Iris Blue

J-O-B

2010-04-27T14:20:00.000-05:00

Right now....wondering if I'm going to have a job in a media center. Job cuts county-wide.Teacher lay offs. Media specialist's being offered 50% positions. Who could live on 50% pay? I really don't want to go back into the classroom, but I DO have seniority and the degree.

Response to Pizza

2010-01-05T17:18:00.002-05:00

You recently posted your New Year's Resolutions.
I agree will all of them, but I would be a failure because
I know I wouldn't keep them very long. I am a weak soul.

It's so sad.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

2009-06-19T16:08:00.001-05:00

It's time to dust off the blog in preparation of posting our vacation picts.
It serves as a diary and safekeeping of memories.

Staff Cuts

2009-04-27T14:54:00.003-05:00

With the economy so bad schools is Florida have had to slash budgets.
Our schools have had to pare budgets by as much as 6% and cut positions.
Found out today the 3 teachers are surplussed and all para except 3 are being cut. There are going to be a lot of changes in order to run a school now. A lot more people are going to have to step up and do more.

Losing

2008-10-22T22:12:00.002-05:00

In less than a month I'm losing Betsy. She is invaluable and she's moving to Georgia. She hasn't told administration yet because she hadn't gotten her first paycheck till last week. I run through the possible replacements at the school and there aren't many I would want. I'm afraid the the person I might get is just awful. Not a good fit.
It's depressing.

June 19th-Home Again...Jiggity Jog

2008-06-21T20:54:00.005-05:00

Drove from Macon, Ga to home. Gas prices range from $4.19 to $3.86.
We picked up Dixie from the Vet and came on home. There was a huge shovel poking out from behind our canal hedge! Oh My!

It is huge and they are dredging the canal.

Two guys work it. One to scoop and dump the sand/sludge on the banks. The other guy sits on a chair and when the barge needs to be moved, the bucket lifts up the big anchor poles high enough that the chair guys puts a pin through it.

Then the operator uses the bucket to pull the barge along, then reset the anchor poles and start scooping in another patch.

Everyone's sprinkler stuff in the canal is broken. We saved the end filter thing. The canal water is really muddy.

June 18th-Up and Over

2008-06-21T20:18:00.006-05:00

We decided to go over the Mountain to Cherokee through the park. We hadn't done this for years. They are paving the road to Gatlinburg and so the left lane was blocked. It took 45 min just to get from Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg. Finally started up the park. Speed maybe 35 mph because of the grade and turns. I was happy to go slow, but Blaine doesn't like to follow anyone.

Motor cycles everywhere. There must have been a rally or conference somewhere. I guess we must have seen over 200 and they travel in swarms of at least 6. We went past Clingman's Dome. In past years we might have climbed to the top, but with my bum knee, no.

Beautiful views.

Beautiful wildflowers.

Once over to Cherokee we set to go to Blairsville, Ga where my clerk has built a house. Several of our Winston Park people have bought land/build there. Teachers and police retire there.

She lives on Mountain Top road and it reminded me of the road last year to the cabin S&R rented. Narrow and up. We never did find the house and Blaine was afraid to travel on the road. We plugged in how to get to I-75 at Atlanta. We went from a 2-lane 35 mph road to a 12 lane 70mph road.

We discovered that we are not mountain people, but hill folks. Can't imagine why/how anyone could drive on those roads and if there were the slightest bit of ice, we would slide off.

June 17th, Tuesday

2008-06-17T21:24:00.003-05:00

We came to Gatlinburg today. Weather is beautiful and not that busy. The 'season' doesn't start till the 4th of July.

Christmas Place is wonderful for all of the ideas and colors. Since we have a room at the Hampton, I can wander to my hearts content as Blaine has a place to rest and I can walk home.

This evening we went in to Gatlinburg. This year they have street musicians. Old Timey bands, cloggers, dulcimer players. It's a nice addition. It was a test of my walking. Up/down and uneven surfaces. Nothing tempting me to buy...except the taffy, the fudge, and the funnel cakes. I got past them all.

My pictures won't load with the motel computer connection. :-(
I was able to upload some photos to Flickr.

June 16th Monday

2008-06-16T19:32:00.005-05:00

Travel day. Did the laundry and then left town. The goal was Gatlinberg, but I had such a headache that we stopped in Berea, Ky. It was another 2 hours to go otherwise.

I wish someone would post pictures of their painting or their new house or at least TALK about it.

June 14-15

2008-06-15T18:53:00.005-05:00

Arrived Saturday afternoon. We went out and visited Mom. They had just put her to bed so she was alert, but it was bedtime. We then went to visit Dad. he was in bed too, but his eyes were closed and not communicative so we left. Went and visited with Aunt Lillian. She told stories about her brother Ernest who seemed to be quite the rounder.

Sunday AM we popped out to see Mom again. She was dressed nicely and parked in the dining room for the church service being held by a man with a huge beard who quoted scripture about sparing the rod and spoiling the child. Kinda past their rod-wielding days. Spouted on with how the father needed to choose their children's friends and who they dated because it was the men who would be the leaders. ARGH!!

Next we went back out to visit Dad. He was dressed and in the formerly know as the game room. It was time to eat. He was looking at the newspaper and had a Popular Science Magazine.

He doesn't sit at the tables with the others, but has a single table tray they scoot over for him. He's a loner.

One of the men was singing 'Ain't going to rain no more' and the little lady next to him said even she knew that song. She wasn't THAT old. She was in her 80's. She was shamelessly flirting.

The meal came, ham, green beans w/ onions, mashed potatoes and gravy, coffee, milk, iced tea, and ice cream. The ham and beans were pureed. He tried one taste of the ham, drank his milk, then ate the ice cream. End of the meal. Everyone knows he has a sweet tooth.

This afternoon Steve and Thi-Thi came for a visit. We went out to see Dad again. He was in bed again and Very grumpy. He would not be sociable and yelled at Thi-Thi to go away. We left to go see Mom again. She was up in the front hallway watching. We talked at/to her and left to drive with S&T to go by the Riverside house and the Lake Clare home (It's a real dump. Just awful)

We're in a sever storm watch on a Sunday evening with not much to do but watch Tiger struggle with his bum knee. I know the feeling.

Friday the 13th

2008-06-14T07:01:00.007-05:00

We decided to head to the Grand Ole Opry and see if we could see a show this year since last year didn't work.

Parking was easy. You park at the Opry Mills, a shopping mall. We got our tickets and enjoyed the outside entertainments. Celebrity look-a-likes, live music, the souvenir store. I didn't get anything. Resisted getting Carrie Underwood's CD.

The seating was unusual in that it was like a padded church pew bench style. Everyone could fit. Very casual.

The 2 hour program was broken into 4 half-hour segments and was live on 640 WSH am radio and for satellite radio and probably recorded for TV with commercials for that segment's sponsors.

The MC's were the really older stars. Jeannie Seely, Little Jimmy Dickens (who must have been 4 foot tall and was 87 years old) Jean Shepard, and the Riders in the Sky who were hilarious.

Everyone one was friendly and seemed genuine.
Songs were tuneful and not a rude or suggestive tone anywhere.

I got my picture take with 'Minnie Pearl' and saw 'Hank Williams' and
someone in a fancy cactus decorated suit that someone who knows country would probably know who it was supposed to be. I had to ask about Hank Williams I'm so not country. We loved the whole experience.

Now. On to Huntington.

Vacation Sat thru Thurs

2008-06-12T18:40:00.006-05:00

Arrived in BH.
Mac's Recital with Leader of the Pack and Thank Heaven for Little Girls.
Rah-Rah Camp- Hey little cutie in your blue and gold suitie!

Many deaths in WOW.
CJ went over to the Dark Side.
Blaine's round trip 10 hour drive back to CS to check on camper. Gas
water heater was left on.
Walk through the house

S & R's Signing of the 100 papers then the happy dance at Briton.

'Shot' in the knee went well.
Cleaned outside fridge/cupboards and Kids swim in DEEP pool.

Took down the dreadful curtains so R could make a dress like Scarlett did
in Gone with the Wind.

Arrival of Tonya and another trip to Britain.
Helped Steve chainsaw tree limbs.
Still...what colors?
Laundry.
Cut off from WOW...withdrawal. Crystal is dead right now.
Left Thurs AM for the North.
Stuck in a 30 accident back up. Appears to be just a motorcycle.
Blaine in the doghouse because all of my cute little water bottles for the trip were consumed in BH! :-(
Ended up in Macon Hampton/Cracker Barrel.
Nirvana!
A Shopping area surpassing The Loop a half mile from the motel.

WOW

2008-06-05T18:58:00.005-05:00

Here are our WOW characters. I haven't gotten to play
CrystalBlue for awhile.

CrystalBlue

This is Penguin's Pizzacake.
He has a 'ride' now, so
we need more picts.

Here is the grandest of all...Swuteimsayin. He
is an awesome Mage. He also has a steed.
We need updated photos there too.

Missing are Ludicris Speed, Kreecher, and Pony Princess.

Coming Soon

2008-05-15T22:27:00.001-05:00

Talk at school...across from the new WalMart on Hillsboro near State Road 7/441 will be a..KOHL'S!!!!

