Monday, February 25, 2008

Today I had to go to the dentist. I go every six months but usually I just have my teeth cleaned and once a year they X-ray the teeth and say all is well. When I went last Monday they said all is not well. They saw a small cavity in one of my teeth . The tooth had been filled about 15 or 20 years ago but they said there was a cavity near the edge of the filling. I have exceptionally sound teeth and have rarely had to have teeth filled.

Well, I hope I won't have to have anymore fillings for the next twenty years. I hate to sound like a wimp but four handed dentistry is not fun. Two hands operating the drill to remove the old filling and the other hands operating the water torture machine. As a matter of fact, I asked if this was a minor version of water boarding. They promptly asked for my name, rank and serial number.

I don't know how familiar some of you are with modern dentistry but they have a massage chair now. They turned it on and it was very unique. I was still very tense but the gentle massage of my back muscles by the "chair" was wonderful. I tried to focus on the massage and put the waterboarding out of my mind but that did not work entirely. I gurgled a few times and they had to stop and suction out the water. Despite the fact that SOME people have referred to me as a "big mouth" they are very much mistaken because I was reminded quite a few times that my mouth is so small that it is hard to work on my teeth.

I could not get over how exhausted I was when it was all over. I came home and had to sit down and rest up from the arduous ordeal to say nothing of the distorted lip and jaw onthe left side of my face. Believe me, I was talking out of one side of my mouth, for sure.

330 days left till we get a new president

Quote of the day: " They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."

` _President Bush, November 2, 2000

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Icy trees

We finally had a small ice storm this week. It rained,sleeted, snowed all at the same time it seemed. The streets were actually in pretty good shape because of the brine trucks spraying the main arteries. Our driveway was very icy but once you got out on the streets it was not too bad. Of course ,I only drive about a mile from my house so I may have a different perspective than other people.

Today is Stephanie's birthday. She is the big 40. I remember the night she was born. It doesen't seem like that many years ago. Larry was in Viet Nam and so Linda lived with us. Gregg and I took her to the hospital. We had to go downtown to Methodist Hosp. because that was the closest. They had not yet built Suburban or any of the other hospitals near here. We were all rather nervous and Gregg went the wrong way on a one way street but it got us there faster, and no one caught us so it was OK. Gregg was a senior in high school. Stephanie was such a beautiful baby and we were so glad to meet her! That was back in the day when you had not a clue as to what the baby would be! Boy or girl! We were ready to accept which ever it was, so there. Happy birthday Stephanie! We love you!

There are 332 days left until we get a new president.

Quote for today: "Whether they be Christian, Jew, or Muslim or Hindu,
people have heard the universal call to love a neighbor just like they'd like to be called themselves."

- President Bush, October 8, 2003

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Tax time

The dreaded time of year is here. Time to do my taxes. Each year I vow to do them on Jan.31st. the next year but that never happens. I have to spend so much time looking for all the info that I need and then fill out a lengthy set of papers for the tax man's perusal and then drive them out to his office and then still wait a week or so to pick them up.

Last night we went to a chilli cookoff at the Bonnycastle Club. It was fun. Paul's chilli came in first but the fellow that sat at our table told us (while Paul was not at the table) that Paul paid off the judges. This guy swears that he personally heard Paul buying beers for the judges! Do you believe that? Scott was in the running also and his chilli, named Bambi's Best or something like that, used up some of his deer meat. I'm not sure my innards would take well to deer,so I abstained. However, his chilli got rave reviews. I did eat Paul's ,The World's Best Chilli, and tried some of the others too. I was a little concerned about the reason behind the naming of the "Wounded Chilli. " People complained that the "Arizona Chilli" was not hot enough but I really liked the "Fowl Chilli" It was quite good. Almost anything that you can put grated cheese and sour cream on is bound to tast good. All in all it was a good evening. I always enjoy going to the BC's affairs.

338 days left till the new president takes office.

