In the New Year 2015

During the holidays I was watching TV with my youngest. The movie Julie and Julia was on in which a young woman blogged every day while she cooked through Julia's child cook book. Her goal was to do all the recipes in 365 days. No I'm not going to pledge to do that. I am not that ambitious of a cook. But what I decided I would like to do is blog every day next year. I have gotten away from blogging this year but as I read through some past posts I liked reading some events or musings from the past, so I decided to make my own challenge. Some posts may be short but I am up to the challenge of daily blogging. Here's to a blogging 2015!

My weekend project...

We ordered some doors from Home Depot for our bathroom remodel.  Two of the doors are for the closet entry and one is the bathroom entry.  We were going to get antique doors but couldn't find any that matched and were affordable.  Anyway we were going to have someone stress paint the doors for us but that didn't work out so I decided to take on this project myself.  I have never stress painted (using chalk paint) before but typical for me I take on a huge project.  3 doors both sides is a lot!  Here are some pictures.  I still have wax to apply to the back sides of two doors and an entire door but my arms are beat!

Doors 'Before' Knotty Pine doors from Home Depot

Spray Shellac on the doors since they are pine to seal them.

Chalk painted white base coat and then old white final coat 

Painting the Old White coat

Stressed (with sand paper)

One door waxed on one side

One of the closet doors stressed

Long weekend almost over..

Sad to say this long weekend is almost over.  It was a nice relaxing weekend although disappointed that the youngest could not come visit after all.  When college-aged kids get a dog I don't think they really think about how that will affect things in the future, especially if they split up and then move on.


Anyway I took a few walks this weekend but that was all and by myself. I guess I should explain myself. On Wednesday I had my dermatologist appointment and after talking with the doctor about the extremely high probability of my moles growing back and turning into melanoma (at a time that would be totally unknown) I went ahead and had the two punch biopsies done.  It is always worse that I am originally led to believe.  I thought they said it'd be 1 or 2 stitches at the most. Well it was really one stitch underneath the surface that dissolves on its own and then 3 stitches on top.  And she did two of these so I had a total of 8 stitches, one on my back and the other on my right shoulder.  Not what I expected. And to avoid injuries to the areas I am not to do any hard exercise or stretching, so not my normal exercise routines.  I was told I could take walks but figured I better not take any of the dogs so they don't jolt my arm.  It was actually nice yesterday because I got to talk to a very nice neighbor that I don't usually talk to.  I always have a dog or two with me and there is no approaching anyone else with a dog and trying to talk to them. My dogs would be barking and pulling too much.


Yesterday I watches some Sci-Fi movies since I really couldn't do much else.  It was relaxing and a real lazy day.  This morning I had some fun on a new karaoke website that someone told me about.  I recorded my first 2 songs (duets) with random other members.  Here is a link to 'If I were a Carpenter' if you care to listen.  http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b06bfd75f    Mine is the female voice of course!


I wanted to do something while we had this long weekend so today we did go and see the new Transformers movie.  It was good.  I enjoyed all the special effects.  If you like the Transformers movies, you won't be disappointed. 


I didn't really mention the 4th of July but we didn't do anything special.  I went to visit my mom and make her lunch as my dad was away for the day playing bridge in Austin.  She appreciated the help and the company.  We heard some fireworks in the evening while sitting in our living room, but didn't go anywhere to see them.  I don't really care about seeing them or not, like I used to years ago and are somewhat concerned about our dogs as a few of them really get wigged out by them.


All in all a nice relaxing weekend.  Oh made chocolate chip cookies too with the mix from my Southernbellegourmet website.  You can find them here:
http://www.southernbellegourmet.com/zz_products_cookies.php

Random Sunday Blog

I thought I'd write just to touch base since it has been a little while.  Things have been going very well lately.  I am enjoying work more than I have before, we have decided on a contractor for our bathroom, and it hasn't gotten unbearably hot in Texas yet this summer.  Life is good!


Also my oldest is getting married in August and I'm so looking forward to see her again and seeing her getting married to a man she has loved for years. 


We have had fun picking out colors, vanity styles, etc., for the bathroom. We are getting sliding barn doors for the closet and bathroom entry. These are doors that roll across a track that is on the outside of the door above the doorway. Anyway we were wanting to find 3 antique doors to use for the doors and I thought it would be easier than it has been. There were a few places we checked in town yesterday and one lady had a few doors but none that were the size we need.


