A lost blogger...FOUND!

All of you know how I keep track of people I like and have disappeared, well TXOCEANLOVER was one of those people. He stopped blogging suddenly in October and there were some very unsettled things in his life. I sent him several emails, And heard nothing, so me and my big mouth sent one more. To the Tune of Get your lazy ass back on the net. And he sent me this answer…with permission to post it. So for those of you who, like me, was worried about David, here ya go.


Mary Lou

My sincere apologies for not answering before now. It just shows you what I
am going through. I cannot make myself doing anything despite knowing that
I have tons to do. You should see the things on my desk that I NEED to do,
but I just stare at them day after day. The same goes with the computer and
especially the blog. I know I should go back to it, but I can't even make
myself hit the link to see if it still works.

The last year just took so much out of me - the unexpected and untimely
death of a dear sister-in-law, the huge numbers of problems associated with
my mother-in-law, her move to Austin, the birth of Ella and the problems
associated with her cleft palate, and the problems with the youngest
daughter. All of them just flat wore me down.

I hardly ever see my grandkids any more -especially the three boys of the
youngest - since she moved in with the boys other grandmother. The others
are hard to see as well as they live 20 miles away and are in school. I did
see a lot of Ella going to and from the pediactric dentist in San Antonio
each week.

Speaking of Ella - she made it through her first surgery to repair lip and
nose and she looks tons better, but still has a ways to go. That was so
tough to see her go through that and the hard two weeks with her arms
restrained. But she appears to be an intelligent and happy baby and even
loves to talk on the phone anytime it is in her Mom's hands.

I have started back to the gym - have 30 pounds to lose. For the longest
time I could not make myself even go work out and I feel every pound of it.
I have also rejoined weight watchers to motivate me. So there is a little
progress there.

I most certainly miss those in the blog world that I came to respect and
enjoy. I am not certain if I will come back - I have mixed feelings about
that. I certainly would welcome emails although I find it hard to sit down
and type replies. I often wonder how each and every one is doing.

Thank you so much for checking on me and feel free to post this to our
friends if you wish.

I wish you the best.

David


I would like to see him get back on the blogwalk, but then I am not as good at it as I used to be either. I quit worrying about making sure I haven't offended anyone, or making sure I post every day, or so on, I just post for me, and you all are the cream that comes in the gravy! I am so grateful for blog friends! They keep me sane.

or not.

whoo-hoo I got on!!

Yesterday morning I woke up at 630 which is waaay early for me. I took a look out my window and could see that it was just a little foggy. I dozed until 700 turned on TODAY and sat and watched the night fade into morning. The fog disappeared, and the eastern edge ever so slightly got pink. Just as it was pinking up, wisps of fog made their way through the trees, like tiny clouds. The edges of the trees were turning gold, so I knew that the sun couldn’t be too far behind. Suddenly there was a golden fog over everything. Not thick like pea soup, but light and airy like angels wings. It was beautiful. I watched the frost actually form on the wisteria and the fence top, then slowly drip into oblivion as it warmed up. The whole process of frost, then melt took maybe 20 minutes.

Just as the frost started melting, the birds woke up and then the feeders were covered with juncos and chickadees and doves. I rolled over onto my side to see if Sadie was awake yet, and she had crawled out of her pen, and was on the pillow right next to me with her head also on the window sill, just watching like I was. When she saw me look at her, she was ready to go out. That took care of the birds for a few minutes while she peed.

As I drove into Oak Harbor last evening, The sun had just gone behind the Olympics and was turning a pretty pink. Just as I rounded the curve to head east. I got a glimpse of the almost full moon, and Mt Baker just to the left of it. OH soooo pretty! I went on to my meeting at the Playhouse, did my errands, stopped at Albertson’s and headed home. The Moon was still high and bright, and as I shot over the top of Sherman Hill and headed in towards Coupeville, I looked over to my right at the Olympics and almost ran off the road. They were incredible!! The night was dark, so the Mountains should not have been visible but the very tops of them still had a good snow covering on them and the moonlight hit the snow and lit it up just maybe two shades lighter than the rest of the night. It looked like an island floating above the Penninsula. INCREDIBLE!

