Meet JoJo...

Chelsea and I have a new addition to our little family.  It is a sweet little feline.  His name is JoJo.  He belonged to my neighbor and friend, Audrey.  Audrey raised JoJo from one week old.  He was dropper-fed and was a rescued, abandoned barn cat.  Audrey became very allergic to JoJo and could not continue caring for JoJo as she has too many health problems. 

                       

Honey is not pleased with JoJo's presence at all.  She has spent the last few days hissing at him.  I am hoping that they will become eventual good friends.  JoJo has become attached to Chelsea and sees her as his Mommy.  He has such a sweet disposition.

I have been very, very busy the last few days getting all kinds of things done.  I have been too much of a procrastinator and it has bitten me.  So I spent the bulk of two days taking care of things that I have put off.  My list has dwindled and I am breathing easier.  Now, to get to my Christmas shopping list.  I do not like shopping for Christmas gifts.  For some reason, I feel like I have to get the perfect gift.  What does this say about me?  I have been this way for years.  It causes stress.  I just need to not be this way.  Thursday is decorating day!  That will be fun!  It was great talking to those of you who made it to the chat on Monday!  It was a good, good time!  I am off here to get some needed and deserved rest.  Take time for yourself, everyone.

Photo Contest Winner Is..

The picture I posted a few days ago was actually a Hershey's Kiss that I had photographed.  It was on its side.  The closest guess was Becky!  She guessed a Hershey's Kiss wrapper.  Better guess than the last contest, Becky! lol  Sara was pretty close also.  She guessed a piece of chocolate in foil.  She couldn't guess any closer as they do not have Hershey's Kisses in the UK.  Imagine that!  Great job, girls!  The next contest will be coming next weekend!

Saturday Six

This is the first week I am playing "The Saturday Six" located at Patrick's Place.  He has quite an interesting journal if you want to go take a peek..

              

1. How long do your Thanksgiving leftovers usually last, and at what's the first non-Thanksgiving item you begin to crave when you tire of turkey?    When I cook (which is not very often) they last about a week, and then I crave some fruits and vegetables.  I like to raw, uncooked food often.

2. Of the following, which would you most prefer to be located:
a) Interstate highway traffic jam
b) Slow-moving checkout line
c) Dentist's chair

Although I definitely hate all three, I would have to choose the slow-moving checkout line.  It is the least of the three evils.  I really, really do not like going to the dentist and, well, who likes traffic jams?

3. What is at the top of your personal Christmas gift wish list this year?  I am so easy to please.  I don't even have a Christmas gift wish list.

4. What improvement would you most like to see added to AOL's Journal software?  Well, I have two improvements I would like to see...I really wish we could have size 12 fixed and I would like to see some way to be able to save our work and check it and not have everyone on the alerts be warned.  See, I am a perfectionist.  I hate seeing typos and such and not being able to fix them.

5. What seasonal movies do you most look forward to this time of year?  I like seeing the old standards..Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the oringinal).

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #33 from Tara:  What is your favorite classic 80's video game?  I liked those 80's games.  I liked Galactica and Pac-Man and even Pong!

Photo Game and Journal Chat!

I have a second entry to my photo game for everyone to play!  I think this one is a little easier than the last one.  So, if you think you know what this is, put your guess in the comment section or send me an email and I will email you back and let you know if you are correct!  I have taken a picture of something that hopefully we have all seen before.  Good luck!  Here it is:

                           

I wanted everyone to know that there is a new scheduled journal chat that Stuart, Sara and I have set up.  It will be every Monday at 9am Eastern time US - 2PM UK time.  Sara, Krissy and I will be sending out emails as a reminder.  If I forget your name, please forgive me, but know that you are invited!  There will be a link to the chat in the email as well as in our journals.  Hope to chat with everyone there!  Hope everyone had a great, great Thanksgiving day!!

I'm Thankful!

Good day all of my good, good friends!!  I want to wish everyone a very, very blessed Thanksgiving!!  I am in a much better space today and feeling so thankful that I have my family and doctors and especially my pain control :-).  I went to my doctor yesterday and got everything straightened away.  I wanted to thank everyone who sent me kind wishes and concerns.  It was so thoughtful.  I know how much I am looked after and cared for by my fellow journalers and friends and family.  It NEVER ceases to amazed me.  So, with that, I send out one amazing group hug - (((((((J-Land)))))) - You know who you are one by one!!  You wrote, commented, emailed and IM'ed me.  Alot of times I am thinking out loud in my journal, never meaning or intending to get any responses, and then I get a deluge of responses when they are needed most.  Amazing!

