This is just great !!!!!!!!!!

When your doctor wants blood work, it generally isn't a good thing. So when my doctor told me to get blood work done.  I put it off a few days, OK a few weeks, but one of those weeks I was at the beach.  My plan (I always have a plan) was to walk, eat right, and come back and get my blood work done. I did walk and I did, kind of, eat right. I just forgot about a few foods that are high in cholesterol like say ice cream, milk, cheese, shrimp and cheese pizza. Then there was the cheese burger at Max and Erma's. Remember that was Justin's idea. Anyway, I finally got around to going to the hospital for my blood test on Tuesday. I have to add here that it is very difficult to draw blood from me and I also bruise afterwards.  Anyway, I went for my blood test and thought this will probably take a week or so for the results and maybe they will get misplaced for a few days in my doctor's office or maybe he will not have time to look at them right away. Well so much for that. When your doctor calls your house in the evening it usually isn't to catch up for the day. So as I was munching on some M&M's last night and face booking, the phone rang, guess who? Rob should of just told him I was out jogging but instead handed me the phone. "I guess you've been expecting my call?"  Why would I expect his call? It isn't like he is a face book friend. "Not really" I said.  "Well your cholesterol is over 300 and you need to pick up a prescription at your drugstore tomorrow night." he said.  This cholesterol thing has always been a source of irritation for me. In our 20's Rob ate everything wrong like foot long Italian hoagies, steak, meat with a side of meat, 4 egg omelets with cheese and bacon and had low cholesterol. I on the other hand ate cereal, oatmeal, fish, chicken, salad and had high cholesterol. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but give me a break. So today while I had chicken and low fat yogurt for lunch I watched Brandy eat a huge hamburger with extra cheese and bacon. I spent sometime today looking up low cholesterol desserts. Number 1 on the list was rice cakes. I really don't think a rice cake should be considered a dessert.  Brandy didn't appear to be too sympathetic when she continued to talk about getting a cookie dough blizzard tonight after her class. I think Brandy forgot that she wants me to help her on a paper for one of her night classes, and no I was not bitter when she told me her blood work is perfect. I actually hate people like Brandy but that is another blog. So tonight I'm working on my shopping list for low fat, low cholesterol foods and wondering what Ben and Jerry's has in the way of cholesterol free ice cream.

Too much stuff

We have too much stuff. I have no idea where it all came from or what to do with it. Rob is part of the problem. He won't get rid of anything, obviously because I'm still around. Anyway, only last summer did he finally give away his clothes from high school. The attic is full, so full that I have worried that Rob and I would die in bed together being crashed to death when the attic collapses on top of us. I even at one point asked my friend Kathy to clean out my attic if I died before her.  Our garage is full too. We have a storage building that is full, also. Honestly, I don't know how it happened, but being sentimental doesn't help. Every time someone in the family dies, we tend to inherit things and feel bad about getting rid of the heirlooms, so we have china, silver, crystal, photos, books, paintings, knickknacks, and journals all from deceased family members. Rob and I both like books, so we have lots of books. I am in the category of sentimental mothers who kept every school paper and art project Justin ever did. Just in case he would ever become President of the United States and they would want these things for his Presidential library.  Our attic has 4 wings, the Justin wing, the holiday wing, the Rob and Debra wing and the clothes wing. My holiday wing and clothes wing grew so much that we had to rent a storage unit in Kingwood. I like to decorate for holidays, but I use to REALLY like to decorate for holidays. I had the fall tubs, Halloween tubs, Thanksgiving tubs, Hanukkah tubs, Christmas tubs, Mardi Gras tubs, Valentine's Day tubs, Easter tubs, summer tubs. I even had directions in the tubs for Rob as to where to put the decorations just in case, you know, something happened to me. Well, that was all before Prozac and know I honestly don't give a shit, but we still have all the decorations. The abundance of clothes has to do with us both working and needing seasonal clothes, so there are sweater tubs, clothes racks for fall, winter, spring and summer clothes. I plan to get rid of many of these clothes when I retire. I plan to live in bath suits and pajamas.  Lately, I have been giving away many things, especially clothes, and giving things to the Salvation Army and Goodwill. I think getting lazy is part of it. I don't really want to do crafts anymore or many of the things I once did. We are downsizing our computer room because we generally use laptops now. I try to pawn things off on Justin. I recently gave him the tub of his stuffed Easter Bunny Collection.  The collection consist of a bunny for every Easter. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. They are cute but what do you do with 20 some stuffed Easter Bunnies. Rob has a stamp collect. He also likes tools and I don't think we have ever thrown a can of paint away. I forgot about the basement.  We can never totally move or sell our house because I find the idea of going through everything too painful.  We have filled the beach house up in the last year with the contents of Rob's parents home, so I'm not allowed to take anything there. Justin is an only child. He gets everything and I mean everything.

