Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Where Had That Lime Been???

Post # 176
My friend asked me if I ever got a coke the other day that I actually got to drink instead of spill.  Well, yes, I did.  I picked my sister up and we went shopping...she lives in NM but was here to take her husband to a dental appt. While he was having a root canal we did things considerably more fun.  Where I live we have Sonic Drive-ins and they have happy hour-----2 to 4 pm all drinks are half price. We each had a 44 oz cherry limeade.  No caffeine.  An improvement, don't you think?  For some weird reason, at Sonic they put the cherry in the cup first, followed by ice and lime, then the soda.  This practice just irritates those of us who want our cherry so we can eat it and even if I ask for my cherry on top it never is. Even if I say please charge me for an extra cherry and put it on the top, it never is.  Obviously there is a law.  Well, my sister and I went shopping and I still had at least half my drink left when I got home so I got in my big comfy chair and got online for my 'net fix of the afternoon, turned on the tv to see the nightly news and drank the rest of my limeade.  As I swallowed the last slurp the newscaster was talking about another person dying from the Listeria infected canteloupe. About then I took the lid off of my drink so I could look for my cherry.  Dug through the ice, removed the lime slices so I could get down to that cherry.  Between picking out the lime slices and the talk of Listeria I begin to wonder.....did the people at Sonic wash that lime realllllly well before they sliced it and put it in my drink?  Did someone touch it with their bare hands? Slice it with a dirty knife? Sneeze on it?  note: to Sonic...please do not sue me for wondering because I didn't say your employees DID fail to wash, I was just wondering.  And I have next to nothing so it wouldn't be worth your lawyer's fees.  But it is something one might wonder, right? Because whatever germ might have been on that lime got washed off while it was swimming in the soda I just slurped down.  Sigh.  When I was able to buy my little spot of land and put a trailer house on it one of the things I hoped to do was grow a really nice garden so I knew where most of my food came from and who had touched it.  Unfortunately, after two years of gardening I produced all together maybe one good meal of veggies consisting of tomatoes and a couple of yellow squash.  I am not a successful urban farmer. yet.  Meanwhile, I surfed the 'net (do people say that anymore....I'm surfin' the internet???) and found a veggie wash recipe.  I used it tonight on some veggies I used in making a pasta salad.  Salad recipe follows down below.  No Pioneer Woman type pictures.  When I cook the condition of the counter is not what you would want to see in a picture.  And besides, somewhere back in the photos I think i did  have a pic of my messy counter. Or maybe i decided to not scare you and didn't post it.  For your viewing pleasure I will see what kind of photos I can cut and paste....

FROM:   http://www.tipnut.com/
Homemade Vegetable Wash Recipe

1 cup water
1 cup vinegar
2 TBS baking soda
2 TBS lemon juice

Directions:
■Mix ingredients then pour in clean spray bottle. Spray fresh vegetables & fruit generously. Sit for 5 minutes then rinse off well.

■Note: Make sure to first mix ingredients in deep container since there will be some fizzing from the baking soda & vinegar.

There are also these Fresh Fruit & Veggies Washing Tips:
■Sprinkle wet fruit and veggies with baking soda then gently scrub and rinse. This cleaning method safely removes dirt and residue off produce.
■A mix of 50/50 vinegar and water sprayed on fruit & veggies also works as a good produce cleaner. Let sit for a few minutes before washing off.

Fruit & Veggie Soak Recipe:
1/2 cup vinegar
3 TBS salt
■Mix ingredients to dissolve salt then add to sinkful of water (stir to mix). Soak fruit and veggies for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove, pat dry.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Casey's Pasta Salad
disclaimer: this is not without preservatives, chemicals, or calories but we like it
Buy a box of Barilla's bow tie pasta, cook according to directions on the box.
Drain, rinse it off and drain again.

Take a package of Hidden Valley Ranch mix  and mix with Miracle Whip according to pkg directions.  Chill.

Take fresh broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and wash thoroughly.  Chop.  Add any fresh veggie you want, we just like these 3.

Take an extremely large bowl and combine all ingredients. I mean a very large bowl...the one you use to make Thanksgiving Dressing.  Or two large bowls.   Chill over night to let the flavors marry. 

Before serving:
Buy a box of Oscar Meyer Fully Cooked Bacon.   Product Details Cook in the microwave according to directions on the box.  Yes, I know the box says fully cooked...you still have to cook it in the microwave, do not skip this step.  Personally, I like mine good and crispy.  Cool and crumble it up.  I don't know how many strips.  Casey always makes this and she isn't here right now. I guess" to taste."

Wash a bunch of cherry tomatoes.  More the better, I say.
Buy a 2 cup pkg of grated cheddar cheese.  Use it all.
Mix these 3 ingredients into your pasta salad.  Serve and enjoy!!!!
I do not know how many this recipe serves.  Casey and I love it and do not eat what anyone would call a single serving portion, like 1/2 cup or something. 



10 months old!

I Know, Exciting Stuff Here

  • Post # 174 
  • Yesterday I cleaned the hall bathroom.   i know, interesting.
  • Scrub toilet. check 
  • Sweep and mop. check
  • Wash shower curtain and rug. check
  • clean off shelf. checkdrop in one of these so the toilet bowl water will match the rug. oh, and, will be clean.
  • put blue marble things in a dish just because they match my bathroom rug
    drop marbles in the toilet. accidentally.  pondered the price of a plumber if i just flush them. stuck my hand in there and fished them out.  was glad i had just cleaned the toilet.


