Chris's Coop

Windows? Don't you mean Microsoft?

2011-12-03T15:46:00.007-06:00

Phone rings: "Ring Ring Ring"

I check the call display. Long distance. A 981 number. I answer: "Hello"

981-234-5679 responds: "Hello Mam. This is James. We are calling about the trouble you are having with windows."

I wonder who else is there with James. I scratch my head and answer: "My windows are just fine. They kind of like to frost up in the winter but I got some plastic from Canadian Tire to blow dry on them and that should fix the problem."

981 responds: "No Mam, I am reffering to your computer. Up until now there has been no problem with your computer but we have just detected that you are having issues with your windows now."

Me: "My computer is behaving just fine."

981: "The problems are running behind the scene so it is undetectable."

Me: "I have trouble believing that the Windows people have my phone number and are concerned enough about this to be phoning me at home or maybe I am at work. Tell me, do you know where I am? Do you know my name? I think you are a scammer. You have a foreign accent. I think that most scammers do."

981: "No Mam, I can assure you that I am not a scammer and that Windows takes this problem very seriously. You can phone the police and check if you want "

Me: "To you James I say: Bull Poop!"

Click

Six Weeks Until?

2011-09-21T22:48:00.003-06:00

Can you guess? What happens in six weeks? If you guessed November you are correct. Sadly, you have not won a prize. Please do not cry. What happens in November? I will give you a clue. It happens every November in the bloggy world. Yup, NaBloPoMo. Still, no prizes! I figure that maybe if I start working on making drafts NOW just maybe I can get through and manage to post a post every day and that maybe I won't be too boring and I will be able to save my noggin from getting banged into the wall every time I try to rouse a few brain cells into action. So, who is going to give it a go this year? You never know, maybe you will win a prize and if not from the NaBloPoMo people, maybe I will come up with something for the person who amuses me the most.

In Hindsight I Would Have...

2011-08-07T14:28:00.003-06:00

It is funny how things come back to you that you forgot about or had not thought about in a long long time. Taking care of the rug rats solo can bring it all back.

Just a simple thing like going to the cafe for fries and ice cream can turn into an epic undertaking not for the feint of heart. I had forgot that a person should wait until all elements were totally favorable before embarking anywhere as long as small children were going to be tagging along. One little thing like heat can simply put things out of control and over the top when another little thing does not go according to the plan, like the cafe closing early and the fries and the ice cream promised are not forth coming to the little people.

After intensive interrogation that went like this:

" Do you want fries?"

" younanna hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhodibo ICE CREAM"

"O.K. You want ice cream but do you want fries too?"

"mumbble ishehh ummm mumbble Ice cream"

This went on for quite some time until I had come to the conclusion that perhaps if we skipped the fries it would not cause a total melt down later when we arrived back home without them. During this whole intelligent dialogue I was sweating profusely under the intense heat of the scorching sun. The sweat was running into my eyes, stinging and burning and I could not wipe it away because I had a three year old perched precariously on the handlebars of the stroller that I had in a death grip, holding onto to for dear life in order that it does not become unbalanced and heaven forbid, cause a huge wreck injuring either the toddler or the baby.

I decided to slog our way to the store. Noah decided to drive his bike off the sidewalk and into a mud puddle. More trauma. The store was closing. The lady was at the door and had the keys in her hand. She let us get the ice cream. Miracle of miracles. No ice cream would not have been good, not after I had promised! I begged for Kleenex but not for the crying 6 year old but for the handle on the handle bar of the 6 year old's bike. The tears were on account of the mud not due to injury. I figured the tears would air dry as soon as the mud was gone. Hurry up home...ice cream is going to melt...the grandma has now over heating well and beyond any of her heat enduring abilities!

Whew! Back home but is the ordeal over? No! At this point I had one child jumping up and down wanting the Popsicle opened: "Now grandma, open please now grandma, grandma grandma" while the other one was opening two Fudgecles (I don't know how in the world to spell that and I don't care) cause he thought they both were for him and one hanging onto my legs crying his heart out cause he woke up so hungry he was like a bear just coming out of hibernation. He was happy the whole while he was in the stroller but upon being removed from there, he had suddenly entered a state of total desperation requiring FOOD NOW!.

Lets Cry A Little

2011-07-08T23:56:00.002-06:00

Sad Songs:

This is what I do when depressed.

Makes Me Happy

2011-06-26T16:34:00.005-06:00

There are some things in life that are certain to bring a smile to your face. This is one of those. I had one of these when I was little. I played with it for hours. I would cut up scraps of material and make them into rugs and towels and bedding. I found one of these at a garage sale on Saturday. I got it for $30.00. They typically go for about $100.00 on E-Bay. I am hoping that my little grand daughters like it as much as I did. It was hard for me on E-Bay. I wanted to buy all the other metal doll houses that are a little different than this one. I figure if one makes me happy just think what five would do? If you are bored just Google vintage doll houses and see if it is just me that these houses tempt.

Trip Photos

2011-05-18T22:47:00.003-06:00

Half Of Day One

Westport

Lunch At Westport

Greyland Lighthouse

135 steps up

View from the top,
just to prove we climbed all the way up

Day 18

2011-05-08T22:46:00.008-06:00

30 Day Song challenge

A song You Wish You Heard On The Radio

Pumped Up Kicks

Foster The people

I love this. I just stumbled on it. Maybe it is on the radio. I don't listen to the radio because usually I don't like what is on it. Did I say I love this? I hope you enjoy it. If you have not heard it give it a listen. Umm..I may have skipped a day. I wanted to get this song in somewhere. For me, it is the song of the summer of 2011.

You probably won't hear this on the radio either but these guys are fantastic. Their whole new album is awesome. I love the lyrics on this.

and there is this. I like it too. Summer music with upbeat tempos. Driving music. Good for road trips.

On Looking good

2011-05-05T15:11:00.013-06:00

Life is strange and time does odd random things to you. You go to bed one night thinking you look one way and the very next morning wake up only to discover that it is not so. For a good example let us talk about my eyebrows. One day they were just fine and the next day they had gone all crazy and were starting to bush out like you see on some old men. Random hairs simply decided to stick straight up. Wetting them down and trying to get them to dry flat does not work.

Perhaps they are not as bad as this yet. YET! That is the thing. The way things are going with them I am so afraid that they could end up this way. All I can say is thank goodness I noticed in time. Can you imagine the fright I would have had if I woke up in the morning and had this looking back at me in the mirror? That would be a real life horror movie being played out right in the comfort of my own bathroom. See how creepy those eyebrows are in the picture. Can you imagine that staring back at you?

R E D R U M

RED RUM

redrum

I decided to take action. Perhaps I can keep control of the situation with a little professional waxing and colouring? Yes? No? Maybe? Well it is an improvement but there are still little hairs that stick straight up. Tomorrow I am going to make a trip to Shoppers and get some more help in the form of eyebrow powder and wax. Gosh, I will glue those things down if I have to and while I am at it I will see if they have any product to help with my newly found hanging jowls and the bags under the eyes. They were fine the other day too. You young people, enjoy it while you can because seriously right now...you are so good looking.

Day Fifteen

2011-04-30T13:47:00.006-06:00

30m Day song challenge
A song That Describes You:
My Immortal
Evanescence

This describes me very well, how I think, what I feel.

Day 14

2011-04-13T12:36:00.005-06:00

39 Day song challenge
A song That Nobody would expect You to Love:

O.K.....This is getting difficult. How in the world would I know what you are thinking? How about you say a bunch of songs that you think I would hate and I will tell you if you are wrong and I really love it. Come on people. Help me out here. If nobody helps there just won't be a song for this day. What a travesty that would be. Knock me down and call me Susan, it will be all your fault. LOL...I have been dying to say that. That ad is driving me nuts and add to this making me want to say "knock me down and call me Susan" all day long I really want some wings.

Spring Accouterments

2011-04-11T11:16:00.002-06:00

Spring has finally sprung here on the northern prairies. I thought it would never come... me and a bazillion other people that is. Along with its arrival have come all the wonderful spring accouterments. There are little yellow chicks and purple bunnies in the store as well as pastel candies and honking huge chocolate rabbits that I MUST NOT BUY! There are pot holes in the road that a 5 ton truck could get lost in, lakes where no lakes should be and a back yard full of dog droppings. Mysterious items appear in the ditch along side the road that weeks ago were hidden by five feet of snow. Yesterday I passed one super mysterious item. I have no idea what it was. It was long and coiled. It looked like a giant slinky. John would have know what it was. He would have commented on it. He would have said "Why look at that! That is a 1938 farndoogle that fit the top part of a yerdibaggle. Amazing! I wonder how that got there?" It is entirely possible that he would have stopped the car and got out to have a better look at it all the while I would have sat in the car rolling my eyes and wondering if we would ever reach our destination in my lifetime. An odd thing happened to me yesterday. I found myself compelled to stop the car and get out and look. John must be channelling me. I have not noticed this before but leave it to him not to do that except for really really important things. I did leave it in the ditch where it lay. He may have not been able to do that. At the very least he would have dragged it out for a better look. It is good to know that I still maintain some control over myself.

Yesterday was a lovely day. I drove out to my son's place in the country. My grandson was performing in a talent contest along with some of his classmates. It was the type of event that a grandma must attend. The grandson looks for the grandma and checks to see if she is appreciating it all appropriately with the proper amount of applause and big smiles of enjoyment. The program was wonderfully horrible. It was exactly what you would expect from a small community where the talent pool is minuscule. It was a celebration of mediocrity. Only one act was slightly embarrassing and that was because the singer really thought she was pretty darn good. The rest of the performers were under no delusions and adjusted their acts appropriately by becoming excellent comedians. My favourite act by far was the fancy Australian whip cracking unicyclist. Yes...you read that correctly. She rode her unicycle all the awhile cracking her whips. Who would have thunk you would find such a talent out there in the middle of nowhere? John would have loved it. I miss him so much. I miss the sparkle that would have brought to his eyes. Everything was just so much more fun with him.

Day 29

2011-04-11T10:15:00.002-06:00

1139 Day Song Challenge
A Song From My Childhood:
My Home is in Montana

I am skipping ahead. I am too lazy today to search for what I am supposed to be posting. As nobody really comes here anymore it really does not matter at all. I can do what I like. That is the story of my life now. I am not sure that is a good thing.

I am not sure why but this song has stuck in my brain and when I think of all the songs that I did learn when I was a child this seems to come to the forefront on my mind first. I learned it in school when we were learning cowboy songs.

Day Thirteen

2011-04-08T16:55:00.009-06:00

30 Day song Challenge
A Song That Is a Guilty pleasure:
Unchained Melody
Tom Jones

It really is not so much the song that is the guilty pleasure as it is the performer.

That was then and this is now:

I have secretly liked this guy for a long long time. I just never admitted to it. It would have been embarrassing what with the undergarment throwing and all. Just so you know I have never seen him live so I have never thrown my underwear at him and never did have the inclination to. The problem is...now this guy is getting really sexy and not in a lame way like he was before with the open shirt and gold chains. Take a look at this. He has reinvented himself and by golly...I really really like and he is hot. I am going to go and drag the fan out. He is smoking hot!

Day Twelve

2011-04-08T09:10:00.006-06:00

30 Day song challenge
A Song By A Band You Hate:
Satisfaction
Rolling Stones

I have never liked these guys, not even at the peak of their popularity. I just don't get them. I don't think they sing well. I think Mick Jagger looks ridiculous. I hate this song. I have often wonder if their appeal to others is simalar to the appeal a train wreck seems to have. People watch as if mesmerized and can't seem to look away. Yes, The Rolling Stones are like a train wreck but one that I have no problem looking away from.

Poor Angie, I mean my Angie. This could have been a nice song. I wonder how many marshmallows Mick could shove into his mouth and wonder if the song would sound better that way? I do not understand the sex appeal this man had over women. I mean...look at him! I don't get it. Do you think he is sexy?

Day Eleven

2011-03-30T22:47:00.005-06:00

30 Day Song Challenge
A Song From Your Favourite Band:
The Killers
Human

This has been my favourite band for a couple of years now. It will probably take a while for somebody to dethrone them. I would love to hear them live. There are very few groups that I would pay to go and see.

Day Ten

2011-03-30T22:45:00.001-06:00

30 day song challenge
A Song That Puts You to Sleep:
May It Be
Enya

Just about anything Enya will put me to sleep, not in a bad I am bored way but in a nice I am relaxed way.

Day Nine

2011-03-30T09:52:00.000-06:00

30 Day Song Challenge
A Song that You Can Dance To:
Putting On the Ritz

Pick which one that you prefer best and dance to it. Notice it says a song that you can dance to, not me, you! Hahahaha! I would like to see a video of this if you please. It would amuse me. Take your time and practice your moves. In my mind I can dance like this, it just does not look so good in front of the mirror. I bet you can do better.

Day Eight

2011-03-29T16:38:00.001-06:00

30 Day Song challenge
A song I know All the Words To:
99 Bottles Of Bear On The Wall

BwaaHaa! There is really nothing more to say about this.

Day Seven

2011-03-24T00:57:00.003-06:00

30 Day Song Challenge
A Song That Reminds You Of A Certain Event:
Hockey Night In Canada

This makes me want to get out the nachos and Pepsi. How many evenings in the past have I heard this theme song play? Papa bear would be in his chair. Sometimes I would fall asleep on the couch only to be startled awake by either his loud cheers or he would be practically foaming at the mouth over some really stupid play or the ref was blind or something. Sometimes he even scared the dog. It certainly was an event in our house.

Day Six

2011-03-22T02:29:00.006-06:00

30 Day song Challenge
A Song That Reminds You Of somewhere:
Rocky Mountain High
John Denver

During the time that this song came out I was no longer living in Colorado. I missed the beauty of what is known to the local inhabitants as God's country and I certainly missed the more moderate climate. While I never was a huge fan of John Denver...yawn... I thought he was boring and still do... yawn..this song did and does make me feel homesick. Yawn.....

