Well, to follow-up on my last blog, which was a LONG time ago, the neighbor has finally left the neighborhood..... WOOT WOOT!!!! His house is vacant, and - just speculating here - I think he was probably foreclosed on. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!! His live-in lady (believe me I use that term VERY loosely) was out swearing at the kids in the neighborhood, telling them to stay the EFF off their property, then yelled at Dan, telling him to keep his EFFing kids off their property, seems like just yesterday.... ah well.
Last year was a really hard for us, health-wise. Dan had a very stressful incident at work, involving two aircraft that almost came together, due mostly to a computer program malfunction and ended up with post-traumatic stress. Less than two weeks later, he also got sudden onset, severe diabetes, with numbers in the 600-700's, and is on Insulin. He was off work for 5 months, some of which was without pay, and we have been running low on finances ever since. He did start back to work, but because of medical restrictions had to take a less paying job, and to top it off, they government is deducting $550.00 out of each check to pay back the original work comp payments they gave him. This too shall pass.......
We were so excited for 2010, thinking it had to be better, and then, on January 2, he had an irregular and fast heartbeat, took him to the ER and he ended up being admitted with atrial fibrillation. He had to have cardioversion with the defribillator because the meds they tried didn't work, and now he has to have a complete heart work-up in the near future. He is doing well now, though. Just have to watch for it to happen again. 8-o That is my nervous face.
We had a lot of wonderful times in 2009 with the kids and grandkids, and we took a trip in December on a Mexican cruise which was really relaxing. I will post some pictures to kind of recap the year. AND, I'm not one to make resolutions because that almost guarantees I won't keep them, but I will try to keep my blog updated more often. Not that hard, right???
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Thursday, May 15, 2008
What do you do about THAT kind of neighbor?
Everybody has had that kind of neighbor at some point I am guessing, unless I am just incredibly lucky. They are nice enough, cordial anyway, to your face, and then devious and terrible behind your back. Well, this neighbor makes the gestapo tactics look friendly. When he wants to borrow something - bleach, tools, scaffolding, AK-47's, etc., he is as nice as can be, but wow, who would have known what lurked in his somewhat odd, conniving mind? A few months ago we were asked to possibly give a statement to police about a possible child abuse situation at his house, maybe that is where this all started, I am not sure. But we never did give the statement, we weren't contacted.
He reported us to the HOA for having "derelict vehicles" in our yard - my husband and son each have a Mopar "fixer upper" still waiting to be fixed up. They are, however, registered and operable, and are not in pieces parts, so according to the county regulations they are ok. We have several cars besides that, all operable and registered except one, and that is in the works.
Reporting us to the HOA wasn't, apparently, enough. He then reported us to the county, offered them access to his yard so they could take better pictures, and even took and E-mailed pictures to them himself. He attended the planning commission meeting and complained about us, and this is the real kicker ------ He told the county agent that we had RATS in and around our vehicles!!!! That's gotta be good for our property value - especially since it has become part of the public record.
You would think our yard looked like a dump, but that is not the case. We have over 2 acres and 20,000 sq. feet of lush, green lawn. We have a pasture and a barn, and 2 horses. Which brings me to my other complaint. He directed his son to come onto our property, in our pasture, and dig a trench so that the water from rainstorms in the rainy season would not drain down into his side yard - which was landscaped incorrectly so that it does get flooded every time it rains (not our fault). Anybody who has horses can appreciate the stupidity and danger of this action, having a trench in your pasture! Especially since our mare, Scarlett, was recovering from a $5000.00 surgery and hospital stay to fix a broken bone in her foot due to running over a T-post in the green belt.
All of this happened without a word of complaint from this "good" neighbor. OK, I have vented, and I have decided maybe we do have one rat in the neighborhood, but it isn't in our yard.
He reported us to the HOA for having "derelict vehicles" in our yard - my husband and son each have a Mopar "fixer upper" still waiting to be fixed up. They are, however, registered and operable, and are not in pieces parts, so according to the county regulations they are ok. We have several cars besides that, all operable and registered except one, and that is in the works.
