I Am So EXCITED!!! :)

Older son (preschool picture) 5 yrs old

Why am I EXCITED?

Because I am so HAPPY!!!

Why am I so HAPPY?

If you read the previous post that I put up only yesterday... then you know my computer died.

I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I would be sans computer for a long time because we have other more pressing financial obligations... and a computer isn't a necessity (It isn't? ;) and I survived most of my life without one and could certainly do it again for a while. I gave myself one of *those* pep talks.

Older son called me today to tell me he had a computer for me. He got it from the company he works for and is a little older and so got it for free for me. BUT... it is newer than mine and works so fast. We have high speed inter net (5 something?) ... but the old one was on it's way out for a long time and was doing everything so slowly. I could hear it just clicking away as if it was working so hard to relay the information/perform even simple tasks. In computer years... it was a dinosaur. Son built that one for me around 2003 or earlier.. not sure.

He also retrieved my info off of the old hard drive and installed it into this new one. So.. I have almost everything that was important to me before.

And the keyboard is so much nicer.

I'll tell you... he really came through for me and surprised me greatly! Dear son... absolutely..MADE MY DAY!!! :)

Thank you Jonathan!

Love,
Mom :)

P.S. I didn't realize just how slow the old computer had gotten. I am so astounded at the speed this computer operates at... that it's even fun to click on things... just to see how fast it works. :)

My Computer Died

... but I'll survive..I'm sure.

My computer stopped working on Saturday before I left for a wedding over the weekend.

I got it to come back on when I came home but never got it to let me on line...although I could play scrabble on line. Then it just shut off and kept coming on/off, on/off repeatedly without ever actually coming on. The start button doesn't work.. nor did it shut the computer off. I had to unplug it, which meant it wouldn't come back on. *sigh*

It has officially died and I am computerless and may be for quite a while. :(

However... I will occasionally be able to use son's laptop... depends on his schedule and willingness to share. I also don't want to put additional wear and tear on his... but am grateful to use it.

Eh... computers aren't a necessity (They aren't?) and there are more important things in life. But darn... I do love this blogging hobby.

Unfortunately...there are other more pressing expenses... and so this is on the back burner.

C'est la vie!

Please know that I am still blogging... but just slowed down somewhat for now.

Ha! Maybe now I will finesse the short post. :)

By the way... the wedding was beautiful and the reception was FABULOUS! We had a blast! :)

Cheese Doodles Don't Make Sunburn Feel Better (but I'll tell you what does)

They don't!

No..I'm not rubbing them on my fiery body.

Owwwww..that would hurt and be just a bit scratch. Talk about fire!

It's 02:54 (am) and I feel like I am on fire. I'm hot and cold at the same time... and sore.

I have a big wedding to go to on the weekend.

There hasn't been very much sun and so I was barely tan when I fell asleep in the pool by high noon today. I was actually feeling cold before I fell asleep.... but the warm sun on me felt sooooo good. How can something that feels so good be so bad for you?

It was the deepest, most pleasurable sleep... just drifting around in the pool.

The summer has been so weird and not a great summer at all ..weather wise. Mostly cloudy days and the sunny days cloud up too. The corn isn't as high as it should be.

So..I thought I was tan. I was going out at the end of the day and thought I had built a little tan and so wouldn't burn.

My rules are sunscreen for face and throat and no sun between 11am - 12 pm.

But..remember I have this wedding to go to and remember I had a little tan? Well I wanted more tan... especially in the cleavage area. My dress is low cut in front and with straps...so I just wanted more tan.

The thing Is my new bathing suit doesn't go down like a v in the front and so I took the straps down and pulled the top... just a little too low and so I have a really red hot burn straight across the girls where the sun has never been. OUCH! (my virgin skin (sans sunlight exposure) is very fair and I didn't realize just far down I pulled my suit. *sigh*


And I pulled my suit down in the back and so burned there but not as badly. I fell asleep while lying on my back.

Suffice it to know that it looks like when you're painting and you peel the tape back and you see the distinct contrasting borders...except I didn't pull them down evenly and so it is crooked too..and ... it still wasn't low enough in the middle. So.. I'll give it a rest and Friday will put a different suit on that covers the burned area and will tan like usual in the middle.

I was telling people on twitter that a pharmacist recommended using whole milk compresses to help a burn.

I was 18 and decided to go out in the sun for the 1st time with just baby oil for 6 hours. I was in the water some of the time but was also lying on the beach.

I was supposed to play tennis that night. I took a little nap and when I woke up I was in unbearable pain, was dizzy and had chills.

My aunt was looking for Noxema, Solarcaine (sp?), etc and the pharmacist recommended whole milk compresses.

I had baby doll pajamas on and my boyfriend (now husband) came up and she let him do the compresses. (That surprised me!)

What he did is take a couple of paper towels, dip them in the cold whole milk, wring out, open them up and apply to the burned area. They are ice cold at first and then are very soothing. You press them onto the burned area. And leave them on until they feel hot. Then remove the paper towels and repeat the process. Make sure the milk is cold.

You do this over and over again until the person doesn't feel as warm and they are feeling some relief. It takes a while!

I was covered in paper towels...legs, arms, chest, back, stomach. It was the worst burn I have ever had in my life and I have gotten sun burned at the beach.. for sure.

Well.... I woke up the next day...with out ANY pain. NO PAIN at all!! No blisters.. ever AND.. I didn't peel either.

We have always used that when needed and works every time.

Personally... I would do that before I'd ever go to the ED for treatment. It works, you don't need any drugs and its just about free... just labor intensive for the person helping you.

