November 4th

nightmares. can't sleep. I'll write more later.

Later, more. (hehe)

But seriously, on the NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) website, today's topic is, when you write, do you use a pen or the computer? My answer would have to be, both. If I am writing on my opus, I use the computer because I can't stop editing it as I go along, after I have re-read what I have written. If I am writing in my journal, I write using a fountain pen (I collect them), and also if I am taking notes. My typing is horrible. I cannot break myself from looking at the keys, rather than the screen. Been that way since high school, and it equaled a C- for me, alas! But I like to think my handwriting is pretty nice, and I can do calligraphy too, but it is very slow. So there you have, a piece of useless trivia about me, and aren't you glad I kept this short?

I am working on my Photoshop skills, and here are before and after photos. I mean, where else can I brag but here? (The "before" is a lesson example.)






Thought for the day: "Santa's elves are just a bunch of subordinate clauses."

November 3rd

Laundry. Where is a magic wand when you need one?

I remember having a set of tea towels when I was just married, one for each day of the week, and each one had an embroidered sketch of a girl that corresponded to the day. For instance, Monday was laundry day, and there was this sweet little tyke hanging up washing on a breezy sunny day. There was one for shopping day, and dusting day and on and on. For some reason that escapes me now I thought these were cute; but anyway the habit lingers on that I should do laundry on Monday. This obviously doesn't happen, especially when R gets her stuff in the washer before me. I could just run her loads through and then do my own, but before long I would end up with the entire job, which I refuse to do. Bad Precedent. Now I feel fortunate if I get it washed and folded and put away before midnight on any given day. And I hate to have it spill over to a second day, too depressing.

Yesterday's cancer treatment went smoothly and we were home by 1 pm. The oncologist's office has moved to the hospital where the treatment is done, so much more convenient than it was prior to yesterday, when we had to do a separate trip to see him, then go on to the hospital. Today I feel very tired, but otherwise OK.

It strikes me that when we go to Hawaii in March I will need a whole different wardrobe, as my current one is pretty much all blue jeans, which will be too hot for the on-shore part. Also I will need something a bit more formal for the dining room on board. Gosh, what a terrible burden, shopping. I already ordered a new set of luggage, I picked school bus yellow for the color, should be easy to find at the baggage carousel. And very roomy, as I will over pack I am sure. At least the on board laundry and dry cleaning are free. Although I plan on packing enough underwear for the entire trip, I don't want my undies handled by someone else, that's just me. Right now we are reading up on all the excursions, to book them before we go. There are so many, and so many $$$ for them, but I'm not up for renting a car and taking off on our own, in a strange place with an absolute return time to get back on board before the ship leaves without us. If the excursion returns late they hold the gangway for you...




This is all of us, on board the Westerdam on our first cruise, several years ago. Back when I had hair. And two boobs.

Thought for the day: "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."

November 2nd -- Wordless Wednesday

Mac, doing what he does best.


Thought for the day: Bad news: It's better to give than receive.

November 1st

It is my goal to participate in NaBloPoMo this month, that is, the national blog posting for a month. I did this one several years ago, and I thought I'd give this year's attempt a whirl.

Last night was Halloween, and we had 42 little kids traipse up to the door. Several of them said not a word, just marched up to the door, opened their bags and then walked away. When my kids were of the age, I went with them and the running joke was that every time they forgot to say "Thank you" I got to eat the candy. I never did get any, but they remembered to thank everyone. Of course, this year it rained and rained (I sat under an umbrella and back against the door for shelter) so it was a pretty bedraggled wet bunch of kids. Some great costumes, there were the usual batman, Spiderman, ghosts and vampires, but there was also one Harry Potter, and one little girl in dress like a southern belle, hair all in ringlets, so cute. The first several years here we had no trick-or-treaters, we were the last house on a very long road; but eventually all the area popped up in houses and now we are in a regular development. Us and the barn, manure pile, and horses. Ah well, we were here first, and the gardeners love us. Free manure, all they can haul away, it's not like there is any slackening in supply.

