Still alive but barely

So Sunday was uneventful except for me pulling open the door of the auditorium at church and smashing the baby toe on my left foot...I had open toed shoes on..and Ken getting a migraine. Monday Jen and I went over to Nicole's to put up her curtains that she got for Christmas...3 dining room chairs spaced across the window so I didn't have to keep moving the chair. Well turns out that wasn't such a good idea. Jen and Nicole were watching the kittens playing in the tub when I stepped from one chair to the next and as my weight shifted the chair went over and I went down. My left leg slid down the chair that fell over and I whacked my head on the chair on the end. Fortunately it was well padded and though I had a headache for a little while I didn't really get much of a bruise..The same can not be said for my leg. I have a very large, about the size of a romance novel paperback book, bruise on my left leg from my knee up. 48 hours later and it still hurts but I'm expecting it to for a while. Even though Nicole wanted me to stop I finished putting up the curtains, 2 windows worth, coz I knew if I stopped it wouldn't get done. Then we went to Bed,Bath and Beyond and got her a new duvet cover for her bed. Tuesday..Jen and I went grocery shopping..came home and Ken called asking if I would run his Excederin Migraine meds to him...Did that and then went over to Nicole's to hang out with her for a little while before dropping her off at work. She let Shaun borrow her car...she's such a good sissy. Today Jen and I so far have just hung out at home watching movies...though we did finally get the leaves out of the table. With the leaves in its 8 foot long...so when we take the leaves out it looks tiny for a little while. We were waiting for the UPS truck to get here to drop off the Colts Hoodie I got Nicole for Christmas that wasn't shipped until Monday. We were watching Christmas Shoes. Its a very sad movie and we're sitting there crying saying, " I hope the UPS truck doesn't show up now." and "Stupid Hallmark Movies"...when I hear the familiar sound of a truck pulling up in front of the house..Me-"Nuts..its the UPS truck" Jen-"Guy or girl?" Me-"Girl" Jen-" Oh, she'll understand". We waited for her to leave before opening the door and grabbing the package. I just got this hankering for chicken noodle soup so remembering I saw a package of the dry stuff that you just add water to I went looking for it in the cupboard. Found it...it smells so good...gotta go eat some...

No way I'll remember everything

Monday the 21st my Mommy and sister came into the city to go Christmas shopping...we ate breakfast at Peaches Cafe and picked up Nicole..then met my Auntie and my cousin at MarketPlace mall and had a freaking blast. Late lunch at CrackerBarrel and then it was off to Jareds to pick out a new ring for my MOm...they must have thought we were crazy...6 people barreling in to help 1 person pick out a ring. Tuesday night Ken Jen and I went out to supper....picked up Mom's ring and went over to my cousin's house where we admired the ring and then hung out playing cards..except for my cousins husband and Ken..they hung out in the living room talking about guns, watched tv and talked about trucking. Thursday Jen, Nicole and I went out and did a little bit of shopping...we came home and Ken was just going out shopping so he took Nicole with him. Christmas Day was just Ken ,Jen and I..we opened gifts and later on in the day we went to the movies and out to eat at an Indian restaurant. Today was the "BIG" family Christmas..Shaun, Sam and the kids, Nicole and Jim, Mom, Judy, Ken,Jen and I...we had prime rib for lunch..Tina came over with Brook and Olivia..It was good to have family around...Now we're just chillin..

Sunday Morning

Well the concert Ken and Jen were supposed to play in Thursday was canceled because of the weather so we just hung out all night. Friday I did most of the grandkids Christmas shopping. And then as Samantha had to go to a law conference this week end I had the kids overnight Friday until late afternoon Saturday. We had fun..played Memory, Cootie and Kerplunk then they played games on the Playstation 2 and computer until Nicole called and invited us over to see the new kittens. Kittens are so cute..to bad they grow up to be cats..LOL. After we took the kids home we stopped at Aldi's to do the grocery shopping and decided to have an easy supper night so we got 99 cent pizzas, boneless chicken wings and potstickers. Mmmmmm what a good supper. Then later I got hungry for some Ben and Jerry's Fish Food ice cream so sent Ken and Jen out to get some..They're good people those people of mine. Then I went to bed at 8:30..early I know but I was tired. So now its time to get ready for church..later

2 1/2 hours and 4 stores....

I got...2 quarts of lamp oil...$2.49 a quart
1 picture....30 cents
1 portable radio....$12.99
1 yahtzee handheld game for bro in law for Christmas

Came home and lost myself getting my Pogo badges...got up to do something and looked outside to see it snowing like crazy. Last I knew the sun was shining. I've had the shades closed all day to keep the heat in. So I've filled both lanterns..put batteries in the portable radio and have it tuned to WHAM 1180 and am now in the process of getting some cold salads made. There is still gas for the gas grill if we need it and I've got a coleman stove with some of the mini gas cyclinders for it if we need it. Of course that's assuming the electric goes out, which it probably won't because once again I'm prepared. Hubby just needs to get home safely from Pittsford. He and Jen have a concert tonight but that's just down the road. So I'm settled in for the rest of the day and just waiting to see what the weather is going to be like.

Braving the weather

So I am going to brave the weather and head to Walmart...It will bee a very treacherous 4 miles...well...probably not but it sounds good...Lamp oil, transistor radio, picture for my sister's Christmas present. Ok..here I go.

Today's Webster Update

Dec 9 8:05 AM

Woke up at 4:30 AM to the sound of ice pellets hitting the window. Got up to answer nature's call to see a white lawn. A walk down the hall to look out the living room window showed the possibility of at least one pass by a snowplow,though its really hard to tell when all you have is a few porch lights in the neighborhood and the glow of the nearby shopping plaza. Climb back into bed and listen to more ice pellets hitting the window. Switch the TV to channel 10 to catch the 5:00 AM news. Nothing major that I can discern. Just our first real snow of the season.

YIPEE!!!!!!!! Thank you Shaun. He texted me yesterday and said they'd closed down Fort Carson and were sending everybody home because they were having a blizard so he was done for the day. I asked him to send some. The Hubby and I went and got gas for the generator last night because they were calling for ice. A sure way for continued electrical service is for me to be prepared to not have any.

Alarm went off at 6:30 AM, got up, turned on the living room TV and proceeded to do the things I do in the morning. Make Ken's coffe,start his breakfast and pack his lunch pail. I made hamburger gravy for supper Monday and we had alot left over so I've been having that on toast for breakfast. Put my toast in the toaster,put the hamburger gravy in the microwave. Jen's standing by the door waiting for the bus....
The electricity goes out,flickers on, goes out. Time: Approximately 6:55 AM. Fortunately for me I have 3 full sized flashlights, loaded, AND I know where they are. Walk back to the bedroom to find Hubby groping in the dark trying to find his work shirt (which was on the dining room table..teheee) so he could find his cell phone and call his work mate to let him know he might be a little late so he could make sure the generator would start. Until last night I had 2 empty gas cans and the generator was dry. I told him just put in a splash of gas and get it started the first time. Furnace shuts back to 60 during the day anyway and soon it would be light enough to see to read. Generator runs. Got out the oil lamps and trimmed the wicks. Hmmm...need lamp oil. Less then half full for both. The good thing about things like this is you find out what you're lacking. Like a small AM radio so you can find out what's going on in the world.

List: Lamp Oil
Transistor Radio

Phone still works though living room phone is cordless which means useless if the electricity goes out. But computer room phone and bedroom phone both work. And my cell phone works, though I didn't charge it last night.


9:00 AM

Electricity just came back on. Total time without electricity.. 2 hours 5 minutes. Experience....priceless. And I've charged my cell phone.

Monday

I figured out this is the first day I've been alone since November 24th. Its been a very busy 12 days. Saturday we ended up not doing much but chilling. Sunday was church. It was the first Sunday of the month so I got to work in the nursery with all the babies...well...all 3 of them. Lots of sickness going around. I actually took a nap yesterday afternoon. First time in a long time for that. It felt good. Figured I wouldn't be able to sleep last night coz that's usually what happens when I take a nap but I didn't lay there long before it was lights out for me. Got up at 2:30 to go to the bathroom and as I sometimes do decided to wander through the house and see what was going on. Walked out of the bathroom, started down the hall, looked out the window just in time to see a deer walking across the neighbors yard. I hope he doesn't find my wheat field. Yes wheat field..LOL. I'll post a couple of pics so you can see it.










