OMG, "Five Guys" is in Stoney Creek and I'm worried I'll be eating there much, much too often. The first time I was in a Five Guys restaurant (in Florida) I wasn't eating fries but the hamburger was exquisite. Once I began eating fries again I found out that the best ones in the world are at Five Guys!
Donna, Mary, and I went there for dinner tonight after Donna told us where it was located...I thought the only one in Ontario was in Mississauga so what a thrill to find one closer to home. I got a full order of burger and fries but couldn't finish them because the servings are huge. The price was a couple of dollars more than in the States but that was to be expected. The best news was that the food was exactly the same...delicious!
A word to the wise, order the SMALL burger and only one order of fries for 2-3 people.
Not only do squirrels try to make my house their home but it's apparently where they choose to die. This morning I went out to clean up the patio, leaf blowing and furniture cleaning, when I was stopped in my tracks by a squirrel lying on the patio in the throws (?) of death. It was still twitching and there was no way I'd go near it even if it was stone cold dead so I phoned Animal Control and was promised they'd be here within the hour.
I'm waiting.
Update: A lady from Animal Control showed up within half an hour and very gently picked up the almost dead squirrel and took it out to her van where she gave it a shot to put it out of it's suffering. She said it looked as though it had been caught in a trap so I guess at least one of my neighbors hate the little buggers as much as I do...maybe a bit more if they're laying traps. I stood there trying hard to feel even a tinge of sorrow for the poor thing but couldn't come up with much. The best I could do was to be glad it wasn't suffering any more. And then to feel a little gratitude that there was one less damn squirrel in my yard.
Sisterhood, the relationship between women friends, can't be overstated as one of the best relationships you'll ever have. I remember as a teenager how it was incomprehensible to me not to have a best friend and a few more casual friends. It would have been so lonely without them. As a senior lady, I've made it a mission to gather as many nice lady friends as I can because it fills my life with a happiness that was missing during most of my adult years.
I can honestly say that no group of men has ever made me laugh as hard as a group of women can. Of course the women have to be compatible to start with and that's easier to arrange than you might think. I suppose the best women companions are those you grew up with and kept throughout your life but new friends can become just as close, too. I like being around women who have a sense of humor and are down to earth. There are other qualities I might look for that make me like their company, too, but that often takes a bit of time to discover.
I can't stand being around dishonest people because it's too tiring trying to figure them out. And why would anyone bother when there are so many nice people around? It's fun to hang out with ladies who don't take themselves too seriously and who can laugh at their failings...we all have them!
It isn't necessary at all for a group of women friends to have identical tastes, likes, dislikes, or lifestyles as long as there's enough common ground for them to identify with. Sometimes I look around at our rather large group of lady friends in my Florida park and realize how many strong differences we actually have but are still able to bond together. Many are married, some are widowed, most live in different states or provinces, some are religious and some aren't, some are into sports and some are couch potatoes. Regardless, when we get together we always have things to talk and laugh about and nobody seems to think they're a star. It's equality all the way.
Back home I have a smaller group of friends but they're a little different because their ages range from the 30's to the 70's. The nice thing is that we talk and laugh together just the same as a group of senior women do. Sisterhood has no age limit.
Having girlfriends or ladyfriends at any age is a positive thing in your life. We need the interaction because it helps us understand and cope with whatever else is going on in our lives. We learn from each other, too, often discovering that we aren't alone in our worries. Serious talk is usually left to being shared with only a select few, though, while the larger group keeps the moments light.
I've come to the age where I'd much rather spend time with a bunch of women friends that with men. Some men are very interesting to chat with but sooner or later there's a disconnect that happens just because we're of different sexes. When you're younger and considering something beyond the talking, the difference is exciting but I'm past all that and now just want the pleasant experience of yakking with lady friends I have more in common with.
Sisterhood. Some males have no capacity to understand how important this is to females, to our sense of belonging. My husband felt that I shouldn't need companionship outside our marriage because it threatened him somehow. He was wrong, of course. We should form many different bonds...marriage, motherhood, family, and sisterhood in order to be complete.