Monday, September 26, 2011

A Big Puddle

Post # 173
I used to be a normal size person for my height.  I know exactly when I started gaining weight.  Many, many years ago I was privileged to attend the Tejas Storytelling Festival in Denton, Tx.  I worked in the youth department of a public library and had my expenses paid to attend the festival and learn something.  It was awesome, but maybe that will be another post someday.  Anyway, I traveled with another woman and we had a budget for food.  We were in her vehicle and she was driving and she loved Dairy Queen.  We stopped at every one between our home and Denton.  Since every wide spot in the road in Texas has a DQ that was a lot of stops.  It kick started my love affair with fountain cokes (sodas....but here we call every soft drink a coke) and Blizzards (preferably any of the cheesecake varieties).  I have had way too many fountain cokes since then and now weigh 80 lbs more than I did before that little trip.  If I even guesstimated and added up what I have spent on fountain cokes I would absolutely be sick.  So far I know that high fructose corn syrup is really bad for you.  The caffeine is robbing my bones of calcium.  The weight is bad for my heart, knees, cholesterol, self esteem.  I'm Mormon, for Pete's sake and we don't drink tea so I have guilt because I love to drink Dr Pepper, which is not tea but is caffeine & if we want to split hairs.....  I need to stop drinking them.  It is just about my only vice but still, I need to just do it and just drink water.  I think my guardian angel is also trying to tell me to give them up too.  Last Friday me and a coke had a terrible run in.  Let me back up....a couple of blocks from my son's home is a brand new Toot n Totum and across the street is a fairly new Pak a Sak (both Tx panhandle versions of a 7-11 or Circle K type convenience store, and found as frequently as you'd find a Starbucks in Seattle). Toot n Totum is an old company....motto used to be drive up and "toot" and we will "tote" out whatever you need. Doesn't work that way any more and I don't know the Pak a Sak story---but back to our subject.  When the new Toot n Totum was built they offered a grand opening special of any size fountain drink for 79 cents.  Typical convenience store price for a 32 oz drink is 99 cents so of course Pak a Sak had to offer the same deal to compete.  4 months later they still have any size drink for 79 cents....so weakling that I am, every one of the 4 days I babysit my granddaughter I first stop at one of the convenience stores (they each have a drive-up window so I pick by who has the shortest line)  and order a 44 oz Dr Pepper (I believe it is THE state drink of Texas and if that is not official please write your congressman).  I don't drink coffee so I get my caffeine for the day from drinking Cokes...which in this case is Dr Pepper, not Coca-Cola.  Confused yet?  Anyway.....last Friday I got my usual 44 oz of high fructose corn syrup Dr Pepper.  I always go in my son's front door, go straight to the baby's room, set down my purse and coke (which is not really a Coke)  and pick up my granddaughter.  I get there about 7:15 a.m. and Taylor usually is awake but barely, just laying there in her crib playing with her toes or toys or something. Her momma is always in the shower when I get there and my son is still in bed but they have a baby monitor and they know she is ok and Taylor is good about just laying in her bed until someone ventures in her room, or she gets mad and starts yelling and gets some attention.  Anyway, our routine is ....I pick her up, change her diaper, rock her if she will let me and we talk, then I bathe her and give her breakfast. After that we play toys and read books, a little before 10 a.m. we go for a walk with her in the stroller, she goes to sleep, I put her in her crib and while she takes a nap I sit in the rocker next to her crib and drink my coke and read something.  Friday everything was right on schedule. I picked up my coke and squeezed too hard I guess because the lid popped off of the cup.  I quickly shoved the lid back down and at the same time managed to shove the straw through the bottom of the Styrofoam cup.  Brilliantly thinking if I tipped the cup over on its side I could keep the coke from running out of that hole in the bottom so in that split second that was the decision I made....and popped the lid off again except this time coke dumped out of the top since it was on its side AND through the hole in the bottom.  I am here to tell you that 44 oz of coke makes a big puddle.  Did I mention my Morton's neuroma feet hurt like heck already and I was about to swallow an extra strength Tylenol with my coke?  Ok fine.  Sop that mess up. Text my son and daughter-in-law to see if they have any carpet shampoo. No.  They do have a carpet shampooer but I have no idea how to use it and am in no mood to try to figure it out.  Call my oldest daughter to see if she could come babysit sleeping Taylor so I can run home and get my carpet shampooer and then run to Wal-Mart to buy carpet shampoo.  Ok fine, she will be there in 20.  I live with 4 dogs that track in alot of dirt so I shampoo my carpet about once a week.  A couple of shampoos back I dropped the water canister to my cleaner.  The cleaner still works perfectly but the water leaks out...so I am thinking since I live on the far north side of town and my son lives on the far south side of town and there is a Wal-mart in the middle where I have to stop and get carpet shampoo anyway, I might as well just buy a new carpet cleaner because I am going to need one at home soon anyway to replace the one with the cracked tank.  Ok.  My daughter gets there, but by then Taylor is awake...didn't sleep through me muttering to myself as I sopped up all that Dr Pepper.  I decide since Taylor loves to go shopping that Becky, Taylor and I will all just go to Wal-Mart so off we go.  Did I mention my feet already hurt?  Get to Wal-Mart and we end up walking all over the store looking at stuff....not good on my feet but Becky and I were having fun looking at stuff and Taylor was having fun waving her little hand at every person she saw.  Go home and open the box.  The carpet shampooer is not put together.  I should insert here that I have never been good at putting things together, no matter how simple, when I feel good.  Me with excruciating foot pain, no caffeine in my system because I dumped it in the carpet, AND something to put together???  NOT  a pretty picture.  Ok...only four screws to attach the handle and the tool/hose holder.  Ok, fine.  Need a screw driver.  I am not at home.  I am at my son's house.  I don't know where the heck they store their screw drivers and I don't like digging through other people's stuff looking for one.  Ok, fine. Go searching.  They don't have a kitchen junk drawer where I might find a screw driver.  WHO does not have a kitchen junk drawer???  Go into my son's garage, which could not hold a car if it had to because obviously that is the man cave since a pool table and couch and some bar stools are out there.....along with a shelving unit full of tools.  Do you think I could find a simple Phillips screw driver, size small?  NO, so I took a flat head screw driver, size large or at least medium, and attempted to put the handle on the carpet cleaner.  I kid you not, I worked on that thing forever.  Had to stop in the middle and feed Taylor her lunch. Tried again to get the handle attached.  See the tool/hose holder and decided you know what? Today I don't need that thing on here....just the dadgum handle so I can clean the carpet.  4 lousy screws!!!!  The problem was the screwdriver needed to fit in a molded hole in the cleaner that the screws fell into and the molded hole was not as large as the screw driver I had.  An hour later I figured out that you HAVE to put that tool holder on to make the whole thing go together but it doesn't really matter because my screw driver is still too big. Why, you ask, did I not just go back to Wal-Mart and buy a screw driver that was the proper size?  Multiple reasons....my daughter had left to go to work and I have agoraphobia and can't go to Wal-mart by myself when I am having a panic attack and by then I definitely was in panic attack mode, my other daughter that usually keeps Taylor in the afternoon was at the hospital with her dad, my feet hurt, I could not think, I had had NO caffeine or extra strength Tylenol (yes i could have take one but in the midst of all this 'it should only take me a minute to install 4 screws in the handle' I failed to think of it. I just was not having a good time.  There towards the end Taylor was in her crib fussing at me because she wanted to get down in the floor and help me put together that cleaner and I was sitting in the floor next to the crib wondering why on earth they could not have made the box just a wee bit bigger and put the dadgum cleaner in there with the handle attached and saved me all this frustration!  She and I were both getting to the point that we wanted to cry.  I kept telling Taylor that I PROMISE i will never bring another coke into your bedroom if I can only just get the dadgum handle attached to this cleaner so I can clean up your sticky carpet!!!!!  Finally, 4 hours after I dumped my coke (Dr Pepper) I FINALLY had the shampooer sort of southern engineered enough that I could clean the carpet.  Screws and nuts were not involved but I got it to work and left it for my son to eventually do correctly.  The hose, which is built in to use with attachments to clean upholstery and was suppose to be wrapped around that tool/hose holder???  I never got the holder on so I just let that hose flap around like a cat's tail while I shampooed the carpet. You'd think that would teach me that cokes are evil drinks and to stay away, far far away from them.  No.  Today, on my way out of the house to meet my sister and go to Kohl's I was going to stop and buy a coke.  As I started to leave the house I thought you know, I have can cokes in the refrigerator....I will just fill an insulated mug up with one so I don't have to worry about straws and Styrofoam cups that get holes in them and make a big mess.  Got out my insulated mug.  Filled it with ice.  Poured in a can of Dr Pepper.  Actually it held two cans.  Tried to put the lid on the cup which should just easily snap on the top.   Pushed too hard and dumped 24 oz of Dr Pepper in my kitchen floor.  It made a big puddle.    

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Post # 172 Bet You Had No Idea How Many Kids Go Hungry in My Town, or Yours

