Thursday, January 31, 2008

life goes on

I fixed my glasses. I found some old ones and put a new arm on. It does not match but I really do not care.
Sebastian is hanging in there. He is mostly sleeping on dining room table. I do not have the heart to make him move. I will be making his box this weekend. OK change subject or I will cry again.
 Who has made the switch to fluorescent bulbs? I have been switching mine out as they burn out. I saw one the other day that can be used outside on the porch. That bulb goes a lot! I always forget to turn it off. The closet is another that goes fast. I was having to put a new one in there every month. Just replaced 3 of the globe lights in bathroom. I found out 1 thing I really like about them. Have you ever gone into the bathroom first thing in the morning and switched the light on and it hurts your eyes? Or you go in there and you don't turn it on because of the glare? With these bulbs the glaring bright light is gone. It takes a few minutes to get full light so your eyes can adjust!
Tomorrow is the big move for Candiac. I will go over in the morning with the truck and hook up the trailer and haul their stuff to their new home. I hope it is not raining so I can put the beds in the back of the truck.
Birds, happy, happy birds. We now have 3 new babies. There is still one egg left in nest. I will get a picture as soon as I can.
Ok I need to go to bed again. See y'all later.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

doing better

It is cold outside. We got some pretty gusty winds last night. There are things blown all over the place this morning. Did I tell you it is cold? 21 earlier when I took Brook out to the bus stop. I know that is not cold for some of you but it was 63 degrees yesterday! If only it would stay cold or stay warm.
I had a bad time last night. I was brushing my teeth and my glasses fell off my face! The arm broke on them AGAIN! The same arm has been replaced one. Only problem is, they will not fix them again. I will need to get a new pair and I really cannot afford them right now. They are not cheap. Oh well, I will be running around looking like the quintessential nerd with tape holding my glasses together now. I now need to find my pocket protector.
I just made a really hard decision. I have called and made an appointment to have my Sebastian put to sleep. It will happen Monday morning.I am so sick over that. I just wanted him to go to sleep at home. He is having a lot of bowel problems and is biting himself on the side a lot. It is like he cannot control it.
Ok I am out of here. Pat just got up and it is time to cook.

Monday, January 28, 2008

ho hum

I have got to get out of this funk I am in. I made a list of things I need to do. I really need to do at least 1 thing on my list daily. My house is a mess, my brain is a mess, I can't think of anything that is not a mess right now. And here I am again sitting in front of the computer.
Update of stuff in my life other than my crap.
Brook is having trouble at school. She is having problems turning her work in for some reason. Need to talk to her and find out what is going on.
Candiac will be moving into their new place on Friday. They will be living slightly less than half a mile away now. I laughed and said to a friend of mine that now Brook will have a place to run away to and not get lost. My friend said that yep, she will have 2 places to run to.
We now have 2 babies in the nest. The first one was born Jan 25th, the second one was born the next evening on the 26th. There are still 2 eggs in the nest.

Friday, January 25, 2008

silly bird

Remember I told you about my silly bird that likes being a daddy? Well He is a Poppa again. A baby was born this morning. It is so tiny! It is less than 2 inches long. There are still 3 eggs left in the nest. We will see if anymore hatch. I swear if I see him bopping her I will have to play the irate parent of a teenager! LOL

Thursday, January 24, 2008

brain is bouncing

I really need some sunshine that has some warmth to it. I saw the sun for part of the day but could not enjoy it at all. It had no warmth to it. Just a cold bright ball in the sky.  I need the outside air to perk me up. I know some people think I am crazy or something. That I don't know what cold is. Well I don't live where it gets cold and stays that way for months on end. I live in the South. After so many years here, I am not acclimated for cold weather. After breaking my back , I am less able to tolerate it.
I went to the store. Money is not going as far as it did. The apple juice that I normally buy has gone up 25% in price. That is in just the last week.  Bread is higher that ever before and don't get me started on milk. Trying to buy healthy food is breaking the budget. It is cheaper sometimes to buy not so healthy food. I am not talking organic healthy, I am talking fresh or frozen instead of canned or boxed food. As for boxed food, I remember Kraft macaroni  and cheese being  a quarter a box, now it is a dollar!!!!! I am thinking I need to gain weight so I will have some fat to live on when I am old and cannot afford to buy food.
Depression or recession? Call it what they want. If you ain't rich your screwed.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

cold wet and yuck

It is cold, wet and yucky today.
Not doing much of anything today. I have  heartburn that will not go away.  Yes it is heartburn. The acid is leaping. Tums and Zantac is not getting it in control today. The weight is not coming off fast enough to get rid of it.
Nothing happening here.

