Confessions of a Picky Eater (or a Selective Eater)

All of my life I have been "picky" or as I like to call it "selective." My friends and family can all atest to that.

I never liked veggies much. I still don't. There are only 3 or 4 that I will even eat.

It was tough when I used to go to camp (girl scout or church camp) I couldn't find anything I liked. I can remember at girl scout camp they made me try "V8" juice. BLECH!!! I can't look at that stuff in the store to this day!! Then they also made me try tea. Ooooh! I hated that stuff too. Tea and Coffee, are both icky!

It was at high school that I found more things to try to my liking. I can remember eating a chicken tetrazinni and boston cream pie. College food was much worse. And so my friends and I would drive out 8 miles for some Pizza Hut Pizza.

My parents used to say, "You don't know what you're missing." Just to get me to eat better. But that didn't get me to eat any better. Once I found myself telling J that exact same line when I was trying to get him to try potato skins. I had to laugh, it didn't work on him either. But later on he did eat them and likes them now.

While I was cooking supper tonight, I thought to myself, "My mom never made this for me." I was making my family's favorite Tater Tot Casserole. I picked this recipe up a few years back from watching a 5-10 minute cooking segment on the local TV station called "Some one's in the kitchen with Todd." Ordinary people would come out and cook their favorite recipes on this local segment during the noon news. There were no chefs from local restaurants. So once in a great while there would be a new recipe for me to try out.

Sometimes I think back on what my mom used to serve me when I was living at home. I remember meat loaf. But the recipe that I use now is slightly different than what she made. I had a good friend who told me what to add to make it better.

But my parents liked things I just absolutely cannot stand to eat and to this day I have never served them at my house. I can remember the smells of these food and I get nauseous just thinking about them. Sauerkraut, Ham and Beans, Oyster soup, Chili and so when my mom would make these things I would get an alternative meal. I can't remember what but I know I didn't eat these things. ICK! The smell alone was awful.

Then I can remember my mom loving to eat peanut butter. I am allergic to peanuts and it was horrible. I wouldn't let my mom kiss me goodnight if she had that on her breath!

My relatives would always kid me that I wasn't getting much to eat because I was so picky. But later on I did put on some weight because I was eating the wrong types of food.

I am not perfect now, but I think I'm a little less picky. But then again if you've seen me at a church dinner, you would still say I am picky. Oh well!

Julian Wright goes to....

the New Orleans Hornets. He was number 13 in the lottery. He was originally thought to be in the top 10. We wanted him to go to the Chicago Bulls with Kirk Hinrich. However...they chose Joakim Noah of Florida. YUK!! This guy is nuts to begin with. So move over Dennis Rodman, there's a new kid in town. For the draft Noah was wearing his hair down. He should have styled it ala Sanjaya on American Idol. He's just a little bit too weird for me!

Julian Wright is a nice young man at 20 years of age. I hope that he does well with the Hornets and gets to play like Kirk H., Nick Collison, Paul Pierce, and Drew Gooden has. Not a bench warmer like Wayne Simien. Simien is good, really good. I think it's just the team he is on. Sure I heard he was sick a season ago or so but he should be given more of a chance to play. I guess there are too many "stars" on the Heat.

It still would have been nice for Julian to finish his education. But maybe he will someday.

Good luck JuJu!

Watching old VHS tapes

When the kids were younger we video taped their birthdays and Christmas times. The birthdays were like Christmas because they are both born on the same day.

We watched how our house changed; how the kids had grown; and how different people who used to celebrate birthdays are no longer around (either because of death or divorce).

During "S" first birthday we had the most ugliest kitchen carpet you could ever see! It was yellow and brown with flowers. The kitchen was yellow and we had a portable dishwasher, a different fridge and countertop. Yuk! The walls had wallpaper in the living room.

On Christmas time we always made the kids run out of the room so they would be surprised. One tape they kept running out of the room like 5 times.

We watched as each year S would get at least a couple of Barbies (something that she has outgrown for years) for her birthday and Christmas. J would get something involving Blue Clues, a car, or "Action Man." (a large muscular sized version of GI Joe).

It's interesting to see how things have changed during the years. The house looks different on the inside (same carpet in the living room though). The kids get different types of presents as they age.

