:: drags out the soap box ::

Another Tragedy - what sadness.....

Yesterday it was announced that they found a body - a body they think is Jessie Davis. Her boyfriend is in custody and will be charged with double murder.

It brings to mind the Lacey Peterson case. All the hype and speculation just enhances the fact that somebody killed a pregnant woman and her baby. What drives a man to something so horrendous to kill two people?

It destroys more than two lives. His life is shot to hell, his family is, no doubt, grieving. Her family is suffering the loss of two lives as well as her friends. Her child has lost his mother as well as his father who will most likely spend the rest of his days in prison. Do the math - that's a lot of lives messed up because of a stupid act.

I know I'm rambling, but it just makes me angry and very, very sad.

Rest in Jesus - both of you.

OH GOOD GRIEF - Decisions

After being completely disgusted with the condition of my carpets, I hauled out my old carpet shampoo-er. It is almost 8 years old and it had been in the closet for nearly 2 years and before that maybe 3 years. To make a long story short, the doggone thing is not working. I had trouble with it from the beginning. It's a Bissell and had a good reputation. I bought it at K-Mart the summer that I went to work for the Twit. That was 1999. Seals gave away, I had to have them replaced, the hose sprung a leak and the little valve that regulates the detergent and water worked sporadically. In a nutshell, I never really like it. It was heavy and cumbersome to use.

One way or the other, the carpets are making me crazy and need to be cleaned. Now, do I spend $250+ to have them cleaned (once) or do I buy a new machine? (That means I have to do it) I've looked at QVC and Googled carpet cleaners and found a Hoover on Amazon. It has good reviews and the thing I like most is it has 5 little revolving brushes that should dig down into the pile and clean the crap out. The retail value of this particular machine is $239.99 and Amazon wants $179.00, free shipping and no taxes.

I know, what's the decision? Basic Economics says to buy the machine. If I get it, it will go on my Visa card and the billing cycle just passed, so that means I will get billed on July 19 and it won't be due till mid August. Uh Duh!!

I'm still hesitating so I put it in my Amazon shopping cart and will keep researching.

Geez.........sometimes I'm so blonde!!!

God bless you all.

Naps and Cookies - what a wonderful idea :o)

I read a blurb this morning on the MSN page about sleep. It was asked if, as we age, do we require less sleep. The answer said not necessarily because elderly people tend to have other ailments such as apnea, etc.

Now, what's that got to do with naps and cookies? The article also said that as children we were pacified with cookies or if really rotten, we were made to take a nap.

I'm all for that!!! Pass the cookies and my bankie. :o)

A couple of things......

Nothing earth shattering, but fairly important.

The influx of new cases to the office has slowed things down on one of the contracts that we manage. (Remember I am part of a unit that manages the contracts. I don't work on a contract anymore) This means that there are many administrative personnel with nothing to do during the day. The company is offering a 'free week' to these people. In essence it is a week off, with pay, not to be deducted from their accrued vacation time. They must stay with the company for a year but if they leave the company, that time will be deducted from the vacation time or deducted from their salary at that time. If they stay the year, they still can use their regular vacation time. If things don't accelerate in about three weeks, there may be leave-without-pay mandated or God forbid, another lay off.

Now, Jerry, my boss has assured me that at this time, I'm bullet proof. I appreciate the fact that he has told me this, but after seeing two layoffs so far this year, I am a bit edgy. I've decided to put off my Brazil vacation for at least 6 months. I just can't see committing to a $5K trip to be taken in November if there is even a shadow that I may not have a job then or even a new job that would offer me no vacation at that time. I've waited this long to make up my mind, six more months won't matter.

I have a week now, I may plan a trip in July or August. I'd like to go to the beach somewhere. Maybe the Outer Banks, or visit some friends in Myrtle Beach. There are many possibilities so I'll be looking into that possibility.

Other than that, my week was uneventful. I've been suffering with back pain again. My dear friend David has been working his magic with deep tissue/muscle therapy. It really does help, but if I turn the wrong way or bend I easily set the muscles into spasms and that is brutal. On Monday, I came home bent like a pretzel and hardly able to walk. We've been working on fixing that all week.

I call my doctor on Wednesday for the results of the polyp biopsy. I am edgy about that, but going on the old adage that no news is good news.

God bless you all.

Procedure done with - for 3 years, that is.

The prep was the killer!!! The liquid didn't taste bad (I chose the cherry flavoring) but its consistency is what gets you. ACK!! It's slippery. One must consume 8 oz of the crud every 15 minutes until 2 litres are drunk. I flew through the first 4 glasses but then very quickly slowed down. After that, I had to wait 20 to 25 minutes to be able to swallow more. I did manage to down the 2 litres and everything moved right along. :o)

Next morning, BJ picked me up at 8:00 and we arrived right on time at 8:30. I can't begin to tell you how nice, polite and kind everyone at the hospital treated the patients. It eased my angst and having BJ there was an even greater comfort to me.

I had thought I would be awake, but in a drowsy state. Thanks you Jesus, I was OUT. They explained that I might have the sensation of lights or even hear talking but to my pleasure, I heard or sensed nothing. I was told to take a few deep breaths. I can remember starting to take the second and I woke up 35 minutes later.

As suspected, for a person my age, there were several polyps which were removed. But one was 1cm+ so it had to be sent away for biopsy. I am told that most polyps of this size may develop precancer or cancer cells and 25% of them do. So once again, I wait for results.

I am so grateful to Dr. R. for sending me to Dr. L. He is very understanding and compassionate and conveys it to his patients. At least he did to me. He said he felt that I had come at the right time - - had I waited any longer I may have been in trouble. I'm glad I did.

The worst part of it all was the prep, as I had been told. I'm not looking forward to doing it again but when the time comes, I'll do it with little or no reservations. It's a helluva way to lose 4 pounds in one day.

Other than that it has been an uneventful week.

God bless you all.

ARGHHHH - The dreaded colonoscopy

Well, Dr. R was right. I really liked the gastroenterologist. In fact I have scheduled the dreaded 'procedure' for next Wednesday at 9:30 AM. I'm still not sure how he got me to consent to do it, but he is very kind, very compassionate and very understanding. He didn't flinch when I told him that I was afraid of the results, what with my family's cancer history and all. He looked me right in the eye and told me he understood. I liked that. So after 7 years of fighting, I'm going to do it.

Well, my dear friend Donna has done it again. I keep on saying I usually don't do this stuff and here I am again, doing 'this stuff' :o)

I will tell you 9 things that you don’t know about me, only 8 of them are true. Can you guess which one is not?

1. I graduated from high school at age 17.
2. I have had 10 cats in my lifetime.
3. I own a cemetary plot in Wisconsin.
4. I was terrified to travel to Russia.
5. I wasn't terrified when I went to Brazil.
6. I am myopic in one eye and astygmatic in the other.
7. My longest held friendship is with a gal in Wisconsin - 64 years.
8. I do like to work.
9. When I travel I hate to come home.

OK there you are - have at it.

God bless you all.