Comparisons

Wow, isn't it amazing how you can look at a picture of yourself and think, 'surely that's not me!' But it really is! ??? The most recent picture of me (Christmas party pic that I posted a couple of days ago) looks a lot more like the "real me" I remember, as opposed to the pictures I have seen of myself in the past 10 years. I guess as we age, in our own minds' eye, we always keep the "favorite and best" look we ever attained and try to reject the face we see in the mirror every morning! In getting out Christmas cards to work on, I found last years and the year before's, both having photos of us on them, and compared it to this years. Noticeable difference! Encourages me to stay on my plan of getting in better shape.

Was great to get a quick visit in with #3 sister on Monday night! Just wish it could've lasted longer, but hey ... I'll take what I can get!

Ready for Christmas? Neither am I. But it's coming whether we're ready or not, so just accept it and enjoy it! I have decided not to worry or fret about all that I am not getting done (decorating, baking, cards, etc.) and just enjoy Christmas for Christmas' sake. After all, it never should've been about all the activities we try to cram in it anyway! Fun if you can do them, not fun if you kill yourself trying to do them! Know what I mean, Vern???

Christmas Party Photo

Hello bloggy friends and family!

Thought I'd take a second (since that's all I have!) to post the latest pic of us, taken by a friend at our company Christmas party on Sat., Dec. 6th, 2008. If I manage to get Christmas cards out this year, most of you will see this photo again!

It was a fun time! That's all for now!

Bye!

Update

Well, just a little update ..... I've lost 12 pounds! Yea!! Yippee!! Yahoo!!


As they've always said ..... "eat less, exercise more" .... that's the ticket! Yep! Yessireebob! Works for me!

I don't have any "show off" pictures (yet!) but the most recent one, taken just 2 days ago, will have to do for now. (But you probably can't see any weight loss in this picture - it's me and sis in beautiful Colorado) .....

And one of me and hubby in same beautiful state ....

It was a quick trip up there and back (in Fri pm/out Mon pm) but we sure did have a good time! The weather was perfect and it is such a beautiful and peaceful place! Check out these pictures below ....

Here's the comfy chair ...


Here's the view from the comfy chair .....



And here's the "big picture view" from same chair ...



AWESOME, HUH???

Changes

A couple of months ago, I had some kind of "epiphany" (not as in "divine revelation" but as in "an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure OR a revealing scene or moment"), a sort of "wake up" moment and decided I needed to make some changes. It was the sudden realization that I am going about things all wrong, trying to do too much and never feeling like I am doing enough, and that it's just "not working." With this realization, I reset some of my priorities and set myself on the path to some changes that I think will benefit my life, as in my work life, personal life and physical and spiritual well-being. I am now "closing" the print center at 4 p.m. (except in unusual circumstances). We come in at 7 every day and if we take a lunch-hour, our 8 hours is done by 4, even though we have always still continued to work well past 5, most days, and well past 6 plenty of other days. No more. We will work 8 hours a day like everyone else around here (not including those who work LESS than 8) and like all of the other print centers do. We will have to get used to having regular 40-hour paychecks, something I haven't had in over 3 years, but the rest of my life is too important to ignore this. I have GOT to make time for a 'personal life' and every day cannot just continue to be work, work, work, go to Granddaddy's, go home and go to bed, day in and day out. I just can't do it anymore. I joined the Aspen Athletic Club and have been going regularly. I had 3 sessions with a personal trainer, going over work out plan and overall fitness goals, getting measurements and weight recorded, along with BMI and body fat information, etc. That helped get me started on the right track. It is a beautiful, modern and up-to-date facility with just everything in the world that you could ever need or want for working out, plenty of room, helpful and knowledge staff, in an environment that I am very comfortable with. I know I will feel a lot better when I get back into better shape and condition. Heck, I already do! I don't want to wait until I have a heart attack or some other major illness to "wake up." I am trying to eat better and not as much (moderation, moderation!). The thing that helps me most is not eating late in the day or evening. I can tell a big difference when I change that one thing right there. By Christmas, I hope to have achieved noticeable results.

I'll Be Back!

I swear, I'll get back to posting someday, hopefully soon! I'm on vacation next week, maybe I can "catch up" then!

Frosty Orange Pie

Y'all have GOT to try this new recipe I just tried last Saturday. It is so yummy and SO easy!

FROSTY ORANGE PIE

1 pkg cream cheese, 8 oz, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk, 14 oz
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate, 6 oz, thawed
1 carton frozen whipped topping, 8 oz, thawed
1 graham cracker crust, 9 inches

In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth. Beat in orange juice concentrate. Fold in whipped topping until completely blended. Spoon into graham cracker crust. Chill for 3-4 hours before serving. Can garnish with dollops of whipped cream and mandarin oranges, if desired (looks real pretty that way). Can freeze up to 3 months. Very nice to have on hand for unexpected company or occasions where you suddenly need a dessert. A very good 'summer' dessert, as it is light and fluffy and refreshing!


Try it and let me know what you think!

