Been Shopping…

The past two days have been spent going to several stores trying to find a nice, yet affordable gift for my 3 1/2 yr. old grandson. I had seen (what I thought) was a really neat toy advertised on TV: “Bounce Back Racer”, which is a toddler version of a remote control car which flips over ( if it runs into any object) and keeps going. It’s a great toy but my Scots heritage came screaming out and I just couldn’t justify paying $30+ for one toy. After searching several stores for his other favorite thing, cardboard puzzles, I came away frustrated. Yes, KMart and Meijers had puzzles: $8 + wooden ones with about 9 pieces which would bore him in no time. I finally ended up at our local Family Dollar store today and found 3 good, cardboard ones which will make him happy. He’s so cute; the other day when he was here the first thing he said when he came in the door was: “Gramma Pam has lots of puzzles for me, Dad! She bought me lots of puzzles; we need puzzles at OUR house!” (guess I know what he likes). Also found him a car carrier that has about 15 small metal cars in it; he loves playing with the little cars.

Amid the searching for the ‘right toy’ I also ended up snagging several pairs of winter gloves for the boys (not gifts) because KMart is digging deep in the discounting department and all gloves were 40% off! Middle son requested a few video games which I was able to find, and some floor mats for his car. Now floor mats are in most stores, but I was searching for something PLAIN which I could afford! Yes, there are the Tinkerbelle ones, or big dolphins or flowers (not GUY-type stuff). He has a Pontiac Grand Am which has small floor spaces; I was finally able to find a good set (all black) for around $24. (the fancy ones above listed run $30 and up!).  His 21 st birthday is coming up the beginning of January, so I have to remember to budget the gifts a bit so as not to go overboard with the Christmas presents then have to turn around and do it again in 2 weeks for his birthday. I know that probably sounds a bit cheap…but this year money is tight (as I’m sure it is in your households, also) and I have to take that into account.

Today is also scheduled as the ‘put up the big tree’ day; we’ll see if that gets done. The rest of the house is decorated and the little fiber optic tree is in the dining room (have to have at least ONE tree up!). If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you know that decorating is NOT my favorite thing. Don’t get me wrong-I like the ‘end result’, it’s just taking the time to get all the stuff down from upstairs, dragging out all the various parts to the tree, assembling the branches on the middle part, putting the lights on, etc. Not my ‘fun thing’.

Coming up this week is the BAKING! I’ve purchased the ingredients for getting that done, but it’s going to be another ‘waiting for inspiration’ moments for me. In lieu of that thought, I offer you a great-sounding recipe from my friend Peg in Florida (below is featured where she got the recipe, also):

Orange Cream Cheese Bread

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
2/3 cup orange juice
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Preheat oven to 350º F.
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Combine cream cheese and shortening, creaming well. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating well after each addition.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix well after each addition.
Stir in nuts, orange peel and extract. Pour batter into two 8- or 9-inch loaf pans which have been coated with vegetable cooking spray.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes; orange pour juice over loaves. Remove to wire rack to cool.
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Recipe source: Corner Sweet Shoppe yahoo group, submitted by berude2u

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Tonight is the last choir practice before tomorrow’s adult choir Christmas Contata. Just glad my health is holding out and my throat seems to be doing just fine (there have been years where that wasn’t the case!). Hope that this post finds you (a) in good health (b) enjoying the season (c) getting your shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking, etc. done in time to please you and (d) remember to RELAX a little and enjoy yourself!  ‘Tis the season to be jolly’, remember!

Hugs;

Pammie

PS: Quick weather report for our area:  Thursday found us going through some snow flurries, Friday found us in the ‘deep freeze’, with temperatures no exceeding 16 (bitter cold) and today the sun’s out, it’s clear with temps around 25 degrees. I’m glad it’s warmed up a bit; my husband works outside quite a bit and the past few days have really been hard on him; I’ve been trying to make comfort food dinners to help in that area. Tonight is Turkey Noodle Soup (from the turkey leftovers of Thanksgiving.)

