The Final Christmas

Ok...its true that you can save the best for last. Yesterday was our family Christmas. My Mom, sister, her boyfriend, the 3 grandkids, Ken, Jen, Nicole, James, Me and my niece Carie had our get together. A house full of people, lots of noise and excitement and Hubby cooked an awesome prime rib again. It was great..I got some pictures but I haven't downloaded them onto the computer yet so I can't share them. Nicole and James regifted us their WII.. After everybody left last night and we put the kids to bed Ken, Jen and I hooked it up and played. Today after lunch Jen asked if she and Kayla could play WII...I thought we were going to have a hard time teaching her how to play it but apparently she played it before and she almost beat Jen the first game of bowling..LOL..I'm not playing against her!!! At one point today Kayla was playing Playstation 2..Jen and I were playing Skipbo while I texted Nicole and the boys were sleeping through Monsters, Inc., while Ken was snoring in the bed room..LOL...The wind was blowing really hard today when we got out of church and its been roaring around the house all afternoon. The clocks were blinking when we got home which means the electric had been out. On a sad note...all that snow we got a week ago Friday is gone... Winter isn't winter to me without snow...sorry Auntie...I know you don't like it...so how bout it only snows on days you don't have to take Jeannie to dialysis? I've felt so connected to family the last few days and I absolutely love it. So I guess I better go see what all the kiddos are doing. I haven't heard the girls yelling at the boys yet so maybe they're still sleeping...

Between Christmas's

So yesterday morning Ken Jen and I had our Christmas...later in the afternoon Sammie texted me and wanted to know if I wanted the kiddos. I was supposed to get them today but they'd opened all their presents and spent time with family and she had to work today so she said I could have them early...I love that girl. Nicole, jen and I went to get them and Nicole and Jen finally got to see and hold baby Emma..She's getting so big...and she so looks like her daddy. Got home and ate supper and then let the kids open their gifts from us. I got the boys each a Spiderman fleece blanket and Kayla a Hanna Montana one. They're so soft I want to steal one and curl up on the couch. This morning I met Nicole at Doyle Chevrolet so she could drop her car off to get some work done on it and then she took the van so she could spend time with her honey before he has to go to work. Still waiting to hear about the car but they're hoping whatever it is it's still under warranty. Got a few texts from Shaun yesterday. He was on his way back to Iraq. Oh and Christmas Eve Jen and I went over to Aunt Edna's to help her finish her present wrapping. It was fun spending some time with her just talking and laughing. When I left I told Jean not to chase Santa around the tree and she wanted to know why not..I told her coz she'd give the old man a heart attack. So tomorrow is Christmas with my mom, judy and cliff, nicole and james and the kiddos. I think Carie might be coming over too. I love it when family comes over...hoping we get presents and lunch out of the way so we can play some cards or something. Guess that's it for now...got to clean some more of my house.

I'M DONE I'M DONE!!!!!

Yes its true...my Christmas shopping is offically over. Finished up yesterday. 2 days early. Now comes my second most hated part of Christmas...wrapping. Luckily some of it is done so it's not as bad as it could be. I just want this part of the year to be over. January 5th everybody will be back at work and in school and I can then take time for me and decide what I want to do next in life. Life just seems to cluttered and confusing right now. I want a wood stove...though I don't know where I'd put it. And a new snow blower..one that's self propelled so I don't kill myself doing the driveway..and the house re-insulated...and more grow beds for my veggies..and a laptop so I can swing in my hammock in the summer and surf the internet..oh and I guess then I'd need a new hammock coz my finally had to be put in the garbage. The ropes kept breaking..LOL. I felt very...vulnerable everytime I went out to lay in it. Yep I think I see some changes coming next year. I'm a little concerned also with the possibility of losing my pension. Probably not very probable but the way things are going slightly possible. I'm torn between saving up lots of money in the bank and pushing to pay off my mortgage. I want to try some experiments in energy conservation too. And thanks to our wonderful new governor I'll probably also be trying to buy less because of all the new taxes he wants to impose. Its time to slow down alittle I think and reassess my life and what I want to do with it. Less driving...more bicycling..I really got to get my Mom to move to Webster. I keep telling her all the stuff there is in a 5 mile radius..she tells me how lucky I am but won't take the bait...LOL. So I guess its off to get dressed and read for awhile..Adios y'all

Snow and Christmas

ok so I have a few words to say about the snowstorm Friday...YIPPEEEE YAHOOOOO BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!! Sorry..I love snow...and the I love when it snows and the wind blows. Friday Jen and I were coming home from lunch with Nicole..Any one who knows me..I mean really knows me knows that snow storms don't stop me from what I want to do...I should have been a mailman..or is that mailwoman? Any way...driving down 104...crossing the Bay Bridge..( high bridge...wide open....yeah snow and wind...cool. So I'm driving in the center lane and I'm passing everybody..hands clenched on the wheel..teeth clenched..I better slow down...I must be going to fast...look down ...25 miles an hour...Heck no I'm not slowing down..any slower I'll be standing still..beep beep...outta my way slow pokes. Yesterday Ken had to go to work for a few hours so after he shoveled the drifts away from the car I'm standing in the road to watch for traffic so he can barrel out of the driveway. He gets stuck...then he breaks the only good shovel we have..I of course didn't have gas for the snowblower. Finally he got out. Later once it got light out Jen and I barreled out of the driveway with the van...went to BJ's and got gas for the snow blower and to Lowe's for 3 new shovels. I'm afraid the snowblower isn't gonna last the season..It's leaking like a sieve. I don't wanna buy a new snowblower but the alternative is shovel and I more don't want to shovel then I don't want to buy a snowblower. Tonight is the Christmas Cantata at church...Ken has whatever I had Tuesday only twice as bad..He has a fever and he hasn't thrown up yet. I threw up a few times but I didn't have a fever..and what ever this is he's been fighting it since Tuesday...I was only sick about 12 hours. Christmas shopping: Yes I still have some to do. One for Ken and one for Jen..I still have lots of wrapping to do though. I hate wrapping

