Poor Buddy, "poor" me!

My middle dog, Buddy, had to have surgery yesterday to remove three tumors and six teeth! I have to keep him from running, jumping, and playing with the other dogs for a few days. I also have to keep him from biting at the incision sites and messing with his stitches. I have him wrapped in a big towel, laying in my bed. I think he will be alright if I can keep him from biting & licking; it is natural for dogs to lick. Anyway, don't feel sorry for Buddy (he has my excellent nursing care) - feel sorry for me - I am the one who had to pay $800. for the proceedure!

New life

Our friends Ryan & Anna just had a new baby this week. Here is "Kendal Madison" on her birthday! She is cute. Well, they are all cute, but what constant work. It is worth it of course, but remember those nights with a newborn - no sleep? Thank goodness that part doesn't last that long. In looking at the new baby I realize that really - they all look alike. (don't ever say that to a mother of a newborn!) No wonder some newborns get switched at birth! Most of them look very similar (other than the hair or no hair thing!) While looking at the baby I thought of my Mother. She is in the rehab hospital now, but still cannot eat, speak or walk, and someone must do everything for her. It is so much like a newborn baby. I hope she will recover so she is aware, but no one knows, she could stay like this for years. We start out as helpless infants. If we don't die from some ailment or disease, we end up as older adults who become progressively more helpless. I guess it is the circle of life.

(click on photo to see a close-up)

I saw these two baby raccoons back in the new subdivision when I was back there on my walk one day. I think they may be orpans, they looked so confused. I hope they make it without their mama!

I just returned from a week up in Virginia visiting my mother. She is 89 and living on her own with my brother visiting her everyday. She refused to come live with me, and would not hear of not living in her house on her own. I spoke to her on the phone and she told me that she was sick, but would not go to the doctor. My brother showed up one day and found her passed out on the floor. She was transported to the hospital where they discovered a UTI and sepsis infection. She was treated with strong anti-biotics for about ten days. She seems to be out of the woods now, but has been in bed two weeks. She still can't speak or swallow, and seems to have some mental problems. Yesterday they placed a feeding tube in her stomach. Up til now they had been nourishing her through a feeding tube in her nose. It is sad to see my mom like this, and frustrating that we can not communicate with her. I think that soon she will be transferred to a rehabilitation facility. I don't know how much she will recover due to her age and the severe infection that she had. We just have to wait and see. My brother is my mom's angel, he tries to communicate with her. She is partially deaf and we don't know if she is understanding us or not, but we keep talking to her. It is a hell of a state to be in when you have been an independent person all your life. It will happen to us all one day.

Graduation!

The long awaited high school graduation finally took place on June 5th. I said that I wouldn't embarrass Preston, but I couldn't help the "wooop-wooop" that I yelled out as he walked across the stage. Preston HATED the principal and told me that he would not be shaking her hand. I told him now he was 18 years old, and that would be his decision, but that real men forgive and forget. I didn't know what he was going to do as he walked across the stage. He shook the principals hand, and had his photo taken with her. I was proud of him for making this decision. Preston has been accepted at the local community college this fall. He will work to make some money this summer for GAS so he can get there!!!

It has been so long since I "blogged in" that I almost forgot my password. I have been working to help Preston finish up his last high school online course - Personal Fitness. He has to stretch and work out and run everyday - and I have to be there to time him and record the results. This is a course that should be taken in school with a coach, but as it turned out I am the coach! Preston is having no problems with the physical part of this course. He is in excellent shape with hardly no body fat (He's 5'09"& 140 lbs.) and I am amazed how easily he jogs a mile without even breathing heavy! I always tell him how incredible that is to this "old overweight bag" and he just smiles. He is feeling better since he took this course, and I am trying to encourage him to continue this after school has endend. It is getting hot here, already in the upper 80's with high humidity. That puts a damper on the desire to exercise. June 5th is Preston's graduation date and I am really getting excited now. He has been accepted at the local community college. I am hoping he likes college better that he did high school. He wants to go, so that is a good thing.

Back on duty!

I suspect that a dirt bag guy in my neighborhood is stealing gas. I noticed that after I had filled my tank, the next time I used my vehicle half the gas was gone. My son told me that he thought his car might need a tune-up because of poor gas milege, so he is likely a victim too. I checked with my neighbors and they are having similar problems. I live in a small middle class neighborhood. Most of people are good and considerate of each other. I was forced to buy locking gas caps for the cars. I suggested to the neigbors that they do the same. I have been watching the suspects movements, (he doesn't work -suprised?) I have looked up his name and arrest record and checked his recent sales at the pawn shops (he has a lot of sales - suprised?) Now I just have to watch and wait until I have the proof. I wish I was a fly on the wall to see his face when he discovers that many of our tanks are locked now! The suspect and his wife have asked the neighbors from time to time to "borrow" money. We have all given them money and felt sorry for them, but they really need to go to jail. It is annoying, but in the same way good to have a "case" to work again!

