Hm-mm

I stole this pix from Sally's blog.  Should I enlarge it and put it on my front door when I see Dar heading this way?

Hectic

It's been hectic around here.  I keep looking at my perennials that need to be cut back, undergrowth in my Lilac/Hosta garden that needs to be cut back.  Little Maple trees growing in the midst of my Privet Hedge, that needs to be cut back.  The shed needs to be rearranged and I need to get all my porch pots put away AND paint the porch steps.  I have had the paint since April.

My client, whose genealogy I finished the last of September, wanted two books for her children.  Then a book for her cousin and a book for her niece and nephew.  Not a problem at all and such a nice thing for her to do for her family.

I had ordered black and tri-color inkjets from a place on e-bay.  They are brand new, still in their HP box and work really well.  I ran out of black ink, so up to the refill place I went.  I got a black and a Tri-color.  Got home put the black one in and the print-out was very dim.  I got back in the car and headed up to the refill place.  Mind you, this is nearly a 20 mile round-trip through town traffic.

Got my black inkjet replacement and headed home.  Two years ago, a black and Tri-color refilled inkjet cost $35.00, now they cost $53.00, still under the price of new ones at Staples, but.......

Got home, put the new black inkjet in and printed out 5 pages.  When I looked at them, the Tri-color inkjet wasn't printing.  I had to throw those pages away, at 34 cents a page for the special paper.  This time, I just drove back up to Staples, went in and found they had a sale.  Buy one, get another one for 40% off.  Two Tri-color inkjet cartridges cost me $63.00!!!

I put the new Tri-color inkjet in and off we went.  Then, I got on-line and ordered two cartridges from the e-bay seller, at $37.16--free shipping.

By then, it was supper time and I was exhausted!!!

Today, I got the two books for her children done and up to the print shop to have them bound.  I pick them up tomorrow and have her cousin's book done, so can get that bound tomorrow too.  The rest of today, I worked on printing the two books for her niece and nephew.  

I love genealogy--the research, the putting the families together, putting everything together and writing the book.  I hate the printing process!!!!!!!!!!  
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I got a letter today from the hospital where I get my mammogram.  I am considered low risk for breast cancer, so I only need a mammogram every two years---or at my age--not at all.

While this is good news, with my doc telling me the cut off time for a low-level lung CT scan is 75 years, I wonder.  Is there really a cut of time for these tests or is it that at my age, the cure wouldn't really help, wouldn't add any years, so-----I am expendable?

Who says?

When my doc says I have the blood work of a 55 year old.  When the cardiologist tells me that biologically my age is really 65 and I have the heart of a 20 year old.  Then why does the year of my age matter?  I may live to be 90+.  Why should these tests be cut off because my birth certificate says I was born in 1939 instead of 1948?

My step-mother had bladder cancer when she was 91.  They took out the tumor, radiated her for 6 weeks and she felt great for another 2+ years.

I guess some of us are living too long and not being productive enough.  Taking up space?  Best to just give us a pill to mask the problem instead of trying to cure it?  Odumba Care has made the insurance companies not want to pay for elder preventative medicine?
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Dar came busting in my house, during my Soap.  She was hysterical and crying!

"I tried to call my sister-in-law, but she didn't answer her phone.  I had to come over here so you can calm me down!"   Pacing up and down my living room, moaning and failing her arms around.

It seems she had just gotten back from a visit to an orthopedic doctor.  He gave her a Cortisone shot for her back pain, but informed her that the only relief she will get from that and her hip pain is if she gets a hip replacement.  Plus, he thinks she had a head injury when she had the accident.

"Now I know why I can't remember things!  Oh. My. God!!!  I probably have a brain tumor!!."

"Sit down.  Take a deep breath and let's talk about this."

She sat.  She grabbed a cigarette.  She rocked back and forth.

"Please, be careful you don't drop ashes on my new carpet."  I said.

She finally put the ashtray she kept reaching for, in her lap.

"Now--you had a CT scan on your head after the accident, right?"

"Yes."

"They found no problem..right?  No bleeding.  No hematoma.  No problems...right?

"Right."

"I think the reason you are having a hard time remembering things is that you have so much on your mind.  You have appointments with a different doctor nearly every day of the week.  Your Dad is having problems and needs tests.  You have tests scheduled.  You have so much in your head, that you are completely distracted.  That's why you get to the grocery store and forget half of what you wanted to buy.  That's why when you wake up, you forget what day it is.  Anyone would be that way."

