Sunday, May 31, 2009

Snakes, nets, hubby ...oh my!

Does anyone here remember me telling you about the time that an incredible Great Blue Heron, stole, out of our pond, two of our beautiful goldfish that had been nurtured to grow to be over a foot in length at four years of age?

Well, that is when we had decided to use the netting we had purchased previously to protect our aqua babies from natural predators, because up until then, this spring, they fortunately, had not noticed them. We had lost the mighty oak, in Hurricane Charley that had been quite protective and shielding, and then we had tried our decorative canopies, but the windy summers proved them not to be a very long survivor of nature’s wrath, and so we decided to try the netting over the pond, which was a suggestion of many.

It proved to do the job for keeping the large predatory birds out but the smaller ones would get caught in it, but fortunately we were able to untangle them before they would come to any real harm. But today my husband noticed our elusive black rat snake had gotten entangled and was getting more so as we watched in horror, and so my hubby took his knife and went outside to cut him out of the netting, and then utilized garden scissors as he got closer to him to complete his brave mission of releasing the harmless, but beneficial creature from its entrapment! We both decided that we would have to find another way to protect our water babies, and so, I remembering that one of my PBS shows mentioned that another heron on sight would be a preventative measure, since most herons are territorial. We did not have any herons that fit the bill, so to speak, what we did was improvise, pretty close in the same family, with our long ago put away, classic, but tacky, plastic Flamingoes. Now they are standing sentry duty over our water feature in front of the only large opening left surrounding the pond. We have been allowing the flora to overgrow somewhat to create a natural shield, but the main side, opened to our view had been left unprotected, but now it is in duplicate!
We do have five more if need be, we used to have a full set of eight, but when we had a couple out in our front garden, would you believe either someone stole it or it blew away metal legs and all, it more than likely was stolen.
You know, they aren’t made anymore, and some consider them collector items, but we didn’t after that, and they mostly have been stored in our shed since that sad day.

On that ridiculous note…I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

PS WORLD: I think that Barack and Michelle that you two rock! Date night is great! Who else can afford to support Broadway if not our main man and his 1st lady in-charge? We need the ones who can eat out and go to shows, movies, theater etc. to keep the others working! Just because some of us have to be cautious with our money, why shouldn’t those others who do still have disposable income use it where it can do some good, why shouldn’t they stimulate the economy? Get real people!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

400 Posts! What another milestone!

Yes, tonight is my 400th post of this Blog, amazing, and they said it couldn't be done, or was that, it shouldn't be? Any-who, I did do it in spite of public opinion and that, proves only one thing…that I am insolent!
Not that anyone actually cares but that has got to be over eight hundred pages with my prolific inscriptive ability to shoot the bull as good as the rest of you, TA DA!

Moving right along…last night I got a chance to try out that glucose meter that we picked up, and two and half hours after dinner I took it, and the reading was 143, and so I got slightly concerned, but that still doesn’t classify me as a diabetic, does it? To be sure I thought I would give it a full night’s fasting and take it again without any food, and this morning it was down to 114. Now I think I will wait a week until I try it again; sticking your fingers hurts! I am not on insulin, and I think since I am writing it all down in the log they give you with the meter I will take it with me for my next doctor’s appointment before I worry too much.

This evening I heard from my cousin, the retired teacher/heart attack survivor, and he said he is very tired and not so good yet. But he has never been this sick, and it was a trauma to his body, I said that to him and reminded him he is a survivor! Besides he was on his way out to dinner, and so he has been doing things he admitted, which is just great I think! He had a stress test yesterday that he apparently passed, he said they let him go home so it must have been just fine; he will get the actual test results Monday, he said.

My hubby did a much unexpected nice addition to our new veggie garden, he made an incredible arbor from left over wood from behind our shed, some fence and lattice pieces, and it looks just magnificent as the entrée to the new raised bed garden also made from recycled wooden fence pieces! It is not small either; it is 9 feet in length, 16” in depth, and over seven feet tall, and he painted it with the leftover white primer and paint from the fence, and now I have my cottage look garden!

On that pleasant note I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Most states have lotteries, don't they?

I was thinking...and you all know what happens when I do that.
Any-who, is it not true that in times of difficulties people have a tendency to do or utilize their latent vices more often. I’m just saying that a smoker would smoke more a drinker would drink more and so it would follow that a gambler would gambler more/? So does it not follow; so one would think?

Lottery Revenue Historical Distribution Percentages are: 50% prizes, 39% education, 5.5% retailers, 2.1% tickets, 1.8% operations, and finally 1.6% for advertising.

And that is why I want to know where all that lottery money goes. Here in Florida the pie is cut this way, 42% goes to the public schools, 25% student financial aid, 14% to classrooms first construction, 11% to division universities, and finally 8% to community colleges; at least, this is what was the case in 2005, the newest info I was able to ascertain of appropriations by segment.
And the total since its inception is over 8B in that eighteen year period, so I guess we could have spent that much.
For more info on this topic you can go to: http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/Finman/FINANCIALDIVISIONS/Budget/PDF/LotteryBrochureFY05.pdf

It is funny how with the recent turn of events, with the economy the way it is on the news every night about 15B here and 65B there and all those billions of dollars in bailouts, a billion doesn’t seem like that much money anymore, kidding, to a billionaire!

My point is that with the depression that we are in the Power Ball and Lottery tickets are selling like hot cakes, so then why are the schools having to cut back on programs and hiring etc.? That money should be rolling in their direction, shouldn’t it? I would think so, unless… somethings aren't so kosher in lottery-land? It’s only a thought, a bad one, but a thought.

This gambling problem I understand is not lethal like smoking or drinking too much, but some don’t pay their bills since they think they will win the BIG ONE, and must buy a bunch of winners, tickets that is. Sadly, their optimism is short lived until after the drawing, and they have so many, drawings that is… it used to be once a week, but now isn’t it a few times a week, not counting those scratch off and instant tickets. It seems the worse things get for some the more that they are willing to try to win something for their last buck, so to speak. And of course there is that one in a million, guy or gal that did win with their last buck announced on the evening news, giving credence to the game and causing more to take that chance, that one in a million to win and a chance to be that person on the news story tonight or next week. Who knows, maybe me being so jaded and cautious with my meager means I might be in the wrong, not taking that chance for everlasting financial freedom, one never really does know, does one?

On that non-committal voicing of my opinion; I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessing and I will too!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Medical office visit proves a good choice for peace of mind

This morning we went to the Health Department and the nurse practitioner saw me in the office there. And she did a short-cut test to determine whether or not I would need a more elaborate test for diabetes. My finger was pricked with the pin and the blood extracted was placed in the testing machine (just like in the hospital), and I had a non-fasting result of 99, which is still in the normal range. But due to my family history and it being still slightly high it was suggested that I pick up one of those testing meters just to keep track of any higher deviations. The actual meter was fairly reasonable at $14.95, at the generic price, but the additional testing strips were $30.00, a bit high we thought but cheaper than a glucose tolerance test. This is a non invasive way to keep track of an insidious lethal disease possibility. So there you have it.

After the appointment we went to my discount hair cutters with my coupon to take care of my eyes disappearing from a diagnosis of too much hair on the far head, we (the hair stylist and I) conferred and then concluded that my hair color fix-up could wait until next month. So from there we went for a quickie lunch of soup and sandwich for me and my hubby had a sandwich with all the fixings, next stop was onto the grocery where our pharmacy is too, and picked up the meter and my prescription as well as our dinner selection, London Broil on sale $2.27 a pound, dinner was $3.04!

Exhausting for me since it was my first outing in over a week, and so the rest of the afternoon I chilled. And have been feeling icky now.

Now the news is saying that people with fixed rate mortgages are losing their homes, due to job losses and no ability to sell, and so they are living off their savings and credit cards! How awful!

