Another day

Another day closer to the end of the month. I am patiently waiting for the 1st of July so I will have the money to pay my phone bills; since it’s obvious that someone doesn’t think I need the class action lawsuit check…Still no word on it.

I don’t know why I check the mailbox anymore.  Mostly junk mail, cigarette coupons….and I don’t smoke…and “Direct TV” or “Free Funeral Expense/Burial Plot” adds. (do they know something I don’t?)… I was kind of hoping for something a little more personal; like a letter from a friend or family member…like my Mother since my brother and family have gone back home. 

Since my cell phone has been suspended for almost 2 weeks, I am only allowed to receive incoming messages.  What good is that?? I can’t answer them! So I have been keeping it shut off and only turn it on in the evening to delete all the messages I couldn’t answer.

I finally got a letter from my mother today. She told me in the letter that my brother-in-law bought my younger sister a cell phone.  I had given her one that I had bought for my daughter since I had almost 8 months left on that contract.  My sister kept sending me a text message from a number I had never seen before.  Today I decided to use my home phone, which I plugged back in recently, and called the number.  Since she has a new phone, she no longer needs the phone I was paying for. She has it all boxed up and is adding some bath and beauty things that she received as gifts and doesn’t use but hadn’t mailed the box yet.  She told me a neighbor asked about the phone.  I told her if she can sell it, that’s okay by me.  That would give her the money to send the package to me, and if there was extra, she could send me the money.

I thought about giving the phone to one of my grandchildren…but they don’t contact me with the ones they have now. I also thought about sending it to my Mom.  My sister said she could hear real well on the phone when she was home, and since she had no long distance service, she’d be able to call the 3 of us that don’t live near her.  But she has always said that she hates cell phones, so I will save myself a little money.

So I decided to call my cell phone provider and cancel the service on that one.  That will save me about $30 a month, more or less. If my son does what he said, and get his phone transferred over to his name, that will just about cut my cell phone bill in half….but I’m not counting my chickens just yet. Do you know that even though I have had no use of my cell phones for over 14 days, I still have to pay the full month of service??  What a rip off!! My usage for this billing period is 4 minutes!!

Oh well, something else I pay for and never get to use….like my car that my son always has….

Hugs and Love to all!!

I started it

I have been putting it off for awhile.
I think it is because it seams so final.
On Friday, my son and I walked up to Arby’s for “dinner”.  We were the only 2 home at the time, and we very seldom get to go out anywhere to eat anymore so it was kind of a treat.  I really can’t afford to spend extra money on such frivolities, but what the heck! I needed a break and so did he.
Since my youngest son had taken my car to his friends house for about a week, give or take a few days, we were on foot.  What I like about Arby’s is the variety, although their prices are so much higher than most fast food restaurants.  They have several different potato products; home style fries, curly fries and stuffed potato wedges (ymmmy! my favorite!) and onion petals.  And if you so desire you can get dipping sauces like warm melted cheese or ranch.
The dark cloud in the western sky didn’t stop us from stopping in at Jo Ann Fabrics to snoop around.  I found a clerk to ask her for a suggestion on which fusible webbing product she would recommend to make a T-shirt quilt.  I never knew they made so many…. So she showed me what most people use and I bought 2 yards to try it.  I looked through the yarns as I need a particular shade of purple to finish a scarf I am working on, but they had nothing near the color I need; and I hadn’t brought the piece I keep to match it anyway.  I also tried to decide what color of material I want to use for the borders of the blocks, although right now I am leaning towards a yellow as all the teams had that as one of their colors.  For the outside binding, I am considering a series of 3 colors; Purple, then Yellow then a navy blue for the football team and the schools. And we continued our walk home, and got caught in the rain….It wasn’t a down pour, but a gentle shower and the trees along the side walks helped to block  most of it.

