Since I've been gone

While I've been gone a few things have happened.

**We had a 70 degree Christmas. Weird!
The middle of the country was under water
And finally, there was some snow in the Northeast....way northeast.

**Bill Cosby was arraigned today on a felony assault charge stemming from a sexual encounter with a woman 12 years ago.  Of course, he was freed on $1 million bail which is probably chump change for the chump.
A woman who happens to be gay who said he couldn't understand her rejecting his advances so she was drugged and raped. 
A woman who is strong enough to fight this. Good for her!!

**Rick has been dealing with medical issues for a few weeks. 
.Okay, here is what we learned after a cardiologist, an internist, an ER visit and a pulmonary specialist.

With the exception of the ER, these are all Rick’s normal doctors for his heart, asthma (lungs) and all around MD.

All were very worried about him and his wife couldn’t sleep.  I, of course, feared the worse.

His employee was saying novenas. God love Gary!  

His regular doctor got the info from his ER visit and she called us on a Sunday night because she was so concerned.  She wanted him to go back to his cardiologist. STAT as she said to him. If he had any problem getting in immediately to call her and she'd get it done for him. 

Now while all of that is super nice. It also scared the shit out of me. A Dr. doesn't normally call you on a Sunday evening for just a cold.  I knew he was scared too but not admitting it. Putting on his manly macho face for me. But it was a heavy household the last few weeks of this.

A few weeks ago when this all started he got a cold, then polished and sanded a woman’s Corian kitchen countertops. This proved to be a bad combo.

He got that damn acrylic/plastic (which Corian is a plastic/acrylic) in his lungs because he was too lazy to go get his mask in the truck and put the damn thing on!

That irritated the lining of his lungs big time! Not good for a man with lifelong lung issues and asthma.  That irritation caused his asthma to become severe, his lungs lining was irritated and inflamed and all of this blocked his airflow.

That blocked airflow caused an A-fib with his heart.  

Now we didn't know this at the time. Rick himself thought he had a cold but that the sanding did get into his lungs and he just figured it just added to his "cold and cough" HA! little did we know.

He was in the ER a couple of weeks ago hoping to get something to allow him to sleep and stop coughing. They wanted to admit him. He refused. They thought he'd die if he didn't stay. Stubborn old coot refused, he told them he came in for something for his cough and after IV"s and 4 hrs there they finally let him go but not without talking to his cardiologist. They talked to his cardiologist and he was released.

He then went to the cardiologist.  Medication was given and he was to be monitored but felt the cold, cough and lung issue was the cause of the A-fib.

Rick was having a difficult time working. Normally he carries large equipment up and down stairs all day and now he couldn't. Even he was a bit scared. So we made an appointment to see his pulmonary doctor. His daughter was convinced this was a pulmonary embolism because of his symptoms. After I looked that up I realized it was certainly textbook pulmonary embolism. I was now scared out of my mind. So I called his pulmonary doctor and got him in yesterday.

Thankfully yesterday he was cleared of cancer, a pulmonary embolism, and pneumonia.

Yesterday after being tested by his favorite pulmonary Dr he had only 45% airflow before the new medication.  

Hence, why he was out of breath from a simple walk with the dog and me or 1 flight of stairs.

He was given a years supply of a drug that is very, very expensive and the doctor had a coupon for 1 year that will expire on Friday so thank God he got it.

Then after a year, he can go to a drug that costs less money and less in strength.  

Similar to an Advair or something.  Whew.  

The Dr. told him after 2-3 days of this new med (steroid spray)  he should be feeling good.

Thankfully he has a few more days off work to deal with the healing.

So now that I know he is not dying, I am going to beat the shit out of him about these damn masks.  He has masks and normally when refinishing he wears a respirator. So it's not like he doesn't have the tools he needs. Honestly!

He called to tell me everything when he was leaving the doctors and said, “don’t yell, the doctor already did.” 

I love his pulmonary Dr. she’s a short feisty NY Jewish girl of about 43 who is right out of a movie. Very stereotypical and a real hoot. Smart as a whip! Cute too.  
We both really like her. 

I can really see her yelling at him so that was good. 
He said she hit him in the arm twice for that. 

He deserved it if you ask me.

Tomorrow is our anniversary so we will be celebrating Rick's health and the fact that he is still alive so I can bust his balls for many more years to come!

