An addict is an addict is an addict

I tell everyone "I hate to shop."  Actually, I am an addict. Probably. I don't know. I am a binge shopper. I was a binge drinker. You can go through life and never have a drink again. You can't go through life and never shop again. Not realistically. I have to be very careful when I shop.

I don't quit.

Christmas is the hardest. I have to start late because I do not quit. I have to keep buying gifts for people. I love to give, give, give.

We are having our annual family party tonight. At a restaurant. A record 40 are showing. There are a few friends coming, but still...mostly family. And their significant others.

And, babies. We have new babies this year. YAY!

Out of the immediate family two nephews cannot make it.

All 8 children will be there. I have to find my cameras and get them charged up!

I stole a couple of games from the party I went to on the first and I made up one of my own. I watched The Grinch carefully and came up with 10 wacky questions about the show. From the easiest "What color is the Grinch?" to the hardest "How many years has the Grinch put up with the Who characters making noise?"

We are in a new restaurant this year. They have promised us a private room. I tell them that there will be singing, laughter and noise. I don't want to disturb the other patrons.

Hopefully, I will have some pics to post tomorrow.

Creepy

A few weeks back I met some family for dinner and across the street was an antique store. It was nice to look at but I do not (nor need) anything from an antique store.

 

Come to find out, somebody was watching us from the third floor window. Ominous.

The relish tray

My niece and her fiance's version of the "relish tray" at Christmas.  Funny!

The movie "A Better Life" made me cry. It may help if you know some Spanish (Of course I took French in high school). The movie did not sub-title the conversations in Spanish.

Things around here have been quiet. Not as quiet as when I lived alone for six months. My daughter is twenty. She should be active and moving around and coming and going. That is what you do at twenty. The dogs are pushing me, but I figure they need an adjustment period, too.

I have lots of work to do to keep me busy. I am supposed to be going through totes and sorting/pitching and organizing "stuff".  A friend had two computer issues. One I resolved already the other one I have waiting on the piano bench. 

See? Again, I will do anything to get out of "house" work like the sorting of "stuff" I should be doing. Heh. Grocery store today. I need almost everything. Since I was by myself for six months not much got used up. This holiday tore through that. (Flour, sugar, detergents etc...). Dog food. Always dog food. You know, I gotta keep them dogs pooping. I have cut their food down a good bit and am thinking about cutting down more. They are all very plump. But,  you should see them play when I take them outside. Now I am back to thinking fence. Sigh. Money, money, money.

Charge!

I'd like to say my life has been too busy to post. Maybe it has. I don't know. Too busy to think about it. While charging ordering gifts on-line I went ahead and ordered myself a new charger for my big camera. The battery is inside the camera, so the charger and spare battery are floating around this earth somewhere. Hopefully in my house.

So,  I will charge ahead into the holidays as each gift arrives on my doorstep. What fun to open gifts up twice, though my act is not actually opening them. :)

Finger is healing ever so slowly, work is steady and daughter moves back the end of the week. Get ready for stories about Cheech and Chong again!

Finger surgery... what finger surgery?

For some cruel reason my body decides to conjure up every pain it could think of. If it were just the procedure of removing the cyst I would not need any pain medication. My shoulder pain shows up about every two days. It wakes me up in the early morning and I can barely move as I stumble my way to the Advil bottle and recently the Vicodin. I manage to wrap the heating pad over my hurting shoulder and bury myself in my TV chair until an hour or so passes and I can finally move without sounding like an animal caught in a claw trap.

After a couple of days with the shoulder pain, my right wrist begins to feel like it had been twisted backwards and also begins to complain. I found this wrap and managed to wrap it around the wrist so I can type. What the hell is going on? I feel as if I am falling apart.

I fixed about three dishes for my family Thanksgiving get together. My daughter did come over. She did help me. She did all my dishes. She mixed the cheese ball mixture and found out how hard it was to stir it. She sliced up all of my cheese for the cheese tray.

As I pulled into my sister's house, my nephew and his wife pulled in behind. They jumped out of their van and demanded that I go into the house - they would unload my car. I protested, but caught myself. "Let them, let them." 

All day long family asked me about my finger. When I told them it was actually my shoulder, I got shoulder rub after shoulder rub. All day! The shoulder was not in it's severe pain (I cannot stand anybody or anything touching it when it hurts like that) but during it's down time, I can bear the rubbing.

I was a hit with the new baby. He really likes me. I "hogged" him.  I had lots to be thankful for.

There is a baby shower on Sunday. I have to make 50of these:

Aren't they adorable? Except mine will have blue ribbons of course. I had hoped that we could get a start on them Thanksgiving day, but it did not happen. You cut out the bottom of a Styrofoam cup (my apologies for not being very green, here), cut slits to create the tongue, punch holes and begin with the ribbons.

