~ Trick or Treat!! ~

I haven't heard 'Monster Mash' yet this year which is a true sign of Halloween for me. Just like I have to hear 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer' as a true sign of Christmas. But then again, I don't listen to the radio much so that could be why. When I listen to musics it is CDs and I practice singing so I only use the radio the few times I'm driving around town for something.

I will be on dog duty tonight for sure, while hubby hands out candy to the handful of kids we get Trick-or-Treating around here. We don't have that many young families in the neighborhood, but we have plenty of candy. That's okay - more for us! :)

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I am up to 23 Yoplait pink lids! Not bad considering I'm eating all these yogurts myself.

I'm off to start work again for the weekend. It is a chilly 46 out right now but it is suppose to get up to the low 70's. Still haven't turned the heat on yet.

Happy Halloween All !

Dentist day..

Yesterday was my dentist appointment for a cleaning and then a filling. I haven't had my teeth cleaned by a dental hygienist for 3 years. The last time I had it done which was there, they used a probing instrument to see how bad my gums were and I remember that hurting, especially around my front tooth crowns (a result of a dog knocking out my tooth about 20 years ago). That is what kept me from coming back 'in 6 months', okay...more like 3 years. ;-)

A few months ago I had to face my hesitation about going to the dentist when I broke part of a tooth that had a huge filling in it, that left what was there a jagged hazard which couldn't be ignored. I had that crown taken care of and decided to bite the bullet and start going regularly again. So I endured a rather lengthy teeth cleaning yesterday. My teeth weren't as bad as they could have been. I do brush and floss every day so that helped. Then it was time to get the filling. I had gotten a back to back appointment so that I didn't have to go through the angst of another lurking dental appointment.

The filling didn't go so badly as I have a very skilled dentist. What I find interesting is that he drills the enamel in order to put the filling in, then puts the filling material in, lets it harden and then DRILLS again to shape it. That is the annoying part. Drilling twice! The sound of that shrill noise echoing inside my head is unnerving!

I left there with my appointment card in hand. May 11th. Phew...I'm good for another 6 months. By then I should have enough courage built up to do it again.

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Update on Shelby: Her thyroid test came back normal. I am taking her in this afternoon to get her blood sugar level tested since the first time she's been on insulin. Hope there is some improvement!

Gotta get to work...

Nice weekend....but sick furkid..

Had a great weekend with the youngest! We treated her boyfriend to dinner with us at our favorite restaurant, Saltgrass. We got a little shopping done on Saturday too and she and I had a nice brunch at IHOP on Sunday. It was suppose to be breakfast but we had to wait a while to get seated and after we ate I wasn't hungry until dinner so I consider that brunch. She called me when she got back to college which always makes me feel better. I can relax after I get that call. Made a new recipe for dinner Sunday night - Crab and Lobster cakes. Turned out very well. Hub said they were better than a restaurant~!

On a serious note, got a call from the vet about the blood tests Friday. Shelby (pictured here) may have several things wrong with her. Her blood sugar was over 500 and there was another level that was over 2000! I don't recall what that was but it normally is below 200. We have to give her insulin shots twice a day now and get her tested. Just like a person, have to find out what the correct level is for her. He had me practice the syringe on Shelby which I did, but hub said he'd give her the shots, which I'm happy about. For the most part he will, but I will do it once in a while so that I can do it if he is not around.

Once we get that under control, he can try to find out what else may be wrong. She is just the sweetest thing and has not had it real easy. We adopted her from a rescue in Atlanta after a couple didn't want her anymore after they had a baby. We were so happy to welcome her into our home! A loose dog attacked her in our old neighborhood and she had some bad puncture wounds. She recovered fine from that, but it just seems she started aging more rapidly than normal after that. She has a few other ailments already, including losing her sight which seem to be getting worse. She's got spirit though and so we're keeping our fingers crossed her health will improve and she will gain some weight!

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Still managed to not turn on the heat. It is suppose to get down in the upper 40's tonight though so depending on how cold it is tomorrow morning I may be turning it on a bit then. We'll see. It is my work out day so I will warm up pretty quickly doing that and of course there is hot coffee. :)

Weekend..

I've been busy working all the time and see it has been a few days since I blogged. My youngest is home this weekend so I am not working very much this weekend - time to visit! :) I asked her to bring home Twilight so that we can get warmed up for New Moon when it comes out next month. It looks like it is going to be a great movie!

