Since the Son's visit, I managed to finally unpack the last of the boxes that were my responsibilty to unpack and find a place to put everything. I managed to do that with small bursts of activity that I forced myself to make due to the continuing backpain. I figured that all the UNactivity was not good for the muscles and would probably exascerbate the injury in the long run. I also think it's actually working since I seem to be able to keep more active each day. Heck, I even managed to do all the housewifey things we need to do the past few days, including making actual meals.

The Beast has been spending a lot of time in the garage. He bought some cabinets and installed them in his effort to finish packing up HIS boxes (at least he SAID he needed them and that's why it was not done yet). I decided yesterday to go ahead and take a look at his progress. I was stunned that he STILL has boxes he has not unpacked and no more places to install any more cabinets.

So I step down into the garage to view the mess and what do I find him doing? Installing the AC air handler to heat and cool the garage. I kid you not. As I looked around, I said casually...."Well, I guess getting the garage organized is going to take longer than you expected."

He looked at me with surprise and said, "Oh no. Won't take me long now that I got those last two cabinets put up."
So I arched my one eyebrow and asked him why he was starting a project before he had all his boxes unpacked and stuff put away. He actually looked at me like I was clueless and informed me that the air handler was ONE OF THOSE BOXES and he needed to get it installed and up off the floor for the ROOM!!!!

I really figure that he can't face completely putting away all his stuff and not having some sort of project going on. At least he is doing stuff that doesn't require me to be constantly "giving him a hand" right in the middle of me crocheting or preparing a meal. That is usually how his projects work. No wonder women go nuts when their husband's retire and they are around 24/7. I can relate.

Let me outline some of the projects he is already either planning OR has started buying the *bones* to do. #!...he wants to make a decorative berm around the base of the pink dogwood tree he just planted out front. This will require a couple layers of decorative stones in some design he has in mind ("I don't want it just ROUND"), some dirt to build it up and then lot s of decorative flowers and plants. #2....a garden. He STILL has not definitely decided where the garden is going to be placed for our tomato, bush beans, green pepper, watermelon and other veggies. We DO, however, have seeds started all over the place on the back deck that will need to be put in the ground shortly. I could see his reluctance to make a decision if he has to use a regular rototiller but he's got one that installs on the back of the John Deere mini-tractor he bought last year so I can't figure out his problem there. #3.....he wants to get the AC installation for the garage (it will have it's own two-ton AC split unit to keep it cool in the summer and heat it in the winter so he can *do his thing* out there all year long. He has the equipment to do a lot of stuff with wood already in place and I hope he actually DOES keep busy. I plan on crocheting afghans for all my kids and grandkids between now and next spring. I don't need HIM underfoot all the time or he will make me crazy. #4...he hates the grass in our yard. We bought several palates of bermuda grass last year and placed them on the worst of the bare spots. BUT...he also brought back a palate of some other type of grass that looked half dead from his visit to Chicago last summer and it's something totally different (and it actually looks wonderful right now ). Exactly HOW he is going to remedy this is not clear to me but involves several bags of soil and a couple boxes of grass seed. I don't think he has thought this through yet. He complains about the weeds in the yard (they look VERY healthy and green) but I can't seem to motivate him to pick up and spread Weed and Feed although we have the pull-behind spreader for his John Deere sitting out in the mini-barn. How hard can it be?

I can't even begin to tell you how many other *little* projects he has brought up on an almost daily basis. I really and truly think he just can't stand the thought of not having something to do one day. It's almost sad but I let him go on about them and nod my head at the appropriate places. I figure if he runs out of projects, he can take over the vacuuming or even the cooking since he seems to be getting pretty good at that. He makes some killer spaggetti sauce these days.

Anyway, he tells me that he should have the garage totally organized within the next two days. We shall see. I would like to see all the boxes GONE and places for everything so I can have a regular routine in place. This house is so small compared to the last two homes we owned that I can pretty much clean everything thoroughly within an hour or two every day if I felt so inclined. We HAVE developed a routine of working together in the evening to clean up the kitchen, get coffee ready for the morning and dishes all in the dishwasher every evening before we settle in to watch TV before bedtime. It's really kind of nice.

Have a great day.

The hubby and I were having our morning coffee on the deck in back this morning, as usual. I had just stepped back inside to refill my cup when I heard this loud HISS coming from the hubby. He says....quick.....come here...we have a hummingbird at the feeder. Lo and behold, a pretty little ruby- throat was perched and eating the bright red syrup *grin*

I was ecstatic! I just love to watch them feed. Most of last summer was made so much more interesting because of them and their different personalities. We had one that was a bit of a bully. I think he (or she....not sure since the colors were kind of dull...black, gray and white) God made the males of the species very colorful and left the poor females with just personalities .... LOL In the early evening hours, a teeny, tiny little gray and white one (it could not have been more than an inch-and-a-half tall) came by too feed and look us over. It was so adorable. I am just glad to know that life has resumed it's cycle and they are back. *grin*

We are supposed to be getting a hellacious storm tonight. The skies are thick with clouds and the air feels humid so I guess sometime in the next couple of hours we will get the rain we so badly need. It produced tornadoes in Texas and Louisiana but most of the fury is supposed to have passed when it hits us.

The hubby quickly planted his new pink dogwood tree so it will get all the benefits of a natural rain. His trees are all doing well so who am I to say?

