Saturday…

and I have had one of those mornings where I should have stood in bed.

*****

“Idioms & Phrases

I should have stood in bed,

I've had such a bad day that I should never have gotten up at all.  For example, And then I got rear-ended at the stop sign Is should have stood in bed . This ungrammatical colloquial phrase properly put as stayed in bed is ascribed to fight manager Joe Jacobs, who in 1935 saw his first baseball game, the opening game of the World Series between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs. It was a very cold day, and when asked what he thought of baseball, Jacobs replied, "I should have stood in bed."

*****

Actually this day started out pretty nice, lovely sunshine and cool temperatures.  I went to the church sale and purchased a few things and came back home and that is when the fun started.  I noticed the window on the rear right side was down about an inch.  I started the car and tried to use the power to raise the window.  No luck, the darn thing went halfway down and stuck there.  I called my daughter and son in law and they came over.  My daughter went to the dealer with me and it cost me $567.94 cents to get it fixed.  I just had the rear left window fixed in March of this year and it was $326.  Each window operates on a motor.  I asked for an explanation as to why this was higher than the other window and I was told prices had increased.  Well, needless to say I am torqued off.  My car is a 2002 Buick LeSabre which we bought new.  It has a little over 84,000 miles on it.  I have started looking at new cars.

I have really had far worse things than this happen to me but this was extra irritating for some reason. 

And now my rant is over.  I hope you all have a good weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Well…

I was neither struck by lightning last night nor did I win any part of the Mega Millions.   There were 3 winners, one of them being from Illinois in a little town called Red Bud which is near St Louis.  My brother lives in that area of Illinois.  Sigh…

Now on to more important things such as what I am going to do with this new day that I have been granted.  I should clean, and maybe I will.

I definitely am going to have to do some new television hunting.  My Samsung  TV will be 5 years old in April.  For the last few weeks it has been acting really odd when I turn it on.  It clicks numerous times(for several minutes)  until it finally turns on.  I checked it out on Google and I found that this is a known problem with Samsung.  http://www.fixya.com/support/t2671746-samsung_lcd_tv_clicking_wont_turn  This just reinforces to me that Murphy has never left me, in fact I think he is madly in love with me. 

I called the lone TV repairman here in town and he was well acquainted with the problem.  He told me it was a quite common occurrence with many TVs.  He said he could fix it, probably for under $200.  Now here is the catch.  I have to deliver the TV and pick it up when it is finished.  The turn around time could be a week or more depending on if he had to order a part.  I am not going to go through all of that hassle.  I will buy a new TV and I will buy it where it will be delivered and set up and the old one taken away.  And that is my rant for the day Auntie.  Why do all of the TV manufacturers  put the el cheapo capacitors made in China in the TVs??  When in the world are we ever going to be able to buy MANY things made in America instead of just a few.  Which leads me to another rant, outsourcing, but I won’t get into that now as that really torques my jaw.

It is nippy out this morning and the temp stands at 42 degrees right now.  It is to be in the mid 80s tomorrow and upper 80s on Monday.  This changing weather is not good for the flu season which got a really late start this year.

I cook on the weekends and today I am fixing spaghetti with meat sauce for my lunch.  I need to close this off so that I can see about getting the sauce started.

I hope you all are having a great day.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

How observant…

are you?  http://blogthings.com/howobservantareyouquiz/  I am not as observant as I thought I was as I couldn’t answer some of the questions on the quiz. 

I was in the kitchen a little while ago putting stuff together for a chicken casserole.  How do I put stuff together for a chicken casserole.  Cooked noodles, cooked chicken cut in small pieces, canned mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, shredded cheese, canned peas and whatever else strikes my fancy.  When, knock me over with a feather and call me unobservant, I discovered that my electric stove here has a timer on it.  I have been complaining for almost 2 years that my stove here didn’t have a timer on it.  I will probably jump a foot when the timer goes off. 

It is bitterly cold here this morning on the 38th day on the Countdown to Spring.  The snow didn’t amount to much.  The furnace has been running almost constantly.  I imagine the Ameren (lights, gas) bill will be outrageous as that company was just granted a rate hike.  Seems like every company has been granted a rate hike except for the common person.  There, I am ranting and it isn’t even Wednesday.

