It really tis the season!

Just to add a little to my last post I went outside and took a picture into my family room after dark. This is what it looks like to the hunters in the woods, only I am a little closer than they should be. The quilt in the chair is the quilt SH and I fight over at night, because the family room is the coldest room in the house. There are plenty of other blankets in that room but we both like the quilt.

I put some lights up on the porch last week but didn't turn them on until the weekend. I thought they were fine until I took this picture and then I figured out that they needed something else.

I went outside in the 34 degree windy night and added some to make it feel more balanced to me. I know it looks like some are out but that is just a picnic table sitting in front of the porch. I would like to move it but I do not have the energyto move a 250 lb. table and my toes were frozen because being the smart person I am I wore sandals.
Now if I could just get SH to get the lights to dance to some cool music.....then it would be Christmas.

Stay tuned on Saturday for a special post! A little hint? Do you like sharing recipes?

Tis the season

No not the Christmas season, in Ohio it is now hunting season, which is much more important to quite a few people, including those of us who have had to replace windshields, bumpers and hoods from the deer. Why, you may ask, am I underlining every word of this post? Because I can not figure out how the underlining got started and I have no idea how to stop it. I'm sure if I spent 3 minutes looking around in this little blog world I would figure it out but it took me 30 minutes to upload these pictures and I really have more important things to do, like eat more hot tamales and snickers bars clean my bathroom and do laundry.
Back to my original reason for this post. It is hunting season in Ohio. To give you an idea how this affects me let me show you around my little slice of Ohio.
If you walk out my front door and look straight ahead this is what you will see.



If you look to the right (what happened to my underlining now, and my color, this thing is crazy!) Anyway if you look to the right this is what you will see. Do you see the house on the top of the hill?


If you look to the left, you will see this. There is a nice little spot up there I used to love to go to and just sit and watch deer and squirrels.

If you walk out my back door this is what you will see. Is anyone sensing a theme here?

No matter where you are if you look down you will see this, which is yet another dropped off animal. I think this is about the 8th one this year. This has absolutely nothing to do with this post but since the kitten tripped me 3 times while I was trying to take pictures I thought I would include her, she must be feeling left out.

This week no matter where you look, no matter which way you turn when you walk out any door you will see something that looks like this.

I have nothing against the hunters. Superhubby used to hunt back when he had the time and energy to get up at 4AM and walk into the freezing woods with a backpack full of coffee, gun ammunition and dry gloves. I actually appreciate the hunters thinning down the herds around here because they have gotten completely out of hand. I do, however, cringe each and every one of the 27 times a day that someone shoots at a deer. It echo's off of these hills and every shot within a couple of miles sounds like someone is shooting right outside your door. I also have no curtains on my family room windows. My family room looks straight out into the woods behind the house. No one is ever back there other than during hunting season so I never felt the need to put up curtains over my pretty arched windows. This time of year I find myself wondering who is out there, can they see me, does this mean I have to wear clean underwear AND a bra? Could a hunter see if I had a bra on from out in the woods? They do use binoculars to hunt but frankly I am not binocular material so I am just going with the idea that they will keep looking for the 4 legged deer. There have been many times in my life when I look out and see hunters, uhh, relieving themselves in the woods, but I don't use binoculars....well not for that I'm looking for squirrels.

Because I am too lazy to make up a title

The day after Thanksgiving we woke up to this. After a summer of mostly 90 degree + days we weren't too upset to see this. Then today we had a 60 degree rainy day. Now the wind is starting to roar over the hills and the cold is coming back. I hope we don't have more of this when we wake up.

Today we went shopping and got a big bunch of our Christmas shopping out of the way. Thank goodness for Steve and Barry's. If you have never been to a Steve and Barry's store I recommend you find one. The prices are amazing.

I have decided since DS is living on his own I am using his bed as a gift wrapping center. My Grandma always used a spare bed to wrap gifts and I am finding it much better than spreading stuff all over the house. This is mostly todays haul.

When DD was docenting at the Lawrence county historical museum Saturday one of her "friends" Dave surprised her by stopping by with a dozen of her favorite color roses. Dave made a few brownie points with her on that one.Gun season for deer hunters started today. There is something weird about looking out your window into the woods and seeing people out there with guns and orange hats.

I'm thankful for.....

Just like 3rd grade......

I'm thankful for my family, I know I am one of the lucky ones.