Day Five

2011-03-22T02:14:00.006-06:00

30 Day Song Challenge

A Song That Reminds You Of Somebody:
When The Saints go Marching In
Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye

This song reminds me of my dad. He used to play violin, very badly. He would play this song and we would sing. He had to stop often. He would grin and say that he needed more rosin on the bow, play on, more rosin and then play. My mom would try to get us to quit.

I love this clip. Danny Kaye was supposed to be my future husband back in those days along with:

Tony Curtis

and Kirk Douglas

So... I had not heard that multiple marriage was frowned upon, was called polygamy and was illegal. All I knew was that I wanted all three of these guys. You have to admit, they are pretty cute.

Day Four

2011-03-22T01:43:00.003-06:00

30 Day Song Challenge
A Song That Makes You Sad:
Run
Snow Patrol

Yup...crying

Day Three

2011-03-21T22:28:00.003-06:00

30 Day song challenge
A Song That Always Makes Me Happy:
Rock and roll girl
John Fogerty

This song simply takes me back to a good place in my life. This is good road music. Being on the road makes me happy. I remember going to Martins lake and this would come on the radio. Life just did not get much better than being on the way to the lake after a cold winter with John and all the kids.

Day Two

2011-03-20T19:54:00.006-06:00

30 Day Song Challenge
Least Favourite Song:
Son Of a Preacher Man

Joss Stone

I hate this song. I HATE IT! I really, really hate it. Arghhh! It is worse than a person scraping their finger nails down a chalk board. It makes me want to vomit. It makes me want to scream or break the radio because that is the only place that I will ever hear it because I sure don't own it. Oh the horror of it. Do not listen to it. Don't do it. It will make you want to kick a puppy.

Day One

2011-03-20T12:36:00.007-06:00

Thirty Day Song Challenge
Day One
Favourite Song:
Remember
Harry Nilsson

It is a very hard thing to do to pick my favourite song of all time but I think I managed it. This would have to be it. It is so pretty, Harry has a remarkable voice, and it creates emotion. I can't listen to it without crying and now it makes me cry more than ever. I used to imagining an old woman toward the end of her days thinking back over her life and longing for her youth and all the wonderful things that she experienced, wishing she could do it all over again, remembering. Now I fear that I have become somewhat like the woman of my imaginings even though I know I still have lots to experience, so much is behind me, so much that is now only memories. Now close your eyes. Remember.

The Great Adventure On The Second Monday,Tuesday And Wednesday

2011-02-09T20:26:00.003-06:00

Monday we left Laughlin and headed to Jackpot Nevada. It is right on the Nevada Idaho border. We stayed there Tuesday and today, Wednesday, we made our way to Helena Montana. We were back in winter before we got close to Jackpot. It really did not take long to leave summer behind.
Say goodbye to the last of the Palm Trees and the warm sun. This makes me want to cry. Today we drove through the mountains and it was blowing snow. The roads were a little icy but we got through safely. Tomorrow we are up very early and will be home late evening. We will stop in Sweetgrass at the duty free store and then that is the end of the great bus adventure. Actually, I will be glad to be home. I was starting to get home sick. I am not sure that I could take a bus trip that was much longer unless I took somebody from home with me. Maybe then it would be alright.

The Great Adventure On Sunday

2011-02-09T20:15:00.006-06:00

I am way way behind with my posts. Seriously...I am almost home. Sunday is nothing but a very pleasant memory for me. The bus went to Las Vegas so I opted to hang around the hotel. I walked along the Colorado river and then found a nice patio, sat in the sun and read my book. It was a gorgeous summer day. I petted ducks and fed other birds Cheetos. The day was not very eventful but I was glad to have one day where I really did nothing except enjoy the sun as much as I could.

The Great Adventure On Saturday

2011-02-08T13:32:00.022-06:00

Saturday was a few days ago, like five! Oh my goodness. Time does fly. I am a little afraid that I have already forgot what we did on Saturday other than drive. Maybe the photos and the itinerary will help jog my memory. Be back in a second. I am going to browse my pictures. Oh ya! Friday was a good day. I got to pet donkeys. Does it get any better than that? Oh, did I mention that I went to Taco Bell for lunch. Now Becky would think that was better than petting donkeys but I liked the donkeys better even though it was a Taco Bell with Palm Trees.

Taco Bell

vs.
Donkeys

or more donkeys
vs.
ducks

Oppps, the ducks were Saturday. Donkeys Friday. Ducks Saturday. It is a good thing that all this fun got spread out a little. A person can only take so much excitement at one time. Anybody who knows me well, will tell you I am not being sarcastic but being entirely serious. I love donkeys and ducks. The greatest thing about the donkeys and ducks was that they came straight for you. Can you see the donkeys coming straight for me? I got so excited that I forgot to take more photos to show the whole sequence. The ducks all came straight for me too. All I did was unwrap a piece of gum and they all got up from their nap in the sun and came and gathered all around me. Eeeeeeee! I petted a duck too. O.K. Don't you all pass out with jealousy at once.

We took part of old Route 66 to get to Oatman. The road is in fairly rough shape but it was a pretty drive.

Desert plants.

Bank robbers

Mojave Desert on the way to Lake Havasu City

London Bridge (I somehow do not feel like I am in England)

Lake Havasu (It feels like summer)

Some shirtless dudes strutting the boardwalk. I was too chicken to take a picture of their fronts so I got a picture of their back sides. Hee hee. Didn't want them to think I was creepy. Hahahaha!

London Bridge connects to a little island which is populated with resorts and palm trees and sand.

After Havasu we went on to Quartzite Arizona. Along the way we saw where a lot of the snow birds land along the Colorado river. There were literally thousand upon thousands of Motor homes and fifth wheels parked in huge parking lots along the river for miles and miles. Although the weather is nice the way they were all crammed together did not appeal to me at all. When people have told me that they are taking their RV to Arizona for the winter, somehow that is not how I pictured it. The reality is not as nice as my imagination. Some people waved to the bus as we passed by.

At Quartzite we went to the market. I features 2,000 vendors. We had a half an hour because it was 4:30 and they close at 5:00. Very frustrating to be given only a half an hour! It seems that we tried to do too much in one day so all we did was ride the bus and were only let out for a little while at each stop. Note the huge cacti. I would have loved to get my picture with one but again, so much of what I saw was from the window of a bus. Frustrating. It would have been better off if we had not came to Quartzite so then we all would have not felt so let down. On a side note, I was in three states that day, Nevada, Arizona and California and in spite of the long drive I did have fun.

The Great Adventure On Friday

2011-02-05T00:16:00.007-06:00

Hi guys. I am going to have to make this quick as it is late and I am at good old Starbucks using there internet services seeing as how the hotel wants to charge me $12.00 a day for the privilege and I am not about to pay them that for the 15 minutes a day that I will spend on the internet. In all fairness it is not theirt fault because the provider that they have is the one calling the shots and they are the ones making the contract with the customers and collecting from their Credit cards and they can do it seeing as how they are the only provider here. And we thought we had monopolies in Canada. Hrmph!

Today I spent another eight hours on the bus. It was four hours to the grand canyon and four hours back. It was worth it. I have seen many pictures of the canyon but nothing can prepare a person for the immensity of the sight. It was breath taking and awesome. I did an hour hike along the rim and then took the shuttle bus back to the visitor center. We went to the National Park instead of going to the North Rim as it was cheaper. I wanted to take a helicopter tour but they take off from Grand Canyon Village airport and not the park. Rats!

I had steak and Lobster for supper. Yum. Baileys and coffee for desert. I was going to go for a walk outside and get some night photos of the Palm trees all lite up and all the bright lights of the casinos here. It really is something. The wether is very nice and I can walk around outside with a sweater. I won six dollars in the cassino yesterday so for now I actually am six dollars ahead. I did lose fifteen but it was free money that I lost not my own.

Tomorrow we are going to Lake Havasu, Oatman and some huge flea market. The day after is a trip to Vegas that I plan to pass on and stay here. I am hoping to take a boat tour down the Colorado River and just get out and walk around Laughlin. It really is very nice here and I wish I could spend a few days just here.

O.K.....Here are some pictures. Sorry for this quickly slapped together blog post. I am tired and need to go to bed so I can goes up in the morning and just can't think very good right now. I am sure I am missing so many good stories and had so much I wanted to say. I should have kept a notebook with me and wrote things down during travel time and then I would only have to sit down and type it out and not think buy hey....you know how it is.

This is right by the Arizona border. It looks like we are getting the finger.

That obelisk is way far down in the canyon, way down.

A very basic canyon picture.

I took lots of pictures but don't have time to do more tonight and they are probably boring to anybody else but me. I feel bad cause I did get some interesting pictures yesterday and have now missed detailing a whole day of the trip. I will try to do it later if only for myself. I have got to go to beds now. I am dizzy, I am so tired. I am not going to edit either. I can come back and do that later. Good night.

The Great Adventure On Wednesday

2011-02-02T22:45:00.007-06:00

I need to get myself some of that green grass. It never needs mowing or weeding or watering and it stays green all year long. Seriously, I have no idea why this has not caught on all over the place after all it must be able to take a lot of abuse cause football stadiums everywhere use it. If installed right it is hard to tell the difference. the only reason that I noticed it was because all the other grass was dead and brown and that made it really stick out.

View from my room. Bleak.

Another angle. Bleak.

And yet another bleak angle.

Only 1,600 people live here in West Wendover. The homes that are here look pretty bleak and poor. I think that this would have to be one of the most depressing places on the planet to have to live. Other than the casinos there really is not much of anything else except dirt. I am glad to be leaving tomorrow.

I did have fun today. Instead of gambling I spend money at the spa. After a deep muscle massage I went for the Moor Mud Pack. After getting you all good and muddy they put you into a hydrotherapy capsule and steam you up and at the same time you get a facial. It was heaven. It felt like I was floating on a cloud. My money was much better spent there.

The Great Adventure On Tuesday

2011-02-02T09:33:00.010-06:00

I spotted this statue up on the hill, got the camera and quick got a shot as we were driving into Butte Montana. It turns out that it is a huge statue of the Virgin Mary. Good eyes aay?

Lat afternoon I woke up after a short nap, somehow missing Salt Lake City and we were driving through this. The strip of dry ground you see is the other half of the divided highway. The road that we were on was likewise surrounded by water and out the other window of the bus it looked like a huge lake. I am thinking that the water levels must stay consistent because it would not take much of a raise in levels to flood the highway.

I took two photos. I don't know which is worse. The bad reflections in the window or the disembodied or floating camera. You decide. The sun was blaring through the bus all day cooking all of us in the front and giving me a big headache.

Evening and getting close to Windover. It was almost foggy. We have finally left the snow behind except for on top of the hills. It is hard for me to call them mountains.

Sunset on the desert.

My swanky room. I am at Montego Hotel. La La land. I am in a non smoking room but in the middle of the night I woke up and it stank in here like somebody was right in the room smoking. Maybe it is haunted.

I have to go now and find a good cup of Java because the stuff that I made this morning in the little coffee maker is really really bad. I am going to complain at the desk. The machine had been overflowed and then that coffee sat in it and I think somehow that flavor of icky old coffee got into the maker somehow and thus got into my coffee. Icky Ick!!! Gack!

The Great Adventure On Monday

2011-02-02T09:23:00.005-06:00

Along the way. Photos re posted from facebook as promised.

Turner Montana
The Bar And Grill...where we had lunch...note the Ma and Pa facilities out back. Thankfully they did have other options for us although the men's room did not lock and there was a urinal in the ladies room, a very low urinal that maybe you would find in an elementary school. Very weird or what?

Still Christmas in Turner but maybe it was just too durned cold. It was colder here than it was in Saskatoon so it was freakin cold. Ummm...I really can't say much as the snowman and candy canes are still out front of my house and the tree is still up in the basement. Yup.

We went through some mountains. The scenery was very pretty. Somehow I was expecting boring.

My Favorite YouTube

2011-01-30T02:49:00.002-06:00

I love this so I am putting it here where I can watch it any time and laugh. This never fails to crack me up.

Snow Bird

2011-01-19T00:42:00.006-06:00

I am so sick of winter so I said to myself that it was ridiculous to sit about and whine and not do anything about it. Now, I am sure that I can't get God to change the weather here so there is only one sane option and I don't for the life of me know why I had not seriously thought about going somewhere reasonably warm for a little while. Well...that is just a little untrue,truth be told. Seriously, I have to stop lying to myself. The only reason that I have not packed up my capris and headed south is that I am cheap. It comes from years and years of budgeting and raising four children and trying to make sure that they were fed and watered and educated and all that. I have no reason to be cheap anymore. The other reason was the obvious one of not having anybody to go with. Today the opportunity came up and after a ten second lecture to myself of dismissing any reason that I had not to go I went and bought my ticket. So....I am heading south on a ten day bus tour of Nevada. Hee hee! I can just feel that sun on my face. I know that it is not going to be as warm as if I had gone to Jamaica or something but to this Canadian it will feel heavenly and it is going to be a hoot. I will be going with good company. The lady that I am tagging along with lost her husband to Multiple Myeloma too. I am excited.

Fly away little snow bird..fly away....just far enough to be warm.

My trip to Mexico.

2011-01-06T11:46:00.004-06:00

I am sorry guys I was unable to take any photos of this trip because as usual I forgot my camera. I wish I did have some picture to show you because even though it lasted for one night it was very interesting and I had many unbelievable adventures.

It was an adventure from the very beginning. My mom of very advanced years decided that she should tag along and had bought herself a ticket and was there in her wheelchair waiting for me at the airport with a small bag in hand. All she had packed were a couple of changes of underwear and some Scope mouthwash. When I mentioned the fact that she really was not prepared very well for the trip and perhaps should stay home she smiled one of her wicked "you don't know anything" smiles and told me that we would shop. I was very alarmed at this because I did have a very full itinerary planned and shopping was not on the list. At this time I could not tell you for the life of me what that important itinerary was but I knew that I had a purpose for my visit to Mexico and I sure did not want her messing with it.