I am considering making cornbread to go with the casserole.  My brother in law thought that would be a good with it.

I hope you all are enjoying a peaceful day.  I am hoping my SIL will get me a lotto ticket as one of the lotto jackpots has gone over 300 million.

Stay safe and be happy.

Beth

51 days…

to go and counting down till Spring.  It is not really spring like here this morning.  It is cloudy  and 30 degrees right now.  It is supposed to get up to 50 degrees today.  I am not holding my breath though. 

Yesterday when I went out to clean my car off I got a nasty surprise.  What I thought was snow turned out to be a combination of ice and snow about 3 inches thick all over the car.  It took me over half an hour just to get the dang car cleaned off enough for me to drive it to the store.  Then the parking lot at the store was icy and I had on the wrong shoes for that.  Thankfully I didn’t fall.  Bring on the heating pad though!

I am fixing homemade potato soup for my daughter and SIL to have after church.  That is a lot of potato and onion peeling.  This was one of Jim’s favorite dishes.  We would fix it a lot when we knew the kids were coming home.  Then I would save a bowl for Jim for later and send the rest home with the kids.  I make one pan with hamburger and one pan with ham.  I am having green salad with that too.  And that is it,  I did make some cupcakes yesterday, not homemade just from a mix.

This winter, mild as it has been, has been wearing on me.  I saw so many doctors that I don’t know which one to turn to when I really need some help.  One doctor will not cross another in any way.  It is just like they have taken a  Hippocratic oath not to step on each others toes.  Never mind the patient, they are just a number that they make wait for them to be seen and then they graciously allow you  10 – 15 minutes of their time where you find out little or nothing.   Meet Doctor God! 

Whew, I am done ranting for today.  I get carried away when I start talking about Jim’s oncologist too.

Wow!!  Now the sun has come out and I am cheered up already.  If the sun stays out I think I will take a walk over to the cemetery and have a little talk with the Man upstairs as I think I need a push forward.  You all stay safe and be happy.

Beth

Wild Card??

Nah!  The Cards are  charging into playoffs.  http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/story/2011-09-19/monday-roundup/50472620/1

Any of you who have been reading my blog for the last 6 years know that I am a die hard St Louis Cardinal fan.  Having been born in the great state of Missouri, I feel it is my duty to be a Cardinal fan.  Plus the fact that my daddy was a Cardinal fan and Cardinal baseball is all I heard on the radio in my growing up years.  The Cardinals never fail to amaze me and just when I have given up hope they go and do something reckless and get a chance to be back on top again.



So what can I say but “Go Cards.”

I found out this morning as I was lugging my garbage can through the grass (to miss all of the fresh concrete) that tomorrow we can walk on the new driveway/sidewalks but we can’t park on them until next Thursday. 
Now that you have heard me cheering for the Cardinals and ranting about the new driveways all down my block I do believe it is time for me to be quiet.  I hope you all have a peaceful weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Let this post be a warning.

“If you're running down my country, man, You're walking on the fighting side of me.”
While I do not agree with everything that takes place in my nation’s capitol I will cherish my right to defend them till the end.  My heart is saddened by a comment left on my last post.  The kind of comment that would have been better said in a private message to me.  This person seems to forget that 2,977 Americans were murdered in the United States of America on September 11, 2001 because of an extremely evil person.  Take a look at these images.  That extremely evil person is dead now and I am rejoicing on behalf of every mother, father, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister who perished that day.
  Beth

Blagojevich, another go round…

Rolling eyes and sighing.    Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s new trial begins today.  The same defendant, the same courthouse, the same judge, even the same ridiculous hair.

AP photo at interview at the Chicago home of Blagojevich.