New bloggy style

1) Hubby is in TX helping #1 son do some remodel work in his kitchen and spending time w/ the grandkids in the 'off' time.
2) Stayed up until 2 and 3 a.m. Fri & Sat nights, slept til noon on Saturday, napped Sunday afternoon after keeping 2-yr-old nursery (with 25 kids - 5 workers).
3) Visited Granddaddy Sat & Sun - doing real good.
4) Made 4 pies on Sat. - 2 pink lemonade / 2 'frosty orange' - ice box type pies made w/ Eagle Brand, Cool Whip, frozen juice concentrates, 1 w/ cream cheese (orange one) - both very delicious - cool and refreshing and light, perfect summer time dessert. Brought to work - quickly devoured.
5) Had wonderfully cool weather (for August) yesterday - high of 90, overcast most of the day
6) Raining today - much needed. Cloudy and dark outside.
7) Might have to mow the yard MYSELF if hubby doesn't get home soon! :(

That's all.
How's that for brief and to-the-point. Trying to learn a newer, more sleek style of posting, so as not to put my readership to sleep every time!

Sum ... sum ... sum ... summertime!!!

Summer weather is good for one thing – GETTING WET AND GETTING COOL! We recently took 2 of the grandkids to the local waterpark for just that very purpose. What great fun we had, yes, even us grown-ups! (Fortunately, we had one buy one/get one free coupon (saved $25!) and another discount coupon that saved us about $8 more!) We got there about 1 p.m. and left about 6 p.m. Let me show you some of the fun:

GD (granddaughter) #3 coming out of tube slide ....

GD #3 & Granddaddy (theirs, not mine) making the long climb up to shoot back down (came back down the curly blue tube in last 2 photos)

That little tiny speck on the green slide is grandson #3

That next tiny speck on green slide is GRANPA HIMSELF!!!

Yes, we (adults, not kids) were worn out and ready to go by dinner time! But it sure was fun!

Busy Bee

Aren't these lovely colors we can type in?


Well, as everyone knows, summers seem to be super busy. We have had a fun one, so far, but as usual, I am ready for cooler temperatures already. Of course, as far as I'm concerned, I would be very satisfied if the temperature never got above about 80 degrees, that would be SUMMER ENOUGH FOR ME! I guess it is the August heat (and July, as well) that makes me wish for such impossibilities. After several 100+ days, I'm ready to crawl in the refrigerator and stay there until late September! So, obviously, I could never live in a place such as south Texas, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico or any of those other inhumanely hot locations!!!

On Saturday, June 28th, we drove to TX and picked up 2 of the grandkids and took them to a Rangers baseball game. We had a great time. We had tickets to awesome seats in the Corona Club, which is a nice, indoor, AIR CONDITIONED area directly behind home plate (about 50 ft back) with huge glass panels all the way across the front for a full, unobstructed view of the whole field. Our seats were in the very middle on the front row, so no one between us and the view. We had waitress service, access to a nice (free) buffet, comfy leather seats with attached little tray to hold your food, etc. Best ball game I've ever been to! (for obvious reasons!! a/c being #1)


View from the (not) cheap seats ....







(Those little blond/bald heads near the middle of that last shot are hubby & grandkids.)

Wasted days and wasted nights .....

Remember that tune? If you do, you're tellin' your age or you like oldies!

If I don’t post soon, the month of July will be gone and I won’t have entered my once-a-month post! That would be a terrible shame and a huge disservice to my loyal readership! Hahahahaha!

This past weekend was the first weekend in months that we have been able to just stay at home, with no commitments, no trips, no appointments, no nothing and I was sooo looking forward to it! Just stay at home, work on a few of my ‘projects,’ get some things accomplished in a non-hurried way, rest, .... you know, just a nice productive weekend. But, lo, it was not to be. I woke up early on Saturday morning (bad sign right there!) about 8 a.m. with some bad pains in my chest. I have had these same type pains off and on for about a month or two, but they don’t last long and haven’t ever reached the “I can’t stand it anymore” stage, so I always just figure it’s “one of those things” that just comes and goes, maybe a ‘getting older’ type of thing. So Saturday morning, it was hurting pretty good (I mean, pretty bad) so I finally had to get up. You KNOW if I get up at 9 a.m. on Saturday, something is not normal. This pain would come and go, and would almost get to the real bad stage. I thought to myself, ‘if it gets any worse, I’ll have Jimmy take me to the ER, just to get checked out’ but it never quite reached that stage. But it bothered me for most of the day so I just laid around on the couch or on the bed or in the chair, didn’t have any energy to do anything. Wasted my day feeling bad. How disappointing for my Saturday plans! Late that night, I did look on the internet under women's heart attack symptoms and noticed that I had about 4 out of the 6 things that they mentioned, but by then, the pains had stopped. Maybe I should've gone to the doctor. Sunday I felt a bit better, didn’t have the same pains but was just very tired and lethargic all day. Didn’t even feel like going to church, morning or night! I did go over to see Granddaddy both days, but that was about all the energy I could muster up. Glad to say the pains haven’t come back (well, except one time yesterday morning about 8:30, one little pain hit me but it went away and didn’t come back), but sad to say I wasted my weekend laying around. Just last week I called and scheduled an appt w/ cardiologist because of these particular pains, but can't get in until August 28th. Hope I don't croak before then!

Maybe this coming weekend will be more productive! I sure hope so! I have tons of stuff that I need to do!

Company

Well, we have had a bit of company lately! And we like company!

