The Ending Of 2019

The Tree before Santa comes.....

Santa still hasn't gotten to our house just yet. Just checking the tree out with the lights!

Hello,

 I hope that everyone is well and had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Does anyone have plans for New Years Eve?

 We had a really nice Christmas. The kids had a blast with all of their presents and I had a blast watching them.

 I loved all of my gifts from Miss Edna and love watching the cat play in the little house that was supposed to be for Foxy but Stormy decided he wanted it.

 Oliver loves his treats and his puppy toy. Foxy has gotten to the point that she has accepted Oliver and Stormy. 

 Never thought that I would see the day where she wasn't attacking one of them. I guess she figures that they are not going anywhere and to be a better friend haha.

 I haven't been blogging because I only have one comfortable place to sit and be able to use my computer and that is at the kitchen table. It is a pain to shut down and restart my laptop all the time. 

 We want the kids to eat at the table. My laptop does not have a working battery so I just have to plug it into a wall outlet. 

 I tried to use it in the living room, but the coffee table is to low for me to sit comfortably. 

 Since Jonathan is working from home two and a half days a week he is using the only desk that we have. It was to high for me sit at comfortably anyway.

 I have been looking at thrift stores for a small desk or table that I can use. I haven't found anything just yet but I will keep looking.

 I am sorry this is so short because I have to take care of a few things. Maybe I will be able to come back in a little while and update this post... 

 I can't believe that I am having to leave after I am just now getting into blogging this blogpost... but until later I really do have to go... BB

 

 

 

 

Christmas Spirit 2019

Elegant Christmas kit by Rosie from our private group. Images from free site.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas at my house. We have some secrets going on around here lol. I love this time of year and so far it is better than previous Christmas's. I think that it is because we have the kids with us for the first time in several years. That always makes it better!

 We are trying to decide where to put the tree. We moved the living room around, or I should say that Nathan did and where I had the tree last year will not be able to go there this year. 

 So we are thinking that we will move the chair more into the center of the room by the sofa and use the space where the chair is now.

 I want to go to the dollar store and get some new decorations for the tree. I also need to get some stockings and stocking stuffers. I am getting really excited!

 Oliver is in the house with me and laying by the patio door. I am letting him stay with me tonight. He is my buddy. 

My latest photo of Oliver.... excuse the debris in the back. I didn't crop this one.

 This isn't the best photo of Oliver but he is camera shy lol. He is such a sweet dog. I am very attached to him. He makes my heart smile and Foxy is doing better around him. She has learned for the most part to leave him alone and I am happy that she is.

 I also have a photo to share of my Christmas Cactus. This is the first time it has bloomed since I got it. This was a gift from my son Matthew almost 3 years ago.

I have it in a foil pan since I brought it inside. It doesn't like a lot of water and I have to repot it into a larger pot but I was afraid if I tried to repot it a couple of months ago that it wouldn't bloom. Anyway I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and the side of the pot broke off and I didn't have anything else handy and I figured since we were just going to throw the foil pan away I would use it so when I water it the water wouldn't make a mess. What ever works right? 

 In a couple of weeks after the blooms fade I will repot it. When I do I will take some cuttings to use in smaller pots for my friends Julie and Emily for a little Christmas gift. I already have the pots and soil. 

 Things have been crazy here. Jonathan had to go to the doctor and he tested positive for the flu. 

 Laurie now has it and she went to the doctor today. They both have different symptoms. 

 I really hope that I don't come down with it. I have been sick enough this past year and I have taken a lot of precautions trying to stay healthy.

 Having a compromised immune system sucks. 

 Back in 1982 I caught mono and it attacked my immune system. It also attacked all of my internal organs and since then my immune system has never recovered. 

 It didn't help that while I was recovering I found out I was pregnant with Jonathan and my doctors were very worried about him as well.

 I still don't think that I ever really recovered from that. I know that I use to have so much energy that I could run circles around everyone and still had lots to spare.

 Ha.. that vanished lol. My energy level never returned and I catch everything under the sun. So that is why I catch colds and illness's so much.

 After Christmas is over I am going to be planning for our Florida trip in March. I am so looking forward to spending some time with Miss Edna and Pogo and hopefully Audrey if she gets to come. 

 It will be just wonderful to see my sweet friend and to relax for 10 entire days and enjoy having a beautiful place to do so. 

 Last year I didn't take anything other than my laptop and tablet. I bought new clothes while I was there and mailed everything home so I didn't have to deal with luggage on top of everything else that I had to have with me like my walker and my carry on which is my laptop bag, medicines and personal items. 

 It cost less to mail the box home than what my suitcase would have cost so I will do that again this coming trip. 

 I took my walker and suitcase to Reno this year and that was such a pain in the butt let me tell you. And the airlines actually lost my walker and my suitcase. They went to Baltimore Maryland when I had to change planes in Las Vegas. It was supposed to have been a direct flight but we ended up having to change planes.

 It is getting late so I am going to close and try to get some sleep so I will chat with you all again soon... Hugs to all. Have a Blessed day... BB

 

Out Of The Fog

Photo is from Google Free images.

Hello and Happy Wednesday,

 I am happy to say that I am feeling better other than a sore throat. I really hope that it goes away and stays away. 

