ACTUALLY I HAVE BEEN BUSY

 Being busy isn't usual in my household.  But there have been things planned and slowly being implemented.

Once again we are switching Monte's room...I type so easily.  And I am heading ahead with the house purge.  Our next tackle is the laundry room then the deck.  I have made this pretty simple, at least in my head.  If there isn't a logical place to put something it gets tossed, either into the garbage or a garbage bag for the diabetes peeps to pick up. Simple right?  Well I have tried this before and it never is a straight shot into two spots!

I have decided to hire a couple guys with a truck to haul junk and help move huge awkward stuff.  Monte can only do so much.  Other than large ticket items, I shan't be trying market place.  Deciding to actually use market place is a huge deterrent to getting down and getting dirty.  I always end up left with half my stuff and hating people.  Not worth the five bucks I might end up with after buying whatever it is for 250 bucks two years ago.  Not worth it at all.

Well now I can talk about something I haven't been able to in case April read this.  Her bachelorette shindig is happening as I speak.  Sixteen girls started the planning almost a year ago.  I purchased the decor and that is the sole extent of my involvement.  I chose not to go.  I am still recovering from the retreat.  Actually I am fine, it's my ears that are recovering.

  All kinds of crazy things are happening after much planning!  I am privy to the chat that all the girls are on and pictures are being put on it already.  April is just beaming!!!!  And lots of music and dancing and blindfold pinning the *ahem on the handsome  giant picture of a naked dude, drunk yoga and I do believe last nights gastric adventure was a massive involved charcuterie!!!  One picture was girls in a semi circle on chairs and couch...it was April and her four cousins!  All laughing and happy.

The Bach is in an amazing high end seven bed seven bath mansion on the island.  Aryn was bringing April.  Monte and I drove the hour and half to a fantastic, quite famous, British pub on their way to surprise April.  And she was surprised!!!!  It was so awesome to see her before her big weekend.  We had a wonderful couple of hours in that amazing pub.  The food, the decor, the location..all beautiful and worth the trip to get there.  And it was packed.  Monte and I got there first and got our names in and it was still over a half hour wait.  The only negative were the seats.  Grossly uncomfortable.  I had an oyster hot pot...delicious.

When I get myself collected later I will load some pics onto lappy and put them in the next post.  And probably some pics of the shenanigans going on at the moment!!!!

I now need to get my giant stinky dog up (he sleeps with me now on my rather small twin bed, fortunately for him I only use the top half of the bed as I sit back so there is room) and get him outside for morning ablutions.  Have a good between post and I will try to post sooner with pics.  TFL and TTYL

HOKEY DINAH!!!!

 Oh Lordy be!!!  Have you ever had a chat on messenger that involves over fourteen thirty somethings getting ready for a huge bachelorette party?  It is borderline crazy and astounding!!!

I have a generally very unbusy phone.  Once in a blue moon there is a non-spam phone call and even less are dings for texts.  There may be other stuff but the rest is silent.

But my fb messenger is going nuts.  We are getting closer to the date of the party and the messages are getting more frantic and fine tuned.  Eithne, bless her, kind of took over the overseer job and created a fantastic spreadsheet people could add to and somehow, in spite of having a two yr old and a not well husband and a full time job, keeps track of it all.  Crazy!!!!  All I can say, because April occasionally reads my blog, is they are going to have an absolute blast!  The things they have planned are stuff I have never heard of!!!  Just since I started typing this there have been five dings on messenger!!!  I love it!!  Some of it is soooo funny!!!

The last three days have been laundry days.  Holy Toledo!!!  One nice thing about having enough clothes to clothe every bum in Port (and that is saying something!!), not to mention, other than unmentionables, I wear the same thing for a week,  I rarely have to do laundry. 

 Have you ever been to the assisted living senior homes?  At meal times they have these massive giant baby type bibs they velcro around their necks. They hang down to the waist.  The minute I saw those suckers I knew I had to have them.  What a fantastic way to keep the front of your shirts clean, something I have never been able to do.  I happened to go to old people's handy aids section on an Asian website and voila! there they were!  And boy do they work!!!  My only complaint is the velcro at the back of the neck.  Jeez Louise...that stuff rips hair out of your head better than a set of clippers.  But the front of my shirts have never been so clean!

But now I have four massive loads of clothes, towels, duvets,  bibs and rugs and mats to wash.  And to top it off my laundry room is disgraceful.  It is so loaded with stuff I could throw up.  A great deal of it is Monte's. 

 I was amalgamating two of his boxes into one,   rapidly transferring all the stuff in one to the other.  I grabbed something soft, stopped and looked at it as I hauled it out of the box.  It was one of Smooch's discarded snake skins.  EEEEWWWWWW!!!  I love her but I do not want to handle her skin.  Creepy to the power of infinity.  (shovel list)

So there you go folks...another mundane post.  I need to start going out so crap can happen and I am either in the middle of it or at the very least, seeing it!  I did go to Nanaimo last week with Monte.  He and I had a fabulous time but for reasons I can't go into I had to come straight home.  For some of you the term sugar cane will explain a lot.  Sigh.

So that's it!  I will go out in the next day or two and hopefully see something worth telling you all about.  If nothing else I shall take some pics.  I don't have any good ones today to put here.  Have a good few days...TFL and TTYL 

 

REALLY LONG TIMES BETWEEN POSTS MEANS NOTHING HAS HAPPENED...NOTHING

 I am dead serious.  Nothing has happened.  It is one thirty in the night, I can't sleep, I am hungry, I am drinking an awesome double brew sugar free vanilla coffee from Mcd's that Monte brought back for me.  I am not sleepy yet (coffee doesn't affect me at all).  I have been thinking about anything whatsoever to write about and I can't think of nuttin'!.

One thing we did was finally, after months of talking about it we made Italian Wedding Soup.  It was very easy, time consuming, but easy.  I worked on the broth all day and it was delicious.  I put the ingredients into a bowl with the hamburger and made poor Ange mix it. Then using a melon baller she made tiny meatballs.  Meanwhile I had ordered the proper teeny pasta from Amazon CANADA, got out the big bag of spinach and voila! soup!!!  It was absolutely delicious but I can see it's really only as good as the broth ends up.

I have big fat chubalub arms, the kind one hides with long sleeves (like Oprah does...look next time you see her).  There is no way I can hide mine.  I hate long sleeves.  I can't function or think with long sleeves on.

