It's been FIVE months...???? Really?

What's new? Loads!!! Don't even know where to start... but currently wow! Today started with a bang of sorts.

Was chilling out after leisurely breakfast in my jammies when brother, Don, called. Mom was 'sort of' non-responsive and they had called 911. I've never jumped into my clothes so fast... was there in record time.

Saw emergency vehicle still there... slide show of August 29, 2005 flashed through my head... was in the house in record time too!

Sitting in the kitchen... Don, Maxine, and MOM! Three guys standing around getting their job completed (paper work, etc.) How do you spell relief???? Mom woke up this a.m. with blood sugar around 27(?)... her eyes glazey and not moving... sort of dazed! She refused going to hospital... had to sign a waiver saying so... What can you do? She's 94 and still capable of making her own decisions. Anyway, it's really tough on Don & Max.

My bid on the condo is in... should hear by Friday at latest. Need to sell my house. It's been listed since last Friday. Pray... pray..... pray! Stuff happens. Life is good.

...AND..... had a great scrapbooking getaway this weekend! Good fun; good people; and most of all... good accomplishments! 2005 - all done!

Move forward.

Today is Kakizome

Kakizome means "first writing" of the year. This is my first writing and this is my traditional writing tool. Have long ago quit using the pen... so much so that it's hard for me to even try writing that way.

These five are only a few of the turkeys visiting my backyard last year... actually December 30 last year! There were more than a dozen in this flock.

Wild life love my place! In the past year this little acre has harbored birds small and large, groundhogs, chipmunks, a few deer (including a mom and fawn together), many skunks early in the year, bunny rabbits and even a few feral cats. Remember the kittens under the back deck?

Last year was a really positive transition for me... a year of learning and adjustment... and NO, i did NOT 'grow up' yet! I don't really want to and you can't make me!

The year 2009 included:

• A new baby - great grandson Logan James, son of James & Amanda, grandson of Pam & Mike. He arrived June 16, 2009 and is perfect in every way.
• I liberated myself a bit from the cable company by getting rid of my landline telephone. My home phone for over 50 years now goes wherever i go. I use MagicJack but only because it's really really cheap and i can use it for those hopelessly long waits with service calls.
• More liberation when i purchased my own TiVo box at a really really good bargain, got rid of the cable company's box and receiving only Basic Plus television service which more than meets my needs. The TiVo works with my computers and wireless system, making it very flexible! I haven't even used all it's features yet because i don't really need them yet... maybe later.
• Learned Charter now has a cheaper high speed internet service - hi-speed lite!!! It works for me!
• Linda and i visited the girls in San Diego. Loved it! If i didn't like my current home so much i would choose San Diego as home.
• Learned i don't need a human roommate... at least for now. Moving my sister in with me didn't work out. It seems we have very little in common. Before she moved out i was feeling used and abused (mentally, not physically... but it hurts just as much.)
• Visits with my mom enhance life. About every two weeks we go grocery shopping and either lunch or dinner afterward. Her hair stylist for over 30 years is great! She now cuts my hair regularly.
• Frank has become a beautiful idealized memory. He sometimes watches over me in my dreams... and awakening reminds me that i can remember those good times but must live now.
• I joined an online People Meeting service... not once but twice (two different ones). What a farce! I'm convinced they have fulltime employees acting as shills to make us think they are for real.
• My house continues to grow into my dream home. It is a warm, comfortable environment for me and my remaining feline roommates, EllieMae, AmyLouMae, and Miss Kitty.

Life is good. Life always moves forward. I will enjoy it to the fullest with family and friends and... if i really get lucky, maybe a special friend to share some of the travel and good times i am still young and vibrant enough to enjoy.

This is a B****ing Session...

I'm tired of being boxed in. My driveway is impassable. Today is warm enough that the snow is all soft and HEAVY... but not icy. I can't clean it off my decks because the plastic shovel is broken. NO Natalie, it's not your fault; it was already partly broken when you used it Friday. I suppose i could go into the garage & get the metal show shovel but that would scratch up and damage the decks.