I am not exactly certain how I am going to tie those little bows, but I will figure it out.

So, I woke up this morning and not only does my arm hurt - but my legs would not move without significant pain. I attribute this to walking around the mall yesterday (to find cute baby stuff for the shower) and walking around two grocery stores. I had my cart full at the first one and needed help finding two items. There was no help to be found. I finally tracked down a guy stocking shelves. He was rude and just kept telling me "We don't carry that!" I returned all my items and walked out of that store and drove to another where not only did I find all my items, I saw lots of workers in the store that were more than happy to give me help.

I had banned that first store for five years before for a very similar reason. I will probably stay away another five years again.

I did manage to make it through the day without beating up any grandfathers. Good Gawd!

This morning I stumbled out of bed, swallowed Advil and Vicodin - wrapped myself in my heating pad and my TV chair. It took a good hour but I was finally able to get up and get out to walk the dogs. The strange thing is, after the meds wear off, I do not have as much pain. I may require only a couple of Advil later - but nothing like the pain when I first wake up. Of course, I probably just jinxed it.

Well, my daughter is out of town this week-end and my sisters live too far away. I am on my own. I have a sinkful of dirty dishes (cannot get my finger wet) so I will be using my leaking dish washer. Oh, well.

Time to go and look for my glue gun. I found one of my camera battery chargers and have taken pics, but my usb ports all fried in my computer months ago, so I cannot download them, whereas with my phone I can e-mail them to myself and get them on here.

Maybe Santa will bring me a new USB card?

Somebody stop the world.

What is this? What do you do with this? Huh? This "look" is the result of me playing with a cat instead of him. I was taking pictures of Teton (who was playing with the wrist strap to the camera) and I happened to look over my floor fan and see this. Good God Almighty! It is the look of "But, I thought you loved ME best!"

Anyways, my nightmare didn't end. It just moved into my house and follows me around. After my freakish day on Thursday the 15th, Friday was rather mundane and normal. Saturday brought me a ripe and juicy migraine with a side of exhaustion.

Sunday came. I ventured out to buy groceries and cat/dog food. I purchased some frozen food and ice cream. Came home and "BAM" no keys to get in the house. The spare key we keep hidden (LOL!) I had given to daughter's boyfriend so he could get into the house. Oh, my. I looked at my daughter's bedroom window. Is it unlocked? Yes, it was. It wasn't pretty folks and I hope (for their sake) the neighbors were not looking. I got in and I am still feeling the ramifications from THAT!. The dogs all thought it was quite hilarious. I gave them a what for.

Monday came. Work was okay. I stopped at the drug store on the way home. Two hours later I went to balance my checkbook and what? No wallet! I had left it at the drug store. I called them, yes they had it. I went back and picked it up. All money still there. I thanked the cashier and pointed to my head and made a motion that I was losing it.

Tuesday came. I took the dogs out for their early morning walk and when I returned there in the middle of the floor was one of my brand new SAS sandals. The back strap was chewed completely off. I had forgotten to put them in my bedroom overnight. They cost me serious $$ but they are so wonderfully comfortable. I wore my tennis shoes that day and will wear them today. Grrrr.

Wednesday dawns. I go downstairs to take a shower and flip my cell phone off with my clothes and it clatters to the hard tiled floor. It ain't comin' back folks. It is dead as a doornail. I am eligible to upgrade to a new phone. I guess something is telling me it is time to do it. NOW!

I know I mentioned having a couple of links to look back at. Some funny stories from the past. I did not have time to look them up on my blog, but will get to them soon.

Until tomorrow... I am locking myself in a padded room. Somebody stop the world, I want to get off! Ha, ha!

Equal Opportunity

Here are the black olives from Easter dinner.

Sigh. Yesterday got much, much worse. I was out with the dogs in the fresh air and I realized that this headache was not going away with OTC meds. Drat! Another imitrex? Or, generic imitrex, rather.

Yes. If I wanted to get to that birthday party. I tried the very, very hot shower. I moved slow. I lay back down after the shower. My pets hovered around me. "What are you doing?" I dozed on and off. I told my sister I would probably be late. She told me to stay home (in a nice way, LOL!) if I had a migraine. She gets them, too.

My daughter was coming over to watch the dogs for me. She had one hell of a night fighting with her boyfriend. It was all dramatic and tense. It set my headache flying again. She was crying. I listened. Finally, my head hurt too bad and I left for the party. It was breaking my heart to watch her.

I stopped at a store (not walletmart, yeah!) to get myself a new coffee pot. A migraine exacerbates little pet peeves. For starters, I hate shopping. I do like people, as most of you know from my previous posts, I will talk and joke with just about anybody.

