January 10, 2023 - Msg 118540: Thank you for those prayers, always MDC. Means the world. Erin saw two specialists this week. We went to see the neurologist who did the MRI yesterday and it was normal. He said she had "non epileptic seizures" and that if she has one, she cant drive for three months. The last one she had was two months ago so she is improving. She saw the Rheumatologist today and got her steroid shot.

Ro, I remember that you used to have a blog. What about starting up a blog again and telling your stories, or even better maybe have a Youtube channel and record yourself reading your free range kid stories. Many people (including myself) love to listen to podcasts during the day. I have thought about attempting a book but the thought is so daunting that I have considered a blog or podcast to share some of my experiences that may help someone else. Just a thought.

Im very happy to hear that Jerry is doing well.

Been a long day. I think I will retire to the living room and put my poor feet up before cleaning the kitchen. Oh, by the way, do any of you have a Chipotle restaurant near you? We have one in Corpus so we like to eat there sometimes when we are in town. Sean and I just love it, especially the vinagerette dressing they make. I did alitte searching online and found the recipe awhile back and looked into how they make certain things that we like there and I made the cilantro lime rice, the black beans with lime, the wonderful corn salsa, and marinated some chicken in lime and spices and cooked that. We put in in a burrito with the vinegerette and it is amazing!! If anyone is interested in how to make it, let me know and I will post the recipe.

Later!
Boo
January 10, 2023 - Msg 118541: I'm glad to hear some of you might like to watch the Mayberry Man movie. I believe the movie turned out very well and I'm proud to be part of it. I hope fellow Mayberry fans will enjoy it and give it a chance. A couple more clips. You can watch it free on Pure Flix (if you have a subscription) or buy a copy of the DVD at WeaversDepartmentStore.com

- Floyd
https://youtube.com/shorts/Re8yq60MG2I https://youtube.com/shorts/CkIyAegJ6jE
January 10, 2023 - Msg 118542:

VERY COOL! THANKS FLOYD, YOU'RE A TREASHA! :)

Hey to Boo, sounds like things are pretty good there.
Glad the MRI went well, and revealed no epilepsy.
We DO have a Chipotle (tho it took me a while to pronounce it correctly!) ha
Love their big burritos with pretty much everyhting in it!
So funny, it is right by the What A Burger! Decisions, decisions. :)

RO, wait til you get to Greg's 8 'near misses' like when a SAM sped
by his co@kpit over Iraq!!!

For college football watchers, Spotty's Georgia Bulldogs are the new
National Champions!

I hope everyone is doing OK these days. please check in when you can.
POOR HORATIO, if you are around, please stop by. thanks.

God bless,
MDC

January 11, 2023 - Msg 118543: Good morning, porch. Another bright and sunny day, 78° with a predicted high of 82°. A typical mid-January day in Texas. February - who knows? We have had ice storms in February now and then, or it can be warm and sunny, just whatever you can imagine, it can happen. Never a dull moment!

Boo, it sounds like things are going pretty well for Erin, and I'm so glad to hear it. I remember when our pastor told my parents that my brother would have to hit rock bottom before he turned things around, and he was right. It happened, and the result was nothing short of a miracle. He had been involved with a group of sorry people, thought they were his "friends" and they were just a bunch of moochers who were taking advantage of him. He had a small jewelry shop and was trying to make a living, and these folks saw him as a cash cow and were sharing his little apartment, using his credit cards, letting him pay all the bills, etc. My brother is a gentle soul, very kind, and avoids conflict at all costs. Finally one night he decided to refuse when one of the moochers asked for the gasoline card. The man backed him up against a wall, threatened him, and took the card from him. That pretty much did it. He ordered them out, threatened to call the police, and they left. He changed the locks, and told them never to come back, or he would have them arrested for trespassing. Shortly thereafter, he moved out of the apartment (they weren't on a lease) and moved in with our parents. Started back to church, got serious about his life, and in a year or two had met and married a young woman he met at church. They have two grown sons now, four grandkids, and a successful jewelry store. He's had a good life, after such a rocky start. However, I would ask your prayers for him now. He has just had his fourth hip replacement surgery, trying to improve on the third one, which apparently wasn't done quite right. Unfortunately, due to the faulty third one, the surgeon was unable to correct the problems. He said if he had gone any further he would have had to break some bones, and it wouldn't have gone well. I guess he was right, because what he did hasn't turned out very well either. My brother is 75 now, and still (after two months) in a lot of pain with his hip, doesn't walk well, and is miserable at home, when there are jewelry repairs and creations waiting on his workbench. He's very talented, a designer of beautiful fine jewelry, and is one of five jewelers to have earned a particular recognition from the jewelry world. I'm sorry I don't know the details, but apparently it's a prestigious recognition in the national jewelry world. He has made some amazing pieces. I have a few that he's made for me, and I love them. Beautifully done, very creative and unusual. One of his sons and the son's wife work with him in the store, and he's teaching him the craft, but I'm not sure the young man has the vision and talent that his dad has. Skill can be learned, but talent is a gift.

