Dusk, Not Quite Dark Yet

The goblins, princes and princesses are afoot. I'm sitting here on my front porch with a container of candy and my camera. Daughter came to my house and Carrie had her hair done and tiara placed on her head and was helped into her princess dress. I videoed and shot some pictures, laughing as she posed willingly for me. Carrie is an excellent subject as long as she is in the mood to be photographed. If she suddenly becomes camera shy, which isn't often, she rolls her tongue out, flaps it a few times, covers her face with her hands or ducks out of my sight. I give in and give up but tonight she was ready with her poses.

Years ago when I moved into this house, each Halloween found me on my front porch with my light on and along with most of the other people on this street we handed out candy to the little ones. In the past 5 years many of the porch lights are switched off on this night. I suppose that the homeowners here have their children grown and gone and so have their porch lights.

I still enjoy sitting here seeing the little ones stumble up, many tongue tied and unable to say "trick or treat", their parents enjoying the first year that their child can make this journey.

I stay until my 15.00 of candy is gone then I flip off the porch light and empty the camera memory card and chalk up another Halloween.

Happy Spooky night to everyone. It's now time for my porch light to be doused!

Fall, Falling and Passing Through

I stepped outside this morning to hair curling humidity!
Humid and around 80 degrees, I slid into my car and headed for the store to pick up a few things. I flipped on the a/c and drove the short distance to the store, picked up, paid for and loaded my groceries into the car and headed home.

A couple of hours later I could hear the rain and I opened the door to watch and was met by 57 degree temperatures. I'm standing there in a pair of shorts, t shirt and bare feet while the winds whipped that 57 degree temperature through the house. Refreshing it was and much better then the hot humid smothering air of just a few hours ago. The humidity was blown away along with the rain that swept quickly through leaving the cold air behind.

Fall has arrived!

One other note here. In a few more days, it will be 8 whole months since I had the TKR and had my last cigarette! I have managed to not murder anyone nor have I made anyone miserable from the withdrawals and not smoking. There are other reasons I may have made them miserable but my "not smoking" was not an issue.

I'm amazed that as time goes by I think about smoking less and less and I can go for days now without having a craving. I never take my "quit" for granted. One toke and I would be back to where I was 8 months ago and I know it.
Here's to all the money I've saved and my healing lungs!

Passport to ????

Well, finally, my passport arrived a few days ago. It arrived shortly after those two pilots overflew that airport and still we don't know why that happened. The officials are saying now they were on their computers and missed the airport and all verbal communications from the towers and other planes that tried to contact them.

Well, let's see now. I open my laptop; Carrie is in the room with me. She approaches, does the pee pee dance and announces that nature is calling, maybe not in exactly THOSE words, but I immediately fling my laptop aside and jump up, grab her hand and we head down the hall to the bathroom. Yep, I heard her. I heard her and I didn't have headphones on to channel her voice directly into my ear and to my brain.

I don't believe we really know the reason those pilots missed their stop. I applied for my passport because I want to take a nice vacation requiring I fly to my destination. Now, I ask you, am I ready to climb aboard; to deliver my well being into the hands of an airline pilot.

I don't want to feel this way. Am I being irrational? Do other travelers out there feel the same?

It's not only pilots that I worry about. Have the airlines laid off mechanics and rotated all that work and inspection onto the remaining mechanics thereby overloading them with work which would insure they couldn't be as intense in their inspections on the aircraft?

Do I need a passport to go to Disney World? That's within driving distance. Maybe I'll just shred my passport and "do Disney".

500? You're kidding!

As hard as this may be to believe, it seems I have exposed 500 pictures for your viewing pleasure. I went to my online uploaded pictures on the Google Albums of which I had 80 plus and started deleting. First I made sure I had those pictures saved on my external hard drive and then I started cutting. I've removed over 300 pictures and there may be more cuts to come. The main reason I had uploaded them was to have them in a safe place should that dreaded hurricane blow through and I was out of town; I could envision everything swept away in one big huff of wind.

Now I just pack my external hard drive that holds all my photos.

Deleting those pictures off the Google space was the easiest thing I could have done.

This is a test..

ah..it let me upload a picture. Lake Martin Swamp once again.

It worked apparently. Problem solved.

Now, today is a pleasant 76 degrees and our cruising altitude.....

but really, it IS 76 degrees and I'm sitting here listening to the a/c unit steadily blowing out some cool air which keeps me happy but I ask, why the hell do I have to have my a/c unit on when in a few days we will be into the month of November? Strange weather and it's been that way all year long. It's going to be a humid wet winter here. The a/c will have to run to get relieve from the humidity!

I'm signing off to go sit down and do some good ole loveable knee stretches.

