Home at Last

For those readers who have hung in here, I reveal the reason for my lack of posts:  I have been in the hospital for the last 2 weeks. and out of any posting longer than that.  I hope to fill in here soon, so watch this space for a bit longer and I will do my best at Randomly posting in the next week. 

I guess Google and Blogger have parted ways.  As a result, all the headers are missing, and all the illustrations with Google are gone.  This leaves the entire blog a chopped up mess.  I have contacted Blogger, but I don't suppose I will get an answer from them.  

I am home from the hospital and feeling quite exhausted.  I hope to recover in a day or so but I am not making any promises now.  I have had 2 nurse visits so far, with three or four to go before the weekly regimen begins.  Blah.

My table is a complete mess and I need to unearth the bottom layer before I can work on new posts.  I will work on it today, hoping I will be able to get at least some of the posts whipped into shape.  I apologize to my readers at how long this will take to complete.

Bye for now...

make up?

I bought a "reborn" doll a couple of weeks ago, and when it was seen by C his comment was "creepy"  and I agreed, it is little creepy.  I have 30 days to return it, making it "reborn" again.  I'm already checking on the boxes that the doll came in.  I am thinking of a little child that would Luv to get a doll like this at a bargain price.  It is pretty low price as these things go.  But really, it looks like an escapee from the Twilight Zone.  I sent it back.

I put on makeup yesterday for the first time in months.  No occasion, just because I got a package from Ipsy.  Usually they are the usual samples, maybe one item that is fairly close to full sized but this was a deluxe assortment (for more $ ) and I was pleased to unwrap it.   I have tons of makeup, one ten drawer organizer, one two drawer chest of drawers, and more scattered here and there, like in purses.  I just give many away, like to N's niece, but the last time I sent a box full to the brim for her I didn't get even get a "thank you" when we visited them a few weeks later.  So that is that.  I know teenagers are busy with school and social things, but come on, one quick word when N was there.  

I got in touch with the man who was my shoer when I still had horses, and asked if he would take down and fix the gate and fence (where the tree fell and demolished the gate) , for $ of course, but right now his wife is in the hospital with a torn shoulder, and that takes his free time to see her.  It can wait, up until snow flies anyway.  The traffic belongs to homes past us, even though the builder promised we would be the last home on our road.  ho ho.  Update:  I never heard back from the shoer, so I looked in the phone book and called one of them from there.  He came out the next day, gave us a fair estimate, and cut up and hauled it all away.  No fence repair, will have to hire someone to do that.  The wisteria is so very overgrown you can't see the broken part.

Let me see, the entry that mentioned seeing if I could sue the medical doctors that have mis-managed my knee/ ankle is all for nothing.  The limitation on a medical lawsuit is 2 years; and having to hire an expert doctor to explain the medical facets may cost $500,000 and by the time all of the expenses have been covered, there would be nothing left for me.  I have gone through my records and I don't know the left from the right, so I will give it up.  

N died in May 10th of 2016 not June, missing our 46th anniversary on June 6th.  

The tree that fell and demolished the fence and gate was pretty tall and would have done some wreckage if it fell at an angle and hit the house.  But it will just be a mess to clean up, and Chris said (and I agree) that a chain saw is not a place for an amateur.  There again, N thought he would be around longer than me.  I know nothing about cutting trees up, and where would I dispose of the cuttings.  Do I look in the yellow pages?

The semi-thought out plan to buy a mobile home and sell this home to pay for it, that won't fly.  C doesn't want to go, and says the homes at the village are too close together; the prices of mobile homes having hit the $300,000; he went to the meeting with the park manager and noted that all the homes have their shades closed.  All of them.  186 mobile homes.  I have lived in a mobile home when I was first married and didn't find it claustrophobic at all.   So I will continue to live in this one room, the stairs defeating me.

I have recharged the two Nikon sure-shots, anticipating that I would use one to get the mobile park recorded, but now I don't need them for that.  Neat little cameras, especially the S4300, which has a lot of features found usually only in big cameras.  Although I don't have anything to photograph other than in trips to the doctors.

I found a garfield squeaky toy and it is fun to watch the cat (only a tiny amount) react.  Garfield's shirt says "hug me", and he's wearing bunny slippers.

I cannot figure out how to calculate the in-come and the out-go so I know where I stand, month to month.  I have to go to the bank branch and get them to help me.  One time I get one number; the next time I get a different amount.  Drives me crazy.  And me with a college minor in mathematics.  

That is it for now, wish I could be more upbeat, but maybe next time I won't feel so glum.

