Here's to 2007!

May 2007 bring Peace, Prosperity & Happiness!

The News Drones on and on and on and on and ...

CNN is droning on in the background. I have it on for white noise. But now Mr SH can see if the 7 virgins waiting for him are nuns with rulers and an evil dispostion. Bwahahahaha. I wonder if it will change things in Iraq?

I had a hot toddy earlier. Gentleman Jack, lemon juice,sugar and hot water. I hope it will do some good. My ears feel like there is cellophane in them. Crinkle, crackle, crinkle.

Tomorrow I am going to go on a mission to replace a small appliance. I have looked several places online but haven't found it. I will look at a couple more places and see if there is anything even close to it. And also hit the book store, hit Ross for a new purse and then come home and watch FOOTBALL.

I have the new Nora Roberts triology. This isn't going to read as fast as her other books. I just finished 2 advance reads though. One a mystery set in Southern CA and one set in a village without men in Colombia. Both were extremely good.

My kids got me the 1st season of Bones. It's a lot of fun. Reminds me of the Xfiles, but with a sense of humor, not that DD and GA didn't have a sense of humor, but CC didn't allow them to work with a group and express it. This one rocks.

Oh well. 2007 is around the corner. I have 2 calendars already. I need to get myself a small purse calendar too.

Ciao!

-30-

One holiday down

It was a nice holiday. Gifts and laughs and lots of good food.
Woke up with a miserable cold on Tuesday and it's not much better today. I am pushing fluids, not talking if I don't have to and just lagging behind everything.
I have DVD's to watch.
Kids had a good holiday.
Lots of good food. Crab, shrimp, sammies, honey baked ham. Waiting on the hambone to make pea soup. Sounds good on a cold and windy day like today.
Enjoy your week.
Ciao.

-30-

and they said it wouldn't last

We celebrated our 21st anniversary yesterday. Who'da thunk?

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I saw the lump of coal today

But it was chocolate coated popcorn balls. I think tomorrow I am going to go to the market and buy them just for the hell of it. I am also going to tear apart the living room and make my son help me because I think there is some spirit creeping into my life.

I had an astrology chart made for me. Considering it's computer generated, it's rather accurate. Hmm. I don't put much stock in those things but what the hey, it was free. Just some printer paper.

My friend is getting snowed in but she'll have green grass on Christmas I bet. It's strange when the snow falls in places that are used to it, life goes on. Here, in the passes, it's such a strange occurence that people get all frazzled and freaked.

Back to the antibiotics. I hope they knock this shit out. I don't need my jaw giving me more problems, especially this weekend. I may call them and ask them to refill the scrip just for good luck.

I managed to get out of driving to BFE for Christmas. We are going to go to my Moms. My mom is sicker than hers and I don't know how many Christmases we are going to have with them. Mom's 82 and Paul's 86, and it will be peaceful, easy and just us on Christmas afternoon. If we drove out to BFE it would be us, 3 SIL/ 4 BIL's, 5 kids under 13, MIL and various sundry other people. + 4 dogs. This way the husband and the kids can go out on the 30th and visit. I can plead sickness or something. I just don't want to deal. And at my Mom's I can have a glass or 3 of wine and not feel like I am going to be crucified on the cross. Their house is dryer than the Sahara midsummer, it's not "The Christian" way of doing things.

And then there is the deaf BIL who is sending me emails left and right to get serial numbers and things off the Imac that my daughter has adopted and which is going back to the original owner. We don't mind that but to have a conversation with him, is really hard because he has no sense of syntax in his speaking /patterns. They will get the whole shebang back when the troops make the trip out.

So life goes on. I have a few places to start tomorrow as far as shopping and I will do that.
I got an online coupon from World Market that I can use at their store. I loved Cost Plus and they have improved over the years. I know what I want to get there and I hope I can do it in one felt swoop.

So that's it in a nutshell.
ciao,

-30-

holiday cheer....?

It's supposedly all around me but for the life of me I can't figure out where it went and why I can't locate mine. I absolutely have no spirit this year. Could it be for the following reasons:
● Lack of funds
● Lack of help from the kids to get the house ready
● Worry about parents illnesses
● Constant and continious pain
● Worry about same
● husband who spends nearly 90$ before Christmas on some putty to mend his
trucks manifold?
● Kid who expects a Nintendo Wii when I don't have money to buy groceries and he didn't get off his game playing ass to get a job in the fall when he needed to
● Other kid who's room looks like the wrath of whomever and shines me on.
● Can't find lumps of coal but I think it's going to be rampant around this house
● Just feeling blue

Oh well, this is Monday and it can be a day for me to just whine a little. Tomorrow will be better. I will manage. We may have paper dolls for presents but at least we will still have roof over our head God willing.

