Thursday, July 31, 2008

Interesting and amazing day!

Busy for us day.

Early this morning I went for my moment of truth to get that fasting blood work done Ala natural, without any medications for an entire week.
I have been told by the Vampira that committed the act of removing a portion of my life's existence, a vile of my blood that the doctor should have the results by Tuesday. My day of reckoning for whether or not I will need any drugs, cholesterol or blood pressure meds that is.

From there we came home since we had to check in with our darling Skipper, our Bichon Frise who knew we were going to go somewhere and refused to go out to do his business as we euphemistically used to say. And the remainder of our time at home was planing what we had to do next.

Our major decision was to stop at the Home Depot for prices on a project, a repair of our seawall, and for some shade cloth for our fish pond. We also needed to get some insecticide for the lawn. We parked and saw two shopping carts to the left of the front doors. One had flower remnants in it and the other looked clean, but guess what it did have in it... a dirty dollar bill! My husband smiled and said loudly that they are paying us to use the shopping carts, look a dollar! He later confessed he thought someone might claim it, but no one did. Finders keepers, I guess.
Interesting to find out what others may have done in the same situation?
When I was still in elementary school I walked there daily and one day I found quite a few bills, maybe it was ten on my walk, and honesty made me feel the need to turn them into the principles office when I arrived at school. I never did find out if the owner showed up, and I always wondered.
Anyway, while there our other mission was to find out how to contact the manufacturer of our two outdoor molded plastic sinks that had valves that were broken and consequently they did not work properly. The gardening department people didn't seem to know anything about them. They are now only sold online, the two cost over $170 when purchased and I really hated the idea they were now just junk. We used one on our dock for fish cleaning and the other one on the patio for gardening projects, potting plants, washing hands, etc.
As a last resort, on our way nearly out of the store I mentioned to my husband why not try the plumbing department for the valves, and the person there seemed to be quite knowledgeable. He gave my husband the toll free phone number for the company, and my husband called this small firm in Minnesota, and they said they were sorry it happened and that they will be sending us two new sinks in 8 to 10 days! Since they didn't have the part.
Incredible in this day and age! An old fashioned business ethic where the customer IS always right, and they are the reason we stay in business; wow impressive!
This company, which I will highly recommend is Backyard Gear, and is sold at Home Depot and I also believe at Sears.

After the depot we went onto Sam's Club for gas, coffee, and other inexpensive items of the non perishable species. Gas is usually at least 9 cents less a gallon, and the coffee is usually 3 dollars less than the grocery.

Last stop was filling up our propane tank for our outdoor grill, and that was done at Ace Hardware, which was on the way home, and that price went up again another dollar! But we do enjoy barbecuing! And I think it saves a little on our electric oven/stove bill use.

That's all for now.
Have a great evening to all, and we will too.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Ever Wonder?

Many of these days I have a bit of time on my hands for just pondering.
I can remember a time when there were never enough hours in the day to do it all! And thinking about the future was put on the back burner. We lived in the moment.

Those were the working, volunteering, taking classes, raising children, taxi driver, and cooking, laundering, shopping, and housekeeping years! I can now look back at them fondly and forget just how hard it really was, but worth every moment of it. These were some of the best years of our lives. Never thought I would miss any of that, but some days I really do.

Why is it some people feel they are not in the right time or place of appreciation of what they have when they have it? Guilty!

All I feel I can do at this point in my life is to pass it on to the next generation, my few words of wisdom and experience; enjoy every moment of it, because it goes by way too fast!
That is not to say that this time in our lives is not joyous as well. You must always find the happiness in your life! It is your job as human to do this, even when times are hard, especially now, count your blessings; it could always be worse.

The idea of raising mature, well educated, capable, independent adults is what the effort was for, and consequently it worked. But now they don't need us; mixed blessings, as some would say. Having male children only; I suspect that this is not that unusual. Foolish Mom as I was I made sure they could do their own laundry, cook and clean too!

I promised I would not discuss them too personally in this blog and to respect their privacy so unfortunately I will end this train of thought here and now.

New Topic: longevity of our marriage; nearly 38 years!
We are somewhat of an oddity for our generation of Baby Boomers, and to say it's been easy wouldn't be totally truthful. My parents were a great couple, and felt anything worthwhile was worth working at; and so we do.

Mind you not always at the same time, or with any plan or knowledge of what we are actually doing, nothing like that, but somehow we resolve these differences. LOL
Usually one of us has gone off the deep end with emotions on these occasions, and most would think that it is just too weird or crazy!

Not being one to live under a rock, and knowing some other couples of our vintage of marriage I can assure you this is not unusual behavior. The other person is usually acting quite calm while this occurs, so vibe wise it does work out amazingly. It is not for the feint of heart, and you must know your mate quite well and be sure that they will catch you and love you unconditionally. Almost like you are the child, which is who you become during the duration of this act.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

WEB LOG July 29.2008

Reporter: Tobi

Location: Florida USA

Topic of Log: Realization of reasoning for this web page.

Sub Title: Information and thought provoking whenever possible.

Sub Topic for Today: Rain, and why it is necessary from a non farmer view.

Summer in Florida is notorious for weather: hurricanes, thunderstorms, and of course we are the lightening capitol of the world! Please news casters stop telling people to use their umbrellas...uh...metal shafts... lightening rods! Better to wear a poncho or other rain gear.

Just in: more people are killed every year by lightening than sharks in the state of Florida!
Forty just this past year.

Rain is necessary in our reservoirs for our drinking water, bathing, not to mention gardening, and of course swimming, as in pools.

When we have a drought like we seem to every winter in spite of the over abundance every summer in this locale we do have deep aquifers that go completely dry. Water to air heat pumps even have been known to fail.

Too many people not conserving when we should during the summer. To think because when we on occasion will have flooding that we have too much; unbelievable the extremes we have!

Some how this state has not yet learned as most have not how to protect our supplies.
We have been on water restrictions as long as I have been living here and that is a couple of decades! In our particular county we are only allowed to water once a week.
People do not listen to the laws though and think because they have a well not city water they are not included in the conservation plan, but that is not true.
Wells have to do with our aquifers, and they too go dry.
So uh uh wells are included in the law of the land.

Some people have timers on their sprinkler systems that unfortunately do not have rain gauges that are fairly reasonable and would avoid systems going on automatically while a deluge happens, just plain and pitifully wasteful; get one!

Remember the word for today is: conservation

Contact your local code department for laws in your area.

That's all for today! Have a good one!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Writing for fun and my own enjoyment

Over the previous days I have taken the liberty of writing for my own personal reasons on topics that interested me.
Is that not what a blog is?
According to my online dictionary, which is a Merriam Webster and updated regularly I would think, the words blog and blogger do not exist since they do not show up anywhere in it.
Confused.
How on earth have I gotten here; when this venue does not exist?
Fascinating.
Where can I go to find out what the heck I have been doing here for the last 33 days?
I know, I bet that blog and blogger are made up words, aha that is what my blog was about just yesterday... words that have been created with purpose in mind for those of us with imagination!
More research into this anomaly is needed!

So I carry on...with trying to find the two non words, actually three if you count the act of blogging; in my American Century Dictionary, and guess what?
Not there either, curiouser, and curiouser?
Another dictionary this one electronic, American Heritage Dictionary Personal Edition, and hand held, a modern appliance you would think would contain modern words and or terms...not there either.
Crazy!

What am I doing?
I am writing here on a blog, and I am called a Blogger for doing this action yet... I exist so this must exist, right?

