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Showing posts from September, 2009

Four Years Ago Today

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I started this blog with a short post. Here we are, 1329 posts later and blogging has been more than just a passing fancy. It's a way of life. If I haven't posted by 10pm, I'm antsy, because it is so ingrained to post every day. I'm a month away from two solid years. Along the way, I've met some wonderful people and found some great bloggers to follow. Four years ago, I'd never have a clue that the my most popular blog posts would involve getting banned from a Disney message board, a picture of Jim Carrey in a women's bathing suit, a post about my foreclosure, and pictures of My Stupid Leg (trademark pending) in an Unna Boot. To those who have joined me on the journey, THANK YOU! Way back when, there were probably a half dozen. Now, there's usually around fifty people a day-some from places far, far away. I'd write anyway, but knowing that there are people paying a visit every day feels pretty darn good. Thanks! The celebratory rainbow sherbert

Mistaken Identity

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Does this happen to you? I'm sitting at the local Rita's yesterday, enjoying my ice and borrowing their bandwidth to complain to a friend on Facebook that she LIED, because this location didn't have the Caramel Apple Cream Ice. As I'd just finished work for the day, I was dressed in business attire. A gentleman comes in and wishes to use a coupon that has expired. When the young lady behind the counter apologizes that it is no longer valid, he appeals to me to allow him to use it. Yep, it's happened again. I've been mistaken for someone in authority or as having some skill I do not possess. It happens a lot. Just last week, I was mistaken for a medical professional, because I know how to triage a medical situation. Nope, no training-just well versed in what doctors and nurses need to know, thanks to my own health issues. The person only realized that I wasn't one of the pros when I put a blood pressure cuff on backwards. On the college campus, I was en

I Left You Hanging...

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Remember last week's post about creating a rubber band ball? As the week progressed, I worked on the ball, little by little. It was a source of amusement for my seatmates, and even the boss had a good laugh. (I was still answering questions while I kept adding to the thing). Friday morning, I succeeded in finishing it before we were released from training. Part of the effort was to stave off boredom, part of it was because I didn't want to carry the box they came in. See how much space I saved? Now that training is done, I'll be working for about two weeks. Of course, on the first day, I would come up with one scenario we didn't cover last week. At least it keeps me on my toes!

Suzanne's Soundtrack Sunday

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This week, my friend Dan put up yet another video on Facebook that made me think of this week's topic: excellent lyrics. It sprung to mind, thanks to Steely Dan's 'Reeling in the Years', a song I've always enjoyed. As it is with many songs by Fagen and Becker, the turn of phrase is sometimes what grabs me first. Best line in the song "You've been telling me you're a genius since you were 17, In all the years I've known you I still don't know what that means." Sometimes, an artist has great abilities to write music, but the lyrics make you go WTH? Springsteen and McCartney as the prime examples of this phenomenon. Some artists write so-so words in an effort to fit the melody. I don't know if the lyrics I consider the best are because they spoke of something I can relate to, or they're witty or cunning or if the words are really that brilliant. Suffice to say a good song can be considered excellent by the addition of those well

After The Week That Was...

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I spent the day on the couch. It's probably a good thing Jane decided that she wasn't up for a visit to the hospital, because I'm not, either. I had a pulled muscle act up, on top of the other issues and didn't feel like going anywhere. For those keeping score at home, three of four limbs have some sort of issue causing pain right now. Yippee. So, I've been back and forth between Farkle, making the Chef Jr specialty paninis, reading message boards, listening to choral music, reading for class, listening to a web cast for class, getting dinner in the oven (rice pilaf and marinated chicken legs), reading some more for class and playing more Farkle. Ed's mom is still confused, which is why we didn't visit the hospital today. She won't know the difference. I gave the authorization for an MRI late last night and it was supposed to be done today. A neurologist visited her today, but didn't call us as asked. It sounds busy, right? No, it was nice an

Yet Another Crisis...

