So STOP ALREADY!!!

This is a house that slid down a hill and plopped right in the middle of Hiway 20! Blocking that route!



We are now officially cut off from the rest of the US!! All of the cross Mountain passes are closed due to landslides, or avalanches, and I-5 is closed at Chehalis due to flooding. US 101 which is the hiway that runs around the Olympic Natl park, and on down to California is closed in many spots due to either flooding or landslides. Between Portland and Seattle, there are 10,000 semi's daily that are stopped and can not get through with their loads. All of the alternate routes are closed due to flooding. It may be 5 days before the water goes down and they survey the road beds to make sure they are safe again.



THis is our famous Snoqualmie Falls, which is technically larger than Niagra Falls, and it is so full and flooding that you can not see the river below!




This is what we looked like last week. there was over 6 feet of snow in the higher hills and in the mountain passes just last week! THen it warmed up and started raining on top of all of this, which made for really full creeks and rivers. It is Historic flooding!

This is what happens when you pave Mother Nature and thumb your nose at her and build on a slope that once had trees on it to stabilize the mud and rocks. People just are stunned that their brand new McMansions are sliding down hill and crashing onto the road below. DUH!!! Maybe this weather will make all those Californians that ran up here and bought up all our cheap land, go back where they came from.

You won't believe this, but the city of Seattle had made a ruling to go green with their snow removal, and not use salt, as it would impact the salmon streams. So the people that moved up here are screaming mad that their roads were full of snow and ice and they were not happy. DEAL WITH IT FOLKS! I was snowed in for over two weeks. Did you hear me scream? NO! I knew it would eventually melt, and I was all prepared for it!

The north Cascades hiway 20, Stevens Pass hiway 2, Snoqualmie Pass I-90, White Pass hiway 410 Cayuse Pass hiway 12 and I-5 South to Portland are all closed for at least 3 more days. The sun is sposed to come out later this afternoon, but the rain is still falling in the mountains and the rivers will not all crest until later tomorrow.

Sun would be really nice about now...

birds of Winter

Having spent most of the entire month of December in bed sicker than a dog, I had a chance to watch the tiny little birds at the suet feeder, and the platform feeder that was heavy with snow for almost 3 weeks.

The Ruby Crowned Kinglet is one that for several years I had been trying to identify, and it was not until last summer that I saw him stick his ruby feather up through the olive colored ones. He hides it well. He is sooo tiny. Even smaller than the Black-capped chickadees!

Today, as I was drinking my morning coffee, the feeders were rather busy. Spotted doves, two kinds of chickadees, house finches, kinglets, Downy woodpeckers and Hairy Woodpeckers, and the tiny little nuthatches. It was a busy place. Even Jupiter, the nasty bird-killer from next door, was slowly sneaking up on his own personal hors'dourves tray! Sadie chased him off, and off flew the rest of the crowd.

Yesterday, I was watching them all and suddenly they all just dissappeared. A Cooper's Hawk dropped down out of the canopy of the alders and tried so very hard to have his lunch at my expense. He lost!

I am ever so slowly getting my self back together. My cough is still there, but getting better, and I can actually breathe. I spent New Years Eve unconcious! Tylenol 3 with Codeine sure makes you sleep. But then I am a cheap drunk anyway, you just whisper "narcotics" and I am OUT like a light. I could never get addicted to illegal drugs, I miss too much of life. I am still waiting for Christmas! My kids came over on each weekend, Donna right after Christmas, and Tim on New years. I will Cook my Christmas Prime RIb dinner when they can all be here. Tim works most weekends, (overtime) trying to meet a deadline on re-painting a NOAH research ship. He Loves his job!

Today I have a pot-luck and Board Meeting for The Coupeville Festival, so I am going to try and not cough in public! I'm not contagious any more, but try telling that to people!

Hope you all had a good Holiday season!

white christmas!

Sherry took these pictures and gave them to me, because she knew I was so sick in bed, I have had Brochitis, and just slept for two weeks. I even cancelled dinner for Christmas. I didi not want the kids driving that far in this stuff.

I had over 12" in my yard, Which is extremely RARE for us here in Puget Sound. WE did get cold too. down into the teens F. Then up to the high 20's during the day. BRRRRRR we did not lose power though. That is a good thing.

I have not been out of the house in ages and I am getting real cabin fever!! Bob was completely snowed in, so I went and got himf for Christmas Eve and we just sat quietly enjoying the silence of the night,. I like to spend Christmas Eve in a quiet manner. A rare one indeed around here.

It started raining today, so most of the snow is now slush and ice on the roads.

Tim's first christmas out of prison, and he was snowed in too! Ah well, I cancelled the prime rib dinner and said I would have it when everybody was feeling well.

right now I could not stand to smell it cooking! and I make suce a great one too.

Time for more drugs. I am alive and posting...

OK! OK!!!

Alright already!!! I'll POST!!

I have been duly chastised for not posting in so long. The point is I have a LOT to say, but don't quite know how to put it on paper. Have you ever had bees buzzing around in your head looking for a way out? That is how I feel. I have not had a good month, both mentally and physically, and just did not want to let the world in on it. I have tried to write. I sit down at the computer, and my mind goes totally BLANK!

 

I promise I will get better, I am alive, I am still in a tremendous amount of pain, but I do live! I will post. In fact today I ventured out in the 8" of snow that we got this week, and drove into town, snapping pictures all the way. I will edit them tomorrow and post then.

 

In the mean-time. I am here, I have not quit blogging. I WONT quit unless I loose power. I just may not blog every day. I wont be a quitter like some people I know! Wink wink...

Hope you are all well and ready for the holidays...stay warm!

Dear Santa....

I am the Photographer for the fill in show...Dear Santa...here are a few candids from it.

Dear Santa....

I am the Photographer for the fill in show...Dear Santa...here are a few candids from it.

Flying saucers!

Every Fall, our weather does some very strange things, one of them being the weather patterns over Mt. Rainier. Back in the 50's someone saw this cloud formation and thought it was a flying saucer over the Mountain. From this came the reports that Washington State was being invaded. It slowly went away, and now it only pops up again when the clouds form. These are called Ventricular clouds, and are formed by the warm air meeting the cold air, and swirling...similar to tornadic action, but not nearly as powerful.

Yesterday, the clouds appeared again, and in the most vivid of colors. KOMO TV had several pictures on their website, and I stole this one!

I just LOVE the flying saucer clouds...oooooo, let's get another rumopr started!!

CRAP!!

I have been cat-sitting DOttie's cats for a week while she flew to St. Louis for Thanksgiving. Today was the day I was to take them back home.

Her baby, Tyler is a LOVER but he is a PEST! I spent all night last night shoving him off of my head where he kept wanting to sit and drool on my pillow. Nothing worse than cat drool on your pillow!! YUCK!!

So finally I gave up around 830 and got up. As soon as my feet hit the floor, he disappeared! now Tippy her Siamese, was right there, so I got her into her carrier just fine, but no Tyler. (Tippicanoe and Tyler too!!) ((Seriously!!)) Tyler was still no where to be found.

I had appointments lined up all day, and had to get going. I put Tippy in the car, and went back to see if I could find Tyler. Nope, no where, not under the bed, not in the garage, not under the tree, nowhere! I bribed him with food, NOTHING. So I headed back out to the car, and realized that I had forgotten SADIE, so I went to go back in, and I had locked my keys IN the house.

