Wild, wonderful

West Virginia

Some family and I are headed south this week-end. Back to our roots in wild, wonderful West Virginia. We are planning a family reunion on my father's side in August. We are heading down to check out the shelter area and make plans.

The above photo is the cemetery where my father is buried. We don't think he was ever really happy in Ohio. When my parents and others moved to Ohio in the 40's some only stayed a few years, then returned. My Mom refused. She had no family left in the hills of West Virginia.

All 8 of my Mom's children were born in Ohio. I have maybe one aunt (by marriage) that remains in the mountain state. The rest are cousins. Lots of cousins. I may get to see just how many this year.

When we were kids (it took us two cars) we would visit every summer. It was great. We explored all over town. They had RR tracks and a train that went through the little town, directly across from my Aunt's house. I can still remember the train whistle blowing at night and the clickety clack of the cars running along the tracks. It was very mysterious and exciting for me.

They had an old, working hand pump in the back yard. We found it fascinating down there. They had bees and we would bring back honey. And my Aunt made jelly and always gave me a little jar of apple jelly - it was my favorite. We would have to be careful. If we said we liked anything, she was wrapping it up and giving it to us. I am so glad I didn't say anything about the glass cake holder. That would have been a little too much for a ten year old.

Her house was well lived in. It was just full of furniture and stuff that would be there from year to year. We would return and everything would be in exactly the same place and my Aunt would be sitting in her rocking chair in the enclosed sun porch where we would all gather around and talk. Next to that dreadful gas heater. Between the long car ride (none of my sisters and brothers ever wanted to ride in the same car as me, because I was the one who got car sick) and the smell of that gas heater, I was always ready for the outside excursions.

The house was full of old stuff. Calendars from the 50's and so much glass. Two things I didn't care for was the smell of natural gas and the spittoons. Mostly it was a big empty Maxwell House coffee can. My Mom always told us kids, "Do not get between folks and the coffee can." Yuck.

I think the coffee cans are long gone. The houses we visit now are more modern. The hospitality is the same. The pictures are nostalgic. I wonder if they have pictures of me and my siblings from the 60's and wonder who we are. I know I do when I go through the old family album. I will copy the old black & white photos and paste them onto a big poster board for the reunion and maybe I'll finally get to meet some of those kids I have looked at all of these years.

A little out of focus

The picture I snagged of one of my tulips on Saturday morning appeared a little out of focus. But, that's okay because I feel as if my life is a little out of focus right now, too.

I am dragging because I have been up for over an hour and the sleep monster is trying to drag me back down. A shower should take care of that monster. If I give in and doze back off, I may feel worse than if I don't.

It was a two party Saturday and a stay home Sunday. I made lasagna. My niece (the one that lived with us for five years) came to visit. At least she likes my cooking. My daughter was gone all day. She won't touch my lasagna.

Work has become very quiet and sedate. The schools are beginning to gear down for the summer. Not purchasing anything, not starting anything new. Usually there are a lot of updates during the summer but I am thinking the poor economy may have squelched any projects of that nature. Any that involve money, that is.

Since my early morning insomnia is an on-going event, I grab towels and my robe as soon as I get up in the morning in preparation for me to go downstairs and shower. I know that if I had to walk back into my bedroom and grab my robe right now, I would collapse back into bed.

I drink coffee every morning. I can doze in between cups. The caffeine seems to have no effect on me. However, if I skip my morning coffee the head begins to complain. Something fierce.

I was very busy this week-end though. I re-financed on Saturday. Dropped an entire percent from my loan. I kept the same number of years and lowered my payment by about 50 dollars a month. No closing cost! My bank picked up everything! Everything! It was a no-brainer. Sweet.

On Sunday I went over the daughter's graduation party again. Who to invite, what foods to have, so on and so forth. The date has finally been chosen. I am going to skip my annual fourth of July party. Next is to get the invitations made. One month to graduation. Don't panic.

One shot for my daughter, please

As if scars aren't bad enough, a keloid develops. The break is over. Six months. Back to the surgeries and the scars. And the lovely keloids. I will make an appointment at Akron Children's Hospital for the removal of three moles. Oh, excuse me "Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron". How can I forget it's proper name when my insurance agent was so adamant that I get it right!?

For over forty years everybody in Ohio has known the establishment as Akron Children's, but when I called my insurance company last year they kept telling me that the hospital does not exist. The web site lists it as Akron Children's, all the nurses, doctors and any other personnel in the state of Ohio calls it by "Akron Children's". Why would I even dream it had another name? When the agent finally figured out that it was listed in her database under "Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron" she was irate and told me that I need to give her the correct name. Good grief.

So my daughter got a shot of cortisone in the keloid. Why doesn't blogger's dictionary recognize this word? It stung and we hope that the growth subsides just leaving the scar. How did the girls in my daughter's gym class put it? "Did you get shot!?" I guess my daughter's back looks like she was shot with rifle spray. How many now? 12.... 15? Dysplastic nevus (nevi).

When my daughter told the dr. she wanted three new ones removed, the dr. kept saying "If you think she needs them removed." I had three separate doctors say that "Yes" the moles need to come off when we started this madness five years ago. Now they aren't so certain. What? Did the Medical Association publish an article saying that maybe they were removing too many moles unnecessarily? Like hysterectomies in the 80's? Now the doctor is leaving it up to me. Oh, excuse me. Up to my daughter. She is 18, now. She can decide for herself. We went from "These moles have to be removed!" a couple of years ago to "Well, if you think it's necessary."

