" It's Only a Bug "

I despise blood sucking insects. Mosquitoes ,Ticks and Fleas to be exact.
When I lived up north in Chicago , I had never even heard of ticks or fleas. And yes I had dogs when I lived there.






Now I know that there were ticks and fleas up there somewhere but I suppose they weren't as prevalent in the city environment.


Oh the stories I could tell you about my tick experiences after we had moved to Southern Illinois ! There are many but I will only tell you two very memorable ones that I have.


The first one took place when Katie was about three years old. At that time we were renting a house "Down the road a piece" , which you could call country living. I'm a city girl , I don't like country living . Too many blood sucking insects.


We were living on about a half acre of land . Jake was on the riding mower while Ginny was using the push mower . It was all very noisy as Katie and I sat at the picnic table watching . As I was looking at my cute little Katie I noticed something on the back of her leg. Oh my God ! Horror of horrors , it was a tick!
You must understand that looking at a tick makes me sick to my stomach!
Seriously .










I immediately started jumping up and down screaming my head off trying to compete with the very noisy mowers , all the while waving my arms violently. Go ahead and laugh . I don't mind. I'm sure it looked quite hysterical .


Eventually both Jake and Ginny noticed my attempts for their attention and came running over to us , I'm sure in fear of something being terribly wrong. When they found me in tears pointing at Katie , I don't think that helped to calm their fears !
I remember forming the word "Tick" as Ginny started to search Katie's little body. Once Ginny located the little blood sucking insect , she carefully plucked it out.
I ask you , Is this not disgusting ? My Ginny is a brave , brave woman . Actually she was a brave , brave seventeen year old at the time ! As for my husband , well he just walked away shaking his head and I am quite sure that he was laughing at me as well!


My second tick story took place after we had moved into town and I was working at the mall one evening. My daughter-in-law had taken Katie, who was then about five I think, to one of her relatives house in the country. Here we go again, out in the country ! I had gotten off of work about 10:00 p.m. and Amy met me in the mall parking lot to drop Katie off. As soon as I got Katie buckled in the car and was ready to shut the door , Amy says to me " Oh yeah, you might want to check her for ticks real good , the kids were playing in the woods, BYE. " .


Bye, bye, what do you mean bye ! This is what I was thinking as Amy was pulling away. Why do I have to check her for ticks ? I'm only her mother ! So I got into the car and started to feel my child's scalp. This is absolutely ridiculous having to check for blood sucking insects on my child . Amy had her in the woods , Amy should have checked her !


Oh Crap , no ! I felt something, I am feeling nauseous and exhausted from working. What to do , what to do . I am alone now. Jake is gone . Ginny has moved out. Wait a minute ! Ginny has moved out but she only lives a few blocks from my house. That's it, I will drive to Ginny's apartment and make her take it out. No cell phone back then.
So I sped away out of the mall parking lot. And yes I did speed. I was freaked out !


With stop lights and all I was at her apartment within seven minutes. I was just short of hysterical. Poor Katie , I don't even know what she must have thought of her mother then. Probably that her mother is crazy. It's probably why she thinks that her mother is crazy today.


I ripped my child out of her car seat and ran up to Ginny's apartment house door. I rang the door bell incessantly I'm sure. Oh I can see her now as she groggily walks down the stairs to the main door. When she sees that it is Katie and I that woke her , well lets just say she didn't look happy !


My girls and I are speedy talkers. A trait I believe I acquired from living in the city and graciously passed on to them. Feeling sick and hysterical from this disgusting, blood sucking insect that is at that very moment sucking the life out of my child , I explain to Ginny as quickly as I can talk what is going on . Surely she will rush Katie into her sterile bathroom and gently and professionally remove this nauseating creature that is attacking my child.




Well Ginny did let us in . Thank GOD !! But lets just say she was less then happy with me. I remember hearing something about " I can't believe you can't do this yourself", and then she took the tick out and checked her twice all over, per my pleading request!


Katie is old enough now to check for ticks herself. It seems to be no big deal to her. She has even removed them from herself. I have been fortunate enough to never have had one stuck in me. If I sit outside under a tree or when we have been camping, I am continually running my fingers through my hair. And when we have been in the woods or fishing , I wear a hat and I check myself constantly.


I have had to brush one off of me from time to time but have never had one attach itself to me . I don't know what I would do if that happened and I were to be alone . Probably go bang on my neighbors door first and if she weren't there , well I'd most likely die on the spot of a heart attack.


Oh how embarrassing that would be !