When we returned from our Arkansas vacation, we already had 2 guests! Big sis & her hubby were here, having arrived the day before. Came to visit with Granddaddy so just made themselves at home before we arrived. Family is family and “mi casa es su casa” rings very true around our place. So they came on Thur and we arrived on Friday, with Mother and Daddy right behind us. So, had a houseful for that weekend! Enjoyed a good meal at a small, family owned Italian restaurant real close to the house that first evening. Brought Granddaddy over on Sat. and again on Sun. so he could visit with everyone in one place. Not enough room at his place for more than about 1 visitor at a time, unless you want to go out into the common area, where they do have a nice big ‘visiting room’ but it’s way, way down the hall from his room and he doesn’t go down there too much, plus, I knew he would enjoy getting out for a change of scenery. It was quite a task to get him out, as he is getting weaker as the days go by. But he did enjoy it and we all did too. We all went to church Sunday (except G'd) and then enjoyed a delicious lunch at one of our favorite places on the lake here in town. Stopped and got G'd and brought him over again to visit. Then sis & b-i-l had to head back to TN on Monday – had to get back to work. Monday was a holiday so hubby & I got to go for a nice, long, relaxing motorcycle ride, first time this year. I drove the whole time and by the time we got home, my hands were tingling and tired, from the vibration for such a long time (and not being used to it!) and the top of my legs and my shoulders were very sunburned! Mom & Dad got to stay the rest of the week! That was nice, they got to chill out and relax during the day while I was at work, go visit with G’dad, make their daily trek to Wally World, go to Sgt Grits to get Marine stuff (Daddy loves to go there!), go to Shepler's and look at the western clothes, do some reading and napping, sometimes meet me for lunch, and then we could visit in the evenings. Then they headed home, too.

Then 2 weeks later, they came back out, as it was Father’s Day weekend and Mother wanted to be here with her dad on that day. Which was nice because that way I got to be with MY dad for Father's Day, too, and that doesn't happen often with us living so far apart! And as it just happened to turn out, AC & UJ & their daughter, my cousin, happened to already be scheduled to come down for that weekend also! UJ was scheduled to preach at a little church just about a mile from our house (for a preacher friend of his who was on vacation) so it worked out that for the first time in probably 50 years, G’d got to be with both of his daughters on Father’s Day! That was real nice. We did enjoy all of the visiting but it sure meant a LOT of time in the kitchen, cooking up meals and snacks and then cleaning them up, then fixing them again! Thank goodness Daddy was a big help in the kitchen! And of course, cousin and auntie and mom all offered help, too, but can only get just so many people into my kitchen without causing a major traffic jam. There were too many folks to just go out to eat every time, plus w/ G’d with us, he wouldn’t be able to do that, so we sort of had to eat in all weekend. The KS folks left on Monday afternoon (I had already had to go back to work) and M&D stayed through the rest of the week. I told them as long as they’d spent all that gas money to get out here, no use in turning right around and going home 3 days later! So, they did stay until the weekend so that we would have one more “whole day” of visiting on Saturday and then they headed out Sunday morning before we went to church. Always nice to have family come and see you when you live so far away from them all. Our door is always open and you all are welcome anytime! (Just do be sure and call first, simply to ensure that we will be home and not out of town ourselves!)

We do love company, but we also do enjoy the "peace & quiet" that comes when everyone is gone. Of course, after a little bit of "peace & quiet" we're ready for some more company again!! Ya'll come! :)

Summertime

Well, it must be unofficially summertime here because we've hit nearly 100 degrees already! I was hoping those temps wouldn't show up until, oh, say maybe ... AUGUST!! ha! Yes, I was daydreaming. And tornado season has visited with its usual intensity, in fact, I think I heard on the news recently that we were having MORE tornadoes so far this year than our average years. We haven't had to get in the closet yet this year, but came close once or twice.

I see that I didn't enter even one post in the month of May. I guess that's because May just has too much activity in it! The family reunion, out of town company, the week of vacation in lovely ARK, plus the usual work schedule and church activities. I must say we did have a WONDERFUL time in Arkansas, the weather was great, couldn't have asked for better! Just right for sitting out on the balcony and reading a book, eating a snack or just gazing out over the lake, watching the boaters, skiiers and fishermen, or even just taking a little snooze! Got in the pool once (only because little J-boy wanted to GO SWIMMING!) and wow, was that water ever cold! So cold, in fact, that the little man couldn't even get in it, just up to his ankles on the steps! Did sit on the kick-board if I held it up on top of the water so he wouldn't get too wet! But we had a fun time. He spent the whole time throwing those 'waterbomb' things at me and I threw them back. I think he could've done that for hours on end, but after about an hour or hour and 1/2, we had to go, time to get busy getting over to the reunion and getting things set up for that event. Had a good turnout, a good meal of bbq and all the fixin's and a good time visiting and singing along with cousin Lanny and his guitar pickin'. Stayed there all the rest of the week and had a very nice and relaxing week. Came back home and had company for a few days - oldest sis and her hubby, along with mom and dad. Sis & company headed home Monday morning, but not before we got to go to Pearl's on the lake and enjoy a yummy catfish dinner on Sunday after church. Mom and dad stayed through Friday so that was nice. They got to spend some time with Granddaddy while I was at work during the week. He really enjoyed that. Now, everyone's gone home and I'm back with my nose to the grindstone, working sun-up to sun-down. I keep telling myself 'it's only for a little while longer, until things either slow down or we get more help' but I'm beginning not to believe myself! ??

Well, have some overnight guests due in tomorrow night, another set of guests next weekend and more company two days after those leave. And I've got tons (and I mean tons) of housework that I need to get completed before tomorrow night, so gotta get up off this chair and get busy. Got out of bed this morning and immediately started cleaning. Cleaned for about 3 hours (cleaning out drawers, under the bed, arranging photos in new frames, etc.) then stopped to go grab some lunch and go by and see Granddaddy and hang up some new photos on the wall for him. So, now that my "leisure time" is over, I'll have to get back at it.

