Tuesday, November 30, 2004

My friend needs us

I have a friend that needs lots of prayer. She is the one that introduced me to J-Land.

She is a mom with 3 children. She loves her children very much. There is a lot on her plate more than this journal shows. Please show her how wonderful people really are here in J-Land and give her some support.

Here is the link to her entry. My Bipolar Son Read her plea for yourself.

See what I learned to do!

I learned how to put backgrounds in my journal!

You Are a Life Blogger!
Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible. What kind of blogger are you?


I got this neat quiz from Everybody Knows

Sunday, November 28, 2004

To be happy

To be happy, drop the words “if only” and substitute
instead the words “next time”

- Stanley Blanton, M.D.

I thought these were wise words. I am always hearing if only so and so had done this or if only I had done that.

My sister in law is a good example. She blames everyone for all her troubles. "if only" you would give me that or "if only" you had done that for me, I would not be like this. It is all your fault. 53 years old and still blames here mama for the choices that she makes. No one if forcing her to put the drugs in her mouth. No one if forcing her to drink and whore around. Her mother has given her more than she should have. She has given her numberous cars, money, the food out of her mouth. She has bailed her out of jail I don't know how many times. She puts her life in jeporady by giving to this female. Yes my MIL is an enabler. But my SIL is the one that made her choices on how she was going to live. How she can say that no one has ever helped her .... We paid her bills when she was in an accident not of her making at the tune of $2000. We thought she was making a go of it for the first time. Really putting forth an effort. NOT. Turns out she was hocking stolen goods for someone. But of course, according to her we have never helped her. Or anyone else for that matter. Me I wash my hands of her.

dragging

Today my hinny is dragging. We went out last night to play a little pool in spite of having the headache from Hades. It finally eased up where I could enjoy myself. Just as we were getting ready to leave at about 9, Pat got a phone call. An ambuance was called to pick up his mother. She could not breath. She had heart and lung problems. Well the way we got it was she was dying right now. We get to the house as they were loading her up. I am listening to all this she has pneumonia, she has been sick for 2 weeks, it has gotten worse today, she can't breath. Well we get to the hospital and go into her room in ER and she is hooked up to monitors and I am looking at her and the niece is going on that she has to be admitted( not the doctor, he is not saying that. The self appointed doctor. She is a CNA and thinks she knows it all). I am seeing her vitals and I know she is going home. I knew she did not have pneumonia. So after a couple of hours after they checked blood and ekg and xrays and gave meds she was sent home. So it was 4 am before we got to bed and I am pooped!

I found out later what all was going on. Her wayward, drug addict, w**** daughter is lost again and she had a panic attack. She also possibly had a virus. She has mild  bronchitis, comman for a smoker with advanced lung disease. But I think it was more panic than anything. Frankly I think they are trying to kill the woman. Too much going on there to talk about. Nothing good. We tried to get her to come home with us last night(this morning) but she would not do it. Just wanted to go back in the middle of everything.

Can't help those who will not help themselves

Saturday, November 27, 2004

Time again

It is time again for  Patrick's Saturday Six . Once again some good questions!

1. How long do your Thanksgiving leftovers usually last, and at what's the first non-Thanksgiving item you begin to crave when you tire of turkey?

For me, the first non-Thanksgiving item I crave is steak.


2. Of the following, which would you most prefer to be located:
a) Interstate highway traffic jam
b) Slow-moving checkout line
c) Dentist's chair

Been in all three but I think the checkout line wins it.


3. What is at the top of your personal Christmas gift wish list this year?

I don't have a wish list. Gave up on making one years ago because I never got anything on it anyways.

4. What improvement would you most like to see added to AOL's Journal software?

SPELLCHECK

5. What seasonal movies do you most look forward to this time of year?

Rudolph The Rednosed Reundeer

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #33 from
Tara:  What is your favorite classic 80's video game?

I guess it would have to be Ms Pacman. I prefered pinball games.

