and another one bites the dust!

Well, it's officially New Years Eve Morning and it really seems we have these more and more often! As years are for everyone, this one was really full, but short! When I graduated from high school in 1963 the year 2000 wasn't actually a concept in my mind and just look at it now, we're just a day away from 2008! Wow! Who woulda thunk it?

The brother of one of Nancy's classmates died Christmas eve. The funeral was in Monticello on Saturday. Nancy came over and we went both to the Church and to the cemetery. There was a reception afterwards. All in all the entire thing was 5 hours, give or take. Mike was a Catholic priest.

Yesterday was dark and dreary and quite warm. We had a high of 79! "They" are saying it could be in the teens mid-week. Read Friday, Saturday and Sunday newspapers, took the trash out to the road and watched a bunch of sci-fi movies. Absolutely wonderful! It started raining around 6 last night and rained pretty hard most of the night. I heard the Atlanta area got 4 good days of rain. Thank goodness!

Planning a quiet evening in.

Happy New Year!

Christmas

The shear dread of yesterday that I had for several days prior to the actual day was way blown out of proportion. It was actually rather nice.

I drove to Nancy's house and we exchanged gifts there and then it was off to Nancy B.'s house. Oddly enough, we beat Mother and Bert there!...and we were a little late. We had driven by the house before, but never been in. It's as cute as a button! Very cottage like and homey! We had more food to eat than I had imagined and even though I thought I used restraint, I walked away feeling like a Christmas goose, stuffed! I got home around 4pm and exhaled.

Work is closed today. I'm using one of my two days of accumulated vacation time to pay for it. We only get a day a year and I've been there a little over 2 years. All that changes next week...I go up to the "Big House". I'm sure home office will be okay, I'm just dreading it! I'd hoped to stay where I am for the next 32 months, then I could have "retired" from there...no perks for doing that, just the comfort of the same.

Dreary, cold day today. Should clean out the fireplace and bring in wood. It's going to be another newspaper, TV and computer day! Yeah!!

Functional Families?

I know that somewhere out there there are families that truly have love and the sense of a strong bond of kinship.

Nancy and I went to Mother's house at 9am yesterday. I'd talked with her on Thursday and told her I'd bring a Mississippi Mud cake and for her to put on a pot of coffee. Well, first off when we got there at 9am she met us at the door saying we were 30 minutes early...and it sorta went downhill from there. I'll not elaborate, but suffice it to say I don't think Mother is speaking to either me or my sister. Christmas Day should be priceless!

The weather is chilly, damp and weary. Not really cold enough to light a fire (need to clean out the fireplace), but just enough cold for the furnace to cycle on every now and then and the thermostat is set on 62.

I work until noon tomorrow. Work really was nice to me this Christmas! Got 2 gift certificates to Johnson's Meat Locker, a big basket of goodies individually wrapped to open in numbered order for the 12 days before Christmas, a Mississippi Mud Cake, scented oils with the reeds in it, 2 pairs of fuzzy fun socks & foot cream, 5lbs of shelled pecans and a really good hamburger and hot dog cook out on Friday! Of course, folks brought in all sorts of eats and eat we did! On Thursday I took in a big pot of chili and it was gone by 1pm! It was a fun week last week!

On Friday HWB sent me to Thomasville, GA to pick up a gray fox pelt he'd left with the taxidermist a few months back. When I gave it to him I told him it was beautiful (it is!), but dead.

I hadn't heard about the Elf's that kids are getting until HWB told me about the ones his girls have gotten. They got them before Christmas. They do mischief at night...of course the parents do it, but it's a hoot! They elves made a mess in the kitchen trying to make coffee one night and one night moved HWB's vehicle and left the motor running and the wipers going, etc. There was an elf on the gas pedal and one on the steering wheel when they were found!

I'm thinking this will be a good tv movie and newspaper day!

Rain!

I was to meet Nancy at Bradley's Country Store in Tallahassee at 8am yesterday. When I got up it was spitting rain...not hard, but rain! Was a little after 8 getting there due to a flat bed truck that was broken down or unloading in the middle of a two lane road. Nancy pulled in shortly behind me due to the same darn truck. We ate foot long sausages and shopped and rocked on the front porch. Nice.

Got home around 10:30am.

Watched sappy Christmas movies all afternoon. Nice.

Then the real rain came. It came down in buckets! Filled the bird bath!

This morning the wind was blowing in from the North...bringing in cold that we've all been wanting. Our high today is to be yesterday's low and tonight a freeze is forecast. All last week we were in the mid-80's this week it's to be mid to low 50's. Wow! That a change. Must bring in fire wood. Hope it's dryish.

It's sooo close to Christmas!

It's only 2 1/2 weeks till Christmas. Where does time go?

Nancy and I had decided to go out to eat one the Sunday before Christmas and call it done. Mother and Bert hadn't mentioned doing anything and that way we'd have a longer run of time off from work and nothing pending. Then yesterday everything changed. It seems that Bert had talked to his daughter, Nancy B., and expressed his dismay that we weren't having a family do for Christmas. So now we're all going to her house on Christmas day. We cancelled our reservations for Sunday. Mother and Bert are bringing the turkey and a ham. Nancy and I are both bringing casseroles and pies. Nancy B. and Mark are doing wine and salad and something else. Should be nice.

I do find it rather funny that Mother and Bert have gone their own way for the past Christmases. Wonder what makes this one so different? Of course, Mother is livid that it's going to be at Nancy B.'s house. She is so jealous of Nancy B.

Yesterday was Monticello's Christmas Downtown Get Down. Nancy came over from Tallahassee and we went. Great fun! Lots of vendors, lots of food, wonderful singing group and a parade with Santa on a fire truck! I don't remember seeing a night time parade before. It was fun!

Thursday HWB took me on a tour of the 700 acres that comprise the nursery. I do love it! I picked out an Oakleaf Holly to decorate for the office and one of the boys brought it in for me on Friday. Looks great! He also asked me if I was still okay about moving to the main office. Told him I was never okay with it. I move on the 1st, damn it! They aren't replacing me where I am and HWB said that perhaps in April we could make some more changes. Not so sure what that means. We'll see.

I'm finally feeling okay. The antibiotic I was taking really tore me up. I stopped taking it when the whites of my eyes turned quite yellow. They are better now, too.

It's warm here today. Just looked at an extended forecast and it's projected to be warm for several days. Saves on the propane, but it doesn't feel much like Christmas!

Ear Infection

Finally got in to see the doctor at 2:15 yesterday. It seems I have a middle ear infection with a heavy build up of fluid behind the ear drum. That explains the wobble I have when I try to move around. My equilibrium is terribly off. I think the animals are laughing at me when I bounce from furniture to furniture or wall to wall! Shame on them!

Will be taking Amoxicillin for 10 days.

It's a shame to be home and not be able to do anything...so much needs to be done and there are so many things I want to do. Oh well.....

I did make a pot of cream of curried chicken soup yesterday. It's good, it's hot and it goes down okay. So I'm living on soup and Ritz crackers and Sleepy Time Tea.

Rosie and family are sick too.

The Bug

Yesterday while at work the boss asked if I wanted the heat turned up. When I said "no" he put his hand on my forehead and said "Girl you're burning up, go home". So I did. It's my throat and when I woke up this morning my ear is involved too. Dang it! I'll try to get in to see my doctor today.

There's a funeral this afternoon that I wanted to go to. Anabelle Rogers died. She was the most amazing seamstress and sewed a gazillion wonderful things for me when I was a teen. Mother is going and I planned to meet her there. I'll have to give Mother a call...oh, I hope she doesn't come by here!

Haven't heard anything from my kitchen man, so I guess it will be after the first of the year before he gets started. Want to have the living room, dining room and funny room painted also...I'm thinking of a grayed green...still looking for the right paint chip. I've found many that are close, but no cigar. But, cocoa brown keeps popping into my head. That could be fun.

When I got home yesterday Shirley was shivering terribly, so I put her sailor dress on her and within minutes she was just fine. I need to get her some pajamas and a new sweater as she's outgrown her turtle-neck. I gave Maria her rain coat and I'll give her the turtle-neck too. I tried the turtle-neck on Smokey. I think he was doing triple flips in the air! Had a little trouble catching him to take it off!

Oh good! I think I just heard the newspaper arrive.

I feel rotten!

