Anyone still here???

Well I created a blog over at that blogger place... again. I had one earlier then deleted it. If all went well my journal should have migrated over there from here. If anyone is still around check me out here. http://jennasrandomthoughts2.blogspot.com. Couldn't get the names I wanted so I had to settle for this one. I kind of like it though. Come on over and leave me a comment. I'll be making rounds over there soon.

Keeping an eye on weather

Well we got a bit of rain as predicted. It's still raining right now, not storming, just raining. It hasn't cooled it down out there much, but it's better than yesterday was.

I've been keeping a close eye on Hanna all morning and tracking it online. My daughter's online Math tutor lives in Myrtle Beach, and our neighbor's son is in the Marines at Camp Lejeune. So we're praying that they both are safe and out of harm's way.

We know that the base emergency operations center was fully activated at 8am, and the base emergency shelters will open later this afternoon. So we're pretty confident that he is safe. But we're not sure if our tutor has evacuated or what's going on with her. This is a vacation week for us so we've not really had contact with her.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier this week or not, but my husband's niece was home for Labor Day. She's been in the National Guard two years now. She ended up getting sent overseas earlier this year. She left in January for the Iraq/Kuwait border for a year tour. It's been hard on my mother in law with her being over there because she raised her all of her life. So she really enjoyed having her back for a week. Now she's gone again. She just returned to Kuwait yesterday. Thankfully her tour is almost up, and with any luck she'll stay on American soil for a while. We hope.

I'm going to go finish making my way around to journals now. I was so tired last night I never got to them all. If anyone in J-land is in the area of Hanna, or has family in the area, my family is keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

Tags: Hanna, hurricane, tropical storm, military

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It's so hot!

Gosh it's hot and humid here! Temps reached nearly 90 today, but it's about 80 out now. However the humidity is still at 62% and I am dying! My house is a huge 11 room/5 bedroom colonial. It takes three air conditioners and a few ceiling fans to keep this place comfortable. Well, my fan in the kitchen is broke, and cooking dinner was just absolutely unbearable.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit cooler with a chance of a storm. I hope we do get the storm. Maybe it will cool it off a bit. Actually we're supposed to have chance of storms tomorrow and Saturday, and then again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Speaking of storms, I hope everyone here in the US is out of harm's way with Hanna moving in. And then we have Ike and Josephine out there too. My family is praying that Ike is not too dangerous, and that Josephine just dies out.

These storms have been doing a number on Haiti haven't they? My goodness. Last thing I read was something like 75 people died due to Hanna, 75 due to Gustav, and 50 due to Fay! That was earlier today so I'm sure it's more now. The photos I saw were just terrible. I couldn't even look at all of them because it reminded me so much of Katrina. People on their roofs, animals stranded (and animal carcasses laying everywhere), aid unable to get into the areas hit bad. Just horrible. And Ike is not far behind.

I went for a walk earlier to get my evening coffee. On the way home I went around the block. There is a company around the block that runs three blocks. In the weeds by the fence that runs along the perimeter there were some raccoons. So I thought I'd try and go home, get my camera, and come back. Now I figured one of two things would happen. Either A) I'd barely make it home before my heel started killing me, and would not be able to go back out. Or B) I'd get home, get the camera, make it back, and they would be gone. Well I did make it home and back. And they were still there! So I got some photos of them. I am not as close to them as it appears from the photos. It just looks like I was because I used my big lens. I guess I may have been close enough though because the one was hissing and making a chittering kind of noise.






So that was my excitement for the day. I love seeing wildlife. And I really love when I can get a photo or two. I'm hoping this weekend I can get out to the park. I want to see what I can photograph. Usually there are lots of birds and squirrels, and if I'm quick enough I might get a chipmunk.

I guess I should wrap this up for now. I haven't made my way around to journals yet today. Guess I'll go do that now and check the updates for Hanna and Ike also.

Have a good night.

AIM/AOL/Bebo

I wonder if anyone has noticed at the top of their AIM profile there is a message. It says "Changes Are Coming to Your Profile Experience!" And then you can click to learn more. What you get is a short little explanation of what is going on. AIM profiles are moving to Bebo. There is a longer explanation that I found by digging around a bit.

I did a google search of Bebo and it said "Allows users to share photos with music, and blogs, and draw on members' White Boards." When I went to Bebo, which Wiki says is a a social network service, I don't know what to think of it. I didn't see anywhere for blogs, but I'm thinking AOL is perhaps going to moving everything over there eventually. Because Wiki says that AOL purchased Bebo earlier this year. You can read about that here. They have Groups on Bebo, but from just poking around quickly I didn't see where I would be interested in any that's for sure.

But I just wanted to post this and give a head's up. We have to decide by the 15th if we want them to move our profile to Bebo, or just delete it. Those are the only choices. I'm not sure if I like this Bebo just yet. Honestly, my first impression was that it's more of a place to hook up. Know what I mean?

UPDATE: Uh-Oh! Just checked Magic Smoke while making my rounds. Seems some folks have lost their profiles. They just disappeared!

Tags: AIM Profiles, AOL, Bebo, social networking

Just random stuff, maybe a vent

I wish there were more moods to choose from. My choice would have been "Mixed" I think. I'm in a good mood, elated mood, blah mood, pissy mood, and exhausted mood. Arrghh. I was trying to sleep but I can't so I thought I'd write. Or type as the case may be. I don't know where this will lead. If I ramble I apologize in advance.

My good mood is because it was another beautiful day here. Not too hot, not humid. And because I woke up and so did everyone in my family. That's always good. The kids have been extremely well behaved today, both the human ones and the furry ones. That's always reason to be in a good mood.

My elated mood is because I had another appointment with the podiatrist today. Hmm... elated and podiatrist? Not two words that would normally be used in the same sentence are they lol. But Yay for me! No injections! And Yippee! I'm up to about 60-70% better. I think it's a combination of the last injection and the anti-inflammatory meds, but I think the Crocs have a lot to do with it. He's cut me down to every other week now instead of every week. Finally I can walk a distance and just be on my feet in general with no pain. And boy was I on my feet a lot today. I still don't have my orthotics, but I finally got an appointment to go get my feet molded tomorrow so they can make the orthotics and should have them in 2 weeks or so. I thought I'd have them by now. Oh well, I waited this long so what's a couple more weeks. When I got home I went for a walk to the corner AND back with no problem. Then I went with my mom to take my parents' cat back to the doc. They were a bit packed so I was on my feet a bit and wasn't all that uncomfortable. Once a seat opened up though I snagged it. Better not put too much stress on the feet just yet.

As for the cat well he's the reason for my good mood and blah mood. He is doing better. He's gained another ounce since Saturday. He hasn't vomited. He's vocal again. And the doc agrees that it probably isn't cancer. But he also said it could be, and it could be a number of other things. The only way to tell for sure is by x-rays, more blood work, and/or go inside to poke around, maybe take samples. We're not wanting to do that and he's suggesting we don't do it either. At his age the plan of action is to make sure he keeps eating, make sure he's not in pain, and make sure he's comfortable and his quality of life is good. Maybe he'll be around a bit longer, maybe not. We'll have to wait and see. That's hard for my folks. We've put down both family dogs in the last few years. To lose the cat too is going to be hard on them and they will be very lonely. They said they want no more pets once he's gone because it's just been too hard on them to let them go.