GM will be trying to get out of bankruptcy sooner rather than later.
The stock market was up over 100 points!
Ripple effects are saving over 100K jobs!

Everyday we have some good and some bad to deal with, and so we must to go on.

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

I am going to vent my anger at the mistakes that our local media consistently makes

Do you ever think that if you saw something off in the way someone was doing their job that you could have done it better? Not now but at one time I used to know that was the case; when I was younger and quicker. But I still do get aggravated when our local news anchors don’t know which county an incident they just reported on a few moments before is, or the lack of ability to pronounce cities, dignitaries’ names or countries’ leaders, or even the names of countries.

It somehow just doesn’t seem right, you know what I mean? They are not volunteers they are paid professionals. Some appear to not be able to read their monitors either; I feel annoyed by that, am I so wrong to feel that way? But you argue the news is live and it goes with the territory. OK, that is true with breaking news stories, but not the prepared before you go on the air ones, which is what most of these localies (a word I created) are spewing out to their public, us and I am insulted by their lack of preparedness and professionalism at times.

But night after night localies, who should know better at least their local area names of the cities and counties involved in their stories, should be paying a dollar in a jar for each and every stupid minute detail they goof up on!

That’s the ticket, maybe then they would be more careful. What do they think, we as consumers of their media product do not notice?
And I even have an idea of what they should do with that money they collect, guess?
Take some off hour’s courses on geography, pronunciation, and diction, reading off TV monitors, and world leaders’ names: where they are and how to say their names. Huh? Sound like a sound idea?

Vent night and I got another one that might make me hated by some. I have been, as many others have been too inundated on the news with the horror of the unfortunate death of a police officer in the line of duty a year ago. He had been on the force a year, and tried to break up a domestic dispute and got in the middle without back-up, he made a mistake and got himself killed. His murderer was caught and killed shortly after. His widow and three young children have been treated very well, as they should have been by his brothers/sisters in arms. They raised over 100k for the under thirty family, I think they paid off her mortgage too and since have named a street after him and today put a plaque down where the murderous incident occurred. All well and good you say, and rightfully so; but what about all the others? The ones who served decades and did their job according to the rules and still were shot or killed by other means, where are their streets named for them, and plaques where they reached their untimely demises? Or the ones who served and protected for those decades and didn’t pass on yet or did quietly from a major illness? Not to take anything away from this young family, now with only three fatherless children and a Mother under thirty with her whole life ahead of her.
I guess I just wonder about the rest…Somehow it seems not so fair to the others, if you know what I mean.

On that thoughtful note I will say good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Son confirms visit and information that concerned me was slightly unnerving and some more things

Our eldest son has confirmed his desire to spend some time with us next week. And that was very nice; after all we are not quite as exciting as we used to be! This will be a couple of days after his 37th birthday that he will actually be spending with his girlfriend at Disney World on this up-coming weekend, but she works during the week and he is taking a few vacation days. Otherwise it would be nice to have met her. She is a couple of years older than him and a psychologist that works in human resources for a major grocery chain. Any-who, they have been dating only for a few months, maybe some day we shall meet her, who knows.

I had a nagging desire to know why I had a diabetic reaction to the IV Solu-Medrol that I was given in the hospital, and so I searched the internet. (You see diabetes is fairly prevalent in my family, paternal grandmother and a first cousin on that side too, my maternal aunt and her son, my cousin were all diabetics.)
And basically I came up empty, not too much about that, except that if you are a diabetic you should be monitored closely while on the therapy.
One of those open forums for discussions said that the steroids could cause diabetes, which to me sounded a little far fetched, and so I felt that asking a professional was not out of line.
And since I was calling the neuro’s office about the Baclofen uses for numbies, and I had an RN calling me back I figured might as well get the real low down on the info.
It turns out that it is possible to be a pre-diabetic with that type of reaction while on the IV therapy, and she agreed it may be wise to get checked, and so I will be on Thursday I made and appointment at the Health Department Office and hopefully they will send me for testing.

Bills for our little hospital get-a-ways have continued to come in today; this time for my hubby’s journey into the medical realm. We are taking each bill one at a time and requesting payment budgets that should work for the pay downs. And waiting on some more small miracles of absorption like with mine for not having insurance, but even with that we have received a few thousand dollars in bills, so we are still paying some of it all. In reality we did not expect a totally free ride. It’s just like receiving heavy discounts.

I suppose our 2001 auto will now have to hold up until 2014?
That’s what I am trying to rationalize in my mind that our payments are as if we were paying off a vehicle, but no interest charges so far.

It is just wonderful that a baby-boomer Latina woman has been named by our president to be a judge of the highest court in the nation, the Supreme Court, congratulations, Sonia Sotomayor. I am hopeful that she will be confirmed swiftly. Her acceptance speech was quite eloquent and poignant.

On that pleasant and refreshing note I will bid you all good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Hair that doesn't do what you want it to and numbies to beat the band

This evening’s topic is something I do think that many women can relate to, hair coloring. You see, I have been a natural blonde since the age of fifteen on and off for all these years, (LOL). And I wonder if anyone else out there has had this problem after coloring your hair for several years, whether to cover the gray or just those unsightly dark roots, did you know it somehow eventually stops working?

Now years ago this happened and I was told that is because your hair can only absorb so much color and then it no longer can at some point, a call to Clairol at that time confirmed this anomaly. The only cure for this unique situation is to commit to a reverse frosting, which allows your hair to recover from this over absorbency. For those of you novices who do not know what reverse frosting is, well, it is matching your dark roots with streaking of the same color as those roots and leaving just enough of the natural blonde to have you look like your hair had been frosted, but since you are adding darker color instead of lighter color that is why it is called reversed frosting, got it?

Being a frugal gal with a tight budget and no longer a member of the working group of people, I have been doing my own hair for many years. To be honest, though in the recent months it has become quite difficult with my limited ability to move my shoulders in that position, but even when you are not well looking good is supposed to make you feel good, and so every, four to six weeks I have been trying to make myself look presentable.

But now I will have to bite the bullet and spend the bigger bucks to have a professional take a hand at it for a one time only, hopefully a deal (I have a coupon), you see when you have the reversal done the trick is to let you natural hair color grow out to regain the health of your hair so if you so desire at a later date to torture it again with natural blonde then it will be willing to co-operate and fall in line. This may take me on a wild interesting journey since my ‘natural color’ has not been seen in so many years I can’t remember when that was. My hair color could be brown, tawny red, blonde, or gray; who knows, it should be an interesting ride into that arena. Any-who wish me, luck!

Now to the numbies that usually attack when I stand too long, a half hour is too long for me, well, now they are hitting and bilaterally while sitting too. I can’t be exacerbating again this is way too soon! I did take my Baclofen, which I have been avoiding taking at all, didn’t want to depend on it, and it can create you to become symptomatic if taken too frequently so the labeling says. And so I have not taken it in more than a week. My directions say I can take it as often as three times a day. I know it is for spasms and my MS hugs, but I’m not sure if it helps the numbies. I will have to check with the doctor’s office on that or maybe the pharmacist.

Sorry this was all about me tonight, but sometimes I must stick to my self imposed title, ‘A day in the life’.

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Atlantis arrived home safely

Our shuttle had to land at Edwards Air force Base, again, do to rain here, not actually here but up at Kennedy Space Center way northeast of here, with a price tag of 1.8M for the return to here trip, each and every time that happens. But the mission was a total success having repaired Hubble, the space telescope, and sending her back out to do her job for maybe ten more years. Did you know that you can follow all of NASA’s Missions on this site: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/

As the price of gas sneaks up slowly again I thought I ought to give you something that may be helpful to get the best bang for your buck gas-wise: http://gasbuddy.com/
All you have to do when you get to the site is put your zip code in and there you go the local prices for your area! It works in Canada too. There are other sites out there, and I am sure they too are just as good; try and use them for your own savings.