Holiday stuff

Well I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping..got to get hubby 2 more things, Jen one and Nicole one. I think....oh rats..now I can't remember. It was a busy busy week end. Saturday we had a wedding in the morning, Ken's Webster Village Band Christmas concert in the early afternoon and then we went grocery shopping late afternoon. Ken and Jen went out shopping after that but I said no way was I doing anything but getting my jammies on , putting my feet up and reading and that's just what I did. Sunday was an all day Christmas Cantata practice at church. By the time I got home last night I was plum worn out..to much singing for me. Our cantata is next Sunday night so hopefully after that things will slow down a little...or not. Today I got up at 4:15 AM coz I just couldn't sleep anymore...did my Bible devotions, made my breakfast, ken's breakfast, Ken's lunch,got the garbage together coz today's trash day. Then once everybody left I started laundry and did my 90 minute walk on the treadmill. In the middle of the walk I had to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer and put another load in the washer...got done walking just as the dryer buzzed. Took that load out, switched washer to dryer and put last load in washer. Went upstairs..folded clothes, then went to the spare room to start wrapping Christmas presents. Nope I'm not done wrapping but I'm getting there. Watched Survivor finale which I taped coz I knew there was no way I was gonna stay awake that long. I woke up once during the reunion show and I'm laying there going," No NO No I don't want to know who won till I watch it tomorrow." Somehow I went back to sleep without hearing. Now I'm just waiting for everybody to get home...

Catching up

yeah right...its been to long to catch up...I had the grandbabies last week end. They are so darn cute. I spent almost every day last week doing one form of Christmas shopping or another and really got nothing done. I hate Christmas shopping. Can't we all just get together, eat and play games? Shaun and Heather are home for their 2 weeks R & R. Not home as in New York home but home as in Colorado home. They fly out again on Christmas Day....CHRISTMAS DAY!!!!!!!!! LIke the Army couldn't say, "Merry Christmas , take an extra day" ? No I guess not. Other then that there really isn't much going on. I'm reading a series of books right now by Peter Jenkins. He started out walking from Alfred, NY to New Orleans. Met and married his wife and then they walked from New Orleans to someplace in California. They wrote a book about that walk too but I'm reading 4 other books of his before I get to that one. I'm like a hound after a rabbit...I find an author and then read all their books until I run out of them and then I'm off on another author trail. Yesterday it was warmer and the snow all melted. This morning when I got up (6 AM or so) I looked out and all I saw was grass. Went downstairs around 7:30 to do my daily treadmill walk and when I came upstairs an hour and a half later everything was white. I don't care..I like snow. So its off I go...to do what I have no idea but I'm sure it'll be fun or I wouldn't be doing it.

7 Ways Exercise Leads to Happiness

7 Ways Exercise Leads to Happiness
By Bob Livingstone, LCSW
eDiets Contributor

There are periods of time in all our lives when we feel despondent, lethargic, depressed and hopeless. These feeling states can last from a few minutes to many years. The length of time feeling down depends on what loss, trauma or hurt you maybe suffering from. Examples of personal traumas are: One of your parents may have died when you were a child. You may be suffering from a breakup with a partner you still are very much in love with. You may have been a victim of a violent crime or you may be recovering from substance abuse.

The amount of time feeling in dismay is contingent on what coping and recovery skills you learned. Many of us don’t know how to face, experience, work through and let go of emotional pain. Many of us are afraid to face it because we are fearful that this path will lead to infinite agony. Some of us are ashamed to admit that we have problems that have become unsolvable.

There is a way to resolve these problems and this method of resolving emotional pain is not something the big pharmaceutical companies want you to know. They prefer that you went to your physician and signed on for a prescription of the latest anti-depressant or anti-anxiety.

The way to not only heal emotional pain, but to achieve true happiness is through physical exercise. Now medication can be effective, but exercise has been proven to be at least if not more effective for folks who are depressed without the side effects of sexual dysfunction, difficulty sleeping and suicidal thinking.

Psychotherapy can also be helpful in exploring the reasons why you are not living a fulfilling life. A skilled therapist will ask you questions that can lead to new insights. A good therapist can also help guide you through the pain and teach you how to love yourself.

Perhaps before you try the psychotherapist or medication routes, you can delve into exercise. If you have never exercised before or haven’t for a long time, obtain your physician’s clearance to work out.

Here are seven ways you can increase your sense of happiness through exercise:

1. Exercise will bring you into a totally new world and can forever positively transform your life.

2. Exercise will tone your body. Therefore you will begin to feel better about the way you look.

3. The brain chemistry changes while you are working out; leading to feeling calm.

4. You will feel a sense of accomplishment after each time you exercise leading to improved self-esteem.

5. Exercise can be a healthy means of distracting yourself from your emotional pain. Exercise can also be a means to face your emotional pain because the increased confidence will allow you to deal with internal traumas in a bold, self-assured manner.