Happy New Year!

The Weather Outside is Delightful ... :-)

I need to be in a million places at one time this week.
But the great news around these parts is that on Christmas Eve it will be 74 degrees.
I am diggin' that.
Told you all this would happen after we bought a snow blower. 

Here is my present to you this holiday season.
I'm sharing my eggnog recipe that kicks ass and is damn yummy.
Actually, it's not my recipe....I got it from Paula Deen years ago.

I have a neighbor across the street from me who asks for it every year. 
The first time offered, she turned up her nose. 
Then she drank multiple glasses! 
The next year she came over with her grown son who was in town and they both downed a "few" glasses.  
This year she wants to bring it to a family gathering on Christmas Eve.
I am happy to oblige.

So here ya go.  I'll be back next week.

Eggnog

6 egg, separated*
3/4 cup sugar
1 pint heavy cream
4 pints milk
1/2 pint Bourbon
1 tablespoon vanilla
Nutmeg

In a bowl beat the egg yolks with the 1/2 cup of sugar until thick. In another bowl beat the egg whites with 1/4 cup of sugar until thick. In a third bowl beat the cream until thick. Add the cream to the yolks, fold in the egg whites, and add the milk, Bourbon, vanilla, and a pinch of nutmeg, if desired. Chill in freezer before serving.
Serve eggnog in a large punch bowl and grate nutmeg over the top.

To all who celebrate this holiday.....

Merry Christmas to you all.

Voice Winner

I watch The Voice. It goes on entirely too long.
It could be cut in half and work just fine.
So I skipped a lot of it this year.

If you were watching, do you think there is something wrong with the winner?
They keep talking about his "issues" 
What issues are they talking about?
Is it that he sings like a girl and sort of looks like a boy?
Is it that he is overweight?
Is it that he has a blank stare like no one is home?
Is he autistic?

They always talk about how proud they are of him for overcoming his issues. In fact, they talk about it so much Rick said he was making it a drinking game. How many times do you think Adam or a judge will say, "issues" he has overcome tonight, Rick would ask.
But of course, they never talk about what those may be. 
He is strange but mostly creepy to me. 
Like something is going on behind that blank stare that scares me. Even when he was being complemented he just would stare and not even smile. eewww! But he can certainly sing.
Kind of on the same page as the woman who won Britain's Got Talent, Susan Boyle.

Something just felt to me that it wasn't quite right and since every damn week they talk about his "issues" as though it is a big deal I wanted to know what I missed. I never knew what they were. Anyone? Did they ever mention them?

Stolen Post

I am crazy busy right now and getting a cold.  I feel like crap. 
Merry Christmas Peg, here is a sore throat, bad cough and congestion for you. 
Because of all that I'm being lazy and I stole this from Bilbo

Three Names I Go By:
1. Margaret
2. Peggy
3. Peg

Three Places I've Lived: (list only 3?)
1. Seattle, WA
2. Cleveland, Ohio
3. Erie PA

Three Places I've Worked:
1. Piedmont Airlines
2. Galileo (travel industry software)
3. Amadeus (travel industry software)

Three Things I Love to Watch:
1. The Affair (Showtime)
2. HGTV
3. My husband doing any type of housework.

Three Places I Have Been:
1. All but 6 states
2. My favorite - Canada! (partial to Toronto!)
3. All over the Carribean many times over.

Three Things I Love to Eat:
1. Great Chocolate Truffles
2. Frozen Green Grapes
3. Peppermint Patties

Three Things I wish I could eat: (I dream of)
1. Gnocchi
2. Pizzelles
3. Italian Bread

Three Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. Retirement
2. Winning a large Lottery
3. Summer

Pizza

I debated whether or not I should share this.
Rick told me to just go for it.

This happened last Friday night.
I can't get this young woman out of my mind. 

After work I went to the grocery store. Rick asked that I pick up a pizza from Little Caesars for him on my way home. I told him I would.

I walked in and there were a slew of people waiting. I was in no mood to sit there but I knew how  much Rick wanted this pizza so I put in my order and sat my fat ass down.
All of a sudden everyone left the store with their pizza and it was just me waiting on mine.