Look Closely

My sister..the old one (she is a year older then me!) lives in Durham, N.C. and works at Duke Diet and Fitness Center.
CBS news did a special report on diets and made a visit to the diet center where sis works. In this video at about 1:14 on the tape counter for this video, the camera pans around the reception area and to the reception desk where my sister (whom I love with all my heart) is sitting and grinning like the Cheshire cat! *at this point I hit the "pause" and get to look at her for a while.
I love you SIS!
(see below video)
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5419672n&tag=api

What to do? What to do?

This is a test. Testing, testing, testing......
Oh damn.
I have some options; of course I do! I'm talking about my picture overload on my Google Albums. I could pay for more storage, I could move some albums to my external hard drive or I could upload and send pictures from Flickr over to this blog space. The problem with the last option is that I've been able to move only one picture to a blog; if I want another picture moved then I have to start another blog. That last option, shall we say, sucks!

Another option: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ftell001/ or a link to a "set"? http://www.flickr.com/photos/ftell001/sets/72157622550560919/



I'll have to make a decison soon or just forget posting pictures here. I don't think that will be acceptable.

Lake Martin

SwampGAGEOct2009 002
Originally uploaded by FTell001

This is another swamp picture moved here courtesy of Flickr...
Can't more then one picture be sent to the same blog? What's up with that????
I'll have to check this out a little more because this is surely a pain to do it this way!

Swamp Ride

SwampGAGEOct2009 001
Originally uploaded by FTell001

I drove through the swamp yesterday and this is our fall here in Louisiana. Lots of yellow flowers were in bloom in the marshy water; I didn't hang around long to look for alligators. A large black shiny turtle was sunning itself on one of the trees that was broken and laying across the green algae water. I was on a trip so I just drove on till I was off the gravel road that takes you through this shortcut to my friend's house.

I didn't return till after dark and when I drive this gravel road through the swamp after dark my imagination runs wild! "What ifs" start running through my brain. "What if" the car broke down. Cell phone service is iffy at best while crossing through this swampy area. "What if" I had to get out of my car on this road after dark. I've never seen another vehicle on this road after dark. Houses are scarce. Hunting camps can be seen on the side opposite the swamp but they are buried way back in the woods barely seen from the road.

I hurriedly drive through on this road and ignore the posted speed limit. 25 miles per hour? Hell no! Somebody could chase me on foot and catch me at that speed. I envision a big ol 'gator lying across the road and my car hitting that solid mass of muscle and hide and raking the whole undercarriage out of the bottom of my car and then not even fazing the 'gator. Ah, but the scary things I can imagine!

I breathe a big ole sigh of relief as I exit the gravel road onto the pavement for the remainder of the trip to my house. Although the swamp can be a beautiful place, the snakes, gators, turtles and nutria rats swarm my imagination into one giant horror show after dark.

I'm off to pick up some more wreath decorations. Carrie will be busy this coming weekend doing some wreath crafting. Idle hands and all that ya know........

You have heard that saying? "Idle hands are the devils workshop". Isn't that how that goes? I never get those sayings right. My mom would always says "sticks and pins" instead of "needles and pins". She never quite got em right either so it must be a genetic thing. I think its' called "not listening.

Oh. One other thing. I've used all my Google Album space up. I had to go to Flicker and post my swamp pics and send them from there! Maybe it's time to remove some pictures from my Google Albums and relocate them onto my external hard drive storage thingie! (Thingie" one of my sister's techinal terms!) lol.

Happy Birthday Paige

Norma (dark hair) Peg(light hair)

A children's birthday party can be hazardous to your health. Dodging all those two and three year olds plus the ones just learning to walk makes for an obstacle course that takes some skill to maneuver. One minute there is no one in your path and the next a tiny one has skittered right beneath your next step. Those little guys can move quickly; unfortunately I can't. I don't think I injured any of them. Although there wasn't an automatic pin setter like there is at the bowling alley, the little ones would pop right back up and without hesitation continue to dart and sway through the crowd.

Peg's granddaughter was enjoying her birthday party yesterday so Carrie and I shopped for a gift for her and arrived for all the fun. Peg is too smart to hold this party inside. It was held on her carport where the drink spills and the smooshed birthday cake could be hosed off the kids and the floor. The men folk were gathered back at the pool house watching the N.O. Saints play the Miami Dolphins and occasionally I would wonder back there to catch up on the score; a high scoring game that bounced back and forth between the two opponents.

I was the designated camera person; my assignment was to get some good photos of the birthday girl for relatives to receive in the mail. .

Then I started getting requests from some of the adult.
And when I did the picture of Shannon (below) and emailed it to Peg to give to her, I made sure I told Peg to tell her "she isn't THAT pretty. Photo shop works wonders! The first one is the"before Photo Shop"

I removed the truck parked behind this couple below.

and another "couple"

and Peg's sister.

and the oldest person there:

Many more pictures were shot; I'm saving them to a CD for Peggy.

I'm gone. Too much to do to stay inside on this pretty day! Did I mention the weather is AWESOME? No humidity, no heat and my hair looks FABULOUS!

