Short Break....

My Father passed away this past Sunday, peacefully in his sleep.  He has been in a nursing home for the past four years with Alzheimer's.. He would have been 93 in November.  He was a War Hero and a wonderful Father.

A family friend and fellow Marine wrote an incredible tribute to Dad and I re-posted it on my my other blog.  

I will be taking a break for a few weeks.  I will be traveling to California to be with my family and spend some time with my Mom.

Thank you so much for the kind emails I have already received...

A Gift For Myself...

I originally started this blog as a place of discovery and sharing; to figure out our purpose to become the person we want to be, behind the traditional roles we all live.  For me, I wanted to ignite and pursue the creative desires I put on the back burner while raising my kids.

I know I ended up here in Henderson, Nevada due to my husband's pursuit of a better job...which he found, but due to the economy, his career drastically changed working in the business loan banking field.

As you all know, I spend a lot of time complaining about living so far from my family who live in Southern California.  Since Nevada leads the nation in foreclosures and short sales, the housing market here SUCKS for sellers, hence, we are STUCK here...for the time being.

Consequently, I have allowed myself to sink into the dark mire of depression and basically eat my loneliness and unhappiness...

No one can make me happy.  That job belongs solely to me, so it is my responsibility to snap myself out of it.  I was talking to my youngest brother E____ last week, playing my violin of sadness and all the reasons why I have gained so much weight...

 "Sounds like you are making a lot of excuses Sis. You have to take action just like the Nike slogan says:  Just Do It."  


I thought it over and decided to do just that... Since February 1, 2012 I have been going up to our community gym every day and working out for 45 minutes to an hour.  I am 5' 7" tall and weigh 188.  I am declaring to the world (to make myself accountable) that I hope to lose at least a pound a week, so when I turn 65 this June, I will be at least 170 pounds.  My goal is to weigh 160.  I have to establish good habits to replace my bad ones.

I think taking weight off my body and making myself more happy is the best gift I can give myself and my loved ones, because it will insure I will be around a while longer and FEEL much better.  If I continue on the path I was on, I will keep expanding until I literally EXPLODE!

I weighed 157 when we moved here six years ago.  I know this is the land of the GREAT BUFFETS, but I can choose more veggies, fruit and lean protein.  There are healthy choices...  I am watching my portions and drinking lots of water.  I am cutting way back on the white breads, potatoes, crackers, and sweets.  I love to eat, so I am enjoying my food, just making better choices and less of them.  I am doing my best to re-train myself to eat five little meals rather than "three squares" plus snacking...

I am embarrassed to say how disorienting and exhausting it is changing one's procrastination and sedentary life style to one of action and movement!

I will tell you, as sore as I am, it makes me think twice before I shove something in my mouth because I have first hand experience now on how hard it is sweating to work it off!!!  I am stiff and sore in places I did not even know existed...but I am determined to work out every day.

I hope to meet some new friends...couples for my husband and I to go out with or invite over to dinner as well as girlfriends for me.

The exercise has improved my attitude. My new motto is KEEP MOVING.  I am still working at finishing off all the projects I didn't finish from 2011.  If I do less sitting, which for right now, includes blogging on the computer, I get more exercise and hopefully, will mean losing weight and feeling better.
So please bare with me as I pop in and out for a while longer...

We also have a couple of ongoing household problems:  One is the re-plumbing law suit our community has going with the builder.  The builder put deficient fittings in our homes which has caused low water pressure, clogged pipes, broken pipes, and leaks.  Fortunately, we just have the low water pressure and clogged pipes...no leaks like some residents.

The other is our spa decking was rotting away.  There was a lawsuit on it as well...only the suit only pays for the replacement of the supplies to replace the decking.  We have to pay for the labor, which was going to be $1900.  We decided, since we do not use the spa often enough to justify keeping it (I never wanted it to begin with, this was my husband's idea) we decided to have it removed.

Good thing we decided to take it out because the boards under the decking were not treated wood and were rotting.  The decking was deteriorating and the spa shell was beginning to lean to the back towards our next door neighbor's backyard.  When the workers lifted the spa, about twenty fat, gray mice ran for shelter...they had made a mouse city inside the insulation of the spa, and a metropolis of intricate pathways underneath the spa in the dirt.