Upon reaching my destination somehow I got separated from Mom and I found myself out on the mean streets alone in an area where I felt very uncomfortable and afraid. I knew that I was being followed so I ducked into a hotel and bolted for the very first room that was not locked hoping to hide out and with a bit of luck lose those that were in pursuit of me. Did I fail to mention that this room was already being occupied by somebody else? It was John that brought this to my attention when he told me that maybe we should find another hiding place. Always in my darkest and most frightening moments John was by my side so it was no surprise to me to find him there if only until I could find my way out of the woods so to speak. He told me to hide under the bed. I tried. I did not fit. We decided to hide behind the bed and keep silent and wait. It worked thank goodness. I decided to leave there and backtrack a bit. I figured that I did not have much time before they came back and checked out where I was a the moment. Back on the street I noticed a hilled area. It was housed with very expensive homes. I decided that maybe I could find some help there, phone a cab or something. I headed to the first mansion. The whole yard was not grassed but paved with golden marble. I sat down to think and felt the warmth flow through me. Soon a gentleman came along and sat down beside me. It was the owner of the property. I explained to him my dilemma and he told me to feel free to sit safely on his property as long as I felt the need to do so. Did I mention that a small stream ran along side of his property and that going up the stream and down the stream was a steady stream of sad, poverty stricken and homeless people? A more pitiful bunch I have never seen. I mentioned them to him. He told me that he had never noticed them before I had pointed them out. At this he left and told me to have a nice day. I guess he went back to his happy but oblivious life.

My next stop on this eventful night was a visit to one of Mexico's aboriginal people groups. They resided in a forested area that was very lush and green and isolated in huts that were woven with twigs. It is a very ingenious construction or at least that is what I thought at the time. As I was seated on the ground on a blanket I was pondering what in the world I was going to do with all the guns that I had spread out before me and that were given to me by the friendly, hospitable and generous hosts that I did not want to offend by not accepting their gift. I guess that after hearing of how I had been chased about upon my arrival to their fair country they decided that weaponry was the way to go in gifting me. At this time my good missionary friend Pastor Paul happened along. I asked him what to do with the guns. He told me not to worry he knew a good cheap way to get them back to Canada for me. I told him I did not want to get them back to Canada. He gave me a look that said "you must be addled in the brain" and then firmly told me that he would get them cheaply home for me so that was that about the guns. I figured that when I got home I could simply hand them over to the firearm regulators. Yup. That made the most sense.

Next on the itinerary was a myriad of speaking engagements. Upon hearing about what was being expected of me I was indeed extremely alarmed. I had not prepared for this. I told my guide that it was like my mom taking a vacation armed with only clean underwear and Scope except I did not even have that and not only that, there was no time to shop either as I was expected to go on stage at that very moment. I told him that I would much rather go back to being chased about by unknown assailants. He told me to never mind and that all I had to do was to go up and tell the people about my life in Canada. They simply wanted to hear a very ordinary, mundane and rather boring Canadian speak and they thought that I filled this description very well. I had to agree as I could not think up any argument against his description of me on the spot. It pretty well describes me to a Tee. What could I say. Speak I did.

After the speaking was all said and done I enquired of my guide if he knew anything about how my mom was doing. Up to this time she had completely escaped my thoughts. He told me that she was doing well. She had to stay in her hotel as she had no clean cloths to go out in and had to wash her stuff out in the sink and sit naked until they dried. She had grown tired of that so she had decided that it was time to give it up and go home.

After all the speaking I was escorted to help at a new project in the heart of Mexico City. My missionary friends in that city had acquired an old castle that they were converting into a housing project for the homeless. It was a beautiful old stone building probably about five stories tall. It had turrets and gabled windows. All it really needed was a good cleaning. I was handed a mop and bucket. I set it down and asked if I could go exploring a little and meet the rest of the group assembled there who were helping with the project. In the first room that I poked my head into was one of our old pastors wife Glenda. She was busy cleaning windows. This was no easy chore as the windows were very high. She was precariously perched high up on one of the sills busily punching the screen out as it was literally clogged with dirt and grime. Down to the ground it went with a thud. She continued on to the next window, up the ladder, over to the sill, balance there and punch out the next screen five stories off the ground. How do you spell crazy? C-R-A-Z-Y. Yup, that is how! As I did not want to be the one who watched her fall to her death I decided to leave that room and do some more exploring this fantastic place. Pftt...I had no problem leaving the cleaning to others. Out in the hall something scurried by my feet. I followed the patter of its little feet into the room it went into. I was pulled up short. It was like a scene from the movie...ahhh.....what was the name of that movie? You know the one that Micheal Jackson sang the title song for? The one with all the rats? Anyway, the room was full of rats, There were blond rats, red furred rats, brunettes, long haired rats, sleek grey rats, old rats and bald baby rats. Ohhh! I got it!!! Ben! That was the name of the movie and the song.

Now before you go all sentimental on me and envision that we all decided to leave the home in order that it now become a home for destitute rats with a rat called Ben as its leader and everything was happy ever after and all that jazz, get a grip on reality. Sad to say to you that it did not end happy for the rats at all. After a group meeting it was unanimously decided that in order for the castle not to end up looking like the last episode of Hoarders I watched where the gentleman in that show decided to hoard bunnies and they had all ran a muck and bore holes through the wall and left the floor covered in six inches of feces, we decided to exterminate the rats. My daughter's brother-in-law Neil was the head exterminator and he murdered more rats than anybody else. In the end there was a mountain of dead rats and after letting them set for a bit until we were sure there was no more rat movement we placed them into coffins of empty soda bottles. The little rats went into the six ounce bottles and the big rats went into the litre containers. We stuffed that mess into big black garbage bags and set them out for the garbage collectors.

After all that, I was ready to go home. yup.

Wack-a-Doodle

2010-11-16T10:20:00.004-06:00

If things good and bad things happen in threes does this apply to wacky things as well?

Weird thing #1: Seeing robed person in photo of grave. Ignore the fact that it was debunked and turned out to be Angela squatting with the camera to get her shot. Her pose perfectly reflected to show a robed figure. I am sure that we could not reproduce that if we worked at it all day. It is like when a person sees Jesus in their grilled cheese sandwich. Everything has to line up just so....

Weird thing #2: Seeing unidentified objects in the night sky. I did not see this. Mike did. He woke me up after the fact even though he watched it for over three minutes. There was a bright light that kept blinking on and off. It did not have a steady rhythm but blinked rather randomly. Sometimes rapidly, sometimes it would pause and then start again. He could not see a source from the ground. The thing that disturbed him the most is that whenever it would start to blink he got interference on his cell phone.

Weird thing #3: I wonder what that will be? Talking animals? Snake coming out of the toilet? An episode of some item spontaneously combusting? More items from my home mysteriously disappearing?

Oops

2010-11-14T01:59:00.001-06:00

I forgot.

Having It Bad

2010-11-12T22:38:00.002-06:00

Mateepr says hi. He wants you to know that he is miffed at how he is being ignored. None of his ideas are getting used. He said that if he is not treated better soon he may run away from home. He thinks that Ben, Sam or Noah would be glad to take him in.

He says that he would have it much better there. They don't have dogs so he won't have to smell their gas anymore or live in fear of getting chewed up and spat out or getting chewed up and having to go through Frankie's digestive tract or worse yet, getting chewed up and ate by Roscoe and ran through his digestive tract then picked up by Frankie after being expelled by Roscoe and then ran again through another set of intestines.

We Remember

2010-11-11T19:23:00.001-06:00

Today Angela and I observed remembrance Day. Not only did we remember those who gave so much to our country in war but we most of all remembered you, the one who gave us so much in life. As well as that, we remembered the trenches. We were there with you in that horrible war that took you away from us. All of us who loved you so much each have memories of that battle that we fought right along side of you. Each of us have scars and wounds that we will have for the rest of our days, yet here we are, we live on but we will never forget.

You can see our reflections as if they have been etched into the stone as if we had become a part of the epitaph. In truth we are. We were such a part of who you were just as you were such a part of who we are. In this way you will always be remembered. You will always be a part of who were are. Time itself can not erase this. You will always be remembered by us and when we are gone and time has removed all of us who remember you, we will be with you.

O God, Our Help In Ages Past
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home.

Before the hills in order stood or earth received her frame,
from everlasting thou art God, to endless years the same.

A thousand ages in Thy sight are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun.

Time like an ever rolling stream bears all its sons away,
they fly forgotten as a dream dies at the op'ning day.

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,
be Thou our guard while troubles last and our eternal home.

Amen

Two

2010-11-10T17:46:00.007-06:00

They say that bad things happen in threes. Maybe good things happen in threes too but I have never paid attention to that. The negative seems to get and hold our attention more than the good things. Bad thing #1: the element in the oven burnt out. Bad thing #2: My central vacuum decided to quit working today. I already have it at the vacuum hospital and the vacuum doctor phoned but I was still out running errands one of which was to get a new element for the oven. It is fixed. The Swanson Pot Pies are cooking away right now. Yup, I knocked myself out with that meal. I call it widow food. Widow food is anything quick and easy and that you can cook in the right amount so that their are no leftovers. Toast qualifies and is a major staple. I came up with a new yummy idea at the grocery store. I have been having problems motivating myself to eat fruit. I bring it home and forget it is there and it goes to rot. I just threw out five pears that I had forgot were living in my fridge. Today I bought one of those lovely fruit platters that you usually get if you are entertaining, the kind with the delusions dip. Oh, yum. I am eating that as I wait for the pot pies to cook. Hmmm...I have somehow got off topic. I went from bad things to fruit. Back to the bad things. I wonder what is going to break next. I hope it is not any badder than #1 and #2. yum...that is good cheese... Jalapeño Havarti...and some olives and Stone Wheat Thins. I have moved on from the fruit. This is what happens people when you munch and blog at the same time.

Needful Advise

2010-11-09T12:46:00.005-06:00

Caution

Don't stand in one place too long in the slushy icy mess early in the morning or you may freeze in place. If it happened to me, it could happen to you.

Yay!

If you use Charmin toilet paper, you can enjoy going more often so if you have been holding your bladder trying to save some pennies, you don't have to anymore. Who would have thunk it?

Wow!

If you use Bounce Dryer Bar you can save valuable time. You will not know what to do with the spare 30 seconds that you gained by not using dryer sheets! Think about it. If you do two loads of laundry a day you will save a whole minute. Seven whole minutes a week! Add that up for a whole year! Wow! I would think there would be a stampede to get Charmin and Dryer bars. With all the time you save you will have more time to enjoy peeing. I know, that is what we all want.

From Becky

2010-11-08T23:57:00.000-06:00

Dear Mommy,

Oh please don't stop,
Your blog is the top(s).
I like to come here,
and while I drink beer,
I read and I laugh,
at all of your gaffe(s).

Through all of November,
if you can remember,
to post once a day,
anything you might say,
to me on the phone.
Just throw me a bone.

I'll (and I think I speak for all of your loyal readers) take whatever you wanna throw out there Mom. I (we) don't expect Pulitzer prize winning literature. I love your blog. And on days when you really have nothing, I'll be happy to give you an idea, or if you're really desperate, I'll write you a whole post. I've done it before. I'll do it again.

Love your loving daughter,
Becky

Early Bird

2010-11-07T16:07:00.006-06:00

Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.
That may be good for a man but all it does for me is make me want to crash around 4:00 p.m.

The early bird gets the worm.
I say fine. Let them have it. Who in their right mind wants to go digging for worms when the sun comes up anyway. Who in their right mind wants to dig for worms at all. What in the world would I do with them even if I were so inclined?What do the worm diggers do in the winter when the ground is frozen solid and is like a piece of concrete?

Not making much sense? I was up too early. I do not feel healthy. I do not feel wise. I feel stupider as they day drags on. I am going to go and have a nap now.

Insignificant

2010-11-06T11:17:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I think about weird insignificant things, alright, let me correct that before somebody else does. Often I think about weird and insignificant things. Ya should have seen what I just wrote before spell check! I can hardly function on the keyboard this morning let alone spell. It feels like my hands are not really attached to my body or the fingers belong to somebody else and I am trying to use them for the first time. I wonder what it would be like to have all the fingers on your hands transplanted with fingers from somebody else. What would it be like hypothetically if that happened to me and I got man fingers with hair growing out of the knuckles or worse yet fingers from a chimpanzee. Perhaps there would be some positive. Maybe I would not be so challenged when I am fighting with a stubborn jar lid or I would be really good at getting kites out of trees. Oh but, I digress. That is not the insignificant thing that I was going to write about although I have to admit it is typical of all the insignificant things that I think about. The insignificant thing that I did plan to write about is: Where do all those childhood potty jokes come from? Are you sitting there and scratching you head? Are there no potty jokes floating around in your brain that were planted there during your childhood just waiting for some odd cue to cause them to come blurting out again into the light of conscience? Things like:

Book: Yellow River
Author: I. P. Nightly

or that beloved poem:

How dry I am
How wet I'll be
When I can't find the bathroom key

and there is the old stand by:

Jean had a machine
Joe got it going
My dad let a fart that blew it all apart

Truth be told, may dad could blow one that could destroy machinery especially after drinking buttermilk. I used to think that some perverted old man used to think these things up and whisper them into the vulnerable ears of little children. The older I get and the more I am around little children, boys in particular, the more I am not so sure about this theory. I think the reason that I have not rethought my beliefs is the fact that I spent the time my kids were growing up in shock that resulted in to being pretty much oblivious to pretty much everything as a survival technique. After listening to all the scatological humour that my grandsons enjoy so much and listening to them try to outdo each other I am sure that such things evolved from the fact that all their brain cells have not been as of yet filled with information and they are simply trying to fill the void. Eventually Ben, Sam or Noah will hit on something that rhymes with buttocks and perhaps it will go viral spreading across the globe although some of the genius may be lost in translation but in the mind of a child, it really does not matter.