Every mole removed has been tested and come back benign. I have wondered through the years if this was really necessary? What do you do when three different doctors say "Yes." I did not intentionally seek out different opinions. I am not that obsessive.

The first doctor that alerted us was rude and my daughter did not like him at all. She was 12 or 13 and this guy just creeped her out. So we found a female dermatologist. She agreed. The moles needed to come out. After about six removals I asked my family doctor. She agreed they need to come out. After so many we started to go to a plastic surgeon. He didn't really give an opinion - he just removed the ones in the more delicate areas.

When my daughter had a rash in January that doctor just freaked out. Why did she have them removed? Who did that job? We got the impression that the job was ugly and messy. Thanks doc. Made us feel like crap. Seriously. You think that doctors would have better reaction skills. They should teach that in medical school.

Am I rambling? Probably. I am tired and I am starting to get angry. My daughter wants them off. They have her afraid that every little mole is a potential door to cancer and death for her.

Did you know that virtually every prom dress made has no back to it? My daughter (like me) does not care for the hoopla of prom anyway. Good thing. Every now and then I would hear my daughter mention tanning lotion. She would put some on because as we have had it drilled into our heads for five years now, tanning beds and sunning are death.

I always hated the sun anyway. Anyone with migraines will tell you this. Sunshine equals headache. I shunned the sun. I was lily white. At 43 I began going to a tanning bed. Wow! I loved it. Especially on cold, rainy days. That stopped cold when my daughter was forbidden to go. They said it would be certain death. Or, they made her fear it as much.

I know it is for the better. I know this. It doesn't help my daughter when she compares herself to all the girls in school that are bronzed and showing their backs in their beautiful flowing prom dresses.

That is more or less why I let my daughter go wild with her hair. And by wild, I mean blond, black and red. Whooppee. No green, blue, orange, pink or purple. So the red faded a little and looked like magenta. So they said. I got a different definition of magenta. Nope. The school stopped that real quick. I got an idea. Why don't they make the kids stop tanning? Now there would be a worthwhile rule. Save a life! Color your hair, not your skin! I've got to stop. I'm getting belligerent.

Red, Gold and Green

I heard an old song on the radio the other day. A blast from the past. "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club. I couldn't find who exactly wrote the song. I didn't search very long. It has a catchy tune and beat and I love red, gold and green.

Am seeing lots of green these days. I started to mow for the first time this year, only to be met by a downpour when I wheeled the mower out of the garage. I put it away and went inside. Washed my hands, turned around and the sun was shining again. Go figure. Ohio.

We watched Lakeview Terrace. It was okay.

Got ten minutes?

My sister and I went to visit another sister on Saturday. The one in prison. We had never been before. We went to my nephew's house the night before so we could get an early start. We had a GPS but still managed to get turned around a couple of times. We arrived at 9:40. The guards would not let us enter. We needed to be there by 9:30. (I do recall the day I made the reservation they said we needed to be there by 10:30) but do you think that the guards cared? Not one iota. Did they care that we had travelled so far? You guessed it. No they did not.

We turned around and said that we would probably laugh about it one day.

We could not get word to my sister. She called me at home later that evening and I was able to explain what happened. She said "That is typical for that place."

Sigh. We will try again. It took me about 70 phone calls before I could get through the last time.

D, D and a peony

I should be seeing this type of activity in the next month or so.

That's the peony. Now for the "D's". My co-worker gave me some news yesterday. It starts with a "d" and ends with a "y" and in between is 'isabilit'.

The other "D". I watched 'Doubt'. It was okay. I was interrupted about ten times and kept having to pause the movie. Maybe I should watch it again. It is set in 1964 so the repression of women bothers me a little bit. Streep was good. I thought that halfway through the movie the Father changed unnaturally from an 'I am superior' attitude to one of submission. Maybe that was how it was meant to look, but it didn't seem to fit.

And, of course. I didn't like the ending. It left me flat. I expected more, I guess.

Gonna go round in circles

Our park will be opening at the end of May for rides.

And it is back to work for me today. I have been off since April 2nd. I logged into email yesterday so that I wouldn't have too much stress this morning. I hate surprises. Back to the grind. Up and down. Round and round. Any chance my co-worker has taken a vow of silence? Probably not.

Company

My daughter will be here for Easter, as well as my nephew. I don't think my niece will make it down from Toledo. So, when my sister called I invited her. Her family has mushroomed in the last month. Not only is her son staying with her but his new girlfriend and her two children plus my sister's daughter and her little one (above). Ooookay.

Still cleaning. My daughter's bedroom is back in order and I am trying to focus on the downstairs laundry room area. My back only lets me work in spurts. I rest it as often as I can. I have not watched any movies, but I did download the latest House episode from Monday and watch it. My daughter was busy with friends over that night and it was a bit chaotic around here. This is the episode where one of the main characters committed suicide.

I used utorrent to watch the show and the characters all sounded like they had a serious lisp. Especially House. It was a bit hard to understand what they were saying. My daughter and I run closed caption on our television all the time. Some visitors complain, but we still do it. We are surprised at how much we actually miss them saying when it isn't on.

This was the first time I used utorrent and I don't think I'll be using it again. I didn't care for it.

Through the years

My daughter (little to big) through the years.

It was a morning of heavy and strenuous work. The day bed (with a trundle) was finally leaving. My daughter slept in it when she was little. The futon had never been used. Both were leaving. Good riddance. I started at 8 a.m. My brother was to arrive at 9:00. He didn't get here until 10:00. My back had time to recuperate. The lower back was thumping pretty hard when I finally sat down to rest.