Top two are the actual field...LOL...yeah I know techncially 2' X 12' isn't considered a field but humor me. Bottom 2 are the actual wheat plants. Just trying to see if I can actually grow it. I like to grow stuff just to see if it will grow. Once pre-Nicole I grew peanuts...yes they actually grew. Instructions for finishing were...pull them, place some where to dry but not get frosted on..pulled plants...put them on top of a metal shed I had and that night we got our first frost. Experiment a success up until I pulled them. I've grown dry beans....pintos , blacks, garbanzo...tried light pinks this year but got them in to late, edemame..green soybeans. I'm pretty confident that if push came to shove I could grow most of our food. Minus meat of course. Though there are alot of squirrels around thanks to our neighbor having bird feeders out...and there is that deer though I'm not sure how we'd make it edible as I'm pretty sure the neighhbors would have a problem with us discharging fire arms...though it they were hungry enough....
Today I'm doing laundry. I have the last load in the washer. 2nd load in the dryer. First load folded. I also cut up some celery and carrots I had kicking the fridge and have them in the dehydrator drying. Its nice to make homemade soup and just grab handful of dried veggies and throw it in. No wondering if the vegetables in the fridge are still good or having to run to the store because I realize I don't have any veggies to throw in. So I guess that's it for me for now...I'm definitely staying busy..till next time.

Trying to unwind

So the last time I wrote was November 22nd...that was ummm...2 weeks ago. So much has happened...we had to say good bye to a very dear friend. That was very hard but as much as it hurt its now time to heal. She had a good life and she'd want us to go on and find happiness..however we choose to find it. My Mom and sister came over Monday and were going to stay the night...the next night I talked them into staying over again so I could take my Mom to her doctor's appointment. Then she needed an x-ray Thursday so I talked her into staying over Wednesday night. Took my sister home and my mom to her house in Nunda to pick up some more clothes and pills. Also Wednesday we took her car to the shop because her brake warning light started dinging on her way out Monday. She needed all the brake lines and the rear wheel cyclinders replaced.We didn't get her car back until just before it got dark and we found out her brother was in the hospital so she decided to stay Thursday night. We went out to Kent to see her brother Friday and didn't get back until just before dark so she stayed over Friday night. She, Jen and I played a few games of Skipbo and then Ken came out and we played Euchre. We had a lot of fun. This morning my Mommy went home...I miss her. While she was here I once again showed her all there was out here and how close everything was. I'd like her to move to Webster so that I could keep a better eye on her. I may be making just a teensy weensy little bit of impact on her. I person can hope. Today Ken and I went grocery shopping. Maybe things can slow down a little bit now...here....off to upload a picture of my mommy.

I'm alive

So many days since my last blog post...So much going on. Spent alot of time at the hospital with family as a dear friend is going through a rough time. Other then that I went to the Fairport Library one day last week and read magazines and then checked out 2 books. The first was " One Second After", a sci-fi/survivalist kind of book. It was good and gave me much to think about. The other is a book on making bread from whole wheat. Oh..speaking of whole wheat. I had gotten some winter wheat from my Mom's a year ago and as my raspberries didn't make it and I had the ground already dug up we planted them a couple of weeks ago and put glass over the bed because we'd gotten them in late. Some of them are actually growing..its kind of cool. We'll see if they come back in after the snow melts next spring. Yesterday I scrubbed Ken's and my bathroom..I mean really scrubbed...took me well over an hour. Today I'm paying for it...My muscles aren't used to all that work. Yesterday I went grocery shopping. I've got all the stuff we need for Ken's lunches for the next 2 weeks plus. With all the sickness going around I wanted to be able to not go the grocery store for 2 weeks if need be. Also the freezers are full so we should be good for a while. I'm thinking its about time to get a big pot of soup going again. Thanksgiving is coming up...we got our turkey...actually we have 2 turkeys but I'm only cooking one. Ken's work gives their employees a turkey every year and the guy Ken works with didn't want one so he said we could have it. I don't turn down free food. So we got 2 16-20 pound turkeys and 2 boxes of StoveTop Turkey Stuffing. Well...off to get ready for church.

Sunday

Thursday I went to the library and read the latest issue of Mother Earth News. I was introduced to the magazine probably about 25 years ago by a good friend who discovered it while serving jury duty. As my local library carries it I don't have to subscribe. Got a couple of books and 3 movies and headed home. Friday I didn't get dressed...at all. Laid around the house reading one of the 2 books I got at the library and finished the whole thing. Ken and Jen left for church and I stayed home because I still wasn't feeling real good. Tried to watch,"The Trouble with Angels" but kept falling asleep. Saturday we declared a chill out day. We watched The trouble with Angels..then made a grocery store run to get food for the day. Cold cuts, sub rolls, Bush's beans, Orzo/Feta salad, some chips,cocktail weiners. Came home and watched Flight 93...an excellent film about UA flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11 and A Bridge To Far. Got my jammies on somewhere in there. Then I decided I needed some chocolate milk so Ken and Jen made another grocery store run.And came back with The Proposal..it was a cute film. Crawled into bed around 9:30 and went night night...on and off all night.

Thursday

Well lets see...I left on Friday being frustrated for not being able to get anything done....Saturday we went grocery shopping and then at night we had to go to a leaders meeting for Reformers Unanimous. Sunday was church. Monday Ken went to work and then called me and said he didn't feel good and he was coming home. Got him into bed and popped a movie in the DVD player for him. I don't think he saw past the opening credits before he was snoring. I went out and started mowing up leaves in the front yard and emptying them in the compost bin. Then I went out back and started mowing the lawn. Before I finished Ken came out and said he couldn't sleep anymore and he started cleaning out the gutters. Finished the lawn and Jen got home...She and I got the rest of the gardens cleaned out and pulled our mini carrots. Ken and I got the cabbage pulled, trimmed and put in the garage. Tuesday Ken went to work to teach a class and came home after still not feeling well. Jen and I watched TV and Ken played his computer game on the laptop at the dining room table..It was fun to have us all together in the same room for a change.I wasn't feeling to good Tuesday either..not really sick..just a low grade fever. Wednesday I had to take Auntie to the doctor. We picked Nicole up after the doctors appointment and Auntie took us out to lunch...which I neglected to say "Thank you" for...
THANK YOU AUNTIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nicole and I had a blast spending time with you.Got her home and found out she had another doctor appointment today..Nicole offered to take her...I"m so grateful because I woke up with a fever again...and feel like I'm getting a cold. Feeling alittle better again so lets hope I"m done with it.

Early Friday Morning

Well yesterday was a bust as far as getting anything done...though it didn't rain it was cool, foggy and misty. I did do the laundry and hung it out but had to go take it all down,bring it in the house and dry it in the dryer. And it was still very wet so I couldn't do the lawn. A sucky down day. Except that Nicole got home from the Adirondacks so I got to see her and meet Corinna...I probably just butchered the spelling of her name..Hopefully today will be better.

Catching up

Had a great time with the grandkids this past week end though I was not feeling real good with the cold I was fighting. Saturday night we went out to eat and as we were leaving the restaurant I put my window down and couldn't get it back up...GREAT !!! Monday morning I called the dealership as the service center was opening and he told me to bring it right in...yippee...then I walked the 2 miles home...it sounds like a lot but I usually walk an hour when I walk and it only took me 40 minutes. Nicole came over coz she was going to let me use her car while she's in the Adirondacks with work..She'd been having trouble with her power steering so we went over to the dealership to have them see if it needed power steering fluid to find out it has electronic power steering so when I went to get the van I was gonna drop off the car.Dropped her off at work and then came home to chill for a while before I took my Auntie to the doctors. Took Auntie to the doctors, dropped her off at home and headed home when the dealership called to say my van was ready and I could drop the car off. $422 later my window goes up and down again. Didn't do much the rest of the day. Tuesday I went and watched my hair dresser's 2 little ones so she could go to the doctors. Left there and went home..shortly after I got home the dealership called to say Nicole's car was ready...Took me 40 minutes and 33 seconds to walk to the dealer ship to pick it up. 2 good walks in 2 days. This morning I got up with grandious plans to put the grass catcher on the lawn mower and mow/chop up the leaves in the front yard... to hear the drip drip drip of water flowing into the eaves troughs...drats !!!!!!!!!!! rain. So I went grocery shopping instead..well..stocking up grocery shopping. With all the sickness going around I'm trying to stay ahead so if we can't go grocery shopping because we're sick or a lot of sickness is out there and we want to not get it we'll have that option. Stocked up on kleenex, allergy pills and airborne. Stocked up on comfort food...canned ravioli, beef and macaroni, spaghetti with meatballs and dry spaghetti. Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer so maybe tomorrow will be work on the lawn and do the laundry day. All in all I've been pretty busy..but busy is good.