This trip was much different. It started in traffic. Everybody was getting on my nerves. While turning into a parking lane, some lady was just sitting in her car (I think she was texting) - not in a parking space, but parked in the lane where everyone had to drive around her (once they made sure nobody was coming from the other direction). She is one of these drivers that makes me want to park my car. Get out and go up and bang on her window and scream 'What the f#&* are you doing?!' But, I didn't.

The lights were excruciating. I grabbed a buggy and it was buggy Nascar in there. You ever have one of those encounters where you are wheeling your buggy down an aisle and there is another shopper coming straight at you? I always try to steer to the right. I did. They steered to their left. I switched and so did they, again - and again! By this time we were getting pretty close to one another. We missed each other but I heard him make a remark to his wife. I was giving no eye contact and no response. Usually I would have smiled and joked about it. NOT today.

Of course I could not find the coffee pots. The only help I could find was a cashier at the very front of the store. And as typical of a horror story, the moment I ask her a question "Where can I find the coffee pots?" somebody (some idiot new employee with butter fingers, I am certain) decided to drop a metal pipe that must have been forty feet long onto the concrete floor of this massive home construction store. It echoed through the entire four counties all three times that I tried to repeat myself to the cashier." Where can I find the coffee pots?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Where can I find the coffee pots?"

"Sorry." She gave me a bewildered look.

"Where can I find the coffee pots?" The echos were still resounding through the store. I sighed.

She motioned towards the sound. "Can't hear you."

Sigh. Finally, she was able to answer me. Of course! The coffee pots were all the way in the BACK of the store. So, back I go. Then there are the people who block an entire aisle. When I stop to browse or read something, I pull my cart in as close to my area as I can, thus leaving room for another buggy to get by. Not most people. Every aisle I tried to go down, had one or two people on one side of the aisle looking at something and their buggy would be stretched out (at an angled position) blocking the entire, frickin' aisle! I was livid. I was fuming. See? I despise migraines for doing this to me! It is no wonder older people can be so cranky. If they are always in pain, that is. And, I think most of them are.

And, that isn't the worst of it. If you are defeated and actually have to wheel up one of the blocked aisles, they don't notice you. I make as much motion and noise as I can before I get to them so that they have plenty of warning. I cannot believe people are so oblivious to their surroundings that they cannot see another shopper standing less than 2 feet away from them with a buggy, trying to pass. I REALLY have a hard time believing that people are this clueless to their surroundings. What must they be like on the roadways? I fidget and ahem. Then just say "Excuse me! May I pass?" Then they act like they are being inconvenienced. Arrgghh!

They were lucky I had a migraine and was moving slow that day. Or, I would have plowed into their buggy like some crazed snow plow driver that had worked two too many shifts and was pushed way over the edge! I can see it now. Purses and merchandise would go flying up into the air (heaven forbid they have a toddler sitting in the front of the buggy) and the silver buggy (that never had a chance against me and my demon buggy - buggy Nascar, I tell ya) wouldn't know what hit it as it goes skittering across the store's waxed floor. The people would stand there mouth agape, in shock. I would nod as I passed them and say "That's right! Get the hell out of my way next time! Idiots!"

They are fortunate I don't get physically sick much anymore with these monster headaches, or I would have to vomit on their shoes as I pass them. You can bet your sweet arse they would get out of my way, then! Again, I do not like the monster that I become.

Ah, yes. So, the next time you witness one of these crazy lady buggy drivers in a store, try to remember. We do not want to be there. Sometimes we do not have a choice. I only shopped because I absolutely HAD to get a coffee pot or I was going to go insane with caffeine withdrawal. Migraines make us monsters! Beware, and please forgive. In retrospect I should have waited and shopped at a small drug store. Whew!

And if you do ever read in the newspaper about some lady in Ohio that went berserk at a store or while driving, remember that I am not always like this. It is the migraine monkey coming out in me that tortures me.

Green or black?

Are you a green olive person or a black olive person?

I like (and eat) both, but I prefer the green ones. I love salt! I put the black ones on all Mexican dishes that I make. I am making a seven-layer taco dip for a birthday party today.

I've probably posted the recipe before.

I use a pan or dish with a lip on it because the sheer weight of the ingredients pushes the bottom layers down so that they ooze out.

First layer is (1) refried beans.

I mix (2) sour cream and (3) small curd cottage cheese together and spread that over the beans.

Next is (4) salsa. (I use mild or medium).

Then (5) shredded lettuce.

Then finely (6) shredded mild cheddar cheese.

Then (7) sliced black olives.

We dip tortilla chips into the mixture and eat it up.

