First Full Day of Spring

Today's high temperature was: 44 degrees

Sunny all day

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It is the first full day of spring, but...nothing looks different outside--except the snow is all dirty looking and the grass that is appearing is a sort of Olive Drab in color.  YUCK!!

Jean and T-Shirt--I never even noticed his ties and I wouldn't know the difference between a tie from Wal-Mart and a whatever tie Jean named.  Sorry--I was just staring at his gorgeous face and listening to his voice.  <sigh>

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Louise!!!  Welcome to this weird world of mine.  I am so glad you are here!  Just one requirement, you have to tell me where you are from.  I have that thingie along the right side that tells me where a reader is from and it drive me absolutely nutsy cuckoo when I see the city, but don't know who it is.  Please?  I have a reader from Portland, OR and I don't know who it is.  My grand daughter lives in Portland, so---that has my curiosity up.

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I woke up this morning feeling like I had been dragged through a knot-hole backwards!!  I could not get to sleep last night.  It was either the excitement of being with humans yesterday, or the excitement from watching Michigan State and University of Michigan win their basketball games.  Could have been a combination of both?

I woke up at 6:00 to go potty.  The cats were dancing around with their meow-meows, thinking it was time for their breakfast and I said, "Not yet", and fell back into bed.  Later, I left a little nibble on my arm and a wet nose on my cheek.  I peeked at the clock and it was 9:30 and the cats were trying to wake me up.  Yikes!  I felt like I had a hangover--I think.  I have never drank, let alone get drunk, so I don't really know what a hang-over would feel like, but...my head felt huge and foggy and I sort of staggered out to the kitchen.  By noon, I appeared to be aware of my surroundings--I knew what day it was--and all my parts were working.

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I had to go outside and check and get the camera down at ground level, but...here comes my spring bulbs, which gives me new hope!!!

Later--I am so high right now!!!  I just got home from going to the Brighton High School Musical production of "Grease".  Karen stopped by and picked me up.  The talent in these kids just stuns me!!  It was like a very professional Broadway production.  Of course, I love the music and I got to see Drew and Matthew afterwards and I checked out their hair.  They had it slicked back in a D.A. with a nice pompadour in the front--just like some of the boys wore back in 1958.  I had already told them that they were living in my high school era while they performed, and tonight Matt said, "Grammie--was it like that when you were in high school?"

I said, "The music was, but Honey--if we had smoked and drank and acted like those kids you portrayed--we all would have been expelled!"

In my little school, we only had a couple of boys who wore their hair in a D.A. and wore leather jackets--their packs of cigarettes rolled up in their T-shirt sleeves.  None of us had anything to do with those "hoods" as we called them.  Most of the boys wore Khaki pants--the ones with the belt loop in the back or blue jeans.  Us girls all wore the long shirts, down to our ankles, with the crinoline half slips underneath, and our ankle socks folded down and either Penny Loafers or Saddle Shoes.    NONE of us had pierced ears--none of us except the "trampy" girls who dated the "hoods".  We girls were not allowed to wear blue jeans, but every Friday we could wear dress slacks.  We were sweet, innocent, TOTALLY naive, virginal Methodist of Baptist small town or farm kids.  Actually, it was a lovely time to grow up--in the '50's.

I said to Karen--"Can you even imagine the boys in your class or...your Dad singing and dancing in a show like this?  Not only did they not have the talent, but they would have been afraid their other friends would have teased them unmercifully.  And...they would have!!"  It's real nice that nowadays, kids in band and chorus, ones with good grades, seem to be the popular ones--even more so than the nowadays jocks.

So--I am exhausted from tapping my feet and dancing around in my seat and jumping up with standing ovations and talking to all the kids.  But--sleep will not come easily--I am so HYPED!!!

I've got basketball games to watch tomorrow.  There will be more yelling and clapping and no doubt, a bit of jumping up and down, so I need my rest!!!

Later--Jude

Throw Back Thursday

Today's high temperature was:  34 degrees

Partly sunny

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I was 6 years old

My Mother had to make those ringlets every single morning.  My hair was curly/wavy and it hurt when she had to brush the snarls out of it and then make the ringlets.  They stayed in pretty good however.

This is shortly after my 6th birthday.  My Grandma had given me that gold heart necklace (I still have it) and took me to a photographer's studio to have my picture taken.  My Mother was going to have my hair cut a bit and get rid of the curls.  My Grandma cried--my Daddy cried.  First hair cuts must have been quite a ritual, back in the day, because I have glassine envelopes with my Grandpa's curls, my Mother's, my Daddy's and mine.

