Too much of the Emmys last night…

 

Well, it's Monday morning,

And the sun is shining

In my eye that is open

And my head's a-spinning

I was a part of the party and

I can't stop thinking,

I had too much of the Emmys  last night.

 

I watched the Emmy Awards last night starting with the pre award show right till the end.  The gowns the women wore were beautiful all except for a few.  One in particular stands out as being especially awful.  That was the blue gown that looked like it was made of plastic with the cone front, reminiscent of Madonna.  All in all it was a pretty decent show.  Most of the winners were from shows that I don’t watch.  The award for leading actor in a comedy series went to Jim Parsons.  I love the Big Bang Theory so I was happy about that.  I was very happy that Betty White was recognized for her many talents.  I hope I am that filled with life when I am 88.  Heck, I am not that filled with life now and I am a way lot younger than that.  LOL

I don’t have much time to spend on the computer this morning as I have another doctor appointment at noon.  Lunch will be late for me today.

I hope this is a good week for us all.

Beth

Lone juror holdout…

The lone juror holdout in the Blagojevich trial has been identified as JoAnn Chiakulas a retired state employee.  I wondered who she was and what her reason was for voting for acquittal.  It seems that Ms Chiakulas determined early on that the wire tap recordings merely show a rambling Blagojevich, no one organized and ready to take action.  I admire this 67 year old woman for sticking to her conviction.  However, I am far from excited that the taxpayers of Illinois will have to pay for Blago’s defense lawyers in the retrial scheduled for January 2011.  And we all should bemoan the fact that because of this woman’s conviction we will all have to pay for the team of lawyers handling the prosecution’s case.  I was OK with Blagojevich’s brother having the charges against him dropped.  I do believe he got sucked into this mess because of family loyalty.

There, I have had my say on the politics of the day.  Since I started blogging over 5 years ago I have made it a policy never to discuss politics and or religion in my posts and I have pretty much stuck to this. 

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The weather is warming up for today and tomorrow should be in the low 90s.  I am hoping this is summer’s last hurrah and we won’t have excessive heat in September.

I am being lazy today and not doing too much.  I have enjoyed watching the geese in my back yard and noticing how big they are getting. 

I am about to decide on purchasing an e book.  I haven’t decided which one yet.  I have been to the local library and it is huge, not at all like my little library at home so I am not exited about going there.  My brother has a new e book from Barnes and Noble and he loves it.  He is going to bring it with him when he comes to see me next month so he can help me make a decision.

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.  Stay safe and be happy. 

Beth

75 Glorious beautiful degrees…

this Thursday.  I am thoroughly enjoying the last few days we have had this week. It is a good thing too because the 90 degree weather is back for the weekend.

I have been to have my hair cut, then grocery shop at Kroger, then Marcia and I went out for lunch. It is just wonderful to be out in the sunshine when the weather is like this.

It is expensive being close to a major grocery store as every time I am bored I get in the car and head out to grocery shop.  My freezer is full and the cupboard is full and I rarely cook.  I stocked up today on Lean Cuisine at $2 each, buy 4 and get one free.  I do cook either on Saturday or  Sunday.  My daughter and son in law stop by to eat with me a lot after church and this gives me a reason to cook.  Otherwise that is really the only decent meal I eat each week other than when I eat out.

I have noticed the geese do not like to graze (is that what you call it?) after the grass is mowed and it takes them a few days to come back afterwards.  They are really packing on the pounds, in preparation for winter I guess.

Finally Comcast is getting some competition here in town.  iTV3 is starting here.  I have checked them out online and a representative came to the door the other day.  I am not overly fond of Comcast because when one thing goes out they all seem to go out.  It takes forever and a hundred years to get help when you call them and then you spend half an hour  poking this and that in the modem.  Very disgusting.  Comcast does have one thing I like though, when you have the TV on and the phone rings, the telephone number and caller ID scroll across the bottom of the TV screen.

I am not in the mood to do housework.  I have had my 30 minute workout this morning plus a nice long walk.  I always park in the boonies when I go somewhere so that gives me a reason to walk.  When Jim was alive we had to park in the handicap parking because he was unable to walk but a short distance.

I hope the weekend to come is a good one for us all.  Get out and enjoy the fact that you are alive and the air that you breathe is free and you are able to speak your thoughts without fear of censorship.  Man, I love the USA  and I am so proud to be an American!

