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I am sure by now you have all seen the photo of the NYC policeman who bought boots and thermal socks for a homeless man sitting on the street with no shoes or socks.
If not here is the photo.  Apparently a tourist from Arizona saw the exchange and it moved her enough to take a photo. Her father was a policeman and it reminded her of her fathers kindness.

When we first moved to this area we had never seen such poverty and homelessness as we saw in the District. The first time going to the District we were overcome with such a sad and heavy feeling. I remember the day so clearly. We were driving on route 1 from Maryland to the District and it was dirty and dilapidated and some of it was "slum like".
I mean that like what I would see on television.

We knew poor but this was a level we didn't see a lot of.
We both worked at the city mission in my hometown but seriously we had never seen this many and this kind of poverty.
Hell Rick grew up so poor that most would be shocked at what his life was like but poor is different than this type of poverty....beyond poor.
But he had a roof over his head and warm meals and a loving family.
Not meals or a home that most of us are used to but in comparison, he was very rich.
And as he likes to say, his family was rich in the important ways.
In comparison to Rick's life I was rich and so very lucky.

We had been living in Seattle where everything was new and clean in comparison.
They have homeless in Pioneer Square at the time but they tried to hide "them"
This was out in the open and on that drive we were both so quiet.
It hit us like a ton of bricks. The first thing that went through my mind after we drove through all this was that this was our nation's capital. People from all over the world come here to visit and this is what they see. This is what we can't control, fix, or help it seems.
It was an overwhelming sadness for us both. That rattled us so much that we have never stopped talking about it. This picture and the news of this picture began the conversation again over the last couple of days.

We moored our boat on the Potomac before we had the lake house.
We would drive this beautiful drive from Virginia into the District on the way to the boat. (20 minutes)
On the way we would see this woman who lived under a bridge in D.C.
One day we had a cooler of a couple of sandwiches, fruit and wine for our day on the water.

When we were at a traffic light Rick rolled down his window and gave a homeless woman our sandwiches. Her face lit up and she thanked us profusely. 
As we drove away he looked at me and said, "Sorry but we can buy something at the market if we get hungry okay?"  I was so fine with that.

He went fishing a great deal without me. I would make him some lunch and off he'd go.
One day he was making a couple of sandwiches for himself and I said to him, "Boy you're really hungry today huh?"  He said, "No I like to give one to Trish." 

"Trish?" I ask.  Hmmm......is this a boat slut hanging out at the marina I wondered?
He said, "Trish is the woman who lives under the bridge we gave a sandwich to a long time ago remember? I give her food all the time."

"What do you mean all the time?"

"Sometimes I pick up some hot coffee and a egg mcmuffin in the morning as I go to the boat.
I figure if I can afford a boat I can buy her a warm breakfast."

I asked him how long he has been doing this deed.
He told me ever since that first day. She began to just wave to him and smile.
"One day I asked her how she was doing and she said she was fine and that she liked seeing me because I didn't look away. That sentence haunts me a bit Margaret. Maybe guilt who knows but I figure if I can afford a boat, mooring and gas I can give her some food"

As time went on she began to tell him her story of why she was homeless. He didn't think she had a mental illness and he was right. It was sad and I won't share that with you today.  It bothered him when she wouldn't take money so he would feed her. Ah, my big Guy who was raised by an Italian woman. He was taught food is love and that was what he was doing for Trish. Ya gotta love him for that, I know I sure do.

One day after work I was standing at the kitchen island reading our mail.
Rick walked in with a bag from Target. That was not unusual at all.
He put the bag on the island and went into the powder room.
I yelled, "what did you buy?"  But he didn't hear me.
I assumed some fishing lures, some of his favorite socks or underwear or work items.
I opened the bag and there were female heavy duty socks, woman's size small thermal underwear and gloves. Now I don't wear a small. So you know where my mind went.

He walks out of the bathroom and I say, "Women's clothing in small Rick? Something you want to tell me?"
He laughs and said I bought them for Trish, winter is here and she has no warm clothes.
I hugged him. I loved him for this.
I asked if she told him that and he said no but I saw her the other day and she looked like she was freezing.

So that Saturday as he left to go fishing he brought her breakfast and the new clothes.
She wouldn't take them. She began to cry. He told her it meant a lot to him if she would just be safe and warm. She hugged him for a long time. She was dirty and smelled awful he later said to me but he took the payment of a hug. When he got to the boat he called me to tell me all of this.

The last time we saw here I went to the boat with Rick. I made a package of dry shampoo, soap, toothbrush/paste, face/body cream (she's outside her skin gets dry), and some feminine products including ibuprofen should she have cramps or a headache. I gave them to her when Rick was looking the other way on purpose. I told her if she doesn't need them then to give them to another person who may. As she looked through the bag she was silent. Then she hugged me so tight I thought I was going to be suffocated. Finally, when she pulled away she whispered, oh this is so needed thank you so much. And she hugged me again. I asked if she needed anything. she said she was just fine and smiled a big smile. I worried that her coat wasn't going to last another season. 

We got our home at the lake shortly thereafter so we moved our boat to our lake house.
We didn't drive by that bridge/Trish's home, anymore.
We think about her and we wonder if she is okay, warm and safe.
The last time we went into the District we went that way just to see if she still "lives" under that bridge. She was not there.  We hope it's because she is warm and safe, maybe in a shelter or home now. I like to be Pollyanna and believe that something wonderful happened to her. I don't like to think of the reality of it all.