No matter how old you are, life is just more fun when you have "sisters".
I haven't had a storm door at my front door in maybe 10 years because I didn't want my nice new red steel door with the stained glass windows to be covered in any way. Stupid of me because there have been many times over those years when it would have been lovely to be able to let a breeze come in via a storm door screen. Well, I bit the bullet today and went over to Home Depot and bought a very pretty storm door that has disappearing screens when they're not in use. I think this is a super idea but had never known they even existed before.
A small problem, though. Isn't there always? The door had to be picked up within 24 hours which meant my poor handyman had to zip over there to pick it up after working at another job all day. I wonder why it couldn't have been held in the store for 3 or 4 days at least since it was already paid for?
The door can't be installed for a couple of weeks (hopefully that's all) when my handyman has the time to do it but I don't mind that. I've done without one for 10 years and I'm just happy I finally made the move to get a new one this year.
I had lunch with Nick and the boys today and once again sat in amazement watching the difference between the little boys. I'd joked about Nolan being on double speed compared to Nash but I have to adjust that to at least quadruple speed. Nick told me about Nolan being told he was a lucky boy and Nolan replied, "Yes, I'm a yucky boy!". He can't say his "L's" and it gives us lots of opportunities to laugh. He says "heyyo" for hello, "yunch" for lunch, "yook" for look, too. Adorable!
Since I had Nash all day yesterday he seems to accept me pretty well now. Of course, he won't let me cuddle him but he doesn't scream when I come near him. Improvement of sorts.
Sweet little Nash, 1 1/2, doesn't know me very well so having him all day seemed like a good start in our relationship. I worried that he'd have a fit when his Momma dropped him off but he headed straight for the toys and seemed to forget all about her. He has the gentlest ways about him. When he reaches for something I don't want him to touch and I say no, he immediately stops and doesn't bother with it again. He's a wonder!
He seemed kind of tired all morning and tried a few times to sleep in the playbox but I distracted him, trying to delay his real nap until 9 A.M. at least. He'd only had a half hour sleep when the phone rang and woke him up. I tried putting him down for an afternoon nap and he'd been asleep about an hour when the phone rang and woke him up. Having his naps interrupted like this made him overtired and he just wasn't very energetic all day.
I made the mistake of asking him if he wanted to see Daddy on the computer and he thought I meant that his Daddy was here. He ran to the front door and screamed bloody murder when he saw that his Daddy wasn't there. He was so devastated that he grabbed a pillow and put it in the playhouse and tried to fall asleep...escape from the tragedy that his little life had become is my guess.
We had a few rainstorms today and it was wet outside so we stayed indoors all day. By far, Nash played nicely and ate nicely but every so often he'd cry like his little heart was broken. It wouldn't last long but I think he felt out of his element with me, not having formed our bond yet but it will come.
Natasha picked him up at 5:30 and I took out the dragon I'd bought for Nolan at a yard sale...he loved it! I get him for the day in 2 weeks and I've decided to brave the library and take him there. There's been an outbreak of bedbugs at some of the city libraries and I'd earlier decided never to set foot in one again but then I thought of all the public places we do go to and how we can never be certain they're bug free either. It kind of makes me sick to think about it. Anyway, I won't let Nolan or myself sit in an upholstered chair there even though all the libraries have just recently been sprayed!! Maybe all public places should only be furnished with plastic tables and chairs.
Nash was so easy to care for that he didn't wear me out but it's kind of nice to have the rest of the evening looking after only me!
We honestly do spend a lot of time discussing the weather and most of the time it's complaining about it. Facebook is filled with complaints about the hot, dry weather we've had and the rainy weather others have had this summer. We are so darned lucky that we have the time to post notices on Facebook about our less than perfect weather while others in the world are fighting wars and starvation. If we're bitching about the weather then the rest of our lives must be okay.
Once you put your worries and discomforts into perspective, you can see that we Canadians and Americans have it pretty good. I think it's therapeutic to complain once in a while, though because it shows we're still trying to better our lives. We are always expecting more than what we have and that's not such a bad thing. A stagnant world where no-one had hopes or ambitions would probably end in the demise of the human population on Earth.