Monday, January 21, 2008

handbags

I got this in an email today and felt green, real green. I will never look at my bag in the same way

Have you ever noticed gals who sit their handbags on public toilet floors - then go directly to their dining tables and set it on the table? Happens a   lot!
It's not always the 'restaurant food' that causes stomach distress.
Sometimes "what you don't know 'will' hurt you"!

Read on...

Mom got so upset when guests came in the door and plopped their handbags down on the counter where she was cooking or setting up food. She always said that handbags are really dirty, because of where they have been.

Smart Mom!!!

It's something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know what's inside our handbags, do you have any idea what's on the outside? Women carry handbags everywhere; from the office to public toilets to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their handbags, but did you ever stop to think about where your handbag goes during the day.

"I drive a school bus, so my handbag has been on the floor of the bus a lot," says one woman. "On the floor of my car, and in toilets I put my handbag in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of the toilet ," says another woman "and of course in my home which should be clean."

We decided to find out if handbags harbored a lot of bacteria. We learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake , and then we set out to test the average woman's handbag.

Most women told us they didn't stop to think about what was on the bottom of their handbag. Most said at home t hey usually set their handbags on top of  kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared.

Most of the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if their handbags were at least a little bit dirty. It turns out handbags are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked.

Microbiologist Amy Karen of Nelson Labs says nearly all o f the handbags tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the handbags could make people very sick.

In one sampling, four of five handbags tested positive for salmonella, and  that's not the worst of it. "There is fecal contamination on the handbags," says Amy. Leather or vinyl handbags tended to be cleaner than cloth handbags, and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier handbags than those without, with one exception.

The handbag of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. "Some type of feces, or possibly vomit" says Amy.

So the moral of this story - your handbag won't kill you, but it does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat.

Use hooks to hang your handbag at home and in toilets, and don't put it on your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop.

Experts say you should think of your handbag the same way you would a pair of shoes. "If you think about putting a pair of shoes onto your countertops, that's the same thing you're doing when you put your handbag on the countertops" - your handbag has gone where individuals before you have sneezed, coughed, spat, urinated, emptied bowels, etc!

Do you really want to bring that home with you? The microbiologists at
Nelson also said cleaning a handbag will help.

Wash cloth handbags and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather handbags.
 

cold

I am cold! I just came in from giving the horses some hay and breaking the water in the trough. I am also hoping that the waterline to the outside hydrant did not freeze. If it did  and it busted, I will know soon enough.  That will mean hauling water in 5 gallon buckets until it is fixed. I am heating up the horses alfalfa right now. LOL What I am doing is making hard chunks soft by pouring boiling water on them and soaking them. They will not eat it hard like it is. These are cubes from a bag. I bought some earlier in the year when I knew that hay would be sparse.  Amazing enough my horses are fat enough that we are making it through the winter without losing much weight so far. Comes in handy having fat horses sometimes.
Ok got to go. I am hungry!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

blah blah blah

Yep it is blah outside, blah inside just blah everywhere I look. So far no snow. Now they are saying it will miss us. LOL I remember one year when they said the same thing and we were actually hit with a BLIZZARD! Here in Georgia! For those that are wondering it was in March of 1993, The Storm of the Century. I lived through it. As a matter of fact, I worked through it. I was at work on the clock for 24 hours a day for 6 days straight. I was working in a hospital then and I was the only one there for the whole time in my department(respiratory).
LOL I don't mind no snow coming at the same time I want lots of the fluffy stuff. I want to build a snowman. I want a snowball fight. I really do miss Colorado with its snowfalls.
Well I am going to have a cup of tea and get dressed. I need to go feed the horses.
Y'all have a good day.

To All AOL Journalers

To All AOL Journalers :
This link is to an online petition to ask AOL to give us the capability to print our journals out one entry at a time. If you agree go there and sign it by leaving a comment with your journal listed. Then click the blog this button and make an entry like this.

Friday, January 18, 2008

back and blah

So I am back I suppose. I feel better but blah. Actually I have been feeling blah for awhile. I  was suppose to make New Years resolutions, that did not happen. Why make something that you  will break? yea I need to lose weight. I need to clean house more. I need to stay off the computer more(oh horrors!)I need to do a lot of things but will I? Maybe, maybe not. Saying I will do it on Jan 1st is not going to make it happen.
So the sun is shining today. It is up to 42 and not expected to get any higher. Snow is gone and it is muddy out. They say we are going to get more again tomorrow and it will stick around longer. I don't mind it so much on the weekend. I like to stay at home if we can't go for a bike ride. I am not a real sociable type. Big change for me. I used to be kind of a party girl in my old life. Well...sort of a party girl. That was a long time ago. Dang I sound old. I'm not old , just anti-social now. I could become a recluse real easy. Umm wait, I may already be one. O this is not helping with the blahs,
The baby birds are flying pretty good now. They are so ugly now that they are cute. Feathers sticking out all over! LOL
Ok got to go. Horses need to be fed and I have to get dresses. Day will get better. It has to.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