 I want to Welcome TJ Davis. I really enjoyed reading about your family and how you grew up. It is really awesome to have come from such a large family. 
 Both of my parents came from large families. My grandmother (Maw) had 10 children. The first one was my Uncle Sam and he was born July 31, 1900 and my mother was the last of the children, the baby of the family and she was born July 31, 1925. They were 25 years apart. I just can't imagine.

 My dad too was from a very large family. He was the next to the youngest out of 22 children from 3 wives.
 I grew up hearing how his last wife poisoned him. Now that could just be a rumor, but he was a very mean man and from the stories told it was that the entire town was relieved that he was not with them anymore and the woman was never charged. If that story is true I don't actually know but remember the movie Fried Green Tomatoes?
 Every time I see that movie I think of that man. I don't actually want to call him granddaddy lol.

 We have been having some beautiful foggy mornings. I love the way things come out of the fog. Trees with their ghostly branches and people walking in the misty shroud. It's something beautiful and it lingers...

 Thanksgiving dawned wet and damp, with a light drizzle in a very foggy morning. It stayed that way all day, and it was chilly out doors so it made staying in even better for a while. 
 When it finally stopped with the drizzle I bundled up the kids and took them outside.
 I was banned from the kitchen so it turned out to be a great day lol. I did help a little. I started the lime Jell-O salad and I made it different than I ever had.
 This recipe called for heavy cream and marshmallows. Where my original salad was more condensed, this one was light and fluffy and very delicious.

 I didn't make my Elote Salad. We had so much food that it was ridiculous. But it provided several meals that we didn't have to cook.

The main chefs... Karyn and David. You cannot see the bar where more food lined the counter space. Our kitchen is tiny so not a lot of room for people to actually help.

Matthew, Adrian, Damien watching something on tv.

Nathan kicking back. He was very tired. He worked in the yard the day before and was just resting. He had a good Thanksgiving as we made sure that almost everything was gluten free. I thought that I had photos of Laurie and Cathy but maybe I don't. I wanted a group picture but I gave up trying to get one. They are such scrooooooges… lol.

On the 23rd my great niece and her husband was blessed with a beautiful baby girl... 

 

Great Great Grandmother meets Jewelz Nicole. She is 4 days old. This next picture is of her is after GGGgrandmother got finished with her lol....

All of those lipstick kisses... Someone was stealing sugar from our little girl!

 She was very alert at birth. I love that she has all that dark hair. I really hope that she doesn't loose it. Both of her parents have thick dark hair so maybe hers will be nice and thick.

 She was born the day before my sister Linda's birthday. We was hoping that she would have waited just a little longer but she was in a hurry to meet the world. 

 I was outside in the fog when my sister called me and sent me a picture of the baby at birth. Linda wanted to be there so bad but she was really sick and so she stayed home and out of the way so she didn't expose anyone. 

 As Linda and I were talking I was watching the moon try to come out of the foggy night with the billowing clouds and the peek a boo images. It had warmed up some but the misty fog was still wet and damp. 

 It is burning off and leaving beautiful blue skies for the last 2 mornings. I am enjoying it...

 I better get off here. I have to get ready for yet another doctor appointment.... 

 Take care everyone and have a Blessed Day.... BB

Getting Ready For Thanksgiving

Photo from Pixaby

Hi,

 I hope all are doing well. We are ok but I think a stomach bug is going around because Karyn came in tonight feeling sick to her stomach and a coup[e of times the baby Damien has thrown up. No fever but general nausea and no appetite.

 I was sick last night. Laurie gave me bottle of Pedialyte for me to drink to replace my fluids. I don't want to get dehydrated. 

 I chose this photo because I love how the woman is displayed in with the moon and stars. I think that it is so pretty and I really wanted to watch the Unicorn Meteor Showers last night but I didn't get to because we had too much cloud cover and rain. 

 I am hoping that I can see them in December. It just hasn't been my year to watch any of them. Maybe I can in 2020.

 I am sorry I was in a semi pissy mood in my last post. I don't like discussing politics but I don't hound others that have different opinions than I do.

 Everyone should have their own opinions and if they differ from others, family included it should be fine. 

 Anyway I want to apologize for my mood. I was just irritated.

 So that pretty much covered the last two days. I really haven't done much or have much going on here but I am hoping that the next few days are smooth as I am going to have several extra guests this year for Thanksgiving. 
 My son Matthew has a student driver with him and he wouldn't feel right  knowing he had no where to go and so Matt called and asked if he could bring his student over for Thanksgiving.
 He also asked me to run it by everyone to make sure it was ok and everyone in this house said... "Of course bring him".
 One thing about my family is that anyone alone is always welcome at our table.
 Then a friend of mine hasn't made any plans but she may have something at her church but she said she would be delighted if her church wasn't doing anything so we will see. 

 Gosh I remember my kids growing up and all of the meals we had that someone's kids besides my own were at the table. 
 Then there were other guests and our holiday meals we had around 30 40 or more people. 
 We always had more than enough food. Everyone brought food or paper plates etc... We never had anyone go hungry and of course it was also ways to communicate and socialize and be thankful for what we had to be able to share.

 Steve will you and Dave have your own Thanksgiving since your in London and not home? 
 I know that it isn't a holiday there but I didn't know if you planned on cooking a turkey or not lol...

