Rambling Woolysheep

♪♫♪♫It's the End of the World As We Know It, and I'm Scared Shitless♪♫♪♫

2016-11-10T10:57:00.000-06:00

The American People just elected Donald Trump as President of the United States. I just can't believe it. I feel like I am stuck in a bad movie. It just doesn't seem like it could possibly be real. It feels like a glitch in the matrix.

The redneck Republican crowd are practically orgasming over the win. His spewing of hate and vitriol for the last year has been an affirmation of everything they hold dear: racism, misogyny, spite, anti-intellectualism, hate for anyone that isn't a white heterosexual male... ... ... I am sure the list goes on but I fail to be able to come up with any more right now.

The world's other countries and leaders are flabbergasted at the outcome and nervous about what it portends. Well except for Putin in Russia. Trump was his choice for us. Trump owes Russia a buttload of money so Putin has Trump by the balls. Not that anyone supporting Trump with admit it.

There are warnings going off that we could expect a collapse of the dollar next year and a global recession thanks to this. The boys and I are starting our garden work this weekend and hope to get the chicken flock back up and running. It looks like it could be a rocky road and I think we will need whatever little bit of advantage we can get.

So here's hoping we survive.

September 30, 2016

2016-11-10T10:38:00.001-06:00

So it's been almost a year since I posted anything. There have been lots of ups and downs.

Last November saw us on a road trip to California for our (Jeff's) nephew's wedding. Jeff went to the wedding and the boys and I went to eat pizza and window shop. We had added the boys to the trip a couple of days after the rsvp date and their aunt couldn't make room for them. We had a really good time though.

The road trip triggered some really bad inflammation in my left knee and I had to get shots in it to clear it up. Oh yeah that knee it turns out has arthritis and a bone spur. Yippee. So that's arthritis in both knees and a bone spur in the left.

December 2015 brought the death of my friend Julie. She had been fighting a recurrence of cancer but it ended up being a stroke that toke her life.

March 2016, Sammy and I had a great time at an SCA event called Gulf Wars. It's a week long inter-kindgom event with lots of battles and classes and merchants. We did cut our trip short because of a hellacious storm that pretty much soaked everything. That was kinda the icing on the cake after my feet started swelling to double their size on the second day. It was a great trip though.

When we got back we were informed that Grammy Carol's mother, Bear died while we were gone. She had been afflicted with Alzheimer's disease for almost 20 years. The first ten it didn't seem too bad but the last ten were the "long goodbye" you hear folks speak of as the person gradually fades away. In the end it was a likely stroke that took her too.

At the end of March my friend Kristi Delk passed away from complications of pneumonia.

The summer was short and a third of it was spent wearing a heart monitor to try and figure out what the extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, racing weird heartbeat, and chest pressure were. They also did a resting heart scan and a stress test heart scan. The results were inconclusive.

The first day of school was August 22. I had a nice day and so did the boys and we headed out and got donuts from Krispy Kreme. (YAY new Krispy Kreme!!!!!!) That night I got the call from my sister telling me my mother had died. Once again apparent stroke. She had been in the nursing home since her fall and broken hip but was thought to be doing fine so it was quite unexpected. I guess when the good Lord calls ya home ya go. The weird part was I knew before picking up the phone why she had called.

So I packed my bags, rented a car, and drove to Maine to go to Mom's funeral. It was a great drive. I had been needing a trip like that for so long but didn't know it. Just me, my thoughts, and the road. I spent the first night in a hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee. I had only expected to make Nashville so the extra hours were a nice thing to have the next morning. The second day let me remember how gorgeous Virginia is. Since I had extra time I thought it would be nice to drive Skyline Drive through Shanandoha National Park. Luckily it was a no admission fee day. Doubly lucky since I discovered that it is a 100 mile road with a 30 mile per hour speed limit. Needless to say I just stopped at a couple of the overlooks, took in the wonder, and snapped a couple pics before turning around and getting back out to the freeway.

Traffic through Washington DC and Baltimore was a nightmare. My feet ended up swelling up again. I got to Grammy Helen's house around 9pm her time. I got a shower and some good sleep. The next morning I ate a quick breakfast with her and we enjoyed each other's company. She had been discussing her recent health issues since her (did you guess it?) stroke earlier this year. She was looking for a new home for her dog Squeekie. I said I would talk to Jeff about bringing her home with me. I set out for Maine from southern New Jersey.