When we arrived home and I had taken in the stray cat that followed us home and given it a flea shampoo and wrapped it in a warm towel, I went up to my son’s room to retrieve the Iron and get the bag of T-shirts from it’s safe place in my room.  We bought the iron to use on his uniforms and it remains in it’s box in his room….That way we can always find it.
I still have not brought myself to take the football T-shirts apart, but I have done a few; the school football shirts, an old football youth team, my grand-daughter’s track and soccer T-shirts, the youngest grandson’s wrestling tournament T-shirt….and some scout shirts from day camp have had the scissors taken to them and have been cut in two with the sleeves removed.
The fusible web seams easy enough to work with so far, but I still have to see how it is going to do when I sew it on the machine.  I haven’t decided on a backing yet.  And I either have to “splurge” and buy a new machine; find a good used one, or borrow my mother-in-law’s machine.  (Last time I used it, it really gave me a fit.)
I haven’t decided how big the quilt will be, but the T-shirts are pretty much deciding that for me.  The patterns on the shirts come out nicely in a 14” block.  I have found that I can not “eye” the proper  block, so will need a quilting square to help me when I get down to the football shirts and final assembly.  But I am not that close yet.

I will have to go to the Screen Printer and order some shirts later.  I want to include a shirt for my oldest grandson’s middle school team, and All the boys number/name blocks for their assorted teams…mainly their football numbers….For my oldest grandson, that is 3 teams with different numbers.  The younger two only have the one team and they kept their same number for 4 years.
In the past, I have quilted my own quilts after they are assembled but I am considering having this one professionally quilted….depending on how it turns out…There is quite a cost to do that that I am not sure I can afford, but a local shop may give me a “demonstration” of their Long arm quilter and do it for less. It may turn out that each block has a different quilted pattern inside…Like the basketball one would have the basketball sewn in, the wrestling one would have wrestlers sewn in, and the football ones could have footballs, helmets, etc. I kind of like the wings for the track shirt. 
It’s for me anyway…although if it turns out nice, I may enter it in the Fair.  I am considering entering the fair anyway…I’ll check on it and sign up for a few of their different  categories…maybe quilting, knitting and photography and at least get the 7 day fair pass.
If I can’t be with my grandchildren, I can snuggle myself in a blanket of their sports t-shirts and my memories of watching them play.
Maybe they will find a way to let me see them “play” sports again this year.

Hugs and Love to all!  I will post more quilt photos as it progresses. 

  

The little things

Without the grand children around to share things with, I am beginning to learn to take pleasure in the little things.

Saturday, my mother-in-law had a “Mary Kay” party.  I don’t wear make-up….I don’t go out anywhere to wear make-up.  So it’s very rare for me to even buy any kind of make-up….But my niece is trying to make a little extra money, and she was the one selling the “Mary Kay”, plus my sister-in-law came with her and it was a chance for me to get out of the house with some adults for a few hours. 

She put on her little talk, the few of us that were there put on some of the make-up, and in the end I ended up spending a little money, that I probably shouldn’t have.  I bought a facial scrub and a light weight moisturizer that has sun screen in it. Everyone complimented me on the make-up, but it really wasn’t enough to make me feel “special”.  For $20 one should feel special!   We had a light lunch, and I was given some of the leftovers to carry home.  It’s just me and my middle son at home for the weekend so it will make for several meals.  Nothing special, chicken salad, hamburger buns and potato salad….

When I went home, I got back on the computer to view my facebook and see if there were any new “important” updates….Like something really important was going to happen in 2 hours…

I had posted some pictures of the new kitten and a friend asked if I was going to put a collar on it so if it got out, people would know where to look for it’s owners…My cats don’t wear collars in the house because I am always afraid they will get somewhere they shouldn’t be and get hung by them.  I think it’s fairly safe to say that the kitten won’t be doing that anytime soon. So I went looking through my “secret highly safe” storage spots….Only to find memories that needed to stay hidden as they just made me cry….my youngest grandson’s “wife beater” A-line t-shirt, my lost mini-pin’s t-shirt, and some assorted kids toys….Through the tears, I got back on the computer.

The only thing that really caught my eye was a web cam picture of the youngest grandson.  within a few minutes of viewing that picture, he must have turned the we cam on just for me….For there was a short (under 2 minute) video.  I saw all 3 grandsons, (well about half of the oldest from knee to chest) their 2 dogs and about the same portion of my daughter…with sound….The daughter was doing her usual; drinking sweet tea and yelling at the kids. But the important thing was, I saw the kids and heard their voices…I wish I could save that forever.

The little things….

