Miscellaneous Whatevers

Thank goodness we only have a couple more months of nasty political ads to endure before the November elections. I would love to know what each candidate proposes to DO. Instead - they are telling us why we shouldn't vote for their opponent. Many years ago I was told that if you spend too much time trying to put everyone down - you're just making yourself look small! I really wonder if each of these candidates just don't have anything good to say about themselves?!?!

Y'all should have been in our front yard about 3 o'clock this morning! We had the great armadillo attack. Somehow, Dixie and Rascal heard something outside that woke them up - and the barking competition began. Both fuzzy faced kids raced to the door and dang near removed it from the hinges before I could get there and get it open. I was sure there was no danger. Had it been a mass murderer, they would have been wagging their tails and dancing around like they were waiting for Santa! Anyhow - once out the door, they both zeroed in on that armored critter - in a total frenzy! The armadillo just rolled up in a ball and did nothing. The attack dogs went at it from every possible direction . . . . and got no results at all. The armored ball didn't move at all - the dogs barked, whined, pawed, tried to bite, sniffed and poked to no avail. I had to go into the house and get leashes to round up the dogs and drag them back into the house. Ah, yes - the leisurely, retired life in Florida!

Do you follow Pioneer Woman? I must admit that I have become addicted to her blog. From her discussions of Charlie the basset hound to her anguish over her children growing up too quickly, I find that I can relate to a lot of what she's going through. I must admit - I don't have a zillion acre cattle ranch, nor do I have the big bucks that obviously come along with said ranch - but somehow she still manages to get through to me. Maybe it's the chocolate!

I saw reports on the local news yesterday that crimes are down all over the place. Why, then, does it seem like there is nothing but crime and tragedy on the news day in and day out? Are we just too connected these days? Have things always been this bad . . . we just hear more about it?

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY! A family had their 6 month old puppy disappear from their back yard seven years ago. They put up signs, ran an ad in the paper, called the animal shelters, etc. and never found the puppy. Last week, they received a call from a shelter over 400 miles away. A dog had come into the shelter - and the microchip in his shoulder led back to that family! The next morning, the family loaded up and went to pick up the missing family member - who by all accounts seems to remember them. No one knows where he has been for all this time, but he has settled in back home as if he had never been gone!

Oh How True!

For those of us who have ever worked for anyone anywhere - - this little mantra is too true! I first saw it back in the 1960's and it has been in my head ever since. I have, from time to time, put it to paper and hung it near my desk at various jobs. Only one boss objected and demanded that I take it down. So I took it down - and kept it readily available to show to anyone nearby when he was not in the office. I felt it was my duty to share it with anyone I could - especially because he objected!

The Train

I'm not allowed to drive the train,
the whistle I can't blow

I'm not the one who designates
how far the train may go

I'm not allowed to blow off steam,
or even ring the bell

But let that damn train jump the tracks
and see who catches hell!


Your welcome!

I Voted Yesterday!

I went yesterday to vote in our Flori-duh primary. Easily found a parking spot very close to the door. Walked straight in - no problem. Went right up to the gentleman who was dealing with people who had last names in the section of the alphabet where my name falls. I handed him my driver's license - because your voter registration card is not considered valid identification to use for voting (HUH??). He then loudly announced my complete name for everyone in the room to hear. Scanned through his three-ring binder until he found it - and then announced my complete street address! I quietly asked him if voter information was supposed to be private. He replied that it was - said he was sorry for being so loud and asked me to sign beside my name in his little book.

He took a sticker from beside my name and stuck it on a little blue piece of paper. He handed it to me along with my license and pointed to a woman on the other side of another table and said to take it to her. A walked a few steps and stopped to read this little paper. Name, address, party affiliation and a place for a signature.

My cane and I thumped across the wooden Moose Lodge dance floor to voting assistance person #2. A lovely lady who I handed my little blue piece of paper to. She read it and then asked for my license. The likelihood that I had just mugged someone and stolen their little blue paper was ZERO. There were two other voters in there at the time and about ten workers. But, I guess rules are rules - so I handed her my license. She very carefully compared the two and then asked me what my address was! HUH?? Okay, I told her my address. She then commented on what a lovely street I live on. She asked me to sign the little blue slip of paper. I hesitated for a moment while she smiled at me . . . and I smiled back. When it became a little awkward, I asked for the paper and a pen. Flustered, she handed me both, I signed and asked for my license. She told me that she needed to verify my signature.

