Category Archives: Misc
Look what we found…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Since the MIL is never going to go back home from the nursing home, we have to clean out the house. While cleaning some things out of the MIL’s house today G and I came across these items. There are two of those lamps. I tried to find out what the items were worth online but had no luck at all. I guess this means a trip to an antique shop now and hope the owner is honest.
I plan to keep one of the beaded bags. I have no use for three of them since I seldom have a need to dress up.
One thing we found in abundance everywhere we looked was pennies. The in-laws were penny hoarders of the first rank. OMG I never saw so many. They are going to love me at the sorting machine, LOL!
The MIL was a QVC jewelry nut. I have no idea what I’m going to do with all the rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. I do know that I will get some use out of the several fancy watches she had that she never wore once. They still had the protective plastic on the faces and backs and holding the stem out.
We only cleared one dresser, two closet bottoms, two freezers, and two refrigerators today and we were both beat when we left.
Tags: antiques, Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Vintage, Writer, Writing
What makes me smile?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
To hear DH laugh or see him smile brings one to my face and heart. Gavin and Patty playing or squabbling will make me grin. There’s talking to my Aunties and cousins, always a way to put a smile on my face.
Writing makes me smile. Reading a well-turned phrase makes me smile, and then causes me to gnash my teeth, jealous I didn’t write it. Hearing Lenny deliver a great line in Law and Order reruns—Geez, I miss that man’s talented deadpan delivery, may he rest in peace.
More things that make me smile are having a dear friend drop by to visit over coffee. All the fabulous friends I’ve made online.
My yearly writer’s conference—great friends, good food, good wine, a little bit of me time, and wonderful conversations.
Halloween.
Comments on my posts.
What makes you smile?
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Writer, Writing
And so begins another year
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I heated a tiny personal pan pizza, opened a small bottle of champagne, and toasted in the New Year alone. This was a first. DH usually celebrates with me.
However, DH had had a rough day, he was in bed and sound asleep by ten. We had a meeting at the nursing home about his mother’s care in the afternoon. After finding out the nursing home had his mother on a full code, we talked to them about putting a DNR on her. This was not an easy decision. We’re both certain that she wouldn’t want to have special measures taken to revive her at this point. We’d discussed this amongst ourselves for years. It’s a quality of life thing. She’s barely there mentally now. She knew all too well how important quality of life is and she, loving her independence as she did, would be rather pissed if any other decision were made and her life prolonged at this stage.
Yesterday was the third anniversary of my mother’s death. It was not a happy day in this house. The day kept reminding me that all of my immediate family is gone. I do thank my lucky stars that I have aunts and cousins that love me and keep in touch.
Posted in In memory of..., Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, New Year, Novel writing, Nursing home, Old age, Writer, Writing
I hope you dance
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Too often, as we grow older we forget the joys and dreams of our youth. I feel it’s time for me to recapture those feelings. Anyone else want to join me?
I’ve taken to dancing with the pups every afternoon. Gavin and Patty love it. It’s undivided attention from Mom. I put on some favorite music and grab some dog cookies and we dance. We dance for the fun of it. We dance for the joy of it. We dance because it makes DH smile. We dance because we can.
It’s not fancy dancing as you see on some of those dancing dog and people videos. It is plain Jane foot tapping silly dancing. Mostly we leap about and act like idiots but it is fun for all of us. It is certainly a lot more fun than going out in the cold.
As for dreams, well I’m still working on my books. I won’t give up them. I only need to have more hours in the days so I can finish them.
Remember to keep the joys and dreams alive. Maybe you too will dance.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Glad I wasn’t the only loony outside in the cold
Posted by doggonedmysteries
At two forty one a.m. dressed in a heavy coat, scarf, hat, gloves, and winter boots, I stood outside to watch the lunar eclipse. For a while, I thought I was the only idiot outside in the freezing cold and windswept neighborhood. I stood in my driveway sheltered from most of the wind thinking that all my neighbors had more sense than I did. However, I wasn’t going to miss this. The sky was perfectly clear.
While going inside for another cup of coffee I heard a voice. My next-door neighbor’s son had a camera aimed out their front door focused on the astral show. After I refilled my coffee cup, he joined me outside. It was nice to have company with which to share the event.
We talked and watched the sky. He saw a meteorite streak by to the south but I missed because it my eyes were focused on the moon in the west. His mother came home from her night job and joined us but only for a little while. It was too cold for her.
Posted in Misc, Weather related
Tags: Astronomy, Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, Lunar eclipse, Moon, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Winter solstice, Writer, Writing
Comfort foods and a comfortable marriage, what more can one want?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We like breakfast for dinner. I often make sausage and French toast or pancakes for dinner. Sometimes it’s fried eggs, or scrambled eggs, or omelets each served with a side of bacon or sausage. Maybe if we’re hungry for it I’ll even make SOS that I serve over fresh biscuits instead of toast. I make a mean SOS.
When we were younger, we went to local diners in the wee hours of the morning and enjoyed an early breakfast. We don’t do that often now. In fact, it’s years since we have.
For one thing, DH is seldom awake during the wee hours and for another, eating out gets expensive.
With his MS turning walking into a major feat, DH does prefer to stay home most of the time. In the summer, it’s too hot to anywhere and in the winter too cold. I don’t mind.
It is funny how things work out for us. After all those years of him working different shifts with the police department, we’re still on different schedules even with him retired on disability. He’s up early in the morning and off to bed early. I’m up late and off to bed about the time he’s getting up. Maybe that’s why our marriage works so well. We aren’t connected at the hip and we’re very comfortable with each other.
