Never FORGET!

Don't miss this!

Bulletin: You still have a chance to see Glenn Beck's show on CNNHN tonight. Central time final broadcast is 11:00. This is one of the most powerful shows I have ever seen. It's different and very moving. Don't miss this.....Use your Tivo or whatever device you have, but do not miss this show.

5 years ago today...

I was in my classroom just beginning second period when my principal came to my door and told me that some a-hole (Yes, he did use that terminology) had flown a plane into the WTC. Lots of things went through my mind, none of which were terrorism. I thought of the time just a couple of years prior that I had stood on top of one the WTC buildings and looked in awe at New York City. I thought of my friend who lived there on 86th, but I knew that the WTC was on the opposite end of Manhattan from his apartment. I thought of my cousin's daughter who is a flight attendant for American and flies out of Logan Airport in Boston. School was basically done for that day as no more teaching went on, but lots of TV's were on all day. It didn't take me long to find out that my flight attendant relative was out of the country and my friend in New York was safe.

La-la Land kind of day!

I took one half of a 150MG Deseryl (Trazadone) to help me sleep last night. Not only did I sleep last night, but pretty much all day as well. I have been totally worthless. The yard needs to be mowed, but I am trying to wait until the impending "cold" front comes through tonight and tomorrow. Thursday morning the low is supposed to be 60, so I am waiting for that.

Frogs, Frogs, Frogs....

Since I have turned off the porch light, the frogs have moved to my kitchen window. Now I guess I'll have to turn off kitchen lights as well. When I lived in Texas, I used to get the occasional lizard in my apartment. I finally learned that I could spray wasp spray on the lizard from a long distance and the lizard would die. I tried that on the frogs and they just think they are in the spa getting a good shower. It doesn't faze them. They don't even move!!! What to do!

My dad is not well.......

and he is tired of feeling so bad for no apparent reason. His digestion has basically shut down; he is just pitiful.

I don't like these....

and they are getting on my nerves around my front door. I have killed two today, but two more got away. There was also one in each of my hose boxes where I wind the water hoses up in a box. To me, these don't have any useful purpose. I don't care if they eat bugs. I would rather have the bugs. My front porch light was set to come on at dark, so I guess they were eating bugs all night. I have turned the light off so there won't be any bugs there. Fortunately, I haven't seen even one lizard, which I really hate more than frogs. I'm sure my day is coming when they will find my new home.

While I am on the subject of animals, I have some birds that are pissing me off, too. They are eating from my hummingbird feeder and while they are there, the hummers won't come. I don't understand how any bird, but a hummer could eat through those little holes. These birds have beaks! It's some type of finch just like the picture. I have to run them off so my hummers can feed! I know my hummers are about to embark on a long journey and they need to be tanking up.

Bye, Bye pear preserves!

Mom burned one whole dishpan full of pears. She was sitting right there in the kitchen with them and still let them burn. It is not uncommon for her to go off on another tangent and leave something on the stove, but sitting right there in the room with them is highly unusual.
She also found a filled prescription of Xanax in her purse that Dad is supposed to be taking and two prescriptions that had never been filled! This is a woman who used to never forget anything and had more intelligence than all the rest of us put together! This pains me more than anything to see her losing it mentally!!

More of the same...

Yesterday I went to Mom and Dad's to see how Dad was. He just does not feel well....in fact, he didn't even go to church on Sunday. When I went to my brother's for Sunday lunch, Dad was there, but he could not eat and he just had tears in his eyes. We still don't know what is wrong, but he is slowly being weaned off the last medicine that the doc thinks could be causing him to feel so bad....prednisone. Dad told my mom that he was just in the way and couldn't do anything any more. He soooooo does not want to be a burden to his children. That will never happen. He will have our devotion until the end. It's only fitting after all that man has done for us. Not all fathers deserve that devotion, but this one does. Dad's truck wouldn't start, so Stewart came to see about it, then went to buy a new battery for Dad.

I found Mom up to her eyeballs in pears. She wanted to make some pear preserves, but the pears were so hard, that her apple pealer/corer thingy would not peal them. She was trying to do it by hand with her arthritic hands. She is the type of person that would have tried until midnight if that's what it took to not give up. I pealed all her pears for her and got them cut up so she can make the preserves. That will be the easy part.

Incompetence personified!

Yesterday I went to Dillard's specifically to get my mom and myself some make-up. I have been using Princess Borghese Hydro Minerali Natural Finish for at least 20 years. Now my mom uses it as well. I took the old bottle and specifically told her to make sure it was the correct one because the containers all look the same. When I got home, I looked in the bag and mine was the right kind, but my mom's wasn't. That is $70 worth of make-up and a 60 mile round trip. I took it back today and the lady was very apologetic and gave me a container of their foot cream to help placate me. I told her that I was not a happy camper, so she tried to make me happy. I'm good now!!