Took one of the furkids, Shelby to the vet today. She is losing weight and has dropped nearly 4 pounds since a few months ago. Blood tests are being done. She may have the canine type of diabetes. She is 9+ years old which to me really isn't that old but she has been getting some ailments rather early including what looks like cataracts and some other issues. Hopefully this will be something that can be treated so that she isn't ready to leave me yet. Fingers crossed!

It is getting colder at night but so far we haven't turned the heat on. I'm trying to hold out until November. I don't know why, just seems like a challenge. :) We'll see how it goes. It has been getting up to the low 70's during the day so as long as I can wait until it warms up, it isn't too bad.

Off to have a good weekend!

Wet Wednesday...

Even though we are still officially in a drought it has been raining alot lately. It is coming down at a pretty steady clip right now. It sure is nice having a green back yard again as opposed to cracked earth!

Oh...I got the results of my mammo and bone density, both are normal. I got a call today from my doctor's office about the bone density test. I already got a letter from the radiologists office 2 days ago with the results though. I guess I should have been impressed that the doctors office called me also and normally I might be, but I asked them about my pap results (as they did not call me back last week when I asked). She put me on hold for what seems like forever, then came on and said she was having the results faxed to her. She'd call me back in 5 minutes. Guess what? No call. That's it. This is twice I've tried to get results of my pap and they don't call me. So I am done with that doctor. I don't need to think about finding another one for another year so I'll worry about that then.

Good news! My youngest is coming home this weekend. Yea!!! Looking forward to that. It will be nice seeing her again.

As I'm blogging I'm watching TV. I'm watching GLEE which I actually really like. I was in every singing group I could be in during high school, so I can relate ,and the music/singing/dancing in it is really entertaining to me. Hopefully the show will last more than one season. :)

Dog......gone...

Today I found out that my BIL's dog died last night. They noticed that she wasn't hungry in the evening and by 11:00PM not responding very much. They decided to just let nature take its course and then heard her making noise like she was in pain around 2:30AM at which point they brought her into their garage and there she stayed until her last breath a few hours later. It made me so very sad that they chose not to take her to a vet hospital to end her suffering. Dogs are not people. They cannot tell us they are in agonizing pain, but it doesn't lessen the fact that they are in pain!. Sure it would have been inconvenient and cost money, but we are talking about easing the pain of a loyal pet that has shared 13 years of its life with them with unconditional love!

Folks who do not really love dogs, really should not have them in my opinion. This dog of his lived to be 13 despite being confined to living out doors. Oh she was fed, and taken to the vet for normal appointments and such. But she was not allowed in their house, ever. I am not sure about whether she was allowed in the house before their new house was built several years ago, but she was not allowed in once that was built.

Many people think there is nothing wrong with leaving a dog out doors all the time. They stick a shelter or dog house out there if the dog is lucky and that's that. Of course a dog cannot complain to them, so they think this is fine.

Domesticated dogs are not meant to live outdoors. They are meant to be loved, treated like one of the family and share lives with their owners inside their house as well as out. They get bored, lonely, even can get depressed being confined to the back yard.

When I heard the news this morning I started tearing up and said out loud "Sasha, go find Reebok, Misty and Lady. They'll love to play with you". I also wanted to ask my BIL to not get another dog, please.

Having a dog live indoors does mean being prepared to have some things chewed up that you'd rather not have chewed; risking 'accidents' that need to be cleaned up on what used to be new carpet; giving up some space on your favorite couch; and depending on the breed, finding dog hair in places you never dreamed it could end up.

But at the same time, you have that loving face looking up at you when its feeding time, playing tug the sock....oops I mean the doggy toy, barking at strangers that are near the house as your own personal security alarm, and giving doggy kisses whenever you need them. I am one of those people. A true dog lover. I have 6 of them. Yes that is a lot and at times they raise a ruckus! But you know what?...I love each and every one of them and am so happy that I have a large family! :)

Daylight fading...

I miss the daylight!...That is one of the many things I love about the summer season, the fact that it stays light out until after 9:00PM. It is so nice being able to feed the dogs, make dinner, do the dishes, and still be able to sit on the back porch and watch the sun as it slowly sets below the horizon.