The reason I mention this is I am really in need of getting an accurate blood pressure reading.  I can't use just any machine.  My giant upper arms preclude that.  I need the big boy cuffs that only doctors have.  I even asked at Life Labs the last time I was in there and they don't have them.  The regular ones add like twenty points to my numbers and severely cut the blood to my hands off.  And it super hurts.  The wrist ones are garbage.  They are totally unreliable.

Last time I saw the doctor, about last summer time, I found out my blood pressure had snuck up to one fifty over something.  Dammit!!! So she prescribed a weird drug that the tele dr. was upset I was taking.  I am already on three other ones to get my pressure down to one twenty over something. He said it would dehydrate me...no matter how much I drink. 

About a month after starting that pill, and I am not sure it has anything to do with this, I developed tinnitus in my left ear.  And it is loud!  And it is driving me crazy.  And my head pumps. I don't think it is caused by high pressure...it would be in both ears then I figure but I would like to get a doctor that knows what he/she is doing to get this under control.  But alas!  This is Canada.  That won't be happening anytime soon.  So if I have a stroke you will know why.

I haven't been eating really properly for the last while.  I was looking at the calendar and suddenly realized we are in the middle of March.  Crapadoodle!!!!  I need and planned to lose fifty pounds before the wedding May 24th!  Hokey Dinah!!!  I better get on it!!!  Twenty five pounds a month.  Hmmmmm....that is a lot of not eating.  I think I am too old and fat to shoot for that much.  Plus every pound you lose at my age adds another layer of crepey skin!!!

  Not that I really care.  I like, embrace, being older.  Some things have been a surprise though.  I don't age in my head.  Go figure. And I am not as sure on my feet, my voice won't let me sing anymore, my taste has changed drastically (probably because of all the meds I take...shovel list), I get very sleepy in the day but am wide awake at night, I packed my house to move, mostly by myself, seven years ago.  I could not do that now without a lot of sitting sessions. Things like that.  But overall I enjoy being older.  It is sure easier, socially, than when I was in my younger years.  I know EVERYTHING now and it makes convo with people a lot easier.  Lol!!!!

Well enough rambling.  Another goofy post.  My apologies.  Til next time...TFL & TTYL

'Age is an issue of mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.'  Mark Twain

this quote could be my life mantra!!!

THIS IS A BORING ONE...SORRY...AT LEAST IT AIN'T ABOUT TRUMP!!!

 Last night something extremely unimportant happened that got me thinking.  In my memory, which just happens to be super good still, lol, that something has happened only three times in my current memory.

I made a seafood chowder.  There are a million ways to make it and I have done quite a few times in my life.  But last night was different.  Most my chowders, don't panic I am not going to go into detail about how I make it, I did some things a little differently.  And when it was complete I grabbed a spoon for the final test taste.  And it stopped me dead in my tracks.  It was magnificent!!!  Like I mean noticeably crazy delicious.  Not normal delicious but insanely abnormally delicious.  I couldn't believe my tastebuds.

And later I got thinking about that moment of complete surprise.  And it has happened only two other times that I can remember.  One was in Parksville at a Vietnamese restaurant.  I had ordered pho of course and the first bite of the broth shocked me...and saddened me.  I knew I would never ever be able to duplicate that magical flavour in a million years of trying.  I have eaten a lot of pho in my time but that one was utterly amazing.

  And the other time was years ago in Bamfield. I had made my signature (hahaha) salmon burgers.  I had made them lots of times and I thought I had done exactly the same thing again.  But when I took that first bite I again stopped in dead chew!  It was beyond amazing and to this day I have no idea why it was different.  I just know it was.  It reminds me of taking pictures and when you are dumping them onto the computer, every now and then a certain picture will astound you, unexpectedly.  I love it!!!

Well now I am hungry.  I just reread the above...I wrote it yesterday.  So I am signing off and I am going to go heat up a cheesy smokie and stick it on a fork and gingerly eat it.  TFL and TTYL

A FEW DAYS AGO MONTE ORDERED A TAKEOUT MEAL FROM SMITTY'S.  PART OF THE ORDER WAS MINI DONUTS.  NOW JUDGING BY THE PICTURE YOU MIGHT THINK THEY ARE CHOCOLATE.  NO. THEY ARE NOT.  THEY ARE BURNT.  CAN YOU IMAGINE A CHEF PACKING UP THE DINNER AND ACTUALLY INCLUDING THESE?

DINNER FAIL

 Well dinner tonite was a giant fail.  It cost a lot and it was a ton of pick ass work.  I am not happy.

In the night I was awake and got thinking about making spaghetti but using ground sausage instead of ground beef.  Well, like thoughts in the night are want to do they grew into what ended up being a monster, a big fat miserable fail monster.

Now in my defence, I have never used ground sausage, or spiced ground pork.  I have a lot of tail end veggies in the fridge so I can add those.  Shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, celery, mushrooms, onion, half rotten giant tomatoes (lots left of them after you cut the mouldy parts out).  And brilliant idea of all ideas, apples.  Some of that I did have to buy.

So I fired up my lappy and made a delivery list on my Walmart site.  I decided seven apples would probably do it.  I added a container of cherry tomatoes for good measure. Plus why not try out a can or two of diced and spiced tomato for a change. Chose a nine o'clock  am delivery.  Gave me time to get all those things ready and possibly in the crock pot.

So the groceries arrived right on time.  I gathered all my fridge stuff and organized the grocery stuff.  I chopped, and whizzed in my chopper, and peeled and diced, opened cans, halved the mushrooms...got all that started.  Popped two pounds of ground spiced pork into a frying pan to get browned before adding to the veg.  I got all that prepped, cooking and first seasoning on the go....in a big pot on the stove...way too much for the crock pot.  Now it was time to get the apples ready.  Seven of them.  Cosmic crisps.

I have one of those segment making corer thingies.  So the first thing I did was core and segment seven apples.  Next I cut each segment into three chunks and threw them into the now simmering pot.  I added the final seasonings, brown sugar, bovril, fresh chopped basil and balsamic vinegar.  Precook test taste was really good.  

So the obligatory hours later it was dinner time.  I heated up the konjak noodles (shitty but almost zero carbs) and we dished up.  It was awful.  The spaghetti sauce was not too bad but the apples just ruined it.  They were simply lumps of tasteless mush and skin.  No flavour left in them at all.  And not only that it made the sauce watery.  Dammit!!!!

There was only one thing I could do.  Get the apple out of the spaghetti and tossed in the garbage and cook the sauce down some.  

