Airline Food

When I used to fly (can't anymore due to vertigo) I got airsick every time. To tell you the absolute truth I stopped eating on flights, drank only ginger ale, and I did stop getting sick; I still felt sick but never actually got sick. So, today's cartoon, while funny, is true.

Have been dealing with the fact that I will not be able to appeal the Long Term Disability insurance denial of benefits. If this had gone through I would have received 70% of my former income until Social Security age - a few more years. But now I am appealing the denial of my Social Security Disability insurance denial of benefits; I wonder if it is worth it as I would receive only $700 per month until Social Security kicks in. I would be allowed to earn up to an additional $1000 per month (if I could find something I could do at home and not on the computer) which would be a total (if I could actually earn up to $1000) of $20, 400 annually. Now this would be fine for me as we would have two incomes but I'm trying to figure out how they expect a single parent to live on this if, indeed, they could even find a job to earn the additional $1000. I really don't want to take this SSDI benefit but I am appealing whilst I look, diligently, for a way to make an income at home and not take the SSDI at all. Wish me luck!

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Shredders

Shredders, especially cross-cut, are very cool. We have one in our office and I love to shred old receipts after reconciling a credit card statement or old bank statements (I only keep 2 years of statements) or other documents mailed to us with our name, address, etc... to keep people from getting our personal info. The only thing I don't like is the tiny bits of paper that inevitably end up on the office carpet after emptying the shredder - a real pain to pick up one at a time. They are very valuable in the age of identification theft.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Starbucks

My husband and both daughters love to go to Starbucks and buy all kinds of cool (although they may be hot) coffee drinks. I have never been into coffee except, a long time ago, I used to enjoy Kalhua (sp?) Coffee after dinner at a great restaurant. However, one of my favorite fragrances is the smell of freshly ground coffee; John grinds his own.

Lawyer has said that I do not have a case to appeal the denial of my Long Term Disability benefits. Not because my case is invalid but because no one knows what caused the second vertigo that prevents me from working - my neurologist does not know but says he sees many people with the same thing with no verifiable cause. So, we have to set aside the appeal and move on. I trust God, completely. He knows what He's doing.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Camera Phones

I am so happy there are such things as camera phones. If it weren't for that we would miss so many special moments in the life of our dear, youngest granddaughter. Misha is always posting cute photos or videos taken on her Blackberry - we are so grateful. Little Marcelle is very precious to us and so is every photo and video of her. Only 15 more days until Misha and Marcelle arrive for a visit!

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Regrets, I have a few...

The title of my blog today is from a song written by Paul Anka and made famous by Frank Sinatra: "My Way". This song has no real reference to my life except for that phrase, "Regrets, I have a few..." - Don't we all. Because of my circumstances now: I wish I had been a better mother and wife; I wish I had done more for others; I wish I were a better person, in general - one that my Lord and Savior would be happy with. All of us have things we have done that we regret and things we haven't done that we regret. We all must live with the decisions we have made.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Happiness is...

Humans never seem to be happy enough: they have a job - but they want a better one. They have a home to live in - but they want a bigger and better one. They have happy children who contribute to society - but they want them to be more successful. They are happy in their marriage - but shouldn't there be more? True happiness is what you make of your life. I have a very different life than I had nine months ago; for a long time I was depressed about the changes my medical condition had made in my life but over time I have come to terms with it and I am just so happy to be alive and have my wonderful husband by my side and the love of my lovely daughters and their families and , most importantly, I know God loves me and is with me and is giving me strength, endurance, and patience. I try to be a better person, less grumpy, each day so that I can truly enjoy being alive. What more could I ask for; this is happiness.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Love At First Sight

Most people believe that "love at first sight" is a myth or that it's really "passion at first sight" and won't last. Well, John and I are proof that both are real and do last. We have been together a little over 32 years and we knew we loved each other from the first time we met and that passion for one another would always be a part of our lives. As we get older the love deepens and the passion matures; they are both still with us. We are truly blessed.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Law and Order

I am a HUGE fan of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent". I watch reruns of it all the time plus the new shows. Vincent Donofrio is a favorite actor of mine ever since he played the "bug" in the original "Men in Black" movie. He is very intense and quirky; not just because of the parts he plays but I think he really IS that way, a bit. Was sorry to see him leave the series but Jeff Goldblum is also a favorite actor of mine so I am a happy camper. Anyway, just love the show - one of the best.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Night Sounds

I am happy we don't have to use some sort of "white noise" box at night. I do enjoy the sounds of rain, thunder, dogs barking (unless incessant), crickets, etc... John likes to have the TV on while dozing off -- I turn it off as soon as I can so I can hear our NM night sounds.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

French Mice

Now, what I have to say today has absolutely nothing to do with "French Mice". I loved this little cartoon so much I had to label my post for it.