Existential?
No, the above word only seems to refer to human existence in the 20Th century according to the electronic dictionary; i.e. number two example above.
And if I recall we are in the 21st century for 8 1/2 years now.

So... if blogging does not exist does that mean that I too do not exist?
Something to think about...sort of like the tree falling in the forest if no one is there to hear it fall does it make a sound?
What? Of course it does... just no one's there to hear it!
Ridiculous!

And again it was a quiet day at the Tobi domicile so this is why I am composing nonsensical literature that will be burnt in my own history for eternity.

I do wonder though when will this blog, blogger, blogging become a part of our legal words, dictionary emblazoned; so that we can tell others like children and those not yet born to this earth that they do really, really exist!

Finally, in my opinion I will now give you my definition of a blog: an online diary or snippet of one's life's experiences or any damn thing they care to write about electronically for all the world to see if they so desire, and the one who does it is a Blogger, logically, and when you do it regularly it is called blogging! TA DA!

Updates: Pooling, swimming that is was and is being done by the above Blogger for three days, but not in a row.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Theater of the absurd...life

Our lives are not that boring to us.
What one must think about ones own life could only be put in respect of ones own perspective of how they are living at any one time in their own blip in history.
We are in a microchasm of dwellings, and rarely metamorphous out of our world.

Double talk, huh?
If I recall way back in my English Lit days we were taught about the theater of the absurd, which all the world appears to be a stage and we are just players on it.

Sort of gives credence to the idea that there really is something out there Muldaur. (X-Files guy)
And perhaps we are being watched.

Some believe that there is a higher being, God; while others believe whatever they wish in their hearts and perhaps more likely in their souls.
Could it just be our consciences that separate good from evil?
Do all men and women have them?
No, and that is what makes murderers, rapists, and all other criminals different from us so-called good people.

But truthfully are we really that good? We like to think that we are.

Think of the Golden Rule:

"treat others as you would like to be treated"

Do we always treat people as we should even when we are at war? Just the act of war itself is hypocritical.

The Ten Commandments

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

Many religions, is only one right? A resounding, NO!

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

OK, fair enough, I am not any good at carving anyway, and I have never had any beliefs in inanimate objects ever! Although, I do have some favorite photos.

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

Too many do daily; not necessarily me though.

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

In my opinion if you do all the rest it makes up for having to work on the Sabbath.

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

Sure, and teens are always cheerful too. It's so easy growing up in this world today. Better they should verbally attack you than some stranger!

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

Easy not to do; but hard not to just think about those fresh kids. kidding!

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

Nah too tired.

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NEVER! Maybe steal a good joke?

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

Okay, just tell the truth about those no good people across the street!

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

No, donkeys here or servants, or oxen or any of those things today or any day...so I guess we are in luck we are only middle class slobs! Not interested in women in that way! All the houses here are pretty much the same, not that different. Nice lawn though. Garden aint bad either. Hard to move those things.

And that concludes my irreverent look at religion and what it really means to me, blasphemy! LOL

Saturday, July 26, 2008

WORDS

How we use words or over use them today has been of interest to me.
When trying to compose brilliant pages of literature did our forefathers use dictionaries and Thesauruses, or wing it by creating new and funny sounding utterances? And much later give the meanings out to only those who would ask?
About the above I do sometimes wonder.

Have you ever noticed that the art of letter writing has been lost?
And that now emails have taken up that familiar habit; by now I am sure you have.

Synonyms, homonyms, antonyms, silent letters, combination letters make our English a very different language, and difficult one for others to learn.
Arabic characters are used in many languages at least we have some consistency with that.

And yet if we came from let's say Germany, France or Spain English would be quite a challenge, and their languages would be a breeze for us to learn?
I don't think so. I personally have studied French and Spanish in our schools,
I did fair in French but great in Spanish with A's. Not that easy either, but easier.

My point for this evening is that I'm sure if we decided to emigrate to any of those countries we would speak their languages lickety-split, right?
Not necessarily.

We should put ourselves in our immigrants shoes, and remember our ancestors that had to not only start all over with everything, housing, jobs and school, etc. but do it while adjusting to strangers talking in foreign tongues.

Weak example, but somewhat of an analogy: Most recently my husband and I have began to realize that our hearing or listening isn't what it used to be so since our TVS are all equipped with closed captioning we have been using it, and guess what it doesn't always work so accurately.
Sometimes their is none at all available or the sentences are so misspelled it looks like a foreign language, how about that?
I suggest you try it.
For news and weather it isn't verbatim since whoever does it locally isn't able to keep up!
Now imagine being deaf and trying to know what's going on by using the TV for that main purpose.
Not so easy!

Curiosity is a good thing, and I have been told as long as you have it you'll never get old. In other words try to learn something new every day. As I have gotten older I have realized how little I really do know. It amazes me though that when I was 15 I knew everything!

Good night and a pleasant evening to all.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Smart Friends

When it comes to choosing friends there are all different types of criteria they might need to meet for your liking.
Some young people will chose according to the popularity of a person, attractiveness, wealth, or smarts i.e. academic or street.

I personally somehow always leaned towards people seeking me out, which left me in my early years, and occasionally since with a mish mosh of different kinds of friends. And with that reality they have been unique, and if I did make it a personal choice I don't think I could have done any better than the ones that I do have today.

As I got older, in my late teens it was rather interesting how all my friends were so good looking that one of my best friends in my wedding party, when I was just 20 myself, I thought that she looked better than me, the bride! I was even accused by a cousin that was how I chose my bridesmaids that they were chosen by there looks. But in truth the one that looked better than me was my best friend from the time we were in 8th grade, and the other two were my future sister-in-law, and my teenage niece, people that meant the most to me at that time; as it should have been. They couldn't help the fact they were also good looking! PS: My niece later became a physicist.
The cousin who accused me didn't even know me or would have known that, and she thought that she should have been chosen.

Anyway, that was not always the way things were. While in college I not only had attractive friends but one of my best friends had graduated high school at sixteen and was part of a New York city think tank! Great study buddy!

After I became a married woman and we owned our first home, a townhouse that seemed to be the case again. I seemed to gravitate to attractive smart people. I became best friends with a woman who had graduated college at 20 and taught school for a few years before becoming a mom, her husband was the youngest CPA for the state of New York, at just 23 years old.

Even as an older person I've had friends that were professors, belonged to MENSA, and such.

Perhaps, that's why in my mind I never feel smart enough, but I do enjoy learning from these people.

In short I believe that smart friend are the best. Smarts last; looks don't. LOL :-)

Positive smart friends test you or make brilliant suggestions to you like reading for enjoyment, AHA!

That was my school teacher mom friend, and that is when I started to devour books for the sole purpose of pleasure. After all those necessary school reads there were actually genres of interest to me in the fiction arena!
Voracious, became my middle name on how I began reading, and at that time joined all those book clubs. Hardcovers were sent to the house monthly, but by now I was a mom, and we had balance by biking, swimming, camping, and of course reading with my little darlings.
Literary Guild was one of the first book clubs I joined and with your membership you received a free canvas tote with the initials LG on it. I used it as a diaper bag, and told my son the initials were for little guy! He laughed heartily.

Update: Today I was back in the pool for a whole 45 min. tomorrow who knows could be an hour!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Appointments

My husband and I went out today to take care of my doctor's appointment.
It's supposed to be yearly, but my year was actually up in February.
Anyway, aside from my weight going up a few pounds that I really can't afford, and me shrinking another inch and a half, which I can't afford either (LOL); it was rather uneventful. At this weight I should be at least six feet tall!

