People really do care

Thank you, Erik!

Blaze, if you think you were scared, you should have been in my shoes yesterday!

To all that have sent kindness and encouragement my way, my heartfelt thanks.

No dinner tonight. Rats!

Contrary to Milt's posting about "getting a larger appointment book," I really don't get that many dinner invitations. Would you believe I had to cancel, because the "happy" pill I have to take to keep me calm also has a cautionary message "may cause drowsiness." I'm not sleepy, but am surely very relaxed right now.

The opportunity for a free REAL MEAL is very exciting to me - even if it's nothing more than a Big Mac and order of fries! I don't have to fix it and don't have to eat it alone - catch my drift! I'm what could be called a "cheap date;" take me to CC's Pizza (qualify for senior price there), turn me loose on the buffet, and I'm happy that my escort fed both of us for under ten dollars! Don'tcha just love that pineapple and ham pizza?

Also was invited to join some of my friends at the lake for the evening. It was nice to be invited - but, under the influence as I am, driving could have been quite a challenge, never mind making intelligent conversation. Right now, my tongue feels as if it has a splint covered with a dirty Marine's sock wrapped around it (nothing against Marines, you understand!).

Wasn't able to attain the heart monitor my doctor ordered for me - the correct one will be mailed out and should arrive on Monday. I'll be on vacation for two weeks, (I'll have my laptop with me) so I'm sure there will be something posted here about the perils of being "wired." Oh, I'm just full of them tonight!

Had photos of my dog posted, but somehow they disappeared. Will attempt again to get my mutt's photos up - maybe there will be someone out there that will agree with me that she's so ugly she's cute!

Think I will fix myself something special and very chocolate - hope there's no contradictory reaction with my happy pill. I've felt a chocolate attack creeping up on me for a couple of days, but have bravely ignored it until just now.

Orders is orders.

Sometimes it takes talking to a friend to set my mind in the right direction. Tonight, that happened. Had to tell my commander about all my recent problems and his telling me "you gotta look after number 1" made me feel rather special.

I knew there was a reason this young man means so very much to me - over and above the fact that he reminds me of my favoritest #1 grandson! He doesn't call me Gram, but treats me with the same concern and compassion.

How many times does a person come into our lives who unexpectedly becomes dear to us without our having any idea why it happened? Not often enough, I fear! For years, one of my pet sayings was "The Good Lord looks after fools and drunks, and He's been looking after this fool for a long time." Well, the Good Lord knew who was needed and sent him my way to be, not only an excellent commander, but MY FRIEND. Can't ask for much more than that, now can I?

He ordered me to stop calling him sir! I mean ORDERED!! Boy howdy, is that gonna be a hard order to obey!

What else can happen?

Okay, I know I shouldn't be, but now I'm just a tad on the frightened side. Had a couple of "spells" recently - nearly fainted twice within the past week - my heart has quite often been racing for no reason, and my left arm and hand have gone sorta kinda numb. Because I'm a worry wart, went to the doctor today.

As the result of many tests, I have to go the the nearby base and get a heart monitor to wear 24/7 for 30 days. Seems the doc is worried I may have had a "mild" heart attack. Is there really such a thing as a mild heart attack?? Anyhoo, have to call a certain phone number, and let whomever is on the other end listen to whatever the monitor has recorded for 24 hours. And, there's a medication I have to take to remain calm, serene, and otherwise unruffled so the readings on the infernal monitor won't be affected.

When the doctor asked with what activities I am involved, I told him computers, embroidery designs, blogging (he knew what that was surprisingly) and the ASDF. Had to explain what that is! He recommended I refrain from participation in ASDF until .... well, seems after the 30 days of wearing heart monitor I may very well be a candidate for surgery! That little bit of news surely made my day, believe me.

Now I have to follow the chain of command and inform at least 3 people in the ASDF of my predicament. Looks like I gotta resign and don't know how to tell them. Guess I could just cut and paste this blog and send it to them in an e-mail, huh? No? You're right!

Feel like my legs have been cut out from under me. But, must really work of being positive. Maybe the time with my son and family will help. Not really sure I want to go now, though. What to do, what to do?!? Was thinking about throwing a pity party - wanna come? Never mind! I will not fall into the "oh poor me" trap - I shalll overcome this trepidation and forge ahead. Got a lot of things I still wanna do!

London

I awoke to the horrible news of the bombings in London. As one who has visited that beautiful city and fell in love with it and the people, my thoughts and prayers will be with you.

