It's Okay To Be Nice

Today's high temperature was: 69

Beautiful--sunny, nice breeze.

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

When I called the office and left my message about my tree, I didn't rant or rave or make demands or act mad.  I just said that I had talked to the tree cutting guy and he said I wasn't on the list and I wondered why.

7:25 this a.m.  The phone was ringing.  I couldn't see the caller ID and almost didn't answer, but then....it might be a family emergency, so I answered.

"You gotta get out here right now!"  It was Dar.

"I....what?  I....."

"Get to your front door...right now!"

So I staggered out to the front door--in my nightie, and there stood four guys and Dar.  I took one step back into my house so the guys couldn't see through or up my nightie.

"The guys are here to cut your tree.  They have been knocking and ringing your door bell.  They almost left!  Get dressed!"

So I staggered back into my bedroom and pulled my clothes from yesterday, out of the hamper and ran back out to my front porch.

Jim--the owner of the tree cutting company said, "You wanted the Mulberry down.  Right?"

"Yes...the one we talked about last fall."

and...suddenly, chain saws were buzzing and the Tree Monkey was climbing and.............................

Dar pulls me off to the side, "Rob (park manager) called me and asked that I call you on the phone because they couldn't wake you up.  He said you are on the list to get the tree down, and they were going to do it later this summer.  He felt so bad when he got your message that he had the guys come do it now before they go back to the rest of the jobs."

 Just then, Rob pulled up in his truck and got out.  He had a big smile on his face.  I walked to the end of the driveway and just hugged him and thanked him.

"Hey...you are always so nice.  You welcomed my parents the other day.  You always have a good word for all our workers.  I just didn't want you to have to wait until the end of summer to get those branches off your roof."

By then, I had a few tears in my eyes.  I was thinking what a nice blessing God had bestowed on me.

He gave me another hug.  "I just appreciate this so much!", I said.

"I know you do."

Then Jim, standing in the background, gave me a thumbs up and a big smile.  He has done a lot of work for me over the years--taking down the big Willow tree , between Tami's house and mine--that Tami had promised to pay half of, but never has--$800.00, and Jim has trimmed up my Maple tree three times.

He and I had talked last fall about him taking down the Mulberry tree.  I told him I'd wait until spring, because, it would cost $200 and I sure didn't have the money.  Today, he was really happy for me too.

So--I guess it pays to be nice?  You don't always get taken?  You don't always end up last?

Although, Dar with her demanding way and aggressiveness, DID get that big Oak taken down yesterday, and to my way of thinking, it only needed to be trimmed not killed!

Whatever--the Mulberry is gone.  No more branches laying on and destroying my new roof.  No more purple bird doo-doo staining my white siding.  I am very happy.

 
I can't believe how much sun is coming in--really open ed up that corner and allows more sun on my front garden.  I do miss the tree, however.

Oh oh.  someone's looking in the window right at me!  He used to climb this Maple and then jump to the Mulberry and up onto my roof.  I think he is a bit angry and can't figure out how he is going to get on the roof.  He is going to need his flying "cape" to make that leap for sure.

Then, they took down the pine across the street-=-this one---photo from April.

The manager's parents are putting a double wide on this oversized lot.

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

I got two old step end tables from Pearl--she bought new ones.  Merle took off the "steps" for me and I glued them together with Gorilla Glue.  I wanted to make a bench for the "kids" to sit on to be able to see out the window--instead of having to sit on the narrow, 3inch window sill.

Put it in their favorite spot in the bedroom and put a nice soft pad on top. 

But look--the kids want to lay or sit under it, instead of on top. 

I put Maggie up there and petted her and tried to explain to her how nice it was, but..... 

Silly cats!!!

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

Then Tami came over, fire coming out of her ears.

She let loose with a few nasty words about them not taking down her tree and why did they take down mine?

I told her that I had talked to Rob and she is on the list.  They are doing a second cutting later this summer.

"Most of the trees they took down they felt, were in danger of large broken branches from the winters storms, coming down on people's roofs."

"Then why in h*ll did they take down yours?"