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This morning, while Ed was over at his mom's to give her medication (which he does every morning and evening), she fell and had another seizure. She's at the hospital, where they've admitted her for observation after doing a CAT scan and running various tests. It looks like the plans are going to change a little bit. Instead of spending the next few months culling through their belongings, then moving them into some sort of assisted care, they will probably move first and then we'll sort through stuff. Ironically, I was supposed to take Jane to look at another facility today. We looked at one last month that both of us really liked. If these seizures are continuing despite medications that are supposed to control them, then I can't in good conscience place Ed's mom there. She probably needs skilled nursing care instead of the assisted we had anticipated. As long as we can hold off until open enrollment to get her a better medicaid plan, we should be better

I Guess I Can't Count Volkswagen Among My Regular Readers?

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Since purchasing my Beetle, the car has been serviced at three different dealers: the one it was purchased from across Tampa Bay, Brandon Volkswagen, which opened six months after I bought the car (and where the majority of work has been performed on it), and the local VW dealer, who has only seen the car for a recall campaign. I got this email recently and it was good for a chuckle. Wanna see? It's a bummer that they didn't happen to catch this momentous occasion that I recorded in picture and posted on the blog. You know, the one where my VW Beetle turned its first 100,000 miles? The saddest part? The last time that dealership serviced my car was at 75,000 miles! I know it's not the dealer sending out these emails, it's VW. You'd think they would actually tie in the service record information to generate those emails. Psst, Volkswagen. I'd be worried if people only drove the car 5,000 miles a year. It would mean it isn't fun to drive! Though I will

Odds and Ends

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This week's presentation of What's For Dinner Wednesday was a repeat, homemade Macaroni and Cheese. You've seen it before, maybe even gone to the tab to get my recipe from over at MomDot, so I won't bore/torture you with a picture and a recap this week. Besides, I'm hurting, happy and harried-all at the same time. The details, you ask? Hurting-the neurologist appointment isn't until mid October, but the shoulder/arm issues are increasing in severity and frequency. You don't notice how much you use an arm daily until it starts hurting. Lifting a half gallon of milk hurts. Today, I started to scratch my back and had a lightning bolt radiate down my arm as soon as I rotated the shoulder to allow the arm to reach behind me. I'm making mental note of what type of pain, how bad it is and how long it lasts to be able to provide specifics to the neurologist. As these issue increase, it is time to write them down for fear of missing something that is impor

It Was Either This or Fall Asleep in Training Class

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I enjoy learning new things, except for when someone is reading a training manual to me verbatim. It's boring and is a quick way to lose the interest of the students. Especially when the trainer asks "Am I going too fast?" and the majority of us are reading ahead because the pace is so plodding. It wasn't just me. I think we all take frequent bathroom breaks so that none of us actually falls asleep and starts snoring during the process. At least last time, my boss was humorous, reading in various accents and funny voices. It livened things up much more than this one has been. One of the items in our bag of materials was a huge box of rubber bands. This morning, it was a round of hang man, then tic tac toe, but the afternoon session? I cracked out the box and started playing with the rubber bands. I was smart. I didn't put them all in the ball today. After all, training is a week long!

Back To Work!

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This time, it's supposed to be a four to six week assignment. However, I've learned-take whatever time frame given and cut it in half. A week of training and two, maybe three weeks of work. Today was interesting, with waterlogged training manuals, a trainer who took way too many phone calls, a suggested drinking game at the phrase stated over and over and over "Sorry, guys, I have to take this one" while her 13 year old daughter called repeatedly and the wish for an IV drip of coffee to keep me awake while enduring the boring reading to us. (I hate the fact that I'll miss the Wednesday morning class that I really like, all so I can endure more of this excitement!) Then, school. Yes, it's going to be hectic for a few weeks, juggling all that is going on. Somehow, in all of this, I need to find time to check out the assisted living facilities that Jane wants to visit, cook, clean and spend time with the kids. Somehow, I'll get it all figured out

