One of Lilyana's Christmas gifts

The first few times that Lilyana used the Play dough press, she saw what comes out the other side and said eewwwwww!

She was fun to play with and it kept her busy and held her interest for at least one hour, which is excellent for a nearly two year old

Just wish I were this strong

Lilyana in the leaves

Lilyana practices to crochet

My brain isn't working this week but Man was it ever fun to show 20 month old Lilyana How to crochet, Yes you heard it right, She's got the right moves, I hope one day she will show interest. For a while there I was begining to think it had become a lost art, you heard me right. I have to call it an art, because artistic people just need to space out and think only of the task at hand in order to be successful in what they are doing. er I am nearly there.

http://youtu.be/2pezPNdllQY

Story time happened a lot

Lots of noise happening in the background, but it didn't phase Amelia and Lilyana as Matt reads them a story.

Pom Pom Girls

Amelia and Lilyana

Just love the Babies

My kids visit home was awesome as usual.
My picture taking skills get worse with time. Here's me trying to be candid with shooting the Busy Tots. Do ya think they noticed?

got bored is all

Another greeting card by Smilebox

Angry Bird

LOOK OUT PIG!


Marley wondered why Angry Bird is so angry. I had to find out for myself. Now I am on a Mission :-)I sure hope it fits him. I'll add ear flaps when Marley comes over so I can get them placed right. (cross yer fingers)

Lily spots a Bee

I think a simple explanation would have been better... you'll see what I mean. Lilyana really loves bugs and butterfly's she try's to catch anything that she sees.

Deer in the neighborhood

Baby takes care of Baby

Well my eye stuff is over with thank goodness

I had a hard time deciding if I should just cancel my appointment with the Eye Dr. to get the cyst removed. I decided he needed to check it out and take care of the others growing around my eye lids. Dad went with me because I didn't know what to expect and didn't know if I'd be able to see to drive myself home. The Dr was really busy, so while I waited one of his nurses told me that the cysts are really small and if it were her she wouldn't have it done, she claimed it would hurt like hell after the Novocaine wore off or how ever it is he numbs the area. She also told me a story about a patient who had a zillion skin tags on his eye lids hanging over so he couldn't even see. She said it was really gross because his shirt was filled with falling tags, and they were just all over the floor. But the man looked like a million dollars after it was done.
Well, er, I want to look like a million dollars too. When he came in he was so rushed and busy that he just got started right away and said he would remove this one and that one and that one and that one then grabbed the needle and proceeded to poke my eye lids with Novocaine. That wasn't bad except on the area where I accidentally removed one on my own, he said there was still some there.
I could hear the scissors snipping away then he cauterized and I could smell skin burning, that was really gross! It took less than 3 minutes I think. Dad stayed in the room with me but wouldn't watch.
It never hurt after the Novocaine wore off. There are tiny little scabs where once were cysts and I am happy I got that done. After care is a little antibiotic ointment 4 times a day, that's it. But he's just a Dr not a Magician so I don't look like a million dollars.
No I won't be posting a photo of this because I still have dark circles/ bags/ wrinkles. a close up would be just too much for even you to see!!

Outdoor stuff that caught my eye

Cluster of wooly aphids and a Hummer

Mr. Donkey

Cute little tree Frog

At the camp, snake in the grass

Alright so, here is the snake and below is the table in which he was playing the obvious part of snake in the grass just under the table. I was wearing flip flops and whacking the weeds under the table and around the legs. Something suddenly shoots up and hits me in the eye, lip then on my foot. A small blood spot appeared on the top of my foot and I yelled a bit in pain but kept on working.
I get all the under table nice and short and now working around the outside of the table legs. The grass was pretty tall but I notice what I think is a juicy night crawler good bait so I pick it up, it didn't wiggle like a worm would, it wasn't cold and slimy like a worm, it wasn't a worm so I chucked it quickly onto the table.
His neck was a bit whacked and so was his middle area er? do snakes have necks?
He moved slowly, he seemed to be in some sort of pain. While I was screaming Pat ran over and says this is a copper belly and is poisonous . He sees my tiny blood spot on my foot and convinced I was bitten. Not true.
Alright so the snake looks small, well he is small, but he may as well been 10 feet long in my eyes.
I hate snakes. now the rest of the vacation I can't walk outside without constantly looking at the ground where I am about to step. I am certain his parents are looking for him. Good thing the week was a full moon and I can see at night too. Sorry I tried to build up a uneventful snake story :-)