She finally relinquished my license and reached beside her and got an empty file folder and her "assistant" checked my little blue slip - announcing to the world loudly what my party affiliation was - and got a ballot to put in the file folder. You know, to respect my privacy. I asked them what the point of the folder was if they were going to yell out my affiliation as they put my ballot in the folder. I then asked if they might change the way they handled these things in the future. They might just get in trouble for stomping all over other people's freedoms!

I took my ballot into my little shielded area and did my duty - voting for who I hoped and prayed would be the best choice from what I had learned over the past several months. Then I went thumping over to the ballot eating machine. This thing looks very much like an industrial strength shredder. And when you slide your ballot in, it certainly sounds as if that's what's happening inside.

With our record here in Flori-duh, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the final step at the local Moose Lodge voting site is to just shred your ballot as you pick up your "I Voted" sticker at the door!

Don't get me wrong. America is the greatest! I have yet to see any other country that even comes close to being as wonderful! I'll gladly live with all my petty little complaints - I will still fly my flag - proudly sing the national anthem and defend her. But - one of my rights is freedom of speech - and I choose to use it today!

My Own Little Editorial

At what point will they stop calling this Gulf of Mexico problem an "oil spill"? This is not an oil spill. It's an oil gusher run wild! I'm constantly amazed at the lack of organization and the total lack of concern by government and BP for the people and wildlife being damaged by all of this.

I agree that it's really important to figure out what happened. However, it's NOT important to figure it out until the flow of poison is stopped! The people who are supposed to be the best in the business are so busy appearing before congress, they don't have time to work on the problem. Yes, see if something can be done to prevent this from happening again . . . but let's wait until the flow has stopped and the worst of the damage has been mopped up. Let those guys go get their hands dirty cleaning up the mess they made.

There are thousands of people being damaged every minute. There are sea creatures dying by the truckload, there's vegetation dying that will never come back. How are you going to fix that? Can you run a Hoover over the beaches and just suck up all the globs of oil? Can you set up a super filter for the entire Gulf of Mexico, just like it was a huge swimming pool?

If everyone would stop making empty promises and empty threats - - and just get to the job at hand, the job will get done.

Hire all these unemployed people who depend on the Gulf for their living to help in one way or another with the clean up.

See to it that the equipment and technology are in place for the clean up. You would be amazed at how hard people will work to protect their homeland, if they know what to do and have the equipment to do it.

And quit paying all that money to show me ads on television about how bad you feel, BP! I don't care how bad you feel. Take that money and use it to stop that gusher!!

Dixie & Rascal

Dixie and Rascal are the rat terriers who own Dub and I. They took over our home about 6 years ago . . . and things have never been the same since!

The rat terrier breed of fuzzy faced four-leggers look remarkably like Jack Russell Terriers, but are not directly related. The "Ratter" is much more calm and much less stubborn. They are very easy to train when it's something that they are interested in! Both of our Ratters have a huge vocabulary! When we're outside, they know the difference between "cat", "snake" and "lizard". In the house, if you ask for a toy, they each bring a stuffed animal. If you ask for a bone, they search the corners and bring you bones. When you say ball - they get bouncy balls!

Dixie is the leader of the pack! Poor Rascal is so afraid of getting in trouble with her that he won't go anywhere near her if she's got a bone (which is most of the time). It has gotten so bad that when it's bed time, Rascal will sit in the living room and whine softly until Dub or I come and escort him into the bedroom. Every time Dixie snaps at him, poor Rascal screams like a little girl! Wonder if he'll ever grow up enough to stand up to her and snap back? . . . .

Nope - that'll never happen!

Rascal loves his dog food - - he'll go for treats and snacks, but does well on the dog food we give them. On the other hand, Dixie will only eat the dog food if she is starving! She much prefers whatever Dub is eating. One of her favorites is asparagus. She also likes watermelon, green beans, any kind of pasta, meat, eggs, carrots, french fries and will sit up and beg for iced tea! I think she would eat rocks if Dub was eating them, too! I wonder if that's why her shape so closely resembles that of Miss Piggy?!