It seems totally appropriate that I should be writing this post today, Wednesday, which we in the blogging family officially declared rant day several years ago.  Of course my local paper, the Peoria Journal Star, is filled with many articles about this today, including an interview with the lone holdout juror in his trial last year.  The charges have been trimmed down from 24 to 20 and one defendant, his brother, is not being charged again.  Some of you may never have heard of Blagojevich, although if you live in the United States of America you would have to be totally out of it not to know who this man is.  In fact, I do believe he is known world wide for his shenanigans.  He along with George Ryan and a couple of other disgraced Illinois governors has brought Illinois to its largest debt in history.  In other words, we are broke.
 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37136518/ns/us_news-life/

There are two topics I rarely touch on in my blog, and that is politics and religion.  I do take both of these topics very seriously though.  I have a deep abiding faith and I follow politics very closely, but these are personal to me.  However, when the welfare of my state is involved I will speak out.  Our federal government will be paying for the prosecuting attorneys so that means all of us. The state of Illinois will be paying for the defendant’s attorneys which means me and the others citizens of Illinois.

Well, now I have said my piece so I will wait and see what happens with this trial.  It really is a good thing for Blago that the trial is being held in Chicago.  Chicagoans are more forgiving of their politicians than we are downstate.

And that is my Wednesday rant.

You all stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

This makes me so aggravated I could spit…

I just got off the phone after spending an hour on hold and finally talking to opm (small letters to fool the search engines).  I received my withholding statement yesterday from the federal government.  My withholding taxes increased $49 per month.  This is  because of the new tax schedule effective January 1.  I know the government needs the money but boy are they hitting the senior group hard.  I am fortunate in that I can manage without the $49.  Many people cannot.  This could mean the difference for many seniors in staying warm or putting gas in their car, etc.  Or even worse, having enough to eat.  This has been my Wednesday rant on a Friday.  The thought does cross my mind that some of the money we spend on foreign aid and fighting other country’s wars could better be spent on taking care of the people in need in our own country.  Just sayin’!

In addition to lovingly holding the phone and waiting for a human voice this morning I managed to trot back and forth to the laundry room where I got my laundry caught up. 

Yesterday my daughter and I had lunch at what used to be Grumpy Petes and is now called 8th Street something or the other.  I guess because they are located on 8th Street.  Anyway, the food there is still delicious.  Yesterday the buffet was mostly Mexican food with the old standbys of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy.  The green beans with bacon and onion were delicious.  I am not much on Mexican food but the enchiladas were wonderful.  The salad bar is always good. 

I have so many things I need to do today but the telephone call wore me out.    So today is a lazy day.  I have declared this the 2nd day of spring as the temp is to reach 34 degrees.  YAY!!  That is the first above freezing temp for quite awhile.

I hope you all have a peaceful happy day.  Stay safe!

  Beth

Wednesday, rant day..

and there is good reason to rant  and make mention of the fact that because the young mother of two small boys has no insurance she is being released from the hospital today, far too early for the many injuries she suffered.  Remember, Angel, is a young friend of my sister Rae.  Angel was injured in an automobile accident last week on her way to work at Mainstream.  She is a struggling single mother, trying to make ends meet.  Her closest family is a sister who is trying to take care of Angel’s boys while she is recuperating.  She suffered many broken bones and lacerations; all from an accident that will most likely be traced back to the car she was driving.  My sister is trying desperately to help her by making many phone calls on her behalf.  This is all thwarted by the fact that Angel is no relation to my sis so because of the privacy act she (Rae) has hit a bunch of brick walls.  Please do continue to remember Angel in your prayers as this young lady has a long hard row in front of her.

Yesterday morning I had a dental appointment to get my teeth cleaned.  Now that is one thing I hate with a passion, all of the poking and prodding around on my teeth.  My mouth is always sore for several days afterward.  What is the alternative?  Yep, you said it, so I will continue to go every 6 months and get my teeth cleaned as much as I hate it.

It is a lovely day today, up close to 70 again.  The colder, more seasonal weather, is due back this weekend.  The weeks fly by so fast, it will soon be spring again.

My son in law is having surgery on his knee next Monday morning.  This kind of puts a damper on Thanksgiving activities so I probably will get a small turkey and fix the works here that day.  It seems so hard to gather family around for holidays anymore and this makes me sad.  There definitely will be no going to the boat for the buffet  on Thanksgiving as it appears my son will be unable to come that day.  Now I am shooting for Christmas. 