Another reason for the blah mood is my sister called today. My older niece is having problems with this sprained neck due to the accident Sunday. She is in a lot of pain and is crying. My sister spent the better part of her day, from work, on the phone to her doc and the hospital that treated the girls Sunday. The doc had the reports from the hospital faxed over and has removed her from her Cross Country and Marching Band. She may not participate in either until further notice. She must also start physical therapy (again) and must start immediately, at least once a week. She was just released from physical therapy less than a year ago and it wasn't on her list of things she likes to do instead of going to school. I feel so sorry for her and wish I could take this pain away for her and suffer myself.

This kid has been through a LOT in her 15 years of life (born with only one functioning kidney) and her life hung in the balance just about two years ago. She's the one I mentioned before that has battled anorexia for almost two years. As a result of her immunity being down and her hectic sports schedule she got mono and ended up in the hospital. She was so weak and near death they were going to put feeding tubes in. Luckily we showed enough faith that we could get her to eat if they'd just let us try. So the whole family took turns going at meals and having her eat enough the weekend she was admitted that they said they wouldn't insert them if the progress kept up. She could not walk, could not lift anything... all her muscles had atrophied. So she was taken to physical therapy every day in the hospital. She hated it! I hated it too. In fact I only went once. I couldn't stand to see her so deathly thin and weak, and I knew I couldn't let her see me so upset with how she looked. When she was finally released it was on conditions. She had to continue with a strict physical therapy schedule, see a psychiatrist, weekly blood work, and a strict diet of protein shakes and other stuff to put weight on. She missed a whole year of school and sports, both of which she loves. But she made it through. She still struggles to keep weight on but theblood work isn't weekly anymore and the therapists released her about a year ago now. She just got permission from the doc to do cross country. Now she can't do it.

And now I'm rambling... sorry. Anyway, that's where my pissy mood comes in. This kid has endured so much bullshit and I can't understand why? Why her? What the hell did she ever do? It makes me so angry. I wish there was something I could do. But there isn't. And that makes me angry.

Then to top it off someone, an internet troll I suppose, decided to email me about my entry Sunday pertaining to the injuries my nieces and their stepsister sustained from the seatbelts. That REALLY has me in a pissy mood. Apparently this troll is anti seatbelt from what I gather. They don't have a journal here (I checked) so I don't know how they found mine. I guess maybe saw me commenting someone else's or something. But whatever. I didn't bother to reply and deleted the email. Now it's eating at me!!!

So in case my troll is reading I'd like to just say... THANK GOD my family cares enough about our children to put them in seatbelts! Not using a seatbelt with kids is like having an auto eject button! So if my nieces do "wear the scars for the rest of their life" then so be it. THANK GOD for the scars then because I don't think my family is willing to trade the scars for their lives. The fact that the seatbelts cut into their flesh is proof of how violently they were thrown around inside the van in that accident. If not for the seatbelts they may have been thrown out a window. Instead of trolling around the internet, you could better use your time by trying to develop some common sense.

Ok then. Well, I do feel a bit better. Maybe now I can sleep? For anyone still reading this... sorry about the boring, random, not-so-happy, kinda-mean entry! But I just needed to vent and that's one reason I created this journal.

Happy Labor Day

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Labor Day. Be safe and have a fantastic day. If you will be out driving please, please, wear your seat belt! They save lives!



Remember our troops today, and all they are doing to keep us safe. Many will not be home to celebrate this holiday with family and friends.

Tags: Labor Day, seat belts, troops, safety

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Update on Accident

This has been one of the most exhausting days mentally that I have ever had. I'm looking forward to taking a hot bath and crawling into bed after this entry.

First of all my nieces are both fine... injured, but fine. Everyone in my ex brother in law's van was injured in the accident, but treated and released from the hospital. All are at home resting and trying to deal with what happened today. There was another vehicle involved and apparently they weren't injured, but their vehicle is also totalled. Sadly, the man who ran the stop sign did not make it. What we know now is that it's very likely he had a heart attack at the wheel.

The accident happened about 20-25 minutes from my ex brother in law's house, and about 15 minutes from my sister's house. Several lucky events saved their lives this morning. One is that they invited my ex brother in law's nephew at the last minute. That is the only reason they took their van. Otherwise they would have taken their car and someone may have been injured much worse, possibly fatally. Another lucky event is that the impact was not on the side of the vehicle. And yet another is when they were careening across the intersection they just missed a pole which could have split the van in half.

My brother in law's nephew was driving which I found out later. He was proceeding through the intersection when he realized the man coming from the other direction was coming quick and wasn't stopping for the sign. He attempted to stop and avoid hitting him, and my brother in law tried to take control and stop. They caught the back of the car and spun out of control hitting a truck pulling a horse trailer and then careened across the intersection. The man spun and ended up through the intersection stopping by the truck and trailer. The people in the truck were stopped at the sign.

The people in the truck were not injured but their truck is totalled because the frame is busted or bent out of whack and their engine is pushed back. The man's carhad the back end ripped off more or less. My ex brother in law's van has the front end and engine pushed back through the firewall and into the dash and no windshield. So all vehicles are totalled. The truck with the trailer doesn't look bad in the photos, but what do I know.

As for injuries, my ex brother in law has sprained ankles. Nothing broken amazingly. His nephew has burns from the air bag exploding and the seat belt cutting in as well as some cuts and bruises. My 11 year old niece has cuts in her legs from the seat belt, a cut on her neck down to her chest from the seat belt, burns from the seat belt, bumps and bruises, and a sprained arm. My 15 year old niece has a sprained neck, a bump on the head, bumps and bruises, seatbelt burns, and her stomach is fine. Her discomfort was nerves and probably the seat belt might have dug in. Their step sister has a cut on her neck from the seat belt, burns from the seat belt, and is just shook up. Their step mom injured her back and was in the hospital the longest for tests. She is unable to walk. They have determined she can walk, but is just in too much pain. They gave her pain pills and muscle relaxers, and sent her home.

When the man's wife found out that he hit a van with children in it she came to the hospital. She had to see all of the kids for herself and make sure they were okay. She was so sorry that their day was ruined. My sister said this woman is the strongest woman she ever met! She said this woman did not shed one tear for her husband, but was only concerned that he had hurt some children. My sister is worried for her, as am I. I only hope that when the reality of losing her husband sets in, that her grief is not overwhelming and that her pain is not relentless.

Thank you Betty, Missie, and Michelle for your comments and for the prayers. Please pray now for this man's soul that he may rest in peace. And for his family so that they can find peace, grieve healthy, adjust to life without their loved one, and not feel guilt over what happened.

Thoughts and Prayers Needed

I just found out a couple of hours ago that my nieces were both in an accident with their father. I'm waiting for my sister to call and update me from the hospital right now. They were on their way to Cedar Point this morning when apparently a man ran a stop sign going pretty fast and slammed into their mini van which is now totalled.

I don't know much right now except that my younger niece, her stepsister, and her cousin are okay, just shook up. My ex brother in law may have broken one or both ankles trying to stand on the brakes to stop. His wife is in pretty bad condition and was taken to the hospital and my younger niece and the other two children were taken with her in the ambulance. Another ambulance took my older niece who is complaining of stomach pain.

