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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I'VE KISSED ENOUGH FROGS


As we all know, the journey of life is taken in small steps sometimes. I took one small step today. As I said yesterday, I had contacted a fourth contractor to get a leaky roof repaired. HE SHOWED UP. That's the good news. He was able to give me an estimate lower than the last guy, who never came back the day of the job.

He said he would tarp the roof until Friday, in order to let this rain and wind pass. Then checking the weather reports for this area, Thursday looks like some sun and clouds, but no rain. He said it would need one day to dry out some, so he would be there on Friday to replace the roof. The estimate was acceptable, he set a date to do the work, and unlike any of the other contractors (the ones who did show up to at least look at it), he gave me a WRITTEN estimate and contract to do the job. FINALLY, some professionalism. It DOES exist!

I went to Walmart to purchase a tarp so I could keep it after the repair, and he went to his construction trailer to get the item needed to tack it down. (They were red, larger than the grommets on the tarp, and he nailed them onto the roof, and the tarp stayed in place. First step accomplished.

When he gave me the estimate to do the ceiling repair, caused by the leaking roof, I was overjoyed for a moment - as well as a little shocked. The estimate was a little less than half what the previous guy was going to charge. Surprise-Surprise.

I have learned that some local contractors really don't want the work around here; and that they overcharge to make a fast buck if they do say they'll do the work. But when you finally find an honest, professional businessman, it's worth the wait. Like the old saying, 'you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.' Get several estimates and compare the work ethics before you find the one that really wants to do the work.

He is betting on dry weather on Friday and plans to do both the roof and the ceiling in one day. Of course, he will have to come back on Saturday to put the second coat of mud on the drywall, then paint it, but that won't take long. I'm sure my son is looking forward to a dry, and warm weekend inside his house for a change.

ONWARD AND UPWARD WE GO...

Monday, October 29, 2012

ROOF OR LEAK?


Now that the plumbing nightmare is over, I move on to the next stage of repair. The kitchen roof leaks and needs to be fixed. It was sunny, warm and nice for several days last week, and I tried really hard to get this project started.

I posted a request on Facebook asking for suggested roofers. I got three responses. I called the first one. He came over and gave me an estimate that was obviously way too high. I guess he didn't really want the job. His wife recently bought out a business here, and I think he's been too busy helping get the place going. I called him three times and left messages regarding his estimate and work, but he never returned one phone call. Moving on...

I went to the next suggested person on the list. We made an appointment to meet at the house. I was there, he was not. He never called. I called and left a message, but, of course, no return phone call. Moving on...

I went to the third person on the list. We made an appointment to meet and get an estimate. He did show up. He was nice and I thought it was finally going to work out. He gave me an estimate, I accepted and we had a verbal agreement to do the work asap. It was scheduled for last week Thursday, a nice sunny day for roof work. It's only 3-square of roll roofing - how hard can that be?

I was there waiting, and when his truck showed up, I didn't see any materials in the back of his truck. He was on the phone as he arrived. He said he had a pressing problem at his farm and had to leave and would come back later, or call. It was scheduled to rain on Friday, so I was anxious to hear from him. Late in the day, he finally called to say he would not be back; he was still working on his farm problem. I tried to call him back to see when he would be able to return, and left a message. No return phone call. I called again the next day and left another message to please call me back. No return phone call. The next day I tried one more time, left my final message that a courtesy call would be appropriate, especially since we had a verbal agreement to do the job and we agreed on the price.

Needless to say, I got no return phone call at all. To me, that shows a lack of professionalism and work ethic. I was sorely disappointed, because I thought I had finally found the right contractor/repairman.

I was, however, wrong again. There was never a return phone call, no courtesy, no ethics, no professionalism, and it rained. The kitchen ceiling leaked again. I was on my way home and noticed a home in my neighborhood was having a garage roof done. I stopped to talk to the roofer. He was actually a drywall specialist, who also does roofing, but not roll roofing. He gave me the name and phone number of his boss, who could do the job.