Yes, we have Chipotle here in Dallas! And thank you for pointing out the correct pronunciation. No, it is NOT Chipol-ty. It is Chipot-le. Everyone mis-pronounces it, unless they have some background with the Spanish language. Remember that an "e" in Spanish has only one sound - "eh". It never takes the hard "e" sound, just the "eh" as in Edward. And never a hard "a" sound either, like in "day". I noticed that the very talented Josh Groban, when he sings the "Ave Maria", gives that "e" the sound of "eh". Most singers sing it as "avay" which is incorrect. To be correct, we would have to spell it "Aveh". To a Spanish speaker, "Ave" would be pronounced that way. Spanish vowels have one pronunciation, and one only. "Ah, eh, ee, oh, and oo." Never changes, though we English speakers murder it all the time.

Well, enough of that. The original topic here was the food at Chipotle, and trust me, it's great! They make a delicious guacamole. So do I, but theirs is better. So far, I haven't found a thing there that I didn't like, and as an old pepper-belly from San Antonio, that's a compliment. Don't take that to mean that their food might be too spicy (hot) for you. It isn't. I have a friend who thinks that dill pickles are "too hot" and she likes their food.

Just talked to Eloise, Jerry is doing fine and is home this morning after his carotid artery surgery on Monday. Amazing! Surgeries that used to keep the patient in the hospital for a week are now almost a drive-thru!

Well, got things to do, places to go, people to see! Better get busy. (I'm lying, I'll probably spend most of the day with Trinket in my lap, just watching TV or reading. Probably reading!) At the moment, I'm at my desk, my feet in Trinket's little cuddlebed, and she's lying on them. So warm and toasty! Speaking of warm feet, my Heather gave me a pair of really thick, soft and warm mukluks, and I love them! I used to wear mukluks all the time in cold weather, years ago. Everybody did! Then I guess they fell out of fashion, because I hadn't seen any in years, until she gave me these, and boy, am I glad they're back!

Have a wonderful day, everyone. Blessings, and keep looking up! --Romeena
January 11, 2023 - Msg 118544: Hello Porchsters. We have plenty of Chipotles around here, but I greatly prefer Hot Head Burritos.

Today's compelsion complex is from Quiet Sam. How exactly could Andy know how much baby Andy weighed to the ounce? I declare.

Billy Ray the Compelled Complexionist
January 12, 2023 - Msg 118545: Good morning, porch! Weird weather, as usual. It's 50° right now, after being in the low 80s yesterday, we're just going to stay in the mid-50s today. Mild January means I don't want to see February. It might just be a dee-wah-dilly, as my dad would say.

Billy Ray, I may be able to answer your question. I don't know if it was the same everywhere, but when my children were born, any expectant mother knew she had better have a baby scale on hand. Not only to weigh the baby at birth (some were born at home, you know) but to track its weight daily. If it wasn't gaining weight, a visit with the doctor was scheduled. Also, I don't know what Sam grew on his farm, but if he was a "truck farmer" and grew assorted veggies to sell, he had to have a scale to weigh out the produce. Also, back in those days, many housewives had a "kitchen scale", for weighing out the ingredients in a recipe. I know my grandma had a scale in her kitchen, and I have watched her weigh out the ingredients for a giant fruit cake she used to make. A pound of flour, half a pound of butter, 12 ounces of candied cherries, etc. That scale would weigh up to 20 pounds. I imagine Andy just went into Mrs. Sam's kitchen and got her scale! Come to think of it, I have one of those old scales sitting in my sunroom. It's pretty rusty and battered, but it brings back memories, and yes, you could easily lay a baby on that scale, it's that big. And safe, with its trough-shaped tray.

Well, here comes the sun. It's out and shining full force, but at a certain point it starts shining like a laser into my big ol' window, and it's almost blinding, it's so bright. From mid-morning to mid-afternoon, this computer is just not comfortable to use. When the trees have their leaves, there's no problem, but once those leaves fall, forget it. I've even tried sitting here with sunglasses on, but it doesn't work. Oh well. I've got plenty I can be doing. For one thing, I can clean a miserable cobweb off of the succulent plant that sits on a corner of my desk. Some enterprising spider has thrown a web over it. A tiny web, so obviously a tiny spider, but he didn't sign a lease, so I'm going to evict him from my plant. If I actually find him, I'll take him outside.

Blessings, friends. Keep looking up! --Romeena
January 12, 2023 - Msg 118546: Billy Ray....Sometimes us Mayberry fans just have to “Suspend our Disbeliefs” and just enjoy our time in Mayberry as it was stated in Monday’s podcast when it comes to the continuity of some if not many of things in episodes.