I made it through Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was nice. When I got up around 4:30 am it was pouring rain!!! Thanksgiving! It rained until time for me to leave around 10:15 am. Not some piddling little spitting rain, REAL rain! Yeah!

I went to Nancy's house and we road together to the country club. She really wanted to beat Mother and Bert there and we did, by about 30 minutes! We had coffee and cookies while we waited at the table...nice. Mother and Bert were the next to arrive and then Nancy and Mark.

Nancy B. brought dear little cut Thanksgiving arrangements for each of us. Mine, of course is in the bathroom, safe from marauding kittens!

The food was abundant and very good. I didn't eat turkey as I still had half of a breast that I roasted Sunday. I just finished making a big pot of Spanish Bean Soup with the remainder.

Mother was very good. Only one barb that we were aware of...something about Nancy P. not having a slip on.

Was home by 2:30 pm and just frittered away the rest of the day.

Responsibilites

When I was a teen I went to camp in the mountains or N. or S. Carolina. They were in the middle of a drought that was several years old. One morning some friends and I went exploring and found a small, broken, abandoned house sitting beside a totally dried up little lake. We walked across and even in the very middle it was inches and inches thick of dried, cracked red mosaic clay of unbelievable beauty. It was also very frightening. We'd heard of predicted catastrophes and to us this was an example. Later, maybe the next year, it was full of water. The house was even more broken and still abandoned.

I've seen other dry water basins, but none as intimately as the first one. (It was about 20 years later that I saw my first trashed and polluted lake.)

I'm certain that, as with most things, the climate is cyclical. Granted, this shift is more abrupt than I've seen. We've sorta given it a kick-start with out globe-wide carbon-based emissions.

There is an answer, but are we in our immature selfishness willing to pay the extreme price that is required? We must stop, not phase out, at least 50% of all carbon-based emissions. We have to do it now.

If no one drove on the weekend that would make a difference. If all thermostats were set on 63 degrees in the daytime in the winter and 55 degrees at night, and 83 degrees in the daytime in the summer and 72 degrees at night that would make a difference.

I know there are many ways each of us can make a difference, and we've gotta do it.

I know the CFL bulbs do really make a difference in my electric bill, but I find them too cool for winter. Unfortunately, I've found that I really depend to the heat from the incandescent bulb in the lamp by my chair!

Something has to be done about land fills and dumps and trash that each of us create. Not too sure what the answer is there. Eliminating consumer plastics may be a good start.

Count down to Thanksgiving

Daily I think of my blessings and give thanks for them. I also find myself chastising my thoughts for often dwelling on the problems in my life. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to look at the problems as opportunities or challenges and in some convoluted way turn them into blessings also!

My contractor for the kitchen came by earlier this week. Now he's saying it'll be the first of the year before he can begin on the renovation. He'll be tearing out all of the cabinets, plaster walls, ceiling and floor...guess that's called gutting it. I have no idea how long this will take and certainly am not looking to the process...just the end results. The floor will have to be completely rebuilt as the joists have warped and the cabinets were built into the plaster walls. Wow! Sounds like a mess to me!

I'd like to have 2 pocket doors put in and he's going to completely change out the french door as it's warped and there's a big gap that weather gets in. He'll also put in a new kitchen window. I've only met with the cabinet people once...I'm looking forward to the next meeting as we'll get down to specifics.

The TV just said that it's 26 degrees now. I actually had to turn on the heat...set it on 65 degrees and am very bundled up! Had a lovely fire last night, but as it died down around 8 o'clock the animals and I went to bed. Fought with Goodness all night. He was bound and determined to sleep on top of me and I just couldn't handle it. Every time I moved him off he growled! He was determined to go out this morning around six o'clock, but when I went out to get the news paper he came in. That lasted about 15 minutes...he's out now. He's tried to tell me that he may be domesticated but he is not a house cat!

Work is funny right now...some days it's dead as a door nail and somedays (like Thursday and Friday) it's total bedlum! I figured that since we're closed 3 days next week folks were placing orders that normally they would place next week. I'm thinking Monday and Tuesday will be wild!

No plans this weekend (YEAH!). Just the usual, laundry and stuff.

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freerice.com

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From one extreme to another

Wednesday morning we wore to 28 degrees outside (and not much better inside!) and the weatherman said our norm for that date was 50! Needless to say, I had a fire in the fireplace that night and every night since. Did try the central heat and it works, but I'm not sure how much propane is in the tank, so I just put the thermostat on 60 to keep the chill off and I called to have the tank filled. They are coming tomorrow to fill it. I've been sleeping a little warmer than I like what with a blanket, comforter, 4 cats and a dog all on top of me, so I've actually been a bit too warm!

My sister is coming over today and we're going to the Catholic church bar-b-que for lunch. We'll get take out and come back here to eat. Should be good!

Bandi is finally getting to be her old self again. That surgery really knocked her for a loop. She's finally eating and running, etc. Thank goodness!

Daylight Savings Time is Gone!

The majority of my time this morning has been spent on changing clocks & watches! I think the only one I haven't done is the one in the car, but traditionally I just subtract an hour for 6 months. I did read in the car manual about how to do it...I'll just have to get the darn book out again.

Actually had fun yesterday. Mother was in a pretty good frame of mind...we only had a couple of tiny head butts. I got several very nice outfits that will mix well with some of the things I have already and a couple of pairs of shoes. Nice! After shopping I drove us to The Atlanta Bread Company where we had a wonderful lunch and chit-chat. Mother has made the reservations for Berts birthday, I'm a little worried that it's just a couple of days after Thanksgiving and the night of the FSU/FL game...I'm not sure what time the game is. After lunch we drove through the parking lot row by row hunting Mother's car. I finally found it, but had to insist to her that it was indeed her car. She got home okay.

Went to Walmart and did my monthly pet food shopping. Compared to the Winn Dixie here in town prices are like 2/3s at Walmart. I hate to go there in the middle of the day on a Saturday, I know what a mob scene it'll be and sure 'nough, it was! I was almost 45 minutes in the check out line!

Went by Nancy's house on the way out of town. Her new metal roof is dynomite! It's a charcoal grey and really looks sharp against the salmon color she painted the trim on the house. Visited just a few minutes. Got home a little after 3.

I was totally pooped after emptying the car and putting the groceries and pet food away. I knew that if I didn't get a few things done I'd do nothing at all if I sat down. So I emptied litter boxes, swept the back hallway, living room, funny room, kitchen and side porch, changed the water reservoir thingy, took out the trash and did a couple of other things and then collapsed into my chair where I promptly nodded off for about half an hour. Still went to bed rather early!

It's a beautiful cool morning, 40s and our high should be the mid 70s. Perfect, though we do need rain.

Busy, busy, busy

HWB's surgery went well and Paul's mother is recovering from her surgery.

Yesterday HWB's wife called in a small panic. They were in Tallahassee for his first physical therapy and had left the referral papers at home. So I dashed out to their house (way out in the country) found the papers and dashed back to the office to fax them to the therapist. Then Paul's wife called to tell him that she's scheduled for more test on Tuesday...her blood pressure has been having major spikes and then lows and the doctors have no idea what's causing it. Hope they'll finally be able to put their fingers on the problem and fix it!

Mother sent me a check for my health insurance and it arrived on Thursday. When I opened the envelope I discovered she hadn't signed it, so I called her. Well, I got no answer, but I knew that Bert was playing golf and Mother has a 2:30 beauty parlor appointment on Thursdays so I just jumped in my car and dashed to Tallahassee. Pulled into their driveway at 3:30 and sat there until 4:30 when Bert got home...Mother was almost 5:30 getting home, she'd changed her appointment because she'd played bridge all day. Anyway, she signed the check and I got home around 6:30.

Yesterday I met Martha Jean and Mary Helen for lunch. We have a new place in town. A lovely bakery/tea room in an antique shop. Soups, salads and sandwiches. Wonderful! I saw bunches of people I know and had a wonderful time!

This coming Tuesday is election day, Bandi is going in to be spayed and I have an appointment with a lawyer. Should be quite a day.

I'm meeting Mother this morning at 10 at Talbot's. Yeah! New clothes!

I've been much busier than I've intended to be.