I'm very worried for my older niece. I don't know yet what is wrong with her or what condition she is in. I'm afraid it might be her spleen. She has battled anorexia for almost two years. Because of a weak immunity she contracted mono and battled that for a year because she couldn't recover from it. The prolonged bout with mono damaged her spleen. I'm hoping it hasn't ruptured and that it's just nerves.

If you pray, please say a prayer for her. If you don't pray, please keep her in your thoughts. Also keep the man who hit them in your thoughts and prayers. He may not make it from what I understand. And if you could also please keep my nieces' stepmom in your thoughts and prayers because she is in bad shape.

Thank you!

Beautiful Day

Wow today was such a gorgeous day! So summery with plenty of sunshine, yet not too hot or humid. This tag is one I snagged from Missie. She is amazing with this graphic stuff! Actually there are a few I've seen around here that are really good with these tags. Definitely lots of creative folks here in J-land that's for sure.

You know what else I've discovered about folks here? This is one of the few places I have seen where politics can be discussed, and people's opinions are respected. This last week or so I've seen quite a few people, myself included, posting something to do with politics. It's so nice reading through the comments to see other people's opinions, and not seeing someone be offensive or leaving nasty comments.

We had LOTS of political figures around here today. Today was the funeral of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Obama was here, the Clintons, Biden, and lots of other members of Congress. Dubya was supposed to be here, but I didn't see him anywhere among the other bigwigs. Of course lots of city, county, and state officials were here as well. Our current governor and previous governor, as well as current mayor and previous mayor (You heard of Dumb and Dumber... meet Stupid and Stupider). She will be missed very much. She was a wonderful woman, down to earth, and when meeting her constituents she treated all like a friend. I don't know who will fill her spot, but they will never fill her shoes.

I went with my mom this morning to take my parents' cat back to the vet. Our vet wasn't in unfortunately and the vet we saw wasn't comfortable doing anything. Our vet is a great vet, all of the vets at the clinic we use are. But our vet doesn't always take good notes for the other vets. He knows what's going on with each animal he cares for. But he's so busy he seldom has time to update the notes so the other vets know what the plan is. He is responding to the injections though. He hasn't vomited for two weeks and he gained almost two pounds. He's eating really well again like heused to. So we'll have to see what doc thinks when he comes back which will be Tuesday. But my guess is it's not cancer.

Coming home I liberated him from his carrier on the ride home. He was very vocal about wanting to sit with my mom while she was driving. So we argued back and forth for a few minutes. When he realized it was going to be my way or back in the carrier he quieted down. Well, actually he hissed and growled a few times first because he has to have the last word. But then he did find himself a nice spot half in my arms, half on my shoulder to look out the window. My mom thought that was the greatest thing that he and I were going back and forth. That's a good sign. He's not been his usual argumentative self in a while. And he is usually very argumentative, especially with me and my dad.

The Blue Angels leave day after tomorrow. Maybe I'll go out and try to get a few pics of them flying over. I guess the Thunderbirds aren't going to be here this year. I haven't seen or heard them and when I checked the schedule aren't scheduled to be here. That's fine with me. The Golden Knights are coming the day the Blue Angels leave though. That's also fine with me because at least they are quiet lol. Actually the Blue Angels have been pretty quiet today. I guess maybe they were grounded for most the day with all the bigwigs flying in or something. Don't get me wrong - I don't dislike the air shows. In fact I do enjoy it for the most part. I just don't like my house shaking, and them doing their maneuvers directly above me while trying to see how much G-Force it will take to tear my roof off. LOL

I heard earlier on the news that Gustav has been upgraded to a Cat 4 and will possibly be a Cat 5 by the time it hits. So terrible. I can't imagine having a storm this big coming at you after facing Katrina just 3 years ago. I read on that ticker that scrolls at the bottom of the news that it's possible at least 70 are dead from Gustav making it's way across the Caribbean. Such a tragedy. I hope everyone in it's current path has made it to safety by now. Those who haven't I hope will make it to safety soon.

My oldest son just dropped over so I'm going to end this here. Have a good night everyone!

Tags: Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Gustav, Blue Angels, air show

ABC's of Me

Back again I am. I found this meme over at Sharon's journal - I'm A Survivor

A is for age:  40

B is for beer of choice:  Bud or Michelob Light

C is for career right now:  SAHM and Homeschooler

D is for your dog's name:  Diamond

E is for essential item you use every day: My Crocs

F is for favorite TV show at the moment:  Don't have one (I don't watch TV much)

G is for favorite game:  Life

H is for hometown: Cleveland

I is for instruments you play: Don't play any

J is for favorite juice:  Beetlejuice!!

K is for whose butt you'd like to kick:  Nobody I can think of

L is for last restaurant you ate at:  Ny Dynasty

M is for marriage:  No comment

N is for Number of Piercing's:  6

O is for overnight hospital stay: August 25, 2004

P is for people you were with today: Kids and hubby

Q is for what you do with your quiet time:  Sleep

R is for biggest regret:  Dropping out of high school to get my GED and waiting 10 years to go to college

S is for status:  Married

T is for time you woke up today: 9am

U is for what makes you unique:  Believing it's better to be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not

V is for vegetable you love:  Beets

W is for worst habit: Smoking

X is for x-rays you've had: lots of x-rays and 2 MRI's

Y is for yummy food you ate today:  Subway BMT

Z is for zodiac sign: Aquarius

He picked who??

I’m sorry, but I have to post this entry. I just caught the news and I am sick to my stomach and disgusted over McCain’s choice for a Vice President. His first decision is picking a Vice President, and already he is showing bad judgment. Are you kidding me?? Most people don’t know anything about Sarah Palin. But I do! Oh yes I do. I’ve followed this woman closely for two years because of the aerial gunning of wolves in Alaska, and her unwillingness to put an end to it.

Just a couple months ago she objected to listing Polar Bears as an endangered species. Of course she would! She believes in aerial gunning of wolves and bears! It’s been going on in Alaska for years and she hasn’t done a thing to stop it despite numerous petitions over the years, and the involvement of Defenders of Wildlife to conserve wolf population in Alaska. Not only that, but the people of Alaska have voted twice to put an end to aerial gunning, yet it still continues. Not only does it still continue, but Palin has allocated state funds which pays hunters $150 a wolf. Why? Because they claim that by killing wolves it increases populations of prey for hunters and Palin herself is a hunter. But the truth is that most of these hunters who apply for a license are the same hunters who once killed wolves for sport.

If you aren’t familiar with aerial gunning it’s a cruel and inhumane practice in which wolves are tracked from low flying planes by sport hunters. They chase these wolves, run them until they are exhausted, and then shoot them to death. Congress put an end to this practice 30 years ago. But Alaska found a loophole in the legislature allowing them to resume the practice. Here’s a video on it. It’s about 10 minutes, but worth watching.

Wolves play an important role in the ecosystem. Research demonstrates that wolves help to boost biodiversity and maintain ecological stability. The presence of wolves has an effect on the behavior of other wildlife by causing them to avoid areas such as streambeds, which in turn gives young cottonwood and willow sprouts a chance to grow, which in turn decrease erosion and add cooling shade over the streams, which in turn improves the habitat for birds and fish. When wolves are absent, it throws off the whole ecosystem.

