Snorf!! Sniff! Wheeze....

YUCK!!! Anybody want to change heads with me? I feel ok if I did not have to deal with this cold. I am on Robitussin CF and Thera-Flu and do feel better, but I cough from way down in my toes. I feel like I am hacking up a lung. On My trip around Blogland this morning, it sounds like EVERYBODY has something. And in talking to people around here, they have it too. It is a terrorist plot!! Bin Laden has sent us a rhinovirus that has us all hacking and blowing and peeing, and sleeping so that he can sneak in under the radar and take over our blogs. I know it. Why else would we all be sick at the same time.

Now if I had mentioned this to Bob, He would have gotten a shocked look on his face and run out and bought a mask. Too Late Bob!!! You already have it!!! He is soooo paranoid. Sometimes it is fun just to make up these stories, just to see how far he will run with it. Ok, I Know I am SICK! I told you I was.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Our weather has been unreal. First we have spring, then we got a day of rain, then we got sunshine and warm weather, and today it is 1/2 rain. 1/2 sunshine. The birds are doing their little bird things, and more and more of the migrating ones are showing up. I now have 4 Hummingbird feeders out. The two that I had out were lasting a week, now it is daily, so This Morning I filled two more, so that should last a few days anyway. It is so funny to watch them. I pull the feeders down, and they will dive bomb me, and wait until I fill them, and then they will follow me to the next feeder. I was putting up the NEW one and two birds hit my hand before I even had the feeder hung!! They are soooo territorial. I love to watch them.

the Pine siskins are back in force also, and are going through two Niger feeders each week. I wish I know how they know to hang upside down to get to the seed. The house finches have not figured that part out. They will sit on the perch and peck at the plastic. DUH! The Goldfinches should be making their arrival anyday now.

Harry and Harriet are going from suet block to suet block, and then flying back into the alders. I hope they are nesting close by, because I like watching the young ones learn to peck at suet.

Sunday is the first day of Spring, and the days are getting longer and longer. As much as I do not like the warm weather, I do so love the long days. Especially the early light mornings and the late light nights. I woke up this morning at 530 and the sky was a dark navyblue instead of black. That means soon it will be daylight at 530 and getting light at 430!! Whoot.

I have my sister's copy of THE NOTEBOOK to watch, but I know it will make me cry, and that is not something one needs to do while manufacturing a nose full of crap with a cold, So I will hold on to it until I am all dried up.

All You guys out there that are sick like me...Robitussin CF and Thera-Flu works really good!! Hope you all get well soon, and I will do the same. Meanwhile put your masks over your 'puter, so Special K wont catch anything from us. SO far she seems to be the only one not yet sick.

STAY WELL KAT!!! Ellen, Cj both of you stay away from strangers, your immune systems are compromised enough. You don't need this. The rest of you...Good luck...

Cough...Wheeze....snorf....Sneeze.....

And a World of Blarney to ya...

Happy St. Patricks Day to all of ye Dearies!!!

I am sitting here trying to get my nose to quit manufacturing snot! I am so full of it. I have to go into the Playhouse tonight because I need to get the lights cues set and the lights moved, but I sure wish I dint have to go. We are filming the Commercial on Tuesday and the Press is invited in on Thursday, so There is not much time left. My head hurts so bad!!! My nose is soooo sore, and I am starting to hurt from Coughing so much.

I spent the whole day yesterday either in Bed or at the computer. I did not even change outa my night clothes. That really helped too. I remember the days when I would tough it out and go to work, because that was what I was Supposed to do. I never had time to take off and get well.

Now I am retired, and I STILL don't have all the time I need to get well. I know this is all volunteer, and I don't HAVE to go in, but I DO! Dot is expecting the lights set, and I have a new young man to train in the light booth. Why NOW!!! IM Sick... GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE..... Yeah right!!

I am also trying to work on the rest of the Family History, and my SIL brought me her Dad's history, but not her Mom's. Cant do a pedigree without that information.

Donna and Bob are getting over their colds, and I made sure that I thanked the both of them for sharing...Phyllis walked into my bedroom this morning, I didn't even hear her come in! She brought me Thera-flu for daytime and nite-time, and some Robitussin CF. Donna gave me her left over Nyquil, so I am pretty well doctored up, But I cant do it when I have to drive.

Sadie has stuck right by my side. She is afraid Mommy will go somewhere without her.

Our weather has turned into Winter again. Rain, Wind, Clouds, and more wind. We need RAIN! And lots of it. This has been the weirdest year for weather. No storms really, and hardly any snow in the Mtns. NOT A GOOD THING! We get all of our water from the snow pack, and since there is none, we will be on rationing before summer.

Well, got go blow the Factory!! I SOOO don't want to go tonight. Somebody wantta go for me? Please?

This and that...

LAst week I volunteered to have KB interview me, and Since I was in the middle of a travelogue, I postponed it until now. SO with out further adieu, my answers:

1) Name the most outrageous memory you have of your sister?When We were Teens, We shared a room, and I was bending over her trying to teach her to type. She was seated at the typewriter, I was hanging over her shoulder. She said something funny and I snorted! And when I did, the biggest lugie came out of my nose and landed right on the top of her head. We were both hysterical and jumping around, FUNNY to me, Not to her.

2) Ever laughed so hard you pee'd your pants in public and tell us the
story?

Too Many times to pick just one. You just wait, when you hit 55, you will know what I mean.

3) Ever farted real loud at work and blamed it on someone else?Not at work, But all the time at home. It is always Phyllis! Never me!

4) If you could have anything you wanted what would it be and why?

To be able to play the piano better than anyone who had ever lived. I have always wanted to play and never had the opportunity. Now I am too impatient.

5) If you could meet a famous person who would it be and why choose them?OMIGOSH! I don’t know!! Barbara Bush Probably, Because I think she is the real power behind her men. And I admire her for being average and loving it.

Now I realize that my answers are not as elegant as Leslies answers were, but neither were the questions! I mean how can you elegantly answer about LOUD FARTING AT WORK? LOLOLOLOLOLOL Or Blowing SNOT on My sisters head!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL

Ah Well, Leslie is elegant I'M NOT!!! Mom always told me I was a Lady, and I was so frustrated trying to be one, when I was MYSELF I had more fun, so Here I is folks, Earthy, Fat, Old, And TONS OF FUN!!!!

Kim asked what a hex sign was, SO in order to give her the RIGHT answer, I googled PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH HEX SIGNS and found a lot of sites that have the meanings. So try it!! Actually they are really pretty, and are just good luck wishes, to drive away the bad luck.

I am sitting here wishing I was back in bed. My head feels like it is twice the size it should be. My eyes are all runny, my nose is running, and stuffy at the same time. (How does it DO that?) my throat is scratchy, and I ache all over. I have a feeling that DOnna put her HEX on ME. She is good at that...I told you I was screwed!!!

BUSY BUSY BUSY...

I have been running around like crazy for about 4 days, trying to get all my loose ends tied up. THe weather here has been SPRING SPRING and is due to turn back to Winter just before Spring arrives. We have had GORGEOUS weather, no rain, and warm! THe birds are nesting already, and the hummingbirds are draining my two feeders daily. TIme to drag out the other 8 and get them up. I have a feeling it is going to be a two brood year for some of these little guys.

Mike came over and mowed the yard, and finished chopping up the wood that Bob threw in the front yard last Fall. (I'll be back to chop it later never happened) So Mike chopped most of it, DOnna stacked it.

I got the Primroses planted and Sadie promptly jumped into the planter and laid on them. SO I had to cut a piece of Chicken Wire to wrap around the Barrel so she will stay out of it.

I got the deck cleaned off, the Table cleaned off and the grill cleaned out ready for the season. I still need to get another gallon of Deck Cleaner, to get the places I missed. Then I will paint it with Thompson's wood sealer, and it will be ready too.

I got out the Bird Houses and the faded Hex sign and put a coat of paint on them all. THe Hex sign still needs to be outlined and highlighted. I am not an artist by any means, but this turned out pretty good. sorta. at least from a distance it looks ok, and it will be on the back of the house, so it wont matter.

We are in full production for TEN LITTLE INDIANS, and I have to set the light cues this week, I have them all designed, but now I need to program the computer.

I also have started work on A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. Got the press releases written for Auditions for that show, and the logo made for the poster. Got the poster and Program finished for INDIANS, and am working on the logo for my show next season, BLITHE SPIRIT.

I also have been going through some closets and pitching like crazy. Donna MAY be moving out in April, And when and IF that happens I want my house to be MINE!! It will take me several months to get it back to what I want, but I will get rid of everything I dont own! TIM COME GET YOUR CRAP!!!! I have been carting around Star wars toys for 30 years!

Donna is sooooo sick. She woke up Saturday coughing and croaking. Mike needed the wood stacked, so I made DOnna go do it, I had no idea she was as sick as she is. I did not realize until she would not come out of her room, and was hacking and puking and choking and groaning. I feel like a stinky piece of shit for not realizing she was that sick. I am a rotten Mom. I hugged her yesterday and apologized for the gaff. I think I am forgiven. Maybe. for now. I hope. If not, she will get even. Oh GOD!!!!! I am sooooo screwed!

