Snow Hurricane

Today's temperature was:  27 degrees

Another Shiny Day!

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A Snow Hurricane--that's what they are getting out there on Cape Cod, where Ms. Graysea/Marcia lives.  Lots and lots and LOTS of snow with a Nor'Easter bringing in hurricane force winds.   She hasn't told me that--I've been watching the Weather Channel.  They also showed pictures of Boston.  No traffic.  Hardly any people outside.  I think I'd like Boston if it were like that all the time.

Speaking of Boston, I have been watching "The Sons of Liberty" on the History channel every night.  Samuel Adams and Paul Revere and those guys--they were thugs!!!  Always inciting the Red Coats, trying to get them to fire on them, so the Rebels could blame them for starting more trouble.  I am sure, if I lived back then, I would probably be on the side of King George.  After all--they WERE British citizens and yet went against British rule.

BTW--Paul Revere did not ride through the streets yelling, "The British are coming.  The British are coming!"  That would have made NO sense, since they were ALL British citizens.  Rather he yelled, "The Red Coats are coming".

Sure, later we see they had every reason to be p.o.'ed and now we revere them as the first who fought so we could have our very own Country, ruled by our very own people, but at first?  I would not have been on their side for sure!  and, the way our country is right now, I'm not so sure we wouldn't do better with a Prime Minister and the Queen.

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So this morning, I had my appointment at the Food Bank.  They had a lot of fresh, new stuff.  I got a nice bag of salad fixings to put my canned chicken in.  They had Cauliflower!  I love steamed Cauliflower!!!  I got 6 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 cans of kidney beans to make more Chili.  They had freshly brought in tubes of ground round.  Because they were only 1# tubes, they told me to take two.  Since I am allowed two frozen meats, I got four tubes of ground beef.  

I also found someone to bless today.  A young mother with a four year old boy, who sang "Old MacDonald's Farm" to me and then I asked him the animal sounds and he knew all of them!  She was ahead of me all the way through the little store and out to our cars.  I walked over and gave her my free toilet paper and jug of detergent.  She was so happy--I knew she needed them more than I did.  She has kids--I have only me.

And you will never guess what else I found in the freezer--no you won't--you could not possibly guess or even imagine--

               ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  

MY FAVORITE SEA FOOD? 

 AT THE FOOD BANK?

HALLELUJAH!

and they had cake--those little round ones that I love.

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After I left the food bank, I had some stuff for Pammie, so I drove over to Jen's.  I wanted an excuse to see Little Boy-Evan.   I had some of those Box Tops for School thingies you sometimes get on cereal boxes and Zip Lock bag boxes.  Alex takes them to his school.  I put two tubes of the frozen ground beef, a can of soup, baked beans, peanut butter and jelly in a bag for Pammie and stuck them in the front seat of her truck.  She will be going home tonight.  and then...I knocked on the door and she opened it.

Guess what--both Evan and Alex were there--both have bronchitis and both have been in ER over the weekend, because Alex was very close to pneumonia!  I guess it's a good idea Jennifer doesn't call me anymore and let me know what is going on.  In the old days, she would have called from the ER and I would have been in a panic.  Better to find out AFTERWARDS--when everything is all right.

So--I got to see both of them, ruffled Alex' hair and a kiss on top of his head, and a nibble on Evan's ears.  I said, "Mimi won't eat your ears--I just want a tiny, nice little nibble," and he stood very still so I could nibble and then he giggled his head off.  I love three year olds!!!

Then Pammie told me all about her cooking experiment.  She made Kraut Brouke--one of my kids favorites, and Pammie especially loved them, but had never made them.

"Did they turn out all right?"  I asked

"Oh Momma--I ate five of them on Saturday!"

OMGosh!

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I got home at around noon and Dar walked in right behind me.  GEEZ!!

"I just had to come tell you, Jeff is in the hospital part of detox now.  He got to make one call last night and he called me.  He can't have any family contact for the next three months."

"So after the hospital stay--then he goes into the treatment center?"

"Yes, for three months or longer.  Then he goes to a half-way house.  I probably won't get to see him for at least six months.  I am so glad!"

"You're glad you can't see him?"

"Yes, because he will be in sessions with a shrink and I know, it's all going to come about his childhood and the bad way I brought up him and the other kids and...well...really, I don't want to visit and take a chance of running into his doctor's."

<of course not, because, after all, it is all about you>

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I had guests for lunch.

Baby Boo

Smokey

and a couple of their friends that didn't 

have reservations for the 

Feeding Station Squirrel Cafe

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Worries

Today's high temperature was:  26 degrees

It was a Shiny Day!

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

It seems I do love to worry about things I have no control over--like the weather.