With all this rain around you can only imagine how our grass has grown, and yes today it has received its second cut of the season. Although, oddly enough today we again had no rain, but noise today that was threatening.

We put our flag out today to commemorate the holiday Memorial Day, which is actually tomorrow, but it is Kosher to put it out for two of the days according to flag law, and so it will be out again tomorrow for the actual day of the occasion.
Shall I go into why we celebrate Memorial Day tonight?
OK, I will it is the eve of the holiday.
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. It’s as simple as that.
For a more elaborate explanation you can go to: http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

It’s times like these that I often wonder if our children are being made aware of why they have the day off from school, do parents explain what each holiday comprises of for their child’s awareness or knowledge or perhaps the schools do take care of all that?
I always found it appealing as a child to read the encyclopedia on topics that interested me, which intern would lead me onto other topics from one page to another; now I do it online. Do children today, I wonder still have that type of curiosity of things about the world around them? That would be refreshing to know. I don’t mean politics or sex, but animals, wildlife, holidays, science and the like? I sure hope so.
These days I think of myself sort of like an adolescent, a tween, since our sons are grown adults and we are not yet grandparents; we are out of the grand/parenting loop.
The news at times is so upsetting discussing this generation of offspring, so that is why I do question how things really are.
As a land we have proved our resilience over and over again, so I can only hope that our children’s future is the same.

On that positive note I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

The raised bed gardens are built and ready for planting

Today was an odd sort of day. Yes, we were threatened by rain most of today but none actually fell. So my hubby was able to complete the raised beds for our new additional veggie gardens, with the second one being 2.5’x 20’, allowing us nearly 100 square feet of planting room. Are we now considered farmers? Kidding, of course not; the crops aren’t even in yet. (LOL)

I know most people have been hearing how deluged with rain this state of Florida has been and in some areas even with flooding, but not here. The middle and northern parts of our state have had the flooding and nearly thirty inches of rain; I guess their drought is finally over. They had to declare a state of emergency. Hope their cleanup goes swiftly. Here, nearly 6 hours from there, we have had many days of light to on occasion heavier rain, but no flooding what-so-ever, thankfully! So when we heard all the noise and the skies even darkened we thought for sure today would be another wet one, but it was not to be.
A week from Monday is when our rainy/hurricane season begins, the night Conan takes over for Jay, you know on the Tonight Show, that’s June first.

At one point my husband fooled me by putting the outside thermometer in the sun; it’s the kind where we also have an interior one that gives us those readings, as well as humidity, etc. Well, it read, in the sun, 107 degrees Fahrenheit, would you believe?
My darling was trying to show me his martyr-ism by working out in that ungodly temperature. He has this weird ability to cope so well with the heat, much more than I anyway! (But MS does not allow extremes of either temp to feel comfortable.) Anyway, in the shade it was considerably lower, the temperature, in the low nineties but oddly enough the humidity was only 40%, a dry heat like they say in Arizona.

It was sleeping weather. And so I did nap.
But I also created today.
I saw a commercial for a spa, and it had a sign that said one word on the wall of the massage room, ‘RELAX’, and that sounded perfect for a sign in our guest room, and so I decided I would make one and I did.
My hubby had some piece of the cedar fence cut offs left so I request a 4”X10” piece that he would rough up for me to give it a weathered appearance. I had inch and half wooden letters left from my previous arts and crafts projects, and as long as I still had enough to spell out the word, relax, I was in business! And I did. I also have many acrylic paints in my crafty area out in a drawer in the garage. So I made a pale blue for the letters and painted the rough hewed wooden plaque in a gray to make it look like a piece of drift wood and high lighted it with white for a more realistic appeal, wood glued the letters on and it came out just as I had hoped and I imagined it to be!

Yesterday, I had called the library to get my name on a waiting list for one of my favorite author’s newest book that is out, and I also asked if they take magazines. They don’t but the adjacent used bookstore does and all profits go back to the library, and so I packed up my older magazines and they are now in the car to go there the next time we are going in that direction. It felt good to unclutter my magazine ladder rack.

On that noteworthy note, hah, I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings I will too!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Things are getting better here so we are told

According to the media, et all our unemployment rate has gone down .2 tenths of a per cent, wow, and this is because building has been picking up! For the national numbers on this issue you can go to: http://www.bls.gov/web/lauhsthl.htm

People have gone to Washington D.C. to give testimony in senate hearings to the devastation that they have had to contend with, with having Chinese drywall installed in their mostly new, but some rebuilt hurricane damaged homes. Their homes are unlivable with destruction of pipes and electrical, and an odor that smells like rotten eggs, sulfur. Builders on the whole are not all taking responsibility or either are the drywall companies; the value of their homes has gone down from several hundreds of thousands to nothing. Physically ill affects have also been felt from breathing problems, headaches, to bloody noses and some are much worse.

Major crimes have gone down, which is the good news in our tri-county area, but in our particular area the bad news seems to be that burglaries have gone up. The sign of the times, I guess, out of desperation. Not to sound paranoid but our gates do have padlocks on them, and my front door always has the deadbolt in place, even when inside or in the backyard. Our only problem to keeping our fortress safe is that we are open to a waterfront attack being on a saltwater canal. Sadly, many homes have been compromised from that route. With the cost of everything, locking up costly things off our property and a light on our dock seems like the only deterrent we can afford; hopefully the criminals are very paranoid too.

It does seem rather hard to imagine those days, in my childhood where no one ever locked their doors. Neighbors would enter your home shouting out hellos. We welcomed the world. No fear at opening your front door ever.
Door to door salesmen were the order of the day in the 1950’s. Mailmen, milkmen left their wares within reach of your front or back door and anyone else that would possibly want or need your things, but the unspoken understanding then was that it was yours and no one would touch any of it without permission.

Has the world lost its morality?
Today on a TV show they did a segment about young girls, as young as eleven giving away sex for homework or even like prostitutes for monetary gain, and these are not sexually abused children or single parented home children most were from parents that were considered professionals, doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc., horrifying! They also stated that they considered oral sex not sex. So many today have no idea the difference of right from wrong with honesty, cheating and lying seemingly to be the way of the generation of so-called suburban families and their offspring. Maybe what’s on the news has had its affect seeing so many getting away with horrible things. I wish I knew really what’s going on?
If I only had the answers for this problem, but all I can do is hope that the parents and children will somehow solve it together.

This nosey body is done for tonight.

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Updates on H1N1 and Gitmo debate continues and a little from the homefront ours

I was wondering why we hadn't had a constant update locally of the H1N1 Flu Virus or notorious Swine Flu, here in Florida and so I Googled the source of what the national status was on this unwelcomed interloper: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm
You can go there too by using the above site.
It narrows down to this; we have had 5,764 cases in the 48 contiguous states, 122 that are here in Florida and 9 deaths nationwide. So this has been continuing with not as much fanfare or media blowing it out of proportion. I suppose it is a difficult call when something this serious is out there in the general population, but caution is the correct way to handle anything that has lethal potential.


This back and forth on the issue of detainees will continue on until resolution. The fact that the vote of 90 to 5 against the closure for now is why we all must know specifically how they will be handling these people accused of terrorism. Many are concerned that our safety will be jeopardized if Guantanamo is closed. President Obama is trying with all his abilities to resolve everyone’s concerns over this, while X-vice president Cheney is trying to create fears in Americans with wild accusations of what the closing will do.
The Miami Herald, running a McClatchy News Service story, writes that President Obama will address the Gitmo issue today in a speech that "will lay out a defense of his national security policies and assure Americans he won't let terrorists loose in the U.S. as he looks to ease fears about closing the detainee facility." That was written this morning before his actual speech.
The below reports adds fuel to Cheney’s fire:
The New York Times reports that "an unreleased Pentagon report concludes that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity."