He has suddenly gotten *into* flowers. He brought home another (his fifth ) basket of flowers. The prerequisite is that they have to be in bloom and colorful. His latest acquisition is this beautiful red flower. I asked him what it was and he said to me....red. He's a man....what else can I say? We have these metal things that look like shepherds hooks placed here and there around the house and hanging baskets on the hook parts. Right now they are all sitting on the deck, partially sheltered, because the rain we are getting is also supposed to have wind gusts up to 50mph. I wondered if he was paying attention but I guess he was.

What really strikes me is how *agricultural* the Beast has become in the last 10 years. It started with the house we bought in Ft Lauderdale after all the kids were gone.....the BIG one. We had a half acre lot and he suddenly started planting fruit trees. We had several varieties of oranges, two or three different limes and lemons...even a PINK lemon tree ! I didn't know there WAS such a thing until we had two of them growing in our yard. I assumed someone just added the pink color to the powder for making the instant stuff........but the fruit looks like small striped watermelons and is definitely pink inside. Amazing !

Now that we are living in a non-tropical area, we have apple, cherry and peach trees the Beast has planted. He did his online research and we have all the varieties necessary for them to reproduce. I had no clue that crabapple trees are pollinators for regular apples, did you? I also know that we have three different varieties of cherry trees because two of them are good for making pies and the third is a good eating cherry and necessary to pollinate the other two. **laughing**

The Beast found the pictures he took last year when he found the house and I wasn't with him. We were kind of amazed at how different it looks less than a year later. The grass has grown and covered what were bare spots last summer and I am not counting the addition of the trees. I did tell the hubby that our house needs some color. It 's just WHITE. I would love to put shutters next to the windows to decorate it kind of like we did on our house in California but we have ONE window it won't work on so that's out. *frown* We will have to settle for painting the window frames and the gutter I think.

We have thermoframe windows. The kind where it looks like you have these little square panels but they are actually INSIDE the windows. Makes it easy for cleaning but if you WANTED to paint the little strips, forget it. At least it helps keep the house nice and toasty in the winter and cool in the summer. Very efficient. I also notice that it seems to block a lot of the sound of storms. I hadn't considered that. I always loved the sound of a good thunderstorm at night. Now I don't even hear it unless it's accompanied by some window rattling lightning AND thunder. I got up one early morning last year to go out on the deck for a smoke and discovered we were having a major storm. Shocking to say the least. I ended up in the garage but I DID open up the door to enjoy the storms fury.

Whoooo hooooo.....our storm has started here !!! The wind and rain is audible since I have the window in my computer room (actually the third bedroom ) open. I am going to close now and make an attempt at enjoying it. I will haul a kitchen chair over to the back door and sit there with the door open.

Have a great day and enjoy life.

My son showed up bright and early on Saturday. His aim was to help his dad out with any heavy lifting and other theings that still might need to be done to help complete our move. What he didn't know was that we had done pretty much all the unpacking and it wasn't needed. He came bearing gifts, however. Some programs for our computers. Why is it that when you have computer techs in your family, nothing you install satisfies them? But he brought me a word processing program I had been wanting since mine was wiped out when the Beast fooled around with my computer. He has this bad habit of crashing my hard drive and I lose so much I value. I really hate it when he touches my computer. Anyone else have that problem?

Anyway, we talked about the Virginia Tech thing which I avoided writing about because everyone seemed to be doing it. How can you relate to such a tragedy? I remember losing four of my friends to one car accident and how numbing it was. All you can do is pray for the families.

I loaded up his car with all kinds of goodies. Found out it was just in time. My granddaughter Amy has started doing the family wash and had a *tragedy* occur that caused my son hours of working with acetone just to clean up the dryer. Yep, she washed AND dried a pen in one load. If that wasn't bad enough, she also dried three other loads without noticing it. Lots and lots of ruined clothes and linens. It reminded me of one time when we were first married that the hubby decided to help me out and do the clothes. He thought bleach was to help make clothes clean. S O.....he put bleach in all the loads, including the dark. He ruined my favorite outfit and I was just heartbroken. His intentions were good but, boy, he never did that again....LOL

The son has someone that wants to invest in his starting a business and had lots of questions for his father. We ran a very successful business in the Fort Lauderdale area and it has always been my son's aim to start his own while he's young. Well, not TOO young since he is in his mid 30's now. He left with lots to ponder. He's really reluctant to take in a non-working partner since we had some experience with that and it was costly. He'll call and let us know what he's decided when he meets with the potential investor.

Years ago, when my sons first became involved with computers, their father was positive they would never make a dime on those *damn things*. They were always building and rebuilding them. Of course, at the time they were new and you didn't have the convenience of just walking in and buying one like we do today. It was interesting times. Years later, the hubby actually apologized to the boys because *they had proved him wrong*. As you may surmise, both my sons work in the trade. Of course, not building them but they are involved in networking, communications, T-1 's, etc. The younger son is the software expert and can also make things work that supposedly won't. The other son does the more technical end of large scale communications. He just got done wiring up a college that can now handle over 4,000 computers hooked up. I don't pretend to understand it all but they talk to me and I listen.

I'm still suffering from that damn back injury of mine. The worst thing is that I can't get any real relief due to the fact that doctors limit the days they see new patients so I have almost a month left before I can see my new doctor. I hope I live long enough.