I trudged in my birkenstocks around the back in the wet grass, to get in the back door, on the way around, I stepped right in Fresh Doggie-doo. ARRRGH!! I am wiping my shoe on wet grass, to get it all off, and my foot comes out of my shoe, and being unsteady on my feet anyway, I lost balance and planted my shoeless foot right back in the smelly shit! CRAP!! As I was trying to walk with my toes pointed up, I dragged my cuff into it also!! DOUBLE CRAP. So I get on the back porch and am balancing on one foot to get my shoe off, my sock off, and peel my pants off so I would not track itinto the house. Right there in the back yard I stand almost NEKKID!! and COLD!

I got in, changed clothes, got the keys went back to the car, and FORGOT TO GET SADIE!!
Back into the house, got the dog, got the list, got the camera and headed off to do my list of chores...

As soon as I got home last night and flopped on my bed to distribute my meds into the weekly slots, up right in the middle of it all jumps Tyler. He was all friendly and ready to say he was sorry. SO I called his Mommie and told her that I found him and would bring him in tonight on the way to swimming. SHEESH!!

Ethel...1993-2008

Ethel died this evening. We had been holding a death watch on her all night and all day. She was stretched out in front of the wood stove, on the rug where she loved to lie, and we just left her there until we knew she qwas gone. I had made up my mind that fear or not, I was going to take her into the Vet today, but they were closed.



I knew she was going to go this weekend. She crawled up on my pillow this morning and could not even purr, her voice was so weak. I cried, and just let her lay next to me. She got up and went and lay in front of her breakfast dish, and did not eat, and that is when I knew for sure.

Ethel was almost 16 years old. I got her when she was only a week old, and her eyes were just open. The W.A.I.F. (Whidbey animal improvement foundation) called my sister and asked if she wanted to foster a kitten, and she said no, but her sister would. So they called me. I went down and they told me that it was TWO kittens...that their mother was feral and had an older litter also, but that she was killed by a car, and one of the older siblings (7 months or so) brought the two kittens to a nearby house where SHE was getting food out the back door. THe kittens were found on the deck, and the woman brought them to WAIF. I bottle fed the two babies every 4 hours, and kept them in my bathroom with only a board (actually the leaf from my table) blocking them in. When they were about two weeks old Ethel started yowling like mad. LOUD and insistent. SO I went in and she was stretched out as tall as she could get trying to get over the board. SHe sounded like Ethel Merman...such a big voice for such a little kitten. Thus her name. Her sister was called Shirley. (????) I dunno, It just came to me. Shirley would let Ethel suck on her belly fur and she did too. It was so funny to watch the two of them.

One day I went in, and they were gone. I could not find them anywhere!! I paniced. I looked under the bed, and there was a tiny hole ripped in the gauze liner of my boxsprings, and the two of them were in there. I got them out, put a bigger board in the bathroom and they stayed there maybe two minutes before they were back in my bed.

As they grew, it became apparent that they were forming a very simbiotic relationship, and were not sociallizing well with people. At 6 weeks, I took Shirley back to be adopted, and I kept Ethel. SHe got along fine withe Rudy and Mariah my Dog. She grew fat and sassy, and ruled the house. EXCEPT when a stranger came into the house, then she was back in my box springs.



She had an evil look about her, as her eyes were very golden and in that black face, they almost looked like an old owl. She had a very LOUD purr, along with her very loud voice. When she was about 6 months old, she got outside, and was freaked, that she stayed under the back porch for two weeks. I finally got her back inside and she NEVER went out again.

I was transfered to Fallon, Nevada when she was 6, so I put her in a big carrier and Rudy in the other one along with Chitters, and put them in the back of my covered truck bed. I stopped in Shasta, California at a rest stop and a guy walked by and wanted to know what kind of animals I had back there. When I told him cats, he said WILD ONES??? I Laughed, and said she is NOW. She HATED the carrier, and would literally FREAK when I got it out. Once I got to Fallon, I let them out of their carriers and she found the nearest closet and stayed there until my bed got here, and then up inside it she went. The same was true 3 years later when I got transfered back home. I swore then that I would never scare her again. She was a LOVE!! She especially liked my and liked me to rub her belly. She would straddle my arm and place her belly on my hand so all I had to do was move my fingers.

She even got to the point of crawling under my covers when I was asleep and doing the same thing, so all I had to do was move my fingers in my half sleepy state. She was always beside me. In the chair, in the bed, on the couch, and she would tell me when it was getting too cold out and would lay in front of the woodstove and yowl at me until I built a fire for her. THen out full she would stretch, and lay there until the fire died. She was also the first to find a sunbeam. Winter or Summer, she knew where the cracks in the curtains were and would lay until the sun had moved, then on to the next spot she would go.

I will miss her very much, but she is in peace now, and is no longer cold, and I am sure that there is a nice warm hand and arm that she can straddle when she wants her belly scratched. There just has to be someone up there waiting for a cat...

YAWN!

GADS!! I just have absolutely NO energy! I slept most of Sunday, got up late on Monday, went swimming, did my 45 lengths of the pool, and was pooped before the aquarobics started. I did 1/2 an hour of them and then came home, took a shower and CRASHED!! I woke up around 2 AM and turnwed off the TV, let the dog out and the cat in, and closed off the front room and the kitchen, locked the doors, checked my email, turned off the computer and crashed again! Yesterday, I had a dentist appt, got a new crown and a new filling. (MONEY!!) went to the Playhouse and took the few pictures that I had not taken for DEAR SANTA, and came home, fixed what was left of the package of thighs that I had thawing on the counter and went to bed.

Dotties cats are cupboard walkers! Mine are not. And Tyler jumped up and got the thighs off the counter ripped open the wrapper and stole a thigh. I rescued 3 of them though. Little SHIT!! He is such a sweet cat though.

The above picture is of my baby...Schroeder, who is 18 months old. He is so afraid of anything new, that everytime I pull out the camera to get a picture of him he runs! The other day he just sat there, so I took the picture just as he said "I'm so bored with this, opened his mouth, yawned and ran. so you get a great picture of his throat. He is so BIG and the vet thinks he is part Maine Coon. His Momma was a slut, so no telling what he really is. He is starting to get little tufts on his ears and on his TOES!! And he is a really mama's boy.

I had better go get the pies made, so I can get to bed early tonight. We are going to Donna's for dinner tomorrow, so I dont have to cook!! YAY!!!!

You all have a great THANKSGIVING, and for all you Canadians up there, You get to smell our turkeys cooking like we do during YOURS!!! ;) I wonder why we don't have them on the same day? Huh!

and another picture from the show...

I have not been anywhere to take pictures other than the Playhouse, so you will just have to deal with these...

I am in the process of finishing the Lobby Poster for Peter Pan, and then the wall for DEAR SANTA, THEN i CAN RELAX (oops caps on) at least for a few days...I have to bring pies to DOnna's house for Thursday, so I will those on Tuesday, and stick them in the fridge. I am also cat sitting Dotties two fur babies, so the house is kinda on edge right now until they all adjust to each other again.

I have a huge fire going in the stove, and the animals are all jockeying for the best position in front of it. Ethel has won so far. She is the oldest and the Bitch of the crew, so they all catered to her needs. I just don't know how she hangs on, she cant weigh more than 2 pounds! She sleeps a lot, but she still cuddles with me, and purrs, and eats, and meows loudly when she wants something.
I wish I could make her better but I can't. She is happy, and does not appear to be in pain, so I will just let her be for awhile.