BYE 

Pot decision pending

Well I am deceiving you a little.  The pot I am taking about comes in groups of 12 or more, and is going to be my one eventual set.  To cook in, you know?  We donated the set of Revere ware that was left and and bought a set from a department store and they have been a mistake; burn food was the recipe of the day.  I can't get to the kitchen until my knees are functional on stairs, so I will save these until then.  I also have a hand mixer set aside for the same treat.  If you don't like to cook (like my nail manicure lady), I can see you going "what???) but hopefully all my recipe ideas are at least OK.

I have once again tackled my chickadee cross stitch project and it does have a lot more to go, but I am at least making headway.  I thought this pattern would be a ginger snap, but no, more like a molasses cookie.  And I am going to put it in a BIG frame so everyone can admire it.  Or at least go "hmm; you say you spent HOW many hours on this?"

I am still getting phone calls for N, it has been 6 years since he died in June of 2016.  He volunteered for a lot of projects, and not many people read obits daily.  But each phone call is another reminder that he is gone.   

Past tense

 I have determined that I should seek legal help as my health gets worse by the day.  I have a call into the med records, I should get them tomorrow.  I don't know how long this has been moving along, at least 10 years, and here I am in a wheelchair.  I guess the average patient would not take this long, but I keep hoping the next treatment, or the next injection will be the One that will turn my symptoms  around so I can walk again.  Foolish hope.  All these years I am waiting for cure.  Given enough money I can buy a mobile home, all one level and a ramp out front.  Maybe one with wide doorways that a wheelchair will fit through.  I am a dreamer, don't you think?

Here comes the dentist

 I was too optimistic about the number of days that would take to recover from the dental work, it has been 10 days and counting.  I am so very tired of so-called soft food, and the alternative makes my teeth hurt.  A lot.

I never traveled much since coming here (why?) and now that seems like freedom unmatched.  And tonight dinner was weird in flavor, probably due to my teeth.  So I made a dinner out of crescent rolls tonight.  I like them, but as the main course, not so much.  I am nearly out of pain medication and of course it was late when I called the doctor's office, so at least 24 hours for a refill.  Why do doctors assume first that druggies are trying to scam a pain med and only second that a patient needs help?  I'm not even asking for a mega variety, I am allergic to all but the mildest variety.

Ah well, I have bent your ear about this in the past, so I will move on.

I have been passing time going through my jewelry (costume) and found two 30 inch silver necklaces that I did not know I had.  Nice.  I also found some pretty earrings, but my ears will have to be re-pierced since it has been a couple of years since I wore posts.  I discovered a treasure-trove of post earrings all nicely arranged in a box, so I could wear a different pair every day of the year and never repeat.  Does Claires still pierce, or do you have to go to a walk-in clinic?  

I have also been attempting to work on my cross stitch but I have hit a road block.  I have been Stitching for years and years, but I can't figure out how to thread a needle so that it will be looped in the back, not run the stitch behind other stitches.  Every time I think I have the trick, the needle falls off the floss.  Maybe tomorrow I will try again.  The good part that came in yesterday's mail was two Cross stitch patterns, one called yarn cat, the other chickadees in blossoms.  I already have the chickadee one, but the yarn cat is new to me, and as a humorous one it will be different too.  If, I guess, I can thread the needles.

The dog across the road was picked up by the dog catcher 3 or 4 days ago, I saw them do it and went "Woo hoo". I hoped they would keep him at the pound while he got some decent food and be adopted by a nice family, but damn today he was back again.  I don't have anything against dogs in general, but this dog runs loose chasing cats, barking all hours of the night, and has the neighborhood children terrified when he charges them.  I don't know who called the dog catcher, but they have my sympathy.  I have heard that the "ransom" is pretty high, so maybe the neighbor will try again.  Or the owner will give up the next time.

I think I will read tonight, I have a book by Barbara Hambly that I started and for whatever reason, never finished.  And this is a purchased book, not a library one.  

Bye for now, sewing and reading await.  

I have been pretty slow in keeping this post ship-shape, I hope you haven't given up (all 12 readers) (joke).  And in fact I have been gathering   topics to post here.

I lost my last cousin in a motor vehicle accident.  She was my age and I have all these photos of us as tykes playing on the swing.  We drifted away over the years, but still ....family is family.  She lived in NC and I saw her last year for the family reunion.  She seemed the same as before, just grayer.  But then so do I 😢

I just got my nails done today, and boy what a change.  I have been putting it off for weeks, and my nails were very chewed up (not from being chewed) but they look spiffy again.  The trick now is to keep them from being damaged in day-to-day use.  I still can't managed steps, up or down, and rough lawn is the same.  The nail lady comes here, for a mere $60.  Well worth the money, measured against the dreary days without anything to lighten the mood.

