Saturday, December 27, 2008

How Was Your Christmas ?


I have to say that this was the most relaxing Christmas holiday I've ever had! We really didn't plan anything and yet we still got to visit with the family. Jake and I decided to just stay home. Mom came for a visit on Christmas Eve after she got off of work. We exchanged gifts. Then my son and his family stopped by on Christmas Day. I got a picture of my granddaughter, Her kindergarden picture. I didn't think I was getting one so I was surprised! My favorite gift was a photo I got from my daughter. It is a picture of my son and his daughter and son. Its really beautiful. I also got a print from my daughter that goes perfectly in my bedroom. My bedroom is decorated all in a victorian motif. The print is framed in a gold frame to match my other pictures in the room. I have to look at it again but I think its a Gaugan. Not an original of course, we're not rich!! The day after Christmas was really nice too. I went to work for a short time while my husband took my daughter to the mall. Glad it wasn't me! I work in a church and it's much more peaceful there!!! After that we went home and enjoyed a relaxing day at home. Kate helped me prepare dinner, which was really good. We baked pork chops, fried potatoes with onions and red and green peppers, and salad. It was all very good. That evening we watched "Hancock" with Will Smith. It wasn't too bad. Jake really liked it. I also rented "The Pursuit Of Happiness" which also has Will Smith in it. I think its a much better movie. We'll probably watch tonight or tomorrow night. I am going to post a photo of my husband and I with our grandkids Sarah and Jack.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Eve, Eve Day



Well wouldn't you know we have freezing rain this morning. I only had a few more things to buy for Christmas. It can wait until tomorrow. I just want everyone to be safe. I heard on the news there are cars sliding into ditches. I feel blessed that I don't have to leave the house today. My son has to drive in this today and I worry about him, but I know that he is a good driver,still accidents happen. I will call him later. My husband is trying to work his way home. He is an over the road trucker. He is supposed to be home today but after watching the news I am starting to feel doubtful. I just want him to make it home safely so we can all be together to celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I pray that everyone has a safe and warm holiday. Merry Christmas

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Jello Mold


I am soooooo excited! As I was walking my pretty pug Ruby this morning Behold , there in my driveway lay a copper colored jello mold! And my life will never be the same again. Well thats one ending. Probably the more interesting one. Truth is I have no idea where it came from, why it was there and why I was the one to find it. I have no experience with jello molds. I don't even like jello. Can you make jello desserts with a jello mold? You know, the kind with fruit and cool whip and what have you's in it? I'm feeling quite intimidated right now,I think I might need a Xanax. Thats not good either. If I did that i'd have no desire to even make any jello. Why would I want to make jello? Nobody has asked for it. I don't even know if my family likes it. I do know however that my youngest child used to steal jello. Yes thats right. When we would go to her grandma Marys' house, she would go in her cuboard and take a box of jello and hide it in my purse. Her Grandma knew what she was doing and always made sure there was jello in there for her to take.And now that I think about it, her Grandma could have been encouraging a future life of crime. What the hell kind of family does that? I just realized that I have about four boxes of jello in my pantry. How did they get there? I assure you it wasn't me that purchased them. I DON'T LIKE JELLO. So lets add this all up. I have a child who, years ago would steal jello from her own family. I have about four to five boxes of jello in my pantry. Which by the way, I have never thrown out. Why is that I wonder? And finally today, there it sat in all it's shiney, copper colored glory, A JELLO MOLD, in my driveway. What could this all possibly mean? I may never find out. Some things are just meant for us not to know. Oh did I mention that we share our driveway with our neighbor?

Thursday, December 18, 2008

I Hate Breakfast

Everymorning for the past thirty plus years, with the exception of being really,really sick or my husband on the occasional weekend, I have had to cook breakfast. It was rare that my children would eat a bowl of cereal. And toaster thingys just were never filling enough. So here I am again at 6:00 am time to cook another breakfast for my daughter. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I were actually hungry this early in the morning but I dought it. I'm happy with a sandwich. I think of all of this breakfast hullabaloo because I drempt about it last night. It was a dream about my mom and daughter,Kate. They kept wanting more and more sausage, bisquits and the like. By that time I was so exhaused from standing there cooking,I was starting to get hungry and there was no food left! What do you think this means? Time for me to end this. I have to go cook breakfast.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Jack And Corn