Chat with you folks later!

Oh, let me post a few new photos before I go .....

Cousin and family, April 2008

"I'm going SWIMMIN'!"

Cool Shades!

That water is TOOOO COLD!!!

I am too cute, aren't I???

What a little angel!

Oh, I must tell you one more story .... one night while sis and adorable little fella above were there with us, said sis got really sick (you know, hanging over the toilet sick), so she had to get into the bed right away. So, lucky great-auntie got to entertain little J - that meant hours of "hide & seek" which in his mind consists of me counting to 10 (real loud) in another room and him hiding in the same place every time and when I say "ready or not, here I come" he jumps out of his hiding place and runs to me while I scream and wave my hands around shouting "I FOUND YOU!" at which point he cracks up laughing and falling on the floor. Then we do the same thing again. And again. And again. Once I got to be the one to hide, so I hide behind the wall length floor-to-ceiling curtains. After he "found" me, that's the only place he wanted to hide. But instead of hiding there, I'd enter the room and he'd be behind the curtains with his head poking out of the crack in the curtains watching for me. I'm not too sure he gets the concept of "hide & seek" just yet, but we sure had fun. Then it was time to quiet down and start getting ready for bed. So, it was storybook reading time. We read 3 books, then had to get some more, then after about an hour of reading, I suggested that I was getting really sleepy and maybe it was time to go to bed. "I not go to bed, I just be real quiet," he said. Hhhmmmm, how am I going to work this out. You know I don't want the little fellow to start crying. So, we went upstairs and I thought maybe he'd like to get in his bed while I read another story (and hopefully fall asleep). (Worked for 'honey' the previous night.) Oh, no! We're not even thinking of getting in that bed. And when honey stuck her head out from under the pillow and tried to sound all stern and serious with a sickly "it's time to get in the bed" then I could see the tears start to well up! Well, with 'honey' deathly sick and Mother also deathly sick at the same time (a whole 'nother story!), I certainly didn't want any loud crying and getting upset, and I sure didn't want to see him cry, after all, he was in a strange place with folks he doesn't see often, and I'd do just about anything to keep him from being upset, so I took him to the toy crate and let him pick out a dozen more books. We got up on the couch and I tried to make it sooo comfortable that he couldn't HELP falling asleep - I mean, seriously, it was going on midnight and I was dead-tired and having to prop my eyeballs open! But he was determined "I not go to sleep!" So I read. And I read. And I read. Finally, I saw the fidgeting start to cease, the eyes get droopy, so I kept reading - trying to read in the most monotonous boring voice (no more 'character voices' that make reading so exciting!) so that he would fall asleep. Finally, he scootched down with the blanket a little and closed his eyes. So in a minute, I quit talking. Oops! Too soon! Eyeballs open again, so I start reading again. By this time, I was just making up stuff. It was the book that you find all this stuff on a busy page, so I was making up stories about everything on the page ('cuz I was too tired to keep turning the pages!). So it was like "and the little girl with the pigtails was walking along with her daddy and they were going over to the bakery to get some of those big fresh loaves of bread, and the little girl near the fountain was looking for some pennies to throw in there so she could make a wish, and the boy in that upstairs window was looking out over the city to see if he could find his dog ....." etc etc. Of course, not a word of that was really in the book, but I was desperate. FINALLY, he was asleep. But I didn't dare take a chance that he would pop awake again so I kept droning on for another 5 minutes. Then I got quiet and gave him a few minutes to get in a really deep sleep, then I picked him up and carried him to bed. Got him tucked in and POP! opened those eyes! "OH, NO!" I thought to myself, "I can't POSSIBLY stay awake another minute," but thank you, Lord, he closed his eyes and was right back to sleep! What a precious little sight! And not a bit of crying! I succeeded. And it was only half past midnight!

Tennessee Time

Well, I'm a little late in posting about it but week before last, we got to take a much-needed week long vacation and go to lovely Tennessee to visit with my family! Spring is a great time to go there (fall ain't bad either!) because summer is swelteringly hot and humid and winter is sometimes bone-chillingly wet & cold. The dogwoods and azaleas were just awesome! They were blooming profusely everywhere you looked and dang it! if I didn't go off and forget both of my cameras, so no exciting vacation photos to share! :(

