Middle Of The Week Doldrums And Memories

 Howdy Everyone,
 I thought that today I would post a simple page of your's truly. This is Me Quiet a few years ago. I had just turned 40. I was full of spunk and energy back then. I turned 40 and went down hill. Well that is not totally true. The 40's were my best years in working and family and fun, but a month after my 40th birthday is when all my kidney issues came to a head.  I managed tho, but Karyn took on a lot of responsibility for her age. I wish that I could take that back. I should have hired help at the time and she should have been able to enjoy more of her teen years.

 She cooked and cleaned, shuffled the boys to and from basketball practice, she attended the games, made sure they had baths and homework done.
 Is it any wonder she decided against having a child or children of her own?
 Of course I ask her that a lot and she says, "No" but other times when I bring up having kids she said, "I already have. I should just adopt a senior and send him or her to college." I know that she is using her sense of humor, but sometimes I wonder if, especially now if she has given up much of her life for me.
 Still to this day, she cooks and cleans for me. She shuffles me back and forth to doctors that she needs to be with me for, she has been there for days at each surgery and it didn't matter where it was she was there and she stayed at my side until I came home. Only one time did she have to leave, but she was there for the surgery and much of the night before she had to leave to come home.
 She says I owe her nothing, but I do. I know that it is not an amount of money or material things that matter to her. But I owe her so much in her giving of time, love and attention. I hope she knows how much she means to me.

 Not just Karyn, but all of my kids. I love them all. I don't love one more than the other. I love them differently tho. Jonathan was my first born, so there is a special bond there.
 Karyn was my Princess K. We battled. I wanted her to be girly and dress her frilly and she detested Pink. Now it is one of her favorite colors.
 Laurie was a mixture of a girly girl and a tomboy. She would wear a dress to church or special occasions but most of the time it was blue jeans and boots. She was the quiet one and it is true that you have to watch the quiet ones. Our run in's are legend.
 Matthew... He was planned. I wanted another baby and I decided that if I got pregnant that month then I would. If not then I would get my tubes tied. I got pregnant. I also think that I developed Diabetes then but they just didn't catch it. Matthew is his father's son. Charming and handsome brown eyed man. It is tho he gives his heart to easy and to fast to the girls. He seems to always come out on the losing end. I pray he will find someone deserving of his heart.
 Nathan was my surprise baby. Not only a surprise but his soft spot closed at birth. They told me brain over ride. Where the skull closes during the birth process to protect the brain. But that is not what happened. Being a diabetic, the insulin caused the skull to fuse together. Surgery and way over a year later he was in my lap. We could not allow him to hit his head. They chose not to put a helmet on him. We have a special bond as well.

 Anyway I am not sure where all of this came from today. I was just thinking how thankful that I am for my family and my friends. Every person in my life holds a very special place in my heart. I am like Matthew in so many ways. Some friends are better left in the past. Others are in my present and I hope they are in my future as well.

 On to other news. I vacuumed my room, and even my baseboards. My bed got a good shaking out and clean bedding. Cisco's bed as well. I dusted and put away things and wondered just how in the world did I have so much mail pile up.
 I made another call to the Visa card company. The card has not been activated so they cannot track it. They are going to deactivate that one and send a new card. I asked them to send it to Miss Edna but no they are to send it to me. This time when it goes in the mail it is going to go to a different postal office and I am going to have it certified so I will get a receipt when she receives it.

 I have been thinking of dinner tonight. I looked up a recipe for a chicken dish on the website I use for my diet. I have the ingredients. I will make green beans with it and I am out of good carbs until Friday but I will figure something out. I do have this rice but it has to soak for 24 hours before I can cook it. So it is too late today for that.

 Thank you for stopping by and listening to my rambling. I better close for now and get on with my day. Have a fantastic evening/day where ever you are in the world... BB

Almost Bedtime For This Old Gal

 This scrap layout is for my sisters Linda and Susie when they went to Europe last year. I came across it on my external hard drive. Enjoy.

 Hello,
 It is getting late here. Almost 10:00 pm and I am getting ready to call it a night. I still have to get my coffee ready for in the morning and put another few dishes in the dishwasher for a full load. While Nathan eats at work, Jonathan and I have very few dishes. I just rinse them off and put them in until I get a full load.

