Staying busy!

We have certainly done our share of yard work lately. My mom's yard is quite beautiful now with all the fall stuff. But...there is a never-ending supply of mowing, weed-eating, chainsawing, etc. Also, I have been trying to finish some old embroidering that I started years ago in Houston. I like doing some hand work but my hand seems to go numb after a little while.

Today is a very nice fall day; there is a really wonderful breeze blowing. We haven't run the A/C in quite a few days. Thank God for that, as our electric bill was astronomical when it was hotter outside. Now our refrigerator is going out...again, so the landlady has to give us another one...again! The only thing that works now is the freezer and I don't know how much longer it will last. It is an old Montgomery Ward brand (brown, from '60s or '70s, I'll bet). This is a very old apartment building, but the rent is fairly reasonable. I suppose that is enough useless information for one blog! Good day all.

Yard Work Abounds!

My mom and I have worked our hind ends off for the past 4 days so far, on her yard! It is a very large place and she is really too old to handle all that work by herself. It is shaping up, but there is still a lot of work to do. The fall flowers are all blooming and, since the rain recently, everything just took off. Her nice neighbor mowed with his riding mower not too long ago (1st time it has needed this whole season!) and we are just trying to maintain and do the fine work (i.e., weed eating, trimming, grass digging in the ornamental garden). We are going to buy another weed eater so we can both get the areas that can't be mowed (and there are a lot of those). Then we will work on the county fair; she does "Ag in the classroom" for 3rd and 4th graders of all the elementary schools. Mom is so good with these kids and she thinks the world of them.

Trip to Hobby Lobby

Today was a travel day! Since our Walmart does no longer carry fabric, my mom and I were forced to go 47 miles just to get some material she needed to back a quilt. Isn't that a shame that we have nowhere here to buy fabric! I really think that I would like to open a small shop but it would be a big investment and I am still waiting for my house. Anyway, it was a nice trip and my car gets really good gas mileage. Gas has gone down but not near enough. I remember the days of 19 cents a gallon gas; however, we had a gas hog car. Oh, well, those days are gone but not forgotten. There I go, waxing nostalgic! I feel old now, but that goes with the territory. My baby is over 30 now, so...anyway, I will close on that note!

RAIN, BLESSED RAIN!

Today we had several nice showers; it has been great! West Texas was drying up until recently but now it is fairly pleasant. I am glad this week is over! I finally sold the stock that I had bought after four days of anxiety-filled hours. YEA!! I ran into an old friend of mine and was really glad to talk with her. We used to work together when I was a nurse; she was so nice and very helpful to me when I needed it. She has gone through the same stuff that I went through at work but she still wants to work until she can't stand it anymore. I would like to visit with her sometime in the near future, if possible. I have another friend in Houston that I email all the time; I wish I could see her and her family again. They are great people and I miss them but don't miss Houston at all. I am just a small town girl and that is what I will remain.

The Stock Market

WOW! The stock market is such a bummer this week! At least the stock that I have been trading is going down hill fast. I hope I don't lose too much more or I will scream! Maybe it will come back up, but who knows. It is so nerve racking and ties my stomach up in knots but I will keep trying until I can't stand it anymore. I guess it takes a lot of dedication and guess work to be able to do this. I am just looking forward to our vacation in October. I hope that we can go to the San Juan Islands; I will have to check into this. My wonderful husband suggested it and it sounds great! I really don't like flying that much but that is okay if the vacation itself is a worthwhile time. My husband has some great ideas for vacations and being married to him has been the blessing of my life. I never want to lose him!

SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIE

I am watching a movie right now called "Black and Blue". It is about an abused wife; her husband is a cop. You know what? This brings back very real and painful memories for me. I had a "room mate" who was a nurse and I had known him for years, but not well enough. However, he became abusive toward me and I should have left when he first started, but didn't. Six months later he beat the living daylights out of me and tried to kill me in my own kitchen. I was a psych nurse at that time and didn't really know what dissociative episodes were like, except that the patients had them. I found out exactly what they were going through. Sometimes that feeling comes over me and it is hard to ignore. I hope that any woman that experiences abuse from any man will find help! I did some volunteer work for the Victims Services/Rape Crisis, so that helped, but I still have some really bad memories from it. It has been 10 years now and still the memory is very fresh. Ladies, if you or any of your friends are going through this, please, I beg of you, get some help! You are not alone and the laws are better now. This man didn't get in any trouble; the grand jury "no billed" it, due to lack of evidence, they claimed. Would he have had to kill me to get the punishment he deserved?

Issue of Weight

I guess that I have a weight problem; oh, heck, I'll admit it, I have a weight problem. I love to eat; I tried so many times to lose weight by exercise and sometimes diet, but the word"diet" just makes me hungrier!! I have lost weight in the past just by being extremely busy and active, but if I ever strayed from that lifestyle--boom! Here comes the fat! When we were children, we were always told to eat everything on our plate, even if we didn't like it. Now...I like everything on my plate! I have tried so hard to be moderate, but there are those cravings. And...on top of that, since I can remember, my mother has told me that I was born overweight. Now that is a stigma that has gone on for 50-something years and I guess that it is ingrained in my psyche! Maybe that is a poor excuse, but I have never, ever been a small person. Even when I was smaller, I was no size 0! There is so much emphasis on being slim to the point of anorexia or bulimia for some women! How can that be any healthier than eating what you like? When my husband and I met, we were both a lot thinner, but now not so thin. However, he is trying to lose weight and I don't want him to be thinner than I am!! I can't seem to find a happy medium for this problem and I am a healthy woman, but not a comfortable woman. I have considered many different things, including stomach stapling, lipo, tummy tucks, etc. The list is endless. I sometimes pray that the Lord does not let me live too much longer, if this is what I am to endure. I can't imagine being fat and old at the same time.