I had borrowed a gps unit from my sister in law (not the wedding aunt, the other one). I set the destination and followed along. It took me a way I had never been before. I was a little skeptical at first. It put me on the interstate headed toward Albany. Then it had me get on the Cross County Parkway. Let me tell you those speed limits are VERY...STRICKLY...suggestions. The speed limit was 55 but if you do that your going to get run over. I was doing the speed limit and a swear I heard the driver of a passing car shout nnnNEEEewwwb(that's newb with added dopplar effect) as he went by. The Cross County Parkway becomes the Hutchinson River parkway and then the Merrick parkway and then the Wilbur Cross parkway before ending at Interstate 91. Every mile of it was beautiful. I may never go my old route again. The old route was mile after mile of urban sprawl and industrial blight. This new way was endless green, tree lined beauty. It was like a gift. It was so nice I actually cried a bit to think I had never seen it before.

It was early evening when I passed into Maine and it was approaching sunset when I saw the exit for Brunswick. That's when I turned off the gps. I knew how to get home from Brunswick so I got off at that exit.

Heading into Brunswick really brought home for me that Maine was still a real place and that I really lived there all those years ago. I passed the garage where an old, long since deceased, friend of my Mom used to work. I went there with her one day to have our car worked on. It was upon seeing that garage that I broke down and started to cry. I drove into town and crossed the bridge over the Androscoggin River into Topsham. I turned onto Elm St which becomes route 24 that runs through Bowdinham and on to Richmond. Once in Richmond I crossed the Kennebec River and headed to Augusta by way of Dresden, Pittston, Randolph and, Chelsea. I was crying the whole journey. Once in Augusta I turned on the gps and put in my sister Marilyn's address and headed on into the night. The gps wasn't as generous this time with directions and took me the long and convoluted way down a winding dirt path instead of down the main highway to the actual road I needed. Ya win some ya lose some.

I arrived at my sisters and we chatted and had a sandwich before turning in for the night.

I had a good visit with my sister. She lives on a farm with her long time partner Roger. Lifes been getting rough for them these last few years. In addition to having to deal with our mother's health issues, Marilyn has had her own: a thyroid that went hyper and had to be killed off, a bad hip that needs replacing, cancer and its treatments, and a complication of her cancer surgery that has her on a urostomy bag. And as a nice big dollop of cream on top, Roger has Alzheimer's. But even with all that going on we had a nice visit. Saturday I made dinner. Sunday I cleaned her bathroom (she can't do it and Roger can't really learn new things anymore) then we went on a drive down to see Richmond and get some ice cream from the Dairy Treat. Its a little walk up ice cream stand that has been in Richmond for as long as I can remember. Maine is littered with these little shops that only open during the summer and then close up in the winter. The closest we have in Texas are sno cone stands. Its not the same though. After ice cream we got some pizza for dinner and I got in the freshly clean shower to clean up for the funeral in the morning.

As I was showering I needed to reach for a little cup on the counter so that I could rinse stuff. I stepped out of the shower with my left leg and when I reached for the cup my right foot slipped and down I went. I bruised and scrapped the back of my left knee, landed hard on my right knee and managed to twist both of them. At least I managed to miss going through the glass shower door.

On Monday we headed out to South Portland for the funeral. It was at the same funeral home that did others in the family. They did a nice job. Mom didn't really look like Mom to me but I hadn't seen her in 9 years so there is that. She looked nice though. She was wearing on of her caftan type dresses that she liked so much. It was pretty and pink and the pink light over the coffin made it even prettier. The coffin was white aluminum with a light pink interior. She was holding the little stuffed dog that she had grown attached to in the nursing home.

There were examples and photos of her artwork and pictures of her through the years. Some high school friends showed up. They had been looking for her for years but this was the only time they had found her. Before the service started all of us cousins sat around in a circle visiting. It was so good to see everyone again. After the service was concluded, we had a luncheon and sat and visited some more before heading to the procession to the graveyard. The procession passed Portland Head Light, the ice cream shop at the intersection of the main road and the road Mom was born and raised on, Cresent Beach State Park, and arrived at Spurwink Church and its graveyard. We had a short graveside prayer and I sang "Parting Glass" for her. She is resting next to Aunt Sonie now. We all mulled about for a while and I spotted my cousin Dave down on his knees kissing his parents grave markers down the way a bit. Further down was Anita saying hello to my cousin Johnny at his resting place. Up the hill was my cousin Ilona and her bunch visiting the graves of her son Joshua an our cousin Terri.

We all came back together and said our "see you laters" and I headed out to Kettle Cove beach to take some pictures and find some shells. I didn't find any shells but I did find some nice rocks that well represented the color and make up of those rocks that I played on so much as a child. After that I headed over to the Lobster Shack by Cape Elizabeth Light. I had some clams for dinner (mistake), bought some souvenirs and then headed back to Marilyn's for the night.

I had figured out I had better leave in the morning if I wanted to get my car back to the rental place on time so I headed out Tuesday morning. I had hoped to leave Wednesday but I had decided to bring Squeekie home with me so I wanted to make sure I had all the time I needed. I sure didn't want to leave Marilyn behind. I wish I was still there.