I have been all set to take up where I left off on three cross-stitch projects  BUT there are four parts to stitching.  Fabric to hold the design, floss to stitch, pattern of the design, the stitcher.  But I found that there are at least one and maybe two components that are missing of each one.  Floss is the easiest to replace, I just take the list to Hobby Lobby.  Fabric isn't too tough once the size is account for.  One would think that the pattern is easiest since it is what attracted the stitching.  I have lost at least one and sometimes two of the necessary bits; even though they are more than half finished.  Sob.  If I could find just one missing part of one pattern, I would be well pleased.  Where could they be, I and C have searched the room to no avail.  One of the three is no more than the cover with none of the contents, pitch.

 If only I had been more thorough while urging C to mow more effectively; the grass and weeds are 2 feet tall.  One of the neighbors volunteered  to cut it for us, as it is past the point that we can manage.  with a push mower.  There are three  of them and it is 91 degrees outside. I think we could send them Cinnabons; Mmmm.  One neighbor is giving directions, "the next house past the house with tall grass."  What a claim to fame.

I have been keeping up with my exercises in our home, in both knees.  There is a chance I can get the surgeon to agree to do my left knee replacement. Or not.  But there is a plus side in in any case.

Time to go, all of you, hope you find smiley to match you mood. Bye for now!

I am going to try a perm

 I have never tried a perm, we shall see how that goes.  I want get a do that I can get out of the shower and shake my head and there, all done.  

update:

The salon I had picked to do this is a mess, we drove past and there are babies crying, dogs yapping, women shouting etc.  and didn't look too clean either.  Therefore, no hair styling until I find a better venue.

Dinner soon, sigh.  I was counting on the hair to give me a little lift.  C cleaned out the back corner of the room a few days ago and when the therapist arrived it was the first thing he commented on.  And that the room looked bigger to him.  A little boost there at least.  

I have 8 pairs of scissors mostly 8" size, I had so many I didn't know until they were all together.  Just the thing for the odd octopus strolling past.

Covid invader

 Here about 5 or so weeks ago I came down with a cold that wouldn't quit.  Today I had my  first Covid test and it was positive. This explanation makes sense to me looking back now.  I have gotten rid of the usual side effects and now have a new set of illness to tolerate.   My lingering side effect isn't cough or fatigue.  It is weakness when walking, to the extent that I need help with a wheelchair  going to shower or getting dressed, and anything where I must lean over and then stand quickly. It is not as obvious as the other ones, but there isn't a clinic, or study group to teach coping skills.  There are plenty of bystanders who loudly proclaim "doesn't look handicapped to me."  A little compassion would help a lot.  My husband died in our driveway on the way to a chemo session, and he never looked ill to me, but I was willing to take the opinion of his doctors.  I will never get past having him dying in my arms.  45 years together.

Enough.  

OK this post is being saved every time I stop

I am going to go to the orthodontist next week to get the size-able crowns fitted.  Then two more visits to get the best sized from the crown .  I guess that is where all the fancy money goes.  I just want to be able to eat what I want.  Pizza? Check.  Popcorn at the theater? check.  All kinds of junk food?  Check!!

And as for Gianni Versace I picked up a container of loose powder at a flea market and it is marvelous, in my color for a wonder, nearly full.  Things like this are really rare for me..., you'd think I found a Mona Lisa sketch at the time.  Anyway, I'm not planning on munching face powder, but it was a good find.  

I once found a twenty dollar bill outside the apt a friend lived in, but that wasn't hard to figure out.  My friend denied it was hers, so I  kept it, after posting a couple of "found" notes around the apartment complex, guess it was too trivial an amount. to claim.  My daughter lost a $20 for the yearbook, but it was not her fault and I made it up for her.  Just an example of how little high school is about handling cash, checks, so forth.  When I was in high school (drum roll) I never had $20 all year.  A $1 was a rarity, lunches were paid through the office, and if money were seen to be changing hands then someone was in trouble.  Times change.

