The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places.
Ernest Hemingway
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GANG  MEMBERS

4/30/2016

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DANCE IS LIKE LIFE. IT EXISTS AS YOU'RE FLITTING THROUGH IT, AND WHEN IT'S OVER, IT'S DONE.
                                                           Jerome Robbins


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THIS IS THE KIND OF "WILD" GANG MEMBERS THAT I ASSOCIATE WITH!
Jodi, Jeanie, me, Ronnie, and Sue. (Blossom and husband Bill were taking the pictures)

Yup, last night some of the gang got together for supper at Mahoney's, the local bar and grill in our old hometown. It was nice to see these guys again. The funeral for Jodi's sister, Dixie, is today and then Jodi will have to fly back to California tomorrow. 

But, wait. Here is something that was almost unbelievable. Later, as we were visiting, Jodi got a text from her niece. Tragically, Dixie's husband passed away suddenly! He had been in very poor health for some time, but the sadness of his wife's death was just too much. Wow! Their deaths were only five days apart. I've heard of couples who pass within a short time of each other because of such a strong love bond.  Whew!

Sorry, everybody, I know that I get on "death" subjects quite a bit, but wanted to make note of the second anniversary of Dad's passing which was yesterday, the 29th. Two years have gone by since we all went through that crazy, wild time with Dad. That stuff seems like it happened a lot longer ago than it did. Actually, the last three years kinda seem like it was all a dream.  Weird.

                                                                        GOD BLESS YOU ALL


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THIS IS FOR YOUR PROTECTION!

4/28/2016

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EITHER YOU RUN THE DAY OR THE DAY RUNS YOU.
                                                                                Jim Rohr

As you can see, I am still not feeling the best. The pneumonia is pretty much over, but this stupid cold is lingering. I am wearing this mask to protect you from any germs that may be transmitted through cyberspace.  (Sure is creepy looking though).

Dear friend Jodi is back in town. Her sister, Dixie, did pass away last Monday. My thoughts and prayers go out to the whole family. - - - -  Hey, actually, just this minute I got a call from Jodi. The gang is meeting up tomorrow night. The gang. That really sounds "high schoolish", doesn't it? A more correct description would be "60-somethings huddling, drinking a beer or two (in my case, a Diet Pepsi), and talking for hours"! We are going to meet up in our old stomping grounds where we went to school. At this stage of our lives, I doubt if anyone will be cruising up and down main street like we did in the good old days. Can you picture that? A whole line of minivans and SUVs slowing driving around. It would look like a funeral procession.  Plus, at our age, we know the value of a dollar, and can't bring ourselves to waste gas by just idly driving around.

I did manage to mow all the properties last week, but they need it again. However, it has been rainy and dreary, so it will be a few more days until I can do anything. Yup, I even mow when I'm sick. Dad was like that. He had to keep the yard looking nice. Uh, I also have a daughter who is following that family trait. I think she's already mowed her yard three times this year.

Since I have been trying to take it a little easy, I have spent several hours working on my writing. I have become addicted to creating a collection of stories about Molly and Pet Ladybug. It is a fun hobby and I can just go to my happy place whenever I sit down at the computer and write about their little fictional lives.

I've already bought some packets of sunflower seeds. Every year, I try to do a better job at raising them. Remember last year when I was shocked and thrilled to produce three HUGE sunflowers? Hopefully there will be lots more this year. I'll keep ya posted. I also want to buy some annuals and get them put out on the deck. Is it true that you have to wait until about May 10th to safely have plants outside? We are in a crazy state where a darn late frost can sneak in and kill anything set outside.

Well I must go now. I feel the need to freshen my lipstick on my facemask.  Tah Tah

                                                    GOD BLESS YOU ALL







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I THINK I'M A LITTLE JAZZED UP ON PREDNISONE

4/20/2016

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 THE QUESTION ISN'T WHO IS GOING TO LET ME;  IT'S WHO IS GOING TO STOP ME.