Off to the lawyer this a.m. re: appealing the denial of my Long Term Disability. I have an envelope, about two inches thick, to give him with all my records from the insurance company. He will then peruse this and make a determination as to whether I have a case to appeal. I hope I do but it is all in God's hands.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Google

I absolutely LOVE Google. I have been able to find virtually anything I need very easily. Now, this is very important for me as reading is difficult for me online to begin with and scanning and scrolling is just impossible. So, it seems Google is just better organized and what I am looking for is almost always one of the first few links. So, BRAVO GOOGLE!

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

What Happens In Vegas...

Haven't been to Vegas since the 70's - it was crazy, fun, exciting, and a little scary. The best part, for me, was "people watching". There are a lot of interesting people just walking around there. It was a lot of fun. One of the things we did was eat at the Bacchanal at Caesar's Palace - don't think it's there anymore. There were like 12 courses (something crazy like that) and it took all evening 'til about midnight. Kept having to take walks between some of the courses - great food but, "Wow!, that was a lot of food.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Lobster

Although I am not a fan of seafood I do miss Maine lobster with clarified butter - yum! Haven't had it in over 38 years. Seems such a long time ago but I can still taste it. Nothing like it.

John has been getting some overtime again - yay! Hard on him - he's at work for 12 hours when he has OT plus a total of 1.5 hours of driving per day. He works so hard - I love you, John, and appreciate all that you do and have done --- more than you'll ever know.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

No Posting Today, Again

Dizziness is better but my back went out again - cannot afford acupuncture right now so please pray that I can heat pad and Tylenol it back in shape.

No Blog Today

No blog today - been very dizzy since yesterday. Will try tomorrow.

Cartoon provided by: Cartoonstock.com

Technology

Very funny and probably will be the next thing to happen. You never know what will happen. So much interesting technological advancements. I am happy with reading, as much as I can, e-mails from family and friends, FaceBook and blog postings - it breaks up my rather boring day. I like getting texts from John and Misha too. These are the brighter sides to technology for me.

Joke for the Day: Bill Gates and the president of General Motors were having lunch. Gates boasted of the innovations his company had made. "If GM had kept up with technology the way Microsoft has, we'd all be driving $25 cars that get 1,000 m.p.g." "I suppose that's true," the GM exec agreed. "But would you really want your car to crash twice a day?"

Cartoon and Joke provided by: Reader's Digest

Swimming

This is little Marcelle, our 10 month old granddaughter, at her swimming lesson. Swimming definitely runs in our family; both our girls, Krista and Misha, took swimming lessons as infants and grew up with lessons. Both John and I swam as kids and were competitive swimmers as teenagers. I wish we had a swimming pool - great exercise and a great way to cool off in this hot weather. Sad that there is no swimming pool available to us here. :o(

Joke for the Day: Q: How do you say "Michael Phelps" in Chinese?

A: Ka Ching.

Joke provided by: Reader's Digest

Quiet Sunday

Nice quiet Saturday which, I hope, is followed by a quiet Sunday. Went out yesterday shopping for a high chair for little Marcelle for their visit next month. Found a few and then Misha told us that they have a "space-saver" high chair which fits on a chair you already have. Great idea and so I ordered the same one, different pattern, that they have at home. Went to grocery store, as well, and bought Cheerios for her - she loves her Cheerios.

Joke for the Day: A patient at my daughter’s medical clinic filled out a form. After Name and Address, the next question was "Nearest Relative." She wrote "Walking distance."

Cartoon and Joke provided by: Reader's Digest

Missing My Girls

This photo of my girls was taken at Misha's wedding 4 years ago; Krista was her Matron (hate that word) of Honor. I miss them both so much. We all live so far apart; it's a shock, really, as we have always been able to see each other whenever we wanted, until 3 years ago. Now, we visit via Skype (thank You, Lord, for Skype) which is awesome but not the same as hugs. I love them both more than they know - they are the best part of me.

Random Stuff

So, I've had this large nose my whole life - when I was young it wasn't so bad but as I have aged my profile looks like the wicked witch of the west. Even if I had the money I wouldn't change it; it's who I am (French Canadians often have noses).

Our sweet dog, Tiggy, is aging (12 in September) and so we have discussed bringing in a younger dog for company but he really doesn't like young dogs at all, especially puppies. Besides, we don't want to be cleaning up puppy poop and Tiggy poop (as he ages this is more likely).

Joke for the Day: The week we got our puppy, I caught a stomach bug and stayed home from work one day. That afternoon, my wife called to check up on me. "I'm okay," I said. "But guess who pooped in the dining room." My wife's response: "Who?"

Cartoon and Joke provided by: Reader's Digest

Marriage Is Fun

This one's for you, John. LOL!

Marriage is fun is an interesting title as, since October, I'm sure my husband doesn't think so, at all. He has to carry the load for the two of us. As he well knows, I am totally appreciative. He is an awesome husband; there is no better.

We are officially in "monsoon season" and expecting to have several days in a row with storms and hopefully rain - we really need it.

Joke for the Day: A wife is scrambling eggs when her husband bursts into the kitchen. "Careful," he cries. "Careful! You're cooking too many at once. Too many! Scramble them! Now! We need more butter. They're going to stick! Careful! Now scramble them again! Hurry up! Are you crazy? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. Use the salt! The salt!" The wife turns and asks, "What is wrong with you?" Her husband calmly replies, "I wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving."

