A New Year's resolution (goal)

I just made a New Year's resolution. It's not even going to be a goal. It will be an ironclad rule. It's midnight. I was going to turn off the computer & was thinking about picking up a book.

I WILL NOT PICK UP A BOOK AT MIDNIGHT.

If the computer goes off at midnight, I go to bed. No books after 11:30 p.m. The other night I picked up a book & the next thing I knew it was 5 o'clock in the morning. Yes, that's right FIVE A.M.

I'm going to give the 144 books in 2010 challenge my best shot, but it will not be by reading all night.

144 books in 2010

Over on Goodreads.com I joined a challenge to read 144 books in 2010. That is 12 books in 12 months or a gross of books. Now is that gross or what? I have got to be a better guardian of my time. Last night I started a new book in the Ali Reynolds series by J. A. Jance. I've been reading these books backwards. Never thought that was a good way to read a series, but this way I'm filling in some things that I wondered about in book #4. With Jance's books I DO NOT read the end of the book. I don't have time. The books never slow down. At any rate, I read until 5:20 this morning. To say that I am tired is an understatement.

So, this is the way I have set up a way to achieve this goal:

° Alphabetically by author last name = 26



° Alphabetically by book title: = 26



° Dewey decimal system = 10


° Favorite authors = 24


° May Never Read = 10


° Memoir &/or biography = 12


° New author = 12


° Re-reads = 12




° TBR = 12


According to my calculations, this does it. Listopia will be a good source of books. Especially for my May Never Read mini challenge. That is books that I have tried to read & just can't seem to get through them. I have several of them, but I have forgotten. Then I go through the lists on Listopia & I remember.

I'll be posting more of my New Year's "goals" later in the week. Right now, I'm going to see if all these little tickers work, & go to bed. It's a work day tomorrow.

Christmas tree

For once I wanted a Christmas tree. It seemed to me that Don grudgingly put up our tree. Halfway through the process, he commented that he didn't know where any lights or ornaments were. Things got moved into storage & we faithfully pay the storage bill each month, but it's like stuff is in limbo.

I had thought about splurging on lights & ornaments, but I think we did that last year & now this year they are "lost." While I was waiting at a doctor's office yesterday, I saw a magazine that said to decorate your tree with paper products from a party store. Crepe paper streamers or garlands & big paper balls. If there is a party store in Logan, I don't know where it is. But I do know where the Dollar store is, LOL I spent $3 on crepe paper, poinsettias & wire ornaments. I came home & went out to close the cat door. There on the floor, right in front of the cat door was this little wire garland, still with the tags on it. It had never been opened. Don decorated the tree. It is pretty. No lights, but I don't care. Our electrical bill is exhorbitant anyway.

Don snapped this picture with his cell phone. I think it turned out pretty.

The day before Christmas Eve

And I'm still not ready. Oh well, the time trudges on & there's no way to slow it down, so I have to make decisions as to what I'll do. One day to do it in too.

I'm grateful Don & I have employment, even if I could use more hours.

Listening

The ward choir sang today. Two-thirds of the choir were members of two families. There were only 18, 16 actual choir members, plus the chorister & the pianist, but still .... They sounded wonderful. Don-Mike sings in the ward choir. I wish his dad would also sing in the choir. He has a wonderful voice, but ... he doesn't sing in church.

Don & I went to church this morning. We don't usually go to Sacrament meeting but Don-Mike sings in the ward choir. Don-Mike had taken Mother to church. She sat with our neighbors, Balzers, Paula & Amber. Don noticed a lady with no hair & asked me if I knew of anyone in the ward going through chemo & pointed her out to me. I said I didn't know of anyone. Mother was sitting on the back row, then there is an aisle & another bench. This couple sat on the very back row of the chapel, right behind Mother. About half an hour into the meeting, Mother started coughing & got up & went out. So, I got up & went out into the foyer to see if Mother was ok. I noticed a very strong tobacco odor as I walked out. The lady with no hair was looking intently at me. I smiled & kept on walking. I think she was coveting my pretty pink hat. It's crocheted & very soft. It was made for me when I was having chemo & had no hair.

In the foyer, Mother was still coughing & couldn't seem to get her breath. Paula was sitting there with her 5-year-old grandson Javen. She told me to go back in & ask Adrian, her daughter & Javen's mother, for some hard candy.

I went back in & again noticed the strong odor of tobacco. I got the candy & took it back to Mother. It seemed to help. I went back in to the chapel for the choir's next number & then after they sang, I got up & left. Last week the Gospel Doctrine teacher had wanted a copy of the Proclamation on the family for her Sunday School class this week. I know they are free at the Distribution Center, but I didn't know if I would get down to pick any up. I took a copy & copied them on parchment paper at The Citizen. I had forgotten to take them to church this morning. I was on my way back into town to pick up those copies. I asked Mother if she wanted to go home with me. She said she did. She hadn't taken her morning meds & the coughing spell had tired her out. She had started wheezing too. I took her home, gave her an inhaler treatment, she took her meds & I turned her oxygen concentrator on for her.

I grabbed the copies of the Proclamation & went back to church. I took them up to the Sunday School class. They had just started class when I delivered them. I noticed the Relief Society presidency in the hall setting out next year's lesson manuals. One manual seemed to leap out at me. I looked at the name & it said "Carol Hill." The RS always gives each sister a manual & they put our names on stickers on the manuals. I asked Shannon Knapp, one of the counselors, who Carol Hill was. She didn't know, so she asked Angie, the president. Angie didn't know, so she asked me. I laughed & said I had asked Shannon. No one knew who she was.

I laughingly told Don about it when I went back to the library. A little while later, I walked back up to the foyer & picked up my manual & Mother's. I noticed Carol Hill's manual was still there.

This afternoon Don-Mike, Mother, Don & I had tithing settlement. Don & I had the first appointment, but we let Mother & Don-Mike go first. While we were waiting, I noticed the bald lady standing at the top of the stairs. I took that opportunity to go up & talk to her. I asked her if she was going through chemo. She said no, she has alopecia & a lung disease. The smell of tobacco clung to her. I thought that if she had a lung disease, someone in her home had better stop smoking. But I didn't say so. I asked her if she were visiting, but then the bishop came out & handed something to her. She said no, she lived over on South State. That is part of our ward, so I asked where on South State. She said she lived in the trailer court but she doesn't get out to church very often. I had neglected to introduce myself, so I did & asked her name, "Carol Hill." I was both elated & astounded. I had never even heard the name Carol Hill, until I saw it on that manual. I had wanted to talk to her at church, but knew I wouldn't get a chance. They must have had an appointment a bit earlier. If Don & I had taken the time allotted to us, I would have missed the chance to talk to her.

I think the reason Mother had the choking spell at church is because of the cigarette odor. Tobacco smoke brings on her spells.

I called Angie & left a message on their answering machine to call me. She called me back & I told her I had found out who Carol Hill is. I told her & she said she thought they were visiting. I passed on the information I had learned from talking to Carol. Angie said she had never heard the name before. She felt bad that she hadn't talked to her. She thanked me & said she & her counselors would go visit her. I wonder how long they've lived here. Obviously long enough to have their records here.

After tithing settlement, I went to The Citizen to work on my Christmas project. About 6 p.m., I was at the counter writing down the copies that I had made so I can pay for them this week, when I had the distinct feeling I needed to check the front door to see if it was locked. I thought that was odd. I started back to my desk to leave & it was like someone said to me, "I thought you were going to check the front door." I immediately turned & walked to the front door, all the time thinking it was my OCD kicking in. I have worked there for 12 years & been in & out of that building at all times of the day & night & NEVER had the thought that I needed to check to see if that door was locked. I walked up, pushed on the front door & it swung open. I almost fell on my face. Not from shock but because the door swung open so easily. I locked it & walked back to my desk.

The janitor had just left & she had turned out all the lights. It was dark outside & I needed to see to get out of the building. I walked back & turned on the mail room light & then there is one light that you have to pull a string to turn it on & off. The string popped off in my hand. Crud. There was no way I was getting on a chair & tying that string back on. I left it. Made sure the back door was locked & went to dinner.

---

Tithing settlement happens each December. Faithful members are supposed to go to their bishop & declare whether or not they have paid a full tithe that year.

Wedding anniversary

Today is our 27th wedding anniversary. We were married in the Logan LDS Temple. Mother & Daddy were married 65 years ago today in the Logan Temple & Mother's parents, Fred & Jennie Gilbert Porter were married on this day in the Logan Temple 89 years ago today.

My cousin Wade Esplin's son Derek was born on our wedding day, so he is 27 years old today. Don's niece Brittany Bartlomé & James Baltutis were married 2 years ago in the St. George LDS Temple. My cousin Sherrie Moser is 59 years old today. Mother says that one of my cousin Ricky Taylor's boys was also married on Dec. 15.

Today Don gave me 3 pair of funky socks & 2 Gerbera daisies. What a pleasant surprise.

Disneyland favorites

Today, on the way home from Logan, I asked Mother what her favorite part of the Disneyland trip was. She had a hard time deciding on just one.

The first thing she mentioned was the parade at Disneyland, followed by the fireworks. She really liked the hotel room at the Ramada Maingate. Especially the handicap accessible bathroom. She thought it was awesome to see the sun sink into the ocean & she really liked the Golden Gate Bridge. She maintains that is the first time she has seen it. I know we saw it in the 1970s when we went to Disneyland the first time.