My Daddy at 5--just before he got his curls cut off

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I went to lunch with my School Old Gal Pals.  There were 11 of us!!!  A couple of guests included in that.  It was a great time--the food wasn't too impressive, but it was expensive.  Nice of all the Pals to drive way down this way, but next month--I requested we go to the place in Durand--it is kind of half-way (although farther then half way for Bethie and me), the food is good and not so expensive AND--the method to my madness, I can stop and visit my Sister on the way home.  :-)  

No awful news--everyone had come through this winter unscathed.  We are all going to be seventy-five this year--well, a couple are already that age, but...supposedly this is our Ruby year?  

I said, "Well--we are all going to be seventy-five.  I guess that's suppose to be special?  I don't see a damn thing good about it!"  and one of the girls said, "The good is we're all alive."

Well--there is that.  We are all pretty healthy.  Yes, we have had some dear friends die, but not from age related diseases--like heart disease or stroke or anything like that.  

Then we had to comment on the shock we still get when we look in the mirror and see all the wrinkles.  I've got so many brown spots on my hands, along with my E.T. (essential tremor)--I had a hard time eating my soup today--guess I am going to have to start using my left hand.  I can hardly wait until my head starts shaking to and fro.  (NOT!!)

Bethie said that people don't look her in the eye anymore because of all the wrinkles on her face--I hardly think that is the case, but--we have all had the feeling that some don't even see us--we are becoming invisible.  BUT--not today!  We were vibrant and happy and joking.  It was a nice visit--AND Bethie brought me cat food!!!  Wet and dry, so...I can save on my groceries next month. 

Speaking of old--I sometimes have a hard time reading blogs when the font they use is colored or smallish--I suppose you have noticed that I use a larger font?  Makes it so much easier for me to see what I'm typing--and--maybe makes it easier for you to read?

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Jean--the reason my crush--Greg Feith--is so tan is because, he lives in Florida.  

<sigh>

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I am, once again, involved in watching the Basketball Tourneys.. MSU and U of M both won tonight.  (Daughter) Karen has them picked in her bracket, as the final two teams.  Now--wouldn't that be something?

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I am feeling great tonight and yes...it is probably from the socializing.  Yes...I do tend to spend too much time alone.  It seems such an effort for me to get out and be with people, but once I do...I feel better afterwards.  I will try and remember this.  HOWEVER--I don't HAVE to go somewhere everyday, like "you know who."

See ya tomorrow--Jude

Cougar

Today's high temperature was:  47

Rainy all day--at least it isn't snow

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I've got a crush on you, sweetie pie
All the day and night-time hear me sigh
I never had the least notion that
I could fall with so much emotion

Could you coo, could you care
For a cunning cottage we could share
The world will pardon my mush
Cause I've got a crush, Oh Baby, on you

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Yes-I am a cougar.  In the years since my divorce, I have always dated men younger than me.  I didn't go looking for them by age, it just happened that way.  Men age much quicker than women, so it seems only natural and right to be with someone younger.  A lot of those guys looked and acted older than me.  Their friends assumed I was their age.  Too much fun.

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So today, it was grey and dreary--rainy all day--still is--so it was a perfect day to stay inside.  Since I had just cleaned house Monday, I worked on my friends book.  We are doing a new lay-out so she can self-publish it.

The page templates I downloaded from a publishing site, worked just great for the story and pictures.  Then, I downloaded the template for the cover and it didn't work.  I tried it several times and I could not copy and paste the cover art onto the template.  So--I e-mailed the publishing company and was told I had to have Photo Shop to work with their template.

I do not have Photo Shop and am not in the mood to buy the download, so I e-mailed back.  Got their reply and they said I could use Word (like I did with the page template) and just use the dimensions on their template.

It took a while, but I managed to build a page that shows back and front cover and fits their dimensions.  AHA!!!

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When I got done with that, I printed out my bank statement for the last month--required by the DHS people.  I wanted to wait as long as I could for all my checks I wrote last week, to show up.  I have a checking account balance of $78.00.  Then I made sure I had all the proofs they required, put everything back in their postage paid envelope and stuck it in the mail box.  I know, it is probably crazy, but...I laid my hands on the envelope and said, "Dear God, please let them help me."    Hey--I've laid hands on a friend as prayed for a healing and it worked, so...who's to say...it might work on DHS?