"I now have 9 different doctor's.  None of them listen to me.  They just seem to pass me along to the next one.  I have to meet with the insurance doctor--my attorney is going with me and told me HE will answer all the questions and I am not to say a word."

"That's a good idea.  You do get wound up and might say something that wouldn't help your case."

"And now?  A hip replacement?"

She lights up another cigarette.  This is the woman who tells me she only smokes two cigarettes a day.  She just met her quota in half an hour!

"I'm sure the accident caused my hip problem,"

"You have osteoarthritis...right?"

"Yes."

"That alone will cause the cushion in your hip socket to wear away and it will be bone-on-bone and the only help, is a new hip joint."

"Well, I didn't have it before the accident."

"You've had arthritis for years.  Even without the accident, this would have come on and just gotten worse and worse."

She wailed and she moaned and she paced.  Finally, her phone rang--it was her sister-in-law and Dar started wailing and crying again as she told her SIL all that she had told me.

"I'm at Judy's.  I feel like I'm losing my mind!  I am going to tell you all this while I'm here so Judy can hear it all too.  I am so filled with fear!"  and on she went for 30 minutes.

90 minutes later, apparently I had calmed her down enough so she could go home and eat supper!
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Every time she comes over, the first words out of her mouth are, "I came over so you can calm me down!"

Wouldn't it be nice, if just one time, she said, "I came over to see how you're doing.  Oh, you got your fireplace.  It's pretty."

She has been here twice in the last week and hasn't even noticed the fireplace.  LOL

She's a pitiful thing.  Always bragging about how strong she is.  How religious she is.  How she relies on God for everything.  How she can tolerate pain better than anyone else.  A sort of uppity attitude, especially when she states that she relies on God for everything.

Somethings I like to remind her to "Rely on God.  Give it all up to Him and He will calm you.  You know, you have no control over any of this.  Give it to God!"

Yeah--I can be nasty person--dig, dig, dig.

Busy day...and an idea

Doctor had called me in because "I want to discuss your chest x-ray."

That can be a scary thing, so I went into my Patient Portal and found the results of my mammogram and chest x-ray and both were fine.  But--I complied, as I had a whole bunch of running around to do today anyway.

While I was there, I got a prescription renewed, my BP taken--132/68 heart rate: 60, and got my flu shot.  He came bouncing into the room all, "Wow!  You look great.  How are you?"
"Wonderful...so far," I said.
"I wanted to go over your chest x-ray.  Why do you get one every year?"
"Because I smoked for 57 years."
"Waste of time for that.  Chest x-ray won't show anything significant, unless it was a very large tumor.  Instead you need to get a low-level CT scan."
"Okay."
"How old are you?"
"Seventy-seven."
"Nope.  Cut off for CT scan is seventy-five."
"Well, there is nothing wrong with my lungs."
"Nope.  No worries.  I just don't like you getting radiated like that every year when it won't show anything important."
(Couldn't he have explained all this to me over the phone?)
"You're so healthy.  Get outta here!"
"Okay.  See ya in January."
He stopped, "Why January?"
"Because that is when I get my blood work and check-up done.  January and June.  Remember?  You said I didn't have to come in only every six months, instead of three."
"Okay.  Get outta here."
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So--I got outta there and went over to Lowe's. 

With old age setting in and balance problems, this just doesn't get it anymore.

So, today at Lowe's, I got this, and this, gets it!!!

Then I took off the other way and went down to Brighton. 

I had put in a pre-order at the Rich People's Store this morning and picked up my Antipasto Salad, Macarpni and Tuna Salad, Seafood Salad and 1/2# of their old fashioned bologna sandwich spread.

I found it humorous that the lady said, "I hope this is the right Antipasto Salad.  It's on lettuce, not pasta."
I said in my sweetest voice without a sneer--"The word Anti, means against or no.  So an Anti-pasto salad would mean...with no pasta."
"Really?"
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I stopped at Michael's on the way home for two skeins of embroidery floss for the baby quilt.  I don't think I am ever going to get the thing done.  Baby is due in 16 days!


Now--for my idea.  Wanting a room divider of sorts between the fireplace and the kitchen and to break the "eyes" view of walking in the front door and seeing straight through to the bedroom--

I got these:

and I ordered these:

I think sand and shells will go in this one.