She liked Tony Roma's Thanksgiving dinner, too. But hated IHOP. The interesting thing is, Nick did not want to go to IHOP. Mother wanted to go to IHOP, so I pushed for IHOP. It was almost as expensive as Tony Roma's the day before. Mother hated her food. It was over cooked, tough & cold. She kept eating it, complaining the whole time. So, we told the cashier Mother did not like her food. The cashier dropped the charge on it. But even though the others said not to give the waiter a tip, I did. It was kind of chintzy, only 10 percent of the total, but ... a tip nonetheless. A day or so later Mother said, "Just because you're old, they don't have to give you old food." Today as we drove by IHOP in Logan, she had to bring up the IHOP in Anaheim, LOL.

While we were eating at IHOP in Anaheim, a waitress stopped by our table to put something on it & paused a minute. After she left, I commented we'd just had a "drive by." I said she must be checking out the handsome young men at our booth.

Saturday, Day 4

Saturday morning we stopped at the T-Shirt Outlet where Don got souvenirs when he went to Disneyland as a chaperon with the PHS band in 2002 or 2003. We bought each of us t-shirts & one for Amber, our neighbor that fed our cats while we were gone.

We drove up I-5 & then turned west at Lost Hills & out to HWY 1. We went through Paso Robles & stayed the night in Monterey. We got to see the sun set in the ocean. It was so pretty along there. I would have liked to have seen it in the daylight.

We had 2 rooms in Monterey. One with a king size bed, microwave & fridge. The other one had 2 double beds. Neither room was handicap accessible, but Mother made do. Nick & Don stayed in the room with the king size bed; while Mother, Don-Mike & I stayed in the room with the double beds.

It had a nice wall heater & Mother sat in a chair in front of the heater. The guys went out to Wendy's for supper & brought Mother & I some chili & a hamburger to share. We were tired & I was cranky.

I think that was the only night on the whole trip that Don-Mike actually got to sleep in a bed. The other rooms had 2 queen size beds. We knew the handicap accessible room at the Ramada Maingate Inn in Anaheim only had 2 queen size beds. He offered to take a twin air mattress. He had a nice pump to pump it up with. He left it pumped up the whole time we were in Anaheim, just propped it up against the wall. He took sheets & a fleece blanket. He used the comforters from the beds as a mattress pad.

We activated the GPS on my cell phone. But we used it so much it died. I hadn't been able to find my car charger before we left, so we couldn't recharge the phone. We activated the GPS on Nick's phone & then had 2 GPSs to use for the weekend. It was really nice, because you can put an address or the name of a restaurant or motel/hotel & it searches from where you are & then gives you mileage & addresses. We found the Ramada Inn in Monterey that way. Then we were able to call ahead & see if they had any available rooms.

Disneyland, Day 3

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we were on our way to Disneyland after renting the wheelchair for Mother at the Scooter Shop. Mother & Don-Mike were ahead & had been stopped by a salesman. If we would consent to listen to a sales pitch Friday night for Shell Vacation Club, we could have a ride in a limo & would get $150 in gifts. We didn't have to buy anything, but we did have to have an income in excess of $70 grand a year!! And an excellent credit rating. We don't have either one, but as Don-Mike said, maybe combined we have an income that high. I'm sure the boys have excellent credit ratings, but we don't. We also had to pay $20 in cash as "earnest money." LOL. Don-Mike had $20 in cash.

So, Thursday night, we extended our stay another night to listen to the presentation about the Shell Vacation Club.Since Mother & I only had a one day pass for Disneyland on Thursday, the guys spent the day at Disneyland with us. They went to California Adventure on Friday. Two full days at the park was better than the evening on Wednesday, all day Thursday & leaving Friday morning.

Friday evening Don, Don-Mike & I got a ride in a limo. I was NOT impressed. It was a rear wheel drive & I fell over the hump in the middle not once, but twice. On the way back, we had to sit facing backwards & I got car sick, uggg.

We listened to their 90 minute spiel. Kept saying no, thanks to not one, not two, but to THREE salesmen. It's a good thing Nick didn't go with us. We kept using him as our excuse. We don't travel much because we have a son on the autistic spectrum, blah, blah, blah.

Don-Mike got his $20 cash back & we got $100 in Darden gift cards. Darden Restaurants are Bajama Breeze, LongHorn Steakhouse, neither of which had we heard of, Red Lobster and Olive Garden. We also got $50 in ARCO gift cards for gas.

ARCO's web site says, "You can fill up at nearly 1,300 ARCO stations on the West Coast." Bold italics are mine. However, we only found one ARCO station that had diesel. We used $21 on diesel. and now have $29 in ARCO PumpPASS's left to use.

Back to using Nick as an excuse. He does NOT like to travel. Maybe he'd do well if we went somewhere & stayed. He does not like to ride in a car, but he will drive. Last year, he wouldn't go to Montana with us. We were afraid he wouldn't go this year. He did have fun at Disneyland & California Adventures; but did not enjoy the trip up the coast or home.

Links for Disneyland

Thx for asking about our Disneyland trip Janelle. I had thought about blogging about it, but your question nudged me. I am planning to do a scrapbook album for Christmas presents this year. Since this trip was basically planned at the last minute, it cost about $2,000 to pull off. With that kind of cash outlay, Christmas will be pretty skimpy this year. The idea, of course, is that the trip is our Christmas.

I just found out we went during a peak time. I guess the week before Thanksgiving & the week after Thanksgiving are the slow times. But, we enjoyed it.

Here is a video of the fireworks I found on YouTube. Actually, I found it on a cool website called Dis. Here is a link to their page, Christmas at the Disneyland Resort.

I found The Haunted Mansion is transformed into Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" only in the fall. So, I am glad I got to see it.

I had never heard of Fantasmic! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mother did not. Wheelchairs are on the dock, so she got the "smoke" from the fireworks.

Disneyland, Days 1 & 2

We left last Wednesday morning at 3:30 a.m. & drove & drove & drove. We arrived in Anaheim at our hotel about 5, I think. I had reserved a handicapped accessible room at the Ramada Maingate hotel across from the main gate of Disneyland. It was only a 5-6 minute walk.

I had also bought three 2-day park hopper passes online. We thought Mother would have to be there to redeem the tickets because I had used her credit card to buy them. With that in mind, we decided to wait until Thursday morning, Thanksgiving, to start using the passes. Thursday morning Mother wasn't feeling good, but she never feels good in the mornings. The Ramada Maingate had all these little shops in front of it. One of them was the Scooter Shop. With Mother's macular degeneration, she is legally blind & cannot operate a motorized chair. So, we rented a nice push wheelchair. Don-Mike pushed her.

We got to Disneyland & purchased 2 one-day passes for Mother & I. Mother didn't want to ride any rides. I would have liked to, but didn't want to leave Mother sitting in the wheelchair. I had been told Thanksgiving is the time to go to Disneyland because there aren't any lines, but it was busy. I wanted to ride 2 rides, the teacups & the haunted mansion. I also wanted to see the Christmas parade & the fireworks.

We didn't need any identification for the park hopper passes that I had printed out at home. I pushed Mother into the castle. The moat stunk. I know why moats were put around castles & I'm sure the moat around a real castle stunk worse than this one. It was quite a chore pushing her up the ramp into the castle. I saw the teacups. It is the Scrambler with teacups for the seats, so no, I didn't ride it.

Mother & I were tired, so we went back to the hotel & took a nap. So, glad we have texting on our phones. I texted Don, but he can't see without his glasses & he didn't take his glasses with him to the park. So, Don-Mike & I texted back & forth.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings at Tony Roma's right next to the hotel. At least, Mother, Don, Don-Mike & I had T-giving dinner. Nick had a full rack of ribs.

Then we went back to Disneyland for the evening. I wanted to see the parade & the fireworks. The parade was fabulous. Nick found a perfect place for us to see the parade. Then the guys left to ride more rides, LOL, they weren't interested in seeing the parade.

We were on our own to see the parade & it was a great place. Some Orientals walked right in front of us & stood there taking pictures. A man told them to move, we were there first. Then he & his wife stood one on either side of us & kept the view clear for Mother to see. I called them our guardian angels.

The guys came back & took us to ride the Nightmare Before Christmas. I told Don that was the only thing I wanted to ride, so they went with us. They knew how to do the Fast Pass & how to get Mother to the front of the line. This was the ride I remembered the most from the first time I went in the 1970s. Of course, then it wasn't Nightmare before Christmas, it was something else. Mother & Don-Mike had a package of wrapping paper with a lit fuse sitting in their laps. Nick & I had candy canes. He thought they were boring & would have liked the coffin in the empty car next to us. I can't remember what Don had.

We also saw Fantasma & then stayed put for the fireworks. The fireworks were awesome. The next day the guys went to California Adventure & Mother & I stayed at the hotel & rested.

Two days was a lot better than a day and a half like we had planned. It worked out a lot better

Tuesday, Dec. 1

We made it home last night about 8 p.m. A day later than we planned. We spent a day longer at Disneyland than we had planned, but we're home! Mother did not come home in a coffin!! Woo hoo!! She's awfully tired, but you can't keep her down.

She almost had all of their laundry, hers & Don-Mike's, done & stuff put away when I got to her place this afternoon about 2:30. I, on the other hand, unpacked a suitcase. Before we could wash anything we had to get a bag of laundry soap.

I've caught up on Jonah, Sheila, Angela & Gwendolyn. It didn't look like anyone else had posted on their blogs in the last week. I also caught up on Facebook, but that wasn't horrendous, as I've been doing that sporadically this week.

I took my laptop with us, but the internet was always SOOOOOO slow. The only thing I could access was Facebook, so I was glad to check on that every day. Sunday night Nick & Don hogged the laptop. I was too tired & upset to fight for any time. I read.

