There's going to be a morning after-------

I got to use my new Black & Decker, corded, 17" hedge trimmers today! You know.  The ones I bought in July and have been sitting by my front door ever since.

I have so much gardening work to go and less then zero gumption to do it.

Why?  Because I know it is going to hurt!!!

The four Privet bushes on the east side of my house, had major ice damage, the winter of 2013.  That spring, 2014, they barely grew at all.  I thought they had died.  But, instead of having them pulled out, I had my BIL Chuck, come down and cut them off at ground level.

That fall, they started coming back.

Last spring and summer they grew even more and looked healthy.  This summer, one, the scrawniest one of the bunch looks the healthiest and had grown up to the bottom of my window and a few branches taller than that, brushing the screen.

What normally would take 20 minutes, took me an hour.  I could only hold the trimmer and cut for a few minutes before my back started screaming.  So, I got my folding canvas chair out of the trunk of my car and hauled it over to where I was working.

I trimmed the top and sat down to rest.  Then trimmed the back and both sides and sat down.  Then trimmed the front, hauled the chair and trimmer down to the next bush and sat and rested.  This routine x 4 bushes.

I hung up my trimmer in my shed and threw the long electrical cord in the wheelbarrow.  No, I didn't coil is up around my arm and hang it up because I will be using it again--maybe tomorrow.

I got the rake and a yard waste bag and swept up the branches from one bush, sat in my chair and put the branches in the yard waste bag--x 4 bushes.  That way I didn't have to bend over and pick them up from the lawn.

HEY!!!  You know me--where there is a will, I will figure out a way!  HAH!

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

I found it curious that a Rose of Sharon was growing up the middle of one of the Privet bushes.  How that seed got from the west side of my house to the east, is beyond me.  You know darn well, if you wanted to grow a Rose of Sharon and planted a sucker, the dang thing would die before the next blooming season.  This capricious little seed pod, wasn't planted or cared for and was growing 5 feet tall already--and she wasn't there last year.

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

 I sat in my recliner all day Sunday and watched the coverage of Irma--all day!!  Switching back and forth from The Weather Channel to FOX news, then CNN, to see who had the best, latest coverage.

By 10:00, I thought my head would explode!!!  Information overload!!!  Of course, as soon as I woke up this morning, I had the TV back on.  

I was kind of worried about my ex hubs and his sister--both family's have small manufactured homes that they winter in.  They are inland, but I was worried about the winds and/or a tornado.  His wife had mentioned at one time, that their trailer is "tied" down with large metal chain links into the cement slab.

I said, "Well mine is too.  So if a tornado comes along, the frame of your house will stay connected to the cement slab, but the rest will be destroyed."

Like I keep telling you, most of Florida is just a swamp, covered over with tons and tons of dirt so investors can build communities on top.  It's still a swamp underneath and when you get lots of water, you can get sink holes and when you get wind, you can get destruction.

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

I was/am worried most about Jacksonville.  Although it wasn't going to take a direct hit, I was worried about the storm surge coming up the river and into town--which it has done.  

and--was it fascinating to see the ocean being driven way out.  In one place, the edge of the ocean was 1/4 of a mile from from where it normally met land.  Almost be like a mini-Tsunami when it came back in.  Weird.

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

Well, selfish person that I am, I was just thinking how great the shelling will be at Sanibel or Captiva, today and tomorrow.

I got my one chore done, so tonight I am going to sit in my recliner, cross stitch and watch American Nija Warrior show.  I find it most interesting.

Clean and Green

I've always loved living in Michigan.  I have NO desire to winter in Florida or Arizona, like some of my friends.  The longer I live, the happier I am that I live in the Mitten State--surrounded by 5 Great Lakes--4 of them filled with nice, clean water. We won't discuss Lake Erie at this time. HAH.

Sure we get an occasional tornado--quite rare actually, but it only effects a small area.  We don't have hurricanes and unlike what Bernie Sanders replied to one of our State congressman, where he said, "Texas today, Vermont tomorrow, even Michigan," I seriously doubt we will EVER have a hurricane.

