The continuing saga...

continues... Oy Vey!

O.K., so PB had a 2nd MRI on the 14th...of her neck & spine this time, ordered by the new orthopod. She had a follow-up appt. with him today. He has now referred her to a Neurosurgeon, since the MRI shows a pretty seriously herniated cervical disk...between C6/C7. So now we wait for a call telling us where/when she sees THIS doc.

She's very frustrated, tired of hurting, and anxious about how the people in charge at work feel about her being out for so long. We've made sure they have gotten a copy of everything from the doctors, plus whatever they need for the Workman's Comp. claim...even so, she's worried that they're 'pissed off' at her. I seriously doubt it, but the two guys who are her immediate bosses are not known for their 'caring' personalities. Not Gordon Ramsey, but not Paula Deen either, LOL! So now we wait some more...GAH! Other than that, there really isn't much of anything going on...we're all in sort of a holding pattern...

We've had, in the last 5-7 days: Rain, snow, rain, pea-sized hail, rain, snow and rain...plus it's freakin' COLD! And tomorrow is the first day of Spring, right?! I repeat...Oy Vey! Daffodils are up, trees are blooming, birdies are chirpin' up a storm and staking out nest spots...and it's f*cking SNOWING! This has been one of the weirdest winters in a LONG time... Jen's Fibro is flaring like crazy, my kneecaps feel like someone hammered a two-penny nail into each one...PB's shoulder/arm/back is in nearly constant pain... Yeah, we're a fun bunch to be around...NOT!

Here's wishing for warmer and drier days, better news on the medical front, and general hope for a better, brighter tomorrow...not necessarily in that order...

Soooooooooo much nicer...

...Orthopod! Actually treated PB like a hurting human being instead of an annoyance. What a novel idea! And it turns out that the "SLAP tear" diagnosis is probably wrong, and her Physical Therapy may have been doing more harm than good for the past several weeks. OY! He thinks she has an "encapsulated shoulder", which is the precursor to "frozen shoulder". It can be precipitated by a traumatic injury (like her fall) and needs an entirely different treatment regimen than what she's been on. He gave her another cortisone injection...this time directly into the shoulder joint and changed her work release to "left hand work ONLY". This should be interesting...PB is SO right handed... Work said they would make every effort to find something for her to do...we'll see what they come up with before Monday.

Jen is fighting yet another bout of Shingles...she's miserable! The (supposed) immunization she got not only gave her cellulitis in the injected arm, it didn't WORK! And my poor baby girl has entered into that weird and wonderful phase of her life called Peri-Menopause...on top of all her other issues. All I can do is sympathize...mine started in my early 40s, and lasted till I was about 51. There's no quick or easy way to get through it...you just have to keep going till it's over...

As for me...Meh...I'm just plodding along day to day and trying not to get into trouble... Haven't been very 'creative', not much enthusiasm for crafting or much of anything for that matter. Maybe the dark Winter weather is to blame, or maybe I'm just lazy...or both... I find all these cool things on Pinterest and go "Oh, wow...", and then pin it and move on, LOL.

PB goes back to this new Doc in 4 weeks (unless it gets worse, he said to call if it did!) and we'll see what happens then. She has at least been able to sleep a little better since the injection, instead of getting up and wandering around off and on all night!  And being in constant pain makes you so depressed and crabby...not to mention frustrated. So we hope for the best, and just keep on keepin' on.

Have a good weekend, wherever you are...

Me too, Kitteh, me too...

Dong Quai for me...

...Argentina... See, it's pronounced "Don Kwy"...never mind, it really wasn't that amusing in the first place...and my name's not Evita... But I have been taking Dong Quai for about a month in hopes that it would help my plaque psoriasis...so far, not really. But I'm gonna hang in there for a while longer, because it can take a while for a change to be really apparent. I do know that some of the inflammation on my leg has subsided. We'll see what happens in the next month or so...

Argggghhh...there's still over a month and a half until Spring. I truly believe I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)...now that I don't actually HAVE to get up and go out into the big wide, scary world to work every day it's gotten harder and harder to force myself to leave the house in the Winter. Even a trip to the grocery store is put off until we're completely OUT of something (milk, bread, TP...) and then it's a chore. Oh well...I know Spring WILL be here eventually...but I'm truly tired of cold, dark & dreary rainy days that inspire nothing much more than a NAP!