The black pickup truck is sold, and of course two people wanted it.  We flipped a coin and the winner needs a bill of sale notarized, we'll meet at the UPS office.  I have never understood why a notary public lends a smidgen of reality .  Years ago I was on the jury for a man who showed up wearing bright orange,   and chains, just what prisoners in jail were wearing that year.  A long story, but all I would write now is that the witnessing notary was in deep Kimchee, because she left her son the stamps and so forth while she was on vacation.  He was very slow, and notarized the bill of sale for anyone who asked him to do so.  When asked if he could read and write, he said yes, slowly and anything not too complicated.  The prisoner was found guilty of fraud and went off to the pokey.  The notary lost her stamp.  The son proclaimed that it was all a mistake, he knew the defendant.  The entire trial was 2 days, including the lunch breaks.  If you ever have to be a defendant for the court, don't wear orange.  Trust me.

The black pickup was a 2009 GMC, but had only 12,000 miles on it.  The main rider was  a lady cardinal who waged war on the side view mirror and made a mess.  The buyer didn't care, he just washed it off.  

did I save this post?

 

Did I fail to save this post, or did I save it and then erase it when I began another post?  I can't remember...

Anyway, here I go.  Again...

I got, finally, the trunk that I needed for safe-keeping of the fur collar ( removable(X that replaced the damaged one)).  It also holds the hoods of several other coats, I am not sure which are faux and which real, but they all fit in the trunk so I won't try to puzzle them out for now.  The trunk is brand new, white, and I will keep it clean if I can.  The fur hood is really poofy, if I was a teeny lady it would smother me!  And of course I got the coats at the beginning of summer, and must wait until September or so to wear one.  

Maybe a cold snap would come along and I would be ready now.

At last the worst of the tooth work is over, I hope.  My teeth felt very odd the first 4 or so days, but they are unremarkable now.  One more visit and I will be done.  Please.

We have a roofer coming in a few days to tear the old roof off and shingle it anew.  We had a hole in the roof and into the attic, C noticed it from the bang!  Bang! noise just above his room.  Boy I am glad we cleared the attic of everything before this.  I had a number of recommendations from friends, etc. and the first 4 had no active telephone numbers.  The fifth company was this business, and he was very professional.  Although nearly the maximum in price, we need the roof fixed and not just tacked together.  Five year warranty and they pick up all the nails that drop (that sounds like a trivial job  but 6 flat tires in a month is not trivial) let's hear it for a big magnet.)  I hope we are using a good company, but really, who can tell until the job is under way?  One of our neighbors last year had her roof redone with the copper type and I happened to be driving past when she was in her front yard yelling at the roofer.  They tore the partial roof off and the house stayed covered with tarps for weeks until another roofer took it over.  Not one of the companies I called.

                                            

                                                    Shiny car!

                         

    

Pony boy, pony boy...

This is a work in progress, so just read the high spots and forget the typos.

Today is President's day, which has everything shut down, mail, banks, and so forth.  As for me, it doesn't mean anything now that I am retired.  I work just as much, but have little to show for it.  I spent a fair amount of time yesterday doing my nails, but at least I can look at them without wincing.  I ordered a fox ruff to replace the one the rats clawed up, and this one will not hang in the closet but will go inside a metal locker.  Hope that will stop the miserable pests, in addition to rat bait.  This is a bad time for buying lockers, with band/camp/scouts and so forth.  I will figure out something once the ruff shows up, for temporary safe keeping.  Maybe the freezer or the refridge ?  If I had any in-laws I could convince them that the fur is their missing pet dog... Nah

My visit to the dentist last week was grim.  He was as easy as possible in removing 4 teeth, but I have to go back 10 days later for the implants (caps, whatever).  Then I will be able to eat anything I like.  I knew I was in for it when I saw the palatial offices, that and the bill for $3600.  And more to come.

Do you know that horses have teeth that keep growing?  Every few years they may have to have them "floated" to remove the sharp edges to prevent the rough sharp stuff that would cut into their cheeks.  The noise tooth rasping causes makes my own teeth flinch.  That is why the old-time horse traders looked in the horse's mouth, they're estimating the age of the horse.  I miss my three horses more than I estimated, I remind myself it wasn't all sunny and nickering, this past 8 weeks the weather has been icky.  Bonafide meteorology term, icky.  And mud over the boot tops.  I think about pony equines, but most ponies are mean and meaner, so much for "Royal Velvet" and ponies like shetland or connemara.  The last pony I owned, when the kids were small, bit me in my *   * and she went down the road soon after.

👋 BYE

OK

 OK, I know it is 7 or 8 weeks since my last post, Somehow I thought new posts would magically appear on the published posts even if I didn't put them out there. ( I still have my teddy bear from 7 years old.)  