Backpacks provide bounty Amarillo Globe-News  <-------- click here for an awesome story about people helping hungry kids.  YOU COULD DO THIS TOO!  I grew up in a era of history where don't ask don't tell went for just a whole lot of issues.  Shoving issues under the rug was just what was done.  There were lots of elephants in the room of every household in town.  Child Abuse? never heard of it    Hunger? nope   Sexual assault? SHHHH   Mental illness? Good Lord, NO, you didn't talk about it   Homosexuality?   Are you kidding me? My favorite aunt was gay and I didn't know she was gay, even though she lived with another woman, until I was in my early twenties in the 70's and heard my mom refer to her sister and partner as those fruity people and I asked what did that mean.  I have no idea what she told me, I doubt she whispered the word homosexual but she got the point across somehow.  I was married to a man for 19 years who I never told anything about my childhood (nor did he tell me about his, however his mother told me some things so I knew his childhood was no walk in the park either but he and I did not talk about it...we learned that "shove it under the rug lesson" well). Anyway, the facts are I did not have an Ozzie and Harriet style childhood.  I had food but not the 4 basic food groups every meal.  My dad was mentally ill in the 1950's when there were no drugs, treatments, therapists, help and on top of that you didn't talk about it.  He worked hard when he could but mostly during my lifetime he could not work.  My mom was a waitress, not in a fancy restaurant where tips were good but in little mom and pop cafes.  She also did ironing for people and sewed for people.  She did everything she could so we could scrape by.  The 1950's and 1960's were really rough for my mom.   She had no family emotional support, or financial support of any kind.  Food stamps? no  There was no one to babysit for her while she worked.  She did the best she could with what she had.  She had the hardest life of anyone I know and we won't go into that here but what I remember of a childhood mostly blocked out was coming home for lunch from elementary school...like when I was 6....and fixing myself something to eat with what I could find....eating catsup on bread, mustard on crackers, Karo syrup poured over torn up toast, oleo on bread, and---my favorite and ate so much I can't look at it any more---peanut butter on crackers.  Those were the things I remember eating daily for a "meal" all through elementary school.  Bologna, potted meat or pickle loaf with Miracle Whip on bread sandwiches were a real treat....really.  When I was just a little bitty girl I could boil spaghetti if we had the noodles (no sauce) and I could make myself tomato soup if we had a can.  I do not remember mac and cheese---that was probably outside of our budget at the time.  This week I called my sister, who is 8 years older than me,  and asked her why we did not eat in the cafeteria.  You know, free lunches for poverty level kids?  She said there was no cafeteria at  our school.  We grew up in Tucumcari, New Mexico....I'm guessing population 5,000 more or less.   I started school in 1960. At that time Tucumcari had 4 elementary schools and none of them had a cafeteria, my sister told me.  There was a cafeteria over between the jr high school and the high school and my sister said that was the only school cafeteria in town.  She guessed elementary kids were bussed there for lunch maybe, but it wasn't us!  I thought I walked home for lunch because we lived 2 blocks from school but after she said that I realized she was right, there was no cafeteria at our elementary school!!!!   Anyway, with this background you can understand why children going hungry strikes a chord with me. I suffer with depression and I still, at age 57, have therapy to deal with issues from my childhood.  I literally can not bear to read about children that are abused, hungry, neglected, uncared for in any way, shape or form.  It hurts me like someone stabbing me with a knife and twisting it and just to hear about a child in need makes me bawl. Really. And reading stories about children in America that are tortured to death, usually at the hands of a parent or step-parent?  Literally drive me so close to the brink of despair that I fear I will be back suffering a mental breakdown again so I just can't read about them.  According to Wikipedia,  In 2008, there were 1,494 child murders in the United States...that is all the searching for stats I could stand to do, but whatever the number, it is pure evil and it breaks my heart that evil things ever happen to a child. It is one of the things I have to deal with.  Hearing about mistreated, neglected children just sends me in such a downward depression spiral that is so unbearable I can not take it.  I have given up reading CNN on line, or listening to the news usually, because there is just so much evil in the world towards children.  Anyway, Last Sunday I bought the newspaper and on the front page was this story...Backpacks provide bounty Amarillo Globe-News .   Last Sunday I just skimmed through the article. I bawled.  I could not even read it word for word , too painful for me, but I did notice the number of kids on the waiting list and that it only takes $133 a year to sponsor one child.  There are 591 children on the waiting list.  591 children.   I started crying and put the paper away and it is still sitting on my dining room table, I was not able to open it up and read anything...not even look at the coupons for which I buy the newspaper.  There is absolutely no reason for a child in a middle of America prosporous town like the one in which I live to go hungry.  I know they do.  I know they do, right now, today, in my town.  I knew it before I saw this article. There is absolultey no reason for it.  I live on social security disability and a small retirement check.  I don't have just a whole lot of extra money but when I saw that article I told my daughter even I could sponsor a child.  There is no reason why every household in this town that is not truly struggling to feed their own could not step up to the plate and help feed less fortunate kids.  There are very few households who could not take some of the access and abundance of items of which we all seem to have and throw a garage sale and use the proceeds to sponsor a child. $133. I bet in your town there are kids that go hungry.  I bet in your town there is a person who could start a program like this.  I bet in your town there are people who could clean out a closet or two and raise enough money to feed a child. I bet in your town it could be you. And I am super proud of my daughter.  She is a psychology major and member of a psychology club.  They meet Monday.  She is going to see if her club could not only volunteer to prepare these bags of food each week but to do some things to raise money for these hungry kids.  Casey, I am so so so so so proud of you for being willing to do something about a cause so dear to my heart.  Right now my feelings are so raw ( I need to get back on my meds) that all I can do is bawl about it, and blog about it, and hope other people will see this need and do something about it too.  (and for all the people who wrote nasty comments on the newspaper website about lazy parents, people using foodstamps and driving expensive cars, etc etc etc please let me just say shut the heck up until you have walked in one of those children's shoes for a year or two) 

Morton's Neuroma Part II or "like hot cocoa for your toes"

Post # 171  Okay, guys, I am really getting desperate here for some relief. I had forgotten how painful this condition can be when you really have those knots of nerves inflamed...to the point I am just literally sick to my stomach when I have to walk across my carpeted floor to get from one room to another. If you have Morton's Neuroma or know someone who has it and knows of any solution please, please let me know.  As to my plans A, B & C from post # 165.... last night I was laying in bed trying to go to sleep...hard to do when red hot lightning bolts are zapping through your feet every few seconds...really, non-stop, anyway, as I was laying there I thought you know, maybe it IS time to try the surgery then I remembered oh yeahhhhhh, I no longer have health insurance. OK, fine, it probably would have just grown back anyway, as per what Dr said.  I will just pretend I had the surgery. Mind over matter, and all that.  Plan B....I was considering getting the shots but really, I can't get past remembering how those shots hurt.....did I mention if you go that route you get about half a dozen shots (ok maybe 4 but i remember endless, or multiple, pokes) in the top and another half dozen in the bottom of your foot all at the same time, with this needle from hell?? and really I don't recall all that much benefit, but I might cowboy up and give them another shot (pun intended) but then there is that stinky no insurance problem....so moving on to my favorite, plan A...
I am working on:
  • spending as much time on my back on my sofa with my feet propped up on the back on the couch keeping my feet higher than my heart
  • wearing dadgum shoes whenever I have to stand on my feet, walk, get off the couch
  • taking the maximum dose of extra strength pain reliever all day long
  • have a water bottle in the freezer that is part water/part rubbing alcohol so it freezes slushy and after I wrap it in a towel I place it between my feet, holding it in place with the bottoms of my feet, sorta like a contortionist  
  • have ordered new Crocs in hopes that returning to wearing them exclusively will help ... can't wait for them to get here!  Should be the 29th. I ordered these:
  • Yup, lined with a fuzzy fleece lining.  I have had a different style Croc lined with this material and oh, can't wait to sink my feet in to heaven again! I ordered brown but I'm thinking I may have to place another order for bubblegum pink
  • and then, in a different style also lined with fleece, an eggplant pair
  • cause I really like purple-ish anything
  •  I decided to not order the pink and eggplant ones until I tried the brown ones to be sure of the size I needed.  Several years ago I wore my first pair from the fuzz collection completely out but I seem to remember that the fuzzy lining takes up some room and may be that I need a size larger. What I had then was yet a different style and you could remove the lining and wash it....my sister also has that style and they are her "house shoes." These are going to be my house shoes, outside shoes, love my feet shoes.... 
  • Fuzz Collection
If you have any other suggestions of things you have tried with some success, not involving "purchase this vitamin/herbal supplement for only $99.95plus s/h and it will cure what ails ya", please send your suggestions.
And my younger son asked today WHY are my feet so bad again when they had not been so horribly flared up in the past year? Because for the first time since I went to the hospital in April 2010 have I wanted to get out of my house, go for a walk, get some exercise and once the heat fell below 111 degrees I thought that walking was a good idea.  That, plus at the end of July I started babysitting my granddaughter who has a super dooper stroller and seems to really enjoy getting outside and I want to be out there too.  She lives in a beautiful neighborhood (a post about porches complete with photos is coming soon), the 85 to 95 degree weather seems so COOL just makes me want to get out in the fresh air. On second thought, one of those motorized carts you see at the grocery store and at Wal-Mart seems like a good idea.  I could strap Taylor in the basket and we could toodle through the neighborhood to our hearts content. 

