees! We'll be back.

There is something very wrong here.....

2011-06-08T13:30:00.002-04:00

Before I start on my rant.....something right happened. My FOLLOWERS are back! Just as mysteriously as they disappeared, (way back in January, I think) they are now back. So I'm happy about that!

Now back to the scheduled post ......
I took my ONE dog to the vet for her annual check-up and shots. I had already purchased her license in January. She is healthy....although not feeling very well today. I think its because of the shots yesterday. If she's not herself by tomorrow I'll have to give them a call.

Anyway, this visit set me back $325.....it was more than last year because she was due for booster shots on two different 3-year shots. The actual office call was $42 and the rest was for tests and preventive medicine.

How many times do we see ads on TV and in the mail BEGGING people to PLEASE adopt a pet. I want to know.....how in the world can the average person AFFORD to have a pet with prices like this. According to the news media, The Humane Society is being criticized right now for putting down so many cats and dogs here lately. I guess just too many people no longer can afford their beloved pets and have left them off in hopes that they will find good homes.....causing serious over-crowding. The Humane Society states that they find homes for 100% of the animals left with them who are healthy.....but only 40% of those left with them ARE healthy. The other 60% are animals with health issues......and medicine is expensive. This is accounting for the pets left off with them....it does not take into account the unbelievable amount of cats and dogs abandoned on the streets and left to fend for themselves. It's truly heartbreaking.

I know that I absolutely cannot afford to have more than one pet. Additionally, I feel bad because I can't really give her all of what she needs. Although they are not horrible, she needs to have her teeth cleaned before they DO get horrible..... and the vet charges $331 for this. Right now I'm brushing her teeth with (ugh) Chicken flavored toothpaste. She's really very good about me messing around with her mouth but it doesn't do the thorough job a professional cleaning would do.....however, its about $315 cheaper, so that's what I do. I know people who have 3 and 4 dogs......I just wonder how in the world they can afford them!

So right now I feel like I'm sitting on top of a mountain and just throwing money up in the air to watch it fly. It seems like every time I turn around here lately.....I'm having to pay out something big. The upgrading of my computer and a new battery backup was $250; fixing the back-room computer (older one for the grandkids) $150; the vet bill $325. Homeowner's insurance renewal payment $250. Retina doctor's payment; $150. My daughter's refrigerator quit on her and since she has NO money.....three guesses who will probably have to help her. And that also makes me think about my OWN refrigerator.....I can't really remember how old it is. (sending tiny prayers upward for its continued good working condition)

But I'm getting off track......back to the issue of homeless pets. I think we need to work on some sort of plan NATIONALLY to assure that people can have pets (a huge joy in my life, and I know a huge joy in the lives of so many others) without it costing them a small fortune. Adoptions are just not going to happen when people know that mandatory vet visits and shots are so expensive. I'm not looking for a hand-out.....I would volunteer some time to help out in exchange for getting a discount on the vet bill and required shots. What do you think? Does your state have organizations where pets can be taken for their shots at a much more reasonable price? The Humane Society here is supposed to be cheaper, but my daughter didn't think there was that much difference; it was still expensive.

I think a program should be set up where you can get a coupon for a discount at your regular vet's office. If you have to go to a different location, you know as well as I do that it will be crowded and long lines with pets in tow is not a good thing.....not to mention all the paperwork and medical histories on each pet. A nightmare! Make it available to anyone willing to give their own time, thus avoiding the cost of checking out financial history on each individual. I would be willing to volunteer my time doing something for so many hours to ensure that I could afford to get my pet all she needs. Now I just have to think of what jobs could be done on a volunteer basis with minimal supervision and no training required (which would be costly).....jobs that would save the state money, so they could justify paying toward your vet bill.

Hmmmm.....you know what? My ex-boss is now a Senator. I think I will write him and ask him to think about this. Please offer me some suggestions that I can put in my letter to him. Who knows....maybe Michigan can be the first state to start something that will become a National program, allowing many families the option of keeping their beloved pets instead of having to give them away because they can no longer afford them. The more hours you volunteer, the more coupons you get toward your vet bill. Please get your thinking caps on......and thank you.

Have you ever wondered.....

2011-06-06T05:00:00.001-04:00

about your thought processes? In other words, you're sitting there thinking about something and all of a sudden you think.....now WHY in the world am I thinking about this, of all things. So you start to put your thoughts in reverse and figure out how one thought leads to another and so on. It actually shows you how amazing our brains are.....and there really IS some reasoning to our thought processes. Sometimes, I get lost and I'm not able to take it all the way back....but its good exercise for the brain nevertheless. However, you can save yourself all that reversing if you wake up thinking of something and from there it just leads you off onto some path down memory lane.

I woke up this morning humming "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley. I can remember when that song first came out and my mother thought it was absolutely ridiculous and said it made no sense at all. Of course it went on to be a chart buster and helped push Elvis to the top and secured his title as "The King" forever-more. However, I also felt that the song really made no sense as well, but I was a "tween" at the time and I would have never admitted it, especially to my mom cause that would mean I was agreeing that she was right; plus that..... it really didn't matter. Songs didn't HAVE to make sense. I accepted that and, accordingly, the song has never made sense to me all these years.....until today.

Well, this morning I was thinking about that and also thinking about the lyrics. "You ain't never caught a rabbit, so you ain't no friend o' mine". All of a sudden, a light bulb went off. As I mentioned before, I loved to date boys from the south and did end up marrying one. He was from a poor family in the deep south. He told me many stories of his childhood and also about his dog, Charlie. Charlie was a big dog (think mix between shepherd, spaniel and coon hound....and lord only knows what else). The dog pictured, although not Charlie, is as close as I could find to what he looked like from photos I've seen. He was a typical southern sharecropper's dog, laying under the porch for coolness, chasing coons, keeping foxes out of the chicken house and following the kids around. Lots of different jobs: Protector of the house, snake killer and squirrel hunter......and also a good buddy.

My future husband (youngest boy out of family of 15), who I shall refer to as J.R., was about 9 or 10 at the time and his dad (who was SO very strict) gave him 4 shotgun shells and told him to go shoot some squirrels for supper. Now he knew that if he came home with all 4 shells gone, he had BETTER have 4 dead somethings to show for it. There was no such thing as wasting ammo.....it was expensive and they didn't have extra money to throw away. If he couldn't account for 4 shells being gone, he got a whipping.....a good hard one.

So he and Charlie went off into the woods to hunt. He had been shooting since he was old enough to pick up the shotgun and was a good shot, as most southern boys are. You can imagine the fear in his little heart when he missed a shot and the squirrel got away. He sat, leaned against a tree, 3 dead squirrels by his side, no shotgun shells left and Charlie sitting on his haunches facing him. The tears were flowing as he confessed to Charlie a whipping was surely waiting for him. He said that Charlie trotted off and came back in just a little while and dropped a dead rabbit next to him. He said that dog was a life saver that day. He had gone out and killed a rabbit and brought it back, just like he understood what J.R.'s fate was going to be. The boys always took their game home and, after showing it to their pa just so he could confirm the amount (if you only have 2 dead somethings you damn well better have 2 shells left), they gave it to their mama, who cleaned it and fixed it up for supper. He knew she would never tell on him, that there were no shotgun pellets in the rabbit because she hated to see her boys whipped for something like that.

Anyway.....the line about not catching a rabbit in Elvis's song, suddenly made sense to me. It had probably made sense to every southern boy in the world....but now it was clear to me. And that was my thought processes upon waking, this beautiful morning. Rest in peace, Charlie, wherever you're buried....you were a good dog and a true "friend" to a scared little boy. I'm wondering if Elvis had ever had the same experience. What do you think?

A learning experience.....

2011-06-03T17:41:00.007-04:00

for me. I know you all have been waiting with bated breath to hear the ending in reference to poor Mr. M and his SS number plastered on the $20 bill.

I finally found the time to stop at my own bank (credit union) tonight after work. I walked in and asked for the manager and got the runaround so I figured he/she had left for the day. The teller who helped me asked if she could be of assistance rather than the manager. So I explained to her that I had received the 20 from their ATM machine in the lobby and what was written on it as I handed it over to her.

The nosy teller in the next window piped up and said that it was probably counterfeit as that's how they (the banks) mark counterfeit bills. My teller retorted "then how did it get back in circulation if it was turned in as counterfeit" as she tested it with her counterfeit detector pen. She then announced to the other teller that it was a good bill. The other teller then said a bunch of stuff to her, most of it I couldn't hear....but I did hear "because of that new ruling, we can't do anything about it; she'll have to send it in to the government herself and wait for them to make a decision on giving her another bill".

Thank goodness......some people still have compassion. My teller took another 20 out of her drawer and handed it to me. She said....."You shouldn't have to be out the money....after all, you got it from our machine. I'll figure out a way to take care of this, don't worry". And I'm not worrying about it because I know that she doesn't want Mr. M's info to get out there either. I thanked her sincerely.....for caring, as I gave the other teller the evil eye. (as only a post-menopausal mother can successfully accomplish)

This tells me.....and now I'm telling you......be careful about the bills you accept. Looks like if you get stuck with a bad bill.....you're exactly that....STUCK. ATM's are another story; I guess you're taking a chance every time you use one. The banks don't seem to care anymore unless you find that rare gem of a credit union employee, like I did. I hope she doesn't get in trouble with her boss for what she did. She did do the right thing.....you know it and I know it. Rest easy, Mr. M.

I am appalled.....

2011-05-23T20:42:00.005-04:00

at how uncaring our society has become.

Saturday I stopped at an ATM and withdrew some money as I was meeting a friend for breakfast. One of the twenties I received had a man's name and full social security number written on it. Not once, but twice; once on each side of the bill in dark bold ink. I folded the bill and put it separate so I wouldn't spend it. I decided to act on this poor man's behalf when the banks were open on Monday.

Today I had to stop at the grocery store and inside the store is a branch of a bank. It is not my bank but I figured any bank would do for my purpose.

I went up to the counter and took out the bill. I explained to several of the tellers (who were getting ready to leave for the day as the bank was now closed) how I had received the bill and showed them the information it contained. I asked if they would take the bill when they reopened and send it in for destruction so as to protect this man's identity from thieves. She informed me that they could do that but that they could not give me another $20 in exchange for it. I guess my shocked look said it all. She stated that I should just go ahead and spend it....maybe I could try and scribble the information out if I wanted to.

Doesn't anyone care anymore? I bet you that if it had been HER information on that bill, she would have been more than happy to have exchanged it. I know banks submit worn out and partially destroyed bills all the time so they can be chopped up into confetti. Heck, the Feds even make money on selling little bags of that confetti.

Now I don't know if this man who's name is on the bill is a hateful soul or if his ex-wife or girlfriend just wants to cause him grief. I know nothing about him except for his name and social security number. I am going to go to my own bank and see what they say. If they give me the same answer.....then maybe I will just go to the news media with this. I think its disgraceful that human beings care so less about each other that they would let this valuable information float around out there.....free for the taking. Especially since the federal government has guidelines in place to deal with the disposal of money. You can be assured that the BANK doesn't take a loss.....they would get reimbursement by the government for the destroyed bill.

Stay tuned for the ending of this one. And Mr. M......you can rest assured that I will protect your information.....even if I have no other recourse than to mark it up so badly its absolutely impossible to read, which may make it non-negotiable. I just hope there aren't any more bills out there with your info on them.

Anyone have any ideas? Any bank tellers out there? Tell me what to do. I can't afford to lose $20 myself or I'd just destroy it and be done with it.

And so it continues.....

2011-05-17T10:21:00.005-04:00

I am woman on the edge, I tell ya.....a woman on the edge. If there were any bridges close by, I think I would be jumping off one of them.

I wrote a HUGE email to a friend and just as I was ending it.....my computer shut down and re-booted itself, snickering and laughing under its breath. This is the memory problem I've been having and its slowly driving me crazy. I can't WAIT until my computer guy gets here with the extra memory.

So, then after a re-boot, I'm too tired to re-write the entire email again....so I figure I will do it the next day. Mind you.....I'm having to put up with this constant......chirp.....from the battery back-up. But its either that or no computer. I am not strong enough to move it and plug the outlets into something else or I sure would do it.

Late last night, before retiring, I decided to check the weather. I noticed that my keyboard was not working. All three lights were lit up....which I've never seen before.....but it was not working. I said to hell with it and went to bed. This morning I decide to pull the CPU out from the shelf alongside the computer desk and check the back to see if the keyboard had somehow gotten unplugged.....which I doubted since the lights were on. I pulled the CPU out and checked the fittings, then rebooted. YAY....the keyboard worked.....but the mouse didn't.

Now I'll tell you.....you can get by without a keyboard if necessary. You can use an on-screen keyboard and your mouse to type. Its slow and tedious, but it does work. I've had to do it before. But you cannot get by without a mouse. Well, I guess you CAN....but I don't know how. So for ME....I can't get by without a mouse. So I had to pull the CPU back out and check the fittings again and this time I got both the keyboard and the mouse to work. My self-confidence was beginning to rise. It fell through the basement shortly thereafter as I realized that now I have no sound. I'm done. I'm not touching another frickin' thing until my guy gets here......and if he doesn't get here soon, there will be a taped outline of my body on the living room floor.

It'll get ya.....

2011-05-15T08:51:00.005-04:00

Lately its been ...."everything seems to be going wrong" around here. Hmmmm...that prompted me to wonder if Mercury is retrograde again. I checked and its not. Not that it would have made a difference one way or another....it just would have given me an excuse to use. "Oh yeah....Mercury is retrograde, you know....and that's when stuff goes wrong". But...no such luck.

I guess we can start with Blogger going haywire. I have been having problems with my Followers widget on Blogger for months and its never been fixed. I figure they must need some time to work on it.....and I'll be patient. In the meantime....if you don't see your avatar in my Followers widget or if you just plain don't see Followers at all....it isn't because I removed them. I guess they are still visible if you use Chrome. A lot of people have told me they can see them fine.....so yeah, it could be just me. I use Firefox.

Anyway, Blogger went goofy and some people lost a lot of stuff. I didn't lose too much, some comments and my update about my ......shudder.....eye. I guess we should all keep back-ups of what we post. What's that? You do? Oh well.....I don't and I guess I should.

Then came our usual weekly ritual.....me and my family's. We have supper and a movie....maybe two movies. We had Mexican that night and then settled in for a good movie. We put the disc in the VCR and........nothing. It wouldn't read the disc.....hell, it wouldn't even acknowledge that it was a VCR. At that point I think it may have thought it was a riding lawn mower. We fooled around with it and fooled around with it. More than an hour went by. My mood was getting dark. Now this poor little VCR, that is probably 8 years old, if not more.....has been a good one but it has been acting up here and there. Things like you having to rap sharply on top of it or the drawer won't open to accept the disc. Just small stuff like that. But it prompted me to buy another VCR around Christmas. I found one on sale and so, knowing that I would need it shortly, I purchased it. Notice I said Christmas! It has been sitting in the box, unopened, next to my TV in the living room ever since. Neither my daughter or I know anything about VCR's and everyone I asked to hook it up for me always said, "yeah, sure,.....I'll do that for you next weekend....tomorrow....next month....in my next life." Needless to say, it never got hooked up, let alone opened up.

So we decided, how hard can this be? Kids can do this for god's sake. You just take one cable off the old one and put it in the opening labeled the same in the new one. Piece of cake!

We pulled everything out from the shelf under the TV (Good Lord it gets dusty under there!). I did the brain wracking job of putting the batteries in the remote. Hey! I had to do my part too. Well....seems as though the cables I have hooked up to the old VCR have a pin in the fittings and the new cables have color coded plugs. Of COURSE the new VCR did not have any places for a fitting that had a pin. This truly puzzled us and we ended up putting everything back in the box. We replaced the old VCR right where it had been and stared at it for a while, our brains whirling. I must say that perseverance paid off in this respect because after fooling with it for only another hour or so, we did get it to acknowledge the disc and to actually play it without further incident. Of course we were afraid to even so much as sneeze during the movie in fear that the vibrations would make it revert to thinking it was, perhaps, a coffee pot and therefore refuse to play the disc.

We had a terrific thunder-storm later that night. I slept through most of it. In the morning my computer would not turn on. It was completely dead! Upon further investigation, I found that my Comcast modem was also dead. I tried to reset it and it laughed at me. Now, picture this....if you possibly can. Underneath my computer desk I have a conglomeration of wires that is beyond description. I am afraid to mess with any of them and leave it all to the guy who works on my computer. If it wasn't for the fact that most of my stuff had power and was working in that room, I would have thought I had blown a fuse. I was at a loss and so I called my computer guy. The first thing he did was tell me to check the surge protector power strips and that he'd be out on Sunday to take a look. Now....he didn't say he'd FIX it on Sunday....just that he'd take a look. That always makes me nervous.

Well, I did find that my computer and modem are plugged into a battery back-up system. I do that because power failures have fried two computers over the years. Somehow the battery back up had been turned off. When I turned it back on.....I had power to the computer and to the modem once again.....but now I have this irritating "chirp" that is going on. The back-up system doesn't seem to be recharging. I have a feeling that it is dead. He'll be here in an hour and will tell me.