I was laying in my nice comfy bed last night watching T.V. when one of those guilt inducing commercials came on. You know the kind, showing a starving child in Africa with tears in their eyes and flies on their faces. There is wealth beyond imagining in this world and I've always believed that there is no need for anyone in any country to suffer like this. I also believe that generous donations to Africa from good intentioned people and countries don't necessarily reach down to the truly needy but, instead, end up enriching the politicians there.
I remember a few years back when one of the American church leaders was shown embracing a starving child and begging for donations to help his church help the child. Unfortunately, the cameras caught something that wasn't meant to be noticed...the man was wearing a Rolex watch. If he had donated his Rolex to the village the child was from the people of that village would have eaten well for a very long time. I don't have too much trust in supposed do-gooders and that incident reinforced my distrust.
So many of us sit here and complain about how uncomfortable it is for us to brave the heat between our air conditioned homes and our air conditioned cars. Many complain about the time needed to attend exercise classes or weight loss groups. We complain about every little deficit in our lives but not one of us has a fly covered child with a belly swollen from starvation. The imbalance is frightening.
Shelley posted an article on Facebook today about a "miracle" that happened at the horrible massacre in Colorado. Apparently a young woman was shot in the face, the bullet travelling through her nose and into her brain. There were a few miracles at work here...the bullet was safely removed by a skilled surgeon but what he saw during the surgery is the true miracle. The young lady had been born with a defect in the composition of her brain, a sort of tunnel through it that she had no idea existed because it didn't interfere with any of the major areas of the brain. The bullet that could easily have killed or seriously injured her travelled through this tunnel leaving her with very little damage from being shot.
I really do want to say that this was just a wonderful coincidence but we know it wasn't. Just think of all the things that had to be in sync for the bullet, shot indiscriminately by a madman, to have travelled in just the right trajectory to make it's way into and through that tunnel.
I believe in miracles even though I don't understand why a little six year old girl didn't receive one that awful day. I believe that some things were meant to be...I just don't understand why they were meant to be. I'm so happy for the lucky young lady but so pained by the loss of the little innocent child. There are so many questions that need to be answered some day because too much of life here on earth makes no sense.
I got back home from the Bailey reunion today and, despite not being a Bailey, I had a great time. The Baileys are the family that Faye married into about 40+ years ago so I've come to be very close to them. They're good people with excellent family bonds so they fit right in with my love of family.
Faye, Mary, and I did some yard saleing on Saturday morning and then gathered at one of the Bailey farms for the reunion in the afternoon. The weather couldn't have been more perfect...sunny and hot but with a cooling breeze. There were lots of large shade trees on the farm and lots of open spaces for some of the clan to throw a ball around, too. Somewhere in the vicinity of 60 Baileys and friends were part of the reunion so I wasn't the only party crasher.
After dinner we were treated to a surprise. Todd and Peggy renewed their wedding vows after 25 years of marriage, with their 2 daughters standing up with them. Their neighbor, an ordained but not practicing minister, performed the ceremony in the yard as the rest of us sat in witness. It was so nice to see the love between Todd and Peggy and also the love and tight bonds among the whole Bailey family. All generations were there from the seniors down to the babies, everyone knowing how important family is and the elders using the day to reinforce this knowledge with the children.
We old people left about 10 P.M. for our motels and left the younger folk to party on at the bonfire. I, for one, slept like a lamb all night. Many of the Baileys met at 10 A.M. this morning in a local restaurant for breakfast and rehashed the reunion. I'll be seeing Mary again next Monday when she comes in to go to the casino and then spend the night at my house.
It was nice to get back to my own house, though. It always is no matter whether I've been gone a day or half a year. Home is where my heart is. Home is where my stuff is.
To make home even nicer, we had a really good drenching rainstorm in the early evening which is so desperately needed here. It's nice to be home.
