Early Morning Rain

Gray and wet outside.  Sammy was supposed to spend the weekend with me while Jen, Wayne, and the kids went to Maddie's softball tournament in Seattle but it was rained out.  I'm trying to decide how I want to spend the next couple of days.   I finished up a wall hanging yesterday. It's okay, but I still need to learn the techniques for having no puckers in the final piece. You can see it on the bottom left. I've tried not hemming until I was done quilting "in the ditch" and I've tried hemming it first and then going back to sew within. I just can't seem to find satisfaction with my little works of art.

I spent over two hours at the library yesterday. Looked through old microfilm of PT Leaders. Two hours is about my limit. The moving screen can give you eye strain after a while.  I found and printed off a few items of interest--the wedding announcement of my mother's folks in Chimacum, some campaign data on my Uncle Lyall, birth records of my siblings, and a couple other things.  I may go back up there today.

There's a little bit of activity outside my window. Friends coming to help the neighbors move.  They're going to a house about a mile or so away until they move again to Alaska.  I think the new couple (also coast guard) will arrive next week. 

The birds are feeding regularly on the black thistleseed I have hanging in front of the window. I think I'll add a couple more feeders too.  They're the kind that the deer can't eat out of.  Hummingbird feeders will get hung around the first of May.  They're my favorites.

Happy Birthday to my pal in Yuma....Cathi White.  Here she is pictured with her daughter-in-law, son Chad, and grandkids.  The second photo was taken several years ago in the parking lot at the high school. I think we were going to a school play.  The third one I'm going to have to work with on my old scanner, I suspect, as I can't seem to brighten it up as much as I'd like. Course it is an old photo taken with an old camera.  Most likely 1982.

                              Linda Pedersen,Joanne Gilles, Cathi White, me, Sandy Ellis

Sharon Sofie, Linda McGuinness (now Wheat),  me, Mary Gaboury, Cathi White

I made up some yummy oat bran muffins yesterday. Added a banana and some berries.  I forget how easy it is to whip up good-for-you breakfast  breads.  Well, the dryer just turned off so I suppose I'd better yank out those clothes and put them away before I talk myself out of it.

Intend to spend a little time working on my family history memoir today. I think I'll come back to the parts where I want to add more researched info. Too easy to get slowed down.  Here's another photo I came across while in my "friends" picture box collection.  This was taken at Green Acres in Sequim when the Red Hats came by to pick me up.  Colorful, don't you think?

I had to laugh this morning. I had the morning news on as I got out of the shower and there was a story about teens loitering in downtown Sequim and how they piped in classical music to discourage them from staying around.  Seems they liked the music.  Which is funny but what's even funnier is when they were asked what kind of music would chase them off.  The kid said "country!"  ha ha ha



Last Friday of March

Sun is shining and the sky is blue but.... it's been raining off and on and weatherman predicts more wet stuff all week. I think I'll make a library run this morning and see if I can't get some time in on the microfilm.  I started again on my family history project and decided I needed to research my mother's adoptive family more.  Figure there's gotta be a few things in the old Leaders since they were early settlers. (Blanchards & Nisbets)

Cousin Cindy in Gig Harbor sent me a copy of letters her dad and uncle wrote to their mother (my Aunt Velna) in 1942.  Cindy's mom died recently and the letters were in her stash of saved things. Fascinating to see and read them. Bob and Claude would have been 15 and 12. Velna was 37 and living in Spokane while she went to barber school. Bob & Claude were living with my aunt and uncle, George and Lorraine. Bob mentions picking two gallons of blackberries and selling one jar for a dollar. He also mentioned that grandpa had to work from 8 to 4. He would have been a mill worker then but he retired in 1948 at that age of 70.  I wish more people kept old letters. I think they're a goldmine.

Here's a picture of Velna, Marlyn, and Bob.  Most likely taken in late 40's or early 50's on Clay St, PT.

I don't know how I could forget to write this two days ago but....Maddie and Hunter both got straight A's.  Way to go!

Got an email from my cousin in San Diego yesterday. Gail Sutherland.  We've never met but keep hoping  to eventually. She's traveling to Astoria in May with a friend and plans a road trip into Washington.  I'm hoping we'll be able to meet somewhere as we've been writing for several years. She's the daughter of Jim Nisbet, my mother's oldest brother.