After he hauled them away I was outside in the beautiful sunshine sweeping the leaves and pine needles off the patio. The windows in my house were closed. I heard the most God-awful screaming. I threw the broom down and ran (okay, hobbled) inside. My daughter was crying. She and her on-again/off-again boyfriend were into it big time. I picked up her cell phone. He was inconsolable. I have told her that she cannot keep playing him along like this. One day she calls it quits, the next day he is over here. We had gone round and round.

I felt absolutely horrible but after 10 minutes of trying to reason with him I had to hang up on him. He said that he had no one to talk to. Nobody to turn to. I turned her cell phone off and hid it in the garage. I unplugged the house phones. My daughter demanded her cell phone back. I told her to go and settle down. She slammed her bedroom door and all was peaceful and quiet the rest of the day. She calmed down. I hope he did, too. It was just awful. I remember well what the pain was like. I wanted to tell him it gets easier. But does it?

I told her she was part of the problem. She gets tired of me harping at her. She says "I know, Mom!" Ah, the life. The drama. She is 18, he is 17. I wish that his family had not "home-schooled" him. He is still a freshman academic-wise. I don't think he is learning very many social skills. I think he may be emotionally crippled and immature. I believe in school they learn much more than an education. They learn how to get along in life. How to cope with disappointment. Eventually they see what it is like to have to "put up" with teachers and other things that do not go your way. In school the students have to learn to "Get over it!"

He grew dread locks. He has his ear gauged. He has piercings in his nose, in his lower lip and I don't even want to know where else. All in the past year. This was too much even for my daughter who is very liberal and tries not to judge others by their appearance. She thinks it is unhealthy because I believe he does the piercings himself. I think he tried to pierce his own tongue. They broke up for 9 months last year. I really thought they both had moved on. Oh, well. Big sigh. This too shall pass. Please let it be without incident.

Visitor

This huge dog came to visit on Monday. She belongs to my daughter's on again/off again boyfriend. We were cleaning and she didn't help much. He was a big help. We have moved furniture around in my daughter's bedroom to make room for her new bed. My brother is coming to take away some older furniture tomorrow but until then we have to walk/work/live around it. Ugh. I've stubbed my toe more times than I care to count. Ouch.

My daughter and a bunch of her friends went to a hip/hop dance club Monday night (after midnight so my daughter could get in). I was worried. I am glad I did not look at the site before they went, I would have been a basket case. It looks positively wild. They had a blast. They had one big dude with them (the rest were girls). I shook my head in utter disbelief. I told them to be careful. They were all 18. They went to IHOP afterwards.

They had plenty of stories to tell me the next day (thankfully, nothing bad happened). I am hoping they got this out of their system and will stay closer to home, but I doubt it. By the sound of it they had a great time and there is nothing around here. Nothing.

There are more blankets and sheets to wash. The cats have shed all over stuff in the basement. This is probably as close to spring cleaning as I ever get.

::Movie Spoiler Alert!::

Oh, I almost forgot. I watched 'Burn After Reading'. What? Who? Why? What were they thinking? Who in their right mind would write it? And why would any self-respecting actor be a part of it? I found out that McDormand is married to the writer/director so she has to be involved by proxy, I guess. I have to give Pitt a little bit of credit here for playing a character I'd not ever seen him play before. He played a dolt. He pulled it off okay, I guess. Malkovich was his usual crass self. Jenkins played his usual sad sack. And, I truly believe that Clooney is Middle Eastern. I think his acting is just ridiculous. I don't know. I guess I don't watch them in movies enough to know if they stretched their acting range or not. I was absolutely nauseated by the entire thing. And, half the time I wasn't sure which basement they were breaking into. And who left the CD at the club was a mystery for half of the movie.

I also watched 'Milk'. I could have read about the incident and got just as much out of the story. Which I did read up on it after the movie. I would have liked the movie to have focused a little bit more on the reasoning behind White's motive for shooting Milk and the mayor. Why was White so angry with them? After I read their stories on wikipedia it made more sense to me.

My Generation

Closing in on the 18. She is going with friends to a Hip Hop club. They are going after midnight so she can get in. Then to IHOP. I'm sitting here with my headphones on because the music is cranked and tongues are talking 100 mph all around me. Mountain Dew will do that. The weather is nasty, but no accumulation is expected.

Stella Sierra

One beer called Stella Artois and one called Sierra Nevada. I drank the one called Stella. One. At the bar. At the restaurant I drank a Madras (vodka, orange juice and a splash of cranberry juice). One.

I had the orange roughy. A bit salty but still good.

The bar scene was such a drag for me. It got crowded. How do these people do it? How did I do it twenty/thirty years ago? It was so hot in there. The wind was howling outside and spitting snow. Inside it felt like a sauna. People just stood around, spilled drinks on one another and you had to squeeze yourself between bodies to go to the restroom.

I mixed it up with a table of drinkers next to our table also drinking Stella Artois beer. I kept doing a rendition of "Stella!" from 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. They would laugh and scream the name back to me. What can I say? I was bored out of my skull. Only the folks in the three foot vicinity could hear above the din, so it was harmless fun. And, they seemed pretty drunk. The men were in suits (albeit rumpled and loosened ties), so it looks like they had been drinking since they left work at 5 or so.

I drank ice water for most of the night. I wanted to pour it over my head. I discovered I liked (at least) one song by "The Black Keys". I am trying to find it's name so I can download it. The group is from Akron. Close. I think the song I heard is "Things Ain't Like They Used To Be". Not sure. It sure sounds like another song. I keep waiting for them to sing "Don't bring me down..."

