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.