paltry, sage, rose merry & time

...and as it always has, rock crushes scissors...

2012-01-15T12:18:00.005-05:00

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. They're about as effective for me as To Do lists. I suck at both. I do better with Goals. One goal can kick 4 New Year's resolutions' asses. My latest long-term goal is simple... when I get home, usually from work, my goal is to almost immediately NOT set my fat behind in my recliner. Because when I do that, I usually stay there for pretty much the duration of the evening. Nothing gets done. Recently, I have even asked Kevin to handle the damn TV remote control because my right hand hurts (too much computer time lately).

I have been working a lot of long days the past few weeks, what with the annual crunch time at work (4th quarter and year-end close). I'm sore and tired. The chair beckons even as I am driving home.

I have several projects at home in varying stages of completion. I blame it on the damn chair.

I am super duper behind on my paperwork at home. I blame it on the damn chair.

I not only did not lose any weight last year, but I now weigh 7 pounds more than I did this time in 2011. I blame it on the damn chair. Well, truly I blame it jointly with certain aspects of my job. And the damn chair.

Because I, of course, am perfect at accomplishing everything I set out to do, but my perfection has been derailed, by no fault of mine, by that damn chair. SIGH.

I would get rid of that chair entirely (and Lord knows, I should - between me and Wiley, it has rips and tears and kinda looks like crapola), and Kev and Joyce have both suggested it... but I WILL KILL THE PERSON WHO DARES TO TAKE MY CHAIR AWAY. That is not me talking, by the way, it is the damn chair.

Wiley loves to lay in the chair sometimes during the day when we're gone. While he sleeps and lays his head on either arm, he drools, so the material covering the arms is rather stiff with dried dog drool. And though this grosses Kevin out, I find it endearing. It's not any dried dog drool, it's my Wiley's drool. Plus this makes my chair less likely to be occupied by other people.

My short-term goal today is to get laundry done and while doing the laundry, get some job work done... I brought my company laptop home again this weekend. It's nice I can get work done from home, but it stains my weekend. SIGH.

As it is currently past noon, the day is technically half over, and I am still in my pajamas and not yet started laundry. As a further means of procrastination, I decided to write this blog post. It had been so long since I've posted, I actually forgot my blogger.com password and had to look it up. Now that's sad.

On the plus side of procrastination efforts, I have gotten all caught up on my eBay feedback. That would remain a strange statement without an explanation... I've been buying beads and findings on eBay, all sweet, pretty things for 99 cents or so with free shipping, and many from far-away lands (i.e., China, Hong Kong, New Jersey, etc). I receive small padded envelopes in the mail on practically a daily basis. This led our inquisitive postal delivery guy to ask my daughter about it one day when he had to hand-deliver a large package from Amazon at Christmastime. She was a bit taken aback by his blunt question. I told her she should have said it was all about sex toys. Big business in sex toys. Especially those from foreign places like New Jersey.

A friend of mine at the pottery studio makes a lot of ceramic pendants, and she uses them to make jewelry, along with many other beautiful things out of which she makes jewelry. I don't wear necklaces... I used to, but I found after my neck surgeries, that they tend to irritate the big scar at the back of my neck. But I have found that I enjoy making ceramic pendants. Which is why I got into buying all the jewelry beads and crap on eBay. I've also become somewhat obsessed with making pieces of pottery using leaves, dried weeds and other plant pieces. Which I have also used making pendants. Stay tuned for photos sometime soon, or so... No promises. Bet you could guess that huh.

Joyce and Mike have left today already as they have a meeting at the church with the sister. At the church in which they will be married this June. I'm not sure who "the sister" is and why they have to meet with her, but it's a requirement of the Catholic church where they will be married. There's much I don't understand about Catholicism, and I'm pretty certain that's not gonna change. Tomorrow will be five months from their wedding day.

Sammy is still working at McDonalds. He still dislikes it, but it's money. Which that boy goes through like water.

My procrastination now must end. Kev is in our bedroom, and I hear the vacuum running. You don't realize how dangerous that situation is. He might throw away something good. Not of his, of mine. His claim that I have hoarder tendencies is completely unfounded. Packrats are an entirely different species from hoarders.

Make a new plan, Stan!

2011-08-21T09:15:00.000-04:00

I left the air conditioner set to 69 degrees last night and woke up freezing.

Kev and Sam are off on their boys weekend together, and Joyce and Mike spent the night over at Bay City, so you would think I'd have a nice, quiet evening with the house all to myself. But no. Murray and Ollie make a surprising amount of noise for 2 such small kittens. They are apparently curious about everything, and will try anything to investigate. Also, I deeply regret purchasing those cat toys Sam selected... the ones that have little bells or make noise.

Another purchase at PetSmart was a covered cat litter box with a swinging front door. We have this downstairs right now, and it will stay where it is until both kittens are done with their recovery from getting fixed and declawed (which won't happen for at least another month). Then it's going elsewhere. I don't really care where, just not in the far corner of our livingroom. A place where Wiley cannot get to it, preferably, since my formerly amazing dog has decided that litter-covered cat turds are treats. Gag.

I keep seeing this little Chevy S10 red pickup truck on M-20:

I am hating football season. Sam is doing two-a-days now, and his knee is a major source of pain. Along with other varied and many bruises and injuries. Like how his teammate managed to poke Sam in both eyes during practice. Sam's eyes were very red; it made me feel so sick to look at his eyes... words can't do it justice. So we made a trip to Urgent Care to check on any corneal damage. We had to go into the "eye room" where the doctor put that yellow dye in each of his eyes, then turned off the lights in the room and held the blacklight up to Sam's face. My freaky purple boy...

No lasting damage thank goodness. Unlike his knee, by the way. Our final visit to the surgeon a couple of weeks ago went like this: It Didn't Take. That's what the doc said. The cadaver ligament patch to Sam's PCL apparently didn't work. Sam was told to wear his brace and play football like he doesn't have a knee injury. All that for nothing. I can't explain how I feel because once again, words can't do it justice.

On my way home from work the other day I saw 2 young men walking on a sidewalk along M-20. Even from a distance I could tell they weren't the type of men I'd invite over to my house for a visit. As I got closer, I saw one of them, a very tanned, very skinny young man with is shirt off and thrown over his shoulders and his jeans so far down that mostly his entire boxer-covered ass was in view (how in the hell he can walk like that, I don't know)... anyway... he had a tattoo that was below his belly button but above his low slung boxers. That was the only tattoo I could see on his torso, and it was odd. Got me wondering... if it had been on his back, it'd be called a tramp stamp, so what is it called on the front?... this required an answer from the Internets! Go ahead, Google (or Bing or whatever) "tramp stamp" and perhaps you, too, will be educated as I was. I did not know it stood for something that specific to some people. And what is a male equivalent of tramp you ask?... there is none, i.e., "Words for a promiscuous woman are invariably derogatory, but words for a promiscuous man are frequently perceived as compliments."

I sure do see some interesting sites along M-20. A while back, on a very hot and muggy day, I saw an old man - he looked close to 80 years old - driving a lawn mower. This old guy had his shirt off, and the effect of gravity on an old person's body was in great evidence. He was bouncing along in his yard, at a pretty good clip, mowing his crappy looking yard without a care in the world. Oddly enough, it was kind of a rewarding site. I think he was probably going so fast so that he got a bit of a breeze, and he clearly didn't give a damn what anybody thought. I liked that. Made me smile.

I am still adjusting to my CPAP machine plus some other medical issues that are too boring to discuss, but my eBay phase continues. I like to choose a word, any word, and search all categories to see what is the most expensive thing. Try it, you will be astounded... or at least you will shake your head just a bit in disgust, as I do. Folks, there are some weird people out there. And also some islands for sale. With waterfalls!

One category is for selling gift cards and gift certificates. Like if you got a fifty dollar gift card to Appleby's for your birthday but you really just want the cash instead, then sell it on eBay! You will get $48.97 for it. Seriously. Perhaps even $49.97. If you have a Wal-Mart gift card or store credit (from a store return), you could even earn money! For some reason, Wal-Mart gift cards on eBay sometimes sell at auction for more then the value of the card. Will someone please explain that shit to me?! Crazy.

Speaking of crazy, I regret my search on the word "taxidermy"...

And more craziness... people are quite creative in their endeavor to con you out of your cash...

Something wonderful awaits! Yes, wonderful cash for the seller from the sucker who won that auction. I also rediscovered this eBay category, which I had forgotten existed...

and I found these auctions...

I could not resist, and so I did a search for such craziness in completed auctions. Folks, there are some downright less than intelligent people out there...

One cent, ok maybe, for curiosty's sake... but four bucks on a mystery envelope? That's just dumb. So please see any of my 4,000 auctions for a mystery envelope. Momma needs a new car. But then I'm creating some pretty bad karma for myself, aren't I? Hmmm... but I can just buy some good karma on eBay!...

Whew!

I love Michigan

2011-08-15T11:50:00.004-04:00

Love the nice, cool morning temperatures!

Can't wait for the leaves to start turning colors...

Wakey wakey

2011-07-12T06:41:00.026-04:00

Since I've been using my CPAP machine, I've not been sleeping well. By well, I mean very long. I used to be in bed for the night about 8 or 9 hours each night, but now I'm lucky if I make it to bed by 11pm and stay there until 4am. I just can't get my mind settled down to be sleepy. My body is tired, but my mind is whirling. I think it's adjusting to the new level of oxygen. And though I think the 4 or so hours of sleep on the CPAP I'm getting are better than the 8 or 9 hours I was previously getting, it just ain't enough downtime...

This has made for some interesting nights. And many, many eBay purchases. Right now I have about 12 unopened packages from yesterday's and Saturday's mail. I also found a great place to buy New Balance shoes, Joe's. Highly recommend Joe's. I also bought 3 used books from Amazon.com sellers, and they're awesome. And cheap! What a deal!

I found some real super cool etsy stores... dyenah from California who cold-water dyes vintage textiles, like tablecloths and aprons, and they're beautiful! That's what some of my eBay purchases are... vintage tablecloths because dyenah has inspired me to wanna try cold-water dyeing. But now I've ordered 3 tablecloths from dyenah, too. I couldn't resist... she had them on sale!

I've liked etsy for a long time. Before all this late night computer obsession started, this etsy artist, Jessica Grundy, easily convinced Joycie and I to purchase several prints... we have plans to use them in a future girl's nursery, among other places. We bought her prints: Roots, Jenny, Swarm, Little Sharpshooter, Duet, Take Warning and Layers. Layers is going in my kitchen area. When the prints arrived, extremely well packaged, I might add, the artist had included a hand-written thank you note and some free goodies. I love etsy shop owners... they're so nice!

I like to get on etsy and pick a word to search items... like spike. Search that one and you'll love some of the results. I don't remember what search led me to this awesome charm bracelet, but it also led me to discover the term, "steampunk." I know! Where the heck have I been?!

Tangent: Wikipedia for me is just like the old-fashioned, printed World Book Encyclopedia set we had when I was a kid... I'd look something up, and that would lead me to something else, so I would have to go pull out another letter of the alphabet (there was a book for each letter, for those youngsters reading this), and pretty soon, I was sitting on the floor near the bookcase surrounded by 14 volumes of the encyclopedia. Ahhh... good times. Sometimes on Wikipedia, I get so far linked from my original topic that I forget what I was looking up in the first place. Ahhh... good times.

Anyway, back to etsy... this photographer, Wild Life Prints, from Nova Scotia, is someone who I think I would really like to meet in person. I'm sure he must be a fun person to be around.

These salt and pepper shakers made me laugh out loud!

This artist, who lives in Hawaii and makes a lot of masks, inspired me with her tomato face mask. By inspired, I mean that I pretty much copied it, and then I made a matching green pepper and jalapeno for my sister, Kathy, to add to her collection she puts on the side of their shed near her garden, which collection has grown large enough to expand to another wall of the shed...

And based on this item and this one, and also this one, Uturn is also an etsy artist/shop owner who I'm sure I would like to know.

Just like eBay, of course, there's a whole lotta crap on etsy along with all the cool stuff. I know as hours and hours of research lately has proved it. But I still love searching on it. I've been semi-obsessed with wall hooks lately. And this feature of etsy is awesome.

Thanks to my friend, Michelle in California, I've been enjoying some new web sites, like this one. And thanks to my niece, Michelle, I've been enjoying StumbleUpon, too. My niece is very talented, by the way...

I've even begun keeping a list of words, phrases, names of people & things that I hear on the radio, on TV or in conversations, or that I read, such as in magazines at the doctor's office waiting room, that I want to look up later. That Internets! So interesting!

I also have been searching for the perfect purse on eBay. And in the process have given away 2 purses to Joycie, 1 to my sister Janet and 2 to my mother-in-law Sharron. Only 1 I've bought is okay, but it's still too small. I've been trying to get a good deal on a Vera Bradley Stephanie now, but those people who sell VB on eBay are crazy. Too much money. But I did find a great Tignanello wallet real cheap. Score! Update since I started writing this post: I forgot! I won a VB Stephanie purse auction, and it arrived and I like it. Still too much moola, though.

Along with not getting sleepy enough, I have also discovered that I can't stand to sit for long in the recliner and watch TV in the evenings anymore. Kev and I follow a lot of TV shows. I do mean a lot of them... many shows. We are American TV junkies and proud of it. We rarely ever watch a show that we haven't recorded on the DVR, and we fastmercialize though most of the commercials. We do stop and watch some of the commercials; I'm really enjoying the SubWay ones where the adults talk like little kids. I can't explain why those appeal to me, but they do! Especially the "do you wanna be my boyfriend" one.

So anyway, back to my point, which is though I have not only enjoyed vegging in my much-beloved recliner for many evenings, I've craved it often (since 2008), but now... now I sometimes feel like I'm gonna go crazy if I don't get up out of it and move.

I think I've been gravitating to the computer because it keeps my mind active. I've been Googling all kinds of junk, er... I mean information. But don't quiz me about it, coz I don't think my short-term memory thing is quite back up to par yet.

The many hours, many in a row with no break, spent at my desk in the dining room on either my company laptop working or on my home computer the past couple of weeks has brought up a new problem for me. My poor old feet swelled up like big, fat cantaloupes. Too much arthritis and too many hours hanging down... not used to it, so it caused holy havoc on me feets. At present, I'm wear old person socks, and I confess I love them. Those socks, along with a dedicated effort to raise my legs as often as possible, have really helped. It's nice to walk again. File that one under "if it ain't one thing, it's another."

Curious thing, though... it's taken me about 5 days to actually complete this blog post. That's the other thing about the past couple of weeks... I think the only thing I've been good at, and actually productive at, is the work I've done on my job. With all the stuff at home, I start, I stop, I go back, I get distracted, I stop, I start, I go... ya get the picture. What a mess. And today is Saturday, and at our house, that means that mom goes to the pottery studio. But I didn't make it in there today... I just couldn't get to it. And I wasn't feeling creative. This past week being back at work into the office was hectic and exhausting, and I feel flattened. Flattened and strange.

Speaking of strange, I leave you with a photo I took one evening a while back. Joyce and I were on our way home from her trying on wedding dresses, and we passed a church that had a sign that caught my eye...

Good to know.

Apropos of nothing, something in my house has been emitting a single, very high-pitch beep every so often, like every 1 hour, 17 minutes and 23 seconds or so, for DAYS. At first I thought it was our smoke detector in the living room telling me of the eminent demise of its battery, but that's not it. I cannot find the source. It is bugging me.

"No wonder you feel like shit."

2011-07-04T12:51:00.015-04:00

Among some other physical/medical type issues I've been dealing with on which I won't bore you with the details, I've been not sleeping well. As in snoring loudly, apparently - with the stopping/gagging/choking thing... much to Kevin's unending delight, but waking up in the mornings very tired and with a daily headache of intensity ranging from searing-need-an-ice-pack-gonna-barf to just awful. I have never really slept well, and I have a tendency to wake often through the night. But I thought my increase in problems sleeping was related primarily to the neck issues I had in 2007 that resulted in surgery early 2008. Seems like since back then, really since 2006... I just haven't slept worth a damn.

So on Wednesday, June 22nd, I went to the Midland hospital's Sleep Lab for a Sleep Study. One of my sisters did this a few years ago, and I kinda knew I had to do this, but I just didn't want to. The thought of a machine for sleep apnea... well, I just didn't wanna think about it at all. But my headaches have increased in intensity lately, and I feel like crap pretty much all the time. I just got plain sick and tired of waking up every morning feeling sick and tired. Seriously, it began to feel like why even bother going to bed... and sometimes why even bother about anything. I know, I know, let the pity-party jeers commence. But critical times call for critical measures, plus my doctor (who is really a PA, but she's really my doctor - my life, my terms... plus she's awesome and amazing and super duper smart) told me I had to do the sleep study.

So I go to the Sleep Lab, not sure what to expect and feeling a bit anxious... but it was not at all like a hospital room, it was actually a bit like a lovely bedroom...

And there was a huge recliner there, where I relaxed and used the hospital's high speed wireless Internet while waiting for my turn to be hooked up and plugged in...

The documentation I received beforehand warned me that attaching all the wires for the sleep study could take 2 hours, but it didn't... it took less than 20 minutes. The technician puts all these wires all over your head and chest area, plus 2 stretchy belt things around your chest (on women, above the boobs under the armpits) and your belly, both over top of your clothing, plus some more wires on your legs (because they monitor for restless legs, too). Yes, it was a lot of wires, but it wasn't invasive. I didn't have to get undressed at all. I didn't wear pajamas, I wore my comfy Tigers jersey and a pair of stretchy sweatpants, which made me feel more comfortable there. I think I would have felt more, I don't know... anxious or vulnerable in my pajamas. No hospital gowns, either, thank goodness.

I also knew you were watched and recorded during the study, by this wall-mounted camera...

And I also signed a document allowing them to use the results, i.e., the recording I assume, for teaching purposes. At first I didn't want to sign that paper, but then I thought, what the hell, people have to learn somehow, right. Plus, really, what do I care? I have given birth twice, people at hospitals have seen me in much, much worse conditions than snoring loudly while hooked up to a bunch of wires all over my head. And I hope the part when I farted makes them laugh! (Oh, come on! everybody farts!) (I also think I'd like to donate my body once I'm dead... coz those medical students have to get their cadavers from somewhere, right.)

I was much more relaxed than I thought I would be for the sleep study, and it was primarily due to this person, Neal...

Such a smart young man, and when he was hooking me up, he started explaining about sleep apnea, how it happens, what it does to you... all in a very practical way that I could easily understand. Neal put me at ease, and I felt that he was caring and totally non-judgmental... he made me feel comfortable and that I was doing the right thing for myself in going through the sleep study.

I have, of course, done my research on the 'net about sleep apnea. Wiki explains it ok, and it states this:
     Most cases of OSA are believed to be caused by:
     old age (natural or premature),
     brain injury (temporary or permanent),
     decreased muscle tone,
     increased soft tissue around the airway (sometimes due to obesity), and
     structural features that give rise to a narrowed airway.
I don't really agree with Wiki... frankly some of their listed causes seem like OSA results not causes, and I don't really agree with the order of the listing of their causes, here's why: Neal explained that many of his family members have sleep apnea, primarily because of their related physiological makeup resulting in narrow airways. He also said that sleep apnea isn't always the result of a person being overweight, but a person with sleep apnea who is not being treated for it often will end up overweight because of sleep apnea, due to the resulting lack of energy.

It's kind of what came first, the chicken or the egg...

I could relate to that. I've been trying to get more exercise in my life, but I just don't ever seem get to it... I know that if I exercise, I will expend all my energy and won't want to do anything else like, for example, go to the pottery studio, and I know if I go to the pottery studio, I usually use up my energy allotment for that day. The last time I really had good exercise was back when I was walking a lot in late April, early May of 2008, once I was off the antibiotics/PICC line and was starting to feel a bit more like myself again... but then once I started back to work half-days I had no energy for walking.

Anyway, Neal was awesome. His momma must be very proud and his wife is one lucky lady... her name is Heather, I know coz I inquired about the tiny bit of ink I could see on his arm - and then I got him to let me photograph it... what a great guy, huh?! He designed it himself and got the tattoo the day before their wedding...

So... the sleep study. Neal explained that if they noticed signs of sleep apnea, he would possibly come into my room at about 2am and wake me to try me on a CPAP machine; there was one sitting next to my bed.

Neal woke me at about 1am, and he explained that in the study, a person stopping to breathe is called an "event" and 5 events per hour means you are diagnosed with sleep apnea. If you have more than 30 events per hour, that is severe sleep apnea. Neal then told me that I had 112 events per hour. He also said my blood oxygen level dropped to 79 often, when they didn't want it to get below 90. So he put me on a CPAP machine with a pillow instead of a mask, which is kind of like the oxygen tubes in your nose in the hospital. I adjusted to that very well, and then he woke me again around 3am and tried me on the mask, not the full-face kind, just over my nose. I didn't like that so much, but Neal had to wake me up at 6:30am. I woke up in that bed with the mask on my face, and it was the first time in years that I didn't have a headache and I felt actually rested.

It was amazing to me.

Neal also told me that I never hit REM in that time before 1am, but I did with the CPAP. REM sleep is pretty important.

