Still Alive!!

Yikes
It's been 3 months since I posted.
In that time...
I turned 49....yikes
My daughter painted the bathroom. 3 walls baby poo caramel and the 4th wall blood clot red.
As you can tell I am NOT happy with her color choices.
My son landed a part time retail job.
I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving.
Three people at work lost parents, and I wasn't one of them.
Thankful for that.
My husband had the shingles, but went to work anyway.
My niece and her fiance became proud parents of a baby girl.
I got to hold her when she was just 3 1/2 hours old.
She is my bald little friend. LOL
Sparky hasn't quit yet.
Extreme Home makeover came to town and did someone's house.
They redid a whole street in Nickel City, hopefully the gangs won't rob the people and trash the neighborhood.
I went back to my roots.
My hair roots.
More white/gray than blond now.
Tired of putting harsh chemicals on my head.
Too close to my brain.
I have to work Black Friday.
But at least I don't have to be to work at 4:45 am like my son.
My daughter went to Atlanta for Thanksgiving week.
Not happy about it.
Might be my Father's last Thanksgiving.
My college roommate had a tumor the size of a baby's head (2.5 lbs worth) removed from the outside of her uterus...along with her uterus.
The frigging check engine light came on in my car!
Haven't gotten the flu shot or the flu yet.
Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself!
I have been reading all my favorite blogs.
Stop by Coffeepot's to see a freaky tattoo.
Been on facebook a lot.
Damn Yoville, Farmville and Mafia wars!!!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
I am making the Turkey, stuffing and gravy.
Have an apple pie made already
Dinner will be at my folks house.
Take care Peeps!

Under 30 crowd

I got this e-mail from a friend at work who is younger than me!!!

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears
with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing
up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning

Uphill...
barefoot...
BOTH ways
Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up,
there was no way in hell I was going to lay
a bunch of cap. like that on kids about how hard I
had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that...
I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know
something, We had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter, with a pen!

Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it
would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our a$$! No where was safe!

There were no M3' s or Tapsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone. cause that's how we rolled dig?

We didn't have fancy crap. like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either!

When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your
mom, your boss, your Bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever!

And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your a$$ and walk over to the TV to change the channel! There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons
on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

TV stations actually went off the air after midnight. If you couldn't sleep we had these things called novels to read.

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove ... Imagine that!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy.
You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!

Regards,

The over 30 Crowd

RAin part 2

Ok, I'm a day or 2 late with this, but I'm sure ya'll had enough other stuff to keep you busy. :-)

So...Hubby came home Monday and went up into the attic space through a hole in the garage. It was 85 degrees all day so it was a sweat box up there.
He was just coming out of the attic when I arrived home from work.
Sweat was pouring off his face and his t-shirt was plastered to his back.
Poor guy.
Turns out there wasn't a hole in the roof.
Blonde Goddess & I had the same problem with the wind swirling and whipping the rain up under the eaves and through the vents in the soffits
.

At least my house is still on it's foundation and I didn't end up with a pond in my back yard.
So I should be thankful that all we had to suffer through was a bit of water dripping from the light fixture and a sweat puppy hubby.

The photo of the guy with the pink crocs on is a relative of one of the girls from work.
They showed it on the news! It was his neighbors back yard.

Dad is doing well.
He actually drove to the store by himself.
He "snuck"out while Mom was at a senior citizen meeting.
He's back to using just a cane.

Now if the kids could just find jobs!!!
PEace people.

Rain RAin go away..

We have had enough rain in this area of the country.
Last night we had a storm so bad that it flooded out trailer parks and hospitals....and people's basements.
Of course my kids were driving home from NY City and hit every storm along the way. They called around 9 pm and said that they had 2 hours more to drive before getting home.
Hubby asked where they were and I told him about 3 hours away.
Experience taught me that if I told him 2 hours he would be asking where they were in exactly 2 hours, so considering the storm and his worrying I said 3 hours, but probably longer because of the torrential downpours.

THe thunderstorm was very violent.
I tried to go to bed at 11:00, but couldn't fall asleep because the kids weren't home.
Quarter to midnight, I was just about to fall into the nice sleep listening to the thunder, when Hubby got up to go to the bathroom.
Five minutes later he comes back into the bedroom, turns on the light and says...You'll never guess what is happening!
Well if he didn't turn off the sticking light he wouldn't want to know what would be happening to him!
Anyway...
He said that the roof was leaking.
The new roof he just put on in May.
How can this be?
It had rained before and never leaked.
I asked where it was leaking and it was in the kitchen.
I threw on my glasses and flipflops and trudged my way to the kitchen.
Sure enough, water was dripping out of the kitchen light fixture.
Seems Hubby stepped into a puddle on the floor when he went to get a drink of water...and since we don't have a dog ...he knew something was wrong.
He was rather upset that the roof would be leaking.
I told him that the winds were pretty strong maybe part of the ridge vent blew off or something hit the house again.
(He slept through most of the storm)
"Well I'm not going out on the roof to see what's going on now" he grumbled as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed and the rain pounded against the windows on every side of the house.
"that's right, you're not"
So I went back to bed.
10 minutes later the kids were home and I could hear him telling them what was going on to the sound of the water dripping off the light fixture into a pan on the floor.
I popped out said glad you made it back and good night and went to sleep.

TIme for bed...I'll tell you the rest of the story tomorrow
Peace and stay dry!!

where have I been?

Where have I been?
Hubby and I took a mini vacation trip to Niagara Falls NY.

Didn't go to Canada as I don't have a passport or enhanced Drivers license...yet
We left on his birthday.
As we approached Niagara falls..the sky got darker and darker and by the time we got there it was a torrential down pour.
Somehow we found our way to the hotel parking lot and waited till it was just raining normally till we ventured out of the car to check in.
We stayed at the Comfort Inn at the Pointe, which is right out side the park entrance and close to the Hard Rock Cafe.
After parking the car we didn't move it till we left 2 days later.
We walked everywhere.
The USA side of Niagara Fall is beautiful and park like.
Everyone says to go to Canada, but I think the view is just as nice from this side...except for all the tall buildings and Ferris wheels that are in the background over in Canada.

We had fun.
It was nice getting away from the neighborhood.
We checked out the Seneca Niagara Casino.
I lost $6.00 on the nickel machines.
Wanted to treat Hubby to the buffet at lunch, but it was too pricey.
$19.95 for a lunch Buffet?? Are they serious??
You would have to be pretty hungry to get your money's worth/

Apparently gone are the days of the cheap casino buffets.
I remember getting Surf & Turf in Vegas for $9.99

Two of my friends lost their fathers lately.
One died 2 days before fathers day.
He had brain cancer.
The other had a heart attack mowing his lawn.