This is SH and my DD.....both of whom mean the world to me....

This is DS and my mom on her 70th birthday..... both are near and dear to my heart.

Here is my dad and a couple of my dozens of Aunts and Uncles.....

I'm also thankful that I can see things like this and take a picture of it.....just because I want to.

This is the mighty Ohio River from a bridge going into Ashland Ky.

This is a church near my house...I just loved the sky behind it though I wish the electric lines
weren't there....

So now I am going to go finish hanging my Christmas wreaths and start on those pumpkin logs...I'm thankful I can make this stuff and enjoy it, though my thighs are not quite so happy with me.

Shame on me.....

This is what I'm hiding behind my kitchen garbage can. To be fair (and to give myself an excuse) we burn our garbage and its been windy and the yard is full of dry leaves so I have been burning things a little at a time and saving things like boxes for a couple of weeks.
I have been thinking about our eating habits lately and realized that we eat few veggies anymore. The ones we do eat are covered in cheese or butter borderline healthy. If we could count tomato sauce I would be listed as one of America's top health experts. I have heard that tomato products are good for your prostate so if I had one of those I would be able to stand up and pee like a 20 year old after a keg party. Since I don't have one of those and my doctor just put me on a water pill because my blood pressure is creeping up, I need to work on my food selection. Most evenings it is just me here or me and DD so cooking a meal seems silly. I need to find fast, healthy things that won't be so annoying to cook.
A week or so ago I was having a chocolate craving and went and opened DD's snack drawer. She has a drawer in her room she keeps snacks in so her father and I will leave them alone she and her friends will have them if they want them. In her drawer I found her chocolate Easter bunnies from the last two years and her giant Hershey's kiss and chocolate Santa's from last Christmas. If I wouldn't have fallen in love with that beautiful face right at birth I would swear she was switched with someone Else's child in the hospital. The self control and the fact that she is so smart makes me sure she got only the best from both sides of our family. Have I mentioned that she took her ACT's a month or so ago? She is a junior so I wanted her to take them once early this school year just to get the testing nervousness out of the way. That way she would be able to take it 2 or 3 more times and not have to be so scared of the test. She scored a 27....on her first try. A 27 along with a 4.0 average gets her a full scholarship to a couple of colleges around here. She will have an ACT prep class after Christmas at school that should help her raise it a few points which will help her gain access to a wonderful education at very little cost to her poor parents. Think of what she could accomplish if her mother made her eat her veggies. We did order from a pizza place tonight, but we ordered a salad....with cheese, ham and pepperoni. IT HAD LETTUCE AND TOMATOES TOO, I swear it did.

Monday misgivings

SH has a toothache. A bad toothache. He has been asleep since about 9:30 this morning which is the first time he has really slept for the last couple of nights. He paced the floor all night but did his best to be quiet and I slept quite well. This is a complete turnaround from our norm....I am the one with the bad teeth. I have spent countless hours and dollars trying to save my teeth but a couple of years ago, after having 4 abcessed teeth in 6 months I cried uncle and gave up. Root canals seldom work for me and my dad (who's side of the family I take after) lost all of his teeth by the age of 32. My parents worked hard to keep mine healthy when I was young and I spent way more time in the dentist chair than my friends, but even my baby teeth broke off and decayed. My poor kids spent so much time in the dentist chair they thought it was home away from home. I spent so much money at the dentist I think I paid for his sons college tuition. The day I made the last payment on DS's braces he looked at DD's teeth and said "here we go again." He excused himself to his office and I'm sure he called his wife and told her to go ahead and book that cruise she had been wanting to take.
I hope everyone has a great day. SH just woke up to get ready and is a little grumpy....the keyboard noise is bugging him.

Friday randomness......again

Try not to get too excited over this picture......this is my chimney. This chimney is attached to a woodburner in the basement that is our main heat for the winter. We also have a heat pump but we are on a rural electric co-op. Being on a rural electric co-op only means that heating your home with electric is equal to winning a reverse lottery where you give all your money away.

The tree in the middle of this picture is not an over achiever that shed all of it's leaves before every other tree. This tree is my fire wood for the winter because this beautiful black oak in my front yard died last year.

Do you see my problem? The wood burner is not big enough for me to get this entire tree in at one time and I have a problem using a chain saw. My main problem with the chain saw is that I can't start it....which means I can't use it for anything but juggling, which is something I would kill myself trying do in my spare time.

