title explained

Onward and upward! something that you say in order to encourage someone to forget an unpleasant experience or failure and to think about the future instead and move forward.

My e-mail: jjmiller6213@comcast.net

Monday, February 17, 2014

Spring Cleaning In Winter--Part 2.





11:00 Sunday morning.
Prepare!




Valances down-ready to clean windows and put up new blinds


How am I going to get to that middle window?
Can't move the desk--it weighs 8 tons
Maybe I can walk along the window sill?

Stuffed dirty paper towel into wastebasket.
Broken glass in there--time out to get bandaged up.


First blind up--an inch too short! 


Concentrate on filling shelves back up
 

 Cups and saucers from Mother and GrandMother's china

Lenox porcelain birds I collected 40 years ago 

Indian doll 70 years old, other Indian art from the Four Corners
a bowl of feathers I have collected and a pile of rocks
from my trip out west, plus a bird's nest 

Scale model of my first car, wooden duck carved by old
Japanese friend--as well as Loon 

Take down lower curtains to wash--don't like them off for
too long--don't want people driving by to see my electronics 

Time out to watch this 


Lower curtains back up



Now to tackle this side of study 

Monday-10:00 a.m.

To exchange blinds

Color cartridge for printer 


Rich People's store for cake and salad 

For some artificial flowers for jug 




 Blinds installed, clean curtains all back up, driftwood dusted!!
I found I could get to the middle window by, walking along the window ledge
and then bracing my calves against the desk.
I am so tall, my head kept bumping the driftwood, so I had to scrunch down
BUT
it is done!!!


Now--to put this room back together.  I still have too much stuff, but maybe it is organized better?

Snowing like a blizzard out there--3-5 expected.  I don't care, I have enough work inside to keep me busy.







Saturday, February 15, 2014

Spring Cleaning in Winter

11:00 a,m,




Address the problem!


Too much stuff!

Haul everything into the living room. 

Ponder what to do.
What if.... move all the book cases over to the other wall?


Enlist the aid of helpers.



 Measure twice, move once.



28 heavy albums must be moved
before the book case
 

All three in place--fit well.  Dusted and ready to be filled. 


Nice empty cubby hole.
What shall l put in there? 


5:00 p.m.

Collapse in chair. There's always tomorrow.


Friday, February 14, 2014

BAH HUMBUG!!

Today's high temperature was:  27 degrees
More snow, and a bit of sun.
---------------------------------------------------

From a widow's perspective on Valentine's Day--Bah Humbug.  It is a day dedicated to lovers and sweethearts and since I have neither--I don't much like the observance.  I will feel the same way in October on Sweetest Day.  

Though, I do hope you had a nice day and got flowers and candy or a nice dinner out.
==================================

I don't have much to post about--you can all breathe a sigh of relief--I have been so wordy lately.  

I keep talking about how I am going to clean up this computer room and yet I don't do a thing about it.  I have no motivation for it and it looks like---well, it is really messy and dusty and the windows are atrocious as are the tier curtains.  I would show you pictures of how it looks, but it would be a huge embarrassment to me--the normally tidy, organized woman.

Today, I feel in grief.  Ralph Waite died yesterday and it saddens me.  He was the Dad on the Walton's and my kids grew up with that show.  All of us learned lessons from watching that program--we could identify with the grandfather (much like my father-in-law), and all the chores that had to be done.  I grew up in the forties and fifties, so it reminded me of my childhood, except--I wish my Daddy had been like Daddy Walton.  For the last five years, Ralph Waite played the role of a priest on the Soap I watch, Days Of Our Lives.  He hasn't been on for the last couple of weeks and I wondered about him.  Can you believe that yesterday morning, I Googled his name and there was the notice he had died.  He once was a Presbyterian minister and later, an alcoholic.  When he was on the Walton's, he was an active alcoholic--you'd never know would you?  I watch the Walton's every afternoon at 4:00 on the INSP channel and today, it just made me sadder.
=================================
I called Comcast today and got a lower rate.  I had it lowered last February via a promotion, for a year, so of course, it went up this month.  So I called and talked to a really nice young ENGLISH speaking man--no promotions, so I went back to the Starter package--which has all the channels I want anyway, plus he threw in a couple more sports channels.  Cool!!
===============================
Pearl came down today--she has a sort of Harry Potter scar on her forehead.  I told her how stunning I thought it made her look!  She refuses to go out anywhere until it heals.  So, of course, I had to tell her, "That scar will never heal girl.  You are going to be walking around looking like Harry Potter's mother for the rest of your life!"    