South Bend, Wa

Barbs Place

The Town where Barb and Butch settled is South Bend. Just a blink as you are driving down US 101 and you have missed it. Barbara told me to call when I got to town, and she would come down and drive me up. Okay….I called, and she said to wait on the corner, and she would be right here. About 10 minutes later she drives up, and I follow her about 4 blocks and turn onto this dirt road that headied up a hill. Straight up! Warning signs that said Primitive Road, no warning signs, was at the beginning. It was dark and twisty, and I followed Barbara about 1.5 miles up the mountain. We turned off onto an even smaller road, and then onto an even SMALLER road. She was right, I would NEVER have found it by myself. It was a bout 8:00 when I pulled up. She had dinner ready, and Helped me unload the car.

Barb had stopped at the corner on her way in this afternoon and bought oysters, which she poached with mushrooms and breadcrumbs. YUMMMMMY! Topped off with a salad. After dinner she showed me around, and then we sat and played cards until We were ready for bed.

I slept like a log, I actually had the whole bed to myself, no animals at all. It felt really weird! But I slept until 900 the next morning.

Their land is 10 acres abutting the Weyerhaeuser managed forest, so there were no neighbors. The loggers had clear-cut the 50 or so acres just to the southeast of them, and from that point on there was nothing but forests for MILES! NOTHING.


weyerhauser

I asked what kind of wildlife she had there, and she took me to the front yard and showed me where the elk herd had decided to homestead. RIGHT IN THE FRONT YARD. There were none around because we were there, but there were plenty of elk seed left for us to find. ;)


Elk Seeds

Herds of deer, flocks of Blue Grouse, quail, bears, cougar, owls, and a few birds rounded out the rest. I saw no rabbits, but I am sure there were some. Butch had cleared about 5 acres around the place, planted an orchard, set up a wood fired hot tub on the deck that surrounded the front of the house, built the workshop and garage, and had retired waiting for Barbara to do so also. Barbara works in Seattle, so only comes home on weekends. It was on one of those weekends home that Butch was leading her down the mountain, to the flatlands to see her off for the week, when he had either a heart attack or massive stroke, and died instantly. He was only 62! What a tragedy! Barb is taking it very well. She says she has her moments, as I am sure she will still,. But she is a very strong woman, and is determined to keep the place going in his memory.


where the elk sleep

It was so quiet there, no planes, no highway noise, no neighbors dogs, nothing but quiet. It was magnificent. The land there is so CHEAP! Pacific County is the most depressed area in the state, and a 3 bedroom home can be purchased for under 85,000! Trust me, I am thinking about it.

The town of South Bend was started because of the oystering and the logging, but as the oysters were depleted and the trees were all cut, the town died back. The oysters have returned, but the type of oyster is not the native ones, but ones that were brought in and re-seeded. The trees are also coming back, thanks to Weyerhaeuser and their managed forest plans. Driving along the highway there are signs in front of different sized plots of trees, that tell when the original forest was cut and reseeded, and then harvested, and re-seeded, and when it is to be harvested again.

The size of the stumps of the original old growth timber is awesome. I would love to have been able to see a forest of old growth, virgin forest. Some of them were bigger around than my living room. Seriously, they were big enough to hollow out and live in.

Sunday morning while Barb went down the mountain to Church, I took my coffee out to the deck and just sat there listening to the far off buzz of the logging chainsaws, and then the total quiet that followed. The hummingbirds were dive-bombing, but Barb does not want to start feeding them because she is only home twice a month now. She does not want them to get used to her feeder and then starve. Good thinking. I packed up the car and said my thank yous and good byes to Barb and left for home around 12:00.


Raymond

The town of Raymond is 2 miles up 101 from South Bend, and the highway all along the way is seeded with Iron Sculptures. These are a series of enchanting steel sculptures of wildlife and people, designed by local artists to reflect the heiritage of the area. Loggers, native americans, elk, bear cougar are some of the subjects cut out of the steel. The top of the light posts have Brants all stretched out and sunning their wings. Owls and squirrels are perched where you would expect them to be. It is about 3 miles of road, and really awesome to see.

I Drove on up 101 to highway 12 then up to 108 to 101 again, and then on up along the Hood Canal and the Ferry from Port Townsend to the island. AHHHHHHHHH this is a gorgeous state!!!

Long Beach

After we had our Lunch at SHIPS restaurant, we drove back across the Columbia River to the Washington Side, and turned Left towards Ilwaco and the Pacific Ocean. This was the road that followed the route that Lewis and Clark followed when they first saw the Ocean and knew that they had reached their goal. I had always assumed that they were on the Oregon side the whole time, as they wintered there and all of History has them at Fort Clatsop in Oregon. HOWEVER! They originally were on the North side of the River, and Pocahontas and Clarks slave York, both suggested that they stay on this side, and continue on to the Ocean. They did this, and then because of a need to establish a more permanent camp they crossed the river into Oregon.


shipwrecks

Ilwaco is right on the Pacific, and we turned North to drive up the Long Beach Peninsula, which forms the longest drivable beach in the world. 33 Miles of hard packed sand, with a very shallow reach out to sea. The tide was out, and there were clam diggers out everywhere. We stopped at the Boardwalk, and walked the ½ mile down the beach on the dune.


tsunami

Along this walk there are signs showing the natural history of the area, and how Tsunamis, had and will again, change the landscape of the area. Right behind one of these signs was a brand new condo being opened. I wonder who will be dumb enough to buy there? I would not, as much as I would love to live there, I would not invest in an area that it is predicted to be erased at any time. But what do I know?


whale skeleton

There was a whale skeleton on display, and the Gray whales were being sighted out at sea, on their way North for the summer breeding season. Barbara wanted to go get her feet wet, and as the tide was waaaaaay out there, I let her go alone, and I stayed up on the Boardwalk to document the event. (walking sticks and sand don’t work too well) The weather was wonderful, just a tad bit hazy, which put a chill into the air, but it was perfect walking weather. Bad hair day though.


Barbara


We then drove back along the beach to the other end of the boardwalk, and then continued down the peninsula to Oysterville. This is another story for another time, as We were running out of time and light and wanted to be home before dark. Leave it to say that there was way more history here than I ever knew about. All of the history deals with the settlement of the Seattle area, and Fort Vancouver, and the Mercer Girls, etc. But hardly anything more than a brief mention goes into the oystering, and fishing, and logging, and cranberry bogs that are all along this beautiful area. I will go back before Summer spoils it all and update you on it.


drive

Tomorrow I will talk about Barbs place and South Bend and Raymond. See ya..

Astoria still...

ASTORIA…Still


columbia

The view from the Astoria Tower was so awesome. Even though I did not climb the 164 stairs , I had a great view. You could see the whole mouth of the Columbia River, and the Bar that is one of the most dangerous bars in the world to cross.


me

Barbara took my camera and got a picture of me from up on top. I am the white dot on the ground. (Never thought I could look so small). Once Barb came down from the tower, we toured the rest of the grounds. The Canoe is a replica of the ones that Lewis and Clark used to explore the Columbia River. Now I don’t know about you, but I would need a bigger boat. A MUCH bigger boat! It amazes me to see how SMALL the vehicles and craft were that the pioneers used to cross this vast continent. My big SUV is bigger than most wagons were, and they had their whole life in those wagons and canoes. It really brings it home how much they struggled and how hard their journeys were to conquer this wilderness.


canoe

After we were finished, and I had gotten my walking stick, We decided it was time for lunch. Barb knew a great place called The SHIPS that had good English Fare…Bangers and Mash, Fish and Chips, etc. And was right on the River. We had The Halibut Fish and Chips, and sat right on the water. A Freighter was passing while we ate, and it was really close. The River channel ran right up against the Oregon Border, and the rest of the water was all Sand Bar. WOW!


the river

The Fish and Chips were absolutely WONDERFUL!! The Halibut was flaky and the Fries were so crisp and fresh. I could have sat there for hours watching the River traffic go by. But we were ready to go to the Long Beach Penninsula. The longest sandy beach in the world. 33 miles of ocean front…but I’ll save that for tomorrow

2nd Eruption...

2nd plume

I was trying to get these two posts together but blogger wont let me.

It appears that there was a 2.5 quake and now there are signs of fresh lava extruding from the crater. The plume has been measured as 40,000 feet high. There are all kinds of reports coming in, and no one has said anything other than a crater eruption, no Lahars, or pyroclastic flows, associated with this SO FAR! THere is an ash advisory for those down wind of the plume which puts it over Yakima. We are all safe and fine.

THAR SHE BLOWS!!!!!

Breaking News!!!!!

Mt St Helen's has just erupted with a cloud of ash and steam up to 36,000 feet high.

Blogeois has her camera pointed right at it. www.blogeois.com Go see. More news as it happens.

Astoria Tower

Astoria tower

ASTORIA COLUMN

The Astoria Column, in a clearing atop Astoria, Oregon's highest hill, draws an ?Oh, Wow!? from most visitors with its spectacular views of the city and its surrounding forest, mountains, rivers, bay and ocean. The Column, built in 1926 for $32,550, is 125 feet high and has 164 steps spiraling to the top. While the view is best from the column's summit it's also pretty impressive from the surrounding park.