The trip home was uneventfull except for the last day. I had had lunch further on up the road but now that lunch was telling me in no uncertain terms, that it wished to vacate my body and exactly what route it was going to take. It was that need for a restroom that is accompanied by gooseflesh and the shakes. It seemed to me I was in the middle of nowhere and I was praying to God for a bathroom.

Lo and behold, the exit coming up had a sign saying there was gas available. I didn't recognize the logo; a little semi truck on a set of scales under the number 47. I trusted in faith and turned off the interstate. Nothing but a little transportation department sign with the logo and an arrow pointing to what appeared to be nowhere, but I could see the end of a dusty gravel driveway and headed there.

Turning in the drive, I wasn't sure at first if I was at the right place or if it was even open. I looked as though it could have been an abandoned truck stop from the early eighties. I pulled up past the chain link enclosed pumps, locked my car and felt like I was stepping into some kind of time warp movie set. I went inside and the feeling continued as I hustled to the restroom, walking past the horse shoe dining counter and the little old lady at the grill who just looked up and gave a nod of acknowledgment. I finished what I had to do and stepped back into the dining room and up to the cashier's booth to purchase a drink as a courtesy for their hospitality to a rushed restroom seeker.

Getting back in my car I couldn't shake the surreal feeling of the place. The dusty lot, the old pumps, the neon signs, the movie set worthy dimly lit diner, the two little old ladies manning the place; you could imagine those same little old ladies had been there sweetly serving passers-by for eternity, like truckstop angels. Getting back on the interstate, I wondered if I turned around and went back if the place might not be there, perhaps the Almighty manifested it there in my time of need, like Hogwarts room of requirement. Or perhaps it had been some sort of toilet emergency induced hallucination and I would just find a open field and a pile of poo.

I made it back home with dog in tow to a family very happy to see me. So that pretty much catches us up except for my next post.. ... ...

October 16, 2015

2015-10-16T13:08:00.001-05:00

I thought that exercise was supposed to make you feel better. I started back at the tread mill at the gym yesterday. Nothing hurts but I just feel so funked out today. No good reason too feel funked out. Just am.

found on Google

Mid October Update 2015

2015-10-11T11:32:00.001-05:00

The end of September saw an event called the Super Blood Moon. It was the coincidence of a Super Moon [A Supermoon is a full Moon or a new Moon at its closest point to Earth; also called perigee. A Supermoon looks around 12 to 14% bigger than its counterpart, the Micromoon. --from http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/super-full-moon.html ] and a Lunar Eclipse, which turns the moon very red, hence the "blood".

Many people got stunning images of it.

I was not one of those people, as you can see.

We did have a nice night out enjoying the cool evening and some star gazing. For me the most interesting sight of the night wasn't the eclipse but instead a satellite. One of the astronomy hobbyists said the phenomenon I was seeing was called an Iridium flare. [In skywatching circles, the Iridium satellites stand apart because their flat, shiny, door-size antenna arrays (three per spacecraft) periodically reflect sunlight toward the ground, causing brief (seconds-long) but brilliant flares that can momentarily reach an apparent magnitude of –8 — outshining the planet Venus. What's more, these flares are predictable, thanks to the satellites' publicly available orbital elements and to software and Web sites that satellite-watching aficionados have made available free of charge. -- from http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/observing-iridium-flares/ ] The website in the link shows a gif of an Iridium flare. The one we saw completely disappeared from view to the naked eye and then a few moments later would flash and then shrink down and disappear again. It made me wonder if some of the tales of seeing a brightly lit object that sped out of site could be attributed to Iridium flares.

I did learn that I need a tripod to take decent pictures with my low light setting. Just the slightest movement translates in to significant blurring. I did get a couple of decent shots of the boys that night though.

I really like this picture. Ryan moved as the camera was shooting and it caught him twice making a ghost of him. I would like to learn how to duplicate this effect.

The next weekend Sammy and I went out to Lake Mineral Wells State Park again. We did some hiking in Penitentiary Hollow and the fishing trail that leads to it. Very rocky stuff.

We started out from the picnic area and down some stairs that Jeff and I had found on a previous outing. They aren't the steps you get to from the trailhead with the sign. They are down further south, between two picnic spaces and, across from the restrooms. We hiked up and down through the rocks and woods in a roughly north direction until we found part of the red blazed trail to a fishing pier. We followed that to the pier and checked out the view from there and headed back into Penitentiary Hollow were there were numerous young rock climbers out exercising their hobby. We went back up the main stairs to the Hollow and that is when I took a step that I immediately knew I was going to be paying for the rest of the week. It's been a full week now and I am still feeling it. Nothing too bad this time though. Just sore. It's got me a little limpy but that is about it. After hiking I was really wiped out and exhausted so we went down to the park store and got some cold drinks and then tried some fishing. No bites but a couple of folks gave us left over worms after they got through. Still no bites and I now had three boxes of worms to figure out something to do with.