Sure we might have a snowfall of 12 inches in a 24 hour period, but before it stops snowing, snow plow trucks and salt trucks are out on the highways and the roads.  Snow plow company's are out, clearing people's driveways, shopping malls parking lots--it's all very manageable.  Not  like what they get in Upstate New York or the NorthEast.

No Nor'Easters here.  No earth quakes--well there was one in Ohio about 25 years ago that some of us felt, must have been all of a 1.2.

Perhaps a small wild-fire in one of the northern forests, but quickly quenched--it is much too green in the Upper Peninsula for anything to burn very long AND we do respect Smokey the Bear and drench our camp fires and would never think of setting off fireworks in the woods!    

Occasional flooding--down in Detroit, where the concrete highway runs low, near lake level--in the underpasses.  It doesn't last for too long. 

Our elevation here is 925 feet.  In Saginaw, where I used to live, it was 584'.  When the great glacier plowed its way south, the deepest part was in the Saginaw Valley Basin.  Around Brighton, where I now live, was the edge of the glacier, where the dirt was pushed up, not as deep a trough.  Everybody in Saginaw, including me, had sinus problems.  My Doc there called it the "Saginaw Nasal Basin".  I haven't had those problems since I moved. 

Wouldn't I love to live in Nag's Head, North Carolina--on the Outer Banks?  Yes. Yes. Yes!!!  BUT, in my opinion, if one is dumb enough to build on a flood plain or at sea level, one must know that at certain times, one will lose everything they own from a hurricane and flooding.

Which makes me wonder.  If you have lost your everything, every few years...how many times will the government help you to rebuild in the same spot? 

Don't live where there is so much concrete there is no place for the rain to drain too.  I would advise anyone I know, not to live in Southern Florida.  It was a swamp to begin with.  Just because contractors brought in tons and tons of soil and built on top of it--that swamp is underneath and sink-holes can occur and--well--hurricanes do occur in the area, with frustrating regularity.

Oh--I guess you can't help where you live.  Usually you were birthed there and stayed or moved there for some other reason.

I'm just so glad I live here, where the clean air comes down from Manitoba or Alberta, sweeps across upper Minnesota, across mid-Wisconsin, across the clean waters of Lake Michigan and cleans all the pollution out of the upper and this part of our Mitten, and sends it down to Detroit--where it belongs. HAH!

I feel quite confident, says the Ostrich in me, if the North Korean maniac sends a nuclear missile into Washington/Oregon, the air will be clean by the time is reaches me.  
(Sorry JB, Kathleen and Dianne).

Dang Government

Oh great, I guess the worry over hurricane Harvey is over and now the snarkiness about DACA starts on Face Book.

The President did not declare it null and void today--he passed it to Congress to figure out.  Wouldn't that be a major miracle if Congress did what they are getting paid to do?

In the first place, the Policy should have never been put in place.  It was deemed illegal, or deemed that President Obama didn't have the legal right to make the policy.  As you can read below from the Constitutional Review--a truly non-political group.

A federal judge in Texas issued a national injunction to block the policies that extended the program to parents and people entering the United States between mid-2007 and 2010; the lawsuit didn’t deal directly with the DACA program. A federal appeals court added to that ruling to say that the policies exceeded President Obama’s policy-making authority. In June 2016, the Supreme Court, in a 4-4 vote, upheld the injunction in a one-line opinion.

On June 29, 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Attorney General Jeff Sessions that on behalf of 10 states, he was notifying the Justice Department that they would amend a suit against the administration if it didn’t change the 2012 DACA program by September 5, 2017.

“Courts blocked DAPA and Expanded DACA from going into effect, holding that the Executive Branch does not have the unilateral power to confer lawful presence and work authorization on unlawfully present aliens simply because the Executive chooses not to remove them,” Paxton argued. Paxton said the group would amend a lawsuit currently in the Southern District of Texas to include the 2012 DACA program, if executive action wasn’t taken by September 5, 2017 to phase it out.

The Paxton group didn’t demand an immediate end to the DACA program or the immediate deportation of participants. “This request does not require the Executive Branch to immediately rescind DACA or Expanded DACA permits that have already been issued,” Paxton said. But it wants new executive action taken to start the process of ending the DACA program.