Besides the rotting wood, the decking, the mice, and a new cover, we would have been spending thousands of dollars to fix damage to the spa shell not to mention the chewed wires and hoses.

The hole is now filled with dirt and we plan on putting pavers down then placing a table and chairs there.  We'll save considerably on our utilities not having that spa filtering every two hours.

Anyway, that is why I have not been visiting any of you or writing much lately...

It is going to take me awhile to get caught up and then establish a new, more productive routine.

I am in especially good spirits lately as my oldest daughter Holly is coming to visit next Friday for three days.  It would be PERFECT if my younger daughter, Jodee could come too...but she could not get off from work. So I will be grateful for our special mother-daughter time... until I go to California in May and see them both.

I so appreciate the gift of your friendships.  The loyal friends who have continued to stop in and stay in touch, sending me caring emails about my welfare.  You know who you are and you mean the world to me.  I love each of you dear friends...

Wish Me Luck...

Today is my first Zumba class...wish me luck...

Please Stand By...

Went To Urgent Care Last Night...

Last night, my injection site from my Shingles vaccine on June 7th, was three inches in diameter, hot, red, swollen and ITCHY!!!  I called my primary care physician and he told me it sounded like my arm was either infected or I was having an allergic reaction to the vaccine.  He strongly suggested I go down to Urgent Care.

I did, and again, I was so impressed with new health insurance.  They put a wrist band on wrists of all people coming in for treatment, so less chance of mix ups.  I did not wait longer than five minutes before I was called into a room with a nurse.  She took my temp, my blood pressure, my history and wrote down my reason for coming in. 

She had me return to the waiting room, and before I could finish telling my husband what she did, she called me to see the doctor.  A young woman doctor came in and greeted me, and asked to see my arm.  She confirmed I was having an allergic reaction.  It appears I am allergic to Neosporin and Latex. 

She advised me to continue the ice packs, to take Benadryl at night, use Benadryl cream during the day.  When I told her I was leaving on a trip to California on Monday, she suggested Prednisone 20mg twice a day in the am, for five days to "trick" my body from having an allergic reaction and to stop the itching...She told me to make sure and take it first thing in the morning with food as it may make me feel a little "jittery".

WHOA!  I feel like I could lift a car!!  I have been going like a house afire all day...cleaning out my master closet, getting donations bags ready, doing laundry, emailing, blogging, cleaning out cupboards and drawers, fixed my neighbors printer, took Izzy on a loooooonnnnng walk.... WHOO-HOOOOO!  I can see why athletes like to take this stuff!!  I feel like I am 20 years old!!

I will be taking this little "energy boosters" until Wednesday... My oldest daughter always complains I wear myself out and poop out too early....I called and prepared her for "the turbo version" of her Mother to visit her on Monday...in fact, I called my younger daughter to bring Jacob and come join us!!  Tuesday, I will spend the day with my older daughter, and I plan to WEAR HER OUT for a change!  Wednesday, my last day on the steroids, my daughter and her family leave for vacation. 

I had planned on meeting two of my girlfriends, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday night...NOW, today, I called and rearranged our visits so I can meet one during the day for lunch and one at night for dinner.

Thursday I will head over to my Mom's. She visits Dad on Thursdays, so I will get to see my Dad twice while I am there! Mom turns 84 on the 21st, but she has plans with several of her friends, so we will celebrate all day on Saturday.  She called me today and is having computer problems, so I will see if I can help her Thursday and Friday, then Friday night I will spend the night with my sister, and back to Mom's on Saturday morning.  My sister is off to the Irish Festival with her husband, son, daughter in law and their in laws.  Hopefully, she will get home early enough to join
Mom and I are Mom's celebration dinner.

Sunday, is Father's Day, and after wards, we will all go out to lunch and celebrate my younger brother's birthday, my birthday, and Mom's birthday and just enjoy one another and laugh....

Monday I will spend with my youngest daughter Jodee and little Jacob.  She is taking me to Olive Garden to celebrate my birthday.  Fun, fun, fun...can't wait!!  She is having Jacob's pictures taken professionally, so I will meet her there and help her keep him smiling...and then after we will go to lunch...

Tuesday, I return home... (What a jabber box!)  I have so much energy... I LOVE this stuff!!!