The next day, a Monday, I headed out alone to Cleburne State Park outside of Cleburne, Texas. I didn't take any pictures of this trip. I just wanted to go fishing by myself. I caught and released three palm sized perch. Mostly I just drowned worms.

Last night Sammy and I went out to the Star Party at the new, as yet unopened, Palo Pinto Mountain State Park.

They had a little area set up for folks to bring out telescopes and observe different celestial bodies. The idea of these TPWD star parties is that folks that have telescopes come out to the park and set up and let folks without telescopes view things through them.

It gets those, like my family, a chance to see things we don't normally have a chance to and allows a venue for astronomy hobbyists to nerd out and have a good time talkin' shop. There was also a guy with a solar scope so that we could look at the sun and see the prominences and filaments. We also got to see Saturn, Andomeda, a cluster, and a ring nebula. I was happy to just have a chance to sit back and see a starry sky again. I have been living in the city for almost ten years now. A starry sky is something you don't really see around here. We met up with our friends Ren and Scott Fridenburg from Stitch'nTravel blog and had a lovely evening sky watching and sharing candied apples.

The site was so nice and I think this is going to be a fantastic park when it is completed. Sammy and I plan to hike to the top of the biggest hill we saw last night once they open.

Beginning of October 2015

2015-10-03T14:12:00.001-05:00

The itchy rash on my back has returned. I see the dermatologist on the 8th.

I have come to the conclusion that I can either be thin or be happy but, not both. The My Fitness Pal site did help me lose a few pounds but, I have figured out that I have to religiously track every damn thing that goes in my mouth to do it. It got me frustrated, angry, and depressed. I couldn't stand to cook for my family because at the end of the day I was having to try and think of what I could cook that I could eat as well. I missed baking. I can't bake for the family and leave it alone. I am just not wired for it.

So I choose happy; as happy as I can be while fat. I won't wait for happy to come along after I lose weight. I am going to just enjoy what I can when I can. So what if I can't hike as far as other people can. I will go as far as I can and be thankful I got that far. So I have to swim in shorts and a tee shirt; less sunburn that way anyway! And, being fat, I float like a BOSS!

I will order clothes off the internet and have fun doing it. I will enjoy makeup when I want to. I will do my nails as I wish or wish not to.

I will play with my kids and go out with my friends.

I will eat, drink, exercise, play and be merry as I damn well please.

Where did I leave off.....

2015-09-13T15:18:00.000-05:00

It is now approaching the middle of September 2015. It has been an eventful few weeks since my last post.

On July 31 Jeff brought home a kitten that he had found on a job site.

We had her all checked out and tested and she tested clear of feline leukemia, feline HIV and ringworm. Around the 20th of August, about a week after the ringworm test came back negative, we discovered in grand fashion that it was wrong. Sammy, Jeff, Hops the dog, Ember the cat, Elise the kitten and I all broke out in ringworm lesions. Ember the cat and I getting the worst of it. Not only did I break out with three ringworm lesions, I also had a yeast infection and the result of the two at the same time was for my body to break out in hives all over my torso and arms. I tried to clear it up with over the counter medicine but had no success, so I headed to the doctor. She discovered the two infections (I thought it was ringworm all over) and prescribed me 5 days of a medicine that usually clears up a yeast infection in one day. Apparently ringworm is tough stuff so she wanted to make sure it was good and dead. It helped some but after the 5 days were up I was still itching like mad. I called her office on Friday before Labor Day and didn't get a call back. I got the answering service and they got a message through to the doctor who prescribed some antihistamines for the itching. They helped a lot but they are really powerful and make me drowsy so, I can only take them when I don't have to drive anywhere. We have gotten the cats treated and have had them isolated and have treated the dog. Tomorrow is the cats last treatment and they come out of isolation tomorrow. All the people are clearing up or have cleared up. I am still itching but clear of lesions. I have a dermatologist appointment in October to find out more.

During the above time right about the same time the ringworm showed up I got some sort of stomach bug and spent a day feverish, nauseated and, with diarrhea. Last Tuesday Sammy had it and now Jeff has had it since Friday night. On top of the sore back he has from throwing his back out on Tuesday.

Friday night a "cold front" came through and dropped the temperatures down to something bearable. Sammy was having some major cabin fever so I took him out to our favorite State Park, Lake Mineral Wells. In the office as I paid the bill I overheard a coversation about a little spot that an old man was looking for. He described a seating area made of stone with a stone table in the middle. The park employee and I thought he was talking about the one at Shelter #3 pictured below.