" This , That and the Other "

I'll tell you it's been some wild times around here the past few weeks. Everyone's been sick but I do believe that has all passed now. Thank God ! I do love my family but two solid weeks with no alone time was starting to get to me. Today will be my first day alone since September 11 th and I do have plans !

The photo above and below shows the storm clouds that floated by our home on Saturday afternoon.




It all turned out fine though as all we had was some rain.
That evening my husband and I saw a beautiful sunset on our way to church and of coarse unlike clever Jackie, I left my camera at home. I was not pleased with myself !
But our service was very pleasing and as usual my husband thanked me mid-service for making him go. It is not that he doesn't want to go , he just hates leaving the house once he's home. You see he lives in his truck two weeks at a time and just does not want to leave the house once he's there . I totally understand this but I do have to remind him from time to time that he has a wife that likes to go places with her husband as most of the time I am alone !

This is his home away from home.





So I am sure you can understand him not wanting to leave his house. He is truly a very hard worker. He works about seventy hours a week for his family. However he did have the whole week off. He was over his virus in about three days and I'll tell you he got into a cooking mood and I loved it ! He made dinner three nights in a row . My husband is a good cook. Not so hot at cleaning up after himself , but a good cook !


I had talked with my son Frank , on the phone yesterday morning. It was such a beautiful day here that I was wondering what he and his family were up to. We chatted a bit and he told me that he was going out to my mother's house that afternoon to help her with some work on her house. My son works even when he's not at work ! Can't imagine where he got that from !

Any way I heard his wife Amy , say something in the background and Frank said "Did you hear Amy ?". I told that I didn't hear her and he said , " She wants to know about those decorations." I told him that I had decided that they could use them. I said use but I probably will just let them keep them . They have a lot of years of decorating ahead of them !

I heard relief in his voice as he said " Mom you can come and help if you want.".
Truthfully , I don't want to. I just can't keep up with things anymore like I used to. And the idea of one less time consuming job to do does sounds good to me.

Besides I think that this house will look super fabulous all decked out !




Ever single one of you had great ideas and good points. I could redirect people to their house but they live almost fifteen miles away . Most of the people that go by our house live in town where we live.

And while I am still feeling ever so slightly apprehensive about it, sometimes we just have to let things go. I can do that for all of the excitement that it will give my grandchildren . And my daughter-in-law is very creative so I know she will do it up right! You can be sure that I will go out there and take photos to post !

Now Christmas is another story . I have three times as many decorations for that then Halloween. I don't do the outside of the house anymore but I , for the most , part decorate every room in the house . Those I won't be giving up for a long, long time.

However I have had to stop myself the past two years from buying more as I don't even use all that I have anymore ! But you can find the neatest Christmas stuff at the second hand stores . And most of it is very old. So I have a problem controlling that urge !

I don't have as many fall decorations as I would like to have especially since Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Maybe I can start to focus on that now that I will have more storage space !


One last thing about the last two weeks. I don't know if I had mentioned that our little Roxy wasn't feeling well either. She was lethargic and throwing up for three days. So Jake and I took her to the vet. Two doctor visits and one vet visit in two weeks ! Our vet who is super fantastic and truly loving with all animals checked her out thoroughly. He asked if anyone in the house had been sick recently and well you all know the answer to that !

He told us that they had taught him in veterinary school that dogs can't get sick from humans and vice versa , but that after eighteen years of practice he has seen it happen enough times that he believes that it can. So he gave her a shot of antibiotics and something else for her stomach. Also a tube of something to give her twice a day for three days.

She seems to be doing just fine now. I am starting to feel relieved as I just don't think that I could handle losing another animal . I was very upset about the whole thing. Katie asked me why I didn't act that way when she was sick and I explained to her that she could tell me what hurt her but Roxy couldn't. She was cool with that!

So here is the little orphan dog that we took in and she is so well behaved and loving.
I have to say that she is honestly the best dog I've ever had . Ruby is also one of my favorites but she is a spoiled little princess and very jealous. But she too loves Roxy !


This is sweet little Roxy.


And this is the spoiled little drama queen, Ruby !


Today it is sunny , breezy , dry and about 70 degrees outside ! I am loving it, and I am praying that you all are having the same wherever you may be !

" A Halloween Dilemma "

I have what I guess one would call a dilemma. A Halloween dilemma. I shall try to explain. You see for many years I have decorated the house or apartment , depending on where I was living at that time , for Halloween. When the first child came along almost thirty-two years ago , I found myself decorating even more . Both the inside and the outside of the house.

