Preservation

thanks to all of you that commented on my last post. some of it was fun. some of it was 'oh, yeah, i forgot to mention i'm doing that'. like parking farther from work & walking the extra distance. i also take my dog for a walk every night when i get home from work. i walk on the treadmill at least half an hour every night as well. i shop at least twice a week & women? they know how to spend some time when it comes to shopping. i can be on my feet walking for hours when it comes to shopping. during the warm days i was swimming for 2 hours a day but now thats gone so i've tried to pick up extra exercise where i can. i got a rope for jumping but i haven't started that yet. i'm almost embarrassed to jump my fat ass in front of my neighors. man, i don't think they deserve that. but then they might get a kick out of watching me black my eyes. you know, the boobs? they tend to bounce vigorously! i'm afraid to jump in my house. it might not stay standing & i know the things inside wouldn't survive. mostly, i was talking about detoxifying my body to, like, preserve it....for eternity or at least the next 80 years. cos thats what i want to live for, you know? have you seen some of the pics of older woman with all that sagging skin? its ugly. this is not what i expect to look like. i want to look good when i walk down the street. or beach. whichever. so, i figure if i start working on preserving me now i can skip the ugly old lady syndrome & just always be the beautiful, young looking, foxy thing that i've always dreamed of being. i've got 80 years to get there. i can do it, right? oh damn, i think i blew that pic up too big. you can't see it as well as i wanted you to. but you get the picture, right?
and while i'm talking about beaches i still have friends without power from ike. hubby went over & helped one plant a telephone pole tonight. when i say 'plant' i literally mean dug a hole, raised the 30 foot pole & set it in the hole. stamping the earth back down around it, watering in the planted pole & more dirt packed on top of that. the energy company still can't get to all the people. some of them have trees that pulled right out of the ground taking with them telephone & electric poles. have you seen any of the pics from the damage done by ike? i found these & thought i'd share with you: this is from the space hubble. one lone house left standing in gilchrist texas.

debri blown ashore in galvaston.

a man clearing a drain in the street.

i've seen some pitiful pics that i just couldn't bring myself to post here. but this is an inkling to the devastation from ike. 12 days later & there are still people without electricity clear up here in ohio so you have to know it was detrimental to the people closer to it. and we still haven't seen any rain. this is all gonna bite us in the ass years down the road still yet. we're still recovering from katrina. some of the people of louisiana aren't in their homes yet & now ike blows through & just creates more havoc. thank god he didn't hit louisiana like katrina did. even still doing some damage in parts of that state. galvaston didn't get hit as hard because of their levee but it was bad enough. i guess haiti lost a lot of lives too. just too much. i don't know how much more those poor people can take. or lose.
i've still trying to reach my friend texas tammi with no luck. i just pray she & her family are all ok.
later.