Woo Hoo.

What Happened Here?

2008-05-03T07:10:00.004-05:00

The cable company has been installing. We used to have a post with a box attached near the fence. They are upgrading and replaced the post with a concrete pad and a huge unit that it big as an air-conditioner.

This week when I came home there were spray-painted lines on the ground indicating where the electric, phone, and cable lines were. We plowed through the bushes and looked what they had been doing this time. Interestingly we found a pair of brown-streaked men's underwear?!? How? How can someone remove the underwear without being stark naked! Someone was walking around 'commando' with questionable cleanliness issues. YUCK!!

What an Opportunity!!

2008-05-03T06:49:00.005-05:00

I received an email and a mailing from BTU ( the teacher's union) saying I meet the eligibility requirements to take advantage of the Retirement Assistance Program or RAP.

The program offers employees who retire under its provision Board-paid health insurance
until they reach eligibility for Medicare coverage at age 65. They would also receive $10,000
term life insurance for the same period. These benefits are currently valued at several
thousand dollars a year and will increase in value as premiums rise.

In addition, a $10,000 increase over your normal salary of 2008-09 provides an immediate economic benefit as well as an opportunity to boost the average salary that
determines all your future retirement benefits. These are one-time advantages for deciding now to retire at the end of the 2008-09 school year only.

Oh WOW! Now that I'm finally at the top of the pay-schedule they want me to quit with an irrevocable deal with ONE year of an extra $10,000 and medical insurance. The insurance is only on me by the way. Hubby would have to find something else.

I wonder how many others who are eligible will be gullible enough to take them up on this. Implementation is assured when a target of 150 participants is reached.

I hope you are as excited about participating in this special program as BTU is to offer it
to career teachers under these difficult financial circumstances.

Big WHOOP.

What an Opportunity!!

2008-05-03T06:49:00.000-05:00

New Product

2008-04-01T09:06:00.005-05:00

There's a new "brain drink" product touted to improve your surfing skills
by reading your DNA as you drink and formulating your search results to
maximize your personal cognitive characteristics. It was discovered in the
Bolivian rain forest and it speeds up the molecular process of the
neurotransmitters in your brain!

The product is called 'Google Gulp'

Hooked

2008-03-23T22:10:00.002-05:00

I'm totally hooked on Zuma. I am personally saving Luxor by shooting marbles and killing all the other marbles. I could spend all day with XBox 360. I didn't even use the Guitar Hero I was so into Uno, Hexic, and Zuma. Oh, Mark. You've created a monster.

Memories

2008-03-22T17:11:00.002-05:00

I found a bag of VSH tapes that Dad had taped and tonight we watched a couple.
Oh My! One was of a gathering of my Bingham cousins. I haven't seen Danny for many many years and wouldn't have recognized him. Gordon and Bernard look like old farmers with white grizzly beards. Gordon's boys are HUGE.

The other tape we enjoyed was 1989 Christmas. Mom & Dad came to our house and there we were on Christmas morning. Mark got really upset because Blaine ate the head off of his best Santa cookie.

Fluffy headed Scott has his 14th birthday. His voice is mid-change and we could compare it with his 15th birthday too.

It's just great to see Mom and Dad spry and lucid. They both joke and interact.
Priceless.

I've Been Simpsonized

2008-02-25T22:34:00.002-05:00

This website is where you can Simpsonize yourself.

Dixie Update

2008-02-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

It even looks like she's snoring!

I'm afraid Dixie must be relation to Ashley. I see tendencies that are not attractive.
-She seems huge. Gypsy was always slim and svelte and would sit with her two front feet daintily together with one foot ahead of the other. Not Dixie. She has a wide sit stance (like Fat Ashley)

-Gypsy would sleep in a round curled shape. Not Dixie. She sprawls on her back with not a care in the world. I guess she feels safe.

-Dixie is very active and seeks us out to play with her and brings her toys to us. She can leap3 feet off the ground in play and will 'whine' talk to tell us we need to play with her.

FETC

2008-01-27T18:41:00.000-05:00

The tech conferences are always fun and besides talking to vendors and learning about new technologies is collecting conference swag.

Most of my swag this year is a collection of pens and t-shirts. Each vendor wanted participants to wear their shirt with the enticement that you might be chosen by a secret shopper to win a set of clickers, ipod, smart board, Promethian board, etc IF you wore only their shirt.

I have about 13 different shirts. The TI shirt is really cool, but I had to sit through a high school math presentation to get one. Oh, the joys of changing just one exponent and seeing where it might be replotted on a graph!

Penguin had just taken one, but I was toooooo slow and had to suffer.

Finished Furniture

2008-01-27T18:30:00.001-05:00

I went to Orlando for the FETC conference and it was a good time to check out that area's furniture stores. We went to Orlando's new IKEA. What a change from So Fla's. Parked right up front and there were PLENTY of parking spots. The store was not crowded and we went right through.

Next day we trudged through 7 different stores. The same problem of really dark finishes. I took pictures of any that might be acceptable. After awhile they all look alike.

Rooms To Go outlet had a nice unit, but no base. It would be very hard to match the finish color with something else. Blaine had missed the party atmosphere and drove up. We decided on a Broyhill unit we both like and sometime in the middle of February we will update from the 'Blaine Built' unite crafted from leftover lumber from construction sites of 30 years ago to a real piece of furniture.

Now this is going to make something else look bad.

Furniture

2008-01-21T20:31:00.000-05:00

OK it's been years since we've shopped for furniture other than the 2 La-Z-Boy chairs several years ago, but we were totally unprepared for the current style of furniture available now.

Huge heavy furniture. People must have massive sized rooms as the furniture has massive tree-trunk sized legs and so much ornamentation that it would take a castle atmosphere to handle it.

In addition to being huge, it's dark. So dark it seems to suck the light out of a room. I find it depressing in oppressive. Where are the light woods and airy, spacious feeling? I don't mean that furniture should look and feel spindly, but it could be sturdy and uplifting.

Another annoyance. If the furniture is 'modern' it means it must be only 2 feet from the floor uncomfortable. I don't think people live with their furniture, but just use it for display only.

Entertainment centers available are only for their 'furniture' appeal. It's to display artifacts and match the other ornate pieces in a room. They are not to have DVD players, sound systems, etc cluttering up the view.

IKEA Madness

2008-01-21T20:26:00.000-05:00

Today on MLK holiday, we went out looking for entertainment centers. The IKEA store was new before Thanksgiving, so we thought we'd browse for shelving.

Still the craziness continues. Rent-a-cops controlling traffic. The IKEA parking garage full. The only parking was several miles away at Bank American arena where you wait and take a trolley back to IKEA.

When we drove by the arena, we could see throngs of people waiting to ride the trolley. It reminded me of waiting for the trolley at the remote parking lots at Sea World.

Again we will wait. This frenzy has to die down sometime. Doesn't it?

To Do List

2008-01-16T20:02:00.000-05:00

Christmas is put away, but......don't go into the spare bedroom. All of my silk flowers are in piles. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Christmas, roses and plastic tubs. They all won't go back into the boxes now.

Garden Ridge had nice stuff.

Post-Christmas

2008-01-05T21:57:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY got all of the Christmas things
together in one place. Things had been
stashed in 3 different closets. It's now all
together and will be easier to find next
year. It is secure and Krystal is guarding.

The weather has been damp and chilly.
The only bright spot is the poinsettias on
the stoop.
The rain hasn't stopped the ugly Muscovy
ducks from raiding the bird feeder.

Dixie has filled out. With her winter coat
and fine dining she is very comfortable
on my computer chair.

The Ritz is slipping

2007-12-16T12:08:00.000-05:00

The Ritz video has been surpassed by the Buckingham Guards. Fame is so fleeting.

Throwing Down a Challenge

2007-11-19T16:49:00.000-05:00

I challenge everyone to be able to do the Soulja Boy dance.
Instructions by Soulja Boy himself.

Be ready to rumble come this holiday weekend.
Top THAT!

To the Rescue

2007-11-17T16:29:00.001-05:00

If you have ever lived in South Florida you
know about Muscovy ducks. They are the
ugliest bird alive.

I have a bird feeder near the front door and enjoy seeing most of the birds feeding, EXCEPT for the scavenging Muscovy ducks. They scarf up the seeds the other birds knock to the ground.

I saw one of them fly at the feeder like it was going to land, but it just tipped the feeder scattering even more seeds to the ground. And I thought they were stupid.

Unfortunately they also leave huge green poo piles on the front walk. I will accidentally step in it when I go out in the early morning darkness to retrieve the newspaper.

When you try to scare them away, they waddle just beyond reach and wait till you leave and calmly waddle back. When you run at them they again flutter just beyond reach and return. Grrrrrrrr.

Today Flying Screaming Monkey found his purpose! I've had him here and he'll scream when accidentally bumped annoying Blaine and scaring the cat. He IS a flying monkey.....OK a glorified slingshot, but the ducks didn't know. I take aim, he screams and hits them. They don't even hesitate to fly off across the street to the crazy animal lady who will feed anything.

Hooray for Flying Screaming Monkey keeping the neighborhood SAFE!