(I lied--sort of) "because I had turned in my request over a year ago (which is true) and they decided to get mine out of the way now."

She is not a happy camper--but Rob is ready for her.  All the staff knows her and that she had mild mental impairments.  So when she rants, they will know what to do.

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

A lot of troubles in our world today.  Russian's shooting down (apparently mistakenly) a commercial jet and Israel going on the attack into the Gaza.  

I'm pretty mad at Sarah.  God told Abraham that his old wife Sari would have a child.  She didn't believe it so she persuaded Abraham to have sex with her handmaiden, Hagar, a Muslim.  Then when Sari had a child, she made Abraham send Hagar and their child Ishmael out into the dessert.  He was Abraham's first born son and ended up with no birth right--nothing.  The Jews and Muslim's have been killing each other ever since! 

It appears to me how easily men can be tempted by women.  Eve, Sarah, Delilah, Bathsheba, even Ruth tempted Boaz by laying at his feet so he had to marry her.  

Men are not real bright, are they?

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

I talked to Pearl this evening.  Merle went to the Neurologist today.  He has to have an MRI and an EMG.  Pearl said, "I had an EMG once and it was awful!"

"I did too," I said.  "The worse medical test I ever had done.  Don't tell Merle how painful it is--okay?"

I saw him ride by on his bike and he looked great.  I watched as he peddled up the hill in the service drive.  I have to get off my bike and walk it up--he just peddled right on up.  He sure doesn't appear to have anything wrong with him!

Hope not!   

Mid-Week Consternation

Today's high was: 65 degrees

Partly sunny

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In this park, we were told that a tree trimming/removal team would be coming in Mid-July.  If we wanted any of our trees trimmed or taken down, we had to write a letter, explaining our reasons and turn that letter into the office.  Dar wanted the huge, tall oak tree in back of her place taken down, because branches and limbs sometimes came down on her roof.  Tami next door wanted the large, tall pine tree taken down that has grown too close to her house because when the pine cones fall on her roof, it wakes them up.  I requested my Mulberry tree be taken down as the branches hang over my roof, causing the roof to be come covered in moss and eating away at the shingles, Plus the birds eat the fruit and poop purple all over my siding, requiring me to get it power washed every year.

All our letters were accepted and the manager of the park, assured us the trees would be removed.

This morning at 9:00, they commenced to take down Dar's tree.  It took them all day.  I don't think this video is going to work, but.......he was 50+ feet up the tree.

When they were done, I walked across the street to talk to Jim, the owner of the tree company.  He has done three tree trim/removal jobs for me that I had to pay for.  I asked him if he was doing mine and Tami's tomorrow.  He told me, "you aren't on the list.  We have one small tree to do out by the front, but that's all."

Needless to say, I came in, called the office and left a message!!!  
======================= 
Pearl called this morning and wanted to know if I could come down because something was wrong with her computer--so I trotted up to her place.  We walked back to her bedroom and I sat down in front of the computer and she said, "I can't see any ports on the front of the computer."

I looked down at it, "Sure there are.  Two small plugs, like for your speakers, and two slots for your camera or something like that."

"Well, I tried to plug my speakers in there and I couldn't see the hole."

"Because..............?"

"I wanted to plug them in there so they would work."

"Are they still plugged in...in the back?"

"Yes...and they still don't work."
<done with this>

I reached back behind her monitor where her speakers are---picked up the cord with the electrical plug on the end and said,  "Honey, it doesn't matter where you put the plug on your computer.  Your speakers don't work because................." and I dangled the electrical plug in the air between us.

"Oh my Lord!  I just need an extension cord!"

"Yup.  Do you have one?"

"Yes, but you'll have to reach up and get it.  It's in a box, on the shelf,  over the washer."

So I went and got it, plugged the speaker plug into it and said, "Now, we have no room on the surge protector because it only has five outlets and they are full.  Where in the world can we plug this into?"

"I have another wall outlet right over here, on the other end of the dresser."

I had her plug it in, sit down in front of her computer and bring up one of her games and---VOILA' sound.

"That's what you have been trying to tell me for the past week, isn't it?"