Friday

Today I get my grand kiddos...YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More Exercise

It took me 45 minutes to mow the front lawn and empty the grass catcher as needed. So that was another 45 minutes of walking. For lunch I had a tossed salad with cheese,green olives, turkey and ham. Later on I had a peanut butter sandwich. I've got to get over this eating just because I want to...I'm sure that's part of the reason I gained weight. We're having jambalya/kielbasa for supper. Oh I forgot something else I did today. My hairdresser had given me 3 loaves of banana nut bread all mixed and in bread pans and then frozen. I made one of those this morning. Haven't eaten any yet..figure that will be tonights snack. Ken and Jen have village band practice tonight so I'm thinking its a get my jammies on,snuggle under my fleece blanket and read or watch TV night...I can't wait

Some Pics

My new do....color is a little darker then before but it will fade out a little


My free bicycle trailer






My cousin Donna and her puppy Penny the perpetual ball of energy

Finally have a few minutes.....

Monday I got up early as usual..did my devotions,made Ken's coffee, breakfast and packed his lunch..kicked everybody out the door and got ready to leave. Got out of the house around 8:15ish. Went to Albion and drove by my old house. Went up to County House Road and drove by my uncle's old place, Waterport and drove past our old house there on Oak Orchard Creek..I miss that place. Went up to 18..drove to Townline Road and went by numerous houses..3 Aunt's,my cousin's growing up home and our old farm house.Then past the former house of my adopted family..that's a family who isn't really related by blood or marriage but you consider them family. Into Lyndonville past my old school. Then into Medina to drive past a house we used to live in on Park Ave. But it isn't a house anymore..the house has been torn down and now its a medical office. Finally headed out to my cousin's. We hadn't seen each other in forever. It was good to see her and get caught up on what's been going on in each other's lives. She took me to 2 Amish stores. The first one was a general store of types...bolts of material, hats, some outdoor clothes, cooking utensils, oil lamps....the 2nd was like a grocery store...it was awesome. I was driving down one of the back roads before I went to her house and as I approached an intersection and horse and buggy came around the corner towards me...it was like being in Lancaster County, PA. We stopped at Tito's Tacos in Medina and had lunch...oh man was that good..Then headed over to Aunt Marge and Uncle Earl's..They live in a mobile home now in Medina. What a cute place they have. While we were visiting Donna's Mom Beatrice came in...haven't seen her in forever either. It was so good to be around family. After we left Aunt Marge's we went to where Donna's husband was working so I could say hi to him. Left there and went out to supper then back to her house so I could take a picture of her and her darling little Penny for her facebook account...then home. Let's see...I was gone from home..13 1/2 hours. Tuesday I baby sat for my hairdresser as usual. Nicole came over and when my hairdresser got home Nicole and I took off for Wickham farms..we did the corn maze, had ice cream and played mini golf. Then she had to go to school . Wednesday I had a 7:45 AM doctors appointment. I've gained 11 pounds in 6 months. That's not good. Considering though he said while my glucose and cholestrol levels were a little higher then last time they weren't to bad so I've got to work on eating better and less and working out more..So Jade and I took an hour walk this morning. At 9:10 AM I had a dentists appointment right across the street from the doctor's. I like when I can make the appointments that way coz then its one trip every 3 months. Left the dentist and stopped at the house and picked up Nicole who was here waiting for me and went to my hairdressers to get my hair colored (way overdue) and trimmed. Left there and did a Burger Kind drive through and headed for Henrietta to take Nicole to school. Its just something we've started doing on Wednesdays. Dropped her off at school and I went over to Sam's Club and got gas in the van,then ran over to Palmer's and got a boneless pork loin for $ 1.69 a pound. Then back to pick up Nicole. Then we came home and Nicole crashed.....hard. Then it was off to church. So other then Jade's and my walk this morning I haven't done much. I'm going to put the grass catcher on the mower and do the front lawn and put the grass and leaves in the compost bin.....so I've had my half hour break and off I go again.....

So far and beyond....

Friday I ended up going to school and driving for the field trip to Long Acre Farms Corn Maze in Macedon. I drove girls but I got to chaperone boys..A 54 year old woman should not be chasing teen age boys through a corn maze. I must say I got a good work out. Saturday we got up at 6:00 AM to go give blood. That's a half hour earlier then I get up during the week. Go to Perinton and find out that since we've given the last time they've changed the guidelines and Jen is no longer eligible to give blood because she doesn't weigh enough. She was bummed. Ken and I gave..we were out of there by a little after 8:00 so we stopped at a restaurant in Fairport for breakfast. Came home and climbed back into bed just after 9:30. Slept really hard until Nicole called at 11:30. Got up and sat around for a half hour to get my head cleared out and then took off for Penfield library to pick up a couple of books. One on how the Amish survive without electricity and another that's supposedly going to demystify solar electricity. Me and my solar fetish. Watched Texas beat Oklahoma and then Florida beat Arizona.. I hear Miami beat Central Florida so all in all it was a good college football day...well unless you like the beaten teams. Then we went out to supper. I just felt very tired and lazy yesterday and didn't feel like cooking. Luckily the Hubby was feeling the same way. Came home..took a shower and washed my hair, watched alittle more TV and then went to bed. I've got a busy week ahead. Tomorrow ( Monday ) I'm going to Medina to see my cousin and then to see my Aunt. I've got a pork roast thawing so I can throw it in the crockpot tomorrow morning coz I don't know if I'm going to be home in time for supper. And even if I am I'm not gonna feel like cooking...LOL. Tuesday morning I watch my hairdresser's kids and then maybe get my hair done...but I'm not sure because I promised Nicole I'd take her to the corn maze at Wickham Farm's Tuesday..drat..I'm double booked. Wednesday morning is Doctor and Dentist. Thursday I may be going out to get a cup of coffee with my Reformer's Unanimous counsel leader and one of the ladies from our group who hasn't been there in a while. Friday afternoon I get my grand kids... I need a vacation. So that's it for now..I'll blog more about each day hopefully the same day it happens but maybe not...

Still alive and catching up

Wow..when life gets busy it gets busy..where do I start? Pulled 2 of my cabbage yesterday...one I cooked with turkey bacon and added cider vinegar and splenda...I love that stuff and its so low carb. The other I sliced thin and in the dehydrator. I went down this morning and stirred it up a little so it doesn't get all stuck together. Finally did laundry yesterday...almost 2 weeks again. Between having the grand kids Monday, rain lots of days and all the other stuff that's been going on I just haven't had time. I did hang my clothes out yesterday but I'll tell you by the time I was done my fingers were a little cold. Next week I'm going to try using rubber gloves like you use for washing dishes..at least my fingers won't get wet. I'm going to get some pvc pipe and fittings,make a frame,cover them with plastic and make solar heat collectors for the hall and bathroom windows to try and capture some free heat this winter..well as long as the sun shines. Still need to get my batteries for my solar system..There never seems to be enough money to do all I want to do. Monday I'm going out to Orleans County to meet with a 2nd cousin on my Dad's side who I haven't seen since Shaun was little..well unless you count the 5 seconds I saw her my Uncle's funeral and that was when I lived in Albion. Also gonna visit my Aunt Marge while I'm there. Hoping to take some pictures and post them either here or on facebook..facebook is easier and faster but we'll see. Oh Oh Oh...I've so been wanting to get a trailer to pull behind my bicycle...they are so expensive..well a couple of weeks ago the lady I babysit for on Tuesday stopped me in church and said she had something for me at her house...seems they were going somewhere and around the corner from their house a guy her husband knows was putting his out in the trash..nothing wrong with it...he was moving and didn't want it anymore....score a big one for Diane...she picked it up for me...those things go for over $100. YEAH!!!!!!!!!! Still haven't hooked it to my bike and pulled it yet but its supposed to be nice next week so maybe I'll try it then. Life is good...life is good. So I guess that's it for now..I'll definitely post next week about my trip to Orleans County and memory lane...sigh

Frustration

As if this week hasn't been frustrating enough I finally got to walk out to my garden this morning to find that the deer have sometime in the past week eaten the tops off one set of pepper plants and the beans on that side of the trellis and nipped off the tops of my carrots. aaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I went Monday and got the stuff to fix the screens but just haven't had the "want to" to get it done. I can't seem to get myself to do anything but sit around. Today I did 2 weeks worth of laundry..finally a day with no rain. We did the grocery shopping and went to Lowe's and got expandable foam to fill in some cracks. Now just waiting to take off and go watch the Fairport homecoming football game...Yeah us....And I miss my Shaun and my Heather.