Patterned after the Trajan Column in Rome, the Astoria Column is the world's only large piece of memorial architecture made of reinforced concrete with a pictorial frieze in sgraffito technique. The column artwork illustrates the discovery of the Columbia River by Captain Robert Gray in 1792, the establishment of American claims to the Northwest Territory, the winning of the west and the arrival of the Great Northern Railway.


top


After nearly 70 years of exposure to coastal weather and salt air, time had begun to take its toll on the Astoria Column's unique artwork. By 1995, many of the pictures had deteriorated nearly to the point of invisibility. But the Friends of the Astoria Column and the Astoria community worked together to restore and preserve the artistic character of the column. Internationally renowned experts spent six months cleaning, reconstructing and restoring the images to their original luster and their completed work was unveiled in November, 1997.


Something else that is so neat about this tower, is the Airplanes. The concession stand sells balsa wood airplanes for .50 and then you can fly them off the top off the tower. Since it is 164 steps up there, I personally did NOT go up, but Barb did. She has been there many times before, and had a stash of airplanes at home to fly . So she flew it down to me and I retrieved it. She then put our names and the date on the plane and took it back home to fly again.

After reading all the names on the tiles around the tower, and then history of it, I have decided that I will have to go back again and again during this bicentennial of Lewis and Clark Expedition, and live even more history. If you are interested go here... www.oldoregon.com And learn all about the celebration and the life around Astoria. It is AWESOME!

astoria tower

What a sight!...

I had a wonderful weekend! I will tell all about it in several posts this week, but the post today is about 1 hour of the weekend.

I left Barbs house around 12:00, and drove up 101 along the Hood Canal. This road is very sparsely habitated, and follows the fjord right along the water. There are several pull offs to allow faster moving traffic to go by. I was pushing along about the speed limit +5 and enjoying the ride. I noticed several people out on these pull outs looking out at the Canal. I glimpsed a guy on a skidoo, so just kept on trucking. About Liliwaup, I noticed a LOT of people watching the guy on the skidoo, so I assumed he was making acrobatic movements.


Along the next big pull out there were people with Binoculars looking at the guy, so I said...Self, there is something more going on than what you think, so pull over and see. So being the good girl that I am (I always listen to my conscience) I pulled over and grabbed my binoculars. I always have a set handy, and when I drive I have them hanging over the head rest of the riders seat at the ready.

I looked out and the guy had fallen off his skidoo, and was no where to be found. Then I noticed a fin, and another fin, all black, and small, SO I knew then that the guy on the skidoo was really a bunch of dolphins playing.

I was right across from where I thought the SUBASE Bangor was, and I knew that they kept Dolphins for security porpoises. (pun intended) I thought that they were out on maneuvers.

Suddenly I saw a white patch on a bigger fin, and realized that what I was looking at was a pod of Orcas! There were 2 huge females, and about 6 juveniles. They were breaching, and spy hopping and the little ones were sticking their tails out of the water and waving them. It was sooo spectacular!! They were about 1/2 mile off shore, so they were safe, and we were so blessed with the show that they were putting on. The Females would pop way out of the water and splash back down then the youngsters would Sound. And then they would jump. It was a real treat.

I sat there for about an hour watching them frolic, and then with a sigh, I put my glasses down and drove on up to the ferry landing in Port Townsend. I was hoping for the 315 ferry, and I was the 2nd to the last car allowed on, so the timing was PERFECT. I got home about 4:00 and Sadie almost turned inside out wiggling, when she saw me.

I gave her lots of loving and promised I would take her next time I went. Hopefully by then the laptop will be fixed and I can post daily from wherever...So I can take ya'll along too.

Time out...

I am going to be gone for a few days. I am going to go over to the mainland down towards Oregon and on the coast, to visit an OLD, OLD friend. Barbara lost her husband just before Thanksgiving.

I first met her Husband Butch when I was just starting to date. He was a sailor from VP-1 here on base, and was more fun!! We dated for about 6 months, and then he found my best friend Elaine, and went with her for about a year and then he met Barbara. Barbara had been part of the gang, but was going with Willy at the time, so Butch just never asked. When Willy and Barb broke up, Butch made his move, and then they were married.

They were perfect for each other. They had a wonderful life together, He got out of the Navy and then after some time with Georgia Pacific, he started working for the US Govt again. This time in communications. He was transferred to Korea, and Puerto Rico, and West Virginia, and finally back to Washington.

We had kept in touch through the years, but never visitied, as we were on different schedules, different places. When I got the email in December telling about Butch's sudden death, I was shocked and immediately called Barbara.

It was so wonderful re-connecting with her. It was like we had never been apart, just like when we were still in college, and high school. I saw her a few weeks ago, and had made arrangements for me to go down to her place this weekend. They just finished building this house, and had both retired, to enjoy the rest of their lives together, when Butch had a massive heart attack and died.

This should be a fun weekend, just sitting around talking like old times, playing card games, eating crap, walking along the beach at Astoria, exploring the woods. I need this break. She needs this break. We both need each other. I am leaving Donna in charge of the animals, and running away! See you when I get back!

scrapbooking anyone?

You are 7 GYPSIES paper!
Oh la la...you are sophisticated and enjoy fine
wine and a candlelight dinner. You envision
travelling the world someday. Your scrapbook
pages are elegant and well thought out.


Which Scrapbooking Paper Collection Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I found this quiz over at Valkyries place and since I LOVE to Scrapbook and buy pretty paper, I thought I would give it a go.

The Whidbey Playhouse

playhouse

Tonight we went to the rehearsal of TEN LITTLE INDIANS at The Whidbey Playhouse, a community theater group on WHidbey Island. The set is still being constructed, and the Director did not want her picture taken, so she put me in front of her face.

State Park

sp dora

Well THIS is the entrance to the State Park Fort Casey...Mary Lou Boo=booed when she put it under the conference centers picture.

The COnference Center is on State Park Property, but it is owned or run by Seattle Pacific University. They have the 6 graders from the Seattle Schools come up for 1 week in the spring, and learn off campus history. Every school child looks forward to 6 grade camp. They also have Soccer Camp here, in the summer, and the Seattle SOunders run this camp.

Seattle Weather

seattle weather

This evening, I watched the Seattle weather reports with Mary Lou, isnt the weather man CUTE? Todd is his name, and I think I have a crush on him.

The Ferry Lady

ferrylady

This is the nice Lady at the Ferry Terminal, who laughed and let me have my picture taken with her. We chose not to wait until 730 for the next sailing. It was getting dark

Port Townsend Ferry landing

ferry

This is the Ferry Landing on WHidbey Island. In order to get off this Island, we need to either take the Ferry to the Olympic Penninsula or drive 70 miles down Island to the CLinton Ferry to the Mainland north of Seattle. The Ferry has just left...we missed it.

Fort Casey State Park,

casey

This is a picture of Fort Casey State Park on Whidbey Island, Washington. It is an old Army FOrt that was built during the late 19th century. It was one of three forts that covered the entrance to Puget Sound.

School Project...

friend

This is the Friend from Alberta Canada that Leslie showed on her blog today. It is from the Neices, and the FRIEND has to be photographed in many different places.(CORRECTED LINK)

I thought this would be fun, so I photoshopped the Rum and Coke out of the front of her, and printed it. Now I will take her with me tomorrow, and get pictures in several places, with place names. then send the photos to Leslie, so she can print them out and give them to her neice.

Now Michelle, If you could copy her, print her out and take her to CAPETOWN and get her picture. ANd Tine, You could get her picture in Belgium and ANJI you could get her in France, and CAS, if you have a digital camera, can you cover England?

Anyone else have a digital camera? We can CYBER move her all over. I printed her out as an 8X10, and she should show up pretty easily . I think I will even take her to rehearsal tonite, she can stand in with one of the actors in TEN LITTLE INDIANS.

We'll get covered. And all these have to get back to Leslie by THursday so she can get them printed out and given back to her neice!

FUN !!!!!

Twins!!!!

twins!!!

I didnt get hardly any sleep last night, as I was afraid I would forget to get up and Bob would miss his Colonoscopy at 700 this morning! So After the Academy awards, I tried to sleep, but could not. Just as I was about to get to sleep, the Coyotes started in yipping right over the back fence, and that woke up Sadie who insisted on joining them in waking up the world.

Got Bob in and back, and babysat him until the anisthetic wore off and I could see that he had no bad effects from that (except for the farting!!!) So I took him home.

I came back home the highway instead of along the beach, and just as I pulled off the highway and on to the developement road, there, right in the newly planted grass of a new house, was a set of twins!! They were yearlings, as the babies this year are just teeny tiny yet. and their Mama was not with them. THey were about twice the size of Sadie, who was quietly sleeping in the front seat. I stopped, rolled down the window, and got my camera out of my purse. As soon as I hit the on button, Sadie woke up and looked out the window. "MOM! MOM! LOOK! LOOK! CRITTERS! CRITTERS!
(BOunce Bounce Bark Bark). and the twins turned their tails and took off. Thus the really bad picture, but you get the idea. (yappy little Bitch!!) i Just love the WIldlife!!