Well, the new windows are in & the trees are trimmed. The Home Depot gave me grief for nothing, the hurricane protection passed the inspection. Here are the before & after of one of the trees.

Looks like a nice haircut, huh?

Next I will be replacing the fence.





The new windows are really nice, double pane glass. They should save me some money because they are very energy efficient.

On to my next project.

My biggest regret

In 1985 I lived in a rental house owned by an 80 year old man and his wife. He was a retired inventor that had worked all his life in the automotive industry. He told me once that he was instrumental in designing speed controlled windshield wipers, and other things that I don't remember now. His wife was a gifted painter, who only discovered her talent when she was 75 years old. My rental house had several of her beautiful original oil paintings in it. I saw the man almost daily because the detached garage with the rental property was also his workshop. I was facisnated with his stories of inventions. I liked nosing around his shop and looking at all his stuff, including a large aluminum "thing" (about the size of a breadbox) One time he showed me a "power fishing reel" that he was working on. If you got tired pulling in the big fish, you could turn on the power assist. He was always thinking of things and he held several patents. At the time I had my MG/BGT car, and I was driving it everyday. I don't remember how much gas cost, but it wasn't a crisis back then. The old man told me that soon we would use up all the fossil fuel and then showed me that the "thing" was an electric engine that he had invented. He explained that it could power a car on batteries that would be charged by a solar cell. It would be a quiet running engine, and that there would be NO fuel, that the sun would be the only thing required. I questioned him about speed and distance and he told me that he thought it would get the same mileage as a traditional car, depending how many batteries you could carry and that the speed would only be about 50 miles per hour, but that is all you would need for an "around town" car. He wanted to put the electric motor in my MG. He said that it was the perfect car for an electric engine, small, with a large area in the rear that could be converted into a battery compartment. The fast back design of the car would accomodate the solar cells on top. I did not know anything about solar and I thought to myself - what if this guy is a lunatic? At that time, my MG was in great condition (not like this last year photo when it is old and being hauled away) I was afraid to take a chance on messing up a perfectly good car. Besides, it was a four cylinder and got good mileage. I really did not believe that we would ever run out of oil. I never thought I would be spending $70. to fill up my now eight cylinder Durango. Over the weekend, I was watching the science channel on television. They showed how easy it was if you had all the parts to take out a gasoline engine and replace it with an electric solar powered engine. Had I only known in 1985 what I know now! Live & learn I guess!

April showers

It has rained here so far everyday in April. I know we need the rain, but I like to be outside and I don't like getting wet. I have to get the tree guy over to trim my trees before the hurricane season - I called him to come and give me an estimate. About three years ago he "topped" my four trees and it was $650., so I imagine this time it will be about $800. or even $1000. It is worth it though to leave these things to the professionals - I am too old to be up in a tree with a chain saw!!! Besides, they not only trim the trees but they take all the mess away. I didn't do much with the tangerines this year. (they were ripe in January) I usually give a lot of them away, and we juice some of them. This year they are just rotting on the tree, but they still have to come off, so we are busy with that. I only have one tree, imagine how much work the big orange groves have to do. I am still in an argument with Home Depot, and I doubt that will be resolved before hurricane season. I hope we have a quiet season here this year, but you never know and you have to be ready. I am in the market for an electrician to fix a few things around the house but I don't know who to get. Home Depot has made me cautious of hiring anybody. I have been staying home a lot or just riding my bike. I hate having to pay so much for gas. I love to drive and I have liked taking a "Sunday drive" since I was a kid. I like to drive around and just sightsee, but I can't do it anymore.

My "baby boy" is eighteen. I can't believe how fast this happened. It seems like only a few months ago that he was a small child. I hope that he stays with me a few more years because it seems like we haven't had much time together. Life goes by at a rapid pace! It seems like I should have taught him more, showed him more things & maybe prepared him more for the world. I have to let him go now to find his own way and make his own mistakes. The mom in me wants to shield him from the world, but I know that I can't. I guess this is the time to shove him out of the nest. I wasn't ready for this time in my life to come around so quickly! I guess this is the beginning of "empty nest" that everyone talks about. I hear so many moms talk about how they can't wait for their kids to be off on their own. I guess this is just another milestone in life. I have gotten used to retirement, maybe I will adapt to this as well.

