Leaves of Fall

It's been two years since I have photographed the leaves in the Fall. I am anxious to do it again this year. I have my calendar marked as a reminder as to when the best weekend will be for my endeavor. Hopefully, we will be able to take the bike.  The first photo was taken out of the windshield of our truck. I have no idea where they were taken.

We had buckets of rain most of the night but for now it has stopped and the sun came out earlier this morning. We are in for rain for at least the next three days, as is Dover, Delaware, which is where the NASCAR race is being held this weekend. If it is postponed until Monday that's OK with me. I'm not going anywhere. 

This has been a long, hot summer but I'm not glad it's over. I will miss it despite the hellish heat we had most of the days. I enjoy the cooler weather just as much as the next person but I do not enjoy the nasty winters we get in this part of the country. And from what we are hearing this coming winter is supposed to be very nasty. It looks like I will be hibernating once again. I am getting quite used to that.

Not much news from this end since nothing exciting has happened lately. All the cats are doing fine and keeping us amused as usual. The new TV season has started so my nights are filled watching them. And, of course, I cannot finish off my day without watching Craig Ferguson's late night show.

Autumnal Equinox

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.

~William Cullen Bryant

One Happy Giant Fan

New York Giants:  36

Carolina Panthers:  7 

What To Do, What To Do

What with everything that is going on in the world today I just want to run and hide somewhere.

But where?

Just where is it safe these days?

Probably nowhere.

I am angry ~ very angry, but I am literally afraid to voice my opinion here on this page as it might get me in trouble with a lot of folks.

I have very strong opinions about so many things and yet I cannot talk about them.

So I won't.

You get the idea...

The Four Horsemen

Congratulations to Hendrick Motor Sports.  All the HMS drivers made it into the Chase which begins  Sunday, January 16th, at Chicagoland Speedway and runs concurrently through the next nine races ending Sunday, November 18th, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. 

Left to right:  Kasey Kahne (wild card), Jeff Gordon (wild card), Jimmie Johnson (finished 4th in regular season points), and Dale Earnhardt, Jr (finished 2nd in regular season points).

May the best man win!

Time To Weigh In On The Mattress Topper

When I first started sleeping on the 4" memory foam I didn't get the results I had hoped for so I decided perhaps it was my pillow that was all wrong.  I searched high and low for the right pillow and when I finally found it, I purchased what I thought would be my savior.  Not so.  I have used that pillow three times, each time hoping it would feel better, and each time I have been disappointed with it.  Seriously, it is like laying my head on a rock.   Back to the one I was using.

But you didn't come here to read about my pillow.  It has been many weeks since I first started sleeping on the foam topper, and now it is time to tell you how I really feel about it.  

I am very happy with it.  I am sleeping better and longer.  Sometimes my mind is so cluttered when I lay my head down on the pillow that it is hard to fall asleep for many hours.  But once I do, that's it...I sleep well and long.  For the nights when I simply can't fall asleep I have at the ready a sleep aid.  Nothing harsh.  It is a simple over-the-counter medication that does not interfere with my other medications for my cholesterol and blood pressure problems.

The real test for the foam topper was when I first slept a full eight hours.  And those times have happened a lot since that first one.  The second test was after that first full eight hours of sleep, I also noticed a big difference in my back pain upon arising.  No, it's not gone entirely, but once I get out of bed I don't feel near the pain I used to feel.  And I don't feel like a creepy old zombie either.  Rather, I feel quite refreshed and ready to greet the day...and my cats and husband.

So, yes, I would recommend anyone out there with back pain and/or problems to try a memory foam topper.  I switched from a three-inch to a four-inch topper and am glad I did.  And I didn't purchase just any old memory foam...I invested in a brand name from a reputable mattress maker that starts with an S and ends with an a.

Now, if only I could get this kink out of my neck from being on the computer and having to look up at the screen.  And now I hear you asking why I don't adjust the chair or get one that lets me look straight on.  Well, I do have such a chair.  And right now Dakota-Sioux is napping on it.  That's how it is when one has cats.  They always get the best seats in the house.

