Friday night musings

Since I can never force myself to write a journal entry during the day, I decided to use the QuickPad tonight. I have a dull headache, which never seems to go away. I know it's from sinus stuffiness, though I am taking an assortment of medications. Prescription Allegra works well, but even that has failed in the past week. I quit it yesterday, and have resorted to OTC stuff. The darn co-pay on Allegra is over $20.00 for a little more than two weeks supply...and that is just too high. To top it all off, my acid reflux has started acting up again, bad enough that I feel nauseous.

Recently I received a newsletter about sinus/allergy problems, and found this excerpt interesting but alarming:

Pollen in Multiples

Researchers are predicting pollen counts could double within the next 50 years. This might be because of the earth's rising levels of carbon dioxide, an effect of global warming. This process could increase the amount of pollen in plants, causing more allergens. This may result in more people suffering from allergies.

Kinda relieved I won't be around that long; my allergies are bad enough now, and I can't imagine how much worse people will suffer at that future date!

I think some of my depression lately is worrying about medical problems. DH still takes a s--tload of medication to help prevent further complications of hardening of the arteries. He has two small partial blockages in his heart, and hopefully the medication will help avoid another stent procedure. Our co-pay on his medications runs around $150.00 a month, mostly due to Plavix and Lipitor. If the pharmaceutical companies would STOP advertising drugs that no one wants to know about, they could sell the damn medication for less! Greed -- isn't that one of the seven deadly sins?

At any rate, all I foresee in the future of our aging is more and more high-priced drugs for ailments that, let's face it, are due to AGING. At some point, I am sure the cost and side-effects are simply not worth it. No one lives forever, you know? Eventually the quality of life must match the quanity, and that is when you have to say, "Enough is enough." I am sure that is how I feel, but to each their own opinion.

End of rant.

I did enjoy my overnight stay wity my sister. Occasionally I don't mind a long drive, and that was one of those times. Fun to just DRIVE and listen to the radio. I found a new route mostly on two-lane blacktop country roads, and that was a nice treat.

My sister and I went to a nearby nature preserve. It was an absolutely GREAT place to walk, hike or bike. There are over 500 acres of wilderness area, donated to the city in the late 90s, and it is wonderful for nature lovers. There's dirt paths all along creeks and swampy lowland; there's a paved path just for bikers and even horse riding trails. My sister said she and my brother-in-law once saw three deer crossing a creek! If I lived there, I would be in biking heaven on those trails; I'd ride every day possible. As it is, I still risk my life riding my bike on these county roads...went Thursday afternoon, and had a good ride. But I digress...

My sister is still recuperating from her breast cancer surgery, but seems well. And according to all tests, she is now cancer-free too.

DH will be off the first week of November and December to finish his vacation time. We have several projects around here, as usual. He bought a 10X24 trailer last week; it was once used as an office, and he plans to place it near the barn, convert it into a tack/saddle shop. So we have some work to do on that, cleaning, removing old carpet, etc. Plus, he wants to get electricity to the barn, as well as the garage and small wash-house (which we use for storage.) I'm sure we'll stay busy.

DH has sold three horse trailers in the past week. He also sold a horse, Slick, who has been here since we moved in. I hated to see Slick leave; I'd been giving him treats, and could yell his name, whistle and he'd come from wherever he was in the pasture for a treat! Being Buttercup's colt, he dearly loves to eat -- and is a beautiful registered Quarterhorse. But DH got a huge price for him, and as always, with an understanding if the buyer wants to sell ever sell him, DH gets first chance to buy him back. The buyer just lives a few miles down the road, so we'll still see Slick from time-to-time. But I will miss him, although we have four more quarterhorses out there as well as a young mule! Good thing we have that large barn!

We are in need of rain desperately. If it would rain, I think my sinus problems would clear up. All the grass is dead, and our leaves have dried up instead of turning into glorious colors.

I would write more, but my headache seems to be getting worse...so that's it for tonight.

A few lines...

I'm still alive, though it may seems as if I've disappeared off the face of the earth due to NO posts here.

I've just been in a blah mood, sort of depressed...sick with my sinus/allergies. It hasn't rained in AGES here, the air is thick with all kinds of allergens and almost tastes gritty when you breath with your mouth open. The dirt road beside our house spews a plume of nasty dust every time a vehicle goes by, and it settles over our house, and US! If only it would start raining and rain for days and days...

I will write more tomorrow. I did have a great time with my sister, and will try to give more details later.

For now, here's something I'd like to see in a cemetery:


Mystery message on tombstone 

Wouldn't that make you WONDER? If I planned to have a grave (and I don't, since I want to be cremated)I would want to leave an epitaph that would make everyone who read it wonder what the heck I meant!!! This tombstone was created by an online ditty where one can do such nutty things!

Till tomorrow...

Trip Tomorrow

I'm heading off to my sister's house tomorrow; Friday is her birthday, and one of my other sisters will accompany me. It's a long drive, but we should have a good time together.