A pregnant young woman came in and ordered hers. She looked exhausted. I think she had to be 9 months pregnant.  She swiped her debit card for $5 and it was declined. I heard her say, "let me get another card"  This one wasn't declined, but they were getting an odd message on the machine. This went on for a long time. 
So he moved to the machine to his left that was right in front of me. She swiped it again and I heard him say something and I saw her look into her purse and look up at this man. Neither said anything. They just stared for a minute at one another. It was an odd exchange.
She didn't have a lousy $5 for her pizza. 
I jumped up and whispered so only she could hear me,"I'd like to get this for you. Merry Christmas". 
As I was putting my card in the machine, she slapped my hand and said NO. She began to cry and ran out of the store. I'm pissed at myself because I suppose I shouldn't have done that. But there were days where I would have appreciated that. I was just trying to help, not make her feel badly.

I have been in that position where $5 is more than you have. I guess she was embarrassed, but she shouldn't be. We've all been there. I wish she had allowed me to buy that for her. I can't get the pained look on her face out of my mind. I keep thinking I made her feel worse than she already felt. That is what is upsetting me. Hmm, hormonal and broke. Not a fun place to be.

Red

Rick doesn't do a lot of tubs anymore. Between countertop fabrication and other larger type jobs, he leaves tubs to Gary. 
But he did one today because he had to use special products that Gary was unfamiliar with and he didn't want Gary to learn on the job for this woman. This chemical company that they don't normally use was the only way to get red for the tub so Rick thought he'd have an easy day and do this one. He has some issues due to the color but it wasn't a bad day for him work wise.

When she made the appointment she told me she was picky.
If they tell you that, it usually means they are not just picky, they are MORE than picky.
I would be picky. And we were right. But she was so nice and she has the right to be pleased with the job since she is paying. So as long as someone is nice we are so okay with picky but she did make Rick laugh he told me.

She walked into  the bathroom with a magnifying glass that was enormous, like sherlock holmes, and a big ole construction light that was bigger than her body.
It made Rick laugh. And when he laughed, she said, "Oh I don't want to miss a thing." 
Rick agreed with her and smiled. After her very thorough inspection, she patted his back and told him he did a damn fine job. That too made him laugh. As he was leaving she gave him some brownies and a dozen fresh eggs.  (They had chickens.) 
He was very happy she was pleased.

Now I would never in a million years make my bathtub a color other than white. Red and Black we seem to do a lot of in the last two years. I find those colors to show every drop of water and soap film. Like this woman, I am too picky. Or maybe lazy. I would see those water spots and soap film and have to wash it every damn day and dry it so you don't see the water spots. I don't have time for that nonsense. My white tub allows me to go all week without washing it. (that is what Saturdays are for!) 
I prefer that. Then again, I don't take baths, just showers but still.

Here is her red tub. Yes, that is a rubber glove on the faucet. 
It's on there because no water can accidently drip into that red tub for 24 hrs.
Would you make your tub a color?

Are We Really That Ill?

We have begun a new game in our home of late.
We count all the commercials that are pharmaceuticals.

Rick started the clock at 15 past the hour. By 30 minutes past the hour, we had counted 8 commercials for drugs. 8 in 15 minutes. That is crazy!  If someone hadn't knocked on our door and interrupted us we were determined to do this for an hour. 

Are we really such a sick nation that we need drugs pushed on us like this?
In these 8 commercials, only 1 was for Cialis. Boy, it sure seems like more when we watch TV, but then it was only for 15 minutes. I'm sure they would have had another few if we continued.

The rest of the evening we were watching Showtime and HBO so there are no commercials, thankfully.  If we watch network TV we are going to try this for an hour. How many do you think we'll count?
I find this a frightening and sad trend.

Friday Rundown

I have never taken a selfie. I know I hear ya'll laughing at me.
I just don't see the point. 
I don't particularly like how I look so I can't see taking a photo of myself. 
What do people do with them? Just look at their photos of themselves all the time?
I don't get it, but that is probably because I'm an old fart I suppose.

My niece has always bugged me about my "lack of photos on facebook" or that I don't do selfies. I have always just laugh it off.
Then last night a friend who I haven't seen in 2 years who lives in California called. 
We were discussing hair color. She and I love to change our hair colors.
I told her what color it was TODAY and she said to send her a selfie.
I laughed and said, "I don't do selfies."
Well let me tell you, she busted my balls on the entire call about this.

