Is The Holiday Over...or Not?

Today's high temperature was:  69 degrees

Today's humidity was: 42%

Sunny and lovely!!!!

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We seem to drag out any holiday we have for an entire week--sometimes, more then a week.  A few days before, and the whole week afterwards.  We are weird people.
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It was cold in this house this morning, but---I DID NOT turn on the furnace for a few minutes.

I am kind of getting weirded out about this lovely weather.  Wondering, because of our wonderful spring and summer we are going to have a knock down, drag out winter.  I don't care how much snow we get--very rarely a time when I HAVE to drive in the snow, but I don't want it to be bitterly cold.  Not that it would bother me either, staying inside, snuggy and warm, but......that winter gas bill can be a killer!!!

I have recovered from the "ache in my arms and shoulders" chores.  Feeling really good today--got up at 8:00--took a shower  I do believe that I am the worse on personal hygiene!  Growing up on the farm, we took a bath on Saturday night.  We washed up in between Saturday's, but took the long soak, good scrub on Saturday nights.  Even when I worked, I did not shower every day--although I did wash my hair every day--in the kitchen sink.  My doctor one time told me, that because of my extreme dry skin, to only shower twice a week and NEVER take a bath.  I so love soaking in a huge, deep tub, water up to my ear lobes, bubbles all over the place, hot as I could stand the water.  When I lived on (Pammies) farm, we had a pedestal tub--deep and long enough even for this 5'11" frame to stretch out for a good soak, water up to my grommets.

Then, a few years ago, I had my big tub taken out and the whole area made into a shower "room", I call it.  You could get 4 people easily standing in there.  It has a seat and two hand grips--really nice--quite expensive, but not as expensive as those walk-in tubs.  I realized this morning that the last shower I took was Sunday morning before church.  Does that make me an old, stinky person?   

I don't use deodorant either!!!

Yikes--you are going to think I have taken the hermit thing too far!  If I have a doctor's/dentist/orthopedic/--any appointment, I would take a shower that morning--simply to get my hair washed, actually.

I have a condition--don't know what it is called, but I do not sweat!  Thus the problem I have with heat/humidity/sun.  I have a large package of what is called Adult Towelettes, (used them in rehab and buy them now), that I wipe under my arms and other parts with them before bedtime, sometimes.  And I always use the Cottonelle wipes after a potty break, but other then that.  GEEZ!!!  I will have to ask Bethie or Pearl if I stink--I don't think I do, but...........YIKES!!!  How can a person, who basically sits in their computer or recliner chair all day work up a stink?  BUT--I don't know why I don't take a shower every morning--it feels so good!!!  Laziness of course!
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At 10:00, I walked down to Pearl's--while my hair dried--and hassled her for an hour.  Oh--I didn't really hassle her--we had a good chat about a whole bunch of stuff.  Then, Merle came home from work early.  He looked a bit rough--said he was dizzy all morning.  This man (77) gets up at 4:00 a.m., goes to the golf course and works until 1:00.  He is only suppose to mow the greens, but he does a lot of repair on the mowers and the golf carts and a lot of lifting.  That is way too much work for him, in my opinion, but Pearl says, "We need the money."

I asked him, "Did you get in to see the cardiologist?"

He looked at Pearl and she said, "I haven't made the appointment yet.  I'm going to wait until Monday to call them."

GEEZ!!

I said to him, "Did you get in to see your primary care doc?"

He looked at Pearl and she said, "I haven't made that appointment yet either."

"Didn't they tell you, at the hospital, to get in to see him within a week?"

Merle says, "Yep, but we've been busy."

I decided not to scold, not to teach, not to say WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR!  Instead I said, "Okay--I'm just worried about you."
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I came home, watched my soap and then drove on in to Brighton.  I had read Bella's blog post,  http://culdesacchronicles.wordpress.com/, this morning and decided it was time for me to get my Shingles vaccine!  I had to go to the Rich People's store too, for some more Boar's Head sliced Pastrami and salads. I stopped at the Walgreen's first to get my shot.  They took all my insurance information, my name, phone number, date of birth, on and on.  Then the pharmacist said, "Okay--that will cost $225.00...no wait...$98.00 for your co-pay.."

I didn't know what to say.  No words would come out of my hanging open to my chin, in shock, mouth.

"I don't have that kind of money.  Isn't it covered by Medicare....or my Blue Cross supplemental insurance?"

She said, "I know.  Isn't it terrible?"

"Yes--I thought this country was into preventative medicine and yet....the flu and pneumonia vaccines are fully covered, but not Shingles?"

She nodded.

