Billy and Shelly

This is Shelly at my house on Mother's Day.

She already has her own car!

And she knows how to work on it.

Even Big Bad Troy loves her.

Shelly and her mom, Rose, at my house.

Billy enjoys playing hot wheels with his dad's old toy.

Shelly has a sweet smile.

And she laughs all the time.

As you can see, Billy is right at home at our house.

Shelly likes to play peek a boo.

They like to play on my bed.

Billy likes to color. He takes it very seriously.

Shelly turns off my computer while I'm using it.

After a hard day, she goes fast asleep.

Billy likes to see how fast the cars can go.

He likes to get in the swing sometimes just to keep Shelly out of it.

Sometimes he refuses to turn around to have his picture taken.

Doesn't he make a cute computer nerd?

He plays possum sometimes to keep Shelly from bothering him.

But Shelly gets him up anyway.

Rebecca and Nicholas

This is Nicholas sitting outside with his PaPaw.

Rebecca likes to play the Sponge Bob game on my computer.

And she also likes to win.

She also like to look like a chipmunk.

She loves to play soccer.

But she can also be quite the little lady.

Nicholas tries to be shy at times but we all know better.

But he won't sit still long.

They love each other more than any brother and sister I've ever seen. They are so close.

Swimming

Today Mary and Bucky brought Tori and Ryan up to play in the pool. I think they had a good time. At first Ryan didn't want to get in the water, he wanted to stay on the ladder. But eventually, he got in and didn't want to leave when it came time for them to go to Mary's grandparent's apartment. I really enjoyed them coming up and look forward to them coming back.

Mary

My friend Mary is back in the hospital with her leg again. I certainly hope they find out what is causing the cellulitis and infection. For anybody who doesn't know Mary, she is a very sweet and loving person and doesn't need all the health problems she is encountering with this. Please join me in wishing her a speedy recovery and good health in the future. Mary, I love you and wish you only the best.

New Profession

I think I have found a new profession. Last week I had to mow with a push mower because the belt on the riding mower broke. I single handedly put a new belt on it. Of course, we won't go into how many bolts I took out and how many carter pins I removed and replaced, which really wasn't necessary. But you learn from your mistakes. I was mowing today and the blades wouldn't engage. I thought the belt had come off. It hadn't. So here I was on the ground looking underneath the mower. I found a metal thing that had another thing sticking out on it. Coming down from the top was another metal thing with a hole in it. Hmmmm...Interesting. I connected the two metal things by sticking the thing sticking out into the hole in the other metal thing. But how would I make it stay?? I found a carter pin in the garage. There was a hole but the pin wouldn't go all the way through. So I put it in as far as I could and wrapped it around using a pair of pliers. IT WORKED!!! Think I'll take up lawn mower repair. Think they'll like my terminology of parts?

My horoscope

I got this horoscope thing as a free gift for my birthday from my birthday calender. I don't usually put much belief in this stuff, but it hit the nail on the head. I think it fits me, what do you think?

Section 1: How You Approach Life and How You Appear To Others
You are a natural diplomat, reasonable, tolerant, fair, always willing to listen to varying viewpoints, and ready to see the other side of an issue. Even if you strongly disagree with someone, you will try to find points of similarity and agreement rather than emphasizing the differences. You often avoid taking an extreme or one-sided stance on anything. You have a strong desire for harmonious and pleasant relationships, and express a spirit of cooperation, compromise, friendship, and fairness. You very much want to be liked and because of your need for approval and acceptance, you are easily influenced by others' opinions, especially when young. You so much want to please that often you will suppress your own intense or unpleasant feelings in order not to offend others. Sometimes your politeness is interpreted as phoniness or wishy-washiness. Find out more with your full-length reading...

Section 2: The Inner You: Your Real Motivation
You are, in many ways, an eternal child. Your mind is bright, alert, curious, flexible, playful, and always eager for new experiences - and your attention span is often quite brief. You grasp ideas quickly and once your initial curiosity has been satisfied, you want to go on to something else. You crave frequent change, variety, meeting new situations and people. Find out more with your full-length

