HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY BIRTHDAY!

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to everyone out there in the wild world of the North American continent.  I hope your Valentine got you something special for the day, like a great big hug.  

This Valentine is for my bestest friend Chef Patty.  I tried to find the Chicken Dance on a reel (that's a joke between us from WAY back), but alas it was not to be.  I've no doubt she just went to the drawer and pulled out that card I gave her several years ago and is playing it as you read this.  We laughed and laughed!!  Here's to many more Miss Patty!!

As for me, I survived Friday the 13th.  That is generally a day I stay VERY close to home.  On this day however, there was a personnel problem at the lodge I had to attend.  I've become very laid back.  I just sat there, didn't say a word, and left with a smile on my face.

On the way home, I stopped in to pick up some headlamps for the truck.  Weird looking things, but alas, even though Napa Auto's inventory said they were there, they were not to be found.  Talk about pricey ... I ordered two for a whopping $41.00.  I SWEAR she said two days, but two hours later she called to say I could come pick them up.  I watched an installation video and HOPE it will be an easy job.  

This is my friends visual of Friday the 13th .......

This is my reality.  It's just weird that she follows me everywhere.  Every time I turn around, this is what I see.  

Along with my cup-o-joe ... we look very much like the picture every single morning.  I've just returned to drinking morning coffee ... and not a lot of it.  I might have even given it up were it not for the TEN cans I bought just two weeks ago.  

Finally, in desperation to get some energy back, I went out for a walk.  I didn't quite make it a mile since I keep running into that tree trimming guy who was looking for more work.  I don't know ... he's been working on the corner house for two weeks now, so I'm not sure how efficient they are.  

However ... that's what I needed ... to get some exercise.  Back home, I pulled what I thought was one big pork loin out of the fridge. Turns out it was two small ones.  Easier to sear I thought.  Once done, I threw them in the oven to finish.  Next I did the easiest thing EVER!  

I threw a box of sliced mushrooms in the pan with a chunk of butter, followed by a bag of frozen veggies I defrosted in the microwave.  Lemon Pepper covered everything.  

Just WOW!!  I'm buying stock in lemon pepper.  This was the best meal I've had all month.  FINALLY I was NOT hungry after eating.   I can't even tell you how good this was!  Lucky me, I've even got four more meals to enjoy!  I followed it up with ... you're not going to believe this ... applesauce.  Not cake, not cookies and not candy.  I must still be sick.

Now however, it's time to head out once again.  We are having our Challenged Children's Valentines Day Bingo-Lunch-DANCE.  I will probably be calling Bingo today.  Truly, you haven't lived until you have seen challenged children and adults winning a Bingo game.  Everyone wins, and everyone gets a prize.  Besides that, they get to dance afterwards, probably the only time during the entire year they get to experience this much fun.  

How could I say no to that!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!!!

An Even Shorter One

 This will be even shorter than yesterday's blog.  Shame on me for not taking more pictures, but hopefully I can catch up tomorrow.  Oh wait ... it's the Challenged Children's Bingo Party tomorrow, followed by a Valentine's Day Dance.  You haven't lived until you've seen 100 challenged and handicapped children at the only dance they have ever been to in their lives.  

They go crazy over the music and everyone dances to their own beat, no partner required.  SO ... a late night, followed by an early morning employee problem, followed by putting on my mechanic's hat, followed by Bingo and a dance.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Here's my CREW that keeps me sane.  Almost.  Kitters came crying to the door last night, so what could I do but get up and let her in.  I think she is now spending more time INSIDE than out!  I just went in the bedroom for a second ... and I turn around to see this!!

I did a bit more fridge cleaning and trying to find something to eat.  That's three people now who said to cook rice, but I couldn't find any.  Might as well give Walmart a go once again, so I placed an order.  This time it was delivered right on time, to the right house by a lovely Spanish couple.  

No directions came with this rice cooker, which is a dangerous thing for moi!!  It was probably just perfect five minutes before I shut off the microwave.  It was so overcooked it became hard again.  

I put a big spoonful in that Butternut Squash soup, stirred it up and took a bite. NOPE!  That's not working at all.  I ended up with a small portion of Mexican casserole that really wasn't too bad and didn't seem to bother my oh-so-tender stomach.  