snow

We got about 2 inches of the fluffy ,white, messy stuff. Yep we got snow. Today it is a mess, but to Brook it is beautiful. Too wet to make a snowman, not enough either. It is melting fast. The animals are not happy with it. I am staying out of it.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

birthdate

I got this from Pam
Your Birthdate: May 15
You take life as it is, and you find happiness in a variety of things.
You tend to be close to family and friends. But it's hard to get into your inner circle.
Making the little things wonderful is important to you, and you probably have an inviting home.
You seek harmony with others, but occasionally you have a very stubborn streak.

Your strength: Your intense optimism

Your weakness: You shy away from exploring your talents

Your power color: Jade

Your power symbol: Flower

Your power month: June

Monday, January 14, 2008

Slow going

It is slow going getting well. I am moving around better but my chest still hurts. It dropped into my chest like a rock. Been having to use an inhaler to keep my breath.
On to other things.
Cold weather is coming back to us. This week the highs are supposed to be in the 40's and lows in the 20's. Now i know that to some people that does not seem bad and it does not to me either. I just will it would stay that way for awhile instead of upping and downing all the time. Our weather acts like it is bipolar. These dramatic swings  have got to go!
The babies are flying now. They do not have all their feathers yet. that has not stopped them from flying!. One got out yesterday when I opened the door to feed them and caused a bit of a commotion. There were 4 cats in the house, 2 of which I know that will kill a bird in a heartbeat. While Brook herded cats out the back door, I am sneaking up on the baby. Pat is turning the lights off so it will be dark.  I dropped a scarf on the baby and scooped it up placing it back in the cage. Safe and sound and back where it belonged!. That was my drama for the weekend! It was all I could handle.
I do like adding my entry via the way of Firefox. Spell check is great. Unlike the spell check on AOL journals, I can add words that are spelled correctly  or words that are local like y'all and LOL.  A large groups of pictures in an album is different but I can add them in a different way and work around that.
I took the cans in today that we have been collecting to pay for Brook's black belt test. 300 pounds is what we ended up with. That is a lot of cans! We raised enough to pay for almost half of her test.
I get tired easy right now. I am going to read a few blogs. I will try to get to everybody. I don't know how many I will be able to comment on. Funny how sitting can wear you out.


Sunday, January 13, 2008

Celeste


What Celeste Means
You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.
You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.
A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.
You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.
Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.



You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.
You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.
You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

Friday, January 11, 2008

im whining pay no mind

I still feel like crap. I have ran a low grade temp for 2 days now. It feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest. I hate coughing. It really messes with some of the other body functions. UGHHH.
Anyway, Brook started back into Tae Kwon Do last night. Her mama took her. She was glad to go. She is to get back into training again. She has to build her strength back up again.
Today is Pat's birthday. He is not happy with it. I guess it is because he is sick and has to work. He did not have any time built up to take today off. We will celebrate tomorrow. 
OK I am out of here. Going back to the couch to lay down.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

this and that and yuck

Times flies when you're having fun (yes sarcastic here) 8 days into the year 2008 and I am ready to stop going. Something tells me that this year is going to be hard. Could it be because gas is over $3 a gallon? Or maybe because some of the big stores ( I don't shop at them) are closing a lot of places? Maybe because our local WalMart is no longer going to be open 24 hours?  Or maybe because Pat thinks that he can find another job out there in this economy? Candy is looking for a job now because of the collapse of the housing market. No one is paying for landscaping when they cannot even buy a house. No rain this year and there will be no yards to cut either. And to top it all off I have that darn drip down the back of my throat that makes me cough and gag. But on a bright note, Brook went to the doctor today and she was released. She is now able to get back into Tae Kwon Do, ride a bike , jump and kick and all that other stuff!
The countdown has started on the Prez race and I will not get into it. Like my mother before me, I will not discuss who I will be voting for or endorsing. All I will say is I will vote.
My birds are nuts! They have 2 beautiful babies. These babies are not weaned yet. they are going to be pretty things. The nuts part? They have started laying eggs again! and incubating them! It is Chip. He is a very dedicated parent. He likes being a daddy. He takes care of the eggs. He feeds the babies many more times then Peaches does. I cannot remove the nesting box now. I have to let Peaches finish laying her clutch or she could get egg bound and that could cost her life.
Extreme cold last week, 70's this week, deadly tornadoes, the weather is so crazy. I guess I can count of lots of bugs this year and no rain again.
Ok I am out of here. I have to shampoo the hall again. Sebastian is having bowel troubles. I think it is time. I do not want to do this.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Under 30

The Spoiled Under 30 Crowd

If you are 30 or older, you will think this is hilarious... . If not, send it
to your parents. They'll think it's funny.