Now that it is October, it is nearly dark by the time I am starting the dishes. That's depressing. I'll deal with it as I do every year about this time and just be glad at least that I don't have to get even further depressed about a harsh winter coming, now that I'm no longer living in eastern Pennsylvania. I am so glad that I do not have to face a white-knuckling drive on ice anytime soon! :)

I did my grocery shopping today for the next 3 weeks again. I went ahead and purchased 2 more reusable grocery bags that are pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month. These bags have a plastic lining which makes it a lot easier to get the groceries in, rather than the canvas ones they first came out with. Even with these additional bags, they did have to use some plastic...it would have been a lot more if I had let the old man doing the bagging have his way. He was putting one or two things in a plastic bag and I insisted he put more in them. I didn't care what all went in what bag. It is very annoying. I am trying to not use any plastic bags, and to see one or two items get put in a bag! ARGH! Anyway, it is done for another 3 weeks and I saved over $12.00 in coupons. I've noticed too that shopping this way does save me quite a bit. When I compare it to what I spent each week before, it is saving me about $90-$100 total every 3 weeks. Now this maybe partly due to my youngest being at college, but I'll take it no matter what the reason.

Halloween is just around the corner and I got my bag of candy corn like I do every year. Oh not it is not to hand out, it is for me! I really don't each much candy in general anymore but on occasion I do indulge and when I see the candy corn out for Trick or Treat I decide to Treat myself. :)

Enough rambling for now...off to watch Miami Vice...

Sunday...the day of rest?

Here I am sitting at my desk like any other day, with a full work-load for the day. I know Sunday is suppose to be the 'day of rest' but perhaps that was meant for a simpler time. After all, this was handed down from biblical times when those who interpreted the meaning of this day, paid for things by trading and most or at least more than those today worked off the land, i.e., farmed or raised livestock to survive. So resting on Sunday was a rest for weary bones, muscles, and of course a time to worship for many religions.

Back then..there were no college tuition fees, car payment loans, credit cards, expensive weddings (even frugal weddings aren't cheap)...need I keep going? It is much harder today, at least for this mom, to ignore all that and just take the day off work, especially if it is available. I guess I am one of those that seek opportunities to have more money for any of these things, that I have a hard time not thinking about.

This was all brought about by a co-worker asking me how much work I was taking on this weekend. Well since none of the kids are coming home to visit, I'm of course working as much as I can. This response seemed to be met with surprise, but I look at it this way, I will do what I think is the best thing to do with my time, given the situation I am in. Am I a work-a-holic? I don't think so. If we won the lottery I would immediately work a lot less, nothing more than part-time. A work-a-holic's answer would be to absolutely keep working all the time! ;-)

I look toward the future and something that keeps me going is the fact that I may only have to 'work my butt off' for another 3 or 4 years...just to the point when my youngest is done college. By then, the car loans will be paid off and so will most of the other debt (fingers crossed). So...if I can afford NOT to work on the weekends, I intend to do so. After all there are things I would like to do. I still have a dream to be a singer and try to get some singing in every day so I don't totally lose my voice before I have time to give it a shot. I also want to volunteer to help with dogs more, perhaps at the local animal shelter. Maybe write some more mortgage ebooks or even a novel. Who knows? Until then...back to work.

..Oh so far I have 15 Yoplait yogurt lids saved for the cancer cure cause. Hope anyone reading this who eats yogurt is saving them too!

College and Challenges

I know when I was in college, it was hard for me to imagine that I could possibly approach a professor. I mean this person was all knowing. This person lectured year after year, sharing the wisdom that he obtained from years of schooling and years of teaching. Sorry to use the term 'he' but when I went to college thirty years ago most of the professors I had were men. I remember being particularly in awe of the science professors as they rapidly scrolled formulas on the overhead projector while I wrote down whatever they wrote in the hopes that it would all make more sense to me when I got back to my dorm. It usually didn't.

My youngest and I chatted today and she was disappointed in a grade she got on a test she took. It was her first test in that class and she said based on the information they got as to how many points each thing was worth, she should have gotten less points off than she did.