Photo by Dannybwoods on Panoramino. I found this on Google Earth.

It wasn't the right one. The old man was describing a completely different area of the park. That is when a State Police officer/Park Ranger spoke up and said he knew the spot and would take us all to go see it, so off we went following the Ranger.

The spot was a little off the beaten path and for a reason the Ranger told us. They no longer maintain the path to the spot. The park doesn't mind if you use it but they want you to have to find it, in order to preserve it. The one pictured above has been carved into and graffitied. They don't want that happening to this one. That is why I am not telling where it is. I do have photos to prove we were there.

The old man who had been looking for it was happy to share the finding it with Sammy and me. He said that it meant that a new generation would know it was there.

After that we ate our lunch and headed to the beach to swim.

It was the perfect day for swimming. Not too hot so the water wasn't nasty warm. Not too cold so it wasn't chilling to get into. Just warm enough that you didn't shiver too much when you got out. The air smelled great, kind of like patchouli, earthy like dirt and green like plants. It was gorgeous. The day got cut short though because shortly after taking these pictures of Sammy as he played after I left the water, my stomach started rockin' and rollin'. I wasn't sure if it was just being too warm after eating lunch or if it was a warning shot for whatever was making Jeff so sick this weekend. We stopped off at the park store, got some drinks, a patch and a pin before heading home.

The new pin is on the hat. It is a similar design to the patch. The old pin is on the table. The new design does better depict the parks offerings.

I spent the rest of the evening watching the Texas A&M game and getting many touchdown kisses, although not as hearty ones as usual on gameday since Jeff isn't feeling well.

Still hobbling along

2015-08-13T10:19:00.002-05:00

I was looking back over some old posts and I saw the one Hobbelong Cassidy. A very short update on that. I am still hobbling along. I have seen an Orthopedist and have been informed I have mild arthritis in that knee. It was really riled up when I went in so she gave me a shot in the knee to clear up the inflammation. It seems to have worked and as long as I keep on top of things with ibuprofen and Osteo-Bi-Flex and some turmeric I seem to not have too much problem.

And on that course I need to get up from this computer and get moving before I seize up like a rusty engine.

Summer Vacation is Almost Over Again

2015-08-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

Well it is now mid August 2015. School starts on the 24th. Ryan will be starting his sophomore year of high school and Sammy is moving on from elementary school to the 6th grade center, a whole new world for him.

This summer Ryan had to take summer school since he failed English class. Looks like he passed as freshman English wasn't on his schedule. He has spent the summer playing xbox and avoiding the rest of the family as much as he can by staying up late and sleeping in until noon or later.

Sammy and I went to Galveston for a couple of days this summer. It was to make up for him not going on the class trip to San Antonio and Austin. He has trouble dealing with crowds and hectic schedules so that trip would have been total sensory overload for him. I am pretty sure I feel worse about him not going with the class than he does.

He and I had a good time in Galveston. We stayed at a little motel on the industrial (Harborside) side of town. It was nothing fancy but it sure did smell fantastic. We saw Moody Gardens Aquarium, the Offshore Oil Rig museum, took a harbor site seeing and dolphin watch tour, rode the Bolivar Ferry boats and saw Bolivar lighthouse, swam at Galveston Island State park twice, ate a marvelous dinner at Fisherman's Wharf, and watched the sunrise over the ocean out on the east end of the island. On the way home we squeezed in a last minute trip to see the new Mammoth Site National Monument in Waco. It is an paleontological dig outside of Waco. There was a landslide that overtook a herd of mammoths and other animals thousands of years ago leaving behind some impressive fossilized remains. Sammy got a stuffed mammoth at the gift shop.

Today is Davy day so we will be going out to pick up Davy and take him to lunch. Sounds like today will be CiCi's Pizza.

About a week ago Jeff brought home a new kitten. She is solid black and a feisty handfull, and not much bigger than a handfull. We have named her Elise but, we mostly call her Leesy Kitty.

I have managed to lose some weight this year but it is slow going. I have a hard time resisting the urge to eat out of boredom or for the pleasure of tasting things. I haven't been going to the gym like I should. I may put out a search for a gym partner to meet with there. Maybe I would enjoy it more and feel more motivated if I had a friend to go with. Even someplace as chill as Planet Fitness can seem intimidating when I'm by my lonesome.

I am also dealing with some conflicting emotions lately. I am missing hanging out with friends of mine while at the same time not wanting to socialize with anyone. It makes absolutely no sense to me how I can feel both of those things at the same time.

To anyone that might be reading this, I apologize for it being so disjointed and it's staccato reading. I haven't been writing much at all lately. Facebook has been a killer on writing. I have even gotten to the point of replying to posts with emojis and memes instead of words. This is me trying to get back on the horse. We'll see what happens.