Math time.  Seven apples cut into eight wedges, each wedge cut into three.  Seven times eight time three...that is a freaking 168 pieces of apple in a six quart casserole dish.  I got one of those squeezy things, tongs, and picked every damned one of those loser apple pieces out.  Every single one.  Now I decide..do I keep the sauce and freeze it or just toss it now instead of later. 

This was a good reminder to not dream up ideas in the middle of the night.  Several years ago I had to stop myself from watching info commercials at two in the am.  I bought five hundred bucks worth of invection elements.  Never opened the boxes and ended up giving them to someone that could actually use them.  That part felt good.  The five hundred buck loss not so much.

A quick note about Monte.  Life with him can be a rollercoaster but I gotta say..he is amazing right now.  Of course he still has his autistic quirks but he is calm and funny and busy.  He seems to be back visiting his friends and soon he will be able to get out hiking with Floppy again.  He is the most interesting person.  Right now he is reading The Art of War to me and it sparks some interesting convos.

That is it for today.  It isn't even three am yet.  I gotta stop waking up in the night.  By three pm I am wiped out.  It's taco Tuesday today.  I must not be sleepy beyond control in the afternoon, got dinner to make!!!  TFL and TTYL

AFTER PICKING OUT ALL THAT APPLE AND PUTTING THE WHOLE THING OUTSIDE (IT WOULDN'T FIT IN THE FRIDGE) I WAS HUNGRY.  THIS IS MY ACTUAL SUPPER I ATE

DEAPPLED SPAGHETTI SAUCE

168 PIECES OF APPLE

THRIFT STORE ANGST

 I have issues with thrift stores.  In Kamloops my mom was being moved from a nice little apartment in a senior establishment to another one...a more appointed, less self sufficient apartment.  As such my two siblings and myself and Spod cleared out her place, made a few boxes to go to her next place and lots of boxes to go to a thrift store.  All of the stuff we didn't trash was deemed good stuff.  And there it was. 

 I didn't realize that thrift stores are NOT grateful to get stuff.  I didn't realize that thrift stores mistakenly dubbed our stuff as 'garage sale rejects'.  Now let me make it clear I am not talking about the diabetes people.  They are awesome.  Not only do they pick up the stuff, but they take everything.

We took that stuff to at least two very unwelcoming thrift places and were rejected right out of them.  We then drove straight to the dump and threw it all out along with what we had deemed trash when we cleared her place out.

  I did keep a box of dead Bob's stuff for his kids.  He did a lot of writing and drawing and letter writing.  I kept very personal things like his wallet and pictures.  I let his kids, who lived in the states and the Kooteneys, know I had a box of his stuff.  I never heard from them so Monte, Spod and I took it up a logging road here and burnt it all.

We live in what is basically a very poor town.  Work is hard to find.  There are an extraordinary amount of fellow citizens on disability.  As such we have a number of thrift stores...the usual...Sally Ann, Hospital thrift, Bread of Life etc...  Thank goodness we don't have a very overpriced  Value Village.

Anyway, in Ange's and my endeavour to purge this house, we made ten boxes of food.  Good stuff.  Canned soups, cereals, pastas, giant tin of ground coffee, a massive jar of mayonnaise, cake mixes, bisquick, etc...all date checked.  Monte hauled it all out to the van and off he went.  I must admit I didn't have the best feelings as he disappeared down the street.  

About fifteen min. later he phones me.  They won't take it unless we double check the expiry dates.  It is done he says.  Well they wanted it done again.

Now I don't like to think this but here is a giant young man, torn raggedy sweater, many chains around his neck, knife hanging off his belt and a fedora type black hat on his head who just maybe didn't present your average household donator.. Very cute for a musician, scary for fat old Sally Ann worker.  According to Monte she was very rude and unfriendly.  "Get out of there!" I immediately said.

So the next day Monte made the executive decision to try the Bread of Life.  They aren't actually a formal thrift store.  They are more of a food bank, feed the real down and outers, type of place.  They welcomed him with open arms and smiles and joy.  He told them that they had all been double checked for dates and he was believed.  What a difference!  That is the place we shall be dealing with from now on!!

We had an earthquake!!!  I was hiding out in my bedroom while the housekeeper polished up my house.  I heard a rattling, turned off my tv and sure enough, my blinds were rattling.  Then stopped.  I bet that was an earthquake I said to myself.

Two minutes later my phone rings and it was April.  It was so bad there that she had to catch a little dog going nuts and go stand in the outside door doorway.  A few minutes later Aryn called.  She and Bradley were under the kitchen table.  Holy Cow!!!!!  I think their third floor cement place would be okay, but April's?  Not so much.  That decrepit old piece of crap is either going to fall apart from something or burn to the ground.  April was worried the roof would cave in.  Anyway it was exciting!

Well today's task is to fill two giant garbage bags of stuff for the diabetes truck to pick up.  My bag is going to be full of shoes and closet clothes.  I am going to make room in my roomy but stuffed closet.  All my ugly sweaters, long sleeved stuff, goofy idea outfits I have never, and never will wear,  fancy clothes that I will never get to ever wear again...no cruising in my future, shirts with rude sayings that offend me now that I am out of my ribald years and entered my respectable old age years.  Sad but true.

I made my very 'last in my life' shirt purchases last week. Theyarrived yesterday.  I shall get old and die before they are worn out.  I have worn all my current shirts since our house burnt down in March 2003.  That is 22 years.  If I live another 22 years I would be 95.  No thank you. Being a Queenager is tough enough.  I wouldn't mind 82 but 95 is pushing it.  Getting old is too slow and painful.  But worst of all is you have to constantly ask for help and be a burden on people.  Oh I know there are those few old people out there that are like the freaking energizer bunny, but most of us are NOT that!!!  By 82 I will be ready to surrender and go bug Bill out there somewhere.

Jeez!!!  How did we get from thrift stores to dying?  This sort of thing kind of happens when you get older and that rainbow bridge isn't a distant thought anymore.  Hahaha!!!!!

Thats it for today.  I hope you are all happy out there.  You sure do me a lot of good!  I thank you for letting me use you all as a cathartic dumping ground!  I love you all and come visit me anytime at all.  TFL and TTYL  

THROWBACK POST DEC. 30 2010 (ONE TIME ONLY)

Oh Lord, Give Me StrengthWe have dogs. A big one and a little one. I am not a dog person but even I know that you don't feed dogs people food. All sorts of awful things happen when you feed them people food. They get sick. They get runny diarrhoea. They become fixated on food and lose their desire to be normal dogs. They die. All sorts of awful things can happen.