I stopped at Phyllis’ to pick up the catfood that Elliott can’t eat, and headed home. Coming down through the flats and the farm land around Crockett Lake every star in the sky was hanging like it was put there just for me. Incredible.

These are the moments, folks, that just take my breath away and make me so glad to be alive. Incredible….

cough cough....

Well Folks, if you dont see or hear from me in a while, do not worry, I have a very slow sick computer, and every time it coughs, it boots me off line and shuts down...TOTALLY! then I have to run check disc and re boot, and then reconnect and start over and cross my fingers. I am waiting for my tax refund which may not be until the middle of February, so I can have a complete overhaul done, complete with new modem.

I will keep trying though.

Crocus' are popping up

I headed out to actually try to work in the front flower bed today, but it was too cold still, so I opted to come back in and crochet. I did manage to pull some of the leaves off of the back of the beds, and there under all the detritis was a crocus popping through. One of the few that the squirrels did not get through the years. The tulips are up about 3 inches too. It is still cold out there, so I am afraid that we may lose some of our flowers if the weather keeps up. I am just amazed at this winter. We normally only have one or maybe two TOTAL weeks of cold weather, and the rest of the time it is in the high 40's and low 50's! But this winter has been un normal! Almost like a real winter! Maybe we will get a real spring too.

I have not seen Lola in several months. I am just wondering if the cold maybe got to her and she went into hibernation. I am hearing a LOT of loud thumping in the walls, I hope it is not Lola and her family hibernating in my insulation!! I will have to send some one under there to put out rat traps and poison. Not that I want to kill off Lola and her kin, but I do want the rats gone, and if they die not, I can seal up the entry to the crawlspace and be done with them. Or I just might set out a Hav-a-hart trap and catch the neighbors bastard cat that sits on my bird feeder like he is waiting for dessert, and throw him under the house, THEN seal it up. He could eat for months before he starves! kill two rats with one cat. ;)

and ANOTHER one...LOLOL

You Should Have Voted For Bush

(You May Want to Hide This From Your Left-y Blogger Friends)

Who Should You Have Voted For in 2004?

ANd I didnt cheat either...

Another quiz...

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

What a beeeuuutiful day!

I woke up very late this morning, flat on my back which is unusual for me. Got up to fix a pot of coffee and get dressed. I had nothing clean to wear! I had all my laundry done, but Today is Friday, date day, so I needed to wear something besides a tee shirt and jeans. I found 1 silk blouse in the back of the closet, did my he=air and hit the road.

As I drove out of the developement and hit the open fields around the Navy auxillary Field, I saw the mountains. BRIGHT white in a sea of bright blue sky! No smog, no fog, no clouds, just clear blue and white. It made me want to just keep going! I didnt though, I stopped in Oak Harbor.

Turned in My dry cleaning, went to the Playhouse to make some copies for Rusty and then hit the bank to make a much needed deposit.

Once I had my chores in town down, I just drove around enjoying the beautiful weather. It was cold, only 38F. but it was clear, and the sun was so bright after all the gloom of the past several weeks, that it hurt my eyes! I had left my sunglasses in Bob's truck yesterday, so I was sun blinded. I can't take the bright sun very well at All. I make a great mole.

There are tiny green shoots sticking up out of the ground everywhere, letting everybody think that Spring is here. The crocus' are the first ones to bloom, and they are gonna be out before long! It absolutely amazes me the way that nature can say " ok, I've had enough of this cold shit, time to brighten up the world" and then do it. I have seen the blossoms on the fruit trees all out too early and then a cold snap hits and the fruit wont get a chance to set up for the summer. But some how, those old trees just keep bouncing back.

I passed a pussywillow bush today that was all out and almost blown, but my pussy willow is just sitting there looking like a dead bush. I really think I am going to cut it down this year. I hate to, because I keep thinking that this will be the year that it pussy's. However....I might cut the branches off and stick them along the outside of the back fence, and that way if they root, like they should, I will have a good dense green buffer in case some one builds back there.

Tomorrow I plan on getting out there in the back and getting the flower bed ready for early color. I can put pansies and primroses out there and then go right into the petunias, and other sowed seeds.

