sorry

blogger keeps losing my posts! WTH!

Sorry

I had a post all done and when I hit publish it disappeared. Blogger has changed stuff that was working fine. Why do they keep changing things when they aren't broken? GRRRR!

Missing in Action!

Didn't realize I had been away so long. The routine was the same up until Sunday. We knew on Saturday that something was wrong with mom, but my brother called me Sunday morning and said something was even more wrong now. I went on to her house and called Home Health. The nurse told us to get her to the hospital. We did and found that she had a UTI again. Second time since she has been home. She is now in the hospital getting IV antibiotics. She has really gone downhill physically. Yesterday, the PT couldn't get her past the door of her room when she tried to walk her. Today she got a tiny bit further, but every step was a struggle. My brother and I had her walking outside on her driveway before this setback. We are hoping her doctor will ask for a few days in the rehab unit of the hospital before he releases her to go back home. The hospital is here in my town, so I go there every morning and stay until my brother gets there after lunch. Then I get a break to get some lunch and go home a few hours before I go back and stay with her until about 8. She sleeps most of the time. She sits in a chair most of the time while my brother is with her..

AS if we didn't have enough stuff break already, Mom's car quit on the way to the hospital. We have to have it towed to be repaired tomorrow. We also had to dig up the septic system again because the caregiver continued to put the moistened wipes in the toilet even after we put a big sign on them to not flush and told her specifically not to flush them. Well, she won't be disregarding our requests anymore. I took the damn things away. I tried to make it convenient for them, but if they abuse it....OH WELL! I should have told her that it costs money every time we have to fix the sewer and when Mom's money runs out.....SO DOES HER JOB!

Happy New Year!

Today I decided that after Sunday School, I would go to my family's church and spend the last Sunday of the year with them. I have not been to their church since Father's Day. I go every Sunday after my church to my brother's house for lunch. His wife even made lunch for us today and she was home sick from church. She's also making cabbage and black eyed peas for lunch tomorrow. Got to have at least a chance of health and wealth in the next year. I'm not taking a chance on there being no truth to that custom.

WOOOHOOOO!

Saddam is DEAD!!!! Hell is waiting!!!

Rules for 2007

Update: OK, I did finally go to snopes.com and these are the same as last year and George Carlin didn't write them. I don't like to pass on false information. Damn!! Foiled again!!!

You have to go here to read George Carlin's Rules for 2007. They are hilarious and very true! I don't know if these are really his. I didn't bother to snope.com it because I like it.... no matter who wrote it!!

All Hatches battened down..

The storm that sent President and Mrs. Bush and their pups to an armored vehicle is on its way here. We have been warned for late tonight and tomorrow morning. I don't have an armored vehicle, but I have one with $500 worth of new stuff in it. Any chance that might work as well? I still got no mowing done, but I did get some things done that I have been putting off, one being to open my "monopoly money" savings account. I have always had an account for just my playthings or travel until I moved here. I have a very expensive trip coming up in October, so I decided now is the time to start a new one. My friend's son is getting married at Mount Vernon.....yes, that would be George Washington's actual home on the Potomac in Northern Virginia. I have been to Mount Vernon and it will be the perfect setting for his wedding. Wedding guests will be in a hotel in Olde Towne Alexandria, Virginia. Everything in Olde Towne is very expensive and this won't be any Motel 6. Fortunately, I have a cousin in the area that owns a home in Olde Towne Alexandria. They have been restoring it for several years and it is near completion. I just might be able to con a few nights out of them. They only use it when they go into the city for hockey games or other events.

My pace has slowed to a crawl....

I think I am just lazy. I haven't done anything physical for a month. The rye grass is all green and pretty and tall, but I don't care. I like it. I thought I was going to mow it today, but I didn't. I went to my doctor appointment, then to get some things for Mom at the store. I took them to her and meant to work when I got home, but it didn't happen. I still have paver sand and pavers that I need to put down in the back yard. The Christmas stuff needs to be put away. I need to work on Frosty because I don't want to take him back to that store. Instead, I piled up on the bed and started watching the Independence Bowl, which is being played nearby in Shreveport. Maybe tomorrow I will get motivated!!!!

