Wednesday, October 1, 2008

In the process of moving

                                  MOVING

 

            ------->   Cab Tags and ChitChat   <---------

 

My link for my new "home" is above.  I've changed my name but somehow the URL hasn't.  Gotta work on that.  I keep wanting to come back here but must get used to the new place.   

It's difficult because this wasn't my choice.  We've been evicted so I will make the best of it and hope for the best but it wasn't my choice.

I'm slowly working my way about blogger and finding JLand folks.  Leave a link or click under follower on my blog, and I'll be able to find you.

I put a couple of tags up tonight over there which is really a chore.  I agree with Donna...I certainly need a drink; a stiff one.

Hope to see you all on the new site.  Make sure to click on follower and sign up so I can find you.  HUGS  Chris

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

ROAR!

Well, why the heck not roar?  I hate change.  I love my AOL journals although I've never been fond of AOL and am even less fond of them now, to say the least.  I actually had an account at google for blogger which I didn't realize I even had so I've created a new journal.  I'm still going to hang out here for a while as I "move" into my new digs. 

Many of you know my lack of techno talents.  Lord, it took me three weeks to learn how to add graphics to this journal and AOL is user friendly.   Yet onward we are being forced to move. 

Not a good day, week, etc for me.  My journal will be 3 years old this week.  My Penny Pooh died on Oct 1st last year.  I was in a rather foul mood anyway.

I have to mention that I brought Becky home with me on Saturday.  She hung out with Joey.  I gave her something to sleep Saturday night.  She slept for 12 hrs. and was able to eat without gagging and throwing up.  Chicken soup for the soul (actually, I did make chicken soup.)  She went to the dr. today.  I haven't heard much how that went.  She gets stressed if she has to talk too much about it.  Anyway, I just don't feel quite at ease unloading yet on blogger.  I guess this is still my comfort zone.  I suppose you can still snag tags because blogger is graphic friendly.

I hope we all are able to move and create a new community.  That might be too much to ask but we need to try.  I, myself, depend and rely upon the love and support that I receive from so many of you here.  Damn AOL....HUGS Chris

             

 

            

Ooops......here's my link for my new "home"

http://cabscreationschatter.blogspot.com/

 I'm going to need some help and advise because I figure out how to add followers/friends, etc.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Taking off for a Day and SNAGS

  

Another week that went not quite according to plan.  Oh, what a week.  Becky is not doing well at all.  In fact, worse.  I really never thought I'd be going through this again with another child of mine.  It never gets easier.

She saw the doctor on Tues.  I went.  We had great hope that things would get somewhat better.  Not to be.....she did not tolerate the one medicine at all.  She has been nauseous and now throwing up non-stop and no sleep.  The anxiety became far worse. She texted me all night last night.  I'm exhausted.  She called the doctor at 5 am.  He got back to her within five minutes.  She is still taking the anti-anxiety but stopped the anti-depressant until she sees him Tues; then back to square one again.  Been there; done that in my life way back when but not so much was at stake for me.  I'm scared to death that she will not be able to stay in the Ph.d program which is a paid fellowship; scared to death.  She has invested so much blood, sweat and tears has gone into her education and only has less than 3 years to go.

Today was a nightmare for her.  Megan is off to Penn State for the weekend.  Becky begged me to spend the night.  I have to drive back to Pittsburgh in a short while.  This is going to be a rough night.  I can't do anything for her but watch her suffer.  I'm so dreading this.  I have to get back home tomorrow but I know she won't want me to leave.

Please, please continue with good thoughts, prayers, etc.  I have to get home tomorrow.  She hates to be alone but won't come up here because she wants her comfort zone.  Ugh....my head hurts but my heart aches so much more.

Love you all.....CHRIS

 

         

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Fall/Halloween SNAGS

          

I just got back from a trip to Wally World.  My BF did very well walking around the whole Super Center.  I could have spent some time looking at different things besides food but didn't want to push it.  Still it took an hour or so.  Most of the tags I've made have been for different challenges for my PSP group.

Thanks for all your prayers and comments.   HUGS CHRIS

 

        

             

              

 

 

A Tale of 2 Daughters/SNAGS

   

       

Two beautiful girls, linked by genetics and birth parents but oh so different.  Not the entry I had planned for today but does life ever go according to a plan.  Becky, brooding Becky, who has carried so much weight on her shoulders.  I wish I could find the link to my tribute entry to my oldest child and what drove her to success.  I still want to cry when I think of it.  It was a brilliant paper she wrote for entry into college but ripped my heart out.  It was the fear of her alcoholic father that drove her to become the scholar she is today. 