Year after year I would always buy some new decorations to add to my collection . I still have all of them as I have taken very good care of them each year. There are many that you can't even find in the stores anymore .

These decorations are not what you would call cutesy . No, they are all scary . Since we bought our own home ten years ago , my husband has gotten into this practice with me as well. four years ago he went so far as to cut out old tombstones out of wood which I pained black and then painted crazy names on them like " Hacker Cough, 1808-1829 " and " I. Ben Better ". Some of them have little poems that I made up like, " Lazy Bastard- here lies a man that had nowhere to go, he sat and pondered all of his life and never had anything to show ".

Well you get the idea . My husband and I have made I think, about a dozen or more of these. We put some on each side of the porch in the lawn with dark purple lights laying on the ground around them . And then comes the fun part . We rake piles and piles of leaves in the shape of graves ! Then I carefully put cobwebs all around the tombstones. From there we hang scary heads , witches , and skeletons all over the porch, fence and front of the house. I could go on and on but I think you can picture this by now.

It usually takes us two to three days to complete this scary vision. Another two days to disassemble ! It has grown quite a bit over the last ten years and the neighborhood children just love it as do the adults that stop to read all of the tombstones.

My next door neighbor being one to get into the spirit as well , also decks out her house for Halloween. Sometimes I think that we compete to try and be scarier than the other . Together though our houses look great ! And every year the kids just love it.

This annual tradition is something that my now fourteen year old Katie has always loved as well. With all of the orange and purple lights turned on and the house lights turned off , it looks very haunted . Oh I forgot the music. We play spooky sounds and music c.d.'s while the trick or treaters are out and about the neighborhood.

Two years ago the local newspaper took photos of mine and my neighbors houses. They weren't featured in the paper but they did post them on their website.

I have always taken my three children trick or treating. Every year. I always dress up too. Every year. The first year that I met my second husband , while still living in Chicago , he drove right past me and the kids as he didn't recognize us ! I was dressed as a man, beard and all . That was a fun year.

When my oldest daughter, Ginny, still lived with us ten years ago, she still dressed up to take her little sis trick or treating . Those days are gone now . Katie doesn't trick or treat anymore . They have parties at school for the teens . My grandchildren live in another town so they trick or treat where they live.

It is the end of my " young " children days. And I am getting tired. All of that decorating is a lot of work. I am not sure that I feel up to decorating this year. Katie doesn't care if I do or not. She will probably go to a Halloween Party at school again this year to be with her friends.

Now here is my dilemma . I have been pondering this situation for a couple of weeks now. In case you have not read any of my past posts I will tell you this first. My son Frank and his family live in a one-hundred plus year old house . The previous owners of that house which is right in the center of their town, used to go all out decorating it for Halloween. It was known back then as the Halloween house.

My daughter-in-law Amy has asked me ever so sweetly if I was going to decorate for Halloween this year. I told her at that time that I really hadn't thought about it yet. But I have been thinking about it since.

It seems that she and my granddaughter Sarah would like to borrow my decorations if I am not going to decorate. They would like to make their house look scary this year. My fear is that if I don't decorate this year, that I never will again. My other fear is that if I loan the decorations to them that I might all of a sudden get in the mood to decorate and it would be to late.

They said that they would take good care of them and return them when they were done but if I don't decorate anymore then I may as well just give the decorations to them. I just don't know what to do. It would be somewhat of the end of an era for me. Not quite sure I am ready to give it up yet, but the thought of not doing all of that work this year is kind of nice.

This is my Halloween dilemma !

" The Show Must Go On "

It all started the Sunday of " The Sweet Surprise ". You remember , it was a few posts back when that amazing young man came into our church and played the piano. I went home that day feeling quite contented . I had a few hours to myself as Katie had gone hiking with my son Frank's family, for his wife's birthday.




Later that evening I went to pick Katie up from their house to bring her home. She was not feeling well. Monday morning she woke up with a fever. I made some chicken and rice soup , many cups of tea , and gave her Ibuprofen. By Tuesday the fever was gone but she was still feeling very sick. I took her to the doctor and they said it just looked like a virus but they did a strep test because her throat was very red. It was negative. So we went home and I continued to baby, I mean take care of her.









Wednesday morning I had to go and wash the living room walls at the house that I clean. Katie was still feeling horrible. Thursday morning I had to go and clean the rest of the house and when I came home I looked in Katie's throat and it looked horrible! The doctors office had told me to call back in two days as they would retest the strep culture. I called and the results were not in yet. Call back Friday.



