Well, again!

Okay, I'm feeling much better today. Spent most of the time yesterday sleeping and maybe it is gone now. I had a flu shot last October so maybe I had a milder case and was able to shake it off faster. Hope that was the case. I would like to think that those flu shots I endure every year are doing some good!

Moving on to something I heard on television this morning that really ticked me off. It's regarding our military personnel. When they are about to be released from the service, they are presented with a bill. WHAT? Yes, these men and women that our country has sent to war presents them with a bill for lost or missing items such as guns, helmets, uniforms, boots, etc. On that bill they are also charged for normal wear and tear of above mentioned items. This bill is given to them so the military can supposedly account to the American taxpayer for spending so much on the war! They are not given their separation papers until the bill is paid! Most of the bills are no more than $500. or $600. dollars. What in the hell is this about. I am outraged that our men and women who have served their country are billed for items that have been damaged or are missing! This is a 'war zone' they have been in for heaven's sake. What do they expect? Yes, some things will come up missing and or damaged. There are bombs going off and incoming mortar and enemy fire aimed at them. It is inevitable that items will be 'damaged' or 'missing'!

Something needs to be done to stop this unnecessary billing of items to our troops who fight for our freedom and support those who run our country!!

Just a few words to say I'll not be posting until I'm feeling better....fever, chills, achy body and severe headache!

Looking forward to reading and blogging soon!

My Hero for today.....

I just received a call from our youngest daughter in Kentucky and she has become my 'hero' for the day. She called to tell me that they finally have a diagnosis for her oldest son. He has a form of ADHD but there is only 1% of the population that has this form of it. The Doctor doing the diagnosis will need to work closely with the counselors at school and the special education people to see that he now gets the counseling and special attention that he needs.

I am so proud of our daughter. She stuck with the doctor appointments and didn't take "no" for an answer. Some of the doctors told her there was nothing wrong with her boy, but Rachel knew otherwise. They told her it was she and not him that was the problem. This caused many tears on her part and a feeling of failure as a mom. I am outraged that this went on so long and she had to feel this way. But she was persistent and didn't give up. She finally got him into a child psychologist trained to do the testing that he needed. When she was a little girl, we thought that her stubbornness would cause her problems when she was grown. How wrong we were! That stubbornness had paid off big time for her and our grandson!

Thanks, Rachel for not giving up. I know it hasn't been easy for you but I want you to know that I am very proud of you for following through with this. Love you more than you know!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow............

Somewhere Else!!! That's my feelings on the subject of more snow heading our way for the weekend. Rebecca north of Boston recently posted a nostalgic post about snow when she was a child. She seems to be yearning, for lack of a better word, for some really decent snowfall, so if I can figure out a way to send some snow that is already on the ground and this new prediction of snow for this weekend to her I will be able to sleep well tonight knowing I have made two woman happy....Rebecca and Me!!

We don't have any plans as of yet for the weekend. I think we'll just play it by ear and if something wonderful to do presents itself we will jump on it. Otherwise we shall have a quite weekend at home......no grandchildren this weekend....very unusual for us! I wonder if we'll survive !!

Amber was here for the weekend. Although she spent most of Saturday at her Daddy's house. I had to take her there and pick her up but I do it for her because I think it's important that she have a relationship with him. It's a long story for another time.

While she was here, I wanted to get a new picture of her but my camera was without batteries. She just got her hair cut and it is really cute on her....and a whole lot easier for her to take care of. Although she is almost 12, there is still a lot of little girl left in her (thank goodness) and I don't see a lot of signs of early sexiness I see in a some girls her age. She needs a hair style that is easy for her to care for since she hasn't reached the stage or maybe never will of being a 'girly girl'! But I remember Naive at the age of 12 having to be pushed into showering and shampooing her hair. Fortuately it didn't last long so I am hopeful that Amber will grow out of this stage in due time.

We are under a winter storm watch once again beginning tomorrow morning and going through Wednedsay morning. I think the amount of snow will depend on the path of the storm coming out of Kansas and Missouri. We are getting a considerable amount of snow today that is probably lake effect snow and hubby is out on his John Deere with the plow attached and clearing the driveway once again. Oh well, at least it's something to keep him busy while he is laid off.......

Winter silliness!

Here are a couple pictures from Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007. They are taken in my driveway during a calm in the gale force winds of our blizzard. If you look close, you can see that Prancer is wearing a coat! She hated it....it is now going to put in with the garage sale items. We removed the coat shortly after this picture was taken and she seemed to enjoy herself a lot more. We did make Amber leave her coat on though! Ha-ha! We took a tape measure outside the next day and measured the snow and it was 2 feet 8 inches. Not the biggest snowfall on record here for a period of 36 hours, but enough snow for me!

I am looking forward to spring after all this. Especially since I received a lovely spring looking card in the mail from my dear friend Smalltown RN at "A Place I call Home"! It was just what I needed to chase those winter doldrums away and here it is just a couple days later and the sun is shining so brightly I can hardly see the computer screen as I type. I closed the blinds, just a little, I don't want to shut out that beautiful yellow glow reflecting off the snow covered backyard. My spirits are lifted and I want to thank Smalltown RN for starting that process in motion.

The Blizzard of 2007

This is a picture of Amber sliding down the driveway ~ backwards! She insisted on going out to play in the blizzard but didn't stay out too long!! This picture was taken at a lull in the wind so you can't really tell that we are in the middle of a blizzard.

Well, it has been snowing here for the last several days, and today they changed all advisories and warnings to a BLIZZARD WARNING! The last time I remember it being this bad here was back in 1976 when they had to close the freeways down.

They have had to do that again today periodically for multi-car pileups. The last one was near us, about 5 miles east of where we live in Allegan County on the 131 freeway. They closed it in both directions while they cleaned up the accidents. They are saying all injuries are minor, thank goodness.

The television has a running banner along the bottom of the screen with all the closings. They have closed all the malls in Grand Rapids and surrounding areas today along with the movie theaters. I don't think they have ever closed the malls or movie theaters here before. They have already cancelled several church services for tomorrow too. And some local factories are shutting down today with no 2nd shift or 3rd shift reporting. Many restaurants have closed early and sent their employees home before it became dark.

We didn't go anywhere today. Amber is with us and is supposed to go home tomorrow, but if the roads and conditions are like this, she just may be staying another night. We did, however, go outside and play in this stuff because Amber insisted that it wasn't THAT cold! So, we all bundled up and went outside and she got her sled out of the shed, hopped on it and went down the hill. Bumpa even joined her for a few runs down the hill himself! We weren't out very long though as the wind picked up and the windchill dropped to about -10 we decided to come in and get warm.