Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. Hubby and I are having a quiet homey football filled eve. We are drinking the sparkling Spanish wine which we love....Cristalino . Mercy but it is excellent, in my opinion and cheap, no make that very inexpensive. Try it! You'll like it! We do! We also had lobster and they were big enough to allow for leftovers tomorrow in the form of bisque. Oh! That is more exciting than the lobster we just had, in my opinion.

Hope that everyone is sparkling and bubbling and warm and toasty. See you next year.

A Relaxing Holiday

Ahhhhhhh! The work week is done and a looooooong stretch of holiday awaits. We had the Patriots last night and a couple of friends came over, we have a neighborhood get together tomorrow night and then a very quiet New Year's Eve which will involve lobster cooked by the local marketplace and sparkling wine and snoozing in the recliner.

That snoozing in the recliner will more than likely not be only on New Year's Eve by the way. There may even be doing some of that shortly. Holidays wear me out and because this picture speaks to the worn out and also invokes the memory of a recently (a year ago October) deceased and much missed good boy I share with you the Bear in his favorite position. Have a great day. Go Pats

Some shovels are better than others

Back to work. Where did the time go? Seems like just yesterday it was Christmas. Oh. That's right. It was. Short week anyhow and today I have decided that the no tree decision was the best ever. I just talked to a couple of friends who are sighing and moaning about putting all the decorations away. Lucky me!

I have a pile of stuff here at the desk and it must be shoveled out since the week is short and we have another holiday coming up. I must grab the shovel and move this paper. At least it's not the shovel I have had to use in this situation.

Half a Thought

Started this days ago and forgot about it. It was going to be much longer and nostalgiac but everything got in the way. I may return and finish it off. Later.



Listening to Alistair Begg, Truth for Life, as I do frequently. I love his brogue...straight from Edinburgh or some other place in Scotland. It reminds me of all our neighbors when I was very young. See how I digress? Our neighborhood was and still is in the shadow of a great shipyard called Fore River. It no longer is a shipyard but in my childhood years and prior to me it was a booming source of jobs and revenue. Tons of workers, skilled and otherwise arrived from across the seas. Most of our neighbors were workers at the yard and were originally from Scotland which worked beautifully for me as a child since our family was Scottish in heritage. This meant that in my fourth grade Social Studies course when we had to pick a country and expound on it by means of reports, shadow boxes, posters, costumes, special foods etc etc etc, I picked Scotland and boy oh boy what a report I had. I would have brought my neighbors to wear kilts and all but that would have been over the top.

Where was I? Oh yes, Alistair Begg and Truth for Life. Today his lecture or sermon if you will concerned Psalm 31 and the message was and is "my times are in Your hands." I am not trapped in the grip of a blind cold force. I may never know in this life why things are going on but I will, eventually. All things will be made clear. As I have said many times here, the radio is often my link to messages I need to hear. Once again, this is true. I started to write this days ago and I have had events occur, minor to many but you know how that is, I repeated often as I went through the days, "My times are in His hands". What a relief it is to know that.

Tis the Season

I have nothing done for Christmas, except my wreath on the door. That's it. No tree. No lights. No presents. I have decided to make donations this year in place of presents for the older kids in the crowd. I am donating to Angel Tree in lieu of gifts. The younger group will not be coming to the house this year and so I won't see them until after the holidays if then and they are the only reason to buy gifts. We are having Christmas Eve on Sunday since too many of my husband's family are working on Monday and Tuesday. We have it at our house and it is soooo tiny that when a tree is placed in the room with 12 or more people there is barely room to inhale.

Last year I moved the dining room/kitchen table to the middle of the living room so that there would be room to move around the table and once seated actually get up again without the entire table moving to accomodate you. Yes, that's the way it was all other years. We are a close family. Once in the living room, the tree was not a possibility and I have to confess that once the room filled with yammering eating and once the crowds left and I started to clean, I didn't miss it at all. I especially didn't miss the putting away part of the tree. I think the only part I really ever enjoy is placing the ornaments on since it's been a year and I so enjoy remembering where each came from and who they remind me of. Maybe my newer Christmas tradition will be to get the ornament boxes out, open them and oooh and aaah over each as I lift them out and return them to the box. I will then put the boxes away and vacuum the house preparing to serve dinner to 12 or more. Thank goodness the husband is in the kitchen cooking and preparing. I just have to set the table and look pretty.

I didn't send cards this year. I guess I didn't last year either. I know I pulled the cards out last year and noticed a great many were addressed from the year before so I guess that I can safely say, "I don't send Christmas cards". Now is the time that I bend with the burden of guilt however. The cards dwindle in and I think that I well send them as I get them. I have three ready to go this morning. I don't get many cards either. I used to, years ago, when I sent them. Hmmm, could there be a connection? Could the cards I got be a result of the cards I sent? Could those people be sending cards as I now do? Do I really have a great social network or do I merely have a bunch of responders out there?

On that note I am off to the post office to respond to what I got and consider my character and the people I surround myself with, card wise.

The End of The Day

Loooooooongggg Day. Snow and Rain and Huge Winds!!! I would have used all caps but I hate to be hysterical. My husband says that I have multiple personalities one of which is Chick(en) Little. I go from low key, laid back to shrieking, arm waving, Bonnie and Clyde sister in law running around the front lawn with a spatula behavior over something I researched on the net and am sure I have. Years ago our family doctor told me I would die from a misprint. He also told me that wasn't his original thought but he had read it somewhere and it applied to me. Okey Dokey. Now you know how the day went. I had a very nasty drive down to this place on Thursday which I will write about sooner or later and truth be told I am still not over it. We had a Christmas party to attend today and the weather was as previously indicated and it was unclear what the day would turn into. We went and enjoyed and the husband did as the husband always does at this party which is to imbibe and enjoy and I am, as always at this party, the designated driver. We are home and safe and there was no weather reason we shouldn't be although the weather people were sitting on the edge of hysteria most of the day. Why do they do that? Why can't they just tell us what the weather is......anyway....

I am now having a glass of wine and the husband? Why he is asleep in the recliner as he always is after this annual event. Have a nice night. By the way...the Patriots? They WON AGAIN! Tom Brady is the cutest isn't he? Go Pats!

It's Christmas!!!

This picture thing has me captured. How wonderful the age we live in. I am going to regale you with my Christmas decorations. All one of them. I hung the wreath on my outside door. This is a picture of it before it went outside. I saved the scallop shells from the baked stuffed scallops sold at the fish market down the road. Having shopped all over and fallen down by the prices of everything, I bought a cheap, no make that inexpensive, undecorated wreath, found the glue gun and Voila.....behold! It's Christmas here.

Some Old Photos

I know I said that Alaska would be next but I'm not at the computer where I can do that....this one has some pictures that I scanned a long time ago but doesn't have what I need to download the pictures of my summer vacation from the digital camera. I thought that I might regale you with a favorite of mine...On the left, my grandmother and my two brothers. Aren't those boys darling? Look at the little guy and how sweet he is holding his little hands. His big brother is an imp isn't he? My Grandmother looks so stern and yet she was such a peach. I wasn't in the picture yet, and I mean that literally. Probably this was Easter and I wouldn't be along until Christmas season. I have another picture of this wonderful woman as a young mother. She is standing just as proudly and protective of the two children she bore as she is of these, her grand sons. I really miss my family. I am so glad though that I had them. Now there's some blessing. I am going to try to add that picture now. Wish me luck.

I did it --On the right, my grandmother as a young mom. She is travelling to Halifax Nova Scotia on a ferry to visit her family. My aunt and uncle are with her. My dad was not in the picture yet. Great shot isn't it? Imagine looking so swell and the kids so elegantly attired after the journey they must have already taken. They were living in Massachusetts at the time and this was prior to 1912. Yikes. I can't get to work 12 miles away without wrinkling like a bag of old laundry.

More Remarkable Photo Adventures

Here's my girl with her favorite toy. Behind her is the TV and all the electronics that to with it. Fortunately she holds onto that sucker when she swings it around. Someday though....

One more picture and then I'm done. This is where I sit and write and read...to the left is the lap top. These hydrangeas are from my very own plant. Isn't the color remarkable? I wish I had some pictures of the arrangement I made when that hydrangea bush started to fade. The color as they turned..like leaves on a tree..was even better. If I find any pictures that do them justice, why I will just upload them since I am the remarkable picture uploader.