 Miss Edna you know I do not open boxes except on that special day. I will put it with my other boxes. I want to put the tree up Thanksgiving night while I have all my kids under one roof. Matthew will be going to Reno for Christmas. So I want to make sure that I have at least one Photo with all 5 under the Christmas Tree. Or at least one with all 5 of them together.

 I have a dish that I am going to make. It probably isn't one that is going to pair with turkey and stuffing but I am going to make it anyway.

 When my daughter Laurie lived in Pasadena California she and I would go outside and let Adrian play while we waited for this man who had a cart that he pushed. 
 In this cart he had the most wonderful Elotes and she and I would get one. They were a dollar each.
 Elotes are Mexican Street Corn. The large ears of corn were on a long stick. He would have them in a tray of butter. We could tell him what we wanted on it.
 He would roll them in mayonnaise and sprinkle them with garlic salt and then roll them in Parmesan cheese and add a sprinkle of spices. We always chose chili powder, a creamy kind of cheese and lime juice. 
 All of that deliciousness for a dollar. I know I must have told it out of order somewhat, but oh they are so good.
Anyway I found a recipe for it in a casserole form. So I am going to make that for my special dish this year.

 Anyway I am going to get off here and get ready for bed. Sweet dreams to everyone and Be Blessed!!! BB

Headache Reigns

Free Photo From Free Site...
I found this a couple of years ago on one of the free sites I go to looking for something to scrap. I have used this image as a wall paper, on my computer and phone because I just love it.
 I can imagine myself sitting there, reading a book in that lovely room and drinking a large glass of tea. (I enjoy ice in my glass however).

 I have a headache. Not related to a headache like a real one or a migraine. My headache is a metaphor for Unreasonable Conversations in my house or a pain in the butt!

 We do not agree on our political views and I am not going to go into a rant here but we should be able to agree to disagree and let it be.
 Everyone is entitled into their own beliefs.
 All I want to do is listen to the inquiry. I want to hear the inquiry and make up my own mind. 
 Apparently my entire household except Jonathan because he never comments on way or another but obviously it is all a witch hunt and there should not be any listening to all the lies being told!
 Well ok then but I want to listen and make up my own mind. I have learned quiet a bit during the 20 minutes I got to sit quietly and listen to the witness and council today before the conversations began to interrupt me.
 Telling me that I am hearing all lies does not make it so. Several witness's that say the same thing is worth listening to. How did they get their information? Who were they with? What form did the information come from? In person? By text? From a colleague? 
 Shut up and let me listen to the damn inquiry. Over an hour has passed now and I am to aggravated to try again because my house is too noisy and maybe I will try to stream it again later but right now I am going to finish my post and lay down.

 Not much going on with me other than just not feeling well.  My fibromyalgia is acting up really bad. I had to call my doctor yesterday and get an ok for me to increase my Lyrica. Even tho I can and did I have not felt much relief.
 My nerve endings hurt and has affected my entire body. I am not sure what has brought this on. I don't have to have a reason but it's been a good while since I have had a flare up. 
 I got up in the middle of the night and took a warm bath and that helped some. I was able to go back to sleep but woke up at 5 this morning hurting. I took a pain pill and some Tylenol and that lasted about 3 hours. 
 After that I just got up and stayed up. I think that I can rest for a little while.

 Take care and I will try and be back soon with a blog worthy post. Until then BB

Friday TGIF

Kit is called Geraldine's Winter....

 Hi,

 It is cool out this morning, 59 degrees but the sun is shining and the gray and wet skies have finally moved out.

 This day is simply gorgeous and is suppose to just get prettier with days getting warmer. Monday is to be in the 70's so we will see.

 Nathan cooked brunch for us this morning. He made rice and veggies with some scrambled eggs. It was all perfect until we grabbed the gluten free soy sauce and discovered that it was left over Mongolian sauce that someone had cooked and poured into a left over soy sauce bottle. Our brunch had to be thrown away because it has been weeks since Laurie and Karyn made the Mongolian Beef and so yeah, better safe than sorry. 

 I mentioned it first... "Who put sugar in the rice stir fry?" When no one admitted to doing it then we had to investigate. "Since when does soy sauce come sweetened?"

 Well the good news is that we have plenty of rice ready to eat.

 Nothing new here to report so this blog post might be shorter than I antiicipated it being. I had a doctor appointment today and found out that my pain management now has office hours for Saturday but they were booked so now I have it scheduled for Monday morning at 10:00am.

 I was wanting to get it over with today but Jonathan and Karyn are both having to work full days today so I was able to move it. I am lucky to have enough pain meds to last me thru the weekend but that is it. Monday I will be out so I have to go to the new appointment.

 I am in so much pain the last couple of days. It is because of the weather being cold and damp.

 Nathan is off on Friday's now so we are going to watch our series in a little while. I will be super happy to enjoy these programs with my son. 

 I will also enjoy just relaxing on the sofa after this is done. It will educate my mind and in the meantime I will be able to try and ease my bones. I am sure that it is my fibromyalgia acting up. I can feel the soreness all over.

 

 It has been a confusing couple of weeks at my house in terms of who is doing dishes, who is not, how they are done. Laurie of course is trying to make things easier but I have my own way of doing dishes and laundry.

 So basically I have just stopped with the exception of my laundry as I prefer to do a prewash in cold water with my clothes and then wash in hot or warm water for the main cycle.

 The reason I prefer a cold prewash is easy. Cold water lifts stains and then a warm or a hot wash will get clothes cleaner.