We both gained about 10 pounds in that one week (okay, maybe slight exaggeration) but our 'schedule' consisted of "who-are-we-meeting-today-and-where-are-we-eating?' - Monday night Top's BBQ (which I do love, even though some might not AND it's conveniently close when you're clear out in T-county!), Tuesday afternoon Corky's BBQ, Wednesday night Red Lobster, Thursday night BBQ Station, Friday night Erwin's, Saturday night Mazzio's ... get the picture? I'm convinced that part of the reason our society has a weight problem is because so many of us center our social life around FOOD!!!!! And oh, my, I'm not complaining about that because I LOVE that, but I can see where it could definitely contribute to excess pounds! If we kept our "social eating" the same but added in healthy amounts of exercise, like riding our bicycles around town, walking to the store, tending a large garden, etc. then maybe that would help even out some of the calorie intake! But alas, I don't see that becoming a trend anytime soon, do you? I think if we worked just half as hard (physically) as our ancestors did, just even 2 generations ago, we wouldn't have the obesity problems we see nowadays. Imagine if you had to pick you out a 60' x 70' plot of ground out back, till up the soil with some hand-held animal-pulled implement, plant the seed (by hand, not with a tractor!), keep it weeded and watered (and forget the garden hose and running water, get that bucket and head to the creek!), pick the beans, peas, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, etc., take it all inside and wash it up, shell, peel, snap, cut, chop, dice, boil, then can or freeze all of that bounty and place it on your pantry shelves (quite a different scenario than walking up and down the grocery store aisles and plopping things into your shopping cart!), and on top of that having to fetch your water (for cooking, cleaning, bathing, washing, etc.) from either the well, the creek or the pump outside, hauling it in heavy buckets, chopping the wood you need to keep your home heated and your cooking done, sewing all of your clothes (and the clothes for all of your family) by hand ...... I could go on and on, but you get the picture!!! No wonder they weren't as heavy (as a whole) as 'we' are these days!!! Most of us would never make it if we were suddenly dropped back in time to the 1800's or early 1900's, would we?? We sure have a lot to be thankful for that we take for granted just because it's all we've ever known! Yet we hear so many people complain and moan about how "hard" they have it, how "tough" things are for them ..... poor, poor things!!!!

Well, I was SUPPOSED to be talking about my VACATION, not obesity and history!! Back to the good stuff ... we had a great time! Got to see all of the family (except sister #3, who we will see in a week or two) and that was sure nice. Saw nephew & wife's new home - VERY NICE and LOVE THAT BACK YARD!!! - and spend some time with awesome little great-nephew! Sure miss that little fella! Saw niece on that same evening while we enjoyed some mid-town bbq and she is doing well and looking well! We were fortunate to be there on youngest nephew's 16th birthday so got to celebrate that with him AND got to be one of the first to have him drive me somewhere!!! That was fun!! And mind-boggling that he is OLD ENOUGH to be driving me somewhere! My, how time flies! Spent lots of time with mom & dad and had a good time visiting, talking, reminiscing and relaxing (threw in a little cleaning here and there, too!). Of course, I had to sit down at the piano every chance I got and peck out a few songs to the best of my ability (which is not much to speak of!) but I enjoy it! Can't say the same for anyone within ear shot, as it's not exactly 'beautiful music!' :) Got to see #1 sister (& hubby) several times, had homemade ice cream at her house the first night, saw her on-the-job a couple of times and at mom's a few times, once to do some 'sangin' around the piano for awhile! Saw #4 sister (& hubby) a few times, as well, at her house and at birthday dinner - so all in all, we got in a good visit with everyone! The week went by all too quickly but I sure enjoyed the trip!

Two and 1/2 weeks from now, we'll be off on another vacation! Starting with the family reunion (which is part work/part vacation) and ending with week on the lake in Hot Springs - THAT will be fun and relaxing too! Anyone who is able is free to come and join us there!

Gotta run! Talk to you all later!

The Sound of Silence

There are times when I most definitely like to have a little SILENCE!!! Like after being in my office for 10 hours hearing the incessant hum of 5 continual feed printers running almost non-stop all day! When we turn them off when we get ready to leave, the silence is ...... AMAZING!!!! A welcome relief on the old ears! And brain. Somehow the constant noise just seems to make your brain tired!

But the silence I DON'T like is coming home to an empty house. No one to say "hey honey, I'm home" to. No one to reply "....'bout time! Where ya been all day?" Not to often does hubby go out of town without me, but on a few rare occasions, it happens for a few days. Like today. I scored some FREE tickets to a big NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway for tomorrow, along with parking pass, passes for tour of Roger Staubach's teams garage and pit area and tailgate party/lunch - probably a pretty nifty package for a race fan, but since I'm not a big race fan, I wasn't that hip to the idea of going down there for a quick 24 hour 'there-and-back' trip, so I told DH (dear hubby) to see if one of his sons would like to go with him. Figured they could enjoy a little 'male bonding' down there amongst the noise, cars and smell of fuel. So, off they go. I do hope they have a great time and I'm sure they will. Then he'll go on down toward Houston to visit his mom for a few days. She's getting on up there in age (80 this year) and her husband just passed away in February so he wanted to go visit her. They don't usually see each other but maybe once or twice a year, if that, but I think the older we get, the more he thinks of visiting when he gets the chance. So, I'm glad he's taking this opportunity to spend some time with his side of the family. Lord knows, I do spend time with mine whenever I get the chance so I certainly wouldn't begrudge him to do the same! But I'll sure be feeling lonesome when it comes time for lights out tonight. We don't even usually go to bed at the same time, he usually sits up watching TV until real late (he says it's so I can go to sleep without his loud snoring keeping me awake but I've told him it doesn't bother me - as long as I can fall asleep first!) but since he can sleep in as long as he wants every morning, and I, on the other hand, have to rise and "try to shine" about 5:30 a.m., I do have to hit the sack much earlier than he does. But it's still comforting just knowing he's in the other room watching TV and will be in later. If you're so used to being with your spouse day in and day out, night in and night out, you might unknowingly begin to take their presence for granted. Don't do that! Spending a few days and nights all alone (and that would include no kids in the house, just you, no other living, breathing soul!) will sure make you have a greater empathy and understanding for what it must be like for all of the people who do live alone, widows and widowers, single folks who've never married, ...... wow! I don't know HOW they do it! There's a whole row of little old ladies at our church that always sit together every Sunday and they are so cute, always so happy to see each other, hugging and smiling and laughing together, sharing their little 'candy bag' (little plastic baggy of hard candy that they pass down the row before the sermon gets started!). Sometimes I'll notice one of them has the little tag sticking out the back of her blouse, or her hair might be sticking out a little funny in the back, or the buttons in the back are buttoned cock-eyed, or some little thing like that and I automatically think, 'well, no wonder, there was no one there this morning to help her' ..... no one she could stand proudly in front of and say "honey, how do I look?" as she gives a whirl around, making sure everything is in place. I often wonder how do they manage with no one to help them get their necklace fastened when their fingers don't want to cooperate because of a little arthritis flare up, or because of being a little too shaky that day, how do they get out of their dress when the zipper gets stuck, who buttons up that last button at the top that she just barely can't reach? Bless their hearts ..... the things we take for granted!! Don't ever forget to thank God for your mate!