Nothing will stop my day, like a predicted severe thunderstorm.  I listen to the weather channel, the local TV station and track the storm's approach on radar on my computer.  I want wind speeds and I want to know precisely where that storm is and if there are any Hook Echoes near me.  I pay no attention to the siren, because that goes off if there is trouble in any part of the County.  I want to know what is coming directly at me!!

Today, I am worrying about Flo out there in the North-East and Marcia on Cape Cod and my one reader in Binghamton, NY and Cheyenne in Pennsylvania.  I know I will get no reports from then because they are probably going to be without power.  Hurricane force winds coming into the Cape.  You take even one foot of snow and mix it up with Hurricane force winds and you are going to end up with snow drifts eight feet high.  I know people near the New Jersey shore--they are going to get it.

There are 50 million people in this storm's path.  Have you EVAH driven up I-95 into Bahston and beyond.  It is nearly impossible on a good day, but with snow of any amount?  I hope they close it down!

New York City?  I don't know anyone who lives there, but with it's heavy population.  Can you even imagine.  They are shutting off the lights on the Great White Way and and all traffic forbidden, except for emergency vehicles.

 I fear there is going to be many deaths from this storm.  They don't have the equipment to take care of something this big.  Our power company employees have already left Michigan, headed out that way to help.

I pray for my friends in that area.  Please, if you have power to read this, be careful.  DO NOT take ANY chances!!! 

Carrie, Cheyenne, Judy Frey, Julie, Marcia, and Binghamton, this means you!!!  Please let me know, as soon as you can, that you are all right.

DAMMIT!!

You're going along in life--trying to eat healthy, being kind and gentle to everyone, being a good person.  Everything is fine, you feel great, until you get the bad diagnosis.  

My blogging friend Balisha (Pat) is going through that now and I HATE IT!!!  

I love this woman, that I have never met.  I've read her blog for quite a few years now.  Read the painful experience she so bravely shared when her son died.  

She had her yearly check-up in November and all was fine.  That's the way Ovarian cancer is.  It doesn't show up in a PAP test or a physical check-up.  My BFF had it and the only way she knew...she put on a pair of slacks she had worn the month before, and she was so bloated, she couldn't get them on.  

Sure there is a special blood test you can get, CA-125, but it is costly and insurance won't pay for it until AFTER the diagnosis.  Then they do it all the time to "check your numbers."

I HATE IT!! We should all have hysterectomies when we are done with child bearing!!  

I am just asking that you all take a moment today--right now--and say a  prayer for Balisha.  She deserves only good things in life AND she will have remission--after the treatments, but it will take a while.

She has very strong faith and that will help get her through.

God, hold Pat in the palm of your hand, help the doctor's find the correct treatment and bring her to remission.  I pray this in Jesus name!  Amen.

Oh Yeah!

I am not a spontaneous person--in any way shape or form.  For some reason, the people I have lived with most of my life, were not Spur-of-the-Moment people.  I like things scheduled, prepared for--I think it is a control thing.

So, this morning at 10:30, Pearl called and said, "We want to invite you out to supper tonight, our treat.  You pick the place and the time."

I opened my mouth to make an excuse and then I said, "WOW!  Golden Door Chinese restaurant at 5:00."

She said, "We will pick you up at 5:00."

It's the same place Dar and I stopped for take-out after Maddies' ballet performance the first weekend of December.  I loved the food and had wanted to take Merle and Pearl there because, last year we went to their idea of a Chinese restaurant, a buffet place, and there was not one single thing that tasted like Chinese food on the entire buffet.

So, they picked me up and off we went up the road.  

I told them, "Now you don't have to order off the menu.  You tell the guy what you want and they will make it for you."  Then I remembered, Merle doesn't really like Chinese food--oops.  I should have suggested Bob Evans.

They were pretty adventurous however.

Pearl said, "I want shrimp with fried rice, and Won- Ton soup."

Merle said, "I want sweet and sour pork with fried rice, and Won-Ton soup.

I said,"I want beef with Chinese vegetables, steamed white rice, a small bowl of sizzling rice soup, and a pot of Oolong tea."

We had our tea--Oolong is the only kind of hot tea I like, and we had our eggs rolls--made on the premises.  

Pearl said, "These are good!  They taste so much better than that place we go to, Merle."

Merle nodded his head.

Then our dinners came--plates piled high with what we ordered--more than any of us could eat. 

Oh man--it was soooooo good.  I haven't had "real" Chinese food since I moved here.  Ernie and I used to go out once a month and have it--at a Chinese family owned place where they grew their veggies in their own garden.

Pearl ate her food with gusto, as did I--we chattered along as we ate.  I don't Merle liked his, but he did eat half. 

On the drive home, I thanked them over and over. I said, "I think it is good for me to get out once in awhile.  Did you like the food?"

Merle replied, "I liked the Fortune Cookie."

HAH.

