Gratitude: Days 12 & 13

Nick gave me a free photo book for Mother's Day & he reminded me I have to use it by Dec. 1, so I've got to get hustling. I thought I'd use it for the construction of the addition of the house, but ... I've decided I'm going to use it for the first couple of years of my blog.

Saturday, Nov. 12: Cell phones. I've already listed the internet last Saturday when I was without it. Nick is obsessing over a new phone & new carrier. He is so obsessed, I took my frustrations to the Lord today. I actually knelt down at my bed & told Him all about my concerns. When Nick & Don came over to talk about it,  I was able to come up with something I feel was truly inspired. Anyway, I LOVE cell phones. Yesterday, Saturday, when we went to Logan I forgot my cell phone. When I remembered it in Franklin, 6 miles from home, I was very tempted to ask Nick to turn around & go home to get it. I figured I could do without it, but I felt like I was half dressed all day. I kept patting my pocket.

Sunday, Nov. 13: Food. Today it was my turn to cook Sunday dinner. I always agonize over what to fix. But today I did a fairly simple meal, pulled pork sandwiches on hard rolls, Pineapple Apple Coleslaw w/a recipe I got from allrecipes.com & made my own. I seldom follow a recipe exactly, olives & Jean Carter's mandarin orange cake. OMG, it all turned out so good.

Last night when Don & I were shopping, I saw some barbecue sauce from KC Masterpiece called Smoky Bourbon. I don't usually buy KC Masterpiece because it's more expensive, but earlier in the day we, actually Don & Nick, had been having a play on words on Suburban, 'Burban & Bourbon. I thought it would be fun to use it. Actually, it was really good.

Mother & I listened to Fannie Flagg's book, Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, earlier in the week. Aunt Elner had a near death experience where she met Neighbor Dorothy, a friend who had a cooking radio show. Dorothy gave Elner some cake & tea. Elner said how Dorothy's cake was always so moist. Dorothy said the secret was to preheat your oven to 375° & then turn it down to 350° to bake it. So, when I went to bake my cake, I remembered this & thought I'd try it. Don't know if that was the secret, because when Jean served the cake at DUP on Tuesday, hers was moist.

Theater etiquette

Don & I went to see the movie Tangled tonight at the Worm Creek Opera House in Preston. We tried to see it last Monday, but it was sold out. It had sold out every night, so they held it over. They only run movies Friday, Saturday & Monday here.

Theaters need to do what courts do, not allow cell phones in the theater. Lady in front of us, guy to her side, guy to my side & someone down a few rows was texting. I held my soft drink glass up to block the light from the cell phone in front of us, Don thought I was offering him the cup. I told him no, I was trying to block the light from the cell phone in front of us.

Pretty cute movie. I've been wanting to see it since it came out in theaters. It's an animated story of Rapunzel. I like "fractured" fairy tales. I had to go potty really bad, but didn't want to get up & miss anything. It looks like I need to put it on my Netflix queue, so I can close caption it.

Speaking of Netflix, Mother & I watched Daddy Day Care last Sunday. It was SOOO funny.I've got to find it so I can return it.

Saving money by bundling w/Qwest

Think again. We have been having a financial crisis, so we've heard the same stories everyone else has heard, bundle your Qwest bill & save money. Oh, right! Not only did we save money (sarcasm intended), but it sent us into an out of control downward spiral. I'm still not sure if I see an end of the tunnel in sight.

I spent an hour on the phone with Qwest this morning. By the time I got off the phone, I had to change my clothes from the skin out. I was wet from my elbows to my waist. The man I talked to was very nice. He said he had set up a payment plan that is called "extreme arrangements." LOL Thanks, we need someone on our side (no sarcasm intended). Several times I could hear my voice screeching out of control. I consciously fought to bring my voice under control. I also said, "Oh, fart!" at one point. And then apologized for my obscene language, LOL. He said he gets worse language than that & no one apologizes.

Our phone bill was almost $800 because when we bundled, they closed one account, set up another account & we ended up with 3 accounts. In the scriptures it says that in the last days mens hearts will fail them. I know why. The stress.

Learn something new every day

In my last entry, I asked what the toe space under a cabinet is called. So, I went looking, & found it on wisegeek.com . It's called a toe kick.

A toe kick is a recessed space built into the bottom of a cabinet which sits on the floor. Many people may have noticed that cabinets which sit on the floor are raised slightly to create a small space under the cabinet. This space is the toe kick, and it is designed to allow people to stand close to the cabinet without stubbing their toes against it. Toe kicks are especially common in kitchens, but they are also used with other types of cabinetry which sit flush with the ground.

Many people utilize the toe kick without being aware of it. When someone steps up to a cabinet, as for example when someone is working at the kitchen counter, the toes slide into the toe kick. Without a toe kick, people would be forced to stand back somewhat, which would force them into an awkward position at the counter. Being forced into a strange position can strain the neck and back, in addition to making people uncomfortable, and it also throws them off balance. Toe kicks allow people to balance in a position which is comfortable for work.