Still tramatized......... The saga and drama cont.

We were finally taken off stand by and put on the flight to Pittsburgh. We arrived to a cold day and Cassie and Justin waiting. I was still in flip flops and capris. Life can be so cruel. Justin wouldn't let me go to the bathroom because he said he was hungry and we needed to leave immediately for the restaurant. Once in the restaurant, I was allowed to go to the bathroom. On the way back from the bathroom the hostess asked me if my feet were cold. I tried to explain that I had just gotten off a plane from Daytona and that is why I was dressed the way I was.  She didn't seem to buy it.  We ate at Max and Erma's. My hamburger and fries were rather tasty. After lunch, I just wanted to head home. No chance of that option. Justin wanted to stop at Gander Mountain. I slept in the car and waited for him to finish shopping. I did ask him to get me a Diet Pepsi. He told me that I would have to wait until Morgantown, that he wasn't going to get off the interstate for a Diet Pepsi. We stopped at Sheetzs  and I finally got my drink.  Then we had to stopped at Subway in Kingwood.  12 hours later we walked in the door. We could have driven home as fast as this day had taken and I would not have had to get up in the dark and be attacked by the tree frog. As we walked into the house, we discovered that Midnight had thrown up three different times. Justin, of course, started complaining about the cat saying that when I am gone he becomes bulimic and psychotic, Midnight not Justin. I had Rob clean that mess up because I was still too tramatized from the tree frog. Actually, I realized I had enough for the day. I was cold. I was facing work the next day. I realized my tan was already fading and at that moment life seemed even more cruel than I remember before I left for Florida. I had no choice. I went to bed to try and begin my slow and painful recovery.  THE END

Tree Frog Day cont.

So off we went to the airport. I'm one of those people who think there are signs in the morning as to what the rest of your day will be like. I think the tree frog was meant to be a my sign for the day. We get to the airport, check in and load onto the plane. So far so good, but not for long. The next 2 hours we sat in the plane on the tarmac waiting for take off. The Atlanta airport was closed due to a major storm, and that was our destination for our transfer flight. Thank God I had Rob buy those bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits to go. We chatted with a lady from Arkansas and ate our biscuits.  Finally, after 9:30  our 7:25  flight took off. The only problem was our connector flight was leaving Atlanta at 10:00. At about this moment the pilot informed us that they (Delta) realized that many of us on the plane were missing our connector flights to other places and they would do what they could to make sure that we got where we were suppose to be sometime that day. Sometime today! I have a schedule, a plan, I  just a few hours earlier, had been attacked by a tree frog.  The passengers are told to check their boarding passes at Atlanta to see what flight they have been transferred to. If we ever get to Atlanta.  Finally, we are near the airport when the pilot informs us that because the airport has been closed the arriving flights are backed up and we will need to go into a heading pattern until it is our turn to land. Thank God for the baggie of gummy bears I packed in my purse for emergencies.  30 minutes later we land. Our next connector flight was suppose to be 11:17 but it is 11:05. Could we get off the plane, run through the airport and be able to board in time?  I envisioned myself running through the airport. OK, so walking as fast as I can. I hate to hurry but I did and we made it to our boarding area only to be told we were on stand by. Now we have to call Justin and tell him we are going to be even later. The gummys are gone. Delta only serves Diet Coke. The tree frog was definitely sent as an omen. To be cont.