Once I had the computer up and running I felt like I belonged in the world again. (sad, isn't it?) I have since noticed that my adding machine and my answering machine are not working. I'm hoping that its because they have become unplugged when I was messing in the jumble of wires under there. I went to recharge my cell phone and the battery is no longer taking a charge. I really can't complain....I've had the phone for over 10 years. Are you seeing a pattern here?

So.....while I had the system running, I went to my bill-paying sites and scheduled my payments through the end of this month......just in case. Yep, just in case he has to take my computer and I am without for a period of time. See? I'm trying desperately to head off Murphy at the pass.....but if there is possibly ONE tiny way something can go wrong......of course it will. But, you knew that, didn't you?

Update: My computer guy was here.(BLESS his heart) The new VCR is hooked up and the old one that is temperamental about working is now in the den. It will play VHS tapes and I have a bunch of those so I might as well keep it. The battery back-up, in all likely-hood took a 'hit' during the storm. He says those back-ups can only take one hit and then that's it. He's had his for 10 years and its still working. This is my second one in 5 years. Go figure. Anyway, he'll be back in a few days....I'm getting a memory upgrade.

Well.....this just stinks

2011-05-11T02:52:00.005-04:00

Yep, here I am still up....bright eyed and bushy tailed and its 3 o'clock in the morning. I have an eye doctor's appointment today and I'm extremely nervous over it. I do not want another shot in the eye!

So, hopefully, I won't have to have one.....but my condition has not improved that much.....although it HAS improved. I just can't predict what's going to happen and that's making me fearful.

And.....another thing. I might as well say it, although I am ashamed to. My 40 year old son once again ignored me on Mother's Day. No card, no phone call....not even a drive-by wave. He only lives a mile and a half away so that's no excuse. I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if I hadn't gone to hell and back raising him. He was/is ADHD and I suspect some bi-polar thrown in for good measure. Back then they didn't have names for that stuff.....he was just known as a kid who was into everything (a la Dennis the Menace) and I received a phone call from the school on a daily basis. Lord give me strength. Well, my daughter and granddaughter showed up on Sunday and we had a lovely day. Thank God for her. She brought dinner, flowers and cards and most of all......Love! My grandson called .... he was unable to come over as he worked 14 hours that day.

So I did get remembered but it still hurts to have one of your children neglect you on those special days. Especially when you don't even know why. I hope none of you ever experience it. No matter how hard you try to protect yourself from it.....it still does hurt.

Update: I DID have to have another shot in my eye (shudder) but the doctor feels that this should be my last one. He says the eye is healing nicely and wants to see me again in 2 months.

An award.....thank you

2011-05-08T14:12:00.004-04:00

to Orea of The Higher Voice for giving this to me. I am supposed to list 7 things about myself and then pass this award on to 15 NEWLY FOUND blogs. Sorry to say, every newly found blog I wanted to pass this award on to already has been given it! I was involved with the A-Z Challenge and even though I did find some new blogs I loved, I really didn't have time to do much searching once I was through posting each alphabet post. So 15 NEW blogs is kind of a tall order for me.

Now.....since its my blog....(heh heh heh) I'm going to change things a bit. I am awarding this award to you if you are on my sidebar as a blog I frequent and love. Yep.....yours for the taking.....and well-deserved too, cause if your blog wasn't fantastic, it wouldn't be on my sidebar. So please accept it....from my heart.
Now, the 7 things.
1. I enjoy watching some cartoons.
2. I talk to my plants.
3. Animals love me, even guard dogs will let me pet them. (blowing their owner's minds)
4. If someone hurts me, I never really recover from it or forget it.
5. I'm terrified of doctors and dentists and will make myself sick thinking about an upcoming appointment.
6. I've always wished I was musically inclined (cannot carry a tune with a basket or play any instrument)
7. I had 3 imaginary friends when I was little (plight of an only child).

So there you have it. Please take your award and pass it on. And, thank you again, Orea.

Is it just me.....

2011-05-05T10:00:00.005-04:00

.....is it because I'm older now and more....uh....cranky? Or do some of these things get to you too.

I was grocery shopping the other day. I hate to grocery shop. So I realize my attitude is not the best when I have to do this chore. But anyway.....I'm behind this woman who chooses to stop, in the middle of the walkway, between produce and bakery, where there isn't enough room to pass her on either side and make adjustments to herself. By this I mean, adjust the bra, adjust the hair....it may have been a wig....take off her eyeglasses and clean them on her scarf....by this time my patience level had reached O. After I uttered "excuse me" a couple times, she jumped, clutched her chest and apologized profusely. Yeah, yeah, lady....just move so I can get this dang shopping out of the way. Although I didn't say that, I just smiled forcibly and said, "that's ok" and went about my business. Why do we do that?? I know and SHE knows that its really NOT ok. Furthermore, she knows that I know she knows. Just once I'd like to really say....yeah, this time I'll overlook it, next time, I'm gonna draw down on ya just for being stupid.

When I get groceries, it seems I can never do this chore without the help of someone, usually the kindness of strangers. I am short. I have always been short. I've gotten shorter as I've aged, which pisses me off. I was always 5' tall. Now I'm 4'11. Anyway, I simply cannot reach items that are put on the top shelf if they are set more than halfway back on the shelf. No matter what, it seems like I have to have at least TWO items each trip that are positioned just so. My suggestion to grocery store managers.....why not put things on the top shelf that tall people use....like basketballs. Seriously though.....I know the top shelf has to hold SOMETHING I just wish it were things that I never needed. Have I mentioned that I hate grocery shopping?

This also brings to mind that it always seems like the item or items you need are being blocked by A) a store employee who is restocking B) a man who is searching for something with a puzzled look on his face or C) a frazzled mother with one of those carts the size of a Buick loaded with children.....or all of the aforementioned. Unless I'm in a particularly bad mood, I try and wait it out without saying anything, in hopes that they will take the hint and move but that doesn't always work. Once in a while you have to excuse yourself and attempt to reach the item.
And then they act all surprised. Well....jeez.....now why in the world did they think you were standing there for so long....admiring the view? their shoes? or just cause you're weird?

I'll end this with the parking lot. To the woman who repeatedly parks in the handicapped spot and who does not have a handicapped license or placard......I really don't think it negates the legal requirements for that spot if you sit in your vehicle reading while your passenger goes shopping in the store. You are still taking up the space that is designed for people who have difficulty walking because of a health reason and not because of laziness. You know who you are.....and shame on you. By the way, did you know the fine for illegally using a handicapped spot is $500.? Oh....and since our State needs money, a lot of those offenses are now being ticketed. Just sayin'......

I've got some movies to review so watch for that coming up in a few days. In the meantime, it looks like the s-word is finally out of here for a few months. My hope for a hot summer is slowly being diminished though. So far it has been unseasonably chilly. Every once in a while we experience a chilly summer and I fear this may be one of them. I feel bad for my own selfish reasons (hot weather = less pain)....but on a larger scale its so bad for tourism and our state could really use those extra funds right now. We'll just have to wait and see......Mom Nature, as you know, has a mind of her own.

The most unforgettable cat ever......

2011-05-03T04:54:00.000-04:00

has also got to be included if I'm talking about our pets. When my daughter was approaching 4, she wanted a kitty. I already had a dog, a toy Manchester terrier that thought she was a child....but she was a one person dog and that one person was me. She didn't want to have much to do with anyone else and when I wasn't home, she would hide under the bed and stay there until I came home. Don't think she was hiding because she was afraid....not at all. That dog thought she was a German Shepherd. She hid because she was bored with everyone else in the house except me. But this is about the cat.

I happened to stop at a garage sale about 2 miles from my house and in a tall cardboard box was what was left of a litter of kittens. Mom was an Angora and Dad was a charmer.....love 'em and leave 'em type....a Siamese. I glanced into the box and there were two left. They both were white but one had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. I picked her up and she snuggled up under my chin and began to nurse on the collar of my blouse, her little paws kneading the material as she purred contentedly. I couldn't resist and so I brought her home. My daughter was delighted and promptly named her after our babysitter, Tina.

My dog was not impressed in the least. Tina loved her though and never stopped loving her as long as she lived. Once in a while they would play but they never fought. When my dog died (at 15) Tina went from room to room mournfully meowing. It was heartbreaking as it was obvious that she missed her K9 friend. She kept that up for over a week. Tina acted more like a dog than a cat. I'm not trying to be mean here....I'm just stating a fact. Most cats are aloof and independent but Tina would actually come when you called her. She would come in response to her name, as well as kitty, kitty kitty. She is pictured with this post sitting in her favorite place, the warm cable box. We lived in a subdivision in the outskirts of town and so she "went outside" to go potty. She never had a litter box until she was very old and I got her one to use because it was so bitterly cold outside that last winter and she was 17 by then.

Tina would stretch out her body and take her paw and jiggle the doorknob. This is how we knew she wanted outside. If she wanted a drink of water, she would jump on the bathroom countertop and meow until you turned on the faucet, then she would drink from it. When we moved and took up residence on a paved road with much more traffic I was always afraid that she would get hit by a car. A car just tipped her tail and broke it as she was running across the street one day. She was always proud to walk around with that tail straight up in the air like an exclamation point but for about 2 months until it healed, her tail was bent over half way up so it looked like an inverted capitol L. I honestly think she felt humiliated looking like that. It taught her a lesson though and after that she always sat and waited until no cars were coming before she would cross.

Everyone loved Tina. Even people who usually hated cats loved Tina. She had the best personality of any cat I've ever been around. However, one day my kids had found a tiny kitten, an itty bitty yellow striped ball of fluff. Of course they brought it home and wanted to keep it. I may have consented but our sweet, angelic, loveable Tina instantly turned into a demon, the likes of which I'd never seen. Emitting low guttural growls, ears flattened back against her head, tail swishing rapidly from side to side as she spit and hissed like a cat straight out of Hades, she backed the kitten into a corner. The tiny kitten spit, spat and hissed right back at her with its back arched. It was ridiculously funny but yet I had to be cautious. Tina still had her claws and I could tell she meant business. The tiny kitten had to go. Once out of the house, Tina morphed back into her original sweet purring self, as she cleaned her whiskers and eyed me knowingly.

One time Tina disappeared and I feared the worse. She had been spayed so I knew it wasn't that. I feared she may have been hit by a car. We looked and looked for her....my daughter was a weeping mess. After about a week or so, I heard the familiar thump she made when she jumped on the door, wanting inside. I couldn't believe it as I whipped open the door and there she was. Our snow white cat was dark gray, she was so filthy.....but she was ok. She was hungry as a bear though. I think she had gotten locked in the neighbor's shed.

Tina lived to be a little over 17. She had a heart attack and went quickly. She still holds a special place in our hearts. I wish I could tell you all the stories I have about her, but there just isn't enough blog space. If you're ever going to get a cat, my wish for you is that you find one as great as Tina.

KC.....was a family member

2011-05-02T04:51:00.000-04:00

I don't believe I've talked about before on my blog. I guess its about time I gave her some recognition.

My daughter bought this precious Cockatiel for me one Christmas. I named her KC. I had just lost my Chihuahua to old age and was feeling pretty empty. It had been many years since I had owned a bird, which was a parakeet. I was still working every day at the time and wasn't sure I could devote enough time to teaching a bird everything I had taught my parakeet, but seeing that precious face, I was delighted and willing to try.

I had her for over 11 years and was told that was a pretty good age for a Cockatiel. She was never sick; I just found her laying on the bottom of her cage one morning.

Anyway, her wings were clipped and yet she was such a strong flyer, she could still fly for short distances. I have very fond memories of her flying down from her cage and walking that pigeon toed walk they do across the living room floor, climbing up onto my foot and walking up my pant leg onto my lap, from there up my arm to my shoulder and then give my hair a little tug and my ear a nibble, just to say HI. This bird was a pure delight. She would often follow me, on foot, down the hallway to the bathroom or one of the bedrooms. She would "answer" me with a chirp when I came home from work and also when I called her name. When I moved her cage so she could see out to the driveway, I could hear her loudly chirp as I got out of my car. I know she had seen me drive in. She'd keep that up until I came into the house and over to her cage to acknowledge her. Unlike humans, I guess the females of the species do not talk, so KC never uttered a word, just chirps in varying degrees of loudness and some off-color squawks I took as swearing when she got to playing a little too rough with her toys.

When I rescued the 4 year old Lhasa Apso and brought him home, I was quite leery as I didn't want anything to happen to KC. Of course, KC was fearless. The dog, however, didn't quite know what to think of this little feathered being. But he never hurt KC and would follow along behind her as KC walked on the floor, trying to turn her over with his nose so he could sniff her. In the first picture, that was KC's favorite place to perch when I was on the computer. There she could over-see everything I did and make suggestions. In the second picture, she is giving my grandson a KC kiss. She was the most loving bird and I sure do miss her. Its amazing how something so small and something that most people can be quick to judge as having NO brain....can surprise you with their intelligence, their capacity for love and how attached you become to them.

Z.....is for Zinnias

2011-04-30T05:12:00.001-04:00

Look at them! How can you not love them. I will be the first to admit that they are not fragrant at all.....but the colors are so vibrant and alive!! My mom loved Zinnias and had bouquets of them all over the house.

Every year, she planted a huge flowerbed of nothing but zinnias in front of the barn. I think we had zinnias in just about every color possible. The flowerbed got full sun all day long and was a perfect spot for them. The bright array of colors could be seen from the road and when you pulled in our driveway it actually made you smile. Don't believe flowers can do that? Well, they can.

Every time I see zinnias, I think of my mom. Those are certainly fond memories. I sure do wish I could plant them here, but I live in a heavily wooded area and they would never grow without a lot of sunlight.

So, I settle for buying bouquets of them when I go grocery shopping. They make you happy and put a smile on your face just to look at them. They are one of my favorites. And you have to admit......we all need something to make us smile when we visit the grocery store nowadays.

There.....I've done it. This is "Z". I hope you've enjoyed taking the trip through the alphabet with me. I've made some new friends and I extend my sincere thank-you to all who have visited and especially to those who have left comments. I hope you will continue to come back again and again. Take care and no matter what, "keep smilin'".

Y.....is for Yankee

2011-04-29T05:14:00.002-04:00

Even though I was mostly raised in the "north", at the time of my birth, my mom was living and working in Richmond, Virginia. After the war ended and Dad was discharged, we moved north where the family farm was. I always wished that our farm had been located there in Virginia or south of there because I'm not a fan of snow or cold.

I have always loved things "south". I love how they talk (I lost my southern accent after a few years living in the north), I love their recipes and I love their hospitality. In particular, there is nothing on the face of the earth more charming than a "southern boy". If I was going on a blind date and I found out he was from the south.....I liked him already. I dated three southern boys before marrying one of them.

It was in the early 60's and after our marriage, we went 'south' to meet his family. They could not come up north for our wedding....it was too costly for them plus his parents weren't in the best of health. He has a sister who is 5 years younger, which made her 15 at the time. She couldn't wait to meet her new sister-in-law (me). I will never forget when I met the family. They were very nice to me and used that grand southern hospitality to make me feel very welcome. Then his sister had a couple of her girlfriends come over to meet me....they were also 15. It really threw me when the one little wench threw up her hands and declared....."I just can't believe that JR married a YANKEE". (they are big on using initials for names down there). She said it like it left a bad taste in her mouth....but then chattered on about how much she loved my hair. It was an awkward moment and I experienced discrimination for the first time in my life. Oh I could have been mean and come back with a nasty remark.....but why and besides, I wasn't that kind of person. Here it had been 100 years since the Civil War and it made me wonder if all that hatred is still being secretly nourished and encouraged to grow. She was probably listening to bitterness from her grandparents. We have enough problems in this nation....so I hope those feuds have been put to rest. I love the south and her people.

And thinking about it, years later, it dawned on me.....I wasn't a Yankee.....I was born in what used to be a Confederate State. Besides..........being a Yankee.....is that such a bad thing now. Especially for those of us who weren't even alive during the 'war'.

X.....is for X many things

2011-04-28T05:04:00.002-04:00

X is not only a letter of our alphabet, but its the Roman numeral for 10, as well as the legal signature for those who cannot read or write.

It can also stand for the X-Files, which was one of my favorite TV shows.....ever! It can stand for kisses or simply to mark a spot on a map. It can also stand for an 'unknown'.....such as "x" amount of dollars, etc. etc.

But I guess, for the purpose of the Challenge, I will talk about X being the legal signature of someone who is illiterate.

I wrote an essay in junior high school which placed me neatly in Advanced English for the next three years because my teacher was so impressed by it. The essay was about my grandmother and her struggles in a world that was pretty much alien to her. (He encouraged me to take up Journalism, by the way....but I decided on taking Art instead. Yeah....that was a wise choice.)

My grandmother (my father's mother) was a peasant woman in her native land. She did not know how to read or write in her own language. After coming to America with her son, who was then 16, she picked up on enough English to barely get by but she never did learn to read or write. She lived with us her entire life and my father took care of her after she was widowed. My dad communicated with her in their foreign tongue. Back then, I didn't give it much thought.....that grandma couldn't read or write. I gave it a lot of thought once I graduated and was out in the working world.

I am a Notary and see a lot of people who need their signatures notarized. Once in a while you get an unusual request. Not only do I have to see proper picture identification, I will not notarize something unless the person "signing" fully understands what they are signing. They don't have to explain it to me.....I just want to know that they understand the paper. You would be surprised how many people do not understand what they are about to sign. If someone cannot read.....then it goes without saying....I cannot notarize for them.