Seasons Come & Seasons Go

Labor Day has come and gone.  It rained all day.  My husband and I spent the entire day indoors watching TV.  AMC had a Clint Eastwood marathon on so we watched one of his movies.  And then we watched whatever we could find that interested both of us.  It was a rather lazy day.  I did manage to get the dishes done and also made steak sandwiches for dinner.  But that's all I did, and I'm not ashamed to say it.

As much as I really hated the humidity and high heat of this past summer, I still hate to see it leave us.  Don't get me wrong, I love the autumn months, too.  I enjoy the leaves changing color, the cooler air, the warm afternoons, the aroma of anything made with pumpkins, crisp apples, and everything else that goes with the Fall season.  However, what follows it is not a favorite of mine.  Yep, that dreaded Ol' Man Winter.  Nope, not a favorite of mine at all.  I wish we could skip right into Spring from Fall.

I watched the Republican convention but I will not watch the Democratic convention.  Without going into detail, all I will say is I am looking forward to all the debates.  Those should be quite interesting. I love a good debate.

I watched a small miracle on Sunday evening.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr., started the Advocare 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in the 35th position.  When the race was over he finished in the 7th position.  At one point during the race he was two laps down and got both of them back to be on the lead lap.  Later he went a lap down but was able to get himself back on the lead lap once again.  I am still in awe that he finished in 7th and will never doubt that team again.  Seriously, I thought Sunday's race was going to be a disaster.  Not so.  I am blessed to be a member of Junior Nation and Dale is blessed to have the crew chief that he has.



 

 

Our Forefathers

I thought you all needed a good laugh today.

Disappointed

Yes, I am a little disappointed that no one chose to comment on the video in my previous post.

It is what I have been preaching all along.  This country was born out of Christianity.  I don't care how many other religions there are or how many of those infiltrate this country, the fact of the matter is, I do not like when someone comes to these hallowed shores and wants to take our freedoms away from us.  And I mean those of us who were not only born here but have ancestors that came to this country a long time ago.

My great, great, great, great, great grandfather came to this country circa 1750.  I am directly related to him on my father's side.  He came from Germany and had ten children.  To this day I can safely say that I practice the same religion he brought with him to America.

I get very angry when so many people want to change things in this country.  There is a thing called being politically correct.  I am so sick and tired of hearing that phrase not to mention the fact that it is worn out and useless.  All I want is for the people of this country who can boast a background like me to get off their broad behinds and do something instead of talking about it.

Wake up and smell the coffee for heavens' sake.  Stop buckling under to bullies.  

Case in point:  we have a neighbor who moved near our property many years ago.  He moved here from New York.  He brought with him certain ideas that he was going to change things in the neighborhood.  He caused quite a ruckus between us and our township leaders.  I am of the old adage that, we were here first.  How dare he come into our neighborhood and stir things up against us?  And that is exactly what people who come to this country from another country do...not all of them, mind you, just a certain few.  Well, maybe more than a few.  It just irritates me and I don't understand one thing.  If things weren't so great from where they came, why do they come here and try to make things the same way they were where they came from?

I am climbing down off my soapbox now.  But I hope I gave you something to think about.

Christianity & America ~ Let's Get Back To The Basics

It's That Time Again

I am guessing it costs a lot to send a child back to school these days.  When I went to school almost everything was supplied by the school.  I do remember my parents having to pay for my school pictures.  

In my early years of school I am fairly certain that I really loved to go to school.  One of the reasons was that I had (and still do) a love affair with pens, pencils, crayons, paper etc.  To this day I have quite the collection of pens at any given time.  I love to write.  Before I even went to school I would find books in the attic and scribble in them.  Maybe that's why I went on to be top student in my shorthand class.  I can still take shorthand to this day.

And I loved to read.  Still do.  I am a chain reader.  As soon as I am finished with a book, I always have another one waiting to be read.  I never had trouble with most subjects, never had to really study.  I hated math and anything to do with numbers so that was the only class that gave me trouble.  My specialties were spelling, reading, and English.  As far as I was concerned anything else was just rubbish.