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Food, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Getting used to my Kindle
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I find my Kindle 3G easy to hold. It only weighs .2 ounces more than the cheaper Kindle and is as thin as a pencil. With the connectivity of the 3G and Wi-Fi, books download in mere seconds—amazing. So far, I’m sticking to free books because our budget is a tad tight now. I’ve downloaded six free books, read one, and am halfway through a second one. This is with taking breaks to play the free word game I downloaded, cook dinner, play with the dogs, write, and do laundry today.
I love that I can easily adjust the print size. I find a bit larger print keeps my eyes from tiring.
Gavin is not amused with it because I am reading and not paying constant attention to him. The dog thinks I have nothing better to do than cuddle and pet him. At least he hasn’t tried to snag the Kindle from my hand as he has books on occasion.
DH loves it because I don’t have to turn the light between our chairs on high to read. It is easy to read in low light.
Posted in Misc, Writer, Writing
Tags: Amazon Kindle, Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Nursing homes plunder and pillage and the Government lets them
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The nursing home wants DH to sign his mother’s assets over to them today even though her insurance hasn’t run out yet. Yes, now they’ll be able to loot her checking and savings accounts with impunity. Once they’ve cleaned out every dime, they’ll appropriate the house. Meanwhile, we still have to pay her bills.
The Government doesn’t give a damn. The fleecing of the elderly and their families happens daily. Senators and congressional representatives have their own insurance and they don’t pay into Medicare. When it comes to medical or nursing home care, their families have no worries. The Government pays for it.
Unfortunately, we baby boomers are aging and most of our parents are either dead or elderly. Short of hitting the lottery, I see no help for any of us who are in the middle class. We will have nothing to pass on. We will lose our homes, savings, and worst of all we’ll lose our dignity.
Our Government is telling us to spend, spend, and spend some more to stimulate the economy. Well, they certainly do spend and the problem is what they spend it on isn’t it? Please take care of things at home and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
The Marie Antoinette ‘let them eat cake’ attitude is alive and well down there in DC. How many of them have to worry about the cost of necessary medications and then walk out of the pharmacy without them so they have enough money for food?
They should walk in our shoes for a while and then let’s see how many tell us to go spend money that we don’t have.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Home, Life, Love, Medicare, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Nursing home, Old age, Writer, Writing
We don’t live in a fantasy world
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Have you ever seen some small thing that you coveted? I did last night. The local meteorologist had a jacket on that I immediately fell in love with. As my five regular readers know, I am not a fashionista, but this jacket really caught my eye. It’s perfect for dressy and casual wear. I was ready to kill to know where she got it. Yes, I wanted the jacket that bad.
Then, as I searched the web for one like it, I began to rationalize. With my luck, the jacket would look like crap on me and I’d have to return it. Therefore, I say that it’s better to dream than to have reality slap you in the face over something so trivial.
Is it no wonder that fantasy games are so popular? They suspend reality and that’s something we all need occasionally.
Yes, I said occasionally. If you spend more than an hour or two a day playing games, you need a dose of reality. You do have to put those things down, suck it up, and step out into the real world more often.
Did I ever find the jacket? Nope, but that’s okay I really don’t need it.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
The death of a theater?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I finally had a chance to see the new Harry Potter movie. The time went quickly G and I quite enjoyed it and can’t wait for the final one.
Our favorite theater will likely close one of these days. We practically had the place to ourselves. We were two of six people at the show. The attendance is bad enough that they canceled the early matinee, which we had arrived to see, and we had to go kill some time before the next show.
That also meant we didn’t get home until after seven tonight so DH had a late dinner. However, he did feed the dogs so Gavin got a meal before his seven p.m. no-food-after instructions for his tooth extraction kicked in. The poor boy will shrivel up and die without his breakfast in the morning. I wouldn’t want to be the techs at the vet’s when he wakes up hungry. He will let them know all about it.
Posted in Dog related, Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Recaps and updates
Posted by doggonedmysteries
DH’s mother isn’t doing well. Most days she doesn’t recognize him. The stress has caused some problems with his MS. The other day when he woke he had trouble getting out of bed and walking. The same thing happened today.
DH has new neurologist and she’s sending him to a rehab center for aqua-therapy. I think he might benefit greatly from it.
Since I’m writing this at two a.m. Gavin hasn’t been to the vet yet. He goes at three in the afternoon. I’ll probably post about his visit there tomorrow.
All that heavy rain and strong winds not only caused me problems with my server but our roof leak came back. It only leaks when it rains and the winds are over 25 mph. The wind hit gusts of over 45 mph. The leak was very small this time, thank goodness. Our roofer has tried to stop the leak for years. His offices are two doors down from us and since he did the main repair work years ago, he’s been trying to stop the leak free of charge for years.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, MS related, Weather related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Dang it!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Last night we had wind and rain like you wouldn’t believe. I was ticked off but not because of the weather. My server wouldn’t recognize me.
I was online and then suddenly was not. When I tried to get back on–for HOURS, I couldn’t.
I had a blog post to do and E-mails to send…grrr.
I went through all the steps given to get back in their ‘good graces’ to no avail. I even called their toll free help line where I was told all the techs were busy call back tomorrow. Double grr! Around four this morning I gave up in frustration. Thanks for nothing, AOL.
Wouldn’t you know it, when I got up today and tried to get online the danged thing worked.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
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