The hubby finally picked me up some tomato plants that I got into my earth box and tomorrow we will finally get the bush beans planted. He's got his watermelon started but hasn't decided where he's going to put it permanently. Decisions, decisions. We have almost an acre of land and he can't decide where to put the garden.

I have my hummingbird feeder out because they should be coming back soon. It was such fun to watch them last year. We even had a bully who thought that feeder was HIS....LOL. We also have a bird bath out back that we actually saw a bunch of robins use one day. It was fascinating. This year the hubby says he really is going to take pictures. We shall see. He finally found some pictures he took last year. Turns out it was on his spare computer's hard drive. He told me he would copy the ones I want so I can send some to family and perhaps post a few.

Well, I need to get back to bed and try to get some more sleep. I actually slept for six full hours before having to get up but I can never go right back to bed. I suppose it doesn't matter. I wasn't in much pain so I managed to get a few things done but now I am tired again. My son got both our printers working on my computer AGAIN....after the hubby screwed THAT up for me and then couldn't get the installation disks to work properly. Now I can print out some afghan patters I found and bookmarked so I can try them out when I finish the three projects I have going right now.

Have a great day and stay healthy.

I woke up a short time ago and went outside on the deck to have a smoke. It's 52 degrees outside but very calm and seems almost balmy. The dog next door was having a barking contest with another big dog in the distance somewhere but I didn't hear him until I walked outside. I sat down at the table outside and.....THE STARS!!!

Its been such a long time since I have seen such a clear sky that I had forgotten how amazing all the stars look. I could easily identify some of the constellations, especially the Big Dipper. I sat there and just filled my eyes with the stars.

Today we almost completely unpacked the final boxes from our moving and spent time organizing the two pantry closets, even moving excess canned goods to the storage out in the garage that my hubby is sharing with me. I doubt I will have to buy ANY canned goods for quite some time, especially baked beans (laughing here). You'd think I have stock in the company ! So the boxes are unpacked but, good grief, the house is a mess! There's still stuff scattered all over the place that we just didn't have the energy to finish putting away. I know what I will be doing in the morning after a couple cups of coffee to get my heart started.

The hubby put up all the *hardware* for installing the new microwave over the stove. This house did not come with one, not being a priority in a semi-rural area home but we are used to having one AND prefer the ones installed over the stove to save counter space. My youngest son will get the almost new countertop one we bought for this house last summer when the hubby stayed here. He's got three kids in grammer school and his wife is attending college so it will be very useful to them. The one they have came from a resale shop and is about 30 years old. Well, maybe not quite that old but OLD. I worry about it and radiation (you read about that everywhere) especially since they live in a single wide mobile home.

I started packing up stuff that I am giving to him to take home that is really excess for me. Stuff like linens, towels, comforters that I never remember having enough of when my four kids were growing up. I have a *thing* about buying pretty (and warm) comforters especially. And, since unpacking, I guess I have to admit that same thing for towels and sheet sets (blushing). I really don't need to keep 10 sets of sheets for one queen size bed. I only have four for the double bed and I think even THAT is a lot for something we only use occasionally. We do have a blow up queen size air mattress to use if we get more than normal company but I think I can spare a set from ours.

As for towels......when I was packing I realized that my decor dictated the colors I had. However, I didn't get rid of any when I changed decor so I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 towels not including beach towels. This does NOT include the towels already installed in the travel trailer. All are of good quality and do not show wear even. Is that considered anal????? I have always either given away good quality and good condition items to Salvation Army, Goodwill or Faith Farm. Later on, I joined Freecycle and they got the benefit of first choice of everything useful we got rid of so I know I didn't *hoard* a lot of things. Just stuff like towels, sheets and blankets, I guess. Well, this time it's going to my favorite charity.....one of my kids that can use it and I like that

I talked to one of my daughters (the one that lives in Louisville) and she raved about buying a mattress topper made by Tempurpedic. She has had a problem for years with a back muscle that spasms on her when she turns in a certain position. She said it cost them about $100 (the queen size bed runs about $1100 on the internet site) so they thought they would try IT first. Well, she says she hasn't slept so well in years and urged me to go to Linens and Things or possibly Bed, Bath and Beyond (call first to see if they carry it she says.....like Mom is an idiot) and try it for MY back problem I am having. It's one of the things we are doing this weekend when the son and grandkids are here.

Speaking of the son.....it seems he is out of a job today. The company he workED for has/had two partners, one being the money partner. The OTHER one took a dislike to a woman in the office who was hardworking, always there and the techs all depended on her. The MONEY partner may or may not like the woman but.....she is good at her job. Today the OTHER partner, against his partners wishes, fired the woman without just cause which makes him open to a lawsuit BTW....

As I understand it, the MONEY partner walked. My son clocked out and left and soon all the techs had left. So now the man is left with no partner and no technicians, all because of a power play. The money partner met up with everyone for a kind of meeting. He is the one who is in possession of everyone's *non-compete* agreements, which he is returning to them and he was on his way to see his attorney. He is going to find them a location, the techs are going to start calling customers and they will just reorganize and reopen as a new entity. The guy even gave my son some cash for the money he will be losing in wages until they can start up. Did I mention in any earlier report that my son is a computer tech that specializes in networking? He DOES have some personal customers he's been taking care of for years and, happily, had just received a phone call from one of them because he said they *had a lot of work for him when he had the time*. So at least I know they won't be starving or hurting for rent.

