Snowflake

Oh, Eric, I know I don't have to squish them, but they don't just vaporize in the house, they come in from outside! It'd be like throwing Briar Rabbit back into the briar patch, he'd be a return guest! I mean, think about it... He comes inside where it's warm, finds a cozy little cafe with some crunchy peanut butter on a little plate for him. He has his nummies, and must have lost sight of the time, as the cafe has closed... Free travel back out to his friends, he's released and the pattern begins again. Although it turns my heart a bit, and my stomach, they're rodents and the price for trespassing is death. Of course, if I only get 'em by a paw or the tail, I do release them. Guess it's a mouse Lotto... As for the possum, have you ever really seen one, Eric? Their heads are gray, the skin looks as though it is peeling - they look like zombies with sneers full of fierce pointy teeth. Yeah, cute... At least the younger ones have fur on their heads. Our locals are a bald bunch and they are creepy... Not that being bald makes you creepy, being bald and scaly does. Some of my favorite people have no hair.

Yep, Judy, I have seen possums. A decade or so ago, I lived in an old farmhouse, drove home one night to the biggest, ugliest opossum I had ever seen crossing my driveway. Cartoon possums are so cute, in real life, they are some ugly, ugly critters... Upon advice of an exterminator, I cleaned out all plant material from around the house hoping to ease the influx of field mice (couldn't keep up with the traps). Under the shrubbery I was clearing out, I found the full and stripped skeletons of one cat and two full-grown adult possums. The mouth contained so many nasty-looking teeth... I wouldn't want one in my house, especially one that was alive! Have you heard of PetSmart? They sell dog toys so your fur babies don't have to resort to finding their own outdoors...

Actually, Judy, I finally fell asleep at 9:00 this morning. Woke up at 2:00. I've been fighting insomnia for a couple of weeks now. I've resorted to medication, once, but it made me so groggy for two days after that I'm not sure I want to do that again. Irks me something fierce when I end up sleeping through most of the nicest day of the week (it's supposed rain tomorrow). I remember those temps from Fairbanks, Bruce. You can keep it. Keep watching for me on People of WalMart.com. I'm sure one of these days someone is going to snap my pic and post it... We have at least one mouse in the house. I saw it Monday night. Ever since treatment, I have seen "spiders" in my peripheral vision and am so used to seeing something out of the corner of my eye, turning my head and there being nothing there... So, I saw movement and figured it was nothing, yet again. I turned my head, and this furry beast was running across my dining room floor! Scared the daylights out of me, since the coast was supposed to be clear when I turned my head. I merely stated to the boys, who were sitting in the living room with me, that there was a mouse. It may have been in a very shrill and loud voice, but that was all I said... My son told me I sounded like someone was murdering a cat and Larry looked at me like I had lost my mind! The second appearance of the mouse, he saw. So yesterday's trip for chocolate was actually a trip for mousetraps. Haven't caught the mouse yet. I hope it decided we didn't have anything good to eat and left, hate killing critters - especially by snapping their little heads. Monday was Valentine's day, so picture the guy bringing me flowers and a card and me scaring the crap out of him in return...

Way to make me feel guilty, girlfriend! If you have 3 y/o twins and can pop in now and again, I guess maybe I should try to do the same. After all, I used to post a lot more before I lost my job... Guess I have to blame it on the Facebook farm! Wait 'til the newbies get a glance of your neurosis... Love ya, girl!

Sue and Tony, It's early and I don't have a lot of words that will readily come to my brain to type out, so let me try to just spit out the important thing you need to know. No matter what odds you are given, someone has to survive and there's nothing saying it can't be you. Take my word for it, I was diagnosed stage 3A over eight years ago. Believe it or not, treatment is different now than it was just eight years ago, better odds, but the statistics are old ones. Get your affairs in order, everyone should, cancer or not. Then, LIVE. Be aware, but don't stress on it. Best of everything to you, Becky

Looking forward to the sun coming up today. It's supposed to hit 43 today and 49 tomorrow. Wa-hoo, c'mon spring! Did get the chocolate yesterday, so life is sweet and guilt is free-flowing! LOL - Good thing I can exercise with my potato sacks and spend energy stretching the truth and beating around the bush... How's your little corner of the world?