You guys are probably SO tired of hearing about my headaches. I had one yesterday. I even had to take a second pill. AND my coffee pot died on me! I had to drive to Mickey D's to get a cup. It was awful! Just awful. The taste of their coffee has really deteriorated. I am drinking hot tea this morning to get my caffeine fix. Funny how I only like creamer in my coffee (no sugar, blah!) but for my hot tea it is no cream and two teaspoons of sugar. Weird.

What really irks me is that we had a beautiful day yesterday and I could do nothing. NOTHING! I slept most of the day. Bending over to put the harness on the dogs was pure torture. Everything makes too much noise. The tea kettle this morning pierced my head like a high powered cross bow shooting an arrow into my skull. A dog bark will send me into a raging fit of anger.

Sigh. It has abated today. I am still taking the OTC meds like generic ibuprofen and generic acetaminophen. Huh. I guess I AM on meds! That lady at the G Corral last month guessed right.

Talking to my nephew last night he said that when he looked at the weather, it said that the indices were high for aches and pains like migraine, arthritis and sinus sufferers. Well, then.

With any luck I will be able to get through today on the generic OTC alone. I hope I can find a good cup of coffee. And, I suppose I will leave early for the party so I can shop for a new coffee pot.

One very nice thing happened yesterday. I had our old faithful dog Sable and the ever so rambunctious boxer out in the front yard. No leashes or harness on either, though I was carrying the boxer's harness and leash in my hand. The lady across the street was mowing and had sat down to take a break. We waved at one another. She hollered "Is that one of those puppies?" That was all the boxer needed. He bounded across the street and right up to her. I was following close behind telling her that he was friendly.

Thank God no cars were passing. I mentally kick myself. Dogs are so unpredictable.

She fussed over him a bit (he is a big marshmallow) and I told her that the two pups were inside and I had also found this dog. She said "You have four dogs?" I said "Yeah, just shoot me now." My standard response when somebody asks or points that out.

She and I proceeded to talk for about half an hour. I had the harness and the leash on the boxer by that time and dear Sable just plopped down in some grass and waited. We talked of the economy, we talked of movies, we talked of what I do for work. We told each other our names for the umpteenth time and laughed how neither one of us could remember. I think we will now.

She is a great lady and I have always admired how she gets out there with her electric lawn mower and mows away. She looks to have ten years or more on me. She has health problems (pain in her legs) but does her best.

It was a very nice visit and I didn't want to overstay my welcome. I went back home and she returned to her mowing.

Go Green!

My daughter has decided it is time to "go green" with a vehicle choice. We left this store yesterday evening about 5:30 p.m. My sisters and I. It took me over an hour to get back to my house after that because of the dizzy snowfall and not being able to see the lines on the Interstate.

My daughter still has not arrived home yet in her "green" car. Hmmm. That may take a while. :D

Colorful tree

From the museum

Well, we are at the end of November. Weather-wise we were quite spoiled. That sentence almost sounds like the beginning of a tongue-twister. I think the cold weather is coming.

I found out that the debit to my checking account was legitimate and was mine. My daughter had purchased a gift at a kiosk in the middle of our mall. Strange that it would show up on my online banking with the description of a mall in Moline IL. Kind of threw me off and since I didn't recall buying it, I was a bit alarmed. I found the receipt and all is well. Whew.

My Thanksgiving was busy and happy. Lots of people to see, lots of hugs and too much food. I was not caught with the "I am so tired" after effect of the day and was able to help clean up and play games with the younger set. On Friday I fixed my feast for my crew. Nothing huge, but quite adequate. My nephew fixed my back door latch. The dogs' leash had caught it one day and with that boxer on the other end, I can't tell you the amount of force that snapped that latch and broke it. He is one strong canine.

Even I am up and about too early for the dogs. They looked at me with one eye opened and promptly went back to sleep. I got up an hour ago. I will be leashing them all and taking them out (one at a time). If I take them out together they distract each other and do not do their business. Except for Sable. I can take her out with or without any of them. The boxer goes last because I have to walk him. And walk him. And walk him. If he is really hungry, he goes quickly and pulls me back to the house.

I have to tell you I have been really spoiled with the mild November temperatures. I will need to really bundle up in December when I walk him. I still don't have a coat for the big fella. He is short haired and he gets cold.

This week is a wash. I work full time and every day this week. I have an event scheduled every evening this week except for Wednesday. I am going to try to fix a big home-cooked meal that night because I know we will be eating out every other night. My daughter only works this morning and all day Friday so she can take care of the dogs in the evenings. I might blow tonight's event off and do some much-needed shopping before a get together on Saturday.

Just thinking about this make my chest tighten up.

I think I'll go walk the dog and get some cold, brisk air on my face.

Ciao.