Fur trappers

Back on the road the next day I was all fired up and spotted the trappers selling fur on the corner of 28 and something, Pat probably wants to blog about this little adventure but I will say that trapping in Michigan anyway seems to be a lost art. (Is it an art?) Pat turned around and went back thinking about how he'd love to put some more crap on the walls at the camp. He bought two furs (I'll let him tell you more about that) But I will say that Pat offered $100.00 for two furs and the poor guy said he will take anything what with this economy. I gotta mention that the guy also said his dream is to win the lottery and take it to go hunting for that BIG BUCK in the Keweenaw, omg the poor guy must be desolate because the Keweenaw is only 4 maybe 5 hours away. When we left I thought about that and mentioned to Pat maybe we should go back and give the poor bloke another $100.
What I didn't know at the time but later thought, most of these furs are Road Kill. Michigan is one place where it's legal. So my thoughts of the guy being a trapper went down the drain.
We didn't go back of course, we are now on a mission "To get to our destination"

Before getting any sleep we took the tour boat through the Soo locks. A two hour trip which was interesting but I was so darn tired all I could think about was a nice soft bed.
Point Iroquois Lighthouse
We just hung around the beach here and were too lazy to even open the door and go into the lighthouse museum.

I was so planning on going to White Fish Point and do some bird watching but suddenly got tired of going the wrong way to our destination so I told Pat never mind. So I am a wuss.
Also Pat wanted to go to Tahquamenon Falls
but all I could think about was the long hike to get there. again I wussed out and Pat was pretty much doing what I wanted at this point. Of course now that it's all said and done I wish I would have just sucked it up and gone anyway. Usually this trip to the camp is the same ole' stuff for the last 32 some odd years, never anything new and here I was being a baby and too lazy to do anything new, even though it's my yearly complaint that I would really love to do something new for a change.

The Hotel

Well, thank goodness I am home. The trip wasn't so bad because Pat tires out now and Is really ready for a break by the time we get to the Bridge. We really took our time getting that far what with many rest stops and walking around just to get the feeling back in my legs. First stop was Sault St. Marie Casino and Hotel where we would be spending the night. Pat was all fired up and really wanting to get to that Casino and play his fav game Craps
It was a lovely place and I did enjoy being there. We ate two meals and breakfast the next day before heading out on our "Quest to get there"

er? this blog site seems messed up. I can't deal with it right now.  Been on the road all day, I am burned out big time! I booked a really crappy hotel but what the hell we r just here to rest up then drive another 7 hours we will be home. yah! Home Sweet Home.
Later I will tell you about the friggen snake I encountered, I actually picked him up thinking it was something else. Also while weed whacking the yard I shot up some kinda debris right at my eye that was supposed to have surgery n get that damn cyst removed, maybe I won't need to get her done now cuz the bloody thing exploded and is gone now. For free mind you I removed it myself!! AOUCH>>>>>

It's Ladies Night at the Casino,

1:We were too wound up to sleep before our trip started, so my last sleep was at around 5 am thursday when I got up for the day. omg I was so tired from pulling an all nighter, really hard for me to sleep while on the road. We stopped at the Soo Saint Maries Kewadin Casino for breakfast, but we were too early and had to wait I think 2 hours, then off to our plan on the Soo Lock boat tour at 10:am. But we were early and slept in the car for 1 1/2 hours before the tour Then back to the casino for lunch and see if they will let us in our room early. Thank goodness they did, even though it was turning out to be a lovely day I needed my sleep and could only think about how fast I could get myself to bed, I think it was around 3:pm. Didn't wake up till dinner time at 8:30pm. I am still so darn tired, Hopefully I will sleep some more tonight then get a real early start on our vacation quest..to be continued

View from our tour boat looking at the International Bridge & Railroad to Canada.



St Mary's River, a really lovely little park we stopped at for a break.

Balloon Fight

Lilyana didn't mind that all the other children were much bigger than her, she did her best to throw balloons too. She had a ton of fun. Candy had big flowers for all the girls hair if they wanted them. Lily wore one for a while but it was pretty big for her fine hair. Gram-ma goofed and forgot to take home Lily's gift bag, I hope Aunt Kathy saves it for her, it had cool stickers and stuff in it. shucks, but then Grams isn't used to kiddie parties so don't put the blame on her.

Pinata & Lily

Candy girl's Birthday party was lots of fun, The bigger kids were very careful not to run Lily over.

Here she is having a try on the pinata.

Lily-Antics again

Beards are fuzzy! Boy, I'm getting tired.

Lily_Antics

Lilyana would like Grand-Pa to take her for a wagon ride, but he needs his nap first. She does her best to help get him and herself ready for a nice walk.

Lily-Antics

This little girl really shows her love for Grand-Pa and wants to play with him. He has other things on his mind... Like a morning Nap.
She still listens to everything he has to say, even if it's in his sleep. She does her best to Mimic what he is saying. So Listen to her carefully. Sorry but the video stops just before she dumps her egg collection on his head. He wasn't bothered by it though.