His wife looked out the window and saw him on the ground next to the running lawn mower. The ambulance called and after being gone for 11 minutes, brought him back, only to be put on life support and never regain consciousness.
The last time my friend visited with her dad was on Father's day.
They took him off life support the other day.
These things usually come in threes.

I had a good fourth of July.
Hubby got some steaks and I made steaks and shrimp on the barbie, baked potatoes, grilled chicken, salad and corn on the cob for the 4 of us and my parents.
It was yummy.
I haven't seen my Dad eat that much in a long time.

I've been spending too much time on spacey face book page.
Dang Yoville and Farm town!! haven't played Mafia wars, don't intend to start.
Did find an old friend from AZ on it and got back in touch with her.

So I still am alive.
Go to the Gyno tomorrow for a checkup.
Appointment is at 8, so must get up earlier than usual.
so good night y'all
Peace

Tired Ramblings

Yes, I am tired, but decided to post anyway...so this should be interesting or really weird.

My daughter went to Bonnaroo this past weekend down in Tennessee.
She left Thurs night and we didn't hear from her till this afternoon, on;ly because we left messages on her cell phone to see if she was still alive.
She said there wasn't a cell tower near the field where the concerts were held.
I told her that they have these old fashioned things called payphones which she could have used.
But anyway...
She said she had fun.
Except that Bruce Springsteen was playing there and when his concert was going on , no other concert was allowed to play during it...there were 4 other stages... Google searched Bonnaroo and you will see how big this event is...I never heard of it before.
But anyway ...apparently her generation are not big fans of "The Boss" like my generation was/is.
SO half way thru his concert, he said that he was going to p;ay requests and pulled out a big paper Santa Claus and sang "Santa Claus is coming to TOwn" which apparently at the concerts that are probably mostly attended by my generation where he is the headliner, this is one song that they always request..
But when he started singing it for this crowd, about a fourth of them got up and left.

I'm sure she had other adventures that I will never hear about and probably don't really want to know.

Me, i went to the Allentown art festival in beautiful downtown Buffalo NY. (Read all about it here and here
There were over 400 artists.
I went with Elly.
WE were there from 10 am to 2:30 pm walking around and seeing all the arts and crafts.
Here is a good article about the show.
There was some really nice stuff there, but most of it was out of our price range.
People watching was fun.
I commented to Elly at one point that it looked like they let out one big group home as some of the people were rather odd looking.
Luckily it wasn't hot out or we would have been subjected to more exposed flesh that you really want to see.
Why huge fat women think that the bra less look is attractive on them I will never know..
If you are standing next to them you have to hope they don't turn too fast and get hit with one of those swinging watermelon sized pendulums of flesh.
Elly saw on large woman wearing a tube top which she said was revolting.
Some of the tattoos were cool that people had.
Some I couldn't tell what the heck they were supposed to be...bad tattoos.
Sparky was there too, but we never ran into her.
I really liked this artist Elaine Lanoue
I almost bought this print "Love Birds"
Her use of color and simplistic picasso like design really caught my eye.
Quite a contast to the realistic watercolor paintings my dad paints.
I love color.
Elly liked her style also ...and liked this painting as it has yellow in it and it would have matched her bedroom!
Yeah...she's one who buys art to match ehr wall coloring.
But I don't hold that agaiinst her.

Now I am inspired to create great works of art.
I usually don't like to go to art and craft shows because I get depressed as I don't have time to create great works of art or crafts.
Must work :-(
8:30 to 5 pm....
Some lady on the "Judge Judy" TV show was out on disability because she had a nervous breakdown.
Hmmm, I was close to one of those myself not to long ago, didn't know you could get out of working because of it.

"No Problem Mon"
by Michelle Spiziri

Yes sirree, I could dye my hair green and purple and put it in dreadlocks and start speaking with a Jamaican accent...it will go nicely with my pale sun starved skin. And answer the phone "yes Mon, ow kin we 'elp ya".....

My Dad was felling better.
I dropped him on my way to work last Tuesday to have breakfast with all his retired friends,
He is walking better.
But now....he had to go to the doctor today as he has a painful rash.
They told him he has shingles.
Two steps forward, three steps back.
He said that it hurts to touch his skin.
He really didn't need that.

My niece is getting over Mono.
She stayed away from her grandfather when she got sick and was diagnosed.
Hopefully she will be able to catch up with all her courses and graduate high school in 2 weeks.

Well time for bed.
Hope everything is well in your part of the world.
Peace people....

A song from the past.....

Talk, you can talk, but if you ask me take
All your big words and put them together
What good will they do when the long day is through
Does anybody love you?
Do you think that anybody's in love with
You can dress up or dress down as you
Gaze in the mirror, hung up on your body
What good can it be when there's no one there to see
You're so lovely, so wise
You could make Venus crawl
But love between the ugly is the most beautiful love of all.

Can you name the artist and song name?

Snap shots my world

As Elly and I, past weight watchers members, both gained a bit of weight, we decided that some exercise was desperately needed by us both.
Tight dress slacks are not a flattering look, if they are tight because you gained weight.

Elly asked me if after work Friday I wanted to go to the playground at the elementary school down the road from her and we could walk around while her kids "played". She said to meet her there.
Yeah....I could see it now...as I am waiting / loitering alone at the playground waiting for her and her children, who always make her late, a cruiser pulls up and asks me what the heck I am doing hanging out at a playground.....nope, not gonna happen.

I suggested that we go to the nearby marina instead and walk along the break wall/boat docks and beach.
It was a beautiful sunny day, but as it was after 6 it was starting to cool off.
Her children, on hearing that we were going to the beach, wanted to put on their swim suits.
"But we are NOT going swimming, the water is too cold"
Her son, said that her wanted to change out of his good school pants and put on his swimsuit so as not to get his pants dirty.
Didn't matter that he's been playing outside wearing them already!
So Elly told him that he had 3 minutes.

Her daughter who is in kindergarten, ran into the house too and came out in her bathing suit.
And the battle began between strong willed 5 year old and exhausted Mom.
I said that maybe her daughter should put a shirt on over the swimsuit as it was kinda cold. So they went into the house and the yelling started...
10 minutes later, the little girl emerges out of the house in shorts, shirt and hoodie with her arms crossed in front of her chest, and the most defiant mean look you'd ever seen on a 5 year old. Damn I wish I would have had my camera out.

We arrived at the Marina and Elly asked the kids if they wanted their treats first from the concession stand. They himmed and hawed and we saw that the line was really long so decided to walk aroung the pier first and look at the boat and fish in the water.
Instead of going to get a treat after that, they made a bee-line for the beach.
Which lead to taking off their flip flops and seeing how cold the water was...to wading in to their knees ... to oops I fell in... and then, watch me swim.
They didn't mind their Mom very well.
The photo is of the 2 darlings in the lake..which was 55 degrees.