Friday, November 26, 2004

Belle

Had fun with Belle this afternoon. I cleaned out her stall real good for her. It was a nasty, stinky job but somebody had to do it. LOL It is done everyday. That horse can poop enough to completely cover a garden a foot deep in 3 months or less! The fun part was trexing thru the mud. We have gotten so much rain in the last couple of days that it is soupy in front of the stalls. I manage to get the stall clean without getting mud above my ankles. I thought I did pretty good!

It was getting to dark and I got Belle to put her up. We got up to the door and all at once she wheeled around and pulled me down in the mud! Now mind you , this mud is not just your ordinary mud. It is full of hay, mud, poop and urine! It stinks bad! Th e ground is so wet it is having a hard time running off so it sits there and smells! Normally it runs off and the smell is not bad. Not today. Today I get the famous mud pack. Packed in my boots, packed in my pants, packed in my hair...... You get the picture?

 

Black Friday

It is Black friday and what am I doing? Nothing! I refuse to go shopping on this day! I used to work this day and I really hate it! There is no bargain in the world big enough to make me get out today. What is the fun of it? I do not see it. Sure I love a bargain as much as the next person. I have my doubts about whether or not it is really humans doing the shopping today.They are maniacs! I went to the store last year because I had to pick up a prescription for Brook. I had someone push me out of their way because there was something ahead of me that they wanted. I was pushed into a display that fell over.  In my retail experience, I have seen women slapping each other over a shirt! I have had to call security because of fights. Once I had to call an ambulance. These are the same people that would not dream of fighting the rest of the year. I was working in an upscale children's clothing store one year and one of the "pillars" of the community came into the shop.  Next thing I know she and another "lady" were going at each other like 2 alley cats! And get this neither of them bought the jacket they were fighting over. Why? Because in the fight they ripped a sleeve half off.    

So me, I am staying home. What did you do? And what did you see?     

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

It has been a long day.

It has been a long day. For some reason I cannot get in a holiday mood. I feel like I am only doing this cooking for me. I don't think my family cares one way or another if I cook a holiday meal. Sometimes it feels like they do not care one way or another if I am even here.

This is not good

This is not a good day. It is raining. It is not a little rain. I am surrounded by water. It has been raining for 3 days but now it is really coming down hard.The wind is blowing so hard the rain is coming down sideways. There are flash flood watches out and flood warnings. There are tornado watches out. Now this is scary. It is totally silent right now.

Everybody that can cook knows that rain messes up your cooking. At least it does your baking. And everybody with arthritis knows that rain messes up your body.

It is going to be a looooong day.

Monday, November 22, 2004

Some questions and comments were made about my labor day hat I felt I needed to answer.

The midwife was a certified nurse-midwife. She had over 200 births to her credit at that time. Her mother had been a midwife before her. She was in her a black lady in her 50's. A tall woman over 5'7" and a bit overweight. I guess you would call her big boned. She had strong hands. She had a wide face with a beard on her chin. That's right, I said a beard. Not just a few errant hairs but a full fledged goatee! I was taken back at first when I saw it but was soon at ease with her and it did not bother me.

 

My daughter survived her birth. She was 8 pounds and 18 inches of wiggly baby! Later that day as I was doing her first diaper change, I checked her over head to toes. All of her toes and fingers were there in the right places. She had a piece of skin at the base of her throat. I asked what it was. I was told that it was called a skin tag and that sometimes babies have them. I accepted that. It did not seem to hurt her and it was just a piece of skin.

Ed was found just south of Chicago. A CB radio message relay went out until he was found. Truckers relayed the message until finally the right one heard it. Ed was back home late Wednesday night holding his new daughter. She was wearing a dress that the preacher's wife bought her. It was the only girl thing I had. Everyone kept saying I was having a boy but I knew I was having a girl.

Some people have said how strong I was. I did not feel strong. I felt alone and scared. I felt that way the entire pregnancy. I did a lot of things while I was pregnant that I had never done. Butchered steers, plucked chickens, gathered eggs, chopped wood, and that was just in the week before I delivered! Survival was the main thing on my mind at all times.

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Saturday Six

 

click here to go there

Here it is folks, a day late and a dollar short, Patrick’s Saturday Six!

Now, on to this week's questions. To play you can either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal...but either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit! (And if you're playing for the first time, please be sure to say so in the comment!) Enjoy!