I'm sitting here in the computer room, trying not to think about the mammoth spider I saw in here several days ago. I couldn't reach it to smoosh it, and boy am I sorry. N sprayed the room for me, and I hope that reached the bug. I am way creeped out by spiders. Partly because I grew up in Miami FL where all the bugs come giant-sized and pushy. Shudder.

I think the wood shaving truck just arrived, time to go and unload the bales. I'll give more Random thoughts tomorrow.

Thought for the day, "I've lowered my expectations to the point where they've already been met..."

Rerun

Today marks the 7 year anniversary of this blog, and in honor (well, sorta) of the occasion, I will re-post that first blog entry below, just in case you are really desperate to read yet another Random Micro bit of prose.


Oct 29, 2004


Having gotten this far in creating a blog, you'd think I'd have SOME idea about what I was going to use for content, but no, not me, just leap into things and look later (ah, I'm falling......). You might even assume (erroneously) that I had perhaps READ a few blogs to gain some insight into the how of things, but no, too logical. I could waste your valuable time meandering on and on (Do you know what you call a caveman who can't find his cave? A Meanderthal) talking about my family, my job, pets, my experiences as a suicide survivor, my thoughts about Life and the Meaning therof, I could even post reams of genealogical data on the family, proven to drive grown men to cry and gnash their teeth. I could talk about therapy (what do you think about that? Why? Is there something you're not saying?) or I could regale you with my treasure trove of blonde jokes (I feel particulary superior since I used to be blonde but am now redheaded). I could post recipes, guaranteed to be un-original, since every combination of ingredients in every possible permutation has already had a recipe published (I could show you the math)--not good recipes, of course, but still pretty much OK if you're hungry . I could write about the latest book I've read, or my favorite musicians or albums (oops, should call them CDs now). I could talk about the pros and cons of driving a really small car, like finding good parking places but getting blindsided on the freeway. I could wax eloquent (well, sort of) about my friends, and the Meaning of Friendship, and why friends come and why they go, while your enemies stay steadfast forever. I could do any of these things, but would anyone read it? Why? Have you already read this far? Surely you have better things to do, like call your mother? Think about this....later.

And that was my first post, and I've come pretty far. I don't post as often as I could, and my topics ARE pretty random. I still don't know how to do strikeouts, and my template, tho not the original one, is still pretty vanilla, but still, 7 years! The only thing longer that I've done is be married (41 years and counting).



Hope all of you are ready for Halloween, with plenty of candy so there will be leftovers for you...

Bumper sticker of the day: "When you're finally holding all the cards, why does everyone else decide to play chess?"

Wordless Wednesday

Canada, I think.

Hawaii bound

I booked our cruise round trip San Diego to Hawaii for March of next year! It's not that far in the future when I look at all there is to do. The kids will take care of the animals, which would otherwise be a huge stumbling block. It's hard to get a house or pet sitter that does dogs, fish, horses and cats! Now my only worry is that I will be having a mammogram in Feb,. and if it shows anything I will need a biopsy, and who knows what might follow? I tell myself I shouldn't borrow trouble, but myself doesn't listen very well. I did opt to include insurance on the trip and the flight to SD, at least we would get our $ back. And could re-book.

I recently took a photo course online, the purpose was to get an understanding of the features of the Nikon D40. Once the class was done, I pretty much forgot all that I learned, so I reprinted the class syllabus today and have been slowly going over it. It sticks better the second time around, I think. In addition I am working thru a training book for Photoshop, and I am quite happy to know all the ins and outs of PS. Like a lot of photographers, I have fooled around with Photoshop, but I am surprised at how easy it is to do pretty complex manipulations of photos. Once I work my way through it I'll post some before-and-after things here. I want to take lots of photos in Hawaii and on the ship (Holland America) since I'm real sure we won't be back there again.

Here's a little blog question that I have seen on other sites: What is a true thing that could be said about you?
Answer: It is true that I am a very fast learner. I can pick up "how to" without someone showing me how, and I even amaze myself; sometimes I make things up as I go along, and at the end find I was 100% correct. Now if only the things I am fast at would prove to be financially rewarding! Ah well.