There is still a big snowdrift about 6 feet from my garage door so if i tried to back out i'm sure i'd get stuck! The snow is heavy and i know no other woman my age who would even attempt shoveling snow. It's even too heavy to hire sombody to come and clean it up now. Maybe more will melt before the day is over.

I brought my newspaper in this morning; and the mail that has collected for a few days. Used my cane so i wouldn't fall and ruin my knees or break any bones or whatever, so of course there was a temporary traffic jam on an otherwise slow day for traffic.

I'm glad i had my Christmas spirit early because now it's all gone. At least i have decorations around the house so it LOOKS cheerful. When i went to the holiday bazaar at Leaman's i bought things for Dave, Linda, Emilio, and Mike. Oh i forgot... bought something for Patti too but she hates me so maybe i'll just keep that. When i shopped in Frankenmuth i bought something for Logan. Maybe i'm all done shopping. I'm not in the mood even if i could get out of the driveway!

I'm tired of living alone.

I'm tired of living out in the country where nobody lives. At least in the right city i could walk where i want to go. Of course i'd have to use my cane in this kind of weather. Incongruous, eh?

Maybe i just want to move to Arizona or maybe New Mexico... maybe one of the Carolinas??? Hmmm. I think i'll start looking. I shouldn't have any problem selling my house. It looks damn good!

Pearl Harbor

...was attacked 68 years ago today. I was five years old. I don't remember that day but i remember things that happened during those times. I remember almost nothing about my father - who was off again, on again with my mother until their divorce was final. I do remember though, asking him why he didn't have to go to the war. He told me it was because he was '4F' - and when i asked him what that meant he told me it was because he had flat feet!!!?

Now i know he was alcoholic. I also know he was eleven years older than my mother which means he was about 36 years old at the time.

I also remember when the war ended. I was nine years old at the time. We lived in a two apartment house in a primarily Italian-American neighborhood. My mom had banned my father from ever coming around to see us - their four kids. My new dad was not yet in the picture. He was in that war... a nephew to two of my mom's best friends in the neighborhood.

People were making noise with whatever means available... mostly tooting their car horns. Everybody was happy. It was a really good day!

Autumn... again..... and time to 'fall back' with our clocks.

This fellow joined the family last year. Seems to be holding up pretty well considering his 'adoption fee' was only somewhere around $5!!! ...and he sits on the front porch - the windy side of the house.

I had to move him this morning though. Last night the wind came in from the west with a big PUSH and knocked him over on his bench, along with the two chairs that managed to stay put pretty much all year until now. I don't think you can see him from the road anymore but he should stay safely upright.

Life moves forward. As usual, life is full of contradictions. I spent a day with my mom this week while Nat & her hubby did yard work for me (her mom) at my house. It was the best day for yard work (no rain for a change) and mom had a doctor appointment as well as multiple errands...

More of those contradictions:

• Social security payments will not increase because the cost of living this year did not increase...
• But... my auto insurance premium increased, even though i'm at the top of their 'insurance rating' system and after comparison with other 'bargains' found my company is still the best bargain.
• Pay on line didn't work because insurance company doesn't accept the one credit card company...
• ...and the other card company refused to pay that insurance company!???!
• After 45 minutes of automatic phone instructions a girl in India told me she would instantly 'take the block off' that payment so i could pay online. (She said they sometimes block payment for no apparent reason?????) ...and tell me again why is Michigan unemployment above 10%?
• I talked with agency in Michigan and they posted my payment... while i wrote a check and mailed it directly to them!
• On a whim i checked 'current activity' on the 'good' credit card the insurance company doesn't accept and found a payment to a company i never heard of for $16.95! Girl i finally talked with sounded American... but not from Michigan..... and told me it's better to try directly with the disputed company first. Meanwhile she formally accepted the charge as disputed...
• ...while the girl at the company... (Indian? or British???)... would not tell me what the charge was for (to protect the customer's privacy)... only that it was for a 'membership' for which i would be charged monthly (!!!) ...and i thought I was the customer!???
• She then told me she would immediately remove that and all future charges.
• FYI: here is the disputed info - 10/25/09 PRO*VAC PASSPORT MONTH 877-349-4840 MN 100546863 1 $16.95 Services (Notice the State is a phone number?) I suggest you read your charges each month... how many times do these thieves get away with it?

