Forgotten Flu Shot

I am so mad. I didn't get my flu shot and now I seem to be coming down with a cold. I was planning to get it tomorrow, but I have read that you should not get one while you have a cold.

It's just a scratchy throat and hoarse sounding so it may be okay by tomorrow. Miracles still happen.

In the meantime, back to my art lessons. God knows I need some.

Sorry this is all I know for now.

Updated Pictures

Look how much I've grown!! I am 7 Months old.

My Grandma can't resist showing me off

I am excited to be getting a new cousin from China.

Goodnight everybody !!

Adoption

I have a new Great Granddaughter on the way. From China that is. Not sure of the delivery date, but should be in the next month or so. The adoption took a sudden turn. From Africa to China. Maybe it wasn't that sudden, but it turned. This little girl is ready made and made in China.

Black hair and big brown eyes. We cannot wait to spoil her rotten. She already has a girl cousin to play with. The cousin was in the family first, but China doll is about 5 months older. She also has little cousins on Jim's side of the family. Her Grandma runs a day care and will probably be taking care of her during the day.

The parents need to choose a name for her. She is still Little Miss Whats Her Name. Monday, the 27th is her first birthday. Adoption not totally finalized, so pictures cannot be shown. A rule is a rule.

Needless to say, Cora and Jim are very happy.

The Boogie Man

Now it has happened twice. I am getting fed up with whatever it is. I have been awaken out of a sound sleep in the wee hours of the morning by a strange noisy. The sound wakes me and with my eyes still closed I can still hear what sounds like somebody paddy footing around in my bedroom. It positively scares the pee wadden out of me.

I am so scared I’m afraid to move. The logical side of my brain starts talking to me. It says, " There is no way anybody can get in this house with all the doors, not only locked, but those prop things under each doorknob. And then the chicken side of my brain says, "Maybe they’ve been hiding under the bed or in a closet or behind the shower curtain.
My bladder finally got in on the conversation and asked, "Are you going to go empty me or wait until it’s too late?"

My logical side of the brain tried to rationalize the situation. There is a concrete ledge that runs along the side of house. It’s about 8 or 9 inches wide and is just below the windows. This is below my bedroom window and I am thinking a cat may get on it and try to get the screen open or something. The noisy is on that side of the room. I have very good locks and screens on the windows. I have seen cats on the ledge before so for the time being I am going to believe the mystery guest was somebody’s cat.

The Telephone Tango

If there is anything in this world that needs a fix, it’s the automated phone service. The best fix would be to go back to the dial up telephone. The only place you can call and get a real person is when you call your mother or one of the relatives. If it’s a business, you get a phone with it’s own voice. The voice thinks it knows what you want and it starts telling you what to say. "If this is about your bill", say yes. Then it proceeds to go through a 10-step process. None of the questions comes close to what you want, so you are finally put on hold so you can wait for customer service to get on the phone and help you.

I always picture a room full of people sitting around with their feet propped up on their desk talking to each other and when the phones ring they press a button so they don’t have to listen to it ring. How do I know all this? It happened to me the other day.
I was already worked up into a deranged fever pitch by the time I finally was allowed to speak to one of their Service representatives. So it didn’t go very well.

My Internet provider had called and promised that they would lower my bill by at least 10 dollars per month. I would get some additional movie channels and I asked the girl if all the charges were included, such as taxes and fees and she said they were. She lied to me.

When the bill arrived, it was 20 dollars more than I have been paying. When I called about it, I don’t know what continent this representative was on, but I couldn’t make out the lingo she spoke so I asked for a supervisor. I got the HOLD　button.
I finally had to hang up and start over.

I finally was allowed to talk to a live person. I was informed that the price that was quoted to me was before taxes and fees and Washington State charges more than most states. I couldn’t get anywhere with her. She just kept saying she was sorry for the misunderstanding, but there was nothing she could do about it. I hung up again and started over.

This time I got a person that was very understanding and I only had to explain what had happened. He said I have 30 days to cancel the contract. I told him that was what I wanted to do. He had to transfer me to another person to take care of it.

I asked if he was going to put me on hold for another 30 minutes and he promised it would be just a couple minutes. It really was only a couple minutes and they told me it had been switched back just as it was before. I sure hope so, because I don’t have anything in writing.

Outside of that everything is peachy keen. I had a visit with an old friend the other day and we caught up on everything.

There oughta be a law.

Dad-gummit, what happened to Dr. Phil? Why are they showing a tennis game instead of DR Phil.
Who cares about the stupid tennis game? They did the same thing the other day. This should be against the law.