Meanwhile I am trying to get a topic going that I can fill up without going silly.  Could it be refills on my scripts?  There are a lot of them, the problem is that they just lay there, no action.  I have been trying to get going on lots of topics, but none of the read well.  I can't see how writers sit down, dip into the ink well and write a best seller.  I have been trying to get the manuscript for my novel to be correct, but I just keep re-writing what I should leave alone.  At the rate I am going to finish in time for my 80th birthday.

So OK I will drag what is left into the light, no read-right  what is  (above) finished, fixing typos as I see them.  

C has gone to take a nap, and I could do the same, but I would wake up feeling worse than when I went to sleep.  Its is nearly eleven and I just had brunch.

When I was well and hearty I went to see a doctor who was gradually losing losing her battle with cancer, but still cheerful, at least.  I called her at her house for a quick yes/no that Dr. Number two recommended and she sounded like her usual self and the answer was "no".  She remembered who I was and what meds I was taking.  It was a real blow when she passed.  I have seen more than 5 doctors since then and everyone has left for one reason or the other.  The main one has been they missed too many of the kids' soccer etc. games, and the older ones missed too many grandkid's games.  One of them said "I thought I could change the system but instead it changed me".  I seem to invite all sorts of "secrets" and have no idea why.  Once I repeated the words to another doctor that #2 was leaving and he had no idea.  Whoops, open mouth insert foot...

Today being  Sunday there are no nurse visits.  Yesterday there were 4 visits from nurses, therapists, etc. and one would hardly leave and another would arrive.  No doubt Monday will make up for today.

I am tired already.

We called the power company when the wind knocked a line down, and the guy (singular ) wrapped the line up in his hand and disconnected the power, I guess.  He didn't seem too bothered.  Makes mowing more straight forward.  One would hope.

OK, that is it from here, hoping all there is OK.  I will try to do better.

Bye for now!

 Addendum: We were having not a simple cold, but Covid.  C got it first, from R?, and it has knocked him down, good thing he is retired.  I got it from him and I thought I would miss but no, just a a brief pause from the entire run of the illness.  I have been trying to use OTC to ease the system, but no help.  *cough*cough*.  we all tested positive on the in-home tests and then  R works in Family Medicine and I would expect she would have it already, but is cleaner yet.

I am still working on cleaning and sorting stuff, but it is hard to go into the closet when there is so much that needs to be sorted.  I should offer an incentive to those per armhole? that needs to go, but there would be a massive dump.  When N died, they went in the closet and outside of a sweater or jacket they just dumped them to Goodwill.  Some of them were mine.

Anyway the deed is done, 5+ years ago, and if I ever get to go shopping, I will buy all new.  With a new budget.  And the closet will look radically different.

Moving along, dum de dum

 OK, I have news, bad-ish, about Heath Bars.  I was eating one of the miniatures, and there was a *crack*, and there in my hand what I presumed to be a piece of candy.  I tossed it, but an hour later I felt a rough part in my molar, and I think I busted a filling.  I will call Monday and hope it is a trivial matter.  I just love to get dental work, don't you?  And my dentist for years and years retired in Dec., and the new one is an Unknown Quantity.  

C got a new phone, the old one was cracked and crazed, so this one is a big improvement.  I think he had been nursing the old one along, and R got him this one for Christmas, a big improvement.  I got a cd player, but I don't know where I will put it, this room is so filled with everything.

C and I have both been given an extra gift; we caught R's head cold on Christmas day.  Yippie!  This has set my clearing up several days behind, but I will get there.  Meanwhile I need to get pitch / donate / keep divisions from spreading out everywhere.  

I see the ortho doctor at the end of the month, this is to make up for the appt. in Dec that I missed.  Another fun-filled appt, this one involving needles of cortisone under the kneecap.  What fun.

 If it weren't for doctor appt. I wouldn't have any social life.

Well that is all the news such as it is, hope everyone of you had a merry merry Christmas, and I will catch you on the flip side.  Bye!