So I tried. Good grief I look like I'm going to prison.
I was focusing so hard on doing this that I actually forgot to smile.
I was sitting in the car with Rick and he was laughing at me. 
Honestly, I look ridiculous and I sure as hell felt ridiculous! 

____________________________________
We are coming into the slow down period of our business.
It happens every year about this time yet I still panic each year.
I am hoping that our lead tech will take this time with his family and lose his baby brain.

Rick had to have that come to Jesus meeting with him.
He put on his HR hat and had that talk.
He said he was ready to come back to work, but his work is suffering.
His child is just shy of 3 mo. old and this shit is not settling down.
We've had to have Rick go to job sites and fix his work and a plethora of other things. 
When he didn't want to overnight at this job they have been working on, Rick flipped his lid.

You see each building of this complex we are working on each bathroom until all buildings are completed. That is normally 12 bathrooms per building.
Once all the other sub contractors are done we go in. Because it is 2 hrs away without traffic they overnight a couple of days so they can be on the job site at 7a with no problems. They must be on the jobsite at 7am and they must leave at 3pm so to get the work done they can't be late due to sitting on I-95.

Suddenly "Baby Daddy," said he can't go. When we asked why he said he really didn't want to be away from his child overnight.
Now honestly, I thought Rick's head was about to explode. So I made him calm down and speak to him after he cooled off. Over that weekend I told Rick to wear his HR hat as he did in the old days at his corporate job. Don't tell him to get his head out of his ass, but do it the proper way. Rick needed to calm down so by Monday he would be calm and professional.

Baby Daddy had time off when he was born. He begged to come back early but we had him continue to stay at home for the rest of that final week. He was paid so we told him to enjoy this time at home.  He said he was so ready to be back to work. Yet, now he can't focus, is messing up, is sleep deprived etc. 

Now before all you people scream at me that he can't help being sleep deprived this is what he and the Baby Mama told me. The baby is sleeping, but he gets up on the hour if not more often to check him, he wants to be sure the baby is breathing. most times he just sits in his room watching him. He hardly sleeps and if he does sleep he dozes off in a chair in the babys room. They both were honest and told us that and while appreciated it only made Rick a bit more angry. 

He actually told Rick that Baby Mama is telling him the same thing. 
Well actually she said, "Get your head out of your ass" 
We did not tell him that. We just thought that. 
She told him to go overnight she was fine. (this is her 2nd kid, this is old hat to her) 
She is not even working blogger people. This is all so stupid to me after 3 months.

Seriously does he not know that if he doesn't straighten up then he won't have a job or health insurance to take care of this baby?  I have never seen anything so crazy in my life. Women don't act this stupid.(at least that I have ever seen) Needless to say, he overnights or he doesn't work it is his choice. Not like we don't have phones if there is an emergency. Not like baby mama cares or is not there with him 24/7. It's all so confusing to me. We'll see.  Blogger men did you do this with your job after your baby was born. And at 3 months old?
______________________________

The weather outside is delightful !!
I told you that it'd be a great winter because we bought a snow blower. I do now believe this was a good investment just for this delightful weather. 60's all week and next week too. 
I can get behind this kind of December.

Happy Weekend.

Purberty or Aging?

I have decided that aging is just puberty backward.
Don't believe me?

In puberty, you have growth spurts.
The same can be said for aging, just more width instead of height.
.
In puberty, a females breasts will grow.
In old age, they fall.and lose density.
That happens to men in places too, but you can see that from the outside. (wink, wink)

In puberty, you have new hair growth on your body.
In old age you do too,  men have the fun surprise of finding that wondering hair attach itself to their shoulder or their ears, right guys?
In old age, women need to wax off that hair that suddenly has developed under their nose.

In puberty your skin gets acne
In aging you get wrinkles and brown spots.

In puberty, you have hormonal issues that make your tempers flare and become emotional.
In aging, you're cranky about everything and it too is hormonal.

In puberty, you have emotional outbursts.
In aging, you have just lost the filter and have outbursts frequently.

Yes, I could go on, but now do you believe me?

Warning - Foul Language ahead

Do you remember on Seinfeld when Kramer was dating the low talker? And then poor Jerry ended up wearing the Puffy Shirt on the Today Show?

