WOW!!!

Today's high temperature was: 18 degrees

Sunny and bright--again :-)

==================================

The bad weather on the east coast--I heard at one time this afternoon, cars were traveling at 80 feet an hour!  I think that was in North Carolina--near Charlotte.  OHMYGOSH--can you even imagine being in something like that?
================================
I also heard on our weather, that the Great Lakes are 80% frozen over, which hasn't happened in quite a few decades.  Nestled here in The Mitten, surrounded by those wonderful lakes, means that we will have a moderate, cool summer--to which I say YAY--because I cannot tolerate the hot and humid we get in July and August.
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I just don't know what to say about Atlanta Mayor, Ray Nagin.  He reminds me of Detroit's Kwame Kilpatrick.  How can they steal from the city they have been voted into and promised to help?  ROTTEN!!  I hope they both are in prison for a very long time!
=======================
So here it is, 10:00 p.m. EST.  I am just stunned at the response from you.  Each comment shows up in my e-mail and every time I checked today--there was another one.  I am really so thankful to all of you.

Tickled to pieces I have a reader from Los Angeles, where my oldest grand child now lives--thanks Debra!  I think you are a widow too?  Jump in anytime and leave a helpful widowhood comment to help the rest of us.

Ann, from Illinois--you didn't say what city, but you did mention that you are on your 7th month of this widowhood journey.  The first year is tough--just trying to move along and survive--still having the "foggy brain" most of the time.  Having to "celebrate" all the Firsts alone--those holidays, birthday and anniversary--it is really, really hard!!  You've heard me say, the second  year is harder--I think it is.  That's when the unwelcome guest REALITY comes to call and stays!  I guess, also in the 2nd year, you start to realize that "this is it", this is the new life I have to live, NOW, how am I going to make the rest of my life half-way decent and happy.  Like the title of this blog--you just have to keep moving forward--it will all work out (I think.)

Cari--HI--Sun City,AZ--watch out for those Haboobs!!  

Carly--in Winnipeg, Manitoba--I also have a reader named Joan from there--although she did not comment today.  You have more snow then we do!!  

Carrie--from Portland, Maine? Did you know that when settlers from Portland, Maine moved west to Oregon, they named their new town Portland also--they loved the name so much.  I love your State!!

Margie--from Arkansas--can you believe, I have never been in Arkansas!!! You have been visiting me all this time and...I never knew!

Mitzi--from Hamilton, Michigan--had to look it up on the map--over there by Grand Rapids and Holland--yes, you do get so much more snow--more often--then we do--from the Lake Michigan effect, LOL.  

Nancy--my third child Karen and her hubby, moved from Michigan State University to Minneapolis where he got his Master's at University of Minnesota and she taught in Forest Lake.  Talk about snow!!! and having to have your car plugged in overnight to keep the engine warm.  WOW. 

 Vickie--from Oklahoma City, OK.  If I had known last summer, I would have been praying for and worrying about you during all the tornadoes.  One of my dearest friends 3 daughters live there. 

Charlotte--wasn't there a song about taking the last train to Clarksville?  LOL.  Glad I can entertain you--yes, Ernestine has great wisdom and helps guide me along this life path. 

Judy--our snow bird--I also have another reader who is a cruiser.  Empress Bee--or Muffin over on my side bar.

Cheyenne--what do you think about Keselowski's recent comments and taking pix while driving?  He's a Michigan boy.

...and then, there is my Chrissy, from Stressa Piemonte, Italy--who can't comment because....well, I don't know why.  She's an Army wife, so maybe it's a security thingie.  HAH!!!

WELCOME--all my lurkers!!  Being a Lurker is not a bad thing--not on a blog anyway!!  If you were lurking and skulking around outside, hiding in the woods and spying on me, I might take offense, but on my blog, it's okay with me.  No one HAS to comment or even leave  your name. <but I love when you do>

BUT

who are my visitor's from Portland, OR, Bellingham, WA Cambridge, Ontario, Richmond, VA and Owatonna, MN?  Such a mystery.  Maybe they will become less shy and let me know?  I also have a reader from Pinegrove, PA, who just may be my Dear Friend, Judy Frey, whose husband died less than 12 hours after Fred.  See--I am already going nutz wondering.

