Blue seems appropriate since it's sooooooooo cold outside!

I've been getting ready for Christmas,   and my son's birthday which is tomorrow!

The pets are doing fine,  Chanel sleeps across poor Coco and he just accepts it,  while Chester just takes it all in stride,  or in his case,  all in feathers!

I got my first Christmas card today,  so unexpected from this lovely lady.  She has a darling Pommeraien,  a black/blue one.  Dark button like eyes and as sweet a disposition as they come.  The Pom is sporting red bows in her hair for the holidays.

We got about 2 inches of snow this morning,  just enough to call in the snow plow guy.  It's one of the few things I don't miss about having a car!

It's good to have my phone,  internet,  and cable turned back on.  I decided I didn't like being THAT shut off from the world!!  

It wasn't like I thought it was going to be.....oh well.

Strangely enough,  I see to be fitting in to my new home.  I didn't think that would happen.  We'll see what happens during the next year,  if I still feel this happy and content.  

Life has been a bit rough around the edges lately, so haven't been here to meander through the thoughts of my debilitated mind!

The monitor is on the blink, on and off the blink that is.....and my older puter, with the update on it ( Windows XP ) can't get online! Had gotten some viruses, so now is a pain...


My health too has been a problem....and so it goes.
I suppose because I'm "under the weather" is why I'm so short tempered lately....little things can really get under my saddle blanket!

I hope the next few days I can recover a little and snap back to my usual "merry little self"....
So....WHAT drives YOU????

A former supervisor asked me that onetime...and it's been 18 years of soul searching to answer it.....
Food defintely comes to mind!

I think finding "my place in the sun" is another, finding that spot that is just mine. Knowing who I am, where I came from, and what it all means..............

Love is huge driving force, and for a long, long time the need to be loved drove me for sure...the seeking of approval, affection, and being loved no matter what.

Isn't it true that that's what we all want? to be loved unconditionally???

My life has taken a huge turn since January, when I opened the door to let my daughter back in.
Healing the rift was and is a slow, careful process. She's sober now, and working at putting her life back together.

Febuary saw Coco, my Yorky/Poodle puppy fill my life to overflowing with love and happiness...and then...
Sometime this late spring, early summer, I heard that my middle grandson had been attacked, assulted by two teens.

My heart aches for my daughter and for the boy.

Since that information I've had worse health, and the doctor thinks that I"ve had a small stroke. So now I need to put my life in order, for one never knows how much longer they'll be on earth....
I'm soaking up all the hugs I can get, from my son, neighbors, my pets, and looking forward to the day when my daughter and I might be able to get together, for she's now in a nursing home and having a very rough time of it......
So hug your kids, your pets, and make the best of each day, what else is there??

Summer is simmering along, just as it should. The weather is doing what it does best, confusing everyone! LOL, I LOVE that.

Chanel the 5th and Coco are still having issues, although more tolerance is being granted by her towards him. He's more nonchanlant now too as he is growing out of puppyhood and into his "adolescence"...yikes!

They have company. Yup, another pet entered the melee. Chester came to roost at my home. He's a two year old male Parakeet, and a very fast learner, why just the other night I said "oh crap", outloud of course, and he repeated it instantly.
NOW i have to be real careful what I say....

He has learned a big vocabulary just since he moved in. He says " pretty bird, dirty bird, hello Jim, Coco, roll-over, go to bed, what are you doing, I'm talking to my sister, hi Chester and probably more...hard to remember what all I"ve heard him come out with.
He loves his toys, which are many, however the favorite is the big green plastic worm that sings, talks, whistles, ect.

OH, ya, he also whistles that french song, can't figure out how to spell it though! He also whistles the theme from the Laurel and Hardy shows...whatta bird.
Now I feel like the old man in the movie "UP"!! I've got the bird, the dog, the boy, and one extra with a cat!!

That movie WAS THEEEE best movie I've seen in decades!! A real winner all the way around.

Went to the parade here in town yesterday, loved it. had a good time. Hard a chance to go with son and friends, didn't plan on going, then had second thoughts and decided to celebrate life and go enjoy it.
Life for my dear daughter continues down a sad path, she's not getting better. I hope to be able to get into the cities to visit her in the nursing home, and also connect with the grandchildren.
Prayers for her are on my mind all day, and it's difficult to just do the same old stuff everyday.....knowing what she's going through.

