Monday Blah!

I have an 8am doctor's appointment this morning. Nothing wrong, just his "3 month so I'll have a paycheck" appointment. Doctors drive me crazy!

Big R has had a bad cold all weekend. Laid on the couch almost all day Saturday sleeping. He's on call this weekend and at least they left him alone that day. He's only had two calls all weekend. One Friday night, and one yesterday morning. Good Lord is looking out for him I guess.

It feels weird to have all of my shopping done....we go to the stores and everyone looks almost frantic trying to do their Christmas shopping. Makes me feel really good!

We haven't nailed down the plans for getting together with family at Christmas. Won't be much getting together other than the kids and Big R's side of the family. Sis says she's not doing Christmas at all this year. Nada....nothing. It's just going to be too strange Christmas day. I almost wish it were already over. Nothing like wishing my life away, ha!

Catching up...

Things went, well.....okay, for Thanksgiving. Not great, not necessarily bad, just okay. I didn't cry, so this is a good thing. I missed Mom. Holly Hostess, I'm not! The food tasted alright, it just wasn't Mom's. Big R had to take wicked step-son to the emergency room early that morning because he'd been hurting all night. Come to find out, he has walking pneumonia. While they were gone, everyone else started showing up at the house, I was trying to get the meal prepared. The garage door was closed, so they started using the front door (which we never use). An old stray cat has been hanging out on the front mat, and had decided the front porch was his personal "potty". Yeah, that was nice! "Come on in, just step over the cat poop!" And the step up to the front walkway - the one I've tried to get Big R to add for the last, oh, ten years.....well, he had finally fixed it and put it up next to the porch, he just didn't bother to attach it! Yeah, several people nearly busted their butts because they stepped on it and, hey, guess what? It moved! Thanks, Big R!!!!! But, all in all, I guess it wasn't that bad. Everyone ate, visited, and listened to the grandkids scream and run rampant. Hey it was Thanksgiving!

On the work front, we did one - count it - ONE, service the entire month of November. That's a record since I've been there. A little scary, but things are starting to rock and roll now. They had three on the board over the weekend. I'm supposed to go to the doctor tomorrow but will have to call and reschedule because we have a 10am service in the morning. I've been having some pain in my right arm, just above my wrist. I'm hoping I've just picked something up and bruised it, but it's right next to where they took the cancerous mole off a few years ago. Makes me worry a little. Probably nothing, we'll see.

Working weekend

Big R was on call this weekend so we couldn't go anywhere (other than Wally-world), and only had a few calls. That made for one big, fat, lazy weekend. We just sat around and watched TV, played on the computer, and did a few loads of laundry. Had planned to clean house, but Big R had beat me to it when I got home Friday from work. Floors were vacuumed, furniture was dusted, kitchen was mopped, bathrooms were cleaned......yeah!

I'm a little anxious about Thanksgiving at my house next week. Having not ever been the one to cook before, it's a little nerve wracking. Guess I'm just not much of an "entertainer". I'll just pray it'll be a good, family get-together.

Moving Right Along

It's been a while. Let me think what's happened since I last posted. Hmmmmm.......not much!

A friend of mine called Friday wanting me to go with her to Branson to look at fall leaves and just get away. Told her Branson's fall leaves have "come and gone"......if she wanted to look at leaves she'd have to do it around central Arkansas. She thought Big R might be going to the deer woods and it would be just me and her. Told her, "no....he's not planning on going hunting this weekend."
She wanted to know if we could go and him go, too. So we ended up driving up around Greenbrier on Saturday and going to flea markets all day. Found some neat stuff, spent too much money, but I had a good time. Don't think Big R was real thrilled with it all, or at least he didn't act like he was really having much fun.

I really hate feeling like I can't "be there" for my friend without letting Big R down. I'm supposed to want to be with him 24/7. And don't get me wrong, I do love being with him....but, my friend and I have been friends for over 30 years. We've been through some really good times, and some really bad times together, and if truth be known, she probably knows me better than Big R ever will. I guess you could say we're "kindred spirits". We just clicked when we first met and it's been that way ever since. I hate feeling like I'm letting her down. But I don't want to let Big R down, either. Damn it!