And Paxton clearly thinks the group will win in court based on their prior success in blocking the other two Obama proposals. “For these same reasons that DAPA and Expanded DACA’s unilateral Executive Branch conferral of eligibility for lawful presence and work authorization was unlawful, the original June 15, 2012 DACA memorandum is also unlawful,” Paxton said.

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

More than anything governmental, I am more worried about my friends in Florida and the East Coast.  If Irma hits them as a Cat 5--the highest rating for a hurricane, they will be in as much or worse shape than Texas.  I also know people who live in Puerto Rico.  Or we could worry and pray for our friends in Washington and Montana, California, with the horrendous wild fires.  

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

As old as I am, as long as I have lived, as many President's reign of power I have lived through, I realized a long time ago.  There is not one thing you can do about how the government is going to run itself.  You can rant on Face Book and in your blog posts, which makes people who believe as you do, pat you on the head, or people that disagree try to cut your legs off at the knees, and all that does in promote more anger.  You can write letters to your Congress men and women, as I often have.  You can protest in the streets, put up signs in your front yard--nothing you do is going to change one, teeny-tiny thing in Washington, DC--the Swamp as it has been known for a century or so.

Oh, you might get an "I told you so," moment every now and then, what good does that do?  Does it make you feel better?  Does it pump up your pride?  Does it make you happy that you predicted something bad was going to happen and it did?

Sure, I've had those, "I told you so," moments and hoped with every inch of my mind that my most Liberal friend would see it on the news and realize that the Great and Powerful Oz was right.  Nah Nah Nah, Na Nah Nah.   Back in the day--before I grew up.

Now I just kind of view the whole, political arguing as sad.  Do you know, I saw a post on Face Book condemning President Obama for being so disconnected and playing golf while Hurricane Katrina was going on?  Posted by one of my Conservative friends.  I was actually embarrassed for them and felt it my place to private messenger him to reveal that President Obama was NOT the President then, he was still a Senator.  He had so many people that commented and agreed with him--it was shocking!

It's like that on both sides.  We should take the time to do the research before we post on FB.  Or better yet?  Just don't post that stuff at all.  It's not going to change anyone's mind or their belief.  And yes---I have been guilty of this.

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

What I am more ticked off about is that on August 21st, I was called to tell me to remove my car from the driveway as my cement work would start that afternoon.  Here it is September 5th and it still isn't completely done.

I am ticked off that I got a notice that my Social Services review would be via telephone today--between 8:00am and 12:00 noon.  So I got up at 7:30 to be awake and ready.  It is now going on 5:00 and no call.  Damn government.  ...and there's not a thing I can do about it!!

Roller Coaster Week

Even me--who usually remains on an even keel--emotionally, have had my emotions go up and down like a roller coaster, until I nearly made myself sick.

I watched too much of the Weather Channel and the news--too many hours for two days straight.  How can those people ever recover?  WE ARE TEXAS STRONG!  Well, of course that's a nice motto and supposed to be uplifting, and any State would say that faced with a disaster like the flood, but c'mon...at sometime in this tragedy, any normal person would break down.

Coming home to find everything destroyed with a couple of Water Moccasin's curled up on my flood soaked davenport, would put me right over the edge.  Let alone seeing every scrapbook and photo album I have, ruined.

Having to live in that big center, for more than two days, would put me into a catatonic state and mentally gone.  No privacy.  All the humanity--the noise.  How could you sleep--on a small uncomfortable cot, babies crying during the night, people coughing, snoring.  The fatigue alone would kill me.  Having to be on guard in case some drug addict, coming off his high, was going to take the few dollars I had with me.  

FEMA can help, but it wouldn't help me.  They would loan me some money to restart, but with what little I have, I couldn't re-pay the loan on a new place.

I don't know how any of those people can ever recover.  Especially the farmers!  No food for their live stock.  After the flood waters recede, the pasture will be covered with heavy silt, mold and not fit for cattle to eat.  