 I use to work in a laundry matt and this was pointed out to us on the first day so I have always done this where I can.

 As for dishes I am not going to change how I do dishes. As long as they are clean when I go to eat out of it that is all that matters to me.

 But Laurie would like to see anything dirty stacked on the counter and rinsed so it is easier for the one doing the dishes. I don't know why everyone has an issue with her over it. Since she is mainly the dishwasher, just do it the way she wants it done.

 I am about ready to knock all of these kids across the head! Who cares as long as the dishes are clean and they are done and the laundry is done and put away? I sure don't.

 Karyn has gone to get some lunch since we just threw ours away earlier. I have to say that I am hungry! 

 I will close for now so that I can have lunch and take my meds. Have a great Friday everyone. BB

 

Christmas Time... Right Around The Corner

Christmas Time 2019 Kits are Baby Xmas, Golden Christmas and Merry Christmas

dreamingwithbella.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=97

Hi,

 This post will be a short one. I am sleepy as my cat! I haven't been to bed yet. I got caught up with making this Christmas page. I don't know why I was in the mood to do a Christmas page but I was and then before I knew it I had been playing at the computer for 2 hours. Then I was looking at this year and last year's pages I had done. 

 Not that many this past year. Only about 10 or 12 but the year isn't over yet.

 I went outside to see if Nathan and Jonathan got the garbage out to the road and they had except for the compost. I wonder why they didn't get that one out?

 Anyway it is wet and gray and drizzling rain. According to my phone app it is 48 and the high is supposed to be 48 lol. Tonight is supposed to get down to 34 degrees but then we start warming up again. Monday we are supposed to be up to 71 degrees. 

 I bet that my entire family will be sick. The change of the weather always makes my family sick with some kind of bug.

 I was going to make coffee but I decided not to. I am out of my sweetener and I have been sucking on some peppermints since I have a sore throat so I don't need to be adding a spoon of sugar to my coffee. I think that I will go to bed as soon as I finish this. I need to sleep.

 I don't sleep well during a full moon. The day before, the day of and the day after the moon gives me all kinds of inspiration and energy. Yesterday Nathan and I gave the living room a really good cleaning. I washed the throws on the sofa and swept out the dirt under the cushions and beat them with a broom to fluff them and to loosen any dirt and vacuumed them.

 Then he and I sat down and started watching Morgan Freemans new documentary called The Story of Us. It is really good and Nathan and I are watching it together. A mom and son thing.

 Funny we were watching Mankind The Story Of Us I think is the name and we were right in the middle of season 1 or 2 when YouTube quit on us. They want us to buy it Nathan said but he said You have Amazon Prime right and I said Yeah and he said we  could watch it from there.

 I tried for a long while to get in but my password is not cooperating. I will have to call them I guess. But not this morning. I am actually seeing double on my laptop lol.

 I guess this means I need to go to sleep. Take care everyone and I will be back soon... BB

GUILTY Until Proven INNOCENT

Does This Look Familiar? 

This post is dedicated to our Brat Girl Foxy and to Stalker Stormy.

 I cannot declare them innocent because both of them are guilty of fighting like Cat's and Dogs and that is the truth.
 Today was gorgeous, almost 70 degrees and the sun was shining and it was really a beautiful day.
 Stormy was outside somewhere. I don't keep tabs on him much. As long as he meets curfew which is my bedtime all is good.
 Anyway Foxy needed to go potty so out we went. I am not sure where Stormy was at this time, but suddenly I saw a flash of gray and white.
 He was laying in the grass and up he stood and in two seconds he transformed into a LION....and Stalker mode at that. 
 Then he pounced! 
 I kid you not, I think my heart stopped for a few seconds but everything was fine. 
 Stormy didn't attack Foxy but he stalked her all around the front yard and back to the doorway. 
 It was so funny but scary at the same time.
 Later I am sitting on the sofa looking thru a magazine with Foxy on one side of me and Stormy on the other. 
 Everything was fine until Foxy spotted Stormy. My Brat Girl went after Stormy and the fight was on and I was in the middle of it.
 Have you ever tried to break up a hissing and snarling cat with claws and a 41/2 pound chihuahua? 
 Cathy grabbed Foxy and she squirmed up in the air while the cat was lunging for her. Dante opened the front door and I ran, ok hobbled to the door as fast as possible and down he went and disappeared around the side of the house.
 5 minutes later I was still in shock and Brat Girl Foxy was looking at me with those eyes that spoke volumes. I could just hear her saying... "But mom HE started it".
 Stormy isn't all that innocent either. 
 He will hide and since it is so quiet we forget he is in the house. He waits for just the right moment and then he will pounce! Usually without the claws baring. But he must think that it is funny to scare someone and watch them jump and hear them scream.
 So far he has gotten Karyn, Laurie and Cathy. I'm sure that my time is coming. 
 I told Foxy today that Karma was a bitch. "How does it feel being stalked like you stalked my sweet Cisco?"
 She use to be so mean to my little boy. He was a few years older than she was when Karyn got her. Cisco was so protective of her and taught her how to eat from her bowl and would cuddle with her and then Karyn had her spayed and she did a complete 360.
 Everyone says that spaying her had nothing to do with her temperament but we disagree. 
 She needs hormones. Problem is we cannot find a vet to give them to her because they are really not good for her. They are given as a last resort.
 Karyn and I took her to Pet Co a few weeks ago and I had to take her and go back to the car with her. She wanted to eat a Great Dane... wait I think that the dog was a Wolf Hound. What ever he was he could have swallowed her whole in one try. Silly dog. (Foxy I mean).