Okay, off that soap box and moving on. I was hoping to have Christmas bought and wrapped before Thanksgiving. Well, Thanksgiving is fast approaching and there's still some to be bought. Don't know if that goal is going to be met or not! Maybe if we're slow at work this week, I can take a day off when Big R doesn't have anything planned and we can finish up. Sounds like a good plan, huh? We'll see......

Part of Christmas bought

Went shopping Saturday and at least got part of Christmas bought. Got a pretty good start on it, anyway!

I'm at a total loss when it comes to buying for Big R's parents. We try to help them out all through the year by buying anything they need so it makes it really hard to buy for them at Christmas. Thought I knew of one thing we could get wicked step-son, but found out yesterday he'd gone and bought it for himself, already. Little snot.....he's just like his daddy! (And I love 'em both!)

Big R works today and then he's off the rest of the week for vacation. Wish I was off, too, but that ain't happening! Guess he needs some "man time" anyway. He wants to try to get a shed finished that he's started. Wicked step-son is off on vacation this week, too, so that'll give them some "bonding" time. They need that!

Guess I'd better go get some clothes on and get to work.

Depressing........

I don't understand why I'm so depressed all the time. Is it that it's finally "setting in" that my Mom is gone? Is it because both of my bosses at work are dealing with parents that are seriously ill? Is it because the election is nearing and I dislike both of the candidates and feel our country is headed for disaster? Is it because the holidays are just around the corner and I don't know if I can handle them this year? Is it because Big R and I have been snapping at each other with increasing regularity here lately? Is it all of this rolled into one big ball of DEPRESSION?

My nephew called my sister yesterday and told her we all HAVE to get together around the holidays. We can't just let our family go their separate ways! I'm glad he feels that way, but I just don't know if I can handle getting together at Thanksgiving or Christmas like we always did. Too many memories and no Mama.....he also told her a tree went through the house at the lake and pretty much destroyed it. This makes me sick! That place was my dad's pride and joy.

It just seems that everything I hear is "bad". There's not much that's "good news" anymore. I want to be happy. I want to laugh and enjoy my life. Why can't I do that? I'm a firm believer that attitude is everything. If you have a positive attitude toward things, everything is better, but how do you have a positive attitude when you feel like your life is falling apart and there's nothing you can do to stop it?

I seriously need a shrink!

Another Beautiful Weekend Down the Tube

This was another absolutely BEAUTIFUL weekend, cool, crisp, clear blue skies and what did we do.........absolutely nothing because Big R was on call. It gets so frustrating when the weekends that would be perfect to go camping, travel, or be outside doing stuff, we have to stay close to the phone in case he gets a call. Arghhhhhhh!

We're going to try to go do a little Christmas shopping next weekend. Get some of that out of the way before Thanksgiving. Good grief! It's almost Thanksgiving!!!!! Where has this year gone?

Playing hooky

Took a "play day" yesterday. Big R had to go to Little Rock to the doctor for an annual check-up, so I took off and went with him. We shopped a little before his appointment, then he had a real good check-up, everything looked great, and then we went out to a new restaurant for lupper (lunch/supper).

I've heard advertisements for Izzy's for the last couple of years, so we tried it out. We had their home-made tamales with chili and cheese dip/chips, some guacamole on the side, and for dessert Big R got their bread pudding and I got lemon icebox pie. Tasted just like the kind my mom used to make.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. And I think we both needed one!

And we're off and running.....

Monday morning, and we have a 10am service in our chapel. It was a semi-enjoyable weekend. There was some strife, a few minor altercations, but we had a very good meal at Paula Deen's restaurant in Tunica, didn't lose too much money, and made it home in time to take care of things around here. And the weather was drop-dead gorgeous this weekend! Cool, crisp, sunny, and exactly the way I like it!

Big R was going to work on his shop yesterday, but everything kept going wrong so he just stopped what he was doing and came in. We gave Corky a haircut instead. She was really, really shaggy so it all worked out for the good in my opinion. He goes on call this Thursday so we wouldn't have been able to trim her this coming weekend as easily.

My trying to lose weight isn't exactly going great. Of course, when we're eating at Paula's and Larry's Pizza it's not going to go great. Maybe I just need to reconcile myself to the fact that I LOVE to eat and I'm going to be fat the rest of my life. Look at it from another prospective. If we go into another "Great Depression", I'm starting out with plenty of meat on my bones. I won't starve to death nearly as fast as some of these other prissy little skinny people! HA!