At first I almost cried when my son was telling me the story because they had just started saving money to buy some land. They want to get a double wide to put on some land and then build a regular home down the road. My son is still young and wants his own business one day. I had hopes for that to happen sooner but my daughter-in-law is finally getting her chance to attend college. It's been her dream for years and she's doing so well that even my son doesn't want that to end for her until she has her degree. So the land thing is a good thing and a double wide better than single wide AND renting. I worked while going to college but that was a different time and place. When you ask my kids, they tell you that they all thought I was supermom at the time. Don't you just love hearing stuff like that when you grow old and decrepit?

Speaking of which, remember really wondering what people truly thought about you from time-to-time? I know I did but it was really just a casual thought. I didn't really care especially. What you saw was what you got. I have, however, found out what at least three of my four sisters think about me NOW. I just haven't decided yet whether it's good or bad. You decide.

One of the three told me that they had decided that I was the nice (misguided???) sister. I always try to give people good motives and the best of intentions. I kind of play devil's advocate a lot of times but I don't think most people do things INTENTIONALLY evil or with the worst possible motives. Misguided....not well-informed.....stubbornly opinionated....get the idea? The only reason I don't know if the fourth sister feels the same way is she is in a rehab center and not *in the loop* so-to-speak. I'm not sure if her opinion would count at this point anyway.

Well, it's 2:30 am and still a balmy 52 outside so I am going to go out and gaze at the stars while I can. I am still fascinated with being able to see a sky so clear that it seems like millions of stars are twinkling just for me to see.
Have a wonderful night and a great day.

We've been in this new house now for darn near a month and we are STILL not finished unpacking. Sheesh! Today I am reorganizing our files in the new file cabinet. Had to make two trips to Staples because, idiot me, I didn't get the right size hanging files the first time. Hubby is at Lowe's to find a microwave that will go in place of the hood over our stove. We have limited counter space so we would rather have one there and give our son the one we bought last summer for this house when it was just hubby staying here while I was working back in Florida.

We also need some additional shelves in our pantries (don't get excited....they are closet size but don't have nearly enough shelf space in them). We're starting out with one additional in each of the two we have but I suspect we will need at least two more. It's hard to break the habit of stockpiling after living so many years in Florida where that is just good sense in case of a hurricane. We are going to try to cut down on the excess......but don't hold your breath.

I'm still in a lot of pain in my back from when I hurt it in Florida just before we moved. I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever get better. I've been trying a lot of OTC stuff...Bayer Back and Body, Advil, Aleve and just plain aspirin (the wonder drug) but nothing seems to really help. I'm beginning to despair. Add the hip problem, which has developed a new wrinkle today, and it just seems like I am doomed. The hip is now starting to *click* when I walk. What the heck does that mean?

I was telling my son some of the things we had for him to take home with him and he decided he had better bring his wife's Jeep with him to hold it all, especially since he will have at least two of the kids with him. I've got sheets, blankets, the microwave (his is so old they figure they get a daily dose of radiation each day as a bonus) and a computer desk chair.

Finally heard from the granddaughter/daughter that was kind of missing in action. No one had heard from her in a while and we were beginning to wonder if she had her baby early but it seems they were moving into their own place and just trying to get settled. The BF has some control issues so we just weren't sure what was going on there. It's one of the reasons I keep my Florida phone number on my cell phone so she won't have to make a long distance call is she can't afford her cell phone any more. Now that she's within five weeks of her due date, she isn't working any more and she always made more money than the BF. Pray for her. All of us that know him know he is NOT a good person. His father thinks she is a good influence on HIM and I just wish I had his optomism. So far, it's not been a beneficial relationship for HER. Some of life's lessons are hard ones.

I told her the next five weeks or so until that baby was born would be the longest weeks of her life. You get sooooooo tired of hauling that load around, especially if the baby is active. I remember not sleeping well and being exhausted until the *spring cleaning* mode kicked in just before I went into labor. Why do women go through that? It happened with each of my four children and was the one way I KNEW I was finally going to have the baby. You just can't help it *grin*.

Well, time to get back to my files. I really had to clean them out. I have some records that go back over 10 years so they need some cleaning out and updating. I hope this time I can keep them more current and organized....but, again, don't hold your breath.

Have a great day. I'm going to just try to live through this pain.

I woke up this morning around 4am and found out I could get carefully out of bed without a pang from my right hip, which has been bothering me for seveal days to the point of incapacitating me. Of course, I kept waking up during the night (I retired at 9pm) to make sure I had the pillow placed between my knees at a proper angle to alleviate any possible stress on that hip. This was the second night and it has apparantly had it's affect. *Grin* I will go carefully but gratefully forward, I hope.

Our next door neighbor, a gorgeous 24 year old blonde country girl, came over bearing more gifts for the hubby. He's taken to mowing her lawn when he does ours and she is grateful because I don't think her boyfriend likes her riding lawn mower. When he DOES come over and do it, he always brings his dog with him and two puppy chocolate labs are a real handful, trust me.