I'm glad we have those tapes so we can go back in time and relive those precious moments! :)

Updates

I got my results from my blood test and I really believe that the power of prayer worked for me. All the results were within the normal limits. My doctor sent me a letter telling me this was all "very good news," and that "everything looked quite good." So even though my blood pressure meds were increased my cholesterol is doing pretty good. I always have to watch what I eat so I can keep these good numbers though. I have a family history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Now I have to wait on another test result and have one more appointment. But, I'm still pretty sure I'll need surgery. So I know that prayers will help me. So thank you for the prayers.
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I tried the new Eureka out today. It is so small and light! I felt like I was using a little kiddies vacuum. I was concerned that it wasn't picking up, then I discovered that a hose was out of place. Then it started working better. Hopefully this little thing will last for a while. But I didn't pay as much as I did for that Dirt Devil a few years back. I just love the way that vacuum manufactures make vacuum cleaners so light. Now, if only the ones at work were that light! It would be a joy to vacuum! Like vacuuming IS a joy! Not. :)
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J has an appointment in July too. We have to be on the east side of W town like before 9 AM. During morning rush hour...oh boy. We are hoping that the teachers can figure out how we can help J.

Our Shopping Adventure

I decided that we should rejoin Sam's Club as it had been a while since we had a membership.

So we applied for the card and we were planning to use it as I was looking for janitorial supplies for the church. So we told them "Yeah, we will use it today." We had the option to either pay for the membership at the service desk or at check out. We chose the check out. We were walking around the store and they didn't have any choices as far as vacuum cleaners went. Then we went to the paper goods aisle. There was a lot of paper plates for like $12.50 and I say to L, "Hey we need some of these." And he's looking at me like, not that much. So he shakes his head "no."

Then we went the janitorial supplies. I was looking for singlefold white or bleached towels and all they carried was the ugly brown stuff. Sure it was cheap enough, but I wanted to make a change at church and everyone is getting sick of these brown towels (it looks so grade-schoolish). Well, we concluded the only way we could get a change to white towels was to purchase new paper towel dispensers for C-fold or Multifold (the smaller towels). Again, it was a frustrating no. I picked up some glad trash bags for the house at $12, you would get like 135 bags. And put them in the cart.

We continued to look down the aisles for products that we wanted and didn't see many choices. Finally we get to the end of the store and all I've got is this box of Glad Trash Bags.

L doesn't want a Sam's membership afterall. So we left our cart in an aisle, walked out of the store and left. Sam's is good if you like to buy in bulk but we don't.

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I finally bought another vacuum cleaner tonight at Best Buy. After the Dirt Devil bit the dust and borrowing a vac once a week, I found the replacement vac. We got a Eureka Maxima. I have yet to try it out. But boy that's a noisy little thing. It's lightweight. The price was right too. It was cheaper than the old Dirt Devil. I'll let you know how it sucks up later. :)

Shaq's Big Challenge

Shaquille O'Neal is helping these morbidly obese children lose weight. He had them going through the hoopes such as doing the "Presidential Fitness Challenge," which they failed miserably; then he had them go to a doctor showing how overweight they were; then he opened a gym for the kids to work out in. He hired a nutritionist to help them with their eating as well.

Well, Shaq had to be gone for a while and he had written what these kids needed to do when he was gone. Most of the kids didn't show up and some even lied that they completed a certain task when in fact they didn't do it. Shaq's personal trainer spied on the kids and reported back to him.

Next week Shaq is going to get tough with the kids. Because nobody likes getting lied to and these kids really need to lose weight or they will die an early death.



It's a good show to watch, it's on Tuesday night at 8:00 PM

NBA Draft

We will be watching the NBA draft on Thursday. We all are hoping that Julian Wright (formerly from KU) will get a pretty good draft pick. I heard that he could go anywhere between number 8-16.

It's between Odin and Durant who will be number 1. The Portland Trailblazers get the first pick. Too bad Julian Wright won't be a number 1 draft pick. We would love to have him play for the Blazers. Raef LaFrentz, a former KU player, plays out in Portland. Also Kevin Pritchard, the General Manager for Portland is also a former KU player.

I wonder which team will like Julian Wright? Perhaps he will get to play for the Chicago Bulls with Kirk Hinrich (another former KU player). Wright is from Chicago so he would be playing in front of his "hometown."

Wherever he goes...good luck to him! :)

Oregon State Beavers Baseball

My family are big basketball fans. But, growing up my family were even bigger baseball fans.
I would always be going to baseball games when my brother played ball. From little league to American Legion to semi-pro baseball teams in W town, I was there cheering my brother's team on.