Makeup Redux

2015-06-10T14:45:00.001-05:00

Well I decided to play with the makeup again after watching a few contouring tutorials. It worked out a little better this time.

After looking at the photos I can tell i need to go back and blend a couple of spots better but it is definitely better than last time. I may actually get the hang of this yet.... it only too me two hours....lol. I am also thinking I need to rethink my choice of eye shadow color.

I also tried out one of those bun making tools. Seems to be working. It will take some practice to get it done well, especially with hair the length of mine.

Nice to have my hair up off of my neck anyway.

Jeepers Creepers!

2015-05-18T13:52:00.000-05:00

Today I was puttering around at the computer and I saw that Davy had left his camera out. I uploaded his photos for him (he doesn't know how) and thought it would be fun to take a selfie. Just goofin around. My first reaction was Yikes! I look like dookie. (Also please ignore the stuff in the background. This is upstairs in our "attic" area.)

So I decided that I needed to put on some makeup.

It got worse.....

... ... ...

Properly horrified, I ran down stairs and washed that crap off, and tried just some mascara, eye liner, and a nude colored lip pencil.

The first thing I learned is that I need to REMEMBER to smile....I literally forget when I am taking the picture because I am trying to remember how to work the camera.

Second lesson learned....

Take photo from slightly above to lessen the visibility of the double chin.

I also think I like the pictures with the glasses more than the ones without.

Lastly what the hell is up with the hair. In the above ones I have it tied back with a scrunchie and there is all this wispy, wiry shit flying off everywhere. The hair needs help. I am thinking it may need professional help at this point.


I especially like this shot. I look like I have a rooster comb :\

I tried letting it down. Believe it or not these are after bending over forward and fluffing up my hair. Other than the wispy shit there is no volume whatsoever.

I not sure what to do with the hair. I have grown it out so long that it reaches my backside now. Cutting it seems scary but, something has to happen.

This fall Sammy starts 6th grade and will be able to ride the bus to and from school. (Can't do it now because he goes to a campus that is out of our geographical "pyramid".) With both boys having bus service I can start looking for work. I am coming to realize that I should probably not look like crap if I want to find a decent office job. Not looking like crap is easier said than done I am discovering.

♪♫♪♫Just Keep Swimming, Swimming Swimming♪♫♪♫

2015-04-10T09:35:00.002-05:00

Well, I am back on the diet and exercise wagon. Had a decent loss of about 3 pounds last week. This week I kept up with keeping my calories in target range, went to the gym and gave it my best effort, and gained 1.6 pounds back.

The frustration is palpable in the air around me right now. Why! No this isn't a plateau... one doesn't plateau after only two weeks of dieting. I am pretty sure three sets of eight reps of any of what I did at the gym is not going to put a pound of muscle on me. I am so effing P.O.'ed at my body right now!

All I can do is keep going. I must, in the immortal words of Dory the Blue Tang fish from "Finding Nemo", keep on swimming, swimming, swimming.

Two Are Now One

2015-03-27T13:41:00.000-05:00

I found the way to join the two blogs into one, after I went to the trouble of copying ALL of both blogs into a third one. I will be doing a little clean up on this blog now. Weeding out some posts and such.

February 14, 2015

2015-02-14T18:16:00.002-06:00

Nothing from my husband for Valentines day for the second year in a row.

The Stench

2015-02-07T18:07:00.000-06:00

There has been a stench in my kitchen the last couple of days. Just a whiff here and there. Until today that is today it morphed into something that smelled like someone had walked into my kitchen taken a crap, vomited on it and then made my dog pee on it.

I blamed my laziness with the dishes and had Sammy fill the dishwasher. (One of his assigned chores now that he is big and understands how to get it done right.) After he got the dishwasher filled I proceed to give all the leftover dishes a thorough cold water scrub-down.

The Stench remains.

It must be the dirty sink. Sink gets a scrub-down.

The Stench remains.

Garbage disposal?

I throw a dishwasher pod down the disposal and chase it with dish soap and clorox clean up.

The. Stench. Remains.

I am starting to think I have a sewer gas problem that is going to require the plumber, when I happen to catch sight of a bit of brown liquid coming from under my potato basket.

BINGO! WE HAVE A WINNER!

Potatoes are now out. Counter is scrubbed. And the stench is fading.

Note: I was going to say that the stench must be what Satan's taint itself smells like, and include some kind of cartoon of a bent over Beelzebub, but you would be surprised how disappointingly tame the search results for Satan's taint, Devil's taint, and bent over Beelzebub are.