In no time I was ready to head off to the Elks Trustee Meeting.  It was reported they were in the black last month.  Nope .. not true.  I spent most of the hour explaining to our oldest and most esteemed Trustee why that wasn't correct.  He finally agreed, and it was so reported at the next TWO meetings.

I might have made it home at a reasonable hour, but in spite of asking my good friend to bring his truck, he rode his motorcycle.  I can just see him going down the city streets with this 7-ring wire petticoat and this dress flying off the back.  It's a donation to his wife, a member of the Daughters of the Revolution for their reenactments.

And so I drove all over town, making twelve turns, until I had no idea where I was.  When I pulled in his driveway, he informed me my headlight was out.  This is not it.  Mine was COMPLETELY dark.  I didn't notice it since I was always under street lights.  Big sigh!!  I had a terrible time trying to figure out how to get back to familiar streets. 

I guess after my emergency Elk employee meeting this morning, I'll be heading over to the parts shop in the hopes of finding a bulb.  Then if I'm really lucky ... and a very good girl ... maybe I'll get in some sleep this afternoon before finding SOMETHING I can eat!!  I'm beginning to see why Kitters acted so hungry all the time.  That feeling does not go away easily!!

 

A SHORT ONE

 Cold and clouds arrived back in Central California once again.  This is an early morning picture of how low the clouds get around here.  It's okay ... I would rather have clouds and rain over fog any day of the week.  It did get quite windy however.  

What bothers me the most is I either have a heavy ski parka, or just a shirt.  I need to come up with something in between so I don't freeze before the truck heater gets going!

It did get a little exciting about midnight.  I heard the craziest screaming I've ever heard in my life.  I thought CAT, but that was not it. I thought OWL, but that was not it.  I thought EAGLE but we don't have those around here.  It seemed to come from high up in the trees, then from the ground.  It was the craziest sound ... and I never found out what it was.  I think I spotted a big fluffy foxy tail in the back yard, but I've never EVER heard them make a noise like that.  When I opened the door, Kitters came rushing in, so she didn't like it either.  Here's hoping it does NOT come back.

The best news of the day -- we have hired a new gal to take over the accounting duties I've been doing.  Not that I'm going to disappear, because they won't let that happen, but at least I'll just be the "consultant" and "Emergency - HELP" person from now on.  

So here I am driving to work.  Not bad, yes?  I spent the next four hours training in spite of only planning on two.  It's quite complicated and there were lots of OMG's to take care of.  Things that come in the mail can sometimes be scary and overwhelming.  I'm pretty good at explaining stuff, calming the nerves and taking care of the problems.  So is my New Hire.  I think that's because it's not our money!

On the other hand, I can do nothing about the several days of afternoon sun we received, which caused these trees to bloom, just in time for rain.  Very pretty, but YIKES ... that's not good ... not good at all.  Farming is never a guaranteed WIN.  

On the ranch, many years we grew oat hay to feed the cattle.  That's how I ended up being a caterpillar driver, discing the fields.  Imagine moving well over 500 bales of hay (about 100 pounds each) into the barn by hand and stacking it to the ceiling.  I'm pretty sure that's why I've always been strong ... WAY too much exercise.  

On the other hand, some years we got rained out.  If the hay dried in time, we could feed it to the cattle.  If it got moldy, it was a total loss.  We had to then move the cattle around in the fields more often.  You can't leave them in one spot or they will eat the grass to the dirt and no more grass will grow.  Moving cattle from field to field every week was required.  Some years in desperation, we leased grassland in the foothills and hauled them in so our pastures had a chance to grow back.  It was always a throw of the dice.

After four long hours, I was able to sneak out the door and head back home.  My Amazon delivery had shown up, so repairs began immediately on the Kissack Hotel guest bathroom.  They sure don't make things like they used to.  I think I have replaced this toilet handle three times now.  In fact, I've replaced ALL the guts to this one twice.  

It took some adjusting because ... well ... though I have done this many times, the directions were not exactly clear.  I am now open for business since company is coming in about a week.

That was it ... a short one for today.  I made a bit of a mistake with dinner.  I just seem to be starving all the time now, but don't know what to eat.  I was really craving salad, so I fixed up a small one.  Boy did it taste good and I ate every single bite.  Probably not my best idea.  My stomach is still quite sore, but gosh darn that soup is just not doing it for me.  Same for the yogurt.  I need something more substantial.

