Off to Caseville....

Tomorrow I'm taking Mini Sue to the vet for a checkup on her eye. I sure hope it is healed and I don't have to put any more of those drops in. She doesn't like that. She is still favoring that eye and not opening it up all the way sometimes. Hubby thinks she's just doing that for sympathy, cause when you are eating food she gets excited about your food and both eyes are wide open! I'll see what the vet says tomorrow.

Then after I get back from the vet, I'm leaving for Caseville for a week or so. There's an Eagles district meeting on Sunday that I want to go to. And I need to get the lawn cut, etc. Don't have a clue how the weather will be and it's that time of year when you have to pack both jeans, shorts, short-sleeve and sweatshirts. Who knows maybe it will go into the 80's and I can go swimming!...haha

We are finally getting our new driveway put in! The guys came Tuesday and worked all day tearing up all the old asphalt. They are coming back tomorrow to put in the new asphalt. I'll be outta here while they're working and it will be a mess, so I won't see the results until I get back. I hope it looks nice. Our old driveway was a mess. Everytime I raked the leaves on it, I was raking up chunks of asphalt. It was totally falling apart. And there was so much grass and weeds growing in all the cracks.

My new driveway was one of my many projects that I am slowly getting done. I got new carpet upstairs; I got my tub reglazed; I got new kitchen cabinet doors; and now a new driveway. Next on the list is we have to get someone to patch the huge crack in my living room ceiling and the many other cracks in all the other rooms and get the rooms painted; and then I want to get new carpet for downstairs! Well, we'll see....

...it all takes money, money, money....I may have to get a job!

Murder @ Walmart

So, here's the story....

Tired of constantly being broke & stuck in an unhappy marriage, a young husband decided to solve both problems by taking out a large insurance policy on his wife with himself as the beneficiary, and then arranging to have her killed.

A 'friend of a friend' put him in touch with a nefarious dark-side underworld figure who went by the name of 'Artie'.

Artie then explained to the husband that his going price for snuffing out a spouse was $5,000.

The husband said he was willing to pay that amount, but that he wouldn't have any cash on hand until he could collect his wife's insurance money.

Artie insisted on being paid at least something up front, so the man opened his wallet, displaying the single dollar bill that rested inside. Artie sighed, rolled his eyes, and reluctantly agreed to accept the dollar as down payment for the dirty deed.

A few days later, Artie followed the man's wife to the local Wal-Mart Super Center store. There, he surprised her in the produce department and proceeded to strangle her with his gloved hands and as the poor unsuspecting woman drew her last breath she slumped to the floor.

The manager of the produce department stumbled unexpectedly onto the murder scene. Unwilling to leave any living witnesses behind, ol' Artie had no choice but to strangle the produce manager as well.

However, unknown to Artie, the entire proceedings were captured by the hidden security cameras & observed by the store's security guard, who immediately called the police. Artie was caught and arrested before he could even leave the store.

Under intense questioning at the police station, Artie revealed the whole sordid plan, including his unusual financial arrangements with the hapless husband who was also quickly arrested.

The next day in the newspaper, the headline declared....
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ARTIE CHOKES 2 for $1.00 AT WAL-MART!

My poor baby girl.....

My poor little baby girl has an owwie. She is being very brave and letting me put the drops in her eye. She doesn't like it though.

Poor Mini Sue.....

Mini Sue had to go to the vet today. I had noticed over the weekend that she was keeping her left eye partially shut. I thought that in a few days whatever was wrong would clear up. Yesterday my husband noticed her wiping at it with her paw. Sometimes it looked okay and other times it didn't. So I made an appointment for today.

First the vet put a numbing drop in her eye so she could look at it. Then she put another drop of something that would show if there was a scratch or something. Sure enough, it showed a green spot on her eye and that meant there was a scratch on her cornea. She gave me drops for pain and a prescription for an antibiotic drop, plus a lubricant. So I have to put these 3 drops in her eye every 6 hours for a week.

I feel so bad for her because I know how irritating and painful it is to have a scratch on your cornea. It's bad enough to just get something in your eye that you can't get out.

