Wrapping paper litering the floor.......

My life has so many turns it's a wonder I don't have whiplash.

I thought we were going to have to take Mother to the hospital Christmas morning.

Her blood pressure dropped to 80/60. I was starting a chocolate pie(from

scratch), had the dressing in the oven, gravy, potatoes and cabbage on the

stove. I heard Mother calling me from her room. She was very weak and thought she was going to pass out. I called Crissie and Aaron to come help because I knew she would not go to the hospital without a fight. By the time Crissie and Aaron got out here she was feeling better and

didn't want to go to the ER. Crissie thinks it was because she tasted the

fudge she was making the night before. She was feeling well enough

to eat with us a couple of hours later. Never did get the pie made. We had

way too much food anyway. Crissie, Aaron, Emily, Makayla and a friend of Crissie's came out for dinner and presents.

I was suppose to leave on the 26th for Houston but decided to wait and see how Mother felt.

I got Mother into see the PA yesterday(the doctor wasn't in the office) and after hearing about the blood pressure dropping and asking a lot of questions she said the she didn't want to dismiss it even though there might not be a problem. She suggested "we" keep a close eye on her blood pressure, get some blood work done next week and have all the results in the file when Mother sees the doctor on the 9th. Then we both got flu shots. The PA said that the flu is a real problem in Houston. This is the first time I have taken a flu shot so I will probably get sick.

Needless to say, the trip to Houston is off.
With all of my mumbling and grumbling I realize how fortunate we are. Sitting at the dinner table were four generations. We had more than enough food. Actually, We could have fed 10 more people and still had leftovers. My father is 90 and my mother is 84. Both are in reasonably good health. I will be 60 in April and aside from needing to lose weight and chronic allergies, I'm doing well. I have wonderful children, terrific friends and .....I have dreams for the future.

With Age Comes.......

Okay, maybe it's not"with age" but just passing time and advanced technology. I no longer have to wrap coins or count out pennies to pay for things. No, I don't have more money than I did when I was younger. COIN STAR! A revolutionary concept. No more looks from the bank tellers when I bring in a bag of rolled coins. (they have to check every roll in case I try to slip in a Canadian dime) No more sighs from people behind me a the Inconvenience store while I count change for a gallon of gas. Now I can dump the box of change (that I have been saving for months) into the tray and the machine will find the Canadian dime and spit it out without comment. So, until I become wealthy or a machine is built that can mock me, I am content to use Coin Star! as my personal banker and friend.

Cold and Wet

I had hoped I would be able to get through the holiday season.... It comes as no surprise to me that there are more deaths, natural or otherwise, at this time of the year than any other. So it seems that"'tis the season" takes on a whole new meaning. I, like many, reflect on the past year. For me, that usually leads to guilt trip through previous years. Not a pretty sight. I have trouble finding a reason to do anything and yet I continue to go through the motions; not knowing why and not able to stop. And so it shall go until......

LESSONS LEARNED

You know there are some things that you must experience in order to learn a lesson. While trying to seal the windows in the kitchen to keep out the cold, my son knocked a few things off of a shelf. What we learned is that a can of Diet Vanilla Cherry Dr Pepper dropped from a height of 4.5 feet will rupture and spew more than twice the distance from which it was dropped. It might have been more but the ceiling in the kitchen is 10 feet. You may try this at home but I don't recommend it.

Thought for the day

Thought for the day

Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or hump it.
Piss on it and walk away.