My nephew, who lives in Oregon, used to play baseball for the Oregon State Beavers. In fact, Pat Casey, his former coach, was at his wedding about 5 years ago. My nephew is a teacher and a baseball coach in Oregon as well. Last year one of his former players, was a pitcher (Kevin Gunderson) for the Beavers at the College World Series. Last year the Beavers won the CWS the for the first time.

Well now, Oregon State has done it again. They beat UNC Tarheels tonight, 9-3. Oregon State, was an unranked team, had a bad record, but made an appearance in the tournament thanks to the baseball selection committee. They had an excellent win record in Omaha. They won all of their tournament games.

Way to go Beavers!!

Internet Discretion

As most people know (anyway around church) I run the website for my church. I put on prayer concerns, news about the church, and general knowledge items.

I use discretion as much as possible. I do not put down when and where a person is going on vacation; the church's budget information or how many went to church the previous Sunday. If there is someone in a bad situation, I don't put their location just to broadcast it. No. I am pretty sure I put down what is needed and what is not needed on the prayer concerns.

One particular individual has came up to me several times not to give details about their situation. I think she must think prayer concerns is equal to a gossip page. It is not. I add information about people who need prayer. Even I have concerns regarding my family and I don't broadcast it over the Internet. What makes her think that I would do that to her or anyone?

I appreciate the people who have not griped at me. I guess they trust me. That's a nice vote of confidence. Unfortunately this individual who has to tell me not to do something doesn't know me very well or they have a general distrust in people. I do have morals and I won't divulge any information that I feel would be an invasion of privacy. Remember I work for a church and I'm not that type of person who would broadcast every little detail about someone over the Internet.

It starts with faith and trust.

Evan Almighty

We went to a movie today at the W in W town. I saw the previews and really wanted to go. J said I wanted to see Steve Carell and hear "Rock the Boat." Well, the song "Rock the Boat," never played. But several other songs did play such as "Waiting on the World to Change," by John Mayer.

Evan Baxter was a newsman, turned congressman who wanted to make a change. The family moved to a suburb in Washington D.C. He had promised his sons that they would do something together, but when he returned home he was assigned to read a huge piece of legislation and his kids were disappointed again. His wife was hoping things would change. So he prayed to God that he could help change the world somehow.

Evan's clock would always go off at 6: 14, even though he had it set for 7 AM. God appeared to Evan and he didn't want to do as God wanted him to do which was to build an ark. So throughout the day the thought of Gen 6:14 would always appear to him. Once God got Evan's attention then he did as God told him to do.

Everyone including his family thought that he was crazy. He actually talked to God and God answered back. Evan's appearance was changing as well. People thought he had gone over the edge.

So this modern day Noah, in the form of Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) built an ark.

It was a very funny movie at the end. It had a good message. Often times, you don't see a movie like this. In my opinion, it was refreshing. I would at least rate it a B plus. It was a good one! :)

Appointments R Us!

This is how we've been spending our summer vacation by going to various doctor appointments.

We are scheduled for doctor/orthodontist/speech for the next three weeks. What a way to spend a summer vacation!! Who knows what other appointments we may be scheduled for after that. Whew!!

Between that time we are managing a movie trip and a college visit. This summer has flown by all ready.

I counted up the weeks until school (kid's love knowing this fact, NOT) and there is 9 weeks left until school starts up again!!! Only 9 weeks!!! So of course, sometime before those 9 weeks end we will have to go school clothes shopping and school supply shopping. When we've been on vacation before we can look at the different states to see what stuff they carry (clothes and school stuff). This year we are probably not going out of state....price of gas, paying for appointments, etc.

Time flies when you're having fun. It hasn't been fun going to all these appointments. But maybe in July things will start to pick up!

The Wonder Years

ION television has been showing this old show Monday thru Friday from 9:00-10:00PM. S really likes this show because Kevin Arnold was going to junior high just like her. She could relate to some of the stuff he was going through. But in Kevin's time, it was supposed to take place in the late 60's and early 70's. Just about the same time when I went to junior high/high school.

"The Wonder Years," ran from 1988-93, only 6 seasons. It was a nice family oriented show, with no laugh track. It talked about things that happened 20 years previous....so the Wonder Years time line would be from 1968-1973. Sometimes they would reflect what was going on in the world, for instance Apollo 13. How people would pray that those men would be okay. Or they would deal with "hippies," or kid's living together and how the parents felt about it.

The last episode airs tomorrow night. I remember it well. The narrator, older Kevin, comes back to his hometown and talks about what happens to each of his close friend, Paul. Then he talks about his mother, his sister, his brother, and his dad. This episodes makes me cry!! Then he talks about Winnie and him and what happened to him.