Poor Milt

Visited Milt's site today - read most of his postings, too! Hope he can find phone number he was expecting - don't want him to go into a total funk because of rejection!

Blonde Joke

Telephone rings at fire station. When answered by one of the fearless firefighters, he heard a woman screaming, "Come quick, my house is on fire."
The fireman, in an attempt to calm the caller, asked: "Where's your house, ma'am?" The blonde and panicky woman exclaimed loudly and with panic in her voice, "Right where it's always been, fool."
Again, the fireman asked: "Where are you, ma'am?" She, now rather huffy, loudly stated, "I'm in the middle of my living room and there's fire all around."
By now, the fireman has about lost it himself, so he shouts into the phone: "How do we get there?" She replied, with a great deal of indignation, "Well, duh, big red truck" and hung up!

Embarrassment can also be hilarious, especially if the other person is the one embarrassed!

During the recruiting drive, one of our members (who is a VERY large man), wanted something cold to drink. So, he pushed back his chair from the table at which he was sitting, stood up, and his trousers fell right to his ankles. Those of us present immediately hooted and hollered and laughed like hyenas, while he ever so casually reached down and pulled them back up. If he said anything, I was laughing too hard to hear him. But, it should be noted, his face wasn't only red, it looked like it was on fire!

Many years ago, our return trip from Germany back to the good old U. S. of A. was on the USNS Buckner - an old troop transport. To say the accommodations were austere would be putting it mildly! Everything was thick metal - beds, walls, doors, floors, tables, chairs, everything! Because of bad storms, the 8-day trip took 14 days, what with sailing what seemed like every ocean on this planet to get to land! And, it was January - colder than a frozen drool-covered bulldog's lower lip. I went down the hallway? to the shower with change of clothes, towels, soap, etc. All hatches were locked into the open position to prevent harm to any of us. Just at the point in my shower whereby I was completely lathered up, the bow of the ship went up and then slammed down so hard that I was thrown out of the the shower into the hallway?, where I slid approximately 25 feet and stopped right at the feet of the fellow who had been assigned to our cabin (we were traveling with two kids, too). Ever so politely, he leaned down, helped me to my feet, wrapped me in one of the biggest towels I've ever seen then or since, and I scampered back to our cabin. In a few minutes, there he appeared with all of my paraphenalia from the shower room in a very neat pile and handed them to my husband - who was totally speechless to begin with because I had returned to the cabin in the state of undress! It happened to be my birthday and I was invited to sit at the Captain's table for birthday cake. There on my cake was ME - cake decorator had drawn with icing the description the cabin steward had given of me when I landed at his feet earlier in the day. It was very flattering - didn't really look like me - but had trouble looking anyone in the eye for the rest of the trip!

loriworld - thank you for your kind comments. Visited your site for a while and it's beautiful.

From out of the blue!

While ensconced on my couch, beneath my favorite quilt, with my dog curled up behind me, I was at that delicious place just before falling into a full sleep - when, the telephone rang. It took me a moment to release myself from the euphoric state I didn't really want to leave, but I did finally manage to put receiver to ear and say "Hello."

Another voice from the past. A widower friend of mine, who's wife died the same year as my hubby, and from whom I hadn't heard since his wife's funeral, questioningly spoke my name. Goodbye euphoria - I immediately figured he was sick and needed help, because his voice was so different. I was fully prepared to go to his aid, if required.

Nope - not the case at all. He just wanted to chat - which we did for an extensive period of time (he's got unlimited long distance!) and got caught up with each other's family news.

During a lull in the conversation and out of the blue, he asked me to have dinner with him on Friday evening! Well, after my jaw bounced a few times on the arm of my recliner and I got what little sense remaining to me gathered, I said yes! Without even thinking about it, mind you! What's the deal with me lately?

This morning, in retrospect, still have no answer! I've known this fellow for a long time - his wife and I were close friends for many years. They moved to PA and we lost touch for about 10 years or so, and then they moved back because of her health. At that time, I was a very busy college student (didn't go to college until in my 50's) and we visited each other only twice before she died. Hate that I didn't see her more often, but can't do anything about the past, now can I? But, now I'm second guessing my decision. Like I said, what's the deal with me?

Sylvie and Al - 50 years!

Talked to a dear, old friend on the phone today. Although we've not seen each other for nearly 40 years, our conversation was a continuation of the last one we had way back then.

Not really sure which is better - old friends or new friends. The old friends know everything about me, know my faults and call them to my attention (too often to suit me :::giggle:::), and are as comfortable as well-worn slippers. New friends are spell-bound by my stories (I convince myself they are spell-bound, you see), don't know much about me and make an effort to learn ALL, they see my faults right away but are gonna wait until they know me better to call me down, and have to be broken in like a new pair of loafers!