But we DO enjoy like dissecting the episodes don’t we? It’s all in good fun so who cares...lol

Here’s the podcast, the reference is made in Randy Turner’s “Turner’s Grade” segment https://youtu.be/VGr2R0Sfhs0

G-F
January 12, 2023 - Msg 118547: Correction...”This Week in Mayberry History” segment....G-F
January 12, 2023 - Msg 118548:

The other night I saw Mr. Maxwell (Mayberry on Record)
on Perry Mason as a politician! ha
Also interesting was the fact that Perry's car had
no windshield! I'm sure they did that for the inside-the-car
scenes, but it was very obvious!
I'll be back later,
MDC :)
January 13, 2023 - Msg 118549:
I'm back,... and on the Rifleman today I saw "Goober" as a
not-too-friendly escaped con. He was a dern right mean dude. :)
Billy Ray, you need to buy a jigsaw puzzle to occupy
your time! haha Just ribbin' ya. I find things like that
all the time now that I've seen the eps so many times.
Our porchster ASA asked me to please ask for your prayers
for him. He has had a recent medical issue, and he knows that
we are good pray-ers. Thank you.
RO--our weather is much the same right now with these storms
coming from Cal. 75 on Friday, but Sat will be rainy and mid-fifies.
How is the book reading going? You probably have learned more
about my family than you ever really wanted to! haha
My brother Ron went thru much like your's, tho his "friends" were
fellow imbibers til he woke up one day and said enough's enough!
Been sober ever since.
BTW, when I had my hip replaced 5 years ago now, I looked for one of
the best surgeons, and i am sure glad that I did. I've heard so many bad stories
of things going bad afterwards.
Hang in there my friends, God is good!
:)
MDC
January 13, 2023 - Msg 118550: Good morning, porch! As for my usual little weather report - same song, second verse. Boring!

I have a question to ask of the more senior porch folks. You young-uns aren't included. Yet. This has become a major annoyance for me in the last couple of years, and I see evidence on my friends that I'm not alone. So - do any of you have a problem with purple marks appearing on your body (mostly on your arms) and you have no idea what caused them? From my nursing experience, I know what they are. They're called "purpura" and are the result of a small injury, such as bumping your arm against something, or as often for me, Trinket has stepped on me getting into her favorite place in our chair. At this moment, I have a little semi-circle of four blood-blister dots on my forearm, that perfectly match the arrangement of her little toes. I have no idea when it happened, but the evidence is clear. In addition, on the other arm, I had a large area, a rectangular spot that was 2"x4", deep purple throughout, looked absolutely terrible, and it just appeared. What I hit, or what hit me, or when it happened - no idea! The problem is, as we age, the tiny, fragile capillaries just beneath the skin's surface, become fragile and easily broken. A light blow, or a scrape, or just a too-tight grip will break them, and the blood just leaks out beneath the skin, forming the ugly purple blotch. There is one medical term that's frequently used, and annoys me greatly - senile purpura! I understand it, and it's accurate, I suppose, but it offends me! Technically, it means a condition that mainly occurs in elderly people. Well, at 83, I can't deny that I'm "elderly", but "senile" has another connotation as well, and I resent that! Oh, well. If the shoe fits, wear it -as my mom would have said.

MDC, I ordered that window cleaner. I hope it works as well as the ad says. I couldn't find any commentary regarding the danger to small critters, but I figure if there was such a problem, there would have been a warning on the label. I'm going to spray the area with clear water first, which should cause any little lizards to vacate the area before I turn on the cleaner.

Well, I'll be getting a much-needed haircut this afternoon, better go get in the shower and wash my hair. I can't use the shampoo bowl at the shop, because of my back and neck. My neck just won't bend back that far. I can't even get the last two or three swallows out of a can of soda, which is very annoying. So, for a haircut, I go in with freshly washed hair, much to the annoyance of the shampoo girl. No more tips from me!

I hate to leave my window. My feet are warm in Trinket's little bed, thanks to her warm little body, and the things I can see through this dirty window are so interesting. I just watched some sort of small beetle out there, buzzing around on the tops of the shrubs, just busy as he can be. He has a plan and a purpose, I suppose, and he's really diligent about doing whatever it is. He makes little few-inches flights, from here to there, yet I never see him catch anything. I don't know what his goal is, but I suppose he has one. He'd better be careful, because somewhere there may be a bird who has "catch a beetle today" as his goal! The circle of life. "Hakuma metata!" Yes, I watched "The Lion King" recently. Wow, what a powerful movie that was!

