sorry

DAM!! THE PREVIOUS ENTRY FONT IS TOO SMALL...SORRY GUYS!!!

Good Morning Campers.

Hope this finds you all doing well.  25 days to go people..did you hear me?  25 days!! woo hoo!! And ...drum roll here..... 7 days and a wake up till my hubby will be home....can we say excited?? LOL between him coming home and Christmas coming I can hardly stand myself...the girls at work asked me yesterday if I had to be so damn happy all the time....lol...speaking of work the MA gave her notice...it went better than expected as no one was really surprised..this girl is a good worker but very highly strung and moody...and LOUD..so they had "overheard" her bitching all the time about "I am so out of here" etc.. so they weren't really surprised..her timing sucks yes but hey we'll survive.. I think they have made a decision on the new office manager..I met her yesterday..she is very pleasant..and seems to know her stuff..and she is older than me..LOL.. I work in an office of the young and the beautiful...I am 14 years older than the Dr's...this woman also has some MA's that wouldn't mind coming with her from the office she is at now so fingers crossed...

I am off now until Monday and then I start working 3 days a week indefinitely...M-W..not a bad work week..and at least hubby will be home to take some of the load off the running around...he has become quite the chef too so he can have it... ;-)  It is going to be an adjustment for sure having him home all the time..he has been gone on and off for 3 years now...

I am staying home this morning and getting the bills paid and writing the Christmas cards...Ryan has an orthodontic appointment this afternoon too...

Spoke with my sister.. my dad almost killed his damn self...silly man went fishing..in the cold and damp..only had a thin jacket on..sat there freezing for 4 hours..when he got home he crawled in the front door and was shivering so hard my sister thought he was having a fit..she called the Dr. out and they took his temperature..he had mild Hypothermia!!! The silly old goat!! had not had anything to eat or drink either.. he really has gotten bad..relies on my sister for everything..and he is quite capable of doing for himself...just lazy...thank god after some hot soup and tea and being tucked in bed with his electric blanket he was fine....good job my sister was home when he got back....I could slap him!! I love him to death but he is enough to drive you to drink...now I know what my Mum was on about all those years...you can't help but love my dad..he is the darn cutest thing and has this helpless little boy look about him... BUT if it wasn't for my sister he would be eat beans out of a tin and live down the garden in his shed... ;-)

Well there I go prattling on again...have a great Thursday...

L

My five....

1.Spent a couple of  happy hours in the bookstore the other day..my idea of heaven..

2..Drinks with the girls after work last night...

3... The docks along the river have their Christmas lights on..and the boats too..it's almost time for the annual Boat parade along the riverfront complete with Santa..Jimmy Buffet style... ;-)

4....My neighbour bought me the cutest candle set for letting her dog out while she was away for Thanksgiving....

5..... 7 days and a wake up.....

Monday evening

Good evening campers.

I sure hope you all can read this font. As much as I am trying to be festive I think I am killing your eyes so if this is still too hard to read then I shall stop with the madness...;-)

Well well well if today wasn't a typical Monday then I don't what is.. I woke up feeling the aches and pains of dragging out decorations and putting up 7.5 foot Christmas trees.. I really am out of shape..any time I over do things my body lets me know.. what's up with that?Old age I reckon...;-)

As you saw from my pics last night we have finished decorating. Big shout out to Ryan for getting the outside decorated for me.. I had to cajole and baby him every step of the way.. he is just like his father...moaning and groaning out there...made me laugh... but when it was all said and done I think he was proud of himself. My pics really don't do it all justice..even if you do enlarge them.. and AOHell was just being a royal PITA last night...I must say the house looks very festive and it was a treat to drive around the corner this evening and see my little house blinking at me....

Back to Monday.. get to work after driving in the fog..hate the fog..hate driving..hate going over the bridge... <sigh> anyway first thing I get hit with is that one of the other Medical Assistants is giving her notice tomorrow...holy flipping moly..we now have no office manager and will be down to one full time MA and me..and I am supposed to be covering for the receptionist one day a week...guess we need to be doing some cloning in our office...seriously it's going to be a mess because this time of year it's hard to find help and train someone with our crazy holiday schedules.... grrrrrrrrrr.. we can only do what we can do...I also had to remind the one Dr. that is working this week that it's payroll time again...