I did discuss with the doctor that I felt I didn't need my blood pressure or cholesterol medicine anymore; in spite of my hefty weight I do eat healthy, and my blood pressure was 112/76, better than normal!
Almost as good as my skinny blood pressure that doctors would tease me about since I am blond and because it was so low usually, 90/60; and they would ask if I were dizzy?
This new to me woman doctor said to try stopping my meds for a week, and gave me a script for my yearly blood work to go for at the end of the week. And another for the medications in case our test fails.
I agreed.

Next stop the library, and yes we needed a new supply, and I delved wholeheartedly into one of the new manuscripts; the original to the sequel that I just read from William G. Tapply. Hard to put it down to write this.

Last stop hypocritically, and perhaps my last hurrah, the drive thru at Mickey D's, no salad for this salad devourer tomorrow I go off my meds lunch today was a Big Mac and fries! For shame! But truthfully the last time I think I had a Big Mac was... gosh; you know I can't remember!

Good night to all and to all enjoy the evening!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Today

This afternoon a young woman came to our door to offer free floor and furniture cleaning.
I asked my husband to get the bell. He did say yes at first to this 24 year old single mother cutie!
Solicitors are iffy in my book and I really thought he would handle it, and he did.
The deal was one of those too good to be true free cleaning for just telling friends and family about how well their product works.
I wanted to contact the Better Business Bureau to check them out so I called 211 info for that number also to see if they had any complaints there.
They suggested calling the Sheriff's Office to notify them, and the Sheriff's Office said not to deal with the business. Meanwhile my husband also called the county to see if the company was licensed, and they were not. So when he asked to see their license and they said they had one but not with them. He thanked them and that was that.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

TMI

TMI? How many know what that acronym means? Most people I would guess today would know what that is unless you lived under a rock or are a time traveler from the 19th century.

I should since I do it all the time... for those of you who are not into Internet quickie chat in email, or IM (Instant Messaging) or text messaging it means: Too Much Information. And as you know I'm very guilty of that.

It should be fun with using all these shortened forms of communication utilizing our alphabet in ways that I'm sure were never thought of before computers and texting phone messages came about.

It concerns me though, in much of our print advertising spelling has become a problem for the average student. Days could be spelled daz or some other phonetic way, many other examples do exist, but I'm drawing a blank right now.

Wait here's some: LOL, laugh out loud! TUVM, thank you very much! BFF, best friend forever! BRB, be right back!
No, I'm still here. LOL

I feel badly for those poor elementary school teachers trying to explain to the class how the way they spell a specific word in class is correct when students have so many examples of it spelled differently, and I bet some believe their way is right... Something to think about Madison Avenue.

I mentioned Madison Avenue because when I was a college student 40 years ago in NYC, New York City that is where the hub of the advertising industry was, and times were so different; as well as the products being peddled too.
In reality, I have no idea if they are still there.

Children learn by rote most easily, and seeing words written over and over again in that certain way is part of their abstract or subliminal retention. I believe that this generation seems to be distracted too easily. And for them, it's not always in your face learning!

It's no wonder that we still have spelling bees that get national recognition. Being a good speller is not the norm it would seem to me, and the children that excel in this ability seem to be not that plentiful.
Another thought to ponder...

TTYL, talk to you later...
GN, good night!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Righting Wrongs and More

In my youth I was somewhat of an avenger of wrongdoing...
Let's put it this way; I used to be what most would call a bleeding heart liberal from the 60's.

When did I become this questioning non believing of the idea that all is well and most people just need a leg up in life to change, and found out I was actually sincerely and severely jaded?

Exchanging my positivity with thinking that they were all just lazy people, and alcoholics! I do know that alcoholism is a disease, and as vile as cancer can be to its victims. In this particular case I'm referring to the homeless.

Before all this bad stuff was going on about the gas, groceries, and foreclosures so overwhelming and affecting all the people from all walks of life in all economic classes... we, here in our area of southwest Florida had a plethora of homeless, or disadvantaged people who lived under our bridges or in our woods. And we did have a few agencies that dealt with helping them, but there weren't any real shelters.

But since the foreclosures and many families leaving their homes these empty vessels seem to be finding keepers; the former homeless.

I have very mixed emotions about these new happenings... due to many homeless, which I now know need some type of medical assistance for mental illness, substance abuse; not to mention retraining to be productive.

So I guess it is just this annoyance of them infiltrating my neighborhood that used to have hardworking individuals in their spaces, and that these former people just made some wrong financial choices, and ended up moving out of their homes.

I have a slight fear not knowing the backgrounds of these interlopers, and only wish someone other than me would go and not just supply them with booze and weed but get them counseling, and the medical help that they really do need.

You ask how these people can be living in these foreclosed homes.
Well, to be honest I really don't know.
But I did hear one possibility is that the former owners give these people temporary housing, gosh isn't that swell of them!

JADED! Sorry, but if I didn't see on a daily basis in the house across from us, which contains two of these persons of interest that they are being brought daily beer for breakfast, and seeing them puffing and passing around something that appears to be weed.
I wouldn't be so aggravated, but it’s hard to prove to the authorities, and would cause us too much grief to complain, because they would more than likely remain.

Since my husband retired from law enforcement we just really like living in peace, and quiet.
I have on occasion complained about minor infractions in our neighborhood, but all I get in return is more irritation since our local agencies have been cutting back on employees, and hours due to our economy! As a tax payer I do understand why this is.
It's truly a vicious cycle.
We love our little cottage home with all our conveniences, and don't want to move.
So what do we do? We do diligence; and watch out for our home and ourselves.

What more can anyone do? Apathetic we must be.
Live and let live?
And there by the grace of gawd almighty goes me...

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Relaxing

Today was a very quiet lovely day.
Found myself having time to read most all of it with only a few interruptions for laundry, and meals.

I did have every intention of going into our swimming pool that looks so inviting, but would you believe I have an earache and a sore throat? So it was a no go.
Gosh if it's not one thing it's another with me, darn!

And it was definitely sunny all day today!
Also in the 90's, but the pool was in the 80's.
So in the air-conditioning I stayed. And it seemed to run and run constantly even though it is set on 79 to save money on electric, we also close the blinds; and we did save $24 this month!
Usually, that's a symptom the filter needs a cleaning, and Al said he will take care of that.
Fortunately, we have the washable type of filter.
But of course you have to shut the central system down to do it, and even now at this hour 7 P.M. it's 93.

That Big Bad Wolf 2003 book of Patterson's was great, and I still don't know how I missed it! I'm reading another one of his: Lifeguard 2005, and it too is very exciting and I only stopped reading long enough to write this.

Tonight on ABC there is another reality show beginning, High School Musical: Get in the Picture. I believe it will be auditions for the next High School Musical cast.
They had one similar for the show Grease last summer. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Broadway shows.

Our week is never planned as well as when we worked or had our sons still at home, and we had so much going on in those days. You had to organize just to keep it all straight! But don't get me wrong, even the best planning in those days you would still have those occasional glitches that throw everything out of whack! Ha! And that's what made it fun, and exciting. A small part of me misses that.

Now a days it's just go with the flow, Que Serra Serra, blah, blah, blah...go to the store maybe get some gas, but we still have quite a bit since we don't go that far...

Gas, now that is an interesting topic the barrel prices finally went down, and do we see a reduction of price at the pumps? No!
What's that all about?

On that thought provoking fact I will say good evening!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Editing...Wish I knew how!

Some people feel it is a good thing to be ones own worst critic, and some are so arrogant they never find fault with themselves. These are samples of the two extremes.