Now I am heavily into history.  In school it was just another pesky subject.  Like Home Economics, or Home Ec.  How I hated that class.  I would have preferred to take shop with my brother who was two years ahead of me in school.  Science was another subject I didn't like.  

I was in the high school band.  We marched in parades and we also played at junior varsity basketball games.  To this day I detest basketball.  Those games back then were so boring to me.  They scarred me for life. 

The main point of this post today is that once I graduated I never looked back.  Yes, most subjects came easy to me, but I actually did not like school.  I did not like being penned up all day having to move from one room to another like a rat in a maze.  

I don't remember graduation day.  I am sure I was elated the day had finally come.  And I swore I would never go back to any kind of school ever again.  But I did.  It was off campus where I attended law classes.    A few years later I went to another campus to learn how to drive tractor-trailer.  I loved learning and driving and passed my tests with flying colors but I never got a job driving truck.  Just the fact that I took the course and passed was enough to satisfy me.  That is what I told myself when no one would hire myself and another girl when we made the rounds looking for a job.  

Thinking about all these things and actually writing about them brings back a lot of memories.  And looking back at what I accomplished with my life, well, I wouldn't change a thing.   Or maybe I would...

Oh, Dear

That has become one of my sayings as of late and I have no idea where I picked it up.

Thursday evening before my husband went to bed he set his alarm for early in the morning.  He had an auction he wanted to go to which is something he does at least once a week.  I figured I would have much of the day to myself and that I could get a lot of work done around the house.  Those are the times when I feel I can throw things out.  Otherwise, with him underfoot, he questions what I am throwing out.  Uh...maybe it's because we haven't used it in over a year, or maybe because I am tired of cleaning around it, or maybe it's just because I feel like throwing something out.

At any rate, when I get up the first thing I do is come down the hall and go into the bathroom to get to the laundry room which is where I feed the cats.  After they are taken care of I then go out to the kitchen where I get the food ready to feed the cats outside.  

My husband has to sleep in a separate bed because of his knee, so he chose to sleep in the family room where the big screen TV is which I always thought was a wise decision.  I sleep in the bedroom with the door closed so the cats cannot come in and wake me up long before I am ready to wake up.  As I was puttering around in the kitchen I saw that my husband was lying on top of his bed.  After making sure he was breathing (yes, I do that a lot) I decided to question him once he arose.  Which was well over an hour later.

It seems he did get up when his alarm went off, got dressed, and drove to where the auction was.  Only to find out it wasn't until 4:00 in the afternoon.  So he went to the diner and had breakfast, then came back home and went back to bed.  I damn near laughed my butt off over that one.  He has some nerve making fun of me when I do stupid things, doesn't he?  At least I own up to my errors.



 

This Is So Much Better

Yes, it is so much better when one does the right thing in the right place.  I don't know where my  head was when I posted using the wrong browser.  I really should know better.  

I saw a sign the other day while on our way to the grocery store.  It read:

YOU THINK HEALTH CARE IS EXPENSIVE NOW, WAIT TILL IT'S FREE

And I thought to myself, well that is precisely the wording I have been trying to form in my mind but was too angry to make it work.  I hate what this country is coming to and also what it has become.  I am not going to pussyfoot around...I am neither Democrat or Republican so I can say what I am going to say without feeling one bit guilty.  I do not like our current leader.  I pray to God he does not get elected again.  He has hidden so much from the American public and I have always felt he came riding in on the back of a wagon and sold the people snake oil convincing them it was good for them. 

I am a Christian first and foremost.  This country was founded on Christian beliefs and principles and has been guided by such until 2008.  Now it just seems as if we are going to hell in a hand basket.  Hopefully that can be stopped.

People are nasty to one another, they are killing for no reason whatsoever, the younger generation is mostly disrespectful to anyone older than they are, the schools are not teaching manners or anything else that really matters.  I shudder to think what this country will be like in another 50 years, especially if it keeps on the path it is now.  

I read and re-read this post a couple times and each time I sat here thinking whether I should hit the publish button or not.  There are many more things I would love to add to this, but I need to bite my tongue.  I do not mean to offend anyone as this is my opinion and everyone has a right to their opinions.  