I'm currently babysitting for my grandson, Jack. Who at this moment is asleep.No thanks to me. He was not happy with me at all. I think it's because I couldn't watch him for awhile after my stroke. His dad had to come over and get him to go to sleep for me because all I made him do is cry! So he is asleep now and hopefully will wake up in a better mood. The following is a great receipe that I got from my mom, which went over very well at our churches "Christgiving" potluck dinner this past Sunday. " Corn Cassserole" 1-stick margarine,melted 1- cup sour cream 1-box Jiffy corn bread mix 1- can, undrained corn And 1-can,undrained creamed corn Mix all ingriedents together put into a 2- qt. greased casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. to an hour till crusty brown. Mine took over an hour, but it's easy to make and take along for a side dish. I must try to work out today as I missed yesterday.

Monday, December 15, 2008

SOOOOOOOOOOO COLD!!!!!!!!!!

You heard me right. It is exactly 18 frigid, bone chillin' degrees here this evening. I suppose it could be worse, I could be back in Chicago. Oh no I did not just say that.If I were back in Chicago,there would actually be something to do while you freeze your ass off!! Say La V!!!!!!!!!!!! The outside cat died tonight. Tabby. Poor thing. He's in kitty heaven now. Maybe it's warm there.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Hello ?

I'm back. I know it's been awhile , just haven't been much in the mood. Mood, thats the key word since I've had this stroke. The mood is usually down. I have been working on it. I've been keeping busy. I've been cleaning alot. All the walls in my kitchen are now grease free! I would love to crochet more than I have been, but between the Carpel Tunel and the artheritits I just can't do it as much as I'd like to. It really sucks to because there are so many gifts for christmas that I could be making. Right now I'm working on A scarf for myself to wear with my new coat. It's been very cold here. I need to get it done!!!! The smokeing vs. non-smokeing has been going o.k.. I'm on my thirteeneth smoke free day. I will say that I really don't think I could have done it without the patches. I still get craveings but they seem to be less and less each day. I have six more weeks to go on the patch. To be honest, So far I haven't noticed any difference as far as how I feel physically. And I still really miss it. Oh my, it is time for me to go. I must cook breakfast for my 13 year old. Next year, high school. I'm sleeping in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bye

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Smoke Free Day Eight

This not smoking really sucks. I was doing pretty good until my husband came home for Thanksgiving. He's been smoking outside (big deal) but he still smells like a cigarette. And all talk of him quitting has ceased. Yesterday he actually said he just had to have a cigarette while we were in the car. He put the windows down and the heat full blast for my conveinence . Gee thanks! Then later he actually made me go in the store to buy him more! What an asshole. And yes I told him he was being a rude and thoughtless jerk. I just waited until he was all relaxed and half asleep. My cravings aren't nearly as bad as they could be but when he's home it's just horrible for me. I have really been starting to question my quitting. I know I'm on my own with this and I can't expect everyone to go through what I am going through, I'm just really starting to question my own inner strenghth . I almost snuck one of his cigarettes last night but I didn't. I just went upstairs to my apt. and had a glass of wine. Then I went downstairs and told him off. We shall see how today goes. I am going to go to work for a few hours and get away. That usually does me good.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Happy Black Friday To All !!!

Well it is the infamous shopping day today. Will you be involved? Not me. I can not afford it this year but even if I could I actually hate shopping. I think that makes me an odd woman but I don't care. I do however love, love, love to shop in second hand stores. You've heard the saying " One Mans Junk Is Another Mans Treasure " ? Well thats very true in my case. I would say about 50% of my house is decorated and furnished second hand. I love the feeling of walking into a thrift store and not knowing what treasure your going to find. My favorite times to go are by myself and most definitely with my oldest daughter. She too can appreciate the whole experience. You can walk in and look around for an hour and find nothing. Or you can spend $5.00 and come out with a bag full of trinkets and/or clothing! I think that is one of our favorite things to do together. I lve in a small town but fortunatelly for me we have several thrift stores. Don't completely think that I don't like buying new. To me its just not as fun!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving !

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. Now, I know that the preparation can be well, exhausting for some. I used to be one of the some. I sure did love it though, when I was in my twenties and thirties and my energy level was much higher than now. Finding new recipes, decorating for the season, and my favorite glass of scotch in the kitchen when I would start to feel overwhelmed. Usually for me, I didn't have much of an appetite left after setting all the food on the table. But it always made me feel good when everyone enjoyed the meal and then my beautiful daughter Ginny would gift us with her wonderful rendition of " Albuquerque Is A Turkey" ! The last two years my wonderful daughter-in-law, Amy has been having the dinner at her and my son Franks house. Amy is a wonderful homemaker and a fabulous cook. I have to admit that I enjoy going to their house much more than having it at mine. What could be better than playing with my beautiful grandbabies while someone else cooks a delicious meal ? Oh Wait I just thought of it. Having my daughter Ginny home with us.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Day 5 Or 6 ?

Well I'm starting to forget how many days it's been since I last smoked. I will look to that as a good sign. No applause please . After I had that test Monday (TEE) I would have ripped a smoke out of someones hand if there had been someone smoking around me. From that moment on, even yesterday, I really wanted to smoke. I cleaned house all day. The cravings eased up eventually and I'm doing pretty good this morning. I did discover however while the instructions that came with the patches say you may have to remove the patch at night because of weird dreams, I had to take mine off at night because I couldn't sleep very well. Kept waking up,tossing and turning. Woke up at 2:00 a.m. and just started cleaning. Except for a few breaks I cleaned all day!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Day Three Smoke Free

Well I Figure when I stop counting the days I won't need to write about it anymore. And yes it is boring. Yesterday was not a good day for my husband. He has been useing the nicotine gum and says he can't stand it. He also has tried the patch in the past and says it makes him breakout. So he turned into a nasty creature from one of his video games! the bad part about that was that I was doing just fine. Oh I have my cravings here and there but I was in a happy place. It got to the point if he didn't go get some cigarettes we may possibly tried to kill each other. (not really, but it felt like it!) Anyway he sped off to the store and I didn't care. He smoked his cigarette and then was nice as pie. I am still fine and have not slipped. If I was going to slip it would have been yesterday morning when all the action was going on. Today will be an interesting day. I have to go and have a TEE test. Thats when they take a scope and insert it in your esphogus to look in your heart. they want to make sure there is no blood clot that may have caused my stroke. I just pray that this is my last hurdle

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Nicotine Free - Day Two

First I have to start by saying , the morning of day one really sucked! Silly me thought that the patch should start working instantly!!! I was really a wreck . Meanwhile my husband who is a truck driver and on his way home made the mistake of calling me. Lets just say I wasn't my normally sweet self! But in his infinite wisdom he reminded me that I had a perscription for Xanax and that I should take one. I took two. And you know he was right as usual . Thats when I discovered that the patch takes some time to work through your system. It seems to be working fairly well. Yes I still want to smoke but the cravings are not nearly as severe as without. My husband ( yes he's quitting with me) Is doing the gum route. I think he's haveing a bit of trouble this morning. You can't chew a piece and drink coffee at the same time or it can make you sick. We'll see how his day progressess. He did surprisingly well yesterday and I was very proud of him.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

I just woke up, am having my coffee but not my usual morning cigarette. Instead I have put a patch on my arm to hopefully help me kick my habit. I am skeptical however as I have tried to quit twice in the past. The first time I quit for two years. An amazing feat considering I really didn't want to quit at that time. My husband did however so I did It for him.That was my first mistake. If you quit purely for someone else , At least for me, it just made me want to smoke the whole time. Hence, my first unsuccesful attempt. My second try was just this past February. This time I really wanted to quit for a variety of reasons, all of them personal to me this time. I went cold turkey as I did previously. My husband did not want to quit and tried to be helpful by sneaking out of the house when he wanted to smoke! But inevitebly he would have to come back into the house. My sense of smell is excellent even after smoking for 38 years. All I wanted to do was smoke him! My second attempt lasted 19 days. I really love to smoke. Really. But I also really love my family. Last week I had a mini stroke and was in the hospital for three days. Fortunatly I had no permanent damage, this time. So here I am, having my first morning cup of coffee, with a patch on my arm. Just happy to be alive. They say the third times a charm. Lets hope thier right!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Flurries or Flurrying?

Flurries. I think I like that word. But maybe not. How about Flurrying? Yes thats much better. It flurried for the first time this year in my home town today, so the word came to mind. sometimes my mind just dwells on a word as if it can't get enough of the way it sounds. That will be my word of the day, flurrying!