1. Other than news, sports, editorials and weather, which specific features or columns of the newspaper do you always read?
Obits, I know it sounds morbid, but I know a lot of older people
2. When do you normally do your Christmas shopping? Have you started this year's, yet? Do you intend to spend more, less or the same this year versus last year?
I start my shopping in September and usually end the 23rd of December.
3. You're having a true "TV Dinner," made by a classic character: who would you rather have in the kitchen:
A) Aunt Bee from "The Andy Griffith Show"
B) Alice from "The Brady Bunch"
C) June from "Leave it to Beaver"
D) Edith from "All in the Family"
E) Claire from "The Cosby Show"
Aunt Bee
4. What topic are you most sick of hearing about in J-Land?
Fake journals
5. What company is annoying you most with junk mail?
Republican party, I am still getting stuff from them
6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #32 from Chantal: What cheesy sitcom (from any era) most describes how you grew up? Your family, location, dynamics, details...

None of them

 

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Just thinking of labor day

27 years ago I was in a tight spot. We were living in Texas. I was estranged from my family and I was pregnant. The part of Texas I was living in had no doctors or hospitals. The closest hospital was at least an hour away and it was a private hospital, no ER no OB/GYN. I had no prenatal care the whole time. I took multi-vitamins because I knew that I needed them. I ate food, all I could for the first time in many years. Much more food than I wanted but I knew my baby needed it. I was anorexic at that time but did not realize it until a few years later.

The doctor that confirmed my pregancy gave me a due date of September. This was in May the day after my 18th birthday. What a present that was. To be told that you are 5 months pregnant. I was scared. 1000 miles from home with a bunch of strangers. I spent the next several months trying to get on medicaid so I could see a doctor.

In August after a long hot summer in Houston, my boyfriend decided we were moving. In one weekend he had us packed and on the road with another couple that I did not even know. Now I am really scared. At that time I still believed that I was due in September. Finally we get to where we were going, way out in the Texas country. I had no idea where we were. The following week I find out we had no money, there were no doctors, no hospitals.

A neighbor lady found out that I was pregnant and she arranged for me to meet the midwife that worked the area. This was a scary thing. I wanted nothing to do with this but had no choice. I met her and she checked me over and told me I was going to have a Halloween baby. She gave me the info on how to get in touch with her when the time came.

When the time came.. humm.. Everybody kept telling what it was like. I was told how it would start off nice and easy and build up into harder labor, how my water would break and then I would push and out she would come. I knew I was having a girl. I could feel it nside. I had only picked out a girl's name, Candiac Eleana.

Halloween came and went still no baby. I was beginning to think that maybe I was not going to have a baby. November 20st arrived, time to slaughter the steer. Early that morning, the 2 familes that were doing it got together to do it. It was a long day, one I spent handgrinding hamburger and chili meat. I had never been around so much blood in my life. That evening Ed came up to me and told me he was going to Chicago with someone and would be back in about a week. I could not believe that he was going to do that to me. Leave me there, ready to pop and Thanksgiving that week.

 Gene, hubby of Sunny, the other couple we lived with, left for work after dropping us off. 2am I wake up with spasms that was horrible. I crawled down the stairs and woke up Sunny. She told me I was in labor. She started timing them and I could see the panic on her face. I knew something was wrong. My contractions were 1 minute long and 2 minutes apart! We had no car and no phone. Our nearest neighbor was 2 miles away by road. Sunny was afraid to leave me there while she went to call. Sooooooo we went walking across the fields to cut the distance. I think that was possibly the longest walk I have ever done in my entire life. We get to the neighbor's house and she had no phone either. We knew the next neighbor had a phone so this neighbor drove us the 5 miles to their house. This was Sunny's MIL so we knew her. We get there and call the midwife. Her car is broken so we go pick her up. Mind you I am in labor, hard back breaking labor and I am looking at a ride that will take about 45 minutes normally. Well pedal was put to the medal and we were there in 25 minutes. The midwife examined me and decided I could make the ride back home. I was only 3 fingers she said. I had no idea what she was talking about.