In my opinion, I personally think that all the remaining 240 in detention should be tried for their war crimes (all terroristic actions are acts of war, I do believe) and sentenced accordingly. As our Commander-in-chief has stated if they are found guilty we have excellent facilities to incarcerate them and make sure they never ever see the light of day.

Kudos to NYC for stopping that terrorist action so smartly today by fooling those fools with fake bombs. Terrific job FBI, Chief of Police, and the mayor himself!

My hubby worked feverously today to beat the raindrops and finish one of the raised beds including the edging, the center one approximately 4’X12’. All that is left is the other section along the fence itself, and then to spice up the turned over soil with compost and nutrients before planting can begin.

Now I will bid you all a good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Credit card bill will be passed but with a caveat for those who pay on time...

Guantanamo Bay will not be closed, but I am not so clear on the why and our President Obama so wanted that to happen. (Personally, I was not sure about it. I did think maybe those criminal types should have had some type of trials by now, and then on finding them innocent then we should have released them all if they were. That would have helped me decide better.)

The credit card bill will be passed by Friday but this too has glitches attached to it. According to the news now we are being told that because of the major loss of monies made by the credit card companies having to come clean with their reasoning for upping their interest rates, nonstop it seemed at times, and now they will have to stop the practice; they will be going back to the practice of charging yearly service charges and could also be charging people who pay on time immediate interest charges, huh?
File this under: Give a little take a lot.

Weather here has not changed still, yes that does mean we are in a rain slump for this season, our rainy season has begun early. Hope this means it will end earlier too.
I must admit that all the plants and lawns starving for water are looking up, literally, and I do mean literally, green and lush vegetation all over the place!

As you can well imagine with all this rain we would have quite a crop of veggies growing by now, but that is just it, it hasn’t stopped long enough for the beds to be made, vegetable beds that is. It takes time to turn over the area, build the forms of edging, and then adding the proper elements, compost etc. and of course the planting itself. And with the power of these storms I wonder if not that our seeds would all have washed away? Well, soon it will have to give my hubby a break long enough.

I found out something today, oh you want me to share with you all? I found out that you don’t have to eat ice-cream to get an ice-cream headache only something cold enough to do the same thing; now how about that? My ice cold water has been causing mine, I really wish though it was the ice-cream, which I haven’t had the pleasure of for quite some time.
It’s my weakness, and at times had been responsible for many, many unwanted pounds of nasty fat on me, oh well.

On that memory of better food times I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

I am at a loss for words...

Oops I did it again! I just nearly published only my tonight’s title. And that is ironic since the title for tonight is, “I am at loss for words!”
Yes, even I find at times that talking for the main reason only for talking or in this case writings sake is at times difficult.
I know you are all astonished with this revelation.
Actually, what I would like to talk about is that I think that our small county of Charlotte Florida may have just gotten their first tourist catcher place, it’s called Muscle Car City: http://www.musclecarcity.net/museum.html . It is located in what I fondly call River City, but actually Punta Gorda, in an old Wal-Mart store. I found out about this purely by chance while reading our local paper’s editorials; it seems that a friend of mine, an editor, had voiced her opinion about the place and its accoutrements. In fact she wrote an article in a local magazine about it. It seems that it is one of the few local places that really do serve breakfast all day long, and my friend had told another friend (who works nights and sleeps in) of hers of this fact. You see besides being an auto museum with muscle, classic and antique cars it also has a fairly well supplied diner. Sounds like a good days worth of fun for any family; all information is located on their site above.

Next, I watched Oprah today and she had heroes who help people in rough time’s show, which was another tear jerker. But also quite informative, and I recommend anyone who thinks they would like to help others financially or with time to spare or could use some help themselves in these tough times to go there: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090416-tows-heroes-help-donate
The one below I had a special friend who could used that one so I emailed them with it:
https://foreclosureangelfoundation.com/

I do know that networking and access is so important in any hard time in life.
Huh, I guess I did have something to say, although a bit brief, but action packed with information we can all use!

So I will bid you good night to all, and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Monday, May 18, 2009

The market goes up and the rain comes down and down and down...

Good for the stock market it seems to have leveled off, and calm down somewhat. What I mean is every time it seems to lose some ground it picks it back up within a few days, and hangs out around the same numbers give or take a few hundred, is that something good or not?

Our weather here in the sunshine state reminds me of the saying watch out for what you wish for...we had all wished for rain, since we had been in a severe drought with forest fires continuing to cause horrors for many, and now that the spicket has been turned on, I want to know who has the off switch? Although, believe it or not the weather guy just said we are still four inches short of what we should have by now, huh? It hasn't stopped for days, and now they are saying we have a tropical wave in the Caribbean! That usually is what they say before we get a tropical storm that turns into a hurricane…wait a minute it isn’t June first yet! You see that is when our hurricane season begins, like clockwork every year. I have always wondered how the weather knew that, and it stops by November 30th; really smart weather. He is so cavalier with his predictions our local man, whose in the know, for weather wise, that is, and he says that, the ‘low’ in the southern Gulf that right now who knows what will happen; we will just have to keep an eye on that! You betcha I will and on you too! These weather folks down here are our lifelines to our recent years of disasters, some could even be considered heroes. When I ended up in my hallway that time because of the last minute turned that Hurricane Charley decided to take back on August 13. 2004; it was all because I was watching the weather news guy who told me, when I was all alone at that time with just the pets, my hubby came home a while later at 5 P.M. if I recall, and he came in the hallway with me just before our mighty oak (30’) tree fell across our front lawn blocking our front door and just missing his deputy vehicle by inches. He, my hubby was also there to keep our home from imploding since our neighbor’s roof took out our guest-room window causing the hallway doors I had closed around us to jiggle like in the movie, Poltergeist. He had the smarts to tie the dog’s leash to the door knobs to keep them closed. Our puppy, now five has not enjoyed storms ever since. He doesn’t go berserk like some dogs but he does get rather clingy towards me. The poor thing was just five and half months old when we had the first of those hurricanes, traumatic for most humans and pets that have intellect too.
Ah, weather, can’t live without it, whether or not we like it when we get it.
Earthquakes, tornadoes, snow storms, mudslides, floods we all live with some type of weather that can threaten what we hold near and dear, and there is not a corner of the world where you can escape it so we all must be aware, hunker down at times, and listen to the authorities. If this is a sampling of what we may be in for it looks like we may be in for a rocky ride! But lives are more important than any things remember that the next time you are asked to evacuate, just do it! I will too.

Good night to all and to all count those blessings (they are portable) and I will too!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Good flicks and gastronomic comfort foods with rough weather to make it interesting

This weekend we watched two of our rental movies, the Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons and Frost/Nixon. The Benjamin Buttons one I had been looking forward to, but my hubby not so much, since he had no idea what to expect.
Surprisingly, he enjoyed the nearly three hour flick to the point that he felt it should have won best picture award over Slumdog Millionaire that we had also seen. Frost/Nixon was a mixed review, in my opinion it was better than I first had thought it would be, and hubby this time was noncommittal.

Have you ever tried to make meal time more interesting? Well, last night I made a chicken/spinach/cheese frittata that was a welcomed change and eaten by my guy with several extra helpings. Tonight for some reason we went all soft and cuddly with comfort food or what some might call bad for you food, deli style hot dogs with the works, homemade Cole slaw and French fries, mmm. You have got to keep meal time interesting; and not the usual Sunday fair, but yummy just the same. And this is some thing we may have only once in a while, believe me!

