Saturday, November 29, 2008

Remember when?

Originally published on MySpace, Oct 29, 2008

Current mood:nostalgic

Been feeling a little nostalgic the past few days and thinking back on my life.

In my early 20's I was pretty much a granola head. I lived on an island out in the San Juans (Washington State). My boyfriend, a man from Fresno, lived where ever he hung his hat. At that time it was in a VW van. I moved in with him briefly, but I have to say, it was a tad cramped!! He had some definite ties to what we would call "new age" spirituality now and claimed he had seen his own future death. If true, he's been dead many years now. We split later on when he moved his van to another island.

I lived in a very small, very rustic cabin after the tourist season wound down. Then along came an offer to 'move up' and I lived rent free in the home of a couple of elderly snow birds who were of course wintering in Arizona.

My best female friend was living in a tiny cabin on the beach. I LOVED her cabin! She did everything she could to winterize it but it was drafty and damp and probably should have been torn down prior to that time. Aurelia was my idol... She rolled her own cigarettes (both kinds), never shaved, had lived in exotic places and was a vegetarian. She shoo'd spiders and flies out the window and picked up cigarette butts where ever she went, not her own, because she never ever tossed one on the ground, but other people's.

We kept in touch for quite a few years after I eventually left the island and moved into more 'mainstream' society. After all, I never did get into rolling my own cigarettes... I definitely required filters on mine!

Aurelia eventually came to the mainland and went to school to study Marine Biology. She still left little impact on her environment. She lived on a small boat she bought and spent most of her time either working on the boat, in school or studying. She didn't moore in a fancy marina, she was in a small marina with wobbly piers that scared me to walk on when I ventured to her boat home. In later years I think this marina came to public attention as the place where a very sick man kept his mentally ill wife confined for years in a tiny boat with several large also neglected dogs. Very sad story....

I wonder what happened to Aurelia. I was thinking the last time I saw her was at my wedding, smoking her home rolled cigarettes, but I think I saw her one more time after that. I can visualize her visiting me in my home in Seattle. My oldest daughter may have been born by that time.

It's interesting to think that we are both now in our 50's... how has she changed? Is she a marine biologist on a ship somewhere? Is she still so very much her own person? Is her hair still long and blond? Does she eat meat now? Perhaps she moved back to the Virgin Island where the weather would be more suited to her lifestyle than the weather of Washington State. Did she have children or marry? Is she still living?

In my mind I am sitting on a rock, under the tree outside her cabin in the sunshine. Aaaah.... remember when.....

Tony FrankenCat

Originally published on MySpace, Nov 29, 2008

Current mood:dorky

This blog is an attempt to educate anyone who doesn't understand my status today....

Last night we had Capri, her hubby and young son over for the evening. TC is a charming and delightful young man. So charming he even charmed us into playing poker, which quite frankly, I *suck* at!

This was the first time we all met face to face and of course that means being introduced to all our fur family as well. At the moment, Tony is recovering from some sort of animal bite and he looks like this:

TC, who apparently doesn't let anything escape his attention, soon asked us, "why does he have cigarettes poking out of him?"

You just gotta love how a kid's mind works!! If it was me I would have simply said something like, "Ewwwwwie!! Keep that cat away from me!" but, no, not TC - he wants the lowdown - starting with the "cigarettes!" LMAO!!!

Tony himself was quite the charmer this morning while I was trying to get his picture:

Go away! Can't you see I'm sunbathing??

**

I already told you - I don't feel like playing!!

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Okay, but just once, and then you'll leave me alone??

**

"Little Bunny Foo Foo, hopping through the forest, picking up the field mice...."

**

Okay, that's enough cat games.... If you wanna know what my husband's answer is to "Why does that cat have cigarettes sticking out of his butt?" you'll have to give me your answer first.... just why does Tony have cigarettes sticking out his butt?

Friday, November 28, 2008

Happiness is....

Originally published on MySpace, Nov 28, 2008

Current mood:happy

Sharing the warm spot in the sun

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Sharing a lap & a nap

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Finishing a project

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Finding your own warm spot in the sun

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

More thankful

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Pet Peeve 015

Thankful

Originally posted on MySpace, Nov 25, 2008

Current mood:thankful

In no particular order or emphasis, these are the things I am thankful for.... plus much more that just didn't come to mind right now....