Sunday....

I have had mere skepticism from my firends and family about this cure for nose bleeds. For about the past three months, I have had a pretty serious problem with my left nostril just letting go and flooding the room. I have tried ice, pinching, head back, wet rags, cotton shoved up it, everything to get it to stop. Time is usually the only thing that stops the flow. I quit smoking 22 years ago, so I have no filter tips laying around to use as mini tampons either.

Bob says that it could be ANY thing thrown down your back. Donna says it is raising your elbow over your head. So last night just as I was relaxing to go to sleep, all comfy in my warm bed, the pillow all settled in just right, and the sandman having made his visit, my left nostril started to leak. Not just a tiny little bit, but a gusher...On went the light, and the Puffs box was grabbed, and the flow staunched for a bit until the tissue was soaked. This was the perfect time to try and prove the theory. I put several things metal and cold down the back of my nitegown, and still the flow remained. I raised my elbow above my head, I raised BOTH elbows above my head. I tipped my head back, and still the tissues were soaked. After about 5 minutes of trying everything, I came in here to find the keys. I sat down in the chair, grabbed a clean tissue and dropped the keys down the back of my nitegown. Within 30 seconds, the flow stopped, I could breathe again out of both nostrils, and the tissues remained dry. SO for all of you non-believers out there. BELIEVE!!! BELEIVE!!! It does work. Why I have no clue...

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I need you all to please send me your birthdays, and your snail mail addresses. I cant send you one of my hokey hand made cards if I do not have your address. I have most of your addresses, but there are SOME HOLDOUTS (DAVID!!) and There are some whose BD's I dont have. If you want to you can email me them...dreamer(at)galaxynet(Dot)com they will be kept confident.

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I need to get out side today and clean up the deck. Sadie and the birds have made a real mess out there. I also need to get my SweetPeas planted. I am late there. Feb 22!! But the ground has been so cold and frozen. I really need to hire a gardner. One that will live here free and do all my yard work without grumbling. And clean house too. Oh and empty the cat box daily, and wash windows, and the car. It would also be nice if s/he would give massages too. SIGH!!!!!!!!
WAKE UP MARY LOU!!!!!

and even MORE Stuff....

Several of you were amazed at the old wives tale about the nose bleed and the keys, well, I just got this in the email from Sue Wylie...

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

1. If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic. Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat and presto. The blockage will be almost instantly removed.

2. Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by simply using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.

5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you will be afraid to cough.

7. Have a bad toothache? Smash your thumb with a hammer and you will forget about the toothache.

Sometimes, we just need to remember what the rules of life really are:
You only need two tools: WD-40 and Duct Tape.
If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40.
If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.

Remember:
Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
Never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom.
If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You get another chance.

And finally, be really nice to your family and friends; you never know when you might need them to empty your bedpan.


I have been trying to write something really profound and seem to have gotten stuck on NOTHING!! I have a horrible rash on my belly and my arms that is driving me to distraction. I itch like mad, and have welts all over my tummy. It is really hard to concentrate when you have to stop tyoing and scratch!!

I took my brother in for a endoscope of his stomach yesterday, He was to be sedated, so I had to be there to take him home and watch him. He has been vomitting and losing weight for about two months now, and last week when they took an xray of his stomach it was shaped like an hour glass. They were afraid he might have a tumor, or a constriction of some type. Doc Z siad his Procedure yesterday was alarmingly normal. So now the next drill is an upper CT scan of his abdomen. He is thinking that MAYBE Pancriatitis or a cyst something or other on his Pancreas. I sure hope they find something, but nothing that cant be fixed. He is my baby brother, and I practically raised him. I am 10 years older than he is.

Monday I get to take Bob into the Base Hospital for an endoscope on the OTHER end. and the same drill, I will have to bring him home and watch him because he does not remember things when he comes out of it.

And then Tuesday I get to take Phyllis in to the Hospital for an epidural cordizone shot in her spine.

Ambulance service anyone?

That is afterall what family is for...and when there are three of us all living alone and Mike's wife has to work, someone has to be the driver. I know that I will get my turn at the riding before long.

Bob is starting his liquid diet tomorrow, so tonite he is staying home. I will stay away from him tomorrow too, because he will not be fun to be around. Like all men, he gets really NASTY when he is sick. WHy are they that way? Gads, Maybe that is why God made females MOTHERS! Can you just HEAR them in the LABOR ROOM!!!!

Stuff...

You are a Square. What a weirdo.


What kind of Sixties Person are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Well that fits!!! Phffttttt!!

MORE STUFF

Here is a nifty li'l way of getting to know one another a tad better. Not too much, tho', cuz it'd be scary! Here's my info;

1. What time is it? 1150 am

2. Name as it appears on birth certificate: Mary Lou Brett

3. Nicknames: Loulie, Mar, ML, Mom

4. Piercing: Just the ears, twice, but the 2nd holes closed up

5. Eye color: Blue,

6. Place of birth: San Diego, Calif.

7. Favorite food: Italian, Mexican, American, any of it!!

8. Ever been to Africa? No, But I sure would like to go.

9. Ever been toilet papering? Only in my bathroom..

10. Love someone so much it made you cry? Several times...,

11. Been in a car accident? Yes.

12. Croutons or bacon bits: Both, if the bacon bits are REAL!

13. Favorite day of the week: All of them now remember, IM RETIRED!!!!

14. Favorite restaurant: I dunno anymore…My favorite changed locations and then closed.

15. Favorite flower: Daffodils, Lilacs, Roses

16. Favorite sport to watch: Baseball, just started to watch hockey ... oh, wait a minute .... there IS no hockey.

17. Favorite drink: Water, Diet cola; coffee,

18. Favorite ice cream: Ben & Jerry's NY Fudge Chunk

19. Disney or Warner Bros.: Disney.

20. Favorite fast food restaurant: Burger King?

21. What color is your bedroom carpet: It used to be Grey, but now….

22. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None

23. Before this one, from whom did you get your last
E-mail? Meme? Wanda

24. Which store would you choose to max out your
credit card? dunno!!!.

25. What do you do most often when you are bored? Read, scrapbook,playhouse, crossword puzzles, BORED? What ‘s THAT?

26. Bed time: 11:00 p.m.

27. Who will respond to this Meme the quickest? Either Wanda or Brenda

28. Who is the person you think is least likely to respond? Bill

29. FAVORITE TV SHOWS: The Weather Channel. Oh, can't you take a joke!? West Wing, Miami CSI, Amazing Race, JAG, CSI NY

30. Last person you went out to dinner with: Bob. Also the last person I stayed in to dinner with.

31. Ford or Chevy? Mercedes. Oh, I guess I have to choose from the list. It's not easy .... um ... er ... Chevy for cars and Ford for trucks.

32. What are you listening to right now? The Noon News.

33. What is your favorite color? blue?

35. How many tattoos do you have? None,

36. Have you ever run out of gas? Yes, several times.

37. What is your favorite Book, Movie? Gone With The Wind

Copy this to your own blog and change your answers to your own. (this was sposed to be in an email, but I wont SPAM people with this. Gives you a choice do it or not.

EVEN MORE STUFF...

I read an article in the paper this Sunday, that to stop a nose bleed you should drop keys down your back...A lady wrote in and said her gramma used to say that too, and the columnist said as bizzare as it sounds, it worked on her. So since I have been BLESSED with a nose bleed every day! I thought I would try it. Sure enough, I got my nose bleed about two hours ago, found some keys and dropped them down the neck of my PJ's. Would you believe it STOPPED!! Not immediately, but within 30 seconds!! Why? WEIRD!!!!!!!!

Get real....

Hearing set for splitting Washington into two states


A hearing on a bill that would split the state of Washington into two states will be held in Olympia on Feb. 22.

Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, is co-sponsoring Senate Joint Memorial 8009, which would ask the U.S. government to establish Eastern and Western Washington as separate states.

Kline said a "disproportionate amount" of tax revenue generated in the western part of the state goes to the eastern part.

"Why should the western half continue to subsidize the east? We could use that money right here for job creation, education and health care," Kline said in a statement.
The state would be split using the crest of the Cascade Mountains and the western borders of Okanogan, Chelan, Kittitas, Yakima and Klickitat counties.

The hearing is set for 10 a.m. in Senate Hearing Room 2 in the John A. Cherberg Building in Olympia.

The latest state-splitting proposal in the state legislature would slice Washington along the Cascades, making the Seattle area and the coast one state and everything east of the mountains another state.

There are some serious problems with the idea, however. For example, the United States Senate would have to approve the new state. That’s not likely to happen because it would create two new Republican senators, and Democrats would likely try to keep that from happening

Much of Western Washington is defined by urban centers such as Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and the capital, Olympia.

Eastern Washington is rural-esque.

Western Washingtonians love their non-fat half-caff triple-grande quarter-sweet sugar-free vanilla extra-foamy caramel whatchamacallits.