I think the succulent will go in this one.

Not trusting my ceiling to hold up anything heavier than a fly speck, I dipped the threaded part of the hook into Gorilla Glue and screwed it into the ceiling, about 6 inches from the corner of the fireplace edge.  Just one.  I will see if it holds tomorrow.

Then, I may get a blue/green glass ball, and an amethyst glass ball and one more--because we never do anything in pairs.  3 or 5.  The Japanese way.

Then, I may have something that looks similar to this. Which hangs down between the back of this woman's couch and the open stairway.

We shall see.  Up where the cat can't reach it and just suspended there between the fireplace and the kitchen table.

Hm-mm?

Now--where do I find filament to hang them with?

Dark is the sky, and so am I.

Hot and humid--chilly and wet.  Michigan weather.  We are getting a SouEaster--if there is such a thing.  A big path of rain, coming in from the south-east and just rotating over us, around and around.  Detroit got 6 inches of rain.  People trying to get into work, in the underpasses, were swamped and their cars went under.  

Do dark all morning, I had to turn on the lamp in here so I could see my computer.  My mood resembles the weather today.  It was a good day to stay inside and bury myself in genealogy work.  Even that didn't seem to satisfy me.

I got my fireplace yesterday and have enjoyed it.  I turn the flame on at night, while I watch TV and cross stitch or knit.  Even without turning on the heat, just seeing the flames, seems to make me feel warm

Cats on the couch and rocker.

When I posted my video on Face Book, people suggest I center the fireplace on that wall.  This is the very thing I was concerned with last spring.  Do any of you remember me saying I thought I'd need some kind of small room divider to distinguish between the living room and kitchen?

That's what I liked about my other TV amoire.  I had it angled a bit so that is sort of separated living room and kitchen.  I think if I turned the fireplace a bit, it would look funny.

The fireplace IS centered between the window and the edge of the carpet, but it kind of bugs me that it isn't centered between both living room and kitchen window.  But, if it were--that would look beyond weird.  Half on the carpet, half in the kitchen.

I guess that reason was why I was going to get a shorter fireplace--48", so more carpet would show on each edge.  This one is 55".  It has a bigger firebox, which I like, but........................oh well, I will keep thinking.
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I took all my DVD's, I've had stored in a plastic box since I moved my old TV amoire, and laid them on the edges of my desk.  Then I stacked them in categories: Biographies, Christian, Classic, Documentaries, Science Fiction, War and then put them in alphabetical order in their appropriate category.

Then I made an Excel spread sheet with all their names.  Put them in the storage ends of the fireplace and marked on the spread sheet which shelf they are on and which section of that shelf.

If I want to watch "Gone With The Wind", I know it is in with the Classic Movies--2nd shelf, mid section.

Yes--I can be OCD about certain things.  I like organization!
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I don't appear to be OCD about clutter however.  I have that counter top between my recliner and the kitchen.  It is supposed to be kept clear of anything not essential.  It is ALWAYS cluttered with mail, or pencils and paper, or dishes I have eaten from for my lunch.  The dishwasher is on the other side of the counter, but for some reason, lunch and dinner plates seem to remain on that counter until the next morning!!!

I have the same problem with taking my bottles back for return.  I wait until I have three bags full and of course with no garage to store them in, the full bags reside in my bedroom or by my back door until I remember to grab them on my way to Walmart.

This room--my office--I wouldn't want anyone to peek in here.  If the litter box wasn't in here, I'd keep the door closed all the time.  Papers everywhere, stacked on my desk, a TV tray table, both carts on either side of the desk and...the dust on the book shelves? It's an embarrassment!

I really can be an undisciplined, lazy person.
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GEEZ LOUISE!! I am so depressed and sad and angry now, I will leave you and try for a better attitude next time.

Hey--this is my journal and it is as it is!

Fireside Chat

I started getting so nervous and jittery at 7:00 last night.  I was really dreading having to watch the Presidential debate.  It makes me very uncomfortable when people raise their voices, or snipe at each other.  I wondered what else I could watch on TV last night, while I sat and crossed-stitched.

It made me think of the other TV shows I watch.  When Fred was here, we used to watch CSI and Medical shows and crime stories.  After he died, I couldn't stand to watch them--the violence, the noise and I still don't watch them anymore.

