Dinner on the grounds

After a week of really rainy, stormy weather yesterday dawned clear, cool and beautiful.

Thursday night I was up until around 10:30 putting together slaw for 50 people and searching for containers/utensils, etc. I planned to get an earlier start on the preparations, but LJ and Max stopped by around 6:00 and I had just finished unloading the car. So it was after 7:00 when I started. Just cutting the heads of cabbage in half was a pretty major undertaking. They were quite dense and very big. I couldn't get a knife through them. I ended up hitting them as hard as I could with the knife and when it stuck I'd pick the knife up, cabbage and all and whack the head down on the cutting board. It'd take a few good whacks, but those heads finally split in half!

I think my biggest concern was quanity. I wanted to make sure I had MORE than enough. I did the slaw, baked beans, rolls, cookies, bbq sauce, tea, water, sliced tomatoes from the farmer's market and the condiments. Of course, everything else from plates to forks was my responsibility too. The Boston butts were smoked up at Simpson's and two huge pans of cubed, hot meat was delivered right at 1:00. Everything went smoothly and the food was a major success, there was enough left for the employees to take some home and the boss and his wife to have dinner for 6! I brought home some meat and 4 cookies!

Not only was I the set-up crew, but also the planning committee, the cook and the clean-up crew! When it was over the boss gave me a hug and said "You really pulled that off!".

While I was out on my daily run (bank, post office and main office) I whipped by the house to get a knife and a cutting board. There was a bag on my back steps with fresh green beans and 2 big, beautiful onions. Mother and Bert had brought them by. Actually they wanted to see what I've been doing in the back yard.

For Mother's Day Mother, Bert, Nancy and I will be going to the country club for lunch. Bert's daughter, Nancy, and her husband, Mark, will also be joining us. This will be the first time I've met Nancy and Mark and I'm really looking forward to it!

Talked with Helen last night. Her oncologist (she doesn't seem to realize that he's an oncologist) was to call her last night she said. This is the doctor who removed her kidney last July. I'm just guessing, but I'll bet her primary care sent her x-rays to him. We'll see. She said she call back after she talked with him. She hasn't yet.

Laying in huricane supplies. The season starts in a little over 2 weeks.

Helen & Mercy Update

Helen called last night. She had stayed in bed all day and was in a lot of pain as she said "from her shoulders to her butt". When she went to the doctor last week she didn't tell him how bad the pain is and didn't ask him for any medication to help her deal with it. I do wish her daughter would be more attentive and more tuned in to what's going on with Helen. I must get down there.

When I closed up the house each night I always check on Goodness one last time for the day. Friday night was no exception and when I went out there was Goodness with Mercy practically wrapped around his neck...they were doing the Tail Up, Back Arched, Neck Twined Dance. She must have just arrived and the elation of the moment pulsed from both of them! It was beautiful! When the air calmed down a bit I scooped Mercy up and took her in. Her purrer is stuck on "run"...if I just look at her she turns up the volume! Someone had her. Her nails have been cut quite short and she's either been bathed or brushed or both and there's a floral scent about her. She's asking to go back out quite often, but I just can't let her. I guess I shouldn't quit my day job and make my living interpreting dreams!

This coming Friday we're having a cookout for one of our top three customers. There will be about 50 of us. HWB told me I am in charge of slaw, baked beans, plates, cups, rolls, bbq sauce, drinks, ice, "you know, the little things". He'll take care of the rest! We'll close at 11am on Friday. This should be fun.

Yesterday I got the last of the plants in the ground (except for the veggies) and put out 8 cubic feet of cypress mulch. It's looking so good, but I do need to get a few more perennial in that area. Just getting that raw, bare dirt covered with the mulch makes such a difference! Gotta get more mulch, can only carry 4 2 cubic foot bags in the car at a time, that means several more trips to Thomasville to get as much as I need! There are baby tomatoes on all of the bushes and baby peppers, too. Oregano, thymes, marjoram and rosemary are all doing very well...the softer herbs aren't doing too well...it's been so dry and hot. Can't water enough for the parsley, celantro and basil. I haven't mulched the vegetables, should.

Shirley and I had left over chef salad for breakfast. We were both delighted!

TGIF!!!!!

Not that it's been a bad week at all, but I'm so glad it's done with! I've not been sleeping well and I seem to stay sorta pooped. Absolutely no plans for the weekend, except to bomb the house for fleas...and that doesn't require much of me! I think, since I have to be out of the house for about 2 hrs. total, I'll take the opportunity to clean & scour the litter boxes and give the food & water bowls a good cleaning. Once again I can't make paragraphs! Mercy is missing. She's been gone since Monday night. (Monday was everyone's birthday...they are all 3 yrs old.) Mercy ran from me twice when I asked her to come in Monday night and I left her outside. It wasn't the first night she's slept out, and of course Goodness stays pretty close to her and to the house in the evenings. When I went out to feed them (and put Shirley out) Tuesday morning Goodness was the only one there. I looked and called her for quite a while, nothing. She wasn't home when I got in from work that afternoon and still isn't. I had a terrible dream last night about her...dreamed someone had cut her left paws off. In the dream I was sobbing and Daddy (he's been dead for over 7 years) came up to me and put his arm around my shoulders and said "Don't worry about her, I'll take care of her." and then I woke up. I think it means she's dead. Oh, God, I'm aching about her. Helen has called for the last 3 evenings. Last night it was almost 9 o'clock when she called. She's coughing a lot and it hurts her to cough. I must go to see her. I've got this terrible thing about going (besides the time and money), I'm afraid she'll die if I do go. I went to see Pappy 10 days before he died and it was the same with Murr, 10 days. Then I talked to Daddy on the phone (a very rare occurance, since he was deaf he rarely answered the phone) 5 days before he died. I didn't go to see my friend Phyllis before she died, but I did get back to Orlando 2 weeks before she died. There are others I can't remember right now. You see where this is going? I must work through this! Need to get out in the yard for a little while this evening. It rained a little bit today and that makes the weeding so much easier! It's also a good time to put mulch out.

A Good Week

This was a very nice week.

Monday & Tuesday were a little slow at work, but they passed.

I got quite a bit of weeding done in the bed I'm trying to create and a few more things planted.

Wednesday was great! It rained buckets and buckets of rain! Boy we needed that! We still need more (maybe tomorrow).

Also, Wednesday was the day HWB (the boss) took me to Tallahassee for lunch for National Administrative Assistant Day. We went to the University Club at FSU and had a wonderful table overlooking the football field...I have lots of memories of that stadium and the field. There was a lovely Spring arrangement of flowers on the table where we were seated. HWB told me that they were for me from him & the sales manager. How nice! They are on the mantle now and just beautiful! Roses (red, pink and yellow), purple Irises, gerber daisies, red and white snapdragons and a bunch of others I can't identify. Just beautiful!

I'm going in to work tomorrow for a while. The girl that's been doing the books and checks for TLS is quitting as of Monday and a bunch of her work is going to me, a bunch is also going to the accountant in Tallahassee. I am looking forward to having more to do, I worry about my ability to do the job. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Helen's not doing well. She's in lots of body pain and her short term memory is really poor. Her long term memory's good and her spirit's up most of the time. I don't think she's going to be with us too much longer.

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are doing well. Goodness has gotten rather skinny since he began his big outdoor adventure. He lives on the roof of the shed most of the time and he sometimes mews around the house wanting me to come out and hold him...I usually do. I watched him the other day stalk a squirrel. He's such a silly cat! Instead of getting low and slinking throuch the grass, he stood REAL tall and tip-toed! Needless to say, he didn't get within 3 feet of the squirrel...I got a chuckle from it though! Mercy spends every day out front. She's usually on the front porch either in a chair or on the table, but she occasionally uses one of the front beds as her lookout point. She'll only come in the front door...I think she's trying to tell me something! She only comes in to eat and sleep. Shirley's thinking she's an only child!

Today is the queen's birthday!

Queen Elizabeth is 80 today! Mother is 81 today. They both look pretty good! I always knew that Mother and the queen shared a birthday. When we were little Mother always made mention, but I'm pretty sure that she said, also, that they were the same age. It now makes a little more sense that Mother's house is at all times "queen ready"! If the queen were at any moment to drop by Mother has it covered! Not only the house, but also Mother herself is ready to receive guests! If she's up (by 5am) she's dressed with hair and makeup done! She has been that way, it seems since I was around 8 years old. Someone must have dropped by at an unexpected time and Mother wasn't ready and then they said something about it to someone and it got around town or some other story with much the same theme.

Bless her heart, she expects both my sister and me to be the same way and she is often disappointed (and sometimes down right mean about it!).

Yesterday was the day chosen to celebrate the birthday, mainly because the restaurant we all wanted to go to isn't open on Sunday. I met my sister at her house at 2:45 and after a little visit we headed down to Crawfordville. Got to the restaurant at 3:20 (meeting time was scheduled to be four, but we got there early to make a reservation as they don't take them over the phone for parties under twelve!). Mother and Bert got there at 3:55. Had a fantastic meal and we laughed and visited and ate until around five. We were all quite full and each had a big box of leftovers to take home. Left around 5:10 headed toward Tallahassee in what grew to be a really major storm! A tornado touched down three times in Crawfordville at 5:15! No deaths, lots of damage.

Friday when I was leaving work the boss handed me his American Express card and said he wanted me to put the birthday dinner on it! I thanked him and knew that wouldn't fly! Bert wasn't having a thing to do with that! He bowed up just a tad!

Also on Friday the boss told me he's taking me to lunch on Wednesday for National Administrative Assistant Day. We're going to the University Club. What does one wear? Since I asked him for a raise last week he's been more involved in my life. I think it's because he'd like to keep me there, but he's not ready to give me more money.

All of the rain yesterday still didn't bring us out of our drought state, but it sure helped! We have been so dreadfully dry and hot! We hit 90 three days in a row last week! I've kept my little vegetable/herb garden watered and it's doing well. There's a couple of thumb tip sized tomatoes on one of the 8" plants and all of the others are blooming like crazy! The celantro is bolting and the poor little seedlings that haven't been planted yet are struggling!