When Neal was unhooking me, using some kind of stuff to take the adhesive off my skin, he and I were talking some more about sleep apnea and what I should expect. He listened so well and answered all the questions I could think of. I have to admit I was a bit distracted because my mind kept interrupting me with, "Holy shit, I feel good, look ma, no headache!" And then I remembered I wanted to take photos, and Neal let me photograph him (such a nice guy!). I forgot to get a photo of myself all hooked up with all the wires, though... that would have been interesting. Then Neal said he'd let me get ready to go and then he'd walk me out, show me to the elevator. So I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth, and I see this in the mirror...

Cracked me up! Just thinking about carrying on a conversation with Neal and me looking like this... Sah-weet!

On my way to Little Chef to meet Kev for breakfast after the study,

I kept going over all the stuff Neal had said to me. I kept thinking no wonder I'm forgetful, no wonder I have no energy, no wonder...

Seriously, my short-term memory has totally sucked the past few years. And my energy level also sucks.

I forgot my pillow at the Sleep Lab, by the way. Of course! (It is a special, very expensive pillow that I got because of my neck problems.)

So this past Tuesday, I was able to get a CPAP machine. It usually takes a couple of weeks from the date of the sleep study to process all the paperwork to get the machine, but since my sleep apnea was pretty severe, I got pushed up to the top of the stack. Yay! Or ummm... damn.

But... what I was dreading, I now urgently desired...

The CPAP I got came with a humidifier, which is nice for the nasal passages. I got the pillow thing, which goes around my head and at my nose, and it's not really that bad. I can sleep quite comfortably. The machine is very quiet, too. My first night on it at home Kev said I was as quiet as a mouse. So of course, he slept much better, too. I refuse to photograph myself with my head gear on, so here's what it looks like from the product documentation:

Not a big fan of the pink, clearly a man made that marketing decision.

And thank the Good Lord for medical insurance...

I have not had a wonderful morning on my CPAP like I did in the hospital, and I'm still waking with a bit of a headache. I am having trouble adjusting to the CPAP and the new sleep routine... frankly, quite a lot of trouble. But the sleep I'm getting is better for me, I can tell... I can't explain how I can tell. I'm still feeling quite crappy but also I'm not... that's the best explanation I can come up with now. Further 'net research agrees with what I heard about adjusting to the CPAP, which is it could take a month to a year. Everyone adjusts differently. I think I am going to try and get the nose mask instead of the pillow, to see if that helps me better. It was less comfortable, but that is what I was using in the Sleep Lab when I woke so nicely. Worth a shot.

If you have a loved one who snores, and if you have medical insurance, talk them into a sleep study. It's worth it. The long-term effects of untreated sleep apnea are unpleasant. A good night's sleep... priceless.

Wild Red, White and Blue

2011-07-03T00:50:00.008-04:00

Ollie and Murray

2011-07-01T10:34:00.010-04:00

Quite some time ago, a very crappy person dropped off 3 kittens at the end of my folks' long dirt driveway out in the country. The 2 sisters and brother made their way up the driveway and proceeded to live out in a small out-building near my folks' house. My mom fed them and tamed them, but with everything else going on for her lately, she didn't get around to getting them fixed. Both females had kittens at the same time. Joycie and my niece, Michelle, both helped my mom take care of the kittens. I can't remember how many kittens there were in total, but it was a lot. Both the momma cats treated all kittens the same, sharing the mothering duties. Joyce enjoyed that time with so many kittens; she was right in her element! Homes were found for all the kittens, including 1 to Michelle and 2 to us.

We got 2 brothers (or cousins, we truly don't know), the only tiger-striped of the litters and a black and white cutie, Murray and Ollie, respectively. The plan was to only get 1 kitten and have him live with N.C. and Frankie, our 2 outside cats (they live on our porch and keep the chipmunk population somewhat in control). Frankie is getting very old, so I thought we would put a kitten with them to have Frankie and N.C. train him.

But then somehow, being unable to decide between the 2 kittens, we took both.

This is Sam with the kittens on our trip home from Gramma's house. As you can see, Sam is pretty much overjoyed...

Blossom was not so much overjoyed as annoyed, but also curious, as was Wiley... and we were all amused at Kev actually holding Ollie on his chest...

Joyce worked with taming the kittens, and so Ollie and Murray are both used to being held, in pretty much any position. Ollie does seem to like perching on shoulders...

While Murray loves pretty much any position, including on his back...

Murray's stripes give way to spots on his belly, so cute...

This was Sunday evening a couple of weeks ago, and we had a vet appointment scheduled for them for the following Monday morning. We decided to keep them in the house overnight so they were easily accessible in the morning, and so we put them comfortably inside of the large crate that was Reilly's and is now infrequently used by Wiley. (Reilly loved it, Wiley not so much.)

Sunday dinner discussion at the table was a lot about Kevin adamantly insisting the 2 cats were NOT going to be kept inside. He got pretty loud and insistent about it. I just patted his arm and said "yes, dear." Sammy started to argue with him, but I stopped that.

Home from the vet and the kittens are, of course, still inside. They both slept with Sam last night. After a week or so, Kev just looked at me one evening, after Ollie had climbed up the back of the sofa and surfaced right above Kevin's head, and said, "They aren't going outside, are they?"

"No, dear, they aren't."

So our house has been overloaded with cuteness ever since. Reilly's old, somewhat ratty pillow bed was for some reason set on top of the dog crate, and now Ollie and Murray have claimed it for their own.

Being brothers (we're going with brothers), they stick together pretty much all the time. They do a lot of pretend fighting, too, but it's adorable. They do a LOT of sleeping, and that's really adorable. They've been with us only about 2 weeks, and they noticeably grow bigger daily. And since they seem to love Reilly's ratty pillow, it seems we're stuck with that in our living room now... but honestly, who's looking at the ratty pillow with these 2 on it?...

Sam and I went to PetSmart and loaded up on necessities for them, as well as some toys. As a result, Blossom is warming up to the kittens now since they all love the toys. Wiley still chases Blossom, but not as much because his chasing time is divided by 3 now. The kittens initially hissed whenever they got near him, but now they seem not only ok with Wiley, but curious about him. Also, I think they have discovered that Wiley is a source of warmth, so hopefully some majorly cute photos featuring Wiley, Ollie and Murray sometime in the not too distant future.

I posted the video below on facebook, but for my non-facebook friends and family, here is it is again - my friend, Megan, being adored by Murray...

Eat For Two

2011-06-25T11:06:00.005-04:00

The other day when I was working from home at my computer desk I was, as usual, totally enchanted with the birds at and around the feeder right outside my window. Birds are actually pretty much pigs on the black sunflower seeds... one of the bloggers I like to read who has a bird feeder for the first time noticed how much seed they can go through and had some commentary on it that made me bust out a belly laugh. Go here and read it for yourself - enjoy!

I've noticed before when a male cardinal would feed a female cardnial, and it was really cool to watch. There was a pair that day, and at first I thought it was a pair as in Mr. & Mrs., but... the female looks very young....

There was just something about the pair that made me think they are father and daughter...

And this time, I not only got photos, I took video! and set it to appropriate music...

Birds for Joyce

2011-06-24T20:47:00.006-04:00

Even though I have been trying to practice throwing on the wheel at the pottery studio, I still love hand-building. I made a set of small, shallow dishes for Joycie recently by using slabbed clay (the studio has a slab roller) and plaster forms.

They are squarish bowls, about 5" diameter and only about 1" depth.

My thinking when making them was to use them for olive oil dipping for breads, because we love that... a good olive oil, a nice spice and some balsamic vinegar. Yum.

I ended up making her a set of 9 because they all stayed intact! A couple of them had cracked when I was making them because I dried them too quickly, but they all made it through the bisque and then the glaze firing just fine. So now she has extra.

I decided to paint on the dishes doing something from one of my favorite illustrators, Charles Harper. I love his work. I've mentioned him before on my blog, from the "Twenty Froggies" poem in Childcraft. I searched for images of his work on the 'net, and there were just so many of his birds I liked, that I finally settled on doing all birds... but then there were so many birds to choose from, it was difficult to narrow it down to 9! Have I mentioned I love his work?!

The studio uses a medium-fire stoneware clay, white. I made the bowls and let them dry, then I traced the birds onto the bowls with carbon paper (remember carbon paper?!). I then used underglazes to paint the birds and the outsides of each bowl. Underglazes are basically like colored clay, and you can mix the colors to achieve different colors... and pretty much the color you paint onto your greenware piece (prior to bisque firing, or on bisque if you prefer) will be the color on the final piece after glaze firing. This is much different than typical glazes for bisque which are made up of glass and chemicals, and where your green glaze will be a shade of gray until it goes through the final glaze firing in the kiln. After the bowls were bisque fired, the underglazed colors were very dull. I dipped each dish in clear glaze, and then after the final kiln firing, they were all nice and shiny. I like working with underglazes for detailed painting. Unfortunately, I can't draw, so I usually trace and then paint.

I surprised Joycie with them the other day, and she was pretty happy. Another something for her "hope chest"...

Mike liked them, too. I can't believe they are getting married in less than a year. Time flies! Like the birds...

All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.

2011-06-14T18:40:00.030-04:00

I've always liked bugs. As a kid, I'd look for them everywhere outside. All the little parts of the bugs kinda fascinated me. I'd make the ants go one way, then block them off to make them go another, and another. Major summertime fun.

That's not to say I am 100% a fan of bugs 100% of the time. If there's one in my house, I'll send it to that great big bug heaven in the sky no problemo. And spiders can really creep me out. Through becoming somewhat obsessed last spring & summer with taking photos along our ditch of all the floral and fauna, including bugs and yes, many spiders, I've come to not only appreciate spiders more, but all the weird and the familiar bugs I came across. It's their shapes - geometrical, flowing, long, short, skinny, fat... and all the colors. The colors! Truly amazing. And the combination of colors. So pretty. Pretty, pretty bugs! And the legs and wings. Weird eyes. Hairy parts... Interesting, very interesting.

I have accumulated a lot of close-up photos of bugs. I've been sorting through them all, and I've been able to trash a kazillion and one jpg files off my computer's overloaded hard drive the past couple of weeks. Following are some that I have decided I like... enjoy - I hope you don't get creeped out (Kathy!)...

(Click on the photos to enlarge 'em and really see some detail... on most of them, some of them I saved a cropped smaller photo and deleted my nice large original jpg file... *sigh*)

The end. (Do you feel itchy all over?)

Our Sunday Drive

2011-06-03T19:50:00.015-04:00

Kev and I took an afternoon drive this past Sunday. Not something we do much lately (damn those gas prices), so it was really nice. The day wasn't super sunny, but very pleasant. We started out over in Mt. P., and stopped by Ryan and Megan's for another good-bye. Then we headed kinda sorta north, where we soon left the pavement behind...

We saw some beautiful country, including this large bit of marshland...

Home to at least one family of Canada geese...

And several Red-winged Blackbirds, like this beautiful guy...

The geese family made their way through last year's dead cattails. The babies were adorable...

Then Kev and I watched the blackbird go postal on the lead goose...

It got very loud between the blackbird and the geese - very loud! We think the geese must have gotten too close to the blackbird's nest. Whatever it was, they finally called a truce. The mom and dad ushered the goslings on through the marsh. The cattails and other growth in the marsh didn't seem to impede their progress; they moved pretty quickly along and away from the blackbird. We enjoyed the bird drama!

We saw a lot of beautiful barns. This one was near the marsh.

Love the stonework. New pole barn on old, old footings...

I was hoping for a cow or two in this beautiful field... wouldn't that have made a great photo?...

More gorgeous stone footings. I love the gray...

Poor old barn...

And not surprising, around the poor old barn, many discarded things, trucks, tractors, parts of tractors, cars...

Yes, that is moss...

There were lilacs growing all along the roadsides, tons of them! And depending upon which side of the road and how much shade, they were in a variety of blossom stages. It smelled wonderful.

I love the old fashioned lilacs...

Our car smelled heavenly...

I don't care what anyone says, wild mustard is a wildflower, not a weed...

Just ask the butterflies...

We stopped at a few garage sales, and I got a rock tumbler (polisher) for a buck. Score! We also stopped at very cool barn sale. A guy had his pole barn tricked out into a total awesome man cave. It had a front porch on which there were tables with stuff for sale (paperbacks - I got 7, he had some good ones, Robert B. Parker, James Lee Burke... score!). The one side of the barn had an open garage door, and from the road we could see all kinds of beer signs & mirrors and neon lighted signs. When we walked in, we could see a long, oak bar - fully stocked (seriously, all kinds of bottles setting in front of a long mirror wall, plus draft beer pulls), and quite a few nice bar stools. Pool table, awesome stained glass light above it, big round wood table, comfy looking wood and padded dark red vinyl chairs, a couple of lighted glass display cabinets with beer steins, shot glasses, trophies, etc. on the shelves. This place was so awesome. It made me wish we were good friends with the old guy and could stay and drink beer and shoot some pool with him. We're going to make our way back there again this summer.

Then somehow we found ourselves in Farwell...

Where it started to rain really hard. So we headed back to Mt. P., called Ryan and Megan and met them for dinner at Bennigan's...

It was so nice to spend some time with them. Megan left early the next morning to head back home to her family in Kansas, and Ryan is by now somewhere around Goshen, Indiana, where he is doing a residency this summer with Justin Rothshank. I'm looking forward to seeing more of both Ryan's and Megan's work, now that they're both graduates with their BFA in ceramics from CMU. Both Ryan and Megan were super generous to me, and I got to purchase several pieces from the 2 of them before they moved away... at what was obviously a "family discount" pricing! I will post photos soon.

Bob Talbert's White Chili Recipe from The Detroit Free Press

2011-05-29T10:57:00.008-04:00

Back in January of 1992, Kev gave me a portion of a page torn from the Detroit Free Press that had Bob Talbert's column on it. It was before the Super Bowl game (01/26/1992, the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills, 37-24), and it had a recipe for White Chili that the Talbert family would make for Super Bowl Sunday. Back then, putting chicken in chili was something Very New. Now you can find white chili on menus of all sorts of chain restaurants. Whenever I make this chili, it's always a hit. I'll give you Bob's recipe as it appeared in his column, and then I'll tell you how I tweak it. (Thanks to Traverse City Record-Eagle for the text of Bob's recipe.)

Bob Talbert's White Chili
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 14-oz. cans chicken broth
3 16-oz. cans white beans, with liquid
2 c. finely chopped white onions
2 T. fresh minced garlic
1 T. olive oil
4-oz. can chopped green chilis with liquid
2 heaping t. cumin
2 level t. oregano
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
Dash red hot or Tabasco sauce
Poach or bake the breasts at 350ø for 30 minutes. Chop into bite-size cubes.
In a large soup or chili pot. pour the chicken broth and add the 3 cans of white beans with liquid. Keep the heat low.
In separate pan, saute onions and garlic in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Stir in the green chilis with liquid. Add that mixture to the pot with the beans and broth; add chicken. Stir in cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and hot sauce. Heat until it starts to bubble, about 10 minutes. Serve with cornbread.

Here's what I do, pretty much using all the ingredients above:

Put about 2, 3 or 4 nice, fat skinless boneless chicken breasts (you decide how much chicken you want) in baking dish (light spray oil first), generously sprinkle Mrs. Dash original blend (yellow cap) and extra spicy blend (bright red cap) on chicken, cover and bake at about 350 deg. for an hour or so. Remove from oven, take lid off and let cool a bit. Stab yourself one of the pieces of chicken out of the lovely juices in the pan, put it on a cutting board and chop away. You'll want the bite-sized pieces. Put the pieces back into the pan and swirl them around in the juices. Set aside.

In a large Dutch oven (this, not this) or soup pan, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are translucent and the smell is absolutely heavenly. Add the chopped chicken and its juice. Pour in a large box of chicken broth, 48 oz. or equivalent to about 6 cups. I like to include The Good Stuff if I have some, you can use whatever you want. How much broth you add also depends on how much you got from baking the chicken, and how thick or thin you want your chili. Remember, you can always add more broth, so maybe start with just some of it...

Add the beans, I like to use Great Northern and other white beans, whatever you have on hand, and include the juice. I like a variety of beans not only coz it tastes good, but also it's aesthetically pleasing to me. I may use 4 cans of beans if I'm in the mood; I'm a fan of beans. Add the can of green chilis - and make sure you get the peeled and chopped kind. And again, I may add 2 cans, not just 1. Toss in the oregano, ground cumin and cayenne to your taste. (I never measure spices when I cook... do you?) I usually pass on the Tabasco sauce. Not by choice, but coz I usually just forget it for some reason.

Stir and let cook on medium-low heat until well heated through, longer for more flavor blend. I don't make this chili in a crock pot, but I will often put it into a crock pot to keep it warm while serving, especially at potlucks.

We then have available a variety of temperatures of salsas for garnish (Kev likes the really hot stuff), as well as sour cream and shredded cheese. Your choice on the cheese, a Mexican blend is nice. Eh, whatever's on sale will work.

Corn bread is nice with it, too. I usually just whip up a box or 2 of Jiffy corn muffin mix into which I add sugar and maybe a little extra milk, so it's more like Johnnycake. (Where I come from, Johnnycake is sweetened corn bread - Johnnycake is usually more moist, where corn bread can be kinda dry.) We usually have tortilla chips with our white chili.

Like all chilis, the more you heat it up, the better it gets. On this chili, make sure your significant other also eats this chili with you, otherwise he or she probably won't be able to stand your breath in bed. Seriously.

As I write this blog post, the sun is shining and there are 5 male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at our bird feeder and in the dwarf magnolia next to it, along with a couple of the pretty brown and white females.

We've had lot of birds this year, including a Baltimore (Northern) Oriole, and he's really pretty...

and so is the more-yellow-than-orange female.

Happy Birthday to my Dad

2011-03-30T21:13:00.005-04:00

My Dad is 81 years old today. I got to wish him a happy birthday early this morning. Dad is always up super early, so sometimes I get to talk with him on the phone while I drive into work. I love that.

Dad and Mom went down to my brother and sis-in-law's, Jim & Sue's, today for lunch. It was a beautiful day today, so I'm sure they had a wonderful, sunny drive and a great time at lunch. Nice way to spend your 81st, Daddy. And I heard Jimmy was making Swedish meatballs, so lucky you!

Joycie took this photo of Dad and Mom at the table after we had Thanksgiving dinner last November. (Wiley is in there, too - he loves Gramma!) I sure hope I look as good as they do when I'm their age, and I hope I have half their strength. I think my parents are the strongest, most wise, most dependable and most loving people I will ever know in my life. I want to be just like them... when I grow up...

Joycie also took this photo of Mom and Dad holding hands at the table. I love this photo.

Harbinger

2011-03-30T21:07:00.000-04:00

Thawed and golden brown

2011-03-30T20:47:00.003-04:00

The ditch along our dirt road is back at it... I'm almost unwillingly enthralled by it. Some days it takes me more time to travel that half mile along our ditch towards home than the previous 15+ miles. Like this sunny afternoon a couple of weeks ago...

Tator tots and a party invitation. What a great day!

2011-02-11T12:17:00.006-05:00

My beautiful daughter, Joyce, turned 22 years old this past November 26th. We finally got around to taking her out for dinner to celebrate just recently. Birthday Girl got to choose the place, and she chose Pizza Sam's. Great food and a fun time.

She hammed it up for the camera... but as I tend to take way too many shots, she did get a little, um..., bored with me...

Certain restrictions apply

2011-01-03T15:48:00.007-05:00

Well hello there 2011. You arrived early, and I'm just not ready for you. Can you please go drive around the block a few hundred times? Thanks.

From my workday:

Purpose:
Confirm understanding of key activities for the next day and address any urgent hurdles to progress.
Provide clarity when path forward changes from previous plan/agreements.
Trying to focus on exceptions...no time to solve all problems

Julie T. would be the person.

Can you please let me know if you will need weekend support on January 8th and 9th? Management is trying to find out which clients will be working that weekend.

As a reminder, an implementation command center has been established to dispatch calls related to the implementation.

Once you have reviewed and submitted, your second level approver will receive an auto-generated email to complete the sign-off.

You recently reported a problem to I/S Service Delivery and we would like to invite you to complete a brief Customer Satisfaction Survey. This survey is your opportunity to tell us how well we met your needs and help us improve our service to you in the future.

My favorite Excel formula:

=IF(ISNA(MATCH(J2,Sheet1!J:J,0)),0,INDEX(Sheet1!L:L,MATCH('Sheet1 (2)'!J2,Sheet1!J:J,0),0))

Now then, don't you wish you were me???...

Overheard just now:

You know what. I'm sick of these people sending these emails to me. It's ridiculous.

From my head, not related to work:

"Madden had that look on his face like he was drinking a Dr. Pepper and somebody switched it out with iced tea but didn't tell him." I think I heard this one on NPR.

Nah nah nah nah. Nah nah nah nah. Hey hey hey. Goodbye. Been singing that in my head. When my kids were in elementary school, every year on the last day of school, staff members and some teachers would stand outside the door, hands raised waiving kleenexes (like a saber arch) and singing that lyric over and over as the kids walked out to the buses to start their summers. It was cool. Every time I think of that, I smile.

My 1999 Caddy DeVille had 4 gallons of gas left in it according to the dash info, and it beeped Empty at me two seconds later. She's a cranky old thing. So I paid about $3.20/gallon this morning, and Kev tells me it is now down to $3.01. Grrr.

Big flakes, little snow. Little flakes, big snow.
We had a mostly warm and rainy start of our weekend, but then it got cold again. It snowed on and off yesterday without much accumulation. This morning Kev was the first to leave the house, so he made fresh tracks all the way down the driveway and the road to M-20. His tracks down the road swerved from one side to the other all the half mile. He did that for me. So I called him and said, "Pretty!" Kev likes to do that with fresh snowfalls. On the rare occasion I'm the first to leave and it's a fresh snowfall, I make crazy tracks all down the road for him.