6. Exercise by itself is known to improve depression and anxiety.

7. Exercise has been proven to make you smarter. Therefore you will develop the skills you need to let go of your emotional pain and discover genuine happiness.

Psychotherapist Bob Livingstone has helped millions heal their emotional pain during the past twenty years. He has been instrumental in assisting victims of emotional and/or physical violence recover from trauma and no longer be victims. He is a featured contributor to DrLaura.com, Beliefnet.com, eDiets.com, Selfgrowth.com and SheKnows.com. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book The Body-Mind-Soul Solution: Healing Emotional Pain through Exercise (Pegasus Books, Second Printing 2008). For more emotional healing visit www.boblivingstone.com.

Not even gonna try

LOL..I'm not even going to try and catch up with what's been going on since November 4th.Coz I probably won't remember half of it. My guy didn't win in the election.. Had the grandkids this past week end.. Dang I love those little stinkers. I'm just amazed that they've finally gotten to the age where they can carry on conversations. Not that I always understand everything they say but most of the time I can. Like Ian constantly reminding me we need goldfish..the crackers...not the real wiggly little thing. LOL. Kayla is getting to be such a little lady. And Colin...he's the silly eye rolling one. I had a hard time getting a picture of the 3 of them to send Shaun coz he was always rolling his eyes everytime I tried to take the picture. But I finally got a half way decent one. It snowed hard enough this morning that we had snow on the ground but its gone already. Nicole and I saw each other 5 days in a row last week.. Usually we see each other Wednesday , Friday and Sunday,..but last week we snuck in Thursday and Saturday too. This morning I did the laundry and vaccumed and picked up some of the clutter on the floor..I feel very accomplished. Guess that's it....off to upload a couple of pics.....or not....it won't let me upload pics for some reason... ok yes it will but only one at a time...Are you as confused as me yet??



Colin, Ian and Kayla

James and Kayla

Colin and Ian

The snow that temporarily visited this morning

Here we go again.....

with the catch up thing...Gee Whiz. Wednesday...went to my Mom's Dr appointment with her. They didn't find anything..they suspected Barettes Disease but found nothing. She said she'd been feeling pretty good until the day before when she'd had kool aid and nuts...the PA said it was probably the kool aid because of the sugar and now they're suspecting Irritable bowel syndrome...though I didn't know that caused nausea and vomiting. Oh well...that and they changed her from nexium to prilosec so maybe that helped. I didn't go to my Mom's this week. There wasn't really anything to do so I may cut down to every other week. Not sure what I did do Thursday...not much I don't think...I do believe that was the day I got an e-mail from Heather telling me she and Shaun had gotten their boxes...so about 17 days from here to there this time. Friday I waited anxiously for Nicole to get here..She took the day off and was going to spend the afternoon with me. We did lunch at Red Robin and then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around in stores. Saturday hubby cleaned out the gutters and I cleaned up dog poop. Yeah!!! We could walk out in the yard for 20 minutes or so. Then Ken and I raked up some leaves onto a tarp and dragged them to the road. Grocery shopping and watching a movie rounded out the day..oh and my homemade Ham and Bean soup...Mmmm Mmmmm Good. Sunday was kind of a weird day at church. We had a fellowship Sunday...the evening service was at 9:20 AM..Sunday School at 10:10 AM and morning service at 11:00 AM. Then we had a free lunch and time to fellowship. Choir practice was at 1:10 PM and we were outta there by 2:30 for the day. It was weird not to have night service at night...It really messed me up. LOL. I am SO a creature of habit. Monday was laundry...done in the dryer coz it looked cloudy out and I didn't want to chance my laundry getting a second natural rinse. I didn't sleep good last night...in fact I haven't been sleeping good for a while now. Not sure if its the new meds the doc has me on or what. Anyways...about 5:50 AM I'm kinda half in and half out of sleep and I think to myself," Was that my cell phone?" I fumble in the dark for it on my bedside table and open it up. 1 New Message...ok.....Nick Cell/ Ok...off I go. or something to that effect. I laughed right out loud.. This is Nicole's first presidential election and she's been waiting for this ever since she turned 18. She'll be 21 in April. Yesterday we didn't know if she'd be able to vote because in trying to find out where her polling place was we discovered she was registered under her maiden name not her married name though the address was right. A call to the Board of Elections and all she had to do was cross out her maiden name and write in her married name..She still had her old licence with her maiden name as well as her new license with her married name..I told her to take her marriage license too. So ...back to the story...when I laughed Ken said, "What?" I said, "Nicole is on her way to vote" He said, "Oh yeah the polls open at 6:00" and he starts getting out of bed..."Ummm, are we going now? ". "Yes". Oh brother...so sleepy eyed me had to find my clothes, get dressed and get out the door. Fast forward 15 minutes...the polling place is only a few places own the road...Ken do you remember what district we are? 20 something I think...guy at the door...address...oh...district 40. Lines weren't to bad..about 8 people in front of us...walk up to the table...we're not on their list....oh Lord. Apparently you don't have to be smart to be a volunteer at an election polling place. He sent us to the wrong table...we're district 27...LOL..I got the I told you so snicker. So the voting is all over but the results which we'll be watching. Because our church is one of the polling places this year they cancelled school today....Our kids are precious and there were going to be to many strangers around. So Jen and I went shopping for a bridal gift..though now I don't know how to wrap it...I'm not to smart some times...I didn't get the clothes baskets coz they'd be to hard to wrap so I bought a mop instead ( slapping self on forehead) doh! Then Jen and I went to Red Robin for lunch. Yummy Yummy. So I'm still working out on the treadmill almost daily. I found a shorter work out for days when I don't have alot of time...or for an extra little I ate to may calories and carbs today so I need to burn an extra 100 calores. Guess that's it for now...

