Aunt Jo's Corner

Here I am

2009-08-31T20:21:00.003-05:00

Can you believe it's almost September? Time flies when you're working and having fun.

I like my job. There's been a very small learning curve and I think I've mastered it. I can't really talk about where I work, but let's just say it's interesting and I had forgotten what a pleasure it was to work with a bunch of women. The pleasure part, that's totally a joke. There's lots of gossip, dirty looks at various persons, and whispers behind the hand. I think we might need spankings and timeouts. Classes in how to treat the public are also needed.

It took a full week for the girl there the longest to get the pecking order worked out. She's not happy with the order, but she started it, not me. I'm an old fart and won't be walked on.

I haven't done any crafting lately. At most, I get home from work and do as little as possible before bedtime. I have been reading, but then again, I'm always reading.

Mom is doing well. At least that's what she tells me. I don't get to see her much, but do try to check on her everyday. She goes for her checkup next week.

I hope everyone is doing well and I hope to catch up on everybody very soon.

Have a fit and fall in it

2009-08-14T15:52:00.004-05:00

My ISP has been an OOPS lately. I hope they're truly fixed this time.

Let's see...oh yes.

DH took the local nephew fishing last Saturday and this is what the kiddo caught.A whopping 10 pound Bluecat. The boy said this fish tasted better than any he's ever had before.

Mom's home and recovering nicely. She had a doctor's appointment to get her staples out yesterday and the doc was pleased with her knee and her progress. Now she starts physical therapy.

Honey moves the kittens daily it seems. She brings them around to eat and may or may not leave them overnight. She's beginning to wean them.

We enjoy them when they're here. Never ending entertainment out of those three.

Now for the best news of all. After 8 months and innumerable job applications, (squeeee!) I finally got a job. I start Monday and I can't wait.

Easy Come, Easy Go

2009-08-06T16:45:00.005-05:00

Would you believe that this mess was actually put away earlier today? Then I decided to make jam and clean out the fridge.Honey moved the kittens. Mr. Fuzz was acting ugly so I don't blame her, but I do miss them. Easy come, easy go.

Mom update. Here's a picture of the back of her little legs. She's going to kill me, but I'll take it. Notice how much straighter the leg on the right is. It was as bowed as the left leg. Today her bruises have started showing up. Poor thing. The side of her knee is black and blue. I take pictures so she can see what I'm talking about when I tell her her knee pits are purple.

She's not having a good day. She got too hot sitting on the patio yesterday and was sick last evening. She's been laying down more today and hopefully she'll feel better soon. As for walking, she's moving right along.

I think I'll go work on a new header and see about getting July out of here.

Mom update

2009-08-05T15:17:00.003-05:00

Mom had her knee surgery on 8/3 and came through it with flying colors. She did so well in fact that the doctor sent her home yesterday (8/4).

She's making a million miles up and down my hallway and doing really well. I'm sure I'm smothering her, but soon she can go home and I'll be around if she needs me and not doing so much hovering.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Wednesday.

Cats and a bag

2009-08-01T16:13:00.004-05:00

Thank you for the kind words regarding Tucker. The backyard seems very empty. Onward and upward. It's better today.

On that note, these little kitties are endless entertainment right now. This kitten is being adopted by my mom. She's named him Frady. It's funny because he's the most adventurous and not frady-cat of the whole bunch. Cute name though. These two are a little more timid and hang out close to Honey or hide behind the dog house. DH named the little tabby Stripes. That's his favorite of the three. The other one is Grumpy. He's got an attitude and it's not a pleasant one.
Mom's first knee surgery is Monday. I can't believe it's so close to time. Here's her snazzy red walker fitted out with a walker bag. You know a girl has to have a way to carry her Diet Dr. Pepper, book, and grabber thing. Now she can do it in style. It has two outside pockets and is big on the inside. The straps are outfitted with snaps. Super easy to make.

That's all I've got for now. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday.

Goodbye

2009-07-31T18:39:00.002-05:00

Dear Tucker,

You came into our hearts when you were 15 weeks old, all floppy ears and big feet. You chewed through more water hoses and chair cushions than any puppy I'd ever known. You've been with us through thick and thin and across three states. For 13 years you've made me laugh.