Put out a total of 16 irises. They are visible from the dining room window and are such a pleasure to look at! Put out 5 more daylilies Friday and Saturday. The timing of the rain was perfect! It's to be sunny and hot today.

Didn't work Thursday. Asked for the entire day off! Had plumbers coming to install outside faucets in the front and back. Boy, that's wonderful being able to water without having to pull the hoses through the carport, across the patio and then on to the garden!

I don't think Helen's doing very well. She told me Friday night that all of her bones on the right side of her body, from the shoulder to the knee, hurts. It hurts enough that she called for an appointment with her doctor, but she didn't say how bad it is and they are to see her tomorrow! She said she ran out of pain pills and is taking asprin.

Small towns

Yesterday the Fed Ex man stopped by our office. He had a package for the lady who works across the highway from us. When he said her name I knew she was the mother of the young man next door. So I looked him up in the phone book and gave his name, number and address to the Fed Ex guy. Later, after I got home, I saw Fed Ex stop next door. Where else but a small town?

Then, just a while ago I was washing dishes and looked out the kitchen window and saw my friend Leah Jane and her neighbor walking around in the back yard. LJ was just giving Norma a tour. What a hoot! Once more, a small town thing!

For the last 40+ years I've lived in cities. I'd forgotten the rhythm and ways of a small town. It's comfortable, but takes a little while to get used to it.

I walked in a downtown realty office yesterday and one of the sales people came out and spoke and asked me how I was enjoying my house. I didn't know her from Adam's house cat, but she knew me! Turns out it had been her house and she's the one who added the master suite.

Got stopped by a little old lady in the grocery store who asked who I was. Told her and she said "thats right, I didn't know you the last time I saw you either!"...no idea who she is.

Got out early this morning and did some major weeding, then went to the post office, grocery store and drug store. Went out again earlier this afternoon and got lotto...haven't done that in a long time, but it's $63 million or something tonight and I just felt those quick picks calling my name. Cross your fingers for me! And good luck to you if you bought some!

Easter in Tallahassee tomorrow. I hope everyone has a good one!

This 'n That

This computer began acting a little weird last week so I reset it back to March 9th or something. That seemed to help for a while, but on Sunday it would freeze up whenever I tried to use it. So, on Monday I took it in and left it. They called me on Wednesday and said they couldn't fix it, didn't know what was wrong and that it wouldn't even boot up. Told them I'd pick it up after work, and did. They were kind enough to mention that they did have several computer packages for sale, starting at $600.00!

Anyway, I thought about them saying it wouldn't boot up anad hooked it up as soon as I got home...booted up just fine, just couldn't get on line. So when I got home this afternoon I spent about an hour and a half on the phone with aol and here I sit, posting!

Then I took a 3 hour nap! Don't remember doing that in a while. Actually had to force myself to get up when I woke up. Really have been getting tired.

I've talked with Helen several times, most every day. Last night she said she was thinking about giving me her sewing machine, but I'd have to go down and get it. I do need to go see her.

Both this weekend and next are tied up, so I can't go down then.

Sunday my sister and I will be joining Mother and Bert at the country club for Easter lunch. (I haven't the foggiest idea what to wear.). And the next Sunday is Mother's 81st birthday and we will be going to Crawfordville for seafood on Saturday. Same place we went to for my sister's birthday. The food is fantastic and one wears jeans!

Got some of that Jergen's Lotion "Natural Glow" for medium skin...just didn't want to be fair skin. I've used it for 4 days now and there is a change in my skin tone, but the most obvious change to me is to the palms of my hands...read the directions this morning (you know, it's just lotion!) and they say to wash you hands after each application...I've been rubbing it in when I was finished, 'cause it's lotion, you know! Palms do look good!

Survivor comes on tonight! Yeah!! On Wednesday night on the OUT network they have reruns of older Survivors games from 7pm to 10pm! I try to remember to catch that when I can.

Garden's looking good! Having to water most every night...the sprinkler is a squirrl and sprinkles about an 8' section at a time...so I only water important spots! The tomatoes are blooming, so are the irises! I wish I knew someone that would dig me up another area. Maybe I should check around.

See, the computer seems to be doing quite well!

Thursdays

It's amazing what a difference taking Thursday afternoons off makes. So far I've only done it twice, but that little breather toward the end of the week really does refresh me to the point that by Saturday I still have enough oomph left to give me a small store of energy to rebuild for the coming week. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't do anything, but the pleasure of doing for me is refreshing!

I still love work, but it has slowed down to the point of a crawl and that's more tiring than the earlier Spring frenzy! I find myself dragging out jobs just to fill in the time and I surf the net and play games and read the newspaper and do the crossword puzzle and check e-mail, etc., etc., etc.
I haven't been told, but I sorta expect another late summer/early fall rush also...we'll see.

Goodness is for sure an outside cat. He mainly hangs around the house, but sometimes he's gone when I get home and that worries me until he shows up wanting hugging and carrying...as long as it's outside. He'll let me take him into the house, but as soon as I put him down he begins the worse hissy fit I've ever seen! He runs and jumps and flings himself against the back door until I open it for him. He'll stop his little fit, lean back and lick his left shoulder a couple of times and walk out the door and lay down on the back step. Really quite comical once I realized what he was doing!

Now, Mercy is a cat of a different color! Each afternoon when I get home from work I change clothes and put Shirley out on her chain. I leave the back door open and am in and out doing stuff for a while. Mercy will take her time and go out and sit on the bricks for a while before she decides to wander around with me or even do some exploring and once I settle in one spot she's usually right there to help. She's quite a weeder! But when I tell Shirley that it's time to go in Mercy pays attention. A couple of times she thought she wasn't quite ready to go in, so Shirley & I went in without her (closed the door!). When I went to the door to check on her she was ready to come in. So for now it's just us girls inside, while Goodness guards the outside.

We're to be stormy today and tonight, so instead of reading the paper I thought I'd go ahead and do the computer and then turn it off. When I went out to get the paper I had one in my driveway and one in the paper box. As I didn't have my glasses with me I had to wait until I got inside to figure out what'd happened. The Jacksonville paper was the one in the driveway, the Tallahassee paper in the box. It was an invitation to get a subscription to the Jax paper. So, I'm looking forward to my papers and coffee while the thunder rolls!

Changes

Beginning this past Thursday I'm going to take Thursday afternoon off at work. I'll work 8-1. This past Thursday I came home and did absolutely nothing. Sat in the carport with the animals and read an herb catalog. Felt wonderful! I'm so tired lately, so I thought about it and since the town closes on Thursdays and we are generally slow that seemed like a logical day. We'll see how it works out.

Speaking of animals, I think Goodness is going to have to be an outside cat. He loves it out there and is miserable inside. When I got up this morning he'd actually knocked several things off of the tops of tables & things. So, as we speak, he's outside.

Can't adjust to this time change. Can't they just leave it alone!!!!!

Not much happening

Peculiar weather for the past week! One day last week we got up to 91 degrees and this past Monday we had a freeze! Sorta hard to dress and it's making gardeners nuts! Took the plastic off the garden yesterday and also bought a few more vegetable starts. Will plant them this weekend. Need to get more mulch.

Have got to get ready for work, just was determined not to wait a week to post again. So here it is...short and sweet...just like me!

Catching up again!

I was surprised to see that it had been over a week since I last posted!

Last weekend I worked in the yard both days and, frankly, was just too darn tired to get on the computer. I transplanted 3 rather sizable sago palms, planted a rose bush, 7 bearded iris, 6 cucumbers, 16 white snapdragons, 9 tomatoes, rosemary, sage, parsley, cilantro (boy, that spelling looks wrong), oregano, spearmint & lemon balm. I made a container garden with some of the herbs and things really looked good! I managed to step in a fire ant bed on Saturday, still have some nasty looking places on the top of both feet!

Sunday I didn't feel great, not sore, just achey, still spent the entire day working in the yard.

Monday I woke up around 3am and felt just awful! Headache, muscle aches, painful sinuses, icky stomach and very warm. Tossed & turned in bed until 5am, got up & dressed for work...did normal morning things...coffee, vitamins, animals, litter boxes, etc. and felt worse & worse. Went to work, clocked in, got the server on line and said I was sick and had to go home. I clocked out with 7 min. on the clock. Got home, put my pj's back on and went to bed. Dozed off and on all morning. Then about noon I was roused by a rather loud crash...jumped out of bed to investigate, got dizzy and fell into the bedroom door frame. I guess I raised my arm to catch myself and crashed my wrist & forearm into the frame. I feel fortunate that I didn't break anything, but as I type this the wrist is very painful and it has the most interesting colors from just below my little finger all the way up past my wrist. Right arm. Could'a been worse!

Didn't work Tuesday either.

Worked 7:45-12:15 on Wednesday.

Worked a full day (81/2 hrs) on Thurs & Fri.

Today my sister & I went shopping together. She showed me two of the cutest shops & we had fun. Then we went to the OutBack for an early supper. We both had a $25.00 gift certificate from our aunt & uncle and we each spent all but $1.37 and we each left that and some folding money for the tip. We had lobster and it was wonderful! We both said that the lobster was an indulgence that we'd never have bought for ourselves, but totally enjoyed!

There, that's the week in review. Rather boring I guess, but it's my life and I quite enjoy it!

Just catching up

We had another busy week at work and the boss was out of town all week so that increased the work load for my co-worker and for me. He'll be in on Mon. & Tues. of this week, but then gone again. Stands to be another busy one coming up. Huh, I can't make paragraphs. Thursday when I got home from work my dogwood trees were all in bloom...they weren't when I left for work. It was like magic! Beautiful! Still have the cherry laurels, azaleas, red buds, various bulbs & camellias in bloom, too, so it's really pretty! Met Mother for shopping and lunch yesterday. Her foot is still scabby, but no longer hurts. I drove and when we got back to her house she had forgotten her keys. Luckily she had one out in the yard, so we did get in. Poor Bert! His face is SO bruised. This was the first time I'd seen him since his surgery...told him I'd sure like to see the "other guy"! He got a chuckle from that. Found some wheat grass for the animals yesterday. It was quite expensive...$4.00 for a tiny pot of it. They do love it. Would like to find some seeds and grow it for them myself. Wonder if it's just regular wheat? Have talked with Helen every day for over a week now. She does remember some of our conversations, but not a bunch. She went to the doctor on Friday because her ribs are hurting her. He wanted to do an x-ray, but she said she was too tired and he gave her a perscription for one and made her promise to have it done and the results sent to him. She said yesterday that she's decided she doesn't need one and won't get one. I'm afraid the cancer has spread to her bones. That's the one thing we don't talk about.