Thursday, September 22, 2011

I Have Been Flirting with Imogene's Man

Post # 170   Every day when I am through babysitting my granddaughter I drive up one street which dead ends at a house, and I look to see if a certain friendly looking gentleman is sitting on the porch.  As I turn in front of that house and see Wilbur I wave at him.  He cracks me up.  He makes me smile.  I am in love with Wilbur.  Obviously Wilbur is retired, like me.  Obviously Wilbur loves the outdoors because he is always out there, sitting on the porch every day after lunch when I pass by. When I leave my granddaughter in the capable hands of my daughter and head towards home to see about my dogs I just have to go by and see my Wilbur...first man I have flirted with in quite a while.  Shhhh, my kids don't know.  One day last week I was in for quite a surprise.  See, I thought Wilbur was unattached, like me. One day last week for the first time I saw another woman sitting on the porch with Wilbur.  Who was this woman sitting on the porch with Wilbur holding his hand in front of God and everybody??? 


Turns out, Wilbur is spoken for.  He is Imogene's steady guy.  When Taylor and I went for her morning nap-walk today I decided to knock on the door and see who she was.  I had a real nice visit with Imogene.  She is a very creative sweet woman.  Imogene grew these gourds, dried them and she painted them.  I like them.   I got to meet her dogs, a Boston bull dog and a chihuahua.  She told me she and her late husband Herb lived in Wyoming for 50 years.  He asked her to think about where she would like to live in case he passed away first and she said some where with milder winters than Wyoming.  They came to Amarillo to visit a relative one Thanksgiving, liked it here and bought a home.  After he passed away she made herself her Wilbur....  and it is ok if I still want to drive by and wave at him.  I never thought about making my own man, but I do like the tall, dark, silent type.

I'm proud of my niece!


love that her cat is sitting on top of the display-----
-he matches the color scheme perfectly!
Post # 169
I am proud of my niece for a bunch of reasons including
  • she is a good daughter
  • she is a RN
  • she is an excellent mom to two little girls
  • she takes good care of her husband
  • she can make homemade tortillas, amongst a gazillion other homemade things
  • she loves animals
  • when she is not working at a hospital, taking care of hubby, kids, dogs, cats she is artistic, creative and crafty, crafty, crafty
I love the fall display she put together for her yard...
It just seems like such a nice "welcome home"  display.  I love it. I asked her if I could post her photos here so you guys could see them and she said ok.   This is what my niece wrote me about putting the display together....."The fall decorations in the yard I made from an old ladder my mom gave me.  The scarecrow's and flowers I bought at Michaels sunday during a 50% off sale and I had a 15% off coupon!  So yes 75% off!  The cat-----well I would say she was free as she just showed up one day and was so very loving, but she has cost me money feeding her daily.  LOL" She made a quilt for her little girls to take to football games...the high school team mascot is the longhorn thus the LL for Logan Longhorns...she told me this is called a rag quilt. She says "The logan longhorn quilt was old jeans --- i even used the ones with holes and patches as you can see in the pics.  Mom and I use to buy the jeans at garage sales or I just save Jimmy's old jeans as they get holey.  I cut the longhorns, L L, and LHS out and then sewed fabric Janet had given me that a lady she knew didn't want anymore and was getting rid of.  Some of it is red and black fuzzy animal fur type fabric, some silk, just whatever I could find in the box that matched.  The back... I will send a pic... is red and white flannel."  


The cut out design is the head and horns of a longhorn cow. steer. I'm not sure.  do Momma cows AND steers of the longhorn family both have the long horns?

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Butterfly Bushes and Crepe Myrtles



Post # 168    I have the most pitiful yard.  The heat and drought this summer did quite a number on it and everything I had planted since I moved here two years ago for the most part has died.  What I WANT my yard to look like is this:

Cottage Garden
THIS!



Back Yard
or this

Water Feature
or this

but what I have is........


my garden


front yard

 
my back yard
A little more monochromatic brown than I was going for.   Fescue sod? dead  2 dozen rose bushes? dead  multiple crepe myrtles? dead  2 Cleveland Pear trees? iffy  Redbud tree? Wonderful! Lilac bushes? dead Trumpet vine? dead 100's of Heavenly Blue Morning Glories? dead  Boxwood's? dead  Mandivilla? Great! Moss Rose? hanging on!  Verbenas? One of two still with me  4 O'Clocks? What did not die are hanging on  butterfly bushes? gone Other misc bedding plants? No way, Jose.  I talked to a landscape business owner a couple of weeks ago and he told me I would have had to spend at least several hundred dollars a month on water to keep my grass alive with the temperatures we had this summer. Impossible. It wasn't just me, the man who writes a gardening column in the paper said he didn't know anyone that didn't lose plants this summer,,,.but either I am an optimist or a glutton for punishment because I was at a home improvement store trying to find something to make my chain link fence more private....trying to solve the barking dog problem plus add height since I saw the pit bull and one of the doberman's next door get over their front fence with no trouble at all, not that it matters since the back isn't fenced at all....but back to the subject, while I was at the store I cruised through the lawn and garden plant section just because I am like a moth to light when I see a plant..... and they had a clearance rack!  Be still my heart!!!!I got these little babies for 99 cents each!  Butterfly bushes!
a couple of way marked down Knock Out Roses...$3 









and yes, I am trying a couple of crepe myrtles again....I swear I am going to baby these and make sure they get the water they need...they were rock bottom cheap too,,,
Luckily, my grandsons were here this weekend and i was able to get them to plant some of the things for me.  They way my feet are right now I don't know how long it will be before I could stand to push my foot against a shovel so what they did not get planted will have to wait until they are here again  in 2 weeks. 

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Yes We Have No Bananas

Post # 167   Casey, Taylor and I went to the grocery store today.  After I paid for my groceries I saw the get your flu shot for $25 sign so I asked Casey, since she was driving, if she minded if I got a shot.  I asked the pharmacy tech if there would be a long wait...oh no, just fill out the form.  So I filled out the form, paid and waited.  Did I mention Taylor did not take a morning nap and it was getting close to her lunch time?  We waited, and waited and waited 30 minutes before I got my shot.  In the middle there, Taylor let us know she was tired, hungry and not a happy baby so Casey peeled one of the bananas we had purchased and handed to her.  Oh my goodness! That baby loved getting to feed herself that banana! And NO! she did not want Casey to take the banana away just because the peeling was getting in the way!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

I Like His Kind of Humor

post # 166
Our Sunday in Chronological Pictures (08/2010) joshwoodtx blog   <----- cool! This guy is so funny.  I love reading his blog.  I wish my kids read my blog and I would tell them to go to his blog, click on most recent, and read So I Was Interviewed...., there is an important statement in there.  I also love the photo of his family on the interview page...his wife, 6 kids, him....from the knees down.  I like his kind of humor

