Much Needed Boots

UGGS OR UGG MOCK UPS!          Which do I want?         Which can I afford?

Cute but worth the price?($159.95)

I like these in a lighter brown ($229.95)

I just love these! ($229.95)

Couldn't shovel snow in them but dang they're cute! And I'm a clog fiend($89.95)

I have noticed lots of women around here are wearing boots that are Uggs or Ugg mock-ups! They usually tuck their pants inside them and look really really cute.  The girl I work with had some on the other day and I knew they were expensive (she had them given to her).

So I went online tonight to see about getting me some!  Yikes!  $150-$240.00 buckaroos!   The boots above are Uggs originals! 

I guess they're out of my price range.  I've gone to Target, Kohls, Walmart and either they were out of any kind of snow boot I liked, or they didn't have my size (remember I'm dealing with a major drive to go to other stores here!)

I really need something other than my old moon boots.  Yes it's embarrassing to even admit I still have them. They're disgustingly ugly and a dull pink.  But they were in style one time! Now, I only keep them because the only other boots I have are my children's throw-me- downs (No they're not hand-me-downs.  They were in the D.I. pile and I fished them out.) 

Heather needs snow boots too so I thought I'd shop for us both.  Looks like neither of us are getting any unless prices come down or other stores start to carry our size! 

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Here's wishing you a Happy New Year!  I worked today and will work the next two days.  

I officially begin my new job in January and I feel I'm just about as trained as needs be, the rest will come with experience.  I've been orienting since the beginning of November (OVERTIMEOVERTIMEOVERTIME)  Probably why I've been sick!  I've had to learn the computer system, and that's the biggest part. 

I'm super psyched about it as this is basically where I've been aiming my career.  I've always wanted to be able to help people with their exercise plans, but was afraid about if I got a client with a heart history.  That's largely why I went into the cardiac unit in the first  place.  I've taken care of post cardiac surgical patients, and now, I'll be able to monitor them on telemetry and write exercise prescriptions for them well after heart surgery!  Fantastic!

So as far as celebrating goes, I'm going to get my P.J.'s on and go to bed with a movie on!

May you all have a  HAPPY NEW YEAR~  Tami

Shock Collar Trials

You've got to watch this video.  This guy tries a dog shock collar and experiences the 6 levels of shock with his "barking".  Hilarious!

We bought one for Cisco because she starts "singing" around 05:00 a.m. and Heather's room is right next to the garage where Cisco sleeps and "sings".  Her collar doesn't seem to be working as we are listening to her howling at the neighbor dogs right now.   Go figure!  

Pika Updates

My dog has gas.

Yeah, she's dinky but boy can she pack a punch. Especially since she likes to sleep on my neck.

I gave her some of the left over Christmas ham that I put in my omelet this morning.  It's hard not to give in to her.  She sits so pretty, looking up at me with her cute little sweater on, and her little "bug eyes" staring up at me, I couldn't help myself, and I gave her, oh, maybe three or four small chunks. I guess for her, that would amount to an entire ham dinner!  Little did I expect I get farted on while she was twitching in her sleep.

We did give her a name, but I'm not sold on it entirely.  We had to call her something and we were coming up with some good names but not agreeing on one all together.  Pika is short for piccolo, which is Italian for small flute.   I call her monkey and peanut.  She looks like a peanut. If she's like all our other animals, she'll have a multitude of names.

Back to the subject of where we got her name.  We were looking for something that described her size.  Aub threw out a few names and suggested piccolo.  I liked the name Mika, but Heather knows another annoying dog named Mika so that was out.  Pika sounded like Mika and it meant something small so it stuck.

Small flute doesn't begin to describe the noise she makes when we put her in her crate at night. Boy can she scream!  High pitched screams.......going on and on for minutes that seem to stretch on forever!  It's not a little wimper or cry, but an all out SCREECH! We're crate training and she seems to suffer separation anxiety.  I finally had to put her and her crate in my closet down the hall in order to get a few hours of shut eye.  It is getting better though, lasting about 20 minutes as compared to two hours when we started.  

A Few Christmas Pictures

Nate, Earl and Veloy

Vernal stayed over. 

He looks bored!

Grandma and her earphones. She always looks like she's gonna fly a plane

Heather with her new t.v.

Whit gets a little "LED"

Pika shots

Helping unwrap my presents

Waiting to see the vet at Pet Smart

Asleep in Whitney's arms

 

She's in her holiday attire. One of Heathers socks cut into a sweater

A bit of wrapping paper in her mouth

This was taken on our second night with her.

Finding sweaters to fit is terribly difficult as she is so tiny and most wouldn't fit her. 

Pika the Pup

We got a puppy last Sunday.  She's a Rat Terrier and last night we finally agreed on the name Pika (pronounced PEEKA as in Pika-boo!) She weighs only 1.9 pounds and has a lot of spunk for her size. The first night we got her scared me so bad I almost called the sellers the next morning to see if they would take her back as I couldn't see how we were going to potty train her and get her to sleep at night.  I feared Nate would be angry because this training time would halt his working on finishing the gym.  I didn't know how I would be able to get her trained and work full time without his help.  

