Prayers and wishes

Some very dear friends of mine have had a horrible past few months. They waited for years before having a child and discovered that he has liver cancer. They've been taking him to chemo treatments and hoping to get a transplant, but now that hope is gone. A recent MRI scan revealed that the cancer has traveled to his lungs and adrenal glands as well as his liver. He has no hope now of getting a new liver and little hope of living more than a year (if he is lucky) His parents made a difficult chpoice to begin him on an experimental treatment which should give him a decent quality of life and perhaps a bit more time. He cannot being the treatments until he is one year old which will be in June. With luck, he will live a bit beyond his second birthday.

My deepest wiches and prayers have been with them every day. Send your too, if you can:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidweber

It's Winter. Or, no, wait...It's Spring. Nope, nope....back to winter

The weather has been odd. One week ago, the temperature was 51 degrees (at the very end of January!). Then in a matter of just a few short hours, it dropped dwn to a more seasonable 3 degrees! Meanwhile, there was the freezing rain that turned into a dusting of snow. Glad I didn't have to work that night.

Just a few days later - on Thursday Jan 31 - we got the beginning of a snow storm that when it ended the next morning gave us 8 lovely inches of snow. What fun...again! So the weekend arrives and with it - warming temps. How warm? Oh, enough the start melting the snow and create a rather thick fog that lasted for about two days. It only ended due to the rain. Rain - in February. In Central Illinois. So most of the snow goes away and now, the rain is turning into a freezing rain/snow combo because the temps are dropping. Again. And people wonder why everyone is getting very, very sick around here.

I send all my thoughts and prayers to the people living in the areas hit by all the bad storms in the Southern US.

As 2007 ends....

So, it is almost over. 2007. There have been a good number of good things (my nephew welcoming his first child into the world this past October for one big one) and a few bad things. Typical, really, of any year.

2008...What will it bring? Very good question. I would like it to bring good things for my family and friends. For me, well I would love to be debt free. Not likely to happen unless I suddenly win a lottery or something. So, more realistically...

I hope to sell my house in the next year. Reduce some of my debt. On the fun front I hope to be able to meet a few people I've wanted to meet for some time. Actors, ect. Thad and I might go out on a cruise next summer. Those are always fun. We'll see.

Untill then, everyone take care. Be safe. Stay halthy. And have a wonderful New Year's!

I really must update more

I am terrible at keeping this place up-to-date. I must work on that.

Many things happening, the most excitign being that my sister sent me an e-mail yesterday to let me know that my nephew Allen became a father for the first time yesterday afternoon! I was asked to not tell him that I knew, but Cathy just had to tell someone. :-) "I'm sure he wants to tell you himself, so don't tell him I told you" was the message.

It's great timing, actually. Cathy is a school teacher and they are having a mid-semester break next week. So, she can now spnd that time with Allen, Melissa and her new grandson. Don't know his name yet, tat's something for Allen to share with me.

I'm so happy for them all. Wish I could go visit too, but there will be time for that.

Summer Time

Ah, it has been a while since I last posted, hasn't it? I just spent a few days with my sister Cathy. We haven't seen each other since her husband's funeral in October 2004. We have talked on the phone and through e-mails, but haven't actually spent time together until the other day.

Cathy lives by Kentucky Lake in a beautifully wooded area. I love the place - except for the snakes. Anyone want some rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, or water maccasons? You are more than welcome to have some. I've never actually seen any snakes whenever I've been there. But there was one time my mother and I were staying there and in the middle of the night I rolled over in bed and my arm fell over the edge. Immediately there was a rattle sound from either outside somewhere near their deck or from under the bed. Either way, I was not thrilled. Especially since shortly after I slowly and carefully pulled my arm back onto the bed, the rattle sound stopped. How, you are asking, could there had been a rattle sound under the bed? Easy - at that time, Cathy and Dave often left the glass doors to the deck wide open, screen and all. Even with everyone being the house all day, anything could have gotten in.

But Cathy, Thad and I had four very nice days together - when she wasn't teaching summer school. But when she was, Thad and I just slept. Cathy's house is a great place to just sleep. She even said that is what everyone in the family tells her - "I come here and I just want to sleep and when I do, I sleep so well" We will be going back to see her again in September unless something comes up.