I Want

My needs are few and for that I'm grateful. My wants are almost as few however I do want to see the pilot when I board my next flight. I want to make sure he is dressed in the mother ship's required uniform. I want to also rest assured that he isn't planning on slipping into a pair of pajamas as soon as we reach cruising altitude. Is he yawning already as we taxi down the runway? Is that a glass of warm milk he is sipping while rubbing his eyes? Is he humming bedtime lullabies?

I suppose by now you have recognized to what I am alluding too?
I, the white knuckle flier, was actually nauseated when I watched the news report of the pilots that missed the whole damn stop in Minnesota. I realize that 150 miles out of ones way was a mere few minutes when you are flying at 500 miles per hour. I know they didn't respond to any radio interactions for 1 1/2 hrs and during that time, they missed their stop. I'm supposed to believe they were having a little tiff amongst themselves? Ok, just stamp "stupid" on my forehead and let me move along!
I just don't know how I will be able to talk myself into climbing those stairs or skipping down that gangway onto another flight. Should I carry a couple of walkie talkies and hand one of them to the pilot with a warning that I will be calling and I will expect him/her to answer? Should I be allowed to ask the stewardess to knock on the door to the cockpit every half hour and wait for a response from the steady Eddies' manning this ship? Who cares about terrorists. I want the door to the cockpit left OPEN so I can keep an eye on those fellows.

Bad enough that I hate to fly; that I fly only when walking or driving to my destination is a disadvantage to me in regards to time. Now I have to sit through a flight and wonder if the pilot has decided that he and the copilot need a wee rest break while hurtling through space at well over the speed limit of any ground vehicle that has raced the Salt Flats?

Will we ever know what those pilots were really doing? How could BOTH of them be asleep? Don't they know the meaning of "taking turns"? Couldn't they have at least set a damn alarm clock to wake them so they could make the airport?

Outraged? Yes, I am! Call me anything you want but I also don't expect my surgeon to fall asleep during surgery. There are just some jobs that one does that it's just not feasible to expect a nap while doing that job. I don't want much and for that I'm grateful but could you please manage to schedule your rest breaks at a more appropriate time?

Final, I Think

This is the final product. I think it's final unless I find something else to stick onto it. I made a trip to The Dollar Tree where all the junque is 1.00! Amazing huh? I don't go often but as I wander the aisles I can't help but wonder if some sweat shop somewhere was cranking out all these dollar items. I mean, how else can one produce something, package it, ship it and have a whole crew of people involved in the transactions to get the product to the shelf and only charge a dollar!

I made my purchases and my get away. I had one more stop to make and could or should have done a few more things but I hate to shop. I can do one and maybe two stores but I'm not the type to stay in a store long nor go from store to store to store. I have a goal; something I have to get and I get it and get out. I'm not curious as to what is out there. I am kept up to date on all the marvelous things on the shelves by my sister who could stroll the aisles all day long. Oft times we can be talking and I'll mention something and say "wish those were made" and she offers up to me the information that "yes, in fact, those are in production and let me tell you where to go buy them".

It's almost like havng a personal shopper though I suppose she could be described as a long distance advisor. She never passes up a sale. There is something there that she could use, somebody else could use, she might need or somebody else might need. Of course after she takes it home and stashes it out of sight, it is frequently out of mind until she bumps into it while on the hunt for something else.

I bought enough stuff for Carrie to make her own wreaths. We usually make something for the grgrandparents and her other grandmother. This year it will be lighted wreaths with her picture in a wooden cutout that we will paint.

I'm off to the "Little House" to make a mess. I'm sure a mess will be made as I sort and discard.

Have a happy productive or non productive as you wish day!

Wreath Update

I'm beginning to enjoy this little wreath project. Tomorrow I will make a quick trip to Dollar General and scrounge around for a big bow and a few more trinkets for this wreath. I'm hoping to go to the Little House and sort through those Christmas totes; sort and discard a bunch of stuff. My brother told my sister he would not keep a lot of Christmas stuff to store all year and use for one month and I understand his feelings exactly. My sister is exactly the opposite of us. I hesitate to give a number to how many Christmas trees she stores each year. I manage to put up one tree but not sis. She has one on the porch and more then one in the house. Her yard is decorated with full size trains, deer, Santas and more. I'm just not that into it. It takes her a month to put up all the stuff and another month to take it all down. Then she has to store all that stuff and we won't even mention the other holidays she decorates for. I have to laugh when she complains that she never gets done or gets ANYTHING done. Focus, focus, focus! I spend my time streamlining and ridding myself of things that just take up space. My sister spends her time collecting more stuff. I'm waiting for the day when she says "f****it. I've had enough of having too much!

I still miss the days when everything I owed fit into a travel trailer and the bed of my pickup. I had what I needed and not one thing more. If I bought something in, I had to release something out. It was a tidy way of life.