In the mean time I had picked up Katie's school work as she had missed the whole week so far. Oh by the way, we also received her mid-term grades in the mail . All A's and one B. Hurray for Katie !! Also somewhere in that week I had to work at church and to tell you the truth I can't even remember which day I went. Katie was not able to help with any of the chores so I pretty much ran my butt off all week !








Friday came along and my husband came home. We had a birthday dinner planned for our daughter-in-law for Saturday evening. Every year in the fall we have a soup, bread and salad dinner at their house. We make a few different homemade soups and my mom brings salad and bread. She loves this !









When my husband came home we were prepared to take Katie back to the doctor as her throat looked so bad and hurt her very much. I called again to see if the second test results were done and by then they were. She had tested positive for strep. Fortunately we didn't have to take her back to the doctor, just had to pick up a prescription and a note for school. Once the antibiotics were through her system she started to feel better. She was feeling better by Saturday. We were able to make it to my son's house and we had a very good dinner. I had made a huge pot of potato soup and a chocolate cake that Amy had requested.



We stayed pretty late sitting outside and playing with the grandkids. Jake doesn't get to see them too often so it was a treat for him. He had baby jack laughing that adorable baby laugh over and over. And we all had to play guess whats in my purse with six year old Sarah. That was actually fun!




In the mean time Katie is feeling better and Jake is starting to feel bad. By Sunday he is feeling sick to his stomach. O.K. I'm not tired at all. I can deal with this. I had been sick for four days and had been taking care of Katie so why not my husband too. We went to the doctor on Monday and he too has a virus. So he just decided to take the whole week off. I stayed in the kitchen and made a pot of chicken soup with homemade noodles. Yes homemade noodles. It was then that I remembered why I once vowed never to make homemade noodles again! Oh well to late now . Katie and Jake love them so much so I can do this !







I had asked my daughter Ginny last night if she would send me a ticket to Raleigh for a weeks stay . She just sort of laughed at me. I took that as a no !







Well at least Katie is better and back in school. As for me, well I am still sick but haven't said anything. The show must go on. Such is the life of a mom and wife !

" An Interesting Experiment "

Recently my daughter Ginny did an interview which you can see on her blog ,
" Ginny from the Blog " , (click for link) with the author of a very interesting experimental blog . The author's name is Frank Warren and his blog is titled
" Post Secrets " (click for link).

It is quite interesting and it does contain adult content . However Frank's concept is novel and fresh . Let me know what you think .

" All Dolled Up " A Second Chance Story

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that my fourteen year old Katie , is not your average girly girl . When she was little she had some dolls , but just a couple of favorites. She did have lots of barbies , but has long since moved beyond the doll stage of her life .

Katie was more into dinosaurs and video games .Once when she was little I had found this particular style of doll that I thought was irresistible . I bought them for her . She did not share my fondness for these girls . She told me today that they used to scare her . Now I feel bad .

As time moved on and Katie's dolls were packed away , sold at garage sales and confiscated by her niece , I just could not part with these three particular dolls . There was just something about them . I think I felt sorry for them . Especially since their clothes had long since disappeared .

I didn't have a lot of doll's growing up . I remember having two Barbies one baby doll and a Chatty Cathy . And they too have long since disappeared . So I kept the three naked doll's. They have been on my dresser for several years . And I do pick them up and look at them , feeling sorry for their nakedness .





Oh did I mention that they are not what some would consider " Pretty " ? I think that may be why I have an attachment to these girls . They are just average looking . Just like me . Just like most real girls .

Over the past few months I have been reading a blog called " Terrie's Spot " written by Terrie . Some of you may know her sister Linda from " Linda Lu's BTDT ( Been There, Done That ). After awhile I discovered that Terrie is a very talented seamstress. A doll seamstress . Terrie makes beautiful doll clothes and I believe she will custom make something special if there is a need .

If you go to Terrie's web site " All Dolled up " ( click for link ) you can see all of her beautiful work and the fine detail that she adds to her clothing line . She makes dresses , sleepwear , sportswear and more .

I had mentioned my three naked orphan dolls to her . The dolls that Katie didn't want. I think that she felt sorry for them as well . I can sew but had never made doll clothes . And let me tell you , I don't think that I could after seeing the three outfits that I received in the mail today for the three girls .



The detail that Terrie put into the outfits is truly beautiful !

So now the three little , ordinary looking girls are no longer naked ! Thanks to Terrie. And if you ask me , I think they even look happier or could it just be my over active imagination ? What do you think ?



