Sunday, December 23, 2012

December 23

Christmas is almost here.  I sure hope the Christmas songs that are everywhere will stop on the 26th.  I have had one or the other imprinted in my head, Like winter wonderland, or Rudolf or silver bells.  It's a wonder my brain doesn't actually chime, I could get a job at the Salvation Army and I wouldn't even need a bell.

We have 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground (WV) but it looks like that is all.  Hopefully the roads will be cleared so we can get to the grocery store later today, we need to buy the Christmas day fixin's We do steak and baked potatoes with fruit salad and a pie, and have sweet rolls for breakfast and a tray of munchies for lunch.  Not traditional but also no leftovers!

All the online purchases we have all done have arrived with time to spare.  And we only tackled the mall twice.  I'm not going to go on the 26th either, I can't take the mob scene.  The last time we went one of the local schools 7th and 8th graders had the string group playing, very nice.  We sat in the food court eating a sugar bagel and listening, a nice respite.

N's great great nephew is now a year old.  I am going to send a gift after the first, as I neglected to do so when he was born; things on my mind then.  They live in Kentucky and N's sister looks after the baby most of the time.  This after raising her grandaughter, and now her great grandson.  Maybe some people need to grow up?

Bumper sticker for the day:  "We have enough youth.  How about a fountain of smart?"

P.S.  I see now that the blog counting widget is above the actual count, and not down the page.  I didn't do it!  Will it last?

Friday, December 21, 2012

My heart goes out to the family and friends in Newtown.  We must not lose sight of the larger issue of prevention of this horror.  

The victims in Newtown, CT as released by the CT state police.


Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Rachel Davino, 29
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Dawn Hocksprung, 47
Madeline F. Hsu, 6
Catherine V Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Emile Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Lauren Russeau, 30
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Soto, 27
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison N. Wyatt, 6

Monday, December 10, 2012

puzzled

Hi there every one.  I've been wrapped up in Christmas preparation, but most of it is done (except the wrapping, sigh) so I came here to check things out.  But there is this weird thing:  I get all the comments forwarded to my email (that's not the strange thing) and I keep getting comments written in what looks like greek.  I delete them from the email, but today I went to the comments section on the blog site to delete them there, and I don't find any like that.  I worry that my comment section is being used as a "drop" for several people to leave anonymous messages that aren't attached directly to them.
But I can't find the messages in the 428 ones in the list.  What gives?  Can someone leaving a comment come back later and delete it from my blog?  Just a random micro thought....


My visit with the oncologist last week went fine;  still in remission.  Yay!!

Bumper sticker for the day:  "The geeks shall inherit the earth."

Saturday, December 01, 2012

R.I.P. Cookie, 2001 - 2012


My dear Cookie died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer.  I have 6 other cats (don't ask) but Cookie was my favorite, and it was she who slept with me, shutting the others out until morning.  Isn't it always the favorite ones who go first?

Bumper sticker for the day:  "What if the hokey pokey IS what it's all about?"


Saturday, November 24, 2012

Post Black Friday

Today is Saturday, and we ventured out to go to WalMart for groceries.  The store was fairly busy, but not crazy, like it was yesterday.

I don't actually have much to report; which is good news, too.

I washed and dried a tube of lipstick this week.  Forgot it in my pants pocket, and I am doubly sorry.  Not only did it ruin 2 pairs of pants, but the lipstick itself, Lancome @$27 was destroyed too, of course (not that I paid this for it:  it was a promotional size ).  Got to remember not to do this.  This is why we carry purses, right?

I have ordered two Christmas gifts, that makes 20% of my gift list, not counting money gifts.  Now if I could just come up with an idea or two for the rest...

Son is still driving around with a nail in his tire.  Got to start nagging program...

The bathroom remodel is finished, hurrah!  The contractor left us a bonus, his ladder.  He says he will come and get it, but so far, not.  The garage is finally cleared out of all the cardboard, and the truck is cleared of the old fixtures.  The guys at the solid waste center knew us on sight, for a couple of weeks.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "If indoor plumbing doesn't bring you happiness -- what can?"


Saturday, November 17, 2012

Grocery Shopping

We just finished our Thanksgiving dinner grocery shopping, what a chore!  We filled two carts; but I know there are many who can't afford extra groceries, or that have no place to cook them.  I think of them at this time of year, especially after all the loss of homes and lives during Hurricane Sandy.  And I donate regularly to the local food pantry, although it feels like it is a very small help.  This Christmas we will shop for a family, which we have done in the past but let it slide the last few years.  It is fun to pick out stuff you know will be appreciated, and not just put aside.



While we were at the grocery store we saw a lot of WVU Mountaineers regalia, and also some Oklahoma fans.  Big game today in Morgantown, which I didn't remember until I saw our fans everywhere.  Also at the store we noticed the shelves for Hostess snacks was stripped, no more Twinkies!  What will we do?  Get Little Debbie snacks, I guess.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "When we say "Women and children first," we're not talking about budget cuts."

(And one big cheer for President Obama).

Thursday, November 08, 2012

Back porch sunset

For this photo I actually had my camera ready and handy, as these beautiful light shows only last a few minutes.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Winter Wonderland part two

Here are the other photos of Hurricane Sandy aftermath, taken by my daughter.  All of them are scenes within walking distance of our house.  Mostly gone now, off of the trees at least.  Now for the chain saw  work...





Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Winter Wonderland

Here in WV, this is the present Sandy left us Monday night.




As you can see, it was a mixed blessing; many trees continue to break as the icy wet snow burdens the branches that still have some of their leaves.  We hear "Snap"  and then "whoosh!" as they fall.  Daughter has more photos of this, I will post them later.  Meanwhile, I apologize for the bold text; for some reason I can't turn it off.

Hope everyone of you is safe and dry at home. And has power too.  So many who don't!


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Aftermath

I'd send a photo to show all the debris and the pile in the bedroom of all the rescued computer room stuff, but it is all so depressing.  When we arranged for the upstairs bathroom to be remodeled, I thought there would be a certain amount of dust and yucky stuff in here, because the drop ceiling gives access to the plumping upstairs.  But I never anticipated that there would be a massive leak all night long where a copper joint didn't quite seal.  I think I have the room dried out (fans, high speed) to hopefully leave no mildew producing residue, and tomorrow I will start with the vacuum.  My favorite activity.