Secrets

Well, I've tried every hack I know, and some are pretty out there, but the bottom line is I don't know as much as I thought. Do you know some odd little pick in the grater? Keep it to yourself. I'm not being mean just some experience that gives the paternal size. For first exploration, I hear the physician say, well I won't be leaving. She lasted around one year. I am one of those people that just invites soul-bearing I guess. I listened to a nice person tell me the secrets of their church's financial woes(I never then or now had been there.) A doctor that unloaded their grief about never getting to their kids' soccer games because he was on call. At one visit, the first one, the doctor told me he was leaving to be nearer to his family. Several doctors told me "the reason" they were leaving, I never told anyone. So on and so on. Starting when I was in my twenties this has been going on, Divorce, one went to doping ( It was on the front page of the newspaper): one came out of the closet, I feel like Mother Confessor, (now I am 70 and don't care to get anyone's deep secrets). I spent a good part yesterday in the ER. I had fallen once again and hit my head and my back. They found nothing in my head (surprise) and they have done everything. The back scrape is the most they turned out, it is very tender. It looks bad and feels worse. (The doctor in the ER is looking for another clinical position). We had our first snow last night. The road is fine, but the snow is all over the yard and so the kids find the footing treacherous. I doubt it would matter (back home) in Miami. Sunburn, yes. Ice,no, I am reminded of the long arm of the far right and so I have redacted much of the particular info here.

I have been working with my hordes of cosmetics to sort them into  broad categories, the easier to get them used.  The main problem is that I keep getting distracted and so I try them out rather than sorting them out.  I am sure that a lot of the sample ones are all dried up inside their little foil packets.  Still, I am trying to reduce the amount of real estate the disposable packets take.  For instance the cologne samples take up way too much space and so I have discarded the cardboard cards and just kept the little spray vials.  Do you know, in the *old* days cologne samples came in *nips*, capillary pipettes sealed at each end, and you had to snap the glass to release the cologne.  The nips were sharp and being made of glass they couldn't be resealed.  Don't miss those things.

The other thing that needs to be sorted are the makeup samples.  I have a MaryKay tray with lots of makeup that I don't like.  Why don't I pitch it?  It just seems like a terrible waste, and maybe I will want them after all.  The MaryKay people have changed the tray from pink to tan and the old ones don't fit in the spaces of the new.  That's assuming I can find the old refills and try to get them into the tray of the new.  I spend an inordinate amount of time searching for things I don't really need.  For instance, this morning I searched and searched for a new hairbrush I bought just last week only to finally finding it in my purse.  I think my purse is in cahoots with this room, it hides things in plain sight and giggles when I ignore whatever is in front of me.

I have been watching videos on You Tube by Wayne Goss, he is a makeup artist.  He has a dry sense of humor, and since I just found him I can binge-watch his videos.  As an example, he said  "Are you wondering what this powder is... it's a secret.  You'll have to wait until next month."  Yesterday he was applying mascara and said "Are you wondering what brand this is?  It doesn't matter, it's shit and you don't need to know."  In all, I have found that the mass amount of time I spend on my makeup, the better off I'll be if I scrap the entire process and follow the advice of Wayne.

Two more gifts to wrap and I will be done; I have been buying clothes and slippers and other things to be my gifts since I know I will get nothing (probably) on Christmas day.

When N was alive he made a special effort to maintain the yearly efforts for Christmas; food like fruit cake he made (YUM!) and cookies, the tree wrapped in ribbon, Christmas carols on the radio while we did the tree, flavored popcorn in the big cans, cards to people I never even heard of, decorations outside on the roof, on and on.  It's been 6 years now, and every year we do a little less.  This year the tree is 2 feet tall, one strand of lights, nothing outside, only the gifts I bought (online) and wrapped, under the tree.  The tree looks like the one in the Charlie Brown cartoon.  R didn't even come over to help decorate, couldn't be bothered.  Next year we probably will skip the entire thing.  It makes me sad.

Time for lunch, if C remembers. Merry Christmas from us to all of you, hope Santa doesn't succumb to ennui and visits all the kids.  

Bye! 

I still have the   whoops   same error  damn hmmm

I need to polish up my blogger before I attempt starting 900+ posts and ruin all of them in the ether of lost posts.

I plan to $$ the author  of my beginning and pay an accomplished blog writer to get off the ground.  

Meanwhile I will post here and ignore those small slips until they act as brakes.  

hang in there....

passwords are just scrabble games for slow learners

Here I am, and only 45 minutes wasted.  HTML version is useless for anyone but a programmer.  This will be a short post so it will be only a small glitch if it disappears.  

Hello?  What just happened?  Hello?

OK, continuing on...

Now I cannot remember what I was writing, I am sure it doesn't matter.

I got a camera bag to hold the Canon camera (sounds like a bunch of Cs) and it is only so so as a protective sleeve.  If I needed to get to the camera in a hurry, forget it, it has 4 velcro straps to undo, the cute bunny in the back yard is long gone by then.  Plus, I am trying to switch from Nikon to Canon and it is a lot harder than I thought.  Where did the Canon come from?  I can't remember that either...