Today, you made me cry. I'm so sorry I couldn't make you better and ease your pain. I did the only thing I knew to do and that was to let you go. You've been a good dog Tucker, but it was time to say goodbye. You'll always hold a special place in my heart.

Love,
Mom

Sure I'll feed your family

2009-07-31T07:40:00.004-05:00

Remember back on July 9th I talked about Mr. Fuzz bringing home a friend?

We've been feeding her and she hangs around most of the day in one place or another in the backyard.I named her Honey because when I go out the door and she's there, I'll say "Are you ready to eat, Honey.". Guess what we found this morning?
Three, count them, three little bundles of hissing claws. Really only one is hissy. That would be the one with black on its nose. The other two are little sweethearts.

Sometime during the night Honey moved her family into the backyard behind the compost bin and grill. I hope she leaves them there or moves them to the window well. Either way, they're welcome here and the cat food will be out.

Wacky Wednesday

2009-07-29T16:19:00.004-05:00

Sorry that Retail Tuesday didn't happen. We got a very exciting phone call and were thrown into a tail-spin.

Here's the story. This boy and girl met just over a year ago and started dating.They decided to go on vacation to San Antonio and while there visited the Tower of the Americas.While standing on the observation deck he asked her a question and she said...

YES!
We're beyond thrilled and so excited for them. DH is over the moon about his new son-in-law. I'm excited about the prospect of grandbabies in the future. We couldn't ask for a better kid to marry our girl.

We've known for two weeks he was going to propose because he asked DH for her hand. Still, it was wonderful to hear the excitement in her voice when she called.

I'm just tickled pink.

My gluteus is maxed out and it's only Monday

2009-07-27T18:55:00.006-05:00

I'm sick of riding in a car. My tail-end feels like it's permanently asleep. My legs ache and my feet are swollen.

Way back when I did medical transcription I spent the better part of the day standing up while typing. Guess what I'm doing now? Yep, stand-up typing. Please don't confuse this with stand-up comedy. There's nothing funny about my current condition. I'm also glad to be home once again.

I did make pretty good headway on a table runner for the dining table. I'll share it when it looks more like a table runner and not a bunch of scraps.

In other news, MIL is safely and happily ensconced in the new nursing home. Let me tell you, this nursing home gig might not be a bad deal and I'm seriously thinking about moving into one myself. Three meals a day brought to your room if you like, your bed made, nails done on Friday, and all the bingo you can play. Heaven!

Seriously though, her room is the size of my kitchen and computer room combined and her bathroom is the size of my laundry room, which coincidentally is larger than my bathroom. In other words, she's got half a normal house to herself and for less money than we were paying for 1/3rd of the space at the other place. It's also so clean you could eat off the floor in any room.

Plus, she's got more visitors than she possibly wants at any given time. She even ran us off a couple of times so she could have a nap. The best part is that she's happy and adjusting to her surroundings. She was a real trooper during the move.

And in local news, Mom had her pre-op appointment, blood letting, etc., today. I only cussed the traffic around the hospital twice, I think. It was crazy. Next week at this time she'll have her first new knee.

Other than that it's good to be home. I've been reading all about Bloggers Behaving Badly and am so glad I never had the desire to attend. Imagine begging for sponsors. Shame, shame, shame. Begging isn't becoming at all.

Tomorrow is Retail Tuesday here at Aunt Jo's. I've got something to talk about.

Here's the scoop

2009-07-22T19:33:00.003-05:00

I promised to blab about the stuff going on at Aunt Jo's corner and so here it is.