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Morton's Neuroma

post # 165     I am in total, utter misery right now and I am going to talk about it because i want to, and this is my blog and i don't have to always try to be nice and perky and happy.  I sorta hate to talk about Morton's Neuroma pain because it is not like I have cancer, or lupus, or MS or a brain tumor or a gazillion other serious illnesses but dadgum it hurts like hell!  I have Morton's Neuroma in both feet.  Yep, of all the lotteries in the world, I won this one and got it in both feet.  According to my Dr it is not really a tumor but just a knot of nerves that have grown together and get inflamed and cause pain.  Since it is inside your foot if you do something like say, stand up, it hurts like hell.  I said that, not the Dr.  At best it feels like you have rough shards of rocks in your shoes right at the spot where your toes are attached to your foot.  At the worst, for me so far, it feels like red hot poker lightning bolts zapping through your feet.... continually, for weeks, sometimes months depending on how much time you can spend with your feet propped up, sometimes so intense my toes or entire foot jerks.  On a pain scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst it is a 79.  It makes me cry.  It makes it realllly difficult for me to walk or stand sometimes.  It is hard to get much of anything done if you can't stand or walk without excrutiating pain. I developed it probably 10 years ago and there has not been one day that my feet have not hurt, just the degree of pain varies, depending on how inflamed the nerves are.  This seems like a contridiction but it also causes numbness.  My toes are numb except for that burning lightning bolt feeling.  My sweet, sweet daughter gives me a pedicure every now and then and she has purposely poked the tips of my toes with the sharp point of nail scissors to see if i can feel it and I never can.  My Dr said Morton's Neuroma is most often caused by forcing your foot into a narrow pointed high heel shoe not only squeezing your toes together but the high heel forcing all your weight on the ball of your foot.  LOL! I am not a girly girl.  I would like to be and do things like wear high heels but I prefer comfort and can't imagine how women wear those kinds of shoes to work all day...or for several hours at church or anywhere.  Why torture yourself I say so I have never even owned a pair of high heel shoes.  Nope, I got it some other way.  Anyhoo, once you get these nerves inflamed just about the only things you can do are: plan  A. stay off your feet until the inflamation goes down, plan B. have shots of a corticosteriod in the top and bottom of your foot or plan C. have surgery to remove the ball of nerves.  Well, I probably would have opted for plan C and had surgery ...no, I know I would have if it would have guaranteed relief, but my Dr. told me if you are prone to have this condition the truth is the chances of it reforming are high and he would do surgery only as a last resort since it is likely to just come right back. Let's see, have a painful surgery only to have it grow back causing even more pain.  No, I am a tough old bird but I really don't like pain.  I did something like that once when I had a growth removed from the very sensitive area between your nose and lip and it grew back....but i will spare you the details for now.    Plan B...well I tried those shots a couple of times.  Lucky Morton's Neuroma people get to have multiple shots in the top and bottom of your foot at one time.  like I said, I tried that.  As I was laying there flat on my back getting the shots in my foot my ears filled with the tears running from my eyes because those shots hurt so bad.....and if they relieved any pain it must not have been for long. Really, my ears filled with tears.  That needle was long and it hurt.   That leaves plan A as my plan of choice over the years when I just couldn't take the pain any more.  But guess what, when you have a job the powers that be tend to frown on you staying home with your feet propped up while your bundle of nerves un-inflames itself.   Let's just say it takes more than an hour or two.  I have to say, the city for which I worked was very, very good to me in many ways.  At one point I transferred to a branch library and pretty much had to stand for most of my 8 hour shift and they provided really squishy floor mats for me....actually once the branch head found out how truly miserable I was from standing on that concrete floor she ordered 2 mats and we placed one on top of the other at the circulation counter where I worked.  Thank you, Jan!  The mats didn't "cure" me but made it where I could wait until I got home every night to cry and have my daughter massage my feet and bring me extra strength tylenol.  Another thing my Dr told me was that walking barefoot makes the pain even worse.  I hate to wear shoes so this was just the last straw....pain and I had to wear shoes even when I am hanging out at home.  Really, I am living proof that staying off your feet is the only real relief!  The past 17 months since I have been trying to get the depression under control  (and sitting most of the time) have been the most foot-painfree I can remember.  Which brings me to this week.  I love to be outside, if it isn't 104 degrees.  My granddaughter seems to love being outside too.  This week we had wonderful cool weather and I took Taylor on long walks in her stroller.  Often we walk for an hour.  Thursday we went for a walk 3 different times that morning.  Friday it was foggy and cool and so I just bundled her up and we walked for 2 hours.  It was so pleasant! And then Casey, Taylor and I went and walked around Walmart. And then on the way home I stopped and walked around the biggest grocery store in town. Yes, my feet hurt every step of the way, but they hurt if i am walking in the house or outside so I chose to walk outside in the cool air with Taylor.  Well, in hindsight, there is a big difference in walking around the house and setting down for extended periods of time if I want and walking for 2 hours straight on a concrete sidewalk and then another hour or two on store concrete floors.  I have those puppies totally inflamed, just like when I had to work every day. Oh, Lord, please forgive me for I have abused my feet.  I could just cry it hurts so bad and I could just cry because it will probably take weeks of staying off my feet as much as possible for the pain to subside to a dull roar.  For the past year I have been wearing nothing but Sketchers Shape-Ups because the curved bottom keeps alot of the presure off of my neuromas. The only way I could stand to work was by wearing Crocs.  When I get through with this post I am going to order some new crocs and go back to wearing them all the time.   I love this quote from this website  http://www.mortonsneuroma.net/the-symptoms-of-mortons-neuroma   ..."Some studies have show that Morton’s Neuroma may be just as painful as childbirth." AMEN and amen...except they should have added but it doesn't ever stop. And no baby or prize of any kind! Please----Everyone who has given birth without drugs think about that final moment before the last big push and think about being stuck right there feeling that ....what i definitely remember as pain, for years!   I don't know if it is because I was just now reliving 4 childbirths after reading that article or that stupid baseball mascot costume from previous posts has traumatized me but I'm seeing sperm in all the wrong places.  You will not believe this, or maybe it is just me, but when I was searching on the internet today for something to give me some relief I came across these shoes.   I am not promoting these shoes, sure not buying them for $129.95, I just wanted to say.....does that look like a sperm on that shoe to you????? Because that is what it looks like to me and I don't know why on earth a sperm would be on a shoe??? Really, I did not make this up.


I'm Doing the Happy Dance!

post # 164
I'm doing the happy dance because:
 1)  Michael's is developing a digital scrapbook program!  Really, I am majorly excited about this! I have been making a digital scrapbook for my granddaughter with photos from birth and will end with her first birthday party in November using Shutterfly.com and I absolutely love it!  SOOOO much fun! I can hardly wait to see what Michael's has to offer.  Evidently they will have a free subscription and then you can also choose to pay for more options.  I am anxious to see how their photo book prices compare with Shutterfly, Snapfish, Winkflash, Kodak, Walmart, Target etc since they do not charge you for a subscription to use their tools.  With so much competition Michael's will probably have good sales just like the others.   If you want to check it out then go to michaels.com then check out midesign ... yes, that is midesign with an i
2) Because these slow cooker liners are worth every penny!  I forgot how much they were but not much and you get 4 in a box.  I will never have to scrub off cooked on, dried up food again!  I love my crock pot but hate to clean it.  Even if food isn't dried on it the crock is heavy and cumbersome to hand wash in a shallow trailer house kitchen sink.
3) the weather is beautiful, cool, not windy at all and  at 6 p.m. I am sitting on my front steps singing.  Yeah, singing.  I am not musical in any way, shape or form. I can not carry a tune in a bucket, the only thing I can play is a CD and I don't sing around anyone but very young children while rocking.   Today it dawned on me that no one was here but me and the dogs.  Casey and Becky no longer live here so i can sing all i want, no one will be walking in --- the dogs might mind but they don't complain.  I put my ipod in my ears and sang along to my heart's content.
and of course i am not really doing a happy dance......physically........because not only can i not sing i do not have anything remotely like rhythm either!  Even if i did i couldn't dance right now because my feet hurt soooo bad.  That reminds me.....i have always wished i could dance.  One year my daughter and I took a line dancing class at the local community college.  When the class started i discovered the woman directly behind me was my boss's boss....the library director.  After the first class she said to me "Carol, it is a good thing your dancing ability doesn't come up in your evaluation at the library."  LOL!!!!

Post # 163 Boys of Fall

My 4th grade grandson's football team had their first game today. My grandson is a little guy... I didn't get to go but I think he must be the short one. 

It's Going to Calm Down Now

Post # 162  I love this baby girl!  Her daddy is my baby.  I love him too!  He just cracks me up sometimes.  Before Taylor was born I was talking to him and telling him how concerned I was for him and Kali because Kali was working such long hours for an 8 month pregnant momma, he was working long hours too, they weren't getting enough rest, and they were facing some unexpected major bills (no health insurance and Taylor was a surprise baby) and I was worried about finances, the amount of rest they weren't getting, etc.....stuff moms worry about for their kids.   He told me "Mom, it's okay, the baby will be here in a month and things will calm down."  Whenever I think of him thinking things are gonna calm down when the baby is born just cracks me up and I laugh myself silly.  This past week Taylor started biting (people), holding her breath when she gets mad, having night terrors, and is discovering what all she can reach now that she can crawl anywhere she wants........ and my daughter Casey said "Mom, remember a year ago when Brent said things were going to calm down???"   just picture Casey and me ROFLOL!

That was NOT What I Expected!