Cartoon and Joke provided by: Reader's Digest

Cheerios

Our youngest granddaughter, Marcelle - age 10 months, loves Cheerios (maybe not that actual brand but cereal O's). On Skype a couple of weeks ago we watched happily as she ate her O's with great gusto - she was absolutely enthralled. She and our daughter, Misha, will be visiting us for four days next month; we can hardly wait. We have only "met" Marcelle once when she was three weeks old. We are so thankful for Skype - without that we would be miserable.

Joke for the Day: A 6 year old and a 4 year old are upstairs in their bedroom. "You know what?" says the 6 year old. "I think it's about time we started cussing."The 4 year old nods his head in approval. The 6 year old continues, "When we go downstairs for breakfast, I'm gonna say something with 'hell' and you say something with 'ass.'" The 4 year old agrees with enthusiasm.When their mother walks into the kitchen and asks the 6 year old what he wants for breakfast, he replies, "Aw, Hell, Mom, I guess I'll have some Cheerios." WHACK! He flies out of his chair, tumbles across the kitchen floor, gets up, and runs upstairs crying his eyes out with his mother in hot pursuit, slapping his rear with every step. His mom locks him in his room and shouts, "You can just stay there until I let you out!"She then comes back downstairs, looks at the 4 year old and asks with a stern voice, "And what do YOU want for breakfast, young man?" "I don't know," he blubbers, "but you can bet your fat ass it won't be Cheerios!"

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Joke provided by: ebaumsworld.com

Poor Economy

The stock market has gone down a lot in the last few weeks, unemployment is up, government says they have created over 100,000 jobs but they are all census part-time temporary jobs, and things are looking worse. Don't want to be negative - I actually think that there is hope for our economy but it does not rest in spending more money and increasing taxes --- if we did that with our own personal finances we would end up in bankruptcy. Take a look at Greece - it certainly didn't work for them.

Sorry about yesterday's joke -- have posted it before -- it is funny though.

Joke for the Day: When my boss returned to the office, he was told that everyone had been looking for him. That set him off on a speech about how indispensable he was to the company. "Actually," interrupted his assistant, "you left with the key to the stationery closet."

Cartoon and Joke provided by: Reader's Digest

Day Off For John

Couldn't resist posting this cartoon.

John is off for a third day this weekend. Off we go to Walmart - you can find everything there--- your groceries, clothing, hardware, whatever you need... Just have a few things to get; leaving early as it is going to be 95 degrees today and getting into a car that has been sitting in the sun in the parking lot is not my favorite thing.

Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Joke for the Day: An elderly man visits the doctor for a checkup. "Mr. Smith, you're in great shape," says the doctor afterward. "How do you do it?" "Well," says Mr. Smith, "I don't drink, I don't smoke, and the good Lord looks out for me. For weeks now, every time I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he turns the light on for me." Concerned, the doctor finds Mrs. Smith in the waiting room and tells her what her husband said. "I don't think that's anything to worry about," she says. "And on the bright side, it does explain who's been peeing in the fridge."

Cartoon and Joke provided by: Reader's Digest

...And The Home Of The Brave

The sacrifices that were made for this country to exist are unfathomable. We must never forget.

Happy 4th of July!

God Bless America!

America, the Beautiful

There is so much beauty here in New Mexico. The high desert is extraordinary (we live 5000 feet above sea level). The sky goes on forever, the cloud formations are breathtaking, and the mountain ranges are lovely. We love living here as we have loved living in California and Arizona. Each state has its beauty; there are so many differences in the landscape, vistas, and even the way English is spoken. An amazing country to live in.

Joke for the Day: Q. What would you get if you crossed George Washington with cattle feed?A. The Fodder of Our Country!

Cartoon provided by: CartoonStock.com

Joke provided by: 101July4th.com

Fireworks!

Where else in the world can a canary strive, and succeed, to be an astronaut!

Not really looking forward to Sunday night; around here people set off their fireworks in their front yard, on the street, etc... this is the desert and everything is extremely dry so the fire hazard is very high --- not to mention all the dogs in the neighborhood who go crazy during the fireworks. Also, people will set off fireworks for days, sometimes weeks, after the 4th.

Joke for the Day: Q. Did you hear the one about the Liberty Bell?

A. Yeah, it cracked me up!

Cartoon provided by: CartoonStock.com

Joke provided by: 101July4th.com

We Are All Free

Regardless of how we feel or perceive things, we are all free in America. Our freedom of speech is probably one of the most unique and precious "jewels" of our freedom. We can march, picket, make speeches, post blogs, etc... voicing our opinions pro or con. This is rare and we should truly appreciate it. Sometimes, because it's all we know, we forget how very lucky we are to have such freedom.

Joke for the Day: Q. Why did the British cross the Atlantic?

A. To get to the other tide!

Cartoon provided by: CartoonStock.com

Joke provided by: 101July4th.com