The High Cost of “Living” and Other Fun Things

Today has been a day of realization that LIVING is expensive! (Yes, I heard you laughing!) For starters, let’s look at my insurance policy. We signed up for it many years ago and have been paying quarterly payments right along. About 5 months ago I noticed that we weren’t receiving my bill, only my husband’s, so I called the company. They explained that since my bill was much smaller than my husband’s (he being the major bread-winner and all) and more blah-blah-blah; I didn’t understand, but said: “OK” and let it go. NEVER DO THAT! NEVER say OK when you don’t understand something! Today I got a bill for my insurance premium, for $974.00!!! They had changed my policy to ANNUAL instead of quarterly; talk about freaking out! I called the company and they changed it back…WHEW! When the lovely young girl who was assisting me on the phone asked: “Is there anything else we can do for you today, Pamela?” I said: “Help me pay this $974?”…she just chuckled….sigh.

Along with more health-related issues is my experience at the drug store when purchasing Sudafed  tablets. The pharmacist asked for my driver’s license; I assured her I’m 61, old enough to not be ‘carded’…she chuckled (are you seeing a similarity here yet?…chuckling young ladies…sigh). Turns out that the reason I had to not only hand over my driver’s license but also sign on the dotted line saying I was only purchasing this one packet of 24 tablets was because our government tracks all purchases to make sure I’m not stock-piling it to make crystal meth! I told the pharmacist: “Sure, it’s what I do in my spare time!”…(not). I guess it’s necessary; they wouldn’t have those precautions unless it became necessary in the past…sigh.

Third ‘health-related’ situation: went to get my eyes tested for new glasses the other day, as my current ones are really bothering me: headaches, slight dizziness, trouble seeing clearly at far distances. Upon examining my eyes my doctor told me that I’m one of the few who are blessed with what’s called: “Second Sight”. I’d never heard of that before (and, NO, I’m not suddenly becoming psychic!). It’s a phenomenon where, as you age your eye ‘lens’ becomes harder; in some people it also can flatten out (my case) thereby causing your distance vision to become better! The reason I was having trouble with my glasses is because I now need less prescription,  my glasses were too strong! Amazing! I guess, sometimes, getting older can be a good thing, eh? (at least in this situation) … grin.

Ah, the strange changes we experience while getting older…stiffer joints, lessening endurance, etc. but still I’m ‘plugging along’ and looking forward to each new day (call me an ‘optimist’…or just a little crazy, whichever works for you!).  Today it’s chilly (41)  but sunny so seeing the bright sunlight makes it another lovely Fall day. I’m enjoying all the sunshine I can (trying to store it up in my memory), knowing that soon we’ll have the grey days of winter upon us.  I guess there’s a ‘good side’ to that, too: went to JoAnn Fabrics the other evening and playing on their in-store radio was “Here Comes Santa Claus”, “Frosty the Snowman”, and other Christmasy tunes (one of our local radio stations starts the day after Halloween and goes through New Year playing all the seasonal songs). Yes, I’m one of those “wait until December for Christmas songs” people, but also found myself bopping along to the upbeat music while looking at the button racks.

Enjoy your day; I know I’m going to try to!

Hugs;

Pammie

Sure Looks Like Fall!

The leaves around here are now mostly on the ground; the weather has taken a decidedly chilly turn, with grey days filled with light winds and rain. That’s OK, it’s what’s supposed to happen right around now. Halloween, for us, was un-eventful; we live on a main road (45 mph speeds) so we don’t get trick-or-treaters, haven’t for many, many years.

The Harvest Party last week for my special needs group went very well; we had a roomfull of people (students/caregivers/parents) who seemed to really enjoy themselves. We went through a ton of chips & hot cheese, cider/pop and cookies. We had so much donated candy that each student went home with two small bags full! It was a busy, fun evening, for sure!