A Flurry of Family Events and Some Sad News...

Just wanted to touch base with everyone....my blogging has slowed down this month...at least due to last week and this week preparing a week stay in California...  We have ten family birthdays this month, plus have family in town this weekend, leaving tomorrow... I have a ton of preparations to do, car stuff, errands, etc....I leave the 14th and return home on the 21st...

I will be popping in and out when time allows...

Just found out this morning, my friend Barbs, one of the gal pals in our creative group, lost one of their two dogs, Sadie, last night. She had difficulty breathing and had to be put down. Sadie was her husband's dog...big love affair between them.  She would knock everything off the table with her tail when he came home.  They would be up in his "man cave" watching sports together.  She was his shadow... Their other dog, Shaq is having a very difficult time.  I am so sad I cannot even write another word....

Pardon Me While I Explore...

Check it out!  Diane at The Blue Ridge Gal made me two blog buttons! Please feel free to take one from the side bar of either of my blogs...  She does them for free and she also helps beginning bloggers in designing a custom header for your blog!  She is very nice, kind, generous and works very fast!  Check her out!

 

I am in the process of changing some things on my blog... so please bear with me...

Pardon me while I explore the world of Template Designer...I originally wanted to make my painting of STARGAZER as my Header picture. 

It worked fine in my old template, but I wanted to try a wider blog template and possibly three columns.  I kind of felt like a change...being Spring and all...When I attempted to go back to my original template, I could not remember which one it was...so making a change became a necessity...

I kind of liked the wider blog version, so I set out to find a different picture which would fit... the sky in STARGAZER made it difficult to find a way to make the title of the blog visible for a button; so my second choice for a blog button was the one below... It was one I would often switch to for a header picture...

But it would not fit the wider version either... I also used the desert scene below...which might fit this new wider version...as it is a larger wallpaper picture, which was my original header picture...I used this one for quite some time, as I live in the desert and it was contemplative and peaceful...I loved the colors...

I do like the purple background as a white background is hard on my eyes.  The darker colors work better for me.  So after experimenting, I tried the picture below, which is also a wallpaper picture...

I liked the colors and it went with my invitation to explore....the meaning of our lives...

So what do you think? 

Any suggestions? 

Join me, if you care to give me an opinion,

 as I delve into the reconstruction of this blog...

Slumber Is A Seductive Word...

It has been a busy couple of weeks...I wrote about what I have been up to on my other blog, here.  I had some outside yard projects and am still working on lowering the utilities.  It is amazing to me how I can call and speak to one person, call back and what the first person told me is unknown to the second person. I spoke with a really nice woman from our Internet/land line provider.  She agreed to give me the deal they only offer to new customers.  She told me to take the weekend to discuss it with my husband and she will call me on Monday afternoon.  Now, if she does it, I will make sure customer service knows how much I appreciate her help.

I've made progress in the garage but need to weed out my art stuff.  I need to find a place to dispose of an old computer monitor.  It is so big, it looks like a TV.  The place I found for disposal costs $10.

I have been so tired... If I stop and sit down to watch TV or get on the computer...my head feels fuzzy and my eye lids press down on my eyeballs like heavy weights.  Slumber is such a seductive word...

I really want to visit and blog...but I can not keep my eyes open...maybe later...I am so boring!

"O bed! O bed! delicious bed!

That heaven upon earth to the weary head."

~Thomas Hood~



Christmas Blessings To All My Blogging Friends...

Today I spend the day baking and packing.  I will not be posting until our return next week.

We leave tomorrow on "the road to love" to spend Christmas in California with the rest of our family. I am so looking forward to seeing my family, my three grandsons, my daughters, my sister, my Mom and Dad and my brothers.

May each and every one of you dear fellow bloggers have save travels, both going and coming, and enjoy however each of you choose to spend Christmas Day. May you each stay healthy, happy, warm and well fed.

Love to all of you!!! Donna

Christmas Blessings

to all

my

Blogging friends...

 

Please click on the link below:

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=2007134554829&source=jl999

Beware of System Tool Spy Ware Trojan Horse...

I am so grateful to our community computer GURU at our Computer Club.  He came over today and fixed our computer after my husband inadvertently clicked on a hoax while on FOX SPORTS.  It claimed our computer was infected with a virus.  He thought it was our computer spyware/anti-virus warning.  The virus is called System Tool Spy Ware.  It took control of our computer and completely shut it down.