Lockdown

2007-11-07T19:33:00.000-05:00

A prisoner being transported in Broward killed the deputy and hijacked the van and gun. The man was from Our Town. Since my school( and 10 others) were near major transportation arteries, we were on lock down. No one moves. Doors locked. This was at 9:00.

This is the 3rd officer in 3 months killed point blank. There was no specials or lunch. All the specials teachers had to deliver food from the cafeteria to every classroom. We ran out of chicken nuggets (only 5 to a tray), then out of grilled cheese, egg salad, turkey sandwich, then bananas, applesauce. Plenty of apples.

3 and 1/2 hours later everyone was finally fed. We could now eat, but they finally captured the guy and specials were back on. We had 10 mins to eat and go to the bathroom, then back to schedule! My poor feet!

157 SE Fallon Dr

2007-11-04T18:24:00.000-05:00

We did a quick weekend camping for no reason at all and stopped in PSL to view the old homestead. Luckily it was empty and for rent so we stomped all around the place.
What a change.
What a mess.

Most of the pines around the place have been cut down and the rest of the lot is grown up with weeds.You can't even see the canal.

It's been painted with pink trim.

There are tile floors and the patio has been re screened so that one door is completely gone. We did find our names where we etched them into the concrete.

The back yard is fenced somewhat, but there is only a little walkway between the fence and the growth that totally hides the canal.

The trees are mostly dead, the basketball goal is gone. The little oak I planted is huge and all over the power lines, the sycamore tree I planted looks scruffy, and the oleander I planted is still growing. Not very bushy, but still there.

West Virginia is being widened and all the homes that faced it have been bought out. It will become a major road connecting US 1 to PSL west of the turnpike. Here is a link detailing the very major project. It includes a bridge.

Happ Boo-Day.

2007-11-04T18:17:00.000-05:00

Trick or Treat!

We had left overs. I wonder why?
He-he-he.

Happy B'Day Mac-A-Doo!

2007-11-04T17:56:00.001-05:00

Mac-A-Doo had her birthday party at Sea World

The orange one is not from our family.

Two Princesses and Big Penguin.

She is 7!

With Bunny Bun Bun who hasn't yet received her new outfit of a bridal gown with veil. Both look cuddly.

Dixie's Wild Adventure......for her

2007-10-26T18:38:00.000-05:00

Well, we thought we'd take the Ritz out this week-end, but it turns out it's crummy weather. Still, the Ritz is in our driveway in case we want to 'do' something. Tonight we went out, with Dixie, to Chik-Fil-A. Oh, My! She trembled and panted and shivered. She snuggled next to me on the back bed. We got our food and ate it in the camper. She never left the bed, not even for a bit of chicken. We then came back home. Big adventure. Maybe tomorrow farther still.......Orlando?

IKEA-Part 2

2007-10-21T15:30:00.000-05:00

We headed off to IKEA today without knowing exactly where it was. Somewhere near Sawgrass Mills. We followed the traffic. Heavy traffic turning south. We found it because of the officers directing traffic to the remote auxiliary parking lots blocks away. People were walking or taking the tram. We decided this was not our day to visit the store, but let our fingers do the walking in the thick 370 page catalog that came in our Sunday paper.

Come Shop with Me.

2007-10-18T18:54:00.000-05:00

South FLa is a happening place right now. Wednesday thousands waited in line to shop at the new IKEA store in Sunrise. We haven't been there yet, but might make it this weekend.

Also, we have a new Target. It's across of Magnolia Center. Diet Cokes were $2.25 for a 12 pack. Everything is bright, shiny, and new. The layout of the store is different so of course I couldn't find anything and HAD to stroll the whole store.

Come shop with me.

Geronimo!!

2007-09-25T22:39:00.000-05:00

Look who came to my Book Fair.
Geronimo Stilton!
I only wish I would have remembered to have my
picture taken with him.

Fashion?

2007-09-21T18:57:00.000-05:00

Good Lord! Who would even model a suit like the 'person' on the right has on?

A New Toy to Get

2007-09-21T18:52:00.000-05:00

There is a new Brain Age out, Brain Age 2. Betsy got a DS Lite because we had so much fun at lunch with mine. For her birthday this month she got the Brain Age 2 chip. It's hard. Gotta have it honey!

Dreams, Mom, and Mortality

2007-09-15T08:48:00.000-05:00

Recently my dreams have included Mom. Not the Mom of the last 20 years or so who has slowly slid into Alzheimer. This summer when we visited her in the nursing home, there was no connection. Not even with music. She glared and then retreated into some inner world.

My dreams have her when she was able. This latest dream has her spotting cows in a pasture for Steve. Dreams seldom make sense that way, but she was walking through high weeds. I was taking the easy way with a dirt trail, but she was able to go anywhere.

This summer Steve and Scott were discussing what they remembered about Mom. Scott mostly remembered the beginning of the ‘slide’. The cooking errors, the confusion, the depression. He was too young to remember anything else. Steve, being a little older, didn’t remember JUST the worst.

Where does the mind go? Do those in nursing homes dream? They spend a lot of time sleeping and being inward. Do they still have dreams?

My Grandmother slid herself into a nursing home. She was always a a little crazy. Mom said that if she ever got that way she hoped that someone would just shoot her. We don’t shoot, we hope. Hope they’re still there, comfortable, will recognize us.

I hope I don’t make the slide. It seems inevitable because it’s in the genes from Grandmother to Mother. I have arthritis. Knees, toes, hips. The eyesight gets more powerful lenses to correct. I would go mad if I became blind. I learned that after the Disney Drew Carey sit in total darkness for 7 minutes experience. The hearing not quite as sharp. But the brain I work on the most. Sudoku, Brain Age (got a 22 once), Big Brain Academy (best I can do is B-) , the Set game day puzzle where my goal is to solve under 3 minutes, Chuzzle, Bejeweled, Noah’s Ark.

I still have my dreams. Today I lost my front tooth. Heard it snap off and had it in my hand. I tried to immediately remember the sub-finder phone number because I wasn’t going into school! When I looked in the mirror it looked OK…..I woke up and immediately felt my teeth with my tongue. Whew! I still have my dreams.

1 Month

2007-09-04T19:31:00.001-05:00

This is a totally different cat than the one I tried to photograph a month ago.

Then she ran from place to place and you couldn't even get to touch her.

Now, she is a cuddle bunny. She will drape herself over your arms and purr. These photos are right here on my computer desk. Happy 1 month birthday Dixie.

Up-up-up

2007-08-30T20:15:00.000-05:00

Dixie is trying out her vertical skills. We trimmed her nails a couple of days ago so that everything wouldn't get those little pin holes. The kitchen table cloth has little pin-dot holes where she sits on the chair under the table, but feels around to see what might be on the table.

She has climbed the back of chairs and is trying to perfect her chin-ups to see what is on top of the kitchen counters.She walks around studying things. The clock second hand keeps moving and tempting her.

Well, tonight she climbed the big fake ficus tree in the living room. Clear to the top and was peeking out like a squirrel. I'm going to bet this won't be her first try and we may find the whole tree fallen over when we come home one of these afternoons.

What I Do on the Side

2007-08-28T19:19:00.000-05:00

It's Amish and it's Blackberry and it's ME!!

The Name

2007-08-12T09:24:00.000-05:00

We finally settled on a name for our new kitten.
Dixie! She is a southern cat.
What's up Dixie cup?
Dixie Queen
Dixie Belle
Dixie Chick
Whistling Dixie

She loves to play.

Welcome to the Newest Member

2007-08-07T17:41:00.000-05:00

Today we brought home a new kitty. We searched at about 15 different vet places before we found her. She is unnamed. Any suggestions?

Post Trip

2007-08-06T19:38:00.000-05:00

The camper has been emptied and all the bedding cleaned. I washed the outside with the extension brush and that used muscles I felt the next day. The floor got scrubbed and Blaine caulked so places. It smells brand new and except for the 12" crack on the windshield, looks great. Tomorrow (supposedly) in the morning the glass folks will replace that too.

-It's nice to be able to just hop out of bed and not have to scoot.
-To be able to use the potty and not wonder if there is enough potty deodorant down there.
-I don't have to be dressed and 'ready to go' by any certain time.

The front walk is getting a do-over. Last summers Chattahoochee make-over was flaking in the front. Last year it rain on the new slurry they put down and it bubbled and wasn't quite right. Today they pressure blasted it all off, re-slurried and scored the tiles. Sometime later this week they will color it. I'm thinking it will look more gray stone as their colorist got bad knees and doesn't do it anymore.

It's time to think school and getting up early again.
We had a great trip and I think we saw ALL of the relates this year.Incredible.

Thursday, Aug 2-Day 18

2007-08-02T17:48:00.000-05:00

Thursday, Aug 2

Not much to report today. I finished Potter last night! Sigh.
We drove from Gatlinburg to a really nice camp in Walterboro, SC.
We seem to have had something crack our windshield. Neither one of us can think of anything that happened, but now we have a repair when we get home.

The office has a huge area where they have their parrot. He his not is a cage and has a lot of toys, keys, water bottles, and stuff to play with. Her/his name is 'Bang'. They said they have a lot of toys so it won't be bored, otherwise it would start loud shrieking.

We are back in the South with palms.