The neighbors dog is a chewer, unfortunately. He was allowed to roam outside while she worked and he had food, water and shade available underneath her deck in back. He seemed to prefer OUR deck, however. And he also liked to dig so we would end up with holes that collected water (and kept the ground soaking) underneath it. Not a problem unless you needed to go into the crawl space for some reason. It's country out here and you can hear cows moo-ing at night. There aren't more than a dozen houses for about a mile around us. Shouldn't be a problem with a young dog, right?

When we came up this time, we found our neighbor had constructed a pen for the dog. She no longer let him roam because some of the few neighbors we DO have started complaining about their garbage being strewn about and pointed right at HIM as the culprit. So, she being young and sensitive, builds a nice enclosure off the side of her deck to leave the dog in during the day while she works. However.....you knew there was going to be a *however*, right?.....the garbage is STILL being scattered so I don't think it was her lab doing it at all. We have some hellacious raccoons hereabouts and I think they are the true villains.

Since the lab was in the habit of chewing the ropes we had used to help stake our young trees, we DO know who was responsible for that. We had to adopt a different approach of support for the trees.....tall stakes and green tape.
When we moved up here on a permanent basis a few weeks back, we called to have a land line telephone installed and, guess what we found??? Yep....both our SATELLITE and TELEPHONE lines to the house had been chewed. At least the installers never heard or saw the dog so we didn't get any static about their having to replace them. And they both now have nice metal covers over them to protect them from any future gnawing. HA ! HA !

I have been UNpacking the boxes I packed from our Florida house, slowly but surely. I thought I had done a good job of paring down on the stuff I really had a LOT of, like linens and towels. We knew we had our furniture down to the basics but I forgot just how much I had until I spent time organizing everything. WOW !!!

I have now compiled a box of stuff I am sending up to my daughter-in-law when my son and grandkids come down next weekend. When our kids were growing up, I never had enough towels (especially not when all four kids were teenagers). My boys were both as bad as the girls were, too, don't believe any different. They just couldn't seem to get the idea that a towel could be used more than once since it dried off a CLEAN body. I DID send the kids off (once they left home) with their own personal comforters and things but I guess I never got over the idea of having plenty of towels and blankets around. I'm sending about five comforters home with my son and grandkids. I think there are about 10 towel sets also. It's almost embarrassing. With just two of us in the house, what the heck was I thinking???? Even if we have company, we will still have plenty to go around. I'm even sending home four sheet sets (each with four matching pillow cases). I could send more but I have to wean myself away from having a big variety for every season (laughing like a loon).

My sister hurt herself the other day and was bleeding uncontrollably. She didn't have any real first aid things around so ended up having to use good old faithful duct tape and folded up tissue. She's been taking a lot of aspirin lately so she knew it was why she wasn't clotting like she would normally and it made me go and check my own first aid supplies. PHEW!!! I have plenty, thank goodness because *I* have been taking a lot of aspirin lately, too. And I am a klutz that often doesn't notice I've hurt myself if I happen to be busy when it happens. BTW.....I found out that the new Shout will even remove OLD blood if you work at it a little bit. I recovered two of my good (Egyptian cotton) sheet sets that my hubby had bled all over. He takes an aspirin every day as part of his post stroke medication and is very thin skinned. He bleeds at the thought, I swear.

Families can be strange when it comes to things like antiques and collectibles. My hubby's family, well, two of the four kids, are in a battle right now and it all boils down to his sister being such a yuppy. She has NO children. She is now actually past the age when she could have them, I believe. They sold their nice ranch and bought a house that is INCREDIBLY huge!! I would have blanched at it when my kids were young. It's like five bedrooms and three baths. I think it's even three stories. The taxes on it alone are $10K a year.

Now she CLAIMED when she bought it, she did so because the first floor would be perfect for her mother to live on.
They usually are traveling or some such thing every time they turn around. The first floor has a master bedroom (so does the top floor), a kitchen, a living room and a *den* they planned on putting a tv in for her. That was almost two years ago. How they could afford the house was anyone's guess since neither of them makes the kind of money that I think they would need to in order to pay $10K in taxes alone. But I digress.......

Two years later, the mother is now living with the daughter (a story in itself). Now the sister/daughter suddenly believes that EVERYTHING that is at the brother's house that she wants should be hers. Not out of any sentimental reason but so she can SELL THEM ON EBAY !!! Is that incredible or what???

There are things that the family inherited from the grandfather. A Victrola thingy with horn to amplify the sound (I kid you not) and some records that were from the early 1900's. Several black powder guns. We have one that belonged to an officer/relative from the civil war but we were given it years ago. We display it proudly but we also happen to like black powder guns and rifles. We own a couple of them and used to shoot them at ranges near our homes. My mother-in-law also had a collection of dishes that you display. Unusual ones like from Russian fairy tales and such. She gave me a set a few years back and gave the ones currently at my brother-in-laws home to his wife a couple years ago. I know she did because she told me so herself.

These are all part of the things the sister wants to claim now to sell on Ebay. She couldn't wait to get her hands on the mother's checking account. The brother, with some foresight, had changed the locks on his doors before he left to come and visit us. Talk about pissed off!!!! The sister was beside herself because she could have gone in and taken all she wanted while they were gone. Instead, now they are in the midst of a battle. The hubby's family is notorious for long-lasting feuds, too. This is not going to be fun for anyone.