And poor PB! Her fall at work last November has turned out to be a lot more serious than we expected. She saw an Orthopedist, who diagnosed a SLAP tear in her shoulder. So a cortisone injection was given, a note for a week off work, and she was sent to Physical Therapy. Work moved her from the kitchen to out front working one of the cash registers when she went back, but even that seems to be still too much for it. Her PT tech recommended a second opinion because he doesn't think it's healing. So she has a call in now to try and get an appt. with someone else...she can't sleep most nights due to pain, and has had to leave work early several times because she just couldn't complete the day...too much pain. I feel so bad for her, but there's really nothing I can do...other than rub her with Biofreeze every night and not let her pick up/carry anything over a couple of pounds. Even driving hurts.

We've actually had a pretty mild Winter here...only one night/day of snow which didn't stay long. Mostly it's been rain and high winds...lots of flooding in the usual places and a few 'unusual' ones as well. The coast had some gusts over 100 mph a couple of weeks ago, but the valley only got 50 to 60 mph gusts. We were lucky, we haven't even lost power once (so far). All our utilities are underground, but if a sub-station or a feeder goes...yeah well...so far so good! Most of the wild weather went north of us this year, and Seattle got it... But we're not "out of the woods" yet...there's still Winter left, and I've seen 8" of snow here in the first week of March...seriously hope it doesn't happen though.

I did buy the special extended DVD editions of The Lord of The Rings (9.95 each!) a couple of weeks ago and they are freakin' AWESOME. SO much more of the story plus the very interesting 'extras' included. LOL, I was up till 2:30AM the first night and 3:30AM the second... Gotta love the little store called Stuff just up the street from home.

So...we're all still alive...just Sleepy, Dopey and Grumpy (not necessarily in that order...and No, I don't know where the rest of the dwarves are...). Monster is monster-ous, Turdle is a turd...nothing new there. Turdle yells at us every time she goes outside and the weather's crappy...I guess we're supposed to be in charge of it, or something.

Here's to Spring...I hope it's an 'early' one this year! 

Happy Freakin' Holidays...

...and all that crap. I'm still trying to figure out how it got to be December of 2011...wasn't it just Pi Day (3/14)...gigglesnort...?
So here we all are, hip deep in seasonal advertising...and someone 'threw up' Xmas in the neighbors yard. I swear to you, there is SO much blow-up/animated crap that you can't even really tell what it all IS!

WTF?!

 

 

Yeah, just reinforces everything I hate about the Holidays...at least she's not running the 'musical' one 12 hrs. a day (so far) this year. That just about makes me homicidal...tinny carols that repeat over and over and over and over...you get the idea.

Other than that...I have a sinus infection that won't die, Jen is sick with a cold...and PB fell at work last month and burned her arm pretty bad (don't try to stop your fall on the steam kettle!) and now is off work for a week for the back injury she got at the same time! It just kinda got 'lost' in the shuffle over the burn...but now 3 Dr. office visits and 1 E.R. visit later we find she may have torn a muscle in her back. She's tried to work with it, but it just got worse...the Doc she saw today said no work for a week, and gave her a shot of Toradal...that seems to have helped the most so far.

I made a pot of White Chicken Chili for dinner...it was REALLY good. Lots of cumin and cilantro, NOMNOMNOM! Shredded Monterey Jack cheese in the bowl first, then the chili, then a nice big glob of sour cream stirred in...good winter dinner.

OK, off to play some Sims 3...have a good Friday and an excellent weekend!

Well, this sucks...

...Big Time! Jen just heard from the Immunologist, and according to him, all of her labs are "within normal range. LOW, but still within 'normal'.  We see this in patients with depression." So he can't do anything for her.
Talk about DEPRESSING!!
Unfortunately, she was pretty much counting on them finding a reason to start IVIG therapy, and this really hit her hard. She's cried herself out for now, and has gone to try to take a nap for a while. I'm sitting here with a horrific headache and trying not to cry myself. It all comes back to that old "Mom's supposed to be able to FIX it" mindset, I guess.
I can't...and it frustrates the HELL out of me!

Cross your fingers...