Oh, one other note for this day. I sat on the floor and prepared to set the weight on my knee but the weight could have been deleted but for about 1 degree away from zero. I did put the weight on but just for a short time. I can see the improvement. I'm almost at zero and for that I'm grateful!

Pardon my Stupidity

The sun is shining and it's 67 degrees. Perfect. It's such a great day not only because of the weather but my foot is pain free at the moment.

I made it to Hobby Lobby as planned and made my selections on some wreath decorations although I hadn't made it to the wreath section yet. Eventually I spied them hanging on a back wall and hurried over to look at them. I pried a price tag from behind one of the large plain greenery wreaths and gasped. 99.00? So, when did this happen? 15 years ago when I made that last wreath for my front door I know I didn't pay anything close to 99.00 for a plain fake greenery wired wreath!

Needless to say, I went to the register and paid for the things I wanted and left the 99.00 greenery wreath behind.

As I started to get in my car, I noticed the lady parked next to me loading her purchases and there were 4 wreaths in her car. We talked for a bit and she told me there were wreaths in the store for 25.00 that were marked down to 12.00. I threw my purchases into the trunk of my car and went back into the store. It took a while to find them but eventually an employee climbed a ladder and snagged the one I wanted. To the register once again and back in line I waited. Today must have been training day for new employees. The store was full of customers and the employee at the register was being monitored by two or three seasoned employees. Everytime a purchase was made the two helpers had to approve everything the new employee did. It seemed that everytime she entered something into the register she had to void that and do it again per instructions of her two helpers. I had just run this gauntlet a few minutes ago but again I finally get to the register and she sweetly tells me "this lane is closed".

I smiled and handed her my wreath and quietly left. When I got home I headed for the garbage can. Buried beneath a white garbage sack was the perfectly good wreath that I was so happy to part with just days ago. What was I thinking?

I pulled it out and stood there while I stripped all the old faded decorations off of it. I fluffed up, pulled and straightened the branches on it and hauled it to the kitchen counter. Digging in my sack of goodies, I retrieved the battery operated lights I had just purchased. Two sets. I wound the lights in and around my rescued wreath and added the few new things I had bought. I'll add to it in the coming weeks until I have a beautifully refurbished Christmas wreath for the front door.

I saved 12 dollars but more then that, I didn't murder the register person and for that I'm grateful!

Christmas?

I'm up, showered and dressed and I'm going shopping. When I cleaned up the Little House, I pitched my Christmas wreath. It was past due. Years of hanging on the front door in the blistering sun had melted all the coating off the baubles; the plastic apples had faded to a dull pink and whoever heard of pink apples? The string of battery powered lights had ceased to light up a couple of years ago. Yes, it was time. I happily pitched it into the trash barrel, turned my back on it and continued to clean the Little House.

Today I will make a trip to Hobby Lobby and buy a new wreath and with my handy dandy glue gun and new decorations for it, I will hopefully create a beautiful wreath that will decorate my front door for a few years into the future.

Every year when it's time to get out the Christmas decorations, I promise myself that next year I will get started early; sort out and get everything ready while the weather is pleasant. This is the year. I'm going to start this month sorting and dividing into totes what I need and have it ready. I'm doing nothing else this weekend; hubby just got called to go to Texas, Carrie will not be around and I will have time to putter.

On my list to do is start pitching stuff out; emptying out drawers of clothing not worn or needed. This always makes me feel better when I purge this stuff out of the house.

Carrie and I have a birthday party to attend on Sunday. Monday will be a day at the theatre to see "Where the Wild Things Grow".

I'm behind already. The time is flying by and so am I!

Family Fun!

I hear from the office the sirens blasting on the tv in the living room. Tornado warnings, weather advisories; it looks like we are in for some interesting weather. Occasionally I can hear the downpour from where I sit. The rain is splashing on the concrete and the wind is combining to make a melody. We don't usually get tornadoes here; north Louisiana does and quite often. Of course they (north La.) miss all of the hurricane fun or at least the brunt of it. They slow down considerably as soon as they hit land.

It's been a quiet day. Overcast and humid and now the rain has finally arrived. Because it looked so gloomy this morning, Carrie and I spent our time seaching You Tube videos. She tells me what to look for and I do the typing. We search for strange things but mostly anything with animals and/or music will tickle Carrie's fancy.

Sometimes I look at Carrie and wonder what will stick with her as she grows up. Memories. What memories of her time spent with us will she retain as important.

I flash back to memories from my childhood. I'm sure the things I remember weren't anything that could be considered "memorable" or at least any more then any other happening in my youth. Building roads in the dirt hillside with a spoon? Walking along the creek in the cold to the neighbor's house to go trick or treating? Climbing out on the roof from the second floor bedroom in the hot summer to cool off? Drawing circles in the yard and shooting marbles? Chores we were expected to do?

What will she attach importance to? Will it be the time spent coloring with her, the computer time together? The trips to the park, the movies or the drives to her house?