I wasn't being mean--we joke back and forth like that.

She threw a couple of cuss words my way and then we got to talking about the PCH Million a year for life contest that we both are in.  She sends in the mailers and I do all of my confirmations on the Internet.  The problem is that Pearl swears you have to buy the products they offer in order to have a chance.  I do not believe that because it states right on their credentials that buying a product will not give you a better chance AND a few years ago, a class action suit was brought against them for just that reason.

Pearl has now spent well over $200.00 on products!  One each time she gets the mailers in the mail.  She KNOWS she is going to win--she absolutely believes it with all her heart.  Pearl definitely has a problem with buying stuff--usually junk.  She shops at the Salvation Army store up the road, every week and she always buys something.  She is a sucker for the things sold on TV--she has recently purchased an ice cream maker (that only worked correctly once and now sits in her storage unit.)  She purchased those Ready, Set, Go Express thingies that you can cook stuff in--already she says it is too complicated to get all the stuff to cook in them. 

She now is intent on getting a queen size sleeper sofa for the living so, "I can sleep out there.  Merle drives me crazy with his snoring!"  So, this woman with a bad back, knees, and Neuropathy in her feet is going to pull that out every night after Merle is asleep (because he won't go to bed without her), and then put it all back in place in the morning?  No doubt she will get it.  She says, "It will be nice to have for people that visit overnight."

I said, "When was the last time anyone visited that stayed overnight?"

"Never...so far.  But, just in case."

She drives Merle crazy.  They are suppose to be saving money to buy a newer car--theirs is 16 years old and falling apart!  He has spoken to me about it and I told him that most likely Pearl was lacking something in her younger life and "things" make her feel better.  She did grow up very poor, living with her grandparents because her mother walked away when Pearl was six years old.
==========================================
Tonight, there was a story on the local news and I called Pearl to watch it.  A woman near Detroit got a phone call from someone who said they were from PCH and that had won a million dollars and a Mercedes.  She was told she had to pay the tax on the car and they needed $1,500 for that.  So he paid them.  Then they called back and needed a bit more money for the car--which had been loaded on a flat bed truck and was near Detroit.  Her husband wouldn't let her send any more money.  Thank goodness.

She called the police and the TV station and also PCH who informed her that they never notify anyone that they have won, nor do they ever request you BUY anything or send money.  They just arrive at your door and surprise you.

Knowing Pearl the way I do, she would have paid and kept paying!!!!!  When I called her after the piece had run on TV, she said, "Well, you have to pay the tax on the million."

I said, "They will take it out of the million and send to the IRS and you will get around $600,000."

"I want to pay my own tax next year on it."

"You won't enough left to pay the income tax.  You will forget and spend all the million and have no money left."

"Well--that's true," she said.

Lordy!!!
=================================
Now--I have a Dar story!!  I was going to order some Golden Fruit Blend frozen fruit from the Schwan's man.  I love it.  He only stops here if I order something on line.  Tonight, I heard his noisy truck stop at Dar's and about a half hour later, he stopped here.  I went to the door and he handed me a bay of fruit.
"This is from Darlene.  She says, Happy Valentine's Day!"

WOW!!!

I truly am a shallow, critical, gossipy, old woman! Forgive me Lord.



Thursday, February 13, 2014

Flummoxed!!!

Today's high temperature was: 27 degrees!!
Sunny and bright--once again--YAY
After a couple of inches of snow tomorrow,
it might get in the 40's next week!
We are a strange breed when we get all excited 
that our temperatures
may "warm" up to freezing, LOL.
Break out the shorts and flip flops!
===============================

OHMYGOSH--I have so much to write about today--I hope you will bear with me.

I truly am FLUMMOXED (I love that word) about the response I have received from you, my friends!!

This morning when I woke up, I ran (not really) to my computer and found Dianne had visited from Bellingham, WA!!! AND she is sister to Cari, who visited yesterday from Sun City, AZ.  I have never been able to travel to Washington--and I do so love the North West.