I guess most recently I would fall into the category of the former in the above statement, and I don't think I can actually ever say that as far as the latter goes I have ever been that overly confident in life.
As a parent I always wanted our sons to be confident and assured of themselves.

A very wise person once told me that the greatest gift you could give to any child is confidence, and then they can accomplish anything!

But there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and it has been my experience in life that many acquaintances that I have met have crossed it, and that is why they were only acquaintances.

I mentioned this problem only due to all the grammatical mistakes I keep finding after the fact in this blog. Redundancy is rampant, so are run on sentences, wrong punctuation and word tenses are used on occasion too, boy what a mess!

The biggest difficulty for me is re-writing these over and over, and then finding another small mistake. So I am asking anyone who may be reading any of this please to be patient, kind and understanding; I'm no genius. But I know you know that! Did I mention that MS has an effect on your cognitive ability? I'll take anything I can get for help, but sadly that is true.
I am just a woman who enjoys writing, but is somewhat of a hack.

I really would love to take some more classes in creative writing, but I can't seem to locate any locally. It's been years since my college journalism, and also quite a few years have passed since I was in that writer's workshop. That was great fun! Anyone hear of any classes please let me know?

Today Al and I went to our local Fisherman's Village where there was to be a Home and Garden Show, in my opinion it was severely lacking in those titled items.
Only two booths had anything to do with plants,one had orchids and the other had some garden plants, but same old same old, and that was the same for the home items.
Usually, you expect to see new innovations/products for the home such as interesting bathroom fixtures, kitchen appliances, and tech items like home theaters or even some outdoor room ideas, etc.
Nada zilch was what there was; very disappointing.

They did have some exterior or interior art work, which I always enjoy, but they also had two jewelery cleaning stands, and the older salesman was rather rude.
He offered to clean a piece of jewelery, and I let him, but as he was doing it he wanted me to buy his product of course and I said when it was done we could talk.
I really couldn't tell if it was any better than when it was before so I was not interested in purchasing his product, and he behaved nasty.
Needless to say we left him stewing.

Although, one booth also not having to do with their theme was where a young woman was selling her personal creation cooling scarves; I bought one and it did work!

After we left there we went to the grocery to pick up a few items, and then on to home for lunch.
I started my Patterson book after lunch, and so far it is a very interesting Alex Cross one from 2003 that I missed somehow.

Have a great evening and we will too.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Hurray!

This afternoon I spoke with our eldest son that I kept sending this hyperlink of my blog to, and he finally received it! Fifth time the charm?

So strange how I finally had to send it, it was on a forward to another person that made it possible for him to have it.

I'm still baffled on why this happened. Any computer wiz out there that can shed some light on this, and could they explain it to me?

New topic: I thought I would start recommending books and TV shows that we have enjoyed:
As you might remember I told you about the newest book of James Patterson is Sail.It's absolutely nothing like you have ever read before with so many twists and turns you would have to be brain dead to ever put it down. Neither of us could until the ride was over!
A new to me author that I just finished reading this afternoon is William G. Tapply, his most recent creation is Gray Ghost. It does start off dejevu-ish with thinking you may have heard it all before...but it turns into something you never expected; truly another great fast read.
Waiting on my night stand right now are two more Patterson books, which will be read this weekend.

TV in the summer is a challenge to say the least, most of your regular familiar favorites are in reruns or replaced by one of the reality genre. But even some of these can be quite enjoyable if you are picky enough.

We personally like America's Got Talent on NBC, we find it to be just great fun!

The Baby Borrower's on NBC, although quite controversial, I do think it might just help with teens thinking twice about parenting way too soon. In reality it becomes a benign form of birth control; as the promo says. Or the very least it could open up the discussion for teens with their own parents.

Greatest American Dog on CBS is next on our list, as animal lover's it is a bit frustrating and interesting at the same time. We do some times find ourselves yelling at the TV at the owners who at times periodically seem more clueless than their dogs! We find the canine resort amazing, and done appropriately well for our four legged friends. Only problem we saw was the fencing is the open metal pattern it should be a tighter weave in my opinion, not allowing other wild critters access. And this week there was an incident, which they did not clarify how it occurred when one of the doggy competitors got injured. It was off camera what actually happened; they suggested possibly a Feral Cat or barb wire injury.

Last Comic Standing also an NBC show, is as you expect great for a laugh.

Those are the top four that we find hold our interest and that we tune in faithfully week to week.

*We did watch Circus of the Stars but that ended this week with Antonio Sabato Jr. becoming the winner. Exciting and frightening at the same time.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

At Home Entertainment

Now that most all of us agree that the economy is just dreadful we have to find new ways to try and find enjoyment for free or nearly to keep some form of sanity in tact.

We may be considered archaic by some standards, but we haven't had cable for nearly fourteen years, and don't miss it at all! We were one of the first back in the 1980's to have it when our sons were little and pretty much until they left home.

Although, many would argue that it is stupid not to have cable; it's not that expensive for basic. But now a days you have to get what they want; not what you want.
We do have a roof antennae that we bought for the second time after Hurricane Charley back in 2004, and we were the only TV watching people after the power went back on two weeks later! You see that cable was not back yet, which left many without that media convenience. Our antennae was only one hundred bucks, and is quite stylishly sublime too with a round saucer shape, no more intrusive than Direct TV exterior equipment. And we do receive all the channels we want for free. It has more than paid for itself in the years it's been in use.
What about DTV you ask? We have already gotten those converters with the discount that was available from the government, two for $26. Even we buy a couple more at the full price they are only fifty bucks a piece. So financially we are still ahead of the game.

I must be totally honest and admit there are only three channels at first that I did miss: CNN, HBO, and the weather channel, but with our local cable they were extra anyway not with basic like we used to have!

So being online, still on dial up, but soon we will have no more choice about that; we have Blockbuster Movies whenever we want (most theater releases are on DVD within six months so we don't go), any weather channels we desire including the weather channel, and CNN site that announces to us all breaking news by email alerts! So I guess you can say we are having our cake and eating it too. Or all the joys of cable without the price.

At home we have the advantage of all these things with out having say excuse me when we need a bathroom break or leave our seat for a snack.

Libraries are wonderful for picking up the latest best seller, and a bargain at zero dollars too.

tally = $100.00 antenna replaced by ins.
26.00 ( 2 converters with discount)
100.00 (2 more converters)
------
$226.00 total

divided by 12 mo. = $18.83 a mo. for one year.
But only a one time deal with years of entertainment!
The cheapest basic cable someone told me was $10 a mo. for a year but then it goes up and goes on, and on into infinity that you must pay!

Now you see my logic :-).

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Attention Span

They say that children have short attention spans and as a parent I can confirm that.
Although, as they mature they do concentrate quite well on whatever does interest them.

As an older adult my attention span is about four years long. For this arena it would be 1461 days; which includes that extra day for leap year. That said, now I do appreciate this opinionated venue that has appeared to exist without so much as one word of criticism to date.

I have been saying that it is a joy to have free reign to write about any topic I desire.

Now today is a very, very rainy gloomy cheerless day, and boredom can set in easily if one lets it.

So after lunch my husband who I will give an alias too, let's call him Al; (tired of calling him just hubby) suggested that we go to the library and get some good reads, and so we did.

We do share pleasure in the mystery genre ones, but Al also enjoys Sci-Fi, which I am very fussy about, and I only read certain ones. Anyway, we found six that suited our needs with a couple of new to us authors in the mix.

