This is the 9th Mother's Day without my Mom - I miss her so much. I sometimes even still want to call her and talk to her. Of course she lives on in my memory, as well as in the memories of my brothers and my children. And I think her soul lives on in the ethers, and watches out for us. So I would just like to say a Happy Mother's Day to her; I hope that she is happy and hopefully feeding biscuits to her favorite pups. *laughs*

Been a while since I posted, and boy have there been a lot of changes in my life.

I was supposed to have cataract surgery on my right eye (had the left one done in late Nov.) on Mon., May 16. Kaiser wouldn't do the surgery, however, because my pulse oxygen levels were hovering in the low 80s, which is not good at all. I had to have oxygen at home, which they wouldn't let me leave until an oxygen delivery had been scheduled for that evening. The next day, I had to return to Pulmonology, and they ended up sending me to the ER @ Washington Hospital Center, which landed me in the hospital for 6 days!! I'm on Oxygen 24/7, I'm also waiting to get a bi-pap machine for sleep apnea. And I have two new inhalers and a nebulizer.

All of this set into motion my retirement - yes, I've retired after 34 years of govt. service. I just couldn't see how I could work and be on oxygen, not to mention getting to and from work, carrying an oxygen tank or having an oxygenator at work. So, retirement became effective on 5/31/2011, almost 34 years - my anniversary would have been 6/6! I also ended up moving from the Washington DC area to Albuquerque, New Mexico!! It is taking me a while to get adjusted to the altitude, but the weather here is great - the heat is indeed very dry!! You must put on lots and lots of lotion here!

At any rate, that is what is going on with me. I don't have much internet access right now - none in fact, except through the office at my apt. complex or at the Library (which is where I am now). I'll be checking in when I can, for now, until my PC comes and I get hooked up again. Crossing fingers and knocking on wood three times. LOL

I was awakened by an infomercial for a weight loss product called Sensa the other night/morning, about 4 AM. It's something like a condiment tnat you sprinkle on food before eating; it supposedly makes you feel full or fuller that you really are (it possibly tricks your brain into thinking that you're full/fuller? something along those lines...). I realize this is a -very- long shot, but has anyone ever tried it? If so, did it work for you? Would you recommend it to anyone else? If not, do you have any reasons as to why? I figure that if it really -did- work, people would be falling all over themselves to buy it, and it would be common knowledge (and likely cost what diamonds and gold do ...!)

Hoping to get some actual feed back here, please help out, if you can!!! Thanks

There are a few movies I can remember seeing as a child that were not kid movies and I really enjoyed watching them. I remember my Dad takingg me to see Gone with the Wind when I was 8 or so although I don't recall much about the movie - that was a pretty long film for an 8 year old!

When I was 10, though, I think my parents decided that it was okay for me to watch a more "grown-up" sort of movie, and they in fact took me to see an Elvis Presley picture. Mind you, I wasn't an Elvis fan or anything but it was sure different from those Disney cartoons! They also took my brothers and I to see "Phantom of the Opera," with Herbert Lom--boy, did that movie scare me! I couldn't sleep for a while and ended up having to say the 23rd Psalm every night at bed time. All I can say is ... never look at that Phantom's eye!!

In 1963, my mother's youngest brother, who is only 9 years older than I, got married, and he and my Aunt invited me to be in their wedding. I was very excited about this; getting to be a junior bridesmaid; I had my own dress made up, down to 3/4 length sleeves, in aqua blue. At any rate, I hung out with my Uncle and Aunt a lot that summer, and one movie that they took me to see was Bye Bye Birdie.

I absolutely -loved- the show! To this day, it holds a special place in my heart and I try to catch it whenever it's on. I saw most of it on TCM this past Sunday, as part of the Essentials Junior series. Still love it, all these years later. I did see the one with Jason Alexander that was done in the 90s, and enjoyed it, but not as much as the original movie. :)

... that will end up driving you crazy! LOL Seriously, though, this morning I woke up late and then had trouble getting going, so it was after 8 am when I made it to the bus stop. Not too bad, I'm thinking; a bus should be along before too long and I'll make it to my transfer point in time to catch the 8:35 bus and get to work about 8:45 am. Still late, but not too bad.


Except that the bus was about 10 minutes late, so I knew that I'd miss the connecting bus. Then, while I'd been waiting for the bus, another passenger had come up to the stop; when the bus got there, some passengers wanted to get off, so I stepped back to allow them to get off. Before I could step onto the bus, the other passenger slipped in and got onto the bus. I glared at her, thinking, WTF?! Then she gets on the bus and tries to slip by the driver without paying her fare! Oh wait, she's got one of those smarttrip cards. The driver tells her she needs to swipe that. Oh wait, it doesn't have any fare left on it! She'll have to pay cash! In the mean time, I'm still outside of the bus, waiting for this lady to pay her fare and move so that I can get on. Gah!

I did miss my connecting bus, then the next bus was about 10 minutes late, so all in all, it took my over an hour and a half to go about 3 miles, or a 5-10 minute ride via car. And my commute is nothing compared to some others. I'm glad there's no-one testing my blood pressure, though, when I get to work some mornings. I think it was probably elevated today ... LOL Good thing I take my meds when I get to work, I guess.