I wanted to wish everyone a very blessed day tommorrow.  I do hope you all have a good day with your families.  If you do not have families, I hope you have found a niche that you have made into a family of your own.  I am so thankful for all of you and for your readership!  Know that you are part of my family, too!  Every day for a few hours you come into my home and you laugh and smile and even cry with me.  I am so thankful for that!  The thing I am most thankful for is your encouragement, though.  I get feedback that is non-judgmental.  You have never met me, yet you pray for me, you encourage me and you don't cut me out when I make a mistake or say something stupid.  Oh, how I wish the real world was like that!  You choose to spend time with me, yet you have never met me!!  Still amazing me, here, can you tell?!

I am someone who has never lost her amazement with life.  The small things of life.  My daughter says I act like a child sometimes.  When she brought me flowers home the other day, I smelled them, rubbed them up against my cheeks and danced around the room.  She was quite happy about this, but she cocked her head sideways and said, "Mom, why are you acting like that?  They are just flowers?"  I told her, "Chelsea, I am happy!  I appreciate things.  I hope that you  never lose your child-likeness!"  I sat and watched her for about an hour after that.  A smile never left her face.  I don't know if it was the flower incident or not, but I sure hope so.  We should all be appreciative and happy of the small things.  The little things.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

Ouchy Here..

Good morning all!  I haven't checked in in awhile...seems I think that writing about myself is boring.  Why should I write about me?  Am I whining when I write about myself I wonder?  Then I realize that this is a journal and I can write about lipstick or fungus or Saturn if I want to.  Of course, if I wrote about fungus or Saturn I wouldn't know what the heck I was talking about.  I do know a bit about lipstick, though.  I think I am digressing.  Whenever someone asks me about myself I try to change the subject.  Whenever I am in therapy (single or group) and it is my turn and that questions comes up, "So, how are you doing?"  My standard answer is, "Hmm, uh, alright I guess."  shaking my head dismissively.  I am a fixer of others!  So, that is how it goes.  But this morning I am going to tell you how I am if it kills me, tee hee.  I am nauseas and in pain.  I ran out of my narcotic for pain relief.  So I am trying to be as still as possible and get through this until I get to my doctor.  I have break-through pain medicine, but it is not controlling enough of my pain.  It just prevents withdrawal, really.  The pain isn't too bad.  I am not crying.  I know it is bad when I am crying.  I am taking muscle relaxants to deal with it, also.  They don't work very well.  This fibro. sucks.  My central nervous system really is hyper.  Pain is so real.  My home is much messier than I like it.  I wanted to let everyone know that I may not be visiting your journals and leaving comments in the next few days.  Then again I may.  We will see.  I was pretty upset that I could not do the Photo Scavanger Hunt and my Photo Game this week.  They will be coming up, though!  I am going to be posting another Photo Game as soon as I can.  And with that, I am going to go rest my sore muscles.   Oh, my sister Therese has a neat photo album she started not too long ago for the Scavanger Hunt.  If you haven't seen it it is great!  Go ahead and look!  Good day and blessings to all!

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

What Kind Of Blogger Are You?

Find out here

I took this test and turned out to be a blogger about my Life Stories.  I keep a journal to have a life record.  Why do you journal?  I have been pondering journaling over the past month or so as it seems I have kind of slipped into journaling without even thinking much about it.  It became a way of life.  I started journaling thinking that I would be the only one reading.  Why would anyone be interested in my life?  It was something I did a couple of times a week.  I also read others as they posted comments.  Now I am reading for two or three hours a day.  It has been totally amazing to meet the people I have met online.  They have turned into true friendships.  It has happened without my even knowing it would.  Whooosh... It happened so quickly.  Amazing.  Thanks for accepting me into this wonderful community!  I really have only been blogging for about four months.  It seems like forever.  My journal goes back longer, but I was sick for six months and did not write.  So, why do you journal?  How has the experience been for you?  Do you journal for information?  Have you made friends?  Support?  Are you chronically ill and it has made a tremendous difference?  Is it a hobby?  I am curious...  Have a good weekend all! 

I'm Featured!

I received this in my email box this morning:

Dear Member,

Congrats! You have been chosen as a spotlighted member within the AOL Local Community. Your screen name is being featured on a Local Community page!

Please stop by to view the spotlighted feature at AOL Keyword: Local Talk.

If you would not like your name to be featured, please let me know.

Thank you for your participation in our community!