Turning Points

we all have times that we refer to as 'turning points' in our lives. i have several. i'm sure you do too.
when i was about 9 years old the first turning point was choosing to live with my dad instead of my mom. dad was married again while mom was still looking for mister right. i was brainwashed into thinking that my mom was too busy with her single life to raise kids. they convinced me that dad had more time & money to invest in my upbringing. they were right about the money but time? not. nobody mentioned love either. i was niave, not a deep thinker & the important things didn't come to mind. at that age i still took for granted that adults would make the best choices for me. notice 'for granted' is the operative words there.
the next was when i became pregnant with my son. i had to grow up pretty fast. yes, he was an unplanned event in that time of my life but no, i wouldn't change a thing and before anyone gets the wrong idea i was married but i did that too young as well. had i waited to get married i may never have had sonny. after all i waited to have a 2nd one & that never happened. timing IS everything & i don't care what anyone says.
the 3rd was when i lost my mom. i no longer had my best friend & confidante. that pretty much left me devastated.
4th was marrying my present hubby. i won't go into my situation cos that isn't the point i'm trying to make here. enough said?
the 5th was the birth of my grandson. that was when i decided it was time to take better care of myself & make sure i was around for the duration. i want to see him & my granddaughters grow up, get married & have kids of their own. i want to know my great grandchildren & i want a long, long life to enjoy that time.
which brings me to the point of this post. i've reached another turning point. last saturday, i lost another cousin. they say she died of a heart attack. she wasn't 50 yet. i started thinking about it & realized that not one of my cousins have lived past the age of 55. thats only 4 years away & i can't have that. it just doesn't fit into my plans. right now i'm thinking i'm looking death right in the eyes & its a mexican standoff. so, heres the plan. i've found a detoxifying recipe for my liver. i'll work on that tomorrow. i've also seen these patches that you can put on your feet for detoxifying your body. they're on my list of must haves. i've given up fats, which is most foods. i'm working on giving up alcohol & soda. give me a break. i can't give up everything at once. i have given up several sodas a day & now i drink more water than anything. cigarettes are on the list but i have to lose my weight before i can give them up. they tell me i'll gain at least 20 pounds when i quit so i have to lose a little more before i attempt that. after all if i only lose 25 & gain back 20 i'm fucked before i get started. other than going on pure oxygen & putting myself on a donor list for replacing everything in my body i'm out of ideas. if you have ANY ideas for me, PLEASE, don't hesitate to let me know. they say 2 heads are better than one so i'm thinking a whole village has to be great. all ideas are acceptable & if it sounds stupid its probably the one thing that will work. spit it out. speak up. remember, this is for my great grandchildren.
later.

They Dance For The Money

i'm the biggest loser in the whole world. i suck! where is my brain for the most important things that go on in my life? out to lunch, obviously. always, this time of year, our organization has its major fund raiser of the year. the black tie gala affair of the year that the whole tri-state attends. its the kick ass party of the year & what did i do? forgot my camera. stupid, stupid, stupid! it takes us 15 months to plan & we are constantly working on it in the background the whole 15 months. we choose a theme, plan the event, hire the band, arrange for the tents, set up air conditioners, set up heaters, set up backup generaters, engage chefs & restaurants, hosts & hostesses, rent accessories, make centerpieces, bring in photographers, send out rsvp's, assign tables, assign bid numbers, request contributions, collect contributions, pick up said contributions, hire bartenders, arrange for animal appearances, yadda, yadda, you get the point, we start from scratch & organize an entire event. and i forgot my camera. of all the things that we consider important, i forgot one of the most important items of the night. the saving it for prosterity, the capture of memories, the share all of the group that actually creates the entire event & i dropped the ball. yes, we bring in photographers to take pics but they never get around to us: the ones that actually pull the whole thing together. they take pics of all the action going on. i never saw one point a camera in our direction. i saw them carrying their equiptment around, with the tripods & the lens that were longer than my arm but never once did they point it at the people that make the event actually happen. oh well, i know & you know now. although we may never get credit for all the work, we were a major part of the most money brought in for the year. our animals never see where the money comes from but they live a better life for all our efforts. thats our contribution. thats our payoff.
and it was a really good time to be had by all. we got to see a lot of inebriated people, that tickled the hell out of us, spend a bunch of money on items that will support a lot of really good living for a great exhibit of animals. i love our zoo.
later.

Ike

ike blew through here with a vengeance...leaving 700,000 people without electricity. 700,000. thats a lot of people. we stood in the front yard & watched as trees, sheds, skirting, small dogs & debri whisked by us. it was frightening. the crashing sounds all around us & the electric kicking off & on. everyone i know lost power. the clouds were zooming across the sky as black as coal while it was full daylight. we kept expecting rain but that never happened. we helped neighbors snag their skirting & garden gnomes as they skipped across the yards. the winds reached up to 84 mph & our house literally rocked. not with fun. not with sex. just wind. ike was brutal. i can't tell you how many doors hubby knocked on to make people aware that their homes were falling apart. roofs blew off. we had an elm tree as big around as a car fall across the road blocking everyone in or out. i heard later that we had 3 deaths.
sonny came up to pick up the kids & had a terrible time getting here. there were power lines & trees all over the roads the entire way up here. he actually thought he was going to have to turn around & go back.
it was hard not to giggle with pure fright as i watched all the things fly by my head. folks, i was scared. honestly, theres not much that scares me but that was something i'll never forget. going to bed that night was even weirder. there wasn't a sound to be heard. not a car, not a cricket, not a tree frog, nothing, not even the breeze. it was total silence.
4 days later there are still lots of people without electricity. some with cars still sitting under down poles with live wires. my inlaws are still waiting for their electricity to come back. i heard on the news tonight that the police are arresting people for threatening energy workers. like its their fault. fucking rednecks. its all about them.
i know most of the people that comment here aren't from around here. i do have texas tammi that reads me. i have to visit & see how she's doing. anyone know people that were affected by ike? i hope they're all doing ok. we were lucky.
later.