My husband... who's legs and feet are as white as the virgin snow...well almost... got a really bad burn on them. he refused my doing that for him and the next day... he couldn't put his shoes on and his pants hurt his skin because the burn was so intense. He let me do the compresses...and he felt much better.

We had a party here tonight and and so I didn't have time for my husband to help with the sunburn, a friend came over after ward and so I just didn't get to it. And husband has to work tomorrow. It's messy and so I am going to forgo the milk compresses and hope for the best.

But I have to say... it it totally weird how you can be both really hot and really cold at the same time with a sunburn.



I am joking about the cheeses doodles helping sunburn. I wasn't even hungry and as I was eating them, observed... my emotional eating of cheese doodles was not helping me in any way...at all. The sunburn still hurts... and the salt will make me retain water along with supplying me with non nutritious unwanted calories.

*I have a friend who swore her girls were bigger the next morning if she ate a salty snack the night before. I'm just sayin. :)

I will put sunscreen over the burned areas Friday!

Funny Bunny on "Howie Do It" pilot episode

If you enjoy exquisitely funny practical jokes ... then this clip is a MUST see!

They hired a man to dress up as a rabbit to deliver a singing telegram. However... the one fact they neglected to tell him is that he would be delivering the singing telegram to mourners at a funeral service in a church.

Everyone else is an actor.

The poor guy has to sing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" as the mourners respond accordingly.

My favorite mourner is the older guy staring down the Funny Bunny guy. :)

It ends with a surprise.

I love a good practical joke and think this is HILARIOUS and hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :)

P.S. You will need to press pause on the ocean sounds down on the right so it doesn't compete with the audio in the clip.

Mechanical Patients and Other Opinions :)

The credit for pic and comments goes here. You'll find some funny things there. :)

It warms my heart when I see a man fixing something. I guess because I feel like everything will be alright and it is a secure feeling. I can sometimes fix things...following the logic with the most basic things... but I certainly am not mechanically inclined... nor am I a carpenter, plumber or a gazillion other things.

I admit I felt discouraged and even got a little panicky when things broke and the funds were tight and we'd just have to make do... or sacrifice somewhere else so we could pay someone else to fix it. But then when it was fixed... it was and is such a good feeling. :)

My uncles were the kind of guys who could seemingly do anything. I once asked my Uncle Hector if Grandpa taught him how to do all these things he could do. He said no... that my grandfather was a mason and good at what he did, but he didn't know how to fix other things. He said he came up with the nicest white paint mixture for stucco that he had ever seen and people really liked it and maybe could've done something with it.. but he never did.

Uncle Hector also said, "Pat...when you don't have the money to fix things...you figure out how to do it yourself." I asked, "But what if you do it wrong?" He answered, "Oh..I've made mistakes. That is how you learn... you just keep at it until you get it right."

My husband's Uncle Henry can do even more than my uncle. Mechanical, carpentry, electrical,electronics, etc., and I asked him how he knew how to do all these things. He said, "All you have to know how to do is read. If you can read...you can do anything."

Somehow...I think that he is probably more gifted than most when it comes to working with his hands.

I worked with an ER doc who was also a surgeon that once told me "Anyone could be a doctor. All you need is a good memory." That is interesting... but I have a good memory... and I know I couldn't be a doctor. And he made that statement with such confidence...as if it was the most logical progression in achievement. He was an excellent doctor and the doc you'd want on if you came in as an ER patient. He was also good at suturing and when he sutured a facial lac... they healed beautifully.

Reading and good memory are key... but I also think some people have an innate ability to be proficient in particular areas... more so than others. And continuing education in whatever form required, hones those skills.

A couple of years ago I was having a discussion with a surgeon, who was telling me how he loved to work in the OR and when he's not working... he loves to work with tools in his home. He said he is always fixing or changing something...taking walls down, building... whatever he could find to do and that he is happiest when he works with his hands.

He also said...when he visits a friend who is a dentist... he likes to look at his friend's dental tools, opens his drawers to see what he's got, etc., and he was really funny when he was talking about it. He reminded me of a kid in a candy store! :)

Thank God for all the Mr and Ms. Fix its out there. :)

Happy Birthday America!

I hope everyone is enjoying their July 4th weekend! Even if you're working...I hope it's still a good day for you.

I've sure done my share of working Holidays... and may be again... if I end up working in a hospital.

There was always a certain camaraderie with the other co-workers because we were all in it together. You just make the best of it and often times people bring food in for the holiday.

Of course..the ED tends to be crazy on the warmer holidays because everyone is out and about... but then the shift just goes faster...although not fast enough on the worst ones.

We had a fun July 4th. We went to a family barbecue and it was so nice to see all the relatives (my husband's family)...aunts, uncles and cousins with some friends in the mix. The ones who were kids when J and I began dating... now have their own kids... as does our older son and d-i-l. (time flies by) And our newest addition to the family... lovely Wrenna got to meet more of her family. Of course my m-i-l and her sisters took turns holding her and I had my turn too. The little girls... Devan and Ashley... both 8 years old .... came over to her too. So sweet. :) And as with all barbecues... there was so much food...good food and good company.

A good time was had by all. :)

No News IS Good News!

I just want to say I have not subjected myself to any news from any media source since Friday night. Hence... because I have not seen or read any negative bit of news... it feels great!

I know I can't stay in my little self created protective bubble forever... but it feels great for the weekend. Still..some personal news came to my attention that I am perplexed about... so the bubble isn't impenetrable.

Never the less..it is a relief not to hear all the woes of the world for a few days.

Is that selfish of me?