We get home and I am tired. My body was racking with pain and I was sick to my stomach. They kept me walking, 2people on each side of me holding me up. My kitchen was filling up with people I did not know. Somehow word had gotten out that I was  delivering. Kids were running in and out, I could smell the coffee and cakes.

Finally she said it was time. I got to lay down for the first time in many hours. I hear a voice can I come in? Sunny's hubby is home . I tell why not everyone else is here.

I start pushing and I could feel the tearing of my skin. I thought that I was being ripped in two! I am cussing, the lady holding me is telling me to let it out. I cursed Ed and swore that he would NEVER touch me again. I hear "she is almost here PUSH". So I give the hardest push I could imagine. My knees are at my chin, Gene is holding my hand, or rather I am breaking his. I push and my back went POP! Icould feel my baby going back inside and all I felt was pain in my back. ( I have curved spine). I realized that my labor had stopped. Everyone around me is panicing. All I knew is that my back hurt but the big pain was gone! The midwife finally got thru to me that I had to push even though the pain was gone. My baby had to come out or she would die. And so she was finally born 9:14 am November 21st, 1977. She was placed on my belly while the cord was cut, I remember rubbing her head and seeing that she had red hair and I was amazed at how much she looked like my daddy. Everyone was so quiet. She was so still and quiet, so pale. The midwife grabbed her and went to the kitchen ( I was in the dining room on a pullout bed). A few minutes later I heard a cry and then loud cheering.

My baby was brought to me and I nursed her. Everyone left.  I was alone with my daugter. I slept then.

A couple hours later I was woke up to crying. I fed my baby and then got up and went outside to feed my other baby. I had a calf that was on the bottle and no one had thought to feed him. That was the crying that had woke me up!

I had so many memories of that time. Some good, but most were not.

Friday, November 19, 2004

Update

The cats have been fed.

Stink is missing a toenail and maybe part of his toe. Pat decided he has not been shot. He is eating good and the bleeding has stopped. He is keeping it clean but will not let me wrap it. I will keep an eye on it. If I need to I will get meds for infection from feed store. Thank you for everybody's concern. The neighbor is safe FOR NOW. ( he is still an a******)

Stinker

Stinker is Brook's dog. She picked him out before he had even opened his eyes. He was the runt and the ugliest dog in the litter. That did not matter to her, she fell in love with him. He is hurt. He is bleeding a lot. It is on his foot or leg I cannot be sure. He will not let me check it out. Everywhere he goes there is a puddle of bright red blood. I hope it stops soon. I hope he has not been shot. I wish Pat was here, he would be able to look at him. He is not limping. He is licking up all the blood. Maybe a toenail was pulled off. I hope he was not shot. If he was, then Pat will get very angry at the person that did it ( and that person lives next door) and I do not know if I can keep him under control this time.

someone's knocking

The sun is shining and the birds are singing. Belle is out in the yard eating my grass. Cats are beating upon my door telling me that I am late feeding them. They can go get a rat.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Being happy

Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect; it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.

Unknown

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Bad day

This is for the people who do not like their job........

This is even funnier when you realize it's real!
Next time you have a bad day at work, think of this guy.

Bob is a commercial saturation diver for Global Divers in Louisiana. He performs underwater repairs on off shore drilling rigs. Below is an E-mail he sent to his sister. She then sent it to radio station 103.2 on FM dial in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, who was sponsoring a worst job experience contest.
Needless to say, she won.

Hi Sue,
Just another note from your bottom-dwelling brother. Last week I had a bad day at the office. I know you've been feeling down lately at work, so I
thought I would share my dilemma with you to make you realize it's not so bad after all.

Before I can tell you what happened to me, I first must bore you with a few technicalities of my job. As you know, my "office" lies at the bottom of the
sea. I wear a suit to the office. It's a wetsuit. This time of year  the water is quite cool. So what we do to keep warm is this: We have a diesel-powered industrial water heater. This $20,000 piece of equipment sucks the water out of the sea. It heats it to a delightful temperature. It then pumps it down to the diver through a garden hose, which is taped to the air hose.