There was a man who was shall we say, not running on all cylinders, who hung out at the train station in the district. He kept to himself but you knew. Every week when I would go to NYC for work he would wave to me. He never had on shoes or socks. It was winter and he had a hat, coat and scarf but his hands and feet were bare. Then one day he had on a bright white pair of socks. It made me smile. No shoes you see but bright white socks that were obviously new. This man would wave to us all as we boarded a 6am train. He would wave to us like he was our family waving goodbye. I knew he was not mentally well but he seemed so happy. One day he asked me for money to buy some food.
I told him I would buy him food but not give him money. So we went to McDonald's and I bought him breakfast. I told him to get anything he wanted. He was funny. He bought egg mcmuffin, pancakes, hash browns, scrambled eggs, coffee and on and on. He picked up his tray loaded with just about everything on their breakfast menu and went far away from me and inhaled his food. He never said a word to me. He looked up at me at one point and then just kept inhaling his food.

Oh this beautiful train station of ours had a lot of homeless people living there.
I think this train station is so damn pretty but like everything else there is an ugly side.
I was always there by 5:30a to catch my train.
I would use the rest room and there was a woman who was "bathing" at the sink.
She had a bag of Noxzema and other toiletries. She was rubbing the Noxzema on her face.
I remember the Noxzema because the smell brought back memories of my youth.
(I didn't know they still made it!)
I went to wash my hands and she yelled at me with her arms stretched out over two sinks- "you can't use these, these are my sinks - don't touch my stuff you understand?"
I did indeed I told her. I washed my hands a few sinks down. She wouldn't take her eyes off me. She really thought I wanted her toiletries. I basically ran out of there.

As I rode into Manhattan I thought about her. She too didn't seem quite right mentally but at least she was cleaning herself up the best she could.
I always wonder if I could survive all of that life?
Do they have hope? Does hope help you go on?
If they are bipolar or worse, do they realize their situation, or are they happy there? How did they get there?
So many questions and obviously so few answers.

Makes me thankful.

Sign Language

Rick and I were trying to remember some of our American Sign Language last night.
We took classes and used it a great deal when we owned a cookie company.
We had a customer who was so excited one day when she came in with her friends and I could sign to them. They thanked me. 
It made me really see how much they miss out on as far as a community outside of a deaf one. We would get a lot of relay calls from the deaf and on one of them, I told them that we could sign if they wished to come into the store. That began the deaf community spending a lot of money with us. That was never our plan. Our plan was that it was probably something we should just know. We also thought it would be fun to know.

After a few classes, Rick was able to help a man who had fallen in a grocery store and was very hurt. 
As he was passing out he hit his head on a freezer. 
When he came to no one could communicate with him.
Rick was so pleased with himself that he could talk to him and relay to the manager and paramedics.
All the employees at the store just yelled or spoke so much louder.
It's funny if it weren't so sad. He's deaf, yelling won't help him hear you dip shit. 
It's just natural to do that. Just like when you smell something burning or odd in your car and you turn down the radio.
C'mon admit it, you've done that before.

We were taken on a field trip by our instructor to a place called the Silent Club. It was a club of deaf people. 
They had a speaker there and at the end they applauded.
I admit I didn't "catch" all of the discussion. My God, they do that quickly was my first thought. But I understood most and I was thrilled I got any of it at that point.
That was also the first time I saw their "applause"  
At first, it struck me as odd.
But dumb ole Margaret then realized that they would not hear anything if one were to clap their hands together. You see if you don't know this like I didn't, their version of clapping is putting their hands in the air with arms at their sides and using their hands and fingers almost like a clap. 
I found this whole field trip exciting and fun. 
And it made me think about things I never thought about like how alienated they must feel most of the time in a hearing world.

One time for a class project we had to go to dinner and only sign. 
We were concerned about this exercise for many reasons. 
We had to go to dinner and only sign all night. 
We weren't worried about the signing but about another deaf person seeing us and if we made mistakes or if they thought we were making fun of them because we were so much slower - that type of thing. 
Seriously we were so slow they may have thought we were mentally challenged.

Can I tell you how hard it is not to laugh when the waitress begins to talk louder and louder? We had to not look at one another or we'd have lost it.
We signed to one another but pointed to the menu for our waitress.
She continued to speak to us very loudly. It was hard not to chuckle.

The couple that was seated a few minutes after us were to my direct right.
The woman went on and on about how sad it was that we were deaf.
Her husband told her it was no big deal because they both are deaf so they could talk to one another. Then the woman spotted my shoes. 

She LOVED my shoes. She coveted my shoes. 

That was all she could talk about. 
She wanted to know where I got them. Do you think I could write her a note and ask her?  Do you think that would be offensive? My God those shoes are cute.....and on and on.
Sadly I could hear. She was annoying the shit out of me if I am being honest.

Rick and I made it through our evening signing. We tried very hard not to laugh at people and the things we could hear them say about us. Amazing. They just assumed we both could not hear. We could have been like our ASL instructor who is a hearing person married to a deaf person. The cool thing about our instructor was that she taught us bad words as well. For some reason, I have remembered all of those. I think that says something about me and it's not necessarily good now, is it?

As we were leaving the restaurant I leaned over her table and said, "I got my shoes at Bakers at the mall" and I smiled.
The look on her face was priceless. I turned and walked away.
Looking back now I think that was mean of me to do. 
Very much fun at the time but maybe not so very nice of me.

Rick and I don't use it much and we have lost so much of it from lack of use.
But we still have been in situations where we have used it. 
A rock concert was one. We went to see Aerosmith. The opening band was Skid Row. We couldn't have cared less about Skid Row, we were there for Aerosmith. It was so loud and the kids in front of us were doing their head-banging thing. My husband said to me, "How do they not have a headache after all that headbanging?"  
I couldn't hear a word he said. I kept saying, WHAT? 