I apologized because I've finagled him into things like kids, and dogs and houses before he was ready before, and I didn't really give him much choice in this matter either.  But she was there and I wanted a dog.  I had planned to wait until spring when things would be more convenient. But I saw her picture online and I had the money now so I got her. 

Heather, Nate and I traveled to  Colorado Springs and met the owner  half way as he was from Pueblo to bring her to us. We met in the Target parking lot.  It almost felt like a drug deal or something. Rich handed the puppy over to Nate and Heather to get her out of the cold and while they walked over to the car, I pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to him.  His hair, beard and mustache were gray and he wore a black vest and cowboy hat.  He seemed really nice and in the pause in his speech he would make a clicking sound.  I thought it was kinda cute.

He gave me a little bag of goodies for her which included some of the food she's used to, a collar, a leash, a chew toy and her papers with the parents picture on it.  We went to Petco right away to get a small kennel and attracted everyone in the store with our new little bundle of joy. She was shaking so bad from the cold the next thing we bought was a sweater.  After making our purchases, Nate and I went home and Heather went to see Parker.

Nate had our puppy in his jacket and I wanted to hold her so bad I could taste it, but I wanted him to bond with her and her with him, so I tried to sit still and act like I wasn't jumping out of my skin to hold her.  I sat very patiently waiting for him to offer her up to me but he didn't so my impatience took over and I fetched her for myself but my jacket wasn't as loose so I couldn't bundle her up and she wasn't as warm so I gave her back. 

Everyone is now taking turns with the baby.  Watching her, playing with her, and having her sleep with them, sharing responsibility of taking care of her.  

She's so small, it would be easy to crush her under foot, so we are having to take special care when she's out and about the kitchen.  

We're all in love with this new little bundle.  I'll post pictures of her tomorrow and show off our new Christmas present.

Christmas Eve 2008

Sniffle, sniffle, try to keep the snot from dripping down my face.............this Christmas Eve is filled with watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, coughing and the unwillingness to go to bed because........well..........IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE!

Does it ever go away?  That excitement about the next morning and being woken by your kids to GET UP.....LETS GET UP AND OPEN PRESENTS!

My kids are grown......my baby is nearly 20 years old.....the last of my kids in their teens!  All grown up. 

No more hiding the Christmas wrap that "Santa" used.  No more disguising the handwriting on the present name tags.  No more guarding the presents until morning, monitoring every sound in the hallway or worrying they'll get up and peak before I get up to see the excitement on their faces.  No more wrapping until 2 a.m. 

Someone get me a hot cup of coffee.  What shall we have for breakfast.....a unanimous................. CREPES with blueberry or cherry pie filling.  

This morning is ours.  OUR  families time together.  Just us.  My three kids and my man. No one else.  This is OUR special day!   These are most important people in the world to me and I get to be with them today.

I'm so blessed that I've been able to bear and raise my own children.  To watch them grow into the wonderful people they are today.  Even though this Christmas we are not all together, I still feel the love and embrace my memories of the past, and hope to be together for Christmas again.  I love you all, and Merry Christmas..............Mom.

 

Just Updates

I put down the book "Wicked" a while ago and couldn't pick it back up.  Not that it wasn't good, but Halloween's come and gone and I've lost interest. 

I've since picked up the book "The Third Jesus" by Deepak Chopra (quite a shift eh?).  I've been feeling like my soul needs a lift.........man does not live by bread alone........ and my soul has been feeling a bit starved! 

I prayed for enlightenment and for a door to be opened to feed my soul and I picked up this book I bought a while ago and started reading it.  It's funny, but I feel so much more like I can allow spirituality back into my life without being threatened that someone else's idea of God will try to engulf me and take over. 

I feel I can choose! And it's nice!  I'm enjoying the book tremendously and when I had it with me in the doctors office the other day a guy stopped me and said he'd read it and loved it too.

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Whit punched a guy in the face the other day and hurt his hand.  The guy deserved it... he hit Whit's girlfriend so hard  it made her nose jewel fly out.  We took Whit to the doctors office and had his hand x-rayed!  They told us the doc would review the film and then come give us the result of the x-ray.  The doc entered the room and spoke directly to Whit and said... There is no break my brother!  (He always addresses someone by "my brother" or, well, I don't know if he says "my sister" or "sister". He wears a cross on his white coat, has glasses and is very tall! He's a DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) so I was expecting he would know his stuff). 

I was really relieved and was so happy I could hardly believe it so I said....That's great! Then, circling the room and landing in front of my son, I grabbed his hand and pointed to his sunken yet raised knuckle and asked...  Is "that" normal!

The doc took one look and said.......Uh, let me go review the x-ray again.  Sure enough, he comes back and says.........Yeah, that's a classic boxers break (his knuckle is basically gone, but there's a bump above it).  When did the doctor start looking at the x-ray before examining the patient?  I thought that was weird. 