I saw the podiatrist last week and he has done more than all the other MDs combined.  He removed the dead skin from the callus and made three moleskin patches to replace the one that will get wet when I shower; gave me a tube of ointment to treat it, and at no time did he say "wait until it clears up".  I go to see him in 2 weeks for a follow-up, and I am hopeful it will be clearing by then.

Too bad he doesn't do backs.

I hate passwords, I never have clear sailing when I am attempting to do the simplest thing here.  Never.  I want all the passwords to be "password"  and if I need to "protect" then I will take the damn laptop WITH ME.  

I can't remember how to do this

I think this is right

I'll give it a shot

I am still working on my cross stitch, I had to rip out 6 rows that were in the wrong place.  It took forever, being careful to avoid snipping the fabric, and after the rows were gone I still had to stitch the correct place.  I will lay this away for now, my hands are covered in Bag Balm right now anyway.

The purse I got on eBay came yesterday, and it is small enough to hold my organizer and nothing else.  But mostly that is all I need to have; the purse is a lovely Coach in navy leather and is cross-body, so hands free.  

One of the therapists tempted us yesterday, looking for a home for a kitten that wandered into their living room.  It sounds lovely, but my watchwords are "No more cats, no more dogs, no more horses." so we escaped without a kitten, hurrah.  If the typical cat lives 12 or more years, I don't plan on living much beyond that, I am 70 after all.  Dogs and horses are about the same, and they aren't easy to find a new home, when they are teenagers or older.  Just as well she didn't bring the kitten with her.  When I lived in San Francisco one of my coworkers said she wanted a kitten, so I passed the word to a horse friend, and on a day that the boss was gone she brought in a box with 11 !! kittens.  Three were adopted then and there, and more on a tentative date.  Who can resist a sweet kitten??

It seems strange not to have a horse.  I bought one when I was 24, and he lived to be 23; I even had him shipped from  SF to here.  I gave most of my tack to a friend, so even the tack room looks bare.  I also have 40 or 50 bales of moldy hay, don't know what we will do with those, they don't burn very well. 

I am currently sporting a blister, on the outside edge of my foot, probably originally from walking on the side.  I got one like this when I was in the nursing home and it took forever to heal.  It doesn't hurt, as I have very little sensation in my feet, but I don't want it to fester into a big open wound.  I can't see it myself, but C took a photo to show me, and it is nasty looking.  He has been changing the bandage and treating it with Neosporin and it seems to help.  I have an appointment to see my GP on Tuesday, and I hope he has something other than "keep clean and wait".  Maybe something to get it to heal more speedily.  When I was in the nursing home the lady across the hall from me had only one toe left on her left foot, and when she went home they removed that one as well.  It was to control gangrene in her foot, and I take that as a warning for me also.  

Speaking of the nursing home, they had a laundry there.  They would label your clothes and then when it was all clean they would return them to you.  In theory.  The first week I lost a bathrobe and the second week I lost a pair of culottes.  The robe was new, and monogramed, and labeled with the name of the cruise ship.  The culottes were a standby in place of shorts.  The bathrobe showed up after a couple of weeks when one of the aides took pity and searched it out, but the culottes never did reappear.  Now that I am home I have been trying to find a replacement, but no luck there.  Bummer.  It probably got pitched.  Anyway that is how I came to be handing my laundry out to C at the back door, and getting on the bad side of the senior aide.  It was OK to open the doors for the smokers, but not for 45 seconds to pass laundry through.  One of the aides said "they were trained" to go outside and I said for an entire semester?  By university faculty? and pulled an Aplus at the end? Trained, pfffft.

Well that is it for me today, hope everyone is healthy and stays that way.  And never take walking for granted...

 

Home at last

We lost Blackie yesterday.  She seemed lethargic the day before, and by Wednesday she was failing.  There was nothing to be done, C laid her on a soft blanket in the garage with a heater going, and shut the kitty door so we would be able to find her, and no one to harass her.  I never touched her, she would only let C give her chin and tummy time.  One of the neighbor kids asked for her today, but there is only the truth.  We had no idea how old she was.  No more feral cats, they take a bit of your heart when they go.  They all do.  