Than, Joan--AKA A.J. dropped in.  She is from Kingston, Ontario AND I have been there :-) and she has been visiting my blog for a really long time, but this is the very first time she has ever left a comment on any blog!!!  I am so grateful, Joan, that you did this for me!!!

Julie dropped in all the way from Woods Hole, MA--that's out on Cape Cod--where I have also traveled to--a long time ago.  Hope you are weathering the bad weather, Julie!

I still have some shy visitor's out there and wondering who they are.  PLEASE tell me?
Portland, OR
Junction City, KS
Plain View, TX
Anaheim, CA
Kenosha, WI

C'mon--please?
==============================
You know how I can get obsessed about things?  Yesterday, as comments were coming in, I made an Excel spread sheet of every one's name and where they are from--sorted it alphabetically and have it printed out so everyday, if I forget, I can look on my side-bar, where every one's town is listed, and then, even if they don't leave a comment, I can say to myself, "Oh cool!  D was here from Happy Place, USA."

I LOVE IT--I JUST LOVE IT!!!
==================================
So, yesterday afternoon, the service garage called to say my car was ready.  I called Pearl to tell her because her hubs, Merle, told me to call and he'd take me into town.  Her phone was off, as it went right to voice mail.  I called an hour later and the same thing.  Now--we all know that Pearl has a Smart Phone, but Pearl doesn't know how to use the Smart Phone--she doesn't know how to look to see if she has any messages or missed calls.  If she isn't holding the phone in her hand when it rings--you won't get through to her.  So--I decided I better walk up to her place, but when I went outside, I noticed their car was gone.

Hm-mm...I worried a bit and then I remembered, she had an appointment with the Dermatologist on Tuesday.  I walked in and there they sat--Pearl had a huge bandage in the middle of her forehead.  Come to find out--her Dermatologist sent her to U of M Cancer center to have the small basal cell cancer removed.  That small (on the outside) little spot that looked like a small scab, turned into a crater the size of a half dollar!  

"Did you have a new memory chip installed in your brain?"  I asked

"No--I wanted to have a Third Eye," she growled.

"She looks a little like Cyclops, doesn't she?" said Merle.

We chatted a bit and then Merle said he'd be down to get me at eight this morning.  Then,, we had to bargain a bit, as I went for nine, and he for eight-thirty, then Pearl chirped in and said, "How about ten?"

"Perfect!" I exclaimed.
=============================
I no more got in the door at home and Dar walked in.

"I was up in Frankenmuth the other day and I bought a whole bunch of sweet goods from the store.  I am suppose to be on a diet, so I brought you this brownie to say "thanks" for helping me with my electrical problem."  and she handed me plastic box with a HUGE brownie, with chocolate icing, inside.

"Thanks," I said.  "I will enjoy this."

"I've gained thirty-five pounds," she said.  "I vowed I wouldn't buy any deserts when I went up there, but...I got a dozen cookies, a loaf of cinnamon bread, a piece of Pecan Pie and this brownie."

"Then when you got home you realized..................."
"Yeah."

Later, when I cut off a small slice of the brownie, it was really kind of dried out and hard.  So, I just threw it into the microwave and put on the timed defrost for 10 seconds, it came out nice and soft and warm and delish!!!
===================================
This morning, I walked down to Merle and Pearl's (aren't their names cute together?), at 9:45 and we took off.  Pearl was in a lot of pain!  They had told her to remove the bandage this morning--I requested she wait until after I was gone--please.  They also told her to take Tylenol for the pain---she, like me, does not have good results with Tylenol.  It just doesn't do a thing for pain for either of us and upsets our stomachs.  I told her to take an Advil.  

When I picked-up my car, the bill was seven dollars less then the estimate--YAY.  My car sounded so nice and quiet.  I pulled out and thought, "Hm-mm, my windshield washers have been frozen all winter.  I wonder--the car being inside all night--maybe."  So I pushed the button and lovely water sprayed out and I turned on my wipers and they cleaned off my windshield so nice and then---SPRONG--my right wiper flew off!

I got to laughing so hard I could barely drive, because you know?  That's just the way life is--one thing after another.  I drove around the block and pulled back into the service garage, walked in and Rick said, "Did the exhaust fall off already?"