Moral: forget Facebook, just drive around until you find someone who is actually doing the kind of job you need and ask questions!

Today, I called the boss, whose company is a restoration company that does all kinds of repair work and building. We talked about the job, what happened to me, and what I needed asap. He agreed to come to the house tomorrow and tarp the roof, get some material estimates and give me an estimate right away. If we can come to an agreement on the price, he will watch for a small break in the rain this week, and do the job immediately. At least I have the first step set in motion. In a few hours, when morning comes and the rain buckets in the kitchen are full, hopefully the roof will be tarped to prevent further damage and the repairs can being soon.

Thank goodness I had a good plumber, and the city was cooperative and worked with me to get the first job accomplished, despite the long drawn out process of it. So if I can finally get the kitchen roof repaired and the leaks stopped, I can move on to getting the kitchen ceiling fixed - water damage from the leak. I'm determined and steadfast in my effort to get this project accomplished. When an obstacle is put in my path, I just work that much harder to reach my goal.

ONWARD AND UPWARD! Stay tuned.....

Friday, October 26, 2012

ONE FIXED


The plumbing situation is finally fixed. The city sewer department jetted the main from the sewer line in the street. The lateral is open and things are flowing normally again. He did the green-dye test from inside the house and it was fine too. No more leaks, no more plumbers. This very large truck appeared and soon the city was jetting my cleanout from the backyard to double check the flow from there to the main line.

They did a great job. I went to Ace Hardware to purchase the cap for the extra drain line pipe in the basement at the request of the sewer guy. All the extra water in the basement is now flowing down the drain and tomorrow it will be dry again. Whoohoo.

One problem done and one more to go.

Of course, in all the running around, getting parts, traveling from one end of this town to the other, which is much to complicated to explain, I did have one mishap. The city guy was leaving and he mentioned that it looked like I had a near flat tire on the rear passenger side of my truck. Since I was near EZ Oil, I went by there to get some air in the tire and the mechanic said I had a nail in the tire. He put air in the tire so I could get to the tire shop across town. They took the tire off, fixed the hole, and I was back on the road again, coming across town to home.

I was so tired after six hours of non-stop errands and meeting with people, a nap was in my afternoon for sure. At least I can say that I overcame one hurdle, and am moving on to the next. ONWARD AND UPWARD!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A BANG-BANG DAY

I wore myself out today - work and play.

First thing this morning, I met the city guy from the sewer department at the plumbing-problem house. Because of the backup in two houses, he and his crew will return Thursday to run a dye test and jet the line from the manhole where the four houses on the street connect to the main line. The building inspector also showed to measure the lot so the property line could be determined. I spent yesterday going from the City Service Department, to the Building Inspector's office, to the Auditor's Office, to the Map Office, to the Recorder's Office looking at plats and getting measurements. I am happy to report that the fence in the backyard belongs to the neighbor - complete with a tree growing up with the fence in the middle of it. His tree too!

Things are finally getting solved - slowly but surely.


I arrived back home at noon, just in time for my friend to get there. The house is now clean as a whistle. It looks so good. I took photographs of all the items I will be selling on Facebook yard sale. I have a clean hallway with nothing in the walkway to stumble on. That was the biggest thing. But bigger yet - my guest room is now a truly neat guest room ready for company. It was thoroughly cleaned and all boxed and extra items moved into the office room to be sorted out. I have been trying to get this done for some time now. (Ok, MDC, your getaway is ready!)

After all the housework was done, I did rest for about an hour after an early supper (which now days is just a baked potato). Then one more event scheduled for 5:30 pm.