Well that's enough of my silly prattle.. hope you all had a reasonable Monday....I shall be doing Christmas cards this week..let me know if you would like one from the crazy britchick... ;-)

Goodnite...

L

 

Chritmas decorations

I have no idea what is going on with the Journals tonight but I am going to save this while the going is good and will be back to write an entry.

Satuday Morning

Morning Campers.

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. We sure did. Just us and that was fine with me. I did go round our friends the night before for dinner which was nice. We all ate to much on Thanksgiving. the cauliflower cheese was delish Marie ..Thank you again!!

Black Friday. I make no apologies for being one of the nutters out there at 5 am..LOL... truth is I find most of the people to be friendly and in good spirits..wearing their favourite holiday attire..some even in reindeer antlers...LOL...of course there are always a few bad apples in the bunch..stay home if you don't like crowds is all I have to say... someone even put the money that must have fallen out of my friend Jen's pocket in the handle of her car..how's that for the spirit?? We had fun and I got a few bargains.... I did invest in a beautiful new Artificial tree..you would be hard pressed to know it's artificial though.. it is a 7.5 foot Vermont Mountain King Blue Fir..it is gorgeous..the leaves are pale and do have almost a blueish colour to them...it was expensive.. I will not tell you the price lest you call the people in white coats to come and get me...haha ..haha...haha... I put the thing together myself last night...it comes with the lights on it and getting all 750 of those to work was a challenge... but when it was was all said and done it was worth it and it looks beautiful.. I shall post pics later.. I am still not done decorating.. I have several more boxes that I need Ryan to get down for me... it is the official start of the silly season here in the Hatfield house!!!!

Well I need to get off here and get busy.. if I haven't commented it's because I had to turn off my alerts...they were getting out of hand because if I see an alert I feel compelled to read it so I just switched them off for a couple of days... ;-) I will get around to everyone eventually... after the last AOL debacle with no alerts... you are all saved in my favourites....

Have a great weekend.. you are all in my thoughts...

L

My five....

1. Having girlfriends crazy enough to get up at 4am and come shopping with me and bring me Star bucks... ;-)

2.. The official opening day of silly season.... ;-)

3...Hubby calling me..from the market in Italy...he can't buy anything without asking me what I think first...LOL.. he is useless at shopping ..bless him...

4.... The roses that hubby sent get more and more gorgeous every day.. pics of them to follow too....

5.....Christmas trees... fairy lights...Mistletoe scented candles...Santa clauses..elves....sitting in the glow of the Christmas tree lights sipping a glass of sherry and looking around at all the magic.....and realizing just how blessed I am....

 

wednesday

Hello Campers..can't say morning...LOL..

Well I am off until Monday. I went in for a couple of hours this morning but we only have one Dr. working so I wasn't needed. The other girls wanted the hours so I said fair enough. I am getting some housework done and laundry so that I can relax tomorrow and enjoy the day and of course I shall be one of the nutters braving the sales Friday... ;-)

I had a lovely surprise yesterday... hubby sent me two dozen long stemmed roses!! Who says romance is dead?? He said "just two more weeks baby...hold on and I will be home" altogether now "awwwwww" I was tickled to death. Even Ryan was impressed by that. Speaking of Ryan he is feeling better today and is at work as the Burger King  ;-)

I have got all the goodies in for tomorrow...I even cleaned my new oven.. I have never had a self cleaning oven before.. I had no idea that it took so long! And the smell...eww! I would have never done it had I of known.. me and Ryan were gagging at the fumes and it was way to cold even for me to have the windows open...yes folks it is freezing here...they even mentioned the "S" word yesterday of course it never happened but that shows you how cold it is....Ryan got some firewood in and I think I may put the fireplace on tonight. I am all about a cozy night by the fire.

I bought the new CD by Sarah MacLachlan.. "Wintersong" it's a Christmas CD and just beautiful...even has my two favs on it.

Well I am just waffling on about nothing so I shall say cheerio for now....be safe out on those roads if you are traveling... it was a zoo driving home....

L

My five...

