Don't Worry!~

Dear Journal,

Don't worry if I don't write in you for a few days.  I have lots to update you on.  I am on vacation this week and have been doing lots of needed projects.  I promised myself I would spend the least amount of time possible on the computer because I do have so much to do.  I have visited my MIL, and my Mom and stepdad at the lake.  We fed the fish today, watched the ducks, and played with her dogs while daughter and her boyfriend went swimming.  Oh, and she gave me a dishwasher.  Woo Hoo!~

I finished painting the basement bathroom that my son and ex DIL had started before she left.

I have done a lot in the yard.

I cleaned out the laundry room, and the basement cuz son moved out.  I now have a family room.  Woo Hoo!

I do miss my son though, but he only moved two miles down the road.

I have taken time to read again, one of my favorite pasttimes and I have enjoyed these beautiful perfect Spring days either on my deck or the patio now and then.  It makes me feel quite refreshed.

Mary Jane and I walk down by the pond almost daily.  I got my gym equipment set up in the basement/family room so I can start working out, which was one of my New Years resolutions.  I want to be slim and trim by my 30th class reunion in August.  It is almost 1:00 AM, so I must run, journal.  Nite!  Nite!~

Will be back ASAP.

Thanks for the graphics, Amy!~

 

IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!~

WHAT'S HERE YOU ASK?  WHY.................SPRING, OF COURSE!  WINTER IS OFFICIALLY OVER!  WOO HOO!~

I love this graphic because it shows one of my favorite pasttimes, my "therapy" if you will.  ::wink::

This graphic is the very epitome of Spring.

.............and, it wouldn't be Spring without the flowers, would it?

HAPPY SPRING!~

P.S.  Thanks Amy for all the beautiful graphics!~  :-)

 

Good News/Bad News!~

Dear Journal,

First the bad news:

I'm sick.  ::sigh::  Hubby has been real sick with an upper respiratory infection and he graciously shared with me.  Lucky me, eh?  I have had a sore throat since Sunday.  Have a slight cough too.  Felt terrible earlier today, kinda achy, but am feeling somewhat better as far as that part goes.  Had insomnia again last night.  That is the absolute pits.  It is like my brain won't shut down.  No fun. :-(

My precious Simba kitty gave me quite the scare tonight.  He started gasping and coughing.  His breathing became quite congested-sounding.  Thankfully, it passed after a few minutes, but just to be safe, I called in his symptoms to my vet.  She wants to see him in the morning.  I could tell he has not felt well all day.  I pray he is going to be okay.  I am so attached to my little Simba kitty.  Vet thinks it is an allergy or viral infection.

Awww, ain't he cuuuuuute!~

Good News:

My stepfather had to have a heart catheterization on Monday.  They found a 99% blockage to his aorta, the main artery to his heart.  They did an immediate stent placement.  He had to have two stent placements a couple of years ago.  The doc said this stent had to be much longer, so evidently it was quite a bad blockage.  I am so happy that our technology has advanced like it has because stents have saved so many lives and stent placement is so much easier on a patient than open heart surgery!  It is wonderful news that they found it in time and were able to do the stent placement instead of what the doctors call a cabbage (CABG, which stands for coronary artery bypass graft).  He only had to stay overnight and got to come home today!  Thank you, Jesus!~ 

I am posting a cool website you can go to and learn more about it:

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/conditions/heart/coronary-artery-disease/surgery/angioplasty/stenting

And more wonderful news, next week is my daughter's Spring break and I am on vacation.  Woo Hoo!~

Will write more later!~

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!~

Just wanted to take a moment out of my busy day to wish you a Happy St Patrick's Day!~

Very windy and chilly here today after the rain, so I will not be working in the yard today.  ::sigh::  The wind tends to give me an earache.  I will spend my time cleaning house and doing taxes.  Yea (that is a sarcastic yea, by the way)!  ::snort::

I took Mary Jane out to potty yesterday and locked myself out of the house.  Fortunately the deadbolt wasn't on, so I used a credit card to get in my own house, lol.  We always keep the deadbolt locked when we are at home.  Since we have had people messing around the outside of the house at night several times, I tend to be a little paranoid.

I was cooking supper later last evening,  somebody came in the kitchen (who shall remain nameless) looking for something to snack on and didn't shut the cabinet door.  When I raised up from retrieving what I wanted from the bottom cabinet, I hit my head pretty hard on the corner of the cabinet.  That was really fun!  ::Susan interjects more sarcasm here::  Needless to say, I have a nice little bruise on the back of my head.

Nothing else to report, so guess I had better get started cleaning.  Can't wait. :-P  Do I have any volunteers to come and help??????  Hmmmmmm................Yeah, I thought not.  Well, it won't get done by itself, so gotta run for now.

Hope you and yours have a Happy St. Patrick's Day and don't forget to wear green so you won't get pinched!!!!!!

Blessings!~

Posting in honor of Sugar and Jeannette and praying a cure for breast cancer is soon found.