Crossing The Borders

If you have not read the new Arizona law on illegal aliens, Google it - right now - and read it. It's only 17 pages. The first few pages deal with the actual issue itself. All the rest explains where the money from the fines will go and other miscellaneous details. The real meat is in the first few pages.

I have seen and read so much being said by so many "talking heads" that I just had to see exactly what this law said. From what I got out of it, all it does is reinforce the Federal laws that are already in place. It does NOT give police permission to stop you simply because you may look or sound foreign. However, if you are speeding and get stopped, they CAN ask for papers at that point and turn you over to the proper immigration authorities if you are in this country without legal authorization.

There are legal procedures for visiting the USA and for becoming a citizen here. Use them! Do it the right way. We welcome those who are willing to put in the effort to go through the proper steps to become a citizen. Sneaking in is not the way to do it.

It seems to me that illegals get here already knowing more about our welfare system than most Americans are aware of! They get subsidized housing, free medical care, free education for their children, free legal representation, free language lessons - all this from the government that I have been paying taxes to for my entire adult life and that won't give me anything for free!

Want to be welcomed by the citizens of America?

• Get a sponsor


• Apply for citizenship


• Learn the language (at least try)


• Don't complain because we do not all speak your language


• Work on the books and pay taxes


• When you break the law, don't complain that your arrest is because of your race

Please tell me what country I can move to where they will give me all of the benefits that illegals get here. When I call a government office I will be able to 'press 1' to talk to someone in my own language. And when I tell that government office that I'm illegal, they will ask me how they can help me!

I'll take a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom cottage, on the beach, on the French Riviera, please!

Contratulations, Arizona - I like your style - and will be planning a vacation there soon!

Surprise!! I'm blogging again, maybe!

Edgar and I have decided to give blogging another try! Maybe!

Yesterday I had some business at a Federal office in another town about an hour away. I had checked very carefully in all of my correspondence with this Federal agency to make sure that I had the time and address right. Also checked for any special rules . . . you know, like No Terrorists Allowed - stuff like that! There were NO rules specified - no dress codes, etc.

After our hour and a half cruise on the Interstate in rush-hour traffic, we arrived at the designated Federal office building. A little unimpressive office in a string of offices. Most of the others were attorneys, CPA's, etc. We're not talking about some huge Federal compound here.

Being country bumpkins, my husband and I took our little Case knives out of our jeans pockets and left them in the car. (Country folks don't go too far without a sharp knife in their pocket.) There were no signs on the door or wall saying what was or wasn't allowed either.

We entered the building and found a receptionists desk, 4 waiting room chairs and a water fountain. At the desk sat a security guard, right hand resting on the butt of his gun. Here's how the conversation went:

WHO ARE YOU?

I gave him my name and introduced my husband.

SIGN IN.

I signed in on the sheet he pointed to.

WHERE'S YOUR CELL PHONE?

I got my phone out of my purse and showed him.

TURN IT OFF!

I smiled and turned it off.

YOU PACKIN'? (he was looking at my husband for this one)

Not knowing what the guy was talking about, hubby told him that he had left his knife in the car.

STAY WHERE YOU ARE!

Huh?

YOU MENTIONED WEAPONS - DON'T MOVE - I HAVE TO SEARCH YOU BOTH FOR WEAPONS!

Okay.

At this point, he got out his magic wand and checked my husband. The wand started screaming as he was checking his back. As hubby tried to explain about the metal from a back surgery, Mr. Security Guard got more and more nervous! Hubby asked for permission to get a card out of his wallet that would explain why his back set the gizmo off. Once that issue was settled, it was my turn.

My body made it through the magic wand test . . . but when he dug through my purse, he found the contraband 10 ounce water bottle (half empty).

THAT'S ENOUGH TO BLOW UP THIS WHOLE BLOCK!

Huh?

PUT IT IN YOUR CAR.

Hubby was kind enough to take it out to the car - and Mr. Security Guard actually asked him if he had still left his knife in the car when he came back in!