Turtle sightings

Off on another Bike ride in a new area for me at Huron River bike paths. By far the worse hills I have ever taken so far since my fatness began anyway. This photo isn't on a hill, and there were many breaks like this but then all it takes is about two hills for me and I am done. If it were a flat area, I could probably ride for a few hours, Man my knees hurt like hell now and it's 3 days later :-(




The river looks like shit I know, but I guess the snapping turtles can still survive.



I don't know my turtles so hadda look this one up. He's a Spiny Soft-Shelled turtle. I dunno where the Spiny comes in for his name but I was lucky to see his full body, usually they only have their noses poking out of the water.

Great day at the lake

Cousins and their Grand babies get together.

Deer

We took a huge long bike ride at Willow Park, dad did a video of me making it up a hill that I never was able to do before,usually I would only make it up half way then need to walk the rest of the hill, so there ya go progress :-)

lovely day for a short drive

out to Point Mouillee

wax ring success

Well there it is, no leaks, and the big rain storm came just after we cleaned out the gutters, man we are on a roll

One thing leads to another

3 years ago or so Pat tells me we need to put in a new wax ring in the downstairs toilet. I bought the ring right away. Off and on since then, Pat tells me the toilet is leaking and we need to put in the wax ring. I didn't think it was leaking, I thought we were just getting the floor wet.
Well if we are going to take the toilet up, we may as well put in new linoleum. But wait I am a messy painter and may as well Paint the bathroom first then take out the old linoleum and fix the toilet. If we're going to put in new linoleum then we need to take up the vanity, and hang on here, may as well get a new vanity. Remember though this bathroom is 6' x 5'6", It's next to impossible to find a sink that fits, It can't be a nano inch wider than 22" or deeper than 17". That calls for custom made. We might just keep the old vanity. We got lucky on what we have in there but it's a floor model and really the worse crap sink and vanity you will ever lay your eyes on. :-(
Holy cows, the light in there has a short, may as well purchase a new light, the mirror is plain crap, may as well get a new mirror. *sighs* all because we need a new wax ring under the toilet.

I painted, then started to pull up the old linoleum, OMG the sub floor is wet, I mean really wet, we need a new sub floor. We are pulling the sub floor up and Holy wet floor, the 3/4 inch sub sub floor is wet too, half of that needs to be replaced. I hope to Pete that the floor joists are dry.
I'll keep you updated on how the installation of the new wax ring goes.

Saw Uncle Jan today

He brought over a ham hock and Fresh garden green beans with a recipe for me so,here I go the stuff is on the stove right now.

Little get together

This is Carmen,her parents are Harvey and Lorrain who are the newly weds found on the right in the old photo below. Harvey was a Barber with his own shop on 9 mile and Woodward in Michigan's lower. They always took in Foster children and adopted 4 one of which was Carmen.
Carmen took great interest and it is her passion Genealogy. Your Grand-pa Henry "Patsy" Collins is the man behind the woman with the dark collar coat over her shoulders. Standing next to her is Gram-ma Mary Rogan Collins in the light dress & Dark long hair (center of the photo) There were 13 brothers and sisters. It seems like not all the names in the photo are listed. I too am confused and probably should quit trying.





I don't know why I bother trying to figure out who people are. Dad's cousin Carmin has it all figured out and knows everyones name and has a story about most of the people. It's a lot of fun listening to her.
These old photos are are a bit confusing to me but I'll just post them anyway, just for the hell of it. I do know that Great Grandpa is one of the little boys sitting.







Collins Offspring and spouses
Shelly, Richard, Mary, Pat, Carol, Ron, Diane, Carmen, Kathy, Herb, Chip ,Polly Candis, Brody, Jillian

Health update :-)

Well, my eyes are all better. I am thinking I need to go to the Sec of State to get my drivers license changed to a non glasses kinda person. If I should ever do something wrong on the road, they would wonder why I don't have my glasses on and maybe give me a ticket. Even though I do have these cards for each eye saying I have implants, I suppose that wouldn't be good enough.
I have to wait until September to get that ugly cyst removed from my left eye, then hopefully I'll be done with all this eye DR stuff. Got my drug store reading glasses the other day, they are working just fine. I just keep them in my pocket and put on my shades when I leave the house, plus I need my eye drops in my pocket, if I don't have a pocket then I am in trouble. Leaving the house just sucks, too much baggage.