We had eight of my husband's family for dinner last night.  We leave for California this Friday.  I may not be blogging too much due to wrapping and preparations for our upcoming trip.  I will be posting again, before we leave...until then...

Is It Snoring OR Sleep Apnea...

Tomorrow I go in for a sleep study.  I stay all night, wired up for "sound" (pity the techs who must listen to me snore all night!).  I told my doctor about the many complaints from my family on how loud and disturbing my snoring is.  My husband says "I open and shut drawers in the dresser".

My oldest daughter has video taped me and recorded me on her cell phone.  I cannot tell you how embarrassed I was, but how hard I laughed!!  You'd think snoring THAT LOUD I would wake myself up.  Guess it is an indication of how soundly I sleep...

My doctor told me he was not as concerned with my snoring as he was about sleep apnea, when one actually stops breathing while they sleep.  I guess we will find out...I am concerned if I DO have sleep apnea, I would have to wear one of those masks while I sleep... I have claustrophobia, so the idea of some mask over my face creeps me out BIG TIME...

Guess I will find out.  I have toured the room and it is very nice.  So are the staff.  I am not suppose to take any naps or drink any caffeine during the day.  I go in at 9pm and am supposed to be ready for sleep by 10pm.  Generally, I have no problem going to sleep...but just in case, I may bring a good book...

Home Again, Home Again...

We are home again.  We came home a day early.  My husband's daughter and son could not get off work today, so we decided to save the cost of another night in the hotel and another night of boarding for Izzy, and just come home.

I have to say, the beds at the Ayres Inns are INCREDIBLE!  Thanksgiving night I slept twelve hours straight and felt so relaxed and rested the next morning.  We inquired on the make of the bed and they have their own style beds.  I got the card and plan to investigate...

I wrote a more detailed account of our trip on my other blog, Mystical Journeys.

Izzy was so happy to see us and we were glad to see her little fuzzy, scruffy face too.

She is curled up with my husband watching TV, so I think I will sign off and join them.

Taking Some Time Off....

My sister is flying in this Saturday and will be staying with me for one whole week...7 wonderful, glorious days.  My husband is going to Mexico for his annual trip with his friends and sons, so she and I will have the house to ourselves and be on our own, spontaneous time schedule doing whatever pops into our imaginations.

I will most likely post pictures of some of the things we do...but I will post them on my other blog, Mystical Journeys

See you again in about a week....

GOT THE CALL at 4:03 AM!!!!!

It is 7am and I am getting ready to load the car and take Izzy to the Vet for boarding, then on my way to CALI...need to talk to my oldest daughter, as she is who I will stay with while my youngest daughter is in the hospital, then will stay with my Mom when my daughter goes back home...


I am SO EXCITED and have major nervous stomach for my baby, who is having her first baby!!

More later...love you guys!!!

Sudden Tragedy...Loss Of A Friend...

As some of you may know, Penny Westwood at Penny's Word (which has been deleted) was in a car accident, August 17, 2010.  She lived in a small town of New South Wales. She was driving and swerved to avoid a speeding car driving too fast, around a curve and on the wrong side of the road.  Her car left the road and slammed into a tree.  She was severely injured.  The doctors put her into an induced coma.  She became conscious, and then had a relapse.  Tragically, she died August 26, 2010 in the hospital of a cerebral hemorrhage.  Her funeral some time today, in the afternoon. She was only 59 years of age...

Several days ago, I had gone to her blog to check for updates and discovered it had been deleted.  It gave me a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I hoped either her husband Doug, or one of her three teens, may have done it by accident...

I had emailed her Gmail account asking how she was.  Today, I received an email from her husband Doug, who shared about her death.  When I replied, that email had been deleted as well.  I cannot imagine the grief and loss they have to be feeling now...

I read her blog last March.  I had read one of her poems and was so touched, I asked if I might have her permission to post it.  She graciously allowed me to.  At the end of my post today, I will re post her poem.

I had been corresponding with her only five months, but in that short span of time, through her writing and photographs, I felt she was a kind, gentle, loving woman who loved her family, her little town, animals and nature.  She was a regular visitor with her comments.  I will miss her.