Quote for today:"Because he's hiding."
_President Bush, explaining why 911 mastermind Osama bin Laden hasn't been apprehended,Jan 16, 2005

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day

I didn't do a blog yesterday because when I got home from school I had no power. Even the phones did not work. JoAnne A. came over when she saw my car and said she had already done the calling to report it. LG& E had crews of men in the area trimming the trees out in back and they accidentally felled one of the limbs across the wires. There was a minor explosion, JoAnn said and it seems a fuse burned out in the transformer behind JoAnn's house. The tree cutters called LG&E and reported it so they came out pretty quickly to repair it and get the power restored. The house got cold in a hurry with the power out.

Today Klondike had a "sweetheart luncheon" for all of the residents and their spouses. They had a rose and a small heart shaped box of Russell Stover Candy for the guest spouse.. By the time I got there Doc had already eaten the candy. He didn't exactly act the part of a sweetheart. He refused to eat the lunch except for the cupcake and a glass of coke along with the small box of candy and he would not go to the activity room where the party took place. I guess he considered the "sweet" part meant he should eat all the sweets he could get his hands on. Linda had brought him a couple of Hersey bars last time she came and he vowed not to eat them because his blood sugar has been so high. I check each day to see if they are still in his drawer and have been proud of his restraint but they were gone today so I guess we can add those to the sugar binge he indulged in. He has been getting an insulin shot every day for about two weeks and today's intake of sugar will probably send his sugar count off the chart. Woe is he!

341 days left till we get a new president.
Quote for today:
" More Muslims have died at the hands of killers than--I say more Muslims--a lot of Muslims have died__I don't know the exact count_at Istanbul. Look at these places around the world where there's been tremendous death and destruction because killers kill."
_President Bush, making the complex issues sound so simple.
January 29,2004

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Snow at last,Snow at last, Thank God,it's snow at last.

We haven't had this much snow for the last three years! I was elated to see the forecast finally come through. We had three to six inches they said on TV but we didn't have much more than three on Mamaroneck. However, I am not complaining. It is a sandwich type snow. Snow layer, then ice then more snow. then more ice. I was sitting in the living room and I could hear the mailman crunching across the yard before he got to the porch. I am really enjoying it. It is so beautiful. I was awakened at 5:30 AM by the snowplow going up and then back down our street. I heard on the news that they had spread 7 tons of salt on the streets. WOW.

I did make it to the Nursing Home. I called ahead to see if the hill that you have to go up to reach the parking lot was de-iced and they said it was all cleared so I went. That 's one of the good benefits of having a Day Care facility on the same property as the Home.

Did I mention that we had no school!

343 days until we have a new president

Quote for the day: "I am not going to give you a number for it, because it is not my business to do intelligent work."
_ Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ,when asked at a congressional hearing how many Iraqi insurgents there were. February 16, 2005

Monday, February 11, 2008

Slow Lane News

Back in March or April I talked with one of the residents at the Nursing Home who is 93 years old. At that time she was wondering why God was letting her keep living. She said she tries to figure out why she is still here. I've talked to her often since then and I love her take on what goes on around her every day. When I pass her room she is always sitting about a foot and a half from the TV watching all the shows. Today she was sitting in her doorway and I stopped and greeted her. She can't see me very well but she knows my voice and will always say, "Is that you, Betty?" She said she was waiting for one of the therapist to come and walk with her. She said ,"I walk every day but I don't think I get much better. I walked into this place but I haven't been able to walk alone since I had my surgery." She wondered if she would ever be able to walk again. She said, "I guess my legs are shot." I said I think it's better to have the legs shot and still have your brain working. She said she thought I had a good point there, and she said "If I did learn to walk again, where would I go?" We both got a good laugh out of that. She is a remarkable person. She is still as sharp as a tack and still has her sense of humor. Great!

344 days till we have a new president.

Quote for today:
"I understand not everybody agrees with the decisions I've made,but that's not unique to Central or South America. Truth of the matter is, there's people who disagree with the decisions I've made all over the world."