Sunday

ok so I've been really negligent about keeping my blog going. Things have been so busy around here. On September 15th we had to put our long time pet Amee down. She was just suffering to much. That was soooooo hard. We sat with her until the end and then they gave us a few minutes alone with her. It still brings tears to my eyes to think about it. Then Thursday the 17th Shaun and Heather arrived from Colorado. It was so good to see them and hug them and spend time with them. They left yesterday at 1:00 AM..got as far as Davenport, Iowa and stopped for the night. Got a text at 7:00 AM saying they were on their way again. They should be home sometime today. Yesterday was the soccer tournament at church. Our girls got first place and .....JEN SCORED A GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah for her. Then we came home and I pulled the tomato, zucchini and raspberry plant and cleaned out my pots that had tomatoes growing in them. Kinda trying to get things settled for the colder weather coming. Sometime this week I have to replace screens and who knows what else. Finally found a good website that has the batteries I need for my solar system...of course they're very expensive so it'll be awhile but they also have lots of information about inverters...converts battery DC to Electrical AC. Ok..now to put up some pics.
The new 50cc motorcycle

Colin ready to go

Daddy and Ian


Uncle Jimmy Rides

Lazy

I just can't seem to remember to blog. Tomatoes are doing great..I've been taking some to church to get rid of them. I have my 3rd dehydrator full of tomatoes. I'm finally going to use some of the powedered ones today...I'm going to make a crockpot of chili and make my own tomato paste..I'm excited. This afternoon I'm going to take my Auntie to her doctor's appointment. Tomorrow I'm going to go pick up my Mommy take her to Batavia to BJ's to pick up a storage rack for my sister and then take that to her house and probably put it together for her...and see if I can find out what she did to her computer..she moved a file or something and can't figure out how to get it back where she wants it. So I better go get that chili made....

What up?

I forgot to say in my last post that I dried a dehydrator full of tomato slices...that's 9 trays..Then I powdered them....a little over a pint of tomato powder. By adding varying amounts of water to it I can make tomato paste,sauce or juice. I can't wait to try it. I now have another 9 trays in the dehydrator. Already today I've been out and done the weed eating I've been meaning to do since I mowed the lawn Tuesday and emptied the garbage can that I've also been meaning to do since Tuesday that is full of pricker bush branches. We bought an electric steamer Saturday when we went grocery shopping. It has 3 trays. Tuesday I did brussel sprouts, a broccoli,cauliflower,carrot mix and baby corn. That thing is so cool. 3 different vegetables in about 15 minutes. That coupled with pork chops and Stove Top Stuffing was supper. Last night was BLT's and a zucchini,onion,green pepper mix...Not done in the steamer but fried in my electric skillet. The only thing bought was the bacon,bread and lettuce..no..sadly I don't have any lettuce growing in my garden. Tonight I think is spaghetti...homemade sauce. Don't know what else is going on today but its early.

Colin
Ian

Ooppsss ....Forgot Pictures

Kayla and I


Colin


Ian


Sunday Afternoon Nap

I IS

still alive. Lots going on. Shaun and Heather got back to the states last Monday. They'll be home for the boys birthday which is September 19th. I had the grandkids Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We had a blast..Friday we went to Bounce-It-Out in Pittsford. Saturday we had a house warming and a picnic to go to. The highlight of that was riding Pastor Green's minibike. Sunday was church with a nap in between. Yesterday was walk to the post office to mail Shaun's motorcycle title and then to Peaches Cafe for lunch. I had to take them home last night and as I was getting ready to leave they each decided I needed to lean out the van passenger side window to give each of them a hug and kiss. I think they just wanted to see if I could do it. I could. Today I baby sat for my hair dresser in the morning. Jen and I walked over...1/2 an hour..she gave us a ride home and then I mowed the lawn. Oh my aching legs....I stand up and hobble for the first 5 or 6 steps. So I guess that about catchs me up.....

Sunday

Wow...11 days since I've written. Not much going on. Just the usual do the laundry, mow the lawn,make supper, do the dishes. Tomatoes have started ripening. Been pretty boring really. Doing alot of internet searching. Oh a funny thing did happen Thursday. Webster Village Band and Jen went with him. When it started getting dark I lit one of my oil lamps. I'm walking around the house carrying it and I go in the bathroom to brush my teeth. It really lit the bathroom up and I'm thinking this is cool. I decided to get my pj's on so I walk into the bedroom all proud of myself,walk around the end of the light and poof the light goes out..I'm standing there all perplexed till I realized the bedroom ceiling fan was running and I'd just walked under it. Note to self..fans blow out oil lamps..LOL I started laughing right out loud. So that's it..

Wednesday

I'm at the library....yes I know I have high speed wi-fi at home but there's just something about sitting here at the library. Sunday night after church we went out for ice cream with some of the people from church..It was fun sitting around , eating ice cream and talking. Monday Nicole stopped over and we dropped her car off at Firestone to get it inspected. When it was done we went and picked it up and went to lunch at Monte Alban in Webster. Tuesday Hubby came home early coz he didn't feel good. He's got some summer cold thing going on. Today I decided to walk to the library and catch up on my magazine reading. Then I came over to the Cafe to eat my lunch and check out some stuff on the internet. Thinking I probably should think about heading home..I think its going to be pulled pork sandwiches and french fries tonight. On garden news...a few of my carrots are popping through and a lot of my light pink beans have sprouted..Yippeee

Satuday

I really don't have anything to say...I just feel like writing. Today we went grocery shoppiig..woo hoo. Ken has had a migrain head ache for the past 2 days..He says its not as bad as yesterday but he's still not moving to fast. I really have nothng else to do today. So I'm just sitting here on the internet..playing games and occasionally checking my e-mail and facebook. Off to see if I can find some interesting blogs to read.

Friday

Planted my light pink beans yesterday..didn't do a whole lot more then that . This morning we went out to breakfast and then I did laundry and mowed the lawn. Its supposed to be hot Monday and the last thing I want to do is walk around the yard behind the lawn mower. Jen leaves for camp Monday so I may walk down to the library and spend the day reading magazines. I haven't driven my van since last Sunday. I just realized that today. Still haven't gotten the stove fixed but haven't really needed it.

Thursday

I ended up going out and pulling my onions and putting them on a screen to dry. In their place I think I'm going to try planting light pink beans. They look like kidney beans but they're smaller. I know its a little late to plant them but its a small bed that can be covered in plastic so I'm going to go ahead and throw them in. That will be done today as they've been soaking for almost 24 hours to soften them. Jen and I ended up walking to Goodwill...I got her 2 pairs of leggings,Ken a new pair of swim trunks which he likes to wear around the house and a new pair of sunglasses for me because the lens' keep popping out of my other pair. Then we stopped at 5 Guys Burger and Fries for lunch. Yes my original evalutation still holds..Nothing to write home about. For alittle more I could go to Bill Gray's and get a slop burger ( You can't eat them without getting messy) fries, and coldslaw. Didn't do much after that. My homegrown lettuce is almost all gone. I think today will be the end of it. Garden is doing great..I'll post some pics

Wednesday

Yesterday was kind of a lazy day..Jen and I walked down to the library to return a book I've been renewing for weeks and still haven't read..Stopped at Time Warner and paid the cable bill then walked to Khols so Jen could get a pair of earrings to match a new outfit she got in Tennessee..other then that we didn't do much all day. I put my toaster oven out in the garage and threw in a meatloaf and some potatoes to bake...cooked a meal...didn't heat up the house. Fried up 2 zucchini and an onion in the electric fry pan. What a fantastic supper we had. Did dishes and relaxed the rest of the night. Today I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Probably check out the garden..with the zucchini producing now I need to check it more often and read a little..I need to figure out what I'm going to have for supper. Maybe burgers on the grill, tossed salad and grill fried potates. I only have 2 left so I'll slice and wrap them in tinfoil with butter and salt and pepper. Off to face the day

Back from the land 0f the lost

Things were really busy when the kids were here..Ok..last Wednesday...Colin woke up crying saying his head hurt and he had a fever so I gave him some tylenol and took him in my room where the ceiling fan was running...He fell asleep and so did I. When we got up later he as feeling better so I took them to VBS. He still wasn't feeling good after and it was raining so we just came home and had a down day. Jen stayed home with the boys and the rest of us went to church. Thursday everybody was well again so after VBS we did our last trail. Friday Ken was home so after I dropped the kids off at church I came home and he and I did the grocery shopping. Friday was the last day of VBS so they had pony rides. The kids loved it. Dropped Ken off and we went to get our gift cards and t-shirts for walking the trails.

T-shirts

Got to be supper time so I decided to make pizza rolls..turn on the oven, turn and walk away and here a popping sound. Went back into the kitchen trying to figure out what it was. Sounded kind of like a lid popping off a plastic bottle. Don't see anything then realize the lights are off on the stove..OH NO!!! Ken goes down and resets the breaker but there's something wrong with the oven and though the burners work it constantly beeps because of the oven being out of commission. Oh great. 5:00 and we have to be to church at 7:00..run to K-mart buy a larger size toaster oven..So its been interesting figuring out ways to cook things without a range...we're doing good though...,rice cooker, large electric skillet, liddle griddle, microwave. We're going to have a guy at church look at it. Saturday we went to Seabreeze...7 hours of Seabreeze.