(notice my neighbors new house and garage in the background)

This is not my chimney. This is a smoke stack from a power plant we drove by when we were traveling recently and I just put my camera up in the windshield and snapped pictures to see what I would end up with. I like this picture for some reason but have no idea what to do with it.

DD and one of her very best friends love to hang out together. I can't figure out how they hang out, talk to their boyfriends on the phone and still carry on full conversations. They can do this for hours on end and it would definitely give me a headache. This is why we still have 2 land lines. We got them when DS lived at home but never had it removed for just such an occasion. We also have 4 cell phones which gives us a total of 6 phone numbers.

My last random thought for the evening.....DS called to tell me he was coming here to stay all night. I love when he does that but I am a little confused as to why he is coming tonight. I asked if his girlfriend was gone to her parents for the weekend and he said no she was next door in her apartment. My thought process is probably a little screwy on this but I am trying to figure out why before he gets here. My guesses are 1. all of his underwear is dirty. 2. He and g/f are fighting. 3. He is out of money (which has never happened since he moved and I'm pretty sure he is doing well financially.) 4. Is there something he wants to tell me face to face? (which could lead to an entire post all its own.)

Guess I will just sit around and think it to death until he gets here and probably just wants to visit, which I will enjoy.

Edit- I hit publish and the doorbell rang. It was DS with so much laundry he couldn't open the door..... I love that boy.

Dear Deer.....

Dear Deer,
I thought I would write you a quick little letter to explain a few "facts of life." Tonight when I decided to drive to town I saw 18 of your closest cousins standing in or right beside the road, within the first mile after I pulled out of the driveway. When you are standing in the middle of the road and something big with bright lights is coming at you......move. It isn't complicated, just move. There isn't any grass or yummy plants in the road anyway so why are you standing there? In case you haven't realized it yet those cousins of yours that are lying in the road, for days, aren't napping.....they just didn't move.
When I got back from town and walked outside with my dog I noticed 3 of you wandering around my yard. One buck and two does. I'm not sure what you were doing in my yard but since it is November and both does were smiling (and was that a cigarette I saw you trying to light mr. buck?) I'm pretty sure I know what you are doing. Please remember that while it is November and I know that there is one thing you all love to do in November, those men walking around with bright orange on aren't here to see a deer porn show, those aren't camera's they are carrying, they are GUNS. I notice you aren't very scared of me or my dog but we are not planning on any deer steaks, we prefer beef, but we are not the majority and a lot of people are looking forward to stocking up their freezers. I know it may be shocking but when I say they are stocking up their freezers I mean with YOU. Please remember that while female deer pee turns you on Mr. Buck, those guys in the orange vests have some of that....in a bottle.
Even though the Santa gig has been going well for some of you no one really believes that all of the deer around here are needed by the big guy and his little helpers. I'm thinking I would be coming up with some backup plans for the next few weeks. Do you have any frequent (flyer)flier miles you could cash in and maybe head for somewhere safer....New York city maybe? I bet you could get a short term gig standing by a sled somewhere eating hay and waiting on Santa to listen to 4396 kids a day tell him what they want for Christmas.
If you decide to disregard my letter could you at least not stand in front of my car.....or bleed all over my yard?
Your friend,
Katy