Oh, my FIL was a very, very talented craftsman at anything he put his hand to and he actually built a grandfather clock. He gave it to my husband five years ago before he died but my hubby told him, I can wait for it. What he didn't realize is that the sound makes my hubby nuts and he's never been able to sleep through one chiming. He never had ANY intention of removing it from his brothers care and keeping. The sister, however, is insisting that it was HER clock. *sigh* I told hubby.....don't get involved in this. Let the two of them battle it out. The brother wants to keep the stuff, not sell it. The sister just wants the money she thinks she can get from it all. It will become apparant to the people SHE is trying to impress just who is in the right here.

So, love your family while you may, forgive them their tresspasses when possible and have a great day!

I just realized that I hadn't brought the landline phone thing up to date. On Tuesday afternoon, a CWA employee in a Bell Telephone truck showed up with a cherry picker to hook up the phone for us. I was ecstatic!

He got the main line attached to the pole, then came to the house to tell me he was going to wire up the outside line of the house. After about 45 minutes, he told hubby that he was going to run *down the road* and would call us to let us know the line was working. Took about a half hour and the phone actually rang. However, there was a kind of electronic *buzz* to it and I told the tech about it. He did a couple things and told me he would work on it and call me back...

An HOUR later, he finally called but...no electronic buzz. I am happy, happy, happy. And we have the same number they told me we would have three weeks ago. Now THAT is a surprise. I figured it would change just like the time frame did (HA HA HA).

So now we are real residents of Alabama. **Sigh** I am not sure that is a bonus or not. There is some real reason for people having the view of just where this state is in the modern time frame. We are just becoming aware of it. But I haven't changed my mind about the open, friendly people here. I find them much more amenable than the people we were finding in Florida (mostly new residents).

Today I filled prescriptions, bought some sweet pepper plants and am planning my garden out. I'm looking forward to finding out what insects and other problems we will experience here in Alabama as opposed to Florida. I already know they have more Japanese bettles than we did down there so am consulting with nursery people here on the most preferred ways to handle THAT problem. It's gonna be ...... an experience. **Grin**

Have a great day!

Many people have never heard of nor listened to Glenn Beck. If you have Directv, he is on Channel 204 at 6 and 8 pm Central Time (make your own adjustments). My hubby discovered him last summer after we bought our Alabama house that we THOUGHT would be a summer house and have now moved into on a permanent basis from pricey Florida (after almost 40 years of living there....*sigh*).

As I started to bring out, hubby introduced me to his rhetoric (and it IS unique among talk show hosts....watch it and see for yourself) BTW.....on DishTV, he is on Channel 202, I believe.

Today he discussed the totally insensible things going on with #1=OUR border guards that were doing their job and ended up in PRISON on the testimony of a drug lord and people who were being smuggled into our country illegally. They attempted to shoot a tire, the bullets richocheted and hit a woman and this drug dealer, as I recall (don't quote me on this but he refused treatment at a hospital in order to complete his delivery). Now get this.....the poor traumitized people were each given a $10,000. cash settlement as well as a Social Security card, a cell phone and I forget how many other amenitiies and OUR BORDER guards are in PRISON for doing their jobs !!!!!!!! I kid you not.

Write to your senator, tell him to sign the petition for at least a senatorial pardon (but it IS asking the President to give these men a full pardon because it is a true miscarriage of justice). They had been found innocent in the state of TExas of the attempted MURDER charge that some jerk had instituted against them (for a tire????) in the State of Texas but the FBI got involved and the new state and jury did not hear a lot of the evidence. AFTER the fact, the jurors said if they had heard ALL of the evidence, they would NEVER HAVE convicted the men.

Also, I am sure everyone has seen the TV commercials for Dog, the Bounty Hunter. He is not only an excellent bounty hunter but is also very aware of teh laws and statutes of the countries they sometimes have to operate within. He had a recent case where the Max Factor heir was in Mexico to avoid prison for his conviction ( in absentia, since he HAD left the country before his trial) for 86 rapes.

Dog and his people found him, enlisted a local cop to arrest him and, because of certain laws, they were arrested at the same time for (forgive me, but I don't remember the EXACT term), prevention (?) of liberty, which is a minor charge in Mexico and requires a minor bail of something like $150. He was told by all involved that they would notify him when the charge was *dismissed* (it was considered that minor and they had presented a copy of the FBI Most Wanted poster showing that the Max Factor heir was as good as an escaped prisoner since he was a CONVICTED felon who should have been in prison in the USA.

Anyway, suddenly there is a warrant for Dog, his son and two other associates for KIDNAPPING. Now, if he and they had been considered kidnappers, there is NO BAIL for that in Mexico. It is considered a horrible crime. This did NOT occur. Dog's wife remembers this one cop in Mexico putting the word *kidnapped* in parenthesis'* since he said several cops reading it didn't understand the idea of prevention of liberty. By the time the warrant reached the US of A Marshall's office, Dog was charged with kidnapping !!!!!

Now....since they utilized the local cops, the cop actually arrested the individual, who *kidnapped* who?????? AND...by knowledge of Mexico[s own laws, how were they ever allolwed bail in the first place??? It is the only reason the marshall's have not taken Dog into custody so far. So.....the question is this? How come several days AFTER the warrant for Dog was transmitted to the US, 1 0.....count this TEN, drug lords under arrest here in the USA were released to Mexico??????

