Just a brief entry today. I’m feeling better, though not as well as normal. I did manage to go on my bike ride the past couple of days, since I felt it was necessary. Was having occasional cramps in my calf-muscles, due to no exercise! Also, last week I weighed 93, but have dropped back to 90 by cutting down on calories and the biking.

DH’s bid on the property was not accepted, but neither was the next highest bidder. Guess we’ll wait and see what the finance company hopes to get out of it.

In the meantime, we looked at a lovely older house in the Historic District...about five blocks from where we now live. The house needs lots of work, but some of the renovation is being done by whoever recently bought it; they seem to have stopped though, and just put it up for sale. It’s not as reasonably priced as these foreclosures we’ve been looking at, but not out of our reach either. I would LOVE to have another house, and particularly that one, as I see much I could do for improvements in simple, inexpensive interior decorating. Plus, it’s a nicer, quieter neighborhood with larger lots, more space between the older, huge homes. We’ll see, I guess.

Sooner or later, I am sure we will move; just a matter of finding the RIGHT place in the RIGHT location. We spent almost all of yesterday looking at houses/property...

And so it goes...

Usually I don't go almost an entire week before posting...but I've been sick. The minor pain in my right side turned out to be kidney infection, and I had to visit a doctor for that confirmation. Then I had to start taking antibiotics, and have just been lying around all week, trying to recover. Kidney infection, by the way, is quite serious for me...since I have a history of kidney problems due to a metabolism/kidney defect. So I haven't felt well enough to write anything in this journal.

I'm feeling a bit better, but still not up-to-par. In fact, yesterday I felt better than today, and have no idea why. I was able to do a lot of piled-up housework, cook supper, take care of the cats better, etc...but then this morning I felt like I'd been run over by a truck! I almost went back to bed, but managed to get up, get dressed and do a few chores. I need to buy groceries, but just don't feel like tackling that demanding task. Maybe tomorrow...

I sure hope that I don't end up in the hospital, but it's happened before. If so, it'll be for extensive tests, and to see if the kidney problem has flared up again. I'm getting TOO OLD for this sh*it! The whole episode is depressing me, and I was ALREADY depressed. Getting old is awful, and the worst part is that every time you get sick, you think,"Geez, maybe I should just go ahead and end it all, since it's all downhill misery from here on out." Sometimes (like lately) I think it might be best to skip the last few chapters of old age. I mean, if I feel this rotten at 51, how will I feel if I make it to 61 or 71? *Shudder with dread*

So I'll shut up for now. Oh, one more thing, DH made a bid on that land/trailer, and we're still waiting to hear if the foreclosure company will accept it. I don't think so, since it was VERY low...and frankly, I'm not up to the task of all the work it would take to get that trailer in halfway livable shape. Ho hum, what else is new? (sigh)

Sunday, the day we go on our country drive, get out of the city. We're going to that 15 acres in foreclosure again, look it over more closely since we only saw it late one afternoon. Still hoping to hear the price next week maybe, and that it'll be very reasonable.

Nice this morning, sunny and humid...but thundershowers are predicted for late afternoon. I went on my bike ride late yesterday afternoon, got in the park awhile, then out on the streets/hills to finish. I also went again this morning, because I ALWAYS get the park on Sunday mornings.

I'm having some sort of minor pain in my right side; I think I strained a muscle in my back/side the other day when I cleaned and rearranged the stray cat's feeding area. Maybe it'll get better soon. I was at 91 lbs this morning, but can't complain since I ate a fairly large meal for supper last night.

I want to put an excerpt and link to an interesting article in the New York Times today. You may have to register to read it, but that is free. The article is about the growing discontent and anger among USA soldiers over in Iraq, and in my opinion, there will be a few McVeighs returning from that detail one of these days. Then we'll have some domestic terrorism to deal with, I fear.

Here's the article link and excerpt:

Anxious and Weary of War, G.I.'s Face a New Iraq Mission --By STEVEN LEE MYERS

Several soldiers have received psychological counseling after showing signs of combat stress: nightmares, sleeplessness, edginess, outbursts of anger and what the chaplain called "intrusive thoughts."

"We have guys whose wives are sick, but not sick enough for them to get emergency leave; guys whose wives are cheating on them — they've heard through the grapevine," Major Nordstrom said. "And you know, the hardest thing is we don't have anything to offer them."

You know, every now and then I do think the world has gone completely mad. For example, during the Iraq war, I thought madness ruled. I mean, how sane can war be? And those who lead us into war? Insane.

Now...look at the world today...is it better for the Iraq war? I see in the news DAILY that there's more USA soldiers killed, more Iraqis killed, more mayhem and disaster. What, exactly, have we accomplished. Do we know FOR CERTAIN that Saddam is dead? Or Osama? What a mess.

I actually DO think the best quote I ever read about terrorism was from a Russian General (I forget his name) who said, "Terrorist are like roaches. If you kill one here, a dozen spring up over there!" Ah, so true. And besides, do we Americans REALLY believe that we can KILL them all? And even IF we eliminated the foreign terrorists, what about our own domestic terrorists? Like the idiot killer sitting in a Birmingham jail right now, Eric Rudolph? And what about the Tim McVeighs who will return from our so-called justified war? What a fool's mission, to think WE can rid the world of terrorism.

Let me give the Government a clue: As long as there are discontented people (and there ALWAYS have been in human history) there WILL be terrorism and crime. Get over it! Stop wasting our tax money on fool's errands! *Now I'll get down off my soapbox!*

What else? I went on my bike ride early, but the park was being mown, so I just rode in the streets. Did some housework, did some other stuff and now at the computer. I NEED to work on my writing, but haven't so far, though I HAVE downloaded a few free writer's software programs I think might help. Oh well.

Enough for today. I'll close with this quote:

A policy that sets the United States above and apart from the rules that other states are expected to follow is ultimately unsustainable and self-defeating. Perpetuating U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons as a key component of protecting U.S. security will only make the acquisition of nuclear weapons more attractive to others, not less. ~ Daryl G. Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association