Thought for the day: "If all else fails... more duct tape!"

Wordless Wednesday

Ides of October

Raven, the black Newfoundland, came through her surgery on Monday just fine, after Wednesday's false start. (She had a bad reaction to the anesthetic.) The main difficulty, as I said before, is getting her into and out of the truck. Anyway, she is walking on her bum leg, limping, but walking on it. She and Magpie will have to get used to seeing each other through the fence, as Maggie is far too rough in her playing, and we CANNOT pay for hip replacement or shoulder surgery or elbow surgery when the most direct way is to separate them, not just now while Raven is mending, but all the time. Forever. Sad, but there it is.





The fall colors are taking a beating now, what with the 20 mile-an-hour wind on Saturday and the torrential rain storms. Sunday is expected to be nice, before starting the week with showers every day. If so, I'll post some photos here. These were taken in the front yard. Fall is my favorite time of the year, but it seems to go by so fast, and then we are in the dreary rainy days of winter. Not to mention those days of s**w that make for lousy driving conditions, and let's not think of them.





I think I will take a page from Lucky Lady and begin a Wordless Wednesday. It will be fun to see what I can come up with. I promise it won't ALL be pics of the cats.

Bumper sticker for the day: "Why is abbreviation such a long word?"

I must flea!

We are waging all-out war against those little buggers, fleas. Everyone says this is a bad year for them, because we had a mild winter, but whatever the reason they are a plague here. We treated the inside cats once last year and they were fine (as far as we could tell.) But this summer!! Gross...

But the cats have been amazingly cooperative as we ply them with pills, collars, and the stuff you dab on their necks. All but one cat, who earned the coveted Vet Visit for flea treatment and two vaccination jabs. Isn't it amazing how cats struggle when they must go in the carrier, then at the vets place they don't want to get out of it? And how they howl on the way there, but never make a peep on the way home? They are looking a little hunted, and won't come to the lap for a snuggle. Which is OK by me, right now.

And in case I haven't said it, I love the internet. I was having a fit with HP Image Zone crashing ever time I started it, and that is the program I use all the time to tweak my photos, leaving Photoshop for the complex editing. It all had to do with a new printer (one that we gave R at Christmas several years ago, and she never even opened the box.) Somehow I messed up the photo editing program with the scanning of an image, and the fix was not intuitive. But what I did was type the whole error message into Google ("An outgoing call cannot be made since the application is dispatching an input-synchronous call." What the hell does THAT mean??) And the first or second hit was the simple answer, through Task Manager. All this was after 3 hours of re-installing printers, restarting the computer numerous times, and looking on the internet under the name of the program. Live and learn.

I have another herceptin infusion on Wednesday. I asked the oncologist about taking that Hawaiian cruise in March, even though the treatments won't quite be finished, and he said, Go for it. So I will call the travel agent this week and start the ball rolling. I will add more in the next post or two. Planning travel out of Morgantown is always a challenge, our airport only flies to Dulles, and only twice a day. Small town, eh?

Bumper sticker of the day: "Double your drive space! Delete Windows!"

Meme for today

This is the “Where I’m From” writing template that I found on I Wasn't Blogged Yesterday. This is my result:

The WHERE I’M FROM :

I am from fountain pens, from the Parker Pen Co. and the smell of blue ink.

I am from the ice cream house, older but just right and filled with the smell of candles and the feel of tall grass.

I am from the marigold flower, the only kind I can get to grow outside.

I am from a family tradition of big meals and big eaters, from Grandma Knight and Mom and Aunt Nina who swapped out Christmas and Thanksgiving at their homes every year.

I am from a family that tells tall tales and laughs loudly.

From being told as a child "your face will freeze that way" and "stand up straight".

I am from a Baptist church that broke up in strife and took my spiritual life with it.

I’m from West Virginia farmers from before the Revolutionary War, from raising horses and growing bumper vegetable gardens (which I also can't seem to grow).