It's a good show. Watch it if you can.

Waiting for Results

Waiting for test results can be tedious at best! You tell yourself you are not worried, but actually you probably are.

Today I was in for a test and it was taking forever! Or so it seemed. I did the test then we had to do it over again, like a couple of times. UGH!! Ladies, you know about the vice machine test, right? That one, yep. They tell you not to breathe...who could? The x-ray person reminded me of someone from church...so that helped. Finally after three take overs she was done and now I had to wait for the results. There were three boring magazines in the rack. So I looked over each of them carefully. Sigh! No results. Then I picked up another magazine and started playing with the stickers, as apparently the person before me did. That kept my mind off of things. Then I started thinking about someone I knew when we were kids growing up, who had died of cancer and she was a couple years younger than me. No...I didn't want to go there. Things were probably fine.

Finally, the x-ray tech came back and I had to go to yet another waiting room. Well, by this time I was bored and knew this was taking kind of long. I started texting S in the other waiting room. Finally she answered and we started having a conversation. Then my name was called and the other technician looked like my old vet's wife. I layed there on the table and watched the clock...it was 18:88. I kept watching it. It never moved off those numbers. Probably a good thing, because it would drive me crazy to know how many minutes I was waiting for this test to start and end.

She took pictures...this test much easier than the vice test. After a few minutes I was okayed to go.

The family, meanwhile. were going bonkers. They could only take so much looking at the big fish tank, or going to the hospital gift shop. When we were leaving, we turned to another hall and they saw the sign "Edy's," and they remarked, "If we would have seen that then we wouldn't have been bored."

LOL!! So they would have had fun at the hospital cafeteria! Guess I'll have to remind them that the next time!

Normal or Not?

I was in a Doctor's office last week and read an article in "Reader's Digest." "Are you Normal or Nuts?" http://www.rd.com/content/are-you-normal-or-nuts/

So I got to thinking about little things that makes me nuts. For instance, how do you wrap the cord up on a vacuum cleaner? Do you: a) wind it clockwise? b) wind it in a figure eight fashion
My answer is a. It just drives me crazy!!! when I find the vacuum cleaner at work and someone has wound it differently that me. I'm wondering am I normal or are they nuts? I just want to leave them a note, don't do this anymore!! Of course, then they would think I was nuts for leaving them the note in the first place.


Here's another example...am I normal or not? When at Wal-Mart I always pick up my plastic bag, place it in the cart and then help the checker open up the bags for the next round of groceries. Sometimes I wonder if that's normal??

Another example...when at Dillon's and there isn't any bag boys around, I begin to bag my own groceries instead of waiting for the clerk or bag guy to come over. Am I normal or nuts? As crazy as that sounds, I used to shop at Food 4 Less when I was single and always bagged/boxed my own groceries. What drives me nuts is when people just wait for the clerk to bag groceries and there are at least 3 or more people in line. Can't these people do their own??

When relatives mispronounce my first name and they've known me for what 19 years?? Okay, maybe when most people mispronounce it. I like my first name but just because it's spelled a certain way you don't prounounce it as such. I always think, "It's like the girl in the Br. Bu." I guess they never watched that show.

Think about it...do you have any that drives you nuts or are you completely normal?

Hmmm...

We went to the ENT doc in W town. A very nice young doctor and one we could talk to pretty well. We gave him papers from the school (about J's speech problems). He looked them over and J had a hearing test. He can hear perfect.

So hearing is not the problem. Then the doctor checked out his "problems" that the speech teacher thought was the problem of why he couldn't articulate. He told us that he was normal.
Hmmm...so now what? Why does J have articulation problems? Why has he plateaued?

The doctor asked how long J has had the speech teacher. So we said since pre-school. He recommended that we get a second opinion on his speech. That perhaps that J had not plateaued, but the teacher had.

Hmmm....! We apparently need to change teachers as his problem is fixable. We are considering doing a follow up with a speech teacher/therapist in W town. Either the ENT recommended person or the family doc recommended person.

Just maybe if we get a teacher for the rest of the summer...doing one-on-one speech therapy maybe we wouldn't have to go through the school anymore. Of course, it would cost (not sure about insurance), but maybe the new teacher would be able to improve J's speech.

When we had the meeting with the speech teacher, she offered to try with another one (IF that teacher could work him in). Now I am thinking if we got a new one in W town (depending how long it would take to improve him) we could just use that one.