I sit here today in a mood which can't be explained but every loving mother knows that mood.  A child in deep pain.  My child is in deep pain.  I think of Lisa Jo's boxes and often wonder if Becky has boxes in her mind with things closed tight in them.  I know my son does because he has told me he chooses not to remember his childhood.

Becky's BF dumped her about 5 weeks ago.  She has broken up with BF's and had them break up with her before.  I figured she would be sad for a while and move on.  Megan moved in with her shortly afterwards so she would have company.  It's not happening.  She is not getting over it.  In fact, she is not sleeping, lost well over 10 lbs because she won't eat and comes home from school and goes to bed and cries or sleeps.  She texted me a day or two ago begging me to find a way to help her.  I then called Megan and found out that Becky is, in my opinion, clinically depressed.  So, this was the incident that opened the boxes.  I knew in my heart one day that Becky could keep suppressing all the fear, hurt and pain. 

Some may not agree with me.  Personally, I could care less.  I called Dr. G.  The problem was Becky's insurance is an HMO which he does not participate in.  It would cost $1,200 for about 90 days of treatment.  I wanted to throw up.  Good news is Becky has the PPO plan which will pay a percentage for out of network treatment.  On a side note, she told me she's been taking benadryl or Tylenol PM to sleep because she wakes up with panic attacks.  That could become a huge problem.  Keep my Becky in your thoughts, prayers, etc.  I'm scared to death that she won't be able to keep up in the Ph.d. program.  Thank goodness, she is done with the school part and doing the lab internship.  Her old boss (professor) has moved her lab work times around so she doesn't have to see "M".  That was a huge problem.  She has 3 more years of the program with "M".  He is truly not helping matters one bit but I didn't expect he would.  She wil see the doc no later than Tues.

        

Daughter #2 does get stressed.  She is a stress eater or so she says but weathers the storms relative unscathed.  She was the baby and stood her ground with the "Dad" in our household.  She was a tiny little thing but would look him straight in the eye and tell him he was mean.  For some reason, he thought that was funny.  She says now she was scared but would never let him know it.  She talked back to him constantly.  She was his baby.  She doesn't carry the scars or the baggage of childhood like her brother and sister.  She was the princess and demanded to be treated as one.

She is bubbly, boisterous, loves to have fun (too much at times).  She is very much like me barring my depression era.  I'm loud, I talk a lot, an awful lot.  People that don't know my children find it hard to believe that my two oldest are quiet.  I love to have fun, love to dance, love crazy hair.  I can't believe I'm this old and still want to do the things I do.

Megan is gone for the weekend visiting a friend who graduated and lives in Ohio.  She wanted Becky to go along.  Becky didn't want to leave the comfort zone right now.  Megan is frustrated.  Boy, do I envy those who have no clue what it feels like to be depressed.  I do worry about Megan because genetically she could suffer from depression at some point.  I also feel guilt about being the gene carrier for that.

          

        

So, enough of that, for now.  My BF is doing very well.  He is off of the oxygen.  We went to the store yesterday after work.  Today, the goal is Wally World.  Power is finally being restored in our area.  I was blessed to have not lost mine.  It flicked on and off a few dozen times.  BF's cable was gone until yesterday.  I never lost my sattelite connection which was amazing.  Hard to believe that Ike caused so much havoc in placed you wouldn't expect.

I also gave my self a "Chrissy cut."  It was really just a teensy trim.  My hair was just cut 2 weeks ago but was out of control.  Those short cuts grow out way too fast.  My son is cracking up.  I figure I get it professionally cut in two week so it should be grown out again.  I really need to get it cut shorter to begin with.  So the past couple of days have been a bad hair day.  I think the back spikes pretty well now but I'm sure my beautician won't agree.  Pfft.....it was just a slight trim on what I called the flying nun wings.

I really need to take a walk today.  I need to push myself on the weekends.  Heck, I need to push myself during the week sometimes.

Oh, and the timer on my dryer is kaput.  I'm hoping that is all but it's taking twice as long for things to dry also.   It just started Sunday before the storm. I need to get my appliance guy out sometime this week but my house is a total wreck :(  I hate that.  I could probably buy a new dryer for what it will cost to fix this one but it was a nightmare getting this one in the basement.  I had three delivered before we got one small enough to fit down the 100 year old basement steps, and it still got a bit banged up.  I mean it was a total nightmare.  The appliance guy remembers that and said I might just want to fix this one.  My electric bill is going to be atrocious so I must make my mind up very soon.