My appointment time finally came - and the person I was meeting with commented that I had certainly given his guard a very exciting morning! Seems that he had been watching from a camera mounted in the reception/waiting room!

Even with our security issues, the meeting was a success and everything was settled in my favor.

I am so glad to know that Barney Fife found work since leaving Mayberry!

EDGAR AND I WON AN AWARD ! !

Who could have ever guessed? How could we have possibly known? Edgar and I have won our very first ever blogging award from Steve (www.stevedeniesanywrongdoing.blogspot.com) just because we actually enjoy watching him go through his mail!

I'm not sure if that means that we are really wonderful people - or if we just have way too much time on our hands.

This is an honor we don't really deserve . . we take great pleasure in learning how to make Red Plum seem to be as exciting as winning a full year's supply of coffee filters!

Maybe I'll Get A Tattoo!

I'm just about over some of these folks that I see walking around with tattoos from the top of their heads to their toes!

While dining in restaurants, I've lost my appetite because of a woman who had her face covered with what looked like a huge snake skin.

As you walk through the mall there are people who have almost no skin showing at all - because everything is covered in vile, bloody scenes of murder and mayhem.

Somehow the old fashioned heart with MOM written in it has been replaced by a pit bull with fangs dripping blood!

A curvy pinup girl in a one piece bathing suit has turned into a stark naked female flaunting everything she's got.

I think that this is one of the few tattoos that I have seen lately that I would encourage a gentleman to get! It makes me want to meet this guy and have him tell me a good joke.

What do you think?

Stellan Needs Prayers Again!

Please

Pray

For

Stellan!!

Last night Stellan went back into SVT. Jennifer and PC couldn't stop it - the doctor said to get him to the hospital.

He's in the PICU - they intubated him for the first time ever - his kidney's aren't functioning well again - and everyone says this is the worst bout he's ever had.

He did finally come out of SVT, but things are still not right. They could all use some love and lots of prayers.

If you have the time, I know Jennifer would love to hear from anyone with some support. The hours do drag on when you're sitting in the hospital staring at a sick baby! Go to www.mycharmingkids.net and give her something to keep her mind busy.

I know she'll appreciate it!!

Can Sombody Explain This??

I will admit it, I just don't understand what is going on up in Washington, D.C.!!

I thought I understood Mr. Obama to be campaigning for us who are the people of the United States of America. Not the huge conglomerates, Wall Street, auto manufacturers, etc. Just the people who live, love, laugh, cry, work and do our best to be good to one another here in the U.S. of A.

So - President Obama took office. Then the government bailed out financial institutes left and right. The government bailed out banks . . . who still refuse to loan us little folks money! The government bailed out car manufacturers. Then the government paid $4,500.00 for every gas guzzler that people traded in toward buying a new car with better gas mileage. If those people can afford a car payment, they probably aren't in too desperate a financial situation in the first place!

I know one woman who is very seriously considering suicide! Her failing health has forced her to leave her job. She has no health insurance. She is still fighting to qualify for Social Security Disability. It took 4 months for her to receive food stamps. She gets $123.00 a month! Try feeding yourself on $123.00 for a month. At the rate she is going, her savings will run out in seven months. If her SSD does not come through, she will have NO money. There is no immediate family. She was told that her food stamps will increase to $235.00 a month. That's great . . . but with no other income, she cannot pay her power bill, a phone bill, water, etc. She already turned off her cable, gave up her Internet connection (goes to the library and uses their computers), gave away her dog and her cat, takes cold showers - - has done everything to cut costs.

She sees absolutely no way around suicide. How do you tell her that it's going to be okay, because Ford sold so many cars during the Cash for Clunkers campaign? She lives in Washington state. I have contacted a church near her. They have already visited her and are going to work with her. One of their members happens to be an attorney and has promised to handle her SSD case pro bono . . . and he is also going to work as her advocate to attempt to get her any and ALL assistance that she qualifies for.

Had we not "bumped into" one another on the Internet, what might have happened with her? She's 47 years old, alone, not heavily educated, panic stricken and felt that she had absolutely no option open to her. Everywhere she went she was told no, you don't qualify.