Would things have been different if I hadn't cut off contact with her back in 03? Maybe, then again, I knew she was on a road that held danger for her...there's toooo many possibilities that "could have" happened had I not said goodby back then. Maybe opening the door again will be one small piece that helps her to make it through this...only God knows.

And so it goes............good times, bad times....just like the song...maybe not what the singer was singing about, yet those few lyrics fit.

It's a fine day here! Loads of sunshine, cloudless skies, and a gentle breeze.
Mr. Squirrel is busy eating up some of the birdseed I've put out for the songbirds.
After I spent the morning washing out the cupboards in the kitchen, lining them, and puttting them into some kind of order, I had the pleasure of having a Bunting at the feeder. I got a few pictures, however the double windows don't allow for a good shot. Least that's what I think the bird was, I knew it wasn't a BlueJay or BlueBird.

I did get some good pictures of the Red Finches, Yellow Finches, or maybe they're GoldFinches....and one awesome bird that I'm not sure what it is.
He has a white breast, black hood with a black overcoat, and white sprinkles on his overcoat. What makes him stand out is the scarlet "bib" or necklace he has. He's not afraid of us humans, so I should be able to get even better pics of him!
The birds I thought were woodpeckers are actually Whitebreasted Chickadees. There is a woodpecker though that frequents this area.

The dog training is going good, he's now going outside instead of using papers. I couldn't see using newspapers as a permanent way of life with Coco, especially since he'll eventually lift his leg!!

One afternoon Coco decided that he wanted to get to get better aquainted with Chanel, so he just put his paw over her and licked her half to death. She didn't seem to mind that too much, and is becoming more tolerant of his playfulness, simply walking past him while he's bouncing off the walls.
He's finally almost caught up to her weight, however now she's lost weight, due to my diligence, and they're both about 11 pounds. He won't grow too much more, and is just a tad taller than her, with a bigger head and smaller tummy.

Some of the women here have invited me to play cribbage with them, haven't taken them up on it yet, told them I needed a little more time as I have somethings to get accomplished. Looks like the end of this coming week will mean I"ll have a clear schedule, finally!

I'm having eye surgery in June, hope it goes as well as my last one, in 2005. I didn't realize it had been 4 years! My left eye has been rapidly getting difficult to see out of.
The eye surgeon explained what kinds of things are going on with it, and I had to agree, while giggling, that indeed things do look yellow and brown!

It's just amazing to me how dog and people friendly this place is! What a difference between here and where I was living before!!!!
That's not to say that there isn't any disagreeable sorts at all, however most of the folks here are just plain, simple, regular folks. There isn't any of the "fancy airs" that were put on at the last place, to say nothing of the outright meaness.
And that's all I have to say about that!

We're having a pizza party here for Memorial Day, now that's different!
My son and I were talking about putting together a picnic for the near future.
Also we're considering the possibilty of going camping. While the "idea" of it appeals to me, I have to wonder if it won't be too much for me. Even with taking Coco, having Chanel in a kennel or with a neighbor, it seems like too hard for me to cope with at this point in my life.
Mobility is an issue.
Other fun things are out there for the summer, so we'll talk more and maybe make some arrangements that will be a better fit.

Looks like the Twins lost to the Yankees again. Well it was a tough series for both teams, the Yankees didn't win easily. The Twins did and outstanding job I think.
Besides, it ain't over til the fat lady sings, and I can't carry a tune....
Be well :)

Coco is recovering just fine and dandy from his surgery, I know this because him and the cat, Chanel, teamed up tonight and ran circles around me, me chasing them all over the apt. trying to catch just one of them.
I caught the cat first, and then she acted totally indifferent, like nothing had just happened...
Wish you could have seen them, running together like a pack of wild animals, ducking under the bed, and then splitting up and going in different directions!

My mother's day was just super. Son came home with deli food, and a pkg. of brownies with sprinkles. Yesterday he got me a coin purse with enbroidered butterfly on it.
Received about 6 ecards from daughter and the grandkids. We still have to set a date to connect and visit.

Her wounds still aren't healing right. I hope and pray that maybe getting some hugs from home will help her to heal up.

My week ahead is planned out, and I prolly won't return til Thurs. and then that day will be out of town for half a day. With some luck maybe can take in that new Star Trek movie!

The grass has really greened up good now, and I got songbird seed for the birdfeeder and hung it up next to the livingroom window.