BTW, the speech teacher wanted to know what the ENT doc had to say. Hmmm...? Should I tell her that he blames her (the speech teacher) for his non-improvement?

No. Just getting a new speech teacher and not accepting services through the school should give her a clue.

The Return

Four days ago we released in the "wild," or within the city limits of H town, this pester of a cat...which I call Mr. Pester. We let him off in the south part of town. My mom had told me that cat's can find their way "home." (Like our house was home!) Well, just like a bad penny, Mr. Pester returned this morning.

I couldn't believe it! There he was walking down the sidewalk with his annoying meow. So now I am thinking what will make this cat leave permanently. Eyeing a hose in the yard and calling Mr. Pester to come out into the yard, I turn on the water and begin to spray. I sprayed water on him or near him until he wanted to leave. (I know it's not nice.) But we didn't want that cat around here.

So Mr. Pester went across the street to the neighbors. It works for me. It's been nearly 2 hours without seeing/hearing him. But if he does return again, he will get a prize from our Hose department.

Life's little annoyances....

Error messages on the computer...especially when the DSL box starts flashing.

Too much rain...especially when we have flooding rains. When people's basements are so flooded they have to pump water out. Or when wheat growers want a good crop this year. Or when an elementary school is constantly flooding out and seeing sandbags become second nature.

Kids who are under 12 and call after 11:00 PM! I don't know where the parents of this kid is, but really get a clue!

Flies that swarm down on a dog's nose in the summer. The dog can't bat these pests away with their paws. Instead the flies have a feast.

Waiting to take turns using the computer while another family member is IM' ing, playing games, or blogging.

Updates

Kids are watching the Spurs/Cavs game tonight. At last they have found something to do! They are for the Cavs as LeBron James is their favorite player. But also three former KU players are on each team. Drew Gooden and Scot Pollard plays for the Cavs and Jacque Vaughn plays for the Spurs.
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We got rid of the annoying cat...the one outside, who I re-named as Mr. Pester. (We still have our Alpha indoor Cat). For more on the story, you'll have to ask Spike and Gloria what happened as they saw us! Hope the kitty found a good home and people who really wanted him, because we didn't. Everytime we would come out of the house the cat would scream..."MEOW!" Then rub up against us and the dog. Very friendly kitty who needed a home and hopefully he is with someone nice.
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We've been going to appointments one after the other. This week we had two appointments scheduled. Next week we have another two appointments and the last week of June we have one (so far). July, I have nothing schedule for appointments (but that probably will change this week!). We will probably be schedule with "Speech Camp," or "Camp Hospital." I don't know yet. Then before you know it, school will be back in session. The kids are NOT looking that far forward!
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Been hoping we will get to go to Texas (maybe on a weekend trip).

I'm supposed to see an old friend from my neighborhood who currently lives in California as she is coming back to Kansas for a wedding. But she will be pretty busy, so I doubt that I will see her. I haven't seen her in a couple of years. She moved to California when she was in the sixth grade. So we kept up with each other over the years by snail mail and now email. She's a good friend. It's funny we are the same age but she has grandchildren as old as my youngest! She got married young (at 16!) and I got married old (at 33).

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I can't imagine getting married that young! And I don't want S to get ideas either! ;)
I think there could be a happy medium between 18 and 30 something. But the timing as got to be right or it won't work out at all.

Kicking the Caffeine Habit

Since coming back from my doctor's last week, I was talking around that I hardly got any caffeine as I don't drink tea or coffee. But I do occasionally enjoy some chocolate (who doesn't?). Also with pizza, coke just taste better with it.

So during the family reunion my sister-in-law was telling me about an alternative to Coke. It was Caffeine Free Coke. I went to the store and saw Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Coke with Minerals, regular Coke, and then there it was in the gold cans, "Caffeine Free Coke."

It's not bad really. It taste a lot like the old Shasta Cola. It has the same stuff as the Coke Classic, except there is no caffeine. I checked the caffeine content in Diet Coke and it has more than even the Coke Classic. Also the caffeine content in Mountain Dew is pretty high (one of the highest in soft drinks). Even Orange Crush soda has it!! Hard to believe.

I think this product will help me kick the caffeine habit and maybe I can be a little more healthier.

The Fasting Test went Slow

All night long I had nothing but water. Even in my dreams I was thinking of food. I was worried that I would get up and eat something but I couldn't. I was going in for a fasting blood sugar test.

