Spell Check Fixed!!!

Woo Hoo — spell check on Blogger has been fixed!!! The spell check button for posts on blogger has been unusable for quite a while now — it’s been very frustrating for someone who really depends on spell check (me!!!). But, it is fixed now, so I am happy!!!!

I want comments!!!!

What do I have to do to get people to comment on my posts???? I had a record # of hits yesterday – 30 – in one day!!! And not one single comment!!! ;-(

I know my posts aren’t terribly interesting or thought provoking, but there must be SOMEONE who has an opinion that is worthy of telling me about!!!

So – what do I need to do? Pay you? OK, then – every comment to this or any other post on this blog dated today or tomorrow (Sat / Sun – Feb 23/24) will be considered for a $100 cash prize!!!

Bring on the comments!!! Let’s see how many comments I get this weekend…………show me you’re out there!!!

Thoughts for Thursday….

Here are my thoughts for today:

Mom is out of the hospital and in rehab as of today — she’s in a LOT of pain and swollen pretty bad, but the doc and PT folks all say she is doing really well……

I did a “career day” thing at East Lee Middle School today — the kids were GREAT!!! They had a list of required questions, so there wasn’t a formal presentation. I took a basket of Chapstick (Wyeth makes Chapstick at our Richmond, VA location) and a couple baskets of candy (1 w/ M&Ms and 1 w/ Hershey’s Kisses). The ones who came by my table were really interested in hearing about what it would take to have a career in the BioTech industry – they asked their questions, I signed their sheets, and they got Chapstick and candy!!! I really enjoyed myself!

When Jon Owens posted his blog about the Lottery Challenge, I said that he had sparked my interest in scratch offs and that I was going to start getting them again…….well, I never did!!! When I would think about them, I didn’t have the time to go into a convenience store to get them – when I had the time, I wouldn’t think about them…………..and so on!!! Well, today, on my way to the career day event, I stopped at a convenience store to buy a bottle of water – while I was there, I thought about the scratch offs – I thought “wow – this must be my lucky day – I am thinking about them at the right time, I started a new job this week, I had enough cash to get enough to make it worth the effort, and I was on my way to help students learn about new career potentials — it was perfect!!! So – I bought 20 $1.00 “2 for the Dough” cards — that made a $20.00 investment!!! I left them in my purse and thought about winning all day while I did the career day thing and then while I was at work after lunch! When I got home, I took them out and slowly scratched off one at a time, building the anticipation……………I ended up with 1 card that won $3.00 and 3 cards that won $1.00 each — so, I ended up winning $6.00 total…………….since my investment was $20.00, that left me $14.00 in the hole!!!! So:
  • Cost of 20 scratch off cards: $20.00
  • Winning cards: $6.00
  • Net loss: $14.00
  • Fun factor (1-10 scale): 6 (started out at 10 and went down the more frustrated I got!)
  • Knowing I have $6.00 worth of cards to cash in for more fun: PRICELESS!

I’m exhausted — it’s been a wild week — I think I’m heading to bed early tonight!

Another one bites the dust!

Well, I am giving up on any hope of a future for yet another pretty comforter!!! I am also giving up on ever being able to own a pretty comforter!!! Yep, Megan has destroyed my usual “glass is half full” outlook on this subject – totally!!!

Megan has a “thing” for anything that has batting, fiber filling, or foam filling……..she HAS to rip it open and pull out the stuffing!!! I went through SEVERAL comforters, pillows, lawn furniture pads, dog beds, and even a living room chair and couch in the first year she was here – do you know how iritating it is to find any one of these items in shreds all over a room or the back yard???? But – she’s been a LOT better about it in the past several months. So, I broke down and bought a new comforter just before Christmas (I MUCH prefer a comforter over a blanket or quilt – it just feels so much cozier!!) – a really pretty rusty gold one that matched a set of sheets I have perfectly and looks so rich and cozy and felt GREAT!!!! I really loved that comforter!!!

The comforter went untouched for several weeks – I thought it was going to survive the rath of Megan-stein!! Then, in the wee hours one morning I heard the tell tale sound of fiber being ripped through a small hole and felt the blanket being tugged! I jolted up and yelled “Megan, stop that you bad girl!!!!” She did immediately stop – but the damage was done! There was a small hole in one of the bottom corners and there was a pile of batting on the end of the bed, the bench at the foot of the bed, and on the floor that, when scooped together, was larger than a basketball!!!! That, actually was a small amount – I caught her in time!!! After I put her and her sisters outside to do their business, I stuffed the batting back in through the small hole and stitched it up!

