Just Catching Up

Well, I had a cold for a few days so I wasn't doing a whole lot of anything. I feel better now so it's time to catch up.

We had a rummage sale here at Limpdik Park today. Everyone who signed up got a card table in the community room and we set out our wares. The problem is, we all have limited space and if we get rid of our own junk, and turn around and buy someone else's junk...well that doesn't help matters much.

The stuff I took down to sell was all stored away, so you can't even tell that I cleared out anything. I did pretty good though. $40. I'm donating it to the Friends of Felines Rescue Center that we love so much.

I only came home with three new items....a Lenox kitty figurine that I bought for $4 and a crystal kitty candle holder and a pair of silver earrings, both of which were given to me.

Dave was supposed to come down and help me, but just as he was about to leave the apartment, he noticed he had a flat tire on his power chair. So he had to change that, then he headed down to the Discount Medical place to have his spare fixed. I was thinking, at first, that it's always something, but then I thought, Ya know....we're still blessed in this situation. He's at home, not out on the street....he has a spare tire...he has the tools and the know-how to easily fix it himself. So it wasn't so bad after all. Sometimes I just have to look for the blessing. It's always there.

Speaking of blessings....on Monday, we were down in the community room, calling the Bingo game for the residents. Dave likes to make it fun, so he keeps up a little patter as he's calling the numbers. He always makes sure that everyone knows that I23 represents his birthday, April 23rd. and that all gifts are accepted. (They get a kick out of him). This time he said he'd like to have a new computer.

Well, after the game, our friend Anita, who teaches our Crochet/Knit club, and is Aaron's grandmother..(see Quilts of Valor 2), comes rolling into the room with a 15inch widescreen laptop and puts it in Dave's hands. It seems that someone at her church gave it to her, and she can't make it do what she wants, and didn't want anyone to show her, so she decided to give it to Dave so that someone would get some enjoyment out of it.

Oh my garsh!!!..You talk about a kid in a candy shop! He is having the best time with that thing. It had to have some cleanup and a new installation of virus and spyware protection, (Avast and Malwarebyte are both available online for free and are so much better than Norton's, by the way) but it's just perfect for him. Thanks again, Anita!

So here we are on Saturday. I'm tired from the rummage sale, but I still have to do laundry. I think that will wait til tomorrow. The couch is calling my name, and I must answer.....Nappy time....ZZZzzzzzz

Do You Know The Way To San Jose?

As you may know from reading my previous entries, I moved from Texas to California in June of 2003 to live with Dave in San Jose. The main reason we chose his home over mine was the heat of summer in Texas. This year has certainly convinced me that we made the right decision.

There was one afternoon, about a week after I moved out here that we went shopping at Target. We needed things that girls need in the house and guys don't think about. Like towel racks. Anyway, I was standing on the sidewalk with our full basket, waiting for Dave to find the car and bring it around. I called my mom and told her...."Mother, it's the first week of August at 5 in the afternoon, and I'm wearing a sweater."  Can you imagine, Texas friends?

The grocery store was another major culture shock for me. I was used to paying about $1.89 for a loaf of yummy, soft Mrs Baird's white bread...the good stuff... or 99 cents for the cheap store brand. The first time we went shopping and I saw a loaf of Orowheat white bread at $4.35 cents, I thought I would faint and fall back in it.

Dave would come home with a bag of peaches, maybe 6 in the bag. Oh they were nice and juicy and sweet. But was that bag of peaches worth $8? I don't think so!....Heck I bet I could get a half bushel of Parker County peaches back home for that.

Did you ever hear of a tri-tip roast? Me neither, but that's what they call a piece of meat that has the size and shape of a calf's tongue and is supposed to be great for BBQ and everything else. I cooked one in the crock pot a couple of weeks ago, and I swear, my sister could have reshingled her barn with it. Dry dry dry. Tough tough tough. Give me a good ol' brisket any day.

Speaking of brisket, just try finding one out here. I finally did and the danged thing cost me $1.99 a pound and THAT was on sale!! Heck, I  never paid more than 99 cents a pound for one in my life. I cooked one for Dave a few weeks ago. I didn't want to pay $24.00 for the thing, but I'd had my mouth set on one for so long, I just had to bite the bullet and pay it. It was worth it. Yum.

Restaurants are another thing that are so different. Back home, there's a Mexican place on every corner. Not in the Bay area. It's Asian food everywhere. Some is authentic, fish eyes and all, and some is Americanized. That's the kind I like. San Jose is also where I was introduced to lumpia, which is a little tube of Philippine heaven. Like a tiny little fried egg roll, the size of your pinkie, filled with more meat than veggies, and dipped in a spicy/sweet sauce.