So, this was my book for the week.  Ugh, I never seem to be ableto make a short and sweet entry.  HUGS TO ALL...CHRIS

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Autumn SNAGS

Yikes, the wind is really picking up around here.  I know Lisa Jo was saying that it is awful in Ohio.  Should have kept my mouth shut.  I had the AC on and didn't even notice until the house started creaking.  I'm supposing this is what is going to cause our temps to drop drastically overnight.  Pfft.....Just found out the winds are the remnants of Ike.  I didn't realize that storm moved so fast.  Fun, fun getting to work today.  Footnote:  Megan stayed the night here.  She was scared to death driving home from Eat N Park.  No way was I letting her drive over an hour to Pittsburgh last night.  We are going this morning some time. 

      

        

LOL.....I really, really could go for a good caramel apple now or a chocolate covered one. 

                         

Another Week and some SNAGS

     

Autumn seems to be approaching but you'd never know it.  It is 87 here today and extremely humid; not that I'm complaining.  I love summer weather.  The pool is green so I gave Grizzly a bath.  He was smelling pretty "doggy" lately.  I've used Dawn, among other things on him, but can't totally get rid of his doggy smell.  Hartz used to sell an herbal shampoo that my son said made the dog smell like a "sissy" which translate to good.  Couldn't find it anywhere anymore.  I used Hartz citrus this time.  Not sure about that either.  His coat is so darned thick.  I'm hoping that we get some warm weather at the end of October so he can get shampooed again.  I have to do it outside.  He behaves out there.  Sounds awful, but I hose him down.  The water in the hose was warmer than warm today.

Anyway, my BF came home Monday which started a week of total exhaustion for me.  I didn't need to spend the nights; just until he showered and was in bed.  I would get off the bus; go to his house to see what he needed; run to the store or stores and pick up the things, drop them off; go home, get dinner ready, do laundry, etc., take a bath and fly back to his house until around 10.  He lives 4 miles from me so needless to say, I was whooped by Friday.  He's doing extremely well.  His visiting nurse comes 3 times a week.  He is only using oxygen at night.  He'll see the doctor in a month.

We went to Target last night.  He took his portable oxygen with him because it was unbearably humid here and hot.  He did really well.  Tomorrow, after work, we will go to the grocery store since it's going to drop into the 70's.  I'm sure cabin fever is setting in.

The girl I work with was rear ended a few weeks ago and will be off until October so I've been trying to get myself into the overload mode.  When I worked upstairs, that was a constant thing.

Megan came home to work this weekend.  Still no loan....the school held things upthis time.  Becky is still grieving the break up big time.  She is ok during the week but Megan said weekends are awful for her.

We had monsoon rains all day Friday and most of yesterday.  I didn't get my walk in on either day.  I could have last night but was lazy.  I was also darned lazy this morning.  I'll take Grizzly around the cul de sac tonight to get us back on track again.

I went grocery shopping and spent $98 on just about nothing.  Isn't it just awful what it costs now to buy food????????

Have a great week!  I have some pictures on my phone that I have to send to Becky so she can send them to my e-mail address.  I got rid of my web access so she has to send them to me.  I took them last week on one of my city walks. 

Here are a couple of snags.  I was cleaning out my hard drive and transferring to my external drive and found these:

          

               

ROFL....this next one looks just like me....HUGS CHRIS

                  

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Not so Random Thoughts & SNAGS

Hunh, try again....I actually lost an entry before I could save it.  I'm tired but I'll try again.

I took the pooch for a walk in the meantime because I was frustrated at AOL.

I've been a bit worried about what my BF would do once he got home.  He didn't get out today.  Maybe tomorrow or Tuesday.  The caseworker said he should have someone 24 hrs a day with him for at least 2 weeks, preferably a month.  His insurance will pay for someone to be there in the daytime to cook, clean, do laundry, etc.  I'm going to go after work and stay the night for a week or 2 and see; maybe a month.  We decided this tonight.

Today was a bad one to begin with.  Meg and I went to the hospital around 11 am.  I knew something was wrong.  My BF became very distraught and started crying.  I pushed Meg out of the room and asked him if he was depressed.  That is quite common after open heart.  No.  He said he was in unbearable pain.  The night nurse was giving him Tylenol because she said he would become addicted to the Percocet.  WTH????  3 days after open heart surgery?

I flew out of the room looking for a nurse, any nurse.  I grabbed one almost literally and asked what was going on.  She was shocked because the orders were for one Percocet every 6 hrs or 2 lesser dosages every 3 hrs.  The night nurse had, indeed, taken it upon herself to give him plain old OTC Tylenol since 5 pm the evening before.  This nurse peeked into his room and saw that he was beside himself crying.  I've never seen him cry ever.  I've seen tears well up but not like this.