I sometimes think, those that died are the lucky ones.
=========================
Friday came along and I HAD to go foraging for food.  I had two prescriptions to pick up at Walmart, so I made a list of what I needed for food, the cats, anything I could think of and walked to my car, parked in back, and traveled on up to Howell.

It was like a Saturday in there.  Why were these people, who usually work on Friday, in the store?  My gosh--every kid in the county was in there--arguing with their parents over school supplies, or just crying in frustration.

Well, I put on my smile and went about my business and when a boy came out from a side aisle and T-boned my cart and his mother screamed at him,  I said, "Hey, that's okay.  No harm done.  I should have been watching more carefully."  He looked at me with tears in his eyes.  Trying to be a big boy and help mother with the cart and the baby sister.  I wanted to just hug him.

Then on the drive home, I wondered how I was going to make 7 trips back and forth to the car--parked 85 steps away from my front porch.  I knew, I couldn't do it.  I was already exhausted and feeling a bit weak.

I pulled onto my street and thought, "To heck with it.  Drove right up on my lawn--as they have tape across the old part of my drive--where I could have carefully parked.  Got another bright idea, trudged out to my shed, got my wheel barrow, put some of the smaller bags into my canvas shopping bags, loaded the two gallons of water in the front, over the wheel, layered my 4 jugs of Pepsi in the bed of the wheel barrow, and put the rest on top.  Pushed it up and under the yellow tape up by my front steps and toted in my groceries.

Came in and rested my back.  My doc would have been happy to see I had a nice heart rate of 67 going on.

Saturday, I was all ready to sit in my recliner and watch the first football games.  To my dismay, when at noon, I clicked on to watch my Michigan State Spartans, I discovered it was on ESPNU--a channel I had last spring, but lost when I had to down grade my Comcast.

So I watched a pretty good movie on TCM, then watched the Michigan University game against Florida and later the Florida State/Alabama game.

This morning, I watched my favorite pastor and bible teacher, Dr. David Jeremiah and then, once again I watched a live-stream, on my computer, of the Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina.  The sermon was based on one of my most favorite hymns, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and the last hymn they sang was my Mother's favorite hymn, "I Need Thee Every Hour."  I am getting more used to the style of preaching the pastor has.  I felt very blessed from his sermon.  

I am such a lazy church goer.  I have to admit, I kind of like "going" to church while in my jammies, drinking my warm cocoa and eating my Cheerios.
==============================
3/4 done with my counted cross stitch project.  It took me the entire month of August to stitch just that part on the hoop.  Such detail in this.

I started the last two Shepherds today.=
====================
Rain is expected late tomorrow, so I better move my car.  The lawn is hard enough now, so the tires won't leave any dents, but with rain?..............

It's here! It's here.

Finally--it seems like a long time in waiting.

My cement mixer, putzy-putzy, arrived here.

They did such a fine job of smoothing, and floating, and brooming.

They asked me if I wanted to put my name or handprint in the corner.  I decided that the cement will be here longer than me, so I declined.  Then I thought, I could find a metal Spartan head and put it in the corner, but then...what if when my kids have to sell the place, a U of M fan likes it, but wouldn't buy it because of Sparty.  So, I decided to take one of my heart stones, from my collection, and put that in the corner.  

Right over where the bumble bees had their underground nest.

Tomorrow, the guys are coming back to put the "line" across.  This helps the cement stay stable in our cold winters, when the ground underneath heaves and settles.

By the way--after they left and I walked out to go to my car, I saw three bees buzzing around that spot.  No doubt those little rascals will figure out a way to rebuild their city!!
=============================
Had my yearly check-in at the Cardiologist's this afternoon.  Didn't even have to have an EKG.  He is a bit concerned about my continuing slow heart rate--52--I told him I was happy with that because a year ago it was in the 40's!  He had cut one of my meds--that slows the heart--in half.  I'd like to quit taking it, but if I have another AFib instance, I might have to get a Pacemaker--and I want none of that.  I remember how it creeped me out, feeling and seeing it, just under Fred's skin near his left shoulder.  My heart rate was 65 when I was at my doc's office a couple of weeks ago, so I'm not worried.  I had taken an Ativan at noon--maybe that slowed it down?