I am living that shit.

Yesterday I had a low talker on the phone.

I really thought it was me because of my hearing loss, so I held the headset on my ear tightly. I still could only hear a few words.

OH MY GOD. 

This is what I heard, “meoshoweoinsdlfkj d  chip slkdjflskda;fs today. 

Or so I thought anyway.

I told her I couldn’t hear her and then asked for her to hold on because I was going to try to go to the receiver.  No better.

So I asked if she could hear me. She said yes.....I think.

I was now in a full blown panic and thought I had lost my hearing completely. 

I told her I could see her number and would call her back.

I had no idea if she heard me or if she even responded, I just hung up.

Then the phone rang before I could call her back. 

I could hear this person perfectly which gave me a sigh of relief.

When done I called the low talker back. 

I heard,  ssdfoafdaodowiesy CHIP werdskjdfldajfoaasya.

I asked if she could yell for me because for the love of God I could not hear her.

She yelled and I heard a tiny voice say, I need to have a chip repaired. Or I thought I did.

It was a very soft whisper.

I was straining!!

I finally said I am having a very difficult time hearing you ma’am, could we possibly communicate via email otherwise I don’t think I can help you.

So that is what we did.  

Then she writes and tells me that everyone tells her that they can’t hear her and some people just hang up on her.

FOR THE LOVE OF HUMANITY THEN SPEAK UP YOU TWAT!!

I envisioned sending Gary or Rick into God knows what situation you know?

Lordy, how I hate people. I know, I know....as Grandma would say, going to hell in a hand basket.

Elderly

Rick is mourning.....for his youth.
Rick is delusional by nature.  
He thinks I'm cuter than I am. He thinks his belly is smaller than it is.
He thinks he has more hair than he does. Once when seeing a photo of a friends mom and a man who's back was to the camera he asked, "Who's the bald guy?"  Yeah, it was him. 

So this weekend something happened that shook him to his core.
To set the stage - We have a community Facebook page.
On this page, people sell items, talk about issues in the neighborhood and the like.
I don't go there much because at times I find it mommy-centric with a lot of entitlement whining.

Rick found something down at the pond/park where he and Izzy go every day.
Actually the dog found it.  Izzy found a very nice knife and it was engraved.
So Rick posted this on Facebook along with a photo, but not showing the inscription.
He was hoping to find the owner of this very nice swiss army type knife.

The comments came in with suggestions. 
A couple of people said it could be "the elderly gentleman who is down there with his chocolate lab."  
There were a couple more of "the elderly man with the brown dog" comments. 
When Rick saw those comments it took him a minute to realize they were talking about him.
Seriously it didn't occur to him that they were speaking about him and Izzy.
He responded he was the elderly gentleman and his dog found this knife.

ELDERLY? he yells out loudly while reading to no one in particular. 
I asked him what the hell he was talking about.
He then proceeded to tell me he put this on facebook and read me the comments.  
I laughed.
Poor Rick is still mumbling and grumbling days later, "elderly my ass"
Whatever he has done over the last few days it ends with a comment like, elderly my ass!
Yes, even that.

I hate to tell him that he really needs to look in the mirror, he's 60 now, he's an old fart. 
He's getting discounts, he's a senior, he's elderly, whatever the word is to tell him he's old.
I've been kicking and screaming about this old lady shit for a few years, did he really think this just happened to him?  Oh my goodness this man humors me.

Poor guy, I'm sure it is shocking to find out in one day he is elderly. 
Here's my elderly old fart. Does he look like he did 30 years ago? Well no, but then neither do I.
He's still cute to me, and heaven knows he makes me laugh. Laughing AT him counts right?

Holiday

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY AMERICAN READERS.

Put on those elastic waist pants and enjoy this day of food and drink.

It's the only way to survive all that family. 

Summer

It's cold here. Very cold. They used the words wind chill yesterday. I do not like those two words when put together. Today is better because it isn't as windy. But cold. Thursday will be warmer.(60 yippee!) 
I have to mentally prepare myself for this frigid weather. But in all honesty I am mentally somewhere warm.  I will be going to Florida the 3rd of March for a couple of days and the countdown has begun for me.

