Christmas is Over But Not For Us

Our Christmas won't be over until Randy and Danielle go back to N.C. We're all enjoying them. We have to make every minute of it because they live so far away. I'm going to check plane tickets and when I can find a cheap ticket, I'll go visit them.
Dallas has a cold. At first, it was a croupy cough. Now she has a runny nose and a regular cough, if there is such a thing as a regular cough. She's going to really miss them when they go. I took a lot of pictures and Deda took a lot of them too. I'll download pictures to a slideshow.

What a Merry Christmas!!!

Friday I said that it was going to be a good Christmas. That was an understatement! I went to the senior center this morning and we had a good time talking and laughing. Denny called me and told me that my grandson, Jordan, was over so I had to come home. I thought that was weird because he comes to our house a lot when he's home from school. It was time for me to go anyway so I left the center. I went into the house and Jordan, Denny and Dallas were in the family room. Dallas was kind of wimpering like she does when she's tattaling on her grandpa. I asked what she did and I asked her 'what did grandpa do?' All of a sudden from behind me I hear "I think she's scared of me". I turned around and there was Randy and Danielle! They flew in from NC last night. Denny and Sue knew about the surprise and did a good job not letting me know. We were shocked. We went to Kohl's and surprised Jamie this afternoon and then tonight we all went to eat at Texas Road House. My son, Denny, calls it The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. We sat around talking about when the kids were little. Randy and Danielle are going to spend their nights at Denny's and Sue's because they have better accomodations than we do.

Picture of our niece Vicki's baby

This is little Jarryt Ulanch.

Randy has been released by Doctor

Randy can go back to work. He had tests done with the brain doctor and passed all of the tests. He had to take a driver's test too because anyone with a brain injury has to take the test in order to drive. The guy that rode with him said that Randy was the best driver of the day. He's feeling good except for the flu he had yesterday and his blood test showed that his blood is way too thin. It's going to be a good Christmas.

O'Ley

Well, It's been three years since we had to have O'Ley's leg amputated. He had a cancerous lump on his leg that would only grow back if removed. We tried and it grew back. He has two lumps on another leg now. So it's only a matter of time that I'll have him. I really love this cat. He follows me around and loves to snuggle with me when I go to bed at night. I'll miss him. I'm going to try hold on to him until he can't walk good anymore or if he gets sick or has pain. We've had him around 5 years now. I got him at the 'no kill' shelter after my 'tuxedo' cat, Baby, died of cancer. I still have Willow who is now around 15 years old. He's huge and is healthy. I've been avoiding telling anyone about O'Ley because I thought that if I didn't mention it, it would just go away. But I have to face reality. Losing a pet is such a hard thing to go through. Anyone with a pet would understand how hard it is but someone who doesn't love animals wouldn't understand. I think that when we die, we will be reunited with our pets.

Postcrossing and I Missed the Movie

I'm really enjoying my postcrossing. It's fun. I'm getting cards from all over the world. You can see more about it on my postcrossing blog. If anyone who receives my postcards and you look at my blogs, please comment so I know if you are reading my blogs. Also, you can email me at my email address. It would be interesting to hear from you. I wish I could find more postcards. It's hard to find the cards that some people request. Maybe I'll be able to make my own cards someday.
Anyway, it's fun.

I couldn't go to the movie today because Denny's defibralator vibrated last night and this morning so we couldn't leave Dallas with him in case something happened. It's happened before and as long as it doesn't 'shock' him, he's ok.
He'll call the doctor tomorrow.

Randy's Progress

It's been two months since Randy's accident and he's come a long way. It hasn't been easy and he still has some recovery to do but he's getting there. He's off from all of his pain medicine. It was hard for him because he went through withdrawals. He told me that he feels bad for anyone trying to get off from a drug addiction because it was 'hell' going through those three days. Since he's been off from the meds, he seems to have improved a lot. His tongue doesn't get numb when he talks and his words aren't slurred. He still has his memory to work on. He doesn't remember last Christmas. But the memories are coming back to him and that's what counts. He's lost a lot of weight. Danielle said that he looks better. He told me that he can't believe how many people prayed for him and that he knows it was the prayers that pulled him throught. He talked to the man that gave him CPR. The man is a retired army man and was working where the accident occured. He said that Randy had no heartbeat when he started the CPR. God Bless that man.
And God bless all of you.