The girl, not listening to her mom when told to walk on the sand, insisted on walking in the water and fell on a rock and her knee started bleeding and blood was pouring down her leg as fast as the tears were streaming down her cheeks and the screams were coming out of her mouth.

So the boy finally came out of the water and asked me what happened and I said she got hurt because she didn't listen to her mother when she was told not to do something.

No treats for them.
"You aren't getting a treat because you are hurt and we are going home"
"Lindi, I wish they had drive thrus that served alcohol...I'm not kidding I could use a drink"
"Elly, I know you aren't kidding."

Lost- One beach towel
Lesson- Never suggest going to the beach unless it is summer as kids don't care how cold the water is and will want to go swimming.

Looking back on when my kids used to go there, they were content to look for shells and interesting drift wood and rocks...maybe get there toes wet, but never dive in with there clothes.

Elly and I always have adventures.

So, this is why Elly was laughing at work....

Elly was cracking up laughing during the middle of work.
As her cubicle is directly opposite my loverly dirty blue cubicle wall, I couldn't see what she was doing...
Then this e-mail popped up on my computer from her and I thought I would share...nice of me, huh.
=============================
"THE IS VERY FUNNY TO ME LOL"

When girls don't put out!!

This was written by a guy...it's pretty damn smart.

Girls -- Please have a sense of humor!

I never quite figured out why the sexual urge of men and women differ
so much. And I never have figured out the whole Venus and Mars thing.. I
have never figured out why men think with their head and women with
their heart.

FOR EXAMPLE:

One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed.
Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says, 'I don't
feel like it, I just want you to hold me.'

I said, 'WHAT??!! What was that?!'

So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to
hear...

'You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for
me to satisfy your physical needs as a man.'

She responded to my puzzled look by saying, 'Can't you just love me for
who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?'

Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to
sleep.

The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time
with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big,
big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried
on several different very expensive outfit s. She couldn't decide which
one to take, so I told her we'd just buy them all. She wanted new shoes
to compliment her new clothes, so I said, 'Lets get a pair for each
outfit.'

We went on to the jewelry department where she picked out a pair of
diamond earrings.. Let me tell you... she was so excited. She must have
thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was
testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even
know how to play tennis

I think I threw her for a loop when I said, 'That's fine, honey.' She
was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement.
Smiling with excited anticipation, she finally said, 'I think this is
all
dear, let's go to the cashier.'

I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, 'No honey, I don't
feel like it.'

Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled,
'WHAT?'

I then said, 'Honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while.
You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me
to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman.'

And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added,
'Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy
you?'

Apparently I'm not having sex tonight either.....but at least that
bitch knows I'm smarter than her.

==========

All are graduated....

Woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday to get ready for the journey to Son's college for the graduation ceremony.
Of course it was humid and the forecast called for thunder showers.
It was sprinkling here when we left for the 2 hour drive.
15 minutes prior to leaving I went into Daughter's room and told her that we were leaving in 15 minutes, so if she was coming she best be ready by then.
Then I gave her a 10 minute warning.
We had to be at the college prior to 9 am as we had to meet son to get the tickets.
We borrowed my parent's van as we still had to move him out of the dorm.

The sun was still shining in the College's town.
We were early enough to get a decent parking spot in the lot closest to his dorm.
WE met him out side the dorm and walked together to the arena.
He looked rather studious in his cap and gown, and I could see the look of pride in Hubby's eyes.

The seating was bleachers.
We took seats on the top row so we didn't have anyone behind us.
As I am tall, it was very uncomfortable.
My legs/knees extended over the bleacher seat in front of me and when an older man tried to sit in front of me he got poked in the back by my knees when he sat back.
Not a pleasant experience for either of us.
I apologized for my long legs and luckily he moved.
2 petite ladies took his spot and I had enough room to turn my legs sideways and face the stage.
I wasn't about to sit with my legs spread apart for 3 hours...even though I was wearing slacks.
To make it more uncomfortable, It was hot and humid in the arena.
It was so crowded.
They had baskets of hand sanitizing wipes at all the enterances.
I was glad I wore comfortable flat shoes when I saw the women in dresses and heels trying to maneuver around on the bleachers.
Surprisingly no one fell although an older gentleman almost did right next to where Hubby was sitting.
The introduction to the guest speaker took longer than the guest speaker's speech.
Daughter commented that she was expecting the announcer to pull out a small box and drop to one knee.
The speeches and introductions actually took longer than the actaul calling of the graduates across the stage.
There was no rhyme or reason to how they went across stage.
They were not seated in alphabetical order or by major.
So we had to pay attention as we didn't know when Son's name would be called.
He graduated with honors. :-)
The graduates were called by 2 announcers from both ends of the stage and the graduates exited down the center so it went a lot faster than the usual one at time.
It didn't allow for a lot of time for the families and friends to get to rowdy
Half way through the graduates, it got rather loud in there.
I thought that it was people talking until I looked out the open door and saw that it was pouring rain.
We were prepared with rain coats and umbrellas.
After an hour or more of pouring, it let up by the time everyone had to leave.
We went to the reception afterward and had some cookies and tea.
Then it was off to the dorm to move out the stuff.
Thankfully my Son lived in a dorm with an elevator.
We loaded up a trolley and made 3 trips on the elevator to the van.
I was glad that we had the van as all of his stuff would have never fit into my car.
No one wanted to stop anywhere nice for lunch as we were all tired and sweaty so we just went to Wendy's on the way home.

So both Kids are home again and the job hunt begins.
Hopefully they won't have to move too far away.
I gave Son a GPS for his car for graduation so he can find his way to job interviews etc..

My parents would have liked to have gone to the graduation, but it would have been very hard on my Dad, and Mom wasn't about to leave him alone. We would have had to take 2 vehicles because of the space we needed for all of Son's stuff.

And so ends the college tuition chapter of our lives.
YIPEE!!!!

Peace

WIld Week

Things have finally calmed down.
It was pretty hectic and stressful this past week and a half.

Dad ended up bedridden for about 3 days after the trip to the emergency room when they discovered the fracture in his hip/pelvis.
He would only get out of bed to go to the bathroom.
Even with the walker he could barely get around as he was in severe pain.
You could see it in his eyes that he was in a lot of pain.

My mother's cousin was visiting the day after the ER day and kept telling my sister and I how upset and stressed out my mother was.
Well DUH!!
All she was doing was stressing us out by saying...oh, your poor mother doesn't know how she is going to get him to his Dr's appointment Mon as he can't walk...
I told my sister if he couldn't get out of bed Mon that she should call the ambulance to get him to the hospital to get his pain medication regulated.
The appointment was at 3pm, so I asked my mother if she wanted me to go with her and my sister to the Dr as between the 2 of us we should be able to get him out of the house and into the car...maybe.
So I left work early Monday.
The Bulldog (my supervisor) didn't say anything, we basically communicate via e-mail as she seems to not like talking to me directly if she doesn't have to...and the feeling is mutual.
BTW, she hasn't yet asked me how my Dad was doing or how I was doing.
WE made it to the Dr's office and luckily they had a wheelchair that we could use.