Tonight is our church’s “Ladies Fellowship” which consists of a light supper and devotional speaker. This time my alphabetical grouping (L-Z) is to bring a salad (the others, A-K)  are bringing dessert). I’m not a great ’salad’ maker for parties, so I relied on a recipe found on-line:

Apple Cole Slaw

3 C. chopped cabbage

1 unpeeled red apple, cored & chopped

1 unpeeled Granny Smith apple, cored & chopped

1 carrot, grated

1/2 C. finely chopped red bell pepper

2 green onions, chopped

1/3 C. mayonnaise

1/3 C. brown sugar

1 T. lemon juice, or to taste

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In large bowl, combine cabbage, apple, carrot, bell pepper and onions. In small bowl mix together mayonnaise, brown sugar and lemon juice. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Refrigerate for 1 hour and serve chilled.

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Note: You could also add chopped pecans, raisins, poppy seeds or mandarine orange segments.

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It’s been kind of ‘touch & go’ lately with our cat; another trip to the vets Friday for a re-check found that his urinary tract was blocked again (for the third time). I called my husband to ask just how to proceed. He said go ahead with another catheterization, but this is the last time. I fully understand; it’s been almost a month of vet checks and he isn’t really getting ‘over the hump’.  As I’ve said before, we can’t afford the major surgery for him if he blocks up again.  It’s a hard call to make, but sometimes you just have to do the ‘hard things’. We’re just watching and waiting at this point, hoping that somehow his system will finally clear itself.

Other than that, it’s been rather calm around here; finished afghan #208 Saturday and now working on 209. Visited the chiropractor today and my back is staying stable, which is a great thing-I’m not in pain. I’ve learned that, whether I like it or not, these visits are in my future regularly for me to maintain mobility and flexibility. Yep, I’m gettin’ older…sigh.

Enjoy your day;

Hugs;

Pam

Just Checkin’ In for a Few

Hello, all!

Not much exciting going on around here (guess that’s a good thing!). After the ‘car troubles/cat sick’ week, it’s nice to just do some catching up on all the things that got shoved to the back burner. Yesterday and today have been lots of running; little trips here and there to make me feel like I have ’some’ control in my life. Went to the Post Office today to check the Ghana Project box and found a lovely crocheted afghan from a lady who had written me asking if she could send it; this past Sunday a friend from church brought me the results of a bag of yarn I gave her. She handed me the bag with the comment: “I think there’s something like 102 squares; you can re-count them if you like.” I’m now doing good as far as squares to use; now it’s my job to get going on sewing more together for the finished products. A little later today I’m going upstairs and re-counting what’s there, as I think I might have either one more or one less than I think the actual count is. Finished another one this morning while listening to the cd of our choir’s Christmas songs (borrowed the cd to ‘get the hang’ of the music).

After I’m finished with this blog entry, it’s time to finish up the special needs group’s bi-monthly newsletter and get it printed, folded and stuffed into around 50 envelopes, then take them to the Post Office to mail. Tonight is my knit group and I’m looking forward to a little ‘girl’ time; I really enjoy the ladies in the group-we’re all so diversified and yet all united via yarn! It’s a fun, fast and fascinating few hours in my week.

Visited the chiropractor yesterday after a break of 5 weeks (rough count). I was amazed that my back is doing as well as it is, with all the stress from my father-in-law’s illness and death (no, I didn’t write about that here; it was about 4 weeks ago…all’s ‘good’), the car troubles (didn’t write about all that, either, but NOW the car is FINALLY fixed!) & the sick cat. Visiting the chiropractor is one of those ‘love/hate’ things for me – I know it does my back ‘good’, but it’s still painful to endure. From all I’ve learned from these visits, looks like I’ll be doing this ad infinitum…into the future…indefinitely. Oh well, one of those “Get used to it, honey…you’re not getting any younger!” moments.