When these wolves are killed the pups left abandoned die of starvation. Recently though Alaska Fish and Game came up with a solution to this problem… kill the pups as well. In June 2008 they slaughtered 14 wolves from three packs. Then they tracked the pups to dens on the ground and killed a total of 14 pups as well. Then they tried to cover it up. The state's press release on June 30 only mentioned that 28 wolves from three packs had been removed. They did not disclose that staff also hunted the pups and killed them as well. This is a violation of Alaska regulations and orphaned wildlife policy which states "first to leave an animal alone if it can survive on its own. If not, the department is supposed to look for a home." Yet they never contacted the zoo or anyone else. They just killed them. 

http://www.ktva.com/ci_10267916

Zoos not contacted before wolf pup kills

Associated Press

Article Last Updated: 08/21/2008 03:37:56 PM AKDT

 

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Two of Alaska's leading animal facilities say state wildlife officials did not try to place orphaned wolf pups with them before killing the pups.

<snip> 

Officials at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage and the Haines Animal Center, the likely candidates to care for such animals, said they were never contacted. 

Here are some other facts about Governor Palin and what she will bring to the White House.

Currently she is under investigation for allegations that she pressured her administration to fire a State Trooper because he was involved in a nasty divorce with her sister. When the Commissioner of Public Safety showed reluctance over the firing, she fired him as well. Her and her administration have issued conflicting statements regarding both issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPTMcs8wpHc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pak-rH0dCeA

http://www.ktva.com/commissionercontroversy/ci_10206518

Last year she signed into law a 6.6 billion dollar operating budget, which is the largest in the history of Alaska. Yet she used her veto power to make cuts in the construction budget. After making $237 million in cuts, the second largest cut in Alaskan history, the construction budget wasreduced to $1.6 billion to spend on over 300 projects. Ironically, Alaska spends that same amount on aerial gunning programs and wolf bounties.

The Republicans must be getting pretty desperate if you ask me. I was thinking of supporting this man up until last week. Thankfully I changed my mind due largely in part to his track record, but most of all because I for one am sick of Bush’s administration. I honestly believe a vote for McCain would be like a vote for another four years of Bush. Now, let me just say I voted for Bush in 2000. And I came close to voting for him again in 2004. But having had enough of him, and his style of politics, one McCain favors, I came to my senses and changed my mind.

McCain criticized Obama for his age, yet he picks a VP that is even younger? McCain says Obama isn’t qualified enough, yet he picks a VP that has no experience in foreign or domestic policy, or the role of VP? In fact she just admitted last month on CNBC that she has no idea what the Vice President even does. And if I hadn’t decided already to not vote for McCain, I’d definitely change my mind as of today. I'm absolutely disgusted that McCain would choose Palin as his running mate.

Tags: McCain, Palin, aerial gunning, Alaska, wolves, sport hunting

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Yay, it's Friday! That's something to be happy about. Although I wasn't too happy upon waking up. Or should I say HOW I was woken up. ROFL You guys will love this one. First let me go back to last night and start from there.

Last night I was watching BBC News and they were talking about how Putin is blaming the U.S. for orchestrating the conflict in Georgia for political gain. That was on my mind as I went to sleep last night. That terrifies me! I personally think Russia would wipe us off the map. So imagine my horror this morning when I was rudely awoken at about 9 to fighter jets flying right over my house!! They sounded like they were close enough for the pilot to touch my chimney, and the whole house shook! It scared the hell out of me. I just knew it was Russia!

I jumped out of the bed so quick I got tangled in the comforter, tripped, and hurt my big toe. Furkids went running in circles freaking out. Duma jumped off the bed, then on it, then off, then ran into the closet with a porcupine tail. My daughter ran out of her room freaked out. She asked what was going on, what was that? Trying to remain calm, I said I didn't know. So I went to the window and tried to see what the hell was flying over that low. OMG they definitely are fighter jets! They were blue and yellow and there were four of them. Then I remembered.... the Air Show is Monday. Duh!! It was the Blue Angels!!! They're practicing! The Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds are here every Labor Day and I know this, having lived here almost all my life. Boy did I feel STUPID! LOL.

So we got Duma from the closet, scooped up Diamond, and curled up in my bed listening to them flying over for a while. After our hearts came back into our chests then we went downstairs and had breakfast. During breakfast my daughter says to me "Mom, you know what's funny?" I said "What?" She said "When those guys flew over I almost dribbled." I said "Yeah, me too." Then she says "Well I think Duma almost did a #2. Did you SEE his tail?!" LOL His tail was big though. It puffed up like the size of my rolling pin. Poor kitty.

They're still out there doing their thing. That's the downfall of living so close to downtown and the waterfront. When these things fly over, man, is it loud and the whole house shakes at times. But I'd rather it's them and not Russia lol.

Today I'm going to mop the bathrooms. I cleaned everything up yesterday but got tuckered out before getting the floors mopped. Hubby mopped the kitchen floor. He did a good job too. Wonder what he wants. I need to clean up the stove and clean out the fridge. I need to get my kitchen and bathroom rugs washed too. Maybe I'll clean up the laundry room while I'm at it. We have a problem here with the dryer lint and dryer sheets jumping out of the wastecan in the laundry room. I know they are jumping out because everyone assures me they "threw it away" but yet they're on the floor.

We're almost out of bread so I'll have to bake a couple loaves today. And I need to make a couple gallons of milk, a gallon of juice, and think about dinner. And I haven't got my daughter started yet on schoolwork. So I have a busy day ahead of me. And there goes another couple of jets flying over. If they misjudged it and collided we'd be done for here. Probably take out the whole neighborhood with that jet fuel. I wish we had a video camera! We have two and both are broken. I keep saying we need to see about getting them fixed or buy a new one already. I'd love to get these guys flying over and post it on youtube or something.

Well I'm out of here. I'll be back later to read journals. Have a good day!

Tags: blue angels, thunderbirds, air show, labor day

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Still here

I am bored out of my skull. I'm still trying to get my photobucket accounts organized. I'm also surfing around the net trying to figure out who I'm going to vote for come November. And I've been playing some games to get my ticket count up on Club Live. They have a nice camera I'd like to have as a second camera.

I'm still not happy with the presidential candidates. I have decided though in the last week that I will definitely not vote for McCain. However, I'm not sold on Obama at all either at the moment. So I have decided that if I'm still not sure about Obama come election day, I'll just vote for Maxine!! I think she'd make a great President.



So my heel has been feeling good lately. If I had to give a percentage I'd say it's 40% better. I do still have pain, but nothing like it was earlier this month at all. I've been doing my stretches 2-3 times a day and taking the anti inflammatory meds. And I've been wearing my Crocs constantly. They only come off when I got to bed or take a bath or shower. I see the foot and ankle specialist again tomorrow. I'm not sure what he's going to have planned. But I hope by this time next week I can see at least another 10% improvement or more.

Not much else going on here at the moment. It's been raining here for most of the evening. Tomorrow we're supposed to get more showers, and thunderstorms on Friday. Hopefully it will cool things off for this weekend. I'm hoping it's going to be nice for Labor Day.