I'm determined to get out for a walk today ... hoping for some strength to return.  Maybe a little motivation along with it.  I need to finish that "missing" quilt replacement and get it to the Quilt store to quilt.  

Have a great day ... we are on the downhill slide to the weekend!!!

Let Them Eat Cake!

 It's BINGO TIME!  I truly was not looking forward to this, so let's get through the day so I can get some sleep!!

First off ... RAIN.  Yessiree, we woke up to the beginnings of a rainy day.  I tried my very best to sleep in, but it was not to be.  I even tried to sneak in a nap, but I'm not very adept at that one either.  I've been eating better, but think I need those walks to start feeling stronger.  

Watch Kitty was pretty good on this day.  She left me alone while she slept on the chair most of the time.  Why she parked here on the floor is beyond me.  I've never seen a Kitty sit with their back to you.  She laid there are about two hours before chair hopping.

I had a birthday errand to run, so I decided to eat BIG in order not to have fried anything for dinner at Bingo.  At this point, thinking about food makes me a little nauseous.  This was pretty benign, but I had a hard time getting it down.  I settled for the guts and left the pastry part.

In no time I was off to Costco to pick up a birthday cake.  It didn't look like this at all.  They only have about four designs to choose from now, and although the colors are right, there were big tall candles across the top and NO trains.  It said Happy Birthday Kathy and Deanna ... two of our best workers.  Just so you know, it cost me $27.99.

Costco was a madhouse at 2:00 in the afternoon.  Why oh why do they only have THREE stations open when it's this crowded?  I actually spoke that out loud.  VERY LOUD.  Another station soon opened up.

I left the cake in the truck while working with the bookkeeper on LAST year's totals versus THIS year.  It's not good ... and I just cannot seem to explain it to people.  Maybe they just don't want to hear that.  Back downstairs, we could not for the life of us (Steve and I) get that darn Bingo Machine to cooperate.

We rebooted it three times before it began to participate.  It continually wants an update of windows.  With that done, we went for the seven television screens.  I don't know who messes with those, but we spent the next 30 minutes trying to reprogram those too.  Oh the fun!!

It's late ... I usually open at 4:15 and it's 4:30.  The line at the door is epic!  That's when I heard everyone singing Happy Birthday.  Yay ... LET THEM EAT CAKE ... and I'm SURE they will save me a piece.

An hour later after three WAY TOO LOUD rousing Happy Birthday songs, I got two seconds to go get my piece.  There was nothing.  NOTHING!!  That cake feeds 48 people and we only have 18 workers.  How could it be GONE???  I did not get one single bite.  How cruel is that??

I went back to selling for the next 4-1/2 hours.  No food ... I was afraid to eat anything.  It's funny how I have more patience when I'm not hungry.  We had the usual "you didn't give me my card", and deletions when they didn't have enough money to pay for what they grabbed.  I don't know ... maybe add this stuff up in your head first?

Payouts were a pain on this day too ... maybe it was just ME.  We have one guy who LOVES to make said payouts, but he's a little scatterbrained.  He never remembers WHO won, or what game it is.  I was sure I paid that one out twice. 

By the end of the night, I was truly exhausted.  I drove home, ready to crash.  Oh but wait ... My sweet Coopie didn't have as good a night as I did.  There was a BIG mess to clean up.  Kitters of course helped before running out the door.  And THAT is where she stayed.  I didn't need any meowing in the middle of the night, though she did try the door a couple of times.

And so today is a new day ... a day of rest and relaxation ... AFTER I get in a couple hours of bookwork because having been sick, I'm now behind.  

Here's to a GREAT DAY for everyone!!!

Do Not Look Up

 So much for a tad bit of teasing sunshine.  We are now in RAIN mode for the next week.  Ok, who did the rain dance!!  We are actually looking at temps that will bring snow a week from Wednesday.  I hope they are wrong about that one.  

Thank you everyone for the food ideas.  I can do without the bananas (not my favorite), but rice, applesauce, toast ... all right up my alley.  I will be keeping those items, along with soup, on hand from now on.  Much as I LOVE Mac n cheese ... it was not the best for an achey stomach.

Still trying to heal up, I was true to my word.  We spent almost the entire day on the couch.  Those who know me, know that's the hardest thing in the world for me to do.  I just cannot sit on the couch and watch TV.  

On the other hand, Cooper had no problem with that at all.  Thank goodness he is MUCH better today and almost back to normal.  I think he was just mimicking his Mom!  