My Children Friends, Old & New Tulips Differences Geese Baseball Brothers My Husband Photography Quail God & Heaven Rainy Days Flowers Brothers-in-Law Forgiveness Food on My Table Hearing Family Mercy Trees Vision My Home My Mother-in-Law Beaches Books An Audience Washington State Lakes Seasons Sisters-in-Law My Country Sunsets Good Health My Father (deceased) Soccer Clouds My Family's Health My Mother Doctors & Medicine Sunrises Vacations Starbucks Camp fires My Talents Beautiful Colors Utah My Childrens'Grandparents My Father-in-Law Holidays Harriett Kentucky Education Nieces & Nephews Reliable Transportation Love Movies Snow Jobs Angels Birds Music Grace Sunny Days Mountains Cousins Deer Furry Companions Art My Crafts Stories

Monday, November 24, 2008

Little Life Delight 001

Nov 24, 2008

Current mood:froggy

I started thinking that I need a counterpart to my pet peeve blogs, something that is a warm fuzzy when it happens.... Hm... thinking aloud here - I was trying to decide what the opposite of a pet peeve is and maybe it's a "warm fuzzy" instead of a "little life delight." Maybe I'll let you, my faithful readers, decide which is the better choice.

This evening I present you with my first LLD or WF. And it's really a simple thing, which is what it's about. The simple little things that make me feel good but sometimes forget to stop and appreciate them. Or maybe I do appreciate them but just have never acknowledged them out loud before. But I've digresssed:

I love it when I am online and comment or write on another profile and I am almost instantly replied to. Also, when I first come onto MySpace and I've got new messages or comments. I'm not sure why that makes me so happy - perhaps it just confirms that there really is life "out there" beyond my keyboard and monitor, or maybe it's just nice to be responded to or thought of. But it is a warm delight!

.......don't forget to vote

6:58 AM
Post a comment...


    Alyssa Gully

    i have to say that i like little delights better... and i'm not just saying that to even the score

    2 years ago

      Betsy Gully

      really? I was leaning toward warm fuzzies....

      2 years ago


    Connie

    I'm partial to warm fuzzies myself. It makes me think of the ones I used to collect (that's what we called them anyway)...you know, the fuzzy pom-pom balls with glued on eyes and big feet that were stickers, so you could peel off the backing and stick them somewhere? Like your dashboard? They came in different colors, some had hats. There's your 70s flashback of the week! ;o)

    2 years ago


    Gordon Lee

    Greetings Ms. Badonkadonk
    .
    It's always nice to express a little gratefulness. How about "Fuzzy Delight" blogs?
    .
    Respectfully,

    Gordon Lee

    2 years ago

      Betsy Gully

      hm... might be a little too anatomical? *wink*

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Brilliant!!

Originally published on MySpace, Nov 22, 2008

Current mood:impressed

Jason's blog this morning was brilliant in my opinion. Read it here:

(copied and pasted without permission)


Friday, November 21, 2008

Pet Peeve 014

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Pet Peeve 013

Monday, November 17, 2008

and so on it goes...

Originally published on MySpace, Nov 17, 2008

Current mood:worried

Saturday I participated in a vendor fair for a haughty totty members only dinner club. It was a lot of fun and the view was fantastic... over looking Ken Griffey Jr.'s $7 million condo in one direction. It was pouring down rain but that only made it more cozy inside. I did my own shopping from other vendors- Longaberger & Pampered Chef happen to be two of my faves! However, all those little grey haired ladies in their Liz Clayborne and Ann Taylor clothes, their diamond studded hands and wrists clinging to wine glasses were not the "crafty" types and my sales sucked! LOL. If I only had a dollar for every lady who said, I wish I could find somebody to do this for me...." I should have been reminding them that it's gift giving season and maybe their daughers and daughters-in-law would love my product! Fortunately, other vendor typically are crafty people so it wasn't a total bust!

I was feeling pretty good, but tired driving home in the rain. When I walked in the house Mark was standing in the hallway, looking upset, with a cane in his hand. Our friend Harriett had fallen in the bathroom and cut her eyebrow. We got her back to bed (using Mom's walker) and sat down in the living room. About an hour later we heard a crash and Mark ran into the kitchen and found her on the floor in the pantry. She had passed out and fallen again.