Ran into some old friends while shopping yesterday, got a hug and caught up on all the latest chat.

Took a 24 hr. sample into the clinic's lab for testing, my regular doc ordered it so the specialist has that for a point of reference. I pray that I'm years away from dialysis. Doesn't sound like sitting for over 3 hours would be easy, not with my spine issues.
The great news is that getting more exercise here has paid off, I knew that my jeans being lose wasn't my imagination!

Spring and summer hold much promise, for fun and happiness. Since getting Coco I've laughed more in 3 months than I have in decades, it sure feels great!

Life rolls along, the weather is incredibly lovely! Warm days, cool nights, and the grass is greening up.

Cocoa is doing great with training, and Chanel is still batting him in the face for absolutely no good reason! Such a jealous cat she is!

I got to thinking the other day that I've accomplished a lot of the goals that I'd made for myself two years ago, so now it's time for new ones.

I won't be having a vegetable garden this year, so will miss the fresh tomatoes, ect. Maybe a trip to the local farmer's market every week will fix that.

A long overdue debt is being paid in June, then perhaps I can take a trip, with a clear conccious, come fall.

I have some personal goals that will be getting started tomorrow. Why I've put off even starting is a puzzle. Perhaps the fear of not being perfect....well I sure know that being perfect ain't ever gonna happen!

Since moving, I have to revise my will, the one that I've put off finishing...
This coming week it has to be finished, with signatures. THEN I can rest without that hanging over my head.

I look forward to next week, I can't hardly wait to get to go buy flats of flowers for my yard! I wish it could look as great as my sister's yard did, she sent me pics one summer and oh my goodness, she's a natural gardner!

Well, I'm pretty scattered today, prolly cause i've been sick for a week now, and today is the second day I've felt good. Homesickness has been with me too, seems worse every change of season and then I ajust..


Well hiho, hiho, it's off to do housework i go!

Life is just a bowl of cheerios!
Crunchy, sweet and healthy for me!

It's also busy, training a puppy, buttering up the cat to fend off her
tendency to be jealous, and enjoying the company of youngest child.

Easter wasn't all I had hoped it would be,........no card from daughter, and no card from either sister. I last called them, and emailed them...so the ball is in their court now. Se La vie. My son didn't show up on time for our Easter dinner, and then didn't bring the potatoes as he'd promised, and didn't want to eat.
What the hell?

Some Easter huh?

Oh well, my cat loves me.

I found a reeallly nice ottoman by the dumpster, a chocolate brown and only a slight tear in it. Good quality one it is. Great for the light brown chair I bought a month ago.

I've nursed my son's Spider plant back to good health, it's growing now and very green.
The palms, once yet again, have taken a beating. This time the puppy got ahold of them. I'd used banana peel to nourish them and Coco found them quite tasty!
This pooch LOVES fruit and vegetables! Just like me!! How great is that?

The lady that cleans here offered me a dining table as she'd heard I didn't have one. OH it is to die for! Real wood, solid, and it opens up with a leaf for more room if needed. A dark finish on it, old looking legs. Sooooooooooo much better than the glass-topped table I gave away. I just need a couple of chairs now.

I wasn't sure which road my new home was going to take, in regards to decorating, however it's all coming together. A shame I gave away my huge entertainment center, with it's glass doors and side storage...however I still have the little one, an oak one. It works I guess..I gave my son the two media towers I'd bought, and then got a tall bookcase for my DVD's. Then I realized I had no place for my few books! So I got another book case, and it's perfect for the black lamp I bought!
This black lamp is awwesome! It looks like something out of the 30's or 40'
s glamor mvies.

Having these nice "things" is all fine and dandy, however it doesn't help with missing my sisters and daughter.....maybe i need to take a friend's advice from long ago and start to do volunteer work again.....maybe, I'll see.

My health continues down the path to the end. I suspect for all of us it does, just differentlly....our paths I mean. We're all on the same road, just different paths....

I'm going to try to gett myself a tricycle, with a basket. I'd love to get out and ride that with Coco. I doubt that Chanel would put up with it.....say a prayer if you would? I'd love to be able to get out more and this would be the way to do it!!!