Bye, bye Santa!

The service department of the local Lincoln dealer took $200 more of my Christmas gift this morning. I guess I should be glad to catch this transmission problem before the transmission went kaput. On my last Lincoln the engine went kaput at 140,000 miles. No way I can have a new house and a new Lincoln....not gonna happen!!!

I don't need this!!!!

Yesterday morning my car would not run. It would start, but it would not run. It took forever to get it warmed up enough to run. Same thing happened today. On my way home yesterday the "service engine soon" light came on, so today I took it to the dealership for diagnosis. It was some kind of valve that wasn't working properly. $225 dollars later, it works! I also, just on a whim, told him about a noise I had been hearing and he knew EXACTLY what it was. The transmission needs to be serviced. I doubt that it ever has been and it has 102,000 miles on it. Tomorrow I will drop another $150 to have that done. Thanks, Santa, for paying for my car repairs. I was hoping to buy something nice for me, but MAYBE NOT!!!!!

Oh NO!

I walked out in the back yard and found a big surprise. I have some shelving out there that I use to put plants on that have died (still hoping they will come back out in the spring). I also keep flower pots there that I have planted bulbs in. The pots that I planted just two weeks ago are coming up!!! We had a freeze last night and another tonight, so I had to move them in the garage. One of them has various bulbs in it that I wanted to be ready to bloom on March 10th, my sister-in-law's birthday. Well, I don't think it is going to take that long!! I guess I planted them too shallow.

It's over....

I guess the fat lady sang and Christmas 2006 is over for our family. It was wonderful and too much food was consumed by me and others!!! Blood sugar has still been an issue with me, but Thursday I have a doc appointment and hope to get my meds increased or another med added. Every time I have eaten anything lately, it has gone over 200. Yesterday I had a whopper Jr. and a few fries and the reading was 257. A few weeks ago, that would not have happened. I eat Whopper, Jr. and fries often. Today, it was 222 two hours after eating and I didn't even eat bread or dessert. Of course, the dressing was corn bread and the salads I ate a few bites of were sugared salads......and peas and corn......OK, it was all CARBS!!!! No damn wonder it was 222!!!!

My dear, sweet mother insisted on going back to the old traditions that we had to abandon last year because of her health. She cooked her famous dressing and we ate at her house. Our friends came just like they always do. Every ounce of dressing was consumed. Mom also made some sweet salads, a pie, peas and corn. We told her to just make dressing. We would do the rest. She doesn't listen well, but I am thankful that she can still do what she did at 81. I left at 3 after cleaning her kitchen, so I hope she took a nap. I know she needed to rest. I am so thankful to have her for a mother. She's the BEST!

Merry Christmas!

Constructive day....

I am still in my lounging flannels and never left the house today. The only thing I have done is make one batch of fudge and the best pralines that I have ever made. I have boxed them all up in beautiful tins for our friends that we always share Christmas Eve with and for my brother and sister-in-law. I'm thinking I will make another batch of pralines tomorrow to take to their house for Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow night. I also have to make the same dish of potatoes that I made for Thanksgiving. I guess it was a hit! I have taken so many naps today that if I can't sleep when it is actually time to sleep, I may make the pralines tonight.

Tomorrow we have only a worship service at 9:30, so there will be plenty of time for people to be with family and cook. I will go to candlelight service at my old church with my family at 5:30 tomorrow night, then go to my brother's for Christmas Eve with two other families.

High on the Hog....

I never really knew what that meant, but I think I might now! Before Thanksgiving I went to a place called the Hamlet in Shreveport and ordered two half hams for Christmas...one for my parents and one for my brother. I never asked how much they would be because.....well.....how bad could it be. It's a ham, for goodness sake!! Those hams cost me $96.00!!!! My brother told me they passed by that place yesterday and wished they had one of those hams. Now they do! He said it is delicious. It BETTER be!