The point I'm trying to make....more than anything else....is the fact that we have so many people that can read and write.....but their education is so limited, either by their own actions (drop-outs) or because of inadequate school systems and they simply slipped through the cracks. This is a crying shame. I've seen teenaged boys who cannot spell simple words, let alone read them. What happened? How did these children slip through the cracks. You cannot drop out of school in elementary school......why weren't these deficiencies caught and remedied when they were young. Because no one cared.....that's why. (and I'm including parents in this) And this brings another thing to mind.....our elementary schools here no longer teach cursive. My grandson has a 17 year old friend who cannot sign his name....he can only print because he's never had cursive. When did schools drop this? My granddaughter who is now attending a private Christian school is taking cursive right now.

Somehow, these almost illiterate people think that if they can read well enough to play a video game.....well, then that's all they need. I'm telling you.....its downright scary when you think that this generation is going to be running the country someday. I'm going to get off my soap box now......and send a bunch of X's your way. Thanks for visiting.

W.....is for Writing

2011-04-27T05:13:00.002-04:00

and I love to write. I not only love writing, I love the materials used to do so. Pens, pencils, paper, diaries, notebooks....I love them all. When I was much younger I would put my thoughts on paper and it was not meant for anyone else to read. Later on I used that method to "vent". It helped me so much, I can't even begin to tell you and I highly recommend it. Sometimes you can figure out the answers to your own dilemmas just by re-reading what you're written.

Soon, I discovered that typing helped me keep up with the words that flew out of my mind and I began to keep journals, typing them and putting the finished product in binders. Computers were heaven sent, as far as I was concerned. I could type, do corrections on the fly and even insert pictures in my journals, which I wrote out on a pretty regular basis. I didn't mince words either.....if I was angry, it went in there. I haven't written any of those daily journals in a few years now. Every once in a while, I'll take a binder down and read it just to remind myself of what my life was like back then. Some of it is pretty eye-opening. The blog has more or less substituted for the journals but of course I can't put everything in a blog.....I can only skim the surface.

A good friend of mine talked me into going to a specific website where a picture is shown and then you have to write either a poem or vignette using that picture as inspiration. She is a very talented writer and she enjoyed contributing. So, I did it and received so many compliments it amazed me. Even though I classify myself as a "moody" writer, (I have to be in the right mood in order to write well) I probably would have kept up with writing there except for an unfortunate incident in which a blogger friend (not the one who encouraged me to write).....someone I thought was a friend anyway...... hurt me deeply by making accusations in reference to my writing and it hurt......I didn't deserve it and it really did hurt. My faith forbids me to hold any animosity toward her so I don't but I also don't need toxic in my life.

So....."W" can also stand for "whew" and that must be said, while wiping my brow. I've nearly finished the alphabet and I've tried to pick things that were off the beaten path, so to speak.....in an attempt to make each one interesting. I must admit that W was the hardest one to write. Perhaps it was because I had this bad memory associated with it. Maybe by writing about it here, the wound will now completely heal.

V.....is for vehicle

2011-04-26T05:00:00.002-04:00

....family owned and loved vehicle, that is. I come from a family who are sentimental car owners. We often keep our cars for long periods of time, especially if they were purchased new. My grandmother named her vehicles, which were always thought of as female. Cars, boats and ships are referred to as "she" or "her".....I wonder why that is. Anybody know the answer to that, I'd love to know the reason.

My parents also named their vehicles, but treated them as part of the family in addition to that. I'm surprised that mom didn't take a food tray to the garage for the car to have dinner! She was very sentimental over all their vehicles through the years. She put a horseshoe from my horse under the driver's seat so luck would travel with them and made throw pillows for the back seat to match the upholstery. When they would return from a long journey, mom would pat the car's dash as they exited at home once again and thank "her" for a safe journey.....after offering a little prayer of thanks to God first of course.

Well, when you're raised with this.....you more or less follow suit. I am sentimental with my vehicles too. Most of them, that is. The ones that I bought used and gave me trouble.....I had names for them all right, but none of them could be considered terms of endearment. On the other hand, I did have a couple used ones that I did feel a deep attachment to. My very first one, of course.....simply because it was my first vehicle, a 1957 Ford. Oh how I loved that car!

Another was a Corvair. Probably not too many people remember them....but I loved mine. The engine was in the rear like the VW. It was a smaller car and my barely 5' frame fit nicely inside. The gas mileage was unbelievably terrific. I especially loved the "gas" heater, which was INSTANT heat. We would get out of work in the dead of winter and while everyone else was bitterly scraping ice and snow, I could sit in a toasty warm car and let the defrosters do the work. I would be ready to go and down the road several miles before anyone else could start putting their brushes and scrapers away. I got hit in the rear by an idiot who wasn't paying attention and after that was fixed it never seemed to be the same. Shortly after that, on the way home from my job at the bank after midnight, the engine caught on fire and that was the end of my little car. No cell phones back then as I frantically ran from door to door knocking and pleading with people to call the fire department. Most of my pleas went unanswered, thus wasting a lot of time.

I had another used vehicle that I loved; a 78 Mustang with T-tops. I drove it for years and then sold it because the transmission was starting to go. I hope someone got it that planned on restoring it...it was a beautiful car. By then I was a struggling single mom and my dad felt bad for me. He bought a car for me in 1987, a new little Buick Skyhawk. That car was one I had several names for, none of them complimentary. I think it was a bit of a lemon but didn't want to get rid of it for fear of hurting my dad's feelings. A few years after my dad died and after years of cussing at the car, I ended up giving it to my daughter as it was better than what she had. (she was forewarned of its temperamental attitude) Many years later, she gave it to her boyfriend (now an EX, thank God and all His angels), who managed to get it impounded and never went back to get it. (easy come, easy go)

In 1994 after giving her the Buick, I bought a new Pontiac Grand Am V6. It had 11 miles on it when I drove it off the lot. I still have that car.....it now has 49,000 actual miles on it and still runs like a charm. I love that car and was really dismayed when I found out they were no longer going to make them.

I, too, pat the dash when I arrive home from a journey safely, after first giving thanks to God. Our family vehicles always get the required maintenance when its due and they are garage kept. I've never named her though and that's kind of a shame since she's been a respected member of the family for 17 years.

Needless to say, my daughter has followed suit. She had to leave her vehicle in a business parking lot one evening when the alternator went out. During the night, her beloved car took a beating because a group of teenagers mistook it as belonging to a guy they hated (we found that out years later but they were never caught and/or punished). Windows, headlights and tail lights smashed, 2 tires slashed and the hood and grillwork beaten with what appeared to be a baseball bat. The inside had the radio stolen and then the dash kicked out and everything broken that could be broken. My daughter cried because it was like having a family member beaten up. Her cousin, bless his heart, fixed many things at no charge....just for the parts. We never could get the driver's door fixed and it no longer opened. The car ran for her for another two years after that, the front end all beat up and ugly, and it was still running when she sold it very cheap because it looked so bad. Having only PLPD insurance on it, she couldn't afford to fix it herself. The Durango she bought to replace it has now won their hearts. Its also garage kept and thanked for safe journeys but it has full coverage insurance.

Well, I've revealed a family secret....we are sentimental vehicle owners. Are we just a goofy family or do you do things like this too?

U.....is for Uncle

2011-04-25T05:04:00.001-04:00

and, after Uncle Sam, that word brings to mind John Candy's portrayal of commitment fearing Uncle Buck. If you've never seen the movie, rated as a comedy, you should check it out.....I'm sure you'll love it

Personally, I think of my Uncle George. Uncle George was not actually my uncle (both my parents were only children), but he was definitely related though. He was my dad's mother's aunt's son and was within a few years of my dad's age. They felt more like brothers toward one another. Every other year we journeyed to Ohio to see him and his family and on the years we didn't go there, they came here. This man was genuinely loved by his step-kids, family, friends, neighbors, employers.....well, everyone loved Uncle George.

The story about him was a little shaded though. Seems as though he came into the U.S. by way of Canada. Once there, he was only a 'river away' from getting into the U.S. Seems as though he and a companion actually rowed across the Detroit River in the dead of night. They were very young....maybe 15 or 16 at the time. I'm not sure why he did this.....possibly something about his paperwork being incomplete. He managed to make his way to Ohio where he knew people that had promised to help him if he could get that far. He eventually got his paperwork straightened out, took citizenship classes, passed the test and became a citizen. He served in WWII, became a medic on the battlefields. After his honorable discharge, he began his education to become a male nurse. After graduation he secured a job working for a hospital where he eventually met the woman he married. She was a widow with five children. He married her and raised those kids just like they were his own. He loved children......and children all loved Uncle George, including me.

Uncle George lived long enough to make fond memories with my children too. My only regret is that we didn't live closer so that we could see him more often. Uncle George, of course, spoke with an accent and his voice was sort of softly hoarse. He sounded just like Marlon Brando's rendition of the Godfather. It became an inside family joke......saying that we were going to get "Uncle George" after you. Ha.....since my ex never met Uncle George in person, I think he was always a little bit unsure about what "Uncle George" may do if called upon. I never corrected his perception as I found it quite to my advantage. But Uncle George was a good man.....through and through.

Oh....and since we are on the subject.....does anyone know where that old saying, "cry uncle" comes from when you want to admit defeat in a fight? Just curious.

T.....is for Time

2011-04-23T05:11:00.001-04:00

which is about the most valuable thing you can think of. If it could be bought, it would be different....but it can't. No matter how wealthy you are, you cannot purchase Time.

It can be your friend and it can be your enemy. It can heal and it can ravish. It can create and it can kill. It can reward or it can punish.

We've all heard the saying, "Time flies" and the older you get, the faster time seems to go. What you choose to do with time is entirely up to you. Wasting time or using it to your advantage....those are your decisions.

For once time has been used, you cannot get it back. No matter how much we wish for it, once its gone.....its gone. So all the people who lust for silver and gold or property to make them rich beyond their dreams.....they have not stopped to think; time is much more valuable than any of those things because it simply cannot be bought. And no matter how wealthy you are.....if Time decides to take away your wealth, it can.

So use Time wisely dear ones......respect it and give thanks for the good times for they are a gift.
And if you celebrate Easter.....make wonderful memories with your family = good times.

S.....is for Secrets

2011-04-22T05:06:00.002-04:00

Oh is there anything better than a bunch of women with some juicy gossip to tell? Not so good if you're the one they are gossiping about. If you're not.....then its pure delight. Don't believe in that old myth that its only women who love to spread gossip because I have known some men who can put gossiping women to shame. Its like telling CNN when you tell them something.

I'm not a spreader of gossip but I will listen to it and not comment. I make it a practice to only say something about a person that I would say to his or her face. So I have to think before I speak.... always. As a confidential secretary I was exposed to more secrets than the average person. I can honestly say that I never revealed one single thing that was told to me in confidence. Its always been important to me to have people trust me.

I not only carry a good reputation in the work-world as someone who can be trusted, but my friends and family knew they could also vent to me and it will go no further. Sometimes.....I will have to admit.....I would have rather not known some of the things that were told to me. I could break up families, friendships and marriages with the knowledge I have and that's not always a good feeling. Sometimes its a heavy burden to carry.

Many years ago, I drew the picture that is attached to this post and named it "Market Day Socializing". For obvious reasons, it appeals to me. It was also the colors I used for my living room at the time. Whenever I look at it, I'm reminded how secrets, known by the wrong people, can destroy someone's life and can take on a snowball effect.....getting bigger and more out of control as it rolls around from one person to the next. 'Tis better to just keep your mouth shut and your ears open.

R.....is for Restaurant

2011-04-21T05:08:00.003-04:00

and family type restaurants are my favorites. When I was working, I would meet my friends after work and we'd sit and chat over coffee. It was so much fun and I have great memories associated with all those times.

My closest friends have moved away.....one way or another and so I don't go to restaurants much anymore. Its also getting pretty expensive to do so. Most of the time when we just don't feel like cooking, we get a bucket of chicken or pizza and bring it home to eat. I do enjoy having breakfast out though and we try and do that every 2 or 3 months. Even with our small family, that outing can make quick work out of $35. when you include the tip. I've noticed that within the last two weeks, groceries have gone up dramatically in price. The last time we bought our lunch at work, the prices had jumped so much that we decided it would be far cheaper to just bring our own from home.

But R can also stand for RECIPE and I have a wonderful one for you. Its my mother's recipe for Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. It is so moist and delicious, you will want to make it again and again. Its a scratch cake, but don't let that scare you.....its as easy as a box cake.

CHOCOLATE MAYONNAISE CAKE

3 cups flour

1 ½ cups sugar

1/3 cup cocoa (unsweetened)

2 ¼ tsp. Baking powder

1 ½ tsp. Baking soda

1 ½ cups Hellmann’s Mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip)

1 ½ cups water

2 ½ tsp. Vanilla

Dash salt

Mix dry ingredients into large bowl. Stir in mayo. Gradually stir in water and vanilla until smooth. Beat 5 minutes.

Bake 9x13 pan, 350 for 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

When cool, frost with your choice of frosting. This is very good with Chocolate frosting.

Q.....is for Queue

2011-04-20T05:07:00.000-04:00

which is something we've all had to do and repeatedly have to do it, some of us on a daily basis. I will admit that I've only had to wait in a line longer than the one pictured just once in my life......and that was enough. It was in 1970, during the time General Motors could not seem to settle their contract with the Union and the 'strike fund' ran out of money to help the workers. Arrangements were made for each union worker to receive help in the form of 'food stamps'. Each family received an amount based on their need (i.e. how many children you had and how much money you owed). We, with all required documentation and proof of our status, had to wait in a line that stretched down the block around the corner of the building and then down two more blocks. It was awful but thank goodness it was during warm weather and not in a blizzard. Both you and your spouse were in line, if you were smart. That way one could leave and get food, drinks or go to the bathroom and the other one could hold your place in line. The union workers were like a 'brother-hood' and if someone was there alone, we would hold their place as long as they weren't trying to pull a fast one.....like some people did try. (trying to give friends and extended family cuts) You know how to goes.... unfortunately, there always has to be someone who will try to cheat.

I hate waiting in lines and will go out of my way to avoid them. Some people take waiting in stride and I guess that's really the best way to be. But tempers can flare when you lose your patience waiting. I remember one Christmas I was waiting in a long line at a store in the mall that did not offer shopping carts. I was about 12 or so from the register and must have had at least 20 people behind me. I was tired, having worked all day, and standing on my feet with a bunch of purchases in my arms put me into a high threshold of pain. These two young women (early 20's) decided to step in line in front of me and found out really quick that although I look like a sweet motherly type.....I have a temper when provoked. I had half the line up in arms over them taking cuts and they were soon forced to leave in order to save face. The rest of us (most of us female, I might add) put our pitchforks and torches down at that point and let our minds once again drift away so as not to think about standing in line.

I have found that even when stores install "new technology" so they can brag that waiting is to a minimum now because of faster registers or more registers, etc. .......they sabotage the effort by reducing the number of employees they have to process you, therefore not as many registers are open. Its all about the money.....its always been that way and probably always will. So we are back to square one. How about the "self-check-out" areas. Originally promoted to reduce waiting time. Well, now the lines are just as long there....heck if I'm going to WAIT just for the privilege of doing the check-out work myself so I can pay THEM money. Its like self-serve gasoline. WE do all the work and pay inflated prices for the privilege, after waiting your turn, that is.

I have a favorite grocery store where I've never waited for more than one person ahead of me in line. Its a smaller, family owned store and I don't know what their secret is but it makes grocery shopping almost enjoyable.

I don't think we can ever get rid of the queue. As the population keeps going up, we will wait longer for service. The internet has really helped in those areas. I pay 99% of my bills online and there is no waiting. I wonder how long that will last.

P.....is for Proof machine operator

2011-04-19T10:41:00.007-04:00

which was my second job at the bank. I took this position because it was more money for one thing and, secondly, for the hours. The bank was beginning to computerize and new proof machines were purchased and utilized. Those machines would imprint the MICR encoding along the bottom of the checks. (MICR means magnetic ink character recognition) You will see it now along the bottom of your checks; it depicts the bank's routing numbers as well as your personal account number. The MICR proof machine adds the amount the check is written for in the extreme right bottom corner. The checks go through the computer so fast there are bound to be "rejects". Checks ripped or folded or ones that have been subjected to water or food or maybe just a smudge of dirt may be rejected but they still have to be processed. This is where the proof machine pictured comes into play. It does not MICR imprint but it does add and sort. These were the machines exclusively used before the MICR imprinting was used and now they are used to process the rejects. In the second picture you can see just how big these machines are.

I had trained in high school to do secretarial work; I could type 90 words a minute and take 120 words a minute with shorthand. (once I started working, I only used shorthand one time, so that was almost wasted knowledge) Anyway, I was offered the job of processing the rejects utilizing this machine, which had nothing to do with typing and shorthand. I did not know how to operate it at the time, but I guess they felt I'd master it sooner or later. My hours were 6 pm until we finished. Yes, that part was nice. I got paid for a 40 hour work week but a lot of times I worked much less. If we had a good night where everything balanced, we could finish up and be out of there in about 4 and a half hours. Of course, if we had a bad night, we could be there for 10 hours and there was no overtime. Mostly, we averaged about 6 and a half hours a night, with shorter hours on Wednesday and Saturday since the banks were open a half day on those days back then. And since we worked nights, after the bank was closed, we didn't have to dress up. We could go to work in casual clothing.