Wow! Once more it's Sunday!

I'm not sure how time travel would be done, but sometimes it feels as if I'm doing it! Just forward at warp speed, never in reverse.

Went to Lowes in Thomasville this morning and found herbs and veggies and blooming things. Could only buy a few (you know, that dreaded money thing), but am so excited about what I did get...cilantro, Greek oregano, flat leaf parsley, sage, tomatoes and cucumbers and 12 cages. It's a start, and I do have some seeds from a hundred years ago, well almost, that I'm going to put out also. Now just have to get the last two sagos out of the herb garden and dig up a small plot for the other things. Think I need some dirt too.

Talked with Helen Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I think the tumors (two in her brain) must be growing or something. She doesn't remember talking with me and bless her heart, she doesn't remember when she doesn't talk with me. She's still on her own and that's so important to her. Wish there were more to do to help than just talk.

Mother and Bert got home yesterday. Bert had some eye surgery done at Emory and is doing very well. Mother said that he looks like the one who lost the fight, not only are his eyes bruised, but it's all down in his face too. He's sleeping a lot.

Finally dragged the pile of things I cut out of the side bed out to the street today. Took 5 trips. Looks better out back now, though!

I've been so busy with work and the stuff around here that I've not been doing one of my favorite things...THE DUMP. Did whip through one day last week and found a plant stand, a little rusty, but sound other wise. Painted it a very pale sage today. Looks pretty good, could have used one more can of paint, used two, oh well.

I'm thinking about a bubble bath.

Oh, Friday I was sitting out back with Shirley when a stranger came up. A pretty younger woman. She asked me if I were LJ and of course I am, so said yes. Turns out that she's the mother of the fellow (I don't know him) that lives next door and I taught her baton lessons when she was 6 years old! You know how this dumb brain of mine is, I don't know her name. I'm thinking I'll just have to go next door and ask that fellow what his mother's name is. Hate to do it, but I can't think of any other way to do it. Also, she works across the highway from where I'm working. Small town! Small world!

Mother & Helen

Talked with both Mother & Helen last night. Helen has been busy with her crocheting and the Elder program she's involved with. Plus she has made friends with a neighbor that she goes to visit...so, all is well. thank goodness! I do worry about her when I'm not down there to sorta keep an eye on her.

Mother said her foot is sore if she presses on it...suggested she not press on it! Actually, she's doing quite well, she and Bert are leaving this morning at 7am to go to Atlanta for the weekend. She is driving! It scares me to think of either of them driving anywhere!

Work is unbelievably busy...'tis Spring here!

Catching up

Lately it's so hard to get on the computer when I get home from work...so posting to my blog is one of the things I've sorta let slide.

Work's good, am really enjoying it.

Saturday Mother fell. She's okay, a little sore with a skinned knee and torn pants and the top of her foot is also skinned. She and Nancy were at breakfast and when they left the resturant she slipped in the wet parking lot and really took a tumble. She hurt her knee and the top of her foot, but landed on her behind with her legs out in front. Nancy was in front of her and didn't see it happen and Mother doesn't remember the sequence of it either. I told Nancy she must have bounced to have hurt the front and landed on the back...we both got a small chuckle from that.

Haven't heard from Helen in a little over a week. That's most unusual, as she usually calls once or twice during the week and at least once on the weekend. So last night I called her, didn't get an answer, so I called her daughter. Brenda thought she was okay, she'd talked with her on Saturday. I worry about her. She'll be 83 on the 17th of April and Mother will be 81 on the 23rd of April. Brenda and Don just celebrated their 20th anniversary...hard to believe. They'd only been married 4-5 years when I first met them.

Time to do the "Houdini" thing...magic for work.

Blooming things

Things have burst into bloom around here...all sorts of spring bulbs, even some here that I didn't know were planted, azaleas, camellias, red buds, flowering cherries and many other things I can't identify. The buds on the dogwoods are swelling and the Japanese magnolias are beautiful...three colors blooming, white, lavender and purple. A new (to me) plant, loropetalum or Chinese fringe plant is in bloom everywhere you turn. It's a wonderland! Of course, this little town is so pretty any way, but with the spring blooms it's unreal!

Another very busy week at work. Spring really inspires folks to plant. I need to do some digging. Maybe this weekend.

Need to go fix my face, gotta try to compete with the blooms...does that make me a "blooming idiot"?

Roses & Cable TV

Yesterday my co-worker and our boss surprised me with a dozen long-stemmed yellow roses for Valentines Day! What fun! and...how very thoughtful!

Then...I GOT CABLE TV! The cable man was due between 1 and 5 and was to call me at work to give me a 30 minute heads up. When I hadn't heard a word by 5 o'clock I called them. Was told he was running late, but I was on the schedule. So Shirley and I spent an hour outside in the lovely sunshine and waited. Finally at 15 minutes to seven he called. He was still in Tallahassee, had 2 more jobs and would call before he got here and he did at 8:30. He arrived at 9pm, had to run cable through the attic and the outside eave. It was 11:30 PM before he finished up and left. Needless to say I didn't watch tv last night, that was HOURS past my bed time!

Tonight I'll watch it! Sure do have a clear picture!

What a Valentines Day!

Busy Sunday

Finally! The house is clean.

When I woke up (at 8 AM!) yesterday my back felt human. Was actually able to bend without tears.

By noon I'd read the paper and done the normal animal chores and had a pot of coffee. Thought about reading a book, actually got one out, but looked around and couldn't justify just sitting. So, I swept, vacuumed

and mopped. It's absolutely amazing how much pet hair and dust can pile up in two weeks! Did laundry, changed the bed, dusted and did all sorts of neatening things. Sure smells good and really looks better! Not it's not so hard facing a busy week at work knowing I have a nice place to come home to.

Read on RM's blog that they are going to her father's in Asheville to meet ETC's new daughter. Oh how I wish I could be there too! Would love to hold that new one and squeeze the old ones!

Saturday was so rainy that I stayed in until around 3 PM. Then ran to the grocery store and by the Humane Society office. I left a letter of resignation from active participation with the shelter. Will remain a member, just can't be actively involved...have felt stretched too thin. Will have to read this again if I ever feel compelled to volunteer for ANYTHING again.

Must do the ol' majic trick and ready myself for work.

Life's little challanges

Two weeks ago today I hurt my lower back while cutting out some trees in one of the borders around the yard. I had one (about 12' tall) over my head and stepped back into a very shallow hole, twisted my ankle and caught the tree up in some bushes...Pulled my back muscles pretty badly. So it's been all I could do to just go to work (with heating pad in tow) and come home and go to bed. Missed two hours of work one afternoon, but other than that made it every day. Sure was miserable. Am better today.

When I got up yesterday morning I could see my breath in the house, so I turned the thermostat up. Nothing happened. No propane. Drat! They were to have filled the tank two weeks ago. Guess I slipped through the cracks somehow. Called as soon as I got to work and when I got home there was a door knob dangler with a bill in it for $366.52! I can't believe how expensive it is just to stay warm. Will pay it somehow. Also have a power bill due next week for $95.95...and I make $8.50 an hour! Living sure is a challenge!

It's very rainy and warm this morning, but the weatherman says that by this afternoon it's going to be windy, clear and COLD! We've already seen out high (60) today. I staying in! Need to get more firewood.

Work's good...sure do like it!

Work, work, work!

This has got to be one of the fastest weeks on record! The past two weeks have been unbelievably busy. We sell the major (and minor) nurseries all over the SE and now is stock up time for them. I put in 46 hours last week (look forward to today's paycheck!)...this week started on Wednesday and I already have 19 hours and today will be another long one.

Of course, the only thing I'm doing is working and the bare minimum at home...animals and food. Last night I was in bed at 7:30, but had to stay awake until 9 in order to watch Survivor...am so glad it's back!

We had a storm and a half yesterday and last night! Heavy duty lightning and hail and tornado warnings...4 3/4 inches of rain! They just said on tv that we're in for it again this afternoon and evening. Don't know where that additional water will go! They said the entire island of St. George is without electricity and other spot outages. Then Sunday am is to be in the 20's!

Gotta get ready for work.

Country Breakfast

There's something to be said for getting up at 4:45 in the morning! Breakfast! I've just finished eating buttermilk biscuits, country ham (cured in NC) and a perfect fried egg all cooked by these little typing fingers in my very own kitchen! Rounded out with a cup of awfully good coffee, this has got to be one of the best meals I've had in a while! Yummy!

I also had time to put a turkey breast in the crock pot with baby carrots, celery, onions and a million cloves of garlic. Supper will be almost ready when I get home, just need to cook a pot of rice and it's done!

My baby sister will be 57 tomorrow. Seems like it was only yesterday that we were at camp and she asked me to cut her hair off and glue some to her upper lip so she could be a pirate for a party. Thought Mother would kill me when they came to pick us up! We're going to the coast for seafood on Saturday to celebrate.

I was given a project at work a week ago today. I was to take our availability listing and add botanical names to all of the common plant names. Got it all in the computer yesterday, so now it's only a matter of sorting and printing. Looks good. Feels good too!

Sure do like my job! Gotta get ready to go.

A hot bath

Did something last night I haven't done before (here). Took a bath.

The tub in my bathroom is one of those big, deep whirlpool baths and I've always been afraid I'd not be able to get out if I got in it...so, I've avoided it...just rinse the cat hair out every now and then.

I've worked over nine hours a day for the past three days and when I got in from work yesterday every muscle in my body ached. After doing Shirley, Goodness and Mercy chores and talking with Helen, I decided to get in the tub to see if I could soak some of the aches and pains out.

Put candles out, a glass of red wine, a book and the special wash cloth that rm knitted for me years ago...Moisturizing bubbles and a moisturizing face mask and I was set. Got in the tub, GLORIOUS! Then I realized I had forgotten a bar of soap. Got out and got one (lavender & oatmeal). AAHHHHHH!