Attack of the Tree Frog

I should have known what this day would be like when the alarm went of at five. Five o'clock in the morning is not a natural time to get up on a Sunday, but there was a 7 AM flight to catch to return to my so called normal work life. I drug myself out of bed put on Capri's, the warmest sweater I had in Florida and my thickest flip flops to head back home to WV.  I headed downstairs to gather my last items to put in my carry on bag for the plane. Hearing Rob in my head saying "Don't forget your phone and charger." Into the kitchen I went to retrieve my phone from the counter. Half asleep I reached for my phone on the counter from its usual spot. Out of no where came this thing after me. I screamed. My eyes adjusted and the thing was now stuck to the kitchen wall. There on my kitchen wall was a tree frog clinging to the wall with its little webbed feet. I yelled for Rob and told him to get downstairs. He yelled back that he had just stepped out of the shower. I said to hurry downstairs. He came running downstairs asking me what was wrong. I said, "Look!" There is a frog on the wall.  He said, "I don't see a frog."  I'm thinking how can you not see the frog hanging on the wall. I yelled, "The frog, see, the frog hanging on the wall under your fake hot peppers."  Rob looked at the frog. The frog looked at Rob, with some look like "you sure have some crazy ass wife there, buddy." Rob commented, "Wow, that is a frog!" "Wonder where it came from."  "Wonder where it came from?"  "Get it out of here, it attacked me." I have no idea why Rob thought he could catch a tree frog with a pizza box, but he did. After two attempts, and the frog now on top of the refrigerator, I left the room. I thought I'd better calm my nerves so I got the lap top out and got on face book. A knock at the door, I jumped up by passing the kitchen and answered the door.  It was Dan the Man, neighbor and resident marine biologist. "Dan, there is a tree frog on my kitchen wall," I said.  "That will happen here in Florida," Dan the Man said. It probably came in the door when you had it opened. "Get a broom stick and get it to jump on the broom stick, then you can carry it outside."  "Rob chased it up on the refrigerator with a pizza box," I said. "Why did he do that?" Dan asked. " I don't know, he thought he could catch it." "What happens now?" I asked. " I take you to the airport and you come back in a couple of months to a dead tree frog." To be cont...........

Spicy and Bland

Rob is spicy and I am bland. This has nothing to do with sex or personality. It does describe our food preferences. Rob loves hot and spicy. He has cabinets full of hot sauces. He collects hot sauces and uses hot sauce on everything. He talks hot sauces with people. Friends come over to our house and try his hot sauces. He cooks with them. He grows hot peppers and makes relishes with the peppers. His love of hot peppers and hot sauces is endless. I, on the other hand, am bland. I like mashed potatoes, cereal, milk, macaroni and cheese, mild wings, pudding, cheese pizza, etc.  I could eat cereal for every meal. Rob thinks this is disturbing. I think it is disturbing to eat something that has the potential to burn your mouth and lips and cause a person to drool. One of the first times Rob made pasta for us, he made it too spicy. I did not remain calm because I was hungry and really looking forward to a nice dinner. I took one bite and had to spit it out. Rob never made that mistake again.  We else make many dishes two different ways or we make it bland for me and then he spices his to suit his taste.  Rob thinks I have food issues. I think I just know what I want. For instance, I hate tea. I mean hate it with a passion, like gag me with a spoon. If any kind of tea touches my lips, I have to spit it out. I don't care where I am.  If I were in the White House, I would have to spit it out. I also hate olives and capers. Disgusting, with a capital D.  Rob loves them. I do love candy. Rob thinks my love affair with candy borders on addiction. Excuse me but I don't have cabinets full of candy and invite people over to try a million different varieties and call it fun. I actually prefer not to share my candy. Then there is pop. Everyone thinks I'm addicted to Diet Pepsi. I have to drink something because I hate tea.  Plus in every other area of our life I am anything but bland, so give me some mashed potatoes with a side of macaroni and cheese and a Diet Pepsi to drink, please.

Power of One

Funny how things happen. This morning I thought a good blog would be about the Power of One. Today at the beach a couple of people came to mind that recently have reminded me about the Power of One. On our walk home this evening from a perfectly gorgeous day at the beach, I noticed a man with a tee-shirt on with the words across the front in bold print, The Power of One. So I know, my blog tonight was meant to be the Power of One. I've always believed in the Power of One. I mean how could anybody brought up in a Christain household as a child, going to Sunday school and church, not believe in the Power of One. So what does the Power of One mean to me. It means having the strength and faith to stand up for what you know is right, even if you are all alone. The Power of One can be a lonely place and many times you aren't real popular. Some have even been crucified for their beliefs and standing up for them. I admire those who stand up for the right thing and obviously believe in the Power of One. Recently, a parent at school took a stand and basically took on the powers that be by herself. I admire her. We all should. So what could the Power of One mean. First a much better world for all of us.  Think if all of us took it upon ourselves to be the Power of One for ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods, our schools, our communities etc. If we all became compelled to stand up for the right things and not back down.  The impact that the Power of One could make on society if we all just took one non-relative under our wing and and helped them to improve their life. One million people helping another million people. The Power of One is a pretty simple concept and all you have to worry about is what you are going to do. There is no one to point fingers at or blame if something doesn't get done. So are you thinking about where you could start?  Be the Power of One with your own family, your spouse, children, and parents. Be the Power of One at your children's school, place of worship, neighborhood park, or workplace. Volunteer an hour a week. Clean out your home and donate. Help someone else. You don't have to help a million people, just one. If everyone just helped one person and passed it on. That would become the Power of One.