Well, off I go. Asa, we need to hear from you. Blessings, and keep looking up! --Romeena
January 13, 2023 - Msg 118551: Romeena, I think we all qualify as seniors now, some are just more senior than others. I used to be one of the younger ones and now I’m sixty. 😂 As of yet, no purple blotches but I have noticed my skin is thinner and it takes much less to injure it. I use a lot of coconut oil lotion… probably in vain.

Been a depresssing day. Have had two friends (both young women with children) contact me and I won’t go into detail but both are very ill, perhaps terminal. I know these things are a part of life but I feel so sorry for people.

Boo
January 13, 2023 - Msg 118552: PS-Romeena, I forgot to say sending up prayers for your brother, bless his heart.

Boo
January 13, 2023 - Msg 118553: Hey, ever'body! Just Gomer checking in for the first time in ages. Sorry to read the news about Boo's friends. I hope that everyone else is doing well. Best of luck to you and yours.
January 15, 2023 - Msg 118554:

Hey to Gomer! Good to see you posting again! But next time
take a load off and set for a spell! :)
RO--speaking of those blotches. About two years ago, I went into
our attic to replace an exhaust fan/heater/light fixture in our master bathroom.
It is a unit that is about 14 inches long and
10 inches wide, and 6 inches high. Anyway, with the pitch of our roof,
the highest point is about 5 feet tall in the attic, and the unit is very close to
the attic access opening in our master closet. Problem is, I had to lay down
on a piece of plywood straddling the rafters to get to the old one, remove it,
and set the new one in place. Anyway, I was in that 'laying' position for about
20 minutes, with my left arm sort of tucked under my body. The day after
the successful installation, my left forearm was one BIG purple splot!
It freaked me out, went to an urgent care place, but their diagnosis was, yup,
old age, but also the coumadin that I've been on for about 20 years!
Those cappilaries did indeed do some bursting! It took about ten days for it all
to 'work its way out!'
Boo, so sorry about your two friends. Prayers you bet! And so many celebrities
passing lately, the latest Pricilla Presley, God rest her soul.

GOOD SABBATH to all!
MDC
January 15, 2023 - Msg 118555: It was Lisa Marie Presley who passed away,MDC.The daughter of Priscilla & Elvis. Sad. Yes,we've lost quite a few celebrities lately- RIP.

Prayers for Ro's brother, Boo's friends, our Asa and all who are struggling with health and other problems at the moment.

************
possum u.a.r.
January 15, 2023 - Msg 118556:

Thanks Possum, I MEANT to say that!


January 15, 2023 - Msg 118557: Thank you for those prayers, MDC. I have to tell you it has been hard hearing the news about those two particular friends. One of the ladies is named Candy and she took to me when we went to church together. At that time she was in junior high school and she was just a delightful kid. So funny and so much personality. She ended up getting pregnant in her last year of highschool and she and the boy married and had two more children. Her youngest is in high school now and her oldest is Erin's age. She has had two previous surgeries over the years for benign brain tumors but this one is cancer, apparently. I just hate it. She is such a great kid (well, I will always see her as a kid). I will always remember the many women's retreats we went to and we sang karaoke solos together. lol She is precious. The other friend, Brandy, is younger and I met her while working at shoreline. At first she was shy but after we worked together she began to open up and I found she had a difficult life, being raised without a mother. Brandi and I formed a kind of niece-aunt relationship and she reaches out to me when things get too hard to bear. My heart hurts for her. God just seemed to give me a heart for her, if you know what I mean. She has always seemed like a lost lamb in a way. She is a believer, though, thankfully. She has had some real difficulties in life.

By the way, MDC, that bruising thing you mentioned would have scared me too. I would have thought my clotting factors were off and would have rushed in for labs.

Well I decided to do some porch sitting on this lovely evening and Sean and I were out there enjoying the weather when we heard sirens and then the loudest gunshot I have ever heard! So much for relaxing. We decided to move inside. Obviously, we dont live in Mayerry!

Erin is just doing so well I am holding my breath but thankful. She has been working doubles now and then and doing a good job. Today her boss(who is the elderly lady who owns the place) told her she was proud of her and the work she is doing. Erin looks like a different person. She is so much healthier and gaining some healthy weight. She still had days when she is depressed but she isnt doing anything destruction on those days now. She called the guy who does the bible study at Shoreline and asked if she could help, so tomorrow she is going to go get the application and background check she needs and then she will start going out there with Steve to minister to the girls. I guess the apple doesnt fall far from the tree, as they say. lol Thanks again for the prayers. They are priceless.

Boo
January 16, 2023 - Msg 118558: Good morning, porch! Well, Boo, what a great pleasure to read your post above! So positive, so uplifting, and such good news! I'm thrilled with the report on Erin! Maybe the tide has turned, and she's found her path. Prayers continue! Oh, and good decision, moving into the house from the porch when you heard the gunshot! What on earth possesses people to do something like that.