...and toes, too if you're that flexible! Jen FINALLY got an appointment with an Immunologist and saw him this last Tuesday. He ordered a bunch of labs, and now we wait and see if there's any chance that she might be a candidate for IVIG therapy. We're seriously hoping that she will be!
She's been sick for so long, and she can't really go out anywhere because even a cold will knock her down for literally WEEKS at a time. A trip to the grocery store is a minefield of germs to her, and even her PCP tells her, when she sees him for a regular appt., "Now go HOME before you catch something!"
It takes about 7 to 10 days for the lab results to come back, so it'll be sometime next week before we know anything...and even then it may be a while before she can see him again, he's only at his OHSU clinic 2 days a week...his primary practice is outside the medical school.So now we wait...
In other news, I finally finished the photo frame for Kate that I was working on...it's not as ornate as the one I made for Sam, but there wasn't enough "real estate" on the frame to get too fancy. She said she likes it, though...and she didn't have any photos from the wedding so she was glad to get at least one.

This one's 4X6, Sam's was 5X7

And everyone should know...the Monsterpotamus is just FINE, Thank You Very Much! He's recovered from his butt bite quite nicely, and is back to his usual obnoxious self...

Mid-yawn...in my desk chair

 

 

 

Nice pink scar, fur starting to grow back.

Haven't started on the little birdhouse pendants yet...I've been playing with some 'paint chip' strips that I liberated from various home improvement stores and paint departments, LOL...

Bookmarks!

So, that's what's going on here...not much of anything! The change back to Standard Time has thrown us all off a bit, it's getting dark so EARLY now, LOL. But we'll get used to it eventually...
I've got a huge crockpot full of Split Pea Soup with Ham Hocks going for dinner tonight and will make some Honey Cornbread to go with it later...then probably just 'lump' for the rest of the evening.
Oh! I did sign up for Netflix on the internet, so that's kinda cool...we don't have an HD TV or any kind of player, so we can just watch on the PC or laptop, but that's OK...we're still in our 'free' month so we'll see if it's worth $7.99 a month to keep it.
Alright, that's it for me this time... Have a great weekend...

Oh My...where to begin...

...it's been so long since I posted! My reasoning's sound, I assure you! One should probably NOT write blog posts while under the influence of depression...at least I shouldn't...too much opportunity for whining and other unpleasant behaviors. So I waited it out...mostly...
So here we are, almost at the end of October...pumpkins all over the place, stores full of Xmas crap...I've already decided to boycott Xmas again this year. I DO celebrate Yule, the turn of the year, in my own fashion - but this other insanity has just gone too far for me!
Life pretty much goes on as usual here...the weather's turned colder, the forecast La Nina seems to be shaping up pretty much the same as last years. So...wet, windy, cold, wet, cold, windy...oh, and wet is pretty much what we're expecting...yup.
So...a couple of weeks ago I stepped outside onto the back porch to have a cig, and was startled by a weird chirpy/growly noise... So I yelped, jumped back in the house and hollered for PB and Jen because I wasn't sure what I had seen. Momma raccoon and her 3 kits were on the porch cleaning up the kibble that was left from when we fed the feral kitty earlier that day. They all scurried down off the porch when I came back in and closed the door, but 2 of the kits came back up after we all went out to look...Jen got a couple of pretty blurry pics...

Yes, they spilled the kibble when they dashed off the porch.

My, what interesting fuzzy pink feet!

Uh-Oh! Mom's calling us...better git!

Then Tuesday, we realized Monster wasn't feeling very well. And then a huge abcess on his right flank opened up and drained...YUCK! We took him to the Vet, and it turned out he had 2 bites on his backside...the only thing we can figure out is that he may have gotten between Mama raccoon and the babies when they came around again looking for more kibble. He's OK, but has to have an antibiotic tablet once a day for 2 weeks.

What...?

'Potamus has a Boo-boo!

The Vet says that's how you tell the 'fighters' from the 'runners'...the fighters get wounds on their heads, the runners get wounds on their butts! Thankfully, he's very easy to pill, and doesn't fight having it cleaned. He has a follow-up appt. next Tuesday evening, but it's healing nicely, so I don't think there'll be any problem.

The only other thing going on is that I FINALLY got the "good" wedding photos from Sam and was able to get one printed up for the frame I altered for her. I gave it to her tonight, and she said she loves it!

Wood frame and sheet music found at Goodwill. I decoupaged it and prettified it!

