I Guess I Never Learned to Share

Hubby and I went to the movies today. We decided to see an early show at 11:45 a.m. and so did the entire elderly population of Scottsdale. The movie we saw was "Ladies in Lavender" which was a pretty good British flick except they never wore lavender. We get to the theater and every single one of their handicapped parking spaces is filled. The back parking lot behind the theater has plenty of regular parking spaces so we take two parking spaces and park at an angle so the van ramp can go down and no one can park next to us thus blocking my ability to reenter the van. The movie was good even though Norm dozed a little bit. I especially enjoyed the 1930s feel of the scenery and the breathtaking views of the British coastal countryside. We left the theater to return to our van and found a neon green sticky note tucked under the windshield wipers. The note said, "I guess your mama never taught you to share." Can you believe that? LOL I wish that person who left the note had been there to see me reenter the van. Next time I will run over their toes. 2 Comments: At June 01, 2005 10:49 PM, Anonymous said... Hadicapped parking is not for those who have disabilities, it's for cops, city vehicles, delivery trucks and Limos.As the driver for someone who needs a special vehicle with a ramp and thus needs extra space for the ramp to go down, I have seen and continue to see such vehicles parked in the "Hadicapped" spaces. Don't forget the "striped" areas next to the hadicapped parking, they are to be kept clear...no one is to park there. Give me a break, I don't know how many times we couldn't use the hadicapped space because the car had parked not only in one space but in the striped area as well. If you complain, you are told that they have all the spaces required by the law. I bet if would change if they needed to drive or be driven in a special vehicle with an 8 foot ramp that lowerd to let them out. By the way dear wife....who ever put the note on the van, pushed both of the mirrors from their noraml driving positions. I guess they were trying to break something on the van. Isn't that vadalisium? I guess its a form of "sharing" At June 03, 2005 8:53 PM, your blogmommy said... that would have been the greatest, for the sticky note idiot to see you get back in the van.

Memorial Day

At church this weekend we celebrated and said goodbye to our pastor and his family. During this special service a young man played a hymn on trumpet accompanied by a keyboard. After the beautiful song our pastor got up and introduced him as a young soldier who has been serving in Iraq during the past year and will be going back there soon. Everyone in the auditorium clapped for him for quite a few minutes to thank him for his service to our country in the cause of freedom around the world. It was an inspiring moment. I got to thinking about Memorial Day and what it means. It's a time when we stop and pay honor that is due to those who have given their lives in sacrifice for our freedoms. It should be a time of reflection and remembering what has happened in the past and why people have had to give their lives to secure our freedom. Throughout the Bible there are many times where God told the Israelites to set up a marker as a memorial to an event or a place where God did something on behalf of his people. Sometimes the memorials were for people who sacrificed their lives for the good of those around them. Jesus asked us to remember his sacrifice for us by celebrating Communion. So it would seem to me in many ways Memorial Day is not just a political celebration but also a religious one. Whoa -- don't let the ACLU find that out or some liberal judge might remove Memorial Day from the calendar. 1 Comments: At May 30, 2005 10:12 AM, Anonymous said... Great post

Season Finales

I just finished watching the season finales of Lost and Alias. If you haven't been watching these two shows this season you have missed some mind-boggling TV. I've been a Law & Order and CSI fan for quite a while but quite frankly have gotten a little tired of the detective show scenarios. Lost and Alias are just the kind of thing that are so different from anything else on TV these days. All I can really say about their end of the season episodes is -- WOW! BTW, I watched Fox's 24 for the first time last week and this week and I can't wait until next season. Also a very interesting show. Speaking of season finales -- CSI Las Vegas was one incredible episode last week. Now for something funny... being married to Norm can get kind of silly sometimes. When we're watching these favorite TV shows and the male and female love interests say something really sappy we like to repeat it to each other. LOL ain't that sweet? PS: notice something missing? The Google ads are gone because I got tired of the weird stuff and I don't think I will really make any money because nobody clicks on them.

Political Pain

Even though I live in Arizona I do not support Senator John McCain and I did not vote for him in the last election. This man, and those who follow him, has done more damage to the Republican Party today than I have seen in quite awhile. Every judge nominated by President Bush deserves an up or down vote in the full Senate. This is what the rules state and this is what should be done. There is no need for a compromise with Democrats and Senator McCain's actions do nothing more than blow his own horn. For more information about this see thispost by Michelle Malkin. Many of us Republicans here in Arizona believe that John McCain is really a Democrat in disguise and today's outcome proves that even more than the so-called Campaign Finance Reform legislation he sponsored. Not only does Senator McCain want to take away our political free speech rights but he also wants to stick it to every Republican in the country. Thanks a lot! 1 Comments: At May 24, 2005 7:28 AM, Pastor Jack, Sr. said... agreed!

Pain, Pain, and More Pain

I thought I was feeling good on Saturday and that I would be pretty much back to normal by now. I was wrong. Yesterday I started having pain and today I'm still in pain. The pain medication makes me feel worse than the pain does. According to my research on the Internet on the aftereffects of dental surgery the stiffness, swelling, and pain I am experiencing is normal. Usually when I am not feeling well I go sit outside in the backyard to pray and snooze and listen to the birds and watch the lizards. Unfortunately we are in the midst of a heat wave with temperatures in the triple digits. We are having July whether in the month of May. I don't think I'll be spending much time outdoors today. Thank you, Father God, for air-conditioning! (In case you haven't figured it out by now, even though I might grouse and complain, I know there is always something to thank God for.)