Beth

Update for Dee…

My niece is improving slowly.  Please remember to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  Thank you.
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Such a beautiful day today, sunny and high around 80.  Just a perfect summer day.  Reminded me that fall is just around the corner and then winter.  Last year the snow began early in November and seemed to me like it snowed every day until the spring thaw.  ;-) A slight exaggeration perhaps, but not far off the mark.
I had a fleeting thought about buying a new car but I can’t see having a new car and it having to sit out in the weather all winter.  So I will just wait until it becomes a necessity.
The price of gas is down temporarily and that is good news.  I don’t have to fill up nearly so often now that I don’t have a 60 mile round trip every time I have to grocery shop or go to the doctor.   I do miss having the post office and pharmacy just 3 blocks away though.
I have found a way to get the landlord’s attention.  I was not happy with the hallway wall and my back door was peeling paint.  So I took pictures and took them over the property management office this morning.  This afternoon I had someone come by to look at both problems.  It was determined the door needed to be replaced and they will fix the hallway.  However, I am not holding my breath.  lol
Beth

Sunday day, nice…

It has been a lovely day for me.  I had a visit from some old friends from home this afternoon.

Sadly, the day is not ending on a happy note.  My WV sister is at the hospital emergency room right now.  Her daughter had surgery last week and she is not doing well.  I would appreciated all good thoughts and prayers for them both.
Beth

Thursday all day…

cause I said so.
Well, the newspaper is filled this morning with articles about the Blagojevich trial.  Most people agree with me.  NO retrial because of the expense to the taxpayers.  Illinois will have to pay for public defenders for Blago as he is broke and we will all have to pay for the federal prosecution.  Just is not worth it.  Let him and his hair go to a reality show.  I don’t watch any of those dumb things.The Illinois residents including me just want this over and done with and we don’t want to have to look at that face again.
You all know I love Julie Larson and her Dinette Set cartoons.  She is a local from Lincoln IL.  She is pretty widely syndicated, but just in case you missed this, here is the cartoon from this morning’s paper.
                                                                                                                                                    ~ copyright Julie Larson ~
This one really made me laugh.  I don’t have a day go by that I don’t get a similar type email  in one of my email accounts.  I do believe Burl and Joy and I must be related.  LOL  I definitely will never give my personal information to anyone on the telephone or by email.
We got things pretty much in order at the nursery at church yesterday.  I spent my time cleaning and then taking notes as the nursery director was involved in a horseback accident in June and she still doesn’t have the use of her right hand.
I need to close and make a run to the store in a few minutes.  Enjoy today as if it were your last day on earth.
Beth

There are no winners today…

Here I go getting involved in politics again.  I really don’t want to but today I have no choice.  I am so thoroughly disgusted with the verdict in the Blagojevich trial that I feel like hollering.  Well, maybe I am hollering.  24 counts and the jury could only agree on one count of lying to the FBI and hung on the other 23 counts.  The most important one, trying to sell the senate seat, is the most troubling to me.  Eleven jurors voted guilty and one voted not guilty.  The eleven jurors could not get this lone holdout (woman) to come around to a guilty verdict.  What is wrong with this woman???
There, I said my piece.  After all it is Wednesday and Wednesday is rant day.  That said, now to more important things in my life.  Number one being what I will do with the rest of the day.  I have already done a load of laundry.  In a couple of hours I am going over to the church with my daughter and help her and the nursery leader get things in the nursery ready for fall.  Yesterday I did get the vacuum out and used it, so that is done for a few days.
Still a pretty decent day but the heat is on its way back.  I am thinking jeans and sweatshirts and tennies and a walk in the cemetery when the frost comes and the geese fly further south.  Yesterday they were very close to my back door.
I hope you are all having a good week.  Every day above ground is a good day for me and I am thankful for each day.
Beth

WOW!!

I have to say that I am fascinated by blog spot and what you can find out there.  If you are looking at my profile and click on favorite music (mine happens to be classic country) there are only 24 bloggers on blog spot that have listed classic country as their favorite.  Click on Illinois and you will find that there are 2,340,000 bloggers from Illinois that use blog spot.  Click on favorite books (mine is murder mysteries) and you will find that 4,100 list murder mysteries as their favorite book.  Click on interests (my top one being family) and you will find that 1,950,000 blog spot users list family as their interest.  And you can go on and on.  I have found quite a few blogs that I have enjoyed visiting this way.  I bet that you can’t guess that most of the bloggers liking classic country music are from Texas!! 

A lovely day today, low humidity and high in the low 80s.  Not looking forward to the return of the heat which is expected back next week.

I shopped yesterday and spent a chunk of money so I am sticking close to home today.  I did clean a bit in the dreaded bathroom yesterday but the vacuum cleaner sits alone and unused.  I guess I could get re-acquainted  with that today.  However, that doesn’t interest me in the least.  I do plan to make the tacos today that I didn’t get made last week.

The Canada goose is edging ever closer to my back door.  I see them each morning eating the grass between my back door and the cemetery. The number is increasing each day.  Those are really some big fellows weighing in at 20 lbs or better.

Well, I guess I had better get up off my bottom end and do something as it is for sure that nothing is accomplished by sitting all day in front of a  computer.

I hope your week is going great guns for you all.