I should get started on some house cleaning.    I hope you all are having a good day.

  Beth

Wednesday, short update and a bit of a rant…

I am truly enjoying having my sister’s visit.  Yesterday my brother and sister in law from close to St Louis came to visit us.  We had a nice visit and ate lunch at Kouri’s.  I am waiting for pictures that my bother took with his great camera equipment.

And that leads me to my first rant.  I am taking my new camera that I bought back to WalMart.  It takes fuzzy pictures for some reason.  Below is a picture of my sis that I took today with my old camera.  I am not in the mood to buy another camera now as I am thoroughly disgusted.

And now since I am on a roll, I will go on to my second rant.  Just as my company came yesterday they came over to put the new back door on.  He did not finish up and came back today so I have had to hang around the house all day and still more work to be done.  Then tomorrow the comcast guy comes to the house.  Rae and I haven’t had a chance to run around hardly at all.

I miss all of you and I will catch up next week.

Beth

It is Wednesday because I say it is and because it is...

Wednesday because I say it is and because it is...
Wednesday used to be rant day. Things are not the same on spaces. Many have left for greener pastures. I too have a greener pasture plus several other blogs. I find it hard enough to post on one blog every day, let alone several.

Some folks never post anything original, just stuff from other sources and that is OK . I applaud the ones that are courageous enough to let a little bit of their daily life come through in their posts. I am not asking you to divulge any family secrets and I definitely am not interested in reading about anything compromising, however I am capable of doing research on the internet myself.

One of the best examples of an interesting blog is written by my friend Paul. He lives in the Boston area and through his descriptive words and pictures I feel like I know that area. Another is Carole who writes from the heart and keeps us enthralled with the daily shenanigans of Miss Catt. I often refer to Carole as my twin because we share the same birthday. We have many traits in common and in many ways we are different. For example, she has a good hair day almost every day while I never have a good hair day. Paul has an excellent blog on blog spot now. It is http://jumpingoutthewindows.blogspot.com/. Carole also is at blog spot at http://ramblingon-ramblingon.blogspot.com/. You will find me in my greener pasture at http://bmariede.blogspot.com/.

I just had a cute old fellow come to my door a few minutes ago. He was bringing me my paper that wasn’t delivered this morning. He was a doll. He had curly white hair and wore blue jean shorts with suspenders and a white Tshirt. Reminded me of one of those people you see in an ad for Swiss chocolate. I was having a nice chat with him when the phone rang. It was my sister in WV. She told me to hang up quickly and go see if he had left yet. LOL!!! Thanks Rae, she and Hugh are always looking out for my best interests.

After a day of heavy rain yesterday we are in line for more rain today. I can take it; I am tough.

There! You just got a little glimpse of my life here in the heart of Illinois. I am looking forward to a little glimpse into your life.

Beth

Retro Post

8/19/2006
Saturday...
Today was a better one for Jim. He felt better and the cough seems to be going away. The effects of this chemotherapy have been horrendous. My heart aches when I can't make him feel better.

He felt well enough to ride with me to do a bit of shopping today. I visited the Card Shop where I got just a little bit aggravated. Jim waited for me in the car while I chose several greeting cards. I took them to the front of the store to be checked out. There were 5 clerks there and they were all blowing up orange and blue balloons. I waited about 5 minutes to be checked out; each of the clerks seeing me there but ignoring me. Finally one came up to half-heartedly wait on me. I realize it is more fun blowing up balloons but I had Jim waiting for me in the car and I didn't want to be in the store overnight.

As the clerk was checking me out she started carrying on a conversation with another person. I told her if she felt she was too busy to wait on me just to say so and I would be happy to leave. Thankfully that shut her mouth and she finished ringing up my purchase.

Question: Do young people (this clerk was young) realize when they are being rude? Sadly this is the norm rather than a once in a while happening.

And that is my rant for the day. The students at the UI were moving back on campus this wknd and I imagine the balloons were for a party.