 

 

Before/After Pics of Yard!~

Dear Journal,

I tried to post these pics last night, but got frustrated because I could not find where I had saved the before pics on the computer, as I have so many pics saved to the computer in many files.  I have got to find time to get them more organized.  So much to do.............so little time.  ::sigh::

I kept looking today and finally found them under miscellaneous pics.  Go figure!

I am so happy with how the hard work has paid off.  I found the pics of how grown up the yard was when we first came back from Colorado.  The red tip is in the backyard just off the corner of the deck looking toward the spring.  I put in several views of how overgrown the redtip is.  Hubby cut the redtip way back and I got out there and worked this past weekend clearing out the briars (got the scratches to prove it!) and brush that had grown underneath.  I can't get over what a difference our hard work has made.  It looks sooooo much better.  Woo Hoo!~

While I was outside working, Mary Jane chased Simba up the tree.  I don't think she would ever hurt Simba.  We have a total of three cats, so I think she thinks she is a cat too and not a dog, but she is so much bigger than Simba, I am afraid she will hurt him.  She does not realize her own strength so to speak.  It is funny how they both want to be near me no matter where I am inside or out.  Pets are so loyal.

There are more pics showing how we have cleared out the brush all the way down to the spring.  The spring is hard to photograph because it is so narrow at this point.

And, last but not least, there are a couple of photos of Fonzie and Prissie in a clothes basket.  I had just folded clean laundry.  I didn't want their fur on the laundry so I put Hubby's sweat jacket over the clean clothes for them to lay on not realizing how dirty his jacket was.  :-P  Perhaps the fur would have been better.  ::giggle::

We had run out of work at the hospital, so I jumped on to do this entry right quick.  For any new readers who might happen by, I am a medical transcriptionist and work from home.  My station is saying work available, so I had better get back to it.  It is 80 degrees here today.  Sitting in front of a computer is the last place I want to be.  ::sigh::

I must remember to watch idol tonight.  At least my three favorites are still on.

1) Lakisha Jones

2) Melinda Doolittle

3) Jordan Sparks

Happy Wednesday!~

IN HONOR OF JEANNETTE AND SUGAR~I PRAY A CURE IS SOON FOUND FOR BREAST CARCINOMA.

Happy Sunday!~

Dear Journal,

I worked myself into exhaustion yesterday in my yard.  I had a burn pile and burned lots of the brush we had cut down.  Hubby had to work so my daughter was nice enough to come out and help me.  She pushed the wheelbarrow for me after she got out there, as I was just too tired.  This is my therapy (working in the yard).  It works out all the frustrations of life.

My daughter's boyfriend dropped by when he got off of work.  Hubby also came in from work.  We were all sitting around the fire.  My daughter had some questions about the bible.  Hubby was telling her his take on it.  It was a nice evening after a long hard day.

Everybody went in before me, I reluctantly left the fire after it had burned down to glowing orange coals.  I find it so mesmerizing.  I sent daughter and her boyfriend to pick up pizza for us because I was way too tired to cook.  I watched a little bit of the tube, visited a few journals and went to bed.  Unfortunately, I was sooooooooooo tired, I could not sleep and I had to take a half of a sleeping pill and some pain medication at about 3:30 this morning.  I finally fell asleep and slept until about 1:30 today!  How is that for exhausted??????????

Now, I am on my way to Wal-Mart to pick up a few needed items.  I need to come back and work on taxes, but it is such a nice day, I hear the yard calling me........................

Happy Sunday!~

Tag made by Angela (chillininjville)

Food For Thought!~

Dear Journal,

My friend, Bill, sent this to me in an email.  It is actually one I hadn't read before.  Since I have 307 alerts/emails to read, I am glad I stumbled on this one, it is great food for thought.  I have always thought a positive attitude and willingness to forgive goes a long way in keeping us "spiritually" healthy.  I think this email proves my point:

One of my teachers had each one of us bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes. For every person we'd refuse to forgive in our life, we were told to choose a potato, write on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of our bags, as you can imagine,were quite heavy. 
 
We were then told to carry this bag with us everywhere for one week, putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when driving, and next to our desk at work. 
 
The hassle of lugging this around with us made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually, and how we had to pay attention to it all the time to not forget and keep leaving it in embarrassing places. 
 
Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty slime. This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for keeping our pain and heavy negativity! 
 
Too often, we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person, and while that's true, it clearly is also a gift for ourselves! 
 
So the next time you decide you can't forgive someone, ask yourself... 
 
Isn't MY bag heavy enough? 

Thanks to my friend, Lori (mynovata78)for this tag.

Glad To Be Alive!~

Dear Journal,

I am so grateful to be alive and breathing today.  Wow!  Did March ever come in like a lion!  We had severe storms come through Alabama yesterday.  A tornado touched down in Enterprise, AL, which is approximately 130 miles SW from us.  It hit Enterprise High School where 1200 to 1400 students attend.  So far, it has been determined that eight have died at the school and an elderly lady elsewhere in Enterprise (I do keep hearing conflicting reports).  This is the only high school in Enterprise, which is why there are so many students.  They are still looking for victims.  My heart goes out to these families.