Another brutal, senseless massacre in the U.S. and responsibility should land straight at the National Rife Association if, indeed, they have been the deciding force in making it legal for American citizens to own assault rifles. It boggles the imagination of clear thinking individuals why a country would have laws in their constitution allowing people to purchase weapons such as these when they are simply killing machines not even necessary for Bambi hunters.
It makes me sick to hear gun owners claim that it's the person who kills, not the gun because if the bloody guns weren't so easily available to unbalanced people we wouldn't have so many massacres such as we just had in Colorado.
If the U.S. insists on being influenced by the N.R.A., then maybe they should take the sale of guns and ammunition out of the public venue and sell these items themselves, after a decent investigation of the buyer, in government stores. No-one with a criminal or mentally unbalanced background should be able to purchase "weapons of mass destruction".
Something has to change in the U.S. involving the sale of guns and it has to do so before it's impossible to change.
When you get older you don't need excitement in your life to make it a happy one. Just having an uneventful day can be a blessing at times. Today I leave with Faye and Gary for their family reunion that I've invited myself to. I don't feel guilty at all because I happen to love a lot of the Baileys for the great family they are and I'm pretty sure they like me, too.
The sun is shining and the weather is pure Ontario summer, not too hot but hot enough. As far as I know, my children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren are all doing fine so there's nothing to worry my little mind about there. My house is just tidy enough to make me comfortable and my flowers are bright and colorful.
Faye, Gary, and I will leave around 4 P.M., stop for supper, dump our luggage at the motel, and then go and spend the evening with Mary and Don. There is no doubt that we'll have a wonderful time just gabbing. Tomorrow is the reunion and I'm looking forward to seeing some of my special Baileys again. Many of Faye and Gary's grandchildren will be there so I'm sure to have a baby to cuddle and a child to hug. We'll return home on Sunday.
No, no excitement, just a couple of pleasant days spent with good people. Who could ask for more?
We'd been warned that cooler temperatures were on the way but I'd lost faith. Yesterday I turned the central air off and tried to be comfortable with just the floor and ceiling fans but they fell short of the job. I persevered, though, worrying what the temperature of my bedroom would be up on the 2nd floor when I headed to bed but was pleasantly surprised to find it not too bad. I opened the bedroom window wide and felt a soft coolish breeze float across me for the first time in months. How lovely.
I woke up this morning, opened all the 1st floor windows and the patio door to allow the most precious cool breeze to clear out the funky closed in smell that I'm sure had accumulated in my house after being closed up for so long. This is heaven. It's the way summer mornings should be...cool, not cold and definitely not so fiddlin' hot and humid that you can't open the door at 6 A.M. without quickly slamming it shut to keep the hot air outside. Cool mornings make you glad it's summer because you know the day will gradually warm up. If it's unbearably hot in the early mornings, the afternoons will be vicious!
I'd almost forgotten how nice a summer morning used to be before our climate went berserk. This morning I'm sitting here at the computer near the open patio door and feeling this luscious cool air wend it's way across me and feeling happy as pig in poo. I just noticed a dreaded squirrel run right over one of my potted plants and didn't feel my usual rage.
Now, this is my kind of Ontario summer!
I think we're supposed to call them opossums but they have always been called possums around here. I've seen the odd one in my yard and thought they were horrible to look at but tonight I nearly ran into one. I was outside about 9:30 P.M. to turn the water sprinkler off and noticed one of my flower pots tipped over so I straightened it, wondering what sized beastie had the girth to tip it in the first place. As I stepped onto the upper deck just before the patio doors, something scooted beside the deck and ran under the next door neighbor's shed. I was shocked at the large size of it and a little disturbed by it's long skinny tail, thinking it might be a giant rat. Now I have never seen a rat near my house and I don't ever want to see one so I had to get on the computer and try to find out just what I'd run into.
This beastie was darkish and the size of a small chubby dog but the only possum I'd ever seen was pale colored and skinny so I didn't think to look for possums on the internet at first. When I finally did, I discovered that they come in different colors and can indeed be darker furred and chubby.