Two cats on the edge of the tub and Shirley doing her jumping up and down thing trying to see just what was going on. What a hoot!

Thought about the whirlpool aspect, but I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to electricity and water...figured the worse thing that could happen would be electrocution and that should be quick...so I hit the button...oh heavenly bliss! However, it was a little noisy. The cats scattered and Shirley backed up into the bedroom where she could keep an eye on me but not be too close. Turned it off fairly quickly, but not before it whipped the bubbles into the highest mound of bubbles I've ever had in a bath!

Slept like a log!

Gotta run, work calls.

What a nice weekend!

Saturday was rather unusual. I met Mother in Tallahassee at 9:30am. Since she had insisted that I'd met her at the shop the last time I suggested that I drive so I could meet her there next time. She didn't want to do it, but finally we were off in my car with me driving! Thank goodness. She got us lost! I was able to back track and we finally got to Talbot's! Found a couple of cute things that were on sale and left to go to a cute little bistro-type restuarant. Good food and we had a nice visit. Got Mother safely back home and came back to Monticello.

When I pulled into the driveway I saw a package on the front porch, but putting Shirley out was my first line of business...put her out on her chain and carried a few thing in from the car...the phone was ringing.

It was Helen asking if her package had arrived! Got it in from the front porch while talking with her and opened it. FUN! She had rooted some of the Tapioca tree for me and sent several little shirts and a dress as well! Got shirley in while we talked and was able to put groceries away and do a few other little things while on the phone. Then (while still on the phone) the door bell rang.

It was Leah Jane and Max. Shirley was delighted! She and Max romped and were nuts for about half an hour while we visited. Then we walked around the yard for a little while (the camellias are blooming) and they walked on home.

Came in and the phone was ringing, it was Martha Jean. She's looking for a Yorkie and has found a breeder about an hour and half from here. We'll go see the puppies next weekend. While we were talking Shirley suddenly went bonkers, barking her head off and freaking out as she looked out the front windows.

I looked out just in time to see a trailer from a pickup truck come to rest about 6 feet from the front of the house. The truck was backing up the driveway. Got off the phone and opened the door as the bell rang. There was a tiny, old, nicely dressed black woman at the door. I looked at her and a light bulb went off. She was Rachael's sister...Rachael raised my sister and me for about 17 years! It seems she and her daughter were going to get an organ and just couldn't wait for "the men folks" to help them. The hitch on the truck and on the trailer weren't compatable (obviously!). We tried, but couldn't get it hitched up correctly, so I told them to just leave the trailer until they found someone with the right hitch.

Walked back into the house and the phone once more was ringing...Mother. Talked a few minutes. Got off. The phone rang again, Martha Jean checking to see if things were okay.

WOW!

Yesterday was quiet. Did yard work, read the paper and watched a movie. A fellow came around 5:30 and got the trailer. As I said a quiet day! Thank goodness!

Gotta run, it's a work day.

Happy Birthday Prentice!

It's hard to believe that my baby boy is 36 today! Where does time go? The night he was born, in Atlanta, it was sleeting. This morning I went out in my shirt sleeves to get the paper. Go figure.

It has been a busy week. I was looking forward to being a slug today...not doing much, but Mother called last night and wants to go shopping today, so this will be brief so I can get ready and go. She wants me there by 9:30...as she said the store opens at 10...I asked if she thought they'd sell out before we got there if we were later than 10. She didn't think that was funny.

Months ago the young fellow who was harassing me on the phone was shot and killed. Well, it seems his mother is using my phone number as her contact number. I'm getting all sorts of collection calls for her here. This is getting old. I don't know if I have any legal recourse, but I've been thinking of calling the sheriff's office and asking if I do. One of the calls gave her address...it's here in town.

Must dash.

Big wind...big hair

Today it's unbelievably windy! I keep the front door at work open, sorta hooked back by the front porch swing and today, it slammed shut countless number of times! I did finally have to leave it shut, darn it!

I ran a couple of errands in town around noon today and the wind really did a number on my hair! It's getting rather long for me and the wind took it and whipped it into a frenzy! I had unteased BIG hair for the first time I can remember! Not terribly becoming.

When I got home this afternoon my garbage can was without a lid. I guess it was yet another casualty of the wind. I wonder if I can just buy a lid? Doubt it.

Friday night I rearranged the living room. I had been able to walk through without lights. Can't now. Maybe soon.

No news to speak of...not even good ramblings.

The weather this past week has played the thermometer like an accordion. However, instead of in and out it's been up and down! Wednesday and Thursday it was actually shirt sleeve weather and then Friday it really began to change. We had high winds rain and even tornados in the area. Yesterday it was clear and beautiful and windy and COLD! The wind was so high that several times I had to chase down a couple of chairs that I keep in the carport and gusts caused smoke to billow out of the fireplace and into the house! This morning it's quite calm out, but cold (and dark).

Prentice was coming over today, but called last night and can't make it. After reading his blog, fishingnframing.blogspot.com, I certainly can see why! Was really looking forward to his visit, but he says soon.

Helen called last night. We had a nice (and short for us) chat.

Have a funeral to go to this afternoon. The mother-in-law of a classmate.

Just got off the Walmart site. Was checking store hours in Thomasville. Turns out they are a 24-hr store. As soon as I get off the computer I'm going there. Need two chair cushions. I rearranged the living room Friday night and the rooster cushions on the chairs I put in there DO NOT GO!
Sure wish I had my sewing machine. Could make some.

Rosie's youngest is ten years old today! Hard to believe. I'm sure it was only yesterday that we were in Apalachicola to pick up TM and the little one crawled into our car like she was going too. Even have a picture somewhere of her sitting there...so cute. Time FLYS!

Perhaps I'll have something to post about later, but for now will close and go to Thomasville.

Busy, busy week!

Is it Thursday already? The week has been so busy that the days have gotten away from me. I suwannee it feels like it was Sunday just yesterday!

Monday night we had a Humane Society meeting and I put in 8 hours at work on Monday also. So it was a long, tiring day and a rather late evening for me...it was a quarter to 9 when I got home.

Then Tuesday was another long day at work, but I did call it an early evening...in bed by 8 and soundly asleep shortly after. Then a phone call at 9 woke me and it was after 12:30 before I managed to go back to sleep!

Yesterday was another 8 hr. day at work. I had errands to run and lots of walk-in folks to deal with along with the normal day to day stuff that I do. Then we spent about an hour on plant availability so I can also do some selling. Now don't get me wrong, I love it, but I do find it hard to include extra stuff in my day or evening.

Then last night I went to a dinner party for my friend from high school who has just moved back to town. It was wonderful! But once more a late evening. I'm going to drop by her new (old) house after work today and then come home and poop out!

My #1 daughter, RM, has had a really hard blow delt her. They lost half of their dairy goat herd to pneumonia. I know, and I'm sure she knows, that they'll rebuild their herd. But the loss was so hard for all of them.

Gotta ready myself for work.

Wild cat

This hasn't been a good week for Goodness. He's gone WILD...not sure what his problem is, but he really needs to snap out of it before I snap! At present he's in the tub crying...I just threw him from the top of the monitor and threatened his very existence. His favorite no-no lately has been the top of the tv in the living room, from there he jumps to the mantle and mills around, just looking for trouble! He's crying a lot, usually from the top of a cabinet in the kitchen or the top of the 'fridge. Heavens know he gets his share of attention! Now he's sitting on the chair outside of the shower and crying like his heart is breaking...there, I opened the door for him. Oh no, now he's in there crying and it's echoing! Got home the other day and the screen was down from the fireplace...little black foot prints everywhere and he was the only one with soot on him! He tries to dash past me out the back door whenever I come in or go out. Just don't know what to do. If the street out front wasn't so busy and there weren't so many loose dogs around, I'd let him out, but I can't. He has plenty of food, water, toys, clean litter boxes and lots of room and nooks and crannies and he's eating plants (ok ones). Maybe he needs a puppy. Wish I had a answer! Oh good, he left the shower.

Really cold last night and the one before. Kept a fire going from Friday night up to this morning. Now it's supposed to warm up. That's a good thing!

Cleaned house all day yesterday. Today I've read the paper and have a movie I'm going to watch this afternoon (Cinderella Man). If it warms up enough I may do some weeding.

Oh drat! He's back in the shower!

Friday's post

It seems we've been given a break with the forecasted weather. Yesterday they were saying it would be in the low 20's tonight and tomorrow night, now it's the high 20's to low 30's. Better! It's 33 this morning with a 16 mph wind...sure feels cold!

Am thinking I've bitten off more than I can chew with the Human Society. When I wasn't working full time it wasn't so bad, but now I'm working 37+ hours a week and I am feeling terribly overloaded having all of the additional work. I'm afraid I'm going to resign. Hate to leave them in need of help, but at the age of 60 I just don't have what I used to have energy-wise. They need young folks.

Mike is 59 today. Happy birthday.

Last night was the night for phone calls: Mother, Anna, Helen and a bunch of telemarketers.

Wednesday around 4:20pm a lady was killed in a one vehicle accident right outside where I'm working. I had already left, but the fellows all saw the aftermath.

Had a fire in the fireplace last night...bet I do tonight again for sure!

Gotta ready myself for work.

Ghosts and things

Monticello has been called "one of the most haunted small towns in America" by the American Ghost Trackers and I now believe I have a couple of ghosts of my very own!

A few months back I wrote about the weird incidents with all of the clocks in the house (including the computer clock). That has pretty much settled down, but on occasion one or more of them will change time. Some of them are electric and some are battery operated and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Well, now something else is going on. For the past several weeks I've noticed the strong smell of a woman's perfume. This only happens in the old part of the house and comes on very suddenly and disappears just as quickly. The first time I noticed it I had just showered and gone to the living room to watch tv. The smell was so strong that I smelled my gown and robe to see if I'd gotten something on me. It wasn't me. Then earlier this week I got another smell, sorta like a mechanic...you know, oily and a little sweaty. This too, happened quickly and disappeared quickly. Then last night both smells were here at the same time, but each was very disernable.