Post # 161     One day this week my two daughters, my granddaughter and I went to Golden Corral Restaurant.........one of those all you can eat cafeteria type places.........and shopping at Kohl's, my favorite store.  When I packed Taylor's diaper bag I put a bottle of apple juice in it.  In retrospect, as far as I know, Taylor has only had apple juice in her sippy cup and only formula in her bottles.  At Golden Corral she had mashed potatoes which she just loves and a glass of  water.  After she finished her potatoes and the rest of us were eating I got out her bottle of apple juice.   After she had a drink of her bottle she made this face and that is when it dawned on me that she probably has never had anything in a bottle but formula before.

I think this face means "That was NOT What I Expected!"

I Amuse Myself

Post # 160   I was answering a friend's comment on my blog and said I amuse myself.  It is true, usually no matter what, unless I am in the depression hell hole, I can amuse myself pretty easily.  When I was a kid I loved to read.  My mother used to tell me that I read every book in the children's section of our libary.  We were a really poor family and I didn't own a book of my own until I was about twelve and my favorite aunt gave me a hard back book...The American Girl Book of Horse Stories (this was decades and decades before the American Girl books and dolls that little girls know now...not the same thing at all).  That I owned a hard back book was just a really big deal to me.   It was a collection of stories and I read them all a million times. I have a brother who is 16 years older than me.  I had wanted a set of encyclopedias for years and they were really out of the realm of possible for my parents. My brother got me a set when I was in the 6th grade.  I can not tell you what that meant to me.  I read that 1966 edition of The World Book Encyclopedia from cover to cover, volume to volume for years.  I kept them until the mid 90's and I was still reading them when i gave them away.  Since they were 30 years old when I got rid of them they were pretty dated but some things never change (like info about states).  One of the other ways I amused myself as a kid was that I read the phone book, the entire thing.  LOL! If i don't have something to read then I will read any thing!  I grew up in a town of about 5,000 people...Tucumcari, NM....so you can just imagine how thin the phone book was! Ok, even now, when the new phone book arrives I am compelled to read the yellow pages but now i just skim through unless it is a really interesting page.  I no longer read the white pages since our phone book in the big city is quite a big larger!  My very favorite thing of all time, hands down, though is reading a catalog.  Seriously, that was my all time favorite "toy" from as far back as I can remember as a little kid until I got my first digital camera not all that many years ago and that is now my favorite toy.  When I was a kid there were big catalogs from Sears Roebuck & Co.,  Montgomery Ward, and Spiegel.  Even better was when the Christmas catalogs came out.  LOL! As I said, I grew up in a financially challenged home and as a kid i really didn't understand that people could own all those things in the catalogs....that was just way beyond my comphrehension!!! I poured over those catalogs for hours every day.  I really miss those  catalogs.  Store websites are basically "a catalog" but it is no where near the same.  I still get some catalogs in the mail.....nothing at all like the Sears catalog that had absolutely everything in in but I love them still, even if they are skinny.  One of my favorites is Terry's Village.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Please read

Post # 159
http://bravegirlsclub.com/archives/5832   <-------  This post on other person's blog just broke my heart, made me think no one could read it and not be a changed person,  made me want to yell "yes, amen, i have wanted to wear several signs too", made me wish the entire world could read it.  Please, I hope you will take the time to read it.  I promise it is worth the couple of minutes.  A friend of mine had a link to this article on her blog is how it came to pass that i now have it here.  Peace to you and yours

Hhmmm I say, hhmmmm

 Post # 158   
     Tonight i was watching the local nightly news and I heard a newscaster from central Texas say "County Judge Ronnie McDonald...."  so I'm thinking some Mom really named her son Ronald McDonald?  Did she ever think he might be teased to death? and can you imagine the campaign when he ran for judge?? or more accurately, the opposition's campaign slogan? "don't clown around, vote for me"  maybe? just sayin'
    Have you seen the mom on the news recently because she dressed her 3 year old little girl up like the Julie Roberts prostitute character from "Pretty Woman" for a toddler beauty pageant? Really?  I'm flabbergasted, I'm old, I'm thinking in about a dozen years that child is going to be saying "you dressed me up as WHAT??"
    Remember the Amarillo Sox baseball mascot (June 30, 2011 post # 62   So, the Amarillo Sox have a disturbing new mascot joshwoodtx blog  )? It is now for sale on EBay, opening bid of $5,000-----I'm thinking Halloween will be scary for women everywhere this year.
    Again, I guess i am just old.  I had been looking forward to the new sitcom "Up All Night" about a couple with a new baby.  What a waste of 30 minutes of my life.  The funniest part of the show was the commercial they had been teasing us with for a couple of weeks.  Of course this is just IMHO, but i had such high hopes that it would be a good, funny show. 
       

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Heavenly Day!

Post # 157
It is just a Heavenly Day in my corner of the world! It gently rained for most of the past 24 hours, it is a cool 52 degrees and foggy (we have fog approximately 2 days a year in a good year), I love autumn (except i hate the color orange), i was able to wear sweat pants for the first time in months and months, my house smells like the stew I have in the crockpot (i thought I was going to have it for lunch yesterday but i didn't get it on to cook until 5 p.m. tonight instead of 5 a.m. Wed) ...I just wish i had a log to put in the fireplace. life is good...and i am having such a mellow evening i feel no need to go back and recapitalize i's or anything else.  e.e.cummings influenced me early on

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Post # 156 Coats, umbrellas and crockpots

Wooooo-Hoooo!  My favorite weather guy says Thursday we will need coats, umbrellas and something good in the crockpot for Thursday! 80% chance of rain and only a high in the 50's.  Today when I drove through downtown the bank sign said the temp was 93.  Since it is mid-September a high in the 50's is sounding pretty good to me! I am planning 5 days of crockpot meals, stew tomorrow, chili on thurs,  roast on fri, beans on Sat. and a chicken recipe for Sunday that I will list here on Monday so I can include a picture.  I hate to wash my crockpot...I am going to buy a box of those crockpot liners and see what I think.  Do you ever use them?

I splurged!

Post # 155  I have always wanted a spinning head automatic toothbrush but they are so dang expensive.   Today I was at Wal-Mart and saw that they have their own brand, Equate, and guess how much it is???  Drum roll please..... $3.97.  Yep, under 4 bucks, batteries included.  I just tried it and it is awesome! Either I am just a lousy tooth brusher or it worked really well because my teeth feel like I have had my teeth cleaned at the dentist....for $3.97!  It could also be because it felt so good I just kept brushing and brushing and brushing! I tell ya, I AM a big spender and easily amused!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

What I am Thinking

Post #154
We lived through the tenth anniversary.

I bet no one but the dogs know this about me but I like to watch tennis.  on TV...I'm not sitting out in the sun and heat to watch tennis.  I don't play tennis....i just WISH i moved that much!  The main attraction to me is I love to hear the whop of the ball being hit.  When you lose some of your hearing i think things like that suddenly are precious.  Bird chirping, ditto.  Baby voices, ditto.  Hearing is a funny thing.  When I first got hearing aids I did not realize computer keyboards make a sound when you type.  The first time I went back to work with hearing aides I was astounded to find out that you can hear a noise when you type.  The two people that shared a big desk with me in the library were sitting there and I turned to them and said LISTEN! (me randomly pounding away on the keyboard)---this makes a NOISE! did you know that??!!?? (they replied yessss and please stop that) Anyway, as you know my dog ate the hearing aides but they were old & not working for me anyway but if it is just me and the dogs in the house with no other noise, and they aren't barking, and if i have the TV up pretty loud, I can hear the whop of a tennis ball being smacked.  I like it. I am easily amused.  Today I was pretty upset with Serena Williams tho.  Oh, Serena, not championship behavior.  I won't go into it here...the morning shows will cover it, involved her & a ref. 

I bet no one, not even the dogs, knows this but if I could have a different life I would play the cello, piano and the drums.  In this life I can't read music.