Disneyland

Well, my aunts, Luana & Onda, don't think it's a wise idea to take Mother with us on such a long trip. Luana told me that Mother doesn't want to go. Today the cardiologist, Dr. Otrusinik, voted with Luana & Onda.

I posted this as my status on Facebook tonight:

Now Mother's cardiologist says don't take her on such a long road trip. (Driving to Disneyland for the weekend.) I have no brothers or sisters to take care of her while I'm gone & I can't be in two places at once. Pray for us.

Mother & I discussed it at lunch after the echocardiogram & the pace maker check.  Dr. Otrusinik was appalled that we were even thinking about taking her. I suggested that perhaps we could call Dr. Broadbent & have the surgery to remove the squamous cell cancer lump from her arm postponed for a week. Mother didn't answer me.

Luana had said she'd check on Mother every day. But I don't want to leave her here alone & I want to go. So, I guess I'm being selfish.

Tonight when we got home & I was packing for Mother, it was time to take her meds & I wanted to put her meds in the bag so they wouldn't be forgotten. I asked her what we were going to do with the coumadin. She said, "Aren't you going to call & cancel the surgery?" I THOUGHT, "Oh, my h-e double toothpicks!!! Why didn't you say so at lunch? I could've called & cancelled then. Now, it's 6 o'clock & the office is CLOSED!!!" Instead, I calmly said, "Yes. I'll do that tomorrow." So, she decided not to take any coumadin tonight.

Last night we were in the ER until after midnight with a bloody nose & her INR level was only at 2.3 (low for her). Her nose oozed blood all day. One of the reasons Dr. Otrusinik thought we were being foolish. Besides the fact that Mother needs to be off the coumadin for 7 days before the surgery. No coumadin, sitting for 12 hours, she could throw a blood clot & die. He did suggest that if we do take her, which he strongly disapproved of, we stop every 2 hours & move around for a minimum, MINIMUM, of 5 minutes. Don-Mikel is going to love that.

I don't know if we're leaving at 3 or 2:30, about 5 hours from now. I told Mother not to get undressed & to sit in the chair until it's time to go. I think I'll do the same thing. Just gotta go pack. I paid a couple of bills & have got to grab the checkbook & we'll be good to go.

I'm feeling really discouraged. Don & Don-Mike gave Mother a (priesthood) blessing this morning, so I feel like it will be ok, but I told Don to take the consecrated oil, just in case we needed it. I remember Daddy would always take the consecrated oil when we went on vacation. I even have it on my list.

Went to put some more clothes in my suitcase & noticed 2 cats on the bed. Don went in the bedroom & soon came out asking me to come look at something. There was Jae in his suitcase. I took a picture with my cell phone.

I heard Don say he is on his way to bed, guess I'd better go get my stuff off the bed & finish packing.

A quick note

I can't believe it's been over a week since I posted a blog entry. I've been depressed. Money is an issue & it seems like I'm being pushed into spending money on Disneyland that we don't have. Our sweet Don-Mike is reaching deep into his pocket & paying the majority of it. The Lord is helping with this venture too, by sending money & help from unexpected sources :)

On another note, this is the main reason I wanted to make an entry tonight:

It is working! With collective efforts, PetitionToCureSMA.com is growing -- and quickly. In less than a week it has blown past 77,000 supporters! This is awesome! And, as this petition grows it is not only sending a strong message to Congress, it is raising awareness of SMA. And knowledge brings change!

A blog I follow, Gwendolyn Strong, is about a little girl with SMA. She has turned 2, something most children with SMA do not do. I cannot believe I have not blogged about her before.

Recipe Corner blunder

So, I failed to say what the 4th recipe was supposed to be in the Recipe Corner. It was Turkey and Cranberry Salad. Now, it looked really good & I was quite intrigued with it. If there's room I'll make a correction this coming week & run it. Of course, no one caught it, so I may just let it go. If we run a correction, we will draw attention to the fact that a mistake was made.

I spent a couple of hours tonight researching & doing an itinerary for our Disneyland trip for the week of Thanksgiving . Don-Mike still thinks a Disneyland package is the way to go. I didn't even take that into consideration. That's $1,500 without gas, groceries & lodging to & from!!!!! Maybe Mother & I will stay home.

Faux pas

Oops, I made a faux pas (foe paw) in The Citizen this week.

Faux (pronounced /ˈfoʊ/, like "foe") is a French word for false or fake. It is often used in English phrases such as faux pearls, and faux news.
~ Wikipedia

I posted this on Facebook last night:

Ok Preston residents, tell me what glaring mistake you find in The Preston Citizen tomorrow when it comes in the mail. I was SOOOOO embarrassed. I didn't catch it until I was archiving.

To which Pat Hansen replied:

They probably won't even notice ya think? That obvious? I'd proably miss you.

Kristy Nelson replied:

Well, now I'm going to have to read it all over again.

Janelle Bartlomé asked:

Is it Jay Leno worthy? If so you could be famous. One time the company I worked for (American Stores- private label department) made a label for Parmesan Cheeese. The first person to catch it was the person putting the cheese into the canister.

To which I replied:

No, Janelle, it isn't Leno worthy, but our front page was in September. It was SOOOOOO good. I hope someone did send that one to Leno. The front page top story was that H1N1 had hit Franklin County. Second story was the hospital is soo old that you can't get proper care there. Third story was that the Preston Cemetery is now full & the land owners around the cemetery won't sell. So, you get sick, you can't get health care & when you die, you can't be buried in the cemetery because they are out of room, LOL.

Kristy, it's like Reiman publications where they hide a needle or a carrot, only this is much more blatant. It went through the other copy editor, BOTH editors (& the pages were laying side by side when they saw them) & through the photo editor.

Rod consoled me that no one would even notice when I went flying into his office with the pages. He didn't notice it even then. I had to point it out & read it to him, LOL

Kristy answered:

Now I'm really gonna have to look again!

 To which I replied:

Pat that last paragraph was in answer to your post. Kristy, here's a hint, it's a jump.

Denise Ericksen commented:

RaNae, you make me laugh!!!! And that is a good thing.

I didn't reply to Denise. What could I say??

But Pat replied to my reference to the Sept. 23rd issue's  front page with:

This really is one of the funniest things I've heard, oh my!! It went through the editors etc.. lol---how ironic though. H1N1-death and no place to be buried? I have a gallows sense of humor (blame nursing)...

I replied:

Me too, Pat. The only thing I can say in my own defense is that I was having gall bladder surgery that day.

The kicker this week is: "Mr. PHS crowned at Saturday's faux pageant." I told the editors to read the kicker carefully. I wanted their opinion.

One of them said, "fox pageant?" You spelled fox wrong. I said it's pronouced "foe" and means fake. His answer? "Sure, leave it."

High school senior boys do a spoof on a beauty pageant & are judged in talent, poise & 3 other things.

The original mistake was in the Recipe Corner. Jean Carter had taken FOUR recipes from an online site that supplies newspapers with filler articles. She has had a really hard time getting "real" people to interview & share their recipes. It's really a shame, because that is one of my favorite columns in the whole paper. We usually only have 3 recipes. There is really only room for 3 recipes on the social page, page 5, so I was going to have to jump a recipe.

There was one recipe that was going to be a real bugger to set & I saved it for page 7. I knew I could spread that baby out if I had to on that page. I worked really hard on it, too. Not as hard as I thought I would have to, for which I thanked the Lord fervently. Tuesday mornings are real adrenalin rushes. Some are more so than others.

We made it just a few minutes past our deadline & I took a few minutes to unwind. I started cleaning up the work for this week, getting ready for next week. Filing proof pages & paper copy, moving documents & photos from the working folder into a file to be archived on CD, emptying the email inbox & trash.

This week I needed to do tear sheets for FamilyFeatures, the online site that we had used the recipes from. I printed out those 2 pages & there it was, as big as life!!! Two separate recipes for Mexi-Meatball Kabobs. It was too late to do anything. The paper was on the press clear across town in a totally different facility. But, as Rod said, no one's gonna notice. And I really don't think anyone will. They are on 2 separate pages.

I had a busy day today. Don-Mike woke me up at 20 to 12 & I have to be to church at 12. I don't know what Don was doing, but I'm sure glad Don-Mike took it upon himself to wake me up. I made it to church by noon, but didn't have much chance to do anything except get dressed & comb my hair. Good thing I have short hair.We don't have a shower, so it's not like I could jump in & out of the shower & tame my hair.

After church, I came in, sent a picture to work that I had forgotten to include in an earlier email. I have to use our internet connection at home sometimes to get stuff. The computers at work are too antiquated to access some internet sites, especially the one we get the recipes from. Changed my clothes & ran to work.

There was more work than I had expected, so I had to leave & run over to Mother's to cook supper. Don & I cleaned up after supper & I ran back to work. Then when I got home Don-Mike was on his computer, I use his computer, so I was late getting on..

Neanderthals

Nick has been very, very frustrated & consequently the rest of us have been too. His verbal communication skills are very compromised. I don't know if it's his meds, or not. He's been on topamax for years, so why should the short term memory become so bad??? Yet, he had been on depakote for quite a while & he was taken off because he developed toxicity to it.

A lady in the ward gave me the name of a psychiatrist in Pocatello that she goes to. I keep forgetting to call to see if he takes Idaho Medicaid. I'd like to get Nick off topamax.

Last night Don ended up sitting in the car, just to get away from Nick. This morning when Don-Mike came in, I could hear he was not his normal cheerful self. Soon Nick was having a meltdown & called Don-Mike a neanderthal. Don-Mike said thank you, he took that as a compliment. Not all of us could be as smart as Nick. That set Nick off even more & called us all neanderthals. Don-Mike commented that he doesn't even like to come over here anymore. I told him that I don't like to come home either. It's become a prison. Mother & Don-Mike are fortunate not to have to live with Nick all the time.