There was an article on CNN Money today that said the new national average is down 10% to 3.667 according to a AAA survey. It also said that "Oil prices have declined as commodities investors worry that the high price of fuel is causing drivers and businesses to cut back on the use of gasoline and diesel fuel." GOOD!! If everyone cuts back and conserves maybe it will continue to drop! We don't use much gas at all here. Everyone has a bicycle and that doesn't require any gasoline to run. We haven't driven much since June 6th of last year.

We drive only when it's absolutely necessary, like doctor appointments for instance. If we can take a bus, we do. But even grocery shopping is done on the bicycles. Once a week hubby and the boys hook up a cart to one of the bikes, and pedal the 15 some blocks to the grocery store. On average we spend about $20 a month on gas. Some months we spend a bit more, some months we don't gas up at all. Even our recycling is taken to the recycling station using the bicycles with the cart hooked up to it.

The average carbon footprint for people in the U.S. is 20.4 tonnes. They say to combat climate change the worldwide average needs to reduce to 2 tonnes (it's now at 4 tonnes). Our carbon footprint is at 2.730 tonnes. So we're doing our part. Now, if I could just get people to turn off lights when they leave a room it could be lower.

Well I'm going to wrap this up and curl up with a book. Have a good night, and a great day tomorrow!

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Gimme a Break

Well it happened, these damn anti inflammatory pills sent me into an asthma attack! I can't seem to win for losing sometimes. Seems like I take one step forward and then it's three steps back. Of course it may not have been so bad if I had realized I was heading for an attack instead of waiting till it was here.

I noticed I was wheezing and coughing, but I didn't pay much attention because I was busy doing things. I thought I must have just overexerted myself and thought I'd just rest a few minutes. Less than 10 minutes later I couldn't breathe, and my chest was killing me. Finally I realized I had just taken one of those pills not long before so I thought maybe I better see what my peak flow is. It was in the red zone, 180! I took my rescue inhalers and 30 minutes later still no better and only blowing 190 on the meter. I ended up having to get out the machine. It took me two treatments and an hour later to get up to 320.

I usually blow 450-520 on a good day so even though 320 is only low yellow zone for me, I figured I was out of danger. So no ER visit but I decided to go to bed for a while and relax. I feel better now. I was due for another anti inflammatory at 9 but I skipped it. I can't afford to be in the hospital right now for an asthma attack. My heel feels good so hopefully skipping one pill won't hurt. If it does, oh well, it's not like I'm a stranger to the pain.

Other than that nothing much is happening here to journal about. I didn't end up watching a movie like I wanted to last night because the boys' friends came over. They were playing Rock Band till late so watching a movie would have been hard since I wouldn't have been able to hear it. Between the noise of the music and the instruments, and then throw in 6 teen boys and their loud mouths... well you get the picture.

Well I'm going to go back to bed. Maybe I'll read a book for a while. I hope everyone hasa great day tomorrow to start off the new week!

Happy Saturday evening all of you J-landers! I love this tag. I don't remember where I got it but I found it in one of my photobucket accounts. Whoever made it didn't put a name on it, and I don't remember where I found it, or when. It's so pretty though.

Speaking of photobucket accounts, I have 4 of them. I've been going through them the last couple days to sort things out, get rid of duplicates, and organize them a little better. I have an addiction to graphics! I snag them from everywhere! Here, myspace, wherever I find them. And I have accumulated roughly 3000 graphics and images!

I certainly will never use all of them. I am contemplating deleting many of them. But I hate to get rid of them. I have holiday stuff, floral, lines and bars, backgrounds, wallpapers, animated gifs, funny pictures, blinkies, castles, faeries, dragons, unicorns, globes.... the list goes on and on.

I know a lot of you make tags with your graphics. Any idea how I could learn to do something creative with all this stuff? I am a bit proficient in Photoshop. I'm no pro, but I can get around in it. As for Paintshop Pro... forget it! I've installed that software three times and took it back off all three times because I can't figure it out.

So where would I go to find help to learn how to make things with all these graphics? Something easy to follow for slower learners maybe. Because I'm not so savvy with software sometimes. But I'd like to make some animations and I think you can only do that in Paint Shop, not Photoshop.

Or maybe I should leave the craftiness up to the crafty ones. Maybe I should make another journal and put graphics on it for all you crafty people to use. Then I'll just snag them! LOL

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I've been around to a few journals today in between cleaning up the photobucket accounts. I watched a movie earlier - The Devil Wears Prada. I'm a huge Meryl Streep fan and I wasn't sure I'd like this movie. But it was great. I watched a movie last night too - Good Luck Chuck. Also a good movie. And later this evening I'm going to watch either Running Scared or Perfect Stranger. Haven't decided yet. But I'll give my review tomorrow :)

I'm going to end this hereand get back to the graphics organizing. Have a good night.

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Tidbits, odds and ends - a meme

I've never done one of these before but it looked like fun... so here we go. These things are so much harder than they look! Wow!! I found this over at Sharon's I'm a Survivor journal.

1. My Uncle once- let me come live with him for the summer. I had a blast!

2. Never in my life- have I bungee jumped.

3. When I was 5- I had a loose tooth that I kept playing with. I ended up getting it twisted and turned it around backwards.

4. High School was- the best years of my life.

5. I will never forget losing- my grandparents. They were my world to me when I was little.

6. I once met- many musicians! I was somewhat of a groupie throughout my late teens and into my twenties.

7. There's this person I know who- needs to keep her dogs in her own yard!  

8. Once at a bar- you don’t want to know!

9. By noon-  I’m usually getting around to making lunch.

10. Last night- was a bad night.

11. If I only had- more money! 

12. Next time I go to church- it will probably fall in. 

13. What worries me most- is if my kids will grow up to be the adults I’d like them to be.

14. When I turn my head left, I see- our craft bins.

15. When I turn my head right, I see- my filing cabinet.

16. You know I'm lying when- I say I always eat healthy.

17. What I miss most about the eighties- my youth!

18. If I were a character in Shakespeare, I'd be- Lady MacBeth probably. “Out damned spot, out I say!” Seems like I’m always trying to get spots out of clothing or the carpets.

19. By this time next year- I hope I’ll be slimmer and healthier.

20. A better name for me would be- I don’t know. I like my name.

21. I have a hard time understanding- why nobody else notices messes around here but me.

22. If I ever go back to school- I’d be the oldest one there.

23. You know I like you if- I’m nice to you, and go out of my way to help you out.

 24. If I ever won an award, the first person I'd thank would be- My family.

25. Take my advice, never- put a tack on a teacher’s chair.

26. My ideal breakfast is- a cup of coffee, some cottage cheese, and a few pieces of fruit.

27. A song I love, but do not have, is- I think I have all the songs I love on my iPod.

28. If you visit my hometown, I suggest- you visit the waterfront. It’s absolutely beautiful and I could spend hours there just watching the boats and the gulls.

29. Why won't people- stop and think before they do stupid things.

30. If you spend the night at my house- you wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep. The guest bed needs a new mattress and the animals hog all the room in the beds here.

31. I'd stop my wedding for- Captain Jack Sparrow! 

32. The world could do without- more landfills. 

33. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than- WHAT?!? I don’t know who thought of this question but I’d like to thank you for giving me the heebie jeebies! LOL

34. My favorite blonde is- Gwyneth Paltrow.

35. Paper clips are more useful than- nipple clips?

36. If I do anything well- it’s raise my kids with good values.

 

Finally some good news!

