AMOUR TAG & AN EVENING WITH MARC

My son came to see "The Mama" tonight for a visit. We were watching the History Channel, the History of Chocolate. Which gave me the idea to make Chocolate cookies : ) It's been ages since I've baked. In fact, it may have been last November when I made a bunch of Apple pies with the apples my mother brought with. The cookies, not so good. They just tasted a little off. It wasn't until I had the 2nd dozen in the oven that it dawne on me that I hadn't added the vanilla. Added vanilla and they tasted much better.

Then about 9:30 Marc said he was too tired to drive home & needed to lay down and take a little nap so he wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel. OK, he grabbed a couple pillows, snuggled up with Jasmine. Soon Mau'i cuddled up in the crook of his legs. He slept until 11:15. What a Baby!

He asked me to make a list of things I'd make for Thanksgiving dinner at Dina's house. I don't think I told you about Dina. She is 8 yrs older than Marc. He is 31, she 39. Whe he started going out with her 6-8 weeks ago he asked me if I thought she was too old for him. I told him that women her age are emotionally more stable and less likely to flip out about the little things. She is also the single Mom of a 7 yr old Autistic son and with Marc having to deal with Learning Disabilties she said Marc is patient, talks one to one iwth the little guy when he gets out of control. She was telling me some of the things she has to do with help her son cope. Many of the things she described are things I had to do with Marc. I guess it's because both have to do witht the Neurological System. We talked about the daily structure, dealing with the educational system, foods & thier effects, & the supposrt systems we as single Mom's need to cope with a special needs child. Of course her situation is beyond what I dealt with. Marc wasn't expected to graduate for High School. Or is he did I was told by the Psycologist and counselors it would take 5-6 yrs instead of 4. Notonly did Marc graduate in 4 yrs he also attended Vocational school and got another diploma in Culinary Arts.

One Saturday Marc a & Dina came over and the 3 of us went out for pizza. OMG! The best pizza I've had since my trip to Chicago! Country Inn Pizza....AND they deliver!!

Dina was "delightful". And she has come with Marc to visit a more couple times when her son was visiting his father. Little guy doens't do well with strangers in a strange place. Thanksgiving I am going to their house as not to stress he out too badly.

More SnowBirds have arrived. The people the next lot up from me got here just before noon today. The man cleared the lot of leaves with a leaf blower. Blowing leaves & sand onto MY deck and patio that I had sweeped & tidied up last evening. Ugh! Well, I know from past experience that for the next 6 months he continue to blow sand and leaves on my patio. Then when he pulls his motor home out to go to lunch or dinner I have to get out my blower, clear my patio of sand, & blow it all back. His lot is all sand anyway, but it will be a "Battle of the Blowers"!

THEN he cant' just back into his lot without backing up over my nice grassy lot. AND before he backed today he removed 2 of the pavers on my walkway. I don't know why he backs up and has to drive over my lot to get to his. I may ask him one day.

The tag I worked on today.....





This was the tag I worked on today. I wanted to do another one tonight, but Marc was here and using my Laptop to go to his My Space account. He wants me to "pimp" his My Space with a template. Cool!

When Marc saw the above tag he said "Holy Shit! Look at those Boobies!!" What a GUY! LOL!

hugsss...

COME WITH ME

Silly little tag I know : )

One before Breast Cancer Awareness month is over




I am really trying to journal a little more often these days. You know, I like the word "Journal" better than "Blog". Do you all know where the word Blog comes from ::yep, me, Miss Smart pants is back!:: It comes from the 2 words Web and Log put together. Web log, Weblog, Blog. I still prefer to think of my place as an online diary though. Since that is really what I use it for. I go back and read my entries (and sometimes cringe) to help me recall incidents that happened. Like that incident last February with Art. Yes, that is his REAL name. Last time I mentioned him I changed his name because I believed Sandy was trying to find my Journal online Which in not hard to d at all.

Anyway, I want to say Hello/ Bon Jour to the nice woman from France who left me a lovely comment. And Hello to Bill, if you still are reading of my adventures. Bill was a man I dated once or twice after "Neighbor Girl" had convinced me to try the personal's on Craig's List a couple of year's ago. Nice man who's wife had died the year before. And he had been encouraged by a co-worker to post and ad in Craig's List. I guess I was one of the few who wasn't not offering lonely men "servicing". Oh hell, call it what it is, prostitution.