I did speak with that dear old friend again who I will call B.; we have made it a date to chat once a week by phone on Wednesday afternoons.
She is continuing on the mend, and has mastered daily care needs that most of us take for granted like showering, and moving downstairs. B. is doing much better than anyone would have believed with all that she has been through. This proves to me that positive thinking, perseverance, and just sheer will can make the human spirit succeed at just about anything!

Getting close to dinner time, and for tonight we have decided on blackened Tilapia with corn, and salad or maybe just some other veggie.
I'm not one for planning meals once the food has been put in the freezer since the advent of the microwave ovens way back in the 1970's!
It's more exciting this way; whatever fazes me at the necessary time.
Got to get to that process of preparation.

Have a great evening to all and to all a good night!


Updates: My old friend, B.; that had had the major, major surgery I mentioned on July 10th well actually I was inaccurate about how many she had had; this surgery was her 30th not just her 29th!
Bracelet: Did my own web search and found out my bracelet, which I saw a picture of, an exact duplicate, is a very good sterling silver from TAXCO Mexico, which is a company in that city of the same name and has been making silver jewelery for over 400 years! This is my bracelet link, just copy and paste to see: http://www.tias.com/7758/PictPage/1920965598.html#images
Author Nancy Pickard: no longer lives in Florida she lives in Kansas. I do not know when this occurred but it had to be a while ago since her newer books are situated there.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Being Green

How many people do you know are really on their way to conserving gas and electricity, and are recycling regularly or using non disposable products?

Personally, I know very few, but we are trying in our own small ways.
For us we are turning off appliances not being used, and some we even unplug, to prevent that ghost robber.

Florescent bulbs are used in a few lamps, and three of our five lighted fans, slowly we are moving out of the habit of using the candescent ones. The new ones, florescents are so expensive, but last a lot longer. Now can anyone tell me why the more efficient ones always seem to be more costly?

At the grocery we have the flier in hand for sale items, and scour the shelves for advertised specials, coupons are unfortunately often forgotten.
One shopping visit I was reminding my husband of our frugal decision to only sticking to a menu of sale items, I guess I was a little louder than usual, and an elderly couple was behind us, and what was said next by the wife made me giggle, "Now Honey remember we are sticking to only sale items for this weeks groceries." And she meant it. They followed us closely in the store and that was hysterical, which made the mundane chore fun.

Even though we have not gotten canvas reusable totes for groceries we do put the plastic bags in the recycling bin at the grocery on our return trip. Someday we will get the canvas ones.

We recycle at the curb once a week with our glass, cans, and plastics.
Newspaper is not a problem since we get our news online.
Magazines get donated to health care facilities, same with clothing or older appliances or any unused items we give them to Goodwill, or the Salvation Army, they recycle too.

Being retired we do not need to drive unnecessarily, so we make an effort to plan our routes, using much less gas. Literally gassing up only once a month, using gasbuddy.com, so we don't waste any looking for the best deal. We have not purchased a hybrid, because we own our 2001 car outright (bought it new), which has less than 32k miles on it.

We pay all our bills online, and receive our income as direct deposit both doing away with paper used previously for those things. Junk mail has diminished heartily, everyone is hurting.
Whew I guess we are doing a little to help with the world slowly and for sure we all are more than likely doing our part.

My soap box is formally closed for the evening, good night!

Monday, July 14, 2008

YIKES!!!!

Early morning 6:35 A.M. And I am awake, intuition tells me that something is wrong. So I get up and walk into the living room. Casey our orange long haired Tabby is in the corner of the room standing halfway up the ladder magazine rack looking down at the floor. There's a long skinny tail, no,no,no!
The rat! It's in our home, and we really felt that it was gone! My husband even foam insulated the only hole left in the garage (water heater connection) to our laundry room! But just in case he put a snap trap on the shelf in the cabinet under the hot water heater.

I screamed, the biggest scream I could. One that could raise the dead, but I only needed for my hero, my husband to awake and take care of the problem. And he did awake, but asked foolishly what's wrong?
I calmly say guess.
As I locked myself in the bathroom, but I forget Skipper, hubby reminds me, and I pinpoint the location of our intruder and that he had gone between our easy chairs adjacent to the sofa.
Hubby locked the cat back in the laundry, and opened the front door with the hopes of shoeing the rat out of the front hallway door, and oddly enough it worked!

The one thing that has baffled us both all day is the fact that the shelf where the snap trap was had blood all over the newspaper my husband wisely put under it with a trail of blood that led over the hamper and out the laundry room door, where it stopped. He searched with literally a searchlight to check if perhaps they were two, but no, no other one could be found.

It confused us and still doesn't make any sense since you see the rat had not one bloody mark on him.
And my husband did check him when he went outside near our driveway, which was easy since he seemed to just stop in his tracks, maybe he had internal injuries and bled from his mouth or something. And he sat there next to our driveway for a very long time more than an hour, but then he was gone.
Weird?
It was well after 8:A.M. by now, and most night predators would not logically be around, anybody have any ideas?
I am sincerely happy he is gone, and that we were not responsible for his demise.
I know that sounds strange, but those dirty nasty little critters are living things, and I wouldn't want that hanging over my head, really.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Outing

As I previously mentioned we do have a cultural center that has different programs, clubs, classes, thrift shops,live theater, gym, library, on some weekends a farmer's market, and on other occasions vendor displays. All in one location and just a stone's throw from our home, maybe 3 miles.

This weekend was the annual Christmas in July Bazaar, and we went.
There were more than 70 tables that ran the gambit from arts and crafts to non profit organizations.
We did manage to visit each and everyone of them, and chat, anyway I did with most, but not my husband so much.
I didn't buy anything, but looking is always fun.
Although, I did have the nerve to ask one of the professed knowledgeable jewelery artists about my antique sterling silver bracelet that I had on; it was once my late Mom's. (If she were still alive she would have been 97 this past February 22, but unfortunately she passed away in 1982.)
He recommended having him professional clean it and then he might be able to tell me more. I politely took his business card and thanked him. He had verified that it was sterling, which it said on the latch and that it was an antique, which wasn't hard to tell from just looking at it in spite of needing a good cleaning. Don't get me wrong he was very pleasant, and appeared capable.

The bracelet was actually an amazing find it was in with some of my Mom's costume jewelery in an old tin box that was hers. I would look at those semi-precious specimens in that box, and to me that was what they were, because they were my Mom's. No other real reason, but I could never find the right outfit to wear with any of those pieces.

In reality the bracelet I had not remember seeing ever before this past spring. And that is an odd mystery in my book, since I most likely had it for 26 years!

It is very unusual, and difficult to describe but I will try... it has a beachy shell like embossed design with flat bone shaped multi links attached to the embossed sections. I took it out to wear for the first time when we went to Siesta Key for their yearly sandcastle competition that my cousins were judging. It seemed appropriate for the occasion. (My cousins are retired school teachers, and know how to enjoy their retirement. In the future I will tell you more about them.) That was this past spring, and I did try cleaning it with silver polish and then when that didn't seem to help much I tried Glass Plus, and it worked about the same.

We came home after, I was quite exhausted due to it being my first outing since my sick day, and we walked around for a few hours. Good exercise, right?

Updates: Our Sears MasterCard's came yesterday in a pretty plain white envelope, and we weren't at first sure that it wasn't just junk mail, hard to tell from the outside. (Must be the new way to prevent mail theft?) They have been signed and activated, all is well again.