So he began signing what he was trying to say. We continued to sign because it was easier than screaming over the band. When the opening band was done the lights came up and everyone was talking and now we could hear them. We heard the kids say behind us, "why would old deaf people go to a concert?"  The kids behind us were screaming their entire conversation about us and it was hard NOT to hear. 
Rick did turn to them to tell them we were not deaf, possibly old (late 30's at the time)  but it was hard to talk with the band playing and we thought it was a good idea. They laughed and said "cool man" So they were not offended. I think they were so stoned nothing would have bothered them. 😉

We've signed at a bar a couple of times to get the hell out of there when one of us is across the room or when we can't hear one another. We have been in social situations and done it as well. We've even made a couple of signs up incorporating a couple of words that of course just make us laugh!

But last night Rick asked about the sign for something and I couldn't remember.  That really bothered us both. 

Why did we let this go by the wayside?
Could we do this again at this age?
We are both losing our hearing so it may be something we want to look into.
Although he insists he can hear just fine. 
Yet when I speak he hears nothing.
He tells me that is because I am white noise. Nice.

Do they have Rosetta Stone for American Sign Language?

Books, Books, Books

I was tired of the wait list at the library (I was #99) so I broke down and got myself a couple of books. Nothing better than a couple days off and reading!

The first book was highly recommended to me by several people.
Where'd you go, Bernadette was the name of the book I just read.
This is not a review of this book!

This book was humorous, strange, engrossing and at first a bit confusing.
I believe it's fair to say that this book was like no other that I have read in a long time.
It began with letters. It was written with the characters emails or letters.
I admit I was a bit confused at first. Who is this person and why does she write to her?
That type of thing. But after a couple pages I got the rhythm and I was sucked into this world.

One of the main character's was a genius architect and she had moved to Seattle with her family. To say that Bernadette was quirky is such an understatement.
However, I loved her for all her quirkiness!
Some things were cringe worthy. Some just damn funny, some spot on.
Her observations of Seattle made me laugh and yet feel uncomfortable at the same time.
I grinned while reading that she hated the "Seattle Freeze". 
Oh how I knew that about the people there. It was the prefect phrase for them.
When she spoke of frivolous things like how difficult it is to get a good haircut in Seattle I laughed out loud. When the character spoke of the only 2 haircuts you see in Seattle I found myself nodding my head. Then when she wrote about how poorly they drive in Seattle I had to read this aloud to Rick as we nodded our head in agreement. It went on and on like that laced through the book.

Everything this character wrote about the city and people of Seattle I understood to my core.
It was actually a bit of a validation to me to know those things weren't just how I felt when I lived there. Others knew this too. Yet it also made me uncomfortable because when I lived there I was so miserable because of the things this main character talks about that I had that same sick in my stomach feeling reliving my life there. I was a square Peg in a round hole when I lived in Seattle.

I looked at the book cover to see if there was any information about this author. I was shocked to see she lived there. I found it hard to believe she would have been that observant to all those things if she had grown up there. So I googled her.  Oh no, she was not from the area. She lives there now and teaches writing at UW. She is a screenwriter of movies you've heard of and seen as well as TV shows you've watched.

This quirky book was entertaining and surprisingly validating.
How often do you get that in a book?
I'm off to read book number two of four.

Thanksgiving

I have been lax in my reading of blogs and writing on my own.
It's been a busy two weeks.
All for positive reasons that I am sure I will share with you all soon.
I think we may be on an upswing here in our household.
It feels like I can exhale and allow my shoulders to relax.

I don't like to shop so to me this frenzy I see on TV for Black Friday is craziness.
I prefer to shop online in my pj's. 
But even then I don't like to shop.
I didn't get the gene that all other women have.
Shopping makes me itch. The idea of going to the mall is something on my list of things I have to do to get a few things and I seriously have to psych myself up to do it.

I wish I could look through a catalog or a magazine and then wiggle my nose like Samantha on Bewitched and viola it appears in my home.
With my luck I'd end up like Aunt Clara! (if you are old enough to remember this)

And speaking of an upswing in my life.....
I am looking into going to the gym. I know, it's like root canal, you have to do it but it sucks!

A neighbor friend convinced me to go with her. I said on two conditions - I did not have to join for a year or any type of commitment due to money and two, we go together then I would consider it. 
So I called the gym she is going to. They have such an arrangement and that thrilled me. See, I know me. I will quit and I don't have money to just blow so this was important for me not to have a committment.

The young man on the phone was so nice.  I think he was all of 12.
He went through options, programs and cost. 
As he said, $49.95 a month I winced but better than a commitment.
I asked if there were any lower options and he said, "well there is but you don't sound old enough for it. It is our senior monthly fee."
I thought I knew the answer but asked anyway, "how old do I need to be for a senior? "
He laughed and said, "It's 50."

Well slap my ass and call me Sally! 
I have never been so thrilled to be 50+
I was certain he would say 65 and up.
I can go now for only $24.95.....now that is better!
So see how things are looking up in my world? 
I am attempting to lift all the things that have fallen on this tired old body because I am in my 50's so it at least makes me happy that they are giving me a break.
See here? Another thing to be thankful for.

And speaking of being thankful. I leave you with a few of mine.
1. My husband.
2. My husband finally getting health insurance this year (Yeah Obama Care for Preexsisting Conditions)
3. My husbands knee is healing and he may not need surgery (see a pattern here?)
4. Our lake home sold. We were able to walk away with a little bit of money left after capital gains and realtor fees. Actually very little but a very small amount is better than none! It could have been far worse.
5. Business is picking up slowly but surely.
6. My blogger friends who make me think, laugh, and support me.
7. My non blogger friends and family.
8. Humor.
9. Butter
10. Chocolate.

See why I need the gym?