I told the vet that she needed a patch and she can be a pirate for halloween!
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The gutter guy finally came today. We had one of those gutter toppers put on the back of our house years ago because we have a 2-storey house and it's a pain for hubby to get up there to clean the gutters. So with one of these brilliant gutter toppers, you should never have to clean gutters again! Last spring, my husband noticed that it was clogged up with crap and the water was pouring down our house and on top of our family room roof. He called the company...talked to someone who said that someone would be out to look at it. Then we never heard from them. Hubby kept calling and leaving messages but no one called back. Then a couple weeks ago, we get a letter from them telling us that due to a computer glitch they don't know what jobs have been serviced and what jobs still needed servicing and for us to call them. So today we finally got someone out here. Apparently the end cap had come loose or something and a bird had built a nest inside. It was full of nesting crap and pine needles. The guy cleaned out two bags of stuff and he said that it was the worst he has seen and had to clean. Apparently, they have cleaned out these gutter toppers before. I thought that was the point....you don't have to clean out your gutters. Anyway, he put a new end cap on and fixed something else. It was part of the guarantee and it didn't cost us anything....! Wow, finally something that didn't cost us......
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I put some pictures up in my photo link you can check out.

Dylan!!

The above is a portrait of Bob Dylan painted by the former retired singer of Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick.

Dylan is coming to Detroit in November and I got great seats! Hubby and I will be going to the Fox Theater to see him and I can't wait. I don't expect to see the Dylan of the '60's or '70's. I've seen his more current YouTube videos....but Dylan is Dylan and I love his laid back style and I love his songs. He was never a great singer....it was never about the voice....it was Dylan and his songs. I have been checking his website forever watching his tours. He tours constantly. He has been touring mainly in Europe, etc...basically overseas. Then I got busy with the summer and away from my computer and then hubby showed me the article in the paper.

Tickets go on sale to the general public Saturday, but I was able to get in on the presales through his website which went on sale yesterday and today. I got the best seats I could get. I am soooooooooooo excited!!! However, the concert falls on the same weekend as the Holly Berry Fair in Caseville, so I'll be missing it for the first time. No big deal. I'd rather see Dylan.

Quite a few years ago, there was a celebrity auction going on with a lot of autographed items. There was a black t-shirt with a guitar airbrushed on the front by some artist. And Bob Dylan's name was airbrushed below the guitar. It was said that Dylan airbrushed his name on the t-shirt. I put a bid on it and won! I still have the t-shirt folded in the original plastic bag they gave it to me in. I have no certificate of authenticity. But it was a celebrity auction and that was the story on the t-shirt. Maybe I should wear it to the concert.

The Reunion....

It was a super FUN weekend...although by Sunday night, I was totally drained and I slept on the couch most of Monday recuperating.

Friday night I went to the bar get-together for the first part of my class reunion. There were lots of classmates there to see. I wish I had gotten around and talked to more of them, though. I tend to sit and talk to the ones I know and see more of most the time. We had lots of good food and had so much left over that we could use it for our picnic on Sunday. I left at a reasonable hour because it was my wedding anniversary and I wanted to go home and at least see hubby and have a glass of wine before midnight. When I was getting ready, I saw a vase of 6 red roses and babies breath sitting on the table....that was sweet! I was surprised. I had made him a cherry cheesecake because it's his favorite and I haven't made one in years. I've been lazy and been just buying them. So I made one for him. So I got home and we had wine and cheesecake.

Saturday was the big dinner/dance and it went off splendidly....it was a success. There were classmates there who didn't make it to the Friday bar thing...and some of the people from Friday night didn't come to the Saturday dinner. But we had a decent turnout. There was good food and lots of dancing. The highlight of the night for me was seeing a classmate that I haven't seen in many many years. We were good friends in school and even lived near each other when my hubby and I had our first house. Then I moved and we lost touch. I had sent her a letter with some pictures asking her to please consider coming this year. She has never been to any of our reunions or get-togethers. Well, she Came!! And I was so thrilled. I was sadden to hear that she lost her husband 7 years ago. I was at their wedding many years ago. And I found out that she is also an Eagles member! So I'm going to have to go to her Eagles and check it out. I want to keep in contact with her.

Sunday was the picnic and it was a nice day and a small crowd showed up. By Sunday alot of people are getting back home. People come from other states and have to fly back. We even had a classmate show up that wasn't at either Fri or Saturday events. It was nice to see him.

So that's it for another five years!! We are trying to come up with some ideas of something different to do next time. One thought is to have our reunion on the Detroit Riverboat. They do reunions on Saturday nights with a Motown band and everything. And another thought is to have it at the gym inside the old high school. Now that would be a hoot!! Only problem with that is we wouldn't be able to have liquor in the school....bummer!!! Well, like the guys say...."we'll just sneak it in or drink outside like we use to"....haha

Ten Items or Less....