This knowledge makes no difference whatsoever to Bill. For years and years, through several dogs, Bill has been told, nagged, yelled at, lectured and beseeched to not feed the dogs people food. But in spite of obvious consequences, he seems to be totally unable to exercise self-discipline and refrain from tossing inappropriate tidbits to them. On one famous (in the immediate family anyway) occasion a few years ago, he fed one of our dogs twelve chocolate cupcakes. When I found out, fairly soon after the feast, I tied the dog up on our deck as per the normal routine and with payback purpose in mind, I moved a lot of lumber, tools and bricks in to the same corner as the dog. By the time that poor dog was through, there wasn't much of the building supplies that wasn't coated in a fine layer of excrement. And, because of what was under the deck, it couldn't be simply hosed off. Bill had to carry every piece down to the back and hose it off there. And our poor dog recently died from kidney failure. Think there is a connection? Now, no matter what Bill has done or not done, any episode of poo in our house is his responsibility. He has to clean messes up off the floor, he has to pick up poo outside, he has to clean our little hairy dog if poo sticks to her.

Yesterday morning both dogs were put out to do their morning ablutions. Molly, the little hairy one, stayed out way way longer than her normal routine. Finally I called her in. As she came up the sidewalk she would stop every few steps, hunch up then drag her butt a ways on the ground. She would then walk a few more steps, stop, hunch up and drag her butt. She finally arrived at the door and upon inspection there was the evidence that she had been eating something she shouldn't have. Nicely glued all over her ass was....well....you can guess. I hollered for Bill. Bill didn't come. So I scooped her up and holding her at arms length I went in search of him. I found him in the bathroom, stark nekkid and about to get into the shower. I simply handed the dog over to a surprised Bill and exited the bathroom. No words were necessary. After a few minutes I heard Bill go into the kitchen and back into the bathroom. I was busy so I didn't pay much attention.

After some time I was kind of wondering what was happening in there, I opened the door and peeked in. No Bill. No Molly. What??? So I stepped into the bathroom, gingerly pulled the shower curtain aside a little and OH MY GOD!! There was Bill, facing the shower, holding Molly, ass side up under a pounding stream of hot water. He would swish her this way. Then he would swish her that way. Then he would kind of bounce her up and down. She looked positively terrified. I quickly left the bathroom, shaking my head.

I retreated to the kitchen and proceeded to do the dishes. After a few minutes i happened to glance down the hall just as the bathroom door opened and a very wet dog was fired out into the hallway, door shutting quickly behind her. For one stunned moment she just stood there blinking, Then suddenly she shook herself vigorously, hunched her back, then plopped her ass on the floor and started to drag her ass, again. Behind her was a little brown trail. I dashed over, scooped her up, flipped her upside down and, yes, there was the evidence. All the shower did was make it mushier and messier. Jeez!!! I also noticed that a lot of hair had been hacked off her back end. I grabbed her towel and wrapped her up and went back into the bathroom. And, yes, sitting right there on the counter were my good kitchen scissors, the ones we use for opening food bags, cutting green onions, snipping beans etc... And they were covered. One more item for the dog bag.

After he was dressed, Bill took her to Doggie Sudz and had her washed. It would just be a whole lot easier for dog and all to not feed her people food.

 

SIX MONTHS!!!!

 I told April that I had finally managed to talk to a tele doctor.  And I got six months!!!  She responds by 'Yaaayyy!   Wait!!!  Six months of pills or six months to live!!??'  Hahahaha!!!!

My wonderful sister told me to try Tia again but this time ask for a specific doctor she had used, whom I shan't name publicly here, although I am very happy with him.

And it was successful!  All he did was read the list of pills out loud, I confirmed and he said okay I will give you three months with one refill!!!!  And before you could say 'Bob's your uncle (or in our case both dead and step father Bob)' the prescription was in my email inbox.  I couldn't quite believe it! Thank you Kathy!!!!!!

What I liked most was he didn't show any interest in anything going on physically with me.  No questions, no suggestions or worries, no prodding and getting nosey.  Absolutely my fave kind of doctor.  Don't talk about a single thing unless I bring it up first.  I have managed to self diagnose (without Dr. Google I might add) every single thing I have ever had.  I already know what is wrong with me, via usually talking with people, when I walk into the doctor's office.  So do not mess with me and whatever you do...do not touch me. 

That being said I have to say female inspections once a year were torturous dreaded occasions.  They were equal to a dental visit for horrificness.  When I was on the doctor's table I would think, 'God!!! I would rather be in a dentist's chair!"  But then when I was laid out, mouth wide open in a dental chair, I would think, "God!!!  I'd rather be laid out on a doctor's table!'  I still can't pick which is worse.  I get the shivers just thinking about it. 

 The best thing to happen to me was getting a giant partly cancerous tumour in my nethers and by the time they were through with me I wasn't a whole female anymore.  And that saved me a thousand worries ever since, not to mention no more inspections.  And I have very few real teeth left.  Just enough to anchor unfeeling fake ones in there. So the percentage of a chance for teeth problems is lessened dramatically.

Well today is slow roast a pork shoulder roast day.  I am going to invent a glaze.  I have an apple sugar free syrup (Torani).  I will have to use some brown sugar so it will crisp up and burn a little and I am going to add a wee tad of apple cider vinegar and maybe some spices.  If I remember I will take a pic.  I love inventing recipes, just simple stupid ones.  When I read recipes if they are two pages long I eliminate them immediately.

You know I was thinking about this blog.  I think you guys know more about me than I know about  myself.  I am very aware that I lack filters, at least filters in the right place.  If ever you think I am out of line or going too far please let me know.  I do not have a moderator to keep me reigned in.  I do worry sometimes if I have said it too bluntly or too much.  You would be amazed at what I don't write about!!!!  I think the main reason I was so excited about moving to an old folks home was the plethora of fodder for stories!!!  

Well I am beginning to ramble.  So I think I shall put a comma in here and take up the gauntlet in a couple days.  TTYL and TFL

Here is my chosen piece of advice from Erma Bombeck...my heroine.

'Seize the moment.  Remember all those women on the Titanic that waved the dessert cart away!'

PICTURES DO NOT LIE

AS USUAL THIS STUPID WEBSITE DOESN'T PUT THEM ON IN ORDER. THIS WAS ATTACH A WIENER ON A STRING BETWEEN YOUR LEGS AND SWING IT UP AND CATCH IT IN YOUR MOUTH.  NEITHER WERE SUCCESSFUL!