 I made split pea soup today. Jonathan decided he didn't want any of it so I have divided it into half and froze half and kept out the other half for tomorrow. It has been a couple of years since I made any and it was very good.
 I have no idea what to cook tomorrow for the evening meal. I might make a few stuffed peppers tomorrow as I have several that need to be used. And I have plenty of tomatoes to make the sauce with.
 Jonathan wants pinto beans and cornbread. I said. Not on my diet. Feel free to put them in the slow cooker tonight for you but I will have something else. He knows that is not on my food list. Anyway I noticed that he did not put any beans on in the slow cooker lol. I will send them over to Karyn to cook and she can make it for him and bring him a bowl.

 I am still super stiff and have had some problems getting around today. Matt picked up my meds and brought to me tonight so I will be taking those and going to sleep pretty soon. I am just waiting on the boys to get back so that they can take Cisco out before bedtime. He turned his nose up at his dinner tonight. I am out of apples and carrots so he was not wanting to eat just plain kibble but that is what he got. He finally ate it.

 News is short and my bed is calling me. I think that I will go ahead and take my meds and go on and lay down. The boys should be home any minute so I will make sure to tell them to take Cisco out before I fall to sleep.

 Have an awesome Tuesday.... Be kind to one another and enjoy your day... BB

A Lazy Sunday

My page that I made for my sister Linda. This is a current one that I did for this year. Thanks for looking. She had a great Birthday and I am so glad that she did. She is a very special sister to me.

 It is a beautiful Sunday here. It is 64 degrees but will drop down into the 40's tonight. How I wish I could crack my bedroom window, but since we live on the bottom floor, it is not safe to do so. But I do open it during the day. Just nights I close and lock it because we are at our most vulnerable at night and no matter how safe you think that you are, you may not be.

 My son in law Joe and I had a date for the library today. But I got a call from my daughter Karyn and she told me that Joe's feet, both of them are swollen badly. About 2 shoe sizes. Anyway I just seen her. She brought me lunch/dinner. She made a plate for me with a slice of roast with roasted veggies, half of a sweet potato and some sugar free jello.... Yes Miss Edna, all is on my diet. She did not bring me gravy, mashed potatoes or corn which she had at home. My veggies consisted of roasted cabbage, carrots and onions. But there is enough for my dinner tonight. Oh and I just love cabbage anyway that it is cooked, steamed, boiled, roasted or fried. I can actually have fried cabbage cooked in grape seed oil.

 Karyn and I ooohed and awwwed over the pictures of Pogo that Miss Edna sent to me. He is just too cute. I love his little Jammies. They are soooooo cute. And he is so cute in them. I wonder if Cisco would like them. Not sure if he would or not. Oh he knows I am talking about him. He is laying in his bed, opened one eye and is staring at me, eyes drooping occasionally. Silly Boy. I just took a photo of him. I am going to go get it to share.

 He is all propped up, better to keep an eye on me lol. He usually lays the other way and in a ball or with his nose tucked into his blanket. He is getting old. It is breaking my heart, but he doesn't act his age. He still loves to rough house with the boys and he likes to run thru the house chasing his balls or toys. He likes his tug of rope and he likes his stuffed babies. I am surprised that he doesn't have one in bed with him.

 I talked with my sister Sharon today and she said that she left me a voicemail. My phone is so low on space that I cannot get voice mail messages anymore. But I found out that my brother in law Raymond will be having open heart surgery. She is worried and I understand why. They cannot get into the cardiologist until Jan. 10th. In the mean time they have a cruise planned and will leave this Saturday for Chile and Peru. She is worried that something will happen on the water, but my brother in law said, if we cancel the cruise, we will just be sitting here at home anyway. So he wants to go and he told her, Let's live while we can. Worrying about it is not going to solve anything. So they are going. They will be back December 21st and will still have a few weeks before they see the cardiologist anyway.
 Raymond is like a dad to me. I was 4 when they got married, so he has been my father figure for most of my life. My dad was a hard man, and hard to get a long with. I loved him of course but I learned early to tip toe around him.
 Raymond on the other hand was the opposite. Fun and Jolly and positive. He has always been the one that I went to when I had a problem. He is the one that talked to me about the birds and the bees and he is the one that guided me in life. Of course I grew up with their children. So my sister and her husband was more like my family than my own was.
 This is going to be hard for me, but my sister especially. I hope that they have a wonderful time on their cruise.