I remember staying with my grandmother. Bath time there. Walks, cooking, watching TV every afternoon and taking a nap with my Nana.

Siblings! What a wonderful invention. Sometimes talking with my sister will trigger a memory. We compare stories. Sometimes I don't remember the same things that she remembers. I wonder at these times if we were even in the same house and family. How did I miss some of the things she remembers. I was older so I don't expect her to remember some of the things I remember. When I was 5 she was 1yr old. Of course she wouldn't remember some of my older memories. She attaches her own importance to some things and that's what she remembers. When all seven of us are together, we rely on the eldest, a brother, and usually he never fails to fill in the blank spaces for us.

Family. You can't live without em and murder is illegal the remainder of the time.

A Little House Cleaning in "The Little House"

The above pictures are from left to right around the room and yes, these are the "after" shots.

The husband said proudly "Look! See how nice the patio looks? Why can't you keep it that way?" He really didn't expect an answer to that question. And later in his part of the "Little House" he proudly displayed how neatly he had it arranged; all the tools hung on the walls, the work bench he had built against the far wall was tidy.

I opened the door to my side of the "Little House" and was met by all the stuff he had taken off the patio and out of his side of the "Little House". It was shoved just inside the door and was helter skelter; in one word, a mess!I was waiting for cooler weather before I tackled that mess and today the temperatures were moderate so I decided to at least get started. I stood just inside the door and hesitated. I didn't know where to start.

After a couple of hours, I had sorted and moved and stacked and pitched and finally I had an entrance into the "Little House". The floor could be identified; it was organized. I swept the floor and closed the door. I debated on locking it to deter any further depositing of "stuff". It was a chore that waited for cooler weather and it's done and for that, I'm grateful!

I'm taking a break the remainder of the day. There is no sense in over doing it. One thing accomplished so I owe it to myself to laze around and that is what I will be doing!

Ducks, Ponds and Parks

This picture was taken in 2007 and two years later at the same place the following was taken!

We just returned from visiting the Veterans' Park with Carrie. With bread in hand, she fed the ducks and danced beyond their reach with a little fear in her voice as she squealed at the ducks to "stop". She likes them from a distance. I don't know one duck from another but my favorites are the iridescent colored ones. The greens and blues blend on their bodies and glow. Maybe the glow is from the oil in their feathers?

After the duck fest feeding she headed for the gym set and swung on the swings and sailed down the slides. Of course when it all came to an end, she pouted and begged to stay longer.

The next stop was to Smoothie World where she got her favorite ice cream and wore much of it on her face and shirt. A pleasant afternoon was had by all and ended here at the house with her riding in her pink Jeep in the back yard.

Soon we will get in the car with the radio blaring and Carrie selecting music while I deliver her to her Mom's house. Nothing exciting about this afternoon but because of the weather and the company, I had a wonderful afternoon and for this I'm grateful! Oh, for anyone wondering, the temperature was a wonderful 76 degrees today!

I remember when it would have taken a couple of sticks of dynamite to get me to wake up; recently that is not the case. I wake at 3AM, again at 4 and finally if I'm lucky, 5:30 at which time I gratefully crawl out of bed. I don't exactly remember when my regular routine sleep pattern changed over to this abnormal but normal for me now pattern. I miss those days when I would lie down and instantly fall asleep to awaken 6 hrs later to start my day again. Maybe 6 hrs. isn't enough for most of you but for me it was fine. It was 6hrs. of uninterrupted sleep. I was refreshed and alert. I emphasis the word "was".

Lately I've resorted to taking two Tylenol PM's and an Ambien if available. The Tylenol besides having a sleep aid also has a pain reliever so that helps with the ankle problem.

I won't discuss any other medical problems here. Seriously though, I don't have much to complain about and I have to remind myself of others that are not as fortunate as I.

I didn't do much yesterday; I didn't even post. I did enjoy the cool temperatures and I won't be bitchin and snortin all over the place because the temperatures are so high and so abnormal for this time of year. We have finally reached some normalcy.

The "end of summer" yard work is done thanks to hubby. That has kept him busy and out of the house for the past week. New flowers are being reborn from the dropped seeds of the previous ones and unless we get a frost I should have a colorful fall yard soon.

I'm going to sit on the floor with the wieghts on my knee to get that done before the day gets much further along. I don't like taking the time to do this; it's not difficult to do and doesn't take that long but I can always find other things to occupy my time and then I delay doing it and it never gets done.

I'm off here to s t r e t c h!

A Fall Sunday

Finally we have some cool weather. I know the coolness will be chased out of here by the coming week when the temperatures are predicted to be back up in the 80's but for right now, I'm enjoying the coolness.