The diabetes deal is wearing me out, I am so sick of trying to figure this all out.
Do you know that stress or lack of sleep will spike your blood sugar lvls?
Last visit to my Dr he gave me yet more meds, Metformin and Glipzide. I had a nice long talk with my friendly neighborhood pharmacist who happens to be diabetic also so she is so full of good information.

I worry that the herbalists organic supplements and extra vitamins will screw things up along with the RX the DR gave me. The worse part is how I need to take all these meds, I need to be on it all the day long. Some are take with meals, but don't take these two together wait at least two hours between pills. It's like a constant watch the clock and take more pills and be sure to eat the same time of day to keep the sugar in check. I am afraid to leave the house. There are more pills than meals and that really throws me off.

The meal plans are really awful, I haven't found much that I enjoy eating, lately I eat because it's time to eat, it is not a joyful event anymore. I don't even care if I eat anything at all, but I feel kind of odd if I am late getting a meal.

My breakfast for the last two weeks have been the same cuz I know that it works, but I hate it. 1/2 cup oatmeal with cinnamon and blue berries, that's at around 5 am then at noon it's left overs from the night before dinner and some oolong tea which I do like a lot. Dinner I need to think harder, we been eating steamed or broiled fish at least 3 times a week with steamed veggies. Sorry but I think Quinoa tastes like crap no matter how you prepare it. I do love Texmati brown, wild & red rice with chicken in it or veggies any kind and tomatoes spicy as I can get it.

Home made Hummus is a grand snack around here, I have been making my own I might use it on a turkey sandwich instead of mayo or just put it on some wasa crispbread for snacking. One is filling enough.

I used to think that frozen fruit made into a smoothie with yogurt was a healthy drink. WRONG. I have learned that blended up fruit takes away the fiber we all need and just turns it into sugar, a whole piece of fruit eaten will let your body break it down and distribute the nutrients you need, but if you blend it then the break down is done for you and Shizam!, you may as well be eating a snickers bar. :-)
So I gotta nix the smoothies and it's driving me nuts cuz Pat wants one every night
if I make it for him. SO I make them for him and Make myself a cider vinegar with the mother Tea drink.
The new bras I bought about 4 months ago are baggy on me. This is the only place I see a noticeable difference from my weight loss, I'd be happier to see my boobs stick out farther than my stomach. So this feels like a set back.

Where's my mind? I have read all this change in lifestyle habits will improve memory and stuff, yet Pat wonders who put the bread in the cupboard when we keep it in the fridge, why can't I solve a medium sudoku? When I am about to read something I always try to adjust my glasses that aren't on my face before I realize they are in my pocket. The best one lately was when I thought I lost 10 more pounds then noticed I had my hand on the counter for balance.

Anyway, life is good, the fireflies are out of control this season and the baby birds seem to all be stranded on my porch.
Today I will cheat a little and make some meatballs and a baked red potato and probably broccoli

Misdiagnosis Gets Gram-ma High

This is a happy ever after story, so don't get yer-self all in a bundle.
Good news, I went to my last eye appointment on Wednesday. 20-20 vision, all I need to get is drug store glasses for reading.
I made a new appointment to get the cyst removed from my eye lid in two weeks from now. You will later get the story about *things that grow on you when you age* It's just a little heads up for all you young ones and what you have to look forward to as you age, I don't want you to have any surprises like I did. My Mom should be shot for not teaching me these things! To hell with cooking and cleaning, I'd rather know about things that grow on you.

Anyway, back to me getting high as a kite. I never never want that feeling ever again! The day I saw my eye Dr very soon after my left eye began hurting and getting red the pain was like nothing I ever experienced in my life. On a scale of 1-10 I decided to choose 9, only because I suddenly remembered giving birth. Although now as I write, I remember inner ear infections, those are a 10. So I really don't know how to rate my pain, but if I go to the ER then it must be pretty bad.
I knew when I went there that probably the ER Dr. wouldn't know everything he needed to know about eye pain and what's causing it.
It was midnight before I couldn't take it anymore, so reluctantly I called my eye Dr. and he said if I can't take the pain then go to the ER. Good ole' Dad wasn't happy to go after the 12 hour drive from his fishing trip to the UP. But he could see that I was having a problem.
The ER parking lot looks fairly empty. They weren't so busy and took me in right away.
The first thing they wanted was an eye test, I am thinking a high tech look in the eye machine. IT WAS A FRIGGEN EYE CHART! A little blurry but I can still read.
Then numbing eye drops, they felt good but just a very small improvement with the pain.
2 tabs of pain killer called Norco, then later came with 2 tabs of prednisone, that helped a little more but still have kill me like pain. Some blood work, pressure tests, the fancy eye check machine, then wait for results. 40 minutes they said, we waited, I layed down on the skinny cot, Dad found a semi-comphy chair. no-one came around seems like forever, by now I have no idea what time it is but I was freezing, someone forgot to offer a blanket. Dad fell asleep and my Pain killer started to kick in so I took a short walk to the laundry cart and got me & Dad a blanket. The light over my cot was so bright the lights hurt really bad and I couldn't find the switch, so I just pulled the covers over my head and started to doze off.