East of the Cascades folks just want a cup of joe. Black. No sugar
.
Much of the western side of the state embraces the message of the Democrats, while Eastern Washington tends to toe the conservative line. This political divide, it would seem, is the very thing that so powerfully fuels cockamamie talk about doing to Washington what the man in the circus does to the poor lady in the box.
Sawing the state in half makes sense, Morton says, because people who think alike should be united.

But really, by that line of logic what would come next?

A separate state for paranoid neo-Nazi freaks to pump the sky full of bullet holes? A home for PETA activists who want their own furless fiefdom?Even when the politicos try to get serious to justify turning one Washington into two the whole thing can get a little cross-eyed.State Sen. Bob McCaslin, a Republican from Spokane Valley, told the world he believes "from my heart, mind and soul that Eastern Washington could survive beautifully without Western Washington."A respected Democrat wasted little time rebuffing McCaslin by astutely pointing out how much tax revenue generated in Western Washington flows east. " Maybe Kline's sly point is that Eastern Washington ought to be careful what it wishes for.The truth is any provincial thinking would be a detriment to any collective sense of statehood. Washington would not be Washington without all of its imperfect, disparate parts, without the Elysian fields of the Palouse, the sleepy country towns east of the Cascades, the hurly burly of Seattle or the political fisticuffs in the very left-leaning capital. Those places, along with the ongoing philosophical tugs of war pitting reds against blues -- with presumably the Libertarians and Greens somewhere in the mix -- make this mossy corner of the country infectiously kinetic, as dynamic and interesting as it can be enervating and ridiculous. Lawmakers keen on changing the state need to first change their state of mind. More pressing matters of governance face the Legislature than the silly bit about a state split.
Even though there are a lot of feelings running around out there on this subject, It wont happen. First because Eastern Washington really does not want this. Yes the Western part of Washington is holding the Eastern side up financially, the tax base is much bigger over here than over there. There is a physical divide that separates us. And that is the Cascade Mountains. We are greener and wetter over here, Eastern Washington is dryer and a lot browner. They are desert, we are trees. They have SPACE we have people. They have CROPS we have highways and airports to get their crops to market. They listen to COUNTRY we listen to CULTURE and ROCK, NPR and JAZZ. We have pretty sunsets they have pretty sunrises. They are colder and hotter, we are temperate. ( The Above was stolen from several sources on the internet)

I remember in the 70’s when this was talked about with great fervor. The talk back then was to take Western Washington and merge it with British Columbia, and parts of Alberta and create 1 big state called CASCADIA. That did not go any where either. It is a frivolous bill. In this day and age, when there are people in our cities going homeless, and hungry. When our Children are not learning in school anymore, when families are not parenting and caring about their own, we need to be concentrating our resources and our efforts on improving the quality of life of all citizens. We should not be electing representatives that are abusing their political power by wasting time and money on this kind of thinking.

The splitting of this state, or any state right now just undermines the unity of this country. I would hate to think that this Bill will actually get some Senate consideration. What a waste! Some one needs to set priorities for this man, as he obviously can not do it for himself or his constituents.

I do not have any problem with 51 states, but I think it should come from one of our few territories, like Puerto Rico, or Guam.

If Western Washington is concerned about Eastern Washington not having enough taxes to pay their bills, (which they wouldn’t if we split) we could help them get more population, by closing down Western Washington, allowing no more growth, (YES!!) and sending everybody to Eastern Washington. I am sure that all of these Californians that are getting all of our rain, would like to dry out. Eastern Washington could do that. There is no rain over there. There is only cactus and coyotes and apple trees. There is also a big river running through it, so they would still have waterfront property. Keep them all away from here, as all they are doing is driving our real estate prices up way beyond our means, and causing our taxes to rise.

You just watch. There will be a mass migration North and soon we will become even MORE Californicated than we have been in the past 25 years.

Split Washington into two states. BAH!!!!!!!!! Get real guys.

A lighter touch...

Some "Senior" personal ads seen in Florida newspapers:
(Who says seniors don't have a sense of humor?)

FOXY LADY:
Sexy, fashion-conscious blue-haired beauty,
80's, slim, 5'4" (used to be 5'6"),
searching for sharp-looking, sharp-dressing companion.
Matching white shoes and
belt a plus.

LONG-TERM COMMITMENT:
Recent widow who has just buried fourth husband, and am looking
for someone to round out a six-unit plot.
Dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath not a problem.

SERENITY NOW:
I am into solitude, long walks, sunrises, the ocean, yoga and meditation.
If you are the silent type, let's get together,
take our hearing aids out and enjoy quiet times.

WINNING SMILE:
Active grandmother with original teeth seeking a dedicated flosser
to share rare steaks,
corn on the cob and caramel candy.

BEATLES OR STONES?
I still like to rock,
still like to cruise in my Camaro on Saturday nights and still like to play the guitar.
If you were a groovy chick, or are now a groovy hen,
let's get together and listen to my eight-track tapes.

MEMORIES:
I can usually remember Monday through Thursday.
If you can remember Friday, Saturday and Sunday, let's put our two heads together.

MINT CONDITION:
Male, 1932, high mileage, good condition, some hair,
many new parts including hip, knee, cornea, valves.
Isn't in running condition, but walks well


Maybe there is hope for me yet!!!

What happened?

For some strange reason, the side bar of my blog has totally disappeared. I don't know if it is blogger being wonky or what. I did go in and republish as I changed a link on my template. SO let's see what happens when I publish this.

I am verging on sickness, but not sure what. I have had a headache for two days now, that I can not seem to overcome. Just a dull throbbing pain around the top of my head and down the back. GRRRR and the sneezes have hit. The alder tree pollen is very high right now, due to no rain this month, so everybody has severe allergy reactions. I am hoping that is all I have. Don't need to go getting really sick. I refuse to.

It may be from lack of sleep. I hit the bed around 1100 last night, read a magazine and turned out the lights. I woke up at 230, went back to sleep and around 430 I woke up hearing running water and noises. I got up to check it out, and Donna was up doing her laundry and cleaning the kitchen. Every noise she made just reverberated through my head, and seemed 10 times louder than it should have. She did not get back to bed until I finally got up after 700.

I looked out at the platform feeder and it was empty, so in the dawning light and the freezing weather, I trekked out in my Lands End slippers and Lane Bryant PJ's and carefully walked out onto the deck and down onto the frozen grass and filled the feeder so the doves would have food. I carefully walked back across the frozen grass, and up onto the frosty deck and into the house...Safely on two feet. (HA! You thought I was gonna fall again didn't you Wanda?) fixed a pot of coffee and blogwalked awhile. It seems like most of you have either slept in or just were not posting.

Yesterday I had plans to be on the computer all day, as I had a project for the playhouse to complete, but Bob came over, then my SIL came over for help with her resume, then my nephew came over and spent the entire afternoon and evening with me. It was a really pleasant visit. He RARELY comes over to spend time with his favorite Aunt. So I was quite honored.

I took Bea out to the deck and blocked it off so Sadie could not get to her, and let her enjoy the sunshine. She was terribly matted, so I sat on the deck with her and the comb and scissors and clipped her way down. She is one naked Jersey woolly right now!!

Another busy week for me ahead, TEN LITTLE INDIANS is in full production, and I have to finish the Poster and Program, get the Press releases composed, and then get busy on designing the light cues. I also need to finalize the poster for A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, which goes into production in April.

the weather has been so GORGEOUS this month. I am so afraid of how we are going to have to pay this back. There is hardly any snow pack in the mountains, so that means we will be put on water restrictions if we do not have a rainy spring and summer. The price we pay for sunshine in rainy Washington!!

THE HUMMERS ARE BACK!!!

Yeehaw!!! My first hummingbird hit the feeder at 800 this morning! Everything was still frozen, but the bottom half of the feeder was not, so she sat and drank for about 5 minutes, then flew off. It was a female. Whether it was an Anna's or a Rufous I wont know, because they are both feathered the same. THe only way to tell for sure is to see the males. The males do not like the cold, and go into a state of tupor when it dips too low.

We have had the mosot beeeuuuutiful weather the past week. and it is sposed to stay that way until March!! Un real!!! Cold, and clear, and just wonderful. It gets down into the 20's at night, and warms up to the 50's during the day. We usually have our coldest weather the first part of Feb, but never this long, or this pretty. It would not be unusual for us to have a really wet, floppy, deep snow in March either. THe Easter Bunny has been twarted on his egg hiding, more than one year!

I had the worst headache yesterday, could not kick that puppy, and I slept 12 hours last night! Still feel a bit groggy, but I realized that I did NOT have any coffee yesterday! I got up and ran into town first thing, and putzed around and forgot my coffee until too late to have any. SO Donna is making a pot right now, and that should help the head a lot.

Less than 1 month until SPRING!! (or fall for Michelle and Val.)

A geology lesson...101

Blog 2-18

I cannot believe the number of you out there that have no idea that there are active Volcanoes right here in River City. I just assumed others were as interested as I am in the geology and workings of our natural world. I am not an expert by any means, but I do know quite a bit about the weather and tectonic plates, and the Ring of Fire, and volcanism.