 Speaking of Pet Co I was in that area today. Karyn and I went to Red Robin for lunch. We were so easy. We ordered the same thing. The Southern Charm burger and bottomless French fries and Mai Tai's. Yes indeed we each treated ourselves to a cocktail and had a wonderful time.

 We planned on going to Walmart but changed our mind when we couldn't find a parking spot after ten minutes of driving around in the parking lot so we went to Dollar Tree instead.
 Mainly I just looked around but I got each of the kids a little something. Puzzles and a hockey disc launcher that is pocket size. It even came with batteries. I found some chopping mats and I got Karyn some hair scrunchies and combs for both of us and really that is about all.
 We came home and finished working on a couple of boxes out of the garage and watched a movie. Cathy and I did. The baby took a nap and Adrian and Dante played a video game in their room. Karyn went home and Jonathan took a nap and Nathan was at work..
 Laurie was busy working in the garage and David cleaned the back yard and played with Oliver. 

 Oh Cathy and I were outside this morning when we heard this woman yelling at the top of her lungs. We walked around the side of the house and this woman was screaming at this man who was trying to get away from her. He was across the street walking towards a convenient store. 
 Suddenly there were like 7 or 8 other people surrounding her. We couldn't tell if they were there to jump the man or to keep her from jumping the man.
 The man headed into the store, the woman was right behind him and all of the group went into the store. 
 I am sure that the owner called the police and told them to leave because they all came out and the only difference was the woman started hitting a different man and a woman got between them and he put his hands up like he was disgusted and started walking with the man to a small Mexican place.
 The group dispersed really fast when they heard sirens. Everyone went in different directions. 
 It wasn't the police tho. It was an ambulance. So that is the only news I have.
 It is 2 in the morning so I am going to sleep. I should have been in bed a long time ago but I did want to work on my blog post.

 Take care of yourself and I will talk to you later. Have a great holiday if your in the USA. Take time to remember our great Military and those that gave their all for our Freedom... Good Night, and have a great day. BB

Computer Updates And Other Problems

Image from a free site... Quote is so accurate

Hi,
  I am home from Reno Nevada. What an incredible trip. I loved every minute of it and my trip was way to short. I will treasure this trip for as long as I am on this earth.

 Yesterday I spent several hours catching up on blog posts and then I went to work on my own blog and what happened? My computer crashed.
 At first it scared me and then it just ticked me off. I finally had to shut it down and do a new update that took most of the night. I finally just closed it out and went to bed.
 I let it do it's thing this morning which included the update. I have my fingers crossed that whatever little/big problem that it had is fixed. I am hoping that is the case anyway.

 Well it is cold and wet here. The humidity and weather here is so different than in Reno. It is 45 degrees here and wet and rainy and it is cold.
 I didn't take a coat to reno, but I did have my fleece type robe and the last morning I was there I put it on and took my coffee out on the balcony and watched the sun come up. 
 It was 38 degrees and it was just really nice. I come home and it is 45 here and it is COLD... it is just amazing the difference in the humidity between here and there.

 My last day was bittersweet. Celeste and I played with her new toys that she got for her birthday and even a couple of ones she already had.
 She had cereal and toast for breakfast and then we waited for her sitter to get there. Pegee is wonderful with Celeste. I do have to say that Celeste has Pegee wrapped around her finger tho. 
 Pegee is six years older than I am, she is built like the Bionic Woman with lots of metal replacements in her knees and shoulders but she can sit on the floor and play all kinds of things with my girl.
 I certainly cannot do it. I sat on the sofa and used the coffee table lol. The floor is way to low for me. And I am short lol.
 Pegee had a doctors appointment at 9:00 that morning and she also got into some gnarly traffic. She always stops at 7-11 for coffee and we had a power outage so the registers wouldn't work. It was obviously a big power outage because it affected most of all of Nevada. 
 Finally the clerks said that if the customers were just getting coffee then it was on them and to have a good day so the coffee was still hot and Pegee was happy until she got to us and she slammed the car door on her hand and cut her finger pretty bad. 
 Pegee got Celeste ready for her doctor and dentist appointment. (After she got the finger bandaged) and her mom came home early so that we could get my luggage and walker into the car and then we grabbed a snack and made sure that our little girl had her teeth brushed, hair brushed and everything she needed in her little purse and then her mom got her buckled in and off we went.
 Celeste got good check ups at both the doctor and the dentist. No cavities! 
 Our next stop was at McDonalds and then to the airport. Kids are so funny.
 When we would go out and Celeste would act up, her mom would tell her "I guess that we will just have to put all this back and go home" to which Celeste would start behaving.
 So when we went to McDonalds she knew that our next stop was to the airport and she started acting up. We figured out that she thought that if she acted up then we would just go home and Nana wouldn't have to go to the airport lol.
 Mom said... "Well Nana I guess that we will just have to take you to the airport early and Celeste and I will drop you off and we will go home".
 Hahaha... She decided she had better eat her Happy Meal and quit messing around and behave.
 Still there were tears on both sides when it was time to say goodbye.. It was hard to close the car door and walk away.