So he gives us a referral to an ortho doc.  After seeing the orthopaedic doc, the conclusion was made it wouldn't be worth a surgery and possible infection to fix it... too risky so we decided not to do it!  Now he's wearing a type of bone straightener to put the bone back in place.  No, it's not cast.  Looks kinda like brass knuckles only plastic.

Whit says it seems to be helping straighten the bone out.

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The gym is coming along beautifully.  New pics to follow.  

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My new job is around the corner!  I've oriented about 4 days for a total of 24 hours (that would be only two days on the regular floor!)  I begin in January and I'm sooooooooo psyched!  I'll be helping people who have had cardiac surgery or stents to get fit on the treadmill, elliptical and stationary bikes while monitoring them on telemetry!  This is the job of my dreams!

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Pilates training begins in March.  Reformer to be purchased soon!

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We just finished watching the movie Black Beauty (we've seen it so many times and never tire of it).  The tears are rolling.  I just love this movie, the beautiful imagery, the music, the transitions, the filming, the editing, the little boy, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr.  It is one of the most satisfying movies ever made (along with Pride and Prejudice).  Francis Ford Coppola is truly amazing.  So is the person manning the camera, the editor.........  I could go on and on.  

The film is a piece of art.   There are so many scenes I watch over and over again.  Nate and I love watching movies in bed and this and Pride and Prejudice relax us both so much. 

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My M-I-L  fell again last night.  This time she fell out of bed. Their bedroom is upstairs above our room and the thud jolted Nate and I to a full state of arousal in  a second flat and we both bolted up the stairs like it was nothin!   She was alright.  Just trying to get up and go to the bathroom and slipped from sitting on the bed to sitting on the step up to the bed!  Ja..E..sus our hearts were in our feet for the next few minutes.  

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Christmas tree isn't up!  I figured if no one asked I'd leave it alone. Largely because I put it up, put on the lights, put on the ornaments, decorate the whole house, then take it all down myself! If they want it up, they can help!

Dear God

I send out this plea to the universe for help.

From Whit's car damage, to Heather's car damage, to Nate's back issues which are debilitating, to Veloy's back issues and not eating, to me starting a new job and dealing with being a nurse both at work and at home, to Whit's most likely broken RIGHT hand (that found it's way to the jaw of the boy who hit his girlfriend right in front of him) and having no health insurance..............AND HE'S A WELDER!  My nerves are shot and I am finding no solice!

I need assistance.  My son and daughter desperately need assistance for the issue of the cars and their repair as well as the need to get into school and medical attention. 

My husband may need surgery.

Veloy needs motivation.

I need a break. 

I ask for help in these things God...........  Thanx, Tami

 

My husband entered our room through the sliding glass door after getting the garbage out this morning. Our conversation went something like this.

 

N: Has Whit come in...?  

Me: No, why?

N: Well, Heather ran into his truck this morning.

Me: How bad is it (after all it was in the driveway)?

N: Front bumper dented, light gone........(silence)

Me: Any body damage?

N: Yes

I get on my slippers and go outside to inspect the damage. The whole front right side of his bumper is hanging off, the light is crushed, the grill is toast.

She had to have been moving really fast and not looking where she was going when she was backing out.  

How hard is it to see a dark green X-Terra in the morning when white snow is all around?

She had to have deleted the option of:  

a) Opening her eyes to see an obviously large truck behind her car

b) cleaning off her rear window 

c) watching out the back to see where she what she was backing up into.

The insurance company said she will have a $1000. 00 dollar deductible before repairs. 

Yay!

Just as she got out of debt!   

When does the madness stop?

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Whit was amazingly calm through all that.  We ate breakfast, talked about how we are going to have to help Veloy around the house, (she appears to be bruised but has no obvious breaks...THANK GOD!) and I don't know how we got onto the conversation of circumcision.

It went from what molasses comes from, what sorghum is, and how Whit saw a program about how eggs are actually being manufactured now.

We were looking all this up on the Internet when the subject of what fertilized and unfertilized eggs are and ended up on the subject of circumcision (don't ask how we got to circumcision from eggs?!)

So I go on You Tube to see if there was any footage posted of male circumcision because Whit hadn't ever seen one and couldn't believe how little there was available. 

I found the a couple clips and we watched them! 

His eyes were teary and he couldn't understand how anyone could justify something so tortuous as cutting off the skin of an infant boy's penis after only being a day or so old. 

Neither could I!  I saw a couple circs done in our clinicals during nursing school.....way after Whit was born......and had to keep from bawling while I watched it, only renewing my vow not to circumcise.  It disgusts me how cruel and tortuous we humans can be to our infant boys so new in life.  It leaves me wondering how this scars our boys. 

Have you ever seen a circumcision? Please, humor me and go to You Tube and watch Penn and Tellers Circumcision 1 of 3 clips.  Or find one that shows an infant being circumcised. It will make you cry.  

When a circumcision is performed, the baby isn't given sedative nor is he given local anesthetic. They are screaming their GUTS OUT (and don't try telling me they don't have any feeling, or that they haven't developed enough nerve to feel it.  Try using old time diapers with pins and accidentally miss! THEY FEEL IT!)  It isn't just because they are pinned down and are unable to move that they're screaming at the top of their lungs!