Penguin, we're headed for your house tomorrow!

Wednesday, Aug 1-Day 17

2007-08-02T17:47:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, Aug 1

We met Kauffam in Dollywood. We had a great time although it was hot.
Impressions
Hilly.
Not THAT many rides.
Many music shows that you can see.
UP
Uneven
DOWN

We all ate dinner at Bob Evans so we could go next door to the Christmas Palace.
I love that place. I wish they would decorate my house. The new thing is black Christmas trees.

Tuesday, July 31-Day 16

2007-08-01T22:16:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, July 31

I had a big hill to climb to the showers this AM and it was really awful trying to get back to the camper as my feet kept sliding in the shower clogs. It must have taken me 10 minutes. I was NOT a happy camper.

It's been over a week since the last time we did laundry and we don't have any more clean underwear. We chose not to use the ones at the campground, and went to one nearby. Gave me a chance to read Potter while they washed and dried.

Drove into the KOA closest to Dollywood. We met Kauffam and they had some drama-drama. Seems there little cabin is on top of the mountain and they burned out their brakes on the Neihardt camper driving down and it's in the shop. They had to rent a car to get around.

They had just picked the repaired camper and drove us to Cracker Barrel and then up to the cabin. OH-MY-GOD!!! I swear the incline was 95% and hairpin single lane roads with 'driveways' that went straight up and looked like run-a-way truck ramps.

The cabin had a fantastic view because there were at the top. The kids have a loft. There are 4 TVs, a pool table, a hot tub on the deck, and a fireplace.
Steve left his camera bag at Cracker Barrel, so we left with him before we used the hot tub. We will do Dollywood with them tomorrow.

Couple of Hillbillies belying the Amish heritage.

Monday, July 29-Day 15

2007-07-30T21:12:00.000-05:00

Monday, July 29

With an early start, we are headed South.

We are headed from NY to Tennessee to visit with Kauffam if we can.

This ornamental grass and this lavender flowers were at Micky Dee's.

We were headed for mid-Virginia. We drove through the states of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, and finally to Virginia. We are packing in the states today. Staunton KOA is a President's Award Winner and we can certainly see why.

They had a fishing lake, playground, volleyball, a game room with pool tables, mini-golf, a swimming pool, 4 hot tubs, and laundry.

There were bunnies all over. They were very tame and not the color of wild bunnies. These were brown and white and would stretch out right next to you. There must have been at least 20 and this was a huge park.

The KOA was by a stream/river and you could fish or walk out on the stepping stones. It wasn't deep, but was clear and fast moving.

There was also a falls.

The only thing wrong is weak cell phone and Wifi signals. While I'm able to type this, I can't post pictures.

Sunday, July 29-Day 14

2007-07-30T20:57:00.000-05:00

Sunday, July 29

I was lucky to get a date for my sailing XPerience since I only emailed them Wednesday and you're supposed to give them 14 days. Sail time was at 3:30. We all went to NYC early. We ate lunch at the Underground Mall near Penn Station & Madison Square Gardens.

Then we WALKED to Heavy Melody. This time Mark showed us the Guitar Hero. Blaine & I both played bass. Mark showed us his beat box project till it was time to head for Chelsea Piers.

We need to take the bus this time.
Rain......rainier........rainiest!!
RAIN.

Of course pier 59 was the fartest one. Major walking......after about 1,000 stair steps in the subways, busses, trains.

My boat, the Adirondak

A view of us on our boat. Exciting!

Reality was rain.
I canceled. Gave the certificate to Mark to use , sell, or give away.

Now we have time to kill before catching the train so to Penn station and K-Mart. A Yankee's hat and a top later, we were finally ready to head to Hoboken.

PATH....NJTransit
Be Considerate
Talk Softly
Please Keep
Feet Off Seats
NEXT STATION
HARRIMAN

The train was faster because it didn't stop at every station on the week-end.
Again the most people get on at Secaucus.

Saturday, July 28-Day 13

2007-07-30T20:25:00.000-05:00

Saturday, July 28

Since we had such a late evening last night, we had a lazy morning. Eventually we drove over to Chester to Shop Rite for supplies. We thought we'd take in a movie, but it didn't start for several hours so we headed to the bowling alley. Mark and Blaine bowled. I don't think Mark has bowled for quite a long time.

We still had time to kill, so we drove to a Target. We got off at the wrong exit and were on our way up a LONG hill to West Point. We had to find a place to u-turn.
We found our way to the Target and replaced Mark's old belt.

We finally were able to see our movie, Harry Potter. I thought it was well done.

Back at the campground, we worked on our evening meal. Blaine got out the safari grill while Mark & I worked on the campfire. We must have had the worst newspaper. The thing wouldn't burn even when the match was on it. Blaine was able to finally get the outside cooked, but not the inside. Mark & I were able to get a fire after using half the paper, about 10 fire starters, and 30 minutes of constant tending. Eventually we got it going and Blaine finished cooking the hamburgers on the fire and we roasted the hot dogs.

Next was the marshmallows. S'mores. Yum.

After the huge sugar rush, we played UNO. Mark 2 games, Dad 1, Mom 0
Then Trivial Pursuit. Mark 3 pies, Dad 4 pies, Mom 4 pies and then we called it quits. Moths were drawn to our lights and an energetic grasshopper scared us to death.

Friday, July 27-Day 12

2007-07-30T19:56:00.000-05:00

Friday, July 27

We got to Harriman to catch the train in plenty of time. The ride is over an hour long with many stops. Secaucus seems to be very popular. We arrived at Hoboken and found our way to PATH. This is to take us over to NYC to 33rd st.

The first stop at Christian something or another didn't stop and I saw a lot of police officers. The train continued to 9th, 12th, 23rd and was supposed to go to 33rd, but they announced there was a problem and we all had to get off. Now we walk from 23rd and 6th to 28th and 7th.

Hoboken station

Empire State Building

We found Heavy Melody where we are to meet Mark after work at 6 PM. There was a Starbucks right next door so there was our coffee break. Since we have a couple of hours to fritter away, we headed towards Macy's. Walking another 6-7 blocks.

We rode all the escalators to the very top floor, bought a Macy's bags, and since my foot and knees were killing me, we had a drink. Then it was time to walk those same blocks back to Heavy Melody.

We were able to meet everyone and then headed to a pizza joint nearby for supper and off to Sunnyside, Queens. The problem with taking any subway in NYC is the steps. There are at least 30 down and then 35 up.

Sunnyside is cute. Mark's Apt is full. Once he was packed it was back across to 23rd and 6th to catch the PATH. We had trouble finding it and made a couple of wrong tries. MORE steps.

By the time we made it back to Harriman and our campground it must have been 11:30. Tomorrow is all ours.

Thursday, July 26-Day 11

2007-07-27T06:03:00.000-05:00

Bath house is really close. Blaine warned me that it was like yesterday's shower where you had to continually pull on a rope to keep the water running. It will save on water. This time you had to push a button. He said his was timed for 3-4 minutes, but it was 12 seconds before I had to press it again. It was frustrating.

We went to the Arts/Crafts Village. What a disappointment. It was similar to Dunellen, but it looked deserted with very few open. I did get my flower shots.

Scott's Meadow was part of the Arts & Crafts area in Sugar Loaf.

Every road seems to be related to 17, but like every other crummy road in IL, OH, and NY it was pot-holey and bone jarring. Our next mission was to scout out where we will catch the train to NYC in Harriman. No thanks to Lola, we found the station, the ticket machine, and the parking machine.

After lunch we had another 'learning' experience. We think the continually jarring had loosened the water hose connection to the little water heater. Bottom line, there was water dripping from the camper and found there was water all over the camper floor. The floor is very clean now but several items will need to dry out.

Our 3 mission was to go to the Woodbury Commons Outlet Mall. It's huge and has all the big name designer names. I didn't really want to walk the mall with my foot to stores I wouldn't buy from anyway. We both got new shoes and me some underwear.

This mall has bus service to NYC.

Back home and supper.

July 24-25/ Days 9 & 10

2007-07-25T19:13:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, July 24-Day 9

We left our 'pig campground' and headed across Pennsylvania. Big hills, construction, and bumpy roads. At lunch at a Subway we found the Worlds most comfortable swing. Lola was a bad girl and led us a long way to the campground instead of the quicker way. We stayed somewhere in the Nittany Mountains. I had to use the Wifi at the hall but in the dark because it was movie night. I slept 'upstairs' for the first time. I wanted to be able to read (Harry Potter) and not disturb Blaine.

Wednesday, July 25-Day 10

Blaine went to take a shower this AM, but hadn't looked at the campground map and wandered all over and even had to ask someone where the showers were.
I guess this just wasn't his morning because when we dumped , it dumped some on the ground.

We filled our propane pig and the gentleman who filled it came into the camp store when Blaine was paying for it to tell him that there was a pair of pliers on the bumper then while we were just parked closing a vent he drove up and told Blaine that the sewer cap was dragging.

Tonight we're in Florida,NY We hope to make this our New York City base. We can take the train in. We have a spot and am looking to have a campfire with marshmallows. Wish you were here.

Monday, July 23-Day 8

2007-07-24T07:08:00.000-05:00

We went out to visit Dad today. He was asleep and we didn't want to wake him. We had a longer visit with him yesterday.