I'm happy with the way it turned out.

I'm making a smaller one (4X6) for her Mom...but it's not done yet.
Then I have another project that I want to get to after that. It's little birdhouse pendants for necklaces...

These are just so cool and awesome! I bought a 'kit' of 6 blanks on etsy...the gal who makes them is just up the road from me in Olympia, WA. I'm excited to get started on them, and will try to post a couple of photos when I get some put together.

So that's it for now...I'll try to be better about posting, but sometimes it's a matter of deciding what NOT to talk about rather than t'other way round, ya know? Have a great week, all!

Summer, salad...

...and STEAK! OMNOMNOMNOM!!
I am truly sorry, but I didn't manage to take any pictures of our dinner tonight before we demolished it. It was beautiful to behold, but we snarfed it up the minute it was ready...so you'll have to settle for the description and use your imagination...
At least once per summer we have a giant bowl of this amazing salad with hot off the grill thin sliced steak on top. I don't know if it has a name, but it has a place in my heart (& stomach) forever!
Start with a good piece of beef steak (we had a London Broil this time, but a nice Flatiron steak works just as well), and grill it to rare/medium rare. Let it rest off the grill for 5 minutes or so. While it's resting, mix up (in a giant bowl) an 18 oz. bag of Spring Mix salad greens and a 6 oz. bag of Baby Spinach (we use Fresh Express, because that's what our grocery carries). Open and drain 2 cans of mandarin orange segments (juice or light syrup packed, it doesn't matter) then sprinkle the segments over the greens, add about a cup  (or more, your choice) of either blue or gorgonzola cheese crumbles and toss it all together gently, then sprinkle the whole business liberally with either candied walnuts or candied pecans (chopped if they're really big pieces) and toss gently one more time. Slice the steak into very thin strips (against the grain) and then find your bottle of either Raspberry Walnut (Ken's Steak House or Newman's Own) or Raspberry Hazelnut (Wish-Bone) Vinaigrette and either dress the whole salad or allow each person to dress their own. As soon as you have as much dressing as you want, lay thin sliced strips of steak over your salad and then dive in headfirst! OMG...soooooooooooo good! I even forgot that I had a bottle of wine chilling to go with dinner, LOL! We just ate it up "as is" and didn't even think about the wine until afterward. That's OK...we'll have the wine another time...like maybe tomorrow, LOL...
Again, sorry no photos...but seriously it all comes together so fast at the finish, and I just plain forgot to take any, even though I had planned to. My recommendation would be to make this for yourself, then you can REALLY see it! It's well worth it, I assure you.
We've finally gotten into some HOT (for here) weather...now that it's September, LOL. Temps in the 90's and pretty high humidity for here too, like up into the 80% range...UCK! Me no likey! They're forecasting 98 here for this coming Saturday, so you can bet that any errands that need to be done will be EARLY in the day so I can come home and hide out in our air-conditioned house! I just can't handle heat/humidity...it truly makes me ill. I guess having had heat-stroke a couple of times in the past has made me significantly less tolerant...I sure feel it now, that's all I know!
So have a great rest of the week, and try the salad...really!

A day on the mountain...

...Mt. Hood, that is. We made our annual pilgrimage to Wildwood in the Mt. Hood National Forest yesterday (Sunday) and a great time was had by all. PB and I, Jen and Kate, Sam and her 'new' hubby, her brother Nate, my niece's oldest son Kris and Kate's Chocolate Lab, J.D. We did the whole picnic thing, fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, veggies, chips, sodas and watermelon. YUM! For some odd reason, ALL of those things taste better when eaten at a picnic table out in the fresh air.
Here's a few shots of the day:

Paved paths, with picnic sites on both sides

Our picnic site, looking toward the path

Our site, view toward the river

J.D., Kate, Sam, Nate and Kris in the water-Dietrich on a rock

Jen, J.D. in his life jacket, kids in the river

Viewpoint sign over the water

J.D. resting, and babysitting the watermelon

Salmon River, SO cold...snow melt from higher up the mountain

View down the path

View of river from the path

Moss 'beards' on the trees

Nathan, wearing J.D.s life jacket...don't ask...