Reporting us to the HOA wasn't, apparently, enough. He then reported us to the county, offered them access to his yard so they could take better pictures, and even took and E-mailed pictures to them himself. He attended the planning commission meeting and complained about us, and this is the real kicker ------ He told the county agent that we had RATS in and around our vehicles!!!! That's gotta be good for our property value - especially since it has become part of the public record.
You would think our yard looked like a dump, but that is not the case. We have over 2 acres and 20,000 sq. feet of lush, green lawn. We have a pasture and a barn, and 2 horses. Which brings me to my other complaint. He directed his son to come onto our property, in our pasture, and dig a trench so that the water from rainstorms in the rainy season would not drain down into his side yard - which was landscaped incorrectly so that it does get flooded every time it rains (not our fault). Anybody who has horses can appreciate the stupidity and danger of this action, having a trench in your pasture! Especially since our mare, Scarlett, was recovering from a $5000.00 surgery and hospital stay to fix a broken bone in her foot due to running over a T-post in the green belt.
All of this happened without a word of complaint from this "good" neighbor. OK, I have vented, and I have decided maybe we do have one rat in the neighborhood, but it isn't in our yard.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thank heaven for health insurance
This week we had some other couples over to watch one of the world series games. Of course this included dinner, dessert, and snacks to graze on during the game. Well, the game wasn't going so well (Can you tell we are Rockies fans?), and I knew that all these other women would be hurrying for the exit as soon as the game was over to get their cranky and disappointed husbands home. I wasn't too keen on being left with all the mess to clean up, but that was kind of the arrangement we all had. Better to get them separated and calmed down before they really worked themselves up into a frenzy. I was mulling over my options during the 7th inning stretch, when an erectile dysfunction drug commercial came on. That kind of an ad tends to cause an uncomfortable silence, and it was then that I knew what I had to do. I glanced at my husband, hoping he would forgive me, and not sure how he would take what I was about to do. When they got to the part in the commercial where they talk about going to the hospital if you have an erection that lasts more than 4 hours, there were the usual uncomfortable giggles. I swallowed hard and blurted out, "What? I thought they always lasted more than four hours!?" I acted totally serious, and my husband said, "Shhh, honey I will talk to you about it later."
Well, those women just gasped. One of them said, "You look tired, let us clean up for you dear." And that was that. Before the ninth inning had started the dishes were done, the floor was swept, and the garbage was taken out. It didn't seem to improve the mood of any of the other men except my husband, though. They were still cranky when they went home.
My husband didn't mention it, until we were walking up the stairs and all he said was, "You know, I would have helped you with the dishes if you would have asked." And I said, "You know, if you ever need that stuff and it ever does last for more than 4 hours, I am the one who will need to go to the emergency room. But at least I know I have friends who will come over and help with the housework."
Well, those women just gasped. One of them said, "You look tired, let us clean up for you dear." And that was that. Before the ninth inning had started the dishes were done, the floor was swept, and the garbage was taken out. It didn't seem to improve the mood of any of the other men except my husband, though. They were still cranky when they went home.
My husband didn't mention it, until we were walking up the stairs and all he said was, "You know, I would have helped you with the dishes if you would have asked." And I said, "You know, if you ever need that stuff and it ever does last for more than 4 hours, I am the one who will need to go to the emergency room. But at least I know I have friends who will come over and help with the housework."
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Whiskers - Not the name of my cat
When I was little, I remember my dad would rub his whiskers on my face and neck, and it would tickle, causing me to giggle hysterically.
I used to think whiskers were so cool. After all, Santa had them, so how much more cool can that get?
When I got married, I loved my husband's whiskers (and still do). I think they are sexy.
And if he rubs them on my face and neck, it still causes me to giggle.