Mike was working on Joyce's Impala on Saturday, changing the oil and something with the brakes. (He's awesome that way!) It was late Saturday afternoon that the temp dropped so abruptly - within minutes it went from mild to very cold. It had been very windy all day, and with the drop in temp, the wind seemed to pick up. Kev was also outside, working on one thing or another, so he was standing not too far from the car. Mike was under the car, which was parked on the cement approach in front of our pole barn. Both Mike and Kev heard a huge BAM! A tree branch fell out of one of the oak trees and shattered the Impala's back window. Some of the branches that have fallen from those oaks are the size of small and not-so-small trees, this branch was probably about 8 or 10 feet long and about 6 or 8 inch diameter at base. Could have been worse. Mike was startled. As you can imagine.

Sam is doing well with his knee. He is at physical therapy right this moment. He's also able to walk around home now without the big brace on his leg, and that is a relief to him. He still must wear it anywhere outside and at school.

Kev and I drove around Mt. Pleasant on New Year's Eve trying to find a place to have dinner that wasn't a two-hour wait. We finally settled on Ruby Tuesdays, got our names on the list then went into the bar area to get a beer while we waited. We were standing at the bar when 2 guys left, so we quickly grabbed their seats. Then another guy asked one of the bartenders to turn the TV station to the Wings game that was just starting. While on our 2nd round of beer, Kev and I decided that we had the best seats in the house, so we ordered our dinner and ate it at the bar while watching the game. It was awesome. We had an excellent time. Even if NY won.

Sam: Licensed

2010-11-24T12:46:00.004-05:00

My baby boy Sammy turned 16 years old on November 4th. It does not seem possible... the years have flown by. This is a birthday both Sam and I have been waiting for – the big date, getting his Driver’s License! Sam loves to drive, and I love not having to drive him everywhere he wants to go.

On his birthday, Sam and I went into town to the Secretary of State’s office where we did all the paperwork for his driver’s license. His license only took about a week to arrive in the mail because we went ahead and got him the “Enhanced Driver’s License." (And his license photo... awesome!) We also picked up his temporary Handicap Parking Permit. His knee is doing well, but he is still on crutches and still wearing the brace, so parking up front at school every day is necessary. (I’m going to do most of my Christmas shopping with Sam!)

We celebrated his birthday by taking him out to dinner, his choice – Olive Garden.

And a very good choice, too. Good food and very nice beverages. Since Mike had to work, it was just the 4 of us...
Kev, Joyce and the Birthday Boy...

And here’s me with my Sammy...

We also delivered a dinner to Mike at his workplace, which was fun. Mike was happy.

It was a very pleasant birthday dinner. Then when we got home, Sam opened his presents from us and Joyce & Mike. Waiting on the front porch for him was a “candy cake” from his friend, Julia...

I love the “Princess” balloon! Julia knew Sam was out for the evening, and she somehow talked one of her parents into driving her all the way out to our house to leave Sam this surprise. She’s a sweetie.

We had a family birthday party a couple of days later, and it was also a very pleasant evening. With cake!

Since his birthday, Sam has been experiencing the wonderful freedom of driving himself. He has my old LeSabre, and the boy has been putting a lot of miles on her. Seems like everyday after school there is something needed to be done in town, and he and Julia have been out and about quite a bit. It still seems weird to me to not have to drop him off at school in the mornings. Weird... but oh so nice. I’m enjoying my freedom, too.

So this is where you will usually find Sam now...

Gorgeousness

2010-11-23T11:56:00.004-05:00

In mid-October one of Mike's cousins got married, so Joyce and Mike got all dressed up and pretty for the wedding reception...

Haberdashery

2010-11-23T07:42:00.004-05:00

The title has no relationship to this post; I just like that word.

I drove into work this morning under a gigantic, black storm cloud. Today will be an ominous day. Or not.

Yesterday was warm, and we had a storm with rain, thunder and lightning. When I got out of my car in the parking lot this morning, however, the wind was wild and very COLD. But I still don't smell snow. *sniff* Gimme snow.

What I've learned recently: Do not give your cell phone number to a used car salesman.

We are getting a free range turkey for Thanksgiving. Joyce called the farm and placed an order, i.e., she put a hit out on a Tom.

Due to circumstances beyond my control (that's my story & I'm stickin to it), I still have to get groceries for Thanksgiving dinner. File that under stupid.

My home computer crapped out on me, and I've spent a fair amount of time trying to fix it. I've been trying to avoid the work of a restage, but it's in my future. It's not the restage, of course, it's all the software installing that follows. Ugh.

I have a ton of photos to sort through now... over 800. I haven't uploaded from my camera to my computer because of aforementioned crappage. Lots of stuff to post about, with photos, including Sammy's 16th birthday. *sigh*

Sammy's zombie knee

2010-10-30T06:38:00.006-04:00

Sammy had surgery yesterday to reconstruct his PCL on his left knee. We thought it was a partial tear, but the surgeon, Dr. Kenneth Jurist, told us after Sam's surgery that it was a complete tear. Dr. Jurist used a "donor" ligament to patch Sam's PCL (from a cadaver, so Sam now has his own "zombie knee"!).

We had to be at the hospital (Beaumont Royal Oak) by 8:45am yesterday, so we drove down Thursday and stayed at a Super 8 that gave us a great discount because we're here for a procedure at Beaumont. Sam's surgery was supposed to start at 10:45am, but as usually happens at all medical-related establishments, there was a delay & didn't start until after 12:30pm. The surgeon had planned on 2 hours for Sam's surgery, and it took 2.5 hours. Recovery was expected to take an hour, but that also took longer. It was a lot of time for Kev and I to just sit and wait... and worry, worry, worry.

Because we live so far from Beaumont, Sam was put into an inpatient room, and he stayed overnight. We finally got to see him about 4:30pm or so. Sam was still really tired and sleepy. When Sam began to wake up more, as expected, he did not feel great. But since he hadn't ate anything since the night before, he was very hungry. Feeling sick from meds/anesthesia and from being hungry made for a rough evening for our boy. Just trying to take a pee was An Event. Poor Sammy. He's got a big brace on his leg to immobilize it, and he cannot put any weight on that leg for several weeks (he will be on crutches). Sam was able to eat, but it was a few hours before anything actually remained inside his stomach.

Sam's left foot was also feeling very strange, tingly and numb. Soon after getting into his room, when he was getting more and more awake, he began to not feel it... he couldn't feel his foot but it was strangely kind of vibratingly tingly. Sam hated it. I could touch his toes, and he could kind of feel it, but I think it was more from him watching me touch his toes. The bottom of his foot was feeling dead. I think it really freaked him out... it did me! It was eventually explained to us that they had put a tourniquet on Sam's upper thigh during the surgery to reduce blow flow and, thus, bruising, so the odd and somewhat painful feelings in his foot were just something like his poor foot getting used to receiving blood again... ugh.

Kev was able to stay overnight with Sam in his room, sleeping on a bed that's a chair that pulls out like a sofa bed... only way smaller. So Kev took me back to our hotel room and then returned to Beaumont. That was difficult for me. As the momma, I wanted to stay with my boy. But Sam is a lot more comfortable with his dad helping him on certain matters, and I totally understand. Plus I've been informed that I snore, so Sam probably wouldn't have been able to sleep well if I stayed!

Beaumont is a super nice facility and the folks were all, for the most part, really great. I took a lot of photos and will share more later.

The Super 8 is in Clawson, only about 3 miles from the hospital. There is a nice Benihanna's just down the road from the hotel, and the 3 of us had a great time having dinner there Thursday evening.

So more info & photos later on all that.

While we were in Sam's room during the time right after he arrived, and Sam was still in and out of sleeping, mostly in, we heard a one-sided conversation from the hallway. A nurse was talking to someone about how a mom wanted to move everything up a half-hour for her child, and then the nurse explained how that would move the chemo up, and the 2nd chemo dose... and on and on. I felt a chill, looked at Kev and said "We are so lucky." Kev nodded his head.

In the hood, Dawg!

2010-10-08T07:45:00.005-04:00

photo credit: Joyce
hoodie: Sam's

Yamahaing

2010-09-30T07:12:00.004-04:00

Mike and Joyce have enjoyed riding together on Mike's Harley, but Joyce decided early in June that she would rather be driving her own bike. I can totally see Joyce making that decision... she does like to be in control, and also when you're riding behind a person on a motorcycle, you really don't get to see much of what's in front of you, which isn't much fun.

So mid-June, Joyce paid not very much money for a 1982 Honda 450, a bike older than she is...

She was initially pretty happy with it (though doesn't Kev look the opposite in that 2nd photo?! yes, we worry). But there were problems with the carburetor and some other things, primarily a result of the bike having sat for so long without being started or driven.

So she and Mike started looking again. At the shop where they bought Mike's Harley, the dealer has just gotten in a used 2005 Yamaha. It was owned by an older couple, and it was a bike that had been very well maintained. So Joyce traded her old Honda in on this pretty Yamaha...

This bike is quite bigger than that old Honda, so Joyce took it slow learning to drive it and handle it. I'm happy about one thing... the previous owner outfitted the bike with extra lights on both the front and the back. The dealership where Joyce bought it put in an extra battery to handle the lights. You should definitely see this bike coming down the road!

The icing on the cake was the passenger footpads the owner had installed on the bike for his wife, whose name is also Joyce...

I had to admit that was a pretty awesome touch. I've struggled with all this motorcycle stuff, of course, and I worry like crazy. But Mike and Joyce are young and smart, and they love a ride on their motorcycles. I'm happy for them.

It's not a contest except it's totally a contest

2010-09-29T12:45:00.005-04:00

Kev usually goes to the "Whitetails Unlimited" dinners with family members and friends. This time around he took Sammy with him.

They all don't go for the dinner. The event is held at a hall and the food is ok, but there is also a silent auction, a live auction and then the best part, the raffles.

My brother-in-law, Bob, the one who usually organizes everyone attending one of these events, or a similar "Ducks Unlimited" dinner, is really freakin' lucky at winning stuff at these dinners. He usually goes home with some kind of rifle, plus a bunch of other stuff.

I know Kev has spent a hundred bucks on raffle tickets at one dinner... and got squat.

But the stuff offered on the auctions is pretty nice. We have several beautiful wildlife-related framed prints on our walls by Kev attending these dinners (and drinking a little too much while he's there, thus the bidding). I do like all the prints very much, but I don't want any more of them... our walls are filled up enough with them right now.

Joyce and I were home together fixing dinner while the boys were out last night, and I told Joycie that if her dad came home with another print, I'd have to skin him alive. Joyce texted Sammy later and relayed my message, which thankfully was in time to stop Kev's bidding on a beautiful Charles Denault print. Not that I wouldn't totally enjoy another Denault print, but we have one (maybe two?) already.

Sammy had a plan for his dad's cash anyway. On the silent auction there was a over-sized folding lawn chair, and the minimum bid was $60. Kev made Sam squirm until the last minute, and then let Sam bid on it. Sam got it. It is the largest lawn chair I've ever seen. Sam set it up in the living room, and we had a lot of laughs over it. Sam kept saying, "I'm so happy." Kev sat in it and was swinging his feet, and Wiley didn't know what to make of that. It came with a canvas case with straps so you can carry it like a backpack, like the usual folding lawn chairs, and Sam had to duck down to get the thing inside through the front door... it sticks up past his head about 3 feet. Crazy big thing!

Then Sam took it up into his bedroom. He told me this morning that the chair feels bigger up there, because his bedroom has a normal ceiling height. Sam said, "It's my redneck throne."

Sam's Sophomore Homecoming Dance

2010-09-27T12:12:00.006-04:00

Sam took his friend, Jacy, to the Homecoming this year. We took photos at Jacy's house, then back at our house, then we joined a large group of Sam's friends at one of the girl's grandparents' home.

At Jacy's house:

At our house:

The grandparents' home was a lovely place to take photos... beautiful, large home and grounds. The skies were a bit gray, and it was a bit cool out, but we still got some great photos.

This is my favorite photo of Sam and Jacy - I took it while sitting in the front seat of the car by just holding my camera upside-down and taking a bunch of pics... this one is cute.

After all the photo ops, Sam and Jacy met some more friends at B-Dubs and had dinner, then they all headed to the dance at the high school. The dance was held in the school cafeteria, and since Sam's on Student Council again this year, he got to get up early and help decorate for the dance. After the dance was over at 11pm, Sam went to an after-party at his friend Zack's house, then overnight at Nate's. Sam got home around noon on Sunday, and took a nice, long nap in the afternoon! He and Jacy both had fun.

Not what I had in mind...

2010-09-24T08:04:00.003-04:00

Trying to take a photo of Wiley and me while in the car (no, not while driving!). He doesn't take commands very well. Like at all...

Better...

Almost...

And... NOT WHAT I WANTED!

That was me giving up! (while wiping my lips off...)

Counting my blessings... with haunting sorrow...

2010-09-20T10:07:00.002-04:00

On this morning's drive, Sam and I came across a bad accident that had just happened. Later, after dropping Sam off at the high school, I called my BFF, Sandy. I try to talk with Sandy in the mornings as many days as we can connect. Some days we miss, but often we are both driving into work at the same time so we have a chance to talk. Yes, we are both driving and talking on our cell phones. But it is not illegal to do so in Michigan or Texas, and both of us are on an easy, mostly clear & straight route and we are very cautious. On more than one occasion, one of us has had to stop the conversation just to pay attention to traffic or whatever. In a word, we are both careful.

This morning, heading East, I was driving right into the sunrise. I told Sandy about the sun, because it was brighter than usual. Sandy was driving in the dark since it's an hour earlier there in Texas. I said, "I might as well be in the dark, with this sunshine, it's like I'm driving blind."

And I was, with the sun so bright on my windshield, which wasn't very clean, I was unable to see most of what was in front of me. I basically slowed down and followed the car in front of me. I think we were all doing that coz I was part of a long line of slower-than-usual cars. When I got into town, it was kinda hairy at the traffic lights. I seriously could not tell if it was green or not.

Then I talked with my sister just a bit ago. The accident that Sam and I saw was horrible. It was between a school bus (one from our district) and a red Jeep Cherokee. The fronts of both the bus and the Jeep were smashed. Not just smashed... gone. When Sam and I approached, there were a lot of vehicles stopped at the accident site, and traffic was down to one lane in each direction. The bus was half-way into the East-bound far lane facing West, and the Jeep was half-way into the West-bound far lane facing East. Since the bus was on Sam's side, he was checking it out. There was a person standing at the entrance, but the door and entrance was mangled. Sam thought there were kids on the bus, but he couldn't tell for sure because the sun was shining on the bus windows. I found out from my sister there were no kids, only the driver and another adult. Thank God.

I had my window down; I put it down because I was too warm in the bright sunshine. We got about level with the smashed Jeep, and I had to stop because an ambulance was approaching fast, all vehicles were stopped. I could hear the scene before I looked over... Laying face-down in the dirt on the edge of the road was a man, about age 35 I think. He was mostly covered with a white blanket, but not his head. Kneeling next to him was a woman, and she was sobbing and screaming and wailing, she was rocking back and forth kind of, and touching his head. I can't stop thinking about what I saw, and I cannot get that sound of her agony out of my head. I'm not sure I ever will.

My sister told me that she heard the bus driver and the adult passenger were taken to the hospital but were both ok. Kathy works in the school district, so she was able to find that out. No one knows anything yet about the man driving the Jeep, though. Kathy heard that the Jeep pulled out directly in front of the bus and they hit head-on. Everyone seems to believe the man driving the Jeep likely didn't see the bus because of the bright sunshine. A truck had pulled out just before him, and people seem to think he probably just followed the truck. Like what I did this morning at the traffic lights... How many of us have done something exactly like that...

I am still amazed at how that school bus smashed that Jeep like it was an empty beer can.

The big yawn

2010-09-15T12:16:00.003-04:00

Let me tell you about my August. It sucked. I was sick from one thing or another through the entire month. Bronchitis, viral, which went into pneumonia, then sinus and ear infections, then a very bad reaction to Bactrim that I was prescribed for those infections. And then vertigo as a result, probably of both the ear infections and the Bactrim reaction. Oh, and 3 doctor appointments and a total of 7 different prescriptions. Oh yes, yes indeed...
Cha-freakin'-ching!

I also missed work for most of August, which is horrible. Too busy to miss that much time. So now I'm backlogged at work, and also at home... coz I got nothing done there either.

And my head felt terrible, and flattened, from laying down so much. And I am still not back up-to-speed with stamina. (I could use a nap right now, for example.)

But that old "every cloud has a silver lining" has come into play. 'Bout damn time, too.

August ended with my going to work on Monday, the 23rd. Wore me out, so I was in bed before 7:30pm. Woke up at 4am, and on my way back to bed from the bathroom (coz anyone with a lick of sense and a 50-year-old bladder knows darn well why I woke up at 4am) I sneezed hard. And my world began to wobble.

I've had vertigo since the end of June 2008. It is awful to have a vertigo attack... thankfully in all this time, I've only had 1 vertigo attack out in public, with the rest occurring while at home. It ain't pretty, so home is best. There is usually vomit involved. And moaning. And of course with me, also much cussing. (Sorry, Mom!)

So I made my way back to the bathroom, and I took an Anti-Vert tablet and a Valium. Then I slowly made my way back to bed where I hung onto the edge of my inner balance for roughly 4 hours. Usually, an Anti-Vert and a Valium will zonk me out within 20 or 30 minutes, but not that morning. Finally though, I fell asleep, and I slept hard for several more hours.

When I woke, I did not feel any vertigo symptoms. My right ear still hurt, though. And you know how you feel like you just can't move when you sleep that hard? Like life is in slo-mo?... That's how I felt. Got up and around, started to feel better, and I yawned. I mean I really yawned. A great big yawn. And I heard a CRACK! deep inside my right ear.

And my life changed.

I hadn't realized how much the vertigo has affected me the past two years... how much a feeling of constant wobbling, of peripheral dizziness, of almost-nauseated was part of my every-day existence. Getting vertigo was like a giant slap in the face, but living with it and adapting to it was a slow enough progression that I failed to comprehend how much it had changed me.

And now it seems the big yawn cured me. No more vertigo. As much as August sucked, it was worth it. I'd opt to go through 2 Augusts like that to be done with that pesky vertigo. So worth it.

And that there is my silver lining. Kinda matches my hair color.

One light bulb at a time...

2010-09-13T08:24:00.003-04:00

My husband, Kevin, who is a United Steelworkers Union member, forwarded onto me an email about buying American-made products. For us, it hits home... so I wanted to pass this along to everyone I can, especially since I've had this experience myself at Wal-Mart recently. I do make an effort to buy American-made products as often as I possibly can, and you can save money by doing so. The packaging may not look as pretty and you probably won't see a commercial on TV. Big whoop huh.

Where I work (which is not Union), half of our department was fired in 2008 and the jobs went over to Mumbai, India. I am very fortunate to still have my job. Today's employment situation in Michigan, in my hometown, is a sad, sad story.

Here is the text of that very interesting email, capital letters and exclamation points as originally received...

"Whenever and wherever it is possible, LET'S BUY AMERICAN MADE AND GET OUR PEOPLE BACK TO WORK!

ONE LIGHT BULB AT A TIME

... Buy American Made

This works when the dollar is weak and the people are afraid for their jobs.

... Buy USA

A physics teacher in high school once told his students, “While one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train at all, a billion of them would!”

With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American.

Check this out. I can verify this because I was in Lowe's the other day, and just for the heck of it, I was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in China . (My swimming pool is not yet closed for the winter!!!)

The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it, I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in the USA.

Start looking.

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job.

My son likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I will not buy it any more.

My favorite toothpaste, Colgate, is made in Mexico now. I have switched to Crest.

You have to read the labels on everything.

This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets.

I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand that I normally buy, was an off brand labeled, "Everyday Value". I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO !!! and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA, by a company in Cleveland, Ohio.

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here.

So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets... yep, you guessed it, Bounce costs more money and is made in China. The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA ! I did laundry yesterday, and the dryer sheets performed just like the
Bounce Free I have been using for years... and at almost half the price!

Lay's stacked potato chips in a can is made in Mexico. Good old Pringles made in USA.

My challenge to you...
Start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things, and see what you can find that is made in the USA. The job you save may be your own or your neighbor’s.

If you accept the challenge, please pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time!

Stop buying from overseas companies!

(We should have awakened a decade ago.)

Let's get with the program. Help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the USA."

He ain't heavy

2010-09-11T10:01:00.004-04:00

One day in August I had to drive Sammy over to the high school for football practice. We live about 20 or 25 minutes from the high school, and there are about 4 different routes we can take to get there. One route goes down a super busy, straight 2-lane "highway" called Meridian Road. Traffic on that road can sometimes be crazy, with lots of drivers well exceeding the 55 MPH speed limit. Also, since it's just 2 lanes, many drivers pass when they really should not do so. Been quite a few wrecks on that road, including fatalities. When Sam starts driving himself (soon, thank God!), he is already aware that he's not allowed to take Meridian Road.

