Wordless Wednesday

Water

I finally got Mom's final water bill.  Yippee!!

Pictures not taken

Behind the parking lot at the nursing home is a little pond.  By the side of it, there is a rock half inside the water and half out.  Several times, we've seen little turtles sunning themselves on it but whenever I tried to take a picture or even move onto the grass, they always jump into the pond. They must have good senses because I don't even get that close to them but somehow they know I'm coming, ha. 

Those pesky squirrels have really been doing a number on the sunflowers.  One day when we were pulling out of the driveway, there was a squirrel sitting on the top of the stalk eating the sunflower seeds like a king or queen.  It would have been a great photo.

I think I'm never going to be a good photographer, lol.

Saturday Centus #21

It's Saturday Centus again - in a nutshell, Jenny Matlock gives us a prompt from either herself or a guest submitter and then we have to write 100 or words less related to the prompt (the prompt doesn't count toward the 100 words)  Then link it up to her blog.  It's open until the following Saturday, so that means you have all week to participate by either reading or writing a Centus,  The prompt is in bold.  Check out other Centus' at http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/search/label/Saturday%20Centus

He never dreamed when he blew out the candles on his cake what would happen next. 

There was a knock at the door. The police came in and said, "Mr. Jones? Mr. Tom Jones? You are under arrest". 

"You are aware I'm the mayor, right?  What's this about"?

As they handcuffed him and put him in the cruiser he was stunned.

They drove him straight to City Hall. He couldn't understand what was happening.  As they took him out and walked in the doors, he heard "Surprise" and everyone was clapping.

From behind, his wife came and whispered in his ear "He who thinks he can never be surprised.  Gotcha".

Friday random thoughts

1.  Water Company -  Good news - Got a bill - Bad news - It was wrong.  Talked to two different people on Tuesday.  Spent roughly over 3 hours on the phone.  Think I got it straightened out, again.  We'll see when the next bill comes.

2.  Pundits, politicians, cable news channels, etc. Some of you sound nutty.  Where do you come up with this stuff?  I'd like to think when the election is over in November things will calm down but I pretty much think hell will freeze over first. 

3.  I had to turn the air conditioner back on this week but Saturday it's supposed to cool off to the 60's.

4.  No Alphabe-Thursday for me, at least not yet.  I haven't been able to figure out an angle to what I want to write.  Hopefully, I'll figure out something soon and will be able to get back in the groove.  I will try to read though.

5. Speaking of that,  I think I have too many blogs in my reader.  There's about 220 and there's others I'd like to add.  I'm having a hard time keeping up and commenting though.  I know I could delete some but any solutions other than that?

Wordless Wednesay

Antique ?

Mom gave me this lamp years ago.  Hippie cleaned it up.  There is a tiny crack in one of the panes of glass.  She had it for years and years.  The base is very heavy. Mom says its brass but we're not sure. I can't even pick it up.   As far as I can tell there are no markings on it to tell me where it was made.  Anyone have any ideas of how I could find out?  It sits on the end table next to the couch.

PSA Stat counters

I hadn't checked my stats for a long time.  One day I did.  I noticed this person from Cleveland was coming onto my blog and reading.  However, they were reading dozens and dozens of pages at one time for weeks every day.  I couldn't imagine who would be that interested in my boring blog lol.

I finally checked my ISP number and it was me, ha, ha, ha.

I forgot with the new computer, I hadn't gone to the site to tell it not to count me in the stats. Duh!!

PSA - If you see the same ISP number on your stats a lot, you might not have it turned off. Just sayin' ;-)

Saturday Centus #20

It's Saturday Centus again - in a nutshell, Jenny Matlock gives us a prompt from either herself or a guest submitter and then we have to write 100 or words less related to the prompt (the prompt doesn't count toward the 100 words)  Then link it up to her blog.  It's open until the following Saturday, so that means you have all week to participate by either reading or writing a Centus,  The prompt is in bold.  Check out other Centus' at
http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2010/09/saturday-centus-week-20.html

She remembered when they first moved into the house.  No furniture. No kids. All they had were each other.  That first night they slept on the floor, drank wine and it happened. Red wine on the carpet. 

 

"This is never going to come out," she thought as she scrubbed at the spot on the worn carpet.

 

Ralph always the tightwad and controller, would never replace it.  All these years having to put a piece of furniture over it had taken its toll on her. 

 

Just like she gave up on her marriage and divorced, she gave up on the carpet and started ripping it out.   She was in control now and could do what she wanted.

Friday random thoughts

1.  Last Thursday at the nursing home they had a book/other stuff sale.  I was pretty lucky and honed in on something for my Christmas gift exchange with the Dinner Friends already.  Unless, I find something else or  decide to keep it, you never know lol.  This is the second year I just accidentally happened on to the gift exchange early.

