Spooky

I have had my nose stuck in some library books and just have let time slip away from me.

New chains

A closeup of the swing set

The above photo was taken at one of the little schools near me during the summer. I was out there installing a new router and the tech had forgotten the keys to the building, so I meandered around snapping pictures until he returned.

All is well in the Peruby household again. My daughter and I had a spat and last night we smoothed things over so Mama Bear could take care of the stitches and put a new bandage on the incision. More of same today. She took a pillow with her to sit in the hard school chairs because this one was low on the back. It had changed drastically. Dysplastic nevus.

I met a sister for lunch today. Afterward we went walking back to her workplace and I felt a raindrop. Well, I thought it was a raindrop. I said "It's starting to rain" and I looked up. There was an ornery pigeon on the building roof looking down at me. I said "You little sh**!" I looked all over and my sister looked me over but we saw no "raindrops". She was laughing pretty hard. I have not checked inside my purse yet, as it was hanging open as I walked along. Nice.

Leftovers

This sits in my bedroom.

Well, I used to have my niece living here and my daughter is 16. I can't just leave this stuff out in the kitchen. I must keep it hidden, I guess. I can also safely say I am not an alcoholic. There but for the grace of God... and all that stuff.

Actually, I am seething with frustration. Years ago, booze is where I would turn. Now, I blog. I guess. Well, even before blogging, I stopped the boozing.

Even so, I want to kick, scream, bite, claw and tear somebody apart. I am not sure who. I would love to have access to a really, really bad person. Somebody who writes a virus, maybe.

My daughter had another mole cut out of her back this evening. I was a softie and bought her a new A&F hoodie, new tee and CD to the tune of $100. Anything to make my little girl feel better after an ordeal like that. Then, we got in a fight on the way home. We had been doing so well, too. Arrgghh. I want to cut myself, too. But of course, I won't! I feel like it. As her Mother, I want to take her pain away, but I can't.

So, no alcohol. No hurting myself. How else can I punish myself? Turning my anger inside. The new kittens are hiding under the basement steps. Yeah, they are safer there. Why do they curl around my feet when I am trying to walk? Why?! Do they have a death wish?

Big breath. Fresh air. All better, now.

Big bat

Flying bat seen from the festival

I have not taken any pictures since the WV trip. And, only about 5 were decent. The festival at the beginning of the month only brought a dozen or so pictures. That could have been because of the extreme heat. I did not take any this past week-end.

I am in a bit of a dry spell. Busy at work. At home - been reading a lot.

Running on empty

Time to refuel

Nothing much, tonight. I am tired from my late night last night. Moving slow and thinking even slower. Need sleep. Hopefully I won't sleep a few hours and then awaken at three or four in the morning and can't get back to sleep. I hate when that happens.

I am hoping to get out this week-end and get some good photos of the little bit of color out there on them Ohio hills. I do have a 75th surprise birthday party to go to. Other than that, maybe I can catch up on my yard work. It looks like we will have about five pumpkins from our surprise patch. I mowed around the vines this time. The pumpkin is more important that the grass underneath it. For now. I have not been in the mood to do any fall or Halloween decorating. Hell, my patio still has red, white and silver stars on it from the July 4th cook-out. Good grief!

A rowdy bunch

Fall crowd at the Fall Festival

We were a rowdy bunch at the bar in the motel room when we went to Wild and Wonderful WV, Friday night. Three sisters, one brother. Two in-laws. Three grandchildren. My daughter is a minor, they didn't say a word to us. The Long Islands kept coming and the laughter kept flowing. The place was hoppin'. Of course my daughter didn't drink alcohol. She had a coke along with my niece and sister-in-law.

We used to try to make it to WV every year. As time went on, the trips became less and less frequent. This year it has been seven years since we had been down. And, the first year without our Mother. Ugh. Out of five that we normally visit, one had passed on and the other has moved to Columbus for an operation. We plan to catch up with her there. It is one of those situations where they don't inform you of what is going on, you have to either call or write. They don't write anymore because their hands shake so much you couldn't read it. No computers, no e-mail.

My eldest brother has given me a new Family Tree file to update my records. I am going to do that as soon as I am finished here. I am anxious to see who he has added. In some circumstances he goes back to the 1600's in New York. I can't even imagine. But, the branches become so entwined and tangled, I can't even comprehend how they know this stuff. He has done an enormous amount of work on the project. In reality our relatives come from many different places. Austria, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain. Here in the states, New York and Virginia. Surnames include Potts, Williams, Haymond, Conrad, Currence, Friend, Skidmore, Caldwell, Train, Nichols, and Turner. That is just a smidgen of the names. I hope in some small way I am related to J.M.William Turner.