From Meridian, we take a left turn onto Gordonville Road. Gordonville includes a bridge that crosses the Pine River and then the road follows the river. That curvy stretch is also a bit dangerous to drive since many drivers tend to go too fast for the road, which has very short sight distance ahead due to all the bends in the road. Here's a view of it thanks to Google Earth:

(Don't you just love Google Earth satellite views?!)
So of course, I love to take that route. Mostly because the curvy stretch of Gordonville along the river is a beautiful piece of road. I also enjoy seeing the changes in the river during the months. In August, the river is usually at its lowest point, showing all the rocks and dead trees. This August, because of the summer we've had with lots of humidity and good bit of rain, the river had a lot of plant life in it and next to it. Grapevines have gone completely crazy this year!

On this day after dropping Sam off, I took the Gordonville way back home. As usual, I had my camera with me. We had taken Gordonville to the high school, and I thought I had seen something interesting in the river, so I wanted to take another look. I got my camera ready, and actually stopped at one spot and managed to take 5 photos before I chickened out and drove on. Turned out to be a good idea because right after I began driving again, a little car came around the bend fast and got very close to my car very quickly.

None of my photos were exceptionally in focus. I didn't discover exactly what I was photographing until I could look at the pics on my camera when I got home... Here is the best of my risky photographing that morning:

Pretty cool, huh? I knew it was a turtle on the rock, and I've seen turtles on that big rock before, but I didn't know it was a double-decker until I saw it on my camera.

And also something I think is kind of cool is that I can see that rock in the Google Earth shot...

I have, however, learned my lesson... not gonna stop along that stretch of road to take photos ever again. When that little car came up behind me, it scared the crap outta me! Not really worth a rear-end collision. Imagine that conversation... "yes, officer, I know I shouldn't have been stopped there in my car, but I wanted to TAKE A PHOTO OF A TURTLE..." Oy.

Oh, that Wiley...

2010-08-03T12:47:00.006-04:00

I think people who live with a Weimaraner end up taking more photos of their dog than perhaps other dog owners, or rather, most other dog owners. I thought I was always taking a kazillion photos of Reilly, our Border Collie, but I seem to be taking way more photos of Wiley. Reilly was very, very expressive in his eyes. Those eyes of his would look right into the core of you. I loved that about him. Border Collies are known to make and keep eye contact with humans longer than most other dog breeds. Reilly also used to listen to us when we talked, I mean really listen. Border Collies are super intellient (I read that in the National Geographic!). If you have ever lived with a Border Collie, you know what I mean about listening. And Reilly's eyes could almost tell me what his response was, kind of what he was thinking. I really miss those eyes.

Now, with Wiley Blu, I know he can hear me and that he is listening (sometimes), but you wouldn't always be able to tell from his actions or reactions that he is listening. He's super smart, but he is also super stubborn. After all these months of living with this dog, he will still only come to me when I call him if: 1) I have food, and 2)... well, really having food is it. Otherwise, he may or may not decide to come to me. Certainly, it's rather rare, compared to Reilly, of Wiley actually looking at me when I talk to him. He will often look towards me, but eye-to-eye contact occurs only once in a while, and then, it doesn't last long. I think that's one major reason I have found myself taking so many photos of this dog. I'm trying to get his expression, his eyes. Rarely successful.

Wiley is a hoot and a half, though, that's for sure. You never know what he's going to do next. He loves to bite and kind of chew on you when he's excited or having fun. Biting is Wiley's form of hugging. And he also loves, loves, LOVES to lick you. Especially if you're hot and sweaty... Wiley has the longest, soppiest tongue, too, so when he's done, you're all wet with dog slobber. If you throw a frisbee at him, he will just watch it fly and look back at you like you're stupid. He does love to take his toy, called his "baby" (calling his toy his baby is something he came with from his previous owners), and play tug with you. He chews through his babies pretty quickly. His "baby" currently is 2 pairs of old socks of mine all tied together, blue and purple. At least there is no stuffing like his other babies. Also, Wiley loves it when I call him "my baby," and when I do, it usually brings on biting or licking. As he is getting older, Wiley is getting a little more affectionate. But still, getting him to cuddle is almost impossible. Unless you're Kevin, and then it's nearly impossible to keep Wiley away. Wiley has decided that Kev is IT. That dog absolutely adores Kevin. Wiley loves the rest of us, too, but Kev's his No. 1. Wherever Kev is, that is usually where you will find Wiley, and Wiley is very content to just sit next to, or on top of, Kev.

If Kev is on the sofa, Wiley worms his way in. Sometimes when Kev falls asleep on the sofa, he will wake up with Wiley almost pushing him off the sofa in his attempt to get as close to Kevin as he can.

And it's a rare ballgame or TV show Kev watches without Wiley.

Another thing that sets Wiley apart from any other dog we've ever had is his pleasure in a car ride. Wiley loves to go in a car (or truck), anywhere, anytime.

Wiley is so long and lanky that he's done some pretty comical moves, but all in all, I think he is the fastest dog we've ever had. When he gets going, you had better watch out and move out of the way. He is one smart pooch.

Skink with five lines

2010-07-29T09:57:00.004-04:00

This is a photo that Mike took with his cell phone (which is now my cell phone since I got it when he & Joycie got new phones). Mike and his friend, Nick, saw this Five-lined Skink (aka Blue Tail Lizard to some). It was setting on a log in the woods near the pond. Nick held the log out over our pond while Mike took the photo with his cell. And isn't it an awesome photo?

I remember finding these little skinkers when I was a kid and trying to capture them... it always freaked me out when the tail came off and continued to move. Still kinda gives me the creeps. But I think they are a beautiful creature.

Mike left a lot of things on his-old/now-my phone when he gave it to me. Of all he left, this photo is one of the few that's fit to share!

     Dear Tony, Mickey, Chris, et al:
     Re: Texting Our Mike
     Ewww!!!!!! Gross. Stop.
     Regards,
     Julie
     p.s. Grow up!

And HEY! A Big Shout Out to my girl, Joycie, who did me a Major Solid this morning!
     I love you, Pumpkin!
     Thank you!!!!
     XOXOXO,
     Love,
     Yo Momma*

*way to cool to fool

I'll give you one hint, honey, you sure did put on a show

2010-07-28T13:43:00.003-04:00

This morning on the way into work I saw 2 Budweiser semi-trucks. Great big red ones. I called my husband. Since Kev left for work a little bit earlier than I did, he saw only 1 of them. I told him the universe had sent us a sign. It wanted us to stay home from work today and drink Bud. We should obey. But... sadly, he didn't buy it.

I haven't had beer in a while, but I had a few this past Saturday evening. An ice cold beer on a hot muggy evening was very nice. Several were even nicer. Ryan and Megan, two awesome CMU students who were working at the pottery studio, were putting on a wood fire. Ryan had built the wood fire kiln, etc. outside behind the studio building, so we took our lawn chairs and watched them work. And oh my heck, what a great amount of work those 2 did. I took some really cool pictures and will do a post on that.

After we got home, even though it was quite late (for me) and waaaaay past my usual bedtime, I was wide awake. Sammy, Kev and I, and Wiley, ended up watching some TV. We watched a recorded episode of "Royal Pains", the "Comfort's Overrated" episode. This one had a guy who did a "Mac Truck" business, and he sold mac & cheese with lobster out of his truck. It was a good episode, and we like that show.

Kev and Wiley fell asleep together on the sofa. Sammy and I were still wide awake... so we did the best we could with what we had... no mac & cheese with lobster (man! that looked really good on the show, and I'm sure this recipe from Barefoot Contessa would be close or even better!), but we did make Tuna Helper Creamy Broccoli... at about midnight! The box said it would serve 4, but Sam and I split it while watching the latest episode of "Persons Unknown". And though I've heard that show has had some bad reviews, Sammy and I really are enjoying it. It's weird. We're big fans of weird.

I've been trying to listen to the radio station that Sam likes, 102.5. I usually can't stand most of the songs, but there are couple that are ok. Which is a good thing because every single time I turned to 102.5 I hear one of the 2 songs... one about "you think you're cooler than me" and one about "Alonso Fernando". Seriously, I think 102.5 has those 2 songs on a constant repeat, kinda like the French language distress message on "Lost"... over and over. And over.

I listened to 102.5, heard the "you think you're cooler than me", switched over to an "oldies rock 'n roll" station to hear the Stones "Under My Thumb", which would have to be the antithesis song to the 102.5... followed by the most awesome Billy Joel and his song, "Big Shot"... ah, the irony.

My manly man

2010-07-23T07:08:00.004-04:00

Speaking of waiting... we have done a bit of that lately with Sam's knee injury & resulting doctor appointments. I usually end up taking photos with my phone in the waiting room of magazine articles or recipes that I wanna look up later on the 'net, and then I send the picture message to my email. Or I have Sammy send a text to my email, which of course, he LOVES to do for me. I have a whole bunch of those pic & text messages! Bunches and bunches! And I've never looked any of them up on the ol' Internets... hmmm...

And I also take photos of people, like my man...

Bird drama

2010-07-22T13:10:00.001-04:00

A while back, sometime in May, I had some trouble with my new old ride, and I ended up at a car dealership. The engine had overheated, so I had to wait there for Kev to pick me up.

I am not a person who can simply wait patiently. I try, but I fail. I abhor waiting in doctor and dentist offices. The longer I have to wait, the more irritated I become. I know it's unreasonable. I also detest having to wait in the car outside of the school or any other location for my kid to come out of practice from whatever sport he or she is/was in, when the practice time ended at 4pm and I would sit there until almost 4:30pm. That really burns my ass. I want to have a little talk with the coach, but as a parent, ya don't dare do that! Grrr... So I wait impatiently. This usually leads to me doing something to entertain myself.

While at the dealership, parked in front of the service office, leaning on my car with my stuff because they had the keys already, I stand there and realize, hey, I've got my camera with me. I'm sure all the dudes on the other side of the window thought I was nuts, but I had fun. I started taking photos of a couple of sparrows who were playing out a big, ol' bird drama in front of me.

This guy would settle himself (or herself, who knows...) inside one of the openings of the big, blue letter "B" on the wall of the dealership building, part of the name.

Then he would hop/fly up to the roof, just a short distance and stare out at his surroundings, with kind of a "master of all I survey" attitude...

with the occasional pause for some self-grooming...

and so while he wasn't looking, another sparrow would dart in and land atop the B...

carefully peruse the B...

then hop down into one of the B openings, where it was nice and shady (did I mention it was hotter than heck out? well, it was)...

all the while evading the detection of the former occupant who was still busy surveying all...

meanwhile the other sparrow kept a sharp ear out for any approaching intruder of her newly claimed territory...

And then the bird on the roof would swoop in and chase the intruder away, and then the intruder would come back to chase that intruder away... and so it went for quite a while, with a couple of intermission breaks to the rooftop. But then it seemed that sparrow No. 1 just had his fill of sparrow No. 2, so they took their quibble to a whole new level...

with sparrow No. 1 the victorious occupant of the big, blue B...

Or so he thought, as Sparrow No. 2 alighted atop the B and proceeded to let loose with some pent up bird shit, unfortunately not caught on camera...

I was delightfully entertained... until the husband arrived, who promptly asked me what the hell I was taking photos of now.

Blogging at work...

2010-07-15T11:16:00.001-04:00

while in what is possibly the most boring meeting ever. EVER!
Where's a good head injury when you need one????...
AARGH!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

Have You Ever Seen The Rain

2010-07-14T12:05:00.003-04:00

The other morning on my way into work, the sky was ominous and beautiful. I took a photo with my cell phone...

And since I am feeling somewhat dark today, I wanted to use it as my desktop picture but I decided I didn't like the telephone pole and all the lines. Hey who needs fancy-schmancy Photoshop?! I played around with MS Paint and voilá!...

This morning is was pitch black dark out when I left the house for work... at 4:40am. Too damn early. Trying to get too much work done in too little time. Quarter close. Again.

Weird morning, too. Not much traffic on the road at that early hour. Surprisingly, I saw not even one semi-truck. That was odd. I did see 1 guy on a bicycle and 2 school buses. Also odd. Plus a couple of assholes who wouldn't turn their brights off. Not at all odd.

And as usual, I had a song stuck in my head. Actually just a small part of a song, because I can't remember all the lyrics to "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"... only here's what I found myself singing in my head and humming out loud in the car this morning:
Oh, I want a hippopotamus for breakfast. Only a hippopotamus will do. Hmmm hmmm hmmm [can't remember anymore lyrics]...
Oh, I want a hippopotamus for breakfast. Only a hippopotamus will do. Hmmm hmmm hmmm...
Oh, I want a hippopotamus for breakfast. Only a hippopotamus will do. Hmmm hmmm hmmm...

Yes. For breakfast. Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel along with it. So... also odd.

A Very Odd Morning.

When I finally realized what I was singing in my head, I was like, what?!, jeez, who the hell are you/am I?... Turned on the radio to an oldies station and got me some CCR going. Got into the office and got me some coffee!

If you like pina coladas

2010-07-02T12:48:00.011-04:00

Many are the events going on...

Joyce finished her Junior year at CMU and her summer classes she took, and she got a co-op job at Dow Corning, so she is doing super good. She also bought a motorcycle. More on that later...

Mike's taking summer classes, too, which keep him busy first thing every morning, and he was fortunate to get a job working 2nd shift, so it accommodates his class schedule, though it is kind of a crappy job. But it is a job. A JOB. Times are pretty tough; we're a lucky family in that both Joyce and Mike found jobs. Whew.

Sammy got done with his Freshman year in high school and immediately started a 2-week basketball camp. Third day in, he was tripped up at a scrimmage and hurt his knee. Partial tear of his PCL. Yes, I said PCL, not ACL. It is AWFUL. Sam's in physical therapy 3 times per week now, and we go back to see the orthopedic surgeon in 3 weeks. The doc said that for Sam to have done that injury, it was like several things had to be just in the right (er, wrong) place and timing... kinda like a Perfect Storm. It isn't a common sports injury, particularly in high school, more commonly seen in things like car accidents. Sam is pretty darn strong and determined, so we will see what the future brings. All we can do. And pray. A LOT.

I took Monday off from work and had a dental appt at 7:30 am to get my permanent bridge put in. I now have a bridge in my mouth! Tolls, please. So anyway, Sam and I spent the day together and I let him drive most all day long. Made him drive to Goodwill and Salvation Army stores in Bay City, and I found a Coach purse for six bucks! Score!

At one point, around lunchtime, Sam asked if I had seen that truck. What truck?, says I. He had seen a big pickup that had the company name "External Landscaping" on it, which cracked us both up. What a dumb name for a landscaping company, ha ha! And then about a half hour later, we saw the same truck again... I said, "Sam, that reads Eternal Landscaping." Oh. What's eternal? Sam asked. Really, his vocabulary kinda sucks. I think mine was better at age 9 than his is now. Oy. (And Sam gets pretty much straight A's! Well, except for that B+ in Wood Shop his last semester. Wood Shop. The teacher gave him a so-so grade for the most beautiful and creative wooden bowl I've ever seen. Photos sometime soon. Boo hiss wood shop.)

What was Sammy driving on Monday you ask? Well... this, my new old car:

She's a 1999... here's a hint...

Yep!

a...

and she's a pretty thing. Loaded with way too many options. The owner's manual is leather bound and it came with a VHS instructional tape! Only about 80,000 miles on her, too. Darn good for a '99. Beautiful condition and runs great. Especially now since I had to put a new radiator in her... she is pretty...

I'm happy. But for some reason, whenever I'm in her, I feel a strange urge to drive straight to the casino. Hmmm...

Sammy will get his driver's license early in November, and we all are looking forward to that happy event. He will be driving my old Le Sabre, and he didn't seem to be as appreciative as he should be, at first, but he is now. Much preferable to walking. Especially since we live about a 25-minute drive to the high school.

I got this email from my BFF, Sandy, the other morning:

My tire yesterday at 7 a.m.

Kinda makes your day seem a little better, huh?! Poor Sandy.

It has been so hot and humid here in mid-Michigan lately that I have wanted to move way northward. Ugh. Everything is growing like CRAZY. My sisters are harvesting garden treasures already... this, the year we decided not to plant a vegetable garden coz we're all too busy.

I've been totally fasinated with the ditch along our road, though. The plants and the bugs. The weeds and wild flowers are all like a month ahead of schedule. I'm lovin' the bugs. Like this one...

which is a Phantom Crane Fly in flight. (Discovered what it is called due to the Googling diligence of my friend, Megan, from the pottery studio.) And oh, baby, I have plenty more photos from where that came from! Bug close-ups, lots and lots of bug close-ups.

Thankfully the last couple of evenings have been very nice and cool. I love me a cool summer evening. I drove home yesterday with the air off in the car, all the windows down, my hair up in a crazy pony-tail like I was Pebbles Flintstone or something, radio screaming loud and weaving my hand out the window up and down in the wind. Bliss. Singing along with the radio at the top of my lungs to the Beatles' Twist and Shout, "You know you twist so fine!"... But, unfortunately, what's stuck in my head is...
If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain,
If you're not into yoga, if you have half a brain...

The 5 faces of Ell... times 2...

2010-06-25T14:53:00.006-04:00

My beautiful, adorable grand-niece, Elliana...
June 7th:

and June 25th:

Ha Ha

2010-06-17T08:01:00.002-04:00

Whenever I get a McMuffin (which isn't all that often) and the muffin is toasted to black around the edges, I wanna go back holler Ha Ha! to the person who made it because I LIKE THEM BURNT! I do. When I toast English muffins for myself at home, I always burn the edges... mmmm... carcinogens with grape jelly... yum!

Really?...

2010-06-10T12:50:00.002-04:00

Just walked by a conference room with about 7 people in it, lots of talking, heard one woman say, "It's not like I'm commando or anything, jeez!" Followed by much laughter. I'm just not sure how to take that... am wondering very much exactly what they were talking about!

Saw a dude on a bicycle the other day. He looked like a skinny Jesus (lots of facial hair, long hair not in a ponytail), he was wearing a ballcap and a red & black nice looking backpack. Steering his bike with his right hand, and holding a microfiche reader with his left arm. Yes. A microfiche reader machine.

For some reason, at home the other day, someone, Sammy, I think, said something about wanting or should have bought a 6-pack... Kev lifted up his t-shirt and rubbed his belly and said, "I've got your 6-pack right here." Sammy said, "We said six-pack, Dad, not keg." Ha! Funny because Kev is not keg-like. Wouldn't have been so funny if he were...

Meet Wiley Blu

2010-04-22T16:06:00.015-04:00

I mentioned that we had gotten a Weimaraner; his name is Wiley Blu. He was born December 10, 2008, so he is still kind of a puppy... in his actions, not his size!

Wiley Blu, as his name implies, is not the more well-known light brown type; he is a Blue Weimaraner. As such, he is a gorgeous color, even if not accepted by the AKC. He is a beautiful blue-gray color, sometimes looking almost a dark bluish-brown, depends on the light, and he has beautiful yellow-gold eyes.

We do not get pets for their "breeding" or "bloodlines" anyway... we got Wiley because Joycie saw an advertisement for him, knew I had a long-time interest in Weimaraners, knew we did not want a little puppy (and Wiley was just past his 1st birthday when we got him) and so we went to see him. And that was that. He's a beautiful, big dog with a big, beautiful heart.

I had trouble at first in fully accepting him, comparing poor Wiley constantly to our Reilly. Any dog compared to Reilly will come up short. Forever.

But Wiley won us all over in short time. He was raised by a young couple who had a 2-year-old daughter and a baby on the way. They were living in a smaller home, which they had purchased, fixed up and hoped to flip, but then the economy went to H.I.A.H.B., so... stuck in a small home with a toddler and a newborn on the horizon, I can see how Wiley was Just Too Much. He is a huge dog. Where he lived, they allowed him access to all the furniture. This caused some initial problems at his new home, since furniture was off-limits in Kevin's book. But Wiley, unlike Reilly who was long-haired, has short hair and seems to never shed. And just try keeping a dog off the sofa and chairs and beds when he feels fully justified in being as comfortable as he wants on them!

We're still trying to train him into country life, since he was used to city life with a fenced yard. We're also still trying to Wiley-proof the house. He can reach just about anything on the kitchen countertops, and we've lost many a full loaf of bread to his reach. He is also the most awful beggar for food... he loves people food, so if you're eating, he's right there.

So... meet Wiley Blu... who loves to ride in cars...

He likes to ride in Joycie's Impala with his head out the open moonroof, where his big ears can flap in the wind and his jowls fill with air... quite a sight!

Wiley didn't seem to have much trouble adjusting to a new home. He was curious, and he was very playful. He loves wrestling with Sammy, Mike, and sometimes Kevin.

The stairs confused him at first, I think they were the first stairs he encountered. It took him a while to get the hang of them, with his long legs trying to handle each step. Now he bounds up and down them like he's flying. He also enjoys sitting on the steps, about mid-way up so he has a view of the house and the outside through many windows...

What is really funny about this long, lanky dog is how he can curl himself up into a ball when he sleeps... he is so cute...

And it's a good thing he's cute and won us over... coz here's what he did to the back of part of our sectional in the livingroom when playing tag with Blossom, the cat, proving her hiding under the furniture does not present Wiley with any true obstacle....

But how can you stay mad for long at this sweetheart...

Why we have fun where I work

2010-04-20T13:51:00.002-04:00

Overheard just now at work, where we hear EVERYTHING in our hive of little cubicles:

"Make no mistake, chocolate covered bacon is your friend."

Your. Friend.

!!!

Miscellany

2010-04-14T12:38:00.005-04:00

Ever notice how when you buy a vehicle, you suddenly notice there are a LOT of them on the roads? Well, I'm having a similar experience with my recently dented LeSabre... suddenly I am noticing a bunch of dented cars on the road and in parking lots. Seriously, a lot of them... like every 3rd or 4th car has a dent.

