People that do that chore for you...nah!

In all the 38 hundred years we have been married we have not had to call a repairman or had to pay one either.

My husband was blessed with the ability to fix things, and do things like build homes and additions, install bathrooms and kitchens, fix appliances, put bicycles together etc. Magically and laughably at times he has had some left over parts, but everything still does work!
Actually, he had a grandpa who taught him; and my husband passed on that ability our sons.

We were one of the few people that were back in our destroyed home after Hurricane Charlie by December of 2004; the same year it happened.
And the only reason it took that long was because our insurance money didn't come until October, but the hurricane hit on August 13.2004, a Friday!

Years ago my hubby was the one that our neighbors would call for consultations on their home projects.
Or they would ask for his availability to do the project and in his early years way back in the 1970's he was a yes man to all who requested his help.
It helped that he also had 5 years of engineering school, and had worked as an apprentice plumber while a college student.

Times change and unfortunately age creeps up plus an injury to his back, which he is receiving disability for, and for the last few years he has found himself saying no to all that ask.
Many people just don't seem to understand this dilemma of his, but as his wife I see how hard it is for him to still do the necessary jobs around our home. He refuses to call someone else to do them for us, and we really can't afford to hire someone now either on our fixed income.
He is in pain.

Fortunately, the lawn mower was replaced after the hurricane with a ride on one, and the edger and blower are both electric making them much lighter than the gas models.

So that is pretty much what he does once a week in the summer, of course he makes sure the pool sparkles, and has most recently painted the trim on the house. We do garden together.

But long gone are the days of the big projects of building major things. Fortunately, we do have everything and anything we could possibly want at this point in our lives.
That makes it easier not wanting or really needing things.
Upkeep is the only thing that we must do.
So things take a little longer, and are thoughtfully determined the best way to do them.
We are much more careful with body mechanics not to do more damage, and breaks are taken frequently.
Logic and care is much more useful now than ever before.

And saying no was hard for my dear man, but he has learned like we all have to on occasion.

Just a little more insight into how we handle our own daily grind.

Goodnight to all!

Logic and experimentation

Now I am about to update you all on some pressing news and information.
Yesterday I received a note from my doctor's office that I must make an appointment to get my blood work results. So I made one for this morning.
And the news was not very good; I failed my cholesterol test by receiving the highest number for me ever a total cholesterol of 248, beating my previous high score of 227.

I guess this means I cannot say good-bye to my medication for this. This is one of the few tests in life that getting a high score is bad. Personally I do know people who are walking around with much higher scores, and they do look alive and pretty lively too!
I did have the good sense to fill out the form to have a copy made for own interest, but it will take some time. They told me that it is done at a different office in another city. What?
But I said to the office person that had me fill out the form to have my own blood work copy that there was a copier right behind her!
Apparently not allowed, the other office is in charge of this delicate procedure, bureaucracy! But they can torture me in this one?

The form I filled out was on that sensitive type 3 copy paper...but why? It's my blood! Who else needs to know that I'm a failure in the cholesterol wars where getting a total below 200 is the winning number for a healthy person and means you are living a healthy lifestyle...

Oh but I am! I eat well; lots of fruits and vegetables daily, even fish and chicken, also lean meats!
My exercise is pretty good considering for someone with my health issues, arthritis, and the MS!
No drinking any liquor for over a month now... mmm... when I had my wine in the evening my cholesterol was lower...mmm...maybe I nixed the grape brew too soon...mmm.
Interesting we saved one bottle of a Cabernet Sauvignon, and I fooled you all!
It's chilling as I write this...mmm... we will see... could be a good thing.
Taking a quote from Martha Stewart, a good thing that is, but did you know that she is like 66 years old, and does drink wine, and looks terrific!
It's gotta be a good thing and she is my proof!

Having good genes is probably the real reason, and mine are not so good!
Heck with that I will ask her to adopt me.
I guess it doesn't work that way.

But when I told/confessed to the doctors about my wine indulgence they agreed it was a good idea and healthful, and not a problem with the prescriptions that they prescribed.
So now with their permission I will see what I will see...next test isn't for another year...my numbers should be way down by then or I will be a very, very tipsy woman for all time!
Nah, not that much fun and a bit unrealistic with only one glass for medicinal purposes an evening.

Aspirations

Humorists are writers who look at the daily grind of life in a funny way.
Erma Bombeck and Andy Rooney are two that come to mind although they've been many over the years including Samuel Clemmens AKA Mark Twain.