Kayla and Colin in front, Ian in back

Train ride

Sunday I took the kids home...its very quiet around here. I miss them. Monday was laundry and lawn mowing. Jen vaccumed for me and then we spent a couple of hours playing Skip-bo. Made supper, did dishes and then relaxed the rest of the day.

Tuesday

Wow..almost a week since I've blogged. Wednesday I had a Doctor's appointment. My quarterly..he said things were looking good. Of course I am on medicine so good means I don't have to take any more or stronger medicine. After the Doctor's appointment I went to Walmart and wandered around for an hour. I especially checked out their discounted items..They had 5-60 hour sterno emergency candles. I love burning candles. I only picked up one because they weren't marked and I had no idea how much a sterno candle went for regular price. When I got home I checked out the price online..$9.30...I paid $2.97 That's approximately 66% off. Thursday I had to go to the dentist.On the way home I stopped at Walmart again..to make a picture CD for Sammy of Kayla's party and to pick up those other 4 candles.
Also Ken kept texting me saying He loved me and he was bored and he had a surprise..Got home around 11:00 and at 11:30 he walked in the door. He'd had to go in on an emergency call Tuesday night which netted him and automatic 4 hours-paid for 6. They don't want them working overtime so he only worked 4 hours Thursday and had 6 off-paid. Nice. So he took me out for lunch. Then we went over to a friend from Churches new house and Ken put up 3 ceiling fans for him. I got to hold their new baby. He's such a cutie with his head full of black hair..Honest, he looks like he needs a hair cut already. Friday was Ken's usual day off so we did the grocery shopping and waited for Jen and my father in law to get here from Tennessee. They pulled in early afternoon. Dad took off to visit some friends and Ken,Jen and I went to the new Monte Alban that finally opened in Webster. Mmmmm Mexican food. I had a beef taco,beef enchilada, refried beans and rice. Saturday I did the laundry and mowed the lawn. Had to get that out of the way as I was supposed to pick the kids up Sunday night for the week. Dad called and asked if we wanted to go out to supper..his treat. Hey, we never turn down a free meal. Mom called and said there were severe thunderstorm/hail storm warnings. A tornado had touched down in corfu and possibly in Hilton. All we got were down pours and a little thunder and lightening. Then Ken Jen and I went and saw G-Force. It was a cute movie. Sunday was church and we hung out in the afternoon at home with Ken's Dad. Back to church and then off to pick up my kiddos. I pulled in the driveway to see Colin running through a huge water hole in long pants. He's such a boy. They'd just had a huge downpour.Came home and put everybody to bed. Got up this morning, got everybody fed and dressed, said good bye to Dad..He's on his way back to Tennessee later today after playing golf for the first time in 5 years. He had gastric by pass surgery done earlier this year and he's looking great. He's already lost 90 pounds. Today (Monday) Loaded the kids into the van and took of for church. They're having vacation bible school this week..9:30-12:30. Friday they have pony rides. I'm sitting here in the van catching up on my blog but I probably won't be able to post until I get home. In a little while I'm going to take off to Wegmans to get some stuff I forgot to get for the week. Then if the rain holds off we're going to go walk a couple of trails this afternoon and the kids may go swimming in the little pool I have for them if it ever warms up. So I'm sure I'll have lots of adventures to talk about and lots of pics from the week.

Well I guess this is going to get rather long as I forgot to post yesterday's blog. So as I was sitting in the van I thought,"Uh Duh!!!! I could go shopping at the Wegmans' near home, take the stuff home and then go back to church". So I did. After Vacation Bible School we came home..packed a lunch and went to North Ponds Park. Ate lunch and walked 2 trails to get 2 of our 6 trails we need for our $5.00 Wegmans gift card and t-shirt. The kids were pretty bushed when we were done. So home we came and they changed into their suits and hit the pool. After that Jen took them in and they watched Spiderman 1. I made supper and when Ken got home we ate. Boys went to bed at 8:30 and Kayla at 9:00. Off we went to VBS again this morning..I stayed this time. When they went to class time I went to the nursery and rocked the baby I watch sometimes to sleep. Came home..ate lunch and took off for another 2 trails and then realized that a 3rd was really close so we did 3 trails today...only 1 more to do. Today was a lot warmer then yesterday..We all came home sweaty. It didn't take long to chance into bathing suits and now they're all splashing in the pool. Lots of giggling, laughing and occasional crying but they're having fun.

What fun grownups can have at a kids birthday party

Tuesday

The Birthday Girl My Hubby Judy and I Today I needed to do some running..er...walking around. I left the house at 9:35 and walked over to the Webster Parks and Recreation Office to pick up our Wegmans Passport to family wellness booklets. They have a program that runs from July 1, 2009- August 1, 2010. There are 10 trails in the Webster area. Each trail has a raised marker and you do a rubbing of the marker in the booklet. When you've walked 4 trails you can take your booklet to the recreation center and receive a coupon for a free Wegman's product. Upon completion of 6 trails you get a free T-shirt and $5.00Wegmans gift card. If you do all 10 you get a chance to win a free rental of Liberty Lodge at Finn Park. We're really only interested in the gift cards but we'll take a t-shirt. I get the kids next week and we have Vacation Bible School in the morning but I figured it would give us something to do after lunch. And most of the trails are under a mile so it's something the kids should be able to do easily. So after the Parks and Recreation department I walked to the post office to mail off a DVD for Samantha with pictures and videos from Kayla's Birthday Party Saturday. Left there and walked to the library to drop off a book. Walked across the street to the dollar store and K-Mart trying to find cowboy hats for the kids for next week. Nothing. Then back home...I walked in the door at 11:35. 2 hours on my feet and they were not happy. Ate lunch and now catching up on e-mail and surfing the net.

Monday

What a busy week end we had...well actually it was Saturday that was busy. First let me back up to Friday. Hubby came home and we had to go back to his work coz he brought the work keys home with him. After that we stopped at a blood lab in Pittsford so I could get my quarterly blood work done. Then it was off to lunch. We ate at some wood fired pizza place. It was ok but way over priced. Then it was back home to get the bags so we could go grocery shopping. Didn't have a whole lot to pick up but we managed to spend alot of money anyways. Saturday morning we got up and I wrapped Kayla's birthday presents. Sammy was having a party for her and we were invited. Oh oh..I forgot a card and I wanted to get her some balloons so off we went to Irondequoit. Oh but wait....before we go to Factory Card Outlet lets go to Harbor Freight ( They carry the solar system I'm interested in ) So we went...we looked...we didn't buy. If it was me I'd just buy the sucker and bring it home but I want hubby to be onboard...So we talked about it...and talked about it...and talked about it..not just at the store but the rest of the day and it looks like we may be getting one. Its just a little cheapo 45 watt system and we really want it just to be able to play with it and see if we'd be interested in doing something on a larger scale. So maybe soon. Went and got a birthday card and picked up 3 balloons. Took off for the party. We had a good time. Left there around 4:30 came home, Nicole followed us. Then we walked over to the Webster Firemen's Carnival so Ken could get his steamed clams. That's the only reason we go..well..that and the cotton candy. Nicole had to work an overnight so she tried to sleep on a mattress on the living room floor but every time she drifted off they set off a tester for the fireworks display they were going to have. We're so close to the fairgrounds that when they go "boom" the house shakes..She didn't get much sleep. She left for work and I went and sat on the back patio and watched the display. Might as well watch them..you can't sleep through them. Fell into bed and got a whole 5 hours sleep. Body clock is set at 5:30. Nicole was back at 8:15ish. She had to go back into work at 4:00 so she crashed at the house for the day. She usually works the 4-midnight but she wanted to go to Kayla's party so I guess somebody who works the 4-midnight switched with her. We had great messages at church yesterday. Pastor just got back from vacation so apparently the Lord recharged his batteries while he was gone. Today when the alarm went off I was so tired from the week end that I made hubby's coffee, breakfast and lunch and headed back to bed. Finally got up at 8:30. Had a banana and went out to mow the lawn. The sun was brutal but its done. I did the laundry yesterday though today might have been a better day to do it. No matter..its all done. That's it for today.