I really do like whiskers, just not on me. I remember when I got my first whisker about 10 years ago or so. I felt it when I touched my chin in deep thought. Suddenly whatever the deep thought was about left me, and all I could think about was getting home to pull this alien man-hair from my chin before I started to cackle. Well, I pulled it out and anxiously waited for it to come back, and I waited and waited and waited. Nothing happened for a long time, but I looked in the mirror and examined my chin every day to make sure.
About five years ago it happened. I woke up one morning and looked in the mirror, and there they were -- that whisker was back with about 3 or 4 of his close friends! I was absolutely horrified! I tweezed them, and in-between sobs tried to explain to my husband what was happening to me. He was indifferent. Never try to explain the horror of whiskers to a man who shaves every morning. They just don't get it. It ended with him holding me close and telling me he thought I was beautiful anyway. ANYWAY??? What's that all about?
Oh well, so it goes. Now I have a magnifying suction mirror on the bathroom mirror, and I check my chin every day - at least once, to make sure I am not ignoring an infestation of the little beasts. I have 3 different tweezers for different types of whiskers, one grabs the fine white ones best, one is for the thick black man hairs, and the other is a cheap pair for when the kids have run off with the other two pairs.
I have pretty much come to terms with my whiskers, but I am confused about what to do about other people's. I must admit, sometimes when I am talking to a friend, my eyes will focus on a particularly long obnoxious whisker, often in a mole, and I can't think of anything else. I wonder whether to tell her, or let it go, thinking that she must have a mirror, and perhaps she likes it that way...??
I usually end up saying nothing, and direct my anger and disgust toward her husband, who shouldn't have let her go out like that without telling her (very gently of course) that she had a slightly distracting growth on her chin.
Maybe it's up to us women to tell each other when nature plays a cruel joke on us. I seriously think that they sometimes wait to pop out until after I have performed my morning tweeze. How do you feel? Would you rather someone tell you or try to ignore it? It's a tough call.
I used to think whiskers were so cool. After all, Santa had them, so how much more cool can that get?
When I got married, I loved my husband's whiskers (and still do). I think they are sexy.
And if he rubs them on my face and neck, it still causes me to giggle.
I really do like whiskers, just not on me. I remember when I got my first whisker about 10 years ago or so. I felt it when I touched my chin in deep thought. Suddenly whatever the deep thought was about left me, and all I could think about was getting home to pull this alien man-hair from my chin before I started to cackle. Well, I pulled it out and anxiously waited for it to come back, and I waited and waited and waited. Nothing happened for a long time, but I looked in the mirror and examined my chin every day to make sure.
About five years ago it happened. I woke up one morning and looked in the mirror, and there they were -- that whisker was back with about 3 or 4 of his close friends! I was absolutely horrified! I tweezed them, and in-between sobs tried to explain to my husband what was happening to me. He was indifferent. Never try to explain the horror of whiskers to a man who shaves every morning. They just don't get it. It ended with him holding me close and telling me he thought I was beautiful anyway. ANYWAY??? What's that all about?
Oh well, so it goes. Now I have a magnifying suction mirror on the bathroom mirror, and I check my chin every day - at least once, to make sure I am not ignoring an infestation of the little beasts. I have 3 different tweezers for different types of whiskers, one grabs the fine white ones best, one is for the thick black man hairs, and the other is a cheap pair for when the kids have run off with the other two pairs.
I have pretty much come to terms with my whiskers, but I am confused about what to do about other people's. I must admit, sometimes when I am talking to a friend, my eyes will focus on a particularly long obnoxious whisker, often in a mole, and I can't think of anything else. I wonder whether to tell her, or let it go, thinking that she must have a mirror, and perhaps she likes it that way...??
I usually end up saying nothing, and direct my anger and disgust toward her husband, who shouldn't have let her go out like that without telling her (very gently of course) that she had a slightly distracting growth on her chin.
Maybe it's up to us women to tell each other when nature plays a cruel joke on us. I seriously think that they sometimes wait to pop out until after I have performed my morning tweeze. How do you feel? Would you rather someone tell you or try to ignore it? It's a tough call.
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