THIS one ... she is always in trouble!!  True to catdom, she sleeps all day and prowls all night.  She got left outside last night so I could sleep.  No rattling around the house and no meowing to go out.  She also learned her first lesson about being underfoot.  YOWL!!!!!  She walked right up behind me as I was stepping back.  She's okay, but instantly wanted OUTSIDE.  I apologized profusely.

Boy is this ever hard for me to do, but I really wanted my strength back for you know what!  BINGO of course.  My latest Lady in Waiting is being waited on out of town tonight.  I'm on my own!!

Lunch was very simple, after a breakfast of yogurt and a muffin.  I haven't gotten up the nerve to get back to coffee yet.  It was butternut squash soup.  Quite tasty, but not the least bit filling.  Two hours later I downed a bit of Mac n cheese.

I literally wandered the halls of the house all afternoon.  Can you say bored?  I looked at this mess and decided I still felt weak enough to convince myself "I'll do it later".  

But then I looked straight up to see this.  My tip of the day ... DO NOT LOOK UP.  Hmmm this is not good!!  Why are all these things falling apart?

I cleaned off the cupboard but could not reach the light.  Out came my little ladder.  

This literally fell into my hands.  It's completely deteriorated.  I discovered the light in this fixture is not the same as the light in the fixture next to it.  Do you think the bulb is too many watts and that is what caused the burning brown?  I'm just guessing here, but the piece that holds the screw broke off, so it's unusable.  I've ordered another one from Lowes, but think I may need a different bulb.  I'll take the old one out today.

Next up, one of the toilet handles came off in my hand.  Big sigh ... I really did not want to be a handyman today ... or tomorrow for that matter.  I ordered parts for that from Amazon.  

All in all, it was a good day, but the worst part is sitting here, which promotes sitting here MORE, which promotes me not wanting to leave the house at all.  It's probably a good thing Bingo forces me outside.  That and lifting Mr. Cooper's 15 pound body 25 times a day is all that is keeping me moving.  

 Thanks for stopping by ... enjoy your day no matter where you are!!  I'll be in the Castle donning my steel corsets for BINGO protection!

WALMART - LOVE EM OR HATE EM

 So here we are once again ... the only one in the house getting any sleep is Kitters.  She's in trouble big time for keeping both Cooper and I up most all night long.  It's hard to sleep with a cat meowing at the door to get in, followed by clamoring all over the bedroom furniture and giving me a big sniff at 2:45.   

Oh so sadly, Mr. Cooper was up every 30 minutes all night long with the same problem I had a few days ago.  It makes me feel AWFUL because I think it was my fault.  I gave him too many of these new little apple treats.  My heart is broken.

In other news ... I tried the oatmeal for breakfast.  This is barely half a cup.  That color ... well you must be seeing things.  Okay, it had some Pure Maple Syrup on top.  I ate it ... maybe too fast ... and felt great, for about an hour.  That's when it hit bottom.  Ohhhh I don't think that was such a good idea.  

It did at least give me the energy to go check the battery minder on the van.  I had a bit of trouble getting the hood open.  That thing is pure metal and SO heavy!!  There is also no thingy-ma-bob to HELP you open it.  You have to pull out the little stand to prop it up.  

Good news ... it was up to 12.9.  I don't know how since it had not been plugged in in three days.

And that brought about the trial of the day.  I signed up for the expensive DELIVERY from Walmart.  $98.00 a year, first 30 days free.  I waited six hours for the guy to show up.  No problem ... I wan't going anywhere.  I followed the little car on the map on my phone.  5 minutes ... 2 minutes ... 1 minute ... DELIVERED.  

Um no ... there are no groceries at my door.  I actually looked out the window and saw a car way down the street, but figured it was just normal traffic.  WHERE'S MY ORDER?  Walmart said thank you!  Needless to say I was a HOT MAMMA!!   I called, but they said I had to call the Delivery Guys.  Come to find out, something called Sparks makes the deliveries.  I HATE WALMART!

I called WALMART because I made the order with them ... I PAID them, which included a $9.00 tip to the driver ... and THEY needed to fix it.  Of course I could barely understand the guy who finally answered the phone.  He did however make it right.  A complete refund, a retrieval of the tip (he said that driver would not ever be used again), an extra $10.00 for good luck and "please reorder the same items".  That was however AFTER he suggested I walk down the street and see if I could find my order.  I am NOT doing that ... I paid for DELIVERY!