He saw the surgeon who was putting in the Chemo port.
HE was the same Dr who took out both parent's gall bladders.

Tues I was late for work as I had to go see my Dr. as they wouldn't give me a refill on my high blood pressure medication without seeing her first.
I ended up with 2 scripts.
The blood pressure meds and an anti anxiety/depression pill.
The feeling like all I want to do is cry is gone.

My Dad finally went to see a pain management Dr, who gave him pain patches and another drug to relieve the fracture pain.

I took Friday off from work to go with my mother to take my Dad in for the port insertion surgery.
My BIL drove us all to the hospital.
While he did a lap around the parking area, I ran in to get a wheel chair.
The surgery took 15 minutes, but we were in the hospital for 6 hours.
We had a heck of a time getting him in and out of the car and up 3 steps into the house.as the pain medication wore off and he could barely walk.

Yesterday was day 1 of Chemo, and he is doing well.
The pain is under control.
He has a schedule of what drugs he takes when and is walking without pain.
My mother said that he walked by himself up the ramp into the Chemo place with his walker.
He looks a lot better too.

Today he had many visitors, so he is in good spirits and got out to sit in the sun and get some fresh air.

Mother's day was ok.
Son is still at college till he graduates Saturday, but he did call me.
Daughter gave me a card and said that she and her brother were going to take me out for dinner and a movie when he gets home from college.
Hubby got me a card and lottery tickets..I won $4.
also got a Gnome on a stick for the garden.
My sister, Daughter , 2 nieces, my mother and I went out for dinner to Roby Tuesdays.
Hubby and my BIL kept my Dad company.
I picked up the bill and paid it which seemed to bother my sister...which is why I did it....I usually end up paying more that my share anyway so I figured I would just pay for the whole thing and she left the 20% tip.
After dinner, daughter went to the store and made us hot fudge brownie sundaes...Yummy.

Looking forward to the graduation Sat.
He is in the 1st group so we have to be at the college by 9am
No sleeping in for me as it takes 2 hours or so to get there...argh!!!
I'm not a morning person and they are expecting thunderstorms.
After graduation we have to move out all his stuff from the dorm.
I won't be wearing a dress that's for sure.
Maybe some Khakis and a nice sweater set.

Finally ....NO MORE COLLEGE TUITION BILLS!!!!!!
YIPEE!!!
Now all they need are jobs that pay enough so they can go out on their own.

Happy DAys are here again...for a little while anyway...

Post interupted

My last post was cut short .
The phone rang and it was my Mom.
"We have to take your Dad to the emergency room as he is in severe pain and the pain medication doesn't seem to be working....can you go with us?"
They called the doctor, but he couldn't prescribe anything stronger over the phone and told him he had to go to the emergency room.
I told her I would be over in a few minutes as I wasn't dressed yet.
She said that would be fine as she had to get dressed herself.

I asked Hubby to go over to see if my Dad needed help getting ready and to distract him from thinking about his pain.
After taking a quick bath and getting dressed, I walked over and took the keys from my Mom, who was relieved not to have to drive and off we went to the emergency room.
Driving as carefully as possible I tried to avoid the potholes and braked slowly as to not jar his back and cause him more agony.
We chatted about everything and anything just to keep him from focusing on what was hurting...at least that was my goal.

Emergency room waiting rooms are interesting places. you see the whole spectrum of illness...from a bump on the head of a pudgy toddler to a possible broken collarbone of a pale teenage boy dressed in black.
Stupidly, I forgot to bring something to read or do....so I just had to watch people for amusement while I waited and waited...
3 hours or so later...
They discovered after x-rays that he has a hairline fracture in his pelvis/hip.
Nothing they can do for that...
Gave him a prescription for pain medication.
Which turned out to have the same generic name as the generic name of the pain medication he already has....but the numbers after it are different...so I told them it must be a different concentration..
ARGHHH!!!
I should have went into the exam room with him too.
Hopefully I am right in thinking that the pills are stronger.

Dad is soooo depressed.
He just had bone scans and x-rays a few days prior and this wasn't on them. "How could this have happened so fast???"
He basically spent the rest of Sat. in bed, just getting up to use the washroom.

We think he over did it Friday.
My parents have their washer and dryer in the basement.
With mom's knees being so bad, it is difficult for her to go up and down the stairs carrying laundry.
So, after much convincing, they finally decided to get a new washer and dryer and put them in the family room as connections could be made to the water and gas lines from there.
That way, no one would break their backs trying to carry the old appliances up the basement stairs.
My BIL decided to do the installation that Friday as the appliances arrived a few days prior.
Well, Dad being Dad, felt he had to get in on the fun and went up and down the basement stairs several times...
I asked him how the heck did he do that ......and he said that he just held on to the rails on the stairs....of course all I could think of was what if he would have fell... then come to find out that he went down there while my Mom was out grocery shopping...
Friday, he also went to the doctor and for blood work and to the hardware store.
I can just picture him hobbling around the hardware store with his walker....
It's got to be difficult wanting to do stuff, still having your mind as sharp as ever and having your body fall apart.
Unfortunately, I think he learned the hard painful way that there are things that he can no longer do, or ever do again....

Peace People.....

The results are in...

and they are not good. :-(
My Dad has bone cancer.
It has spread to his hip, ribs, leg and arm and is still in his spine.
So it's Chemo time.
Which they told him has a 50% chance of working.

He wants me to shave his head next week.
Which should be quick considering he is balding anyway.
I asked him if he was going to shave his beard/goatee.
no, just going to let it fall out...
well maybe it won't fall out.
But it says in the brochure that all my hair is going to fall out along with my eyebrows and eye lashes...

May is going to be a crazy month.
Son graduates from college...finally.
He has an associates from a 2 year community college.
And now will have his bachelors...3 years at a state college (SUNY)
Graduation is in 2 weeks.
He is staying there till graduation.
We are going tomorrow to get some of his stuff so we won't have to try and move a lot of stuff after graduation ceremony.

I bought my father's old car for him for a graduation, he needs a car anyway present.
My daughter is having a fit.
We gave her a car when she was in her 2-3 year of college and signed it over to her when she was 21.
He never has had a car...and he is 23.
But in her mind he is getting a newer car than her and it's not fair...
OMG!!!
Let's see....
He lived off campus during his first 2 years at the community college which was 2 hours away from home and had to walk everywhere including the grocery store.
A 23 year old guy needs a car...