National Treasure or Blame It On America

2010-11-05T10:51:00.007-06:00

When the NDP were in power they sure made a mistake when they decided that potatoes was where the money was resulting the infamy that is now know as SPUDCO. If they were smart, which we all know they are not, they would have brokered a deal and acquired Tim Hortons. THAT is where the money is. That is why the Americans brokered a deal and now own it so logically when snagged up in the traffic jams caused by the drive through lines just blame the USA. That is much more politically correct, these days anyway, in Canada, than blaming the poor addicted slobs fouling the air with smog as they burn half a tank of gas waiting in line to get their morning or afternoon or on the way home hit of which by the way I have never been a part of. I go inside. I get the warm fuzzies just thinking about it. Dang! I sure wish I knew what they put in there so I could reproduce it perfectly. It is not the grounds because I have bought those, put it through my expensive coffee maker and it is not the same even if I go all out and make it a double double. Funny, every Canadian probably knows what a double double is. For my American friends, if you ever find yourself hijacked and your life depends on proving that you are a Canadian and you are asked what a double double is the answer is: double cream, double sugar. Repeat that. Say out loud: "For the life of me, Double Cream, Double sugar." Good. That knowledge may one day save you life.

For those of you who have been here today keep in mind that she does not like the smell of coffee brewing, let alone drink the stuff unless it is a Mocha Frappuccino. Now, I do have to admit that is a wonderful invention but it is more like a dessert than anything although I have seen the odd person come rolling into work carrying one even in the winter. I have also seen that same lovely person turn a tad manic searching for the nearest MF (Mocha Frappuccino) dispensing facility (Starbucks) and end up going way out of her way to get her shaking hands on one instead of stopping at the Timmy's we just passed and substituting it for a perfectly good Ice Cappuccino from Tims for half the price. Now she would probably try to get you to believe that the difference is like apples and oranges, I would say that it is more like raisins and prunes.

I love you Timmy.

Honey, I Am Home

2010-11-04T20:08:00.003-06:00

I am tired and can't think of a thing to write that does not require effort. I just want to relax and watch TV. I went all out and did two posts yesterday so that counts. Right? All right. I will give you this. If you think you have had a bad day maybe this will put things in perspective.

Jumping Jehoshaphat

2010-11-03T14:34:00.004-06:00

Arghh...Eeeeeeeee..Oh My....Great jumping Jehoshaphat!!!! Scream...SCREAM AND SHRIEK! AHHHHHHH... NO, OH MY GOODNESS.... ARGHHHHH....EeeeeeEeeeeeEeeeee. ArrrrEeeee! Horrible, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE!!!

Be still my heart. Never NEVER never ever take something out of a dogs mouth unless you know exactly WHAT it is. If you can not identify it, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, touch it. For the love that of all that is good and holy I don't know what you can do but I know what you must not do. I must correct something I said the other day. Frankie IS NOT part mountain goat. She is part CAT! I just pulled a soggy, grey, limp, dead and disgusting mass out of her mouth that seemed to go half way down her throat. Yup, I just reached in bare hands like I have done a thousand other times just like you would do when you notice a toddler has something in their mouth. I have the heeby jeebies now just writing about it. I want to scream some more. I bet you could hear me all the way to Yorkton, what the hey, I bet you could hear me all the way to Tacoma! I am truely traumatized. I have washed my hands five times and I still do not feel clean.

I guess it was a real waste of time wracking my brain this morning for something to write about. All I have to do is wait and stuff happens. Eeeeeeeeeee! You get two posts today.

Mateepr

2010-11-03T10:50:00.006-06:00

I would say ingly picked. Bwaa Haa! Have a Mateepr day.

I think that I had better save this on draft and hope to goodness that some inspiration comes my way in the next 13 hours and yes I would have to save that. I am sure in half an hour I would forget the one sentence that I managed to write and would have to start all over again. Robot guy has been no help this morning even though I threatened to fire him and go to the store and buy a new computer mascot, one that may have a few ideas kicking around amid the gears and whirligigs.

It is amazing what a few minutes to ponder my threat have done for Robot Guy. The three minutes I took to go and pour myself a fresh cup of java were enough for the ideas to come gushing out of him. I am so pleased that I think I will give him a name. I dub you Mateepr master of word verification. I will save the ideas for tomorrow. I will not waste them on today, after all, I have managed to write a whole paragraph on nothing. OH MY GOODNESS! Mateepr just stuck his tongue out at me. Cheeky thing!

Gone To The Dogs

2010-11-02T15:26:00.004-06:00

Frankie the Beagle thinks she is part Mountain Goat and my lap is her mountain. Lately she has decided that it is nice to perch on my lap as I work on the computer. It is very hard to type anything as she is balanced precariously and ready to topple off at any time. She is a little big for that stunt. The end table in the living room is another favourite of hers. She is not the tiny little thing that I brought home a year ago. She has turned out to be a nice dog other than a few tiny little faults. She likes to dig. She like to tear apart shrubbery. She likes to bay at any imangined critters that she is always determined are lurking in the bushes at night and she eats Roscoe's poop. Every morning you will see me outside in my pajamas, hair wild and uncombed holding the shovel close to Roscoe's back end waiting for the poop to come out. I think that the neighbours can see me. Maybe that is why one of them is trying to sell their home. It can not be a pretty sight. She begs. Her farts stink.

Her redeeming qualities are that she is very amicable, sweet and does not have a snarky bone in her body. She is great with the grand kids even the little ones. That is what counts the most. Sammy wants to take her home and Hannah cries when I put the dogs outside. Frankie is keeping Roscoe thin. She knows two tricks. I think I could teach her more but Roscoe always gets his big furry self involved and it is impossible to show her anything. He takes over. I think he figures she is stupid and he wants to her how it really is performed properly. Treats have nothing to do with it.

I have not improved with my dog training talents. The dogs still run the house. Some things never change. I have bad dreams that Ceaser Milan would show up at my door and that I would end up on reality TV with my poorly behaved pooches.

I Need Help

2010-11-01T23:47:00.001-06:00

OMG...It IS November first. I almost forgot. Whew! That was close. It is almost midnight too! I don't have a clue how I almost forgot. I am sitting amid a pile of candy wrapper litter and all the other remnants of Halloween. NaBloPoMo always comes directly after Halloween and left over candy always sustains me for at least a weeks worth of blogging and that alone should have clued me in.

It is hard to believe that a whole year has gone by. It is hard to believe that I survived. It is hard to believe that I did NaBloPoMo last year.This year is going to be a challenge. My life is pretty darned boring and for the most part uneventful. I would love my friends to help me by coming up with topics to write about. If I learned one thing last year it would be that I can get by with a little help from my friends...so...HELP ME. Feel free to give me a topic or a word or just anything to help me get going. PLEASE...I am begging you or else you are going to get blogs about dogs, cats and dreams.

For instance: I dreamt that I had become a rock star. You should have seen me on stage playing my instrument, the Jock-in-a-box...oops and HEY! They should make those....I meant to write: the Jack-in-a-box. Could I ever crank that box fast. The singer had a hard time keeping up. The crowd loved it. After that I dreamt that I could blow people up just by thinking of it. That my friends was very upsetting. I don't particularly want to blow people up. It was like when you really should not be laughing but because you should not, you do. Try not to think about what you should not think about. It is impossible. Needless to say, I blew a lot of people up. I know. I need help.

Duff Rhymes With Snuff

2010-09-30T17:00:00.006-06:00

If you have ever wondered about snuff, perhaps you have wondered about duff as well. If not, get off your duff and pay attention. This is vitally important information. Perhaps you life may not be dependant on it but you never know, sometime, somewhere this may come in handy. If for nothing else, the game Balderdash comes to mind. Duff is a pudding.

4 cups flour
2 pounds suet
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1/2 pound raisins
t tablespoon baking powder

Apparently you mix up all the ingredients in a bowl, put the mix into a cloth bag and tie it up and then cook it for a half an hour in boiling water. I do not recommend trying this. Suet in my opinion is good only as bird food.

Duff is slang for buttocks. Duff is decaying leaves and branches covering a forest floor. Theoretically a person could fall on their duff, onto the duff while at the same time eating their duff which could attract a bear causing a person to move their duff at a rapid speed contrary to the proper thing to do if being confronted by a hungry bear which is to play dead. Duff is fine coal or slack. Duff is slang for pregnant. Perhaps long ago back in history people used to say: "Get off your pudding and get to work. I am hungry. When is the duff ready?" From there it was an easy transition to saying: get off your duff. Up the duff means pregnant. I maybe should leave this one alone and not let my mind contemplate how this could relate to pudding. Oops, too late.

Duff can be more than a noun. It can be a verb. To duff can mean to bungle. To duff can mean to beat somebody up. It can be an adjective. A person can be a duffer. Theoretically: A duffer duffed onto his duff on the duff spilling his duff then made an unwise decision and duffed the hungry bear then got duffed up but not made pregnant. That would be an act against nature and this is a nice blog. Duff rhymes with scuff.

Puffed Wheat Cake

2010-09-30T16:01:00.003-06:00

I made some.

That is about all I have to say about that topic because other than that, it is all I can think of about the puffed wheat at the moment. I have been away for a long time and I think I have lost all my blogging ability. I figured that I had to start somewhere. I plan on doing NaBloPoMo in November so I need to try to get up to snuff. Practice. Practice. Practice.

Speaking of snuff, have you ever wondered about it? All I know is from the movies. You see mainly men use it and they are all the slightly aristocratic and effeminate sorts, guys that also have the inevitable hanky hanging from their wrist. Maybe they need that for when they have the inevitable sneeze? I would not like to be the one who had to wash those snuff infested hankies. I have often wondered what ever possesed some person way back in history to put a tobacco product up their nose? I know that children often stick foreign items up their noses, but grown adult men? You know that a man did this first, one that had an overabundance of hankies going to waste. So up to snuff? On second thought, I should rephrase that. I can't ever see myself ever up to snuffing. I have enough problems with my sinuses.

Re Visiting Hell

2010-06-28T11:36:00.003-06:00

Tuesday and Wednesday I have to accompany Mom for her tests at Neculear Medicine at Royal University Hospital. The whole area of Medical Imaging is a place where John had to go often for testing and for lines to be installed. It is a place of waiting, of tears, of fear and of suffering and a place that I had hoped I would never have to visit again. The thought of it makes me nauseous and apprehensive. I don`t know how I am going to get through this. I just know that I have to. I am going to go and clean the house now and try NOT to think about it. Just don`t think Chris. Don`t think! Life seems to be very cruel to me lately. I wonder why God wants to rub my face in all the pain of the past. Why all this? Why must I have to go and gaze at the field of battle after the war? When will all the horrors end? Life has become a non ending and futile battle against death. There is no furlough in this war or so it seems.

I Think It Is Time

2010-06-27T23:00:00.005-06:00

Today I decided to try out a new church. I figured that it would be nice to go to the city and seeing as how mom is in the hospital it would be convenient for me to whip by and visit her all in one trip. I did not attend church last Sunday as it was Father's Day. I did not want to go and be reminded for a whole hour of what the kids and myself have lost. I do that daily quite fine on my own without any help. Ironically at this church they did not do their Father's Day message last week but decided to do it today. Not good. No matter how hard I tried to divert my attention by reciting nonsense rhymes in my head, some of what was said still managed to get into my head. Five verses of Little Rabbit Froo Froo did not work and I was left gritting my teeth and saying over and over: "I will not cry." That did not work. Thank goodness that when I did break down the service was minutes from being over and I was sitting in the back row by the aisle so with the last "Amen" I was out of there and off down the street. I cryed all the way to the car and did pass by a couple out for a Sunday stroll. I kept my head down. I long for the day when I can go somewhere and know that I can just be at peace and take in things like a normal person. I wonder if that day will ever come.

I have been thinking of going to a different church lately. It is not so much that there is anything overtly wrong with the church I attend but I really feel like I don't fit there any more. I feel isolated and alone and it feels like I don't connect with others on any real level. I thought that in time this would get better and that maybe it is that I tend to see things through my grief coloured eyes. I feel that people do not see me when they look at me. It feels like all they see when they look at me is the lack of John. Maybe that is why I am no longer invited out or phoned by anybody. I find this aspect of widowhood very difficult. I hate being reminded that I am now just half a person. Add to the alienation the fact that I see John everywhere there. He was so much a part of everything. For some this may be a comfort but for me it is pain and heartbreak every Sunday.

I have been thinking that maybe if I start new somewhere that people will only know me for me and that I won't be trying to imagine him everywhere. The church that I attended today was very nice and the demographics are of an older congregation. I am sure that there are a lot of people like me, ones that are now only a half a person, others that have had their hearts ripped out and can understand what it is like. Perhaps I will not feel so alone there and perhaps I will find friends. Perhaps my phone will ring again. Perhaps I will be invited out to lunch or to somebodies home. Perhaps there is a place where I am not simply told to call if I need something, that instead somebody will say, "Hey come on over" and that I can feel comfortable in doing so. I don't want to be a charity case. I don't want pity. This has not been an easy decision. I just feel that if I stay where I am, I will be stuck, that things will not change and that I will have a hard time having a life and moving forward. My wheels will keep right on spinning but I will stay in the rut that I am in.

One thing that I do know, I will never forget the love and support that was shown John and I during the time he was ill, nor will I forget all the great friends that we did have together as a couple. I will treasure that in my heart forever. I will still drop by for a visit.

Can You Get Vitamin D Standing In the Rain?