I saved the comforter! But, once Megan finds that there is fun inside a comforter, there is no stopping her! About once a week, I had to put large amounts of batting back in the comforter and stitch up a hole! One evening, I forgot to shut the bedroom door and was surprised about how quiet Megan was – she wasn’t alseep beside me and wasn’t outside – so I went to look for her and found her in the bedroom in a MOUNTAIN of fluffy white batting!!!! Once I composed myself and gathered all the batting into one pile, I discovered that she had ripped open SEVERAL holes and pulled the batting out from several locations around the perimeter of the comforter! Apparently, she got all she could reach in and get from one hole, so instead of giving up, she just opened up another spot to get more and kept going until she was “caught”!!! I thought it was beyond repair — BUT — I did get all the batting back in and stitched up the holes!!! It was a little lumpier than it was before and the decorative roping around the edges was destroyed in several places, but it was OK!

This morning, I was awaken by that sound of batting being pulled through a hole again. She must have been awake and at it for quite a while before it woke me up — must be the full moon we had last night! There were several holes along one area and a LOT of batting piled up all over the place!!!! I lost it — I yelled at her to stop and put her outside — then, I put the batting back in the comforter, folded it up, and put it in the guest room!!!! I will go out tonight and buy a replacement that has NO fiber filling and the pretty comforter will stay put away until such time as I feel it is safe to bring it back out! This one received the most first aid I have EVER given anything that Megan has chewed up — I typically don’t go to this much trouble to save them — but I really LIKED this one!!!! Although I put the batting back in, I didn’t stitch up the holes. I will decide if I think it is worth the effort again or not later!

This season’s "Dancers" announced!!!

Woo hoo — the new season of Dancing With The Stars will start on March 17th!!! This season’s dancers have been announced:

Priscilla Presley
Kristi Yamaguchi
Adam Corolla
Marlee Matlin
Shannon Elizabeth
Steve Guttenberg
Monica Seles
Penn Jillette
Mario
Jayson Taylor
Cristian De La Fuenta
Marissa Jaret Winokur

My early predictions:

Adam Corolla will be the first to go — no way he’ll take it seriously and will ham it up right off the bat and won’t last!

Kristi Yamaguchi has a good chance of lasting a long time and may just go all the way — her skating career will help her significantly and her popularity will make her a “fan favorite”!

I can’t wait to find out if I’m right or not!

I’ve been crowned….

Bow, all you devoted subjects, for I have been crowned the Queen of………….uumm — oh, yeah, sorry — I GOT a crown – on my tooth – I wasn’t “crowned” —- I got confused — must have been the novocaine side effects!!!! ha-ha

You know what bugs me most about novocaine wearing off???? It is when my chin starts to itch, but I can’t scratch it cause the itching is on the inside and the outside is still numb and huge feeling and I can’t feel myself scratching the itch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Anyway – all the novocaine is wore off now and my face is back to normal. I have a temporary cap on and it tastes kinda metally, but it doesn’t ache – which is more than I can say for BEFORE I went to the dentist this morning……..

And now the healing begins….

My Mom is in her room now — it’s all over but the healing! Of course, recovery is a long, hard road for surgery of this kind, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for her now!!! I talked to my brother and he said her vital signs are all strong and she is in la-la land with the pain meds they have her on. He said the surgery took less time than expected and the Doctor said it went very well — no problems at all!!! Tomorrow, they will get her up on her feet and start getting her used to using her new hip!

After she decided to get the surgery to ease the intense pain she was in, we have been talking about all the things we can do together when she gets her new hip and gets through the healing process!!! I’ll just be happy to know she can get around easier and isn’t in constant pain!!!! But – if we start making some plans to be together more, that will be icing on the cake!!!

Thanks to those who sent well wishes via email, phone, or posts here – I really appreciated you thinking of her today!

D-Day

D-Day — that’s what my Mom is calling today — the day she goes in for total hip replacement surgery!!!

She’s 800+ miles away from me today, so I could use your help — please keep her in your thoughts and prayers today!

We decided that there wasn’t anything I could do sitting in the hospital watching her go through recovery and rehab, so I will plan a trip up later when I CAN help —- BUT — what I didn’t take into consideration was how sick to my stomach I was going to be sitting here in NC worrying about it!!! The operation isn’t even scheduled until later this afternoon and she doesn’t even need to be at the hospital until around noon, but I am already upset and have thrown up twice!!!! I’ll be on pins and needles until my brother calls me this evening when she’s out of surgery and in her room!!!