I hear talking outside my window, and it turned out my brother and sister-in-law were next door installing a printer on my mother-in-law’s computer….Something she wanted and probably will need help in operating later.  She is connected to the internet thanks to my wireless connection, and needs help at least once a week because she “can’t” get on….because she never shuts her computer off….just lets it go to sleep mode.  But those in-laws have never made me welcome.  They live in town less than 2 miles away.  I don’t get invited over there, they don’t call to see if I need anything, and they rarely talk to me….unless they need something.  I’m better off without them.  I’ve lived here 9 years and can probably count on both hands how many times I have been to their house…and 3 of those times were graduations for which I took photos and gave them CD’s.  They don’t recognize my birthday or give presents for any occasion…but they are the “Chosen” ones….

I hope my grandson will send me more videos….

Until then, I will hold on to this one….

Then today I get on Facebook and see the youngest has posted a picture of him in a chair with his left foot bandaged and a pair of crutches.  Seams he tripped off his deck at home and sprained his ankle.  He said he’s keeping the crutches because they are “cool and fun”….typical boy!

 

Hugs and Love to all!!!

What happened??

My heart is breaking right now.

Before the “Big Move”, one of my grandsons had been coming over every single weekend for over 4 months.  Before he left, he promised me he would text me, write me or call me every day so I wouldn’t miss him.

He said he’d never forget me .

He has a Facebook page, or at least, he had one. 

I was sitting outside with my in-laws today who had brought over a printer for my mother-in-law.  It was an older 3-in-1 printer and after several times of installing, uninstalling, buying new cords and downloading updated drivers, my sister-in-law gave up and went out and bought a new printer….Much to my mother-in-law’s disapproval as she thinks no one should spend money on her….Hey! Spend it on me!!! I won’t say a word!!!!

My brother-in-law was busy going through photos albums looking for a “centuries” old photo of him one Halloween when he was a die hard “Gene Simmons/Kiss” fan. (Teenagers, what can I say….he’s over 40 now!!)

I visited with his 2 grandchildren who are friends of mine on some of the games I play on Facebook.   Then they bought Pizza for dinner and we all sat around on the porch chatting about different things, football, work, etc.  They finally went home around 9:30 p.m…..and I went to get on the computer.

I wanted to check on the grandkids to see what they had been doing…. and my grandson, who said he would make sure he talked to me every day was gone from my friends list.

I noticed his sister was on-line so I asked her if she would find out what happened.  I guess he has deleted his entire Facebook page…so I won’t be hearing from him, at least not that way….And we chatted/texted for a few minutes.  I told her I’d have the phones back on by next Friday and asked her if she still loved me….you never know these days with kids…Love you one minute, take away their cell phone and they hate you the next….Her answer was “Idk (text terminology for I don’t know), Is the sky still blue?”  so I guess that means yes…I told her it was kind of dark outside so I couldn’t tell….but she told me to wait until the morning to check…Hopefully the sky is not black tomorrow and we have a day as nice as today.

In the meantime, I miss everyone of them and wish they would all just send me a message once in awhile; whether it be e-mail, Facebook or whatever telling me that they missed me as much as I miss them…

I need my cell phone back on…..and Friday is almost a week away…..

Hugs and Love to all

(who are keeping me sane and cheering me up!!!)

 

Strays

Trouble comes in all size packages.

I could see trouble coming.

It all began several days ago when I went out on the porch to fetch the jar of sun tea I left out there to brew.  Two young ladies of about 10 years of age were riding their bicycles past the house.  One of them had a kitten of a few months of age cradled in her left arm as she rode. “Are you Tyree’s grandma?'” the other asked. I am very  proud to be able to answer yes to this question whenever I am recognized.

That’s when the trouble began.  The other young lady proceeded to tell me the sad story of how she found this “poor” kitten in her back yard and she had been trying to find a home for it. I asked if it was a boy or a girl and she replied “Girl”.  Having 3 adult male cats; 2 of them 6 years old and 1 of them 4 years old, I really didn’t want another cat….especially a female.  I’m over the “caring for newborns” stage of my life (Unless it’s a grand baby!). Then the young lady told me she was moving and had a male neutered cat with all his shots and they weren’t going to be able to take it with them….I didn’t want to break her heart but I really don’t need a 4th cat.