Frosty died again!

Frosty is pissing me off!!! The exact same lights blew again! I'm no electrician, but I know THAT is not caused by a surge!!! I hate to go back to that place, but I guess I will!

Boneheaded decision....

I made the boneheaded tactical error today of going to Shreveport to take Frosty back to the place where I bought him to get him fixed. I put him out and went to eat and run a few errands. 99 % of my time was just sitting in traffic. When I went to pick up Frosty, the same guy that told me to bring him in yesterday and let him fix him was not there. They tried to charge me to replace all those bulbs. That would have been fine except that he is brand new and has only been running about three weeks. The guy last night told me they would make it right if I bought him this season. Today the owner told me that lots of bulbs were shot because of a power surge. No one told me that Frosty should be plugged into a surge protector or that rain could cause this. He's Frosty, for goodness sake! He lives outside!!! WTH!!!! I offered to pay, but he knew I wouldn't be a happy customer so he didn't take it.

Christmas past!

Today was a bonanza day for Christmas cards with 7 being left in my mailbox. One of them brought back such fond memories of going skiing each year after Christmas. Those were wonderful times. I just love being in the snow and the mountains.....skiing.....not so much anymore! Those are memories and people that I will cherish forever. I have all our group shots hanging in my garage right now. Many people of Southern climates don't enjoy the cold weather at the ski resorts, but I absolutely loved it. We spent many a New Year's Eve in the mountains. It's the most beautiful place to be for fireworks, but alcohol does a number on us sea level creatures!

Deer in the headlights..

While we were out in the subdivisions near my house, we saw nine deer out grazing. It was killing my brother because he sits out in the woods waiting for his deer to come. Here they are just out among the houses. We moved into their territory and they aren't leaving. Why should they? They have it made out around all those beautiful houses. No one can shoot out there.

One more down...

Tonight my dad took all of us out for steaks at a new restaurant. Then we drove around my little town and looked at the Christmas lights. They are so beautiful all over town. Earlier today I met Mom and Dad at Wal-Mart and helped her get her groceries. While we were there, Dad told me they were giving us another significant amount of money after the first of the year. They have already maxed out what they can give us this year without our having to pay taxes on it. They have the mindset that there is nothing they need and there is no reason for their money to sit in a bank and wait for them to die for us to get it. They want to be able to see us enjoy some of the money. If more parents would be that way, then there would be less to have to deal with through the legal system when they are gone. Yeah.....I'm down with that!!!

Christmas Party..

I can't even remember the last time that I went to a party that was alcohol-free. This was my Sunday School Class's party. It was at an awesome house and fun. We did one of those pass the ornament games and I ended up with one ugly ornament. Even if I had a tree, this thing would not be on it. It is downright scary!!! And it is HUGE!!! WE are talking 12 inches long!

Email is fixed...

When I called customer service this morning, they had instructions recorded as to how to fix outgoing mail. All it took was a check mark in a box that I didn't have checked to fix it. I should have called Saturday!!!

Frosty is half dead....

My only Christmas decoration is failing. He has only been lit up about 3 weeks and a bunch of his bulbs are now not burning. I tried using the extra bulbs that came with him, but have been unable to get him all lit up. I finally went and bought a little string of white lights that I was just going to add to him, but when I got home I read on the box that they are inside lights. I can't find replacement bulbs for the originals. The directions say to replace only with 3.5 v bulbs. The only ones I can find are 2.5!

Email gremlins again....

I never had a problem with anything as long as the company was Cox, but since Suddenlink bought them out, the gremlins are out. I get more spam, I can't get my newsreader to work (even though they said it wouldn't be affected), and twice this week I have been unable to send emails. I can receive, but not send!! And of course, like every other company on the planet, tech help is in INDIA!!! Nothing annoys me more than trying to understand the foreigner on the other end. GRRRRR!!!