Hubby knows a guy that he thought would have some and he happened to have his business card from years ago when we owned Wood Stock. This guy salvages things as well as gets some props that have been used on movie sets.  There are the fake wooden windows that were used for the movie True Grit that we got to see on an outbuilding there.  Anyway, there were not as many doors as had hoped they would have.  We did see two matching ones but they wanted $200 a piece for them and that was giving us a break. Ouch!  They didn't look any better than the doors we saw yesterday at an antique store for $40 a piece. So we passed. It was  a nice ride out to the country and we got to see where we used to have Woodstock, but we went ahead and ordered some knotty pine doors at a local store that we will have stress painted by the same gal who did the one in our dining room so we are happy with how we think they'll turn out.

Good Monday!

I know I usually hate Mondays!  But got an early start with my walk and took Merlin with me.  It was still a bit cloudy so it was nice not having to wear my hat (which just makes me sweat more).  I watered the balcony gardens (pulled 5 caterpillars from my parsley that got on them at some point and tossed them off the balcony and over the fence).  I don't know why I keep thinking I won't get bugs by having plants up on the balcony, because they come anyway.  I have a pepper plant in the front that is fighting a losing battle still with the aphids too!


Anyway this was going to be a happy post not sad.  Anyway got dogs fed, washed up and got to work at 8:00AM.  I got through a lot of work today.  I was on a roll and also got some great news as well and cannot go into particulars but let's just  say I'm a happy worker! 


I had some yummy leftovers for lunch from eating at Cotton Patch on Saturday evening and enjoyed a Mike's lemonade (hubby surprised and bought it for me to try) with dinner.  Overall just a great day!! Just weird for a Monday to be so great!  I'll take it though!


Here is  picture of a few recent houseguests and no they were not invited :)

Both were set free unharmed.  Just don't want them back any time soon. I don't mind the cute little gecho type creatures but the lizard was about 6 inches long and not a tiny cute thing

Almost Friday

Another seeming long week is almost over.  I have been getting up earlier and walking in the morning instead of after dinner. Did I already write this?  I hope not. Anyway it has made me a little more tired than I'd normally be I thinking, because instead of getting up at 7:30AM on the days I don't do my regular exercise routine, I've been getting up at 6:30AM to do my walk early.  I've been taking one dog with me too which makes it take a little longer, for sniffing stops and peeing/pooping stops.  But it is fine. I get washed up when I come back and grab my coffee and am ready to go.  So I'm trying not to complain about feeling tired right now.  LOL


I think we've decided on our bathroom remodel. We picked some great guys who after revisions, gave us a decent quote that we can live with.  It is going to be at least a month away, but it is nice to know that it is really going to happen.  Now that's something to be excited about. That and the fact that tomorrow is Friday. Yea!!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Posted this today on Facebook. Wanted to share...

 To a man who served in WWII...married my mother...had four wonderful children (no bias there)...ventured out of state to start a business with a small group of like-minded men determined to not just simply punch a time clock...who refused to succumb to advanced stage non-Hodgkin's lymphoma nearly 10 years ago...and who will most likely be holding a winning bridge hand until the day he passes....to you I wish you Happy Father's Day! I am so proud to be your daughter!

Back on the shelf?..

We had ReBath here yesterday and forget them!  If we are lucky our $15K may cover a really nice shower but that's it.  The estimate they gave us using the same foot print and replacing with new (not extravagant mind you) is $22,150. WHAT?!!  I'm sorry but a bathroom remodel should not be that much.  And with this guy yesterday everything was expensive.  To remove some minor wall paper and get the walls paint ready, not even painted, just 'paint ready' was $1200. Seriously?  I don't know we may just forget about it for now. 


Oh and that interior designer that was here it will be 3 WEEKS ago as of tomorrow?  She called today to follow up with us?  Follow up? We thought she just blew us off.  She left a message that she had been away on a long vacation for a week and a half. Okay that accounts for half of the time it took for her to get back to us.  We're not bothering contacting her back.  Poor service from the start is a red flag to us. 