The sound I'll be looking forward to in a few days ....... "hey honey! I'M HOME!!!!"

Spoiled? Not me!

OK, so I did one of those silly personality test things. So join my silliness and do it, too. Come on, humor me! Go here: http://www.blogthings.com/areyouspoiledquiz/ But ya gotta come back and tell me what the results were! Heck, if I'd only had a job during high school, I would be 0% spoiled!!! Oh, well, no one's perfect!

Here were my results:

You Are 4% Spoiled
You are definitely not spoiled. You've worked hard for what you have.Down to earth and grounded, you don't need a lot to make you happy.

Take note - my SHORTEST POST EVER!

Company

Well, just had a great 4-day visit from #4 sister and dear nephew! Was very nice to spend some good times with them! Would've loved to have the b-i-l here, too, but he had to stay behind and make a living! Like hubby says "somebody's gotta do it!" I actually took 3 vacation days while they were here so that we could hang out the whole time, rather than just a couple of hours in the evenings, and it sure made a good difference. Not to mention that I got the GREAT PLEASURE of sleeping in every day (except Easter Sunday, of course) and that is HUGE to me! And naturally, stayed up 'til "all hours" because of getting to sleep late so my regular sleep/wake schedule was really thrown out of whack! But, hey, that's okay, because my 'regular' sleep/wake schedule that I have to keep because of work hours is NOT my BODY'S regular sleep/wake schedule, no sir, much, much different!

We went bowling yesterday and had quite a fun time doing that! And yes, nephew whooped up on us old folks! But not surprised, as he is somewhat of a "pro" anyway! Carries THREE of his own special bowling balls with him! Obviously not his first time in an alley! G'd went with us and enjoyed watching! I'm sure it was amusing from his perspective! It was a beautiful day outside (but very windy!) so a nice day for him to get out and see some sunshine. After taking him back to his home and getting him settled at dinner, we went to the gun range and did a little shooting. That was fun, too, and something I had not done in many years. Can be quite an expensive past time if you're not careful! Gotta be sure and buy the ammunition BEFORE you get to the range, so you can get the 'cheap stuff' to practice with. Loud does not begin to describe the noise level inside that range! My goodness, if I ever had to use that weapon inside my house, I would surely go deaf, as I don't think I would have ample time to don my ear protection!!! It was very loud even WITH ear protection, and I mean DOUBLE ear protection - foam inserts in ears and also muffling headphone-type ear covers! I'll be needing to get a smaller gun; the beast I have is too big to carry comfortably. I'll put that on my Christmas wish list! :)

We, or should I say "the fellas", spent countless hours watching college basketball this past weekend; I swear, it was never-ending!!!! I think they were having a b-ball marathon! Oh, no, wait, I think they call it a TOURNAMENT! They sure enjoyed it - I guess it's a 'guy thing' because we women-folk quickly tired of it. But glad they could be so easily entertained for so long!

Well, it's back to the daily grind this morning so must get back at it. Will drop in here another day and write a little more.

Nothing to exciting ....

Well, nothing too exciting going on to write about, just a lot of the "usual" which as you know is work, sleep, eat, work, sleep, eat, not necessarily in that order.

Granddaddy's shingles have gotten much better but are in the 'itchy' stage so that is quite uncomfortable for him. Got some Cortizone 10 for the nurses to put on him a.m. and p.m. and that is helping a lot.

He seems to be getting adjusted to the room in the nursing home - it's just so much smaller than his apt., I'm sure it is a big adjustment. The people have all been super nice and treat the people there so well, I am so grateful for that. He is getting a bit stronger physically and is not so shaky, so that is a big answer to prayer. I sure don't want him to fall and break a hip or something and be laid up from now on. At least he has the "freedom" to be up and around a little bit, which is huge at his age!

I have a bad head cold so I'm rather miserable. Which means it's time to go home and take a few big chugs of Nyquil and hit the sack and hope for some sleep! Can't go by and visit G'd because I sure don't want to spread my germs to him or any of the other residents there; it could be deadly for some of them. They don't have very strong immune systems.

The weather is very nice out this week - in the 60's and 70's, but real windy today; too bad I don't feel good enough to enjoy it. Might get some rain this weekend but hopefully, no more snow for the season. I'm ready for spring and some nice weather and a little working in the yard. I need to take some vacation time and head "back home" to see the family and especially the little 'great nephew!' He is growing so fast it makes my head spin! Don't want him to grow up not knowing who "Auntie J" is so gotta make trips back home as often as possible! Sent him some books recently and included a little note w/ a photo of hubby and me so he would see who it was from and his mom said he knew right away and started talking about certain places and people related to his trip out here! What a memory for such a little fella!