Who in the hell is Bush in bed with there??????? I am NOT a Dog fan. I seldom catch his program but I caught it once or twice and found out he is very, very careful to follow the laws of the country he has entered when not in the US. He also is very aware of letting local law enforcement know what he is doing and why. So....it's very obvious to me that something is really, really wrong with our justice system lately. I am very concerned. After all, if it can happen to prominent people, or people just doing the job they were hired to do, what does that mean for the rest of us????

Think about it.....and get in touch with your local representative in the House and Senate. Our rights are being eroded and we are watchng it happen. Don't sit there and let it. Take action. Get vocal. Or we may very well be like the Jews in Germany. We wake up one day and say **What the hell happened???? **

Have a great day.

We were expecting company (the Beast's brother and his wife) but not until sometime late on Tuesday from what we had been told. Imagine my surprise when the brother calls Tuesday morning around 9am to tell me they are about 5 miles away!!!

I gave him instructions on how to get to the house from the main drag through town and told him I wouldn't tell the Beast they were here already but yelled at him for leaving on Monday and driving all night. I thought the beast would wet his drawers when the brother showed up. It was a real picture to see his face.

One thing I will say about the brother as a guest....he's a butcher by trade and always comes bearing gifts of meat. This time he brought a nice ham, a leg of lamb, an incredible beef roast, a boneless pork roast and a corned beef brisket.

The next couple days were a bit on the hectic side with them wanting to see the area and having their four-month-old German Shepherd puppy with them. I had forgotten about her coming with them. They *inherited* her after hearing that she might have to be put down as a six week old puppy because a rotten little kid stomped on her and caused some incredible internal damage, including a kidney and damaged womb. Betty is too tender hearted for words but the vet has done a good job and so has Betty in the care of Heidi. For all that Heidi has been through, she's very much a normal puppy, complete with playfulness and love of water. We had a real thunder and lightning storm here on Tuesday night and she discovered each and every puddle in the neighborhood. I was just glad it was warm enough to use the hose on her and let her stay on the deck to dry out afterwards.

Today we woke up around 5:30 am to 33 degree weather. It was *bracing* to say the least. And, today, the three of them (I get to stay here because I am still recovering from my back injury and can't ride in the Beast's truck) left for the final trip to the Florida house. I will finally get all the rest of my furniture, dishes and other stuff here. I am trying to get what is already here organized while they are gone to make it easier to unpack the rest of the things they will bring. Jim and Betty are going to rent a trailer one-way to Chicago to take back the leather living room set we have because it is too big and bulky for this house. It's a nice set, very comfortable and *overstuffed* so you kind of sink into it but...huge for a house that's half the size of the one it's in right now. Jim and Betty have a nice size family room it will go perfectly in.

The Beast came down with a cold on Wednesday morning and was just miserable. I babied him a bit, gave him either tea or hot chocolate, depending on his mood but he's determined to get this trip over and done. I packed up his bag, gave him a bag of nibbling goodies for the drive and made sure he ate before he left. By 8 am, they were on the road. I talked to my sister online for a bit, went and sat in a nice hot bath because my back was killing me and then went back to bed for a couple hours....*grin*. It was wonderful!!!

It's nice out right now...probably got up into the 60's somewhere but it will be even colder tonight. I will probably sleep on the couch, watch tv and just *chill* so-to-speak. I won't have much of a chance once they get back so I will baby myself and my back until then. I expect them back on Sunday evening at the earliest. They plan on driving down to our old house in one day (today) but will stop for the night on the way back. The Beast will be dragging a trailer loaded to the top and so will Jim and that will make the trip much longer because they won't be able to speed. Heck, due to the construction that has been going on for YEARS in Georgia, they won't even be able to drive the normal 70 mph most highways have posted. Been there...drove that.

One last bit of news. The monday after we got here, I called about getting a landline phone put in for us. Our local provider is MCI and, let me tell you, they are NOT a part of THIS century. First they tell me it can take up to two weeks to get one turned on for me. Okay...I can almost understand that. This IS a new development and a new house. However, they say here'a s #, call us after 10 days if you haven't heard from us to check on when you will get service. So...I do that. What do I hear on the recording they all seem to have.....? Now it is saying it can take up to 60 DAYS to get new service!

BUT....then the operator tells me that I should be receiving a letter asking for a $76. deposit and it will take about two weeks after the deposit is received. Now I am having a fit! I ask to talk to a supervisor. After discussing the fact that I had MCI service in Florida and was told there that there would be NO PROBLEM in getting MCI service HERE, I was finally told (after they supposedly checked it out) that the deposit requirement was waived. However, we were talking about another two weeks before we would have service. I was floored.

I told the operator that we would have to have a technician scheduled to come to the house because the phone lines outside were not attached to anything...they were just hanging there. No junction block..nothing. Oh, no problem. After the service was *turned on* (what the hell do they mean by that if the wires aren't going anywhere?????), a technician would be dispatched. Is this for real????

This morning, after the Beast had already left, I received a call from MCI to tell me that I would have my service on Tuesday of next week. I just thanked the gal and hung up. I don't really know what the heck they mean by that and won't until Tuesday actually comes I guess. I'll let you know.

BTW....the letter I was supposed to be receiving about the deposit requirement??? It STILL hasn't shown up and it was supposed to already be *in transit* when I spoke with them on Tuesday. HA HA HA

Have a great day.