I hope we have a nice spring this year, last year was wet and late, and then we had a hot dry summer. I would like a warmer spring and a cooler summer this year, we shall see. guess the rest of the country just got slammed with winter finally. Hope you all are safe and warm.

BRRRRRR...

I am so COLD! I am chilled to the bone. I’m not sick, just COLD!! I have on a sweater and Cords, fuzzy socks and warm slippers but I am still cold. I am now sitting in my bedroom with my door shut and the heater on, and the window shut! (I NEVER close my window!) I also have the electric blanket on high. So now I have three cats 1 dog and myself lying on the top of the covers, trying to get warm. You know it is cold when the animals scoot you off your own bed so they can have the warm spot.

The weather has actually warmed way up. Almost into the 60’s today, but the house is COLD. I walked around the yard today checking on the fence to make sure there were no holes being dug under it. (I heard coyotes right out side the yard all last night) As I walked I noticed the trees in Lea’s yard are budding up. Her plum trees are covered with buds! It is way too early for them. The tulips are poking their heads up through the soil also. Uh-uh! Not yet!! Gonna get cold again! It is really damp out there though, even with the sun shining. That is what is making it feel so cold. When our humidity is up, the weather is felt even more.

Another thing I am wondering about is the insulation under the house. When I had the flood on Mother’s Day, the workers ripped out all the insulation under the house, because it had gotten wet. They wanted the floors to dry out completely, and the insulation would get moldy and cause even more problems. I know for a fact that the workers came and put insulation back under the house, but I could not get under there myself, so how much they did and how well they did it I am not sure. I do know that my electric bill is up. Even with the power out ½ the time. It has been a lot colder, but I am usually not affected that much by cold. Guess I better get someone under the house to see just what is covered.

I suppose I could get my ass out and haul in some wood and build a fire in the wood stove, but we are under a stagnant air advisory, and can not burn fires unless it is your only source of heat. I do have wall heaters in every room, but I usually do not use them.

I was awake this morning at dawn, and actually got to see the sun rise, under the cloud cover! It was so pretty. And we are expecting sun for the next week or so. That ought to really fool the plants into a false sense of security! Spring is still a long ways off, and the Farmer’s Almanac says that we are due for more ice and snow and wind before the Middle of March. Whee!

Another Season is chosen...

One of the ways that Plays get chosen to be presented as a season, is what we call PLAYDAY. During the year prior to Jan, a committee is chosen to read plays that have been submitted as possible contenders. These are submitted by the membership, or potential directors. We all read the plays and then report on whether or not we feel that it would be a good choice for consideration. Is it a family play, adults only, violence, language, too complicated for our stage. Etc. A lot of the plays that are submitted would be wonderful shows, but we have a very small stage, that is not conducive to big splashy musicals. There is no “back stage” there is only a narrow stairway down to the small green room. So a big cast is very hard to use.

We narrow all the submissions down to 5 musicals and 7 comedy/dramas and then the plays are given to each member of the playday committee to present to the membership. We are each given 12 minutes to “sell” the play, by showing a few minutes of several scenes, without giving the end away. It is up to us to decide how we want to do this…read a few scenes, use actors to read those scenes, show a video clip, play the music, or have a group on stage to sell the song from the show.

Playday is set for the middle of January each year, and the Members are invited to come to a lasagna dinner (5.00) and then stay and watch the presentations, and vote for their choices. Then the top 3 shows from each category are announced. These shows are then presented to the board of directors to finalize the season, taking into consideration a well-rounded season: Our elderly, religious season ticket holders, how many children parts are involved, The newer younger season ticket holders that are expecting fresher shows etc.

Last night was our Playday for 2007-2008 season.

I had the award winning play “LAURA” a wonderful murder/mystery to sell to the membership, and it was good. Unfortunately it did not get chosen. Neither did Man Of La Mancha, which was Rusty’s presentation. So, It looks like I will not be doing any shows after June.

I am tempted to see about an off-season show, either a children’s Christmas play or seeing if I could put Laura on without the complicated set that it calls for.
The six shows that did make the semi-final cut are:

HONK! The Musical
Guys and Dolls
Angry Housewives

Cooking with Gus
Social Security
The Heiress

So we shall see what happens when the board meets, and what kind of a season we will have to work with. Rusty has said she wont direct any that have been presented (DARN!!!) and I don’t know who else will be, so I may not be producing any at all.