Here's a funny story. I have a cousin, the younger brother of Guy, the cousin who is close to me in age, and was my partner in crime when we were growing up. Drew, the younger one, is the one we tied onto a calf so he wouldn't fall off, but he did, still tied to the calf. Anyway, after we all grew up, Dale and I lived in a sweet little house on top of a hill in San Antonio. Because of the elevation, there was a city water tower on the property behind us. Well, one New Year's Eve, some of the family had met at our house, and Drew was among them. At that time, he was a pistol-carrying part-time deputy in the tiny suburb we lived in. At midnight, everyone was out on our driveway, hoping to see some fireworks. Drew, never the most sensible of Aunt Hazel's boys, for whatever scatter-brained reason, fired his pistol up at the water tower, and hit it! All we heard was Bang! Ping! Splat! No, mercifully, it hadn't punctured the water reservoir, though my father thought it would have been hilarious if a stream of water had come down and hit Drew on the head. However, he did come with a few inches of being hit on the head - by the falling bullet! It was a good-sized slug, and would have done some serious damage if it had hit him. Instead, the "splat" we heard was when the bullet hit the gravel driveway, about two feet in front of Drew. It embedded itself into the ground almost two inches. It could have killed him, or anyone else who happened to be standing out there. When my dad stopped laughing, he got serious and made Drew take off his gunbelt and lock it in the trunk of his car!

Well, I am so happy for Erin! And for you! As the Bible says - "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." It sounds like your patience and perseverance is finally paying off. Prayers will continue!

Well, maybe I'll get this dirty window washed today. The temp is now 69°, heading for the mid-70s, and there's a heavy cloud cover. MDC, I finally ordered that window cleaner, it arrived yesterday, and now I have this fortuitous day with no sun hitting the window. The label says not to use the product if there is direct sun shining on the windows. Looks like today is just made to order. I'm so glad for this chance. The window is so dirty it looks like it's been whitewashed! Disgusting!

As for the bruises that appear mysteriously, seemingly for no reason at all, I've about decided that we don't have any effective clotting factors after age 75. That's when this all started. I declare, I think I could just look at my arms hard and they'd bruise! The spots only appear under skin that's seen a LOT of sun - in other words, arms and hands. I recall one little frail, elderly woman - a patient. I had to start an IV for her. She had lots of veins, big fat ones on the backs of her hands. Actually, I knew they were too big and too fat and feared what they might do, and they did. Using the smallest-bore needle I could that would still deliver her fluids and medications, I poked the first vein. Yep. It immediately burst and literally flooded the back of her hand with blood under the skin. I held pressure on the site, and sent my aide for some ice in a glove. I put the glove on top of the lady's hand and held gentle pressure, but still the blood continued to spread until the whole back of her hand was purple, and it was moving into the tops of her fingers. I felt a little sick, but there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. The lady sensed my distress and proceeded to try to console me! She assured me that "that happens all the time, and sometimes it happens when I just bump my hand on something. It's not your fault!" Some patients are grouchy, and some are jewels. That lady was a diamond.

Well, Eddie is here, he's going to have questions, and I have answers. Guess I'd better go out there. Blessings, friends! Keep looking up! --Romeena
January 18, 2023 - Msg 118559:

Hello folks. Two good tags eps on Me-TV tonight...Uncle Ollie and Ernest T Bass.
Here is one triviality however: If Ernest T had to learn to read and write,
how, in the earlier episodes, did he write those notes attached to the rocks!? haha
Hmmm.
All is well here, just been busy, and we did get some rain the last couple
of days, and Flagstaff got about 30 inches of snow!

BOO- about the big blotch on my arm, after being on coumadin for so many
years, i kinda figured that's what it was, along with having my arm tucked under
my torso, but I went to UC just to be sure. But i too have noticed that my skin
is thinner these days, and I really have to watch out not get scraped on anything.
My prayers continue for your friends, and for asa too.

RO--yes, that was indeed very dumb for a deputy to be shooting at the tower
like that. Sounds more like something ole Barn would do!
I hope you can give a good repot about the window cleaner. I hope I did not
steer you wrong. As bad as the window was, did u give it a couple of applications?
BTW, the phlebotomists love me when I go in for my monthly blood draw. Nice veins showing at my inner elbow area to get a good stick. When I get yearlys done for several things like CBC, PSA, etc,
they use a butterfly, and it's like nothing is even in there. Very skilled bunch.
I bet you have seen it all over the span of your career!

God's blessings friends. Please check in when you can.
MDC






January 18, 2023 - Msg 118560: Well, a good cloudy morning, porch! The skies look like lead, if it doesn't rain it's going to miss a good chance. MDC, nothing to report on the window cleaner. Something came up and kept me from washing the window, so it's still dirty. No sun today for sure, but the temp is in the low 60s, so I may or may not get it done today.