I suggested that she challenge it and politely ask her professor for a bit of his time so that she might ask him about her test. She said she will do it. I hope she does. One important thing I learned in college was to question things you do not understand, and challenge things that do not seem right to you. Most professors will welcome the question and be glad that you care enough to know if it is right or if not how he came up with the results he did. Even if my daughter finds out her grade score is accurate, she will get a better understanding of why and be better prepared the next time around.

It is funny how when we have kids in college, it can bring back so many memories...was it really 3o years ago that I graduated?...my mind says no, but my mirror says yes!

Mammogram Day

This morning, bright and early I had my appointment for a mammogram and my very first bone density test. I have been bugged by any physician I've seen the last few years about getting that test taken so I agreed to get it done today. I pray that some of all this medical testing is covered by my medical insurance.

The mammogram went as it usually does and it isn't nearly as painful to me as it was when I first started getting them about 10 years ago. I won't go into more details but suffice to say it went without a hitch. Now to hope that there is nothing there to contact me about. :)

The bone density test took longer than the mammogram. I told the lady that took it that it was my first time. She had me lay down on this table while a rectangular arm for lack of a better word moved slowly up toward my face and took X-rays. After getting up to nearly my chest the technician said "Ooops...". "What?", I asked. "I forgot to tell you to put your arms down at your side", she said. So when the machine got up to my hands it was picking up finger digits in the middle of my back X-ray since I folded my hands over my stomach, not knowing NOT to do that. It was okay, except that I had to then put my arms down at my side and she had to do that one over again, exposing me to that radiation all over again. Granted I know it isn't that much, but it was unnecessary.

It is no bid deal I guess, and at least it wasn't an MRI machine type of thing like I thought I would have to be in.

Needless to say, I'm glad all this is done and now I can get back to my normal life of generally 'never' going to the doctor again for hopefully at least another year.
I don't know how often the bone density tests are taken but I do not plan on having one again for at least 2-3 years.

Long work day since I didn't get started until later. Done now..off to watch some TV with hub and hit the sack.

More tests

I called my doctors office today because I checked on their online system for the hormone level tests results which I thought they took last week when I was there. Turns out they didn't take those blood tests at all but they did tell me the other blood work had come in. It just hadn't posted on the website. What good is technology if it is half-assed?!

Anyway, I got the doctors assistant on the phone and got the results of the other tests they had taken which included cholesterol levels, and other things such as blood sugar. All my levels were good, especially cholesterol...except for one the fasting blood sugar level. The level is suppose to be lower than 100 although I found online that a level up to 110 is acceptable as normal. Mine was 111.
They consider this pre-diabeties. The assistant said they would like to test me again in 3 months. I'm not so sure I'm going to have that done. Here's why. First of all although I did not eat anything after 8:20pm the night before, we did have family over that night before for an Italian dinner including a form of pasta, wine and dessert of Chocolate Creme Pie. Bottom line I ate a much heavier meal that night than usual.

Also I did read that sometimes the stress of seeing a doctor may elevate blood sugar. I am the first to admit I do not like to go and do get nervous the morning of and while waiting to go in and get the appointment started. This is also why sometimes my blood pressure is higher. Now that was like 124 over something when I went so that wasn't too bad although it is normally around 80something/50something.

And lastly, the nurse gave me a tetanus shot right before drawing blood for all these tests. Since I've been interested in Biology ever since college, I researched what is IN the Tetanus shot and one of the ingredients is Glycine! Bingo! Glycine can elevate blood sugar level.

So it is possible that it was 111 due to any one or combination of these reasons and not that I may be developing a blood sugar problem.

I may get one of those blood testing kits and just see for myself before deciding to go back. There are too many folks that think whatever doctors say is gospel and I've decided to never just trust point blank what is said or even what the tests indicate for that matter. ;-)

Faucet Fixed

I am happy to report that hub got the faucet changed all by himself. His buddy arrived right when he was tightening the last do-hickey (whatever it is called). :) There were a few times when I thought he was going to pound a hole through the wall into my office and one time when I heard water running that didn't sound like it was going down any drain.

The best part was when I walked by to get something from the fridge and glanced over to see his belly wedged between the cabinet divider underneath the sink and the end of the cabinet. I didn't know if I was going to have to get the jaws of life to pull him out. I would have taken a picture and posted it if I thought I could have gotten away with it! tee-hee.