Clap your hands stomp your feet...

Clap your hands, Stomp your feet...
(can you guess the next line?)
Polka music can't be beat.

But polka music at the dentist's office?
While getting a deep cleaning on all your teeth?
"Roll out the barrel, we've got a barrel of fun
It's called Novocaine and it will make you numb"

Yeah...polka music while getting tortured.
Apparently one of the dental hygienists is from Porto Rico
and had never before heard polka/polish music.
(So she had been fortunate up until then?)
So one of the dentists decided that she had to hear it...during work.
Can't just loan her the CD.
Nope, must play for all at the office to hear.

Luckily, it was only the music and no singing.
I have nothing against polka music.
I've danced the polka at weddings before. It's fun...
But didn't appreciate it at the dentist.
Especially when they turned off a good radio station to put on the CD.

I told the gal cleaning my teeth that every time I hear polka music that I will now remember this moment.
As she was having a bad day, I told her that at least she is at the good end of the dental tools.
Must keep them happy when they are working on your teeth.
Nothing worse than someone having a bad day taking it out on your teeth....wasn't about to let that happen.

Very informative! The Human Body

It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.
One human hair can support 3 kg (6.6 lb).

The average man's penis is three times the length of his thumb.

Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.

A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.

There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.

Women blink twice as often as men.

The average person's skin weighs twice as much as the brain.

Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.

If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.

Women reading this will be f inished now.

Men are still busy checking their thumbs.

The alphabet meme.

I borrowed this from "Just Eat Your Cupcake" Maria. It took an hour to write...Enjoy...

A.

Age: Older than the internet, younger than plastic, not as old as Walker

Annoyance: People who think they are better than everyone and feel that they should be treated as such

Allergic: Possibly cats

Animal: must be, as I’m not a vegetable or mineral

Actor: No favorite, I like Mel Gibson, The actor that plays Wolverine, THe guy from LOTR...Veggio something or other

B

Beer: Occasionally, if it’s ice cold and CANADIAN Although Magic Hat from Vermont is good too

Best Friend: Died, But Marly & Elly are my 2 best buds now

Best feeling in the world: Feeling loved and appreciated

Best weather: 75-80 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze and a few whispy clouds

Been in love? Yes a couple of times

Been bitched out? A lot lately at work, just because my boss feels she can....not really, but I feel like it

Been on stage? Yes, graduation ceremonies

Believe in life on other planets? Yes....sometimes I think I am from another planet

Believe in miracles? Yes, there is always hope

Believe in magic? No

Believe in God? Yes, a higher power, something has to be responsible for creating this place we call earth..

Believe in Satan? For every Yin there’s a yang, so yes, we have seen his work through terrorists

Believe in ghosts? Yes, I’ve seen one

C

Car: yes, at least 10-12 people in my area have the same car in the same color...I think I should start a club, 3 of us parked next to each other in the supermarket’s parking lot ...it was funny.

Candy: mmmm Chocolate

Color: I love most colors, blues, greens, Sky blue pink, depends on what the color is on

Cried in school? Yes...more than once. In 5th grade because during the Christmas gift exchange, who ever had my name didn’t get me a gift. The teacher gave me one of hers.

Chinese or Mexican food? Mexican, as the Chinese restaurants around here are iffy

Cake or pie? Both

Countries to visit: Australia, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland


D

Day or night? Day, I have trouble seeing at night

Dream vehicle: Don’t have one at the moment, but it would have to run on something other than gas, have lots of head & leg room, a good stereo CD player, Lumbar support seats

Dance in the rain? Yes, only in the summer

Dance in the middle of the street? Yes

E

Eggs? Scrambled, Fried, deviled

Eyes: 2 myopic hazel green

Everyone has: a good side and a bad side and a story

Ever failed a class? NO


F

First crush: In 2nd grade a boy named Roger

First thought waking up: I don’t want to go to work, what am I going to wear.

Food: Love food, and it shows. Love to cook food when I have time...mmmm food

G

Greatest fear: Being very old, sickly and alone

Gum; The old fashioned sugary kind, Wrigley’s Winterfresh. (Artificial sweeteners in gum give me the shits, only chew when constipated )

Get along with parents? Yes

Good luck charms: no, nothing would help my crappy luck

H

Hair color: Blonde, grey and dark blonde....going ECO, stopped dying my hair to stop putting chemicals on my head and in the waste water

Height: 5' 10.5

Happy? Trying to be happy in spite of my self

Holidays? Celebrate the traditional Christian holidays

Health freak? No, too lazy


I

Ice cream: mmm ice cream, too many favs to name

Instrument: no musical instruments for me.


J

Jewelry: not a jewelry person

Job: Work at a financial Institution/Corp. Peon

K

Kids: 2, one of each


Keep a journal? No

L

Longest car ride? Arizona to somewhere in New York State... 2nd longest=NY to Florida

Love: my hubby, kids, parents, siblings, friends ......... the usual people

Laughed so hard you cried: yes, Marly can testify to that

Love at first sight? No, lust maybe, love no

M

Milk flavor: Chocolate of course- 2%

Movie: a good romantic comedy or Science Fiction or Epic drama (I’m a Star Wars/Star Trek Lord of the Rings Fan,,,I know, rare for a girl )

Mooned anyone? No....

Marriage? Still married to my 1st husband

Motion sickness? Some, have been known to feed the fishes if I go sailing with a migraine

N

Number of siblings: 2

Number of piercings: 2

Number 5

O

Overused phrases: OMG, Really?, I’m sorry, What?,

One wish: To win the lottery and never HAVE to work again.

One phobia: Driving in traffic, DC traffic, not knowing where I am going

P

Place you'd like to live: Hawaii

Pepsi or coke? Used to be Pepsi, before I gave up soda pop
Q

Quail? No, never shot or ate one, but did hit one with my car

R

Reason to cry: Someone I loved is very sick or has died

Reality tv? Yes, I like “Survivor” and “Big Brother” and “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Project Runway”

Radio station: Easy Rock

Roll your tongue in a circle? yes I can ;-)

S

Song? “Hero” by Nickelback

Sushi? No, too chicken to try

Skipped school? No

Slept outside? Yes, in a home made tent when I was a kid...hated it, felt achy and cold in the morning

Seen a dead body? Yes, been to wakes...but I don't see dead people

Skinny dipped? No

Shower daily? Of course unless I am in bed sick then I may go a day without

Sing well? Hell no

Sing in the shower? Nope

Swear? Rarely, only when I am bloody well pissed off

Strawberries or blueberries? Both, fresh locally grown

Scientists need to invent: A CURE for all Cancer, and AIDS, and all diseases, especially those that strike children

T

Time for bed: 10 pm ish

Thunderstorms? Love a good thunderstorm as long as the power doesn’t go out and I am safe at home

U

Unpredictable? Yes, sometimes, always expect the unexpected, but not too often

Under the influence: of what? no illegal drugs or alcohol...maybe that's what i need!!