Why has it taken me so long to bore everyone even more than I already have. This will be like showing the slides of our vacation. And now that I mention it.....I'll be back with those. We went to Alaska a couple of years ago. Remember?

I'll be back. Now you say "Thanks for the warning."

Daffodils and Nantucket

I am so excited -- picture skills. This is another test of my newly acquired bit of knowledge. This is a picture I took last spring when I went to Nantucket. It was Daffodil Days weekend. Man it was so pretty.

Testing one two three

This is a test to see if I know how to add a picture. Isn't this the cutest pooch ever?

Happy Birthday to me

Way back in December 2004 I wrote about the story of my birth. My mother would always tell this one with great vigor. Yesterday was my birthday and I started out determined to be depressed since I have no immediate family member left to wish me HB. My husband never uttered a word until way later in the day when I told him that he had better say HB before I thought too much more about his silence and really worked up a good one. His deer in the headlights eyes said it all...oh well he was appropriately contrite and I got to play the HB card all day, as in "No I don't want to go to the dump. It's my birthday today." etc etc and so forth.

At the close of the day I have to admit I really had a nice birthday. My dearest and longest forever friend called first thing and she sang. My other BFF called and sang and her husband joined in. My cousin called, my niece called, a neighbor dropped off a card and another childhood friend called after we got back from dinner. I heard the birthday song from time to time all day long. It was a lovely day. Plus the sun was out and it was almost 4o degrees. How great was that?

Today I am doing laundry and house things. I bought a wreath yesterday, a plain one and I am using the giant scallop shells we have gathered. A local fish market makes fabulous stuffed scallops and they are in giant scallop shells. I have at least a dozen that I have scrubbed clean and put away. They are about to be glue gunned and mounted on that wreath. I saw one already done up at the nursery and they wanted $39.00 for it. It was lovely but...mine will be equally stunning and only cost $6.95. I am such a Martha Stewart. Now if only I don't glue the works to the kitchen counter. Wish me luck. Maybe this will push me into the picture phase of this blog. Have a wonderful Sunday.

Plans are Cast in Concrete Unless They Aren't

Well, my free kitchen was short lived. I should know by now that whenever the husband gives me his plan for the day it changes. He says that he will be on the road all day. "Don't hold lunch for me. I'll be back late." And so I plan my day accordingly. 11:30 AM the phone rings and there he is, pleased as punch to report that he's on his way home and what's for lunch? This is 99.99% of the time. I can count on the day to be totally unlike whatever he tells me it will be. This is the same man however who can get into an offhand casual conversation weeks ago with you and you may say that Friday the 7th would be a good day to go to lunch at some place or other. Here we are weeks later and you may say that you have a something or other planned for Friday the 7th and he will get very agitated since we made plans for lunch and he has it marked down and when we make a plan, by golly, he plans it absolutely.

He wears me out!!

The Kitchen? She is Mine!

In a way, when I woke up this am and only saw rain, I was a bit disappointed. Those weathermen and women were revving us up and maybe further north it was accurate. Not here. It's over 40 degrees too, that's F not C. My plans to go nowhere do nothing are still intact but it doesn't feel the same when you could get out and just don't.

I have no plans at all for the day. Chicken pie perhaps or some kind of bean soup would be in order. I have all the makings and my husband will be on the road so the kitchen is mine. He has ramped up to cook of the house and although I know this too shall pass, at the moment, when he's home it is impossible to be in the kitchen at the same time with him. He thinks I am the sous chef, you know, one of the minions who chop and saute and bow and scrape when the Iron Chef barks a command. I truly think he has a video camera planted around here somewhere and he records it all to play back at his leisure, admiring his deft knife skills, the economy of movement, the genius of spice interaction, blah blah blah. But today. The kitchen? She is mine! Ha! Ha! She laughs in triumph.

But first I must make the coffee and prepare breakfast for the master. Yes. He sits back during the morning and midday meal and allows the kitchen wench to perform. You know it's a good thing I love him and find him to be cute as a button. He's also a good cook and way better than yours truly. Mostly. He loves to cook for crowds and that all by itself makes him great to have around. If he ever reads this I will be demoted from sous chef to scullery maid. Love ya hon.

Well....gotta go and enjoy my freedom while I have it.

Aftermath

Well I lived through it. It was every bit as bad as I expected. The ray of sunshine was the mother to be who looked great and smiled graciously and thanked everyone with hugs and sincere gratitude. It's too bad , yes I am about to be judgemental here, that she seems to have picked a loser for her child's father. It's even more too bad that he hasn't stepped up, married her, found a job and worked towards supporting himself and his new family. No. Rather than those things he has moved her with him into his mother's house which I am told is tiny. His sisters still live at home and his mother is a single mom. I hope I am proven wrong about this but only time will tell. Meanwhile we always have Christmas Eve at our house and my husband has always put his foot down when the nieces want boyfriends to come. "They're not family", he growls and they don't come. The nieces do, the boyfriends don't and honestly, all of those past connections are gone so it's good our memories are as the husband wants them to be "just family". Now his sister wants this, yes, I am going to say it, loser, to come since he is the baby's dad. This should prove interesting. The husband? He is a man of strong opinion and he has a strong one in this regard. Those comments above regarding the dad? Mine alone. I don't share since I don't want to influence. I didn't have to since the husband? he has an even dimmer view of this relationship. How much time is there before the eve of Christmas?

Calm and Serene

I have not checked the news yet. I fear for my serenity. I must attend a family function today. My neice is pregnant and single, what's new? My sister-in-law is having a shower for her today and although this is the sister-in-law who is always in need, no money, no food, no pills, no nuthin', do you know the type? Never has anything but always has her nails done and has the latest fashion item, nose pierced and can afford to smoke on top of all the rest. The shower is in a hall and who knows how many are invited. My other sister-in-law and myself have gone in on the gift which I bought this week. The mother to be is registered and I went to the store to get the gifts and there was nothing on the list available at the store. No one had bought any of the items according to the register and so I bought two of the closest to the requested items I could find, a diaper genie and a diaper bag. When the SIL throwing the shower talked to the SIL I will be picking up to go to the shower she made it clear (as she always does) that the mom to be will only be happy with the identical items she registered for. Well we will have an unhappy mom to be at that shower now won't we?

What is it with people anyhow? Where does that come from, that "come to my party, buy me presents and they had better be the presents I want or else"? I will need every bit of strength to maintain my calm and serene attitude. For those of you who know me - - YES I AM TOO CALM AND SERENE. There we are....tranquil is my middle name. Pray for me....I hate scenes in public places.

Choices

Just read an entry on NRO's Corner. It was a response to the nonsense about the trial of that British teacher whose class named the Teddy Bear Mohammad. The response was written by the Supreme Muslim Council of Ireland and was well done. It concluded by calling on the Sudanese regime to resolve the Darfur crisis rather than concerning themselves with Teddy Bears. Again well done. If only heads such as these sat in Boston. There must be more critical issues to resolve here in the Commonwealth than whether a parent can spank their child. Hmm. Perhaps judges who release violent offenders and the horrific results of such judgements. Perhaps a Governor who refuses the requests from the Governor's Council to hold public hearings on such a judge. Perhaps a ridiculous investigation into the notorious Big Dig Fiasco which has cost over a million and the only minnow to be brought to justice is a small business which could be fined a pitifully smaller amount of money. Perhaps - oh I could go on and on

More Double Standard Groaning

Just read an article about Chris Rock and a recent performance where he talks politics and he refers to Hillary as that white lady. The story is on newsbusters.org if you want to go read it. Anyway, it winds up with one of those omnipresent double standard statements "What if it were a white comedian and he referred to Barack Obama as 'that black dude'?" That started me thinking since I just wrote about that People magazine thing where they have two female celebs in the same dress and you vote about who looks better. How about a similar thing where two comedians or politicians or what ever are put side by side, make a statement identical to each other but with reference to a white person if the comedian is black and a black person if the comedian is white and the dem refers to something un pc followed by the repub saying the same thing and have people vote like the dress thing? Maybe that would be a way of stopping the double standard for a while.....some things are lousy no matter who says it and others are only going to raise a ruckus depending on the people who want to be offended. Maybe if we did this often enough it would work like Global Warming......beat the drum over and over and over and then....ta-da! whether it's true or not it becomes part of the landscape and we accept it or we just roll over and quit.....What do you say? Let's do it!