Always before Shirley has lifted her head and smelled the air, but last night she jumped up onto my footstool and growled and ended up barking at a spot behind me. It was as if she could see something! Wild!

My friend Leah Jane was telling me that she also has a ghost. Her ghost smokes a cigarette on her porch (no ashes or butts, just smell) and the smell seeps into her house. It's been going on for many years and she's no longer afraid of it. Her house was built in 1910, mine in 1940. Interesting!

We've had several days of above normal weather, but that's soon to change. Friday and Saturday night we are to have a hard freeze. We sure have gone from one end of the thermometer to the other this winter!

ETC posted on her blog yesterday for the first time since they got back from China. The pictures of the two children together are wonderful!

Loving my job. Gotta get ready to go now.

Off and running

I had an absolutely wonderful three days off work and now I'm off and running. The long weekend was a mixture of doing nothing and getting a few things done.

Friday a fellow from work brought a weeping willow over and I planted it in a hole I dug on Wednesday. It's immature, of course, but came in a 7 gallon pot and stands about 10 feet tall. Planted it off the carport and patio. When it's grown it will have a canopy of around 20 feet and will give not only shade, but also privacy on the patio.

Saturday I grocery shopped and cooked. Collard greens, black eyed peas and a pecan pie that I made with fresh cane syrup (instead of Karo)...all went quite well with the smoked Boston butt and the apple and pear chutney that I made earlier in the week.

Sunday was spent reading. eating and cutting back the lantana out front. It sure has a pretty little pale yellow bloom, but whomever planted it didn't take into consideration the growth habit it has. Since July I've had to cut it back dramatically three different times. I didn't even realize that the holly out front was laden with bright red berries until I uncovered it. So I'm going to move the lantana to a spot in the back where it can do it's thing and not bother anything else.

Yesterday was one of the stormiest days we've had in a while. Heavy rain and thunderstorms. We were under a tornado watch until 9 o'clock last night. Helen called around 7pm and we "yakked" until after 8. She had forgotten that she'd called on Sunday and told me all of the same things all over again. Her mind's not the same...I guess brain cancer and age can do that.

Gotta get ready for work.

Good By Old Year!

I sat down here intending to welcome the new year. It dawned on me that we seldom really say farewell to the old one.

I can write that this past year was filled with so much that was unexpected. I can say that some unfortunate things happened, unexplained, sad things. Generally I can talk about the good things that jumped out of nowhere and took my breath away. The joy that snuck in under the radar to suddenly dissipate the cloud of depression I was so totally engulfed in. But to do all of this only scratches the surface that 2005 was.

My personal person, my self, went through so many ups and downs in '05. To list any of them is only self serving and I shan't do it here. I will say that 2005 is ending on a moderately high note for me...no one is more surprised than I am. I do believe that a good bit of it is because I have made the decision to be happy. To find pleasure in the moment, to approve of myself and others. To create joy. To remember how fleeting life is and live true to myself. I've perfected none of this, but feel practice is often what gives me the most peace and pleasure.

I shall continue to practice the joy of life in 2006 and I pray everyone else will find the path they need to practice in order to end 2006 on a moderately high note for all.

Love, Jn

The day after Christmas

Yesterday was beautiful! Clear blue skys and rather manageable
temperatures. As in the days of yore, I was up at the crack of dawn, but there were no little children, no gifts. I was thankful for Shirley, Goodness and Mercy who seem to think that every day is Christmas if I get up!

It was a lazy day. Stayed in pj's until 2pm...read a book, made a sausage and onion quiche and drank a pot of coffee. Bud call early and we talked quite a while and later Mother called. Anna called in the afternoon and we talked for an hour. Did laundry and changed the bed (red sheets!).

At 5:30 I went out to Martha Jean's house to tend to her dog, Rosie. She's an old (14) border collie who's a little blind, a little deaf and a little lame. I stayed with her for a little over an hour and came home.

It was all in all a very nice Christmas. I felf a little weepy a few times (you know, things that might have been, etc.) but held it together until a dumb Folger's coffee commercial came on tv...then I just lost it...cried like a baby. Glad I got that out of the way.

We're working today...sorta wish we weren't...so I've gotta dash.

It's been an amazing week!

This week has almost been one of sensory overload! I really began my job in Ernest on Monday. It's as if it were custom made for me. Busy almost all of the time and that makes the time fly, really nice people and PLANTS! What more could I ask for...and the funny thing is I never even filled out an application. However, up front, I did tell them about having had three jobs this past year...they just shrugged, said they must not have been right for me. Wow! They gave me a total of 8lbs of shelled pecans...4 lbs on Friday and another 4 today.

For lunch today one of the boys grilled bacon wrapped quail, venison and smoked sausage. Talk about absolutely wonderful! And one of the boys brought in white chocolate covered cherrys that his mother made for us...I brought 4 home!

When I got home from work Tuesday my carport was piled high with fire wood! Split oak and a bucket of split lighter knot!

Martha Jean gave me two quarts of fresh cane syrup and a dozen satsumas. Mother and Bert came over Monday night and brought a dozen of the biggest, juiciest, tastiest pears I've ever had.

Tonight Caroline and George brought a smoked Boston butt (still hot!) over and said that they were planning on having fire wood brought over every week through winter (26 degrees this morning).

And, I got a gift certificate from Aunt Betty and Uncle Buddy for the Outback and a gift certificate from my sister for Winn Dixie today in the mail.

Do you see a theme here? Isn't it wonderful?

Plus, today was payday...and we are off tomorrow!

Merry Christmas! The only thing that could make it better would be if Bud could come.

It's been a week and a half this week!

Went in to the new job on Monday for training. I was to be trained 2 hrs. a day this week and next. Well, the husband of the girl I'm replacing opened a little sandwich shop here in town on Thursday and on Wednesday she quit. So, Thursday I started full time and still have the 2 part time jobs I've been working...went in to the part times on Mon, Tues and Wednesday...just couldn't Thurs and Fri. I'll have to sort that out and go in after work at least two afternoons. I know it'll work out, just gotta figure out how to do it.

One of the girls from bridge (83 yrs old) called on Friday and asked if I'd take her shopping Saturday morning...of course said yes. She's new to Monticello and doesn't drive much (tends to get lost on a straight road). So I picked her up at 10am in the pouring rain and off we went. We went to Milady's shop which is a super nice dress shop that been here longer than I can remember...I remember going in with Mother when I was a little girl and trying on the hats while she shopped! Then we went to Fred's which is sorta like a poor man's K-Mart, but it's wonderful! Everything from groceries to furniture to videos and potting soil! She got everything she needed and more! Then we went to a new little Mexican restaurant that opened here a couple of months ago. It was SOOOO good! Brought her here to meet Shirley, Goodness and Mercy and see where I live, though I'll bet she can't find it again and back to her house. All this time it was really raining! She gave me a really nice rug for my living room that she didn't have a place for. She's moved from a 4 bedroom 3 bath in Satellite Beach to a 2 bedroom 2 bath town house. Really had to down size lots! Got home around 3pm, tired, damp and cold!

Built a fire and sat with hot tea and the newspaper until around 6pm and Helen called. We talked a couple of hours...Bless her heart she was so down...her lower back's giving her fits, so bad that she took a pain pill which she seldom does. She really is a trooper, still crochets the lap robes for the nursing homes...over 250 this year!

Shirley and I went outside earlier (still raining). When we came in and I took her leash off she went nuts! Ran, full speed, round and round the dining room table while Goodness ran with her round and round on top of the table! I laughed until my tears ran down my cheeks! They probably made 15-20 laps! What a hoot!

Laughing out loud

Saturday, after working in the yard for a couple of hours, I decided to dash to Tallahassee to take Mother and Bert a little gift for Christmas. Now, as I said, I was working in the yard and it was just a whim to go to Tally. I didn't even look in the mirror before I left...no make up...twigs and trash in hair...was just planning to dash over and right back. (Mother did offer me her make up...I declined.)

Well, when I got there my sister was there doing the same thing, delivering Christmas. Mother insisted that I come in and visit and wait for Bert to get back...well, one thing led to another and the four of us ended up going out for a late lunch. We had such fun! Something triggered Mother, Nancy and me and we laughed until we were crying and couldn't stop. Poor Bert was just sitting there in silent amazement. Mother called last night and said Bert asked what was funny and she didn't know, nor did I...but what ever it was, it gave me the best laugh I've had in a very, very long time!

It was dark when I got home.

Played bridge yesterday. I'm really bad!

ETC and her husband have the baby! They are still in China, but are posting to their blog and have posted quite a few wonderful pictures. One they posted is with the hubby holding the baby in a front pouch thing (don't know what those are called) in front of a Chinese MacDonald's! My favorite is the one with ETC holding the baby while she drinks a bottle...the baby is looking up at ETC and she's looking at the baby with such love and joy on her face...beautiful! I printed it out to send to Mother. They are due home a week from today. Then the real pleasure starts when their son and the rest of the extended family start the living process that makes home and family.

We have a freeze this morning. Brrrr!

Chester, Tree Murder and other things...

Bud called last night. Yesterday he had taken a friend to Panama City and left Chester in the house. His landlord accidentally left the door unsecured and Chester got out. He was badly mauled by two Pit Bulls that roam the neighborhood. The end of his penis was bitten off and the muscles in his haunch are messed up pretty badly. Bud said he screams when he tries to move. Poor, poor baby! He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. I hate this happened and pray he'll be okay and soon!

I woke up later than usual this morning (7:30) to the sound of trees screaming. Bulldozers were killing all of the trees in the vacant lot across the street. I looked out the front window and they were just laying there with giant roots up in the air. Shortly after I moved into the house I heard that 3 houses were going in over there, then a few weeks ago the woman who sold the property told me that 6 houses were going in. My property stretches about half way across that land, I can't imagine how they'll squeeze 6 houses in there. Damn! Just hate it!

Last night it was cold and I was feeling sorta rotten (sinus) and almost didn't go to the Humane Society meeting. I'm glad I did, even being there I got handed more than I had bargained for...no telling what would have happened had I not been there. I'm now the treasurer and the membership chairman. They also asked me to be the recording secretary, thank goodness I had the gumption to say no to that, but it sure would have been the lesser of three evils!