To the rest of my "known" readers--thanks so much.  Your comments make life a lot better for me--just in the very fact that SOMEONE out there cares that I am alive!!! :-)

.=========================
What did I do today?  Besides checking my e-mails all day to find you?  

 When I first woke up--

can you see all the sparkly diamonds scattered on my front lawn?

and I checked my pulse

The oxygen is great, but a good pulse rate

is between 60-80.

then I took out my garbage and wanted to show

you the snow piles--over 6 feet high

Oh yes--the path I take around my front porch

to get to the bird feeders.  I cling to the porch

slats on my journey!!

I hope I never have to vacate my wee home

via the back door!!

Thanks again everyone--this was fun!!!!!

~~There Will Be A Test Later~~

Today's high temperature was: 20

Sunny

======================================

It was the crack of dawn--well, 8:00, and the phone woke me up.  It was Dar.

"Is your power out?" I could hear the panic in her voice.
"Let me check."  I looked at my clock.  "No--everything seems to be working here."
"My power just went out...in the whole house!"
I got up and looked out the window to make sure her place wasn't on fire.....
"Tell me what you were doing when the power went out."
"I was drying my hair in the bathroom...and the dryer just quit working."
"Did it get overheated?"
"I don't know--it smelled kind of funny."
"Okay--go out in your kitchen and see if you have power there."
"OH MY GOSH--what am I going to do?  My hair is sticking straight up!"
"Are you in the kitchen?"
"No--okay, I'm walking.  Okay, I'm here--what do you want me to do?"
"See if your lights work."
"Yes...they do.  Now--this is strange. "
"Is the refrigerator working?"
"I think so...the light came on when I opened the door."
"Okay--what about in your living room.  See if the lamps work."
"Yes--the lamps work, but my TV won't come on."
"Okay.  Go back into the bathroom."
"I'm walking....okay, I'm here."
"The outlet you had your dryer plugged into...."
"Okay, just a minute.  Yes, I've got the dryer plugged back in."
"No!  Unplug the hair dryer from the plug."
"Okay--I thought you said to plug it in."
"Dar--you aren't listening because you are upset.  Take a deep breath--calm down and we will take this one step at a time."
"Ah...okay."
"Look at the outlet where you had the dryer plugged into."
"You mean the switch plate?"
"The outlet--the plug, where the dryer was plugged into."
"Okay---I'm looking."
"Does it have another plug-in place on that same....ah...switch plate?"
"Yes.  Just below the first plug place is another one--each of them have two holes--like where you plug things in."
"Great!  Now between those two plug-in places, is there two flat sort of buttons?"
"Yes...one is white and one is red."
"Great!  Is the red one sort of sticking out--not flat against the.....ah switch plate, button sticking out a bit?"
"Yes."
"Okay, push it back in so it is flat like the white one."
"Okay--it clicked when I pushed it in...is that okay?"
"Yes--that is perfect."
"Thanks.  I'm going to get the hair dryer again........"
"WAIT!"

"Oh--what?  I plugged the dryer in and turned it on and it won't start and that red button is sticking out again."
"Throw the damn hair dryer in the trash!  It's fried!   Every time you plug it in, it will trip that button and stop anything connected to that electrical line from working."
"Well-what do I do now?"
"Push the reset.....ah the red button back in.  Go get something else...like a small lamp or ...whatever to plug in and see if it works."
"I have a curling iron...would that work?"
"Sure--plug it in and see if it comes on."
"I did, but the red light isn't coming on."
"Did you push in the red button on the...switch plate?"
"Oh--okay..I did now and the light came on the curling iron!  YAY!"
"Okay--you're all set."
"I'm in the living room...guess what..."
"Your TV is working--right?"
"Yeah--it is.  Why did this happen?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah...so if it happens again I will know what to do."
"Okay--any plug in your bathroom or kitchen that is near a water source, by law, has to have a reset button, so that if it gets wet, it will disconnect the electricity running to that plug.  Your TV went off because it must be on the same electrical line as your bathroom plug.  Your hair dryer malfunctioned, or over heated, or shorted out because something is wrong with it.  That tripped the reset button in that plug.  That little red button pops out to indicate that the electricity has been cut off--so you won't get a shock or a fire.  You have to push it back in to get the electricity running to that line again."
"Oh my gosh...hmmmm...I have a plug in my kitchen that won't work...I wonder.      Guess what--the red flat button is sticking out!  Mm--there I just pushed it in."
"Well, when you have a chance, plug something into THAT plug and see if it now works.  Do you want me to bring over my hair dryer?"
"No.  I have another one--in the other bathroom.  Thanks."  <click>

=====================================

I got busy after that--did the laundry and played with my new toy.

 as you can tell--I like a little bread with my butter.