Now ladies, if you believe all the cock and bull told you about it continuing to be done because of cancer, then why don't we just lop off our little girls boobies at an early age because there is much more breast cancer than penile cancer! If it's for hygiene purposes, please don't tell me you can't clean your babies teenie peenie and that you can't teach him to do it for himself, because I would hate to admit that kind of stupidity if I were you!  Which leaves one of the last arguements............"I don't want him to look different than the other little boys".............. or............"I want him to look like his daddy"...............or............"I don't want him to be made fun of by the other boys".   Pa-leeeeeeeeeze!  Seriously, you are going to cut off the tip of your newborn baby boys penis because of VANITY!  We live in a seriously f**ked up world if that is the biggest reason we are doing it. 

Ladies, did you know girls can be circumcised too!   Only, for girls the act is seen (in our country) as "genital mutilation".  Oh yeah.....why isn't it considered that for our tiny boys?

Like we mothers can't clean our infants penises and don't have the brains to train them to clean themselves!

On one of the anti-circ clips I saw on You Tube, I noticed a few choice statements I thought stood out, so I though I'd pass them along:

Genital integrity

Vital part of anatomy

Genital mutilation

It's a normal body part and should not be removed without the consent of the owner!

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One of my favorite scenes in the movie 28 Days (Sandra Bullock) is when they are in the group therapy session and the gay guy says he wants his foreskin back....... "They didn't ask me if they could take it.....they just took it!"     Cracks me up every time.

Now, this wasn't meant to make all those mommies and daddies out there who did have their little boys circumcised feel all bad inside, or make them feel they need to go out and hunt down data to substantiate their decision on Pro-circumcision.......I'm just putting out another one of those very big opinions of mine and am hoping to educate someone with it!

  

What's Happening In Our World

So have you been asking yourself and those around you why have gas prices plummeted since before the election and stayed down? 

Makes you wonder what the hell our government is/was doing......don't it?

Who's making the GD money off us eh?

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My mother-in-law fell in her bathroom tonight.  Scared the holy F**K out of me!  I'm laying on the couch kinda half asleep and I hear this thud and light high pitched noise.  Nate was already up off the floor and heading into to her bathroom before I could wrap my mind around what heavy object the kids could have dropped and broken in the stairwell to make such a huge thud. 

I shot off the couch in hot pursuit.  We found her with her head wedged between the toilet and the wall, her new knee bending in the wrong direction and she was complaining of her back hurting!  Damn it!  She was in obvious pain, looked like she was ready to cry. 

She's still recovering from from both a hip and knee surgery!  What if both are screwed up from this fall?

We laid her down for a second.......her face was pale, she was shaking and nauseous. We gave her a minute and then got her up and to her bed.  

She continued to shake.  I ran for my blood pressure cuff and stethoscope! 

We waited for her to stop shaking.  Did a full assessment on her knee, back, hip and waited for her to stop shaking. B/P.......ok..........HR.........ok.........Resp.......ok....

So now what? We'll wait.

We'll see tomorrow if her back continues to hurt tomorrow and see if we need to take her to get an x-ray.

Yikes!

 

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Sometimes I feel like such a dunce!  Last Sunday the kids went snowboarding and on their way home I-70 was closed.  Poor kids were panicked and called me for help!

What could I do!  I couldn't come get them!  They were stuck in the mountains and there were no motels, no place to go.  They thought they were gonna have to sleep in the car overnight! Nate told them to find a car-wash to park in to keep the snow out of the tail pipe!  Boy are we a lot of help...........GREAT PARENTS EH?

After getting several calls, I finally figured I'd try to do something.  So I  called my dad.  

He always knows what to do.  

He give me a Utah Highway Patrol number and after being transferred around to three different people, I got the Colorado Highway patrol and we found out they actually opened and then closed a recreation center in the city the kids were in (the rec center filled so fast) and had to open an elementary school.  I don't know how anyone sent off the highway found out about this.  What if you don't have a cell phone to call your parents, to call their dad, to get a Highway Patrol phone number, to give directions to an outlet until the highway reopens?

The kids had no more than found the school and the road was reopened!  Hallelujah!  They got in real late but safely.

That'll teach 'em to go boarding on a "snow day".  I-70 is not a road you want to be on when it's snowing!  

Issue #1066

Heather takes the Rolling Stone magazine so we read it all the time. Never before has an article left Nate and I so irate as their choice of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.  We couldn't believe who they chose to be in the top 10, let alone the order they were placed in and which artists were chosen as best, never mind those that weren't even included in the top 100.  

 

I guess you have to take into consideration how they picked the top 100 singers, so I'll give the details of how they got the end result (which I got from the article). 

I counted a total of 169 voters, which included rock and pop artists like Rod Stewart, Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones), Chris Robinson (Black Crowes),  Nancy Wilson (Heart), but there were country western artists like Loretta Lynn, as well as Ysuf Islam (Cat Stevens) and Billy Joel, along with Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople) and Maynard James Keenan (Tool) to name a few. 