Why does this happen to people? Getting cold that is.  I never hated winter, loved the cold and used to be in it for hours without any issue. But today I just can't cope. Last night I was wearing double layers again. Is it aging?
Leggings, fleece pants over those, heavy socks and slippers, flannel shirt with a sweatshirt over top of that.
I look like the kid in Christmas Story who can't put his arms down. By the time I put on a coat I look 50lbs heavier and only a little bit warmer. Is this why retired people move to warm climates?

Sunday Rick and I went to Costco. Yes, we are brave to do that, thank you for noticing.
Rick saw a heated shirt and he wanted me to buy it. There was no damn way I was spending $80+ on a shirt that was heated. But I admit to you all that OH MY GOD IT SOUNDED WONDERFUL. But foolish to spend $80 for such a thing when I can put on more layers. Just think come spring everyone will think I lost weight after I unpeel the layers of bulky clothes. So there is a positive. :-)

Rick and I continued to shop, or I should say, I dragged Rick around Sunday and our next stop was the brand new store Dicks Sporting Goods that opened in the neighborhood. We bought ourselves some new wrap around ear muffs. Rick tried to convince me I needed snow pants. And I think he may be right but I'll wait a few weeks to buy those. Besides they may go on sale online for Black Friday. Snow pants sound great to walk the dog in.  I do love that store,  (dick's) but it too is a bit expensive.  So to round out our shopping experience in this new plaza we headed over to Walmart. I bought some heavy duty socks, again at Rick's urging. I think he may be tired of listening to my teeth chatter.

Last night while watching television I was bundled in blankets and decided we needed some hot chocolate to warm the insides.  Rick said if I was making he'd have one too. I surprised him and put in some peppermint schnapps. After his first sip he proclaimed, "Nice surprise Margaret!"  Yep, it was yummy.  And it did the trick and making me feel warmer.

Here's to summer only being 7 months away.

Creep Factor

Rick was in a home today and he was left alone.
This was in a loft type room he'd walk by to get into the bathroom
He sent me this picture and captioned it, "Wouldn't this creep you out?"
Yes, it indeed would.  Those eyes would follow me. Heaven knows Izzy wouldn't like it.

The homeowners are elderly so I find it funny that they would have this in their home.
Perhaps to just scare the grandkids. Maybe they don't like the little kiddies. 
If my Grandmother had this in her house I would've cried. Hell, I used to think her pictures of President John Kennedy were following me and they scared me. Okay now that I have written that I'm thinking this may just be my issue....hmm

Tuesday

Let's recap today's news shall we?

Charlie Sheen has the HIV virus and has paid millions to extortionists to not leak this information.
While his lifestyle certainly did this to him, I feel badly for anyone who is sick. Not a fun road to travel.
But the extortion can now stop and that has to be a relief for him. I wouldn't have paid. What difference does it make if you had the virus, as of now his doctor claimed it was undetectable, but that doesn't mean he's free of this. Magic Johnson has lived a long and productive life with the virus so why pay off people to not tell on you? I know I wouldn't have if everyone close to me knew - go for it. I'm not paying someone because I may be unemployable and may need this money. But that, of course, is just me who doesn't have this. Who the hell knows.

Then there is the high DC threat from ISIS. Yipee. 
It's always an adventure living here and I am certain I would leave, however financially I can't yet.
So you pray that the threat is thwarted or better yet doesn't come to fruition. 
But for some reason it feels like the beginning of a huge war doesn't it? 
I'm war weary, but this feels different.
And I don't like it. 

Izzy here.

Hi Blogger People, Izzy here.

My parents drive me nuts. I'm a teenager now and I think I have the right to vent about them.
Oh sure, they love me but they don't let me do everything I want to do.  

I go to doggy day care on Saturday mornings. It drives me crazy that they do all this stuff before they take me.  Then they try to ignore me. But this week I would not be ignored!.

Dad left for work on Saturday and that always makes me sad. 
I watched mom do her hair and makeup and I thought for sure when she was done we were leaving. I laid on the bed patiently watching her do "her thing".  When she put down the products I got off the bed and ran downstairs certain she would follow. But did she pay attention to me? No. She was then doing a load of laundry. I went back upstairs to the laundry room and nudged her leg.  C'mon woman we have places to go, dogs to play with, c'mon, hurry it up!