Blogger friends I leave you with this video.
I am the only woman in America who has not read 50 Shades of Grey.
But I know all about the bondage and sex of this book from my friends.
So when I saw this cookbook and video it cracked me up.
It may not be turkey of the season but it's a hoot non the less.
The Cookbook is called 50 Shades of Chicken.


HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL.

Happy Short Work Week

I had a miserable long weekend.
Why aren't they long weekends when you are having fun?

1.I found out I am really old this weekend.
2. I found out that I have too much shit and began to purge - for two days.
3. I found out my dog is a food whore and I have to control both she and Rick and I don't want to be the food police!
4. Dead deer is sad no matter how you look at it.

Let us start with being old shall we?
Rick and I watched a DVR'd show of David Letterman.
He introduced a band as he held up their album
(that is a whole other story - they make albums again?)
He introduced them as an Acclaimed Rock Band. (Said acclaimed 2 times)
Acclaimed? Why we had never heard of them. Acclaimed? Really?
Their name was Divine Fits.
We love Rock, we had never heard of them.
oh no! Acclaimed and we missed it  - it was now official.
Rick and I laughed - we decided that Saturday, November 17th at 7:20pm we were officially old. We listened to them. They weren't bad. They reminded us both of Iggy Pop.
To you young people, Iggy Pop would remind you of  well, Divine Fits.

Then Sunday we attempted to watch the AMA's. Oh my.
We laughed through most of it while we had the mute button on the majority of the time.
We don't get or like rap so there was a lot of talking "music" that must be muted.
There was no real singing or music except for my gal Pink.
The rest was just theatrical productions. Not a singer in sight.
Seriously you can't compare Stevie Wonder to Drake.
What is wrong with these people? When they did this I audibly gasped.
I love Stevie Wonder....see I'm old.
Then they gave the pop/rock award to Justin Bieber.
OH MY GOD THAT IS LUDICROUS!  
No, not the rapper Ludicrous,  the term meaning ridiculous!!

We decided we are glad we are old and that rock bands like Aerosmith, Eagles, ZZTop, Deep Purple and the like existed for us.
Justin Bieber is a little skinny boy who isn't full grown yet.
He may be able to sing but he needs to grow up and stop holding his junk.
And put on a shirt and take off those dumb ass sideways hat. I beg you.
He looks ridiculous. I get teenyboppers but seriously pop/rock? rock?
This is what they call rock now? Bruce is rolling over in his well....zillion dollar house!
Bieber couldn't be further from rock. The whole category couldn't have been further from rock. Rick and I just laughed and made fun of people.
So not only are we old, we're mean. It's official.
My bands are more likely to be on TV for induction into the Rock 'N Roll hall of fame.
Sigh.

2. I began to go through all the boxes and rubber maid huge containers of things we brought home from the lake house. I have decided to give it all away except for a few things.
I should have just purged it then. I don't know what the hell we were thinking.

I don't need all this stuff or for that matter have a place to put all this stuff.
I have called several charities offering these clean nice items but no one wants them.
I was even willing to bring them - nope. I have drapes, bedding, blankets shower curtains, rugs, appliances etc. Can you believe no one wants a thing?
I began the day thinking I would be giving these things away and because t I thought they would be wanted, I washed everything and put them back in a rubber maid container. 
One place asked me about the cost or "name" of items. Oh so you don't want them if they are cheap? Was that actually what they were saying to me?
I told them what everything was and where it came from.
So a blanket from Target is too cheap?
Besides if you have no blanket wouldn't a cheap blanket be better than none? 
Seriously you are asking who made these things? Since when?
Even the salvation army said no. Blew me away. Same with my old clothes.
I have a full length leather coat that was very expensive, not that it should matter damn it.
The point being that because it was a Liz Claiborne fat girl size no consignment shop would take it nor can I give it away. So fat gals don't need coats?
I so wish it fit but I no longer wear fat girl sizes, just chubby girl sizes.
So I have a very expensive size 18W coat that I would give away if I ever meet a fat girl.

3. And lastly, Izzy the Wonder Dog. She has no thyroid problem.
Just a food problem like her pack leader Rick.
She is already a short and stocky lab being an English Lab and not an American Field Lab but the vet would like her 10lbs less. I will be thrilled if we can get 5lb off her at this rate. After she got Lyme disease she got fatter.
Probably because she was sick and less active. Who knows.
And because Rick sneaks her cheese and other goodies because "she likes them" he tells me it doesn't help my fight on this.

The vet told Rick AGAIN, that food is not love. And yet this morning he did it again.
Izzy has to eat 1 cup of breakfast no longer 1 1/2 cups.
I/We are to replace the 1/2 cup with green beans.
It will fill her up with fiber and be less caloric.
If I use canned green beans they want them rinsed of all that salt and then feed them to her. Easy enough one would think.

So what does Rick do this morning? He gives her a full cup of beans.
Honestly he has food issues that man.
Can you tell he was raised by an Italian mother? Oh yes, we all can!
So now Izzy can't have beans tonight. He doesn't get the concept of dieting this man.
It also means I have to be up and feeding her because he can't be trusted to give her so little food because he says, "but you know she wants some more, she's still hungry, look at her"
Yep those are his very words this morning.

It's the same when I am dieting and he tells me one piece of pizza won't hurt.
Yea, it will buddy. This is why I have a pot bellied stallion of my very own.
He hates to diet and he sure loves food. Bad food, good food, and junk food.
Saturday he stood in front of the pantry and fridge and said there was nothing to eat.
(he had already had dinner)
He wanted junk. There was a pumpkin roll that I got for him from his favorite place.
I also made him an apple pizza (like pie)
No, not what he wanted. He wanted crunch he said.
I told him there were almonds.
He responded with, "Woman I don't want no stinkin' almonds!!"
He claims he isn't a a squirrel.  That made me laugh.