Some of the other voters were journalists, editors, producers, chairman and CEO's of music companies as well as filmmaker-writers like Cameron Crowe and Executive VP's like Rick Krim from VH1 .  How they came to be included in the vote was not reported in the article.

Each voter was asked to list his or her 20 favorite vocalists from the rock era in order of their importance (although some of the top 100 were country artists like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams).  Then the ballots were recorded and weighted according to a methodology developed by an accounting firm Ernst and Young and they tabulated the results for the Magazine. (I'd like to see just how this was done).

We couldn't believe Bob Dylan came within the top 10, he was voted 7th!!  Remember this was the top 100 "Greatest Singers of All Time".   We didn't question Dylan's talent in writing, but I buy his music when it's performed by another artist!  His singing SUCKS!  There is no way I would put him in the category of top 100 "singers"! 

Bjork was voted 60th, above James Taylor (74th), Art Garfunkel (86th), Don Henley (87th), Annie Lennox (93rd-------CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT), Karen Carpenter (94th- What an insult to a voice smooth as butter and sweet as rain), Stevie Nicks (98th) and insult upon insult Steven Tyler (99th)!  

Who the hell listens to Bjork? Bob Dylan is 7th, Steven Tyler 99th?  We are talking how one sounds.............. as in.........can they hold a tune.........COME ON!  Karen Carpenter under Bjork?

How come no one voted for Sting?  He isn't even  in the top 100 AT ALL! 

Billy Joel was a voter and HE isn't even in the top 100 best vocalists!

Where is Julie Andrews? Andy Williams? Can't say they didn't get voted for because they aren't "Rock", neither is Bonnie Raitt (50th), or Patsy Cline (46th).   Joni Mitchell (42nd) and Elton John (38th) came in under Bruce Springsteen (36th) and Howlin' Wolf (31st) and Nina Simone(29th)! 

Who are Howlin' Wolf and Nina Simone? Joe Cocker (97th) can't sing at all.  He sounds like someone's squeezing his balls too hard, and he came in before Steven Tyler (I am and always will be a tried and true Aerosmith fan!  Seen 'em, love 'em..... would be tempted to do naughty things with the lead singer even though I'd get lost in his gynormous mouth, I love his scream!) 

I've listened to music for a long time (47 years tomorrow) I'm not a musician or CEO of a music company, but............................... 

WHAT THE HELL! 

Who do you think Bette Midler or Yoko Ono voted for?

What about B.B. King and Carole King?  Who did they cast their votes for?

I'm not prejudiced, my boyfriend in 3rd grade was black.  But 7 of the top 10 winners were black artists.  This magazine came out November 27th............. how long after O'bama was put in? (And I am for O'bama!)  Look down lower on the article and see the list. Would you put some of those artists in the top ten? Yeah, they may be good but in the 10 best singers? Me either! 

I can't believe how much it bothers me that this article "BOTHERS ME"!  I walked around in a huff all day because some joe-blow voted for Elvis Presley and not Sting!  Elvis was a "Rock Star", his voice wasn't that great!  Sting plays multiple instruments, writes his own music and has a phenomenal voice!  He's a major talent.  Someone voted for Bjork, and not Sting?  This is madness!  

Billy Joel......NOT VOTED FOR!

Elton John.....under James Brown?

Here is the line-up for the top 50! (B=black)

1- Arethea Franklin (B)

2- Ray Charles (B)

3- Elvis Presley (copied B)

4- Sam Cooke (B)

5- John Lennon

6- Marvin Gaye (B)

7- Bob Dylan

8- Otis Redding (B)

9- Stevie Wonder (B)

10- James Brown (B)

11- Paul McCartney

12- Little Richard (B)

13- Roy Orbison

14- Al Green (B)

15- Robert Plant (hey hey baby say the way you move..gonna make u sweat, gonna make you              groove)

16- Mick Jagger

17- Tina Turner (B)

18- Freddie Mercury (Waaaaaaaaaaaay better than Elvis... tear drop....miss him....miss Queen!)

19- Bob Marley (B) (Makes me smile...makes me happy.....phenomenal person)

20- Smokey Robinson (B)

21- Johnny Cash

22- Etta James (B)

23- David Bowie 

24- Van Morrison

25- Michael Jackson (B) (He should have been way above Little Richard)

26- Jackie Wilson (B)

27- Hank Williams

28- Janis Joplin

29- Nina Simone (B) (looked her up on You Tube.......not impressed)

30- Prince (B) (He should have been waaaay before Dylan, Marvin and Elvis)

31- Howlin' Wolf (B)

32- Bono

33- Steve Winward

34- Whitney Houston (B)

35- Dusty Springfield

36- Bruce Springsteen (puke, barf, choke, gag)

37- Neil Young 

38- Elton John (I've lost total faith in the voters now)

39- Jeff Buckley (showing my ignorance.......who is he?)