Bought my Mega ticket yesterday. Spent $2 and now I'm dreaming of what I'll do. I was able to walk right up to the counter at Grandview Grocery. No lines like you're seeing on tv news.

Here's a picture Anna Padia posted on Facebook yesterday. From the Kitsap Tours website  think. Wonderful photo of PT.  Wonder how I could get a print of it.

I don't have any weekend plans. Will probably work on my family history project. Might set up a new jigsaw puzzle too as Hunter asked me when we're starting a new one. Monday I'm riding with Mary Norton into Port Hadlock.  CZ retirement luncheon committee meeting at Ginger and Paul Jacobsen's.

Well, time to go take my vitamins and from the looks of my hands---find some hand lotion.  My poor skin is so dry and chapped.

Rainy March day

Went to bed early again last night although I was able to get a little reading in this time. Felt a lot better this morning although I'd be happier if the ears weren't ringing.  Odd how my ears have become an issue with my health.  I've always had excellent hearing (still do) and seldom had earaches.  Now, I get earaches at least 4 times a week, if not more. I have a doctor appt next week with a new gal so I guess I'll quiz her about it. I'm already expecting to be advised to see a ENT guy. Did that twice already so doubt I want to walk down that road.

Spent a couple hours this morning playing around with my cassette transfer gadget.  Typed up directions step-by-step so I'm a little more comfortable with the process. Still can't seem to get the sound as good as I want; could be there's no improvement available with that old method  of recording.  I'll continue to transfer my music at any rate.  Will probably keep some of the cassettes as well.  It's hard for me to switch over to new technology. 

I hesitated going to CDs when I already had records and cassettes. Now I have lots of CDs that never get played because I have an Ipod and Pandora Music streaming over my tv set.  Yesterday I took a couple dozen CDs and put them in a disk case in the car.  I don't spend a lot of time in my car  but there are times when the radio just isn't doing it for me.

Now that my book is at the printers I have to decide what new project to begin.  I think I'll resume the memoir writing from the book I bought on ebay by Bob Greene.  That ought to keep me occupied for months.  Plus it will give me an excuse to get back into genealogy.  I don't really need an excuse, though. I had intended signing up as soon as the latest census became available. Google says it's 9 a.m. on April 2.  Gonna have to rearrange my priorities with my budget.  I can always cut down on lotto tickets and we all know that would be a good idea.  (I am buying a Mega for Friday's drawing, however)

Here's a picture my cousin, Marlee, took while on her daily walk in Gig Harbor.

Some mornings the news just seems to be more sickening than others.  Everyday we're told of another gruesome and senseless murder.  What happens to people mentally when they turn evil and do unspeakable things to others?  Something in the brain?  DNA malfunction? Or is it something as simple (or complex) as the Devil?  I know.  Some people would say that's nonsense but then again, how else can you explain the increase we see on bad things happening over and over?  Are humans just basically flawed?  Granted, we've had evil from the beginning of time and nothing has changed..except maybe our communication technology to share the horrible news with the world quickly and graphically.

And if I was to be honest, there are plenty of stories that leave me so angry, my first reaction is: If that was my kid or my friend or my neighbor---I would  find a way to take that animal out.  Yeah, there goes my instinct to want to kill.  I suppose most of us have that instinct deep down somewhere. Some screwballs just have it floating around  closer  to the surface. 

Well, this is getting way too intense.  Think I'll see about those memoirs now.

Allergies again

Felt miserable yesterday, and it lasted all day and night.  I don't know what I'm allergic to but I'm assuming it's something blooming outside. I took what pills I could find and then managed to make myself drowsy. I was sure the bottle said non-drowsy, though,  so maybe I was just tired.  At any rate, it was a very non-productive day.  Better now but both ears (instead of just one) are ringing.  Seems odd that there isn't more data on tinnitis and what causes it and why it can't be fixed.

This is why old people (some old people anyhow) are crabby.  Way too many annoyances picking away at the body.  I went to bed at 8:30 last night and stayed in bed until almost 7 a.m. this morning.  Why, then am I yawning and thinking I need a nap?  There are some days when you can just feel yourself aging right before your eyes.  I think today is one of those.

