Have A Wonderful Easter!

The kids are strewn about the country, so I will have dinner on Sunday with my mom in the dining room at her place. I hope you all have a wonderful day with your families.

Ho Hum

Not a whole lot happening just now, but I thought I had better post something for all of my adoring fans...

My sister, Betsy, was here from California for a week to visit our mom and do what she could to help. Unfortunately, she got sick the night before her flight and arrived sick. So, she spent several days just hanging out at my house before she could visit Mom. It was a good visit. We rarely get time to chat together. Usually we just see each other during all of the craziness of Thanksgiving.

We ate out a lot while Betsy was here. I am not used to being tempted so frequently, so consequently, I am having to add another 5 pounds to my weight loss goal. It was worth it!

Mr. Koko is hanging in there. He continues to hang out most of the day on one of his heating pads, and he is still managing to eat a reasonable amount of food. I'm not sure how much weight he has put back on, but he is looking better. He rather enjoys all of the pampering... except for his morning medicine.

Things are still moving along with the house. I am really enjoying my new leather chair and couch. I had put up with an uncomfortable worn-out futon for so many years that having good seating in the family room seems amazing. Last weekend I visited a local kitchen remodeling store to get an updated view of what is available... next step is to get a quote... after I am revived, I will decide how much of a kitchen remodel I can afford. Then I need to check out replacing the carpeting with wood and laminate flooring. My list is way too long!

Shelfari And Koko Update

I have started to keep track of the books I am reading and have read on Shelfari. My sister invited me to join first, and then another blogger. Eventually I think that I will only list my favorite books. I think it will be interesting to see what other people are reading and have read. I have just started to list my books and look forward to checking out reviews on other books I am interested in reading. Maybe it will all be a waste of time. Who knows?

I had to return Mr. Koko to the vet after he was home for one day. He is still there. $$$$$ I am hoping that the biopsy results will arrive tomorrow. Allison, Charles and I visited him yesterday and today. He is still hooked up to the IV and they have him on a heating pad and hot water bottle. Yesterday, he was still very lethargic, but he has been eating and today he was quite a bit more his usual irascible self. It's a good sign.

In the meantime, I have been doing a bit of research online about feline pancreatitis which seems to fit his symptoms. As long as his results don't show cancer I think he may get through this and be around for a few more years. The house has seemed very quiet and empty without him talking to me and purring in my ear at night.

Mr. Koko Is On Valium

Poor Koko. It's tough enough being a 17 year old cat. Today though, I had to take him to the vet again. He was uncomfortable walking last night and had been complaining loudly as only a Siamese cat can. A mass showed up in his X-ray that was unusual--not like a normal tumor. The vet thought at one point that he may have swallowed something. So this afternoon Mr. Koko was in surgery.

I talked to the vet around 4:30 pm and he was still unsure about the mass after he had removed it. It is being sent for a biopsy along with liver and pancreas samples. The vet said that the liver and pancreas did not look good. So time will tell what is going on with my old cat. In the meantime, he is on Valium and an IV and will be monitored until he is ready to come home. There is something quite humorous about a Siamese cat--especially Koko--on Valium. I guess you would have to know him to get the humor. He can be quite irascible. Perhaps if you have ever read the comic strip "Get Fuzzy" you might understand a bit.

On another note... just to let you know that my life continues to throw me left curves... In the midst of the Koko issues, my dryer decided to quit working. Thanks to my good neighbors (yes, the same ones that put me up when my electric was out) I will have dry underwear to wear tomorrow. Sigh. Tomorrow is another day.

It's A New Year

Well, the new year has come, and I have had a lot going on in the past couple of months so I have a lot of things that I could write about in this post. I'll highlight a few and try to get up to date.

My mom's official move-in date to the retirement complex was November 19th. It is certainly a relief to have her closer to me, but it also poses a few new problems. I have been taking her out to dinner when I can... several times a week when she first moved. I took quite a few days off without pay to get the things done that were necessary to get her settled. This involved furniture shopping, clothes shopping, appointments for new doctors, and the continuance of getting rid of things that she no longer wants, needs, or has room for in her new place. I have tried to get her used to me taking her grocery shopping on Wednesday night and out to dinner on Sunday night with another trip to the store. I actually want to continue to get her out to dinner at least twice a week.

My first challenge was to convince her that she was not going to pay for my meal every time we go out for dinner. My next challenge was to get her to realize that I cannot continually take time off from work every time she wants me to do something for her. A third challenge has been grocery shopping. I will take her one day and get a call the next day that there is something else that she needs immediately. Another challenge has been to get her to be sociable with the people around her. She has been hesitant to go out of her way to make friends. It is happening gradually, however. These have all been minor and seem to be working themselves out over time.