Mama

Well, we got home from Washington and I got sick. So I laid around for awhile and finally went to the doctor on Thursday, the day I was supposed to go back to work. He told me to stay off work 4 more days. So I went home and went back to bed. My mother called me that night and told me she was having chest pain. I went to her place and called 911. We went to the ER and she was admitted to the hospital. On the floor I work, no less. So I ended up staying at the hospital anyway. But my illness had mysteriously disappeared. I guess she scared it out of me. The next morning the doctor came in and told her she needed to have a heart catheterization. I asked her about her dog, who also had severe heart problems, and she gave me permission to have her put to sleep. So I came home and fed her dog and gave her some treats, then made the trip to the vet. I hated to do it, but she had suffered long enough. Shortly after I got back to the hospital, they came and got Mama for the cath. When they finished, they called me and my sister to come down there, instead of coming to the room like they were supposed to. Needless to say, we were scared. They had to do a baloon procedure on her and then put a stent in one of her arteries in her heart. If you're not familiar with this procedure, you have a large tube (a sheath) in your groin going into an artery. After they take out the sheath, you have to lie flat for 6 hours. Her procedure ended about 3pm. They weren't able to remove the sheath until about 8pm. So she couldn't even turn over for 6 more hours. She has arthritis in her back and legs and she was in alot of pain. Nothing they gave her stopped the pain. And they gave her lots of stuff. So when her bedrest was up, she couldn't get up because she was so loopy. Then her blood pressure took a nose dive. It got as low as 65/31. She couldn't move her left side and was talking to people who weren't there. I thought she had a stroke. Thank God I was wrong. They gave her alot of IV fluid and she got better. She came home on Sunday (mother's day). I brought her to my house so I could keep a close eye on her. She isn't recovering as fast as she should, but she's 77 years old and doesn't do anything fast anymore. Her blood count dropped drastically as if she was bleeding somewhere. I took her to Thompson Cancer Survival Center today to be checked there. She has a problem with her blood count anyway so they checked her blood and gave her a shot to help build it up. So hopefully she'll be back on the mend soon. One good thing that happened during all this is that she was approached by a nurse who told her about a study that was being done with a new drug. Plavix is the drug they put people on to prevent platelet formation which helps the blood to clot. Stents tend to attract blood cells that will stick to it if the blood has alot of platelets in it. This prevents the stent from keeping the artery open. A drug company has made a new drug which has to pass tests on patients before it can be approved by the FDA for marketing. So she is participating in the study and gets her medicine for free. She may be taking Plavix, she may be taking the new drug. We don't know. Not even the doctor knows. But she can stop the study any time she wants to. She isn't required to stay in it. She also gets free physicals while she's in it. So I feel pretty safe that the care she's getting is the best because they really monitor her closely. So that is what has been going on in my life. Exciting, huh? I'm tired of excitement! I just want to get back to my normal, humdrum life! But I love my mom and I'll take care of her forever, if I need to. Maybe next time I'll post something a little more interesting. Take care and everybody have a good day.

Washington, DC

Hello from DC! We finally made it! Of course today we spent more time getting lost than sightseeing. We spent about a total of 8 hours lost. We ended up in Maryland, downtown DC, and all over. We spent about 45 minutes at the Viet Nam memorial and the Lincoln memorial. Boy! Is that statue ever big! There's even a statue at the Viet Nam memorial recognizing the nurses there. We had planned to come home tomorrow, but now we've decided to try again tomorrow and take the tour tram. They stop at over 40 historic sites, including the White House. Wow! I'm excited now. So since we're old now and can't keep our eyes open forever, we'll drive about halfway home and then stop and rest for the night and come on home Sunday morning. Even though I wasn't in Viet Nam, seeing all those names on the wall and the messages people had left, it moved me to tears. War is such a sensless thing. Especially when it doesn't involve our country. As soon as I get home, I'll download my pictures and post some of them. Just today I made 65. So I'll be posting more about my trip soon. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Whine, Whine, Whine

Well, Mama went to the dr today to get her legs checked out and get her surgery scheduled. Guess what? Still don't know anything. And this is the last week of my vacation. They told her they would call her because the computers are down, and told her not to wait around because it could be 6:00 tonight before she hears anything. GREAT!!! Aren't drs wonderful??? And this morning my son called me because he needs a babysitter for Friday. If I can take my trip, for once I'm gonna say tough! Call in to work. Normally, I wouldn't tell him no, but I've wanted to do this for so long. He and Rose know that we have a life and encourage us to do things together. I guess that's why I feel guilty if I have to say no. Oh well, I guess I'll just sit and wait for dr call. Who knows? Maybe we'll go tomorrow, maybe we won't go at all. But one good thing. Mama gets her scooter today. At least something good is gonna happen to somebody. Oh, I need to quit whining! I'm thankful I have my mom and the rest of my family. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband, 2 beautiful children and 4 even more beautiful grandchildren.

