Category: Family

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I miss Katie Couric

NBC has always been the station that I watch for the news and every a.m. I enjoy catching glimpses of the Today Show here and there, they are part of my extended family and I really miss Katie.

I could go on and on about her because she has so many great qualities that I admire, you gotta admit going on national t.v. and having a colonoscopy for all to see isn’t something that most people would do.

Most people won’t have one done even in the privacy of their own exam room.  What Katie did really brought attention to the importance of taking care of your colon and we should be grateful for it.  It is a growing concern for men and women.

Here at the mall is a vitamin shop that our teenager worked at for a short time and I got to know one of the ladies there pretty well.  She knew her stuff and was very helpful when I had the chance to talk with her.  I remember one conversation we had when that I was thinking of scheduling a colonoscopy for myself and my Hubby, and she told me some things about her experience with the procedure that were very interesting and helpful.

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Survivor is back

Hubby and I have such different tastes in what we watch on the boob tube.  One of the very few shows that we both enjoy has been the Survivor series.  We have watched it since day one and still enjoy watching together when we can, and thank goodness for TIVO.

This season is different because it is pitting up a tribe consisting of regular people that are fans of the show against a tribe consisting of previous Survivor contestants from the past years.  Every season they find a way to change things around just enough so that it keeps things fresh and from becoming a bore.

A few years ago the kids and I were at a local parade and for some reason I was under the bleachers when I ran into “Tom” a Survivor contestant, a farmer from the southern part of Virginia, he was there because he was being featured in the parade, he was of course wearing his blue jean overalls and was very friendly, shook my hand, chatted a moment or two and went on his way, towards the back, probably to the Don’s Johns.

I know there are a lot of people that dislike the show but it has kept us entertained for several years and I hope that they can keep up the good work.

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Uncle’s new work at home opportunity

Uncle Gordon (Hubby’s little brother) is getting tired of his line of work (a long distance trucker) and has been looking for something that he could sink his teeth into that wouldn’t keep him away from his home and family the majority of time. 

We suggested that he check into being a Freight Broker, he would be doing the paperwork and logistical side of transportation, which he could do right from home, still doing something  in line with his years of trucking experience.  He’d be the middle man between the shippers and carriers, contacting the shippers and negotiating the contracts.  Next he would contact a carrier company to negotiate a separate contract for that carrier to move the load, while he never has to leave the house.  He has great people skills that would certainly be to his benefit in marketing his service, he has been trucking for so long that he surely knows a lot of people in the right places that could certainly assist him in his endeavor.

He has been told that Transport Training International is a good company that offers freight broker training and he asked Hubby and I to check out the company as to let him know what we think.  Their web site is very interesting and states that they offer a comprehensive beginners 5- day training class, imagine that, one week and you could learn everything that you needed to know to start your own brokerage right from home.  Several locations are available in the U.S and Canada and the classes are Monday – Friday 8-5, you get to leave at noon on Friday with the tools that you need and a business plan all that and more for $3,000.

I’m hoping that he will seriously consider this opportunity and I’m sure his wife would love the chance to be with him more, OR maybe he will drive her absolutely crazy and she’ll want him to get back on the road again.  Sometimes we just don’t know what we have until it’s gone!

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Monday, ugh….

Had to stay home from work today, Hubby is still ill and we are having the coldest temperatures we’ve had all winter, think I’ll light a fire in the fireplace tonight. Got a call first thing this a.m. from the insurance company and they are sending a claims representative out today to check out the fallen tree in the back yard.  I’m not looking forward to going outside to the backyard in this freezing temperature withe him, and poor Hubby insists on getting bundled up so he can join us and ask questions also.  Looks like I will need plenty of chicken soup to get us through this one, hot chocolate for me though!

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Oh the weather outside is frightful

The wind is howling so hard and so loud that I barely heard the knocking at the front door, we have a doorbell just for that use but people around here tend to only knock.  A neighbor from a few houses down, came by to inform us that she had heard a loud noise outside and noticed that a tree had come down in our backyard.  So with that sudden news, Hubby as quickly as he could, climbed out of bed, we all threw on our warm clothes and went out back to check it out. 