So, if anyone wants to go see my mug on the internet go to Keyword:  Local Talk.  Oh, Sherry is featured there, too!!!  Way to go, Sherry!  Cooooool!!!

Photo Contest Winner Is...

Congratulations to Sherry for guessing yesterday's picture correctly!  It was a pecan half!!  Go visit Sherry's journal, it is a wonderful journal and she is a great guesser, too!

CONGRATULATIONS, SHERRY!!

A Photo Game..

I decided to do a photo game for fun.  I am going to be taking a picture.  Maybe about one a week of average, ordinary objects.  I will then distort them somehow or maybe not distort them.  I may zoom in or zoom out.  I may blow them up.  I may turn them into another color or make them black and white.  I am not sure what I am going to be doing to these pictures, but I am going to have some fun with them.  This is the first picture.  If you want to guess what it is put it in the comments section.  I think it is very easy.  I hope you guys have fun with this.  Hopefully I will be able to do this once a week.  I don't know what I will call this yet.  Anyway, here is my photo.  I will email you if you are correct.

        

Cabaret and The Scavanger Hunt

Chelsea and I went to "Cabaret" last night.  It was put on by the Thespian Group at Penn State.  I live just a few miles from campus.  We had a blast!  The director of the orchestra is a good family friend of my Dad's and my Dad gave Chels and me tickets to go see it.  Dad watched Matt grow from a tot to a senior at Penn State.  He is going to be a music teacher.  My son Matt is seriously considering being a music teacher also.  I have been wanting to write an entry about him for so long.  I just haven't gotten to writing it yet.   I am going to get Matt and Matt together as my Matt is seriously considering going to go to Penn State.  My Matt went from attending advanced placement classes at high school in Florida to a high school for the performing arts.  He is a junior right now.  Isn't that just so cool!  I have never heard him so joyful when I talk to him on the phone!!  He is expressing himself as never before!  So the musical was absolutely fabulous and Chels and I and everyone else laughed and clapped through the whole thing and gave them a standing ovation and cheers at the end!  This is particularly amazing for me as I have not done anything social at night for months.  Or has it been years?  My body paid for it, but it was so good for my spirit!

Now for the Scavanger Hunt.  We were to take a photo  of a                  

portrait.  This is my Pops.  I was at his home the other day.  I was playing with my camera and when he was leaning into the cabinet I said, "Hey Dad, turn around."  This is the look he gave me.  This is good ol' Daddeeoo.

The next one I took was of a landscape.  This landscape is very indicative of Pennsylvania.  The hay.  The green grass.

                 

The red barn.  The blue/grey sky.  This looks like Pennsylvania to me.

The next photo is of something far away.  I chose to take a sky shot.  I love sky shots.  This doesn't look far away, but it obviously is.  It was a cloudy, rainy-spotted day.

               

And the last photo is of something close-up.  I chose to take a picture of some pears.  These pears are very fat!  I like these pears.  I think they are very pretty.  I have a fondness for pears.  They represent healing and life for me.  When I was

                  

an infant I was allergic to everything, so for two years all I ate were beef hearts and pears.  Yep, pears for two whole years.  My mom said I loved them.  I still do.  I guess one would get sick of something eating them for every meal for two years.  I never did.  Hope you enjoyed my hunt for some interesting pictures!

 

              

 

 

Meet Scotty!

It was around noon yesterday.  I heard a rustling at my door.  It was rather faint.  I heard some gasping for air coming from a padded brown envelope.  I was rather alarmed as I ripped the envelope open.  Out popped a rather handsome, fuzzy and unique looking orangutan.  He had taken a rather long trip.  It was an eleven-day trip to be exact and was out of breath but happy to be in his new home almost immediately.  He came with a beautiful handwritten card of love and well-wishes whispered into my ear.  Now he sits at my computer and is being naughty and even falling in love with another primate-species.

                  

Meet Scotty.  He is waving hello to all is J-Land!!!!  He is sitting next to Sheila.  Sheila was affectionately named by my daughter's friend Alison.  Sheila's full name is "Sheila The He Monkey".  So, I affectionately named Scotty "Scotty the Scottish She Orangutan".  I know, I know, they are gender confused.  I am silly with my stuffed animals.  I have quite a few.  Maybe you will see some more someday.  Welcome, Scotty, and thanks so much, my good friend, Stuart!  I love you!!

Beware..

I found this at Deb's journal today.  There is an email going around trying to get AOL user's to part with personal and financial information.  This is NOT AOL!!  Please go and read.  Oh, by the way, Deb has a fantastic journal!