 

OK, I Know What I DId Wrong

Stupid me.  I was in the wrong browser.  Blogger does not like when I do things in Internet Explorer.  I have no idea why.  It prefers that I use Firefox, and I post so little that I forget that little fact.  Sheesh!

Now that I am in the right browser, everything is as it should be.  So for now, I am going to go look for those brain cells I lost... 

This Is Crazy

I wanted to write something and post it but to tell the truth I am at a loss of just what the heck is going on with this new template and other things that used to be available. It used to be that there were pictures all in a row and all I had to do was click on them and take it from there. Now all of those are gone but when I put my cursor where they should be it just shows a word instead of a picture. And when I take the cursor away all I see is...nothing! Once I pull a picture out of my album, if I keep it in compose mode it only shows half of the first photo and none of the rest. So I had to put this in HTML mode. This really sucks. I am beginning to not like this anymore. It is such a deterrent and I am wondering why the heck they have done this weird thing to those of us who were told our template needed to be upgraded. I don't remember doing anything wrong to deserve this. Oh well...I just have to make the best of a bad, and sad, situation. That is at least until I get fed up with it and quit altogether. Moving on: I have slept two nights on my new foam topper. The first night I had such anticipation of having a good night's sleep that actually it was quite the opposite. I guess I was expecting too much and it took me hours till I finally fell asleep. And then all I did was toss and turn. Funny what the mind can do to a person. The next night was better. That was last night. I am hoping now that each night does indeed get better and soon I will have restful sleep every night. My husband and I had errands to do today. One of them was paying school taxes. Ugh. That is never an easy pill to swallow. We now have nine months until we have to pay our taxes next spring which are county and township taxes. I don't mind those; but these school taxes we pay in this district are enough to choke a horse. And they will be worse next year since we were recently reassessed by the county and they jacked our assessment higher than a kite. That means all of our taxes will go higher yet next year. It makes me just want to set up a teepee somewhere in the boondocks where no one can find us with their idiotic taxes. There, I am glad I got that off my chest.

Why The Change?

There are those of you who have come to this blog that are shocked to see the huge change from what it was.  I know...so am I.  So let me explain just exactly what happened.

I wanted to change the background picture of Dale Jr. as I felt it needed a more current one.  For the past few weeks I had been tucking away those I felt would be a good fit.  Yesterday I had some time to sort of play around since I was home alone.  So I played around. 

To change the background photo I had to first take it from my personal album and put it into my Photobucket album because that was the only way I could get the IMG info for the template.  I have not been savvy enough to figure out any other way and what worked for me is what I used every time.  I try not to look for trouble when it comes to computers.

For some reason I could not get the new picture to work.  The IMG info I copied to drop into the template (while deleting the old IMG info) just would not behave.  Parts of it stuck out of the margin and each time I fixed it, it would just revert to sticking out again.  After a few times, and especially after losing the original photo, I just gave up.

It was then that I saw the orange bar that stated I needed to upgrade my template, so I clicked on that.  But only after sitting here arguing with myself as to whether I should or shouldn't click on it.  Once I did that, there was no turning back.  I found what I liked best from all the choices and what you see is what I chose...for now. 

Of course I'm not happy with it.  But I will get used to it.  All my info on the right side, including the adoption animations of my four cats and the wolf we support in Denali, are gone.  Not my choice.  My counter is gone but I can figure that out elsewhere.  I don't get that much traffic anyway so it's not a big deal anymore.

I am getting used to the new look.  It does uplift me when I click on it.  It's very refreshing and clean, so I guess I am satisfied with it till it bores me and I want to change it again.

I hope you like the new look...let me know either way, I have big shoulders.

A Day Alone

I don't get many days alone but when I do I try to take advantage of them and get a lot of work done.  During the summer husband goes to an auction every other week.  Sometimes it is three weeks in between and I look forward to my "day off."

What I mean by that is some days off I don't do a lick and just laze around and play on the computer or do light things that amuse me.  Other days off I get a lot of work done in the house.  Today is an in-between day.  I accomplished getting a lot of paperwork done and a few other lighter things.  Nothing heavy is on the agenda.