The Tampa Bay Ray's and Philadelphia area playing the 4 th game of the World Series tonight. First Game, Wednesday 10/22, was won by Phillies , Game 2 Thursday - TB Ray's. Saturday, Game 3 Phillies. And Game 4 is on now.

Grrr, the Buccaneer's played this afternoon against the Dallas Cowboy's. Dallas won 13-9. So that makes 5 wins so far this season, 3 losses.

LOL! sounds like I've been sitting on my butt all day. Well, almost. The Series game wasn't over until about 2 am last night. I was up by 9, took the "Girl Animals" for a walk. Worked on PSP, then took another walk with Jazzy. Mau'i followed bit, but more SnowBirds are coming everyday & Mau'i purr-fers to stick close to home. She has actually found that the cushion on the wicker chair o the deck is a mightly comfy place to cat nap during the day. Have y'all noticed the "Kitty Widget" on my side bar? Run you cursor over, around, and under it.

I took Jasmine for another walk during half-time. When I stopped to say hello to SnowBird Annie sunning herself. As I stood there in the sun I mentioned how hot the sun still was. She said yes, but her hubby was out of town. So I helped her pull down the awning on their 5th wheel. I've put mine up & down so many times I can do it in my sleep. And HAVE when it has suddenly gotten windy in the middle of the night. Yes, & many a gust up of wind has blown my little nighties or T-shirt up around my waist : / Good thing it's dark & all the SnowBirds's go to sleep early.

My daughter sent me a birthday present. Five month's late! Sorry to say this as I never intentionally pay the "guilt card", but she had told me a few times since May that she had gotten me a REALLY good present. So I waited & waited. A couple of weeks ago we were talking on the phone and I said, "You know Nicci, I've been really depressed lately. Then I sounding pitifully sad I said, "I really need good birthday present". Again she said it was a good one. Well, I know I could have left it there, but when I was in Chicago visiting last Christmas I had walked around one Saturday & done some shopping on Broadway. The post office maybe 200 feet from the apartment. She had told me she didn't have time with school & work. So I said, "Ni, all you have to do is take Yampa (her Chocolate Lab) for a walk, go around the corner, take a right on Broadway, down a block & it's on the right". How's that for a heavy handed hint?

So the really goo gift was a GOOD one. It's this "TO GO" insulated tumbler the contains a stainless steel basket for loose tea. It IS really unique, works fabulously, and I love it! There were also several packages of loose tea's. Carolina Honey, Sangria, & the one I've opened Ginger Peach. In the spring/summer/fall, I drink Ice Tea in the mornings, Solar Tea. Twice this week the morning temps were below 70 so I had hot tea.

Here is the photo. Nicci gave me the Blue one.





Hugs & Blessings all...

Happy Friday Everyone!

I've been working on more tags and also learning how to do Templates for Blogs. I just completed my first one. It's not perfect, but I don't think it looks too bad either. It's dark, it's called Samhain Nights if anyone would like it leave me a comment and I will include a tutorial on how to add these to your Blog.

Imagination Can Take You Anywhere

Also did a couple of Blinkies....

This Monday's Blinkie Challenge in the 'Group' was "Spider's.







Many of the SnowBird's are returning to the RV Park already. Is the weather turning cold early up north? I do have to thank you all for sending a nice 'cold front' to us. The temp's at night have been in the mid-60's. during the day in the low 80's. Perfectly comfortable.
Hillbilly Bobby has been trimming trees the past few days. Normally I wouldn't mind, but I've been waking up with a migraine the past couple weeks. It's not until noon do I feel halfway decent. I did take Jazzy for a wlk this afternoon & ran into HillBilly Bobby and asked him if I could gather up some of the wood in my yellow wagon for my fire pot. He looked at me & told me I couldn't have a fire on the ground. NO duh!
Heck with the price of things and my lack of transportion buying brickets seems pointless if I get use free wood. I'm planning on putting a pile on the west side of my little place where the sun will bake off the moisture. Cool, huh?


New subject...


I rarely dream. Then all of a sudden 3 weeks ago I started dreaming. Most of my dreams were about my grandmother. Nice dreams. I admired her emmensely. She as so kind and gentle. I always felt safe in my Grandma and Grandpa's home. I called my mother & asked her the date my grandmother died. Sure enough it was THAT very day. You see at the time my grandmother died I had a 2 yr old with ADHD, a husband who abuse me, and a 6 month old baby I was nursing. I had no idea of the actual date she died. Days just blurred together.