She immediately gave him a Percocet.  Within a half hour, he was much better.  Meg and I went on a shopping spree at Target.  I had a 10% off coupon.  We stopped at Dairy Queen to pick up Joey's birthday cake.  He turned 25 on Friday.  We made shish kebobs on the grill.  My BF called while we were at Target and sounded sooooo much better.

I stopped in after dinner.  The day nurse called the surgeon who came into talk with him.  He is not depressed.  He was in unbearable pain.  The night nurse was way off base.  The doctor explained to my BF that he needs the Percocet for a while.  It will be tapered as he heals.  He is also in a private room because his other room was too hot.  He laid in sweat last night, soaked.  The night nurse never changed his bedding or his clothes.  The surgeon was appalled.  It also explains why he had been refusing to eat.  He was out of his mind in pain.  He ate a huge lean hamburger for dinner with carrots and chicken noodle soup.

So, all is well for now.  My BF is not used to needing an advocate and was very surprised at how forceful I can be.  LOL...he's just never witnessed it because he's never needed to.

I'm posting some pics of my hair.  It's sort of greasy looking coz I have to wait 48 hrs to shampoo it to let the color set.  Not crazy about the bottom one either but I do love the colors.

 

A couple of snags below and off I go to get ready for another week.....Hugs to all!   CHRIS

                       

                     

                              

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Odd Weather, Update and a SNAG

   

Autumn is here or so they say but more of that in a few......

Yesterday, I had to get up at 3:30 am to be at my BF's at 4:30 am to be at the hospital by 5:00.  By the time we got to the hospital, he was so nervous, he was nauseated and almost vomiting.  They took him back and sedated him a bit to prep him.  His brother and I saw him about 6:45.  He was then taken off to the OR. 

I had a pager but never left the surgical waiting room.  We both actually fell asleep for about an hour.  I woke up when the hosp. phone rang for an update.  He was tolerating the surgery extremely well.

The surgery wasn't over until around 11:00.  They did a quadruple bypass.  Three arteries were 90% occluded (clogged) and they also did a bypass on the stented artery.  They weren't going to do the stented one unless he was tolerating surgery well.  The doctor had told him two arteries were 40% and said nothing about redoing the stented one.  I don't think they wanted him to worry before the surgery.

I saw him for about 5 minutes afterwards.  I went back for about 10 minutes after dinner.  He was far more alert.  When I called this morning, he was doing great.  He was sitting up.  When he knew it was me, he starting joking around.  I could hear his voice.  I took his duffel bag in this evening.  He was not feeling great.  He had to do some stretching thing that hurt the crap out of the breast bone and he almost passed out.  He was back to feeling crappy but that's expected.

My SIL came home Tues nite already.  My BF should be coming home Sunday.  They kick them out the door more and more quickly here in the good old USA.

I came home yesterday and floated in the pool and fell asleep.  I swear the weather is more like summer now than it was in July.  The sun feels eerily hot.  Usually this late in the year, the air temp canbe 90 but the sun just doesn't feel so hot.  Weird but the trees are red already.  I took pictures with my cell phone on my walk at work last week of trees turning red.  I cannot remember ever seeing a red leaf in August.  I have a yard full of leaves to rake already.  They started falling at least a week ago.  The middle of Oct. is the best time usually for seeing pretty leaves in western Pa.  My trees are not totally bare until the first week of November.

           

               

These pictures were taken a week before we went to Lake Erie.  I was walking at lunch.  The temps were in the upper 80's and low 90's yet the leaves look like they should in the beginning of October.  Weird.

I'm getting my hair cut and colored tomorrow.  Can't afford it but need to or should I say want more than need.  My hair was out of control when we took our little road trip plus the sun has bleached it totally in the past month.  This is a picture I took on my cell phone on Aug. 5 of my hair.  LOL...I also had not had any sun exposure at that time because we had no sun to expose myself to.

             

I'm getting it cut just as short but I'm getting more drastic with the color and highlights.  I want the back to be almost black with red and blonde in the front.  If I wasn't so darn exhausted, I'd take a pic of it now.  It's really blonde in the front and the sides are long.   I want the sides long and the back spiky. 

I'm off to bed.  I'm totally exhausted....totally.  Thanks for your prayers and thoughts!  HUGS Chris

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

We Just Want to Have a Good Time & We Did

 


Have we ever had a Labor Day weekend in western Pa. as nice and sunny and hot as this one?  Not for a long time.  Considering the sucky summer we had, August and even now is gorgeous.

I found out that D (Donna) was in Erie on Presque Isle the day before we were....bummer.  It really is pretty.  I've always liked to go there.  The kids were never crazy about Lake Erie.  Hey, 86 miles from home...sand and some surf.  The Isle extends, I think, about 10 or so miles out into Lake Erie like a hook.  One side is the bay; the other the Lake.  There is a bike/walking trail the whole way around.  There wasn't a bike to rent so we hung out at the beach and carried on. 