Anyway, I love this doctor.  He is the one who saved Fred's life.  Today he said, "I miss Fred."

"Me too, " I replied.

"How long has it been now.  Two years?"

"Five and a half."

"We are aging quickly, aren't we?"

"A year ago, you told me I'd live into my nineties.  I'm going for ninety-two."

"Why ninety-two.  Go for a hundred."

"Nope," I said.  "I don't want to live to be a hundred."

"Why not.  What's the difference between ninety-two and a hundred?"

"Eight long years in a nursing home!"

Anyway--I think it's sweet that he remembers Fred--as did the receptionist today.  When I checked-in, although she hadn't seen me in a year, she mentioned, "I sure miss Fred."  
==============
It's strange because, every now and then, one of the people at the pharmacist will mention Fred and how he always brightened their day.  Just last Sunday, Yvonne, the girl that took time off to attend Fred's funeral, said to me, "I was just thinking about Fred the other day.  He was always smiling, no matter what.  Here you are, eye all swollen and red, and your smiling.  I can see why you two got along so well."

Well, yes.  Fred and I never took anything too seriously.  Five minutes before he died, he gave me a hug, a kiss and a big smile and said, "I'll see you in a few minutes. Love you."

Yeah--we were made for each other.

I woke up frustrated and cranky this morning.

I had forgotten to put my bite guard in last night, and I bite a hunk out of my cheek during a dream.  When I woke up, Buddy decided to jump off the bed and dug two of his back claws into my calf when he launched himself.  My eye is still very irritated and all the goop and drops I have to put in it, get on my eye lashes and thus my glasses and everything is blurry.  My back hurt, I have a pain running from my right index finger down to my wrist and my right thumb joint was screaming, plus, I had a headache.

A couple of hours later, I sat down and watched the Weather Channel and thought, what a whiny, unappreciative woman I am!  What those people are going through is unimaginable!  This flood is of Biblical proportions and here I am, having a pity party because I don't feel good!  I am so sorry!
===========================
The guys came back to work some more on the driveway.  I sat on the porch, in my rocker and watched.

No--it's not a crime scene.  They aren't searching for Hoffa's body.  They built the frame.
Can you believe, there are still some small bees in the lower, right corner?

This guy is drilling the holes in the cement slab that is already there to put re-bar into, 
so that the 2 slabs will be as one, and one won't

heave up higher than the other and crack.

This guy is leveling and smoothing out the ground.

Trimming up the end of the driveway here.  I hope my neighbor's don't mind all the dust headed toward their open windows.

They think they will put in the mesh and pour the cement tomorrow afternoon, although it is supposed to rain and I don't think they pour cement when it is raining.

Then it has to cure for 7 days before I can use it.  So---maybe by September 6th, I won't have to tote my groceries so far?

=================================
Today is Karen and Mark's 36th anniversary.  I think their daughter said it best. 

"The most hardworking people I know- working for our family, for each other, for God, for 36 years!!! Thank you for showing us how love conquers all, every day. Happy anniversary mum and pops, I love you!"
She's right.  They have the most wonderful marriage and family I have ever known, and the cutest babies and nicest adult children.

One-Eyed Jude

This is making it difficult to type, but I am determined!!

 

My eye started itching on Thursday.  Friday was scratchy,  Saturday I could hardly see out of it and Sunday it was swollen shut.  I thought I probably had conjunctivitis, but it hurt so bad I drove on up to the ER.

They found a small piece of grit in the cornea, toward the lower part.  The consensus was, that since the only place I had been in 5 days was the dentist, some of the tooth polishing grit that they use flew up into my eye.  I remember feeling it, but thinking nothing of it.

I got two prescriptions, one a soothing drop to use 4 times a day and an antibiotic gel to use at night.  Call my ophthalmologist if it doesn't improve.
========================
The hole that the ground bees went underground was right under where I stand to empty out the trunk of my car.  I love how they made tunnels leading to and from the nests.

Apparently squirrels had shoved some peanuts down the hole 

and the rain had moved them over by the nest.

                                Egg cells that will never hatch. 

They emptied 2 cans of Wasp and Hornet spray on the nest.