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I saw on the news tonight that President Obama filled out his NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket and he picked Michigan State to win it all.  It sort of took me aback that he would be rooting for MY Spartans, and then it occurred to me---he knows a lot about basketball--colleges win records--things like that, and that's why he picked them.  Personally,I don't think he knows a lot about being the leader of our country, but, if we win, the kids will probably get to go to the White House and then he can say, "You were my bracket number one pick."  and everyone will smile and clap and it will be a great photo op.  

Meanwhile, while most of the world regards him as a weak leader--we are headed back into a Cold War with Russia.  I thought we were over that back in 1989--when they "tore down the wall"--apparently not.  

The Ruskies didn't mess with Kennedy or Reagan--they laugh at Obama.

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

Toyota got blasted today with a big government fine and GM is next on the schedule.  Those big companies are much like the government--one hand has no idea what the other hand is doing.  I worked for GM and my ex worked for Chevrolet in particular.  We always drove a Chevy--good substantial cars.  I worked for Buick and they were even better.  All I have to say, I'm glad I am not living on dividends from GM stock or wanting to sell my shares because--they are in BIG TROUBLE!!

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Tomorrow I go to Fenton (nearby) for the Old Gal Pals luncheon.  Bethie and I haven't gone to the last two because we found them more tiresome than fun. The rest of the group decided to drive down this way and have lunch closer so it was easier for us to attend.  ARGGH!!  What can you do?  We gotta go, but it will be okay.  It's been a couple of months and it will be fun.  <she said with hope in her heart>

You know how Dar hates the cold weather and also, you know she HAS to have her newspaper or her day is ruined?  This morning I happened to glance out the front windows in here and there she was--in her short robe, in the rain, 27 degrees, no coat, no umbrella, getting her newspaper.  She is so weird!

Gosh--I sound like a snotty witch!!!

Spring Is Coming--Honest

Today's high temperature was:  48 degrees

Sunny all day

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Patches of lawn are showing up where the snow has melted.

I have Daffodil noses peeking up from the earth, where the snow has melted on my garden.

I saw a Red-Winged Blackbird today and heard him sing.

I drove into town today with my car window rolled all the way out and my elbow leaning on the opening.

Spring is on her way.

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Determined to unhook the VCR today.  Thank goodness Melissa Geiger e-mailed me a "how to", which made me a bit braver.  However, I was shaking so hard--scared that I'd get it all apart and then nothing would work.  I couldn't tell what was what with all the wires back there, so...I just decided to unhook the VCR and "pretend" all I had was the DVR and the Cable box and TV.  

I left the cables from the VCR attached to the cable box.  I could not get the plug for the VCR up through the back of the shelf, so...I just cut the dang thing off and put it all over on the couch.  Problem solved.

The instructions and extra cables.

I read and I went step-by-step.  Then when I thought I had it right, I read the instructions again, touched each hook-up and said, "Done" and then straightened it all out, said, "Please God" and turned on the TV and... nothing worked.  

I wailed, "GOD" and He said, "You forgot...you turned off the surge protector."

I reached in back, pushed the button on the surge protector--went around and turned on the TV and...

"Thank you God!"

It all works perfectly.

Thank you Angel Melissa!!!

Have you seen this guy on TV?

Greg Feith--ex pilot and NTSB expert

He has been interviewed on FOX and NBC, giving his

opinions on the missing Malaysian plane.

Well--I have fallen quite in love with him.  Well--perhaps not love--more like lust, but...I think he is just the most handsome man I have ever seen.  AND his voice--OMG!!!  I would like one hour with him--just one.  No wait--I will need two because the first hour I would be shaking so I couldn't speak.  But, by the second hour, after listening to his voice, I would convince him that hugging me would be in his best interest.

MY GAWD--HE IS SO HUNKY!!!!!

He even has a Face Book page, but I'm afraid to ask him to Friend me.  What if he rejected me?  Best to just dream....................HE IS SO GORGEOUS!!!

CRAP!!!  I just Googled him--born August 1957--he could be my son!  No wonder he is so pretty, he is just a kid.  DAMN!!!

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I got my hair cut AGAIN--it has only been 4 weeks.  It grows so fast.  Then I went shopping for groceries at Meijer.  I used to shop at Wal-Mart, but I hate that store now.  I love VG'S, but it is so expensive, so I have been shopping at middle of the road (price wise) at Meijer--for you southern gals, it is kind of like a Publix.