Home Depot

I have used Home Depot for years. Like many of you, I go there for supplies, tools, parts, and things for the house. I have spent thousand of dollars there. I have bought two ride on mowers over the years and countless clippers, weed eaters and yard tools. Recently I got involved with THE HOME DEPOT HOME SERVICES. I wanted to replace the windows in my house, including the sliding glass door. I wanted double pane hurricane resistant windows - about a $7k job. The salesman was wonderful, personable, and promised me that the job would be a quality job - just the kind of service that I was used to from Home Depot. I signed a contract and we scheduled the installation for the last week in February. That was the end of my dream; the beginning of my nightmare. An argument began between me and the project manager. He told me that I would need hurricane shutters for all of the windows. I told him that the salesman told me that the hurricane plywood that I have used with "Plylox" clips through the last two hurricanes would suffice. He told me that the clips & ply were no longer approved by my building department. I disagreed and called my county building department. They told me that the plywood & clips WERE APPROVED. I informed the project manager of this and he told me that the building codes have changed and that my building inspector was wrong. From there we were at a stalemate. Home Depot said that they could sell me more expensive windows and that then the shutters would not be an issue. Playing the old "bait & switch" game. I am so disapointed in a company that I thought was reputable. Now I am stuck in a situation because I don't want to lose my deposit. They now tell me that they have ordered the windows and are ready to install them. They cannot be paid until after the building inspector approves the job. So we will see what happens. It looks like it is going to be a fight to the finish. I hope the windows that I have waited so long to get turn out perfect - or they will be doing them over & over until they are right. However the job turns out, I am through dealing with Home Depot - you will never see me in the orange store again.

My weekend

I found this photo in Google images and it reminded me not to rest my "head in my hand" when I am surfing the web and especially while reading your blogs! I get lost in your stories and spend too much time on the computer - then I have a neck ache for the rest of the day!!!



I gave Ransome a haircut yesterday. As some of you know, Airedale's don't shed! Although that sounds good, they have to get haircuts! I spent several hours with the clippers on Ransome yesterday. He was so hairy that he looked like a little bear. I probably took five pounds of hair off of him! Ransome's ears usually flop down. After the haircut it was a little breezy out and when he ran his ears stood straight up! It was funny looking!


The weather is back to beautiful. I have to get busy and let the housework go and head out for a bike ride. I am feeling good lately and I think it is due to more exercise & less sitting on my butt in front of this computer. I have vowed to at least keep up with my blog reading - even if I have nothing to blog about.


Preston had a concert band evaluation on Saturday. The band plays three songs for the judges on stage. They then go into a classroom for a "sight reading". The judge gives them a folder of music that they have never seen, they have two minutes to prepare, then they have to play it. I usually can't get a photo of Preston when he is on stage because he is in the back. Here he is on the tuba at the sight reading. They did very well. I hope he keeps up with his music after high school, but often kids never pick up an instument again!!!

I had to take a trip out to the county today to "unblanket" the horses. I saw a few baby calves on the drive out there! Many of them looked like they were recently born. I saw one with the umbilical cord still attached.

We have had two days of severe weather - FORTY DEGREES! We had to wear jackets! It has been such a mild winter here, this is probably the end of the cold weather for us. I guess Spring is here. I like the warm weather in Florida; but of course Summer will be brutal with temps. in the high ninties. I guess you have to take the good with the bad!

I have been trying to keep up with my exercise with walking everyday. I try to take a bike ride in the morning, then a walk. Usually the dogs want to go with me. I can't walk at a quick pace while wrangling the dogs, but I know they love to go and they need exercise too.

Fast forward

I have great dreams. They are always very vivid. Sometimes I dream about cop stuff and crime scenes that I have been to. Often times the dreams are scary and unresolved. Many times they are nonsense or just everyday happenings. Lately I have noticed that if I am going along in a dream and it seems mundane that I can fast forward. I attribute this new phenomeon to watching too much television. I have a digital recorder on the television. I can record shows when I am not home to watch later. Sometimes I fast forward through the boring parts when I am watching these shows. Who says that you can't teach an old dog new tricks?? My old brain has learned something. Weird.

Murphy bed installation

This morning Marion & I installed the bed in Preston's room. Installation is always the scariest part to me. Marion has proven to me more that once that NO ONE's walls are plumb; so securing a cabinet to a wall can be a nightmare if you don't know what you are doing. After years of being a "helper" I have watched Marion more than once square up kitchen cabinets that I thought would never go in. She knows all the secrets to making everything fit. Of course while all this is exciting to me - it is drudgery to Marion who refers to herself as an "old woman with a broken back". She bitches & curses the whole time. We installed this bed on the short wall next to the closet. Preston's room is only 12 ft. x12 ft. so there is limited space. He will have more room now when a few friends come over to play music or video games ; they won't have to sit on the bed. This is the way it works - the bed closes up into the cabinet. To open it you lift the handles (they become the feet) to unlatch the plungers that hold the bed into the cabinet. the cabinet has gas pistons which allow it to slowly lower with the weight of the mattress . To close, you just lift the bed and with very little pressure (you can do it with one finger!) it slowly rises and recesses into the cabinet. You push the handle legs flat to lock it in. I have fashioned a temporary shelf beside the bed to hold Preston's alarm clock, reading light, etc. This is only until I can talk Marion into building a matching side cabinet!!! As she drove away today I think I heard her yell back at me, "I 'm retired now so leave me the hell alone!" (I will give her a few weeks rest!)