The Nurse came back with some more drugs, and shot it into the IV that they left in my arm. This time it was Dilaudid (drug heads would love this) Within just a few minutes or sooner I dunno for sure because I had no concept of time or space, I couldn't hold my head up or talk normal, then I started barfing, and barfing. The nurse says it's ok to barf, that's what happens with this drug, but if I want, she will give me a nausea shot to stop it. I don't want to barf, gimme that too please!
Dad said, "man you just ruined your high". I gotta say I am very happy to have done that, although my pain was instantly gone. The nurse thinks they are going to keep me, but she was wrong. The Dr came to talk about his findings.

Vasculitis including Temporal Arteritis

What's that? A swelling of the temporal artery. Aneurysm? Blood clot? No, Just an inflamed artery that runs along the temple. He gives me a print out and says see my eye Dr in the AM. The nurse says hurry home and go to bed. Man, I slept like a log, Next morning, my eye is just a bit red, that's the photo you see here, 100 time better than the night before, and nearly no pain. Bottom line. He was wrong.
DRY EYE! I needed dry eye drops, and I hadda get stoned to find that out.
Just to let you all know, Dry Eye is just as bad as inner ear aches, if gone untreated.
RX use drops 4 times a day and come back in a week. Put off the cyst removal.
So Sorry about the long rant, but I don't know how to shorten this story.

OK a few videos of Lilyana

Lilyana drives to the flower shop!


Please pardon my lame singing in this next one but that's what Gramma's do sometimes.



Lilyana works out on the tread mill

Dawn loved her Dolly's also

I wonder if this would be a good place to be writing about Wilber?

November 4 , 2003


That's an absolutely perfect name for a nice sorta guy.
This guy is like the nicest man in all the world, I'll bet if there were a nice man contest, he would have first prize.
The problem is, that the poor guy is so very dumb. Or maybe dumb is a bad choice of words,his vocabulary is limited and he can't see very good and his hearing is very very bad. Many of these sorta things come from getting old, Yes ageing sucks but....Therefore it causes some very funny situations when he's around.

Is there chocolate in this?

Poor Wilber, anything he sees that has brown in it he thinks is chocolate. Even the marble bread. No one can convince him other wise. I sometimes tease him and ask if the brown gravy has chocolate in it. Wilber thinks for a while and decides no there is no chocolate in the gravy. So I asked "Then how did it get brown?" Wilber thought again for a minute, and decided that yes, brown gravy has chocolate too.

Wilber couldn't see


Poor Wilber needed to get a physical for work, and they noticed he held the paper up to his nose so's he could see to read.
OK "says human resources people* Wilber U need to see an Eye Dr. and I'll check on you in 3 months to be sure your wearing your new glasses.
Wilber says this is discrimination. He thinks they r discriminating because of his age and not being able to see. He is very worried I guess about how he would look in glasses and he really doesn't want to wear them. I can tell you that yes, the poor man needs glasses. So all of us co-workers talked him into going to CVS (the local drug store) and get the cheap generic glasses.

Work told him if he didn't have his glasses the next day then they would send him home. Reading incoming orders properly is the biggest part of the job, so eyesight is important if you want to get it right. It could be a matter of life or death if you read wrong.(This is hospital kitchen work I am talking about)

SOooooooooo , next day Wilber had on his new glasses, for about 10 minutes when he first showed up. He told me they give him headaches. I asked, "did you test them at the store?" he said "Yes, I looked in the mirror they looked ok to me."

My Feet hurt

Wilber mentioned to a lady that his feet were hurting him after a long day at work. She suggested he put inserts in. He said "yes my driveway is always full of water" I haven't' decided what he thought she meant, or what he was thinking.

I'm constantly one reason or another saying to Wilber, "I was born in the Night, but not last Night". I believe that Wilber understood that comment, so the other day he for what ever reason, I honestly can't remember, thought of my comment and tryed to repeat and said "I wasn't born last night, and I am not stupid".

we all giggled
November 3 , 2003


We all Love you Wilber, don't ever change

Back when I had fun writing stuff....