...and I had 12 items. What Would YOU Do? I got in the regular line. A while ago, I was in the so-called 'speedy' checkout and the b**** in front of me had an entire basket of crap. The cashier just kept ringing her up. I was giving her my "if looks could kill" look and doing the "eye-rolling" thing and she would glance up at me once in awhile as she kept piling her crap on the checkout. I was totally pissed when it was finally my turn. I said something to the dimwit cashier like "don't you think she had a bit more than 10 items?" He just gave a lame excuse like "well, it's hard to tell sometimes exactly". Hey MORAN...her whole fucking basket was full. I admit that most employees at WalBlack can't count worth a damn anyway.

So even with my two measily items over, I stepped down to the next regular cashier.

...and now on to another WWYD....(gonna be testing your honesty here...all you churchgoing folks!)

A few days ago I did some grocery shopping at my local grocery store up at my corner. When I got to my vehicle I proceeded to put all the bags in my jeep and there on the bottom of my cart way back in the corner was an item that I apparently missed.....a $5 item. I picked it up and marched right back into the store and went to the service desk and explained that I had missed an item in my cart and still needed to pay for it. I paid and she thanked me for coming back in.

WWYD???

A month ago I was shopping at Sears and bought a bathing suit. They sell the tops and bottoms separately so you can get the correct sizing. I had a top and a bottom. The cashier looked at the tag from the top and rang it up. She gave me my total. I knew she had missed the bottom, so I asked her if she rang up the bottom. She said she thought it was a 2-piece with one price. I showed her the tag on the bottom and she thanked me for being honest and rang it up.

WWYD??

I may not go to church, but I know right from wrong. And I like to sleep with a clear conscious. Whenever somebody thanks me for being honest, I always say..."I just want to be able to sleep tonight".

Fun weekend....

I made another trip back down to the Detroit Science Center again yesterday and saw the Star Trek Exhibit AGAIN for the second time. I know I already saw it but Sunday is the last day and it will probably be gone forever and I really wanted to see it again and take notes. So I brought a notepad with me and took lots of notes. There were alot of things to read on the walls with some interesting facts and I just couldn't remember most of it, so I took notes.

The DSC is really an interesting place with lots of other attractions on different floors. They also have a planetarium and an IMAX Theater. So I decided to join and become a member. So now I get lots of free admissions to things and discounted prices for others. After I joined I only had to pay 1/2 price for the Exhibit. And now I get free admission to the general stuff for a year. It's easy enough to drive to and I want to take hubby with me next time. I think he might enjoy it....and the Detroit Institute of Arts is right across the street and we can go there too!

Today I drove to Plymouth for the Plymouth Fall Festival. Parking is now a major rip-off though. I have gone to the festival before many times and now they are charging $5 to park everywhere and most of the side streets have "no parking - police order" signs. So basically you have to pay to park now or walk a long way. I know I paid $5 both times I went to Detroit but that's Detroit....you always have to pay in Detroit. Why should I have to pay to park in Plymouth??!!

That pain in my neck is still there but not as bad...I'm still taking the ibuprofen every day. Don't know how it would feel if I stopped taking it. I'll give it another week. Still waiting to hear about the blood test results. I'll probably give them a call tomorrow.

Arts and Funerals

I got back from Caseville yesterday and today I spent the afternoon at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Actually my original intent was to go to the Detroit Science Center and see the Star Trek Exhibit again. BUT after I drove down there and parked my car for five bucks, I found that it was closed today to the public. BUMMER! They apparently were having an end of the season staff party or something and I couldn't pass for an employee (!), so I asked the guy what else is there to see around that area and he reminded me that the DIA was right across the street. So since I already paid for parking I decided to get some art culture in for the day.

There is so much to see that I didn't get a chance to see everything on this trip. I didn't want to rush through it. There are 3 floors of various exhibits. I saw a mummy! I saw some works of Picasso and the self-portrait of Van Gogh. There was american indian exhibits, african american exhibits, european, american, contempory, modern exhibits....also, ancient greek and roman, asian and egyptian; and they had a special exhibit of photography. I didn't even finish the 2nd floor and I never got to the 3rd floor. So I'll definitely have to go down there again.
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When I got to Caseville, my neighbor next door told us that the neighbor on the other side of her died! He was only 53. We met him during my garage sale and he was going to buy my telescope but he never did come over with the money. Guess he won't be needing it now. And another lady that we knew through bingo died. She had been battling colon cancer for quite awhile. She had a real nice funeral. They carried the casket in a glass-enclosed carriage type hearse driven by two horses to the cemetery from the church.