Beth

I have come to the conclusion…

that I don’t know how to spell anymore.  I spent years typing this or that in my AF career.  Back in the days before the computer corrected our mistakes for us, alerting us by the hated red squiggly line beneath the word.  Back in the days when I had to be an expert on the usage of whiteout.  Now I type faster than I can think when I am making a comment on someone’s post and after I have added it I see the typos I made.  Sometimes I will delete and retype but usually I am too lazy and just leave it be.  Sometimes a day later I will check my favorites and read the comments.  That is when I see the mistakes I made typing my comment.  I do notice, however, that I am not alone in this.  LOL
I have my laundry in the dryer already as I am trying to beat the excessive heat of the day which is to reach 95 today with heat index of 110 in places.  I have done my workout for the morning which I try to do faithfully each day.  Next, I think I will crank up the AC full blast and do a little bit of cleaning with the emphasis on the word little reminding myself again that it is not going to matter one little bit 100 years from now.  However, today, I have to live here and I can’t stand a messy house.
Don’t forget your mail person in this heat.  If you are home have a bottle of cold water ready to give them.  My mail lady says that pop just makes her feel hotter and she appreciates the water.  I had a  missed paper again the other day.  The person who brought it this time was not my handsome old fellow from the previous time.  :-)
Time to get busy.  Catch you all later.

Beth

What’s in the newspaper today…

to begin with, I found that I did not win anything in the Lottery on the little lotto, lotto or mega millions.  I just wasted 3 dollars which I could have used to purchase a doughnut which is just as well because I sure don’t need a doughnut.
That said, now to go to today’s news.  The jury is still debating into the second week trying to decide the fate of Blagojevich.  The longer they take the more afraid I become that Blago and his hair are going to get off scott free.  Skeletal remains appear to be that of a missing 2 year old Arizona boy.  This story is heartbreaking as I can’t imagine how anyone could harm a precious child.  There are fugitives loose and the search for them is ongoing in Montana and Canada.  Obama signs jobs bill to halt teacher layoffs.  Not sure about this.  Chinese landslide toll rises to 700.  This story makes me very sad.  Actually, there is very little in the paper today to make me feel good.  I have tears in my eyes when I read the news from Afghanistan.  I think this war has gone on much too long and I am reminded of the Korean and Viet Nam wars and the needless loss of life on both sides.  I pray everyday for peace on earth, that all wars would cease and all nations could co-exist in a peaceful manner.  Never happen in my lifetime, but I always have that hope.
Another hot sticky day here.  We had thunderstorms again last night with big thunderboomies.  The heat is wearing on my last nerve, but will it be any better this winter?  I am waiting to hear the wooly worm forecast for this winter as that is just as accurate as any weather forecaster.  lol
That about sums it up for today except for saying hi to my son in law Mike as I think he reads this every day.  Is it my turn to treat for supper Friday night??
Beth

Up and at ‘em early today…

I had to have fasting lab work done today so I was up at 6AM and went over to the hospital to get this done early.  Then I went by and picked up my daughter and she went with me to have breakfast at Ernie’s.  A little hole in the wall restaurant that is packed solid every day with regulars.  Quite an assortment of people; an excellent people watching place.  I think Jim and I ate there once quite a long time ago.  Definitely not a four star place but the food is good and it is cheap.  Very easy to tell the regulars as they shouted hello from all over the room as someone they knew came in.  I give it an OK rating but not someplace I would frequent on a regular basis.
Then we went by Kroger and I picked up soft shells and seasoning to make tacos one night this week.  Oh shoot, just typing this I remember that I forgot to get sour cream.  If I am having tacos I want some sour cream on there, plus I don’t like the hard shells.  What trivia, huh? but then I knew you would all be interested in the fact that I like sour cream on my taco.  lol
It is gearing up to be another hot, sticky day.  According to the weather on the scanner, probably the hottest day of the year so far.  That means I am through running for the day and will stay inside for the rest of the day, hoping the AC keeps working.  Yesterday I had to have a workman come as I had a wet spot on my hall carpet.  Turned out to be that the tray from the air conditioner was stopped up, so I had to wait without the ac for a couple of hours while it was fixed.
And that is it so far today.  I will watch TV and eat today.  I have around 30 commercial free movie channels on my cable so there is plenty to choose from.  I love the Retro Movie Channel as it is all old movies which are my favorites.
Stay cool!!
Beth