I was looking at some of my old writings from back in the day when things were still in the night and my thinking cap started to twirl. I have decided to move a story or two here. Typo's and all:

February 23 , 2004
10 years of service
I'd like to talk about People understanding People. Like one man decides all around him r stupid and hes the brilliant one. Poor Wilbur has reminded me with his saying to an annoying Man with which he can't get along
*You may know your books sir, but you know nothing about
people!* Yes we must all work a bit harder on being understanding of all people, all walks of life, we are none of the same,, We as individuals are what makes this earth so darn interesting....

There we all were, working when the boss called us all to hear his announcement. We stopped what we were doing and gathered around.
*I'd like to say "says Mr J" that Wilber has just had his 10 year anniversary here at this place of employment. "Thank you Wilber, yadda yadda yadda.." He hands Wilber a letter of recognition. Wilber says thank you and all the co-workers applaud.
Remember, that good ole' Wilber can't see so good and he didn't even read his letter, He just laid it on the table and went on back to work. So I took the liberty to gaze over an sneak a peek at it and saw that he would be getting a small bonus check.
So I told Wilber the good news. Well let me tell you that Wilber was delighted and spending his money in his mind right at that very moment.
The kicker here is Dear ole' Betty. I think she comes from somewhere deep South. Not stupid mind you , she just doesn't think first.
Anyway, She says " Wilber! Oh My Gosh, this is the first time anyone was ever recognized like that , I think you should bring Mr J out to dinner, for being so nice"
Oh for goodness sakes I thought, Mr J was near enough to hear that silly comment. It's not as if the money came from his pocket.
Well, Wilber is so kind hearted, I'm sure if I hadn't have said something, Wilber would have asked Mr J and wife to dinner at some fancy restaurant.

BUT thanks to me, I intervened and said " GOODNESS BETTY" Poor Wilber has been working for peanuts here for an entire 10 years, they finally give him enough cash to pay his gas bill , and YOU want him to take Mr J out to dinner? GEZZZZZZZZZZZ

The boys goe Kayaking

Matthew, Jeff and Marley take a kayak trip, Marley wanted to bring his fishing pole, we never put a real hook on it, he had fun casting and reeling in that's all he expected from fishing for now, won't he be surprised as he gets older that he may just catch the big one!

Kayak in Cudjoe Bay

Sarah and Dawn and Alicia take a ride, The orange kayak had a small leak but they got back safe and dry

Just love these babies

Alicia does a wonderful job setting up the kids for a photo shoot, but not without a few mishaps. Her final photos are really great, but I stood behind and took a couple shots myself of photos she would never post, Grand-ma here thinks the pictures leading up to the great ones are a story in their self.

Bike tour

Key west, Conch Republic

Marley and I hung around waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, I said sit by Grandpa and I will take your picture, he said that isn't Grandpa, that's a Pirate! He was a bit concerned about sitting there but he did it for Gram-ma anyway

Sittin in the dock of the Bay

It was way too hot for me and my Marley

More egg hunting

The hat I made for lily was a bit large, she did a great job picking up eggs, ( I am pretty sure that was learned because of the *clean up song*
She tips over sometimes but it's the lumpy lawn what made her do it!! She don't mind, she just gets up and keeps going n going n going.

Lilyana's sqeakers

Lilyana discovers her Basket

Happy Easter

Lilyana hunts for eggs

Passing time

Maybe I shouldn't be posting this, mainly because I have no clue what's normal for these so called IQ tests. It said I am good at recognizing patterns. So I don't feel bad or anything like that, guess I am happy to be good at something anyway. :-)


Click Here To Take The Test!

Eye recheck

I went yesterday for my post-op checkup, Dr says it's healing nicely, and vision is great. I don't know if it's perfect but I can say that my vision long distance hasn't been this good since I was 20 years old!
SO I continue one of the eye drops for the next three weeks, then another appointment and that's when we can negotiate my left eye.
One problem I do have now is what I have named *eye confusion* MY glasses are progressive meaning the bottom half is for reading and the top half is for seeing distance, well my fixed eye, looking through the glasses at long distance render me blind, my left eye sees somewhat at long distance, but I need the glasses for reading (the lower part of my spectacles) This makes me constantly take them off put them on. It has created a huge problem, I have always loved my glasses, they helped me see. When I always wore them they never got lost, Now though, I keep misplacing them, or when trying to read something, I find myself reaching my face only to find I don't have them on. At this stage in my life, looking for things has become a daily habit, I mean lets get real here, sometimes I can't find my glasses when I have them on. *shrugs*
Groovy sunglasses on the other hand are another problem, I never in my life wore them, my glasses now are the change to sunglasses in the sun kinda glasses, but not enough, bright light is kind of a problem, even at like Meijers the lights there are very bright. I have these shades that Patrick left in my car ages ago, he said he got them from the dollar store but they are alright for me (when you get my age you can wear big flowers and little mirrors on your shirt if you want, no one will care, especially me) so alright, Sarah will care hehehe (inside joke)
My diet is going pretty good also, today for lunch I had a scoop of Tuna on a bed of lettuce with onions and tomato, one hour later DL was 134 I guess that's good,yesterday I had Salad no dressing, turkey, one red potato green beans and gravy! my DL 2 hours later was 124, I think my goal is 120, hell if I know. I still don't have much of a clue on that deal. Just gotta keep doing the tread mill I am at 1/4 mile twice a day or at least once, damn I am so lazy, but the tread mill is so much safer then outside where with my luck lately I will step in a hole and sprain my ankle. Seems so far I average 2lbs lighter a week, Gawd you think I will tell you what I weigh? Maybe after I am skinny I will fess up on that.
I am getting really tired of cooking and thinking what's for dinner.