Some Days are like that

You know it’s going to be a bad day when you get up and turn on your coffee pot and nothing happens. It spewed around and made the usual sounds so I wandered off and went back later to pour a cup and there was no water in the pot. The Coffee pot is not magic, it cannot make coffee unless there is water in the tank. I took the blame for that blunder. Then I go in to take a shower and find out the hot water heater has not been doing it’s job. After a short investigation I discovered the pilot light was not on. This happened about a month ago. Usually the pilot light only stops working every five years or so. Why did this happen again? Why didn’t I have the good sense to buy an electric water heater when I bought that thing? I tried to light it. You have to lie on the floor on your belly and take the cover off and then there is a second cover and I couldn’t get it off. I had looked up on Google how to turn on a pilot light and found excellent instructions on a video. I had my barbecue lighter and a flashlight and didn’t know if I would blow the house to kingdom come, but took a chance because I wanted some hot water. I had to give up. Now how do I get back up on my feet. The first thing that happened was a Charlie horse hit my leg. That didn’t feel good. I was able to reach a small stool nearby and with the aid of the stool I was finally able to get up off the floor. When you get my age everything has stopped working normally.
I have two sons. I called both and neither one was home. Where are they? They don’t go to church, so where are they? I knew Mel would be on a fishing trip, so I crossed him off the list. I finally reached Kenny. He had been up late and was sleeping late. He had not heard the phone. To shorten this tale of woe, Kenny came over and took the cover off the heater with one finger and had the thing lit in about 5 minutes.
I also learned from Google that the most common cause for pilot lights going out is a draft blows it out or it needs a new Thermocoupler. It also showed how to replace it.
That was my bad day.

Don't Hold Your Breath

My tomato plants are fading fast. I have had all the tomatoes I can use and haven’t had to buy a single one from the store. I will definitely do this again next year. Fall has fallen already. Sometimes we have very hot Septembers, but this year it has been on the cool side here in the Northwest. A very welcome season as far as I am concerned. It’s the time of year when you don’t need the heat or the A/C turned on.
I had problems getting online off and on so I finally called my Internet provider. I was finally able to get past the robot and then Peggy came on the phone. I hope you have seen the commercial. It's the funniest commercial because it is exactly how you feel sometimes. This Peggy was very nice and said I had a weak signal and set up an appointment for a cable person to come on out and improve my signal.
He came and now I have a healthy signal so I can get online without pulling out my hair. Later that day, Peggy called again to see if the cable man did his job to my satisfaction. I said, "Yes, indeed he did". Still later on Peggy called again to let me know that I was such a good customer that they had a very special offer for me. Now that made me feel truly special, but I was very suspicious. I put on my listening ears and listened to the spiel. I swear she said I will get everything I now get plus some movie channels and other channels and the monthly bill will be ten dollars less per month than I am now paying. I kept her on the phone forever because I wanted to make sure she said what I thought she said. I’m still shaking my head over it. I am obligated to stay with them for two years. I would have done that anyway.
Now I am waiting for the electric company to call and tell me I am such a good customer they have decided to lower my bill.

Peggy is a fictitious name to protect the innocent.

What a difference a year can make

Daddy and Daughter
Cora and Mel

What a difference a year can make.
How about 30 plus years.
Mel, Nancy and Leah.

His Name Is Fat

I have a friend named, Fat. He thinks he is my boyfriend because he is always hanging around. Last night I dreamed I lost Fat, but I woke up and Fat is still with me. Fat is attached to me like glue in your shoe and cannot leave me. I feel so loved. Fat loves me so much. There is a major problem. I do not care for Fat. He hangs around me at all time. He makes me physically tired. I wish Fat would just get lost.
I have joined Weight Watchers so many times I think they may have considered nailing my name on the door. It’s a place that has weekly meetings and they always have you step on the scale. Fat always went with me to the meetings, and would step on the scale with me. After the weighing-in of us dreamers, they would hold a meeting. First they would call out everybody’s name and announce which ones had a weight loss so everybody could applaud them. The ones that had no weight loss would always turn a bright green-with-envy color. I had a permanent green neon glow about me. I always envied all the ones that had success.

My sister-in-law, Marge, actually wore a paper dress to one of the meetings so she would weigh less. That is a true story, Wayne and Rita. (In case you read this) They couldn’t even conduct a proper meeting that time because they couldn’t get past the paper dress issue. It just wasn’t fair to the rest of us. It really was hilarious. Fat has been through a lot of ups and downs, but always hanging on for dear life.

One time we went to a hypnosis meeting. I guess that is what it was called. I think Fat really enjoyed that one. He just snuggled up to me as we went through the relaxing and breathing in and out. Is there any other way to breathe? That was an absolute waste of time and expectations. Not a single thing was gained by attending that farce and nothing lost by it either.
Back in the years before drugs became so fashionable, the doctors would give you diet pills that actually worked. Not only did they cut off the appetite they sped you up like a rocket headed for the moon. You could clean the house from top to bottom, mow the lawn, trim the trees in the backyard, and haul the branches to the dump without the aid of a truck of course. You had an unlimited amount of refills on the prescription. Life was fun back then until the doctor noticed that Fat was no longer hanging around, he decided the pills were no longer needed.

I gave up on all those gimmicks. I once asked the doctor if he thought I had an under active thyroid. He didn’t think so, but said I might have an over active fork. The doctors today have no sympathy for you. Their advice is to start eating the right kind of food and get your butt off of the recliner and walk around the block a couple times. I just can’t get Fat to cooperate with me so it isn’t my fault that I can’t lose him. Fat is in the cartoon looking on.