V

Vegetable you hate: Lima Beans, brussel sprouts

Vegetable you love: does anyone actually LOVE vegetables...really? I like fresh asparagus and corn on the cob

Vacation spot: Someplace other than here, warm, would love to go to Hawaii or Arizona

W

Weakness: No will power when It comes to dieting

Which one of your friends acts the most like you? None of them, otherwise I wouldn’t hang around them

Who makes you laugh the most? My husband, my kids and Elly

Worst feeling: That I lost something, like my purse, or hurt someone accidentally

Wanted to be a model? No

Where do we go when we die? The morgue, funeral home...at least our bodies do, our spirits go on to another dimension whether you call it heaven or hell is your choice

Worst weather: Cold, Windy Blizzard

Walk with a book on your head? Not usually

X

x-rays? Yes, want to see them? I have some lovely lower GI ones

Y

Yellow: actually I am wearing a yellow sweater and yellow LLBean cardigan....but I ain’t yeller

Yesterday: All my troubles seemed so far away....

Z

Zoo animals. Make me sad as they are not free,

Zodiac sign? Virgo...duh ..September's girl

So, now you know way too much information about me. And hopefully you didn't dose off.

Thanks for the prayers for my Dad.
His spirits are up as he is looking forward to my brother's visit and seeing his other 2 grandkiddies.

Happy Easter.

Back...

I'm baaacck.
Did ya touch my stuff?
Did ya miss me?
Yeah ...right
Why the tombstone in the last post?
I thought it was funny.
I have a strange sense of humor.
After I am gone, my husband will probably immediately have a yard/garage/tag sale and sell all my stuff for a fraction of it's true value.
I've stopped buying stuff.
I've accumulated enough stuff for one person.
Too many knick knacks.

Dad Update:
Cancer is back.
MRI showed a new tumor.
Tumor is in the exact spot that his back hurts.
They sent him directly to get Radiation.
No passing Go.
Dr told him that if he did nothing he would be paralyzed in a month or so.
Therefore, doing nothing is not an option.
So, he has 14 more rounds of radiation and possible Chemo.
I knew it was back when his progress stopped and he started going backwards, but I had hoped I was wrong.
His original Dr appointment was for the end of the month.
I told him it was a good thing that he went early, before too much damage was done to his spine/nerves.

Trying to keep a positive upbeat attitude around him.
Today I started crying at work.
I never cry at work.
But between the stress at work
and the news of my father,
I think my nerves are shot.

spring break

Spring is finally here.
Although there aren't any outward signs like flowers yet, it's still nice to know that the hard winter is over.

Haven't posted lately as I've been depressed.

One of the VP's where I work died unexpectedly.
He had surgery, a partial hip replacement.
Was home from the hospital a little more than a week.
Watched a Hockey game on a Saturday night with his wife and son
said he didn;'t feel well
stood up to go to bed
collapsed
Son gave him CPR
Never came to
Dead at 55
They think it was either a blood clot or an aneurysm.

He was a good guy
Actually cared about his customers and not just their money.

His family had the wake and memorial service at the town he grew up in which is 2 hours from where I work.
It was last Thurs & Friday.
As I don't work in the same department as he did, I wasn't given the option to go to it during work even though I worked with him also.
Kinda sucked...
I didn't even ask to take the time off either as I took Weds off as my son was home on spring break.

My son turned 23 while he was home on spring break.
I feel old.
My baby boy is 23.

My Dad isn't doing too well.
He was walking with a cane for about a week.
Now lately he says that his good leg bothers him when he walks with the cane.
He is also having more pain in his back.
He can't sit comfortably in his recliner as when he leans back on his back, it hurts.
Not good
So to watch TV he sits at the dining room table and leans forward on the table.
Luckily they have a TV in the Dining room, no satellite, but at least he gets the basic area's stations.

I am very worried about him because he says at night a few times it felt like his back was on fire and was in a lot of pain.
My mother put cold towels on his back, which he said helped a little.

My father isn't one to complain when he is sick or hurt, so this must be painful as he is actually saying something.

He has 3 doctor appointments next Tues the 31st.
Hubby is taking the day off to take him as it is difficult for my mom to try to help him.

My sister and I contacted our brother who lives outside of DC and let him know what was going on.
They changed their travel plans and are coming up here instead of to my sister-in-law's brother's place for Easter weekend.
Hopefully it will cheer up my Dad.

Happy Spring

Two Irish Women

Two women were sitting next to each other at a bar.
After awhile, one looks at the other and says,
'I can't help but think, you're from Ireland .'

The other woman responds proudly, 'Yes, that I am!'

The first one says, 'So am I! And where from Ireland might you be'?

The other woman answers, 'I'm from Dublin, I am.'
The first one responds, 'So, am I
and what street did you live on in
Dublin?'

The other woman says, 'A lovely little area it was ,
on McCleary Street in the old part of town.'
The first one says, 'Tis a small world. So did I!
And to what school would you have been going?'

The other woman answers,
'Well now, I went to St. Mary's, of course.'

The first one gets really excited and says, 'And so did I.
Tell me, what year did you graduate?'
The other woman answers,
'Well, now, I graduated in 1964 .

The first woman exclaims, 'The Good Lord must be
smiling down upon us!
I can hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same pub
tonight.
Can you believe it, I graduated from St. Mary's in 1964!!!'

About this time, Vicky, the bartender' s wife,
walks in, sits down and orders a beer.
Brian, the bartender, walks over to Vicky, shaking
his head and mutters,
'It's going to be a long night tonight.'

Vicky asks, ' Why do you say that, Brian?'

Brian answers, 'The McLaughlin twins are drunk again.'
==========================================
Hope yourselves had a wonderful St Patrick's Day.
My husband is half Irish, so it can be said that I have a bit of the Irish in me from time to time.!

Random stuff

Why is it that the majority of the women in the office building I work in feel that they must wear black all the time?
I feel like I am at a funeral.
Then on Friday they wear Khaki pants.
I like to shake things up and wear green slacks and navy slacks.
At the last employee meeting it was a sea of black and grey.
But there were a few of us colorful people.

Hubby asked me if he looked as old as the man in the commercial where the guy says that he is 52 and had a heart attack.
Hubby is a few years older.
Being the loving wife that I am..... I told him that he did not look as old as the guy in the commercial.
but I didn't say that he didn't look as young as the guy in the commercial either.....
It's all in the wording.....

Note to self...
Do NOT wash work clothes after you wash throw rugs again.
Because all the clothes are now covered with sand like silty junk from the rugs...ARGH!!