These are the kind of people that make our stupidity not so darn awful and our microscopic examinations of rituals and flaws at times quite enjoyable.

Andy Rooney is the only one of the above still with us though.
He takes weekly ordinary topics and makes them amusing during the last few minutes of Sixty Minutes.
He's riveting in my book! I do pay attention for the whole time he speaks, but then I realize his topic chosen is something so mundane and ordinary, and that I had agreed with every bit of his verbiage that he uttered. This is surprising since we have almost a thirty year generational difference in our age and our observational perspective.
Mr. Rooney is usually quite hysterical in his own benign way.

The late Erma Bombeck was the one that helped me with my child rearing in the days when it occasionally got tough. She appeared regularly on Good Morning America.
You all must remember such books as the Grass is Always Greener over the Septic Tank, and If Life is a Bowl of Cherries; why am I living in the Pits?
Wacko and definitely one great lady!

Life can be quite humorous when one looks from the outside in, and tries darn hard not to get emotional.
Someone told me...I think it might have been my Dad to try and see the humor in life, don't take anything too serious.
My Father had a magnificent sense of humor, and was loved by all. And when I was a teenager and got angry at the silliest things he would laugh at me and make me realize how ridiculous I was!

In my early years when I wrote for my own pleasure as a young mother I did find humor in parenting and that was my topic for release of any anxiety in that period of my life brought.
My sons were quite comical at certain attempts in growing into the fine men that they eventually became.

These are some of the people I do so wish I could write like.
I suspect these are big aspirations for a simple mind that is working overtime just to think, period on some days. But this is the direction I hope to eventually attain, please bear with me as I go on this marvelously wild journey.

Good night to all and to all always think of ways to tickle that funny bone, and so will I!

Finally I am at a loss for words...NOT!

Today is the day that the Brangelina twins were introduced to the world! Very cute, the little I saw of them with those two as their parents how could they not be.

Celebrities are confusing; most of the time they complain about the paparazzi bugging them. And then they sometimes confess how if it wasn't for all the publicity the public would forget about them.

Boy, sure glad I don't have that problem.
How would I handle it?
I would probably handle it in the same way, its human nature to want to be noticed, but not too much or too often. Especially when you are misbehaving like every one does on occasion.
Positive publicity is always a plus; while the negative type usually causes grief.
Thick skin is what you must have and most in the public arena portend to.

Who doesn't enjoy good gossip occasionally?
And there are definitely enough ways to come by it honestly, but not necessarily with any truth to it. Between TV shows and the print media, and don't forget our Internet welcome screens. Yes, we do have a plethora of options to keep informed on such topics.
I must admit that sometimes I find the stories titillating, and worthy of a second glance.
This is one of those things I mentioned about curiosity, and knowledge, but I truthfully don't believe any of this is beneficial to our education.
Except maybe this has to do with worldliness or trivia info for party games.
Although, sometimes Jeopardy asks about celebrities, and I still believe that program is educational in an entertaining way.

Human nature is amazing when studied we are conglomeration of hypocrisies and neediness, for our souls we want to be alone, perhaps to meditate, but for camaraderie we must be with others to validate our lives.

Have you ever imagined what someone from another planet would think of us humans?
I do on occasion.
Gosh we are so complex, and yet so simple at the same time, fascinating I would imagine to those of the non human persuasion.

Good night!
And again I leave you with something to think about...or at least I sure hope so.

Day 40; what a milestone!

Mundane day quick clean up, did some laundry, but I swam for about an hour before lunch. I found talking to the almighty can be done from anywhere at any time.
But motivation to exercise has to come from within, no one else can do it for me.

Today I am not so sad anymore.
We seem to resolve our differences by ignoring them at times; not such a bad thing when it works.
Denial seems to work with a lot of things I have noticed.

People with major illnesses that do take the time to treat them appropriately medication wise, but don't harp on what's wrong with them seem to do well.
My only problem with that is that I have gotten involved with the organizations as a volunteer because of my ills, http://www.arthritis.org/ and ://nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx. (Copying these and pasting them to your search wagon will get you there.) And it does make it harder to not harp on an ill that you are raising money for, teaching how to manage or explaining to Newbees about.

But I have cut back from all that and now most of my help is as an advocate by signing letters for different bills in the capitol to make sure our Representatives do the right thing for us, and this is done online when notified from the main offices of the non profits.