You Could Be a Star

One of the things I routinely do is sit down with coffee first thing and check all the headlines. You know, Drudge, Fox, CNN etc. I love to check out the NY Post. The site is great and it provides a lot of information in all areas especially gossip. They have a column called Page Six. I go there and cycle through each of the blurbs. Here's a news flash. I know nearly none of the people they are talking about, makes for a great exercise in my old speed reading course. Once again this morning I went there and once again, nothing. Oh, I recognized the Mary Kate whatever her name is twin , Eliot Spitzer, and Tony Bennett but then? Nothing.

I further realized how out of touch with all that nonsense I am when my nephew and I sat down and looked at the People magazine site and went through the who looks better spot. I had no clue who those girls were in most cases. We looked at pictures of two attractive women wearing basically the same dress and were asked who looked better Rita or Ayisha? Neither one of us knew who was who and the choice given was not the right or the left, or the blond or the brunette. No. You had to know the names of those two and we failed. My friend was a bit better than we since she occasionally watched Dancing with the Stars or Survivor and I guess that's where the new star crop is coming from. I must say that I finally have put to rest any leftover celeb worship from the days when I had James Garner as Maverick posters all over my bedroom walls. These new celebs might as well be the man on the street and in fact are. They just happen to be on TV or in the news and in reality that is what it always has been. Wish I had known then what I know now.

You Tube Knitting Lessons

Just went to a couple of blogs and found a new one on knitting which sent me to YouTube and there are video knitting lessons there that are great. Maybe I will finally learn to hold the needles like my girl friend's mother did years ago. She could fly through a sweater in a week and you never saw her move the yarn the way I did. I let go of the needle in my right hand and the yarn is wrapped around the other needle and tedious for sure. I love to knit and the more complicated the pattern the better. Irish cables and bobbles and what have you's ....yes! They are mine......But I am so slow and I know it's because of the way I hold the needles. My grandmother taught me when I was maybe four. Oh, I know, four is crazy but she did. Knitting and embroidery and crochet. My fat little sweaty four year old hands would hold on and crumple up and the tongue would be out and the concentration would be huge. I would crochet edges on handkerchiefs with thread and tiny weensy crochet hooks. My grandmother was a patient woman....

Now....YouTube will show me a new way to hold the needles and maybe my knitting speed will soar..I am off to view the knitting basics video.

Dr Phil and the Girls' Club

Can it be true? Can it be November 28th? How did it zoom by like this? Well it did Babe so get over it. The Girls' Club met last night. Yes, it was a Tuesday rather than a Wednesday but we girls are nuthin' if we are not flexible. Work schedules change and so do we. We watched Dr. Phil and did our nails and drank white wine. Yes! Call us crazy! White wine in the soon to be winter rather than red. We are scamps and wild women we two. As we took what was perhaps the 43rd sip we commented that it was like a summer day. The crisp, dry fruitiness brought a hint of an umbrella table with it. It saved on the oil bill since we enjoyed that basking in the humid afternoon sun feeling.

Dr. Phil had that banned from the wedding crowd on. The MIL and the DIL were back. The MIL was calm and appeared to have worked on some of her stress points. The DIL was edgy and all about going back into the pits of the fight and pointing out how Cruella D'ville that demon of a MIL was and is and don't believe a word she says. The son had no words other that his wife's. That said a lot. He went from one controlling woman to another but the new controlling woman points to the older controlling woman as being the source of alllllllll his troubles. Let's get rid of her and life will be good Tra La. Man oh man what a boggle. Sounds like life at home right??? Someones home anyhow.

One thing I pulled out of that whole show was the MIL's therapy goal..focus on the outcome and act accordingly. What do you really want at the end of the day. Think about it. Make it happen. I'm going to go ponder that and maybe take a look at Dr. Phil's Life Strategies. See ya.

Hillary Nixon ?

Just read the LA Times article on Hillary. The headline is Clinton The Organized and it makes her sound like Nixon. That siege mentality and fill the moat thing speaks of Nixon during Watergate. Just sayin'

End of the Weekend.

Spent the weekend after the holiday with my best friend and oldest longest friend and her husband. They arrived on Friday. Her husband is not well and at this point no one knows what is going on. He has seen every kind of specialist known to man. His weight has dropped to the point where he is a skeleton. He is unable to swallow well and loses his breath easily. He is frail and so skeletal that he is frightening and my dearest friend in the world who has always been three levels above reality is meeting the challenge like a champ. She is with him and talking him through the panic of choking while he can't swallow. She talks him out of the panic and eases him into a calmer state where he can breathe and relax. Amazing.

My husband was a trooper through it all. My father went through a lot of what my friend's husband is going through and although it killed me to see this it really hit my husband so hard I couldn't believe the pain he was in. Thank God I had bought him a book for his birthday and in between cooking for everyone and truly hosting beautifully, he was able to lose himself in the book as I have never seen him do before.

My nephew was with us as well and he is a challenged adult. He lives in a sheltered house with staff and he holds down two jobs. He also has two girl friends. He will describe himself as "high functioning" and by golly he is, much more than I am most of the time. He is a gentle and sweet and considerate man with the manners of an 18th century courtier (?) is that the right term? He holds doors and stands when a lady enters and just twists my heart in many directions. He was so wonderful with my friend's husband that I can't even begin to describe it. He is just the most lovely man. My mother loved him beyond measure and he always refers to her. This morning the garage lock was frozen and to get in I had to heat the key with a match. "Nana would be so angry with you Auntie. You're playing with matches and she wouldn't like that at all." He laughed as he scolded me and when the door opened I had to tell him that we would never tell her about this. Since she passed away 8 years ago I don't think we have to worry about that but . . . how she would love that he is still talking about her and remembering all of the things that she would say and do.

Everyone is home now and here we are, alone at last. The husband will be spending the night with Tom Brady and the gang and me? I will finish the laundry and try to stay awake long enough to see some of those Patriots. Go Pats.

What? No Oil? Who Cares Huh?

It is barely 20 degrees. Yesterday the oilman stopped by to fill the tank and he could only put in 26 gallons.....my husband still has that silly smirk on his face, the same one that he had when he told the guy there was nothing wrong with the system, it only got turned on a short while ago. The oilman was staggered. My husband was smug. Not only did it just get turned on a short while ago but also the temperature is boxcar refrigerator atmosphere. I don't know how to make that husband happier...honestly.

A Perfect Day

Hope that everyone enjoyed the day as much as we did. Husband brined the turkey and have to say it was about the best he has ever served up. His hero is Alton Brown and he followed the Food Networks direction. Actually sometimes I think he thinks he is on the Food Network. He thinks I am his sous chef and he behaves like some Iron Chef tyrant. He's lucky that he is also a klutz and makes me laugh or there might be some really unholiday behavior in our kitchen. There are lots of blunt objects and sharp knives about.

His brother and wife arrived with my nephew, they all live close to each other and hence the arrival, they brought scallops wrapped in bacon and oysters and we had made crab stuffed mushrooms as well as celery stuffed with cream cheese and olives. Add a sparkling white wine and man oh man we have a thankful group that could wait for an hour or two for the bird to be finished.

Now, the meal is over, the dishes are washing, my brother in law and his wife have left, my nephew and husband as well as my dog are all dozing in front of the television. Life is good and hope it is for you too.

Happy Blessed Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for this moment. The coffee is done and waiting for me to pour a cup, my husband just took the dog out and I am alone in the house. The house is half done, as always. In-laws and nephew will be here by noon or so and here I sit. I am thankful I am as old as I am and don't get all energized by dust and clutter. I am thankful for the country in which I live and the opportunities and freedoms it provides. I am thankful, and peaceful and hoping all of the world has a moment of this same feeling. Now to put this computer away and set the table and prepare for the feast to come. Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all . . no, that's some other holiday isn't it? Have a good one. I just heard in the back of my head...We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing...and so we do...sing along if you want

Go here now......http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh131.sht

Hum of the House

I was just washing dishes from breakfast, some I hand wash and others are rinsed and put in the dishwasher which I just started. My husband is upstairs putting something or other on the back of a closet door and I could hear him walking and puttering measuring whatevering. I have banana bread in the oven which smells heavenly and the sounds and the smells and the contentment of this morning brought back a memory from 60 years ago. Sunday morning at home with Mom and Dad and the brothers and smell the roast in the oven, hear the hum of the house as each member of the family is doing something or other and who cares because we are all under the roof and safe and sound and content and secure. What a blissful moment to return too and to have now in my house on a Sunday morning. The hum of the house is a little like heaven I think. Blessings on us all and gratitude to a sovereign Lord who loves us so.