Apparently the bees didn't mind because they kept hovering.

The guys came back this morning to remove the rest of the cement.  The first thing the guy in the Bobcat did was load a bunch of dirt on top of the next.

When the kid in the green shirt bent over to lift up a piece of cement, I yelled, "WATCH OUT!"
He jumped and ran.  "Did you see bees?" He asked.  "Nope," I said.  "I just wanted to see if you were ready!"

 ...and they still won't let me drive or even ride in the Bob Cat--something that is on my bucket list!!


They apologized for the delay and said I'm gonna love it when it's done.
I asked, "Might that be before Christmas?"
The kid in the green shirt replied, "We're shooting for Thanksgiving."

The thing of it is, when they finally pour the cement, it has to cure for 7 days before I can park on it.  I have found a new parking spot that is only 50 steps from my house.  The other one out by my shed was 80.  I think when I have to tote in groceries, I will just back up on the part of the driveway that hasn't been destroyed.  

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

Darlin' Della is 10 months old.  

"They" all like to say she looks like her Daddy.

I have photos to prove them wrong and Karen and I know,

she is the spitting image of her Grandma Karen.  HAH!!

Interesting Day

My oldest grandson, Marcus, messaged me last night at 11:15--this photo.  He and Morgan just engaged and wanted me to be the first to know.  Made my heart glad--the first to know.

Morgan is the girl I was telling you about that dances ballet and raises and shows hogs at the fairs.
A farm girl, after my own heart and a little tiny thing.

This is the baby quilt I had set aside for them. 

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

 This morning at 9:30, the guys arrived to tell me I had to move my car as they were going to start taking up the cement in my driveway in 10-15 minutes.  I was still in my jammies, but I scurried about and moved it out back, near my shed.

 At 3:30 they were back.

Watch video here.


and when they took up that big chunk, I yelled, "WATCH OUT THERE'S A BEES NEST!"

Watch video here:


Look at the amazing tunnels those ground bees have made!!

The guys said they'd come back tomorrow to finish up.  Hope the bees have a new home.

Wondrous

What a nice weekend I had.  For the first time, I got to meet, in person, a blog buddy.  I was kind of nervous.  We have our own perception of what the people are like, from reading their blogs. Meeting them in person might show us that they are entirely different.  I was afraid I might disappoint her.

SHE was exactly like I thought she would be.  Jenny Webber.   http://www.jennyweber.com/

I had seen photos of her and her family and I once commented that if I ever met her handsome husband, I'd probably fall into a faint at his feet.

Well, I managed to stay upright, but YOWZA!!  He is 6'5" tall, trim, strong jaw, tanned, steel gray hair, wonderful smile--he reminded me of Fred.

Jenny is a tiny little thing--a foot shorter than her husband.  Full of energy.  I adored her immediately.

She came in with a bag of goodies for me, snacks and apples and Raspberry preserves, my favorite Cheerio's, French Toast bread, that is delish and...and--a 6-pack of Diet Pepsi.  

It was like talking to an old friend.  We knew of each other's children, her son Andrew serving another deployment and I have been praying for him for over a year.  We chatted about them and our backgrounds.  We agreed on how much we are sadden by and dislike the current issues in our society.

She and her husband are about the age of my kids, I would guess and so, I felt like I had visited with family.

==========

They had driven up from South Carolina to Toledo, Ohio to visit family.  Then drove on up from Toledo to Lansing, MI to visit another blog buddy.  Well on the way from Toledo to Lansing runs the expressway that is just a mile from my place.

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

Before they left, her husband gave me a little booklet that is about their church.  He told me they have a live stream of Sunday morning services.

On Sunday morning, I got up and went on the website at 11:00 and watched live.  It was the coolest thing!!!  He had explained it was a small church with only about 500 members.

Little?  That's a Mega church to me.  My church has about 120 people in attendance on a Sunday Traditional service.

I have never "attended" a Southern Baptist church service, but I knew every hymn they had and sang along.  The preacher was more spirited than our Methodist preachers get, but he reminded me of how my Grandpa preached in the 40's and 50's.  