Vacation

Well, it's the time I thought would never come. My two weeks off from work. But I must have missed something...I thought vacation was a time to relax and get caught up on some much needed rest. Boy! Was I wrong!!! The past week has been spent babysitting and cleaning. But that's just one week. Next week Doug and I hope to go to Washington, DC. That is if nothing else comes up. My mom goes to the dr Tuesday to see when her surgery on her carotid artery will be. If that comes up, I guess the trip will be cancelled. But hey! I only have one mom. I bought her a scooter yesterday so she can get around better. She doesn't have it yet but as soon as she gets it, I'm taking her to the mall. I'm gonna make her ride it all over. It's so easy to take apart and put together. But I guarantee that she won't even try to learn to do it herself. I'll still have to go with her everywhere. But that's okay. Like I said, I only have one mom. I have to go chase after my grandson now. Maybe I can post again another time.

MaMaw

Tonight I went to the funeral home. My grandmother passed away Wednesday morning. I was afraid to look at her for fear she wouldn't look good. After all, I've always said that people in funeral homes don't look good. They look dead. Granted, I knew she was dead when I looked at her. And who goes to sleep with their make up on and lipstick like they were getting ready to go to church? But I have to say, the woman lying in that coffin looked more like my Mamaw than she did the last time I saw her. Even though she had on makeup and lipstick, and a fresh manicure, that was the way I want to remember seeing her. When I was a little girl, she went to the beauty shop once a week to get her hair fixed. She always dressed well, and loved her scarves. Tonight she had on a pretty blue skirt and jacket. She also had a brightly colored scarf loosly tied around her neck. Didn't look at all like funeral clothes. I'm sure it was one of her favorite dresses. And her lipstick was the same shade she always wore to church. Yes, she looked dead, but I'm glad I got to see her one last time. I cried, but it was selfish tears. She's so much happier now and can RUN if she wants to. She hasn't done that in a while. Not any 100 year olds run that I know of. But she's the only person I've ever known who lived that long. I'll miss her.

Wireless World

I have had my home phone number over 15 years. Tomorrow my number will be laid to rest. I am going totally wireless. I added more minutes to my cell phone and free incoming calls. So as of tomorrow A.M., I will join the thousands of others who are tired of paying two phone bills. It's almost like the loss of a loved one. My son grew up with that phone number. He said he will be sad to see it go. Hopefully this will save me some money as all my money seems to be going in my gas tank.
I heard on the news that the pope is near death. I'm not Catholic, but I know this man is truly a man of God. I have seen nothing but good from him. I know he will be seeing Jesus and our Heavenly Father soon. I pray that he goes easy and without suffering. He's a good man.

The Change In My Life

I have decided to change my way of living.I hope it will be a change for the better. I am going to try to live my life the way Christ would want me to and to glorify Him in the way in which He deserves. I will no longer listen to dirty jokes, even if they are funny. To be a Christian means to try to be Christlike, and I just don't see Jesus listening to stuff like that. Although I will still try to take care of my body and look decent, I will no longer put the most emphasis on outer beauty. The real beauty lies within. I will try my best to clean up my vocabulary, although I try to now. I'll just try harder in the future. I hope and pray my friends will support me in this as it means so much to me. I realize I'm going to catch alot of criticism and rude comments about this, but hey! look what Jesus put up with for me!
I will pray as much as I can safely do, and when someone upsets me, I will pray for them instead of being mad. Alot of people have told me I'm a nice person, but I just feel so unworthy. Pray for me as I go through this transition in my life. I really think I'll be a better person for it.

I'm Just Like MeMe 

Taco Salad, Anyone?

Today we went to Bucky and Mary's house to eat Taco Salad. Mmmmmmm.....Was it ever good! I have never made one and she is going to have to teach me to make it. I don't know if I would have the patience or not. Mary's parents and grandparents were there, as well as Tori, Ryan, Rebecca and Nicholas. (the latter 2 are my grandkids). We had to leave pretty early to take the kids home. Wish we could've stayed longer. We had a great time.I always enjoy being with them and Tori and I love to wrestle around. Just when I thought the kids had calmed down, here went an ice cube down my back. Ryan was a lifesaver with Nic. He played with him so good. I was afraid that Nic would be screaming the whole time. Soon I intend to have a cookout at my house and invite the whole clan here for burgers, or if I get rich before then, steaks. We had a great time. Even Doug said he enjoyed it, and he doesn't hand out compliments often. So now we have the other 2 grandkids, Billy and Shelly. I love 'em all. So this has been my Saturday. Can't wait for that cookout! But right now, I'm still full from the Taco Salad. Maybe tonight I'll dream about a good looking Mexican man. LOL Hope I don't talk in my sleep.