I'm happy it wasn't a rat but I also found out on the internet that possums can work their way into the basement or attic of a house. I just might start having nightmares.
I live about 45 minute drive from Toronto and have always understood that it's like another world there and wouldn't live there for the world. Lately there has been a rash of shootings in public places, presumably a feud between gang members, that have resulted in loss of life. I don't care one iota about the gang members dying but I do care about the innocent bystanders who also died or were wounded.
To walk into a crowded restaurant or mall and open fire on your enemy is nothing less than cowardice. It's the equivalent of hitting someone from behind or in their sleep but this is worse because they don't care that they're also endangering innocent people in the near vicinity...even children!
For the life of me, I can't understand why the gun shooters don't realize that they are cowards and feel shame for their actions. Newspaper editorials are saying Toronto and guns are becoming too much like the United States and maybe this is true. We do like to think our strict gun laws make us better than the U.S. but apparently you don't need too many guns to cause chaos.
My opinion of these cowards is that they'd be whiny, snivelling creatures if they had to fairly face someone one on one without the benefit of their weapons. Of course, once they're caught by police and sent to prison, they'll spend a lot of time whining and snivelling so their day will come sooner or later.
My old central air has been working itself to the bone this summer and today might have been the hottest we'll see this year. I don't know how people can survive without air conditioning but then I remember how I did without for most of my life. We sweltered in cars with no air conditioning, too.
The modern comforts have made us wimps (I think this should be spelled whimps but my computer says no). If I was suddenly thrust back 100 years I couldn't make it through a day. I need air conditioning, central heating, supermarts, cars with automatic transmissions, T.V., and microwaves. I need automatic washers and dryers, refrigerators, and permanent press clothing. There's lots more but I think I mentioned the basics.
When my children were young we used to go camping and I'd sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor of the tent. Today I consider myself to be roughing it if I spend the night in a motel with no complimentary morning breakfast. If I had to sleep on the floor of a tent again, I'd never be able to get back up on my feet. Not to mention that my whole body would ache all night.
No wonder we live longer these days than our ancestors did. We're pampered and spoiled. I suppose I should feel a little embarrassed for how soft I've become but I don't. It's more like feeling damn thankful I was born in 1940 instead of 1840.
The squirrels have stolen many of my plants and uprooted many more. They seem to love one particular geranium that they've uprooted 3 times but it must have been too heavy for them to cart away. I heard that human hair in the flower pot would keep squirrels out of it but wasn't sure how true that was. Well, I just chased a squirrel away from a geranium so I took my hairbrush out and deposited hair in the pots of 4 geraniums on my deck. I'll let you know if it works.
Note: I watched a squirrel walk up to a geranium and stick his nose in the pot. Within a split second, he had jumped back and ran away. Was it the hair? Don't know. Don't care. My geranium is still in the pot.
I have a love/hate relationship with my sister.I love her dearly for all the really wonderful things about her but I hate her flash temper when something displeases her. She doesn't read my blog so I can vent here.
She knows how I feel, though. We've had a few clashes where I've told her I won't accept any abuse from anyone, not even verbal, so she's careful with her temper when it comes to me. I don't understand how such a loving, caring person like my sister can flare so easily but I kind of think it might be insecurity on her part. She took a lot of mental abuse in her earlier years and it's caused her to respond too quickly. I, on the other hand, had counselling to deal with my own insecurities and that taught me to stand still and assess the situation before reacting. Since I'm terribly embarrassed about making a scene, my reactions are much quieter than my sister's.
For instance, last week a lady accidentally bumped into her and she lit into the poor lady because she didn't apologize. My reaction would have been, at the most, to give the lady a dirty look for her poor manners. Counselling taught me that most incidents are not worth upsetting ourselves over and I really believe that. I wasted way too many years upset, angry, and frustrated but my acquired peace of mind these days make my life so much better. Some things are just better let go instead of raising your blood pressure over.
My sister and I are having lunch together today and I can only hope it's a pleasant one.