                                                                                Ayn Rand

I am a go-getter.  I am a workaholic.  I am JAZZED.  I also have a horrible cold, allergies, aaaannnnd
pneumonia.  I started getting sick last Friday, and finally dragged my sorry butt into the doctor's office.  Prednisone is one of the wonderful meds I got.  It is working sooooo good. Doc said it might me feel hungry and jittery.  It hasn't made a surge in my appetite, but I am getting lots of stuff done around here - - -  really fast.  Jittery?  Who says I'm jittery?  I'm just working at warp speed for a while.  Unfortunately, I only have to take it for five days.  Hope I get six months worth of chores done before it's all gone. I am still sneezing and barky-coughing, but I am JAZZED-UP WOMAN, so don't get in my way.

Speaking of Friday, Jenna and I went to see Theresa Caputo in Moline. Good show. She looked fantastic.  She's lost some weight so she is super tiny and she was wearing the most fabulous black dress and the shoes . . .  oh, the shoes!  They looked like they were coated with diamonds. I Googled them (Christian Louboutin's with the red soles), and, good news, they are on sale- - -  for only $5,600.00.  It was a little disappointing when she mostly worked the first section on the floor where  the expensive ticket-holders sat, and went up into the bleachers only once, and that was way across the room from us.  We mostly watched her on the big-screen TV, so it was just like watching her on television.

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First picture is, obviously, Jenna and me in a selfie - - -  with some ladies behind us taking a selfie.
Second picture is me hanging with my new BFF, Theresa. Oh, I'm the frumpy looking one on the left side, FYI. (I'll have to add this pic to my collection of photos with cardboard cutouts and plaster statues). Considering that there were about 4,000 people at the show,  I wonder how many I infected with my crud, since that was when the coughing really began.  Oh, well.

I must repeat that I am really feeling a lot better than I did. However, Monday morning - - -  not so much.  I had been in bed since Saturday, dealing with chills and sweating spells, headaches,  coughing, and sneezing.  But Monday morning, I woke with a jolt, got up and dressed, and grabbed the garbage bag from the kitchen (which only had a tiny bit of stuff in it) and hurried to take out the trash. I hadn't heard the garbage truck come by yet, so I was moving fast.  When I put my pitiful little trash bag in the can, I noticed that was the only thing we had accumulated for the week. I knew that we had been gone a lot and hadn't thrown very much away, but REALLY?  My neighbor lady across the lane saw me and hollered "Hi".  I was really confused now, so I asked her if today was Wednesday or Thursday (Wednesday is our usual pick-up day).  She replied,  "Oh, Honey, this is only Monday!"  How embarrassing.  I had to take the walk-of-shame back to my house, head hanging and dragging my almost-empty can. Evidently, I was hallucinating or something, and really got my days mixed up.  Whatever.

One good thing about spending so much time in bed was that I finally got to watch Breakfast At Tiffany's all the way through.  Never got to do that before.

When I picked the quote to use for this post, I had originally a different take on the message.  You know, inspiration
al.  But as I reread it, I now know what it really means. 

I AM JAZZED UP WOMAN. SO DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TRYING TO STOP ME- - -AT LEAST FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.  Did I already mention that I think I'm a little jazzed up on Prednisone?

                                                            GOD BLESS YOU ALL






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OLDER GIRLS AND YOUNGER GIRLS

4/10/2016

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WELL BEHAVED WOMEN SELDOM MAKE HISTORY.

                                                      Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

This has been the week for meeting up with "the girls".  Some older than the others.

Wednesday I went to a friend's house for a get-together with some girls that I had known since my youth.  I think you might remember me talking about Jeanie, Janna, Jodi, Sue, and Kris.  What a bunch of great homies. Unfortunately, our Jodi was only back from California because her sister is suffering from 4 Stage cancer and she arranged to get here for a visit. 

Jodi was able to relieve some stress by meeting us with us at Jeanie's house.  Along with Hubby, Jeanie's hubby, Jodi's brother, Marcy M., who was one of our teachers in school, and is about our age anyway, and June, who  was our lovely school secretary many, many, many years ago and also a good friend to all of us, we proceeded to laugh our fannies off and have a good time.
 