I followed a car this morning with a personalized license plate that read:
     PGIRL 2
She clearly has not been around any children lately. Or maybe she's a urologist, from a family of urologists.

I have declared this week the Week of the Daffodil. They are EVERYWHERE now. I love this time of year. Those & along with the forsythias make for some very serious yellow. And the shadblow are bloomin' too.

Sam, done now with basketball, is spending every day after school in "football conditioning". They are not practices, because those are not allowed; it is conditioning. Yesterday the coach hooked up 3 harnesses to the front of his big, extended cab, black pickup truck. The guys had to pull the truck forward down a gravel drive that runs behind the high school, then push it back, with the coach inside steering and occasionally pressing the brake pedal. Crazy stuff. Sam liked it. Something different. Though he did say the dead cat smell at the end of the drive was not very pleasant.

And speaking of dead cats, I haven't mentioned yet, but we do have a new dog, Wiley Blu the Weimaraner (I will do a post all about him)... we got him about a month after Reilly died. I was not ready, but the family was. Wiley Blu is a blue (or gray) Weimaraner, not the light brown kind, and he has gorgeous golden yellow eyes. He is huge and boisterous, very smart, but not at all like Reilly. Reilly would never have destroyed a piece of furniture, for example. Also, our cat, Blossom, used to tease Reilly and Reilly was oddly afraid of her... not so much Wiley, who could possibly consider a little thing like Blossom an appetizer. The 2 of them have grown more tolerant of each other, even to the point of playing... Blossom likes to run by Wiley and have him chase her down. She likes to dart under said furniture where big Wiley cannot fit. I'm thinking she won't be doing that much anymore now, as Wiley has evidently proved that furniture is no obstacle. (No, Blossom is not dead, I only had a moment last night when I wish she and Wiley both were! Just a wee moment...) *sigh*

I am now a quarter of a century old. Had the big birthday last Friday, and took the day off from work. It was a perfect day. Sammy waited until I went to bed Thursday evening, and then he made me a batch of snickerdoodles. From scratch. Mmmmmmm... He put them in a bowl so I could take them to the pottery studio and share them with my friends there, so we had milk and cookies at the studio! And while at the studio, a lovely young lady came and delivered to me a dozen gorgeous red roses in a beautiful glass vase from Kevin, Joyce, Sam, Mike and Wiley. Then Joyce and Mike made dinner, my choice (Mike's Magic Grilled Burgers and Joycie's Vegetable Pizza... Mmmmmmm...). Presents were so excellent and it was a beautiful, beautiful day. Also, I got my first piece of mail from the AARP. Sweeeeet!

And, my best friend, Sandy, gave me a surprise visit on April 3rd. I was at the library when she surprised me. It was a WONDERFUL surprise, and I loved spending the day with her. Joyce and Mike made Mexican dinner for us, and that was also awesome. I shall post pictures soon. I hope Sandy will surprise me again sometime, and I hope then, as recently, I survive the heart stroke. (Did I mention I'm OLD?)

Did you know that insurance companies are now using some kind of rating or score for people, similar to one's credit score (and in fact, one's credit score is a component of the insurance score)? Forget Geico, you can probably save a bundle just by asking about it. From what I hear, one must initiate that conversation; very few agents are clamoring to save you car insurance bucks. Or maybe they are, and I live under a rock. Anyway, our outstanding agent, Alicia, reviewed our insurance, and we saved a bundle! Until Sam starts driving in November...

We are already car shopping for Sam. We haven't decided if he will drive my LeSabre and I get a new* vehicle, or if we will purchase a vehicle for him and I will continue to drive my much-cherished LeSabre. The whole process would be so much more enjoyable if we were rich. So as it is, it is not enjoyable at all.

*New to me, I never purchase new cars. Cha-freakin'-ching.

Sam has been interested in a Cobalt, but because so many teen drivers are and have them, they have a severely terrible insurance rating. It would cost a small fortune to insure a Cobalt even for me to drive it. When Sandy was here, her rental car was a pretty little navy Cobalt, and I got to ride in it. Which decided for me, even before I learned of the over-priced insurance cost, on no Cobalt for Sam. They are too little and uncomfortable; I felt every little bump in the road.

I have heard some excellent jokes from a friend at the pottery studio lately. Attention: corn ahead.

     What's a pirate's favorite letter of the alphabet?
     (The person will respond R, or if they don't, um, duh....!)
     Punchline, delivered in a very pirate-y voice: Ya might think so,
     lassie (or laddie), but it's the C.

     I want to die in my sleep like my gramma did.
     [pause]
     Not screaming and yelling like the
     passengers in the car she was driving.

     The male mushroom said the to the female mushroom:
     Hey, baby, wanna party?
     Female mushroom says: No way!
     Male mushroom says: Hey, why not?! I'm a fun guy!!!
     [get it?... fungi... this one doesn't work so well writing it out]

I am listening to an audio book that is set in London. One of the characters, a man, was riding a bike and was nearly run down by a van. He cycled up to the van, whose driver had the window down and yelled out, "Manners, wanker!" Ah, those feisty Brits.

By the way, do you know why waving your middle finger, aka giving the bird, is a negative response? A woman at the pottery studio explained that in medieval times during battles, the conquering army would, upon capturing the archers, cut off their two middle fingers so they could archer no more, and thus, the army would taunt the other army by waving their middle fingers at them. Wiki does not seem to agree.

And that story was the result of a group question: If you had to lose (aka have cut off) one of your 10 digits (fingers and thumbs), which one would you choose? I chose my left little finger, but the point was that one's pointer finger is less useful than other fingers for things such as balance, utilizing implements and the like. I am disbelieving, but hope never to be proven wrong, or right.

I followed a pair of ducks down our road the other day, a male and female Mallard pair who were moseying down the ditch. They were so pretty. And since our ditch looks more like a creek, it was also pretty. Everything's turning green, so pretty, pretty, pretty!

And... Reilly

2010-04-05T13:56:00.017-04:00

After I decided that I wanted to be more consistent in creating posts on my blog, I've not hardly blogged at all. A lot of things have happened in the past 3 months... awful things and wonderful things.

A good friend's father died quite unexpectedly. His name was Ron and he was grampa to one of Sammy's good friends, Zack. Through the years, Sam became close to Ron because Ron was always around, at all the sporting events, picking Sam up with Zack before or after practice, taking them somewhere fun, like Taco Bell. Ron was a good, sweet man, and I wish deeply that he was still here with all of us.

My brother-in-law, Bob's, father died also. His name was Roy, and Roy was another good, sweet man. Roy had been ill for quite some time, and since he was suffering so much at the end, his passing was a blessing. Or so the common opinion would go, and it makes sense. But I still wish Roy were here, too.

An aunt, Aunt Marguerite, who has been through so much lately, the past couple of years, had to have a double mastectomy. So far, she's doing pretty ok.

My Momma, who has been not feeling quite right for a couple of years, finally had heart surgery, a triple bypass. She needed it, and we could have lost her at any time. It makes me feel ill and dizzy just thinking about how close it was. And, in my Mom's usual style, she is doing so well. My Mom is the strongest and most wonderful woman I know & have ever known.

Joyce made the Dean’s List this past semester at CMU, the start of her Junior year. And she’s figured out that she may be able to graduate early, after the first semester of her Senior year. Joyce has worked so hard at her classes, taking extra during summertime. We are so proud of her. Unfortunately, the full-time job horizon looks bleak, and I worry she may have to settle for a job that sucks, until she can get one in her chosen field.

Sammy is a Freshman in high school this year, the first year our high school switched to trimesters. Sam’s getting all A’s, and working hard to do so. He’s enjoying the trimester schedule. But, like so many Michigan school districts… heck, school districts everywhere, the money isn’t there, so budget cuts are deep. Back to semesters next year, with less class options, and less teachers, less staff, less everything.

And, my best friend, Sandy, came up from Texas and surprised the heck outta me! She had a short visit, and I got to spend Saturday with her. It was awesome. Joycie & Mike made a super excellent Mexican dinner for us all. It was so good to see Sandy.

And also, back in December, our dog, Reilly, started acting oddly. No energy, and eventually no tail-wagging hardly at all. He was ill, and we thought it had to do with the surgery he had in October, and with the pain pills we kept trying to get right for him. Then on January 9th, Reilly became very ill. The symptoms he was having, with the problems he had following surgery, were disguised... Reilly died on April 13th from Addison's Disease. I don't have the words to express how much I miss him daily. I know that sounds crazy, given all the events I've described above... he was just a dog. Right?. Not to me, not to us. Reilly was part of our family. I loved him so much. And he loved us. I will miss Reilly forever.

Reilly
April 10, 2003 - January 13, 2010

Officially Hillbilly

2010-03-26T14:20:00.005-04:00

Not that it makes much difference in my life or the way I live it, but on my dad's side, I'm half Dutch and half German, on my mom's side, I'm pretty much hillbilly. Her folks are from the hills of West Virginia. Irish or Scottish... there's a McClure in there somewhere, or something like that.

And now, this is my old LeSabre, the car I adore and treasure:

She's a 2002 with over 180,000 miles on her, and I am still planning to drive her until she can drive no more... drive her into the dirt. But I sure wish that dang deer hadn't dove head-first into me the other morning. He was a big-bodied deer, huge really. Mike and Joyce came and picked him up, and Kev butchered him... could only use less than half the meat, but it was still a good amount of venison.

So now I drive a crappy looking car and eat road-kill. I'm a hillbilly. It's official.

And of course, the impact, which drove me off the road and nearly into the ditch... that buck was moving when he plowed into me!... anyway, now my neck is one huge PAIN. Nice. One step forward, 2 steps back... we hillbillies know how to do the 2-step...

If ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep

2010-01-06T11:59:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year... 2009 quit us pretty much the same way it came upon us, with our sleeping forms completely oblivious.

Our New Year's Eve:

Me, home from work late afternoon. Sam home with friend, Zack. Kev arrived home shortly thereafter. Joyce and Mike gone, off on a little road trip in Canada with friends for the holiday.

Me, searching in the refrigerator for one of the Baileys Minis, one of a 4-pack that was part of one of my Christmas presents. MY PRESENT. Found 1 left. Disappointment mixed with irritation at Kevin, who had imbibed the other 3 sans permission.

Kevin, watching me pour it on top of ice cubes and mix it with a little milk and Chocolate drink mixer stuff (that Joyce received for Christmas, me opening sans permission!), says "You should be careful, those little minis are stronger than you think they are." He knows my alcohol consumption habits of late have put me well back into the category of newbie.

Me, "No problem." Says I.

Me, sitting in the much-adored recliner, about 4:30pm, Zack's mom, Tracey, arrives and takes Sammy and Zack away with her. She and her hubby are going to a New Year's Eve Party and the boys are staying home with Zack's little brother, Trent, and friend Jason.

Kev, outside doing his outside stuff. Feeding the dogs, replenishing the wood stove... you know, chores and stuff. Shoveling snow, sweeping the pole barn out. Things he does that keep him outside. Hunting camoodravores in bundlingers in the back forty with whochagidgets or whatever. Stuff that keeps him out-of-doors for hours. Very Important Stuff.

Me, having finished the creamy little drink, realize Kev was probably right. Feeling it all the way to my toes. Lean way back in the recliner. Uh, oh. Not such a good idea... too far back, the ceiling began to move. Up a bit. Much better.

Next hour or so is a total blank.

Kev, coming back into the house, stomps his feet on the porch and wakes me up.

Within 10 minutes we are in the truck on our way to Los Palominos in Mt. Pleasant for some very excellent Mexican food.

Stuffed and home by 7:30pm.

Kev watching football on TV and enjoying a few Sam Adams.

Me, on the computer checking emails and intending to write a blog post all about The Year 2009.

9:00 pm - Kev, in fetal position, sound asleep on sofa with empty Sam Adams bottle in hand. I remove bottle, turn down the TV and go back to playing Solitaire on computer.

10:00 pm - wake up Kev to go to bed.

Sometime during the night - exchange text messages with kids, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In response to text from Joycie, briefly describe our evening to her. Receive text back from Joycie: "oh jeeze. you two old people."

You would not believe your eyes

2010-01-05T20:33:00.008-05:00

I was looking at some photos that were taken with Kev's game camera... look at the eyelashes on this doe...

Seriously... look...

and... EARS!

EARS!!

Privacy patch required...

Deer porn *sigh*... and deer kisses on a cold morning...

Bye-bye...

Elliana

2010-01-01T18:59:00.012-05:00

01/01/10... What a way to start the New Year! Meet my beautiful, adorable grand-niece, Elliana Faye, born 12/09/09...

This is her momma and daddy, Sara and Derek...

and this is her gramma and grampa, Janet and Bob...

and her great-gramma and great-grampa, Jim and Joyce, my Mom and Dad...

Elliana slept through the passing of her along from one family member to another over and over... but she finally opened her beautiful eyes...

I am already aching to hold her again!

Sara and Derek both seemed so very, very happy and content. I'm so happy for them. And for us, our family has brand new baby Elliana!

It's science fiction

2009-12-30T08:24:00.004-05:00

2010. For a child of the 60's and 70's, 2010 sounds to me like science fiction. I start thinking about all the stuff we have now, and it is truly mind-blowing. I was trying to explain again to my kids about how much easier grocery shopping was when I was I kid. There just wasn't much to choose from, and salsa... we didn't know the word here in rural Michigan way back then, let alone have 30 different ones for our selection ~~pleasure~~ conundrum. And TV, 4 or 5 channels. Yes, I am seriously old.

And lately, I have felt a lot older than I am. I have spent the past few months trying to get off from pain meds, which I was still taking for pain from the surgeries I had almost 2 years ago. A sucky situation. Turns out, I can live without pain killers, but it ain't pretty. I believe I have an above-average or actually high pain tolerance, and I believe one can get used to a level of pain... eventually. But meantime, I found the level of pain was making me tight as a ton of knots, which triggered Vertigo again. And on my job, it's full-on, heavy-duty 4th quarter and year-end close time... So, yeah, back on the pain meds for now. Shit.

I've not had the oomph to do much of anything, not blogging, not cooking or baking, not pottery... if Joyce hadn't been running the Christmas show for our family this year, I dare say it would've been a flop. We did not send out Christmas cards this year. I was shopping for presents right up to Christmas Eve, and that is not like me. And Joycie wrapped most of the gifts for me.

So, though I am not making a New Year's Resolution, because I do not believe in those, I have decided to try to blog more often. I have so many family milestones, events and just plain moments that have gone undocumented in my blog since early 2008. I write this blog truly mostly for myself. It is like a journal of our family events, and I like to go back to older posts and read and look at photos, and remember. So that's my decision... post more on my blog and catch up on events in our lives over the past 2 years. I'm not deciding to Post Every Day and I'm not deciding to cover Events in Chronological Order. Whatever will be, will be.

I think that if I make an effort to write a blog post more often, other things in my life will, well.... fall into place. Blogging gets my creative juices flowing, and that feels good.

Oh, and I've also decided that Salt is the Enemy. It really, really is. Caffeine comes in a close 2nd, but no freakin' way am I going without coffee. That's just inhumane.

Oh, and I've also decided to free myself from post titles. You'll see what I mean.

Last minute holiday shopping?...

2009-12-23T10:44:00.004-05:00

What to get for the person who has everything? Stumped for ideas? Shopping crowds got you down? Sick of trying to find a parking spot that isn't 2 miles away? Tired of clicking through web pages? ... Well, don't just give up!

Meet my brand new grand-niece

2009-12-10T12:26:00.003-05:00

Elliana

I'm not 100% sure what time she was born, but I think it was close to midnight and I think her birthday is Dec. 9th. I am 100% sure she is beautiful! She's 8 pounds, 10 ounces and 21 inches of beautiful. I love how she's looking at the camera... you can tell Elliana is smart... those eyes! She almost looks like she's smirking, an expression I've seen on her momma's face a time or two... !

My niece, Sara, and also her husband Derek, must have had a long afternoon and evening... I got the text they were heading into the hospital at about 2pm yesterday. But mostly Sara... coz I heard they finally went with a C-Section around 11pm. Both momma and baby daughter are doing well. Sara sent me Elliana's photo in a text message this morning at 7am.

My fingers are itching to hold her!

You can run...

2009-12-09T17:21:00.004-05:00

Awesome, eh?! This photo of a hawk was the only photo that turned out at all of the 8 taken on Kev's game camera. But what a shot. Kev set up his game camera overlooking a deer carcass, which I cleverly eliminated from the above photo... well, perhaps not so cleverly because that's why the picture looks a little choppy under the bird's belly and left wing (his left, not yours). We were surprised to get only 8 shots, and the other 7 turned out with 1 white with just the photo label at bottom with the other 6 just blanks. Total blanks. We don't know yet if there is something wrong with the camera or what. Here's hoping not.

If you wanna see the original pic in all its carcass glory, click on the one below to enlarge. It's kinda yukky, though. So you've been warned...

Moonset

2009-12-02T15:39:00.002-05:00

This morning, the full moon was just above the horizon in the western sky with a smattering of flimsy clouds around it. It was gorgeous. It had a ring around it, too. Sam was driving (yes! driving!) to school, and we were waiting at the drive-up window at the coffee shop... I said, "Look how beautiful the moon is!"

He said, "Werewolves."

He was right, too.

Hello yourself

2009-12-01T12:09:00.004-05:00

So yeah, anyway, I'm still breathing. This is a photo I just took this morning of the women's bathroom at work. As you can see, it is a long, narrow room. With a total of nine - count 'em, NINE - stalls, the last 2 being the larger wheel chair access types. So I enter the bathroom the other morning, and it is entirely empty. Like it was when I took this pic. This actually happens quite often. I select a stall mid-way down the row, and I am happily peeing away when I hear the bathroom entrance door open and the hurried click-clack, click-clack of shoes on the tile floor. With not even a slight hesitation, the woman pushes in the door of the stall I am in. While I'm peeing. The only closed door in the row of nine - count 'em, NINE - doors. Yes, I locked the door, but our door locks are meant to only keep the doors closed... if you push hard enough the doors will open as it's some kind of safety feature. And yes, she pushed well hard enough... HELLO THERE! CARE TO JOIN ME????...

How obtuse does one have to be to choose the only closed door in a row of nine stalls?

With blessings to share

2009-08-06T11:20:00.008-04:00

My niece, Susan, has a son, Rogan, who is my sister, Janet's grandson and the light of her life. That light will be shared in the not too distant future...

My second eldest niece, Sara (Susan's sister), and her husband of 19 months, Derek, are expecting their first child.

Last Friday evening, we all met at Janet & Bob's house, and Sara and Derek were on the speaker phone. Sara had an ultrasound earlier, and so they were to announce to us all whether it would be a boy or a girl. Sara had wrapped 2 presents at some point in the recent past, and she hid them at her mom & dad's house. Sara told her mom to go get and open the one with the yellow bow. Inside was a pink outfit... Janet's face was awesome to see! Gramma is happy at the expectation of a baby granddaughter. I wish I had gotten a photo of that expression on Janet's face, but I missed it, so this poor quality photo will have to do:

Janet still looks glowing with happiness. We all were, of course. Not that a second great-nephew would have been a difficult thing to look forward to! But it was a very nice bit of news...

And what a fun way to share it with the family. Such a cute, tiny pink outfit. It was very cool. Sara sounded so happy, too. She told us they have decided on a name; she will be Elle. Such a pretty name.

Sara scanned the ultrasound photos and shared them with us. Meet our beautiful Elle:

This one of Elle sucking her thumb is so adorable:

And this one of her little foot...

I can't wait! My fingers are itching to hold this baby girl.

Then on Monday, I went out to lunch to a Mongolian BBQ and on the way out, I snagged a fortune cookie. It sat on my desk at work; I didn't get around to opening it. Then yesterday morning, after I was talking with a coworker about his wife who is having their 2nd child this week, a baby girl, and I told him all about Elle... and then after he walked back to his cubicle, I noticed the fortune cookie and opened it...

Way too cool! I tend to keep fortunes, and I have a ton of them. I've read a ton of them through the years... but I've never received or read this "short stranger" one. So I had to send a picture message to Sara right away... a Chinese fortune cookie that predicts the future for real. Can't wait!!!

Twins

2009-07-11T21:08:00.003-04:00

Kev and I went for 4wheeler ride this evening, and it was a gorgeous evening. Still is... got all the windows open and a nice, cool breeze coming in.

Kev's big field out back is coming up mostly with tall grasses, but it's beautiful.

We saw a doe with her twin fawns in the woods. We've seen them up around the pond, and we were able to turn off the 4wheeler and watch them for a bit before they bounded off.

Kevin, Turtle Rescuer

2009-07-11T20:46:00.004-04:00

Back in the first days of the month of June, Kev found a turtle at work and brought it home in a box...

Yes, a turtle...

and because no self-respecting, intelligent turtle would want to live in a chemical plant, he set it free in our pond...

Good-bye very happy turtle, no super powers in your future.

Kevin: Hero of All Natural Turtles Everywhere.

I have so many, many things yet to blog about, going back to last May. By last May, I really mean May 2008. To present. I have taken blogging procrastination to a Whole New Level. I should do something about it...

Love, love, love

2009-06-22T13:59:00.005-04:00

Since I have sorely neglected this poor old blog lately, I treat you with a photo!

Ladybug love...