Ciao,

-30-

Where is my holiday spirit, can you find it????

Okay where are you hiding it? Did it get shoved into the back of the closet? I want to know and I want to know now!!!

Got some ideas for gifts today at Cost Plus. I need to go back there by myself with cash and put together some baskets of goodies for some people. Just a few. But since I have no money till next weekend, we'll just have to wait. Bah.
Humbug.

I am going to have to say sorry to the trip to the groomers. I can't afford the gas to drive around and my checkbook is so low that it's going to have red rubber soles soon .
But I am taping the dog show for my friend to take to the owner of the dog who was in the Eukanuba / Long Beach show the 1st weekend of this month. It's taping now.

Went to church today. Roof did not fall in. Had to come right home since child had a Christmas party to attend to. She made goodie bags for lots of people at the party. Cute.

Walmart wasn't too nuts yesterday. That was nice. But it sure was warm inside that store and cold when you stepped outside. Right now the fireplace is going and the heater will come on soon and make it warm upstairs. One more week of schlepping the child to school. Hope I can make it.

We have our 21st anniversary this week. Who would have thought it?

Happy days.
Ciao!!!
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Santa Baby.... The thing, a ring...

I heard the original Eartha Kitt song this week and it keeps running through my head, "put a sable under the tree, for me, "... though today Peta would put me in red paint.

Tough Shit. I'd like to see Peta go to a place like Siberia where fur in the winter is the norm, or even Northern Alaska and pull that shit. Might get a harpoon up the ass.

Today was a good day even with rain and wind. We went to a friends house and he gave us a really nice loveseat which makes the family room a lot more comfy. With just a futon couch, it's kind of hard to have a bunch of people down there. Thanks big guy for the couch!

Was going to go to the Olive Garden for their soup/salad/breadstick lunch but they were not open yet at 1145 so we went to Fridays. it was okay. The soup was good. The meat was so/so. I can deal with it though.

Didn't go to Costco but we went to WalMart and except for meat, got basically everything we were going to get at the other store, including Water. Why doesn't Sam's Club sell Sam's Water? The 20 ozers that are really nice. They don't sell their own brand of water. Weird. We were going to go to a nicer Sam's Club but time got short.

Came home and watched Star Trek ( Sarek dies) and watched the kiddo #2 put together Candy goodie bags for her friends for the party tomorrow. I think she is really a great kid and she had a lot of fun doing it as well as eating a bunch of M&M's. Her friends are good. I am glad she has them. She is still not speaking to the boy person, 6 weeks now. Wonder where his brain went?

Rainy cold and damp. Bones ache pretty much all the time but I am doing a bit better mentally. I'd really lose my mind if I didn't have some kind of frame of reference.

Garlic bread, angel hair pasta and sauce and meatballs for dinner tonight. Wow I cooked. And someone else is doing the dishes. You go girl.

Kid is happy. Her blood tests show that her ovaries are producing eggs. She is overjoyed. She still has to have pills to have her cycle but down the road she should be able to conceive. I could be a grandma someday along the line. Other kid is joining a digital photgraphy class in Jan. Cool.

Well I think I am going to fill my glass with ice, get some water and do some exercises to loosen up my neck. I am pretty tight right now. It's a flexeril night tonight.

Ciao!
- 30 -

Christmas Concerts

Last night was the school's Winter Concert. It was awesome. They have a jazz band that rocks. I really enjoyed that. The beginning chorus now have matching gowns, something that really makes them think about being a part of something. The boys looked good and sang well. The Advanced group which contains my baby were wonderful. My baby girl even had a little solo where she got to vamp the old piano player who has known her since she was a little bitty girl. I don't think he was happy but she made people smile with her exuberance and her joy. She brought tears of joy to my heart.

Geez, the news is reporting some guy with a samuri sword terrorized a family in Laguna Niguel. For Fred's sake. Stealing computer stuff. Ya gotta wonder, huh? Sounds like a tweaker got loose and needed to feed it's habit.

Rain on the way this weekend. I have no plans. I don't do my Christmas shopping till right before Christmas. Mainly because my disability check doesn't get here till then. I just want to make sure I have some firelogs, some wood to burn and getting this house ready.