So he made popcorn & he asked me to make my special secret love concoction for it.
Yeah that is what the ass calls it.
Basically enough butter to clog a few arteries and enough chipotle hot sauce to change the color of the butter to a deep orange. Then sprinkle Good Season Cheese and Garlic salad dressing (just the powder don't make the dressing for heavens sake) on it and shredded Parmesan. He sucked down that popcorn with a cocktail or two and sighed he was so happy.
Ah, this man I am crazy about makes me laugh. 
I had the almonds, squirrel that I am.

4. Sunday morning at 5:30am I took Izzy out to pee. We walked over to the grassy knoll on the corner. I was not even fully away. Izzy was peeing right under the light of the lamp post light. Then I saw something move. It was a deer lying down about 3 ft away. It looked hurt.
Izzy went a bit closer and just stared. The deer attempted to get up but couldn't. Izzy's hackels went up. She was not on a leash and I yelled for her to come.
She turned around and we both high tailed it across the street to our home.
I went in and told Rick. He went outside and got much closer than I did to the deer.
The poor thing was in bad shape. Rick wasn't sure if it had been hit by a car but it's ribs were showing and green goo was coming out of it's nose and it had orange stuff around it's body and the deer was in bad shape. He came in and called Animal Control.
They sent a sheriff and asked for Rick to stand on the corner so they would see where this was at. (we thought that was strange)
I went inside with the dog. The sheriff just pulled out his pistol and shot the deer. 
Left the deer there. Rick claims you could hear me scream from across the street. He is exaggerating!
This morning the deer is still there and Izzy keeps wanting to go over there. I don't want her near it - to eat the grass near it. If this deer was sick I don't need Izzy getting something.
Why the hell hasn't it been picked up?
I called animal control and they said it wasn't there responsiblity to remove the deer only to kill it. I thought that was odd. They directed me to call our HOA and they said they would have someone there today. As of 2pm the poor deer is still there - 2 ft from the sidewalk.
Every damn dog in the neighborhood is going to be there.  Just like Izzy wanted to go over there today.  I kept pulling her leash to go somewhere else. Wonder why this was such a fascination for her? It was gross and sad to me.

Izzy Takeover

Good Day Bloggers....Izzy the Wonder Dog here. 
My human mom is preoccupied with this house sale.
They are driving her crazy with what she is screaming to be piddly shit. 
Don't even know what that means but it's making her nuts.
So I am taking over. 

Look I like this woman, she feeds me, spoils me with treats, hugs, belly rubs and I can get her to do most anything I want with my pretty face. But she gets on my nerves because she is always taking time with my man away from me. I should get all his attention and love not her.

You see when my man comes home, he is all mine and she doesn't seem to get it.
Look at me in his arms. Ah, just where I am meant to be.
I'm giving her the ha ha he's mine look here.  I love rubbing it in.

Yesterday she came outside with us while he threw the ball for me.
She complained about how cold it was - whine, whine, whine.
So go inside already bitch. I am having fun with my man and you are annoying me and he is giving you attention!  No, this is my time just buzz off.

Then she had the nerve to come to bed last night on my side of the bed. How dare she.
Oh sure it was her side at one time but not anymore.
Now I take up the whole king size bed except for where my man sleeps.
She had the nerve to snuggle up with MY man. I took care of that, oh yea I did. 
I poked my nose in between them until that nonsense stopped!
Finally I could then sleep.

This woman appears to be a slow learner because she doesn't give up.
She was all kissy with him this morning in the kitchen. 
Geez, get a room people.  I had to get in between them again until my tail hit my man's bad knee. That will teach him. That made him jump away from her quickly.
And they think I'm "just a dog" hah! I can see them ya know!

I heard them say at 6pm tonight I had an appointment to go to the vet for blood work.
Apparently my ever expanding waistline is bothersome to my vet and my mom.
My vet is just another jealous woman.  I'm gorgeous and they are jealous of all the attention I get every day. They don't do they?  No.  See?   It's just jealousy.
I'm really pretty so why the hell can't I be chubby?

Chubby is cute...c'mon look at me, I'm gorgeous. 
My coat is shiny and people comment on that all the time.
In fact just yesterday this woman made a fuss over my coat.
No one tells her she is pretty! 
Yep just jealousy.
And because they are petty like that I must get stuck with needles.

Those damn bitches think I need to be skinny.
Perhaps it's just their issue at hand, ever think of that?
They put me on terrible tasting diet food and much less of it for Pete's sake. 
Why if I had thumbs I'd be raiding that damn pantry and getting my own food!'

Oh sure I eat that terrible food but I don't like it! Nope, not one bit.
I can only get 2 treats a day from that woman now and I have to run after balls and sticks for at least an hour a day to even get them. And I walk. What more do they want from me? 
How would she like it if she had to do all that stuff to get her ever beloved coffee every day?
I.don't. think. so!
But that crazy female vet seems to think I have a thyroid issue.
That vet just likes sticking that damn stick up butt. Perverted sicko she is.
I'll show her and this crazy ass human woman living with me - I will sit and there will be no sticks up my butt today. 

I'm standing my ground today....or sitting my ground today.  No sticks up the butt.
I think that is just a damn good rule to live by, don't you?

UPDATE

Remember I told you about my 'adventure'  on hillbilly highway?
Yesterday in the mail I received a letter from a law firm from that area telling me that if I was charged with speeding this attorney can help me. Gee how did they know already?
Mr. Fisher claims he can get it removed for only $375.00
I called out of curiosity.  Of course the slimy bastard promised me the world.
I owe over $200 for this ticket and he wants me to pay him $375 and perhaps he will get it taken off my record so my insurance won't go up.