After trying the other songs out on YouTube, I won't be purchasing a whole lot from this group.

Are we having fun yet?

A typical response from a 3-year-old at a mostly adult birthday party.

They play

The new toy I bought a couple of weeks ago is a big hit. The only one not playing is the ostracized "Moose". For whatever reason.

Colorful backgrounds

Oh, these were so fun to make. I had no idea they were so easy. Well, it does get tedious after a while, but I like color. I got this tip from Tech Republic. I hope they don't mind me posting it here.

This tip was provided by Jacky Howe.

1.The first step is to open Paint
2.Click File | New
3.Click Image, and then select Attributes
4.Change the Width to 1, change the Height to 2, and click OK
5.Click View | Zoom | Custom, select 800%, and click OK
6.Click on the color Red, and then click in the top of the new image
7.Click on the color Yellow, and then click in the bottom of the new image
8.Save the file, and set it as your background

Note: You can make the Height 3 and select 3 colors. Just drag the bottom of the new image down to expose the pixels. Have a play, and enjoy your creation!

What always had me stumped (when I looked at backgrounds online) was that they were tiny little dots and squares of pictures. I had no concept that they would stretch out into lovely backgrounds on my desktop. Now I know better. Some of course are far too colorful for desktops because they are too distracting. I just got carried away with the colors.

So much food

Another birthday party tonight. This week-end somebody turned 60. Today someone else in the family turned 65. He retired at 60 or maybe 62, I don't know. So the retirement party is history. We had a crowd. My grand nephew took pictures. I had flash spots in my eyes for most of the evening. It was a miracle I didn't get a headache from all the good food and the bright flashes.

Work has had so much going on and they have had food catered in from one event after another and there is always so much left over. We have all been eating free lunches. A friend from out of town called and wants to do dinner soon. My "sister incarcerate" turned 55 today. I am glad her children went to visit her. I have a visit planned on the 18th of next month. My first time visiting somebody in prison. I think. It should be interesting.

Saturday an extended family member turns 12. Tomorrow another extended family member turns 26. Then April. My daughter turns 18. A brother turns 56, a niece turns 27. Also in March I had a niece turn 34 and a brother turn 67. I didn't make it to their get togethers.

3 in February, seven in March, and three in April. Too much! Family getting very big right along with my waistline.

Sweet!

Sorry this picture is so out of focus. I think my hands were shaking from the anticipated sugar high. Mercy, they were good!

And we did give our bird away Friday evening. I instantly liked the lady that came to get her. I feel that Peru is in a good home and will get much more attention and love.

At the party

We had a surprise 60th birthday party for one of my sister's today. Here is a photo of the two littlest ones in our family posing. This is when they weren't beating each other with balloons. :-)

But what will I call myself, now?

A nice lady called for the bird. She is semi-disabled. She used to have birds, but as time passed they died. She is alone now, her kids have grown. She leaves the house perhaps once a month to get groceries. Sounds too good to be true? Maybe. She said she would call me when she was on her way. That was four hours ago. :-(

This one should go on the doctor funny names list. A doctor that recently treated my daughter (at a stat care facility) has the name of Thang N Dang. Seriously! Google it. Wow! And, I just realized that the insurance is refusing to pay it. Grrrr. I guess I'll be on the telephone tomorrow morning to see what lame-o reason they are going to give me. Oh, I see now. They stated it was a non emergency. She broke out in a rash. The nurse at school said she should have it looked at. I don't take chances - this is what medical insurance is for, right? We'll see. I'll probably bend over and take it up the...aw, never mind. I'm a bit sour these days.

As I was typing, the nice lady called back and said that something came up and re-scheduled to pick up Peru tomorrow evening. I will not cry, I will not cry. She will be much better off.

Stretching those dollars

Bill paying time and I'm stretching the dollars a bit more. I dropped some extravagant channels from our cable today. It was time. I'm still not ready to let go of that telephone land line, yet.

I have oodles of birthdays coming up. Springtime. A time for births and babies I guess. Nine months after the June bride season? I don't know. Most of the birthdays I am celebrating are for people who were not first children and if they were they came a couple of years after the wedding date.

Magazine subscriptions were dropped a couple of years ago. Have you ever tried to stop a magazine subscription? It is no easy task. I didn't renew and they didn't send. They did send me some notifications saying that I was overdue or past due on my payment. What? I ignored them. Two more years and they are still coming - renew, renew, renew.

Staying in for lunch a lot more these days. No movies. :( I am adjusting. I'll get the movie when it comes out at the store.

My daughter posted our bird for sale at the local stores. I hope nobody calls. The bird is the cheapest pet we have. No vet bills. Food is cheap. My daughter wants her to go. Nobody pays any attention to the poor little thing any more. I just worry that somebody will be mean to her. I don't want her in any pain. I hope we can find a good home. My daughter wanted to give her away for free. I advised against it. I was worried we would get some folks who are not serious.

Leaving (Ohio for) Las Vegas

Photo courtesy of my nephew (s) recent trip to Vegas - somewhere on the road.

In other news, talk about some slow US Postal mail. How about this story?

Postcard arrives in Ohio 47 years late
Published - Mar 14 2009 03:14AM EST

A woman's postcard bearing greetings from Montana has finally arrived in northeastern Ohio _ 47 years later.

Insurance agent Dave Conn opened his post office box in the community of Hudson last week and found the mailing sent from Helena, Mont., in 1962.

It was sent to Marion White, the previous renter of the box, who had died in 1988. The writer signed the postcard "Fran" and mentioned having "had a marvelous time in Montana."