Facts? Please, no, don't give me facts!

Just briefly read a blurb about Romney. The author is outraged that Romney thinks consultants are not a bad way to deal with government change. He also is enthralled with data. Egads! Not a man who deals with facts! Anything but that!

Can't believe the tripe that is thrown out there to discredit the opposition. Give me a weepy moaning lip biting freak who feels our pain I guess. Just sayin'

Make God Laugh? Make some plans.

What a day! What a day! Started the day driving with the man of my dreams and yes, he is my husband, not that I ever dreamed about him but he's good. We went to the car dealer where we bought my used vehicle and got our free oil change, they give 3 per year, neat huh? From there we went to Wal-Mart and bought the father in law in rehab for the hip replacement underwear and socks and sweats and such so that he can do the physical therapy without his buns hanging out and honestly, my husband was so upset about the color of the t-shirts and briefs. Who knew that he ever realized what color his underwear was? I was stunned. Anyhow there we were buying the basics for the man and then we went to visit and he is doing great. He is a really fresh son of a gun, thank goodness, and tough as nails so we stayed while he ate and showed him how to run the TV which he will never remember and by the time we left we were hours behind where we meant to be but what the heck.



As we got on the highway to carry on with the errands of the weekend, the new used car belched, the check engine light went on and we pulled into the parking lot of the Super Stop and Shop. Called the dealer and lost my mind when the gal who answered told me at least 5 times to not drive the car since the light was blinking not steady. Skipping loads of detail here but to get to the end, called AAA waited forever, heard my name being called preceded by Aunt and lo and behold my nephew appeared. I forgot he works at this store. He was getting off work and was going to take the bus home. I figured we would be with him at this point since, see the previous note on the condition of the car. My husband finally got in touch with his brother who arrived like the cavalry and his daughter followed him in her car. She left us with her car and so when AAA arrived to tow the dead one to the shop we were able to drive my nephew home and go on our way. Thank God for family and for family that actually is there to help.

Of course today and tomorrow are now like the proverbial Chinese fire drill. . .bring the car back to our niece, meet our friends at an event we were going to together but now since the return car thing the time is all off. Tomorrow instead of going up to the office for two days I will go up with my husband and return since the car as noted previously is under the weather. Hopefully I will have the car by Tuesday and can get on with the week and holiday prep stuff.

We made a list way early in the day of things to do and that list? she has nothing crossed off. Chances of crossing off today...Slim's in Texas. Tomorrow? He's still there. Tuesday will be a jam packed fun time.

Just a Word or Two About Nothing

Long ride last night in the driving rain, black night, lots of wind and huge puddles on the side of the road that pulled the wheel as you drove through. Top that off with fog and there you have the perfect storm of a commute. One good thing is that at the end of the drive was a warm house, a glass of wine and a husband who slaved over a hot stove to put a hot meal together. YAY! Once my shoulders dropped back to where they belonged as opposed to shrugged up over ear level I was okey dokey.

Today was a dreary windy and cold fall day. The walk was a killer diller. I actually had my hood up as I walked along and thank goodness I remembered gloves. I guess it truly means the end of summer. Oh well....if only I had controlled my eating and drinking throughout the summer season my fall corduroy pants would not be cutting off my circulation. Oh dear. Those pounds are hanging on and for good reason. Fiddle dee dee Miss Scarlet. Think about that tomorrow. But tomorrow turns into tomorrow and oh what a lot of good intentions go nowhere.

Just thought I would sit for a minute and write a word or two and keep in practice. I'll be back later and be very profound. I haven't had many deep thoughts lately. Is that good or bad?

Strong Gene Pool

Spent the evening with my cousin and enjoyed it so much. She has been a widow for almost a year and has two wonderful kids, both married and independent and very caring. The conversations we have are wide ranging and include childhood memories, our mother's were sisters and close so their families were too, at least physically. Due to that closeness, we have a feeling of sisterness. (is that a word?) We shared a lot of things growing up and although our lives were separate we had moments in time when we spent a lot of time together. Happily for us both we are nearby and able to keep the connection. She was all I had when my last brother died and I realized all of my immediate family was gone. I am so blessed that however it happened, God braided us together and kept the threads connected.

Our parents were close and spent a great deal of time together and we chatted about that. When I got home I called her to report in and as I said "I'm all locked in" she was questioning, "Are you all locked in?" We burst out laughing because each of us was using our mothers' voices. We are from the same pool.

A Week-end Whirl

Happy Veterans' Day! It's a cold one. This is the second straight night it dipped into freezing. The husband is still of the mind that the furnace doesn't go on until the bird goes in the oven. At times like this that Florida dream he has seems good to me. The wood stove is chugging away and upstairs he has some kind of heat thing that really works well and is safe so it's only the floors that tell you what the chill factor is. Hardwood holds the temperature well.

Enough of that. The weekend was a whirl. Friday I had my semi-annual meltdown in honor of my dad's passing. November 9, 1999. I never thought of the day until Sunday or at least consciously I didn't. I was in a state for myself all day Friday and wound up sobbing and whining and so forth much to my husband's dismay. Like most men he was out of his element. Let's fix it, that's his motto. Let it ride it's course is mine. Hug me, pat me on the head and say there, there. Then leave. Let every man in your circle hear this advice. On Sunday I realized what the date was and then, it made sense to me.

Once the damns had burst and the water level dropped I was back on course. Saturday we went back to the other house where a grand wine tasting was held at a local liquor store. We met the wine manager 13 or 14 years ago when he first started and when we were first interested in better than jug wine. Joe has been a good friend and advisor of fine wines at reasonable prices ever since. The tasting is huge and is for the Holidays. Something like 200 bottles of wine are open for tasting and all the distributors are represented. Over the years we have gotten to know most of them and since the husband has been hibernating on the other side of the bridge since 1999 with only infrequent sightings, he was greeted like a long lost relative. One fellow in the crowd wanted to know if he was the newly elected mayor. LOL.

We met lots of old friends and neighbors and former co-workers so the event was like a GIANT cocktail party. Being older and wiser, the older part for sure, we managed to behave like sophisticated wine tasters and with few exceptions we actually poured the wine out. We met a couple of really good friends who have been busy and unavailable as have we. We decided to go to dinner and did so. We spent the dinner hour(s) catching up and laughing and enjoying the company so much that we made plans to get away for a long weekend. Now if we can all find the time.

We went to visit the father-in-law and he is doing great. He really had a major surgery and the nurse was saying that a 30 year old would have some troubles with the replacement he has had and when she saw how he was doing and learned his age she was gushing with the good reports. He will be going to a rehab before he goes home, thank you Lord, and we should find out when and where this week. Thank you for your prayers.

Finished the week end off with a furniture moving experience. We brought a bureau down to this house where we hope to be forever (how long is that again?) and we vowed not to do that again. We're too old for that kind of heavy lifting. A good and younger and stronger friend came over to help my husband and I just said Thank you over and over and over as they brought it upstairs to the bedroom in this house. We gave him a ton (yeah it's heavy) of the bread pudding we made on Friday and he called later to lavish praise on our efforts. It really was excellent, bourbon soaked raisins and a bourbon sauce to top it off. You get a little giddy if you eat enough of it.

Now the week begins and thanks to our Veterans I have a day off to catch up on all the things I couldn't do over the week-end. I'm off to do the laundry and the shopping and so on and so on. Have a wonderful day whether you have a holiday or not. Blessings on you all.

Follow Up Report

All went well with the father-in-law's hip. No infection so the whole thing could be done at once. The surgeon was pleased and said that although he will have to walk with a cane from now on, there would be no pain. The bone had begun to deteriorate so he said they used cadaver bone. My husband and his brother were both fascinated by that as am I. At one point someone said that we had better not tell the fil that and then we all looked at each other and said "He will love that! He will be telling everyone the story of his cadaver bone leg or hip or whatever." He will too.

My best friend's husband is a different story. Although no definitive tests have been made yet, the doctors are talking ALS or some variation. This came up yesterday and of course, she is devastated. We have worked together on horrible possibilities in the past, my father for example and my mother and my brother and so on and so on and we talked at length yesterday to get to the point where we will only believe what is proven. Until then we pray and wait and don't fall victim to the emotional what if's. That works for a while but then. . . .