Becky was whiter than Casper the ghost and got burnt.  We had seafood at a great restaurant and headed home.  I would have loved to have stayed the night but Becky wanted to get home.  Meg and I hung out at the pool yesterday.  Hot, it was and gorgeous again.  Ribs on the grill....yum.

Now, back to reality.  I got my car inspected today and yet again had problems.  I had to put $150 into have the brake calipers cleaned and lubricated and, of course inspected.  This wasn't covered by the warranty.  Sucks....blah.

And my BF and I have to be at the hospital at 5am tomorrow morning.  Sugery at 7.   His brother will be there.  Not my choice but I'll deal with it.  He's a handful, though.  I have a headache and am jumping down everybody's throat tonight.  I'm fit to be tied.  I want to run away to Erie again and just lay on the darned beach.  BTW:  my doctor started me on Zocor.  Dang, my cholesterol is borderline high.  So back to tweeking mydiet again and more walking.

I just want to have fun.  Megan just wants to have fun.  Poor Becky is so serious and can't understand how goofy we get.  She thinks we have no stress...boo ha ha.  She is still weepy and sad about her BF.  And I'm rambling like a fool right now.

Prayers, good thoughts, etc. please for the surgery.  I'm off to walk Grizzly.  I sort of like going when it's dark now for some reason. 

Love you all.....Chris

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Updates and More Updates SNAGS

    

I'm going to try and make this very quick, right, hunh?  The girls and I are off to Erie today to for a mini-vacay.  We plan to bicycle around Presque Isle, hit the beach for a bit, and eat, of course.  Boy, I think we all need it.  Becky is still sad, I'm a jumble of nerves, Megan also.

My SIL......she had a strep infection that she thought was a virus in May.  She never had it taken care of.  It moved into her heart and destroyed her aortic valve.  In fact, the valve was totally missing.  She had emergency open heart on Friday and is doing pretty well considering.  The docs are surprised that she is alive.

My BF is having his surgery Wednesday.  I try not to even think about that.  I'll be off and there.  We went out Friday night and he had renewed energy.  We had a wonderful time together.

Now, this mama sweats the small things.  Meg's loans again.  Any of you that have been with me a while know that this is a total nightmare for at least a month to get my co-signed loans through each and every year she has been in college.  Wellllll....I signed on to the bank website as always and was directed to AES.  I cringed because AES is servicing all alternate loans now.  That org. is a nightmare.  I started Aug. 22.  I've had 3 applications rejected for silly reasons.  They wiped them all out and let me set up a new one up on Friday.  Everything was going smooth.  Meg got an e-mail that said the co-signing went through and all was ready for review and for her to e-sign, which she did.  Next morning  ....REJECT.  They don't open until Tues.  Now, I have no idea if the application was rejected or I was denied as co-signer.  There is absolutely no explanation online.  I couldn't sleep last night.  This stuff drives me out of my mind.

My car was back in the shop two weeks ago getting a sway bar and bushings and a new fan for the AC/heat; all covered by the warranty, thank the Lord.  Now, it's making another clunking noise under the hood in a different area.  They had my car three days the last time with no loaner.  It's going on Tues. I need it by Wed.  Ugh.  So, do we take Becky's new car with the manual to Erie?  I have always driven sticks but Joey said these are newer and different. She doesn't want to drive it that far yet.  Do I chance my car for 85 miles there and back?  Oy?

Well, I need to get my butt in gear and read some journals while I drink my coffee.  I'm taking my camera so I'll be posting some pictures tomorrow.  Love & Hugs to all............

 

                

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Would You Like to Fly? SNAGS

              

Yesterday was a different day, for sure.  The weather both today and yesterday was gorgeous, warm and just right for the pool but also for flying.  Yep....Megan's early graduation present to herself was skydiving.  She and a friend had it planned for a while.  I knew about it but not the exact date.  She talked her sister into going also so Joe and I went to observe.  I did a photoslide of it.  Not the best because I resized the pictures so they didn't come out as clear as they should.

 



 

It was fascinating, amazing, a myriad of things all rolled into one just watching.  I'd love to do it but don't have the money right now.  It's tandem jumping with an instructor with you.  I'm not sure about other states, etc. but it's the law in Pa. to tandem jump at first.  Megan love, loved it!  Megan is my daredevil who'll ride every single ride in the amusement park.  Poor Becky got nauseous but did see it through to the end.  Megan's instructor was flipping them upside and all around.  13,000 ft in the sky.  The plane looked like an ant.  Megan is living with Becky now and school starts tomorrow for her and Joey also.