The special needs Great Potato Bake and Silent Auction was postponed due to lack of ticket sales; that was a bit disappointing, but what can you do?  We’re hoping to come up with another fund raiser idea in January.  It was a good idea, but actually…if we HAD done it last Friday, the weather was really awful: rainy, windy, cold, so I guess it was a good thing after all.  (and, it’s less stress on me for now…)

Tomorrow night is our special needs Harvest Party and I just got back from buying the food stuffs for it. We’re going to be having corn chips & hot cheese sauce, cider and cider donuts. Along with that we’ll be playing various games around the room like “Knock over the Bowling Pins”, “Shoot out the Candle with a Squirt Gun”, “Go Duck Hunting” (using a kid’s wading pool with about 20 plastic ducks floating in it; some have a ‘PRIZE!” written on their bottoms). Our students love this; we have each of them bring a bag of individually wrapped candy and we dump it all in a big punch bowl. When they come in, we give them each a paper lunch bag to decorate (if they wish) then when we play the games they each get a small handful of candy for playing the game (whether they win or not). It’s sort of like “Christian Trick or Treat”, I guess you’d say. No costumes, just games/devotions/and great snacks. I’m guess we’ll have around 50 attending tomorrow; it’s one of their favorite nights.

That’s about ‘it’ around here; made a really good chicken pot pie for dinner last night. I’ve never been a fan of any ‘pot pie’ as my Mom used to rely on those little frozen ones quite often when I was growing up, but every once in awhile I make one from scratch and they’re tasty, warm and somewhat a ‘comfort food’.

Hope you’re having a good day; stay warm and maybe treat yourself to a nice hot cup of cocoa!

Hugs;

Pammie

More ‘News’

Hello, all!

Well, here at ’sick cat Central’ things are (I hope) looking ‘up’. It’s been several trips to the vets since Saturday and we now have the exact opposite of ‘blocked urinary tract’… an incontinent cat! Today’s visit found the vet writing us a prescription for a medication that will help reduce the size of the bladder so he will (hopefully) be able to ‘feel’ when he has to ‘go’; for now we’re borrowing our neighbor’s huge dog crate and confining him to that with a small litter pan and old bath towels. Without making you ‘ill’, this is the best solution so that the whole house doesn’t reek. Ah, the joys of pet ownership, eh? The good thing in all this? The vet isn’t charging me for the daily re-checks!

The other ‘good news’? I think we’ve finally figured out my ‘car problem’! (trying to make this short) I believe the problem lies in the fact that my car thinks the ‘alarm system’ is being tampered with, hence the start right up then die/no gauges thing. I remembered that the last time it did that, I had pressed the little automatic lock button on my key chain (I usually just push the button inside the door when locking my car). Very rarely do I use the keychain button and, now that I think of it, I’m wondering if ‘that’s IT‘! We’re going to do an experiment and both my husband & I will not be using the keychain button any longer and see if that does the trick. A person I was chatting with at church said his friend has the same problem; they just wait 10 minutes and it re-sets and they’re good to go! Crazy, but I think we’ve finally ‘got it’!

That’s what’s shakin’ around here; need to get off here and go iron my youngest son’s clothes for his choir concert this evening.

Enjoy your day!

Hugs;