       
 

Good afternoon! I hope everyone is having a great day so far. My day is going pretty well. I think my fairy godmother must have came in while I was sleeping and sprinkled some fairy dust.



Yesterday I was not feeling so happy. I had a bad day, just terrible, and spent most of the evening crying and in pain again. Not just my foot but my back! I went to get my Crocs yesterday and I nearly fell standing in line! My lower back just felt really strange and my knees buckled. I had to grab onto the counter quick because I really thought I was going down. How embarassing that would have been!

I went to my podiatrist yesterday. It wasn't exactly good news. When he first came into the room he said in his line of work he's found that most people exaggerate their pain, and that he can tell by x-rays how much pain a person is really in. Then he said "then I saw your x-rays and I can't believe you aren't in more pain than what you say you are." He said it's hard to believe I am walking.

Of course immediately I wanted to cry! It sounded like he was setting me up to prepare me for a wheelchair. Or worse, surgery. When he showed me my x-rays I REALLY wanted to cry. I have HUGE bone spurs on BOTH heels! He said he's never seen heel spurs this large in someone my age before. Then he pushed and poked around on the left heel to see if I have any pain in that one at all. I do not. I do feel a twinge occasionally on that heel, but that's it. I just thought it's from putting pressure on that foot more than the bad foot. It really does not bother me at all. In fact it never has. But he says these things have been growing a long time for them to be that big.

So that means a change in my therapy. One thing is I will now have to take an anti-inflammatory, even though I have respiratory issues. He put me on Trisilate which I gather is better for someone with my respiratory history. He took me off the oral cortisone. And I am getting the injections once again. It's either that or the surgery to release the band of fascia. Of course I wasn't happy about that that damn shot, lol. But he was so sweet about it. He sprayed some cold stuff on it first to numb it, then gave me a shot of novacaine in my heel, then the steroid. Did it still hurt? HELL to the YES!! But I commend him for trying to make it less painful lol.

He also said I have bursitis in there along with the fasciitis. The spur is putting pressure on the bursa so that must be where most of the pain is coming from. So yeah, yesterday was a crappy day for me. I think it was the worst in the last 6 months, both mentally and physically. I did feel really bad though when I came out of the room and back into the front office. There was a young kid there who must have heard me screaming and boy he looked terrified! I told the receptionist I am sorry for making such a fuss back there. She said oh honey you weren't bad at all. You should hear the ones with the great set of lungs LOL.

But anyhow, on to the happy stuff! I woke up today and I feel wonderful! Even my back is feeling okay. I'm still feeling a twinge back there but my knees haven't buckled. My heel feels great! I know, once the steroid wears off it's probably going to hurt like hell again. But it feels good right now. I have my Crocs. I love these shoes!! Missie, you were right. I have already picked out two more pair that I want as soon as the hubby gets paid.

And the best news of all is that my care manager called me from the insurance company a little while ago. My orthotics are approved! They will pay for them! They won't pay for the ones the doc was going to make. I have to go to a medical supply house that does orthotics. But that's fine with me! I don't care who makes them for me, just make them! So now I have my orthotics coming, and I have my Crocs. I will most likely have to wear the orthotics for the rest of my life. And I can never wear house slippers. Doc says buy a pair of Burkies or Crocs for house slippers. Fine with me. These are more comfy. The only thing is for 20 years I have not believed in shoes in the house. The shoes come off at the door. So I'm finding it hard to keep the Crocs on in the house. But after a while I guess it will get programmed into my brain. Hubby threw out my house slippers so I have no choice now.

So I'm happy, happy, happy. Nothing could spoil my mood today. Woo HOO! I'm going to end this here and make my way around to journals.

Have a fabulous day and a fantastic weekend!

Tags: plantar fasciitis, bursitis, Crocs, orthotics

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Warning - Political entry

This is my political entry. I am taking a chance posting this lol. Before I continue let me just say…. Please don’t flame me for anything I’ve said regarding either candidate! I am already confused enough lol. I don’t want to wonder whether or not I owe someone an apology for speaking the truth about the candidate that they support. It's not my intention to offend anyone. If you have any information or links that might assist me in making a more informed decision regarding either, I welcome that and I’d be very appreciative.

I’m not looking for answers. I'm not looking to find out who you are supporting. That's your business. I’m not trying to bash either one of the candidates either. I like certain things about both men. And I dislike certain things about both men. Both of these men have issues that people can’t wrap their heads around. These are just the issues I can’t wrap my head around. I'm interested in what others think of these two so I welcome comments on this entry. Don't feel you have to comment, but if you do comment, remember to keep it nice and helpful! Thanks!


When I choose a candidate, I usually look for someone who is qualified to lead. This time I am not. We don’t need a leader! We need a public servant. We need someone who can carry out the will of the PEOPLE, not his own will. I think we’ve had enough of that crap. I know what issues are important to me. That’s not the problem. I know what I think of each of the candidates. That’s not the problem. I don’t have a preference when it comes to Democrat or Republican, though I do consider my views to lean more one way than the other for the most part. So that is not the problem. What is the problem is that I can't get past certain issues with these two men.

I think Obama is more personable than McCain, but I think McCain looks more like a president. Both men hold my interest when they speak, but Obama holds my interest longer whereas McCain puts me to sleep eventually. I think Obama is too young, but then I think McCain is too old. I think Obama is too "poor", but I really think McCain is too "rich". I can’t base my vote on what I think about them in these regards though! I need to choose the better of these two, neither of which I am extremely fond of, and vote to put them one in the white house. I am not looking forward to it!

As far as Obama goes, I can’t get past the racial thing. I honestly do not believe that he doesn’t share the same views as his preacher. If anyone saw the video of Jeremiah Wright’s sermon, (who hasn't?) that whole congregation was in agreement! I find it hard to believe that Obama doesn’t share the same views as the rest of his friends and fellow worshippers. I do not for one minute believe that out of the WHOLE congregation, Obama and his family are in the minority when it comes to agreeing with what that man said. Obama claims he was distancing himself from Wright, but on the contrary he’s been, and still is, very close with this man.

As a voter I want to be 100% sure that the person I vote to elect is going to be a public servant of ALL the people, not just a certain group of people. I don’t think I can get past the racial thing.

As far as McCain goes, I have a hard time swallowing the fact that he dropped bombs on civilians, for the sole purpose of wiping them out, in Vietnam. Then when captured he gave up his fellow soldiers. That’s just weak in my opinion, the giving up his friends and defending those actions “because of torture”. I thought a soldier was supposed to never talk, tortured or not. Hell they used to court marshall soldiers for that before. And before that they shot them to death. Can you defend his actions by saying “Well the Vietnamese were legitimate targets in the eyes of the US”? Sure you can. Absolutely. But then don’t you have to agree that US citizens are legitimate targets in the eyes of Al Quaeda?!! So should they drop bombs on us and wipe us out?

What he did used to be referred to as war crimes. Did it not? When you are running for president are war crimes forgotten and referred to as heroics? I don’t know if I can get past the war crimes.

So the only thing I can do is go back over the debates, read up on the bills they’ve sponsored, look again into where they stand on the issues I am concerned about, and find out who their running mates are going to be. Then I guess I have to decide if I can overlook what bugs me about each one in order to choose the one I think would make the best servant of the people.

