Starting the garden!

Tonight is supposed to be 19 degrees, the coldest night of the year so far. Earlier this week, Dad bought one of those seed starter domes and gave it to me along with some watermelon seeds for me to plant in it and get us some plants started. I did that today and planted some cucumber seeds as well just because I love cucumbers and want to have them as early as possible. I put the dome on and put it in the garage, but realizing how cold it is going to be tonight (even in an enclosed garage) I put a heating pad under a towel and set the planter on it. The seeds won't germinate unless they are warm. I hope I don't fry them!!!

Mission Semi-Accomplished

Queen Elizabeth
Mister Lincoln
Angel Face
Sunsprite
Well, I at least got them bought. It's too freakin' cold to plant them. I froze just looking at them in the Garden Center.

WooHoo!

Finding a dentist was the last thing on my list to do, but today I went to a new dentist and I think I'll keep him. I had my dentist in Texas for 30 years, so it's hard to change. The new doc did all the preliminary inspections and x-rays and said I have none of the age related maladies that are usually occurring by now...no gum disease and the bones of a teenager!! I have had a broken tooth for over a year, but it will get crowned on Monday to the tune of $600. A distant cousin is his hygienist and she did a good job of cleaning my teeth. I guess there just never comes a time that there isn't something or someone demanding my money!!! It's always something!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Earth moved!

Under my house, that is! I have a hairline break in the tile across my dining area. No one can see it but me. My brother came last night to look at it and we found the crack in the concrete in the garage that just comes right through the dining room. I thought that since the ground is hard red clay, the house would be stable. My brother said that is the worst kind for foundations because the clay shrinks and swells with moisture. We have had enough rain to get us out of a drought, so the clay has filled with water and cracked my foundation. It may not get any worse. I will just watch it and see what happens. I am so proud of my house that I notice every little imperfection. This one, however, could turn into a major imperfection!!!

No Roses Yet!

I had to go help Mom and Dad get their groceries at Wal Mart today, so my day didn't go as I had planned. I did look at some rose plants at Wal Mart, but didn't buy any yet. When I finally did get a chance to work in the yard, it started raining. My priorities lie with my parents, so whatever their needs are comes first. There's plenty of time to plant roses.

Mission completed....

Well, except the part about buying and planting the roses. The perfect bed awaits them complete with sand for drainage, cow manure mixed with the sand for fertilizer, and very expensive Miracle Gro potting soil. Those flowers better GROW and BLOOM! I have a gift certificate to a nursery that I have kept since my birthday, so I will go there and spend it on roses Monday.

One year ago....

TODAY, I made the huge move from Texas to Louisiana. The transition has been very smooth and I am very happy here. There are days that I just walk around this house saying outloud to myself, "I can't believe this house is mine!" I did nothing today to mark the occasion, but hang around home and enjoy it in my warm flannels. It's been 37 degrees all day. I went to Mom and Dad's yesterday so I could stay home today.

Thank Goodness!!!

The Pentagon finally grew a pair and denied Nancy Pelosi's extravagant request for a huge plane to carry her and her family around. That is a gross misuse of my measly little tax dollars. She knew when she ran for office that travel back and forth between SanFran and D.C. would be necessary. Just because she is now the Speaker, in my opinion, doesn't require a plane with 16 crew members as she was requesting!! PUUUULLLEEEZZE!!!! I DON'T LIKE HER!!!

Finally!

OK..I'm not going to jail and losing my home. My taxes finally got paid on the correct property parcel. Even though they didn't actually get paid on time in 2006, they did get claimed on my income taxes! While I was dealing with my insurance issues yesterday, I asked to be sure my house insurance had been paid. It had....now I can relax for a while, I hope!!! At least until some other mortal screws up!

Mission NOT Accomplished!

All those things I was going to do to my rose bed today didn't happen! However, my income tax got done....not by me...but it got done to my satisfaction. I always do my own, but for some reason, I just couldn't do it this year. It cost me $130 at H&R Block, but I am getting a $300 refund. She asked me if I wanted to do my state taxes as well. Uh! NO! I came here from Texas where there was NO income tax. My broker told me that he didn't think I had to pay state taxes because none of my income is from Louisiana. I asked the lady today about it and she thought that was right, but she was about to ask someone else to know for sure. I asked her to not ask! I like the "don't ask, don't tell" rule!

Mini-rants...