She was the "people" that I thought President Obama was campaigning to help. So far all I've seen is huge companies get huge bail-outs and support. The already wealthy executives who led these huge corporations into financial downfall are receiving amazing bonuses! For jobs particularly NOT well done.

I just read in the paper that our older generation will not see a cost of living raise in their Social Security checks this year. First time this has happened since some time in the 1930's! Everything that these people have to pay for has increased in price. And now for most of them, their Social Security money received will actually be less than the year before. Why less? Because most of them are paying for the Part D Prescription coverage that is deducted directly from Social Security before the check is issued - - which is certainly going to increase again this year, just like it has every year!

So, what we're ending up with is our elderly population, who are barely scraping by will be getting LESS "take home pay" . . . yep, the little old ladies who often have to choose between food or their heart medication . . . . while their power bill, water bill, prescriptions, food, clothing, and everything else they NEED increases in price on a daily basis.

Something is wrong with this picture!!

Things are getting out of hand!!

Okay, I understand all the politically correct stuff. I don't like a lot of it, but at least I understand it. But someone please explain to me why, oh why, is the press going nuts over the fact that Mrs. Obama wore a pair of shorts to visit a national park?

They weren't super tight, show it all shorts. They really looked good on her. And she's really got the legs for it, too.

It's not like she wore shorts to a state dinner or something inappropriate. She was on vacation with her husband and kids - going to see the sights.

What's she supposed to do? Dress up for every occasion?

Nope. She was properly dressed for the function. And besides, who does she have to please? I just don't see anything wrong with wearing something comfortable - especially if your legs look as good as hers!

I can't imagine what will happen the first time the press finds out that she actually wore a bathing suit to go swimming!

The end.

CRISIS At Grammaw Central!

I just got a phone call from "The Pickle" - better known as my wonderful Grandson! (The blond shown here.)

The first words out of his mouth were, "I've got some bad news".

As a mother I was a worrier . . as a grandmother, I'm much, much worse because I'm over 300 miles away.

So, before asking what was wrong, my brain starts running through all the horrible things that could possibly be wrong. He's a really great kid, so I know he's not in any serious trouble. I just talked to my son two days ago, so it's something really recent. It's summer so it's can't be bad grades - he's an honor student, anyway! Okay, I eliminated the impossibles.

The possibles . . . His sister injured herself cheer leading. Nope, mom or dad would have called about that. He got a snake bite. He's a cross country runner - and he broke his leg! Or his foot! He was in the pool and his hair turned green! No, he sounded way too serious for that!

He broke his left arm! With 2 weeks of summer vacation left, he broke his arm!

So when you get your cast, Pickle, what's it gonna be? Nice, simple, red?

Kind of preppy - green with the blue stripes?

I guess it could be so much worse . . . what if they had to put a cast on your head???

Get well soon! ! ! Love, Grammaw & Grampaw

Sore Back? This will scare you!!

Hi there! I've been busy lately. My poor little blog has suffered terribly and I am so sorry to have neglected it for so long.

I made the mistake of volunteering my skills (or lack thereof) to a web site used by the group dedicated to Adhesive Arachnoiditis - which is what Dub suffers from. This back condition is almost always caused by an invasive procedure by doctors. I guess the easiest way to describe it is to say that when the outer covering of the spine is damaged, this produces scar tissue. In some cases that scar tissue becomes very sticky and huge, it invades the spinal column and causes nerve "clumping".

Once the scar tissue starts growing and sticking to the nerves, the patient has tremendous, unending pain. It goes all day and all night. You have bad days and then you have worse days. The nerve pain is accompanied by a burning sensation in your feet - or for some people it feels like they are walking on broken glass. Very frequently one or both legs develop numbness. Sometimes just the thigh, sometimes the entire leg.

There are a lot of other problems associated with Adhesive Arachnoiditis. We have about 2,500 that belong to the on-line group. It seems like every one of them has different problems. Some can function pretty well, like Dub. Some are bed-ridden. Some are in wheel chairs.

Diagnosis is tough. It usually takes an MRI with contrast dye and an expert radiologist to spot it. Most doctors will first tell you that it's all in your head. Your surgery was a success and everything is fine. Your x-ray looks great. Once you have that "AA" diagnosis, Social Security Disability is pretty easy to get. It's one of the major disabilities on their "list".