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was my evaluation day. It went quite well...no negatives. Then when they were finished HWB said that there was another matter they needed to discuss with me. He said that I'd be moving to our parent company's office sometime between now and the 25th of December. Now, It's just up the road, probably 3/4 of a mile closer to home, so that's not a problem, I just HATE change. It'll be 8-1 (same as now), but I'll no longer be the "queen"...oh well, that's life. Damn it! It seems that a lot of changes are going to be made...it'll be interesting to see just what all goes down.

This is the first Halloween in a very long time I haven't dressed up for the day. Just am not into it this year.

I'll have the place to myself today. HWB is having shoulder surgery at 7:30 this morning and Pauls mother is having her foot amputated above the ankle today (diabetes). Prayers for both.

I'm thinking I didn't have Smokey neutered soon enough...I think Bandi's preggers. Just what I need...more kittens!

Saturday post script

I got to Nancy's house at 11:00am yesterday...she'd asked me to come early and help her spot for cat poop. Maria likes to clean the litter box for her and what she doesn't eat she hides around the house. We both looked and found quite a bit!

The girls, Noreen and Diane, arrived exactly at 1:00pm and we sat down to play. We took a few cigarette breaks and several eating breaks and a lot of chatting and we actually got three rubbers in in 3 hours. That's pretty good! Fun.

Got home around 5:30 and found quite a mess. The kittens found one of Shirley's sweaters and brought it in from the side porch and between the two of them and Shirley they managed to unravel the darn thing all over the house!...and, shredded the ball tassels everywhere!

Went outside after cleaning up the sweater to just look at how things are faring and it's amazing how fallish it all looks in such a short time frame! Dumped the rain gauge and it held 4 1/2 inches! We sure needed that! It's very cool this morning.

Mother and Bert left yesterday for the mountains. They were to leave quite early and drive to Atlanta to get several good hours of shopping in and then drive on up to NC today. I think they're only staying a week.

Saturday!

Today I'm going to Nancy's house to play bridge. I'm not the best player in the world and get a little nervous when playing with new folks...I do know one of the girls playing and of course Nancy, so there's only one stranger...doable.

We had 24 hours of major rain yesterday. The same system that did the tornado in Pensacola came on through. It really stormed, but thankfully, no tornadoes.

When I got home from work yesterday "T", an old fellow who does odd jobs and yard work around town, was picking up pecan tree limbs from my yard that the storm brought down. The trees are full of ripe pecans now and the limbs are very heavy with them. Add rain and wind and down they come! There were actually quite a few. I sure did appreciate that, gave him $5.00, wish I'd had more to spare.

Work is still slow. I'm wondering if it's going to pick up. I sure would hate for it to close...of course it'd be a wonderful write-off for our parent company. Just a little under 3 years and I can retire with SS (if it's still there) more comfortably than if I retire now...couldn't live on what I'd get now...and in 3 years I'll qualify for medicare. That's important. My health insurance now is around $750.00 a month...the company pays half. I'd have to do without insurance if I took retirement now, but it sure is tempting!

7' ladder

The weather is sooooo odd! We've been in the high 80's the past few days with high 60's at night. I've been wearing a sweater to work and shedding it fairly early to just a t-shirt for the rest of the day and it's OCTOBER! Oh well, I'm sure that in a few weeks that too will change.

Mother got her car...a 2008 Lincoln. It was her anniversary present from Bert. Wonder what she'll get for 5 years?

Did you know that you can't get a 7' ladder? How dumb is that? I needed a ladder and decided that a 7' one would be just perfect. Well, after extensive searching I found you can only get one in even feet. Dumb, dumb, dumb! So I finally broke down and ordered an 8' one from Lowes. It came Friday and of course I immediately brought it in and set it up in the living room where it still sits usually with a little black cat (Smokey) perched on top. He's the only one who gets up there and he climbs it a rung at a time. He has a little chase-the-tail dance he does once he's on top. What a hoot!

It's FALL!

This morning it's chilly outside, not at all cold, just chilly. We've had such hot weather, I know the rest of the country is having odd temps, too. Wonder what it means for the winter. I haven't had my propane tank filled yet, I just can't face trying to find that $400 it's going to take. I still have a good stock pile of wood. I guess it's good. Does wood go bad? It's been soaked and dried so many times...well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I'd rather get another $200 pile of wood than propane...maybe a space heater or two.

Saturday morning Nancy and I were to meet Mother at 8am for sausage dogs and cokes at Bradley's Country Store. Well, Nancy arrived first and I got there right at 8. We sat on the porch and waited for Mother. About 5 after 8 we saw her zip by. We waved. She came back around 8:15. She'd gotten lost and somehow missed Bradley's...she had to stop and get directions. She's only been going there for 40+ years.

Mother's talking about getting a new car. That's the last thing she needs. I hate to even think of her driving at all. She and Bert have been married 4 years this month. Bert's 90th birthday is next month. Mother's planning to have a big dinner party at a local restaurant...around 20 people. She doesn't want any help. Hope she pulls it off.

Had my flu shot yesterday. Have you had yours?

Another Helen update

I finally got through to Helen around 4 this afternoon. They just rang me to her room and I woke her. At first she didn't seem to know just who I was, but then her head seemed to clear and we had a reasonable conversation. She had trouble telling time. I told her it was around 4pm and she said she thought it was 9am. Then she asked again what time it was and I said 4:15, she said no, it's 6:15 and we had a few more of those. Brenda had told me that she wasn't eating, so I asked her about her weight. She said she weighs about 100lbs. But she has trouble eating and I suggested something liquid like Boost or Slim Fast or the like. She said she'd ask Brenda to bring her some. She's not meeting folks there, not getting around, not going out into the gardens. She says she's too tired and just wants to sleep. Brenda said that she didn't think Helen would ever leave there. For Helen's sake I hope she's wrong.

Helen update

I got a call from Helen's daughter this morning. Seeing her name on the phone made my heart sink...I felt sure that something had happened with Helen.

I haven't talked with Helen for 6-7 weeks or so. We didn't part on such good terms the last time we talked and I stopped answering her calls for a while and then I didn't get any more. How stupid and small of me!

Anyway, Helen fell and broke her hip on August 9th. She's in a nursing/rehab place. She hates it "in her lucid times", Brenda said. Helen has been officially diagnosed with dementia. Helen has suspected this for a long time, 3-4 years. She really has fought and feared this and now when she has good times her worst fears are her reality. Brenda said she sleeps a lot and when I tried to call her earlier the attendant said she was sleeping. She said she'd wake her, I said I'd call back.

So sad.

Those nine little words...

Finely, I've heard Mother say those nine little words I've waited all of my life to hear, "I don't want you to lose any more weight"! I still feel I should lose another 10-15 pounds...we'll see.

Glorious weather! 58 degrees this AM...59 yesterday!

I've so many things I want to get done in the yard and the weather is perfect. I'm hoping it'll hold for the weekend. However, we do need rain.

My step-brother-in-law ran for mayor of Apalachicola. The run-off was yesterday. I just heard on the news that he lost. Sorry to hear that.

Summer's end

The slight hint of Fall in the air is just enough to give everyone here cause for joy. There's a touch of color in the foliage everywhere and the days smell differently than they did just a week ago. The promise of Fall is the only thing that gets us through the brutal summer weather with a little optimism, sure that conditions will improve.

I'm still working 5 hour days. Actually, I like those hours. The pay check is severely impacted, but the quality of life is greatly improved. I know there will be times when I'll need to work full days, even full weeks, but I don't think that'll be the constant. We'll see. I need to work for 4 more years in order to draw full Social Security...66...that sounds like forever, but I know it's a little under 48 months. Doable.

Well, so much for Thanksgiving!

My contractor met with me yesterday. He's in great demand in the area and is a friend from high school...a couple of years ahead of my class. He's the one mother had do some work on the house when she bought it.

He said what I want is very doable and will make a big difference, however, he thinks it'll be the middle of November before it can be begun. Tomorrow he and his cabinet guy will be coming by for a further consultation. RB (contractor) said that his cabinet guy does beautiful work and usually comes in hundreds of dollars under Lowe's, sometimes thousands of dollars under. Sounds good to me. Of course, Mother's paying for it, but saving money is saving money.

Labor Day Weekend

Three days off in a row! Even if we don't get paid for today, three days off is grand!

