About blogging

I have enjoyed blogging, although I often forget to do it.  I think I will continue to blog here even after class is finished.  It's a good outlet for creativity or emotion.

Decisions, decisions

Sometimes, the hardest decisions in life are actually the easiest ones.  The evidence is right there in front of you.  You know what you need to do.  It is the process of moving forward with that decision that is so hard.

Cat-Dog

Do any of you remember the cartoon CatDog. One end cat, the other end dog?  Well, I don't have the two ends like that, but I do have a cat who thinks he's a dog.  He is a 20-month old Maine Coon, weighing over 15 lbs.  I have to have baby locks on my cupboard doors or he gets in them and drags stuff out.  One day, he helped himself to a bag of marshmallows and brought them in on my bed.  Guess he thought I needed sweetening up!  There was another time when he grabbed a bag of rice and tore it open and had rice all over the floor!  Toilet paper and paper towels are, I believe, his favorite toys.  Got to keep them locked up too.  If you throw something, he will fetch it.  He won't bring it back, but he does love to run after anything you want to throw.  If he wants your attention he will stand up on his back legs and paw at you with his front paws.  When I go to bed at night he will jump up behind me and paw at the blankets until he can get under them.  His name is Teddy, but I wonder if I should call him Dog?  Or maybe CatDog?

Sense

Think of a warm, sunny spring day.  You can hear the birds singing, the frogs croaking, crickets chirping.  Watching the trees and the grass gradually becoming more and more green as the days go by.  You can feel the warmth of the sun and the soft kiss of the breeze on your face.  You can smell the fresh cut grass that the neighbor is mowing.  The taste of a Dairy Queen Dilly Bar tells you that spring really is finally hear! 

A remembered conversation

     I received a text from my daughter: "Mom, I've taken 3 tests and they were all positive!  How do I tell Dad?" 

     I immediately dialed her number and asked "Why are you telling my about this in a text!  You call me with this kind of news!"

     "I'm sorry, Mom" she replied.  "But I'm scared to tell Dad!"

     "Just tell him.  He won't be mad."

     "Will you tell him for me?" she asked.

     "Okay.  Hand him the phone." I reply.

     My husband gets on the phone.  Confused and curious, he asks "What's going on?"

    I chuckle and say "Looks like we're going to be Grandma and Grandpa!"

Classified Story Sketch

A man places an ad in the local newspaper as a handyman.  He advertises himself as a 'Spare Husband'.  Once he gets a woman to set up an appointment with him, he goes to her house to scout out her situation.  If he finds that she lives alone, he goes back in the middle of the night and rapes and murders her.  He has killed four women before the police are able to pin the murders on him.  He gets into a shootout with the cops, killing two of them before being killed himself.

Itchy feet

I hate itchy feet!!  If you try to scratch them all you succeed in doing is tickling them!  Which in turn just makes them more itchy!  Depending on the cause of the itching, it will oftentimes help to lotion them good.  If the cause of the itching is dry feet, a little lotion will do a world of good!  If the cause of the itch is a fungal infection such as athlete's foot, then Lotromin will probably do the most good.  So, if you have itchy feet, try one of the above solutions and hopefully you will come out itch free!

100 things I like, 100 things I hate

100 things I like 100 things I hate…Really?  Are you serious?  Ok..here we go!

100 things I like:

1)  my new granddaughter, Aurora  2) my daughter, Becki  3) my husband, Jeff  4) my stepson, Jeff Jr.  5) my daughter-in-law, Danielle  6) my step-grandson, Cameron  7) my step-daughter, Alana 8) my step-granddaughter, Mariah  9) my dad  10) my mom  11) my sister, Ruth 12)my brother Kenny 13) my brother, Duane 14) my brother-in-law Chris 15) my sister-in-law Kerry 16) my brother’s girlfriend, Laurie 17) my birth mom, Noni  18) my friends 19) the rest of my relatives not already mentioned  20) my friends  21) my dog Butch 22)  my dog Lady  23) my cat Teddy 23) tequila  25) crab  26) clam strips  27) shrimp  28)lobster 29)  clam chowder  30) cake  31)  brownies  32) biscuits and gravy   33) roast beef  34) cheeseburgers  35) mozzarella sticks  36)  ice cream  37)  sunny days  38) thunderstorms  39) gentle snow fall  40) snow days  41) country music   42)  drives through the game preserve  43)  spotting eagles  44)  watching deer in a field (as long as they are not running across the road!)  45)  reading a good book  46) fishing  47)  holiday meals with family  48)  playing skip-bo  49)  playing pinochle  50) playing cribbage  51) playing Mexican rummy  52) playing yahtzee  53)  playing mahjong  54)  the colors of the trees in the fall   55)  the green of the trees in spring  56)  teddy bear figurines  57) stuffed teddy bears  58)  country drives  59)  my freedom   60)  my country   61)  a good back rub  62)  my sandals, even though they are worn out  63)  the color purple  64)  rainbows  65)  curling up on the couch with a snuggly blanket  66)  hugs  67)  puppies  68)  kittens  69)  horses  70) school  71)  writing  72)  cozy slippers  73)  The Green Mile  74)  Marley and Me  75)  Louis La’Mour booksn  76)  James Patterson books  77)  Maximum Ride books  78)  mountains  79)  Lake Tahoe  80) Mt. Shasta  81)  traveling  82)  flying in an airplane  The following TV shows:  83)  House   84)  Law & Order: SVU    85)  NCIS   86)  Psych  87)  Wheel of Fortune  88)  Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?  89)  Family Feud  90)  Lilacs!!  91)  Roses  92)  The south in the winter  93)  The north in the summer  94)  beautiful sunrises  95) beautiful sunsets  96)  swimming  97) chocolate  98)  northern lights  99)  a full moon on a clear night  100)  stars in the sky on a clear night