Carrie spent the night and also today with us. She has stayed inside most of the day except for a few circles she made in her jeep in the back yard. I'm having a lazy day and except for the little housework, I've mostly spent my time entertaining Carrie and doing some computer time. Computer time is difficult to sneak into my day when Carrie is around. As soon as she sees me at the computer, she wants to watch You Tube Videos. Animal uploads and nursery rhymes on You Tube is her preference so that is what we do. It's nice to sneak in here when she is having a nap and go where I want to go; no requests from anyone on where to surf.

I can still hear the a/c unit humming away and the outside temperatures are in the low 60's. The sun heats up the house so I'm sure it's hotter inside then out causing the a/c unit to bear the burden. I'm waiting on a video to finish uploading so I can add it to this post. That's how my family up north keeps up with Carrie's growth. They get to see her online.

Saturday and That's About It

We stayed home most of the day except for a trip to the pharmacy to pick up renewed meds. Hubby started taking Ambien and I asked the my doctor for some too. He prescribed Ambien CR while hubby takes just the Ambien and the generic variety When I went to pick up the meds, his script was a whopping 7.00 and change; mine was 191.00 and some change.



I stood with my lip dragging the floor; I asked very intelligently "huh?"

Needless to say, I'll be calling my doctor on Monday and requesting the plain Ambien. Holy Moley.....first the Celebrex that was 120.00 and did nothing more then the Advil I switched to and now the Ambien CR.

I have no trouble at all falling asleep. My problem comes with staying asleep. I wake every hour, check the clock then try to go back to sleep. Lately I started taking Tylenol PM and that seems to help a lot. I started taking the Tylenol PM until my doctor could call me in a script for the Ambien. Little did I know that the CR was so much more expensive then the plain.



I'm tellin you..this is out of control. Meds, insurance premiums and the cost of daily living. I didn't realize how many people were buying "catastrophic" insurance. I didn't even realize there was such a thing until I ended up with it. I'm not knocking it; it saves one from gigantic hospital bills should you have to be hospitalized.



I'm thankful we can afford that. I know there are a lot of people out there that have nothing at all.



Carrie is spending the night again; she got a bath a 3PM just in case I wasn't in the mood to do it later. She is "bed ready" AND her bed is ready. Tonight will be a early bed date for us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PX5269LfrQ

Sonny Landreth and Dave Ranson, The Goners

http://www.sonnylandreth.com/tour-frame.html


Louise Ranson, Dave Ranson's wife

Sonny

Sonny on slide guitar, Dave Ranson on bass


Dave Ranson

Sonny

Sonny Landreth 10/16/2009/Downtown Alive

October 16th, Friday, Downtown Alive and Cool!

A breezy long awaited cool morning and I'm one happy typist! It's almost a fall like day here; I'm going to spend some time outdoors and NOT sweating. I'm watching the morning news and noting all the places in the USA that are getting snow this morning. I would love to be parked inside a nice warm cozy room and watching it snow. I miss it. Sure, it too gets old after a while, but I could deal with it for a few weeks.

I made a trip to Walmart for groceries, just a few things and to pick up a 'script of meds. I looked around at all the natives with their long pants, sweaters and winter gear on. OMG...it's only 67 degrees for chrimineeeeeeeeeeeeee sakes. It's going to take a lot more cold for me to search out a sweater and don the socks. It's sandals and capri pants for me for a while yet. The natives here don't do "winter" well, such as it is.

Tonight will be a good night to go to an outdoor concert. It should be nice and cool; lets hope it doesn't start raining.

It will be fun to see all the people that attend this. Sonny is from here; he is the band that plays with John Hiatt when he uses a band on his albums. Louise's (a friend) husband plays with this band. Maybe I'll see Louise there tonight unless she is working.

I'm going to climb into the reclining chair on the patio with a book and enjoy the weather. It's too nice to stay inside.

A little side note here: Sister is at 3 weeks post op with her tkr. She is doing better; sounds good and is starting outpatient physical therapy next week. She is adjusting to her limitations which I think is the most difficult part of this whole venture. Her knee is almost at zero extension which is great. Me? I'm 7 1/2 months post op and still working on getting zero extension. It's different for all of us. I came out of surgery with 90 degrees flexion and she has about 60 plus on the flexion. It's difficult to compare one's progress with another as that is also patient specific.

I'm outta here to go enjoy the day. You do the same wherever you are!

Carrie Today

I'm tellin ya....this is September weather and that's what I'm blaming for the wrong date I put on this video. This was taken today. ....OCTOBER 15th..not Sept 15th!

and souped up Barbie Jeep

Poor Carrie. She loves being outside and at 3:30 I enticed her inside and into the shower. She just looked grimy with her hair sweat soaked and straggly; her clothes limp and she just needed an overall freshening up. I asked her if she would feel better with a shower? She looked as though I had lost my mind. I reassured her that a shower is just what she needed. I finally had to drag her to the shower but I'm sure I know what's best for her contrary to what she may believe. Once the cool water was raining down upon her, she didn't resist any longer. We quickly showered and shampooed her hair and dressed in fresh shorts and shirt. I lotioned her with baby lotion, mainly because I love the smell of it, and soon her mother arrived to pick her up and take her home.