They do look are happier ! Now I have only one problem left . I think that it is time that the girls have their own names as well as clothes !

Please visit Terrie's web site . " All Dolled Up " , it will make you feel like a little girl again!

Thank You Terrie !

" A Sweet Surprise "

Today at our church we were fortunate enough to have an outdoor service. It was an exceptionally beautiful day outside . And it was an exceptionally beautiful service.

Immediately following the service we all proceeded inside for our almost monthly pot luck dinner. We had fried chicken , salads , beans , vegetables and let us not forget the desserts !

It was a very nice dinner and we all were able to enjoy food and fellowship together .
Our church family .

As dinner started to wrap up , some members were all ready leaving . I think everyone was able to get some leftovers to take home . A day of no cooking for some of us . That's sweet .

As I was tying up some loose ends I became aware of piano music being played . It was coming from the sanctuary . I didn't pay much attention at the time , however I did notice how nice it sounded.

About this time some others were also hearing the music . My first thought was that it was our pianist , but I didn't remember seeing her there today . Pastor played his guitar as our accompaniment music outside .

What also went through my mind was that I didn't know of anyone else in our church who could play the piano like that . As I was leaving the hall with my leftovers I had to walk down the long hallway that leads to the sanctuary . By this time I had heard someone asking if anyone knew who was the young man that was playing the piano in the sanctuary . As I walked through the sanctuary to take my food out to my car I had noticed two of our ladies watching this young man play .

I brought my food out to the car and came back inside with my camera turned on to record . We found out that his name was Derrick Smith and he lives here in town . He said that he saw all of the cars in the parking lot as he drove by and decided to stop . When he came inside he saw our piano and just started playing . He doesn't read music . He just plays .

I do believe that God sent him to our church today .
How else would you explain this " Sweet Surprise " ?

" To Knee or Not to Knee.."

That is definitely the question that I have been asked as of late . The shot that I received the other day seems to be working . While the knee itself still feels like it is messed up I can tell you that it is much better. Only minimal pain . Very minimal .

I will tell you about my day . It will give you an idea of how the shot is working . And come on , you know how exciting the life of an ordinary housewife can be !





And you all know that this is my usual garb when I am cleaning . And while I am quite sure that wearing the heel's has damaged my knee , I just can't seem to shake them .They are quite stylish , don't you think ?


Today Katie and I went to Wal-Mart . This is something that I really try to avoid on a Saturday but Katie needed eye liner . Yes you heard me correctly . Eye liner . I remember some things from when I was fourteen . I just don't remember eye liner being a dire necessity . However my poor old kitty was in need of cat food , I thought what the heck ! What better way to test the old knee than to take a tour of Wal-Mart on a Saturday . Not to mention the test to my nerves as well .





Whenever I shop at Wal-Mart it is generally a very , very painful experience for me . When it's over . I'm over . I go home and have to take a pain pill and put my feet up for a couple of hours . Not to mention I can't walk through the store very well .


After my first stroke last year I had to use a wheelchair for about two weeks as I just would feel sick if I walked too long . It made me feel a little embarrassed as I felt too young for that . My husband and daughter keep wanting me to use one . I refuse .

Today I walked through Wal-Mart with just a little pain . But unfortunately , still , quite a bit of stress .





But it was all good in the end . WE NOW HAVE EYE LINER AGAIN ! And the poor old kitty has a full belly .


I really despise going to Wal-Mart on a Saturday . I really love my daughter .

Tomorrow at our church we are having an outdoor service . We had originally planned this earlier in the summer , but due to wet weather we had to cancel . But I do believe that it is going to be a beautiful day tomorrow and I am very excited about this! After the service we will have our monthly pot luck dinner . We are Lutheran . This is what we do .



Well that's not all we do . We also confess our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ !


When I got home from Wal-Mart I started making the potato salad. I made twelve pounds of potato salad . I hope it's enough . I also made a Peanut Butter and Jelly cake as our pastor's wife requested it . It's not a pretty cake . But it is a pretty good cake if you like P.B. and J.

It took me six hours , on my feet to cook all of this .





Well here's the good news people . I am not in pain . It may seem silly to some of you but this is the first time in almost two years that I have or even could be on my feet that long without just being in severe pain . I am so happy that I went for that shot !

Before the shot I would have also have felt very down as I would just hurt so bad and all I could do was sit . But now I have some hope . I realize that my knee will never be as it was again . But it is such a wonderful feeling to be able to stand for more than an hour without pain !