2.  I'm starting to get some pictures on my new computer from the old one but it's going to be slow going.  For some reason I can't get them to go into a zip file unless I do it individually.  Right now I'm having to do each one separately which will take forever.  I installed the software for the camera on the new computer and it worked off and on, then I found out it's not compatible.  No updates for windows 7 either. Looks like I need a new camera ;-(   Any suggestions for a camera, cheap and easy to figure out ?  

3. So, this is Oprah's last season.  I have watched her religiously some years and not so much others.  I decided I would really try to watch since I was there for the beginning.  How about you?

4. I called the Water Company last Friday and I talked to someone that I thought was really going to help me get mom's bill.  Apparently, she said they sent it out on August 4th but we didn't get it.  I asked her if they sent it to my address and she said it looks like they sent it to the wrong address and she corrected it.  It's on dad's name so it probably went back to the water company.  Then she said she would call me back because she couldn't get a hold of anyone to generate the bill.  I haven't heard back from her and so far no bill either.   Oh Heather, so far you have disappointed me.  I guess I'll wait another couple of weeks and if I don't hear something, I will have to try again.
 
5. I lost a couple of followers.  Then I got a couple of new followers.  I was trying to catch up to following some of my followers that I wasn't following and started following myself, AGAIN @@.  I finally remembered how to stop but I think I might have deleted a follower.  If you were a follower and I deleted you, come follow me again.  If you wanted to just stop following me that's fine.   If you follow me and I don't follow you, give me a shout out.   Did you follow all that LOL?

Alphabe-Thursday

Today is the last day of summer school at Alphabe-Thursday, the color is rainbow mystery.

                                            What could it be?

                                            It's a box but what is in the box?

I bought this years ago from Current and it's filled with cards that I've bought over the years.  Isn't it colorful?

Check out what others have done for their Alphabe-Thursday Rainbow Mystery   
http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2010/09/rainbow-summer-school-extravaganza.html

Wordless Wednesday

Summer overview

I am not completely blind to the fact that we will still have some warm/hot weather but I can't help but relish the cooler weather we've been having the last couple of weeks.  I've had to wear long sleeve shirts when I go out and some days when I wake up, I put sweatpants on lol. I love not having the air conditioner on. It's going to save some money on our electric bill too.

Our gardens didn't do that great this year.  We had enough cucumbers although not as much as usual.  Green beans were good but one garden something ate them.  Our tomatoes were pretty much a bust.  It may have something to do with the gardens getting over run with weeds, ha.  Who knows.

The neighbor behind us sprayed his weeds by our fence/garden a couple of weeks ago, so me being the paranoid person I am, had hippie get rid of that garden.

We have some bigger tomatoes by the garden next to the porch but I'd be really surprised if we've gotten a dozen bigger tomatoes this year so far.

Our marigolds in the front did extremely well.  They are all tall and bushy.

Last year, hardly any of the mums came up.  This year a lot came up.   The mums got cut back a little later because they usually get so tall and spindly that the first big rain they lay flat.  I'm wondering now if they will be able to be seen from the street because the marigolds seem to be dwarfing them in size and buds are on them. If you click on the picture you can see the mums barely behind the marigolds.

 
I've been thinking though when they bloom I might just use them this year for cut flowers inside the house and take some for mom.  I haven't done that in a few years.

More and more trees around are starting to change colors.  Oh how I love that.

I know some people will miss summer but not me ;-)

Eat Pray Love

I went with Magellan and we saw Eat Pray Love on Saturday.

I thought it was okay but I was expecting to love it and was disappointed that I didn't.  It did have some good quotable lines that naturally we forgot when we got out. Does that mean they were not so quotable or just bad memories,ha,ha.  I thought the movie was too long. 

Did anyone see it and what did you think?

I never read the book and was wondering if I would have liked it better if I had. Although Magellan didn't read the book and she liked it a lot.

We had an older couple sit in front of us.  We thought they were married and then we overheard them talking about each others grandchildren.  We think they were on a date.  It goes to show, it's never too late ;-)

When we left the movies, we decided to go out and eat.  The twizzlers I ate at the movies apparently wasn't enough for supper for me.  We had hamburgers, french fries (which I really didn't eat many) and chocolate milkshakes.  I would say that was a perfect ending.