One again, I needed Nestles Quik for my daily breakfast and could not find it.  Not in the coffee/tea/cocoa mixes aisle.  I asked an employee and he didn't know.  Then when I got up to the cashier, I asked her and she didn't know, so...she called the manager.  

"It's on aisle eleven.  With the baking products."

"Baking products?"

So he runs off to get me some and...comes back with the sugar free kind, but...I didn't want to tell him that was the wrong kind, so I bought it and came home and mixed it in with what I had left in the container.

Baking products?  I suppose in with the Hershey's dark chocolate powder?  I have baked for over fifty years and I have seen many a recipe and I have NEVER seen a recipe call for Nestle's Quik.  It's a chocolate powder you mix in with milk.  On the front it shows the Nestles Quik Bunny drinking out of a glass with a straw.

By the time I got home, my back was killing me from running all over that dang store and I was mad about the way they do their coupons--all electronic.  Just lower the dang prices and do away with those store coupons!  Anyway--I was so mad I sent an e-mail to the Meijer Corporation customer care and told them what I thought of their lay-out.  Must have been a man's idea to put it in with baking products.  Hrumph!!

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I watched the DVD "12 Years A Slave" tonight.  It was an awful movie!!  A good movie, but awful.  It has given me a nervous feeling the rest of this evening.  

I called Pammie today to make arrangements so I can take my grand daughter Elise out next week for her 10 birthday.  Pammie can find out what day she can go and clear it with Jennifer and then, Elise and I can go shopping and out to supper.  It has been almost a year and Jennifer still is not speaking to me or attending any functions that I might be at.  <sigh>

Well--let's see what tomorrow brings--the good Lord willing.

Someone Got a Bit Feisty Today

Today's high temperature was:  38 degrees

Nice and sunny all day

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Our weathermen around here always show the yearly snowfall and the records we have set.  Or the record lows we have set, or how many days we have had snow on the ground (76), but---I think they should also keep track of how many sunny days we have had since January 1st.  February always gets me down a bit, but this year, we have had so many days of sun that I didn't feel a bit depressed.  February is usually a grey, drab month, with dirty snow and mud patches, but this year, we had so much snow on the ground and new coming every other day, with the sun reflecting off it--it was a rather nice, bright month.

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I got up at 9:00 and looked at my "to do" list.  Laundry, dusting, vacuuming, tidying up the kitchen, unhooking my VCR.

I had the vacuum sitting in the middle of the living room,  my chair pulled out because today I was vacuuming all floors, furniture, under and behind furniture--polishing the mirror behind my chair--on and on and....in walks Darlene.  I was way in the back filling up the washer with bedding.

"Oh," she says, "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"I was just getting the laundry started.  I was so lazy this weekend that I need to do a lot of cleaning today.  To get ready to be lazy this coming weekend." 

"I need a favor," she says.

What's that?"

"I need you to get on-line and order one of those magnetic chair pads for me.  My back is hurting again."

I came into the study and told her to sit down in my chair in front of the computer.

"Why am I sitting in your chair?"

"I thought you wanted me to show you how to order on-line."

"Oh Honey, no.  I want you to order it and I will pay you."

<say what?>

"Why can't  you order it?"

"Well...I know you order stuff all the time on-line and...well, I don't want my information anywhere on line."

<okay--this is not happening>

"You want me to order something that you need and...charge it on my credit card and then you will pay me back.  Right?"

"Yes.  Exactly!"

"I'm not going to do that.  I am not using my credit cards anymore.  I don't want any more charges on my cards."

"But--I will pay you back."

Yeah...I know, but...I don't want to charge anything."

"Okay--then use your debit card and I will pay you back."

"No way!  I don't ever use my debit card on line.  I do not want my debit card, which is linked to my checking account information, on line either!"

"Oh."

"You don't want your information out there and...neither do I."

"Oh...okay."

"I can show you how and then you can go home and use your computer to do it."

"Nah--I'll get Sheila to do it for me.  She'll do anything for me that I ask for."

<okay>

She leaves pretty quickly after that.

OF ALL THE NERVE!!!

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So I seethed as I vacuumed every room and the chair and couch and behind the chair and couch and my mattress and made my bed and fumed as I ate lunch and then...calmed down as I scrubbed the washer and dryer.  