First, lets have a cast of characters.
MIL is my mother-in-law
SIL is my husband's sister
OSIL is my other sister-in-law, married to DH's brother

Ready, set, go.My MIL is very unhappy at her current location. A mere week after FIL passed away they gave her a new roommate. MIL was not happy. She didn't want a roommate sleeping in FIL's bed. She's too crowded, and above all else, it stinks in her room now. She's pitched one fit after another. Thus began the phone calls. I feel bad for her. I know she's miserable without FIL, but we can't undo it and that is the root of the whole problem.Or so we thought. OSIL lives in the same town with MIL and is supposed to go and pick up her laundry, check on her, and take her to church on Sunday. OSIL is being paid for her time, trouble, and laundry soap. When SIL arrived on Monday she found her mother wearing dirty clothes, for the 4th day in a row, because OSIL hadn't been around to do her laundry. For two stinking weeks. OSIL hasn't been answering the phone when MIL calls and hasn't been around to take her to church. But, she's managed to put 700+ miles on MIL's vehicle, run it out of gas, and tried a few other not-so-nice shenanigans..You can't imagine the fury that swept across DH and SIL when this shook out. OSIL is in deep doo-doo. I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of my MIL, but I'm working on it. As her attitude toward me changes, mine changes towards her. We're getting better. That said, I would never in a million years let my MIL wear dirty clothes while I was off doing heaven knows what and being paid for it. Never. Ever. No matter how we got along. It's just wrong.

MIL feels alone and abandoned.

So, SIL and DH have talked MIL into moving to a nursing home in Texas so she'll be closer to SIL. At least there we know she'll have visitors, her laundry done, and SIL can be with her more. MIL is happy with the thought of moving and ready to go, yesterday.

This weekend we're loading MIL up lock, stock, and walker and taking her to Texas. I hope she'll be happier and I know it's going to be a relief to DH and SIL not to have to worry about whether or not she's got clean clothes, visitors, etc.

OSIL will be dealt with. She's not going to be happy, but hey, that's life sometimes.

Okay, if you made it that far you deserve a cookie.

Now for the rest of the story.

My mom has bad knees. They've been bad for 20+ years and are affecting her quality of life. She too young to be this miserable. So the time has come for Mom to get something done about it and I couldn't be happier. What kind of child is happy their only living parent is about to undergo surgery? No, don't answer that.

Anyway, she gets her first bionic knee on August 3rd and hopefully the second one six weeks later. I'm being a brat and insisting that she spend at least a couple of days with me after she's sprung from the hospital. She's not crazy about the idea, but I don't want to send her home alone and worry about her falling and such. Seeing that I'm driving her home, if I turn into my driveway and unload her here, I don't see there's much she can do about it. I promise to let her go home once I'm sure she's okay to be alone part of the time.

So there you have it. We're up to our collective eyeballs in family stuff right now.

P.S. The cat has nothing to do with anything, but he was cute.

Big girl pictures

2009-07-21T16:42:00.004-05:00

Finally! She's getting so big. She's six months old now and shows no signs of slowing down.

Here's Peepaw trying to hang on. She's quite the armful now. She wiggles nonstop.Who are you looking at?She discovered ice. She played with it until it was nothing but a puddle. Just hanging out.Annie had asked for pictures of me and the baby. Well, the bottom three are it. DH took them and you'll notice he cut my head off in every one. Really though, that's not a problem since a bag of rocks looks better than I do without makeup and please pardon the bra straps.

Mercy, I need somebody to check me before I go out the door.

Recap of the week

2009-07-17T21:03:00.003-05:00

I've been home a week and still haven't posted baby pictures. Shame on me.
Instead I...

cleaned out the front flowerbed
hit myself in the ankle with a rake
got a sticker in my heel that's making me miserable
cracked the shovel handle trying to get a root up
prayed for rain
sifted through a wheelbarrow load of dirt
prayed for rain and watered the trees
mowed the front and back yard
prayed for rain and got a little bit of rain
helped my sister take stuff to the thrift shop
prayed for rain and got sprinkles
washed four loads of jeans
cooked dinner twice this week
read three books
fell in the floor for no apparent reason other than I'm a dummy
painted a shelf for my niece
been a grouch about the kids running the streets
called the police about the kid shooting a BB gun at windows
went to two garage sales and bought nothing

and the list goes on. I've been busy, just not posting.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Annie's house, just up the road a piece, and I'm going to help her paint her living and dining rooms. We need to hurry because her movers are coming the 27th. That's soonish!

There's lots going on with family stuff and as soon as I can, I'll blab all about it.