 Well I guess I had better go for now. I am waking up stiff in the mornings and it is taking longer and longer for my meds to kick in for the stiffness and the pain. My shoulders and neck especially. I have resorted to using the cream that my pain management doctor prescribed for me 3 times a day now. I was just using it once or twice a day but I am needing it a bit more now. I also think that they need to up my pain meds by just a little. Maybe just for the mornings. Not much but maybe a half a pill. I will talk to her at my next appointment and see what she thinks. It has been a long time since I have needed an increase.

 I have a story to tell you today. Not much of one but over Thanksgiving I sent Nathan to the store to get me some bleach. I make my own dish washing detergent. It is much cheaper than buying it. Anyway years ago when the boys were growing up, this is about Matthew and Nathan, I would send them to the store and it never fails they would come home with out what I asked for. It would be in the same linage but not what I needed.
 One time I sent them to get me a head of lettuce.. We lived right next door to the supermarket. They come home with the hugest head of cabbage I ever saw. I said "This is not lettuce, this is cabbage." Matt grumbled all the way back to the store and finally returned with a scrawny head of lettuce.
 Another time I sent them for a package of toilet tissue. I was in between paydays and I made it clear as I handed them my last $20.00 bill just to get the cheapest 4 pack that they had. That would get us thru to payday.
 Matt comes dragging in the most expensive 24 roll that they had. Well he didn't want to take it back and I said, look you have to because what money I have left out of that twenty dollars is what I have to put in the gas tank to get back and forth to work this week. In those days I made them walk together every where they went. We lived in a huge city, Las Vegas and I always worried about them so Nathan this day griped that he had to go back to the store with Matthew and return the toilet paper. Matt just complained that it was embarrassing having to haul it back and return it. I told him maybe he would start to listen to instructions and if he had been listening to begin with instead of being more concerned with his I-Pod then he would not be making a second trip.
 Neither boys have really improved. Even if I write it down. Even now I have problems with them.
 Jonathan makes me write a list and I have to be very specific because if for example I put Water on my list he will come home with the big jugs of purified water. To him water is water. He gets what is on sale.
 So I have to write on my list: 2 Cases Of Spring Water in the Bottles..... You would think after 3 years of shopping for me he would automatically know what to buy. It is a good thing that he at least can read lol.
 Anyway the day before Thanksgiving I give Nathan the money and asked him to go to get me a bottle of bleach as they were going to Walmart. Well naturally he forgot so I said Okay just go get it from Walgreen's when you go later on.
 Thanksgiving comes and I need to start a load of dishes in the dishwasher. The only task my daughter let me do.
 So I am looking all over for the bleach and I ask Nathan, "You forgot to get my bleach didn't you?"  "I bought it last night Mom."
 "Where is it?"
 "I put it on the counter. You must be blind, it is sitting right there on the counter."
 I looked and looked and all I saw was Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner. So I said "Okay maybe I am blind because I don't see bleach anywhere."
 He comes in and hands me the Toilet Bowl Cleaner... "Right here Mom... Clorox Bleach." I am still shaking my head over that one.
 "You want me to wash dishes with Toilet Bowl Cleaner?"
 He shrugged and said... "Bleach is Bleach"...........

 So I hope that you got a chuckle from my story of my boys..... Have an awesome day and week ahead.... BB

Happy Birthday Linda

 Happy Birthday to my sweet sister Linda. I made this page for her last year. I haven't done one for this year yet. We had to disconnect the internet yesterday so we could move Karyn's work computer and when we connected to the internet again I was busy just enjoying my family.

 Our day was awesome and peaceful. No arguments except the good nature'd teasing from one sibling to the next. We talked about past holidays and some were hilarious conversations that had us in stitches.
 By the time that dinner was served and we decompressed Jon took Karyn home and I came to my room for a bit. Then I decided to put the rest of the food away and then finished up a little bit of the kitchen.
 Still I didn't sleep well. Sometimes I think that I might be to tired to rest well. I got up at 1:30 to go to the bathroom and that was it. I never really slept well after that. But all is not lost. I did finally go to sleep.