Penguin woman was spotted on the way to work.
She was walking in the road even though there is a 3 feet shoulder on the side of the road.
Had to swerve to avoid her.

Meme:

"Your ship has sunk.
You have, of course, been stranded on a deserted island.
You have salvaged a copy of the King James Version of the Bible and a copy of the complete works of Shakespeare.
Nothing else.
“The very next day you find one of those Arabian Lamps in the sand.
Of course, you rub it and, of course, a rather grumpy Genie appears. “‘Let’s get this straight - there is a recession going on.
There are restrictions on the three wishes now.
I don’t do water or air transport now so no boats, planes or magic carpets.
As for electronics, forget it.
There isn’t the infrastructure on this island.
“‘I can let you have one book and I mean one VOLUME, one essential item and one luxury item.
Now hurry up and make your choices, I have to get to those five other islands you are going nominate. "

The one book I would chose would be a guide to surviving on a deserted island.
The one essential item I would chose would be a lifetime supply of waterproof matches to start fire to keep warm.
The luxury item I would chose would be my box of art supplies, something to keep me busy while I'm sitting by the fire and not reading all those Shakespeare books.

Anyone who wants to do this meme, can consider themselves tagged. I only have a couple of people who read this, and I 'd rather not alienate them...so to do, or not to do, that is your option.

On my way to work if I time it just right I get stopped my school buses traveling in the opposite direction, but stopped to pick up children.
One such bus stops on the other side of a 4 lane highway so it ties up traffic during "rush" hour.
Lucky me, I timed it so I got to stop for the bus.
I sit in my cold car and watch as a pink and purple clad moppet saunters up her driveway after the bus has stopped for what seems like an hour already.
She just lolly gags along, oblivious to the lineup of traffic that is stopped in both directions.
Turning around she looks back at the house and we are all probably thinking the same thing, you better not be turning around to got get something you have forgotten!
But she just waves to the shadow in the picture window.
She seems not to mind the freezing 8 degree temperature as she merrily strolls along, with her knapsack on her back.
Three songs play on the radio and the little blond bomber finally gets in the bus.
But, we can't go yet because the bus driver has to wait till she meanders back to a seat before the bus can move....and leaves the red lights flashing....because bus drivers can, they have the power to control traffic like that.
I got to thinking...how nice it must be to be a child and not feel rushed to get anywhere.
The bus will always wait for you, no matter how long you take, and so will all those people on their way to work, who have to try to get in to work on time.
Then I thought, maybe there is a reason she doesn't want to get on the bus.
Maybe some of the other children are mean to her on the bus or she loves it at home so much that she doesn't want to go to school....or her teacher is a crab.
Or maybe she is just an inconsiderate little twit who likes to see all the cars stopped on the highway...

Peace people

No snow here :-)

I heard Georgia got snow :-)
We didn't :-D
It was sunny here all day yesterday and today.
Daughter showed me phone picture from someone in Atlanta of the snow.
My father had his last treatment radiation treatment Thursday.
They gave him a diploma saying congratulations you made it through treatment or something to that effect.
I saw the x-ray of all the rods and pins they put in his back.
Quite impressive.
The rods are at least 6 inches long.
He is still in pain, but refuses to take pain medication other than when he goes to bed at night.
He says that it helps him sleep.
He still is using the walker but the physical therapist says that he can start using the cane.
If it weren't for his leg going wonky & numb I wonder if he would have gone to the doctor about his back..

A friend of Hubby's was at the crash site of 3407 for about 4 hours during the clean up. He described what he saw even though I told him we really didn't want to hear it as he was pretty graphic in describing what he saw.
I won't repeat it here as I was nauseous after hearing his story and as you can imagine he saw things that no one should ever see they were so horrific.
But as with a car crash, where even though you don't want to look you do anyway, I didn't leave the room but stayed to listen like a fool.
I just hope that the families never hear some of the stuff.

I saw a mouse run across the room the other night. SO Hubby put out one of the new mouse cube traps that I bought. Within 5 minutes we had the little bugger...in a plastic cube...still alive....now what...what do you do with a live mouse in a plastic cube? Did I go and look at it..NO!!, Daughter did and said that it had beady little eyes...
I could hear the thing scratching the plastic so he put it out side to freeze it and the wind blew it and the end opened up and it escaped.
He put a cube in the garage and caught another one...maybe the same stupid one.
This one was drownded in a bucket of water.
I hate mice!!

My daughter flew back in to town Saturday.
I was a little anxious about her flying.
She called us after she boarded her plane, so we could time it when we would need to leave to pick her up.
But, my husband being the clever fellow he is, decided that we would go to the Denny's restaurant down the road from the airport and wait for her to call us when her plane ended.
Even though her plane was scheduled to land at 4pmish, we would still eat dinner at Denny's.
My daughter thought that this was a silly idea and that we should just drive around the airport till she called after the plane landed.....and probably get stopped by airport security for driving around the air port 20 times and looking suspicious.....because that is what she wanted us to do.
So being adults, we decided to go to Denny's.
It was a clear somewhat sunny day.
No snow.
So I felt better about her flying.
We got to Denny's and the place was mostly empty as we beat the lunch rush and were early for the dinner crowd.
I did notice that there the majority of the few people in there were senior citizens....and Hubby did qualify as one as he is over 55!
We were seated quickly...
I looked around the restaurant as I like to look to see who else is around...in case I know someone...even though it would be highly likely that I would know anyone there...but one never knows.
Off in the corner of the restaurant in a booth, sat a man with his back towards us. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up and when he turned around...I noticed that he was wearing large dark glasses and looked like the unibomber.
And he was talking shit about the government.
Creepy
I pointed him out to Hubby, who had to turn around to look at him.
Just as he turned back from looking at him, the smoke alarm went off in the restaurant and I nearly jumped out of the booth.
The waitress came around and assured everyone that Denny's wasn't on fire.....I told Hubby that it must mean that our food was ready.
Which it wasn't
And we had to wait longer
And here's how thrilled my hubby always looks when we are out to eat.

And I was only half way finished eating my western burger when the daughter called to say she landed...early.
So I told her we would be there in 10 minutes or so to wait outside for us....
She wanted to know where we were and I told her Denny's.
"WHY are you at Denny's!!"
"Because everyone has to be somewhere"
"AUGHH!!!"
"See you in a few minutes"
So I got a to go box and we paid the bill.
We made it to the airport and I doubt if she had to wait more than 5 minutes.
On the way home, we weren't on the road for more than 10 minutes when it started snowing very heavily, near white out conditions as the wind picked up. I was thankful that she chose the flight that she did as if she waited till the next one she would have had to fly through that shit.

Fire & Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Robert Frost

To those souls unlucky enough to board flight 3407, their worlds were ended by both fire and ice.
My deepest condolences go out to the families and friends of those who lost their lives.