The exciting part of preparing meals with a thunderstorm surrounding you is that you never know when the electricity could go out, and since our kitchen is all electric it was a race to the finish that we won. We did have a few flickers and false stops that immediately went back on but it was chancy to the end.

We do have a great gas grill outside, but the storm was fierce and even though the grill is somewhat protected it was lightening out there!

I put my walker away in my closet today since it was in the way more than not, as I said I hold onto furniture and walls in the house so if I go outside then I will use it.
I move rather slowly from chair to chair or counter, and so it was a hazard with a small dog and cat in the house and it all being rather a compact space, it looks neater now too. And when it’s not around I pretend all is well, and maybe wishing will make it so?

More bills are coming in from my weekend getaway (hospital stay), and so I am glad that the one major one from the hospital is gone, but so many more must be dealt with, and all I can do is ask to make small bite size digestible payments.

Life goes on so they say, and worries never leave one without our facing them, and so I always do head-on.

On that note I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

A filly Wins the 134 th Preakness...the first time in over 80 years

Now there might be a slight conflict here whether or not the horse or the jockey were actually responsible for the win or if it was a team effort, you see the jockey was Calvin Borel onboard Rachel Alexandra the filly who won, the first filly to win in over eighty years, and he is the same jockey who won the Kentucky Derby on the winner, Mine That Bird, which he chose not to ride in this race. Amazing again!

As I write tonight we are getting some sloppy rainy, much needed rainy weather here.
So why should I complain, well, we seem to get the occasional electrical outage when we get these uppity thunderstorms. But of course we need this rain bad, and slowly things are greening up here, very slowly. Since we don’t know if we may have an outage I will have to hurry with my writing tonight.

The veggie garden is going through a whole bunch of transformations; its actual appearance is still in flux. My hubby is not happy with his first configurations and he is trying hard to get as much as possible out of the side-yard real-estate portion of our property that it will be on. We have many packets of seeds and need quite a bit of room, and these seeds were purchased long before our hospital stays so that is why the delay in planting. Although, gardening is considered a very healthful practice it is also strenuous when you’re not in top shape and the thermometer is heading toward triple digits.

I think it is great that our First Lady, Michelle Obama will be the keynote speaker for a college with a small student body of only 2700 in California; the kids are over the top with her agreeing to do it!

When I mentioned all those automobile dealerships’ closings I neglected to discuss our latest sad layoffs from our city office in our tax assessors office, it was decided in order to make up the 165K loss of monies in that department that they would be laying off eleven employees, which mean that there salaries were 15K I am sure that the head of that department probably more than likely makes a six digit salary, why couldn’t she take a cut to save some of those jobs? I wonder. Those people need their jobs I’m sure to make ends meet.

On that insightful note I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Now 1100 Dealerships from GM too will close, but they will not tell who...

General Motors is now going to close 1100 of its dealerships, but they are not releasing the names or locations of which ones they are to the media. I guess there is some logic in their thinking it will prolong the many neighborhood/ local dealers’ miseries in privacy. I found out this morning in our local paper that the only Chrysler dealerships nearby us that will be closing are in Venice Florida, one is a Dodge and the other is a Chrysler. But our state has announced that actually 28 more in state are on the chopping block from Chrysler. And now with GM’s massive closings too the future of unemployment in this state does not seem to have any end in sight. But I am sure many other states’ are feeling the massive pinch too. I was wondering if the Chrysler closings which meant 38K job loss in comparison what in the world will the GM 1100 mean. It is a staggering amount I am sure; the fact that all those people have families more than likely. We all have to be kinder than ever before with helping one another. Those who have should be more forthcoming with giving whatever time, money etc. that they can.
Food banks need donations of non-perishables, we all can give something to them, and volunteering to watch our neighbors’ children while they job search or go back to school may be another way to help out.
If we Americans put our heads together and realized that this is one country/world, one family of man/woman, and stop complaining about it all that’s when things will change for the better. All able bodied people can help, and the rest of us can organize or suggest ideas to create a better world for all. Looking out into the mess of our world we on the edge of it all might have a more objective opinion than most may think.

I speak to you on the eve of the raw beginnings of our major veggie garden that my hubby staked and roped off just today on the side of our home where the new fencing is; our seeds had been purchased and are waiting for their locations to be designated. Two canal allies with dimensions of 3 foot by 12 foot are what he has roped off. This is one of the things that all of us can do, our smaller garden was narrowed down to our prime crop of tomatoes, which we have been still harvesting on a daily basis! The new garden will be much more diverse veggie wise, and have many new and exciting species. Unfortunately, until the boardwalks are built even though it will be a raised bed garden my assistance will be minimal. But I am chomping at the bit to get back to the dirt that I used to love so much.

On that note I will bid you all good night and to all count those blessings and will too!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Sadly Chrysler is shutting down 789 dealerships, and I was slightly premature with my weather report

Our sorrow goes out to all those involved in the shut down of all those 789 Chrysler dealerships, which means numerous PEOPLE will be without jobs; our sympathy goes to each and every one of you, and I hope in the near future things will change for the better!
It is obscene to think of all those losses, overwhelming to say the least. I wish I had a magic wand to make it not so; truly it is so frustrating to think of this as just some more horrible news for us Americans.

Oops I goofed! Last night after I signed off here about an hour later we did get that rain they were all promising, actually over an inch! We had an earlier repeat of the storms
today; starting at 4 P.M. Things are starting to green up would you believe? Well, they are.
That’s Florida if you don’t like the weather one minute wait a few and it will change, and that my friends is an old localism as we say in this sunshine state.

My personal body has not been doing too well today. The numbies are even when I am sitting now; they were mostly when I stood for too long, and too long was fifteen minutes. Dizziness is more often than not these days, and I wish it wouldn’t be. The walker that is supposed to be used for these conditions just hurt my shoulders, and so I have a tendency not to use it so much and use walls and furniture to maneuver around the house. The coming and going of these symptoms seems to be less and less, they seem to want to remain, but I don’t want any of them, please go away! The mystery of the long nap I think has been solved I took my Baclofen, which is an anti-spasmodic that I try not to use too often, but I think I may have to, and I will now try it before I go to bed; it will be nice to sleep at night! The directions say I can take it as much as three times a day.
But I really hate meds and I don’t want to get too dependent on any one, I have too many already.

Right now I am in pain so I will have to say good night to all and to all of you count those blessings and I will too!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The best of intentions, just this close, and some other things...

Well, to say I was ready, willing and able to accompany my husband on a major grocery shopping spree today would be a lie. (He does better without me anyway, I seem to deviate from the list causing more time and money being spent, and he stays on list/task)I did have the best of intentions with getting ready to go, but I fizzled, my motor ran out of energy, and later on this would prove to be the truth, my awful embarrassing truth that I was just plain exhausted. The reasoning I do know this was the case because by 12:15 P.M. I went in for a nap, and the next thing I knew it was 3:10 P.M., wow! That is one of the longest naps that I can remember ever taking.
Sleep is still an issue with me, and believe it or not I am still quite tired now.

Some believe that weather has an effect on how you feel, and there is some scientific proof to that logic. When I asked a rheumatologist one time about telling the weather with aches and pains that rain is eminent he said that was true due to the lower barometric readings. If you get a chance see if you don’t notice that birds fly low too just before a storm. There are people who suffer from the winter blues with not enough sunshine and this is extremely common in cold winter climates, and also a true weather induced ailment.