Went to the bank today to make the HS deposit. The woman who is the office manager at the first job I had here came in while I was waiting. It was the first time I'd seen anyone since I left there. She came over and hugged me and apologized for everything that happened while I was there. That sorta made things better...I was given the short end of the stick.

The power bill came yesterday. I was thrilled! $64! Of course, I'm cold most of the time, but I can live with that. When LJ was here Saturday she told me that last year it cost her $400.00 each time she had her protane tank filled and she had it filled 4 times! No way I can do that.

Tomorrow is the day that ETC and hubby leave for China. I know they must be about to pop with excitement...I am and it's not even me!

We are suddenly having a flea problem again. Don't know what it is about this time of year. Have been using Frontline for all of the animals and the last dose didn't do a thing for them. Don't know what to do now, have tried flea powder, not working either.

I have a fire in the fireplace and a pot of chili cooking. Good smell combo!

Oh! The other night I made a cup of cocoa. Used Hersey's cocoa, half and half, a little sugar, a dash of salt and a good dash of cayenne pepper. Talk about absolutely WONDERFUL! I don't know where I got the idea for the salt and the pepper, I may have read it or heard it or even dreamed it, but it made all of the difference in the world! I think I'll try it again tonight.

It was a dark and stormy day...

Yesterday was very cold, rainy and dark. It started getting cold Friday and by dawn yesterday it was really quite raw. It spat rain and tumbled dark clouds all day.

Friday afternoon late I went to town for the Christmas "Uptown Get Down". The first Friday in every month two of the main streets in town are closed off and there is music and food and vendors set up booths and it's just a jolly good time. It goes on from 5-9. The Humane Society sets up an adoption booth and does some pretty good business. The HS needed some of the t-shirts we're using for fund raising so I bundled them up and took them to the booth at 4:30, not intending to stay. But I saw lots of people I knew and the music was good so I ended up staying until 6:00pm. By then I'd seen everything I wanted to see and had system over-load with folks and had a hot sausage w/onions and peppers in my bag and it was getting cold, so I came home.

The first thing I did when I got home was build a nice little fire in the fireplace and brew a pot of de-caf. Then with Shirley, Goodness and Mercy in my lap I sat in front of the fire and wolfed down the sausage. Yummy!

When I got up yesterday I still had some decent embers in the fireplace so with a little lighter knot and newspaper I had blazes in no time. I stoked the fire and kept it going all day and late into the night last night. Lovely!

It was truly a laid back day. I didn't even dress until almost noon. Flannel jammys and hot coffee, a good book and the fire, I was all set. Then at 9am the phone rang...it was MJ. She and I talked for about an hour and a half. Then I decided it wasn't going to get much warmer, so I jumped in the shower and got dressed in warm sweats (almost as good as pj's). I'd no more dressed than the door bell rang and it was LJ and Max, her little dog. They came in and stayed for about an hour. Shirley and Max were a HOOT! They ran and played, jumping off the back of the sofa and skidding on the wood floors as the cats sat on the dining room table (among the ornaments I'd unpacked and done nothing with) and watched their antics with BIG eyes! What fun.

Well, when LJ and Max left I settled down with my book. Got a couple of hours of reading in and the phone rang. It was Helen. As she said, she just wanted to "yak"...and yak we did for almost 3 hours. And the day was done.

I stayed up and read until 11:30...just 20 pages short of finishing my book, just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, so I went to bed. Slept straight through till 6 this morning. That's a first for me in a while.

I'm meeting MJ this afternoon at the shelter office. We're going to sort t-shirts and work on making files for the new year. Our annual membership meeting is tomorrow night and I'll be installed on the board as membership chairman. Still have a lot of work to do to get ready for it.

All in all, it's been an interesting weekend and it ain't over yet!

A little taste of winter

It's cold today...33 degrees. Now, I know that doesn't sound too bad to some folks, but we've had the oddest weather this Fall and mostly the temperatures have been well above normal, so 33 is feeling cold! Last night I lit the fire I laid a few days ago and kept it going until I went to bed at 10pm. Sure felt good. Since I'm keeping the thermostat so low the fire made a big difference. However, I'm going to need some more firewood soon. I'm not sure which is the cheaper, the furnace or the fireplace, but I think it's the fireplace.

I spent most of the day Sunday cleaning out the hedges (mostly cutting out privet hedge) and I found several reasonable downed, dry limbs that I cut into fireplace-sized pieces. Most of them are azalea which seems to burn rather quickly and some oak. I've been told not to burn pecan because it pops and spits terribly and could be a fire hazard.

Sunday I put a rather large rectangular basket with a rug in it in front of the fireplace. I was hoping that Shirley would use it some and free up my lap or neck (she likes to drape around my neck at night). Well, Shirley didn't care for it too much, but Mercy had claimed it as her own! Last night while the fire was burning Mercy laid in her basket and purred loudly and watched the flames and sparks for hours! She's one happy kitty! Goodness uses the back of the sofa when he isn't in my lap.

Funny thing, Goodness has started getting on top of the refridgerator and calling me. I answer one or two times and he jumps down and gets in my lap. Funny cat!

Monday morning I called the fellow I talked to two weeks ago about a job. He said he was planning on calling me later that day. So I said, "Right! And what were you going to say?". He siad he was going to offer me a job, but he was swamped right then and could he call me back. I said sure. Well, he called back that afternoon and did offer me the job...at $8.50 an hour to start, and I accepted. Here's the kicker, the full time position doesn't start until the first working day of January, but starting the 12th of December I'll be going in from 10-12 to learn the system from the girl that's leaving. It's going to be tight...actually, already is, so I guess I should say it's going to be tighter. Good way to start a new year.

I just hate that once more there's no money for Christmas. Or anything else for that matter. Mother's sending a little check..should be enough to pay the electric.

Still no Bud...

I thought that maybe I'd made a mistake, but I went back to Bud's e-mail and read it again. He said he was going to come here Friday. He didn't and hasn't today either and I've not heard from him. Makes me worry. Makes me sad and upsets me a bit.

Funny how good thing happen just when you need them. I got a check in the mail today for $28.00 from Sprint. A refund on a deposit from the last place I lived here. Now, that's just a drop in the bucket, but it sure makes breathing a lot easier!

Pretty day. Gathered another bag of pecans, made a pot of turkey noodle soup and watched a rather funny movie, The Honeymooners. It was a spoof of sorts on the old TV series made in current times and with black actors. Was a hoot! There's a lady at the movie rental place that always recommends movies for me and she's not been wrong yet. (I didn't pay for the movie...have a pre-paid card...it has one more rental on it).

Had a nice fire in the fireplace last night that warmed the entire living room...and since it was quite chilly this morning I had another. I've laid another for tonight if I need it, trying to save on propane as much as possible.

Thank goodness gas prices are dropping some. Got gas on Friday and it was $2.23! Though it's much cheaper in both Tallahassee and in Thomasville I figure that unless I'm going to either place for another reason I might as well get it here.

I'm wearing a pair of jeans that I couldn't even zip a few years ago and they are BAGGY!!!!!

Just finished watching the Glamour Magazine Women of the Year awards. How very inspirational. And here I sit like a slug. Nothing very inspirational about that.

Life's just one adventure after another

Well, I've been locked out of the house since 10:30 this morning. Shirley and I went out to gather more pecans this morning and when I had a full grocery bag and a really tired back we decided it was time to come in. Imagine how my heart dropped when I couldn't turn the knob to enter. I put the bag down and tried the knob several times, wiggling it this way and that. Nothing.

Well, since I was looking for Bud I thought we'd just wait till he got here with his key. Waited until 12:15 and really needed to get inside. So I went to a neighbor's house and called Mother since she has a key, too. Turns out she couldn't find her key, but came over anyway with her cell phone and phone book. We couldn't find a listing in Monticello for a locksmith, so we went to a local hardware store and they had a name and phone number for us. Called him and he met us at the house.

Turns out that I hadn't locked the door, the lock was broken. He ended up having to drill it out and replace it and it was 10 minutes after three before I got in. I've never seen a bathroom look so good! Also, hadn't had breakfast or lunch, so I wolfed down a sandwich and here I sit.

Bless her heart, Shirley missed her nap. She's now curled up on the bed sleeping soundly.

Bud's still not here, so I'm glad I didn't wait, but the locksmith said it wouldn't have helped to have the key. I did feel a little better about that.

Nothing much more going on now, thank goodness! I think I'll take a nap, too.

Stuffed like a turkey!

I promised myself this morning that I'd not over eat today. One more promise broken! There was more food today than I've seen at a single gathering in a long time! So, I only took a little of each, a little ham, a little turkey, a little Boston Butt, some corn pudding, collard greens, butter peas, field peas with okra, rice and gravy, mashed potatoes, yams, squash casserole, fruit salad, tossed salad and stuffing and of course home made yeast rolls with butter and jelly...I know I've left something out, but I probably tried it! Then there was the dessert table, cakes and pies and cobblers, cookies and brownies and fudge. I only tried a brownie with thick chocolate frosting, but only because I couldn't hold another bite.

There were 50+ people there, from the age of 6 months to 90 years. Wow, what a get together! Wonderful fun, wonderful people and an absolutely beautiful place! Everybody, except for MJ and me, was related somehow. CCC's sister is married to CCC's husband's brother and everyone else was either a grandsomething, or niece or uncle or sister or something. They were all so gracious and welcoming and made both of us feel right at home.

And the weather, the weather was perfect! Not too cool and not too hot, just right!

The directions to get there were interesting, which is why MJ drove, she knew how to get there. The directions were: behind the New Leaf and behind the Moon! I'd never have made it alone.

A really good Thanksgiving!

A wonderful balmy morning

The weather couldn't be nicer than it is this morning! Clear, blue sky with a very light breeze and low 60's (to warm up to 80 later)! How nice!

The house smells fantastic, I baked the turkey last night and have an apple pie in the oven right now. Now, I sorta cheated with the pie, bought deep dish crusts. All went well until I tried to invert the second crust over the top of the pie...damn thing crumbled to bits. So with a little water I patched it over and crossed my fingers and stuck it in the oven. At least it'll look home made, no one would sell one that looks like this one!