We also discussed some more very serious things that are going on in these lovely ladies lives.  Kris' special man suffered a huge stroke in March and is paralyzed on his right side.  Janna just got a new granddaughter, but her daughter came close to dying from something called H.E.L.L.P., a very rare condition that involves high enzymes. It can cause the liver to die, blindness, and a whole bevy of other really bad outcomes. The baby was taken two months early and fortunately both daughter and granddaughter came out of it fine.  Very scary times.

Then there are younger girls in my life. You remember the granddaughters, Cate and Abby. They spent this week-end with us and it was good to see them again.  We didn't do much since the weather was so dreary, but I am glad that they came.

Hey, just watched a documentary about autism on Public TV.  It was filmed in 2005, and showed a family and their son, Jack. Back when he was diagnosed (in the late '90s) there was very little to be done with these kids.  Parents were advised to not tell anyone that their child was autistic, because it would put a negative label on the kid.  Also, this family was told that ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) wasn't important and to not put much faith in that program.

Well . . .  I'm here to tell ya that I am so grateful that I have a daughter that thinks outside the box. When we were advised to stay hush-hush about Alec's autism, she stuck her chin out and declared she would shout it from the rooftops if it would help him get the special programs that he needed.  She did the right thing. 

I guess I am proud of all the girls , young or older, that I have in my life.  Gotta love them!

                                                                              GOD BLESS YOU ALL


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I'M SAD AND MAD

4/5/2016

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DON'T QUIT!  DON'T GIVE IN!  YOU'RE AN OVERCOMER!

                                                    lyrics form "Overcomer" song by Mandisa

I just got home from taking Alec to a late-start at his school.  All the way home, I was bawling my eyes out.
I can't even imagine what he is feeling.

Al's school is doing Basic Skills this week.  He does not participate in the regular testing, so for the first two hours a few days this week, he starts his day later than usual.

Not so good for an autistic kid.

Any change in routine is disturbing, disrupting, and very hard for him to handle.  A van normally picks his up in the morning, and Jenna thinks this is his transition time that helps him adjust from "home" life to "school" routine. With me taking him in the car, it allowed him time to panic and worry that something was out of whack. He goes to a wonderful school, has wonderful teachers and aides, and the rest of the kids just accept him as he is.  But the fear of change was so overwhelming, he could not control his screaming and crying this morning.  I watched him try and pull back into himself.  He knew he was acting inappropriately, but he just couldn't stop.

So I am sad for him.  But the reason I am mad, is because there shouldn't be such a thing as autism. Where did it come from?  Years ago, there were so few cases.  Now, it is 1 out of every 68 children born today that are on the austism spectrum. Almost everyone I talk to knows someone or has a relative that's been diagnosed with this horrible condition. 

If you only realized the fears that a family has concerning what will happen to this loved one as we all get older.  It's scares the hell out of us. There are so few good homes that are available to these people.  Our "great" governor has closed several facilities just because he wanted to.(No discussion with our state lawmakers and no listening to what the people had to say). He said he had planned to have a few new facilities in place, but that never happened.  One closed home was destroyed and is being turned into a multi-plex baseball field - - -  all owned by a private party who bought the land for peanuts.   Hmmmmm

Well, I think I am about done ranting and venting.  I have stopped crying- - -  for now.  At the beginning of this post I put a few of the lyrics from "my" song that I have listened to since the beginning of my breast cancer journey.

It began to play on the car radio as I drove home today.  It couldn't have come at a better time.  I'm sure it was meant to be, reminding me that we will all be Overcomers.  No matter what.

                                                                        GOD BLESS YOU ALL



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    Janene...

    ... was diagnosed with breast cancer on November 11, 2013. This is a place for all of the people who love and care about her to get the information about her treatment and her personal experience of kicking cancer's ass, (sometimes from her daughter's perspective). It's hard to stand by and not be able to do anything to help. Writing gives my mom an outlet and allows both of us to share information during this time. Therefore, we blog :) 

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