I have been looking forward to this one for a couple weeks. The Fayette County Fish and Game Association maintains a shooting range on Robinson Road and is open every Tuesday for those who get there between 5:30-6:00 pm. John picked me up at 5:20 pm. and we headed over there for our practice shoot. The last time I did any shooting was my Correctional Officer qualification test in 2005 with a Smith & Wesson 38, an 870 Shotgun, and a 22 Rifle. Using a 9mm is quite different. We used the range for 30 minutes and did our practice shots. The range instructor, Don, was very nice and helpful. I am now ready for my conceal carry course and test next month. When I left work at the prison, I could have transferred my Ohio weapons qualification to a conceal carry right away, but I failed to do so; therefore, I have to take the Ohio course. John, who already has his license, is taking me to that next month.


To me, getting my permit is like taking the EMT course in 2000, passing the test, and getting my EMT license in Ohio, which I held for six years. I worked with the Fayette County Life Squad and an ambulance service for a while. It is an achievement I can say I accomplished in my life for personal satisfaction.

Monday, October 22, 2012

SICK OF IT


There are only 15 days left before the General Election of 2012. I rarely post political items on my blog, but tonight I noticed that there were so many back-to-back commercials from the Romney campaign, it made me sick. The ads are lies, he flip flops so many times you don't know what he's really for, before he's against it. I am so sick of political ads, especially since one news article I read said that the GOP was flooding the battleground states with an over abundance of advertising.

I am sick of Romney's lies, and the twisting of facts. I'm sick of Romney's bullying attitude and lack of empathy for real people. He is only out for his rich cronies, but he's lying to the American people that he will help the poor and seniors. They will privatize Social Security and no future generation will ever be able to take advantage of what we have now. He will cut funding for education, Planned Parenthood, and food stamps - which help the poor. He will cut funding for all the agencies that help the poor, because he doesn't care about the poor. He will give HUGE tax cuts for his rich friends so they can become richer and this country can become an oligarchy. He is for inequality and a justice system for the rich only.

His foreign policy is as follows:
Step 1: Get the facts wrong
Step 2: Undermine long-standing relationships with your allies
Step 3: Frequently highlight your lack of experience
Step 4: Assemble a team of ideologues committed to endless war
Step 5: Mistake your enemies

He doesn't know anything about foreign policy. He goes abroad and insults three countries on one trip. He also insulted Russia, who is our ally regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal. He is ready to declare two wars and put our country at risk for a long time.

If all the millions spent on false political ads went into entitlement programs and help for the poor, we would have far less hunger and homeless in this country. We send too much aid overseas and don't take care of our own like we should.

Please, please, let these next 15 days pass quickly and the election be over and our President be reelected to serve another four years. This country needs his steady leadership and great wisdom so future generations can benefit as we have the past four years. I have already voted early, so each time I hear one of the disgusting lying ads Romney is spewing in Ohio, it just make me sick. Good thing there's a mute button on the remote!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

FRAZZLED


Some people hate Mondays. I don't. I was born on a Monday and Monday's have mostly been good days all my life. I have now come to hate Fridays. Yesterday in particular.

I have been dealing with a plumbing issue. The first plumber visit was not productive and did not provide the results anticipated. But one problem was found and on the second plumber visit (same plumber), the shower drain that had separated from the sewer drain pipe, causing major water to collect on the basement floor, was fixed and an old mis-routed pipe was connected properly.

It was finally determined that a third visit was needed to find out why the sewer line was not draining properly, and was still backing up on the basement floor. So Friday I stayed home waiting for the plumber to call to say what time he would be able to fix the problem (not at my house).

At noon, I finally called and was told between 2pm and 4pm to be expecting a call and visit. At 3pm, I received a call from the plumber that he was unavoidably detained due to a problem found at a different residence where he was working.

In the meantime, as the time approached for that call, a friend called me and was all upset and needed assistance. Her husband is very ill and she could not get him into her car to take him to the emergency room. I told her to call 911 and get an ambulance. I assisted by directing EMS to her driveway.