2010-05-30T16:20:00.001-06:00

These rainy days are driving me nuts plus today is Sunday and nobody is around. I skipped church. All month the subject is about families and relationships. When I went last week all it accomplished was to remind me of what I no longer have. It is so hard not to get depressed. We have had more rain this spring than we have had in the last hundred years. Today it is starting to break up and the sun has tried its darnedest to shine. That truly won't happen until Tuesday and then we get sun until Friday and then rain again. I have so much yard work to do and all I can do is look out the window at it. My deck needs staining so bad and it has been so wet that the boards are starting to grow moss! They are green and slimy. That is going to be a mess to get rid of and I am not sure what to do. Yay for Mr. Goggle. I hope it does not tell me to replace all the boards. That is NOT going to happen until I am in danger of falling through. I found out from the doctor that my vitamin D counts are very low. He said to make sure to go out every day for a half an hour with short sleeves. Haw Haw! Good one! I would be a drowned rat. I have started taking D pills. Hopefully when the D levels raise I will be on more of an even keel and not feel so depressed. I had blamed how I was feeling on my loss and had never thought that anything else could be adding to it.

Due to being stuck inside, I have got a lot of spring cleaning done. All my closets and drawers are cleaned. the big trash bin is full and I added a few more boxes to the garage for donation. I cried a few times as I found things. I found a Valentine Day card from two years ago. In it is a long letter from John telling me how much I meant to him through this battle with the cancer. Reading it just tore me up again. I read it over and over. Why do I torture myself in this way? I have no answer. I put it in my bedside drawer. I have read it every night before bed since I found it. Even though it makes me cry I must get some comfort from it or I would not feel so compelled to do this.

The motor home is all packed and ready to roll. I am going to take it to my daughters mid June and stay there for a week and help her out. It is a very busy time of the year for her and her husband and the kids. Last weekend in June I am going to take my widow friend to her cowboy school weekend. She has no place to stay there and had been thinking of sleeping in her horse trailer. I will go cheer her on with all the roping and riding, read a good book, sing around the campfire cowboy songs and even enjoy the cowboy church they have for Sunday morning. She has been missing having fun in her life and now she set about to find some so by golly I am going to have some too. |Yee Haw! Happy Trails to you all and make sure to take your vitamin D.

Time

2010-05-27T09:04:00.001-06:00

Sometimes as I sit in the quiet, I can hear the clock ticking. Time is passing. Tick, one second, tock, and another. Time past went to fast. Time future stretches out before me shrouded in mist. Time present seems suspended and waiting for something. Each tick asks a question that I don't have the answer to. Each tock demands from me something that I don't think I have anymore. It is it is in tune to the beating of my heart. With each beat a little more of life has passed. It trickles through my fingers like grains of sand leaving my hands empty except for a little bit of dust. When I grab for another handful, the same thing happens.

Is There Sadness In Heaven?

2010-05-23T13:11:00.002-06:00

Becky, Glen and the grand kids are here. Yay! Hannah is changing ever so fast. I just can't get over the fact that she is walking. She played shy with me Friday when she got here but by this morning she had forgot all about the fact that she had forgot me a little and was back to being grandma's girl. She is such a comical and lively little sweet pea and has me laughing all the time. This morning as she was entertaining me I thought about how much John would have been enjoying her as well as all the grand kids. I was thinking about all that he was missing. Often I am comforted about how being in heaven that nothing sad or painful will ever touch him again but this morning as I laughed with Hannah, it got me thinking if that was really true. The only way that it would be true is if all of his memories were wiped out but then would it be true that if that is what happens to us on the other side, it would diminish who we are? Wouldn't we be less if we forgot about all the ones we loved. Isn't that what this life was all about? So, if he does remember, he must miss those grand babies, his kids, his friends and me. Perhaps it is easier to deal with when you have the God of all comfort right beside you and He can hold you when you are sad. I just have trouble believing that even in heaven that we are protected from all sorrow. I know that the bible says that Jesus will dry all our tears. Up till now I have took that to mean that there will be no tears. Now that I think about it, there will be tears but Jesus himself will wipe them. That does comfort me. John, we miss you too, all of us. I hope you are not too sad too often.

The Jars The Lord Keeps

2010-05-08T00:51:00.001-06:00

I should be sleeping. I hate going to bed because then it is quiet and then I think. I put it off as long as possible. In the morning, I hate getting up and having to face another new day. This does not seem to be getting better for me.

Sunday is Mother's Day. Sunday is also seven months. Sigh.....

I am sad. Nothing feels normal. I am not getting used to things. The house feels so empty even when it is filled. I feel hallow and empty. There does not seem to be a depth to anything. It is hard to describe how I feel. It is like a dark cloud follows me where ever I go. The sun tries to peek through but it is impossible to penetrate that cloud to any significant degree.

I miss you John. Every tear contains these small sentences a thousand times a thousand. There are jars full of my tears in heaven. I love you John. I love you a lot. I love you forever. Now another jar is filled.

Husband to Widows And Father To Orphans

2010-05-01T19:43:00.001-06:00

The drama seems to be unending. Mom fell again today. She has not even been home 24 hours. She decided that it would be alright not to ask for help as she headed off to the bathroom where she got tired when putting on her makeup and fell. Thankfully she did not hurt herself. She tried to put the blame on her caregiver stating that she asked for help and none was forthcoming. (not true) She became very combative abusive and rude. Thankfully she did not have a tray to throw as I am sure she would of if she had one. The one positive thing? Her caregiver is a angel and can handle mom in a firm, calm yet compassionate way. When things were finally all sorted out and mom was settled this lady gave me a big hug as I left and told me not to worry or stress. She is very willing to work with mom even though she has these tantrums. She also stuck up for me with mom. She went through the same scenario with her own mom. She is also a widow and lost her husband to the very same cancer that I lost mine too. She understands! She understands every aspect of everything. She gets it! What a relief. She is an angel to me. I thank God for her. He knew that I needed her. So often when things seem to be impossible, God lines things up to make it all just a bit easier for me. I am humbled. He is awesome. I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that He cares for me. He is husband to the widows and father to orphans.

Eeyore Writes A Blog

2010-05-01T11:51:00.003-06:00

I got to spring my mom from the hospital yesterday. She has been able to go back to her private care home. It was a lot of work, more than I thought it would be. I have to go today as the doctor is coming and there is a lot to go over with him. She has an assessment with rehab of Thursday that I will be taking her to as the wheelchair cab costs to much for her to be riding that. I had tried her to sign up for Access Bus before and she had refused. Access Bus is an affordable wheel chair taxi. I am going to try again today to get this done as it is going to be very hard for me to bring her to each and every appointment. She has problems seeing the impact that her actions have on others. I learned yesterday that she had been having more temper tantrums. She threw her food tray at a nurse. I hope to goodness that she will be nicer to her caregivers at the home she is in. I am so afraid that I will get a call saying that she is impossible to care for and to please find a different placement for her. The thought of that makes me feel physically sick. She is driving me nuts again. I am not dealing with a totally sane person anymore. Sane people do not throw things and decide that it is OK to change things up and wear diapers cause everybody is doing it.

My daughter was supposed to come to town on Tuesday as we had concert tickets to see Simon And Garfunkel. They have canceled the tour until July as Garfunkel is having voice problems. I was so looking forward to seeing the grandkids and that concert. Arghh! I am in a grumpy mood and feeling depressed. It is raining and is not going to stop for a few days. I can't even go and try to improve my mood doing yard work.

The dogs are killing the grass in the back yard. It is turning into a mud hole and the ants are back. I think they are killing the grass too.

The sewing machine is acting funny.

The motor home is leaking in a different place than the one I fixed last week. I am going to go and check it in a minute and see if the duct tape fixed it for now until it can all dry out and I can redo the silicon. Arghh! I wrecked one of the nice new cushions that I sewed. It got all water stained. Blahh!

The virus protection subscription is running out on the laptop and I don't have a clue how to install a new one.

You would have thought that over the last three years, I would have learned not to sweat the small stuff. It seems that is what I tend to focus on. I think it is all a diversion. It keeps my mind off the big stuff. Sometimes, I feel so helpless. I know I am not.

I hope this sad post did not depress you all. After writing it all down, I am feeling a little better. I am laughing about it all. Really, what else can a person do for pity sake. Sometimes all you can do is stand in the rain and laugh just don't let the guys in the white coats see you. On the other hand, I could use a holiday. I am very tempted to jump on a plane and go somewhere. I would take the motor home but it leaks. Hahahaha!

Just so I don't leave you totally bummed out here is a humorous conversation between my five year old grandson and his four year old brother that my daughter overheard but first you need a little background info. The boys have both decided that they needed a name change and for a couple of weeks now they are to be referred as Luke and Hans from Star Wars. Sam had finished his banana and was told to go and put it in the trash....

Ben: Hans, Put the peel right dare on da floor. I will step on it and see if it is slippery.

Sam: O.K. Luke I will do dat. Right here is dat good? Step on it.

Mom: No Sam, put that peel in the garbage!! Now! Please.

Ben: His name is Hans.

I miss them.

Or Something?

2010-04-23T20:07:00.003-06:00

Gosh, it has been almost a whole month since I last posted. I think it has been just about as long since I last checked in as well. Even though that much time has flown by, I really don't have much to say and did not have much maintenance to do other than removing the comments that are written in Asian characters that I seem to be getting a lot of lately. The spam filter does not keep them at bay. The latest of these gives me dire warnings about removing them. Apparently by removing them I forfeit any chances of winning prizes. It only took me a few moments to calm my pounding heart and wipe my sweaty hands off and now I am fine for now. I hope I don't have any bad dreams tonight about my prize less future. My fortune cookie did say that I would get the desire of my heart. I hope I did not just garbage my deepest desire off into cyber space. Oh, the agony! Somebody keeps inviting me to do a blog interview as well. I am not sure where that is coming from. Last that I knew, I am not famous nor I am not particularly relevant or riveting. Anyway, I think I will pass on it as when I went to see what it was about it just confused me. Seriously, I am a very computer challenged person. It is a really amazing thing that I can do the little that I do. It has come with a lot of coaching and probably head banging on my daughters part. Maybe she can do the interview for me? Becky? B-E-C-K-Y??? Want to go and check that out for me. I could be missing out on something wonderful. Maybe it will make me famous or something.....

This That And Another Thing

2010-03-26T20:49:00.001-06:00

Thank you everybody for you kind words of encouragement and prayers for my mom. The powers that be decided to defer a decision and are going to leave it and see if they can get mom back to where she was before the accident. If they can that will not be bad news as I am sure she will be happier in the home that she was in having her own private room with her own possessions around her. In the meantime she will be a couple of months at least in the hospital but they have moved her to a ward that is better suited for caring for her. She is allowed to have her motorized chair and I managed to get it to her today. She had a very big smile as that chair gives her a little bit of independence.

I got my motor home. Yay! It looks very good out there in my driveway. It is still cold out so I will wait a little before I get at it and decorate and clean. It needs new drapes and chair covers. My daughter comes in nest week so maybe we will go and shop for fabric. She found some at Fabricland that have fish all over it. I did not ever promise to be tasteful in the decorating. I plan to get a garden gnome to ride along with me so you can see I am very serious in my quest for tackiness. My brother can't get over that I bought this unit. He says he just can't picture me driving it. He is sending a truckers hat in the mail even though I told him I would not wear it as it would give me truckers hair. I do not plan to get that tacky. That is just so wrong...

I have been feeling a bit more upbeat lately and seem to be better at taking things as they come without all getting all stressed and melting down. That I think is progress. Progress is good.

I am aching pretty bad as the weather is warming up drastically. It always seems to hit me when that happens. I am no spring chick. I am an old hen. Thank goodness for the new fancy tub! It really helps get the kinks out.

More Finger Crossing

2010-03-24T12:00:00.003-06:00

Frankie and Shyla are becoming good friends. I am sure Shyla think she is part dog. Lately they have took to wrestling with each other. It always looks like Shyla is getting the worst of it but it is rare that she cries out. A few minutes ago, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her being dragged by the scruff of her neck down the hall. I went to intervene and broke it all up and was going to give Frankie a time out. I brought the dog in my office to lay in her bed and Shyla simply followed us into the room and sat by Frankie waiting for more. I have decided to quit worrying about that cat.

I had an eureka moment this morning and figured out why Frankie is peeing by the back door. When I let her out to pee and when she comes back in I give her a treat there. All the "good dog" is focused in her brain and associated to that spot. Today I have been going outside with her and treating her outside when she does her business. No more lazy me standing inside in the warm. In the long run it does save me the time and effort of having to wash all the soiled mats. I am keeping my fingers crossed that these tactics work.

I should find out today if mom gets accepted for to go into a long term care facility, more finger crossing.

That is about all I have to say today. Wasn't that all so very exciting. I bet you are so glad that you stopped by.

Who Is In Control

2010-03-22T17:27:00.009-06:00

Frankie the wonder dog has evolved and has begun to think that not only is she a dog but maybe that she is part mountain goat somewhere down along in her genetic chain. Not only can she dig she can jump. Here she is on top of the cat condo. She has learned how to jump on my bed and loves to terrorizes the blankets and pillows any chance she can get.

Here she is trying to go higher. The only thing stopping her is that she can't seem to cram her way through all the junk.

It would be nice if the wonder dog could figure out the rules of toileting. Rule 1. The rug by the back door does not qualify as being outdoors. Rule 2. When outdoors and on a leash it is alright to pee especially if you are being begged and pleaded with to go by the nice bush. Don't worry about that not being good manners and hold it until you are inside your hosts house. Instead worry about letting go inside your hosts house. Sorry Jonathan and Melissa. Somehow she is just not getting it. You can all see why she is crated when I am not watching her. Please explain it to her as I just can't seem to get her to understand.

Coincidence?