Have a good weekend.

Leavin' on a jet plane...

2009-07-10T16:21:00.002-05:00

(Photo ruthlessly stolen from Wikipedia.)

Oh how I wish. Instead we'll be visiting three states in a car. Yep, we're headed to NM for the weekend to check on my MIL.

Your assignment, should choose to participate, is to have an absolutely fabulous weekend. Get out there and run through the sprinkler, visit a park, have a picnic, or something. Just have fun.

See you Monday, Lord willing and the interstate doesn't eat me.

Out the backdoor

2009-07-09T16:46:00.003-05:00

Is it hot out there or what? My thermometer says 105 degrees in the shade. Thank goodness the wind is blowing 20 mph or we'd roast.

Mr. Fuzz has a new friend. She's pretty skittish, but never fails to show up for a meal. I've touched her twice and been hissed at for my trouble. Please ignore the sad looking mulch job and the bare rose canes. I'm ripping this bed apart come Fall. About the only thing doing well in this heat is the watermelon in the rose bed.The squash is blooming, finally. I don't have high hopes that I'll get much of a crop.This grape cracks me up. It's suddenly decided it likes where it's planted and it's growing like a weed. This is the one that the dog chewed off at the ground and it's been moved twice. Here's a picture of it almost a year ago.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thursday.

Random pictures

2009-07-08T11:45:00.005-05:00

I'm cleaning photos off my hard drive this morning and ran across a few I hadn't shared.

Look closely on the right hand side and you can see little beaks.Somebody needs to mow their gutter.

Stitchery on the road

2009-07-06T09:06:00.005-05:00

I don't sit well. I have to be doing something, preferably reading or working on a project. Me in a car with nothing to do for 5 hours is miserable, for everybody.

I dug around in my craft room and came up with a couple of projects and managed to get some stitching done during our travels.

I used the pattern out of a thrifted magazine to make this pillow top. I added the snowflakes because the snowman was looking a little lonely.Believe it or not I got it made into the pillow before Christmas. Fabric from my stash. It might need a few more snowflakes.This is another thrifted project. A 40 cent sweatshirt applique kit, a little muslin from my stash and I have the beginnings of a wall hanging.
I'm trying to decide what to do for borders. I found a big enough piece of fabric for the back. Quilted, this is going to be cute.

These were cheap to do and kept me entertained. I can't ask for more than that.

Happy Independence Day

2009-07-05T13:00:00.003-05:00

Of course I'm a day late. I had way too many irons in the fire yesterday.

The day started with Mom coming over to help do up a dozen jars of peach jam. This is a lot darker than the other, but just as yummy.

Mom and Annie and her family came over and ate with us. After dinner we went out on the back patio and visited in the rain. I don't know anyone that wasn't wet when we got done. I enjoyed it, even the being soggy part. After Annie and crew left we went and watched the fireworks. Nothing too exciting this year. Low key and relaxed, just the way I like it.

I hope each of you had a wonderful Independence Day.

Gone fishing

2009-07-02T13:28:00.008-05:00

If you'd tried to find us Friday that's what the note on the door would have said. My husband has been through a lot lately and was sorely in need of a little fun so off we went. Here's the little bitty walleye he caught. Too little, throw him back.Here's the hybrid bass I caught. He was big enough to keep, but I'd rather not. In he went.This little guy came to visit my fishing line.DH is thinking hard about fishing..or something.Lots of Canada geese around the lake.What! That's not a fish, a dragonfly, or a goose.I spotted this fine fellow on the drive home from the lake. He/she was the second one I'd seen along the road. The first, sadly I didn't get a picture, was standing in a stock tank cooling off. DH said there was a smaller one under another tree, but I didn't see it.

Remember the raft? We took it and it does indeed float and is going to be a blast out at the creek. I'm looking forward to stalking the pelicans this fall.

We had a good day. DH laughed for the first time in a week and got to do a little fishing.

Happy July!

2009-07-01T16:48:00.001-05:00

I've missed you people. A whole lot.

We're home and glad to be here. I've got quite a bit to share so when I have a little more time I'll be back with stuff.