My daughter flew out of Buffalo Thursday on her way to Atlanta. I texted her during the day and didn't get a response.
I went to bed early Thursday night.
Friday morning I awoke to the clock radio telling me to stay tuned for an update on the horrific plane crash.
What plane?, where? Why hadn't I heard from my daughter?
I was relieved to hear that it wasn't my daughter's plane and deeply saddened at the same time to hear that the plane crashed 6 miles from Buffalo in Clarence center.
Everyone was killed that was aboard the plane and one of the people in the house also died.
I know people who live in that area...some of my husband's cousins and their families live in Clarence.
I've been to Clarence.
My cousin used to take his children to a day care center .25 miles from the site where the plane went down.

A family was home just doing their own thing when a plane fell out of the sky and on to their house and exploded.
Amazingly 2 people escaped from the house.
Can you imagine being living in one of the houses next to the house that got hit?
Just last month we had a plane land on the Hudson river and everyone walked away, the pilot proclaimed a hero.
Friday the 13th eve, different story.

Would you rebuild your house in the same spot if you were those people?
Would they even be allowed to build in the same spot?
Why would anyone even want to rebuild in the same spot where 50 people died?
Hopefully they will decide to put a monument on the spot.

We used to live in the flight path of Griffith Air Force Base, and some of the planes would fly over the house rather low. One day I was outside with my kids, who were 2 & 4 at the time, and a plane flew so low I could read the numbers on the plane. It was kind of creepy when the shadow of the plane would appear on the lawn as it flew by.
I had many nightmares about planes flying into my house.
So glad that we moved out of that area.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mamma Mia was fantastic!!
We laughed, we cried, we fought the urge to sing along.
Our seats were awesome, we could see the costumes and the actors faces perfectly.
We went out to a BBQ place afterwards.
I would go see Mamma Mia again...much better than the movie by far.
They could have made the movie so much better by getting actors that could actually sing.

I didn't buy any Valentines this year.
normally it would bother me if my hubby didn't get me flowers or a card, but this year, it was just another day.
He did buy us a special heart shaped cake which we took over my parents and shared.
I didn't even send my son a card at college.....but he didn't send us one either so it doesn't matter.
Hope everyone had a nice Valentines Day.

(see comments for update)

Out and About

Did a lot of stuff yesterday.
Got up early and Elly picked me up and we went to breakfast at Tim Horton's on our way into Nickel City.
We were the first ones in the theater on Saturday to get our tickets to see Mama Mia.
They were just about sold out for next weekend and the only seats together were either in the front row of the orchestra , or in the 3rd row of the balcony.
So we have 3rd row balcony seats and will be able to see everything.
We were joking around that people will think we are a lesbian couple as we are going on Valentines day and also going out to dinner together too.
Her husband will be out of town and mine seems relieved not to have to think about venturing out on Valentine's day as he hates crowded places.

We walked around the city for a while and went into some small shops.
I got a pair of wild reading glasses.
Top part is tortoise brown and bottom half is turquoise.
Elly says that they are totally me.
My daughter actually thought they were cool looking too.

One of the churches on the Ave we happened to be on had a wine tasting /Farmer's market.
I purchased a bottle of Cranberry Wine from Niagara Landing Wine Cellars. I'm usually not into wine, but this tasted so good I had to buy a bottle. It will be opened up next time we have a turkey diner...or sooner.
Hopefully I will be able to find it sold in a liquor store near my house.
I also bought a loaf of Apple brown Betty bread and sampled Rabbit sausage, which was really good.

I got home after noon and had a piece of the bread for lunch.
It was so good.
My daughter said that she was bored and wanted to go somewhere.
She suggested the mall and my husband said we needed milk.
I called my parents to see if they needed anything from the store and they wanted oranges and hamburger buns.
So off we went in daughter's little car.
WE went to the mall first.
Having lost weight, she wanted to get a coat just like the one she has only in a smaller size.
It is a light weight fleece North Face jacket.
We ended up looking in a sporting goods store.
They had one exactly like her old one, but she wanted it in a different color, but at least she knew what size to get if she ordered it on line.
We walked from one end of the mall to the other and all I bought was a crossword puzzle book from Barnes and Noble.
I really had little interest in looking at clothes.

Both of us were hungry as it was 4:30 and she hadn't eaten lunch and all I had was the apple bread. We pulled into the parking lot at Olive Garden, but after not finding a parking spot, we declared it too crowded and went to a non-chain restaurant.
Which turned out to be a very good choice.
We were seated right away.
I ordered a chicken dish called Santa Fae Dirty Rice. When it arrived it looked like a sun as the chicken, rice mixture was in the center with the homemade tortillas sticking out from the center like the rays of the sun. Very nice presentation and it tasted as good as it looked.
I took half of it home and hubby enjoyed it. (Maybe I can get him to take me to this restaurant now that he's tasted the food)

On the way home we we driving behind this wildly painted van. It was a small older mini van which was painted black, the windows were black and it had white zebra like stripes all over it.
Over the back bumper it said "BLAZIN N AMAZIN" .
I was thinking that I would rather take a bus then ever be caught riding in that thing.
Well daughter says that she has to pass Blazing and Amazing because they are driving too slow.
As we pass the van, I see that it says "PUNK d" in white mixed in with the white stripes on the side and on the hood of the van is a silver skull, not painted on the hood, but an actual 3D skull sticking out of the hood.
I commented that maybe it was a band or something and that they will be lucky if they are not pulled over for having the windows blackened out.
Also the 3 first letters of the license plate were DYE followed by 4 numbers. Pretty bizarre!!

We turn off the main road and make our way to the super market to get the groceries. Daughter found a parking spot where she could do a pull through. We get the stuff and head out to the parking lot.
Parked right behind us is the Blazing N Amazing van. Music is blaring out of it.
We both look at each other as we are putting the stuff in the trunk and start to laugh then she says OMG he followed me here. It was a strange coincidence that that van would end up at the same store as us parked right behind us considering all the different streets we turned down to get there.
I looked into the front window of the van and all I could see was a pale hand on the steering wheel.
The van backed up and went in the lane to get out of the parking lot.
Daughter asked me which way they went and we went the other way.
Kind of creeped me out when I couldn't see the guy's face.
We tried to speculate who of the people we say in the store it could have been.
I wondered if it was the guy with the nail like piercing though the top of his ear, but other than that he looked normal.
She though it might be the guy with the 12 bottles of lemonade store brand soda, but we left before him.
We may never know...actually I hope we never meet up with that van again as it was CREEPY!!

It was great to be out yesterday.
It got up to 50 degrees.
Even though it was windy, it was nice.
A break from the snow is always appreciated.
I went to bed at 9:30 because I was so tired from all the walking & fresh air.
Peace People