1. My hubby..he never ceases to amaze me...

2.. Telepathy.... was sitting here thinking about our Stevie when I hear "you got mail" and it was from him... really gave me the chills...in a good way of course...I was happy to hear from you babes...

3...A cozy afternoon in my little house, just me myself and I...

4.... The kindness of Marie Alice sharing her recipes with me...with all of us....

5..... Making new friends through J land....

 

Monday Morning

Morning campers. <looks at Ora>

How are we all this morning? Have a good weekend?? I did! Friday I had the staff meeting at work..it went pretty much as I thought it would..lots of apologies for what happened..let's all pull together etc etc.. I did offer to work one extra day a week as needed to cover the front desk.. they have hired another office manager but she won't be starting till the New Year. Saturday I went to St Augustine with Jen to do a little shopping and wander around the awesome shops they have there. Yesterday I did laundry, raked leaves, bought and wrapped birthday gifts for 2 co workers this week, picked up Balloons  for the receptionist who turns 21 today!! cooked dinner and drove Ryan to and from work. Speaking of Ryan he is in bed with a cold and sore throat..I think he is run down he has worked the past 4 days in a row and he is not used to it. This is the first day he has missed of school and as it's a 2 day week I am sure he's not missing much. More important he rest and get better. So I had a busy but fun weekend.

Spoke to hubby yesterday... he woke me up at 7am..and I could have slept in for once but that's okay...we keep missing each other so I guess he figured he's reach me this way... ;-) he had been shopping and was chuffed with himself..he doesn't shop..he took his female Chief with him and she helped him out.. hopefully she has good taste... ;-)

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching.. you thought I forgot didn't you with all my giddiness about Christmas... ;-) I didn't forget..but I have to be honest and tell you it does not hold much significance to me... for obvious reasons but any excuse to stuff my face is a good one... we don't do Turkey here though for TG.. that's because we do it for Christmas dinner and I don't know about anyone else but I can truly only do Turkey once a year....so we are having a ham on Thursday...and homemade Macaroni and Cheese and Green bean casserole.. and of course pies.. my kids love Pumpkin Pie....

Have a great week....

L

My five...

1. Speaking with hubby...

2.. It is cold here.... brrrrrrrrrr.. love it!

3.. Christmas lights, carols, decorations.. St Augustine was Christmas in full swing....

4.... Birthday celebrations... love shopping for gifts for co workers...

5..... My life.. I am so blessed...

 

Early Holiday Tag

 Thanks to Phil the thrill for this one....

Your Name: Lynda

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?  he puts them in a huge sack

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white

4 . Do you hang mistletoe?  I will this year... ;-)

5. When do you put your decorations up?  The Day after Thanksgiving if I can wait...

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?  The whole Christmas meal

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?  The anticiptaion as we went down the stairs Christmas Morning...

 

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?  I can't remember the actual circumstance but had my doubts for a while and would try to catch my parents out

 

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?  just one

 

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?  The whole shebang!! Ornaments, lights, garland, candy canes.

 

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?   Love it!!

 

12. Can you ice skate?    Yep did it a few times as a kid and last year in central park!!

 

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?  Tiny tears

 

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?  the spirit of the holidays...

 

15. What is your favorite Holiday Desert?  English Christmas pudding with heavy cream....

 

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?  Ryan goes into Rachel's room and they wait for us to wake up.. last year they txt me...LOl

 

17. What tops your tree?  a lighted star

 

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving?  giving

 

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? "So this is Christmas" and "I'll be home for Christmas"

 

20. Candy Canes, Yuck or Yum?   Yuck

21. Did you wait in a long line to purchase a Playstation 3 today?  Hell no!!

 

22. Have you ever waited in line to get a high demand item?  sure have.. back when the kids were young...several different times.. can't remember for what now though...

TGIF and Pallazzo pants... ;-)

Morning Campers.