Now this sounds like a darn good plan, and I've used it several times with no complaints. What I do, when I get to the bottom and start working, is take the hose and stuff it down the back of my wetsuit. This floods my whole suit with warm water. It's like  working in a Jacuzzi.

Everything was going well until all of a sudden, my butt started to itch. So, of course, I scratched it. This only made things worse. Within a few seconds my butt started to burn. I pulled the hose out from my back, but the damage was done.  In agony I realized what had happened. The hot water machine had sucked up a jellyfish and pumped it into my suit.  Now, since  I don't have any hair on my back, the jellyfish couldn't stick to it.

However, the crack of my butt was not as fortunate. When I scratched what I thought was an itch, I was actually grinding the jellyfish into the crack of my butt.

I informed the dive supervisor of my dilemma over the communicator. His instructions were unclear due to the fact that he, along with five other divers, were all laughing hysterically. Needless to say I  aborted the dive.

I was instructed to make three agonizing in-water decompression stops totaling thirty-five minutes before I could reach the surface to begin my chamber dry decompression. When I arrived at the surface, I was wearing nothing but my brass helmet. As I climbed out of the water, the medic,with tears of laughter running down his face, handed me a tube of cream and told me to rub it on my butt as soon as I got in the chamber. The cream put the fire out, but I couldn't poop for two days because my butt was swollen shut.

So, next time you're having a bad day at work, think about how much worse it would be if you had a jellyfish shoved up your butt.  Now repeat to
yourself, "I love my job, I love my job, I love my job."
 

I am an addict

I admit. I am an addict. I am addicted to raw cookie dough. I confess. I made cookie dough and ate half of it before baking cookies.... I am a bad girl.....

Monday, November 15, 2004

pink thoughts

Experts say neon pink is the color motorist can see most easily, therefore you will be safer when biking if you wear pink.

HUMMMMMM............... maybe deer need to wear pink?

RANDOM MIX 2004

Well I did the newest assignment from John at By the Way. LOL The music on the computer is not mine although I do listen to it. Brook knows most of the words to all of these songs. She sings along with her Papaw.

1. Open up the music player on your computer (if you have one -- the music player, I mean. Clearly you have a computer, because otherwise you couldn't read this).

2. Set it to play your entire music collection.

3. Hit the "shuffle" command.

4. Tell us the title of the next ten songs that show up (with their musicians), no matter how embarassing. That's right, no skipping that Carpenters tune that will totally destroy your hip credibility. It's time for total musical honesty.

1. CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE- ELVIS

2. BLACK MAGIC WOMAN- SANTANA

3. THAT'LL BE THE DAY-BUDDY HOLLY

4. ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT- ELVIS

5. COUNTRY STATE OF MIND- HANK WILLIAMS, JR.

6. LOVE ME TENDER- ELVIS

7. THING CALLED LOVE- JOHNNY CASH

8. I WON'T GO HUNTING WITH YOU JAKE- JIMMY DEAN

9. BORN TO BOOGIE- HANK WILLIAMS, JR

10. I AM A MAN OF CONSTANT SORROWS- SOGGY BOTTOM BOYS

Saturday, November 13, 2004

A Christmas wish

This is a link to my friend Kim's journal. It is a very emotional entry about Christmas and a friend of ours. Please pay it a visit.

GoingMach2WithMyHaironFire

Time for another Saturday Six

Okay, it is time for another edition of Patrick's Saturday Six. If you are not playing, you should. I just started and I an enjoying it! So here goes...

1. Who is the last house guest you invited into your home and was it a pleasant visit?

My last overnight guest was Pat's mother. It was not pleasant. Let's just leave it at that....

2.  Other than to work or school, where was the last place you drove?

The last place I drove to was to TaeKwonDo.