A tribute

A tribute to our men and women in uniform


United States Army

TSK TSK TSK

Me bad....I don't know why I can't seem to keep up with this blog..LOL. Ok..last Thursday...went to see my Mommy...we took down the fence around the vegetable garden and moved part of it to her flower garden coz the darn deer keep eating off her tulips in the spring. Then I mowed her lawn for the last time...I really mean it this time. Friday Nicole and I did our usual Friday lunch thing..Carmines at Pittsford Plaza this time. Its amazing how much talking we can get in in an hour. Saturday I went shopping and out to lunch with Nicole and her mother in law Mary. Nicole bought this time....yippee!!! We went to Jay's Diner in Henrietta. First time I've ever been there but it was kind of cool and Nicole said we were cheap dates coz I had a BLT and fries/ water and Mary had a piece of Carrot Cake and water...LOL..we didn't want to break her on her first...no second...buy. She took us to Mona Lisa for Mother's Day. Saturday afternoon Ken and Jen and I went grocery shopping...I know...exciting huh? Sunday was church and the Bills utter humiliation by Miami... how I miss my son...Buffalo/Miami games were always party day at our house. Yesterday was laundry...dried in the dryer..I'm a fair weather clothes hanger outer. And then I spent the rest of the day playing on the computer...catching up on e-mail. Got an e-mail from my future daughter-in-law saying the boxes still hadn't shown up and that her mouth was watering for that candy I said was coming..LOL. Last night was candidates night at church...Seven candidates were there..Judge Lunn, Judge Elma Bellini, Family court judge Gail A. Donofrio, county clerk Cheryl Dinolfo, Candidate for Congress Dale Sweetland, Andy Moore running for Penfield town council or something...doesn't matter to me...I live in Webster, and David Bonacchi running for Assembly 135th district. It was really neat to meet some of the candidates in person . To see them as real people. Our church choir..of which I am a participant did a song about America being strong set in time to a slide presentation of service men and women past and present. That was very hard for me because one of the pictures is Shaun's boot camp picture. I tried very hard not to look at the presentation as we were singing because I'd get such a lump in my throat when his picture came up. Just knowing my boy is over there. I'm proud of him and Heather and all our service men and women for the job they're doing over there. I did look up...just as his picture popped up on the wall but I made it through. I'm still doing my hour on the treadmill most mornings. Its not something I want to do but I also don't want to be on prescription drugs the rest of my life. So I guess that catches me up for now...I do have a few pics to put up so I guess I'll do that now.......