We shall see. God bless America!!! We need all the help we can get!

The Week Began with Dear, Deer Visits

Started the week Monday with a visit from Linda...
As we were preparing breakfast, a doe and two young deer appeared under the 'wild' apple tree in the flats of my backyard! By the time i got my camera, the young ones were off into the adjacent cornfield but momma deer was still enjoying her apple appetizer! Here she is:

She looks pretty healthy, doesn't she? She should be! We grow the best corn-fed deer in Michigan!

Yesterday, Wednesday, i attended a RedHat extravaganza with Jacquie and Donna and met a new friend, Betty. The event included lunch at the Horizons Center and entertainment by Three Men and a Tenor. Have you ever seen these guys? They are amazing! We laughed so hard we cried!

Somehow i still didn't get my 50 daffodil bulbs planted. Today is overcast and supposed to be rainy... and expected to continue through the weekend. Maybe i can get them in today??? ... the last 'warm' day for awhile, expected to be in the '50s... and colder tomorrow, etc.

Better get started, eh?

Thank YOU, Patti!

Photo by Patti

(The guy behind me? My boyfriend!)

September 2009 - Dow Gardens

The kittens are really gone this time... at least from my house and my deck. Gotta thank Patti for that!

We walked with Leslie at her house yesterday... a great workout!!! It's so much more fun doing it with somebody, don'tcha know? Later that day i called her about something and we discussed the 'guilty thing' about just putting those kittens out to fend for theirselves. Even though they are extremely feral, they are so tiny and innocent - about 2 months old now.

She volunteered to come over and help me get the kittens permanently out of my life. Wow! Piece o' cake!!! That girl is good! With her majorly help we got them caged... and even got a bonus cat! (So be it; they've all been coming around for a free lunch!) The second kitten was preceded by the cat... not it's mother..... so what could we do?

Patti went home with two cages - two kittens and a sleek black & orange cat. Don't know if it was one of Florence's barn full of 'adoptees' or it really belonged to somebody. He's gone now... there really IS no such thing as a free lunch, kitty.

Patti's plan - take them to animal control in the morning... but she wanted to make them more comfortable in her garage for the night.

One kitten BIT her!!!

They are feral; could it be rabid? I'm praying not. Hopefully they are out of her garage now... and the responsibility of animal control.

Call me Patti.

Brief Comments... okay?

Wondering why i haven't been around here lately? For an ol' broad with 'nothing to do' i've been pretty busy, actually. Sometimes we make our own situations, don'tcha think? Like:

• ...the kittens under my deck. Was it 2 weeks ago already? I had help trying to catch the mom and remaining 2 babies. Result? Mom disappeared, never to return. Since then i've been feeding the little ones.
• They would come when i called 'kitty kitty.' They took up residence on my deck. They would sleep in the kitty carrier i put out there for them. They acted like they wanted to come in the house.
• Yesterday i invited them in and... they did! Long story short - they are wild! You have no idea what a really real feral cat is like. They sit and wait patiently to eat. They use the kitty litter. They hide where i cannot get at them when they feel under pressure. When captured in the entry room, one of them literally hit the ceiling in it's efforts to avoid me.
• Today i will attempt to lure them outside. If successful i will not feed them or in any way try to rehabilitate them.
• I promise!

Other than the kitten dilemma, life just happens... like:

• ...taking my wonderfully strong-minded mother out grocery shopping. What's that all about? ...coupons and sale items! Oh yeah... !!! Me? I'm swearing off coupons totally!!! ...unless they fall in my lap right when i need them.
• Mom & i also go out to dinner... or sometimes lunch. I have to learn about NOT eating everything on my plate.
• Some days WiiFit and i are friends; some days i walk with Leslie Sansone.
• I bought a few new electronic items... learned that when i install them and read the book, i know how to use them!!! Believe me, this is a big accomplishment!

I quit bundling... think i mentioned that last time...