And the rest of the companies we've had out here have not gotten back to us yet. Two of those were here a week or more ago. And every one of them said "Give me a day or two to get back to you".  It makes me feel like our measly little bathroom is not worthy of the remodel it needs. Or our budget is too small of a job for anyone here to be interested in. All I know is that something that should be exciting and full of anticipation is turning into a nightmare. 

Old Bathroom

I am finally posting pictures of our old master bathroom before I totally forget.  Here is our 32 year old 'vintage' bathroom. This should present a fairly good picture of why I can't wait to get it redone! I didn't take close ups of the cabinets under the sinks but they are pretty scratched up or worn as well.

Closet bi-fold doors full of dog scratches.

trim for closet more dog scratched areas

Double sink with long (fake) marble top

My sink...faucet is eroding away....yucky sink!

Tub and shower crammed into the rear of the bathroom (past the sink area)

Old vinyl curled up along bathtub edge

Inside of the tub/toilet area with the door nearly closed. OLD wallpaper too

Old bathtub and fixtures...I've always hated the tub not matching shower

Dirt is ground in (porcelain is worn away, dull finish)

..

Next

It has been a wonderful couple of nights not sticking to the sheets.  Now the focus is on remodeling the 32 year old bathroom. That interior designer never got back to us, now that has been 2 1/2 weeks so forget her.  We have had 3 different contractors/remodelers here so far and expecting a Rebath rep here on Monday.  Of the 3 that have been here we liked the ones today the best so far.  They were the only ones to look in the attic to see if there was plumbing above the toilet, wrote down the most on their notepad, and were the friendliest!  To top it off I asked them if they have a crew or crews that they use, waiting for them to say yes and how many.  They said they do all the work themselves!  Wonderful!  They are also the only ones who asked us for our email to send correspondence.  So that is a good sign.  


I won't forget to take the 'Before' pictures either. I just keep forgetting about it.  Long work week. Very glad it is over.  Have some friends over for dinner tomorrow evening so that will be fun.  Have a lot of cleaning to do tomorrow to get the house presentable.  Then Sunday it is relax time!

Cool mama!

Okay here are the after photos.  This was yesterday. They were suppose to arrive between 8:30AM -9:00AM.  A man called at 9:20AM and said he just got the work order and was it okay to come then, they'd be about a half hour.  I bit my tongue but I wanted to say, and that is my problem why??   I did tell him they were suppose to get here between 8:30AM - 9:00AM!  He did apologize and said they have no control when they get word about an order.  I suppose they only get called if they are working?  I don't know.

This is ARS Roto Rooter which I thought was strictly for solving problems 'down the drain'.  They do also do A/C and heat and were the best presenter of the folks we had out.  They were not the cheapest bidder at all and actually the highest bid.  However one guy sounded like they might have to cut through the ceiling to get the old system out. Yikes!! And one was in an obvious hurry to get to 'the next' thing.  This guy took his time and explained exactly everything that would be done to my hubby. He was here close to an hour.  The others, 10 minutes and the other about 30 minutes. We did get ARS to drop their price by about $700. So we went with them. 


Once the guys got here they went right to it. They did not have any trouble getting the old heater/ac unit down from our attic via the attic stairs and the job went very well except for  a nice patio stone that they broke and did not tell us about that is out back near the outside unit they had to place.  We replaced it with a spare that we had, but it would have been nicer for them to fess up to breaking it.  Did they think we wouldn't see it? They are lucky we did have a spare one, or I would have complained.  I'm sorry but spending close to $7000, there should be no issues. And we didn't even buy the highest priced unit.  Of the 3 options provided, we chose the lowest.  The system is a Lennox which is suppose to be 'good' but who knows. I read different reviews on the Internet. And we know how reliable the Internet is right?  ;-)


The guy who sold us the job said they'd be here by 9:00AM and out by 1:00PM. Well 5:00PM rolled around and they were not quite done yet.  Now I don't really mind because I wanted a good job done, but don't tell us it is a 4 hour job when it is really a 7+ hour job (they got here around 10:00AM).  Don't they know that in sales the mantra is "Under promise and over deliver" NOT "Over promise and under deliver"!  I know it still is a big unit with funny arms (tubing) but it is nice and shiny now and it works great!  The walls no longer vibrate!!  We used it last night and it was wonderful not sweating all night long!  This system should last for years and years. 

Hot Mama!

