The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places.
Ernest Hemingway
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JOY. THANKFUL. WORRY.

5/26/2017

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(Cate, this quote is for you)

YOU CAN'T CONTROL HOW SMART YOU ARE, HOW FUNNY YOU ARE,  OR HOW GOOD LOOKING YOU ARE. THE ONE THING YOU CAN CONTROL IN YOUR LIFE IS HOW HARD YOU WORK.

​                                                                   Ian Brennan

​JOY.  I am feeling that for my lovely granddaughter, as she prepares to graduate from high school tomorrow. She has worked hard, had fun in school, and made lots of friends. Now, it is on to the REAL life.

​THANKFUL.  I am so thankful for all the people who came to our party (on a very rainy day) to celebrate Cate's accomplishment. I am so thankful for the ones who weren't able to make it, and still went out of their way to remember her accomplishments. But, there is one who deserves a HUGE Thank You and that is sister Sandy. You see, I hate to cook. Always have, always will. Sooo . . . Sandy cooked all the food for the party AND made three of the most beautiful, huge cakes. It was amazing, and I can't say how much it meant to us all that she did all that hard work for us.  Pulled pork, potato salad, maid-rites, cucumber salad, beans, and CAKE!!!  She even sent french fries and chicken nuggets for the little ones.   Thanks, Sandy! I am thankful for you.

​WORRY.  Have you turned on your TV lately? Of course you have. Jeepers! Twilight Zone. OOOEEEOOO. I keep thinking we are living in a parallel universe . . . AND I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE GOOD OL' NORMAL DAYS! Each morning is the beginning of a topsy turvy kind of experience. It has become necessary to keep a score card of the new "exciting" developments of crazy events. I don't care what party you are a part of. Actually, I think so many of us are leaning toward the Independent zone.  Regardless, a lot of stuff is going to crap for everybody. What an odd time in history, we are living in.

​The WORRY part involves something kinda selfish on my part. With our plans for Woodbridge Haven moving forward, the major part of funding will (or would have) come from Medicaid. With our plan to fun a facility for special needs people, (primarily autistic people), the state currently provides waivers for their care, when they have aged out of the system (school or  young-person day-care programs). IF the Medicaid funding is cut drastically, there will be little money to cover these services. Parents and family members will have to find some place for their loved ones to go during the day, so that they can continue to work to keep a roof over their heads. They would probably end up  having to pay out of pocket for these services, and those don't come cheap!  Without this funding, guess what? Mom or Dad will have to quit work to keep an eye on their child. And by this time, the child is actually a grown-up. And as any adult, they want to have a fulfilling day just like everyone else. With the services we will provide, they will be going to the movies, having art classes, actually growing things in a garden, learning to cook, and sharing their days with friends.  Just when our years-long dream is coming true, the government may be throwing a monkey wrench into the works. Sorry, but that really makes me mad.

​It has been dreary and rainy here a lot, and with my busted butt, I haven't taken the time to shoot any pictures or draw Little J. Maybe next time.

​UPDATE:  Hey, I almost forgot to give you latest on the "mystery" stuff from the can of tomato juice.
​The company that I called about their product, said they would send me a "collection kit" so that they could analyse what the heck that stuff was. After waiting several days,  and the specimen becoming moldy, my family insisted that I pitch it out and forget it.  THEN the collection kit arrived. It consisted of a padded envelope. I could have sent it to them immediately if I had known that was how they wanted to pack it. So, we will never know what was really in that can. BUT, the good news is that they sent me three coupons for a total of $8.00 off their products.  Whoo hoo!  But, no thanks.

​                                                                        GOD BLESS YOU ALL



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FAMILY STUFF

5/16/2017

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FAMILY IS ESSENTIAL BECAUSE WE ALL YEARN TO FEEL LIKE WE BELONG TO SOMETHING GREATER THAN OURSELVES.

​                                                                   Laura Ramirez

​It's a few days late. . . but HAPPY MOTHERS'S DAY!  I had a pretty darn good one myself. Daniel called me from up north and we visited for a while. He and Tammy were taking her mom to a nice brunch. Fortunately, they were having wonderful weather there because they like to go to a nice restaurant where they dine outside on the patio. Went to church and then came home to find Jenna and Alec. They brought we a gorgeous burning bush to plant somewhere in my huge yard. The question is going to be, exactly where? We always have to be concerned about locations of sewer leaching lines and septic tanks, in case we need to bring in a truck to take care of those things. So, my nice plants can't be in the way where they will get run over. I can't wait to find the perfect place. 

​And, if you are all are wondering, YES, my butt is still broken. Well, not actually broken. X-rays showed that it isn't even cracked, but man! is it bruised.

I have noticed that I am not the most graceful person lately. Hubby and I are working on projects around the house, 'cause we are giving a little graduation party for Granddaughter Cate this week-end. I conked my forehead with something, and now have a knot over one eye. I can't seem to pick my feet up properly anymore. Is it old age? Probably. Anyhoo, I will be seeing my regular GP tomorrow for an annual check-up, which I'm sure will turn out fine. The info I'm curious about is going to come from my oncologist in July. I keep griping about this certain kind of meds that I have to take for another 2 1/5 years (total of five years!). It is the weirdest thing. It makes it hard to walk. I have two friends that were on this stuff for breast cancer, and both started about the same time as me. They have both quit taking it! YOU CAN NOT STOP TAKING IT! But they did. Betty M. found that she couldn't walk up stairs anymore. Rose H. has similar problems. It's a good thing I do a lot of my writing on the computer, because it is also hard to hold a pen to write. I can't even read my own writing anymore. Whatever.