My memory foam mattress topper arrived this morning.  It is currently spread out on the floor and recovering from the tightly wound state it arrived in.  I cannot wait to sleep on it.  I have a three-inch topper on the bed now but it has long seen its better days and I am hoping it is the cause of my back pain escalating over the past few months.  The new topper is four inches thick.  Hopefully by Saturday night I will be sleeping on it.  And hopefully my back pain will subside somewhat.  I don't expect the pain to go away all together but the soreness I now have every morning is getting a little old.

Three years ago I had X-rays done on my lower back and it was determined I have degenerative disc disease...that is when I realized my trips to the chiropractor would not be doing me any favors so I stopped going.  Prior to having those X-rays done, I used to have lower back pain on a daily basis but not as bad as it is now.  It has only gotten worse within the past three months, so I really  am hoping the foam topper will work to my advantage.  Otherwise, I am at a loss as to what to do.  I suppose I will just take it one day at a time as usual.

On another note, three of my cats are celebrating their birthdays.  Yesterday, the 8th, Junior and Dakota were 6 years old.  Today is Punkin's third birthday.  Eli will be a year old next month on the fourth.  We don't do anything special for them, although we did get a certificate from our local pet store for a toy for one of them.  They all play with all the toys we have so it doesn't matter that four cats are only getting one toy.  They really don't know the difference.

I am quite glad for the moment that the weather has tamed down somewhat.  Instead of knocking at the 100's or baking in the 90's, we are having mid-80 temps.  We just survived Heat Wave #6 and I pray there will not be a #7 but those meteorologists like to drive me insane so I will be on the lookout for that #7.  What really bothers me the most is the thunderstorms that come with high heat.  Especially the ones that have high wind velocities and/or hail.  Lightning makes me insane, too.  Thunder is not so bad, other than the fact that lightning usually follows it.

Now I can get back to my "light duty" day.
 

Heat Wave #6

Here we go again.  

When I go outside to feed the cats in the morning and again in the early evening, by the time I am finished doing everything that needs to be done, the sweat pours down my face.  And all I can think of is getting back inside to the air conditioning.  It's such a wonderful feeling.

And it's fair to say that I will be staying home through the weekend.  On days like this, it's where I am the happiest.  And on most other days too.  And how do I entertain myself when I stay at home?  Besides the normal housework ?  This week and next I will be watching as much of the Olympics that I can.  But this weekend, Friday through Sunday, I tune in to NASCAR.  The boys are racing at our home track in Pocono, PA, this weekend.  Not one of my favorite tracks, but it's racing.

To take away from some of the boredom that the TV analysts throw at us during a race, I listen to it on the radio while watching it on TV.  The guys on the radio make the race so much more colorful and exciting.  Recently my AM/FM headset has been acting wonky and there has been quite a bit of static.  And the darn thing works better in some parts of the house than the other, but you know that it would not work when I am in my recliner.  Plus, I have to hold my head a certain way for it to work best.  I had a difficult time replacing it, but I did find one at R*dio Sh*ck and it was on sale $15 less than the regular price.  That was a nice surprise.

And speaking of the Olympics...congratulations to the five American gymnasts for their gold medal.  Also, congrats to Gabby Douglas for her individual all-around gold medal in gymnastics.  And who can forget what Michael Phelps has done over the past eight years.  Incredible.  Will anyone ever do better as far as winning more medals than Michael?  It's possible, but I doubt I will see it in my lifetime.

I have looked forward to the games, including the Winter games, ever since I can remember and it seems as fast as they get started, that's how fast they fly by and soon we are watching the closing ceremonies.  So I watch as much as I can.  What can I say?  I'm a sports nut.  Except basketball...don't even get me started on that sport.  In high school I had to endure the basketball games because I was in the band and we were required to be there to play.  And of course we can't forget March Madness.  Yes, it drives me mad when basketball takes over the channel I watch most shows on, which is CBS.  I wish they would broadcast those games on a sports channel where they belong. 