Pammie

You Know You’re Getting Old When…

you don’t see the things around you in the same way/manner others do. Let me explain: I am NOT a person who likes to go shopping at large malls but yesterday my youngest asked if I would take him to our local gigantic mall and we went.  I don’t know about you, but I was inundated with the continual feeling of being ‘just plain OLD’! Mind you, I haven’t been to this mall in probably 4-5 years (I hate malls, remember? It’s the agoraphobia-’fear of large places/crowds’ thing-I end up having a panic attack … not pleasant, for sure!).  We walked around and through several of the areas and stopped in several clothing stores to purchase youngest’s clothing (earnings from his job). I was totally amazed; no, guess that’s not the right word…shocked would fit better here, at just how much the ‘world of merchandising’ appeals to the younger (teens to 30’s) group. My last impression of this mall was ’spot on’ with yesterday’s: shoe stores, clothing stores, shoe stores, more clothing stores, etc. I’m not a ‘clothes horse’ at all; give me a good garage sale find and I’m happy, so you can imagine my feelings at having all this ‘junk’ stare me in the face. My family says I’m ’sheltered’…I guess in this instance, they’re right! For example:  we were at American Eagle clothing store and youngest picked up a pair of jeans . . . these were the ‘distressed’ look: very faded blue jeans with what I would describe as ‘wear marks’, holes all down the front of both legs and some on the back. This pair of ‘new’ jeans sell for $49.99!!! (he didn’t buy them…thank Heavens!). Next store: Hot Topics; a very ‘trendy’ teens store full of more (JUNK!) items to appeal to the younger set. In this store he picked up a pair of turquoise high-top tennis shoes which sold for, you guessed it, another $49.99! (we went to PayLess shoes and found a black pair of high tops for $29.99…with my $5 off coupon, they were just his price!). I know I’m getting older, but just looking at ‘what’s fashion in the teen world today’ made me sick to my stomach! Walking around the mall I had feelings of being WAY out of date (I kind of knew that, but maybe not as much as now); I was wearing a knit top, blue jeans and sandals. All around the mall were various ages of women with several things in common:  all were wearing tight fashion jeans with a leather belt, most were showing some skin at the waistline, and various kinds of shoe wear, all very ‘in fashion’ and, I’m certain, very expensive.  I’m not criticizing them, just making an observation. Do I feel less ‘chic/hip/in fashion’ after this experience? NO! A little ‘old’ because I’m certain I didn’t ‘fit in’, but really if you get down to it,  my body was covered, I was comfortable and the clothing I was wearing was totally affordable for me, therefore I declare:  I’m JUST FINE in my own skin! It’s sad to know that others feel the necessity to spend such exsorbitant (definition: “exceeding the customary or appropriate limits in intensity, quality, amount, or size”) amounts on ’skin coverings’; I’ll get off my soap box now…

Went to the office supply store today and saw an item I didn’t know existed: print them yourself bumper stickers! They come in a package of 6 for $9.99; you put them in your printer -  interesting idea! (yes, I do see that they ‘could’ pose a problem for those who decide that the world needs to know their inner secrets or where they think YOU should go or where they think you should stick things, but I’ll leave that to your imagination … grin)

Lately I’ve been immersed into the world of organizing a fund raiser for our special needs group. It’s been decided that we’re going to have a baked potato dinner with silent auction.

My job, so far, is to research the costs involved food-wise and design tickets (my fun project!). We’re shooting for the third week in October and 100 guests. Our silent auction will consist of donated ‘baskets’. Years ago we did a bowl-a-thon and had baskets; they were a hit so we’re hoping to do this again. I’m making two: a “Baby Shower” basket which will have a hand-knit baby blanket, three coordinating baby hats, a pair of crocheted ‘Mary Jane’ baby shoes for a girl and a crocheted pair of ‘high topped tennis shoes’ for a boy (my very talented friend Kim did the shoes for me). Also in the basket is a large, very soft stuffed cat. I haven’t decided yet whether to add a few small infant toys (like teething rings) to it. We’re hoping each basket will have a value of around $25-50. The other basket I’m putting together is a “Pie Time” arrangement consisting of a Pampered Chef pie dish, pie roller and flour/sugar sprinkler and then I’m still working on the rest of the items. Thinking maybe a set of measuring spoons, measuring cups, perhaps an apron or linen dish towel…who knows. We’ve composed a list of basket ideas and are in the process of asking people for donationed baskets. (Don’t worry…I’m not hitting you up! These will be to the ladies of the church where we meet). Our ultimate goal is to raise $300-400, which will cover our expenses for about a year. In years past we held garage sales (my favorite) but the other two ladies on the board felt we were not getting the profits and expending far too much effort for our work, so hence the potato dinner idea. We’ll see how this goes; if it works well we might do it again next year.  There are only three of us doing all the organizing/work, so you can see why we’re trying to conserve energies and get the most for our efforts.