Well I haven't posted pics of our old bathrooom yet but I will. First we are getting our old huge clunker A/C Heating unit up in the attic replaced. If it is as old as the house, it is 32 years old. So I asked hubby to take some "BEFORE" photos that I can post. Here they are. One of them actually looks like it has 2 orbs in it. Too funny!   It got up to the low 90's today and it will be another hot one tonight - thus the title of my blog.  Looks like an alien in the attic.

this is the one with 2 possible orbs in it

Already Sunday night...

Darn!  This weekend just went too fast.  It is already Sunday evening.  Oh well.  We did enjoy seeing a movie today at the theater.  We saw the new X-men movie and we both liked it.  There is a lot of action and special effects with no boring parts.  And I do have to say Hugh Jackman looks very buff!! :-) 

This morning I made up an insect repellent concoction made with dish soap and water to spray on some green pepper plants that I have.  One had a lot of ants on it and both have aphids especially on the underside of the leaves. So I sprayed them a lot this morning!  I just checked now and there were a few ants on the one pepper and some aphids on the other.  It is hard to tell if the back side of the leaves now have dead aphids/eggs or not.  LOL.  I don't want to spray too soon again though in case it isn't good for the plants, so I'll wait 2 or 3 days before I spray again.  I'm proud to report we have a tiny jalapeno pepper already!  It is only about an inch long but woo hoo!! :))

Tomorrow morning we are expecting someone to show up to give us an estimate for a/c & heating replacement in the attic.  I sure do hope that nowadays the units are a lot smaller than what was used back in 1982.  That contraption in the attic is huge! 

We are going to take our time and get at least 3 estimates for both ac/heat and bathroom, that is if we can get someone to get back to us. Oye! :)

Well off to relax and watch some TV to finish up the evening.

Well...

I do need glasses. Yes more than reading glasses.  I asked and my vision is 20/30 in one eye and 20/40 in the other. Not too bad in my opinion but I am getting bifocals so that I can see the computer and read better without eye strain.  I may even read a book sometime. I haven't read anything like a book lately because when I look up from the page it is blurry. So this should take care of that. 

I still probably won't wear my new glasses unless I'm working at the computer or driving at night (which they are also suppose to be good for).  I don't want to become 100% dependent on them by wearing them all the time.  Besides I've heard that when you wear glasses your eyesight goes down hill even faster.  I don't know if that is true not but I'd rather just wear them when I really need to!

TGIF

Well when it is all said and done it didn't really FEEL like a short week. Maybe because I just had a few stressful days of work.  It is over now and the weekend is ahead. YIPPEE!  Tomorrow I have a hair appointment.  I may finally go get my eyes checked too.  For the most part I think I still have good vision except I need reading glasses to look at the computer or to read.  Actually I can't read a book for very long without it being a bit blurry when I look up.  I'm not sure what that means, other than I may need glasses. LOL.  So we'll see.


Still no word on that bathroom remodel. So it is time to get some estimates elsewhere.  There's got to be some legit companies somewhere in this area that want to do our bathroom. I think I'll expand out the area to look too, after all the work has to be done here, so I don't mind calling downtown to get an estimate.


Got my walk in this evening but it was pretty humid. I need a shower. LOL. I'll just wash up before turning in. 

Throwback Thursday

It is throwback Thursday.  I thought I'd post a few old photos.

Me in my younger days with my babies, now in their 20's

My sister and I playing music years ago. I still play guitar and LOVE to sing.

 

 

Not too much else to write about.  We did have a great couple days of rain earlier in the week which helped the drought situation a little bit.  I'm glad that tomorrow is Friday already. Yah!!

Results

Quick post...after all my complaining I DID get a call today from the dermatologist office. Turns out the doctor herself had to have an operation and was MIA for a bit making the entire office behind.  So all is forgiven there.

The results are in. It is NOT melanoma. It is abnormal moles though and they graded them mild to moderate. What does that mean? That means if left totally alone they may come back and continue to change and evolve into cancer.  So they want to do a punch biospy on both (taking a circular punch out of skin). This way the underlying skin and cells around the mole will be removed to keep a good margin of normal cells. That should do it.  I don't mind as I'd rather be on the side of caution. It is a huge relief though and I no longer will jump when the phone rings.  Procedure won't be until 7/2 but that is due to scheduling and they don't think it will harm me any to go another month (as I said these were not cancer). So I'm okay with that. 