I took Nolan to Toys R Us last week to see what he'd like for his birthday but, apparently, he'd be happy with anything. I saw a nice easel that I thought would be a perfect present but asked him if he had one. "Yes", he said so I left without buying one only to find out he doesn't personally have one, it's at the babysitter's! I'd forgotten that children live in the moment and believe anything they have use of belongs to them. Luckily, I was able to order one for him and it can be picked up today.
I like buying presents for the boys that both can use. It doesn't seem right to not promote sharing every chance you get. Left on their own, most children would claim every toy in the vicinity and keep it to themselves. Nick brought the boys over on Thursday so he could cut my lawn and I got to see clear evidence of toy hoarding. Nolan knows he has to share with Nash so he collected every toy he could manage and placed it on the lawn chair he also tried to inhabit...there was very little room for him. This was his way of laying claim for the moment and there were still lots of toys for Nash to play with so I let him get away with it.
Children also take what you say very literally. Kim told me of an incident when Nick was a little boy and his father took him to see a movie in Stoney Creek. Nick had heard the commercial saying the movie could be seen at a theatre "near you" and worried himself sick that they were going to the wrong theatre because it clearly wasn't "near" his house.
I love the innocence of children and it's so much fun watching them try to make sense of the world they've been brought into. It's also interesting to see the difference in personality between 2 or more children raised in the same household. Nolan is very nervous about machinery (like the lawnmower) probably because of the noise and he asked me to protect him. I spent a lot of time reassuring him that it wasn't going to hurt him...and then I looked at little Nash who was quietly and calmly watching his Daddy mow the lawn, not fearful at all. I wondered what in Nolan's psyche made him fearful of what he didn't understand while Nash accepted it without question. I told Nolan that his Daddy would never ever hurt him and, as that realization crept in, he became less nervous.
Nick asked me if I'd be willing to look after one of the boys for a day every 2 weeks and I jumped at the chance. I believe it's very important to spend quality time with children so that you can bond with them. I want my little boys to know they have a greatgramma who loves them. The more family a child has to bond with, the stronger they'll be in the outside world. I'll alternate between the two boys but it will have to be home care with Nash until he can climb into the car himself...he's a chunk of a baby that I have trouble lifting.
If there's anything I've learned about our purpose here on earth it's that we need to nurture our children, protect and teach them to be successful adults. By successful, I mean happy and helpful. I've done my best with my children and grandchildren and now it's time to pass on what I can to my greatgrandchildren. How lucky I am.
I love fresh flowers in the house and used to buy small bouquets fairly regularly until they became a little too expensive. I was grocery shopping and saw this lovely bunch of flowers for $5 and couldn't resist them. They'll give me more than $5 worth of pleasure over the next couple of weeks. The carnations and fern will easily last that long.
Following my instincts has done me well during my life and caused me grief when I failed to do so. I watched the news this morning and heard how a large group of people overcrowded a boat which capsized, drowning a number of people. There's no doubt in my mind that some of those people realized the danger when boarding the boat but chose to ignore it and now have to live with their mistake.
Human beings are gifted with 5 senses and a possible 6th and they are present in our make-up for good reason, to protect us. When we ignore the dangers our senses have warned us against we do so to our detriment. Self preservation is such a strong urge that it's surprising how many people take unbelievable chances with their lives. I think we probably take more chances with our own lives than with our loved ones, though.
I know how careful I've always been with my children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren, shielding them from anything I considered even slightly threatening. I'm sure they hated it but at least my grandchildren could laugh it off as "that's just Gramma!". My own children didn't laugh off an overprotective mother and probably felt stifled by it. No matter, I did what my senses forced me to do.
Sometimes when tragedies occur and it's clear that the people involved took ridiculous risks, I wonder what they were thinking when they began their journey. Was the risk taking exciting or did they simply ignore what their senses were telling them because they didn't want to cause a scene? That often happened to me and sometimes I escaped unscathed and other times had the scare of my life.
Protecting my offspring is so deeply ingrained in my psyche that there's no way I can ignore it. It's as much a part of me as breathing. Would I have taken my children onto an overcrowded boat? I hope not. I think not.