Then we went to see Mom. Yesterday she was in bed, today she had been wheeled to a TV room where she and the 2 others there were sleeping with the TV on.

Blaine played one song on the piano and she watched, but there is very little recognition. She would 'leave' us and try to go back to sleep. At is very depressing to see both of them so withdrawn.

We left and headed to Wal-Mart to try to fix our refrigerator in the parking lot. The propane would not come on. Blaine packed it last night with ice from the motel to try to keep things cool. We had the panel off and read and re-read the manual on what to trouble-shoot. He walked by and asked if we were having trouble. He said he was in that big class A motor home and might be able to help.

Seems we had spider webs and stuff in the line and all we needed to do was blow in the hole with a straw. A lot of little stuff came out and it worked. We figured all of the washboard roads had dislodged the fluff. He was an answer to prayer. He and his wife are entertainers and just wanted us to go to You Tube and add our self to their view count. Their target is 5,000,000.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Yeah! We replaced most of the food that might have spoiled and I was able to find a copy of Harry at the Target in Streetboro, Ohio.

We saw a coyote cross the road near our campground.

It may have been after this giant pig at our campground.l It surely would have won a 4H size prize. The pig is the pink one.

Sunday, July 22-Day 7

2007-07-22T21:52:00.000-05:00

Today was a cleaning day for our laundry and the front half of the camper. It won't fit into a self-wash bay, so we washed the front.

Steve and ThiThi came and we visited Dad. We tried to sit outside, but their was too much sun and wasps. He wears those stocking things on his arms because he bruises so easily.

We went to visit Mom, but she was in bed and so we will go back tomorrow morning and hope she is up then.

Then we went to the 4H fair with them. Steve hadn't been to a 4H fair in years so we saw everything; all the animals including the judging of the goats, the projects and even saw the antique tractor 'parade'.

When they left we went and kidnapped Aunt Lillian and got root beer. She didn't holler much. She was making quilts for 4 graduating great-grands.

We ended the day at Ellen's for a visit. I'm glad to see her hair is finally catching up to my color. (Even though I am YOUNGER)

Crummy-Doodles

2007-07-22T12:23:00.000-05:00

I sent Blaine to Wal-Mart Sunday morning while I did laundry at the coin laundry in Huntington to buy the Harry Potter book. Sold out!
Crummy-Doodles.

Saturday, July 21-Day 6 PM

2007-07-21T21:58:00.000-05:00

One of the things I like about the northern states is the flowers. Queen Ann's Lace bobs gracefully by the sides of every rode.

We went to the 4-H fair this year. It is wonderful to see the involvement by parents, kids, and community. There are some elements that practically scream 4H.

Cars and tractors on display. Every child climbs up on the tractor seat and pretends to drive and make the seat bounce up and down. I know I did when I was much younger.

We visited the dairy and beef barns, the sheep, the goats, swine, chickens, and rabbits. They all produced and they had a couple of manure spreaders that were used when they cleaned their pens.

In the arena area someone had a reserved seat...with a back.

Sweet dreams!

Yum. GOURMET deep fried Twinkies with 'Twinkie the Kid' as the mascot.
Can't get any better than this.

Saturday, July 21-Day 6 AM

2007-07-21T21:48:00.000-05:00

We gave them a Jacob Zook distelfink like we have on our garage. Bob seemed pleased with it and put it up on his garage door. He said we are also related to Zook too.

They have a viszla hound who is really smart and well behaved. When they talk to her she sits and cocks her head from side to side quizzically like she's trying to understand what they're saying. It's really cute.

We then headed off to Huntington via Chicago. Since there are no campgrounds in or near Huntington, we are staying at Holiday Inn Express.

Friday, July 20-Day 5

2007-07-21T21:31:00.001-05:00

The drive today was maybe only 100 miles, but the road was still bumpy. One cabinet kept opening as the stove top bounced about.
Blaine was anxious to get to Bob & Nancy's home.

They live in Geneva National with 3 golf courses. We had 3 gates to get through, but their home is to die for. It must have 6 bedrooms, 3 stories, secluded one the 5^th tee with woods all around.

The porch with view of the golf course.

View of the dining room.

Upstairs sitting room outside of our guest bedroom.

View of flower garden and back of the house.

Golf course tee 5.

Lake Geneva.

Bob showed pictures, told family stories, and had artifacts on display. Nancy likes flowers, birds, and is like me! They showed us Lake Geneva. What a pretty little town.

Thursday, July 19-Day 4

2007-07-20T16:16:00.000-05:00

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Day 4

We were up and no one else was up. The bathhouse was great. I had a really nice tiled handicap shower. Finally realized again we were on FL time. It wasn’t 7 AM…..it was 6!

Blaine lost his reading glasses. We finally found them on the ground.

Illinois roads are really crummy. Everything inside the camper bounced around. Had to muffle the stove top.

At lunch we became Super Heroes! Everyone was posing. A family of 5 posed in every combination.

Later we saw a wreck. A Yellow Transit semi was pulling also pulling a trailer. The trailer was on its side and there were advertising mail out envelopes all over the interstate.

Also saw a huge cross.

Utica had each store decorate with flowers outside with the theme of their store. The wine place had a wine bucket/bottle, the grocery a lunchbox, and this bank had money! There was a gold bar, a bag of quarters and a bag of dimes.

We had a long detour that had Lola working overtime recalculating. She wanted us to turn at every county road to get us back on the interstate.

We finally made it to Hickory Hollow campground in Utica, IL.

Utica is near Starved Rock state park. Don’t know the story on the starving yet, but the town is cute and once was a stop on the Illinois/Michigan Canal.

Since Blaine REALLY lost his glasses we got directions to LaSalle 6 miles away. No cute here. Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Home Depot. Home.

Tonight at the campground they allow fires so it smells really nice. The air is cool and we only need more family members to sit with us to play Uno or Trivial Pursuit.

July 18-Day 3

2007-07-18T21:20:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Day 3

I think everyone at this campground is 80-90 years old and all campers try to look fast and aerodynamic by having flowing swooshy stripes on the sides.

Blaine forgets he’s in a camper and drives too fast for me and seems like he wants to pass everyone. When I drive I stay in my center lane, barely go over 70 mph and am perfectly willing to be in a parade of vehicles.

As we neared Nashville, we decided to do the Grand Old Opry. Lola home us through to Jellystone. Come to find out the Opry doesn’t perform daily and we missed it last night and won’t happen till the weekend. There was a dinner show at Nashville Nights down the road from the camp. Kenitra said we could be walk there. The food served at 6 and we should start walking by 5:30.

Spotted this Gator rig at our campground.

What would a trip be without FLOWERS.

Well, Blaine looked at the map and saw there was a Camping World next to where we would be eating so he hustled us out at 4. It FELT like was a mile away. No sidewalks. We cut across a huge RV sales lot with hundreds of
RVs, the trekked across another campground, through the Grey Tours bus lot, past Nashville Nights to Camper World.

He bought a new AC thing. The one from Best Buy requires it to be clamped to the battery. Joined Camper World club to get 10% discount. Should have joined a month ago and then loitered around so we wouldn't be too early at for dinner.

Well, we were really early. Seems we are in the Central Time zone and had to schlep back to the camper. :-(

When we went back at the proper time we were again struck by Southern Hospitality. Everyone seems genuinely considerate.

Come to find out everyone there does double duty. Seating, selling souvenirs, then performing. It’s true that everyone here is a future star and they all write songs.

We saw Mark Powelson, Charlie Vaughan, & Jeannie Seeley. Well worth the effort to walk there twice.

Trip-Day 2

2007-07-17T20:01:00.000-05:00

July 17^th

Day 2

Since Scott had to be @ work at 7:00 and left the Condo @ 6:30, we were barely awake when we said our goodbyes.

We wanted to go to Best Buy (not the famous Buy Best) but they didn’t open till 10:00 so I had to while the time away at Kohl’s.

We had to get the set of power plug adapters to play the Rio. Forgot the power cord and we got an AV adapter to run all of our ‘stuff’.

Finally we got on the Turnpike north. It seemed to busy with trucks and they are not timid about dogging your tail. We saw a convoy of 6 or 7 Budget trucks and there were a lot of State Troopers parked along checking for speeders. Not me…….. :-) I maintain a steady 70mph.

We used the Woodall’s guide to find our campground. Lola couldn’t help us find it as the guide doesn’t do addresses, but does have directions and a phone number.

Well, in Unadilla we got lost trying to find the Southern Trails Resort. Their signs were minimal. Lola could have helped.

When we checked in the proprietor looked like my Dad and wore a khaki uniform with a big gold official looking star. He LOOKED like the sheriff, but the uniform just said Security.

We went to Country Boy’s Cookin’ where they have “Award Winning BBQ”.

They had all of their awards hanging on the wall, but some were for 7^th and 10^th place. I wondered how many entries there were to be so proud of 10^th place. Last year they did take 1^st place in Desserts.

We walked on over to Piggley Wiggly. This is small town/rural America. Everyone says ‘hi’ and ‘how ya doing’. Watermelons were only $3.00 for a whole watermelon.

