Rats! Again!

Eeek! This is the baby rat caught in our humane trap last night. This is the SIXTH this week. They had made a nest in our storage shed with our outdoor UMBRELLA - tore it to shreds so badly that we had to throw it away. What a waste! So we set out this humane trap and when caught, Bob takes them out to the desert and lets them go. I just hope they don't find their way back over here!

Old in body but not in mind!

Not happy with the MRI results after seeing my doctor today. There is not enough wrong with me to do anything about the pain in my leg. But she did refer me to a hip specialist and physical therapy to get me moving more - so I can at least put on socks! Right now I can't lift my left leg high enough to painlessly put on socks or tennis shoes. Can wear only slip-ons. UGH! This makes me feel so old! It's sort of emotional because I am used to being so active and on the go and now have aching in my left leg and pelvis every day. So I just decided to take my pain meds and B-complex for energy and try to ignore the pain as much as possible. My friends have it much worse - both having double mastectomies this week. I have nothing to complain about!!!

California here we come!

Next week we get to go to Carmel for my niece's wedding. So exciting! My only sister's only child. We rented a condo with my sister and her husband and will have a family party there on Thursday night. Friday Bob and I are going on a whale-watching boat and Saturday, I'm going to the bride's brunch and then the wedding is in the evening with dinner afterward. Sarah bought a beautiful strapless dress. Her fiance is a real cowboy but he loves Sarah so much he agreed to wear a tuxedo with his boots! He's very sweet. We got to meet him last August. After we were there, he asked Sarah to marry him. I told them we must not have too bad an impression if he still wanted to marry into our family!

My hair is red!!!

I dyed my hair last night and it turned out red instead of blonde! So I'm sitting here with an ash color on my hair to get rid of some of the red. (I keep a supply of the hair colors I use!)

If anyone hasn't been to Bisbee Arizona you should go. That is the most wonderful place with the best people and best friends anywhere. Wish I could just move there.

The organization I run, ArizonAdopt a Classroom, needs to raise money for the fall semester and I've had a terrible time getting motivated to do a mailing. But started last night and hoping to mail tomorrow. Guess I just got lazy. But the teachers need my help so must do this for them. We've been doing this for almost 6 years now and have raised and given out over $150,000 to over 1000 teachers. The teachers are so appreciative. One of the problems I have is getting some of the teachers to spend their money. My bank account still has over $10,000 because some of the teacher didn't spend their money. They have a deadline and some never even read the email I send to them while most are so excited they spend the mooney immediately.

Time to wash out the Ash Blonde and hope it removed the red!!

It's raining again!

So glad to hear the raindrops on the skylites. My groundcover needs a drink. I think the drip system is not dripping in the right places so some plants are dying. the yellow verbena looks great because it's in the shade of the oleander.

Caught yet another rat last night in the live trap. Bob took it across the street and dumped it on the desert. He's putting a new solid core door on the shed next week hoping that will keep the rats out of the storage. That's one of the problems of living on the desert - the worst is scorpions. Well, that's probably not true. There are worse things like rattlesnakes, but we haven't had that problem yet.

Lost 6.5 lbs on the Nutrisystem diet in 2 weeks. I've been cheating. But at least the scale is going down. Today the taping of Martin Bacal's Dem show was shown and I definitely decided to get a facelift tomorrow - and a neck lift - and dye my hair back to medium blond! :o)

Looking at myself talking was like watching another person who looks like my aunt Helen. I can't believe that old person is me. At least the things I said were intelligent and I didn't screw up.

Friday, July 11

Today was MRI day. Lumbar and pelvis. Evidently, when we were lifting a heavy chest last year, the pop I heard when the weight shifted was my bone cracking and it has caused my left leg to be painful! I'll see the deoc next week for the final results. It's always something.

But my friends Vera and Bonnie really have health problems - next week they are both having double mastectomies. And Joel is in NYC after brain surgery for cancer. Makes me feel bad about any of my complaints. Mine are nothing in comparison.