In the Olden Days

When I was born, in the bedroom of my parent's farmhouse, there was much celebration.  I was the first girl child born in three generations.  I am sure that is the ONLY reason my father had a child--to shut up his mother and grandparents.  After all, my parents didn't have another child for 13 years and she certainly wasn't planned.

Anyway, when I was born, the next day, our old neighbor's just to the west of our farm, came up the road, leading a Holstein heifer calf.  It was their gift to my parents for having a baby.  

That sounds odd, doesn't it?  I thought it was funny when I first heard about it, but my father soon stopped my laughter with his explanation, "You don't realize how dear that animal was to our neighbor.  That calf grew into a wonderful cow, one of my best producers of milk by weight.  She in turn calved and all her calves were heifers.  She turned out to be one of the best assets we had."

What a boon to my parents the baby Golden Girl (me) was.  Too bad he didn't put the money that cow brought in, into a trust fund for me.  Eh?  Oh well, the baby Golden Girl drank the milk and grew to be tall and strong and very healthy, and at my age now, that's more important than money.

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Can you see all the squirrel tracks on my driveway?  They are such well mannered little rodents--as long as I keep the Flaming Squirrel mix on the bird feeders and corn and peanuts in the squirrel feeder.

I think I see some bunny tracks in there too.

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At Christmas, my best friend Bethie gave me a gift card to the Rich People's store and today....I went there and got myself some treats.  I do love their deli salads--Antipasto, Crab Salad and Tuna Mac, cake, plus the biggest cinnamon rolls I have ever seen and candy bars.  I also got some cat food for the fur kids and a bag of potato chips.  I didn't want to waste my gift on more sensible stuff and besides that, those salads will do me for 7 meals!!  I'll be living high on the hog for the next week!  Thanks Beth--I love you!

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A lot of my blog buddies are posting such profound words lately.  Thoughts and feelings and ponderings.  I can't come up with any of that right now.  I feel so calm and relaxed and lazy that I am hard pressed to know what to blog about.

I have had 10 days straight of perfect sleep--no dreams, no monster nightmares.  It could be the little Melatonin tab I take at bedtime, but I think it is because I have practically secreted myself away from the world.

On Face Book, if I see a link to a story about cruelty to animals, I refuse to even look at it.  The same goes for missing children/adults/pets.  I refuse to read any stories of what is going on in the East and I truly try not to read anything political.  I also have quit watching the news.  I turn it on to get the weather report, just out of curiosity because I couldn't care less if we get a snow storm or blizzard of two feet of snow, then I turn to another channel to watch a classic movie or I turn it off and read.

I have only been out in my car, four times this month and that basically was to meet with friends or family and to get food.  I filled my car with gas on December 27th, and it is still more than half full.

The most excitement I have had all month is playing games on Face Book, reading your blogs and cross stitching the baby quilt.  There has been a bit of drama on my Soap, but there's supposed to be, LOL.

My "Stay-cation" is about to end however, as next week I have a dentist's appointment, and go to the food bank and doctor appointment and blood draw coming up.

This has been the best January I have had in a long time.  

  

Good Times

Excuse me for a moment.  I don't have Flo's e-mail addy, so I have to connect with her here.

The only way you can train a squirrel is with behavior modification.  This stuff not only is mixed in with my bird seed, but I also spray it on my copper silo feeder, that is just like yours.  You can buy it on amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Coles-FS16-Flaming-Squirrel-16-Ounce/dp/B003XR9QWA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421877693&sr=8-1&keywords=squirrel+away&pebp=1421877681178&peasin=B003XR9QWA

Once they wrap their little squirrel lips around bird seed treated with this--they will not come back to the bird feeders.  Actually, it's kind of fun to see them, when they first get a taste, fly off the bird feeder and try to cool off their little rodent mouths in the snow!!!  It doesn't bother the birds at all--they seem to like it.  

NOTE:  Wear gloves when you use it AND wash your hands after you take the gloves off OR, you will invariably get it in your eye, nose, mouth or, when you go to the bathroom and wipe--well, it is quite warming on parts of your body you don't want warmed!!!

The squirrels will really appreciate the corn and peanuts you put out for them IN THEIR OWN SPOT.  I see my squirrels look up from THEIR feed box and eye the bird feeders nearby, then sort of shake their heads as if to say, "NOPE!  Ain't going near there ever again."

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Maddie arrived safe and sound in Guatemala--thank you God.

Karen and Mark went up to East Lansing to take Stephen out for supper and his first beer.  Karen said to the waiter, "You gotta card him to make sure he's old enough.  Today is his twenty-first birthday."

The waiter said, "Nah, he looks old enough."  Karen said she was trying to embarrass Stephen, but it didn't work.  At least he got his beer free.

Then they all went to the basketball game and Stephen sat, cheering in the IZZONE.  MSU barely beat Penn State--barely.

Karen posted this on Face Book.