About Ernest T. Bass and the notes he would attach to rocks - I've often wondered about that too. That was a pretty big mistake, and I wonder why the script manager didn't catch it?

As for blood draws, I went through a period of about five years when I was a very "hard stick" to use hospital vernacular. I'm not sure why that was, but it got to the point where every phlebotomist in every lab would make themselves scarce when I walked in. Then almost overnight, vein appeared, fat and sassy, and a nursing student could have drawn my blood. I'm still an "easy stick" and they all love me! Go figure. And like you said, they all prefer the inner elbow, the "antecubital space", where that plump little vein resides, is easy to hit, and pays off like a slot machine when you do.

Here's a funny story that fits here. I may have told you this before, but it really fits here. When my oldest son was about 7, he had to have surgery on his chest, to correct the alignment of his ribs where they attached to his sternum. This was in the days when parents weren't allowed to stay with their children in the hospital. Thank God that has been corrected. Also, I was not a nurse yet at that time in my life. Well anyway, he had come through the surgery just fine, and was concerned about me and his dad leaving him alone in his room. (So were we!!) His chief concern was about how he would get to the bathroom, as he had an IV still in place. Unfortunately, it wasn't hanging from a movable pole, rather it was hanging from a hook in the framework of his bed, which was designed to accommodate patients with casts and other equipment. I reassured him that all he had to do was call the nurse and she would go with him and help him with the IV. Well, that didn't help much! Have a strange lady go with him to the bathroom? I think not! None of my correct "mom" responses helped much, so we just alerted the nurse to his fears, and left. The next morning, he was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, IV still running properly, etc. I asked him if he let the nurse go with him to the bathroom to carry the IV. He innocently responded that it wasn't necessary, he "left it on the bed." What? Well, he proceeded to tell me that he just pulled the tape loose, slipped the needle out of his arm, put his finger over the spot where the blood was coming out, and it stopped. He did his little potty thing, came back to the bed, and STUCK THE NEEDLE BACK IN THE HOLE, mashed the tape back in place and the IV ran just fine. The nurse never even knew he had been up.

That was a fore-telling of things to come with that boy. He knew no fear. This is the boy who got his pilot's license at 17, by taking lessons with the money he earned at his weekend job on a truck loading dock. The job, we knew about. The lessons, we did not. We found out on the day he soloed for the first time. A message meant for him was given to his dad (son was a junior) and we raced to the airport just in time to see him make his first flight. I clung to that chainlink fence and prayed "Lord, we've done our best with him for 17 years. He's in your sky now, Lord. Please watch over him." And He did.

Well, maybe I'll put on some warm clothes and go see what I can do with this window. I kept hoping the good fairies, or the Christmas elves, would come and do it, but they didn't, so guess it's up to me. Later, taters! Blessings, and keep looking up! --Romeena
January 18, 2023 - Msg 118561: Well, rats! About five minutes after I posted the above, the sun came out and shot a very warm laser onto my window, and killed my opportunity to clean the thing. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day. --Romeena
January 18, 2023 - Msg 118562: OH MY GOSH! That is crazy, Romeena. How old was your son when he reinserted his own IV?! I read that story and my mouth dropped open. Mercy sakes. LOL

Thank you all for your prayers for family and friends. I sure appreciate it.

Hope you all are doing well. I have enjoyed the funny stories being shared.

Not a lot new going on here. Sean gets to start his new government contract job on Monday. Yay! Finally a job that can provide a living and even the possibility of insur@nce. Please send up a prayer that he can handle the work. He is pretty overweight and out of shape. He has never worked in a professional environment before so I think he will do well enough. He just has to get into shape.

Bruce and I are trying to lose some weight so eating healthier and such but I get discouraged because I know I have always gained back weight that I have lost. I just try to focus on health and eating better.

Hope all of you Have a great rest of the week.

Boo
January 19, 2023 - Msg 118563: Good morning, porch! An annoying, bright and sunny day. No way I can wash this window today. The instructions on the bottle of cleaner are very specific about not doing it in sunshine. Apparently it sort of bakes the cleaner onto the glass during its cleaning time. Well, they don't have to tell me twice. There will be a perfect cloudy but warm day before long, and I'll get the job done.

Boo, my son was 7 when he put his IV cannula back in place. Yep, 7. That's just the kind of kid he was. When he was not quite two, he sat on the living room floor for an hour one afternoon, trying to put his shoes and socks on. He would permit no assistance. Every few minutes we would hear a frustrated little voice, saying "Thockth!" ("Socks" - he had a little trouble with the letter "s" at that age), but he was determined, and finally mastered the socks - a little twisted and crooked, but they were on. The shoes took a bit longer!