Sad news

2009-06-27T21:21:00.002-05:00

DH's father passed away on Thursday evening late. DH has held together pretty well considering and mother-in-law is hanging in there and showing a little sass every now and again.

We're home long enough to swap out clothes and sleep in our bed one night. We're headed back to New Mexico in the morning. The funeral is being held on Monday.

I'll see you next week sometime.

I have big onions

2009-06-24T13:46:00.006-05:00

Did I get your attention? LOL. I have some onions given to us by a friend that weigh nearly 2 pounds each. That weight is in ounces.

The onion on the left is gigantic compared to the one on the right. I fixed one the other day with potatoes and it was so sweet. Yum!

Speaking of yum, I made my first peach jam of the year last Saturday. The tall jars in the back hold 12 ounces and the ones in the front are regular jelly jars. I haven't eaten any yet, but have heard it's pretty good.

I'm still hanging stuff on the walls. I have a collection of old hankies and rather than leave them in a drawer I wanted to display them. This brilliant idea came from Addicted 2 Decorating. I chose to display the blue hankies and have the others folded in the little area below. Now I need a bigger spoon holder.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Wednesday.

Quick update

2009-06-22T15:36:00.004-05:00

Time does slip through your fingers, doesn't it? I had all kinds of happy fluffy stuff to post and share, but I'm not up to it right now.

We made an unplanned trip to New Mexico on Sunday. My sister-in-law called late Saturday night to let us know father-in-law had fallen again. DH decided we'd get up early Sunday and drive down to see how he was doing and assess the situation. It wasn't good.

FIL had a doctors appointment last Wednesday and everything looked really good. His blood work was as good as could be expected for someone his age and the doctor gave him the go-ahead to go out of town. He was excited about possibly going to the cabin in July and was working on gaining more strength so he could make the trip.

In three days he'd taken a turn for the worse. We thought he might have had a slight stroke and took him back to the doctor. While he hasn't had a stroke, his liver enzymes have tripled, platelets have plummeted, and he's in constant pain. He's confused and doesn't know today from 40 years ago. Today we found out that his kidneys are failing and the end is drawing near. Hospice has been called in to assist in his care.

We're trying to prepare ourselves which is ridiculous. No amount of preparation ever eases the pain of losing a parent or spouse.

So, if you can or will, please send up a prayer or thought for the family. I really would appreciate it.

One happy baby

2009-06-19T09:53:00.002-05:00

We made a quick trip to New Mexico and were rewarded with babysitting time.

Good morning, Meemaw. I see you have that camera, again.I love it when Peepaw tickles me.See my tongue. I didn't know I had one of those things. I sure like playing with it.Come here and let me stick my tongue on that camera. It's pretty funny to wear Peepaw's hat. She's such a good baby and always so happy. She's 5-1/2 months old now and weighs 14 pounds. She's got the rolling over thing down and can really travel when she puts her mind to it. Next thing you know she'll be running and wanting the car keys.

Wild in Oklahoma

2009-06-10T10:56:00.005-05:00

After I told the cats to quit fighting and find something to do, outloud I might add, I decided it might be time to get out of the house for a bit.

On my wall

2009-06-09T14:15:00.004-05:00

I have this affinity for old platters and odd plates. I try to imagine where they've been and what they've held during their time.The one at the very top was a thrift find and it weighs a ton. Quite a bit of the gold around the rim has worn away and it has a chip in the edge. It's had a hard life.

The one in the middle on the left has been with me for years. I'm sure I picked it up at a garage sale years ago. Somebody, besides me, had loved this platter. I adore the shape with the delicate rose band.

On the top right, that's my granny's platter. I can't remember a meal that she didn't eat off of it. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and holidays, she always used it. It isn't very big at all. In my mind I can still see her one biscuit, piece of sausage, and gravy on that platter. She's been gone almost 23 years.

In the center is the plate rack I bought the other day filled with mismatched little bread and butter plates and saucers. I understand now why it was sold. The plates have to have an absolutely flat back or they try to flip out. It was easy enough to solve with a little tape and care.

What's on your walls?