Saturday I had Nancy, Leah Jane and Ann over for an early supper. We pigged out on shrimp and cocktail sauce that LJ brought and an olive w/ pesto and cream cheese w/ crackers that NEP brought. We sat on the patio until the mosquitoes threatened to carry AMK off! We moved inside for supper. We ate tuna casserole with a salad (curly leaf lettuce, cucumber, dried tart cherries, a lovely/crisp pepper from the garden and feta...tossed with my blueberry vinaigrette) and crescent rolls w/butter. For dessert I made the easy, fat-free, low sugar, pineapple cloud pie! To die for! Three ingredients and a graham cracker crust...it's pretty and it tastes soooo evil while actually not a bad thing! (1 fat free pkg. Jello French Vanilla pudding mix, 1 20oz. can crushed pineapple in juice (don't drain) and a 8-oz. bowl of fat-free Cool Whip. Mix pineapple w/ juice and pudding mix, fold in Cool Whip. Spread evenly in crust, cover and freeze 10-12 hrs/over night. Take out of freezer 6-8 hrs. before serving and thaw in refrigerator. Enjoy!) I'm still eating what's left of this pie a bite or three at a time!

Then, Sunday I met NEP at her house and we "did" Lowe's. Picked out counter top, cabinets, floor, dishwasher and microwave/vent hood combo. Finally found paint chips that work and am so excited! My contractor is coming sometime this week and I'm thinking it should be finished in time for me to host Thanksgiving or earlier.

Today I plan to do nothing, well, laundry but then nothing maybe a movie or two.

A slight hold on the kitchen

Well, it seems the kitchen will be delayed. My sister suggested last night that I just go to Lowe's. They install everything from floors to cabinets. So in the next week or so she and I will go there and get everything under way.

Bud and I just had a major clashing of ways...maybe this is for the best.

The birthday was okay.

Surprise, surprise!

Prentice is here! He and Chester got here yesterday! I'm thrilled!

We brainstormed the kitchen for hours after work yesterday and Prentice drew it out on graft paper. We've come up with some pretty basis designs and ideas and it's going to be wonderful. I know I'm going to hate the process, but will love the results. Am soooo excited.

Tomorrow we'll go to my sister's house and from there to the Seinyard for a birthday meal! How great that he's going to be here for that! Haven't had any of my children around for a birthday in years and years. I'm thrilled!

The high temperature for today is only to be in the low 90's! That's a gift too!

A chance for a break in the weather!

The past few weeks have been so hot. Many days of 100+ degrees...100 yesterday and they're saying 100+ for today...not so good for the agriculture industry. However, the weatherman just said that this weekend should be wetter and cooler! Yeah!

The kittens are growing like weeds! and, are soooo funny! Nothing is safe. They have been banned from my bathroom, perhaps for the rest of their entire lives. I walked into my bathroom one day last week to find both Smokey and Bandit on the counter top methodically clearing it off! Within seconds their litter box and water bowl were moved to the back hall and the door was closed. Bless their little hearts! It really is nice having one animal free room...I find I'm spending a little more time in there now!

Sunday I will be 62 years old!

Another tale of Mother

I got a phone call a little before 7 Saturday morning. It was my sister. She and Mother were going car shopping, but Bert called her and said Mother couldn't go, she had fallen and her back was giving her fits. So I dashed to Tallahassee and Nancy and I went to see how she was doing. The way it had sounded to Nancy we thought that Mother should get x-rayed at least, but Bert said she didn't need it. I took her some Icy-Hot patched and Bert had just gotten her some Alieve (sp?).

Well, Mother gave Nancy her checkbook and off we went to the Honda dealership. Three and a half hours and one trade-in later we drove off in a pretty little new Honda Civic (for Nancy).

We stopped and had lunch at Cedar River and went on over to return the checkbook and to check on Mother. Well, miracle of miracle, Mother was up and dressed and wanted to go out for lunch. Of course we didn't as we had just eaten, but they went ahead and went out.

By the time we got back to Nancy's house it was raining. I drove home in a major storm with fingers of lightening on the road in front of me all the way home.

Mother called shortly after I got home and was soooo much better. In fact she was getting ready for them to go to a cocktail party. She does heal fast.

We're getting rain a little more often than we were earlier this year, but the weather map is still showing the entire region in a severe drought.

Look what I did!!!

Last night Rosie told me how to put a picture on my post and here it is! The year is 1963, the place is the Drifton Florida Train Depot and the event is our senior trip to Washington DC and New York! The woman in the dress and dark glasses is Mother, she's 38 years old here. The one in colorful slacks and a blue sweater is me. I'm 17 years old here! Talk about a blast from the past!

Extended summer hours

Well, the first of August has come and gone and we are still on half days at work. Our projected date for full days is now the 15th of August. Keep your fingers crossed...we all (hourly workers) need to get back to full time. As it works out we will have had 2 months of half days. I have a rather low profile of living and am quite frugal, but this has really put a dent in my life style! I went to Burger King last week and got a Whopper Jr. value meal with a senior citizen discount and kicked myself all weekend for spending almost $4.00!

These kittens are soooo funny! Last night I got something out of my purse and didn't close it when I turned around almost everything in it had been removed and both Smokey and Bandit were nestled in it. They knew they were in trouble when I found them as they hunkered down and tried to be invisible! I laughed and dumped them out.

It rained all night.

My first recliner!

This is a bit premature...but both my sister and I bought recliners yesterday. Premature because it hasn't been delivered yet. We went to Badcock's last week (or week before?) and found chairs we liked and were able to order them and get them 20% off if we waited until the 25th! Plus, since I live in town and Nancy lives this side of Tallahassee they only charged us one delivery fee! They'll be delivered today!

After our purchases we went to Sage to eat. We love to eat there, we sit outside and can smoke. It was mighty hot when we got there (around 4) so they turned the misters on for us, but by the time we left it was storming, heavy lightening and thunder and pouring rain and had cooled off quite a bit!

Nancy was playing bridge at 6 in Tallahassee, so we left Sage around 5:30. I came home thinking I'd veg out and watch some tv....well, the cable was out! the storm...so I took this as a sign that I needed to rearrange the living room in order to fit my new recliner in. What a challenge! The room is small and there are openings in every wall. Took several hours, but I think it'll work. By the time I finished the cable was back on.

Have an appointment at 2 today to have my hair cut...think I'll cancel it so I don't miss my delivery!

The kittens are hootier and hootier! Constantly into things and perpetual balls of energy! Shirley of course loves them and has from the very beginning. Goodness and Mercy really didn't! They have come around however. I actually saw Mercy bathing Bandits face and Goodness eats with them and submits to butt licking!

We've had RAIN!!!!

Friday afternoon at 3:30 the bottom fell out of the sky! In 1/2 of an hour my backyard received 1" of rain! Then on Saturday it rained lightly all day and into the night! No rain on Sunday, but yesterday I got 1 1/2" around 5pm. Glorious!

On the other hand, my sister lives about 27 miles from here and she hasn't had a drop since June! Crazy! In fact, Nancy came over Saturday (we're looking for recliners to sleep in while we watch tv) and was soooo envious that I was getting rain! I feel awful for everyone who isn't getting the wet stuff and always try to send it to her!

Work's slow, money's tight.

Heat wave

Tuesday morning at 6am it was 83 degrees in Apalachicola. It was only 78 here! The heat has really taken hold and according to the latest forecast we aren't to expect a break from it any time soon. At 11:30 yesterday morning our heat index was 102! It makes it awfully hard to get anything done outside...just watering my garden at 8pm is very taxing!

Work is tediously slow. It's amazing to me just how long 5 hours can be! Today is a 4 hour day.

My last post was on the 7th...that would have been Daddy's 91st birthday!

Helen called last night. Very upset. It seems Mike had called her and told her I said she was dieing. She is. She hasn't been told. She thinks that she's just going for x-rays every week. I told her I not only hadn't talked with him in 2 years that there had been no contact including e-mails, true. Couldn't think of anything else to say. I can't believe he did that.

Goodness is actually getting into this kitten thing. He lays on the floor and flicks his tail back and forth for their amusement and even will eat from the same bowl with them! Mercy touches noses with them and watches them like tv!

No real news, it's quite quiet in town now. Everyone that's able has gone to the coast or the mountains trying to escape the heat. I'm afraid that they've all just gone to another area of heat. Leah Jane left on the 1st for a month and of course Mother and Bert are in Waynesville.