There is much more I could tell, such as about my trip to Houston, recent funeral, job offers and other stuff, but I'm not feeling "up to par" so this blog will be very short (for me).

Goodbye for now!

New acquisition

Well, I have been meaning to “share” with you all regarding my new dining room but just haven’t had the opportunity. So I will now take a few minutes to pass on some lovely photos. I am so excited about it because it is the first time we have ever had a “real” dining room suite in our 25 years of marriage. Previously, we used a little wood & glass table and chairs that we bought from a friend for $100 back in 1985. It served us well and we sure got our money’s worth out of it! (And we haven't had that for over a year because we sold it at a garage sale, thinking we would get something in its place rather quickly, so the room has been basically empty for a long time now except for a card table!) Of course, there was NO other furniture to go with it, but we did eventually get a sofa table that I used in there and a couple of cheap pressed board cabinets that I used to hold all my cookbooks and extra serving dishes. Not at all attractive but functional. So, now that I have ‘real furniture’ in there, I get a kick out of just passing by and stopping and looking in there! We have eaten one meal on it and that was the day it arrived; Mother and Daddy just happened to be here so we ate our supper in there. I don't have any "before" pictures on this computer but maybe will find some from home to put on here later. The first picture is looking in the dining room from the entry way, near the front door. The walls were a mauve color and now they are blue - a real transformation! (Although they look greenish in the photo below, they are really very blue!

I think it must be the lighting or just my camera that made them look that strange color!) I have been collecting the blue & white dishes and other pieces for many years now and finally have somewhere to display them nicely! And one of my favorite pieces is the bookcase that holds my cookbook collection! At last count, which was a few years ago, I had over 250 cookbooks (not counting cooking magazines and pamphlets), so a place to keep them all was a necessity! I have said that I am going to stop buying cookbooks, and for the most part, I have. But on rare occasions, I 'll come across one I just can't resist and it ends up in the collection! The strange (but good) thing is that I actually READ all these books! Crazy, huh?? I take them to bed with me at night to read, much as some people keep a novel on their nightstand, I keep cookbooks! Now, if I could just find the time to actually COOK a meal, from one of my many wonderful cookbooks, and have some company over for dinner, that would be a wonderful thing! What I miss most (now that I work all the time) is spending time in my kitchen!!!!


The photo here showing the table is from the entry way also. The hutch in the background is missing its "top" - that piece hasn't come in yet. They were having to make it specially for us, as this was a discontinued line and they told us they still had all the pieces available, then found out they didn't have that top piece! But because they had promised it to us, they said they would make one for us, which is good because that was my favorite thing in the whole set! Well, that and the china cabinet (display case). Well, those two things and the bookcase .... sounds like all of it is my "favorite" thing, huh? :) Now I'll have to find a photo of the bookcase (or two) to stick on here.



Below is the hutch (minus the top part). In the middle display area are the "Jewel T" dishes that were mother's. (They are actually made by "Hall" but we call them "Jewel T" because she bought them from the "Jewel T" man, who came house-to-house back in the '60s selling to folks in our neighborhood.) You can find these types of dishes in almost EVERY antique store you go to, they are huge collector's items! I am fortunate to have them! And love them!


Well, that is about it and all I have time to post anyway! I hope you enjoy seeing my new dining room!!! Y'all come see me and I promise I'll cook you a meal and we can eat on the new table! :)

Don't faint!

Yes, pick yourselves up off the floor - I'm actually adding something to my dusty blog. I know, it's been two months since I've uttered a peep on here, but you all know how it is so I'm sure I don't even have to explain! Besides, like dear niece once said 'what I lack in frequency, I make up for in length.' Let the words begin!

