Check this website out. www.onesecondafter.com
Pretty scary and yet another example of the incompetence of Washington.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Woody Woodpecker!
This morning as I rushed outside to warm up the car for my mother in law to get our croisandwich and take her to the beauty shop, I heard a pounding noise. I looked up quickly and waited for the sound to come back. Sure enough it did and it came from the huge dead limb in one of the trees probably original to the farm. This was a pretty large bird and it was a woodpecker. A first for our neighborhood. It is so nice to see all the wildlife that has come back over the last several years.So even in the most unsettling times blessings do abound.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Bladder Cancer reprieve
I am sitting in the waiting room at the hospital waiting for my mother in law to come out of recovery. It looks as though the chemo and radiation worked for her. The doctor took biopsies but said that everything looked pretty good. So, if she ends up being cancer free that is one more thing I can cross off my worry list for now. That is good since Grandpa is now stealing the show with his antics. But as I explain to Adele almost daily: For advanced dementia/Alzheimer's , we are actually doing pretty darn good. Our stories are mostly cute and we have had very few truly scary things happen.
Now on to the next problem in my long list of worries...............
Now on to the next problem in my long list of worries...............
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Saturday Night Spaghetti Night in Burkina Faso
Our spaghetti meal. The catsup was for a potato/yam thing they fry like french fries. They don't use it much, but bought it for me.I went to Africa for 10 days. If you include the flight time I was gone about 14 days.
The people were just lovely. I had very few complaints about anything while I was there except the heat, BUT there is a weird custom/tradition there. Servitude and pecking order are very big there and children are quite low on the pecking order. So, the adults sit around and the kids are usually separated and back in the kitchen area. Well, considering that I spent $3000 on a ticket and flew for 2 days to see our girls I grew a little impatient with being wined and dined while the people I was there to see were constantly whisked off to be by themselves in back.
So to combat that I finally made Saturday kids day. NOTHING ELSE. They shrugged and thought it was weird but humored me. So we walked to the cybercafe
and had a lot of fun and then went to the large grocer. Then home we went to make spaghetti. It was a bit chaotic getting everyone in the same groove since they cook so differently, but the end result was delicious and everyone, even the doubters loved it!
I also made us set 1 table and everyone sat together. We prayed first, then ate together and it was a very special memory for everyone.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Snow, Snow go away! Come Again Another Day!
I am watching out the window looking at this white frozen glop. It is 9:25am. Look at the darkness. It is April 5, way too late for this garbage. It is giving me the blues too. I need a vacation.
I have too much sewing in front of me and I have to take Grandma in for her scan today. She's not looking forward to it, but not dealing with reality either. I am just so frustrated some days. I am frustrated at being pulled so many directions. I have to balance being the adult in charge (not getting pulled into childish, dementia driven whims) with being sensitive to the limited time the 2 grandparents have left with one another, with medical realities and some days it just gets to be too much.
Add this depressing white stuff and I think I am in need of at least a day trip.
On the up side......I think Laptop #1 is ready for pick up.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Old Wheezy Geezer, I Love you!!!
I never thought I would write on this subject!
Old Weezy Geezer is a HP Pavilion windows xp from Walmart that we bought for the girls when they became very teenagery to keep the chaos off of the big computer. You know the IMing, music downloads and all the rest when it first came out. Back then we were all still on dial up. So the thing is at least 7 or 8 years old. Jeni tells me we bought it in 2001. That sounds about right.
It was slow as molasses from the day we brought it home. However, it has never crashed even once. So it must have concrete for innards. It has taken all kinds of abuse from the girls neglect and filling up the memory to the brink to little dance brothers pounding on it to play Fisher Price Pirates or Scooby Doo.
I took it over after out first laptop crashed for the umpteenth time and we chucked it. The 98 had to retire from the internet about 2004 since even with dial up the web sights were just too big for it's fragile system to handle without a major meltdown.
So first I cleaned it up A LOT. Then I guarded it with my life to keep the vultures from leaving their vermin and garbage behind. All was well for several years. Then the week the grandparents moved in, both the 98 and Old Weezy Geezer just fell apart on me.
What was a middle aged mother under lots of stress to do? Stick them under the desk and wait for calmer days. That's what.
So I packed up Laptop #1 (the one being repaired from it's bath) and moved out to the kitchen counter where I could watch Grandpa to keep him from burning the house down AND keep my papers out of his radar. (That is a very entertaining story for another day.)
Laptop #1 is great. Don't get me wrong. But it doesn't have and couldn't read a few of the ancient programs I use as much as dish soap. I was still struggling to make the laptop really fit when the dreaded water incident happened.
Now the 2 computers under the desk HAD to come out of retirement. So after my computer repairman saved our lives AGAIN, now we owe him our first born something. There are always coons, possums and skunks. If he'd like something a little cuter, there will be chicks in a few weeks. Maybe he'll settle for brownies or something instead.