Pray for her and her husband. Thanks. I have been searching for healing masses in the area. There is a shrine nearby, LaSalette, and coincidentally (you know there are no coincidences in this world) there is a healing service at 2PM on Sunday. I just sent her an email. Best I can do besides pray and listen and hug.

On that note I have to scoot to the office and move the paper work. Have a sunny day. The Lord is on His throne and has the reins in His hands. He loves us beyond measure and all will be for the good.

The weekend report

What a wild week end.....The worst Noel was the headline of the paper. We were blown all over by the high winds and the driving rain was amazing. A run from the house to the car was like a plunge in the ocean. All day Saturday we were really beaten senseless...okay so that would be one beat. Just as my husband took the roast out of the oven and we all sat down at the table, a transformer blew with the loudest sound imaginable. It sounded as if the roof of the house blew off. At that time of course, the lights went out and we had a romantic candlelit evening. My friends left shortly after dinner to see how their house was and they were lucky enough to have power. It was a blessing since her husband is so frail he really feels the cold. We cleaned up in the dark and stumbled around looking for batteries for the flashlights and radio.

Next day, the big game day, you know, the Colts and the Patriots, we were still without power and more friends were coming to watch the game with us. Since our phones were not working, by the time we found the cell phone and called, they were on the road. What they didn't tell us was that they were bringing a generator. What fun! That little dynamo powered up the TV and the freezer and the small refrigerator in the garage as well as the pellet stove. We had heat and the game and a slow cooker plugged into the generator as well provided the hot beef stew. On top of all that camping out kind of fun, the right team won. In our opinion anyhow.

Next morning at 4:30 AM we were up and moving and got the father in law and got to Boston and spent close to the whole day at the hospital moving through the pre-op drill. Now today he's back with my husband and brother in law and I'm at work waiting to hear how all is going. My husband keeps calling in reports....nothing to report...but I get a lot of calls. Should know soon how everything is. Hopefully there won't be an infection in that hip and he will only have to go through one surgery. We'll soon know.

Thanks for the prayers.

Upcoming Plans

Got through the night by hiding out at BJ's. I was almost alone in that store and how huge can a store be? It is huge. What is it about a restaurant size can of tuna that amuses me? It does. All I can think of is how much celery you have to chop to make a dent in that much tuna and by the time you get that can open you need physical therapy on the wrist and can opener turning hand.

Today I wrap up the office work and tomorrow will work from home. Monday is my father-in-law's pre-op and then Tuesday is the op. Both days are early ones and we have to come to the city from 75 miles away. An 87 year old never moves fast and one with a bad hip and large brace moves even slower. I figure that to get to where we need to be by 8:30 AM Monday we will have to set the alarm for 4. Help! Oh well. The good news is that he checked out so all the involved doctors say he's in good shape, except for the hip that is. If that hadn't happened I don't know what would have resulted. He is so anxious to get this going that the surgeon had to question him very thoroughly. I think he thought the FIL didn't understand the procedure. How could anyone be so eager to put themselves through that? But in fact that is the case. "I'm a firm believer in - when something's broke, fix it" He must have said that 10 times. I am glad that he is so hopeful. A positive outlook is critical. Pray for him. Thanks.

We have company all weekend. No one is staying over but we will be entertaining. The football game is the centerpiece. Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning. Don't miss it. We will be cheering and eating and cheering. Since it's Sunday and that 4 AM Monday thing will be looming please note we are cheering and eating and missing is the drinking part. 4 AM. That changes the whole picture.

On with my day and on with yours. Have a good one.

Halloween Memories

Happy Halloween! Now I have to find something to do besides go home tonight and hand out candy I don't yet have. My outside light has burned out and since I don't get home till after dark and I am dallying and frittering my morning away so that I am rushing out the door late before I start I won't have time to do something about it. Can't risk dark stairs on Halloween night so if the car is not in the driveway they won't come knocking, I think. Ponder ponder and search for a time waster after work. Maybe BJ's wholesale club is in order. That's the ticket.

Glad I solved that problem. I was thinking about Halloween years ago when my late husband, also known as my first husband, and I were commuting together and living in this house. My mother and dad were staying here for a few days while dad went into Boston. W and I came around the corner slowly since it was dark and kids were already out. My mother was on the porch and waving. We parked and walked to the porch as she called out that she was locked out. The inside door was open but the storm door had somehow latched. She had been locked out for some time and the water was boiling away on the stove. The storm door was a good strong one of course and no one wanted to break the window. Kids kept stopping by to be told the candy was locked in the house and neighbors began to gather to offer solutions.

W thought that a window was open on the second floor and if he could get to the roof he could get in the window down the stairs Voila!! case closed. A neighbor brought a ladder and up W went to the roof to discover that no window was open, the roof was slick with wet leaves and no lights were on upstairs so it was dark, dark, dark. He couldn't see where the ladder was, the roof was sloped enough to alarm him since he slid sitting down and then he froze and wouldn't try to get off the roof. Kids are now coming by and pointing at the man on the roof. The man on the roof is yelling for us to call the fire department. They get cats out of trees, they can get him off the roof. My neighbors are gathering in a larger crowd than ever, my mother is hysterical and at that point my brother and father arrive from the city. I am looking for a hammer since by Golly I am breaking that window. We fill in the newcomers and my father tells my brother to go up the ladder to a window he can see is open on the side of the house. The ladder is moved and up goes my brother. It's probably halfway up before he realizes he is deathly afraid of heights.

Oh yes. Now we have a man on the roof and a man on a ladder both stuck. Yikes. What fun. The kids could care less about the candy anymore, they are loving all the adults in a melt down. It's better than a double feature Three Stooges on Saturday morning. I don't know how my brother finally got moving but I think it was the fear of the fire department. He had gone to high school with a lot of the guys in the department and he didn't need that story floating about the time they talked him down.

He finally pulled himself together and somehow got through the window. My mother at this point is yelling for him to hurry to the kitchen and turn off the stove, my husband is outraged that he would come second to the boiling water and he is yelling for him to get the window behind him open so he could crawl in.

Well all of the major players in that little scene have since moved on to their heavenly home. I'm sure the fear of heights has been dealt with since those big pink clouds are up pretty high. Every Halloween I think of the night long ago when our street came alive with shouts of "Look, there's a man on the roof" "Call the Fire Department" "If you call the Fire Department, I'll jump" "Just break the damned window" "Trick or Treat".

Life isn't quite so much fun since they've all gone. Happy Halloween everybody!!!

Tough Day

I am really having a tough time today. I look out the window and the trees are turning and dropping leaves. It is really truly fall and I keep thinking about my dad. 8 years ago he passed away and it was this month that he developed pneumonia and never left the hospital. I have been crying all day. What is wrong with me? Eight years already. Enough. But then, I keep seeing his face and how scared he was. Mother had died 6 months earlier and he was so lonely. My mother would be so ticked that I wrote this about dad and 6 months ago I never wrote this sort of thing about her.....she would be giving me what for!!!

Road Trip

Spent all day yesterday on the road with my man. We had to take his dad to the doctor to hopefully be cleared for hip surgery. We decided to leave early to get lunch before picking up his dad and good thing we did. The bridge leaving here was down to one lane in either direction due to road work and the back up was incredible. It was 4Th of July, great weather, long weekend traffic. It took an hour from the stop point to crawl over the bridge so what normally took an hour took two. We were so squeaked for time his poor father was spinning. We flew to the house and practically carried him to the car. We made it on time and starving. All went well at the doctor's office. My husband had formed a bad opinion of this guy from the emergency room and contacts about this visit. He changed his mind. He went into the inner sanctum with his father and had to deal. I usually jump in because he puts on that help me look but this time I reached for a magazine and sat back. He had no choice but to go.

He came back with his dad and he was so relaxed. He really likes this doctor and feels that the doctor really likes his dad and in addition, the doctor can't be manipulated by his dad. He does that you know. He is good at it. So is his son.

Back to the day. We brought his dad home and he was pooped. It takes a lot out of him to walk with the hip and leg as bad as they are. We had brought beef stew that the hubby had made for his dad and heated that up. We waited until the man had downed a large bowl and slice of buttered bread along with a glass of V-8. After that he said he was going to take a nap and we left. We had a 3 o'clock appointment for the car up the road. Off we went and while the car was being tended to we walked and stopped at a pizza spot where we took our starving selves. Split that small pizza with water and call it a day.

