1.  Catch and release fishing.  Ummm ok.  I think I’ll just go out here and stick a hook in a fish just for the fun of it.  But I won’t actually catch the fish for any real reason other than I want to feel like I can fish really well.  I’ll let them all go after I catch them so that I can feel like I’m not a greedy bitch.  It will make me feel all warm and fuzzy to know that I let a fish lunge for food and BAM, it now has what amounts to a grappling hook gouged through its  facial structure.  Never fear though little fishie.  After I’m done yanking it out of your flesh while you gasp for air, I’ll turn you loose and you’ll be just fine.  WTF?

2.Three Minute Long Chantix Commercials. Holy Mother Of God!  These things last for EVER!  I timed the second one I saw, mainly because after the first one came on I went to the kitchen, got a cup of java, a lil scooby snack, checked the clothes in the dryer, and came back only to find the commercial STILL PLAYING!!??!!  What the hell did it cost to put those little devils on there for three solid minutes?  The idea of the price for that is staggering.  I hope they get their money’s worth.  If irritation was money they’d be rich off of me already.

3. Social Kissing.  Ew.  I just don’t get it.  With all the germophobia going around, why would having someone rubbing their lips all over your face be a good idea?  I’d prefer someone grab my ass to having acquaintances rubbing their face around my face.  Having been a bartender for eleven years, I KNOW where some of those lips have been and I’m telling you I do NOT want them anywhere near my mouth!  Just, ick!

4. Michael Jackson’s Two Month Long Wait For Burial.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I think that white people (yes I’m one of them) are way too quick to put their dead in the ground.  Personally I would prefer to have a little bit of time to get used to the idea that I won’t ever be able to lay eyes on my loved one again.  However, two months seems to be pushing it a little.  Where on earth was he for all that time?  Exactly where does one store the dead if you wait two months to bury them?  Do you have pay rent?  Are there utilities?  Too many questions.  And to be honest I don’t really care enough to find out the answers.  Just don’t wait two months, okay?

5. Monetary Compensation For Breaking News Tips.  That’s just gruesome!  Stop it.  It’s like getting paid to be one of those people who wave lanterns at runaway trains.  It’s getting monetary gain for someone else’s misfortune.  Cut it out.  Your momma probably didn’t raise you like that.

6. Teenagers.  Yeah, you know.  Nuff said.

I have recently become conscious of other people’s back yards.  They fascinate me.  You ride along the road and sometimes catch a little glimpse of a back yard.  My imagination takes over and off I go!

It reminds me of when I was younger and lived in town.  I loved to walk.  I walked everywhere I could every chance I had.  My favorite time to walk was just after dark.  People had turned on their lights, the shades were still up and I could see the upper parts of their walls, and their ceiling.  Occasionally I could see someones head as they passed by.  I always wondered what happened in those houses. 

What were they doing right that second?  Was the whole family together or were they all doing their own things?  You could tell when the television was on because the room flickered.  That made it seem that much more magical.  I never wanted to see the people in the daylight.  I never wanted to be able to see the entire room.  I made up stories for each house and the people I imagined in them. 

Now, back yards make me feel the same way.  I have noticed that often back yards are not at all the same as front yards.  They usually have a totally different feel to them.  My guess is that back yards reflect the owners personality more clearly than front yards. 

Front yards are for show.  Back yards are for living in.  For instance, my front yard is nice and neat(LOL  sometimes!) while my back yard is a total catastrophe!  It is just like my brain, disorganized, messy, but with the potential to be really nice if you could just get a clear picture of what you want and the methods of making it right would come to you in the proper order.

Living way out in the country, I have the chance to see quite a few back yards on my way to and from town.  My favorites are the back yards of older houses.  They usually have old farm buildings back there.  Some have smaller houses as well.  My guess is that the smaller houses are the original house on that site.  Sometimes they are old and empty, sometimes still in use. 