Went back to camp and set up. Looks really nice, but I forgot about that Southern Tradition of GNATS.

Great Summer Trip-Day 1

2007-07-17T19:33:00.000-05:00

Great Summer Trip of 2007

Day 1
Monday, July 16, 2007

After having the camper ‘stashed’ behind the house since Saturday to avoid detection by the ordinance police, we were finally ready to roll about 12:30. I had had a foot appointment we had to wait for me to finish.

First night is at Scott’s apartment. We spent our first night out in the apt. We went to Camper World (Everything is a WORLD in this area) and got a Fresnel lens for the back window so we can actually see the cars now. The bolo cords Blaine pooh-poohed a couple of weeks ago we now deems very useful. Also go several more AC adaptors as he sort of melted one a home.

We had to get test strips @ Walgreen and ate @ Cracker Barrel. We got a brand new waiter who got flustered and kept getting the order wrong. He also gave us the wrong bill too.

Scott showed us what he had edited of Mark & his European Vacation. It is time consuming to edit, but the results look so professional.

PS-I folded a HEAP of clothes

Foot Care-Part 3

2007-07-12T08:05:00.000-05:00

As you can see, the foot looks a lot better. I have exercises to do to gain flexibility. My foot always feels bruised right now when I walk. It also clicks.

The clicking is really annoying. I feel it click and you can hear it click as I walk. I hope this is not permanent. I sure don't want people to know it's me coming because they can hear me clicking.

I have exercises to curl my toes up and down, pick up objects, stretch the muscles, massage the scars and bottom of the foot, and torture myself with tasks I can't possible do and they hurt while I do them and my foot aches afterwards.

I have made progress, but have a ways to go.

Foot Care Part 2

2007-07-09T15:15:00.000-05:00

Trials and tribulations.
Allergic to betadine. Notice the blisters and redness.

Food poisoning. 24 hours of misery....with a foot/crutches that made the dash to the bathroom very hard.

Because I was so inactive....my back flipped out. I still have to twist and snap it back into place. Bending is tricky. Back and knees.

I now have a list of about 10 different movements and stretches to do for physical therapy. I sure can't seem to move those toes, BUT I can wear real shoes now and not use crutches.

To quote Mom, "This getting old is not what it's cracked up to be!"
Yeah, it is what it's cracked up to be. :-(

Gypsy...R.I.P July 9, 2007

2007-07-09T09:51:00.000-05:00

Gypsy's health continued to decline. This week-end she stopped eating and couldn't drink. I wasn't able to pry her teeth apart to get the little pill in. It's like they were frozen shut.

Sunday night I used the syringe and got water between her teeth and it seemed to revive her a little. We decided to take her to the vet's this morning as she was so feeble and pathetic.

She died in the carrier on the way to vet's office this morning. The ride was too stressful for her. She was with us for 14 years and we will miss her active and inquisitive ways.

My Foot....ITCHES!!

2007-06-23T22:40:00.001-05:00

Friday my foot started itching like mad. I could scratch the toe tops and in-between the toes, but that was not near enough.

Tonight, I unwrapped the whole thing. My skin has permanent indentations from the gauze and residual sticky from the wet cast-like bandage they put on the first time them changed the dressing.

The toes are still bruised and plump little sausages, but the foot is not that swollen. You can see where my skin is pinkish amid the betadine stained skin. It's raw and seeping from the binding. It feels so good just to have it uncovered. It's probably a 'sin', but I go in Monday to have the stitches removed and I can't stand it anymore.

I hope I can find something else to put over this so I can sleep.

Gypsy-Part 2

2007-06-19T17:46:00.000-05:00

After we took me in to re-dress my foot, we took Gypsy to the vet. She is listless, has a dilated left eye, and clearly is not the bundle of energy that defines her.

She has lost a pound and weights about 8 pounds. They suggested blood work and urine sample to find out what might be out of balance.

Today we got a phone call from the vet. Her blood levels are just fine. So it's not her liver, kidneys, or thyroid. The doctor suggested it may be a brain tumor and there's not much to do about it unless we want to get into mega $$$.

We will try steroid pills. It may shrink 'it' if it is a tumor. We will pop 1/4 of a pill every 12 hours for 3 days, then once a day till they are gone. Poor kitty.

Cats don't show pain, but we certainly don't want her to suffer. She's been active her 14 years with us. Poor kitty.

Gypsy

2007-06-15T17:22:00.000-05:00

We think Gypsy is on her way out. She seems to be weak, her eye is dilated, and she sleeps a lot. With my self being out of commission, it's impossible to take her to the vet.

I read in a magazine that pine cleaners are bad for cats. That it is bad for their liver. Blaine uses Pine-Sol.

She doesn't seem to be in any pain. I know the vet will rack up $$$$$, but it seems to be terrible not to do anything for her. I can barely take care of myself let alone helping her.

OMG! What Have I DONE!?!

2007-05-28T09:32:00.000-05:00

What have I done?!?

Scott didn't stop me.

Blaine was certainly not stopping me.

It looked soooo good.

Yup! A Ritz!

There are a couple of items that need to be fixed......this is NOT suppose to be a bidet.

The micro-wave needs some screws to keep it in.

It will get an attached awning, a roof rack, and a 101 point inspection of items to be repaired.

Meet you at the RITZ!

View the VIDEO

Bits of Drama

2007-05-17T17:28:00.000-05:00

1. The Pepto-Bismol MAX commercial with giants (Godzilla, 50ft women, a big robot ) with 'nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea'. Now, THAT's a lot of diarrhea. Yuck.

2. Rosa, the new custodian for the media center threw away more than the books labeled 'discard' and we had to go dumpster diving to retrieve them.

3. The pumber or cable guy doesn't have a corner on the problem of crack. While eating at Firehouse subs tonight there was a young woman who had on very low cut jeans. When standing, they were just low with a big belt. When she sat down, she exposed her whole butt. I now know she doesn't wear underwear...not even a thong. She has a butterfly tatoo next to her crack, but it isn't colored in yet. We could see 2-3 inches of her butt crack and several times her bare butt would touch the chair cushion. Not a pretty sight when eating.

4. I don't like muscovy ducks and doves. They hog the birdfeeder. The windchime rings and it's like a dinner bell for them.....the ducks come waddeling over in hopes the clumsy doves will nock down seeds.

My Two Yuck Feet

2007-04-16T19:24:00.000-05:00

I went to the podiatrist today. After several years of not being able to bend my toes, I reached a critical stage when I wasn't able to walk in my shoes and had to buy $75 sandals at a resort boutique in order to survive.

The doctor took x-rays. You can see the bad big-toe joint with bone chips. The surprising thing was that I have a needle/pin buried in my left foot. I thought he was joking, but he showed me. I then recalled that when I was little I stepped on a pin. I remember Dad and Mom putting my foot in cold water then warm water and then Dad being the Tokheim guy, brought out this HUGE round magnet. It must have been the size of a saucer and about2-3 inches thick. Who knows why he would have it, but he tried to use it to see if it would pull out the pin/needle. It must have been so deep that they probably wondered if I even stepped on anything.

I remembered that evening we walked over to the street fair on Warren street. I didn't want to have a 'bad' foot then. Steve, my brother was little and was being pushed in a baby buggy rather then a stroller. He could sit up, but I guess they didn't have a stroller yet. On the way home my foot hurt and they let me ride in the buggy from about Jefferson St home. That would make me about 6-7 years old.

I also told him about my jumping off the couch onto the coffee can and cutting my foot to the bone. I guess I wasn't too good about wearing shoes and it's getting even now.

I was given shots of cortisone in both feet for the Morton's neuroma. OUCH!!! That is very painful. We also spoke of surgery to clean up the joints and using 'osteocure' rather than bio-pro. I have decisions and of course Dr. Kauffman is helping me with my research.

Mom used to say, "this getting old isn't what it's cracked up to be!"
AMEN!

It's here and already decorated.

2007-04-05T11:50:00.000-05:00

BEFORE.......

AFTER!

The delivery window was 9-11 and the guy called about 9:25 and said he'd be there in 5 min. I rushed to remove the food, but he was already at the door.

They had to remove the new refrigerator's doors to get it through the kitchen, but they went right to work and hooked everything up and away they went.

The hardest part was figuring where to put everything. It's a new configuration. It's like when they remodel the a store and you can't find anything thing. I'm sure we'll be moving things around some more.

Then to 'decorate' it. I have to have the calendar, mirrors (so I can watch TV) and various magnets. I know it seems like a sacrilege to cover up a pure surface, but this personalizes it and 'makes it our own'.

Already Blaine has reached for the old door handle.

Welcome to the Family

2007-04-02T12:55:00.000-05:00

We have a new family member arriving Thursday.

After 25+ years we are getting a new refrigerator.

Ultra Satin Kenmore 21.8 cu. ft. Side-By-Side Refrigerator with PuR® Ultimate II Water Filtration

Yesterday was a tense fact finding day. Our space is not big enough for most of the the units out there. We had to take very precise measurements and look at the heights with/with-out hinge.

This will allow me to see most of our food without having to sit down on a chair because of my crummy knees and our milk, veggies, and OJ won't be frozen anymore.