"Yup."

"...and I was trying to plug both ends into the computer.  Oh good Lord!"

So--on to the next computer problem.

"Whenever I bring up a new game, there is a black box that comes on the screen and I don't know how to get rid of it."

"Okay--show me."

She Googled the name of a game and up the link came, then, instead of clicking on the name of the game, she clicked on a little green box with a check mark inside and up came a black box that said, "Bitdefender has found this site to be safe."

"That is the anti-virus and malware system we have installed on our computers.  It is saying that the game you want to play is safe to play.  The reason the message came up is because you clicked on the little green box.  Instead, just click on the name of the game."

Which she did and there was her game.

I came home.
============================

NOT MY CIRCUS!

Being Pearl's best friend and her surrogate sister is not for the faint of heart.  It takes a very strong, patient person--I was, at one time, but I am wearing thin.

She wants Merle to quit working--it is too hard on him, which is true.  So she figured out their budget, and wanted me to come up and look at it, because she knows I have a "chart" as she calls it for my budget that I made in Excel.  So..I took a blank one with me.

"I have figured out all our bills and when we pay them, we will have two hundred dollars left over every month."

"WOW...that's great!"

We sat at the dining room table and worked on the chart.  She had all her bills there and I let her put in the amounts in each "box".

RENT
GAS
ELECTRICITY
STORAGE UNIT
HOUSE INSURANCE
CAR INSURANCE
HEALTH INSURANCE
LIFE INSURANCE
COMCAST
PRESCRIPTIONS
GAS FOR CARS
GROCERIES
HAIR CUTS
CLOTHES
DINING OUT
MOVIES
SAVINGS
MISC. (emergencies)

When she said she had ALL her bills figured out--she meant...just bills that come in the mail.  She had not figured in groceries, nor gas for the car, nor hair cuts/clothes/eating out/movies/cat food/.  There was nothing for MISC.  Nothing going into savings for emergencies.

She was shocked when we got to the total figure for expenses.  She thought they would have an extra of $200 a month, when in reality, they will be short.

"How can that be!"

"Well you can cut back.  You don't have to eat out every Friday night--do it once a month instead.  You don't have to go to a movie every week.  You don't have to have the Comcast best line-up.  I have the Digital Starter package and I have over 150 channels..you don't need HD--trust me--you can't tell the difference in the picture quality. 

You don't have to go to garage sales and the Salvation Army every Saturday.  If you empty out your storage unit, that will save you fifty-five dollars a month."

"But.......I've got a lot of stuff in there."

"Stuff that you use?"

"No...but....."

"Empty it out and have a garage sale...there's extra money there too."

She wadded up the chart and threw it into the wastebasket.  "I can't deal with this right now.  I don't understand it!"

They declared bankruptcy two years ago.  They have no credit cards (thank goodness), but the extra money that comes in from not having those debts...Pearl just keeps spending on junk!

"Okay.  Well...we tried.  I gotta go home now and get some lunch."

As I walked back home I thought of a phrase I had recently heard---"NOT MY CIRCUS.  NOT MY MONKEYS."

They are going to have to figure this out on their own!!

Something's Happening Here......

What it is, ain't exactly clear....
=========================

Something is wrong with Merle.  

It started in the early spring--a pain in the left side of his back/side.  Twice a week visits to the Chiropractor--he thought it helped.

Then he went back to work at the golf course, where he sits on a riding mower all day, or repairs the mowers, or lifts heavy things, or.....whatever they want him to do.

The pain became worse, so he went to his Primary Care guy.  

Kidney stones perhaps?  Some medicine.  Drink lots of water.  Drink Cranberry juice.  The pain lessened.

Came back, even worse.  X-rays showed a bit of stenosis in his spine.  Anti-inflammatory was prescribed.

Then, he started getting a tremor in his right hand.  He spilled soup one night while we were out to supper.  Pearl chastised him for being messy.

He had trouble breathing one night.  Off to my Cardiologist to have tests run.  Stress test.  EKG, Electrocardiogram.  Ultra sound of the aortic artery.  Every test came back perfect.