Miffed

Okay I am taking time from my lunch period to vent a little bit here. The only phone calls I've been getting lately are telemarketers or someone wanting to sell me a make believe extended warranty on my car. Yes those kind of calls. I re-added my phone # to the do not call website because I'm not sure how long that stays in effect.  I know I've done this before but the calls seem to be coming in daily again, sometimes 3 or more times a day.

What I am getting miffed about is that we had an interior designer here exactly a week ago today to give us an estimate and plans for a bathroom remodel.  When she was leaving she asked for the email address and I was already back to work so I didn't talk to her.  Hubby wasn't sure which one to give her so she said she'd call for it.  Well that has been exactly a week ago. She asked us for a time line and I said we are ready to do it now. But even having said that, its been a week and nothing?  I am not calling her either.  If she doesn't want our business enough to contact us back within a few days of the visit (to me a normal response time for an estimate), to heck with that.  Will just research some other companies to come out.

What gets me even more miffed than that however, is that as of tomorrow it will be 2 weeks since my dermatologist appointment in which I came away frightened to death that I may have Melanoma.  They told me it would be about a week to get the biopsy results and she assured me they'd let me know either way.  I can only assume that the results were negative as it has now been like I said nearly 2 weeks!  I shouldn't assume that it was nothing I know, but I'm going to wait until Friday and if they still haven't called me, I will call them.  It just is so stressful to place that sort of fear in someone and then not let them know what the results are for nearly 2 weeks?  Yes I know I can call!  But my point is, I shouldn't have to. And just be honest with me!  If it will take 2 weeks and not 1 say THAT instead of having my heart skip a beat every time the phone rings!  These poor telemarketers are getting the wrath of my anger even more so than normal!

Back at it.

Hardtogetbacktoworktoday. SohardIamtiredandcannotevenskipaspacebetweenwords.  Ienjoyedvisitingwithmysisterandhopeshehadasafetripback.

IamgoingtokeepthisshortsinceIamtired. Nightall!

Memorial Day

As much as I tried to make this day go slowly, it is almost over.  I did stop and think about all the men and women in the service now and in the past and thanked them publically (on Facebook) along with my father who served in WWII. I pray that they stay safe as well!




Dinner has been made, barbecued pork chops in the crock pot (it rained today) thin sliced baked potatoes done in the over in a cast iron skillet.  Dishes are done and I just got back from taking Merlin on our 1.6 mile walk. 




It isn't raining anymore and it is getting humid out (my sweat soaked bangs gave it away). 


Had a short goodbye visit from my sister and her son who are headed back to Ohio tomorrow. It sure was nice seeing them and catching up on my sister's life.  I haven't seen her in around 3 years.


My other sister played the perfect host for her and she stayed there since her son is afraid of our dogs and I was not about to keep all 5 dogs kenneled up 24/7.




So it is back to the grind tomorrow.  Good thing is though that it will be Tuesday already. :-)

Some photos of yesterday's gathering

Here are some photos of yesterday afternoon.  It was a fun time looking through old family photos too!

My older sister, left, I'm in the middle and younger sis right. See the Orb above my head? How cool is that?

My nephew enjoying his Ipod and his mom (my sister) next to him

My mom looks a bit tired but enjoying having all 3 daughters there

My dad. 88 and still playing bridge and loving life!

My younger sister who made the trip for my sis possible!

Dog day Saturday

Last night was full of interruptions from our dogs.  First one dog had to go out, then another dog had to go out, barked until we let them out.  I got up at 5:30AM to let two of them out and found out this morning hubby got up two times himself.  Then there were 'poop' presents left in the living room, dining room and our bedroom.  Crap!  Literally! :)   Then this morning I was trying to sleep in and the dog next door started barking consistently so at 8:00AM I went ahead and got up.  After I came down to the kitchen one of the dogs from the other side of us started barking. It has been like a bark fest already!

It is very rare that any of our dogs have to go out in the middle of the night, but Molly pulled this same thing two nights ago.  I just pray this is not a pattern starting. I need my sleep or I can be a bitch!