Gotta go throw another log on the fire...

Catching up

Just another picture from the play...Tiger Lily and the Henny Penny tribe...from PETER PAN

I have finally transcribed my 19 pages of notes from the Coupeville Festival Retreat and I used Office 2007. WOW!! I LOVE it!! so many easy things to do to make your pages look good. I have to have these printed for our meeting again in Dec. This is also the meeting that we award our 30,000 dollars of Grants to those individuals and organizations that applied and we thought were worthy. We had a lot of people apply for these grants, and it was very hard to say no to some of them, but then again, there were some that we all looked at and all did a thumbs down. There are rules to follow, and those that do not follow the guidelines, get denied. They are right there on the front of the application, and they STILL get it wrong.

I am learning a lot with this organization. Next time you go to a town festival, or a craft sale, or a city bazzaar, stop and think about what all goes on BEHIND the scenes by VOLUNTEERS in order to make it happen. Amazing what all you DONT hear about!

I am just about caught up with my book work, The Play has three more weeks to run, then it will be all torn down and the next one will go forward. Three months of hard work by a very few people, and once again, they are all VOLUNTEERS.

I am working harder volunteering than I did before I retired!! amazing isnt it?

My canning is all finished.
I cleaned my house.
I did all the laundry.
Bob raked all the leaves.
I finished the retreat notes.

I still have to finish the Lobby poster for PP.
take and do the Bio's photos and pages for the Christmas play.
Get the Meeting Minutes for the CFA finished.

I am still swimming, in fact I just bought three new suits in a size smaller than before! (swimming 6 hours a week does a number on a suit! they only last about 3 months, and then they fade and the elasticity fails.)

Little Miss Sadie-Bug is in the Doghouse!!! She was given a ham bone outside last evening, and last night or rather this morning, she pooped right in the middle of the hall way! Yep...I sure did...It was dark. She got yelled at, pitched outside, while I hobbled to get some toilet paper to get it off my foot, and then up off the floor. I was NOT happy! The last time she did this was last Christmas, when I gave her the boes and excess fat off the prime rib roast. I think I will not do that again. DAMN DOG!!! >:(

I have my oldest cat, Ethel, getting rid to leave this world. She is 16 and has lost almost all of her weight! She is losing hair like mad too, black fur everywhere! She has kidney failure, and will soon just die. I should take her in to have her put down, but she freaks really bad when I haul out the carrier, so I dont want her last minutes being fearful. She still purrs, and eats, and sleeps, and cuddles, but she now weighs only about 2 or 3 pounds...So sad. I will tell her story when she goes.

We ared having a very warm November. Flooding and rain, and wind, but so far, no frost. It got close the other night, but not yet. FOg though.

Well, I need to get busy and finish a few more things. Just wanted to post so you would not think I was gone forever. I'm not. I'm here. Just was really busy!

States I have been in.

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

The end is near!

Whew!! Last dress rehearsal tonight and we open Friday for a 4 week run! My eyes are so glazed from all the detail work on the background of the pictures. I bought the whole Photoshop suite when I got my computer, and it is really really NEAT!! I had elements before, and that was good, but this has sooo much more, and I like the interface between Vista, windows picture viewer and Photoshop. You click on a picture and then click on open and VOLIA! the picture you want to edit is right there!! COOL!

I have all the portraits for the lobby wall, and Most of their Bios also, but I have to get it up tonight, so some will go up without Bios, and then they will whine and wonder why they did not have a bio on the wall, write one out and expect me to just reach into my back pocket and pull out the formatted, bio, all printed in powerpoint in the proper font and colors. Not gonna happen. I have been asking for Bios for 3 months. And as many pictures as I have taken there are still several kids that were not there in time so their portrait was not taken. This cast was just WAAAAAAY too big, with hardly any parental help.

The show will open on time, and it will all work out, but this one has been a rough birth. I had the lights all set, and then they changed the set, so now the lights dont look right. They will have to do though. As I was not given any more time to get them done. It will work! Some how the magic always comes together.

I will only be taking pictures and doing the lobby wall poster for the next show, so that will not be bad. And then Nothing until June, when we Produce NUNSENSE. That one only has five ladies in it, so it will be a snap. WHEW!

Now on to other things....

The Fantasy begins...

Well We finally have most of the main character costumes done and they look good...All except for Peter pan who looks like he is wearing a basketball uniform. OOPS!! That is being changed! amazing how one person's vision gets twisted in another person's mind! And Nana the dog is made of STRIPED fur. Ever seen a tabby DOG? Neither have we. But we will live with it...Our ostrich and our Lion are still not done yet...WAHHHHH!!! but we have a very forgiving Press up here, and since tonight is technically still an official rehearsal, we can go forward. The Press will be here and the cast families. We still have a week to go before opening night. By then everything will magically come together and no one will knoe just how hard a very few people have worked to make this happen. SOme of us are close to the breaking point, but we will all make it!!

Now to just get those tickets sold!!!!

Still Busy

Along with everything enumerated below...I have a spreadsheet to make for the Coupeville Festival Grant Meeting next Monday. I LOVE spreadsheets. and the New Office 2007 Excell is WONDERFUL!! I just have not figured out all the buttons yet.

There are over twenty five Grant applications all wanting a piece of the pie, and we have to review them all and select the most worthy. I am still VERY new to this job, so I do not not what all goes into qualifying an application. Judging from the apps though, it must be all arts and crafts and history I will know more soon.

I have 1/2 the light cues assigned to dimmers for PETER PAN and will or SHOULD finish them tonight, then I will be concentrating on the paperwork, ie: PROGRAM Finalization, Biographies for the Lobby, Photos for the Lobby etc. We open in 10 days, with Press Night on this Thursday, so we are getting close. Once the show opens, I will be on a downhill slide, and can relax and get myself ready for the Holidays.

This will be Tim's first Christmas home in YEARS and I am really looking forward to it. He is doing so GOOD, (Thank you Lord!) and calls once a week. That is such a worry off my mind. As hard as it was to say no to him for Bail money, and make him face his obligations, It was the best thing that ever happened to Him. I think He thinks so too. He is totally off drugs now, and swears he will never go back to them. (now to work on the cigarettes!)

We are having an EXCEPTIONAL Fall here this year. COOL and SUNNY. makes up for the crappy summer we had I guess. WOnder what winter will bring. I saw only one Wooley bear caterpillar, and it had a BIG orange stripe, so who knows....

This weekend will be more applesauce, and then I am done canning for awhile, unless the mighty hunter finds some other windfall fruit, or gleans more fields for veggies.

Gotta run...

Almost Halloween

It has been an absolutely beautiful month! Sunsine and chilly. The trees are really colorful right now. We have not had our usual October Storm yet either.

Bob has filled my new wood ricks so now I have 2 cords of wood dried and ready to burn, so I wont freeze. I also have been putting up apples. A make really chunky applesauce with cranberries in it and it is really good, almost like pie filling. My kids scarf it all down as soon as they know I have some made. 1 case of apples will make about 20 qts of applesauce.