Friday

Well I've not written much coz there hasn't really been much going on. Tuesday we went to AT&T about our phones that keep shutting off. The good news is Ken's still had 14 days left on the warranty so they replaced his for free. The bad news was supposedly mine had gotten wet and that voided the warranty. The only wet mine had gotten was from persperation but whatever. The good news is I found out I could go to Walmart and buy a cheap $20 GO phone and put my sim card in it. The even better news is Nicole had an old Blackberry that she gave me and I didn't have to spend the $20. I may never buy a phone from AT&T again. We'll see. I don't know...that I Phone keeps calling my name but as you HAVE to get internet on it for another $30 a month that may be put on hold for a long time. Right now I'm going to concentrate on making extra principal payments on my house. The way things are going I really want to get it paid off so if something happens to my pension or to Ken's job we'd only have to worry about taxes and insurance and not mortgage payments also. Been watching alot of you tube videos about rain barrels and solar systems.Interesting things. Right now I'm waiting for Ken to get home..yes I know its Friday but they had training scheduled for today so he had to go in for 2 hours. Hey its overtime. So off I go to do something constructive...

My Monday...and Tuesday morning

So I woke up at 4:15 yesterday..not only woke up but got up. Did my devotions, made Ken's coffee,breakfast and lunch and left the house at 6:15 for Warsaw. Got to Judy's about 7:30ish and set her up a yahoo account. Only problem was we couldn't read her e-mail. Kept getting an error code..ok the heck with it..Lets see if we can get her RoadRunner account set up...Yep..we did that. Showed her how to do e-mail and search for stuff. Now its time to take her to the Doctor. Do that then go over to Social Services so she can get some papers copied. Across the street to McDonald's where she bought me lunch. Nice!!! Then we went to Walmart. I got Kayla some clothes for her birthday and picked up a wireless router for Judy. Apparently Time Warner doesn't do wireless routers. Frontier gave me one and I didn't even ask for it. Try to hook it up and it didn't work..Ok..we'll start all over again. Plug the ethernet cable back into her computer...no internet..oh oh......not good. She calls Time Warner...one of their automated menu items is.."to reset your cable modem press...". She presses it and sure enough the modem starts blinking and we can access the internet again..Hey that was easy...lets try setting up the router again. Computer finally says everythings ok but....we can't get onto the internet. Arrrgghhhh. Open this window, push this, yank on that, wiggle our nose a little bit and tada !!!!!!!!!! We're on the internet and there's no cord attached. Yeah...what did I do?? No idea...don't care....its working. Leave her house about 4:30...later then I'd planned and now I'm rushing to get home to make supper for my hubby..fought with my phone all the way home coz we got the cheapy phones and they're C-R-A-P. Eat supper...lets go to AT&T and get new phones...ok...we pull in at 7:10..they closed at 7:00. In the mean time my phone has shut off...again. Turn it back on...there's a voice mail from a friend at church..she found out her son got his orders to Iraq. His first deployment and she's upset..My wonderful hubby says....go. So off I go to comfort my friend and assure her its gonna be ok..Its quiet in Iraq..he's a mechanic so he won't be in the thick of any battle. And besides the last time I talked to Shaun..(a couple of weeks ago) he told me he was so bored he was going crazy. We spent 2 hours talking and walking the roads around her dad's farm. Left her house at 9:45 and found out my hair dresser had tried to call me to see if I could baby sit today. It was to late to call her back so I figured I'd do it this morning. At 6:45 Judy called coz she couldn't remember how to do something or other..and now I can't remember what it was..LOL. Tried to talk her through that but I don't think I was very successful. We'll get it. Went over and baby sat for a couple of hours and then rode my bike back home and had lunch and now trying to catch up on e-mail and blogging and all that good stuff....Later

Gee Whiz...2 posts in 2 days.

So this morning I decided I really better get the lawn mowed. It wasn't gonna happen tomorrow coz its church day and it is supposed to rain a couple of days next week. Got up and did my Bible devotions..which consists of reading the Proverb of the day, praying over my Wednesday night and Friday night RU prayer lists and reading the devotional from 2 devotional books. Get dressed. Eat 2 slices of zuchhini...oh my goodness I forgot...I made a loaf of zucchini bread yesterday. I think my baking powder and baking soda may be a little flat coz the bread sure was..but it still tastes good. So I ate 2 slices so I could take my pills. Threw 2 gas cans in the back of the van and off I went to BJ's to get gas. Yesterday Ken filled up the car at BJ's in Henrietta for $2.50 a gallon..I paid $2.70 in Webster. Came home and it was still only 8 AM. Maybe a little early to mow the lawn coz of the neighbors ya know. So I finally took the windows off on the back porch. A few years ago I put screening over the windows so I could take the windows off in the summer. I finally got around to doing that. Then I started mowing the lawn and when I dumped the grass catcher Hubby mulched down stuff. I love mowing the lawn because its 2 hours of walking and frankly I could use the exercise. In the middle of that Hubby comes out waving my open cell phone at me..It was Judy..So I laid on the hammock swinging back and forth talking to her. See I didn't know it at the time but there was a reason I did the laundry Thursday and the lawn today. Monday ( my usual laundry and lawn day) I'm going to Warsaw to spend the day with her. She has a couple appointments she needs to go to and with her sprained ankle she would have needed to take the bus. Now I can take her. And she has internet but has no idea how to use it so I'm going to see what I can do about that. Also she's been typing recipes on her laptop but instead of making each recipe an separate document she's just been typing recipes onto a single document. I can't wait to see how long that sucker is..so I'm going to show her how to cut and paste each one into its own document. So just as we finished the lawn it started to sprinkle. Put everything away and come in the house to find out its only 11:30. Hubby and I round up the 5 bags of pop cans and bottles and take them to Wegmans. See today is probably the last day of the 90% lean ground beef for $1.99 a pound sale and I still need to make meatballs. So we went to Wegmans to take back cans and bottles and pick up a pack of burger and walked out $31 dollars lighter...pop open hot dogs, 2 packs of chips, burger, latex gloves, and 2 red box movies..While we were in the store we heard thunder..lots of it. Must have been a heck of a storm but by the time we came out it was only raining..darn. I love a good thunder and lightening storm. Came home made lunch (left overs) and I set to working making meatballs. We got 8 dozen plus another pound of burger in the freezer for tacos or sloppy joes or whatever. Once that was done we watched the new Pink Panther movie...It was pretty funny if not somewhat predictable. So that's it for me today.

Friday catch up

oh boy....lets see if I can remember what I've done since Monday..Tuesday...nothing. Wednesday..waited all morning for the Safelite guy to come and put in my windshield. All morning it would be sunny, get cloudy, sprinkle a little. And I'm thinking please don't rain...There's no way I can get the garage cleared out enough so they can get the front of the van in and they can get both doors open. Noon comes and goes and still no windshield installer. I keep going to the door and looking out at the sky and checking wunderground to see where the rain is. Finally about 1:30 the sun comes out bright and the Safelite guy pulls in. Less then an hour he was done. And it cost me absolutely nothing..nada...not one thin penny. Thank you car insurance. Thursday I decided it was time to get the broccoli out of the garden so I could get the cabbage planted. Put it in the basin in salt water in case there were little buggies in it and decided to do the laundry as it was going to be a nice day. I was hanging out my first load when my hair dresser called and asked if I could watch the girls. I said sure as she didn't need me to be there for another 2 hours. Finished up my laundry, got the broccoli blanched and frozen...a whole 2 quart bags..LOL..got the broccoli plants cut up into smaller pieces and thrown in the compost bin..pics to follow. Went and waqtched the girls for about 3 hours then came home and made supper for hubby and I. Hubby went to band practice and I read and messed on the computer..and watched Big Brother. Today was a bit of a frustrating day for me..I like to get up early and get stuff done for the day..Hubby and my schedules weren't the same..I wanted to go grocery shopping..he wanted to putter around the house first. So I went out and pulled my lettuce which had finally bolted. We now have 3 huge bowls of lettuce in the fridge. I was going to mow the lawn but I didn't have any gas, was too frustrated to want to go and get any and the grass was still wet. I wanted to use the grass catcher this week to do some more mulching and I don't think wet grass would have been good. Finally we went grocery shopping. We went to Palmers and got 2 boneless pork loins for 1.69 a pound...

Time out while I help Hubby cut it up.

Final tally....25 thick pork chops, 2-1 lb pkgs of pork chunks for stirfry and 3 pork roasts..2-3 pounders and a 1 1/2 pounder. Not bad for $30. About 11 meals of pork. We also went to Aldi's and BJ's. Ok..off to upload some pictures.


The Grandkids Colin Kayla and Ian taken a couple of weeks ago


Other 4x4 bed with 3 Romas in the back and where once was and shall be again lettuce.

Compost bin in place



4x16 Bed with cabbage at one end and a zucchini plant at the other. Maybe I'll plant carrots in between.