Saturday Centus #19

It's Saturday Centus again - in a nutshell, Jenny Matlock gives us a prompt from either herself or a guest submitter and then we have to write 100 or words less related to the prompt (the prompt doesn't count toward the 100 words)  Then link it up to her blog.  It's open until the following Saturday, so that means you have all week to participate by either reading or writing a Centus,  The prompt is in bold.    Check out to see what others have written  http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/search/label/Saturday%20Centus

WEEK 19 PROMPT

I got up late.  I made coffee and then went to the computer as usual.  I saw something had happened in New York and went to the living room.

I stood frozen in front of the flickering images on my TV. 

It was hard to wrap my brain around what I was seeing. People jumping, buildings collapsing, people running through the streets to get away from the voluminous smoke.

I watched TV for days non-stop.  I went from sadness to anger and everywhere in between.

One thing I knew for sure, this would change who America was and we would never be the same.   Little did I know.

33 years

Today is our wedding anniversary.  I thought I'd tell 33 reasons why I love hippie.

1.   He puts up with me.

2.   He agreed it was good that I be a stay at home mom.

3.   He's my live in chauffeur (but I mean that in a nice way).

4.  When I'm sick, he takes care of me.

5.  He's an excellent father.

6.  He's been generous and helpful to Mom.

7.   He's willing to help my friends with anything.

8.   We have the same views, regarding money.

9.   He doesn't complain if the house isn't spic and span.

10. He returns things to the store because he knows I don't like to do it.

11. When we go somewhere he opens the door and if it's raining he'll drop me off at the door so I don't get wet.

12. If I'm not coming home until dark, he puts the porch light on for me and opens the door so I don't have to use my key.

13. He brings me candy bars home just for a treat.

14. He gets teary eyed when something very good or very bad happens.

15. He brought my sister-in-laws and brother-in-laws into my life.  They've always made me feel like family.

16. He doesn't care if some days I don't cook.

17. He's a great cook.

18. He does all the grocery shopping.

19. If we are having a party, he helps me get everything ready.

20. If there's snow outside and he doesn't get a chance to snow blow, he always makes sure there's a path on the porch and to the vehicle for me to walk.

21.He plants flowers in the front not because he wants them but because he knows I like them.

22. He's a homebody, like me.

23. He'll do something even if he doesn't want to, if I want to.

24. He cooks the Thanksgiving turkey and then makes Turkey soup.

25. He doesn't care that I don't look like I did years ago.

26. He knows when I need alone time.

27. He always cleans up after the dog outside.

28. He's a kind person.

29. He's been a good provider.

30. A couple of times, he drove me to Michigan to stay with a friend, went home and came right back a week later to bring me home. 

31. He's always on my side no matter what.

32.He doesn't care if I spend hours on the computer lol.

33. Magellan has always called  hippie a saint.  I wouldn't go that far but he is a wonderful guy.

Mother Mary

When Mom moved here for almost a year, we brought some things to make her feel at home. 

I bought this for her when I was in kindergarten but I suspect she told me what to buy ;-)  It's over 50 years old.  Must be an antique now, ha.  

Another picture, I had in my drafts lol.  

Neighbors

I just want to warn you before you read this, there are some very disturbing things involved in this post about how the neighbor lady passed away.  It is rather shocking.  Just be forewarned if you continue.

When we moved to our home, the neighbors on our driveway side were the original owners of their home.   

We always had our ups and downs with them.  They never had any children.  When my son was little and his friends would come over they were always pretty good about throwing the ball over the fence when the kids would accidentally get it in their yard.

Although there were times that they would get mad at us and stop talking to us.  We would never know what happened but eventually we would start talking to them and all would be well.

They always wanted to take us out to eat and we did go a few times.  They also came over for Thanksgiving when we had it here and would celebrate with our family.  They knew my mom and dad and always enjoyed talking with them.  They even came to my son's high school graduation party.  

As my son got older, they started to get mad at us more often.  I think because my son and his friends used to come and go all hours of the night and their bedroom was by our driveway. I used to holler at them all the time but you know kids that age they just don't think.

The winter before she died, she called up during the night and told me if we didn't stop all the car door slamming she was going to call the police.  That was the last time I spoke with her.

The following spring one day, there was still snow on the ground, I was looking out the front window and I told my husband someone must have thrown garbage in the neighbors apron of the driveway.  When I looked again, I saw it was the neighbor lady laying there.  Her husbands car was parked in the front of the house.  I gave my husband a blanket and told him to put it on her.  (I remembered that from TV your supposed to cover someone so they don't go in shock).  He ran out then I ran out.  The girl next door had already called for an ambulance and was yelling at the neighbor guy.  