After asking around, Conn says he determined the card must have come from White's well-traveled friend Frances Murphey, a longtime reporter at the Akron Beacon Journal. She died in 1998 at age 75.

U.S. Postal Service spokesman Victor Dubina says the postcard may have been stuck in equipment or lost behind a mail chute.

___

Information from: Akron Beacon Journal,
http://www.rr.com/home/home/article/9000/7145310/Postcard_arrives_in_Ohio_47_years_late

Better reception

Some folks didn't make the switch over from air waves to digital. They are using whatever components they have to get a better reception. This little tyke broke a bone in the top of his foot playing in the park the other day. Didn't slow him down one iota.

Yikes!

Grab the nearest book - no matter what it may be.

My book was Without Conscience by Robert D. Hare, PhD.

I have no idea why I have this book. I must email family to see if I borrowed it and never returned it.

Turn to page 25.

Read the 10th word on that page, or the following page if that one would be blank.

Type the word into Google Image Search. My word was "behaviors".

Post the third image.

This is what I got.

A Patch of Blue

Another shot of the state park

Tonight it was A Patch of Blue with Sidney Poitier. The movie was made in 1965 or there abouts. I find it interesting that they used a "555" for a telephone exchange even back then.

I'm not a real doctor, but I play one on TV

Driving out of the lodge park last week

I have a new addiction. It isn't serious. Not yet, anyway. For some odd reason I got hooked on TCMs this past week-end. I watched one titled Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day. It was interesting. I wonder if the writers or actors of House have ever watched the Kildare movies. The grumpy doctor played by Lionel Barrymore is wheelchair bound and has an almost House/Cuddy relationship with his head nurse. Dr. Kildare is the nice one (like Wilson, I suppose). This movie also had Red Skelton in it. His comedy was what I remembered from his TV shows. Almost painful to watch (the luggage in the telephone booth scene).

Though I catch the movies on Turner Classic Movies, I do remember watching Dr. Kildare with the dashing Richard Chamberlain and the Red Skelton show in the 60's. I just thought it was funny that the movie was so similar to the TV show House.

Other movies I caught on TCM were Johnny Eager and The Edge of the World.

The lodge

It is nestled back in the nether regions of a big recreation area. You exit the Interstate and drive for miles. You exit the main road and drive for miles. You exit the park road and drive for a while longer and there it is. On the ride all you see are trees, grass and once in a while a deer or two. And the golf course. Can't forget the golf course.

This is the lodge where I gave my presentation last week. I had about 15 in my audience. There were about 5 who I had never met before. The rest I had worked with at one time or another.

I think sometimes it is easier to give a presentation to strangers.

My daughter's previous boyfriends' parents are splitting up. This could be some of the pain that is causing his younger sister to attempt suicide. He was over last night to talk to my daughter. He is taking the break-up hard. What does she say? "He doesn't remember when he dumped me a year ago and I had nobody!" I sighed. The pain of breaking up I know well. I don't wish it on anybody.

Her cell phone just keeps on buzzing with text messages.

Angst

Maybe summer 2005?

This photo of my daughter was taken at a park back when her hair was long. I am thinking at least four years ago.

Teenage love is never easy. Well, adult love isn't either. My daughter dated one young fellow for four years on and off. They were apart for about nine or 10 months and recently reunited this year.

She had been attempting to cultivate other relationships with other fellows during their break. With many false starts as they both tried to move on, they eventually found themselves back together. When her old boyfriend returned to his old ways of putting her last on his list, she decided perhaps once and for all, she was finished with this kind of treatment and began to move on.

This last week she began spending time with a boy from school. She did make it to his swim meet this morning. When she told me she was going to go, I was a bit nervous about the old boyfriend. How would he react? Would he even care? Would he be upset and do anything irrational? You never know with teenagers. I had an uneasy feeling. I wanted her to go a little slower in the break-up area, but how can you control the speed of teenage life?

She called me this morning from the meet. Her old boyfriend had texted her to say that his younger sister had attempted suicide by drinking an entire bottle of cold medicine and cutting her wrists. It was unnerving. Just too close to a premonition for my comfort.

I am going to try to find out the details later today and try to reach his mom. Although we didn't become close friends, we were acquaintances at work as well as in our private lives.

My daughter was very upset. I told her that this had nothing to do with her and to relax and we would talk about it when she got back into town.

I certainly don't mean to minimize his sister's attempt and I really hope the girl is okay, but at one point during my conversation with my daughter I admit that I wished it was just a desperate ploy for the boy to get my daughter's attention and his sister is in no danger at all. I don't know if that is right to think that way or not. I don't like for anyone to suffer and I don't wish her old boyfriend any pain, either. Mental anguish can be just as dangerous as physical pain.

Help me!

The weather is a bit more bearable here in the valley. Marching into March.

Maybe I'll catch a movie! My daughter has been wanting to see Taken. She is out with a new boyfriend tonight. Let's see how serious she is. She is supposed to go to a swim meet and this means she has to be at his house at 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Good grief! Will she make it? I dunno. They are having wings tonight.

Still here

Close up from September 2008

I'm still here. I just have had my head stuck in work-related stuff.

Elephant Sage

Pittsburgh Zoo August 2008

If wrinkles are a sign of character, then this fella is pretty charismatic. He looks wise beyond his years. Could be a she? Do female elephants have tusks.? That is what the Internet is for. Yes, they do.

Being the resident computer guru in the family, I went to work on a sibling's computer last night. I am a bit dismayed when I fix something, but then the computer runs slower than before I touched it. Some fixes require a re-boot and when I did that, the system moved like cold molasses. I finally found the culprit, but what an ordeal.