Judy (KW), Annette and Lillian, come meet me at Wal-Mart, we'll sit on a bench and creature watch. I'm tellin' ya, you never realize what lives in the woodwork until you hit Wally World...no walking required! Annette, telling Judy about being short is preaching to the choir. I think she's about 4' 12" from some prior posts she's made. My shorts, her capris... (Yeah, as if I'm tall!) Oops, look at that, it's Wednesday! Better stop typing, time's up!

Judy in MI, my parents are both adult-onset diabetics. My mother was diagnosed a few years before my dad, and when she followed the diet religiously, she lost a lot of weight. I believe she dropped to a size 4, from a 12. Of course, being a food nazi is exhausting, and when dad was diagnosed and would not follow the diet, she started sliding on hers. He now takes insulin twice a day, but she's still on oral medication. My doctor boiled down the diabetic diet as being portion control (very controlled) and taking "white" out of your diet - no salt, sugar, flour, rice, potatoes... Beautiful day in the neighborhood, the sun is smiling down on us. I think I'm going to light a fire under my kid and see if I can get some of the Valentine candy at half price at the local Wally World or Target... Diet? No need to diet, half price is half the calories, right? Oh, and with Bud riding off those half calories, I should feel the fat just melting right off... Wow, KW Judy, you really should have asked for a piggy-back ride from your friend dragging you on the forced march for lunch...

NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo My eyes, my eyes! This vision cannot be undone, it will forever be burned in my memory banks, and they don't retain much anymore. ARGGHHHH LOL

Yep, still up from Saturday. Tried going to bed once, but spent an hour tossing and turning and was afraid I'd wake Larry up, he has to get up for work (early shift today) in an hour, so I got back up. Funny, I took Ambien Friday night because I haven't been sleeping well. Took me an hour to get to sleep:!: Larry let me sleep this morning, and into the afternoon. Could be part of why I'm not all that tired, I got up at 1:00 in the afternoon! Must have needed the sleep? I'm not sure how Bruce ended up in that darn tutu again, but considering he's been holed up in the Yukon all winter, he may need a fourfour, or at least a threethree! Don't we all put on a layer or so of fat for our winter hibernation? Well, everyone but Bud... Went to PetSmart today, they were having an adopt-a-thon, so I got my puppy fix. Sweetest little black puppy, husky-lab(?) mix with blue eyes...a sweetie, but the foster parent said she's an escape artist. Sure don't need one of those! Judy, you warming up that blender? ...but there's booze in the blender, and soon it will render, that frozen concoction that helps me hang on...(I found the salt shaker and I'm bringing it on down!) I am looking forward to spring, but if I see any of ya'll in tutus in my front yard, I'll be testing rock salt in the shotgun! Learning all kinds of redneck things here in the sticks...LOL Hoping to fall off to a gentle slumber soon, may the rest of you be bright tailed and bushy eyed while reading this!

Annette! If you're stopping to get the fixings for a daiquiri, don't forget the lime. Juice of one lime per pitcher, makes 'em taste even better. If you're REALLY looking for "comfort," put some ice cream in the blender, mMMMMmMMMmmm I see a weekend coming up quickly, right there in the ol' windshield. Hoping Larry has a day off, he could use a day with his feet up, will just have to let everyone else assume he's working so it's undisturbed rest. Well, day of rest AFTER he fixes what needs fixed around here. We live in a rental, and have noticed that the shower has leaked and there is a nice colony of fungi going on in the access point. Have been spraying it with Lysol, but the shower continues to leak and the wet drywall seems to be a real happenin' habitat for fungi... So ready for summer, but I'll settle for spring. BRING ON THE MUD!

Currently 16 degrees here (F), but with windchill, feels like 4. That's outside, but it isn't all that warm in the house. I think someone has rigged the thermometer in here to read 69 because my feet and fingers are freezing and there's just no way it's that warm. If Bruce needs a cage, my go-go cage is in storage while the weather is too cold to dance in it. My one request is that the feathers and bling be put into a box and not thrown away, I like it decorated and don't have the funds to keep getting new feathers and rhinestones, ya know? One good thing about having a new account with the dish, I get 90 days of free movie channels. Bad news? Lots of older movies like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", "Men in Black II", "McLintock" (LOVE me some John Wayne)... Seriously, there are movies older than me that are showing repetitively. I have found a real good exercise program, the gear isn't all that expensive, two 10-pound potato bags. Hold one in each hand and lift 20 times. Work on it every day for a week and then, add a couple of potatoes to each bag... Love that hat, sunshine! Maybe I'll decide to come down and see you, Judy, since you're hogging up the sun. I'll have to add "Margaritas in Key West with Judy" on my bucket list, and add a cheeseburger in paradise to my order... Global warming my rear...