Some of the other things I see in back yards are swing sets, kids toys, gardens, rabbit hutches, chicken coops, interesting small buildings, patios, decks, junk cars,ponds, rusty old farm equipment, horses, and llamas.  I really like the llamas. 

In my own back yard there is the following:  a fire-pit with benches around it, a picnic table, my mom’s house, a grape vine, a ton of roses, a swing set, a barn, some jet skis, the dismantled building from MDH’s grandfather’s house, a garden, a clothes line, a target for knife throwing, a chin up bar, various and sundry bicycles, a canoe, a john boat and a burn pile.  That burn pile is really getting big!  Partly that’s because it contains the chair our dog Ditto gave birth in.  (shudder)

That’s what’s in my back yard, what’s in yours?

Well, we had a wedding here this weekend!  Our daughter, Possum, got married on Saturday the 25th of July, 2009.  It was a beautiful thing.  We got to meet our new family-in-law.  They are nice, interesting, and down to earth people that we are going to have a wonderful time getting to know better.

When we get a lot of really good pictures I’ll post them and you can see the stone circle that we made for them to say their vows in, the father of the bride in his bib overalls, the mother of the bride performing the ceremony and the “shotgun picture”.  There were flames and tiki torches and a fire pit.  It was outdoors at sunset.  I can’t wait to show you just how beautiful it all was! 

Stay tuned.

I have been busy this time so I have an excuse for being irresponsible. 

At the risk of jinxing it, I seem to feel better. Physically, anyway.  So I’ve been pushing myself lately.  Not too much, just enough to feel it a little bit.  Usually when I feel good I push myself way too far and end up FUBAR’d all over again.  I’m trying to use a little common sense this time and push myself a little at a time. 

I go outside even when it’s hot.  Doesn’t seem like much, does it?  But for me it’s huge.  I don’t do heat well at all.  It scrambles my brain and my body.  It makes me feel like I’m suffocating.  It turns my face bright red, and I get dizzy.  My body feels weak and I can’t think right.  I hear words but I don’t understand them.  It takes about four repetitions before I can finally make them make sense.  The inside of my head sounds like helicopter blades….whoomp  whoomp  whoomp.  I know how to do things but the proper order escapes me, so I get bogged down in trying to figure out if I have it right or if I’m forgetting something.  I can’t start anything because I have to keep going over it and over it to make sure I have it right.  It’s never in the same order, no matter how many times I think it through, so I never know which one is right.

I do more things that require strength.  I have a garden.  I work in it.  I dug holes and mixed dirt and planted some plants.  The Buddha and Princess Bella planted alot of plants too.  Like I said, I’m trying to push without over doing it.  Whenever I do anything that requires muscle, I only have a limited amount of time and strength to do it.  After that it’s all I can do to haul my tonnage back to a chair.  I can do it again after I rest.  No matter how much I work at them, my muscles will burn and give out after only a little bit.  I’m trying to have more little bits now, so maybe I can build myself up some. 

I take chances again.   For instance, MDH and I went canoeing down the Dan River a couple of weeks ago.  I was really scared that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off.  But I’m tired of being left behind and never doing anything, so I went.  It was awesome!  Granted, the Dan River was way high, and way fast and mostly all we had to do was steer, but I went!  And, even though my wrists still hurt even after two weeks, I did it.  The satisfaction is well worth the price. 

I drive…..far away…..every week.  The Buddha’s new counselor is in Chapel Hill.  That’s an hour drive from here.  It kills me.  Did you ever make mud pies?  Remember how they would start to dry out, but you could pat them and they would get wet all over again?  Well, riding in a vehicle is like patting my brain.  It gets all mushy and starts to lose it’s form.  It’s a damn scary thing, driving that far away.  I’m never sure if I’m going to be making it home under my own steam or not.  And it is exhausting.  Every time.  It takes me days to get over it, but I DO it. 

I read more.  This should be the easiest thing in the world, right?  No stress, no strain.  It’s not hot, it doesn’t require strength.  However, it does require me to understand the words.  If I’m doing ok, it’s easy.  If I’m not doing ok, it’s hard work.  I have to re-read the same sentence over and over to get it.  I read every book at least four times the first time I read it. 

