Hey Everyone... so you haven't heard from me in a while... well you are right, but I have been soooooo tired.

Michael and Linda got here on Saturday, and we had a ball. They are great! We went out every night for dinner, and George and I gained like 3 pounds.... But it was worth it. We were suffering from sleep deprivation by the time Thursday got here, but it was well worth it. We really look forward to them coming down every year, and next year we have a bonus because we are going up there in July.

Tree went up, and every year I say it is the prettiest, but I think this year is especially true. I is over 8 feet tall, and decorated perfectly. I will post pictures of it soon.

We went to the Alzheimers Resource Center fund raiser on Thursday, and it was very nice. I figured out how to run the bids up. Especially when you are dealing with certain personalities. Actually, I learned it from recognizing my own behavior. I wanted a paticular wreath, so I bid on it, and then others bid after me. I started looking at how people were hanging around different wreaths (myself included) and then how they would watch every single person who went by that wreath, or how they would react when they saw someone bid over them. So... I got to thinking... I walked around, and when ever I saw someone standing by a wreath, expecially if it didn't have any bids, if I liked the wreath, I would say excuse me, and put a bid down. Then walk away. Almost every single time, the person would wait till I walked away, and then bid over me. I kept doing this until I bid on a wreath that now one bid on after me. I figure, I was able to add 15 or 20 dollars to the overall income, just on my own... and it was fun. It is like playing with people... but for a good cause.

Last night Elke went to the vet. Dr. Summerlin loves her. And you have to see Elke, she is like the anti-Elke. She is sweet, and affectionate. She doesn't complain or get angry. It is really a pleasure! I can't imagine what is going through her head.

Tonight is Whole Foods, then tomorrow is the gift exchange here.

Spoke to Al Gross last night, and he and Linda are coming over for dinner on the 21st. At first I was going to make a Pot Roast in the crock pot, but decided that I would make chicken instead. There are two reasons for this. 1, not everyone likes to eat red meat, and two, it will be cheaper and just as good to make the chicken. I am making 40 clove of garlic Chicken.... How does that sound? It is good. I have made it before, and you make it with heavy cream for the gravy, so it is a really rich sauce. (Yea, I know... Red Meat/Heavy Cream... Red Meat/Heavy Cream, it is organic heavy cream.. OK!) I am making broccoli, carrots, and mashed potatoes. For George and I, I will make a Tofurkey Turkey. It is smaller than the Unturkey, so hopefully I will be able to save it for left overs and sandwhiches.

Thursday meeting with Nationwide to look into disability and unemployment insurance for our mortgage, and Friday, going out to dinner and then driving around to look at lights. Saturday is the APWU Christmas party.

I will get out in the courtyard this weekend... This I promise myself.

Well, gotta go...

The Concert was great!!!

Well we went to the concert last night and it was great. The picture of Judy Collins is because, I tried to add it with the picture of the Smothers Brothers yesterday, and I think the both of them were too big, so no to slight Judy Collins, because she was great... I am adding it today.

George said he has never seen me laugh so much. I was laughing non stop. It was fabulous!!! I just love the Smothers Brothers, and I have to tell you, George and I have watched some of their variety shows on the internet, and they were good, but not as good as last night. So... maybe what they said about the sensors on the show was right. Or, maybe the humor was more geared to what we laught at today, as opposed to 35 or 40 years ago... but I have to tell you the truth... I don't think so.

I was telling George on the way home... there was nothing even slightly off color in their perfomance... and there was very little blatantly liberal in their humor. There was some liberal humor, but then they made a joke about Clinton too.

Either way, it was great, and I would go again tomorrow.

You wan to know something else funny? We went to Olive Garden before the concert. Only because we had a $10.00 gift certificate. Not because we love Olive Garden. Well, it was the one in West Melbourne, and sitting at the table across from us was an old couple. Now, the Olive Garden was about a 20-30 minute drive from the King Center. When we got to the King Center we saw the couple that was in the Olive Garden. Then when we went to our seats, the same couple was sitting about 4 seats down from us. Isn't that a hoot. We didn't talk to them. Funny thing about them, and alot of the people in the theater last night... they had NO sense of humor. Very strange thing. Maybe it was all the drugs they did in their "younger days" to quote two words from a Judy Collins song... (ha ha!)

Another thing I pointed out to George. Almost all of the women in the audience (ranging in age from my age to probably 80) did not color their hair. They were anywhere from completely gray or sprinkled with gray. I don't know why I mention that, other than, I guess I have to justify not coloring my hair anymore, since a number of people have mentioned it to me.

Well better go. Have to eat breakfast, and get ready to buy our tree, and run our errands. More tomorrow!!

We are going to Melbourne tonight!!

First of all Thanksgiving was nice. The food was good, the Turkey was OK. The stuffing and Gravy were great. And the deserts... well, they were out of this world. The Coconut Cake was the best I have tasted in a long time. The Pumpkin Cake Roll, was delicious, and the pies once again did not dissapoint me. The cookine were good also. We invited Wayne over for desert (My Pet's Friend) and sent him home with one of the Pumpkin Pies. He also told me how delicious it was.

Spoke to my Mom, she said she may come down here next year for Thanksgiving... Shocker of all shockers. I told her she didn't have to wait till next year.

Had a nice visit with Melissa. It is always fun when Melissa comes over.

Tonight we are going to see Judy Collins and the Smothers Brothers in Melbourne. I am really excited, and I think it will be a ball. Before we go to the concert, we are going to Olive Garden for "UNLIMITED" Salad and Bread Sticks.

Tomorrow we are off (YIPEE!!!) and we are going to buy our tree and plant the window boxes with Pointsettia's. Saturday, Michael (George's cousin from NY) and Linda (his wife) are coming in, and will be staying with us for a week.

Sounds like lots of stuff going on, and fun stuff too!

We have our reservations for NY in July, we made our reservations for camping in March and again in May. We might even think about going on a cruise in February... What the heck...

Well better go. Getting off at 3:00 today.

It is almost Thanksgiving....

Is everyone almost ready for Thanksgiving?

We are having dinner at home, having an Un-Turkey, and lots of vegatables, and lots of desert.
I should be baking tonight, but... I am not. I am cleaning the bathroom, and if I have time I will bake. I would also like to vacuum, but not sure I will have time...

We are having our friend Melissa over, and also Tony and John for desert. We invited Doug Head, but I am guessing he is out of town this year.

Todays picture is of Putzen in her house. She likes her house, she likes to go in there when it is cool, and we are in the dining room. At Christmas time I put lights on the house, and it looks really cute.

Michael and Linda come next weekend, we have our concert next weekend (Smothers Brothers and Judy Collins) and .... last but not least. We set up our Christmas Tree on the 1st also.

I will let you know how all this turns out. I will try to post before Thanksgiving also.

Well better go, have to get back to work.

I don't know about anyone else, but this new beta version of Blogger is a pain in the @#%. I have been trying for two days now to switch, and first it tells me it doesn't recognize my password, then it tells me I already have an account and to try signing in, then it tells me that it doesn't recognize my password. I have to be honest... I don't care about the new version... no matter how "simple" it is. If it is as simple as trying to log in, then they can have it....

This weekend we are maybe going to "For your Consideration" We aren't sure if it has been released to theaters yet, but we are going to give it a try. I know they had the premier, just don't know if it has been distributed yet.

I am having a hard time with my diet this time around. Don't know what to eat, and just want to eat all the time. Last night I was about to go mad... I couldn't stop looking for something to eat, so I ate everything I saw. I had Starburst, Laffy Taffy, Chocalate (and it was sooooo good!!!), then I ate the last of the salsa, and the stale Tostidos. Now this was after dinner.

And, I forgot to add that I gained 3.5 pounds last week. I am just hungry all the time, and can't get my mind off eatting. Part of the reason is because I am sooooo bored. I need to find something to do. Work is sooooooooo booooringggggg. I don't know how much I can take of this place anymore. It isn't the work so much (believe me it isn't rocket science, in fact Lego's would be more challenging... ), but the people around me. I have absolutely NOTHING in common with any of them. If I have to listen to anymore gospel music, I am going to scream. I have a thing about that anyway, so it is really making me climb the walls right now.

This weekend, we have to get upstairs and clean it up. Empty boxes, not empty them into another box. I mean EMPTY boxes, file and what ever else will make that place look like we aren't pack rats.... not that we are trying to look like something we aren't :)

Well let me go, have a conference call, so they can tell us that we don't have fixes for any of the problems we have... Oh god, how many more years till I can get a pension...?

Well, I am back... let's see, what has been new...

Well our trip to NY is tentatively scheduled for June 29th through July 7th. Starting in NY and ending in NJ.

I found airfare around $200 each, which isn't bad. I will be booking it next week, with Delta. Then we will worry about the car.

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday. He would have been 76 years old. I miss my Dad, alot, and everyone tells me that will never change. It shouldn't. I just wish I could have done more for him.

Mom is probably going to NY in January with her "other daughter". I offered to have her come with us, but I think she would rather go with the other one. I do have to get up there next month or in February. So far everything seems to be working out with Edward Jones.

We will probably be going on a cruise next year. Not sure when, maybe January, or February. I need to get the tickets out of the way for trip to NY, then I will be able to figure better.