I did finally place a SECOND order to use up the credit because I really needed that soup, and I remembered the milk I forgot the first time, so I guess it was a win.  So just out of curiosity, I actually DID walk down the street.  Four doors down was my order someone was just taking into their house.  They were nice enough to let me have it instead.

Here's what I got ... the soup above, except I did not order chicken broth.  A box of smashed crackers, but at least most of them were still intact and ...............

A box of smashed tomatoes.  I KNOW the Walmart crew does not do this.  They are very careful with all my orders that I pick up.  

On the good side, all those who said yogurt .... you were right.  This is probably FAKE yogurt, but boy was it delicious and was the only thing I ate all day that did not hurt my stomach.

I also included some Ginger Ale in the second order.  Here's why.  My good friend Wilhelm's grandfather was a pharmacist.  We're talking WAY back because Wilhelm is 83.  Grandfather told him the best thing for everyone's stomach was Ginger Ale.  Nurse Patty said the same thing, so there you have it.

As Elva said, if I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all.  On the other hand, I now have TWO orders and enough soup to last me a year.  Yes, I called them back to say I found the groceries, but they said to just keep them.  I guess I have to love Walmart now.

SUPERBOWL was a bust as far as snacks went.  There was absolutely nothing I felt I could eat since there was a constant reminder of SORE.  I finally whipped up a little bit of Mac n cheese ... also not the best choice.  I ate that tiny little corner and knew I had chosen badly.  

Dinner kept me up all night ... but that was okay since Cooper needed attention.  This morning he seems to be better, so I hope we are on the mend ... both of us.  

As for the Super Bowl ... I guess the Seahawks have only won once and the Patriots many times, so it was fitting the Seahawks won.  I only watch for the commercials anyway, none of which hold a candle to years past.  The advertisers have lost their sense of humor.  I had already seen the Clydesdales ... but the potato chip man made me laugh!!

No I did not watch the NFL halftime show ... I switched channels and watched Charlie Kirks TPUSA show instead.  I'm a country girl.  Kid Rock didn't exactly float my boat, but he's American as apple pie!  Wasn't I surprised when Elva send a note ... the half time was over and boring.  Really?  They weren't even through the first two songs on the show I was watching!!  

So today I'll be tending to Mr. Cooper!  We will both be ON THE COUCH!  The menu?  Soup, yogurt and Ginger Ale.

WHAT TO EAT ... WHAT TO EAT

 GOOD MORNING!  At least it's much better than the last three have been.  I'm surviving quite nicely on 7-Up and Pepsi.  Absolutely no energy however.  It's food I really need.  So after being lectured (not really) by Sweet Nurse Patty, my PERSONAL nurse who threatened to fly down here and force me to eat horrible things like bananas and yogurt, I just placed my Walmart order TO BE DELIVERED.  You can sign up for a year, but get 30 days free.  Cancel if you want.  

That yearly subscription runs $98.00, and I doubt I will use it much.  On the other hand, 30 days free should just about get me through the worst of SICK.

I was good ... I ordered Pacific Soup, which I love, some chicken noodle just in case, lots of crackers, oatmeal (not my favorite, but I'll suffer through if it helps my stomach) and some canned fruits for good measure.  

Both Kitters and Cooper just hung out all day long and slept.  If only I could sleep that good.

At one point Miss Kitters did bother me quite a bit.  I think it's harder to learn to speak KITTY than it is DOG.  So we played with the feather for a bit.  Rather hard to film with one hand, but you get the idea.  Watch out for those claws ... they are sharper than my quilting needles.

Here's half of the embroidery for the "missing" quilt, which has been relaxing on the counter for over a week now.  I finally moved it to the sewing room.  Not that I'm going to be doing any sewing for awhile, but at least it won't get damaged before I gain some strength back.

Maybe I could order this puzzle to keep me occupied.  BILL DUKE ... you gave me one big laugh this morning!  I could not even finish a REGULAR puzzle, let alone something like this.  It's just CRAZY!  On the other hand, it might be hilarious just to try!!  Thank you for the suggestion! I can hear Mr. Ed laughing out loud since I could only finish HALF of the puzzle he sent to me!!