 

Bummer

Recently all I have been doing is complaining about the wretched heat.  Not while I'm inside with blessed air conditioning, but only when I had to go outside.  Rain was needed badly in our area so when it did rain these last few days it didn't bother me.  I was more than glad to see it and welcomed it with open arms, so to speak.   I love rain.  When I was little I used to play in the rain, barefoot, all the time.  My mother was always yelling at me to come inside.

It wasn't supposed to rain tonight.  But it did.  And it wrecked our evening.  I wrote a few months ago about the tickets we won to see a local band, Crazy Hearts.  It was a great concert and I became an instant fan.  Tonight they were appearing a few miles north of us for a local benefit.  They do a lot of local benefits.  Tonight the concert was free,  and the food vendors were hoping those that came to see the band would spend their money at the various food stands.

It started at 7:00 and we arrived a few minutes after that.  We found a space to sit under the trees using our portable chairs.  We settled in hoping for an evening of listening to country western music under the stars.  Within ten minutes it started raining ever so lightly.  Everyone thought it wouldn't last, including the band.  Soon it was pouring, accompanied by thunder and some lightning.   We gathered up our chairs and made a bee-line for our truck, which, thank goodness, wasn't too far away.  Sitting under trees while lightning is happening is not smart.


We ended up sitting in the truck quite some time hoping the rain would stop.  At least the lightning stopped and the thunder was soon farther away.  That indicated the storm was moving out.  Or not.  It wasn't long before more rain clouds moved in with more rain.  After waiting in the truck, and talking about other people we saw running here there and everywhere, we finally decided to leave.


Our evening was ruined.  We stopped at Mickey D's and had coffee and a soft ice cream cone and decided to come home.  Like I said...bummer.

You will also remember when we went to the first Crazy Hearts concert, I had just finished a ten-day regimen of a sulfa-based antibiotic.   I broke out with a rash, which my doctor said was hives, while we were at the concert.  I didn't know what it was until I researched it on the Internet and then it took awhile for the light bulb to go on over my head.


Fast forward to now and I am on a different antibiotic.  I learned the hard way that I am allergic to sulfa-based medicines and it didn't work like it was supposed to.  I can only hope this antibiotic works like it should.  The hardest part of this one is that I have to take it three times a day on an empty stomach.  Mornings are the worst since it has to be taken an hour before I eat.  There is nothing worse than a glassful of water on an empty stomach.  It almost makes me want to upchuck.


So here's hoping that by next week my infection goes away...and stays away this time.  Because ever since we lost our sister-in-law (my husband's brother's wife), I have been on the roller coaster from hell.  With all my symptoms, both real and imagined, I had somehow put myself in her shoes and thought the same thing would happen to me.  I know better now.

What A Difference A Carrier Makes

This is the story of Dakota-Sioux, aka Cody, and her recent visit to the vet.

Last year I transported all my cats to the vet in a soft-sided carrier with a zippered flap on the top. It worked fine for many years. But for some reason Dakota did not want to be in it when it was time for her visit to the vet a year ago. As soon as I got her in it, she popped right out and ran away. Try finding a cat, or catching one when you do find it, if they do not want to be caught or found. No easy task. She ran me ragged last year. When I finally caught up to her and was able to get her into that carrier, I was a blithering idiot.

 I called ahead to the vet explaining my dilemma and they were concerned we would miss our appointment. Five minutes prior to the appointment time we were still in the house, but I did have Dakota in the carrier. We decided to see if we would be able to get there in time. Normal drive time is approximately 15 minutes, longer depending on the traffic. Somehow we were able to walk in the door only a few minutes late.

 Fast forward to Dakota's visit this year. I have since started using a hard sided carrier that loads on the end instead of the top. Stick their head in and shove. Works like a charm. Once I picked her up and started walking she stiffened. It was like she knew what was coming, even though I pick her up and walk numerous times on any given day. That particular day I hung on to her so she wouldn't get away. Easy peasy this year.

 I should have switched to the hard-sided carrier long ago but I was determined to make the soft one work because it was smaller. Now that all the cats are bigger, the hard-sided one will always be used. For more reasons than one.