Driving was a bigger issue. I drove her over the same routes numerous time to see if she could learn a basic route to and from the grocery store center where there are also other shops that she would utilize. No go. Her short term memory loss made it too difficult for her, and she decided on her own to give up her car to one of the grandchildren. That puts me in the hot seat a bit more(especially when she was sick with a virus for a couple of weeks), but it is okay.

All in all the move has been good. "L" and I will continue to keep her happy with get-togethers and trips out and about, and she will hopefully make some new good friends.

I recently got the news that I will be going through another audit at work this year... probably around April. This will be the second one with an outside auditor... the last one was about three years ago. The Diocese now likes to have them done every three years. It should go well, and is only an annoyance as it takes up several days of my time.

My 17 year old Siamese cat, Koko, was sick over the holidays. At one point I thought that he was at the end of his life, but he has snapped back. He had weighed about nine pounds and had lost two of those pounds! A trip to the vet to get him hydrated and put on appetite stimulants and antibiotics did the trick. In a few weeks his weight increased by a pound. I continue to monitor his eating to make sure he is getting what he needs. This can be a challenge since the other cat, Scud, who weighs 22 pounds keeps trying to chase Koko away and steal his food. Scud needs Overeaters Anonymous for cats. He was a stray and thinks every meal is his last.

The kids were all home for Christmas, but only for a few days. The boys left early on the 27th. I was disappointed, but at least they were all home for my birthday on December 26th. It was a fun Christmas though, and we certainly had plenty to eat and a good time!

December 26th was a big day for me for another reason... It was the days we closed on the house... I bought himself out of the house so I (along with the mortgage bank) am now the proud owner of my abode!!! In the process I also paid off my car and my remaining credit card debt. It really feels good!

I have continued fixing up the place. I won't go into my disaster with paint choices... I am learning to tolerate colors other than what I chose and will repaint at a later date. The biggest issue I have now is to decide what is most important to do next. I have a limited amount of money set aside and a number of projects that add up to more that I can afford. Sooo, I am taking my time to make decisions.

In the process of all of this fixing-up, I decided it was time to re-hang the livingroom curtains... They had been sent to the cleaners a little over a year ago, and I had the sheers hanging on hangars in my closet waiting to be rehung. I had the old valance in the living room taken down as well as the curtain rods so that I could get the living room painted. The valance went into the trash and I decided not to hang the old curtains... I would just hang the sheers. The walls were painted and the curtain rod rehung... when I went to hang the sheers, I was in for a surprise. They looked like my curtains. The color was right. The width was right. Maybe the backing on the pleated top looked a bit more worn... but I had sent them to the cleaners. I just can't figure out how theygrew 9 inches in length! I tend to think that when someone got their curtains back from the cleaners a little over a year ago they were quite upset at how much they had shrunk. I will be hemming my adopted curtains.

I had great plans to get things dome over the New Year's holidays. The Christmas tree would get undecorated and taken down, Christmas decorations would get put away, I would do some movie watching, do some reading, and catch up on my blogging. I had to work on the 31st since it was the end of the calendar year and there were a few things I needed to get done. After work I went directly to my mom's apartment to pick her up and take her out to dinner. It was a scrumptous dinner and when we were done, I dropped her off back at her apartment. It was going to be a good night.

When I got home, I gathered my things out of the car, got the mail from the mailbox, and unlocked the front door. I turned the switch to turn on the light in the livingroom and nothing happened. Darn! I thought the cats had pulled out the plug again. So, I stumbled into the kitchen and turned the light on in there... oops no light! It dawned on me that the electricity was off. Rats! It is not uncommon for the electric to go off on occasion, but it usually comes right back on. I stepped back outside to see what other houses were dark and discovered that everyone else on the street had electricity. Hmmm.

I called himself to see if he had neglected to pay the electric bill (he had been slow paying or still had to pay some others) or if he had paid it late. He stutterd around for a minute, but the bottom line was that he had had the electric turned off. I called the electric company to find out that he had arranged on December 26th to have the electric turned off on the 31st and had neglected to tell me. He still maintains that he only tried to have the account transferred. Any way, since it was New Year's Eve the electric company could do nothing more for me than collect a $400.00 deposit which I had to pay in order to even schedule the service to be turned back on on January 2nd.