Can I overlook what I personally feel are war crimes and not overlook the racism, or vise versa? Is that fair? If I can be tolerant of one, then don’t I have to be tolerant of the other to give both a fair chance?

Is it fair to hold McCain's actions against him when others are guilty as well of the same thing? Is it fair to think of Obama as a racist just because his mentor, a man he is very close to, is a racist?

This is going to be one tough election. If I’m not impressed with where they stand on issues, and if I can’t get past what bothers me about them, then I guess I’ll have to accept the fact that I will not be voting to elect a new president this time around.

I've always felt that whenever issues arise surrounding a president that those who didn't vote have no grounds for giving an opinion about it. I've always felt that if you don't vote and have your say when it's time to elect, then shut up later on. So I guess if I don't vote I'd better stock up on duck tape to keep my trap shut later.

Tags: Obama, McCain, elections, campaign 2008

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AOL, OCD, and Diets

Doesn't this place look relaxing? I found the picture online and thought I'd fix it up for my journal entry. My first attempt at doing a frame and mat. It turned out so nice I want to jump into the picture and disappear.

What has been going on with AOL?? I tried 4 times to do an entry last night. Finally I just gave up on it. I kept getting a message saying AOL journals wasn’t available. Then I made it back to the blog front page… and my journal wasn’t showing up, yet I was logged in. That scared me! I thought it was gone. I figured since I couldn’t blog I’d reset my alerts. AOL wasn’t having that either. So I went to bed.

Today has started off crappy. I woke up with a headache. My chiro appointment got rescheduled. My heel and hip are killing me again. I’m back to hobbling around and wincing in pain with every damn step. And there’s a ton of laundry to do, the kitchen needs mopped, and the bathrooms are still a mess. My windows need a good cleaning too, especially the storm door. And guess what? I don’t give a shit.

One thing I have discovered in the last 7-8 months is that I have found a cure for OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Yep, I truly have. The way to cure OCD…. is to get plantar fasciitis. The only thing is I have yet to figure out how to round up all the OCD folks and give them plantar fasciitis. But I’m working on it! I used to suffer from OCD so bad I could tell if a photo or a knick-knack was moved a fraction of an inch. I could never go to bed with even a spoon in the sink. I had to wash it, then wash the sink again, then disinfect the sink, wash my hands again, then wash the sink, disinfect the sink, wash my hands, then the sink. LOL No I’m kidding on the last two parts. Or three. But seriously you could eat off of my floors not too long ago. Now I would not advise you to eat off of my plates!

Anywho… a couple of you asked about my mom’s weight loss. Last year she started doing that Physician’s Weight Loss thing. She’s lost about 75 pounds in a year. She still has about 50-60 to go. I’m proud of her! She’s stuck with it, and even when she screws up she doesn't get discouraged. Her blood pressure is much better. Her knees are much better. And she looks much better, much healthier.

She’s always been heavy, as long as I can remember. And she’s probably been on every diet at least once, some of them twice. She’s gone to gyms. She’s exercised at home. Nothing ever worked. Well, South Beach was working for her a few years ago, but she gave up. I think she lost her willpower. Then she ended up putting on more weight. She developed arthritis in her knees, her blood pressure was really high, and all she wanted to do was sit in her chair and watch TV. Now she watches what she eats, drinks their protein supplements, and has made changes in the food items she buys. And instead of sitting in her chair she sits on her recumbent bike and puts in miles a day on it.

So I’m proud of her. I wish I could lose some of this weight I’m dragging around though. I was doing pretty good and then this fasciitis happened. I was doing South Beach again because it’s how I lost the weight before so I know it works. And I love my gazelle! But I got to the point that I couldn’t take my walks anymore or use the gazelle because it was too painful. So of course I gave up on the diet too. I started drinking soda again and that’s got to stop.

I need to get cracking again at least on the diet part. I don’t think I could walk to the park and do my laps around it again just yet. But I think I can start using the gazelle again pretty soon. I bet if I got some of this weight off me, it wouldn’t put so much pressure on my heels. I’m not obese but I need to lose about 50-60 pounds. Or maybe that is obese? I don’t know. I feel like a beached whale though. I don’t wear red shirts anymore because I’m afraid I’ll look like a barn door. Or a fire engine. Just put a siren in my ass and hook up a hose LOL.

Ok enough about my fat ass. Let’s talk about fatheads instead. No, not husbands... politicians. I have absolutely no clue who the hell I’m going to vote for in this election. Is that nuts or what? Ugh, I am just so clueless. Maybe I won’t vote at all. Maybe I’ll just take a stance and vow not to have anything to do with putting either one of the candidates in the white house. I need to do some reading, and see if I can watch the debates again on YouTube or something. It will be time to cast the ballots before we know it. And I am not prepared.

I could do a whole other entry on this. In fact, maybe I will. Some may not want to read it, so I don’t want to “pollute” this entry with political do-do. So with that I’m ending this entry.

Have a great day!

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A real entry

What a long weekend. I haven’t posted and entry since Friday. Even that one wasn’t a real entry. There’s just so much going on here right now. I’ve been in a funky mood again lately. I should probably make an appointment to talk to my therapist again. But who the hell has time?! I started this journal thinking it would be good therapy, but then I don’t keep up with it. I need to start making an entry every day and use this journal as a way to vent when I need to.

So what’s been going on here? Let’s see…  On Friday my mom asked me to go with her to take my parents cat to the vet. He’s had a bunch of little things going on here and there over the years, particularly the last 3 years or so. He’s been vomiting yellow foam recently and not eating or drinking. This has been going on for a little while, not too long, but long enough. He just recently got out of the hospital after an illness and almost didn’t make it. So I think my parents are afraid that it’s the cat’s time to go and they really aren’t ready. He’s 13 and has had a good life. So I convinced her that we needed to take him and if it’s time, then so be it. So Friday we took him in and the doc did some blood work and told us he’d call Saturday with the results.

Saturday I looked forward to sleeping in. Well that didn’t happen. My mom called me at 8:50 on Saturday morning. I heard the phone ring but decided no way am I answering it. It rang again immediately and I though I better get it. It was my mom and she was in an agitated state. The vet called and said he needed her to bring the cat in right away. My father was getting ready to leave for a trip. So he postponed leaving to wait and see what was wrong. We rushed to the vet and found out it is definitely his liver. The vet does not want to do xrays or any other invasive tests because A) The cat is 13 years old and hasn’t been well recently. And B) We’ve already informed him if it’s cancer we will not put him through chemo. We put the family dog down 3 years ago because she had cancer of the liver. She was 16 and I gave her chemo injections for a few days. She was miserable, she became nippy and withdrawn, and it was a very hard thing to do. So we will not do that again. And then last year we put the other dog down. He was 15 and was blind and deaf, and could no longer walk very well or control his bladder. He would get lost in the yard and panic not being able to find his way back to the door. My parents calling him did not help since he was deaf. Sometimes he would fall over and not be able to get back up. So he had to be carried out to the yard and carried back in. That’s no way to live. When it’s time for them to go, it’s time and we just need to accept it. To keep them around at that age and try to keep them alive is selfish. That’s how we feel after what we went through with the dogs.