The Tooth Is Out

I got up early for my 9:45 a.m. appointment and resisted the urge to drink even though I was very thirsty. Of course Norm didn't help matters much by leaving a full glass of water for me on the dining table like he does every morning. I guess I trained him a little too well. Got to the doctor's office on time but still had to wait -- I guess that's in the rules somewhere for doctor's offices. The plan was that he would give me intravenous drugs to put me in a light sleep so I would not feel any discomfort during the procedure. After about five or six tries to find a vein in both arms we decided to go for plan B. because my veins don't cooperate when they are dry. The doctor made a cocktail for me to drink that was Sprite laced with several different drugs for an antibiotic and something to make me relaxed and drowsy. After a few minutes they gave me nitrous oxide to breathe and the last thing I remember is a cloth covering my eyes and a block positioned to keep my mouth open. The next thing I know it's all over! Norm drove me home and after eating some Jell-O and drinking some water I went right to bed with an ice pack on my jaw. I slept for about two and half hours and Norm said he tried to wake me up a couple times but I wouldn't respond so he let me sleep. I got up and had some more Jell-O and took a pain pill which made me so drowsy I couldn't keep my eyes open. Norm didn't want me to be alone so I reclined in my chair in his computer room and he worked on the computer doing bank reconciliation and other accounting tasks while I snoozed. Later in the evening I had some organic chicken broth which didn't taste too bad and more Jell-O. I wanted something more substantial but the doctor advised a strictly liquid diet with no dairy products for the first 24 hours. We watched TV till about 10 o'clock and then went to bed. I took another pain pill just in case but I really wasn't hurting. I slept pretty good and woke up with no pain. I've still been a little groggy today but not as bad as yesterday and I haven't had any pain! I think God for being with me during the procedure and comforting me during my recovery. Today I've eaten soft foods and will do so for another day and see how it goes for something a little more chewy by Monday. All and all it's been a much better experience than I expected. I'm sure getting my nails done before surgery was just the ticket! 2 Comments: At May 21, 2005 4:33 PM, Anonymous said... Princess, it is my job to tempt you each day. So I guess I was doing my job right, by leaving the water there on the table. At May 21, 2005 9:08 PM, Pastor Jack, Sr. said... Was wondering - now I know

It's Coming Out

Got lots to do today in preparation for oral surgery tomorrow. They're going to extract a wisdom tooth on the lower right side of my mouth. The doc said he wants to put me under light sedation during the procedure and I won't be able to eat or drink anything after midnight tonight. Here's my list of things to do today:

• a get a manicure (yes, this is critical before surgery)
• a get prescription filled for pain medication (not looking forward to drug taking)
• a buy soft foods like mashed potatoes, Jell-O, pudding, yogurt etc.
• a have Mexican food for lunch (since I won't be able to eat anything good for a few days)

Of course I have a lot more on my list than what I put here, but you guys can't know everything! I appreciate your prayers for quick healing and recovery.

1 Comments: At May 19, 2005 10:02 PM, Pastor Jack, Sr. said... Will be praying for you tomorrow. Love Ya! POP

Hard Luck at the Hard Rock Café

A day after Norm joined me in San Diego we spent some time with my brother, Jack, working on a video project. We spent a couple of hours driving around shooting video in various locations around uptown and downtown San Diego. We were hot, hungry, and very thirsty and decided it was time for lunch break. Since we were in downtown San Diego we decided to look for the new House of Blues restaurant that Jack had heard about but we couldn't find it anywhere. We saw a Hard Rock Cafe in the Gas Lamp District and decided to go there for lunch. What a mistake we made! We were all very thirsty and so we ordered iced tea which is one of my favorite drinks. The iced tea they brought us was horrible and I thought it was that fruity stuff that so many restaurants are serving these days so I asked them to bring me another glass of real iced tea. The second glass tasted just like the first one but I decided to drink it anyway since I was so thirsty and did not feel like a carbonated drink. We ordered our lunch but it wasn't much better than the iced tea which we found out was not real iced tea at all but that fake stuff which is a concentrate. Why is it that you can't get a decent glass of iced tea anywhere? Iced tea is supposed to be brewed in very hot water from tea bags made by companies like Lipton or Louisianne. After our lunch Jack ordered coffee but it turned out to be just as bad as the iced tea. Moral of this story -- don't eat at the Hard Rock Cafe in San Diego.

There's No Place like Home

It's so good to be back in my own home with my own computer set up just the way I like it! Maybe I'm just weird but I like things to be where I can reach them and set up so that I can access my stuff and there's no place better for that than my own home. My impromptu trip to San Diego was nice. Seeing my three adorable nieces, Hannah, Mackenzie and Zoe, is always a delight. I had planned on being in San Diego May 12 through May 18 but because of unexpected events I ended up traveling there on May 5. My parents drove me to San Diego and poor Norm had to stay home until he was feeling better. He flew into San Diego May 11 and then we came home together on May 16. Okay, I'll stop boring you with all of the dates. My mom and I had a great time together working on creating stuff for her art business. My mother is a very talented fine artist who works in watercolors and oils. I get some of my creative ability from her but my expertise lies more in the technical arena of creativity so she used me like a slave to create promotional materials and greeting cards from her artwork. I showed her a few tricks on the computer and now she can do them on her own but I'm sure I will receive an e-mail or phone call any day now asking me to remind her how to do it again. There's a lot more to tell about my trip but I need to get back to work. I will post again soon!

Where, oh where is Karen?

I've been in San Diego since last Thurs. My parents drove me here and Norm stayed home to have a respite. He flys in tonight and I am counting the hours. ;-) Blogging is not easy here because Dad's computer doesn't have my secret equipment to enable me to do the digital magic I can do at home. I'll tell all about my adventures another time. 1 Comment: At May 17, 2005 12:54 PM, CatsPaw007 said... Can't wait to hear about it! Glad to see you're still here!

Still Here

We are still here and dealing with Norm's foot which is infected. My mom is here to help us for which I am so thankful. Blogging will be on an irregular basis. Thanks for your prayers.