Exhausted

The Cemetery

More and more our visits to the cemetery get longer and longer when we make the trip to visit relatives. Less and less are the visits to real live people. Sigh.

I am exhausted. I did not get very many pictures at all. We completely bombed on the foliage. It was still pretty green down there. Poor timing this year.

Discombobulated

Halloween display at the festival

It was close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit when I took the above photo. Today reached a high of 51 degrees Fahrenheit, I think. That's all. The one thing I really dislike about being busy and stretched too thin is no "me" time. I don't get time to think and sort my thoughts out. That is something I need a lot of. Down time. I get irritated and cranky when I don't get my time. Grrr.

Roaming

Near Salineville, Ohio

My travels today took me to the Eastern side of the state. I was on a back road to Lisbon and needed to stop in at a school near Salineville. It was cool out and the sun was not shining very brightly, the photo is a little on the gray side. Later in the afternoon, the sun didn't shine at all so I didn't even bother with pictures.

This drive brought back some memories for me. I used to drive around in the evenings on back roads listening to music. Back when gasoline was not very expensive and I had plenty of time on my 19-year-old hands. When family got busy with their own lives and their small children and my high school friends had married or gone on to college. I liked to be alone. I still do.

Helga the witch

Helga was quiet this year

I carried on a conversation with her last year. There was somebody hidden in the camper and they corresponded with the people walking around. It was fun. We had a little crowd and we kept up the jabber and banter back and forth. I told her my name was Helga, too. This year, nothing. No words, no movement. Must be a bad spell cast upon her.

As I mentioned before, early October is too busy for me. I like things quiet, but I have to grab life where I can. We have been running every evening and in a couple of days we are off to Wild, Wonderful West Virginia. Camera is ready!

My nephew is not the best at communicating what is going on in his life medically. He would much rather talk about computers, gadgets, cars and movies. I grabbed papers and copied them when I was there this past week-end. Now, I can better understand what is going on. I am learning about zpulmonary zvalve zreplacement, zTOF (zTetralogy of zFallot), zstenosis, and zpulmonary zregurgitation. (Kindly remove the z in front of each word - I am attempting to foil family searches on this information, thus leading to this blog). I am in the dark no more. I can't ask the doctor. They are sworn to secrecy now-a-days. And with the Internet, I don't have to spend time in the library or try to find a medical dictionary.

A forbidden (purple) passion

Flower display at the festival

I knew I was going to get yelled at. I was told "Hey! No picture taking!" Oops. I managed one decent photo. I looked for the 'no pictures' sign and didn't see any. I slipped the camera slyly out of my tote and just when I was ready to snap it, the lady in front of me, who had been bending over, stood up. Darn it! With Canon's notorious pause between picture taking, the booth owner had time to spot my shiny black contraption. I just managed to squeeze another quickie when he saw me and barked at me. I said "Oops, sorry." And went on my way.

I made it to the Fall festival for their last day. It was so blessed hot. Very few folks were purchasing anything more than water and lemonade. Two hours and we were spent. I was very dizzy and nauseous. I was more than ready to retreat to the air conditioned car. I didn't get many photos of the campers decorated for Halloween either. Nor did I get any of the beautiful cars that covered the hillside in colorful, antique glory.

It was just too hot. And, now I am going to head to my favorite silk flower store and purchase just those colors and just that basket and make my own forbidden purple passions. Or, maybe not. I'm kind of just happy to look at it. I think it is beautiful. It does not match a thing in my house.

Sable, the meanderer

Our dog at her dog sitter's house

When one is away from home, under duress and worried about a loved one, it is very comforting to know that their children and pets are safe and being well taken care of. The fact that my daughter was with me and is very close to her cousin and not home alone was an immeasurable relief. The cats and bird are pretty independent. That left the dog.

Well, not to worry. My eldest sister, her husband and my eldest brother are three wonderful retired folks living in a big house. They are all pet lovers. They had a black dog for years who was very much a part of their family. When they dog sit Sable they say it is just like have Rex back in the house. It is a great load off my mind to have her so very well taken care of. Sable even gets company while there. My niece and her husband bring her dog treats from the pet store that rival anything I give her. A doggy pretzel and cupcake! (Both made especially for dogs, not people food). I hear that Sable gobbled them up and even rolled over for one. (Not such an easy feat for her barrel-shaped body).