Now, doesn't that photo give you a warm feeling inside? Even the smallest creatures are loving, and loving each other. And like humankind, some are just plain freaks, even among the smallest creatures... notice the little voyeur there on the side?... ahem...

This post must be photo-filled instead of text since the reason for my lack of posts is a decided lack of creativity in the cranium. I'm busy at work, as usual... I'll be too busy for the next couple of years cleaning up from my 2008 debacle. Too busy at home, as well, with a backlog of work there, too. And I'm still spending much of my free time whining and laying down. *sigh*

And I'm still not winning the lottery. *sigh* (Even though I dreamed, very realistically, that I won $250 million... in which dream, I made a list of 100 people, family, friends and coworkers, who would all get $1 million each. If you're reading this and fall into one of those categories, don't you sorely wish I had won?! Me, too.)

But instead of a million bucks for you, I have another lovely photo... Mike and Joycie on Mike's new-to-him Harley...

Isn't it all shiny and beautiful? And don't they both look so happy? You can't see me, but I can tell you that I look both happy and worried. *sigh*

Yet more love... this from Texas, where my best friend, Sandra Jean, and her hubby, Brian, have a new puppy. Meet Jake...

He is with his best friend, Scout, and Jake is a fun-filled, lovable 4-month old. And Jake is also, like most puppies, simply beautiful while napping...

Sadly, Sandy and Brian lost their dog, Shadow, a while back. Shad was a black lab, and she lived a long, happy life, and as with all our beloved pets, she'll always be missed. Having Jake helps the hurt a bit for both Scout and Shadow's humans.

Loving where I live...

2009-06-02T11:56:00.001-04:00

From our local newspaper's "crime log":

Saturday, May 30

12:14 a.m. -- A deputy was sent to a Hope Township home after a man reported hearing a woman in the woods screaming. Deputies checked the woods and determined the noise was a barn owl.

Down home in Michigan

2009-05-18T13:44:00.003-04:00

Joycie and Mike made Mexican food Saturday evening and had friends over. Allison's sweetheart, Christopher, is visiting her from Italy, where he's stationed in the Navy. I've been getting to know him through his VLog, and it was super nice to meet him in person. What I liked most about Christopher was how happy Allison looked. Their story is very romantic.

Kara has returned from India, where she spent her last semester. And got her nose pierced...

I love it. When you have an experience like that, you should come home changed. Internally and externally. The little diamond looks perfect on her.

Kev and I left the youngins on their own for dinner, and we went out... for Mexican food in Mt. Pleasant. Silly us. Joyce & Mike's was better (we had it Sunday). When we got home, they were all set up out at a campfire by the pond.

It was a pretty cold evening and kind of windy, so not the best evening for a campfire. Your front gets warm, but your back freezes, and the smoke goes all around.

But I managed to get a happy photo of Christopher and Allison:

And of Mike and Joycie:

Joycie, Allison and Kara have been friends since they were little kids in elementary school. So many years, so many changes...

TGIF

2009-05-15T19:13:00.008-04:00

It has been a long week, and I'm tired. Sam is gone for the evening, as usual. Our little social butterfly is rarely home on Friday evenings, and he has made plans for the weekend. Tonight he's at the Loons game with friends and staying overnight with his best bud, Nate. Joyce and Mike are both done with their respective college 2nd semesters, and they've been working full-time each day this week. They're not home yet because they're getting groceries for us on their way home. Words cannot express how much I love and appreciate those 2 youngins.

It's a beautiful evening, and Kev started mowing the lawn about an hour or so ago. Since he has made such an enormous lawn for us, it takes him quite some time to mow. I've been sitting at my computer trying to get up the energy to do something, like write a blog post... but instead I was playing Hoyle chess. Kev decided I was looking far too serious, so next time he drove by the window I'm facing, he waved at me in a very energetic way... and he was buck naked. Yes! I know! How cool is that?!! But alas, my new cell phone failed me. The photo save and erase buttons are on opposite sides from my old cell phone... so I deleted 3 great pics instead of saving them. *sigh* But oh my heck, I laughed. My hubby is crazy. Very cute also.

Mother's Day was awesome. Sammy made pancakes for breakfast. Extra wonderful. Extra wonderful with my brother, Jim's, maple syrup, too. Yum. My wonderful kiddos, and Kev, too, gave me a Zune. 4 gig! I was so excited and surprised. I want to download books. And use it for music from Joycie, too. But, I have been unable to download the software. My high speed dish Internet access just isn't high speed enough, I guess... it keeps timing out. I had to call them and ask for a CD, which they are mailing, but it is the older version software, so after I install it, I will have to download the upgrade. Fingers crossed. It's frustrating. I wanna use it so badly!!! And I can't yet. Grrr... And it is such a pretty, pretty pink! With a pretty white and pink case!

My sister, Kathy, called me yesterday morning on her way to work. We both drive M-20 and there has been construction along a part of it recently. Yesterday morning was windy. One of those huge black and white signs that reads, "Injure or Kill a Worker..." blew over right in front of her. Right. In. Front. Of. Her. Thankfully no one was in the left lane, and she didn't hit anyone as she swerved to avoid the attacking sign. Which would have otherwise surely injured or killed a worker on her way to work. Irony on a windy morning. Gotta love it.

Both Mike and Joycie have done very well on their grades this past semester. I think they feel like college is crawling by, but I cannot believe this college year is over. I'm so very proud of the both of them. They are also both doing great at their jobs; both working for the same start-up company. That's for another blog post. But again, I'm so proud of them.

I'm also proud of my niece, Michelle, who has graduated from college (look for pics later), and I'm so proud of her brother, my nephew, Michael, who has also completed his first year of college. Michael with a straight 4.0 GPA. My nephew is brilliant.

Joycie's good friend, Allison, got a nice surprise this week. Her sweetheart who is in the Navy and stationed in Italy came to see her here in Michigan. We get to meet him tomorrow evening, and I'm very much looking forward to that. Also to Joycie's homemade Mexican food. The girl can crank out the tortillas so wonderfully. Mike's momma, Izzy, has taught her well.

And can we all get a HALLELUJAH! that "Coach" is finally, finally voted off. He has been barf material all the way. When he told his "Assistant Coach" that "they" call me the dragon slayer, I actually did feel a bit of vomit in my throat. They didn't call him that, HE called himself that. Ugh. Gag. And did anyone else find it strange that everyone else had a family member visit, but not him? We have been muting or fast forwarding through the Survivor episodes now whenever we see his mouth moving. He would have been the ideal person to take to the final 2, though... who on the jury would give that conceited jackass a million bucks? No one. Stephen is one smart dude. I hope he wins the million just for getting Coach out. Though JT is awfully adorable...

And speaking of adorable... this week's Two and Half Men was awesome. I love the character, "Berta" (Conchata Ferrell, who plays the part perfectly!)... my favorite quotes from that episode: 1) Jimminy, I'm drunk, and 2) He digs the trench and you lay the pipe. Classic.

Yet more TV! I really enjoy the show The Big Bang Theory. The character Sheldon and his "classic pranks" is so funny. Bazinga! This recent episode where Wolowitz pretends to shoot a crossbow at Sheldon, with the added gesture of throwing the weapon down when he's done shooting it was awesome. And now we are saying Bazinga! around this house.

I used to cook a lot. I used to be known as a really good cook. But I haven't been cooking hardly at all in the past, oh... 18 or 20 months. It's another thing I keep hoping will return to "normal" one of these days. Meantime, I am recording a heck of a lot of cooking shows. My favorites are Paula Deen, Ina Garten, Giada and Tyler, and of course, Rachel, too... I have so many different episodes recorded on our DVR, and I rename them all just "Food" so they are grouped together. When I am feeling particularly tired out and yet still anxious (have that going on a LOT lately... work pressures, so much work backlog from last year... ugh), I love to watch Paula cook. Her Southern drawl is so soothing, y'all. And her food looks so good. I just wanna hug her. And then eat everything she's cooked up in her gorgeous kitchen. I think Paula Deen is probably the TV cook I most admire... her book, "It Ain't All About the Cookin'" is on my want-to-read list. I love watching the Barefoot Contessa episodes, too, also soothing. Her home is lovely. But it's all a little too... I don't know... too too... y'know?. Kevin likes it when I'm watching any Everyday Italian episode, and he'll actually watch them with me. I'm sure it has nothing to do with how gorgeous Giada is... (Kev calls her the little midget with the big knockers and the low-cut shirts.)

Wow. I watch a lot of TV. And right now, the Tigers are on it. See ya!

My guitar girl

2009-05-08T08:24:00.008-04:00

Joyce did a ton of research, got a great deal, including a student discount, and bought herself a new iMac. It's gorgeous...

And as you can see, she's super happy about it. She has had it a little over a week now, and unfortunately, she already had some problems with it. But she was on the phone with the iMac folks and it seems to be all ok now.

The machine is amazing. The screen is huge, as you can see in the photo, and so crisp and clear. The hard drive is the monitor, no other piece. The CD/DVD drive is just an opening on the side. The keyboard is super lightweight and very thin. There is even a USB port on the side of the keyboard, which is handy for the iPod, etc.

Since it's a Mac, it came loaded with all kinds of stuff, including iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand. Oh. My. Heck. I love that she has GarageBand. Yesterday evening, she played 3 songs for me that she's created using GarageBand... Joyce singing and playing her Martin. I loved it! She's making a bunch of tracks for a CD for me. I can't wait to get the CD. Joyce used to never like to sing for me while she played her guitar, but like her guitar playing skills, her singing shines. Her songs are beautiful. I will see if I can talk her into letting me post one of her songs on my blog. I say "her songs" but they are covers, not songs she's written herself. Hey, now there's an idea...

Joyce did say, though, that while she was using GarageBand yesterday, it unexpectedly quit. So maybe all the little bugs aren't out of her new iMac yet. Which really sucks, considering it's brand spanking new. She bought the support/extended warranty thing, though, so she's covered. I told her it was "the nasty virus"... We've been discussing how Macs get very few infections, because the idiots of the world write those things for Windows, not Macs.

When she ordered it, she was like a little kid at Christmas, constantly checking the package tracking and telling me the status updates. It's left California! It's in Nevada! She kept asking me when I thought it would arrive. It was fun watching her excited anticipation and then her glee when it did finally arrive.

After she told me it was in Nevada, I sent her this text message:

"Your mac decided to make a quick stop in vegas. The good news is it won big time at black jack. The bad news is it blew it all on prostitutes and now it has a nasty virus."

I didn't hear back from her for a while. This was the Tuesday evening before last. Joyce had gotten home from class and made herself some bacon and eggs for dinner. Kev, who had forgotten to get milk on the way home, and really, really ticked off Joycie in the process, was outside with Sammy shooting baskets. They both came inside about 7:30pm, and by this time Joyce was up in her room studying (exam week this week for her), and I was laying bed enjoying the cool breeze coming in my bedroom window and the beautiful view of the pond and the relief on my neck from my lovely, lovely pillow (been a rough couple of weeks lately with neck pain, ever since N.C., one of our cats, tripped me up on the porch steps).

So the 2 sweaty boys decided to come in the bedroom and visited with me. Kev came in first and laid down with me and was massaging my neck, then Sammy came in and laid down in front me so I could hug his sweaty self. It was actually very nice... just what I needed to feel better.

Kev, Sammy and I were talking when my phone beeped a new text message... Joycie's reply. So the 3 of us started replying back, with Sammy doing the typing (man! that boy can text so dang fast)... here is that goofy text conversation... and what's funny is that Joycie didn't realize it was the 3 of us yanking her chain... We 3 found it hilariously entertaining.

Joycie: LOL don’t talk about my mac that way. Its only rumors.

Us: Bullshit. I saw the youtube video.
      [Sammy enjoyed typing "bullshit"... boys!]

J: Whatev

Us: Youre the one that will be touching it

J: Yeah and it will feel amazing. I will just wrap it in saran wrap.

Us: Your sex life is your business
      [Again, Sammy cracked up at "sex life"...
      14-year-old boys!]

J: Yes it is

Us: But I think you should tell mike, he has the right to know to protect himself from possible infection

J: Don’t worry I will let him know my mac is a whore

Us: Thats coz all macs are whores

J: Again... whatev. It dont matter none.
      [Joyce did that one just to annoy me;
      she knows I can't stand poor grammar.]

Us: Spoken with the grammar of a true mac user.

J: ...grrr

Us: What’s the difference between a pc and a mac?
      [Sammy asked me what the answer was...
      I told him it depended on what Joycie said back.]

J: What?...

Us: Exactly!
      [Sammy said, "I don't get it"...
      I said, "Exactly!"
      Sammy said, "I still don't get it."]

J: Dont get it.

Us: You can tune a piano but you can’t tuna fish.
      [This was Kev's contribution, and Sammy
      was laughing so hard he could hardly type.]

J: I’m done trying to understand you.

Us: It is what it is.

no answer...

Us: Dad wants to know if you got any milk on the way home?
      [Major chain yanking here!]

J: No, tell him that its his job and he should know these things.

Us: Mmm... bacon smells good

J: It was good

Us: You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

no answer...

Us: You should have bribed him with bacon

J: Oh well, sucks for him I guess

And that was it. It was good for a laugh, and it is making me smile just typing this up. But maybe it was one of those times where ya hadta be there...

May

2009-05-07T06:45:00.000-04:00

I've been watching the ditch down our dirt road, and with all the April rain, and rain in May, too, it has been rising and falling daily. I am somehow entranced by the streams of water coming out of the woods (more on that later...), and when I'm on my way home, I've been driving past our driveway on these sunny days to check out further on down the ditch.

Saturday, I saw this heron and managed to get quite close to it before it spread its huge wings out and flapped away...

Then I watched a number of small, yellow birds flying around and chasing each other, all the while singing like crazy. I think they are Orchard Orioles, but I'm not completely sure. I haven't seen this bird before... they were lovely, they sounded lovely and their antics were very entertaining. When a couple of them would decide to chase each other, they would really get some speed going. I was sitting in my car, with the engine off & window down, and they'd ZOOM! by. One got a little close, and startled me... thought it was going to zoom into my car, or right into my head... Pretty, aren't they...

While I was watching the streams of water and the birds, I could hear a chainsaw going, so I made my way down the road. Kev was out on the northwest corner of our property cutting up a downed tree. The man loves to cut wood...

And in the woods, there were violets everywhere...

It was a beautiful day. Love this time of year.

Phone pics from the kids

2009-05-03T08:25:00.003-04:00

Joycie took this photo with her phone recently. We already knew how Reilly spends his day... this just proves it. Sprawled out on Sam's queen-sized bed in the sun...

Reilly isn't always spread out like that; he spends a lot of time laying on the bed so he can look out Sam's bedroom windows down the driveway. Lovely way to spend a day.

I'm jealous.

Sammy took this photo with his phone right before we left the house one morning on the way to school/work. He didn't tell me about it or show it to me on his phone; he emailed it to me at work, and it was a pretty surprise...

I love watching the sunrise on the pond. This pic is now my laptop desktop background.

Goose egg

2009-04-29T13:13:00.002-04:00

I mentioned recently that I found a goose egg on the side of our pond, and that Kev set up his game camera to monitor the situation. Good thing we weren't on pins and needles waiting for something exciting...

The most exciting part (not) was convincing Reilly, our dog, that it wasn't a ball... over and over and over and over...

The pair of Canada geese would visit the egg daily. They'd fly in and spend some time around the egg.

I watched them do this a few different times, and I never saw them actually touch the egg. They'd land on the pond and then swim over to, or near, the egg. Watching the pair fly in, swoop low, swing around and majestically land on the pond was awesome. When I saw them, they would then swim directly to the egg, except for one time when they swam toward it, then passed it, then back to it.

I believe they probably did this more than once per day, visiting their egg. I also believe they have a nest nearby. We hear them often, late at night or early in the mornings. It has been a puzzle to me... it had to be a mistake when she laid the egg there, like, oops, that one popped out by accident! (Maybe she bent over when she shouldn't have, like after having chili for lunch.)

But why the visits?

Anyway, the visits are over now. We finally retrieved the egg, and Sam, very interested, cracked it open last night, well away from the house. He said it didn't stink and it looked just like a regular egg, no big red spots or anything. I was tired of making sure the dogs didn't get to it, and with the days warming up, I'm pretty sure it'd be one stinky egg soon. I'm kinda surprised a crow or something didn't go for it.

Kev's game camera caught very few photos in the past 3 weeks. We're not sure why; we know there were times when the geese were definitely there at the egg, but the game camera took no photos. Maybe the lighting at the time wasn't enough, or maybe there was too much sunshine, to trigger the camera's action sensor. We got about 15 photos; half were of nothing.

A couple of the pics were kinda neat, though...

Tdap

2009-04-25T12:17:00.005-04:00

Tdap, Tdap... Tdap, Tdap, Tdap... Tdap, Tdaaaaaaaaaaaap. TDAP.

Don't know why, but that's what happens when I think "Tdap" in my head. It becomes Pink Panther theme music.

If you do not know what a Tdap is, then FOR SHAME. Get thyself to thine doctor (or reasonable facsimile thereof) pronto and get it. It's a shot. Yes, it'll hurt. Ya big baby.

My niece, Chelle-Belle, was very, very sick recently. Thankfully, she was home from college for the weekend, so her parents were able to get her to our local ER very late one evening. Her struggle to breathe was painful in many ways... painful for Chelle and painful for my sister and brother-in-law to watch. Michelle did not have pneumonia; a day later it was confirmed she had Whooping Cough.

Michelle received a medical checkup and the shots required before she began her first college semester, including a Tetanus shot. But for some reason, though I believe the Tdap shot was available back then, Chelle got only the T. (Michelle is in her final semester of her 4-year college program, pre-med.) Tdap is Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis. We all greatly wish she had received the "p" along with the "T", and what the hell, the "d" too for that matter. She has it all now.

Pertussis, aka Whooping Cough, is extremely contagious. Since it's now been discovered for young adults, and us old adults, that the vaccinations we received as children have worn off, we all need to be sure to get re-vaccinated with the Tdap shot. Unfortunately, many parents are recently deciding not to vaccinate their children. So between these 2 factors, Whooping Cough is on the rise in the U.S.

Dreadful.

I say "unfortunately" because I am pro-vaccination. And yes, I know this is a big ol' can of worms (I listened to the Momversation on it recently). I'm totally Old School. Shoot 'em up, baby. Coz I agree with 2 statements on that Momversation: 1) Vaccinations are one of the best medical breakthroughs of our generation, of recent generations, and 2) parents who decide not to vaccinate their children are relying upon the rest of us who do... otherwise, we would be back in epidemic city Big Time on many diseases. Also, I have a niece, Sara, who teaches Special Education, and Sara is certified in MI, MR & Autism (MI is mental illness and MR is mental retardation - I think, though I'm not sure if that is still politically correct). I have such awe of Sara, choosing that profession; I am so proud of her. I talked with Sara not too long ago about the relationship that seems to be made between vaccinations and autism. She explained one thing I hadn't thought about, which was that years ago, children were not diagnosed as autistic where they would be diagnosed as such now... it is not so much a situation of an increase in autism as an increase in diagnoses of autism.

I am not saying there are no risks associated with vaccinations, because of course there are risks. But, I believe that vaccinations have allowed my children to be free of the danger of many diseases that plagued children of my father and mother's generation and the generations before them.

Right before Michelle became so sick she had to be taken to ER, I got to visit with her, and since we're such a huggy/kissy family, I was hugging and kissing her. Thankfully, last May when my physician checked me out from attic to basement, I got the Tdap shot. I have no recollection of that, so I had a scary bit of hours between learning I was exposed and learning I was vaccinated. Whew. I wasn't up to another round of any kind of antibiotics.

Also thankfully, Kevin just got a Tdap shot at work at his recent physical. Kev has to undergo a very thorough annual exam due to his new job at work, and the Tdap shot was not optional; get it or don't keep the job. Not that he wouldn't want it. And even more special for Kev was that his employer provided it, made the pain on his shoulder for the next 4 days that much more bearable... at least he didn't have to pay actual money for the shot. (Kev can be so cheap!) Joycie and Sammy also have had the Tdap shot within the past 2 years, so we are all good. But our Mike needs his Tdap shot, which he will get pronto. He needs the Tetanus anyway, because of the job he has now, where he works around older homes and buildings.

Remember: Renew your Tdap shot every ten years.

Ya got that right

2009-04-20T21:35:00.000-04:00

Why, hello there

2009-04-10T23:06:00.012-04:00

Every once in a while, I like to look through Photo Friday. I like the Link Viewer they have, and I like zipping through the photos. I do this sometimes at work at my desk while I spend a quick 15 minutes eating my lunch, and it's a nice little break in the middle of a busy day. Especially when some of the photos are so spectacular, they can take one right out of one's dinky little cubicle for a brief second or two. Nice.

The range of photo quality, though, is truly amazing... from really great to really bad. A few years back, I used to participate, mostly as a means to try to learn how to use an Olympus that was my first real digital camera (I'm not counting my very old Sony Mavica). That Olympus had features on it that I never did get around to using. I think Photo Friday was booming then, this was early 2005... and it wasn't unusual to see over 600 photos posted for one weekly challenge. That's a lot of photos to look at, especially when we had only dial-up Internet access back then. I think now it mostly depends on the weekly challenge, some of them get a lot of interest, thus 900 photos, and some don't, so 120 photos. I find it all very interesting.

Mostly I enjoy Photo Friday just to find those few photos that really strike me for whatever reason. A photo I can't get out of my mind.