MDH built a fire pit in our yard.  I love that thing!  I love a campfire.  There was about a year or more after our house burned down when I would go quietly insane whenever I smelled smoke.  I had a raging case of PTSD whenever I saw a flame.  I woke up a bazillion times a night thinking we were on fire again and every time I did, the house looked smokey.  But, I don’t do that much anymore. 

Anyway, we cook on the fire pit every Friday night, weather permitting.  It’s all very cave girl.  Um, cave girl and pioneer I guess.  We have the big ol Dutch oven.  That little baby is a gem!  I can start the fire, keep it going until I have enough coals to cook using the Dutch oven, and feed it coals until the food is done.  Like I said, I love that fire pit.  Can you tell?  One of my favorite things about the fire pit is that I don’t heat up my house by cooking inside.  By dinner time, the heat starts to build up in the house and the last thing I want to do is heat it up even more by cooking.  (remember the heat intolerance thing?  riiiight!) 

We moved our picnic table from the back deck to the fire pit area.  It’s the perfect place for all of us to gather up and play games or just sit and talk.  It’s also nice to sit there in the cool of the morning and drink coffee and watch the day start.  Especially since the outside dogs have taken over the porch swing and now I need to get new cushions for it before humans can use it again. 

My hummingbirds are back this summer.  I have two feeders that hang on the front porch.  If they start getting low on food, the hummers will come and hover in front of the screen door, waiting for me to come fix it!  They are fascinating to me.  The males fight like cats and dogs.  There are four hummers all together.  Two males and two females.  The males spend all of their time chasing each other away from the feeders.  The females wait until they are zooming around the field, then they will swoop in and eat until one of the males comes back.  Then they go sit in a tree until it starts again, which is usually about six seconds. 

We have quite a few bluebirds.  They love to sit on MDH’s motorcycle mirrors and fight with their reflection.  It’s hilarious.  But every once in a while it reminds me that the ancient dinosaur birds were pretty mean fellas.  I forget what they are called……raptors?  Is that it?  Anyway, birds are definitely not serene by nature.  Those pretty little bluebirds are aggressive with those reflections.  And they are building up some new White Cliffs Of Dover on the handlebars, too!  MDH is not amused.

I am now the proud new operator of a riding mower that doesn’t give me vertigo.  I can mow until my heart’s content and still be able to walk upright back to the house when I’m done.  I love the instant gratification of mowing the lawn.  I also love the smell.

All in all, for summer, things are going pretty good.  I’ve knocked wood and rubbed The Buddha’s belly for luck to keep from jinxing myself here.  (you could have bought The Buddha for a nickel when I did that) 

P.S.   Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day – This book rules.  The recipes are easy, they really work, and it feels really good to make your own bread by hand without having to knead yourself into oblivion.  If you’ve never made homemade bread, you’ll be an old hand at it after the second time.  It sorts itself out in your head pretty quick, and considering MY head, that means it’s easy to do.  If nothing else, borrow it from the library and try it at least once.  New experiences are good for you.

I just found out some scary news about one of my favorite people on earth.  I can’t wrap my brain around it.  My friend Mel has a tumor in her brain.  WTF?  How is that fair?  How is that right?  How can this happen?  I have more questions than I have the ability to type. 

She’s my friend.  From the first moment we clicked.  We were riding the same slipstream.  She smart, and fun, and funny, and h0nest,  and brash, and vocal, and sweet,  and real.  She’s herself and I love her for it.  She’s smarter than the average bear.  She’s got dreams and goals and someone she loves.  She has plans.  She has a life!  

So what the hell is a tumor doing in her head?  There is nothing more frightening than being attacked by your own body.  It feels un-natural in the extreme.  It’s wrong on such a fundamental level that it’s hard to even accept, much less understand.