When I was growing up, these are the kind of Woodpecker's we had--Red-Headed--now they seem to have become rare--although Susan and Chuck said they have one that appears occasionally, and my friend Becky, got a photo of one today at her feeders.  I haven't seen one in years--this is a Google Image.

These are the kind I get at my feeders

The Downy and the Red Bellied Ladder Backs.

Late this afternoon, I made the Tuna-Mac casserole that I like so well--which amazes me because I don't really care for Tuna Fish.  I had a chunk for supper and 6 more suppers left over.  This freezes and re-heats so well.

Can you believe the price of groceries?  The price of meat?  I got a chuck roast the other day--2 pounds at $5 something a pound!  EGAD!!  I cut it in half and cooked half all day in the Crock Pot and put in some potatoes/carrots/onions and I have had two meals from it and two in the freezer, plus the other half in the freezer--so it won't have cost too much when I  have used it all.  I do not know how families can afford to eat!!!.

---------------------------

Okay, today's test.  If you read this post--it is MANDATORY that you leave a comment.  Just your name and City and State is okay, but I have readers on here from Oklahoma and Kansas and other places and you never comment so I have no idea who you are!!!  

You see--over on the right side-bar there is a list of places from where people drop in--but no names--IT DRIVES ME NUTZ wondering who you all are.  You don't have to have a blog to leave your name and City/State in the comment. 

So please--tell me who and where you are from?  thanks!!









`

Uneventful Day--Kind Of

Today's high temperature was:  20 degrees

Sunny and very cold

============================

I can handle this winter weather--as long as the sun keeps shining!!

I got myself into trouble yesterday morning!  Karen called and said she was stopping in at noon.  I had left my car parked in the center of my parking pad, so I went out to move it over.  We had an inch of new, soft snow, so I decided to shovel it off to the side.  No big deal.

Put the shovel down on the cement and push it over to the snow pile.  Not even as straining as vacuuming.  I picked up the shovel, not heavy at all, but when I went to throw the snow up on top of the pile, it was so high, I heard my shoulder and elbow crunch.  No pain--just a crackling, popping sound.  I kept on cleaning the drive and tried to throw the snow at the end, where the pile is not as tall.

Moved the car, came in to check my pulse--it was only 75--after all that work.  I guess that's a good thing, but I still wonder why my pulse rate is so low.

Karen arrived and brought me three blinds for these front windows--$4.50 a pair!!! AND she brought me a pot of pink tulips--so nice.  We chatted for about an hour. She had to leave to get to the library to pick up some books she needed for one of her college classes--she is getting her Master's in Education.

I turned on the MSU basketball game and sat down to watch and cross stitch.  I could feel a pain in my left scapula--my problem area and after about an hour, I got this owie in my left chest.  Half-way between my breast and my collar bone--right where you'd place your right hand when you stand for the National Anthem.  The pain got worse and worse and of course I wondered--heart issue?

By the end of the game, it really hurt--a constant pain.  I went in and laid down on my bed, and the pain went away.  I laid there for about a half hour and then got up and the pain came back.

If I pushed on the spot, it felt like it was bruised.  I took an Aleve--didn't help.  I put heat on it--didn't help.  Finally went to bed at 10:00 and the pain went away.

No pain this morning, except under my scapula, so I guess, the chest pain was radiating from the scapula/shoulder down into my chest!  GEEZ!!

===================================

I am enjoying watching the ice skating at the Olympics.  Our pairs team is really good, but I think that girl, Meryl Davis is weird looking!  Also, when she speaks, she has that nasally, whining voice, that just grates on my nerves!  

On Face Book, everybody is talking about the Beatles special last night.  I didn't even watch it--had no interest.  I remember distinctly the first time I heard them on the radio.  I was in college and a bunch of us were sitting together in the Student Union.  The college radio station played this song from this new group and we looked at each other, then started laughing and booing!  What stupid music!!  What's all this , "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" junk?