I told Don that maybe I should change my user name to Neanderthal Mom. I used to have a modicum of intelligence, but now I discover I don't even have that.

Nick's psychosocial rehabilitation plan expired in September, I think. Medicaid is changing the goals for PSR, grrr. Yesterday, Karen Talbot from Priestley Mental Health came by & we spent an hour and a half revamping his plan. I sure wish we still had Bill Salerno on board as Nick's counselor. Since the PSR plan expired, we haven't had that service for about 6 weeks. Sure hope it kicks in again SOON.

Typing psychiatrist made me think of the massacre at Fort Hood, Texas. How horrifying it is that this would happen on a US Army base, but even more horrifying that it was a psychiatrist that perpetrated it.

To do list

I only have 2 items left on my to do list. But ... did a whole bunch of other stuff, took Mother for her hair appt., got eggs at the egg farm ... I came out to Mother swatting a fly inside the car. She never did get it. The flies are still thick as thieves there at the egg farm.

I used eggs in my supper tonight, Toffee Apple French Toast. It was really good tonight, even though I didn't get the toffee bits - too expensive. We like it better than Cinnamon Apple German Pancakes. It's more filling too.

I got Mother's coumadin & got it in her med box. I just remembered I didn't get any XS Tylenol, grrr. It's too late now.

Well, one more bill to pay & I'm off to bed.

Voting results

Jessi had to go in last night & finish up the newspaper so that the voting results would be in today's paper. I hope she didn't have to drag Keziah out too late.

Only one of the councilmen that I voted for got in, the other one didn't. The hospital bond failed too, darn!!! Well, I at least have the right to complain now, LOL.

How'd I do on my To Do list?? Not too good. Only one more item ticked off, sigh. Mother's protime/INR level was "perfect" today, 3.0.

The focus this month on Flylady is to plan your menus. I started doing this in 1991 or 1992 & have kept up with it for most of the last 17 or 18 years. Some months I'm not as diligent as I should be, but Don does his a month at a time too. He is very diligent.

When we lived in Grace (1991-93), I dsicovered a book called "Sidetracked Home Executives: From Pigpen to Paradise." This book is where Flylady originated from.

I voted

 I voted today. We'll see what the verdict is tomorrow. Mother even got out to vote. Everyone but Nick did.

They have the voters split up by alphabet. Mother voted first. Then I went to the table for the first of the alphabet. I told them my name & spelled Bartlomé & specifically said, without an h. A lady came over & said no, that's B-a-r-t-H-l-o-m-e. So, they find Barthlome with an h. They're reading down through the list, JoAnn, Layne, Randy ... you're not here. I said, no that's Barthlome with an h. I don't have an h in my name. "Well, that's different," she snipped at me. It's like Nick said, I should have said to her, "I know how to spell my own name." Anyway, I bent over to sign my name & said, "Well, the Barthlomes over here paid to have the h put back in their name. We didn't." I even told her that I spelled Mikel & Nickolas without an h too. So, I voted for the city councilmen, but was still a little miffed.

Next, we had to go to another table & vote on the hospital bond. Again, two different election judges. One for the middle of the alphabet, Monson, & one for the beginning of the alphabet. Camille Saxton, a member of our ward & former Relief Society president, was the election judge for the first of the alphabet. She had no trouble finding me.

Don-Mikel called to see where we voted & I told him the Robinson Bldg. I called him back & said that when he voted for the city councilmen, he was going to have to spell his name, & tell the election judge there is no h, because she is so dumb. Don met Don-Mike at the Robinson Bldg. He said Don-Mike went first, said his name & said, Bartlomé without an H. Don said they flipped right to it & he & Don-Mike had no trouble. I told Don I was the pioneer then, I broke the ground for them.

I am so tired & have had a sore throat all day. I woke up with it. I thought it would go away like it usually does. I always wake up with a dry, dry throat. I sleep with my mouth open. That's why the CPAP mask is a full face mask, so that even though I sleep with my mouth open, the air pressure still keeps my throat open so I can breathe.

Did I, or did I not, do what was on my to do list for the day.

• I forgot to pay McKenzie Law Office, due Friday, Oct. 30.
  
• I forgot to pick up Nick's meds at the pharmacy Done & no co-pay for my pills!! W00t W00t
  
• Mother needs omeprazole
• I HAVE to send the Verizon rebate. I NEED that $50.
• I HAVE to pay the storage shed company. Today, I took Don-Mike's $50 & part of Nick's rent & got 2 money orders. I will pay storage tomorrow. I also wrote out a check for Mother's storage payment.
  
• Pampered Chef - I lost the order & now people are wondering where the stuff they ordered is. I'm wondering where the orders AND THE CHECKS are, sigh.

This was not on my list, but I also wrote out checks for Mother's rent & home-delivered meals, took her retirement checks to the bank & deposited them.I also took the check to the Community Center & put it through the mail slot. That saved her a 45¢ stamp

I am so tired. I waited for Don-Mike to come home & now I'm off to bed. I took my potassium pills this afternoon at work. Choked on them, as usual, even though I broke them in half. I guess trying to stuff 6 fairly large pills in my mouth at once doesn't work, sigh.

Daylight Savings ends

Changing the time back is supposed to help, isn't it?? I was able to get up without much problem, but I'm soooo tired. It was another 12 hour day today & I still have 10 pages to do tomorrow.

Great article on stress today. I printed it out & brought it home. I hope I can file it before I lose it.

• I forgot to pay McKenzie Law Office, due Friday, Oct. 30.
  
• I forgot to pick up Nick's meds at the pharmacy
• Mother needs omeprazole
• I HAVE to send the Verizon rebate. I NEED that $50.
• I HAVE to pay the storage shed company. Maybe I'll take the payment to their office in Logan tomorrow. I forgot until Don-Mike wanted to know if he could give me cash or a check. Last month he ended up with his storage unit double locked because they didn't credit his account. Grrrr. Mother ended up with double locking.
• Pampered Chef - I lost the order & now people are wondering where the stuff they ordered is. I'm wondering where the orders AND THE CHECKS are, sigh.

Stress!!!!

Happy Halloween

I think it's been over a year since I started blogging. It was a year ago today that Lynette brought Mufasa up to stay for a "little while." I'm thankful that Kents are taking care of him. I fell almost every day last winter going down to feed him. Shari's dad made him a nice cinderblock dog house. We all feel sorry that he can't get out & run, but ... he is uncontrollable & will run out into the highway.

On another note, even though I have cut down drastically on forwards, I find that I am still insufferable in inviting people to join causes & sending stuff on Facebook. "I just can't join everything you send." Well, I don't try to join everything everybody sends me, nor do I open every forward. I delete them or block them. I don't tell the person or people either, although there are a few times I have felt like saying something. President Peel told me as a missionary that I needed to have a gracious heart. And I have tried for many years to follow that advice. If asked directly, I will say something like, "I didn't open that." or "I blocked that." or "I didn't see that."

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of they friends or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

~ John Donne

Donne puts forth the idea that people are not isolated from one another. Nice thought & beautiful words. I certainly feel like an island. I feel like a pariah, isolated - always doing something wrong.

In one of Arlene Eakle's classes at the Family History Expo retreat that I got to attend this week, she talked about how some people only will associate with people of their own religion, family or neighborhood. She was talking about censuses. She said people are not alone. Ha!!!

"So, don't send me any forwards, don't send me anything you think I might be interested in because I'm not interested in anything except what I am interested in." is the message I feel I have been given.

Well, because I played hooky from work this week, I have to pay the piper & work tomorrow. I hope there's not a lot of work to do & that it doesn't take forever. I took Mother to the doctor on Friday, Oct. 16, & worked Saturday & Sunday. I worked SIX hours that Sunday, Oct. 18, until 10:30 p.m. So, I need to go to bed.

RIP Prissy

I found this on a friend's blog. She lost her cat on Sept. 27.

Can one ever be truly prepared for the death of a treasured family pet?
Every pagan family needs the obligatory black cat.

Our family LOVES black cats. Astro was all black, but with a white undercoat, then we had 4 "black & whites". Prissy had a tuxedo & little white mittens.We lost our Prissy today. We had her put to sleep. She died about 2:30 this afternoon. I prayed last night that if Prissy died, the ground would be soft enough to bury her. I woke up to rain this morning, but it soon stopped & the sun came out. Don had no trouble burying her. He did it by himself. He didn't ask for help because he didn't think Nick or Eddie would help him. Don-Mike was at work. And I'm such a chicken, I took off for work as soon as we got home from the vet, about 3.

I posted the following on Facebook this morning:

Prissy is still with us, but I don't know if she'll make it to her vet appt. I told Mother that Prissy was very ill & she said she wants to say good-bye. At least I told her while she was at the beauty parlor. Marcella was talking with her when I left.

Mother has her hair done every Saturday morning. Arlene Wanner used to take her, but Arlene has been very ill & is still very weak. I take Mother to her hair appt., Marcella, her beautician, calls me when she is done & then Mother & I go to Subway for lunch.

After Mother's hair appt., I brought her home so that she could say good-bye to Prissy. Prissy was very still & very cold. Mother sat & held her for about 20 minutes. She kept asking if Prissy was alive. She was so cold & still. I felt for Prissy's heart & she was purring.