Here is her poem:

Just sayin’.

When in doubt, leap. One needs a little courage to live.
Miracles happen so often they become commonplace.


It’s easier to draw a straight line than to straighten a crooked one.
How come it’s always the narrow path that considers itself superior?

If you paint a black picture, the picture will be black.
Boredom is the price one pays for not enjoying everything.

Getting lost is part of getting there.
There’s something braver than dying for the truth – living without it.

Lessons are learned, not taught.
When your burden gets too heavy, you learn how to carry it.


The little girl riding her bicycle. Never once did she wonder: “Is this worthwhile?”
The sea will wash away our footprints but not the fact we made them.


Experiences for which there are no words get along fine without them.
Reasons are invented, not found.


No river could flow if it had to know its destination first.

~Penny Westlake~

Rest in peace, dear friend...

Paybacks are a B**%@!....

September, 2007 I had a colonoscopy.  In February, 2008, the  local news channels reported over forty thousand (40,000) patients, including myself, had been exposed to Hepatitis B, C and HIV.

Anyone having procedures at The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada on Shadow Lane and its sister clinic, Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center on Burnham in Las Vegas, Nevada, between March, 2004 and January, 2008, could be at risk of infection.   Dr. Depak Desai (pictured below) owning several endoscopy centers, instructed his anesthesia nurses to reuse the syringes and vials of anesthesia used to administer the anesthesia, Propofol. CAN YOU IMAGINE???

This man was a Physician who took the Hippocratic Oath!!

It was reported in the paper this guy was so greedy, he threatened his staff if they did not comply with his tightwad techniques to save every penny.  A normal colonoscopy takes 20-30 minutes.  HE WOULD DO THEM IN TEN MINUTES!!! And then brag about it!!!

For one year of my life, I lived with the unknown, while being tested for those diseases.  I could not even share food with my grand sons or allow them to drink from my cup.  I was absolutely paranoid around my loved ones and friends. I felt terrified. My children and husband were scared to death. My elderly parents were horrified. It goes without saying the mental/emotional anguish my family and I went through during that time.  Thank God I was given the "all clear"at the end of all my testing. I feel so very lucky and Blessed to have escaped infection, when so many did not...

Google this guy and you will not believe your eyes when you read about him.  Even a layman, who never worked within a hospital setting, WOULD NEVER EVEN THINK of re-using syringes and vials of anesthesia.  Supposedly, the needles were changed, but one syringe, contaminated by a needle from an infected patient, re-used to withdraw anesthesia from a re-used vial, is a double whammy for infection to a healthy patient.  IT IS ABSOLUTELY UNTHINKABLE and CRIMINAL!

Today, FINALLY, two years later, with delays, pleas for his "poor health" and strokes brought on by "stress", Depak Desai, his two employees (nurse anesthetists) Ronald Lakerman and Keith Mathahs, were indicted by the Grand Jury on 28 counts of racketeering, performance of an act in reckless disregard of persons or property, criminal neglect of patients, insurance fraud, theft, and obtaining money under false pretenses.  Many of the charges are felonies.  This guy is going away for the rest of his life! (I HOPE!!)

He surrendered today, turning himself in.  He is under house arrest until he posts a one million bail. I hope he can't make bail.  I hope he has to stay at the Detention Center instead of his four million dollar mansion in the Red Rock Country Club Estates. Tell me this guy's Karma did not come back to eat him alive! Paybacks are a B**%@!

I was so ecstatic when I heard it on the news, I stood and cheered!

Aaaa-CHOOOO!!

 

I am paying the price

for walking Izzy in the wind

 the past several days.

My eyes are itchy,

 my nostrils are dried out

 and I am SNEEZING MY HEAD OFF!

From now on,

 I think I will wear the above

for any future walks in the wind...

For now: We're staying where we are...

After much deliberating, making lists of Pro's and Con's, back and forth conversating, crying, arguing (loud frustrated discussions), we have decided to take the house off the market and stay put.  All the foreclosures and short sales are bringing down the comps so low, we refuse to give our house away...

At the moment, I am too tired to adequately express how I feel...more later...

February transitons...

I'm here...lots on my mind.  I have not figured out how to express it....yet. 

Is it me, or is time racing by?