I am canning pears too,and Wednesday I took a day off and stayed home to rest, and got to looking at my filthy house, and cleaned! Never even stopped, just cleaned away. I made some applesauce that night, but then started right in on thursday canning pears. I was bringing a five gallon pot of pears down to the table where I was working them and I dropped the damn thing all over my kitchen floor. boiling hot syruppy pears and syrup. Sadie ran like hell thank you Lord, and did not get burned. It plashed onto my pants and my warm suede slippers but I did not get burned either. I was so freaking mad!!! the floor had just been cleaned! SO I grapped an armfull of old towels and got it all wiped up, but then the floor was sticky, so I had to rewash the floor with hot water to get all the syrup up. I was not in the mood to finsh, so I turned everything off, and went to bed. By this time I was in sever pain. SO I hit the Ben Gay and wenbt to bed.

Today I was still in pain, but I managed to finish the case of pears. I was going to start in on the other one, but the corner store was out of wide mouth qt jars, and they didnt have any fruit fresh either so I will do some tomorrow night after I play all day with the lighting for Peter Pan, and go eat Pho.

Ever had Pho? oh yummy!! gotta try it!

I need time to breathe!!

I have been so busy!!! Friday, I had to work on the Program for Peter Pan, and then I went to Aquarobics, then rushed on to a Play reading. A group gets together and reads from the script, a play that the playday committee has chosen to submit to the membership for next season. We read CASH ON DELIVERY which was a British Farce, and FUNNY!!!! I drove home through the ground fog around 10:00, and hit the shower and crashed. I was so tired!
I went in to set the lights for the show on Saturday, and worked on them for 5 hours, until time to head home. They still aren’t done. I will get the cues set into the computer this week, and finish moving the lights next weekend. I will be so glad when this show opens. For some reason, I am really stressed out over it, More so than most. Might be the huge cast and all the kids that don’t listen. (ya THINK?)
Today I got up and processed a case of apples into applesauce. I have another case in the garage, along with two cases of pears. But those are going to have to wait. Tomorrow I have a dentist appt, then swimming, then aquarobics, then rehearsal. Tuesday I have a meeting with a member of the Coupeville Festival Board, to show me the ropes on their office computer. I will have to have the minutes ready, from the last board meeting and the spreadsheet done for the grant applications, all by November 3rd!
Thank God for vitamins! And coffee!

It's Autumn...ya THINK?

Every year in October, Coupeville has a scarecrow contest and each business tries to participate, this year's theme was COWS I guess, because most of the ones were cow related. I only took this one which is Island Transit's entry, and the cutest by far.



Our one and only grocery store, Prairie Center had their display of Pumpkins out front and it just looked really fallish, so I took it.




My Sister's friend Nancy's Husband Al puts up a different theme every year also...this year it was a big black BAT!

When traffic is not so bad, I will try to get the rest of them for you. we only have one main street, and during the day it is too busy to get good pictures, because you have to stop in the middle of the road, and the tourists get really cranky!

The weather took a drastic turn too. It got COLD last night, almost freezing, but not quite. Donna lives on the mainland, and she has already had to scrape ice off her windsheild. Yep, one week of summer and now it is Fall. I expect Winter to be right around the corner. I saw my first wooley Bear, and he had a small brown stripe and big black ones, so that means COLD IS COMING...

Passing the Turkey platter!

Beings as how I have the biggest house, and I am the oldest, I have always held Thanksgiving here. Last Year Phyllis wanted to go to the community center with her church, and ended up here.

This Year, Donna has offered to cook for Bob and I and Tim at HER house, so Phyllis and Sherry and Mike can go do their thing without feeling bad about not coming to my house this year.

Actually it works out GREAT, as I will be right in the middle of Peter Pan and will be really busy not to mention TIRED.

Donna's Husbands boss always gives them a turkey for thanksgiving, so all that she will need to do is stuff it in the oven, and cook the potatoes, and I can bring the rest! COOL!!!

I kinda feel bad about NOT having family over, but they say they wanted to go eat with the community center, so there ya go! I will still do my Killer Prime Rib Roast for Christmas dinner though. Already have it in the freezer!!

Bob brought me over 2 boxes of fuji apples and 2 boxes of anjou pears to put up, so I had better get busy huh!

for those of you that DON'T have my email it is marylouchandler46(at)gmail(Dot)com
so your comments will go there and I can post them. easy now!

I'm SOrry

I'm SOrry, But I have an anonomous commenter that is making derogatory remarks, and since I am not smart enough to remember how to delete the comments, I just turned them all off for a while. When the weather clears, I may return them, in the mean time, you know how to reach me.

I will still continue to post, just not allow comments for awhile.

Please keep checking.

Am I Missing SOMETHING?

When I was a little girl, we lived in a 2 bedroom 700 SF house, Phyllis and I shared a bedroom, we had 1 bath, a kitchen and a livingroom. We felt very secure, we were loved, and we rented because in those days Military people just did not BUY houses, because they would be transfered in two years.

When My Dad retired, and we were permanently in one place, we rented again, this time an older 3 bedroom home, that was floated in from Seattle where they were tearing down neighborhoods to build the Seattle World's Fair. AND I-5. It was bigger than anything we had lived in before, had a fireplace, a dining room, a bath and a half, and a HUGE eat in kitchen. It was probably 1200 SF a two story home and needed repair. We felt Loved and we had room to grow in. Phyllis and I shared a bedroom and Mike had his own small room, but we all shared a closet.

When I married and moved on, we lived in a 3 bedroom home around 1200 SF, with a bath and a half one story with a dining room and a kitchen, a typical rambler. We felt secure, and we were loved, and we were comfortable.

Years passed and I was single again and Tim and Donna and I all lived in a tiny TINY studio apartment with a tiny tiny bedroom big enough for a twin bed and nothing else. We had a pull out couch in the living room, a kitchen and a full bathroom. It was a mother in law apartment attached to the main house, but it worked for us, we felt secure, cramped but secure, and we were loved.

More years passed, and I was transferred to Adak, Alaska where I made more money than I could spend there, so I saved! I came home on leave one summer and bought a home. The one I live in still. It is 1400Sf with 3 small bedrooms, and 2 full baths, and a HUGE great room and a kitchen. an attached garage also. I had to put a standard despoist down on the mortgage, and also had to take out PMI (private mortgage insurance) as I was single and had never owned a home before. I was finally secure again, and alone, but I was happy with what I had.

Yes, I dreamed far above my means, and swore if I ever had the money I would build the dream home I always wanted, a log home with tall rafters, and a view of the Water. HA! That aint gonna happen. I lived within my means, sometimes not making other payments but always making my mortgage payments.

Now I am looking at the stock market crashing again, today, with banks failing in Europe and the United States, from mainly sub-prime mortgages and corupt banking practices.

People were buying homes FAR above their ability to pay, and far bigger than they ever would NEED. we are talking 4-5000 SF homes, with Master suites, 5 bedrooms many baths and a family room, living room, and a bonus room. WHY? because they were unwilling to settle for something they could afford at the time. THey were unwilling to invest in a smaller home, and then upgrade as they could afford it.
The Banks and Mortgage companies were encouraging this also. Developers were cutting down forests and building gated communities in places that were safe and secure anyway. The American Public gobbled up the lies and dove head first into a puddle that was not as deep as they thought, and now those homes are being forclosed and those people are sitting there with mud on their face wondering what the HELL happened?

Let me Tell you what happened folks. YOU GOT GREEDY!! ALL OF YOU!! You KNEW you could not afford that house, You KNEW that the bubble would someday burst and still you continued with your insane ways of doing business.