Last night I had tried giving Prissy some more water in the syringe, but she choked & then she tried getting out of the chair & fell. So, I decided the bathroom heat vent would be the best place to put her. She couldn't fall out of that & break her neck. Several months ago I had bought a cute little fleece blanket at Dollar Tree. I found it again a day or 2 ago & was thinking I would put it in Jae's bed, but didn't. I dug the blanket out last night & put it & an old tattered t-shirt of Nick's on the heat vent in the bathroom & closed the door, not that I was afraid Prissy would go anywhere, but that Marsha might bother her.

Prissy barely made it to the vet appt. When I got home from taking Mother home, Don said that if I would drive, he would hold Prissy. I said no, he could drive & I'd hold Prissy. I had already made the decision we would have her put to sleep. And I didn't want to have to drive on the way home. I did that when I had Boots put to sleep & it's too hard to drive when you're crying. She seized several times on the way down. The first time I thought she was trying to throw up. She had such bad breath. I had Don stop a couple of times.

She was SOOOO cold that when they tried to take her temperature it didn't register. The vet gave us several options, but his first comment when he came in the examining room was that she was trying to check out on us.

One option was to do bloodwork & see what was going on. Another was to let her die naturally or the third was to help her along. She started seizing again as he walked out the door to get something. I asked him what she was doing. He stopped, looked & said, "She's made her decision for you." 

Even though I had made the decision to put her down & not put her through what I put Boots & Astro through, I still cried buckets & have a head ache & burning eyes.

I had a busy day. I took Mother to her hair appt. & lunch; Prissy to the vet & worked for 4 hours. After work, I went to tell Mother we had Prissy put to sleep. I fixed her supper, nuked a frozen dinner. On the way home I stopped at the grocery store for groceries. I fixed supper & am now on my way to bed.

Prissy very ill

My heart is heavy tonight. Our little cat Priscilla Anne (with an e), is very ill. I'm afraid she has FIP. I'm sure that's what Boots had & Astro had it too. Prissy has a vet appt. at 2 tomorrow. Depending on what I find, I'll probably have her put to sleep.

She may also have got in some antifreeze. She's been having trouble drinking. Yesterday she was having trouble walking. Today, she can barely move. She made it to the front room from the laundry room. I picked her up & put her in her favorite chair & that's where she has stayed all day. This afternoon when I got home from work, I gave her 1 CC of water from a syringe, she sputtered & had trouble swallowing, but afterwards she tried getting out of the chair & fell out of it. Don picked her up & put her back in the chair.

Nick's been worried about her since Tuesday. It's too bad when a person is too busy, or thinks they're too busy, to stop & take a sick animal to the vet. But, this is also sad, I had to check the vet credit card to see if I had enough available credit to take her. We don't even have enough money to buy groceries. We are in pay check limbo, the period between pay checks - grrrr.

Funnel cloud over Preston

OK, the big news is the funnel cloud over Preston. I don't know if there was more than one or just one. It happened about 2:30 p.m. Karen Naylor, job share partner, came out & asked if we had felt the earth quake about 2:30. No, we hadn't felt it. But then someone emailed a picture of a funnel cloud over the courthouse. It happened about 2:30. I snagged a picture of it from Joyce Williams' Facebook photo album. Is that called copyright infringement? I hope not.

Nick didn't think it was very cool that we had a funnel cloud & was glad he was in Logan at the time. Don is disappointed because he didn't see it. Don has a degree in meteorology & is fascinated with weather.

I thought it was pretty cool. It didn't touch down, that I know of, so it didn't hurt anyone. I remember when I was on my mission, my companion & I were sitting on the porch of the mission office eating our yogurt & the sky was all greenish black & it was eerily quiet. We decided to go in. A tornado jumped the mission office/home & landed in the area behind us.

A few months before that we had to take the elders home to Oshkosh, Wisc., after a tornado had hit. They were in Appleton, Wisc., for zone conference. It looked like a war zone. Probably the same zone conference a tornado touched down in Neenah, the city we lived in. When we went to zone conference, the elders, assistants & President & Sister Peel were all worried about us. Poor innocent, naive sisters, we didn't even know we'd had one.

There were several incidents of tornado on my mission, and a couple after, but never was hurt. They always stayed away from us.

I've worked at The Preston Citizen for 12 years now. I remember sitting through a fire in the building. The press was running & we were working on the paper as the firemen ran up & down the stairs. In fact, a lady across the park called the front desk & asked if we knew we were on fire. It was a chimney fire. Jessi was pregnant with Keziah at the time & Keziah is 11 now, so it must have been right after I started.

Another time an earthquake rattled the building. I was afraid the press would fall through the dance floor. That whole building is just propped up on stilts. That's probably why the funnel cloud rattled the building. It is so old. It was originally the Persiana Dance Hall. My parents met there at a dance over 65 years ago.

On another note, Carolyn corrected my correction, hehe. She writes:

... let's make that Brenden's great-grandpa Jarman who died, Janeen's dad. Great-Grandpa Ballif works at Stoke's grocery store and actually is looking quite good.

Actually, his great-grandpa Richard Ballif, 80, works at Stokes MarketPlace in Preston as a bagger. He is out in the parking lot wrestling those recalcitrant shopping carts that people just abandon in the parking lot.

I have a migraine tonight. Worked 12 hours & still have 7 pages to do in the morning. I think I'll go to bed. I got to have lunch with Don-Mike & Nick today, so I guess I won't wait up for Don-Mike.

Corrections on Grandkids

I had to work today, Sunday. I took Friday off because my caregiving duties interfered with my "real" job. My real job is becoming a pain. I went to Kelly (Mickelsen, publisher) with a suggestion that Jean Carter help with the typing. That's when I need the help, Friday afternoon.

I got Carolyn's Clifton Rural Route column for the Oct. 21st issue. Brenden is spelled with an "e" instead of an "a" as I spelled it. His mom is Kelly, but I have a "niece" who spells her name Kelli. And it was Brenden's Great-Grandpa Ballif who died, his dad's grandpa.

Don took Mother & I for a ride up Cub River yesterday, Saturday. Mother especially wanted to look down on the ranch from Burbank's road. She likes to go up on Cemetery Hill & look across the canyon at the leaves behind Knapps too. I especially like this one. The beautiful colored leaves with the snow on the mountains behind.

I got carsick, so I fell asleep when he turned to go over into Glendale at Glen & Amy Bowman's house. Speaking of Glen & Amy, I wonder who lives in their house, now that they are both gone. Whoever it is, they are remodeling.

Grandkids

Maybe someday I'll have grandchildren. Everyone has their own timeline, so I'm trying not to get antsy. I told Don-Mike & Nick that I was going to adopt some grandchildren & that way I could name them what I want. Don-Mike will have a son named Diesel. He is fascinated by diesel engines. Nick will have a son named Axel. He is fascinated with axels. In fact, my father's first name is Axel. I wanted Nick's middle name to be Axel, but Don didn't. We settled on Elvoid, Daddy's middle name. BTW, Nick hates the name Elvoid, sigh. When we were having this discussion about the names of my grandchildren, the boys informed me that there are Dana axels, so I said he could have a daughter named Dana. No, it's a boys name. I said, no, it is a girls name. It's a moot point really. Dana is a unisex name & I'm sure he'll never have a child named Dana, LOL

Today in the grocery store I ran into Wayne & Carolyn Smart. Carolyn was telling me about their little 4-yo grandson Brendan. She said she would love to include it in the Clifton rural route column that she writes each week for The Preston Citizen, but can't because of his other grandma or something. Anyway, it's too cute not to share & I think she ought to put an account on her blog. She is such a good writer. Maybe it's not appropriate for The Citizen, other people might not have the same sense of humor we do.

Anyway, Brendan's other grandpa died. His mom, Wayne & Carolyn's daughter, was hanging back, talking to someone. She is not one to go right up to a casket, but Brendan was right there by the casket. Brendan has the reputation of doing almost anything. For all Kelli knew, he could crawl right up there with Grandpa. So, she hurries over & Brendan says, "That's Grandpa." His mom agreed. "He has a hat." A military hat was laying on Grandpa. Then Brendan observed, "He has his glasses on." Then his grandma, aunt ... I didn't get who it was, maybe Carolyn will comment & correct me. Anyway he was told that Grandpa was sleeping. I'm sure Brendan's parents had carefully explained what had happened to Grandpa, but Brendan, with all the wisdom of his 4 years, said, "Nah, he's dead."

Then in church on Sunday, he informed a lady in the ward that he didn't have any grandparents any more. They were all dead. That is the only grandparent he has lost. I told Wayne & Carolyn maybe he doesn't look at them as grandparents. Who knows what goes through their young minds?

I remember one time when my boys were little, about Brendan's age, they came home & asked me when I was going to die. I was so shocked. I told them I didn't have any plans on dying any time soon. Why did they ask. It seems that Frances, their daycare provider, was showing Disney films & the mother always died, like Bambi. So, in their young minds, they were learning that mothers always die.

Progress on eating a frog

So, who's eating a frog??? I haven't even thought about it.

Don-Mike called this morning at 10:40 when he got home to tell us that the fridge at Mother's had died. He had 20 minutes to change into his uniform & be at work. He is usually 15 minutes early. He would have been today too, but I told him to turn Grandma Bartlome's fridge on in the storage shed, if there was electricity. He did. I told him to go to work & Nick & I would be over. First thing I did was call The Citizen to tell them I'd be late. I talked to Ann & then had her transfer me to Rod's phone. I got his voice mail & left him a message. Then I called Luana & left a message. I told both of them in the message that Mother's fridge had died. The fridge, not Mother.