 The trip from Reno to Las Vegas was just an hour and I had to change planes. They claimed a mechanical issue but I really don't believe that because a pilot wheeled me down to the plane and we were chatting and he said that he would make sure I had someone waiting to help me when we got to Vegas and I said, "Oh I have a direct flight" and he informed me that we most definitely would be getting off in Las Vegas. Sure enough we did! 
 So my conclusion is that if there was a mechanical issue that my nice pilot either has a gift of premonition which is doubtful or they always de-plane in Vegas... lol.
 I am not sure if my nice pilot was on duty or off duty but he was very nice and said that it was nice to meet me and to enjoy my flight and then he shook my hand.

 From Las Vegas home to Austin I just sat back and closed my eyes and before I knew it we were landing. I fell asleep. I was very tired because it was late when I went to bed the night before and I got up around 5:00am. Plus our time changed on Sunday and then I crossed time zones so I needed the nap. 
 I arrived at 2:00am and discovered that not only myself but everyone that changed planes in Las Vegas did not have their luggage.
 Yep our luggage it seemed went to Baltimore Maryland... Nice! They called me around lunch time the next day to tell me that they had my luggage and walker. 
 My daughter Laurie and granddaughter Cathy and I went to the airport to pick it up.
 If I made the trip to collect my belongings then they would give me a $200 dollar flight voucher. Otherwise they would deliver it but it could take up to 3 days.
 Luckily we only live about a half hour from the airport. Less than that if traffic is light.
 They had it all ready. I just had to show my Identification and then sign a piece of paper that I picked it up.

One thing that I want to say is "Beware" of what you pack because I had a piece of paper in my suitcase that said a new law states that all bags would be searched.
 Luckily I didn't try to smuggle.....

THE CAT 

                           OR

A GRANDDAUGHTER

I thought that I had taken a photo of my grandson Dante in my suitcase but maybe I just thought that I had taken one. Maybe I didn't.

 In any case since they open the bags now they would have discovered my precious stow-a-ways!

 It is time that I got busy around here. I am so behind in everything. Laurie and I are going thru a lot of boxes seeing what they can use when they find a house and I am going to be staying with Jonathan and Nathan and I am not sure if we will stay in this duplex or not. I want to redecorate the kitchen, living room, bathroom and my bedroom. So this is a chance for me to get rid of a lot of old stuff to make room for the new. 

 Even if we don't stay here I still want to redecorate. It is time. I just haven't decided exactly what I want to do. Something fun and whimsical. Something bright and airy with lots of colors.

 Jonathan wants to see if our landlady has another unit like the one that we have.

 I would just like to stay here but every time it rains we are afraid that it is going to flood.

 The new gutters hasn't really helped this issue like the salesman had told her. They help but we expected them to really do a better job of moving the water away from the back to the road and drainage area and there has been a couple of times we had to start getting things off of the floor and get things ready to move just in case water started coming in. (Usually in the middle of the night).

 Thankfully we always had a break in the rain so that the water went down but as we know it can happen and has happened one day it might rain for days without a break.

 That has happened several times living in Austin. The rain just keeps on coming and coming without breaks. One year our entire stadium at UT was flooded all the up and over the seats. 

 We have always lived on a hill that was on a hill. Well not here. So Jonathan is hoping that she might have another place that is not close to a creek like we have a couple of blocks from us and that is on higher ground. We will just have to wait and see.

 Ok time for me to close. I gotta get busy and I really just want to take a nap

 Take care everyone. I will be back soon... BB

Checking In From Reno

Photo Caroline Blue

 Hi, Just a fast and quick post. We are doing well. My little girl Celeste is still running a small temp and still sleeping but she is doing fine.

 It is so good to be here. She told me... Nana You are the very best nana in the whole wide world... that was the first thing she said to me while her little arms were around my neck as she and I met... even before saying hi... What a great introduction... 

 She slept with me the first night for part of the night and then she  went to her moms bed. I loved that too.

 We were sick at the same time. I am sure that I had elevation sickness. It was bad. So I am doubling my water intake to make sure that I am not dehydrated when I fly home. That is one of the things that causes elevation sickness. 

 Her sitter the next day was really sick with throwing up, aches and pains and a few other ails like fever and such but not Celeste. Just a fever. A very high one tho.103 and so we just cuddled a lot that day.

 The next day she was better and her fever down, so she opened a few birthday presents with her daddy watching on video chat, me taking pics and her mom trying to video everything to send to him. It was a busy morning, then we went to Denny's for Breakfast and then back home where I rested until it was time to go to the Children's Discovery Museum. I have never been but I really enjoyed myself as much as she did.

 I would like to go again just to read some of the exhibits but she wanted to play so I let her. She did stop to let me read to her on a few of them. She would ask me what something was and so I said well lets find out. She was really interested too.

 Then she would go and play and two of her favorites was fishing in a little magnetic pond and climbing this mountain and sliding down. We got there about 2:30 and the party started at 5:00pm so we had a great time before the party started. We could tell she was tired so we packed up everything and when we got her home her temp was 99.0 so she opened a few more presents and went to bed. She is sleeping still.

 No fever yesterday but before Courtney went to work this morning she checked her temp and it is the same. No throwing up or anything.

 Her sitter is better this morning so she will be coming about noon. 