I loved this machine. I loved everything about it. I had to run each check through, adding it up using the 10-key adding machine and then push the correct sorting slot for it to go into as I put it in the machine. There were 32 sorting containers on a big wheel inside the machine. That was accessed by a small door on the side of the machine. (you can see the 32 sorting buttons in 4 rows of 8 situated left of the numerical 10-key keyboard) We didn't use all 32 slots.....if I remember right, I think we used only half that. The back of the machine opened up to reveal 32 rolls of adding machine tape, one for each sorting slot, that carried its own balance. I was good at what I did.....I could accurately process 1,600 checks an hour. My fingers flew! After I was finished with the checks and everything balanced, they were then sent to be microfilmed, which is the first job I did. (see post "M")

I worked at this job until I was 8 months pregnant. When my youngest was 5 and I wanted to go back to work, I inquired about getting back into this same department, but things had once again changed and now each branch was doing their own proof, which took a lot less time and was handled by an employee who did other functions there as well. It just would not have worked out for me, so I brushed up on my typing skills and ventured elsewhere to job hunt.

What was/is your favorite job of all time? Have you had the experience of training for one type of job only to land in another kind of profession entirely? I did end up my work career with secretarial work but I still hold a fondness for that proof machine. I think the reason could be that no one bothered me with any demands.....I got all my work as it came down from the computer room in the "reject" batches and simply did it. I was not interrupted and since I was the only one working at that hour who knew how to run that particular machine, I was given a lot of respect. And running the machine was FUN. Especially when I hit the total key after each batch and it balanced.

O.....is for Open Door

2011-04-18T05:03:00.001-04:00

which is an organization that makes arrangements for foreign exchange students to be placed with host families. In the late fall of 1990 I decided to become a "host mom". It was an extremely emotional.....but extremely rewarding experience.

After I registered with the organization and went through all the background checks I was mailed a list of all the students waiting for a host family. Because my father was an immigrant, I felt sort of a kinship to the countries closely related to his. There were several students from Croatia and when I saw my 'far-away daughter's" face, I picked her.

She was 17 years old and in her last year of school. She gave up graduation with her friends to come and graduate here. I know her parents had to be so nervous....sending her so far away. But they shouldn't have worried.....me being the "mother hen" that I am. Of course they didn't know that.....then. They knew that her flight was coming in to "Detroit" and when they read that.....they were worried even more. Seems as though Detroit even has a bad rep over there. Her mother didn't speak English so I couldn't talk to her.....I spoke with my 'far-away daughter" on the phone prior to her flight and assured her that I did not live in or near Detroit....it was just the closest International Airport. It would take about an hour for us to get "home".

A friend of mine who had been hosting students for several years and had one that year from Sweden, took me to the airport to pick her up. He also took his student with him. That turned out really well because she could speak Italian and so could my girl. I know it had to make her feel so much better to speak a familiar language with someone her own age.....in this strange country. They chatted like magpies all the way home.....in Italian. I loved hearing it!!

I got her home and we began to break the ice. It was January and deep snow was everywhere. She spoke 5 languages fluently. And I later found out that, in her own school, she had already had all the subjects and material covered in her classes here. This is proof on how behind our educational system is. She was a straight A student and kept that up while she was here. The work was a breeze for her since she'd already had it.....so she was educated in our culture instead of academics and she loved it. She especially loved peanut butter as they didn't have anything like that in Croatia. She bought cookbooks to take back home with her, and mailed packages of peanut butter and other goodies back there. I took her to the huge flea market in Nappanee, so she could observe the customs of the Amish. I took her to see "Cats". She made friends with another senior who invited her to go along with her and her family to see her grandparents in Florida for a week during Spring break. They drove so she got to see quite a bit of the United States.

We became very close. My children felt close to her, especially my daughter. My daughter is about 6 years older and had just had her first child so she even got to hold a newborn. That newborn is 20 now. I never hosted another student after that because when she left it was so emotional. My daughter and I cried all the way home from the airport and cried often in the weeks that followed....we had gotten so attached and missed her so much. We knew that we would never get to see her again.

We keep in touch through e-mail and it makes me happy to know that she's well and happy. She has an impressive career, handsome husband and 2 beautiful children. As soon as her daughter learns English, we are going to set it up so she and my granddaughter, who is the same age, can email back and forth.

So, even though it was a rewarding experience.....it was a sad one when I had to say goodbye to her. She was crying too. What a mess we all were!! She is my "far-away" daughter and nothing will ever change that. God-speed....and God Bless, dear one. You know you're loved over here, across the ocean......by this little family whose hearts you captured and keep with you.

N.....is for nightmare

2011-04-16T05:09:00.001-04:00

I'm pretty sure everyone has experienced a nightmare at least once in their life. Some people have them regularly, some only have them once in a blue moon. I'm lucky in that respect as I've only had a few. However.....those few that I've had were extremely vivid. I have awakened with tears on my face, gasping for air, my heart hammering rapidly and awakened quietly glancing around the room fearfully looking for intruders.

I dream in color and was surprised to read that many do not. However, dreaming in color only makes the nightmares more intense and realistic.

Some say that nightmares are caused by what you ate before you retired. Some say they can be caused by recent books or movies you've experienced. I suspect its a little of both plus a pinch of what we secretly fear thrown in for good measure. When I saw the picture I've put with this post, it brought back something I hadn't thought about in years. My fear of "something" under my bed! My mother used to get so angry at me for taking a run from my bedroom doorway and jumping into bed.....so my feet were never close enough for "something" hiding under the bed to grab my ankles. I never had that fear the next morning when it was daylight. She would straighten the mattress and covers and show me that there was nothing under my bed except for maybe a couple dust bunnies. I could see she was right....but that didn't mean that "something" couldn't get under there by the time it was.......dark. I don't worry about anything under my bed anymore, but I still do have nightmares once in a while.

I'm very happy that, on 98% of my nightmares, I can only remember a tiny portion.....usually the part that woke me up with a start. Even that much will usually be forgotten by the time I've had my morning coffee. However, there are some dreams and some nightmares that are so real and so......vivid....that I remember them and their intensity for days.

Do you think that dreams come true.....can they predict the future? I have never had a prophetic dream but I think there could be people who do. I've had some really wonderful dreams that I just didn't want to wake up from. I've also had dreams that were so good.....I've gone back to sleep and continued on right where I left off. Nightmares.....on the other hand.....are not dreams we want to continue and so after waking from a nightmare, I usually won't go back to sleep right away. I'm not taking any chances!!

So here's a wish for you from me.......sleep well, dream sweetly and wake refreshed.

M.....is for Microfilm

2011-04-15T05:00:00.003-04:00

or microfilm machine operator, which was my first job at the bank. When some people heard the word "microfilm" they immediately thought of espionage or spy thriller novels but my experience with it was to simplify filing and reduce storage space. I was 17 years old and in my senior year of high school, when I qualified for the co-op program; I could work several hours a day after school and it counted as a credit. I was graded on my job performance determined by a form filled out by my boss. So this country gal went to work in the city, at the main office of one of our largest banks. It was nice because I got paid for it, as well.

What the picture depicts is not exactly the same machine I used (we had three of them) but its very close. The checks went into that feeder she's resting her left hand on. It could film about 400 checks a minute but you had to watch and make sure nothing overlapped or jammed. If it did, you had to redo them. To alert the person who was "reading" the developed film, you had to advance the film by turning that handle on the machine that is just about eye level with the girl in the picture. (the film spool is located behind those little doors) After the advance, you would then re-film the check or checks that had overlapped and/or jammed, then advance the film some more before you continued on with the rest of the batch you were filming. The filmed checks came out into that basket looking tray located under the compartment where the film spool was contained, stamped with red ink "Paid" and the date, along with the name of the bank.

We could never dress like this woman. We wore smocks to protect our clothing as it was a dirty job. The red ink was permanent and paper in large quantities is dirty, believe it or not. Since you were filming, things had to be kept clean inside the machine. Mirrors and glass, not to mention the rollers in the feeder, had to be maintained daily. After the checks were all filmed, they were packaged up securely and left in a locked box in front of the bank for pickup and transit to the local clearing house by a Brink's armored truck.

This job was actually sort of boring as jobs go but I was certainly happy for the opportunity to enter the work-world via the banking industry. I did not greet the public, I worked behind the scenes but I learned a lot while in their employ. After graduation I was hired full-time and after a few months I transferred to the Proof Department (I'll tell you all about it in the "P" post), where I worked for 5 years doing something I really loved. If you have to work....you might as well do something you love, right?

L.....is for Lilacs

2011-04-14T05:09:00.000-04:00

Its nearly Lilac time again. How I love love love their sweet fragrance! On the farm where I grew up we had some massive lilac bushes.....it would be more appropriate to call them trees, they were so tall. My mother, who loved bouquets of fresh flowers, would have several vases filled and displayed in different parts of the house.

My taste in flowers is actually quite simple. I love daisies for their endurance, lilacs for their fragrance and zinnias because they give out happy vibes. Who can look at a brightly colored flower and not smile. The fragrance of lilacs brings back a wealth of memories, all of them fond.

Where I live now there are some massive lilac bushes. I have one next to my driveway and since I live in a heavily wooded area it has struggled for years to produce a bloom. Finally, about five years ago, the very top of the bush was tall enough and received enough sunlight that it bloomed, to my delight. It has bloomed ever since.

Further down from me to the west, there is a row of huge lilac bushes along the sidewalk. The sidewalk that mysteriously is only one block long and has been that way for over 40 years. When the west wind blows, the fragrance comes with it and it is intoxicating. Always a reminder that warmer weather is very close at hand. To the east of me, about a quarter of a mile, there is another huge stretch of lilac bushes that run alongside the road. This is where my daughter always stops and picks me gigantic bouquets of lilacs. These bushes must be at least 25 feet tall.

At my daughter's house, she planted a row of lilac bushes as a natural barrier between her house and the neighbor's. The bushes have grown to a great height and are filled with luscious blooms, whose fragrance drifts into her kitchen window and doubles nicely as a privacy fence.

My only regret is that the blooming phase does not last very long and we have to wait an entire year to enjoy them again. When you see the bushes in bloom, close your eyes and inhale deeply. Savor the sweet fragrance for its nature's introduction to summer and a wake-up call to the other flowers. Summer, as you know, is the time for Mother Nature to show off all her colors.

K.....is for Keepsake

2011-04-13T05:10:00.002-04:00

How many of you have keepsakes? Those little things that, by themselves and out of the realm of your memory, are nearly worthless...but to you, they mean the world.

I have locks of my babies' hair and baby teeth. I have a napkin from a restaurant where I had coffee and conversation with a love interest. I have a silly little wooden postcard from my first boyfriend. I have a charm from a machine at the dime store imprinted with my own and my best friend's names from back in the 60's. I have a tiny trinket box from an old friend of my parents. I have beads and ribbons and pins. A strip of pictures from the booth at the five and dime. A dog collar from my first dog after I was married and the bell charm from my precious cat who lived to be 17. Pressed flowers, movie tickets and old valentines. Each one holds a dear memory.

I have many keepsakes and throwing any of them away is absolutely out of the question. What does one do about that? I have come to the conclusion that I will leave that job to my daughter as most, if not all, of my keepsakes mean very little or nothing to her. She will have to handle that after..........

I wonder, as we've had to clean out keepsakes from older relatives, if the items could only talk. If they could tell us what they represent and the memories associated with it. Don't you think that would be a wonderful story? I believe that a keepsake dies when the owner does, as the memory associated with it is no longer there. It just becomes an item once again and, unless you have a memory associated with it to keep it alive, it can then be discarded without emotion.

Do I purposely take out a box and go through all my keepsakes? No I do not, as they are not all together. I have them tucked here and there through-out my house. I come across them randomly and when I do, I let the sweetness of the memory take over. Some of them are so strong, I can even smell the fragrance associated with certain events. That freshly cut hay from the barn for example. The memory has my attention, all to itself.....which it deserves and that breathes new life into it so it will not fade. All memories are potent but bittersweet ones are the strongest....don't you think so? Yes, I am sentimental......I can't imagine being any other way.

What are some of your treasured keepsakes? Do you keep them all together or do you scatter them like I do? Sometimes its just plain good for you to stop and remember.......those cherished memories.

J.....is for Jerks

2011-04-12T05:11:00.002-04:00

We've all come across them. No matter where you live and no matter what your personality or where you work....you are bound to meet up with a jerk sooner or later. Some occupations seem to attract more jerks than others but even if we're just going to the grocery store.....or heck....just walking out to the mailbox....we can come across one or more. Sometimes there are a bunch of them together in the same car. Jerks seem to attract other jerks. I think its because they are the only ones who can stand to be around each other.

I was thinking......(always a dangerous thing)....wouldn't it be great if all jerks wore a nice bright red t-shirt like the one pictured? That way we would all be forewarned and could go the other way, pretend to be busy or claim you don't speak the language so you don't have to deal with them. Of course.....jerks being what they are....they oftentimes just pick you out to vent on and its a surprise attack. Sometimes what they are venting about makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to anyone but them. So the shirts would definitely be a plus.

I worked in law enforcement at the desk and was the first person that was seen when one walked in the door. Can you, in all your wildest dreams, even imagine the type of jerks I ran into on a daily basis? Some were worse than others. A lot of them just ran their mouths, others threw things and wanted to maim and destroy, still others were all indignant and blamed everyone else but themselves (usually the officer) for any crime they committed and were ultimately arrested for. I can honestly say that I've been called every derogatory and/or obscene name you can think of and some you may not even know exist.

In order to co-exist with such creatures you have to take the stance that they are just a menace, something like measles or the flu. Or, if you prefer.....pestilence. The main thing to remember is that they feed on inter-action and so if you don't fall into that trap, they will soon tire of their rants and go away. Best thing to do is just to get a blank look on your face, nod your head and say uh-huh a lot. I've never found a pesticide you can use to rid the area of jerks. One good thing is that most jerks are not exclusively jerks. They can be halfway decent until something sets them off. It can be something as trivial as the bus being 2 minutes late or the price of bread going up. Usually impatience is a key factor. And unfortunately, mom and dad jerks usually breed little jerks who grow into adult jerks. The Jerk population seems to be growing at a rapid rate...... Lucky us.

I.....is for Instant

2011-04-11T05:15:00.001-04:00

and also for the impatience that occurs when instant isn't instant enough.

We live in an instant society. We have become so used to things happening quickly that we have lost our ability to wait....or at least to wait without being frustrated and annoyed. This is something that sort of sneakily developed over a period of time.....common ordinary events or requests were being fulfilled faster and faster to an ever-more demanding public. Somehow our memories of having to wait .... (gasp)....DAYS..... for something has dimmed. Our patience has flown the coop.

The computer has a lot to do with it but it actually started way before then. I can remember when I was a kid and if a food item had the words "instant" on the label....my mom was all for it. Anything to save time. Remember Tang, the instant orange drink? Remember Instant Coffee? To my coffee-loving mom.....this was the greatest invention of all time. Radios started coming out with 'instant on' features and soon TV followed....no more waiting for the tubes to warm up because there were no longer any tubes.

Now we are so used to just pushing a button and within a second or two we have our result. FAX machines can send documents across the nation in a minute or so and you can email your friend on the other side of the world in seconds! Snap a picture and see it within a couple seconds. No more waiting a week or so for developing. We have taken all this instantaneous-ness for granted. We expect it everywhere. We don't want to wait for anything.

But sometimes we have to wait. Government is famous for making us wait....they are especially fond of the "we never received your request, please re-submit" excuse. Thus delaying the receipt of the information you are seeking. Grocery store lines can be frustrating, especially if you're tired and you're in a hurry. Appointments to see the doctor....sometimes I've waited more than an hour past my appointment time. Traffic is a major problem and in our instant society, I know being stuck in a traffic jam must be akin to being tied down on a fire-anthill to some people.

Do you realize that your minor children and/or grandchildren have never known anything different than an instant society? They have never really had to wait for much. I saw evidence of that when my grandson came to visit me for a few weeks one summer. He was very impatient and even had trouble waiting 3 minutes for microwave popcorn.

As you know, everything has limits and I'm seriously wondering when its going to stop. When will we have reached our limit on 'instant'.....and when we do, what will all these impatient people do then? "Wait" will have been removed from their vocabulary and an internal meltdown could be imminent. I can see where doctors will be prescribing plenty of tranquilizers sometime in the future......after you wait to get in to see him. In the meantime, make time to stop and smell the roses.....and kick impatience to the curb.

H.....is for housewife

2011-04-09T05:38:00.001-04:00

I did this for a while. I was working when I got married and so I continued to do so until we had our first child. By then we had saved enough to buy a small house in a subdivision filled with similar houses. And in those houses lived families about our same age who ended up having kids about the same age as ours.

I did the housewife gig until my youngest child was ready for kindergarten. By then we had moved to a larger house to accommodate our larger family and we owed more money. It was necessary for two paychecks. Of course I couldn't make it simple and just get a regular job. Noooo......I had to obtain a job that required me to switch shifts every 28 days. When I think back on it......I really don't know how I managed it. But, to tell the truth....it actually gave me a little rest from all that housewife-ing I had been doing for all those years. The only thing I regret about going back to work is that it takes you away from your kids and they really do need you to be available until they are at least in their teens......when they are independent and know everything. Ahem.