40- Curtis Mayfield (B) (same as above)

41- Chuck Berry (B) (reminds me of Back to the Future)

42- Joni Mitchell (love her...love her...love her)

43- George Jones

44- Bobby "Blue" Bland (B) (again, showing my ignorance....)

45- Kurt Cobain (love Nirvana.....but top voice? Above Karen......again.....lost me for good)

46- Patsy Cline (miss you mom)

47- Jim Morrison

48- Buddy Holly

49- Donny Hathaway (B)

50- Bonnie Raitt (love her).

Now I realize I am letting my opinion go all out here.  I love music... of all kinds.  I absolutely love Stevie Wonder, own his music.  I love Marvin Gaye's voice and I dig Otis.  Many of the top ten artists, I don't doubt, were influences to many of the artists who voted.  But this was to see who were the top 100 "Singers", not top 100 "influences".  The votes are totally off line for best voice.  

Patsy Cline makes me think of my mother who, before she had her throat surgery, sounded very much like her.  I adore Patsy and agree she is one of the top 100 best singers.  I agree Aretha is one of the top 100 too, I'm not so sure I agree she's #1.  I mean, how long can we go on about R-E-S-P-E-C-T!  Have you seen Kelly Clarkson's version of this tune?  She nails it. Go to you tube and see for yourself! Compare Kelly and Aretha, you'll see what I mean.

I wouldn't put Elvis in the top 10 best singers even though he was popular.  Yes he made a ton of music, influenced people right and left and boat loads of people loved him.   Marilyn Monroe was popular too and all the men loved her (many still do), but that doesn't put her the category of one of the all time best actresses!  Christina Aguilera's voice cuts like a knife and she was 58th (gasp)!!.   She should have been in the top 25 in my opinion, above Brian Wilson, above Luther Vandross, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY above Kurt Cobain and Nina Simone.

Where's Linda Ronstadt?  Ann Wilson (Heart) probably had her hopes up that someone would see her as the phenomenal voice that she is.......since her sister was a voter. But NO! Can you keep up with the notes she hits on Barracuda or Crazy On YOU?  NO!  Me either, but I try! Damn I try!

Well, there you have it. I've come out and spread my opinion all over the place. 

I must say, I feel better now.

Go to the magazine if you want all the top 100!  You'll probably be as surprised and possibly as pissed as we were!

Inherited Stranger Babble

I remember being in the grocery store as a child and was really embarrassed when my mother would break out into conversation with check out lady.  I thought it odd that both of them would seem to enjoy each other as though they had been friends forever.

At that point I silently vowed to myself I would not be like her and embarrass my kids in public blabbing on about some such nonsense with a smile and then go my merry way.   I was very shy in school, rarely started the conversation first and was pegged as  stuck-up for it most the time.     

I have become.............. my mother.  

I'll pretty much break out in conversation with anyone who has the gumption to listen, and make a comment back.  I think I do this mainly to break the uncomfortable silence felt when two people are in such close proximity, or if someone is going to be asking me to dig into my purse to hand them my hard earned cash.  

Standing in front of the teller, the checker, the postal worker or any other stranger face to face causes me to spout out into some such prattle and break the silence, calming the nervous jitter creeping up my spine.

Elevators are squishy little places.  Oversized boxes big enough to hold several humans at a time, moving them up or down all the while never requiring them to change position while staring straight ahead to a closed double door.  

I often picture myself being in the Star Ship Enterprise, waiting to be transported to the captains deck and that crazy pah-shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-T, sound going off just before doors part way for me to exit.  This eases the tension while being in such close proximity to a stranger who is also staring straight ahead waiting for the doors to open.

What an uncomfortable moment.  Where do you set your eyes?  Up at the numbers counting to your floor?  At your feet?  Do you play with your purse? Your cell phone?  Your lunch box or coffee mug?  Take a sip, that'll waste a couple seconds! If you look at the person next to you, a smile seems to need something to follow it.   That's a nice purse..........cute shoes.........has your floor been busy lately? Just as you start the convo, it's time to leave.

It's a different story if you know the person who got on with you or the person appears friendly or has an obvious something you'd want to start a conversation about! A new daddy carrying out the car seat and a number of full personal belonging bags and suitcases! Conversation is easier then!  Did you get a boy or a girl?  Are you ready for the long nights with a newborn?  Is this your first baby?  Those are easy victims for stranger-convo.  Running into new grandparents with the happy big brother or sister tagging along is rare. 

The ride to telemetry is shorter now having gone from the fifth floor to the third, so my time in the "vator" is less, but the discomfort comes in and settles right at the base of my neck when someone enters from another floor.

    

I was going down to the garden level for breakfast yesterday and this short, ponchy, well dressed woman entered at the first floor.  I don't like it when I get on and find out it's going up to the 6th floor when I wanted to go down so I asked her if she truly wanted to go "down" and she said she was and got in.

She stood just far enough away for comfort!  Right away I can feel my mom readying to sprout out of my neck and make herself comfortable through conversation with this woman.  I speak first.