Though I had all these plans for a lovely day of grazing on all things delicious for the Super Bowl ... like nachos, pretzels, a HUGE barbecued burger with all the fixings (including lots of bacon) and Lays potato chips ....... truly just the thought makes me sick to my stomach.  It's hard to think about eating anything, not to mention I'm actually AFRAID to eat now.  Afraid I will get sick again.

I did try a tad bit of ice cream last night.  BAD IDEA.  And so my FOOTBALL CELEBRATION will include oatmeal.  UGH!!!

Have a great day and GO PATRIOTS AND SEAHAWKS.  I do not have a dog in this fight!!

And The Pain Continues

Good Grief!!!  This is surely one of the most awful things that can happen to you.  I have never been able to sit still, even when sick.  Yesterday was a whole new experience.  I did nothing but sit and/or lay on the couch.  I hardly even picked up my phone.  The stomach grumbling even woke up Cooper it was so loud.

The worst part ... now I'm afraid to eat ANYTHING!!  I finally got five Ritz crackers down with an entire can of 7-Up.  That took all day to accomplish.

And then I SNEEZED!!  I thought I was going to croak!  The pain in my ribs is real.  A pulled muscle in the upper right side.  In other words, I'm a WRECK!!  

Kitters was a good girl and didn't bother me all morning.  She just slept in her latest spot.  She's funny how she sneaks around the house.  She hides under things ... the chair, my saddle rack, the quilting machine ... keeping an eye out I guess.

Even Cooper was a good boy and didn't bother me at all like normal.  He slept at one end, I slept at the other.  I kept thinking about what I might be able to eat, but alas, I have nothing.  Enchilada casserole?  Definitely not.  Salad?  I don't think so.  The only thing I could come up with was a grilled cheese sandwich, of which I took two bites.  Note to self ... go buy some Campbells chicken and noodle soup and leave it in the cupboard. 

I did finally get up the gumption to let Cooper out for all of five minutes.  YAY!!  Spring has arrived!  Dandelions are here.  It was a beautiful fairly warm sunny day, but I wasn't feeling it.  Back to the couch I went.  

Today I'll make a Walmart order and go pick up some soup and crackers.  I'm not going to get better or gain any strength unless I eat something.

That's it ... that's all I've got.  Thank you for all the good thoughts and prayers.  Hopefully I'll be up an at em soon!!

I'M ALIVE ... BARELY

Well, I survived the day, but it was one of the worst in my entire life.  Thank you so much to every one for the kind words.  

Whoever said food poisoning, NAILED IT.  I can't even begin to explain the pain it caused.  Not a nice picture, but I threw up for 20 hours straight, every 30-45 minutes.  The rolling stomach cramps were the worst.  

Where did that come from?  I think it was those frozen meatballs I bought at Walmart to make that sweet and sour dish.  I divided it into small containers and stuck it in the freezer.  When I ate one a few weeks ago, I got rather sick, but didn't pay it much mind. I should have.  I ate another one Wednesday night, and that caused all the havoc.

I finally called an on-line doc and he said 48 hours before I feel better.  Nothing to do but ride it out.

What saved me was finally being able to sip some liquids last night.  I tried Pepsi first since that's all I had.  Water only made it worse.  That's when I remembered I had offered a ride to an Elks member, so I called to tell him there was no way.  He asked if he could help. That wonderful man went and bought this 7-Up for me.  It made all the difference.

This morning I'm still a wreck, but think I will live.  My stomach is growling like crazy, so I nibbled a Ritz cracker.  Ummm not a great idea.  So today I'll be on the couch sipping soda.  

I have to say the kids helped ... they didn't bother me at all.  Kitters did find this feather toy and was very curious.

I moved it around a bit and she went crazy.  That's it ... that's all I did yesterday.

I'm exhausted and thirsty, so I'll be hanging out on the couch.  Maybe I can even get some sleep before I tear apart the freezer and throw all that food out!!!

SICK ... SO SICK

 I've been up all night long throwing up.  I'm guessing it's the new Chinese Flu.  I don't ever remember being this sick in my entire life.

If you don't hear from me tomorrow, call for a Welfare Check please ..........................

GETTING IN TROUBLE!

 A good California morning to ya!!  If I could see you, or anything for that matter, I would give you a big wave.  You've heard the saying ... you can't see your hand in front of your face?  Oh yeah ... that's my situation this morning.  I think it was even worse when I drove home last night at 10:00.