Don-Mike had followed Nick up to Harris Collision to get Nick's car fixed, so Nick didn't have a car. Nick & I piled into my car & drove over to Mother's. She was cleaning out the freezer. I had seen Luana pull into her driveway just ahead of us. So, I walked over to her house. She had just listened to my message & was on her way over. She remembered that she hadn't turned the fridge back on when she cleaned it on Wednesday. I don't think they lost a lot of food, just a few things like frozen celery, onions & bananas. Things I had forgotten were in there anyway.

At least she listens to her messages. When I finally got to work, about 1:30, no one knew where I had been. I said I'd called & talked to Ann. Ann didn't pass the message on to anyone. I walked into Rod's office & asked him if he'd got my message. No, his phone was still blinking, telling him there was an unheard message or messages. I told him the blinking light on his phone was me telling him that my mom's fridge had died & I'd be late.

I did get some copies made of letters I need to send. I came home & there were new piles of paper & some paper strewn on the floor. Nick dissed me for never having anything on the calendar. Yet, he had never even looked. Wednesday I spent quite a bit of time on calendaring & getting some bills straightened out. I get very discouraged.

Annual shopping trip

If you read Facebook, this is a compilation of my posts over there. I have added details to them, LOL

Nick is really picky about his clothes. He has to have certain colors (black, gray & fluorescent orange) & a certain texture (soft, no seams). He has been this way his WHOLE life. So, today we were off to Logan to get shoes & pants for him. Wish he would have done it during the back to school sales. But I wasn't fast enough to catch him at a good time. 

Truth be told, I wasn't feeling very good during the back to school sales. I should've listened to Roxanne Froerer (Nurse Practitioners of Preston) when I had the bad gall bladder attack & had my gall bladder out sooner. But I digress.


Not too bad of a shopping trip considering. We got 3 pair of shorts for $3 each at Wal-Mart. Actually, we got 4 pair of shorts. One pair Nick didn't even consider. They are a brown plaid. I put them in the cart & explained that I was buying them because they were $3 & I could use the fabric, plus things like buttons, pockets, etc. I couldn't buy them separately for that price.

Ross didn't have anything he was interested in. We must have spent a total of 5 minutes in there. I am always so uncomfortable in there. I told Nick that, & he laughingly said maybe someone was killed in there. I said I didn't think so, we'd have heard about it. But maybe someone had been killed on the site. He knows how I feel about the Bear River Massacre Site. I have a hard time driving through that section. But, the feeling I get in Ross doesn't even compare to the sadness I feel driving through the massacre site. In Ross I feel like I'm going to crawl out of my skin. I get the same feeling in Target & Dillard's.

Next we went to Shoe Carnival. We walked right past Best Buy & he didn't go in! Wow! Miracles do happen. We got 2 pair of shoes & a WILD pkg of socks at Shoe Carnival. It was buy one pair of shoes, get one half price. I picked up some shoes for myself. The shoes I was looking at was on sale for $25, down from $69.99. They were the cheaper pair so I got an additional $12.50 off of that. I got a pair of shoes for $12.50!!! My kind of deal!! They didn't have tube socks, which is the only kind Nick will wear. His kindergarten teacher remembers him as the little boy that would play with his socks. Nick pointed out some wild fluorescent socks for me as a joke & I loved them, LOL. I couldn't decide between the bright yellow, orange & green or the green, pink & orange. Of course, the pink won. There is 6 pair of socks in one package. They were marked down from $4.99 to $4 a pkg. Then, we got to spin the wheel & got an additional $2 off of our entire purchase!! Oh, & Nick found exactly the kind of shoe he was looking for!!!

K-Mart was our bonanza today. We got a black t-shirt with a glow in the dark Ghostbusters emblem & 2 pair of black heavy sweats w/3 pockets. Kewl!! He won't try clothes on, so I said we'd buy both pair of pants, one was an XL & one was an XXL, & he could try them on at home. We would return whichever pair didn't fit him.

He came home & tried them on. The XXL pair of pants were too large, but that's good. It shows he is losing weight, course he never has had a butt. His pants always hang half mast like plumbers pants. The Ghostbusters shirt was only a 2X, & is a little tighter than he's used to wearing. He's been wearing a 3X!! It is long, but it covers his butt!

Here's another plus. He found work shirts, the kind that mechanics wear. They are a navy blue, but he said he wouldn't mind having a shirt like that to put on over his t-shirts so they wouldn't get so dirty. Then told me it was something to think about as a gift!!!

Tonight before he went to bed, Nick wanted to show his Ghostbusters shirt glowing in the dark. He & his dad could see it right away. My eyes don't adjust to the dark very well. I could finally see it in my peripheral vision, but the ghost was fading, sigh. I said my eyes have never recovered very good in the dark, maybe I was getting macular degeneration like Nana has. Nick told me I'd better start taking the same kind of vitamins I buy for Nana.

Eating a frog

OK, I have to share this link for Eat That Frog Movie. Paper clutter will be my frog for the next 24 days. Mondays & Tuesdays will be the challenge. I can barely get up & make it to work by 8 a.m., I'm usually about a half hour late.

Today I had several "big" projects to do. I should have been able to take a big bite out of all of them. Ideally, I should have finished 2 or 3 of them, but no, I didn't finish one of them. I didn't even get dressed until almost 5.

Wednesday is my day "OFF" & I really take it as my "free" day. Free of obligations.

October's habit and other stuff

Flylady's habit for October is paper clutter. I did so good the first day. I spent the 15 minutes, but then the next 5 days were a total bust. Tomorrow is a day off, yippee!! Maybe I can do some catch up. I need to go over to Mother's & do some mending. A domestic engineer I'm not.

I love to read updates on others blogs, but usually by the time I've caught up on Facebook, Parenting Bipolar Kids & played my online games, it's time to go to bed, or past time & I've not checked email.

Today was my 2 week check up for my gall bladder surgery. I have 3 little incisions & then a slightly larger one in my belly button. It used to bulge, now it puckers. Dr. Broadbent told me that by the time I see him in 6 weeks for my cancer check up, my belly button will be a nice "inny." The puckers & swelling will be gone. He didn't staple me, he sutured me & my incisions are bright red with inflammation. They are not infected. There were a couple that were infected but I washed them with soap & water 2x a day & used Watkins "tit salve" (petro carbo salve) on them. Don told me it would probably be better if I used triple antibiotic salve. So, since I didn't have any, I bought some. The infection cleared up, but Dr. Broadbent said I must be allergic to the sutures he used. Same thing happened when I had the port-a-cath  implanted. I don't remember the incision being infected when I had the port removed.

Mother's blood just gets thicker by a point or two every time we go. Now, she's telling me she has lumps. She had me feel one & it didn't feel like a lump to me. She has a doctor's appt with Dr. Carlson next Thursday, which isn't any too soon for me. She also has a recheck on the INR level on Tuesday.

Mufasa has a spiffy new dog house over at Kents. It's made of cinder block & the door faces south. He won't stay in the kennel though, so they've had to chain him up. It's been so wet & rainy & Zach has the flu, so they haven't been able to fix it. We actually can't see how he gets out. Don thinks he jumps the fence.

He looks so good with his coat clipped. I asked that it be left about 2 inches so that he could grow out his winter coat before the snow flies. They quoted me 35$. I warned them that he is a big dog & was extremely unkempt, read matted. It took her 4 hours to clip him because he was so matted. When I went to pay, it was 70$!! I asked to see him. The receptionist told me that she had to lock the door because he had gotten out of the kennel & came wandering out into the reception area. I laughed & said that is why we call him Houdini. We got back to the kennel room, yes room, & he was in a large kennel. I don't know how he got out, but he had not only got out of the kennel, which was wire to the ceiling, but out the door.

My new cell phone

Today we went to Logan to the Verizon store to upgrade my phone I've had a Motorola RAZR for 2 and a half years now & it wasn't keeping a charge. I had to charge it twice a day. I knew what I wanted in my new phone. It had to have a calendar & a notepad..

The new phone is a Samsung Alias 2 & flips 2 ways. I tried copying a picture & it had this little disclaimer at the bottom saying it was copyright infringement. So HERE is a link to see it. It's better anyway because it shows more. To the left of the pic are 4 little icons. Mouse over the icons to see them.

One way it flips is the long way & features a QWERTY keyboard. The other is the standard flip phone. Verizon.has a feature called Visual Voice Mail. It costs a little extra a month, but I can see who my voice mail is from. If I don't want to listen to a message, I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT. I can delete it!!!

I gave up Tetris to have the Visual Voice Mail. Little did I know when I played Tetris this morning, that it was going to be my last hurrah. The boys always teased me that my phone was my own personal Game Boy, LOL

Nick was quite disgusted with me because I only got a 2 gig memory card, when I could have had an 8 gig memory card. I told him I wasn't going to listen to music on my phone. We pay extra for Don, Nick & Don-Mike to have music on their phones. You can only have 3 phones on it. They love that feature & use it all the time. I have a nice little iPod I can listen to & even then, I don't listen very often. But I had 4 voice messages saved. One I've listened to every 21 days for the last 3 years. The salesman told me I could archive it. So, I tried it & it asked me if I wanted to archive it to my memory disk!!! Kewl!!! Now, I don't have to listen to those 4 messages every 21 days!!!

I can be the texting queen with my new phone & it's QWERTY keyboard, LOL It sure was easy to text Don-Mike this afternoon. It took me a second to find the question mark, but ... it's there!

First snow of the season

We had the first snow of the season last night. I am so not ready for it. But in this semi-arid desert, it is necessary for survival. I should have taken a picture of it, but didn't.

I turned the ceiling fan switch to blow the warm air down. I broke down & put some socks on my feet & found my leather moccasins to wear instead of the croc sandals. I found a thermal shirt & will have to dig out my winter pjs.