Prentice called last night. He and Harvey are heading to the Marshall area today. I'm afraid he's going to get so much work up there that he'll not make it here to do my kitchen. I'm so anxious to get it done.

Catching up once more...

This has been an odd week. We closed at noon on Tuesday and won't go back to work until Monday. The only day we'll get paid for is the 4th. Of course we're on half days anyway and it'll be interesting to see how much smaller my pay check can get!

When I got up Wednesday morning the phone was dead...well, actually it was making a loud buzzing. Got up Thursday morning and it was working. Miracle! Got up this morning and the phone was dead. So at about 11:15 I went in to the office and used the phone to report it being out. (my sister chewed me up one side and down the other for not reporting it out on the 4th!)

About 3:30 this afternoon I decided to lay down on the sofa and watch a movie...the doorbell rang and it was the phone man. He worked around for a long time (outside) and then I heard his truck leave the driveway. Looked out and he was climbing up a pole across the street. Sat on the porch for a while and watched, but couldn't tell what was going on and it was hot so I went back in. The phone rang about a half an hour later and it was the phone man saying it was fixed. It seems lighting hit it! Glad it was the phone line and not a house!

So, most of my time off has been spent without phone or Internet! Actually it was quite nice!

We've had 2 rather nasty storms this week with goodly amounts of rain. Thank goodness!

The kittens have been loose in the entire house since 1 o'clock Tuesday. They are a riot!!!!! They are really quite good, they're learning limits not only from me, but from Shirley, Goodness and Mercy also! It's a lot more active around here than before kittens!

Mother and Bert spent 4 days at the beach and will leave tomorrow for a month in the mountains. That's something I'd sure love to do! Not with them of course, on my own. Maybe someday.....

Kittens

As I enter this I have a tiny purring black kitten in my lap that lunges for the keyboard periodically. I've never known one this small to be so totally focused on a goal! We should all be as focused!

The kittens have been such a joy! I had really forgotten how quickly they change and how very funny they can be! The one in my lap at the moment has been rescued from the bathtub and the trash can already today and the day is young!

They still are waiting to be integrated into the rest of the house. Smokey and Mercy did meet face to face in the bedroom door yesterday. Scared poor Mercy really bad. She ran and hid for a while. I keep thinking it'll be soon, but then I think about the hawks that live and hunt in this area and the kittens are smaller than squirrels! I leave the back door open when it's nice out...and, they dash so quickly at an opening door...not sure just what to do. If I let them out of here there are no other doors to close to contain them to an area...tried a gate. They scaled that in record time!

No real news. We went to 1/2 days this past Monday. I enjoy it, but I'm not quite sure how I'll hold up financially. I went ahead and renewed my drivers license and car tag yesterday, 'cause I had the money to do it and may not later. I have car insurance coming up soon, too. It's gonna be tight. Won't hurt for groceries...am stocked. May have to hit my change jar for pet food, thank goodness I have it!

I've taken Zocor for a week today. I am SO tired and wonder if that's not related to Zocor. My cholesterol was 306 and my doctor freaked out! He put me on 20 mg of the Zocor and that's the highest dose recommended for seniors. I'm rather small and react to drugs strongly. I've also modified my diet tremendously. Only whole grains, no suger, no refined carbs...mainly turkey and fish (grouper), no shellfish, more fruit than I'm used to and a fine assortment of fresh veggies. I've lost a few pounds as a perk, but I feel sure that between the diet and the drug my cholesterol level will fall nicely.

Helen's not doing great. She doesn't remember that she's just called. One day this week she called as I was walking in the door. Told her I'd just gotten home and she asked from where. When I said "work" she was totally puzzled because she thought it was the weekend. She tells me that she's been going to the doctor a lot to have her head x-rayed, but doesn't know why. So sad.

Not much to tell...

HWB's baby is two weeks old today. She's still in the hospital. Yesterday they were going to try to do a spinal tap. So far I don't know the results. Poor baby.

We'll be doing 1/2 days for the month of July. We'll be doing a 1/2 day today, too.

Prentice called night before last. He's still doing his father's roof. Said he may go to Vermont from there...then here to do the kitchen. Yeah!

Hot and dry seems to be the standard forecast here. Wish for rain!

Rosie will be 42 tomorrow. Hard to believe...seems just yesterday she was a tiny baby!

Baby

HWB's baby was a week old on Friday. Saturday she was hospitalized and is still there. She has blistering on her skin. I'm not sure where the blisters are as HWB has a hard time talking about it. She has not been diagnosed as of yet, though they have narrowed it down to several things...some of which are fatal and all have long-term problems, usually a much shorter life span.

There isn't even 1 pediatric dermatologist in the area and I was only able to find a small handful in the entire state. I found several hospitals that treat babies with the disorder, all far away. I feel they'll be going to Arizona or Minnesota, don't know when.

HWB told me yesterday that we'll be going to half days. He didn't say when...maybe today? It's so hot (101 yesterday, 86 at 11 last night and 78 now{6:45am}) and so dry. Business has come to a screeching halt. That's really going to hurt money-wise, though I'll love the time off!

The death of a friend

Martha Lynn Harris Kersey died Friday, June 8th. She was born January 6, 1941, here in Monticello. She was one of my bridesmaids when Bruce and I married 43 years ago.

It feels rather trite to post anything else right now.

and more rain...

We have had rain every day since Saturday. Not too much, just right...showers. Yeah!

HWB and wife had a little black haired baby girl late last Friday. About 3 weeks late. Suzanne.

Kittens are wonderful...they are both getting over colds. Hasn't slowed them down.

It's Raining!!!!!

Got up this morning at 5:30. Opened the back door to let everyone out and it's raining!!! Yeah!!!

Tropical Storm Barry is giving us rain and we so need it. No significant rainfall in this area since March 3rd. I just hope it continues long enough to make a difference!

Had thought I'd go to Thomasville to Lowes today, but think I'll just stay home and enjoy the rain!

The weather on the computer said the main part of the storm will miss us, we'll just get rain!!!

Blue moon?

When I got home from work Wednesday I had 3 packages in my carport...2 rather big ones and one small one. The small one was a slip cover for my chair and the 2 large ones were a cast aluminum table for the patio and an umbrella for the table.

My first choice to tackle was the slip cover, boy, what a chore! Took quite a while, but it fits and does make a major difference! Yeah!

Then I drug the 47 pound box with the table in it to the patio and spent a little over 2 hours putting it together. It's square and black and sharp! The umbrella was a snap, thank goodness!

Then it was time to water my garden which is all in containers...squash, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and a gazillion herbs. Got a kink in the hose and did a little flip/snap thingy to unkink it. Snapped the faucet off the house and had a MAJOR geyser of water spewing from the house to the concrete patio. My first thought was to put the faucet back in. Tried and tried, but it had broken off and there were no threads left. Got soaked and fixed nothing. Ran into the house and called my plumber...goat his answering machine on both numbers. Left a frantic message. Ran out to the water main and once I got the top off could find nothing that remotely resembled a cut off valve...just the dial spinning at top speed! Back to the phone. Called my back yard neighbor (County property appraiser) thinking he would know what to do, but he wasn't home. Called HWB, not in...called one of the guys from work, not in...called Ann, she had no ideas. Called the police. They contacted a city worker who finally came out and cut the water off at the main. Then the plumber called back and said he'd be over as soon as he jumped into his pool.

When the plumber got here it was pitch black dark and there's no light in the area where the broken pipe is. So he capped it off and said he'd send one of his guys on Thursday to replace it. And he turned the main back on.

Was hot, sweaty, tired and thirsty when he left. Went to the kitchen for water. Opened the refrigerator door to get a bottle of water out and a large plastic bowl of slaw fell out and landed upside down and splattered all over Shirley and me. Scooped Shirley up sprayed her off in the sink, put her outside and then cleaned up. What a MESS!

When I woke up Thursday morning both my cable TV and my Internet service were down. These are not connected things and of course I found this quite a puzzle. Called the cable company (on hold for almost 10 minutes), reported the outage.

Left for work early and stopped by the grocery store to get Milk Bone Dog Biscuits for Chuck (HWB's dog). The power had been out at the store and they didn't have the registers booted back up yet. Waited a few minutes, gave them some money (said to let me know if it wasn't enough) and headed to work.

The computers were down at work!