Carol and Richie went camping this past weekend out at Wekiwa State Park. Tony, Larry and Larry's friend Chad went along. It was really very nice, however, I have to admit, it felt good to go home to our house and kids and bed. I am so tired lately. The thought of having to set up a camp and take it down 3 days later is too much for me to think about right now. But... that being said, I can see myself going camping at Wekiwa another time. One thing bothered me... there was too much stuff. Everything was great, but I looked around and saw stuff all over the place and all I could think was, who is going to pack all this up. It wore me out thinking about it.

Well, hopefully, I will have more pictures to post. I got some cute ones of Putzen in her house.

Well better go.. have lots of orders to do...

I haven't been very faithful to my blog lately... Oh well, things are rather quiet lately, that could be why.

Wanted to drop in before I got on my way with the vacuuming today.

We got our Christmas Cards yesterday.. They are pretty neat, I am glad I got the ones from Miles Kimball.

We fired up the Chiminea last night, and it was pretty nice. Actually, probably better than a fireplace. Alot cheaper, not as much to clean, doesn't take up a BIG spot in the living room. Only draw back over a regular fire place is that it is outside. But really, what difference does it make.

Going to do some Shish Ka Bob tonight. Also going to sit down when I am finished vacuuming, and enjoy a glass of Sangria. Lee brought it over when we had everyone here. Figured, what the hell for a change.

Went to Michaels for a afghan crochet hook this afternoon. You would not believe one of the girls behind the counter. She had these earring on that apparently are for stretching the hole in her ear. OH MY GOD... it was disgusting. She had these big deformed looking ear lobes, with big black buttons in the holes. How gross does that look? What is wrong with these kids? Is she going to want those things for the rest of her life? It must be horrible looking when she takes the earrings out. It is pretty horrible with the earrings in. What are these kids thinking...?

Well better get up and start vacuuming.... I am falling asleep sitting her typing.

Hello!!!

Well, here we are at almost the same place we were last post. Only this time I have the whole day) almost, ahead of me. Let's see if I can make more of this day, than last Sunday...

Ok, weekend started off with sign waving for the Natural Lands Referendum. Then we went to Donato's for dinner. It was ok, not a gourmet meal by any stretch, but cheap and fast and we could get home.

Yesterday we made a badly needed trip to Costco, then Pet Supermarket and then Whole Foods. The we came home, had a sandwich, and went to Tony's for a Halloween Party. Let's see, who was there... Tony, John, Carol, Richie, Mike, Melissa, Diane, Laurie, Steve and Dawn. It was really very nice.

This is a picture of Carol and Richie.. Carol is a Yellow Dog Democrat and together they are a "Devil Dog". Cute huh? George and I didn't dress up. I don't dress up for Halloween Parties. I know I should, but... oh well.

Tony was a Friar, or Monk. Mike was a Florida Republican. He had on a flannel shirt, jeans, a mullett wig, and bad teeth. And the funniest thing was that John came home from work in his scrubs, so any body that didn't know, thought he was dressed up, but actually, he was dressed from work... He is an MRI tech.

We had a nice time, and I had 4 beers....! Can you believe that... I haven't had that much to drink in a long time. Well, maybe I have had 2 or 3 glasses of wine... but actually, this was much better.

George is back involved with the Seminole Soil and Water Conservation Committee. I am not particularly thrilled about it, but he is happy, so what can I do... I don't mind him being involved, just don't trust Michelle. She is manipulative. Works for her, but not for me. Oh well...I have to let this go.

Cold/Cool day today. What a great night for the Chiminea. Actually, Carol invited us over to her house tonight, but I think it would be good if everyone came over here instead and we could fire up the Chiminea. But I have to get the house clean first.

Well, bettter go, and get productive. That may start with cooking breakfast.

Another Weekend bites the dust...

Well, another weekend bites the dust.... But had to add a picture to keep this interesting....

Went out for Mexican, Friday night..., had a Margerita, and it hit the spot after a long miserable week.

After weigh in (and my weight stayed the same... but still have to lose 7 pounds) we helped Richie walk his (and our) precinct Saturday morning. Then spent the day at Carol and Richies house, had dinner and watched the first game of the World Series between the Cardinals and the Tigers.

This morning, was going to get lots of stuff done... but.. got nothing... see that nothing, zero, zilch, nada, null. Well that isn't entirely true. I changed the linen on the bed, did a load of dishes, paid bills, changed the filter in the Brita pitcher, and watered the plants in the courtyard. I also cut the thread for my shoulder bag I just made, now I have to braid it and sew it to the bag itself. Tomorrow I am going to JoAnn's and pick up some worsted weight wool, to make a wrap for myself. Not entirely wasted. But no where near where what I need to get done.

So I decided to not beat myself up, and just live with it. So, I took the hem out of a pair of pants, took the upholstery off a foot stool I use at work, will put the new fabric on this week or weekend, after I get some sort of foam, and staples for my staple gun.

Now I am going to do some laundry, and get me something to drink and watch some TV.

And then it is back to the grind stone... bright and early, 7:00 am, sharp... tot'in that bale...

Last Weekend

Last weekend we went my girlfriends wedding. Audrey Depaolo, well now she is Audrey Schnurr. She got married on the Carnival Cruise Ship Glory, and then they went on a cruise/honeymoon for 7 days.

It was very nice, and we had a nice time. In fact George has almost agreed to try out a cruise. A short one to start. I would be willing to give it a try, as long as the accomodations are nice.

This week has been pretty uneventful. It was getting comfertably cool here for a few days. In fact last Sunday I turned the air off and had all the windows and doors open. That should help next months electric bill alittle.

Other than that, nothing new. I have been in a pissy mood lately, for various reasons... I think it was justified.

Well.... anyway... that is a picture of George and I at the wedding. Kevin's father in law (Whitey) took it.

Better go.,.

My little girl.....

You remember the pictures of GI Joe Frog....? Well he was in the window boxes on my front porch. I had gone out the front door to take a picture of him, and when I turned around to walk back inside, this is what I saw... So of course I had to snap it, to save this minute and image forever...

My little girl.... she watches my every move, and anticpates my next one. I had to share this picture, because she is just sooooo precious.

Haven't posted anything in a while. Not that nothing is going on, just maybe that alot is going on, and I have not time to post. But I am going to try and change that. I also want to add some video if I can.... George will have to help me with that...

Until then, or next time, which ever comes first.... you will have to enjoy my little girl.

Sorry about not having the recipes yesterday... (yea, like anybody really was waiting for them...ha,ha)

I found this game on the internet, and I don't usually fall for these things, but, this one is pretty neat. It is called Virtual Villagers. Pretty neat. So, I was consumed yesterday. Even got up last night and checked on them. I get obsessed with these things, I have to admit.

I used to go to a website called Neopets. It was kind of neat, but it got old. I also have Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, and was obsessed with that too for a while, but had some trouble building some of the roller coasters, so lost interest.

I did have time to run the vacuum, clean the master bath, which needed it desparately, and change the linen on the bed. God can you imagine if I had kids, I would never get anything done. But... then again, I wouldn't be working for 30 years straight, with out a break, sometimes 2 or 3 jobs at a time. I am not whining, except that I am tired, as I have discussed in a previous post.

The weather is starting to break, and we are having cooler mornings and cooler evenings. So much so that we are leaving the door open to the screen porch in the AM and the PM, if it cools off soon enough. It sure is nice. I have to keep asking myself why I picked such a hot climate to move to, and the only thing is because it was cheaper. It isn't that way anymore though. It has gotten pretty costly for housing down here. But we made it into our place just in time, and have a fair amount of equity in it already because of the spike in the housing market 12 to 18 months ago.

Well better go, need to make an MRI appointment for myself.

Visitor

I went out to my window boxes last weekend and found a visitor.. so of course named him.. GI Joe Frog. I named him that because he is (or was because he isn't in the planter anymore, he moved on to new digs) camouflaged colored. And it changed, because he spent 2 days with us here on Oxen Hill Loop before he moved on, and his coloring changed subtly.

Of course I ran upstairs and looked what kind of frog or toad he was, at this web site. I believe he is a frog and I think he is a bull frog. He was pretty big. Although not as big as the bull frogs (or I believe they were bull frogs, the poor things) we dissected in high school. Either way he is hiding here under one of my Pentas, which by the way are not doing that well.... He didn't dig down into the dirt like a toad would have. He did pull himself in under the leaves though.

I would check on him throughout the day if I were home, and first thing in the morning and when I got home from work. I found him on a Sunday night, and he was gone when I got home Tuesday night from work. You could see where he got up on the railing the planters are hanging on, and took that first step, which was a doozy. Didn't see him anywhere around, so who knows where he went, or if he will be back. I hope so. He seemed like a pretty nice fellow.

That is about it, have alot of stuff to catch up on here, and will be in the process of doing that over the next couple of days.

Last weekend was our little get together with 10 of our friends. Only 7 actually made it here, but we had 2 extras come, so it all worked out. Food seemed pretty good, and I will post some recipes that I promised tomorrow.

Today, we at taking Mathie and Wesley for a ride in the car. Wish we could take them out to run around some place. Oh well who know's what we will find...