Tim called this evening…Nothing new to say Mom. It’s raining, I’m planting trees.

At least he is healthy and safe

She's BAAACK....

I have a pair of varied thrushes that appear right after the new year every year. ANd they are back again this year. THey disappear as soon as it warms up in March or April, they can be heard, but rarely seen then. The have a really weird call. It sounds like they are whistling and humming the same one note.

The snow has finally melted and we have actually risen above the freezing mark! I have not hit 40 yet, but real close! I am due for some really sunny days, and then it can start all over again.

THe newscaster said last night that the Farmer's Almanac is predicting several more snow storms in Feb and a BIG WInter Storm in March! whoo! Dont know whether our power poles and trees can take much more. Looks like the rest of you finally got it too. Stay safe everyone. Remember, it is not absolutely necessary that you get out and drive in this mess. And if you do, be very careful!

Still Playing with blog...

Bear with me folks, Im still trying to figure out what goes where.

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap

Omnipotentbenevolentempressofthe50universes Came up to visit me today. She brought me my Birthday present. I also bribed her with swiss steak and mashed yukon golds!

I got the cutest little stuffed animal that flirts with you. (Hallmark) He is soooo CUTE! and he talks!! I also got a quart of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap in Lavendar. Liquid! For those of you that have never been introduced, You have got to go to the nearest health food store or organic section of a hippie grocery store, and ask for it!! 100% Pure castile soap! It is to die for!! I take the lavendar and squirt it into a hot bath with epsom salts and just soak. AHHHHHHHHH!!! and if you have a cold, get the eucalyptus flavor. Hot steamy shower with that and your cold feels so much better. I also like the Peppermint soap. It is WONDERFUL for a pick me up.

If you have not ever seen it, you will get a big kick out of all of the writing on the label. He was a jewish soap maker in Germany during the holocast, and he preaches like mad on his labels! Every single square inch of his label is covered with writings. But BROTHER does he make a fantastic product. I highly recommend you going and getting a bar or a bottle (comes both ways) and try it. You will soon be HOOKED.

So after she left tonight, I cleaned up the kitchen and went in and took a hot bath, squirted the lavendar soap into the water, soaked until I was weak, then got out and slathered myself with cranberry body butter, and settled into bed with my laptop. Life doesn't get much better than this. AHHHHHH!!!

January snow!

I just love the snow! It is so pretty out there, And it is so very unusual for us to get snow, of a significant amount, and then have it turn bitterly cold, and clear! We have had cold down into the 10's f. and for two days the skies have been crystal clear, making for beautiful days! The roads have been very icy and bad, but I stayed home until I knew the roads were drivable.

Standing out on the deck while Sadie did her thing, I looked up, and the moon had not come up yet, and the stars were hanging low in the sky, twinkling like you could reach up and touch them.

AS I drove into Oak Harbor yesterday, the sun was just setting, and as I was heading east, the Cascades and Mt Baker were turned a bright vivid Pink! I tried very hard to get a picture, but some ass-hole was right on my tail, and I could not pull off and get a good one. I saw pictures of the Comet on the news, so Today we were down at Ft Casey waiting for the sun to set, so we could get a good view, and wouldn't you know, there was a cloud bank coming in and blocked our view of it. As soon as the sun was down and the comet was gone, the clouds cleared up! BAH!!!

Tim called tonight, and said that he would have called yesterday, but he was working down the coast planting trees for the Dept Of Natural Resources. He is planting 300 trees a day. He feels real good about that, and seems to be doing good. Time will tell.

Well now that I have posted, I think I will try to go back to sleep. I hate this nap taking business that seems to be my nights lately. sleep for an hour, wake up, awake for two hours, sleep for 3 hours up for some more. ARRGHH!!

Might snow again today! WHoot!! I am really loving it. Especially when the power stays on.

Snow is so much fun!

It snowed today, about 4-5 inches, which as we have said before is really strange for here. It is so pretty though. SO I was looking at the weather pictures on our local tv station website and up pops this dog. I just LOVED it. How many times have you stood in the falling snow and stuck out YOUR tongue to catch a snowflake? I just never had seen a dog do it before.