And so today was our chance for some rain, it was all around us on the radar, but it was just this close (I am pinching my fingers together, I know you can't see it) and missed us by inches. The wind came and the skies got dark in the middle of the day even the temperature dropped but the upper atmosphere came up dry at our home, and we need some rain real bad. The grass is literally, and I do mean literally it does crunch under your feet. As I sit in our sunroom I can see the darkness in the sky, but I use the swimming pool to tell if moisture is coming down too, and no such luck, not one single drop! But we all know that this is possible, when I was a kid I can remember it raining on one side of the street but not the other, and we thought that was so cool!
It’s just so frustrating when the weather guy or gal names your location as getting the big boomers and you know that its just not so, and so you yell at the telly, not here you a—hole! Sorry! It’s so darn aggravating, and to think next month we will be singing rain, rain go away since it starts our rainy season/ hurricane season. Oh well, we are not farmers, most farms in this state are in the middle and they seem to get the rain first whenever it is in the area, and that is a good thing I believe, since a major part of our economy depends on them surviving, the other main income for this state of course I bet you all know….not spring training, but it does seem to help, but it really is tourism, you sillies!

On that informative moment in time, and before I doze off I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Large economy size, small mystery solved and a little miracle can't hurt...

Tonight I want to let you all know about the hazards of purchasing the large economy size in shampoo, liquid soaps and conditioners. I was mauled by a shampoo drop while in my shower, don’t laugh I am bruised and dinged and all because I chose to buy the large economy size in my bath body and hair cleaners.
So today we went on our Tuesday errand run, and we chose to buy a dispenser that would create less havoc with my access to these necessary beautifiers. It is affixed to the tiles by silicon and holds all three products with nifty buttons to push to release just the right amount when needed, we shall see. We also went to the warehouse store for cat litter, coffee, paper goods etc. and had lunch there and that was for under five dollars for two! Gas is cheaper there too, so we topped off our tank. What a deal.

Now on to the small mystery…I know who you are my one and only follower, you are my dear old friend from way back in toddler hood, and I have one word to say to you, THANKS!

Now for the little miracle I received a notice/letter telling me that my hospital bill is taken care of and the account is closed! All this after I had set up payment plans, but one of the ones I did set up still is a separate entity and I do have to pay, but in manageable increments. This is very good news, and what price can one have peace of mind?

My life is progressing as best as it can, while not self absorbed with pain and righteous indignation of what I can no longer do I still have lofty desires to accomplish something but I know not what at this writing, but something of value.
We all need to be useful and not superfluous as long as breathes are taken life shall go on.
And productivity is extremely important no matter what ones condition I just am in a metamorphous state where I have not yet determined just what that will be, but I will.
I have rezoned my abilities as my life has gone on for all these years, but haven’t we all?

On that note I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Monday, May 11, 2009

People and how things happen in life... or don't

Hello everyone. It's odd how since the reading hits began being counted this year I have had nearly 3000 readers hit this Blog, but only one has signed up to be a named follower.
What’s that all about? (I hope my little joke last night did not offend you. I do not think at all about what I write…oops I mean I don’t plan ahead, and I only feel I try to express myself as best as I can, which at times is more than questionable in most peoples minds.)
Don’t get me wrong, I do love you all for reading and giving me some form of confidence that all humans occasionally need for validation.

But it still seems lonely here.

As you can see though I do try and speak directly to you whenever possible.
Now I am willing to discuss almost anything.
One item that is slightly unusual, but not too is the fact that here in south west Florida we have been having just dreadful dry heat almost everyday it has been in the nineties here.
Even for Florida that is not that usual as you might think this early on in the year.
I personally have been taking advantage of the indoors with our central air-conditioning.
And that is why when I did go into our pool I went in the mornings since by afternoon the pool water would become too hot too.
I took today off from the pool and decided to see if there really was any noticeable difference from not using it, contrast is a good way to tell I would suspect.
So far the difference is insignificant.

My Multiple Sclerosis symptoms vary all day long.
At times my legs feel like they have weights or stockings covering them, and then the numbies come and go sporadically daily to different limbs and torso, face etc. My face and ears are affected too, sort of like sinus infections or fullness in them so if I do have one it’s hard to tell which is what.
My shoulders feel strangely like I have the world balanced on them, metaphorically speaking that is.
Sleeping at night I am beginning to believe is really over rated I imagine since I have not had a full night’s sleep since I don’t know when.
Napping on occasion has been beneficial but not in anyway conformity for me to do everyday, some days I can and some days I just can’t seem to.
I am still looking for suggestions from anyone out there with knowledgeable expertise in this field.
For this I will stay open minded.

My achiness is creating havoc right now with me being in this position so long and so I will bid you all good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day and all that it means and some more...

Before I start anything else tonight I would like to thank the follower that calls themselves a ‘nyyankee’, I was thrilled to see that someone finally admitted that they are reading my drivel, I mean thoughtful brilliant prose.(Yawn)

Now on to the topic at hand, Mother’s Day and it’s origins it seems that we would have to go back to ancient times in Greece when it began as a day honoring the goddess, Rhea. Similarly for the Romans they celebrated the goddess Cybele. And in the British Isles and Celtic Europe, the goddess Brigid, and later her successor St. Brigid, were honored with a spring Mother's Day, connected with the first milk of the ewes. “The modern Mother's Day holiday was created by Anna Jarvis, as a day to honor mothers and motherhood; especially within the context of families, and family relationships.” Wikipedia thanks to them for that. But it was our President Woodrow Wilson who declared that Mother’s Day would be a holiday in the United States on May 9. 1914 which would be a day to honor all mothers.

Now who was Anna Jarvis: “Anna Jarvis was born in the tiny town of Webster in Taylor County, West Virginia. She was the daughter of Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. The family moved to nearby Grafton, West Virginia in her childhood.
On May 12, 1907, two years after her mother's death, she held a memorial to her mother and thereafter embarked upon a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday. She succeeded in making this nationally recognized in 1914. The International Mother's Day Shrine was established in Grafton to commemorate her accomplishment.” All above information compliments of Wikipedia.
I hope that was helpful; it definitely was for me, and I bet you all thought it was just another Hallmark cards idea to sell more cards, well I guess we were all wrong!
Today I was back in the pool in the morning, unfortunately my hopes and dreams for its magical powers were dashed when the curative powers seemed to reach its limitations today, and I felt no better. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
But some good did happen today… my husband was able to reach his mom and we spoke ala speaker phone to wish her a happy Mother’s Day, our eldest son called on his way to work via cell to wish me a Happy Mom’s Day, and I received an email from his lovely X-girlfriend that we both still consider a friend, and that was nice too. My hubby barbecued a luscious dinner on the grill and had even made a wonderful breakfast this morning, so who can really complain. Even our neighbor across the street called to wish me the same.
So as days go…who can really complain, and so I will button up!
And on that somewhat pleasant note wish all you Mom’s a happy rest of your day, and a good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

I made the ripple that broke the water's glass surface

Yes! I finally went into our pool this morning! And it was delightful. Had it only been a year since I last managed to plunge into that fantastic sensation of weightlessness and superiority? At one time I was an Aquacize Instructor, but with my limitations of late I do appreciate the only sport that allows me to still be me lithe and limber amongst the able.
It is a wonderful therapy for anyone, no matter their abilities.

I recall way back when I first was exposed to the powers of how healthful and helpful water was in physical therapy back in the mid nineties when I saw at the rehab a man in a wheel chair lowered into their indoor pool by a special chair he had been carefully transferred to. The therapist went into the pool and helped the paraplegic gentleman off the equipment and he was buoyant and free to float and move, wow! I, myself was then too in physical therapy I had a six month period of not being able to walk either myself, but within a year and half I became a certified Aquacize Instructor.

Right then I knew the powers of water were more than I thought I knew; although early on I had my swimming life saving's badge in my teens, and our sons went through the water babies programs as toddlers and infants at the Y when they were small. That was done since I wanted them water safe because we always seemed to live near some type of water way or had a pool near by, which we had at our clubhouse of our condo, and later on at our own private homes. They did become water rats with water skiing; surfing and SCUBA becoming their sports of choice. Not to mention beach volleyball, I suppose all those scantily clad girls while growing up mostly in Florida.