Then I learned that George died! George was the guy who celebrated his 90th birthday at the Eagles last year. I have a good picture of him, his wife and myself. He was a truly nice heart-and-soul kind of guy. He use to love to sit with all the women and play the pull-tab games with us. He called us his "harem"...haha. A couple times when nobody else showed up except him and I we spent a few hours just talking. He told me all about his life during those conversations. He was a WWII vet. A few years back there was a special tribute to the veterans of WWII in Washington DC and someone called him and made arrangements for him to go and he said it was the best time. He was amazed at all the people/strangers who came up to him and "thanked him" for his service. He was so touched. I last saw him in the Cheeseburger Parade on a float with WWII veterans a month ago. His health was failing and he didn't get out much after that. He had a nice funeral, a military salute, an Eagles ritual and a great luncheon at the Eagles afterwards. I'll miss him.

"The Crossing"

I am currently reading the book "The Crossing" by Taylor Joseph. It's a fiction/young adult book which makes it an easy read (just love those type of books!). It's about a young 12 year old mexican girl who is living in poverty in Mexico with her widowed mother. Between the little work that the two can find, they barely get by. Then her world is turned upside down and she is separated from her mother and ends up in a child services home and everything seems hopeless. Her only hope is to be reunited with her mother. She hopes for a better life in the United States, but crossing the border illegally may be the price she has to pay for a stable home and security. It's a story about a girl's strength and determination for survival, freedom and a better life.

I guess I'm plugging this book because the author, Taylor Joseph, is the 16 year old daughter of friends of mine. They own one of the cottages at the condominium where our condo apartment is. It is at their cottage that my son keeps his jet ski. Their daughter is a very talented writer. She wrote "The Crossing" when she was only 15.

She also has a second book out called "Allison Investigates". It's about a girl who wants to become a detective and gets involved in a mystery. It's kind of a Nancy Drew type of book. I'm going to read that next.

She did a book signing during the Cheeseburger festival and I bought both of her books and she signed them. She is a very nice, sweet girl who also happens to be very talented.

Tomorrow I'm off to Caseville and will probably be seeing them. Larry, her father, is anxious for me to read her book. He says that I will be very impressed. I'm about half way through and Yes, I'm very impressed! I'll be gone for a week and will be back by next Thursday. That weekend, Plymouth is having their Fall Festival and the following weekend is my high school class reunion. So I'll be busy before I can get up there again.

I think hubby is coming up....not sure. I hope so, cause I want us to go to the Eagles on Saturday. And I bought a cabinet for the condo that I need him to put together for me. And besides, it will probably be the last time it will be summer weather up there to enjoy.

Last year during Labor Day weekend was when Lucky first got real sick and I thought we were going to lose him. I remember sleeping on the couch with him and watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon. It was a bad weekend last year. I'm trying not to dwell on it.

And it's kind of weird that Lucky had those enlarged lymph node glands in his neck and now I have this pain in my neck this year. Maybe it is really just all in my head.
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The Star Trek Exhibition has been extended to Sept. 13. I may go see it again when I get back!!

Pain, pain, go away...

My doctor thinks that what I have is more of a muscular pain rather than coming from the thyroid, but he took blood work and will check my thyroid levels and make sure that it is functioning properly. Even with thyroiditis, the websites say that the recommended treatment is basically ibuprofen and it should return to normal in time,...antibiotics if there is an infection, or sometimes steroids depending on the type. I have no fever to indicate an infection, so Doc said to take ibuprofen 3 times a day and it should clear up on its own whether it is from the thyroid or the muscle. I told him that I had been taking ibuprofen and it eases up but when I stop taking it, the pain comes back and it's been almost 3 weeks now. But I was only taking one tablet a couple times a day...he said to take 2 tabs 3 times a day. So that's what I'm doing. Even with the meds, I can still feel it. It's really weird.

I know that this started during the middle of Cheeseburger week in Caseville and the only thing I can think of that I did to result in a muscle thing is when I was carrying all 4 sling chairs back from the parade to the car. I had all 4 chair straps slung over my left shoulder with my purse and also carried the cooler with my right hand...and I had to walk from the park to the car which was a ways off. I could have had hubby carry two of the chairs but that would be too much to ask for and besides it was all he could do to simply WALK to the car cause he is so damn slow. I carried all that crap and still got there way ahead of him. So maybe I pulled something in my neck. But I swear that I first felt it during the day...even before the parade, but my memory may be a little fuzzed from all the beers...haha

Plus, in the beginning it was a slight discomfort that I was barely aware of and with time it has gotten worse to the point that it is up my jaw. I would think if it was muscular then it would have healed by now, not gotten worse. Although neck pain can be like that, I hear. But who knows. Anyway I'm waiting for the test results to be sure that it isn't my thyroid.

My doctor is funny. When he came into the room, I told him that with the internet now, people can now diagnose themselves...and he said, "Good, that will save me time and you can just tell me what's wrong"....hahaha