I'm Back Again...OT mainly, with a little AT

[Guest guest]

Hello all, and a late Happy New Year to all of you..I am finally

back on my computer, at least for a little while. It depends if the

ice storm we are presently having leaves me with any electricity.

The way my power lines look right now, I wouldn't be surprised if I

do lose power. Can't reach them or anything so I have to wait it

out and see what happens. Turned on the electric blanket to heat up

my bed pretty well so if the power does go out, at least I have a

warm bed to start out with. Believe me, that's where I will be

staying until the lines are fixed. We went through this before and

in the bed under a million quilts or blankets works fine. Too bad

each time this happens, my hubby is at work and stuck in town. He

would definitely be better than an electric blanket, especially when

it's not working, but I guess it's a sacrifice I will have to make

so I won't have to worry about him trying to get home in this mess.

Those of you who are in my part of the country know what I am

talking about. We are right in the middle of the heaviest band of

this junk and I am so thrilled. Maybe one of these days hubby will

take the hint and get another source of heat in this place other

than an electric powered furnace. Everytime something like this

happens, he is never here...he is in some warmer place. Me, I'm

usually stuck here fighting with the cats for the best warm spot.

 

As most of you know, my youngest daughter got to come home for the

holidays, and she is now back at her duty station. She decided she

couldn't live without her car, so she and her sister and her

sister's boyfriend took the car and drove to Calif. They left here

the 29th of Dec and I kept on a brave face for my youngest's sake,

as it was really hard for her to leave. Then as they pulled out and

drove out of sight, I cried and was thoroughly depressed for a long

time. That was in between watching the weather news for what the

kids were driving into. Typical kids; they just can't listen to the

parents..we just don't know as much as they do. I spent most of my

life around mountains and I knew pretty well what happens in the

winter in the mountains and that driving through the mountains in

the winter is a little different than driving through the lowlands.

I also knew they would have to have chains, especially through the

Sierras...but would anyone listen to me? No way...not even hubby

put in any good words for my benefit..he was too busy being

the " good guy " . So ok. Sometimes you just have to let the kids

learn these life lessons on their own. As long as they got back in

one piece. So I shut up and let what happens, happen. And it did.

You know pretty well how the weather was around New Year's Eve

between the Nevada border into Calif. Made all the news

everywhere. Snow, and tons of it. The border was closed, and if

you saw any of the pictures of Reno and at the border into Calif,

you would have seen my kids' car stuck in line with all the others.

They really hadn't planned on staying in Reno overnite, but that's

what happened, and they were darn lucky to have found a room. Then

they call their dad asking about chains...does he know anything

about chains? (yeah, right. He's from Missouri and never used a

set before in his life. He swears by his All Weather Tires or the

Great Snow Tires he got). He looks over at me (I am now really

interested in an item I saw on the internet and obviously can't hear

him or see his frantically waving hand). He gives up (after finding

that throwing a shoe at me didn't work either) and tells the kids

maybe they will find someone to help them with the chains. (He

hangs up and glares at me and mumbles something about having to wire

them money to pay for four chains. At this point, since it would

involve my money, too, I told him they would only need 2...one set

would do it and they needed to put them on the front tires since

they have front wheel drive and with all the stuff Ashlee piled into

the car to take with her there would be plenty of weight in the back

end). To make a long story short, I felt vindicated (the kids were

ok, never in any real trouble since they weren't going anywhere at

the time), my hubby has toned down his superiority complex a lot,

and the kids had a good lesson that I am sure they will never

forget. It took them forever to finally get into Calif, and took a

lot longer than they figured to get to Monterey. They got there New

Year's Eve in the evening, it was raining too hard to do anything,

they couldn't see anything or take any good pictures, and my oldest

girl and her guy had to catch a plane for back here early in the

am. Not exactly how they had planned it. But all ended ok.

Everyone got where they were supposed to be safe and sound, and my

youngest has her car to make her feel better. Since gas is a lot

higher over there than it is here, and she is on limited funds

(believe me, the military get paid diddly-squat and Congress better

get off their duffs and fix that!) so I think looking at her car

parked in whatever spot she has it in is about all she is going to

be able to do. She had all these plans about going skiing in Tahoe

over weekends and going here and going there...well I think she has

changed her plans a great deal now. Tahoe doesn't look all that

appealing to her right now.

 

My oldest daughter and her guy have finally announced they are going

to get married. He still hasn't given her a ring yet, there is no

date set yet, and I am still waiting for them to get this over so I

can start planning for grandkids. Both of my brothers (my younger

brothers!) have grandkids now. One has two and the other one...all

boys and my hubby and I are just itching to start spoiling a

grandchild of our own. Oh well...maybe next year (2006...sounds

like so long from now, but hey, it's already 2005!).

 

We have been watching the tsunami tragedy and we are saddened by the

terrible loss. We have some really great relief efforts going on

right now around here to help those poor people and I am glad to say

that there is a lot of aid coming from here. It is only a drop in

the bucket as there is so much needed over there, but every little

bit helps and we have all our prayers going for everyone involved in

this tragedy.