Oh Holy Night

Oh Holy Night is my very favorite Christmas song. I have two CDs with just that song by various singers. So I downloaded the songs to my blog too. Hope you enjoy the music while you look at my blog.

Did You Know?

I'm adding something new to my blog and I'm calling it 'Did You Know?'
It'll be facts about Dallas TX and surrounding areas when I read something interesting. Here is the first edition.

Did You Know that Brenda Vaccaro was raised in Dallas, Texas, where her parents co-founded Mario's Restaurant (a nationally recognized restaurant) and where Vaccaro graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1958. She lived on Walnut Street. Her first acting was in "The Willow Tree" in Dallas, TX.

Shopping Can Be a Deadly Experience!

This morning in the Dallas Morning News has an article about two dads fighting over a toy for their kids. Both guys were so mad they shot and killed each other! Now that's bad. Neither kid will get the toy. I see a cute cartoon in this situation. Two guys pulling and tugging at a toy and there is another man watching the whole thing. The angry guys in the tug-a-war finally pull out guns and shoot each other. The spectator picks up the toy, walks to the check out with a smile on his face and says to the checkout girl. "Well, this shopping on the day after Thanksgiving isn't so bad. I got a great gift for my kid with no trouble at all".

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is almost here!

Time goes so fast! Great Thanksgiving! Even though I had a horrible cold and couldn't taste anything. And now the Christmas rush has started. Jamie had to go to work at 3:00am and had to go outside in the rain to pass out cologne samples to the people waiting in line that were there early to get the sales items. People sure are crazy when it comes to shopping. Probably why I stay in the house all day the day after Thanksgiving.

Oh My Gosh, My Son is 45!

I can't believe that our oldest son is 45 today! He was born one day late, the day after President Kennedy was assasinated. 45! He doesn't look 45 and he certainly doesn't act 45. No picture because he won't smile for a picture. Maybe I'll get one this week and I can add it.

Randy and daughter Ashley

Randy is feeling a lot better now. His daughter, Ashley, is visiting from Upper New York State for Thanksgiving. She's really thankful that her dad is back to his normal self. They're enjoying this time together.

Let The Right One In

by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It was a good movie. If you like vampire movies, you'll love it. But, if you don't like subtitles, you won't like it. I want to read the book now. When I see a good movie, I like to read the book. I'd give it a 10.

Randy Got His Tooth Fixed!

Being home has been busy for Danielle and Randy. He still has pain, gets tired and has a lot of appointments where he has to sit in waiting rooms for 5 hours. His blood counts have been messed up. His blood was too thick. So they have to change his meds. His mouth is really dry from the meds and he sounds like he's sleeping when he talks. Time will fix that when he can cut down on meds. Today he finally got his tooth fixed that broke in half in the accident. Randy is real fussy about hygiene and his teeth. Now he feels a lot better. He looks better too. You can see in the picture his scars on his head from the accident. It's been a long haul for them both.

I Received a Super Postcard from Beijing, China

Check out my postcrossing blog to see the card that I received. It's from China and is a 2008 Olympic postcard!

Randy Goes Home Today on His Dad's Birthday

Today is Denny's birthday. He's almost an old fart! He's 68 years old. He used to say that they have a parade for him on his birthday every year. I bet his mother or dad told him that when he was a kid and he believed it! He probably found out about Santa Claus and the fact that there isn't a parade for him at the same time! Poor guy. But lucky Randy! He should be almost home by now. He was getting out of the hospital at noon and it's a two hour drive. He'll finally be able to rest without someone knocking on his door needing blood, blood pressure, breakfast, etc. He said that he received good care there but he's happy to be leaving. He'll have to take physical therapy yet and he got a bunch of pills to take home. He has to go back to the hospital in a few weeks for an evaluation to see if he can go back to work. The doctor told him that he should be ready to work in 4 to 6 weeks! He's anxious to go back to work so they can pay their bills. Many thanks for all of the prayers and thoughts for him during this last 6 weeks!