 Patsy and I are chatting now about books that we want to read and authors. It is so fun chatting about things we have in common. Today I will be doing my publications for her. I haven't done them in awhile. So I will be doing that today. I think I have 4 pages that need to be sent to the forums that I have chosen. She will do the ones for the stores because I am not doing those. I don't mind the others because they are my choice.

 The weather here is so nice still. It is a bit warm today. It is 75 degrees here and will not get much lower tonight. But Cisco is enjoying the day and that is what is important for my boy.
 He is so funny with the boys. They come in and play with him and he acts so funny with his balls and blankets. We have a ritual with his bones too. That is so wonderful to watch him get so excited. He will take it and run with it... then wait for one of us to act like we are going to take it from him and he will run away from us again. He finally will eat it, but he likes the game.

 Christmas is just around the corner. It is one of my favorite holidays. This year will be bittersweet as we are going to my sister's house December 16th for Christmas dinner. It is really the only time that she can have it this year and it falls on the day of my mother's passing, so it is bittersweet, but mama loved Christmas so this is really a great way to still celebrate her.
 I really hope that nothing crops up to keep us from going. I know that the kids are off work but transportation could be a problem.
 Jonathan's car is needing to go into the shop and Matthew might not be here. He might be driving to Reno to see his kids this year. I was hoping to go, but I don't know but Matt sort of made an issue out of it so I changed my plans. I really don't have the money to spend on the extra food and such so I will let him go by myself.

 I want to save what money I can for my trip to Florida to be with Miss Edna and Pogo this year. I tried to save thru out the year, but it was harder than I thought that it would be. So what money I will have will be geared to that.
 I swear there was nothing more peaceful than sitting out on Edna's porch having coffee with Pogo in my lap watching the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises and the evening fireworks. Chatting and just doing nothing but enjoying the moments.
 We will demand the flu bug stay far away this year. Poor Edna was so sick. I had to leave a day early and really worried about her. She didn't have a good trip home and then several days later ended up in the hospital... So we are going to guard against all that this coming year, aren't we Miss Edna?

 Everyone have a great weekend. I am going to finish up my pubs for Patsy and then I am going to read a while and watch some tv. I have a new episode of a program I like. Chrisly knows best so I am going to watch that later on.
 Take care everyone and thanks for stopping by.... BB

Happy Thanksgiving 2017

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Friends, and those that do not celebrate our Holiday, I wish you a special day with many Blessings...

 Hello everyone,
  It is a gorgeous Autumn day here. Right now it is 47  degrees but will warm up to 57 sometime today. It is so crisp and cool outside. I took my coffee out and Cisco was not impressed. He wanted back in almost as soon as I sat down. I let him back inside and he went on to his bed and blanket lol.

 I have been banned from the kitchen. We are not having a traditional meal. We are having Tortilla Soup and Beef Fajitas. Karyn is even making me a couple of tortillas out of Spelt flour but I told her that was not necessary and I would just have the filling and forget about the tortilla. But she is going to make me a couple of tortillas. I only need one but I can save it for tonight or tomorrow I suppose.

 Oh I have some awesome news to share. My doctor changed my insulin and I had 17 boxes that were unused. The pharmacy said that they couldn't take them back but I could bring them in to be destroyed.
 I was not about to do that. Ok that is Thousands of dollars worth of insulin. Seriously. Each box of pens cost $1,348. a box. 5 pens to each box.  Now multiply that by 17 and it comes to $22,916 dollars.... 
 So Karyn went online and found 2 places I could donate to. The first place is called Insulin For Life. I would have to pay shipping cost but it would be sent globally to disaster victims.
 The other place is a clinic right here in Austin so we called them and they said they would take it. They give it to people here in Austin and so Karyn and I took it to them yesterday. They were delighted to get it. 
 You know it felt so good to be able to make a donation like that to people that needs it. It makes a difference to give and it made me feel good too.

 Tomorrow is my sister Linda's birthday. I need to make a page for her. Last year her birthday fell on Thanksgiving. The year before it fell on my granddaughter Cathy's birthday. 

 I hate to cut this short but Karyn is allowing me to come in and watch her make the soup so I know how to do it... 

 Blessings to all....... xxx BB

Almost Turkey Time

 Good Morning,

 It is a gorgeous brisk morning here. Today is in the 50's and nice and cool. Cool for me, Freezing for my kids lol. But they are cold at 80 degrees. Go figure. The other night I woke up sweating. I looked at the thermostat and it said 78 degrees. I turned it down to 68 degrees. You would think that they are living in the Arctic by the way they bundle up.