Our Continent is active seismically, because of forces under the crust of the earth, and the oceans. Tectonic plates are floating pieces of earth that are constantly being transformed. Some are being SUBDUCTED under another plate and remelted into volcanic magma. Without going into a huge geology lesson, this is the part we will deal with today. The area of the planet that we live on is the North American plate. Right off shore here is the San Juan plate. When this plate moves, and slides under the North American Plate, it gets hot and turns into molten rock called Magma. This Magma is under extreme pressure, and like a bad case of acne, needs to erupt into a pimple. This Pimple is called a volcano, and when the pressure gets really bad, it pops. And erupts magma into the atmosphere where it is now called Lava. Lava forms rock, which in turn becomes earth.

All along the Pacific Ocean rim we have Subduction going on, and thus we have what is called the Ring of Fire. I have included a wonderful Website here called the USGS volcanic page. Go at your leisure and read this site, it will help you learn even more. It will amaze you at the number of places RIGHT HERE in the USA that are or will be active some time in the geologic future.

To get on with our geology lesson for the state of Washington, there are 5 active or potentially active Mountains. Mt Baker, Glacier Peak (extinct), Mt. Rainier, Mt St Helens, And Mt Adams. When you cross the border into Oregon there are even more of them the most famous of them being Mt Hood, and Crater Lake. Then of course we cross into California, Where Mt Lassen blew itself to smithereens in early 1900’s, and Mt Shasta. Alaska has so many it is hard to keep track of them all.


map

Mt Baker steams through an open vent in Sherman Crater. It has not erupted in more than 200 years, but it could at any time. Mt Rainier has hot springs, and could become active at any time. IF and When this occurs, Seattle and the surrounding vicinity will be buried under 100’s of feet of mud and ash. (Makes you wonder why people live there). Mt St Helens as you all know, woke up in 1980 and after 2 months of venting and rumbling, and opening cracks, it blew the side out of itself, creating a new landscape and killing 50 or so people. It is active to this day, erupting lava, and doing some new dome building. Mt Adams is quiet and so is Glacier Peak, but they will not always be that way.

The earthquakes that we are so famous for are tectonic plates sliding past each other. There are fault lines all through the area, some not even discovered yet. Brenda said that she just experienced an earthquake along the Madras Fault. This is a huge fault that runs through the middle of The Continent. It experienced a MAJOR earthquake in the early 1800’s. As long as there are small degrees of slippage, and small quakes, and venting of steam and around these areas, the major earthquakes, and Volcanic eruptions are kept at bay. It is when there is no activity at all that we should really worry. SO read the USGS site and get prepared people, because every single one of us is sitting on some kind of geologic time bomb.

Sleep tight!!

Eruption!!! Uh-uh!!!! Just Steam...

The Typical Weather Pattern for the first part of the Year has finally hit us. Clear Blue skies and COLD!!! It is down into the low 20's during the night, and never gets out of the 30's during the day.

I woke up this morning at 620, and it was light outside already!! WHOOT!! The sun would not rise for another hour, but the long predawn was clear and bright. I sat there looking out my window from my bed, and watching my breath puff out. The birds were awake and flocking to the feeders. Sadie had already gone out, and wanted back in, so I let her in and we both went back to the bed. The electric Blanket was calling our names. We sat there watching the birds until Sadie decided that she needed to scare Harry away from the suet feeder.

Sitting in the sun feels so good. Ethel is hogging the sun in the window, and when she walks by me on her way off the sill, and over the keyboard, she smells so fresh and warm, and her fur is warm to the touch.

One of the benefits of living in the Pacific Northwest is the incredible beauty that we have all around us. The Cascade Mountains to the East, and the Olympic Mountains to the west. Most of the time we cant see these beauties, because of the low grey drippy clouds that we always have. But when the clouds are gone, up pop the mountains.

Mount Baker is the closest to us. It is 10,800 feet high, and an active volcano although it is dormant. It does steam though, and in the cold February air, it shows up like an eruption. It isn't. It steams normally, all the time. It just shows up more when the weather is so cold. The steam is good, it lets off the pressure so that it WON'T blow its top like Mt St Helens did. It was on the news last night steaming away. This picture was taken by me over 25 years ago, but it looks the same way today. Same Mountain, same Month, Same steam...God I love it!!

AWWWW!!! She made me CRY!!

I got up late this morning, and slowly came in to do my blogwalk. I have it in a certain order, and started down the list. I opened CJ's page and started reading. At first I got scared because when she is really ill, Gary or Donna post for her, and they don't use the blinkies and the smilies that she peppers her pages with. There were none showing. CJ is battling a long hard battle with Cancer of anything you would care to name. She is fighting it hard and has a lot of courage, so when I saw the page just full of words My heart dropped to my toes. As I read, It was apparent that CJ did indeed write it. I was so relieved because she was writhing about a good friend she has found, and I smiled, just knowing she was gonna say it was this person or that person, but I was wrong!! She wrote about ME!!! I was floored!! I was so HONORED! I was so teary eyed. And I don't get teary eyed.

You see, I am retired, and to keep busy I have started crafting. I Blog daily, and I get wrapped up in the lives of those I read. I also make my own cards. It is fun, and helps ME keep track of the seasons. This year, I sent out Valentines to a certain few who I thought needed an uplift or to those who have really touched my life. CJ was one of the people who got a card. And she was so touched, she wrote a whole PAGE about ME! I did not do anything but design and send out a few cards and a few bookmarks.

Doing a good deed, just warms your soul! I have never been able to make friends easily, as I am so afraid of getting hurt. (management does that to ya!) And since I retired, I have found a mountain of friends that I have never met, but hope to some day. Sending out these simple handmade cards helps ME feel good. It is also so very nice to know that the 37 cents I spent on the stamp meant a million dollars to the person that got it.

Thank You for the Honor of being Blogged Forward CJ. And I will see what I can do to find someone else worthy of the honor of being Blogged Forward.

I just wish that my cards could cure cancer. At least they made the journey easier for some.

*SNORF*

Laurel Burch Coffee Mugs are BACK!!!

Those of you that have been reading me for awhile are well aware of the fact that I ADORE Laurel Burch coffee Mugs. Not just ANY of them, but the ones that have the classic mug shape, and you can fit three fingers in the handle. Ones with the cats on them are my favorites, but I also have the flower bursts and the antherium.

I tried to add to my collection last year, but Ebay cheated. There were two mugs on there that I was bidding for, and Phyllis was bidding for one also. every time I raised my bid Ebay would too, for whomever was bidding also. Pissed me off, so I let them win. I did not get any more mugs, and they were no longer being made.

Chemystery broke the handle off of two of them I broke 1 and that only leaves me with two left. So tonight, just for shits and giggles, I googled Laurel Burch Coffee Mugs and FOUND THEM! www.fantasticfelines.com/ under their NEW PRODUCTS has about 12 new coffee mugs. I am so excited!!! Now I have to save my pennies and get them before they run out. Gotta wait until Payday though. There are some really pretty patterns, and she has some of the African animals also. I LOVE the colors!! I have always been crazy over bright primary colors, I only wish I had the nerve to paint my house those colors.

Go visit, and see why I am so excited!! They are GORGEOUS!! And they last really well through the dishwasher. WHOOT WHOOT!!!! I know what I am gonna ask Santa for next year!!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I Hope that each and every one of you has a wonderful Chocolate filled day, with roses, and a nice dinner with your sweetie!

(ANd I sincerely hope he doesnt buy you any of those Really skimpy underthings that crawl up your crack and itch!! What IS it with guys and those stupid things?)

A Sunday Funny...

Mahatma Gandhi spent most of his life not wearing any shoes, and as a result developed some prodigious callouses on his feet.

He was also a Holy man that ate very little and fasted a lot, and as a result was quite frail and thin as well as suffering from bad breath from the constant fasting.
You know it's got to be good if I'm forwarding it...

So you could say he was a.... wait for it...


Super Calloused Fragile Mystic Hexed By Halitosis

Times a changin'....

Sunday

When I was a child I was raised as a protestant, and had very few contact with the catholic church. The few friends I did have that were Catholic always told me about how afraid they were of the Sisters at the church. I held this view well into my teen years, when I met my best friend, Donna Marie. She was a devout Catholic, and helped me understand better the Catholic Church. You see I was treated as part of her family, and her Mom's family was all right here in Seattle, All of the family would get together often for birthdays, and anniversaries etc.

Her Aunt was a nun. The very first Nun that I had ever really known. She was a hoot! Cracked jokes, wore short skirts, and blew away my vision of the Catholic sisters.

When I married Jim, He was a catholic, and we raised our family according to the Catholic Church. Chemystery went to Catholic School and was schooled my sisters. I got to know them quite well. And they too were nothing like the vision I had held my entire life.

This picture just shows how much of a sense of humor they have, and how really down to earth they can be, with feelings, and joys, and sorrows, just like the rest of us. I laughed when I saw this and thought. You've come a long way baby...

A funny...