I also wanted to tell a few readers who have shared with me personal prayer requests by email and IM that I have been praying daily for you.  I will continue to pray and I thank you so much for your prayers.  I have put a cross in my journal on the left as a symbol of continued prayers that go out for all of you daily.  Know you are loved and prayed for.

My Brain and Trees

                       

 

Good morning everyone.  It has been too long since I have written.  Sometimes I think I will lose readers because I take too long to write between entries.  I take longer than all of my favorite journals.  I don't know what this means.  I don't know if this means anything.  I know that I have four or five entries in my head and I have not been able to get them down in my journal.  It gets very frustrating for me.  More than you know.  It is my brain.  My brain is my biggest enemy.  I am hoping I do not lose readers.  That is a big fear of mine.  Let me tell you what my brain does to me daily.  Maybe you can then understand.  Whenever I do anything that requires thinking it can take in so much and then it shuts down.  So when I go on the computer I have to decide to write a journal entry immediately or read other entries and do what I enjoy to do on the computer.  If I chose the latter, my brain is way too overloaded and tired to write an entry.  Alot of times my brain is too stupid in the morning or mushy to be able to retrieve words and I must wait awhile.  Then if it is raining or I am having a bad day or I am suffering from a bit of depression it is hard to get anything out of this brain.  Any kind of brain activity for 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on how easy it is on my brain, requires a time-out for me.  A time-out is a time for me to be alone.  Anyone who knows me knows that look on my face when I need a time-out.  It is not a good one.  My mood is not the best either.  By the middle of the day my body AND mind need a time-out and I go into my bedroom and turn off the light as all of my senses have been barraged and I can not take any more of "living" and "sensing" for the day and must re-group.  Sometimes I re-emerge from the room.  Sometimes I do not.  It depends.  So, my friends, you probably can understand why I am not making daily, and sometimes twice daily entries in this journal.  It is so, so important that I keep it up, though.  I will keep fighting to keep it going.  Perhaps I am worrying for no reason.  It is very hard to live with several illnesses that attack you all the time and sometimes they just keep assaulting your spirit.  These illnesses are illnesses of my central nervous system.  I must make time for me.  Time to re-group.  I will do this.  Time in nature.  Time to read a good book.  Time for myself.  Time staring at nature.  Time taking pictures of beautiful trees.  Time to sit under a tree.  Time to stare at trees and learn from them.  Time plopping on the bed and watching a good movie with my daughter (you up for it, Chelsea?).   These activities actually give me energy and don't take away from me.  I learned awhile back, and it was a very interesting experiment, that when my senses are assaulted, the best way to fix this is by soothing my senses.  It is amazing.  I found this out through a wonderful therapist who worked with chronically ill patients.  I am forever indebted to her.  It was a new experiment for her, too, and she was amazed.  So, now I am off with my daughter to go out to lunch with my Dad.  I think that will be very nice for us.  I hope you enjoy the tree that I took.  Trees are my favorite thing in nature.  I will write an entry about them later.  I wanted to put this picture in today to remind me to slow down.  Also, I wanted to let everyone know that we all are trees with our own story.  Our own life.  Our own beauty.  Trees, my favorite part of nature.  Not the best picture.  There was too much sun behind the tree when I took the picture, but I wanted to share it anyway.  Trees.  More on them later... 

What is Love?

Wow, I just finished an entry with pictures included and it got eaten!  Vanished.  Poof.  It is gone.  It has been a frustrating couple of days and that did nothing to lighten the load.  Let me try this again... I have not been feeling well with the poor weather and something on my mind and my not very good mood so my fibro. has been acting up and I have been hiding in my home.  It was very nice to be talking with Krissy this morning and get an invite to lunch today.  We had a very good time!  In fact, all of my photos for the Photo Scavanger Hunt were taken today while I was out this afternoon with her and John.  Krissy's and Therese's subject this week is "What is Love?"  It had me smiling alot and I really needed that.  I hope you enjoy the photos!

The first subject I chose was a birdfeeder.  Why does this depict love you ask?  I think it does because Krissy keeps it filled through all four seasons.  She gets all kinds of birds and even some furry animals eating out of it.  I also have birdfeeders at my home.  I think it is love to reach out of yourself and think of creatures that are more helpless than yourself.

The next subject I chose to photograph is front page of this birthday card here.  I celebrated my birthday a little over a week ago.  This card came all the way from England!!!  Thanks, Amy!!  I chose this to represent love because I received no fewer than 30 cards and emails in my box for my birthday!!  Most were from my Journal Pals!!  You guys make me feel so loved!!!  This is the most loving community ever!  Oh, btw, if anyone wants to purchase the best homemade cards ever, drop over to Amy's site and check them out!  Just click on her name!            