I have been thinking of B, N's brother.  He died a few weeks before N, they were never close, N was more involved with his sister, S, keeping track, going to see her, many phone calls.  S moved to Kentucky from Michigan, to get out of the clutches of her "friends" who seemed more into her money, after she came in to $$; but they just followed her to KY, at least until she came to say "no".  Anyway, I have wondered why B's step children cut him no slack once B's wife passed.  No sympathy cards, no contact at all with S and B and his wife/ their mother.  When I write this out it is convoluted, but it just puzzles me.  B had done a fair amount of genealogy on our western families, but when I asked for it, the step son said they pitched all the paper in his rooms. Never again to be found.  I should have asked B before he became ill. He had served in 'Nam and got deluged in Agent Orange on a daily basis and it just ate him up from inside after his tours were over.  I think he and his stepsons had a falling out over religious things or maybe money.  I will ask S when next we talk.

I have a nice lady who comes every 2 weeks to do my nails, and this time she remarked on how many books I have.  And if I had read them all?  I guess I have  more than a lot of people but then I never watch TV. 

I do re-read some and you can tell which ones by their tattered covers.  Meanwhile there sits the TV...When I was in the nursing home I had the only TV with no sound and no remote.  They fixed it the day I left (after 10 weeks )The lady across the hall was mostly deaf and had her TV cranked up to the max, so I had sound if I wanted.  I guess the $6000 extra we paid was ransom to let me out.  Or maybe the cost of new TVs. It was a nice place, but damn I wanted to come home.  One time C came to the back door and I buzzed him in to collect my dirty clothes (oh horrors; like the smokers didn't let unfiltered air in for every one of them).  And then tried to figure out how I knew the code.  (Hint: ambulance )  And then the admin people found out about the smokers, and that was my fault too.  Being a non smoker gave me a different perspective on the matter. (ho ho)

God I wish I had never had the knee replacement, here  4 years and 6 surgeries later and I can't walk.  

I don't want to depress myself so I will close.

this is me with my walker; the man on the ground didn't fall, he just wanted a little nap. Zzzzzzzz

  

You mean it's not fall?

 I have once again fallen, doing a simple transition from bed to bathroom.  At 2 a.m.  This time, for a little variety, I fell to the side.  The way the olden falls were falling backwards, as soon as I feel the floor feeling ready to throw me down I recite, "bed right there" or chair or whatever and gather my courage.  But in this case I just plummeted to the side.  Had to call the VFD to get me up, I was too closely wedged between the bed frame and the doorway.  They know me as soon as they reach the house.  What fame I have, at least I don't have to go to the ER every time.  This time I just bruised my butt.  

Early bird this morning

 Hello everyone, this is my idea of an early beginning for the day, it is 7 am.  C will need to get up soon to ride to the dealership to get the truck.  It was recalled due to an exploding air bag on the passenger side.  I am betting that it won't be ready today but I am only the mom, my opinion doesn't count.  

Tomorrow is the 13th, if you are superstitious then best to stay in bed, for Friday the 13. When I was in school at BJU I $$ worked in the snack bar, dishing up ice cream cones and making sundaes; once there was a meeting (among adults in the back,) and when the meeting was over, the concierge told the girls they could get a cone as a reward. How generous.  I took one too, I had worked through dinner and was starving.  Maybe they thought I should put the ice cream back in the tub? One of the waitresses said I don't think she meant you, but I ignored her, what is one cone more or less?  They probably prayed for me that night.

I also worked in the faculty nursery with 2 and 3 year olds, cute kids, even Bob Jones III, I felt sorry for him, having to carry on the dynasty.  And the third job was cleaning bathrooms in the dorms.  So I barely had time to go to class.  Of course students were obliged to make it to every class, the only excuse was being in the infirmary.

Pause here for now...  

I meant that on Friday 13th all of the non-essential jobs in BJU were quietly postponed. 

The truck was ready except for the window sticker, when the registration was checked it was for last year.  The way I work it, is when the registration and insurance and so forth come, they are put in a red envelope in the glove box, because there is usually a bunch of white paper in the box; the red stands out.  The weak point being putting the paperwork in the red envelope in the first place.  So...

Damn.  The mail today included a letter from the tax people that I am being audited.  What a special surprise.  I think I need a wee dram to get to sleep tonight.  What do the audit personnel tell people when asked where they work?  I know it is a valid job, probably pays pretty well, but I would guess it would be a conversation stopper.    I had a friend in CA whose husband was a state trooper.  It irked him when the next question was, "Do you carry a gun?"  The answer was, yes, it was a requirement even when off duty.  So he made up crazy jobs, a different one each time, just for his own amusement.  I didn't think it was very polite to make fun of someone asking a simple question.  I didn't like him much anyway.  

That is the end of this tonight, I can't think of anything to add here.  I only think of bits to write about when I am unable to jot them down.  Still, I try. 

Bye!