So imagine my surprise when I really looked at the literature he sent me.
The full color glossy 81/2 x 11 sheet with all the testimonials and his qualifications.
There was the big ole thug with the black knit cap dressed in all black who terrorized me.
Hmmm....now he's a lawyer or a police officer?
What the hell kind of scam is this?
Now where to I go for help with this one?

That time of year again.

Beginning the Christmas Shopping this weekend with the hubby.
As you all know from coming here I am not Christmas's biggest fan.
The stress and the obligation of it all doesn't sit well with me.
But one must do it or you have to endure the "Why don't you love this time of year?" etc

Rick's daughter is living with her fiancé and he has 3 small boys. Ages 6 - 11.
I can't even remember their names having only met them once.
So now I have to figure out what to buy for 3 boys. I don't know them at all.  
I grew up with all girls who had girls until I got my first nephew 18yrs ago. 
Not as sure of boys and what they would like at that age.
So dear blogger friends what the hell do I buy small boys?
All assistance is appreciated.

I would like to go home to visit my family before Christmas and before the hundreds of feet of snow hits them. This year seems to be flying by me. Why do old people say that?
I find myself saying a lot of old people things. I guess I am officially old now huh?

I was thrilled to see that I can now buy Elmo products again without guilt.
As I said yesterday that whole things sounded fishy to me and it was.
The fact that the accuser recanted his story is wonderful and yet pathetic at the same time.
You just know he has hurt Mr. Clash's reputation because there will be people who will only believe the negative.
Somehow I wish that those that falsely accuse someone should get some kind of big punishment for ruining a reputation, for causing the money to be spent by Sesame Street to look into the allegations, and to Mr. Clash for having to get lawyers to fight this for him. 
The people who do this should have to pay some consequences shouldn't they?
But then in today's society no one seems to have consequences.

And speaking of consequences.......
I watched a Katie show last night that I had DVR'd.
I found it fascinating.
It was about a man who was wrongly accused of his wife's killing and was sent to rot in jail for 25 years. He was finally freed by DNA.
The testimony of his son who was there to witness this killing was finally brought to light.
All the things that weren't admissible in court were now being read and rearing their heads.
It was amazing and so sad. 
There was no evidence to prove he did this from the beginning it was all manufactered.
His son was a toddler at the time of the murder and he was home and saw it all.
The son was interviewed and described the man that did this and yet it was pushed under the carpet. (he called the man "the monster who hit mommy")
This husband and father should never have gone to jail.
So many people wanting to make a name for themselves did all the wrong things on purpose to make themselves look good and help their career.
These people should have consequences.
I couldn't sleep at night knowing I did this to someone.
They ruined more than one life here for political and career gain and they sleep well.
I shake my head in complete disbelief.

This man who is now free is making a new life for himself.
He wasn't seeking revenge or bitter. He seemed so calm and at peace.
It was beautiful to see.

I know people in this life who have everything one could want and have not an inch of happiness or peace.
This man was just the opposite, he was Zen like.
Perhaps being in solitary would either make you a better person to look deep inside and work on oneself or you become bitter. He made the right choice for mental health.

I don't believe in revenge or holding grudges because to me it is a poison that you alone drink. The person you want to hurt  or that you hold a grudge against doesn't suffer at all like you are suffering.  They don't even know about the grudge. They have moved on.
So I understand that part of him not wanting to hold that grudge forever.
But it is still hard to wrap your head around not being a teeny tiny bit angry for being sent to jail for 25 years for something you never did don't you think? 
He was a bigger man than most.

Men!

Seriously all these men, where do they find the time in their busy high power careers let alone their family life? Hey the positive is here are a couple of men who can multi-task.
Not many with that ability.

This one kills me...
Say it ain't so Elmo man. C'mon! Elmo is my all time favorite.
That giggle will make me smile no matter the foul mood I could be in.
I hope it is found that his accuser is looking for money and is a shit head because I want Mr. Clash to be my Elmo man. But if not, then shame on you Mr. Clash. You just blew a great career!  Hopefully you won't hurt my Elmo. Elmo to me is Ricky Gervais in a red furry costume. To me they are the same and both make me extremely happy, happy, happy.

David Petraeus and Gen. John Allen. IDIOTS.
Great careers down the toilet for a couple of women twits and explicit photos.
Why can't men not photograph their junk?
Women are not visual like you guys, so just stop it!
And seriously have you learned nothing about email trails?
We have you in charge of the CIA and you haven't figured this out?
Email 101.

I am sure there will be more information, emails and photo's coming forward soon.
I guess I should just be thankful it's not more political commercials.

Last Weekend of Work

We signed our paperwork on Friday afternoon on the closing of the house.
The new owner will sign her paperwork this Friday.
Then we get a check in the mail.
YIPEE.

This was the last weekend of working.
The realtor suggested we blow off the leaves.
Shit!
You see I mentioned to Rick we probably should do that.
His response you ask?
He said, "tough shit. let her see how fun an acre of trees is. I'm not doing shit."
Nice of him huh? So I let it go.

Normally at Thanksgiving we rake and blow leaves all weekend.
I know what you're thinking, "whooo - oooh, you lucky little shits you!"

But then the realtor told us to have the driveway and wrap around porch cleared of all leaves. Great. They were ankle deep so I was glad to do it. Rick muttered the whole time.
He has never met this woman but he hates her and all the hoops we have jumped through for her. He's is being quite cranky about everything and I am just letting it ride. I don't care just don't make me have to pay the up keep, mortgage and utilities anymore.