"Well--I guess I will have to take my chances.  At least if I do get Shingles, the pain meds and treatment will be fully covered!"
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I am still shaking my head about that.  I had all my childhood diseases.  I missed nearly 3 months in Kindergarten because I had, chicken pox, whooping cough, mumps and measles.  Almost died from the measles, so---having had such hard cases of all those diseases, maybe I will be more immune to getting a really bad case of Shingles?   You know--I think that those of us who had childhood diseases have a stronger immune system.  I was really scared when I was exposed to the German Measles when I was 3 months pregnant with Jennifer, but my doc told me that because I had such a hard case of them when I was younger, I had nothing to worry about and that my immunity would transfer to the baby. Guess he was right.

I sometimes worry that all the vaccines the little ones get nowadays, is not such a good thing.  They have nothing to make for a strong immune system?  Wouldn't it be better for them to get the disease and have a lifetime immunity toward it?  My littlest grandkids, pick up every dang cold bug that walks past them--bronchitis, ear infections, croup, the flu--on and on.  I never had much of that as a kid and now--I never get sick.  My doc told me years ago that I had a very strong immune system and---probably from having such hard cases of my childhood diseases.  What didn't kill me, made me stronger?
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I must tell you--I have decided to go to the Rich People's Grocery Store every week to build my self esteem and confidence.  I got flirted with TWICE today.  Once in the produce department and once in the check-out line.  In fact, the cashier noticed that one.  He was in line, in front of me.  When he left, she said, "He was flirting with you--did you know that?"

I said, "Yeah, I noticed. Cool, huh?"

When I got out to my car, he was parked next to me, putting his groceries in the trunk of his car.  He looked up and smiled and said, "beautiful weather, isn't it.  Have a gorgeous day, Gorgeous."

HAH--two old codgers--parked next to each other in the handicap parking spots, out of breath from lifitng their heavy groceries into their cars.  WHAT A HOOT!!!   Used to be flirting while driving around town in our hopped up cars---now the handicap zone.    Just cracks me up!!!!!

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Shortly after I got home, neighbor Tami came over to chat.  All of a sudden, she looked out the window at her place and the strangest look came on her face.  "LOOK", she yelled.  I thought her place was on fire, until I got up and looked out the window.  This is what we saw---five feet away from my window--between her place and mine.

They were over by my bush and when I got up to take

a picture, they started walking, nonchalantly away.

I had to get down on my knees to take a better picture.

Good thing Tami was there, to help me back up, LOL.

Sand Hill Cranes

I'm thinking I should put a trail of bird seed or corn from the back of my place up to my bird feeders so I could catch sight of them, at my feeders, from my chair.  Wouldn't that be quite a sight!!

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This whole Syrian thing has me freaked--kind of.  They haven't attacked any of our Embassies, or our ground, so why should we get involved?  For humanitarian purposes?  We are not the Teachers of the world, nor the PROTECTORS.  To "tell" them of our plans, so they can hide all their WMD's in mosques, hospital, schools, is ridiculous point #1.  Then to say there won't be any "boots on the ground", is another ridiculous statement because, every other time, there is ALWAYS CIA, or some sort of secretive military group on the ground--they are the ones watching and telling the ship the coordinates to use on where to aim the Tomahawks.  I DO NOT care for Sarah Palin--I AM NOT a Tea Partyer, but the statement she made about sums it up for me, "Let Allah figure it out!"  All the people fighting each other are Islamists--let Allah figure it out indeed!  We need to keep our noses right here in the USofA and figure out our own problems.  We don't need to be spending billions way to heck over there.  We've done enough of that in the last decade.  

What is really a wonderment--my Liberal friends have cursed George W. Bush forever because he went into Iraq--because Saddam Hussian had gassed over 5,000 Kurds and Iraqis to death.  We had to do something.  We knew there were WMD, but couldn't find them.  He had used them--they had to be there.  Now--their Prez. is thinking about doing the same thing.  Many, many Democrats--even my most Liberal friend, Lynn, is totally against it.  She is a SBB=Supreme Bush Basher--I wonder what she will post on Face Book if her Main Man sends in the rockets red glare?

It also is a wonderment to me why I feel the way I do.  I tend to be a Hawkish person.  Born at the beginning of DoubleU DoubleU Two.  Waving at the planes going off to "help our boys win the war!"  Even though I was very young, I was very patriotic!!

You should have been with me when the bombs fell on Baghdad in a surprise attack--you would have heard me cheer!  At work the next day, I was appointed chief reporter--had to run down to the TV in the building's cafe', every hour or so, to listen to the reports and then report back to my bosses.  It was my duty to go out at noon and buy 12 smallish US flags to put on the corner's of our cubicles.  

"Rah. Rah.  We are bombing the shit outta them towel heads!" No I didn't say that, but it was said!

But--you know--those people over there--they have been living and fighting for eons and I am weary of being involved in their wars. Besides that--whose side is the right side?  Is the Muslim Brotherhood really any better then Assad?  Give them weapons and they may someday, use them on us.

We had our Civil War and figured out how to come together, now it is their turn.  Let (their) Allah figure it out.  Just sayin'

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Later--Jude