But first .... let's visit with Miss Kitters.  She has become a big pain in my patoo!!  Sweet SWEET kitty, which is the only reason she is still alive, is exceedingly good at GETTING IN TROUBLE with a capital T.

First thing in the morning, she jumped up on this not-so-steady table ... or whatever you call this thing I drug back from Tucson.  The lovely mirror is not attached ... it's just sitting there.  I heard the wobble and grabbed it just before it hit the floor.  

Then she made a beeline for my quilting machine, which had a quilt attached at one end and draped across at the other.  She jumped in the middle, thinking she was Tinkerbell!  Down she went ... her not-so-tiny body crashing to the floor, taking both the quilt and the longarm cover with her.  She went ballistic!!  Thankfully I was able to unwrap her before any damage was done ... except to her ego!!

She has become quite possessive too.  OH LOOK ... a STRANGER kitty.  NO ... this one is NOT coming in the house.  Kitters hit the glass running and Kitty #2 disappeared.  I think this is actually her buddy who lives in the garage next door.  Cooper was not impressed!

Once things settled down, I had the weird job of convincing my retirement people that I was still alive.  Anyone had to PROVE you were still breathing?  I've never heard of such a thing, but I made the call. Here's my tip of the day for kids looking for a good job.  Get hired by the State or County.

At any rate, I had to answer 25 questions, several of which I did not know the answer to.  Like who is my beneficiary.  Gee ... I didn't even know I had one!  That was a big FAIL!!  I guess I answered enough correctly however, because my checks will continue to arrive.   They ARE self-funded however, so no one will get my retirement money for months or years until they pass on.  In fact, I think they are hoping people die soon after retirement so they have enough money to actually PAY everyone else!  I know, morbid subject.

Unfortunately, because I AM STILL ALIVE, I had to go to Bingo.  I admit, I was not the least bit excited.  I even showed up an hour later than normal.  I set up the bingo machine and went upstairs without turning on one single TV.  Someone else can do that job from now on.  

That's when that someone else came in and tried to set up the marquee without checking first to see if it was already done.  That messed up the entire system and I had to reboot and do it all over again.

I spent 30 minutes (spending a lot of Lodge money) signing checks, before heading downstairs to set up MY station.  SURPRISE!!  My substitute showed up with bells on!  Truly, I thought she might disappear completely, but it appears she is working EVERY Tuesday.  I did a little happy dance.  

We had lots of new people on this night, so there was lots of explaining.  One couple came in dressed like they were homeless and wobbling like they downed a quart of Whistle Pig Bourbon (Jim, I love this name), before coming in the door.  They wanted to play, but thought it was your normal Kids Bingo.  They took the program and went to sit on the stairs.  Next thing I know, they are heading UPSTAIRS, which is a No-No.  They were brought back and escorted out.  Please come back when you are sober.

I was cranky all night long.  Maybe because the safe where we store everything was a complete disaster ... so much so that I could barely get the game cards out.  I left it the way I found it, adding a few empty boxes from the cards I used.  You would be proud!!  I AM NOT CLEANING THIS OUT!  Whoever puts it in there needs to put stuff away.  The King was as cranky as me because HE had to do it.  No more scullery maid for me!!

On the other hand, the only other complaint for the night came from one who thought she could pull a fast one.  There is always one who tries to get a free card or two.  That's why I always count OUT LOUD as  the cashier hits the cash register keys.  I'm sorry you lost one, but it cannot be replaced.  She stated loudly that I counted wrong.  Well then you should have told me as I counted them WHEN YOU BOUGHT THEM.  I actually ended up giving her one card, which she threw back on the table.  Okay, so I guess you didn't want it after all.

What can I say ... I'm a terrible meanie that wants everyone to have the same chance to win.  No one should get extra cards for free.

We put everything away, but I got distracted by the King on the way out as we discussed accounting problems.  He has been giving more money to one organization than any other.  I think we should spread it out a little more.  And so Nancy came home with a list of organizations to call and see if they would like some free money.  It's nice to have such a problem ... so much Bingo money that we have to LOOK for tax exempt organizations to give it to.  Not a bad problem to have I guess!!

The fog coming home was epic.  I haven't seen it like this in 30 years.  Hopefully I miss all of it today, as I'm headed out to pick up that Veterans quilt embroidery section so I can put it together. 

It's a new day ... so let's see what trouble we can get into NOW!