 

Some AT here...Butch, I want to give you a huge " THANKS, THANKS,

THANKS! " . I got the oregano vulgare from you (and the other things

I ordered with your amazing samples) and the oregano helped me like

I can't believe! I had been battling that sinus infection and had

been really sick with it. I did not want to go the doctor and get

antibiotics again. I would end up taking something strong because

of the resistance I already have built up, and then, after the sinus

infection was taken care of, I would always end up with dealing with

a stupid yeast infection. I was tired of all that and had had

enough. I am so pleased, no thrilled! to say that the oregano

cleared up my infection in only three days! I only had to sniff it

about 3 times each day, and I am amazed at the results! It really

worked! Sinus infection..gone! No side effects, no yeast

infection, no headaches, no tender face, I feel great! I am using

the oregano on my hubby now and he actually admitted to some

improvement (that was really saying something...usually he is " at

death's door and no one is sicker than he is " ). So, Butch, you have

two converts here and I am going to get more from you and give it to

my mom and dad and my other relatives and so on, and so on!

 

Christine...thank you for my order. Love the oils and plan on

getting more things from you later. Bless your heart...I know how

it is at the holidays and don't you worry one bit about being late

or anything. I got to make some items to give out for Christmas and

they turned out really good. I had started by making a lip balm and

actually combined two different recipes (I had to make a lot and I

was curious to see what the end result was), and I poured it into

little pots. I didn't have enough pots (oops!) and put the leftover

into another bigger container to keep at home to use. Turns out

that what was supposed to be lip balm turned into a really great

balm for just about anything. Absolutely fantastic for dry hands

and itching dry skin elsewhere (like on hubby's back. His back is

constantly itching and I had tried several different lotions and

creams in the past with little results. I used this stuff I made on

him the other day and was amazed...it really helped! Sank right

into the skin and felt great). I used it on my lips and they were

dryer than the Sahara and they felt amazing afterwards! Gave me a

good excuse to try them out on the ol' better half! I also made

some lotion (made a small amount as a trial) and it turned out so

well that I can't wait to try and play around with it..like using

some rose hydrosol in place of the water, adding different eos...so

many possibilities, so much fun! I also made a cream that was for

working hands and it also turned out good..a little greasier than I

wanted, but I did use some infused oils I made with calendula,

chamomile, comfrey and nettles and my next batch I will use the

same, work on the greasiness factor more, and use lavender, tea tree

and maybe some heli...have to get some of that first.

 

Well, after writing another book instead of a message, I will start

wrapping this up. My heart goes out to some of you

especially...Effie..you are in my prayers..Jaime and Paula..I

especially feel for you. I lost one of my " babies " this summer. My

faithful friend, Petey, was the best dog I had ever owned (or did he

own me?). He was a Golden Retriever mix and huge..he was the size

of a small horse! He was with us for a long time for a dog his size-

-12 years and in the end, he had really started to suffer with

arthritis in his hind legs and hips. We did everything we could for

that dog; we built a ramp for him to get up into the porch better.

He had a special place inside with all kinds of things to make his

life better. We used medications from the vet, and even used

natural methods for him; but eventually, the arthritis got really

bad with the cold spring and cool summer we had. We had to make the

decision and the minute we could see he was really suffering, we

called the vet to ease him out of this world and into the next. I

loved that dog and am still missing him terribly. Right now I am

afraid I am going to lose another one of my babies. My girls, as

they were growing up, brought all kinds of animals home and we ended

up with a good menagerie of their pets, who ended up being our (my

hubby and me) pets when the girls moved out. Of course, I ended up

being mom to all the animals and over the years, have had to say

goodbye to a lot of them. Now, my cat is getting ready to leave

us. This is my baby...my Mr. Bessie (don't ask...the kids named him

before they found out what his sex really was). This cat slept with

me and always ended up in his favorite place..on my shoulders as I

lay on my side in bed. There he can reach out one pay and touch my

hand and that is how he slept. Now he has cancer and the vet cannot

do anything more for him. We don't want to do anything more that is

invasive to him as it may buy us a little more time, but will also

make him more uncomfortable. He is literally skin and bones right

now as he is losing weight at an incredible rate. It more or less

started to get really bad the last month and he is going downhill

fast. We are keeping him as comfortable as we can and it will be

soon when I will have to touch his paw for the last time. I have

given him a message to pass on to my babies who have gone on before

for I know I will see him again later. I feel God has a special

place for our faithful friends who have given us so much joy and

companionship and love. I feel better knowing where he will be

going is a good place and he will be waiting for me there. Now I am

starting to tear up and I don't want to upset him or my remaining 2

cats. They are both over here trying to climb all over me because

they see I am sad. So I will give them all a big hug and send some

prayers for you Paula and Jaime.

 

I know this message is really long and I apologize...I guess I am

trying to get a lot in this before my power goes out. There are

already reports of the ice causing power outages in my area, so I am

going to close this now and check out my electric blanket. Take

care all and will write later as I play around with some formulas...

 

Cherry