It was the day after Christmas at a church in San Francisco. The pastor of
the church was looking over the cradle when he noticed that the baby Jesus
was missing from among the figures. Immediately he turned and went outside
and saw a little boy with a red wagon, and in the wagon was the figure of
the little infant, Jesus. So he walked up to the boy and said, "Well, where
did you get Him, my little friend?" The little boy replied, "I got him
from the church." "And why did you take him?" The boy said, "Well, about
a week before Christmas I prayed to the little Lord Jesus and I told him if
he would bring me a red wagon for Christmas I would give him a ride around
the block in it.

I do not often post touchy feely things. But this one warranted a spot on the ether. My long lost friend Sue Wylie sent this to me, (found each other at Christmas) and It was so cute I had to pass it along.

Sue worked for me YEARS ago. She worked in Toyland one Christmas, was divorced and raising two teenagers on her own. She was behind the Layaway counter and this good looking Officer was in line buying toys for his kids for Christmas. He looked at her and said, "Were't you the girl on the bed at the a party some time back?" SHe was so embarrassed, (she WAS...) and a few weeks later, they were dating. The rest is history. Pete and Sue have been married for almost 25 years. He just recently retired from Flying for Delta Airlines. She has become a lady of leisure, and they are such a cute couple even now!

So at least once a week I get a really cute one from her.

I may be scare for awhile, posting when I get the chance, as my house needs some SERIOUS attention. I am NOT a housekeeper, but when it gets so bad that even I cant stand it, it is time to clean up. Sadie has found the used kleenex sack in the living room and now there is shredded tissue everywhere. And Ethel and Chitters are losing their winter coats in big clumbs, so I just HAVE to clean house!!!

Wish me luck, and if you have not heard from me in several days, send help...

bloggin' away

Ok, I get up this morning, came in and made a nice fresh pot of Starbucks french roast fresh ground coffee. Turned on the TODAY show and then the computer. I always read the comments on my blog first, to what words of wisdom have been left by ya'll, then check my email and delete the 50 or so emails from around the world "ThAt WaNt ME To BeCzOmE a SEX GODDESS!" or my boyfriend to increase my pleasure, or to enlarge his penis or supplement my breasts or want me to buy their drugs. EGADS!!! I have to look carefully at each one listed to be sure that I dont delete a friend. THen I start Blogwalking. I start with Leslie Then work my way down the 50-100 blogs listed in my favorites.

Yesterday I forgot to BLOG!! So today, I started into my routine, and then I said "self, if you dont get your blog done FIRST, you will forget it again, so DO IT" So I am. FIrst. So you all will be blessed with fresh new words to read this morning.

Now I realize that most of you are up some three hours ahead of me, but I am gonna get this written. I like to write it at night, and post it so ya'll have it fresh in the morning, but I have been trying to get to bed fairly early and get my sleep patterns back to normal.

Sadie woke me up at 400 again this morning, had to go pee. SO I let her out, and she promptly went out did her business and before I could get her back in she saw a deer and proceeded to chase it away and wake up every dog in the neighborhood with her barking. (little bitch)

I got her in and settled back in her pen, and went back to sleep until 700. Now I am sitting here watching the fog form thicker and thicker as the sun rises higher and higher. It got Cold again last night, down to 26 and there is white frost on everything. Yesterday was gorgeous out, and today is going to be the same.

I went to the NEX yesterday for some incidentals and also bought some beautiful Primroses to add some color and some SPRING to the deck. Of course they are covered in frost right now. I need to get them planted in a whiskey barrel today, and try and find the front flower bed.

Still No hummers yet. I have one feeder out, and will have 7 more by the time they all get here, but so far nothing. Harry is pecking away at the suet feeder and the Flicker FLock has discovered them too. I have not heard the quail in several months. Lola has decided not to frequent my feeders anymore because of the noisy little blonde thing that lives in the yard. I am trying to entice her to the other side and LEA's yard. I miss her. :( I am such a sap!!!

Life After NEXCOM...

Many of you have wondered where the title of my blog came from. So here we go.
In a nut shell, NEXCOM stands for NAVY EXCHANGE SERVICE COMMAND in Navy language. It is the Retail Store on the Navy bases around the world. Army and Air Force bases have PX's or BX's for Post Exchange or Base Exchange.

I started working for the NEX (Navy Exchange on base, NEXCOM is headquarters) in 1965, as a weekend grill cook. I worked 15 hours on Saturdays and 10 hours on Sundays. This entailed cooking the orders on the line for the sailors that came up and ordered. I was a very shy never had dated 19 year old, and having to talk to these single guys SCARED ME TO DEATH!!! I managed though and went on to work week days, Full time, and then drove the Mobile Canteen out to the planes and the hangers and the guys out on the flight lines working. I LOVED that job. And that is how I met my first husband. (story of life on another day!)

I took time off to move, marry and have a baby, divorce and go back to work. I worked for another 2 years at the NEX and then married Jim, my 2nd husband. (last one too!!)

We moved to Virginia Beach, VA. Where I had my son and started back to work to earn enough money to buy furniture with so we could move out of government housing. I worked for 3 years this time, in the Retail Store, stocking shelves. We then got our orders to Alameda, Ca.

I went back to work at the NEX there, and worked in several positions for 3 years. One of the reasons I stayed with the NEX was the fact that no matter where we went there would be a store! Pay sucked, Benefits were good, and my time accumulated. One of the positions I held here was fork-lift operator in the warehouse. LOVED IT!! Worse thing that happened here was I "forked" a pallet of house paint, and had paint spill from the 2nd rack all the way to the floor. Made for a colorful warehouse!! And forklift too!!

We next got our orders back to Whidbey and I again went back to work at the NEX. At this time, we knew it would be our last move, so I worked my way back up through the ranks, to warehouse supervisor and management. (several years later...) Once in Management and now Separated from Jim, I applied for and got the Store Manager job in Bangor, Wa. I had this job for almost 5 years when I was transferred to Adak, AK.

Adak is an island in the middle of the Aleutian Islands, and 1500 miles out on the chain away from any civilization. But I persevered and was transfered back to Whidbey Island. ( I had made a deal that I could come back to Whidbey if I went to Adak. ) I worked as Store manager until my Boss Retired and I was promoted to Retail Operations Manager. Time passed, and I was then Promoted to General Manager and transferred to Fallon, Nevada. This was a base just like Adak. Out in the middle of NOTHING and isolated. The only difference in the two was on Adak you are surrounded my Mountains and Water. In Nevada you are in the same environment, only the water has all dried up and just left the desert! YUCK!!

I stayed in Fallon for 2.5 years and came back to Whidbey when My son was arrested. I continued working for another 2 years until NEXCOM came out with a Buy-out. If you had at least 25 years and were at least 55 years old, you could retire with full benefits, and medical and they paid up to 25K dollars if you would go now. I was not ready to retire, I had not made any plans to, and my entire life was NEX!! I had no idea what I was going to do, And was afraid that I would become a slug.

I took them up on their offer and On March 1 2003, I walked away from 37 years of working and living NEX 15 hours a day. I was scared.to.death. My daughter was blogging at that time and suggested I start an on line diary to document my days.

I found Blogger.com and picked a template and started writing. I had no idea in the world that Any one would ever care what I had to say, And I did not have any comments enabled. (Blogger did not have them at that time) I had no idea what to call this missive either, so since I had just retired, I decided to call it Life AFTER NEXCOM... And started writing.

the Iraq War was imminent, and I found a few blogs that I read about the war, and I kept looking at the recently published blog columns, and searching for new ones to read. There were a LOT of CRAP teen blogs out there, and I just thought that was the way of all blogs. I then discovered CRITTER LOVER and Then Wanda and Kat and Brenda. I still had no comments, but discovered the comments on their blogs. Wanda and Leslie ganged up on me and said I HAD to get COMMENTS, so Wanda emailed me and set me up with Haloscan, and the rest is history.

What used to take me less than an hour to blog and then read my blogwalk, now takes me 3 1/2 hours every day!! WHO'D A THUNK that any one would actually care about what old fat me had to say? I Found a WORLD of friends out there, and Love every one of them. Blogging has become very fulfilling for me, and even though sometimes I feel like that it is taking too much of my time, I would be LOST with out knowing what each and every one of you was doing. What I do not do though is always comment. I am very acerbic, and some find me way to caustic, so I only comment if I think I have something to contribute to the string. I read every one of you every day. Don't always comment but I do Lurk.

Hope I have cleared up the Name NEXCOM for you. I have thought about changing it to Whidbey Dreaming, because I found that there IS LIFE AFTER NEXCOM.

BRRRRRRRR......

This weekend was dark and drippy hovering around the 38-40 degree mark. Rain solid and windy. Yesterday was bright and gorgeous, THe sun was out and it felt like spring.

Well forget that!!

I woke up this morning and looked out just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, and the world was white. Not snow, but ICE, frosty Ice! It is 26 out there right now, and that is after it warmed up some!! I do like it, so Im not complaining, but when you are not expecting it, it is COLD! Sadie is even still all snuggled down in her pen, with her blankies all bunched around her.