Fall is here!

We had rain last night and cooler weather today and this weekend is supposed to be GORGEOUS!
This is my kind of weather. I love Fall, love cool, crisp air, love the colors, love it, love it, love it!!!

Probably won't do anything special this weekend, but just being outside will make me happy. Just what the doctor ordered after the week I've had.

A friend of mine came by the office yesterday, seemed a little melancholy to me, but couldn't get him (yes you can have platonic male friends) to tell me what was bothering him. He stayed quite a while visiting with me and the guys. When he left, I still had the feeling he needed to talk and hadn't. Went to lunch with Big R and when I got back to the office it dawned on me.....it was four years ago today my friend lost his wife to cancer. I called him to ask if he was okay and he finally broke down and cried. We talked for a while and I hope he at least felt a little better getting it off his chest. I think he must have because he thanked me for being the "sister" he never had and told me he loved me. It's strange that I feel like he's more of a "brother" to me than my real brother. I hate that, too, because my real brother and I used to be very close growing up. We've just drifted apart in adulthood, though. It's not that we don't love one another....we do.....it's just that our lives have taken us different directions. Why do we allow life to do that to us? Family is SO important and we need to nuture those relationships, but we don't.

A Celebration of Life

Yesterday we had the funeral service for my best friend's mother, who was 91. It was such a wonderful tribute to her life. Her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends were all gathered to remember her.

Her grandson-in-law sang (and beautifully, I might add) "I Wish You Could See Me Now"; a friend had made the casket piece and a spray of what the family lovingly called the "Hoorah" bush. This bush stood at the end of her house and any time the kids, grandkids, or great-grandkids misbehaved, they had to go get a switch off the hoorah bush to be spanked with. Another grandson wrote a poem about his grandmother, her love for her family, and the hoorah bush. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. What a legacy she left!

I've always been so envious of these large, close families. When I first met my friend, we "clicked" because we seemed to have so much in common. She was the baby out of five children...way younger than her siblings; I was the baby out of four children....way younger than my siblings. She married right out of high school; so did I; our "first borns" were about the same age; and we just thought alike!

But, seeing her family and their and their family's reaction to their mother's death was so, so different from the way we reacted to my mother's death earlier this year. We don't seem like a close family at all. We've always been so non-demonstrative when it concerns our love for each other. I wonder why?

I'm glad my friend has that loving, caring network to fall back on in the coming months. They will be hard beyond belief and I know she's going to need their support.

Whirlwind weekend

This was a fast and furious weekend. Big R wanted to get the frame of his pole barn/shop up this weekend. And for the most part, he did. He didn't get as far along as he wanted, but the majority of it is done. He still has several trusses to put up and then he has to roof it but, he hasn't even bought the metal for that yet.

I tried to help him and wicked step-son as much as I could before going in to work Saturday. My best friend's mother died early Saturday morning and I wanted to go in and get everything ready for her service. Plus I wanted to see my friend. She's divorced and didn't have that "someone" to be there with her that all of the siblings did. Just wanted to give her a hug and let her know how much I care about her.

Big R can hurt my feelings so bad, and he doesn't even realize he's done it. He made some comment about our house being dirty yesterday. And it is.....we've both been working non-stop lately and the house just isn't as clean as it usually is. It is picked up, but not dusted, vacuumed, etc. And most of the mess has been created by Big R. That's what really, REALLY, gets to me. It's filth he's tracked in on his work boots all through the house, junk he piles up that I'm not supposed to touch, and he doesn't lift a finger to help with any of it. Makes me super mad when he makes a comment like that. I just want to whack him over the head!

Must go get ready for work now. I'm so in the mood for that!!

Home alone.....again

Here it is, Tuesday night, and I'm home alone, again. I will really, really be glad when Big R goes off call. Thursday night can't get here fast enough!

Things have finally slowed down at work and I'm about to get caught up on all the paperwork that had been piled on my desk. It's amazing how much paper is pushed when a person dies. Found out tonight, via e-mail, that one of my cousin's daughters died from breast cancer. The saddest thing is that she has two little girls. The youngest one is only about three and thought that if she went in her mommy's bedroom and said 1-2-3-magic, it would bring her mommy back. It's so sad!