Haven't posted in a while!

I better post something or I will lose all my blog friends! I have been so busy that I haven't even been reading the blogs. The Murphy bed project is finally done; to be installed this Friday. I wanted to do this project on my own, but that just didn't work out. I asked my friend, Marion, to help me with picking the wood and cutting it for me. Marion is a professional cabinet maker and I asked for her advice. The first thing she told me is not the let the lumber yard cut the wood. She went with me to pick the wood and she ended up cutting the wood and building the whole project, while I looked on. ("step aside, Tuff") She even stained it and put on a beautiful finish coat. (I got to help a little with that!) If I had done the project, it would have looked homemade - now it looks like a beautiful piece of furniture. I am grateful that my friend came out of retirement to do this project. She quit doing this kind of work when her back gave out from lifting the heavy wood for so many years. Funiture building is difficult for any man, much less a five foot tall woman. I have admired her for years, and she has taught me a lot about woodworking. Marion told me that she does not enjoy this kind of work anymore. That is sad because she is so good at it. "Handcrafted" is so hard to find these days - even cabinets & furniture is stamped out in factories. Anyway, Thanks so much, Marion, I promise that I won't make you build anything else!


More photos to follow after installation!

L.E.D.'s

I like to sleep in the dark. Even when I worked nights and had to sleep in the daytime, I wanted it dark in my bedroom. I bought "black out" blinds so no sun would get in. Now I have moved my computer and desk into the bedroom. Lately when I can't sleep, I notice that there are several "light emitting diodes"(LED) all over my room. They may be tiny little lights, but in the dark they can be very bright, especially if there are a lot of them.


Last night I took an assessment of all these lights. There is a light on the power buttons of the computer and the remote drive, a light on the keyboard and the speaker remote. There is a LED clock on the television tuner, and another alarm clock. The printer, the DVD stand-by, the TV stand-by, the telephone, the answering machine all have little lights! Even my electric toothbrush has a light on the charger! It is so bright in my bedroom that it is no wonder I was having trouble sleeping! Looking at all these lights made me realize that I had forgotten to plug in my camera battery. I got up to plug it in, it will glow orange until the battery is charged, then green!

Note to self

As we head into the busy holiday season, I hope you will all take the time to think about your friends & family and what is important in your life. Take a little time for yourself. Spend at least 15 minutes uninterrupted alone with your thoughts. Think about what makes you happy and cherish the people around you. Tell your loved ones that you care about them. Don't think that they will just know this because you cook for them and do their laundry. Don't let a chance go by to grab a hug from your teenager, even if he only turns a cheek for you to kiss him. (remember when he kissed you back & loved to sit in your lap?) Pet your dogs & even better, take them for a long walk. Dogs seem to be the happiest when they are walking with you, even if they have been around that same block 1000 times.




Oh, yeah, one other thing - take LOTS of photos.






Here are the boys on Christmas day 2001. Oh how they have changed!

Old Mom!

I am back home from my trip to Virginia. I set up my Mother's Christmas tree and some decorations for her. She doesn't seem to care much anymore. It gets more difficult to communicate with my Mom, she is very deaf, and will not wear her hearing aids. For her, it must feel like she is in a world of her own. Occasionally, when she wants to hear, she will wear a portable headset with an amplifier, but she quickly grows tired of hearing us! When she watches television, the volume is very high for her to hear it - the neighbors can probably hear it quite well! She seems to be in good health, complains about the usual aches & pains. She is done with the doctor because "he doesn't do anything!" I tell her that the doctor cannot make you 20 years old again! Still, I am sad as I see my Mom getting older. Maybe I see what is in store for me! However, I will try not to be as stubborn about wearing hearing aids and adult diapers!


Preston went with me to Virginia. I guess it was good for him to get a little break from school and the regular routine. He seems to be be trying a little harder this week in school - I hope it lasts - I wouldn't want him to have to repeat and courses or not graduate on time. He was glad to have his jacket because it was forty degrees in Virginia. We were glad to get back to Florida and our beloved tropical weather. It was eighty degrees when we got off the plane in Tampa.


My middle dog, Buddy, got a new bed. He is getting kind of fat, so he needed a bigger bed. The poor guy can't get near it because big brother dog, Ransome, has decided that the bed is for him!!!




Sad, Buddy must sleep on the couch!