Explanation--at the time, I was almost 25.  Most of my friends were returning Viet Nam vets, or older students also.  We were into Rock and Roll--Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, Chubby Checker, Little Richard--this "new" music didn't fit.  I remember someone saying, "You can't even dance to that shit!"

So--last night I watched the Olympics and then switched over to watch Downton Abbey--I still do like that show!

I so relate to this lady!!!

Old and crotchety, critical and not able to suffer fools very well.

==============================================================

I went to the Chiropractor--deep tissue massage, really hurt, then the Chiropractor who did the Tapper on me and some muscle stimulation and ultra sound.  There is a young woman I see there once in awhile.  Her name is Debbie.  I think she has Cerebral Palsy--she walks fine, but her hands are turned in and she is overtly friendly and very talkative.  She and I greeted each and then she watched me while I had the ultra-sound, all the time, her massage therapist waiting for her to get in the room, but very patient.  Debbie says HI to everyone she sees, introduces herself and then wants to know all about them.  Some people find this very off-setting and ignore her and keep walking, but I think she is delightful.  So innocent and happy as a little kid.

As I was leaving, I heard someone yell my name and GOOD GRIEF--there was my neighbor, Tami.  Tami is very loud--I mean very!  She is out pacing in the waiting room--I am in by the cashier.  "Hey, Jude!  I'm can't sleep--the pain is so bad I can't sleep.  DOCTOR, DOCTOR--I need the doctor.  Hey, hey, hey--Doc?"  Then she laughs her loud laugh and keeps pacing.  People are looking at her and then at me and I feel quite embarrassed.

Debbie came out and went to walk out and there was Tami, pacing back and forth, so Debbie goes up to her and introduces herself and says, "I just got a back rub and it feels good!"  Tami gives her that, "leave me alone" look and Debbie walks out with her caregiver.  I see Tami roll her eyes.  The cashier looks at me and sort of gives me the "oh my gosh" look and I bend down and say, "I really like Debbie, but that Tami is a piece of work."  The cashier whispers back to me, "Debbie has more class in her little deformed finger, than Tami has in her whole body!"
==================================
I got out of there, called Merle and headed over to the car repair place.  Merle was there to pick me up in a few minutes and brought me home.  It feels sort of strange not to have my car out in the drive.  Although I have no where to go--it just feels weird to know I can't go anywhere, even if I wanted to---which I don't! LOL

I walked into the house and this is what I saw--Big Buddy napping on the rocking chair and Maggie underneath--sort of hiding.  Ah--home.

Feeling Good

Today's high temperature was: 10 degrees

Sunny

===============================

I have no idea what is wrong with me!  For the last week, without any reason, I have felt very peaceful and contented and happy.  

=======================

No snow at all today!!!  Amazing....but...there's always tomorrow and we are suppose to get a couple of inches.

I don't read very much.  I used to read a book a week--for some reason, after Fred died, I could not concentrate on reading.  It took me a long time to be able to cross stitch and crochet too, but the motivation came back in about 9 months--the reading, not until the last month.

I just finished a book that I liked called, "Final Epidemic".  If you like apocalyptic book, you'd like it.  All about a virus that hits, with no cure.   Today, I started a new book called "Mark of Evil".  It is written by the guys who wrote the "Left Behind" series--which I read all of and just loved!

I worked on the book lay-out this morning and then again tonight.  I am having a ball!!!  In between times, I watched my soap and then took my car into the service place at 2:00 to get an estimate.

When Fred came into my life, he found this service place and he got to be good friends with the owner--they shared a love of cars and dirt track racing.  When Fred was younger, he had a car that he raced with on the dirt tracks in Wisconsin.

Fred was always impressed with this guys service, so I started taking my car there too.  They have always been right with me.  Last spring when I had to have ball joints, tie rods, suspension bars and the like--after their estimate, I went on line at the Auto Zone website and got the prices for the needed parts.  On a lot of the parts, the service garage was lower.  So I trust these guys.

