TRAPPED!

You don't expect things like this can happen to you. Your husband, yes. But not to you.  However today as I walked past my recliner, I was attacked by two black cords. They looped themselves around my ankles and I had to literally fall into my recliner to avoid hitting the carpet.

 Back in the day, an electrical outlet fitted for two devices was plenty. However in our house, we have a six plug adapter plugged into one of those old timie ones, and then one of those octopus-looking adapters into the six plug device. The problem is that everything we own needs to be recharged. I wish that I was fitted with a cord to recharge every night! Back to the earlier attack. Next to my chair is the cord for the telephone, my computer charging cord, another for my cell phone, and one for the Ipad and the Vizio tablet.  There's a cord for the wireless headphone charger. It is not a pretty sight...and no matter how hard I try to keep them organized, several are usually wrapped around the legs of the floor lamp, caught in the recliner seat, or, as happened today, laying in wait for me to approach so they can attack.  I can't even tell you bad it is over there next to Pat's chair. All I know is that SOMEONE better figure out how to control this threat or we are all doomed. D-O-O-M-E-D!!  Be afraid. Be very afraid!!

SHE LIVES!

   Life is good. Life is busy. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

In the three month leave of absence from my writing here, we have enjoyed visits to each and every child and grandchild! This is not an easy accomplishment since they are scattered on the right and left coasts!  We were lucky to have Erin and family here for Thanksgiving and for Matthews First Birthday. When they left we packed up and headed to Las Vegas where we sublet an apartment for 7 weeks. We were able to spend lots of time with Ryan, Jess and Zoe (1-1/2 going on 10) and with Katie and her new guy,Trevor - plus we drove to LA and got to see sons Jason and a glimpse of Fritz. Christmas in Las Vegas! Ah! No decorating required. No dragging out of all the boxes and chatchkes! It was a pleasant change. Just hung a wreath on the door here and left!  We enjoyed the drive back and forth a lot. Seeing different parts of the US was fun. Pat landed in the hospital briefly in Greenville, Indiana but was in great hands - lucked into a wonderful hospital there. He's fine now-feeling great as a matter of fact! We enjoyed Las Vegas so much that we decided to make an offer on a short sale home out there and are waiting to hear if it will all go through. Takes a while we've been told. So during the coldest months here in NY we will get to stay there, enjoy the beautiful desert mountains, the great restaurants, the multitude of thrift stores (haha)-and most of all, family! We hope all of the family will take advantage of the house for get aways~ if we get the place!! Real estate in that area is sad. People have taken baths on their property. There are so many foreclosures and short sales it is mind boggling.

You can buy a condo for the same price as an SUV. For those who might be wondering...no, we won squat at the casinos we visited.

It was a mild winter while we were away. Now there is a bit of snow on the ground but the lake is open water. It feels good to be back on my blog again! Happy New Year to all, and hopes that we all survive this election B.S.!!  ** As soon as I figure out how to get my pictures from my phone to here, I will post some of the rest of the gang!

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Since I am feeling sort of scattered lately, I thought I would throw a scattered blog entry into the sphere.  Herewith are some random thoughts from my brain pan to yours:

Is there a chance we can rescue our country from political correctness, an obese government that can not waddle into their chambers and get something done, corrupt politicians who are censured one month and three months later recieve praise and campaign donations from those who censured them?

Have you used an app on your phone called Soundhound? I am in awe of how it works. Hear a song on the radio or anywhere - can't remember the singer or the name of the tune? Just tap Soundhound and the information appears on the screen! How do they make it? Amazing!

How come my toenails are so hard to cut as I get older? My fingernails are still the same. What's up with that?

I am addicted to the following TV shows. Other than these, the TV is rarely on:  Boardwalk Empire, Homeland with Clair Danes, Parenthood (great ensemble cast), Weeds, The Big C, True Blood, The Game of Thrones and the Fox News Panel at 630p. Love Charles Krauthammer and Steve Smith.  Miss Britt Hume.  Every morning we watch Imus in the Morning - can't stand the I-man or his wife, but love the show!

We finished cleaning the garage this week. You might be thinking "Big Deal"...and you would be right! I wish you could see our garage! But now we can fit two cars, a big motorcycle, 4 tons of pellets and a lifetime of "stuff".  The stuff is in boxes and will most likely be next seen by subsequent generations as they are groaning under the weight of cleaning up after us.  There are boxes of memories of 4 kids including their school papers, artwork, stuffed animals, Star Wars characters, Match Box cars, dolls, pogs, and more. We have shelves up the wazoo, all of them stuffed.   But it is organized for now. Until I need to find something!

We traded my little PT Cruiser convertible for a red Mitsubushi Gallant. Its weird how you get attached to cars. I had that one for 7 years. It only had 17,000 miles on it - 5,000 of which were on the odometer when we got it. I chose red since as I get older it's possible that I will make some driving mistakes - and hopefully they will see the little old lady in the red car!

Soon we will drive to Las Vegas to visit with 4 of our kids and grandaughter Zoe. We will be there for a month. An adventure!

I will catch up with more thoughts in a few weeks!

BOO!