Kayla


Ian and Colin

My Soldier Boy

Shaun and Heather

Lot of catching up to do

Oh boy!!!! I hate the catching up part because I usually forget something. Ok...I did get the boxes mailed out Tuesday ( 10/14 ) to Shaun and Heather..And yes there was a lot of paperwork. One customs form each for the boxes...they want you to list everything in there and I had 2 boxes full of sample size stuff...oh brother. And I needed a customs form for an envelope I mailed Shaun with his gun magazine and mail in it..I forgot to put it in the box...though honestly, there wasn't any room for it. Wednesday....I know I did something but I really can't remember what it was. Thursday I went to my Mom's and hung out with her for the day. We went to this little place outside of Warsaw that advertises bulk foods...Mom was expecting bins of bulk food that you put in containers...they already had the stuff in the smaller containers and they have a little restaurant type thing. The ladies running the store are Amish or Mennonite or something...I didn't know there were any around Warsaw...hmmm I'll have to look into that a little closer...I don't know why but that stuff interests me...We drive around Lancaster County PA and I drool over the Amish farms. And Beverly Lewis..have you ever heard of Beverly Lewis? Her mom I think was from an old order Amish family and she writes stories about the Amish...I've devoured every one of her books...And I mean devoured...open the front cover and you have a hard time pulling me away from the book. Friday....spent most of the morning on the computer...then lunch with Nicole...we did Arby's. I love spending time with her. Something has changed in our relationship since she's gotten married. Changed for good. Maybe its because now she isn't living in my house and I don't feel responsible for her anymore. It just seems to me that we can enjoy each others company more now then we ever have. I don't know...maybe I'm completely off my rocker...feel free to jump in with thoughts on this Nicole. LOL. Friday afternoon I went and picked up my 6 boxes of regular mouth canning jars from Ace Hardware in Williamson...oh did I tell you about ordering canning jars? I found out I could have gotten them for the same price at Hegedorns...but I was on my way to pick up my grand babies so it wasn't really that far out of the way..And I really need to go back to that Ace Hardware store coz I need to go exploring...It looks like they have 4 stores that they've put doorways between so you can wander one to the other. Kinda reminds me of Old Forge Hardware...only they probably don't have the assortment of stuff. But that's another story. So I picked up the grand babies...oh man...I love those grandbabies. Saturday we went to Walmart and got a couple of games...I'm taking Connect 4 back to the store coz Kayla keeps whooping my butt..She's 6 for crying out loud..LOL..NO I'm not serious....well not serious about taking the game back..she is 6 and she doesn't whoop my butt. Then Nicole and James came over for a little while...they couldn't stay long though coz they were having their first people over.. Good job Nicole. Then we went to the Hobby Lobby...yeah...that's one of those leave your charge card at home places. I bought Kayla a 6 in 1 craft kit and the boys some kind of make animals thing that we didn't get to do coz we ran out of time and some foam Christmas ornaments that you put pictures in. I did take pictures but haven't gotten to Walmart to print them out or even downloaded them to the computer yet. So Sunday we went to church and then to McDonald's for lunch...I think that's the kids favorite place to eat...LOL...and then I took them home. I spent quite a while talking to Samantha this time. Not something we get a chance to do much anymore and I must say it was enjoyable. I don't know what to call her anymore...ex-daughter-in-law rubs me the wrong way...as does former daughter-in-law..I know she's not married to Shaun anymore but I still consider her part of my family...as I do her present husband Craig..and his daughter Tina...and their daughter Emma...speaking of which...Little Emma was 8 weeks old last Friday...she's is the most adorable little baby...she's sitting there in her car seat looking at me so I picked her up and she smiled...Yes...yes she smiled. I know it was a smile coz I patted her back and bounced her and not gas came out either end. I layed her against my chest and she fell asleep. I love babies...especially when you don't have to take them with you every where you go. While we were talking Colin kept running in the house saying, "Mommy, Kayla is......." whatever Kayla happened to be doing at the time...finally about the 4th time as he was running back out the door, Sam said," You're quite the little tattle tale today." He replied over his shoulder, " You're welcome" Yeah I lost it...those kids are just too funny. Ok..so Monday..ahhh Monday...the day of the dreaded Dr's visit. Though my doctor is on the young side and looks an awful lot like Kevin Williams ( weatherman on 10 NBC) I hate the man...no really I'm upset with myself...ok..so first of all I have to get on the scale...we and the scale have a hate hate relationship...it hates to make my weight low and I hate it for it. They have a digital scale now....Diane steps on....it goes to 1*2.6... the nurse says," Come on , come on...you're supposed to beep." The scale goes to 1*2.4 Beep...I said," Well thank you till it dropped a tenth of a pound. Ok...into the examining room...blood pressure 120/80, pulse 72...that's pretty consistent. Can I have my flu shot? Sure, no problem..I'll get it. Doctor comes in....He's had me on Metformin for my diabetes..one a day 500 mg. extended release...sugars still to high...ahem...I've gained 4 or 6 pounds... and my cholestrol levels are still high...so....2 regular Metformin...twice a day...AND a cholestol pill. Last visit he decided this visit would be my yearly female examination appointment...ok..I don't like it but its not terrible. Usually. I'm thinking geez he's taking alot of samples when the nurse says...what's wrong...ut oh....not good...He can't find the part of me he's looking for...oh great...finally he realizes he's not looking high enough..not that he doesn't know what he's doing and not like he hasn't done this on me before...I think he got distracted reliving the Bills victory from Sunday and forgot that mine is high. So that's done and over for another year...and not only did I get my flu shot...I got a pneumonia shot too. He looked at me at one point and grinned and said, " Wow...you're getting the medical works today." I grinned back and said, "Yeah..and I'll be glad when it's over." So all that fun and it only cost me $10.00. Then I came home and walked on the treadmill for an hour...AND mowed the lawn..which takes me about an hour and a half walking behind a self propelled lawn mower. After Ken got home we had to go get out digital TV converter boxes and pick up my prescriptions at the drug store...so my new best buddy...the doctor wrote me out 2 generic prescriptions and one name brand...I only had to pay for the name brand one...kinda strange but not only did that Doctor's office fun only cost me $10.00 he saved me $ 10 at the drugstore...so he kinda paid himself...LOL..I'm still waiting for CVS to call me and say I owe them $10. By Monday night my arm where I got the pneumonia shot was aching so everytime I rolled over onto it in the middle of the night it woke me up. I didn't get much sleep Monday night so I didn't get up at my usual 5:00 AM yesterday. I got up long enough to pack my hubby's lunch and then went back to bed...I got up around 8:30 and did my devotions, started the laundry and headed downstairs for my hour on the treadmill. Then I sat around the rest of the day. Around 6:30 hubby calls and wants to know if I've made supper...yeah its on the stove..why? OH...(he's been doing a side job) coz I got paid alot more then I thought I would and I wanted to know if you wanted to go out for supper...hey...what I got cooking can be put in the fridge...oh yeah...and I'll have to get dressed coz I'm STILL in my pj's. So I got dressed and we to Aja Noodle...again....I love that place...I had the Szechuan Stir Fry this time...not as good as my Thai Spicy Basil...which Ken had and enjoyed. Back home and into my pj's....total time dressed....less then 2 hours. So today...today I'm sitting here in my pj's...got beans cooking on the stove...black and light reds...I have to eat a more vegetarian lifestyle coz I really need to drop about 40 pounds...I'd like it to be 50 but I'll be satisfied with 30 or even 5 at this point. I think today is going to be library day...I haven't been to read the magazines in a long time. I was gonna walk but I really think I need a day off after walking 2 days in a row and burning 300+ calories in an hour both days...or maybe I'll walk to the library...its about a mile...I'll strap on my back pack and go like I used to when Nicole was using my car. I walked alot then and now that I have the car back I've gotten lazy. Tomorrow is gonna be a trip to my Mommy's and Friday is the dentist...my absolute worst place to go. So as you can see I've been very busy. Till next time....muah..muah...love you all

Where has the time gone?