I was hoping I would only need a new piece of pipe--thought it probably would cost around $200.00 total--the price of labor being $80.00 an hour.  Come to find out, not only do I have a hole in the pipe right behind the manifold, but all the pipes AND the muffler have either small holes, or are so rusted, they are about to give out.  So---I need a new exhaust system from the catalytic converter back AND a muffler.

While I was waiting for them to check out the car, I met a young woman who was waiting for her car to be finished, and she started talking to me.  Her mother is in the hospital with blood clots in both legs, her groin and her lungs.  They did surgery last summer and put a screen in her groin, but she has developed new ones.  I asked how old her mother was, thinking she was probably my age......her Mom is 52!!!

52??  I have children that age!  That is awfully young to have a life threatening problem.  My Gosh!!!

After one of the repairmen looked at my car and told Rick, the owner, what was needed, Rick said he'd check out the parts and call me with an estimate.   So, I decided to drive on home.  As I was leaving, he said, "I really loved Fred!  He was a great guy!"  Man--so unexpected.  I could feel tears prick my eyes.

I stopped and got a Subway for supper and shortly after I got home, Rick called.  The estimate for all of it?  $257.68.

I was shocked and I told Rick I thought it would be twice that amount.  He said he checked three parts places and is getting the cheaper parts from each place.  

Let's face it, with a 1998 car, I don't need genuine GM parts!!

========================

 I was thinking I might start my spring cleaning early--just for something to do.  This computer room needs a total overhaul!!  I sit here and think of how I could rearrange it, but the only solution is to put Fred's big desk over on the other wall and then my back would be to the windows and part of what I love about this arrangement, is that I can sit here and look out and see what is going on outside.  

I have three tall book shelves--all full!  I have one smaller shelf thingie that my great grandfather made--all full!  On the opposite wall from the desk, I have a long counter top--with a shelf unit on one end--full--with the litter box under part of it.  The closet is filled with plastic storage boxes with Jen's kids afghans in them and the great grandchildren baby quilts AND 1 plastic storage box with all my children's book notes, rough drafts, etc, in them, 1 box with all my yarn and crocheting supplies and 1 box filled with cross stitch fabric, patterns, floss.  Plus, my coats on the rack and boxes on the top shelf.  I just cleaned it out last fall.

I do have one cart (used to be a microwave cart) that I could get rid of as I have put all my computer paper, envelopes, discs and stuff like that in another cart the same size, but it has a roll down cover, that closes out the shelves, which I like.

If I did get rid of the empty microwave cart, I could then move my computer tower, modem, router and all that goes along with it, to the other side of my desk.  That might make the room look a little neater when people glance in as they come through the front door.

PLUS--I need new blinds for the three windows AND I need new cafe/tier curtains with the valances to match.  Can't afford both, so will just soak and wash the heck out of the curtains and look for some cheapo blinds.

I need to figure something out because this mess is getting to me!!!

===================

Tomorrow I am going grocery shopping because Monday, after my visit to the Chiropractor, I am dropping my car off and they can have it all week if they want.  I have no place to go.

Enjoy watching the Olympics and I will see you Monday!

Later--Jude

Out and About

The high temperature today was:  17 degrees

Partly sunny

Tonight's temperature will be:  -15 wind chill

====================================

I was barely awake and not even dressed (9:00) when my doorbell rang--it was Dar.

"I just wanted to come over before I go off for the day."

"What's up?" I asked.

"I have to go to the hospital and get my blood checked--you know because I am now on Coumadin."

"Oh--your PT/INR?  What is your number?"

"I have no idea what the test is called or what the number is.  I will have to ask.  They just tell me if I should take more or less."

"Okay--they probably want you at 2.8 or 2.9.  See what it is, just for the fun of it."

"Did you get your gas bill yet?"

"Nope.  I'm on the budget plan, but still worry about how much it is and what I might have to owe them come settlement month in April."

"I know," she says.  "I didn't have insurance until the first of the year and I had all those tests done in December.  I am going to owe the hospital and doctor's a small fortune!  It will take me forever to pay them back."

"Yeah--lack of money can get scary!"

"Hey--I wanted to tell you.  I got a treadmill!!"

"You did?" (to myself --I thought you were poor.)

"Yes.  I got it on sale.  It was listed at fifteen-hundred dollars and I got it for eight hundred!  I am so excited!"  (to myself--hm-mm. She can barely walk over her because of her Afib and shortness of breath and now she is going to walk on a treadmill.  That she can't afford.)