Back to the Primary Care guy for ultra sound on his abdomen and CAT scan on his brain.  Could be cancer the doc wondered?  Could be Parkinson's?

No problems.  No tumors anywhere in his kidneys, liver, gall bladder, spleen. pancreas--nothing.  He did not have cancer.  Merle cried from relief.

Still the pain, still the tremor.  Over the weekend, he went into a depression.  Quiet.  Didn't want to do anything.  Tired.  Weak voice.

Of course, he and I didn't discuss any of this.  Men don't talk to neighbor women about this sort of thing.

Saturday, I went down.  I purposefully took a magazine with me to give to him.  I knew, when I extended my right arm and right hand to give it to him, my ET would come on nice and strong.

"Why is your hand shaking?"

"Oh--I have ET.  Essential Tremor--comes with age to some people.  No big deal."

"Not Parkinson's?"

"Nope and won't ever develop into that either.  The only time it really bothers me is when I try and eat soup.  When I bring the spoon up to my mouth...my hand shakes and the soup goes flying!"

He laughed.

Pearl called yesterday morning.  "He just sits there in his chair and stares at the TV.  He says he can't do anything anymore--he gets too tired and his legs hurt. I told him he had to quit work.  He told me we couldn't afford it.  I don't know what to do with him.  He's grouchy.  Marge told him he acts like Grumpy Cat."

I went up yesterday afternoon.  Walked in and plopped down in the chair.

"What's wrong with you?"  Pearl said.

"Just mad!  Grouchy! Depressed!  Pissed off at the world!"  I could see Merle listening.

"I can't do a dang thing anymore," I said.  "I fell while putting up my new curtains.  My leg just sort of gave out!  I can only work in the garden about twenty minutes and then I have to stop and rest.  I don't feel like doing anything.  I hate this arthritis pain in my hands and back!  The only time I don't hurt is when I'm sitting in my chair and staring at the TV!"

"You sound like Merle.  Maybe you oughta go to the doctor and get checked out."

"I have.  I went to my Cardiologist--everything is fine.  To my Primary Care guy--everything is fine.  I guess it's just an age thing, but....it sure is hard to admit...I can't even do as much as I did five years ago!"

"You should have climbed up on your desk instead of trying to stand on that window ledge."

"How am I supposed to get up ON my desk?  I can't step up that high."

"Well...I can't do anything!  I'll be in a wheelchair by this time next year!"

<this is not about you, Pearl>

"This dang tremor thing makes it hard to do a lot of things....I have no strength in my right hand anymore and I can't count on it.  I might reach in the refrigerator to get a jug of Pepsi and drop the jug on the floor!  I can't even write my name legibly.  My legs feel pretty good, but I go out to walk and by the time I get down here, they are tired and weak (a tiny bit of exaggeration--trying to show Merle that all is not hopeless)."

"Yeah...and you're both deaf!" she mumbles.

So, the three of us chit chat about Tiger's baseball and other mundane things and I come home.

Pearl called this morning and said, "Merle felt real good this morning...kind of chipper.  Maybe he is coming out of his funk.  I don't understand why he gets like that."

<of course you don't because you don't understand depression>

"I keep thinking if I encourage him more (nag) he will just get up and do what needs to be done!"

"It doesn't work that way, Pearl.  You will only make him feel more deficient...more depressed."

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

Merle has always been strong.  He has always been very active.  He has always done all the chores around the house, including making the bed, vacuuming and mopping the floors.  He has always worked.

The Psychologist in me thinks:  Merle is 78 years old.  He can't do like he used to and is just realizing that and it is taking away that whole "manhood/provider" thing.  

He wants to quit work because it causes him so much pain and agony, but he thinks he can't because...Pearl is a spending machine.

The medico's tell him there is nothing wrong with him, physically, put he has pain, so....there is some hidden disease that they just haven't found yet.

He may be realizing that death isn't all that far away and that is a scary thing to ponder on.

He is coming into the realization that he is old!

<haven't we women in our 70's had to deal with that realization too?>

but he's a man---so much more difficult for them.