Anyway, it helps me to feel that in some small way I can still make a difference, and maybe find a cure.
Everyone should have something they believe in to support.
My problem for years was that I had too many, that bleeding heart liberal thing I mentioned before, and I didn't know how to say no.
Having those seven types out of the 100 kinds of arthritis and also having Multiple Sclerosis narrowed my fields down.
But every disease needs to be helped. And in this tough economy it's hard for everyone to think out of the box if they are thankfully well.
Who would have thought that in the 21st Century we would still have half of these diseases; I sure didn't.

I have often found that helping others helps you to forget your own problems, and sometimes puts them in a much better perspective.
So I highly recommend volunteering for your sake and all those others you will be helping.

Someone once told me I was wonderful because I volunteer, and I had to tell them the truth is that I do it for purely selfish reasons, because it makes me feel so good!

Pep talk to myself

Once we become adults we are supposed to not have any insecurities like we did in our teen years.
But I am going through a questioning period in my life of my abilities, and self esteem issues that are real to me. I suppose my enormous weight gain more than ever before, and my ills have something to do with it.
Every now and then I wonder what is wrong with me and people around me that makes me ask if I am loved?
When I was a small child I knew I was because my parents always told me, and that was very reassuring.
As an adult with deceased parents, and a non demonstrative spouse I'm never really sure, which sounds just awful.
We do say it to one another on occasion, and so do our sons, but do we really mean it?
Actions speak louder than words.
Paying attention to one another 24/7 now that my husband has retired is ridiculous to expect and not realistic. I do know that.
But common courtesy to say where you go when you leave the house for a half an hour or longer should be second nature in my book.
Since my disability it frightens me to be alone for too long.
When he knows that I need to stay in bed at times he does take his cell phone with him, and hands me mine so we can keep in contact like an intercom.
Though when I am feeling all right, not too bad he just leaves to talk to people, and I have no idea where he is.
This could be for a half hour or more, and I guess I panic. These are at home disappearances. Are others this way I do wonder.

Although, when he leaves in the car to go somewhere I realize he will be gone for quite some time, so I don't think about it.
Weird.

So today when I was angry at him I disappeared for a couple of hours in the car, but I did tell him where I was going, and even called him once.
He was not concerned.
Men are different.

And I am still sad.

Good night.

Junk mail

Today we finished our shopping at the grocery picking up things we didn't get yesterday, because the bulk products are not necessary for two when it comes to perishables.
We had lunch at home.
By then the mail came.

It usually does come around that time of day 12:30-1P.M.ish, but not like clockwork in the old days.

We received more invitations for insurances and refinancing, and one was from the bank that we have our mortgage with, Bank of America, and we didn't need it or want it.

But just for fun of it I asked mischievously if they could beat our 5.12% 30 year fixed mortgage with them, and again they said they could not! So I asked them why don't they look at what we have before they mail?
Then I admitted that I called to notify them to remove us from their mailing lists. By telling them that they are wasting money by sending out mailers to people that are not interested.
I even had the nerve to take it one step further by saying to the telephone person that such expenses could jeopardize their job since they were unnecessary expenditures, and those practices have cost many companies the need to have layoffs to make up for those loses, sad but true.
She giggled and agreed.

The paperwork they sent was several pages, and had personal information on it that created a need for us to shred all parts, same with the AARP insurance info.

And we wonder why so many companies are in financial trouble?

Exxon is doing well though...SHOCKER...our gas prices are responsible for that! As if I have to tell anyone. Billions in profits, ugh!
Some brilliant stock brokers are saying that it is a buy!
YEAH for $1000 or more a share, got any spare change?
Depressing.

Picked up lots of healthy foods like veggies, and yogurt and stuff that has little or no guilt attached, and great for snacking.

Next to the pharmacy in the grocery they have one of those sit down and put your arm through blood pressure checkers, and since I still was not taking my blood pressure medicine I decided to try the machine, and guess what?
I was still good, 117/76! TA DA! Again.

Now if the cholesterol numbers will cooperate those med bucks can be put to good use for fun or saving up for maybe a new appliance if need be or even a car someday. Of course with all those other savings from me not smoking or drinking any wine any more!
Now that drinking thing... let me explain it was never a problem, and neither of us did any while raising our sons who are now 32 and 36, but after 9/11 somehow we decided it was good for our aging hearts, and we were both in our fifties by then. I stopped due to the calories, and added expense, and that was the only reason.

Funny thing about those savings...where are they?
Never can seem to find them. LOL

Have a great evening and I will too!
Take care, peace and good night.