Suzanne's Soundtrack Sunday

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Lately, there have been a lot of passings of musicians, and it causes me to stop and ponder why their deaths affect me so much more than when a favorite actor passes away. The genres are both very public, acting and music making. There's a huge difference, though. Where you can watch a movie over and over and be captivated by a performance like James Dean's in Rebel Without a Cause, there are only so many times you can watch it. Songs, on the other hand, are a few minute embodiment of a musician's heart and soul that you can play dozens of time in the same span you would view that one movie. A movie can draw you in, but it's rare that the scenes reflect your life so completely, the way the words set to music sometimes do. So, when a great musician passes, it tends to affect me much more. The recent release of Rock Band: Beatles and airing of the memorial concert to honor George Harrison on VH-1 just makes me miss the Quiet Beatle even more. Then, this week's p

Give Me Markers and What Do You Get?

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I'm enjoying my classes, especially the ones where I have live lectures. (It will suck that I miss a class this week for training. Boo!). The counseling class has been chock a block with self evaluations, which I happen to like. Several of you helped me complete my Johari Window , and I thank you for taking the time to describe me with a few words. The assignment was interesting. To me, the fact that only one word was left in my facade (what I see that others don't) reinforces that I'm an open book. Then there were all the words used to describe me that I hadn't considered! No, nothing bad in all of them. Sweet. In class, we were given a page to artistically represent the self others see, then the backside was the self we don't share. Give me markers and I go nuts, so this was my representation: Anyone want to interpret?

Thank You, Michael Proietti

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This last season of Next Food Network Star had the contestants complete a burger challenge. Several of the contenders looked interesting, but the ultimate winner had me wanting to dive through the TV and grab that Mulberry Street Burger for an evening snack. Of course, never one to follow a recipe to the exact specifications when it can be monkeyed with, I made some burgers inspired by Michael Proietti's winning entry. I started by adding garlic and onion powder to my ground beef and made several very flat patties. Then, instead of Michael's basil leaves, I made a nice basil pesto. Taking two patties, one is placed on the bottom and spread with pesto, topped with mozzarella and then a second patty, then sealed together. Nothing beats a cast iron skillet for putting a good char on a burger, and I put down some sliced onions, too. When it was time for the flip, I scattered the onions around, then put a folded slice of ham atop them. After flipping, the ham and the burger go

Notes From the Sandwich Generation

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The past month has made it abundantly clear that Ed and I are living the Sandwich Generation life. Yes, it could be argued that I did when my Mom was ill, or that he and I have been pretty much since Jane and Mom moved to Florida. That was nothing compared to now. It began when Jane was in the hospital and Michael went home. We needed to make sure Mom was eating, taking her medication and generally was okay. Then she had the seizure and another hospital stay and no rehab. Jane would be coming home a few days later. Ed's taken on medicine duties morning and night, because his mom doesn't remember what she's taken and when. I do my best to cook 4 or 5 nights a week. Last Sunday, I asked Jane what she wanted for dinner and I was told that they had plenty of leftovers for a few days. Few to me means 3, maybe four, but the next night, as I'm halfway to scouts, I get the frantic phone call "when are you bringing dinner?" She'd run out of food, misjud

What's For Dinner Wednesday

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For years, an online friend spoke of making Pernil, a Puerto Rican dish. She had four healthy boys who liked to eat, her husband is Puerto Rican and well, she always told how it was good for feeding the masses. It sounded tempting, but the cook it all day long thing? I wasn't keen on that when I was working. A few nights ago, I made my Gyro loaf again at Jane's request and I put it on my Facebook status. Sherry commented "send me some!" and the reply was prompt: if you send me some Pernil, I'll send you some Gyro. A deal was struck. My memory jogged, I googled Pernil to see spices and preparation I had to do to the pork shoulder and was surprised to find how simple it was. Make a rub, possibly let it marinate for a day or two (I didn't, but will next time), then roast low and slow for hours. Now I'm kicking myself that I didn't try this sooner. The meat falls off the bone and is tender and juicy. I am also kicking myself that somehow, the fo