Rats, no sign of any in traps (live and or snap) and the poison outside had not been eaten for today.
My husband asked if I secretly called in the Pied Piper of Hamlin.LOL
I hope they are really gone!
The only downside to living on the water is that above problem, and we must work on it somehow more now that we have an empty lot next door since the hurricane.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Sick

Ever have a day when you thought it was going to be your last?
Today wasn't it, yet, but pretty close.
Horrible is how I felt over night and a good part of this morning.
My head, ears seemed that they were full of some gawd awful fluid that only filled something distasteful.
My stomach was gurgling and groaning and making every impolite noise imaginable and I thought that our 80 degree home was riding right on top of a glacier in the Arctic!
Yuck is how I was and how I could only be described.
So I took some of that non aspirin reliever, drank chicken soup without any flavor at all, since it was the healthy stuff, ate gelatin dessert, and drank plenty of fluids and Voila I was once again whole, in record time! By noon I was over compensating and making my own homemade soup, and salad.
For a while there I thought my over indulgence of tomatoes finally caught up with me.
I also accomplished finishing the book Sail by James Patterson that we picked up just yesterday and even finished the nearly 400 page fascinating page turner before lunch, and passed it on to my hubby who is devouring it too.
But today was okay to stay in bed till I felt better and to be not dressed for the world I never went out to see anyway. I was sick, ill, under the weather, or whatever you say in your own little world.

But to quote the late, Gilda Radner from SNL fame, "It's much better now". I think she said that, but I could be wrong, been before, and will be again.

Have a great end to your day, and I will too!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Short one

Skipper is our canine son, a Bichon Frise that is four years old.
Today he has his yearly doctor/vet appointment.
Thankfully, as he has gotten older we have not had to go as often.
Loving pets are much like your children far as health issues go.
Until we learn their vibes or body clocks for things, like minor ills we have a tendency to over react, and contact the professionals at the drop of a hat, totally guilty here!
Each one is unique in their own way.
We have always had these four-footed friends living within our homes. Without them it has been way to quiet. Also finned and feathered friends too!
Many have lived to ripe old ages with our care and love.
None of them have ever been treated like anything other than a family member, which I think helps in their longevity.
Unfortunately, serious illness can come to them even with inoculations; no matter how much you love and care for them. And we lost 5 senior pets in a 12 year period.

Back... we went to Pet Smart too, since we had coupon on dog food, and Skipper could go to.
He got all his shots at his doc, and was given a clean bill of health!
What more could an owner/parent hope for.

That's it for now...take care... talk more tomorrow.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Life's plans

Yesterday, I caught up with an old friend that had had surgery, and found out in spite of her extremely serious procedure she is doing well. Her only problem is that she was anxious for her recovery to go faster, and hopes to drive again in September!

She is an amazing person, and often forgets that she has gotten older and that these things, especially these things take a lot longer to happen. After all she is a little bit older than myself, twelve years my senior. But of all people she should know.
This was her 29 th surgery! She has had Rheumatoid Arthritis since her early twenties, and all those surgeries were joint replacements.
This time it was major, major, since her head was falling literally into her shoulders due to her vertebrae giving out having now a combo of Osteoporosis with the Rheumatoid, and being on steroids all these years. They were the only thing available with aspirin, and gold shots when she was diagnosed those many years ago.This particular surgery, which I am not quite sure of or totally understand is that they had to install a pole/bar to her spine from her cervical(neck) region to take the place of eleven of her vertebrae that weren't able to do the job any longer. The dilemma here was that they had to attach it to her skull since nothing else was viable. OUCH!
My friend was also my mentor because she is a volunteer with the Arthritis Foundation for nearly 35 years, which for her part entails setting up programs and self help courses for our entire state. She was my teacher in one of her self help courses about eleven years ago, and that's what got me involved in becoming a volunteer in this particular organization. I did volunteer with other ones since I was twenty. But this was personal, now I was one of them, having been diagnosed with seven types of arthritis, out of the one hundred ones that exist, I was 44 years old.

I did teach Aquacise,and was trained to teach the self help course, became co-president of the local support group, and a board member, and had a few fund raisers to help the cause. Proud to say I was volunteer of the year in 2000.

Sadly, the last few years I have not been so involved; since Hurricane Charley, in 2004 destroyed our home, and then my definite diagnosis with MS, those things threw me, I guess. Thinking about the above friend I should be ashamed that those slight inconveniences should be responsible for my not doing what I did love. I also used the excuse for quitting my writer's group due to the high calorie desserts they serve once a month, and my lack of will power to not eat them.

My husband has also retired in these last two years too, and I do enjoy spending time with him.
At one point I was on seven prescription drugs and a couple caused drowsiness, so I stopped driving out of fear of causing a possible accident. But I do believe my insurance agent was more responsible and caused that concern when she was surprised that I was still driving since I use a cane due to my Ataxia caused by the MS. Ataxia is just a balance issue, not a coordination one. And I never fell over in the car seat! I do drop things, but never ever the car.LOL

And since I have weened myself down to only two medications I do drive occasionally.
Everything is so close here.
Shopping is within a five mile radius, and that includes the mall (movie theaters here),theater(live shows, not movies), cultural center, art galleries, libraries, and groceries.
Our event center is also in that realm of mileage, but is still under construction. All new since the hurricane!

We pretty much have it all here!

Everyone enjoy the day!
And I will too.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Words that come back to bite you

Be careful about what you say (or write, in my case) out loud (or publish to the web)...
My blog from yesterday actually came to be as far as misunderstandings go.
I was concerned about family and friends having access to this blog so I decided to ask one family member and one friend if they were able to get into this blog for reading or commenting purposes.

Our son said that he never received the link although it was sent four times to him. While the friend said that she wasn't interested in reading the blog because it took away human contact. She preferred emails!
I begged to differ with that reasoning I seriously believe that blogs are just as interactive as emails when utilized properly!

Anyway, if I though this was only a one way street I probably would have had second thoughts about starting this.

But I did commit, and in my heart of hearts I did make a promise to myself to write a little something each and every day; so far so good.

In the process of my writings I did try to contact some friends that I had not heard from in literally years with the thought that this would be somewhat of a catch up on my side, and same on theirs promoting an open discussion. (I don't know for sure that I still had the right email addresses.)

Nothing in that realm either.

I'm beginning to sound a lot like a Seinfeld Show with so much talk about nothing, sorry! LOL Or maybe that is a good thing; it was highly successful.

In closing, on this watch, I must admit if nothing else I am back writing again. Something that I was slowing down on doing due to... no good reason at all! I guess you could say a block, but I am not a pro on a deadline with an editor for a book or an article, so that really doesn't fit.
I guess I just needed an outlet to get me fired up about something again, although I could never be considered apathetic.
Perhaps slightly jaded would be more accurate, and fearful, not quite right, I guess cautioned would be a better adjective from expressing myself due to ramifications, which seem to follow me everywhere!
I have often said that I suffer from foot in mouth disease. But I really thought I would think more before I spoke as I got older, but no that hasn't seemed to come into being.
This is a little cocooned here where even if I do get a response to these pearls of wisdom it would be delayed and enable me to have protection and time to think about my response or retaliation.

On that note, I guess I will close for today. Have a good one for yourselves and I will try to have one too!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Talking into the wind?

Hello again world?

Feedback, anyone out there reading any of this?
My reasons for starting this blog are dubious to be sure.
Although, I must admit my actual hopeful intent was to hear back from people I care about. That does mean all of you that I have sent this link to.

So far either no one has read any of it or perhaps they are being too polite to comment. Anyway, us, artistic types (a reach, even for me, LOL) are highly insecure and need approval!
In truth no one enjoys criticism, even constructive. So high praise is what any of us are about! LOL

Pitiful, the world is a mess and my ego is on the line... ha only kidding!
I do understand everyone has their thing going on, and hopefully they would ask for my help if they thought I could be of benefit to them. I am willing to reciprocate, really!