    

Don't you think they should put t.v.'s in the doors, just so there is actually something to look at in cramped elevators!?....I laugh jokingly!  It'd make the ride less uncomfortable don't you think! 

Pudgy woman: It'd be kind of a waste....... she says and looks straight ahead at the door stopping the conversation cold. 

Silence........

The doors open to ground!          

Silence...........

We both get out.

That was stupid!  I felt worse than I had if I'd have just stayed quiet! 

Then she followed me right into the line-up for pancakes!  I turned around slightly to confirm it was her behind me pretending to look at someone else!  I had no desire to babble on to her this time,  and just stood there with my arms crossed waiting for breakfast.

I've been shy all my life and was pegged as stuck-up in high school never starting conversation first.  It was too embarrassing. It takes a lot for me to make the first move. But all the people I've made acquaintance with so far in this crazy life were strangers first.  So I don't think it so strange now to be like mom.

The Surgery is Done

My girl had her surgery.  I called her hubby Nate from work to find out how it went.  He said he didn't get any updates even three hours after the surgery was done and when he made the attempt to  get any info about her, they sent him to wait in a room that was already occupied.  Poor guy doesn't often take care of his breast fed son and two year old daughter alone.  He sounded a little fried! Not in a bad way, but a calm, fried way!  Sweet thing.  It does a man good right!

I just got off the phone with her.  They never did update either of them about how the surgery went.  I just hope the pain meds they give her keep the pain down cuz it's harder to get a doc to write a script for narcs later!

She sounded good. Now for a days recovery and Friday a five hour trip back home

Today, my oldest daughter and her hubby and two kids made the five hour trek to Detroit Michigan to meet with her surgeon, and have ear surgery this Wednesday! I'm pretty sick about it but haven't let her know it because I didn't want to scare her.  

She won't have Internet access for the next five days, so I can vent a little and not be too self conscious about her reading it.

Ever since she was less than a year old, this poor girl has battled ear problems.  She had recurrent ear infections and as a result, surgery to her little ear drums, twice per ear, and still suffered a hearing loss of 30-40% in her left ear.  

Consequently while holding the phone to her right ear she can hear nothing her husband says to her, or her daughter getting into the toilet or other such mischief of a two year old.

High pitched sounds are near to inaudible so her baby crying (while on the phone) or the door bell can pose a problem.  For these reasons I am glad she is seeing to getting it taken care of, however, I've been with her through most of the other surgeries, helped care for her post-op making her comfy, meeting with the docs before and after surgery etc. (surgeon and anesthesiologist).   I'm not there this time and it really makes me feel quite helpless.  

Not that my speaking to the doctor before, easing my fears, asking questions helped him perform his surgery any better than his ability would allow.  Still, somehow, it made me feel like I had an element of control or involvement. 

Not this time.

I'm scared.  I'm scared things will go wrong.  I'm scared of total hearing loss. 

She's scared of the anesthesia, something that I don't worry all that much about because I know they can reverse narcotic anesthesia if needed, or if she is not doing well.  But once you go cutting into the eardrum (of which has already been surgically cut into twice before), just how much can you fix?  Plus, she says they will need to shave down the bone inside the ear canal to allow for more room since hers is too narrow for surgery! 

Needless to say I'm nervous.  

I need to be positive.  Pray she will recover beautifully and regain her lost hearing.

I pray with all my heart everything goes well.

They meet with the surgeon tomorrow, and the surgery is set for Wednesday.  She'll recover on Thursday and then make the trek back to St Ignace on Friday!  

My prayers, thoughts, hopes and love will be with my own little girl today and throughout her recovery.

I love you Aub.  Mom

Does It Ever Get Any Better?

So I scuffed my way upstairs and put a cup of coffee in the microwave, hit the instant two minute button and walked away.  Down the hall to check on my young adults only to find a messy room with an unmade bed and no son in it and another room with a nicely made bed and no daughter in it. 

Did I miss something?  

No.  

No, I didn't get a call last night from either kid telling me where they are, where they'll sleep over or anything.

This has been an ongoing issue for each of my kids since childhood. The not telling me where they are going or where they'll be.  I have a hard time yelling at them now because one turns 22 years old today, and the other will be twenty in March.

Still, if they live here, don't pay rent, or their car insurance, don't I deserve to at least have my fears calmed by knowing where they are sleeping at night? 

I mean really.  I fix dinners and feed their friends fairly regularly, pay for electricity, food, laundry soap, toiletries, buy tires for their cars, help pay for repairs on their cars.  I help them out quite a bit. 

I've been asking for the simple courtesy of being told where they are and where they are going like FOREVER, and it just doesn't seem to sink into their tiny little skulls.  No really, this has been an ongoing issue since each child was old enough to open a door and go visit their neighbor friends.

I pretty much figure the Mr is at Tony's house. That's usually where he is.  Where Wink is I'm not sure.  She has a few girlfriends and a couple guy friends she stays at, and I figure if they have had anything to drink I don't want them driving.........AND THEY KNOW THAT!

But courtesy shouldn't have to be asked for every time they leave the house should it?