I have a pet peeve (one of many) that has to do with dog owners walking their pets and allowing them to relieve themselves on someone else's property. I don't care that the owner usually picks up the poo in a bag, I still think they have a lot of nerve using someone else's house for their dog's bathroom instead of using their own.
This evening I watched a man walking his 2 large dogs on long leashes that let the dogs walk almost up to the front door of my neighbor's house before pooping on the lawn. The owner picked up his dog's leavings and wandered on down the street still allowing his pets to pee on people's bushes and lawns all the way. He crossed the street in front of my house because I had the sprinkler on or I'm sure I would have received some unwanted doggie eliminations, too.
Where do people get off thinking they can let their animals crap or pee on someone else's property? I've come to a time in my life when I'd light into them but I do remember one time a while back when I was too polite (stupid) to light into a woman who let her dog do his business on my lawn while I stood in my driveway. That's bugged me ever since and it darned well won't happen again.
Dog owners, we don't want you OR your animals crapping on our lawns!
Last year I began thinking it might be a good to replace my ancient central air conditioner with a new one but I decided to put it off until this year. This year rolled around and I had to buy a new car which gave me a hefty line of credit bill. I again thought maybe I could put off buying a new air conditioner until next year but the past week has made me change my mind again.
My house is a storey and a half and the upper floor has always been hard to keep cool during really hot weather. The old air conditioner just doesn't have the power to push that cold air all the way upstairs. Since we've had such horribly hot weather so far this summer, the air conditioner has run almost continuously day after day even though the upstairs sometimes remains unbearably warm. I think it's time to make the change!
I had company over on Saturday night to play cards and wasn't able to get the temperature of the first floor down below 78 degrees...very uncomfortable for everyone...so it's obvious the old air conditioner is too inefficient to keep any longer. Today I phoned the people who installed the new furnace a few years ago and asked them to come up and give me a price for a new unit. Whatever it is, I'm going to have to grin and bear it. Either that or suffer with the summer heat for the rest of my life in this house. I can't see any benefit from unnecessary discomfort, can you??
I'm finally completely fed up with Sears. Today I took my little bundle of cash up to pay for a t-shirt that was marked 40% off...I didn't read the incredibly small print underneath that lovely offer, though. At the register, I was told that, NO!, I could only get 30% off if I paid with cash. The 40% (in very large print) was only if I paid with my Sears credit card. I left the t-shirt sitting on the counter and told them I didn't want it, then.
Since when would a store refuse the same discount to a cash customer as it does to a credit customer? This makes no sense...unless you stop to realize that this is an inducement for the customer to use their Sears credit card and maybe not be able to pay it all off at the end of the month, thereby paying interest charges to Sears. Hmmm!
Sears...your stores have become crowded dumps and your ridiculous policies are ruining your business. You just might be the next big business to go bankrupt.
There's no question that this summer is hotter and dryer than any we've had in the past. We keep breaking high record temperatures and it sure looks like today's will be another one...35 celsius which is near 100 F. My poor old air conditioner never seems to turn off and I'm worried about what my next power bill will be. Even with the high cost of air conditioning, I thank my lucky starts that I have it these days.
I really should get out today and water my plants and the grass but it's so miserably hot I decided to let them get through the heat on their own. I was talking to Nick on the phone when I noticed that one of those rotten squirrels had ripped a large geranium out of the pot again! I had to go out and repot it and move the pot up on the deck to thwart the squirrels but I didn't take the time to water the poor thing. It's the same one that was ripped out twice before so there's something about that particular plant they hate. Just before the plant was pulled out, I saw 2 black squirrels jumping around the yard like crazy animals and thought the heat was getting to them. When I saw they'd pulled out my plant again I hoped their little brains would boil in their skulls.
Don't mess with me or mine!
Nolan and I spent the day together and he was a perfect angel, as usual. After his afternoon nap, I let him watch some stupid cartoon on T.V. (I don't get the children's channels so I couldn't put Sesame Street on for him). He was still a little dozy from his nap and was sucking his lip...he does this when he's tired. I told him to get his lip out of his mouth for the picture and this is what I got.