This one has ice & water dispenser and OMG......it's new.

He's no Robert

2007-03-31T11:32:00.000-05:00

I have been spoiled. I took my first cruise with Star Princess and loved it all. Robert was our dining guru and fussed over us and treated us like royalty. Replacing silverware, refilling glasses, and anticipating our needs.

Last night we went to Olive Garden because we enjoyed the last time, we were celebrating Spring Break, and we both had Fettuccine Alfredo on the brain.

We had probably the worst server in the world. Others were waited on who sat down after us. They had their drinks and bread. Billy finally brought our drinks and bread, but not the plate to put the bread on. There wasn't any butter either. We requested the butter when eventually he breezed by, but it was a LONG time before it got there. I had to ask for straws for our drinks too.

Our meal arrived. Other tables were being asked it they wanted Parmesan cheese on their food. Not us and we had fettuccine and spaghetti. We sat not even touching our food. Blaine was going to go get the little grater himself, but I made him sit back down. When Billy popped back 5 min later I requested the cheese. Oh, no problem and off he blew. Well, 5 min later he came back with the Styrofoam containers, a bag to put them in and a little bowl of grated cheese. I took the containers. Big mistake. When I looked up for the cheese, he had left. We never did get the cheese!

At this point we plopped our food in the containers and prepared to leave. With a minimum tip, were were out of there.

Robert......I miss you and your fanning menus.

T.P.

2007-03-11T14:14:00.000-05:00

Grandpa would shop at Aldies for bargain food when he had to take over the buying when Grandma couldn't. He would buy brands of food I never heard of, but they where cheap. I DO like my brands.

Well, Blaine fell into that mode when he decided we were using too much toilet paper and my Charmin Ultra was too expensive. He bought a 12 pack of Store brand TP for a good price and they were big rolls.

Well, they needed to be big rolls because you have to use so much of it. If it gets wet, it falls apart. Think about all of the ramifications of that. He finally admitted he was having to fold and fold and fold a huge amount and well, yes, he didn't like it either. He actually threw away all 12 rolls and went out to get the Charmin. Not much 'saved' in money, but a lot gained in experience.

Smell

2007-03-11T14:10:00.000-05:00

I wish you could stop and smell the roses. So ofter roses are bred for being pretty, but the trade-off is that they don't have any smell.

My birthday roses smell great. They are opening up and look lush and old fashioned.

Uh-huh...It's My Birthday....Yeah

2007-03-07T17:34:00.000-05:00

It's my Birthday! Oh My! I received 2 bouquets of flowers. ........AT SCHOOL!

Birthday wishes from Brain Age Guy, too.

Here are my flowers and my big present.

Thanks everyone. Big Smile.

Total Eclipse of the Moon

2007-03-04T16:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday was an eclipse of the moon. We ate at Cracker Barrel then headed over to Deerfield Beach. Seems everyone else had the same idea about going to the beach.Traffic was bumper-to-bumper at 2 mph scoping for parking. We bit the bullet and paid for a parking lot. Well spent money. Right there on the strip.

Families, dates, oldies were camped on the beach, on beach chairs, and blankets waiting. It was slightly cloudy.

We paid the $1 to go out on the Deerfield Beach pier. Worth it too. I never realized that so much fishing took place at night. It was fun. When the moon finally popped out from behind the clouds, the moon was already heading out of the eclipse.

Volunteer

2007-03-04T15:44:00.000-05:00

I feed the birds and fill the birdfeeder with a seed mix that has fruits, nuts, and sunflower seeds. Some of the birds shove the seeds around to get whatever is their favorite seed. The seeds that fall to the ground get eaten by a faithful crew of Muscovy ducks. They waddle over and check to see what's been discarded and eye the feeder and hope the others will fling more seeds down on them. Well, they didn't get them all because I've discovered a sunflower growing in the planter. It's a cute little thing and if I had TRIED to grow sunflowers it wouldn't work. Most of the other plants we've planted are lame-looking or dead. I have 1 poinsettia that's still red. The rest are dead. The christmas cactus have been eaten by snails and the orchid on the patio is brown. Sigh.

The bird bath still gets used as a watering hole....by a cat. TC (we call it TC because it used to be Tammy's cat before she moved and abandoned it) She/he will come by and drink. It drives Gypsy crazy to have it right THERE in front of HER window.

Bone Night

2007-02-28T20:23:00.000-05:00

Garbage pick up is on Thursdays and Mondays. Bone-night is Wednesdays and Sundays. We will eat well on those nights because our bones and leftovers that don't go down the disposer go out in the trash the next day.

Friday Night in the Big City

2007-02-24T16:26:00.000-05:00

OK, I got home late from school. I was pulling books that needed AR labels. I have a program that identifies which books I have and have tests for. It's easy to work when it is quiet and no one interrupts.It was closer to six.

We eat out on Friday nights, so other than a quick turn-around we were off to eat. Traffic is thick on Friday nights at 6:00 and Blaine was headed for Steak-And-Shake. He turned off for it in the wrong block and then had to turn left and then a u-turn to head south on University again. Because traffic was streaming by in a steady stream, it took several minutes to finally get across to the restaurant.

We were seat next to a group of children (boys) that had pushed several tables together to accommodate their group. They seemed to think they owned the whole place. Loud talking. Yelling to the help in the kitchen and the kitchen help not discouraging it. Not for me on a Friday. We got up and left.

He headed next for Cheeburger-Cheeburger and we were seated clear in the back next to the wall in the corner at a table for two. When he looked over the menu there wasn't enough 'choices'.......and we again we got up and left the restaurant.

Again heading north on University he decided on Panero's. When he turned into the shopping center, he was in the wrong lane and had people flash their headlights at him. Oh MY!

After our meal we headed for Pet Supermarket because I wanted to get the fish tank up and running again. I let him pick out the plastic water plants while I got tubing, an aerator, and pondered over charcoal filters.

They had hamsters running madly about in their container, parakeets twirling on a wheel, and a cat that looked like Gypsy's sister. It was busy with people, pets, and customer's who have to shop WITH their dogs.

FINALLY got home and was so tired I just went to bed. By Friday night there is no way I can stay up and it's probably the best night to stay up.

Does it mean.....

2007-02-22T19:27:00.000-05:00

We get advertisments and flyers stuck on our front door knob and in the yard. This morning on the way out to get the paper there was one wadded up and stuck through the door handle. It was an ad for painting the house. I tossed it. Tonight when I came home from school there was another ad in a plastic bag that they had weighted with 2 very white rocks so they could toss them out the car as they drove by. Guess what it was for. House painting.

Does it look like we NEED our house painted? or is this a general thing. I'm starting to feel picked on.

The Dog House

2007-02-19T19:50:00.000-05:00

This weekend we experienced a dog day afternoon. Blaine went off to buy some groceries and when he returned and came into the garage, 2 pit bulls followed him right to the door! He couldn't shut the door because they were still in the garage. He knew where they lived as they bark at him from their backyard on his daily walks.

He sneaked out to his car and went down to the neighbors house to ask if their dogs were home. They thought they were, but the fence gate was open. Blaine drove the guy back to our house where the guy proceeded to get the brutes on leases.

Next thing I know as I'm sitting at my computer, another dog comes up and inspects my bird bath and another dog right behind him. Seems this pair belongs to IB. Blaine went over to knock on their door, while I tracked them down in our back yard to keep them from bolting. Jasmine barked at me like crazy, but I was able to sweet talk Syd into coming with me. Poor thing limps with arthritis. Mrs. IB told Blaine IB forgets to shut the gate. DUH! And she know when Blaine knocks on the doors, it's because of the dogs.

What?

2007-02-03T12:47:00.000-05:00

We went grocery shopping today and as I am want to do, I walk ALL the aisles. This time we took our time looking at the different foods. It was in the International Section that we had the most fun.

What is Irish Moss drink. It seems to really have irish moss as an ingrediant.

You can get Guarana Antartica Soda in a very tall 2 liter bottle.
And how about those soup mixes for Fish Tea Soup and Cock Soup.

You can buy Callaloo. Couldn't figure out what it was. It was near the Old Harbor Style Bammy. I'll bet the old harbor style must be the best kind.

Mauby Conentrate Drink is some kind of fruit?

In a box-type of container was Maracuja concentrate or drink. The picture looked like fish eyes. Yum.

How about Ty-Phoo. Regular or Decaf.

And finally Nestles Klim!

We are such boring eaters.

Cool People

2007-01-28T22:28:00.001-05:00

I was in Orlando to attend the FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference)
this last week and got to hang out with some presenters. That was really fun. Every year when it's over I get depressed because I'm a LOSER. I never WIN anything. I should win something because I want it more than other people. It's no good to tell me about all the cool stuff that companies give me. They give it to everyone.

I REALLY wanted to win a clicker system. I sat next to the people who win whole systems from eInstruction and Quizdom. Loser!

I went to Orlando Premium Outlets (with Lola's help) This is where Cool People shop. Big brand name$. Fendi, Armani, Calvin Klein, Hilfiger, Perry Ellis.
What does it take to be Cool?