"Nope--it's great.  Ah...do you sell and install windshield wipers?"  Told him what had happened and he had a guy go right out to fix it.

Rick says, "We'll just blame Jim for breaking your wipers."

"That works for me," I said. "Although, he worked on the exhaust system and I don't really think he came anywhere near the windshield, but............."

Pretty soon, Jim is back in and explains, "Those wipers don't even fit that windshield."

Me: "Oh really.  Well, "you know who", put them on three years ago.  They have always scratched the windshield and never quite wiped like they should have."

Jim:  "Three years?  It's a miracle they've stayed on that long.

Rick:  "Well, now in Fred's defense--they are hard to get on and off and..........."

"Me:  "Yeah, yeah.  Can I get a new PAIR?"

And thirty minutes I was on my way--eighteen bucks and NO labor charge.  I now have the cleanest windshield in the county as I kept putting on the washers to try them out--the new wipers actually work great and are so quiet!!!

As I left, I told Rick, "Well, if the back bumper doesn't fall off, I promise I won't be back for awhile."
======================================

Once again, I no more get in the door and Dar comes in behind me.

"How did you like the brownie?"

"It is really good.  I haven't eaten it all--just a little bit each day."

She tilts the rocking chair to dump Buddy out onto the floor and sits down

"Are you off work today?" I ask.

"Yes--thank God!  I had Tuesday and today off.  Don't have to work until eleven o'clock Thursday."

"Ah-hh...Dar...today IS Thursday..and...it's noon."

"WHAT," she screams.  Grabs her coat and flies out the door.

A few minutes later, I see her spinning her tires trying to get out of her driveway.  Poor woman!  Perhaps I should make her some of my "day reminder" cards to hang on her bedroom closet door?
====================================================

I have been having a problem with my little girl cat, Maggie.  In the morning, I give each of them a tablespoon of wet foot.  At nine at night, I do the same.  They eat it over on the rug where their dry food and water is.  All of a sudden, Maggie refuses to eat her night time wet food next to Buddy.  She will in the morning, but at night, she just sits over under the kitchen table and not go near it.  I am now having to put her dish over by the table.  Persnickety female!!!She is such a brat!!!


Are you all enjoying the Olympics?  I feel bad for the snow boarders and skiers--it is so warm the snow is mushy, BUT, all the athletes have to compete with the same conditions...so--no crying about not winning a medal!!  

The figure skating pairs--ohmygosh.  How could you ever trust some man enough to allow him to throw you six feet in the air?  I remember when my kids were little and we watched...my son used to sit there and say under his breath, "Drop her!  Drop her!"  His sister's punched him and he'd giggle.  One time Pammie asked, "When he throws her in the air and then catches her...ah...what would happen if she was gassy and you know.....right up by his face?"  I told her that the guy would just skate on like nothing happened.  Oh--it was so much fun to hear their wonderings and mumblings.  Now when I watch--I think back. LOL
=====================================
Ann from Illinois--thank you for telling me about your husband's illness.  I'm sorry you had to go through that.  It is no fun having to make trips to the hospital all the time--trying to be there for them and sometimes they are sleeping or don't even know you are there.  I have always been really grateful that Fred went so suddenly.  It is a shock to everyone involved, including the nurses and doctor's--family especially, but it is so much easier for the one who dies.  I too went to the different widow's blogs that first year.  Widows Speak Out was the one I read every day, but then...after awhile when I read of widows that were still in active grieving after five, six, seven years--I wondered if perhaps I should quit reading and try and move on.  I found that reading that every day, kept me stuck--hearing their words kept my situation too present all the time.  Kind of like picking at a scab every day so the wound wouldn't heal?    I am so glad you are doing better because we have to....keep going onward--ever forward.
====================================

...and so my Dear Friends--from the east coast to the west coast and every time zone in between (WOW--that just amazes me), if the good Lord gives me another day--I will see you all tomorrow.  





Wednesday, February 12, 2014

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.
===========================
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!!!!!




Tuesday, February 11, 2014

~~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!!!.
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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!!









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Monday, February 10, 2014

Uneventful Day--Kind Of

Today's high temperature was:  20 degrees
Sunny and very cold
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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!!
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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.


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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!"
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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.