So it's a good news post. God knows there need to be more of those.

Ciao!!!!

-30-

Random Thoughts About Airplanes

This is my favorite airplane of all time.
IT was awesome!











When I was little my folks would bundle us up, and drive to the Wausau Airport (AUW) to watch the airplane(s) take off. The airport is on a bluff overlooking the Wisconsin River and a few pilots have not made their way up and away and have lost their lives off that bluff. But I have a fascination for airplanes. This one, is the first plane I ever flew in. From AUW to Chicago's O'Hare (ORD) to connect with a TWA Boeing 707 to fly nonstop to Los Angeles in 1967. Hot stuff. And I got to fly in front of the curtain too.
Whoo Hoo. That was one perk of my mom marrying someone who worked in the airline business back in the late 60's. We had a pass that had a date of 361101, seniority, I even got to see some pilots wait for me to get on board. And in the 70's that was special.

When my kids were little, we'd bundle them in the car, drive through McD's and go park at the VSP Lot now renamed Lot B at 111th and Aviation and watch the jets go screaming past us as they headed towards 25 R and 25L to land. It was as exciting for me as it was for them.

I loved to fly. I loved looking down over land and sea and thinking about who was down there at this very second looking up and wondering who was up in that plane? But sadly the airline business has suffered.

Customer service on domestic American carriers has been allowed to falter. Being a flight attendant isn't glamourous anymore, it's always been hard work, and was rewarded with decent pay and benefits. The powers that be however feel that management deserves bonuses and golden parachutes, while the employees are lucky to have a cardboard backpack to hang on to. Of course we'll never go back to the golden days of domestic travel, where even in coach you got a good meal, free music to listen to, and a seat that didn't make you feel like your knees were in your chest.

I don't have any connection to the airlines anymore. I was in the periphery when I decided to be patriotic and go to work for the organization that makes you take your shoes off. Doing that gave me a ruined shoulder and probably pain for life. But I saw how people treated other people, and how people gave up common decency for petty power.

Maybe the next trip I'll take will be on rail. I could have a lovely experience for a 1st class price, taking a couple of days, and see places from a ground level. Could be done.

Thoughts over.
Ciao.
-30-

What I did this afternoon

I curled up on the couch and watched Pride and Prejudice (2005) with Keira Knightley. It is such a so romantic moviBlech.
And this sweet little puppy kept trying to be the center of attention. He knows how to take the afghan off the couch, or at least he gives it the old college try. He's a pain but we like him anyway.
Just wanted to share. I actually do mother/daughter things.

ciao!

Why I love Books.

I love books.
I am a bookperson.
My ideal job would be to do research and look up books and information all day long. I should be a librarian. Information science is so cool.
I've got too many books for the bookcases. Wonder if Santa will get a clue and bring me another bookcase. I have been reading since I was old enough to turn a page. I have to thank my folks for instilling the love of reading in my heart. There are books that have taken me places that I don't think I will ever get to, but then there are places I read about in a book, that made me insist on going on a particular tour in Rome to see the Church of San Pietro de Vincoli to see the horned Michaelango Moses. It was superb.

Pain is nearly gone in mouth. Shoulder is awful. Don't know what will happen. Worry is 1/2 the battle. As is the waiting. I am faithfully taking my antibiotics. UCLA called but they need a copy of the referral. I faxed the office so I have proof that I did it, and now will call UCLA tomorrow to see if they got the fax of the referral. Joy. Hopefully all this can happen after the 1st of the year. I'd like to have a good holiday someway.

Making biscuits now. Time to go down and watch Pride and Prejudice with the kiddo.

Ciao.

-30-

Doctors, Insurance and wha'ever

So today I have to drive 35 miles to the city of Reseda to see an insurance doctor. I am sure at one time he had a thriving practice, but now he sees patients that the DOL sends him. I think everyone who was in the waiting room was a workers comp patient. I told him my sad story and the fact that it hurts all the time. They measured my grip, the circumfrence of my arms and my legs, took my BP and I didn't have to fog a mirror. Now we wait and see what the DOL wants me to do. All I know is that I could have seen someone closer to have the same stuff done. Sheesh.