Meanwhile back at the ranch.. N lost his consulting  job as the agency ran out of funds; the contract runs to April, but without money that scarcely matters.  At least we had considered (and rejected) the purchase of a new car to replace the Lincoln, so we aren't on the hook for car payments.  And the bathroom job had money set aside in advance, and boy am I glad of that.  Anyway, in the end the chaos will be forgotten and the lovely bath, gutted now, will be the result.  Now if only the printer is OK...

I slipped and fell again; isn't it funny, whenever you fall, how you look around to be sure no one saw you being a clumsy  nerd,  as if someone will point and say, "what a doofus".  Anyway, I am fine for once, now if I can keep my feet from arguing where we are going (" this way!  No, THIS way!") I should be OK.

Time to return to bed.  Hope Hurricane Sandy zips out to sea and spares the east coast. but meanwhile I am thinking of my Florida BFF (hello!) and sending good thoughts for the meantime.  Also hugs.

Bumper sticker of the day:  "Where's Robin Hood when we need him?"

P.S. Did you notice there is no political content here?  I already voted but the emails and the TV ads still haven't stopped...
update:  the vacuum broke!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

In Brief

We have had a new flood downstairs (plumbing) and it is all over the computer room, where the acoustic tile fell into the room.  I am writing this on husband's computer and he has this weird keyboard that I have to search for each key.  back soon.

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Where has the Time Gone?

I have just been merrily poking my way through the weeks, never thinking of the poor neglected blog.  Still, if you have been following this for any time, you know that I sometimes post three times a week, and other times 3 times a month.  Or less...

In my defense I must remind  you that my computer died the death about 3 weeks ago, and I now have son's cast off computer (too slow for gaming).  It suits me fine, and he helped a ton with setting it up for me, but it runs Win 7 and not XP, so that has been taking me a while to master.  And then there were the files backed up, luckily, on a flash drive, that were really precious (photos mainly) that had to be exported once the program itself was installed.  Busy times.  I think I am good to go now.

So over the next few days I will catch up with all the blogs I love to read, and hopefully resume regular Programming.  As I mentioned before, I have been knitting, hand and machine style, but most of what I did I unraveled again as I was not pleased with the way it looked/fit.  Like a winter cap that two people could wear at the same time, if they are friends, I guess-- anyway, off it goes, and the yarn rewound for future use.  I only have over a hundred skeins of yarn on hand, and boy do I need a bigger closet.  But pretty yarn is so hard to resist.

The long anticipated remodeling of the upstairs bath is set to begin in two weeks or so.  We have bought a tub, cabinets-- sink, over the tank, medicine/mirror-- and the sink, counter top, toilet, towel bars, paper holder, shower rod, the list goes on and on.  All we need at this point is for the contractor to get going.   Both son and daughter, who use this bath, are dismayed that the bath will be unusable for two or three weeks once demolition of the old bath is under way.  They have been spoiled I think, by having three full baths in the house, and now they will have to come downstairs and use the master bath.  Horrors!

My thumb has healed, I am glad to say, just the odd twinge if I turn it just so.  If I can only stop tripping, I wouldn't have these problems.  Two left feet, like I said (below).  Now I have this nifty wrist brace just waiting for the next episode, which with my luck could be any day now.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong."


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Meme



I did this meme back in the '06 days, but I thought it would be interesting today. 
With some editing.

1) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.

"I've been talking to some people here at Houston.  We started re-evaluating the collision dynamics and trajectory when you found the core was hollow."
from In the Ocean of Night, by Gregory Benford.
 
2) Stretch your left arm out as far as you can and see what you touch.

An HP Officejet 6500. Ow.

3) What is the last thing you watched on TV?

NCIS

4) Without looking, guess what time it is.

6:30

5) Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?

6:25~~ Five minutes of Do Over!

6) With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

A gurgling aquarium, the AC..

7) When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

About 3 hours ago, to hang throw rugs to dry.  No rain!!

8) Before you started this survey, what did you look at?

The Joy of Cooking.  Tasty stuff in there.

9) What are you wearing?

Brown sweatshirt, jeans and fuzzy slippers.  (such a fashionista).

10) Did you dream last night?

Yeah, something about losing my car in this huge parking lot.  Frustration dream, again.

11) When did you last laugh?

Reading some of my old blog posts.  Probably not too funny for anyone else..

12) What is on the walls of the room you are in?

Diplomas, a bulletin board, a photo of the old farmhouse.

13) Seen anything weird lately?

In West Virginia? No, do you think?

14) What do you think of this quiz?

It's an easy way to create a new post....

15) What is the last film you saw?

Cowboys and Aliens.  Harrison Ford, not so much, but Daniel Craig, rrrowl.

16) If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?

I'd hire a full-time housekeeper. No, a cook. No, a chauffeur. An accountant?

17) Tell us something about you that we don't know.

I'm actually a famous star.  Or not.

18) If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what
would you do?

I'd have all the world leaders meet and thrash out their conflicts mano-a-mano, with dull
butter knives.

19) Do you like to dance?

Not at all. Two left feet. Maybe more.

20) What do you think of Obama?

I think she's terrific and so is her husband.

21) Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

Draconia

22) Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

Apeteryx (a wingless bird with hairy feathers). Just thinking of his first teacher struggling to pronounce it gives me the giggles.

23) Would you ever consider living abroad?

Nope. West Virginia is about as "other worldly" as I can manage.

24) What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?

"You look great for your age!"

And not to forget the all important bumper sticker;  "Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?"

Monday, September 17, 2012

Uh-Oh

And now for a moment of silence OK that's long enough.  My computer died, not my fault, it just sat there humming and doing nothing.  We tried several ways to revive it, but in the end I got my son's old (nearly new) computer for the cost of a new HD.  It is one terrabyte, and I had less than 320 mbytes before.  Unfortunately although I had backed up (regularly) my main files, I didn't back up my favorites bookmarks.  Learn from my error and back your favorites up from time to time, you'll be glad you did at some point.  Anyway, I eventually remembered that my MacBook had mostly the same bookmarks, so I used a flash drive to transfer them here.  So!!  I still have all of your addresses, and don't have to wrack my brain to remember who was where.

We have closed the pool, although it is still warm enough to swim in (mostly), fishing out the the falling leaves just overwhelmed us.  I really miss it.  The broken thumb is pretty much mended, although my grip is still a little weak.  As part of the new computer I have a new keyboard, which does not have the letter "B" on the b key; instead it has a small red "b" in a circle, which puzzles me.  Any ideas?  The keyboard does not have all the extra buttons, CD drives, Internet shortcut keys, and so forth, so I have to stop and ponder how to do things that were so simple before.  But as I then had Win XP and now have Win 7, the connection of the USB as well as the extra functions were not compatible.  A term I have been seeing a good bit of, these last few days.  I used to use a little program called HP Image Zone to do a fast and simple touch up on my photos, it is incompatible too now, and I can't seem to find something similar.  I guess I will have to use Adobe Photo Ready, which is way more complicated.  Does anyone have a recommendation for a simple photo editing program? 