We were ALL exhausted by the time we got home...especially J.D., LOL! He is seriously a "water dog" and swam himself silly chasing sticks, leaves and whatever else he could find...and we had to DRAG him out when the time came! He really didn't want to leave even though he was worn out.

Wildwood is probably my favorite place in all of Oregon...the coast/beach does nothing for me, and I really don't care for snow...don't ski, don't like the cold...but running water/waterfalls will make me happy any time. My kids already know that the Salmon River in Wildwood is where I want my ashes to go when the time comes... Their Dad and Grandfather both went into Fogarty Creek at the coast, but I'd rather be up on the mountain...

So, we all had a good time...and got worn out...and J.D. got his first 'family outing' with all of us, and had a VERY good time...he's such a sweetheart. Today is just gonna be a 'rest' day...my legs and hips are sore from walking all over...Jen's still worn out, and PB has to go back to work tomorrow, the new school year at Univ. of Portland has started and they have their biggest freshman class EVER.
Something like 2,000 mouths to feed at every meal there this year...

Have a great week...

I have a "black" thumb...

...meaning that if I try to grow something, I usually manage to kill it in short order! And I do love flowers...consequently, I have to resort to devious methods to be able to enjoy them, LOL!
A couple of springs ago, I bought a package of Stargazer Lily bulbs and gave them to our neighbor (the owner of a seriously GREEN thumb) to plant in HER garden so that I could see them, LOL. Only 2 of the 5 or 6 bulbs ever came up, and they didn't do very well last year, but THIS year they are beautiful!

One stalk, one bloom...

One stalk, 4 blooms!

The pond and fountain in the neighbors yard, across from our back porch. Our carport is to the left.

So I can stand on the back porch and enjoy the lovely lilies every day...I really do appreciate the fact that she's willing to plant and care for them...they're retired too, and spend lots of time gardening. It's nice to have the sound of the water bubbling and such a pretty perspective right outside the back door!

I know I haven't blogged much lately, but it's been rather (OK, very) depressed in here...my psoriasis is probably the worst it's ever been (so far) and we're all suffering from 'cabin fever' since we don't have the $$$ to even spend on the gas to go for a drive or take a day trip. And PB has her hours cut back during the summer, and so we operate on less then usual. I've started taking Vit. D3, and added Turmeric this week...and I've started taking St. John's Wort, so hopefully that will eventually help with the depression...but it's a slow process. "T3"...Things Take Time.

OK, enough of that...today I plan to start working on an 'altered' picture frame for the newlyweds, to put one of their wedding pictures in...I'll try to remember to put a photo of it up when I'm done...it's taken me a while to get all the 'stuff' I need to make it. PB found some sheet music at Goodwill the other day, so now I can start decoupaging and go from there.

Happy Friday to all...have a good weekend!

Awesome...

Perspective...

Sometimes I forget...THESE are "the good old days"...

Grab some coffee...

...this is a BIG one, LOL!
The kids are home from their honeymoon at Doe Bay on Orcas Island in the San Juans, and Sam got the discs from the photographer on Monday. It didn't take me long to 'borrow' one, so I could get started on scrapping! Here are some of my favorites from the set:

Oaks Pioneer Church in Portland

I LOVE this one!

They're so cute together...

Sam & her bridesmaids

Dietrich & his groomsmen (and woman)

Soooooooooo much food (it was potluck)!

No comment required...

Ditto...

Silliness

The last week has been really odd...kind of a letdown after all the preparation and scurrying around frantically...suddenly it's over and we're all sort of "what now?"
But life goes on...Jen spent most of this last Sunday night in the E.R. again...she now has some kind of 'new & improved' migraine that the meds she had didn't touch. She woke up with it Sunday morning, but it wasn't until one side of her face started tingling that evening that we decided to go in. So from about 7:30PM till 3AM we sat in one of the Acute rooms waiting for someone to decide what to do with her. It wasn't till shift change and one of the docs she used to work with came on that things finally started to happen...unfortunately, migraines are one of those things determined by 'exclusion' more than anything. After telling them "her dad lost his vision due to glaucoma, and her grandfather died of an undiagnosed brain tumor" they decided a CT might not be a bad idea after all! All normal, so change the migraine med back to what worked before...and Son of a Gun, whaddaya know...some Zomig, a few hours sleep and no more migraine! That's why they call it "practicing medicine"...OY!
Other than that, there's really not much going on here...we've had some sunny days (finally!) but we've got rain again tonight and for the next day or so. But the holiday weekend is supposed to be nice. Maybe I'll even grill something! I finally talked PB into getting a gas grill, so we've got one on the deck now...I did rib-eye steaks with grilled red peppers, zucchini and onions a few days back...YUM! Maybe I'll try just burgers next...I'm new to this, so it's trial and error, LOL. So far, so good...
OK...it's late, and I'm losing my train of thought...so I think I'll head for bed. I want to start scrapping some of those photos tomorrow and I'll try to remember to post what I do. Have a great rest of the week, wherever you are!