Suzanne's Very Crazy, Busy Day

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Started with me sleeping until noon-but I had a TON of stuff to do! Then, I realized I never took my cell phone off 'silent' when I left class last night. So, a nearly 3 hour trip to Panera later, baking mini cupcakes, making dip, mini caramel apples and setting up, we had a Boy Scout board of review. Oh, and in there somewhere, I think I got a professor in some hot water. Now, I have a paper due in 40 minutes. AAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKKK! I'll fill in details AFTER I write 500 words on my favorite childhood book. As is typical, I had a hard time picking just one, but I kept coming back to the same one, Sydney Taylor's All of a Kind Family. It put me on a path for further exploration. You could say that the love for the Faye Kellerman Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series seed was planted with this series... ETA: Since I said I would tell, and Lou asked, I sorta got a Prof in hot water. Here's the Reader's Digest version: Web based class. The instructor never communic

Monday Madness

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If I haven't mentioned it, one of the advantages to becoming a college student again is that I have the ability to purchase health insurance. As soon as I was dispersed my grants for the semester, I paid up. I am once again insured. As I haven't seen any doctors for nearly 18 months, it was time to start scheduling appointments. A neurologist to find out whether the RSD has spread. Another doctor for a checkup and an annoying issue that runs in the family. Soon, an appointment with Nurse M to do a baseline, since I haven't seen her in a while. SSDI is of the mind that if you're not seeing doctors, you can't be that bad health wise and denies the claim. Never mind the fact that I'm hurting and don't have the funds to see my doctors. So, the neurologist is scheduled-for mid October. The other doctor's appointment seemed too good to be true: I called Thursday and was offered an appointment for this morning. "Are you sure?", I asked. Yes, w

Suzanne's Soundtrack Sunday

It's interesting how songs you learned when you were very little stay in your head and pop out of the depths, dust the cobwebs off and bounce around all day long. Today's musical selection might run around yours, too. See, someone mentioned elephants. Someone else mentioned monkeys, and I was off to the Animal Fair. Of course, I googled it, but the version I found must be a British one (judging from the accents of the singers) and the words were slightly different. The one I learned: I went to the animal fair the birds and beasts were there the big baboon, by the light of the moon, was stroking his auburn hair the monkey he got drunk and sat on the elephant's trunk the elephant sneezed, and fell to his knees and that was the end of the monk, the monk, the monk. But the British version ? I went to the Animal Fair The birds and beasts were there The big baboon, by the light of the moon, was combing his auburn hair You ought to have seen the monk He s

Mmmmmmmmohitos!

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Yeah, I know, they look like Iced Tea. My preferred rum is Bacardi Select, so they don't look like the Mojitos you find at your local bar. Don't be hatin'.

Every Picture Tells a Story

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As far as future shutterbugs go, Chef Jr has really picked up on my love of being behind the lens. Game Teen, well, if you give him a camera, he'll use it-but he doesn't seek one out. We knew a long time ago that he had a different perspective on things. When a coworker handed both boys disposable cameras to use on our vacation at Walt Disney World (the infamous 'blizzard' trip), you could tell what pictures were taken by each child. Game Teen showed signs of being a very good private investigator, taking pictures on the sly. There were many pictures taken of unsuspecting park patrons. Chef appeared to be displaying our family's warped sense of humor, taking a picture of a souvie cart that had upended itself on the trolley rails while we awaited the 3:00 parade (which does start at 3pm, if you were wondering) and took pictures of several goat butts while we were at the Affection Section. This earned him the nickname "Chef Jr, Pet Proctologist". Sever

Winner Winner, $500 Wal Mart Gift Card Winner!

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The time has come to announce the lucky winner of the $500 WalMart Gift Card, so they can do a Your Zone makeover of their very own! Are you ready? Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest. Big thank you to WalMart for giving us the opportunity to redo the room and take the new product line for a test drive!

Back to the Flats!