It is now going to be up to ME who I will say is still living in a 1400Sf home that I CAN afford, with a mortgage that is half way to being paid off, to bail you out! Why should I have to be taxed to Bail YOu out of your mortgage? Now I am not talking about those who really did buy within their means, a modest home with a modest mortgage. I am talking about those people with McMansions, three cars, etc. and now in foreclosure.

I am retired, and drawing Social Security and now the GOVERNMENT has just given those same banks and mortgages brokers a 700 BILLION dollar bailout. I have heard that they are also going to help YOU keep your McMansion, while I am still left struggling to pay mine off. My taxes are going to help you, and NO ONE is helping ME.

What did I Miss? Should I have bought a bigger house? should I have let my mortgage go? I dont understand.....SOmething had better CHANGE in WASHINGTON!!!

Getting set up

GADS! I forgot what all it takes to get your computer set up the way you like it. The problem I am having right now is my Bose speakers are not working!! GRRRR

I still do not have my address book imported from gmail into Outlook, but soon I hope. I also do not have every one saved in my favorites. Since I blogwalk from my FAVORITES and not my side bar, I am sorry to say that it is not up to date. If I am neglecting you, let me know!!!

I LOVE this monitor though. It is HUGE! a 24" viewing surface! I can almost open 2 pages side by side!! Great when I am working on a spreadsheet.

ARRRGHH!!

Below is the rehearsal picture I took outside of Pirates of PETER PAN.
Cute huh? Smee and Michael and Sweetness and Kangaroo.

Smee's cap

Ok, Since I am going to start putting everything I crochet on here too, I have just finished pirate SMEE's Hat. It is gonna drive him wonky though because the tassle is gonna tickle his neck. Aw well!!

new computer

ok, here we go again...I need you all to list your blogs so I can add them to my favorites, otherwise I will not be around to see you. If y ou are listed on the sidebar, I can get you that way, but if you are not, please let me know so I can get you listed, now that I have a computer that will let me do things without freezing up. AHHHHHHHH this is so nice!! Gotta get used to the keyboard though.

A RAGING HEADACHE

As I was driving into to town this evening, All of a sudden I got slammed with a head ache. It was like it was standing right there in the road in front of the San de Fuca Church just waiting for me. I drove through it and it hit. WHAM!! ANd I had to go play herder on 30 little kids all restless because they have no clue what blocking is about, so they talk. THen I have to quiet them down so Rusty can talk, and I can hear.

ARRGGHHH!!I really do like little kids, I just do not like the ones that test you,or talk back or ignore you or have no manners. NO tolerance for that, so that made the headache worse.

I came home ate a chocolate bar, took a pain pill and went to bed. Can't sleep. SIGH!! I hope I get a good nights sleep soon! I really need one.

Fall Has Fell....AGAIN!

BRRRRRRR. Our Late summer finally arrived about the end of August and lasted until Yesterday! It started raining, and is still. THe leaves are falling off the trees like snowflakes falling. My poor tomatoes are so confused! THey were very late to get growing, but once they did they went to town, and as of last weekend, They were LOADED with blossoms and little bitty green tomatoes. ANd as of last night, they are starting to turn yellow and die back. THe tomatoes are too small to do anything with, they are early girls and should be about 3 " across to use for green tomatoes. THey are still only the size of a quarter. ah well.

I have the MOTHER of all slugs in my back yard! I opened the back door when I heard him knocking, and I kid you not, He is the BIGGEST damned slug I have ever seen. a good 3 inches Across and 6-7 inches long and green and yellow spotted. the most vulgar thing to be knocking at my door! YUCK!!



I have no idea where he was hiding to get that large, but his brothers are out now too, and chomping away on anything they can find!

Ever seen one climb a glass door? OH YUCKKKKK!!!! they are so gross!

Which car are you?

I'm a Ford Mustang!

You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Only I want it to be a convertible!!

A Night Of Shining Stars

The Whidbey Playhouse held it's annual SHINING STAR Awards ceremony tonight. This year we held it at the playhouse, and it was MC'd by Fil Baca, and Kyla Applegate. Each DIrector is asked to name one cast member and one staff member from each play from last season, and then we present them with a certificate as A SHINING STAR. This is our version of The Academy Awards. After each Play is introduced and each Director has their few words, and shows a few slides of each production, the winners are announced and they come up in front of the membership and receive their award.

Once the 7 plays are introduced and have presented their awards, then there is one Volunteer of the Year that is chosen. This year it was Bob Hendrix, my Friend Rusty's husband. WELL DONE!!!

Bobby designs, and builds MOST of the sets that we use. Bobby knows where each piece is located and stored at the Annex, and he knows which items need to be kept, and which to destroy. Bob also has to work with many different directors and come up with a workable set for the show that the director is producing. No easy task this. Our stage is very constricted, with no FLY room, and no main curtain, so we have to improvise. Bobby is excellent at this. He works after work each night, and some times into the next day. This Playhouse would be totally lost without him.



Our Board Member who was in charge of this years production was Kathy Fox, shown here with Bobby. Before she introduced him, she asked each of us in the audience to stand if we had usheres, or worked in the concessions, and then she asked them to stay standing while she asked who all had worked on set, directed, worked tech, etc. THere were very few people left sitting. We are a Totally volunteer organization, and NO ONE gets paid. So those very few that were left sitting got the message...we need all the volunteers we can get. No job is too small.

YEEEOUCH!

You know that state you are in when you are first waking up. The one that says you know what is going on, but your body doesn't move yet? Well I was there yesterday morning. The sun was coming through the window and hitting my face, there was a nice cool breeze coming in the screen, and I was flat on my back soaking it all in. I was aware of Schroeder on the windowsill above my head, and the others were all sound asleep on the bed.

A piliated woodpecker flew by the window making his loud yukyuk yuk call. THat startled Schroeder, who kicked the binoculars off the window sill right smack unto my forehead.I screamed and sat up which caused all of the others to levitate off the bed and scurry to hide. Schroeder was under the bed, and would not come out.

I have a very large bump over my left eye, and it HURTS!! the woodpecker was no where to be found.

damn animals!

I'm Official

Last night after swimming, I rushed to the playhouse, for the tailend of the Playday meeting that I was late for. Swimming therapy comes first!

I sat next to Dan, whose Partner Had promised me an Obama Sticker. I leaned over and whispered, "did you bring my bumper sticker?"

He quietly smiles and reaches into his brief case and pulls out the prize.

You are the FIRST, he says, As these JUST came in before we closed the shop. (he volunteers at the Demo hdqtrs)

Everyone at the table then wanted one, but he only had mine.

We immediately went out to the parking lot and made a celebration of removing the BUSH/Cheney 04 sticker from the bumper and replacing it with the bright shiny blue OBAMA sticker.

THen there in the lighted parking lot, standing around the back of my car, everyone applauded and cheered for the removal of my SHAME.

I feel sooo renewed!!

WARNING: Rant in progress

Ok, I am working on a rant, so if you are part of the Christian Right you had better close your ears and tiptoe on, because I am sick and TIRED of all this religion crap!

Driving home from swimming last night, I was admiring the sunset and the beauty that the Lord has made in this world, when all of a sudden my favorite ranter (no I do not agree with him a LOT) was saying that Governor Pahlin was calling for all church pastors to tell their congregationshow to vote and how to think!

I hit the roof of the car and screamed!!