My 9 month old granddaughter spent 4 days with her other grandparents in another town.  Taylor has only seen them twice this summer, once in mid-May and one other time.  I wondered if she would know who they were but her parents called and she was having a wonderful time.  I imagine she thought "oh boy! Lots of new people to see my "dancing baby" thing that makes everyone laugh at home!"  Anyway, Taylor's mom and dad went to meet the grandma at a football game where another of her grandchildren was playing. The grandma had Taylor in a stroller and as she was walking Taylor toward her parents Taylor saw them and tried to make the stroller go faster and started pulling on the seat belt buckle.  Awwww, at 9 months I don't think she could understand why she got left and her parents disappeared for 4 days.  I am glad for the other grandma since she needs to see Taylor too though.  I wish those grandparents lived here.  I wish I owned a couple of acres and we ...every one's relatives in our family...all had our own houses on it where we all could see each other.  We could have a flag system----one for yes please disturb me and another for please leave me alone.

I have been working on a photo album to give my granddaughter, sort of like a scrapbook.  I get immense pleasure from taking photos and now with putting together that book.  Over the years I have loved buying scrapbook paper, stickers, etc and made some pages but mostly I just bought the supplies. I am not using those supplies, but making a digital scrapbook with Shutterfly.com...it is sooo much fun!  Which reminds me, my boss at one of the libraries did the most awesome thing for her daughter.  Every year of that child's life (now a college student) she bought a calendar for her child's room and every night wrote down something her daughter did that day......for 18 years.  Every movie she went to see, every time they went to church,  every time they went anywhere, every tooth in and out,  every time she was sick, every dance class, every playdate, every date date, every---everything.  At first she chose the calendars but eventually her daughter chose them so that too was a clue to her likes.  When i was telling my daughters about the calendars one of my daughter's said that was an invasion of privacy...i told her OH HUSH, I thought it was cool. (picture both of us rolling our eyes).  I guess because my sister and I did not have an Ozzie and Harriet life....not even one day remotely... and we both have blocked out almost all of it, and the parts we do remember are not so pleasant, but moving on....I want my granddaughter to have this photo album of what she did her first year.  How well she is loved and cared for, what she wore, did, saw.  I am ending this one with her first birthday party which will be in November, and then I will start on year two.   When the photo storage company I use has a really awesome sale at Christmas, I'm thinking half price on hardbound padded cover copies and free shipping, I will have the year one book made. I will teach her to wash her hands before looking at it, and to not tear pages, but to look through it all she wants.  My kids were children before digital cameras but I have a huge rubbermaid tub full of printed photos.  Gazillions.  I plan to get my kids to come help me sort through those some snowy day, scan what I want and make books for my children and my grandsons too about their childhood. 

I spent the weekend pricing options, and trying to figure out a way to keep my dogs and the neighbor dogs from barking at each other.  I hung out with my son and took him to buy OJ because he has come down with a cold.  My daughter had one the first week of school.  I think I am catching a cold too.  I love my grocery store.  They have buy one get one free meat almost every week.  Last week was boneless skinless chicken breasts. This week is hamburger.  Today I took a very long nap and missed lunch.  While I was napping I dreamed that the son I took to get OJ and I bought that hamburger and made a big pot of chili.  When I woke up I was really hungry and I thought oh yeah, Trey and I made chili.  I was very disappointed when I went to the fridge to warm up a bowl and there was no chili.  :(  Tomorrow I am going to plan menus for the rest of the month.  Tomorrow I am also going to find my weight watchers manuals and go back on the program....just me, not going to meetings.  I would if I could afford them, but I know what to do.  My daughter took a pic of me with my granddaughter and I look like Buddha.

September 11

It seems like yesterday

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Doing some venting

Post # 152
I love dogs.  I don't like scary dogs.  To me, pit bulls and dobermans are scary..along with a whole list of big dogs...and  I know there are people that absolutely love them and I am glad you do.  I just don't want a dog so strong I can't control him if need be....such as when HE is angry.  I guess I mentally scar easily.  When I was in high school a big dog jumped the fence and killed my dog.  For most of my life he was my only friend...i know that sounds like an oh wahhh sad story but I grew up in the original dysfunctional family and we were very isolated...never had anyone over to our house.  We were practically the only house on the block except for the older woman next door who hated us.  My little Boston bulldog was my constant companion.  We must have had him at least 10 years............at the time as long as I could remember & I must have been 16.  I was crushed when the neighbor's dog chewed him up.  Then when I was in the hospital having my first child a grandmother was also in the hospital.  The lovable, sweet tempered pit bull that she always slept with when she visited her daughter had a nightmare or something and attacked the grandma as she slept.  She lost a leg. Almost lost her life.   When my youngest grandson was maybe 4 he was visiting me at my son's home and when I opened the door to let my daughter and my grandsons in my son's Great Dane came up behind me, grabbed my grandson, who is a small child anyway and his jaws went around my grandson and left shallow puncture wounds in the middle of his back and the middle of his stomach...that is how big the Great Dane's mouth was.  I loved that Great Dane.  I lived with my son & daughter-in-law at the time and the Dane often slept with me.  It was my son & daughter-in-law's home & dog, not mine and they took me in when I was so broke I couldn't afford rent even though I was working full time and had 2 part time jobs (and had a lot of medical bills).  After that I was terrified of that great dane because it took 3 adults to get him pulled outside, him snarling all the while.  Luckily I was pulling on the dog with every bit of strength I had before he really had a chance to chop down and puncture my grandson's liver or something.  So...that is why I will never own a dog that is so large it is stronger than me and why I don't like living next door to large dogs.  The people next door to me had 2 maybe 5 lb yorkies.  They didn't scare me a bit! Sometimes they had a pit bull visit and I did not like the looks of his jaws or his bark. The Friday of Labor Day Weekend they moved out and some other people moved in.  First Sunday I saw a pit bull and one doberman.  Monday there was a pit bull and  two dobermans.  The dobermans followed me to my mailbox which is across the street.  The neighbor's yard is only fenced across the front and doesn't attach to mine on the side so there is a big gap a grown man can walk through (so it was easy for the doberman to get out to follow me).  That evening I saw a guy out there with a piece of chain link wiring it up to cover that hole.  I thought great, I guess the dobermans are not just visiting. And putting up that piece of chain link--- Big deal---the entire back of their lot is unfenced!!!  All weekend I had to keep my doggie door locked so my dogs (schnauzers, shihtzu and a schnauzer-beagle mix...oh and i had my beagle grand dog for the weekend too) anyway, I had to keep the doggie door shut so they couldn't get out in the back yard because the neighbor dogs and mine just growled at each other through my chain link fence like they would eat each other up given the chance.  Keeping my dogs out of our back yard was pretty annoying.  Today there was a pit bull, a little schnauzer and the two dobermans on the other side of the fence growling at my dogs when I let them out first thing this morning.  I had been praying all weekend that the people with the big dogs were just there for the weekend helping the other people move and all of them would be gone SOON. Well, I came home this afternoon and there were the above mentioned dogs plus THREE dobermans.  When I saw 3 dobermans that was it.  I went next door.  All 3 dobermans are just skin and bones and when I got in the yard with them I discovered they have ticks so huge even I could see them.  To their credit the dobermans didn't bark at me when I opened their gate and marched up to knock on the door.  Maybe it was the steam coming out of my ears and the stinky eye I gave them.   The woman comes to the door, sees me eying the huge ticks on the three dobermans that have surrounded me.  Yes, she knows our dogs wanted to fight through the fence all weekend. All of our dogs barked at each other all night long.  She says all weekend long when she heard me yelling for my dogs to shut up and get in the house her dogs listened and stopped barking and ran up on their porch.  I just glared at her and she saw me eying the dogs ticks.  Yes, they have ticks. she says at the place they just moved out of she kept them in pens that "were just tick factories." Great.  I'm thinking I will have to invest in gallons of heavy duty tick spray for my yard.  It gets better...she says they also have .......I forgot how many, but several (4?) doberman pups in the garage in the back that she needs to find homes for.  One of the skinny dog's pups.  Wonderful.  So we have at least 7 Dobermans next door, a schnauzer, which is fine with me, and a pit bull. I am glaring at her and she says she guesses she needs to get that dog spayed.  I just looked at her then  I locked my eyes on the most pitiful doberman and said did you just get him from the pound or something---he is terribly skinny.  She says uh, no, he is very old.  I tried to keep my cool while letting her know I was concerned about her big dogs because I don't want them to poison my dogs or something but now I am wondering....does this lady have a little puppy mill going?  My niece just emailed me this morning about a lot of dachshunds that were rescued from a puppy mill near Lubbock.  I have to go to sleep now since I just typed puppy mall  instead of mill and couldn't figure out how to spell rescue....and worry about it tomorrow but I am going to have nightmares about those giant ticks all of the remaining night left. 