Oh the horror of it all! It seems that our next door neighbor now has one of his trees in our backyard.  What a mess it is.  The tree has landed right in our beautiful back part of the yard that we have been working so hard at making it a nice sitting area for us to enjoy.  It didn’t get our garden, though it did take out a few of the lawn chairs, plus the fallen tree also clipped the back of the garage, took out the old satellite dish and there are now pieces of tree everywhere and boy is Hubby hopping mad.  We have had several talks with this neighbor concerning several of the old and rotting trees in his yard that we were afraid were going to come down, right where this tree is right now. I guess talk time is over.

A call to our well paid insurance company has been made and it looks like we have our work cut out for us for the next few weeks.  Hey, on the lighter side of it all, maybe we will get some firewood out of the deal, the cost of heating oil is killing us this year.

 

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My little one is growing up!

Our youngest rides the school bus to school, the bus stop is at the street corner and is only a few houses down, but we can’t see the corner from our house.  We have always made it a point to walk with him to the stop and wait with him for the bus to come, but it seems that those days are coming to an end.  Not that I enjoy standing on the corner every a.m. in all kinds of weather conditions with a bunch of unruly children, but I do enjoy knowing that my child has boarded the bus safely.

We had a talk with him and it seems that he no longer feels comfortable with one of us there with him anymore, so it looks like next week might be a giant stepping stone in his quest for independence.

I should be happy, but……….       

My happy

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Whitewater rafting in the Poconos

Premier whitewater rafting on the Lehigh River in the Poconos, Pennsylvania.  Wow, sounds good to me.  I haven’t gone rafting in such a very long time, probably since my teenager was little.  I remember going to a place in West Virginia with my sister and her kids and having a blast rafting down the whitewaters.

I really am tired of winter and am thinking of things that we can do come summer time.  The Poconos is PA is a great place any time of the year and I’m sure that there is tons of  FUN for all abilities and ages.

Guess we will be busy this summer watching Cher in Las Vegas and Lehigh River rafting in the Poconos in PA, sounds like a good start in my planning calendar.

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Hearing awful news down Tennessee way

Am worried today about my sister and her family that live in Tennessee.  The news is now saying 48 fatalities and I can’t seem to get through to her over the phone.  The T.V. is saying that a lot of lines are down so I’m not too surprised about not getting hold of her. 

It is rough having family members living in so many places south of us that are always dealing with some kind of severe weather issues such as North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida.  They are all such beautiful places but I’m glad once again that I live in Virginia, we rarely deal with such disasters.

Guess I’ll just keep trying to reach her.

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Hello Winter!

Geesh it’s been cold this weekend. We have snow on the ground and bitter cold temperatures. The roads are mostly clear in our neighborhoods, and it only took an extra 20 minutes to get to work this morning with very slow traffic but no school buses ,as it is a school holiday.

We actually got to ride on sleds yesterday for a little while. The kids were grabbing anything they could ride on – even big cardboard boxes that were flattened were good for sliding down the little hills at the elementary school.

Thank goodness for my ski gear – I stayed dry and warm except for my nose, which always turns bright red and starts running when I’m outside in the cold. < <Sigh > > it’s been a long time since we went to a proper ski resort. Miss that.

We came home just before dark and searched the pantry for hot chocolate. I could have sworn I had a box of Swiss Miss on the shelf. Couldn’t find it, so I made hot chocolate from scratch: real milk, real chocolate, and some little marshmallows that I keep on hand to make those Rice Krispie treats every now and then for the kids. Well, OK – us grown ups like them, too. It was kinda fun having the kids unwrap all those Hershey Kisses to use for the chocolate. Everyone in the kitchen working together and chatting about silly things. That was the best part of the whole weekend for me.

The kids watched movies and played on the Playstation until bedtime. Hubby and I watched the finale of the Great Race. It was a surprise finish and I SOOO wish we could participate in the next race. Imagine going all over the world and competing in those exotic treasure hunts and relay races! I would love to do that and if I started training with a month or two’s notice, I could give the other teams a run for the money!

It will be interesting to see what shape the house is in when I get home from work. Hubby is “watching” the kids. I suspect the kids will be over at friends’ houses and gone most of the day. Wonder what he’s fixing for dinner?

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