Last night I went to the medicine cabinet to see if I could find some tape for one of the incisions on my tummy. It was bright red & oozing pus. The medicine cabinet in the kitchen is right by the old back door. The wind was blowing in. I wondered if the windows in the laundry room were closed. Don said yes. The front door is so loose you can see daylight around it. I have asked for over a year to change that door & get a new one, but to no avail. I hate having to pay such high gas & electrical bills because our house is so drafty. I'm glad Mother is in Aunt Vi's snug little house.

Don asked me if we had any triple antibiotic ointment for my incision. I said no, I'd used hydrogen peroxide & tit salve (petro-carbo). He asked if Mother had some neosporin, I said no. I forgot to get some at the grocery store pharmacy section or at the pharmacy today.

Memorial poems

My dad would have been 100 years old on Oct. 28, 2009. I've been thinking about putting In Memoriam in the Citizen that week. So, today, I've been computerizing all day. I have TBnB (tired butt & back) & I'm headed to bed, but, I found some poems on Elegant Memorials. I want to find the site again. What better place than my blog???

God Took Him To His Loving Home
God saw him getting tired, a cure was not to be.
He wrapped him in his loving arms and whispered ‘Come with me.’
He suffered much in silence, his spirit did not bend.
He faced his pain with courage, until the very end.
He tried so hard to stay with us but his fight was not in vain,
God took him to His loving home and freed him from the pain.
Anon

And another one:

The Broken Chain
I little knew that morning. God was going to call your name, In life I loved you dearly, in
death I do the same. It broke my heart to loose you, you did not go alone, for part of me
went with you, the day God called you home. You left me beautiful memories your love
is still my guide, and though we cannot see you, you're always at my side. Our family
chain is broken and nothing seems the same, but as God calls us one by one, the chain
will link again.
Anon

 I'd also like to do something special for his 100th birthday. I should be in Salt Lake that day, if things go as planned, so I'm thinking. Still have a little over 4 weeks to think.

This year would be Mother & Daddy's 65th wedding anniversary also. I'd like to put something in the paper for that too.

Well, I'm so tired & itchy, it's time to give up my computerizing & go to bed. Don-Mike's home from work, most of the cats are in, so a pain pill & bedtime for me.

Uggg, Don just turned off the computer, guess he will beat me to bed & I'll have to stay up, groan. Now Nick's melting down, sigh.

Tuesday night dinner

So, no, I didn't report on the lovely dinner we had last night courtesy of my fantastic visiting teacher, Karen Child. She called yesterday afternoon & asked if she could bring dinner in. This was the day of. She brought in a pan of chicken enchiladas, a bag of chips, a container of salsa, a plate of fresh cucumbers & sliced tomatoes, rice & beans and a fresh peach pie. Mmmmm, it was to die for. The rice & beans were absolutely delicious. As was everything else..

Visiting teachers

I have two fantastic visiting teachers. I know now, though, why I haven't let people in my house.

I made a status report on Facebook that I was having surgery, so Angie Griffeth, the RS president, told Karen Child, my visiting teacher. I hadn't made a general announcement until then. The only reason I did then was because I was going to be offline & didn't want anyone wondering where I was. I certainly didn't call Karen & say, I'm having surgery, now you need to take care of me. Mother was taken care of. Don had 2 days off & could care for me. So, I saw no need to announce it to the Relief Society.

My friend Jean Carter called to see how I was doing. She found out I was having surgery because I wasn't at work Monday. She asked if I'd called my visiting teachers & I said no. She wanted to know who they were. I told her & she called Karen. Karen almost immediately called & asked if she could bring dinner in. The only night we didn't have covered was Thursday night, but Karen is busy that night with the state Junior Miss competition for her daughter. She wanted to know if she could bring it in that day. She called on Tuesday. So, I said yes.

Did I already report on this? Anyway, I told her not to trip on anything through my house when she came. When I was having chemo, the RS brought in dinner every week on the day I had chemo. Alexis Beckstead tripped on the rice bucket when she brought dinner in. I was so embarrassed. I've been pretty good about keeping people out of the house since. But Karen brought a full course dinner & made several trips in & out.

Today, Karen called & talked to Nick before I was awake. She said she & Alice Johnson, her visiting teaching companion, were coming over to clean up the kitchen. OMG! I told Karen I didn't even know where to tell her to start. She said she didn't know either. They washed dishes, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned counter tops. As she cleaned one counter top off, it was covered with mouse droppings. Ewwww!!! I got the Clorox out & told her that 1 part of Clorox to nine parts of water is supposed to clean up mouse droppings. Now, they'll probably get hantavirus & die.

Will we get hantavirus? Nah! We must be immune to it. We have all these house cats & the mice run wild.

Computerizing

The good doctor has given me permission to "computerize." His word. So, I came in, changed the background on my blog & I'll probably work on some Halloween/fall backgrounds for the Bipolar Kids site.

The gall bladder was "yucky" & is in a bottle. I stayed overnight & was sure glad to have my CPAP along with me. The respiratory therapist told me the difference between BiPAP & CPAP. Continuous Positive Air Pressure blows a constant pressure, no fluctuating & acts as a stent to hold the airway open. While a biPAP is a Bilevel Positive Air Pressure. There is one level for breathing in & one level for breathing out. So, I'll have to tell Mother. Hers is a BiPAP. The therapist also said that not many people use their CPAP faithfully. Man, I can't imagine not using it faithfully. I'd never get any sleep. I also had to have oxygen with my CPAP. I felt a lot better this morning.

I am housebound. I cannot work. He told me I could read, computerize, sit and other things, but cannot "work." In other words, life as usual. Who works at home? Look at my house & you know the answer is "Not RaNae." He asked me when I had to be back to work, I told him Monday. Actually, I need to go in & do my legals on Friday.

They did another 18 page paper today. I discovered they can live without me. They did a great job. I stopped into the paper long enough to see if they got the missionary I screwed up on last week in. I told his mother I would make sure it ran this week. It did!

I came home & took a pain pill & a nap. Don & Nick had gone to Subway for lunch. Don gave me part of his sandwich when I got up. I am now computerizing.

The top number on my blood pressure was in the 90s. Dr. Broadbent said not to take my lisinopril for a couple of days. He also said to have my BP checked before I go back on the medication. My potassium was at 3.4 yesterday morning. Still not within normal limits (WNL) but acceptable. He thinks I need to up my potassium intake by half a pill, or in otherwords, 50 meq instead of 40.

Don-Mike was supposed to have the day off, but was called in to work lunch. They had 2 people call in sick. After lunch, he took Mother to Logan for her protime. Good thing she didn't go with Don to get it done.  Cache Valley Specialty Hospital is the slowest hospital I have ever been in. Also, as Don said, it was better for Don-Mike to take her this afternoon. Mother doesn't feel good in the mornings. It takes her til afternoon to get feeling better. Sounds like me.

Something to ponder

Back in 1997, I finished a medical assisting course at Bridgerland Applied Technology Center (BATC). Center now stands for college. Don got his teaching degree at Weber State University. It had just been upgraded to a university from a college. Interesting what is in a name, huh?

Anyway, Don & I were talking the other night how the medical assisting course has helped me over the years in dealing with our health issues, mine, Nick's & Mother's. I said I'd always been grateful to have that knowledge, even if I couldn't use it in an employment situation. He said that perhaps the reason I had needed to take the course was for our own personal use. Something to ponder.

I wish Don-Mike & Nick would take advantage of BATC. But ... if wishes were fishes, we'd all have a great fry.

Potassium still low

Dr. Broadbent called today about 4:45 to tell me my potassium is low. I told him I was feeling great. I was, it was late afternoon & after my usual slow start, I was finally getting something done. I asked him what it was & he said it was 3.1. I told him that was good, for me. A lot better than it was 2 weeks ago when he scared me so badly.

No, he wants it at 3.6 when I have my surgery on Monday. He wanted to know what I'd been doing to raise my potassium level. I told him I was taking my normal potassium dosage, 40 meqs a day. He wants me to up it to 80 meqs for the weekend & that should bring it up to normal limits by Monday.

I need to drink lots of water between now & Monday so they can get an IV in. I absolutely dread IVs. It takes several pokes for them to finally get one in.

I also asked about the red blood count. It was a little low, as is normal, but nothing to worry about.

Nick paid his speeding ticket today. Bill, his psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) counselor came over today. I heard them talking about road rage, so I came back in, took my hearing aid out & made some telephone calls.

Pre-op appointment today

Today I was supposed to be able to sleep in, dream on! At 3:30 a.m., I woke up to Don kissing my hand. Nick was not feeling good & needed to know what to do for diarrhea. I woke up long enough to tell them where the anti-diarrheal pills were. Nick had woken his dad up. I told them where the pills were & for Nick to take 2. At 8:15, I woke up to Nick poking my hand. He wanted to know if he needed to take another anti-diarrheal pill. Yes, if he'd had another bout of diarrhea. He spent most of the day napping, while I had to run errands & go to the pre-op appointment in Logan for my gall bladder surgery on Monday.

I made it to the doctor's appt. a little bit late. Dr. Broadbent explained the procedure, they gave me the paperwork to take to Cache Valley Specialty Hospital (CVSH) for bloodwork & an EKG. Because a friend had told me that he'd done her gall bladder surgery & also repaired her herniated belly button, I asked him if he could do it for me. He wanted to look at my belly button. I told him it was a Dr. Orvid Cutler belly button, but it hadn't survived 2 pregnancies very well. He checked it & said he'd be glad to fix it. A couple of stitches & it would be as good as new. Kewl!! Thx Carolyn.