That’s about ‘it’ for me lately; just got back from the chiropractor and he said that my back is now ‘better than when I first came in’; I’m feeling ‘well’ and it’s down to 2 visits a week for the next week then he’ll see if it will become once a month (YAY!). It’s not as painful to go through the manipulations, which I’m very glad of!

Next up is getting my organizing skills working towards tonight’s “Gym Night” for my special needs group. Once a month in the fall/winter months we hold a Gym Night for our kids. From 6:30-8:30 we have a meal (hot dogs, chips, pop and cookies tonight…I’m the hot dog cooking queen), a short Bible devotion, then the students are free to play basketball, bowl (using sets of childrens plastic bowling pins), color, do jigsaw puzzles, or just chat with their friends. We also host another church’s special needs group, so we’re expecting a total of 35-50 people tonight; ought to be fun!

I was listening to a gentleman at the chiropractor’s office talk about  now that he’s retired all he does is golf and rest and he only golfs twice a week; the rest of the time he just rests. My thought on that was: I’ve been retired now 26 years and I’ve NEVER been as busy in my life as I am now; guess it’s all in how ‘old’ you feel, eh?

On that note, I’ll close. It’s a wee bit chilly here today: in the 60’s, overcast with brief bits of sunshine (it’s supposed to rain today).  I’m not letting the cold air bring me down…still looking for the sunshine!

Enjoy your day!

Hugs;

Pammie

Of Cabbages and Kings…

Hello, all! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted – not that I haven’t thought about ya, just been too busy/pooped/stressed (fill in the blank here) to compose my thoughts enough to make up a blog post. What’s been happening, you ask? Where to start . . . I guess, for starters my BACK is doing MUCH better (I’m still dreading going for the adjustments but it’s worth it). I actually went from Monday to Friday before having a return visit/adjustment . . . that’s a three-day reprieve! YAY! Next visit is an evaluation and adjustment, but I’m actually much more agile which makes me happy.

Second: Middle son’s “CCC” (Constant Car Curse): without going into tons of details, we got the title for the ‘gift’ car, got all the paperwork transferred, had it towed to Midas to find out why it wouldn’t run; turns out it was the alternator. They replaced it, called us and we went to pick it up (5-10 min. after phone call). Got there and were met by the mechanic who was just shaking his head – it seems that when they were pulling it out of the bay, the ‘Service Engine Soon’ light came on! When they checked it, the alternator was charging TOO MUCH (which would cause the battery to blow if let continue). They assured us that they would order another alternator/no charge to us. That took another 2 days.  Yesterday we FINALLY were able to pick up the car, take it to the local tire place, get a new tire for the front ($60) so he’s not driving on a donut anymore, and now he’s ‘on his way’….for how long, we don’t know.  Amidst all the other car ’stuff’, the first time they thought they had the car fixed for us it stopped running while the mechanic was taking it for a test drive and had to have it towed back to the shop! Oh! Forgot to mention the ‘fun’ adventures of Wednesday! I spent most of that day either sitting and knitting in my car or listening to car dealers talk. Middle son had decided that since his ‘luck’ (or lack of) with cars was so dismal, he would look into buying a NEW CAR! He’d decided to go with (don’t shoot me here, it wasn’t MY idea!) either a KIA or a Honda. (the rest of the family are dyed-in-the-wool Chrysler people). He test drove a Kia something (not sure what model) that would run him something like $14,000, then we went to the Honda dealer and they were all ready to give him a car for something like $17,000 out the door (with his dad’s co-signing). He put $200 down and we were all ready for him to (finally) have a reliable vehicle until… his older brother called yesterday and we chatted about the ‘new car’ idea. He mentioned to me: “Mom, are you aware that he’ll have to have FULL coverage for insurance? That would run him AT LEAST $250!  Add that to the monthly payments of $335-350 and he won’t have any money left per month to even buy gas OR go to college classes!” (Well, folks I’ve never in my life had a new car, so I had NO idea on all this.) Back we went to the Honda dealer to get his $200 down payment back. He was very disappointed, to say the least.  AT LEAST he now has a ‘car’, even though it’s this beater Neon that leaks oil big time. Our neighbor said he would look at it to see if he can figure out why it’s leaking oil so bad. (a quart a week).   That’s my big CAR WOES story for this week (let’s hope this doesn’t continue to other weeks…at least not any time soon!).