Ate breakfast at IHOP this morning. I had two eggs over easy, double order of hash browns and a side (and it was some side!) of French toast with banana's, caramel sauce and topped with whipped cream.... I don't think I will have to eat for the rest of the day!!

Ok, I am behind on my posts, about the things that I have been doing... Oh boy, we had company from Germany, we went camping... So here goes... the dinner...

I made Chilli, hot dogs, cole slaw, potato salad, cumcumber salad, Chocalate Roulade (chocalate cream roll), Bavarian Apple Cheese Cake, and Tropical Fruit Cream Pie (Mangos, Kiwi, Strawberries)

Well, we had a great time... the food turned out great, and I promise I will post the recipes for the deserts later. The Chilli was good, but could have been better, it was alittle dry. The salads were great... It was Julia Childs's American Potato Salad Recipe. My Aunt Betty's Cole Slaw Recipe. The Cumber's were my recipe I found somewhere along the way...

So, our guests were Evlin, Elin, Peter and Heinrich. Evlin and Peter, were the adults, and Elin and Heinrich were teenagers. They love the animals and the animals except Mathie, were all very happy with their company. Mathie is a worry wart, and she can't relax when there are people around that she doesn't know... Especially 4 at one time!!!

George loved the kids. They really were an absolute pleasure to be around. The polite. Joined in the conversation. It was an amazing contrast to the majority of the kids over here.

And they brought all these gifts with them, they brought 4 tee shirts from the German Soccer team from the World Cup, and Hat, then tons of chocalate, and Gummi Candy, glasses, and beer mugs...

And the most terrific thing out of the whole day was, George said that he would go to Germany maybe next year... Evlin and Peter asked him if he would come to Germany, and he said yes!!!

So, maybe next year, instead of a blog entry collection from Philly, there will be a blog entry from Germany!!!!

Wish I had a job where I could do something rewarding...

I have to admit, my paycheck is about the most rewarding thing about this job... and believe me, it is ok, but not obsene by any stretch of the imagination.

I find myself sitting at my desk, looking out the window... (yes I have a window), thinking about all the things I could be doing that are productive. Sewing, gardening, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the animals. Riding my bicycle to the store to pick things up (groceries and sundries). But instead I sit here typing orders, answering questions, getting yelled at by various individuals for things I have no control over.... etc., etc.

I have been working since I was 18 years old. That is 30 years... you do the math... I am not an old lady, by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel like if I keep doing this for very long I will be old.

I think I come into the office every morning, and sit behind this desk and obsess for about 15-20 minutes, about how much I wish I didn't have to come here....

Now mind you, there are those that would say... "Consider yourself lucky to have a job...", the first one being my employer, not to imply that I am not a good employee. And, to them I have to say, "I do consider myself lucky..." but I would like to be happy and lucky at the same time.

Like for instance the person who was in a bad car accident, that survived, albeit banged up pretty bad... they are lucky, right? But, let's face it, they could be happier, especially if they are holed up in a hospital room with people they have absolutely nothing in common with, except that they are all in the hospital....

So.. that brings me to another thing... we have this committee, called the EAS committee... EAS stands for Employee Attitude Survey.... It evolved from a survey that was taken a few years back where the company found that there was a serious attitude problem in our office. So they formed this committee, (which I was a part of the inaugural committee), and did some research and found that there were policies that needed some tweaking, etc. Well, when the committee and management, came to some comprimises, there was nothing left to do, it was decided we should do things to lift moral. Well, that is when my philosophy and the philosophy of my peers in the office part ways.... I don't need to do activities in the office. I need to do my job, which is making my customers happy, meet my quoatas, and get the heck out of Dodge everyday at 5:00. But instead the EAS committee the following years started doing things like raising funds for a yearly Holiday Party, contests, cookouts. Well, I don't go to the Holiday Party... LIke I said, I have nothing in common with these people, why would I want to spend a Saturday night, eatting some sort or plastic Pasta Primavera (I am vegetarian), listen to some lame DJ or sorry excuse of a band. But, I am expected to get involved in the fund raising for something I don't have any desire to be a part of. So when they have a garage sale/silent auction, I am EXPECTED to bring something in to put on the table to sell, or if I have nothing at home, I am expected to bake something and put it on the table to sell.

Now tell me if that wouldn't piss you off. When I leave here at 5:00, it is bad enough I have to think about going to bed at a reasonable time, to get up to be here. I leave here on Friday night and I don't want to think about this place till I get back on Monday. I don't want to go home and bake something to bring here. I want to go home and do the things I wish I could be doing when I am sitting at my desk.

Is there something wrong with that...?

And.... the last day in Philly

Ok, Friday in Philly... I went to the Eastern State Penitentiary. This is an old prison, one of the oldest in the United States. Actually THE oldest Penitentiary in the United States.... Here's a link to the site for it....CLICK .

It was very interesting... Was actually created in the early 1800's. By the Quakers, the fundamental behind it was Quaker actually... that is where the word penitentiary comes from, serving "penance".

It is in the middle of a city, was open until the mid to late 1900's. And, when it was closed it was considered to be a wretched place. Actually it makes me kind of sad. It was put out there as a positive fix for a penal system that was non-existent. And it seemed to me that instead of trying to improve on the concept, the concept was exploited. Can't explain it right now (pressed for time), but it just seems that things were always the same, just in a lesser degree, somewhat.

It seems we have always been a throw away society. We either are throwing away things, or people. Or... maybe I am a hopeless optimist, idealist, romantic.

Anyway... I took some pictures, and you can probably see more on the website linked about, but here are mine.

Just some info... Al Capones cell. It is believed that at times it wasn't even locked. Also, there is a picture of what the cells looked like when the prison was first built, a cross section of the prison cell lay out with the individual excercise yard. And, last but not least, the statues of the cats (white), that are a memorial to the cats that inhabited the Prison after they closed it down. That is a neat story also...

I would recommend this attraction to anyone who goes to Philadelphia. It is in walking distancee of the downtown area, it is not expensive, and it is very interesting....

Ok, can't upload pictures again!!!

I will try when I get home... sorry! OK, as a side note... I could only upload 2 pictures... to this post. Sorry.. go to the website and you will see more...

Quick Post about Thursday in Philadelphia

Ok, real quick post....

Just some fill in info right now... Rod Smith lost the primary...what a shame... but we will probably lose the election in November, no matter who was elected in the primary.

Dinner on Saturday was a success.... Chili was alittle dry, but it was ok, and the desserts were a big hit... I will post the recipes for the desserts later this week.

Thursday in Philadelphia... Well that was really a disappointment. Decided to go to the Germantown Historical Society. First German settlement/community in the United States... Well, the unfortunate part is that I had to walk about 5 block, through not the best area... now mind you it wasn't a slum, but it wasn't great, and I was by myself, going someplace I was not familiar with. I took the train there, grafiti on the walls at the train station, had to walk through a pretty deserted commercial area. As I was walking, I was getting more and more uneasy, so I decided to turn around. Got back to the train station, and tried to go to the ticket office, and a girl looked at me through the window on the door, and said, we are closed, and disappeared. Needless to say I was still uneasy. I think the main reason was because, no one knew where I was, so if anything happened, there was no way to know where it happened to me, where I was, ... Just not a good situation.

So, disappointed I went back to the hotel and waited for George to get out of the convention.

You know you hear about people getting racially profiled all the time. But how often do you hear about a person who is afraid of being racially profiled. You know what I mean? Let's think about this, here I am, dependent on public transportation, by myself... all I want to do is go to a historic area, actually an historic settlement that could be part of my heritage, and I am reluctant to do so, for fear that someone will take offense. That they will have a problem with me walking throught their neighborhood. Like I said, had I been with someone, I wouldn't have felt so vulnerable.

You know I never felt this way before... There is something wrong, things are not what they should be, and I believe they are getting worse. I believe there is a problem out there, that I can't fix, because what is causing that problem is bigger than me, but I and others are the victims of this problem.

It is a very scary time in the United States... Things are not good, and people are being made to feel vulnerable. I think this is part of the huge divide that is happening in society. The huge divide of haves and have nots. What is happening is that the people in the latter category, right now anyway, are totally divided. I believe that before we hit the "revolt" stage of the have nots, there will be a kind of civil war at the bottom. I know who is going to win that war... it won't be people like me, I know that. I am not be part of the have's, in fact alot of people are not going to be part of the haves.... alot of people who think they are already there.

I bet that sounds like a bunch of nonsense... Maybe it is... but I don't think so. I just notice things happening around me in the last few years. What I notice has been slow and gradual, and it is effecting my gut feelings. Like I said a few posts back, I have never been so angry about this kind of stuff. I have been sad about it, but not angry.

Now, what do I do about it.... I am not going to change the world. Too late for that... so what do I do about it....?

A little Seminole DEC nonsense....

Well yesterday Carol Cox (Chairwoman of the Seminole DEC) pulled more crap, as would be expected from her...

We have a primary tomorrow in the state of Florida. I am supporting Rod Smith, and Carol Cox, (and I would say Ed, except....he can't vote...) is supporting Jim Davis. They are both Democrats.