So, last night after Jeopardy, John and Maizey stopped in for 45 minutes, then they went home because he didn't want to miss the debate.  I came in and played a couple of Face  Book games and then decided I should watch, at least part of the debate.  I turned it on at 9:30 and Hillary was screeching about something.  Then the Donald started in.  Showing them split screen was interesting--to see their reactions while the other was holding court.  It appeared to me that all the whole Donald was talking, Hillary was looking down at notes or something.  Then when she rebutted, it seemed like she was reading from a well rehearsed script.

Then he'd start in and there she'd be, nodding her head, or sneering, then he'd do the same when she was speaking.

I flipped over to HGTV to watch Tiny House Hunting, but on their commercials, I'd switch back to the debate.

I don't think the debates are going to show anything new.  I don't really care what either one says because they both lie.  Neither one is fit to hold the most high office of the land.  I don't think it will really matter who wins.  Our country is in such disrepair, I'm not real sure it can ever be great again.

Thankfully, we only have six weeks to wait and then...Dear God, help us all!
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I have to go to the doctor on Monday.  A follow-up on my chest x-ray.  Probably will have to have a CAT scan of my lungs.  I have had a "nodule" off and on for the last 4 years.  It shows up on an x-ray and then the next x-ray, 6 weeks later, it is gone.  Still, when the doctor's office called to set up an appointment, I got that icy cold band feeling around my middle.  That band of fear.

Last time I had to go back for a second mammogram.  I am almost waiting for that call to come too.  

My horoscope said 2016 was going to be a fantastic year for me.  I don't believe in such things, but at the time, I thought, "YAY!"  Well, it may or may not be true.

Whatever--my fireplace is being delivered tomorrow morning and I am going to enjoy it for as long as I have on this earth.  God will take care of the rest.

The end is near-----

Five years ago, this month, I mentioned to Fred that I had always wanted a fireplace in my home.

Of course, impossible here. But a few days later he came home from getting groceries and said, “I found a fireplace we can use in here.  It is electric and you can put your TV on the top.  They have them at Walmart.”  So, I hopped in the car and he took me back to look at them.  Hm-mm, not quite what we wanted.  So we drove over to Lowe’s and looked at theirs.  Too expensive and a bit too large.  He checked on-line and found one we both really liked.  “Free shipping,” he said.  “I can put it together.”

Then, over the next two months, he was in and out of hospital a couple of times, and then on New’s Year Day, he passed away.

Any thought of getting a fireplace or anything else left my mind.  I was in survival mode.

6 weeks later, I had to buy a new furnace.  4 months later, a new roof, the next month, a hip replacement, the cost of which was not entirely covered by Medicare and Supplemental Insurance. .  There was hardly enough money in my (now) decreased budget to buy food, let alone think of buying anything new for this house.  Then $3000.00 worth of repairs on my old car, over the next two years, then dental work, not covered by insurance at all.

A friend hired me to knit or crochet her designs to see if they fit, before she put the patterns up for sale. I put half my “pay check” away and used the other half to pay off my debts.  Then, just for fun, I did a genealogy for a friend.  I mentioned that I loved doing genealogies and by word of mouth, I got more clients.  I paid off my debts and started socking away the money from the genealogies.

This early spring I was ready to finally get my electric fireplace, BUT—my walls and ceilings had needed painting for 7 years.  So I got that done.  My carpet was covered with small scatter rugs to cover up the “worn down to the jute” places.  I got new carpeting.  My old recliner had broken, so I went shopping and got a new recliner AND a new couch to take the place of the broken down, faded, 20 year old one I had.  Then, of course, the dark Cranberry curtains I had, looked terrible with my new clean and bright living room, so new curtains were obtained.  You know how it is.  You do one thing and it leads to another and another.

So--this re-do all started with wanting an electric fireplace--just that, is all I intended.  Crazy, BUT---

Now, I am ready for my electric fireplace!    I will get it Wednesday!!  The end of the re-do is near.

Of course, there is still one very important item missing in my living room, but it can’t be purchased.

This “re-do” hasn’t been quite as exciting, without Fred here to enjoy it with me.  In a way, It seems all for naught.
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I got my mammogram and chest x-ray today.  I will probably get called back for a second mammogram--it seems I have the last two times I had one.  I have very dense, cystic mammo's.