President Bush , November 1,2006

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Just a quote today.

There are 345 days left until we have a new president. The quote for today is lengthy.

Quote: "We know there are known knowns:There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns: That is to say we know there are things we know we don't know.But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."

-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, during a Department of Defense news briefing, February 12, 2002

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Shoe Tree

Each time I go through the park, I check the Shoe Tree. As you go up one of the hills, there is a tree on the left side of the road that has a number of tied together shoes dangling from the limbs. I would love to either see someone throwing their shoes or I would like to take a shot at it myself. I wonder how many tries does it take to finally score. Could it be a tradition? Or are they just random shoe tossers ? It could be an anual event, "Let's all gather in the park and throw our shoes up into the tree! " Maybe they have to have so many miles of running, or walking or whatever to qualify as being worthy of tree hanging. I like the whole idea of it. Could be that someday I will go test my skills at throwing the tied together shoes so that they will remain blowing in the wind until they rot or whatever. Could small birds build nests in the shoes?

346 days until we have a new president.

Quote for the day:"It turns out, in this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis. You don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kinda asking different portraits,' How do you think my standing will be?"

President Bush, waxing wistful, March 16,2005

Friday, February 8, 2008

TGIF says it!

Tuesday night, actually Wednesday morning at about 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning the sirens starting ringing warning all of us that there was a possibility of a tornado. I went down to the lower hall with pillows, blanket, flashlight, and dog treats (for Fergus) and turned the TV on to see what was happening, I stayed there until the all clear. I could hear large branches hitting the roof and hear the roaring wind. It was a little scary. Fortunately, we didn't get any major damage and we did not lose our power but many in the area did. It was later determined that four small tornadoes touched down in and around Louisville. St. Matthews suffered a lot of damage and as near as Bowman Field there were air planes turned upside down and tossed around. Lots of trees fell on cars, houses and garages.

When I went to see Doc on Wednesday around noon, he was very agitated and could hardly wait to tell me how he had been treated during the early hours. He is not always aware of the time so he was sure it was about 5:00 in the morning when one of the aids came in and told him he had to get up. He did not have his hearing aids in so he had no idea why he was being rousted out of his bed at such an early hour. He assumed it was for breakfast and he kept insisting that he did not eat his breakfast until 8:00. The aid struggled to get his pants on him and finally made him put the hearing aid in. He still did not know what was going on and told me they put him out in the hall with all the other people and they put his pants on with his catherter on the outside of the pants and he was totally offended and outraged! He said they did it because they were short of help! All the residents were out in the halls in their wheel chairs! He said they finally changed their minds and put him back to bed and then brought him breakfast at 8:00 as usual. He was still offended and said he was tired and would have to go to bed for his nap early. I listened to his whole story and then calmly tried to tell him why they acted as they did. He yelled "Bull....

I have the paper for him everyday and even though he has read about and seen all the pictures of the tornadoes he still doesn't think that had any bearing on his rude awakening. He is still telling me about it. He is less angry about it now and said, " You just have to go along with whatever they want you to do, I guess." Good! Otherwise, he's doing well!

347 days till a new president takes office.

Today's Quote " I'm occasionally reading, I want you to know,in the second term."

President Bush ,who once declared his favorite book to be The Very Hungry Caterpillar, March 16,2005

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Tornado Alley

We've survived the tornados and the wind storms and the rains and come out on the other side. The other side is mighty cold! We had March's lion come in really, really early.

348 days until we have a new president. Can we make it?

Quote for the day: "The person who runs FEMA is someone who must have the trust of the president. Because the person who runs FEMA is the first voice, oftentimes, of someone whose life has been turned upside down hears from."
President Bush, speaking highly of Federal Emergency Management Agency head Joseph Allbaugh, Michael Brown's predecessor, years before Hurricane Katrina, January 4, 2001

Take heart , tornado victims--- help is on the way!