From the family story of a certain speeding ticket in Claxton Co., GA and why Dad would never eat fruitcake; and the story of how daughter R ended up being born in San Francisco instead of WV. (N accepted a job here in WV and we sold our California house, and then I went into labor 10 weeks early; R stayed in the Intensive Care Nursery in California for 2 months while I lived in a friend's home and N, the horse, the cats, the dog, and all our belongings went to WV.) Beach Boys "California Girl" in my head now...

I am from a genealogy index of more than 2500 family members, and I can relate family lore of soldiers and scoundrels, show photos dignified and hilarious and I know the difference between second cousin and first cousin once removed (which no one really cares about). I will probably never finish the family of Knights, but I get a great kick out of looking for all the Peter Knights in WV.

Whew! That all took some heavy thinking...

Bumper Sticker for the day: "If you can read this I've lost my trailer!"

Shopping

I feel like I deserve a blue ribbon for today. My daughter and I went shopping together for 2 small rugs for her bedroom. On Thursday new laminate flooring will be put down, and she needs a rug where her computer chair wheels will be, to avoid scoring it over and over, and another one at the side of her bed. You would think this was a fairly easy task, wouldn't you? AH HA but you haven't been shopping with R. No decision is ever easy, and after two stores, one of which was holding a rug and home decor sale, she still couldn't settle on anything. Finally in desperation I picked up two striped throw rugs around the right size, and told her she could see better how they would look at home, and return them if not satisfactory. She hesitantly agreed and we made our way home (in the pouring rain, I might add). The rugs look great, and she LIKED WHAT I PICKED OUT! Be still my heart.

She doesn't read this, by the way.

So right now the dining room is once again serving as a holding room, this time for two bedrooms full of stuff and the furniture from them. The dining table is completely covered, which doesn't matter since there isn't room to pull out a chair anyway. The last time it was full of stuff like this, was the time the sewer line had to be re-dug and the storage shed had to be moved, the one with all the junk in it that I couldn't fit in the house to start with. Here is the link, if you are interested Moving along

Anyway, this at least will result in a positive improvement in the house, and not just a big muddy filled-in hole. In a few more weeks, the all-wood doors will be installed on all the hall doors, replacing those horrible hollow dark plain doors. I'll try to remember to take some before-and-after photos. The next project will be the kids' bathroom, and I am not looking forward to the turmoil that will result when it is torn out.

I finally got a copy of my PET/CT scan results, which I requested about 4 weeks ago. All 3 pages. They don't say anything the oncologist didn't tell me (his exact words were, "It all looks good"), but I like to read reports like this myself. And keep them in my files with the other breast cancer stuff. My version of compulsive, you could say.

Bumper sticker for the day: "I just let my mind wander and it didn't come back."

Bound and determined

Next month will mark the 7 year anniversary of this blog. It amazes me that I could natter on and on (with so little to show for it) and with so little to really say :-} but I began to feel like it could all vanish with a server failure at blogspot, and so I got one of those online web sites to convert my posts into a pdf document which I then printed out and voila! I had it bound on Friday, all 243 pages. What, exactly, I plan to do with this is a puzzlement but at least I can use it as a doorstop if all else fails. My therapist calls it a memoir, but I'd like to think a real memoir would have a bit more substance to it. Ah well, that's why I call this random (unplanned) micro (very small) thoughts.

I had always planned to get both bedrooms that the kids use re-carpeted and re-painted once they moved out, but (ah hem) that doesn't seem to be a reality anytime soon, so we told them that they had to clear out everything, leaving only the main furniture, so the floors can be redone with wood laminate, and the wall paper stripped and the walls re-painted. They both keep very neat bedrooms, always have, but they were stuffed to the gills with books, computer games and consoles and CDs. So this weekend they have been sorting, tossing, donating and boxing everything up and what revelations they have made. R found shoes, still in the box, under her bed; C found a backgammon set, very nice, that none of us could identify as to origin. Long lost books were found, and I am the beneficiary of a bunch of unopened CDs that I think were mine to start with. Not that it matters, really, but still... Once C got his bookcases empty, he knocked them apart and threw them out the window in pieces, so much faster than carrying them all down the stairs and outside. It worked OK but seemed a little, um, bold, but they were in awful shape and his window faces the back of the house where only the horses and dogs can view the chaos and be offended.