That's what I'm kinda wondering. Last Tuesday my Mom had her colonoscopy. They Doctor came in and said he found no cancer and no polyps..phew!!!!!! What a big sigh of relief that was. So she has an appointment on October 29th and they're going to discuss a plan of treatment for her...Plan of treatment for what? Oh well..what ever makes her feel better is what I want. Wednesday I went to her house and picked spaghetti squash...we planted WAAAAAAAAAY to many spaghetti squash. Friday Jen had off school so she got to go on the weekly Friday lunch with Me and Nicole. Saturday Nicole came over and we went to Fairport High School's homecoming game...I haven't been to a high school football game in years. They did a job on Penfield...We left with about 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter and it was 56 to 6. Atta way Red Raiders. Sunday afternoon I got an e-mail from Shaun with his address..YEAH!!!!!!!! So I have a box each for him and Heather...just gotta get to the post office and figure out all the paper work I have to fill out...You'd think they'd make it easier to send stuff to your soldier who's overseas. Monday...Jen was off school again so we went out to lunch. I spent all morning cooking squash and grocery shopping. We went to Aja Noodle. Interesting little place. I got Thai spicy basil :
green and white onion, carrots, red peppers, basil & rice ribbon noodles seared in a spicy Thai sauce and garnished with cilantro. And they weren't kidding about the spicy part...My lips were still on fire when we left...but it was soooooooo good. So today I'm on my own....I've gotta get the sand box cleaned out and maybe the hammock put away and my trip to the post office and the bank but then I'm chilling the rest of the day.

Catching up

Wow..its hard to believe its been a week since I've posted a blog...Things have been crazy around here. Tuesday I went to my Mom's and helped her take in her lawn ornaments...then we picked up the stuff she'd cut out of her flower beds and took it and the garbage to the burn pile. A friend of my Mom's boyfriend had cut up some branches that were out there so I threw the brush on the pile and set it on fire...the garden clippings were to wet to burn so probably all that burned was the garbage. Tuesday afternoon I went and picked up my sister to stay overnight at my house because her boy friend was having prostate surgery. We spent almost the entire day at the hospital Wednesday. Thursday he got out of the hospital so I took her home. Thursday night was the Webster Village Band Banquet. It was the first year I've gone. The food was excellent and we were gifted a video CD of the band concerts from this past year by one of the new members. It was awesome. Friday I had to run out to Albion for a funeral viewing and then Friday night was RU. Early Saturday morning I met some of the girls from my Friday night counsel group for breakfast. That was fun to get a chance to sit around and talk. Saturday after breakfast it was off to church for our girl's soccer tournament. Our school won....Yeah....go Tigers!!!!!!!! Then it was home and a 3 hour nap. I'm telling you it was a busy week and I was exhausted. I got an e-mail from Shaun this afternoon. He's doing good and working hard...still no address for him but I hope it comes soon.

Here I Is

Ok..lets see...what's I been up to? Not much really....Friday Jen and I went out to lunch with Nicole...Wendy's. Then I came home and finished packing for the Lady's Retreat that my church hosted. It was awesome..It went from 4 PM Friday till 4 PM Saturday. Food, fun, fellowship and lots of talks. This years theme was redeeming the time. They did something a little different this year too..They had breakout sessions in addition to the usual mini golf, crafts, skeet shooting, paddleboats. The seasons of life Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. 4 different ladies in 4 different seasons of life. A young lady who just got married this year did Spring, another young lady but one who's been married 8 years and has 6 children did Summer, a lady who's been married a long time and whose kids are mostly grown and has grandchildren did Fall and a dear elderly woman did Winter. Such inspiration the week end was. In addition we have Pastor Greg Baker and his wife Melissa as our main speakers. He is the Pastor at Faithway Baptist Church in Ajax, Ontario..a suburb of Toronto. And we didn't have to cook...the youth pastor, 2 other men, 5 teen boys and 3 not yet old enough to attend the retreat young ladies made our meals. Friday night was Chicken Parm and spaghetti, tossed salad, and chocolate cake . Saturday morning breakfast was bagels, english muffins, eggs, pancakes, bacon, peaches and muffins. Lunch was Conqueso soup, cheddar broccoli soup, chicken noodle soup, rolls, peach cobbler and tossed salad. I didn't sleep much Friday night though. First the group I was hanging out with didn't head to bed until a little after midnight...then not every body came into our cabin until almost 1 AM and then the bed was very uncomfortable so I was up at 4:40 AM..like I said...not much sleep. I came home Saturday and slept from 5:30 PM until 7:30 PM...got up..ate and was back in bed around 9:30 PM and slept until 6 AM.
Yesterday James dropped Nicole off at 9:15 AM and she spent the whole day with us. Sunday school, morning service, then we ran to Wegmans to pick up rolls so we could have Italian sausage for lunch...then it was off to find Fairport Sweatshirts coz the 11th of October is homecoming week end and Ken wants to go to the homecoming football game. He graduatated from Fairport. Then it was off to church for night service and after that I had to take her home . But we had a great day..well I had a great day...I'm hoping she did. This morning I had to watch the shows I taped..The Amazing Race and Brothers and Sisters.... In between I did laundry but I'm really upset I had to dry it in the house instead of hang it out on the lines. Just wasn't time...tomorrow I go to my mom's and then run over and pick up my sister so I can get her up to the hospital when her boyfriend has his prostate surgery Wednesday morning. so I guess that's its for now...its 2 :10 PM and I"m not dressed yet... Suppose I should get dressed soon coz we have Open House at school tonight....see ya all