I packed a snack so I could eat right after the test because I knew I was going to be starved...as I already was! I get there just before 8 and there are a few (like 7 people in front of me). I'm thinking surely they all are not needing lab work. Surely they were! I get to the reception desk and she tells me to take a seat. I'm about to crawl the walls because I have now fasted for over 12 hours and it was getting to me. So I wait like five minutes (or it seemed like it) and went back to the desk. I ask, "Hey can I just go back into the lab now?"

The receptionist, said very calmly, "Come over here and take a seat." So we have to do paper work. Insurance card, employment, etc. I am beginning to eye the kleenex and wonder about gnawing on some paper! (I know that sounds sick, but mind you I wanted to eat!). We get the paper work done and there are at least 3 people ahead of me. I start eyeing the cushion and wished someone had hidden some food. Then I start to calm myself and think, "Well, the test ought to turn out pretty good as I hadn't eaten since 7:00 PM the previous day and it was going on 9 AM!"

I start thinking about place to eat biscuits and gravy or cheerios, just anything within reason. Then I'm think this is a lesson in patience and I'm failing miserably.

They ask me why I am having these test (diabetes, cholesterol, etc.) done...and I reply it's an age thing. So getting my blood syphoned out was nothing! I've been a human pin cushion before. Finally I could leave and eat my snack.

Meanwhile, I have had NO patience today. Frustrated over computer errors and kids needing to go outside. Everything and anything gets on my nerves!! GRRROWL!!

I hope tomorrow will be a better day!

Fasting in progress

Well I am fasting because I have a fasting blood sugar test tomorrow. I am hoping that this test will not show any abnormalities.

I've had enough to deal after that disappointing doctor's appointment.

People asks us where we are going on vacation this summer. I'm thinking "Camp Hospital," and for J "Speech Camp."

Our vacation will probably take place in October---December. Planning to go to KU basketball games, if we can score some tickets!!

Family Reunion

Well we had our first B family reunion. Not all of us got to come for the reunion. Some people were inlaw relatives, but nonetheless nice to see them.

We were missing one grandson from North Carolina, the wife had broken her wrist and couldn't travel. So they stayed back in NC. Then we missed a wife of a grandson from Colorado, she was feeling uncomfortable and pregnant. So technically we missed 5 people. There was a total of 17 B family (inlaws included). We also had inlaw relatives, a total of 8 people. So there was 25 of us having lunch on Saturday. They talked with the grandparents as they are getting close to 100 years old. The planners (a granddaughter and her mom) thought the reunion should take place as the only time people gathered together were at funerals. This was a much more upbeat gathering.

We had fun hanging out with everyone. S had a cousin almost 2 years older than her there. J had no one his age as the family from NC couldn't be there.

I really had a good time, even though it was L's family. But I realized what a nice family that I married into! :)

Environmental factors

Now I am worried (heck, I think I was born to worry) about my neighbor's smoke stack. Granted it's not running this summer but I have to put up with it in the winter. Smoke billowing over the house and the smell of it permeates the walls in the house. I know I've blogged over this before....but regarding my health problems, I hope that this stuff isn't slowly worsening my health problems.

There are several solutions to this problem. The neighbors could heat their house like everyone else and take this stack down. We could move into another neighborhood. They could move away and take the smoke stack with them. Or we could possibly put siding on the house. The important thing is that we've lived here longer and never had problems until they set up the stack. Why do we have to correct what they've done? S doesn't want us to move, at least not for another 4 years. I wish there was an easy solution to the problem. But there's not.

Just my age and health!

Or I could have said just my luck!

Well I went to the doctor today and I found out I do need minor surgery. Darn, I hate it when I'm right! I was doctoring my symptoms via the Internet and guessed what my diagnosis was. So, I have to go to a specialist and find out what my options are. Thankfully, it is not life threatening. It's more an age problem if anything and somewhat a common surgery.

Then I was he noticed my throat was irritated...I just got over (or still trying to get over) the allergies that I've had for a week. He switched meds on me and now I get to take an allergy med with a decongestant in it. Normally, you can't take this kind of med because it raises blood pressure slightly.

So naturally when I was there he took my blood pressure and it was elevated too!! UGH!! What problems do I have? Health problems....so instead of taking my wimpy 5 mg. he upped to 20 mg!! on my BP meds. I may get to cut it back to 10 mg., if I get my bp taken and it is within normal range. It's just my genetics. High bp runs in my family.

Then I have to get a fasting blood sugar to make sure I am not diabetic or cholesterol is not giving me problems. Yep, high cholesterol runs high in my family too.