Tomorrow night Sonny Landreth will be playing at Downtown Alive and we will be leaving here early to find a good place to park our chairs and watch his concert. He doesn't often play for free; tomorrow evening he will.

I'm ready to head for my second shower of the day. I hear there is a cold front promised us soon and I'm keeping an eye out for that. Until then it will be multiple showers everyday and shorts and cold drinks.

Obsessing?

I hate to keep bringing this up ...but ..you see...I'm HOT. I'm sitting here after making a trip to the back yard with sweat gathering on my brow. The a/c unit kicks on and I feel a rush of cold as it starts evaporating the moistness. Ah, relief!

I keep listening to my sister and friends "up north" and by that I mean north of the state of Louisiana, talking about sweaters, afghans (the blanket) and starting up the fireplaces. I grit my teeth and try to listen nicely without bellowing out a string of cuss words. I'm hot. I did mention that once already didn't I? I hate to keep repeating myself. I've already taken a cool shower and I'll repeat that again before bedtime to wash the salt off me.

Carrie is zooming around the yard in her little Jeep while hubby is trimming the shrubs and cutting back the Crepe Myrtles. I'm hiding out inside doing house chores and being grateful I have someone that cuts back those shrubs. If it were left up to me that could wait until the temps had dropped more then they are right now.

I seem to be obsessing? Yes, I am and I make no apologies. I'm taking my foul attitude and placing myself under an a/c vent for a while.

89 Degrees and Oct. 14th!

Even for the deep south, this is just not normal although I do remember a Halloween when the children dressed in their disguises were sweating and pulling off their masks because of the weather. By this weekend we are promised another respite from the temperatures. We don't have a fall season here. It's either summer or winter. Right now I have another crop of flowers coming up from being seeded from the previous flowers that were in those beds. I pulled the wilted dead ones out and can now see seedlings pushing through the earth. Unless we have a freeze, I'll have fresh new flowers blooming.

Morning errands done and we stopped by the open air market. Fresh Poblano peppers were purchased which I'll use to make Chili Rellenos for dinner tonight. That taken care of we headed out to find a place to have lunch.

I've lived down the street from The Wok for years and never stopped in until today. What a great treat. We ordered off the lunch menu and it was less expensive then eating at McDonald's or Burger King. Sesame chicken and fried rice, won tons and fortune cookies and all for 4.99 and it was delicious. The servings were so large that only 1/2 of it was eaten; the remainder sits in the refrigerator for another time. This will be on our "lunch list" hereafter.

Carrie arrived at 3:30 to spend the night with us and immediately she wanted to know where her "Pops" was. No kiss, no hug for me but a request to see her Pops. Her Pops plays imaginary games with her imaginary friends, he makes up stories for her and romps in the yard with her. Is it any wonder she requests him as soon as she walks in the door?

My quiet afternoon will now be interrupted with requests for something to drink, an escort to the bathroom and food when she gets hungry and a bath later. She's not difficult to have around and I enjoy her being here. I pack away "lazy" and the thoughts of a nap. I spend some time with her while she still wants to spend time with us.

It's time to put the Poblano peppers in the oven to roast, then peel and start making the Chili Rellenos. It's my turn to cook and with that, I'm outta here to fire up the oven!

Healthy Me

Lobbyists, AMA (American Medical Assoc.) and the Republican Party that are against the health care reform bill have now compromised the reform to the point that I don't know what the Senate will be voting on soon. I thought it originally was a version of Medicare type coverage for all; with all the changes and shaving of coverage, I'm clueless as to what they are passing now for that bill.

I realize that some people don't believe health care is a right for all; watching your child die from lack of treatment might change your mind on this. Soon or maybe now, only the wealthy can afford health care and it gets more frightening not by the year but by the day. Withholding a luxury might anger some people; withholding health care is barbaric. We are the only industrialized nation that does not have universal health care. How did we come to this state of affairs? http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/Editorials/200909150272

Health coverage has been debated and fought for and against for years. See above link! Insurance companies are frightened that this bill will pass and deprive them of all the power they hold sway over the general public.

Right now I pay almost 500.00 a month for a policy that protects against catastrophic incident only. This means, I pay for all my medicines and all my doctors' visits and all diagnostic tests. The only coverage this policy provides is for hospitalization and all costs related to that inpatient visit. This is to protect against having to claim bankruptcy should one of us have to be admitted to a hospital. Catastrophic. A hospital stay, because of the astronomical costs would bankrupt most people. I could buy more coverage at the cost of 1300.00 a month.

How many working families can afford an insurance premium of 1300.00 a month? Yes, I'm watching with interest this health care reform. I'm watching for some change. Isn't that what our President campaigned on?

Compu-Love

She telephoned and she sounded frantic. "Hey, what's up?" Breathless she replied, "My computer is down!" "Struck down by the lighting storm last night."