The surgery is soon.  Too soon.  Not soon enough.  My thoughts are scattered everywhere and I can’t seem to catch any of them. 

I read somewhere that there was a study done that proved that people who were in bad health, got well faster if they were prayed for.  They didn’t even need to know that it was happening.  It still worked.

So, do my friend Mel a solid, if you will.  Pray for her.  Start now.  Please?

Up to this point I have refrained from commenting on this situation.  Now the pressure to speak is about to blow my teeth right out of my mouth.  I think there are several points on which good old common sense is called for.

Let me begin by saying that the most important factor in this entire situation is the well being of all of Nadya’s children.  Period.  Their well being should be first and foremost in everyone’s mind.  They had no choice in their existence and should not be held responsible for, or pay the price for, anyone else’s decisions.

First:  Nadya made bad decisions.  We all know that and there is no argument about that as far as I can tell.  So, enough of the condemnation.  You can’t unring that bell.  Move on.

She obviously has issues in spades.  I don’t know much of anyone who wouldn’t when viewed through unyielding eye of the public.  The spectacular success of her last pregnancy isn’t one of them.  Yes, she was wrong to have the embryos implanted when she was obviously not able to care, by herself, for the six children she already had.  There were many other options available to her besides the implantation.  For example:  She could have used the money she spent having them implanted to store them for a longer time. 

You have to admit this one thing about it though: In no stretch of the imagination could anyone have thought that not only would all six implants take, but that two of them would split!  Add to that the fact that all eight survived and you have an astronomically cosmic coincidence.  She couldn’t have predicted the extent of that one bad decision.  No one could have.  I believe her when she said that she didn’t expect, based on her previous implants, that any of this would happen.

She needs help in a lot of areas.  However, that doesn’t make her a bad mother or a bad person.  That makes her a normal human being in abnormal circumstances.  Up until Gloria Allred and the Angels In Waiting team were removed from her house, I never heard anyone say she wasn’t a good mother.  Kids don’t care about anything except whether they are loved.  I believe her kids feel loved by her.  Yes I understand that kids need more than love, but these children aren’t going hungry or neglected.  By whatever means are being used, they are being taken care of. 

Second:  This audaciously presumptive idea there has to be “Total Transparency” in everything Nadya does.  That’s the biggest crock I’ve ever heard.  That was an idea I first heard spouted by Dr. Phil on his television show.  Usually I agree with Dr. Phil, but this time I think he’s full of it.  The last thing these children need is to have every moment of their lives debated by ignorant assholes with a media fetish  people who could care less about anything but themselves on national television day after day.  What they need is  “Total Privacy“.  That includes Dr. Phil and Gloria Allred!  Butt out!  Stop inserting yourselves into someone else’s life in order to get ratings and media attention.  The powers that be in her area are on it.  Let them do what they are supposed to do and stop trying to use her to get whatever you can for yourself out of it.

Third: Dr. Phil and Gloria Allred – I’m ashamed of both of you.  If your main concern was truly the welfare of these fourteen children, you would have quietly and without fanfare, gone to Nadya and offered her whatever help you could.  There was absolutely NO need for all of the shows done or all of the press conferences held in order to assist this mother.  I don’t blame Nadya for not wanting any of you around anymore.  If you were using me and mine the way you used her and hers, I wouldn’t want your greedy butts around me either!

Gloria Allred, what makes you think that you have a right to enter a private residence, uninvited, and then make them force you to leave?  You and your ladies could have just as easily set up a time and place away  from all the media AND THE CHILDREN you claim to want to protect, to have your little celebration, couldn’t you?  That should have been a private celebration away from the children.  The fact that you chose instead to insert yourself into someone’s private residence to do it, then make a big deal out of the fact that you had to leave is the perfect indication that your motives are less than altruistic.  Greed for the spotlight doesn’t look good on anyone, Gloria.  You should keep that in mind.