She says, "I probably should have taken that money and paid my doctor bills, but...he's rich...he can wait for the money."

So off she goes and I jump in the shower.  I don't know--I just don't know.  

===========================

I ran up to Wal-Mart to pick up my 3 prescriptions.  This year, the company that I have my prescription coverage through, lowered the monthly payment from $25.70 to $16.50.  I was thrilled and I have no deductible.  When I got my prescriptions, one of them that is normally $7.00 is suddenly now, $16.00.  Who knows why--I'm going to blame ObamaCare--just because I hate it.  I e-mailed the company and asked why because I could not reach them by phone, and I have no reply as yet.

As I was leaving the park to go up to Wal-Mart, I had a heck of a time seeing over the huge snow-piles at the entrance/exit.  I had to turn left onto quite a busy road.  I tried to stick the nose of the car out as far as was safe, but man....So when I got home I called the office and told them they needed to top off those drifts because they were too high to see over.  Now--a lot of people here drive pick-up trucks and vans, and with those, you can probably see over the drifts.  For those of us who have cars--it is darn near impossible!!!  Apparently, they have quite a few complaints, so we shall see if they do anything about it.  I ought to report them to the county sheriff.

I went searching for my bread maker--because I have had a huge appetite for some home made, warm bread and I need it to use for my noon sandwich.  I remember that I put it away two years ago.  Well, I could not find it anywhere!  I sat and pondered on that and then I remembered.  After Fred died, when I was cleaning things out, Jennifer had mentioned she wanted a bread machine, so I gave her mine BECAUSE, I didn't think I'd ever make home made bread again--as Fred is the one who used it all the time. So--she probably hasn't used it more than once in the last two years, but....under the circumstances, I can't very well call and ask if I can "borrow" it.  

I remembered that my nephew gave me a Target gift card for Christmas.  I NEVER shop at Target, but I went on line to see if they had any bread makers.  Guess what?  They have them--on-line only.  So I found one for fifty bucks and ordered it.  With the gift card, I had enough so I only had to pay for shipping and tax--less then $20.00..  COOL!!!  I can hardly wait, but now....I have to buy some bread flour, yeast and oil.  I prefer that to the boxed bread maker stuff they have.

Tomorrow, I have to take my car in for the estimate on the exhaust system repair.  I think I only have to have a new pipe as my muffler is quite all right...so that shouldn't cost too much.  Only problem, nowadays, the price for labor is $80.00 an hour!!!

My sister and brother-in-law stopped in for a quick visit as they were at the Lowe's and Home Depot just up the road.  What a joy it is to have her so close they can stop in a lot.  Susan is so depressed about the old bathroom they had off their bedroom and not able to afford to go on with their re-vamp of it and the bedroom that she is just painting the walls and trying to brighten it up a bit.  They were hunting for a four-step "project" Ladder.  They have a 3-step, but as short as she is, it just isn't enough to reach the high ceilings in that house and she doesn't like a regular step-ladder, as the narrow steps hurt her feet--whatever!  LOL

I think this is the one she settled on.

She gave me a quart jar of her canned Bread and Butter Pickles--our grandma's recipe.  I love these things.  Will eat them right out of the jar with a fork.  She also gave me a footed amethyst glass dish that was Mother's.  I put it over my cupboards along with my other colored glass jugs.

Back in the late sixties, when everyone was decorating with gold/orange/green/brown, our mother had a lot of blue/green/amethyst.  She loved jewel tones.  She died in 1970 and I had a bit of her glassware.  When I moved in 1988, I packed away all of it, as I didn't have room for it.  When I moved here in 2003, I started unpacking all these boxes and finding all this blue and green and purple glassware--I had forgotten all about it.  My carpet is Emerald and I have a blue chair and couch.  At the time, I wondered what I had that would go with those things--as I unpacked, I realized I had my color scheme.