Shopping

Another ornament from the tree display

Black Friday. There are reasons I don't go out shopping on Black Friday. First and foremost I despise shopping. Most of the time. The reasons are:

Limited money (some years I have more than others, but certainly not THIS year)

Tired feet, aching back

The smells of perfumes and sprays give me a headache

The noise of stores and shoppers gives me a headache

The lights give me a headache

I am very picky and can rarely find anything I want

I hate stores that block merchandise with boxes of stock to be put on the shelves or those little cardboard setups - I've been known to knock over these displays to get to the item on the shelf

On a similar note I hate stores with tiny little walk-ways between clothes racks and my purse drags half the clothes along with me, thus pulling me down slower and slower until I have to come to a complete stop and rip my purse from the clinging sleeves

I get bored easily and hate to search for anything

I hate it when I can't find what I am looking for

I hate it when shoppers do not put the merchandise back on the same rack so that the size or color I want is over in the pajamas or bras where it has no business being

I hate it how they have ten of every item in every size but MINE!

I hate "bargains" and just want to pay the price on the tag (I hate hassles)

I don't like crowds (who does?)

I don't like rude people (and there are plenty out there in shopping land)

I hate how shopping turns me into one of these rude people

I hate it how the clerk who I ask for assistance never knows the answer(s) to my question(s)

I hate it when a sales person tries to sell me something else other than what I want

I hate it when I can't find a sales person when I need one

I REALLY, REALLY hate it when a bunch of them are milling around just talking when there are customers who obviously need help

I hate it when a sales person bugs me when I don't need one

I hate it when a check out person does not speak to me or acts annoyed that I am shopping and taking up their time

I can never find the right credit card or the change in the bottom of my purse

I never check the sales ads until after I bought the item and return home, then I am ticked off because I probably paid too much for the thing

I usually pick the one item that never has a price tag and they have to call someone or go search for a similar item

I always pick the wrong check-out line (ALWAYS!)

I hate it when the grocery store is out of the brand of food that I want

I hate it when a grocery store advertises an item on sale and when I get there the space for that item is completely empty - or they place the item on an end cap instead of it's usual place where I am certain to miss it

I have to unload all the crap when I get home, it can be as exhausting as shopping all over again!

Notice that I did not put parking in the list. I really don't mind walking to and from my car. It is refreshing if it is cool outside because I get really hot in stores. I DO despise those idiotic people who park in the handicap spaces and are NOT handicapped. I know the handicap is not always apparent, but there are the few that do abuse this parking space and I always wish that they have to work 30 days with handicapped people to see how hard it really is to get around.

I also realize that I make a great candidate for on-line shopping. On Wednesday while looking at my checking account balance on line, I noticed a purchase in a mall in Illinois. Since I had not been to that mall that day (let alone the state of Illinois), I was a bit concerned. I called my bank and they said they would put a "pending" notice on the debit, but I am still a bit concerned. Needless to say, I am going to be checking it again and often. It was less than $15 (thank goodness) but what if it had been $150 or more? I am not looking forward to any hassles that are created with this error.

Making more memories

Warther's Museum 2009

On Saturday I met family and we toured the beautifully decorated trees at Warther's museum. A couple of the family had not been before and they were just as entranced by his carvings and work as they were by the trees. The trees did not disappoint.

I fell in love with a beautifully lit blue one. Head to toe in blue lights, tinsel, garland and balls. It had not been sold yet. $750. Sorry. My budget doesn't even come close to allowing such a luxury and besides, can you imagine what my pets would do to such a beautifully decorated tree? Oh, the horror!

We all went out to eat at Texas Road House and again were not disappointed. Then we did a little shopping at the nearby mall. My heel spur is really acting up. I am getting shooting pains down into the inside of the heel. Not the middle. More toward the inside of the heel.

I took it easy on Sunday. Even though it was rather nice outside and I could have cleaned out the garage or patio, I stayed inside. My daughter's boyfriend is still mowing my grass for me and he did that yesterday. I got to clean the bathroom drain out. Lovely. Little Chong was very curious as to what I was doing. He was the only one. He kept coming into the bathroom and there I was sitting on the floor and working under the sink. It was as if he was asking me "Did you fall down? Do you need help?" It was comical. Until I realized that my wooden spoon was missing. I use the spoon's handle wrapped in paper towels to clean the drain out. Yep. He stole it and it was chewed up beyond rescue. Cheech threw up later and I finally got all the wooden splinter pieces picked up off the living room carpet. Thieving little devils, they are!

My office was scheduled to work only Monday and Tuesday of this week so I took vacation days. I have a follow up doctor's appointment this morning and then I will go to the grocery store and buy the items that can be stored for four days before the feast.