Newbie

I saw her from across the parking lot. She was cute, young and obviously excited. As I got closer I heard her tell the two toddlers she unbuckled from car seats in her little car that was adorned with fuzzy dice and pink seat covers that she was so excited that mommy let Aunt Jo bring them to Wal mart with her. I would guess Aunt Jo to be 17. She was so good with these kids that I almost felt guilty letting her walk into wal mart with kids that looked to be 3 and 4 without a warning. She put them in a buggy and I heard her explaining to them that Aunt Jo had a few things to get and if they were good she would let them look at toys. Ha...Newbie....she had no idea. I went on my way to get a few things and instantly felt guilt. Guilt that I wasn't explaining to her the pitfalls of wal mart in November. The toy section is bad enough but when there are flashing lights and trees all around.......the most experienced parent has trouble. I went to the shampoo aisle and saw her go to the section of hair car products. Shampoo is one thing but hair care products usually take some time and label reading. I saw her looking at a few things and reading but about that time child#1 turned around and noticed the entire section of flashing singing reindeer and snowmen. I'm not sure what words came out of that child's mouth but it sounded like AUNTJOIWANNASEETHESMOWMANSINGAUNTJOIWANNAGOTHEREAUNTJOAREYOULI
ISTENINGAUNTJOAUNTJO.
I was finished in the shampoo aisle so I went back to the camera/film area. It took about 5 minutes and Jo, now not quite as happy looking, came back toward the toy section. She was still patient and I heard her explain to the kids that they were going to look at CD's first and then toys. I chuckled to myself and went on to find my niece some pet shop thing that I wanted to get her for Christmas. Aunt Jo must read quickly because she was in the toy section in about 2 minutes, without any cd's in her buggy. I also noticed there weren't any hair care products in there now. Aunt Jo explained to her niece and nephew that they were going to look through toys quickly and go home. The kids agreed and they started through the toys. I found the pet shop toys and as I was looking for the one I needed I wasn't surpised to hear the crying start, then the screaming started. Aunt Jo was trying to make them put toys back she had let them hold.....Aunt Jo is such a rookie. I was finally finished with my walmart trip and as I walked past Aunt Jo I silently wished her luck as I went to pay for my purchases.
I loaded my bags in the car and noticed poor Aunt Jo trying to squeeze two screaming toddlers into the backseat of her little two door car. Both kids had their arms out and legs splayed to keep from having to get in their seats. Aunt Jo had no bags. I still wonder what Aunt Jo did to her big sister to make her want to punish he like that...or was it her own little form of birth control for her little sister.

Just donate my body to science.

I hit 4o last year full speed ahead. I didn't sneak up on it or try to act like I was really 35 and 40 wasn't there waiting for me. I hit 40 hard. Have you ever heard the saying "the best of both worlds?" Well I think 40 hit me with full force of the worst of both worlds. There are so many things about this "aging" me that I need to figure out. Things I am not sure I want to know, but I don't think the alternative to finding out is preferable. Some things are simple....Just how much support can you buy in a bra? How long can I keep sprinting to bathrooms when I start coughing?
I've noticed my shopping lists are getting odder. That is where the weirdness that is middle age really stands out. This list is a list of things I have purchased in the last few weeks...........most do not go together.
1. tampons
2. kotex pads
3. pregnancy test..(ok that was a fluke and I was a couple of days late and didn't want to take
some medicine unless I was completely sure)
4. acne medicine
5. fixadent
6. efferdent

SH didn't see # 3.....that may have led us to have to invest in a heart monitor.

An update already?

So I am on something like day 500 of this cold/pneumonia thing. I can finally breathe a little and if I don't try to run upstairs I can keep breathing. I had a week where if I walked from the family room to the bathroom I could not get enough air in to keep from getting light headed. The interesting thing is that no one in this house has gotten sick from being around me. I guess I am keeping my germs self contained.
SH has been, umm, grumpy the last few weeks. He is completely covered up at work and with all his little old ladies. Every single morning when he tries to get ready to go work on the house from h*ll before his real workday starts some little old woman calls....and then another calls, and they need something done today. It can't wait until the other house is finished. They have a plant that needs mulched, oil that needs changed or something as stupid and unimportant. I just want him to be able to finish this house so he can spend a little time with us that isn't stress filled.
DD is doing great at school. She has been busy as a bee and this weekend is going to be even busier.
I am going to hit publish, even though this post is about absolutely nothing....kinda like Seinfeld.

Fall back

Tonight we turn our clocks back one hour, resulting in an extra hour of sleep. This is sleep I desperately need. My cold is all but gone but my lungs or something else is locked up tight. I can walk the 30 feet from my recliner to the bathroom and be completely out of breath. I fall asleep but as soon as I do I get this strangled feeling and start coughing and can not quit until I have thrown up a couple of times. It is 1:30 in the morning and I have fallen asleep 3 times and had a coughing fit as soon as I fell asleep each time. Last night I coughed for 4 hours straight. I finally fell asleep from sheer exhaustion and slept a few hours. I'm hoping for the same luck tonight. I feel much better than I did a few days ago, other than the horrid coughing.
Tonight was the surprise birthday party for my mom. She had a few clues that something was up but wasn't quite sure what. In the end it all worked out and we all ate cake and ice cream and wished my mom a wonderful 70th birthday. I wish I was half as healthy as she is.