It reminds me of a time I went to fix a program in a computer for a school district's Treasurer. He left the office while I worked. I had to insert a CD to run a fix for the program and I couldn't get it to run. I thought I had dome something to the CD drive and I spent some time trying to fix that. When the Treasurer returned he informed me "Oh, the CD drive has been broken for months." Sheesh.

Swingset Chain

At a school play ground a couple of summers ago.

Dry Eyes

Pond scene from fall 2008

My eyes are dry and scratchy. Been doing a lot of computer work and reading. I am currently reading "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. Pretty good read.

Well, it's not a depression for everyone. My nephew just called to tell me that he and another nephew are heading for Vegas next week. One nephew is very interested in the solar convention there. Then a week of fun and adventure for the both of them. Sigh. Someday.

I am still gunning for Hawaii or where one brother wants to go - cruise through the Caribbeans.

For now I am keeping my purse strings tied up tight.

The Bar Scene

Drink glasses hanging over a bar

I went this week-end with a group who chose to eat at "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and then they chose to go sit in a sports bar. It was crowded. Too crowded for me. I drank Pepsi because I was driving. It was snowing something awful. I have to drive 30 miles compared to my friends who drive from 1 to 3 miles to get home.

One sister joins me from time to time. The group of girls I meet with take extras (friends of friends) into the fold and we have a good time. At the core there are six of us. I was the latest to join the group in 1990. The other 5 had been getting together since the early 80's.

None of us have married. I am the only one to have had a child. Each one of us are (or were) very close to our Mom. Every one of us are very close to our nieces and nephews or a sort of surrogate parent to a child of a friend if there are no nieces/nephews. Three of us have steady boyfriends. Three of us have at least one cat. I am the oddball with a child and many pets. They seem to be more citified whereas I am country.

The sister that joined me was very eager to get away from her husband. He is a couch potato and watches nothing but sports on TV kind of guy and they live way out in the boondocks. She hates sports and she just recently connected to the Internet through a wireless company. No cell phone. No cable. Their TV is satellite.

She likes the bar scene. She had a good time. As did the birthday girl. Me? I can't stand the leers from the drunks. Or the ones who bump into you as they sit down or walk past.

I'd rather stay home. I didn't drive to the restaurant as I had left my car at my friend's house. So I went to the bar with them. My sister was having a good time and I didn't want to cut it short.

But that snow. No plows had touched the roads. It took me over an hour to drive the 30 miles back home.

When my sister drinks she keeps talking about "the accident." She was driving in the accident where my Mom died. A dump truck ran a stop sign. She relives this nightmare and I felt so bad for her. Fortunately the next morning she remembered very little.

The food at CiP was good. I was able to talk to friends until the alcohol changed their conversation to the whiny, crying game. Poor poor pitiful me. The one girl had been on a blind date and he had not called her back. She was ogling the bartender. Another one went on and on about her cousin from Florida. The drunk on my right kept bumping his chair into mine.

It is like somebody has taken an evening from my early 20's and reran the video tape. I don't mind getting together at a friend's house or around a camp fire, but I just can't stomach the bar scene anymore.

Our very own - Ice Capades

Photo courtesy of my brother the fireman/EMT.

My daughter is sick with bronchitis. She has been out all week. She normally leaves at 7 a.m., me at 7:30. I saw a dusting of snow on the ground Thursday morning and didn't give it a second thought. I did not check school closings. It just didn't occur to me.

I got in my car and went to turn out into our street. The cars were all moving so slow. I looked at the street and saw that shine. Packed, translucent ice. The road was an ice skating rink.

I crept out and at the first intersection was a cop car and a tow truck. I was going straight, but to the left was a little hill. There were two cars who had ended up in some body's yard.

I slowly drove to the next intersection. Another car in the ditch.

I saw 4 accidents during my 2.5 miles to the office. I was glad to get off the roads.

My brother works in a town 10 miles from me.

He sent me a photo of one of the runs they went on that morning. He said the poor lady was still in the car. They could not get her out until the tow truck arrived and pulled the car out.

What a ride.

The Alarmist

I grew up just down the road from a fire station. During the 70's it had one of those top of the roof sirens that would start out slow and rise to a high-pitched wail. The dogs would howl. If it was warm outside we might come out of our house to look up the road toward the fire station.

Today we were brought out of our offices, out of our seats, out from behind our work stations by the wailer. The siren. The Alarmist as I like to call them.

They start out slow and rise to a high-pitched wail. She was in full force.

She was stomping.

The Alarmist. Setting everybody off and getting every body's knickers in a twist. She gives women a bad name because she gets hysterical and most technology folks end up laughing at her behind her back.

You should hear her speak to her children on the telephone. My heart hurts for them.

My desktop

This was from last year. I change my desktop about once a month. Speaking of once a month, I have come to discover the real reason behind my massive migraine. I still don't plan to drink any more of the vitamin water. I felt so darn good yesterday I spent the day smiling and chatting like a fool. I wanted to cry because I was free of the pain. Sigh. It was a good day.

I chose to study the topic TCP/IP. I know the subject pretty well, but a refresher is always good. Keeps me on my toes. Given the extent of my headache, I certainly didn't want to tackle anything new and very challenging. One of the big areas to study is the OSI model. All People Seem To Need Data Processing. Backwards = Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation and Application layers. First letter mnemonics like Roy G Biv.