He'd get to shouting and then his voice would get real low and soft.  I could tell, this man was filled with the spirit.  There would be no "sleepers" in his congregation.  LOL

His message was strong and true.  Cast your cares on God.  Trust in Jesus.  As God was, He will always be.  Standing on the promises of God, the same now as they've always been.

I will watch again next Sunday morning.

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

Jennifer, I know you are reading this and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for stopping in.  It was my privilege to have you and Greg visit me, in my wee home.  Next time you are up this way, leave enough time for a visit to The Farm. 

May our God continue to bless you and your family!!

XX OO

Calm Down

I am just fine and thanks for caring Luna.  If you were on FB, you would know I am alive and well and....fighting with new computer issues.

I keep blaming Windows 10, when actually it's PEBCAC. (Problem exists between chair and computer).

I've had to sign-in to every thing I use, including this blog.  New computer, new operating system, thinks that I am brand new too.  Which can get a bit frustrating because, the last time I signed in was 4 years ago and I have since forgotten my password.  HAH!

Then, there were a few files missing--files that didn't get transferred onto the new hard-drive.  Picture files, that I almost panicked when I couldn't find them.  

I took the new baby back in yesterday to have all this corrected and now, I have everything I want and need.  I think.  Thankfully, they keep my old hard drive for 3 months, just in case.

I got the machine back, but didn't start plugging all the peripherals into it until midnight.  When I got up this morning and my printer was off-line and no amount of searching on how to get it back on-line helped.  I called my computer people.

After 20 minutes of them remotely trying to fix the problem, she asked, "It looks like the printer isn't plugged in."

"Oh, sure it is.  I did it last night."

"Can  you look to make sure?"

"Sure."

I checked all the wires, they were plugged in to the right places.

"Everything is plugged in."

"Is your printer plugged into a USB port?"

"Yes."

"Can  you check to make sure it's plugged in all the way?"

I'm thinking, 'well Duh.  Of course it is.'

When I touched it, it fell out of the USB port.  I shoved it into another port and..............I hadn't plugged it in tight enough!

She said, "Oh, I hear the printer starting up.  You solved the problem!"  Soon a test page came printing out.

"I KNOW what the problem was and I don't think I can solve it!  The problem is the computer operator!"
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I was so determined NOT to get Windows 10 until I had too and knowing full well it was going to cause me all sorts of problems, I was already biased against it.  If anything went wrong, I assumed.  You know what assumed gets ya--right?
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So, I have been centered in on this new computer that I have not even given a thought about posting on my blog.  GEEZ LOUISE!

All else has been calm and boring and every day.  I hope to get a hair cut and some groceries tomorrow, plus pay the rest of the month's bills.

Thursday I am cleaning this house--because I have dust all over everything, alone with cat fur and stuff I have laid on the counter, to put away later.  BECAUSE--on Friday, one of my blog buddies is coming from South Carolina near here and she wanted to stop in.  

I am soooooooo looking forward to the visit, but you know, kind of nervous.  She has a beautiful home and family and here I am, just an old country plow-girl living in a trailer.  
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Karen baby-sat Della this past week-end and let her do anything she wanted.  Including unrolling the bathroom tissue roll.  HAH!

Peaceful, calm, content---mostly.

I had such a great time yesterday at the Old School Gal Pals luncheon.

I met my BF Bethie in Byron and rode the rest of the way up to the meeting place with her and her hubs.  I had the best time.  Her hubs is interesting to talk with and at times, had me laughing so hard.  It's been a long time since I laughed that hard!
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My BFF's (who is deceased) daughter showed up and sat next to me.  We had lots of hugs and "I love yous", and a really good chat.  I announced to the group that she is about to become a grandma again.  Her daughter is having a baby girl on August 28.  The baby's name?  Kathlene.  Kathy for her and Lene for my BFF, who's name was Arelene.

I love when people incorporate family names like that.  Our family does it too.
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We arrived at a kind of swanky place.  Miss June The Teacher had suggested we eat there and said, "It will have a more varied menu and perhaps Judy can find something to order other than Tacos or Nachos."

Now the reason I always order Tacos or Nachos is because I never get to have them, except at our luncheon.