However Carol, as unethical as she is, in my opininon (I had to add that because it apparently clears me of any wrong doing... according to Carol Cox anyway...) sent a letter out to people all over the state, with her endorsement of Jim Davis..and added her position as Chairman of the Seminole County DEC. That is really not ethical. A DEC, or any of the people on the board are not supposed to use their position to endorse one Democrat over another in a primary. Now mind you, it isn't written anywhere, but most points of ethics are not laws or rules. That is what makes it ethical or non ethical, versus legal or illegal.

First of all, she used e-mail addresses she obtained commercially from her business, Dems Link, to personally endorse a candidate, using her position of Chair of a State of Florida Democratic Organization, to qualify that endorsement.

And.... She also included pictures and video taken at an event, organized by one of the Precinct Commiteewomen, that was not meant as a "campaign" event for either of the two candidates, but instead to organize this paticular precinct.

What were the pictures of you ask...? Well they were of Carol Cox of course... she is always sending around pictures of herself. See, she really loves herself (good thing, because most people don't like her at all, and the list is growing....).

Oh, yes and the other subject of those pictures was Jim Davis... NOW you ask yourself, how would Jim Davis get to a precinct organization meeting. We know how Carol Cox got there... she was invited. She was invited because the Precinct Committeewoman wanted to get the Democrats in her precinct to become active in the Seminole County Democratic Executive Committee, and Carol Cox is the Chairwoman of the Seminole County Executive Committee. It make sense that she would be there. But how in the world did Jim Davis find the meeting....? He wasn't invited!!!

I believe there are over 5,000 precincts in the State of Florida. How would he happen to find a meeting in this paticular one, that Carol Cox happened to be at with Ed, and Ed just so happened have his camera AND video camera, and... Carol happened to have on a cute little pink suit. WHAT KIND OF A COINCEDENCE IS THAT....!!!!!???!!!!

Are you begining to smell a rat!?! Now, who is the head Rat...? Carol Cox, or Jim Davis!!!!???!!! Well my guess is it is Carol Cox, since how else would Jim Davis known that there was a meeting there?

So you see? It is people like Carol Cox that gives politics a bad name. The fact that she is supporting Jim Davis is enough of a reason for me not to support him. I have other reasons. I decided on Rod Smith long before I knew who Carol was supporting... Probably long before Carol knew who she was supporting.

Isn't it sad that politics is constantly being brought down to such unethical levels, when it could be used to help. That is why I am Democrat. And it is because of people like Carol Cox, and the people she surronds herself with, that I just can't be involved locally in Seminole County anymore. She does not represent me.

Never got to Tuesday night or Wedneday

Sorry about the editorial the other day... Just in one of those moods.

But, in my "moment", I left out Tuesday night and Wednesday...

We went to a Phillies/Mets game... Phillies won. George says there there is nothing as pretty as a baseball field... and think he is right. It was awful pretty... The Mascot was pretty good too. I forget his name, but he came up in the stands by us...

We took the subway to the stadium, and it was pretty neat. The subway comes out about 2 blocks from the subway entrance. Let me tell you, I am not a BIG fan of subways, but it was OK to travel on one with George.... I am a girl from the burbs, and never have been, probably never will be a city girl.

Wednesday I went to Rittenhouse Square/Shopping District. (the picture on top is a residential street in the Rittenhouse District of Philadelphia) I started down that way to find Antique Row. I found it, but didn't really find anything I was dying to have, so moved on to the regular shopping district. Found Barnes and Noble, and a Kitchen store. I bought a book for Audrey and Al, and a vegetarian cook book, and 4 Rooster mugs. That has sort of become my theme in my house because of the "Oviedo Chickens". Then last week while shopping, and walking through JC Penney's, we found that they have a whole set of dishs. Actually it is a service for 4, dinner plate, dessert plate, mug, and soup bowl. So we got them.

Also almost got some pictures of the Mets coming out of their hotel in Philadelphia, on their way to the stadium for the game that night. The were staying at the Westin... Man, they sure don't slum it do they?

Ok, lets see I think we are up to Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday I got up and after having breakfast with George we went to the caucus (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina). Then I went for a walk up past Logan Circle, over to the Free Library, back to the Book Store for the free library, then to Whole Foods, and on back to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You know the one that Rocky ran up the stairs too. Walked around the library, and realized that this was the beginning of Fairmount Park. Now there are things to see in Fairmount Park, but it is an enormous park, and would have taken days, and probably a car and or a bicycle to really explore, but I did my share. Found a statue of General Von Steuben, and then some Canadian Geese and Boat House Row, and a little damn, and the black stuff you see sitting on the damn are Canadian Geese sitting on the edge of the damn. They also had a museum there to teach kids what a precious resource our water is, and that tap water, although may seem like an endless commodity, it isn't.

But you know what....? I have to throw in some editorial here. Honestly, unless the children are raised with the correct values, and that is a conservative (not politically I might add, but lifestyle), you can bring kids, and I am talking about all children, inner city, upper and middle class, and extremely well off to these attractions and it means nothing.

First of all, the bad is all around them, it is common place and "normal", so it isn't bad to them. Smelly water, mean people, mean animals, apathy, concrete, homelessness, fast food all the things I find very, very sad, and dis-heartening is just part of their very existance. A day with the Boys and Girls Club, or even a summer vacation with a few college kids earning some college credit in an intern program, is never going to make a difference to change things. What will make a difference is a longing and yearning to make a change in the world. By a whole lot of people, parents, Aunts and Uncles, neighbors, etc. So that it becomes a way of life, instead of the other I listed earlier. An example has to be set by alot of people. Not some activists, or some self serving teen agers trying to get something for a resume', so that they can get out of their graduate program and get a starting salary of at least $50,000.00 a year.

And you know what... that just aint happening out there. Oh there are some people like that out there, but they are like a grain of sand in the sahara. And the other powers, are getting louder and stronger. I have said it before.... It is all over. I wish it were different. I wish I could make a differece with activism. But I can't, and I won't. I have tried. George and I have worn ourselves out for years. Together and alone, and honestly I don't think there is one person out there that I have influenced enough to care. I may have enlightened them for a day or a month at best, so they they became outraged, but then they went back to Walmart of bought that Escalade, and it was obvious to me that they totally missed the point.

And what got me started on this... well bunches of things, but one thing that just brought my heart down low was this very day. Tuesday, after seeing the statue of General Von Steuben, I walked across the park to where there was a flock of Canadian Geese sitting in the sun, pecking at the grass, just relaxing. Not bothering anyone, and, as would be expected it made me smile. It made me smile because inside I felt warm and happy looking at these wild animals at peace in an urban setting, albeit a city park, but they were happy and content, and that makes me happy deep down inside, and that makes a smile come to my face. But... it was short lived and replaced with a just as deep an anger, that it made me first sad, then angry to the point of wanting to hurt someone, and then sad because I was helpless. Apparently a group similar to a Boys and Girls club had spent the day a this park, and they were gathering up the little urchins to bring them back to their "cribs". When one of them saw the geese, and had to run or waddle his fat little self (can you tell I am still angry?) over to them yelling and flaling his arms in the air. Behind him were some girls, his age, obviously in his group, telling him to stop, but as they were telling him to stop, they were joing him and doing the same thing.

I just didn't get it. Why would they want to do that, why would they want to disturb the peace and well being of the geese? What was the purpose...? I mean let's break this down, they are being taken out of their element... They are being taken to a "world" that is supposed to be a contrast to what they are used to. Why are they being taken there, well I would gather a guess to show them something different, and teach them an appreciation of it, and hope that they could then bring some of that back with them to start to change their own world. But instead, they are bringing their own world into this one. I didn't see any adult supervision, so I started to go toward them to stop them, and tell them to stop. But I realized that they wouldn't listen to me, so I thought, maybe if they see me taking a picture, they would stop and have some respect... Oh yea right.. respect is about as foreign to them as the geese, or the swiss alps. That is when I found myself getting angry, and I have to tell you, it was not something I felt comfertable with. Then I heard the "adult" in the group, and it was a girl, a teen age girl, obviously of a different cultural class and "status" then these kids, who was calling them back. If she had put the effort into going after them, I could say that she was hearding them back to where they were before they made the affront on the geese. There was no explanation of what he was doing. No discussion. She totally ignored me. She wasn't calling him back because she didn't approve of what he and the girls were doing. She was calling him back because he wasn't where she wanted him to be, and or perhaps, this deviation of him with the geese was prolonging her time on the "job" and she just wanted it to be over.

That is when I became sad. I too just wanted to get away from there. It was just another sign of what I believe to be the beginning of the end for any kind of chance of any kind of civilized reformation. There isn't a chance to turn things around anymore. I truly believe that it is now each man for himself, to a certain extent. I hate that as much as I hate is bring us to that point.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND!!!

It is Labor Day Weekend... 3 days off from work... how good is that!!!!!?????!!!!!

We are also having company this weekend... I love entertaining... Like I said before, I always get scared that what I am preparing will not turn out.

So here is Sunday's menu!