(I am digressing) Sorry.
Anyway, he told me to take apart Old Weezy Geezer and vacuum the crap out of it. So Marvin, the grandpa of the little ballerina who so politely spilled her water on laptop # 1, and I did an autopsy on the ol girl. Egads!
Several vacuum, run fan episodes later and viola! She was firing up just like the old days. Still a little noisy, but up and running.
I have been using this computer since then and it is now quieter than it has been in years! And I am so happy to have all my comfortable programs working correctly and right where they belong.
Sigh......... I could just kiss and hug the thing!
Sometimes it is the littlest things that makes us the happiest.
Old Weezy Geezer is a HP Pavilion windows xp from Walmart that we bought for the girls when they became very teenagery to keep the chaos off of the big computer. You know the IMing, music downloads and all the rest when it first came out. Back then we were all still on dial up. So the thing is at least 7 or 8 years old. Jeni tells me we bought it in 2001. That sounds about right.
It was slow as molasses from the day we brought it home. However, it has never crashed even once. So it must have concrete for innards. It has taken all kinds of abuse from the girls neglect and filling up the memory to the brink to little dance brothers pounding on it to play Fisher Price Pirates or Scooby Doo.
I took it over after out first laptop crashed for the umpteenth time and we chucked it. The 98 had to retire from the internet about 2004 since even with dial up the web sights were just too big for it's fragile system to handle without a major meltdown.
So first I cleaned it up A LOT. Then I guarded it with my life to keep the vultures from leaving their vermin and garbage behind. All was well for several years. Then the week the grandparents moved in, both the 98 and Old Weezy Geezer just fell apart on me.
What was a middle aged mother under lots of stress to do? Stick them under the desk and wait for calmer days. That's what.
So I packed up Laptop #1 (the one being repaired from it's bath) and moved out to the kitchen counter where I could watch Grandpa to keep him from burning the house down AND keep my papers out of his radar. (That is a very entertaining story for another day.)
Laptop #1 is great. Don't get me wrong. But it doesn't have and couldn't read a few of the ancient programs I use as much as dish soap. I was still struggling to make the laptop really fit when the dreaded water incident happened.
Now the 2 computers under the desk HAD to come out of retirement. So after my computer repairman saved our lives AGAIN, now we owe him our first born something. There are always coons, possums and skunks. If he'd like something a little cuter, there will be chicks in a few weeks. Maybe he'll settle for brownies or something instead.
(I am digressing) Sorry.
Anyway, he told me to take apart Old Weezy Geezer and vacuum the crap out of it. So Marvin, the grandpa of the little ballerina who so politely spilled her water on laptop # 1, and I did an autopsy on the ol girl. Egads!
Several vacuum, run fan episodes later and viola! She was firing up just like the old days. Still a little noisy, but up and running.
I have been using this computer since then and it is now quieter than it has been in years! And I am so happy to have all my comfortable programs working correctly and right where they belong.
Sigh......... I could just kiss and hug the thing!
Sometimes it is the littlest things that makes us the happiest.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
A Perfect Day!
An old Cadillac school chum asked me to write on my perfect day so.........here it is:
First of all I would get a full night of uninterrupted sleep. That is important around here since Matt comes in from work at 3:30am when he is on overtime. Lately grandpa has been keeping us entertained in the wee hours and those darn daughters of ours don't think 10:00pm is the appropriate time to come in from being out. So after a refreshing full night's sleep I would not have to make breakfast for the grandparents. In fact someone would serve me a Burger King Sausage, egg and cheese croisandwich. (Yum, yum)
Then my husband would not be working that day and we might plan a nice family activity or family dinner.
The weather would be 60-70* Fahrenheit (That's for our folks scattered throughout the world who use Celsius) Those temps are perfect for riding or any other outside activity. No farm crisis like horses getting loose or possums in the chicken coop.
At least Rakieta would be here either for a visit or she would finally get her wish to come back to America to live with us.
The rest doesn't really matter as long as it was full of laughter and love.
First of all I would get a full night of uninterrupted sleep. That is important around here since Matt comes in from work at 3:30am when he is on overtime. Lately grandpa has been keeping us entertained in the wee hours and those darn daughters of ours don't think 10:00pm is the appropriate time to come in from being out. So after a refreshing full night's sleep I would not have to make breakfast for the grandparents. In fact someone would serve me a Burger King Sausage, egg and cheese croisandwich. (Yum, yum)
Then my husband would not be working that day and we might plan a nice family activity or family dinner.
The weather would be 60-70* Fahrenheit (That's for our folks scattered throughout the world who use Celsius) Those temps are perfect for riding or any other outside activity. No farm crisis like horses getting loose or possums in the chicken coop.
At least Rakieta would be here either for a visit or she would finally get her wish to come back to America to live with us.
The rest doesn't really matter as long as it was full of laughter and love.
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