Prayers for success for Sean in his new job. Sounds like a good one! The weight thing is a bother, but it's beatable. I was a twig in high school, weighed 108 lbs on my wedding day, wore a size 5 1/2 shoe. I was strong and healthy, just very slender, at 5'6". Married, and then came my son. Gained about 20 lbs, lost 10 of them in a few weeks, and needed a size 6 shoe. Wash, rinse, repeat three more times, and finished up weighing about 140 and wearing a size 7 1/2 shoe. Grrr. I still have those little size 5 1/2 wedding shoes!

Time marched on, and about fifteen years ago, I realized that 140 was but a memory. My weight was creeping up, a few pounds every year. Then came the awful morning when I stepped out of the shower and onto my digital scale, which had the nerve to register 201 lbs! Well, drat! It's broken, will have to buy a new one. Got dressed and went to a scheduled appointment with my cardiologist, where the nurse (hateful woman) informed me that I was 5'3" and weighed 203 lbs. What!!! I whined until she deducted 2 lbs (my clothes) and recorded 201. My scale was right! The doctor (a friend of many years from the hospital) had heard all of this, and promptly put me on a powerful diuretic, which kept me mostly in the bathroom for two weeks, and I promptly dropped 15 lbs in one week. I felt (and looked) so much better, could breathe much easier, and decided this would be permanent. Over the course of just under a year, my weight went to 122 (can't do anything about my height, which is now 5'2") and I feel so much better. No more X's on my size tags! I will never allow that weight to return, and it's so easy. I eat what I please, when I please. As an insulin-dependent diabetic I can't just splurge on sweets, but I do eat them. I eat when I'm hungry, and I don't when I'm not. The clock does not dictate to me when it's time to eat. I seem to have plateaued in the low 120s, but would like to drop 10 more. We'll see. I guess for each individual, there's a key. Some stimulus, a key, that drives us to do more. For me, it was that first 15 pounds. Sean has one, too. He just has to find it. Maybe it's a particular shirt or jacket he'd like to wear, but needs to be smaller. If he finds his key, it will work.

Well, Trinket is in here making sad, hungry faces at me. I gather it's time to feed her! What I would do without that little fluffy angel, I do not know. She was a gift from God! Blessings, friends. Keep looking up! --Romeena
January 20, 2023 - Msg 118564:

Hello all. Our weather outlook for the next 10 days shows all 58 degree days!
That's pretty funny, but also so very nice to have, as last "winter" barely dipped
into the 70s!
Well, I sure spent some $$ today. The factory tires on my 3 1/2 year old "Whitey"
truck were worn to 2/32nds but with only 25,000 miles on the odometer. (factory tires) I think
Discount Tire is nationwide, which is where I went, but ended up with $1200 worth of tires!
Yikes! So weird because on tags tonite, Andy was in front of Foley's store
with a sign behind him that said "Coffee 65 cents/ 1 lb can!"
Also today, my dear wife wanted to move furniture around like she was Aunt Bee with
Gloria coming to visit! It was OK, but it also all ended up back in the original
positions. Oh well, that's ok.
I saw a very funny Dick VanDyke tonight about he and Laura's honeymoon night.
Carl Reiner was sure a good writer. I also noticed that Frank Meyers was the Production manager
on that show too.
RO and BOO - weight is one thing that i don't have to watch. I have been tall and thin
since a junior in high school, 6'5" and always between 165 and 175. My thyroid has been
checked about a million times, but is fine, it's just the way I am. ha
Also RO, I did not know that the "inner elbow" area actually had a name, the "antecubital space".
I'll have to say that at my next draw. :)
GF, POSSUM, PH, JOHN MASTERS, BILLY RAY, AND ALL, PLEASE set for a spell.
Prayers,
MDC
January 20, 2023 - Msg 118565: Good morning, porch! Another bright and sunny day, slight "golden haze on the meadow" but still sunny enough to keep me from washing that dirty window. Maybe I should do it at night! Nope, too cold at night!

I received the sweetest letter from Pappa Bear! He thanked me for the Christmas card, and explained that he didn't get to send any because he had been in and out of the hospital. He said he was like Emma Watson, "enjoying poor health." I felt so blessed to hear from him. What a nice guy he is! How about we all send him a little note now and then? Mine is on the mailbox now.

Well, I've been busy elsewhere for a little while, and some clouds have moved in. Maybe?? No, it's 52° out there, and I'm not about to go out there and get damp and chilled, with Covid still stalking us. I've got a little too much smart for that!

I went to the JOY (Just Older Youth) dinner at church last night. The food was catered by the kids in the local academy, that has a "food service focused" department. Those kids turn out some very good meals, by the way!

