An Update and A Mystsery...

Hello Journal friends!  I haven't been around in awhile.  I have lots to share today.  I guess I have been storing it up.  First I want to wish a very, very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the Ramblin' Man Rich!!  He is celebrating a special birthday today, so if you can, go over and pay him a visit!  Oh, he is a great read as well!!  Happy Birthday, Rich!!

I have spent less time reading journals and posting entries over the past few weeks.  I have had time and health issues and it has been hard for me.  I foresee some time issues coming up as well.  This puts me in a dilemma.  I was wondering what you guys thought.  Chelsea decided that she wants to move back to Florida.  She is going back in June sometime.  I want to spend as much time as I can with her.  I also want to enjoy the Spring weather.  Krissy's wedding is coming up...well the list goes on...my health has not been the best either.  What is my dilemma?  I was wondering if I should have the privilege to post whenever I want if I am not reading other's journals faithfully.  I know that your response will probably be, "Post whenever you want.  It is your journal.", but it is hard for me to journal for myself and not stay in contact with everyone that I have been in contact with over the past few months.  Everyone has given me such great support and friendship.  Not that that will stop.  It is I who has been lacking in some contact.  I have thought about abandoning journalling altogether for awhile, but I do not want to do this.  I guess I will continue to give this all some thought.

Yes, Chelsea is going back to Florida it seems.  I am not all too surprised as it has not been too easy up here for her.  She left a family and friends and a home down there and came up to a cold climate and no friends.  School will be cheaper and she will go back to a place she knows as "home".  I will miss her greatly, but will always appreciate the ten months that we had being roommates!!  It has been so very special!!

Our local lead district attorney, Ray Gricar, has been missing for eight days.  Yes, I am jumping around topic.  This is a strange story.  He vanished.  Poof.  He was due to retire at the end of this year and was not seeking re-election.  He was looking forward to retirement.  He is well-liked and well-respected in the area.  He lives in my little town.  He is a very hard worker.  They found his car, but they have not found him.  They have combed rivers and dogs have been used.  You may have seen it in the national news.  It is a real mystery.  Theories abound..suicide? foul play?  a new life?...amnesia?  Please pray for this situation as his family really misses him.

I have a neat little brain exercise for you.  Follow the instructions.  See if this is very hard for you...

              

I find the brain extremely fascinating!!  Was this very hard for you?  I tried it a few times.  It got easier the more I tried it.  Interesting, huh?!  I like brain teasers and optical illusions.

I called my neuro-surgeon's office yesterday.  They still don't know if they are going to convert my shunt over to a programmable one.  I am thinking of looking into other hospitals in my state.  I am beginning to get pretty upset with them.  I have to do alot of research as I have several conditions that need taken care of.  Can I find one place to get it all taken care of?  Probably not.  Two would work.  Even three if they are not too very far away.  I travel out-of-state because I could not find anyone in my state that specialized in my conditions.  Hmmm....wish me luck in my search!

Well, I was just offered a ride in the country!  Doesn't that sound nice!  I think I will take my friend up on his offer and sign off!  Have a good rest of the weekend everyone, and take care of one another!! xox

 

Meet Marbles and More!...

Wow, I haven't written in here in eight days...eight long days!  I'm trying to catch up on life.  When I was away at the hospital, it seemed like life kind of accelerated and left me behind and I am trying to catch up!  I feel like screaming, "Hey life, shut down a couple of days so I can catch up!!"  But it is not going to do that.  Oh well.  I am going to slowly have to chip away and get things done.

Things went well at the hospital.  I was in there for two nights and two days.  The needle that was placed in my shunt reservoir slipped out the first night so I had to stay a second.  The doctor concluded that I had very, very low pressure and was wondering why I wasn't having alot of headaches.  "Nope,"  I told him, "I am just stupid all the time and have alot of memory problems."  So, he doesn't know if they are going to convert the non-programmable shunt into a programmable one yet.  He is going to confer with the neuro-surgeon.  We will see.   I will keep you posted!

         I wanted everyone to meet a new edition to my buddies that hang around my computer.  This is Marbles "The Partying" Moose.  Krissy gave him to me at the hospital.  I think he is the happiest looking moose on the planet!!  What do you guys think?  He took his rightful place next to Sheila The He Monkey and Scotty The Orangutan over the weekend.  They are all getting acquainted and he is fitting in very, very well!  Thanks for this, Krissy!  Krissy came to the hospital with me and was such a swell buddy.  She took really, really good care of me!!  You are THE BEST, Krissy doll!!

I was watching Baby, who, by the way is getting HUGE, over the weekend.  Let me show you...