The holiday weekend is upon us; my husband’s on vacation for a week which takes some of the stresses off me (YAY!) I’ve still been knitting/crocheting squares and am hopeful that today I’ll be able to lay out another 4-5 afghans to begin putting more together. No particular plans for the weekend – no outside barbecues, no picnics…nothing special other than relaxing (I HOPE!!!).  The laundry is almost caught up, the dishwasher needs running soon, but other than that…Pammie’s taking a break from life  and it’s stresses (I HOPE!).

Hope you have a great holiday weekend and that it’s filled with nice, relaxing things that you enjoy.

Hugs;

Pammie

ps:   Our weather is supposed to be just gorgeous all weekend – in the 70’s and sunny…who could ask for a nicer ‘end of summer’?

pss:  Perhaps you’re wondering why I chose that title for this post – the line came to me, while listing all the ‘car troubles’ stuff and searching for a suitable title.  The quote is from Lewis Carroll:

“”The time has come,” the walrus said, “to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships – and sealing wax – of cabbages and kings”

this is a quote: (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872); the poem is called: “The Walrus and the Carpenter”.

Things are looking Up!

Guess you could say “It’s about time!” Got the call today that my car has been fixed, come pick it up. I returned the rental and was in for a pleasant surprise: it seems the other PT Cruiser (the one with the huge gas bill) was a fluke – the total cost for me driving 151 miles was $20.04 to fill up this tank! YAY! (I was really dreading the bill on that one, compared with the previous PT rental).  My car is ‘home’, I’m home and starting to relax a little; today’s been a bit hectic. Went to chiropracter and my visits are beginning to be shorter and shorter – it seems my back is healing very nicely! Another YAY! I’m learning to tolerate a little pain during the spinal adjustments, knowing that it’s ultimately working for my good. Things are looking up!

It ‘was’ raining today but even that has stopped and the sun is starting to break through … a third Yay!

Hope your day is either good or getting  better!

Hugs;

Pammie

ps: I also just discovered I can’t count! Several weeks ago I reported that I was getting very close to the 200-mark on total afghans made . . . I was wrong. I have NO idea where my head was when I was thinking that but a few days ago I went upstairs and physically counted the afghans here in my possession . . . total: 10.  Total afghans dispersed to various foreign countries: 185.  Total count of 185 plus 10 does NOT come to over 200! (goofy me, eh?). Anyway, I’m back on track at assembling afghans, working on #196 today. Sometime soon I’m hoping to report that FINALLY I’ve achieved that 200 mark!

Getting there…slowly

Hello, all; just thought I’d drop in for a very quick note to tell you that today was Day #3 of going to the chiropracter and I’m FINALLY able to stand up straight! Two more days this week, 3 next then if all’s well – maintenance from there.  It’s been slow going (and painful), but I’m doing OK.  I even asked the doctor yesterday if any people ever quit after coming once and knowing upon return that there would be considerable pain that day as well? He said he imagined that over the years a few might have done that. I wouldn’t fault them, believe me! Today was a bit scary because when he said lie down on this sort of stretcher table, I KNEW what was coming …. and I KNEW it would be painful for me (it wasn’t as bad today…not as many vertebrae ‘popped’). Knowing it’s coming and hearing the doctor’s very soothing voice telling me to ‘just relax your shoulders, let all your air out and tip your chin up’ is not a ‘fun thing’, but I know also that, ultimately, this is for my own GOOD and I’m determined to get my back ‘back’ into shape…whatever it takes. I certainly didn’t know (or think) last Thursday that I’d still be going through all this, but perhaps that’s a good thing…sometimes knowing something unpleasant is coming doesn’t make you want to run towards it . . . know what I mean?

