Blood Time Again

I had the dreaded blood draw done this morning and miracles of miracles, I was not poked in the back of the hand. When the nurse came to the waiting room to ask for the next one, she said, "Russell Lemaster". Russell jumped up and I jumped up too. My name is not Russell, but I knew the last name was right. Russell had to sit back down. I don’t know what Russell’s last name is. Isn’t that weird? Why did she happen to say Russell with my last name.
Maybe she knew Russell and when she saw him sitting there she forgot to put her brain in gear before speaking. I know it’s hard to believe, but I’ve done that. This nurse is a miracle worker. She found a vein in my arm on the first try and pulled out 4 vials of blood.
I told her how appreciative I was and how they always have to take it out of the back of my hand. I said, " I think it’s because I drank enough water to float a battleship because somebody told me it will help you find a vein if I’m not dehydrated". She said, "You should drink a lot of water all the time, and not just when you are going to have your blood drawn, It’s good for you and makes your organs work better". I said, "Yes, mother, I know, I know". Only I didn’t say that part out loud.

Special Days Just Ahead

In case anybody is trying to determine why I have a Burundi clock on my side bar. I happen to have a Great Grandson coming from there very soon. Hopefully it will be very soon. I am having a hard time waiting these last few weeks. I have the Burundi clock so I can see what he might be doing at his time of day. He is a baby, so that kind of narrows it down a little. It’s kind of like he is either asleep or awake. Oh well, humor the old Grandma a little. Go to Cora’s blog and check out her projects or Jim’s. They are the proud parents of the upcoming event.

Spring has Sprung

Flowers are blooming and birds are singing. Must be a good omen. I see more and more people walking by on their way to the school track to do their walking or jogging. I used to go down there and walk, until the security guard ran me off. He said the principal felt that I was a security risk and she did not want me on the track so I haven’t been back. Well, I was only in my seventies then so I probably was a little more dangerous. That is an honest to God true story. The school is Wilson Middle School located in Yakima, WA. Granted it was during school hours, but the kids were in class. The security guard suggested I might be able to walk at Franklin track. I guess they have a different set of rules or a different principal. Now when I want to walk, I drive over to Randall Park and do my walking.

The Golden Years

The hospital didn’t kill me while I was a patient there so they tried to do it by sending me a statement for $644.22 to be paid immediately. I almost died on the spot when I read the news. Why am I paying $300.00 a month for medical insurance?
It turns out the hospital made a mistake by sending a statement for such a ridiculous amount. It should have been for $67.95. It was for some drugs that weren’t covered. They were drugs I took while in the hospital, but I was in the in and out facility so they were not covered, even though I ended up being admitted to the hospital.
There is a method behind their madness. They shock me with the $644.00 statement so I won’t squeal so loud when I find out it is really only $67.95. All I do is go to doctors. I have a doctor for each body part. I have been to the eye doctor, the knee doctor and the bone doctor in just the past couple weeks. Starting the first of June I will go to the sleep doctor and the knee doctor again. Next week I go to the all-over doctor. I think they call him "the regular doctor". I’m always being asked, "Who is your regular doctor"? How the heck should I know? Do they mean that I go to him more regular than the other ones? Now I am going back again for one of those blood draws. I guess those people are called the blood people. I’m not dancing any jigs yet, but the knee is finally on the road to recovery.
I have definitely graduated to toddler. This is all I have to blog about.

A Question

It’s almost summer time. That means the air conditioner will run non-stop until October. I heard an advertisement. They were selling some kind of unit that will only cool off the rooms you are using. They said central air will cool off all those rooms you never use and their unit will save big bucks. It sure sounds exciting, but why wouldn’t closing the vents in those spare rooms and closing the doors do the same thing? That’s probably a dumb concept. If anybody knows the answer to my question, feel free to comment. Now remember there are no dumb questions.
Well, I need to run now. I’m off to Fiesta Foods for a carton of the Diet Pepsi for $3.99. Yahoo !!!

Knee Update

Here I go again. My knee is a work in progress. This is an update. I have now graduated from the walker. I am now a toddler. No better way to describe it. I felt so agile this morning I decided to go to Fred Meyers. I toddled into the store and grabbed the first shopping cart to serve as a walker. I decided I had not fully graduated to toddler yet. By the time I left the store the walker was sounding better and better. And wouldn’t you know I forgot to give the clerk my coupons, which would have saved me $2.10. So I pondered if I wanted to walk the 15 miles back to the customer service window and get the refund. Would it be worth it? Greediness finally took over and I went for the discount. At last I got down there and by now I am having major hot flashes from the pain of it all. Felt like I was going to pass out and there was a line with three people in it. Why doesn’t she call for help, doesn’t she know three is a crowd? I was standing on one leg, like one of those pink flamingos in somebody’s front yard. I was trying really hard not to whine and whimper out loud, and I didn’t make a sound. I was gritting my teeth and I think people thought I was smiling at them because they kept smiling at me. I lived through it and made my way home. Home never felt so good.

Picture of the Week

This is my Nephew, Shawn and his Grandson, Caleb in Oklahoma.They live in the country and have a chicken, anyway Caleb has one.

The Painful Deception

I think this is the way they fixed my knee. I believe they may have banged on it a few times with a hammer so I would have some pain and think they fixed it. Ya think?

Kittenville

Kitty Heaven

I don't know the story behind these babies, but I do know they are Oklahoma Kittens. My brother, Gene took the picture. If I find out more I will let you know.