My Dream

I had a wild dream this morning and wanted to be sure to get it down so I could remember it……

I dreamed that the girls were outside barking and going crazy and I went out to see what was driving them nuts. I discovered that there was a man lounging on some lawn furniture with a drink in the yard that borders my back yard. He was just sitting there sipping on his drink, not at all phased by the dogs barking at the fence trying to get his attention. I went to the fence and got the girls to settle down and said “hello” to the man. He turned around and said “hello” back and I saw that it was Jack Nicholson!!!! I became very excited that Jack Nicholson was my new neighbor, but I turned my back to him and composed myself. I told the girls that I didn’t want him to think that he had a crazed stalking fan as a neighbor. Once composed, I turned back around and welcomed him to the neighborhood and introduced myself.

When I went back in the house, the doorbell rang. It was Katherine Hepburn and a gentleman I didn’t recognize!!! I was happy to see her and greeted her like I would a dear friend that I hadn’t seen in a long time – I gave her a hug and said “Katherine, what a wonderful surprise! How are you?” I invited her in and we sat down for some tea and cookies. She began to tell me that she has pulled together a bunch of “us Grandmas”, as she called them, to put on a special show to benefit Communities In Schools of Lee County – she commented about how she knew I was involved with that organization and wanted to help us with our fund raising. She told me all about the “revival” – she had a long list of great singers, dancers, and actors from the 1940s and 1950s who would perform in a variety type show of songs, dance, and theatrical readings! I was really getting excited!!! The catch, however, was that it had to be put on THAT night!!! It was the only opportunity she had to get them all together!!! She needed my help in finding a location and advertising it. I told her that the Temple Theater would be a GREAT place to do it, but that they already had a show that night so it wasn’t available. I then thought about the Civic Center, but they are usually booked up way in advance, so we marked it off the list. Then, we decided that having it at one of the school auditoriums would be brilliant — so, I put her in touch with a good friend of mine, Sharon, at the Central Office so she could start finding out how we go about securing one of the auditoriums while I contacted the Office Max, Billy Liggett, Wayne Staton, and Margaret Murchison for ideas on how we get the word out to everyone in town as quickly as possible!!!

Later that day, we were all sitting on my patio (my new neighbor Jack, Katherine, her friend, Sharon, Billy, Wayne, Margaret, Alison from CIS, my girls, and Jack’s dogs) working out the details and getting ready for the revival ——– then, I woke up!!!! The girls were hounding me to get up cause it was breakfast time!!!! They broke my concentration and I lost the dream — I’ll never know how wonderful the show was that Katherine Hepburn brought to Sanford to raise money for Communities In Schools!!!! Uugghh!!!!

Massages and a Movie Review – "Definitely, Maybe"

Back in January, I made an appointment for a Natural Balance Spa Package at Natural Balance Medical Spa. I didn’t know at the time that the appt would end up being a celebratory gift to myself on the day that my promotion became effective! So, it was extra special. I got to Natural Balance a little before 9:00 and was greeted by my dear friend, Holly Riley. My services started with a one hour facial that left me totally relaxed and my face feeling like silk! Then, the next part of the package was a one hour massage! I as already relaxed, so the massage left me practically comatose – it was so wonderful…….. The last part of the package was a half hour foot reflexology treatment — OMG — fabulous!!! When I finally finished all the services, I was so relaxed that I could barely get off the table!!! I left feeling like a limp dish rag – I do believe that if I let myself go, I would have just slinked to the ground in a puddle!!!! ha-ha-ha It was an amazing morning!!!!

After I collected myself and recovered from my mushy sensations, I had lunch at Myra’s Kitchen on Colon Road and had a delicious hamburger and corn nuggets.

I saw the 3:00 show of “Definitely, Maybe” at the Spring Lane Cinemas to top off the day. It was really good — a little slow in spots, but there are very few movies that don’t have some downfalls. This was the story of a man who was going through a divorce and his young daughter wanted to know the story of how he ended up with her mother and whether or not he dated other women before he got married. So, he makes an adventure out of it by telling her all about the serious loves of his life, but by changing the names and some of the details so that she wouldn’t know which one was her mother. She really got into trying to guess which one was her mother and following his relationships. The daughter finds out a lot about her parents and the father takes a close look at himself and the one that got away. It was charming and endearing! I admit, the ending was a little sappy – but, I like sappy!!! ha-ha And, I don’t think it was so sappy that it would be a turn off for those who don’t care for sappy! So – this one was a WINNER!!!
  • Will I add this one to my DVD collection? Definitely, Maybe!!!
  • Was I sorry I spent the time and $$ on it? Definitely, NOT!!!
  • Did I enjoy it? ABSOLUTELY YES!!!

I rate this one a BIG THUMBS UP – or – an A-

Favorite Line: The little girl learned a lot about her Dad – in this line, she was talking to him and said: “I hate that you used to smoke and drink and were such a slut. But, I love you anyway!”