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Stopping by the bookstore

Post # 151 
      I so love a good bargain!  I haven't been out and about too much in a very long time and I felt the need to go somewhere today .... even though I don't mind being a hermit, today was one of those days when I was so grateful for cooler weather (a high of only 80 today!) and could actually stand to be in my car (no A/C and horrible hot weather this summer) so on the way home from babysitting my granddaughter I went to a book store.  Truthfully, that wanting to go somewhere thing was also a way to avoid going home because I was dead tired from my neighbors keeping me up all night all through the weekend, my grandsons were at my house Monday night and I didn't clean up the kitchen after supper and I didn't want to come home to that mess, and I had a task to do that I couldn't put off any longer but it was so overwhelming I just couldn't make myself get started on it---and if I wasn't home I didn't have to face it....but anyway ...push beyond my comfort zone and go in the bookstore.  First I looked at the Mary Engelbreit 2012 calendars.....love Mary Engelbreit....and this particular bookstore always has calendars half price eventually so I will have to watch for that sale to come up. Something to look forward to!  Getting a new calendar is just one of those things I love.  Clean blank pages just waiting for me to make birthday notations.  My poor confused mind!  I am having a tough time convincing my brain it is 2011.  I mean really, I think it is 2010 all the time.  I "lost" a year with the brain fog I was in and every day I turn on my computer, look down there in the bottom corner to see what time it is and notice it says 2011 and I think WHAT?  When I went in the book store today and saw the calendar display just beyond the front door I saw 2012 on them and honestly thought--oh-kay, this still seems like summer, did it get to be 2012 without me realizing it???? It was 100 degrees just a few days ago, doesn't that mean it is not time for new calendars yet????  Are these way early or left over from last January?? Getting a new calendar and writing in all the important dates is sort of a New Years Day thing for me.  LOL! I had to go home and get on the computer and check the date down there in the corner to get myself unconfused. but back to the good bargain....this store sells used as well as new books so whenever I am there I check out the baby/toddler board book collection.  For Kali's baby shower I bought about 20 board books, most of them used but you would have a hard time convincing me they weren't brand new.  I  pick through them carefully but honestly almost every used board book at this store looks like it is in perfect unused condition.  Just every now and then I come across one that has really been read enough to show any signs of wear.  I have gotten them for $1.99 to $3.99 and most new board books are $5.99 to $10.99.  After being the storytime lady for so many years I have a mental list of titles I want for my granddaughter so when I see one of them with a used sticker I just do the happy dance! Well, only on the inside. :)  Today I found 4 titles that I really wanted and got them to save for her birthday in November.  Since she and I read her board books every day I am ready for some new ones.  I don't check out board books from the library because believe me those things are loaded with germs.  I was always saying I wish we could just close the library and take an antibacterial wipe to every book in the building and clean them up.   And no I never did clean up the kitchen (I am embarrassed).  I came home and took a long nap, warmed up leftovers for my dinner, tackled that task I had to do, which took me 4 hours and created all kinds of frustration and stress but I got it done.  Now tomorrow I will have to come home to the messy kitchen and tackle it then.

Monday, September 5, 2011

But You Don't Look Sick

Post # 150
The Spoon Theory written by Christine Miserandino

  • If you have a chronic illness--especially one that isn't visable--- please read The Spoon Theory
  • If you do not have a chronic illness but know someone who does please read The Spoon Theory
  • If you do not have a chronic illness and don't know someone who does that is amazing but you will meet one of us sooner or later so please read The Spoon Theory

I found it on a website called http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/
you can click on the title up there at the top of this post or you can go to the website
thank you and good night

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Oh, Happy Day!

Post # 149
Oh Happy Day!  It rained during the night!  Around 1:30 a.m. the thunder and lightning woke up the dog family and since Gracie is absolutely terrified of thunder and rain I woke up too.  It is just pitiful how terrified she is and how violently she shakes.  I don't know how much we got but enough that the ground is still wet at 8 a.m. and that has not happened since it snowed last Dec, maybe Jan.  Yesterday was day 50 of 100 degree or higher temperatures in Amarillo this summer but ---oh, happy day! Today the high is suppose to be 78. All next week it is suppose to be between 78 and 82 degrees.  I can hardly wait! Fall is here! I can open my drapes and front door!  I am claustrophobic and really hated to have to keep the windows covered to keep the heat out this summer.  Monday morning I plan to be out bright and early cleaning up my yard when the ground is no longer wet.  Today I can get outside and clean out my car.  Go for a walk in a park. Sit outside in my swing. I wish I had a bicycle.  Life is good!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Don't Have a Cow

Post # 148
After I typed the title I wondered if that is just a southern expression.  It means don't get all worked up over something that is none of your business.  Don't get a bee in your bonnet.  Don't get your panties in a wad. Moving on, I've been a little under the weather and I didn't even realize I hadn't posted anything in a week until my sister told me.  Things are pretty dull at my house (as usual) but I just saw something on TV that stirred my dander up.  Some things just makes me wonder, why can't we all just get along? Can't we just choose to be kind? Can we just mind our own business? On second thought, I need to work a lot harder on that one, but I do try to be kind to others.  This is just a thought about being in an uproar because someone is different than you.  It is OK to disagree with me, agree with me or not care one way or the other. 1st of all, I care deeply about tolerance and acceptance and kindness.  I don't personally know a transgendered person but IMHO it is really sad that some people are in a rage publicly because Chaz Bono is going to be on Dancing With the Stars. If someone is so opposed to seeing Chaz on that TV show, all they have to do is change the channel.  End of problem. Do you really need to verbally flog him?  Has he not had enough struggles and hurts? Their claim that it is wrong for children to see a transgendered person on TV....I'm thinking no one who does not know Chaz's history would look at him and think "he looks like he used to be a woman."  No, he looks pretty male to me.  And you don't have to let your kids watch it if you don't want them to. And you don't have to take it as a chance to teach tolerance & acceptance. I read his bio that was published this year.  He shared his transgender story not because he wanted to but because he happened to be born to famous parents, therefore his entire life has been in the public eye, by no choice of his own after birth, especially when he didn't want to be scrutinized by the whole world.  The lesser of two evils was to talk about it himself.   IMHO people probably do get born in the wrong bodies.  I don't know why, how, when. IMHO  I believe we all have at least one cross to bear in this life and I believe we walked with Jesus and choose the one we will carry.  I believe I said "OK, I will be mentally ill, I will lose a portion of my hearing, I will be the mother of mentally ill children, I will live most of my life without a husband to love me, I will choose to struggle financially, and I will choose to follow and love You. Most of those things will be hard, but not so hard that I can not bear it with Heavenly Father's help--- so thank you for not giving me one that would be any harder."  And really often I say to myself "what were you thinking Carol? Couldn't you have chosen the burden of having money???" I think we have those crosses for a purpose--for us to learn something, to test us, to teach others.  Maybe the Lord allows people to have these crosses because how can we learn tolerance and kindness to mentally ill people if there are no mentally ill people? or deaf people? or transgendered people?  or whatever thing someone might be prejudiced against.  It is easy to be nice to someone who is just like us, harder to people we don't like for whatever reason.  Maybe some people said yes, I will take that transgender cross.  Or maybe it was just a mess up of brain chemicals. Or maybe the moon and the stars didn't line up right, but it doesn't matter. Is it any reason to have a cow because someone was born in the wrong body and they chose to do something so they could be happy? Back to DWTS....I watch that show sometimes.  I will be watching this season because Chaz is on there.  I hope he wins, I hope he is accepted, I hope he has a good time, I hope Cher supports her child.  IMHO if someone has a problem with DWTS it should be the name because not all of the people they have on that show are "stars."  Cher is a star, Chaz is a child of famous people.
P.S. I also hope the burned soldier, Mr. Martinez wins too but I guess only one of them can.