Cool people's clothes look immaculate. Crisp, bright, expensive without looking gaudy.
Cool people have a foot size that can try on any shoe especially the high heeled ones. In fact, they love to shop and walk everywhere in heels.....heels with long pointy toes that look like weapons. Their feet never hurt.
Cool people can always find a place to sit to eat in the food court. They don't balance a tray their lap because there are no tables available.
When they are finished with their food, they just sit there forever doing nothing but being cool.
Their packages never seem to be heavy and a burden to tote around.
They are usually tall and never seem to have bad hair.
Really cool folks don't have little children that have to be toted or pushed. Their children are a little older and already have a keen sense of what to buy too.

I'm not cool. I'm totally not impressed with a must-have Fendi purse or the pointy toed shoes. I did find a couple pairs of shoes I can wear. I can't wear the $$$ sandals from Gaylord Palms for every situation that may require something other than my New Balance shoes or my black school shoes. Yes, I think I have a modest dressy shoe.

I do love Kohl's though. I can always find something there that I must have. This last time I even got a 15% discount because it was Wednesday. Works for me! :-) How cool is THAT?

What's Going Up?

2007-01-22T17:59:00.000-05:00

Rumors? What rumors?

The Toys-R-Us is gone and building has been empty for awhile, but in "The Magazine for the Premier Community in which to Live, Work and Raise a Family---Coral Springs, Winter 2007 it describes a project that is exciting for the electronic junkies in the family. Best Buy! (not to be confused with Buy Best) is going in the old store.

The open date in the magazine says Jan 19th, but that date has passed. I don't really know if it's open or the opening date is delayed.

In checking the city web site it seems that a Super Target will go in close to the old Target. It also lists a Target/Ross (?) going up at University and Westview. That's across from Magnolia Theaters.

Wow.

Girl Scouts & Cookies

2007-01-21T18:52:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. Love the girl scout cookies. (Yeah, the Thin Mints). Being a Media Specialist at an elementary schools means I have access to cookies. We have a teacher who has 2 daughters that are scouts. Order you cookies and bing-0, they are delivered ASAP. I've already bought 5 boxes, 4 mints and 1 cafe.

This weekend the scouts were set up in the lobby of Publix. Parents are savvy and put the littlest brownies out front to beg you to buy cookies. There were so many of them that surged towards everyone who was entering or leaving the store that you could hardly get through the lobby. Then, because they are the youngest scouts, they are easily distracted and are just being little girls not sales-persons.

They don't know that I've already supported scouting already with my purchases. There should be some kind of sticker or button you can wear like the 'I voted' stickers you get on exiting the polling booths that could show that you'd already supported the cause and it's going to be fruitless to ask for more again.

Comet McNaught

2007-01-15T18:11:00.000-05:00

Who knew? Evidently this comet has been out there awhile, but today is the first I saw something about it. The last comet I've seen is when Coral Springs still had 'the edge of the earth' to go view night items without light pollution. I wasn't able to tell if it's viewable in SoFLa.

Christmas-pas deux

2007-01-10T19:14:00.000-05:00

It's not many that get to celebrate 2 Christmases. Our second 'go-round' was this last week-end and it was as awesome as the one on December 25th. Both times we we able to include NY NinJa via skype to be a part of our 'good times'. This includes the Monopoly game as a present.

When I think of the presents, the one that seems to get the most play is Potty Putty. The endless joke of making 'potty' sounds never tires. It's still just as funny the 200th time.

Lip gloss on little girls is charming. They haven't mastered how to apply it and it's all over the lips and adjoing face. And then the invitation to 'smell' the flavor of cherry, grape, or chocolate is adorable.

The GPA that hubby got was quickly named 'Lola' and she bossed us all the way home. Little Lola doesn't ALWAYS know the best way. We got off the turnpike to travel on I95. She did NOT like that. She continued to prompt us to exit and get back on the turnpike. When the exit she chose for us was ignored, she would say (I think with an attitude) "recalculating". Now he takes her to Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and just around the block for a spin. Good grief!

Finally the Gators Mojo and Juju to prepare for. The 'lucky' shirts, croc shoes, car magnets, amd trash talk. It worked! What a great feeling to have backed a winning team all year.

Drama-Drama

2007-01-03T20:05:00.000-05:00

This has been a drama-drama 2 weeks.

I got a new computer for Christmas. The drama-drama is switching all the important stuff from the older computer and then trying to make it work. Tears....HELP!....more tears.....IT DOESN"T WORK.....tears....I ALREADY did that.....OK...OK....I'll just leave......Stupid computers.

The older computer goes to hubby and he can't get it to work for him. After spending hours/days reformatting etc he finally discovered it required 7-8 discs that Dell sent and you have to search the discs for the drivers you need.

Repairs.....the new garage door is beautiful. The opener quit working. The guy installed a new opener. Great. Works fine. When we came home from shopping the door went up and I walked over to turn on the outside lights. A shower of sparks and the circuit breaker tripped. We cannot turn on the outside lights without short-circuiting something. Now to get someone to find out why.

Ancestors. I spent this last summer researching our geneology. There was nothing on the hubby's side. I finally hit a gold mine and found out the names of his Aunts and Uncles. He had no idea. Today, we received an email from an actual live cousin who happened to find my work on a page somewhere. He has a book about his ancestors and has even used DNA testing to positively trace the right branch. Seems the ancestors have been Amish/Mennonites and were traced back to Switzerland. What a gift.

Mailing Lists

2006-12-11T21:22:00.000-05:00

I wonder what I must have bought to get on such a variety of mailing listts. I bought NiJA's winter coat last year.....so I get Land's End. I never knew they had specialty catalogs. There must be a catalog for every situation. I ALSO get L.L. Bean. Both of these have terrific looking COLD weather stuff not really practical for most of the family living in Florida.

I bought the Shushing Librarian 'Action' Figure from Archie McPhee. What a blast it is to look through those.

I get catalogs from some company trying to sell me supplies and templates for all my scroll saw work. Why someone thinks I have a scroll saw is beyond me. Wond what list I was on for that to be sent.

I bought Christmas cards last year after Christmas on sale from MOMA. I know they sold my name. I got a really beautiful catalog last week with works of art items make of blown glass and artsy items, none costing less than $75 and that was for some very minor thing.

Our newspaper had a slick papered-high definition 1/4 " magazine in the daily newspaper showcasing jewelry. Jewelry that all cost HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars worn by people in very strange poses. That was very expensive for them to produce, but if one person buys something, it will pay for it.

I ordered a couple of kid's magazines for the grands, and now I get upscale catalogs for all kinds of pricy toys. Educational of course. Because they magazines were animal-based, I get pleas from the National Wildlife Foundation.

They are all beautifully done and I couldn't begin to be able to afford to buy from even half of them. What a waste of paper and trees.

Help the Drunk get home

2006-11-12T16:42:00.000-05:00

A friend sent me this and I love games.

It's called...Help the drunk get home.
Try this and see how far you can keep this drunk man up......Good Luck!
You just move your mouse left to right (no clicking) to keep him walking in a straight line.
The object of the game is to keep him walking, without falling over, by using your mouse from left to right or right to left - you can't see your mouse which makes it more difficult.

I got as far as 62 meters, but will probably try to match the german record.

Ms. Dewey

2006-11-11T15:24:00.000-05:00

The website, Ms. Dewey, is a hoot. It's a search engine, but while you're waitng for her to locate info, she performs. She is very expressive. I like to let her wait a while and see what kind of tactics she takes.

Also, this is the beta version of blogger.I'm having trouble publishing though.

Pain in the Foot

2006-11-02T19:34:00.000-05:00

The FAME (Florida Association of Media Educators) is in Orlando and Penguin and I were going to a free dinner at the Gaylord Palms sponsored by Garrett Books. Gaylord Palms is a swanky place and I convinced Penguin not to 'just' wear his jeans and a shirt, but put on a tie and sports coat. I looked nice and put on 'real' shoes, not the black supportive shoes I wear to school or the New Balance athletic shoes I wear on the week-end.

Well, I have feet that need surgery. My toes don't bend, but the occasion called for dressier shoes. My dressier shoes are not heels or fancy, but modest 1 " plain little things. It was dicey just putting them on, but I thought I could survive.I couldn't. While we were walking to the restaurant at the Palms, I could barely walk. My feet were red and bruising.

Penguin got the wrong time, so we had an hour and a half to waste. He suggested we just get some shoes at the Palms, but their shoes were resortwear. Sandles. Sandles are the new dress shoe...right? We found some sandles. There were plain black numbers and because there were at the Palms....$75. Pain makes you buy stuff you would never otherwise even think about.

Now my feet were comfortable, but they looked naked. I needed polish to make it look finished. So we headed for the spa for polish. Of course it wouldn't be the $3 bottle you can get at Wal-Mart. No, this was an $8 bottle. Superior polish. I sat in the 'Everglades' and polished my toes. Voila. Now the only thing that would have been better would be if the sandles had sparklies on them. My free meal cost me about about $85. It was great food though.

BOO! Scared you didn't I?

2006-10-31T18:18:00.000-05:00

Jack, Bones, and the other guy wish you a Happy Halloween.

Bones is showing where the doorbells is and 'glows' on his head from the collection of cams Terrier-mode NBK put there.

I hope we give all the candy away so I won't be tempted to eat it.