I'm done canning

All done...no more....I've had it. Officially I ran out of jars Monday so I juiced the tomatoes I picked Tuesday...28 quarts...which I had to put in the freezer coz where the heck am I gonna put any more? Well....considering I haven't even started using last years sauce yet I don't need anymore tomatoes...So between all the green beans I've canned this year and all the tomatoes I've canned and frozen we're gonna have a very limited menu...it has to contain green beans and tomatoes or tomato sauce. I think that means lots of chili, pizza, spaghetti, spanish rice and ummmm....green bean casserole. Or I can make homemade vegetable beef soup and use both tomatoes AND green beans. So that's what I've done today...besides eat lunch ( a tossed salad) and catch up on my e-mail...So now I'm going out to see how long I have to cook the pork roast I'm doing for supper and then I'm going to get my book...climb onto my bed...and read...yeah right.....or maybe take a nap....more probable.

Catching up......

That will probably be the title of many of my blogs because I'm to freaking busy to keep up with it. Ok..so the football game Saturday afternoon....BUMMER. They lost...no they didn't lose...they got trounced. But maybe they can redeem themselves this coming Saturday coz they're playing at 3:00 PM and its gonna be on TV. But my Bills won Sunday...just won but won none the less. Monday I did my laundry and canned the tomatoes I'd gotten from my Mom last week. Tuesday I went to my Mom's and mowed her lawn....4 hours on the lawn mower but half an hour of that was spent sitting...talking to Nicole....and picked more tomatoes. I was gonna do them today but I'm just to tired coz...I spent 2 hours mowing my own lawn today. And I have to go get my baby girl in 2 1/2 hours so she can come over for supper and go to church..well...if we have time to eat coz I have to take her to Sam's Club first to order contacts. I got an e-mail from Shaun. He was getting ready to fly to Iraq. He's doing ok and he said he'd send me an address so we can send him stuff as soon as he gets settled.

Failure

Ok...I completely failed in my quest today to get my Mom somemore Mrs. Wages spaghetti sauce mixes so she could make my sister some spaghetti sauce and in my quest to get a Mrs. Wages Ketchup mix to try. I went to Walmart, Wegmans, K-mart, Hegedorns and another walmart. I found 1 could it 1 pkg of Mrs. Wage's salsa mix coz my mom said it was good.

So what's been going on? Thursday I went to my MOm's and we went shopping...for Mrs. Wages of all things..LOL. Then we picked tomatoes and I mowed the rest of her lawn. Friday was kind of a I've been busy all week I just wanna chill day though I did manage to go to lunch with Nicole.

Today I was checking my e-mail when my father in law IM'd me to ask if hubby had made a delivery he was supposed to make...and to tell me that the UT game was gonna be on TV today...I hurried up and got dressed and went on my quest for Mrs. Wages and did the grocery shopping...I still have to harvest my soy beans and pull up my green bean plants and take down the trellis and I only have 3 hours till kick off so I'm outta here.

Update on Wednesday

Well mom had her test but we still don't know anything....they said they took a biopsy...so I looked through her paperwork while she was in the bathroom. Said she needed a repeat endoscopy in 2 years if Barretts was confirmed. Hmmmmm...Is Barretts bad? I'll have to look that one up. So as I was at Parkridge I stopped at the BJ's in Greece and got gas for $3.729 a gallon....nice score. I only got $20 worth and it only gave me a tad over 1/4 or a tank...oy. Stopped at Aldi's and picked up hamburger buns, then drove to the other side of the village and got a dozen ears of sweet corn. I was sure when I got there the stand would be empty....or gone...but it was there and had corn on it...So for supper we're having sloppy joes, french fries and corn on the cob. Probably the last time this year for fresh corn but that's ok.

Wednesday early morning

Just wanted to get a hit in early this morning as I don't know what the rest of the day will bring. My mom has an upper endoscopy this morning at 11 AM. Its one of those I hope they find the cause of her constant nausea but I hope it's nothing serious things. So off to watch the Morning Show...which I never do but I want to see the interview with Dan and Memphis from Big Brother

YouTube Videos Are Up

Ok...I spent all afternoon uploading 6 videos of this past week end...just go to youtube.com and in the search thing at the top type in Dianeax00 that's zero zero...not oh oh..for some reason when I tried to put them in order of upload they showed up backwards but it doesn't really matter..Have fun and see my cute little grandsons riding their new bikes...my granddaughter kicking a soccer ball and the boys being silly with Nicole

Tuesday's Stuff...

I've been busy....most of the morning but I think I'm done now....well..done with work...now I get to do fun stuff like upload photo's and videos...videos are going on youtube so stand by for those. The pics are up on my space.....www.myspace.com/dianekirkland. My myspace is public so anyone can view it. I have a Youtube account too but I can't remember the url so I'll have to add it later. So far today I've.....washed the laundry and hung it out on the lines. There's nothing I love more then looking out the window and seeing my laundry flapping in the breeze. I also mowed the lawn. Takes me about 2 hours with the push mower but that's about the only time I really get any exercise anymore. Paid my mom's bills online...LOL...she loves it that I can do that. So now its off to upload videos onto you tube....I'll be back..oh while I'm gone I'll give you a couple of pics to look at....