Then finally I have another test to take just to make sure everything is hunky-dorry.

So it just wasn't my day today.
But you know what? It could have been a lot worse.

Millions of Cats

Remember that book? Well...today I felt it was like "Millions of Cats," around here. Okay, maybe we didn't have a million cats....but still!!

This afternoon I opened my door and saw this cat laying on the sidewalk. I say to S, "That was the cat that was here this morning right? Because I didn't remember if this cat had white paws." S said, "Yeah, I think." So we hear a meow. It wasn't from the cat laying down on the sidewalk it was the cat we made friends with earlier. We now had two cats! Cat one was growling at cat two. So I said, "Whatever. You two can duke it out and decide who wants to stay. But I really don't want anymore cats." I closed the door and went in the house. About 10 minutes later I decided to check who won and they were both gone.

Good! Hopefully for good! We still have our one indoor cat and that's all we want!

We've been adopted!!

Yesterday a stray cat was curled up on our porch in front. I approached it and it had a low meow. I was thinking, "Yuk, this cat is mad."

So the cat ran quickly over to my neighbor's flower area and meowed at me. I was encouraging the dogs to bark it out of the yard. But then I knelt down and the kitty purred. He was in need of some love. By then S came out and saw him. No matter where we sat this cat would sit on our lap, purring and loving us. The cat was starved for love and food. We fed him. Cardinal rule number one, if you want a stray to leave do not feed him! So we violated that rule...oops! We opened the door and our indoor cat looked at the outdoor cat. In the evening, we didn't see the outdoor cat anymore.

Until....this morning! Poor little thing was curled up. So what did I do? Violated Cardinal rule number one again!! I fed him and left him alone. He didn't want to be alone. So he followed me to the backyard and saw our number one pet, our dog. So he had a "tango" with our dog. Well, when the animals don't get along with each other, the one that's not supposed to be here leaves. So I picked up the stray (which by now we called RussRob) and tossed him over the fence.

Cardinal rule number 2...never name a stray! We broke that rule too. Later one RR made friends with the dog and vice versa. So again the cat was making himself at home and wanted to come in the house. Nope, not going to happen!

S checked her clothes and saw a small tick. We figured it belonged to RR which we've now changed his name to JR (as in JR Giddings).

I liked to see this cat go on his merry way. That's the trouble with outdoor cats...stray bugs and pests. I think we need to be unadopted!

Updates

I can breathe today!! Finally I had a good night's sleep, although I could probably take a nap this afternoon (and not in the sun!). You don't know how much you appreciate breathing after having allergies all weekend long. I look at my grass and wonder if S would want to mow it.
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I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday. My 52,000 miles check up. Same old routine, taking my blood pressure, my doctor telling me I need to lose weight, etc. I will have a blood test done. Hopefully I'm not diabetic and my cholesterol will be okay. I don't want to go down the merry road as my mom and brother has to take meds for that. But if I do, I'll blame it on genetics, like always. I do have a concern that I won't disclose. But I just pray it will be easy to go through. I'm almost certain I'll have to get minor surgery done. But if it has to be done, then I'll have to have it. Either that or let it get worse. Just keep me in your prayers.
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J is in basketball camp this week. Not many kids but I figure he is getting some good one on one attention. He likes basketball so much (it's his only sport, so far) that I'll send him to any camp. Someday when he gets older we could send him to the Bill Self camp. I know he would love that!! But it's pretty costly and we would either have to spend a week in Lawrence (which wouldn't be hard) but again expensive.
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Still thinking about the beautiful wedding this past Saturday. The fireworks were a nice touch.
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Friends are good when they offer advice to cheer you up! I still think about the saying "Consider the source," and with that things that bug me can roll off my back.

The Garage Sales

Yesterday me and L went to three garage sales in our town. They had several items for sale, that I had in my possession. We found stoneware (which we have since donated) from a grocery store; old books; an old baby carriage (I wonder if that got sold?) and then we ran onto these milk bottles and telephone insulators, made of glass and were a nice shade of green/turquoise. We bought a lot of those items.

Now some people would consider these items as not valuable. But when I saw the glass telephone insulators, I couldn't help but think of my dad. He used to be a lineman for the telephone company. Then the milk bottles, were something that no one has (at least no one I know) ...milk delivery. I can remember growing up when we had milk delivered...I can't believe I'm THAT old!