There's a lot of professionals or almost-professionals using it for basically free advertising, and eh, who cares. But they bore me. They bore me about as much as their polar opposites... the ones I see that are the half-assed photos of someone's little daughter, photos hardly in focus and barely able to be categorized as part of the week's challenge. Those all just make me bored. I mean, HELLO, it's Photo Friday, not show me your crappy quality photo you took AGAIN of your kid. And it's not all about you, Mr. $8,000-camera PLUS expensive lens selling photos and copyrighting everything because of money, money, money.

Photo Friday is about... well, here it is in their own words:

Each week Photo Friday posts a photo assignment. Your mission is the creative interpretation of the week's theme. When you're done, post the picture you took to your website and submit your link to Photo Friday.

Photo Friday is about challenging our participants to be original and creative within the constraints of the week's theme. It's not a competition. Anyone with a camera and a place on the internet to post pictures can participate.

I like the regular average Joes & Janes who take a great shot or set up a great shot for the challenge and post it. Those are the pics I look for.

Last week's challenge was "Extreme Closeup" and some of the photos were amazing. This one I just cannot get out of my head. I just like this little feller. He's my laptop's desktop background right now. Yes, I totally do that. If I find a photo I adore, I may use it for my desktop background. I mean, seriously, click on the photo and look at him large... how can you say no to those eyes?

I found one photo quite some time ago that was a black and white shot of a circle of dark stones on a beach, and there was just something about it that was awesome. But I can't locate it now, and so... I miss it. But not enough to go through a kazillion Photo Friday photos to try and find it.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

OK, so... reminding myself of my penchant for copying the pics for using as my desktop background, I went to my old computer and found it!...

I sorely wish I could give credit to the photographer, but after finding the file and looking at the date of it, then spending a bit of time trying to find it again on Photo Friday, well... it seems an impossible task. If I find the photographer, I will totally update this post and give him credit (I seem to recall it was a him, and they were on vacation in Norway or Finland or something, and he lived in Switzerland or something, or I could possibly have dreamt all that up). Love the photo, though. Don't you? Do a Google image search on "beach circle" and you'll see some neat photos, but in my opinion, not as good as this one.

   UPDATE:
   I found the pic, "on the beach" on Photo Friday,
   in the "Best of 2007"... here's the link to it
   on the beach by urbanmonster
   Not the story I remember...
   But awesome photo.

This has been such a strange day. Good Friday, and a holiday by my company (whoo-hoo, thank God for those Christians, eh). But I did have to do a bit of work today, at least from home (been doing a LOT of that lately). Kev spent time outside stacking wood, and he came in the house to tell me there was a beautiful pair of Canada geese setting on the edge of our pond in the sun. So I grabbed Joycie's/my little Sony and snuck out there. It was pretty windy today, so I managed to get quite close to them.

Since I knew Kev was going to head out back with the 3 dogs shortly and would scare the pair away, I tried to get even closer. They got up and got agitated, and then got into the pond, like swimming kind of toward me. I taped it with the little Sony, but between my walking on uneven ground, the strong wind, my facing the sun, and the little Sony wiggling at every move, the movie file is awful (Joycie said like "The Blair Witch Project"... ugh!). I would walk a little closer toward them then stop, then walk, then stop... and at one point they really started squawking at me. Something caught my eye and I looked down at the edge of the pond and saw this:

Why would she lay an egg on the edge of the pond like that? Freaked me out. I stopped the taping, and right about then, the 2 geese took off from the pond... talk about a grand exit. It was gorgeous. And I wasn't recording any longer. Sweet.

So Kev and I, and the 3 dogs, took another 4-wheeler ride out back and retrieved the game camera. I convinced Kev to plant a fence post near the egg and set up the camera there... I wanna see what happens to it. When Kev was setting the metal fence post, Barney and Reilly were with us, getting into the pond. Reilly suddenly noticed the egg and started for it... Kev had to yell at him quick. Reilly thought it was a ball, and he surely had to get it before Barney! That would've been a let-down in so many ways.

Can't wait to see what the camera shows tomorrow. Full moon tonight, too. Very beautiful on the pond. And how do I know this? Because it is right now almost one o'clock a.m., A.M.! I am wide awake at 1am. This is not like me, and I'm not sure how this happened. I am the one trying to stay up until at least 8:30pm lately. Especially now, working so many extra hours on quarter close (work stuff, y'know). I'm pooped by 7pm. But today, I'm all wide awake. Well, wide awake for me. Tomorrow should be very interesting.

Odds and ends again... mostly odds...

2009-04-08T05:52:00.017-04:00

Meryl Streep is my favorite actress ever. (Or am I supposed to say "actor"?... seems like I heard or read somewhere that actor is to be non-gender specific and thus more PC. Whatever.) She's amazing. I have loved every movie I've seen with her in it. Meryl Streep has more talent in her little finger than most of the actors (actresses) out there. Seriously. For one thing, this:

I loved that movie. And I can't imagine doing that move at my age, let alone her age. And speaking of age, she is aging better than any other actress also. I greatly admire that woman. No, it's not a crush... well, maybe a little... Anyway, I bring this up only because she must have somehow been featured in a dream I had last night or something, because I woke up thinking of her. (Hey, gotta be a good day when you wake up thinking of Meryl Streep, right?) And thinking how she has more talent in her little finger than, well, you know.

And then I thought of her little fingers... Have you ever noticed how Meryl Streep has very small little fingers? I mean, her little fingers are small... they're half the size of her ring fingers (or 3rd finger or whatever the technical term is for the finger between your little finger and your bird). I noticed it years ago and now look for it on occasion in her movies. (Ever do that? Notice something and then can't help but look for it over and over. Yes, you do.) So I've been scouring via Google images for Meryl Streep and her extra little, yet still gorgeous, little fingers. And it's been amazingly difficult. Most photos I've found don't show her hands very well, or if they do, she's doing something like this...

But I did find these...

So, that's what I find interesting at 4:30am.

This week is our son's school's spring break week. If we were normal, we'd be on a nice vacation somewhere with our son, leaving his hard-working older sister home to attend her college classes. But, we are not normal. I am not, anyway.

Fortunately, Sammy was lucky. And Lucky Sam has some good friends... A good friend, Austin, who invited Sammy to go with him and his family to the Kalahari Resort in Ohio. Sam is half fish, and I'm sure he is in heaven right now. I miss him, but am oh so happy for him. Austin's family and 2 other families all went there together, so there are lots of kids. Some younger kids, but Sammy likes little kids. I'm so happy that Sam is getting to do something so very, very fun for spring break. And they're staying in the "Village Suite" at the Kalahari... pretty freakin' awesome.

In light of Sam being gone most of this week, he and I made plans for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I took Monday as a vacation day to spend with Sam. We started on Saturday with a tanning session for Sammy. (I let Sam do about 4 or 5 tanning sessions... a local tanning joint has a deal where you get 6 free to see if you like it, then you can sign up if you want. Awesome.) Then on to the Hollister store at the Saginaw mall.

Words cannot express how much I hate Hollister stores. I am far, far too old for them. They play the music too damn LOUD and they spray far too much perfume EVERYWHERE. And they sell cheap stuff at ridiculously high prices. But, words cannot express how much I love my son, so... to Hollister we went.

Sammy and his friends are what Joycie (lovingly) calls "label whores." Joycie and her friends would happily hit the local "Salvo" for t-shirts (Salvation Army store). And since we live in a town that has many world travelers, they'd find some cool, like-new t-shirts from places like Belize, Ireland, Australia, China... Sammy wouldn't be caught dead in anything from Salvo. Even if no one could possibly know it came from Salvo, HE WOULD KNOW. And since we were not spending any money on a family vacation once again this year, I agreed to Hollister. What will $230 buy at Hollister? 1 pair swim trunks, 2 pair of shorts, 3 t-shirts, 1 t-shirt with a collar and 1 bottle of Jake cologne. Yes, $230. (Kev, if you're reading this, I know you're croaking right now, so get over it.) This desire of Sam's to wear The Name Brand clothing is definitely not something he got from me or his Dad... we got home and Kev met us in the garage... and Kev had on a black t-shirt that I got free from my employer back in 1979. Yes, 1979.

Sunday, I took Sammy back into town for another tanning session, a hair cut and then a "date" with his girlfriend, Julia. We picked Julia up and went downtown where I stayed at a local coffee shop, using their super fast free wi-fi to get some work done, while Sammy and Julia just walked around together. I managed to hack it out... I say that because I felt awful. When we got home Saturday, I felt awful... Sam was afraid our Sunday plans would be cancelled, but I stuck it out. Not easily.

Because once again, I caught some damn bug. Been sick again since early Saturday, with a stomach flu or something, reminiscent of April '08. Ugh. Ever since I had that Augmentin reaction, I have felt weird and/or sick. Weirdly sick. Sickly weird. Vertigo is crazy. Also, my sense of taste is greatly diminished. Very odd. I have been putting more salt on things lately without thinking about it, because I can't taste it until it's too much salt. And salt doesn't help with vertigo (I read that somewhere, I think). Too much salt doesn't help a person's body at all. So I've been trying to be aware of it, and not use it. It's like food is so-so and coffee is simply hot. Today, I can taste coffee more, so I know my sense of taste is returning, slowly though.

Monday, Sammy needed an allergy shot, and then we had plans to go out to breakfast and then a bunch of other plans. I did get him to his shot, and then to breakfast as promised... to an iHop (allergy shot in one town, iHop 30 miles away in a another town, oy!). Sammy wanted iHop because he loves their cornmeal pancakes. Guess what... the cornmeal pancakes are no longer on their menu; can't get 'em. He was disappointed, and I was like, "OMG, I drove 30 miles for this and I feel like CRAP." And then we had to cancel all the rest of the day's plans because I had to hurry home, and then I spent the rest of the day pretty much between my bed and my bathroom. What a sweet way to spend 8 vacation hours. I was telling my best friend, Sandy, all about my troubles, and she said, "It's like they said in that movie The Bucket List, 'never trust a fart'!" That's my Sandy, she can still make me laugh even when I don't feel like it.

And now I've been up and done with my shower since before 5am, sitting at our dining room table with all my work spread out - it's all staring at me! Been writing this blog post all that time, on and off, with several interruptions... But also having enjoyed the coffee Kev made this morning, talking with him before he had to leave for work, and enjoying what I can see of a gorgeous sunrise down our long hallway, past the kitchen, through our small window...

Riding with the dogs

2009-04-04T16:20:00.007-04:00

After Kev felled the big oak last weekend, he and I took a short ride together on our 4-wheeler. We drove out back so Kev could show me where he cut down some more trees. Out back by our little pond, there are 2 clumps of witch hazel growing there. I have a fondness in my heart for those witch hazel, and Kev knows this. The past couple of years, some small poplars have begun growing up too close to the witch hazel. I've been hinting, asking and outright begging Kev to clear those away. And he did! Have I mentioned lately how much I love that man?...

On our way back to the house, I used Joycie's little Sony for another video. I am amazed at how well that little thing records. And yes, my skills are not very refined, I'm afraid. But I was riding on a 4-wheeler. Don't expect too much.

The fun part, which is also at times very irritating, is Reilly's behavior. Reilly loves, loves, LOVES a 4-wheeler ride. He likes to be right in front of it and jump and act all weird. He used to bark at it and act like he was trying to bite it, but we got him to stop that behavior. Most of the time. Usually Kev will holler at him and tell him to run on ahead, and since Kevin is the ONLY person Reilly will mind, that's what Reilly does. I asked Kev to let him be coz I wanted to record Reilly's madness so we could laugh at it later. You can also hear Barney huffing and puffing behind us. Now that he's blind, he follows the 4-wheeler right on our tail. Betty makes her way however she wishes. Now, from her you'll usually hear some major huffing and puffing... but she stayed back away too far to get it on this video. The ride was fun. Enjoy...

Kev had moved both the pickups away from the polebarn in the event the big oak wasn't convinced to fall in the direction he wished. Squash the pole barn, just don't squash the trucks! I loved his comment when we were riding along side the pond and could see both the trucks parked in the front drive... Kev said, "30 years of technology right there between those 2 trucks." I thought that was a cool observation... we love the old pickup. Kev traded in his 1999 Chevy truck for this 2008 he has now. I think Kevin really tried to love that 1999, but he just could not. Me, neither. This new one, we both love. She's a keeper.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2009-03-30T17:51:00.011-04:00

Today is my Dad's 79th birthday. Happy Birthday, Daddy!!! 79. Crazy, ain't it? Where does the time go?....

Since my Dad was 30 years old when I was born, this means I am soon to be 49. Which is really just 50, as I think I've mentioned already... 49 is really 50. And I'm the "baby" of the family. Youngest of 5 kids.

Hey, Dad, 79 is really 80!

In spite of all the frustration and worry us 5 kids managed to put our parents through during the years, Dad and Mom are both pretty young-acting for their respective ages, and they're strong. You would've think some of our stunts would've aged them more considerably. Guess that's why we're all made pretty tough, coz our folks are tough. We were kids raised in the country with parents who expected us to work hard, do our share of the chores, think for ourselves, do the right thing and speak with good grammar.

We had all kinds of fun growing up. Summers were, of course, the best. When I was real young, we had horses and some ponies, too. I remember one pony that was a biter. I hated that one. Got me in the fleshy side part of my back once. Mean old thing. We had chickens out there near the horses, too. I remember being afraid of the rooster who would chase me, until I chased him back. I think my brother showed me how to do that.

I remember us kids making a tree house in the big White Oak tree out in the front field. I also remember that my brother accidentally buried the claw of the hammer into his head while we were making it.

I remember jumping off the back deck of the house. Our house was built into the side of a hill, so from the front of the house, coming up our long driveway, it looks like a single story typical ranch style home. But over the hill was the downstairs. Can't really call it a basement, so much of it is open. There was a deck off the kitchen/dining room on the top floor, running all along the back side of the house, kinda like a back porch with an 8' or 9' drop, so jumping off it was irresistible. Kids! Jump and roll.

After a while, Mom and Dad sold the horses, being sick of hearing us kids complain about having to take care of them and whose turn it was to do what with them. Then one day, our Mom bought us some motorcycles. She surprised my dad with a 250cc Kawasaki, I think it was, and then we got like a 175cc or 125cc and then a smaller 100cc or 90cc or something like that. I remember part of one summer where we had to clear some land, cutting and hauling brush, and we'd take turns riding the smaller motorcycle. The rest of us would have to clear brush while one of us got a turn on the bike. That was fun. The motorcycle part, while everyone else had to work.

We always grew a huge vegetable garden, and us kids had to work in it, hoeing and weeding in the summer. Usually hated it, as most kids do. We'd have to work for a while, then get to cool off and swim in the pond for a while, then maybe have to work some more. We got a ton of food out of that garden, and really, my Mom and Dad worked harder at that than us kids did, all combined. Didn't appreciate it much then. Sure do now. Loved the frozen corn we always had. And good potatoes. Getting potatoes out of the cellar in the winter. And Mom's canned tomatoes, and peaches, pickles... all that stuff. We sure gave our folks a lot of grief getting us to work in that garden. But we always ate a lot!

Once my sister, Kathy, and I were riding the motorcycles in one of the front forty fields, and I believe I was on the 90cc, and there was a small, very small, hill in the field. We'd jump it with the motorcycles. Get some air, too. Problem was one time was I took it in the wrong direction... the side with no slope. Stopped the bike cold and I went flying over the handlebars. Hurt like H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks and tore my shirt off me. I remember the shirt was blue with white buttons, and I was really bummed coz I loved that shirt. Too torn and blood stained to fix. Kinda screwed up the bike a bit, too.

My Mom sewed a lot. Back then, you could buy fabric for a shirt for less money than a shirt. Not so nowadays. Back then, with 5 kids to clothe, my Mom did a LOT of sewing. She was awesome at it, and still is. All the many, many, many clothes she sewed for us. Jeans to look like the popular painter paints, with triple seams and everything. My Mom could sew anything you wanted. Anything.

When we had horses, at various times we had quite a few, like 6 or 10 or so. Once we had a new stallion. I believe his name was Buck. Or maybe Blaze. Been a lot of years now, so I'm not positive... Anyway, Kathy and I decided to take a ride, and we took out a couple of mares. As it turned out, mares in heat. Buck was very interested in following us, and he broke through the fence and chased us. The mares took off like bats outta hell. Kathy and I were pretty scared. Buck was gaining on us, so we decided the safest thing to do was to get off the mares. How do you get off a galloping mare over which you have no control? Jump. I seem to remember the unfortunate coincidence of my decision to jump being right near the big briar patch. How accurate all these memories are is surely up for debate. But I recall briar patch related pain. And then we had to catch those darn horses. But first Kathy and I had to walk back home, all dirty and dusty and covered with scratches and blood.

I also remember one day when my folks were gone and my brother decided to hollow out a big old tree like the kid in the book, "My Side of the Mountain." Only that kid did it to a live tree. Jimmy had picked out a dead tree. And he tried to hollow it out like the kid in the book... using fire. Caught the tree on fire. I remember we called Uncle Don over to help. Lucky on that one, no forest fire ensued. I remember Uncle Don saying something about, "You know what happens to kids who play with matches? They wet the bed." I never did get that. We did play with matches a lot. Can't believe we never did any major damage.

Jimmy did a lot of things. He was a fearless boy growing up. And tough. I remember one time Dad had the trailer hooked up to the tractor and somehow Jimmy got his hand caught and pinched on the hitch. He screamed in pain. Dad stopped the tractor and jumped down quick. But Jimmy took off running, holding his hand, and Dad couldn't catch him. Jim did a heck of a number on his hand.

We gave our parents lots of opportunities for trips to the ER. I remember stepping on a board with a rusty nail... went right through my left foot. I still have a big scar there. ER - tetanus shot.

Once Jimmy and I were riding a horse, both of us on one horse, no saddle. Us kids always rode bareback. We were never supposed to ride down the road, but we did (of course). And I ended up falling off the back of the horse, slid right down his rump. He was a big horse, too. Fell on my left arm. Jimmy told me to get back up on the horse, but I told him I couldn't. I had to walk home. Boy, was Jim mad at me, coz he knew we were gonna get it. And I walked home and had to tell my Mom and Dad I broke my arm. And of course, they found out we had the horse out on the road. Boy, we sure did get in trouble for that. ER - broken humerus. Clean break, though. Too high up for a cast, so I had a sling. Started 3rd grade wearing a sling to school. And that stunk.

Once, Kathy and I took Dad's 250cc Kawasaki for a ride. Kathy had to drive, I was too small to handle it. I was wearing an old Lee coat that was my Dad's. It was way too big for me, but I loved that jacket. It was white denim with big pockets. We were ready to go, but Kathy had to run inside for something or other. Can't remember exactly. But I had to hold the bike up, but it weighed more than me and it started to fall. Which wouldn't have been good, but worse, a handle or something caught the sleeve of my coat and flipped me a good one when the bike fell. ER - broken collar bone. Compound fracture that one. Had to wear some kind of brace. That sucked. Shoulder tells me when it rains now. Coz I'm OLD.

Us kids used to fight with each other a lot, too. Like all kids. Chase each other around the table, pulling chairs out behind us so it'd trip up the one chasing. And we would get some speed going, too. We were tough. We'd wrestle for fun. And like wrestling fun with kids sometimes does, it'd turn ugly. Coz someone would get mad, and then we'd wrestle in earnest! We were very tough country kids. But let any other kid pick on one of us, and watch out, coz you'd have all of us kids to deal with. We always stuck up for each other. Dad and Mom taught us that, too.

We didn't have any close neighbors, so each other was all we had most of the summer days. We had tons of fun, though, always. Swimming in the pond (now filled in and no longer in existence), swimming in the river, climbing trees, making forts in the woods, playing inside the lilac bush, catching fish in the river and frogs in the ditch, running around summer evenings catching fireflies. Playing all kinds of games in the yard, our own versions of tag, football, baseball, Red Rover, especially fun when friends and family kids were over. Spying on our parents and their friends or aunts and uncles when they were over, coz we could look through the windows after it got dark and they couldn't see us. We thought that was so fun!

We used to walk along the road and try to find those brown beer bottles to turn in at the little store, I think we'd get 5 cents for them. Which was a lot of cash to us kids. I don't think kids today would bend over and pick up a nickel in the mall parking lot. With a nickel, we could buy 10 pieces of candy at the little store. We'd walk to the store on rare occasions, and since the store was a mile down one road and then a half mile down M-20 and our folks would NOT let us walk along M-20, we would walk to the store through this old oil well trail through the woods. That trail is still there, but I think it's private property now. Heck, it may have been back then, too, but the owner was never there. That was fun going to the the little store and picking out penny candy, getting it in a little brown paper bag... Two-for-a-penny candy, really, rootbeer barrels, chewy nutty squirrels, hot cinnamon fireballs, caramels, jawbreakers, sweetarts, bit o'honey, tootsie rolls, or suckers, all different kinds. Sometimes we'd get orange sherbet push-ups. Or a pop. Or a fudgesickle. Great on a hot summer day.

Us kids were pretty typical kids.... trying to find clever ways to get out of a bath or brushing our teeth. Or trying to get out of work. I somehow have the reputation of always having to "go to the bathroom" when it was time to clear the dinner table. I have no recollection of those events whatsoever.

Also, the usual fighting in the back seat of the car until we got yelled at. Breaking stuff and blaming it on each other. Hitting, getting caught, "but she/he started it!" Good times.