Guess who's 21? Happy golden birthday golden boy! —

 with Stephen Rivard at Michigan State University.

I commented back and asked her what her excuse was for drinking a beer--"you're not 21."
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Dar came over last night.  She drove in and came in before she went home.  Semi hysterical, but more tired than anything.  I actually felt really sorry for her.  

She spent ten hours, registering her youngest son into an alcohol, drug rehab place.  I think he finally hit rock bottom, because he went in voluntarily.  He was drinking a gallon of Vodka a day!  How can you drink that much liquid--let alone alcohol?

His blood alcohol level was at 3.  When it gets to 4, I guess there is a great possibility you will die.  It's what caused his first heart attack, a year ago.

He is in a hospital for two weeks--where they give him alcohol, but taper off.  If he quit cold turkey, that could send him into cardiac arrest.

Then he will go to the rehab place for three or four months and then...he will go to live in a half-way house for a year.

She seems more relieved, than anything else.  She stopped enabling him about four months ago.  No one in the family will help him anymore--which is kind of what you have to do with people like that.  At Thanksgiving time, he had visited her brother and after he left, her brother found that an envelope he had with $600.00 cash in his desk drawer, was gone.

Her son confessed today that he stole it and used it to buy a "professional girl" for an all nighter.  He said it was a waste of money because he was so drunk he couldn't have sex so he and the girl sat up and watched TV and he fell asleep on her shoulder.  (I'll bet the girl wished she had more customers like that)!

Hopefully this time, it will work.  He has never tried total rehab before--only tried AA meetings and they did no good.

I also went up to Pearl's and got on the phone with the bank customer service and fixed it all nice and new so she can get in to check the balance in her checking account.  She was in a panic, because they get their SS today and she ALWAYS has to check and make sure the money was deposited.  

That's something I have never worried about.  I guess I just assume my SS will be in the bank when it is supposed to be in the bank.  I asked her if in 15 years it ever happened that they didn't get their money on time and she said "No."

So I wondered why she thought she has to check it out every month.  Who knows?

When I first arrived there, she and Merle were having a "discussion" about her latest on-line purchases.  So I just headed to the back bedroom where the computer is and stayed out of their way.

She's so nervous of how they are going to get along if Merle doesn't work this summer and/or doesn't get unemployment.  Instead of socking some money away, she just keeps on buying things she sees on TV or in a catalog.

I don't know and she and I have had "the talk" about her shopping, so...just like with her health--I ain't chasing those monkey's anymore.

Where Does The Time Go?

We got about 2 inches of snow during this night and this morning.  Pretty--it doesn't bother me, I like snow.  Merle quickly dispatched what snow there was on my driveway.

Here it is, 10 days until the end of January or 21 days into the new year.  Where does the time go?  How does it go by so fast.  It is all relative, isn't it?  When we are little, a year seems like such a long time--we don't even think about it, we aren't concerned with time at all.  Except, it seems a really long time between birthday presents and Christmas presents.

Even when I was married and having babies every year, it seemed time went as it was supposed to.  It didn't start flying by until the kids started graduating and leaving home--then I'd look back and wonder at how fast the years had gone by and that my kids, didn't seem old enough for all that was going on in their lives.

Now of course, the only thing that makes time drag is when something bad has happened.  It takes forever, to make it through the grief of losing someone we love.  It feels like we are in the dentist chair or the hospital for ages--when it might only be hours or a few days.  It feels to me, right now, that Jennifer has been angry with me for ten years, but it's only two years.

Then, I look at my Grand Babes and it all hits me--time has really flown by!  

This precious, funny, lovely Christian girl flew out early this morning to Guatemala.  She will be gone on a mission for three months.  Helping to build homes, create vegetable gardens, put in fresh water wells and teaching little children and helping in a medical clinic.

  Off she goes into her life and all Grandma has to worry about is: planes falling from the sky--hurricanes--earthquakes--kidnappers--rapists--snakes--typhoid--ebola and cholera!
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Today, her older brother turns 21.  He so wanted to grow taller than Grandma.  He was a chubby little kid all his life and then, suddenly at 15, he told his Mom, "I'm only going to eat when I'm hungry. I'm not going to eat snacks and stuff just because I'm bored."  By sixteen, he was lean and taller than Grandma and now, he's 6'4" and a pre-med student at Michigan State.

What do I worry about with this young man?  Not a darn thing!!!

Karen and Mark have instilled in their kids such strong Christian values.  Showed them how to always help people, by taking them to the Rescue Mission every Thanksgiving to feed people, ever since the kids were four years old.  By going into Detroit inner city and cleaning up junk filled vacant lots, every summer for the last four years.  By letting them explore and take risks.

I am truly blessed with those five Grand Babes, but boy oh boy, they sure make the swift passage of time--IN MY FACE!!!