Prayers/good thoughts, etc. needed again.....my brother's wife is severely ill and in the ICU.  She's 58, started running a fever a few days ago and now most organs are just shutting down.  She's in an excellent hospital here barely hanging on to life and no clue, at this time as to what is wrong.  They just keep doing test after test.  She has always been extremely fit and eats so healthy.   I know my relationship is strained with my brother and his wife but truly I do pray that she gets better.  My brother is beside himself.  I actually feel terrible for both ofthem.

Someone asked me about tutorials and PSP.  I rarely do them because they never seem to come out right or something is forgotten.  I use parts of tutorials at times.  The top tag and bottom tag are both adapted from the same tutorial but changed somewhat. 

AND....am I doing 10 hr days ASAP?   Nope....weird hunh?  I fussed for two years but am somewhat apprehensive about doing it again.  Don't know why but I think I'll wait a while.   Now, how about that???  Surprised the family, for sure.

HUGS to all...........CHRIS

               

 

 

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Catching Up/SNAGS

                 

Hi all!  I have so much to say that I could write a book.  I definitely need to start updating more often and catching up with alerts.  I just can't keep up with everything but I'm trying. 

My BF saw the doctor yesterday.  The dr. who did the stents is not doing the surgery.  Each doctor has specialties.  The surgeon is the chief of staff.  He sees him Tues and will have the date scheduled.  There will be one bypass....the artery is 90% blocked and couldn't be stented because of the location.  I'm seeing my doctor Monday for my yearly check up and plan to have another stress test done.  It's been 4 years since my last one.

I'll save the news about the "three stooges" of mine for later. 

I'm walking 4,200 steps a day which is about 2 miles.  It takes 30 min.  According to my BF's cardiac notebook, which is extensive, that is what I should be doing for my age.  I've cut back on the cheeses, etc.  I'm eating steamed veggies and chicken for lunch.  I've only lost 5 lbs. in a month but that's good enough.  LOL...yesterday we had pizza and a cake for a guy who was retiring at work.  So.....I totally blew it.

I'm off for my walk in a minute or two.  Many of you commented that my place looked rural and sort of scary.  Actually, (hope I'm not jinxing myself) it is very safe.  We rarely lock our doors.  It's like a step back in time here.

Anyway, one more thing, and this cracks me up.  Compressed time has been approved for our division.  So, am I starting the first of September on 10 hr days????????  I think I'll do a poll on this one because y'all know I've been fussing for two years about working five days a week so here goes.....  (An explanation for those who are confused....I worked 4 10 hr days for 8 years.  I had every Wed off.  Two years ago, I was promoted to a new division but had to go back to the traditional 5 day work week.  I have never stopped fussing about that since that time.)

 

 

I'm off for my walk.  The weather is hot today so I'm going to float in my pool...whoo hoo!

                

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Welcome to my Neighborhood & Some SNAGS

             

I've been taking some new directions in my life lately.  One is walking.  I started at lunch a couple of weeks ago with a ten minute walk.  Now, I'm doing 30 minutes at lunch daily.  I walk Grizzly around our cul-de-sac at night which is about 1/2 mile.  Now, I haven't lost one lb. :( but my blood pressure is super, and my pulse is lower than it's been in years.  I'm going to tweek my diet around a bit although I thought I had or was at least eating the same as pre-exercise.  Plus I can have little conversations with myself and many times God which helps relieve the stress. 

I walked a couple of miles around my neigborhood today and photographed my journey.  LOL...probably pretty boring but I did a photo slide and captioned it.  It's sort of rural; something I love after the "burbs."  I love being able to walk outside and see woods.  So, if you care to see a piece of my world, feel free to take in a bit of the video.  The music is from Rockyou.com and will last until I add enough entries to "lose" it.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Summer SNAGS

LOL....better late than never.  I sure would love to be sitting at beach somewhere warm but it's not gonna happen this year.

            

         

                

Already August/SNAGS

        

My alerts are finally pretty much working; working extremely well.  I had and still have several entries from people to catch up with. 

Things are relatively quiet for the time being around here.  We have finally been having some summer weather here but it's August already.  Got to float in my pool yesterday.  Lovely day but the cloud cover is back again today.

My BF has an appt on Aug 18th to set up the surgery.  The doctor needs to make sure that the stents have healed completely before any surgery date is confirmed.  I have been trying to talk with him about after care.  They can now do the band-aid incision in some cases instead of breaking the sternum.  I'm not too sure he will fall into that category.  I don't want to delve too far into that and worry him but my dad had two open heart surgeries.  No piece of cake with the breastbone healing.