Fort Worth Homeowners on Edge

2015-02-04T10:06:00.000-06:00

Last night on the news it was announced that The Dreamvision Company is planning on building a 5000 (yes five thousand ) acre amusement park here in Fort Worth. I did a property data search on them and came up with 0 (zero) acres of land owned by them. That means that those 5000 acres are coming from some of us out here in Tarrant county. They are announcing where the park is going on Monday, February 9th. I don't think my area could be included. We are bounded within a triangle between two railroads on the northwest and northeast with the interstate on the south. I think that those would pose too much of an obstacle. But it still makes me nervous as hell, for others as well as myself. Expect to see the tax values of the properties in the chosen area to fall precipitously this spring so the developer can snatch them up cheap. The homeowner is always the one to get screwed in these things.

I'm Coming Back Home to This Blog and I Am Bringing the Other One With Me.

2014-11-25T09:41:00.001-06:00

I had started a new blog called Rambling Woolysheep hits the trail but I am coming back home to just plain old Rambling Woolysheep. Please bear with me as I pull the posts over.

Edit.

On second thought I have made a page out of the old blog and you can get to it from the sidebar. I will just pick up where I left off.

Hobblelong Cassidy?

2014-11-05T11:38:00.000-06:00

My van was at the mechanic for two full weeks. I am still trying to recover from it. I had to drive my husbands car to take him to work and then take the kids to school and then reverse the whole process in the evening. I have determined I do not fit behind the wheel of my husbands car. It is your garden variety compact sedan. It was hell on my right knee. I am still having trouble with the knee and I have had my car back for a couple of weeks now.

I have taken a week off of the calorie counting so that I could concentrate on getting more raw milk in me and see if it helps the leg. It seems to be helping. I was also getting overwhelmed on the calorie counting. Having to track everything I ate was getting me depressed so I am taking a little vacation to recharge. I go back on the wagon on the 10th.

An Interesting NSV

2014-10-04T17:24:00.000-05:00

from AwwCute.org

A couple of days ago my van crapped out on me and it is now in the mechanic shop. As a result yesterday was a day of a lot of driving my husbands car. Two hours in the morning to get everyone dropped off at work and school and another two hours in the evening taking kids to Grammy's house on the north side of the Metroplex and then picking Hubby up at work on the south side. We decided to go out to dinner as I was whooped.

As we were finishing up the appetizer I realized that if I hadn't already ordered the entree, I could have just stopped right there and been satisfied for the evening. Now did I? No. I did opt for water over a refill of my lemonade. More sugar didn't seem at all appetizing. We skipped dessert because we were stuffed to the gills. I blew my calorie budget for the day to heck but on the upside, I didn't get hungry until lunchtime today.

Still Hobbled

2014-09-04T10:04:00.000-05:00

Leg was feeling better on Tuesday and I got three laps around the mall. Wednesday morning I got up and the pain in my right leg was even worse than before. Feels like a deep bruise or a pulled muscle. I'm all gimped up again. I hope this mess clears itself up as the weight comes off. I guess it's just counting calories like a fiend for the next few days to stay on track.

Lehigh Gap- I don't know who took this photo but click the picture to go to his blog. Thats as much credit as I can give for this photo.

Doldrums 9-1-2014

2014-09-01T14:43:00.000-05:00

I had previously written a post titled "Doldrums" but, this time I think the word is more matched to how I have been feeling lately.

I. Am. Bored. I so want to go out and do things but, unless it involves swimming, it is just too dang hot for me. I can't get out in this heat (95°F +) without feeling like I am about to keel over in no time flat. I have gotten out for a few walks at Sammy's school in the mornings but even just temperatures in the low 80's are knocking the stuffings out of me, what with the humidity at the school. (They water the grass there and it evaporating in the morning makes it feel tropical)

I have gone to the mall and gotten in a some laps. The real problem is after the laps are done, and it is time to head home and get to the chores. I get some done but, there isn't any satisfaction in doing them like there used to be. It all gets undone as soon as folks get home. It's seeming pointless and, it's frustrating to be the only one working on stuff when folks are home and it gets under my skin having to boss everyone around to get stuff done. I'm just done with the whole suzy homemaker gig. I gotta do some stuff just to keep us functional and out of our own filth but that's about as much as I care about it anymore.

Thursday night, Jeff and I were sitting on the sofa. I had my legs in his lap and he was just petting on them. I like that. At one point he needed to shift my right leg and when he did it felt like he tried to twist it apart like a buffalo wing. He had barely touched me but the pain was incredible. I had to take Friday off from walking and have been out of the Mall since then. The knee feels better now except for on the stairs, so I will probably get back at it on Tuesday. Meanwhile the boredom is palpable.

http://www.riderplanet-usa.com/atv/trails/photo/1a5975b8e1c74d2f8b10c4426e4f8ae9.htm

Rambling Woolysheep Hits the Trail

2014-09-01T13:38:00.000-05:00

I have a new blog titled "Rambling Woolysheep Hits the Trail". It is about my weight loss efforts and desire to hike the Appalachian Trail someday. I think most of my new posting is going to be there.