I did get out my knitting machine and knitted up some practice pieces.  I still want to learn to knit by hand, the local Michael's will have two classes in October so I will try that.  The first class is "Knit" and second one is "Purl", don't you think that is strange?  I can do both now, but I don't hold the yarn right and I keep dropping a needle (not just a stitch, the entire needle!).  The diagrams in the book are only so much help, at some point I need a real person to help me.

Bumper sticker for the day: "Computers do not damage your thinky thingy."

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Worshiping at the porcelain throne...

Sigh.  If it isn't one thing it's another.  The orthopedic dr. allowed my thumb was cracked in two places and put on a black splint with lots of serious velcro straps.  Of course I can't do Anything so I leave it off a bit more often than the dr. intended.

Something has my tum all upset, And since I feel better sitting up I can post here, even at 2 am.  I think the worst is over, though.  Still munching on saltine crackers.

Meanwhile, we are waging the battle of the wisteria.  It is lovely, don't you think?  It blooms ferociously in early spring, the bees just love it, it smells nice,BUT BUT BUT nobody told us it is the flowering counterpart of Kudzu!  The main great mistake we made was planting it along the lattice work that surrounds the pool.  It is a climbing specie and boy does it ever climb.  All along the deck side, the deck walking area, it even invades the pool, growing under the lattice and up and over the coping of the pool.  When it grows on the lattice it fractures it as it forces vines thru the gaps in the lattice that thicken to the size of a man's arm.  It also reaches up and grows on the trees choking them and spreads,  even to tiny branches that are used to bootstrap to all the trees around it.  So it is chain saw and hedge trimmer time, and removing the vines wearing leather gloves because it has thorns.  My daughter says in biology it is listed as a noxious invading weed, Choking out other species and will regrow from the roots several seasons, so you have to keep cutting. Our big mistake...  My major was chemistry and medical technology; the hubby is sociology, what do we know about plants?  And the guys at Lowe's know next to nothing.  It sure looked nice...

The other thing I have been doing is trying to re-learn how to knit.  I made several things the last time I got into it, and I'd like to do so again.  But the thing is, all the big things, sweaters, any pattern other than stripes, I do on the knitting machine.  So fast, so even, so frustrating when it messes up.  But other than a pair of mittens, I have not made anything using hand needles.  It is really slow.  And having my thumb broken is not making things easy.

Well, onward and upward!

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Boobs!  Proof that men can focus on two things st once."


Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Imagination

I'm going to have to cultivate the habit of leaving my camera out, accessible, so I can get some neat pictures to post here.  Last night there were these incredible cloud formations, thunderheads lit from behind by the setting sun.  The view didn't last long, and of course I couldn't lay my hands on the camera until it was mostly gone.  So you have to use your imagination...

Friday I fell and landed hard in a parking lot.  Besides my dignity, I also damaged my right hand.  I waited until yesterday (Tuesday) to have it checked out, and the x-ray shows that I broke my thumb.  Now I sit here pecking away at the keyboard one key at a time.  And you should see me inching my trackball across a page, oh it's a wonder the screen will wait that long for me to click on something.  Next week I go to the ortho doctor to have it evaluated.  Meanwhile I am in a half-cast, I can at least remove it to shower.

All because I tripped.

Prior to my face plant, I have been trying to knit.  I once knitted a pair of mittens (which I soon lost) and a sweater (too small), well, actually I only knitted 2/3 of it and my friend, bless her, finished it for me.  She is gone now, but I have several things she made for me that I treasure.  Anyway, I seem to have forgotten how to knit, and have had to refer to a beginners book and try again.  However that will be on hold until the cast is off, since I can't even hold the needle, and I don't want to lose what I already have done (on a practice piece).  I unearthed my boxes of yarn and my! there is a lot of it.  Luckily it doesn't spoil!  And some of them are especially lovely.  I'll put some of them together so you can see.

Today I go see the oncologist for my 3 month check-up and a check of my liver enzymes to see that they are marching along in there as they should.  Also to ask if my dizziness has anything to do with the cancer treatment.  Probably not, but still good to ask.

Anyway, back to bed for a while.  Hope those of you who soldiered on with Hurricane Isaac blowing around are doing OK by now.  I remember what it is like to hunker down in the house and wait for the storm to pass, 19 years in Miami gave us a fair sampling.  My thoughts are with you.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Incontinence Hotline...Can you hold, please?"

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Migraine

This is going to be one of my shortest posts.  Migraine, heading for the dark and quiet place.

Bumper Sticker for the day:  "DUCK TAPE:  turning 'No!  No!' into 'MMPH!  MMPH!' since 1943."


Friday, August 17, 2012

Hair today goon tomorrow

As I sit here dieing (my hair) I am reminded of how long I've been doing this.  Decades, let's just leave it at that.  Why couldn't I have taken my mom's inheritance, she who didn't ever turn gray from her light blonde.  Instead I start going gray at 25.  I plucked them out back then, stopping when I realized I was making a bald spot.  Another swell thing about going old.

So when the doorbell rings by UPS with a package, and you are still in your nightie, do you answer the door?  That's what I thought.  Well I answered, but I was wearing a long T shirt, so hopefully not too obviously night wear.   Of course the UPS driver is also a friend and the owner of a black Newfoundland, about the same age as ours.  And probably he has seen everything in the course of his deliveries.  Got to get dressed earlier in the day, instead of just lolling around until noon.

When I was young, one of the most common things you would see is girls wearing hair rollers as they ran errands and so forth.  The wire mesh ones with a scratchy brush inserted in the roller.  No one thought much of it ~ this is before (and here I really show my age) blow driers.  The first time I had my hair blow dried I stopped on my way home and bought one, and when I got home I tossed all the rollers and my bouffant hair drier.  What a feeling of freedom.  Now I am sure there are none of those rollers left, outside of a movie prop room. 

I am going to start accumulating a list of all the things that I remember having that don't exist any more.  Things like pogo sticks (too dangerous) and pop beads (swallowing hazard) and chemistry sets (!!).  Some of them I can't think of why they are missing other than going out of style (like most board games) and weird stuff (like silly putty, or pet rocks, or chia heads).  Not that I want those things back, most are good riddance.  Just that it is interesting.

bumper sticker for the day:  "The older you get, the better you realize you were."




Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Lame post



I had a post half written when I realized that it was so dull, even I didn't want to read it.

And now I am stuck trying to write something that isn't just as lame as that one.

When my kids were little, a LOOONG time ago, I would read them a bedtime story.  Once in a while they would ask for a REAL story, one that I made up from scratch.  Pressure!!  So I did what any mother would do for her kids ~ I plagiarized!  After all, what are the odds they would read a similar story at day care?

So of course they DID recognize one of them and insisted that their mother had made it up herself.  Quick!  Salvage ttime ~ so I told them I must have read the story and then forgotten and used it myself.

But if I fob off my readers here you'll catch on right away, so I can't write some lame send-up about Paul Ryan, as much as I would like to.  So I'll just include a link to satire site The Onion. and you can read the article that says "Admit it, I scare the ever-loving s**t out of you, don't I?" by "Paul Ryan".
It says it all.

Bumper sticker "Originality is the art of concealing your sources."



Wordless Wednesday


Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Family

This, my friends, is my grandfather.  We never met ~ he died when I was 4 years old, but in all honesty I doubt we would have met had he lived another 35 years.  A bitter divorce and total disinterest together made him uncaring about his son and family.  We always sent Christmas cards, and got ones in return from his second wife, but when we sent word that Nana had died (in 1969), back came the reply from his stepdaughter that grandfather had passed in 1955, didn't we know?  The second wife had developed Alzheimer's and couldn't place who my dad was, or thought that she had sent word of his death at the time.  No mention of Dad as son, or my sister and me as granddaughters in his obituary.  So Dad lost his mother and his father at the same time.  He is buried at Gettysburg.

I am having trouble with my genealogy on this line, simply because there are so few players ~ and a name not sufficiently unusual to screen out similar sounding families.  Grandad was illegitimate, never acknowledged by a father, and as far as I have found, he had no other children himself.   So half of his antecedents are a mystery, and likely to remain so.  The ones that remain, on his mother's side of the family, suffers from the bane of all genealogists : given names that are repeated over in a family.  In this particular case, Josiah had a son John, who had a son Josiah, who had a son John and on and on, so there are only the dates, birth to death, to distinguish one from the other.  I bet their family reunions were hell.

Anyway, enough of that.  I've spent a fair amount of time cleaning house, I've really let it go too far over the last year and a half, I simply felt too bad through the chemo and the adjunct therapy.  But our house is our main asset, and we can't let things slide that need attention.  Hence the painting and so forth.  One project accomplished just seems to point out all the other projects left to do.  Oh, for a handyman to keep us from getting any further behind!  I mean, the hub is nearly 70 and I cringe when he goes up the ladder to clean gutters...

And how about the Olympics?  I cannot watch very much, I hate when an athlete flubs up, knowing how many grueling hours they had spent practicing, practicing just for this moment.  I want them all to do OK, and leave feeling they have done their very best, regardless of their score.  But more than that, I want them to smile, smile, showing us that all that work was worth it, medal or no medal...

Bumper sticker of the day:  "We have enough youth,  how about a fountain of smart?"


Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Here, at least, is why I have been busy these last two weeks.  A freshly painted porch, new flower bed, and a new front door (not shown) that is also just painted.  Also painted the back deck, upper porch, and cleaned the pool.  Loads of work!  Looks really good!



Thursday, July 19, 2012

Drives me nuts

I promise I won't write about the weather.  OK?

I thought I had my genealogy stuff pretty well organized, and then I found an entire box of miscellaneous records for all 4 lines I am researching.  All scrambled together, wrinkled, staples coming loose, bad photocopies, now what do I do with them?  So I came in here and decided to ruminate on my blog.  Just like my subtitle, better living through denial.  Manana. I have found some stuff my dad would have been interested in, but I found it after he passed, it's been 10 years now.  I found that his dad Floyd, of whom very little is known due to an early and bitter divorce, is in fact illegitimate.  The family name is Floyd's mother's maiden name (is this too confusing?) and her name changed only after she married another man and Floyd went to live with his stepfather.  The mother was a housekeeper in 1850 for the family next door to her parents, a man of 30 with a wife and 3 small children.  It isn't hard to speculate as to who was the father of Floyd, but of course no records to prove this.  It is just interesting.

I have a friend who is also into genealogy.  Several years ago she discovered that her ancestor who was a Revolutionary war soldier of some status was black.  She just thought it was interesting and was glad that a good bit had been written about him and his 12 children, back in those days when WV was VA.  Her mother, however, was appalled, and insisted that my friend keep this as a secret.  I mean, what would she do with this information, go on Dr. Phil?  Anyway, the scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells are the interesting members of the families, as long as they are far enough in the past.  All of my ancestors were farmers, drat it.

I ran across my old report cards when I was sorting through old papers.  My mom kept everything, even a receipt for a spring for 25 cents.  Old cancelled checks from 60 years ago.  Everything.  Anyway, I read the "comments" part at the end of each grading period, and most all of them said that I started projects and then didn't complete them.  And I thought, what else is new?  I STILL do that.  Like that kiln sitting in my garage, all wired up and empty.  Or that guitar in my living room, tuned, but I can't play it with long fingernails.  Etc.  Anyway, I threw the report cards away, I don't want them and for sure the kids won't either.  I threw away a lot of stuff.

Today I mailed off three 3.5 inch floppy disks to a company that transfers them to a CD for $1.99 per disk.  It turns out that when N transferred these files to a CD back in the day, there was some error and the CD is blank.  There are only 4 jpg files on them, but no other way to get them, luckily I had kept the floppies.  I am my mother's daughter.  Hope it works.

Bumper sticker(s) for the day:  "Master of obsolete technology." and also "Grandmas ~ the original laptop."


Friday, July 13, 2012

It's actually Raining!

It is so lovely raining, just a light steady rain storm that is dumping significant water on our parched withered greenery.  The lawn, the shrubs, everything looks better (I don't want to think about the sprinkler we ran yesterday).  No one waters in this place, sprinklers sold are mostly for kids to play in, but everything looked so dry, we watered.  Of course it would rain today!

I have been working on my genealogy today.  I  ran through my notebook on the family, and I found that the last time I worked on it was 1995.  I had no idea it was so long ago, but the amount of information available online has increased exponentially.  I still need to go to the courthouse of certain WV counties to check land deeds, but N still has his consulting to do, so it will need to wait a while.  Less than 17 years, I hope.  My database has 2500 entries on Family Tree Maker so far and I am paranoid that I will lose it, tho it is backed up in several places.  There just isn't any way to print out hard copies for all of that, much less to enter it all again.