My Grandmother was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer in the spring of 1979 when I was pregnant with my daughter. My son and I used to accompany her to her various Dr and diagnostic appt's until we go the morbid news. The cancer was too far gone for surgery and chemo would be useless. She felt uncomfortable, but denied any pain.


My son and I would take her to Jumpin's Jack's, a popluar Drive-In Burger/Soft serve ice cream place located on the Mohawk River in Scotia. We lived on the out skirts of Schenectady at the time. As I'd drive across the bridge that corssed the Mohawk River to Scotia I'd say to my son, "Shall we go get Grammy. too". After that my son always referred to that Grammy as "Grammy 2". My mother was just plain "Grammy".


After lunch we'd sit on her patio enjoying the sweet smell her rose garden & the delightful afternoon warmth. One afternoon Grammy 2 watched Marc play while I walked up the corner to pay a Dr's bill. When I got back to the yard I went to sit & "OPPS! I think I went my pants a little" or could it be my water broke (?). My daughter was born that night.


The rest of the summer was more of the same. Grammy 2 was afraid to hold Nicolle because she was so weak. So I'd put the baby on the couch on her tummy for a nap & Gramma would sit in a rocking chair where she could easly reach over and stroke Nicolle's back. She's smile & talk about how sweet my baby girl was. Marc, on the other hand, she said was "A Card". I think that may have been the way her generation dubbed someone as a "Joker". He was a little devil boy.


Six months went by when I got a recieved a call from my mother who had moved in with Grammy 2 as her health declined & her weight to about 85 lbs. It was 6:30 am on a Saturday morning when I got a phone call. Mom said if I ever wanted to see Grandma alive I better get there NOW. I quickly change Nini's diaper, put her in a pink snowsuit, stuffed her fat little legs in and zipped her in. Put her in the car bed and drove like hell with flasher's flashing. Because it was early Saturday morning there was no traffic. I did run a few stop signs in Scotia. All the cops in town knew my family so I wasn't worried. You know I don't recall seeing a single car. Or maybe too focused.....


When I arrived she had already taken her last peaceful breath.


This morning I had another "Gramma Dream". When I awoke with the migraine I thought "UGH! I think I have an appt with the Rheumy today". I opened my calender, no, it's not week. Phew! I looked & there was written... today is the date of Grammy 2's Birthday. I thought about the year....2008. She was born in 1908. She would have been 100 yrs old today.


Now I'll admit I'm not good at remembering Birthday's or Aniversaries. In fact I am really bad. But it is strange how deep in my brain somewhere there was a little trigger that gives me a signal to pay attention to.


Thanks for listening
Hugs to All....

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPION'S

RAY'S-3 BOSTON-1

AND the
Tampa Bay Ray's are the American League Champions 2008


I held my breath for for the last 3 outs until we actually had the game.
Didn't want to see a repeat of Game 5. The boys worked so hard for this as they do every year, but it all came together this year.
Yes, this it Sweeeet!!


Now on to the WORLD SERIES!

Just Sitting Here

I am sitting here watching the Tampa Bay Ray's play the Boston Red Sox. This iss hte 6th game of the 7. It's the bottom of the 8th inning, the score is Boston-4/Tampa-2. This is agonizing. I know my boys have it in them.

Did I tell you that my Son in law played for the Ray's. Five years, I htink. First Base. He was in Spring training in St. Petesburg when he met my daughter one night at a bar in St. Pete.

Miss Mau'i had been sick. A week ago I was brushing her outside on the deck & brushed what I thought was linguini off her fur. And thought, "Hmmmm, how she get spegghetti from dinner last night on her butt?". When it happened again later I stopped an looked & it was moving. Ugh!! I knew immediately-Tapeworm segments. Sometimes it's not such a good thing to have so much microbiology.

I called the clinic to see if the Hook & Round worm medcine she had the day before as part of her immuniaztion package was killing them and was told no. She must have ingested a flea. Hmmm? She was without her flea preventiion for a month. I looked at her little tummy and no flea's of flea dirt to be found. But her white tummy fur is pretty dense. I was told I'd have to bring her in for a shot Sunday. I called Sunday because I had a feeling the girl gave me the wrong information. Sure enough-no clinic that day. I was going to get Jazzy the shot too. Just in case she ate an infected flea also.