3. In terms of emergency supplies, how many of the following do you have in your home?  A) Candles  B) Fresh batteries  C) Containers of bottled water

A) I have 2 boxes of 12 emergency candles and a number of other candles 2) 16 D cell, 8 AA's, 2 big batteries 3) zero bottled water
4. You're invited to a pot-luck dinner:  what specialty do you offer to bring?  (It has to be something you can cook yourself, not something you bring from a store!)

macroni salad, orange fluff, cake, roast

5. Which of the following do you feel is the most true based on your own life experiences:
A) It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
B) The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
C) To have a friend, you must first be a friend.
D) Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
E) Never judge a book by its cover.
F) The tree of knowledge bears the noblest fruit.
B and C
6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #31 from
Cherie:  We have all watched movies and TV shows that have inspired us to want to do what the characters in the show are doing, (doctors, lawyers, politicians, fire fighters, etc).  Has there ever been program that you watched that made you realize that the occupation of the characters was something you could NEVER become?

LA Law

 

Friday, November 12, 2004

AHHHHHHHHH

I have found out the truth tonight and it hurts. I am old and out of shape!!!! Believe me, it hurts!

Today was family night at Brook's TaeKwonDo class. Family members were invites and encouraged to take part in the floor activities. I thought to myself, well I can do that. It won't be hard. HA! I was sadly mistaken. Master Lee worked my butt off! I am proud to say that I kept up with everything. I can kick and punch. I can flip somebody too. Master Lee then gave a massage!!!! O it was heaven. That man has very strong hands. I have not had a massage that good since I left Vegas. I am so tired!  I feel the muscle soreness creeping in now. My back is tired and sore but not hurting. I hope that I can move tomorrow!

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Thank you

To all Veterns and their families, of all branches of the Service, I thank you.

Because of you I can write this

Because of you I can say what I want

Because of you I can vote

Because of you I can disagree

Because of you I can sleep with ease

It matters not when you served

where you served

or what your job was....

I thank you.

 

 

 

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Random things

I had a few people ask me how my "date " was last week. Well my hunny and I went and played pool several nights! I did win some games. Played a couple other people up there and won against them. One person was supposed to be a high rated player from Canada.(Could have fooled me!)It has been almost 3 years since I had picked up a pool stick. I did not know if I could pocket a ball or not. After a few games I was sinking them with no problem! Well maybe a little .... I used to play pretty good pool. I played in the APA National 8 Ball Championships 2 years. I also used to play semi-pro 9 ball. Did not do to bad, I finished the season in the money.

My daughter is working hard. She is working everyday that they have work. She is working for a landscaping company. Now if I can only get them to come over and do my yard..........

Brook is doing good in her TaeKwonDo. She is working hard in class and is practicing at home too. She is doing good in school. She is in the accelerated reader group in school. Reading on a second grade level. She would have been further along if I had worked with her before she started school. I did not want to do that. She is a bright kid and she will do just fine. Her mama was advanced and ended up bored in school. brook already gets bored so I cannot push her too much. She helps the teacher out with some of the other kids, especially on the computer. Apparently she was the only one in class that had ever done anything on the internet. She can find her way around the computer. LOL They have Apples so it is a little different. They also had symbols like a hand or fingers instead of words for commands. She had to learn those. Her computer at home has died. It is 24 years old so I guess it was time......

I have baby kitties again. This time they are in the closet. I have a sick kity too. my Sebastian has the runs. It is pretty bad this time. It is not unusual for him to get them. He is old and things are starting to go wrong with him. I have thought about having him putto sleep before he starts hurting to much but then he looks at me and the love just shines out of his eyes. He will then put his head in my hand and rub it. The tears come so I have to change subject.

Got to go get some blood work done this week. I am so tired of it. My thyroid level is still not right. I am staying hypo and it is driving me nuts.

Cleaned out a couple stalls today. Preparing for the rain that is on its way here tomorrow. After the rain cold weather sets in. Our highs will be in the 50's the rest of the week. I know Iknow some of you get snow and real cold temps. I used to live in Denver, I know cold. But I am telling you this is cold damp weather and when you are used to higher temps it is a big difference! And in case you did not know, we do get weather in the teens here. And another thing the cold damp weather makes arthritis hurt bad.......

Enough for now. Sorry it was so long. See ya'll later.