One of my friends called last night to tell me her husband had broken his ankle at deer camp Sunday. His stand had blown over in one of the hurricane storms that blew through here a few weeks ago and he and his sons-in-law were trying to stand it back up and it fell and landed on his ankle, breaking it in several places. They did surgery yesterday and hopefully he got to come home today. Just another reason NOT to go to the deer woods!

Fixed homemade Reuben sandwiches tonight for supper. Of course Big R had to gulp his down in about two seconds so he could go on a call. Makes for a lovely meal! I wouldn't know what it was like to sit down and relax and enjoy a leisurely meal. It never happens around here.

Feelings of discontent

Woke up this morning with total feelings of discontent. Visited with son-in-law yesterday concerning the upcoming election. I'm really discontent with all choices. Don't know if we can stand another four years of Republican rule with the economy in the condition it's in....don't want to even think about voting for Obama (would rather not vote at all). And don't like the idea of not voting at all, so......what's a person to do?

Am discontent with the way some things are going here at home. We've moved little wicked step-son onto our property. He's living with his girlfriend, and now they've got one of her friends and her little girl staying with them while going through a separation from her husband. Not sure I like any of that, but don't feel like I can say anything because it's not MY son. Am also not enthralled with the way things are being kept at their place. Kinda looks like a gypsy camp and trashy....and some of the trash has blown this way. Not happy about that AT ALL. Big R's getting ready to build a shop to store the RV and a Corvette he's bought to work on. Now I know we need to have one (for all practical purposes) but I'm not sure we can afford to build one when we're supporting three families......ours, step-sons, and Big R's parents.

I'm just really unsettled and DISCONTENT with my life right now.

Hopefully, these feelings will go away.

Another one flushed....work week that is

Thank goodness another work week down the tubes. And it's been a rough one! Got home last night, dragging my butt through the door like someone who'd been run over by a big mack and got a phone call from Big R wanting to know if I wanted to ride to Gifford with him to install and service. Said, "Sure". By the time he came to pick me up, it had changed from Gifford to Leola for a ''no lights" call....sounding better all the time. There's a restaurant in the backwoods of Leola called Dorey's that is fabtabulous! Best fried catfish and ribs and all the fixins and italian cream cake I've ever put in my mouth. That ended what had been a pretty miserable Friday with a lot better note!

Got back home and took my little feller #1 his birthday presents and spent a little time visiting then came home and Big R got another call, so we went out again. Got home a little after 10 pm and crashed. Looks like this might be a busy weekend for him. It's getting a pretty good start anyway.

Stick a fork in me....I'm done!

This has been one heck of a week. For most of the month of September we were slow at work....then, Wham. We usually do about 10 to 12 services a month. That's good for a place as small as we are, but we've done 5 services in 4 days. That's way too many for me to try to keep up with. There are three directors to take care of the services, but only one of me to do all the paperwork involved with those services. It gets a bit much when you're trying to juggle 5 at once.

Anyway, it's Friday...unless they picked someone else up last night, our board is clear and a beautiful weekend is coming up! Of course, Big R went on call last night for a week, so we're limited as to what we can do, but at least it'll be cool and sunny and we'll be together. That's all that matters to me.

I'm ready to start planting some fall flowers. I just don't know what to plant. Since I didn't grow up around flower gardening, I'm really having to learn as I go when planting stuff. Guess I need to do some research on the matter. What did we ever do without google?

Changes

I hate change. Every morning, I get up and go through the same little routine, doing everything exactly the same as the day before. If something happens to change that routine, it completely throws me for a loop. Things in my life should remain constant. Period.

With that said, it is a fact that things never stay the same....NEVER. It is also a fact that when I'm under stress, my face breaks out like a teenager going through puberty. Don't know why, but it's always been that way. In my world, change = stress. Therefore, my face now looks like a classic case of acne gone bad!

I think what's got me all stressed is I know the holidays are coming up and my mom won't be there this year. BIG change! All of my family has always gotten together at her house....brother and his family of four married boys and children, oldest sister and her husband and son, sometimes her daughter, too, if she could make it in from Virginia, my middle sister, and me and my family.