Megan is still at home but will be living with Becky in the fall.  She didn't need a 12 month lease and couldn't find anyplace with less than 10 months so the sisters will be roomies.  LOL...this should be interesting.  They totally fought, physically scratching and pulling hair, when they were kids.  Hopefully, they are adult enough now to co-exist.

My son just got back from Ocean City, Md. and may have a torn meniscus.  He has an MRI scheduled for next week.

Forgot to mention that I had my handy dandy Randy (the plumber) back again.  My upstairs toilet was leaking.  It needed a new wax seal thingie.  He had to move it a little because the floor wasn't in the best shape behind the toilet.  Well, it's leaking a bit on the one side again.  Back he comes again tomorrow night.  He's sure it will just need an adjustment so this wax seal settles.  Keeping my fingers crossed because he did say I should get 2,000 flushes out of the last fix before I need to replace that part of the floor...ugh.

My BF and I got to go out Friday night.  We  ran into Megan and a couple of her friends.  She was the Designated Driver and drinking diet Pepsi.  Still weird to see her in a lounge setting. I've started walking at lunch because I cannot lose a pound.  If I eat one desert or a meal that isn't a salad...boom, the weight comes right back on.  I've been taking Grizzly around the neighborhood in the evenings.  We had to start out slow because of his joints but he needs to move some also.

I'm getting back into PSP more but still haven't done much tagging.  Hopefully, that will come along also.

If I haven't been around to see you, I shall be tonight.  I still have a bunch of alerts to go through.  I have a couple of blinkies here.  We do blinkies twice a week in my one group.

 

                 

 

           

 

BIG HUGS Chris

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Update

A short update while I have the time before the week begins and I end up too tired when I get home from work. 

I brought my BF home from the hospital yesterday.  They discharged him straight from the ICU.  He was there for two days to make sure he was stabilized from the stents.

He tells me he feels better than he has in a good while.  He still faces open heart surgery in six weeks.  He needs time for the stents to heal.  He is saying he needs only one bypass done.  I'm not sure where the 3 came from at first.

Of course, I worry but there's not much to do.  I need to get over it because what will be will be.  We've talked a good many things over about me being his power of attorney for health decisions.  He has other things he wants me to do also.  I told him to take it easy for a day or two and then we'll take care of this stuff.  He's very independent.  He's back to getting that way again today but yesterday he was sort of clingy and hated being that way.  He can't stand being dependent on anyone but realizes just how much he needs and depends on me.  LOL...the cement that holds things together.

So.....life moves on for now.  I'm sort of glad I have work to keep me occupied but then again I did have two days of pool time, which was great.  It rained again here today.  Back to the grind again.  Thanks for your continued prayers and good thoughts.  Love n Hugs to all....CHRIS

Friday, July 18, 2008

Life is Sort of Sucky

Hmmm....the weather is 90 and sunny and, yeah, I'm weird coz I love it.  I planned a "mini-vacay," long weekend to float in the pool and relax.  I requested today off on Monday. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?  Not meant to be, I guess.

I got a cell phone call at work yesterday from my BF, my soft place to fall.  Odd coz he never actually calls much on the cell phone; just texts.  He was having chest pains and had driven himself to the VA Hospital.  Hunh?  Phone went dead; me too, sort of.  He said he was walking in the door when it cut off.  How do you work after that?  A nurse called back on the cell about 20 minutes later.  They gave him the meds that stop a heart attack and were transferring him to the regular hospital in our small city.  Actually, it's not a Pgh. hospital but the cardiac unit there is excellent.  I was relieved about that.  They said he would call when he got there.  Didn't happen.  I called the Emergency Room, and they said he was in the Cath lab which made sense and also made me realize that far more was going on.  My dad had two open heart surgeries and numerous heart problems.

Still no word at 2 p.m. so I called admissions.  Yep, admitted and to the ICU.  I was totally gone.  I called Megan.  She and Joey went down and said they were his kids.  In the meantime, I got ahold of his nurse in the ICU.  One artery needed 5 stents placed in it, which JMO is really an invasive procedure for that many; plus he'll need a triple bypass. 

I stopped after work.  Needless to say, he is still in shock.  He is an anal person about his weight and walks about 2 miles a day.  Cholesterol was borderline high but lowered with diet; which he has followed religiously.  The triglycerides were off the wall about a year ago and still way too high in my book but no family history of heart disease.  Smoking is most likely the culprit.  He is quitting.

He called a couple times on his cell.  I don't think he was supposed to.  I texted him this morning.  He called back and said he is really supposed to rest and not talk.  More tests on the arteries and a chest x-ray to see if he will tolerate surgery well.  He said to go swim in the pool and come in this evening.  As if, but I will because he hasn't had his tests yet plus I'm thinking he still needs to absorb this all and is in the ICU for a reason...to recuperate from that darned stent procedure.