She finally pats my head and we go down the stairs together.  YIPEE, we're finally leaving. 
But then she unloads the dishwasher? WHAT ARE YOU DOING WOMAN?
I sit at the dishwasher and stare at her, can't she hear me? I am telling her it's time to go!

I figured if she isn't getting it, I will make this obvious to this crazy mom of mine. I'll show her, I'll sit in front of the door. She'll figure it out. She sees me sitting here each time she walks by the kitchen to the sofa. But she just smiles at me.  Ooh, she is making me a bit angry now. She folded throws, puffed up pillows, straightened up the coffee table and continued to straighten things up, totally ignoring me. She sees me, I know she sees me sitting at this front door. 

FINALLY, she walks over to me, grabs her sunglasses and says, "Let's go for a walk Izzy."
A WALK?  I don't want a stinkin' walk, it is time for day care you crazy woman, have you forgotten?
Oh, why is Dad not home?

She opens the door and I run to the car. She laughs and says, an hour from now girl, c'mon let's walk. I don't want to walk. I sit down in front of the car. Oooh, she is not happy with me, but I don't want to walk damn it.  I want to go to daycare.  She says we're going to the pond. She knows I like it there but I'm not going to go. If I could stamp my feet I would.

She puts the leash on me now. Oooh I know she's mad now because I have to be on a leash.
She pulls so hard on my leash, but I fixed her, I did not move, I put my head down and the collar came right off my head.   I laughed inside. 

Now she is pissed. She walks in the house and leaves me sitting at the car door. 
A few minutes pass and she open the front door and yells at me to come in the house in her "Dad voice" I hate the Dad voice.
I go inside, but I'm not happy about this. Well, she can't make me do anything else. I am going to sit at this front door until she takes me. Not moving. nope, not one inch. I know it's Saturday and I am not moving until she takes me there.

She continues to do things in the kitchen. She was making spaghetti sauce. WHAT? 
I kept hearing the fridge door open and close. I am getting madder and madder by the minute. 
I thought I will go stare her down.  She closed the fridge door and there I was, she jumped and said," Oh Izzy it's not time yet."   I just kept staring.  I saw her pick up her phone. Go ahead crazy woman take a picture of me. I am not moving until we go, do you hear me?  I am staring a hole into you until we go! Stop laughing, this is serious mom!

(can't rotate this - it's right side up in my photos - can't figure this out on blogger...sorry)

After this picture was taken I still kept staring until I broke her.
She grabbed her keys and we went to the car. She just left everything all over the kitchen island and turned off the stove.  Who cares! We are on our way. 
She opens the door and I run to the car.
I know she was taking the long way, perhaps to annoy me. She said it was because they weren't open yet. I did not believe her. But finally we got there.  We had to sit and wait 5 minutes in front of doggy day care until they moved the sign to say OPEN. Was everyone against me today?
Mom took me out of the car to walk around and smell everything. There were other dogs there waiting too. So we all smelled each other and other things around the building.
FINALLY  they open. I didn't even look back. My favorite girl inside yelled, "Izzy!" she gave me a hug and took me in the back to play. I didn't even look at mom - that'll fix her for making me wait!

I had a ball. I came home at 5pm and ate like a horse and then fell asleep within mere seconds of eating. 
Ah, a good day. See mom? You didn't have to fight me so hard you know. 

Quarter of the way there....

Rick finished the vanity top for the master bath.
So that corner of the room is done.
As you can see in the reflection of the mirror - the opposite wall is still a frightening nightmare.
I really like it. He did a great job and his price was fair.....Okay, sexual favors but that was a small price to pay to get a new vanity top fabricated for practically nothing. :-)

A customer had this done in their kitchen and I loved it. Thankfully there was enough left over my for my bathroom. Love when that happens. 

This corner is all new and was finished a few weeks ago.
We then had to pick out the tile for the shower. Very simple or one would think. 
Man, tile is expensive. What I wanted and what I got are very different.
70sq foot of tile is amazingly expensive. I am only using tile in the shower. 
The first choice was over $2,800 for just the shower! (with rick's discount) 
Nope.  
Then Rick suggested beveled subway tile. 
Nope.
Then we went to Lowes and left the fancy tile shops.
I found something I really really like. It's more modern than what I normally go for, but I like it.
It's like subway tile only wavy. I know you're asking what the hell is wavy tile. 
Well, you'll have to wait and see.
But it was only $420.  Remember I have to have someone install this, not Rick this time, so that is an additional cost to that original 2,800. Which is why I couldn't do that.