There's some really strange people living here! The last place I lived had great residents, some nosy ones, however almost all of them were nice. Here, just strange.....
A guy on one side of me talks and yells, to himself. Very very loudly. And the guy across the hall lives with his boyfriend, who, just happens to have his mother living down a different hall here! Her and the dad of the first guy come in and clean their apt. for them!
Yikes.
And then there's the lady that's too sick to live here, had her apt. in unfit living conditions with feces from multiple cats all over. Her family and also some county people came in and fixed it and now she goes back and forth between her apt and her assisted living place.....jeepers....
One guy has been flirting with me, howwever... he wears the same bibs continually, doesn't get haircuts, and is toothless. If he'd only wash up and change clothes I could possibly be interested, however uncleanliness turns me off faster than you can say "OH". ....
I have no problems with one's weight, size, hair amounts, religion, culture. I just can't abide cruelty, head games, judgemental attitudes, nor dirt.

One guy just moved out of here, he's close to death. He moved out having bought a house, and had his girlfriend move in with him. He's my age, and his gf is over 20 years youner, has the mental capacity of a 4 year old, and they get off on her acting tough and him submitting.....OMG...

I guess not having a bf is the end of the world, I just wish there was one special man to hold me and be with me sometimes.......

Oh wwell, like I saw on a coffee mug I want to get ( shows a cowgirl on her horse with her dog tagging along )
" I got my horse and dog, what do I want with a man?!!"

and so it goes, anotherr blue Monday down the drain, and what I have accomplished? Well other than housework, I guess I've only been here for my puppy. Maybe that's a lot in this world.....

I'm having computer problems today, appropriate as the weather has been windy, cold, and rainy since yesterday!
The oven is busy cooking up a roast, potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions for my supper, and my mind is thinking that it'd be nice to fix a pudding to go with it...hmmm..yummy!

Coco and Chanel are starting to get along, a little bit at a time. Coco is a fast learner, eager to please, he looks so dang cute sitting on the floor, trying to keep from falling over as he sits there...and Chanel is disgusted it seems, and then a minute later wants to see him and smell him.
Sometimes a picture tells the story too...hehe.
The date on the pictures are wrong though, the correct date was 2/14/09
Coco is now 7 months old, a real old man! hehe....got him on Valentine's Day, he's my heart healer...
That's all for now, been coping with puter issues all afternoon, so am gonna keep this short.

a cold day here, bout 17 below zero in my neighborhood. Typical for Minnesota.
Heard from my daughter on Wednesday, she's not doing well.
Hard to put it into words...........

My move is scheduled for Sat., 5 or 6 Lions' Club men will help load the truck along with a youth group from a church, and they'll have adult males supervising the youth. I might, for the first time in my adult life, not have to tote that barge and lift that box!

My cat is full of the dickens, it's like someone put a quarter in her! Holy cow, she just runs, howls, and plays like she's a kitten again....she's been spayed so it isn't that.

I can't believe how many things have been pitched out, or donated...moving is such a pain...
Just finished up doing the laundry, wonder how many loads of clothes I've washed over my lifetime????
seems like one's age doesn't determine how many loads one has washed thoooough.....

the bad part about moving is that ya get rid of all the food you can, so you don't have to move it! Makes for a hungry few days before the move...

So another Saturday night and I ain't got nobody.....

Today things seem much, much brighter.
I found out that I've got the apt. and that the church group, along with the Lions' Club, will be moving me in 2 weeks!

I just heard on the local news that a plane landed in the Hudson River. Good grief! Thank God they all made it out ok! How frightening for all of them. I have to seriously wonder if pilots go gray early...

We had record low temperatures here in Minnesota last night, I haven't heard what our town got down to, however neighboring towns went down to 28 below...so we were about that temp. For sure it was "stay home" temps!
My son, who is sick, had to go out to go to the clinic. I wished he'd seen anyone but the doctor he got. This doctor believes in giving as little medicine as possible, and started him on Prednisone and Albuterol. Good on the asthma med, not so good on the steroid....that will drive his appetite sky high, and he's trying to lose weight!
His eardrums are swollen, and this doc didn't give him antibiotics, even though he's been ill for over a week now....we'll see how he fares.

My cat is crazy, I taught her to do a "Sara Palin"....she turns her head sideways when I say "Sara" and sometimes she can wink just one eye, sometimes she winks both, can't seem to handle both all the time. So now when she wants a treat I get to see her version...