Hmmm...where do you think a debit card would be slid, Bruce?

LOL - oh, Bruce, if you realized that I use a debit card more than actual cash, you'd fear shaking that money-maker in my direction!

If we throw dollars, will he put his clothes back on? Please?

It's Monday, where is everybody?? Eric, I have lost the keg bus. It was bound to happen, as often as I lose my keys, that one day I would lose the vehicle. I have put up fliers in the local area to see if anyone has seen the party bus cruising down the roads... Facebook has a "status shuffle" that pops out random phrases and sayings to use as your status. Found the perfect one a couple of days ago: You know you're blonde when you're sitting in your driver's seat with the car started and the radio on and you're digging through your purse to find your car keys... I know it says blonde, and I fit that category, but I think most of the extreme forgetfulness is drug induced, sadly. I'm sure you non-blondes out there can attest to that. I also liked this one, so very fitting: <-- would like to inform everyone that Helen Waite is now my assistant. So if you need anything, just go to Helen Waite. But seriously... I'm here, and well. Before my oncologist spoke to me, I told him that either way he was giving me bad news - either it was back or I was going on a diet. He laughed, and asked me what diet plan I was going to follow. Larry watched the Super Bowl, I was game for the commercials and was applying for jobs online while doing so. Crazy, how one doesn't have to leave the house to pound the pavement. Heck, even the local McDonald's hires online only! I don't understand how people that can't get an order right when you are the only customer are computer-savvy enough to log in and send in a worthy job application! Really. I've been offline due to many household moves and finding out that the last move was to a half mile outside of civilization. Yes, the pavement ends before you get to my house, as does the cable wire, DSL and any other lower-priced high speed connection options. I have a slow wi-fi connection and a satellite dish for TV. Off the grid, I think it is. Shoulda known when I pass an Amish school house every day to get home and about 10% of traffic down the road is horse and buggy. So, what have I missed? Has everyone played nicely?

As of January 24, I am eight years cancer-free.

all

Naughty....heheheh

Bug

Oh Judy, at least you KNOW they're criminals and it won't come as a surprise later! lol

Ohhhh, so NOT looking forward to winter! Was up this morning to get the boy moving for school...hard frost to scrape off the windshield. Had on a mid-weather coat, a "barn coat" of corduroy with a fleece lining - and was still cold! Nope, not looking forward to the actual cold weather AT ALL. How the project list grows...have rooms to paint and doorknobs to change and walls to mud...sheesh. Maybe I'll leave some of the fun for Larry to help with - he DID help with the first coat of primer over the weekend. Togetherness...LOL Laundry calls, it's a non-ending thing. Finished one day and at bedtime, it begins again. FYI, MI Judy hasn't posted on FB since 10/28...hope she's having fun, on an impromptu Caribbean vacation. Yeah, that'd be nice!

Riddle me this... Why does Sunday come so much quicker than Friday, and with disappointment instead of celebration? Seems like the weekend just flew by... Judy, so very glad to see you have won the Tarceva lottery and have a free year. It has to be better to KNOW the "rash" is far more than a rash and there are people out there with suggestions of how to work through it. I went by the label alone on the Iressa I took, thinking "diarrhea" and "facial rash" were very minor symptoms. WTH was I thinking? Sorry all, can't drive the keg bus for a while, settling into a new routine and trying to get settled in living. Oh yeah, and I really do need to be employed. Wonder if Zynga needs a farmer? LOL

Good morning, Judy. I didn't make it to post before you this morning, I'm on my honeymoon! Yesterday was a beautiful day, mid-60s and sunny. As soon as I have pictures back from the photographer, I will post them. Too many "action" shots from the amateur shutterbugs who attended the event. Looks to be a beautiful weekend here on the shores of the lake. Maybe we'll get some fishing in, but I wouldn't count on it. Didn't bring any tackle, either. Can't stay long, things to do! Take care all.

Mani-pedi: Manicure and pedicure. Sleep may start coming in the evenings, we'll see. I have someone in my life working second shift. I talk to him when he gets home and am then wide awake for a while. That may change here real soon... Speaking of changes, I need to get moving! It's time to start the long list of tasks for the day. Later!