My finance advisor from Edward Jones called this afternoon. Said there were "new rules" in place from the SEC (or somebody?) and he needed to update his portfolio on me.  Only three questions but the last one was kind of depressing.  Had to do with how many years I would be predicted to keep drawing on my investment program.  I was given choices and one was "for the duration of my lifetime."  That meant he had to fill in 16-20 years.  Good grief!  I seriously doubt I'll see 88 but stranger things have happened.  I could die tomorrow and I'd still be described as a senior citizen living to a fairly ripe old age.   Actually, I'm not all that worried about it. Especially if I have days like yesterday to put up with.   It's always been my theory that God gives us days of feeling like crap so we won't be that upset when the days are ending once and for all.

I gave my book to the printer today.  She was supposed to call me yesterday with a price and didn't. I was already in a bad mood because I didn't feel good so her lack of customer service was grating and I almost took the disk to a guy in Sequim instead.  When I went in to pick it up, she gave me a halfway decent price so I decided to leave it there.  Hopefully, it will be ready April 16.  That's what she predicted so that probably means a few days or a week later.  At any rate, it's out of my hands now and I just have to start advertising.  I'll begin that process in April.  Too tired right now.

Saw a picture of my cousin, Linda, and her husband, Kenny, that her daughter posted on Facebook.

Also got a picture from Jenni that I assume is going to be on the First Federal website since I've seen other employees there when I do my banking.  Here she is in purple.

Man, the rain sure is coming down hard right now. A couple minutes ago it was sunny. Typical spring weather, I guess.  I drove into Sequim to return a movie I borrowed from Mary Norton. We went to lunch and she lent me a 1963 calendar she had so I could scan in the picture for my blog.



I stopped at Penneys on the way home but didn't see any racks of sales at all like they usually have. I left buying nothing. Stopped at Walmart since they were having a grand opening of their new super store. Fire engines out front, clowns inside, and a band was set up to play too.  I didn't have my phone or camera on me so I wasn't able to take a picture but there were plenty of people lining up for photos with a couple of Sea Gals.  Women were putting their babies on the table between them. hee hee

I did play around with my music cassette program that transfers cassette music to my hard drive. I finally figured out how to put individual songs on there but I have to play around with it now to get rid of the poor sound.  I know there's a way you can clean them up.  I'm just thrilled I got this far as I have a lot of good music on my cassettes and now I can get them in a format where they're more easily played.

Well, off to the recliner. Maybe a little nap before the evening news will put me in a better frame of mind.

WHAT IS THAT?!

I don't know if there's a solution to my dilemma.  When I use my zoom feature on my camera, I get this black spot.  It's not there if I take a normal shot.  It is there if I shoot video.  There must be a reason.  I called this camera outfit but all they do is develop pictures.  She said to send it to the manufacturer but it would probably cost me more than the camera is worth. Plus I don't want to be without my camera.

I don't understand the inside workings of cameras but I'm thinking I must have a spec of dirt somewhere in there.  Hope it's not a bug.  I suspect I'm never going to know but I posted it anyway.

I've got a bit of a sinus headache this morning.  Sneezing off and on but it hasn't gotten to the point of miserable yet.  Playing with me mostly. I hope it subsides.  I've been cleaning various corners and shelves a little so perhaps I've stirred up dust.

Ran a few errands earlier this morning. Put my disk in at the printer but as usual, she was too busy to talk.  Said it was her day off and she'd call me tomorrow.  She nonchalently gave me this bid that was much higher than her previous bid.  I'll go elsewhere before I'll put up with that nonsense.

Stopped to mail some pictures at the substation. $1.50 for postage!  I usually pick up a mega or Hit 5 ticket while I'm in there. Usually after I've paid for stamps and packages, I feel a strong need to WIN!

Made a quick stop at the optometrists too as my glasses needed tightening. Then it was off to Albertsons for a bag of groceries and a quick library stop to read the Leader. Bought a book by Hillary Clinton in the book gift shop. Only a dollar and it looked pretty good.  I'm betting she'll run for President in 2016.  I'll vote for her too.

I had intended to use the microfilm machine while there but  both were in use so I'll have to go another day.  Maybe in the early evening instead of the morning.  I got quite a bit accomplished yesterday so I'm taking things a little easier today.  Always happy when I get a closet or shelf cleaned or tidied up.  Now I think I'll go hem a pair of curtains and sort through my sewing notion supplies to see if I can't

thin them down a bit. Or at least get them in some kind of order.