The depth of the toe kick should be around three inches (almost eight centimeters), and it should roughly three and a half inches (nine centimeters) high. This provides enough space for most feet, in or out of shoes. Making the toe kick deeper does not accomplish anything, other than creating a crevice which is hard to clean, and if the toe kick is much higher, it can start to eat into cabinet space without really providing any additional working room.

Well, with an axe handle taking space in the toe kick, we definitely weren't getting our toes under there. I wonder what else is under there. The axe handle is now leaning against the front of the house, under the mail box. I wonder what the mailman thinks when he sees an axe handle leaning there. When I went to St. Louis, I should have taken my axe handle with me, so I could have had a weapon when I became part of the Axe Murder gang. Don't we look like a deadly crew?

I learn something new every day. Sometimes I go looking for it, like with the toe kick & sometimes it just quietly comes along. I learned I cannot hear on the vintage phone that is hooked up to our landline. Nick found this phone at the Deseret Industries for $1.50. It works. It really needs to be sitting on Don-Mike's computer desk instead of Don's. Don-Mike has a whole fleet of cars sitting on his desk. I couldn't figure out what else was sitting on the desk, but decided it is a two hole sprinkler. I don't know why it is there. The cards are reminders for Don's dental appt. I hope he has them recorded somewhere. One of Mother's retirement checks got put right there & lost.

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.

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!

What a weekend

I probably should be sharing this over on Mother's Caring Bridge site. Perhaps I'll copy some of it over later.

Don-Mike took the initiative & got his old cell phone turned on so that he has a phone until his new one comes on Monday or Tuesday. I had thought we were going to take his new old phone, or Nick's new old phone & give it to Mother. Nick, however, has found this really cool way of using your cell phone through your landline. It costs $150 just to get the equipment to do it. They, Nick & Don-Mike, want to get that set up before they add a line for Mother. I haven't had the energy to fight for just the cell phone yet, but may have to, as Lyola (Mother's lifelong friend) called yesterday & today. Lyola got a cell phone for Christmas. A Verizon cell phone, no less.

Now, to explain the "new old" phone. About March, Nick had a meltdown & broke his phone. Just snapped it in two. He went online & found some parts on E-bay & fixed it. He got his phone working again. Then something else went wrong, equipment failure. He took it down to the Verizon store in Logan & they gave him a brand new phone. So, he had this fairly new phone, he'd only used it a few months. But with Verizon you can update your phone every 2 years. In September he was eligible for an update. He wanted a Chocolate 3. He got the Chocolate 3. He gave the replacement Razor (new old phone) to Don-Mike because Don-Mike's phone was broken. Something had hit his pocket & smashed the window on his Razor. He wouldn't use Nick's phone. He wanted his own phone. So, for Christmas Don & Don-Mike got new phones. Actually, only Don got the new phone for Christmas.

Yesterday I decided I had to bite the bullet & clean Mufasa's kennel. The snow had piled up on the kennel & we've had a few warm days. One day it was up to 45° & the snow melted & dripped through. Mufasa was up to his ankles in mud & crud. I hadn't cleaned his kennel out in several weeks. So, I asked Kim if I could have Eddie come & help me. Well, he was a big help in getting the dog in & out of the kennel, but not much help in the actual cleaning. Don-Mike told me not to be like my mother & overdo. I told him that I had had an excellent example of how to overdo in watching both of my parents & their siblings.

Eddie tied Mufasa up to a fence pole & went back to the house. It took me 3 and half hours & I did get Eddie down to help shovel some of the soiled straw, but it smelled foul. Eddie had his t-shirt pulled up over his nose so he wouldn't throw up. By then I was so stuffed up I couldn't smell. I sent him back to the house. I brought Mufasa's pans up & cleaned them up & sat & rested for a little while. I was almost finished when Mother called to tell me she'd fallen & her face & leg was bleeding. She needed some help. I hurried & finished what I was doing. It was almost dark & thankfully Don was home.

It's January & Don has to work every day in January. Love the overtime, but sure do miss him on weekends. He gets very tired working every day.

I told Don & Eddie all they had to do was put the dog back in the kennel & make sure the door was secured so he wouldn't get out. I wasn't going to help because Mother had fallen & wanted some help.

Nick ran over to Mother's & I was not far behind him. She had fallen face first over a little flower stand. Quite a sturdy little stand that my father had made for Vera Smith many years ago. When Vera died, Reed brought the stand over & gave it to Mother. Her face had quit bleeding, but her shin took a long while to stop bleeding. She applied pressure & was using paper towels. She kept removing the paper towels & had a heap of bloody paper towels around her feet. By the time we got there, she had staunched the bleeding. Nick wanted to know if we should take her to the ER. I vetoed it, but tonight I'm not so sure. She told me where to get some band-aids. I told her that her skin is so fragile, that if we used a band-aid, it would tear her skin right off. She had some of the stretchy gauze that sticks to itself. Dr. Baker had given us some when she had the Mohs surgery on her arm. I used that & Nick went to the grocery store & bought some more.

Nick came home last night telling Don that it looked like Nana had been beat up. She looks worse today.