Had an e-mail from Bud. He's coming here tomorrow! Wonderful!

Will go to MJ's house at 11:30 and she's driving us to Tallahassee for Thanksgiving with friends. We've been promised Bloody Marys and more food than can be consumed at one meal! I'm so glad the weather's nice, we'll be eating outside. I'm taking the dumb pie.

Will let you know how it goes.

A Thanksgiving invite

Yesterday the president of our Humane Society called and invited both me and MJ to join her and her family in Tallahassee for Thanksgiving. We both said yes (after discussing it). This should be great fun. I'm taking a green bean casserole and hope to shell and toast some pecans to take also.

I have a large bucket of pecans I've gathered from the tree out front. So far, every one I've shelled have been really good with big, plump meat. I've only shelled a few and Shirley and I have shared them...tasty!

It's very cold this morning...below freezing. I turned the thermostat up to 68 yesterday and am quite comfortable. However, Shirley, Goodness and Mercy all say that they are freezing. I can't sit down without a lapful of animals!

Spent a few hours yesterday decorating the little white Christmas tree. It turned out that the lights I got for it (a string of 100) has a green cord and it looked stupid on the white tree, so I found some green garland wrapped with silver stuff and circled that around the tree and over the cords. Looks pretty good...added 64 little red balls and an old angel on top and it's quite festive! Probably will do the big one on Friday.

Still haven't heard about the job...to call or not to call...that is the question.

It's hard to type with Shirley in my lap...so will close for now.

Getting ready

Thanksgiving is two days away! I can't believe how quickly this past year has gone...lots has happened and most of it feels like it's eons away, yet last Thanksgiving was only yesterday.

Sunday I took the little 8.22 lb. bird out of the freezer and put it in a cooler on the side porch (no lid). Yesterday I poked it with my finger many times throughout the day and nothing gave...not a dent. This morning the wings move, so I feel it's making progress thawing. If it still feels hard tomorrow I'll put it in a sink of water. Thank goodness it's not a 23 pounder!

My friend MJ from the Humane Society is coming for Thanksgiving dinner.

I put a Christmas wreath on the front door last night and am thinking about putting lights on the trees today. (Mother gave me her two trees, one's tall and slim and green and one's short, table-top type, and white). I haven't had a tree in years and now I have two. Sunday I pulled out all of the decorations I have and combined with what Mother gave me I have quite a few. I'm thinking the two trees and the wreath and some ornaments in a bowl on the dining room table should do it...but I do have a mantle...not sure how to approach that.

Still haven't heard from the fellow I talked with last week about a job. Sure wish he'd call...I don't want to call him. Figure if he hasn't called by tomorrow he won't call. I'll call him Monday.

It is COLD here! We actually had two days of rain, boy, we needed that and then the winds came. They actually blew the chairs from the patio and out into the yard and brought in the cold. Brrrr...

Helen called last night. She's very tired. She went to Senior's yesterday and had to have someone bring her home early. Said she went to bed and slept for 1 1/2 hrs. She says she still has no pain...God, I pray she never does. She's having Thanksgiving at her house. Family's bringing food, but she said she's still going to roast a turkey, wants the smell, and will send it home with her grandson and his wife.

Mother came over yesterday morning. Gave me $150.00. Spent some of it at the grocery store and put the rest in the bank. I'll pay the phone bill tomorrow and then there won't be much left. Need a job.

I've got a fire laid in the fireplace. Almost lit it this morning, but am trying to wait for tonight...'spose to get to 32 or lower tonight, so I'll probably need it. I've huddled all of the potted plants (all seven of them) at the back steps and this afternoon will tent a plastic drop sheet over them. Hope that will save them.

A fun day

By 8:15 this morning CCC had called me 3 times. She was a bit crazed as the big trail ride/family farm day was to be at her place today. I ran a couple of errands and made some more table-top tent cards for last minute donations for the raffles and was out there by 10:30. The trail ride was under way when I got there and the folks that were to be there to set up had not gotten there. So MJ and I along with a couple of recruited folks did the set up. We did get a couple of CCC's farm hands and her husband to set the tables up and lug out the chairs that were borrowed from the American Legion...but there was lots to be done. We finished as the first of the guest arrived. For some unknown reason not only did the set-up people not show, but the volunteers to work the various tables didn't either. So I worked one table and CCC's husband worked another one. We got it done and had fun doing it. The photographer from the paper didn't come, but I picked up CCC's camera from the office on my way out and I hope she got some shots, but I didn't see her do it.

We had horseshoes, pony rides, a hayride, horse games (egg & spoon, musical buckets and something else...damn this one brain cell) and FOOD! We had grilled chicken, pulled Boston butt, slaw, baked beans, sweet potato pies (which were potatoes yesterday) and kettle baked apple, blueberry and blackberry cobblers which were all cooked on the spot. It was soooo good! I brought home chicken, pork and slaw, but I'm still so full that I don't think I'll be having supper.

After lunch we had the raffle. We raffled off a 7-yr old quarter horse mare, sweet little thing and pretty, too, and a 7-mth old miniature horse filly. I was out there yesterday when the little horse had a halter put on her for the first time and she did beautifully. Smart little thing and very social. They both went to good homes. We had lots of other things that were raffled including 500 lbs. of sweet feed and lots of baskets of goodies. What fun!!! and, how tiring. Right as I was leaving CCC's husband was kicked in the knee by one of their horses and was sitting with a bag of ice on it...looked pretty bad, bruised up almost immediately and was very swollen. He said he thought it missed anything vital and was okay...hope so.

I don't know how much money we took in for the Humane Society, but lots of people just did donations of $50/$100. So I think we did pretty good.

I haven't heard from the fellow I talked with on Monday about the job. I'm broke and finished with the work I was doing. Hope I hear from him on Monday if not, I think I'll call him.

Was having very dark thoughts last night.

Not sure about Thanksgiving, Bud invited me to come there, but I'm not sure I really want to...and I know he'd have more fun there than here. Gotta think about it.

Chilly today

It's quite cool this morning, low 40's. Our first freeze warning has been posted for tonight. Finally, season appropriate weather! Yeah! It was down right hot yesterday, 80's, and then IT RAINED!!!!! First rain in over 5 weeks, you could almost hear everything outside sucking it up! It cooled off with the rain and I opened all of the windows in the dining room. Goodness and Mercy use the wide window sills in there as their personal perches and this was the first time since we moved in the house in July that the windows have been opened. Even Shirley got in a chair at the window to look out and smell the rain. It didn't last long, about an hour, but it sure did make a difference.

I've almost finished the job I've been working for the last three weeks and have nothing in store. I did talk to a fellow on Monday and he said he'd call later this week. Well, it's certainly later this week now...hope I hear from him. Gotta have something...the power bill is due on the 23rd and I don't have the money for it.

I dreamed about Daddy the other night. It's only the second time since he died 6 1/2 years ago that I have. The other time was a couple of weeks after he died. In this dream he told me he was going to write me a large check. Do you suppose it was wishful thinking?

I've talked with Helen almost every night this week. It's like I'm her touch-stone. If our talking can help ease her through this time in her life I'm glad. It's so little to do.

I'm going to go to the office later this morning even though I probably shouldn't go at all. Unless some bank statements turn up there's really nothing to do. But I'll figure up my hours and give CCC a call.

No bridge this weekend. LJ's going out of town on Saturday for the holiday. No word from Bud, I guess he's not coming.

A busy week looming...

Yesterday was nice. Played Bridge until 4:30 and did do a little better, came in 2nd high.

Helen called shortly after I got home (she'd left an earlier message on the machine)...she just needed to chat. I sat outside with Shirley and we talked for about an hour, in fact it was almost dark when we hung up.

My friend LJ asked if I'd tend her dog (a very old dachund/sp?) over Thanksgiving. She doesn't want me to bring him here, just tend him over at her house. Of course I said yes. She's the next street over and down a ways.

My #2 child, ETC, and her family are adopting a beautiful baby girl from China, she's 10 months old. She posted pictures of the baby on her blog, Red Thread. How very exciting! They are to go get her next month...what a Christmas gift for them!

Will call the fellow I talked with on Friday about a job. Cross your fingers for me. Actually, I don't even know yet if it's something that I'll want, or if I'm what they may want, but I must find something that will support me for a few years.

Oh, talked with Mother last night. She got the tax notice for this house in the mail on Saturday. She'd told me back in the summer that the taxes would be around $3,000.00, imagine my pleasure when she told me that she'd been wrong, it's $300.00! Big difference!

Have a Humane Society meeting tonight at 6:00. The Trail Ride/Family Farm Day is this coming Saturday and we'll start setting up on Friday. Still have a slue of work on the books.

Would you believe there is a tropical storm looming? If she strengthens just a bit her name will be Gamma. Hard to believe isn't it?

Gotta go try to do magic...an extreme makeover...for work.

Helen, Mother and other things

Helen called on Friday. She had gotten a lovely card from Mike and wanted to share it with me. She was so pleased. That was thoughtful.

After Helen and I got off the phone Shirley and I went outside. The air was so crisp and clear and the stars and the moon were spectacular, so we sat out for a while. Then, because it was a little cool and we wanted to stay out, I decided to light the little chimney thing. I knew that everything I'd put in it was quite dry, but it took several attempts to get it going, but once it took off it sounded like a jet engine! I had flames leaping 3-4 feet out of the top! It took some time, but I ended up with a really nice little fire that was actually quite hungry. I fed it wood until I had to declare "enough's enough!"...didn't realize how quickly one can go through firewood!

Last weekend I bought a trunk-load of split oak for $20.00. Now, I'm planning on using that for inside and haven't gotten into it for outside, but it's tempting!

I spent the day with Mother yesterday. It's amazing to me to see the change in her since last November. She's actually quite feeble, forgetful and down right puny. We shopped, had lunch and visited. She's still mean as a snake at times, but all in all it was a really nice day.

When I left I went by my sister's house. She was dozing in front of the TV. We visited for a little while, but it was obvious that she'd really rather just doze off a little more, so I didn't stay long, about 1/2 an hour. I did ask her if she had plans for Thanksgiving. She does. She's going off for a week, didn't say where. Mother and Bert are going to his family for Thanksgiving, so it looks like it's just Shirley, Goodness, Mercy and me for the celebration here. Won't be the first time and probably not the last that we've celebrated alone.