Got an e-mail from my little sister--with a picture of the Devil's Tower.  They had just completed the walk around it.  She told me they were only going to S. Dakota and the Black Hills.  Devil's Tower is in Wyoming!!!  Glad they are seeing all the sights!!!
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I did not watch the debate tonight.  Well, that's not quite true.  I just didn't have the emotional fortitude to watch the yelling, screaming, lying "match", so I watched HGTV and every commercial break, I clicked over to the debate.  GEEZ LOUISE!  Every time I saw Hillary, she was looking down at her notes and every time I saw Donald, he was talking about what a "beautiful" plan he had.

In my humble opinion, neither one of them is good enough to be OUR President and I sooo dread the next 4 years!!!!!!!!

Every time I turn around..............

...it's a Friday.

How ridiculously fast the weeks go by now.  

"For it's a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
And the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
And I haven't got time for the waiting game

And the days dwindle down to a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days I'll spend with you
These precious days I'll spend with you"

actually written for Walter Huston in 1938, but Frank Sinatra gave it a good rendition. It reminds me of Fred and me.  We thought we had days and days, but that last year, from September on, he just started going downhill very quickly it seemed.

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My sister and her hubs Chuck headed out today for South Dakota.  Neither one have ever been west of the Mississippi,  They have been to every National Monument and area of interest on the East Coast, but never to the west.  They are going--only for a week--only to see the Badlands, Mr. Rushmore and the Black Hills.   Leaving Wyoming and Yellowstone for the next trip.  I hope they have years and years to enjoy making these road trips together.

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I made all my appointments this morning.  Mammogram and chest X-ray scheduled for Monday, will meet with PT office, this week and dental appointment October 21st.  I shouldn't complain about having to go to appointments.  I have far less than many my age.

I have told you that I collect old boxes--haven't I?  I have a large old lidded tool box by my chair to store my crochet/knitting/x-stitch in.  The more beat up the box, the better.

This was a box that always set on Fred's mother's desk.  She kept her bills and check book inside.  When she died, instead of putting it in her estate sale, I confiscated it.

Close enough to my chair, but not easy enough to reach without getting out of my chair.

This is what it holds.  It is nearly always this full.  It goes to Pammie when I die and she wants everything that is in this box at the time....so I have to keep it full.  For Pam, you understand.  LOL

John has gone to the Upper UP of Michigan to visit his family.  You know, it is almost a relief that I don't have to worry about when he is going to call to tell me he and Maizey are at the corner, heading my way for a visit.  I can lounge in my nightie as long as I want.  I don't have to wonder if he is coming while I'm watching Jeopardy.  

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The other night, around 11:00 as I was sitting here in the front room playing a game on Face Book, a Firetruck pulled up in front of my house, then an ambulance and another firetruck behind that.

They never run the sirens while inside the park.  I couldn't see or smell any smoke and didn't know which house they were going too, but I shoved into my shoes and stepped outside.

I have only seen two firetrucks and an ambulance in this park at the same time, on two other occasions.  That was when the young man who lived where Dar does now, dropped over dead and the other time, when the old man who lived across from died during the night.

So, seeing all the apparatus, I figured Dar's Dad had died.  I hotfooted it across the street and up near her driveway.  "Is it the old man or the woman?" I asked the ambulance person.  "I can't tell you that."

Okay. "I'll just stand here and see which one you bring out on the stretcher!"

It was Dar's Dad.  She came out right behind him, saw me and came over.  I put both of my hands strongly on her shoulders.  "Tell me what happened."

"Daddy had a nose bleed and we couldn't get it stopped.  You should see all the blood---all over my house!"

I was trying to distract her while they attended to her Dad.  "Does he have high blood pressure?"

"No.  His is always way lower than mine."

"Is he on Coumadin?"

"No."

"Okay.  Good.  Okay, they are getting ready to leave.  Do you want me to drive you up to the ER."

"Nope."  She seemed steadier.  "I will follow behind the ambulance.  I know where it is."

They were gone less than an hour.  They got the bleeding stopped.  Made an appointment for him with an ENT on Monday and they came home and went to bed.

I think I was a bit more shaky then they were.  My Dear Uncle bled to death from a hemorrhage from his nose!

Come to find out--the two firetrucks and one ambulance came because when Dar called 911 and mentioned that her 95 year old father was bleeding--they thought they were going to arrive to a death scene.

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Tomorrow will be a perfect day for me.  Back-to-Back college football games.  Michigan State starts at Noon and U of Michigan starts right after them at 3:30.

I see a lot of x-stitching on that baby quilt in my future!!!