THERE WERE QUIET MOMENTS OF CONVERSATION

SOME OLDSTERS TAKING A VERY NECESSARY MOMENT OF REST

MUD THE FACE TIME

SELF EXPLANATORY...SOME OF THEM ENJOYED IT WAY TOO MUCH!!!

EVERY WOMEN'S GROUP HAS THAT ONE PERSON...VAMPY COW

A COUPLE OF THE GIRLS SET UP A FANTASTIC CAESAR TABLE

OF COURSE....DRUNK YOGA

D

THE FEARLESS YOGI

EVERYBODY TAKE A DRINK THEN DROP INTO DOWNWARD DOG

STREEETCH UP HIGH

WAITING THE MUD TIME OUT

THERE IS EVERYBODY

MORE VISITING MOMENTS  OH AND EATING AND EATING AND EATING

THE HUB



I APOLOGIZE FOR THE QUALITY OF THE PICS.  WHEN YOU ARE DRINKING, EATING, SCREAMING, LAUGHING, COLLAPSING...YOU DON'T GET THE BEST PICS!

 

OH MY LORD!!!!

 I don't need to exercise after all the laughing that was had this weekend!!!  My stomach hurts!!!  Honestly! put thirteen women aged early thirties to early seventies in one magnificent mansion and you get crazy!!!  Jeez we pinned all different shaped and coloured weenies on a hunk of a dude (like pin the tail on the donkey), we had a joke off, we had a swing a wiener on a string tied between our legs and try to catch it in our mouth, we played a very loud game with scratch and wins, we kareokied (can't spell it), danced, bellowed like an elephant, ate til we couldn't move and stuff I can't report.  Oh, lots of drinking!!!

  I remember not so long ago nobody took pics except me with my big old D90.  Now everybody had their phones out and took pictures galore.

 And the food was crazy good.  Curries, lox, charcuterie, hot chilli dip, and the most amazing delicious homemade lasagna!!!  And then there was home made sourdough, raison bread, roasted stuffed turkey and a myriad of h'or dorves (can't spell it).  And so much more I can't possibly remember it all.  Cakes cookies squares...you name it!

Kathy was sick and couldn't come.  I was so sad about that...and so was everyone else.  But...she sent my cooler I had to leave there at thanksgiving completely full to the top with absolutely delicious food. She sent her homemade beans and her curry soup...so amazing, and pickled beets plus a ton of other stuff.  Like who does that when they are sick???  My sister...that's who!!!

The trip home was a bit sad and a bit trepidatious. I have been NOT looking forward to Ange moving out in June. It will just be bleak here without her.  A lot of things would not be easy with her gone.  Actually not just easy but other things as well that due to other people in the house I don't talk about.  In other words I need help with stuff and due to being a hermit, she is the only person other than Monte I talk to now.  But it turns out to certain things in her life, she isn't moving out after all.  I am so relieved and happy!  That was a real necessary boost!  I really was dreading the day she would be gone.

We are going to continue to purge the house though, even if no moving is involved.  I just can't live in a house with this much stuff.  We are all diabetic, there is a type one, a type two and a pre=diabetic.  And I do not have people for dinner anymore so I can get rid of 90% of my kitchen stuff.  It takes up way way too much house space (and deck).  I am sorely tempted at this point to rent one of those massive dumpsters...have them put it in my back driveway and we can just toss stuff over the deck railing.  I have done this many a time when we were mortgage brokers and took loser's houses back and had to clean them out.  It's actually a lot of fun...even the kids had fun helping.  Actually I think I will price that out!  Wow!!  You just saw a good idea being born!

So today no pics.  I haven't got them ready yet.  So the next post will just be pics..in the next day or two.  I just didn't want to go longer without a post.

Have a great day and TFL and TTYL

  

LISTS LISTS LISTS

I would be unable to live without lists.  My dilemma though is paper versus computer versus phone.  Actually what it boils down to is which one can I read.  I can't read the phone list.  My eyes....and I can't read my paper one cuz my hand printing has become very erratic due to....eyes.  But that just leaves the computer and I can't pack it around with me everywhere. 

 I should go to the eye doctor (I would say opthablahblah but I can't spell it) but I am scared they will tell me I need needles in my eyes.  I have talked with more than one person with similar problems as mine and that is what those brave people do every month.  They prance confidently into the doc's office and throw themselves in a chair and say 'okay poke me right smack in my eye'.  No thanks.  Thus I practise at least once a week walking around with my eyes shut...practising being blind. . I am becoming very good at it.

Anyway back to the lists.  I have them all on my word processor.  I have a list for stuff I have to take to the upcoming retreat.  I have a shopping list for stuff getting delivered tomorrow so I can cook things.  I have a list for Costco shopping on our way out to Chilliwack...destination of said retreat.  I have a list of clothes and stuff to pack.  I have a list of activities I have to do before I leave...housekeeper is coming on Friday.  It is endless. I even made a list of the dates starting Monday to the day I leave on the Thursday and what I have to do each day.

I am taking the van.  The only thing about that is I skipped getting a BCAA membership due to having road assist on Smudge.  So that leaves me with a problem if shit happens, and trust me it will, when I have the van.  Maybe I will get hold of BCAA and reinstall my membership.  I didn't think about the van when I made that stupid decision.  

Normally I would be taking the car over to the mainland.  But there are three of us going and we each are loaded with food and booze.  And Smudge is stupid.  She is so small in every way.  There is no way three of us will fit in her and all the coolers and acoutrablahbah (can't spell it) that is going as well.  So van it is.

I am trying to decide if I should buy some booze and mix and drink this weekend.  I could.  I generally am not a drinker but I feel this is a drinking crowd.  I don't mind the liquor or the buzz etc... but I can't watch other people start getting stupid and slurring their words etc...I find it upsetting and brings back memories I would rather not remember.  I tend to retreat..quite the opposite of the particular retreat I am attending. 

 I am not talking about my family memories. I grew up in a cult where there is no drinking at all.  No I am talking about some Indigenous that were not allowed alcohol on their reserve until 1957 when that barbaric controlling law was knocked down.  But up until then all their drinking had to be done in town.  And when I saw these lovely people weaving down the street behaving erratically, it scared hell out of me.  It's left a lasting fear of people who change when they drink.  But I know when I join in, if I don't get pukey, it isn't so traumatizing.  Jeez!  What a baby!