This year, the siblings families will probably gather separately. Right now, I plan on having my middle sister, Big R's mom and dad, Big R's son and girlfriend, and my daughter and her husband and three kids over to our house for Thanksgiving and Christmas, too. But....it will be different, and there are so many things to think about that I just don't want to think about right now. We're swamped at work and I'm STRESSED!

It IS Monday, isn't it?

This morning has been crazy already and I haven't even gotten to work. I looked on our website and we've gotten three others besides the person we already had, so look out when I do get there.

Yesterday was a very productive day at home. Got the front yard cleaned up and worked on one of the camper windows that was leaking.....took it out and recaulked it and put in back in. Fixed a big pot of brown beans, also cooked some cabbage with new potatoes, and a pan of cornbread. Yum! Needless to say, had to hold the bed covers down last night!

Big R's dad goes back to the doctor that did the hip surgery today. Maybe he'll tell him to start putting some pressure on his leg now. Pa-inlaw is getting around pretty good in the house. He just really has trouble getting in and out of vehicles, and up and down steps. Guess we're just too impatient! I'd like for him to get better NOW, because it's been forever since they've come out for coffee and a visit.

Speaking of coffee, I've found a really, really good coffee. It's the one Paula Deene serves in her restaurants. The name is Douwe Egbert and distributed by Sara Lee. No one around here sells it so I have to order it off the internet, but it is some GOOD coffee!

Time to get off the computer and get ready for work. Aargh!

A Country Kind of Girl

This has been a heck of a week. We've had services EVERY day. At least I get off this weekend. The guys still have to work today, and Sunday.

It's finally starting to get cooler, especially at night, and the days are getting shorter. They're saying we'll have lows in the 40's early next week. Now that's my kind of weather.....70's during the days and 40's at night.

I've got a chiminea out on my deck that I've never even fired up. I'm going to put some wood in it this year and have me a fire if it's the last thing I do. I love sitting out on the deck but the mosquitoes have been so bad this year (I guess because of all the rain we've had). Maybe the cooler weather will get rid of all the bugs and I can sit by the chiminea and have a cup of coffee and just enjoy being outside and listening to the birds and the crickets and tree frogs. I love living in the country!

You Gotta Get It Where You Can...Enjoyment that is!

I work in the funeral profession as an office manager. All I'd ever seen before starting to work there five years ago was the somber side....you know, sympathetic and caring people taking care of you during a very bad time in your life kind of somber. My mother thought I wouldn't be able to handle working in that kind of environment. I wondered, too.

Little did I know, these guys have a great sense of humor. I guess they'd almost have to or else they'd go crazy working around all of that grief. Now, don't get me wrong.....when we have a service, they're all business and some of the greatest guys you'll ever find. When we're not busy, it's a whole other story!

One of the guys I work with has had an unusually "unlucky" streak writing pre-needs insurance (you know, the insurance you buy that "locks in your prices and takes care of making all of your funeral arrangements so your family doesn't have to deal with it when you die" insurance). Last year, this guy would write one of these policies and in a month or two the person would die. We got to kidding him about being the "kiss of death". I told him under no circumstances would he ever write a policy for me (unless I suddenly had a death wish)!

Well, his luck is back. He wrote a policy at the end of August and the guy died yesterday. Now, he's got a policy that he's written and the little lady was supposed to bring him her check yesterday. One of the other guys at the office went around all day looking down and shaking his head saying "Poor Bessie Mae, her time is almost up, poor Bessie Mae!" I told him that when she came in, I was going to yell, "Run, Bessie Mae, Run!!!!" We all got "go to hell" looks!

Some of the stuff these guys pull on each other is so funny, it's a joy working with them. People don't understand when I tell them I love my job. It is stressful, especially when you're dealing with a family you know well, but it helps me to know they're getting the best care they could possibly get. And these guys should be entertainers when they're not working a service!

Man's (and woman's) Best Friend

My "puppy child" will be 13 years old on the 30th of the month.