Now as you know the old man I live with tore his tendon on his knee.
Going down the steep driveway towards the water is painful for him. So I did it.
Being the ever sweet and loving wife I am I instead asked him to please clean the toilets.
I thought that was fair.

Friday after signing the papers we brought our boat to her new home.
Now I thought I had video of all of that to show you.  Yes, I say, "thought"
You see I gave the camera to Rick and he was taking video of the boat being lifted out of the water and into the boat hotel. However when he gave me back my phone there was no video.  When I asked him what the hell he was doing he just laughed and said he was filming he swears!  Ah ha, I think his pain medication made him THINK he was taking video but he probably didn't turn it on. Numbnut.

So here are some stills of our boats new home.
This first one is where we thought we'd be. The boats are out of the water and on a lift here like we had in our backyard. However there were no openings at this marina's until April.
(at any marina for that matter)
We can get one in April if we don't like how the hotel is working out for us.

first choice - boats on lifts

these boats below are in the water year round - we didn't want that.

this is the boat hotel.

This is how the boat gets into the boat hotel- first it is lifted out of the water

Then it is put in it's hotel "room"

I can't even parallel park well enough to even consider doing this for a living!!!
It was cool to watch them pick them up from the water and bring them to their slot but my goodness that to me is dangerous.
So we will call 45 minutes before arriving and they will have our boat in the water and ready for us.

There is a bar/ restaurant on the site too. Which we find to be a great thing.

However....what do they mean no alcohol beyond this point?

our boat is beyond this point people!

You can even fill up your boat tank here.

one stop shopping so to speak.

When we got back home we decided to sit awhile on the back porch and enjoy the beautiful weather and open a great bottle of wine. Our last happy hour on the deck.
We just sat out back and enjoyed our last afternoon there.
I love the reflection of the trees in the water in this photo.

All in all it was a bittersweet weekend filled with work that actually helped us say goodbye.

We kept saying, just think now when we come to the lake it will be just for fun and not to work on the yard or a house. Just fun, water and sun.

We both thought we would be much sadder than we were.

Oh not that we weren't, but I think the heaviness that has been lifted off our shoulders felt pretty damn good. That took away the sting of having to sell our home we worked so hard for so that we could be on water.  We had 9 great summers and 9 thanksgivings.

We will just start new traditions this year.  Life is good.

Standard Time

Here I sit after a night of not sleeping much. I am dragging yet unable to sleep.
Insomnia sucks.
I'm on the 2nd cup of coffee of the day and hoping I can sleep tonight. 
Izzy is sleeping at my feet at the end of the sofa.

Sure, she wakes us up and then she eats, goes for 2 walks and now she's sleeping soundly.
I swear in my next life I would like to come back as my dog. She's got a good life that girl.

As you all know we turned the clocks back this past weekend.
The one who doesn't know this is my dog.
She wants to eat at 4:30a.m. She wakes us because she thinks it's 5:30a and it's breakfast time! Why are we sleeping? 
Then in the evening she starts bugging us at 4:30p for her dinner.
I wish she could understand turning the clocks back. 
We will have a couple of weeks of this before she gets the hang of it.
Moving forward is the easy one. Moving back is a killer for my dog and our household.
Izzy also knows when Rick comes home. If he is running late she goes out to the patio and stares at the garage door, looking for the big garage door to open and Rick being home.
Now with standard time she goes out there an hour early. I couldn't get her to come in yesterday no way no how. She is so obsessed with my husband that its a bit sick.
In all honesty if anything happens to Rick, this dog will die of a broken heart.
I'm just that damn woman who feeds her and is always kissing that guy she likes so much.
She hates that! 
I know this dog loves me but she is obsessed with Rick, her big strong pack leader.
Look at her just staring at the door.
I could be on fire but she would never look away while waiting for him.

In other early morning news I come to my blog and find my reading list, or blogs I follow, are all gone. Where did they go?  It is telling me how to follow blogs and how great it would be to do so. Gee ya think?  So what the hell did they do to my list?
I am not a fan of not having any control or this new blogger.

I'm off to close my eyes for 30 minutes before I have to start work.
Here's to a great new day of no friggin' political commercials!
That alone makes it a very good day in my book.

**Binders of women voted for Obama***
**We left Washington State too soon. Pot is now legal. Damn it!**

Rock The Vote Today!

We can all still laugh can't we?

I heard all the hoopla and angry statements about this video.
I just don't get it.
I don't believe anyone was making fun of the deaf here.

I watch a lot of New York City TV because I get several of their stations.
I watched Mr. Bloomberg's speeches and they were damn funny.
To me he is so damn dull and monotone. It was the complete opposite of his interpreter.
The interpreter was so animated that I watched her more than listened to him.
And my goodness when he attempted to speak Spanish it was so difficult not to snicker.
He tried and for that he should be commended but my goodness it was funny.

I don't get the politically correct anger directed at this video.
The New Jersey interpreter is just damn funny.
In fact I think that woman may be a relative of mine.
C'mon we can all take a joke now can't we?

Hillbilly Highway

She, who will remain nameless, (wink wink )hates driving in the dark to begin with.
She had really noticed how dark it had become. 
It was cloudy so there were no stars to even shed a teeny bit of light.
She was in the middle of what she liked to call hillbilly highway on route 122.
There were a few houses miles apart from one another and nothing more than rolling hills and  deer. No lights of any kind. Very very dark on a cloudy evening.
She was wishing there were street lights or something because it was a bit scary driving alone on this road.  She wasn't completely alone, her dog was snoring a soft purr of a snore in the back seat.