I just received the photos from our Hawaii trip, I had them printed at Walmart, for only 9 cents each ~ there were 147 of them.  I had no idea it was so cheap, it sure beats printing them out here.  The ink, and the paper, I bet they are 10 times as expensive, at least.

My son just bought a Kindle, that makes 5 for this family.  He went to Barnes and Nobel and couldn't find anything he wanted to read, so he decided to get a Kindle so he can browse online instead of standing in the aisle.  Have you ever noticed, when you are browsing at an actual bookstore, you cannot see the bottom two shelves unless you are hunkered down near the floor, crabbing your way along at knee height.  No doubt I've passed over lots of good choices over the years because my knees wouldn't take the stress.  My only complaint with the Kindle is that I spend way more on books than previously.  I read about a book per (laid-back) day, so even choosing among the 99 cent offerings it adds up.  I've read around 100 books on the Kindle so far.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Honk if you think I'm a great driver!"

Monday, July 09, 2012

Losing weight

I've been on Weight Watchers before and lost around 30 pounds, but then I got the big C diagnosis, and dieting seemed like the last thing I needed to think about.  But now, the time has come to get back in the routine.  I haven't actually re-joined, since I have all the materials to just go on without the meetings.  I would have to drive to the meetings and driving is one thing I haven't mastered  yet.  I mean, I have driven since I was 16, in big cities like Miami, Memphis, San Francisco ~ so why do I find it so difficult now?  I try to force myself a little, because the psych. doc says I have to go beyond my comfort zone so that I won't, step by step, become completely house bound.  I feel a little that way even now, so I am working on it.  But weekly Weight Watcher meetings aren't going to happen anytime soon.

The heat has moderated a bit today, only in the 80s after the weekend of over 100.  All the lawns and trees are suffering from the lack of rain, although it did rain a little in the wee hours this morning.  I am anxious to hear how the hay crop has been, I'm sure there won't be a second cutting with the lack of rain, so will hay cost more?  How much more?  Another thing to worry about.  It's too bad that worry doesn't cause me to lose weight, you know?  I do so much of it.  Like, I wonder why crying isn't good for the complexion, all it does is make my nose red and my face all splotchy; not like in the movies when the heroine just quietly drips down her face.  Maybe they teach that in acting classes.  The only thing that I drip down my face is sweat...

Bumper sticker for the day:  "HERE I AM.  Now what are your other two wishes?"







Saturday, July 07, 2012

It's HOT

We had to bring the dogs in from the barn today, it is too hot today and forecast to get even hotter as the day goes on.  They seem to be tired, just zonked out, probably because a panting dog doesn't pant while sleeping.  I lost a dog to heat stroke many years ago and I am wiser now than I was then. 

I got another book order through ABEbooks (see link on the right) and I am bummed because it is going to Australia and I lose money when I ship there.  Essentially I pay to have the book ordered.  This particular book is a paperback called Thin Air, a fictional story based loosely on an actual program during WWII called the Philadelphia Program.  In the book, the military are involved in a program to make ships disappear from radar and from sight, with devastating results.  It is an interesting story, although the book is pretty old.  The buyer is a bookstore in TAS, Australia, so I would guess it is a special order for a customer.  One who isn't clued up about out-of-print books and how to buy them directly.  At least it isn't a hardback, which is yet more expensive to ship.

Thanks to storms in the area, the 4th of July was pretty quiet here, so the dogs and horses weren't a total wreck the next day.  Now if only it would cool down, that would be fantastic.  The horses can sweat in the heat, unlike the dogs, so as long as there is plenty of water available they do OK.  We go out and top off their buckets at midday, just to be sure they are drinking.  It's pretty rare that horses that are at rest have problems with the heat.  Knock on wood.  After all these years of owning horses (37 and counting) it is still remarkable how much work is involved with it ~ and this is without actually riding, which my knees and hips prohibit.  Not even taking into account the geriatric horses (21 years and counting ).  They were born here, and other than sending them off to be broke to ride as youngsters, they have always been here.  And spoiled by the easy life.

Bumper sticker for the day: "Help stamp out and eradicate superfluous redundancy ."





Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Almost the 4th of July

The weather here, like nearly everywhere on the eastern half of the country, has been brutally hot for this time of year, making everyone dread the really hot month of August.  We opened the pool this year ~ last year we were too distracted with the chemo, etc., and it was a horrible black gloppy mess.  It is all clean and shiny, better living through modern chemistry, as was said decades ago.  And boy does it feel good, especially after working on the deck and mowing the grass (and weeds).  The grass is very dry and we need rain ~ just not the kind of rain we had Friday night, when the huge storm front went through and toppled tress and power lines and left thousands without power even now.  Luckily we had flickering and one brief outage, and the trees that fell didn't hit anything, although the pool had a huge branch fall into it.  I've never seen lightning like that night, one continuous peal of thunder and the entire sky lit up for 10 or 15 minutes.  I was sure the dining room windows were going to be smashed, and what would we have blocked them up with?  Locally there is not a generator to be had, and supplies of bottled water and camping stoves are depleted too. 

Tomorrow will be hard on the horses and the dogs, who do not appreciate fireworks.  We will leave them all in the barn for the whole day, so they don't panic and run through the fence.  I don't appreciate fireworks either, come to think of it.

I spent an hour this morning looking for the thumb drive that I used to back up all my important files, only to find it right in plain sight, with a post-it stuck to it listing the files.  So frustrating!  My desk is a mess, I have way too much stuff.  A lot of it is stuff that I had on my desk at work, memo cubes and such, that I feel attached to for some bizarre reason.  Heaven forbid I throw anything away...

I just heard of the death of Andy Griffin.  The last thing I saw him in was the video with Brad Paisley, "Waitin' on a Woman" , a bittersweet song.  He was 86.  I'm old enough to remember the Mayberry show the first time it was on...


Bumper sticker for the day:  "I don't exercise; it makes my coffee spill."


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Gone to the dog(s)

Three of us spent 3+ hours clipping our black Newfoundland dog last Saturday.  Her coat is an incredibly thick cotton-y long one that mats at the drop of a hat.  The summer shedding of her undercoat is an especially big mess.  First we tranquilize her, so she will lay on the grooming table without trying to get down.  Then it is three pairs of clippers, including the mammoth Oster Clipmaster that sounds like a jet engine when I start it up.  But boy does it ever shear that coat off, as long as it is used on big flat areas, like her back and sides. Trimming around legs and butt and the underside of her chest and belly call for a smaller and more maneuverable set of clippers. At the end, we had a pile of stinky hair big enough to make another entire dog, and that's not counting all the hair sweat-glued to our bodies.  Once a year, thank god.