Sure be glad when my book bid is presented and I place my order once and for all.  Hate that period of time where you invest your dough in a project and then hope and pray you make your money back.  Most of the time I'm confident it won't be a problem but you naturally have times of doubt as well.  Read something the other day (probably on Facebook) that read:  You'll never see a hearse with a car rack on top.  (or something like that).  A reminder, anyhow, that you can't take it with you.

Man, it must be spring.  I've got a ton of birds flying outside my window and across the street.



And my Sunday begins....

I woke up around 5 a.m. but I knew that was way too early to be crawling out of the sack.  Went back to sleep for a couple more goofy dreams and at 6:15 (while I still realized it was early) I figured 'what the heck!'  I knew I had chores on the agenda and I was kinda lookin' forward to them.  Sometimes all it takes is to free up one wall of one room and I'm off and running to rearrange the entire house.  Obviously an obsessive-compulsive disorder but it is what it is.

I got the washing machine going, vacuumed and swept a bit, and then sat down to blog and have coffee before I start the next  round. My plan is to move this tall (and very useful) cupboard shelf from the utility porch to the kitchen.

I realized I was not using my storage space to its best advantage.  Way too many closet shelves and other little corners and nooks that I could arrange and tidy up.  That means a minimum of two days' work cleaning out three bedroom closets and one extra large closet in the hallway.

I intend to put the tall shelf here in the kitchen so I can store all my sewing supplies in it along with other odds and ends I'd like closer at hand like dishtowels and VHS tapes and whatever else strikes my fancy.  We moved the puzzle table to the living room so that freed up the long wall in the kitchen for my sewing machine and cardtable.

I'm anxious to get started but I will be taking breaks in between to edit my book and start a new Leader blog.

Mary and Andy brought back money from Costa Rica for the twins. (they both collect foreign currency & coins)  They were interesting to see and feel.  Kind of silky, in parts, like material, and probably about a third the size of our dollars.

Well, washing machine just completed its cycle so I guess I'll throw the clothes in the dryer and pull out my "slider" disks to put under the shelf for moving easily.  I do love those furniture glides.  First, though, I have to pick up a mess.  See that little red basket in the top picture on the washing machine?  Well, the spin cycle is terrible and usually rocks the house.  It dumped that basket over full of batteries and what a racket it made.

Oh...and here's a cool picture I got of Pedro & Susie Bishop Bara.  They sure look young and healthy. They must be doing something right.



New steps

The whole gang went to Hunger Games last night. Mary, Andy, Jen, Wayne, Hunter, Maddie, and Catie. I stayed home with the dog.  The movie house was full of "tweeners". Maddie left her family group to sit with friends.  They all said the movie was good.  Makes me wish even more that I could write a best selling novel and have it turned into a movie.  One way or another, I wanna' be rich.  I meant to buy Mega tickets a couple days ago but when I got home, I realized the clerk had sold me Lotto tickets instead.  I'll win on those tonight perhaps.  Or not.

Mary sat down and helped me with various computer things I was hung up on.  Think we figured out how to transfer my music cassette music to my hard drive so I can transfer to Itunes and then burn disks from there. Still have some homework to do on the settings but I think it's similar to the turntable program where I moved my LP albums to my hard drive.  All in good time.

I was also having problems moving music on Itunes over to my Ipod shuffle.  Kept blocking me and I'd never experienced that before. Once Mary followed a prompt to erase the music and sync with another library, we found the Shuffle was "too outdated" to operate with this newer laptop.  Had the same problem with my old printer and scanner.  I use my old computer (so glad I kept it) to do the scanning when I don't like the output the new scanner has given me.

Anyhow, my old music library was still on my old computer so I was able to plug my shuffle in there and put about 98 songs on it.  I also have an Ipod Touch which I was reminded is newer and better when listening to music on the go.  Mary had to help me with the settings on that toy as well.

It's 9 a.m. Andy is still in bed so I talked Mary into sitting down with me at the computer to help me on my "how do I do this? list."  Amazing how easily she can work out the bugs.  She's thinking of getting a laptop just like mine.

Well, think I'll post more a little later.  Want to add before and after pictures of my steps.  Neighbors next door are in the process of moving today.

4:30 pm:  The sun was out shining all day but it was still kinda cold.  Andy, Wayne, and Hunter worked on making me a set of steps for the side of the porch in back.  They did an awesome job too!
Here's some before and along the way and after shots....

