Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I hope you had a nice weekend! On Friday night I went to Canal Street Tavern to watch both of Steve's bands play at a Halloween party. I think this is the first time both of his bands were hired to perform at the same place back to back! Anyway...I sort of dressed up as a football player. I wore a jersey and painted black lines under my eyes... it was cheap and easy!! :)

My picture was tagged to me on facebook and well.. I'll just say I'm not feeling the love. It wasn't a horrendous picture, but it was pretty darn close! Hopefully people were too intoxicated to notice the black under my eyes was smeared down to my cheek bones!!! I hate the tag feature!
The cold weather is here and when the cold weather comes so does my chest congestion and a nagging cough!!! I have been using my percussion vest more often to break up the mucous in my chest, but not as diligent as I should. I'm prescribed to use it once a day for 20 minutes year round . It's hard for me to justify using it though, when there is no congestion to break up in the Spring and Summer months. My friend Leslie, who is an asthma educator and respiratory therapist, gets on me about not using it as often as I should. She reminds me all the time if I use it everyday I wont experience the chest congestion and nagging cough when the cold weather approaches! Anyway....

Blast from the past

Today I had a visit from a girl who lived down the street from me on Lightner Blvd. That is the street we both grew up on with our families and where we spent our evenings playing kickball, softball, riding our bikes, building forts and doing whatever else we could find to get in to that evening before the sun went down and it was time to get ready for school the next day. :) We were all so energetic and loved being outdoors!
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Unfortunately, her brother Eddie (and our friend) passed away in 1986 while in basic training for the Marines. That was such a sad day in the neighborhood! The story back then was he had an enlarged heart and that caused his death. I was told today though that there were doubts on whether that was the case or not.

I have not seen her since 2000 at my Mom's funeral. The funeral was a dismal time and not a time to catch up, so we haven't really spoken since High School. Anyway, She came with her 20 year old daughter who had fun listening to us reminisce (sp?) about family, neighbors and about the things we have been up to since High School. :)

We plan to get together soon and adding a few others from our clan to join us! Should be fun! :)

Happy hump day!

Hello! It's Wednesday and I'm getting ready to run some errands. They're errands I shouldn't have to run and I'm a little salty! My brand new printer is flubbed up all ready and I have to see if I can get it repaired. The part of the printer that pulls the paper through to scan and fax is broke! The printer is big and bulky and not easy to haul around, so I feel bad for my nurse assistant who has to carry it for me. Maybe I will buy her dinner tonight for her troubles? Maybe she will leave her undies at home this week?? Hehe, just kidding!! I wish the printer would fit on my lap, but it doesn't, unfortunately. Anyway..

I had a visit from my friend this week! He was in the area for business and made the time to come and play catch up for awhile! He is the same friend who only visits when he is in Dayton....other than that I'm not worth the time and gas money. :) Totally kidding... I know he reads this and I'm giving him a rough way to go. :) I enjoy visiting with him no matter what the circumstances are and always appreciate him coming to see me.

I just read an article about Mayor Bloomberg, mayor of New York, and his remarks on making more handicapped accessible taxis in New York. Evidently he said that it would cost too much money because they are gas guzzlers and cost $15,000 more than traditional taxis, they would be uncomfortable to average riders because of suspension, they would not generate enough tips to the cabbies, and also that it's too difficult for persons in a wheelchair to hail a cab and they may get ignored.

Mayor Bloomberg is missing a sensitivity chip it seems and hopefully karma doesn't bite him in the ass! I don't wish wheelchair life on anybody, but it can certainly happen without it being wished upon...shame on you Mr. Mayor!

Bath Bomb

While browsing around at Living Simply Soap Wednesday I came across something that is called bath bombs. They are about the size of a tennis ball, look like soap and come in a variety of scents. You put them in your bath water and they dissolve almost immediately and leave behind a great smell and leave your skin silky smooth. I bought one because well, I couldn't leave the store empty handed you know. What kind of customer would I be? I also bought a peppermint chapstick. :) Anyway, today I decided to put my bath bomb to the test.

I plopped it in my bath water and it dissolved within a minute. It left a white layer of bubbly substance in my water, it smelled nice and I guess it made my skin soft. I really don't know for certain. I think these would make nice gifts to add to a woman's gift basket if it had girly things like lotions and sprays. :)

I made my bubble bath last two hours this morning. I love soaking in the tub, it's like going to my own little spa. :) When I get in the tub I don't fill it up with water until my shower chair is all the way lowered, it's reclined and I'm strapped in.  When the water is turned on and starts filling up my legs start kicking (spasming) fiercely as soon as the water hits the top of my legs. It must stimulate the skin or nerves to respond the way they do. Anyway..my legs might not enjoy the bath, but I do. :)

Thongs

On Thursday while getting in the van my nurse assistant found a sexy pair of thong underwear on the drivers side floor. She seemed freaked out and I think she was assuming my bf had been messing around. My mind didn't go that direction, instead I thought about who drove my van last and perhaps they dropped them from their purse. I honestly thought the latter would be the case considering my bf usually doesn't drive my van unless I'm in it and if he was going to have sex with somebody else he would probably not do it in my van. Maybe I'm wrong?!?! Anyway!