But this post is about being a housewife....someone who stays home and manages everything. People (men) who think that housewives do nothing all day are out of their minds. I was the first one up and the last one to go to bed. It seems like I was always busy doing something. But I honestly feel that I was a good housewife. I didn't burn any dinners and the mistakes I made around the house were honest ones (like the time I put marine varnish on the kitchen floor because I couldn't get a good shine on it with wax). Or the time I carpeted an entire hallway with pieces of carpeting I got for free which were no larger than 6" each. I nailed them down with carpet tacks. It honestly looked really good when I was finished. Years later when the new owners discovered it, they thought I was insane. (I heard this from the neighbors who still lived in the subdivision).

But I was just trying to make my home look nice without having to spend money we didn't have. And.....hey.....that kitchen floor was the envy of the neighborhood when it finally dried.....three days later. (honest!)

G.....is for guitar

2011-04-08T05:32:00.001-04:00

I am in love with guitar music. Not the stuff where they go crazy and end up slamming their instrument to the ground and destroying it. I'm talking about smooth, easy, dreamy stuff. I love the blues. Blues music speaks to me. As does acoustic Spanish guitar.....the slow stuff that enters deeply into your soul and warms up your senses. I often put this type of music on, close my eyes and drift away. Sometimes I think it saved my sanity.

I am a senior citizen but I love Slash. Yes I do. He is tremendously talented. I bet a lot of you don't even know who he is, but he used to play with Guns n' Roses. He was the one with the long curly hair and the top hat. You never could really see his face. I don't like everything he plays....but some of it really speaks to me. (Listen to "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns n' Roses sometime) I also love Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd. Comfortably Numb is one of my favorites.

When my kids were teenagers they were a bit surprised when they found out that I liked "some" of the songs from some of the bands they listened to....most of them hard rock or heavy metal. Usually, though, the songs all had one thing in common....awesome guitar solos. I like country songs too and if they have an awesome guitar solo, so much the better! Easy Rock is my old stand-by but some of the songs stand out....Bob Segar's "Like a Rock"....take a listen to the guitar solo in that one. It always gives me goose-bumps.

So close your eyes and listen to the video I've attached. Its only a minute and a half long but you'll feel so much more relaxed afterward. Try it.

F.....is for family

2011-04-07T05:49:00.002-04:00

Personally, I don't think there is anything more important than family. I always wanted a huge family....maybe that's because I came from such a small one. My mom was an only child, my dad was an only child and I am an only child. This means no aunts, uncles or cousins for me as well as no siblings. I dreamed of meeting my perfect soul-mate and having at least four children. Well, I met the guy I eventually married on a blind date and after a few dates, he told me that he was from a family of sixteen! Wow.....I was envisioning the family reunions right there and then. Of course they never happened.....at least not to the extent I was hoping for.

Realistically.....Life is not The Walton's and the amount of dysfunctional families out there is amazing. Being raised alone, with no siblings, I had no idea the kind of resentment that can brew within the confines of a large family unit. My husband advised me that out of all his siblings, he was only close to one brother, three years his senior. They had lived in the deep south all his life but now most of the siblings were scattered across the nation. He and his brother relocated here to my state in search of work and the rest is history. (I was the YANKEE of the family). I was determined not to have just one child but after my second one, I knew that I would be foolish to have more. My husband and I were not compatible at all. He was definitely not my soul-mate. We tried for years to make it work, but.....eventually we had to call it quits. I have since come to terms with the fact that my 'soul-mate' probably died in Vietnam, because I never did meet him.

That split resulted in a split of the feelings of our children. Our son blamed me for "ruining" everything with divorce, where my daughter understood and sympathized with me and my reasons. They are grown now and each is a parent. However, the division has continued. It deeply saddens me.....maybe more than some people because of my belief that family is a number one priority. I am happy to say that my in-laws (his brother and his wife) still consider me family and treat me as such. They have never blamed me for calling it quits. I am a cross-eyed optimist, I guess.....but I am hoping that, in time, my children will be close.......or at least closer than they are at present. I also wish that my son were more attentive toward me, but my daughter works twice as hard to make up for the fact that he isn't. God bless the day I had her for she is my joy. As it stands now, our family reunion could take place in a teacup and we'd still have room for the band.

So, all of you who have large families....enjoy, enjoy enjoy. You may get frustrated once in a while over something "Aunt Millie" or "Cousin Olive" did or said.....but they're family and they belong to YOU. Pass the potato salad please......and, oh yeah - Keep smilin'!

E.....is for equine and equestrian

2011-04-06T05:30:00.003-04:00

and those words sound so sophisticated for such a fun and laid back event. At least that's how it was for me. I know there are occasions when it involves lots of money and years of training and the horse is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars....but, for my own experiences, I'm talking about just the LOVE of riding. To get on a horse....most of the time bareback....and take off with the wind blowing in your hair, is one of the best things you can do for your heart and soul.

When I was 8 years old, my grandmother asked me what I would rather have.....piano lessons or a horse. What a ridiculous question! Even though I wish I could have done both.....of course I took the horse! Horses are a lot of work though. I was fortunate that we lived on a small farm so we had the room and the barns. My mother had previously owned horses so she was experienced in the care and feeding, as well as how to ride and saddle. The horse pictured is actually my horse and I owned him for 8 years. When I was 16, I sold him to a woman who was buying him for her 6 year old and I know he went to a good home.

When I owned him, I would meet up with other kids my age who had horses and we would all ride together. We loved to play "hide and seek" in the wooded fields. The rules were that you could not get off your horse.....so you not only had to find a place to hide yourself....you had to also hide your horse. So many times the horses would nicker to each other and betray our location. It was a lot of fun, as were the rides we took that stretched for miles on narrow, gravel country roads. We would stop along the way and have a picnic and we always remembered to bring along carrots for the horses. Of course they always had grass to munch on, so they weren't hungry.

I can't even begin to explain the feeling.....the ultimate freedom....of riding a horse. I would ride in our back fields almost daily and then over to an adjoining farm frequently to enjoy an additional 80 acres there. There were paths all through woods and around a small lake. It was so peaceful.....and absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. Just me, my trusty horse and my faithful little dog. How I wish I would have had the forethought to have had a camera with me. The pictures I have are only in my mind now. I have cherished those years all my life and can feel a smile slowly creep over my face as I think back and fondly remember. Just the sound of his hooves methodically hitting the ground and the squeak of the leather saddle under me.....the birds in the trees, ducks from the lake and the jingle of my dog's collar tags. When I'm stressed......I go back there mentally. I know I am so lucky to have these memories. So much so that I forgave my grandmother for tearing that picture out of the magazine. LOL (reference to the B post)

D.....is for Drive-Ins

2011-04-05T05:45:00.001-04:00

Oh my lord.....my generation sure did love drive-in movies! I can't believe that almost every one of them are closed now. It was a wonderful date for teenagers. Lots of time to "neck" and if you didn't like your date that much, you could always watch the movie!! It was really convenient for families too. Mom and Dad could get an evening out without having to pay the babysitter.....the kids came right along. We'd fill the car with snacks, popcorn, pop and candy brought from home so we didn't have to pay the high prices there. The kids, dressed in pj's, hugging their blankets and stuffed animals, would snuggle back in the car and usually would fall asleep within the first hour or so.

The trips to the concession stand weren't so great....especially if you had to use the bathroom. Seems like there was NEVER any toilet paper left by the time it was your turn to use the facilities.....and WHY was that entire floor always wet? But it was a small price to pay for all the benefits you got. We always saw dozens of people we knew. The girls would all gather around the big mirror and discuss their "dates", while refreshing their makeup and ratting their hair up a bit more. A few sprays of Aqua Net and you were good to go.

Back in the late 50's.....my heyday for dating.....it was a simpler time. Gas was about 15 cents a gallon, max, and you didn't have to pump it yourself. We would 'cruise' different drive-in restaurants looking for all our friends and then, if something good was playing, we'd all end up at the drive-in movie....after burgers, cokes and fries of course.

I have a lot of fond memories of those times. I know those of you who are my age have those same fond memories. I will never understand why they did it ..... and WHO decided to close them up anyway? It seemed like they were always crowded and doing a good business. I just don't know. What I do know, however, is that its MISSED.

I have noticed that some drive-ins are making a come-back. In our town we now have a drive-in restaurant similar to those of my youth....complete with carhops. This is totally different than fast food drive UP windows. Also, drive up banking has been popular for quite a while now, as well as drive up prescription pick up. But I really do wish they would bring back drive-in movies.

I have heard that there are a few still in existence. If you're lucky enough to have one in your town....enjoy it to the max. Remember the heaters we had to hang in the windows when it was winter? They did keep us warm. Either that or it was our teenage raging hormones that was keeping us warm. I remember really getting into trouble with my parents while on a date with the man I ended up marrying. We both fell asleep at the drive-in and woke up with a start. We were the only car left in the lot and the people who ran the place were on their way to our vehicle to find out the problem. We quickly put the speaker back on the pole and left. No cell phones back then.....and I was 2 hours over curfew. My mother was beside herself with worry.

Yes, it was a simpler time and I loved it. I'm grateful that I lived during that era. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Maybe a wealthy entrepreneur will take a chance and bring back the past.

C.....is for Commercials

2011-04-04T09:15:00.001-04:00

Ah the land of TV Commercials! Commercials are irritating mostly because they are taking you away from a program that you actually want to view....even though they do offer an opportunity to quickly run to the bathroom or to the kitchen to grab a drink or snack. Commercials are not that long if you check each one individually....but on a commercial break its not uncommon for 10 different commercials for 10 different products or services loudly trying to persuade you to buy buy buy.

I have seen commercials that I just love, however. We all remember "Mikey", the commercial I have pictured. That commercial stayed in our memories for years and in so doing.....the product they were advertising stayed in our minds. (Life cereal) I love emotional, touching commercials. Make me cry and you've got me hooked. Anything with animals seems to be a good bet. Humorous commercials are great also. How many of you remember the Alka Seltzer commercial from so many years ago....about the HUGE dumpling that the newlywed saved and froze for her husband? I have many favorite commercials and kudos for all their writers.

However.....

There are an over-whelming amount of commercials that just plain make me mad. I realize that "s-x sells" and that is probably one of the main problems in our country today....but that's for another post at another time. So many commercials are just that. Nothing but s-x. (I'm not spelling it out completely because I don't want to be a google hit for the s-x seekers.) Anyway, have you seen the commercial that shows nothing but a young woman's behind in various poses and articles of clothing.....mostly underwear..... and the commercial turns out to be an ad for SHOES. This almost sent my brain into vapor lock. Then heaven help you if you watch daytime TV. I really try not to. The commercials will nearly fry your brain. The constant bantering about suing....for big money.....BIG money. Fall down your steps at home?.....are you a renter? Then SUE your landlord and get BIG BUCKS. Neighbor's dog growl at you? SUE. This has led to anxiety and loss of sleep and your health has deteriorated. Blah blah blah. In these days of people looking for easy money this just plants the seed. I've had two claims against my homeowner's insurance and both parties (spread out over a 20 year period) didn't carry it through because it was discovered they were "enhancing" their so-called injuries. Afternoon TV is almost nothing but lawyers and "get out of debt".

In my opinion, such as it is, if they all stuck with humor the product or service would be remembered and the commercial would actually be watched. Who doesn't love the little dog with anxious dreams about his precious bone? The song alone is a winner. Good job, Traveler's Insurance.

B.....is for Books, Books....everywhere

2011-04-02T10:23:00.011-04:00

.......and not enough time to read them all.

I have had a love affair with books my entire life. My mom told me that I used to sit on the floor when I was just a toddler and carefully look at magazines....not even wrinkling a single page. One day my grandmother saw me looking at a picture in a magazine that she thought was not age appropriate. Back then, it sure could not have been anything racy but, nevertheless, she bent down and ripped the page out of the magazine right before my terrified eyes. Mom said I was heart-broken! She related that I cried and cried for what seemed like hours. So my love of books, magazines and pictures has been around since before I can even remember.

I once had a sweatshirt that read "So many books, so little time" and it stated exactly how I felt. One year when I was in my teens, my mom had a birthday cake made for me. It looked like an open book, much like the picture in this post. On it she had written "Oh give me a good book to read and let the rest of the world go by". Yes, my mom sure did know me. But then, I inherited my love of books from her.

I probably own over 500 books....maybe more. All but a handful are hardcover. I have two stacks of books in my guest room that are each four feet tall. These are the books that are waiting patiently for me to take one in my hands and become friends with it and the joys it holds inside its covers. And, yes....it seems like there is "too little time". Every time I get the stacks reduced a bit, I add more to them because new books have come out that I just MUST read.

I love the feel of a book in my hands and the smell of a brand new book. I will often just open one up and bury my nose in it and inhale deeply. I know this all sounds crazy.....but this is just a little bit of my personality. However, I do own a Kindle. I like the convenience of throwing it in my purse and always being ready to start reading. It will never replace an actual book for me, but I've grown rather fond of the convenience. Good grief.....a Kindle can hold over 3,500 books....or so I'm told anyway. I have about 15 on mine right now. Its also quite common for me to have several books going at the same time. I think the most I've had going at once has been 3.

My son does not read books at all. He's missing so much. My daughter will read voraciously when she's in the mood. She devoured the entire set of Philippa Gregory's Boleyn series in just a few weeks. My grandson is a reader but doesn't read too often. Hopefully, my granddaughter will enjoy reading enough to do it often.

So I am very grateful to all the authors out there......for, without them, we would have no books to enjoy. With them you can escape anywhere in (or out of) the world. Anywhere your heart desires and never leave the comfort of your living room.

Right now I'm reading The Passage, which is can't-put-it-down terrific........ and on my Kindle, Torn the second part of the Trylle Trilogy. which is just a fun- easy reading fantasy story, but it does hold your attention.

Thank you to those of you who welcomed me to "The Challenge". I hope I can follow through. I, too, am looking forward to reading new blogs and meeting new people so I can add you to my list of awesome bloggers that I've come to know and love. Thank you again for your warm welcomes! Enjoy the weekend and find joy in the fact that Spring represents new life and that can also be interpreted to mean, "A new look on life". Keep smilin'.

This is a great "A" post.....

2011-04-01T06:41:00.005-04:00

Well, after reading Jamie's post, I decided to also join the A-Z Challenge. The button is on my sidebar if you'd like to join us. I'm number 973. This challenges you to write a post for every day in April and each one begins with the next letter of the alphabet. X should be interesting, I'd say. Anyway....this is going to be a real challenge for someone like me who only posts about 3 times a month. LOL

But now on to my "A" post. I'm so proud to say that last night we went to Parent-Teacher conferences and my granddaughter is on the All A Honor Roll! We are so very proud of her. She's only been at this new school since February 14 and has worked very hard. Her hard work shows! They also had the kids stand up and do reviews on a book they've recently read and they also had to make up a poster board presentation and then actually perform a task that was mentioned in the book. My granddaughter made a huge valentine....showing how to cut out hearts and put ribbons on them. She then passed out home-made valentines. This was from the Junie B. Jones book, Mushy Gushy Valentine. These are great books for the 1-2 grade level. She was very surprised when she won the 1st Place ribbon for best in the elementary category. Again....I'm so grateful that we transferred her.

So that's it. My A post is all about my granddaughter, whose name starts with an "A" and her being on the All A Honor Roll.

TGIF.....have a good one and a wonderful weekend.

Just a quickie.....

2011-03-26T21:06:00.006-04:00

Yes, unfortunately, I had to have another shot. Finally, today, my eye has stopped complaining but its still all red. The eye doctor was very happy with things when he looked at all the images of my eye. He said the problem has almost completely reversed itself. This second shot should keep it from happening again. I'm still not seeing as well as I once could, but he's optimistic that my sight will improve with time and the distortion will go away. My next appointment is in 6 weeks.

We drove down there and back in freezing rain. Thank goodness my daughter is a good driver and I felt at ease with her behind the wheel. Because of the weather, school had been canceled and we had to take my granddaughter with us. She was very good. She had brought along about 1,900 Barbies to occupy her time there. We stopped on the way home and had brunch. By the time we finished, the numbness was wearing off and my eye was beginning to really hurt. I was glad we were only a mile away from home at that point.

My granddaughter took her test for her orange belt in Karate today and obtained it. She is one proud little girl......and we are very proud of her as well. She is FLOURISHING at her new school. She gets up in the morning and is anxious to go. At her old school, she hated going and would leave the house in tears every morning. They advised my daughter that she was failing, yet at this new school, she has tested right at grade level and one grade higher in reading. I think she was so upset all the time at the old school that she had given up and wasn't even trying anymore. I'm so grateful that we got her out of there. Its awful to see a child so unhappy....especially when you can fix it. One of my daughter's friends is also pulling her two children out of that school. I really do think that things need to be investigated there. And another thing....KUMON, where my granddaughter has been enrolled since last fall, has gotten so overcrowded that they have had to move into bigger quarters! Parents are dissatisfied with the public school system and their lack of interest in actually TEACHING. More and more of them are doing just what my daughter did....enrolling their children in programs that will actually teach them something. I suspect something will be done very soon to improve our inefficient and defective school system.....which, in years past was one of the best in the state. Parents are not going to put up with it much longer.