Anywhooo a busy week coming up.  I haven't completely finished my room yet.  Mind you it is pretty empty now but not done.  So no pic yet. Ange and I have shelved the purge onslaught until after the retreat weekend.  I have a busy week coming up.  

So thats it for now.  I am hungry!  Gonna go eat something.  TFL and TTYL

  

WE;LL AFTER ALL THAT.......

 I spoke too soon.  I honestly thought that I would be settling into a beautiful senior establishment, very reminiscent of a cruise ship life...which sounded like Utopia to me.  Still does.  But alas it isn't going to happen.

I can't go into detail on why I can't live my dream right now.  Something else cropped up and has become more important.  I truly would not have been able to be happy in utopia knowing it wasn't the right move.  So pivot pivot pivot!!!

Ange is moving to Chilliwack to be with her family.  Such a good move for her.  She needed these last three years to learn to live without Pat but now she is ready to venture forth.  But....not quite yet!

I have hired Ange to help until April and she and I are going to purge this house.  Because my arms and back are so bad I would have had to have help and I prefer her.  She is absolutely the best.  

The house is full of stuff I have no where to put.  So it gets piled up in corners and I can never find anything and it is downright depressing.  I have had to stop watching Hoarders because I relate to it too much.  I can honestly say there are no rats and mice or bugs....but it is genuinely a hoarders mess.  I used to use the upstairs guest room to 'temporarily' park stuff and when guests were coming I would move it all to my room...again temporarily.  But with Monte in there now I can't do that anymore.  You know, against my inner warnings, I think I will take a pic of the bedroom mess.  Before and after.   I will post them below.   I am clearing it out today.  You figure out which is before and which is after!!!

April and Myles are on their way to Victoria, via Harbour Air.  I am having a heart palpitating time at the moment.  My first husband taught me to never go up in a sea plane...they crash and are dangerous.  So I never have and never will.  So I am kind of holding my breath til I see the news at noon and there is no report of a plane crash.  I personally would not survive if something happened to those two kids.  See?  It's all about me!!!  LOL!!!!

So that being said, talking about me me me, I have decided I must get dressed in the morning.  The other  afternoon there was a knock at the door.  I was foolishly thinking it was my pills so I dashed to the door.  It wasn't until after that I got thinking about the look on the guy's face and it wasn't my guy, it was  Ange's pill deliverer.  He is a wee tad odd....on the spectrum somewhere a little, but that expression on his face alerted me to pursue my exploration of why,  a bit further.  Then I realized my hair was crazy, my shirt was black and white stripes with food stains down the front and I had on a pair of short plaid sleep shorts that were totally ripped from bottom to waist on the left side.  Geeez!!!!  I looked like a straight off the boat refugee.  Enough to discombobulate a not quite right delivery boy.

So there you have it.  A big life pivot that I am still kind of sad about but also realize it was totally necessary.  I will get over it!!!!  That is a choice!! (to quote Monte..his mantra). TFL and TTYL

IT IS WAY BETTER NOW.  I FOUND PLACES FOR ALMOST EVERYTHING.  I STILL HAVE A BIT OF TWEEKING TO DO...MY BACK QUIT JUST ABOUT AT THE END.  SO I SHALL TAKE A PIC OF THE FINISHED ROOM AND POST IT NEXT POST.

REACTIONS

 It's funny the reactions I am getting to my moving news.  First of all I am a little taken aback by how many people even give a hoot how or where I live.

  It kind of amazes me that people I feel know me well can't trust that I know myself well enough to know if this is the right time in my life to make a senior establishment home.  It's kind of like the people that think Monte is taking advantage of me, freeloading.  Jeez!  I am not stupid.  I think I would know if that was the case and I would do something about it.  How is it people always know what is best for you...and none of those people have even ever visited me here?

Now when Bill was alive we moved five times before he died, buying each time.  And finding the house, negotiating and completing the purchases was on me.  He kind of stayed out of it.  Every single purchase was a successful move.  There was never a whisper that the move was maybe not in our best interest.  It reminds me of my life before I hooked up with Bill.  People constantly were telling me how to live my life.  The minute Bill entered my life it stopped.

Since being alone, this next sale of my house and move will be my fourth and last house I sell.  I made fifty thousand on each of those sales and on this house I stand to make 175,000.  In total in ten years through buying and selling I have netted 325,000.  It isn't a fortune but it isn't losing anything either.  But this time it isn't the money driving this boat.

I am so ready to not spend my nighttime wakies thinking, planning and worrying about this stupid house and all the repairs and nitpicking things that need to be taken care of.  I won't be laying there making my next shopping list that accommodates the two of us and our separate diets.  I won't have to worry about the next huge insurance bills, house and vehicles.  I am just tired of doing all that and bored to hell with it all.  I want to go live in a cruise ship atmosphere.  And fortunately for me  my favourite group of people to spend my time with are the aging boomers.  They have stories to tell, they are smart and experienced just because they are old.  Consequently they understand verbal shorthand.  I love it!!!!

Now my kids are another thing.  Aryn just responded to my last post...that was the first she heard of this move and she was so excited for me!  No censure there.  And April has been a godsend.  She judiciously asked all the 'make sure' questions then gladly jumped on board.  She even had the grace to tell me that her best friend told her she was happy that I was so willing to take this pretty major decision on myself and not land it on my kids.  She was saying that so many of their friend group are worrying and stressing over their senior parents and how they resist talking about it, never mind doing it.  Kevin doesn't know yet but he won't care.

Kerry's awesome sister Wendy is a big draw for this place for me.  I have always truly liked and enjoyed her.  She is a true hoot!!!  She made a very astute comment.  She said people wait too long to move into these senior establishments.  She said if only they would not wait until they are ninety and just waiting to die.  Come in much younger and enjoy the freedom living and take advantage of all the entertainment they bring in and provide (games, music, plays, tours etc) and learn new things (painting, pottery, crafts).  She was saying you could be super busy or relax in your gorgeous suite staring at amazing views out your window.  And this particular building is right in the busiest hub of Lonsdale...all kinds of restaurants and shopping and the library and Jack Lonsdale Pub...a North Van iconic stop!!!!

Now it is time to spend my money, not make it!  And I know that even though Monte and I will super miss each other, we both are feeling very happy with our new lifestyle coming up.  I know there will be worries and we are setting up a check up on each other system to assuage some of that.  I just wish I had a 'Pat' nearby to keep an eye.  This is going to be the hardest part of this move.  I think I will get the girls to give him a weekly call too just to let him know we are all here and ready to help him if necessary.