Fourth: Angels In Waiting – Your best bet would be to stop letting Gloria Allred blow smoke up your ass about how much good it would be for your organization to swoop in and “rescue” these eight preemies.  She did you NO favors.  It’s really NOT your place to “set boundaries” for a woman in her own home in regards to her own children.  The fact that you believe you have that right is frightening and speaks volumes about why you are no longer there.  Nadya’s decision to choose her own assistants seems to me a good first step towards getting a handle on what’s going on around her and her family.  “Total Transparency” is not good for her or her children.  NO one needs to try to live their life on a stage for the approval of the public.  That idea is ridiculous and dangerous, not the least reason being that the public will never approve.   And it’s not the public’s business!  What moron decided that it was?

Did it occur to any of you nice ladies that Nadya had MANY places to be every day?  She still needs to spend time with the four children who remain in the hospital, she has to spend time with the six older children every day, she has to supply food for them, she has to deal with the legal issues she now has.  IF she came home at midnight with Gap bags in hand, it is possible that midnight is the only time she HAS to shop for her children!  And regardless of whether YOU think it’s appropriate or not, she has to have a FEW moments for herself as well if she is to continue to try to care for her family.

Please, get away from Gloria “media hound” Allred.  Take a deep breath and relax.  Now, do you really think you came off well by going on a rant about the replacement of a leaking bathtub?  If she hadn’t replaced the bathtub you would have been having a fit about the unsanitary and unsafe conditions in the house……again.  You really can’t have it both ways.  Just accept the fact that it didn’t work out, you won’t come out of all this as the heros you saw yourselves being in the beginning, and let it go.  You’re embarassing yourselves by all this justification. 

Let your organization and it’s deeds speak for themselves and you’ll be fine.  I’m sure that in normal circumstances you are all fine and giving people. 

And…… on a view I have heard way too often lately by people who have the media spotlight:  Dr. Phil stated today that the legitimate press was too often quoting the internet and therefore reporting false information.      Dear God where do I start with that one? 

 1. It is the JOB of the “legitimate” media to check their facts before they report them!    If someone on the internet reported that Dr. Phil was a pedophile, wouldn’t it be the job of the “legitimate” press to check their facts before they reported it?  “I read it on the internet” isn’t really your best defence if you are “legitimate” press! 

Dr. Phil also stated that that is a “problem” with the internet, that anyone with a computer can say whatever they want to say!

2. Well DUH!  To quote YOU on your show today, “This is America!”  As far as I know, the right to free speech is still alive and well in America.  Just because you don’t agree, it doesn’t give you the right to condemn the rest of us for speaking OUR minds.  YOU do that too, Dr. Phil.  We’re not out here trying to get your show taken off the air just because you are so incredibly wrong in the way you dealt with Nadya Suleman!  OR because you make your living off the backs of desperate people who need help.  Now are we?  So you can take your dislike of the internet and those of us who speak our minds and stick it where the sun don’t shine. 

One last thing for those of you who believe that putting Nadya Suleman’s children in foster care:  You obviously have NO idea what you’re talking about.  I was awarded custody of  my grandchildren only after they spent eight months in foster care.  They were abused both emotionally and physically.  Their very blood was vilified because they had different fathers.  They were turned against each other in a way that was horrifying.  Only now, after nearly six years of weekly counseling, are they able to interact with each other in an almost normal way.  Survival instincts are very hard to undo.

The foster care mother they had no longer cares for children because, right after my grandchildren left her care, a child died.  Unattended in a bathtub.  So, unless you are going to personally guarantee the safety of these children, both physically and emotionally, STFU.  You can’t imagine the devastating effect of being wrenched from your natural parents.  No matter how bad their home was, it was home.  No matter how much you love and care for them you will never ever be their parents.  They will always long for the home they lost.  They will never feel that they totally belong.  They will always feel once removed.  Even when they understand that it was the best thing for them, you can’t take their longing for belonging away from them.  You can never take the shame of being removed from their parents away from them either. 

So, unless you feel that total emotional devastation is an acceptable price for these kids to pay for their mother’s bad decisions, please stop talking about it.  It will only hurt them when the person you really want to punish is their mother. 