I've been doing some bidding on ebay, it is an awful addiction of mine that I try to do conservatively. It must be working, or I've lost my touch, because the last several auctions I have been outbid in the final 15 seconds of the auction. I usually bid at 30 seconds to the end, but that apparently is not good enough to win. Just as well, the whole house would look like the kids' bedrooms and poof! there goes my image.

This post has been a little more random and tiny than usual, so I will leave with this bumper sticker: "Don't make me get out my red pen!"

Cruisin'

Here it is the 10th and I haven't posted in over a week. Just one of those times when there is more to do and less energy to do it with. We've been managing the battle with the cats' fleas, and I think we've finally gotten the upper hand. How they get fleas when they never go outside I can't figure out, but one of our cats is solid white and she is the bellwether for all of them. We have (wince) 7 cats indoors and now 3 outside barn cats that we feed regularly, plus visiting cats from the neighbors. Really, I'm not one of those crazy cat ladies, they were all legitimate cat rescues or the result of an ill-advised trip to the local pound. I have told N that he is to take the keys away if I ever suggest going to the pound again. So many lovely cats, and they euthanize 1 of every 2 cats. So heartbreaking.

The echo cardiogram went quickly and the tech said there wasn't anything she saw that was different from the original scan done before I started the chemo. A little leaky valve, but nothing serious. I am thinking about uncrossing my fingers any day now, I think.

I still haven't finished the mountainous task of organizing the photos, I am waiting for the storage boxes to arrive, then I will be able to sort better and to label the back of each photo as to who is who. The "when" will be the tricky part, trying to relate hair style and furniture and background, as well as how old the children look, to figure an approximate date. It was so nice when the film developers put dates on the back; now my camera will print the date on the front, not the date it is printed (like the old ones were) but the actual date it was taken. All these modern conveniences.


I want to sign up for another on line photo class, like the ones I did before, but the assignments every week can be labor intensive, and I'm not sure I can master the effort to do it justice. And I had a phone call from Holland America (cruise line) to ask about booking a cruise to Hawaii, but that can't happen unless I finish with the Herceptin therapy earlier than expected. The season ends in early April for those cruises, because of the weather. I'd like to do it in December or January, wouldn't it be heaven to leave a cold wet winter here for sun and surf in Hawaii? (Sigh). There is a live webcam at Turtle Bay resort on Oahu, the camera pans back and forth, aimed at the beach cove on the eastern side of the resort, and you can hear the surf, and see people walking along the shore. I visit there often. Here is the link if you are interested:

Turtle Bay web cam

I bet this resort costs and arm and a leg.

Bumper sticker for the day: "Optimism. Waiting for a ship to come in when you haven't sent one out."

September

Hard to believe summer is nearly over, especially as the high today is 90 degrees. When we first lived here, 30 odd years ago, there was no air conditioning, but we had a whole house fan in the hall ceiling that blew into the attic, and if we ran it at night and closed the window shades in the day, the house stayed perfectly cool. Now we have central air, and a window unit in the dining room which has windows on three sides (and is hotter than the rest of the house), and I can't imagine doing without them. I not only believe in the reality of global warming, I think it has been quietly gaining ground for at least 25 years. I hate hot weather. I grew up in Miami Florida, back in the ancient days of the 50s and 60s, and we had no air conditioning at home either. I didn't know anybody who did. If you got too hot, you went to a department store or the movie theater. There we also had a lot of rain, so it was nice and steamy as well as hot. Now the area is sweltering and having a drought, not an improvement. Even hurricane Irene didn't do much to change that; what they need is steady light rain for an extended time, and not torrential downpours that run off and not soak in.

Here is a photo from the 50s of me, my older sister, and our grandmother, in front of the house in Miami. The big awnings kept the house cooler and folded down to protect the windows in a hurricane. We had several hurricanes, what they mainly meant to me was that school was cancelled (if in the fall). Never thought about the storm itself, or how the house could be damaged with us in it. Sweet ignorance of youth.