She had just noticed the speed limit was now 70. She looked down and realized she could speed up and get this horrific drive over with sooner. As she went down a hill she was picking up speed so she hit the brakes to slow down. There were 2 vehicles now in front of her and she was so thankful for the company. She was now behind a car and a tractor trailer.  She saw a car barely off to her side sitting in the bushes. It looked like a silver mustang and she wondered if it was a policeman.

They were barely crawling now because the semi was slowing down to get up the crest of the hill.
She noticed that car on the side of the road had come out and was now behind her and was riding her ass. She couldn't take her eyes off him. What is this person doing?  Is it a cop? She looked down at her speedometer and she was going 38mph. Why doesn't he just pass me then?  The car in front of her put on his signal as he got to the top of the hill and gunned it and passed the truck.  She stayed behind the truck for a bit and then put on her signal and went around the truck. But just in case this could be a cop she decided to do this slowly. As soon as she turned into the lane to pass blinking lights went off. So it is a policeman she thinks. But what did I do?

She can't pull over because there is no berm  on this left side of the road, just a ditch.
So she passed the truck and then pulled over on that side.
As she pulls over she notices that the car has odd lights like someone made them and put it on their dash. The person driving this car comes to the passenger side window.
The man has on all black and a black knit hat down to his eyebrows. He doesn't say anything. Now she is frightened beyond belief.

Here she was on hillbilly highway with no cars in site, no lights, no houses, nothing but she and her dog in the back seat. The man tilts his head into the passenger side window keeping his body away from the car and out of sight. He again taps on the window and he is blinding her with his flashlight. He says nothing. He gestures to put down her window.
She begins to shake and cry. Automatic response I guess.   He keeps tapping the window and making a gesture to put the window down. He refuses to say anything.
She yelled, "NO, who are you?"
He then says, "just put the window down!"
She picks up her phone and calls 911 and drives off. The man gets in his car and follows her.

It appears she has watched too many Dateline, 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Oprah type shows.
She has seen this played out on the news and she knows how this turns out. She and her little dog will die so they can have her car. No way is she stopping for anyone other than a police officer. 911 dispatcher asks her emergency. She is talking so fast they ask her to slow down. She tells them some man wanted her to pull over, he was in an old mustang and he had blue lights like an officer. She wasn't doing anything wrong so she can't understand why she should have been pulled over n the first place. Then when she did pull over he didn't identify himself as a cop.  He was dressed in all black and a black knit hat down over his face. The man tells her to calm down it is a cop, just pull over!
She yells to him, "how do you know it's an official police officer?" He tells her he is talking to him, "just pull over ma'am"  He is speaking to her like he is mad not at all comforting. 

She pulls over. He comes back and does the same damn thing. No speaking. When she gets the window down she is now shaking so much she can't hold her license or registration. 
He said to her in the most nasty tone, "Why did you do that?"
She mustered all the strength she had and let loose, "Why did you not identify yourself as a policeman? Why are not wearing a real big boy officer hat? Why are you in black from head to toe and no markings of a cop?  Are you trying to scare women on this road? And why did you pull me over anyway? The person in front of me was going twice my speed?" 

Oh he seemed a bit pissed now but she wasn't backing down this man scared the living shit out of her.
She was still shaking and now her dog really hated this man and was growling loudly at him.
He said, "I am a police officer" and then he put his full body into her view. He turned his body to show her his patch on his arm that was facing the woods that said he was a police officer.  "Y0u couldn't see that ?"he asked her

She went from scared shitless to angry as hell in a New York minute.
"How the hell could I see that if it wasn't facing me? You were blinding me with your flashlight on hillbilly highway with no other lights, you are driving a very old mustang, you are wearing a black knit cap like a thug and no where on your person does it say anything about police except your upper arm patch FACING the wooded area opposite where I can NOT see it sir. And let me add  I am an old lady why the hell would I run from the police? I did nothing wrong. Why wouldn't you identify yourself? What was with all the silence and hand gestures? If you weren't the police you were just rude sir. Why wouldn't you have come up to the car and said you were Office So & So please put down your window ma'am?  You behaved like a thug and you are dressed like a thug. I feared for my life."

All he said was, "get your license and registration."  No please, nothing.
She gave it to him and rolled up her window and calmed her dog who was now between the front seat and the back attempting to protect her master. She hugged her dog and hoped she could calm down as well because she just couldn't stop shaking like a leaf.  She has never been that terrified in her whole life.

After a few minutes the thug of a police officer came back to the window with a speeding ticket. He first asked, what county she was from. When she stated the county he said, "oh" like it was the answer to something. She thought perhaps he thinks since it's not hillbilly land the city girl really was frightened. She signed the ticket but just had to ask, "When was I speeding?  It was a 70 mph zone and when I got behind the semi and the car I went down to 38-40 tops"
He responded in a snarky tone that the 70mph stopped and it went back to 60 and you obviously didn't notice that. "Obviously", she muttered.

She wanted to know why the hell he followed her then for so long and never stopped her. Why was he just riding her ass for a few miles instead of stopping her.
He rode her ass from 70 to 38mph. It was at least 3 miles. That made no sense.
But she didn't ask him. She wanted this horrific drive to be over with and she wanted to be on her way.  She took her ticket, rolled up her window and drove off not saying another word.

Then the last 40 minutes of the drive she dodged deer in the road like an arcade game.
Coming onto the road from the left, from the right. Big deer everywhere.
When it occurred to her this was like a damn arcade game she laughed out loud alone in her car on hillbilly highway.  It sounded loud and it made her dog sigh but lay back down.
Guess that was the dog's cue she was going to be okay. 
______________________________________________________________
update: I got some comments in my personal email that they thought this was just a story for halloween or something. No this really happened to me last Friday! the most scared I have been in my whole life.
It's a bit funny now but not then trust me!