• TiVo works like a charm!
• Moved my 'big' tv into my newest cozy living space but two of the channels were not high quality like they were in the other living space. Cable guy replaced that cable. Now i have a beautiful picture on all channels... Basic Plus works great! Who needs more than 70 choices for tv viewing???
• My only 'landline' is Magic Jack. Was having minor problems with it. Turns out the one phone just needs a new battery. The other - 3 phone wireless - seems to be working okay right now... again. Maybe with Charter phone gone, it will be better. After all, both services were voice over internet. That might have been part of my problem. We'll see...

Other updates...

• Spring & summer are gone in my house. Autumn accents surround me beautifully.
• Goober moved on... no more stinky male habit cleanups. This brought stability to the remaining 3 furry friends, all female, even with the temporary kitten situation.
• If it ever quits raining before the snowy season begins, i will plant the bag of daffodil bulbs i bought a few weeks ago.
• Attended a beautiful concert at a small church. Thank you, Jacquie for introducing me to the DeepRiver Choir!
• Visited Dow Gardens again... this time with Patti! What a delight! We both enjoyed every minute.

And business-wise...

• I formally protested to Medicare for not paying the bill from MMC for my knee exrays. Was told by a 'real person' that none of the denial was ever seen or touched by a human... except me of course. After they reviewed stuff from the hospital Medicare determined i do not have to pay the bill. The hospital is responsible. Get that!!! ...and do we really need more government health insurance plans?
• Just received new car insurance bill. Insurance company has a new reason to charge more as your car gets older. Remember how i told you i've been buying a few new electronics? It seems the Home Owners Insurance Company got a report from a company called ChoicePoint Services, Inc. They have determined i opened too many revolving accounts in too short a time!!! I pay all these accounts when i'm supposed to and they will be paid off before the final dates when the accrued interest would take effect! This is NOT a credit rating! It's apparently just another way for insurance companies to make you pay more and get less! Can you believe this?
• I will change my insurance company - for the house and my car - before this 'new' policy takes effect.

Beanpole no more...

...but rather a well-stuffed scarecrow!

I couldn't resist. When Sharba and i visited the Dow Gardens last Tuesday, i asked her to take my pic among the scarecrows. We were there for a photo shoot... a perfect pair! We ended up spending about 4 hours wandering about.

We originally planned to hunt for the sculptures that will be auctioned off - well - today actually! Got 'caught up' in exploring the Children's Garden, where we found the scarecrows among other things, in search for Snake Creek, which i was unaware of until this week's visit. That, too, was a fantastic photo-op.

Did i mention the Rose Garden? Oh yes! I never get enough of the Dow Gardens.

Wednesday, after we had lunch with Windy, Shar dropped me off and left for home. Jacquie called me with an invite to watch a sheep shearing event! Hey! It was SO cool. I have loads of pix and will share them in another post.

Later, loves...

Today is Memorial Day...

...and today i am sick... but here's me last week, along with a few of my best friends! Look at those smiles! We're having lunch at a place called Prado in San Diego. What are we smiling at? The cute waiter, of course! How else did you think i could get a pic of all four of us together, eh?

Wonderful Weekend...

Yes, this IS Wednesday but still wanted to say how much i enjoyed my weekend past. #5 and i are kindred souls in the winter driving department and she & i did a great job of getting us from here to there (across the state.) The drive, which is normally 2 to 2-1/2 hour drive took us more than 3-1/2 hours in nasty wintery snowy weather.

15 minutes into our trip we met up with the beginnings of a snow storm. As we progressed westerly, so did the storm. Amazingly, in the big city, people seem to think they can drive 80 mph regardless of the weather... on the expressway!!! We dodged many of these brain-dead types... and then... as we got into the city, their multiple several-car pileups!!! But we made it... slow and steady, 45 miles an hour most of the time.

We were determined to be there for a baby shower - a very special one. My oldest grandchild will be a father in June. He is in the U.S. Army. His wife will be moving to his base the first of March... so we needed to have a shower for her.