Back to the car and home but first, that bridge? One lane in each direction remember? Oh yes, another hour to get over it and then home but first stop at a client's house to pick up a computer. The house was in a new development and my mouth never closed. One beautiful and huge home after another, an endless winding display of enormous monthly payments. What do all those people do for work? All I hear about is the lack of good paying jobs on this side of the bridge. They must all work on the other side. The taxes on those places must be staggering and yet, that town still needs more for the children.

Home we got and pooped we were. Long day. How did the pioneers handle all that day long and night long covered wagon stuff? I don't know but at the end of the day we were over one huge hurdle for his dad's surgery. The doctor said the man is in great shape other than the hip. YAY.

Go SOX!!

Go Sox!

Just sayin'.

This and That

Never did figure that name out from the picture dream. Last night George Noury on Coast to Coast talked about falling dreams. He wanted to know if anyone ever hit bottom and lived to tell about it. The man is a hoot. He had some real doozies calling in. One woman said she turned her feet into propellers and landed like a helicopter.

I can remember dreaming like that and feeling like falling but ever since I moved the folded up blanket from the bottom of the bed which naturally made more weight on my feet, the dreams stopped. Read that tip in Good Housekeeping or Prevention or one of those.

My Father-in-Law has an appointment on Monday with his primary so we finally have a foot in the door so to speak. Now all we have to do is gather up all the medication he takes, write down what it is and when he takes it. Why there is no control point for this I will never know. He sees one doctor who refers him to all others and nothing ever gets back to the primary. I thought that was the point of a primary care physician. In my clinical group, the doctors all note a single record for me. If the doctor I am referred to is not in the group, there is a follow up and all notes are entered. What's with his doctor? Well, we'll soon find out.

The weather is rainy and warm. It was a wonderful stormy night last night. The rain pounded down so hard it woke me up and then, when it stopped, a beautiful clean breeze came along. It was intoxicating it smelled so good. I must press on with the day. My aunt's 80th birthday is being celebrated this weekend. I have not been invited but the aunts and cousins are in my area and might knock on my door. I don't want a mess if they do. Then again, if I wasn't invited, why should I let them in? Only kidding.

What is this Dream Doing?

I had the weirdest dream last night. It was in black and white like old photos, you know, the black and white that is more brown and white. I don't know where I was but I was looking through a large box of old photos one of which was a wedding picture. On the back of the picture was written "Kelleigh Brown on the day of her wedding". She was cute enough in a 1950's kind of bride way. The other pictures in the box were of her and her family. Some were collages of Christmas. The room with the tree was a large living room with French doors at the back. The tree in one picture was white. The tree picture was in the center of the collage, the pictures around it were of presents and dinner and people on the couches and I guess they were all taken on that Christmas. There were pictures of showers and ladies at lunch. The ladies at lunch all wore hats as they did back then. The hats were turbans and beaded and actually so cute. The ladies in one picture were standing and were all looking at paper one lady was holding. On the back of that picture was written, "Here we are deciding what to wear at the wedding and where the wedding should be." Odd. All those ladies planning a wedding. It must have been Kelleigh's since the handwriting was the same as that on the back of the wedding picture. I thought how lovely that everyone cared so much for Kelleigh. As I woke up I was thinking. . how much did someone care that the pictures wound up in a box somewhere for total strangers to pick over?

I will have to mull this one over, won't I?

Medical Conundrum

So as I was saying, the weekend included emergency room time with my Father-in-law. He has had both hips replaced over the past 25 years or so and one is going way south. It has dislocated at least 5 times over the summer and finally he got a referral to a surgeon to determine whether or not that is a possibility. One of his hips was replaced by a local surgeon who told us that since he didn't replace the hip that is causing the problem he won't touch the it. Can that be a legitimate medical decision?

Any how we have seen the surgeon and he needs the primary care physician to advise that my FIL is either a candidate for surgery or not. He won't schedule the surgery until he hears that. The primary needs to run tests and so forth to determine whether FIL is or isn't and since the tests are classified as pre-op, there should be an op scheduled. Those tests are time sensitive and will only be valid for x. If the op is scheduled too far after the tests, they aren't considered pre- op and insurance may not blah blah. The surgery cannot be scheduled without knowing if the patient is a candidate and that cannot be attested to without the pre-op tests and here we are. . . imagine if the government got involved? Hillary Care or otherwise would put the kind of people in charge that we deal with at the Registry of Motor Vehicles. I'm dealing with quality folk now and I am ready to go on a Thelma and Louise kind of road trip because of it.

Pray we keep our health.

At this point the doctors have come to some kind of arrangement and by Thursday? we may be on the road to fixing the hip situation. Now see how easy that was? It's only been a matter of weeks.

Later

Can't be Done

The weekend was a lot like walking in circles. We moved around a lot, got really tired and accomplished zero.



Saturday we spent the day at the emergency room with my FIL. His hip replacement needs replacement and until it gets done it dislocates or causes so much pain he can barely stand it. They gave him pain medication and sent him home and by then....day is done. We went home to the baseball game and total depression since . . . the Sox? how could they??? But they did. Oh well, it's only a game.



Sunday. Get the to do list out that didn't get done on Saturday and do it. However - every errand in every store was a giant waste of time. The store was out of whatever we needed in each and every case. Oh, don't get me wrong, we piled up the purchases but they were not on the list. My husband said as we walked to the car from yet another unsuccessful tour through a store, we will never have to leave the house since the only way to find what we are looking for in each and every instance is to go on line. He is right.

I am going on line and see if we can get the list lined out.

The Dreaded To-Do's

I am off today. Well, I am not in the office today but working from home and that is almost as good as off. The sun is out and I am working my way up to walking for a bit. Why oh why do I not do what I know is good for me and what I know will make me feel better? What is wrong with my head? I have a whole list of things in it that I know if I did my life would be a lot smoother and yet, there they sit, on the list with never a check mark or line drawn through them to indicate their doneness.

Sigh, sigh sigh. I think that it is much better to be all engaged in wondering why these silly things don't get done than it is to look at the really big issues in life. Maybe this failure to complete the to-do's is really a ta-da. Perhaps it's a blessing to have these little grinding and never ending granular failures to toss through than to have the huge ones staring at me.

See? I'll do anything, think anything, be distracted by anything rather than stand up, put on the damned sneakers and go out that door for a walk. I must be firm. And there is another thing on the list. Weight bearing exercise has been on that list for I can't tell you how long. I did check off the "Buy hand weights in varying sizes so that the Strong Women Stay Young recommended exercises can be done in those early morning do nothing hours". But then. . . .

What? Go for a walk you say? Stop this babbling nonsense. Grow up. Be responsible. Put on those sneakers you had to have and went all over the northeastern region of the USA to locate. I will but where oh where are my socks? If I can find them without seeing all the dust under the bed and coming back for the swiffer to rid the bedroom of that blight which as you all know leads to the "Yikes look at those dirty windows and how can they be washed with curtains so dingy" thoughts, I might get that walk in today.

Oh.. all .. right! I'm going. But....I'll be back and then...there's the list.

Sticker Shock

And I thought I liked to shop. My cousin is the queen of all shoppers. We went from noon until 6:30pm and only sat down for about 15 minutes to grab a late lunch. We went into and out of every store (it seemed) at the Natick Mall which used to be called Shoppers' World and now has expanded to Shoppers' Universe. Nordstrom's and Neiman Marcus and European stores galore were in the new expanded glory of the mall. A pea coat, remember those? A pea coat in Neiman Marcus was a steal for 1800 dollars. My blood pressure was in roller coaster mode. I kept grabbing tags and going crazy. How on earth do you justify spending 1200 dollars for a white blouse? Please someone tell me. I'm fantasizing that I might actually have that much money and it's not needed for anything at all and if I spent it there would be plenty more where that came from but seriously, my fantasy hits a wall when I think about the shopping and the tags.

I am still a little jarred from the whole thing. My cousin pooh poohed my out bursts and said that only a fool would buy at retail (she used to be a buyer for some large stores). But even on a sale....what would that be marked down to?