Back from Cat removal

Cataract that is, although I'd really love to remove the cat that barfs around our home too.
MY appointment was at 10:30 am and I was home by 4 pm. They had me go straight to a quick lunch then back to my Dr's office where I met up with all the grannies who were getting their eyes fixed by the same Dr at the same eye clinic. It was a regular production line. He met us all in his office and gave us a coffee cup lol and other prizes.
Things are a little foggy right now but this is only because they got me putting 3 different eye drops 4 times a day for the next 4 days to prevent infection.
BUT I gotta say omg, at the Dr office they had me look at the same chart that I saw on my first visit. The Letter A was the biggest on the chart, at that time I could not see it. But today I was so over whelmed that I cried, when I saw the chart it was like something magic had happened to me. I cried like a baby and couldn't read the chart not because I couldn't see but because I was bawling, God bless new technology I can see again!

Optimist Ophthalmologist :-)

Well for sure they are cataracts in my eyes and for sure they are fixable.
I have an appointment for this Friday to have the right one removed. It's outpatient procedure that takes this Dr 15 minutes so he claims. I will wear a patch for a day (just to keep me from rubbing it) and will see much clearer right away. They did offer a newfangled lens that would improve my vision instead of wearing glasses, but I am fine with my glasses, besides Marley wouldn't recognize me with out them :-) also insurance don't pay for the lens.
I am a tiny nervous, but more excited to get this done, my vision really has gone bonkers, I wouldn't pass the drivers test the way I see right now, so I am refraining from driving.
Progress on the diabetes is going slow, I eat then test 2 hours later, if the number is low 120 dl then that's one meal I will keep on eating, I have found you can get recipe ideas but only know for sure if it's right for you after testing it out, I guess a meal good for one Diabetic may not be all that good for another. Our bodies are all different.
In these couple of weeks I found:
Oatmeal with 3 slices fresh peach (no sugar no butter)
raisin brand crunch ff milk
Home made Veggie Soup
T-bone steak, plain baked sweet potato(5 cubes) with green pepper and a Plain salad (best!)
Ugh I guess I'am going pretty slow on finding what's good for me but I read it could take a year before I am comfortable with knowing what to eat.
Feeling pretty good though and keeping my numbers under control, so things are looking up :)

Veggies vs Burger King

Well, it's only week two and I still have no clue on this diabetes deal. Being so new to this I have learned to test my sugar several times a day like before meals after meals after exercise (5 minutes on the tread mill, 3 times a day is all I can take).
I am logging all I eat, time and then two hours after I check to see if that meal was a no-no. Do all this until I can get a hold on what's good and what's not so good I guess this is how that works, them damn numbers are really random. First test in the morning before meals can run anywhere from 140 to 170. If I test 4 hours after a meal it's 114 or so. I ate home made veggie beef soup and two hours later test was 126.
But this morning I had 2 wheat toast with butter, 2 scrambled eggs with onions and ham and 1/2 cup of cranberry juice, and 5 minutes of tread mill, two hours later test said 189. Any way what all this means I have no clue. ( I am guessing I should have omitted the bread)
My new grocery list has really changed, although I can see a huge problem with this. Pat and I both hate shopping so we only go for groceries once a month. That won't work with fresh veggies & Fruits, I have been buying the frozen veggies and fruit, but they pretty much suck for a snack.
Some of my new foods are Hummus, (Yum) but with crackers (no-no) Bok Choy (Yum cooked or raw) Quinoa (expensive and not the tastiest to me) Nuts (SO expensive but yum) Basmati rice ( so-so but expensive)
This last trip to the store I bought fresh asparagus, it's really expensive something i only treated myself to on occasion.
Anyway, I really don't get it, what the hell are you supposed to do if your number is high? I know a really low number you would take a glucose tablet but I doubt if that would even happen to me. All in all I still think that My Type ll is not as bad as I have read about what with people complaining they are up to 400 and even more.