The hospital stay will be overnight. I have so many health problems Dr. B. wants to keep me overnight. He also put me first on the surgical schedule. I have to be at CVSH at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, which means a 5:45 wake up time.

Before we went over to CVSH, I took Mother to Cache Valley Cardiology, Dr. Otrusinik's office, for her pro-time. It was 4.9! Ack! It had risen from 2.7 in one week. We need to recheck in one week. Mother will have to go down with Don Tuesday morning when he picks me up. Unless Don-Mike has Tuesday or Wednesday off & can take her. Nick also has a dentist appt., Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. I told Don I was glad he'd taken both Monday & Tuesday off, because he could substitute for me on Tuesday.

That's the bad thing about having no siblings, there is no one to spell you. I had a Church member tell me on my mission, actually she told my companion & my comp told me that I take being an only child too seriously. I don't think I take it serious enough. I have some real guilt issues when it comes to Daddy & not being there for he & Mother when he was so sick.

I didn't start out life as an only child. I am the youngest of three. My sister, Wanda, was born in November of 1946. My brother, Eldon, was born in March of 1949 & I was born in August of 1950. Eldon & I are 16 months apart. Life would have been a lot different if he had lived. As it was, he was injured at birth. My mom was in the hospital, but the doctor hadn't made it yet. The baby's head was crowning & the nurse panicked & pushed my mother's legs together, crushing the baby's head. He lived for 12 days. Mother & Daddy did not get a picture of him. Mother's oldest brother was supposed to take a picture of him. If he did, Mother never got a picture. My parents didn't have a camera.

My mother was very sick when I was born, something to do with blood. They didn't expect her to live. She was in the hospital for weeks. She was never able to have another child. She had a couple of miscarriages. I have Rh negative blood & she has Rh positive blood. I think that played a role in the fact that she was not able to carry another pregnancy to term.

My sister Wanda died 10 days after her 24th birthday of the side effects of cortisone given to her for the treatment of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE. In 1970, they said it was cancer. Daddy died on Grandma Porter's birthday, May 26, 1992.

So, there is just me. Mother, however, comes from a large family of 8, 3 boys & 5 girls. Most of her sisters & brothers have large families, although there are 2 sisters with 3 kids. Their kids are all living, grown, married & have pretty large families. So, Mother feels left out. It really irks me when people brag about their large posterity.

We have a full quorum of family almost every Sunday. I feel overwhelmed with no siblings and sons, not daughters, to help care for Mother. But my sons are a big help. Especially Don-Mike.

Don-Mike & Mother live in Aunt Vi's house, across town. Mother's sister Luana rents it out. Vi was Luana's sister-in-law. There is not room for 5 adults here. It is a small 2 bedroom home. Don & I slept in a camper out back for years. We decided it was time to build on to our house in 2007 & the camper had to be moved. Don-Mike & Nick were sharing a room & they needed their own space. Luana's rental came vacant at the perfect time. It's a cute 2 bedroom home. I think it is the only way Mother would have moved out of her house.

I was going through chemo at the time & it would have been impossible for me to climb in & out of that camper. I couldn't sleep in there during the day anyway, because it was too hot.

Sorry I went off on a tangent. It sounds like a pity party, but it isn't really. It's "just the facts ma'am," as Sgt. Joe Friday of Dragnet would say.

I am very grateful for my husband & our sons. I am also very grateful to have children as the doctor told me that I would never be able to carry a pregnancy to term. We got 2 out of 6. Heavenly Father definitely knew what He was doing when He stopped at 2. I have 2 very determined sons. They beat the odds of getting here & are persistent. Sometimes not as determined & persistent as I want them to be in some areas, but we'll save that for another post.

As for me, I haven't discovered what my purpose here on earth is.

Stuff I forgot to mention ...

Mick, Vicki's husband, will have to have a blood transfusion tomorrow, as well as his regular chemo treatment. Actor Patrick Swayze died today at the age of 57 from pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is what Mick is battling & what Grandma Porter died of.

I got Mufasa an appt to be groomed on Thursday, Sept. 24. The receptionist at the Animal Medical Clinic suggested Tuesday, Sept. 22, but I said no, I was having surgery on Monday, Sept. 21. They didn't have my name on file, but they did have Mufasa. I thought that was kind of funny. It sounded like the kennel has been upgraded from Kim's status on Facebook. I also gleaned that she is having all of her teeth removed tomorrow! Ack!!!

The kitten is finally settling down. They still can't let her out of the dog carrier though, she hides & then yowls. She won't eat wet cat food out of a tin, but loves dry cat food. Rhonda says she cries the whole time she's drinking. Jordan says if he wasn't watching her drink, he'd think she was drowning, LOL. She doesn't have a name yet.

Book store cat

Today Ann, the business manager at the Citizen, came back to warn us of a mouse on the loose. It seems she heard some rustling in her garbage can & found a mouse. The Citizen is an old building & the tunnel isn't secure. The garage doors do not go all the way to the pavement, so mice can get in off the street, besides the mice we already have.

Anyway, I mused about the mice we have. I was thinking about places that have cats in their businesses. Our vet's office has a live in cat. She wanders the building & can be found asleep on the counter. Her name is Lovie.

As a lark, I went into Kelly's office & told him we needed a book store cat. He practically yelled at me, "Don't try & pawn your cat off on me!" I said I wasn't, the kitten already had a home. I just thought we needed a cat to keep the mouse population down. He said he didn't want a cat. We couldn't have a cat anyway, Jessi is allergic to cats

The real reason I had gone in was to tell him that Vicki had called with an update on Mick, her husband. He didn't have to have surgery today. He was dehydrated & had to have an infusion of glucose & a shot for his low white blood count. They didn't get through until about 4:30. It's a good thing that Karen could come in today & help.

We had an 18 page paper, with 9 and half pages of ads. FOUR full page ads. I worked 12 hours, 8 to 8, & only have 5 pages to do in the morning. One of them has already been proofed. I just need to make the changes. It'll be an early night tonight, so I can have another early morning start.

The rest of the story ...

I heard a kitten meowing when I got out of the car behind the Citizen, Friday afternoon. It wasn't loud. I looked around & couldn't see it, so I went on into the building, clocked in & sat down at the computer.

A very short half hour later, Courtney came in with her baby Winnie, asking what was going on with the kitten in the engine. I went out with her & Richard's car had the hood up & a kitten was meowing pitifully. I couldn't see it, but Courtney could. She went into Rounds Insurance & asked about the kitten in Richard's engine. I don't remember Richard's last name. He said they'd got it out once. He came out with a broom & prodded it out from the engine. It ran down a couple of cars & climbed in someone else's car engine. Richard went back into Rounds & came out with the key. Courtney had left Winnie alone in the Citizen, so she went back in.

The kitten was prodded out of that engine & ran across the alley to the bank of cars parked along the curb. We got it out of that car by making noises. It ran down a few more cars. It went into another car engine. I thought it was Courtney's car, so I called the Citizen & asked Nancy Dent to send Courtney out. It wasn't her car, but she handed me Winnie, got down on her hands & knees & fished the cat out. I took it & cuddled it. Richard took his broom back into his office & I went back in to work.

Two hours later, I'm still messing with the yowling kitten. Finally, I took it out into the "tunnel." It is a roof built over a narrow space between Rounds Insurance & the Citizen building with garage doors at either end. We use it as storage & call it the tunnel. I put a box over the box I had the kitten in. I decided since I'd messed with the kitten so long, I'd clock out & call it a day. I checked Courtney's time card to see when she had logged in & used that as the time I logged out.

No one was going to take the poor little kitten. Nancy Dent couldn't because she already has 4 house cats. I have 5 cats & they don't get along too well as it is. Rhonda decided she'd take it. Nancy Cale put an ad in the lost & found section of the Classifieds. But I don't think it was lost. I think it was abandoned.

When Rhonda's kids came from school they went out to the tunnel & the kitten had escaped from the boxes. They could hear it under a pallet with boxes stacked on it. Jordan, her son, took all the boxes off the pallet & had to lift the pallet to pick up the kitten.

After I took the kitten into the Citizen, I called Nick & asked him to bring a styrofoam bowl & a can of cat food. She spilled the water, hid in the corner of the bathroom where I had incarcerated her & screamed. Kelly came out of his office & told me he wasn't going to put up with that cat. That's when I took her to the tunnel. She didn't even touch the cat food.

I called Rhonda Saturday morning to see if she knew of anyone with sheep shears. She wasn't home, but Jordan said he'd have her call me. I asked about the kitten. He said when they got home, she jumped out of the car & climbed a tree. They got her down & she had eaten a little bit of food Saturday morning.

Kim's ex-husband, Gil Hokanson, Shari's dad, is here until Tuesday. He's building a cinder block bldg. for Mufasa. He dropped a cinder block on his foot & broke all the bones across the top of his foot. Gil said he'd shear him if we could find some sheep shears. He thinks that if we shear him so that he still has 2 inches of fur left, he'll have time to grow in his winter coat before the snow flies. He is so matted where he drools down the front of him, it is pathetic.

I called Loraine Selman, a cousin. They run sheep. She said it would be just as cheap to have him groomed, as it would be for me to drive to Tremonton, get the shears & take them back. She has a point there. I called a neighbor that has had sheep & she said to take Mufasa to the Animal Medical Clinic, they have a groomer & they are the most reasonable dog groomers in town. So, I'll call them tomorrow & see when I can get an appt.

I didn't get a picture of the cute little tortoise shell kitten & I don't have a picture of Mufasa & his matted chest. I will try to get a before & after picture of Mufasa.