I have to work this week for a few days, so I wont be posting as often, or I may, depends on the time. I also have auditions tonight. We had first reads last night, and quite a few showed up. What I do not understand though is the young women that show up for auditions when it plainly stated that the women are middle aged except for one who is late twenties. We had high school girls try out. GRRRRRR It is the Playhouse policy that you will allow all who sign up, try out, even though you know you will not cast them. Just a waste of time as far as I am concerned. 3 hours is a long time anyway to sit and listen to readings, but when you have these young ladies take up more time, it gets ya.

I should go fill the feeders right now, but The deck is all slick and I do not want to fall again, so The birds will just have to scrounge for it. THey have kicked a lot of seed on to the ground, so they are not going to starve. As soon as the sun hits the deck, the ice will melt and THey will get fed.

I have my hummingbird feeder up, but so far no hits. Blogeois said she was seeing them 250 miles SOuth of here, so I figure they were on their way. Last year it was Feb 28th when they arrived. Soon!!

Someone's in the kitchen with Donna....

I have been booted out of my kitchen. It has been brought to my attention that I do not cook healthy enough for Ms Chemystery. WELL!!! It was good enough for her when she was growing up!!!

She's right though, I do not like to eat a lot of veggies, even though I do like them. I don't like to cook them. If it isn't quick or frozen I don't cook it. Donna has all of the Moosewood cookbooks, and has decided this week she is going to be vegetarian. She is cooking Spanish soup. It has ten pounds of eye burning onions sliced and reduced in it. (not really, but I am three rooms away and my eyes are watering.) Last week she made sweet pepper soup, and Santa Fe stew, and something with tomatoes and eggs, I let her do her thing. Some of it I like, some of it I do not.

I have talked about Donna and her very Eclectic taste, and evidentially it has spilled over into her cooking too. A few months ago she made us Lentils with dates, and raisins and curry powder and something else. (GAG) I could not eat it. She laughed and said it was good for me. Well Let me die happy, give me MEAT!!!

Actually she likes meat too, and this phase will last about three weeks and then she will devour anything that has blood flowing in its veins. RAW if she must. She gets so hormonal, and then she craves iron laden products. It is really scary, Do not hand her anything with out an iron glove on your hand, she will take your arm off too.

But I will let her do her thing and do her healthy cooking, and when she goes to bed, I will fix my Bologna Sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise and dill pickles. Just don't tell her... ;)

Dead Cow tastes GOOD!

I cooked a rib steak dinner for my sister tonight to celebrate her Birthday. Yesterday I took a big cake into her work and sang happy birthday to her. She had plans for last night so We did dinner tonight. I asked her what she wanted and she said Bob told me you had a freezer full of steak. SO I cooked rib steaks, baked russet potatoes, a salad and garlic toast. It was soooo good. I don't know how to act with two great meals in a row. (Last night we went back for Sushi and Sashimi)

After Dinner we pulled out her new scrabble game that turns, and played. She won of course. My daughter helped Bob with his game, because he is the most intelligent man you could ever meet, but he cant spell s.h.i.t.!! Really!! He sees words so differently that you and I or anybody else. So it was a hoot of a game with him looking up words BEFORE he played them, Me challenging Phyllis' choice of words, and Me not being able to concentrate.

We are going to start playing games in this house again. I know Bob cant do Scrabble, but I can teach him to play parcheesi or MARBLES. Or sorry, or Trivial Pursuit. I can not imagine a man being 65 years old and never having played any board games. He said he just always read. He used to play chess with his Dad until he finally beat him, and his Dad put the board away and they never played again.

I crashed today. I was cleaning house, getting ready for dinner tonight, and I started to feel ice water through my veins, then I started shaking. I had eaten lunch but I went in and took my blood sugar and it was only 54!! So I grabbed some yogurt and a glass of milk and waited and still was low, so I ate a piece of zucchini bread. By that time I was starting to recover. I usually grab a spoon full of honey but I was out. Better get some.

So now the house is clean, the laundry is done, the dishes are in the dishwasher, and I am ready for bed. No nap today. ARRGGHHH.

tomorrow I am gonna scrap book some. It is time I started my own heritage scrapbook. Then Monday is Auditions and I get to start on the program and poster for that show.

Hope you all have a good one...I do...

The following is an actual question given on A Clemson University
chemistry
mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor
shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we
now
have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat)
or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas
cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.
One
student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we
need
to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which
they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets
to
Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different
Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state
that
if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell.Since there
is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more
than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls
in
Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the
volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the
temperature
and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand
proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls
enter
Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until "all
Hell breaks loose".

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in
Hell,
then the temperature and pressure will drop until "Hell freezes over".

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year
that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take
into
account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be
true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen
over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it
follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is
therefore,extinct...Leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a
divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my
God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A".

February 4, 1949

Phyllis Ann Brett

56 years ago today, my peaceful world of being a spoiled only child changed!! I got a SISTER!! A crying, loud, baby sister, that took my Mom away from me. All of a sudden there were Two of us vying for Mom's attention. To make matters worse, we were staying with Aunt Margie and Uncle Bob in San Diego, until Mom was able to travel, and then we were to join my Dad in Honolulu, T.H.

Phyllis was the first Baby that Dad had ever been around, and he adored her. She reciprocated and adored him back. Mom let them and I had Mom back again. :) Phyllis was so enthralled with Dad that when he was on a flight, or a deployment, she could not get to sleep unless she could sleep with Dad's dirty Boondocker. (work boot) she went to bed every night with that stinky old boot. Dad fed her the evening bottle every time he was available, and the teasing ensued. Dad was always holding the bottle just out of reach of her lips, tickling them with the nipple but not letting her grab on to it. He thought it was funny, and I guess it was.
(Turned her into a Mean little brat though)

From that time on, she always marched to her own drummer. She did things no one else would, and got away with a lot. (a lot she didn't and was always in trouble)
a rebel, a flirt, ornery as hell, and adored by her Daddy.

There was a time when I would have gladly traded her in for a brother, but alas that did not come until much much later, and by that time they decided to keep her.

she turned out ok though, just don't turn your back on her, or she will play some kind of practical joke on you. She will laugh at the drop of a hat, (or a body) and has a wicked sense of fun. The whole Island knows about her shenanigans, and some day we will all get even...Until then, Phyllis enjoy your Birthday. 56 years sure went by fast didn't it? Here's to another 40!!! :) :)

Wake up!!!

earthquake


I was soundly sleeping this morning, finally after getting to sleep around 430 AM. I woke with a start, and the feeling that I was falling. A cat, shot right over my face, and I sat up. Nothing. 2 cats still sleeping on the bed.

I thought that I had just jerked in my sleep, you know the kind, just as you are falling asleep and you JERK? I looked outside, and nothing was moving, the dog was still sleeping, so I went back to sleep. This was at 612 AM. At 805 the phone rang. It was my daughter asking me how I could sleep through that? THen I knew, and said I didnt, I just did not know what it was so went back to sleep.

It was a 3.0-3.5 earthquake almost directly UNDER ME!! Never lived in an epicenter before. Not sure I wanna be!

We live every day knowing that seismicaly we are living on the edge. THere are active volcanoes all around us, a slew of fault lines everywhere, and the threat of tsunamis should the BIG ONE hit us in the Sound. It usually doesnt even phase us.

It kind of gives one pause to think that there is an active fault running right under your house. Hmmm will I go UP or DOWN? will the house be 1/2 on and 1/2 off the same piece of ground? Will I fall into a giant chasm? NAH!! not on my watch it wont!

POGONIP!!!

In The high Desert of Nevada, there is a town called Fallon, about 70 miles East of Reno on Hiway 50. Also know as THE LONELIEST ROAD IN AMERICA. Fallon is right smack in the middle of the Carson Sink, where the Carson river just finally dries up and sinks into the desert. There are alkaline deposits everywhere. This is also the area that the Pioneers had to cross to get to California. They called it the 100 mile desert, because it is about 100 miles from where the Humboldt River sinks into the sand and where the Carson river actually flows.

there is NOTHING there. NOTHING!! Nothing grew, so nobody settled there. Miles and Miles of Miles and Miles!!!

In the early part of the 20th Century, people decided that they would dig irrigation ditches, and try to offer the land for free. Pioneers went out there, and with the help of the water from Lake Lahonton and pyramid Lake and the Truckee River, they managed to turn the desert around Fallon into an Oasis. Really! Cottonwood trees and Russian Olives started growing and the farmers planted alfalfa hay, and started raising hay and cattle. Dairy Cows every where.

there are irrigation ditches on both sides of every road in Fallon, and because of the water in the fields and the ditches, the winters and fall are very foggy. The heat of the desert, coupled with the -10 degree temps at night, causes tremendous fog! I can remember literally driving to work at 5 MPH with my door open, looking straight down at the white line. If you slid of the road, you drowned. Ditch's were deep, and at least 1 person a year bites it in them.

There is a bright side to this fog though, and that is what the Paiute Indians called POGONIP. It is what we here call Hoary Frost. The Fog freezes into beautiful patterns on everything it touches. This tree was caught by a friend of Kenny who forwarded it on to me because I lived there.

Of all the starkness of the desert, there is beauty there. You just have to wait until the fog forms.