I think Smocha may be right about it being Firefox that's causing my problems with Blogger. Even though a lot of you have said you can see the Followers pictures.....I cannot. But they are all still listed when I look them up on my account. So, obviously more research is necessary. Hopefully one day I'll sign on and they will mysteriously be there. LOL

Hope everyone is doing OK in your little corners of the world. Here, we are anxiously awaiting flowers and green grass. Even though the calendar says its Spring....Ma Nature has a different idea. Its 24 out right now. Keep smilin'! (so much for a "quickie" post....sorry, I just got to rambling.)

Followers......where did they go?

2011-03-22T15:07:00.003-04:00

All the little pictures of my followers have disappeared. Anyone else have this problem? Sometimes Blogger acts very strangely and then in a few days it straightens itself out. I've been waiting for about 3 days now, but my Followers have not reappeared.

So, all of you that were/are "following" me......I did not delete you. I'm hoping they will all return as suddenly as they disappeared. If not, I'm hoping I can find out how to "fix" it. Any help you can offer is appreciated.

Tomorrow I go back to the dreaded eye doctor and freezing rain is predicted ALL DAY LONG. Yep, I'm in good shape all right. If my fear of doctors doesn't do me in, my fear of sliding all over icy roads should do the trick.

I'm still here.....

2011-03-15T23:02:00.003-04:00

I've just sorta been like Snoopy on a lazy day....trying hard not to think about my next appointment with the dreaded eye doctor. This time I know what to expect and, of course, that sets off a nice case of nerves. That event will take place next Wednesday, the 23rd.

I sure do wish I could have said that my eyesight was back to normal....or even just near normal, but sadly, that's just not the case. The floatie has dissolved but my actual eyesight is still distorted and blurry in areas in that one eye. He did say it may take a few shots....so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I'm trying not to think about any of it.

In the meantime, I've been keeping busy as much as possible; working, reading and sleeping. HA! Actually, I've been working on a logo for a friend of my daughter's. He has a relatively new business and wants it for that. No wonder people who do that for a living make so much money. It's HARD WORK. It not only pulls on all your creativity, its also very time-consuming. What he wanted me to draw free hand did not turn out to my liking.....so now I'm looking for an alternate method. Plus.....you know I have to be in the right mood to even work on this kind of stuff. I haven't gotten very far on it.....but I have made some progress.

Granddaughter is doing well in school and in Karate. She will be testing for the orange belt in a few weeks. Grandson has moved in with his girlfriend and the first thing they did was get a kitten! A Bengal kitten! I certainly hope they did not bite off more than they can chew as I've heard these cats demand lots of attention and are very vocal if they don't get it. Time will tell.

Sorry I've been so rotten about posting but there just hasn't been anything worth writing about going on.....and I know you all don't want to hear about my aches, pains and ailments. Its raining here right now and supposed to get up to the 60's by Thursday. Maybe that warm weather will give me a boost of energy....ya think??

Oh yeah.....today is my birthday. (nonchalantly throwing handful of confetti in air) We are going to do something as a family this weekend for it. All I want is a cake and no fuss. I remember when birthdays used to be fun and full of surprises. Now it just makes you amazed that you've chalked up another year and managed to stay out of jail. Keep smilin' everyone. Thanks for visiting.

The story continues.....

2011-02-24T15:36:00.005-05:00

I went back to the retina specialist for my checkup. My vision was still bad in that eye even though the floatie had mostly dissolved. This time they only dilated the eye that was giving me the problem. And sure enough....my vision tested much worse. Back to the scans and photo-imaging. End result is that I have now developed something in that eye totally a separate issue from the 'floatie ordeal'. Its something called myopic degeneration, not to be confused with macular degeneration. But its just as serious as far as I'm concerned.

About what I understood is that since I'm so near-sighted (myopic) the retina has thinned over the years and its gotten thin enough that blood vessels had started growing up through it. This has just started to happen and it was caught right away and the cure rate is extremely good because of that. My vision has been distorted because the blood vessels have changed the surface of the retina. I'm no doctor by any means, but this is what I understood. Anyway, I have to have injections to my eye. I had the first one Wednesday. Yes! Injections IN my eye. Sounds awful and I didn't dare let myself think about it. This medicine is supposed to shrink the blood vessels and make them retreat.

He washed my eye down with Betadine (that's probably spelled wrong).....which I did feel. Then he numbed my eye.....which I also felt. But the actual injection.....I did not feel. Thank God!

When I got out of there it looked like I had been the loser in a fist fight. My eye was swollen and extremely red. I have to put antibiotic drops in it and also liquid tears in it. Today its sore and feels like someone put a handful of sand in it. The liquid tears help that. I have to be careful of infection. Eyes seem to heal fast and I can already see and feel an improvement and its only been a bit over 24 hours since I had this done. What they injected me with is usually used for some other disease and therefore my insurance will not cover it. Its $82. I have to have another one in a month. Hopefully that will be it. Hopefully.

The doctor's office called me this morning to check on me and see how I was doing. I think that is extremely thoughtful and something a lot of doctors fail to do anymore.

So......how is everyone else doing?

Well.....I drew a pig

2011-02-10T19:34:00.006-05:00

My friend sent me an email with a link to a personality test in which you "draw a pig". So, being adventurous, I decided.....why not. I drew the pig (as best I could using mouse and cursor) and the results amazed me because they are more true than you could imagine. LOL

Go here if you want to read it. Go here if you want to take the test yourself. To be fair to your own test....don't read my results until you've drawn your own pig and received your own.

In other news.....my eye keeps improving but my sight in that eye is still very bad. My appointment has been changed to the 23rd so hopefully by then I will notice a bigger difference.

My daughter is pulling her 8 year old out of the public school system. We are both deeply disgusted with the things that have been going on at that school. We have waited for a year and a half for things to get better but they have not. We thought that perhaps it was the teacher she had last year and we were willing to see if things changed this year with a different teacher. Some things improved but others have not and the children.....for the most part....are just plain MEAN...and they are getting away with it. She will be attending a private Christian school starting Monday. Stay tuned for updates.

Hope all is ok in your little corners of the world.

Potpurri.....

2011-02-05T19:03:00.005-05:00

or....a little bit of a bunch of things.

First off.....my eye. It has improved but its been happening so frustratingly slow. My vision is still distorted and it really throws my depth perception off. My follow-up appointment is in 10 days, so hopefully I will be all better by then.

The blizzard is old news by now. We did not get nearly as much as was first predicted (24")....thank goodness. But we did get about 10 inches and its snowing again today. They say we may get another 4" to add to what's already on the ground. The wind was miserable though. It was coming out of the north which made it even more cold or maybe it was just the thought of "north wind" that did it. At one point my sliding glass door froze closed. LOL, I guess that's a heck of a lot better than having it freeze open! My poor little dog had to go out in snow that was as deep as she is tall. She took it all in stride though. She went out, did her business and then was at the door ready to come back in to the warmth.

We are breaking in our new supervisor at work. None of us quite know what to expect and most of us are a little bit nervous. He's probably just as nervous about us. Its been amusing to watch some of the employees interact with him. I guess I can safely say that there have been no surprises.....the suck ups were at their best and the lazy ones were breaking their arms patting themselves on their own backs, trying to convince him how much work they do. Its unbelievable. Anyone could see through what they are trying to do.....I'm shocked that they can't see it themselves.

My daughter had a friend.....a man her own age. (40's) She's known him for quite a few years but they've only just been friends. She thought highly of him. They tossed around the thought of perhaps him moving in with her and sharing expenses. She has a huge extra bedroom and he said he could help her around the house doing stuff that she can't do....like shoveling snow for example. They enjoy each other's company and get along well. He stayed over at Christmas and was included in our family festivities as well as dinner. A few days later, after he'd left, she noticed that half of her medications were missing. The pain pills she has to take as well as muscle relaxers. To say that she is devastated over this is an understatement. Now we've found out that he has a drug problem. We haven't seen him since then. He's not stupid....he knows that she has missed her meds by now. What was really sad is that she had to go 20 days in pain.....just because this addict wanted to get 'high'.....she had to suffer. This is why my daughter has trust issues. This is the second time this has happened to her....the first time it was a babysitter that did it. And no....she didn't make a police report. Even though she is 100% sure he took them, she has no real proof. He was once an honorable man and he has to live with what he's done and I know it will eventually haunt him. And so.....now we know why "his own family" was not helping him out. He's been unemployed for a year, getting unemployment and hasn't even been looking for work. It should have raised flags with us, but we've known him for so long....it just didn't. Sigh....live and learn.

On a happier note.....my 8 yr. old granddaughter has energy to burn and has been getting yelled at in school because she never stops moving. We figure busy hands are happy hands so my daughter enrolled her in Karate school. She goes Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Top that with taking Kumon (tutoring for math and reading) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays as well...... plus bible school on Wednesday evening, this little girl doesn't have much spare time. However, my daughter is totally exhausted!

Well, I'm going to cuddle up with a good book....its snowing like crazy outside and the perfect night to do something along those lines. Whatever you're doing....be safe. And...of course....keep smilin'!!

Some problems......

2011-01-25T21:29:00.003-05:00

I've had some eye problems for the last 3 weeks and just went to a specialist today....referred there by my ophthalmologist. Floaties (if you have 'em, you know what they are about....if you don't have them.....you probably will when you get OLD). Anyway I had a huge one that scared me so it had to be checked out.

I think I'm going to be ok. I've read so many eye charts in the last couple days, I should know all the letters by heart. Whenever I can't read a letter I always feel like I'm flunking a test at school or something. My vision has been blurred in one eye because of floaties and its frustrating beyond description....especially for someone like me who is constantly reading.

Anyway, I will have the test results tomorrow but I have to see the retina specialist again in 3 weeks to make sure I'm progressing as anticipated.

Thank you to all of you who kept the faith and kept on checking back here for a post. I appreciate that more than you know. I have been making the rounds as much as possible and reading.....with one eye no less. LOL Thank you also for the emails....you know who you are! I'll be back.......in just a few more days. Promise. (this gettin' old is the pits)....Oh well....keep smilin' anyway!!

Movie Reviews.....

2011-01-04T15:24:00.004-05:00

The movies we watched recently and the ones I'm going to review are: Despicable Me; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Knight and Day and Salt.

Despicable Me. This is a tug-at-your-heart animation, complete with orphans. It was entertaining and the evil one (Gru) delights in doing wicked deeds but underneath all that bad....there is a lot of good and it takes 3 little orphan girls to spot it and make it grow. Gru's competitor for top villain of all time is Vector who is a constant thorn in Gru's side. (Am I the only one who sees a physical resemblance to one of the world's richest men?) Good movie, nice little humorous moments that adults will like....but the minions didn't impress me that much...probably because I'm old and crabby.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice: I like Nick Cage so my review will be a bit prejudiced. It gives you a tiny bit of history at the beginning which dates back to Merlin, then it brings us up to present day, which is when the movie takes place. The special affects are awesome and it has a good story line. A bit of humor thrown in for good measure and you've got a good movie. Lots and lots of action....chases and fight scenes....but nothing gory. My family ranges from old (me) to young (8) and we all liked the movie equally. I would love it if they could do a sequel to this with all the same people. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you're into this type of movie (think Harry Potter in present day).

Knight and Day: I came across this movie accidentally and I'm glad I did. It stars Tom Cruise and Carmen Diaz. I found it to be very entertaining. He's top-secret government on the run and she's just a girl who loves to work on old cars. They meet at an airport, which may or may not have been accidental. The adventure starts from there. Humorous situations and one liners keep it on the lighter side, but lots of action keep you interested. Running, jumping, car crashes, fire, explosions, hundreds of dead bodies, shoot-outs galore, even backwards on a motorcycle. Sure....its impossible to do the stuff they do....but its fun to watch. Its just a fun time and isn't that the reason we watch movies?

Salt: Angelina Jolie. I'm almost speechless when it comes to this movie. I put it in the player and I don't think I took another breath until it was over. It was intense! The plot will have you guessing right up to the end. Talk about not knowing who to trust!! Takes place in present day and she is employed by the CIA and is highly respected by her co-workers. Suddenly she is accused of being a Russian spy by a defector and her attempts to prove her innocence only make her look guilty. Intrigue, action, suspense, thought provoking plot....special affects galore. Lots of dead bodies, blood but not so much as to define it as gore and fighting, fighting, running, hiding, fighting. Not a very good movie for the younger set because of all those reasons but at least there was no nudity or f-words. Excellent movie. I read that she performed her own stunts to top it off. Amazing woman. She made this movie 2 months after having twins.

So....there you have it. My opinions, which coupled with $2. may get you a cup of coffee. LOLOLOLOL

New stuff.....

2011-01-01T17:39:00.005-05:00

Well, its not only a new year for me but there are a lot of other new things going on. Some of it is good.....some of it was unexpected.....but since none of it was horrendous, I'm not going to whine.

We will be starting out the new year without a boss; our new one will probably be sworn in within a couple, three weeks. The whole building is apprehensive because no one knows what to expect. They have not even picked him (or her) yet! Our old boss is now a senator and we wish him well. I am confident that he will be an asset to our State. I can say one thing.....he will forever be in my memory as the boss that gave me the most expensive Christmas present I ever received in all my years of working. It was a check and it was very generous.....I nearly cried. He also gave each of us a huge Poinsettia plant which still looks fabulous, by the way.

I also have a new garage door opener. This was not expected. One morning about a week ago I went out to go to work. I pushed the wall button to open the garage door..........nothing. Why is it that when you try something and it doesn't work.....you have to try it again and then just one more time.....just to be sure? Well, here it is 7:30 in the morning, dark outside, temperature is about 15 and my garage door won't open. I have a 15 minute drive to work and I have to be there by 8. I grabbed the garden rake and snagged the manual override handle. I got the door open and then shut it manually but couldn't lock it. That day I called the garage door place and made arrangements for another door opener. Since my old one was 26 years old.....I didn't even think about repairing it. They came out the next day while I was at work and put in the new one. (I just LOVE this business....they are always willing to work with you on stuff like this) Wow....this opener is so quiet! On my drive to work, I realized that I have become a very spoiled old woman. When I was a young girl, I had to park my car in the barn on our farm....opening two huge barn doors to get out and then having to shut them again.....and not from the warmth of my car by pushing a remote either. Back then I considered myself extremely lucky to have shelter for my car so I didn't have to scrape snow.

Anyway.....moving on. I bought some movies for Christmas so we could watch them as a family. Despicable Me, Knight and Day and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. We got all snuggled down and put Despicable Me into the player and.........nothing. Now this VCR/DVD player is NOT user friendly at all. Matter of fact I really detest it for that reason. Its supposed to record on DVD and also transfer from VHS to DVD if you want....but I never could figure out HOW. I considered myself fortunate that I figured out how to simply PLAY a DVD in the durn thing. Well it went out on me....some sort of red light was flashing INSIDE of one of the knobs and I have NO idea why. I figure the thing was fried. Its about 2 years old and hasn't been used that much because its so hard to figure out. I usually look at DVD's on my computer when I watch them alone. But the family was here. Anyway I have a very old VHS/DVD player in the den and my grandson switched them so we could watch the movies. (why is it that kids can figure out electronics in a flash but it looks like calculus to most grown-ups?) So....now I guess I will have to replace that item and its a sure bet I won't get the same brand as I had in the living room before. (cha-ching)

Still moving on.....I went to cook Christmas dinner.....turned the knob on my stove for one of the burners and it came off in my hand....broke cleanly in half. So now my stove looks charming with just a post sticking up with no knob. I am hoping that knobs can still be bought for this stove that is probably 30 years old (counter-top). In the meantime....House Beautiful Is Not Me.

And lastly.....but not in any way least.....the drugstore shorted me 30 blood pressure pills. This was supposed to be a 90 day supply and I never thought to count them when I got them. I didn't notice it until I had only 1 left and realized something was very wrong here. Tomorrow I'm making a trip over there and we'll see what happens. They probably won't believe me since blood pressure pills are really in demand for the 'get high' crowd. Seriously though I hope they will believe me....I've only been a customer there for 30 years or so. My only saving grace may be that the bottle they were given to me in would....in no way....hold 90 pills like the label says it does. So....wish me luck. How they handle this will determine if I change pharmacies or not.

I guess I can say that the "new" year has started out with a bang for me but I'm not gonna whine. I've got food, shelter, an income and I woke up this morning! Have a great evening y'all. (remember....keep smilin'). I'll do a review on the movies in my next post.

Merry Christmas.....

2010-12-25T12:22:00.003-05:00

Yes....this is me. I was so excited to see Santa and he did bring me what I wanted (a doll). Back then our desires were simple....we wouldn't have dared ask for presents that cost three or four hundred dollars. Well, maybe we could have asked but it was a sure thing that we would have never gotten them. LOL

We lived in the country and getting into "town" was not an easy matter for us. Back then there wasn't a Santa's helper in dozens of places either. There was ONE in our little town and we had to drive lots of miles to get there. Mostly we kids sent letters to Santa but this time I got to see him. I think it may have been the only time too in those 'believing' years.