Pain In The Neck

I went to work the other night after being off for 6 nights. I barely made it. My neck hurt so bad I couldn't move my head and left work the next morning in tears. I went to dr. at 11:00 yesterday morning and got a diagnosis of "Neck Pain". DUH!!! I could have told them that and I don't make the big bucks. They sent me to be admitted to the hospital but guess what? No beds available. So I spent the day in the ER with sticks, pokes, prods, CT scan, etc. The worst part was the spinal tap. I jumped 3 times and I know the dr was getting very upset with me because I kept messing her up. Well...it wasn't exactly a picnic for me either. They put in an IV and gave me Phenergan for nuasea and Dilaudid for pain. I told them I didn't want anything strong for pain cause I didn't want to be knocked out. HELLO!!!! I KNOW WHAT IS STRONG AND WHAT ISN'T!! Needless to say, I was out like a light! They told me after the spinal that I had to lie flat without bending my knees up. NOT!! So now I'm the proud owner of a spinal headache that won't go away. Even with sunglasses, the light from the computer hurts my eyes. With time that will get better, until then, they gave me muscle relaxers that make me sleep. So I check my email between naps. Good news is I don't have anything serious or contagious. That's what I was worried about. I don't want to make anybody else sick. But I'm fine and I'll feel better soon. Meanwhile, I'll just be a "Pain In The Neck". (Better than a pain elsewhere?)

Death of a Miracle

Some of you may remember a post I did about the newborn kitten I found last summer and I named her Miracle because I put her with another litter of kittens and the mother cat raised her. She was a beautiful kitten, mostly gray with orange highlights on her sides. She had a white streak going down between her eyes. Yesterday some #@%*** drove his car into my neighbor's front yard and deliberately ran over her. When I found out I was devastated. I was at work and I cried like a baby. I love animals, but she was special to me because I felt like I had saved her life. Now her precious life has been taken, and there's nothing I can do. She didn't even get to enjoy a full year on this earth. Although she didn't live with me, she knew I loved her very much because I always would pet her and love on her. Sometimes I would bring her over for a visit. Sometimes, she would come over on her own. She wasn't afraid of my dog, who loves to bite. She would just walk up to him and sniff of him and he would just look at her. She was fearless. She used her first life when she was born and abandoned. She must have used the other 8 coming to visit and braving the dog. I sure will miss her. She is buried in the same place I put her when she was born. If her real mom died in childbirth, she finally gets to meet her. Some people think differently, but I feel that God has a special place for animals when they die. I just can't see them being a living being with the same organs we have and not having a spirit. Miracle, I love you and I'm gonna miss you terribly. Wait on me at the Rainbow Bridge with the rest of my pets who have gone on before.

New Home

YEAH!!!! Mary and Bucky get to move into their new house on Thursday, Jan. 27,2005. Of course, I have to work. :( This day has been a long time coming for them. They were originally supposed to move in July, I think. But the day is finally here and they will be in their home. Can't wait til I'm off so I can go and visit them in their BRAND NEW HOME!!! It must be so exciting. I have never had a new home. All my houses have been VERY used. But let it be known that no one in this world deserves this home more than they do. This family is so wonderful and dear to me. They will never know how much their friendship means to me. So look out Bucky and Mary. I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!!! Let's have a party. :)

OH HAPPY DAY!!!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

My new computer came today and I've already got it set up and going. I've waited so long for a new machine. I finally ordered it and didn't think it was ever going to get here, although it only took 2 days. Of course, I had to wait the weekend too. I already have all my stuff put on it and all my pictures from my old computer. The monitor is so much bigger than my old one, I can actually see it! I'm posting a picture of it so all my friends can share in my joy. Sorry, Sandy, you'll get a flat panel monitor in time. God knows, I paid enough for it. Here it is!
Okay, so I don't do so well on posting pictures. When I do, they seem to disappear.
So, oh well...

Typical weekend this week, Exciting weekend next week!

Yesterday I had Rebecca and Nicholas over for the night. We took them home this evening and then went to pick up Billy and Shelly. It's hard to believe that Shelly will be a year old next month. Right now Shelly is asleep and I just put Billy to bed. But he's lying there talking and singing, anything to keep from going to sleep.

