The Death of a Republic...

(I don't remember where I found the "Reconciliation" picture, so I can't give credit, sorry.)

I'm so terribly angry and saddened that I'm not even going to try to post anything more tonight.

My Mess is a Place!

BEFORE

One of my friend's teen-aged sons had this sign on his bedroom door.

THIS MESS IS A PLACE!

I thought it was funny, considering the state of most teen-aged boys bedrooms, mine included! My house is so torn up right now the refrigerator is now sitting in the den. There are men cutting holes in my ceiling installing an evaporative cooler on my roof, leaving dust (and I mean mega-dust!) particles swarming the air. The kitchen floor is partially finished but you've gotta watch where you walk...

All I can say is "ARGHHHHHH!" We're waiting to see if and when we can get a back-splash in since we yanked out the stove/microwave combo. There were two layers of the ugliest 1970's wallpaper. We replaced the yucky lace curtains w/faux plantation shutters and removed the can opener and coffee pot that were suspended from the cabinets.

It's just good to finally see some improvements. Hopefully, next year - oh, the agony of waiting! - we'll be able to get new carpeting. The present carpet is "light blond," and over 30 years old.

It's impossible to get it clean and is so embarrassing we don't have company.

As most of you know, this move was sudden and unplanned. because I was unable to continue working. We thought we would have the money to rehab but unfortunately, that was not happening. So, after three years, we're starting to see a little glimmer of light at the end of a very long tunnel. Hallelujah!

Cake, Cake and More Cake!

This sign is of Linn's Bakery in Cambria (central California coast)

I have a blogging friend, Levon, who owns a bakery. Now, you know how all of us bloggers just slobber and drool when we think of cake. Well, maybe I should say "salivate," sounds less ravenous. Anyway, please link on over and check out the photos of some of Levon's cakes...

There's one there especially for you cruisers!

When I reached the ripe old age of 17, I decided I was too smart to work for my mom and dad at our store at Knott's, so I ventured out on my own and found a job at Knott's - that's how far I ventured - at one of the food courts where they served buffet, hamburgers, etc., ice cream and a bakery! I worked all of the shifts at each of the sites and weighed about 120. How I managed to stay that weight is beyond me, especially when I would go in at 5:00 a.m. to help the baker set up for the day. Those huge vats of dough looked like swimming pools to me!

I excelled at the bakery. One day I was putting a loaf of bread through the slicer, turned around towards the counter. My boyfriend was standing there, and the sliced bread went sailing everywhere. Another time I was bringing in a huge tray of cookies and guess what. My boyfriend was standing at the counter. Yep, cookies flew all over the place. Funny, they didn't fire me and my boyfriend became my husband...

I hated working at the ice cream counter. This was in the days before polyester, so we wore nylon uniforms. You all know that Knott's is known for boysenberry products. By the time I had served a gazillion boysenberry sundays, floats, splits.... I was sticky from head to toe.

And so - I became a secretary. And now you know.

~~~Happy Days Are Here Again~~~

Finally, I'm "centered!!!"

Now, I have to think of something clever to say. We're trying to get the kitchen renewed. We have abominable carpet in the kitchen that's seen 30 years worth of footprints. I've had so much fun keeping in dirty, like dropping eggs on it. We have some beautiful laminate wood that should be installed by next week. We hauled off the old stove/microwave combo and I have a new beautiful stove I can actually cook on. I was afraid the old one would blow up, and I didn't want my eyebrows singed.

We're trying to figure out how to put a cooler in so we can stay cool in the summer without using the AC. Since our humidity is so low (it's a dry heat), a cooler isn't an issue like it is in the more humid states. The guy hubman talked to said the vents in here are not large enough to accommodate a cooler. A window unit won't work because it would be blowing right on the back of our necks. It seems that nothing we do is easy!

It's been a long slow process - we still have to finish painting, of course we'll wait until the middle of summer to start that again. NOT!

Well, this certainly isn't an entertaining post but it's either this or an anti-Obama rant, and I'm tired of ranting! Have a great Thursday! Give someone you love a big hug...

Help is on the Way!

Sheesh! Now I've lost the background. The woman whose artistic talents I so enjoy, is coming to the rescue! By next week, I'll either be here or start over. This is what happens and why I get to frustrated and quit. I enjoy blogging too much to just walk away. So, the cavalry is coming!

GRRR...

I'm still trying to fix this. I got rid of the remnants of the old blogster template, but that required making this "minima" on template settings. This is a three column template but somehow the two don't mix! Please hang with me as I continue to tweak the darned thing.

A Smile for Monday...

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here....blah, blah, blah...

I think this must be Al Gore's advisor.

Stress Busters!

"The Blessing Girls"

I'm always quick to rant and rave about something, so I'm going to post something wonderful for a change! This appeared in our local paper, The Bakersfield Californian, this morning and I wanted to pass it along to you.

"Last October Curtis Hartman had a double lung transplant at UCLA. I met Curtis through Nancy Chaffin, a woman with whom I work. He is a good father to 4-and 5-year old boys and a 14 year-old stepdaughter. Before he got sick, Curtis was a claims adjuster for Farmers Insurance. When I saw him, he was hurting. He and his wife, Mary, were in the process of losing their home. Curtis was dragging around an oxygen tank. He was trying to be cheerful, but when you're battling an auto-immune disease as well as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, life is not a barrel of laughs. His new lungs came from a 19-year-old male. Curitis is feeling better. The Hartmans are trying to get back on their feet. His wife, Mary, is a hairdresser at Concept Elite Salon on Stockdale Highway. A couple of days ago, a boy delivered a package to Mary. The package contained $1,000 in cash and more than $1,000 in gift cards for groceries, gas, etc. Inside was a typed note signed by "The Blessing Girls." The card read: 'Jesus said the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. We hope this gift blesses you and causes you to give thanks to God for '...every good and perfect gift is from above...' James 1:17 With love, The Blessing Girls.'
Written by Herb Benham, staff columnist

It warms my heart to know that within my community there are people such as this, and no doubt, there are people like this in every town in the USA. May God bless "The Blessing Girls!"

Good News/Bad News!

It seems as though this year has been a year of change for lots of folks. My good friend has been diagnosed with Hepatitis C, having none of the risk factors associated with Hep C. She will have to be on Prednasone for a year. Sarge Charlie has been fighting Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, with much success, and now we're having a health scare.

After a whole year of waiting for hubman to be able to get Kaiser Permanente insurance (they told us we were a day late last year), he was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. Since his layoff, 11/08, he's lost quite a bit of weight (30#), where I was expecting him to gain a ton from being inactive. As a parts guy he stayed in shape because of heavy lifting and being on his feet all day. But, there were other symptoms, such a being thirsty all of the time, and frequent visits to the loo. But both of us drink tons of water. It's very dry and dusty here, and during the cold weather, we have the heater on a lot. But I wasn't totally surprised by the diagnosis.

His blood glucose was 500 and it is supposed to be under 100 (70-90), so he's lucky the doc put him on meds and not insulin injections. Just one week of meds and no sugars, he's staying around 200+, and he obeys instructions to the max. Since he doesn't need to lose any more weight, I'm very conscious of what he can and can't have to eat. I'm just thankful that he's so eager to "get 'er done!" I have very little doubt, that within a few months time, he'll have it under control. That's just the kind of guy he is.