I got up early this morning to put my turkey on. Since I had no room in my refrigerator for a 20 lb. turkey, I put the frozen bird in the roaster pan and put it on the workbench in the garage. That was Tuesday morning and I was shocked when I went to get it this morning and found it still frozen! However, as I'm writing this it smells great in here and I just checked it and its nice and done and very tender....but its been in the oven for a little over 6 hours. At least all the presents are wrapped and ready for the family when they get here. Its also a picture perfect Christmas day....its been snowing since late last night....just a light pretty snow that makes everything look nice and clean.

I wanted to wish you all a wonderful Christmas.....no matter how you celebrate it. I hope you make many warm and happy memories. Above all....stay safe. Thank you for stopping by. (and, of course.....keep smilin'!)

Observations and opinions.....mine

2010-12-22T10:15:00.006-05:00

You know no matter how old you get, you always learn something new and its not necessarily new technology I'm talking about. About 4 or 5 years ago, my well started to go dry; my water pressure was down to nearly nothing. I called a well-man to see about having another well put in. He was a (self-professed) expert in his field and baffled me with a bunch of BS that I didn't understand. Bottom line though was that I, indeed, needed a new well. However, since the Township in which I live has a water system in place and it does run by my house, I was denied a permit for my own well and had to hook up to community water. I wasn't happy about it (being a farm raised girl and loving that "well" water) but had no choice. This "well-man", while trying to drum up his business, put some sort of filter on my water softener, stating that I would need it. I promptly forgot about it. I noticed no difference in anything since my water pressure was so low at the time anyway.

Well, I hooked up to community water and I must say the water pressure was much improved, although still not what it was supposed to be (unknown to me) and I was happy. Time went on and the pressure decreased. I suffered through years of horrible water pressure and come to find out it was that damn filter that whack job had put on my softener (which was the wrong kind in the first place and, secondly, was not even needed). After it was taking over 20 minutes to fill up my washer and I was beginning to feel suicidal, I called the water department; she suggested I have the water softener checked. I did and the filter was discovered and removed. I am like a kid with a new toy! I have water pressure again. REAL water pressure. I can fill up the washer in record time. I can take showers with an invigorating spray. I feel like I've been living under a rock for being so stupid!!!

On another subject.....I made up a cute little Santa video for my granddaughter through this website. Its totally free and you can personalize it to your liking. You can also send them to adults (however nothing off color is offered). Anyway, when she looked at it she was delighted and the look on her face was worth a million but she then announced to me that most of the kids in her class were saying that there was no such thing as Santa Claus and that only "babies" believed in him. OMG....she's only in SECOND grade! Not remembering the "yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter off the top of my head, I did the best I could do, stating that Santa lives on within our hearts. I was appalled even further when she told me more stories about her class and classmates.

There are "cliques" formed already and these little girls are MEAN. My daughter went to the class Christmas party to take some pictures and was told in no uncertain terms by 3 little snobs that my granddaughter could not be included in the picture with the 3 of them because "she's not one of our group". They had the nerve to tell this child's own mother (my daughter) that she was not to be included. My daughter took their picture only so that I could see what they looked like. Oh boy....do they have a serious wake-up call in a few years.....is all I can say. My granddaughter is close friends with a little Japanese girl who is treated much the same way. She is teaching my granddaughter to speak Japanese and they are having a delightful time with it. So who's the winner here!

What have parents done to their children to make them so hateful and especially at such a young age. I figure a lot of it is picked up from older siblings.....but what's wrong with the family units that they condone such behaviors? More than likely they don't even know their children are acting out in such hateful manners. I realize that junior high school is typical for this type of behavior.....but second grade??? I'm proud that my granddaughter is polite and kind and wants to be friends with everyone....no matter what. I hope we can keep those attributes alive and well in her all her life and that society doesn't knock her down and trample her.

She was having some problems in certain subjects at school and my daughter enrolled her in Kumon, which is a licensed tutoring center to help children over problem areas. She thought she was doing something beneficial. My granddaughter has blossomed under their learning program but when the school found out about it, they took umbrage over it and have doubled up on her homework so its nearly impossible for her to do both now. Instead of the teachers realizing that the ultimate goal here is to educate a child, they've taken it as an insult to their teaching abilities. Well, as far as I'm concerned.....there must be some guilty feelings there or they would not be feeling this way. My daughter is seriously considering placing her in a private Christian school beginning next year. She will be researching that. I can fully and completely understand why so many parents home-school their children.

Holidays.....doncha love 'em

2010-12-17T05:23:00.004-05:00

Oh boy.....there just aren't enough hours in the day. I can't believe how fast the days go. To have Christmas just around the corner is nearly unbelievable. Thank goodness the shopping is done and I have most of it here. Just a couple more things to be delivered and it will be totally done except for the wrapping.

I have sent the following to a few of my friends via email but then thought I'd post it because I can't think of anything worse than being far away from home on Christmas! Xerox understands this more than most companies and they are doing something again this year that's very heartwarming. So read on and follow the link to send a serviceman or woman a Christmas card. Bless your hearts. I'll try and get back here before Christmas with some brilliant prose. HA! Sorry.....I'm laughing at the brilliant prose part.

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq/Afghanistan. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and it only takes a second and no personal info is demanded of you (email, name or address), unless, of course you'd like to include it. Its your choice.

Please take the time to pass it on for others. We can never say ‘thank you' enough. Our soldiers need to know we are behind them.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these?

Thanks for taking the time to support our military!

Two Days Late......

2010-11-26T17:02:00.004-05:00

and more than a few dollars short, I might add. My family has been sick with ear infections and bronchitis. Not wanting to expose me, we all decided it would be the smart thing to just post-pone Thanksgiving. You can do this with a tiny family like ours. No one is flying in from another state or making long haul drives from miles away. We are all right here.

So tomorrow is the big day for us. Tonight I am baking pies and tomorrow morning I will put two turkey breasts in the oven. Cooking a whole turkey is just wasteful for us as no one likes the dark meat. My family is feeling much better and everyone is looking forward to a good meal.......cooked by yours truly. After dinner we are going to watch "How to train your Dragon" and "Toy Story 3".

This morning I got up early, made a nice cup of coffee and got online in my flannel nightgown to take advantage of Black Friday. It was cold with snow flurries outside.....and the wind was whipping around pretty good too. I can now proudly announce that I have my Christmas shopping done. I found some killer deals and had some great coupons. At one place I saved over $60..... that's with their own coupons, plus promotional coupons I downloaded. I have to admit, though, that a lot of things I wanted to buy were sold out and it was early! Not anything "Barbie" was left at all but I did snag the Rapunzel and Flynn dolls. Also found Tinkerbell and two of her fairy friends. I was thrilled over that as my one granddaughter is really into Tinkerbell right now.

So.....we're late for eating turkey but it will still taste just as good and our feelings of gratitude for what we have.....be it ever so humble, are just as heartfelt as it would have been on Thursday.

Hope everyone's holiday was a good one and a safe one. I'll be back.............. (keep smilin')

Sound off.....

2010-11-17T20:50:00.002-05:00

I wasn't going to bore you with this, but then got to thinking.....I'll just bet there are a lot of people out there that feel exactly the same way I do about this. Let's see.

I had noticed a certain toll-free number on my caller I.D. a LOT. Sometimes twice in one day. Yet no message was ever left on my answering machine. A few times I was here but I won't answer toll free calls or unlisted or 'caller unknown' so left it to go into the machine only to hear a "click". Then I became curious. Who in the hell is trying so hard to get ahold of me, yet won't leave a message. I made up my mind to answer it next time I got one.....I knew I wouldn't have to wait long.

A few days ago, I received one. When the phone rang, I nearly killed myself to get to it so I could see who was calling. Yep, there it was, same toll-free number. I answered it on the third ring only to be disconnected. That did not set well with me. The next day I received another one and again could not make it until the third ring and was again disconnected. My curiosity was killing me, I must admit....although I was fairly certain it had to be a solicitor. I wanted to answer it for no other reason than to tell them off. How fast do they think an old lady can move, for cryin' out loud.

Yesterday I received one and this time I was right by the phone and got it on the first ring. The wind was blown out of my sails when she announced that she was from "(I'll hold back the name)" Well, I certainly could not tell her off....not a charity, although a lot of them have overstepped their bounds on some occasions. I did not tell her off but was rather curt. I have never given to this particular charity. Matter of fact, I'll tell you that I do not give to charities unless they are non-profit. I want 100% of the donations to go to the cause; I'm not paying someone's wages. I'm sorry, but that's how I feel. Check out what some of these executives of certain charities obtain in wages and you'll see why.

Anyway, she was quick to say that she wasn't asking for a donation. The scenario here is that they send you 20 informative brochures, donation cards and envelopes. You are supposed to stuff these, put postage on them and then TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR FRIENDSHIPS by sending these to all your friends and neighbors. It further irritated me that she had my name and address. I hate it that we no longer have privacy. They have you in a fail-fail situation here. I would LOVE to know what IDIOT came up with this hair-brained idea. First of all, that's a lot of work. Secondly, when your "friends" receive these, they are ticked off for sure because now they have to send money or look bad in the eyes of the whole neighborhood. They don't even want to get around you for fear you may ask them if they've sent anything in yet (and they haven't). This is a HORRIBLE idea. I was quick to tell her that No, I do not participate in anything like that, thank you very much, have a nice evening.

I get so much more out of buying a winter coat for a child, or being a secret Santa for a family or saving the lives of 20 dogs and cats. How about you?

Faith pays off.....

2010-11-16T19:16:00.004-05:00

I went to the mailbox today to find a package from Microsoft. They did it! They sent me the Microsoft Word Program. Exactly like the counterfeit one I had purchased except, of course.....THIS one isn't counterfeit. Boy I sure hope they catch those crooks!

In the meantime I'm soooooo happy to have my Word program back.....I have really felt lost without it....even though Open Office is darn close. I'm just used to using Word after all these years and that's what we use at work.

I have really been neglectful but there hasn't been much going on. My daughter and her whole family got sick with a variation of the flu called "echo virus". I have stayed away from them all this time because I don't want to get exposed to it.....its miserable.

Its 45 here now and raining pretty good. It's supposed to do it all night long. The guy who does my leaves showed up tonight and got them all picked up. He just beat the rain which is a good thing. With 26 trees in my yard, most of them oak, you can just imagine how many leaves there were.....they were mid-calf deep on me.

I have my turkey in the freezer.....actually its two turkey breasts. No one in my family cares for dark meat so buying a whole turkey is wasteful. Making two turkey breasts suits us perfectly and there is no waste. I keep one and give my daughter the other one. They both fit nicely into my large roasting pan. If its stopped raining by tomorrow, I may go and get the rest of the fixings for our dinner. My co-worker is on vacation that week and I will have to work the day before Thanksgiving. I wonder if we will have snow.

Hope everything is ok in your corners of the world. I'll be back in a couple days......in the meantime, keep smilin'.

Around and around we go.....

2010-10-27T16:29:00.003-04:00

I called the first number to Microsoft and talked to a man with a slight accent....of what kind I'm not sure. He was either Tad or Ted but he was very nice. He took all the information I had to give, even saying that eBay would work with them in this case. Glad to know. I want this thief caught! Then he gave me another number to call about getting a replacement. He didn't know anything much about that but kept saying I could buy another software package from them.

I had to laugh at Glen's comment about getting "John" from India because that's precisely what happened. Although "John" was super nice....friendly, compassionate and probably knowledgeable, I could only understand about 1/3 of what he was saying. Never have I said "pardon me" so many times. I even had him wait for a minute so I could change to my other phone which has a volume control on it. Why is it that when we have a hard time understanding due to an accent, we think that if we can hear it at a more intense volume, that we will be able to decipher it better? It did not help, by the way. I finally was able to understand where to find the form I needed to fill out in order to report piracy and also to "have a chance" at getting replacement software once I sent them my discs and documentation. So, I will send that off tomorrow or the next day.....insured and certified. Its up to them to decide whether I deserve replacement software and if they decide in my favor, it will take a month to get it. I was referred to yet another number (thank goodness for toll-free).

This was in reference to my Windows XP, which is not what its supposed to be either. About all I was getting out of that is that I can purchase a new set of discs. Forget the fact that this would involve wiping my entire hard drive and starting over from scratch. What happens to all my stuff? Why....for a price, they can store it online for you while you do this. XP is no longer for sale, so I would have to buy Windows 7, which may not be compatible with my existing programs. Yet another number was given to me to find out if my programs would work. This guy also gave me the impression that I was some sort of moron for buying a computer at an auction and also for buying the Word program for $139 when it sells for nearly $500.....and that should have raised some flags. Well, no....it didn't. I was buying software that had already been upgraded to a newer version (2010) and I thought that the older version (2007) would be less money because of that. I decided I wasn't in the mood to be belittled, so I said I would research buying new software and let him go. He was condescending and not very friendly.

So, now I wait. Yes, I have learned a lesson. Buy computers and computer software from well-known establishments, ones that can prove they are authorized Microsoft dealers. Check your PC's and laptops to make sure you have your certificate of authenticity on the side or bottom. If not.....you likely have illegal copies. But of course the certificate of authenticity could be counterfeit (as what happened to me). I think Microsoft needs to come up with a better way.

Sometimes it pays....

2010-10-25T20:49:00.002-04:00

to put off cleaning out files. I am so excited. After hours of hunting, I have found my receipt for the Office program I bought. You know....the one I talk about in the previous post....the one that is counterfeit. (leaves a bad taste in my mouth to even type it)

Do you know how exceptional this is? I bought it last December.....and I have found the receipt! Woo hoo. Martha, eat your heart out. Tomorrow I call Microsoft and see what they say. Wish me luck.

And the icing on the cake.....

2010-10-21T06:51:00.004-04:00

I open up my Microsoft Word program to write a letter and a sign appears advising that my copy may not be genuine and to "click here". I do so and it routes me to the MS website. Long story shortened.....I contact tech support for some help. They are very prompt at replying. I have to send them my numbers off of the software I have, and he'll get back with me.

I bought that software and installed it about a year ago. I thought I had bought it from a reputable place. When I received it I was even more convinced that I had bought the authentic product; it had all the necessary paperwork and certificate of authenticity as well as a product key. I've been happily using it all this time, blissfully unaware.

I have a counterfeit copy and I'm LIVID. I bought this through eBay. I have no receipts to speak of. Its been long enough I can no longer find the transaction on eBay. I can find where my Paypal account paid them, but I can't find the actual transaction that states what the product was. MS claims they will replace the software if they are convinced I innocently bought it and its a convincing copy (doesn't look like someone whipped it up in 5 minutes). Oh....its that all right. Its an excellent copy....someone took some pains to make sure this looked authentic.

Just one more thing to think about. I will give them what I have and hope for the best. I'm not going to be optimistic. However I do have one major bitch. WHY did they wait so long to let me know it was counterfeit. If it was closer to the purchase date, this thief could have been caught....the listing was up on eBay for a while. They tell you things to look for that would alert you that it was counterfeit...like the hologram being pasted on instead of part of the disc. Well, how in the world are you supposed to view that before you buy it....you absolutely cannot....not even in a store where you personally go. You cannot open the package unless you purchase it. Once again.....bend over.....the consumer gets screwed. And in the meantime, my OFFICE software only functions with the bare bones features, which is not acceptable for what I do with it. Open Office is looking better all the time.

Add coffee and gently mix.....

2010-10-10T11:24:00.007-04:00

Ok, this is how I picture myself in the morning. I am definitely not with the program until after I've had my coffee. As soon as my feet apprehensively touch the floor in the morning I am in a fog, doing things on auto-pilot until I get that cup of coffee. Lord help the person who calls me early in the morning and wakes me up. I've been known to carry on a short conversation and not even remember it later. Although its not my nature to be mean, I've been also known to get a bit snippy if you call me during that time. Most of the time though I go through the motions early in the morning, get my cup of coffee and check out the news without being bothered and things turn out well for everyone involved.

This morning, however, it was different and I certainly hope its not an indicator of what the rest of my day is going to be like.

After getting up and taking care of the necessities we all have to do in the bathroom upon rising, I then trudged to the kitchen. I let the dog out and then proceeded to make my cup of coffee. Now I have one of those one-cup brewers, which I love BTW, and I brew a huge mug of coffee (18 oz.). It only takes about a minute and a half to brew this cup and so I get my meds out and take them with juice while waiting. Then I normally fix my coffee with coffee-mate, get some coffee cake or cinnamon bread and sit down to enjoy. This morning, however, I had to open a new container of coffee-mate. I got it out of the pantry and when I opened the pantry door a stack of paper grocery bags I had in there picked this time to fall over and spread across my kitchen floor.....so I had to pick those up, using my feet to push them into a pile and then carefully bending over to get them.....all the while cursing under my breath. Then I went to open the new container of coffee-mate, that boasted NEW CONTAINER all over the front. Now, I don't know if they think that coffee-mate consumers have a hand-span of a Yeti or what.....but I could not open that container. My fingers were not long enough to reach around the lid, which screwed on. By now the coffee is done and sitting on the counter in a mug.....the aroma beckoning to me. I try to get it open with a butter knife....no luck. I try banging it on the counter thinking that maybe it will loosen it up.....no luck. I then go for the bottle opener that's sticking to my fridge door by its built-in magnet. I use the one end that's pointed and used to open canned milk. I'm starting to make headway when the container slips out of my hands and hits the mug of coffee. The mug of coffee tips and falls off the counter, pouring HOT coffee all over the floor and some of it on me. 18 oz of coffee all over the kitchen floor. The mug hit the floor also and I can't believe it didn't break, but it didn't.