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious
diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with
walking twenty-five miles to school every morning .... Uphill BOTH ways ..
Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in
heck I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I
had it and how easy they've got it.

But now that...

I'm over (ahem...waaaaay over) the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but
look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy. I mean,
compared to my childhood, you live in a dang Utopia. And I hate to say it
but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it.

1. When I was a kid, we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know
something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves... In
the card catalog. (Do you even know what a card catalog is? Didn't think
so.)

2. There was no email. We had to actually write somebody a letter. With a
pen. Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the
mailbox and it would take like a week to get there.

3. There were no MP3's or Napsters. If you wanted to steal music, you had to
wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk
over the beginning and mess it all up.

4. We didn't have fancy stuff like Call Waiting. If you were on the phone and
somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it.

5. And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either. When the phone rang, you
had no idea who it was. It could be your school, your mom, your boss, a collections
agent, you just didn't know... You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister.

6. We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with
high-resolution 3-D graphics. If we were lucky, we had Video Pong and later
on the Atari 2600. With games like "Space Invaders" and "asteroids" and the
graphics were horrible. Your guy was a little square. You actually had to
use your imagination. And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was
just one screen forever. And you could never win. The game just kept getting
harder and harder and faster and faster until you died. Just like LIFE.

7. When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium
seating. All the seats were the same height. If a tall guy or some old broad
with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just out of luck.

8. Some of us had no cable...only 3 stations (maybe) that you had to go
outside and turn the antennae to be able pick up. Later on, we had cable
television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no
onscreen menu. You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out
what was on.

And there was no Cartoon Network either. You could only get cartoons on
Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying.?. We had to wait ALL WEEK for
cartoons.

9. And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up, we had
to use the stove or go build a fire ... Imagine that. If we wanted popcorn,
we had to use that stupid JiffyPop thing or a pan with HOT oil and Real
popcorn kernels and shake it all over the stove forever like an idiot.

10. When we were on the phone with our friends and our parents walked-in, we
were stuck to the wall with a cord, a 7 foot cord that ran to the phone -
not the phone base, the actual phone. We barely had enough length to sit on
the floor and still be able to twirl t he phone cord in our fingers. If you
suddenly had to go to the bathroom - guess what we had to do..... Hang up
and talk to them later.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. You kids today have got it too easy.
You're spoiled.

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1960 or 1970 or 1980.

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd

Friday, January 4, 2008

first one

My first entry of the year, where to begin... LOL
Let's start with the end of last year. pat and I went over to Dee's for New Year's. It was an outside party. Yes it was cold but not too bad. We had a good fire going in a barrel and drinks all around. All but me anyway. I was the driver so no drinks here. there was a lot of laughs and a lot of leather. Everyone was a biker or married to a biker. Midnight came, champaign was poured and fireworks were shot off. Soon after wards Pat and I headed home.
The next morning the cold weather had come in like a lion! Nothing was going to stop us from taking our New Year's ride. We got all decked out in our leathers, new face masks, and helmets and was headed out when it happened. My chaps gave up the ghost. My zipper busted and the buckle snapped off. I was not going to let that stop me from riding. I layered up and we headed out. First stop was breakfast. Next we headed out for some more riding. It did not feel very cold to me so I was willing to go anywhere. We rode for about 2 hours. When we got home and I went to potty  I realized how cold I really was. My upper legs were red and white blotches. I got in the shower and used it to warm me up. that was when I really found out how cold I was. The water running on my legs below my knees was cold! I kept looking for a spray of cold water coming from the knobs or something. I realized that it was cold because as it ran over the top of my legs it was turned cold. My legs were ice! I will never, ever do anything that stupid again. I was not far from frostbite on my legs.
The babies decided to introduce themselves to the world New Year's weekend also. They have grown a lot. The little gray one hurt itself. I was afraid for it. It could not walk. It is getting around now but it was touch and go.
It has been cold here. Today we did get above freezing. Every morning for the last 3 days I have had to carry water out to the horses and other animals. The temps have been hovering around 6-18 degrees in the mornings since New Year's. Nobody has been happy outside.
I shampooed carpet today. It has been awhile since I have done that. Have not really felt like doing much of anything. I have gotten my meds started back so maybe I will start feeling like stuff again. I know I need to lose weight. I have officially slipped over the rim into what is listed as obese. I weigh 199 pounds. this is not good. I know some can be contributed to not taking my thyroid meds but some of the gain is a result of just flat out over-eating. I have a vicious cycle started that I must break. I have been so unhappy and , and well... it happened. I am hoping that I have it worked out now. I hope so. My life depends on it.