Now, they are reporting a bus crashed in Atlanta, which is just over 100 miles east of us, killing six from an Ohio college baseball team that was headed for Ft. Meyers, FL for a preseason game.  I just heard several are in surgery in critical condition.  I pray for a successful surgery and recovery for these guys. Again, my heart goes out to these families.

We got some thunder, lightening, wind, and heavy rains yesterday.  Our basement took on water as usual.  ::sigh::  The dirt we put up against the house did not help as much as we had hoped.  This means we are going to have to dig out around the foundation, put gravel down, plastic sheeting, and a French drain.

I was on pins and needles yesterday until my daughter got home from school.  My sister-in-law picks her up for me when she gets her grandchildren.  Thank God she got home safely.  Hubby and son got in from work too before the worst part of the storm hit.  In light of the areas in Alabama and Georgia that were hit, I am very grateful my family and I are alive and well.  My prayers are going out to these families of both disasters.

I am so happy to hear that Anna Nicole Smith is finally going to be laid to rest today after three weeks.  What a fiasco!  I just heard on the news that Daniel's father is wanting him moved to Texas.  He had no part in Daniel's life for many years, what gives him the right to even say this?  I say, LEAVE DANIEL AND ANNA NICOLE ALONE AND LET THEM REST IN PEACE!

My day will be spent cleaning, trying to dry up the water in my basement, and working.  I have not been able to work in the yard all week.  ::sigh::  That is my therapy.  I NEED my therapy! Most likely, weekend will be spent doing taxes.  I DESPISE DOING BOOKWORK!  Not how I relish spending my weekend, that's for sure!~

On a good note, the work we did on the driveway held pretty good during the heavy rains, so at least that is something!~

The storm knocked out the channel American Idol was on, so I don't know who all got voted off last night.  So far, it had been Alaina Alexander and A.J.  I hated to see A.J. go.  Alaina was okay.  She was not among my favorite picks.  I think I am favoring Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones of the women.  Haven't made up my mind on the guys yet.

It is TGIF day again.  Woo Hoo!~

Happy TGIF!~

Tag made by Angela (Chillininjville)

 

 

Monday Photo Shoot/Natural Spring Photos!~

Dear Journal,

Decided I would participate in Scalzi's photo shoot this week.  I used to do it each week before I started working again.

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Show off your refrigerator magnets.

I have two views of my fridge magnets.  The second one I took without the glare, but the first view with the glare actually shows the magnets better.  The ones along the bottom we got while we lived in Colorado on different excursions.  The one in the middle says Susan's Kitchen.  There are a few that hold family photos.  One holds a picture of the mustang my son used to own (his ex got it in the divorce) and his best friend's mustang.  The paint jobs on both change colors.  The rest are just miscellaneous.  A couple were given to me by close friends.  Last but not least, are my Holstein cow magnets.

The rest of the photos show the natural spring that winds through our yard.  We have been clearing the brush that goes down to the spring.  We have plans to put in a fountain and lay rock so that the water cascades over the rocks.  Before we can even attempt that, the brush has to be cleared down to the spring.  You can tell by photos posted how much we still have to do.

The spring is what feeds and fills the pond.  Hard to believe that little bit of water fills a whole pond (there are pics of the pond in the last entry).

We are expecting severe weather here in the Heart of Dixie today, so guess March is coming in like a lion here in the deep south!  Guess we will find out if the work we did on the foundation is going to work or not, as when we get heavy rains, the basement usually floods.  ::big sigh::

I feel I have had a productive week this week.  It started with the yardwork last weekend and getting our very eroded driveway fixed.  It gave us such a feeling of accomplishment to see the beautiful results.  Now I cannot wait to do more!~

I got my dining room/kitchen mopped and cleaned.  I did some rearranging and love the results.  I got the living room floor mopped.  The hardwood floor needs refinishing so badly, it didn't look much different, but at least I know it is clean.  The floor is over 100 years old. It is pine and in dire need of refinishing.  If I had my way, it would be totally replaced with new hardwood!~

I hope to get the living room deep cleaned today and get it more organized.  I have to start work at 1:00 so guess I had better hurry.

I heard on the news where Anna Nicole Smith is finally going to be buried in the Bahamas next to her son.  I am so glad her wishes are going to be carried out in light of the fact she did not have such a great relationship with her mother.

I kind of hope Howard Stern is the father of Dannielynn for the simple fact that she has already lost her mother and I would hate to see her lose the only father she has ever known.

Must get busy if I am to accomplish all I want to do before I have to start work.  Of course, if the weather gets too bad, the computer is the last place I want to be.  My station that I get my dictation on is connected to the phone lines.  I wear headphones and have been shocked before during a t-storm where lightening came in on the phone line and through my headphones.  I hope my daughter gets in from school before it gets too bad.  Right now, the bad weather is on the west side of Alabama.

Must run!  Will write more later!~

Happy Thursday!~