It just so happens that over the holiday we were expecting a cold front to come through and it was going to get into the thirties. I know that you "nawtheners" are laughing right now, but by Florida standards, that's more than just a bit nippy! Besides that, I had an underweight and sick Siamese cat to worry about, no heat, a refrigerator-freezer full of food, no light, and no hot water. I was not a happy camper. I called daughter Allison on my cell phone and she called her dad. Himself then came by with a couple of electric cords and plugged the refrigerator into an outlet of a helpful next door neighbor so that the food would not go bad. I did have to get rid of some things that had already melted in the freezer since the electric had been off most of the day. I spent the night with my Italian friends/neighbors, and the next day was able to take a hot shower and get cleaned up. Before the colder weather came through I built a fire in the fire place. Koko was warm, I was warm and I spent that night at home. The electric came back on about 4:00 pm on January 2nd. It was not the happiest New Years in my life, but I am grateful to have such wonderful neighbors!

Now we come to this past week...

I hesitated to post this picture, but I know a priest in Ireland who will be interested in seeing it. He reads this blog on occasion. What you are looking at is a picture on my former pastor's back. He, Fr. Aiden whom I have written about in the past, was out for his morning walk when an SUV truck did a u-turn and hit him. He survived without any broken bones, but has a huge hemotoma behind his kidney and generally looks like... he was hit by a truck! He spent this past week in the hospital and was moved to a rehab center on Friday. He is very sore, to say the least. Please keep him in your prayers.

So that is more or less the highlights of the last couple of months. Life is never dull.

Checkin In...

I survived the holidays and will post something soon... just wanted to let you know I am still alive.

Yay!

Yay! I'ts Advent Season! I love this time of year! I tend to walk around with a smile on my face. Add to that the following facts:

• my youngest daughter is engaged and wedding plans are beginning
• my mom is quite happy and getting settle into her new apartment
• I have just about finished cleaning up after Thanksgiving
• the street is already aglow with lights and decorations up on many of the homes
• I am looking forward to picking out this year's Christmas tree
• it's getting close to closing time on the house
• Christmas music is delightful
• my kids will all be home again for Christmas
• my kids will all be home for Christmas
• and finally, my kids will all be home for Christmas

Yup, I am a haaapppy camper!

A Post Revisited : STUFF

Since I have been dealing with packing up Mom's house and now unpacking some of her things at my house, I thought that this post from January 2006 would be appropriate to revisit (with a few changes)!

Stuff. Yup. Stuff. We all have it. We all want it.

It is both a blessing and a burden.

It starts when we are young. We want cool stuff. We ask our parents to give us that cool stuff. We get the stuff, or at least enough stuff to leave us wanting more stuff. We even get things to carry our stuff around and things to keep our stuff in order.

When we are young adults we want even more stuff. Now we work for our stuff. The more stuff we get the more stuff we want. We start to keep track of our stuff. We never have enough stuff.

As we get older, maybe we get married. Then we really get a lot of stuff. Still this does not satisfy us. Now we know we really need more stuff. We have to get a bigger place to live to keep all of our stuff with us. The place we get has extra room, so we get more stuff to fill the empty space. Then maybe we have children, and we have to get stuff for them, too.

And now we have to do more to keep track of our stuff. We worry about losing our stuff. So we document our stuff and take out insurance on our stuff. Our kids start to demand more stuff of their own. And because we know how important stuff is in everyone's life, we get them more stuff. And we increase our insurance to cover their stuff, too.

Now a new phenomenon starts to creep into our lives...

We start to feel that we need to get away from it all... all our stuff. So now we take vacations from our stuff. We take our children with us. They spend most of the vacation bemoaning the fact they want to get back to the stuff that they have left at home.

Then one day, the kids leave home, and we look around and discover that we have too much stuff. We need to downsize and get rid of stuff that we don't need anymore. We have garage or yard sales and sell our stuff to unsuspecting people who are still in the mode of acquiring more stuff. Then we take the money we make at the sale and decide that now that we have gotten rid of some stuff, we can now buy more stuff. And we do.

And so it goes. We get rid of old stuff, and replace it with newer and better stuff. We do this and do this, until one day we are too old to do it any more. Then our children have to do it for us. Maybe they move us to a retirement home. Our stuff gets redistributed. Now our children buy us things that they think we need or would enjoy. But it is stuff that doesn't take up much room.

Yup. We all have stuff.

Sometimes irreconcilable differences put a kink in this life plan of acquisition and disposition of stuff... for a while...