I believe in God, and I do it my way and PRIVATELY! I do NOT believe that the church has any business at ALL in my government, or the selection of. I also do not believe that our Government has any right to tell us how to worship. This is a right guaranteed to all Americans by the Constitution of The United States. The two should NEVER meet! (ok, ok, I know that it is on our money, and they put their hands on the bible when sworn in. and SO HELP YOU GOD is part of the Oathes of office. BUT to me that is so much more different than a Baptist or a Pentecostal Preacher standing up and telling their congregation that you HAVE to vote for the Republicans because they believe in the right to life.

A woman's body and the treatment of, should only be a concern of that woman, her Doctor and Her God alone! She should not be required to have an unwanted baby, and to tell her that she has to, is WRONG!!!!
On this note, a woman who at the third trimester suddenly decides that she is no longer wanting to be a Mother has waited too long. 1st trimester abortion I fully believe in. 2nd trimester MAYBE, but third trimester is becoming more and more viable, and therefore should not be considered an abortion, but a live birth, and everything should be done to protect that life.

Sarah Pahlin's decision to keep her unborn baby even though she knew it would be born with Down;s syndrome is very very admirable, and I am sure it was not an easy choice to make. BUT it was a choice, and she was lucky to be able to HAVE that choice.

Her using her office as Governor as a soapbox to preach to her local congregation is WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!!!! Being a Governor who has religious feelings is however a right that she has. I heard that the Republican Party had McCain choose her, so that she would sway the undecided to the GOP side. Well, folks, I was undecided until she was presented. I was absolutely SHOCKED to see what would possibly be the next Vice President, and only 1 heart beat away from running this country.

I have been a McCain supporter for MANY years, I was thrilled with his Maverick ways of thumbing his nose at the established GOP, and his way of crossing the aisle in order to make a point. I was hoping so much that he would choose a VP that would also Thumb their nose at the GOP party. We all know that they need a good shake up. But SHARAH PAHLIN? arrrggghhhh!!! n I was hoping that Joe Leiberman would be his choice or maybe even Colin Powell. ( who was hung out to dry by the Bush administration)

I will admit that she is a tough woman...and I admire her for her grit, but she really needs to leave her Fundamentalist ideals at home, and quit trying to force them down our throats. ANd so does eveyone else that tries it. Leave me ALONE!! let me make my own desicions, and let me worship the way that I want to.

Anybody have a big bumpersticker for OBAMA/Biden that will cover up my Bush/Cheney one? I am so ashamed!!!!

ok, rant over...for now, and I know that I do not do it with as much elequence as RAINY DAY THOUGHTS does but then she is much better at it than I am.

Fall...

It has turned the corner from Summer into Fall. Maybe not on the calendar yet, but definitely in the air! The trees are already turning colors, and leaves are falling. The apples are red and laying on the ground, the deer are sporting gorgeous racks, and the fawns are wandering away from Mom. The Blackberries still are not ripe yet, and those that are, are not as sweet as they should have been three weeks ago. Tomato plants are blossoming, but no tomatoes, and at this time, they will not form. The night air is brisk and biting. I think we can say that the summer we have been waiting for is not going to show up. We have had one or two weeks of warm weather, but for the most part, it has gone from a wet cold spring right into a wet cold summer, and now a dry cold fall.

As I was coming home from the playhouse last night, the sun was just setting, and in the few seconds it took me to pull the car over and get out my camera, the sky had changed from orange/pink to purple/mauve. The moon was turning a reddish orange through the forest fire smoke on the Olympic Peninsula. It was still Pretty! I LOVE fall. I love snuggling under the covers at night, all warm and cozy with my nose poking out and breathing the cold night air. It smells so good.

The other morning at 400 I woke up and looked out the window right at ORION, my favorite constellation. When it shows up completely in our sky, we know that Fall is here, and Winter is not far behind. I expect a fairly early frost.

As much as I love the long days of summer...our days run from 345AM until 1045 PM ...I welcome the fresh air of Fall and look forward to Winter.

another day...

Well, the appliance repair guy came on Friday 15 min. AFTER he said he would be there. I thanked him profusely for being on time. You know if we could charge the hourly wage for the person you are expecting BACK to them for every hour or portion thereof that they were LATE, then I will bet you a buck that they would be on time, and glad to get our business. Might even CHANGE the world.

He came in with the part in his hand that he thought he would need based on the history of that model, and 20 minutes later I had cold air flowing into my freezer. YAY!!! 24.00 for the part. 85.00 for the service call and 15.00 for the labor. so It is soooo nice to have cold milk again...and ICE CUBES!! when one is additcted to chewing ice, it is a major crisis when there are NONE to be had.

Bob got the wood project half finished before he threw his back out at the gym trying to be 45 again. SO ANOTHER unfinished project in the making. It really looks good so far though! 3" of gravel down on weed blocker cloth and then the wood ricks on top of concrete blocks on top of that. Only need a roof over the ricks now and I will have dry wood!! WHOOPEE. I will take pictures when it is done.

We had our 1 week of summer and now fall has fell with a vengeance. The wind was blowing down the Strait at 30 MPH and the rain was dumping!!! It felt good to sit and watch it storm. Should get back up into the low 80's next week. Indian Summer. I really expect the first frost in the next few weeks.

SOOOO....whatcha think of McCain's choice for VP? inquiring minds want to know.

I watched Obamas speech and was totally convinced that he was the right person for the job. GOD I hope I dont choose wrong AGAIN!!!

Your Stress Level is: 69%

You are prone to stress, and you're probably even pretty stressed right now. Life's problems seem to pile up on you, and this often makes you feel depressed and burned out. Learn to take time to relax and enjoy life, even if things are stressful. It's the only wa you'll get through the bad times.

How Stressed Are You?

a friend FOUND

Amazing how this internet works...

When I first started blogging 5+ years ago, I was following a blog from a lady who lived on a mtn top in North Carolina. THey then moved off their Mtn. to the panhandle of Florida where they were converting their little cabin into their dream home/sanctuary. During a number of hurricanes, and computer problems. I lost track of her and her blog.

I FOUND her yesterday while reading one of my daily reads...PURELAND MOUNTAIN out of Japan. She had commented on Robert's latest post, and I happened to catch it.

Beth is her name, and her blog is SWITCHED AT BIRTH. I was thrilled!!! SHe has such wonderful FOOD on her blog, just makes your mouth water.

I LOVE finding old friends, even if I do have to go 1/2 way around the world to find them!!

It's a goodday. Swedish Meatballs for dinner andBlackberry Cobbler. All salvaged from the destruction in my freezer. found 2 #'s of Hamburger and a Pound of Italian Sausage, and a Bag of blackberries. the rest all got sent to the garbage can! (I HATE re-frozen ice cream!)

LIFE SUCKS!!!

Ok, It really is starting to..

along with the computer that works when it feels like it, My hotwater heater quit heating water. I drug out the owners manual and saw that there was a reset button, so Bob came over and reset the button, and the manual said...IF THIS HAPPENS MORE THAN ONCE THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG> Ya THINK? SO far, it is working. It is only two years old. Remember when I woke up to 2" of water in my house? Yep. had it replaced then.

Then the dishwasher started leaking, so Bob ordered the parts and re-ordered the RIGHT parts, and put it all back together, BUT it still is not HOOKED up, and it has been 2 months!! THen yesterday I got a glass of milk, and mentioned that it did not seem as cold as it usually was. Bob said, well, I can hear it running....