He is going to a Neurologist this week for more tests,

to see if he MIGHT have stages of early Parkinson's...oh yes, he just admitted last night that he has been having double vision.  Brain tumor?

Yeah--growing old is not fun!!!!!
=================
5:00 p.m. this evening--I got a phone call from Pearl.  I won't explain--I will just type it as it occurred and you can make up your own mind.

"I went uptown this morning.  Took that serger back and...I didn't get another one."

"Why not?"

"I don't need it."

"You don't have a place to plug in your speakers so they will work.  Your surge protector only has five outlets and you need six...or seven if you also want to plug in your printer."

"No I don't.  There are that many places in the front of the computer."

"I don't understand."

"You better get a hearing aid!"

"No.  I heard you...I just don't understand what you mean."

"Ah-hh <hurumph sigh>  On my old computer, I had my speakers plugged in the port in the front of the computer.  You have all the components plugged into the back of this computer.  I am going to take the speaker plug out of the back and plug it into the front and then they will work."

"They still won't work."

"Why not?"

"Because they need to be plugged into a power source."

"Huh?  You don't know what I'm trying to tell you....."

"Listen.  Stop talking a minute and listen"

"But..."

"Listen.  Your new computer has a whole lot more places to plug in your.....components.  They are all plugged into the ports in the back.  They are all working.  You don't need to use the ports in the front."

"Yeah, they are all working except the speakers!"

"You have a modem, a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, a computer and the speakers.  You have a surge protector that has five slots for plugs...you need six slots.  You do not have enough plug areas to plug in your speakers."

"That's why I want to plug them in the front."

"NO!  You can't!  There is no electrical plug in the front of your computer. You need an electrical plug outlet--like a wall outlet--like an extension cord--like a surge protector that has six or more outlets to plug into."

"You're wrong.  The speakers on my old computer were plugged in the front and they worked.  If I take them out of the back of this one and plug them in the little round port in the front, they will work."

"Pearl.  You have a lamp sitting on the table beside you.  If you unplug it from the wall...it won't work."

"Well--I know that!  I'm not that dumb!"

"Your speakers are the same way.  They need to be plugged into the electric power that comes into your house from the outside.  You can plug them into a wall outlet or a surge protector--which is like a big extension cord.  It has nothing to do with the computer.  Your speakers WIRES are plugged into the computer...they are just fine, but they won't work until you plug them in...........look at the other end of the cord--it has a plug which needs to go into an electrical outlet."

"I don't want to talk about it any more.  I know you are wrong.  I'm going back there right now and I am going to unplug that little roundie thing from the back and plug it into the front and it will work.  I will call you back just to show you."

"Okay...talk with you later."
======================
I hung up the phone and just screamed!!!

I have a headache and I have not received a call back and...I am staying away from this until she figures it out for herself.  It shouldn't take more than two or three days--right?
===============
Oh yes--Pearl wanted me to help her with her budget so that she can prove to Merle that he can quit working and they will have enough money.

That budget session is a whole 'nother story--for another day--after I get rid of this headache.

The Hands of Time

Balisha wrote a post about her hands.  It got me to thinking.

We usually don't take much notice of how our hands looks until one day--you just glance down and there are your Mother's hands!  How did that happen?  The wrinkles.  The loose skin.  

I remember sitting on my grandma's lap and pulling the skin up into a peak, just below her middle knuckle  That skin stayed that way for a long time, it seemed.  I asked her once why it was like that and she said, "Because I am old."

Over the years, I have tried that with my own left hand and was shocked one day when the skin stayed up into that peak for quite a while--until I clenched my hand.  I am old!

I wish I had been more aware of the hand phenomena--I would love to have a yearly picture of my left hand--from about 45 on.  To see the subtle changes, instead of waking up one morning and it seemed my hands had gotten old over night.

I have long fingers--I used to be able to span an octave on the piano, until arthritis set into my thumb and started to draw it into the palm of my hand.

For as "big" as I am, I wear a small ring size.  A size 6.  I have noticed that on my right hand, my rings are now size 7's--on my left ring finger, a size 6 is a bit loose.  Isn't that weird.  It's the arthritis in the joints--which is worse in my right hand.