It is Friday night so I am MAKING a few minutes to sit at this computer and goof off. I' ve just come from Granddaddy's and he is doing real good, under the circumstances. Tuesday after getting off work just before 6, then running by Walmart to pick up a baby shower gift and grocery items to make snacks for said baby shower (which was the following day immediately after work) I was rushing to get home as it had begun to sleet and spit snow. But I thought I'd better go ahead and stop by G'ds real quick since I was already out and make sure he was doing okay. So I got there and he was down in the dining room, even though it was 6:30 (and the serve dinner at 5 'til about 6 or so) and no one else was there. So I walked over to ask him if he had just finished his dinner and he said no, he hadn't had any dinner, and the lady that worked there said "I saved his plate for him back here if he'd like it" so I took it down to his room to heat it up for him. He didn't appear to be too chipper and was talking in a very quiet, hoarse voice, like he was straining to speak, something just didn't seem quite right. I heated up his food and he said "let me show you something" and said he had 'something' on his chest, so I took a look and was horrified at what I saw! Big, huge, ugly, red blistery spots and streaks and patches just covered the right side of his chest, clear up under his arm and around to the middle of his back!!!! It was astonishing to this "non-doctor's" eyes and I had no idea what it was but I knew it needed immediate attention. Of course, it's 'after hours' - these things always happen after hours, don't ya know! Anyway, I had just heated up his food and at the smell of it, he started gagging and wretching like he was going to upchuck at any moment so I grabbed the nearest trash can and poked my head out the door to find the nearest aide. She came in and I showed her the rash (we tossed the food immediately, as it seemed to be the smell that had upset his stomach and that helped) and she agreed that he needed medical attention. I knew that in his weak condition, he would have trouble standing and walking, if he could at all, and I'm thinking .... 'hhhmmm, getting him into my car, ???? driving while he's throwing up ...??? what if he passes out or chokes??? .... or falls trying to get in or out ..... " Nope, I don't think so, I'm calling EMSA. So Tam got the paperwork ready, called them and within 5 minutes we heard the sirens and they were coming down the hall. Those guys are quick! And so helpful and SO nice. They didn't seem to know what it was either, they were mystified. Guesses were 1) chemical burn 2) food allergy 3) detergent allergy 4) medication allergy and a lot of "I don't knows." Must have been a lot of illness and accidents going on around here because many of the ERs were closed to ambulance traffic so it took us awhile to get the clearance to go. We finally went to Bapt. and they got to him pretty quickly. Dr. knew right away - shingles. BAD case of shingles. Now keep in mind that I had been there at G'ds the day before and the day before that and he hadn't ever mentioned anything bothering him, no rash, no discomfort, no nothing. But the dr. said there's no way it could've gotten THAT bad in 24 hours, that he must've had it for at least 2-3 days. I'm tellin' ya, G'd has a HIGH tolerance for pain. I have heard that a case of shingles is one of the most painful and distressing and miserable things you can have! Well, he gave us some prescriptions and instructions and I took him home (a bit tricky on the getting out of the car, but we managed with no falling - but my GOODNESS GRACIOUS IT WAS ONE OF THE BITTEREST, COLDEST NIGHTS WE'VE HAD, wouldn't ya know!). A little fiasco trying to get the RX filled, which I won't take the time to go into, but trust me when I say I was fit to be tied by the time I got them back over to him, not to mention $200 poorer (which by the way leads me to mention that charging old people such astronomical prices for MEDICATION should be against the law, when we (i.e. gov't) are GIVING food, rent and everything else to lazy bums who won't get up off their asses and GET A JOB, but that's another story for another time!) By this time, it is 11:30 p.m. - I had left the house at 6:30 a.m., had a rough day at work then somewhat of a rough evening and no supper ........ suffice it to say I was a teensy bit on the irritable, stressed and grouchy side by the time I got home. Dear hubby, bless his heart and soul, what a patient human being - and thank GOD for that! Knows just when to leave me alone and stay out of my way or just let me rant away, until I can take a few deep breaths and get a grip! Well after midnight before sleep kicked in so when alarm went off at 5:30, it was like "I don't THINK so." and off she went. Fortunately, I have the kind of job that I can call and say "I'm going to come in around noon today." and no one gets upset or bothered by that. And I can do that why? Because I almost NEVER do that. Maybe twice a year I might have an unexpected something come up which just makes it physically or mentally impossible to push on and it's good to know that when those times come, I don't have to force myself to 'push on' - I can actually stop, take the few hours that I need to regroup and get it together then move on and NOT have to worry about my job. My boss understands that I worked over 500 hours of overtime in the last year ..... not the most anyone has ever worked, I'm sure, but nothing to sneeze at either. So he knows that I do whatever I have to do to get the job done and that I do NOT take advantage of coming and going as I please, although I do have a pretty free hand as far as that goes. Hubby said "you not going to work today?" and I said "yeah, later....." and went back to sleep. He always says "man, that's the kind of job I always wanted but never found!" :) Anyway, G'd is doing pretty well, says he's not hurting too much and has only had one pain pill since we went to the ER. It's hard to put the ointment on the open blisters and not think I'm hurting him but he says I'm not so I just do it and go on. Keep in him your prayers, as some cases of shingles can hang on for quite a long time. Hopefully, this case won't.

Got my annual review yesterday. Pleased with the results. Choices are 1) Outstanding 2) Exceeds expectations 3) Meets Expectations 4) Needs Improvement. I got a #1. Nice to work for a company that notices and appreciates hard work. (On the flip side, it's not so great to work for a company that is so large that there are a few who slip and slide, do as little as possible, cheat and lie, 'pretend' they work, yet manage to stay just 'under the radar' and never get noticed as the worthless leeches that they are. Somehow they seem adept at getting "lost in the shuffle" and no one (no one who matters anyway) notices that they're lazy, worthless, good-for-nothing sponges. How that happens, I do not know, but it does!!) Anyway, besides that, I love my job and the folks I work with, so that really does help. I have heard a few people (who have been there a long time) say "oh, no one ever gets 'outstanding' on their evaluations! My ears perked up but I kept my mouth shut. I've heard that from a couple of people. But have been there long enough to realize that they have this idea because THEY have never gotten an 'outstanding' review. I have also been told by some of the management level folks that an 'outstanding' really is rather hard to come by, though, so I am very grateful knowing that my boss realizes and appreciates and acknowledges what I do. This is my 4th annual review and I have received an "outstanding" every time!!! Am I bragging??? :) Yeah, maybe a little bit. But heck, I really do work hard! And I'm just proud that my boss sees that hard work! Some bosses are the 'impossible to please' kind and no matter HOW hard one works, it's never good enough. That's no way to live, always giving your all and never measuring up, what a waste. If someone can't see and appreciate you for who you are and what you do, it's time to move on!!!! If you must work, find something you enjoy or life can be very miserable indeed! I have had just two jobs that I really, really loved - this one and my restaurant days, both fun jobs and fun people to work with. Have life-long friends from both places, a huge reward in and of itself.

Well, I have taken up a lot of blogspace with this rambling so I'll close her down for tonight. 'Bout time for me to go get ready for bed anyway!