One 4x4 bed with 3 Romas in back and onions in the front

Monday

Watched the fire works on R News. It was pretty cool considering it was on TV. Sunday morning Nicole texted me and said I should make her breakfast (she was finishing up an overnight) I told her I could do that. So she came over and I made breakfast and then we went to church. The first Sunday of the month we do nursery and yesterday was our Sunday. We had so much fun playing with the babies. Today I Ken took out the garbage and I finished mowing the lawn. Took me about 30 minutes. Mom called and told me the wood chucks got her cabbage, kholrabi and brussel sprouts. I have to get the windshield replaced so we can get the van inspected this month so I called Progressive and got that arranged. They're coming to the house Wednesday to replace it. Ken and I took off and did some running. We went to Palmer's only to find out they were closed today, across the driveway to Lori's Natural Food where Ken got some stuff to make sushi. Then we went to Home Depot so he could return a switch plate and get a couple of new ones. We stopped at Wambach's and got a dozen cabbage plants. Our broccoli is almost done so I'll pull the plants in a couple of days and plant the cabbage. I wanted some Chinese food so my hubby got us some and then Nicole and Jim stopped over and dropped off a bag of french fries from 5 guys burger and Fries. Now I'm just sitting here catching up on e-mail

Happy 4th of July

Thursday I did not a whole lot. Hubby came home early and took me out for supper. Yeah me...I didn't have to cook or do dishes. Friday we went grocery shopping and got Madea goes to Jail..Hilarious. We went to Carrabba's for supper. Oh my gosh..It was an awesome experience. The food was great and so was our waiter. His name was Noah and he's a college student at RIT. We know coz we talked to the manager. Today I decided we should probably do some work. I did the laundry and then we went to Home Depot so Hubby could get some lumber to build me a compost bin. While he worked on that and did the dishes I mowed the lawn. Well..most of the lawn. Still have the front to do. Had to trim some thorn bushes along the side of the yard and Hubby came out and helped me pick them up. Then I went and helped him put together the compost bin. Its awesome. Right now its sitting on the side walk by the front door but eventually it'll make it to the back yard. Finally around 7:00 we wrapped things up and went and picked up subs. So now I'm sitting here trying to stay awake until 10:00 because they're supposed to show the fireworks on R News.

Wednesday

Yesterday was a pretty busy day. I was peacefully layng on the couch working on my
2nd in the series Tom Clancy book when I remembered it was the first of the month and time to pay my bills. Paid my bills and Shaun's car payment which I'm taking care of while he's gone and then decided that I really needed to get the computer deski cleaned off. It took me 2 hours but many oh man does it look good. Then I decided it was time to call Frontier. A month ago a guy came to the door and talked me into signing up for a new Frontier plan that included call waiting and caller ID for 5 dollars less then I was paying now. Had it not been for the caller ID and call waiting I probably wouldn't have. It was supposed to take effect beginning with the next billing. I remembered yesterday as I was playing the bills that it still hadn't been activated so I called. First the customer service rep tried to tell me that they were offering that plan anymore..well I had a signed year contract that said they should..finally she decided that somebody had made a mistake and that they'd "forgotten" to activate it...YA THINK? But any way when Mom called this morning it came up on caller ID..YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today I've absolutely nothing but lay here on the couch reading...I have 3 books that need to be read by July 15th. Off I go...again.

Monday Monday

Thursday night Sam brought the kids over. We had hamburgers,taco salad,broccoli salad,and potato wedges. Friday Ken was supposed to go into work ( on his day off) for a meeting but they called and canceled it. Friday morning we had to drop the car off at Firestone for inspection. G"tting ready to leave we realized we didn't have car seats..So we dropped the car off and went to Walmart to get booster seats. It makes it easier for the boys to see out the window. After Walmart we went out to breakfast. Then we came home and got the grocery list and bags and took off for grocery shopping. We decided to go to the zoo so I packed yogurt,grapes and marshmallows for the kids. We get the zoo membership every year so it didn't cost us anything. About half way through it got dark and started thundering so we headed for cover. It started raining so I decided it was a good time to let the kids eat. Ken says, " Um its hailing". We were under the roof where you can watch the sea lions from up above so there was a wall on one side..glass on the opposite side and the other 2 sides were open so the hail was hitting the ground and bouncing inside. The kids had a blast eating and chasing hailstones around. Well until it thundered really loud. Colin doesn't like loud noises..he gets that from his Nana..so he cried a little and sat on my lap. Finally it quit thundering and he was fine again. Then the sun came back out and it got hot again. Weird weather. When we left there Ken says to me," What were you planning for supper?" I said, "Probaby chicken nuggers and fries". I got "Oh"...that usually means he has a different idea. I said, "What?" "Oh I was just thinking I haven't eaten at Monte Alban yet and seeings how they're putting one in Webster I thought I should try it"...I almost laughed right out loud..but I said," Oh ok, we can try it if you want" So I didn't cook at all Friday...Yeah me!!!!!!!!!! Saturday I made breakfast for everybody and at 11:20 we had to be at church to get our picture taken for the church directory. Jen is in Tennessee so it was just Ken and I. Its the first time we've ever had a professional pic of the 2 of us done. It came out pretty good so we ordered some for the parents and the kids. We just hung out at the house the rest of the day coz we were still tired from our day at the zoo. James stopped over on his way home from he and Nicole having their pictures done. He played with the boys for awhile and then he had to go meet some friends for dinner. Poor Nicole had to work. We also had a birthday party for Shaun. We got a cake and lit a candle and the kids sang Happy Birtday. I took a video of it and sent it to him.He sent me an e-mail this morning thanking me and said he really enjoyed it. Sunday morning Sam texted me and asked if she could pick the kids up instead of me bringing them home coz she was in Niagara Falls visiting her best friend. I said sure no problem so I got to spend a couple extra hours with my grandkids. Oh yeah and I did my laundry Saturday so I don't have to do it today. And I filled the pool with water so the kids could "swim" this week end. We had a very busy very fun filled week end...Now its back to work for Ken. He works 4 days this week, then he has 4 days off,(Friday is the day they have off for 4th of July but he doesn't work Friday so they're giving him Monday off) then he works 3 days and has 3 days off. I like that he has Fridays off. So I guess that's it for now..I'll put up a pick of the kids and the birthday video....

Thursday

Ok...I think I'm ready...or as close to ready as I can be...Done: Picked and washed lettuce from the garden, vaccumed, taco meat made for Taco Salad but its one of those throw together at the last minute things, Broccoli Salad made, I think all I have left to do is grill burgers, make homemade potato wedges, and throw the Taco Salad together. It sure seems like I did more then that but I don't remember what it was. Sammy is bringing the kids over later..Yippeee...I can't wait to see them. Sometime this week end we have to get the car inspected. Ken's working on that.Oh yeah...and I did dishes at least twice. Glad the rain brought some cooler weather. Windows are open and the breeze is blowing and the house is cooling down.

Wednesday

Hot Dog!!!!!!!!!! 3 days in a row. This morning I decided to walk to the library so I packed a lunch...grabbed some cash so I could go to the grocery store and headed out at 9:50 for the library. Read a few magazines and ate my lunch. About 12:30 I packed up and walked over to Hegedorns to pick up some stuff I needed, then walked home. Man its hot out. Sam is bringing the kids over tomorrow night and I promised her burgers and taco salad. I've never made this kind of taco salad before but I've had it so it should be interesting to see if its what I remember. If not....there's 1000 more recipes on the internet. Tonight Hubby and I and Nicole if she gets here on time are having BLT's. Right now I've got the hose running in the kids pool trying to get it filled up for this week end. I figure its gonna take a long time to fill so I came in and set the timer for 30 minutes. 5 minutes to go. I'm glad summer is finally here. I really enjoyed my walk to the library this morning. We have so much with in a mile of my house and a mile walk is only about 20 minutes. So now I'm hot and sweaty and ready for a nap but I'm not gonna take one coz if I do I know I won't sleep tonight. So off to check the pool.

Tuesday

Well last night at Jose and Elizabeths was a blast. We got there around 6:30. They just bought their first house in the Lake Ave/ Flower City Park area. A big beautiful old house. The guys grilled steaks on their huge deck while us girls walked around the house and talked about all the possibilities. Supper was steak, rice, broccoli and cauliflower followed by "Chocolate Pudding Pie" with bananas and chocolate chips. Then we went to Adventure Landing and played a game of mini golf. It was the Kirklands against the Rosenbaums..Final score..Ken 44, Jose 44, Elizabeth 44, Me 41 So thanks to my 2 hole in ones and Elizabeth having a hard time on one hole Ken and I won. Jose said they let us win coz we paid for the game...LOL..He's a funny man. We really had a fantastic time of fun and fellowship. We didn't get home till after 10:30. Its made me want to have more get togethers. Its fun getting to know people. Today I went over to Nicole's and helped her load a futon in the van and take it over to Jim's Mom's. Nicole and Jim ordered new furniture that's going to be delivered Saturday. Then we came home and I finished making supper. We had BBQ'd pull porked, potatoe and macaroni salad. Nicole is now in laying down coz she has to do an overnight tonight. Oh I almost forgot!!! My cell phone rang this morning with a strange number showing. I answered and it was my Shaun!!!! He said they should be back stateside sometime in August. MP school starts next May and ends in August. He figures he should be at Fort Drum sometime in September 2010. Its so far away. He said he's really bored over there. I'm glad coz that means he's not in the midst of the bad stuff. Its hard to believe he's been gone 10 months. This Saturday is his birthday..he'll be 30. It hit me all of a sudden that a year ago now he was home..here in NY. Well...I guess that's it for today.