So last night I came home from Rehearsal (oh dear LORD the MOTHERS!!) opened the freezer to get a loaf of bread out and there was water everywhere in the freezer section. THe ice bin had melted, and that is where the water came from, but I also noticed that the popsicles were dripping, and the ice cream was melted, YEP!!! no cold in my fridge that I bought when I retired!! it is only 5 years old. THis morning I called the appliance repair guy, who told me that they can not get here until FRIDAY!! so I through all the meat out, dumped all the popsicles and icecream, emptied what was left of the ice bin, and am sitting here hoping for the best.

I hate to think what in GOd's name will happen next? THe stove is only 18 months old, so that should be fine. It is getting cold out, so it will probably be the Cadet heaters that I have that were recalled 15 years ago. SHEESH!!!!

Problems

I am having connection problems again...even on Mozilla, I have application hangs. I am thinking that I may have to just re-format my entire hard drive, but not sure if I can. I have had the hard drive re-partitioned since I bought it, and I think my system recovery disks may not work now. SOOOOOO...

You may hear from me, or you may not!

While I am on right now, let me tell you that last week was busy with PETER PAN stuff, and trying to get the right cast picked. We finally have the cast, but now the music is all wonky, so we may have to re-order another piano score that can be read. Our Director is on a cruise to Alaska, and is blissfully unaware of the problems. Hopefully they will all be abated by the time she gets back.

Our weather here turned from Summer to Fall overnight. We had record high temps...30 degrees over normal, and yesterday it got down into the 40's overnight...30 degrees BELOW normal. I would not be surprised to see a frost before October. August and September are usually our dry months, but we had over an inch of rain in a few hours yesterday, along with thunderstorms, wind and hail. SOOOO not normal here. Even a small tornado touched down. JEEZ!!!

Bob and Tim are working on my woodpile. Then moved it, laid ground cover, built wood ricks and moved the wood back. Today I get a tdruck load of gravel to put over the ground clothe to keep the weeds out of the wood pile! Looks really good. I have another cord of wood coming next weekend, now I need to find some cut split and cured fir/hemlock to go along with the alder. Alder burns too fast, and does not put out the heat that the resin filled evergreens do. And Hemlock bark makes GREAT coals to bank over night!!

OOPS gotta go...gravel is here...

One really SAAAAAD Birthday cake!

So I invite the family over for Sherri's birthday cake and ice cream. No big deal, just her 51st. SHe and Mike were going to the fair and would be late...GREAT 'cause I have auditions for Peter Pan until 5 tonight.

I get the cake in oak harbor on the hottest day of the year, and put it on the floor of the car so it would be shaded. I stopped at Prairie Center to get Vanilla ice cream, and hurry home to get ready for everyone who should be here artound 730!

I open the car door, to reach down and get the cake, and all of the icing had melted right off into a puddle on the tray! I was so mad! I bring in the cake, and try to repair the mess, but the icing was so warm it ran off again. I stuck the whole mess into the fridge to set up.



got it out put the frosting back on the sides of the cake, and the pretty yellow roses are now big blobs on the top of the white icing. I also reached into the drawer for the candles, and guess what? I am OUT OF CANDLES!! i dug through the drawer and found a 5 then found a white taper, so I stuck those on the cake and she blew then out.

What a mess!!!

Happy Birthday Sherri!!! sorry it melted!!

Remembering Kenny...

I Lost a friend the other day...Kenny author of Letters From Kenny. He was the husband of one of my workers, Carol, and long before I met him I had heard about him from Carol, and other friends of his. Kenny was a retired Navy man, and a WONDERFUL poet. He and Carol had been married forever. I think Carol said she was 14 when they married. and I believe she is 65 now. so they were married close to if not more than 50 years. Every breath each of them took was reflected in the other ones' eyes.

Carol is a mighty whirlwind, and Kenny is very laid-back and lets her rip! Kenny also makes the greatest Texas Brisket you ever clamped your teeth on. He is a legend at every NEX potluck and BBQ.

Last month I received an email from Kenny with his latest Poem from his Blog, and a note about the fact that he is battling Pancreatic Cancer. I saw him two weeks ago, and knew it would not be long. It wasn't, and for that we are all thankful, as he was suffering, maybe not outwardly, but you could read it in his eyes. Carol was her normal upbeat, wonderful self, and I knew that if anyone could pull Kenny through this it would be Carol. She couldn't. Kenny died Wednesday night. He is with his Lord right now, and I know that if there is such a thing as redemption, Kenny will get it. He loved his family, he loved his poetry, and he loved his Lord.

GOD Kenny, You will be missed!

Here is his last poem posted, but do yourself a favor, and go read through all of his poems and letters, they are really heart warming, and tear jerking.

• Tell Me A Memory
• Love Of Carol
• A Father's Face, A brother's Love
• Sorrow's Door
• DEWDROPS
• You Take My Breath Away
• By Candlelight
• Like Musketeers of Old by kenny merrell I saw a t...
• At My Death
• Golden Memories

• July 2004
• August 2004
• September 2004
• October 2004
• December 2004
• January 2005
• February 2005
• March 2005
• April 2005
• May 2005
• June 2005
• July 2005
• October 2005
• November 2005
• December 2005
• January 2006
• March 2006
• April 2006
• May 2006
• June 2006
• August 2006
• September 2006
• October 2006
• November 2006
• July 2007
• August 2007
• September 2007
• November 2007
• April 2008
• June 2008

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Tell Me A Memory

Carol and I play this game. "Tell Me A Memory" (I made it up)
She tells me one of her favorites and I tell her mine. It gets a little emotional (duh) ,but it does help me realize the wonderful life I have had.(here is the poem) hugs kenny

Tell Me A Memory
by kenny merrell


Tell me a memory of times past
where we captured the moon
the stars so bright we traced our name in the sky
Rainbows in bands of color bright
showed the way to treasures of the mind,
time was but a word and
dreams always had happy endings.
Tell me a memory as we sit holding hands
and cry of news of sadness and
think of the words “In sickness and in health” and
“For better or for worse “ which were only random concepts to contemplate
Now each day becomes a memory
As sunrise and sunset become brighter, purer,
a precious gift from our Lord and Savior
we share with each other and marvel at such a life
Tell me a memory
Where “Now I lay me down to sleep”
Etched in stone ,tossed into the sea
Tells a memory

Kenny Merrell

Friday night date!

Every Friday Night for 24 years, Bob and I go somewhere, or do something, might even be pizza and a video at my house.

Last year we discovered that all the cruise ships leaving Seattle for ports around the world, go right by my house. I cant see them because of OTHER houses, but We go down to the boat launch and watch them go by. We call it our Friday Night Parade. Not all of them leave on Friday, some leave Thursday and some leave Saturday. And Lord only knows when they come back...

Used to be, in a much quieter era, that shipping news arrivals and departures were all printed in the paper so you could know what ship was under what flag, the cargo and the destination or origination. Not any more. With 9-11 came the HOMELAND SECURITY and all of that info was blocked from public view. Now mind you any homegrown "terrorist" could stand on the beach with a notebook or a recorder and get the times, just like we did.

We each have a pair of binoculars and we see if we can spot them coming around Long Point. The first one to spot one yells BOAT! and then we see how long it takes for them to get past us. Each boat is different, some BIG some smaller and the tides play into this equation also. I had never thought of it until I read Cindra's blog several years ago, when she posted pictures of her cruise liner to ALaska from Seattle. I thought..Gee I shoulda gone down and waved at her.

We sit and try to guess where each one is going, and wish we were on one.