100 things I hate:

1) drunks 2) know-it-alls  3)  pictures of myself  4) North Carolina in summer  5)  Arizona in summer  6) hot and humid weather  7)  men with 1 track minds  8) sick humor  9)  bad jokes  10) idiots  11)  stupidity  12)  bad English  13)  people who are full of themselves  14)  people who think they are the only one that matters  15) car trouble  16)  people who whine  17)  people who laugh at serious matters  18)  being in the hospital  19)  being an hour away from my granddaughter  20)  people who pressure me  21)  skinny people   22)  child abusers  23) rapists  24) murderers  25)  bill collectors  26)  telemarketers  27)  taxes  28) politics  29)  paparazzi  30)  people who think they have to be in other people’s business  28)  gossip  29)  tornados  30)  angry people  31) mustard  32) onions 33)  peppers  34)  Chinese food  35) mushrooms  36) vegetables on pizza  37)  mosquitos  38) deer flies  39)  horse flies  40)  sauerkraut  41)  corned beef  42)  green olives  43)  bright pink nail polish  44)  bright pink lipstick  45)  guilt trips  46) depression  47)  liars  48)  cheaters  49)   not knowing why  50)  stress  51)  moving  52)  packing to move  53) gas prices  54)  cigarette prices  55)  car trouble  56) paying bills  57)  high medical bills  58)  flat tires   59)  icy roads  60)  below zero weather  61)  lawyers  62)  doctors  63)  rap music   64)  heavy metal music  65)  Ed, Edd, & Eddy  66)  The Simpson’s  67)  Family Guy  68)  reality shows   69)  lazy people  70)  having to come up with 100 things that I like and 100 things that I hate  71)  cooking for myself   72)  shedding pets   73)  when things go wrong  74)  sick family members  75)  not measuring up  76)  aches & pains  77)  being sick  78)  doing laundry   79)  cleaning house  80)  doing dishes  81)  losing things  82)  losing money   83)  losing at the casino  84)  lack of air conditioning on hot days   85)  getting to know people  86)  saying what I’m really thinking  87)  being used  88)  being ignored  89)  getting old  90)  macaroni salad  91)  potato salad  92)  skunks  93)  mice  94)  rats  95)  messy house  96)  spoiled milk  97)  moldy bread  98)  my step-son and his kids being in England  99)  dry skin  100) hang nails

 

 

A favorite memory

Back in the mid to late 80's I was a traveling K-Mart photographer on the west coast.  I would travel from Los Angeles, CA to Seattle, WA, taking kids portraits.  I did this for about 3 years and have a lot of stories from those adventures.  My favorite one of all time was at the K-Mart store in Red Bluff, CA.  A potential customer called and asked if we did portraits of animals.  Well, I had done many cats and dogs, so just informed the customer that he would need management approval to bring the animal into the store.  It was NEVER mentioned what kind of animal he was talking about.  The next morning the store manager came up to me and asked if I was ready to take pictures of my horse!!  I wish somebody had been there to get a picture of the look on my face!  I'm sure my jaw must have dropped to the floor!!  I was speechless and dumfounded!!  Once I finally picked my jaw up off the floor, I asked him what in the hell he was talking about.  Sure enough, the animal that the customer had asked about was, indeed, a horse.  These idiot people brought that poor horse, slipping and sliding all over on the tile floor, through K-Mart to my studio!  From that point on, I ALWAYS asked what kind of animal the customer wanted pictures of!  And no, I don't think the pictures even turned out.  My camera was not intended to film that large of an animal!

Favorite Quote

I think my favorite quote is "I'm alright, the world's all wrong!"  I have no clue who originally penned this nifty little quote, but it is one that I definitely like.  When things seem all topsy-turvy and life just doesn't want to go where I think it should I just remind myself that I am alright.  And really, the world is all wrong!  Or at least there are a lot of things about it that are!