On His Game

the marquee read 'baby openings'.
hubby said, 'isn't that called vagina's'?
sometimes i wonder about him. he just has a sick humor. course, thats what attracted me to him in the first place. too bad he's not lucid enough most of the time to entertain me like this. he used to be. when i first met him, he was always on top of his game. a quick thinker, entertaining & always quick with the wit. sick wit. quick sick wit. thats what attracted me. what does that make me?
a sick quick wit twit?
yeah, thats me.
later.

The Right Vote

tell me why the closer it gets to election day the more people think they're political genius'? i don't get it. people i never heard a word even referring to politics come out of their mouth & now all of a sudden they're experts. they try to tell me who to vote for & what their political stance is. i watch the news & i hear the speeches. so, why do they think they're gonna teach me something that i missed? even my mother is pumping politics down my throat.
i also hate the blame game the politicians all play. i hate the slander & i hate the digs they take at each other. i hate the stupidity that comes out of their mouth. i know one of them have to win but the way they go about slamming each other is just ridiculous. i wonder what would happen if a politician just decided to run on his own merits & not try to take the other one down with all the slander. i think i'd vote for him just because it would take a decent human being to just run for election. tell me what your agenda is & don't worry about the other guy. personnally, you'll impress me a lot more if i know you're just concentrating on yourself. why waste your money on commercials that tell us about the other guy? don't worry about the skeleton in the closet. we all know its there. you know, we people talk amongst ourselves. we find out about the thesis & the son in the army. we find out about the wives that go the extra mile & the candidate that was a pow. the news stories & the internet is out there for all of us to learn what we need to know. do they really think they're telling us something we didn't know when they accuse each other of the stupidity that is in their backgrounds? the associates they have or the friends they won't admit to now? why, why why do i have to listen to all the stupid shit, thats clogging each candidates brain, that has no bearing on what kind of president he'll be? obviously, they think we're a bunch of idiots & all we want is a bunch of gossip. not me. i just want a decent person in the house. we're talking history in the making & all they want to talk is smack! i want someone that wants what i want. i want low taxes, free healthcare, affordable housing, good relations around the world, to save the animals, work to save the trees & the ecology, no smog, cheap trash efficient burning cars, clean water, safe children, truth, liberty & justice for all, abundant fuel, abundant food, happy constiguents, safe driving & affordable insurance, free speech, no war, people you can trust with a gun, clergy we can trust, easy retirement, love your god, i want neighbors to look out for each other & i don't want no fucking rock throwing!!! play nice! and for gods sake don't mess with your neighbors wife. don't create skeletons & there won't be skeletons. fuck all this noise!
I WANT ME FOR PRESIDENT!!!!
i'll step away from the podium now. thank you for listening.