I went to Dave & Busters last evening with my sisters and their families. I included the link to it as it is a restaurant and game place. There are really fancy games to play for tickets that you can turn in for prizes.  My nephew really enjoys playing there which is the main reason that we went there.  I went to spend more time with my sister mainly.  It was very busy with parties for some local high schools, etc.  I had a nice pasta, chicken and shrimp dish for dinner. Then before we left my sister and I split a piece of 3 layer chocolate cake which was really delish!  And I'm not big on cake.

Today they are going to be visiting the folks a bit in the afternoon so I plan to pop over there while they are there.  I'm not going anywhere tonight.  I'm not used to driving the highway at night and it was busy last night, likely due to the holiday. And I've driven on it the last 2 nights in a row. Heck I'm not used to driving period these days. :)

Good Excuse

Okay I didn't blog yesterday. But I worked all day, grabbed dinner and then headed down to my sister's to visit my other sister and got back around 10:00PM and didn't even get back on line so I didn't blog.
Will post later on, though but I just remembered didn't blog yesterday...

Later. ...

Hump day in May

I realized after I posted last evening's blog that you may have thought the title of the post meant I would have the results of my biopsies.  Sorry about that.  But I do not have the results yet.  With each day I am less stressed about it though which is a good thing.


Well today after living with our current bathroom for 9 years which had already been the same for 24 years before that, we are getting estimates to do a master bath remodel.  We had an interior designer here today who specializes in remodels and showed us some photos of some bathroom areas they have done.  She is going to work up an estimate for us. So its exciting that we actually are going to get this done.  Oh, I forgot to take the before pictures. I'm tired tonight, worked late.  But I'll take some soon, promise.  We are probably going to get more than one estimate.  I just don't want to deal with a contractor who want us to buy all the fixtures, etc., for it.  I really don't have the time or desire to trapse around the around looking for things. I'd rather look through a book/catalog and pick from there.  So we'll see.


Looking forward to see my out of town sister and her son over the next few days. It has been a long time since we've seen each other.  Hope she had a nice trip out.  She's staying with my other sister for the most part but will visit the folks etc., as well.  Well ending it here tonight, since I'm tired.

Follow up

Howdy!  Okay I posted a quick photo of the wonderful Mothers Day gifts I got from the girls last week to quickly show off.  But now I have them all nestled where they are staying (well will bring the herbs in when it gets cold).

We have the pillow on the fireplace. Like a part of her is always here with us.

 

 

 

Here are the herbs all potted in their cute holder and up on the balcony.

38 to go...

Another Monday down. Only 38 to go and may be less. I'm already not counting next Monday because that is a holiday.  There are probably more but for now I'm okay with only 38 Mondays ...left to the year.

Mondays suck because it takes most of the day to get back into a work groove.  But anyway I got through it.  It was a nice sunny day today and just cool enough this evening for a beautiful walk with one of the fur kids. 

With little improvements we've been making to the outside I would still love to do our bathroom.  We are going to start getting estimates so that we can at least know what we're talking about in terms of costs. I will take some pics to show why I'd really like it done and post them soon. 

Nice day!

Today was a nice day.  This morning after exercising and eating a breakfast of grits and fruit, I grabbed a shower and then hubby and I went to get some flowers for the back area along the porch that has been growing weeds and whatever would come up for years.  We never really cleaned it out and planted anything. So we got some Lantana flowers which are really pretty and all different colors (in one plant) and some more mulch to make it nice out there for once. Best part about the flowers we got is that they come back year after year so I won't have to plant them every year.


It turned out nicely I think and I also put some rocks in there to add an extra touch to it.

This evening we used the grill for the first time this year.  I made skewers with pineapple, chicken, shrimp and yellow pepper.  They turned out really yummy!  I forgot to take a few pics of them. Oh well next time.

Oops!

I forgot to blog yesterday.  In my defense I had a late day and I can blame it on that, right? I had a dentist appointment at 8:30, so I didn't clock in for work until around 9:30.  My appointment was for a teeth cleaning. It went well but I just love how the hygienist said 'There isn't very much plaque at all', then scrape, scrape, scrape some more..pick up a different instrument and scrape some more.  Then she says that I should brush one more time than I do so that it can keep the lower fronts from building up plaque.  She said if I brush 3 times a day I should do 4.  Well I brush two times a day and floss just about every day.  I'm not sure if I am really going to up that to brushing 3 times a day!  If I do would that mean she wouldn't have to scrape at all??  Doubt it!