I wish the best for Nadya Suleman and each and every one of her children.  So should everyone who professes to care for the welfare of those children.  And I hope that I don’t hear another word about her for a long, long time.

Okay, this is going to sound soooo strange but I think my two outside dogs have stolen some puppies.  My Dearest Husband and I went to the elementary school today to eat lunch with Princess Bella.  And let me just say……they have rockin lunch!  Anyway, when we came back to the house all of our inside dogs, who we had left outside to enjoy the beautiful weather, were going insane.  They were so discombobulated that they didn’t know whether to wind their watch or scratch their ass!  They were jumping, whining, barking, and just generally milling about in high lather.

I didn’t immediately get it because the inside dogs are insane most of the time anyway.  They are small dogs to begin with, then you have to take into account that they were raised with The Buddha and Princess Bella as daily companions.  Add to that the fact that they spend an inordinate amount of time alone with me and you have the consummate recipe for insanity in all small animals.

However, it did seem odd that outside dogs were totally calm.  They had that suspiciously innocent look on their faces, like…..Whatever could be wrong with them????  That gave me a hinky feeling right there. 

As we’re walking up the walk the little dogs fly into the bushes in the front flower garden.  We looked to see what it was and I was stunned.  There, all curled up and wide eyed with fear, were two of the cutest little puppies!  Normally this wouldn’t have hit me like a sledgehammer, however, we just got rid of fifteen puppies and now here are two more!

It’s like the canine version of Groundhog Day.  I can’t get out of this nightmare.  Every time I think I’m done with the puppy thang, I end up with more of them.  None of this is helped by the fact that Ditto is now hugely pregnant.  *sigh*

I have to add here that this reminds me of my life in general.  Every time I get done raising a child to an acceptable age, I get more of them!  WTF???

But, back to the alleged theft……Jeremiah and Sugar Plum(the outside dogs) are still all calm and serene.  They are NEVER calm and serene.  And here is something even more suspicious……We put all the dogs in the house so that I could get a better look at the new arrivals.  While I was outside trying to coax the puppies out of the bushes, Jeremiah was in the house acting out the fact that he didn’t want me out there alone with his new acquisitions! 

He stood at the door whining and barking.  Then he ran to MDH and looked at him.  Then back to the door.  Then he stood up on his hind legs and watched me out the window.  Then he ran back and put his head in MDH’s lap, ran to the door again and looked pointedly back at him.  Needless to say, he was NOT happy. 

It is my theory that he was worried that I would take those two puppies and not bring them home just like I did the other fifteen.  This in turn leads me to believe that he and Sugar Plum, who had been licking, grooming, playing with, and generally taking care of the puppies while I tried to get them out of the bushes, know what is going on here.  I further believe that they went out and found them a couple of pets of their own. 

All I can do is hope that I don’t get a visit from the law wanting to know if my typewriter matches the one that the ransom note was typed on.  *gulp*   God forbid they come up with a paw print match from the FBI.  Or a DNA match on the paper that the ransom note was written on.  Or worse yet, that we will never find the rightful owners of the two alleged puppies and have to try to find new homes for them too! 

Until then, Jeremiah and Sugar Plum are going to be feeding, walking and pooper scooping.  And I’m not taking no for an answer either!

I watched Princess Bride again yesterday.  I love that movie.  It made me think though…….we see movies based on books all the time, but we never see a book based on a movie.  Why is that?

Another thing I’ve been thinking about lately is this:  Why is it that some people have no problem creating children, but when the children are no longer in their “possession”, they can’t imagine a reason in the world why they should be financially responsible?  What must one say to oneself to make it alright to not pay child support?  How do you justify to yourself that it’s okay to throw a $500.00 party, but it’s not even in the realm of possibility to pay for your child to eat, or have clothes that fit, or maybe just eat at McDonalds?  People sometimes mystify me. 