We've been here in our Alabama home now for almost a week. The bad news is: I picked up a head cold somewhere and my nose is constantly running. I'm beginning to feel like a cartoon with a nose that objects every time I pick up a tissue. I MUST buy some Puffs with lotion tomorrow. They really are gentle on the nose (laughing here)

I am finally getting some relief from pain. I hurt my back two days before we were leaving. The pills the emergency room doctor gave me (an anti-inflammatory one and a muscle relaxer) actually started working. And the pain pill my sister sent me helped there too. Thanks Sis. One a day gives me almost 8 hours of relief.

The beast was so happy that I was feeling better that he started carting in all the packed boxes we had and I unpacked and put things away. The one thing I really wanted to remember to bring (hangars), I forgot so I have a bunch of the Beast's jeans sitting in a pile. They are the only things NOT put away. I'll make a run to Dollar General tomorrow morning and buy some (sigh). Then I can finish organizing the closets.

We are getting company on Tuesday. The Beast's brother and his wife will be showing up around dinner time. The menu will be spaggetti and garlic bread (Texas toast style) because it's easy. I may even bake a cake because the two brothers are sweeteaters, unlike his wife and myself.

Our next door neighbor is a young gal who is a physical therapist at our local hospital. Last summer she was given a chocolate lab. Nice looking dog but we discovered he chews. She was leaving him out all day while she works but some of the neighbors complained because their garbage was getting strewn all over. She didn't know about the chewing (he chewed our telephone lines outside as well as oursatellite lines). She built a type of pen for him alongside the deck out back of the house. It gives him shade when he needs it and protection from the worst weather. I feel kind of bad for him, though, because labs seem to need company.

She went to all the trouble and expense and guess what? The neighbors garbage wasn't her dog's fault at all. It is STILL being strewn all over (laughing like a lunatic). Must be some badass raccoons around here.

The weather has been perfect here all week. Cool enough at night to sleep well and warm enough during the day to do outdoor chores. The Beast and his John Deere have been busy doing the Weed & Feed thing.

We found out our yard is full of wild onions. I love the smell of fresh mown grass but all I could smell was onion. I thought my smeller was out of wack. I went and pulled up some of the *tops* that reminded me of my green onions and found out my smeller was working just fine. I just wonder now if the Weed & Feed will get rid of them or if I will have several years of pulling onion starts out of our lawn.

One of our neighbors here is a gentleman from the same exact area of Florida that we left. He bought his house a few months before we bought ours. He's got it on the market now because he says it's just TOO quiet here. He's used to living in a mobile home park that had lots of activities going on (card games, bingo, craft classes, etc.) and he misses that. He's not moving back to Port Charlotte but into an area near his daughter and grandkids. C'est la vie. There are lots of things you can do like that here also but they aren't *in your back yard* so-to-speak. If you don't have a hobby and are too lazy to get into the car and go meet people, I'm glad he's got someplace that will make him happy in mind.

I woke up (it's the middle of the night) feeling wide awake and thirsty. I got myself some juice and decided to bring my blog up to speed. I'd be sitting outside on the deck but it's raining out. Not a hard rain but a nice gentle one. Our trees need it so I have no complaints there. The yard looks so much nicer since we got here and it got some attention. I swear the trees know the Beast is back because they all started blooming after we got here and they were watered. The magnolia trees surprised me because they didn't have anything on them at all and the very next day it had both blossoms and leaves. Not big leaves but little ones all over the trees. You can almost see them grow.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we are making it OUR official day of rest. I only intend to get all the stuff that should be in our camper/trailer out of the cabinets in the house and ready to put back into the trailer. I measured our kitchen table area and discovered that we won't be able to bring my rattan dining table and chairs from the old house. It's too big so I am stuck for a while with the *temporary* set the Beast bought last summer. One nice thing, though, is the table cloth my sister made for me fits it beautifully. One day I WILL take a pic of it, Sis, honest!!!

The Beast doesn't have to make up any projects for himself for a while. He's going to have to put up a couple more shelves for me in my pantry closets (I have two) and another one in my linen closet. He's also got to lower two in the master bedroom walk-in closet. I'd like to meet the guy who installed the top shelves in there. He must be 8 foot tall.
I showed the Beast that I would never be able to use it without having a small ladder and that is ridiculous.

Have I ever mentioned I have a blanket/comforter fetish? I was told that a long time ago but didn't believe it until this move. I know WHY though. As a kid, we lived in an apartment that didn't have central heat. We actually got ice INSIDE our windows. I hated being cold and would often wake up because one of the sisters I shared a bed with would roll up in the covers and leave me out in the cold almost literally. I used to get up and check on all the little kids to make sure they were covered up. We just never seemed to have a lot of blankets. I buy a comforter at the drop of a hat. I counted how many I have here and was shocked to find out I own one down comforter, 8 regular comforters and six blankets. OMG, and I think we have something like 12 pillows! I'm all set for winter, that's for sure. Oh, and I sent away for an electric blanket with dual controls (blushing). Did I mention I hate getting into a cold bed?

Well, it's almost 5 a.m. here and I should lay down and try to get a little more rest. I can't hear the Beast snoring any more so he's not sleeping deeply because I'm not in bed with him.

Have a nice day everyone.