Little House On the Prairie

I have read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and now I just read "A Little House Sampler" by Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. It’s a collection of early stories and reminiscences. It is very interesting. It’s in the bookstores now in case you’re looking for good reading material. I just bought a book on ebay called "I remember Laura". It’s and older book and full of pictures and even some of the recipe’s of that day. Everything seemed to made with flour, sugar, cream, lard, and eggs. That was about all they had. I sure am glad we have evolved out of those long dresses with all the ruffles and how about those corsets they had to cinch themselves into. Even bustles. Hey, I have my own built-in bustle. The sunbonnet would be okay. I could hide my, bad hair days, under it. Why would you need to sweep a dirt floor? I guess it would smooth the dirt out. When it came time for the spring cleaning, they even had to take the mattress outside and pull out the straw and put in new straw. Are we spoiled or what? These books make you very very thankful for what you have.

Gloom and Doom

I guess I better update my blog. Not much is going on. I had the cortisone shot for the inflammation in my knee. The pain has been screaming at me night and day. The shot was supposed to take effect in about 48 to 72 hours. Today has been a full week and I do believe it is beginning to take effect. I had an appointment this morning with the eye doctor. I sat in the waiting room for one full hour along with about a dozen other people. It’ll teach you to be patient if nothing else. I had two errands to run after that and was able to do it without too much pain. I could have not done it yesterday.
Gloom, despair, and agony on me Deep, dark depression, excessive misery If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. Do you remember Hee Haw?

Happy Birthday Dennis Engel

Happy Birthday DennisOne of these clowns is my son-in-law and today is his birthday.

I just want to brag a little about his accomplishment of his part in the building in the New Tacoma Narrows Bridge. He spent so many trips and evening hours on the bridge project, his wife began calling the bridge "the other woman". Here he is finally introducing her to "to the other woman".

This was "Show Off" day for the bridge and a few thousand people walking over it .

Hurry up and Wait

Pet Peeves is my title so I think its time to post one. I was reminded of it when I read Jim’s blog Plane Truth and he told about getting dates mixed up for a job. This is something that happened to me a few months ago. I had a doctor appointment (is there any other kind?). I got ready much too early as I usually do, so I decided I could do something else while I waited for time to leave for the appointment. I became so engrossed in what I was doing that I forgot to watch the clock.

When I finally remembered to look at the clock I knew I was going to be a little late so I took off like a speeding bullet for the doctor’s office, but it wasn’t fast enough because I was about 20 minutes late. The office girl did not take kindly to my tardiness, she said, "You stupid old lady, you are too late and we can not hold your slot open because we have other patients who arrive on time".

Well, maybe she didn’t say it exactly like that, but that is the way I remember it. Not only that, but she said, " you are a "no show" and if it happens three times you will need to find another doctor". I got that part right, that is exactly what she said and also followed it up with a letter to make it legal or something. My pet peeve is this, how many thousand times have I sat in that waiting room for 20 minutes or more waiting and I remember one time I waited in the little exam room for nearly an hour. I should have called them a "no show" and sent them a letter telling them they would just have to find a new patient if it happens three times.

Hanging In There

I’m still hanging in there and had a nice quiet weekend. Weather has been perfect. Not too cold and not too hot. It can’t get more perfect than that. Cora and Jim (Granddaughter and her hubby) came to visit and brought me an awesome surprise. It was Jim’s Potato Salad, which I love. He is getting good at it and should enter a cooking contest. I think he would rate right up there with Rachael Ray and Paula Dean. I have been reading my “Little House on the Prairie” books. That was Saturday. Sunday was more of the same.
Now it’s Monday and it’s raining. I will go back to the doctor tomorrow and see if there is something they can do to alleviate some of the pain in my knee. It is not getting any better.
This is it for today.

The Driving Lesson

Still nothing exciting to tell you about. I can drive now according to the doctor. I couldn’t drive before, but he said I can drive now. Just kidding !!!! I’ve been driving since 1950. At that time my husband tried to teach me how to drive and the very first thing I did was turn a corner on the gravel road and kicked up a little gravel. That is my version of the incident, but my husband who always exaggerated everything said I almost took out a row of mailboxes. It’s been so long ago I cannot even remember whose version was correct. Believe me! it came up a few times over the years. He gave up on me then and there. He informed me that he was no longer giving lessons on car driving. So I had to wait until the Government decided they needed him to serve in the Air Force again. He had been in the reserves after the WW2 and was called back in during the Korean War. I thought to myself, "With him out of the picture I will learn how to drive that car now if it kills me." So I did and it didn’t kill me. My sister-in-law and I went to the Licenses division and picked up a driver’s permit. The car had a manual shift and I knew nothing about it. Marge took me for a ride and showed me how to let out the clutch and how to shift the gears. She let me drive and we went bumping down the road and she laughed so hard I finally had to take her home. She was making me a little jittery with all that cackling. It wasn’t funny at all. I continued to bounce and bump my way through the intersections until one day I finally got it right. Okay, I’m a slow learner. I continued driving until I felt confident enough to go for the licenses. Back in those days the test were much easier than they are today. I passed the test and passed the driving part of it and left with a license. I have always kept my licenses up to date so I won’t have to take another test. I only had one accident in my whole life and it wasn’t my fault. I was in the Bi-Mart parking lot trying to leave the place when this maniac came barreling out from a row of hedges and slammed into me. Why would anybody put hedges in a parking lot. I noticed they have removed the beautiful hedges.