So finally after I don't know how many weeks, we no longer have a leaky faucet in the powder room. The new spigot is nice, shiny and new...and makes the rest of the powder room look very old. I can't give that a second thought though. That is not a project that I even can begin to think about.

I have to say I spent some time yesterday watching some of those "Get it Sold" shows on cable tv. Some of the creative things they do to make a house appealing are wonderful! It has got me thinking about our house and a few things I want to do within the next year or so. I want to paint our kitchen cabinets a light color - maybe even as bright as off-white. Nothing is going to get done soon but it is exciting to think about it and how much brighter it will make our varnished wood cabinet filled kitchen.

I was searching around for a snack this afternoon and saw one serving left of chocolate instant pudding that my daughter must have gotten or asked me to get at the store once. It was really easy to make and really good! I'm not trying to sound like a commercial but I just had never had it before. Now I'm going to be adding that to my grocery list. I don't usually like pudding probably because all my mom made when I was growing up was Tapioca pudding and I hated the lumps. So for me this was a biggie! :)

I know I know....so easily amused.

Dreary Day...

It is a dreary Monday here in Central Texas and the temperatures have not gone above the upper 50's all weekend - although from the looks at the weather around the country today I better be happy it isn't snowing!

Hub is off today and he is replacing the bathroom faucet in the powder room. No he is not a plumber and I'm hoping it goes well although there is a LOT of banging going on. He has a buddy who is coming to help him but he didn't want to wait. I suggested he wait for his friend who has more know how on these sort of things and I know how he is when he gets frustrated...oye...I'll update later to report on how it went...

back to work..

We lucked out....

...the rain didn't hit really hard here until 5:00AM so we were able to sleep soundly until then before the dogs started getting upset. That is much better than being awaken at 1:00AM or 2:00AM! My hub got up with the dogs and I was able to get back to sleep so that was nice. The temperature dropped about 30 degrees too from midnight to daybreak. Yesterday it was humid and today I wore layers! :) Go figure. That is one thing that is interesting about being in Texas - the huge temperature swings are incredible!

My oldest called today...seems we're singing the timing belt blues again...This is for the new old car that I got for her. She was getting an alignment done today which was about the last thing that we all thought it needed when the mechanic highly recommended getting the timing belt replaced since the car was 17 years old. He also saw what he thought was oil on it. There wasn't time to get it done today but she will be getting it done in the next week or two. We'd hate to take the chance on it. We just went through with the timing belt replacement on her RAV before she came down. Oh well, it is always something!

Fridays are lunch with mom day. She doesn't get out much and she enjoys getting together for lunch out. I told her about having gone to the doctor finally and telling her my blood tests showed all levels were normal. I didn't get cholesterol or blood sugar results though. They weren't part of the CBC blood testing they did. She thought I should get tested for that too. I figured the doctor I went to would test for everything but I told mom I wasn't going to go back and get another test any time soon. She goes to the doctor quite often at her age, but not me. If it weren't for the woman related tests that I do get annually, well every year and a half, I would have no need to go to a doctor. I'm not bragging, it is just that I pay my dues every time I exercise like I have been doing for 30 years and eat healthy, etc. I strive to maintain good health and acceptable weight...just so I do not have to frequent a doctor, which is fine by me.

The weekend is going to be busy with work again ,but that is just fine with me, end of year taxes and holidays will be here before I know it!

Wonderful Wednesday!

Know why it was wonderful? It wasn't because I had a good day at 'work'. Actually I didn't get as much work as I normally get so that wasn't wonderful. I didn't win the lottery so that wasn't wonderful. Okay, I won't keep you guessing.

Out of the blue, just by sheer luck BOTH of my daughters called me! :)
That is wonderful! My youngest called for her 'in between classes' chat that are becoming a weekly thing which is very nice! She is doing great and I'm so proud that she is adjusting to college so well...she's adjusting better to being there than me to her not being here.

My other daughter, bless her heart likes to call on me when she needs helps with things from time to time. This time it was picking songs for dance routines that she has to come up with for work. I wasn't much help there but I was still thrilled that she thought to call me and ask.

Mothers love feeling needed, even when their kids are all grown up. I even ask my mom for advice once in a while. I can't say I always take it, but that's not really the point right? The point is caring about what she thinks and respecting her enough to ask for her advice. After all, with age comes wisdom, right?