My friend LJ and I had planned to go to Church before lunch and bridge today, but she called yesterday and told me that the minister wasn't going to be there today and it was going to be a morning of prayer. So we decided not to go. We'll meet at her house around 11:30 this morning for lunch and bridge later.

I have on a cute new outfit. Winter white jean-cut pants with a periwinkle short-sleeve sweater and a PURPLE tiny-wale corduroy over shirt. Cute! I've dropped another pants size and that tickles Mother!

Time for the Sunday crossword puzzle.

The Fox

A couple of weeks ago the exboss' wife told me about very early one morning seeing a red fox run from my yard to the empty lot across the street. Well, I've been clearing out the dense beds along the side of the yard and yesterday I found a hole coming under the fence and a deep indention or hole or waller or something. Wonder if it belongs to the fox? Every morning Shirley goes nuts with her nose to the ground over in that area. You reckon? I hope they stay here and don't go out to one of the plantations...they have fox hunts!

While Shirley and I were in the yard late yesterday a neighbor from across the street, waaay across the street, drove over. She'd been out to see a friend of hers earlier in the day and he mentioned that he was looking for a receptionist. So she told him about me. Of course, as she said, she didn't know too much to tell him, but did tell him about the fellow I was working for (she knows him, too) and said that if I could work for him I could work for anyone! She's a hoot! Called him this morning and I'm going to go talk to him on Monday. Told the young woman I'm working for right now on a temporary basis and she said to please use her as a reference. How nice. But, she also said she sure hopes I can finish what I'm doing for her. I've finished one of her companies (there are 4 more) and I'm up to June '05 for the Humane Society. That's in 8 days which I think is pretty good. If my back were not giving me such fits I could have put in a few more hours. And I was worrying about finishing before I have something else. Now it's possible that I could have a fuller plate than I'm wanting. I know it'll all work out. Feast or famine.

I have a full weekend and am sorta dreading it. Tallahasse tomorrow and Church, luncheon and bridge on Sunday. Don't know when I'll get my weekend chores done...you know, I can't let chores cut into my computer time. Oh wow, just thought, I still haven't finished the membership roll for the HS. And we have a meeting at 6pm on Monday. The trail ride is coming up next Saturday and this will be our first actual planning meeting, though lots (food, games, raffles and pony rides have all been taken care of) of things have been done there's still a lot more to do.

It sure was nice to pick out warm clothes to wear this morning, but "they" say it'll be hot again (upper 80's) by the first of the week. Still NO rain. It's been 4-5 weeks without rain of any sort. I've put the sprinkler on the herb garden twice, but everything is sure looking pitiful. I'll have to do my rain call, just wasn't ready to reveal that side of me to the neighbors yet.

Johnny Depp

I watched "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" starring Johnny Depp this afternoon. It really is a dark chocolate kind of movie! Very, very good. Of course, I don't know of a movie that Johnny Depp has made that I haven't liked!

Shirley has chosen NOW as the time she needs to go out, so we will.

Good things

Sometimes it's important to really look at the good things in your life. It's a practice I've used for a while, but after a while I seem to be looking at the same things and forgetting others.

One of the things I really like about the job is being able to set my own hours. Now, I realize, that this isn't a permanent job, it's just until I get several messes fixed. It's hard to say how long it's going to take, but it is going faster right now than I'd anticipated. I'd guess another month, probably not two. We'll see.

Well, anyway, I woke up at 4 this morning and by 6:30 I'd fed the animals, cleaned the litter boxes, dressed, cooked and eaten breakfast, made the bed, read the newspaper and done a few other chores. So I went on line for a few minutes and decided I was wasting time. Got to work at 7am! Finished the last two months of 2004 for the Humane Society and got home at 1:30! How wonderful! Piddled on the computer and then Shirley and I went outside. I spent 3 hours cutting privet hedge out of the azaleas. I've got a pile out on the street that's probably 12 feet long and 4 feet high and wide! There's still tons more to get out, but that sure felt good!

Had a message on the phone from Mother when Shirley and I came in. She wants to take me clothes shopping on Saturday. So I'm going to meet her at 10 Saturday morning. That'll be good, I don't have much that fits me anymore. I wore a pair of black slacks that I got last Fall to Church Sunday and they were much too big. Yeah! Need some good jeans, that seems to be the uniform "de jour" (sp?) here.

It's nice to have known the folks that I'm working with for a while. It's also good to get in before they do. There's always so much talking when other people are there and I find it easier to concentrate when it's quiet. I did have the radio on today and I think the phone rang three times, but basically it was quiet the entire time, no one came in and I left before my friend MJ came in. She's not going to be in at all tomorrow and CCC left early this morning to pull a friend's two horses to Atlanta for the big show. She'll be back in town late tomorrow and may be in the office on Thursday. I'm the only one who likes the early hours. Good thing! Also, only 3 or 4 people have the number to the office (Mother wants it, told her I'd call her with it tomorrow, I've got it written down there somewhere) and that's also a good thing.

The weather is really odd. Very dry and very warm. In it's own strange way that too is a good thing for me (not the dry part). The longer I can go without needing the heat the better...and it's not so warm that I need the A/C! The power bill came Saturday and it had dropped almost $100! Just $108 and change. I sure would like to get it even lower!

Good things...they are everywhere!

We'll see what happens now...

That last little thing I tried to post did post. Don't know what is different. So here goes! (I've sorta had withdrawal not being able to say anything!)

Helen called yesterday. She was in high spirits. Her grandson and his wife had come over and spent the day putting all of her outside Christmas light up for her. She is rather an attraction in that area at the holidays. Her lights and outside decorations are always something to see! She said she'd gotten one new thing for the yard...a 4' tall hobby horse that lights up and rocks! She put it on the patio so she can see it from inside too.

My friend Leah Jane picked me up at 10 til 10 yesterday morning. We went to the Episcopal Church here in town. It was built in 1885 and has been in continuous use ever since. It's a small rather decorative structure with many stained glass windows and a wood-clad vaulted ceiling. Very pretty, cozy and comfortable (except for the pews). Yesterday was the celebration of All Saints Day. What a lovely idea. The celebration is to be not only for the big names that are recognized as Saints, but the day to day people in each person's life that make a difference for them. Now I know why the Episcopalians don't jog or walk before the Sunday service...they have to save themselves for all of the rising and sitting and kneeling that they do.

After the service they had punch (red and orange) and cookies in the fellowship hall. Saw a few people I knew from "way back then" and was introduced to many more. What fun!

Then it was back to LJ's house for lunch and bridge. It's been years since I've played, but I did take the first hand, it was downhill from there. I was the youngest (60) and our oldest topped out at 83. We did more talking and eating than playing bridge, in fact we didn't even finish a rubber and decided to carry it over til next Sunday and do Church, fellowship, lunch and finish the rubber.

I told Mother about that and she was horrified that we'd carry the game over...said that's not done. I don't remember that rule.

Okay this was a bit longer than that last blurb...let's see what happens.

I'm going to try again, may have to do MusingsII

Even my posting spot looks different...no subject line and a "recover post" thingy.

It was a nice Sunday!Church, bridge, food,friends & wine

Well, the last posting didn't post either, if anyone can help with this HELP!!!!

New Job

The new job is going well. I'm cleaning up a lot of bookkeeping messes with 5 different companies. Lots of work and the time zips by...and I'm setting my own hours, being called contract labor which is nice.

I'm thinking about going to the local high school foot ball game tonight. Of course once I get home from work it's mighty hard for me to go back out.

Sunday is looking like an interesting day. An old friend of mine from 40+ years ago called yesterday and invited me to go to church with her and then have lunch and play bridge. I told her I'd love to, just hope I don't make a fool of myself at bridge...it's been years since I've played. Maybe I'll play on line tomorrow and try to brush up.

Helen Update

I called Helen last night to see how her first radiation treatment went and was both shocked and saddened by her answer. It seems that when she got there she was told that because of the pacemaker that was installed while she was in the hospital they wouldn't be able to do radiation, but were opting for surgery instead. Her eldest son was with her and they talked it over and Helen decided that she would not have the surgery. As she said, she has no pain and what if she couldn't crochet after having brain surgery. She's a trooper.

An answer to my prayers!

Got a call from the president of the Humane Society this afternoon offering me two jobs...both for pay!...$1.50 an hour more than I was making! I start tomorrow. It'll be half a day on one job and half a day on the other. I'll enjoy it. So, I'll be able to pay the $50 water bill! Yeah!

Shirley's dancing around on first one leg and then the other. I think she needs to go outside.

Witches, Goulds and Goblins, oh my!

In a two hour period last night I had over a hundred Trick or Treaters! Cars were parked up and down the street disengourging giggling little monsters! At one time there were 3 cars parked in my driveway. That's more than I remember having any other time EVER! They were all costumed and cute, funny or rather creepy and everyone seemed to be having a ball! I dressed in black and sat on the front porch with a lit candle and a galvanized bucket of candy.

I think the funniest goblin was a little girl (looked to be 9 or 10 yrs old). She was dressed as a Sumo wrestler. The outfit was flesh colored and sooo big! She waddled as she walked. What a hoot! Then there was the little boy. He was 5ish and dressed in camos with a toy rifle on a strap slung over his shoulder. I asked him if he was a hunter (in this neck of the woods that quite probable). He said no, he was a soldier like his daddy...and added that his daddy was "at" the war and he hoped he didn't get shot or "blowed up". Then he spotted Shirley in the window (she had a ball!!) and told me all about his dogs and the one that got "runned" over. What a precious child! They were all cute and very polite, I don't remember any of them not saying thank you.

I slept better last night than I have in months. Guess there's something positive to be said for being unemployed. The only head ache (besides money) that I have is telling Mother. She's gonna freak!

I'll be going to the Humane Society office tomorrow afternoon to get them set up with Quick Books. That should help with the record keeping and today I plan to work on the membership records, I've sorta put that off as I was on the computer inputting data almost the entire time I was at work and just didn't want to do more of the same when I got home at night.

Here's to a fresh start on November first!