Aha! You were not expecting a new post here I betcha! Yes, I have been a lazy slug for the past few months. As soon as I sank into my recliner, played a few games of Words With Friends, checked my Facebook to see what was happening with kids,grandkids and friends - zzzzzzzzzzzzz. I was snoozing. On a more energetic day- I was out pulling weeds,painting or puttering. At this point, it is too late to paint. It is too cold to putter. The weeds have won til next spring when I will launch another assault.  We had a wonderful summer here at the lake. For the most part the weather was nice until just a few weeks ago when the winds from hell have descended on us, along with daily rain.
"At least it's not snow" is what all the natives say. The Farmers Almanac predicted snow by the 15th of October. Lucky for us, that prediction did not come true. (I am hoping the one for today - that the world will end - will also be false! If not, me writing all this down is a lesson in futility since no one will ever read it!)  A few weeks ago Pat and I drove to Indianapolis to attend a reunion of his D Company, 506th Infantry from Viet Nam. It was a group of great guys and their wives. We had never gone to one before and were both glad we went to this one.  It is amazing to me to think that Pat was just 19 when he was a platoon leader, responsible for doing his best to keep these guys alive. What an awesome responsibility. They commented that they thought he was older at that time - because they were intimidated by him. I guess he was a natural at the job!  My very own George C. Scott.  His nickname back then was "Demon" - his radio call sign.  I am positive there will be more army reunions in our future!  We took the dock out today and put all the outside stuff in the garage. This is a sure sign of the end of summer '11.  As a matter of fact there are three snow days predicted at the end of the week. Hopefully some hot air from D.C. will mix in and save us!  Trick or treat!

WHERE HAVE ALL THE SUMMERS GONE...

OR, at least THIS summer! I believe it was just yesterday we were in Georgia emptying the house and schlepping assorted "stuff" up here. That was early June. All of a sudden here it is LABOR DAY!  Good grief.  Is this the speed of life in the sunset years? If so I think I had better stay up later and get up earlier so I don't miss anything!
Pat, who loves winter here, has been saying things like "Just look at the colors all of a sudden out there in the woods!"  Or  "Bill (his barber) told me today that we should have snow by Mid-October...according to the Farmers Almanac . Plus I saw berries on the bushes and it is very early for them."  As we drive down the road to our house he tells me "I can picture all this white with snow!"  Pat is waaaaay ahead of me. I am still in summer mode - listening to critters chirping, seeing fish jumping in the lake, hearing the sounds of boats and jet-skis going by our house. I am still trying to get my newly-planted grass seed to grow into lush lawnscapes...in short I am NOT READY FOR WINTER!! Or even fall for that matter!  There is that nagging feeling that whether I like it or not, the seasons will change. I know I will have to accomplish the dreaded summer to winter clothes swap that takes the starch out of me for weeks.  With the small closets here the seasonal swap is like putting toothpaste back into the tube.   As for me, I am taking my iced tea out to the back deck, put my feet up and let the sun shine on my wrinkly face and enjoy the warmth of summer. I know it will be gone soon enough.

THE SUMMER OF MY DISCONTENT...(or) FRICK AND FRACK CONSTRUCTION, INC.

Okay, that is an exaggeration.  The summer has had some definite high spots, namely THE wedding in June and a visit from Erin, Steve and the grandkids last month. And seeing Robin and kids and Charles and Carol. Oh yes, and my new appliances. I am grateful for all of my blessings!  The discontent is mainly with the construction crew we have hired for several projects this summer. They have the WORST  work ethics ever.  They arrive when it suits them, usually around 1130a.  One day they arrived at 430p and stayed til dark, filling the air with buzzing saws and f-bombs.  They started on the back deck around June 20th give or take a few days. They finished the construction part of it yesterday, August 8th. It still needs to be painted.  They poured cement a month ago and it set up too quickly, leaving a rough surface that works well to keep the bottoms of my feet nice and smooth. The sidewalk had to be patched in several places and it looked awful, so now they are going to apply a product called "Restore" to the mess. Now here is the "piece de resistance" .  When we came home from breakfast a few days ago, Pat went into the bathroom off our bedroom and found one of the guys helping himself to....yes, you guessed it! Hydrocodone! We evidently have become a free Walgreens for the pharmaceutically-challenged in this area.  Pat sent him packing. He was more upset about this felony than the last since we have gotten to know these guys over the summer. They came in and out for water and to answer nature's calls. He claimed he had a "bad headache".  He could have had a giant arse ache. Lucky for him Pat didn't call the cops. He still wonders if he should have. The dude had one pill in his hand rather than a bottle so Pat told his boss he could never come back here again.  So our crew grows smaller, the days grow shorter, and we are wondering if they will complete the next part of the project - a covered breezeway between the house and garage - before the first snowfall in November. Thats just three months away, and for Frick and Frack Construction - that just might not be enough time! 

WHOOOOOSH!

That is the sound of the summer going by! Summer used to last forever and now it is gone after a few days! It has been a treat to just hang around the house after all of our travels in May and June. We have had a construction crew on-site since about the 13th of June. It all started with a broken water heater. Pat asked the guy who replaced it if he knew anything about whole house water filtration systems. He did. He put it in. Then the dryer broke, followed immediately by the oven. All these appliances came with the "trailer" when it was new. So we toddled off to Lowe's and replaced everything.  Pat figured they were in line to go down so we retired them early. The aforementioned man installed all the appliances.
We have 4 ceiling fans in boxes ready for them to install. Then Pat decided to get a breezeway built before winter to connect our house and the garage...and get a large deck put in in the back of the house, lake-side, so we have more sitting and looking space.  They also installed a hot water shower back there which is heaven.  So - this merry band of men have been around for nearly two months. Their work habits are such that they are here a half day and gone 4 or 5 days. They might show up at 4 and work til it gets dark. They might say "we will be there at 10" and get here at 1.  The quality of work seems to be good so we go with the flow. In the North Country everyone has to squeeze in their projects in the summer months before the snow flies. So these construction guys have at least three or four jobs going at once. We try to keep griping at a minimum for that reason.  Hopefully by the time it gets cold we will have everything finished!