Actually, the thing I remember most about riding in the car as a family is that we would sing. All of us. Dad, too. I learned a lot of old songs that way. Like "Your Cheatin' Heart" (Hank Williams) and "(Put Another Nickel In) Music! Music! Music!" (Teresa Brewer, baby!) and "It Comes and Goes" (Eddie Arnold) and so many more. We'd also sing a lot of the good old hymns, and also some of the "new" songs, like "Proud Mary" and "Burning Bridges"... And yodeling!! My Mom can really yodel! Not that Swiss crap, I'm talking hillbilly yodeling. I loved that as a kid, listening to my Mom yodel in the car. I love hearing her yodel now! I yodel like my Mom, though not nearly as well (coz no one can yodel like my Mom!), and my kids groan at me. Eh.

We'd sing at home, too. My Mom can play the piano, she's awesome. Mom never had lessons, she played "by ear," and Dad would ask her to play a song, and Mom would play it and we'd sing.

Breakfasts. Feeding a family of 7 ain't no small thing. We had hot cereals for breakfast every morning before school, and often on weekends, too. Oatmeal, Malt-O-Meal, Ralston, Cream of Rice, Cream of Wheat... We all had to sit down together for breakfasts and for dinners. And dinners. Meat and potatoes. My Mom could fry chicken... yum. Meatloaf and baked beans on Sundays, come home from church starving and the house would smell sooooo good. Roast beef and gravy. My Mom's gravy was the best. Hamburger and beans, with bread and butter. Yummy. And home-baked cookies every weekend for school lunches. And Mom's jello cream cheese whipped cream lovely bowls of heaven. Chocolate cookie sheet cakes. Mmm... New potatoes out of the garden. Corn on the cob, dripping with butter. Enough for everyone to have too many pieces! We ate like kings. And we went through gallon after gallon of milk every week. I remember Dad would buy it 4 gallons at a time, using one of those plastic carrying things for milk.

Takes a lot of food to feed that many people. We were never supposed to just go into the kitchen and open the fridge and help ourselves to food. All the food in the house was for breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Not for snacking. Though, of course, us kids would snack. I remember sneaking a big spoonful of peanut butter and eating it while I would read a book.

And books! Trips to the library all the time. Checking out tons of books. And then Janet's boyfriend, Bob's (now husband) mom worked at Kresge's, and when the paperbacks were discontinued, the store was supposed to toss them. (Did any store ever really do that???) So she would give us grocery sacks (the brown paper ones, coz there were no plastic grocery bags back then) full of Harlequin romance novels and other paperbacks, all with the covers torn off. We devoured those books. Well, not Jimmy.

Sunday evenings watching the Wonderful World of Disney TV show, with Tinkerbell and her little sparkling wand. And Mutal of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Playing the games in the front of the first huge book of the World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary, a 2-volume dictionary, each volume weighing about 50 pounds!

All in all, the 5 of us kids were basically good kids, but we also gave my Mom and Dad plenty of unpleasant and worrisome moments. And here we all are, all grown and getting old, and we're all still close. Still totally a part of each other's lives. With Mom and Dad at the center of it all. They raised us right.

The mighty oak falls

2009-03-28T20:22:00.019-04:00

Out back near the dogs' run and the pole barn is one large oak that was part of a twin. One of the twins fell a couple of years ago, causing no damage. Though, years ago, back in 1991 when our house was in construction, we had a big wind storm that summer, and a huge branch of that tree fell off... and on its way to the ground, the branch swept down the side/corner of our pole barn. Did some major damage to the pole barn. And that was just a branch of the tree! A branch the size of a small tree.

The remaining, still-standing twin has become less stable. This is always the case when a pair of twin oaks loses one. This is the third set of huge oak twins where one came down in a storm and Kev has had to take the other one down. All 3 have been near our house, so also near our outbuildings and everything, too. Felling a tree that big is a risky venture, and you gotta know what you're doing. Thankfully, Kev has tons of experience cutting down trees, and he was taught by the master... my Dad. Dad and Kev have felled many a huge tree together.

So this tree has been leaning toward a couple of pine trees we have over there, pines we would like to keep... Kev decided yesterday was the day to take that tree down before it came down on our pines, or worse. We have very few pine trees on our property, and those we have are because we've planted them ourselves.

The wind yesterday was quite strong and blowing to the west, which would be helpful in taking this oak down in the right direction. My job was to keep the 3 dogs out of the way. Betty was easy, she just laid down, poor old girl...

Barney, now totally blind, was a bit more of a challenge. He had found an old tennis ball and was walking around with it possessively in his mouth. I got him to lay down, but he always just starts rolling around on the grass, coz it feels so goooooooood...

Reilly minded me and sat still. He also kept an eye on Betty and Barney, and when Barney would wander, Reilly desperately wanted to herd him back to me, but I made Reilly stay put...

This is Kev beginning to work on the tree. Big tree, huh...

The other big, single oak is staying... at least for now. It's standing tall and straight, well, mostly straight... so far, so good. Though, when a single oak has grown up so near other trees that have come down, it affects that tree. That oak has been used to the other 2 big trees all its life. With those twins gone, the single tree will have to adjust, such as how the wind and sun change against it, the roots at the bottom. That single tree should be fine, but through the years ahead, the twins being gone may adversely affect its life expectancy.

Kev starts on the tree by making a cut on the side he wants the tree to fall toward, first one cut...

Then another cut...

Cutting a wedge out of the tree, making the weak spot to convince the tree to fall that way, hopefully avoiding the nearby pine trees as much as possible...

Here's the video I took of the tree falling. Not very good videography skills; I'm not used to Joycie's little Sony at all yet. There is also a lot of wind noise in the video... it was a windy day! And there's a loud shout by me when I screamed for Barney because I thought Kev was telling me he was in danger. Scared the crap outta me! Poor old blind Barney.

Kev got the tree down keeping the pine tree intact... whoo hoo, Kev! That's my man!!!

It was pretty exciting. Scary, too. Big tree. Kev is 6' tall, so this photo gives you an idea of how much work he has ahead of him getting the tree cut, split and stacked and the stumps taken care of...

Of course, the first thing Barney did was find one of the wedges Kev used and had it in his mouth, which made Reilly instantly want it.

Kev got Barney to drop the little wedge and tried to get him to carry around the big wedge... eh, made us laugh anyway!... poor old blind Barney, guess we shouldn't be making fun of him...

Barney is such a huge dog, though. Guess we thought that wedge was more his style. Reilly only cared that it gave him the opportunity to get what Barney had...

I also took a sweet photo of N.C. also... can't you just feel that stretch?

And then later, Joycie and Mike got home, with groceries! Joycie started cooking right away. She cooked for about an hour, and the house smelled so wonderful. Usually Mike helps her cook because they like to do that together, but he had homework to work on. Joyce made taco beef, homemade tortillas, fried up some homemade tortilla chips and made a big bowl of guacamole. Oh. My. Heck! That was some good Mexican food. Izzy, Mike's momma, has done a great job teaching our Joycie how to cook the good stuff! It was so delicious.

You can see our beautiful girl had been slaving over the hot stove... looks at those pretty red cheeks! The four of us had a nice dinner together. Sammy wasn't home; he was at a friend's house. As usual... our little social butterfly, that boy.

And now, just for kicks, here's a crazy photo I made of our crazy old, blind Barney...

Freaky, eh.

Sleeping Beauty

2009-03-25T12:50:00.003-04:00

Photo credit to Mike, with his cell phone. He and Joycie took a nap on Sunday afternoon... but Mike woke up first. I love how Joycie's lip is smooshed against her pillow, just like when she was little...

Happy times on the bed

2009-03-23T20:44:00.007-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, I was laying down watching the wind blow on the pond and trying to settle my mind down. I've found that, lately, working on Excel spreadsheets tends to drive me a bit nutty after a while, vertigo-wise.

I got my boy to come in a give me hugs to make me feel better. I was playing around with Joycie's little Sony camera, and so I took a bunch of photos of us. We had us some fun!...

My boy has gorgeous eyes. And great hugs.

I got Mike to come and visit with me for a while, too. And when Mike's here with us, where Mike goes, there goes Reilly. That dog loves Mike. I mean, that Reilly loves our Mikey...

I'm getting used to Joycie's little Sony camera. My Sony has really bit the dust, and it's not so fun using it anymore. Joycie bought herself a fantastic Nikon last fall, so her Sony has just been sitting there collecting dust. It's one of those little ones that fits in your pocket. Only a 3x zoom, which is pretty much nothing. I miss the 12x. But my old Sony was about 5 megapixels, while this one is over 7. Best part, it fits in my purse and I can take it with me easily everywhere I go. I did take my old Sony just about everywhere, but it's definitely not pocket size.

I am planning to replace the old Sony with something nicer, like Joyce's Nikon. But right now, I cannot afford it. I was hoping to choose a digital camera from the selection of 30-year service award gifts from the company where I work (yes! 30 freakin' years... I tells ya... times flies when you're ~~having fun~~ old!). The service award gifts you can choose from get nicer and nicer as your service years progress. They're given out in 5-year increments. Usually. But... one of the cost-savings measures our company has instituted recently has been to put the service award gifts on hold. Everything we can do, as a company, to save cash and ride out this economic storm is being done. So, I can't really bitch about not getting my 30-year giftie. But I admit, I am quite, quite sad. I was so very much looking forward to a nice, new digital camera. A free, nice, new digital camera.

But playing with Joycie's little Sony is kinda fun. She is retaining ownership; I am only borrowing it... she's made sure I Understand This Completely. Resting in bed yesterday afternoon (with the vertigo thing, sometimes I just have to get horizontal...), I took about 120 photos. I know, crazy. I think that's about 10 more than Joycie has ever taken with it! She always forgets to grab her camera. She and Mike worked all through their spring break week, so they decided to head to Chicago for a couple of days on the weekend (which was a week ago)... and she forgot her nice, new camera! Mike took a couple of photos with his phone... I will share those with you soon. He has the same phone as Sam, the Voyager Titanium I think it is... and it takes a nice photo. But I've made Joycie promise to just grab her camera and take it with her everywhere she goes. She has a good eye, and I love to see the photos she takes.

And as for laying in bed and having company... eh, that's pretty common around here anymore. Our family is close. We keep pretty much nothing from each other, we share all. No topic is taboo, no worries too small, no fart too loud, no burp unnoticed, no sore shoulder not massaged, no itch not helped to scratch, no burden we can't share, no joy we don't celebrate... all together. Everywhere and anywhere. Well, it is not limitless, but ya get the drift. We communicate. We respect each other. We want to and we must... for one thing, no door inside our house has a lock on it, not even the bathrooms.

Analogies & words of wisdom

2009-03-22T09:31:00.023-04:00

This past week, while in the middle of an activity at home, a mild activity, I had to stop, drop to my knees and put my head on the floor. Vertigo is such a fun thing.

After I few minutes, upright and onwards again. Answering the question, "are you alright?" several times, yes, yes, yes... So I tried to explain...

A vertigo attack is like when playing an album, yes on a record player, the old vinyl... and if there is a scratch or a bad spot on the album, the record player's needle will react... it will skip or play the same part of the album over and over... it will not just smoothly keep playing music. If you pick up the arm and move it forward a little bit, away from the bad patch, voilà!, smooth sailing and sweet music again. [In my book, mixing of metaphors in an analogy is totally ok.]

But... going through the bad patch on the album does affect the needle. So the needle is no longer perfect, and to a keen ear, that will affect how the needle plays the rest of the album's music.

That's kind of like a vertigo attack. Depending on the severity, that is... and lately this past week and half, my vertigo attacks have been primarily quite mild (in comparison to those I had last autumn). Once the episode is over, I'm back to normal... pretty much. May take a bit to get my needle all sharp and pretty again, but still... One could say that my being at less than 100% capacity, say at 98%, is not a good thing. But I could say that my 98% is arguably better performance than some folks' 100% performance. And yes, of course, the reverse is true... my 100% performance is not, I'm sure, as good as, for example, "Mrs. B's" 80% on one of her bad days. (There is always somebody better!) But still... ya get my drift, eh.

And that's what dealing with vertigo is like. Like most (all) life experiences... I believe that a person who has never experienced a vertigo attack is truly unable to completely empathize. Recently, Kev had that mild experience with vertigo due to his inner ear infections, and since then he has been so much more understanding and sympathetic with me. And he was understanding and sympathetic before his experience! (I love that man!)

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

My sister, aka O Wiser Sister, and I had a conversation recently, and as is often the case, she had words of wisdom to share. I was quite moved by her analogy, and will share it with you, though I'm sure I will botch it somewhat...

On dating and relationships...

When you meet a person in whom you are interested in dating, you show them your interest. So you date, and you like the person. Date some more, and then without any truly deep analysis, you jump in. You jump in emotionally and physically, and get into a relationship with that person. This is a common scenario. The common scenario.

But what if you Stop And Think...

Think. Value yourself. Think, for example, that you are made of all these wonderful pieces of gold. The finest gold that exists. When you jump into a relationship, you are giving that person some of you... some of your valuable pieces of gold that make up who you are. You are investing in that person. You're investing pieces of yourself. If the relationship fails, you invested pieces of yourself that you won't ever get back. You've given away some of your pieces of gold.

I love this analogy. The point is to stop and think. Can you ever know from the moment of meeting someone that your investment is going to be worthwhile? Of course not. Well, not usually... I do believe in Love at First Sight... Kev and I are living proof of that. And our 26th wedding anniversary is coming up soon. (Did I mention I love that man?!)

Stopping to take the time to think can be a difficult thing to do, because sometimes when you meet someone, your feelings are running high, hot and heavy. Not exactly the formula for analytical thinking, or caution.

But if you decide to make a conscious effort to take things slowly, you are more likely to make a wise investment. What you get for your investment may simply be a learning experience, an education to apply to future investment choices. What you may & should also get for your (slower) investment is increased self-respect. Pride in yourself for being so dang smart with your pieces of gold, for your investment savvy.

Everything seems to go so fast nowadays. And if that statement doesn't make me sound like an old fart, I don't know what would! But it's true. Warp speed. Friending people on Facebook and myspace, etc. Hooking up. Zoom, zoom, zoom.

Taking the time to stop and think doesn't mean you should absent yourself from opportunities. It just means realize the value of your precious pieces of gold. Value yourself.

And this is true in not just romantic endeavors, but also in simple friendships. The older I get, the less time I seem to have. It's true... ask any older person you know, and they will confirm that the older you get, the faster the days fly by. Life's too short to spend it on people who don't value your pieces of gold.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

End of wisdom. Off on tangent...

What is it lately with the return of the record album? I'm seeing and hearing references to albums everywhere lately.

Back last summer, when we painted our basement, Joycie found our boxes of albums. She and Mike looked through them and were impressed with our choices in music. The old farts were not always so uncool.

For Valentine's Day, Joycie got Mike this really cool portable record player... so they could listen to all our old albums. Though it was pretty funny, because the first thing they did was forget to lock the arm in place, so the poor needle was jumping all over the place inside the case. Kids! But they forgot; they have little experience with turntables.

The other day, Kev and I were watching an episode of "Without a Trace" where the main guy's daughter returned to live with him, and she found his old albums. She also determined he must have been pretty cool in his younger years, and in the show, she went out and bought a turntable so she could listen to her dad's old albums. She also made a comment that his albums could make some serious cash.

There were also some references to albums and turntables on some HGTV shows I've watched lately... album references abound!

Last week, Kev set up his old stereo system, including the turntable out in the pole barn. So now he's listening to his old albums out there. Rock on, baby!

How to annoy me

2009-03-21T06:58:00.005-04:00

Me and Zack are going downtown later.

Your welcome.

That's how its done.

Yes, the dog made it's way home.

Yous guys wanna go with?

I could care less what you think.

I don't have no more dimes.

Who was our first President? I dunno, whaz his name?... Thomas Washington or somethin'...?

What's the capitol of New Mexico? I dunno, Arizona?

We can't be out of Ranch!

Are we seriously out of ketchup?

What time is it? It's around 5:17.

Time we should leave: 6:45am.
6:47am: Mom, I need this 8-page form filled out to turn in today at school. No, it has to be in today.

DVR set up to record Every Single Episode of some damn sports talk show. No one knows how it happened.

Watch movie/show on DVR; discover that recording magically stopped & is missing last 15 minutes.

The green "power on" light on the sound machine is so bright, it lights up our bedroom, making our expensive room-darkening window blinds utterly useless against its power.

Obama bumper sticker on a Lexus. Seriously. Seriously?

Keep selling me losing Lottery tickets.

And, of course...

Really big shew

2009-03-20T08:40:00.011-04:00

This has been a heck of a week... I had mentioned that I had a bad reaction to the most recent antibiotic I was taking, and that I had gotten yet more meds to help that situation.

The meds to get over those other meds caused problems, too, so I've had to take... yep, more meds. [Insert scream here.]

Basically, I've been dealing with feelings of vertigo in varying degrees of intensity for the past 9, 10 or 12 days or so. And it sucks. To help calm down those awful feelings, I've had to take Antivert and Valium, as well as more Vicodin than usual.

Some young folks out there might be saying to themselves, "Whoo hoo! Party on!" To them I say, "Youth is wasted on the young."

Ha!

I just wanna feel normal again.

And the dreams. Oy! I've had some really strange dreams...

Remember the Ed Sullivan Show?

When I was little, I remember watching that TV show a lot. I remember once there was a guy who came on the show, and he kept plates spinning, plates that were placed on top of long poles.

The guy would rush, rush, rush from one spinning plate to the next, giving them a spin to keep them going. That plate spinning thing was kind of popular way back then...

I remember being quite fascinated with the plate spinning. And these plates were china plates, none of those plastic plates like they have nowadays. What crap! Cheaters.

The plate spinning has been embedded in my brain forever. On days when I feel particularly hurried or stressed, with too many irons in the fire, my mind goes to spinning plates. This, of course, always occurs at work. With the week I've had, which required I work from home, since the meds I've been taking this week aren't recommended for driving (duh), I guess I've been feeling a bit stressed out. I woke this morning to a very vivid dream that included spinning plates. I kept trying to keep them going, but they kept breaking. And when they broke, they would somehow end up in my lap, not on the floor. But they must have broke on the floor, because I remember the noise they made falling and breaking. So, anyway, I had my lap full of all these broken plates, but I still had to keep the plates not yet broken spinning and spinning so they wouldn't break, but somehow not lose the pieces in my lap. And the broken plates in my lap were really heavy, and they hurt. I had dark bluejeans on, so I knew the blood wouldn't show that much, and I was so relieved that the blood wouldn't show.

And then I woke up. My heart was racing. And of course, yes, the first thing I did was check for bleeding wounds. And then I was like, "What? Huh?"

And then, "Whew!" And then, "Ah, noooooooo......." [Insert vertigo here.]

Yeah, and I don't think ya hafta be Sigmund Freud to figure this one out.

Kitty kisses

2009-03-19T08:36:00.005-04:00

Sammy took this photo with his cell phone yesterday afternoon. These are our cats, N.C. and Frankie. N.C. is the orange cat, and he's about 5 years old or so. Frankie, the gray cat, is very old... she's got to be at least 15 or so. N.C. and Frankie are usually pretty affectionate with each other. They would spat on occasion, but lately with Frankie getting, and acting, so old, it seems like they are both more mellow to each other. And, of course... spring is in the air!

YTD '09 in photos...

2009-03-15T09:48:00.014-04:00

Sandy and I are on the same wavelength lately, kind of.... neither one of us got our Christmas packages mailed out on time. But Sandy sent us a huge box in January (and I have yet to mail our box to them! *sigh*). It was so much fun to open that box, as are all boxes from Sandy... my friend is very creative.

Christmas this past year was not typical. Everyone was so sick that some family get-togethers had to be cancelled. We got together with my in-laws in January, which happened to be at the time we got the huge box from Sandy. One of the many gifts Sandy sent was this...

How cool is that?! And it was perfect timing, because we had a festive Christmas dinner that evening in January...

My family had discussed getting together in February, but so far we're still trying to find a weekend when we're all mostly healthy and not contagious. Oy!

A few of us did manage to gather at Kathy and Bob's and celebrate my beautiful niece, Michelle's, 22nd birthday...

Chelle-Belle was thrilled to get outfitted for snowboarding for her birthday...

There is the most gorgeous snowboarder on the hill, folks! I know she and her brother had a blast snowboarding one day. The very idea of snowboarding makes me feel nervous... and old. Ah, to be young and graceful and flying down a snow-covered hill at a kazillion miles per hour on a piece of board. Um... no thanks.

I also got a very pretty photo of Michelle with her Gramma at her birthday party...

And a nice photo of my Mom and Dad, with Dad's fancy new hat that Joie gave to him, and I think he looks very dashing...

I also got this so very cute photo of Janet and Bob, with camera in hand, that's my sis...

This is a photo of the devine coconut cake that Sammy made...

All the photos I took of Sammy and this first coconut cake he made, from scratch!, turned out slightly to very blurry. Sammy made it on Valentine's Day, which happened to also be the time when Janet and Bob received their zebra rug from Africa. They brought the rug over to show us, and they had a piece of Sammy's awesome cake with us... a cake so awesome, that was all Kev wanted for his birthday!

Reilly was not very happy with the rug, and to his credit, it did still smell quite strongly... from being boxed up and shipped all that distance. It's gorgeous, though...

It's also very large. So beautiful. I tried to convince Bob and Janet they should just leave it here at our house, but they declined....