It is going to get down into the teens tonight. Windchills down into the minus numbers too. BRRRRRRR

Bob came over and filled up my wood box for me, so if the power goes out again, I will still be warm.

Power came back on around 330 this morning. Woke me up so I got up and turned off everything. I went back to bed and layed there bright eyed and ready for the day.

GRRRRRRR. I want to take a bath go to bed, and go to sleep and sleep until morning. I have not done that in a long time. I wake up after an hour or two and lay there. I hate that. Now I am out of books to read until My shipment comes from Amazon, which should be tomorrow.

Man it sure is pretty out there! Smells good too.

Sitting in the dark....

So I googled sitting in the dark to see if there was any picture that would help me illustrate what I am doing...and up pops Harrison!! IF ONLY!!!! SIGH!!



So without the company of Harrison, I am sitting on my bed and updating my blog with the candles burning, and the phone line only allowing me to connect at 26.6!!
My friend Rusty was over the other week, and was going to show me a webwsite to download a fun game....LOLOLOLOLOLOL

She goes into the office and says "what's wrong with your computer?" Nothing, says I, I have CRAP dial-up which only gives me 56.6 connection speed. She was stunned!!
Bitch lives in town, and has Comcast cable!! GRRRRRRRRR She laughed at my computer!

THen when you can only get to 26.6 it REally feels like you are back in the dark ages. DARK AGES!!!!! LOLOLOLOL

ah well....gonna snow tonight too.

Getting ready...

Well, We won't get our next storm now, because I went out today, topped off the gas tank, got enough propane bottles to last 4 days, enough D-cells to fill the radio twice, bought a new powerful flashlight, and more lamp oil. I stopped at the store and bought canned goods that can be heated on the woodstove , or quickly re-heated on the camp stove. I bought hot dogs and canned meat, just in case, and mac and cheese for emergencies too. I have wood in the house, and I say bring it on.

I am getting tired of the power outages though...I miss my computer and TV.

Sending out Christmas Cards to all my blog friends has brought me back in touch with TW and with Leslie USA. I still have not found Wanda though. I tried her old address/URL and saw that she had written a post on Dec 7 but nothing since.

TW is thinking about coming back but still isn't sure...WE MISS YOU TOO TW!!!! I think of her and the Hunter every fall, and wonder how many dead animals she has hanging in her back yard. LOLOL

Leslie USA is fine, and still has a house full of kitties. She said to say hello to everybody!

I have no idea what has happened to TX Oceanlover though. Nothing since Oct and has not answered emails either. Hope it wasn't something I said.

KB pops in every so often and comments, so we know she is ok.

One of the things about blogging is that you never REALLY know what happens to people that stop suddenly. Are they ok? Were they really telling the truth. I guess I get too involved with everyone.

I am Just such a worrier. It is my job and I do it too well.

Well gotta go finish battening down the hatches. They just popped on TV and said MAJOR STORM COMING> Duh! Been that way since Nov 1! Actually, this is really what our winters used to be like, it is just that November's rains really loosened the trees roots and the winds just blow them right onto the lines. I worry about the tree across the street, but it appears to be leaning more towards Lea's house. SO I guess I am safe.

Darkness...

So Friday night I settle in for the evening, to wait for my son to give me his usual Friday night COllect call. Just as He called, the power went off! AGAIN!!

It stayed off all night and the next morning I crawled out of bed to run heat into the bedroom, and there was none!! GRRRR

I had planned on working on the computer for PLAYDAY COmmittee. Well the power fairies had other planns for us, SO all Friday and ALl SAturday I sat here in the dark waiting for the lights to come back on.

THey finally came back on at midnight last night, and I was able to get about 3 hours sleep between the cats playing with their catnip mice and the heavy duty generator the phone company hooked up to the equipment on the empty lot next door.

Today I dozed off and on, and now I am going back to bed. Tomorrow I hopefully will be back on line with out trying to fall asleep while typing.

Winter has been HELL!!!! Gonna get snow and COLD tomorrow! WHee...and all the snow will fall on the broken branches and we will start this cycle all over again.

Stand by!

Still Here...