Friday..woo hoo! Have to go in for a much needed staff meeting today at noon. We still have no office manager..they did offer me the position again and I again declined... I like my job working only 20 hours a week..and I want to keep it that way...they did ask for my opinion on the whole situation and they got it!! To add fuel to the fire our payroll did not go in on time to get our direct deposit and so they had to cut us live cheques.. if I hadn't called to tell them they would not have realized!! I was paying some bills online and noticed my cheque hadn't gone in....I am sure things will get heated in the meeting today... we all went to lunch with the lady they let go yesterday....she is leaving on Tuesday...moving back to Chicago...:-(

I have a couple of errands to do today... mail my packages to England .. picked up a couple more little items for my sister and have dads JD safely wrapped in bubble wrap... ;-)  I just cleaned the pool..we have had some pretty heavy winds the past couple of days...there was a lot of pine straw in the pool...I will be glad when hubby gets back and can put the cover on for the winter....

Ryan got his first paycheck...how cute.. ;-) He seems to be taking to working okay.. I am happy... it keeps him busy and off the streets...

I bought a new outfit for the Christmas party.... glad that's over with... The top is a Black Camisole with a thin cardigan style jacket that goes over it..the jacket is black with threads of deep wine and gold coloured glitter on it..very shimmery and sexy ...nice dress black trousers..the very long and loose style...forget the  name of them...Pallazzo maybe?? they are pretty nice..gonna throw on some high black heels and some long black earrings and viola!! I did try a couple of party dresses on but they are just not me and I would just feel uncomfortable all night... just found a picture of the style of trousers I'm talking about...see above....LOL

Okay time for me to get going here...have a great weekend everyone....

L

My five....

1. Christmas shopping for Uk done...

2.. Beautiful morning...blue skies and crisp temps....

3... My neighbour bringing me a taste of her Pot Roast... yum....

4....The new Christmas store that opened in the mall ...got a Christmas Ornament Angel for Dad to put on Mum's grave..

5..... The moon... sat outside last night..sipping on a glass of sherry and enjoyed the moonlight....

Wednesday..do the humpty hump... ;-)

Morning Campers.

Thank you for the lovely comments about Kevin yesterday. I can't even begin to imagine the pain they must be going through and at this time of year as well.

On a lighter note... I am putting a nice dent in the Christmas shopping.  :-) Don't know why I am so into it this year but I am. I have always been a Christmas lover. It was the one time of year that my Mum was the kind of Mum I wanted her to be all the time. She was happy, light hearted, in good spirits.. my Dad always used to say he wished people were like they were at Christmas all the time... if you think about it it's true..unless you are a total scrooge..bah humbug  LOL.. I have had people of different religions that do not celebrate Christmas tell me that their philosophy is to be in that same "Christmas" mind set all year long... not a bad idea. ..we should always be kind to our fellow man,  be generous and open our hearts and our homes... they may be on to something there... I am probably looking forward to the holidays so much because when hubby comes home this time he won't be leaving again...it was always hanging over us that he would be leaving again soon and made the holidays bittersweet..whatever the reason I am feeling the spirit and loving it!! I am itching to put up my decorations.. that's another new thing for me.. the earliest I have ever put them up before was the day after Thanksgiving.. growing up we never put them up till 2 weeks before Christmas.. I bought some new ornaments yesterday in the Navy exchange...these cute little fairies and elves...I got my Dad his huge bottle of Jack Daniels..he loves a toddy at night but won't buy it for himself in UK..it's way more expensive over there than here..it costs me more to ship it than  what it's worth but I love to think of him having his little toddy at night and toasting to me... bless him....

Well folks I could ramble on all morning but I need to get my butt in the shower and head off to work.. have a great Hump Day..welcome back to Phil... ;-)

L

My Five...

1. Christmas... I am a kid at heart..

2.. Emails....hubby is getting so excited to get HOME...

3... Ryan in his Burger King uniform... he looks so darn cute..he doesn't think so... will have to get a pic...LOL

4.... This glorious weather....

5..... Hot tea and toast...yum...Rye Bread and Orange Marmalade...

Kev's pic

My FTP space was obviously not working...here is his pic...

sad news

This is the son of a one of my hubby's comrades. They used to be stationed with us and my daughter and him are the same age. He lost his uncle who was also one of my hubby's colleagues in a helicopter crash 12 years ago. This family has paid such a price for our freedom. I know the print is hard to read but the photo is beautiful.. he died 13 days before his 21st birthday. RIP Kev...

 

 PFC Kevin Ellenburg, son of CMC Kenny Ellenburg.  Kevin was killed in an IED related incident while driving a Bradley in Iraq just 13 days before reaching his 21st birthday. Kevin is the youngest son of CMC Kenny Ellenburg and his ex wife Julie Ellenburg.  