Hotdogs, (vegetarian and non-vegetarian)

Now let's talk about the hot dogs... When I ate meat, I would buy Hillshire Farms hot dogs. They were great, very under rated compared to Sabrett's and Hebrew National. They were in natural casings, 100% beef, and not too garlicy. Well, Sara Lee bought out Hillshire farm, (who I believe was owned by Kahn Meats), and you can't find them anymore. So I bought some others at Whole Foods. They are 100% beef, no antibiotics or hormones used in the cattle, no nitrates in the processing of the dogs. Natural casing. They sound good, and I may even try one to see.

Chilli (vegetarian)

Hoagie Rolls (to make Chilli dogs if anyone wants to)

Potato Salad

Cole Slaw

Cucmuber Salad.

Fresh Fruit

Bavarian Apple Cheese Cake (not sure what is so "Bavarian" about it, but the recipe sounded good)

Tropical Fruit Cream Pie

Chocalate Roulade.

I know I am heavy on the desert, but that is because I love desert....

I have to plan the execution of this meal...

As would be expected, there will be pictures, when I get to add them to this blog... as soon as I can.

I still have to add Tuesday and the rest of the week in Philadelphia. I might add a few days at a time, for the sake of time.

Tomorrrow is weigh in, and I think I am still losing, although not working very hard a dieting...

Can't get too thin, or I will be in the same place I was before I lost weight... Nothing to wear....

Well better go have to get back to work, lunch is up!!!

I am at work, and don't have my pictures here from my vacation to download, but... wanted to post something anyway... :)

We have tropical storm Ernesto coming through right now... Well, not exactly right now as I speak but today.

It is really not as bad they had predicted. Well first they were predicting a hurricane, then a tropical storm, and now it has been downgraded to an inland tropical storm, which baskically means rain and wind. I guess you could call it a bad rain storm.

That is the good thing. Well, I guess. Actually they are predicting 35 mile an hour winds... On some streets in Winter Springs, that wind could get a ticket!

Of course I am like a little kid, and would have liked a hurricane day off from work, like we got snow days off from school. Oh I loved those days... the whole family home, staying in our pajamas, not going anywhere. Guess I have to move back up north for that... huh... Or retire!!!!

Just made reservations for the Hoop-de-Doo Revue at Disney's Fort Wilderness, for next Thursday night. Hope that works out for Carol and Richie. Richie has to work on Friday, so he will get up Friday morning, and get dressed in a suit and tie and go to work from the campground. God, I hope they enjoy themselves.... Camping, even at Fort Wilderness can be miserable experience, if something happens to make it that way. Anyway, the dinner is pretty nice, Loin of pork, veggies, salad and desert, and a show. I hope Richie likes it. Of course he can always have a veggie option. I guess I need to check with Carol on that too.

Well, better go. Have a ton of orders, and will probably be working through my lunch.... Anyway, my break is almost over....

Monday in Philadelphia

Well, Monday we got up and got ready early, 6:00, and went out for breakfast. We found a cafe on Saturday, that was very good. The Midtown III Restaurant. It was open 24 hours, and it was reminiscent of a diner in NY. I thought the waitresses were great, although George had a bit of a problem with the little dark haired one. She was gruff lets say, be she was soft around the edges when you gave her the chance. I think George was half playing when he complained about her. Anyway, their Mediterranean omelet was great, with tomatoes, feta cheese and I think spinach. It was pretty rich, but a great omelet. And I am not an omelet fan.

George walked me to the train station, and I got on a train to Ambler to see my friend Audrey and her significant other (soon to be fiance'), Al. It was about a 30 minute train ride and Al and Audrey were there waiting for me when I got there. That is Audrey and Al in the picture. I met Audrey about 28 years ago. We worked together, and in fact when I moved to Florida, I moved here and lived with Audrey. She also helped me get my job at the phone company.

Audrey lived in Plainview, and I met her at the shoe store I worked in at the time. Import Shoe Fair. It was on 15 W. Marie St. In Hicksville. Audrey was married to Artie. She has two boys with Artie. He passed away last year in November.

She was in touch with friends from school, on the internet, and that is how she ran into Al. One thing lead to another, and they met, and now they are getting married.

First we went to the Post Office, so that Audrey and Al could get their passports. Then we went for a little ride to view the sights of Ambler and vicinity, then we went out to lunch to a neat little place, with the best french fries. Al went to the dentist and Audrey introduced me to her neighbors. Then we just sat and chatted. It was neat. I miss doing that with her.

Anyway, Audrey lives in Levittown NY during the week, and Ambler Pennsylvania on the weekends. Pretty neat.

Kind of like I want to do. Only I want to spend June to September up north, with property, and October to May in Florida. One day......

When I got back to Philly, George met me at the train station, and we went to a Chinese restaurant, vegetarian restaurant had Dim Sun platter, all you could eat. I had the tea... I love the tea... Then we went back to the hotel and called it a night.

Combining Saturday and Sunday in Philly

Ok, so we went to bed Friday night, and woke up Saturday morning to go to the Clerk Craft Conference. Then we went this little vegetarian place in South Philly, known for it's Vegetarian Philly Cheese Steaks. It was called Gourmet to Go/Govinda... It was pretty good. Not in the "best" neighborhood, but they were young and hard workers, and very polite. George loved it, and I have to admit they had a good selection, and if I went back, I wouldn't order the Philly Cheese Steak (I make a pretty mean Philly Cheese Steak with Morning Star Farms steak strips), but they had some other stuff on the menu that looked very good also. The Cheese Steak was good though.

Sunday after the second day of the clerk conference, we met up with George's local and had pizza at Olde City Pizza, down in the historic district. Pizza was OK, and the service was not so hot. Well, let's put it this way, the way George like Pizza, and we ate it again that vacation, we didn't go back there.....

Then we walked around the historic district, and went to the Liberty Bell.

We walked around the Historic District with plans to go back later in the week. We went to Carpeters Hall, the 2nd Bank, a few other places. All with plans of going back later in the week to do a real honest to goodness touristy thing, but it didn't actually work out that way... You may be seeing another entry in my blog about Heidi & George's REAL VACATION Trip to Philadelphia.

Anyway, then we went down Elfreth Alley. This is the oldest residential street in the United States. These houses date between 1728 and 1836, and people still live in them, I mean all but one are private residences! Now keep in mind that the first black and white picture was probably taken in the early 1900's. The color one of course was taken by us... (bet you never would have guessed) you can tell because that is me standing there with my hand on my hip. I am standing "kinda" between the second and third houses in the old picture. You can tell by the different arches over the doorways. The first house must have been knocked down.

Then we ate at a cafe, had desert and coffee, and that is when one of those BIG city pidgeons shit on my head. Everyone was pretty grossed out by it, and I have to admit, it was pretty gross, but George got a we paper towel from the rest room, and wiped it off, and then I just tried to forget about it. It was before we were served, and Hans has pooped on my plenty of times, so no biggie. When we got back to the hotel, I took a shower and washed my hair. None the worse for the ware...

Well that is pretty much all we did that day.

We have pictures!!!

This is the view from our hotel room, on the 26th floor of the Sheraton on Race and 17th Street, in Philadelphia. That building off to the right or the circle (which is called Logans Square... ) is the Philadelphia Museum of Art. That is the building that Rocky ran up the stair to in the first Rocky movie. So when you go there most of the people are just running or walking up the stairs and when they get to the top, stand there, with their arms up in the air (like Rocky did) and then someone takes their picture... It really is a great place to people watch.

Straight ahead in front of Logans Square is the Franklin Institute. off to the right of Logans Square is the Free Library.

The top picture is the same shot at night (bet you couldn't figure that out could you...). Pretty nice shot huh? This is a great camera....

This was a great room. Big room, and on the corner of the building, so it was bigger than the others. The only problem is that there was some sort of HVAC piece of equiptment on the roof, and it made the walls tremble alittle, and there was also a sway that I felt mainly because my sense of balance is off since I had the mild stroke last year. I shouldn't say my sense of balance is off, it is just very sensitive.

One night we come home later than normal, and walked into the room, and there was a crib in the room. I was startled to say the least. My first reaction was to close the door. I am not sure why, my key opened it, but that was my first reaction. What I didn't see was that there was a twin size roll away bed brought in the room also.

We called the front desk and they came and took it out, and brought it to the correct room, which was right next store. How I know is that the baby that ended up in that crib cryed allllllll night long. I mean wailed. You know the kind of crying a baby does when it crys do hard it can't catch it's breath. Well it was like that. I was about to call the front desk and tell them that I thought the baby was left alone in there, because how anybody could have let a baby cry like that, in the same room and not attend to it, had to be either dead, unconciuous or an animal. The little on finally stopped, or passed out was more the case, which is what I did also.

Well, better go.. I am in the middle of ironing and Tony and Carol are coming over so I can help them cut some fabric for drapes for Tony's house.

Honestly, I don't know anything about cutting fabric for drapes. I think she just wants to bring Tony over here. I mean she brought him over when the house was under construction and took him on a tour....

Today I cut back the Grapefruit trees and the Gardenia bush, and also planted some Cone Flower/Daiseys. They are perenials, and I planted the seeds during a rain shower. I think it should be alright, even if it is August, but it is almost September, and this is Florida. I'll let you know.

Yes, Yes, I know... no pictures yet... Well, that is because they are still on the laptop.