But the result is a very short coat; see for your self:


She is sulking because she feels naked and knows the other dogs will make fun of her.   But I guarantee she will not swelter in this 90 degree heat we currently are suffering through, and that's all that matters. (I do think she looks ridiculous.)

Father's day was a success, N liked his stuff, and they fit.  We all agreed that a steak dinner would be best, even though he has to cook it; but it takes only 10 or 15 minutes, so no great sacrifice to his "take it easy" day.

I started this post several days ago, so the date is from the initial writing and not dated today, the 20th.  And I don't know how to change it.  (No surprise there.)

Bumper sticker for the day:  "If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?"

Saturday, June 09, 2012

June 9th

Wednesday the 6th was our wedding anniversary, the (gulp) 42nd.  We had a nice dinner out and I got to wear the fancy stuff I otherwise never would.  And makeup.  And hair fixed.  So of course, looking my best (for now), I completely forgot to get any pictures, so you'll have to take my word for it, I looked awesome.  Really.

Number one son (there is only one, so of course he's number one) has taken all of next week off to help N. rebuild the back deck, torn out when we had sewer line problems that meant digging up the line behind the house.  It will be nice to have the whole deck again, as the narrow bit around the pool and by the stairs isn't big enough for the grill.  We wanted to use the decking made from recycled tires, but they cost $24! each!  So that's out the window.  I never realized that those decks they show on home improvement programs were 10s of thousands of dollars for even the simplest ones.  For that kind of money I'll get all new flooring in the house, thanks.

Daughter has gone to Kennywood (amusement park) today, I bet she comes home sunburned and hot, as it was near 90 today.  The deck makers gave up around 1 pm, the sun finally driving them into the house and the air conditioning.  I never ventured any further than the back yard, what with my pasty white skin's ease of sunburning. 

I did get my "port" removed on the first, and saw the surgeon for stitch removal on Thursday.  I'm all done with him until Feb. of next year; I see the oncologist on Tuesday of next week for that final checkup (for 6 months).  What will I do with all the extra time I won't have to spend in waiting rooms?  Guess that's why they call us "patients".

Here is one of the photos from our hawaiian cruise in March.  Better late than never.  My hair is no longer this virulent shade of orange, but a more normal looking auburn.  It all depends on the right package at the drug store.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "You probably don't recognize me without my cape."

Monday, June 04, 2012

Summertime and the living is easy...

Summertime is NOT a time for taking it easy. If you are like me, you have a list (in your head or written down) of chores that need to be done, like : Wash the siding with powerwasher. Get chimney checked. Paint the front and back doors,inside and out. Take mantle to be repaired and stained. Repair back deck and stain. Repair porch chairs and sofa, paint. Put a grab bar in the bathroom, (for those who are feeble (ahem). It makes me tired to read the entire list, but that was a fair representation. This weekend N and C rebuilt the porch stairs and built a storage space under the stairs. Power washing is next, I think. I had my "clavicle intravenous access port" ("port") removed last Friday. It was a "quick" procedure, in and out in a jiffy. But I think being knocked unconscious while they cut on me is traumatic any way you look at it. So I'm feeling a little under the weather. And the area around the incision itches fiercely because they put on a Sorba view(??) a bandage which is clear in the center, with stick-um on all four sides. The idea being that I could shower with it protecting the site. I had previous experience with these bandages, they are fine for about an hour. Then I start to scratch and scratch. I was home the first few hours and took off the dressing. I went to the drug store today and bought dressings just like that one, in sizes 4" square to 9" square, made to be removed after a shower. I have tape allergy on my records, but what can they do if they need to place a dressing? Just from those few hours I have a bad rash surrounding the incision, but hydrocortisone around it helps. That, or an ice pack.
 
So much for news on the continuing saga of breast cancer. There will be a celebratory do a little later when I am feeling more... robust. ANNND our anniversary is June 6 (Wednesday). 42nd. The horses are fine and so are the dogs and the cats, knock on wood. We had two days of 90+ weather, so untypical for May, it set records from 'way back. I can't imagine August, if it is that hot now.

 I wanted to do another photo course, but think I would poop out and it's a lot of $$ to just let go. Maybe later. I postpone a lot of things, I think.

Here is today's bumper sticker, "The good thing is I was right. The best thing is you were wrong."

Friday, May 11, 2012

Good news

Good grief, They've gone and changed the blogging interface, I can barely use the old one.

Mainly I wanted to post that the liver MRI came back clean, and now all that is left is to have the port removed, probably in a couple of weeks. It means anesthesia and a short one day trip to the surgery same-day care. Then I want to celebrate, and not just with a nice dinner out. Any suggestions?

Time for bed again, it is 3:30 am. Bumper sticker for the day:" Shin - Device for finding furniture in the dark."

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

I'm really tired of all this


I had my PET/CT on the 25th of April. I had a follow-up doctor appt. on May 9th, but on April 26th the oncologist called me and said I should come in ASAP, on the next day. Nothing to worry about. Just to check. So onc. dr checked an area near my mast. scar and said "no problem" BUT (don't you love the "but wait" there's more!) I have an area of concern in my liver. No real problem, we'll just get it checked out. So Sat the 5th I have an MRI of my abdomen, and a follow up appt on the 9th. I've only had one MRI and I still remember the panic-y claustrophobia of the small opening, and the sounds (like being in a metal garbage can and having someone beating on the outside with a 2 x 4).
And I forgot to mention that I have two steel screws in my right ankle, so maybe they won't do it after all???

My computer is slowly dying, one drive is not accessible any more, the video/graphics card says there is too little memory on it, and a new video card, with 1 Gb on it, the system doesn't recognize it even tho the drivers installed fine. There is a strange thumping noise when the computer is restarted. and all in all I think it is moribund. And soon to be mortal. So I have been doing a slew of back up of my files onto a thumb drive, and will be in the market for a new computer. Which I will have to install win XP on, since I don't do Windows (He he) 7. Or 8. Or Vista. I really am dreading this.

The photo at the top is from a blowhole in the ground where there is a big lava tube that is open on the back end as well as the front, right at the water line. So a big wave comes along, and it goes in the tube and whoosh!! the water is forced out the back side in a big spray, like a geyser. It was hard to take the photo at just the right moment, but such as it is, here it is. I've forgotten where this is, I could look it up but not at 6 in the morning. One of the Hawaiian islands.