Ears

Hearing is inherent, but listening is learned. In a relationship, nothing is more important than listening to the other partner.~ anon

Been reading

I was reading my friend Jeannette's journal, Jeannette's Jottings , is which she mentioned a journal of someone that needs some encouragement in her life. She is having a hard time dealing with her husband's illness and her own. Read her story and drop her a line. Living With a Serious Illness

Tuesday, November 9, 2004

Tip of the Day

Never eat breakfast with a chocolate cake sitting in front of you!

                             

Monday, November 8, 2004

My neighbor

I have an elderly neighbor that has advanced Alzheimer's disease. She is in the hospital right now with a kidney and bladder infection. Some time ago she was admitted to hospital and released to her son on the condition that she was to recieve 24/7 care. That has not happened. Human services has been called in the past, the police has been called in the past, nothing has helped. I have seen injuries on this woman that you cannot get in a normal manner. Once she had a lump on her hand that I recognized to be a broken bone. Why did I know that? Because mine had been broken in the same place and I had the same identical marks . It was not one that can be recieved in a fall. Her hand had to hit into something and not in a normal type fall. The son does not take care of her. I have tried to feed this woman but she refuses to take it because "that man is coming to get me". I have watched this woman lose a lot of weight. She is basically a skeleton. This son is using her check as he has no job of his own. He has a joint bank account with her. She had lots of jewerly and coins and collector dolls. None now. The family did not come to visit her very often. Now they do not show up at all. Her other son is in Florida and is a drunk and does nothing. He is due to inherit her land unless the son here has managed to illegially get that changed. I think the state needs to take custody of her and do something but they do nothing. She is in a hospital in another state so they cannot investigate. What about when she is released? There are laws that are supposed to protect the elderly in this state but no one seems to be able to do anything for her. They say they cannot do anything. So in the meantime she is being starved to death. I will tell you this, I did not like this woman. She was a mean and spiteful person. I pity her now. I do not hold her past against her. I cannot. I do not know how to make my heart that hard. I cannot see how her own son can do this. Yes, I am one of the people that has called and I will continue to do so.

Sunday, November 7, 2004

Sorry about this

Sorry about all the alerts today. It seems that I keep thinking and I start writing!

I started thinking about things that have happened in my life. Christmas and Thanksgiving have a great deal of memories. Thinking of the holidays have made me think of those less fortunate than me. Or rather those that are less fortunate than I am NOW.

When I was a young mother I had problems. I was apart from my family and had a small child. Money was very tight. There was never enough for the bills and I knew that I was not going to be able to fix a dinner for Thanksgiving. How do you explain to a 7 year old that there will be no turkey like the rest of the kids are getting? I tried to ignore the fact that the holidays were coming up. I was allowing my pride to get in my way of seeing my family for the holidays. On that Tuesday before Thanksgiving I had a knock at the door. There were 3 people standing there with several large boxes of food! I did not know any of them. I told them that they must have the wrong address.They handed me a card that simply said with Love to Celeste. I asked them where it came from and they just said a friend. To this day, I do not know who sent me that food. I was able to fix my daughter a good meal at home. There was enough food for several weeks.

I knew that I had to face my pride and see my family. That Christmas I was at my Mama's with my family. Santa came for my little girl. Everything was not perfect, but I never allowed myself to be totally separated from them again. No matter what was going on in my life, the holidays would bring us together. Sometimes we had false smiles on our faces, sometimes there was anger there, but we did come together.

Thanksgiving is coming up and it will be the first one in a long time that my daughter will be here. It will probally just be the 4 of us. My family is apart once again, scattered to the winds with families of their own and plans of their own. i will issue an invite to his family but expect the answer to be no. If they do say yes they is no guarentee that they will show up. They have done that to me, call after everything is ready and say not coming. They have also just not showed up too. I will not let it bother me. The ones I want to be here will be here. So don't feel sorry for me.

Anyway the point of this was ( I got off of what Iwas going to talk about) This Christmas and Thanksgiving do something for someone. There are all kinds of things you can do. Give to a food drive, every can helps. Do you have any old coats? There may be a coat drive near you. Check and see if Toys for Tots is near you or donate on line. Check with the Salvation Army . You can donate on line there too. There are Angel Trees  for the children of prisioners. Here we have programs where the fire department and sheriff departments do Santa toy drives. Ask at your Department of Family and Children Services for a needy family. Volenteer at a food kitchen, if only for 1 day. If all you can do is 1 can or 1 pair of socks, or 1 quarter, it adds up.