Next week-end when we go to WV, my eldest sister and her husband are going along. My brother says that he is more than happy to watch our dog, Sable. My sister has told me that the two meander around the yard watching chipmunks and nudging toads near the pond. However, I think that Sable does more than watch sometimes. She has much more land to explore at their house. A wooded section and a pond. New sights, smells and sounds. A regular smorgasbord of sensory experiences.

This morning, I am slowly recovering from a migraine. I drove home last evening and picked Sable up. The closer I got to our house, the worse the headache got. I managed to get an Imitrex in me on the road, but by the time I arrived the headache was in full swing. It was expected. Two days in a strange bed, very little sleep, sitting in a hospital all day, driving hours on end, driving Columbus traffic, driving a strange car. It just adds up to one super migraine. Once the pressure is off and my body/brain saw home on the horizon it began to react to all of the stress.

Of course I am partial to my nephew because I love him, but he is quite extraordinary with his knowledge of gadgets and he is (and many non-family members will attest to this also) a computer genius. His car has a GPS, of course. A radar detector and satellite radio. He has also installed a DVD player that flips out of his CD player with a small 7" screen. They make this device so that it does not play when the car is running, but he has re-wired it so that it does. I really hope that he does this only for the passenger to watch movies, really I do!

I used "Jill" (the GPS) for the first time. In Columbus traffic on a Friday night while driving a strange car. Imagine if you will a SNL skit. If you are familiar with this device, you probably can relate better to what I am about to say. I really must mention that when you first purchase this device, you practice at home with streets that you know first. This will help you with some of the terminology that is being used, also. In fact, I would imagine that the manual recommends this. If it does not, it should.

Back to the skit. Imagine if you will, travelling 70 mph through four lanes of mad Columbus traffic. According to Allstate, Columbus is the worst city to drive in Ohio. This device on my dash board is telling me "Endpoint five miles." What the hell? My nephew's house is miles away, yet! I am nowhere near the end point of my trip! And, just what in the hell is Main Saint East? When did the word street become Saint? I think Jill was trying to insinuate something, here.

Jill is colorful if she is anything. Her display shows yellow lines and fuchsia lines and bright red lines. I guess I am the blue square on the fuchsia line. Jill is also nice enough to factor in the time it will take to reach our destination. Mine went from an arrival time of 8:45 p.m. to nowhere in the next 25 years.

Poor Jill. She had a time with me. I swear the girl sighs before she says "recalculating." And, she did say that quite a bit. I even heard "please stay on the intended route!" Though I can't be certain about that one. And, Jill may be able to read tiny little street names forty miles ahead of the fact, but my 47 year old eyes can only read them when I am five feet in front of them in the dark! "Turn left onto Hillsborough Street... turn left onto Hillsborough Street... turn left onto... SIGH.... "recalculating".

I admit it. I yelled back at Jill. "A little late on that one, eh Jill? When were you going to tell me about that off ramp? Sorry, Jill! There are 78 cars behind me and I can't just slip over into the left split for 270 North! Thanks a lot Jill!" Of course in the SNL skit, my language would be a bit more colorful.

She stayed silent when I needed her the most, just in an attempt to get back at me. I know it. She is a sensitive bit... contraption, that Jill. No begging, pleading or cajoling was going to get her to talk to me. I even offered her chocolate! No dice.

Now, this didn't happen to me, but I think it would be great in the skit. What would Jill say if I had driven the wrong way on a one-way street? "Please do a 180... turn around... you are going the wrong way....that does not compute....do you need me to call an ambulance?" Yeah, I can imagine what she would say.

In the skit, I can imagine Jill trying to calmly say turn left or right or this or that and recalculating, but after time she becomes more and more agitated and curses under her breath and goes into mini rampages. Stuff like that. I can even imagine the entire GPS just blowing up. I wondered if any of them have blown up from the chaos that some drivers put them through. And, just what does it way when you drive over a bank and into a ditch? Does it say recalculating? That would be a bit sarcastic, don't you think? Or what if you have an accident? The sound of metal and glass smashing and in the eerie silence afterwards...."sigh..recalculating.." How rude! What a great SNL skit.