In the same vein, a talk show host had spent the weekend in NYC and found an article in the Sunday Times about a young couple settling into a co-op in the city. They had bought the co-op for 6 million and had to spend 3 million to renovate. He was sputtering about the idea that having spent all that money for the co-op it wasn't good enough for them. He wanted very much to have them on his show so that he could find out what they were really made of. Besides money that is.

Well - I must run. I have a date with my rheumatologist and can't be late. He will definitely be the doctor to use that take two aspirin line. The way I feel today I should take four. Later

Out of the Ordinary

Well due to the husband's need to put food on the table, we are back from the weekend on Sunday. Note I said we. It's always only I since most of his work goes on at the summer place which is open all winter and where he is usually anchored in. This bit of work is closer to our other place which is where I work. Here we are where usually I am only. The dog doesn't have a clue what's up. She is pacing and pacing. Very rarely does she spend time here and honestly it is a much better spot for her since we have a large fenced in yard.

Problem is that the husband expects to open the refrigerator and see what he usually sees and here? I live like a lonely old maid. I have no juice or extras anywhere. I have frozen dinners of the Lean Cuisine variety. I have the high fiber cereal and canned soup. I bring my salad fixin's and milk back and forth. He's not happy.

We did go out last night to an Outback restaurant. We had a gift certificate and put it to good use. As always I had most of my steak to bring home. I just love their chopped salad and can't stop so that is usually dinner plus the baked potato. At least he'll have steak for breakfast. LOL

We talked about discovering (for us) the Outback and how we went there with my brother and his wife when we were in Florida for my folks 60th wedding anniversary. Neither my brother nor his wife had ever been to one and after that they always took the family for group events. We also went to one when my cousin's daughter got married in California. We decided to go and make it a real vacation. What a good time we had. One of the stops was in Fresno and we were searching for a place to go for dinner that was close by the motel, reasonable and good. Not knowing anything about Fresno we went into the Yellow Pages which is my AAA guidebook by the way and the only thing nearby enough that we were sure was good was the Outback. We went and sure enough it was as if we were in the one in Florida or the one in Massachusetts. I really don't like that trend of franchise everything but scattered among the unique to the region shops and restaurants which this one was is not an awful thing.

I am meeting my cousin today for a shopping adventure. Tell you all about it later. Have a fabulous Sunday.

Good Time with Good Friends

We had the nicest visit from two of our dearest friends. They have been friends with each other for a zillion years and while at our house years ago they realized they were more than friends and started to date which led to their moving in together and 10 days ago they got married in Las Vegas. Honestly they are both so happy. This is her first marriage and he had been briefly married many years ago and divorced for years and years. They are so giddy about the husband and wife thing. They are also torn between being so excited and then thinking they are too old to be so.



They came to pick up a freezer that we were giving them...long story but we planned on dinner for them and I bought a small cake that looked as if it could have been the top of a wedding cake. They didn't have a cake and she cried over it. I gave it to her and told her to freeze it until their first anniversary and have it then. Is that still done? I remember doing that years ago. We grilled and had steak. My husband is a griller extraordinaire. He puts the grilled steak on a tray that has olive oil, garlic, rosemary and sage. It is so flavorful. I made a great salad of romaine, red pepper and our heirloom tomatoes and had some great french rolls heated in the oven. Toss in some great wine and what a nice meal. We toasted them before eating and more tears since it was just the two of them in Las Vegas thus no toasts so Kleenex all around, well at least the ladies. The men? They are not so weepy.

Dinner is now done and they are on the road back to their house. My man is in the recliner with the baseball game on and the snoring is so loud that it's hard to hear the announcer. Hope you are all as content as we are.

Pea Soup Time

We are in a pea soup fog. It's Hound of the Baskerville weather. It's so foggy that if you walk under a tree you get fogged on. It accumulates on the leaves and drips off so it's as if it were raining under the trees. I LOVE this weather. It's really warm out too. I must hit the road for a walk and see how wet I get with the fog. I'll let you know when I return.

New Beginnings

There have been so many new beginnings recently. My niece had a little boy, actually a big boy and he is lovely. My sister-in-law's daughter had a little boy yesterday and my cousin's daughter got married Saturday. There are more as well but all of that in less than three weeks and I don't have much of a family at all. To go a bit further, every morning we can start all over again. God is so good.

That direct line radio station I listen to was talking about sin this morning and the pastor was quoting the bible. He read Psalm 51 which he said was David's view of sin and then 2Samuel 12 which was God's view of the same sin. Then that pastor said the most frightening thing of all. When we sit in that judgement seat we think the Lord will show us our life as He saw it and we all know how terribly painful that will be but this pastor said that he thinks we will also see how our lives might have been if we had only repented sooner. We will see everything as it might have been. What a thought.

Oh Lord have mercy. I am so grateful for new beginnings and I pray for Your help and guidance as I move through this day ahead of me.

October is here! October is here! Yikes, how did this happen? I know that it's just a bunch of days one after the other and then. . . here is October! But still, all those days did happen and what speeds everything up as we get older? Maybe it's just as well since as we age we feel more physical aches and pains and creaks and groans so sooner is better to pull up the covers and sleep through it. Thus, the solution of the day whizzing by. We also tend to think differently when we age. Now the clouds that used to be on the horizon are actually overhead and dimming the brightness of the sun. Thus the solution of the day whizzing by since it isn't always so promising. See? There's a good reason for all of this.



The reasons are good and the weather is glorious and what we should do with the bright patches is get out enjoy and after all that fresh air and healthy exercise we'll get a good night's sleep for a change since the other part of aging includes days whizzin by and night's dragging as we think of all the awful things that might be out there waiting tomorrow or of all the things we coulda woulda shoulda done blah blah.

Tell you what....I'm outta here and into that fabulous fall air. Happy pumpkins and corn stalks and candy corn. What could be better?

Missin' my Brothers and Others

I know I should have written more and not deleted the one that I did write but..... it's my blog after all and I will do what I will do. It's the only place I can say that and mean it so . . . . . give me a break.



My bother died 3 years ago today. I went out with his girl and we had such a nice night. No one in the world had the sense of humor my brother had and I miss miss miss laughing with him. I miss every one of my family and when I think that as a younger woman I couldn't ever imagine being alone in the world. What a very odd world this is. I loved my family more than earth and would have done anything for any one of them and now! Here I am! Oh there are still friends and more distant family and of course my husband thank you God for him.

Have you seen the German Coast Guard video....we are sinking...what are you sinking about? Google German Coast Guard and you should get there. My friend's husband is from Germany and he showed this to me the other day. He laughed so hard that he got everyone else laughing. Not that the video isn't funny but he was more fun.

Now I must get on with life. I started the day with Joyce Meyer and she had a really good point. Forgiving doesn't mean hanging around with just to prove you forgive. I needed to hear that. This week has been all about forgiving. Am I just sensitive to that message or is it out there for everyone? Chuck Swindall is talking all week about Joseph and how he forgave his brothers. Joyce this morning and there have been other messages on those radio programs. I don't know. Maybe God does use that radio station to get a message to me.

Have a lovely day. It's sunny here and might rain later but it will be a nice day I'm sure.

Wednesday Ramblings

Got a new to me car and I am so happy. My old, and I mean old, car has had no air conditioning for 2 months....yes, July and August. Now, I have the air conditioning I have been dreaming about.

Speaking of dreaming, I heard Coast-to-Coast with George Noury(sp) the other night and he had a man, Robert Moss, on who interprets dreams. Last night I dreamed about setting the table for dinner and I had no forks. What's that about do you think? He said that you should just write down your first instinct and not belabor the details. Sometimes a dream is just a dream you know and not a message from beyond, wherever that is.

I have to get some lunch now before I faint and then I will put some effort into clearing the desk and at that point I will ramble some more. Later

Thoughts

Just thinkin'. Fidel Castro is the working man's Osama. Those videos. How long do you think each one of them has been sleeping the long sleep? I don't think either one will be coming down for breakfast.

I Like George W Bush

After reading all the bursts of nonsense in the news today I have to say it. I think GW is an ok guy. I don't agree with all of his actions but I feel safer with him sitting in the oval office and I think he is a man of integrity and respect. I can't stand all the back biting, posturing morons who are clawing their way to the front of the reporters so they can breathlessly tell some tale out of school.