Speaking of Mexican food, now that we are in Southern California, we're back to having a Mexican place on every corner. The only thing is, it's really Mexican, and not Tex-Mex. BIG difference. I miss Mercardo Juarez, Mexican Inn, even Joe T. Garcia's. Out here, it's just too real.

There are some places that like to try to cook Southern food. I have searched for a decent chicken fried steak from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and the best one I've found still comes out of MY kitchen. We did find a pretty good one at a little one location place called Kounty Folks. Nice place. They serve home cooking,  and have Bible verses on their menu. We'd gone several times and I'd have the chicken fried steak, mashed taters,black-eyed peas and fried okra, and it was a close reminder of home. Then Dave and I went 2 weeks ago.

They must have a new chef. My chicken fried steak was served with....*+*+*gasp*+*+* SAUSAGE gravy on it. Oh....My...Garsh.....this is so wrong on so many levels. CFS is supposed to have cream gravy. Not that sloppy brown stuff they serve on everything out here, and definitely not sausage gravy. That's for breakfast....on biscuits. If you serve sausage gravy on CFS, that's the same as telling your guests or family that you're too lazy to make fresh cream gravy so you're using the leftovers from breakfast. Not good.

I have offered, in more than one restaurant, to go in the kitchen and show the chef how to make chicken fried steak and cream gravy, but no one's taken me up on that yet. Maybe someday, one will take me seriously and quit being so snippy about it.

Quilts of Valor Part Two

When the last quilt was delivered to me last Thursday, the lady bringing it also brought one for my friend Anita. It was made to honor her grandson, Aaron. He was a young man, only 25 years old, a new husband and father. He was killed in Afghanistan about 5 months ago.

It was just a coincidence that Aaron's father was picking Anita up for lunch that day. When he came into the clubhouse where everyone was gathered, Anita showed him the quilt and told him why it was made.

He was so touched. He hugged everyone. I cried and he came over and took me in his arms and told me not to cry.

I couldn't help it. I have sons. I couldn't imagine his pain on losing his.

Rest in Peace, Aaron Blasjo.

Quilts of Valor

I want to tell you about a wonderful service called Quilts of Valor. They are a group of volunteers with chapters all over the country who will make a quilt to honor a veteran.

You fill out their form, send it in with a picture of your veteran, and in a couple of months, they send you a beautiful quilt, free of charge.

Since there are so many chapters in so many places, I'll just suggest you Google them to find your local chapter.

I had a quilt done for my grandfather, my father, and one for my sister-in-law to give to her mom.

Here are the pictures:

My grandfather was Wesley Madison Dennis, my mother's dad. Mother is gone now, but she is survived by her half sister, my Aunt Gerry. This quilt will go to her, with the condition that it be returned to me when she passes.
Papaw was a 'doughboy' in World War I. He was discharged on December 13, 1918, one month after Armistice Day. He was a very handsome man. My brother resembles him a lot.

Here is his quilt:

The next one was done for my Daddy, David Woodrow Cox. He served during World War II. This quilt will go to my older sister, Pam. She is the oldest child of 3. When she is gone, it will go to my brother, and then eventually to me. We lost Daddy in 2000. I was his 'baby girl' and I miss him.

Here is his quilt:

The last quilt was done for my sister-in-law's father, Bobbie Lee Bagwell, who passed away last year. It will be sent to her mother. Each of the shields in the pattern have the word 'Peace' on them, along with music notes.

Here is his quilt:

God bless our service members, present and past, and God bless America.

Txting 4 cnyrs

Somebody had the bright idea to hold a class today at Limpdik Park to teach seniors how to text. I think this might be a bad idea. When you combine these itty bitty keyboards with the ridiculous abbreviations that texting requires....heck one minute your granny may be sending you her recipe for peach cobbler and the next minute, Homeland Security is breaking through her roof and arresting her for showing how to build a bomb!

It's bad enough that an entire generation doesn't know how to spell, and doesn't know proper grammar. But to drag poor old people into this is just wrong.

Can you just imagine it? Would you rather read:
"Yo,m dwn wit sum gr8 phews 4 din"
or:
"I'm happy to be meeting my great-nephews for dinner."