The visit with the oncologist was uneventful and the only wrinkle is that I go next week for an echo cardiogram to check that all is OK in the heart department. I had one when I first began the chemo, and it is fast and painless, so no trauma to do.

I'm sleepy and want a nap, so I'll leave you with this bumper sticker: "Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?"

All is well.

The result of the PET/CT imaging is back and everything is OK! WHEEE! I love that they called me so quickly, the waiting is the worst. Thank all of you for your kind thoughts and prayers. I see the oncologist next week, and then every three weeks thereafter, but at this point in time, there are no tumors or growths anywhere. I will still receive the antibody Herceptin for a year total, and thank you Uncle Sam for the Federal employee BC/BS insurance, we couldn't do this without it.

And thank you, S, for the yummy cheesecakes, I'm ready to celebrate with it. I'd also been ready to commiserate if necessary with cheesecake; it's the all occasion dessert, but celebrating is the best.

The photo is one from the Web, but the apparatus looks just like the one I was in, head first, for 20+ minutes while laying perfectly still. With your arms over your head, and your head braced in position. After receiving radioactive glucose and a contrast media, IV. All in all, though, not really that bad. I'm just glad it is over, and all is fine. And did I thank all of you??

Bumper sticker of the day: "If I must die, let it be Death by Chocolate."

Bits and pieces

I'm scheduled for another PET/CT scan later today. I know I won't find out anything about my cancer status for days, maybe a week until my appt. with the oncologist, but I've already started obsessing over it. Will the tech doing the scan drop me any hints if I ask? Probably not. Will it do any good to call on, say, Friday? My jaw muscles are so tight it's a wonder I can eat.

Anyway.

Willie has recovered from his sore hoof,so no more soaking, Hooray. My back is even on the mend from standing bent at the waist to hold his hoof in the water; if I removed my hand from his fetlock, out came the foot, usually kicking the bucket over as it did.

Let me see... Oh yes, Google adsense emailed me that I have a $10 check coming, thanks to nice people like you who click on one of the three ads up there on the top of my right sidebar. Of course, it has taken 5 months to accumulate $10, so I haven't planned on a big spending spree just yet. Still, it is nice, and thank you for checking them out.

I've been busy listing used books for sale into my data base, so far I've gotten around 750. This is for ABEbooks, or Amazon, they email me shipping manifests and I ship the book off, national and international. So if you have a burning desire for a book that hasn't been published in a coons age (see below), check them out. There is another button over on the right for that too, but it doesn't pay me (sigh); in fact I frequently spend more in shipping than I get from the sale, after all the monthly charges and all the commissions. I also think I've bought more books than I have sold, which is not resulting in the clearing out of 40 years of accumulated books that are in every nook and cranny of this house. But now that I have the Kindle, I'm hoping I'll stop buying print books (mostly) and I guess a lot of people are doing the same and paper books will be going the way VHS tapes went in recent years.

Our neighbor across the road has successfully trapped those pesty raccoons that have been raiding our cat food in the garage and our trash cans. The most elusive one was a huge beast and the big concern was that he was too large to get in the trap, until we borrowed a very big trap. And you know what was used for bait? Peppermint patties. Apparently coons are wild for peppermint, and as an added bonus, cats aren't interested at all, so no risk of catching one.

Well, one of our house cats (Mac) would eat peppermint, he eats everything, from jelly beans to cantaloupe, quite a scrounger if we let him. Here he is:











Thought for the day: "Never confuse movement with progress."

Chicken

Here it is 4:30 am, wide awake and stiff as a board. Thursday Willie, my big bay gelding, was lame -three legged lame- in his pasture. So, figuring a stone in his foot N and I went to him with halter and hoof pick. He didn't mind having that leg picked up, but when I commenced picking at it, he yanked it back. So I tried again, and he yanked it out of my hands, reared and tried to strike (and his foot bled a bit from the frog). Time to call the vet. He came that afternoon, and tranquilized him so he didn't care what went on down there on his legs, and picked out the stone and checked for any abscess. That little stone cost $200. Now I'm doing the twice a day soak in warm epsom salts, for 10 minutes or until he kicks over the bucket, which ever comes first. And vile tasting meds in his grain for the pain. Anyway, all this to explain how I came to be so stiff it hurts. I'm OK on the bendy-over, but not so good on the straighteny-uppy. Never a dull moment.