I had some folded bath towels sitting on top of the dryer and so I grab one and throw it on the floor. There is no way I can bend over and clean this up at this time. My back won't let me do it right now....I'm still stiff from sleep and my meds haven't taken affect yet. (I have back problems....arthritis) I wipe it up using my feet, cursing out loud now. I get that done, noticing that my mostly white bath towel is now stained with coffee stains but at this point I could care less. I brew another cup of coffee and mangle the coffee-mate container enough so that I can get it open. I then go to let the dog back in and she's gotten herself tangled around the deck steps (AGAIN) because she chases squirrels and I can't get her inside unless I go outside and untangle her. Ain't gonna happen.....at least not right now. Probably no neighbor is looking outside but I'm not going to take the chance. My too short nightshirt with the huge coffee stain in the front, my hair sticking straight up on the left side and my face marked with creases from the wrinkles in my pillow is not a sight for the faint of heart.

I have now had my cup of coffee and my coffee cake. I feel human again. My brain is functioning again and I can't help but wonder if what happened this morning in only 15 minutes after arising is any indication of what the rest of the day is going to be like. If so.......I'm grabbing a book and heading for the couch. In the meantime, I hope you all have a great day and remember to keep smilin'. And.....may all your lids open with no problems. (I'm headed out to the kitchen for another cup of coffee)

I'm back in the game.....

2010-10-08T22:02:00.003-04:00

Yes, I have both of my computers back from the repair guy. They seem to be working ok now but this whole ordeal has made me very shaky about the info on my hard drive. I'm going to have to get my pictures organized and put them on a DVD so I can feel secure that I'm not going to lose them.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. In the mid 70's and nice bright sunshine. The leaves are beginning to turn and some areas around here are getting pretty colorful. I went grocery shopping after work.....one of my favorite things to do. Why, I like it as much as I like to iron! Ahem. Anyway, I was quite surprised that the store was nearly empty and I was able to get in and out in record time. Needless to say, I was glad to finally get home and relax.

Some of the TV programming this fall is really unusual. I've come across a series called Swamp People. Its about several Louisiana families who make a living catching alligators. These people work hard and seem to make a pretty good living doing this. The programs have all been interesting so far. Then there is another Louisiana family who specializes in pest removal....bugs, snakes, skunks, you name it. They are good at what they do but I sure wouldn't want to do it. That's interesting too and gives you the creepy crawlies just looking at it. Then there is Hoarders.....look at an episode and you'll never again feel that your own house is cluttered or dirty.....guaranteed. I've been looking at Project Runway lately and now am hooked on that too. I had no idea how hard it was to be a fashion designer.....not to mention the stress. I used to watch Fringe...it was a favorite of mine but they have made it so confusing that I no longer can follow it and have stopped watching. Same goes for CSI Las Vegas. All my favorite people left and so I quit watching. I seem to be sticking mostly with A&E on cable and cannot find much to hold my interest in the regular stations. I love Adventures of the New Old Christine.....she is a real hoot and I always get a laugh out of her show. We need more good comedies. Have a great weekend....I'll be back as soon as I can find something to talk about that may or may not interest you. My life is just not that exciting........but sometimes that's not bad.

Again, she writes.....

2010-09-23T21:13:00.004-04:00

I contributed to Magpie Tales again. Last week I was upset over my computer so I didn't do one. Let me know if you enjoy it or not.

The Bottle (Go here).

In the meantime, keep smilin'.

Happiness is.....

2010-09-21T15:30:00.004-04:00

your hard drive dying..........NOT.

I can't believe it. My computer is not that old either. I can't blame it on any particular manufacturer because I have my systems built for me (clones). I've had very good luck doing it this way....but not this time. My hard drive won't even spin and that's a horrible feeling. My computer guy said something about putting it in the freezer if the bearing will work. Sorry....all Greek to me. He will try to save my data but I'm not optimistic this time.

I have become dependent on the computerized lifestyle.....something I always said I would never do. But I now do all my bills and banking online except for a couple who do not participate in online billing. I do back up my system but I've been having problems since June and that's the last time I backed it up. Of course its better than no backup at all....if it actually does work and its not corrupted or something. The troubles I was having with it was not with the hard drive, it was with my internet connection.....which turned out to be my router. My computer guy has car trouble so he can't come and pick it up until this coming Saturday. Right now is the time of the month that I schedule my bills. Thank goodness I did some of them before the frying of the hard drive took place.

So I ordered a laptop. I have to be able to get to the Internet. I guess it will be here in about a week....about the same time my old one goes out the door for repair. I have never used a laptop and something tells me that I'm in for quite an adventure. I searched online for hours and hours looking at different brands with oh-so-many different features. I settled on a Toshiba 17" screen because the reviews on it were awesome and the price was lower than most of the others.

I have a very old computer that the kids use when they are here and that's what I'm using now. Amazing how its still hanging in there........oops....did I say that outloud? Well, its true.....it just seems like the newer things are not built to hold up near as long as the older stuff. Its part of an evil plot to keep us buying new computers once we're addicted and dependent. Well, wish me luck that this old one holds up. It doesn't recognize the keyboard half the time and using the on-screen keyboard is a real pain in the patootie....trust me.

Anyone have any good advice on things I should know using a laptop.....or notebook I guess its called. I'm hoping it will last me for a while....and yes, I did buy insurance on it.

Anger in the air.....

2010-09-18T09:46:00.005-04:00

Boy oh boy....I don't know if the planets were lined up just right yesterday or what the reason was -- but it seemed like everyone picked that day to just be ANGRY. I often pay for the person's order who is behind me in the drive-through in the mornings but I do have a limit. This morning the guy behind me had an expensive order and I couldn't do it so the day went downhill from there. I was forewarned.

Everyone had a complaint of one sort or another. My co-worker got sick of it and put in for a half vacation day and left. Since every boss in the building was also gone.....to say I was left to my own devices is an understatement.....you can only sweet talk people for only so long.

I had been yelled at over the phone mostly but a few residents appeared in person. They had rants about various little things but the longer they thought about those little things it made them expand to huge dimensions and they wanted action NOW. By the time 5 o'clock rolled around I was more than ready to escape to my own turf....to lock myself in with some soft music to calm my shattered nerves but first I had things to do. Number one on the list was get gas for the car cause I was riding on fumes, which is something I never do but I had forgotten to get gas earlier in the week. Then I had to quickly visit the grocery store and I was dreading it. Grocery shopping is one of my least favorite things to do.....topped only by ironing. I almost put it off but remembered that it was supposed to rain all day Saturday and that gave me the energy to proceed.

The most important item I had to purchase was a birthday card and cake for my daughter. I was surprised to see that the grocery store was nearly empty. Nearly empty at a little after 5 on a Friday? I simply had to take advantage of it. I ended up getting a few more things than the cake but it was still a quick visit, the anticipation of enjoying my easy chair and a good book in the quiet of my home giving me the impetus I needed to get this task done. At the bakery department I waited at the counter to get "happy birthday" written on the cake. The woman who waited on me had disgust and anger all over her face. She looked like she had experienced the same kind of day as yours truly. She answered my questions with short, sharp retorts and I made up my mind that I was going to put a smile on this woman's face before I left. She took the cake and returned with it a few minutes later with a beautifully written "happy birthday" on it. I smiled and told her it was absolutely beautiful.....actually the best I'd ever seen. (which was really true) You know what.....I honestly saw her icy exterior melt and she smiled and thanked me. I KNOW I made her day.....and it made ME feel better knowing that.

I finally made it home, fixed myself a nice hot cup of coffee and, grabbing an apple fritter that I had just purchased at the store, I headed for my easy chair and book. My son, of course, had to call me later on and put the ending on my day by some unnecessary garbage of his own. I almost felt like I was being tested.....especially when I found out that my ex and his wife had won an all expense paid trip to Paris, France. I'm glad for them.....yes I am. Yes I am. I'll just keep saying that with a smile on my face. It just seemed like I was everyone's punching bag yesterday. Did any of you have a day like that too? You know what?.....even if it IS cold, dark, dreary and raining today.....I am sooooo glad its Saturday and I don't have to go anywhere. I don't even think I'll answer the phone today.....so there! Hope you all have a good one today, no matter where you are or what the weather is like.

Take some time.....

2010-09-12T14:21:00.003-04:00

out of your busy day and view this video. Its a little over 6 minutes and its absolutely one of the most beautiful presentations I've ever seen. It truly is Magnificent. Go there and watch, you won't be sorry.

Nothing I could write today could top this. And....thank you, Jackie, for sending it to me. xo

The Cottage.....

2010-08-27T21:57:00.001-04:00

Another story popped out of one of those old filing cabinets. Let me know what you think of this one. Go here.

People watching.....

2010-08-26T22:48:00.002-04:00

Today I offered to take a friend to the courthouse because they needed a ride. I figured I would be there for a couple hours so I prepared a gigantic thermos of coffee and took a good book. In reality I was there for over 4 hours because a high profile case went before hers and she had to wait longer than usual.

I decided to wait in my car, figuring it would be more comfortable and also offer a greater variety of people to watch. I used my handicapped placard and found a great parking spot close to the main entrance of the building offering a wonderful view of the variety of people coming and going. I would say that I spent equal time people watching as I did reading my book while I waited. Its been a long time since I've people watched and I think its good for your soul. Some people may make you envious but then others make you grateful to be in your own skin. Most of the time, the gratefulness outshines the envy. The first essential item you need is a good pair of dark sunglasses so you can check out things without being caught doing it. I watched all colors, all sizes and all ages....not to mention social skills ranging from restrained and respectable to slovenly and ignorant. The only thing these people had in common other than being mammals, was that everyone was in a hurry! Your imagination can go wild on such watching excursions as you picture what sort of lifestyle each person may lead. After devoting much time to this delightful pass-time, I have ascertained the following:

~ Old, untanned men should never wear shorts
~ Old, untanned men should never wear sandals with socks
~ Old, untanned men should never wear sandals with brown socks
~ Heavy women should not wear crop tops
~ Heavy women should not wear shorts
~ Pregnant women should not wear skin tight clothing
~ Bright red lipstick and blue eyeshadow on an 80 yr old is not recommended
~ Long dread locks just don't do a thing for old gray-haired men
~ If you have a huge beer belly, buy shirts big enough to cover it
~ Pants worn so the crotch is knee level is just plain wrong
~ Why do some women think that ankle length skirts and over blouses look good together.
~ I was impressed that so many women dressed so professionally. They looked good!!!
~ I was dismayed that so many women dressed so horribly to go to work (had work badges on)
~ Brown dress shoes with a navy suit.....ummmm not so good
~ Some professional men were a wrinkled mess
~ Some professional men were picture perfect without a wrinkle in sight
~ I get bonus points for spying one person who forgot to take the size tag off their pantleg
~ One woman saw me watch her throw her chewing gum in the flowers (boy, did she look guilty)

We are a nation of opposites for sure and that's what makes people watching so much fun. But I'll tell ya, the ones who were dressed weird and acted weird were the ones that caught your attention and held it more than the others. One women hacked up and spit on the sidewalk.....I'd never seen a woman do that before. I was embarrassed for her.

One women came out and went back in several times and she was absolutely striking. With every hair in place and a neat black suit with heels, she was a head-turner. She had to be someone's executive secretary.....or at least she looked the part.

I could not believe how tired I was from just sitting there waiting......and watching. I had to come home and take a nap.

Something new.....

2010-08-19T14:19:00.001-04:00

Thought I'd dabble in something new. Go here, .....I hope you enjoy it.
I will still post here also.

Hot August Night.....

2010-08-12T21:24:00.006-04:00

oh its been hot. I find myself humming the opening phrases of Neil Diamond's song, Brother Love's Travelin' Salvation Show when it gets hot like this. This is like the summers of my youth, the air so hot and sticky, barely a hint of a breeze....the locusts singing their whining songs from the trees, starting off softly and ending in a crescendo. It always meant HOT weather was coming when you heard the locusts. We didn't have air conditioning back then and now that I've been spoiled by it, I wonder how we existed. I remember laying in bed at night and would keep turning the pillow over so it would feel cool against my face.

The days of sliced garden tomatoes, fried chicken and potato salad. That tall glass of iced tea where the outside of the glass is all wet with condensation. That unmistakable fragrance of freshly husked corn and picking green peppers from the garden, rinsing them off with the garden hose and then just taking a big bite. Ah, yes, this summer has reminded me of the summers of my youth.....lazy, hazy days.

Do they still have revival meetings in tents on hot summer nights? After marriage we rented an apartment that was located in the last building on the dead end street. It faced the woods and on hot summer evenings we could hear the services coming from a tent that had been put up on the other side of the woods. We would sit outside and listen to the songs and could hear some of the sermon, especially when a point was being made......amid all the hallelujahs and amens and then gospel music, sweet and bluesy.

That neighborhood went into disrepair a few years after we moved from there. And it has since gone through a lot of changes. It was pretty bad for a while and then a facelift was given to the area and things were cleaned up. But, unfortunately, its much like an old and haggard woman putting on layers of makeup....its all cosmetic...quickly and cheaply done. But it is better than it was and that's the important thing. Lord, that was 45 years ago we sat and listened to "the travelin' Salvation show" on the other side of the woods. I wonder if they still have them.

I have my granddaughter's school clothes all ordered and they will be delivered next week. That, of course, signals the end of summer when Back to School rolls around. I can't believe how fast the time went. I found some killer deals doing Internet shopping once again.....and suffered none of the hassle that the mall would have given us.....and got free shipping to boot. Ah, Life is Good.

I just noticed a weather alert has come up on my browser. Air Quality Alert. Never had any of those back in the "dog days" of the summers of my youth. Speaking of air.....I can't wait to see my next electric bill...........Ouch.

The Old Hand Pump.....

2010-07-27T14:00:00.006-04:00

Ever used one of these? They are a rarity anymore. I recently saw a picture much like this one and it triggered some warm and wonderful memories for me.

I've mentioned before that I was raised on a small farm. We had more chickens than anything else and the chicken coop was quite impressive....as chicken coops go. Ours were not free range chickens but the fenced yard that kept them out of our garden as well as everything else was very large. Inside the coop was a hand pump just like this one pictured. My dad and I both shared the love of the crystal clear ice cold water that this pump would bring to the surface. In the summer, several times a day you would find us in the chicken coop getting a nice long drink from the long handled drinking cup that hung nearby. Some days I almost ache with yearning to just have a sip of that water again. I have tasted nothing that can come remotely close to that particular strain of "nature's wine".

My family is all buried in a very small cemetery that is only about 2 miles from where I now live and 2 miles from the farm on which I grew up. Under a tree, positioned in the approximate middle of the cemetery was a hand pump so you could water the flowers you planted on the graves of your loved ones. I was disappointed many years ago when I saw that the pump had been replaced by a modern spigot. At the risk of appearing to be a person without perception....I really don't like all the changes that have happened in my little corner of the world. I used to know everyone because my dad knew everyone. Not so anymore. The farm that was home to me was sold many years ago, torn down, sub-divided and a huge apartment complex built on the land. The only things remaining are the two huge mulberry trees that used to be in our front yard. I'm glad they were spared.

I think I may be entering another phase of my life....some things that interested me before no longer have the appeal they once had. I don't watch much TV anymore, finding more programs to be witless and dull than ones that entice you to tune in. The "reality TV" has definitely lost its appeal for me....they have over-done it. We need more comedies I think. Comedies that us older folks can identify with....instead of everything being geared toward teenagers. Something to help us relax in the evening and have a good laugh. We'll see what this Fall holds for us.

My computer is sick and is at my guru's place being looked at. He thinks its a 'bug'....I don't. I think some files got corrupted ONCE AGAIN after some power outages we had recently. I'm using my old stand-by that's showing its age....but hanging in there. Kinda like me. LOL

My attitude is not a lot better than it was on July 3, my last post. I really can't say its any one thing.....it seems to be MANY things. It was as if my writing ability just packed its bags and moved away. I hope its only temporary and I will soon feel creative again. The summer has been hot and I'm not complaining. I keep thinking of all the snow and the cold from last winter and the heat of the summer is more than welcome in my book. If it makes those of you who are in the snow belt feel any better, I've read that we are supposed to have a mild winter. I hope so.

My friends, if you have stuck with me and checked here often for a new post.....I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You've been patient and for that I wish I could reward you with a witty, laugh til you pee post.....but I can't think of anything like that just yet. Hopefully....it won't be long and I can at least post something that's interesting. I hope everything has been well in your little corners of the world and I'll be back in just a few days. As always.....keep smilin'.

Attitude adjustment.....

2010-07-03T16:09:00.004-04:00

Sorry I have been so neglectful. Real life, as you know, takes priority over blog life. My attitude needs some serious working on....too many things....too much drama.

So until I can get things into perspective and until I start feeling good about some things again, I'm going to say "so long".

I will still be visiting everyone because I love you all but I may not comment. I just hope you don't forget about me. I will be back in a little while.

Have a SAFE and memorable holiday weekend. Enjoy the simple things.....the small things. And try to keep a sense of humor about the things that attempt to pull you down.

See you soon. Keep smilin'.