Birthday sister's DH will be gone on a business trip, so it'll be "just us girls." I imagine midnight talks will take place, and lots of catching up with all the latest in each other's lives. Should be FUN.

And frankly, I could use a break away from here -- a mini-vacation, so to speak.

Until my return, keep on keeping on....

The Year From Hell

Yep, that is what I'm calling this year, 2005. Worldwide and personal disasters have taken their toll on my outlook -- pessimistic at the best of times, downright gloom-and-doom at the worst.

At the very end of 2004, the Asian tsunami hit and killed thousands upon thousands.

Personally, there was DH's unexpected heart attack right at the beginning of 2005.

Next my youngest sister had a breakdown, ended up in a mental institution; now she's in jail for an undetermined period.

Then my other sister was diagnosed with breast cancer; she had to have surgery, but is now doing exceptionally well.

My remaining sister is scheduled for elective surgery in November, and I find myself dreading it more than I ordinarily would.

Of course, the hurricanes have obliterated New Orleans, ruined the Gulf Coast in so many areas...and gas prices have soared beyond belief. It promises to be a lean, mean winter if terribly cold, due to the exorbitant natural gas prices.

And this weekend another massive earthquake hit in South Asia. Perhaps the worst in 70 years. In fact, all the horrible disasters worldwide seem to have footnotes of being "the worst in 100 years." Makes one wonder what is next?!

Here's a couple of interesting articles that might provide a clue:

Pollution, climate change dooming millions: UN report

Has the Age of Chaos Begun?

I can't determine if my pessimism and cynicism are the result of all the disasters going on, or simply an acknowledgement of REALITY -- as it is and as it gets worse.

Just some food for thought.

Nielsen ratings and daily stuff

Guess what? DH and I have been selected to participate in the Nielsen TV Ratings for a week! I received a postcard about a week ago, telling us we'd get a phone call soon explaining how it works...and we did a few nights ago. So at last I'll actually get to have my/our say about television! I am not sure which week it will be, but sometimes in November.

We've been working all week, mainly doing odds and ends around here. Finally having some light rain today and tonight, hopefully lasting through tomorrow.

Monday we painted the foundation of the rental house, and I was upset to find out the renter has not been weed-eating in the backyard. Grass had grown up nearly to the foundation, as well as along the wood privacy fencing and the garage. DH and I had one heck of a time digging it all out, nearly killed my back. We've decided to inform her via writing that we will hire someone to do lawn care, but will have to raise the rent $100.00 per month for that service. We just cannot allow the foundation to have drainage problems due to lack of lawn care, which has happened in the past before we provided concrete footers alongside the house on both sides and the garage due to the hillside location.

The whole episode of being there, just remembering all the years we lived in that house...and the good times, made me a bit homesick for the place. But I was angry too, and tired once we finished the painting job. DH went back the next day and did a lot of weed-eating, so that takes care of the immediate problem. The renter's husband is in the Marines, and currently stationed elsewhere; therefore, she has a hard time doing lawn care. Nevertheless, that is HER problem, not ours.

Last Sunday we ran across a man who had oodles of old bicycles and we bought a couple. Both are older Murray 10-speeds, and with a little tinkering/oiling, etc. they make fine rides. We took them for a spin a couple of afternoons, but are still fine-tuning them. I found some old parts we might need for them on Ebay tonight, and may order those. The brakes are weak on mine, and I could use a new set of handlebars too. Mine is much lighter weight than the old 3-speed I usually ride, and the ten-speed helps on steep hills too. Our weather has been too hot lately, but a cold front is coming through tonight and the next days promise to be ideal biking weather!

At any rate, that's what has been happening here this week.

Saturday Morning

I'm heading to town soon, plan to make a stop at the library and then do grocery shopping. Maybe drop by the Salvation Army store, see what kind of bargains they have. DH has gone horseback riding with his buddies, then plans to spend a few hours at a local mule auction. He wants to sell a young mule we bought cheap back at the first of summer, and possibly also sell a horse trailer.

Next week DH is off for vacation, and we actually don't have a lot of chores to do around this place. We do have some painting to do at the rental house in town; we need to repaint the foundation and do touchups on the garage. Shouldn't take over a few hours at most.

If darn gas prices weren't so high here (near $3.00 a gallon now) we might have planned a trip to Tennessee to see the fall colors. We still might, but I doubt it.

One thing we plan to do is buy an OTR microwave and install it. A few weeks ago we rearranged rooms again, and are now using what was the dining room for a TV room/den. That means we moved our table into the kitchen, and removed a counter -- which means I need all the available counter space and my current microwave is in the way. Ah, the excitement in our lives! ;-)

Oh yeah, I butchered my hair. Cut it very short again, but it was long overdue. I don't know if I'll let it grow longer again, or just keep it short. Since I once heard that "women over 50 are invisible," it really doesn't matter how my hair looks, as long as it is easy to take care of!

See, aging DOES have some advantages.