Rihanna is living proof that even celebrities are not immune to the battered wife syndrome.  Hell, she’s not even married to Chris Brown and she’s putting up with this crap.  It’s unfortunate that people see themselves from the inside out just when they most need to see themselves from the outside in.  I wish them both luck.

Why don’t the banks stop taking back houses that they can’t sell, and in the process, creating an entirely new class of h0meless people?  Why not take half payments on mortgages until the economy gets better?  Isn’t half of something better than one hundred percent of nothing? 

I’m old.  I know this not because I’m fifty-one but because I don’t get it anymore.  I don’t understand why people feel the need to live out their lives on a stage for all the world to see.  I like my life to belong to me and the people that I’m closest to.  I don’t feel the need to “update my status” multiple times a day for people that I don’t know and never will.  I don’t want pictures of myself and my family all over the internet.  I can use the phone and call whoever I want to.  I can drive down the road and see people all day long.   It seems to me that by living your entire life for the public to see makes it so that everyone feels the right to be a critic.  And in my opinion there are only two people who have a right to comment on my life and that’s me and My Dearest Husband.  Everyone else can just stick a sock in it. 

It is very, very, VERY hard to give away fifteen puppies, but it is NOT impossible if you have a nearby WalMart parking lot and a few hours!

I’m beginning to think that I have an unhealthy attitude regarding Katie Couric.  That little wench just chaps my ass!  I was listening to her hyper-giggling on David Letterman tonight.  They were having a discussion about television and the Internet becoming inter-connected.  Then Katie says that the Internet has become a place where just anyone with an opinion has an open forum to state them(their opinions)!  She continued with the observation that in the past people’s opinions would come into the office, be read by someone, then placed in the “round file”, meaning they would be thrown out.   Now, however, they are out there on the Internet for everyone to see.

Apparently Katie thinks that her opinions are the only ones that count.  She seems to think that those of us with a different take on things have no right to express ourselves because we aren’t whoring ourselves out to the news outlets like she does.    Personally, I believe that the good old US of A would be a far better place if we just tossed Katie Couric into the round file. 

I really need a hobby.  Or I need to stop watching the news. 

What I really need to do is stop giving her my time. 

So, on to something that doesn’t make me want to puke!

The Firefighter’s Burned Children’s Fund.  This is an organisation that gets my full support in any way I can give it.  They are fantastic.  When the area president asked me to take her place on Valentine’s Day, I happily agreed.  She had gone to one of the area elementary schools and asked them to make Valentines/Get Well cards for her.  She then got together some small gifts and put them in bags with the cards attached.  They were going to the children at the UNC -Chapel Hill burn center. 

Unfortunately she had to work that day and couldn’t go to deliver them.  So I got to do it!  MDH came with me and another guy took us in the “official vehicle.”  One of the local kids that had been burned came with us to hand out the gifts.  We had fifty gifts to distribute.  We walked through the burn unit.  MDH and I hadn’t been there since Princess Bella was there. 

The burn unit brings back a lot of distressing memories for me.  But it was for the FBCF and the kids, so I sucked it up and we went.  It was a really good experience for me.  I think it was good for MDH as well.  We understood how these people were feeling.  We understood how you get stuck inside those walls and it’s hard to remember what is going on in the outside world. 

Wow, I actually can’t write about this!  Hah!  I thought I was farther along than this.  Okay, I’m going to have to cut this a little short.  Sorry.

It was a great experience and it was good for me.  We delivered all but two of the gifts.  We gave them to everyone on the burn unit, then went to the children’s ward and gave them out there as well.  The parents were grateful, the kids were thrilled and it was a fun time for the little fella that came with us.  He found his pictures on the wall at the burn unit.  He loved the babies.  He got to do something for someone else and I believe it was good for him to be able to do that. 

Okay, now I’m all creeped out by thinking about the burn unit so I’m done for now. 

I really need a hobby!

Well here we are in 2009!  We managed to make it through another year. 