Pittled around until time to make my morning run. Was standing in line at the bank when I was hit by a migraine so bad that I thought I'd be sick right there. Made it back to work and came home early.

As soon as I was able to fall asleep the phone rand, Ann. Then the plumber came and put a heavy duty faucet on the house (total bill $95.00). Then I did sleep an hour or so.

This morning I'm better. Can still feel where the headache was, but better.

I'm blaming the full moon!

Catching up

Since I last posted we've had Mother's Day and Memorial Day...both of which constituted a command appearance in Tallahassee.

Mother's Day was, of course, at the country club. Mother, Bert, Nancy P., Nancy & Mark and I attended. Good food and fun company. Both Rosie and Prentice called...LOVE hearing from them! Prentice is going to do my kitchen for me!!!!! I'm thrilled!

Yesterday was Memorial Day. Once more at the country club. This time it was different. It was a wonderful bar-b-que cooked outside and eaten outside. Nice weather, clear (no smoke) and breezy. Had to fuss at Mother. She jumped on Nancy (verbally)...I told her in private not to do it anymore. Hope it works, she hurts Nancy's feelings so badly and so often. I blow up at her when she pulls that stunt with me, but Nancy internalizes and stews.

Got two kittens last week. A little grey tabby and a little grey-black thing. Not from the same litter, in fact not even from the same towns. They get along quite well and are (as kittens are) a hoot! They are living for now in my bathroom. Thank goodness it's very large and they have lots of romping room. They were both 6 weeks old on Friday and are just too tiny to be loose in the house. Too many places for them to get stuck or lost. Them come into my room with Shirley to play...they LOVE Shirley! Goodness and Mercy are afraid of them!!! Oh, Smokey and The Bandit!

HWB's baby still hadn't arrived as of last Friday. The first due date was the 11th, then they changed it to the 19th. Told HWB when I left on Friday that maybe the baby (don't know the sex) would wait until this coming Thursday...full moon.

Had Nancy over for a little cookout on Sunday. Actually grilled! Hot dogs and hamburgers. Had slaw, yellow rice and black bean salad, baked beans, curried deviled eggs and sweet tea. Nancy brought cherry ice cream and brownies. Good eats!

Hope to post a little more often now that my new computer is acting better.

EEK!

With the weather as hot and dry as it is now work is even slower than it would normally be this time of year.

Yesterday I was looking for something to do (I can only surf the net for so many hours a day without going totally batty!), so I decided to clean out the refrigerator at work. I found things from Easter still in there! Then I found a white kitchen trash bag that I didn't recognize. Tried to pull it out, but it was quite heavy, so I just pulled it forward enough to look in it. My mistake! It was a rattlesnake...bigger around than my upper arm. Scared the pea turkey out of me!!! Stuffed it back and closed the door...left HWB a note on his desk and just had the heeby jeebies for the rest of the afternoon. I sure hope it's gone when I get in this morning!

Hot, hot, hot

All last week we got up into the 90's...they're saying this morning it'll be only in the 80's! Thank goodness! I started using the air conditioner last Sunday. I hate that!

I'm getting ready to pay my electric bill, $50.71...bet it'll be the last one that low for a while...oh well.......

Not much going on, working, cleaning house, trying to stay on top of the yard work (being very sparing with the watering).

Our local Congressman called yesterday (old classmate) and invited me to join him and some other classmates at his house for dinner....just couldn't. Had just taken the garbage out to the road and was dirty and sweaty from yard and house work and still had a multitude of things to do in order to make my week doable. Was offered a rain check. Accepted.

One more episode of Survivor on Thursday and then the finale on Sunday. Always hate to see each season end!

The Beach

Oh, it's over! It went much too quickly! Our beach vacation is now in the past...it was wonderful!

Thursday Nancy and I set out in two cars for St. Teresa. We each had a dog and enough supplies to last us through hurricane season!

It was around 6:30 when we got there and had to turn on the power to the house and the pump house and then turn on the water, so it was 7ish when we got the cars unloaded, etc. I made a vat of Mexican pasta salad and that was just right for supper (and 3 more meals!) and I took the little tv and dvd player from here so we were delighted to put our feet up, eat and watch Survivor! Actually the reception with rabbit ears was just awful, but we got enough of it to sorta follow the game and see who got voted off (Mookie!!!!). Then we sat on the porch and froze to death while we watched the storm (no rain of course, just major wind) blow in.

Neither of us knows how Friday passed as quickly as it did...we walked the dogs on the beach several times (plastic bags in pockets), ate, napped, ate, carried an 8' ladder through the woods to look through the windows of a house that's for sale, ate, rocked on the porch and then it was time to cook out. Nancy brought her grill and supplies along with two beautiful steaks which she grilled to perfection. She made her famous baby greens, blueberry, feta, pecan salad with videlia onion dressing and loaded potatoes! My one contribution was Texas toast that I grilled and it was good! We ate and watched "Two Weeks Notice" and had trouble keeping our eyes open!

Two of Nancy's friends came down Saturday morning and we ate and played bridge from 9am till 5pm. Then we went back to Panacea and ate at the Harbor House. Fantastic seafood, great service and a table over looking the water! Saw something none of us had seen before, this big machine with long arms scooped up boats from the water at the pier and loaded them into little cubby holes stacked 4 or 5 deep! Fun to see! After dinner Donna and Noreen went back to Tallahassee and Nancy and I took our loaded take out boxes and went back to the house. We watched "The Devil Wears Prada" and drank wine until 12:30, that's very late for both of us!

The refrigerator died sometime Friday. Luckily each of us had taken a cooler and the BP down the road had ice.

We saw a bald eagle, many woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, sparrows, wrens, terns, cranes, and several formations of pelicans that flew right in front of the porch lots of times! We saw porpoises directly in front of the house a few times and a funny little lizard with markings on his back like a rattle snake and horny protrusions all over his head! Great fun!

Sunday was another beautiful day, just much too short! We left at 3:30 and Shirley and I were home by 5...not bad! We are both looking forward to doing this again sometime...hope it's soon!

I'm so glad I took today off from work, too! I am SO tired even after a good nights sleep and every part of me hurts from my feet (I'm sure from walking on the beach so much) to my neck and everything in between!

Even though it was wonderful, it's sooooo good to be home! (Goodness and Mercy sure are glad we're home, too!)

Yesterday we celebrated Mother's birthday. It actually isn't until tomorrow...she'll be 82. It's funny, I was trying to think of something pleasant to say about her...she'd like this...she looks remarkable for her age, dresses beautifully and finally changed her hair-do. Okay, except for the hair-do part she'd like that. Nancy and I drove down to the Seineyard and met Mother and Bert. As usual, we pigged out and had major leftovers to bring home. I just had shrimp, scallops, grouper, fries and a hush puppy for breakfast (wonderful) and there's still more left for lunch!

Our busy time at the nursery is done...hate that! I absolutely love it during the busy time. I still enjoy it because of the people there and the surroundings, but I am crazy bored now. I'm not good at busy work and am tired of surfing the Internet for 6-7 hours every day.

I'm really considering early retirement. I could do that September 1st...just couldn't live on the amount of money I'd receive. Sure wish I could find something to do to bring in enough money to make the difference in SS $'s and real life!

Haven't done anything toward remodeling the kitchen yet...wish Prentice were here. I know he could do it and I know I'd like it. I'd like that entire room gutted and redone. It's sorta an awkward room, open on both ends and taller than it's wide. Wish there were a tv program to do it for me!

Finally had to break down and get Shirley a new harness. After she was spayed a few months ago she really puffed up! Now she knows how I feel! Of course when she hurt her hip that slowed her down considerably, but it's well now I think. Anyway, she now is the proud owner of a lovely hunter green harness and it looks soooo good on her!

Wild weather!

On March 3rd we got under an inch of rain. We didn't get more until last night. We got about an inch. We've been so cold that I've built fires and so hot that I entertained the idea of turning on the air conditioner (but didn't!). Now it's cold again and I'll have a fire going for at least the next three nights! Crazy!

Lately it's been impossible for me to get on blogspot to post. Then today I tired once more and did.

Last Sunday was Easter and after almost 4 years I finally got to meet my new step sister. She and my sister have the same name, so that shouldn't be a problem. We had a good time and good food.