From the moment I first laid eyes on her, I knew I wanted her to become a part of my life. She sat in her cage at the pet shop, so quiet and sweet. Her sister was yapping constantly, but she never made a peep. I got her out and played with her and her personality was exactly what I was looking for. I told my (then fiance') husband, this is the one. I'm naming her Corky. When we got ready to take her home, the owner gave us her papers and when I looked at them I knew......her mother's name was Delta Corky Lee. It was fate. She and I were meant to be together.

It was almost six months later before I ever heard her bark. It's just not in her nature to be loud and obnoxious. Well, she has learned over the years to let us know exactly what she wants. And she can be quite vocal now if she doesn't get her way, but she's been my "sweetheart" from the very beginning, and she still is. Her antics keep us laughing all the time and her sweet nature has helped me through some very difficult times. Thank you God, for bringing this loving little creature into my life!

First Day of Fall

Today is the first day of autumn and it's still in the mid to upper 80's here. Doesn't make you want to bust out the sweaters and jackets!

This is my favorite time of year. I love the fall colors, it's a time of renewal in the terms of new school year with football, fall festivals, and the anticipation of holidays to come. Of course, the older I get, the less the school and holidays mean to me.

This will be one weird Thanksgiving and Christmas because it will be the first time all of the family won't be getting together at Mom's. I think it will really "hit home" that she's gone with the holidays this year.

My sister, the "twin", says she doesn't think she can do the holidays this year. It will just be too hard for her. I told her we need to start new traditions this year. I figure my brother will get together with all of his boys and their families, my oldest sister has relocated back to Virginia and will be there with her kids, and the rest of us need to get together out at my house. That way we're not around where we always had the holiday festivities and maybe it will lessen the gloom a little. Then I think.....what in the hell have I just signed myself up for?!!!!!!

Lazy with a capital L

It's another lazy Sunday in the country. Got all my running done yesterday....Wally World and such. Today I can just lay back and take it easy. Well, I cleaned the bathrooms, scrubbed the shower, and I'm cooking some chicken 'n dumplings now. Other than that, nada...zip....nothing!

WORK, Work, work......

It seems all we can do anymore is work! Big R has been going in at 6am and working until almost 10pm every day since the storms blew through from Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. He's worn out and so am I. It totally disrupts our lives. We have almost no communication...a quick bye in the morning before he leaves, maybe fifteen minutes of visiting before time to go to bed at night. It sucks!

Everyone always tells us to just look at all the money he's making. Well, let me tell you, money ain't everything! Besides, "Uncle Sam" will get most of it. Seems like the more he makes, the more the government takes! And besides, all the money in the world means very little if you don't have time to enjoy it.

As for me, I'm still playing "catch up" from when I was off with father-in-law's surgery. It's slowly getting back to normal. Thank goodness we haven't been real busy, so that's made it easier.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to win the lottery, or hit the jackpot, or if Publisher's Clearing House came to my door with a million dollar check. Hey....I can always dream!!!!

A Temporary Kind of Feeling

It's the craziest thing but sometimes when I'm here at home alone, it's like I'm being allowed to "play house" in someone else's home.

This makes no sense because it was several thousand dollars of my inheritance that enabled us to purchase this 21 acres; money I had helped save that was used to build this house; and God only knows I put enough sweat equity into the actual building. I helped clear the land, dig the ditch and put in the water line and conduit for the underground electrical, plus shove that heavy ass wire into the conduit, nail down sub-flooring, shovel sand to fill in for the back porch and garage, put on siding, put on the roof, put in the french drain around the footer of the house, not to mention all the painting, staining, and other crap that went into the interior, and picking up and cleaning up while all the other construction went on. I think I should feel some ownership.

Maybe it comes from my world being turned totally upside down when my first marriage ended after twenty-three years. So much of my life has felt like it's been temporary after that experience....like I'm waiting to find out who I really am, and what purpose I'm really supposed to have in this world.

It's just crazy!!! But then, maybe I'm just a little bit crazy, too!