When getting a divorce, you have to inventory all of your stuff and finances. Then you have to fill out forms that require all of this information. You also have to pay a lot of money for the privilege of doing this.

Then at some point, someone will look at all of this information on the forms that have been filled out and will use some sort of formula to decide how much of the stuff you get to keep and how much money you will get to help you take care of your portion of said stuff. And then you get to pay some more money so that all of this gets recorded and becomes a legal document. You then will get to add this document to your stash of stuff... a smaller stash than you had before.

What happens next? Will you get to acquire more stuff? Will a reduced income greatly impact your acquisition phase? Will your children keep you in new cool stuff as you get older. Will you rejoice in your new freedom from excessive stuff? Will you finally get all of your closets cleaned once and for all?

I suspect that not only does life go on... but stuff goes on as well.

As for me, Mom having to reduce her stuff has been an avalanche of additional stuff for me. Some of this stuff, I will pass on to my children. Some of it will go to charity. Some stuff I am really grateful to receive. However, it looks like my closets may have to wait another year or so to get cleaned...

Keepin Up With The Youngsters!

My daughter's boyfriend Charles has completed his product for the Next Internet Millionaire show: www.viralvideofever.com It is actually quite useful if you want to learn how to do videos on the internet. Below is the promo for it. A music friend/contact wrote the song for the video. I'm not crazy about the title, but obviously it is aimed at a different age group! The world is changing so fast... I feel way out of step!

Mom's move date is NOvember 19th. So after this next week I hope to have some time to do a couple of posts that I have put on hold... one on my trip to Virginia to visit my son Matt and one on the ongoing kitchen project. Perhaps a few Turkey Day photos will emerge as well...

Oops! I Goofed!

My duct work is done and I have a new vent into the Laundry Room. Yay! The electrician is coming on Monday to put the new panel in and complete the rest of the various electrical things that need attention. "L" is coming on Sunday to help me get the laundry room ready for the work. So today I went out to buy a new refrigerator to replace the one that quit working properly.

I was very careful to measure the width and depth of the refrigerator I now have because it is a tight fit between cabinets. I look up and decided that I did not need to get a height measurement because I could eyeball it by my own height. I looked at the cabinet over the top of the refrigerator and decided that I had plenty of leeway there. I should have used a stool or chair to check the cabinet clearance, however... like I did after I got home to unload the top of the old refrigerator. What I had thought was about eight inches was only about an inch an a half. It has been a while since I got up there to view the clearance. Uh, oh.

So how do I fix this problem? The price of the refrigerator was right. It has everything I wanted... and more. The color, width, depth and design are all good. Hmmm... Well, being the practical and sensible person that I am, I have decided that the cabinet above the refrigerator needs to be taken down! It is too high to be of much use to me anyway. No band-aid solutions for me! That cabinet has got to go... and before Monday when they deliver the new one... I think I have a few things to do... This should be good!

Things Seems To Be Coming At Me From All Directions!

Things are moving along, but I have experienced some unexpected glitches in my life of late. Mom will moving into her new home on November 19th. Some of her "extra" things are getting moved to my house. That means I need to be ready to have them moved in to various spots in my house. Okay, not so bad.

I am having Thanksgiving at my house this year. It has been years since I have roasted a turkey. The kids will help, though. I will need to have the house ready very quickly after Mom's extras are moved here. I'll have more beds for people to sleep in while they are here. Okay, not so bad.

I planned on having some work done on the house. To start, I have arranged to have the back of the old garage closed in with a new ceiling and drop in an air conditioning vent so my laundry room will be nicer and cleaner. I got a good quote and noted some other things that needed to be done before the ceiling work is started. An electric panel would need to be moved and I would need to check with the A/C people to make sure that the system in that part of the house could handle another duct. With about $1,000.00 for the new ceiling, a seasonal check on the A/C when they come out to check out if I can add that duct, and the electrical panel move... Okay, not so bad.

The air conditioning guy came out and did the check for the system. Yes, I can drop in a new vent... no problem. Good! However, he did find out that some of the air circulation problems I have been having in the older part of the house are due to the fact that the metal coils in the duct work are old and rusting and some of the duct work has collapsed. He put freon in both A/C units and wrote up a quote for the duct work... $2,750.00 to replace the duct work in the old part of the house, add boosters to the vents... a redesign of the duct work system basically. Okay, not so great, but I can deal with it.