I will go again on Wednesday to get the fresher items. I am fixing all the meal for me and my crew probably on Friday and will be going to the family feast on Thursday. For that get together I am making my usual cheese ball and tray. I am taking a vegetable tray with dip, some olives and pickles and maybe devilled eggs. I asked my daughter's boyfriend to ask his mom if she had time would she make me some homemade noodles for Thursday. I hope she only says yes if she has the time. She also works full time. My family are not noodle eaters but I thought the other day, 'we never have noodles' and I figured I might take a batch. We'll see how they go over.

For the movie department we watched "My Sister's Keeper". It was good. I am not a fan of C Diaz. I do like the way she looked worn and haggard in the movie - it fit her role. I got a little confused as they tossed the viewer back and forth in time. I did not see much chemistry between C Diaz and J Patric and I swear I saw him pull back from her kiss in disgust at the beach scene. I almost watched the movie again (fast forwarding to that part) to see if it was my imagination or not, but didn't really care. I am beginning to warm up a bit to A Baldwin. He played his part well, I thought. And J Cusak was great as the judge. My daughter just could not believe that A Baldwin in this movie was the husband in Beetle Juice. I got a chuckle out of that.

We also watched "Next Day Air." Skip this one! The two chuckles we got in the entire movie did not make up for the foul language and blood scenes. This is NOT comedy. The only ones worth watching were M Def and Y Deliz. M Def didn't have more than a dozen words in the movie and that is where we did our chuckling.

On the "old movie" chart I watched "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte." So many times you hear old movies mentioned but have you ever really watched them? I caught this one the other morning at about six a.m. In the old time movie fashion, it was quite good.

The lights are on but....

And the fan works, too!

My friend returned yesterday and re-did the fan/light and all works well now. Too well in fact. I am freezing because I love running the fan. I need to flip the switch so it spins the other way and sends heat down. No, not yet. The lights are a lot brighter than my chandelier ones and now I can see how dirty my keyboard is. Yeecchh!

I was futzing around yesterday after my friend left and not feeling much like doing anything when my sister called. (The sister whose kitchen clock I clocknapped.) I had also taken some colorful glass ornaments out of her utility room window but I didn't think she would notice that.

Of course she had NOT read her e-mail to get the ransom message. As it turns out she jumped her son for knocking the glass things off into the recycle bin and they must have been thrown out and she didn't miss her clock at all! She was laughing but mad because now she had to apologize to her son for losing her glass things. Whoops!

Anyway, she wanted company going to a bag and bead show. I said "Sure". I was wasting my day away. I went. She bought a ring and I bought a handbag. I've been looking for a new one. Mine has been broken for about 2 months and I just could not find one I liked in the stores. It is a 'coach" knock-off. I didn't even know what a 'coach' was until last evening. Big deal. I like the purse, I buy it. I'm not one to care about who makes it. Never was. Never will be.

I also want to comment on a couple of movies I watched over the past week or so. One was 'The Spitfire Grill'. It was okay. I would have written it differently. Imagine my surprise when I looked it up online to find out that the musical is written the way I would have. It it more realistic and makes more sense, except for who wins the essay contest. That would certainly not be legal.

Another movie the kids ordered on Pay-per-view. "The Ugly Truth". Kind of raunchy like most movies nowadays. I guess that is what the kids laugh at. Yikes.

"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" was okay. After reading up on it, I expected to see (and hear) more from this real life gang leader that the director had to have in the movie. Even though he had no acting experience. I'm not exactly certain which character he was but you didn't hear much from them. Victor is his real name.

Not sure if I have watched any others that I did not mention. I've been really out walking dogs and enjoying this unusually warm weather we are having here in eastern Ohio. No complaints at all except I am afraid that we are going to wake up one morning and it is going to be bitter cold and there was not time to ease into winter. It will just come up and smack us in the face like a 2 by 4. Ouch.

Kool-aid mouth

Actually it was red punch. This little girl stole the show at the six year old boy's birthday party. He did not care. He was constantly running with the older kids. Bursting balloons (much to my dismay). This time my daughter had the headache. I had been battling a headache and had taken migraine medicine earlier.

Most of the time it looks as if some folks are sissies and are "scared" of balloons. In my case, I am scared of the headache I am going to get from the sudden "bang" of the balloon popping. This is why I hate loud noises. And they had a lot of balloons to pop. Most of the games were centered around the balloons. It was an afternoon nightmare.

My daughter's headache went away on the drive home.

We went to a gadget show at our local library. We did not win the drawing for the Wii. Drat. I did learn about the Kindle and Sony's version. Of course, now I want one. I also saw an iPod speaker that I wouldn't mind having. There was one GPS. There were the usual gaming stations and Verizon had a cell phone display. I was not interested in any of those. Overall, it was rather paltry. I heard others say the same thing. We are hoping it will grow into something more substantial next year. I may call some local vendors and mention to them that they missed a golden opportunity to show some of their stuff. It could be that the larger ones are not able to display their products in such a fashion.