She's also funnier than heck with her sneezing routine, I didn't know if I could teach her that one. Dogs are easy to train, not so with cats...
so I taught her all right...only she seems to only do it when I'm online and want to left alone. Sometimes she combines her sneeze with a yawn, sometimes she'll yawn and end it with a sound. Whatta cat!

I really wish I could convince the new landlord that I need both my cat AND a dog.....maybe there's a way..doubt it though...

Don't know what's on tv tonight, I wish tv WOULD go to the dogs! The cable channels have a lot of programming revolving around dogs....maybe after my move is settled I'll have to revert back to cable to get tv I like...
I did enjoy the auditions on American Idol last night! What a hoot, and the good ones were so impressive!

One of my neighbors came over last night to bring me oranges, apples, carrots, and cottage cheese and to wish me well on my move. She left to go to the west coast for the remainer of winter and figures she won't see me again..isn't that odd how sometimes when we move away we don't stay in touch?
I want to stay in touch with a few ladies here, one of them especially has been a sweetheart to me.
She always has a pat on the back, or a hug, a kind word for all, and asks how my day is going.
One day we had a horrific summer storm and a lot of residents lost their phones, their tvs, ect. When I heard her phone was out I gave her one I'd gotten from my sister. I don't care much for cordless phones so it wasn't a big deal to me, however..................it WAS a big deal to her, her daughter and son-in-law....
This neighbor kept wanting to give me money, do me a favor, and one night when we were watching our favourite baseball team, the Minnesota Twins of course, she said to me: I just don't feel right not giving you money for that phone, I want to give you something". So I said the first thing that came to my lips.....oh these lips of mine could sink a ship......
I said to her: "I don't WANT any money, I don't want anything, I gave you the phone cause ya needed it and I had it there just sitting. If you're all fired up bout giving me something, get a signed autograph of those Twins!"
She looked sooooooooooooooo astonished, and asked if I wanted ALL of their autographs??
Well I quickly saw her distress and said: " oh ok, just one then, and she wanted to know if "Joe Mauers" autograph would be good.
Well I was estatic!
I hadn't done the phone thing for reasons other than her need.....yet a chance for an autograph was beyond belief. Her son-in-law couldn't get the autograph, however he gave a picture of Joe and also a Joe Mauer BobbleHead and I was happy beyond any words I could type here!!
It was a delight to meet my friend's daughter and son-in-law. They're neat people, so down to earth, and they are really, really good to her.

What with my one friend passing away just before Thanksgiving, and the health stuff, I sure was down yesterday, however we bounce back usually.
It's just a case of too much stuff for me at onetime....

It's sure good to be hungry tonight! Good thing I thawed out chicken breast!

Figured out what was up with my Canon SureShot camera, and need to get a second memory card for that Kodak camera. I'm going to try to post some pics here, although it's real easy over at Utube. I want to get more video of my cat doing her stuff, that should be a howl!
God Bless you all and hope the week goes well for you.

I'd like to be writing "in the pink" however red is more suitable for today's post.
Been a while since I was here, and of course it doesn't seem to matter to anyone anyway.

It seems the whole world is falling apart, war, devastating weather, and the economy.
All of it, somehow, is affecting all of us, in one way or another.

I have hopes the new president will be to do some good for all mankind.

Once upon a time someone once said to me, when they brought me food, "now don't count on me to be your great white hope". I didn't understand what that meant then, and asked for an explanation of the phrase.
NOW I understand the meaning....and I hope our new president is our great hope, period.

I turned in my notice to move, and of course I did it before I secured a new home...
IF I had called anyone, talked with anyone, perhaps my rash actions would have been prevented.

I, to this day, don't know if I will have an apt. to go to, I could be homeless in two weeks.
So why you ask, did I do this??

After getting the news that I'm in stage 3 kidney failure, I kind of fell apart, more bad news regarding my health is the last straw....

Many things are gone from my home, I've given much away....and I have't a care about them.

I'm pretty much at the end of my rope....I'm sad for all the heartache and sorrow the world is going through right, I'm not callous. Like a friend once said to me, "well you didn't create the problems of the world". No, I didn't, sometimes I just feel guilty for feeling so lost in my own problems.

And so it goes............
I sure need a friend now, and don't know where they are....some here are like vultures feeding at a house before the body is cold.

I know my son cares, I just can't burden him very much, I try to protect him from the depth of my hurt.

I reckon it'll be what it'll be....que sera sera.........
till later,
God Bless All