OK. I'm done with that. Thanks

Thanks be to the Radio Messengers

Had a terrible day yesterday. Too terrible to review here just know it was emotionally painful. As a result I slept poorly after crying for quite some time and I never even tried to stop. I just walked around weeping like a little girl with the oh poor me's. Anyhow, during the night as I slept poorly I had the radio on and at one point I heard Roy Masters and he told me to remove myself emotionally from whatever was going on around me. Watch the action as if it were a TV drama. Then you will be able to make a correct decision and take a correct action. The emotion of the event allows you to be manipulated or to attempt to manipulate others and either is the wrong thing to do. Thanks Roy, that is such good advice. Wring the emotions out of the scene and the issues become so clear.

Later I heard Dr. Laura and one of her callers was weeping. She felt guilt because her life was good. Dr Laura asked her if she had a crappy family and the girl said sort of. You have survivor guilt, she told the young lady, and you should never feel guilty for the good life you earned through good choices. In a way I am being accused of having a better life than someone else. I won't apologize because my family was a good one and someone else's wasn't. Everyone's family can be crappy in many different ways. Man up! Get over it! Thanks Dr. Laura.

Another Dr. Laura epiphany was a caller who said she wanted her friend to understand...Dr Laura stopped her there and said, No. You want your friend to do what you want her to do. You have an opinion and so does she. You want her to change her opinion to yours. You want her to agree. Whenever some one says they want you to understand. That's code for they want you to agree with them. That cleared up a lot of yesterday. Thank you again Dr. Laura.

And last but not least, I awoke after tossing and turning, to hear Dr Dobson interviewing Barbara Johnson and she said that no one could depend on you for joy or rob you of yours. She would look at the sky and say how glorious, it's as if God vacuumed the sky, that's how clean and sparkling it is. Her husband would say, well God will dump out the vacuum bag soon and take care of that. She said that made him happy and she would not rob him of that. She would not let that thought take her happiness away however. She also said that after a terrible day she would thank God the day was done and pray that there would not be another like that in a hurry.

Thank you God that yesterday is over and I pray there not be another of those in a hurry. Blessings to everyone. It's a beautiful day.

No Straying from the Diversity Crowd

This is a very dark decade. There can be no diverse thoughts among those who promote diversity. I draw your attention to Larry Summers.

http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2007/09/nihil-obstat.html

Moms and Universities

I was just reading about filming the documentary "Indoctrinate U" and it kind of coincided with a conversation I had with a long time friend as I drove home from work. Her mother is 95 and although a lovely lady, she is a very controlling and domineering mom. My friend has been squashed under this woman's thumb for years and unfortunately married her mother too. Her husband, although a lovely man, is controlling and critical and between her husband and her mother she, years ago shut down and just let the two of them take over. Now, at 64, she is beginning to become the rebellious 16 year old she should have been all those years ago. Both her husband and her mother think she needs psychiatric help because she is merely asserting herself for the first time ever. That documentary blurb talked about the University folk calling the police because this film maker was asking some questions that they were very uncomfortable with. They didn't and don't want their "family issues" aired to the outside world. They don't, like my friend's mother, want any independence of thought on the part of anyone they see as less important as they. Just thinkin'.

Imagine This!!!!!

I try to get through the day without outbursts. Honestly! I try! But then, in my vision passes the rear end of a car with a bumper sticker "Imagine Peace" Tra La. Like it's that simple.

IMAGINE VICTORY!!! is it that tough to do? No. We have to imagine running away, frightened, the bully should never be stood up to, don't get him angry, give him your lunch money and he will leave you alone. You stupid doofus. Give him your lunch money and he'll take the rest of your allowance and your bike and your dolls. When confronted on the street, hand over your wallet and watch and wife and kids and car. Does that mugger look familiar to you? You used to give him your lunch money.

EEEEgads! We are hopelessly doomed to be lectured to by old, daffy flower children who blew most of their brain cells on LSD back in the day. Saggy old goofs (my age by the way) looking for some more fun in the park defying mom and dad. I've got to go before I rupture something critical. Later

Good Eats

Another week end - gone. It was close to 40 degrees this morning and only 64 in the house. Brrr. More global warming effects I'm sure. I've been blogging long enough to have another one of these rants available from a previous cold day in September so go to the archives and review for detail. Right now I will only say, the heat? she is not available until the bird goes in the oven. Socks, sweatshirts and sweat pants and thank goodness they are plentiful just not immediately available. Under the bed is a good place to start looking. Once those seal up bags are opened however, it's highly unlikely anything will go back from whence it came.

Supper last night was such a hit I've been told not to lose the recipe. Let me tell you how often that ever happens, never. I will share with you my, from now on, all time favorite Sunday supper recipe, Korean Roast Chicken Thighs.

8 chicken thighs, skin on
1/2 cup soy sauce (use the lowest sodium you can find. House of Tsang is great)
1/2 cup minced green onions (I used our fresh chives from the herb garden)
3 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons minced garlic or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 375
Place chicken skin side down in large baking dish (I sprayed it with Pam)
Combine the ingredients above in a bowl and then pour on top of chicken
Bake uncovered 45 minutes
Turn over and bake for another 15 or 20 minutes

Yum. I served with brown rice, ladled the sauce over the rice and broccoli.

Grrrrrrr!

Does Nancy Pelosi ever regret anything she has ever said or done? You know. Like we do. We of little income and power, we of woefully small carbon footprints, we, the people. Do you think she ever, as we would, has those photo ops slam through her brain as the old "Yee Gads, did I really do that?" You know. The pictures from the family party where we played with the hula hoop or put on that big brimmed straw hat that Nana Gumpa brought back from Guadalawhatever, those pictures that when someone brings them out or slide shows them we have to move out of the zip code for a century or seven. THOSE PICTURES!!!! And yet. There she is, in a scarf, or sitting in Syria ever so demurely, knees together, hands delicately placed on those knees turning to the man of the hour as if she were at a college mixer. Yes. I went to those and have regretted every second except for the fodder it provides to know who I mix with today. Honestly. Does she ever run those stupid, damaging, hurtful, disgusting lies she spews to the camera back to herself and when or if she does, does she say, "What a good girl I am." ?

Oh Lord please help me with this anger......I know not what I should do with it.

Thanks to God

Another day here in Happy Valley. The sun is shining as bright as can be. I awoke to a radio show about reaping what we sow. Before you can sow anything you must prepare the soil. You need to plow and then sift or whatever it's called and winnow? if that's the word I heard. Anyway, living here on earth hardens the soil of our hearts and we have to take the time to prepare our hearts for the seed of the Holy Spirit.

I also heard that only three men in the Bible were described as handsome and they were David, Joseph and Absalom. Each were beautifully made.

The other tidbit is that living a life of privilege does not prepare us well to resist temptation or to work hard but Joseph did. He did live the life of the favored son and was spoiled by his aged doting father. Sold into slavery he worked very hard and earned the respect of Potiphar but was tempted by Potiphar's wife and was able to resist. He was tempted daily not just one time and resisted. Even though he was pampered for his entire life he was able to work hard and resist temptation because God was with him. God was always with him and even though he was adored by Jacob and given the favored position he was still humble. Just saying. That whole discussion has planted the urge to read Genesis again. I love that story.

Thank You for Your Word God. Thank You for everything.

What me Worry??

OK so I heard from that Doctor and he was right. Not to worry but he thought I might have gout. I have a swollen knuckle on my right index finger - it's the first knuckle - the largest one and it prevents me from serious jar opening maneuvers and occasionally causes wincing while shaking hands vigorously. He prescribed medication which I will not take or fill since I told him over and over that the pain? It does not exist unless opening a jar or shaking hands.

My uric acid is elevated .5 points over the high number. I am so not worrying.

Is it only Tuesday?

Today began with a transfer of all food from the freezer in the garage to the freezer in the kitchen which had a bit in it already. The food, frozen block solid, had to be unloaded and reloaded and added to. Frozen chicken legs are heavy when they fall on your foot. This exercise in food handling was due to the fact that the ice packs I put in the freezer last night were still soggy this morning. When I pulled out the thermometer it was warmer than freezing and my husband, calm solid block of tranquility that he is, called GQ and the race was on. Now, rather than see if the temperature goes up in that empty freezer, the new one will be delivered tomorrow and we're so done with that other one.

Can't start much better than that now can it? Oh, there is that call from the doctor's office that was waiting for me when I got here at the office. He left a message that I should call him about the lab results. I did. He wasn't available. His nurse called back to see how long I would be here. She couldn't discuss anything. She told me not to worry. Oh sure. Later.