Our Grandparents Day

today we went to jammers school to do a grandparents day celebration with him & ixxie. it was a lot of fun & i was really proud to be there for them.
it was ixxies class we met with first. we had snacks & juice with her & she took us to her classroom to show us her desk & what her class was doing. she was so hyper i couldn't hardly get her to stand still for a pic. i did manage to get a few pretty good ones though. i just kept snapping till some came out good. she was so busy proudly yelling to all her classmates, this is my grandparents. (isn't she a cutie?) unlike jammer who sat pretty still with us & snacked on a cookie which he lost interest in pretty quick when we asked him to show us his classroom. he's never been one to want too much sweets. he'd rather have a banana than a cookie any day. his teacher seemed to be handling the day much better than ixxie teacher. i met ixxies teacher once when we were having the snacks but i didn't see her again the whole time we were there. jammers teacher came to us several times telling us how much she loved him & taking pics with him & of us. last year they made a dvd of all the things they did throughout the year & i'm sure this is gonna be part of that dvd at the end of the year. i'm gonna look like a cow but thats ok. i wasn't the fattest or the oldest grandparent there. i'm on a winning streak here people.
jammers teacher also made up a song about grandparents & the kids all sang it for us. then they sang the song 'you can' & i got that on video. one of these days i'll figure out how to upload that here & i'll share some of my videos with you. i have jammer saying the pledge to allegiance that is so cute you'll just eat it up.
happy grandparents day to those of you who are grandparents. the rest of you that aren't grandparents yet really have something to look forward to. you just never realize how much you're loved until you get to attend the celebration these little people set up for you.
later.

Momma Said

there'd be days like this. my momma said. remember that song? it fit my day perfectly.
i woke up late this morning. quickly threw my clothes on, brushed my teeth & headed out the door. my car wouldn't start. shit. so hubby took the battery charger out & got me started. i pulled out & my tire sounded funny. i stopped & got out to look at the tire. it was flat! shit, fuck! i had a can of fix a flat in the car so i put it in the tire & took off. i was running about 1/2 hour late by now. i stopped by the store & finished filling the tire up with air that cost me 75 cents. by now i was running almost 45 minutes late. that air compressor was the slowest running air compressor i've ever seen. i got about 10 miles down the road & the tire started sounding funny again so i pulled over in the first gas station i came to. the damn tire was flat again. shit, fuck, damn!! i called hubby & he & his dad came to my rescue. they took my tire up to the tire store to have it fixed. it couldn't be fixed so we bought another tire, took it back & put it on my car. i was off again. an hour & a half late but i was going! the day seemed to drag by which isn't surprising when the kids have all gone back to school & most memberships have been bought for the year until october when we start picking up for christmas gifts. i finally got ready to go home but again the car wouldn't start!!!! shit! fuck! damn! son of a bitch!!!! i walked up to the parking attendant & explained the situation to him so he called for the battery charger. i waited about 10 minutes for those guys to show up but instead of a guy it was a girl that brought the charger. she hooked the charger to the bolts on my battery & i tried to turn it over with no luck. i got out of the car & moved the connection to put it all the way on the post & when i lifted the cable the whole thing came away from the battery. the cable wasn't even tight on the battery! no wonder it wasn't starting. so i got a pair of pliers & tightened the cable down & tried the charger again. it fired right up. when i got home i convinced hubby to tighten the cable really good to make sure we didn't go through that again. he wasn't really happy with the job but it was better than having me quit my job. thats where my head was at by then.
so thats how my day went. how about yours?
later.

Beating The Odds

do you remember not too long ago i told you my doctor wanted to put me on not one but 2 medications for a pre-diabetic condition? i begged him to give me some time & let me research the meds a little before he just chose them & let me try to change a few things to, hopefully, not have to go on the meds at all. well, i've researched those meds extensively & i really don't want the added side effects that go with them. not to mention i'm a terrible pill taker. my birth control is a good example & believe me if theres any pill you really want to remember to take its birth control. although, by the end of the month i would usually have more left than gone. fot the most part when i do take a pill i have to gag it down. or up. whichever i can successfully do. anyway, i don't relish the idea of taking 2 pills till the end of my life or till i have to go on insulin. whichever comes first. i've been watching what i eat & trying to get as much exercise as i can & so far i've lost 25 pounds. thats been since july 12. i weighed me last weekend. which is about 7 weeks. if i could lose 25 pounds every 7 weeks for a while i'd be a happy camper. i think my doctor might be too. i don't own a scale so i have to wait till i get somewhere that does to weigh me. i've been checking my blood sugar level since then too. in the beginning i was registering 127, which is only slightly high but enough that he wanted to put me on meds. since then i've been having readings of anywhere between 90 to 127. the last few days its been under 110. i really want to beat this so if you have any ideas for helping me with getting my shit together give me a shout. i could use all the help i can get.
later.