But this venue was chosen for me by me to air my thoughts diplomatically, and that is what I think I have accomplished. :-) That sounds so self centered, sorry!

As you may have already figured out today I had nothing to say day-wise.
My life is utterly mundane, and on occasion could be considered boring.

Perhaps that is why I do enjoy reading and writing, faraway places, ideas, and all that, but isn't that the reason most of us read?

This is not to say that I have not previously had excitement in my life.

By the age of 19 I would have been considered well travelled by most standards.
I had been to 40 states and 8 countries.

I have had some pretty interesting jobs too.
Way back in the early 1990's I was an entertainment manager for a promotion agency, and worked with MTV, NASCAR, and Grudge Match TV show. Not to mention booking bands for hotels, colleges and race car drivers parties. I also was lucky enough to cast an Old Milwaukee beer commercial, also local commercials, and worked on a music video. Exciting!

In partnership with my husband we had three businesses, a wicker store, a restaurant, and an underground sprinkler business, which we were the third largest in the state we resided in at that time!

So now in my golden years if quiet and boring is what I am...OK!

But I do sometimes wish that life were more exciting; in a positive way that is.

Unfortunately, at our ages, life occasionally gets negatively exciting. LOL

On an upbeat note that has not occured for a while now, and that is a very happy thing.

Most of us do eventually have too much sadness and tragedy in our lives if we live long enough... both of my parents passed away while I was still in my thirties. Now that was over 20 years ago, but that was truly a very, very, sad thing.

And in fact I have heard from two people who have read this, one told me to have a happy birthday. The other told me to light candles for all our loved ones who have passed, at least that's what I think they meant, or maybe they just like candles and told me to light them too?

I guess writing can be interpreted in so many different ways we must be careful with what we write.
Even speaking has it's downside and misunderstanding.
Ever think about that?
WOW life can be so complicated, and I guess that is interesting, but dangerous too... does that qualify as fascinating?

So I guess I'm not out of the old provocative non boring lifestyle, I can write and speak, and that can be dangerous and oh so exciting too!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Asking for help

Today I am asking for help with something that has been my desire for over ten years; to be exact, eleven now.

I have had journalism courses, writing seminars, and even belonged to a local writing organization.

As I have mentioned before I do enjoy writing, and have been published in the newspaper having had three times my own by-line items of interest. Once I was even given a photographer to use for the story I was about to write.
I am also published in a few books about writing, and our local storms.

Being one of strong ideas I have also written many opinion pieces that have gone on to become published editorial comments, but I have been told everyone gets to do that!

So here I am asking for some help with editing my five novellas consisting of approximately 900 pages, and from my twisted mind's sight. This is due to the topic being murder mysteries. They are five in the series.
Anyone who is willing to do this for nearly no money, but a share in possibly the publishing royalties would be the person for me to collaborate with.:-)
Thanks to anyone who is willing and able.

New topic... I am proud to say that my exercise program has gotten underway!
Over the weekend I was back in the pool for hours of enjoyment both Saturday and Sunday.

Today is an errand day, so walking indoors is on the agenda, which has passed for exercise by both amateurs and professionals alike.

You too have a great busy day!

Blogger's note: On occasion these writings will pop in and out due to me finding mistakes that I feel are worth trying to remedy, edit.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Politics!

Have you ever felt that you were the only sane one in your family, or extended one?

Forwards and chain letters or mail that needs to be passed on seems to always cause emotional reactions from one of the people you might pass it on to. I have asked people not to send them to me so I wouldn't be possessed to possibly send it on and take the wrath of some individual that I thought might enjoy the read only to find out that I am a radical or crazy or whatever they might come up with!
Funny it's never them in the wrong...only you!
Innocently, you thought, maybe with not much thought, but really just a small feeling that others would enjoy or want to read what was sent to you, and never had you been so wrong!
I have been hostilely told I am an extremist in some political venue when sending on something I thought was very profound or just damn interesting, when in reality I am a registered non partisan party member, so is my husband.
Not that I am A-political , but over the years I have felt that I would vote according to the person, not the party, and in this way it has prevented us from being bombarded by thousands of calls telling us to go out and vote, and to vote for their candidate. (PS we are on the DO NOT CALL LIST). Ha that has not worked for us.
I have always voted since I was of the legal age to do so.
In fact, in college, I wrote my journalism paper on giving the right to eighteen year olds to vote way back in 1969.
Years before it was passed into legislation in 1972.Not that this matters in the bigger picture of things.

I was so upset by the reaction of one of these such returns that I blocked this person from ever writing back to me and now I do feel safer.
But they did scare me.
The attack was so vicious and so hurtful that I must admit I was shaking!

With that said I do feel better, because I did promise my husband I would not retaliate to that person. Somehow I feel slightly vindicated by being able to vent here.

Gee blogs are therapeutic!
Who would have thunk it!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Moving on...

Today I must stop procrastinating and really get to my exercise program. My hip seems to be better, I hope. I really won't know until I try. Listening to our bodies is what we MUST do.

I am fortunate enough to have a mini gym with a treadmill, recumbent bike (birthday present), free weights (2 to 5 lbs. sets), and a swimming pool, no more excuses!
Walking is seriously out of the question due to me not being able to deal with the humidity; a product and true one from having MS.

Due to quitting smoking plus some pituitary issues I have gained quite a bit of weight and have been fighting the battle of the bulge for these last two years. Honestly, previous years when I quit I had a Yo Yo problem, but always lost fairly quickly when I put my mind to it. I quit six times before this longest one for almost 2 years now. Last longest was six months.

Having been a dancer for 12 years, cheerleader, swimmer with life saving plus certified aquacize instructor, and active bicycler(21 mile trips) as a young woman I do have the knowledge of what to do. Not to mention having gone to a professional gym for four years with trainers available to all. I also had been in physical therapy 14 times over the years... so when I say no excuses that is an understatement!

I definitely feel Nike-ish, in my head it is screaming, "Just do it!"
But my body is screaming, are you sure???

Who will win...
I'm the only one that could lose, which laughably is what I want to do!

Help world I do need some motivation.

Reading and sitting has been put on hold in spite of the fact we just picked up 7 books from the library on my b'day!
Counter productive, since sitting causes stiffness, causing pain, causing lack of movement, vicious cycle. I must find balance, sitting, moving, sitting, moving, and on and on.

My biggest problem is once I start reading I want to finish the whole book!
Another human flaw I am working on.
And who amongst us is perfect?

Anyway, these are my plans for today and when I seem to try to incorporate the exercise into my daily program it works the best.
My hip problem slowed me slightly, but I must get back to the real exercise program.

That's all for now, signing off...
Have a great day!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy Fourth!

Today proves to be another reason for us being here... in Florida of course!

This morning the sun is shining as usual in our, at the risk of sounding redundant our, 'Sunshine State'.

Locally, activities offered to celebrate this occasion are tantamount to a truly busy day if one wishes to partake in all the festivities, parades, bands, food, Freedom swim across the harbor, and the Coconut Races, homemade boats, hysterical!
Fireworks will be tonight at sunset over the harbor as always.

Whew exhausted just thinking about all the choices and all conveniently located within less than five miles of our home! Actually, we can see the fireworks from our dock right in our backyard!
Hope all of you have a very Happy Fourth of July and don't forget the real reason we celebrate.

Updates:From Blockbuster:"Thanks for contacting BLOCKBUSTER Online Customer Care.