We have a new President who made (long overdue) history.  We are in the middle of a recession.  *sigh*  People have lost their homes left and right.  The price of gasoline inexplicably went up and then….wonder of wonders…..went down again when people stopped driving so much.  At the end of it, we had the same old realization, that the oil companies made incredible profits by riding on the backs of the consumer.  Sad.

This past year seemed to be built on the unfortunate premise that greed at any cost is a good thing.  Hmmmm…..greed at any cost?  That seems to be an unwise choice of words, but there it is.  At the moment I don’t have the mental facility to correct myself.

On a more personal note, the year was pretty good.  Sure, we’re being hit by the recession along with everyone else, however I grew up fairly poor so I have a few tricks up my sleeve for dealing with all of this.  I’ve also been here before and I know that in the end it all gets better.  For those of you going through this for the first time, hang in there.  It’s like a kidney stone:  It hurts like hell, but it doesn’t do any permanent damage and it will pass.

MDH is doing great.  He’s moving right along on all fronts and seems to be, for the most part, happy and healthy.  He is committed to the volunteer fire department in our area and takes classes in order to be more useful to them.  Being helpful and useful is in his nature.  It is one of the things that makes him one of those people that you just want to be around.  He is getting back into Tai Chi, and will soon be smoking his pipe again.  He’s a Native American Pipe Carrier.  He’s been on a Vision Quest and everything.  That was an awesome event.  I’ll tell you about it sometime.

The Buddha and Princess Bella are doing well too.  They were both on the honor rolls last report card time.  They both got awards for perfect attendance.  Their teachers think the world of both of them.  They both love school.  The holiday vacation was hard on them.  They missed their friends and their teachers!  However, they both made out like bandits at Christmas.  The Buddha’s comment was, “We have less money than we ever had but this year I got more things I asked for than ever before!”  It didn’t hurt that he pared down his list to just three things that he really wanted. 

Rocky is doing wonderful.  My brother, Porkchop, and his daughter Tiffany came for a surprise visit right after Christmas.  She was in Heaven!  Her knee bothers her, I think because of the difference in the weather between here and Florida.  But she’s a tough cookie and never complains about anything. 

Possum is doing fantastic.  A little history for you since she doesn’t play a huge roll in this blog:  Possum is MDH’s natural daughter.  I adopted her when she was very young.  Now she’s MY daughter too.  We went to court more times than anyone ever should in order to gain custody of her and keep her safe.  We accomplished that in a very satisfactory way.  Now she is eighteen and has gone to live with her natural mother’s family.  It caused a lot of hard feelings at first for some family members.  But!  she has the right to get to know them.  We did our job, we kept her safe and secure while she was growing up.  We taught her to think for herself.  Now we have to let her do it!  Besides, if I were in her position, I would be doing the exact same thing.  She seems to be happy and healthy.  It makes me smile to think of her that way.  I miss her because she is in another town, but I’m happy that she is happy. 

Birdie, my natural daughter and Buddha and Bella’s mom, moved here from Texas a year ago.  She just told me the other day that she is moving back there now.  It makes me sad to think of her being that far away again, but to be honest we have only seen her a few times since she’s been here so for all practical purposes, it won’t be any different.  We’ll just know that she’s not nearby anymore when we think of her.  It will probably be good for her to go though, because Baby Jimmy, our youngest grand-baby, is buried there.  She won’t have to think of him being so far away all by himself anymore.  That was very hard on her.  I hope she is happy with her decision and that it works for her the way she wants it to. 

We have a whole new batch of puppies.  *sob*  Seventeen this time.  I’m taking them to Walmart and pushing them on kids like a drug dealer.  (in whispery, underhanded voice)  Pssst….Hey kid!  Wanna puppy?   I’ll dress them up in Valentine’s Day bandanas and name them all sweetheart names.  Love, Passion, Chocolate, Candy, etc.  Do you think it will work?  Lord I sure hope so!

So, a late, Happy Holidays!  I hope your New Year is better than you hope, with all kinds of interesting adventures.