Watching Steele Magnolias on tv for the hundredth time! I love this movie! Along with Ruthless People.

Hope you all are well.

Another day with Grandkids!

Fabulous day today with Lili, Jason and my son Jeff. We had lunch at the mall and then saw a movie: Lili and I saw Wall-E and the boys saw Hancock. They really enjoyed Hancock even though the ratings have been bad. Lili love Wall-E. She's 9 yrs old. After movie we hit the Racquet Club for the kids to swim and then have ice cream and get Jason a haircut.

I have 4 grandchildren that want to spend time with me so I'm seeing my 2 in Tucson as much as possible. The 2 grandsons in Prescott call me often. We need to drive up there to see them.

Jeff and I talked today while the kids were swimming. About how there really isn't a textbook to tell anyone how to be a parent. There are so many things I would like to tell young mothers about my experiences, but they really don't want to listen - including my d-i-law. There is no way to tell them that they can hurt their children so easily with such a simple word or look. And embarrass them in front of friends without thinking about what they've done.

I watch Jon and Kate plus 8 on TLC - they have 8 children. I admire the mom for her organization and how well she handles all 8 children. They have 2 girls, twins, and tried to have one more child and ended up with sextuplets!

Rats! The real ones!

We've been battling desert rats in our storage shed out back. A friend loaned us a "live" trap and we caught one the first night, Wednesday! Bob took the trap across the street and dumped the live rat in the desert and it took off running. Last night I awoke to scratching early in the morning when it was still dark and we had caught another rat - this one even larger! So today he took it across the street to let it go - it didn't want to leave the cage! He set the trap again tonight - I hope nothing else gets into it. But I know the desert behind our house if full of pack rats! UGH. Filthy critters. The rat had built a nest in our shed and now we have to clean it out!

Wednesday with the Grandkids

Last week my grandson Jason was 16 yrs old so I took him and his sister Lili for the day. We shopped at Best Buy for a gift for Jason - he wanted an Ipod. Then bought him some SIZE 14 SHOES at Park Place! We are limited in where we can buy his shoes now because his feet are so big! And he is tallllll! About 6'3". I look up to him. After lunch at the Mall Food Court we saw the new Indiana Jones movie - it is great, terrific, constant action, very enjoyable! See it!

When we were buying popcorn at the movie, 9 yr old Lili said, "This is so much fun!" That really made my day! She lived with us 2 years ago for the full school year so we got to know each other very well. She's darling! So to have her appreciate being with me means a lot to me. Jason was also very grateful and said thank you many times. After the movie we had a ggelato in the new kiosk there. My choice was Creme Brulee - which was outstanding - and Lili chose Double Dutch Chocolate. Worth going off my diet for!

Grandchildren are so special. I remember the first time my oldest grandson welcomed me with open arms. he was about 2 and when I entered the room, he reached up and said "Grandma!" It was a thrill. We're still close after almost 21 years. I have friends who have lost 2 children and will never have the thrill of grandchildren. It's so sad to be with them and we try not to mention our kids and grandkids, but they are kind enough to ask. They face this pain every day so nothing has to remind them of their loss of 2 teenage children - it's always there with them.

Life happens Chapter 2

My friend Vera called today to tell me she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. My friend Bonnie is going thru treatment for the same. My friend Joel is in NYC recovering from the surgery and will get his treatments there for 7 weeks.

What have we done to ourselves all of these years eating food with additives that cause our immune system to shut down! And the food companies keep wanting to add more.

We all expect to get old and die of old age, but so many people are getting cancer and suffering without dying. My friend going thru treatment has to be very careful about what she eats - can't go out to a restaurant, can't buy fresh vegetables - because there might be germs on them that would cause her harm. She has to eat frozen vegies and food prepared at home or by someone who is not sick. I never knew this before Bonnie started treatment. I can't just stop by a fast food place or any restaurant or grocery deli to take lunch to her. It has to be prepared by me with fresh or frozen produce.

I pray for my friends every day.