The word is jewel-ry! It is not jew-le-ry! Please get it right. Jew-ry has to do with Jews, so don't say that either!! It's Valentine's and the ad agencies seem to always hire goof balls who don't know how to say the word. If you can't say it right, just call it "BLING"!!!



While I'm at it, DO NOT DRIVE IN THE PASSING LANE (That would be the left lane for you pinheads) on the Interstate or any other four lane road!! That causes ROAD RAGE even in demure, shy, calm little me! SHUT UP!



And it is NOT Wal-Marts.....It is WAL MART! No "s"!!!
I feel better now! Thanks!

INCOMPETENCE IS RAMPANT!

I have ranted about this before, but nothing ruffles my feathers more. I have spent two days trying to straighten out a mistake made by an employee of Farmer's Insurance. I pay my bills using epay from my bank. My last payment in January got credited to some else's account at Farmer's. All the info from my end was correct. When I got my bill yesterday, it showed that I didn't pay last month. I immediately got on line because, yes, that indeed could happen, but it didn't!!! I had to print out the proof that I paid and take it to my local office so they could fax it to the moron's who goofed up!!! It's always something!!!!

Daddy Day

My brother has been gone on vacation for about a week. He goes to Mom and Dad's EVERY morning and has breakfast, so they really miss him when he is gone. Today I went and got Dad and his truck and took him to the bank, then to the car wash, then to Lowe's to get the stuff for me to build my rose bed. I knew he was so tired of sitting at home doing nothing and not getting to see my brother as well. I also knew Mom could use some time alone. I bought brick edgers and have begun my rose bed. I have the landscaping in my head, but I cannot believe how little I can do without having to sit down and rest. Just a couple or 3 months of doing practically nothing and I am dreadfully out of shape. It's OK....I'll just do as much as I can each day, but I am impatient about getting it done. I will have room for about 5 roses and I want them to be the good roses. The stores have them out now ready to buy. I got the edges done today. Tomorrow I will go get sand and put sand in the bottom of the bed, then I will top that with Miracle Gro potting soil, plant the roses, and then put mulch all around them. It will be beautiful!!! I HOPE!

I'm a loser!

Yes, that's right! I lost every drawing in the St. Jude auction, but they raised 756,000 dollars. That is just a miracle for a town this small. One woman had her name pulled on four...count them....four of the prizes. Unbelievable! I hope she went to the boats and played the slots after the auction. Her luck was definitely on!!

A fitting end....

to a sad day! This morning I attended a funeral making sure that Mom and Dad got there and back to their house. Early afternoon I was at a different cemetery at a little ceremony to put a DAR emblem on my cousin's headstone. At five o'clock we went to the local Mardi Gras parade. My cousin and her three grown children were here from Virginia to attend the funeral ( her mother-in-law and their grandmother). We decided we would check out the Mardi Gras parade to try to lift the spirits after this sad day. It worked. We had fun and they will be boarding a plane at 4:30 A.M. to go back to Virginia. It was their dad's mother who died. He was not quite as enthusiastic about a parade as we were. He took the opportunity to have some quiet time before going back to Virginia. If I had just buried my mother, I wouldn't be going to any parade either!!!

St. Jude Auction

My little town is famous for its contributions to St. Jude. There have been lots of children here who have benefited from St. Jude. This weekend they are having an auction with lots of awesome stuff to buy a chance on. I have already bought my $100 ticket for the grand prize of a Denali worth 49,000. Today I bought more chances on more stuff.

• Toro zero turn mower
• $1000 shopping spree from Dillard's
• Club car
• $500 Best Buy gift card
• 1 year golf membership
• $1500 lawncare/irrigation/landscape
• Nordic Track Elliptical
• 4 wheeler Arctic Cat

For a total of $165 I have bought chances on all these things. I'm probably not finished yet. St. Jude is my favorite charity. Last year they raised nearly $700,000, but there was a very sick little boy last year. He didn't make it, but there are others who need help from here.

4 down.....gazillions to go!

Here's the proof....as gross as it may be..it's a fact of my life! This one is definitely not a toddler! I'm tired of wasting my Jif on these detestable creatures.

3 down....? to go!

Yet another toddler with his tail caught in my trap succumbed today. This is totally getting ridiculous. I guess it's fairly obvious that I am obsessed with these damn rodents. I am so afraid they will somehow get inside. I have no idea how, but I know they are resourceful!!

2 down...? to go!