Balisha wrote of all the things her hands have experienced over the years--I share many of those things.

I used to have a heart-shaped age spot on my hand, but now it has eased into a plain old circle.  When I first noticed it, one day at work, I outlined it with a pen, I thought it was so cool.  Now, I have so many brown age spots that I can't even count--that a gallon of Procelana wouldn't help--that are difficult to even see under all the wrinkles and cross hatch marks.

Look at  your hands and stop and think of all the things they have touched since you were born.  It is amazing.

I like my hands, even though they are no longer pretty.  They are still useful, to a certain degree.  I hope they keep working until the day, they are laid, one on top of the other as I lay in my casket.  I hope the mortician has a nice make-up to put on them so they don't look so old!!

When I view my left hand from a side position, that's when I really see the wrinkles, the cross hatched marks, the knot of arthritis that is growing on the first knuckle of my index finger.
Not a pretty sight.

Then, of course my poor beat up right hand.  The thumb being pulled in by arthritis, as the little finger seems to be pushing outward and then, the poor 3/4 index finger.  I can't grip a pencil or pen, I can't open up a jar, BUT--this right hand still has a strong grip when I shake someone's hand!  

It's Been Interesting

Friday morning, I had an appointment with an attorney.  It's  hard to seriously take advice from a guy that looks about 30, but he has good credentials.

It is not possible for me to get any part of my Dad's inheritance

It is not possible for my sister and I to get the rest of our Dad's estate from our step-mother.  Even though we were shown, by our Dad, the paperwork that showed our names and that we would split the one investment account ($250K each).  When the step-mother died, that investment account was gone--made into a trust fund, as she had told us, BUT with her two daughter's names on it, instead of ours.

There was not much consolation when the attorney told me he has seen this happen many, many times.  That does not help my problem of no way to pay my bills.

I am still paying the credit card for the money Fred had borrowed from me for his surgery and dental charges.  I am still paying the credit card for his funeral and grave marker.  I am still paying the credit card for the roof I had to put on two years ago.

I have played the "balance transfer" game and now all the credit cards are past the zero percent interest and the minimum payments have almost doubled.  

I have a FICO score of 798--the attorney was at least impressed with that, but as he said, "That's nice...but what good does that do you?  Are you going to buy another house?  A new car?  Do you need that at this stage of your life?"

"No."

We will meet again to discuss bankruptcy.

I find the whole idea abhorrent!  To me it is unethical and immoral.  

He said, "It's neither unethical nor immoral.  I'm an attorney and I can tell you of the many doctor's, teacher's, attorney's and rich people who I have represented.  It is legal."

My reply?  "Just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's moral."
================================
Friday evening, Merle, Pearl and their daughter, Marge took me out to supper.  Honest to Pete!  I have been out to supper with them six different times.  Six different restaurants and not once did we complete a meal without them complaining about the food--that they ate--to the waitress who took off part of their bill. 

When we went to Bob Evans, I ordered French Toast, Sausage and Biscuits with Honey.  They ordered meatloaf--which was pressed meat with some gravy over it.  I told them, "This is a place to get breakfast...you can't expect meatloaf to be tasty in a breakfast joint."

Friday night, we went to a Chinese restaurant.  Not a "real" Chinese restaurant, but a chain BUFFET restaurant that cooks for American's palate.  I had to agree with them this time.  It was awful!!!

It was tasteless!  Monogolian Beef is usually spicy--this was not--not even a teeny tiny bit.  That was the only beef dish they had.  I was looking forward to some Beef and Pea Pods--not even on the buffet  Egg rolls, which I love, were less than 2 inches long and no sauce to put on them.  The only good thing I had to eat, was the Oolong tea and the only thing remotely Chinese in the whole place, were the employees and the garish decorations!  EGAD

As usual Pearl and Marge complained and money was taken off the total bill.
=================
Today was going to be MY day.  I wanted no company.  I wanted to get things taken care of around here and not be disturbed.