The recommended electrician came out to give me a bid on moving the second electrical panel to the inside of the house. Hmmm... it seems that some things are not up to code. We could wait on the incorrectly placed well pump for the sprinkler system to see if the inspector would let it pass even though it is situated right in front of the electric meter... a no-no. To make a long story short, in order for things to be done properly-- there have been some safety issues with that outside panel-- remove the old well pump that was never taken out when the new one was installed, move the clothes dryer hookup... well, what I thought would be around an $800.00 to $1,000.00 job has turned into a $2,500.00 job IF the inspector lets me leave the new well pump where it is. Okay, things are getting out of hand a bit here.

...In the midst of all of this, I discovered that my refrigerator/freezer decided to quit on me just after I went to the grocery store. Ouch. I have been pricing new ones. Ouch, ouch. They sure cost a lot more than the last time I bought one! Costs for one the same size as I currently have seem to run between $1,000.00 and $2,300.00 depending on the features (more features, more to go wrong, I figure!). I guess that also means more time off from work to wait on a delivery and hook-up. Let's see... missed days for A/C duct work, electrical work, numerous appointments and arrangements for Mom, refrigerator delivery... I don't even want to think about the lost wages! Okay, I think I've had enough.

Oh yeah... it's minor, but the blow dryer for my hair also quit on me a week ago, someone put a rubbing alcohol solution into my orchid spraying bottle and I thought it was still water until I had doused my orchids with it, and no one seems to be able to fix my doorbell. Sheesh.

Next year had better be a very good year!

Happy Halloween Y'All!

We don't get as many children and teens as we used to a few years ago, but there are enough cuties to keep me happy! Here's hoping that all of your trick-or-treaters come by for treats instead of tricks!

I Am Still Wearing White Sandals

I thought that I should post something quickly tonight so that my millions of readers would know that I am still alive. Until today, the weather has been so hot that everyone around here is still wearing white shoes and summer clothes! Today however, we finally have some nicer cool weather. Highs around 83, Lows around 70. That is getting close to heaven on earth in my book... at least in terms of the weather. I hope we get a few weeks of this at least before it gets hot again!

I have been very busy getting my mom ready to move closer to me and into a retirement/assisted living complex. We have sorted through about a gazillion of her books. Yesterday and today we worked with a moving service for the elderly marking her things that will go with her, the things that will move to my house, and the things that will go to charity. There are still a lot of junk drawers that she has to sort through. I have told her to pick one a day and that should get her done by her packing date. I really don't want to pay movers to move empty cans, jars, old pieces of sting and dozens of unknown keys... to name but a few. I also suggested that her three or four old coffee makers that are no longer working or are missing parts might possibly go into the garbage and not on the truck to Clearwater!

It has been a chore, but I can't imagine how difficult it would have been without the Welcome Home service. When she moves into her apartment her bed will be made and everything will be put away for her. They worked up a floor plan for all of her things with her, took pictures of everything, and will make sure that everything is in it's proper place when she arrives. They were absolutely wonderful!!!!

On a lighter note... I have started "eating healthier" which is the current code for going on a diet with Weight Watchers. It is my hope that future pictures of me will look a little different...

On The Rant Again...

After the recent anniversary of 9/11, and news items such as football players involved in running dog fighting matches , the unending reports of vicious killings in the Middle East and Africa, and the continuous reports of senseless violence against people and animals in our own country, I thought the following quotes would be appropriate to post:

"Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives." - Albert Schweitzer

"We cannot have peace among men whose hearts find delight in killing any living creature." - Rachel Carson, American Author and Marine Biologist

"Of all the creatures, man is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he's the one that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot." - Mark Twain, American Novelist

Over the past few years we have had local news reports of teenagers breaking into pens and purposely torturing pigs and horses, shooting pet cats with arrows, and beating dogs nearly to death. I shudder to think what these "kids" will be like when they are adults.

There are times when killing someone or something is necessary, but I can't imagine ever being delighted over doing so. I can't begin to understand the mind of a terrorist. I will never understand how any sane person can take pleasure in murder or torture.

Long Day, Long Week

I didn't get out of work until 8:30 PM tonight. It was a long day to end a very long and tedious work week. I have been working on several projects at work and had hoped to finish them all by the end of my day today. No such luck. Monday will be here soon enough.

My mom has been having some difficulty with her medications... taking medicine and poor memory don't work well together. She also has a new prescription that seems to be making her sick. She spent one evening vomiting. It is very hard to be at work and at home and get the phone calls about what is happening with her when I can't drop everything and travel for 2 1/2 hours to be there with her. With my projects at work this week, it was very frustrating!