The plumber called, and I was on the way to meet him. My friend called from the hospital (second call) and was getting ready to come home, because her husband was being transferred to a Columbus hospital. She is in a wheelchair and I have always assisted her when I can. I drove to the plumber's destination, and when I saw he was not there yet, and my phone rang again from the hospital, I left my location and went to the emergency room to make sure she got home alright. I just can't be in two places at once, but I sure try hard.

I began texting my son with all this information. I kept him up to the minute with the changes and my need to clone myself for the afternoon. Luckily, he left his out of town location and came to my rescue. He arrived at the location to greet the plumber before I got there. Sometimes I need four hands instead of two, but with his busy schedule, he is not always able to be there for me. Today he was. What a relief. I can usually handle one crisis at a time, but throw two at me at once, I have to call for reinforcements.

After getting my friend safely into her house, I went back to deal with the plumbing issue. At least this time, we found out what the problem was in a more direct way. The jetting and camera intrusion into the sewer line found a blockage of some sort, but it could not be corrected from inside the house. The plumber went out into the yard and found the cleanout pipe and the location of the line coming from the house, and where it turned to connect to the city sewer lines. Oh, Joy!

After trying the camera in the cleanout pipe, a clog was found, so the water jetter was again used to unclog it. What we found in the early stage of the cleanout pipe was amazing.

The next door neighbor used to put their barbeque grill next to the back fence, near the cleanout drain - which I learned had no cap on it. We found tin foil, a plastic water bottle, and various other yard items in the drain. The grill is now put away for the winter, but paper plates and other debris still line the fence where the grill used to stand. A call to the landlord of that house is first on my agenda for next week (my third call related to this incident).

The jetting of the cleanout pipe was so strong that a backflush of water could be seen spraying out into the yard, but the clog was finally gone and the water in the basement started to exit out the overflow drain in the basement floor. The plumbing in this house was fine for six years, but has recently reared its ugly head. I was not financially prepared for this at all.

Of course, it was also raining today so by the time the job was finished, I was soaked and ready to go home to a warm house and dry clothes. When I got home, I called my friend to check on her and her husband in the Columbus hospital. Since she cannot drive that far, I have offered to drive her to Columbus today (Saturday), so I will wait for her call and do just that.

My diet has been very successful and the 15 pounds I lost in the last 30 days is great, and it has given me so much more energy, but I didn't expect to exhaust all that energy in one day, going from one location, to hospital, to friend's house, to plumber and back. I feel like I've been on the treadmill and it won't slow down.

I am the dependable one, always willing to carry the burden, help whenever I can, until I am worn out. But, as I take one day at a time, I will move forward, not look back, and just take life as it comes...sometimes taxing my last nerve, but I am a survivor. I will survive to deal with the next crisis in my life, as I always have in the past.

Friday, October 19, 2012

WALK ON WATER?


Two guys were fishing down by the Ohio River on different sides of the riverbank at night. Guy number one was catching a whole bunch of fish for his family, but guy number two hadn't caught any and was frustrated and called out to guy number one "How come you've been catching all them there fish and I ain't caught a single one?"

Guy number one replied, "I don’t know....why don’t ya come on over here?"

"I don’t know....I don’t see a bridge, and their aint no boat, and I don’t swim to well."

Guy number one picks up his flashlight, turns it on, and replies, "Why don’t you walk across this here beam of light?"

Guy number two was outraged and replied "Do you think I'm stupid? When I get half way, you'll turn it off!!!"

Thursday, October 18, 2012

COCKY

A cocky State Highway employee stopped at a farm and talked with an old farmer. He told the farmer, "I need to inspect your farm for a possible new road."

The old farmer said, "OK, but don't go in that field." The Highway employee said, "I have the authority of the State Government to go where I want. See this card? I am allowed to go wherever I wish on farm land."

So the old farmer went about his farm chores.

Later, he heard loud screams and saw the State Highway employee running for the fence and close behind was the farmer's prize bull. The bull was madder than a nest full of hornets and the bull was gaining on the employee at every step!!