Missed work Monday because of a weather induced migraine and even though I went to work on Tuesday the dumb head ache lingered until Thursday in one way or another, mainly visual.

Friday we closed at 1pm for an employee cookout. I did everything but the meat. We had pheasant, wild turkey, quail and venison along with a giant salad, baked beans, rolls and brownies. It was good and I came home at 3:30. Not bad.

Next Saturday we're doing Mother's 82nd birthday and then the following weekend is the beach! Sure am looking forward to that!

Spring Gardens

The azaleas made one of their best shows this spring...I so enjoy this yard! Three sides are bordered with 6'-8' tall azaleas in coral, white and purple. Everything was in bloom at once with the red buds and dogwoods dripping with wisteria and orange trumpet vine and spirea blooming all around and, of course the camellias! Of course I took no pictures, just hope the mental image lasts!

Now I'm waiting for the hydrangeas, irises and crape myrtles to do their thing! Ain't spring grand!

Reconnedted, finally!

It's been a couple of weeks or so since I've posted.....dumb computer was in and out of the shop and then was totally dead for a while. Finally I went to Tallahassee Saturday and got a new one. A nice little Gateway desk top variety that no other hand or brain has interfered with. I guess this is the first new computer I've had and getting it all set up and on line was a major challenge.

Actually, the set up part was a piece of cake except for the monitor...I couldn't get the base attached. It took several attempts with breaks in between before it finally dawned on me that perhaps I should turn it around and try it that way. Presto! went right in! It's one of those skinny LCD monitors and it's absolutely amazing how much more desk top space is available now!

No real news. Work was CRAZY busy for a couple of months, now (as of Friday) it's dead! Of course, the weather plays a major part in that. We are quite dry and hot...88 yesterday and it's been several weeks since it's rained and the weatherman just said there's none in sight this week! In fact he said "get your sprinklers out"! I'm doing a little hand watering, nothing else.

Mother and Bert will not be going to Italy after all. Mother had an incident last week. She woke up with the room spinning. Bert ended up calling for an ambulance and they went to the emergency room. They found nothing wrong, gave her a shot and a prescription and sent her home. Bert told Nancy that there was no way he'd take her out of the country and risk something like that or worse happening. They'll do something in the states.

Helen's still hanging in there. A few weeks ago she went to the doctor for testing and they found that she's diabetic. She's not eating right and probably won't. The tumors are slow growing, but they found they had increased in size. Her memory is so severely impacted. It's quite painful for me to talk with her. In one conversation she'll repeat herself many times and each conversation is a repeat of the last 100.

I've had a hard time getting on Blogger lately, not to read blogs, but to post. I've tried several times from work and off and on yesterday. This is this first time I've been able to log on. Wonder if they're having problems?

Saturday morning in Tallahassee

Yesterday I met Mother and Nancy at Bradley's Country Store at 8:00 for breakfast. We each had a Pepsi and a 12" country sausage with sauteed onions on a bun! Good eating! We sat out under a very old oak tree to eat at a picnic table that looked like it grew there! The weather was perfect and we really did have a nice time.

After we ate we walked across the road to let Maria potty and to look at some goats in the field...the goats were a hoot! They had wide rather high ramps that they were playing on, butting each other off and running up and down. Fun to watch. Mother said she couldn't walk the whole way (maybe 50 yards) so she went back and sat in her car until we got back. Then we sat back out at the picnic table and talked for a while more.

Mother had called earlier in the week and said she was going to have my kitchen remodeled. Yeah! I did tell her I thought it was a wonderful idea, but I would have to have final say on style and color. She very begrudgingly agreed.

So when we left Bradley's I followed Mother to Lowes...only she got confused and sorta turned around and had to pull over and I had her follow me. Anyway, we got there. We looked at lots of styles and when she saw what I had in mind she seemed less worried. My back was bothering me and I suggested that we each take some brochures home and look at them and then on another day we could look again. We did get a light for the dining room, but she called a while ago and suggested that I put it in the funny little room off the kitchen and go with another one we saw for the dining room...think she's right. I'll have the kitchen, dining room, funny little room and the kitchen painted all the same color...sorta a moss green, nice depth and rich color. I want to have the carpet ripped out of the dining room and of course the floor in the kitchen redone. The window over the sink also needs to be replaced.

This is rather exciting! I'm going to have to have an electrician put a 220 outlet for the stove on the opposite wall of the kitchen and they'll have to do wiring for the hood and the dishwasher and hang the two light fixtures and put an outlet on the front porch and put a light outside the french doors and I have two light bulbs that have to be changed.

Then I'll need a painter and a plumber!

I'm afraid this may become a bigger project than Mother thinks it will be. Those walls in the kitchen are plaster and I'm afraid that when the cabinets are taken down it'll all come down too and then there's the sheetrock thing that'll probably have to happen. Also, the floor isn't level at all and it needs to be jacked up...could be a very major undertaking!

Leah Jane had a brunch for Ann's birthday today. We began with Blood Marys and ended with birthday cake with a lovely casserole and sausage and biscuits and hot fruit in between! There were 6 of us and we laughed and ate and had fun!

We had a storm!

We all knew on Thursday morning that a storm was coming...we talked about it at work and it was on the radio and tv.

When I got home a little after 1 on Thursday I cleared the patio of furniture and plants and things...just put them against the house and shrubbery in the back, brought some of the little things in. The only thing I left in place was the rug that I have out there.

I sat bolt upright in bed at 2 am Friday morning thinking that something had fallen on the house. The wind and rain was Charley loud and then another giant boom of thunder with the lightening happened and the power went off. The storm really didn't last all that long, maybe an hour or so and then it was just hard rain.

This mornings paper said that it still hadn't been confirmed that at tornado had touched down in Jefferson County, but the physical evidence pointed in that direction. Any way, we were without power county wide for 6+ hours. After seeing what happened in Andolusia, AL I think we should all count our blessings!

The power came back on around 9:40 am yesterday morning. Then I showered and dressed and went to the bank. They had only been open for about 1/2 hr. when I got there and the line was a million people long! I waited. Deposited my paycheck (such as it is!) and headed to the Social Security office in Tallahassee.

Turns our that when I got there they hadn't been open very long either. Seems there were pocket of power outages all over Leon County too. My sister said here power went off just long enough for her to have to reset her clocks, but then stayed on.

Anyway, since I moved into the house about 2 years ago I haven't gotten a statement of benefits from SS and seeing as how I'm turning 62 this year I thought it was time to make sure that I really was still in the system and I need to know what I can expect to draw if I do take early retirement. I'll only have SS and have no savings or other source of income. The young fellow that waited on me was rather condescending and a little less than helpful at first. I told him I wanted to change my address with them (I'd already tried on the phone and on line and since I'm not at present receiving benefits I had to wait until the IRS notified SS about a change of address). Well, damn it, I just didn't care for that! The IRS has managed to find me to deliver tax return forms for two years, but it seems they still hadn't told SS that there was an address change. This sightly bored young man gave me the same run around. And finally I said, "Just when do you think they'll get around to sending me this information? I'm thinking about taking early retirement this year and I need to be able to make some plans." With that his head whipped around to me and he looked at me and said "Just how old are you?" and I said "I'll be 62 this year." At that he became quite chatty and helpful. Changed my address in the system, printed out an estimated benefit statement and gave me some advice. The way things look I'll really have to keep working full time...and I'm just so tired!

Left there and went to K-Mart and Walmart. Got pet food and kitty litter.

Got to my sister's house around 1:30, just as she was pulling into her driveway. We sat and visited for an hour or so and then went to pick up Maria from the vets. She was there to be spayed. Well, it turned out that she has a blood clotting factor problem and they didn't do the surgery. She's to be on medication for 3 weeks and then they'll check her again and probably do it then.

We took Maria back to her house and then went shopping at High Cotton!! Love that store! and, everything in the store was 20% off! Didn't get much, a candle and a pair of dish towels, oh, and we both got cards for Mother and Bert's birthdays! They're hoots! Had fun.

Then, we went to the Outback Steakhouse...got there at 4:20 (gift certificates from the Merrit Island group) and ate hardy!!!

Got home at 6:30 and was POOPED!!

Fell asleep in my chair watching tv and woke at 10 and got in bed. Didn't get up until 10 this morning. It's 4:15 in the afternoon and all I've done today is put the patio back together and clean the stove top...I've not even finished the newspaper!