 I had to go to the doctor yesterday. It was quiet the adventure. The lady that picked me up was new and she got lost in our apartment complex so I called her to direct her to me. It is easy to get lost in this complex because it is big. My day started off in a rush as I over slept so I was in the shower when she called and so I jumped out to answer the phone and tell her I would be right out. I rinsed off and threw on my clothes and headed out to find she was not there.
 Then off we went. I wondered why she was going towards downtown but thought well perhaps she knows a quicker way. Finally she pulled up at this clinic and stopped and I thought, oh she must have another patient to pick up, but she came around and opened my door and said, "Call me when your finished."
 I told her that this was not where I was going and she looked at her logs and said, "Oh I am so sorry." Back into the drivers seat she went and off we went. We made it with 5 minutes to spare. I had another driver on the way home and he was prompt. He said 10 minutes and he was right on the money. He was one of my favorite drivers and he said she was new and so I gave her a bit of slack since she was new. Still I guess that I should have asked when I saw her going down town. We have to travel towards down town to get to where I am going, but then we turn off. We were past our turn off point by the time I realized it and just a couple of minutes later she pulled up at some other clinic.
 My appointment went well. I was sad to hear that one of the receptionists there had moved to another office. I will miss her. She and I use to chat in between patients. I like the other girl too but she is really busy with other work as well as check in's and check out's.
 By the time I got home it was 4:00 pm. I ate my dinner early and laid down. My meds really make me so tired and I was already tired from not sleeping well the night before. Jonathan woke me up for dinner. He didn't know that I had already eaten, but I checked my sugar and it was right where it should be so I had a small plate (saucer) of brown rice and baked chicken breast with green beans and a few grapes. He is learning my diet. Thumbs up Jon. So I didn't have to have a snack. I got up this morning with a great blood sugar. I will take it!!!

 To all of my American friends I really hope that you all have a Fantastic Thanksgiving. Being thankful for family and friends is such a Blessing. I am so thankful for everyone in my life. I am thankful for my home, family, and my beloved dog Cisco. I am thankful that my children are giving and loving and I am thankful for all the Blessings in my life.

 News is short here today. I have so much I need to do. So everyone have a great day. Today is cleaning for me after I get back from running my errands... BB

Lordy What A Day So Far

 Hello All,

 I hope that everyone is having a great day. To everyone here in the U.S. Happy Thanksgiving week! Only a few more days until a lot of folks will be with family and friends and enjoying the holiday. As for me and my family, we are just going to be at home. Karyn is making Tortilla soup and I am sure that she will find a few other things to make. I will just be happy with the soup. She is also going to make me some garbanzo beans as well and I will freeze most of it and make hummus out of it.
 We even thought of desert. This is what we are planning to make Wednesday evening, once again from Ty's Conscious Kitchen.

 I have everything but the apples. We have no idea how it will turn out but I hope it is good. Well we are giving it a try and see what happens.

 Lordy people you do not know how popular you really are until you get Hacked On Facebook. I got hacked and if any of you are my FB friends and reading my blog, I am so sorry. I did not send it. My daughter called me early this morning and told me that I was hacked and to go in and change my password.
 I started getting text after text after text that no one could open the video. I had to send out... Do Not Open, It Is Not Me... It IS A VIRUS... change your password to FB now.... All of this before coffee too.

 Then I had to take some paperwork to the office and then I had to come back and wait for the repairman. I am getting a Brand New from the store Fridge. Of course it was running fine while he was here and the water was no where in site until he pulled out the fridge and ohhhh what a mess. He cleaned it up tho. I told him that I didn't want this one repaired because it has been repaired several times since I have been here a little over a year so he said... I agree, I will go and order you a new one right now and get it in tomorrow morning. Sooner if I can.  Home Depot is just a couple of miles from here and so is Lowes. Can't they just go and pick one up???? But maybe they do business with an appliance company other than Home Depot or Lowes. I don't know but I hope that by the time I get home from the doctor tomorrow I will have my new fridge.

 My neck and shoulder are hurting so I won't be on long today. I have so much I need to do and taking my meds is number one on my list. I have been so busy dealing with this that I have gotten behind so have a great day to all and Happy Monday.... BB