May I introduce...

...Samantha & Dietrich F.!

Sam & Dietrich, and Nathan (my grandson, Sam's brother, the Best Man)

Cake from JaCiva's !

Samantha Rae...my beautiful Boo

I wish I had more to share, but I have a lot of shots of the backs of bald heads and other assorted body parts in MY photos! We got 9 out of 10 of the disposable cameras back (we're pretty sure we know who took one, LOL) and they all seem to be full! When I have them put on CD, I'll try to get a couple more photos up...but in the meantime, THIS is what all the work and fuss was for!
Everyone was exhausted by the time we got home last night, and basically just crashed into bed. The newlyweds are spending the weekend and Father's Day with Dietrich's dad, who came back from Peru (I guess he's a bush pilot) for his son's wedding. Then they're going someplace called Doe Bay up in the San Juan Islands for their honeymoon.
So...everyone had a great time, there was SO much food we all ended up bringing some home...the weather was PERFECT, about 74 and beautiful (as opposed to today, it's raining again, LOL!) and poor Jen has to drive the cousins back to Newport today, UGH.
And Yes, her tattoo does say 'Baby'...and the paw print is of the Russian Blue kitty she grew up with. The vet sent them a paw print in plaster with his name on it after he died, and she had it copied for her tat. She also has a treble clef on the back of her right shoulder since she was in both choir and band in school. Some of the girls she was in a cappella with were her bridesmaids, they're all still good friends.
All right, time for more tea...and possibly a nap later, LOL...all that excitement is hard on an old lady!
Have a great weekend all!

I finished up...

...the rest of my contribution to the upcoming wedding, Yay! This didn't take me anywhere near as long as the Guest Book project, though...it was fairly easy, thanks to PhotoShop Elements and paper punches.
I bought a package of 10 disposable cameras from Wal-Mart, then made up little cards for them to go on the tables at the wedding reception.

Hopefully the kids will have LOTS of photos for their wedding album, and lots of neat memories for years to come. They're planning on doing "The Time Warp" from Rocky Horror, ROFL, so I personally plan on taking lots of photos of THAT!
Have a good Memorial Day...we're expecting more rain here all weekend and most of next week as well. But then again, it's Rose Festival! It almost ALWAYS rains during Rose Festival...it wouldn't seem right if it was dry and sunny, LOL!

Basic dignity...

...a seemingly lost concept these days. Just read this GREAT blog post on the "human connection", and thought it was worth sharing.

http://www.ordinarycourage.com/my-blog/2009/6/16/this-i-believe-about-basic-dignity.html

OW...I may have sprained something...

...attempting to pat myself on the back, LOL! Seriously though, I am pretty pleased with myself! A couple of months ago, PB brought home a Guest Book from one of those outlet/clearance stores, with the idea of using it for Boo's wedding. However, it was bright red vinyl, with red & black dots on the inside...and Boo's colors are lilac and cream. Um...yeah...not quite right. But she said "Well, we can re-cover it, right?" So we went to the fabric outlet store and found some great stuff for the outside, then we found some 'inside' papers at Joann's that looked good with the fabric...I made some flowers and sparkled them up...and TA-DA!
Here's what the inside paper looked like (I forgot to take a 'before' picture of the whole book)-

Bleh!

 

 

And here's what it looks like now-

I'm very happy with how it turned out, and I hope Boo will be too! And yes, that is (or at least used to be) the dining room table, LOL! It's completely covered in papercrafty stuffs...we eat in the living room in front of the TV...doesn't everyone?! ROFL!
So now I'm completely fired up and ready to start another project! I just need to decide what it's going to be. I've got some stuff to make a "mini album", and a couple of plain wood boxes I want to alter...plus a wall hanging plaque or two (you can see one on the right in the last photo) that I'm already working on. So I'd best get busy and see what else I can do while I seem to have the inclination!