My friend was totally amazed to learn that I am widowed and for nearly 7 years. She asked, "How do you stand it? Aren't you about bonkers by this time?" When I replied, "Sylvie, hope you've got about two days to listen to me tell you how I don't know how I stand it and that I've been worse than bonkers ever since my hubby died."

She and her husband will soon celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, and I've been invited me to be with them during this wonderous occasion. I was maid of honor at their wedding, lo those many years ago. It will be a wonderful trip for me, and to be with a dear friend like her for a few days promises to be a fun time. The sad part of the reunion will be that everyone else who was in the wedding party has died - the preacher, best man, 2 bridesmaids, 3 ushers, even the ring bearer and the flower girl. Just the 3 of us left. Have HUGE goosebumps running rampant over me as I type this.

It's scary to know - I mean REALLY KNOW - I'm a member of the "older generation." It's even scarier to realize many people I've called friend (and family) who are much younger than me have passed away. No wonder I often feel so completely alone!

Paid competitions called reality TV?

What's the deal with the so-called "Reality" shows on television these days? I mean, what in the world is "real" about them in the natural order of daily living?

I don't know anyone who gets a thrill out of eating live cockroaches, pig whatevers, or live scorpions. Is there anyone out there who lives to be totally covered with creepy, biting, slithering, flying, or crawling critters while enveloped uncomfortably inside a plastic cubicle? Being dumped on an island with no food or shelter (much less respectable attire) to compete against each other for the most time on camera to prove his/her ability to be cruel, hateful, seductive, angry, or stupid should be categorized as criminal. And how important is it to know who does or doesn't receive the rose? Is there anyone out there, with even a minimal amount of common sense, who wants to be anyone other than who they already are in order to become a Hilton, for Pete's sake?

Of course, I do know the answer to my argument - one-sided as it may be. Money, money, money! How dumb is it degrade oneself for money? Seems to me being stupid, which comes quite naturally and easily to most of us, is easier withstood when the audience is VERY limited.

Thank goodness for the remote control! But, have to admit, it's becoming quite difficult to find anything worthwhile to view anywhere, surf though I may! Guess I'm left with watching Public Television -- which is always begging for money. Can't win for losing!

Asking questions is lonely work.

Ever wonder what your purpose is, has been, or will be? Have you ever questioned who was the person that named the eating utensil - fork? When little children (usually about 3 years old) ask why, have you ever wondered why yourself? Are we fated to go through life asking unanswerable questions?

Been in rather a funk today - found myself questioning my every move, thought, deed, and action all day long! Should I do this, should I say that, should I go there, should I stay here, what if I don't do that, what if I just forget everything and not do anything at all! Weird day, all in all.

Couldn't help but wonder if I'm the only idiot left in this world until I met another blithering idiot today! After talking to this person, I felt even worse about my questioning and funky mood, because I couldn't keep up! She asked me "What is?" When I replied "What is what?", she said "Exactly!" And, walked away! Left me standing there thinking that I must either come up with better questions or give up questioning completely!

The men in white coats will be coming for me soon to take me to the rubber room at the funny farm, but I will make every attempt to not question this endeavor as I am sure bouncing around in there will be the best thing that's happened to me for quite a while. Who am I to question?

Mish Mosh of thoughts

Hard to believe the year 2005 is over half gone already. I had just gotten used to using and writing 2004 when paying my bills! My usual comment to folks on the 4th of July is, "You'd better get your Christmas shopping done, because it will be here day after tomorrow." How is it that time gets away from us so quickly these days? Are we really that much busier than we used to be? Or, do we lack the ability to "manage" our time successfully? Does our age contribute to the speed with which time hastens along? Oh my, it's much too early in the morning for me to tackle this momentous problem!

It's been a busy weekend. Recruiting drive at the lake, where the temperature and humidity have been energy sapping. Acting commander had a heart attack and is in hospital - awaiting report from his wife to learn his prognosis. A few incidents occurred which plummeted everyone's morale - including mine. Nothing that can't be handled in the appropriate manner, though.

Received an apology about comment concerning "what will be done to me in bed." Accepted the apology, but am rather on the wary side now. Probably shouldn't be, huh? He will try to come to last day of recruiting drive to see me and be introduced around - but won't really look for him to do so.

While sipping on my first cup of coffee, I've been musing about how fortunate I am to have been born in America.