So the vet said the results are consistent with either cancer, or feline hepatitis. He gave him 2 injections since there is no way we can get pills in him. The medication he is getting is used to treat hepatitis. He will get two more on the 30th. Then we take more blood tests. If he’s improving that’s what it is. If not it’s most likely cancer and we will let him go. He will be joining the dogs, well his ashes will, on a shelf at my parents. I almost hope it is cancer. I know that sounds terrible, but he’s not been well and he’s old. It will be a relief for him to be joining the dogs on that shelf and be out of his misery.

Sunday I slept till 10 and then went to the mall with my mom. My father went on his trip and she wanted to get out of the house. She’s been on a diet this past year and has lost over 70 pounds. So we went to find her some “skinny” clothes. We ended up wasting gas and our time. She didn’t find anything she liked. So she’ll probably end up planning a trip to the outlet stores next month.

Then today my daughter and I went shopping. She’s growing so fast! We went through her things to give away what doesn’t fit anymore. That left her with nothing but shirts and blouses! So we went and got some new stuff. She got two skirts, two pair of shorts, two pair of capris, and three pair of pants. I got a pair of shorts and 8 new shirts.

We didn’t do any schoolwork today. That’s going to put us behind already this week and I have doctor’s appointments on Wednesday and Thursday. So catching up will be hard. ButI figured oh well. I’m tired of busting my hump to get everything done, and never having time to just screw around doing something fun. The house is a mess, I need to dust and vacuum and clean the bathrooms. Being behind just adds to my being depressed about everything. But I have not been able to do much due to being in pain. So since I’ve not been in too much pain I might as well enjoy myself for a bit.

Well it’s getting late and I’m getting tired. I still have yet to catch up on my sleep. Maybe tonight I will.

Have a good night!

Furkids.... the other white meat!

All the furkids here are acting up today! I've threatened them all that they are crunchy and would most likely taste good with ketchup. Apparently they are calling my bluff. The only one not misbehaving is the bunny!

I just realized I forgot to post a picture last week of Duma, the other kitten. So here's one of him, as well as the rabbit. Her name is Snowflake. Those stuffed animals are my daughter's. Duma sleeps inside of a huge pile of them. He makes like a little cave out of them and crawls inside of them to sleep. He also likes to sleep totally under the covers when he sleeps in bed with one of us humans.

Gosh I dislike Vista

I'm finally getting some alerts for the journals I keep up with. But I don't think that all of them are coming through. Anyone else having this problem? I think I might need to reset them or something.

I was adding the journals I read over on my sidebar so I can access them right from my journal. I have that Live thing with Vista on my computer so I just usually subscribe to them and get them in my reader. Well a few days before the alerts went down on AOL I did an update on the computer. If anyone has Vista, you know what a piece of crap version of Windows Vista is. It seems when it updates it makes something not compatible. The first update I did after getting the Vista made me lose my Internet Explorer. It's still there, but it's so buggy I'd rather use Firefox. I'm still waiting for Microsoft to notify me of a "fix" for it. Now my Desktop sidebar reader thingy crashed and I can't get it back. What a mess! I really dislike this Vista and would much rather go back to XP. Lucky for me I have a few alerts still saved in my mail so I'll have to dig around and find them, and then finally get them added in my journal.

Today was a nice, relaxing day. I haven't had much pain today from my various aches and pains that have been ailing me. I hope this continues! It's so nice to be able to move around with just a bit of discomfort here and there versus the constant nagging pains.

I'm so glad tomorrow is Saturday! I'm going to sleep in tomorrow until at least 10. I hope. Then I'll get up and try to get caught up on some things that have been put off this week due to appointments. I want to be back on track by Monday because next week will be hectic once again with three doc appointments. I should be able to get a lot accomplished, just have to make sure I don't overdo it.

Well I'm going to end this here and try to find my journal links and get them added. I hope everyone has a great weekend!
 

Well I'm back

Wow! I had no idea what a chiropractor does. I was WAY off base! I am feeling different after just one visit. I can tell I am walking differently and I'm not sure if it is coincidental or not, but my heel is not all that painful at the moment. Yeah, I'm feeling good! He did say that my ankle on the plantar fasciitis foot does not "pop" like the other one. He was pulling and tugging on the left one and then the right and I did see a difference in the movement, or lack of, in that joint. So he believes that is where my problem is. That is possible. I have had three to four bad sprains and a break in that ankle in the past. So apparently that is what is causing my heel to strike wrong (his words) and that might just be the root of my whole problem. I'm very glad I went! I'll be seeing him once or twice a week for a while in addition to seeing the podiatrist.

I am so behind now though on stuff here at home. Oh well. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my day for once and let the stuff wait till tomorrow. I'll catch up eventually lol. Before I left I was doing my daily routine and there are two certain furry residents here that, for some reason or another, seem to love making my day more hectic when I am pressed for time. Take a look at these photos if you will. This is Diamond and Raven, Queens of the Manor here.



They look comfy don't they? But take a closer look.... what's missing from the bed??



See what's missing? A sheet! And do you know why? Because I was trying to get the bed clothes in the laundry before leaving. So I ran the sheets and pillow cases down, started them, and came back for the comforter and dust ruffle. But the Queens decided to make themselves comfy. And getting these two old bitties to move is no easy job. So I did what anyone in hurry would do. I grabbed the comforter and yanked it out from under them as they hissed and growled. They're still ticked at me. Oh well lol. They always love to be the wrench in my machine whenI'm overwhelmed already.

As for the little guy, Missie, you will be happy to know he has a new name! I could not take "Void" anymore and told them it has to change. That's no name for him. So we have chosen "Voodoo". I think it's much better, it fits a black cat, and it's close enough to the previous one that there should be no confusion for him in case he may have gotten used to it already. I suggested looking up a wizard's name or something to do with magic. I found that one on a black cat names site and we all liked it. That's what we did for Raven. I looked up Wiccan names since black cats are associated with witches and halloween so she has a very long name. And she knows it when she is in trouble and I call her by the whole thing lol. Her full name is Raven Samhain Moonglow. Raven for black and shiny. Samhain for the pagan name for halloween. And Moonglow because her eyes are big as the moon! Seriously she has the biggest eyes I ever seen lol. And they're goldish orange.

Then we have another kitten, 3 months old and also an orphan we found in the rain crying about two months ago. I'll dig some pictures of him out and post them in another entry. But he looked like a little cheetah when we found him and has little spots like a cheetah, especially on his belly. So we researched "cheetah" on google and found a movie called "Duma" about a cheetah that we actually saw but had forgotten about. So that's his name.

Well I'm going to go and watch a couple movies since I'm feeling so good right now. Before I go though I have to share something that made me cry a little while ago. Right after I got home my husband came home and he had bought some Klondike bars. I haven't had one of those in soooo long. You know, I'm supposed to be doing this "losing weight" thing. Anyway he asked if I wanted one and I thought what the hell. Yes! So my daughter, the 10 year old brings one and says "mom what would you do for a Klondike bar?" and I thought a minute and said "I'll show you a lots and lots of loving" Do you know what she said to that? She said "Oh but you already do that everyday". That made me cry. Those are the times you feel great to be a mom and the crying feels good! So I let her play video games for a Klondike bar. Well that's what she thinks. I let her play them, on a school night mind you which I normally do NOT allow, because she made me feel so good to cry.

Have a great evening!!

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