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We live about halfway between Tampa and Orlando. What this means for us is that when we get a taste for certain restaurants or stores, we have to drive 30 miles or more east or west to dine in favorite establishments. When we visit those favorite places, if we get a table visit from a manager, I freely cop to asking "So, when are you going to open in Lakeland?" It always gets a laugh and several times, we've become privy to information earlier than is posted on websites about future expansion plans. For instance, we knew Ritas Ices and Buffalo Wild Wings had their sights set on our town before they published the info. (I don't think that info is on BW3's site yet) Since we've moved, each time we visited a Tijuana Flats, we'd ask the question. About six months ago, someone gave us the answer we wanted to hear, that Lakeland would soon have a Flats. It opened recently, but it's not convenient to us, so we hadn't had the chance to go until Mond

What's For Dinner Wednesday

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I mentioned making a huge batch of that favorite marinade the other day. The chicken has been soaking in for two days! Tonight, I went simple and grilled some of the marinated chicken tenderloins, made a rice pilaf and nuked some broccoli. I'm thinking some nice asian chicken salad for lunch tomorrow...

I Won an Award!

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One of the lovely ladies vying for that $500 Wal Mart gift card has honored me with the Kreativ Blogger Award! Thanks, Baba , especially since I've been running around all day and didn't get to a blog post until now. LOL! There are a few rules for receiving the award: 1. Place the logo on the blog. 2. Link to the person who nominated the blog for this award. 3. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting. 4. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers. 5. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. 6. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated. It's a good thing it's not seven things you don't already know about me, otherwise, I'd be scraping the bottom of the barrel! Instead, things that people find interesting! 1. I'm a lefty and both my boys are left handed, too. It makes it us very unusual around the dinner table and will make it interesting if Ed teaches either one to play guitar. 2. If you tell me your birthday,

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

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You may have noticed that I haven't written about the health issues a lot over the past year. The problems I have are still here, still troublesome, but they've become the norm-so I don't talk about them much. The foot issue was mentioned last month, but there's another problem that cropped up before that did-my right shoulder. I've had issues off and on for years with my neck and shoulders, usually when I am stressed, one or the other will spasm. This is usually accompanied by a huge knot just under my shoulder. For nearly two months, my right shoulder has been giving me grief. The pain is similar to those spasms, but different because this time, the upper arm is affected. There is no knot. When you tune out pain, gradual increases aren't so noticeable. It had been a problem for a while when I went to go choose my backpack for school, because I'd even commented to Ed that the only good thing about doing it that day was that my neck and shoulder were

Suzanne's Soundtrack Sunday

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One of the things I've been enjoying about Facebook is how I've reconnected with many of my fellow on air staff from the college radio station, WHPC 90.3fm (Long Island's FM Alternative, if you must know). Many of my peers went on to careers in radio and television production. All of us grew up with a love for radio and living in the shadow of New York City, got to enjoy some of the best radio that can be found. A guy whose time at 'HPC briefly overlapped mine has been posting You Tube videos one of his friends has made of top 40 45's spinning on a turntable. I am dying, because I want that Technics SLBD-2 soooo bad! Anyway, the songs are a walk down memory lane, one where the songs themselves are old friends, but the listening brings back some great memories of youth-and of the disc jockeys that spun them while they climbed the charts. I've spoken of the Sunday morning ritual of my dad taking my sister and I down to Jones Beach in the pre dawn hours, and we&

A Winning Marinade Recipe

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Is one that the family likes so much, you make two quart batches of it! This is not a refreshing drink, this is my latest batch of the Sweet Chili marinade I came up with a couple of months ago to use on chicken legs. Since then, it has been used on boneless breasts, fried wings and pork chops. I started making enough to use once, but the last trip to the Asian market, I decided that it made sense to buy two bottles of the key ingredient and then make a ton of the stuff to have on hand for whatever is needed. Now I need to restock the rest of the ingredients, because I wiped out the pantry tonight! ETA-I meant to put the recipe up, and forgot. Those of you on Facebook have seen in in my notes, so don't worry that this is something new. Sweet Chili Sauce Marinade 2/3 cup sweet chili sauce (my local Asian Market carries May Ploy) 1/2 cup pineapple juice 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar 1/4 cup sesame oil I'm going to try adding a tablespoon of fresh minced g