Okay enough.  Today we go see another mobile home and Ange and I are going to sit down and make out a timeline and plan for decluttering this house.  I foresee many important lists coming up!!!  TFL and TTYL

I apologize for the totally self centred post but I want to thank you all for reading this blog.  You folks are better than any therapist could ever be.  And on a final note think of all the stories that are going to arise out of living in a senior residence!!!!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!

 I feel like I am so spoiled in my life.  I have been truly blessed.  And another blessing has come my way....again!!

A little while back I posted that I was getting that five year itch to move again.  I love moving.  But this time I am not able to do it all by myself.  I am just not steady enough or strong enough.  So stupidly annoying.  I have always moved myself with help from family and my friend Anne.

I think it is time for Monte to be on his own.  There is such a stigma attached to 'living with mommy'.  And it's kind of raising its ugly head.  He isn't so happy here with me.  He has expressed that he would rather be on his own.  And I feel he is well enough to be on his own.  So that is going to happen, sooner than later.

We have enlisted a lovely real estate lady and we have started looking for a mobile home for Monte.  We have already gone to see the perfect one but as it turns out it is in an over 55 park.  In fact the vast majority of them around here are for over 55 yr olds.  I can't imagine why...lol!!!!

Fortunately for me I have a large enough line of credit sitting empty, thank you to my Arny!!! to buy the trailer outright and pay the loc out when I sell the house.  I probably won't do that til spring.  Prices in town here are on the way up apparently.  All the Island from Nanaimo to Comox are all well over the one million mark.  We are the last cheap house spot left.  I feel like our town is the fat kid that gets picked last!  The busiest buy/sell months they have had in the last few years have been Nov. Dec. and it is just getting busier.  So a good time to sell.

In the meantime I have looked into a beautiful senior building in the heart of North Vancouver.  I actually wanted a studio, the smaller the better, but they are very hard to find in these buildings.  So apparently what they call a junior suite, a very small one bedroom, is available.  And if I have to I will rent one before I get the house sold.  The building is beautiful and it includes a 100/mth dollar parking  space, (if I keep the car), a driver that will take you anywhere on the north shore, a shuttle for tours, three meals per day, a grand piano on the premises, lovely outdoor spaces, and all kinds of entertainment, games and exercise classes.

But the best thing of all is Kerry's sister Wendy.  She lost her husband a few years ago and moved into this place.  She and her husband are the couple we ran into on one of our lengthy cruises and let me tell you, we had the best cruise out of the forty ish that we have done.  Wendy is hands down one of the most fun crazy people I have ever known.  I have a feeling she and I will set the building on fire!!!!

The next thing on my list was Ange.  This will be hard on her.  She can't afford to take much with her to her sister in law in Chilliwack.  She will bunk in there until she finds an apartment.  She is on disability and has two cats.

So I came up with an idea that would help me hugely and possibly her as well.  Instead of advertising and finding someone who could help me with the house clearing and packing,  I would hire her if she wanted to.  And she did!  Thank goodness!!!  I really can't do it myself and this girl is a dynamo and she and I work so well together.  We learned that when we made a gingerbread house!  She is one of those magical people that just knows what to do  instinctively...reminds me a lot of my sister!  I am so lucky.

I made a plan to execute this massive undertaking and I have already taken step number one!  I ordered, and it came today, a pack of coloured sticky name tag labels.  As we clean, sort and pack we shall put a different coloured sticker on Monte's trailer destination, my new place, estate sale with price on it, and diabetes pick up.  The garage will be filled with haul away trash that I will hire someone to do.

The biggest issue will be finding someone to paint.  My front door, the big bedroom downstairs and a brown leak spot on my living room ceiling need painting.   Everything else I have someone I already know who can do whatever it is.

I am going to be honest here.  My bedroom, the laundry room, the end of the dining room past the table on the floor and the deck all look like a hoarders house.  I was watching that show last week and relating to it all too well.  The difference between me and those hoarders is I just have nowhere to put stuff and I LOVE throwing things out.  It's the easiest part of this job!

I am now day one of no pills.  They were supposed to have been delivered three days ago.  I guess I will have to chase them down.  I hate this.  Our health system so totally sucks.

 That is it for today.  If you all need anything let me know.  I am getting rid of pretty much everything!!!  I am allowing myself ten boxes plus bedding and clothes.  That is it!!!!!  Just think.  I will have my own bathroom again.  Not that Ange ever was a problem.  She simply wasn't.  It was everyone else.  We even had one visitor who clearly (we could hear) didn't wash her hands!!!!!!  Ewwwww. (shovel list)  TFL and TTYL

PILL TIME...SHOVEL LIST TO THE POWER OF INFINITY!!!

 I think I have mentioned before that I get sick tummy and anxious when it is time to get my prescription refilled.  It involves lab tests and a visit to the doctor.  And then for whatever reason, like I have said before as well, doctors are like mechanics.  It is like they don't earn their right to be in that profession unless they find some surprise ailment to treat.  I hate it!!!

I thought I had another one month refill.   One of a short three months prescription. (shovel list).  I have been on the same pills, same dosage same everything for twenty years.  Give me an effing year prescription with no refills.  In this day and age it is simply ridiculous to try to see a phantom doctor every three months. And I was wrong.  No refills left.

I went to the pharmacist and begged him for an emergency week of extra pills.  He very kindly delivered it to me the next day.  He is the nicest person on the planet. So far.

So yesterday was the day to get to the clinic and get the doc to send in a refill prescription, hopefully a longer one.  The doc I have been seeing for the last two years is gone now.  Did her time in Butt F**k BC and headed off to Vancouver to work, of course.  Got her debt half paid for the two year penance.  So clinic line up it is.  

Our hours are 9 to 11am or 5 to 7 pm.  I went at four to make sure I got into the accepted line up.  The line of chairs in the hall was full with one chair at the very end still empty.  I asked the peeps sitting there what time did they all get there to make sure they got seen.  Three o'clock.  THREE!!!!  Dang it!!!!  But I sat down hopefully.  At ten after five the MO came out and told everybody the doctor got called away and there would be no clinic today.  Are you kidding?  Sigh.

I talked with her before I left.  She said when you are down to the last month of pills you have to start coming to the clinic, two hours before clinic time and try to see the dr.  And many many days the clinic is closed.  She said the clinic was closing now til the end of the month and start trying in Feb.  Don't go to the hospital...unless it is life or death, they will kick you to the curb.  There was a woman there who had an extreme sinus infection and was so sick she could barely sit up.  She went to the hospital and they booted her.  Told her to go to the clinic.