Frankly I have been distracted by the biopsies too.  It is hard not to think the worst although I am trying not to.  I feel guilty for not having seen the mole on my arm as suspicious but I've got tons of moles.  I was telling hubby today that I have so MANY moles and freckles that I don't know how I could possibly tell if I got any new ones or ones that show change. I just counted the freckles and moles on my left arm and counted over 50! Honestly the one on my arm was so small I hardly even noticed it. It was just a little larger than a pencil tip (not eraser but tip).
Could use some extra prayers that the results are benign or negative.  I've come up with a plan either way though.  I will take photos of each arm, leg, front & back and my torso and back and take new pictures once a month and look at them (zoom in, etc), to see if any changes or new ones.  That I think is a great idea. 


Well off to watch the news and the season finale of SNL.

Mothers Day still !

Today I got such a wonderful surprise!

The Pillow is from my oldest...who is in PA. Heart from PA to Heart in TX...Isn't that so cute!! Sending her love from PA to TX. Sweet! Then above that is an arrangement of herbs from my youngest. There are chives, lemon thyme and chocolate mint. Looking forward to planting them in the cute trays they came with  and putting them up on the balcony!

I had a dermatologist appointment today which I thought would be an easy check over and unfortunately she found two moles that looked suspicious.  So she biopsied them and will find out if they are skin cancer or not. Hoping they are not.  Of course they were on my upper arm, which I can't see with my eyes as it is right below my shoulder (too close to see), and on my back which again I can't see.  I suppose I should start asking my hubby to check my back for me from time to time.  I don't know.  Hubby thinks it is all a medical gimmick so that they can charge me for biopsy work and more. But I'm just hoping it isn't anything to be concerned about.

Last night our temperature got down to 44 degrees, unreal!  For mid May!  My hubby keeps thinking I'm kidding about moving further south to Africa. Maybe I'm not!  Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment and no I didn't schedule them back to back. The appointment today was scheduled in December and the one tomorrow was scheduled in November.  Hopefully tomorrow I won't have any cavities as it is just a teeth cleaning.  Fingers crossed!!

Life can change in a split second

I get the news feeds on facebook to the news station back in the town I moved from mostly to keep in touch with whatever is happening back there since I have a daughter that lives there.  Monday I saw a newsfeed about a horrible accident on the Interstate not far from there in which 3 people died.  The photo showed a few very mangled cars, which wouldn't even be able to make out as cars actually.  They were hit but a truck.

Whenever I see things like that I pray my daughter is not involved! Luckily she was not.  Last evening though I was looking around Facebook and spotted a new post to a  group devoted as a memorial for our high school for those in any graduating class that has passed away.  As I read the post it was someone that graduated in my class of 1975 grads.  Wow, a guy I knew was driving on the interstate Monday early afternoon with his wife by his side...and suddenly was dead.  Yes he was in that accident that I saw posted the day before. It is so sad but at the same time makes me stop and realize how quickly things can change, how quickly it can end. 

I won't go into that whole live life as if it was your last day speech because you can't do it anyway!  If I lived every day like it was my last I would not report to work, I'd eat my favorite most expensive foods and stay up until dawn...well if it was my last day I'd want it to last right?!   Then I'd get in trouble for not reporting to work and eventually lose my job, lose tons of sleep staying up until dawn and be bankrupt from spending too much money!

RAIN

It continues to amaze me how so many sources can report so many different rain totals. Depending on which news channel or website I view we had anywhere from 1 - 5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. My best guess would be about 3 inches. It really poured a lot last night and several times I awoke to the sound of thunder and rain.  This is good because we are in a drought.  The only thing that isn't good is the dirt that I put around the landscape bricks in the front to build the ground up a little bit ran off onto the sidewalk and isn't really there anymore.  Oh well.  I suppose I could just dig up those bricks and set them in the ground better.  Maybe this weekend.  I already have plans to plant some flowers along the back where hubby has cleaned out the areas by the porch so nicely already (and disturbed all those snails)!


And also may work some this weekend.  I want to see that movie that is out too. If not this weekend maybe next. Heaven is for real is what I'd like to see. Not sure if hubby is interested but I may be able to talk him into it.  ;-)

One more Monday down...

Managed to get in a walk after work today in between the rain.  We are expecting to get hit with possibly severe storms in the next hour or two.  I have my main computer off but not unplugged yet. I will if it storms badly.  Right now it is just cloudy.