Sony

Kindle

The salesman with the iPod speaker talked me into participating in Black Friday. almost. I despise crowds and I despise shopping. I also don't like to get up and get moving at that early of an hour. Although with my recent early morning insomnia, this may not be an issue. Another reason I don't participate is because I am too darn tired.

I usually go all out for the dinner on Thanksgiving. If I am not fixing stuff, I am helping a family member prepare. It still (and always will) infuriate me that the women still fix and clean up the mess while the men sit around watching football and sleeping off the heavy meal. Why my sisters let them get away with it is beyond me. What am I saying? I do the same for my nephew when he comes to visit. He does not help to clean up. (kicking myself). But, is he family or a guest? So, I am guilty. I have only myself to blame for this pet peeve.

I went with a small group to tour a Historical Museum on Friday. The house (museum) was just beautiful. I took pictures. It was sad to read some of the letters from soldiers to their families.

We watched Made of Honor (blah) and What Happens in Vegas. Vegas had some funny parts. Somebody please give Kutcher a decent hair style. His droopy hair was driving me crazy. Co-stars Hater and Tipper almost stole the show right out from under the stars. Lake and Rob were a comedic delight.

Penguin rally

It appeared as if they were all gathered together and listening to a speaker. We were at the Pittsburgh zoo all day today. Whew. I am whipped. Yesterday we shopped til we dropped. Just about. School clothes. No sales tax in Pennsylvania (on clothes).

Lucky brand Sundowns broke the bank. Ouch. I am still rubbing my sore wallet.

I got turned around a couple of times in Pittsburgh. There was construction. The AAA Triptik had to go out the window when the bridge they suggested was closed. Couldn't they have at least checked here before they filled it in? From then on it was vague memory and my wits.

My wits were out because of the wee bit of sleep I got the night before. In the motel room, I had an air conditioner unit that was on the fritz. My daughter was sawing logs, so I didn't really want to call anyone to come and fix it. I listened to it pop and snap a few times, click, click. Stop and start and then I just finally put it out of it's misery (and mine). The room got warm, but not too bad. At least I fell asleep after that.

We watched some of the Olympic Parade of Nations. And, what a city to be in when the Steelers beat the Eagles.

It figures

Here is one of the lakes near my house. A hot summer afternoon.

Blogger had a fit with posting photos last night. I went online to the G00g!e help and thought I had it figured out with Pic@sa. I posted how I did it and this morning I look and my picture was non-existent. It figures. Any poor soul that followed my advice probably thought I was nuts.

If you check Blogger status they have it fixed now.

Summer is trudging along. My daughter is excited for her last year of school. She does not want to continue with the home schooling. I thought she would return to public school. She is not one who likes that much isolation. Which is a good thing.

We hope to visit a zoo out of state this week-end and do some shopping. Her choice, not mine. The older I get the more I am bothered by the caging of these beautiful animals. However, if not for zoos I would never have seen most of them.

I guess we will trade one zoo for another. (I may have enough critters to qualify.)

Bringing Down the Ho

What a title for my blog, eh? Well, that is the e-mail from my library. I had reserved another book from one of the movies I saw last month. "21" is based on the book "Bringing Down the House". They abbreviated. I found that amusing where they decided to cut the word off.

Here is another shot of my shrubs before they were trimmed. This is the long shot going up the front sidewalk. He couldn't cut back too much because there is a lot of dead brush underneath. He was afraid he would kill them. He especially made some room for the azaleas to breathe. See how the one on the left is scrunched up?

I am plodding through the middle of "Charlie Wilson's War." I am at the boring part where the author is giving background information on some of the CIA members. I need to wrap up that book and dig into the one I picked up today. I didn't even crack "Schindler's List", yet. I know the movie was titled "list" but I thought that I read somewhere the book was "Schindler's Ark." Huh.

June looks to be full of graduation parties. Some years I have more than others. A big wedding coming up in October. We've been waiting for this couple to marry for a long time. My nephew is a perfectionist. I guess he wanted to wait until he graduated college and obtained a more stable job. The girlfriend pushed the "ultimatum" button last winter and she got her ring at Christmas. Well, it must have been good luck for him. He just graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree (with distinction) and landed a brand new job.

I went grocery shopping this evening. I tried to cut back and buy smarter. I've been so annoyed with prices that I have put off going for a while. So, we were out of a lot of stuff. So much for savings. Reminds me of the 80's when I first moved out of state away from family and had to watch every penny at the grocery store. Gas was cheap back then. I try to break up my shopping. Dairy, fruit, canned goods and vegetables at the grocery store. Boxed goods and toiletries at the Wallet-mart, and meat at the meat store. If I go on separate days I spread it out over a period of time instead of punching a hole in the checkbook all at one stop.