Then I remember the two glass lamps my mother had made at the lamp store--on green glass and one amethyst.  My Dad and step-mother had the green one out on a table.  She hated it, but my Dad loved it--probably because he remember when my Mother had them made.  She didn't often get anything really pretty, so she was especially proud of them as she had designed just what she wanted.  The amethyst one was up in their attic and I asked step-mother if I could have it.  It didn't work, but amazingly, she hadn't thrown it away. My friend Ernie re-wired it and now I have it.  It is on the table in the corner, along with a piece of REAL amethyst that Fred's Mother had (she being a real rock hound!)

I thanked Susan and told her she could have it back when I was "done" with it.  She said, "I hope that isn't for many, many years!"

I had potato soup for supper (again), 3 days in a row now and it is gone.  I have to go food shopping!!!!!  I think I will swallow my pride and go to the food pantry up the road.  They allow you so many pounds of food for your household size.  At least I might be able to get some hamburger for meat loaf and I'd really like a small roast to cook in the Crock-Pot along with some carrots, potatoes and onions.  I think I can get all of that at the pantry.  

I have been helping my writer friend, by researching self publishing companies and now--she has me working on her children's e-book.  Working on the layout to put it into a print book.  No problem--right?  AHA!!!  The pages in the e-book are much larger than those allowed for a print book.  She has a sixty-some page book that must be condensed into a 32 page book.  Her illustrations, which are larger too and many, are all so wonderful and it has been difficult trying to pick out just the needed ones to make the story flow.  Also the illustrations are larger and need to be made smaller to fit the page template.  I am having a great time doing it though--I get so engrossed that hours go by AND she is paying me.  She doesn't realize I would do it for free--well, she sometimes reads this blog, so now she knows!!! :-)  Heart U Chrissy!!!

Dar called back to let me know her PT/INR is at 2.9!!! YAY!

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?  Hope I live to talk about it, LOL.

Again?

Today's high temperature was:  24 degrees

Snow--then more snow--and then it quit.
68.7 inches of snow so far
46 inches s normal

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8:30 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

10:00 a.m.

10:30 a.m.

10: 32 a.m.

Called to cancel Cardiologist appointment.  We are now shooting for February 26th.  So expect a new snow storm on that date, LOL.

 Dan arrived to say, he'd be back in two hours to shovel the drive.

2:00 p.m.

Just as Dan left, the phone rang.  Jackie, across the street in the blue house, wanted to know if he would come and shovel her drive.  She has turned him down several times, saying that he charges too much ($10.00) and that her son will come do it.  Now--she wants me to call Dan and ask him to come back.  I did and he said he had two places to do and would be back.

The phone rang again, Dar wanted to know if I would call Dan and see if he could do her driveway.  I called him and told him to do Darlene's drive too.

So, now it appears, I am Dan the Snow Removal Man's dispatcher or secretary, or whatever  I called Jackie and Dar back and said he'd be back in awhile and then I said, "Would you like his phone number so you can call him when you need him?".  

Got out of that job because, you know, if he didn't do the job to their liking or he was late in coming--guess whose fault it would be?  

That would be me!

See ya tomorrow--Jude

Cabin Fever

The high temperature today was: 25 degrees

Grey, grey, grey!

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This blog is boring!

I have nothing pithy to write about anymore!  I do not live a life with pith in it.  No substance--only subsisting.  No relevance.  I am pithless!!

I do write a lot about the weather--that is about the only exciting thing in life--or the most prevalent thing going on right now.  Perhaps it IS the weather's fault--not much communication between humans--we are either captive in our home because of the snow drifts or because of the bitter cold.  This is an historic winter.

Nothing to gossip about.  No real problems to ask advice for or help find a solution too.  Oh--I have very real problems, but there is no advice, nor solution.  You cannot get blood out of a turnip--there is no source of money--no way to earn or get more and money, or the lack thereof, is my only problem.

Oh wait--I forgot!  I am going to win the PCH Million Dollars a year for life prize--I forgot about that.  At least, they keep telling me via e-mail that I am in the final group to win--something!  Just my luck, I will probably win a trip to Aruba, or a new enormous SUV--maybe I can get cash instead?

I like to imagine what I could do with $600K (after taxes) a year!  Just think of the people I could help!  Pammie would be first on the list!  Then Pearl and her daughter--well, I'd give it to Pearl and then SHE could pass it on to her daughter.  I could get new carpeting.  I could dump a load on my sister so she could finish renovating the house the way she wanted to--before we were screwed by both father and step-mother!