Too much of a good thing

I have had problems taking vitamins before. I try to take them with food but I get very, very sick. My daughter does not drink soda pop. (Just "pop" in our neck of the woods.) She wanted Gatorade and the above seen vitamin water during her last flu/cold spell.

I push the "drink plenty of liquids" during illness. She never drinks water. She loves milk. Milk is not good when you are constantly coughing.

So, I filled the fridge with vitamin water. Her favorite was dragonfruit. I liked the acai one. She didn't like this flavor at all, so I volunteered to drink them up.

They are high in sugar, crystalline fructose to be exact. But I figured they were better than pop to drink. I love cranberry juice and it is loaded with sugar, too.

Was it the vitamin C? I cannot drink orange juice or (my favorite) grapefruit juice and cranberry juice without dire consequences. Result is a severe migraine. I didn't take into consideration the amount of "C" in this drink.

Sometimes I think it may be the niacin. Many web sites that you visit claim that niacin or this vitamin or that vitamin will cure a migraine.

What I know is what I have experienced. I steer clear from fruit juice. I love it, but I pay for it. Dearly. I guess I'll have to add the vitamin water to that list, now.

This was not the ordinary migraine that I experienced this week-end. This was a three day monster. I woke again this morning in pain. I have been drinking a vitamin water every day. They taste like watered-down kool-aid. My flavor (acai) is gone. Just in time. I'm done with this stuff. Too much of a good thing? Who knows? It isn't worth it for me to test this theory of whether or not I can tolerate this drink.

Hurts

Lights, sounds and smells. This was a thick coffee mug. It was my favorite coffee mug. You know the one. If all the mugs are clean, this is the one you reach for. I have them put away in order of my favorites. This one I could reach first. My second most favorite mug will now become my favorite, I guess.

I see where I stirred my coffee with a metal spoon. I usually try to stir with plastic. Less noise and obviously no scratchy metal marks on the bottom of the cup. I never noticed them before.

Lights, sounds and smells exacerbate a migraine headache. Cleaning is torture. When I dropped something in the sink just now cleaning, I looked at Sable. "That hurt." I meant the noise. When I looked and saw that I had broken my favorite coffee mug I may have cursed. I don't know.

My daughter is the same way. When I am putting pots and pans and dishes away the noise hurts. If garbage isn't taken out quickly, the smell aggravates me. If kitty litter is let to go too long, I get ill. All housework requires bending over which is a huge pain to one with a migraine. I bend over to put the pots and pans in the bottom of the stove. Clank, bang, slam. It all hurts.

I wrap my head in earphones and a sleep mask and sit in a chair. I don't want to sleep. Too much sleep also adds to migraines. I just want to sit with muted sound and muted light and try to relax. Try to give the medicine time to work. The medicine can take most of the pain (and sick feeling) away, but if you get up to move it comes roaring back. So, no housework gets done. Another lost week-end feeling like crap. You can't read. You can watch television, but mostly I listen to it. Computer time - an hour maybe a day. That's it.

Fun stuff.

Some color on a dreary day

Distorted Christmas lights at my sister's house.

You Turkeys

Look at the camera! My crew on Saturday night. Still waiting for six to show up.

Tribbles and Martians

I finished reading "The Martian Child." I watched the movie a while back. It was really neat to discover that the author wrote a Star Trek episode titled "The Trouble With Tribbles." My Mom's favorite episode. Mine, too. It wasn't just the furry little critters. It was the comedy of the actors and their banter between the Klingons and one another.

I put that book down and immediately picked up "What Was She Thinking?" by Zoe Heller. My daughter wants to read "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. It is on my library hold list. It states that I am number 19. I requested the movie "Grace is Gone" last week and it said I was number 9. I received a notice the next day that it was ready to be picked up. So, I don't think she will need to wait all that long.

Shades of gray

Messing with emboss again.

The ice was a mess for a few days. Everybody was sliding and falling. Holding onto what ever they could find. Concrete was the worst. Solid wet ice covered almost every inch of it.

Family got together last night. 17 of us. Foggy on the way home. We almost hit 3 deer slowly crossing the road. Every year I have at least one close call with them.

Snow dog

Sable is looking for a spot to... well... to...oh, you know. That is my lilac bush behind her to the left and the corner of my neighbor's duplex on the right. I have the sweetest two elderly ladies living in a duplex on one side of my house and a younger couple on the other side. Also, very nice folks.

The snow photos were taken a week ago. On a day off from work because of the snow and the icy road conditions. When I ventured off the porch I wrapped my old camera in a plastic baggie so that the wet falling snow wouldn't get onto it. The pictures didn't come out so well. This one was taken from my back porch with the baggie off of the camera.

My nephew is coming in this week-end for his birthday. He has requested my pineapple/pudding cake. It is his usual request. We are meeting family for a dinner get together tomorrow night. We drive about 40 miles southeast for this establishment. It is a dive, but the food is supposed to be good. We shall see. And, yes that is "dive" not drive.

I've had my head buried in bandwidth issues at work and my head buried in a book at home. My daughter is off doing her own thing (I wish that thing was a job, but hey..). Picked up the plates for her car yesterday. I walked into the BMV and the lady called me right up to the counter. I didn't have to take a number or anything. What luck is that? I see a new set of workers here. Younger crowd, a little softer. They don't get benefits. Maybe that is why they are such sour people. I used to dread the license plate bureau. Even Seinfeld made a show about how rude these folks are. It must be an insane job.

Listening to music at work is kind of neat. When bandwidth is high and I am trying to figure out if this is a normal spike in traffic or if there might be some kind of attack/loop on a network, I have in the background the Eagles with "Take it to the Limit."