We also looked at the people's pets. L and D's cats were just so nice, unlike my Sasha. I mean, Sasha is okay, but he's not overly friendly or affectionate. Then we saw B and B's black Bouvier's des Flanders. Those dogs were the friendliest and they stayed put in their yard. I would talk to them and they would wag their tails. Such nice dogs. My dog is nice too, but I was just impressed with these two dogs. I think I'll be getting one of those kinds of dogs in my future! :)

What a Beautiful Wedding!

Tonight was the wedding of J and L! It was such a pretty setting!

We parked the car way far away from P and J's house. It seemed that we were walking for miles! I wished that we had brought a flashlight so we could find our car in the dark. Thankfully, we parked behind a little white car (thank you Mr. P, "S" new principal). As we walked we heard bagpipes in the distance. It was so nice! When we got into the yard it was some line and we weren't even last. We thought we would get to the wedding "early.." hardly!! We should have arrived at least an hour before to get a good seat. I had a better seat that the bride's uncle...go figure! He should have been closer to the front but he wasn't.

We saw a lot of church people and a lot of school people. I saw P and J's laid back dog, who didn't flinch when people walked by. He just layed there sleeping like he had done this before. My dog would have at least licked everyone's hand and begged them to pat her. But not this dog!

When we got closer we noticed that all the guests had their pictures snapped after signing the guest book. That was different! The gifts for J and L were in an old wagon. I took the ushers arm as he offered it and was seated on the grooms side. I think it was pretty much open seating.

We waited a few more minutes (past sunset) for all the guests to be seated. The guitar music was pretty played by a cousin of the groom. The ceremony that our Pastor conducted was great!! He had a message about Noah's Ark and seeing the rainbow. (For some reason, I kept picturing the movie "Evan Almighty," and couldn't shake that image out at all! ) :) But then, I got back on track when the Pastor talked about things...such as my own wedding.

While J was doing his vows, the peacocks in the background start "talking." It was a very solemn moment when J was saying his vows. The peacocks broke the tension of the moment.

After the ceremony, the couple went row by row thanking their guests for their presence. Then the guests waited in line talking with the father and mother of the bride and the groom. We walked down a little ways and saw pictures of J and L when they were kids. Then there was a big spread of tables and a band.

We didn't sit around on the tables as we didn't see anyone to sit with. So we went over to the ice cream people's table (which was smart) and talked with them.

J and L did their cake thing and toast. Then J's sis and bro talked about the couple. After that, fireworks were shot up in the air. It was gorgeous!!! I had never seen fireworks at a wedding before. (Also surprised that my J didn't flinch when they went off...since he's sensitive to noise).
The bride said to start eating and so we went backwards and got ice cream first and the kids got a cupcake to go. We didn't stay for the dance...flute will have to fill me in on that.

We finally found our car and went back home. Then once we got home, someone forgot to close the gate and the dog escaped! Thankfully she came home willingly when we called for her and she was back in the house. What a night!

What a beautiful wedding!! My best to J and L...may your lives be blessed!

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While at the wedding, I kept looking for P's brother as I went to college with him at the H town. Either he wasn't there, or I no longer recognize him.

Something about the night air...I am completely stuffed up. Nothing like allergies!

Rambling thoughts....

Northing like having, a sore throat, coughing, and laryngitis! I think I picked up my friend's "flute's" sickness over the Internet! (JK!)

This kind of stuff usually hits me in the fall and winter. But here it is the first of June and I've got it. I've already downed a Claritin and I'm going to load up on the orange juice. And, if you can believe it, I'm resting my voice. Ha! Okay, a little resting it. Using it only to talk to the cat, the dog, my son, and scream at a huge black spider.

I'm no stranger to laryngitis. I always seem to have that. I used to get it bad when I worked for the telephone company as an operator. The doctor would tell me not to use it and yet the phone company said I had to. So I took disability for a whole week. If I was smart back then, I should have taken it for a whole month! But no, when my week was up I was back on the job. I know a friend of mine who would take disability at the drop of a hat and she got by with it! Lucky girl. But the management liked her.
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Because of the weather last night, I couldn't settle down until late. I was thinking about "S" and wondered if she was in her tonado shelter at camp, or wondered about how she liked sweat camp, and wished she could text message me. But I couldn't. I told her to leave the phone at home (camp policy, not to take electronic devices). So I'm sure that when she is done with camp she will want to get in contact with the rest of her world.
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There is an outdoor wedding tomorrow at sunset. If the weather holds out it should be beautiful. I'm planning on going that is if this cough doesn't ruin their wedding. I think I'll hang out in the back! :) Good luck to J and L!