Mom has a spot in an assisted living community that will be available for her in early November. It is close to my home so it will be easy for me to visit her and take her out once she is moved. It is a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment and big enough for her to take her looms, and baby grand piano... both very important to her... as well as much of the furniture and belongings that she currently has in her home.

So... this weekend I will be helping her go through some of her things and pack up some of the stuff that she doesn't want to keep. I figure that as the things that she doesn't want to keep are removed from the house, the easier it will be when it gets down to the harder choices. Hopefully it will make her move much easier. I still have plenty of boxes and an ample supply of tape to get started. We'll start with sorting through her books...

Speaking of books... I am about to get settled in to read my new Harry Potter book. I just need to grab a nice cold beer from the refrigerator and change from my work clothes into some comfy pajamas. You all have a wonderful weekend!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice And Men...

Well, I'm sad to say that I am losing my roommate. It seems she and her man have decided to be just friends, so she is heading back to Georgia in the next day or so. She plans on getting a job and going back to school to study to be a nurse. She also plans on visiting in the future when she can (likely for the Florida/Georgia football match in October). So tomorrow after work we will float in the pool and enjoy some Mimosas. It has really been a lot of fun having her staying in my home.

Lately, I have been following the episodes of The Next Internet Millionaire on the internet. Mostly, I am interested in the program because my daughter Allison's boyfriend Charles is one the twelve people who made it as a finalist. I especially enjoyed watching episode 4 tonight because Charles, who won't eat fish, pork, or a lot of other things, ate 2 worms. Not only did he eat them, but the way he ate them was hysterically funny... to me any way! You can watch any of the episodes or auditions for the program by going to the following site: http://www.nextinternetmillionaire.com The first episode was a little too long and a bit boring, but sets up how the other episodes unfold. By episode two you really get to see some of the personalities (negative and positive) emerging. There is a new episode each week until the final one sometime in November. I will continue to watch to see what Charles gets to do next. But it will be difficult to top the worm-eating that debuted tonight!


I am determined to finally start reading the latest Harry Potter book. It has been sitting in its box since the first day of distribution waiting for me to open it and start reading. Everyone that I have talked to that has already read the book has given it a thumbs up. I'll let you know what I think when I am done.

Anything Could Happen

I am looking forward to attending Blogstock '08 next summer. Although I know that I am going, I have yet to figure out what kind of accommodations I will be using. I'll have to ask Cliff if he is providing showers and toilets for everyone... perhaps a local motel will be my choice... with air conditioning! Knowing Cliff and Ralph, they will have everything well planned. It should be a fun time... but I am a little concerned about the toilets and showers...

Yup, I look forward to being let out of my cage! I have already used up this year's vacation days, so January will not be here soon enough! I am determined to plan better for next year's time off. I want to fit in a trip to Key West, Blogstock, a trip to somewhere I have never been before, and perhaps a short cruise. Key West can be a long weekend, but the others will take more time. I plan on taking my camera and getting lots of pictures... and lots of material for this blog. You never know... first I get dressed up as the Swedish Chef from the Muppets for "L"s house-warming-costume party... who knows what lies ahead!

will

Things Have Not Been Great...

...but I am still alive... and I have been trying to keep up with reading my favorite blogs even though I have not been posting.

The second baby bird died (was killed?) shortly after my last post. I found the little thing dead in the nest and mama bird no where to be seen. The next day the body had disappeared. It was sad... I had looked forward to watching the birds grow and leave the nest. Sigh.

My 82 year old mother has been having some memory problems and related health issues, so I have been trying to deal with that situation while still trying to figure out what to do about my own housing situation. Since I don't get alimony until the house sells, and the housing market does not look hopeful, it has been a bit difficult at times. I think that I may have figured a way to resolve some of that... it looks hopeful at any rate.

I now also have a roommate! Her name is Allison (same name as my youngest daughter) and she is the girlfriend of our new Youth Minister at church. I am really happy to have her here with me! She is a gem!

I am looking forward to attending Blogstock next year... I think it will be a wonderful time, and I look forward to meeting so many people in person that I have only known through blogs! Kudos to Ralph (Homespun Headlines) and Cliff Morrow(blog of the same name) for the idea and follow-through!

Things are looking brighter. I'll try to post more often so people don't forget me!

One Baby Bird

Well, we are down to Mama and one baby bird. I am not sure what happened to the other baby... one morning it was just gone. Sigh. Life is not always fair. I will continue to enjoy watching the little guy that is left grow. Look how big he is already! I haven't seen the male parent, but I hear him all the time close by in a tree.