Today’s date, 8/9/10

Don’t you just love it when things are in order like today’s date, 8/9/10.  This kind of thing happens frequently.  I always stop and think and ponder what is happening in my life at the present time and what has happened in the past. 
I am at a crossroads in my life right now, trying to decide which path to take.  I made a life altering decision in mid March to sell my house and move closer to family.  I woke up one morning in March with one thought on my mind.  I picked up the phone book and called a realtor.  Believe me when I say that those guys don’t waste any time. 
Before the day was done the realtor was knocking on my door and taking pictures of my house, inside and out.  There were still some of those dreaded beans on the ground because the winter of 2009 – 2010 was extremely cold and snowy.  My house was shown the next day.  On the 5th day after the second showing my house was sold before the for sale sign was ever posted in front of my house. 
Thus began the trooping in of the new buyers and every relative under the sun.  To say I was a nervous wreck was putting it mildly.  I was having trouble eating and sleeping.  This dropping in and my showing of the house and garage to one and all didn’t end until the closing date April 15th.  By that time I had lost almost 20 lbs which I have never gained back.  I did all of my own packing and my friend Sandi and her husband were able to get me all of the boxes I needed.  I moved several loads in my car and Sandi’s husband moved some in his truck.  On April 16th Allied Van Lines moved the rest charging me a hefty fee.
This is a public thank you to Rex and Sandi for the help they gave me moving and to my neighbor Jo, and to Annie and Bill who all cried when I left. Thank you for all of the good memories.
Back to the crossroad thing again.  I need something to occupy my time so I am working on that.  I am enjoying spending time with my family but the days are still lonely.  My son in law jokingly tells my daughter that mama needs a male friend.  That would be nice, but not important.  I am waiting for my  sister’s visit next month.  My brother and sis in law and my son will all visit sometime during the week Rae is here so I will be able to get input from ones who care.
I hope this is a good week for us all.
Beth

Bounty from a garden…

thanks to Tim and Val.  My son in law’s brother and his wife.  I will shred the zucchini and put it in the freezer for now.
I am not fond of zucchini cooked as a vegetable but it makes a really good bread or cake.  Recipe from Cooks.com.
 

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans.
2. In a medium size bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, white sugar, and salt. Mix well.
3. In another bowl beat eggs, vegetable oil, and 1 teaspoon vanilla together. Pour into egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the shredded zucchini. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Allow cakes to cool in pans. Stack and frost into a 3 layer cake using Cream Cheese Frosting.
5. To Make Frosting: Cream together the cream cheese, butter or margarine. Add the confectioner's sugar, a little at a time. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla and mix well. Spread on cool cake layers.

Beth

Redneck Fishing Tournament…

in Bath Illinois on the Illinois River where Rednecks are jumping for a chance to catch the Asian Carp.

This tournament will be held today and tomorrow.  Fishermen and women will jump in their boats to compete for cash prizes based on who can haul in the most Asian Carp, an invasive species that threatens the ecosystem of native fish and is best known for leaping out of the water when startled by loud boat motors.
Participants will don their most ridiculous costumes, also for prize money. 
This is happening not far from me and I would love to see this.  I have seen this fish before, jumping up in the water.
And this is my fish story for today.  I hope all is well in your little corner of the world.
Beth

Good morning everyone…

it is another warm day in the heart of Illinois.  The kind of a day I will long for this winter when the wind is gusting about 60 miles an hour and there is 10 or 12 inches of snow on the ground.  Right now though, I am rather bummed out on hot and sticky.  In spite of all of that, it is a great day to be alive and I am very glad that I am.
I had a nice surprise with my doctor visit yesterday.  If you have been following my posts for the last few years you will know that I raved about my kidney specialist at home.  I said he was the handsomest doctor that I had ever come in contact with.  My new doctor is mid 30s, handsome and very nice.  I was patted on the shoulder and called ‘honey’ numerous times.  My checkup was good and I don’t have to see him for another year.  God is good as has been proved to me over and over through the years.
I have been to Kroger this morning and stocked up on the specials.  I think I have enough Charmin to last for a few months.  LOL  My daughter is coming by to pick me up in a few minutes and we are going to Firehouse Pizza to check out the pizza there.
I have been in touch with old friends at home.  Jim’s best friend has been undergoing radiation for cancer and he seems to be in remission now.  My friend in the nursing home is doing well and is making a bit of progress.  Thank you said by all in prayers.
I hope this is a good weekend for us all.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Life…

I was reading the Book of Matthew in the Bible last night and I reread a poem that my sister Chris had written on her birthday, April 28, 1990.  She sent this to me by mail and I have kept it  for over 20 years and I reread it from time to time.  She titled her poem ‘Life.' ’  Chris died in April 2000

            Life
The years go by so fast,
I’m always looking for something better.
I’m getting older every day,
Still wondering will the good things
and easier times come my way.
The ones I saw but didn’t see,
Somehow I don’t think they will ever be.
They seem so close and so near,
So I’ll try, and try again.
To no avail I think of all the wasted years…
All of the laughs, and all of the tears.
But life must go on,
So on I went.
Yesterday, I was young and strong.
Tomorrow I will be old and bent.
~~ Chris ~~  April 28, 1990