I leave you with this bumper sticker: "||||////_ _ _ _ The domino effect at work."

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Moving on



The above is a photo of my little 2002 Mazda Miata that we have up for sale. It is a neat little car and I will miss it, but 3 cars for 2 people is a waste. The Miata sits in the garage so much that the battery is constantly dead and must be jumped to start. So... up for sale. I bought it new, and drove it constantly when I worked, although it is awful in snow. At least 2 times I had to park it in the lot at the bank and call for N to come get me, I was doing doughnuts in the street. Anyway, I now flinch every time the phone rings in case they are calling about the car; I get all tongue-tied when I have to talk to strangers on the phone. Hopefully it will sell soon.

I'm still sorting through vacation photos; I've figured our how to capture a still photo from video clips, so that has been fun to mess with. The video program lacks a lot of features, but on the other hand, it is free.

Update: The miata sold yesterday. Sniff sniff. The new owner is older than me, but having a "midlife" crisis, I think.

Meanwhile, your bumper sticker: "Of course I can do it! The question is, do I want to?"

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Maui

This a photo taken at the Maui Ocean Center. The main building hosted a 54 foot acrylic tunnel through which visitors could walk. It was so neat -- the fish were on both sides of the tunnel, and crossed one to the other by swimming overhead. It was the nearest thing to diving underwater that I'll ever have. At the top of the photo you can see the underside of a spotted eagle ray, and we could see his gills opening and closing. I found it hard to photograph because everything was constantly moving.
I highly recommend this center to any of you traveling to Hawaii. It isn't a showboat-y exhibit like s Sea World, but "a place of respect for the area marine life". We thoroughly enjoyed it. Oh yeah, and there are no cetaceans (whales and dolphins) they are prohibited from captivity by the County of Maui. All the other fish and critters are from the area of Maui.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Volcano National Park



This is a fumarole at Kilauea in Hawaii (big island) The fumes are real toxic and the park guide kept a close eye on the direction of the wind; if it had changed we would have had to scramble back on the bus and leave.





This lava field is what the ground looks like after the lava flow had ended. It was hard to walk on, the little ( a foot or two)lava tubes tended to break when you stepped on them. Can you see the little metal pipe in the lower left corner, going left to right? It's hard to see in this, but it is all that's left of the overlook center that was here.

The sights on this excursion were humbling; with all our technology, when a volcano erupts the response is the same as it was in pre-history - move out of the way, way out.

Bumper sticker for the day: "I'd love to help you but I've misplaced my magic wand"

Saturday, April 14, 2012



This is known as the grand canyon of the pacific. Found in Waimea Canyon state park, it is on the western side of Kaua'i Island. It is 10 miles long and 3000' deep. When we were there it was very foggy, which only increased the impact of the site. The wind at the observation area was brutal, whipping cold air right through you. A "lazy wind" that can't be bothered to go around you. I regard this site as the most astonishing site on our trip.

Bumper sticker for the day: "I am an optimist, but I don't think it helps."

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

That tipsy bit? It's because of the waves...honest



This is me with our "complementary" bottle of (bad) champagne in our stateroom. The poor cabin steward had to fill and refill the ice bucket in which the champagne rested twice a day for the entire 2 weeks. And then we left it in the room (how do you pack champagne?)(And why would I want to?)

As you can see I am still fighting the battle of getting my haircolor back to the original shade of red. I have colored it 4 times with 4 different products and this orange is the closest so far. I'll take one more go and then it is the hairdresser. It must be some effect of the chemo, like the 'chemo curls' that I got in the lovely grey regrowth.

On a pleasanter note, I had my last chemo treatment last Wednesday. Now I have a scan scheduled for the 25th and a follow-up visit to the onco. and I will be good to go for 6 months. It has been a dark cloud on my horizon for over a year, but maybe this time all will be well. Fingers crossed.

Bumper sticker for the day: "Join the IRS (be audit you can be)"

Thursday, April 05, 2012

back at last




We are back from our circle cruise to Hawaii, and I am beat. But for now, here is a lovely rainbow taken from our verandah. When we left San Diego at 5 pm, we got caught in a storm, according to the Captain, that was near hurricane strength, 65 mph winds and 30(!) foot seas. It was very hard to just stay in bed. At least one passenger broke her arm, and nearly everyone was sea sick. The next day the waves were a mere 20 ft high, and had to be seen to be believed. We found one benefit of chemotherapy is that I have really potent anti-nausea drugs, which I brought with me. Any time we started to feel queasy, we popped one, and our stomachs went back to sleep. The rest of the cruise was smooth, but overcast. The weather here at home was lovely, of course.

I will post more over the next few days.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun."

Monday, March 12, 2012

Well usually March is a dreary time here with winter lingering on and on. That's why I picked this particular date for a trip to Hawaii. So of course yesterday was a balmy 65 degrees with sunshine and blue sky. Grrr. Nevertheless, we leave on Friday.

I always over pack for any trip, and with the cruise being 14 days long, it is a special temptation to just load up the suitcase. But I am restricting (or trying to)the heavy things like jeans (!) and instead pack capris. They should be lots lighter, right? Missing the whole lower part of the legs, right? Last time I went to FL to visit BFF, I used such a big suitcase I nearly couldn't get in the rental car, a Mustang. I had to wrestle it into the front seat, because I couldn't close the trunk lid. I'm trying do better. And laundry and dry cleaning on board is free...

I bought a Pandora bracelet last week; for those (like me) who had never heard of them until lately, this is the modern take on charm bracelets. I have the basic bracelet, but no beads on it. I figure it will be a good thing for birthdays and Christmas that the family can buy, they always complain I'm hard to shop for. I never had a charm bracelet back when I was a teenager and they were popular. My sister had a nice one and I was envious, although even then they were becoming passe. Probably these will too, but meanwhile I enjoy the plain bracelet. I'm not taking any of my expensive jewelry (not that I have much) because with my luck I'd drop it overboard. Or fall off, and me not notice until hours later.

The kids have been moaning (a little bit) about having to take care of the horses and inside cats, doing litter box duty every day, and so forth. This a rare chance for them to see how coming home from work doesn't equal dinner in 10 minutes. How much cereal can be eaten night after night? We will see...

Back to bed for me, I'm not sure what time it is, which clocks have been sprung forward. But the headache is gone, so I will doze for a while.

Bumper sticker for the day: "Get even. Live long enough to become a problem to your kids."