Patrick's Saturday 6 on Sunday

Well, here it is Patrick's Saturday Six . You will note it is Sunday LOL

1. If you could invent your own cable channel, what would it be called and what type of programming would it show?

This I cannot answer.

2.  What is your typical Thanksgiving dinner menu?Turkey and dressing( not stuffing), mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce, crowder peas, green beans, deviled eggs, fruit salad, relish tray (with olives, sweet baby pickles, stuffed celery, mushrooms, carrots, baby dill pickles ), corn, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple cake

3. What was your first job?  Was it within the career path you ultimately intended to pursue?

Hostess. No it was not.

4. You're at home by yourself:  do you prefer to wear shoes, slippers, socks only or go barefooted?

Barefoot

5. What's your favorite restaurant appetizer?

fried mushrooms

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #30 from Carly: Do you have a single comment that was ever left that you really enjoyed to the point you still remember it? Not one I enjoyed, one I hated.

Saturday, November 6, 2004

@

I went shopping today. Ordered me some stuff to make my house smell good! Check this site out.  Earthmother Cupboard Great prices and it is owned by one of J-land's own, Amy.

Friday, November 5, 2004

Good morning

Good morning everyone! I have my teapot going. Anyone want some?

I had a good time last night. We went out to eat and decided on Waffle House. I had a patty melt. I think they make the best ones around. It has been years since I have had one. After that we went and played some pool. I think he let me win a few. He is a good player. I can play too but he is real good. Then we came home. Brook stayed with Candiac. I took her some clothes for school this morning and dropped her off at school. Now I am just being lazy!

Pat has already been busy. He just finished cleaning out Belle's stall.

Time to get busy. Gotta wash clothes and dishes from breakfast.

See everyone later! Have a great day!

Thursday, November 4, 2004

Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Monday, November 1, 2004

What's in a name?

What's in a name? I got this link from Lahoma's journal. WOW! Amazing. Do these people know me?

Your first name of Mary has made you a friendly, approachable, and generous person. Generally you are good-natured, though at times you can be blunt and sarcastic. As you are naturally talkative, you find it easy to meet and make friends with many people. This name inclines you to be sympathetic and generous to those in difficult or unfortunate circumstances. You can be firm, positive, and independent in your own ideas and in reaching your own decisions, yet when it comes to taking action or following things through to completion, you often need encouragement. You respond quickly to kind words or any appreciation shown you. There are artistic, creative abilities in this name that you could express through music or singing, or, in a practical way, through sewing or interior decorating. You enjoy freedom from monotony and are stimulated by unexpected opportunities for meeting people, entertaining, or pursuing activities of a carefree nature. In your work, you find it difficult to be neat and orderly. You rarely plan things ahead of time, or follow a routine. Emotion and feeling, the desire to be carefree, friendly, and happy, are the driving forces in your being, rather than shrewdness, ambition, and material success. You could experience headaches, or problems with your teeth, ears, eyes, or sinuses. Health weaknesses relative to the functioning of the liver could appear.   Your name of Celeste gives you a clever mind, good business judgment, a sense of responsibility, and an appreciation of the finer things of life. You are serious-minded and not inclined to make light of things even in little ways, and in your younger years you had more mature interests than others your age. Home and family mean a great deal to you and it is natural that you should desire the security of a peaceful, settled home environment where you can enjoy the companionship of family and friends. Whatever you set out to accomplish you do your very best to complete in accordance with what you consider to be right. In the home you assume your responsibilities capably, having the self-confidence to form your own opinions and make your own decisions. Others can rely on you; once you have given your word you will do your utmost to fulfil a responsibility. However, there is a tendency to be a little too independent in your thinking and it is difficult for you to accept the help of others when you should. Due to your strong sense of responsibility, you could experience worry and mental turmoil through assuming more responsibility than you should. Friction could arise through others feeling that you were interfering with their rights and privileges, even though you are only trying to help. Click here to find out what your name means