For those of you who can't leave this nonsense to the youngsters and just HAVE to text, here is a list of abbreviations you may find helpful:

ATD	At The Doctor’s
BFF	Best Friend Farted
BTW	Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT	Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM	Covered By Medicare
CGU	Can’t Get Up
CGIU	Can’t Get IT Up
CUATSC	See You At The Senior Center
DWI	Driving While Incontinent
FWB	Friend With Betablockers
FWIW	Forgot Where I Was
FYI	Found Your Insulin
GGPBL	Gotta Go; Pacemaker Battery Low!
GLKI	Gotta Go; Laxative Kicking In
GHA	Got Heartburn Again
HGBM	Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO	Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO	Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL	Living On Lipitor
LWO	Lawrence Welk’s On
OMMR	On My Massage Recliner
OMSG	Oh, My! Sorry — Gas.
PIMP	Pooped In My Pants
ROFL & ICGU	Rolling On the Floor Laughing And I Can’t Get Up
SGGP	Sorry; Gotta Go Poop
TTYL	Talk To You Louder
WAITT	Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA	Wet The Furniture Again
WTP	Where’s The Prunes?
WWNO	Walker Wheels Need Oil

I'd be happy to give credit where credit is due, but I've yet to see anyone admit to compiling this list.

Oh well.....I must go...MOWIH. (meals on wheels is here!)




                                                                                                                                                

The Sweetest Things

Just when you thought that all I do is piss and moan and gripe and complain about stuff....I thought I'd throw you a curve ball and tell you about some of the things that make me smile.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night and felt something so good and so comforting that I couldn't help but count my other blessings.

What was it? It was the cool side of the pillow. How could something so simple feel so good? I dunno, but it did, and I couldn't go back to sleep for a while.

Here are some other things that I just love:

*When I wake up and the first thing Dave says is "Hi, Baby."

*When our grandson Jacob says "I love you Grandma, I love you, Grampy" on the phone.

* When Mitzi plays "get your tummy" with me on the bed in the morning.

* The smell of bread  baking

* When Dave notices that my feet are hurting and he says "Get your socks" and gives me a massage without me asking.

* When you call a business with a problem and you get a customer service rep who actually knows what customer service means.

* When my sister calls me Sissy.

* When a friend hugs my neck and tells me they love me.

* When I get a card in the mail from Mary. Although this one makes me feel a little guilty too, cause I will never be as thoughtful as she is.

* Watching the kitties at FFRC play.

I know I have a lot of big things to be thankful for too. Not a day goes by that God doesn't provide for my needs, it's amazing. But anyway, this is a tiny little list of things that make me happy and I thought sharing it with you was a good way to start my day.

Everybody have a good weekend, and a safe holiday and try to be nice to each other.

I'm Sweatin' The Small Stuff

Sometimes it's the smallest things that irritate us the most.

You know those canvas and canvas-like bags that the stores all want you to buy now to put your stuff in when you shop?

Yeah...that's it....supposed to make us all greener *_*

I have about half a dozen of them that are reserved exclusively for shopping. They have nice long handles that slip over the headrest of my power chair. And there are a couple of insulated ones for the cold stuff.  They work really well, especially when you drop in a freezer pack or two before you head to the store.

It's the other ones...the ones with stuff in them...that are taking over.
I looked around today, and I must have 2 dozen of the danged things sitting around the apartment...all with stuff in them.

There's one with the Rummy-O tiles and racks and table pad and score pads, etc. in it.

There's another one with the cards and score pads and shuffler and all that stuff for Hand and Foot Canasta.

One that says GO GREEN on it has a bunch of stuff we picked up at the last Senior Fair. Lots of pamphlets that are going right into the trash, one of these days. (Yes, I see the irony in that)

There's one hanging from my rocker with my latest crochet project in it (a blanket for the cat bed) and the new wooden yarn knitting thing that I just learned how to use today.

At Dave's feet is a bag from another senior apartment complex with yarn in it that he's using for his blankets he makes for the Painted Turtle kid's camp.

The red Trader Joe's bag has yarn that he's NOT using for his blankets he makes for the Painted Turtle kid's camp.

In the bedroom, lined up against the wall under the window, is a colorful bag from Fresh and Easy with crap in it that was in the car when we got rid of it. That was a year ago. I'll go through it. I will....I promise...

That basic black bag has all the Bingo stuff in it that we'll need when we start calling Bingo here at Limpdik Park next week. Gotta keep that one.

There's a pink one that matched my swimsuit that's full of water pistols and kickboards and swimming stuff that hasn't been touched since Debbie and Jacob were here in March of 2010. I plan to use it again....when they come in March of 2012.

I filled up another one with books and crap off of the credenza in the living room, when I was straightening up before the cleaning lady came last Monday.

I swear....at least paper bags were more versatile. You could pack a lunch or pack your clothes in them. You could ripen fruit. You could entertain a cat for hours.

Now the only thing you can do is.....stuff 'em.