Over the years I have taken in my share of strays, from alligators to teenagers to sailors, and perhaps a portion of someone else’s. First it was my ex-husband bringing home first a puppy, then friends.  Then it was my husband bringing home single sailors.  Then my children brought home strays or pets they had earned cleaning out fish tanks at the pet store….and finally my grand children.  It was as if I had “S.P.C.A.” stamped on my forehead. I can’t even recall all of their names anymore. People just seamed to know that I would take in any strays if I could. 

Yesterday, my middle son and I went out to eat at Arby’s.  The younger son had the car, so we walked as we so often do. As we were leaving the restaurant, we could see this large black cloud coming in from the west and we just knew we were about to get rained on. I stopped anyway at the fabric store to see about some fusible web for my T-shirt quilt I am going to make.  As we were leaving the store, it started to sprinkle, but the drops were few and far between….until we got a few blocks closer to home. The trees along the side of the street sheltered us from getting totally soaked, and the rain soon let up as we turned down our street.

Then it happened.

The two of us became three….the third being the small black and white kitten from the day before, crying as it ran first ahead…then waiting for us to catch up.  It followed us right up the steps where it introduced itself to our male tom cat, Smokey.  Normally, Smokey is the first to chase any stray cats from “His” porch, but instead, he checked out this kitten and finding no reason to harm it, lay back down….This spells trouble….

The kitten would not come close enough for us to pick up and soon started back down the street.  One of the little girls from the day before had already spotted the kitten, and us trying to coax it to come closer.  Before I knew what was happening, I was holding this little bundle.  It was a male.  He was in sad shape…His fur was filthy and he smelled as if he’d been living in the sewer….but his little “motor”  made him feel as if he were shivering.

The rest is history….My heart melted and I took the little stranger inside.  I gave him a flea bath and he didn’t even make a big fuss about it.  I wrapped him in a thick towel and gently dried him off.  Then released him to investigate.   My Shih-Tzu checked him out…..My other gray cat Bandit definitely does not approve, as he hissed and spat at the intruder.  And Satan my black cat, who had adopted a previous litter of kittens (even though he is a neutered male) seamed to say, “I can live with it.” Before long, after cleaning himself and investigating a little, he found a warm spot on the couch to lay down and dry the rest of the way.  Before I knew it, he was curled up in a ball sleeping on the back of the chaise lounge near where I sat on the computer.

The true test was yet to come, as I was waiting for my younger son to come home so I could go grocery shopping….Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of white dash by….”What the…..?”  I told him that Smokey had brought him in.  “Smokey, you have got to stop bringing home strays”, he said and went on packing for his visit south with his friend…NO fighting…..On his way out the door, he said “It’s either ‘The Kid’ or ‘J-Rock’ .”  The kitten has been named…..this means it’s not leaving…..

Even my 2 big “mean” pit bulls were curious.  They were instrumental in Satan adopting his previous litter as they somehow managed to find 4 kittens and bring them inside on their porch.  Daisy, the female, cried to see the kitten; then showered it with kisses.

And the bigger problem, he’s adopted me.  Do you know how hard it is to ignore a little “motor” when it’s sitting on your shoulder as you try to sleep? Or curled up in the crook between your arm and your torso?  Or how about when it’s sleeping on your pillow above your head with one paw gently on your face?

This morning, bright and early at 6:30 a.m., I was awaken by the soft pink nose of a gentle, purring kitten.  He sits on my lap as I try to type; demanding my attention. And he even tries to type, or plays with the string on my reading glasses.

Playful, smart, demanding…with an endless motor….He seams to be saying, “Thanks for loving me”.

playing with Satan

 

Hugs and Love to all!

 

P.S…..Does anyone know how to shut the motor off????

 

 

Oh No!!!

Don’t get excited!  Nothing bad happened….I just forgot to blog yesterday…and I have no excuse…I have at least 3 blogs I have been working on in the evenings.  I just simply forgot to edit and post one.

But Today is a whole new story,, I will at least get something written and post…although it may not really have a real subject matter….Just ramblings of a bored mind.

My son’s alarm clock woke me up today and I was a little upset…I was having a good dream where I was in my daughter’s home (I think anyway) and we were sharing a few laughs and the kids…I don’t know what else we were doing as I woke up in the middle!!! And you know how it is, you can go back to sleep, but the dream is never the same.