This morning she fell once again. She doesn't understand that she really needs to use the walker. We brought her to the hospital. This has been my day, the hospital. Along with the fainting and falls she hasn't been able to keep anything down. She'd barely eaten anything on her tray this evening and it came back up within seconds. Her head and neck hurt (of course) and she's having pain in her stomach. I don't know if we can bring her home again unless she can start eating again. Her weight is 104 now. She's lost more than half her body weight. I am so terrified of her falling and breaking a bone since the cancer is in her bones, too.

I'll probably stay here in the hospital with her tonight. I don't know what the plan will be tomorrow. Hopefully a social worker will be available to talk to us about some options.

Please keep Harriett in your prayers tonight, tomorrow and on. Thank you.

7:10 AM
Post a comment...


Kari Fisher Williams

Harriett is in my prayers and so are you sweetie.

Hope you have a peaceful night.

Hugs,
K

Hospital Blogging

Originally published on MySpace, Nov 17, 2008

Current mood:bored

Hospital Blogging. Hm, what is that you ask? Pretty simple answer... it's what you do when you are sitting in the hospital for hours, even days on end and you are bored but don't really have anything to blog about so you give it some sort of funky name so you can start your blog off by describing what it means and as a result create an entirely new sentence for that contest wherein contestants try to create a long sentence as the opening sentence of a novel, however, in retrospect this won't qualify due to the fact that it is actually the third sentence of this blog and not the first. Oh well. Point of View - The Long Sentence

Harriett is doing better today. She's still very tired and has pain but with meds she's been "sort of sleeping" all day so far. The oncologist came in at Oh-dark thirty this morning and said she would stay another day. All the test results didn't show anything abnormal but she is severely dehydrated and it will take that long to get as much fluid in her as she needs. My past experience with dehydration would seem to indicate that this should make a significant difference.

I am not happy with Harriett's oncologist here. She lacks experience which I was disinclined to hold against her originally, but now I think it's a bigger deal than I anticipated. It's definitely becoming a lesson in taking charge of your own health care. Our oncologist in Utah would never have let this happen. She was on top of things like the need for fluids and food and blood. Since we've been here I have wondered if Harriett should have received some fluids along with her chemo at least occasionally, but thought the doctor must know what she is doing. That attitude will change as of now! My husband even made the comment yesterday that he should have left us in Utah for Harriett's treatments, that we probably could have arranged a small apartment or something. I don't think it could ever have worked out that way, but it was fun to think about for a few minutes.

And Connie, this is for you... When the on-call oncologist arrived at that god-awful hour this morning I could not open my eyes!! Honestly, it physically hurt to try to do so!! I wanted to be awake, alert, and totally aware of what he was saying to us but I was struggling so hard to open my eyes against the pain... You would have thought that sleeping in a hospital chair all night would have made waking up easy, just because. But no, my body knows it's not time to be awake and it will not cooperate under any circumstance. There truly are people who just cannot do morning and I am the living proof!

On to another topic... I am experiencing my first snow in Kentucky. It's that kind of snow that you don't really realize that it's snowing. Then suddently you think to yourself, "that was a snowflake!" There is no evidence of them on the ground and they don't fall from the sky, they float. They float up to the windshield and then at the last moment whip away out of sight like a carnival ride. The flakes are getting a little bigger now and a bit more "flurrious." There is no question that it's cold outside. However, there are two men on the hospital roof that I can see from this room. Fools!! Get inside!!

When I drove my husband home from the hospital yesterday afternoon we passed a grove of trees standing naked in the winter afternoon. I thought nothing of it, probably didn't even see them, until my husband mentioned the beautiful orange carpet at their feet. It was absolutely stunning. I've been loving the fall colors as the leaves turned orange and red and crimson and so many different shades in between. But I'd never stopped to notice that the beauty wasn't only in the leaves remaining on the trees, they painted other venues as well. The autumn here is magnificent! I hope next year we can drive up to the New England states at this time.

Harriett continues to 'sort o sleep' beside me. This room is so full of noise. The air system is a constant loud hum. So loud I put a movie in my computer and plugged in my headphones to fall asleep last night. Now, every few seconds another sound of rushing air fills the room and Harriett's mattress inflates just a little and the slowly deflates, just a little. I want to sleep in that bed (except for the noise). It reminds me of a water bed, gently moving and rocking her. I wonder if a sleep number bed can do that?