Frustrated

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I have my first assignment for one of my classes due at midnight tonight. This instructor (web course) already has not endeared herself to me, because the stock answer to everyone who stated that we're leery of group projects is "Well, you need to learn how to work in groups because you will in the real world." Problem is, everyone stating it explained how they've worked for many years and are now returning to college. We KNOW how to work in groups, but there's a big difference between no work, no pay in the real world and the classroom group project. Soooo, tonight's project? There's a 4 step process for determining an ethical dilemma and how to prevent things from happening. I have to determine Abridged Rights and Neglected Duties. Only problem is that they are not addressed in the two videos or chapter of the text that relate to the topic (and the reading really isn't part of this week's assignment, anyway). It sucks when I don't have t

Woohoo, Friends in Florida!

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Joyce, Tim and the kids are over at WDW for this week before school starts in NY. Of course, this means we got both families together for dinner, conversation and some birthday cake. We've been checking out the various DVC properties at Walt Disney World one by one, thanks to our various friends coming to visit over the years. This time, the Boardwalk-and a looooooooooong walk from the lobby to their rooms. That said, the DVC accommodations over at Boardwalk seem bigger than Saratoga Springs or the Beach Club Villas. Last year, when they came over to Lakeland to spend time with us, we ended up at Smokey Bones. It had made such an impression on Tim that last month, he wanted to know what the name of the place was and if we dined together over by us or near WDW. (We alternate between going to see them or them coming out to our place). A couple of weeks ago, we passed by a location in Kissimmee and I passed that information on to Joyce. Works for us-we like 'que. Their ki

When's It Over Wednesday

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This has been one long, frustrating day. It didn't start so bad. Wednesdays, since Game Teen's school is on the way to college, I let us sleep an hour and a half later, then drive him to school. Yes, it gets me on campus early, but I like having that time to do a last minute check of Blackboard and checking emails from overnight. My class went well. We have organized our groups to do a semester long service learning project. This is cool on a couple of fronts. First, we all agreed we wanted to do a project that benefits kids, but the second is that one of my team mates is in my Monday night class. After class, I popped in to visit my advisor and ask a question, and we ended up chatting for a half hour. (I think I like this small campus benefit!) The afternoon agenda was to take Game Teen to find shorts that fit for school and get the tires changed on my car and some dinner fixings at Sam's Club. Instead, I got caught up in the hospital BS because Jane got released.

Hey, Bloggers! You Want To Win a $500. Wal Mart Gift Card?

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There's still some time to enter my contest ! We recently did a room makeover, thanks to the generous folks at WalMart, and my gosh, Chef's room is STILL CLEAN!!!!! Talk about motivation to get your kid to keep things tidy, lol. Oh, and we found the Tiki String lights we bought to go with all the Polynesian resort furniture we had originally bought Chef from Mouse Surplus. They're hanging from the frame of that loft bed. It's too cool. So, what are you waiting for? Write a blog post about the contest, check you WalMart's Your Zone products and you might have a chance to go shopping!

The Local Hospital Must Have a Revolving Door

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Because Jane is in the hospital. Again. This time, she has cellulitis. It's a scary infection, but worse when you factor in all her other health issues. She had the good sense to call an ambulance when she could not stand yesterday morning. Meanwhile, we didn't get a phone call. I didn't find out until I stopped in at their house on the way to class at 4:30. Ed's mom's dementia is apparent, because she insisted that she stood there as Jane called me (nope, didn't happen) and insisted that Jane's been in the hospital three days. "Sorry, Mom, she was here when Ed stopped in LAST NIGHT." I am now convinced that every time she takes a nap, she believes another day has passed. So, once again, we deal with the hospital insanity. I guess it's a good thing that I hadn't made any appointments for both of us to visit the Assisted Living facilities that they are interested in viewing. That task will now be on hold until Jane gets out of the