I asked the MO about prescription renewals.   She said to talk to the pharmacist and see if he will give me a month of pills.  And starting in Feb. start coming into the clinic and trying again.  But be sure to phone first to find out if they are open.  I think when I go see the pharmacist I am going to open with asking for his educated opinion on what would happen if I just stopped taking all those pills?  Then after he tells me I would be dead in two weeks he will be in more of a mind to give me a month's worth.

On a happier crazy note...I got on the scale yesterday expecting to have gained some weight.  I wasn't overly careful through the season and trip so guess my immense surprise to find I have lost twenty pounds.  How I don't know. 

 Possibly I am dying and haven't had it discovered and confirmed yet.  I do get tired easily and I have a spot in the middle of my right back, lung level, that hurts.  You never know.  But losing that weight should help my blood pressure. 

 I really would like to know what my blood pressure is but...well I need to see the doctor.  I think our medical system right now is purposely made this way by the powers that be to kill a bunch of us off.  Then it would be cheaper to run the massive business of health care.

Monte, bless him, texted me a rather hurtful (to me but he was puzzled by my reaction) text yesterday.  By the time I had finished reacting, all by text, I think he was finally getting it and he felt bad, which actually wasn't my intention.  I just wanted him to be aware.

Anyway when he came home a little later he had two bunches of star gazers...absolutely beautiful!  They are one of my most fave flowers.  I love getting flowers and that just made everything better.  I will put a pic of them at the bottom.

Well I am actually hungry.  Scrambled eggs time.  Have a great week or few days til next time.  TFL and TTYL

OTHER THAN THE VERY FIRST FULL DAY HOME...I HAVE KEPT UP WITH MY RESOS

Well I am sitting in my new 'spot in the house' my bed.  The tv in the living room isn't working and the pvr in my bedroom isn't working.  Monte spent an hour on the phone with effing pathetic Telus  whilst I was away.  They were working when he hung up with them.  I really really, to the power of infinity, HATE HATE HATE optic tv.  It totally sucks.  I want a cable I screw into the wall. (super huge shovel list) 

It is ten pm and I am sipping sleepy time tea with lemon honey and ginger (from a massive jar of it from Costco).  Six carbs. Gotta count them.  My blood sugar very quickly hit the low fives as soon as I started eating right.  Gotta try to keep it there.  I did get an extra week of pills from the awesomest pharmacist in the whole world but I still have to go to a doctor and go to the lab.  Grrrrr.......

I have kept up with my resolution to spend at least two hours every day on something or other.  I drag my red rolly chair around with me from task to task.  Today Ange brought up a load of cat littler boxes, due to the weight of cat litter the boxes are super strong and not too huge.

We attacked my big massive pantry cupboard.  It should be a linen cupboard.  We filled six or eight boxes with 2024-2025 due date dry goods.  Brownie mixes, a whole cardboard box of Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes and instant mashed potatoes.  About eight cake mixes.  All kinds of bags of beans and soup mix beans.  Oatmeal, cornmeal, cassava flour (what the hell was I thinking?) all kinds of puddings, wafer crumbs for pie crusts...some of it was dated 2022.  I used to cook a lot for my once a month dinner parties for twelve, then covid hit.  Anyway Monte shall take it all to the Sally Ann.

I also made curried chicken and a massive salad for dinner.  It was so good!  I found two...not one, but two massive club house unopened spice containers of curry powder.  So I used that.  It was really good.  The curry flavour reminded me of Mom's curry.

I talked to the girls today.  Long convos with each.  We are getting ready for the women's retreat, coming up Feb. 7.  This year it is in Chilliwack.

April went shopping prexmas at super store.  If you buy more than 250 bucks or something like that, they give you a box of groceries or something for free.  She came home with a giant frozen turkey!  It barely fit into their tiny fridge freezer.  She had the brilliant idea to take it to the retreat, I will bring my turkey roaster and a crock pot full of stuffing and cranberry jelly and soft fresh white bread (or sourdough) and cook the thing the first night and debone it for sammiches.  mmmmmmm. There will be about 18 ladies there!  We are all looking so forward to this retreat.  We haven't had one since covid and it is time.

Well I shall sign off here...I need to research food banks in this town before I get too tired.  My sleepy time tea is probably mostly psychological but I choose to believe the valerian root in it will actually make me sleepy.  So goodnight folks..TFL & TTYL

ALL THE CAT LITTER BOXES FULL OF FOOD

ATTACHED AT THE HIP

MONTE SNUCK A PIC OF US SLEEPING

HOMEWARD BOUND

 I was just texting Graeme that it is time to go home.  I am missing the people and the animals in my house!  I don't even care if it's a crap show.  I feel it is time to be home.

I need my prescription renewed.  I get sick stomach from worry every single time it is renewal time. (shovel list).  I don't understand why it is so complicated.  Well actually I guess I do.

You have to get an A1c, wait a day, then battle your way to a working available doctor.  Our clinic keeps shutting for periods of time.  My awesome new pharmacist will give me pills but one week at a time.  Doesn't cut it.  I guess I will head over to him tomorrow and ask for an extra week to give me time to get into a doctor.  I feel like just tossing them all and take my chances with high blood sugar and high blood pressure.  If it's my time to go then I go.  My bucket list is complete at this point.

I had a wonderful relaxing time at Cookie's and Brian's.  It is so clean (everything is NOT covered with dog hair) and organized and peaceful.  I loved it.  It was like being in a respite.  Cookie is the most thoughtful amazing hostess. We talked ourselves silly, ate great food and we went shopping and out for lunch.  And Brian not only told great stories but he did something else that had Cook and I laughing so hard I couldn't quit!  I can't tell you what he did though.  teehee

So now I am sitting on Ape's comfy couch typing up a storm.  My ferry is at 1.  Next post will be from home!!!!  TFL and TTYL

I DIDN'T GET EVEN ONE PIC OF BRIAN OR COOKIE EXCEPT THIS ONE.  THIS WAS BRIAN DRAWN BY MAXEN, COOKIE'S GRANDSON, WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER.  SO HERE IS THE ONLY PIC I GOT!!!

A BOX OF HARMONY DONUTS.  THAT WON'T MEAN ANYTHING TO SOME...EVERYTHING TO OTHERS!!! I TOOKA BOX TO COOK'S

BESTEST SNACK EVER...BOURSIN AND CRACKERS

GRAEME AND LEELOO