Today is Thursday, tomorrow is payday. And September will be a busy month. We have Hans' (remember my friend from Germany) sister coming with her little girl, and 2 others on Sunday, September 3rd. I am going to make Chilli, hot dogs, (veggie and meat), cole slaw, cucumber salad, and I am not sure what else. For desert I am making a fruit and custard pie, a chocolate rouladen, and fresh fruit.

Then on the 8th of September, we are going camping with Carol and Richie. I think we will make spaghetti one night and not sure what we will make the rest of the time. Carol and I had started to do a menu for the weekend but it was getting alittle bit confusing. I think I still have the list, I guess I should look it over.

On the 23rd of September, George and I are having about 10 or 11 people over for the afternoon, and I was planning on doing Shish Kabob, and alot of other stuff. I made a list for planning purposes, I really need to figure out what I will need to get.

So, September will be a pretty busy month. I have the first weekend of company pretty well set. Once I get through that I think I will be pretty much ready for the next weekend, and so on from there. I love to entertain like that, but then I get nervous that something isn't going to turn out ok. I don't know why, so far I have been pretty lucky...

Haven't gotten my pictures from Philly off the laptop yet. I promise I will have them soon.

In the mean time it has been brutally hot here in Florida. The weather is just starting to break now, with cooler temperatures at night.

Luckily Wayne (My Pets Friend) was able to water for me while we were gone. This week they have been predicting rain all week. 60% chance, and that is usually a sure thing, but it is a 60% chance if you happen to be in the "spot" that it is supposed to rain, and if anyone knows Florida rain, that could mean across the street, but not where you are standing.

Well today, they raised it to 70%, with more wide spread coverage. Keep your fingers crossed. I love the rain. It just cleans everything. Hard to explain.

I am glad to be home... not glad to be at work.. but glad to be home. Work is a real chore for me lately. Not sure what it is. Just a chore, bordering on burden, but don't think I will get there because that paycheck usually brings me back to reality real quick.

I just think about the things I would rather be doing, like, working on my bench that I am refinishing, the slip covers I keep thinking about, I have all the supplies to get them done, but not the energy when I get home, the dusting, the bathrooms, the vacuuming, the bird cage or the fish tank. All things that are tremendously more productive than what I do here. Except for the paycheck, which is the end result of all those seeminly unproductive hours I spend at work.

Here I am 48 years old, and I look forward to retirement. How sad is that!!!???!!!

Well better go, have to get back to the unproductive stuff that pays the bills. Break is 1 minute away from being up....

Back from Philadelphia!!!

We had a nice time, I walked my butt off. I mean I walked everywhere. My feet were killing me. I did weigh myself this afternoon, and I gained 3 or 4 pounds, but I think it was in muscle... (yea right!)

Well, we ate pretty fattening breakfasts, and pretty fattening dinners, compared to what we did before, but we didn't over eat. We ate breakfast, then we at dinner. But..., we had dessert every night. It was good though, and it made it a real vacation. Afterall, this is it, until next year for me. Except of course for the weekend we go camping, or the weekend that Mathie and Wesley have their teeth cleaned.

I visited my girl friend, went shopping, sight seeing, etc. I will be posting pictures of my different outings.

It was good to get home though. I missed my kids, and spent most of today, just hanging around with them. George is suffering from a tired stomach. One night we went out for pizza, and he went hog wild. I think he ate 7 pieces of pizza, plus salad. The salad was out of this world. We went with Dave and his wife. It was fun, and I will tell you about it later in the week.

Anyway, that is it for now. Going to play around on the computer, and will be back tomorrow.

Today we leave for Philadelphia... As always when we go away, I am excited up until the day before we leave... then I look at my kids and my house, and I start to feel bad. Especially about the kids... I just love those guys. And they love us... I almost feel like I am letting them down, but, they have Wayne (My Pet's Friend), and he loves them too. And they love him too... and now that everybody loves everybody... I just hate to leave them.

And to add to my angst, is the fact that there is heightened security at the airports, which means heigtened attitudes... In other words, everyone is going to be wound alittle bit toooooo tight today. So part of me just wants to get to Philly and get to the hotel, while the other part of me wants to curl up in my bed with Mathie... I am a real head case.....

So... hopefully Philly is safe, and I will not be intimidated by the local color. I plan on going to see Audrey in Ambler, and then the usual sights and attractions... so I should have lots of pictures when I get back.

Ok everyone, I have added a picture of me... and..... John Kerry... Yup, I met him, shook his hand and everything. Introduced myself to him, the works... I have it on video also.. Let me tell you, if I had Grandchildren they would hear this story many times.

See, we had free tickets to somewhere on Delta. So George said to me do you want to go somewhere like New England or Iowa to see John Kerry while he is campaigning. So you know I jumped at that. See I was a John Kerry supporter since March of 2002, when I saw him at the Florida Democratic State Convention. Then he sent a letter to the Orlando Sentinel in April, ripping (very eloquently I might add) Kathleen Parker a new one (if you know what I mean.....), and I thought, this guy knows what is going on. He knows what is happening all over. So that was the beginning.

Well then George said, you can't just sit back and listen to him speak, or watch him, you have to go up to him and speak to him.... OH MY GOD!!!!!

But I did. Then his assistant took this picture... George was in it also, or is in it, but he cropped this one for me for another reason, and it has come in very handy since then.

Anyway, when he lost the election (and what a damn shame that was....) I was devastated for about 3 days. But, I still have his bumper sticker on my car, because I am counting on him running again. A far better reason then why all those yahoo's have "W" stickers on their car. We know he ain't running again... thank god!

Well, just wanted to post something with the addition of the picture...

Ok. gotta go, have tons to do...

YEA!!!!!!!

Josh Blue won Last Comic Standing..... Who cool is that!!!!!????!!! Honestly, I would have been shocked if he didn't win... and I think the audience would have stormed the stage. I think I will have to look for him and see if he gets any better well know than the others that have won...

Anyway... just thought I would bring that up... Now, that is done, I won't bother anyone now, but I will be back in a few months to talk about the Presidential election coming up in 2008. We have to start thining about that now...

Leaving for Philly tomorrow, and will be back with some pretty neat pictures, I hope... I will probaby check in periodically during the week.

See ya later...

Pest Problem....

This is my Gardenia. I had some pretty flowers on here this year.... but then I got aphids. I have plants with other problems also...

Above the Gardenia you will see my Grapefruit tree. It has leaf miners.... I love Gardenias, and I love my grapefruit tree, because the Gardenia has beautiful flowers and the grapefruit tree is the off spring of the tree I grew from a seed in NY, and Daddy brought down to me when I bought the house in Winter Springs.... That was my baby, and I recently discovered that the girl who bought my house, cut down my tree. This tree is almost my legacy... I will not have any children, and now it is gone, so all I have left are these 3 babies that I again grew from a seed from the fruit of the tree that I grew from a seed. I have to save these... period end of subject.

I tried cutting the affected leaves out, but they grew more leaves and the leaf miners went after them. I got my Rodale's Organic Gardening book out, and it said that they come from the dirt. They also said that a Nicotine tea will kill them, and the aphids, so with the assistance of my girl friend who smokes, by her donation of a pack of cigarettes, I made 1/2 gallon of Nicotine tea this weekend. The way I did this was to soak 1/2 cup of tobacco in 1/2 gallon of water, with 1/4 tsp of pure soap. I soaked the tobacco in the water, in the hot Florida sun for a few hours, then I strained it through cheese cloth, and sprayed it on the leaves, and then even put some of the tea on the dirt the plants are growing in.

So, this is what they look like now, in a few days I will cut them back, and hope for the best.... I will follow up with some pictures of the demise or the celebration.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.... These Grapefruit trees are very dear to my heart. I kid you not, the parent tree was once a seed on a plate 35 years ago, in Farmingdale NY. My mother was on a grapefruit diet, and I was cleaning the breakfast table off, and saw that one of the seeds starting to germinate, so I carefully assisted it along. Before you knew it, my Dad and I were planting the tree outside in May, and bringing it in, in November. We did that for about 10 years, and when I moved to Florida in 1985, and bought my first house in 1987, the first trip my Mom and Dad made down by automobile, was with my Dads van, and in the back was my grapefruit tree. Boy I had a great Dad....

Then when we had a freeze in 1988 or 1989, when my Dad was here, and he wrapped the tree in a heavy drop cloth, and put a 75 watt flood at the base to keep it warm. Then he woke up all that night in regular intervals to check on the tree. The following January, I had my first buds, and the following December, I had my first fruit. And it was good fruit....

Well anyway.... do what ever it is you do... keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer, wish real hard... what ever works... and then check back.... :)

Hey!!! Has anyone been watching Last Comic Standing this year.... We have, and we are voting for and pulling for Josh Blue..... He is very funny, and I think he deserves to win. George likes the other guy with curly hair too, but I am 100% behind Josh. If anybody reads this blog, tell me what you think.

I think the guy is just a funny, sincere guy. Actually I think the guy that comes up 2nd does pretty well career wise.. I mean, I don't follow the stand up comic circuit, but I see more of Ant than I do the other guy. (See what I mean!?!)