2010-03-19T23:55:00.005-06:00

Sometimes things happen that leave a person filled with wonder, things that most people would call coincidence but still leaving them scratching their heads and wondering because the odds of the event happening were just so small that it seems impossible. today such a thing happened to me. For those of you that are out of the loop I have been searching for a used motor home. I thought I had found one but was very unsettled about it and the whole thing was really starting to stress me out. I had decided to give it a rest for awhile but later last night I found myself back on Kijiji Saskatchewan to see if anything new had been posted. There was a new post of a 21 foot motor home that looked promising so I left an E-mail expressing interest. I didn't get around to checking my mail box until this afternoon so when I did they had mailed me the contact information. I phoned to make an arrangement to go see it even though I had gave myself permission to take a break form all of this. I did not think anything would come of it and really thought it would be a waste of time but decided I really did not have anything to lose so what the hay. When I talked to the lady on the phone I kept getting a feeling that I knew her. When I went a nice elderly gentleman showed me the unit. I really liked it, the layout and the size and the price. He said that a couple of the people that came and looked today were coming back tomorrow. I told him that I would be too. As I turned to leave I got a very strong feeling that I should not do so, that I should put a deposit on it. I listened to that voice. Anybody who knows me well knows that I am not usually impulsive and that this was very uncharacteristic of me. I even thought this myself and as I went into the house asked myself what in the world was I doing. As I entered the house I was greeted by his wife and you guessed it. I know her very well. We worked together for years side by side at the hospital. She had retired about 7 years ago and we had lost touch. Well, we had very big hugs for each other and a few tears. She put the teapot on and we sat down for tea. As we began to catch up on each other I told her that I lost my husband last October to cancer. She asked me what type of cancer so I told her Multiple Myeloma. Her face instantly went still and the tears started to roll down her cheeks. She has Multiple Myeloma. She had been wishing for a whole year that she could know somebody who knows of this cancer and had had experience of it. She understandably is terrified. The odds of me bumping into her in this way are not very good as it is a pretty rare cancer. I have yet to bump into somebody who has it. I told her that I will be there for her. We already have set a date for lunch. I had been praying for a motor home that would suit me. What would you calculate the odds of us finding each other? The city that I live near is a fairly large city. What are the odds? Coincidence? Anyway, I have a motor home and can quit stressing and searching and she has a friend that understands. Thankfully, for her, she has a more gentle form of this cancer and it is very treatable. She may have many good years ahead for her. Her hubby was grinning from ear to ear. All I can say is "Wow" I have the feeling that I was sent there. If I would have walked away we would not have met up again and I probably would not have a motor home yet and one where I feel like I can trust the person I bought it from and I would not be reconnected to this dear lady. Oh, I almost forgot. she gets together once a month with a bunch of the people that have retired from my department. She listed them all and I worked with and know them all. I will be going along with her the next time they meet for lunch or dinner. I should have my new baby home with me by next week and can hardly wait to get my hands on it and jazz it up the way I like all tacky and fun. I do need to go and get a new singing fish. John would have liked that. I want to also put bits and pieces of his fishing things in there some how. It will make it seem to me, that in a strange way, he is with me.

Five Months

2010-03-09T12:56:00.003-06:00

It is five months today. There is not really much to say except that I miss John just as much as last month and the month before and the month before and the month before and the month before....I am sad and I wish he could come home.

Mom is on the same ward in the hospital that John was in when he was first diagnosed. If I look across the hall I can see his room. I try not to look. He was admitted just about this time three years ago. That is when the long goodbye began.

Update

2010-03-08T19:44:00.002-06:00

There is not really any new and earthshaking news about mom. That is a good thing as so often no new is good news. She seems to be keeping her spirits up and is looking much better. Physio was going to come in the afternoon and try to see if they could get her up. I will hopefully know more tomorrow. Basically, Mike and I went and watched her fidget for 2 hours. She does not want a television. This is very confusing to me as I am sure that she was born hugging one. If she is fidgeting more tomorrow, I am going to have it hooked up. I think maybe she is afraid that she won't know how to operate it. I would put money on that. I think I may just have figured her out!

Happy Birthday to Becky. I wanted to put up some cute scanned photo of you as a child for all to see. I can't think of what could be a nicer thing than to be publicly embarrassed on your birthday. Sorry honey, maybe by next year I will have all my computer woes sorted out. Love you and hope you are all feeling better.

I remembered to take the car to the body shop.

Mom In Hospital

2010-03-07T09:48:00.001-06:00

All the plans for the weekend were all for naught. I just got home from spending 10 hours in E.R. with my mom. She had a fall at her private care home this morning. They had the firemen come and pick her up off the floor. Upon her declaration of being fine they simply put her into bed where she proceeded to sleep for four hours. ( I don't know why they did not phone me right away?) When she woke up she was not feeling good and wanted to see me. I went right away and she told me that she broke her leg. She seemed to be moving it fine but when I went to put her sock on she just about went through the ceiling. I had an ambulance come to take her to the hospital because there was no way that I would be able to get her into the car. She could put no weight on her foot at all. When the ambulance guys got there and monitored her, they discovered that her heart was very irregular. She had been having problems with that but it had got very much worse. When she got to the hospital she was put in the trauma room and meds were given to bring her heart rate down which needed close monitoring because this drug can cause a drop in blood pressure. Then she was transferred to a different hospital and put in the trauma room there while she waits for a bed. She has to stay until they have her heart slowed down and until they have the right dose of medication to keep it stable. She is apparently in A-fib. All of this is very hard for me as it brings back so many bad memories of John's last days, it feels like I am reliving all that. I am hoping that she won't end up in the room that John was in, the room where the whole nightmare began. He went into A-fib twice and the medications were not working. At least they are for mom. Whew. She broke her foot. It is a strange type of a break. Most people get this kind of a break when they jump off something high. She must have slammed her foot hard. It takes a long time to heal. She can't walk so she can't go back into her care home as they can only take mobile people because they don't have sprinkler systems. I asked the doctor what happens now. He said that she could go into respite at another private care home. I told him that she has paid for her whole months rent and that is non refundable and she has not money to pay for other care and that I can't care for her. I can't even get her into my house. She is either going to have to stay in the hospital or they are going to have to find her a placement in a long term care home which is funded. I am sticking to my guns. there is no way that we are going to pay thousands of dollars for her to be cared for privately and that care will be crappy, much worse than our public long term care facilities. I have seem some of those places. Please pray for me for tomorrow as I will probably be squaring off with social work and Client patient Access Services. Even in Canada we do have to fight for some things and elder care is one of the big ones.

So that was my day. I did get out of my hermitage but not in the way I wanted too. There will be no puddle jumping tomorrow either. Just more hospitals. This hospital was where John was when he was first diagnosed. Not good. Not good at all. The doctor wanted to know how I knew so much about everything. I told him I had to learn everything the hard way, by watching somebody be very sick for three years and then die. I need to get out size 4X large big girl panties for this. I feel physically sick. I have to do it for mom. There is nobody else.

She only got to be in her nice new big room with her beloved chair 5 days. Why? Why this? Why now? I know, there is no answer. At least I recuperated from all the trauma and drama of the move. Hopefully will be good for a couple of days. My brother can't come in to help. He has to go to a conference in Toronto next week. O.K. I had better quit. Enough of the rant. Thanks for letting me get it out.

The Renovations And The Dog

2010-03-03T19:46:00.002-06:00

The new kitchen counter top. I should have took before and after pictures but you will just have to trust me that this is a major improvement.

The glass tiles for the tub surround.

Tub and tiles

Little Frankie

She is almost all grown

Little Eyes Beware

2010-02-26T18:31:00.007-06:00

I have been watching a fair amount of Olympic sports. Today I would like to talk a little about costuming and in particular the outfit that the Bob Sleigh guys and gals wear. They can jazz it all up all they like but it still is skin tight spandex. I figured that they must surely wear something underneath to hold the goods in place. You would think? Well apparently not or at least one guy does not. My jaw almost hit the floor when after the Russia Three run, the guy got out of the sled. It looked like a scene out of the movie Blades Of Glory with Will Farrow. Poor Mike was watching with me. He had a confused look on his face as he tried to process what he was seeing. I clued him in. He just about fell on the floor laughing probably more because I noticed and said something. I said: "Hey that guy has a oopsie whoo hoo" He was thinking the guy was well endowed and that maybe he had stuffed himself like dancers sometimes do. I told him that it was a very odd way to stuff himself. You don't expect to see that on a Olympic telecast. I guess the camera man was not fast enough or maybe he was. I wonder if they will edit it when they rebroadcast later tonight? I told Mike that maybe they did not notice. He says "It is pretty hard not to notice, no pun intended."Anyway, I checked on Google to see if anybody else picked up on what we saw. I did not find anything about it. That does not mean that there is nothing on the subject. I just am not sure what to enter in the Google search? How do you word something like that? This is the sort of thing that comedians will run with for a long time. However, I did see photos of some Bob Sleigh gal who had the seat of her pants rip out. She was not wearing a stitch under her costume. Seriously! Nada! I have decided that this is an embarrassing sport to watch. It is not for the delicate.

I Think I Just Volunteered?

2010-02-20T12:14:00.001-06:00

I went out this week to ice skate with my grandson. I did not do well on the hockey skates that I rented. I learned to skate on speed skates. Years ago I threw out my old relics. I contacted the local speed skating club to see about getting a new pair and to check out their adult program as I thought it would be a way to get some exercise in the winter. The president of the club told me that they would provide me with a pair free of charge to use if I would come out and help coach the little ones as at this time the parents are having to do it and sometimes they don't have somebody that skates and are on the ice in their boots. I am going to give it a try. I have not skated for many years but the guy told me that I won't have to go fast. This will get me out of the house, help me get back into doing something I used to love and probably will again. Who knows, maybe I will get back into good enough shape that I can compete in the masters. Wouldn't that be a hoot. It sure will help to give me some motivation in getting fit again even over the summer. I am excited about this. I have not felt this way for a long time. I sure hope my body cooperates with me.

Just a neat little aside: One of the parents that was involved when my kids speed skated is a starter ot the oval in Vancouver. I was watching and low and behold there was Yves. He is one of the guys that says REEAADDY (in that funny slow and low and calm voice) then shots the gun. It was so fun to see him there. I bet he is having the time of his life. Gosh, I should have stayed with it all, I could have been a lap counter or a line judge or the ultimate fantasy, the starter. You do have to take a lot of classes and work a lot of meets to get to that level. So Neat!

Definitely

2010-02-18T17:01:00.004-06:00

Grandma needs a nap. Grandma had fun today but is all worn out. We went skating at the Bessbourough park. Grandma thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the free skates that they offer only problem is that the skates are either hockey skates or figure skates. This lady knew that the toe picks would probably result in a trip to the hospital so she took the hockey skates. What was I thinking? I never could skate in those things either! Benjamin out did his grandma even though it was only his second time on skates. I was trying to encourage him and I had told him that it just takes practice. He told me: "You could use some practice grandma. Definitely!" Hilarious! It was not a maybe I could use some practice but definite. I have bolded this for emphasis. (I know this is not a verb but I need it to be one so it is O.K.) He was very emphatic. Definitely! Of coarse it did not help that his mother had to come and rescue me from the low bench I had been resting on and was having trouble getting back on my feet at the point I had to let go of the bench. I am so thankful that there are no pictures of this embarrassing moment. The whole time Ben was rolling his eyes. He was expecting me to be helping him. It was a good thing that his Uncle Mike came to skate as well. Ben was impressed with him.

I do miss skating. I am going to try to score a pair of speed skates. They are the only thing I can skate with and I would like to do more of it especially now that the grand kids are starting to skate. I also have a need to show Ben that grandma really can skate. Definitely!

I Have What?

2010-02-16T19:25:00.002-06:00

I got up this morning and noticed some funny perfectly round circles (five of them) on my mid section. Mr. Google says that in all probability that it would be ring worm. Eeeeeee! Hyperventilation! After reading a little further I learned that it is NOT caused by a worm. Whew! After learning that I quickly got my breathing under control. Becky thinks I should post a picture of this, my latest strange malady. However, I am not convinced that all the whole big wide world world needs to see a photo of my mid section plus I think it would prove to be a difficult camera angle not to mention feel weird and a little creepy.

I had to run my mom in for more blood work and X-rays. My baby granddaughter was developing conjunctivitis so she needed to see a doctor as well, plus I had not gone in to do the blood work that my doctor ordered about a month ago and had told me to get on asap. Off we went. We got it all took care of. It was an amazing juggling act but feels so good to get it all out of the way.

When it was my turn at the minor emergency the doctor asked me if I was a farmer. "No" I said. He asked if I had been around any cattle. "No" I said. At that he was scratching his head. I don't know why but I find this hilarious. It does not take much to entertain me. Anyway, he said that it looks like ringworm but it is hard to say so I will be treated for that condition just in case. I am wondering that maybe it is a delayed reaction to the sticky electrodes that they stuck on me when I had the stress test last week? Anyway, he said that I would not be highly contagious so that is a good thing because I have been around all the grand kids and Lamosil is not really good for you.

After all that we went and had lunch and picked tiles for the bathtub surround. I found some fantastic splendid,stupendous ones.I can't express how jazzed I am! Super jazzed.

Just Another Day

2010-02-12T11:05:00.005-06:00

I think I had better avoid Facebook for the next few days. I have a lot of friends and family that are regulars and due to Valentine's day most of them are putting up photos and writing nice things about each other. I don't begrudge them and it is nice to see that they love, appreciate and not take each other for granted. This is as things should be, I know, yet it is killing me. It is like rubbing salt into a wound. I thought that I would be alright with Valentines Day because I told myself it really is only a day after all, just another day out of the three hundred and sixty five days of the year. The last few days, I have been struggling. The grief worm seems to be boring new holes in my heart.