Racking up points :)

I went to Mom and Dad's and mowed their yard this morning. It took all morning to do that and I was covered in dirt. The yard is so dry that I had to cover my face and nose with a bandana, looking for all the world like a bandit in the old West. My nose was full of dirt, my hair was full of dirt, and my ears were full of dirt. I just hope I got it all clean.

This afternoon I was on another mission. I needed a hair cut badly, so I went to the mall and waited an hour at Master Cuts before giving up and leaving. As I was going home, I saw a Super Cuts store, so I swung in there and got a hair cut. It is harder to find a new hair dresser that I like than it is to find a doctor. Of course, I haven't found one of those yet, either. Fortunately, I haven't needed one, yet.

Lazy kind of day.....sort of!

Yesterday, I spent the better part of the day taking Mom and Dad to Shreveport for him to see about getting a new hearing aid. Mom forgot her walking cane, so I had to hang on to her any time she had to walk. Fortunately, Dad's appointment went well and he has a new digital hearing aid ordered. That put him in a better mood so he wasn't so hard to be around. Still, it just drains me emotionally to spend a day like that.

So.....today I just chilled. I went downtown and ate lunch at the Blue Moon Java, a unique little coffee house. After lunch I walked down Main Street. It is such a neat little downtown with great potential for unique little shops, but few people are capitalizing on it. The streets are brick and back when all the stores were occupied, my family used to go every Christmas after the stores were closed and window shop because they always had great Christmas decorations in the glassed showcases. The showcased windows are still there....but the stores aren't.

Tonight my brother and sister-in-law dropped by to visit. It's so nice to be close enough for them to do that now. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this place?

My sentiments exactly!!!

Ahhhhh! Retirement!

Your assignment.....

should you accept it is to watch Glenn Beck's television show on CNNHN. I heard his radio show a few times when I was traveling, but he has never been on in my market. When I saw that he was now on TV, I started watching. I don't usually watch anything put out there by CNN, but this one is good. This man is fresh, on target, and really funny! He is on at 6,8 & 11 CST. I only have one issue with him and it is a huge one. He follows a "religion" that just blows my mind!!! I can't see how any intelligent person can believe the stuff this "religion" teaches!!!You can find out which one here.

Whistle while you work kind of day....

It's nearly noon here and the temp is 75 degrees in August.....AWESOME! I had coffee on the patio and have already mowed the yard. Fall flowers are beckoning me, but I know it is too early to plant them.

Dad only spent 24 hours in the hospital and, once again, I was the lucky one that got to experience his monumental impatience while getting checked out of the hospital. It is a mystery to me why in the hell it takes so long to do that, but I am much more patient than he is. The tests showed nothing physically wrong and he felt OK in the hospital, but as soon as he got home he didn't feel good again and didn't want to eat. He is off all the meds that doc thought were causing the symptoms. I just pray that he improves. I don't know how my mom lives with him!!! She is the most patient woman in the world. Today is one year since her triple by-pass and she has never recovered from it.

Here we go again...

Tonight my dad was put in the hospital. We don't know what's wrong, but the doc suspects it may be medication related (as in too much). Dad just doesn't feel well...so much so that he didn't want to live. He is in the local hospital right here in my town, so it will be much easier on all of us, especially Mom. He had lost 10 pounds since he was weighed at the doctor's office just a short time ago. He had an EKG tonight which was normal. I guess they'll nail it down by the process of elimination.

Passing thoughts...in other words..I got nuthin'

Tomorrow's Sunday School lesson is on Love and Marriage......I'm sleeping in.....don't need it!

Starbuck's Frappuccinno: Am I the last one on the planet to discover this nectar of the gods?

She is just so cute. I could watch her all day....personality galore! Food Network has all New Orleans stuff tonight since the focus is once again on Katrina...one year post Katrina. Of course, her shows are pre-Katrina. Some of the places she features are no longer there. :(

Praise God!

WE finally got some rain. We are in a major drought here and all the plants are suffering from the heat and drought. Yesterday, I got .5 inches and today I got .5...both combined with clouds and not so hot may save some plants. For the first time in my life, I am having to pay a water bill and even with restricted watering, it hurts. I refuse to let my grass die. I worked too hard to get it weed free, ant free and lush.

Today I sucked it up and went to a little fellow's baseball game. I knew the heat would be oppressive, but his mother had brought a canopy to protect us from the sun and it also rained. Those kids were so hot, they just played on in the rain and we were not miserable watching them.

My take on global warming.....

It's BS! The record temperature for this date in this area was 103 in........1899!