Tonight she has a big hard lump on her inner thigh & a huge bruise. She's afraid it's a blood clot. It probably is. Her shin was still bleeding tonight when I changed the bandage. It looked like it had just started bleeding again. Talk about wanting to throw up. My stomach is quite queasy when it comes to blood & gore. I swear that her shin is scraped to the bone. I tell you though, there is no yellow fat on that little skinny leg of hers.

Last night I stayed with Mother a couple of hours. I heated up some soup Luana had brought over & sat & had supper with her. I checked her shin before I came home. It had stopped bleeding.

My arm that has lymphedema in it was aching clear up into my shoulder last night. Today I feel like I've been beat up. My legs & back hurt & my arm still hurts, but I don't look like I've been beat up, LOL.

No insurance???

Today Don-Mike & I went in to the Verizon store here in town. They must not do a lot of business. The girl was on a personal phone call & took her time getting off. She then informed me that I had to have a password to access the account. OOOOO-kkkk, I couldn't remember the password.

Don called after work & I told him that Don-Mike was planning on meeting him to go to the Verizon store so they could file a claim on his phone. Don-Mike, of course, doesn't have a cell phone anymore to call his dad. Don called Mother & found out that Don-Mike had to work - unload flour.

Don called me from the Verizon parking lot & said there is no insurance on Don-Mike's phone. He gave me the password - again. I wrote it down again.

I had just mailed the Verizon mail-in rebates on Tuesday & happened to know where the invoices for the phones were. I dug them out, called Verizon Customer Service & the lady told me that I had declined the insurance. I literally saw red!!! I could feel anger just boil up in me. I told her that I had not declined insurance, but had specifically requested insurance on that particular line because the user was very hard on phones. She put me on hold. Are they trained to put angry customers on hold???

By putting me on hold I was able to calm down a little & look at the receipt. I could see that I had been charged for insurance, but had declined insurance on Don's phone. Nick also found the statement that I had in front of me when I ordered the phones, with all my notes & the password written in 2 or 3 places. I told both boys the password. Maybe we'll all remember it this time or maybe I'd better write it down in my trusty little notebook.

The good news is that they put insurance on Don-Mike's phone because I had proof. We have to pay a $50 deductible on the phone (which was not explained to me at the time of purchase), plus insurance premiums for the past 2 months. The insurance is only on that line. Which, of course, is the only line I wanted it on. We should have put insurance on Nick's phone. The representative told me if we have problems with the phone not holding a charge, that is mechanical & is covered by the warranty on the phone, not insurance.

More good news. We found out now! Not a year into the contract.

Sucker punched

I feel like I've been sucker punched. You know, things are going along pretty good & you think you understand what is happening. Suddenly, everything has gone South in a hand basket. I remember feeling like that in Nick's IEP meetings, especially in junior high. Will I ever understand this damned disease?? Will I ever be able to differentiate between what is Asperger's & what is bipolar??

I'm always off balance, whether it be walking or emotional. Today, while Nick was at Computer Wise, I sat in the car. I noticed that Kurt (Wood, the owner of Computer Wise) had rented the next suite to a psychiatrist. I actually thought of going in there & checking on whether or not they take insurance. I know the new psy doc at the Budge Clinic doesn't. The receptionist was quite rude there & I didn't want the same experience today. I'll check on it another day.

Speaking of being off balance, I've started using a flag pole to walk down to Mufasa. I didn't fall the last 2 days. I flailed around, but didn't go down. I fell 2x the day before, Monday.

Today was 45 degrees & it is currently 44°, so the snow is melting. Mufasa is in a sea of mud. I need to get Eddie over here to help me with him.

Don-Mike just got a brand new phone on Christmas Day. Today, because it was so warm, the snow melted a lot. He was out at the end of the driveway on North State, trying to find the drain, so he could drain the water that had built up at the end of the driveway. I talked to him & told him not to drop his phone in the water. I could just see that happening. Well, he dropped his phone in the water. It, of course, is not working.

I called him to see if he was joining us for supper so that I'd know how much to fix. He didn't answer the phone. So, I called again, thinking perhaps he'd left it in the Mustang. Again, no answer, so that time I left a message. Supper was ready & Nick asked if I'd called Don-Mike. I said yes. So, he tried Don-Mike's phone. No answer. So, he called Mother's landline. And that's when we found out Don-Mike's sad story.

When I upgraded his & Don's phones, I put insurance on Don-Mike's phone. Don-Mike's last 2 phones have been broken. I reminded Nick to tell Don-Mike that his phone was insured. As soon as Nick was off the phone, he asked if his phone could be insured too. It would probably be a good idea.

Now, Mother wants a cell phone so she can call her friend Lyola in New Hampshire & her friend Melba in Ogden, sigh. My phone bill this month was $583.72. There was a balance of $130 past due. We are supposed to get 2 $50 rebates for the 2 new phones, 1 of which is now dead. But that still leaves me with a balance of $353.72.

The good news is Don is working 4 days of overtime this month, the bad news is that the extra money will most likely go to the phone bill.