          Baby just turned six months old here!  He is ten pounds already!  My, oh my!  Anyway, I was watching him chase his exquisitely long tail.  Round and round in circles he was going and I was laughing away.  Well, lo-and-behold, he caught his tail!!  With one paw he held his tail down and with the other paw he stomped and stomped the base of his tail.  I was laughing hysterically!!  I always wondered what would happen if a dog or cat caught its tail what would they do?  Well, now I know what this kitty would do!

My kitties are getting along better now that Baby is getting older.  He is getting a bit aggressive, though, now that he needs neutered.  I am taking him in this month to get that done.  The kitties were so happy this weekend because Spring had finally sprung and they had sunshine after a month of rain and clouds.

Here is what they were doing yesterday in my living room window...

       \

                               

 

In the last picture Baby was attacking a bug that got into the window.  That was a lucky shot!

Well, I am going to get off here and get a few things done that I have neglected for too many days!

I hope you enjoyed my pictures of my week and I hope they didn't take too long to download!  I am going to leave you with something that I read out of a book last night that I am reading on happiness.  I think it is oh-so-true!:

~ Once basic needs are met (food, clothing, shelter), the message is clear:  we don't need more money, we don't need greater success or fame, we don't need the perfect body or even the perfect mate - right now at this very moment, we have a mind, which is all the basic equipment we need to achieve complete happiness.

Taken from "The Art of Happiness"

Going To The Hospital...

"I am happy and you should be as well.  Let us pray together with joy."  Pope John Paul II

Happy Sunday, everyone!  I hope everyone is having a fairly decent day!  I just took a walk outside and it is 36 degrees here!  There is snow in the forecast!  What is that about?  Where is my Spring weather?  Ah, Pennsylvania is a crazy state!  It was nice to get out, though, as I haven't been out enough in the last week, so I put on my winter coat and buttoned it up and put the hood on and went out for an hour.  There were quite a few others out as well.  Funny thing, there were those in coats like me, and there were those who had no coat on.  Some Pennsylvanians go by the calendar for Spring and wearing Spring clothes.  They will even wear shorts in the 30's and 40's.  Not me.  I'm a chicken.  Perhaps I would if my muscles didn't ache and I liked my legs a little more.

I am leaving for Johns Hopkins in the middle of the night tonight.  Krissy decided to go with me and that is a nice treat!!  Thanks, Krissy!!  She is such a doll!!  I didn't ask her because it is so close to her wedding, but she offered and set it up, so I am grateful!!  What a doll!!  I will be there one to four nights.  I don't like the unknown too much and I am not too sure what they are going to do, but I will go with the flow.  I know they are checking my head pressure and I know they will convert my non-programmable v/a shunt to a programmable one if need be.  It is all good with me.  Anything deemed necessary to make my health a bit better.  They are the ones with the degrees.  Not me.  Thanks to all who commented and emailed and sent their prayers and good wishes.  They mean more than you will ever know!!

I wanted to share with all of you a Jeff Foxworthy funny on Pennsylvania.  I received it in the mail from a friend.  If you live in PA you will understand it and laugh (I hope...I did).  If you don't, you will learn more about my state!

~  If you consider it a sport to sit in a treestand all day long with a bow or a gun justto put food in your freezer...you might live in PA.

~  If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Bradford is the coldest spot in the nation...you might live in PA.

~  If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March...you might live in PA.

~  If you instictively walk like a penguin five months out of the year...you might live in PA.

~  If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there...you might live in PA... cause we are all so darn friendly :-)

~  If your Dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead cause he wears a hardhat...you might live in PA.

~  If you have worn shorts, a parka, and sunglasses at the same time...you might live in PA.

~  If your town has an equal number of bars and churches and your priest or minister asks you to pray for the Steelers and wants to get you all home for the 1:00PM kickoff...you might live in PA.

~  If you have had a lengthy telephone call with someone who dialed a wrong number...you might live in PA.

          YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE PENNSYLVANIAN WHEN:

1.  "Vacation" means going north up past 1-80 for the weekend.

2.  You measure distance in hours.

3.  You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.

4.  You often switch from heat to A/C and back again more than once in the same
     day.

5.  You can drive 65 m.p.h. through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard and not
     even flinch.

6.  You see people wearing camouflage at social events (including weddings).

7.  You install security lights on your house and garage and leave the doors
     unlocked.

8.  You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them. 

9.  You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are covered with snow.

11. You know all 4 seasons:  almost fall, winter, still winter, and road construction.

12. You can identify a southern or eastern accent.

13. Your idea of creative landscaping is a concrete deer statue next to your blue
      spruce.

14. Down South to you means Morgantown, W.V.

15. A critter is something you eat.

16. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new F-150.

17. You go out to fish-fry every Friday and Bingo every Wednesday.

18. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.

19. Your snowblower has more miles on it than your car.

20. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly"

I will let everyone know how my hospital stay turned out as soon as I am able to post.  Until then, take care of one another and enjoy Spring, whether it is chilly and rainy or glorious in your part of the world! xox