Anyway, everyone should vote for Josh, because Josh is the best, and deserves to win. So anyone who is reading this...(hello....!! anybody out there!!!???!!) should do me a favor and vote for Josh. Please... my political candidates never win... (yet), my Dancing with the Stars candidate didn't win.... , not even my Apprentice Candidate from the season before last won.... I just want Josh to win. Then we can talk about the Presidential election in 2008.

I wanted to add a blurb on the internet about our pet sitter. His name is Wayne Tracey, and his business is called My Pet's Friend. He covers an area in central Florida including Oviedo, Winter Springs, Casselberry and parts of Winter Park.

This guy is great and anyone who is wondering if they should use his pet sitting service, let me tell you, don't give it a second thought.... Ask for references, you will find one from me!!!

I have recommended him to numerous people, and they have all come to me a later dates and thanked me.

Let me tell you why he is good. Wayne does this because he loves animals.... He isn't just the owner of the company... he is the company.... When you hire My Pet's Friend... you get Wayne. I have been using him for over 5 years, and he has never let me down. He doesn't have a crew of pet sitters. He is not the "Molly Maids" of pet sitters.

Our dogs and cats know and love Wayne. They know when we are gone, Wayne is coming to walk them, and talk to them, and spend time with them. It isn't just a dog walker, it is their friend....

He worries about your animals the way you do. I have since found that there are alot of options out there... but... I believe that they would be hard pressed to be as good as Wayne.

This is Hans... He was the first addition to my family when I moved to Florida. He was born in April of 1986, so that makes him over 20 years old.

He is very smart, verrrry handsome, and all business. Most birds like toys and gadget in their cage, but not Hans.

He loves potatoes, especially mashed. He loves Cream of Wheat cereal, and he like good rye bread.

He has been all over, because I used to take him with me where ever I went. He has flown to NY numerous times. He and I grounded a Piedmont Airways plane out of Baltimore once... and we won... with the support of the rest of the passengers.

He loves dish towels, and he will whistle with you if you are patient with him.

When my Dad had his last stroke 2 years ago, we had to rush to NC, and we didn't go through the normal preparations before leaving, so he obviously knew something was wrong. After 3 days, he decided to go on a hunger strike. Luckily our Pet Sitter, Wayne Tracey (My Pet's Best Friend) , the best pet sitter in Central Florida, recognized something was wrong, and rushed him to the hospital. They tube fed him twice, to get him eatting, and the spent the rest of the 2 weeks at the front desk greeting patients.

He comes in the bedroom with us everynight. Has done that since the day I brought him home over 20 years ago. If you leave him in the bedroom in the morning when you get up, and start your day, he will yell until you come back to get him.

He and Putzen are very good friends, and he is a very important part of our family.

This is Mathie (dog) and Elke.... Mathie is almost 11 1/2. She thinks she is every critters Mom. She loved all the critter, (except those that I have had of the rodent persuasion) she adored Hanah and Henry, and she is bound and determined to "straighten" Wesley out of his bad habits. And she rules with an iron paw...

She is a terrier mix, but I think she has a little Bischon Freise in her. Her hair has gotten dried out lately. Not sure if it is the senior food we moved her to, or just age. I am thinking of putting her on some supplements for her coat. She has a beautiful coat when it looks good. And she has a beautiful face....

I found Mathie on the side of the road in Kissimmee. I was walking Gretchen, and Mathie stuck her head out from under a platform (over a ditch) that was used to hold someone's garbage can on garbage day. She only weighed .80 pounds, and we bonded with in seconds. Not minutes, but seconds. I took her to the vet and he predicted that she would weigh only 10 pounds. By the next visit, 1 week later, her weight was 4 pounds, so we knew that the vet was wrong.

Mathie got along with everybody, highly respected Gretchen, and had a run in with Putzen, which ended up in Mathieu nearly having a scratched cornea. Now Mathieu also has a healthy respect for Cats, but that does not mean she takes any guff.

Mathie and Wesley have their spats daily, yes daily. Mathie has her rules, for instance, if Wesley and Mathie are in the bedroom together, Wesley belongs under the bed. That is where she told him he belonged the first night he came to live with us, and the rule hasn't changed. She has eased up on some of the rules for Wesley (there were many), but that one she is not wavering. Although, during the night, he is allowed to come out and sleep on one of the dog beds. In fact... one night I caught them both sleeping on the big dog bed. I don't know if she knows we saw her.

Elke, it a little over 5 years old. My girlfriend Linda called me on a rainy, coolish morning to tell me she found another cat at her at her office. Just 3 or 4 days before she found 2 other little kittens, and we think that they were orphaned in the office park she works in. Either something happened to their Mom, or someone dropped them off there. Most people think they were feral kittens, so I am thinking something happened to the Mom. Well anyway, Linda called me at work, and I ran to her office with formula, and an appointment with the vet in 1 hour. The vet took one look at her and she started spitting and hissing, and he just closed the box she was in and said, you have a feral cat here. So I said, so what should I do? He said that she was probably fine. He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and tried to examine her, but even at her size which was tiny, she could have put a real hurtin' on someone. He estimated her at the most 4 weeks old. He said that he could really tell me anything right there, but that if I brought her home and she got warm warmed up, she would probably be a little bit friendlier. I asked her about food and he said she could probably eat wet cat food, but if I wanted to bottle feed her I could. I asked him if she should be able to pee and poop on her own, and he said "probably, but he couldn't tell for sure. Bring her back in a week and he will give her a good exam and her early shots."

Well, I brought her home, you know I bottle fed her...why would I want to pass up that opportunity, and introduced her to wet food about 3 or 4 days later. Which, she would only eat off my finger to start. I stimulated her to pee, and poop. She pee'd like a champ, but the pooping was another story. I started to get concerned after she was eating wet food for a day or two, and she wasn't have any bowel movements. But when she did it was cause for celebration!!! We danced around the house, it was a red letter day.

When it came time to wean her from the bottle, I did it by watering down the formula a little more after each feeding. By the time the ratio was one to three, she was so mad, she pulled the nipple out of the bottle and yelled. That was the last bottle she would take. We the supplemented her wet food with dry food.

And... Elke loves, I mean loves Mathie. She is always rubbing up against Mathie, laying down by her, flicking her tail in Mathie's face. It is amazing. In fact, she dislikes cats. She tolerates Putzen, probably because she was there first, and she is old, but she hated Eric, our little boy that I will introduce you to later. We lost Eric last November.

So, that is Elke and Mathie.

*********!!!NEWS FLASH!!!*******

It is a good day!!! Walmart is closing all it's stores in Germany..... Yes Ladies and Gentleman, the German people are not sell outs to cheap wages, cheap prices, and poor merchandise.....

You you wonder why I am more proud of my German heritage than my American citizenship....?

This is exactly why. I am not a sell out...period end of subject...! I have principles and that is obviously from my German background and not my capitalist American environment.

When the American people start showing a more principled shift in ideology, then my pride in being an American will come back.

******GO GERMANY******

Ok boys and girls, the pictures are coming now.... I had a friend visit from Germany, and he took a bunch of pictures, and is sending them to me, 5 or 6 a day.... As I get them, you will see them...

This is Wesley (you have met him), George ( the person) and Henry. As you have read the a few posts before, Henry passed away last week. He was 10 1/2, and was a great rabbit. This was about 5 days before he passed away. He couldn't move around anymore, except for his head, but he had a great appetite. So, we did for him what made him happy, and that was give him veggies. So that is what George is doing. I think he is feeding him celery there. We had him in a comfy dog bed, and he was partially covered with a sheet. He loved it. His twin sister passed on 1.5 years ago, so he liked being around us and the other animals. I believe he was happy the last few months of his life. His situation was comprimised, but....he made the best of it.

I believe that is what the animals have over us human beings. For the most part, they are pretty content with their surroundings. You give them the basic necessities and they are usually grateful. I try to be more like them in this respect.

Now mind you this isn't a new revelation with me. I have been doing this for a while now. See if you get disatisfied enough, and really want to change things, and do everything in your power to become satisfied, but it just isn't enough, then you only have two choices. Get depressed, or re-examine just what it is that you want. If you are honest with yourself, you will probably learn that you are really doing ok... and honestly, that is pretty good.

Now don't mistake this with complacency. It isn't that at all. Realism, honesty are more the case. I can honestly say I learned that from all the sweet wonderful critters I had in my life. And from my Dad. My Dad taught me to to always try to do better. I am not using the word strive, because I think that is too much. Just always try to do better. Sometimes doing better is realizing when to stop. When the difference between doing better and striving is the difference between being satisfied and being greedy.

Daddy was a pretty terrific guy. I miss him, alot.

Here is our Wesley... Wesley is a hoot!!!

He loooovvvvves to sleep. George calls him a Electrolux with legs. He and Mathies are not all that fond of one another, but they manage. It wasn't easy getting to this point, and Mathie still rules the roost (as any good female would).

And when Wesley decides that he likes you... well, that is it. You may not like that, but too bad.

When he met my Dad for the first time, he immediately fell in love. I remember, my Dad sat down in the kitchen and bent over to untie his shoes, and Wesley jumped up and kissed him.

We have a routine, Wesley and I. Mathie joins in, because Mathie will be left out of nothing I do.