Any-who, it was great to get back in and to know this, is one therapy that I can do for myself and that it is helpful. If you came to our home our sunroom is not only a sunroom, but a mini gym. We have a treadmill and stationary bike and in the cleverly disguised fish of Florida decoupage trunk has in it a Yoga mat and free weights from two to five pound increments that I have not been able to use, and now they are saying with my Multiple Sclerosis stretching may be all that I can do, besides the pool. I will have to settle, but perhaps when I return for my evaluation on the fifteenth of next month that could change.

We heard from my mother-in-law today, our only living parent. Apparently, she has gotten herself either a calling card or a cell phone or a long distance carrier. At eighty-eight she has been relying on all of us kids to contact her, so this was quite a surprise. Oddly enough my husband did not hear the phone ring or something went haywire, because after her concerted effort to call to thank us for her Mother’s Day gift, a potted plant, it went to his voice mail and he never did actually get to speak with her. He will call her back tomorrow to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day by phone as always has been our tradition.

On that note let’s wish you all a pleasant good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Friday, May 8, 2009

The swimming pool calls to me...

Finally the temperature of our swimming pool is where it should be in the mid eighties, and for the last week I could only stare at it with my annoying UTI but now this weekend I will definitely think about taking the plunge since I finished my last Cipro last night!

The day had been interesting with adding new friends to my Face book page, and reading their profiles has been nothing less than amazing!
Most all of them have become quite successful in many different types of professions, another lawyer, nurse, CEO of his own company, and a graphic artist so far impressive to say the least.
And imagine these are people I mostly knew from kindergarten, and a few from toddler-hood, fascinating, and I am proud to be called their friend. Everyone is married and many have grandchildren too, I am a little jealous of that. Always thought by now I would be a grandparent actually about fifteen years ago, since we did have our sons while still in our twenties, and we are now pushing sixty, not that far off.
I always looked forward to grandparenthood without any of fear of that age thing. My idea of being one would be just like my parents were, they were really great; in their eyes our boys could do no wrong, and they would happily spoil them lovingly and send them home! No set of second parents there with foolish discipline; love is all they felt they needed and did not ration that one bit or gifts either.
I miss them both terribly quite often.
It is a few days early but this time of the year is difficult since they are both gone and with Mother’s Day right around the corner and the fact that my Dad died on Mother’s Day, that year it being on May 11.1986 doesn’t make it any easier. Last year it fell right on that date, so it was real bad for me.

I do know there are many who probably feel as I do with missing their own parents and having their own children far away. We should support one another and make each other not feel so sad. Knowing we are not alone sometimes helps.

I also know many who opted not to have children and miss their parents severely at this time and to me I get it, really I do! We all need to not feel bad about feeling the way that we do when we do. As human beings we have that right to grieve in whatever way we wish to without being told to buck up or get over it that is what separates us from the lesser creatures, although in reality I think they feel emotions too.
They have that power to grieve for us or for one of their loved ones too, I have seen it first hand.

On that grist of fodder for the brain or whatever … please know as during the Christmas/ Chanukah time of year Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can produce that same type of sadness for some of us. The best one can do is to be there for the ones you care about and let them have those feelings without criticism.

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Amazing those contacts from way back when...

Yes! I did not remember the fellow who asked to be my friend on Face Book but I agreed to allow him to become my friend after several interview questions that I hope did not annoy him too much.

The truth is he is an attorney and accountant who had graduated the same year I did from my old high school, but I moved two years before graduation and I had actually graduated from another high school just a few towns away. We had even gone to the same junior high, but I still didn’t remember him. I Googled him to find out about him and he did definitely seem safe. Oddly enough since I agreed to allow him to be, ‘a friend’, many other people I once knew from growing up in that town appeared on my list with him as the common denominator of knowing them too; interesting.
And so I spent most of today, on and off checking this all out, and deciding just who I would ask to join me as a friend; so far no takers. We will see.
I am one of those very selective type people with a little fear mixed in. After all I had a stalker on Yahoo. He really couldn’t do too much but annoy me when I tried playing Dominoes, he would follow me from table to table. He did ask personal questions, which I of course did not answer and always wanted to chat which I didn’t I just wanted to play dominoes. Not so serious.

I read where one of my old buddies had flash flooding at her home with pictures and films just awful! It brought back the horror of going through Hurricane Charley August 13.2004, a Friday, and being stuck in our hallway with our puppy,cat and bird for four hours as our home was destroyed around us! Natural disasters are the worse because they are so unpredictable. Charley was supposed to hit Tampa 100 miles north of here, but it took a sharp right turn the last minute!
I find it difficult looking at pictures from any disasters since that fateful day, and when Katrina hit I think it triggered post traumatic stress syndrome.
Our home had to be rebuilt, and we had to do most of the work since we were under insured at that time, 80K insurance payment is all we got when we had more than 100K damage. Now we are insured for more than twice as much with the premiums to go with it. Living on a saltwater canal has advantages like being 5 minutes by boat to the harbor, fish pond, and with our pool some would say we have everything and we think we do too, but for a price. Our little retirement home is all new now (actually since five days before Christmas in 2004) and just perfect for us. It’s petite, but with my physical challenges these days it is just my right size, and we love it! We have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a sunroom which is where our computer is with giant windows to the backyard facing the canal, pond and swimming pool, very nice view, a garage with a 10’X12’ workshop in the back of it plus a couple of well built sheds of stucco that match our home’s design.

I must always remember not to harp on that horrible day, but every year we have to deal with that threat, although we had been living here 18 years when Charley hit us directly. We had lived in Florida when Andrew hit back in 1992 but we lived five and half hours north of there, and we did go down to help after. That devastation was horrendous too, but then we could go home, this time we were home, big difference!

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Tonight it was much easier getting connected than last night

I don't know if it was our computer here in the house or our online service or even Google, but last night it was quite a hassle getting to my Blog. Shutting down three or four times seemed futile at first but number five seemed to work. I don’t know about the rest of you, but by the time I began writing I was exhausted.

Face book gave me a similar agida today too, and I finally gave up and will try again tomorrow. I had someone ask to be my friend that I do not know or remember, perhaps? I want to ask how he knows me.

Any-who, this morning was that famous trip to the Neurologist follow up and evaluation; and the nurse practitioner that saw me was pleasant, efficient, and professional with a touch of compassion. Good qualities in any medical professional. I am glad I didn’t chicken out due to cost which was also not that extravagant at $65 for an hour and a half exam. I really thought it was going to be more than $100. The most amazing thing is that my appointment was for 9A.M. and that is exactly when I was seen! Being punctual is unheard of in this day and age for most all the medical offices that I have dealt with in the past. I have been asked to come back on the fifteenth of June at 10:30 A.M. for an update on the information accumulated from all previous doctors and today’s info, etc. to come to a conclusion on my mode of treatment. I will be there.

The presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan met with our leader and chief today…I say good for all of them, a united front may get those terrorists after all, and wouldn’t that be great!

The young woman who died from the flu in Texas, our first citizen who was only 33, a teacher, and had just given birth by C-section, but had a underlying condition that they still have not revealed, odd, but interesting. Maybe in the future they will let us know.

My chills have stopped today, and so I did not ask the new medical people that I had contact with. I am thinking that my infection is finally being beaten with my arsenal of Cipro?

On that positive note I will bid you good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Things change and we must go with the flow...