For pain relief I've heard of everything from acupuncture to implanted morphine pumps and everything in between. I know of people who do well on very mild prescription pain killers and there are a lot who never get any relief even from their morphine pumps. Dub is one of the lucky ones who get pretty good relief on a minimum of prescriptions.

This can't be operated on. If you have surgery and they remove the scar tissue, it grows back - bigger and badder! There is no cure. There is no fix. We have a young man in our on-line group who is 21 years old. His mother joined when he was only 7! We've all kind of 'watched' Little Andrew grow up with this affliction. For almost 14 years his mom has been looking for a way to fix it!

We actually have two sites. One for information - where we try to keep up with all the latest research. The other is just about all posting back and forth about what works for each . . . and what doesn't.

Ladies - - this is for YOU! Birthing epidurals are a major cause of this problem among women. If that needle is off just a tiny fraction, you, too could end up with this! Discuss it with your doctor before having that epidural.

Dub and I had never heard of this until a year after his one and only back surgery. We got out all those release/consent papers that were signed and looked them over very carefully. Yes, it's in there! We are told by the "experts" that there's only about a 5% chance of having this happen.

So, please be aware. If you are having any procedures done that involve your neck, back, spine or anything close to any of those - ask your doctor about Adhesive Arachnoiditis. It will at least put him/her on notice that you know it exists. An old British study showed the 87% of cases were caused by physician errors!

* * * * * * * *

And for more of a downer . . . Stellan is back in the hospital. According to the last tweet from McKMama he is not responding well at all. The SVT is not going away and he is in rough shape. . . . GET THOSE PRAYERS GOING ! !

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

In hindsight, I have just realized that I did NOT put my life in danger this morning. When taking the rat terriers out with me to get the morning paper, I failed to notice the HUGE pit bull wandering up our street. As Rascal (fur standing straight up, barking like mad) headed toward the pit bull, I did not rush in their direction with only the Monday edition of Florida Today for protection! Just as the dogs were nose-to-nose (with NO tail wagging), the pit bull owner drove around the corner, jumped from his car and grabbed his collar. Whew, I was afraid Rascal was gonna hurt that poor pit bull!

I have NOT hit a total case of "writers' block" and will now close this pitiful attempt of blogging for today! I DO hope that my next attempt will be at least a little more entertaining.

What's So Special About Tomorrow??

AT 5 MINUTES AND 6 SECONDS AFTER 4 O'CLOCK, ON THE 8TH OF JULY, THIS YEAR, THE TIME AND DATE WILL BE:

04:05:06 07-08-09!!

It will happen once in the morning . . . and once in the afternoon.

THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN UNTIL THE YEAR 3009!!!

(I had a feeling that you just needed to know this - didn't want you to wait 1000 years for someone else to tell you about it.)

And, I must also add that it is the birthday of one of my very favorite people EVER! Happy Birthday, Karen! You're the best daughter I could have ever picked!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not wish horrible, terrible, awful things to happen to one of my across the street neighbors this weekend. Never did. Never would. He did NOT park a full tractor-trailer across the street from our house on Friday evening and leave it there until 3 o'clock this morning! About every 30 minutes, the generator did NOT kick on to run the reefer and keep his load cold.

Therefore, while trying to enjoy cooking ribs on the grill we WEREN'T surrounded by the wonder odor of diesel exhaust! And while trying to enjoy splashing in the pool we were not choking on the same diesel exhaust fumes!

And we didn't have to finally move inside to enjoy our watermelon! How can you have a watermelon seed spitting contest inside??!!

It is NOT 11am. I am NOT still in my jammies. I am NOT sitting in the nice, cool A/C while Dub is outside mowing the lawn! And I do NOT intend to change any of those items any time soon . . . . well, okay - I AM going to go shower and get dressed.

Happy Monday!!

Not Me! Monday - Free Therapy

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Nobody in this house spent two full days in her jammies this week. Nope, not sick. Nothing wrong. Just absolute pure-tee laziness! There is no one in this house that would do that!