                                                     The "before" picture of my steps.

                                                          How should we do this?

                                               Hey!  I even got a handrail now!  I promise I won't fall.

                                                              Jenni and Sammy supervising

                                                           Those are lookin' good

                                                   Handy Andy, the carpenter man!

                                        Catie taking my brown loveseat for her new apartment.

                                            Hunter is determined to finish that 1000-pc puzzle today.

                                                   And here it is! Now we can start a new one.

Company Comin'

Having overnight guests occasionally is a good thing. Makes you put a little more effort into cleaning up nooks and crannies you'd normally ignore.  I swept, mopped, vacuumed, put on fresh sheets, clean towels, straightened up, put away clutter, and even tidied up the yard.  Funny thing is, I didn't really need to do any of it. Andy and Mary couldn't care less.  But obviously, I do.

Hunter even pulled out the weedeater to cut the grass around the gate so it would open easier.  He did it on his own too.  Maddie swept off the front porch and picked up dog poo.

I picked up a hard copy of my book to proof, and as usual, found several errors to fix.  Mostly quotation marks and spacing things you can't always see on a computer screen.  The printer was more social this time. She showed me a sample of a book using regular binding instead of coil.  If the price is decent, I might choose that. Sure looks nice.  Am going to sell it for $12 with $3 tacked on for mailing.  I stopped at the substation to weigh the book in an envelope to see what it would cost. Even with book rate, it was $2.50 each.  And then there's the cost of buying those dang manila envelopes.  Oh well, you gotta spend money to make money, they say. 

This is the scary part of marketing.  The more I order, the cheaper the price but....... what if I don't sell them?  Arggghhh!!!  One day I'm feeling good about the book and confident it will be well received. The next day, my insecurity kicks in and I wonder if I'm looking through rose-colored glasses.  I think that's partly because you get too close to the material.  At any rate, I've spent over a month working on this project so it's do or die.  Once I get my investment costs back, the sales will go to the alumni scholarship fund.  Yeah, I know. I'm repeating myself.  Be prepared. My blogs are going to be my advertising tool as I go along.  The alumni newsletter is coming out shortly and my ad will be in there as well.

Picked up my new glasses yesterday.  Maddie noticed immediately but Hunter didn't.  They're very similar to my old glasses. Here's my small frames (which the kids say I look the best in but they give me eye strain), then my old frames and last...my new ones.
Yeah, my blog subjects are getting lamer every day!

Kinda scary to see your face up close sometimes.  I do believe my age is showing.  Ha ha

On the way home, I kept noticing how beautiful the mountains looked. Decided to pull over and take some shots.

Notice on the 1st &4th picture...that little black dot on the upper left?  I get that everytime I zoom in.

Not sure how to get rid of it either (or if we have a camera shop in this town)  I've cleaned the lens and can't see anything but obviously, something is hidden in there.  Aggravates me as I take a lot of photos.

Well, off to take my vitamins now and hunt for my hummingbird feeders. I wonder if it's too early to hang them outside.  Have to google that.

Sunny day--YEA!

Pandora Radio Station is streaming in over my TV and Chuck Berry is rockin' me out!  Decided he needed to be on my blog this morning, as well, so I found him on YouTube.  Love YouTube.  Love Pandora more!

Threw on the steam to finish my book yesterday.  Well, finished enough anyhow.  The disk is at the printer  so I can get one hard copy to proof--yet again.  I wasn't entirely thrilled with their customer service yesterday so I'm seriously thinking of taking my business elsewhere. She's never had a real good bedside manner but when I'm getting ready to pull out my checkbook, I expect to be given the time of day!  I did pursue another rate quote because as Tommy Lee Jones said in Lonesome Dove..."there's no excuse for bad behavior!"

Merle Haggard is playing now--'I don't hang my hat on the same nail too long'.  Now, THAT'S a country song!

Just finished a breakfast of oatmeal, toast, OJ, and coffee.  Noticed as I was gathering my utensils and dishes while unloading the dish strainer that I had to put more than one piece of silverware back in the sink for rewashing.  The twins occasionally find a dish or pan I've stored away dirty too. They always remark on how gross that is.     "Yeah," I tell them.  "Old people can't see that good so you might as well get used to it."  And believe me.  They always look closely now at everything.