Prayers, good thoughts, whatever will be appreciated.  I'm certainly not at all picky about where or whom the prayers are being sent to.  Love you all!!!! (I actually made this blinkie the night before all this happened....)      CHRIS

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Where's Chrissy Been? Some Snags or Tags

Yikes, first of all I'm really embarassed that I've been away from JLand for almost two months.  I've been trying to keep up with alerts and reading journals but got totally away from PSP and my own journal.  Mother's Day was wet, dreary but a nice day except for an aching on the top of my head.  It felt like a good old-fashioned "goose egg."  I didn't give it a thought because I'm clumsy.  The next day, I developed one of the most severe earaches I've ever had.  Even the outside of the ear hurt.  I pushed myself through work.  I developed a pimple on my eyebrow Wed.  Weird but WTH.  I took of Thurs and Friday because my ear was killing me.  I got an antibiotic which started getting rid of the ear pain.  But there was this "ice pick" pain on my head behind my ear which was excrutiating and getting worse.  It would come in waves.  Long story short...lol...as if....my son insisted I go to the ER Friday night.  My uncle died when he was 53 from an aneursym that burst with much the same symptoms.  The CT scan showed nothing.  As I was getting ready to leave, I started breaking out all over my forehead and eyelid with blisters.  I mentioned it to Joey.  The doctor overheard and flew over.  Shinglesand that was what was causing all the odd symptoms.  He was shocked because they weren't there when he had looked in my eyes.  I was extremely lucky to have had that headache because they caught my break out within 72 hrs.  I took Valtrex.  I was miserable for a couple of weeks.  Now really there is no pain.  Just an odd sensation of my scalp crawling and the same with the eyelids.  That's from the nerves but I can live with it.

Megan's internship was retracted late Friday before she was to start the next Monday because of the background check.  We all learn our lessons.  She is back waittressing and living at home.  It's been a struggle as we always seem to be at each other's throat with my son caught in the middle.   Luckily for both of us, she is working mostly nights so we don't need to cross pathes much.  She still is not sure where to live in the fall for one more semester. 

Right after I got my new cell phone, I somehow convinced my BF to get a cell phone on my family plan.  Megan couldn't get ahold of him one day when she needed picked up.  So, he got one with a camera.  ROLF...he is a text message addict.  He texts me all the time, texts his son, grandson, daughter, etc.  It's unlimited so that's ok.  He adds all kinds of graphic and noises plus sends me pictures.  He was just being stubborn.

Weather..ugh...it sucks totally here in western Pa.  The first week in June was 90 all week.  I struggled to get the darned pool clean.  I hate that job.  It took the whole week of messing with chemicals.  As soon as the pool was ready, the weather took a nose dive.  70's, total cloud cover and rain non-stop.  Of course, no flooding so I feel bad about complaining.  I've been in the pool twice.  I took off Wed. and Thurs before the 4th because I knew Wed would be sunny and it was and it was the only sun we've seen.  It has rained non-stop since.  The sun is out today so I hope I'm not jinxing it.  There's some stationary front south of us causing this that won't move.  Blah.   or as LJ says...lol....I made this just for Lisa Jo.......think I just might make a couple more since I feel so "PHOOEY" right now.  Feel free to snag.

                     

Thanks to all of you who have checked on me, left me messages, etc.  You are all the best which is why I felt so bad about not making any entries.  Actually, I feel bad about doing entries if I have requests to fill.  I know I've missed some e-mails,etc. so please remind me because it's been so long.  I have everything on my back up drive.  I also feel bad about doing entries if I'm not caught up on alerts.  I had a snafu with my security crap again yesterday...no virus protection and McAfee would not download.  After two phone calls to half English speaking folks and two live tech support tries, I found a gem.  She had me send her my sysinfo in an e-mail.  I had remnants of a microsoft virus program left that needed removed.  She also had me download through Explorer..voila!  I was getting more furious by the minute with all the lame excuses I was getting plus the fact that I had no virus protection, just a "stinger" to run from McAfee.  So it was ugly outside, and my journals plans were ruined....a big PHOOEY!  Love that word, LJ.

I made a couple of blinkies for my PSP group, which was the first I had dabbled in PSP for ages.  I made the top tag in the midst of my pc woes yesterday.  I'm not sure who created all the stuff I used but the word art is from Shelly/Roxymama.  She rocks!  Hopefully, my creative juices are flowing again.

Well, this is long enough.  I hope I haven't bored you all to death.  Hope you all had a great 4th!  Love & Hugs to all!

                                     CHRIS