My friend Rusty is taking ANOTHER cruise to Alaska on the 22nd, so I will go down to the beach and wave at her. and wish that we were going too.

Last week was my Hell week...as you can tell by my lack of posting. I had a meeting every single night! Getting ready for PETER PAN auditions, Reading Plays for next season, and finalizing everything for this weekends COUPVILLE ARTS AND CRAFTS FESTIVAL. I volunteer for the weekend. Nothing exciting, just sit and mind the office phone, but it is portable so I can take it out on the sidewalk and sit there and crochet while I wait for it to ring and tell the person on the other end the times of the show. It is a needed position, and I get a free tee-shirt! KEWL!! We have over 220 vendors from all over the Northwest and it is in it's 45th year! (what is REALLY sad, is that I can remember the FIRST ONE!! yikes!!)

I was only able to go swimming one time last week, and I am in dire pain right now. I am going this afternoon, just to stretch out my back and hopefully un-pinch my Sciatic nerve again. I sure wish you could have them removed like you can in your teeth! If I was God, I sure would make us different! But then again, she probably DID, but evolution Screwed us up by putting us on two feet.

My Brother started his third course of Chemo last Wednesday and he has been so sick this time. He goes back in on Wednesday again for three more times, and then they will take a complete MRI/CT scan (?) and then make a decision on what to do next. He was told originally that he had 6 months to three years, and he has made it almost 10 months!! Hang in there Baby Bro...I Love you so much!!!

take the nut test...

You Are a Hazelnut

You are very unique and distinct. You may even freak some people out. Most people don't really know how to interact with you. You get along best with anyone who is super sweet. But you really do get along with almost anyone. You just need a chance to wow them.

What Nut Are You?

doin' stuff...

My Friend Rusty volunteered me to make a baby sweater for the WOmens auxilliary at the United Methodist Church charity project. So I drug out my book, hooks and stash and found this pattern. I made it in a day, and it was quite fun.

Now I have to get busy on reading plays for playday committee, getting the posters finished for Peter Pan, block peter pan, and get ready for Auditions which are in two weeks. The show runs in November, but it has a gajillion kids in it, so we need all the practice time we can get.

I am in the procedd of making christmas presents for the women in the family...finished SIL, now I have started SIS' gift. Have no clue what the guys will get...obviously something homemade. thems the rules around here for Christmas.

I have been swimming every day but Wednesday,. took that one off because my hip was hurting like hell. I had to stop at the rite aid store and get more of Ben. I go to Bed with Ben everynight, sometimes twice a night. you know Ben, Gay is his last name and he warms up my backside and hips really well. I had been out,. I even cut the tube open and got all of it out that way, but I still did not have any for Tuesday night.

Feels so much better now.

So. My SIster Phyllis calls at 1024 last night...DIDYOU FEEL IT? no says I. BUT IT SHOOK THE WHOLE MOBILE. Hrmmmm thinks I NOT here.
She said she was standing doing her laundry at the washer when the floor shook and her tummy flipped and then her TONGUE WENT NUMB! WHAT!!!
I can just see her at the office when the big one hits. MUNNTHUN WENBT NUNmmm

RUN FOR COVER FOLK.....Phyllis tongue went numb, gonna have an earthquake!!! I told her that, and then started laughing and do you that my very christian sister told me to f--- off and called me a bitch as I was laughing at her. That wasnt nice. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL watch for her on the cover of National Enquirer.

HELP PLEASE.....

Ok.

When Omnipotent Benevolent Empress of the 5th(?) Universe installed Firefox to help my aging computer NOT crash, It updated (transferred) all of my bookmarks from IE 7 to Firefox. BUT they updated all the OLD bookmarks, and I cant find the rest of them. SO I no longer have links to your blogs!!

I am not being snooty or whatever, I just cant find you all. so if those of you that LOVE me, and I know you ALL do... ;)
will please put your blog URLs in the comments or send me an email at marylouchandler46(at)gmail(dot)com I will do my darndest to get you added back into my sidebar, and updated into my bookmarks. MAN I forgot how many people have QUIT blogging until I tried to go back and find them again.

And KB...did you QUIT AGAIN? Last I heard you were going in for your surgery, and I cant find you.....

SOme of you I can find, but go ahead and update me anyway, as your email addresses are gone too.

SIGH

Life just gets in the way sometimes...

No, Donna, I didnt. But isn't she adorable? I really am feeling like I need a girl kitten a fuzzy cute girl kitten, but not quite yet.

I posted about OBE being sick and wanting to be left alone. Well she finally went to the Dr, on Saturday and she has some sort of bio-bug. They put her on Anti-biotics and sent her home to rest for a few days. She had been resting for 4 days and then forced herself to go into work on Friday, but only made it half a day. Her throat hurts, she is coughing and wheezing. She has not been exposed to the whooping cough that is in epidemic proportions on the island. So she stayed home again on Monday, but I have not heard from her since.

MEANWHILE back at the ranch...I wake up on Monday morning and my head was spinning!!! I bounced off the walls into the toilet, and back, falling into to bed with the world revolving. THat made me sick to me tummy which made me get the dry heaves, which woke up my colon, and it decided to be heard from in a big way. SO I bounce back into the toilet, carrying my trash bucket, because I did not know which end was going to erupt first, and wanted to be sitting down on the porcelin throne when it did. THe smell made me even SICKER, and there I sat, both ends trying to expel bio-mass, but only one end succeeding. I flushed, and bounced back to the bed, only to do it over and over again.

I decided that the best course of action was to just hunker down and go with THE FLOW, until I felt better. I slept most of the time I was not spinning off the walls, and then Monday night, I chose NOT to take my Ambien, as I was having no trouble sleeping, and did not want to be totally asleep if things started to erupt again. WRONG MOVE! i was awake all night.

Meanwhile, in the house are now 1 dog and 6 cats, all wanting to be fed and taken care of. And SO DID I!! Bob could not be found. Phyllis was training on the road, Mike and SHerry were on their way to Portland, My SOn is working 100 miles away, and DOnna is sick too, so I had to tough it out on my own.

I am fighting with the animals for the warm side of the blanket and they were winning. I finally jusmped out of bed yelling at the top of my head, and DOtties cats took off for places only they could find, and three of my cats headed under the bed, Sadie woke up and looked at me as if to say, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!! and Loki just laid there. But I had won back the major portion of my bed. I did manage to get up and shove Sadie out the door so she would not pee in the house.

Tuesday morning at 600 Mike and sherry brought ROCKY their aging boxer/pitbull/spoiled baby over, complete with his bed, food and toys, and that stirred up the household big time. All 6 cats took off for places unknown, and Sadie became a real aggresive BITCH!!! She did not want Rocky in HER house. So I threw them both outside and let them fight it out. As far as I know, no blood was drawn, but fur was flying and teeth were barred and growling was heard BIGTIME! They are all fine now except when Rocky tries to eat out of Sadie's dish...

Dottie has her cats back and ROcky goes home tomorrow. Schroeder is still hiding under or I should say IN my box springs of my bed. He gets up in there and sits right under my pillow and growls really low to let Rocky know he is not at all welcome in his Mommie's Bed room.

I toughed it out and went swimming last night, and took it real easy...Do you KNOW how hard it is to swim or water jog while your butt cheeks are clinched tight? aint easy folks....But I did not want the pool shutting down for a bio-contamination on my part...EEEEWWWWWW!!!!