I have to send out a very big "Thank you" to my friend Toni who scanned in this photo of Thad and I that we had taken in Wisconsin Dells in July 2006. So, for those who might have wondered what we look like - here we are (minus that glasses we both wear)

The Season of Illness

I work for a large retail drug store chain. And this spring has already started off with one of the worst colds I can remember seeing (and having) in years. It comes on rather quickly, making you feel light headed, stuffy, achy and very, very tired. That lasts for several days. Then the coughing...it just doesn't stop. Both Thad and I have had the coughing for almost two weeks now and while we are getting better, we still cough like crazy. I've talked to some people who have had this cold and they have all said it took about four weeks to be rid of the cough. So, we just keep getting rest, taking cough medicine and drops, drinking lots of liquids and hoping the cough will be just a bit less tomorrow.

In short, if you get this cold (and it does seem to be working it's way around) be prepared for a long recovery.

The Return of Sci-Fi Fridays

After a very long, and by no means neccessary, break between first run episodes the shows Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis are returning to American television. It seems the decision makers at Sci-Fi channel thought they had 'wisdom' in breaking the Stargate shows into mini-seasons separated by six months, and fill the time with complete and total crap programming. I wish I could make those kind of idiot decisions and be paid big money to do it. What a nice little scam.

I remember when TV shows were not even aired until most of the episodes were already 'in the can'. Then the episodes were aired each week with perhaps a week or two of repeats late in the season. After the season was over, the repeats of that season held you over until the next started in late September. Yes, late September. Not only that but a complete season consisted of 26 - 32 episodes - not the 20 (or if you are lucky 22) episodes today's television shows boast.

I find it wonderfully ironic that some of the longest running (and still classic) television shows in history - Gunsmoke (635 episodes in 20 years), Bonanza(430 episodes in 14 years), and Dark Shadows (1225 episodes in 5 years) - ran longer seasons, more episodes, were as a whole more entertaining then nearly all of today's television programming, and still produced new episodes all the time. No re-runs in those days.

Just adding a quick note

Okay, it's been awhile and thought I would just do a quick update.

On the not so good front, I am spending about $400 today. Why? Because my car needs a new muffler, exhaust pipes,and catalytic converter (and I know, I spelled that wrong) . Oh...yay... Bad timing, but I can't go without the car for long so no real choice. Blah.

I also skipped over my brother John's birthday on the 5th. I don't know where he is right now - last I heard he was in Nashville, TN. He hasn't had a lot to do with anyone in the family for a while now. My brothers are like that. While my sister and I stay in touch (admittedly not as much as we would like) both of our brothers barely talk to anyone. Just weird. But I do keep in close contact with my nephew Brad (John's son - who was known as one of my 'boyfriends' when he was a child) and Brad keeps me informed of anything major in his dad's life. As does my neice Brenda (John's daughter) whom I keep in touch with. And last I heard, hewas doing well, so ulitmately that is all that matters.

I should go now. Have a great St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Today, Feb. 7th

Just a quick note to say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISTY!!!!

One month down

Janaury is almost over, most of my bills are paid, and we are about to enter the worst month of the year. Febraury has been a bad month for me for a long time. When I was a kid this is when everyone in the family died. No, not really, but it seemed like it from a kid's point of view. Bad weather, and a death in the family was almost all Febraury seemed to represent. But at least it was the shortest month and once it was over, things start to look up. Spring will be coming and all the re-birth feelings with it.

My sister's birthday is Jan. 31. I will be calling her sometime in the next few days. And I can try to set up sometime this summer to visit with her. I haven't visited with her (other than over the phone or e-mail) since her husband died a couple of years ago. Too many other things happening to make the trip. But this year, I am changing things. Must see her and actually take vacation time that involves more than a two day sales pitch (that we bought into anyway!) Must take a week off a couple of times this year and actually go somewhere just for fun.

So it's a new year and it has started out with some great things happening over on the A Dog's Breakfast movie site! First David announces that he and his girlfriend Jane are engaged (which is ALL the chatter amongst the squirrels!) and now it's been - well, talked about on the forums - that he has created a new TV series to be shown on the Sci-Fi Channel. Watch for Starcrossed. It will be great!

So, yesterday was my brother Roy's birthday. He turned 47. I gues I hope he had a good day. Since he and I don't really talk, it's hard for me to say. (Long story there)

Anyway, I hope everyone has had a good start for the year. May your weather be mild, your bills low and your income high! And check out the link at the right for A Dog's Breakfast movie. It's headed your way thanks to MGM!

Happy Holidays to All

It is only a couple of days before Christmas so just a quick entry to wish everyone who celebrates it a very Merry Christmas. So many different holidays happen at this time that if I leave one out, please forgive me:

Merry (or Happy) Christmas
Happy Kquanza
Happy Hannukah

and Happy New Year.

I am hoping that everyone out there is staying as healthy as possible and is trying to be safe as the weather decides what it is doing. (Cold, wet, snow, ice, ect in parts of the world.) To the squirrels (you know who you are) have fun over the holiday. I'll talk to you soon.