Sunday Morning

Morning campers.

It's chilly here this morning..the temperature must have dropped 30 degrees from yesterday! You know I'm not complaining though... ;-)

Been a busy couple of days.Thursday I went shopping and to lunch with Jen..we haven't been for a couple of weeks so that was nice. Friday I did the grocery shopping at the Commissary on base..Yesterday was the Annual Pig Roast for one of the Imaging Centers we send patients to. It was fun. Nice to spend some time outside. Have also been running Ryan back and forth to work. He likes it..and I think we may have cured his addiction to cheese burgers..LOL I have also been cleaning and organizing... I tend to stash things away for Christmas over the year so I have got them all together. My neighbourhood has begun decorating already. All it takes is one person to put something out and voila!!  I must admit I'm tempted myself but will probably wait at least another week.

Remember me telling you about my concerns for our new Office Manager?? well they let her go Friday..just like that! She did not even work 90 days!! I am so upset..she is 55, divorced and has a mortgage. They paid her to the end of the month and that is that. I think they could have handled this better..why not tell her their concerns, offer her more training and say they would give her to say the end of the year to improve?? this time of year is awful to be looking for a job. I was not there when this happened. I am not looking forward to going into the office tomorrow.. I will not say anything unless they ask for my opinion..if they make the mistake of asking for it they shall get it....it's just wrong.

Spoke to hubby..he is freezing his butt off in the barracks..seems they will not turn the heat on until they have had 5 consecutive days where the temperature has been below 50 degrees. Yesterday was day 4 ...hope for everyone's sake they get heat soon...he is cranky when he is cold.. ;-)

well that's what's happening in my little corner of the world...hope everyone is having a great weekend.. it is definitely starting to look a lot like Christmas.... ;-)

L

My Five...

1. Ryan taking to his first job...

2.. Journals seem to be okay again..what a PITA

3... Speaking to hubby even if he was a grouch.. ;-)

4....Christmas decorations..I will definitely be taking pics of my neighbourhood and sharing them on here..one guy has 6 of those huge blow up Santa globes with cascading snow already!!!

5..... All of you reading this....

My favourite Veteran

 

The link below is to my favourite Veteran...  ;-) 

Click here: Navy NewsStand - Eye on the Fleet

My thanks go out to all our Vets past and present. Please remember them this Veterans Day. Special prayers to those still defending our freedom.

L

 

Thursday...

Morning campers.

How is everyone this morning? I am doing fine here. Do you know it is only 4 weeks till hubby comes home?? Talk about how time flies. And not always when you're having fun.. ;-) I am starting to get excited. I can't wait to have him home for good. well at least for a couple of years anyways.Of course he will be doing some traveling here and there but no long detachments.

I appreciate all of the kind comments regarding my last two entries. Amazing how therapeutic that was for me. It is very hard for me to open up like that but when I do it feels so good. Wish it wasn't so hard for me to talk about certain things. I strongly feel that I have blocked things from my past. Or changed them in my mind to help me deal with them. Part of me wants to find out what I have blocked and the other part tells me to leave well alone.

I have been quite busy. I have spent some time in the yard. Trimmed back all the hedges. Mowed the front lawn. Raked leaves. Felt good to get outside and do some physical work. My darn arms and shoulders have paid for it though  ;-)

Have got some Christmas shopping done. While we are on the subject I would love the addresses of anyone who would like to exchange Christmas cards with me. Just email me and we can exchange information.

Work is getting busier and busier..and with that comes some stress..our new office manager is not 'catching on' as quickly as the dr's would like..we are a paperless office..no paper charts..everything is done via the computer..she is having a hard time mastering the program.. I feel so bad for her and I think the Dr's should send her for some formal training..they say it's not in the budget...things are tense again in the office and I just hate that... I try to make the most of the 2 days I am there...but you could cut the atmosphere with a knife... :-(

I see a few of the Journals are lisiting their 30 days of Thanksgiving..a nice idea...and exactly why I try to list my 5 good things on a daily basis..I find people can easily complain..they don't even have to think about it..but ask them to come up with  a list of things they are grateful for it takes them a few more minutes...sad but true...