I could pay off my credit cards--that would be the first thing I'd do.  If you knew what my credit score was, you'd be amazed.  I am amazed.  Don't those people know I am destitute?  I always pay early and more than the minimum payment.  I have two major cards with enormously high credit limits.  I only use the credit cards for emergencies--like car repairs--HAH!

The only thing is--in the last two years I have had a few emergencies, like--Fred's funeral.  A roof.  I'm still paying on Fred's false teeth, new glasses and HIS car repair and all of that stuff is long gone.  I live an anxious life to be sure.  WHAT IF--lots of those in my head.  Appliances breaking down and no repair could fix them.  A cat getting sick with a vet bill to pay.

I don't need a million a year--I'd be really happy with $50K.  $30K?

How did I get into this situation?  I look back.....my parents were well to do.  I married a GM journeyman with a great salary and benefits--I never ever worried about anything-money wise.  We didn't have credit cards.  We had no debt at all.  I was set for life--my future was all planned out and I never ever gave it any thought.  I should have stayed married, no matter what, just for security in my old age!!

Oh hell--don't want to even think about that.  It will all work out--or it won't.
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What else is pithy that we could think about?  Politics?  The Government?  That's scarier than  anything else!

Religion?  Which comes first--the Rapture or the Tribulation?  

Sex?  We could discuss that, but I have forgotten all I ever knew and I never knew too much about it.  I never really understood what all the hoopla was about it.  I much preferred the cuddling and kissing and the soft words, rather than the actual act.  Sex causes a lot of problems--fights, jealousies, manipulation, you gotta act a certain way.  It was something I had to do to get my grocery money for the week, when I was married.

I think it is more an emotional thing for women and more a physical thing for men. Fred was completely and totally impotent.  Probably that is why we got along so well.  We experienced the deep emotional connection.  It was the best relationship with a man I ever had.

I like that in an older man--when they are unable to have sex--when they want to be with you just because they enjoy your company, not because they want something else.  The only problem there is that usually "they" still think they "can" and YOU are going to be the one to bring back their virility!  Hey--that is just too much work!!

After my cousin was widowed, when she started dating, in her late fifties.  She had dated a man twice.  On the third date (why do they always think you are suppose to sleep with them on the third date?), she had cooked supper for him.  He arrived at her door with a small case in his hand and happily opened it and showed her---his doctor recommended inflation pump.  She told him "no thanks" and that was the end of him.  LOL
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   I learned something new today--I know, you are going to laugh, but...I learned how to use a potato peeler!  I always pared potatoes with a paring knife, but when my right thumb got crooked and painful from arthritis, I could no longer handle the knife--without the serious potential of cutting off a finger.  

Fred always pared potatoes for me and he always used a potato peeler.  I haven't had too many reasons to cook potatoes in these last two years, but--I wanted to make potato soup today.   I got that little gadget out of the drawer and---I don't think I worked it right, but it got the job done.  Fred always peeled toward himself and I just got the garbage can out, stood over it and pushed the peeler away from me--sliding the peels off into the basket.  Well--it worked and I got some really good potato/celery/onion/bacon and ham soup.  It's a good thing it tastes good because--I have enough to last me for about ten meals!
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I have never cared for Phillip Seymour Hoffman--he always creeped me out.  His was a great "actor", but just seeing pictures of him on TV or in a magazine...he just creeped me out.  What is it with these young people and their drugs.  I have recently found out that two of Karen's friends--who I knew well in high school and played softball for my Dad, were Heroin and Meth addicts.  These kids were all A students!  In the Honor Society and involved in the community.  What happened to them?

Perhaps now I can look back and be relieved that my two oldest only smoked pot and drank beer!!!  AND do neither one now!
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The big snow that was suppose to start at 7:00, still is not in evidence.  Maybe it will stay south of me?  Whatever, even if it snows and the snowplow driver fills in the end of my drive--I am going to get out tomorrow morning because I do not want to cancel the Cardiologist's appointment yet another time. I always back into my driveway, so tomorrow, I will get in my car, rev it up and speed out onto the street!  Hope I don't overshoot the street and run into mine and Jackie's mailboxes.

That's all I've got ladies--I can't think of anything pithy or witty to say.

Until tomorrow----Jude