Anyway, I made it to my nephew's house eventually. I did want to turn the GPS off a couple of times and just use my common sense. I suppose over time we may all lose that as we begin to rely more and more on this type of gadget. Oh, and Endpoint was not actually endpoint. It was a pause between the words In point.... five miles. As in "in half of a mile turn here" In .5 miles. Me sighing this time as I got out of the car. I do believe I saw Jill smoking a cigarette as I went into the house. Either that or the gadget's electronic circuitry was fried and that was the smoke I was seeing. And, I swear there were two less Advils in the bottle that I left in the car.

Note: This may be a great money-making scheme. Sell T-shirts that read "Recalculating" on the front of them. They are guaranteed to be a big seller.

Hologram

Or rather, a volumetric display?

I am sitting here this evening in my nephew's house. I spent all day at the hospital in Columbus. The procedure went well where they examined his heart with a catheter. He is staying overnight because of his reaction to anesthesia. He does not tolerate medicine very well. My sister (his Mom) is staying with him there.

I can't sleep. Mostly because I am in a strange atmosphere. A lot due to the fact that the next step is open heart surgery. The above photo is from my nephew's stash on his home computer. I believe the image is of himself taken with a timer and a tripod.

It fits my gloomy mood of how I don't want to lose one iota, not one pixel of my beloved nephew (who comes very close to being a son to me) and how very vulnerable we are in this life. Reality smacks you in the face with every corner in a children's hospital. Although my nephew is 30 years old, this is where the procedure is taking place. There were little tiny children there. One little girl had a banner on her door that read "Happy 1st Birthday, Hannah!"

For a hospital, it was strange not seeing aged people in the rooms. Just little tykes. It is a bit confusing for me that he be treated at this hospital. I didn't realize that there would be no adult patients. I would like to say that the hospital is fantastic. Top Notch.

Not here.

This is where we "won't" be staying when we go to WV.

We have reservations at the Days Inn near the towns we want to visit. We will have a nice restaurant, lounge, coffee in the rooms, pool, sauna - the works. I'm not sure what the one shown above has. Probably the 2 C's (a cot and a crapper). This is a line from one of my favorite movies. 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag. For some weird reason, I get a kick out of this movie. This one and Galaxy Quest. For zany humor.

I was awoken this morning to the beeping of our carbon monoxide detector. My daughter said it read 208, then 209 then back to zero and it finally quit beeping on it's own. I wasn't sure what to do. It isn't like a smoke or fire alarm. My window was open, there were fans blowing. Nobody had turned the furnace on or anything with a flame.

I was going to forget it but when I went to the basement to get my shower, I noticed that the cats and kittens had knocked the front plate to the hot water heater off and I guessed that they put the pilot light out. (I didn't look). I turned the knob off and heard a click or a popping sound. Scared me. I called my furnace company (they were scheduled to come Tuesday to check the furnace anyway). I took the day off and bumped my appointment up to today and waited for them.

I was nervous so I cleaned and baked. (I really wish I got nervous more often!) Anyway, the guy came at 3:00. Sheesh! He checked everything. Told me that the noise I heard when I turned the pilot light knob off, was the pilot light going out. That the cats had not put the pilot light out. Furnace is okay, hot water heater is okay, but he said my carbon monoxide detector may need replaced. He said sometimes they get old and start giving mis-readings. He said if it does it again, I may want to replace it.He brought his carbon monoxide tester in (to the tune of $35) and found nothing. All clean air. Whew!

I must not strangle the kittens, I must not strangle the kittens. My poor dog has a severe rash on her underbelly and inside of her thighs. I will call the vet tomorrow to schedule an allergy shot for her before I head out of town this week-end. I am nervous about the procedure my nephew is having. I've read up on his team of doctors and the hospital and the procedure. I was not involved much when he had his open heart surgery when he was two.

Oh, as for the baking? I made apple crisp and banana nut bread today. Both turned out very well. For some reason I just seem to turn catatonic on Saturdays and Sundays anymore. But give me a day off from work when I am not sick and that's when things happen.

Yonder

Over yonder.

Bit of a headache tonight. It started to rain here. After a super glorious day. I was inside all day so I didn't get to go out and about to see anything. The sun just heated up my little office so that I had to turn the fan on.

Been gabbing with sisters trying to iron out the details of the fall festival and our WV trip. Above photo is where the streets have no names. Like the song. I believe it is called Township Rd 45. Along the area where I found the Redneck bus stop. A dirt road between Keene and Warsaw Ohio. Where the country is still beautiful. I would like to get back out there when the leaves turn, but I can probably count that out. I am going to be looking at the Lisbon run this week. Heading east.