This may even get finished this year. Hey a girl can dream.

I'm a hot mess.

The ER missed me.

I have always had blood pressure around 110/70. Sometimes lower.
Suddenly it has been on the high side. My doctor and I are watching this. I take it daily at home and some days good, some days off the chart.
The blood pressure machine sits on my kitchen island. 

When the hillbillies came to visit I put it away. That means out of sight out of mind for me.
Which means I haven't been taking it.

Monday I was feeling weird. I have been having these headaches that are unable to go away with aspirin or sleep. Monday they were so bad I was having a hard time all day just focusing on my job. After dinner I told Rick I wasn't feeling great. I thought I'd do some laundry and maybe just lie on the sofa for a bit and watch TV. But I really couldn't focus. It felt like my heart was pounding so hard and I felt it in my ears.  It was so damn weird.  

Monday night I awoke around midnight. I was feeling my heart beat through my chest. My head was pounding as well. I was having pain in my back shoulder area and I was nauseous as hell.
I got up and got dressed and went downstairs. I woke up Rick and Izzy and made Izzy go back to bed and told Rick I had insomnia and kissed him and they were both snoring before I left the room.

I got downstairs and took a Bayer aspirin. I chewed it (yeah, I like the taste, I know that is odd)
I sat on the sofa and actually remember a stupid song that a comedian sang to tell you about a heart attack. I poo-poo'd myself and turned on TV. I was having a hard time taking a deep breath.  I was nauseous as hell. My pain in my back was getting worse (around my shoulders) and I felt like my heart was coming through my chest. I was flipping channels when I thought my head was going to explode. Do I ignore this? Is this something or is this nothing?
Do I go to the ER yet again and embarrass myself? 

I played that back and forth game for a long time. It's nothing.  Screw my pride, go anyway.
No, you're a damn fool, they don't need to see you yet again and it's no big deal.
At 3am after hanging over the toilet I decided to go to the ER.  

I did not wish to wake up Rick so I looked in the mirror and tried to make my hair lie down. Screw it!
I grabbed my keys and quietly left my home and drove to the ER.
No one was in there. Weird. The security guard took me over to the kiosk to check in. 
Apparently I looked bad because he took my driver's license and looked at me and said, "I've got this for you ma'am."  Then the receptionist asked for my insurance card. I don't remember going in the back.
I do remember them taking my blood pressure it was 203/71.  
Yeah, not good.

When this happened they began hooking me up to stuff. I watch too much Greys Anatomy.
When my blood pressure came up they just looked at each other in "that" way. And without words everyone was running around. I asked what it was and no one was answering me. I turned to look at the machine and when I saw that I about flipped out. I was hooked up to an EKG immediately. Blood was taken.They were asking me rapid-fire questions. They did a CT scan of my head. WHAT?  I kept saying nothing is wrong with my head. They gave me something through an IV for nausea.  I was happy when that hit.

Everything was normal. So I was embarrassed. I still felt like shit but was sent home and told  to monitor my blood pressure. Oh I shouldn't have gone. Egg on face.

I got home at 5a. I went to the sofa and wrapped up in my throw. 2 minutes later Rick and Izzy came down stairs.  None the wiser. I took a shower and got ready for my day. Rick told me I looked awful how was I feeling? I told him I went to the ER and I am embarrassed that I panicked and did that.  When I told him about my blood pressure he went nuts. He didn't agree with me that that I shouldn't have gone and he was angry that I went alone. 

I called my doctor and they can get me in next week. Yipee. 
Rick suggested I call a cardiologist. I told him I would. He knows what that means.

Then later yesterday I got to thinking that perhaps the new supplements I have to take for my adrenal fatigue are causing this. So I didn't take them the rest of the day. This morning I woke up without a headache. First time in months. I took my blood pressure - 121/71. 
Now that's better. So it was just the damn supplements that are supposed to help me yet they felt like they were giving me a heart attack. While that is just my guess I think I may be on to something.

I did not take them today. We'll see how this goes.
I am so friggin' embarrassed that I rushed to the ER.  That was so stupid of me.
But if it had been Rick I would have made him go. But still....