 It was 17 degrees here the first night, and 14 the next night. I awoke this morning and it was 25 degrees. So we are getting a bit warmer today.

 We didn't go out last night. I was asleep very early and she was sleeping when her mom came home. We both were. Only difference is I didn't wake up until almost 6:00am this morning. I tend to do that. I have a big day the day before and crash badly the next day. 

 The time change got me too and tomorrow night the time changes again. Then going home I will cross time changes again so I know that when I get home I will crash out again. 

 Courtney said that there was only 1 group of Trick or Treaters. It was really to cold to take Celeste out and since she has been sick and running a slight fever they just stayed in.

 I am glad that Courtney will be off work for the weekend since we can catch up on things and spend time together too.

 It is time for me to close. Have a great weekend and I will share pics soon. I can't share any of my little girl because I promised her mom that I wouldn't put her on the internet but will share other things. Also I am trying to catch up on blogs so I will be back when I can Have a wonderful weekend everyone. BB

Autumn Fun!

Wall paper that I found on Google... free image

It is Sunday night. I have to confess that this is the first time I have been on the computer since I have been home. First I went to read a few blogs and leave a couple of replies and then I decided to do my own blog post.

 I really don't have much news to share. I have had a time with my blood pressure sky rocking up to stroke level so I went to the emergency room and they admitted me. 

 It set off the domino effect. The high blood pressure caused my sugar to elevate to a dangerous level, then the pain in my leg intensified and so they did a few tests on my feet. The pulses in my feet are faint but blood is flowing to my feet and so that is the most important thing.

 My magnesium and sodium were low so I had to have supplements to bring those back up. 

 But I am home. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow to see if my blood pressure medication is working properly now. 

 The kids are doing good. I have wished for and have not gotten it, but I would love to have them bottle some of that energy and let me have it!

 Yesterday we painted cookies for Day Of The Dead. It was fun and tomorrow or in a few days we will carve our pumpkins. We need 2 more but are going smaller for the 2 youngest. 

 I knew that there was a way to keep them from rotting but I didn't know all of the steps so I googled it. 

 Bleach water is very important as it stops mold. Apparently we are supposed to spray the pumpkin with a tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of water and they suggested a spray bottle so all of the pumpkin gets sprayed.

 After the pumpkin is sprayed well it is to dry and then find a huge tub, fit in your pumpkin, add water and 2/3 cup of bleach and let soak for up to 24 hours.

 (Is it me or is step #1 really not needed since it will be getting a bleach bath anyway?)???

 After 24 hours take it out of the tub and let dry. The Pumpkin is now ready to create..

 After creating a beautiful masterpiece then spray it with bleach water once more, let it dry completely and then rub the design with Vaseline to lock in the moisture. 

 Other tips include keeping it as cool as possible. I live in a warmer climate and  no extra room in my fridge but for those that do have room then bring it inside and put in the fridge over night. The cooler it is the longer it will last.

 It also recommended to spray it daily with the bleach water. Mold happens fast and that includes the stem.

 So now I know that Bleach Water and Vaseline is my friend and I hope to keep our Jack 'O Lanterns looking spiffy even after the night of Goblins, Witches and Warlocks alike.

 Well for as long as I am here because I leave on the 28th for Reno Nevada. 

 I am so excited for this little trip. Did you know that this is the first time I will actually hold this child in my arms and feel her little arms around me?

 She will be 5 years old the day before Halloween. We FaceTime but it is just not the same. This visit is 5 years late. Money, schedules, routines, jobs, illness and various other things have kept us from visiting. In this day and age where we could just catch a plane, the cost is outrageous and if you do have the money then it is work or illness or something else that prevents us from visiting each other.

 I will try and keep up with my blog while I am gone, but just in case I miss a day I will blog when I can. I am still a night owl regardless of where I am. lol.

 This coming weekend we are going to try and go to one of the Pumpkin Patches close by. 

 My neighbor Emily, her church is hosting a Trunk and Treat so the kids are invited to that. 

 So we are going to be busy. 

 The kids are doing great with their school work. It makes for a long day but it is important to stay in our routine. We are doing better. 

 It is always an adjustment and I have my own routine so I know how difficult it can be to stay on task. 

 My mind rambles and I get distracted easily so it is hard for me, let alone a 5 year old trying to sit still and do his work. But he is doing really well and I am very proud of him. I am proud of all of them.

 It is getting late and I can't see to type in the dark so I will close for now and do a few things and get ready for bed myself. Karyn is ready for the light to be turned out so I will say goodnight... BB

  

Hello and Happy Thursday!

The Name of this kit is called The Night Of The Raven.

Rosie's Designs

https://www.e-scapeandscrap.net/boutique/index.php…

 My dear friend Rosie is now putting her designs up for sale. This is a beautiful kit. Check it out... She is truly awesome.

Hi,
 I am not sure if I shared this page or not. I just made it simple as I was in a hurry, but I don't think it turned out half bad but I did not do this kit justice.
 Still I will have Halloween pages to make and grandkids in costumes so I still have ample opportunities to make more pages.