I remember back in 1982 when I was visiting my aunt Velna up in Bellingham.  She was living in this senior apartment house and I went to get a glass out of the cupboard.  All her glasses were mason jars which I didn't particularly want to drink out of.  Aunt Velna never ever forgot the depression and she lived her life around the memories of being poor.  She felt mason jars from the Goodwill was better than spending money on drinking glasses.  I saw they were kind of dirty and I mentioned that. (I was low on tact in my younger days)  Anyhow, she scolded me for not  going to the sink to wash it. And for criticizing her in the first place.  I was ashamed of myself so her scolding did the trick. I never forgot it. Apparently, God is just paying me back now.

I got lost in Port Angeles yesterday. Well, not lost exactly. Just couldn't find where I needed to be. My afternoon was spent running here and there. Went to the printers, Walgreens, and back home. Took Maddie to her house to get softball equipment and then over to her field to play. Hunter and I proceeded on to Safeway because I didn't have "any good stuff in the house" and he intended to help me shop.  We returned home and after a quick bowl of soup, I went to pick up Maddie and take her to this church on the hill her friend wanted her to come to for youth activities.

Neither of us had looked that closely at the map so I drove in circles trying to find the place.  Maddie has a bad habit of pulling a fresh sheet of paper out of my printer and writing a note or two on it--and then leaving it on my desk or kitchen counter.  Going to have to discuss that with her.  I have Velna genes in me and that's wasteful.  I finally flagged down a couple teenagers in the general area and they had me follow them to the church. Huge place!  Maddie didn't want to go in alone so I accompanied her in only to find it was in the other building.  I drove over there and had to go in a second time.

Sitting here watching the birds fly in wondering where their feeder is.  Think I'll hang it back out there for today and then move it to the backyard.  The deer continue to stop and see what's cookin' on their trek around the neighborhood.

It was pretty nippy out yesterday. My morning porch looked like this.

It stayed cold all day too.  I spent a little bit of time in the sewing room and sewed a few squares together for a wall hanging.  The red hearts were done with paper piecing and I think I'm going to try applique that way again as I liked it.

I'm going to have to spend a little bit more time and energy on fixing supper.  Too many times my meals are boring with a capital B.  I fixed Chinese food a couple nights ago (out of cans) and it was as bland and tasteless as anything I've ever eaten.  Not wanting to toss out the leftovers, I threw them in a pan of chicken broth to make soup for last night.  Boring again.  Time to haul out the cookbooks and start reading.  Way too easy to get lazy about preparing meals when you're only cooking for yourself.  I probably should concentrate on finding a boyfriend.  I always cook better when I'm cooking for somebody else.  Well, not always, but at least I try a little harder.

Yesterday (or maybe it was the day before that) was a 20-year anniversary for me.  No smoking! And Happy Belated Birthday yesterday to my pal, Susie Bishop Bara.

Granddaughter Catie is coming tomorrow with Mary and Andy.  At some point this weekend, the whole gang is going to Hunger Games at the movie house.  Maddie has been so excited about it.  I read the book (it's good) but  I think I'll pass on sitting in a theatre.  Just too uncomfortable the last couple of times and I'm switching my movie viewing over to rented disks or Netflix.

I've  been experimenting with various "homemade" inserts in my shoe to try and alleviate this dang pain that I've been putting up with since last July.  I don't want to jinx myself but I'm hoping the combination of pads I'm using now is helping. I still have a problem but it doesn't get real bad until the end of the day or if I've been on my feet quite a bit.  I'll just have to deal with it, I guess.  Same with the earaches and tinnitis.  If I can bypass strokes, heart attacks, alzheimers, and cancer, I'll be happy. Well, as happy as you can be when your body feels like hell!  Ha!

Watched 'Dancing with the Stars' last night.  Another show I have to tape and watch later so I can FF through the ads and fluff.  I must say--the dancers were pretty darn good for first time out.

Gotta vacuum the whole house this morning. My back hurts just thinking about it. But...company's comin' and you gotta' make an effort.  Think I'll run a mop over the kitchen floor too.  Optometrist office just rang and said my glasses are ready for pick up.  I opted for the bigger frames. The small ones (while I probably looked better in them) made my eyes strain.  Maybe I'll have the girls down there take before and after pictures of me.

Last night I started browsing through my book again (Where are they buried and how did they die?)