To this day, I'm not exactly sure what happened.  She used to walk to the end of the driveway and he would stop and she would get in.  Somehow she ended up in the apron and he ran over her with the car.  He said he thought it was a snowbank.  OMG, it was just terrible.  He kept asking if she was going to be all right.  We think she was already gone.  The police came and put crime tape all around.  I really couldn't tell them anything because I only saw the aftermath.  The girl next door said she saw him run her over and was yelling from her house to tell him to stop but he couldn't hear her.  The neighbor girl never saw though how she ended up on the ground.  The lady did have heart issues and was in the hospital numerous times for it.  They said she died because of the heart issues but I'm not convinced that's the truth.  They did take away the neighbor guys license for a while but then gave it back.  I can't even explain how many months I couldn't get the image out of my mind.  I had never seen anything like that, I hope I never do again.  

I was very surprised when he remarried.  I thought for sure when she died he would shortly after.  They were such a loving couple.  In the summer, they would always be sitting in the backyard and talking to each other.  My husband and I would think what do they have so much to say to each other after all those years of being married.

I think he was close to 90 when it happened and he is 96 and still going strong.

All about Mom

I haven't written about Mom for a while, so here's what's been happening with her over the summer.

She finally had her eyes examined.  I thought she needed new glasses for distance but she's starting to get cataracts in her eyes but not bad enough that anything needs to be done.  She just needed reading glasses.  I also found she has no peripheral vision in her left eye.  He said it could have happened because of a minor stroke sometime.  Also, she has blood behind her eyes because of the diabetes.  So, he's going to see her again in 6 months.

Overall, since I switched doctors and she can see the nurse practitioner any day of the week her health has improved a lot.  She especially hasn't had any problems with her legs swelling. 

One day, hippie had an appointment close to the nursing home and I went and had lunch at the nursing home with her.  I had a hamburger and she had pizza.  It was pretty good.  

Another day, I could smell onions cooking as soon as I went into the day-room. One of the activities people were cooking in an electric skillet and was having a cooking class.  She was making goulash and Mom was right there with her watching.  She said Mom and her were talking about cooking.  Then she asked me about some of the things my Mom used to cook.  I think Mom loved doing that.

I've mentioned how much Mom loves to sing.  They are going to start a choir and Mom's the first one that they asked if she'd like to join.  I think this will be a lot of fun for her.

I'm really pleased that they are finding more creative things to do with the residents.

Happy Labor Day.

Saturday Centus 18

It's Saturday Centus again - in a nutshell, Jenny Matlock gives us a prompt from either herself or a guest submitter and then we have to write 100 or words less related to the prompt (the prompt doesn't count toward the 100 words)  Then link it up to her blog.  It's open until the following Saturday, so that means you have all week to participate by either reading or writing a Centus,  The prompt is in bold.    Check out to see what others have written http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2010/09/welcome-to-week-eighteen-of-saturday.html

It was a dark and stormy night. 

The woman went to answer the door.  I yelled "Don't open it" but she did and let the slasher in.  The TV went dark.

Outside I could see the whole street was black.

I thought why do people always open the door like that.  What an idiot. 

I laid down starting to doze when the knock came.  I picked up a vase and peered through the door.  It was a hooded figure.  I opened the door and whacked the person on the head.  As they fell to the ground, I saw it was my husband.  Uh oh!

Friday random thoughts

1.  I'm taking off from doing Alphabe-Thursday for a while.  I think I got burned out. 

2.  I'm only about 350 posts behind now.  I'm thinking of just deleting them and starting over.  

3. I had a good taste of fall last week.  Temps in the 70's.   This week not so much.  Over the weekend,  it's going to be fall like weather.   Woo hoo!!  I wonder if I put the few fall decorations I have out if I could trick Mother Nature into keeping it that way, ha!!

4.  Is anyone watching The Big C on Showtime?  I love it so far.  It's really different.

5..  I wonder why they are switching Survivor to Wednesday nights after all these years.

6.  Glenn Beck @@

 7. I went out for pie and coffee on Wednesday with Magellan.  We each got a piece of chocolate peanut butter cup pie.  It was so yummy!!  It was buy one piece get the other one free.  We are going to try to do it once a month.

New Computer & cell phone

My new computer is a HP touch smart 600.  I really didn't need that fancy of a one but I fell in love, ha!

I've got so much to learn about it.  Like how to get my pictures on from my camera.  So for a while, I probably won't be using pictures. Yesterday's pictures I had in a saved post.

I love that it runs so much faster then my old one.  I'm going to be exploring it for a long time if I even ever get it all figured out.  All I have to do is find the time now, ha!

As far as the new cell phone, it's pretty low tech lol even though it's new.  It's just a flip phone, nothing special.  We don't text or really even use the cell phones that much.  I was just tired of having to share with hippie and if he was out, he would have to come home if I was going out with my friends to bring it home to me. 

One high tech item bought and one - not so much.