GROW THE F**K UP...

...or step away from the keyboard until you can at least behave in a socially acceptable manner! Wow, it never ceases to amaze me how petty and immature people can be online. These are alleged ADULTS...and astonishingly (to ME anyway) is that when you take them to task for it, their almost uniform response is "It's just the internet!"
I've said before that my daughter spends a great deal of time in internet chat rooms...that's her connection to the outside world. She has two auto-immune diseases, so her body isn't really able to deal with the germs that most of us come into contact with regularly...a cold can put her down for over a month! So she doesn't go out much...it's a giant Petri Dish out there as far as she's concerned.
Some of these "alleged adults" in the chat rooms are the most belligerent, hostile, selfish, rude and just plain nasty people I've ever seen or heard! And their justification...? "It's just the internet!" Holy Shit! That makes it O.K.?! Having internet access is NOT a license to be an asshole!
And I know it's not just chat rooms...a friend blogged recently about a friend of HERS that has started a fight on Facebook.
What is wrong with these people?! Don't they realize that there is a PERSON in front of the screen at the other end of their vitriol? Would they say the same things if they were face-to-face with the other person? Yes, I know, in some cases they would...but the other individual would at least have the satisfaction of being able to respond accordingly...be it to walk away, or to punch them in the throat!
This is not Trolling...an Internet Troll can be ignored, and will usually go away if no one responds. This is often a vicious personal attack from the safety of their home/space, secure in the knowledge that the other person CAN'T reach through and punch them in the throat! I wish we could petition the ISPs of these morons to have them put in a "Time Out" when they abuse the internet! And it IS abuse...there's no other way to put it.
Jen is a Moderator in the chat room she hangs out in, and she's gotten very good at NOT allowing people there to be contentious or abusive there...and if they are, she DOES have the means to put them in "Time Out"! And she uses it. I'm very proud of her, and I guess what I want to say is: We, as parents and internet users, have a responsibility to teach our children and any others who might learn from us that interaction and conversation on the internet should be just as civilized and polite as it would be in our own living room.
That's pretty much how our kids first learn to interact...is by watching and listening to us converse with others. Maybe there needs to be a course in 'Internet Communication' starting in Middle School, that teaches common internet courtesy and respect for others. Yeah, I know...it's pretty much up to US...
OK, I'm getting down from my soapbox now...I've ranted long enough...but DAMN, I do wish those people would grow up!

Local news and weather...

"Portland's rainfall so far in 2011 has measured just over 47 inches. That's 10 inches over the entire yearly average." (Courtesy of KGW.com)
Yeah...it's been a wet year so far...and there's more on the way...sigh... It's hard to be upbeat and cheerful when it's unremittingly cloudy, gray and dark... Good thing I have bloggy friends and interwebby stuffs to make me smile!
I laughed my ass off at 'Stine, she's taken to Pinterest like a duck to water! I think it's possible that she spent an entire DAY pinning! Kind of like me, when she turned me on to StumbleUpon...
So yeah, it's cold, wet and rainy here...but PB's car is fixed and running very well (it WAS the timing belt), so she's happy. I have a touch of some kind of bug...VERY achy muscles and just tired all over. Got to the store, but didn't get my Chicken Spaghetti made...that'll be dinner later this week.
I'm just gonna be a lump, I think...maybe Stumble some and maybe Pin some...have a great rest of the week.

It's not my fault...