On that note I shall get to my five... have a great Thursday everyone...

L

My five....

1.Hot coffee...my jump start to the day..

2..Very rewarding day yesterday at work...

3...Signs of Christmas everywhere...

4.... That I will get to see Jen today....

5.....That the alerts seem to be working again and that I could get into my Journal...phew!!!

Babes death....

Thank you for all the kind comments about yesterdays entry. I miss my Mum. I always wanted to see her as a fiesty old lady. She loved old people so much ..whenever I see little old ladies I think of her.

A few people have asked how my Mum died. I looked back in my Journal and I don't think I ever wrote about it online. Like all things painful I tend to clam up about them but I am ready to tell if you would like to hear it..it's a sad story I warn you....

My Mum was pretty fit and healthy..she walked 3-5 miles every single day..she rode her bike everywhere..she was a whirlwind..always cleaning, gardening, walking..busy busy busy....in the fall of 2002 she told me she was having a lot of Diarrhea and crampy backache.. remember she was terrified of Dr's..she also had the typical British "stiff upper lip"..she hated to make a fuss...she had been to the Dr. and he had told her she had a "bug".. well she kept getting the same symptoms.. I was over here 3000 miles away and had no idea how poorly she really was...we sadly did not exchange photos too often or I would have known..the last pics taken of her were Xmas 2002.. she looked terrible..and I did not see them till I went home when she was really ill....anyway.. she went back to the Dr a few times..they did blood work which was okay...they sent her for a scope..a camera down into her gut..they did not go the other way..she was on a waiting list for that...she was also on a waiting list for a CT scan.. (socialized medicine at it's worst) well she continued to get worse..she had lost a LOT of weight...in the mean time I was planning a surprise trip home on May 3rd 2003 for my dad's 70th birthday..only my sister knew about it..I had spoken to my Mum and she told me she wasn't well..she kept asking me if I thought she had cancer...I was worried but truthfully they didn't tell me just how ill she was...she went back and forth to the dr's..my dad was making her hot water bottles to put on her back for the pain...well 6 days before I was to fly in for the surprise my Mum bled out..from her mouth and her backside...she was rushed to hosptial in an ambulance wher she finally got her Ct Scan..her intestines were blocked and had ruptured...they did emergency surgery and removed mostof her intestines..they could not reconnect her colon as it was so infected...when my sister called me that night I was in shock...this is what she said "Mum is in hospital and they don't think she is going to make it' I could not take it in.. I did not know anything at that point.. I kept saying over and over "what about dads birthday surprise?".. I flew home the next day ..hubby was on a six month deployment out to sea...my Rach was about to graduate high school so she couldn't come...Ryan came with me...I got off the plane and they took me straight to the hosptial..Mum was in ICU.. we went into the ward and my dad said "there she is" and pointed to this stranger.. I did not recognize her...I fell to my knees and was saying over and over "where is she..that's not my Mum"..they had to take me out..my best friend Di (breast cancer) was with me and my sister and my dad...after I got over the shock I went in again..she was on a ventilator..remember her fear of choking?? that's what hurt me the most because I knew why she was so agitated...it was the damn ventilator...I begged them to try to take her off it...they said they would..me and my sister were there when they tried..she got too agitated..panicking..etc..combative..it was awful...they had to put her back on it.. it was terrible to see her laying there sedated on the ventilator..but very time they tried to wake her up just a little bit she would get so agitated..I know it was the tube down her throat....the only time she ever woke up was on my dads 70th Birthday..she sat up..she stroked my dads face..she mouthd to me that she knew I would come for his birthday...she saw Ryan..she asked for Rachel...Lester flew in to see her... I told her over and over that she did not have cancer (her biggest fear)..that she had had an operation and that she had the tube down her throat to help her breathe..she kept motioning for me to take it out...that night she went back into her vegatative state... I had to say goodbye to her in the hospital..I knew I would never see her again..I had to fly back to the states to see Rachel graduate..Lester went back on the ship and started his journey back to the states...Mum lasted another 3 weeks...they called me to say that the dr's did not see Mum getting any better..she developed Pneumonia and ARDS...they said if she did live she would never be able to eat again..she would be fed from a tube...they had tried a Tracheotomy..nothing helped and you cannot stay on a ventilator forever...so the decision was made to take her off the ventilator. They called me as they did it from her bedside. I had to hang up because it took her 2 hours to die. Babe died 28th May at 12.15 am. My 20th wedding anniversary.