         I chose this for my next subject.  "Mother and child".  Needs no explanation.

My last photo was supposed to be of nature, but I captured something that I had not intended to.  Krissy and I were standing in her front yard talking about love and picture-taking and  about our nice afternoon and I was taking a shot and this is what came out:

   Krissy and I.  Standing together after one of our many outings.  Leaning towards each other.  Best friends.  Late afternoon.  We are love.  "Twins Born At Different Times" we call ourselves because we are so close.  I love her so much.  She loves me.

 

Redneck humor for Thanksgiving..

You might be a redneck if...

You've ever had Thanksgiving dinner on a Ping-Pong table.
Thanksgiving dinner is squirrel and dumplings.
You've ever re-used a paper plate.
If you have a complete set of salad bowls and they all say Cool Whip on the side.
If you've ever used your ironing board as a buffet table.
On Thanksgiving Day you have to decide which pet to eat.
Your turkey platter is an old hub cap.
Your best dishes have Dixie printed on them.
Your stuffings secret ingredient comes from the bait shop.
Your only condiment on the dining room table is ketchup.
Side dishes include beef jerky and Moon Pies.
You have to go outside to get something out of the 'fridge.
The directions to your house include "turn off the paved road".
You consider pork and beans to be a gourmet food.
You have an Elvis Jell-o mold.
Your secret family recipe is illegal.
You serve Vienna Sausage as an appetizer.

Congrats MM!

 

Yay!!!  My buddy and friend's journal and one of my favorite is Editor's Pick this week.  If you want a treat go visit Michael's Journal!  Congrats, MM!

Smart Stuart!

Stuart is such a smart one!!  He figured out the answer to the riddle below!!  Kudos to him!!

Good day everyone!  I have been having a hard few days with exhaustion and sleepiness.  I just want to get under my covers and disappear for a couple of days.  I have had a couple of weeks of busy-ness physically and in my brain and now I just want to escape for awhile. 

My brain doesn't even feel like giving me information to type this entry, but I am going to try and then I am going to get under the covers with my cat.  I do hope she joins me.  She was not a bed cat or a lap cat for four years and now all of the sudden she has been joining me almost nightly in my bed!!  This started about a month ago.  Why would a cat do this all of the sudden?  After four years?  I have been ecstatic about it as I enjoy her warm fur and her lovely face and her company.  She is not a bed hog and she does not like to plop all over me.  She has her little corner right up near my face.  It is truly lovely.  She said, "Hiiii!" this morning.  You all probably think I am crazy.  She is very vocal.  I was walking around this morning telling her, "Hii, hiii, hiii, hii!".  Then in her meow voice she said, "Hiii!"  She tries to copy the tone of my voice.  Silly cat.

My neurologist called me on Saturday, believe it or not.  He said that, yes, they inserted a non-programmable shunt when they had intended to insert a programmable one.  They admitted to their mistake!  Finally!  I was even amazed that they had admitted to it.  There is a bit of good news to this, though.   To get switched over to a programmable shunt is much easier than I had thought.  I am not going to get it switched unless I really have to, though.  Switching involves local anesthesia, not general, and can be done in the office, and they don't have to take out the shunt.  So I am not upset like I was.

I volunteered yesterday at a place called The Faith Centre.  It has a thrift store, a food bank, a coffee shop (fee donuts and coffee), a bible study, and you can check out books for free.  I was there for about an hour and a half.  I was tagging clothes.  It was a very nice to be a part of something that is larger than myself.  I am definitely going back.  The only problem with it is that it really bothers my pain.  But then so does everything else I do, so I am going to definitely go back.  There are about six volunteers there at any given time.  I had not realized how much work goes into places like these.  Being on disability, sometimes it is hard for me to feel like I have a "purpose" in life.  I am sure those of you who are also an disability know what I mean.  It is something that I am constantly struggling with.  What's neat about The Faith Centre is that I can work whenever I want, with whomever I want, or not at all on certain weeks.  Sounds lovely to me.

I have a riddle for you guys.  Put your answer in the comments section and I will tell you if you are correct.  Sorry, Krissy, you can not anwer this as I am pretty sure you have heard this:  An archaeologist finds the frozen remains of Adam and Eve.  Their bodies are whole in ice.  How does he know he has found Adam and Eve?

I am off for lunch and a nap...Take care and go VOTE if you haven't!