You can check it out at this address...

http://ramblingwoolysheephitsthetrail.blogspot.com/

Back to School and Back in the Saddle

2014-08-26T14:13:00.000-05:00

Weeeeeell the boys are back in school, and I am back at walking. To start things off, we head to school early and try to get in some walking around the schools 1/7 mile track. In +80°F temps and high humidity I am only able to get in 1 lap, then I have to sit and breathe. I managed 2 laps this morning. After getting the boys to school I headed over to the mall and got in 2½ laps (½ mile each lap). At that point my back was really giving me a fit and the soles of my feet felt like they were burning so I decided to go home and hit the shower.

I have been eating like a pig today. Ravenous. Tired but ravenous. I'm going to get my feet up and see if I can whoop this back ache. Advil and Excedrine aren't doing anything for it.

An Expected Disappointment

2014-08-03T19:18:00.000-05:00

A little over a month ago I had gotten on the scale and it read that I had lost a big chunk of weight since my last weigh in a few months before. I felt really good about it but at the same time I didn't quite believe it since I hadn't really been trying to lose any during the months between. I suspected that the scale was broken. It had made a weird crunchy noise when getting on it and readouts had been inconsistent. I went with it thought since it was the only scale I had.

Well today I got a brand new one and well....356.4. Not anywhere near the 327 the old scale was giving me most often.

The worst part is knowing that I can't drown my sorrows in the ice cream in the fridge. It would only make it worse. I so want that ice cream right now.

Update 7/31/2014

2014-07-31T15:40:00.000-05:00

Just a little update.

The mall walking didn't work out after the kids came home from Grammy's house. They didn't want to go round and round and constantly wanted to stop for soda, or food, or to look at the new whatsit on sale. No bueno.

I have been getting some weight off with just calorie counting for right now. I have been using MyFitnessPal.com for tracking my calories. Also, if you check out the widget in the right hand column MedHelp weight tracker) you can see my current weight and if you click on it you can see how much I have lost in total.

I never thought I would be saying this but, I am actually looking forward to the school year starting so that Sammy and I can walk the track at his school in the mornings. It was suggested that he get out on the playground before classes start so that he can burn off some energy and center himself, so we decided to team up and have a little playtime in the morning on school days. Looking forward to it.

♪♫♪It's the Circle of Life.....♪♫♪

2014-06-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

Buyi Zama as "Rafiki" in the opening number of "The Circle of Life"
from THE LION KING Las Vegas. ©2009, Disney. Photo Credit: Joan Marcus.

Twenty-five years ago I was a mall rat......

Photo Credit Michael Galinsky circa 1989

actual picture of me in 1988

Now I am a mall walker......

" Edward Mischik of Trumbull just might be the oldest mall walker of them all. At 96, Mischik has been walking in the Westfield Mall since 1985. He retired from the Singer sewing machine company as a machinist many years ago and then worked as head custodian at the Booth Hill School in Trumbull. He hasn’t slowed down too much unless you consider that he used to be a speed walker. — Thomas B. Nash photos" from an internet article 'Mall Walking: Healthy Socializing by Karen Kovacs Dydzuhn on Apr 19, 2012

I started walking the mall a few days ago. I should have started a lot longer ago. I can get so much more walking in doing it somewhere where I can stop and sit and, get a bottle of cold water from the machine.

The best I was getting in in one time before was about a mile out in the neighborhood but Wednesday and today I was able to get in about 2. I say about 2, because I have to guesstimate. There was a lady who had been walking the mall for quite some time who said that one lap around the lower level was 1/2 a mile so that is what I am going with.

I can get in two laps pretty easy before I have to rest but today I had to stop at the end of each lap for sore shins. The muscles there are not happy with me. I also had to stop half way through the third lap and again at the beginning of the fourth lap. That made me decide that four laps is my current limit until I can do that with fewer breaks.

I also discovered it is easier to get started if I spend a buck on the shiatsu massage chair before I start walking. I walked into the mall with my lower back bemoaning being up but after the three minute massage by the chair I had no pain until the end of my fourth lap. I would consider another round with the massage chair but after walking some I have sweat running all over me and that would just be gross for later patrons of the chairs.....or maybe I need to go pickup a microfiber towel I can wipe the chair down with.

As I was making my rounds today I caught sight of this sign...I know it is supposed to say Wear Your Allegiance but in hashtagii it also appears to say Weary Our Allegiance.

This afternoon I pick up the boys so we will be figuring out how to get in walking and not drive them bored crazy.

squee......2 miles.......