Monday

Well its been a pretty busy day. I had the laundry done and hung out by 8:00 this morning. The grass was really heavy with dew so I knew I wouldn't be mowing for a while. Discovered I had 2 movies that I'd recorded and hadn't watched yet so I watched them...fast forwarding through the commercials... Mom called and I paid her bills online for her and I had lunch. By then it was 12:15 and the lawn was mostly dry so I spent the next 2 hours walking behind the lawn mower and weed eating. Now I'm catching up on my blog and catching up on reading the blogs I follow. Probably should check my e-mail. Hubby and I are going to a couple from church's house tonight for supper. They just got a new house.

What's been going on

Thursday was spent reading, taking pills and sleeping. I took a couple of naps. Seems every time I fell asleep the alarm went off to take pills. I was asleep early too. Friday Ken was home..we didn't do much until 3:00 and then we went looking for a new computer coz ours crapped out AGAIN. We ended up getting both a desk top and a laptop. The laptop is doing great. He can't get the desk top to recognize the internet. He's frustrated...I'm frustrated...everybody is frustrated. Yesterday Nicole and I went to Spa Elan at Woodcliff for our massages. All I can say is....WOW. It ws very relaxing. Then we zipped over to Eastview Mall and picked up some Camille's. Later Ken and I went grocery shopping and got dessert at Mona Lisa. Today I made Ken steak for Father's Day. That's all so far.

Busy busy...tired

So the antibiotics I've been on are kicking my butt. They're fighting so hard I don't have the energy to. Last Friday we went to the memorial service for Jim's grandma and then over to his parents house to hang out for a while. Saturday Ken and I went grocery shopping, then to a village band concert at Cherry Ridge and his Dad got in town to pick up Jen. Sunday we went to church. Monday Dad and Jen left, I did laundry, mowed the lawn and Jim and Nicole came over for a BBQ and we played a WII game. Tuesday I went to Lowe's and bought Mom a new mini cultivator coz her's died, baby sat for my hair dresser while she went to Food Link, Nicole and I met Ken in Fairport for a car show and to have pizza. Then we came back to the house and I sat with Nicole until she had to go to work at midnight. This morning I went to my MOmmy's and cultivated her garden, sprayed weeds, ate lunch and helped her burn her papers. I'm so tired. I need to get a solid more then 5 1/2 hours of sleep. Antibiotics are done Saturday so maybe then. That's all.

Update on the sting thing

Well, I ended up going to Urgent Care last night. 2 antibiotics and prednisone later maybe we'll finally get this puppy under control. Because Wegmans is still doing free antibotics it only cost me $2.30 for the 11 prednisone. Yippeeee. Then I went to Walgreens to buy more test strips for my blood glucose meter and another bottle of glucose control solution. Nope they don't carry it you have to order through the manufacter. Well they're a bunch of know nothings coz I came home and googled Truecontrol and I ordered it through drugstore.com . I'm really fed with Walgreens..everytime I go in there it seems they can't answer my questions. Well this Benydryl is kicking my butt so I'll eat lunch now..take my pills, curl up with Tom Clancy and probably zonk for a while.

Update on the sting thing

The spot on my arm where I got stung is tiny but the area away from it is red and itchy. I say away because the sting mark is on the edge of the redness.I was thinking about going to the doctors but didn't really want to because my health insurance doesn't pay office calls anymore.. Man have I been spoiled for the last 30 some odd years. Then I sign on and start reading some of the digests of some of the yahoo groups I'm on and find out that what I'm experiencing is normal and that I should give it another couple of days. Who would have thought you could find out that kind of info on a Canning group? So I'm going to try to refrain from scratching it and see what happens.

What I did yesterday

Ok...before I do anything else I'm going to tell you what I got accomplished yesterday. Got up at 5:30 AM..made Ken's coffee, packed his lunch, made him breakfast. Sorted the laundry and threw the first load in the washer. Ate breakfast while doing my devotions. Hung laundry on the line. I was done with all 3 loads around 8:30. That gave me an hour to catch up on my e-mail and read the blogs I follow. Wanted to go to the library and the bank..library doesn't open until 10 I was going to walk and needed to stop at the bank on the way so I left the house at about 9:35. While I'm walking my mom calls so I talk to her as I walk. Go to the bank...walk over to the library..still 10 minutes early. I've decided I want to read Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series in chronilogical order so I checked online before I left and yes Webster library has all nine books. Only when I get there the first book has been checked out. Got the next 3 and knew it would be a day or two before I could start reading them anyway so figured I had plenty of time to locate the first book. Leave the library my cell phone rings...its Ken. Jen is leaving for Tennessee Saturday for 4 or 5 weeks but has a dentist appointment on the 30th. The dentist has an opening at 3:20 would it be possible for me to take Jen? Light bulb moment...ok but it'll cost you...what? Stop at Fairport library on your way home and pick up Tom Clancy's Patriot Games...yes!!!!!! Come home its about 10:40..throw the grass catcher on the mower and mow the lawn..depositing the grass clippings along the back of the garage...another place I want to put a grow bed but right now only grows weeds. Stop at noon to eat lunch. Nicole calls and we talk for 15 or 20 minutes. Back out to finsih the lawn at 12:30. I ran out of garage just as I finished mowing the lawn..thank you Lord. Now its 1:45, still an hour till Jen gets out of school. Take the clothes off the line, fold and insert in laundry baskets. In process of I get stung by something. Still not sure what it was but I definitely got stung. Little red mark that swelled slightly to a little smaller then a dime. Take the clothes in and leave at 2:30 to get Jen and take her to the dentist. Walk in the dentist office and the receptionist says, Hi Diane...your daughter decided to take the appointment huh? Kind of strange remark until 10 minutes later when Ken calls and says he forgot to call the dentist office back and tell them she'd take the appointment.. How good is the Lord that HE held that appointment for us?? Very very good. Came home and got potatoes ready to throw in the oven and steaks out to thaw. After supper we did dishes and started to play WII. Then my MOmmy called and needed me to do some stuff on the internet for her..just as I finished that Nicole came over to pick up her cake for their anniversary that she'd ordered and I picked up for her Sunday. In the middle of the night we had some pretty good thunder and lightening storms..Now the sun is out and its warm...I could handle stormy nights and sunny days.

Monday Monday

Thursday I mowed the lawn again with the grass catcher on and put the clippings next to the house to keep the weeds down until I can get my grow beds built. Then I went and sat with the grandkids for a couple of hours while Samantha went to a jewelry party. Friday I baby sat for my hair dressers 2 year old at my house. Ken was off so the 3 of us went grocery shopping. He and she had a blast chasing me around the stores with the cart. Saturday we had absolutely NOTHING to do..I laid on the couch most of the day reading..I finished one book and read another entire one. True they aren't huge books but still. We walked down to Hobby Lobby so Ken could get some stuff for the rockets he's been working on. We've just gotten back into that after not doing it for several years. For lunch I grilled burgers on the grill, made a mac salad and ate a few left overs. Right after lunch I made 2 pizza crusts and par baked them so we could have homemade pizza for supper..Did I mention my $40 buyers remorse over the boughten pizzas last week end. OH OH..no mozzerella or pepperoni so later we walked down to Wegmans got what we needed and walked home. The first pizza was just a plain cheese pepperoni mushroom onion pizza..The second I got more creative. 2/3 tomato sauce, 1/3 taco sauce, just a little mozzerella mixed with a larger amount of Mexican cheese, taco meat, mushrooms, onions...oh man...that thing was awesome!!!!! I ate way to much. But its definitely something we'll make again. After the pizzas were all made it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't put any seasonings on the first one. Didn't seem to make a difference...we demolished them both. I didn't know if I'd be able to do the laundry today because it was supposed to rain but now they say it isn't supposed to rain till tonight so the laundry is on the line in the sunshine, flapping in the wind...I need to walk to the bank and then to the library in alittle while and then come home and mow the lawn. off I go