Blog Archives

Short post today.

     Well, I did it.  Cracked a molar.  I’m so glad I finally got in to see my dentist who just got back from vacation.  He’s sending me to an oral surgeon to have it extracted.  However, all his fooling around that tooth to see what was going on, has me in some pain so I’ll be heading out early.

     You all have a good one!

Spoiled dogs love the AC

     As I figured, we still have fireworks going off around here.  I wish they’d either blow off a hand or blow up all they have left all at once.  I am tired of hearing them.  It’d be so darned nice to be able to sit outside at night and enjoy some peace and quiet…If only.  I know that at least three neighborhood dogs are traumatized from all the noise.  My goodness you fireworks idiots, I hope that makes you proud of yourselves.

     We’ve had nine mighty hot days in a row and expect the worst of the heat to hit us this weekend.  I am not looking forward to triple digit temperatures. 

     Our pups are spoiled rotten.  They love the air conditioning!  I take them outside and they rush to get done so they can go back into their nice, cool house.  Like I said, spoiled rotten.  However, if we didn’t have AC, The Curmudgeon would most likely be in a hospital by now.  It is far too hot for him.

      You all have a good one and stay cool!

Too much heat is no good for MS patients

     I wish I could say that The Curmudgeon was doing fine, but I can’t.   He had another very bad day yesterday.  It is a good thing that I stayed home instead of going to upper state Western NY to Aunt Janet’s funeral.  I don’t think he would’ve survived yesterday had I not been here.  

       When I cam downstairs, I found Patty shut in the kitchen and there was no sign of The Curmudgeon or Gavin.  I figured they were outside so I went to look.  So glad I did.  The Curmudgeon was on the floor of the porch in the excessive heat.  Gavin was guarding him but the poor dog could do nothing to help him.

      I managed to help The Curmudgeon slide into the kitchen on his back where he could cool down.  However, I could not get him up off the floor.  I made him as comfortable as possible and went looking for help.  Sunday morning and no one was home. 

     I finally found one neighbor at home and he came over.  He managed to get The Curmudgeon into a kitchen chair and then into my desk chair where he could wheel him to the living room and to his chair.  This is where he spent the rest of the day and most of the evening.  He finally was able to move well enough to climb the stairs and go to bed around eleven last night.

      I’ve told him that he shouldn’t do anything in the mornings with this heat until AFTER he puts on his ice vest.  Had he put it on yesterday I know he wouldn’t have fallen down and not been able to get up.

More eye candy for my Aunt Janet

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

For Aunt Janet who fed my love of gardening

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sad today.

This beautiful, wonderful woman my sweet aunt who is like a second mother to me is in hospice care.

  It’s breaking my heart that the world will soon be short one more truly good person.

Aunt Janet, I love you always.

Break is over

     I probably should’ve taken a longer break but I promised I’d be back today and so I am. 

     My dear, dear friend Elena is in the hospital and they put a pacemaker in yesterday.  Please keep her in your thoughts for the next few days.  I understand they will release her on Wednesday.  I have a candle burning for her.

     I am feeling a slow release of anxieties.   It will take a little while, but that huge weight of stress that sat on my shoulders for so long is already beginning to lighten.  I know that once I get all the bills caught up and we send off the final few checks on the MIL’s bills, I will feel much lighter.

     It’s a one step at a time process.

     You all have a good one!

SOLD!!!

    No longer will we have double bills for two houses.  We sold the MIL’s house and settlement was yesterday!!!!  We are FREE from the albatross that was her house.

HAPPY DANCE!!!!

Indulging myself for change…felt nice.

     Some days you just have to do for yourself.   Yesterday was one of those days for me.  After my walk with Annie I stopped in at a friend’s shop and since we had the place to ourselves for a great deal of the time we spent it getting caught up on each others news.  It’s been a while since I stopped in there.

     I was a bit relieved to find The Curmudgeon up for a nap and the dogs sound asleep when I got home.  I spent the time, until The Curmudgeon woke up, reading.  It felt good to have some time for myself for a change.

     No one suffered, The Curmudgeon and the pups had their dinners on time.

Twenty rules I try to live by…

1. Life isn’t fair, grow up and deal with it.
2. Tell your loved ones you love them as often as you can, you might not get a chance to say it tomorrow.
3. Life is too short – don’t waste time whining over small stuff.  Live.
4. Be you, don’t try to be someone you aren’t.
5. You are in charge of your happiness.
6. Forgive but never forget what you learned.
7. Dance in the rain.
8. It’s OK to cry.
9. Burn the fancy, expensive candles, use the 1500 ct sheets, wear the luxury lingerie. Don’t save things for a special occasion, enjoy them now.
10. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to do the crazy things you’d like to do.
11. In a so-called crisis always ask yourself, “In five years, will this matter?”
12. Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses, who cares what others think?
13. Only spend what you can, not what the credit company says you can.
14. Clutter weighs you down. If you haven’t used it in a year and it isn’t something you use only for a holiday, get rid of it.
15. What doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
16. Kiss your dogs and cats on the lips, and hug them every day. 
17. Fly a kite once in a while.
18. Eat chocolate and drink wine without guilt.
19. Laugh and sing for the sheer joy of it. 
20. When in doubt, ask… there is no such thing as a dumb question.

Precious memories

     Father’s day is just around the corner.

      This is my father.  He hasn’t been here for a long time.  He died in November of 1995, but he was gone for quite a few years before then.  Dad had several strokes, one finally damaged his brain enough to put him in a nursing home. He was to spend quite a few years locked in the prison of his damaged mind.

     When I was a little girl he used to take me with him to run errands.  He would tease me and say I was his favorite.  I never thought I was, but considered it sweet of him to say so.  I’m sure when he had any of the other four sisters out on excursions he would tell them the same thing.

     For as long as I can remember an oil portrait of him as a young minister preaching a sermon hung in our home.  That painting a few other items made any new house we moved to our home.  He, on many an occasion caught me staring at his portrait, it was on more than one occasion that he told me one day the painting would be mine. 

     Dad is long gone and so is my mother.  The dear to my heart painting is lost to me too.  However, he lives on in my heart,  and forever he will have residence there.  There’s nothing in the world that can take my precious memories of him away. 

     If your father is still around, if he was a good man, hug him and tell him how much you love him.  You won’t regret it.

     You all have a good one!

Extra coffee…bonus!!!

     It’s amazing what one can find lurking in the back of the kitchen cabinets.  Every so often I’ll grab a flashlight, sit on the floor, and pull things out of my lower cabinets.  I am often surprised.  Last night I decided to do a cupboard purge.  On the top shelf, I found a whole can of coffee, a can stuffed full of bags of assorted gourmet coffees, and a box of sweetener all of which had managed to travel to the back of the cupboard.  All of which, I had completely forgotten about.

     I found an unopened bag of coconut, powdered sugar, and a box of black tea bags in the back on the shelf below.   I need to hit the other pantry shelves later today.  I wonder what I’ll find there?

     Why am I doing this purge?  I found a can of tomato sauce in the one cupboard that had a use by date on it of 2009 the other night.  Highly unusual in this house.  I tend to rotate foodstuffs often but somehow missed that can.

     After cleaning out the hoarded mess that was the MIL’s house for over a year, I swore my house will never come anywhere close to that.  Yet, there it was, staring me in the face, a can of tomato sauce years past its expiration date.  Yikes! 

     You all have a good one and check those dates!