Thank you Lord for pointing me in the right direction .

And Thank you to all of my family and friends who kept on giving me that much needed KICK IN THE ASS !!!!

I am very excited about tomorrow . Not just because of our outdoor service and pot luck dinner , but because it is my beautiful daughter-in-law , Amy's , birthday. She will be thirty-one this year. She is an amazing woman. She is an excellent cook , a wonderful mother , creative , warm , funny , kind , giving , loving , understanding and well , she loves her crazy mother-in-law ! She is truly a daughter to me . My son Frank made a very good choice and was blessed when he met this extraordinary woman .

I love you Amy , Happy Birthday !

" Still Having Bad Thoughts !"

O.K. here I sit with my feet up trying to be good. What is that saying that my husband keeps telling me ? Oh yeah , he says's to me , " Just remember , all of the trouble in the world was started by someone who couldn't sit still. "

Now I know he is directing this comment to me as I have much difficulty sitting still . But I can't help it , I just get ant's in my pants . I don't like wasting time . I can enjoy being lazy just as much as the next guy or gal . Just not until my house is clean .

I don't see whats wrong with that . In my mind if there is work to be done than you do it. No excuses . And I just cannot sit there when there is a sink full of dishes that need to be done . I can relax when the work is done.

My husband says that I have O.C.D. I think he's wrong . I think that I just am not lazy.
So here I sit , not by choice mind you , and my mind is wandering again . My recliner in which I am sitting right now , is located next to my living room window . This is good , as I like to be nosy. I mean I like to watch the birds fly by !

And once again I am seeing the Drivers Education cars drive by. The following picture shows the close proximity to which they are to my house.





The other car parked in front of my house belongs to my lovely daughter-in-law Amy.
I ran out of coffee creamer and she was kind enough to drop some off for me .
She thought me crazy as I snapped the photo of the Drivers Education car as it drove by!

So picture this if you will . I am standing at the curb with my Halloween bandanna on my head , my old flannel blue and green plaid robe , wearing of coarse, my black comfy fuzzy slippers. I have a mug of coffee , no a beer in my hand .
And cigarette hanging out of my mouth .

I know your thoughts on smoking but the cigarette is critical to the scenario! On my lips I will be wearing a very bright red lipstick tinged with a purple undertone. You can clearly see that I had trouble staying in the lines , perhaps because of the three previous beers .

As I am standing at the street curb , swaying ever so slightly , I am also squinting at every Drivers Education car that passes by. I know that my Katie will be in one of them.

I am also looking quite distraught you see , as my Katie didn't give mommy a kiss goodbye this morning.

O.K. in reality Katie never gives me a kiss goodbye any more but this is my daydream not yours!

Oh here she comes ! She is in the little red car today with her instructor by her side and two other students in the back seat. I can see her now . I think . Look how careful she's being, driving very slow and cautiously. Tears start to well in my eyes as I am so proud of her new found driving skills.

As I step off the curb to get her attention, the tears are blurring my vision and I stumble slightly, but it's o.k. because now I am even closer to the car ! However I lost my beer , as in mid stumble the can dropped out of my hand and went rolling across the street with the golden , foamy liquid flowing rapidly behind the can .

There , she see's me now as does everyone else in the car and the neighborhood. I start to wave frantically yelling " Katie !! Sweetie !! you forgot to give yer mommy a kiss goodbye this morn.........", oh dear I guess I didn't yell loud enough as the little red Drivers Education car has sped up and is now turning the corner.

She took that corner rather well I say to myself as I stumble back up the curb towards the house. Well there's always tomorrow!

See , now you know why I don't like to just sit here and do nothing . So don't make fun of my obsessive cleaning anymore!

Besides , I could never do anything that would hurt this sweet face .





This is what happens when I have to just sit on my butt !

" I Finally Bit the Bullit ! "

Well I did it . I finally went and got the shot . They offered it to me about two years ago and I turned them down . Thanks but no thanks .
I am not afraid of needles . I have had four shots in each hand for a total of eight and it hurt like hell but the relief was worth it .

For some reason , getting a shot in my knee really kind of freaked me out . And I don't know why . It is a good thing that my daughter-in-law , Amy , offered to go with . I think I might have canceled had she not .

They took X-rays again as it had been a long time since I was there for the knee. The doctor said that my knees were really bad .

I could have told him that . We talked about Synvisc , which is an injection of a natural substance that is supposed to mimic joint fluid . If my insurance o.k.'s this than I can have that injection as well .