We do inspection time, every afternoon, or everytime I come home. We have the inspection area, the carpet in front of the entertainment unit, the rug under the dining room table, and the hallway upstairs. If he has any "accidents", he doesn't get a good boy yummy. Mathie doesn't either, so she has a vested interest in making sure Wesley doesn't have any accidents. If he is a good boy, and doesn't have any accidents, then we dance and yell and cheer, and they both get a biscuit.

And you know what... It works... Positive Reinforcement.....!!! A very powerful tool.

hey everyone... I am back, and will be back again later with pictures. I have the pictures my friend Hans took of Henry (who passed on last week on Tuesday), and he also sent pictures of Hans (the bird) and Wesley.... All of which will post when I get home.

Man do I have a remaining summer and early fall booked. Still deciding if I should spend the money to go to NY for Labor Day.

See... I did alittle calculating this weekend. And, in order for me to get the Audi A4 next year before the summer, I have to save $600 a month. Now I know that is a tall order, but I think it can be done. Well, I am going to try. I have options, and I will use them if I have to, but I really think that I would like to have a brand new 2007 A4, with a 3 year loan, and payments right around $500. Hence the must save $600.00 a month for the next year.... Could have done it at the last house, but then I would have this really nice car, sitting out, no garage. Everything has trade offs, right.

So, to fly to NY Labor Day, would cost us $400. Then fly to Asheville in October, again around $400.00. Not sure if I should do both of them. Since I really have to go to Asheville, that leaves out Labor Day. I plan on using my Airtran certificates to go up and see my Mother either in October of November.

Well better go... need to make some calls...

Haven't posted in a while, but things are about the same. It is really weird the stages you go through with grief. I guess it is basically different with everyone and the circumstances. Would be something interesting to look into.

Mom called me late Sunday, for my Birthday. Around 9:30 / 9:45 at night. I was writing out bills and just getting over the sticker shock or my American Express bill from the last two months of going to North Carolina. Man I can't keep this up. I am going to have to let her know that, so we don't pull another stunt like we did with the surgery. Her other daughter got a pass on that one. Next time I will not be as gullible.

Got my "organization kit" for the Alzheimers walk in October. I have to admit, if it weren't for my cousin, and a few of my friends, I would be at ground zero. I have to get serious about this and innovative.

We (George and I) want to spend a weekend in NY. Thinking of Labor Day weekend. I have to get myself caught up at work, and then I can look at what time I have or don't have, and what airfares are. I really don't want to spend any extra money from now till the end of the year. If I could save a couple of thousand dollars, and use it as a down payment on a new car, that would be perfect. I think one more new car in my life would be pretty fair. If I make it a good one, maybe the only car I have to buy.

Went to see Pirates of the Caribbean last weekend. It was tough to follow, but it was good. Don't think there are anyother movies out there to see so far. Maybe the fall will bring in some good ones.

Well, I have lost 11 pounds so far. 9 more to go. Fitting in smaller clothes, but still not perfect. I really have to discipline myself to exercise. Went to the Chinese Restaurant for dinner last week, then the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. Sunday morning I made a nice breakfast spread. Potato Pancakes (they were great), bacon and kiebalsi for Hans and Richie, made batter for waffles, but nobody had any. Made my puff pancake, but it didn't turn out right, but it tasted ok. Made Egg beaters for Richie, and 2 soft boiled eggs, that ended up not being soft boiled anyway, bread butter, champagne and orange juice, and alcohol free sangria. The dining room table was packed. Janet said she would try to come over, but she didn't make it, and I asked Richie and Carol to bring Carmella, but they didn't. All in all it was very good. I can't wait to make the potato pancakes again. They were out of this world. I will double the recipe next time.

I didn't count calories on Saturday (since that is my free day) or Sunday (since that was my birthday). Back to the grind stone yesterday. I have a feeling that this coming weigh in is not going to be that good.

Back to work.... let's see if we can't be all caught up by tomorrow at 5:00. That is my goal...!

Back after a few days of just laying around, getting a burst of energy, and then laying around again.

I think I feel OK. It is just hard to say. I have to admit that know that Daddy passed away was a relief to me. He was very sick, and not the Daddy I knew, but he was truly my Daddy deep down inside. I will never stop missing him. The fact that I have been missing him since February 2004, does not make this any easier.

E-mailed my cousin in St. Maarten this afternoon. She replied with a supportive note. I have to admit, everyone has been very kind and supportive through all this...

Have my friend Hans, here from Germany. I feel so bad for him. He forgot his license at home, and couldn't rent a car, so that pretty much means that he is stuck in the house. He was going to ride my bicycle to the mall today. Tomorrow he is leaving for Tampa. He is taking the train over from Winter Park. He is supposed to be home Friday, but it may be Saturday, if he wants to stay longer, since he is leaving here Sunday. I hope he doesn't feel pressured to stay there an extra day, I mentioned it, only because, although we are close to things at our house, it is the everyday mundane stuff, supermarket, dry cleaners, etc. The mall is actually only 2.5 miles away, which is good to know, but it doesn't have anything exciting in it. I hope he didn't get caught in the rain.

George wants to go to NY for Labor Day weekend. I think it would be nice. Of course that is only 2 weeks after we get back from Philly. We will see. I will talk to him about it this weekend.

I will have to get up to see my Mother again. Can't stop going up there. Plus, she still needs me to go up there. Things aren't going to all of a sudden start getting done there now. Also, I am worried about her and how she is going to make ends meet. I won't bring that up rightnow, but will have to address it with her some time.

Well better go...

Hopefully this will get more interesting, although... don't know how that will happen...

Happy Thursday everyone....

Had dinner with a girlfriend last night at Panera's... Kept to my diet, and I was wanting more when I finished, but... I was strong.. In fact, only had one piece of candy when I got home instead of two, because they gave you more than 8 oz. of soup, and the bread was bigger than a small baguet...

Really would like to exercise in some way tonight.. Maybe I will get on the treadmill.

Henry, my rabbit is absolutely amazing... He can't move, except to lift his head. He is propped up on a blanket, and can reach his water, and all he wants to do is eat. He still gets excited when we come out on the screen porch, and we always bring him something. He comes in everynight and we set him up in a dog bead, that has a nice cushion, we cover it with plastic and put a towel down, and cover him up partially. When he messes, the towel we have him covered in gets washed and a new towel is used the next night. Everymorning I bring him out, give him carrots, celery, scraps from our lunch (apple cores, pear cores, tomatoes) and we hand feed him grapes that I cut in half, and he is as happy as he can be... Aren't animals amazing... he finds and accepts he situation, doesn't feel sorry for himself, in fact, he can be pretty stubborn sometimes. I try to treat him good and pamper him as best I can. I really don't think he is in any pain, and he seems to get a tremendous amount of pleasure out of eating, so we do for him what makes him happy.

I am concerned when I leave next week, but that is just me. I don't think George will bring him in every night, but I know he will spoil him with attention and treats. I hope everything goes ok next week while I am gone. No visits to the emergency room, since I know Mathie will be a little out of sorts with me not there.

Other than that, just want to get the week over with. I feel terrible saying that, and bad because I keep harping on this, but the whole situation just stinks.

Got an e-mail from a couple down in West Palm last night. She said she hopes that our family situation has settled down some, and all I think is, it never will. Well I hope I live long enough to see it settle down. And I mean that sincerely.

Well, more in a day or two....

Hallelujah, it is Friday....

Tomorrow is weigh in, and hopefully I did as well as last week.

Also, I have decided that I am going start my weekend by doing what I want to do, and that is to get out in the court yard and work on my plants. Lots of things have to be re-potted. I will need to buy a few pots, not many, and really should first decide how many I need.

I think we will go to Lowe's tomorrow morning, get the things off our list, and also get some pots. All this after weigh in, and breakfast.

Labor day weekend is booked for Fort Wilderness, but we will go to another weekend.

Pledged $90 to WMFE this morning. The thank you gift I chose was the sound track from Prairie Home Companion, The movie. George liked Meryl Streep's singing, and she did most of the singing, so figured it was a good choice. Also, they were giving the CD, Andrea Bocelli- Amore, which sounded. Maybe next time...

On a not so good note, yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that evidence confiscated by police when they raid a house, enter a house to be more specific, with out the announce and wait rule, is admissible in court. Now in and of itself, this doesn't sound so terrible, but if you look at a graph of our rights as citizens in the United States, you would see it slowly on the decline. There is nothing we can do about it. It is extremely depressing. I listen to public radio every morning on my way to work, and every morning I get out of my car more and more disgusted. Things are really bad, and getting worse, and I wish I could say that they will turn around, but honestly, I don't think they are. They are getting worse. The affect on me personally, right now, today... nothing really. My fear is that one day, while I am going about my business, I will turn the virtual corner, and be hit with a big surprise. My dilemma....? What can I do about it. I have been involved in politics. I have been considered the "activist"... I have tried to make a positive change, but I truly believe what ever it is I am working against is much bigger than me, bigger than the Democratic Party, or the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Al Gore, John Kerry, all put together. It it wasn't, we wouldn't be in the situation that we are in. So my little quote at the top, from Martin Luther King, Jr.; well I think it would have worked once, but not anymore. I will still speak out when given the opportunity, but to actively go out and beat myself up, and more accurately, be beat up... I can't do that anymore....