The old farmer called out, "Show him your card!!"


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

CLASSICAL PIANO


The second in the Fayette Area Community Concert Association series was Sunday afternoon at the Washington Middle School Auditorium. Classical concert pianist Yana Reznik is supported by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest.

Yana Reznik was born in Russia and started playing piano at the age of six. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California, and a professional Studies Certificate from the Colburn School of Performing Arts. You can see her list of music performed on the following program.


As she plays, her hands and arms are fluid with movement, and her head motions show she is really into her music and performance. She plays WITHOUT the use of any sheet music; all pieces are from memory and flow easily to her fingers.

She got a standing ovation and came back to play one more song. She then met the crowd in the lobby of the auditorium to sign autographs. She has a YouTube channel featuring many of her performances, one of which she mentioned at the beginning of her last presentation, which can be seen below.


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

READY FOR WINTER

In my quest to ready my yard for winter, I called the guy who usually does my garden work and yard tasks. He was a no-show twice. So the first weekend of October, I got out my electric clippers and cut down my peonies and garden overgrowth myself. It took a couple hours and some raking and cleaning up afterwards, but it was done. Mother ALWAYS reminded me that on October 1st, or as close to it as possible, cut the peonies down six inches from the ground so they will bloom better each year. I have ALWAYS done that with success.

I needed the front porch cleaned off and again waited for the yard guy or other assistance. More no-shows. Saturday it was a nice sunny day so I took it upon myself not to wait for help that was not coming. I removed all the porch furniture to the yard, hosed them down and took each item to the backyard to put in the shed for winter.


The porch was so dirty (in my opinion) and I was tired of all the spider webs everywhere. I brought the water hose from the backyard and with the jet sprayer, and proceeded to vigorously clean the dirt from every area of the front of the house and overhang. All around the front windows there were black spots of dirt and former webs. In some areas it took a brush to loosen the dirt to be washed away. In the awning overhead, I had to work left to right and right to left to get the dirt washed from all the corners and cracks. Aluminum cleans easy enough, but there are so many different rails and posts. The water falls onto the porch, and when the wind blew, I got wet as well.

I also sprayed off the bricks on the front of the house, and cleaned off around the garage door, which also collected dirt and webs. The railings on both sides of the ramp also got the webs washed away. After all the debris collected on the porch floor, the floor was sprayed at least three times to be clean. I know my water bill will surely escalate next month!


Since the driveway could not be neglected, I also hosed off the cracks and dirt from the driveway to be consistent. The rest of the yard ornaments were also put away. The final result was a clean porch and driveway, and satisfaction that I did a good job - by myself!

I was tired but not done yet. Moving to the backyard, I pulled the 50+ feet of hose onto the grass and proceeded to open the shed to see how much room I had. After some rearranging of a few boxes, I was able to stack the porch furniture inside and the left side door is now like Fibber McGee's closet - open carefully because it will fall out.

I was on my last breath of energy when I tried to turn the handle of the hose reel, but I just gave out. I had nothing more to give in the energy department. My shoes, socks, pant legs, and shirt were wet from working out front, therefore, I decided it was time to quit for the day, after four hours work. I was in bed at 5pm for the night to recover. I'm just not used to that kind of hard work - alone.

The hose still needs to be reeled in, the bench that sits under the tree in the front yard needs to be on the porch for winter protection, but my strength has gone on vacation without me, so I will again wait for it to return. Sometimes you just have to rely on the one person who can get the job done, when all else fails, YOURSELF.

Monday, October 15, 2012

KEEP THE INSANITY


HOW TO KEEP A HEALTHY LEVEL OF INSANITY AND DRIVE OTHER PEOPLE INSANE


1. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

2. Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits. Always wear them one day after your boss does. This is especially effective if your boss is the opposite gender.

3. Put mosquito netting around your cubicle.

4. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.

5. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "IN."

6. When driving colleagues around, insist on keeping your car's windshield wipers running during all weather conditions to keep 'em tuned up.