Found this on Sigmund Freud:  His book 'The  Interpretation of Dreams' was a masterpiece of dream analysis, autobiography, mind theory, and history.  He said mental experiences and entities, like physical ones, are part of nature, and there are no mere accidents in mental procedures. The most nonsensical notion, the most casual slip of the tongue, the most fantastic dream, must have a meaning and can be used to demystify our often incomprehensible thoughts and actions.

In 1923 he was diagnosed with cancer of the jaw, but he continued to smoke heavily, insisting it was the tobacco that gave him his creativity and great capacity to work. By 1938, he had undergone 31 operations to remove tumors and had been fit over and over again with extensive prosthesis to replace half his mouth. The Nazies invaded Austria and the dying Freud fled to London leaving behind all his possessions. By the next summer, he was 83 and couldn't eat. He was surrounded by a mosquito net to keep the flies from his open wounds. He had his doctor inject him with two lethal doses of morphine. His ashes are interred in a Greek vase in London.  Interesting, huh?

Well, off to the  household chores. Think I'll stop and buy a Mega ticket when I pick up my glasses.

I could use $290 million.







Should I be worried? Maybe.

I posted over 50 pictures on Facebook yesterday and struggled to come up with the names. Thank you Mary!  Granted I was tired but still....I discovered this morning that I identified someone I KNOW VERY WELL with a previous name she had; not the one she carries now and that I'm very aware she carries now.  I've since fixed Graham to Spear BUT  it is worrisome to me that my brain cells are slowly dying.  I know most everyone loses memory with age and I've accepted that but every now and then I'm reminded up close and personal that it's happening to me. Sigh....

Opened up my curtains this morning (rain again!) but I was dismayed to see this....

I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised. It did happen last year when I put the seeds out front but I thought they had been attracted to the black sunflower seeds, not these wild bird yellow seeds.  Dang! And I was so enjoying watching the birds feed as I sat at my computer.  I will hang the hummingbird feeders here, however.  I wonder how long before I can do that.  I love to see the hummingbirds.

I'll move the feeders this afternoon back to where I had them in the back yard.  Since I've decided to move my sewing stuff back to the kitchen next week, I can always observe them as I'm seated there by the sliding glass door.

Just grabbed some canned goods out of the pantry to make Chinese food for dinner tonight. Haven't had that in ages.  Nothing fancy. Just canned chop suey, canned water chestnuts, and canned vegetables.  Will probably fry up some beef chunks and make a dab of rice as well.  Ought to be able to eat on that for three days.

The rain continues to fall but it is spring time and I'll take the wet stuff over the white flakes. And I'm definitely happy we don't contend with tornadoes and floods the way other parts of the country do.  I'll have to head out in a couple of hours, rain or not.  Need to pick up all the reprints of the luncheon yesterday so I can mail them off to Alyce Hansen who likes to send copies to everyone. I also have an optometrist appt to get a prescription for new glasses.   I may wait to get the frames as the exam alone is costing me $71.  And that's not even considered a "real" exam. It's just to get the numbers needed.  I'm wondering about this whole routine.  I thought you could get new frames by just using the lens already in your glasses. I'll have to check on that.  $71 isn't chicken feed!

Well, I'd best get moving.  The  one icky job I have today is to clean the two fish bowls. The goldfish I've had in the past always died before too long but these bettas just keep going and going.  Whenever I have a hard time seeing them in the large gallon jars I keep them in, I figure it's time to change the water.  Has to be stressful for them but they always manage to survive.



at the luncheon

Traveled into Port Townsend this morning for the annual CZ/PTPC retirement luncheon at Hwy 20 Roadhouse.  Bonus was that I won a prize on the tickets they drew.  And a perfect prize for me too. 30 handmade all occasion cards. I love sending cards.

I posted 50+ pictures on my Facebook page that I think are "public" so anybody can look at them. Here are just a few....

                                               Cindy Kobetich & Mary Norton

                                                       Cathy & Larry Louck

                                                       Jim Dodd & Paul Nollette

                                                           Carol & Pat Plaster

                                         Chuck Robinson & Phyllis Weisenburger

                                                         Dean Kobetich & Terry Rohring

                                  Michelle Plattner, Kate Spear, Linda Pedersen, Yvonne Starkey

                                                    Ann Marie & Harry Fountain

                                                                  me  & Anne Morrison