As we enter the holidays...

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the US and surprisingly today is very, very warm. MAybe a bit too warm. I really think it is nature's way of creating a false sense of happiness. Sigh. Oh well, I'll enjoy it while it's here because the snow isn't that far away.

Friday will be 'Black Friday' as it is called in the retail business. It is the official start of the holiday shopping season. Now the truth is it actually started several weeks ago, but for some reason the 'official' start isn't until Friday. And as someone I work wit put it, it is going to be a lllooonnngg two months. (Well okay, just over a month, but it will feeeeeeellll soooooo much longer)

Anyway, HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!! Don't eat so much that you can't walk. And if you are traveling, please be careful!

Some photos I came across.

While I have been trying to get my new photos of the cats to load onto the blog (and for some reason having trouble..hhhmmm...) I came across these photos from April 2005. These were a couple of pictures I took at a gaming convention in East Peoria, IL called Spring Offensive. I used to work a lot at Spring Offensive, helping run registration, games, organize the thing, other stuff too. But over the last few years, work has had me too busy to spend much time there.

The woman in the wheelchair in the first photo is Sue Kinsinger. Sue was known by a good number of people as 'Mama Sue' since she kind of became everyone's second mother. She died in June of 2005 after a very long, painful battle with cancer. In fact, my pictures where the last taken of Sue - she died about six weeks later. We all miss her a great deal.

The second photo is a piece of artwork at the college the convention was held at. I am a very big fan of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, so of course, I felt like these 'rings' looked a lot like Stargates. From what I heard, I was far from being the only one to feel that way. But I'll let you believe they are whatever you think they are. There is no wrong answer.

One Year Later

Here are pictures of Ivanova and Delenn from last year. A bit bigger than the previous pics, but still not at their current sizes.

Two Little Girls...Who Aren't Quite So Little Anymore.

These are Thad's girls, Delenn (on the left) and Ivanova (on the right) back when they were still young kittens, about two years ago. They are named for two characters on "Babylon 5"

Both are half Maine Coon, which means they can continue to grow for another two to three years before being considered 'full grown'. Currently Ivy (Ivanova's nickname) is about 12 - 13 lbs, Lin-lin, (as Delenn is known) is about 19 lbs. And they are not considered - believe it or not - by the vet to be overweight. They are about right for their breed. I should have more recent photos soon. Hope you like.

Just a quick add on.

For anyone who might actually be reading these silly things I've written...I have placed a couple of links on the side to some websites belonging to friends of mine. They are wonderful people and don't be afraid to drop them a line or two if you want. Very friendly.

Wow, I may learn how to do this blog thing yet. ;-)

As the weeekend begins

I haven't posted for a while, so I guess I should put something up. The weekend is beginning and I have to say I'm looking forward to it. Not just because it's the weekend, but because I am offically on vacation from work starting tomorrow. Yea!! That gives me time to start checking out some things with my computer (like how to get my scanner to actually scan pictures to my mainframe so I can maybe, possible, hopefully one day post some here. And I can spend some time catching up on other blogs and sights I like to read. Not to mention CLEAN THE HOUSE!! NNNNOOOOOO!!!!!! Never that.

I should spen this week also writing e-mails and call my sister as I haven't talked to her in a long time. I think about doing it a lot. But she is a school teacher and since I work third shift, she's art work whenI'm awake and by the time she gets home,I'm asleep. When I'm at work, she' s asleep. Kind of a bad little cycle there, but it happens.

Okay, I'll post some more tomorrow, or the next day. Sometime soon anyway. Maybe I'll get some pics up too. With luck. Bye for now.

Beginnings......

Okay, so...I'm new at this and will be making a few mistakes. Can't be helped I'm afraid. So just hang in there and we'll all get through it.

First a bit about me (without giving too much away)

I grew up on a small five acre farm just a mile outside the Village of Danvers in central Illinois. And yes, village is the right word to describe it. All together (counting the surrounding farms) there was a population of about 1000 people - and, heck, that may have even counted some of the animals.....

I was (and still am) a bit of a geek. Math, science and history were my favorite subjects in school. Geek, geek, geek. Love animal too. My family has had many different pets share our lives over the years. Dogs, cats, horses, cows, chickens, pigs, a duck (who thought he was a dog) even a couple of birds. Right now there are several cats (five) who share the house with myself and my boyfriend. They range from ages two to eleven - and all get a long most of the time. Some days we have our moments...

As soon as I can find them and figure out how to do it correctly, I'll post a few pictures of the 'girls'. Untill then...it was nice to 'meet' everyone!