7. Reply to everything someone says with, "That's what you think."

8. Highlight irrelevant information in scientific papers, then cc them to your boss.

9. Finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy."

10. At lunchtime, sit in your parked car and point a hair dryer at passing cars to see if they slow down.

11. Specify that your drive-thru order is "to go."

12. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.

13. Or just bug your son so much he gets ticked off at you.




Wednesday, October 10, 2012

FORGETTABLE


I must be a forgettable character today.

A group dinner that has been on the calendar for a month was forgotten, like me. After two emails and one phone call, I showed up to pick up my friend to travel to see our friends in the group. I didn't think anything about her car not being in the driveway since she has recently has some work done on it. After sitting for a bit, I finally called to see why she had not come out of the house. She wasn't home. She said she had another function to attend, yet didn't let me know.

I had a cold flair up some last night, but I was not going to let the others down and be a no-show in spite of it. However, the night was blown, so I went home and went to bed to cure my cold and depression.

This evening the phone rang. After a few minutes of the conversation, the person said I'll call you back, someone else important was calling. I fell asleep holding the phone. When I awoke, I texted to see if things were ok. I was forgotten and life went on.

About two weeks ago, I had a slight cold. I took some cold medicine and it went away. Or so I thought. Last night it came back and it was hard to breathe. I went to the store to buy more cold medicine today since it decided to visit my sinus's again. I need it to go away so I can get my flu shot, which has been schedule at the doctor's office.

Just another obstacle in my path. I just overcame one today. I finished producing the newsletter for which I am Editor and it needed to be mailed today. However, the group would not give me a check in advance to pay for it. So I worked out a deal with the printer regarding the price of future issues, and paid for it myself. I spent last evening folding, labeling and sorting the 202 issues and took them to the post office at noon today. I also paid the mailing costs. Now I can submit the receipts for full reimbursement. Just another step in my quest to keep a good reputation for an on-time good product.

Moving on - whether I am a forgettable character or not.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

NEW NORMAL


THIS IS MY NEW NORMAL. A salad with a small sprinkling of shredded cheese, raw carrots, a pealed Clementine orange, and four sliced strawberries. I also added the small vegetable chips in the bottom of the leftover raw cauliflower/broccoli bag. Sometimes I add a handful of raisins or walnuts.

For lunch, I ate a plain baked sweet potato, which was a new-try for me these days. I usually have plain baked russet potatoes. AND more and more water.

I am into week three of this diet and heading for week four and my doctor's analysis of my progress. I can already tell the shorts I wore today, because it was a warm 76 degree day out, are looser on me than they were a month ago. YAHOOOOOOOOOOO

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

WHICH IS WORSE?


I don't know which is worse...the spider and web cascading off the corner of my porch awning, (the spider can be seen in the blue area below the awning), the wasps nest afixed to the top of the roof, or the forgotten birds nest up in the corner.

The birds nest should have been removed after the mother and babies left the nest, but I forgot about it. Being up in the corner, it was not so visible and I don't really look up in the corners each time I leave the house. Next season I will keep up with this.

I had no idea that a wasps nest had been made up there. I really didn't have a problem with the flying pests this summer and, again, I didn't look up to see that corner after the birds left the nest.

My problem this year has been multiple spider webs on my front porch in various areas. This spider is bigger than any other I've seen so far.

I had someone scheduled to clean my front porch and to prepare the front yard for the coming winter, but he didn't show up last week Thursday. Then he said he'd be here Monday, which also didn't happen. On Saturday, I got out in the yard and picked up all my little yard ornaments and put them back in their winter box home. I also used my clippers to cut down my 4 peony bushes out front, as Mother always taught me - October 1 is the time to cut them back to 6 inches from the ground if you want them to bloom well the next year. I have always kept up that tradition.