Fallen Soldier

My brother and his wife are at a funeral right now of a local fallen soldier....21 years old, brand new baby, which he got to see on leave just two weeks ago. I am so ready for this war to be over. I believe we did the right thing in the beginning, but this just needs to be over. I hope with Rumsfeld gone, it can come to an acceptable conclusion.There will never be peace in that part of the world. Let's just let them deal with it now!!!

Day's work done!!!

I went to Mom and Dad's this morning to work in their yard. Before I did that, I picked some collard greens for Mom to cook. I mulched most of the leaves before lunch, then my brother and sister-in-law came and ate collards with us. I sent Mom to go lie down and I finished up their yard. When I finish doing that, I am covered with dirt! I had to come home and take a shower before I can do anything else....in fact, I don't think I'll do anything else!!!! Just chill the rest of the day.

Oooops!

My ladies didn't have their regular lunch get together today. Now I have all this candy all over the kitchen. I took some of it to my 90 year old aunt tonight. Her assisted living facility has a candlelight dinner every Christmas and she gets to invite 3 people. I was one of her guests.

Twice in the last two days, I tried to drive down Main Street, but it was blocked off. Once again they are using it to film some scenes in a movie. This movie is Blonde Ambition with Jessica Simpson and Willie Nelson. Shreveport is becoming the Southern Hollywood, so all the little towns around get some of the action.

Incompetence!!!

I took my new outfit that I bought for the Mardi Gras Ball out of the plastic today and found the theft device still on it. Now I have to take it back and get them to take it off because my taking it off will put ink all over it!

Brain storm.....

Yes, I had one, so shut up...all of you! There is ONE thing that I can do really, really well.....unfortunately, it is make candy! Last night I decided that I should make candy and put it in little decorative tins for all the ladies that really took me in here... the ones that I go to lunch with on Thursdays. I made fudge this morning, then went to purchase the tins and finish my Christmas shopping in Shreveport. When I got back, I made pralines. Now these pralines are to die for. I usually have to make them a couple of times each Christmas (the only time I make them) before I perfect them. Tonight the first batch got dropped too early and didn't set up perfectly like they must be to give to others. Soooooo.....I made batch #2....PERFECTO! There is a secret to my success in making awesome candies. It is to toast the pecans with butter and salt before putting them in the candy!!! This is easily done in the microwave in about 5 minutes. Just move on over, Paula Deen! I bet she doesn't know this secret. She doesn't even pronounce pecans right...she calls them peeee-cans! WTH...the woman is from Georgia, the pecan capital of the world!!!

Slug infestation!

We had 3 inches of rain last night and the weather is warm (air-conditioner is back on). When I walked out to get the paper this morning, there were 100's and this is NOT an exaggeration of slugs on my sidewalk to the front door, on the front door, on the patio in the back, and all over the driveway. It was hard to walk up the driveway to the mailbox without stepping on one. There just doesn't seem to be an easy solution. The Bug-geta doesn't work; beer doesn't work. Salt does work, but I had to put it on everyone of the little suckers. They are hermaphroditic, so if even one is left, the problem remains. They don't have to mate to continue the species.

The Year Without a Santa Claus

I watched this movie tonight, as lame as it was, only because it was filmed here in the area this past summer. There were stories on TV every night during filming asking for extras to come to Natchitoches and bring their winter coats! It was 100 degrees and the actors were suffering and their makeup was falling off. The scenes look pretty silly. Natchitoches has a massive Christmas Festival, which is the reason the film company chose it as their location.They set it all up in July. Why would anyone try to film a Christmas film in Louisiana in mid summer???

Yet another Mission Accomplished!