We talked a little about knee replacement . It is a possibility somewhere down the line. But hopefully not for several years yet . It looks like I will be having these shots on a regular basis . When that doesn't work anymore than we will talk surgery.

I was so nervous and I am so not a baby when it comes to pain . I don't know what my problem was . But my worries were needless as it didn't hurt one bit . They told me that the ones in the hands hurt way more .

Still I didn't look . The weirdest thing about it was that I had trouble walking afterward and was very glad that Amy was there !

So except for the fact that I really must accept that I can't do everything anymore , It wasn't so bad . It is a little swollen and a little sore . They said I should be good by Friday .
Just in time to start making a huge batch of potato salad !

" Am I Terrible ? "

It has occurred to me as of late that my soon to be 15 year old daughter will be starting drivers education soon. I am reminded of this fact not simply by her age or her , as of late , constant talk of " When I get my license.... ".

No I am reminded of this fact as we live in such close proximity to the high school that almost every school day for the last ten years , the driver training cars with their large " Student Driver " signs stuck to the sides of the cars , drive right past my house .

I started to think about Katie driving , perhaps nervously , right past her own house. I started to wonder if I would be an embarrassment to her if I were to lets say , stand on the front porch waving excitedly , jumping up and down , with a ridiculously hideous outfit on , while yelling as loudly as possible " Hi Katie , sweetheart . Mommy loves you , be careful now and make sure you pay attention , I'll be waiting for you !!!"

There are endlessly funny options in this situation. And of coarse I really wouldn't purposely , publicly embarrass Katie . But think about the fun that I could have.

Am I Terrible ?

" Crazy Picture Day "

As I was looking through my photos today I noticed several crazy pictures. And I realized as I was looking through all of the photos , that we had many fun days !

The above photo was taken early on in the summer . It is my granddaughter Sarah playing in the front yard on one of her sleep over days.

The next one was taken at Katie's eighth grade graduation . Jake and I were happy that day , even though we were sitting way up high in the bleachers where it was very , very hot !!!
I do believe the heat was getting to us in this one !

Still it was a very exciting day filled with much pride for our Katie !






The next photo I set up . I only wish that I had a toy cigar that day !

And no , we don't let our dog's have beer . But somehow Ruby went really well with this can of beer !






Ruby and Roxy along with Katie in the next one. The dog's often
think that there is nothing wrong with a little doggy wrestling match on whomever they happen to be on at the time !






You will need to refer back to this sofa in the photo later.

My husband , even though he isn't home very often , still likes to keep watch over the neighborhood !

Yes , he is posing for me . Silly man !






Alright , one more silly picture and I will move on .

Actually I don't know if you would consider this next photo of Ruby silly . A different word comes to my mind. Spoiled perhaps ? What do you think ?





The sofa's

Sometime ago I blogged about switching furniture with my son and his wife. We had a huge , gigantic , overstuffed chair and ottoman that matched the above sofa and matching love seat.
We had not used this chair in many years and it was just taking up space in " Happenstance" ( spare room ). My son and his wife had a stuffed wing back chair that they were tired of , so we switched.
I have to say that I do love the wing back. Very comfortable and we are actually using it.
Then I got tired of the sofa and love seat that matched. And it hurt my husbands back to lay or sit on it as it was getting worn. I hated seeing him uncomfortable every time he came home. Truck drivers are known to have bad backs with all of the years of driving .
My beautiful DIL , Amy is so good at finding deals and bargains. Well this time she found a free deal . An older woman whom Amy cleans house for wanted to get rid of three sofa's and a huge entertainment center . Free . Just haul it away . So off we went to look at the furniture.
The sofa and love seat combo , Amy wanted. That was fine with me as it was too light in color for me. The other sofa , very flowery , which I love but didn't know how it would go over with Jake and Katie . Hmmm . Oh well too bad , I want it ! It was in excellent shape and I knew it would be much better for Jake's back.
I didn't need an entertainment center and neither did Amy . Yet it was really nice . Cherry wood . No scratches . Very big. " Wait " I say to Amy . " why don't you use it as a hutch in your kitchen next to your refrigerator ? " .
I guess she liked the idea as there it now sits and it looks spectacular . I think I earned MIL brownie points that day.
So my son and Amy's dad hauled it all for us . My son is still not happy about that .
I moved my old sofa and love seat into my dining room and my dining room table into my living room. And there they sat.
Jake surprised me. He wasn't overly fond of the flowered sofa , but he did say " It's not bad ". And it didn't hurt his back.
Now how do I get rid of these two old sofa's. I asked around to see if any younger person might need some free furniture. No luck . The only thing wrong with them was that they were worn. But clean .
After about a month of them taking up my whole dining room , I went next door and asked my neighbor Chastity , who has a huge family , if she would know of anyone. Well she came over to see them and decided that she wanted them ! Hurray !
Last night her family came and moved them out . Wasn't that easy ? Why didn't I think of this a month ago ?
I know you are probably so bored with this furniture story but it is almost over . I promise .
Today I finally washed all of my floors and moved the dining room table back where it belongs .