I understand that you are still waiting for a new payment card. Once a new payment card has been received, please do not forget to update your billing information. There are a couple of ways to make the changes. One option is to update your information online. Simply log in and click on "My Account", and there you will see several sections that will allow you to change your personal information including your credit card, shipping and/or billing address, e-mail address, etc. The other option is to call us at 1-866 Monday through Friday 8:00 AM until 8:00 PM Central Time. and we will gladly make the changes for you.

Once your payment information has been updated, the system will then initiate another billing attempt within three days. Please feel free to contact us again if there is anything else we can do for you."

And they have sent us three new movies since!

Far as our trap working for the critter capture,we are still waiting, but have not heard anymore behind the walls sounds.
Could this mean he/she died behind them or has run from our garage (hopefully)? :-)

Many of the family and friends I have given a direct link to this site I have not heard from and hope this was not a presumptuous idea to give you all access, but you can email me to let me know if you have been here if you so wish.
I would enjoy reading yours if you chose to have one, they are usually free like this one, and work sort of like a diary, depending on how personal you wish to get.

I am trying to be generic, but with small insight and glimpses into the real happenings in mine and my families life.
Thin line between the two, but due to their privacy I will not cross it, and I do respect that.

Everyone have a wonderful safe day!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Day Before Our Country's Birthday, Our 232nd!

Happy Day Before the Fourth of July!

I'm sure most Americans today are getting ready for that celebration in spite of the economy. Logically, we still have to eat.
And the entertainment, fireworks; are usually free!

That is when a community is doing them not you in your own backyard. Please America be careful, more deaths, lost limbs, burns etc. are caused by well meaning parents trying to have fun with their kids only to have these horrendous tragedies occur! My warnings come from me, a wife of a retired fireman and police officer and his horror stories that were relayed to me, and that is why I have mentioned them. Stay safe, but have fun!

Hot dogs and hamburgers the traditional menu are still not all that costly an expense. Although, according to all reports they are 16% higher in price.
Watermelon too is a mainstay for this time of year, and now supposedly an aphrodisiac. /:-) The rind, that is. All those delish salads, Cole slaw, potato, and macaroni! Red, white and blue desserts... strawberries and blueberries on a shortcake with whip cream, and you have a wow!

Anyway, when I was a child I thought the nation was celebrating my birthday, but just a few days late; since mine is on the first.I must admit, I was a very, very young child at the time.

Our youngest son was born the year of our bicentennial, and received a birth certificate that commemorated that!

So this is one of my favorite holidays, summer, eats, and loud beautiful colors in those sky displays!
Watch out for your four footed friends too, those noises seem to give even the most loving creatures the willies.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Celebration

Thinking about life...
And death...
Too many die too young, too soon, but never too old so we say. The older the better.

Although, with recent news accounts of Tim Russert's passing,just two months older than myself, hit and runs, hospital waiting room deaths all this proves to me we should celebrate each day! Not to mention all the other deaths of loved ones, two and four footed, in my past that I still remember.
One never knows, does one?

We should aim to be congratulated by Willard Scott and Smucker's on our 100th!

Yesterday was my birthday, but today I am still alive so that is a good thing!
Getting older has always been my goal in life, no really.
I have quit smoking,on July 11th it will be two years, and I do not drink even wine anymore. Some do feel it is good for you, but every week it changes.
Exercising at least three times a week for a half an hour or more, and eating plenty of vegetables and fruit. We have been told those things helps ward off heart disease and cancer. Just remember to wash those eats well to remove fertilizer and Salmonella!

Just think if we didn't get any older... we would get dead.
So hurray to getting older! And I am on a mission to become as old as I can get!

The only thing that slightly annoys me is at this time of the year is that my husband and I are the same age for the next four months until his birthday when he once again will be a year older than me, TA DA!
But that comment alone is ridiculous because it obliterates my previous one about getting older.
Theoretically I should be competing on the getting older part, and wish that it was me not him that had another birthday coming up.
But in reality my wish for him is for he too to get as old as possible!

We should live each day like it is our first on this planet with the open mindedness and the sight of a new born babe, curiosity should never end, finding good in all things, people included; should be part of our nature. Saying to live each day like it is your last seems to me to live with abandonment of concern for others. I prefer to try and think of others, and forgive ourselves as well as them. Life is too short for otherwise.
In other words see the glass half full not half empty. LOL. What an old cliche, sorry!
Now that I'm older she/me thinks I am wiser...NOT!
A work in progress is what I am like all of us, oops another stupid cliche.

PS Lunch yesterday was only fair, not that great! But we did go to Baskin Robbins for a real treat after of delish ice-cream cones, mine was Jamococa Almond, and my hubbies was Cherry Vanilla, and that was sooooooooo good! It was months since we had done that.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

OOOOOOOOOOOOOps You IDIOT!!!!

Good morning!

And a weird happy birthday to me.
I basically started this momentous day fairly normally until I read my emails...
One was from my cousin who just so happens to share this birthday with me, wishing me a happy birthday; hers is the same day and same year would you believe?
Anyway, the next was my usual horoscope, and the last one was from Blockbuster telling me that my Sears MasterCard expires this month.
I have been with Sears since 1976, and they have always sent me one before it had expired!
I of course ran to get my wallet out of my pocketbook, and sure enough 7/08 that expiration date loomed up at me.
Quickly I wrote to MasterCard online, at their site that I did not have my new one and where is it? Blockbuster did not have it for billing our movies at home account.

My husband wakes up, and I tell him my dilemma.
He tells me his is good till 7/12, how can this be?
It's my original account, under my name that is; I should also be good till then!
He then says since the old one was still good when these arrived you put the new one somewhere else?
Damn!
He was right, and not that far either just in the back of my very same wallet.
All was well, and I could notify Blockbuster of my simplistic faux pas, and correct my mistake, and everything would be A-OK, right?
Wrong.

Next email came in from Sears MasterCard: "Thank you for reporting that your credit card was Lost, Stolen or never received. We have closed your account to prevent any further use. If the missing card is found or returned to you, please destroy it. There is no need to contact us. We have assigned a new account number, and your new card(s) should arrive within 10 business days. Balance Transfer checks and convenience checks will transfer accordingly.
If you have merchants that automatically bill your account, be sure to notify them of your new number.
Thank you for using our website." And yes, I do know this was done for my safety, but so fast? But what is my NEW NUMBER????

I didn't believe what they said, and foolishly tried to correct my mistake by going back to their website.
And I really did try to go back to their site and fix this mess, but the dye was cast, so to speak, and there was no turning back.
They wouldn't even let me enter their site!
But left me a 1-800 # to call, and so I did.
And was told by a human voice that it was too late, and that they would be sending me new cards and new numbers.
I asked about what to do about Blockbuster and they said they didn't know since they cannot get involved with a third party billing.
Now Blockbuster will probably discontinue our program because they have no billing info they can use!
Damn!

I could always try contacting them again, and tell them what has transpired, and ask them to be patient and wait for the info.. but would they?
Who knows.

And it is so ironic to me that this has happened, and that the human at the credit card company tried so carefully to explain it all to me, in terms a simpleton should understand... and I really did have to laugh since I did inform him that I was a retired credit manager from way back. LOL

Today will not be lost totally, silly to harp on things which we have not much control over is my motto.
My husband has promised to take me out to a new place for lunch, not new itself, but new to us, since we have not been there before.
It's always busy, means it is good, right? This should be fun!

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go?

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go? :   My eyesight is going again... in case you missed it... Netanyahu snaps back against growing...