Sorry for the long dissertation; weather’s a little cooler today (in the 70’s instead of mid 80’s as it has been; humidity has been around 61 % which makes it feel hotter).

On a good note, am almost done with “Red Rabbit” by Tom Clancy (another good spy-type book by Clancy); probably another 80 pages to go (this one’s a really tiny print/very thick book….just what I needed to take my mind off the pain).

Hope you’re having a good day/night . . . mine are getting a little better every day!

Hugs;

Pammie

ps: Xray results: I have Scoliosis in my lower spine area; looks like it’s been that way for many years (who knew?). Just one more thing to ‘keep a watch on’…sigh.

Delivery Day

33 Afghans to Ghana!

Today found my youngest son & I driving to the hospital to deliver the latest ‘batch’ of 33 afghans bound for Ghana. The head nurse will be picking them up in the next week; since she transports them in a large suitcase, I had to kind of restrict the number of afghans given.  I take them to the hospital and they keep them in one of the doctors offices until she stops by to pick them up. I ended up keeping 12 here to start the next batch of finished afghans, as she wouldn’t be able to transport that many in a suitcase.  The total number of all afghans now stands at 175, so that means the one I began working on this morning is #176!

Since it’s ‘delivery’ day, I also delivered middle son to his work, as his current car ‘died’ a few days ago. Turns out it needs a new fuel pump, to the tune of somewhere around $600! (He’s currently waiting to see if he can get a better offer from another mechanic before starting the work). That means that ‘good old Mom’ (that’s me) is driving him around; I don’t mind doing that, as his work is just down the road 3 minutes-not bad at all.

Also ‘delivered’ youngest son to the high school pool for 3 hours of swimming, as today marks Day 1 of his 4 day holiday. THAT means that I have the house to myself for around 3 hours! (well…the cat and I, but he doesn’t bug me, ask me to buy/go/do something for him, or whine when I say No!).  Just entered the photo of the afghans and the new total count on the Ghana site, then came here to write to you. After that? I’m probably going to go work a little more on the current afghan, maybe read a bit in my new mystery (Daniel Silva’s “The Marching Season”) or maybe even take a wee nap!

Yesterday found me visiting my friendly physician for a yearly physical/checkup.  I was pleasantly pleased to find that so far, all’s well-you know, you sort of have a feeling when you’re doing good or you’re feeling ill. It appears I’m doing very well, health-wise…and that’s a GOOD thing! Weight’s OK, diabetic blood count is excellent, diabetes control is excellent (still over the norm on the cholesterol stuff, but they’ve ruled that one ‘hereditary’, so I’m not freaking out). Coming home from the doctors found me contemplating a wee bit of ‘cheating’ on the diet; ended up bargaining with myself and got one of the ‘over-advertised’ McDonald’s Mochas: I opted for the hot version…it was, in my opinion: OK…didn’t really taste like coffee, sort of had a coffee-like flavor, but not much of that, either. For $3. something for a medium, it’s not something I’m going to buy again-I’ll stick with Tim Horton’s regular coffee…much more flavorful and worth the cost. Drove home and made a small turkey & cheese sandwich on one slice of dark rye bread with lettuce, spicy mustard and a little Miracle whip…YUM! Tasted great and I didn’t really cheat much, either. (guess you’d count the sugar in the Mocha thingie…oh well…..never said I was perfect!)

Nice day out today, but cloudy and a wee-bit chilly (68 degrees F.) but it’s not raining, snowing, hailing, sleeting, etc. so I’m good with cloudy and a little chilly-probably would be a little less chilly if I’d just get up and go put on long pants instead of trying to fool myself that it’s already summer in my shorts! Forever the optimist!

Hope you’re enjoying this Friday and are looking forward to a great weekend!

Hugs;

Pammie