It was a small elite group. It was fun... well worth the determination and trauma of getting there. My first great grandson received loads of good stuff... mostly necessary and some just for fun. His mommy is SO happy... and so is his daddy! God bless little Logan James.

Thank you Number 5, for braving the weather with me. You are amazing!

new life...

A week ago, the last Sunday in July, my sister Gerry & I visited our sister Barb. Barb has the most beautiful garden i've ever seen in real life... even though i have a friend who is a master gardener & her garden is beautiful!

Yes, i took lots of pics but I call this one 'Barb's Garden.'

Last Saturday, on the birthday of my twin girls, i took my mother for a walk in the Dow Gardens. She had a pretty good workout for a 91 year young woman! We had a great time. Yesterday, the first Sunday of August, Gerry & i took mom out to dinner at our favorite Chinese buffet. I went off my diet & ate just about everything on the buffet that was fried! Mom did a pretty good job of keeping up with me!!!

It's Monday Madness and more...

This week's questions; all about birthdays!
Happy Birthday Natalie!!! (Natalie/Otto's birthday is tomorrow.)
1. Name one thing you received as a gift on your last birthday. Love! It may be a phone call, a visit, a card, or some other token of acknowledgment... but bottom line, the message is 'I'm glad you were born.'

2. What would be the "perfect" birthday gift? Okay, call me sappy but my answer is in number one.

3. Do you look forward to birthdays? Not really, but I am more aware of my age on my birthday. I guess my attitude still is '...better than the alternative.'

4. On your birthday, do you treat yourself to something special each year? Not really but then again, I've never been overly excited one way or the other about my birthday.

5. Do you bother keeping up with your horoscope on a regular basis? Yes... it usually has some relationship to my life - except when it refers to my 'love life' - which is nonexistent. I'm a widow with no intention or desire to resume a brand new love life. I find mine, not on MyYahoo, but the regular Yahoo page which can now be customized & is faster loading the MyYahoo! Matter of fact, here's my horoscope for today:

Quickie: Improving your health is admirable -- lecturing other people to do the same is not.
Overview: Branch out. Take a language class. Try some exotic delicacies. Attend art galleries, poetry readings and cultural festivals. If you make an effort to enjoy and indulge in the new and the sublime, it will indulge you.

6. What zodiac sign are you, and do you think you fit the description for that sign? I'm a Pisces & pretty much fit the sign. I also read an inspirational quote of the day - arriving every weekday in my email. I always think it's a good way to find something to blog about... and today's was NO exception:

... that today is the birthday of the Automobile Speed Limit? In 1901,
Connecticut enacted the first automobile speed limit:15 mph on country
highways and 12 mph within city limits.Celebrate by keeping to the speed
limit on our roadways.
~~~
Today's Inspirational Quote:
"The moment of enlightenment is when a person's dreams ofpossibilities become images of probabilities."
--
Vic Braden, American Tennis Coach

The auto speed thing? Appropriate! Not gonna tell the whole story here but... Friday late afternoon I was stopped by a policeman for speeding. I was going fast - didn't know how fast! It's a new car and moves 'easier' than my old pickup truck did. I was going 72 in a 45 mile/hour zone... and honestly didn't realize it. The WONDERFUL officer actually let me off with a warning! You know, I actually like and respect police officers and that must show through. I was not frightened (although my passenger was a bit nervous) and I guess that's a good thing too.

Happy Birthday Sharba!!!

Golly it's hard to believe... only fifty years ago today I finally gave birth to you! In my young mind you were coming late. Your big sister, Windy, was born eleven months prior to your birthday and she was two weeks early! I was hoping for the same with you... and here you were... finally..... a whole day later than Dr. Stander predicted you would arrive!

Now I know...

...the best reason to TIVO Letterman! Today I played two nights of David Letterman Latenight while folding laundry and other mundane tasks around the house - without zapping through the commercials. I would guesstimate that at least a half hour of each hour is commercials. If I tried watching it real time I'd probably fall asleep during the first set of commercials.

Hey kids! Go visit Foggybloggy - and don't forget to leave a message. She blogs more regularly than any of us. Go, Patti!!!