This one was right by my front door. I have not seen any there! It was a toddler mouse that was in a corner dead. I've been back to the store for more bait. Now I am finding trails in my tall rye grass where they have apparently been running for a while. This is getting on my freakin' nerves.

Yep...it's official...

I'm a moron! I went to the bank this morning all ready to cancel my ATM card and order a new one. I can't live without my ATM. They checked with someone in the back office and my card had been retrieved from inside the machine. I guess I left after I got my money and after a little while, the machine eats the card. Thank goodness it did that before some unsavory character came along and wiped out my account. I'm sure there is a limit as to how much cash can be taken at one time, but I didn't lose any. I have been using these cards for 20 years and I have never ever done that!!!

Party Animal.....

Yep...that's me! Some of you knew me when that really was true.....but now.....NOT SO MUCH! Tonight was yet another celebration of various birthdays at Monjuni's in Bossier City. We had 11 people and I know all the other patrons were glad when we left. We had fun and it was sort of loud fun!!

I have lost my mind......

AND MY ATM CARD!!!! I last used it on Thursday at the ATM and I have looked everywhere. My bet is that I left it in the ATM machine. I'll be going to the bank Monday morning!!

1 down.....? to go!

I found a dead mouse out in their playland today. This one was bordering on being a RAT! He was big. Here's the kicker.....he was lying beside the tripped trap. The trap did not get him. I guess he had a heart attack!!!

Masquerade Bal'

Last night was the Mardi Gras Bal' and I must say it was really fun. I can say that even though I didn't know a whole lot of people there. I did know some and some of them I was surprised to see there. Having never been to a Mardi Gras Bal' before, this was all a new experience for me. It was very elaborate and well designed. There was a photographer there to take professional pictures, but I didn't avail myself of that. I don't need a picture of myself!!!

They're BACK!

Once again I am on a mission and a battle with the mice. Just a couple of days ago I saw one on the opposite end of the house (outside) from the ones I had before. Then I went to the original place that I fought the battle and saw two more. I HATE MICE! I went to the store and got everything I could find that is for killing mice. I am just no good with the traps. I can't set them and make them stay. The 3 that I was able to sit down on the ground without tripping them didn't catch anything, but they were all tripped. I WILL WIN!!!!! It's ON NOW!

Flashback to the 80's!

I spent all day today at a hotel ballroom helping the Queen of the Mardi Gras decorate her tables. She has seven tables with ten chairs at each one. All the royalty has different tables and each royalty member decorates his/her tables differently. Trust me...these tables are all very elaborate. The King is using Superman as his theme and on each table he has replicas of the Empire State building with fiber optic lights inside them. Wow....the flashback was to all those proms that I was in charge of in the 80's. They were fun to do and this was, too!

No worries!

All that worrying I was doing about blood work was all for nothing. I got the results of the second round of tests today and all was in the normal range. We don't know what was the deal with the previous tests. They still didn't do my HbA1C test, which is the 3 month average for blood sugar. I know the girl marked it on the form, but the lab results said no vial with a purple top was received, so the test wasn't done. The girl in the office said it wasn't supposed to be the purple topped vial, but the tiger top!! Who knew all those vials had different meanings!! Not me!!

Mardi Gras

I went here to learn about the Krewe whose Bal' I will be attending this weekend. I am still mulling over whether or not I want to join the Krewe. Their parade is next Saturday, so maybe after attending their Bal' and the parade, I can make up my mind. I have already attended their Cochon du lait (pig roasting) and their Halloween costume party and both of those were fun. All the people that I have met attending these functions are fun people, but, hey, it's Mardi Gras loving people which means FUN!

Hollywood South?

Making movies is a topic covered incessantly by the media here. The reason is that this area really is being used a lot for filming. Shreveport has built a big soundstage with all the amenities to entice filmmakers. Before the storm, New Orleans was a frequent destination for the industry. Since I have been here (almost one year), three times Main Street has been blocked off for filming. We do have a very neat, old-fashioned Main Street and, yes, Main Street is the name of the street. Yesterday they were filming in front (or inside) of the oldest Western Auto in Louisiana. It's a hardware type store. The day before they were filming at the library. Tom Sizemore is starring in this film. A couple of weeks ago Jessica Simpson was filming here, along with Willie Nelson. One of these days, I am going to go down and watch the procedure. Lots of people were standing around watching yesterday. I think it would be interesting and then to go see the movie when it comes out.