I looked on the menu, they had Pesto dishes and Patty Melt's and Chicken stuff and Shrimp stuff and... Tacos and Nachos.  So just to show Miss Prissy Pants, I ordered Nachos.

They were smaller and not as good as the ones I get when we go to the smaller, little dives we sometimes go to, and they weren't near as good and cost $4.00 more!

One of our lady's was not at all pleased with her Patty Melt--there was hardly any cheese on it and she let the waitress know.  The manager came out and asked if she wanted another one or something different, and our friend said, "No.  I just want to bitch about this one!"

I almost fell outta my chair.  I wondered what Miss Prissy Pants thought about that.  She didn't say a word.  Just sat there with her lips pressed together, in a thin line.

Another friend, that I have known since I was 3, usually butts in with the most unconventional words and phrases, usually when someone else is talking about something.  The rest of us smile, look at each other and wink.  She is becoming a bit daft.  Got lost on the way there, which was harder to do than you'd think.  She comes south on a highway and when she get to the next highway, she turns right and up the road is the restaurant.

You can tell we are getting older and all a bit daft because we have lost our filter.  Always very polite women who would never interrupt or complain about our food, now just blat out whatever pops into our mind.  It can get hilarious just listening.
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When we got back, I drove on out to The Farm to visit Sister and her hubs.  
She said to me, "You will understand this.  I am having a time with "A" (her son) taking things I say out of context or meaning."

He had been out to visit and she made a chicken dinner.  Afterwards, he said, "I am sick of chicken.  I wish you had fixed a roast."

Susan said, "Why didn't you tell me.  I will fix whatever you want."

He said, "What?! We've had chicken the last two times I came out. I would think you'd know, I wanted roast beef!"

 The next week was his birthday.  Susan made a beef roast and vegetables in the Crock Pot and took it up to his house.  He had been on vacation

Susan asked how he had enjoyed his vacation.

"It was all right."

"You were in South Dakota?  Did you stop at the Corn Palace?  Did you see Mount Rushmore?"

"Geez Mother!  Can't I go anywhere without my Mommy planning my trip?  I suppose you want to know if I took enough underwear."

She said, "We left shortly after that.  As I walked out, I said, 'Happy Birthday.  Hope you enjoyed the Roast Beef dinner."

"Oh, yeah.  Thanks."

Susan said this attitude from him has been going on for the last six months now.  She said, "Remember back when you told Mark you were so glad he inherited the farm....his favorite farm, because that's where his grammie lived?  You told him that if you couldn't live there, you were so happy that he could. Remember?"

"Never forget it.  He took offense and told everyone that I was mad that I hadn't inherited the farm."

"Yeah.  Don't we talk plainly anymore or do they just hear what they want to hear?"

"I don't know," I said.  "I told Pammie the same thing and she didn't take offence.  She said, 'I'm glad too, Momma.  Keep it in the family.' "

"Then I had to apologize to Mark and tell him, 'what I meant was', I was afraid that farm was going to be sold.  If I hadn't inherited it, I am so happy he did, because it was his favorite farm and we were able to keep it in the family.  I couldn't inherit the farm, Grandpa knew that.  I can barely afford to live in my little house.  How could I afford this farm?  I'm so happy you are here because you can take care of it."

Susan said, "You know--we've kidded with out kids all their lives.  Joked about things, said sarcastic things.  They always knew we were just kidding.  Now, we can't do that anymore, I guess.  They take it as truth and get offended."

We both sighed.
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After I left The Farm, I stopped at Pammies.  Wanted to see how her birthday went.  She had two days off--with pay!  She had already made plans for those two days AND the weekend.  Her recliner was surrounded with baskets of yarn, her phone nearby to play FB games on and she had her TV schedule all worked out.

"I ain't going anywhere and I ain't doing anything!" she proclaimed.  "Well, I do have to clean the house on Friday and mow the lawn on Saturday, but other than that...nothing."

She cracks me up.  She is a Mini-Me for sure.
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I left home at 11:00 yesterday morning and didn't get home until 7:30.  I was exhausted!!!!!

What a wonderful day!!!