Sigh. Almost everybody is pinching all over America. We are a bruised nation. I can see the other countries now, throwing their heads back and sniffing, saying to themselves "It's about time America felt some pain!" We are the "preps" at school who are finally getting theirs.

My cards from this year

Above are the cards I sent out this year. Co-workers received the green ones. Family and friends (depending on their likes) received the kitten or Ralphie in the bunny costume. Is there anybody who has not seen "A Christmas Story" with Ralphie and the Red Ryder BB gun? My co-worker had not even heard of it. It boggles my mind that with all the hoopla about the leg lamp, fragilie, and "You'll shoot your eye out!" she has never heard of the movie.

Someone told me that Bob Barker (of television fame) is the owner of the company that sells supplies to most all of the jails in the states. I just looked it up. It is Bob Barker Company, but my research tells me that it is a businessman in North Carolina. Not "Bob come on down! Barker". We were talking about this because we can only send my sister money orders. Inmates have to purchase their own toothpaste, toothbrushes, toiletries etc... I suppose there are some that are provided, but you still need a candy bar every now and then.

If you get the chance, I recommend that you try your hand playing Left, Center Right. Fun stuff.

I am off to Columbus tomorrow to meet with my nephew and his team of doctors for a Q. and A. session. I will visit a mall in the morning and my nephew and I will visit one in the afternoon. This snow storm had better be history by then!

Weird and random

Peruby is distorted

Tabor tagged me for a Meme.

The Rules are as follows:

* Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

* Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.

Well, here goes:

1. When I look at a digital clock, I have to add the numbers together. For example, if it is 4:21, in my head I say "7". If the end result is "7", I consider it a sign of good luck. I am almost out of this stage because I am not by nature a superstitious person. It is hell in the middle of the night.

2. I speak baby-talk to all my animals. They respond very well to it.


3. I am extremely inept at housecleaning.


4. I hate marshmallow, but will eat it if covered with enough chocolate. :)


5. I am a tough sell.


6. I stayed in a house overnight where the temperature dipped to 8 degrees Fahrenheit.


7. I will inadvertently burst into song. My daughter hates this.

I must think about whether or not I am going to tag anyone, myself.

My family had a holiday get together last evening. Sixteen of us showed and there are at least 14 more of the immediate family that could have shown up. We were loud. They put us into a back banquet room. We laughed. We drank (very little) and we ate.

Today we are cleaning the living room to make room for the tree. I also fixed up two batches of cookie dough for baking later. I like to refrigerate the dough for a bit before baking. It makes it easier to work with. Christmas music is playing throughout the house. Even my daughter is tapping her toes.

I will have visitors over the Christmas break. This makes me happy. Well, I think I will have my sister. She will find out on the 11th if she gets to come home for the holiday. I don't have to worry about her imbibing because she will be wearing one of these.

I did some shopping on-line this morning. I have made quite a bit of progress. This is surprising for me this early into the month. Yesterday, on the radio, I heard the announcer say "And if you are out and about doing some last minute shopping...." Last minute? It was the 8th of December for crying out loud. Some folks don't even start shopping by that date.

If my recent order is complete and arrives on time, then this pretty much wraps it up for me. This is also dangerous because I happen to be the kind of person who will keep on buying gifts even though I am "done." I just like to give gifts. If I see something I think somebody will like, I will pick it up. It is like a fever. Everyone else in the stores are buying, I want to join in. If I can stay out of the stores, I might be okay. This is going to be hard.

I do have to get my hair done. Color and cut. I might go to a new place that is not in the mall. This way, I won't be tempted to venture out to the other stores. Hmmm.

The bird is in the oven!

The bird is in and the pets are just lovin' it! They sit in the kitchen in pure wide eyed amazement. Well, okay. I do not bake that often. They cannot believe that there are such aromatic odors coming from my kitchen. They look in their empty food bowls and look up at me. They don't understand.

About a year ago the Petz Place in our town moved to the southside of town. I did not follow them there. I purchase my kitty litter and food at Wal-Mart. Cringe. It isn't that I could not find them (I never looked) but the working guys there creeped me out. You just get a feel about something and I listen to my instincts.

The other day, I decided to drop in to see what their "bigger" store was like. Wow. The good thing is I didn't see the creepy guys who own the place. There were two female workers and two, young male workers. They were very polite and helpful and they didn't creep me out. The bad thing was they had 12 puppies for sale. I must never take my daughter there. Never, ever.

The second bad thing is their prices were about 20% higher than Wal-Mart. I still might switch to purchasing it there. I just want to stop my dependence on Wal-Mart. Target and K-Mart are over forty miles away from me.

And, on a completely unrelated topic, who in the hell drew the sketch of Baby Grace? Good grief!