We all get spam email and usually it's the viagra/penis enhancement/naked pics of Paris Hilton variety. But lately I've noticed that some of my spam email has specific subjects. *chuckles* Mind you, not exactly subjects that I'm interested in, but not the usual suspects.

I'd made some posts asking about aids to help me quit smoking, and have talked about wanting to quit--which I did succeed at in May, btw (4 months now, woo hoo!). Now, some of my spam email is about smoking, including some offering cigarettes via the internet, at "lowered" costs. LOL I've also recently posted about that peticure product that is advertised on tv--the dremel-like tool that shaves cat and dog nails rather than trying to clip them. I wanted to know if it actually works. Then suddenly I start getting spam email about the peticure product. WTF?!

I just end up deleting them all anyway, without even opening them. But where are they getting the idea that I'm interested in a peticure product? I don't have a cat or dog, I just wondered if the product worked. And I certainly don't want to buy any cigarettes via the internet. *lol* I guess it's better than the garden variety penis enhancement, though!

I love my co-workers, my friends that I lunch with nearly every day; we worry and watch out for each other too. But ... they can be the aggravatingest people sometimes!!

For instance, we all live in Maryland, and this fall there is going to be a referendum on the ballot state-wide I believe for legalizing gambling in the state. Now the state is already "losing" possible income to Delaware, West Virginia and Pennsylvania - why not keep that dough in-state?! Of course, I've never been to one of the casinos or played a slot machine, but my friends do - they've been to both the Delaware and West Virginia slot places and seem to enjoy it. However, they are against legalizing gambling like that in Maryland! When I asked them why they were against it - wouldn't it be easier to go ten miles to Laurel and play there, rather than across the bay bridge to Delaware or all the way to West Virgionia, I suggested, their response was, "Oh no! It would all be fixed, and I won't have my money going to them!" Hello?! Okay, you'd rather see your money go to Delaware or West Virginia, instead of your own state, Maryland?! Does that make any sense?!

Also, I don't think either of them has voted in an election - one I am certain has not, because she admitted it to me -- she's never voted, ever. I'm fairly sure that my other friend hasn't voted ever either. Naturally, both of them complain the most about the state of our government, at all levels. Uh ... hello?! If you don't vote, you shouldn't bellyache, IMNSHO. LOL

I still love my friends, but boy howdy they are STUPID sometimes!!!

My son left last Friday morning to return to college--he's down in Arkansas, in Little Rock, so I probably won't see him again until Christmas, if then. Having him home over the summer has been great but also a trial. He's an adult now (almost 21!!) and wants to come and go when he pleases; he also wants to be let into the house at any time of the night he gets home. When he doesn't have his key with him!

I do love my son, but he has aggravated the heck out of me again. First it was the deodorant/anti-perspirant use - he'd use his (masculine-scented) one up, then start in on my Secret. And the next thing I know, the Secret is all gone, or down to a nub left. Then last spring he took the new set of soap bars I'd just bought with him when he returned to school. He did it again, and that's after using up all his own soap earlier this summer and starting in on mine. I like the Dr. Bronner's tea tree oil and hemp soap--which costs around $4/bar, but it's good on my skin and lasts me a long time, plus I put the soap bar in one of those loofa-type things. Now I'm almost out of soap!

Ah well, he's gone now -- he won't be eating me out of house and home (honestly, sometimes I have to hide things from him if I want any for myself), and I -do- miss him, just ... well, I don't miss some of his ways! *laughs*

I visit classmates.com from time to time, but have never signed up with or paid them any money (which doesn't stop them from trying to ask me for it, unfortunately!). I sometimes go back to where I lived as a small child and look at the HS graduates there, and had found one who was a friend from -way- back, before elementary school even.

At any rate, she left a message on my profile, and we sent messages back and forth for a bit, then went to email. So strange to hear from someone that I hadn't seen or talked to in over 50 years! Oh, it turns out that both of us had spoken of the other, though - or heard tell of each other, that is. My mom used to say, "why can't you be more like ...." who was always portrayed to me as the perfect daughter. LOL And she told me that her mom used to tell of a fight that the two of us had, in front of the church, during some church pageant. Of course, my dad was the minister. Well, my mom is gone and her mom is as well, so we couldn't check with them, and my dad didn't remember that incident, so ... I have some very -vague- memory of it, though. LOL Strangely enough, we both have daughters and they were born within a week of each other!

She was headed back to her home town last weekend, and was going to take some pictures for me, so I'm waiting to hear back from her.

The picture you see attached to this post is of my great-grandparent's home in Wilmington DE. My Pop-Pop had this house built for him, and I recently found it on one of those mapquest things, the one that has a bird's eye view. The house has not changed much since it was built in 1937--it's held up fairly well, I think!

And in other news, cooler weather has arrived, at least for a while. My son, who will be 21 in a few short week (OMG, my baby will be 21!!!), is preparing to return to college in Arkansas; he leaves next Friday morning. He has made me so proud - he is a grown person now and has taken charge of himself; he worked hard this summer and saved up money--yet at the same time I know that this may be the last summer he spends with me, with his family. And he has aggravated me at times, by eating me out of house and home!! *laughs* He's even stolen my socks!

I'm just going to take it easy this weekend; I've got a cold (still!); I've got to go grocery shopping and am hoping to get to one of the local farmer's markets too, so we'll see how I feel.