My computer has really been messing up alot lately. It seems like every week I'm having to contact Dell to walk me through fixing it. So I ordered a new one. My new one will be much better than this one. It has 160GB hard drive, 512mb memory, a dvd burner (which I just installed on this one), and a 17" flat panel monitor. I can't wait. I'll be able to see the screen without straining my eyes. It should be here Monday. 2 days! So close and yet so far away! At least it's coming before Thursday. That was the expected date of arrival. I have to work Thursday, and I want the whole day to set it up and enjoy it. Whenever I get something new, I'm like a kid at Christmas.

It's been snowing tonight and we've got a light dusting on the ground. Sure would be nice to have a good snow. But now I guess my age is showing. I don't like to be out in the cold. And since Mayfield makes snowcream now, I can have it whenever I want it without going outside.

I just saw Sandy get online so I'll go talk to her for a minute. Oh...Mary told me they're probably signing on their house on Thursday. So that means they'll FINALLY get to move in this weekend. They've waited so long for this occasion and I'm really excited for them. I just wish I was off so I could help them move. I hope everything goes smoothly. Maybe after I work the weekend, I can go help them unpack and get everything put in its place. I think I'll take my camcorder so I can tape the excitement. The kids will have their own rooms, and all new appliances! I'm so jealous! But no one deserves it more than they do.

Til next time, take care!

Medical Care

My mom went for her 2nd cataract surgery yesterday. Things went much better this time than they did last. Last time she couldn't even keep her eye open because it hurt so bad. The dr told her that her cornea was scratched and he put a contact lens in it. It finally got better and now she can see great out of that eye. She only had to wear glasses for reading. Now the other eye has been done and in 2 weeks she gets her new glasses. She will probably only need them for reading. It sure is strange seeing her without glasses. I don't remember ever seeing her without them unless she was going to sleep. It's amazing what drs can do these days. Medical technology has come a long way. It makes me proud to be a part of it. I only wish I could do more for the patients. But I would have to be a dr for that and I don't like school that much. I'd never make it through anyway. It's taking me forever to get my RN degree. I'm glad drs can do the things they do. But too many of the drs take credit for the outcome of things. They need to thank God that He's using them and guiding their hands to help people. Of course if something goes wrong, it's never the dr's fault, it's always the nurses who get the blame. But that doesn't happen very often. I love my job. I've been at it for almost 23 years now. Doesn't seem that long but time flies. Most patients are grateful for what the medical staff do for them, but there are a few who think nurses are scum and all the people who try to help them are dirt under their feet. The majority are nice though. I thank God for my job and am glad He gave me the courage to do it.

Picture Posting

I'm going to try once again to post some pictures and hope it works. If it does, I'll redo my previous blog. Anyway, this weekend I had 2 of my grandchildren, Billy and Shelly. (Aren't you tired of hearing about my babies?) Well, I'll never get tired of talking about them. I made a few pictures and I want to share them.
Shelly still likes the swing she got when she was a newborn:

And Billy still likes to change the settings to aggravate her:

It used to be Billy's swing, and I guess he still likes it sometimes, even if he is a little big:

Kids grow up so fast, seems like yesterday we couldn't even think about leaving her on the couch alone. Now she makes herself right at home:

Okay, these two are a little old to be my grandkids, but they are two good friends and they were here Saturday, too. As you can see, they're very much in love:

Again, I don't do that well on picture posting.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Last night was my very first New Years Eve party and I had a blast! Just proves you can party and have a good time without getting drunk. It was a great night at Sandy's house with her, her hubby Robert, Mary and Bucky, Lillian and Monroe (their parents), and me and my hubby Doug. We played cards, IM'd each other on our sidekicks, called each other on cell phones, ate, ate, and ate. I wish I had taken my camera, but I got some pictures from Mary and Sandy, so I'll post some of them. Right now, it sounds like a couple of cats somewhere outside are having a VERY happy new year! Oh well... Here's the pics:
Mary and Sandy's dad, Monroe, aka Roe

Me and Mary and Sandy's mom, Lillian, aka Lilly

Me acting like a daredevil standing on the railing on Sandy's front porch

Our lovely hostess, Sandy

Eating, our favorite past time

The men played against the women in cards. We won't say who won.

But then Bucky decided to play with the women (cards that is)

Mary's arrival

Lilly's arrival

Lilly and Max

Bucky being Bucky