​I have been channeling Martha Stewart around here. In trying to spruce things up a bit, for Cate's party, I "recovered" the cushions on our old porch swing, and then spray painted the frame black and redid the old tan color of the swing with nice, fresh white. Then I sprayed an old two dollar wicker table and set it next to it.

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​Here's a picture of the wonderful burning bush that Jenna and Alec got me. Those things are so beautiful when they bloom in the fall.
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​And here's my girl and me. Alec took the picture.

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​Well, better dash. I still need to do a bunch of stuff for Saturday. 

Oh, yeah, that creepy picture of stuff that came out of my tomato juice can. . .  well, called the company and they said they would send a collection kit (did I already mention that?). Guess what? They never sent it. That bag of ??? was so nasty and getting moldy, that Jenna insisted I throw it away.  Gee, and the tomato juice company lady had said she would also send me several coupons for free products. (I told her I really didn't want anymore of their "tomato juice").

​                                                               GOD BLESS YOU ALL

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WANT TO SEE SOMETHING GROSS?

5/9/2017

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WISDOM IS NOTHING MORE THAN HEALED PAIN.
                                                                                               Robert Gary Lee


​I'll get to the gross thing in a minute. And if you are a queasy kind of person, don't bother looking at what's later in the blog.

​The quote for today is referring to my falling down and breaking my . . . well, you know. I went to the chiropractor yesterday and he took some x-rays to see if anything is cracked or broken. I will see him again this morning to find out if it is just a big owie or if it's something more. Actually, I am feeling much better but it still hurts to sit. I might have to get one of those "doughnuts" that people use when they have 'roids.  Ya know?
So, my lesson in wisdom is that once you get healed, remember to NOT DO THE SAME STUPID THING AGAIN! I promise to never wear smooth soled tennis shoes while running down carpeted steps. Amen.

Okay, now for the disgusting thingy.

​Have you ever found something . . .shall we say . . .  unusual in any of your foodstuffs? Like opening a box of cereal and finding something suspiciously hard and not really identifiable and it is definitely NOT cereal? What about those stories you hear about a person opening a can of vegetables and finding someone's cut off finger? Nope, me neither. Then, there was yesterday.

​The doctor had told me that I would be more comfortable if I stood more than I sat, so I decided to clean out my refrigerator. No big deal, right?  Then . . .  I took out a can of tomato juice. It was one of those big cans that holds enough to make chili soup. I had used some of it the week before and had stuck the rest in the frig. Yesterday, I decided I wouldn't use what little was left, so I began to pour the remainder into the sink. I always use a "beer can" type opener and punch holes in two sides of the top of cans so I can pour the contents out, without having to use the electric opener and cut all around the top. Well, when pouring the rest of the juice out, the hole became plugged. I kinda reached in and starting pulling something out. It was like really solid fat tallow. Yuck! I managed to get quite a bit out. But then there came (oh man!) a really hard piece of something. That's when I cut the whole lid off the can to see what was actually in there. People! There was something in there that I can't even really describe. There was a chunk of hard black and green whatever. Red stuff, yellow stuff, brown stuff!!

​I looked at the can and called the company's complaint line. I explained to the lady what had happened and she is sending me a "collection kit" so they can see exactly what this mystery thingy is! It's not as though the tomato juice was ancient. The expiration date was July 22, 2018!!!!

​What's creepy is the fact that about the time of using this product, I had a slight case of food poisoning. I thought perhaps I had gotten it was from a restaurant that we had gone to. (Jenna always scolds me about eating anywhere where there is a sneeze guard over the food). Now that I think about it, it possibly came from the mystery "parts" in the juice.  Aye Yi Yi!

​Look closely at the picture and see if you can tell what this is. I only saved about four large tablespoons worth. I had flushed some of it down the sink before I realized that there was going to be a lot more coming from the can, and that I should save it all.

​

​
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I'll let you know what this is, when I find out.  Okay?

​                                                            GOD BLESS YOU ALL

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I DID IT AGAIN!

5/5/2017

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I FALL DOWN  . . . GO BOOM! 

                            Janene Oliphant

​This day started off so nicely. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I had a list of things that I was looking forward to doing. I had ambition!! And, I did get a lot done. Cleaned the bathroom, did several loads of laundry, dusted, swept, and then finished several little misc. things that needed to get done. Then I ran into town, went to the bank, Wally World, Post office, and Goodwill. When I got home, Hubby was getting the backhoe and the dump truck ready to take out two trees that need to be removed at the Woodbridge Haven site. I helped pick up small branches and limbs, while he scooped up all the ginormous branches and limbs. (Wow, ain't this fascinating?)

​Everything was going wonderfully, when I decided to go home and get some bottled water for us. When I drove past Nina's house (you remember her, my BFSILPIC . . .Best Friend Sister-In-Law Partner In Crime) and stopped to chat for a few moments. She offered to go into her house and bring me out some water so I wouldn't have to drive a whole few hundred feet to my house. So nice of her. I wish I had taken her up on it.

​Well . . . pulled up to my house, dashed inside, and went flying down the stairs to poker room to get cold water from the frig that is there. Then it happened.  My feet flew out from under me and I landed HARD on the edge of one step, making contact with the middle of my back on one step, and then BOOM! hit my tailbone on the edge of another step. Yes, people, I busted my ass!  Pardon my French, but that's about what happened. Okay, I don't think it is actually busted, but it sure is bruised and painful.

I felt that perhaps you might like to see a reenactment by our own Little J.

​
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This is why I always carry my phone with me in case I have to call 911 and tell them that I've fallen and can't get up. Thankfully, that was not the case this time. (I would have called Hubby or Nina first if it was really bad).

  Jeeze, I've got to get a life.

​                                                                      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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