I asked the only two nurse assistants that could be the owners of said undies based on the size and style and neither claimed them!! Today when I asked my nurse assistant again (in person) if they were hers, she said no and blew it off that she has found undies in her laundry basket before that were not hers or her daughters, as if I should do the same. I snapped at her a little and asked if she was married and found another woman's panties in her domain would she think differently? She said, "Oh yes!" I said, "If somebody isn't fessing up because of embarrassment, I'm going to make accusations that aren't fair" She then said, "Now you got me thinking I should check if they're mine" I  couldn't believe what I was hearing. Long story short---They ended up being hers! :)

Rain Rain Frickin Go Away!

This constant down pour of rain and 50 mph winds is getting ridiculous! I don't know if we're really getting 50 mph winds or not, it just sounded good! :)

Today my nurse assistant, my aunt and I visited a nice couple who used to be friends with my grandparents. Their names are Paul who is 94 and Rinola who is 70. They live about 45 minutes away and their home is right off a huge lake. They are such nice people and enjoyable to listen to as they share stories of growing up in Dayton and Sidney, Ohio. :) I could listen to them all day long.

My aunt bought me a bug zapper and I tried it today. We zapped a spider and when I say zapped....I mean zapped!! It looks like a small tennis racket and it takes two batteries. When the bug touches the center, you push a button and it fries the bug!! It makes a loud zapping sound and kinda smells like something is burning. Well, something is burning, the bug!! I almost felt guilty zapping the spider. I don't dislike spiders, I dislike the possibility of them crawling on me and me not being able to get them off of me.

Pumpkin carving

Today I enjoyed the day with my nieces and nephews decorating pumpkins, which was uber fun! This year I decided to jazz things up a bit, though!

In the past I would buy each of the kids a small pumpkin and get some paint so each could create their own little individual "masterpiece" with their own idea of what they wanted their pumpkin to look like.

This year I decided we are carving pumpkin faces instead of painting. When I was young I loved getting my hands inside the pumpkin head to pull out all the seeds and stringy innerds and feeling all the pumpkin goo in between my fingers. It was awesome! I assumed all kids were like me at that age! No??? I was so wrong! All I heard was, "We need gloves!! Ewwww this is sticky! This is smelly! This feels weird! Oh my gosh! After a couple minutes all four kids left the table to play and left the dirty work for my nurse assistant and my sister in law! Can you place an L on my forehead?

Afterwards we got the kids back to the table so they could finish their pumpkins and they had fun with the rest of it. We took pictures, iced cupcakes (tried to anyway) and passed out goody bags. It was a great day and I will post pictures tomorrow. :)

Weekend

Hello! Well, its Sunday and the closing of another October weekend! A beautiful weekend I should say, because the weather was absolutely perfect! :)

On Friday I went to J-Alan's in Dayton to watch my bf's band., Skeleton Crew, perform. I stayed for just the first two sets because I had an early day Saturday, so I didn't want to be out too late. They sounded great and it was a good time!! :)

On Saturday I went to the Yellow Springs Street Fair, the Apple Butter Fest and to my friend, Leslie's house for the evening. I found pumpkins @ the Apple Butter Fest  that were only $1.00 each. I bought five because I'm having my nephews over Saturday to carve pumpkins. Yay!! I love a bargain! :)

Frustration prevails

I don't know if I'm experiencing pms or what today, but my frustration level is through the roof. It's not taking much to push my buttons. I think know, me not being able to find a job has everything to do with my frustration.

I had a job prospective (right word?) last week and I was really hoping to get it. I received an e-mail saying, we want to hire you, but all classes are full. You are on a waiting list, so as soon as somebody backs out we will contact you. Check your e-mail daily" Well, it gave me a little hope for a day or two,  but all hope is gone now! Very frustrated! I always think when somebody says something and then says but, it takes away everything they just said before the word but!!! Right??

I will keep looking and looking! I have the seasonal job coming up, so that will be something! I really want permanent work!

In the President's Secret Service

I'm reading a great book titled, In The President's Secret Service. The author is Ronald Kessler. It's sort of a "tell all" book about what some of the secret service agents witnessed and dealt with while working with different presidents.

I was shocked to learn that Nancy Reagan was bossy, uptight and rude to the agents while Ronald was a complete gentleman who was friendly, talkative and laid back. His favorite thing to do was ride horses with Nancy and her favorite thing was staying inside and talking to her friends from L.A.

I learned that Kennedy had multiple affairs (no shock there) and so did Lyndon B. Johnson. One time Lady Bird Johnson (his wife) caught him on the couch having sex with his lover and he yelled at the secret service for not warning him that she was home early. Afterards he installed a button that the agents would push to alert him when the Mrs. was coming home. LOL!! I read that he would walk around in the buff at times, urinate from the balcony and have meetings while in the bathroom having a bowel movement. (Awkward).

I learned that Jimmy Carter was mean and wouldn't speak to the agents at all. They were told to not speak to him or even look at him. He carried an empty bag while traveling to make it look like he was carrying his own, and at one time he tried to attack a stray jack russell terrier with a saw because it was eating his cat's food! Wow!

I still have a lot more to read, but highly recommend this book!