Thank goodness tomorrow's Sunday!

Company!

Tuesday night Prentice and Cynthia came to visit on their way back to NC.
It was good to finally meet Cynthia and as always WONDERFUL to see Prentice!

Wednesday morning before they left out they came by my work and got a glimpse of the nursery where I work. It's never easy seeing someone you love leave, but it was easier for me for them to leave from where I work than from home...it's always so empty at home...at work I had work.

Our weather has taken another wierd turn. Yesterday it was hot! I tried to sit on the patio to read the newspaper and had to keep chasing the shade!

It's winter here!

We had really become quite complacent here about the weather! Just because it has been so spring-like that everything is in bloom and we've been wearing light weight clothing we forgot that it's only February! NOW we remember! It's cold!

Every night I carry in 3 armloads of fire wood and use it all! I'm so glad I got the long cord of wood back when folks thought I was nuts to worry about it, because it's at a premium now and hard to find. I'm keeping the thermostat set on 60 and with a roaring fire we are staying quite cozy.

Last night I did add another comforter to the bed, but with Shirley, Goodness and Mercy on the bed with me I probably could have done without it. However, they are saying that tonight and tomorrow night will be much worse.

Had to make a mad run to Tallahassee for HWB yesterday. He's selling things on e-bay and had promised a fellow that he'd overnight a dumb golf club...our Post Office closes at noon on Thursdays as well as the bank. So I missed my afternoon off, but at least it was out of the office! Got back to the office at 3:15 and home before 3:30.

No plans for the weekend, I'd thought I'd take Nancy her birthday present which finally came in, but I used my Tally trip yesterday to drop it by her house. What a relief! I'm looking forward to staying in and vegging all weekend! Maybe I'll finish that new Stephen King book I've been reading for weeks. It's very good, I just don't have much spare time!

The animals are in heaven with their new fenced area...Mercy goes out a lot, but is always ready to come in when I whistle.

Two New MOTHER stories

Last Saturday Mother, Bert, Nancy and I had lunch together at the Seine Yard in Woodville. Lunch was wonderful as always and we had a very nice visit.

As Nancy, Bert and I were having dessert Mother suddenly piped up with "I haven't had chocolate this year"...I thought just a moment and told her that that wasn't true...about a month ago Mother, Nancy and I had lunch together and afterwards went back to Mother's house where she took a large box of chocolate out of the freezer and we sat out on the porch and pigged out! Then two weeks ago after shopping the three of us went to Ruby Tuesday's and Mother was the only one who had dessert...a giant chocolate cake thing with ice cream and stuff and she finished it all! After I reminded her about those two times that I knew of she said "Oh, does that count?"!

The restaurant was quite crowded when we were ready to leave. Nancy and I dodged the crowd and got to the front quickly, but were stopped by a large crowd coming in. As we stood there waiting to get around I felt a little tug on my sleeve. I looked down and it was Mother. She said "I'm Jane Fl*****r", I smiled and said "I'm Jane C*******d. She got a strange look on her face and said "Oh, I looked across the crowd and saw you and thought 'I think I know that lady, she sure looks familiar.'"!

They are going to Italy in May. I hope Bert keeps a close eye on her...she may get lost!

Yesterday was my 3hr. off day. I cleaned out the carport, moved my old wood pile to the new one, did some weeding and planted a couple of crape myrtles. My arms and shoulders ache this morning!

Yeah! It's FRIDAY!!!

Early Spring!

Well, Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow this morning, predicting an early Spring. Do you suppose Global Warming has anything to do with that? This has been an extremely odd winter with bitter cold and summer-like heat...with the heat predominating. Has been good for the utility bills, but everything begins to bloom and then we have a freeze! Had 3 1/2 inches of rain last night with lightning and thunder that made one think of summer! Odd, odd, odd!

Yesterday was my sister's 58th birthday. I'll be going to her house tomorrow and then we'll meet Mother and Bert at the Seine Yard at 4:00 for a SEAFOOD celebration! I always get the same thing there and have a ton to take home afterwards...plan-overs!

It's very quiet here at work this morning, HWB has been out of the country on a fishing trip for a week and Paul left yesterday for a trade show in Mobile. I had 3 deliveries scheduled for this morning and 2 of them have called to postpone their loads until Monday because of the rain last night. So our driver will have one short jaunt to Tallahassee and then he'll be off for the rest of the day...wish I were too! Didn't even have my afternoon off yesterday so today bodes long!

Leah Jane invited me to a Super Bowl party on Sunday...I begged off!!!

Had a man out Tuesday to give me an estimate on doing a fence for me.......3 legs 50' each and a couple of gates...$1,500.00! At the rate my sock drawer is filling it'll take me another 5 years to save that! I'm thinking about trying to do it myself...don't know if I can or not, but it's worth a try!

Winter has finally arrived...sorta...

By watching and listening to the news I know the rest of the country has had rather odd weather this winter, but I'm sure it feels more personal where you are.

So far we've had more warm weather than cool this winter season. My wood pile has hardly been touched! Of course we have 2-2 1/2 more months to go, so no telling what'll happen!

There was a nice little article in the local paper on Friday about me earning certification.

Helen's calling less than daily lately...that's a good thing!

I spent Saturday in Tallahassee. Mother met Nancy and me at Talbots and we did some major shopping and then went to lunch. Had a rather decent time...at lunch Mother got rather nasty a couple of times and the second time instead of ignoring it I called her down...she went mad! I told her she got her panties in a wad just too easily. She looked at me and said "my what?" ... I said "your panties" ... she looked at Nancy and said "what about my panties?" ... Nancy said (loudly) "They're in a wad!". Mother took in a large gasp of breath and started laughing. She laughed until she had tears rolling down her face. It ended up being quite funny.

Mother went home after lunch and Nancy and I went to an art gallery and had a very nice afternoon. Got home around 7pm,

Sunday was Prentice's 37th birthday.

Mysteries of life?

Wow! This past week I've been sick as a dog! Everyone else in town has been too. All the guys at work started a couple of weeks ago with flu, even Paul and HWB. I kept things wiped down with antibiotic wipes and was compulsive about hand washing...really thought I'd escaped and then last Wednesday started running a fever and feeling just awful. I actually slept for 48 hours, getting up long enough to take care of basic needs like litter boxes, Shirley in and out and my personal needs. By Saturday afternoon I felt well enough to sit up in my chair in the living room for about 4 hours and then on Sunday felt almost human.

Went to work yesterday (Monday) and had the longest 8 hours I ever remember. I'm still very tired with chest congestion and achy muscles, but think I'm on the up hill side of this. Funny thing, I had the flu shot!

In two weeks my baby boy will be 37 years old. Wow! Wish I had an address for him. He's sorta out of pocket now that he's in North Carolina.

I Passed!!!!

I took the 3 hour certification exam yesterday and passed all four sections. HWB also took the exam and passed the first 3 sections, but didn't pass the 4th which was the 90 minute open book part. In his defense, he didn't read the book (I read it 2-3 times and studied several sections again and again). He'll have 2 more times to take it. I hope he will.

Now, I have no idea what this certification will do for me, but I'm quite proud to be able to say that I'm now a Certified Horticulture Professional! Certified by FNGLA (Florida Nursery Growers Landscape Association)! This certification is good for 3 years and then I'll either have to take it all over again or have 15 hours of study in selected fields. Of course by then I'll be 65 and may not care to continue...we'll see.

We've had lots of rain since Christmas. It's raining right now and is expected to continue until Tues. or Wed. I do like it, but it's getting a bit soggy!

I have a new favorite movie, "The Devil wears Prada"! What a hoot!

The new year

Happy 007 everyone!

I stayed home New Years Eve, nothing very new about that! Was in bed by 9 o'clock, but woke up about 20 till 12...just in time to see the ball drop and go back to sleep.

I did spend the day Sunday (New Years Eve Day) in Tallahassee with Nancy. We did some shopping and some eating and visited a while. Was home before dark. Nice day.

Monday Leah Jane had folks over for bloody marys and Ann and I stayed for New Years Day food. I took a mess of greens (a mixture of turnips and mustards) and we had venison sausage, black eyed peas and cornbread. What a feast! Home by 3.

It was so hard to go back to work on Tuesday. This short week has felt 4 weeks long!

My certification exam is tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me!