This is exciting for me because now I can put the leaf back in the table , get my sewing machine out of " Happenstance " and start working on Katie's denim quilt that I had promised her for her bed .
There is one down side to this story . You see we have had the old sofa's for almost eleven years . They were both Katie's " Big Comfy Couch " !
As she was helping last night to carry the cushions next door , she was not happy . At all. But I do think she's over it now .

The End

" Happy Labor Day "

Well things today aren't quite like they used to be but if you have the day off , I wish you a pleasant day! I remember the day's when everything was closed and the actual laborers had the day off too. Today stores will be open and all of the minimum wage workers will be working.


My husband is working today. Which for us right now things being the way they are , is a blessing ! I too plan on working . I was able to get half of my house cleaned yesterday and will work on the other half today along with a few loads of laundry . My Daughter-in-Law , Amy , did invite Katie and I out there yesterday for a B.B.Q. but I had my mind set on cleaning. The arthritis in my knee finally let up a bit so I was behind on my own home.


I made a large pot of potato soup on Saturday. The picture below shows what was left after Jake and Katie got through with it. And by Sunday morning it was gone!





I can never make enough potato soup in this house. And speaking of potato's . I am going to be making a huge bowl of potato salad for our potluck at church next Sunday! We are going to try to have an outdoor service again. It was too wet out the last time we tried. Our church has a potluck once a month. I love the potluck's , always good food and desserts ! I am hoping that next Sunday will be beautiful as there is something very special about having an outdoor service.


Saturday morning I made some Chapati bread. Thanks to Tranquility from " Rendezvous with Stillness " for turning me on to the recipe. Early last year I had cleaned house for a Hindi family that made Chapati everyday. I loved and missed it so much . Tranquility found the recipe for me and there you go. Katie and I ate it all yesterday and she wants more today. It is a cross between a pita and a tortilla . Very good with just butter or.....






For breakfast with scrambled egg , chopped turkey ham and tomatoes !





Katie and I had chopped chicken breast , cucumber , green pepper , tomato with some Caesar dressing and shredded cheese on Chapati for an evening snack!





Katie wants to try it next with butter , cinnamon and sugar ! Whatever floats your boat! Mine came out a little tough compared to what I was used to . Perhaps I over worked it. I will keep experimenting .


Yesterday during one of my cleaning breaks in which I stretched out on my recliner , I turned on the T.V. and what did I find ? " The Way We Were ". With Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford , both at their very finest . And Robert Redford , well just very handsome indeed !

Several years ago I had this movie on VHS , before the DVD days ! My older daughter Ginny borrowed it , permanently !



Well at least I know she has good taste !


It is another dreary , rainy day here in southern Illinois . Nice and cool too. Perfect day to finish my housework and do laundry ! I think I will make some apple , cinnamon muffins for Katie this morning.


Tomorrow we will all go back to our usual routine's and school . My husband left Iowa this morning and will be in Georgia tonight . He has been driving in fog this morning. I hope he doesn't have to drive through too much rain today.





And I pray for safe travel for him and all who will be traveling today.


As for me......




You will excuse me while I dress to mop my floors , Won't you ?

Happy Labor Day to you all !

" Do You Sing While Driving ? "

The other day as I was driving home from the house that I clean weekly, one of my favorite old Motown songs came on the radio. I don't remember which one it was as there were so many that I enjoyed.

It was a beautiful day. I had the windows down and the radio turned up as I was singing away to the old tune.

Growing up in Chicago , singing while driving was very common place. I think that it was because it was such a large city with so many different people. Many people, myself included , would be driving down the road singing away to their favorite tunes.

" To My Peeps "

This is just to let you all know, I am well but busy. The husband came home today and we have lots planned for this weekend.

I am going to try to keep up with reading your blogs for the next few days . Gods blessings to you all . I will be back A.S.A.P.

Enjoy your weekend , Love you all !