If I do find a problem and I fix it I can listen to "Another One Bites the Dust."

Oh, this is fun. I could go on all day with similarities between songs and technology.

And, another one's gone ... and another one's gone. Yeah!

Movie books

I have this fascination with reading the books from some of the movies that I have seen. I hate it when there is no book. All three books above, I have seen the movie. I finished "Skipping Christmas" which you may know it better as "Christmas With the Kranks." Can you believe it is written by John Grisham? I am in the middle of "Sideways" by Rex Pickett. I've seen the movie with Paul Giamatti. Next up will be "The Martian Child". Seen the movie.

I watched "Grace is Gone". I remember seeing the previews and then the movie just disappeared. I didn't see it in my video store. I got it from my library. Very sad story, but no book to read. It must be written as just a screen play. Drat.

I caught most of "Bobby" written by Emilio Estevez.

Just found another one I want to read. "Absolute Power." Loved the movie.

The field is endless, I tell you. And now with libraries set up so that you can virtually get any book because they let you reserve them online from home and they borrow it from a sister library if they don't carry it or it is signed out and e-mail you to come and pick it up at your nearest library. Amazing.

Others:

Seen the movie, might read the book:

A Prayer for Owen Meany ( Simon Birch)
The Terminal Man (The Terminal)
Catch Me If You Can - I actually went to a seminar of Abagnale's in 1979.
Apollo 13
Pay it Forward
Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (sister read it)
The Milagro Beanfield War
Fried Green Tomatoes
Single White Female
White Oleander
What's Love Got To Do With It
Dolores Claiborne
Primal Fear
Jackie Brown
The Horse Whisperer
What Dreams May Come
Laws of Attraction
Runaway Jury
The Snow Walker
Man on Fire
The Notebook
The Constant Gardener
The Illusionist
Atonement
I Am Legend
Jumper

Seen the movie, have read the book:

The Painted Veil
Out of Africa (Letters from Africa)
Brideshead Revisited
The World According to Garp
The Outsiders
The Color Purple
A Cry in the Dark
Postcards From the Edge
Prince of Tides
White Fang
Of Mice and Men
Pelican Brief
The Client
Little Women
Bridges of Madison County
A Time to Kill
Contact
Primary Colors
Crazy in Alabama
A Beautiful Mind
The Mothman Prophecies
Cheaper By the Dozen
Brokeback Mountain
Memoirs of a Geisha
Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio
The Devil Wears Prada
Charlie Wilson's War
21 (Bringing Down the House)

Read the book, might see the movie:

Alive
Angie, I Says
The Rainmaker
Angela's Ashes

Follow up

It is a little unnerving to follow a loved one when they are still pretty new at driving. Not one of my favorite things to do.

My paper decided that they would not renew their contract with the establishment that provided the regular comics, puzzle, cryptoquip and other entertainment stuff. I promptly e-mailed them that I would be cancelling my subscription. I could read all that other fluff (I mean stuff) on line.

They e-mailed me back to say that they have reconsidered and thanked me for my e-mail. My beloved comics, puzzle etc.. will return promptly.

Yeah. (Peruby sticks out her chest). You got that right! You better listen to me.

Okay. Okay. It was a mass mailing e-mail and I was one of hundreds that complained.

Snow stop

The snow finally stopped. We have lots of ice. Shiny, hard and very slippery. This is a photo of one of my city's little side streets. I travel this way a lot.

For the first time in my 48.5 years I almost shunned the Steelers. I admire the way the Cardinals gave a good fight. I was dismayed at the poor conduct by one Steeler player in particular. If you watched the game, you probably know who I am speaking of.

But when it came right down to the nitty gritty I couldn't help but root for my team. It is my family's favored team. We grew up closer to Pittsburgh than Cleveland or Cincinnati. They never cease to amaze me with their ability to pull it off at the very last minute.

My favorite commercial was when the guy threw the snow globe (excuse me, his crystal ball) into the vending machine to get free snacks. (Didn't care for the second half of the commercial).

Sunday morning bismuth

Heartburn city. Was it the rich food I ate at the party? It isn't from drinking. I had a ginger ale. Was it the phone call from my sister who is located here? A swig of the pink stuff and so far so good.

Thankfully I don't have to take it for the other reason. Just heartburn, and more and more frequently as I age. I recall having slight heartburn in the 80's after a bout of pleurisy. I recall having it lightly when I was expecting. Neither of those two incidents compare with what I have had for the past four years or so. Mostly I get the pain when I skip a meal or wait too long between meals. Misery.

When I was a teen, I recall my Mom and sister giving me a magnesium/aluminum product and bismuth for (what was then undiagnosed as migraine) for when I was sick. The medicine had an averse affect on my illness and left me feeling much worse. I vowed never to taste the pink stuff again. Until this heartburn hit me. Now, the pink stuff is my best friend.

Reading more on heartburn, I came across this symptom to watch for:

Inhalation of stomach contents while sleeping.

What the hell does that mean? It certainly does not sound good. The sentence itself almost sent me back to the bismuth. Gross. I imagine they mean when the stomach acid backs up into your esophagus. Not fun.

I was planning on making nacho dip for the game this evening. My daughter loves the stuff. It is a sausage/hamburger mix with a melted processed cheese product and green Chile peppers with diced tomatoes. Very good but very rich.

It is supposed to get above 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) today. What a mess this is going to be. It will melt a bunch of piled up snow and then freeze again overnight. The roads are still bumpy from the ice. Very much a washboard effect as you drive over them. What will the morning bring for the school buses?