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Depression

I didn't mean to let this space go blank for so long. My mammogram turned out fine, recheck in one year. I got our and the kids' taxes done, so that isn't hanging over my head. I have been sleeping a lot, probably due to the change in meds from the psych doctor. All the pets are currently OK (touch wood), the barn is clean, the laundry is done (for now) and the vacuum has been run (not terrific, but done). So why do I feel so down? Dunno.

The trip to Hawaii commences on March 16th, with the mammoth airplane ride to San Diego from Washington DC, non stop, about 6 hours real time. Overnight at the airport Radisson and then on to the ship on Saturday for the 14 day cruise. All the news about the cruise ship sinking, and now one having a fire in the engine room and having to be towed home, is not doing anything for my peace of mind. At least none of them are Holland America ships, which has an excellent record. So far.

We went to visit my uncle and put spring flowers on the family graves last weekend, always a melancholy task. My aunt and uncle are having health problems these days, and I flinch whenever the phone rings late at night, expecting bad news. Instead we get wrong numbers, and who calls after 11 pm, anyway? Not the phone etiquette I was taught.

Thank you, Dina, for reminding me to post. The days seem to just slip by, and weeks have passed before I know it. Hopefully I will have lots of photos to share when we get back from our trip. I am taking my macBook with us, but I think there is a pretty steep charge for internet access, so mainly it will be for camera-to-computer downloads. I have a minicam for video, never done that before, we will see if I too can come up with grainy out of focus shots that can't be deciphered, like I see on YouTube and so on. It will take still shots too.

Lunch time already and I am beastly thirsty, so bye for now.

Bumper sticker for the day: "If life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic."

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Thursday, February 02, 2012



The above two boxes were for my birthday last week. The one on the right is a music box, and the inserted photo on the lid is a Carol Grigg watercolor from a notecard. The one on the left, the round one, has an insert of pressed flowers, from an old letter. They were gifts from husband and son. Daughter R gave me a yummy candle, maple cream, it makes me hungry just to open the jar!

This is just a note here too, it has been so long since I posted. I had my "re-incision" and all is well. I finally got my hair back to its proper color (4 times dyed) but it is still extremely curly and I think it looks dumb, although everyone says they like it. I had it cut to at least give it some sort of shape, but it will be a while before I am brave enough to post a photo here. Mostly what I have been doing every day is napping. The psych doctor is changing some of my meds around and although I sleep better at night, I'm too sleepy during the day. I don't think we've got the mix just right.

The weather here has been very weird, the forecasters are calling this the year without a winter. We have had so much warm weather that the crocuses are up (tho not blooming yet) and the trees are in bud. On the first of February! This month is usually the one with the most snowfall, but with temps in the 40s and 50s every day, I don't think we will have anything but rain.

I'll leave you all with this bumper sticker : "Save the planet! It's the only place I can get chocolate!"

Sunday, January 22, 2012

It's 2:30 in the morning! Go back to bed!

Or that's what I tell myself when I wake up, ready to go, in the wee hours of the morning. Myself seldom listens, so no changes there.

It is bitterly cold here, around 10 degrees, and an ice storm left everything coated in ice, so pretty. So awful to drive on. I hope it clears before the kids leave for work on Monday. We have noticed a big difference in the house with the new front and back doors. The wind no longer whistles through them and we don't have to put down a draft blocker at the threshold, so inadequate. And the furnace doesn't labor night and day to keep the temp in the 60s. Brrr. I'm feeling cold just writing about it.

The horses are all rugged up in their winter blankies, but still we won't let them out in the pasture until the footing is better. I really don't need (another) geriatric horse breaking a hip/front leg/stifle/knee by slipping on the ice. The barn may be boring, but they have toys and its a lot warmer and safer for them and the dogs.

The latest surgery is healing nicely, and I have only steri-strips that fall off after a while. Swelling all gone as is the pain. Next month is a mammogram on the survivor side, and then TA DA time for the Hawaii cruise in mid March. I need to do a final wardrobe check, make sure everything still fits. Nothing worse that hauling along clothes that can't be fastened up! Weight gain is the main side effect of the chemotherapy/immunotherapy I am getting, from what I read online. Why can't there be a drug with the side effect of appetite suppression? Well, whine whine it could be worse; I could be dead from the cancer.

It is now 3 am and I cm going back to bed, hopefully to sleep. I leave you with the bumper sticker of the day: "There are three kinds of people. Those who can count and those who can't."

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Wordy Wednesday

I'm typing this at 3 am. I like to think of my nightly sleepy period as a result of a time-shifted siesta. That thought doesn't really work when I crash around 2:30 pm. Maybe I need two siestas?

I have (groan) begun walking on the treadmill. I am afraid that on our shore excursions I will poop out 5 minutes into it, and have to miss the whole thing. So far I can walk 5 minutes at speed setting one, and then I have to sit down. This is what comes from doing nothing strenuous for 5 years. Back when I was still working I could, and did, walk all over the medical center, but I let that level (not that it couldn't have been improved) slip away as I meandered around the house, or strolled through the grocery store. Why doesn't life work backwards, so you could start out with an activity at Olympic levels, and then gradually, slowly, get worse the more you practice? Sounds good to me.

A couple of days ago I drug out the heated water buckets for the horse stalls, and only found one, and that one had the rim chewed up (Maggie's work), and two buckets missing. I have a recollection of pitching one because Maybe (horse) kept chewing and pulling on it until it cracked top to bottom. But there still should be another. However, I am going to order two more ($35!!!each) and also a horse toy called a pas-a-fier for them to chew and crib on. Guess that makes me their enabler.
They've already chewed through one each, which is damned hard to do, these things are not flimsy:



But then, a thousand pound animal pulling on it with all their strength...

Bumper sticker for the day: "Thank you for not being perky."

Friday, January 13, 2012

Friday the 13th

I'm not superstitious about the 13th, and can't see why it should be even more inauspicious just because it falls on a Friday, can you? And the old saw about 7 years bad luck because you break a mirror -- I guess if you walk barefoot in your house, if it's like mine, it might take seven years to vacuum it all up. Some of my dust bunnies are pushing 20 about now. One cedar chest I recently looked under had an awful conglomerate of fuzz and dirt and cat toys; I resolve to not look under there again. And so goes most of the old adages, a grain of sense and a pound of nonsense.

I have been unwell over the last couple weeks, and so my blog has taken a hit when it's come to posting regularly. I can resolve to do better, but only when I feel better too. Meanwhile I'll put out these tiny posts just to let everyone I'm still alive and kicking.

T shirt for the day: "Christ died to wash away our sins -- let's don't disappoint him."