Seriously, our prayers are with you. Shalom

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Ash Wednesday

We celebrated our Fat Tuesday and the King cake,which Paul had imported from Biloxy, was great! It was Gus's party because he got the baby out of the cake last year. So next year Scott will host the party because he got the baby this year! Fun time.

Super Tuesday went off without a hitch, as far as I know. Hillary won a few big ones and Obama won quite a few too so they are very close to being tied. McCain won big time and Romney and Huckebee split so that's where it stands for now.

349 days until the new president takes office, whoever it might be.

Quote for the day: "I'm going to spend a lot of time on Social Security. I enjoy taking on the issue. I guess it's the mother in me." _ President Bush,April 14, 2005
Ciao

Monday, February 4, 2008

Pre Fat Tuesday

Usually I bake a chocolate pie for fat Tuesday consumption. I bake it and eat the whole thing! It usually takes me two days to finish eating it but I have great staying power when it comes to chocolate pie. My favorite!! This year I veered off course and baked, instead, a brown sugar pie that was in the paper last Wednesday. It was very good but here it is Monday night and I still have over half the pie left. I should have gone with tradition and stuck to the chocolate. Oh,well.

Tomorrow is a big day it is Mardi Gras and it is also Super Tuesday. It is a very historical day because 24 states are holding their Primary Elections tomorrow. Hillary, and Barach for the Dems. and McCain, Mitt and Huckabee for the GOP. I had been wondering what Mitt's real name is so Ang and I Googled it and found out that it is Willard Milton Romney. The 'Mitt' is derived from Milton, don't ya know.

Countdown: 351 days till we have a new president.

Quote: "There are limits to how much corn can be used for ethanol. After all, we got to eat some." _ President Bush, breaking down the alternative energy crisis. April 25, 2006

Pre-fat Tuesday

Friday, February 1, 2008

Long Time No Blog

I believe I did a blog on Spring time in the park and then summer and later fall and now that we are in the throes of winter, I need to jot down my sightings etc. of the winter scene in the park. Still lots of runners and walkers. They cannot be described as bundled up because Spandex is hardly bundling material. the ear warmers, black Spandex running pants, colorful sweat shirts and shoes of varius colors seem to be the uniform of the winter runners and hoofers. The golf course looked abandonned but the club house parking lot was full so I must assume the golfers are either waiting for a miracle of a sudden burst of warmth and sunshine or they just meet for coffee and play by play descriptions of their prowess on the links in the past.
The trees are so stark and lonely looking with all of the squirrel nests exposed and the only greenery around is the ocassional fir tree. Not too many bikers out because it was just too cold and blustery. The dogs running with their masters and mistresses seem very contented with their plight. Their visible breath made me wonder if I were not in my car if I sould be able to hear them wickering like horses do after they have run in the cold air.
As I was coming into the park on my way home, I saw a few police cars blocking the road with their lights flashing and as I got near I could see they were clearing the way for a funeral cortege that had entered the park from Cannons Ln. and proceeded past the "pick up" basketball court, the tennis courts and the playground and ball fields to take a right into Seneca Gardens on the way to the burial site. I was taking a left out of the Gardens so I was able to go on. How nice, a little cruise through the park on the way to the final resting place. It was quite a long cortege and I wondered who the honoree was. My brother, Joe, used to say, when he saw a long funeral procession ,"He was either someone important or a gangster."
An interesting slice of life to observe.
Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. Spring is really coming on soon, Winter is on the wane. The days are longer now and Easter is very early this year. March 21st I think. If Ash Wednesday is almost here that means that fat Tuesday or as the French say,Mardi-gras is in a few days. That is one of my favorite days of the year. We plan to celebrate with the King cake and other items connected with Mardi-gras. I must get my beads out and get ready! I'll write more after the day arrives and let you know if I got the baby in the cake!

There is a lot of political activity at this time so I thought I'd keep you up dated on the countdown: as of today there are 354 days to go till we elect a new president.
Quote: "See in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." President Bush, explaining his Social Security reform strategy. May 24, 2005

Ciao,ciao