No Happy returns

Today would have been my mums 70th birthday.

As you know I did not have the greatest of relationships with my Mum.She was moody, miserable, bitchy a lot of the time. She was also very funny, kind hearted, great with old people..would give you the shirt off her back.. great sense of humour..we once almost got thrown off a bus for the uncontrollable giggles caused by a man sitting oppisite us with this huge bandage on his nose..one look at him and her and I were off...it was terrible!! the more we tried to stop the worse it got... LOL She cried at the Waltons and Little House on the Prarie.. she loved dogs..we had a Red Setter called Tramp for 14 years.. she walked him 3 miles every day..sometimes twice...she could do cartwheels, juggle, ride a moterbike, never learned to drive..she tried a few times but always gave up she was way too nervous.. she made Christmas very very special.. she would begin "hoarding" food as early as September..she kept it all under th stairs...she loved Malteasers (english candy similar to whoppers) she smoked..in her later years rolled her own to save money.. I saw her get into at least 3 fist fights with women...she had a terrible temper...one time this girl was after me..said I had been after her boyfirend..my Mum drug her out the pub by her hair and told her she ever so much as looked at me wrong she would be back... ;-) She loved Country and Western music and dancing and slot machines. she was the life and soul of the party and no one would ever believe the way she was at home..she was terrified of Doctors, hospitals and had a morbid fear of choking.. she chewed her food into tiny pieces to avoid that....if we ever got hurt as kids she would go get the neighbours because she would panic......she once knocked two ornaments together while dusting and smashed them and cut her palms badly..she had to have stitches and they pretty much had to put her to sleep to do them..LOL...she was always dusting, hoovering, would come in on a saturday morning when I was trying to sleep in and open the curtains and the bloody windows and start hoovering around me...LOL.. she would spit on a hanky and wipe off my face as a kid ewwwwwwwwww...she was only just 5' tall..she was one of twins..her twin died at birth..she was born in a workhouse..she only weighed 2lb.. she never met her dad he was an alcoholic and died of Cirrosis of the liver.. her family was very poor.. she had 2 sisters and 3 brothers...hr real name was Diana but veryone called her babe as she was the youngest.. I once watched her and her sister get into a fight..my dad and my uncle had to sperate them with a water hose...LOL.. she was very very passionate... she would defend us kids to the very end...looking back I can see we had far more happy times than sad...but when I reached puberty that was it..we fought on and off for years..she semed to be jealous of me..she begrudged me the relationship I had with my dad..she felt like it was us against her...the things she said and did to me were awful..she hit me..she calld me all the names under the sun...she hated with the same passion she loved...but at the end of the day I can say that she loved me and she did her best...she grew up in a time when you didn't talk about womens problems, depression was not an option, I know she suffered from it though, and I know she had a terrible time with menopause but never asked for help... and I can admit I was a typical moody teenager. I just wish things could have been different.. I wish we could have had the kind of relationaship I have with my daughter... that is the one good thing that came out of it..I was determined to not be the way she was...

Anyways...

No Happy Returns Mum...just happy memories till we meet again..night night God Bless....

Lyn

 

British Takeover ;-)

BRITISH TAKEOVER
A Message from John Cleese (of Monty Python) to the citizens of the United States of America :
"In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.
Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories excepting Kansas, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how incorrectly you have been pronouncing it.
2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix 'ize' will be replaced by the suffix 'ise'. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up the word "vocabulary").
3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize. You will re-learn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen.
4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.
6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit willbe required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.
8. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
9. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol which you have been calling gasoline-roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.
10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby, (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full Kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Look up the word "nancies" in the OED, it does not refer to the wife of a former president.
14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 21% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.
15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 PM with proper cups, never mugs,with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; strawberries in season.
"Thank you for your co-operation"

Correction

I made a mistake..slip of the tongue..it's Lisa Williams  the british Pyschic not Liz...check her out here

 

Click here: Lifetimetv.com: Lisa Williams - About Lisa

L

Army girls, Fairies, Santa claus and Mermaids....