And then that very same nobody could never have gone outside early this morning and pulled weeds, dug dirt, picked about a ton of tomatos and egg plants, chased two rat terriers, filled the bird bath, trimmed the fig bush and then came in the house to figure out that she couldn't have possibly forgotten all about writing her Not me! Monday post!! No respectable blogger could or would ever do that!

Dub did NOT decide that the blades on our cute little green and yellow riding mower needed sharpening. And he sure didn't proceed to lift said little mower by himself so he could get a jack stand under it. For those of you unaware - he has a horrible, inoperable back condition that is aggravated by doing things like that - and here he is doing heavy lifting. Like his doctors have NOT limited him to picking up nothing weighing more than 8 pounds! Oh no - nothing like that ever happens around here.

And, of course, I did not throw a complete - perfect hissy fit in his direction for this crime. We don't have every tool known to man around here. We have two floor jacks! And he really didn't stick his head in the door and ask if I could help him for a minute! NO!

Then Dub didn't spend the next day in bed with his pain medication wondering why his back was killing him! Please tell me that he didn't actually say, "I don't know what the hell I did, but I'm hurtin' so much worse than usual!"

If you haven't done any "Not Me's" - how about leaving a couple in my comments! I just love knowing I'm not alone in my imperfections!

Someone Help Me!

If you read my Not Me! Monday!, you know that I've been having some issues with sleeping in lately.

What I failed to mention is that on that very Monday - my brother-in-law was BEATING (not knocking) on our front door at 7:15am. Yes, a damn m!

This man has no conscience. He is retired, like us - but he is one of those who gets up really early every morning! And he doesn't understand why the rest of the world isn't up and fully functioning before 7 every morning!

There is no way to count the number of times I have told him not to call so early in the morning . . . I have told him not to come beating on the door so early in the morning. He just laughs and says it doesn't hurt us to get up early and be productive from time to time.

I agree with him completely . . . only if it were "from time to time". He is not bothered by the fact that everyone else that has our number seems to feel exactly the same way.

This morning at 9:00 - - - it was granddaughter G from Middleofnowhere, GA to let us know that she was at the salon. She was using her Mom's cell so she could tell us Mom was getting a hair cut - and that her 5 year old little toes were getting a pedicure! Someone help me!!

Her godfather gave her several gift certificates for salon services for Christmas. Yes, this is the same man who gave her the miniature bull for her birthday! Bear is now about as tall as a great dane but much, much wider!

It's time for my nap now.

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I'm taking a little liberty with my Not Me! Monday! today. I'm going to tell on other people. There is a theme to this. Let's call it "Who woke them up this morning?" Dub and I are retired - we love to sleep in - our family and friends know we love to sleep in. This is how our valiant efforts to sleep in were squashed last week!

Monday - The Yellow Book did NOT have their computer call us at 8:30am to make sure that we received our recent phone book delivery

Tuesday - No way that Dub's son "C" called us at 7:15 am just to say hi! At 7:15 dang am!???

Wednesday - L couldn't wait to call from Middleofnowhere, GA to tell us about the new baby bunnies. Oh, no - had to call at 8:30 and actually say, "Sorry to wake you guys up, but we've got SIX new bunnies!" Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Thursday - Mastercard did not call me at 9am just to see if I was a happy customer. We won't even discuss the fact that I had already told them twice that I wanted to be put on their 'do not call' list -- because I was becoming an unhappy customer -- because they kept calling me!

Friday - Because of a serious case of short term memory loss, Dub's son "C" forgot that he had already done his duty of awaking us EARLY Tuesday! No - I guess this was different - he really didn't call at 7:15am. He called about 8am. No - he couldn't have done that twice in one week!

Saturday - We actually shot ourselves in the foot! Set our alarm for 7am....just had to get up in time to rush out to the front yard and watch the shuttle launch! Got up, turned on the TV for the latest shuttle update - - AND IT DIDN'T LAUNCH!

Sunday - Dixie and Rascal detected a major disturbance in the neighborhood - and couldn't have started a bark-fest about 7:45am. Oh, no - they didn't fight to see who was gonna get out the door first . . . and as soon as they were both outside, they looked around - did what needed to be done and came back inside. They both immediately stretch out and went back to sleep. Dub and I however NEVER got back to sleep!

And how was your week??