Then I called and made a hair cut appointment for tomorrow and started making a grocery list.  

Of course, the minute I got everything cleaned up and vacuumed everything, put the vacuum away and when it got quiet around here, the creator of all of the cat hair I just vacuumed up,  decided it was time to deposit a fresh coating of hair on the rocker cushion and take a nap in the sun.  

  .  

Lost Weekend

Today's high temperature was: 27 degrees

Sunny all day

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Have you heard of that old movie, "Lost Weekend"?  Ray Milland--I think.  It's about an alcoholic and a weekend binge.

I did not have that kind of weekend.  I don't drink any kind of alcohol--never have --not even wine.  My weekend was lost in front of the TV.  I spent nearly every day--most of the day--watching the basketball tournaments--especially, the Big Ten Tournament.  

The University of Michigan won the Big Ten league.  They played us twice this year and we lost both times.  However, most of our best players were hurt and unable to play in both those games.  We actually came out of the season with a better record of wins/loses than they did.  

As the weekend progressed,  U of M won all their games.  MSU won all their games and today, for the first time ever, the Championship game was between two schools from the same State.  I knew it was going to be a good one for sure.

I knew all along we would win.  When all the players on my team are healthy, you cannot touch us.  It wasn't even a close game, so now--all my U of M friends who have been bragging about how they beat us this year, are strangely quiet tonight--as we won the Big Ten Championship and they did not.  YAY!!

That number 14, Gary Harris, is my favorite player.

I picked him out of the crowd last year when he was

a freshman and said, "He is going to be a great player."

and he is.

My guy with his coach.  Look at Coach Izzo's face--

think he is about ready to cry?

What makes this win so great, to me anyway, is that the first game we play in the NCAA March Madness, is played in Spokane, WA.  Our old coach, Jud Heathcote, (who Coach Izzo learned under) lives in that area, so...he will be able to attend the game in person.  Cool beans--right?

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I did make it to church again this Sunday--although I woke up with a stiff neck and a headache.  When I got home, I stopped at Pearl's to give them the bulletin and Pearl says, "Went to church again did ya."

"Yes, I did."

"Did you pray for us?"

"Well, during the silent prayer, I did ask God to bless all my friends, so I suppose you were in that group."

"Did you give anything up for Lent?"

"Yeah--I gave up sleeping in and staying home on Sunday mornings."

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Then Dar came over and had to tell me all about her new recliner and how wonderful it is and how she and "two of my friends" went to the "Cinema" and out to supper last night.

"I just don't see how you can stay in this house all the time.  Don't you get stir crazy?"

"No..not really."

"Well, I'm a very social person and I just have to get out with friends.  I need people!"

<la dee dah>

"Oh...I'm very comfortable just with myself." I said.  "I don't need to be on the go all the time.  I actually enjoy being alone here--peace and quiet, or watching TV and cross stitching.  I just don't mind being alone.  Maybe it's because I was an only child who grew up on a farm, with no kid neighbor's nearby.  I had to learn to play by myself and use my imagination."

"I want you to come over and see my chair.  You need one and I think you'd like one just like mine.  It has heated massage."

"I don't really need that and I told you...I can't afford a new chair.  But...I will come over and look at yours---tomorrow. Okay?"

So--off she went.  Now I gotta figure out when I can walk over there for a half hour tomorrow.  I've got a lot to do tomorrow too!!!  RATZ!!

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Saturday was the 44 year anniversary of my Mother's death.  Beware The Ides of March--use to be one of her funny sayings--she'd say it in a deep, fearful voice.  She was so young--three months shy of her 54th birthday.  Her death completely broke our family.  My sister and I sometimes try and figure out how our family would have been if our Mother had lived.  My sister was a Senior in school--two weeks shy of her 18th birthday.  She married quickly to get away from my Dad and her marriage was not good.  My oldest--my son Mark, went completely over the edge.  He was a straight A student in his Freshman year in high school and the next report card, after his Grandma's death, he was getting C's and D's  and, he refused to ever go to church again--at one time he wanted to be a minister.  I probably would not have had my 4th child.  My Daddy wouldn't have married the next door neighbor--and we certainly would have not been left out of our intended inheritance.  

Her death is made even more difficult because we never knew WHY she died.  She had been ill off and on for a year with a low blood count.  She had to have a transfusion every three months, but most of the time, she felt well.  