Morning Campers.

Another chilly morning here in the Sunshine State. Yesterday was really windy and cold. First time I can actually say I was cold inside the house. Winds were from the north at 10 miles an hour... I have a lot of leaves I need to get cleaned up out front.I have a Magnolia tree that sheds leaves all year and the leaves are huge.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. I love fairies, elves, pixies, mermaids..anything mystical and magical.Also thought you might like to see my daughter and her friends dressed up for a costume party. The 2 large Santas are new.. I got them Thursday. I also bought Christmas cards. I have only bought 2 actual Christmas gifts so far though...I don't have a whole lot to buy anyway. I do remember the days of queueing up waiting for the toys..... ;-) I heard some women complaining in Walmart that they are doing away with Layaway after this year. I know that will hurt a lot of families.

Yesterday when I was leaving Walmart there was this young couple sitting on the tailgate of their truck with their dog holding up a sign that said "Driving through, run out of money, need gas and food" There is a Pizza joint in the same shopping strip so I was going to go get them a Pizza but someone beat me to it so I stopped and gave them $10 for gas. I like to think they were for real. I would hope that if my daughter was traveling someone would do the same for her. My hubby says I am gullible and that they were probably lazy buggers looking for a hand out.. I like to think otherwise... the cup is half full in my eyes... it was my $10 and I truly think they needed it more than I did and the reason doesn't really matter...

Well folks I am off to get my day started.. I feel like working outside so I am going to rake the leaves, clean up the lawns and maybe go get a pot of Mums to put out front...they have some gorgeous ones at the garden centre...

Enjoy your Saturday...

L

My five...

1. Giving to others..

2.. My digital camera..

3... Another new book....title to follow..can't be bothered to go fetch it...

4....Plans for lunch with the girls tomorrow.. I am sick of my own company...

5.....Catching Liz Williams on Lifetime yesterday..she is an amazing British Pyschic...

 

November

Morning Campers.

How are we all? November huh? Wow..doesn't seem possible to me. I love November..it's shopping month!! to me anyway.. I love going to the mall and seeing all the decorations for Christmas..all the sales..all the hustle and bussle...I love the cold weather...the cozy evenings in front of the fire..yes I have a fireplace here in sunny Florida..we use more for the ambiance than for heating but I love it just the same...I don't mind the dark evenings...the candles look great..you feel like eating proper food again after months of grilling outside...can you tell I love fall?? Our fall and winter are about the same here..we might get a couple of days in January where we get a freeze but nothing like the winters I remember back home when you had to run outside and warm your car up before you could drive..when you all sat around the gas fire in the morning eating your ready brek.. when it took half an hour to get your snow suit, hat, gloves, scarf on! LOL ahh the memories....

I feel better today.. I worked yesterday and we were sooooooooooo busy.. I came home ate and literally fell into bed... I was a little down as well after hubby left but now I am just excited for his homecoming.. looking forward to Christmas..decorating the house etc...

Halloween was fun..lots of little ghosts and goblins..fairies seemed to be popular this year.. I did have one disturbing thing.. a bigger kid..A boy..dressed as a gangster with a bandana and a fake gun!! I told him he better be careful toting a gun around like that...that someone could take him for real and shoot his arse! can't believe his parents let him out like that ( if they knew) I made him take off his bandana and put away the gun before I gave him any candy..and under there was this sweet little boy..called me maam and everything....made me sad really that kids think it's cool to imitate the criminals....

It is chilly here this morning..I need to find some socks for my tootsies..sitting here in the Florida room with the windows open.. trying to decide what to do today...I have plenty of choices but none are tickling my fancy...my choices I mean houseworkof course...LOL

Hope you all have a pleasant Thursday...and that you don't too bad of a sugar hangover... I don't care to see another piece of chocolate again for weeks..unless of course Ainz wants to send me a REAL dairy milk bar.... ;-)

L

My five...

1. That I slept well last night...

2..Sunny skies and cool temps on my day off...

3... Christmas Catalogues....

4....Ditto on the magazines...

5.....My dad is enjoying his little vacation in the Isle of Wight...