This has been a long weekend. I started out with the toothache from hell, had a meltdown in the dentist's office and they would not touch me. The fact that my BP was 179/110 could have been a clue. I had/have an infection and had to get on antibiotics which along with Vicodin ES knocked or are in the process of knocking out the infection. I am paying for years of neglect. But honest to God, I have such panic attacks when I go into the office that I can't even see straight. I am faithfully taking the antibiotic and it seems to be helping. Lord knows I was ready to have the tooth yanked just to stop the pain. But it's better now. I am just wiped out physically from the drive, the shoulder, and the toof.

Quiet around here. At the end of the week I have a mammogram and a bone density scan scheduled. That should be fun. Same place an hour apart.

So I've bitched and moaned and all that. We had a nice rain Saturday and Sunday nights. Made the air all nice and clear. Fireplace needs to be cleaned. Will tell #1 child to do that. He's not been exactly on my favorite person list this month.

My mom is 82 today. Whoooo Hooooo. I loves my Momma!

Ciao.

-30-

Okay I give

I have been clenching my jaws at night and now have a really bad pain in my mouth. I took some 800 mg Ibuprofen and that helped a little. It could be the tooth with the faux filling. But we can't afford another dental bill right now. Hell we can hardly afford our rent, my washer died this week and the kids are whining about Christmas. I told my son that if he doesn't get a job soon, he's going to be on my shit list. He needs to help pay for the cable and for his soon to be coming car insurance.

I don't have much else to say. I am tired.

ciao.

-30-

Maxine gets it right!

That is for sure. I'd much rather sit down and read a good book than do much else. Of course, these days it is a chore to do it because turning the pages makes my arm hurt. I know bitch, bitch, bitch. And there are many out there that are worse than me. But mine affects me and my family. I have to do what's right for us too.

Still so darn dry outside. It's up to 31% humidity now but this afternoon it was about 18% and yesterday it was a whopping 6%. When we were outside you could smell the smoke in the air and it was just hanging on the horizon off to the west from the fires in Ventura County.

Today was Mom's last injection in her back. She seemed to be pretty okay after but that's until the anesthetic wears off at the injection sight. I hope this does some good for her.

The daughter is having problems with a relationship. It's not as simple as a boyfriend/girlfriend thing, but it's friends. I truly think the boy has problems dealing with her as a girl. She has lots of friends, but not the same as his friends. He's been her friend for years and now he has his panties in a wad over something. She was in tears today and that makes me mad. No body makes my baby cry. Life will go on.

I was so tired today. I told my son I was going to take a nap, around 1300. The cell phone rang at 1330 and I was so groggy I have no idea what I said. I finally woke up about 1430 and got going to pick up the other kid from school. I think it's a combination of stress and just being so darn sore.

I am going to go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow both kids have school and I have a breakfast meeting. At least I think I do. I don't know. I think that was what the phone call was this afternoon. I called back and left a message but it's always hit and miss when I call up there.

You just never know do ya?

Ciao.

-30-

Paying for all that cooking

Well making all those meatballs caused me great spasms of discomfort and tears last night. I woke up in the middle of the night in tears from all the pain ( and I was in the middle of a very nice dream with someone I've liked for years, damn). Today was a pain pill day and hopefully it will be lessened over the night.

Lasagne for dinner tonight and it's already in the oven. Thank God for Costco.

Dinner at church was nice. Not as many people but lots of food. The kids sang well. I was so happy with that. The girls also learned to wear shoes that don't hurt your feet. Ha.Ha. Ha.

The winds are blowing and the humidity is down to 6%. Everytime I get out of the car I get a shock. I'm praying for some clouds and fog to bring some moisture back into the air. We all have been drinking lots and lots of water to keep hydrated. And lots of lotion on the legs and arms to stop the alligator skin on the body.

Football tonight. Seattle. Should be okay.

Had kids over night and I don't think the kids got much sleep. Going to be a long day tomorrow for them. Unless they get to bed at a decent hour. Dog is going crazy too. Cat is being chased all over everywhere. Such fun.

Not much else. I am going to take it easy for a day or two. The arm is really bad.

Ciao!

-30-

OOOh baby baby... Santa!

Well tonight's the smoragsbord.
I have 4 pans of cabbage rolls ready to go, a dish of cooked carrot coins with catalina dressing and parsley, and of course the ever popular fumi salad.
I am pooped. Cooking is hard work.
There are 4 teenage girls in my living room.
I still need to get dressed.
I am drinking a glass of white wine to get ready.
HAve yourself a merry little advent y'all.
I may get the tree out tomorrow. Depends.
Lots to do and oh my.
Ciao!!!
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