...it's Kristine's fault! Seriously! I've seen references to StumbleUpon around forever, but had never bothered to go check it out until 'Stine recommended it. Holy Crap! I've been all OVER the interwebs for the past week or so, and it's eating up HUGE portions of the day just sitting here clicking away, ROFL! And then I had to go and join Pinterest, so you know, there's another chunk of hours gone...OY! I think I may have an addiction problem. BUT...I now know how to make my own liquid hand soap from bar soap, and I'm having my neighbor make me one of these, and I've got loads of new recipes to try and...well, you get the picture. Plus there was a sale at Michael's, and a trip to Craft Warehouse in there as well...and some crafty playing too.
I did manage to go get Boo's wedding napkins (lilac with their names & the date in black) ordered, so that's done. Then I think I going to order these to put on the tables at their reception. The wedding date is creeping up on us at a ferocious rate!
Sunday my poor sis's car broke down on her on the way home from work (graduation weekend at Univ. of Portland) and she had to walk about a mile or so home...because her new cell phone was dead and she couldn't call anyone to come pick her up! I beat her and made her find the car charger cord and put it in her purse! LOL! It does NO good to have the damn thing if it isn't charged...ACK! We had the car towed (Yay, AAA!) to Kate's...her boyfriend/thing is a mechanic, and he's pretty sure it's the timing belt and will fix it over the next couple of days. PB had Monday off, but works Tuesday then has the rest of the week off. She's driving Jen's van to work Tuesday, so that leaves my car here for a grocery run. We need milk, plus I want to make Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti and I need a couple of things for that...nomnomnom!
So, have a good week...and I'll try to force myself to break away from StumbleUpon and Pinterest long enough to post here again soon.
And here's a LOL for ya'...

Everyone needs to smile...

...and here's a good reason to:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/confessions/

Be sure to click on the link in the post, too.

If you've ever been owned by a cat...

...you'll appreciate the clear and elegant depiction of Solange by Brooke McEldowney. He creates one of the funniest and most thought provoking cartoons around...9 Chickweed Lane. It can be found on the web here:
http://comics.com/9_chickweed_lane/  I highly recommend it.
In the meantime...here are some of his "Hallmarks of Felinity" from over the years:
http://www.student.ipfw.edu/~osbodr01/hallmarks/hallmark00.html
Enjoy!

In case you haven't caught it yet...

There's a new Simon's Cat video...

And I've been challenged! 'Stine, over at Kristine's Place wants me to do the list of Four Things. I think I'm up to it, LOL.

Four Places I Go:

1. Craft Warehouse - Papercraft junkie that I am...
2. Michael's - Ditto
3. Powell's City of Books - Dangerous! Too many choices, not enough $$$!
4. Dollar Tree - Cheap kitchen/bath stuff and the occasional good deal.

Four Smells That I Love:

1. Sandalwood & Amber - The shop where I used to have my own personalized scent made is still there, I just drove by it the other day!
2. Bread baking - I should start making bread again!
3. Lemons & Oranges - Limes too, actually...that sharp citrus tang just smells 'happy' to me.
4. Wildwood Recreation Area - On the slopes of Mt. Hood...when you walk down to the Salmon River amongst all the trees and natural undergrowth, there's a clean, clear, green scent that is so fresh and inviting.

Four Favorite TV Shows:

1. Warehouse 13 - Between seasons now :(
2. Haven - Ditto
3. Ghost Hunters - Love Jason and Grant!
4. Dirty Jobs -  Mike Rowe, need I say more?

Four Favorite Movies:

1. The Fisher King - Jeff Bridges & Robin Williams...I can't explain why.
2. Boondock Saints - Um, yeah...
3. Boondock Saints II - Same reason...
4. Iron Man/Iron Man II/Sherlock Holmes - Yeah, I'm ALL about Robert Downey, Jr....even if he could be one of my kids...sigh...

Four Recommendations: 


1. I Can Has Cheezburger - At least one smile a day, if not more.
2. Pioneer Woman - Because she ROCKS!
3. National Geographic - Amazing photos and so much more.
4. Pandora Radio - Kinda like StumbleUpon for tunes...

Four People...Seriously, I don't know that many people to 'tag' with this. If you feel like it, go for it!

That's it for me...have a great weekend, all! And Hoppy Easter!

It ALWAYS makes me laugh...

...every single time...

I swear, I just blinked...

...and this happened!

Boo at about a year....

 

 

 

 

 

...her engagement ring, that she designed...

 

...her wedding dress fitting...

My Boo-Boo, my first grandchild and ONLY granddaughter will be 21 on Tuesday (4/19)! This can't possibly be right...it seems like only a little while ago that she would come to my place for sleepovers and we'd take the bus into downtown and spend all day window shopping and having lunch at Newberry's or Woolworth's counter. We would spend an entire day just hangin' out together and having a great time. We were BFFs...
Now she's all grown up and getting married in 2 months. I'm happy and excited for her, yet I'm sitting here typing this with tears in my eyes...I miss you, little girl...