On another note,I have been complaining that my glasses are faulty or something, I really thought that my right lens was ruined ( I have the Teflon coating on my glasses) I kept trying to clean my glasses with no good results. Now that I think about it, My glasses started to fail me just a few months after I got them nearly 2 1/2 years ago. SO I went to the eye Dr and he sees in my right eye a friggen cataract it's very thick with my right eye I couldn't see the largest letter on the eye chart, everything is a fog when I cover my left eye. My left eye also has a cataract. SO I have another appointment on Monday, these will have to be removed.
This is why I can't crochet dark colors, I just can't see the stitches :-(
Another symptom was rings I see around light, like stars and the moon and lights on airplanes at night. It's a weird thing but something we all should notice when our eyes go bonky. Anyway I can't wait to get this fixed because it's driving me crazy!

Curse those carbs

So well, my annual blood work tells me I am type ll diabetic. This doesn't surprise me. I started gaining weight some 32 years ago. Each baby I gained and never lost that weight, my smoking doesn't help matters, because this leaves me with lungs that prevent me from any sort of aerobic exercise. My health care provider doesn't cover the Nutrition classes that My Dr recommended, a 4 day class would cost $470.00 Therefore I have had to depend on the internet for advise. All the Dr did was prescribe me the tester and tell me I will learn with time and trial and error.The fellow at the medical supply store did show me how to use the tester.
Internet is so unclear, one site says test one hour after meals, another says one hour before meals and or two hours after meals. Since this is new to me I need to test all different times of day and keep track of what I ate, and decide for myself if that was a bad thing or not. The numbers so far are so random, any where from 130 to 193, but forums I have visited there are people saying their numbers are way up in the 400's
I understand fully what foods are great to eat, but combining and timing seems to be the key to success or *FAILED*
Dad is supportive and will eat what I eat because he figures he's next anyway. We all know what's good for us but isn't a bag of chips so much more satisfying than a carrot?
It's only been 3 days and I don't miss the junk yet.
My sister warned me about this about two years ago, because it happened to her, I don't see her but once a year or so and this past Christmas she was SKINNY! she looks great. but I watched her pick at the fresh veggie tray, eat a piece of ham and that was it. While I could eat a huge plate of mashed potato with a scoop of nice greasy gravy, pumpkin pie and all that so who was having more fun that day? BUT then again who will have more fun later the skinny girl or the one with no feet and blind? *sighs*
I will visit my eye Dr on Monday.
Well mainly it's all about moderation and I am sure I will be talking about this some more as I learn. send good recipes please, and what can Dad replace for his pop he so loves? We refuse artificial sweeteners of all kinds, we believe they are cancer causing and really pointless to add to the problem.
BTW, I feel fine, Dr says people go through life with out even knowing they are type ll

Amelia Fits!!

Sweet Amelia models my Shorties, isn't she lovely?They fit her but this is before the first major wash. Wish us luck they will be ok

Diaper covers ect

Longies/shorties/diaper covers, just wondering if they all serve the same purpose. There are a million and one free patterns on line but the problem with free is that there usually is some sort of glitch in the pattern. So I have had to adjust/ rip out/ re-adjust, until I think it's right.
I also have a problem with working with felting real 100% wool. I have no clue and will let Amelia deal with that, these may shrink up enough to fit her smallest doll. She can do what she wants with them, trade/ toss what ever, I don't mind, this is good practice for me and I will sooner or later learn where I went wrong :-(

A taste of Sterling

We didn't have much time at the park, but I sure plan on going back to see what we missed, First thing we noticed was the snake sign. I don't know what kind of snakes but this area is swamp,( correction it's a Marsh, meaning no trees ) so I suppose snakes would be there.



There are tons of deer, I don't get bored watching them


After driving around the swamp areas we see a view of Lake Erie, this is the swimming area. A lot of ice flowing right now. We will go back soon and check it out a bit better.


It was getting dark, so we left this is the road out of the park.

Backyard boredom

So, my backyard birds are starting to bore me. I have been asking Pat to drive out to the park, one we haven't been to for some years now. Wm C. Sterling State Pk A place in Lake Erie where you can actually go swimming and camp (that is if you don't mind camping in a open field)
But what I like about it is the Marsh trails and wildlife you might encounter.
Now that I am a official senior citizen, I can get Park stickers at a discount. But wait, Michigan has changed the rule. We no longer purchase stickers for our windows, $29. for a year or being a senior the cost was $10. Kewl, I am thinking here is one perk for getting older than dirt. But now like I said, the rule has changed. When we renew our license plates we check YES and it costs everyone just $10 per year. So my perk is nadda.