I have been so very busy the past few days. So I have not even had a chance to read blogs. I have been working on a project for a blog friend that i have never met, and it has taken quite a bit of my time. I am at a stopping point in the project, and until she tells me she needs more, I think I canput everything away.

Last Saturday I got up at day break, and caught the 2nd ferry off island to go see my Son. I stopped at Mc D's got my usual Sausage buiscuit with egg and cheese and hit the highway. I made pretty good time this trip/ I left Pt. Townsend at 930, and got into the Corrections Center at 12:00. I did not stop to sight see, nor did I take the wrong road this time, so The time was good.

The weather has taken a real toll on our state, and it really shows once you get out into the wilderness. There must have been 1000 cords of wood laying along the highway, where the power crews have cut the trees off of the power lines. You can see the dents in the barriers along the road where they had fallen across the roads and landed on them. THe wood is not cut and split, but is just laying there, I assume once the weqather has all calmed down, someone will glean the wood off the right of ways. Wish I had a strong back and a big truck!

Driving along highway 101 along Lake Crescent, waterfalls were running fast and furious right off the cliffs, across the road, and into the lake. Usually the weather is colder up high and the waterfalls are just a trickle, because the snow has not melted yet. With the 2 weeks of rain we have had since the snow storm and the wind storms, the rivers are running high, and you could see the extent of the flooding along the Bogaschiel and Hoh and Sol Duc Rivers.

We have more wind storms coming. and in between the wind storms, we have rain! whee. The Weather PErson on the news Says we have not been this wet in YEARS.
I turned onto the Hoh Mainline Road, and the fog and mist and drizzle was laying low over the road. THe Mud was blowing up onto the car and I went through a whole bottle of window juice on that trip.

Tim looks good, and is doing well. He is scheduled to get counseling for his addiction soon. They were going to wait until he was on work release,but there are enough men in there that need the classes that they are scheduling one this spring. GOOD!!! He has seen herds of elk, and deer, and a black bear, and coyotes, and squirrels and lots of birds that he can't identify. He does not take after his Mom in that respect. But he does have my love of nature and the wilderness.

He mentioned that they are out in these storms keeping the fire service roads cleared of fallen trees. When I asked what they did with all the wood, He says they just cut spit and stack it along the side of the road, and whoever wants it takes it. DAMN!!! Where is that truck! Since this is all inside the National Forest, I would imagine that you would have to have some kind of permit to remove the downed wood. I will have to check into that. We talked for 2 1/2 hours, then I left and headed home. I almost put the car into the ditch several times, because it was getting dark and I was sleepy. I should have pulled over somewhere, but I did not want to be out there alone in the woods. Next time I go I will make sure that I leave before it gets dark.

Sunday, as you saw, was New Years Eve, and the excitment in this house was overwhelming. NOT!! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Monday we drove down to DOnnas and had a prime rib roast that Bill was given for his CHristmas Bonus. (???) It was really good, It was a nice visit, and then we left and drove back home in the rain.

Tuesday I had planned to watch the funeral, but since it came on so early here, I recorded it. I slept in got up and NO POWER again. SO I get out the lantern, and the radio, and prepare for a day of boredom. It was raining and blowing so hard that It was dark out,and I could not see to read. So I napped. And watched the birds. and napped some more.

Power came back on after 14 hours, and I turned everything off and went to bed. I got up and watched all of the recorded funeral program. ANd then the Grand Rapids Burial. It was well done. It really gets you when you see men that have been in that office cry as they say good by to one of their compatriots. Even seeing Rumsfeld cry was humbling. I have always liked President Ford.

Today I took the tree down, and made the best stew out of left over rib roast! Bob came over, and stayed to eat it, and even he said it was really really good. Got to give the credit to my new stove! I LOVE IT!!! So now I am in bed typing this on my lap top, because my desk top is ready to die. When I get my tax return back I plan on getting that refurbished. Then I can blog walk alot more.

I hope you all are enjoying the new year, and that the weather has not affected you as badly as it has us. We might even get more snow this week. WHOOT!!!!!

Happy New Year!

One of the best fireworks displays every year is NEW YEAR AT THE NEEDLE. It is choreographed and goes off with out a hitch even in the rain.