 I wanted to blog yesterday but I was not feeling my best with my leg hurting. Actually I was in pain all day yesterday and so I just tuned everyone and everything out.
 I tend to do that when I am in pain. Some times it is all that I can do and if you have chronic pain then you understand what I am talking about. 
 Depression goes hand in hand with pain. How can one not feel depressed when it takes every ounce of energy just to concentrate on moving my hurting body to get up and go to the bathroom?
 Even tho I was hurting and still am to a point, having my grandchildren has been a joy. It is hard to be depressed when one of my little ones comes up to me and says "I love you Na-Na." or the baby when he puts his little arms around me and lays his head on my shoulder and babbles away. 
 So I haven't been depressed but the pain is getting to the point that yesterday was a hard day. I slept as much as possible and I was in bed asleep at 9:30 last night.
 Miss Foxy woke me up during the night and licking me on the mouth. She usually does this when she is thirsty. I got up to check her bowl but it was full. I gave her a fresh bowl and opened a bottle of water for her but that is not what she wanted. 
 I took her out but that isn't what she wanted either. After I got back into bed I realized what the little stinker was after. Peppermints. 
 We have a brand of hard peppermints that I buy. She is like me and loves these things and Nathan bought me a package yesterday.
 I got up and got her one and she was a happy puppy dog. As soon as she had it then she settled back down and cuddled with me all night. The rest of the night I should say.

 Well tomorrow is my big day. It is really hard to believe that I will be 60 tomorrow. 
 I have heard my birth story many times. 
 Today is my favorite uncle on my dads side of the family's birthday. He wanted me to be born on his birthday so bad. But I was born the next afternoon.
 Apparently my dad and uncle were at work. It was a Sunday. Many of you know that my parents were alcoholics and apparently they didn't know anything about alcoholic fetal syndrome but honestly common sense when your pregnant should take over and say hmmm I better not drink, but I know that the bottle is stronger than anything else to a person who battles Alcoholism.  
 Anyway I think that since it was beer and it only took my mom 2 or 3 to be drunk as a skunk. I really think that beer was a better option than hard liquor but I could be wrong. I would have preferred my mother choose water, tea, soda or coffee to beer or hard liquor but she chose beer from what I have heard.
 The night before I guess that they must have pulled a good one because I heard from my older sister and brother that the morning of my birth my mom was sitting at the table drinking a gallon of milk. She even sent my siblings to get more and that they had to buy quarts of milk and she had milk bottles sitting on the table to drink.
 Hmmm so around 4:00 that afternoon my aunt sent my uncle to where my daddy was clearing land and said "Your fixin' to become a daddy so you better get on home and clean up."
 Mama wasn't in labor very long before I was born. 
 I was a Sunday child. I weighed 6 pounds and 6 ounces. It had been 13 years since my mother had a baby and everyone talked about how fast I was born. I guess all that milk must have helped lol.

I just checked the mail and I have a package from Miss Edna and Pogo. I did not open it. I will wait until tomorrow! Thank you Miss Edna and Pogo. 
 But I did open my beautiful card and have it sitting on my computer table so I can enjoy it. It is very pretty and I just love the birds. Thank you.

 So I guess that I will be going clothes shopping this weekend. We need to find me a few winter clothes and I have to get a pair of winter shoes and socks. I was just planning on borrowing some items from my daughter Laurie but we have a major cold front heading our way. 
 It is supposed to be as cold here this coming week as it will be in Reno when I get there. 

 It is time for lunch so I have to get my lunch and noon meds. You guys take care and I will talk to you all a little later... BB

Getting Ready For Reno

At the Play Park

Just a quick note. Our internet is running really slow so I will try to just do a fast post and see if the internet comes back to working better.

 I cannot believe that it is Friday already. I am getting so excited because my trip to Reno Nevada is getting closer and closer. I will be talking to Courtney later on tonight. 

 I need to ask her a few things anyway and I want to order Celeste her Birthday present and I will wrap it when I get there.

 I will not be here for Halloween with my other grandchildren but I will do something with them before I go. I am sure that they will have lots of fun with or without me lol.

 Oh well my internet just went down again. I will get off and try later on to update... BB

Saturday Update:

 I am not sure what is going on with our internet but it is lagging a lot. 
 I hope that I can finish this post and that it starts to get better.

 So yesterday Courtney sent me my itinerary for my plane reservations. I will leave on October 28th and come home November 4th. 
 I checked the weather and I am going to have to come up with some real winter clothes lol. 
 The days are in the 60's and the nights are freezing like 33 degrees. But in 3 weeks who knows how cold the days will be. I am so excited.
 I need this visit. The only sad note so far is that Alex's mom is being a B-Witch and will not let me see Alex while I am there. This hurts of course but I expected as much from her.

 It was alright that she ran my son into the ground to my face but not alright that I called out her husband for the awful things he has done. 
 I know that it will all work out in the end. Things usually do and it is important that they play out the way they are supposed to.

 Well last night was movie night. We watched Spider Man... oh loved it... we are going to watch it again in a little while. Then we watched X-Men The Dark Phoenix. Definitely on the watch list for another sit down and watch. Such beautiful graphics. And Finally... Aladdin. The one with Will Smith. I totally loved it. I think that he made an awesome Genie. It was really beautiful.
 So that is what we did last night.

 The kitty has a name. His name is Stormy and he is a male. He is turning into a beautiful cat. 
 Oliver is doing well. Oliver is the doggie. Such a sweet and beautiful dog. Even tempered and happy. He is not a barker. If he barks we go look to see what he is barking at.

 Ok I have to get off of here because it is almost time for me to get my day going.. Take care everyone... BB