Jazzy is going to have her immunizations in November so I'll be sure to get her taken care of then. She was off her flea medicine for a few months last winter. So she may have them, too. No linguine though.

I went over the the Cat Hospital across the street and got some pills for Mau'i. Only 2. And I asked the vet tech if she had time to give the first one to her. The tech took her to the back of the office where she gave it. When she returned she remarked what a good little kitty Mau'i is. *me is beaming with pride* Everyone says that.

Game over. The Red Sox & Ray's are tied with 3 games each in the playoff's. This is killing me. I really want the Ray's to go to the World Series!!

You see Tampa Bay sports used to be a joke when I moved here 15 yrs ago. Then the TB Lightening won the Stanley Cup, the Buc's, the Super Bowl. This has been a great baseball season.....finger's crossed we go to the series. Tomorrow's another game. It will be the Sox or US.

BTW, all my tags are snagable. It's nice of you all to leave a note if you snag. You don't have to ask. But, thank you though : )

Have a wicked good weekend!

It seems like 20 & 30 something yr old's are anxiously awaiting a Movie call Twilight due to be released November 21st. It's as big with the X generation as Harry Potter is among the "tweens".

I have an audio copy that one of the "girls" in my Group sent. Here is a little info on the story in keeping with the "Season".

Twilight is a young adult vampire/romance novel written by author Stephanie Meyer. It was originally published in hardcover in 2005. It is the first book of the Twilight series , and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington, and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. The novel is followed by New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

Thank you everyone who help me with the Graphic problem. I messed with it a bit and I guess I will have to concede that I will not be able to post graphics over 400 pixels. So "The Mama" has to get a pair of spectacles!

I was asked what "Haller" is. It is actually spelled "Holler", but pronounced "Haller". Now I know all of you southern Ginger Snaps know a "holler" is a little valley between mountain ridges where there may be a hand built shack or house at the end of a steep dirt road or path. And I mean waaaayy up in the mountains. Sometimes the road is so steep and the trees so thick that the only way in may be to leave the truck and walk a dirt path in. the word is a shortened version of "hallow". The hollers is where mountain men", "hermits", and where Jodie Foster of "Nell" are from deep in the Appalachian chain.

My friend Sandy was brought up in the Smoky Mountains in Kentucky and was actually born in a coal mining camp. The people in the camp were considered high socialites compared to the mountain people of the hollers.

In the hollers is were Moonshine and Marijuana sprouted. The hollers are so far up in the mountains & woods that the DEA had a hard time controlling the production of moonshine and the marijuana crops. The mountain men knew the territory of the hollers & there was no way the DEA could sneak up on them without being shot.

I have much knowledge about a whole lot of creepy nothing....

LOL!

Welcome to the Haller tag

HI Everyone!

I've taken a break from my Groups, LiLA and LearnPSP so I could work on some Halloween tags. As always, my tags are snaggable.

Does anyone know why when animated graphics are downloaded here on blogger that it doesn't add just one. It keeps adding and adding while I am franticly hitting the DONE button. Sometimes I have to hit DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE. LOL! I think I had 36 of these little witches to delete.

Maybe I already have a reputation on Blogger as being a "B-WITCH"

A BIT ABOUT ME....

About me: I am the child of 2 parents who were in the military. My father installed electronics components in Ballistic missiles in the late 60's. Remember the cold war? The "missile silos"? And Cheyenne Mountain. My father was involved in all that. We moved so many times most of my childhood is a blur. We lived in 26 states between the time I was born and age 12. We did spend 2 yrs in Alaska and 3 yrs in Kansas outside of KC. Then my father was recruited to install communications equipment in Viet Nam when the war escalated. That is when my mother, brother & I moved to the small town of Scotia, NY and in with my Grandparent's. That was the best year of my life as my father had horrible temper and would belt my brother & I for the pettiest things & he had been sexually abusing me since I was about 3-4 yrs old. It's hard for me to remember...a self preservation mechanism I suppose. In order to stay away from him I was always taking lessons: Ballet, Baton, Jazz, Modern Dance. And I was always at the theater or church. *No worries now though. He died of long Cancer 20 yrs ago and psychologically I've been for counseling and been told I'm fine. And I feel fine. It happened, it's over.