I got my bird feeders filled up with the special Habenaro Chili Pepper liquid coated on the seeds.

I love how the flames are coming out of the squirrel's

ears and mouth.  We shall see.

I fertilized my container gardens and watered them.  I swept and washed off the porch.

I decided to hem some new tier curtains I got for this room.  My older ones (11 years) were looking kind of ragged , so I decided to take the best ones and put them in my bedroom, to take the place of the curtain I had in there, that I hated since Fred brought it into this house.

The curtains arrived last week.  Cheap, but good enough, but I noticed, the tiered one didn't have a ruffle above the rod opening--the valance had a ruffle, but not the curtain ..PLUS, they were too long, so to solve the problem, all I had to do was take out the top hem, turn it down about 3", sew it and then sew another pocket for the rod.

 You would think, after the hundreds of hours, over the years, that I have sat at a sewing machine, creating beautiful outfits for me and my kids, prom formals, on and on, that I would know how to do a simple, straight line.  I did a lot of that, for my Mother, when I was 10, and I knew I still could, but.....

#1: I have forgotten how to thread the machine!

#2:  Once that was figured out (my looking in the manual), I couldn't see to get the thread through the eye of the needle.  Which brought to mind a scripture about it "being easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle"---than it is for Judy to thread it.

#3:  After sewing for exactly 2 inches, the bobbin thread ran out.

#4:  How to get the bobbin case open.

#5:  How to get the bobbin case back in--although I 
had no problem filling the bobbin.

#6:  Why am I sweating and shaking?

 What should have taken 30 minutes, took me over and hour, but...I got my ruffle on top of the tier!!


This photo from last winter shows how my desk is right in front of my front windows.

In order to get to that middle curtain area---well, let's just say it is scary.  I can't move the desk so...

 I have to use my little step stool and climb up and walk on the window ledge.

I suppose it was inevitable!

I got the valance and curtain up on the center window and as I was backing out-I could feel myself going down.

Not wanting to fall on my new monitor or scanner, I sort of leaned to the left and fell on the edge of my desk--taking out my plastic calendar holder, causing my phone to fly to the other side of the room and disconnecting several wires with my feet.

Blood was pouring off my left elbow.....but 

cuts and bruises will heal and.......

 The curtains are up!

I decided, as I had disconnected a few cords and wires and could not access the Internet, I'd just take all the wires off the back of the computer, plugs out of the surge protector and I would re-attach each one and try and make a semblance of order in the "cord rat's-nest" we all have behind our computers.

Just then, I heard someone knocking along the siding as they came up the porch.  It was Pearl, and Lord Bless Her Heart, she needed to talk.  I have never seen her quite so excitable and talking so fast.

That story will have to be for another day, but.....I had given her a picture of the kind of surge protector she needs.  I wrote on the photo--"be sure it has 8 outlets--plug in areas.  It will probably cost $20,00"

She showed me what she had purchased.  "The cord is too short to reach to the outlet on the wall."

"I see that," I said.  "Plus--it only has five plug in places."

"Yeah, but it only cost five dollars and you said it would cost twenty."

"Well that's wonderful, but.....if you want to plug in your printer, speakers AND modem, you need one with eight."

And I picked mine up and showed here.

"Oh--that's just like the one in the picture you showed me."

<Lord, just take me now--please!>

"Guess I will have to take it back," she said.

"Do you want me to pick one up for you?"

"No!  I'm not totally incompetent.  I'll get another one!"

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

So she left and I came back in here and sat for a moment, trying to calm myself and try and remember what plug went to what component and which connector went into which USB port and--got it done and little rope around each bundle to keep it neat--at least for the next week.

Like I said earlier this week--it has been a hellacious six days.  I am so totally beat up and bruised, not just from my fall, but from bending, lifting, carrying and so tired---I will sleep well tonight and.....tomorrow, I can spend a bit more time on this computer to learn more how to work Windows 7 and Outlook 2010 and perhaps one day next week, the kid at the computer place can recover my 40 years of genealogy work and all my saved e-mails and import them to this hard drive.

AND everything will be fine!

ARGGH

ARGGH!!