Valentine

Draw the curtains, shut out the light

There is nobody for me to love tonight

No cuddles

No sweet nothings

Not a wink or a smile if you get my drift

No slap on the bottom or squeeze of the thigh

No footsies

No smooches

How I long to gaze into you eyes

How I long to kiss you face one more time

People say I carry you in my heart

and with that be I have to be happy

Happy

Valentine

Sometimes Just Breathing

2010-02-02T17:34:00.007-06:00

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I am a fighter and a survivor. I am always looking for answers, always striving, wanting to thrive. I get up in the morning and look for ways to go on. I look for the positive. I look for the blessings and count them but in spite of all of my efforts and in spite of my strong will a lot of times all I can do is keep breathing and it simply has to be enough because that is all I can do.

Becky said it well. This song was by Sarah Schieber when she lost her husband during a marathon. From this I know that others feel the same way and that it is alright. Today I was going to paint the bathroom. I lost all motivation and drive. Today I am just going to breath.

The Moving Finger

2010-01-24T13:09:00.000-06:00

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,

Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit

Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,

Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Crying

2010-01-14T22:31:00.000-06:00

Today my brother-in-law came and pulled the old bathtub out. Next week I will have the new Whirlpool jet tub that John ordered installed. I decided to go ahead with this. I know that he would want me too.

In November all his brothers came and put the siding on his garage. He would have loved seeing that project completed. All his tools sit where he laid them.

The thing is, where he is, he is not missing this stuff. I just miss him. All these things bring the reality home.

Sometimes the dog and I watch the garage door, hoping that reality would change and he would come through that door humming a tune like he always did. If I close my eyes tight enough I can almost see him.

I tell God that this is just too hard.

Dear John

2010-01-08T10:04:00.002-06:00

I wish you a happy birthday. Thinking of you today it has dawned on me that it is impossible for you to not have a happy birthday. Nothing bad will ever touch you again. The sun will never be too hot. The nights will never be too long. Death has no more sting. There is no pain and no shame. As C.S. Lewis said "School is over and the holidays have begun" I wish you a happy birthday anyway.

I thought you would also like to know, I have ate all the cashews out of the mixed nuts. I am now working on the almonds.

Well Durn!

2009-12-31T14:14:00.003-06:00

A friend of mine has lost 80 pounds on Herbal Magic. She looks fabulous. I thought that maybe it would be something that I should look into. I am glad that I checked it out on line before making an appointment. In a nut shell they use high pressure sales tactics. They like to use a lot of guilt to help you part with your money and they want lots and lots of your money, enough money to pay for a very nice vacation. Most of the herbs can be bought at your neighborhood health food store for a fraction of the cost. I think I will go and visit Lovey at Natures Health Food Store instead and then use my Weight Watchers point system and then just get oft my fat lazy duff and walk on the treadmill. So...it is back to the grind. There is no magic. Must have been dreaming.

Dreams

2009-12-28T11:26:00.001-06:00

I have been thinking of all the dreams that we had together, you know, all the things we hoped to do when we retired and all the things that we wanted to accomplish. Some of them were pipe dreams, things that we both knew would never happen but we would have fun thinking them up and sharing them with each other. Some of them were things I wish we would have worked harder at attaining, like the trip to Mexico City to visit dear friends, instead of putting them off thinking that we would have time later in life. Some of those wishes were simple things that we just did not get around to doing or things that I would jam out on because I am a chicken and you did not want to do them alone. I think of all the things that you did not get to do like ride in a hot air balloon or shoot the rapids. I wish I would have organized things so you could have had those experiences.

I do know that if they were that important to you, ya would have done them. I believe eventually you would done them had time not ran out. The one consoling thing is that you did get to live a very full life that was full of great relationships as well as fun and did do most of the things on your wish list and some that were on mine as well. I know that the Lord is pleased with you for you did not live a selfish life and made many sacrifices for me and the children. You did not begrudge us for that. I am sure you got to hear "Well done John." That is what I think and say.

At one point, just a few short hours before you died, you raised your hands and was staring at them, slowly turning them in every direction and studying them as if you could learn something important from them. It struck me at the time that your work here was finished. I am glad that I was able to thank you for all the years we had together and for how good you took care of me and the kids. John, if you can hear me, I cannot thank you enough and I love you forever. Yes, I know that you know! I just can't help myself and need to say this over and over.

I have decided that I should not chuck the list. I am going to carefully consider it and do some of the things on it except for the shooting of the rapids and the hot air balloon ride, thank you very much. I know you are in heaven cheering me on. I can hear your voice saying: Go Beasely Go! and if I do something stupid like figure I can ride a motorcycle...well...I know you will be rolling those incredible green eyes and yes there will be a hint of laughter in them. I know you want me to carry on and grab life by the horns. I am going to try real hard and "give er snoose" as you used to say or "drive it like you own it".

Life With Sam

2009-12-21T20:34:00.005-06:00

Yesterday evening after coming back in the house after letting the puppy and two boys out of the crate and letting the four legged creature outside to do her business, I seemed to be missing the other puppy, the one you see below with the orange dog toy. This is not usually a good thing especially as how I had left my computer open. That child can punch keys so fast his fingers smoke. I am worried that they could spontaneously combust. He was nowhere to be seen so I figured that the computer was safe and so were his fingers.

Meantime Ben had found my camera. He was trying to take pictures and wanted me to show him how to work my camera because he could not figure that out. I don't know about you but I tend to fear for my camera when the grand kids get a hold of it.

Frankie puppy was at my feet and was working at removing my slipper. Ben is pushing buttons on the camera. Sam is nowhere to be seen.

Frantically I searched the room for Sam. Ahem...there he was in the broom closet. You can see why he was so hard to find. In the end I was glad that Ben had the camera handy. I am titling this picture:

If I Can't See You, You Can't See Me!

This morning, Sam dressed himself. You can't really see it but his shirt is on backwards as well. I am sure that he would have put his jacket on and happily went to town just as he was. The funny thing is, he KNOWS that his cloths are on backwards and he likes it that way. He would like it as well if he could have green or blue hair so I am titling this:

The Nonconformist or
Dances To The Beat Of His Own Drum

This evening we had a nice story time. I found it very hard to keep a straight face considering that the boy has a pair of his underwear on outside his pajamas. (look closely or enlarge the picture) I did manage to keep somewhat sober but it did help that he moved the underwear off of his head. I am sorry I did not get a photo of that one. He uses the leg holes for his eyes. I am titling this:

You Are Killing Your grandma

You can see there is never a dull moment. I am wondering how his mother keeps her sanity although, come to think of it, maybe she has not. Sometimes I think I see her eye twitching.

Minus Fifty Celsius x&#!!%xx! Bleep Bleep

2009-12-12T20:22:00.006-06:00

The weather outside is frightful.
Nothing about it is delightful.
Nothing you do will keep you warm.
Let it storm
Let it storm
Let it storm

Yes, a good storm is a preferable alternative to this horrific biting painful cold. Usually it warms up when it storms. On the other hand, I guess I had better be careful what I wish for because with our luck it will decide to storm and not warm up. That would leave us all worse off than we are now.

I went to the city today to help Angela paint. Seriously, I have been home for an hour now and my bum is still cold. I think that I froze my big toe as well even though I was not outside for more than four minutes at a time. The car heater had trouble keeping up. By the time I drove back home and took my puppy sitter home and got back my toe was burning. It is still tender.

I wrecked that toe when I first moved to Canada and did not have a clue that people could freeze their body parts. I waited outside for a bus for about a half an hour in weather like this. I froze my toes as well as parts of my face and fingers. The one toe for some unknown reason decided to freeze worse than anything else. The doctor in emergency thought that maybe I would have to loose the toe. Long story short, the toe made it but not until all the skin on it turned black and pealed off. Now the toe is sensitive and objects to any adverse winter weather.

The good news for the day was that when I went to Home Depot with Angela to get the paint, I actually remembered stuff that I needed to get and scored 100% in obtaining everything . So now I am a proud owner of a new stove element. The one I wrecked by welding my cow tea kettle to when I let it boil dry has been patiently waiting to be replaced for half a year at least.

I bought a new shower nozzle as the one I had decided to have a crisis and start to spray water in every direction that you could imagine. This has turned out to be a good thing as the new shower head comes with a 72 inch hose and will make it easier to reach all parts of Roscoe when he goes for his bath. As it is now, I have to cram him forward in the tub in order to reach all his parts. He does not like this and it is hard to shove a 75 pound dog around for pity sakes. I can hardly wait to try this new shower nozzle gizmo thingy.

I got a fifty foot Line Cord for replacement or adding length from modular jack to modular phone. I need to add length so that I can get rid of the unsightly eyesore of wires hanging down the wall in the basement. Now Mike can have the honor of running the wire neatly up the corner and along the ceiling. I sure hope fifty feet will do it as that is the longest cord that I could get.

I hope you all dream of warm beaches tonight and that we will suffer no power outages like they did up around LaRonge in the early hours this morning because Susan and Marv...ya know what I do when I gets cold!

Frankie

2009-12-11T19:26:00.002-06:00

Doubled in size! She is now four pounds.

In her snazzy winter vest.

Wrestle mania! This would go on for hours if I let it.

So, there is a lot of dragging and barking.

Tugging and growling and running.

And rolling and biting and then some more rolling around.

What Day Is It Anyway?

2009-12-02T23:12:00.003-06:00

Is it Wednesday today? Yeash...I missed my favorite show, Glee. I hope you have it recorded Becky. I have no idea why I thought it was Tuesday today. So...that means tomorrow is Thursday.

I decorated the living room all up for Christmas today. Frankie helped. She is getting bigger by leaps and bounds and can get stuff from off the couch. I kept thinking I had things out of her reach and she would get something. It seems that she knows that she should not have it and she takes off like a bat out of hell and heads straight under the kitchen table. In order to retrieve it I have to pull out the chairs and crawl under which at that point she takes off to another room. Thank goodness she has not figured out that she can get under the beds. I can't fit under the bed. I only put up half a tree. I put it up on the end table so Frankie can't get at it. She was so intrigued by what I was doing and so busy trying to get stuff, there is no way she would leave the tree alone. I guess that I can't put wrapped gifts under the tree. That would be just too tempting for her.

I plan to get up in the morning, bake some butter tarts, dress Frankie up in her new Christmas outfit and go visit mom at the care home. I will bring her her Christmas decorations and jazz her room up. Hopefully Frankie will be a good girl.

Anyway, the living room looks nice. Now all I have to do is take on the basement. That is going to be a massive job. I think Mike is off Thursday and Friday so I can get him to help me move stuff.

I'm Watching You

2009-12-01T17:09:00.005-06:00

This is the song that John's brother David wrote and sang at the memorial service. He has now recorded it. It is beautiful. It does make me cry every time I hear it. I am not at the place, like the lyrics say that I won't cry so much but laugh instead. It almost seems that as the days go by, I cry more and more.

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John used to say all the time: "I love you more. I love you today, tomorrow and forever."

Pathetic

2009-11-30T16:03:00.003-06:00

On the last day of November, I find myself happy that the month is over. It is not that I want Christmas to hurry and get here, it is more because I am tired of wracking my brain and trying to figure out something interesting to post. I feel that I have done a very poor job this year. I seem to have lost any of the little creative edge that I have had in the past. Maybe the posts will be better now that the pressure to produce is off and I can wait to post when I have something blog worthy.

It is still nice outside today but I am having trouble motivating myself to do anything. I was going to try to do some outdoor decorating. I would just like to sit and watch television but my satellite is acting wonky and I can't get it to work. I don't know what happened to it. I was going to go and change the channel and then everything went fuzzy and it says that there is no signal. I tried pushing all kinds of buttons. Nothing. I would watch a movie but somebody that I won't name took the DVD player into the basement and I don't know how to hook it up plus I don't think I can get it to work because I don't know what buttons to push or which remote to push them on. I used to know. I am going to have to write it all down. Mike has gone to work so I can't call for him to fix it. On my own, I am pathetic. I will have to go into the basement and see if that TV works. I guess if I watch down there, I can start to clean the basement and get it ready for Christmas, you know, haul out all the decorations and stuff. I should just go and have a nap. Frankie and Roscoe are. Sometimes animals are smart.

Grey Cup Sunday

2009-11-29T21:44:00.005-06:00

It was nice to go away but it is always nice to be home. Frankie was a very happy dog to be home. She missed Roscoe. Tonight I heard her bay for the first time. She was so excited to play with Roscoe, she bayed. She was kind of a bad girl this evening and had trouble calming down. I have learned to simply put her into her crate until she settles herself down. It does no good to fight with her. When she winds like that she does not even listen to Roscoe even when he barks in her face. She just barks back.

Mike and I are choked about the Riders loosing the Grey Cup. For you Americans, that is the Canadian version of the Super Bowl. We lost because of an illegal substitution or in other words to many guys on the field in the last seconds of the game. Of course it should have never come down to that seeing as how they blew a big lead. Oh well, at least we made it to the Grey Cup and they had us going for pretty much the whole game.

How many more days in November? This is getting painful, NaBloPoMo that is.

Santa Parade

2009-11-28T18:40:00.004-06:00

This evening I attended the Yorkton Santa Claus parade with the grand kids, Becky, Glen and Angela. The highlight was to touch the Olympic torch. Yup...I touched it. Then I held a candle that the torch group was handing out. Stood out there on the street holding my torch candle thingy slowly turning into a Popsicle. Where are the hot flashes when a person needs them.

Now I am back at Becky's and Glens waiting for Angela and Becky to get back from the store and make supper. It is 7:00pm. I think they are planning to make some kind of spicy Vietnamese soup. I think I will have toast and cereal. It is too late for spicy. I will not feel sorry for them when they are troubled with bad dreams and acid indigestion in the middle of the night although I am sure that they are long past coming to me to make it better so I should be safe, just in case you were worried.

The kids are all pumped up on candy they got from the parade. They gave me all their rejects but even some of those I had to reject so I passed them on to Glen. He gets all the Pete's Pucks candy. Seriously, who in the world would name their candy: Pete's Pucks? They taste like fruit flavored soap. Glen says that they are not too bad. It is an acquired taste. He must have ate a lot of Thrills when he was a kid. For those of you who don't know, that is soap flavored gum. Nasty stuff.