I was married young and divorced young. My kids were 3 and 1 when I decided to kick his drug seeking/abusive a** out. I had almost miscarried my daughter while I was pregnant after being rammed into a wall. His favorite saying while he had me in a head lock, pulling me backwards, with his knee in my lower back was "I can hurt you & hurt you bad without leaving a mark". I had had back surgery a f couple yrs earlier and been hospitalized a couple times since with back problems while pregnant. So it was my weak spot. Besides I was way too young not to experience GOOD SEX.

My son was diagnosed with ADHD/LD/Central Auditory Deficit/Dyslexia/ OCD. Both kids had asthma. My son's trigger's are allergies. My daughter's are when she catches a cold or Strep throat. So we spent many sleepless nights together.

I never thought about it before but I was one active girl back then. I had gone to nursing school so I worked full-time as an Obstetrical nurse, then into Pediatrics and Neonatal Special Care (NICU and Labor and Delivery of high risk babies). I took night courses in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at the State University of NY at Albany. Mostly for my son's sake, but also for work. And later when the kids were in their early teens I went back to college to get a higher degree.

I was also a dancer taking ballet and would travel to NYC for dancing gigs off Broadway and in the 80's, a couple of videos you'd see on MTV. As I grew older I did Country/Ballroom/Salsa. And worked at Disney World at the Wild Horse Saloon, doing choreography and teaching dance after the kids & I moved to Florida. Dancing was a passion a couldn't get out of my blood. Still can't.

Way back in the early 80's I had been diagnosed with Arthritic Lupus and Migraine/Cluster Headaches. The arthritis controlled with medications. The cluster headaches not. At age 42 I was having trouble sleeping & was WAking up several times a night. Then one day was having some heart flip-flops, the next jaw pain, that next shoulder pain. I was admitted into the hospital where I underwent a week's worth of test's. The problem; my sleeping heart rate was 30 because of Sick Sinus Syndrome and AV node Dysfunction. Later...Atrial Fib. The "cure"... a pacemaker and medication.

In 2000 I was declared unable to work any longer. The main diagnoses were Arthritic Lupus/ Fibromyalgia/ Cluster headaches and migraines/ Neuropathy of hands and legs. I do pick up some little jobs here en there. Last year I made meals for a blind man (DOBS), paper work for a hurricane inspector, and on-call as an Assistant Mid-wife.

Boy this entry needs a good shot of happiness. those of you that know me know that I'm not so negative. And some of you know bits and pieces of this.

Oh let's see. I moved to Florida fifteen yrs ago for my health having lived in the Albany/Schenectady/ Troy area and also Lake George/Glens Falls area of New York. I was working as a dialysis nurse by day, and doing private duty nursing with infants with heart problems and Genetic defects on weekends. I had been offered a job in Tampa developing and Acute Dialysis program for two of Tampa's Hospitals. From that position I was hired by Vivra/Gambro and put in an Administrative position where I contracted 10 hospitals and had 10 nurses to manage in Pinellas county.

That's my little life in a nutshell. Politically-I'm Independent. I'm a thinker, reader, nurturer. I mother. I mother animals, plants, new mothers. It's my thing. I am a child of the Earth. Spiritually-I'd be described as an Independent Eclectic Wiccan.

Now...I am happily single. I occasionally date. My heart still dances. My kids are grown. My daughter lives in Chicago with her husband and my son lives in a nearby town here in Florida and visits his momma at least once a week. I live in and RV Park in Palm Harbor and have a Maltese named Jasmine (Jazzy) and a former feral kitten that was found under a trailer named Mau'i. I enjoy my computer time, PSP and working with animation, walking nightly with Jazzy and Maui to the beach, concerts on the beach, some dancing, especially West Coast Swing, Cha, Salsa.

I take "On-Call" at a local Birthing Center every other weekend where I assist delivering babies. It's good.

I Made It!

Yes, I'm here : )

Still ironing things out. I was able to get an image on here, but what is up with the multiple images the pop up faster than the button can be pushed to day "DONE!" or was it "Enough!!".

At least I have animation and I am purty pleased

with myself. ::pat on back::

I was almost brave enough to post a "Blogger Video" on here. It will have to wait for another day. And I am hoping the spell check works better here than AOHell.