They ran every test known to man (then) kidney and liver biopsies, bone marrow puncture, spinal tap--and in those days, they didn't sedate you for any of those things.  The doctor's here, sent her to Henry Ford Hospital and a special blood doctor--he could find nothing wrong with her.  She and my Dad were going on a trip to Florida--for the first time in their lives.  He had the camper backed up to the back door and they had been loading it.  She and I had been shopping for new clothes for her to take.  After they transferred her, my Daddy sat by her bed for three straight days and never left that chair.  He'd put his head on her pillow and they laid face to face, whispering to each other.  I was there the last twenty-four hours.  She was conscious until the last second and it was a very hard death.  I will never get that picture out of my mind!

Even an autopsy after her death, showed no reason for her death.  It just was not fair!!!  Only the good die young, I guess.

Today would have been my parent's 76th anniversary and, although they probably would have both been gone by now--still we wonder.  They had a wonderful marriage--a fun filled, smoochy, teasing marriage.  It rained the day of their wedding, and after the reception, my Daddy didn't want her to get her pretty wedding shoes wet, so he swooped her up and carried her out to the car.  He had called ahead and persuaded the park service to open the gate and let them into the Muskegon State Park--as it was March and not opened--and they spent their honeymoon there in a trailer her father had built.  When they got back, they had to live with his parent's until the farm up the road--the house was ready to move into.  They stayed with his parent's until late August.  I was conceived in mid September.  There was no running water or inside plumbing in the house and only a kitchen wood stove to keep most of it warm.  We didn't get an inside bathroom until I was seven.  

By the time my sister was born, 13 years after me, they had remodeled the house and had hot water heat and carpeting and all that.  I grew up with my parents.  They were already established when Susan was born.  We often talk about how they were and have discovered, we grew up with different parent's--even though they were the same people.  BUT--I got 30 years with my Mother, and Susan only got 17 1/2.

Life-sometimes it can be very hard!!  

Spring?

Today's high temperature was: 52 degrees

Sunny and nice all day

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I don't have much to say (unusual as that may be.)

Nice and warm feeling today and...I can see grass in one area of the lawn!!!!!

I watched more basketball, which means I cross stitched.  I worked on the forms DHS sent me--trying to gather the "proofs" to prove I am not lying.  I know/see some people that get so much assistance from DHS.  They once gave Dar two thousand dollars to buy a car--she used it to pay off a credit card and they NEVER asked to see proof in the form of a car title.  If I tried something like that, I'd be in jail for Welfare Fraud.  Don't even get me started on the "people" who live in Detroit the big cities, have many kids with different father's and entire families have lived on Welfare for generations!!!

With me, they want to know if I have life insurance and what is the face value of that policy if I cashed it in--$50.54. 

 They want to know what happened to the $130.00 a month payment I use to get from GM.  I told her I hadn't received any payments from them for two years, but...I gotta have proof.  GM has since turned its retirement benefits program over to Fidelity, so finding that proof took me a couple of hours--but I found it on-line, found my account and payment history and printed out the pages that show the amount I got each month for 7 years and also a statement that I am no longer receiving any benefits.

I asked why they couldn't see that I was getting no direct deposit in my checking account statement, which I also have to send to them.  She said, "You may have stopped direct deposits and just continued to get checks from them that you cashed so it wouldn't show up in your checking account." That really made me feel warm and fuzzy.  BTW--the case worker was very curt and a bit snippy.  Obviously she doesn't know that GM sends retirement bennies ONLY by direct deposit. 

I had to get an affidavit from the park office that shows how long I have lived here (11 years tomorrow) and how much I pay in rent every month ($357.00).  I also had to print out the trailer title, my birth certificate, the title to my 1998 car AND they want to know how much cash I have in the house.  I think I have around $6.50 in my bottle return jug.

Then I had to sign a waiver to give them my first born if they found my information was not correct.

All  I asked for was food assistance.  I didn't request them to pay my Chiropractor bill of $117.50, nor the $30.00 a month I send to the dentist.  They won't help with house insurance, although I had to prove I have it.  Nor heat and lights, although I have to send in the last bill.  

I guess it all has to do with how much they give me in food allowance?

The cut-off on income is $2K, a month, so I qualify for that anyway!!

It actually would just be easier to die and my kids could sell this place, get my $10K life insurance and I wouldn't have to worry anymore.  

This has been very stressful for me--we shall see if it is even worth it!  I do not like dealing with government agencies!