I am missing my babies and can't even imagine what Thanksgiving is going to be like with both of them gone. They call and text me daily - Krissy even tells me every day how many days until I get to see her. They are so special and I miss them so much!! I thought by the time they got to be this age I was supposed to be ready for them to leave... as in don't let the door hit you on the way out!! LOL

I'm out of chit chat now. I brought along enough movies for a Tom Hanks marathon so I think I'll get started with that. This is the end of Hospital Blogging for now... tune in again....

10:42 PM
Post a comment...


    Connie

    "Oh-dark thirty" HA! I am TOTALLY stealing that!!! I love it! Well, except when I have to be awake during it.... :oP

    Your description of the hospital bed made me think of the circulation "boots" (pulsating wraps that cover the leg from knee to ankle) that I had to wear when I was in the hospital for my gallbladder operation. I hated being in the hospital, but those constant leg massages were quite lovely!

    2 years ago


    Corinne Spranger

    I agree with Kari, only mine reads "I want a hospital med..." :)

    Yeah, Turkey day is gonna suck. I have absolutely NO plans, unless Greg gets invited somewhere and then Luke made me promise to come and help cook for the "Land of Misfit Toys" Thanksgiving he is hosting. Maybe.

    Hope Harriet continues to improve, she is so lucky to have you and your honey on her team.

    Love, Corinne

    2 years ago

      Betsy Gully

      Where are your beautiful children? I am sure you will do something fun and entertaining.

      Thanks for Harriett Thoughts.

      The nurses here are wonderful. They come by and ask if we need anything. I thought they were only asking Harriett at first but then I realized they were asking me, too. I never thought to ask for Hospital Meds, tho.... I'll give that one a try next time!!

      Hugs

      2 years ago


    Kari Fisher Williams

    Thank heavens for laptops and Wi-Fi....LOL

    I want a hospital bed. I think that is the best I EVER slept... even when interrupted by nurses every couple of hours.

    LOL

Friday, November 14, 2008

In the words of Senator McCain

Originally posted on MySpace, Nov 14, 2008

Current mood:hopeful

On election day the people of America came together to do one thing in common, vote for the candidate of their choice for the next US President. When Senator McCain conceded the victory to now President Elect Obama he did so very gracefully. You can see his speech here:

Senator John McCain

For the past eight years I have "put up with" a president that has the dubious honor of having the lowest approval rating of any US president ever. Due to a war in Iraq I have less living friends than I did before. My home has devalued enormously and only through the grace of God (and a relocation company) did we not lose a bundle of money. Americans are ridiculed in other countries. We've broken the Geneva convention. Prior to our last election I have been more of an ostrich than an eagle, but becoming aware of just a tiny bit of what has happened to our country makes me very sad and incredibly ready for some real change.

Four years ago and eight years ago I did not vote for W. But he took office in Washington and I tried to be a good American and support him.

Now it's time for McCain's supporters to follow McCain's lead and look forward and support President Elect Obama. In McCain's words:

Sen. Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.

These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.

Isn't it time to re-build the USA by coming together rather than continuing to tear it down?

7:09 AM
Post a comment...


Connie

OK, it's too early in the morning here. At first when I read the words under the link to McCain's speech I thought you were quoting McCain, and I thought "McCain said THAT?? I don't remember that part of the concession speech!" LOL (I totally agree w/ you, by the way!) Four years ago I knew a lot of Democrats who supported McCain. If McCain had been running against Kerry, they would have voted Republican for the first time in their lives. Somewhere during the last four years though, McCain veered wildly off his previous course and scared away the majority of his Democratic supporters. It's too bad. I'm glad Obama won, but I do think that if McCain had stayed true to his original vision, he could have been a good president.

2 years ago

Betsy Gully

LMAO!! Are you suggesting I have a future as a speech writer? *wink*wink* That would have been an interesting speech!!

I think McCain had more than one albatross around his neck and unfortunately his voting record with W was hard to overlook. It's not a good time for more of the same. I am really excited about Obama. I think his pro-activity already is exciting.

In some ways I wish he didn't have a drop of African blood in him