The elementary school that was closed last Friday in Bonita Springs for this week will be opening this Thursday after three school days of closure. All due to the new CDC recommendations that schools will not have to be closed due to the H1N1 Flu since it fortunately is not that severe even with confirmed cases. This announcement comes after we lost one American citizen from the flu, huh? Well, it appears this person, a woman, was unhealthy to begin with so it was expected, and so that is why, why? I’m unhealthy to begin with so if I die from the flu that’s OK? I sure hope that is not the case but the attitude says something different to me. Does that mean that this lighter or lite strain that seems to be not that sickening to most? The average/mean age has been sixteen years old for getting it apparently, and they can handle anything, if healthy enough, but if not…it is expected that they won’t?

I’m confused as usual I suppose.
What happened to the weak will inherit the earth….oh that was the meek, sorry!
Damn! I guess the rest of us, feisty but disabled groupies are just out of luck, oh well…

Housing market in some areas in Victorville, California it is so bad that a developer destroyed his half finished development with the logic it would cost over a million to finish and it takes only a 100K to tear it all down.
But some areas of our country have actually seen a recent increase in sales of homes, but at those bargain basement prices, of course…glass half full or half empty however you see it.

I am getting strange symptoms that could or might not be associated with the current infection still within me, although I am continuing to take the Cipro until it will be finished this Thursday I am getting periodic chills and then sweats, but my temperature registers normal. I did run a fever for over five days in the beginning of this nasty UTI. I looked first in the pamphlet that came with the medicine, and this is not a symptom that has anything to do with it. I even called the one who diagnosed me and she hasn’t a clue either. Well, tomorrow I will be seeing the Neurology personnel at the office maybe they will know, or perhaps it will be gone, but it has been coming and going, so weird.

A mystery…mmm I used to like to read them and write them too when I still could think coherently.

On that note good night to all and to count those blessings and I will too!

Finally, farewell Dom DeLuise who passed away at 75 today; he will be sorely missed...

Monday, May 4, 2009

Numbers on H1N1 Flu deaths has certainly changed

Originally, am I crazy or what… wasn't the original death toll in Mexico from the Swine Flu, 159?
Now all of a sudden, thankfully, it has gone down to 25? How did that happen and where was I?
We had one death here, a toddler in Texas that had travelled from Mexico, correct?

I must have missed a big news story, and I feel just awful about that.
Unless…Mexico has a way to revive the dead, nah sorry, that was totally inappropriate!
Please someone tell me how this happened and I will listen wholeheartedly.

Any-who, moving on… the federal government is trying to find Americans hiding their money abroad,
it seems that they also have been avoiding paying their rightful piece of the pie of the tax burden, shame on you!

The one I do like the best, also our government’s idea, and it is very simple, concise and oh so logical is giving tax breaks to the ones who actually create jobs right here in the dear old US of A, wow what a concept? I know it’s been tried before and then they outsourced, well we as Americans if willing to work will have to rethink what we need to make ends meet, and to prevent the jobs going back across the border or oceans.

Updates: Today was a much calmer day for my hubby, even though no major death defying ills were diagnosed they did find out he had a sinus infection which they prescribed a Z-pack for, and he felt OK enough to go to the pharmacy to pick it up; he is now medicated, also.
Far as I go… my head thing continues; it’s sort of like if there was a weight in it that throws you off in one direction periodically making it difficult to sit in an upright position for too long.
I hope it can all be attributed to the Cipro I am still on until Thursday, yea!
Hope it goes away then.
My MS hugs were quiet for a while but have returned today.
Not fun, especially the neck strangling one, and the tourniquet thigh one.
Tired too, sleep is being affected by pain again…getting comfortable is difficult, hips and shoulders behaving badly.

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Hubby got even...

Yep, my hubby got his all inclusive ambulance ride to the hospital this afternoon after he had what was definitely giving off the symptoms of a heart attack or stroke.
Better safe than sorry!
Fortunately, his heart is fine and it doesn’t look like a stroke, but they gave him the option to stay or go and after careful deliberation with himself, he went, so we are now home and pooped.
Our neighbor was kind enough to give us a lift home.
A few good things did come from this is one, he had a CAT scan, and we now know that he too has a brain!
The other was a few chest X-rays which determined that so far he has not destroyed his lungs.
Whew, they said that they have an open door policy there if we need them.
Hope not!

On all this tizzy of a day, am I old or what? Tizzy, who says tizzy?

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

The underdog...horse wins the Kentucky Derby!

Mine that Bird, DOB 5-10-06, wearing #8, a $9500 horse with 50 to one odds just won the 135th Kentucky Derby!
Calvin Burrell, from Louisianan was the jockey.
That’s what makes America great, nah, but does make it a quite bit more interesting with these little pearls of hope for the rest of us to succeed beyond whatever obstacles come our way … a true rag to riches story.

Why is that something that makes us all enjoy life?
Don’t we all get that smidgen of expectation from our own trials and tribulations watching the underdog win?
Compassion and understanding for what anyone has had to go through to achieve something just past their reach is so honorable, and who can’t agree with the refreshing warmth of that knowledge gives to all of us.

More than likely that’s why so many enjoy films about sports figures that all have come from behind.
Now we are in another great depression in our history, and hope is needed and becomes tangible when seen in these ways. It’s the only thing many still have.

We need more inspiration on TV and movies, not necessarily religious, but showing where people have come from and how they pulled themselves up from their bootstraps.
Good old fashion stories with moral issues that we as a nation/world can relate to.

As heartwarming and cliché as all this seems to you I want to ask you fellow world residents…why not?
I know Slumdog Millionaire just won many Academy Awards, and It’s A Wonderful Life plays yearly over and over again, but doesn’t that sound like there should be more?

If these epitomize what we really want, I say why not?
Pound out those scripts people we need your input, quickly I must say, even TV and the movie studios are running on low finances!

On that thoughtful note, but perhaps slightly negative I will bid you good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

PS H1N1 case confirmed in the state of Florida have grown to several counties

Friday, May 1, 2009

We are now one of many on the notable grid of diseased ridden states

What? Florida just got another nasty moniker, we have two confirmed cases of the H1N1Flu, and now we can be part of a national pack of flu-bees. The child is an eleven year old boy in a Bonita Springs in a Lee County elementary school. PS he is recovering nicely, and so is the other possible case from his school. The other confirmed case is a seventeen year old high school student in Broward County in the city of Hallandale, who may very well have travelled to Mexico, but the younger child has no connection so far.

Now, I want some answers.
Did you hear all those numbers they keep throwing around about how anywhere from 13K to 34K people die each year from the seasonal flu, huh?
Why haven’t they told us this before they panicked us all with less than 200 deaths worldwide of this newest strain?
I do know that even one death is way too many, but that is not my point.
It appears that in an effort to be diligent with getting the news out we are, once again, having our media play havoc with fears once more. How dare they?
America as well as the world all encompassing has very few nerve endings left to deal with much more.

Remember the movie; Stop the World: I Want to Get Off? (Circa 1966) It was a musical comedy, but this all doesn’t feel like one, does it? But with all this weeks’ horrible news I want to shout that, anyway; enough is enough. (Plus my head still feels like it is spinning at times, physiologically speaking that is)
Things seem to get a little bit better and then they go down the tubes, and yes I do know life is a roller coaster ride because I have been on it for nearly fifty-nine years thank you very much!

Let’s get real people; we all know that knowledge is power, but in the wrong hands without accuracy is nearly as irresponsible as handing a child a loaded gun! Maybe that analogy was slightly over the top, but you get my reasoning here.

The world is already in turmoil we must get some rationalization in these situations, or at the very least some good solid judgment before we scare each other half to death.

I wonder how all those businesses are going to do when those parents of positive cases have to stay two weeks with their children at home since other baby-sitting or day-cares will be a no-no as well for these possible infectees. But how else can we stop the spread? Hopefully all employers will understand, under the circumstances that is, you would think?

I know it’s frightening; but just a few more concepts to put your heads around.

Here’s bidding you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

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...