I know that being without the internet is not pleasant but it's really not the end of the world nor is it permanent. I suppose being a little strapped for cash might hinder buying a new computer or having the old one fixed but to have this much emotion over a computer problem seemed a bit dramatic. I didn't understand so I questioned her. Her reply "I use it to do my homework." To this I say "What about the old way of doing homework?" "What about using the computers at the library at the college?"

This did not seem to be a viable option and I couldn't understand why this wouldn't work for her.

It was not until a few months had passed that I finally found out why all this drama about her computer was so catastrophic for her. It was her online affair that she was concerned about. It was that newly found man and being unable to contact him that had her so upset. Unable to connect by stroking the keyboard; unable to check email for a love note had devastated her.

Her online romance was new and in the developmental stage. Having no online access is extremely important in the developmental stage and to not be able to connect might have cooled the whole thing down. She didn't want to admit to what really had her upset about the fried computer. A new one was quickly ordered and love forged ahead.

Thank the powers that be for the internet. It's the swingers haven of the 2000's.

The Journey

Off we go to hunt. It was a hunt with two inexperienced hunters. We looked, we listened and we captured. We returned to the house a few hours later and about 1500.00 less in the bank account courtesy of the salesment/hunt guide at the computer store. It's 1993 and we have our first computer and a whole lot less knowledge about what to do with it but AOL was our first stop.

We signed on and on meant the internet. I've always entertained myself with books and reading the written word of any kind. The internet was the perfect home for me. For the next few months I soaked up everything I could about the computer and the internet. I was hooked. I marveled at all the places I could visit; the people out there doing the same thing and the friendships developed through this medium. Awesome! A whole world opened up with this CPU and screen.

It didn't take long for me to use it (the internet) for most of my needs. I could order products, contact friends through email and chat screens, look up directions, print maps, pay bills and on and on. Soon I was converted to digital photography; another hobby of mine and I discovered photo editing. Lots to learn and I enjoyed all of it.

As the years passed, family and friends started getting computers and getting online. Many of these newbies I coached through the learning process and my sister was one of them.

Coaching sister was a bit tricky. Five years after getting her first computer and I was still her coach. Now, there is nothing wrong with sister's brain. She is a bright and intelligent person although a bit scattered at times. She wanted to "do" and wasn't particulary interested in learning. She wanted to know how to do what she was working on; not to learn what the computer could do and how it did it. I, on the other hand, had to know how this thing worked and what it could do.

The first thing I did was learn the terminology. Sister could have cared less and to this day when I instruct her to type an address into the "browser" she has to ask "Where is that?" I just smile and shake my head and be grateful she can't see the look on my face.

Sometimes she would call and out of fustration with her, I would hand the phone to hubby and have him explain. He looked exhausted when he finally finished talking to her.

I have to conclude this with how much she has impressed me lately with her bravado on the computer. She was trying to get videos to play that she had recorded and was unable to find the player on her laptop. She went online and found a player, downloaded it and VOILA, she has video capabilities. Lets stand right now and give her a round of applause, shall we? I was too impressed! Then I mentioned "browser" to her and she asked

"Where's that?"

7months2wksTKR

Thunder is rolling overhead and occasionally the rain that is clotted in the clouds is released to form puddles at the end of my driveway. The humidity is so thick you can almost part it with your hands; it's a curtain of moisture mist hanging.

The cool air has vanished like a faint memory. The temperatures are back to the high 80's and add in the humidity and you have a day that sucks! I should be looking at this as just a different sort of day. A day that sucks would encompass sickness, death or disease so my description shouldn't be taken too seriously. Occasionally the sun breaks through and the dreariness of the day disappears instantaneously. It's amazing what a little sunshine will do.

Carrie left this morning to go hang with her mother. She was excited to be going to visit her mom. She said "we have fun together; we do fun things" although she couldn't elaborate on what those fun things might be. She slobbered kisses all over me and her Poppy and was on her way. She tuned the radio to music of her choice and sang with the song while dancing in her seat all the way home. She knows the words to the popular songs being played or at least on the station that her brother listens to with her. She learns quickly and I can see why people say their brains are like sponges at this age.

I'm taking this opportunity of an almost empty house and no demands from anyone to continue stretching exercises on the knee. Always with the stretching. This is Monday and I should post an ugly knee picture. It's for "The Record". That would be the record I'm keeping on here. I've found my memory is not what I think it is. I scroll back to older posts and don't actually remember the time frame for some of the healing on this knee. It's nice to have it recorded on here and to that end, here is that UKP(ugly knee ).

I still don't have full extension. I use a 10lb weight and with the weight it will extend to "0". I still have the pain in the achilles tendon and I'm still taking the Celebrex although I really don't think it is effective. I'll take another 2weeks of it then I'll have to address it again with a foot specialist. That's it for the clinical update for this week and this month. I'll post another knee update in a month.