I love you El Nino

2009-11-27T14:29:00.009-06:00

I love shopping on line. It takes a lot of stress out of Christmas shopping. What fun it is simply to wait for the postman. It is fun to go to the various on line stores and shop drinking a nice cup of java or hot chocolate. (snow soup as Ben and Sam call it) Hot chocolate helps put me in the Christmas mood. I can put my feet up. I don't have to worry about sore feet or sore hips. I can play my own Christmas music. I can sing along and not bother anybody.

The weather outside is delightful
The fire is not so frightful
Since we have no place to go
Don't let it snow, don't let it snow, I said no to snow.....

Hee hee...see...not bothering a soul.

Next week I am going to decorate the yard snow or no snow. Truthfully, I am hoping for the no snow. I am loving this weather. It was fun going out with Ben and Sam and the puppy and running through the leaves. I shall put up the tree as well. Bah...who needs snow! I love the no snow thing. Chris does not have to shovel! Yes! I love it. No to wet dog feet tracking into the house and no to winter boots blocking the doorway. No to getting stuck in the back alley and no to having to sweep the car off with my bare hands because I forgot to bring my gloves along.

It may look strange out there but I think I can get past that. Most probably, there will be snow. It is a rare thing not to have snow. I am thinking it will snow before Christmas. Sigh....

This evening, we are going to cook hot dogs outside and barbecue chicken. That wood smoke is going to smell fantastic. Like I said, I love this weather! With that said, I am heading out to enjoy some more sunshine. I am going to pour a cup of coffee and sip at that and read my book and listen to the neighborhood children play hockey on the street. You don't need snow for that. Floor hockey is fun. See! A no snow winter would be just fine.

Hmmm...not my best written composition. Oh well...to nice out to worry about that. Bye, going outside and am wearing only my sweater and again, loving it.

Frank And Beans

2009-11-26T20:27:00.002-06:00

Not too sure of each other yet, claw covers and all. Poor Frankie looks terrified. She gives Libby Beans lots of room. Ni ether would cooperate and pose nice for the picture.

Frank is having a great time on our mini holiday. She has received lots of presents. The boys love to give her things. She even got a Christmas outfit. She will look very special visiting at the care home in it. I think she is missing Roscoe though. She loves to play with him the most.

How many more sleeps until November is over? This is getting harder everyday.

Lazy

2009-11-25T21:01:00.004-06:00

Mom is lazy tonight. Also for some reason we can't seem to have both laptops on at the same time, and since I'm on, I'm posting. So here's a picture I took of her idiots today in the yard.

I'm going to make her type something, otherwise I don't think this should count.

- Becky

Something!

Sunshine, Children and Dogs

2009-11-24T13:30:00.005-06:00

We are having another glorious bright fall day in Saskatchewan. I am loving it especially seeing as how it is usually winter in Saskatchewan at this time of the year. It is so nice to be able to put my rambunctious puppy outside and let her run her energy off playing with Roscoe. The kids are disappointed and want me to chase Roscoe into the house because Frankie would rather wrestle with him than play with them plus when they are playing Roscoe needs room the maneuver and he tends to bowl the children over if they don't get out of his way fast enough. In all fairness to Roscoe, room to maneuver is necessary as Frankie's idea of play involves chewing on everything including Roscoe. Benjamin loves to play with Frankie and is looking forward to me coming out to his place tomorrow and bringing Frankie along. He will have her to himself for a few days and not have to compete for her affections with a dog.

This morning I just about died laughing. Frankie loves to get hold of the luxurious fluff that surrounds Roscoe's hind end. She gets a pretty good hold on him and he can't dislodge her easily. He has tried walking along but she hangs on and and drags along. He has found a solution. He sits on her. About all that sticks out is her tail. It was not just a fluke because every time she gets a grip on him he sort of backs up to relieve the tension and then he sits. I find this hilarious. It doesn't seem to hurt her. His butt is pretty padded. We still have not got the cameras out and captured the puppy play. We have to do that before we leave tomorrow. I refuse to go until this is accomplished.

No Relief In Sight

2009-11-23T19:25:00.004-06:00

I am feeling my age plus throw an extra ten or twenty years to that. I have been too busy the last few days gallivanting about. It is seven thirty and bed looks very attractive. Becky and I have about another hour of house work to do before I can start to think about it. Gadding about does not equal a clean house. I have a truck load of laundry. I don't understand how one person and one puppy can generate the amount that is piled up in the laundry room. Becky and I and Sammy and Ben and Hannah took Grandma Newson for lunch and shopping. She bought two new outfits and stocked up on Gold Bond. My feet hurt and my shoulders ache from putting the wheelchair in and out of the trunk but it was worth it. She has so few opportunities to have a day spent on whatever she wants to do.

Just in case you think I am exaggerating about how exhausting that all was, on the way home from dropping my mom off , Ben told me that he was very tired from all that walking about and he sure hopes that we don't plan to do that again anytime soon. I told him he was a very good boy today and helped us a lot. He said that was because he was wanted to get his prize. Haha! I guess his mother had bribed him.

The one thing that I had intended to get done today was not done. Tomorrow is another day but it is not looking much better as far as going full throttle is concerned.

He's So Cute

2009-11-22T23:01:00.007-06:00

That is what Sammy says but in reality let me ask who is the cute one in this picture? Sammy was so happy because Libby Beans decided that she wanted to sit with him on his chair. I think in reality, Beans just wanted to see what Sam was having for lunch. I told Sammy that Libby Beans was a girl. In Sam's brain all animals are HE and in Sam's brain almost all of them are cute.

I had an eventful day that ended with girls night out at the theater to watch New Moon. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. There is something about being in a room with so much estrogen hooting and giggling and clapping and swooning that just cracks me up. Now I am just plumb tuckered out and I am ready to go to bed. I have lots to do tomorrow so in a nutshell this is all you get folks. If you want to be entertained hop on over to Becky's. She had an eventful evening and has just about enough energy left to do a great post. You sure won't want to miss out hearing about the HEX and all and to hear about her take on the movie adventure. Hop on over to Mellisa's for another fab movie review. I am too tired to do it justice or to make sense. Oh, Thanks Jen for getting the tickets and for making them so special. It was a blast.

Great Minds

2009-11-21T11:35:00.008-06:00

Sammy loves to hide in my room. If he is missing that is the first place that I check. Usually I will find him either hiding in my closet or weighing himself. He loves the remote for my ceiling fan. The light will be on and the fan will be going full throttle.

Sometimes I will find one of his treasures left behind.

I bought this retro Barbie car last summer at a garage sale. I could visualize Abby and Hannah having so much fun with this. In my imagination I could see their beautiful Barbies all dressed to the nines and finely accessorized driving off on some lovely shopping venture

I was not quite prepared for this, Optimus prime riding shot gun barking orders to his cohort, off to save the world from some evil whatever. Gosh, I hope they don't use the car phone. It will confuse them to no end when Barbie answers and invites them shopping or for lunch. I am so afraid that the temptation will be too much and the rest of us will suffer some horrible dastardly deeds because of their poor judgment.

The boys and Frankie are becoming fast friends. Sammy makes sure that she is entertained at all times. It seems to work. I think in dog years that Frankie and Sam are the same age. They think alike obviously.

HaHaHa

2009-11-20T10:35:00.007-06:00

I blew it! Yes. Hang your head in shame Chris. No prizes for you. I Noticed today that I missed posting yesterday. Bet you all didn't notice either. Oh well...that means that I don't have to try so hard now. I guess I was out gallivanting too much yesterday plus the grand kids came and it was too distracting. I would rather play with them. I even had something to post yesterday so I will post it today. For tomorrow maybe I will post and maybe I won't. Hee hee.

On further investigation somehow my computer has two posts as for Wednesday!!!! What in the world???? BECKY BECKY help. I thought I had published a post yesterday morning. I had it sitting as a draft and got up in the morning and published it. Can you not write something and save it as draft and have it published the next day and have it have that be that days date? I could have cut and pasted to post into the next days date if I knew that. This is not fair!

In my mind I am still in NaBloPoMo. In their mind I am not. What say you?

This picture was took just about three weeks ago. It looked like winter was here. The guys came to put the siding on the garage. They managed to pick the only day it snowed.

I took these pictures yesterday. I can't remember ever having flowers on November 20! The grass in the front of my house is still somewhat green. You British Columbia people I am LOL!

I Should Knit and Other Random Stuff

2009-11-19T18:37:00.000-06:00

The socks that I got into the mail has inspired me to get my knitting out and finish the dress that I started for Hannah. Becky has found a jumpsuit pattern. From that I think I can recreate the jumpsuit that I had mad for Angela when she was little. Family members will remember it. It was the one with the flower pot pocket on the knee and a poinsettia growing out of it. I can do different flowers and use different colors. I am jazzed to start on that but I need to finish the little dress first. I am going to get right on that. I hope I can remember where I left off. I have been altering the pattern.

I hope Frankie cooperates with the knitting plan. She is napping now. I hope she does not do like last night and wake up to play around 11:00pm. She is doing pretty good and seems to be settling down somewhat. She did pee on my office floor today. I thought I would let her play in my office while I watched. She is so fast. I guess she still thinks that this room is her bathroom. I will get some of those enzymes and try that. She has not been using the rest of the house in this manner. She has be a good girl for the most part.

When Becky gets here I will see if we by this I mean she can get some video of her and Roscoe playing. It is so funny especially when she rolls when he rolls and when she wrestles with him. This video will possibly be cuter than the piano playing cat. Alright...you caught me with my tongue in my cheek.

I took Shyla cat in to get her stitches removed. The good news is that she does not have cancer. I am so relieved. We do have to watch the site of the growth to make sure it does not come back. She was a good girl at the vet. She did not even flinch when the stitches came out. She is also getting better at taking her medicine. I gave it to her all by myself tonight and did not even wrap her in a towel. I just pried her mouth open and shot it in.

Am I boring you to tears yet? I am just about boring myself to tears so I guess I should quit while I am ahead.

Oh, Becky should be here tomorrow so I can take all kinds of pictures of my grandkids and have some different things to post about! Thank goodness!

Happy Socks

2009-11-18T09:36:00.006-06:00

Look what I found in the mail yesterday!! They are from Fluffy. They are a perfect fit and comfy as can be. These socks have just put me into a whole new sock bracket. The only problem with that is that I have never knit socks and I am not sure that I can pull that off. They are not easy to do. I think that as soon as I get some of my other projects finished, I will have to give it the old college try.

Fluffy named the socks Happy Socks and yes, they do indeed make me feel happy. You can't really see the design in these pictures. They have a nice design knitted into them that I like very much. She has also in the past sent me a pair of fantastic mittens and smaller versions of the Happy Socks for Hannah and Abby. Those little Happy Socks are adorable. Now I can match!

Thank you ever so much Fluffy. That made my day.

Everybody Is Doing It

2009-11-17T08:57:00.008-06:00

This is one of my favorite Youtube videos. I want a piano and but only if the cat comes with. This was all I was going to post today but I remembered that I had promised a picture of Libby bean's new nails and then I remembered that somebody had requested more puppy pictures. Hope you all enjoy.

Now the battle will be even.

Let's see how long you get to stay out this time. Frankie is a feisty dog. She usually ends up back in her crate rather quickly for a time out after thinking that my hands are a chew toy.

Does she look like she has grown. She looks bigger to us.

These two are becoming good friends. Roscoe is teaching her how to be a dog. She mimics him. If he rolls, she rolls. He disciplines her. If she get too overbearing and pesky he puts her down. He is such a good dog. He does steel her sticks though. It makes me laugh. If she manages to come out of the shrubs with a really nice find, he walks up to her, bends down and ever so gently takes the stick. He then proceeds to chew said stick into tiny bits which is what he loves to do on his list of loves. It is right next to retrieving sticks out of the water. Frankie can do nothing about her stick even though she tries real hard. He just stands there stoically while she jumps all over him and chews away.

She is a mischievous little thing. She gets into anything and has a temper when you thwart her. We have been having an ongoing battle over the bark mulch around the Maple tree in the backyard. This battle always has me winning but she is so persistent and stubborn. I remembered that I had a spray deterrent that I had bought when Roscoe was a pup and had decided to chew a hole in a mattress. I sprayed the bark. You should have seen her. She was so confused. I was out in the back laughing my head off. Ahhhhh Little girl, you don't know what you are up against. Anyway, it was nice because it was one less fight.

Bliss

2009-11-16T00:19:00.005-06:00

Well it is after midnight so I hope this post counts for Monday. My computer says it is Monday. I have trouble talking myself into going to bed. I hate laying there and thinking so I fight it. In the morning, I hate having to get up. Here I am posting only a few hours after I did my last post and procrastinating about climbing into bed. I usually wait until I know that I can`t keep my eyes open another minute. The funny thing about all that is I can`t really turn the thinking off anyway. I was thinking about my last post and how I can tend to grasp onto the negative instead of just letting it go and how I let that negate the positive.

The truth is that I did have a really nice afternoon and got to spend some quality time with Noah. We watched television together. He told me everything that was happening in the show so as to make sure that I understood and that I would be able to laugh at all the funny parts. We took Frankie out for a nice long walk. It was just the three of us, me, Noah and Frankie. It was fun to see his fear of a little puppy turn into interest and him starting to like her. The air was fresh and the autumn leaves smelled so good. The sun was shining. The cool air felt good on my cheeks. We chit chatted. He has so much that he wants to tell me and teach me. It is so lovely to see the world through his eyes. He drew nice pictures for me when we came inside and he beat up on me a bit which is his way of showing affection. If his feet are in your face, he loves you. I rocked Abby to sleep. She is such a doll. She is not usually a cuddlier so it is so sweet when she relaxes and falls asleep in my arms. I love them so much that my heart feels like it is about to burst. It is a nice feeling.