A Meme

A-Act your age? Most of the time
B-Born on what day of the week? Sunday's child
C-Chore you hate? Vacuuming
D-Dad's name? Foy (unusual I know, he was always getting mail addressed to Floyd or Floy)
E-Essential makeup? Mascara
F-Favorite director? Speilberg
G-Gold or silver? Gold
H-Hometown? Malvern
I-Instruments you play? Piano
J-Job title? Administrative secretary...(who are we kidding, secretary)
K-Kids? 2 + a step
L-Living arrangements? One house, 21 acres, one husband, one dog, one cat
M-Mom's name? Blanche (actually Willie Blanche but she would never use Willie)
N-Number of people you've slept with? Does the dog count?
O-Overnight hospital stays? Only 3, one with each child, one with gallstones
P-Phobia? Snakes and Deep Water
Q-Quote you like? This, too, shall pass
R-Religious affiliation? Baptist
S-Siblings? Two sisters, one brother
T-Time you wake up? 5:00 a.m.
U-Unique habit? Chewing my jaw - drives my husband crazy
V-Vegetable you refuse to eat? Beets
W-Worst habit? Worrying - If I had nothing to worry about, I'd worry why
X-X-rays you've had? One for a broken toe, and the ones at the dentist
Y-Yummy food you make? Chicken spaghetti, Tomato Pie, Cheese dip
Z-Zodiac Sign? Virgo

We survived another one!

We made it through another windy, rainy night. Lots of people are without lights right now. Ours blinked all night, but we never completely lost power. I hope we're through with hurricanes for 2008. As for now, the sun is out....and things are looking pretty good around here.

I'm slowly learning to navigate around this blog. Wish I knew more about how to "dress it up" and add some things I see on other blogs. Still don't have a clue about how to do those things, though!

TGIF

Thank God it's Friday!!!! This has been the l-o-n-g-e-s-t week for me. Too many trips to the hospital and back and too much work to catch up on from being off last week.

We're trying to brace ourselves for Hurricane Ike. Hope he doesn't decide to sit on top of us for three days dumping rain, and more rain, and yet more rain, like Gustav did.

Have had another twin sis episode. Let me explain....I have a sister who is 11 years older than I am, but we look like twins. (I know, I know...quite the age difference. You see, she's never been married, never had kids, hence, she's held up really, really well. No stress!) Or at least that's my claim. The only other option would be that I look really, really old for my age.....huh? Anyway, when she moved to the town where I live, she was always having people come up to her and talk to her as if she were me. Has had to explain umpteen jillion times that she's not me! The other day she had gone to my veterinarian to get a particular brand of dog product I had told her about and as she was leaving, the owner came up front and said, "Bye Rosemary, thanks!" She's gotten used to just responding as if she was me. Wonder what kind of trouble that's going to get me into one of these days?!!!!!!

E-gads Batman....another hurricane

I can't believe we're in line to get more weather from another hurricane. Come on ma nature, this is ARKANSAS! We aren't supposed to have hurricanes. Tornados, yes....hurricanes, no!!!!! Hope we don't get another 12" of rain with this one. Don't think our trees are up to it just yet. Too much water in the ground already.

At least the electrical crews aren't out of town this time. The company actually wised up and left them here to see what this things gonna do before shipping them back to the gulf.

Pa-in-law is still in the hospital with his broken hip. Just moved him to rehab for a week (or more). We've been running back and forth to the hospital every night after work....that's a bummer. We did get a reprieve last night. And Big R goes on call as of today for seven days so he won't be able to leave town (which means I'll have to do the deed if we need to make a run).

I've bout had enough of 2008......it's been a really bad year! Hope 2009 is better!

A New Beginning

Don't have a clue what I'm doing but will try this out and see how it goes.

I've never blogged before but thought this might be a creative way to track my crazy life and all of its drama.

This past week:

• Been home from work with pinkeye (of all things). I'm 55, as of yesterday, and I have pinkeye!!! Shish, you'd think I was 5.
• Big R had a whirlwind trip to the gulf to help with Hurricane Gustav and had to rush back here because we had about 10,000 people out of electricity (me included), roads flooded, and trees down everywhere.
  
• Father-in-law fell and broke his hip and had to have surgery. Me (and my pinkeye) had to help get him and my mother-in-law get situated in the hospital. People look at you really funny when you tell them "Don't touch me". They back away real quick, too, when you explain why they shouldn't touch you.
  
• Now we're under a boil order and waiting on Hurricane Ike to hit. Fun times!
  

I'm just glad I have electricity again. It's amazing how important all the little things like lights, microwave, tv, and computer have become.