Here is Willie:



And as an aside, I am SOOO glad the barn has hot water in the tack room, I don't know how I got along without it. Well, really I do know - I hauled buckets from the house, boo hiss.

I go on the 23rd for another PET/CT scan, see if all is OK from the chemo. Waiting is the hardest part of all this. Maybe that's why they call us patients; I don't want to think about why it is called a medical practice.

And this is what I call a perfect day.




Bumper sticker for the day: "How do I set the laser printer to stun?"

Sleepy

Just a little silliness to pass along.

It's 2:45 am here, and I am battling nausea every time I try to lie down. So, sitting up. I can hardly keep my eyes open.

I've been poking around in my stuff here in the computer room (closet) and have found neat stuff, lots and lots of memo pads with different artwork. Also, some older games (which are not compatible with WinXP, never mind Win7), maybe they will be worth something some day? They've hardly been out of the box. Let's see... Oh, I found some money ($35), it's mine now by crikey. Found my long-lost stapler, and my Garfield eraser. Special stuff, you know?

Last week N, C and I spent 3 hours on the dogs' coats. The black and white Newfy just needed raking to remove the dangling bits, but oh, what a mess the black one was. She has a 'cotton coat' that mats really easily, and being a barn dog, has tons of sticker bushes and twigs to give her the complete Rasta look. Her we have to clip to the skin. I have 3 pairs of clippers, and we needed them all. I wrote about this last year here, it's not like this is a big surprise, but each time we do it, I think longingly of a lab with a short coat.

I also cleaned out the garage last weekend, it took forever for it to dry, it was so humid. But it looks and smells better, got all the recycling done, while N mowed and trimmed. You know, I have another guilty pleasure -- driving through a neighborhood and staring into people's open garage doors. Man, I thought we had a lot of junk. At least we use my garage to park my car:




Granted, a Miata is a small car, but still.

I feel good about these little efforts, after so long of having no energy to spare. I still have to sit down while I'm working at tasks like defrosting the freezer, or doing laundry, but then I catch my breath and go on. I know if I constantly do things only in my comfort zone, that zone will get smaller and smaller. Better to push on, as I can.

I think I'll try going to bed again, so I'll leave you with this bumper sticker: "I could do so much more if I only had minions."

Butterfly award

An award! How nice! The butterfly award comes via SkippyMom, and includes 3 (luckily easy) steps:

1.) Link to the person who gave it to you.
2.) Answer some questions
3.) Pass it along to someone else.

So here goes...

Skippy Mom Her blog is one of the best I read.


Favorite color: Purple. The butterfly color itself, how serendipitous !

Favorite song: Oh, a hard one, it changes so frequently. Right now I'd have to say the one by Kenny Rogers "Water and Bridges".

Favorite Dessert: I don't think I've ever met a dessert I didn't like, but cheesecake wins in the long run.

Favorite Pet: I'd have to say my first horse, Poco.

















What wizzes you off? People who say they will do something, but then try to get out of it, or just blow you off. I've always thought that if I didn't want to do something, then refuse when asked and not when it's time to do it.

When I am upset I: Cry. So embarrassing, and often inappropriate too. I've pretty much given up agonizing over it, but it would be nice if I had more control of the waterworks.

Black or white: Black.

My biggest fear: right now? That my breast cancer is not in remission.

Everyday attitude: Mellow. Now that I am retired, the relief from being able to set my own schedule is enormous.

What is perfection to you? The love I share with my family.

Guilty pleasure: Eating smokehouse almonds. And then licking my fingers.

I'm passing this along to:

Lucky Lady
Flippy

Thank you, SkippyMom!

Bumper sticker for the day: "Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change."