Anyway…My son has had this weird schedule all week…If you remember, (or did I tell you this??? there goes my mind again!) I got yelled at on Sunday because I didn’t know my son’s work schedule and he was over an hour late for work.  First of all, he is almost 28 years old….I shouldn’t have to tell him to get off the computer,  go to bed at a reasonable hour, set your alarm and get up on your own!  And when his schedule changes sometimes daily, how am I suppose to know if he doesn’t tell me!  Anyway, he usually doesn’t work Mondays or Tuesdays….But this week he worked both days….He usually goes to work at 3 p.m…..but for the past 2 days he has gone to work at 11 a.m…..He is usually off work around 9 and that hasn’t changed…he just always doesn’t come right home….with my car….I really don’t use the car anymore except on Fridays to go to the grocery store now…I know when he does get home, because my husband’s Chihuahua starts barking…whether he is covered up or not!

So I’m up early…which lately for me is 10 a.m…I lay down at 9 p.m., and turn the TV off after the news at 11, but my mind keeps me awake or restless at least until 3 a.m..

Last evening, getting rather bored with summer re-runs, I watched PBS and saw an episode if Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”.  For those of you who have never seen this; it is a charming story about  The ladies Dashwood; Elinor and Marianne and their romantic encounters….Charming people and sometimes a heart wrenching story as I have found myself wanting to slap a few of the characters….No I am hoping to catch the next episode, if I can find out when it airs next.

This morning, I played my usual games on the computer, then decided I had better try to get the grass cut while it wasn’t raining.  So I had to look for my shoes (after all it is summer and I go barefoot most of the time) and unlock the garage. I barely got through cutting the back yard when Mother Nature decided the grass needed watering.  So I trudged on in the rain hoping to get it all finished before the sky opened up and let loose it’s usual downpour.  That having been done, I cleaned the mower and put it away…unlike some of my male counterparts who just put it away without cleaning.

Now I am back to the computer.  And I think I have done pretty well on making something out of nothing.  Later when my middle son wakes up and before the youngest comes home from work, I think we will take off on a walk and go out somewhere to eat…Don’t get excited there either!!! It will probably just be a burger and fries.

So to all my friends, thanks for reading…I am in a fairly good mood today, but happiness is still out of reach…The promise from my grandson to keep in touch must rely on my cell phone being on…and I still have a week before I can restore the service.

Hugs and Love to all!

 

 

Wake UP!!!!

I had the hardest time getting out of bed today. 

The dogs woke me up to go out as usual, but I just went down, let them out and went back to bed.  I pulled the sheet up over my head and went back to sleep.  The sink is full of dishes again but I don’t even care.

Last night I turned the news off and lay down to try to sleep; but too many things were keeping me awake.  I really miss the grandkids.  I don’t hear from them with my phones off.  They don’t post anything to me on Facebook, or send me any e-mails.  Once in awhile I will see where they add a picture or comment to a friend.  It’s as if I don’t exist anymore to them; and that makes me sad.

It’s noon before I finally drag myself out of bed and go down to the computer. I haven’t even made a cup of coffee yet.  Food doesn’t interest me.  I check the mail box but I know even before I open it that there is nothing inside for me… My brother is visiting my Mom, so she won’t write until after he goes back home.  And no one else writes to me.  The check I have been hoping for never comes. I don’t even get something saying that I will get any of the settlement, and that’s discouraging. The extra money would come in handy to catch up bills and maybe even buy me a sewing machine to start work on a quilt I want to make.

Last night I was thinking about the July 4th parade and celebration coming up….and for the first time in 9 years, I have no one to go with.  So I may not even go to that. 

Nothing seems to make me happy anymore.

Football sign-ups have begun, and the conditioning will be the end of July.  The first practices will be August 1st.  But that all seems so far away now….and even now I am not sure if I want to go to those…It would give me something to do, but at the same time, it would make me sad.  I’d see all the kids and their families, and not have any of my own there to cheer on.  I know I would be welcome, but it would be hard to think of what I am missing.

I have tried to be up-beat, but it only lasts for so long.  I have tried knitting, but it only keeps me busy for a few minutes before it no longer interests me. 

Every night, I try to write something in my notebook by the bed….the beginnings of a new blog….my thoughts or feelings….and even that is getting harder to do.

And I read of all my friends and the things they are doing with children, grandchildren, friends and work…..Yet, I sit in my room watching rain fall or fighting to stay sane.  I just want to go back to sleep and dream….