I mean, they rebel because they are over 18, so that means they are "adults" by American Standards.  So, shouldn't they ACT like adults.  This would mean, pick up their clothes, help around the house, and let their parents know if they are coming home or not if that is really the biggest request made to them?

My coffee was boiling over in the microwave, much like my temper on the inside.  Don't worry, I didn't throw anything or break a dish.  But I felt like it. 

I feel like I could threaten to make them pay for their car insurance.  This would scare them, they'd be afraid and help out around the house for a couple days.  They'd speak extra nice like, and show much more love.  But it would wear off and we'd be back to old habits.

If I bring up how upset I am to my spouse, he'll just go on and repeat how stupid I am for not making them pay their own car insurance, or how stupid I am for feeding their friends, or how stupid I am for being so undemanding of them around the house.  So I don't feel like being called stupid today.  Not to mention that I live with my in-laws, so when they get up, it's a sure bet they'll ask where the kids are, and I'll be on the defensive about my parenthood for the umpteenth time. 

It's snowing outside.  I have been dreading this since spring!  I hate driving in the snow.  I hate being cold, and believe me, this giant house gets so damn cold in the winter, I dream of California every day.  

It's the Winkers 22nd birthday today. Yeah, I know, I said that.  But what I didn't say is that I took the day off to make it special for her. I didn't even take off my OWN birthday this year. Then, she calls me at work last night to tell me that she was planning on going out to dinner with her boyfriend, then she and her friends and even the Mr and his girl friend have been planning on going ice skating.......... "but I reserved the whole morning for you mom and what ever you'd like to do!"  Right, like I want to get up early on my day off, and go out to some store or see movie before all her other plans take way. 

Like I want to rush around on my this day off.  I work thirteen hour days. This week I worked two days, have today off, work two days, one off, work two days, then have five off, then start that all over again. 

I read so many blogs by moms of small kids.  They have all these complaints about their bratty or sick kids.  If they only knew what's coming.  $1400 dollar car repairs, accidents, hospitalizations, and on and on with the expenses.

I've seen what my in-law's have gone through with their own adult children.  This had better get better or I'm thinking of running away to live on my own and stop feeding into the frenzy.

Laughs and Loves

I've been crying about my mom today.  I don't have any pictures of her scanned to this computer, that's why she isn't represented. 

Nathan and James

The best things in life aren't things...........

Heather

Nathan and Claralynne

Nathan and Claralynne

Aub, Whit and Heather

Sarah and Whit

Dad and I

Aubrey

Cisco

James

Claralynne

Nate with his C-Pap mask

Nate and Claralyne

Daddy

My Favorite People

Did You

VOTE?

I'm from Utah, where it doesn't matter if you don't want the Light Rail, don't want a socker stadium or you don't want the Legacy Highway. You can vote against it, be in the majority vote and they'll still build it regardless of what the majority of the public wants.

You can vote against Bush, be in the majority and he'll still be put in as president.

So what makes me think my vote will count?

Can't help but keep trying to be heard!

G'Obama!

The better of two evils? Not sure really.

They BOTH voted FOR the buy out!

I just don't want ANOTHER BUSH!

2008 Costumes Central

Halloween 2008

Just some highlights of my kids, grandkids and cousins Halloween this year. Boy do I ever miss dressing up myself. I told my cousin Scott that next year I'm flying to Utah and dressing for the Freakers Ball with them!

My Michigan Cuties

Claralynne stays warm as a Care Bear. Cute little cold nose!

James 1st Halloween trick-or treating.
My his mommy looks cute in that coat!

COLORADO KIDS

Whit decided to go all army this year!

Ain't he tough lookin'?

Heather put together this ensemble herself from second hand items. TOTALLY AWESOME!! Note the detailed work she did on the hat! The pearl pin belonged to her Great Grandma Fotheringham.She's Captain Morgans girlfriend!


Heather has a metal allergy so these lovely necklaces left some mean sores on her neck later!

PUMPKIN CARVING
Heather and her friends came over and had their own pumpkin carving night before Halloween!

Heather, Parker, Jessica and Luke

Heather is a true blue Pirate this year.

Her skull/sword carving was hand drawn.

Parker carved the scarey face above

Luke had a Christmas theme

Jessica carved this cool cross

UTAH COUSINS

Scott and Judy dressed up for Halloween, the first time in a looooooonnnnnng time.




Jeremy (L doing Scott's nails) rocks when it comes to dressing up every year for Halloween.

This year he got his parents involved and was the creator of this fantastic replica of Beetlejuice and his bride. Jeremy actually dyed the suit and wedding dress, hand made the ruffle, burning the edges to make it antique, and cut the wig to fit. I'm sure he did the make-up too.



They attended KBER's Freakers Ball at the Port O'Call in SLC and everyone thought they should have taken home the $1500.00 pot for 1st. Some other dude took it with his purchased/no imagination costume. This ensemble was created exclusively from second hand items, most of which were purchased at the D.I. (Deseret Industries is a second hand store in Utah).

Don't they just take the cake?