Colin



Ian


Kayla

Catching up

Wow....its been since Thursday?? Ok...Friday..what did I do Friday?? Oh yeah...not much. LOL. Actually I think it was basically my first down day for the week. So I sat here catching up on my e-mail when I get one from Nicole that sounds like she's having an extremely bad day so I call her and say, " Wanna do lunch?" That's like asking if the pope is catholic. It's 11:30 and lunch is at noon so its hurry up and get dressed and get my carcass into the city. We went to the McDonald's on Monroe and Averill.. its only down the street from where she works so we had almost an entire hour to just sit and talk and laugh and pick each other up. Friday afternoon I went and picked up my 3 adorable grand kids. The 19th is the boys' 3rd birthdays so it was our week end to celebrate. Nana spent way to much money but we had a blast. I'll put pics up soon either here or on my myspace page which I'll put a link to here so those who aren't on myspace can access them. I am in the process of canning 17 quarts of tomatoes today to go along with the 7 I've already canned. So now its off to make supper for the hubby and my girl.

Catching up

Yeah...so I haven't posted since Tuesday afternoon but there's a reason for that...I been busy. Yesterday was my day to go to my Mom's and help her out. She hasn't been feeling real good since her bout with the blood clot in early February. She can't sleep sometimes and she's been feeling nauseated almost constantly. She goes next Wednesday for an upper endoscopy so maybe they'll find something then. Any who.......... I got there about 8:30 ish. She did get a little exercise yesterday. They have a circular driveway that runs around behind the house so we walked down the driveway to the mailbox and paper box...up the road and into the other driveway and back to the house. A little while later we walked out to the barn to feed the barn cats. She lives on a farm that is none working because her boyfriend isn't well enough to farm anymore. After a while we drove out to the garden in the golf cart and picked tomatoes and summer squash and I grabbed 2 of my spaghetti squash and a pepper. After lunch...spaghetti...my favorite ....I spent 2 1/2 hours mowing her lawn..2 1/2 hours with a 72" cut mower. That's 6 foot....yeah...big lawn. At 4 I left and drove back to the city to pick up my Nickle ( Nicole) to take her to the house so she could go to church. She and James only have one car and they don't work the same hours so 3 days a week she rides the bus. This was her first week and she says she likes it. She's got me wanting to ride the bus...LOL. Went to church...took Nicole home and put up a full length mirror on her bathroom door for her. Then came home and crashed. This morning I got up at 5...did my devotions, made Ken's lunch, read the paper and then when everybody left , washed, blanched and canned 7 quarts of tomatoes. Nope I didn't try dicing them this time..the little ones I threw in the jar whole and the ones to big to fit in the top I cut up. They just finished processing so I don't how they look yet. Now I'm trying to catch up on my e-mail....2 days not checking it....and catch up on my blog. So that's it for the present

Monday and Tuesday up till afternoon

Yesterday's day consisted of doing the laundry...and mowing the lawn...pulling dead Chinese pea pod plants out and stripping one soybean plant of its past prime beans. I have to figure out how to post pictures so I can take pics of my clothes on the line and my gardens. Oh wait...I think I just figured out how to do it...hang on while I try.....(final jeopardy theme song playing)......




Yeah it works!!!!!!!!!!!! Though it took me a while to figure out how to rearrange stuff coz it put the pics above the words I had typed..Oh well like I said it'll take me awhile to figure it out. These are 3 pictures of 2 of my 3 raised beds. In the first are egg plants and the one behind that all you can see are the soybeans but there are tomatoes behind them. The 2nd pic isthe soybeans again. The 3 rd pic is the back of the soybean bed and my scrawny little tomatoes coz I've never grown soybeans before and how was I supposed to know they'd get that big?
So last night my mom calls and says...guess what I've been doing? Ok so I have absolutely no clue. She was chasing a chipmunk around in the house. Finally she went out and got the mother cat who in 2 seconds flat removed said chipmunk from said house...Last my mom knew one of the kittens was carrying it around by its little head.

Today, I got up at my usual 5:00 AM...yes I know I'm nuts. Did my devotions, made Ken's lunch, blanched the soybeans Jen and I picked yesterday, washed, blanched, diced, boiled, and canned 8 pints of tomatoes...Experiment failed. I buy diced tomatoes all the time well....home dicing and canning didn't work for me....I have 8 pint jars with the bottom half of the jar pink water and the top half tomato mush. So next time I'll just can them whole (which I've done successfully) and dice them when I'm ready to use them. Oh yeah...and I made a batch of spaghetti sauce.

My First Post on My New Blog

Well I've finally done it. Set up a blog. So where do I start? Ok..how about why I want to blog. I like to share what's on my mind and what's going on in my life, but people don't always want to hear it...or don't have time to hear it when I want to tell it. So I'll write it here and then you can skip through the parts you don't want to hear and read the parts you don't have time to hear when you have the time. What's important to me? My family...all of them....Husband, kids, grandkids, ex- relatives, future relatives, my Mom, aunts, uncles , cousins...they're all very important to me. But the one who's most important to me is my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He took a rotten sinner, lost and on her way to hell and made her a child of God. My life from before July 19, 1981 to today, September 8, 2008 has changed drastically but its been a slow change. And He's not done working on me yet I'm sure. So here I am...prepare for the journey through my life.