A little quiet amid a lot of excitement

It has been a busy, exciting few weeks and I have forgotten to blog during this time.  Shame on me!  The most exiting news is that I have a brand new granddaughter!  Aurora Rose King was born on February 26, 2013 at 8:08pm!  Although very exciting, it was more than a little scary.  During labor, baby's heart rate would drop and then come back up when mom changed position.  They finally decided they needed to go ahead and do an emergency c-section.  We are so happy that they made that decision as the umbilical cord was wrapped around Aurora's neck twice!  She probably would not have survived a normal birth and if she did, she probably would have had some brain damage.

If that wasn't bad enough, the night before they were supposed to come home her heart rate dropped to 60.  A newborn's heart rate is normally 130-160.  They did not bring her to my daughter at all that night.  Her doctor, however, stayed with her all night, running tests, consulting with cardiologists both here and at Children's Hospital.  Two pediatricians took a look at her in the morning.  The consensus was that there was no heart trouble.  Some babies, although rare, just have a slower heart rate.  Personally, we think that the vicodin that my daughter was taking while breast feeding slowed her down.  Of course, her doctor won't admit to that.  Oh well.  Everything is ok now.

Aurora is growing like a weed.  She was 7 lbs at birth and is now, at 2 1/2 weeks at 9 lbs.  I am definitely looking forward to watching our little girl grow and blossom!

Oh! The excitement!

What are the scariest words one can hear during a blizzard such as we had this weekend?  From my daughter, who is pregnant with her first baby and lives an hour away - "Mom, I'm in labor"!!!  Fortunately it was still daylight.  She and her fiance made their way here slowly, the normal 1 hour drive took 2 hours.  They made it here safely and we sat around talking and playing cards, waiting for things to move along.  By about 7:30, the pains were about 5 1/2 minutes apart so we decided to go ahead and bring her in.  We got to the hospital and they hooked her up to monitors and did lab work.  After being there about a half hour they finally checked to see how far she was dialated.  Oh the excitement was mounting! We went outside (in the storm) to have a cigarette while they checked her.  I got back to the room, anxious to see how things were progressing.  "How far are you dialated?" I asked.  My daughter held up a single fiinger!  "One? Are you serious?"  We were all disappointed.  The nurse talked to the doctor and they decided to send her on home with the advice that she can stay dialated at 1cm and have labor pains on and off for 1, 2, or even 3 weeks!  In the back of my mind I had suspected as much.  After the fact, I thought that the pains weren'tt bad enough to be real. Oh, well.  It was a good practice run.  Even with the weather and the roads as bad as they were, everything turned out ok.  Hopefully next time wil be the real thing!

Not so great!

Ahhh!  We all say "Yeah!!! It's Friday!!!" as if it's such a special thing.  I promise, it really isn't that great!  It didn't start out that bad.  I had a girl's night out with my daughter doing girl things..nails, dinner, a movie, shopping.  It just managed to go all downhill from there.  Let's just say that I'm glad it's over!  Yet I wish I had another day or two before I have to go back to classes!  No such luck!

Blogasize

1. Link to the person who taggeMyd you

2. Post these rules on your blog

3. Tell about your six quirks, see below.

4. Tag three bloggers to do the same

5. Leave them a comment to let them know you’ve tagged them


My six quirks:

1.  I strongly believe that nobody knows everything and there is no such thing as perfect.

2..  Toilet paper has to go over the top in front of the roll.

3.  I hate when people leave empty boxes in the cupboard.

4.  I hate when people leave cupboard doors open.

5.  I hate onions, but I love onion rings; hate tomatos, but like tomato ketchup.

6.  I play Mahjong to relax.

Absolutely Amazing!!!

Wow! What an exciting week! At the ripe old age of 10 days I was adopted. That was 48 years ago. On January 15th, I found my biological family! My birth mom is living in Florida and, believe it or not, is working with the carnival! This is of particular interest since I met my husband when he worked for the carnival and I ran off with him/them. My birth mom is one of 12 children who grew up just an hour or so from where I grew up! I now have 2 younger sisters and a little brother (he is actually younger than my step-son), 11 aunts and uncles (one aunt is about 2 weeks younger than me and one passed away a couple of years ago), some nieces and nephews (not exactly sure just how many quite yet), and a load of cousins! According to my Uncle, I now have an additional 250 relatives! I actually got to meet my Uncle Billy and his wife Theresa on Saturday, which was so indescribably awesome! We are of Indian descent and Uncle Billy practices many of the old Indian ways, including making maple syrup and honey, raising rice, making things from birch bark, old Indian medicines amongst others. He is even considered a medicine man. His wife rescues neglected and abused cats. They currently have 11 furry sons and daughters. We are currently using Facebook and email as our primary form of communication, although there have been a couple very long phone calls between my birth mom and me. It is an amazing story of which I will undoubtedly write more.

Why I like to write...

I love to write!  It is a type of therapy for me.  I can say what I want or need to say without the fear of immediate reprisal.  I can put more thought into what I want to say by writing.  Speaking is too "spur of the moment".  You don't have time to think about what you want to say.  I am able to express myself, my thoughts, my ideas, my emotions.  I am able to be creative and exercise my imagination.  I am able to be me.