Medical Monday

In honor of breast cancer awareness month combined with the fact that my woman-related check up tests are overdue, I had an appointment today with a physician. This is a new one I am trying out. A woman, who was also born in America. I do not wish to go back to the male doctor I had last year as he was too test happy. I guess that is what internal medicine doctors do. This time I am back to a DO. Anyway, very nice woman, close location, nice offices with homey decor, overall not a bad experience at all...of course I haven't gotten the bill yet.

I was weighed in, although I swear those scales at the doctors offices are off by at least 3 lbs! I talked to a medical student who was taking my medical history and I just let her ask the questions even though I had answered all those questions already on the forms I printed off their website and brought with me today. Then it was off to another room to change into the gowns they have which are suppose to help you not feel stupidly under-dressed when you are sitting on the exam table swinging your leg while impatiently waiting for them to come and do the pap already. Well, that was me today anyway.

Finally the doctor came in. She was nice enough although not as conservatively dressed as I expected. No matter. She did what she was there to do and asked me if I had a flu shot yet. I told her I'll take my chances on that but I would agree to a tetanus shot that I hadn't gotten in oh, about 30 years.

She pressed for a colonoscopy since I am over that golden age of 50. 50, the age when things start to go down hill. When it is time to get that which has delivered all the waste from my body these last 5o + years checked out for cancer and polyps and whatever else they look for. I stood my ground on that one. I'm sure I will get one eventually but I've been through enough today and she wasn't going to shove that up my butt too!



Oh...my mammo is scheduled for Oct 15th. I agreed to a bone density test too since that is another one of those things one over 50 or even younger so I'm told, get. I'm sure I'll blog after that fun day too.

Stopping by...

to blog for a few minutes. My youngest is here this weekend, again! "I KNOW!!!" (said like Craig Ferguson). This makes 3 times this semester already. This time was not really planned though. Her boyfriend and his roomie were coming home for the weekend anyway so she came too. I know I said I wasn't going to write when she was around but she is out right now so this doesn't count. :)

Got a chance to do some singing today while working. Whenever I'm feeling sort of blah, that is always such a pick-me-up. I LOVE to sing! We all have something we love to do or at least like a lot that is the one thing that can always make up feel happy, carefree and content. I need to do it more often when I feel like I really don't want to bother singing, because I'm never sorry I did afterwards.

It is finally starting to cool around here. After a sweltering summer it is a welcomed change, even for me who tends to love whenever the temperature is 80 degrees or more. I see the neighbors across the street have some Halloween decorations out. I haven't really bothered with decorations except for Christmas for the last several years. I guess I'm getting lazy in my 'middle age'. At least I'm not as bad as the folks who keep their lights off on Halloween and do not give out candy! I used to hate those folks as a kid. We'd ring and ring the doorbells just to annoy people that turned their lights out. So I vow to always answer the door and give out candy until I get too old to make it to the door before the kids leave. When that time comes, I'll just leave a candy bowl outside the door. ;-)

~ Breast Cancer Awareness Month ~

This is an important month and one that I try to do everything I can to honor breast cancer survivors which include my own older sister who is a survivor of stage 3 breast cancer that included mastectomy, chemo and radiation treatments. That was over 5 years ago and she is doing well!

I always collect the pink Yoplait lids which when sent in contribute 10 cents per lid to Susan G Komen charity which is just one cancer curing cause out there. I already have 6 lids saved and it is only October 1st! Go me! :)

Last month hub got a post card coupon from a local Italian Restaurant for buy one get one entree (up to $14) free during his birthday month. We decided to use it last night as that was the last day of his birthday month (mine too). The dinner was good. My hub loved the Lobster Ravioli he had and my meal was tasty too. I was shocked when we got the dinner bill though as we each had ONE draft lager beer and the total was $10 for drinks! Cripes! We could have bought a case of domestic beer for that price! Lesson learned. When we go back, which I'm sure we will, I'm getting WATER, and no, not the bottled kind which is probably $5.00 too!

Well, we may be dealing with more sleepless nights ahead as there is a forecast for overnight rain the next few days. My hub jokingly said maybe we should give the dogs the Advil PM. :)

Good news! My youngest is coming home for the weekend again. Yay! She is not driving this time so she won't have to do that part. I'm sure it will be laundry weekend too.

Gotta go...