If grandchildren are our reward for having children, greatgrandchildren are rewards beyond counting. I've only had Nolan to myself because Nash is just too heavy for me to lift but I'm looking forward to the day in the near future when Nash will be doable for me. He's just started walking but still requires too much physical strength for little old me to handle yet. I love being around them because watching these little treasures develop brings me so much joy.
I bought some alphabet cards today so that I could begin teaching Nolan how to read. He's one smart little cookie and I think he'll catch on easily. The trick will be trying to hold on to his attention long enough to teach him because he's a busy little boy. I learned from the others that, once they get bored with a lesson, it's best to let them go. That way they don't view it as something unpleasant. Right now, I'm expecting Nolan to sit still and at least learn the letter "A'. If we got to "B" I'd be amazed.
I know that people around the world are suffering in one way or another and that my good news is pretty small on the scale but it's my good news, anyway. Nick got his promotion! That means his hard work and dedication has been recognized, he gets a nice raise, and a company car next year.
Now, everyone wants the best for their offspring and the whole family feels the giddy rush when one of our own is successful in their endeavours. I was so thrilled when Nick called to tell me the news that I almost cried...happy tears, to be sure. I knew how much this promotion meant to him and had felt bad about trying to keep him from getting his hopes up too high. Disappointment can sting so painfully and it's best not to get too sure of yourself. That's always been my motto because I just can't deal with disappointment dragging me down from the clouds. But he did get the promotion and we're all so happy we could spit.
Nick is my oldest grandson and has always been more like a son to me. He was the grandchild we had the most input with and he's just about as perfect a human being as can be. I may be prejudiced but I don't care. He's wonderful and he's just earned a nice promotion in his job. Life is great!
I'm not sure just when I had to start having my family doctor clean impacted wax out of my ears but it seems I need it done every 3 years now. I wake up one morning and my ears just won't clear so a week long job of putting mineral oil in my ears begins before the doctor will syringe the mess out.
There is one ear that syringing causes a tiny bit of discomfort to because that ear drum was perforated about 10 years ago from a severe head cold...I guess a perforated ear drum never heals perfectly. Otherwise, the procedure of cleaning out excess ear wax is fast and easy. I must have a very deep ear canal because my doctor is always amazed at how much wax shoots out.
Once it's done, the clarity of hearing is so acute that it's almost painful to hear any sound at all. Of course, you quickly get used to it and it becomes the norm for you.
I've had my family doctor for about 36 years now and we're both getting on in age. I adore and have great trust in him and it will be a sad day for me when he decides to retire. After all these years, he knows me well and I've learned how knowledgeable he is and how much I can count on him when necessary. I'm afraid that family doctors like mine might become a thing of the past and that impersonal clinics will take their place in our society. There's no doubt this will cause some health problems to go undetected because the doctors won't have a strong relationship with their patients.
Anyway, the good news is that my hearing is now at optimum strength for at least 3 years.
It's no secret that I'm a wimp when it comes to dealing with stitches and that's never going to change. Sometimes we just are what we are. I put off washing my hair for 5 days so that I wouldn't have to look under the bandage on my forehead and see the stitches but enough was enough. I washed my hair this morning and then got new bandaging ready before removing the old one.
The bandage removed easily, thank heavens...I'd worried it might stick and that would have turned my stomach. Under it all was a stitched area about 1" long, very clean and healing nicely. I cleaned it with the stuff they sent home with me and applied a smaller bandage. It was all very easy and uncomplicated.
I've found that I build incidents up in my mind all out of proportion to reality and usually worry myself unnecessarily. It's always been my way to think ahead to the worst scenario, make plans about how to deal with it, and then wait and hope it will never be that bad. Dennis used to tell me that I died a thousand deaths because of my vivid imagination and I guess he was right.
Will I ever change? I doubt it. Anyway, the next bandage change won't be a problem at all and I won't have to wait 5 days to dare wash my hair.