The guest entertainer was a man named Keron Jackson. He is incredible. He's a man of many God-given talents. You can find him online, if you're interested. He's a gifted bass singer, with at least a three-octave range. He has a personal testimony that will knock your socks off. He's funny, an imposing physical presence, and enough talent for five men. His father campaigned for an abortion, but his mother refused. Thank God she did! To have murdered a talent like that, and lost his amazing personal testimony would have been a sad and sorry thing indeed. He says he can sum it all up in four words - "Invite somebody to church." When you hear his full testimony, you will understand.

Wow, MDC, you really are tall and slender! My son David is also 6'5", but he's got nearly 100 lbs on you, at 245. He needs to lose about 30-40 lbs of that. My Dale was 6'4", and at 240 was at his "fightin' weight", as he called it, but he could have lost about 30 of it, too. As for me, when I shrunk down to 5'2", and then hit 201 lbs, that did it. I asked God to help me get to a proper weight, and He did. It has been painless, I eat whatever I want, I just don't seem to want much. Last night, I got through almost all of half of my chicken salad sandwich, then left part of the bread from that half and just ate the chicken out of the other half. The sandwiches were made on enormous, delicious croissants, which I love, but I just couldn't eat all that bread. I'm at 123 this morning, which is much more appropriate for a short diabetic gal with bird bones. God has done this. I don't "diet", I eat what I want, when I want. He has just taken control of my appetite. I eat when I'm hungry, I don't when I'm not. The clock is not my boss.

Well, there is a little critter who lives with me, who eats when I feed her, and wouldn't if I didn't, and I'm getting some meaningful stares right now, so I guess her clock says it's time. No problem. She would like to be picky, but since Mama don't allow no picky eaters in here, she eats what I put in her dish! And what I put in her dish ain't too shabby! I wish all little pups could eat like she does, and sleep in their human's bed at night. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Blessings, everyone, and keep looking up! --Romeena
January 21, 2023 - Msg 118566:

Hey to all! :) I saw one tags ep tonight, the one about Opie finding 50 dollars.
One great line that I always like to hear is when Andy tells Opie, that
that's a lot of money for a little fella, and Opie responds with, "Thats
a lot of money for any sized fella!" :)
Also, at the end, when Opie explains why he broke the piggy bank, it
always kinds 'gets me' right THERE, if ya know what I mean.

Oh, I forgot to mention in my last post the that $1200 did buy me a LOT of tire!
4 tires, 70,000 mile warranty, free replacement warranty if anything goes bad,
free flat service, etc. I was just experiencing a little sticker shock when I got 'em!

RO, I just looked up that singer, and he does seem to be quite a guy.
I'm guessing he is mostly in the Dallas area from the statements, but that is great!
Pappabear and I talk on the phone now and then, and also write each other.
His birthday Feb 16, hint, hint. :) Yes, he is a good guy who inhaled some of
that dreaded agent orange, which has caused him a lot of health issues.
He once said that he is at the VA so much, that they permanently put his name on a room door.
In all that he's been thru, he still has a sense of humor.

Keep well all, post when ya can.
Peace,
MDC

January 21, 2023 - Msg 118567:

BOO-I was watching a little bit of the Tamaron Hall show
the other day, and she had a preacher and his wife on as guests;
and he said something that may seem a bit 'trite;' but when
it 'sinks in,' its really quite profound. I immediately thought
of Erin. He said, "Nothing changes if nothing changes."
Interesting huh?, as she is 'changing' now and what a difference
its making. :)
Good Sabbath to all, and prayers for all,
MDC

January 22, 2023 - Msg 118568: Good afternoon, porch! Beautiful day here, a little chilly at 53°, but clear skies and beautiful sunshine. It IS January, so I guess I should be grateful for this beautiful day, and I am.

MDC, I'm not at all surprised at your tire story. I was pretty sure you had gotten a good deal for the price, and sure enough, you did! As my wise dad used to say, "You get what you pay for." He also would say, "If a price is unbelievably low, don't believe it."

Well, my back, neck and shoulders are aching, guess that means the scoliosis is moving once again. Wonder what letter of the alphabet I'll resemble this time, when it quits moving? At this moment, my shoulders are positioned about three or four inches east of my hipbones, which definitely upsets my center of gravity, so I make sure I have a place to touch my fingers down on for balance when moving through the house. Another reason I don't climb!

So - "Nothing changes if nothing changes." Wow! What a profound truth. That's very good, and I'm going to share it, if you don't mind. I shall apply it first to myself, before I start thinking of anybody else. Thanks for sharing that.

Well, I need to get in my chair and relax for a while. A good hot shower about an hour ago relaxed some tight muscles, and I need to get comfortable before they tense up again. Love that chair! Just big enough for Trinket and me to share and still be comfortable. Gotta have room for the Trinket!

Blessings, everyone. Keep looking up! --Romeena