Not much else to write about, but hey at least I blogged as promised! :)

Mother's Day

Another Mother's Day come and gone.  Nice visit from my youngest and a phone call from my oldest was nice too!  Then of course as my mother is nearby hubby and I went to visit her and take her a card and Orchid and visited for a spell. 


My mom and dad are both hard of hearing and sometimes it is funny as I will say something and then my mom will say "What did you say?"  And then my hubby says something totally off the wall but using similar sounding words. Like today when I told her "I knew you liked yellow so that's what I got you ( a yellow orchid).  She said "What did you say?".  Hubby said, "We were going to bring you some Jello  (instead of yellow), and I start cracking up!  She got the gist of the joke though too.  He has done that before though when the joke wasn't caught and I have such a hard time not cracking up!
What can I say? Life it too short to not find some humor in things! :)


Tomorrow is another dreaded Monday. Oh well. It is what it is.  At least two Mondays from now is Memorial Day and we will have the day off. My sister from Ohio will be in town then too and it will be great to see her again.


I still love using my cast iron and used it this evening to make some stir fry vegetables. Yum!  I even threw in some cilantro, parsley and rosemary from my garden. Pretty cool!

Lazy Day

I almost forgot to blog today! Let me see what we did today.  The youngest arrived pretty late last night, around 10:00PM and so we visited and chatted a little before watching some Jimmy Fallon and then heading to bed. I actually caught a few minutes of Late night with Seth Meyers.  I can't get used to him not just being on Saturday Night Live.  It is just weird to me. 


Anyway today we hung around and watched a movie and then in the afternoon we took her dog to the dog park to give my dogs a break.  For some reason they do not get along that well.  Her dog is bigger than any of our dogs and is protective of her (my youngest).  May have been because it was hot or something, but her dog didn't run around a whole lot although we stuck around the park for close to a couple hours. 


Then we got Thai tonight, yum!  And then watched a Tom Selleck movie.  It was a nice, lazy Saturday of relaxing.  Oh, except for the cleaning of the downstairs bathroom that really needed it this morning. 

Finally Friday

Figured I'd blog while I wait for the youngest to get here for a visit. It is Mother's Day weekend.  So Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers who may see this!  Hope you have a very special day!  We were supposes to get a lot of rain yesterday and today but actually only got a little over half an inch. Boo...it was suppose to be as much as over 3 inches.


Isn't the first time the weather forecast was wrong! They are wrong more than right most of the time.


Looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend. Watching my favorite show GRIMM right now. There are more commercials than show!

Not my day!

Today was one of those days I really hated! Many unreasonable difficulties with many things throughout the day, most of which I cannot get into as they were work related. But I am extremely disappointed about one thing I can blog about.  I participated in an online Auction for a dog rescue group and won 4 items. I paid immediately afterwards and waited patiently for my goodies.  The indication was to allow 3weeks for sending out the things won. Fine, I did this.


Well last week when it had been 3 weeks and I heard and got nothing I inquired about it.  Turns out they got my winnings mixed up with someone else?  How could that happen?  Are there that many people with the same last name as mine?  I think not.  Okay so I was emailed that they would straighten it out and send me my things.  I had won two very pretty rings with semi-precious stones in them, a book and a stuffless dog toy. 


A large brown envelope arrived today. Half of the flap was open (pulled back) and the rest of it was easily pulled back with hardly a pull (not enough glue?.. got wet?)... Who knows!  Yep you guessed it.  The RINGS were missing.  Really got me mad.  It just was like the icing (NOT) on the cake today.  Anyway I will never participate in that rescue's auction ever again. It was handled so poorly!


I am glad we are having bacon (and French toast) for dinner. That will help turn my mood, then a relaxing evening with hubby and thankfully tomorrow is FRIDAY!!

Snail Wall

Hubby was clearing out a bunch of weeds along the back porch where we have a garden area well where we want to plant some flowers.  He has one side weeded already and put the weed guard down.  I went outside to check out how things were going and I saw it, a wall of snails!.  I don't know how there are that many out there.  It isn't like we live at any shore or near any lake. Here are some pictures of an area where a bunch were attached to the wall.  One is even in a knot hole in one of the back porch support posts. Just so weird!!