I wish Each and every one of you out there in Blogland those that read and admit they do and those that just stay hidden in the background, THe BEST And Healthiest New Year you have ever had.

Merry Christmas, ML...

I bought my house while I was home on leave from the Aleutian Islands. My CO called and told me that my orders had come through and I was being transferred back to Whidbey Island. SCORE!!!!!

I was so excited, And had my down payment already saved and in the bank. I went house looking, got a realtor, and told her what I wanted. There were several available, and 4 of them were being built. I went and looked and bought my house that day! It was not finished yet, but would be by October 1st which was the time I was transferring out of Adak! PERFECT!!

I got home and had to wait three weeks for closing, and then it was MINE!! I had a brand new house, with brand new appliances and carpet. WHOOT!! I felt like a queen!

I decided that I would cook thanksgiving dinner that year at my place, and my household effects were due to arrive way before then.

thanksgiving came, and I loaded the Oven with the Turkey, and everything was going along fine. UNTIL...I started to fix the potatoes, the peas, the green beans and the gravy all at the same time. One burner was fine, two were fine but three or more and the whole top went out. GRRRRRRR I got creative and made it through dinner, and then called SEARS the next week and they came out only to tell me that they could not find anything wrong. (be here next Thanksgiving Butt Head!!) SO I assumed it was just a freak coincident. Christmas dinner and the same thing happened. I called Sears again and they came out and replaced two of the burners. I did not cook a big dinner again for several years, and when I did, the same thing happened.!!

After the third time SEARS came out, I just said to hell with it, and only cooked with two burners.

FOr the past 2 years I have had to baby the stove along, because even the big burner wouldnt work. I could get it to work by pulling the burner out, then re-installing it, turning it on and then hitting it real fast and hard with my hand to see get it to spark. If it did not spark, it would not work. I did it real fast because I did not want to get burned on the off-hand chance that it WAS on. Bob would watch me go through this routine everytime I fixed him dinner. When He questioned me about it I told him I needed a new cooktop, but could not afford it yet. The oven worked fine.

Until this Thanksgiving! It worked just fine, but Now the self-cleaner will not work, because the buttons on the front broke off and are gone. WHen THAT happenend I dont know.

Yesterday I went to FOrks to see Tim, (tomorrow's story) and was gone all day, and when I got home Bob had gotten the new stove and had installed it for me.



Isn't it PURRRRTY!!!!

I had a built in-drop in stove before, and this is a stand alone. SO we had to cut the cupboard to get it to fit, but it works just fine!! I was sooooooo excited!!

It is a Whirlpool convection oven with self-clean oven. (gotta have that) and the glass top cook top. I LOVE it. He was gone when I got home, but I called and thanked him profusely for the Christmas/birthday present.

THen I turned around and saw the MESS!! They had used a sawzall to cut the cabinet, which is what I expected, but there was sawdust EVERYWHERE!! in the cupboards, on the counters, in the food, in all the appliances, all over the floor...I WAS PISSED!! I had a royal hissy fit at the mess. ( a week off of ZOloft...waiting for payday) So as tired as I was and hurting so bad, I rewashed all the dishes that were in the open dishwasher, then moved everything off the cupboards and washed them down again, and then the floor had to be scrubbed.

I was calling them every name in the book!! Why would 2 grown men instal a stove and leave such a mess? Well I should have known...It was Bob and Ron! Ron is a handy man by trade, and does this for a living, albeit self-employed. Ron is also the downfall of Bob. Ron says that perfection just gets in the way of Good enough! SO Bob has chosen that as his mantra also.

I called DOnna because I was pissed and wanted someone to just let me rant, I NEEDED to rant!! Hell I wanted to KILL SOMEONE!! (Not taking your meds does that ya know)
All DOnna said was MOM! It was FREE!!! ok, so I'm an ungrateful Bitch! ANd I feel so much better today, after getting meds, cleaning up the kitchen and taking a good hot shower and then taking some Tylenol PM and THera-flu. I woke up just fine, went in and cooked an omelet on my BEAUTIFUL NEw Stove.

Now I am waiting for Bob to come over for New Year's Eve. I am cooking steaks on my brand new stove in my brand new oven under my brand spanking new broiler.

Life is good!! (THANK YOU LORD for ZOLOFT!!)