I'm glad there are a few warm days left in this month, according to the meteorologists I listen to, so I can clean off my porch, put the furniture away for winter, and hose off the dirt and webs. The yard mowing man was here today and did the last cutting and trimming of the grass for the season. Fall preparations are almost complete!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

FIRST GOAL ATTAINED


After hearing a presentation by an herbalist recently, then watching the Dr. Oz Show, as I do frequently, I did some online research on some health issues that might be affecting me. I learned that the items I was studying are not always things doctors will tell you about or actively look for in a diagnosis. After all, some doctors TREAT not CURE, because you will keep coming back to be TREATED if you are not CURED.

As a child, I had many allergies and had all the usual allergy tests at various stages of life. Originally, I was allergic to milk and life started with soybean formula. I eventually outgrew that and now LOVE milk, but only drink 1% (fat) milk. As far as I've always been told, by former doctors, I outgrew all my allergies except the fall airborne ones like pollen, ragweed, etc. But now, I am beginning to wonder and seek new answers.

After all my research, I made a plan and set a goal. I needed to detox my body of all sugars, white flours, and processed foods. The first week I ate only fruits and vegetables and drank lots of water. The second week I added one meal of a gluten free pasta (spaghetti) with Ragu all natural sauce, no additives. I had been avoiding all dairy products. I ate walnuts every day for their nutritional value.

When I visited one website for gluten intolerance, I combined that information with Dr. Oz's informational show on the same subject, and came to the conclusion that I might have acquired a gluten intolerance which can manifest itself after many years, especially if allergies were in a person's past. I learned that I should use butter instead of margarine, not eat any processed foods, omit all sugars as much as possible, and avoid wheat, barley, rye, and oat ingredients.

I have successfully completed two full weeks of my new diet regime eating only oranges, grapes, clementines, drinking apple juice, eating canned vegetables, fresh broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and have now added baked potatoes, gluten free pasta, raisins, apple slices dipped in peanut butter, and chicken breast (skinless/boneless) to my menu.

My first goal was completing two weeks on this diet; my next goal is to complete 30 days see my weight loss success grow. I have eliminated all forbidden foods from my home and no longer do "fast food" and if I eat out, it must be a salad for now.

I am feeling better, especially since I had no idea I had any gluten intolerance. Various symptoms of other problems (such as IBS) have so far been eliminated. The genetic modification of grains in these modern times are not healthy eating. The whole grains raised by our ancestors were much better and healthier than the altered states now produced. That's the reason gluten intolerance has become a more recognized state than ever before and manufacturers are being forced to make a variety of gluten free foods.

I look forward to my next two weeks and surprising my doctor with the results and news of my findings and my success story. Upward and Onward to HEALTH.

Monday, October 1, 2012

RINGTONES

Ever since I got my first Smartphone, I learned the value of knowing who was calling when my phone rings. Therefore, I made sure to learn more about ringtones.

Most cell phones will allow you to assign a specific ringtone to a specific caller. Old cell phones will not do this. Once I got spoiled with this new feature, I won't go back because it is such a wonderful idea.

I have seven specific people in my “favorites” category on my phone and each has a ringtone especially for them. For example:

LAW & ORDER – my favorite TV show is for my favorite son.


SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS – is for my susquipedalian friend.


BIRD DANCE (sometimes called the Chicken Dance) – is for my favorite nephew.


OVER THE HORIZON – is for someone who makes me feel energized, healthier and happier a few times each month.

MEOW MEOW MEOW SONG (from the TV commercial) - is for my friend and neighbor who also loves animals and has two cats.

TOP GUN – is for the woman who helps me keep my house organized, neat and clean.


DANCE OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY – is for an out-of-town gal friend who is like a fairy godmother animal rescue advocate.


I have a choice of several pre-installed ringtones for all other callers and I change that one now and then as the mood warrants. Right now it's The Peanuts Theme, because I love Charlie Brown and Snoopy.


It makes for variety and as “they” say – variety is the spice of life.