Christmas cards are done! I started on 12-3-06 working on my cards. First, I ran out of cards, then ran out of stamps. I won't mail them until they are all finished. I do all this on the computer and write a personalized message in each card via computer. It is time intensive, but I enjoy doing it. It makes me have to stop and think about every person that is getting a card from me. I like that! I have awesome friends and all of them live nowhere near me! I also love getting Christmas cards. Today I got four and that made me smile. That's the whole purpose, isn't it!!

Mission Accomplished!

After spending the morning going to Mom's to pick her some turnip greens and to my brother's to see his deer he killed this morning, I was on a mission to find something to wear to the Mardi Gras Ball in January. I found exactly what I had in mind and the kicker is that it was DEEPLY DISCOUNTED! On top of that, I only had to go to ONE store! HELLO>>>>>that never happens to me! I still have to find a mask, but my outfit is black and gold, so finding a mask to match that in Louisiana, the home of Mardi Gras, shouldn't be a problem closer to Mardi Gras.

That made me so happy that I went by the casino and ate their buffet. I was careful to eat mostly protein, so I could have dessert. It worked! I took my meds before I left and the big bowl of bread pudding with some ice cream didn't do a number on my blood sugar! That made me happy, too!

WooHooo!!!...but NO, I didn't pay attention!

You paid attention during 86% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

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I had to look up "autodidact" !

Blood Sugar Issues....what in the world!!!

The last week I have been having higher than normal BG readings. Several mornings it was in the 140's and went to 160 after a cup of coffee with no carbs in it. I load my coffee up but it is all with sugar free stuff. Since I have been very aware of this issue lately, I have tried to be very careful. Today I went to lunch with the ladies and ALL I had to eat was some guacomole and chips and when I got home my BG was 221. There are zero carbs in guac, so that came strictly from the chips....and not that many of them!!That is just highly unusual. I have been on the same dosage of the same med since diagnosis 4 years ago and I do know this is a progressive disease, so I'm thinking it must be time to up the dosage, but I don't see my doc until after Christmas. I used to be able to eat anything at night and not have a BG reaction, but tonight I put it to the test. I ate 2 1/2 pieces of pizza and after one hour, it was 196. Right now, 2 1/2 hours later, it is still at 185. Something is just not right here. I even tried a new canister of test strips. I have been stuck way too much with that lancet!!!

My sunset a few nights ago!

I saw a red light shining on my bedroom windows and when I went outside to see what it was, this is what I saw!

Frustrating Day!!!

My email server has been down since after 9:30 last night. I have called a couple of times, but I'm not getting many answers. Seems there is trouble while they are trying to switch the servers from Cox to Suddenlink. One would think they would have everything ready before they lost the current servers!

I ran out of Christmas cards until I go buy some more, so I couldn't work on them today. Since I couldn't do that, I took the opportunity of a fairly warm day in between two cold fronts to put the pine straw out in the flower beds, plant some purple kale that I had since Saturday, and plant the rest of my bulbs in pots. I'm hoping for some beautiful pots in a few months. Basically, I have just been mostly lazy and cold today. I piled up on my bed and watched a Lifetime movie, which is something I rarely ever do. It was a great movie though, A Dad for Christmas. It made me cry, but it was a happy movie! I'm just a WUSS!!!!

Semi-shopping

I have to find something to wear to a Mardi Gras Ball, but I hate shopping for such items. I swung by Dillard's today to see what they had, but I didn't find anything I liked. I also managed to swing by a gas station, Home Depot, a nursery for some pine straw, and the grocery store without dropping a huge amount of money. I have been spending way too much and it has to stop.....unless, of course, I hit the jackpot at Christmas. Doubt that will happen this year. I just need to get a grip and stop spending needlessly.




When I looked at the WeatherBug on my computer this morning, it said 21 degrees. This temp is from Barksdale Air Force Base, which is 20 miles from me. Tonight is supposed to be even colder, but that's fine with me. I like to go out on the patio and just absorb it, then come in and get under my warming blanket! I know....I'm weird that way!!