Update on Randy

Tomorrow it will be five weeks since Randy's accident. Next Tuesday, November 11, he and Danielle will be going home!
He met with the doctors today. He got a whole list of meds that he will have to take. He's also back on his Embril that he's been taking for a few years. He said that he's going to have to have a couple of the little pill holders to remind him when to take them. His wife is so good that he won't have any problems remembering. They're both excited about going home. They haven't seen their dog since the day of the accident. Ashley will be there for Thanksgiving. She'll be happy to see that he's back to normal. He'll still have a lot of pain for a long time with the bones that were broken. His ear hurts a lot.
The day he goes home will be Veteran's Day and also his dad's birthday.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and thoughts. And cards. He told me that he had 160 cards to look at the other day. He looked at them a couple of weeks ago but forgot what he looked at the next day. Now he has his memory back

I Lost a Friend Monday

Monday night, Joyce, the inspiration for Joyce's Chemo Cap Project and a dear friend of mine, passed away in her sleep. I'm going to miss her but I know she has no more pain and is in a far better place. Her legacy will continue with our project and she will never be forgotten. Many people with cancer will receive a cap because of Joyce and her wish to make chemo patients more comfortable. Joyce was a wonderful person and I am so happy that I met her and that we could become friends.

Update on Randy

Randy went out to eat at a restaurant today. He also called me and played a prank on me today. He always did that, call and impersonate a character. I've hung up on him before because I thought that it was a real call. Now I know he's getting better. He and Danielle should be going home on the 11th. The doctor told him that he can go back to work when he feels he is able to. So things are looking up! Still pain but it will take a long time for bones to heal. He'll be taking therapy for awhile after he gets home. Danielle is an angel to have gone through this ordeal with Randy.

Brad Pitt and Southfork

I worked at the Southfork 30th Reunion. It was O.K. It was very disorganized.

Another day of progress

I talked to Randy. He called me. He told me that he's still sick and that he hurts a lot. He said that his head hurts. He told me that he has homework from the therapists to work on. He told me that he's been in the hospital since Oct 4 and that he knows he was hit by a car on his motorcycle. That she pulled out in front of him. He said that his bike is in bad shape. He talked a lot. He said that he heard I was there for a week and he asked me why I was there and what I did while I was there. He said that he had two broken arms and a broken leg. I said that he didn't break his leg. He said "not this time but I broke my arm and leg before". Which is true because he was hurt when a cart at work fell over on his leg and he has pins in it now. I told him that Denny said that he'd call when he's feeling better. He told me to tell Denny that he'd call him when he feels better because when he talks long, he feels sick. All in all, he sounded really good and didn't say anything silly. And he's eating. After I hung up, I got a text message from Danielle. This is what it said: Randy said if he talked to the lade who hit him he would tell her that he is ok but it hurt. And that it's ok. It's not her fault. It was an accident. To keep praying.

Danielle talked to the insurance man today. He said that a man called to check on Randy. He was 100 feet away from the accident working on construction. He ran over to Randy and administered CPR. We weren't aware that he needed it. Gave us chills to hear it. Randy wants to thank him.

Randy continues to improve with just a few problems

Randy's doing great with his rehab. Saturday they had to hook him up to an IV because he was getting dehydrated from lack of food and water. He doesn't eat much and we told him that he's going to have to eat if he wants to go home. He's doing better now. He still feels sick and I'm sure his low blood pressure has a lot to do with that. Today he, Danielle and the therapist walked through the hospital, outside and across the street. It was pretty cold and Randy said as much. Danielle agreed so they went back in the hospital. When he went into the hospital the temperature was in the 80s and now it's in the 60s but they didn't have jackets.
The doctors gave Danielle an update on Randy's grading. When I left the hospital two weeks ago, he was a level 4. He has improved and is now at a level 6. The highest level is 8. So he's doing great. Keep up the good work, R!

Randy and his Rehab

Randy is doing great in his rehab. He got the cast taken off from his arm today. He has a lot of stitches. The doctors are giving the date of November 11 as the projected date for him to be released from the hospital! He's been outside in the wheelchair. He's walking, eating regular food, and making sense when he talks now. The doctors said that he really did a turnaround from Friday to Monday. Actually it was from Friday to Saturday. I couldn't believe the difference in him! He has a patch on his eye to strengthen his eyes. They're ok but after a head injury a person may not have good focus.

Denny, our oldest son

I don't have a lot of pictures of Denny when he's serious. He always makes faces. But I do have a serious picture of him with the snake he killed. And one picture that isn't too bad. I'd have been scared to see a snake like that. Denny is a really nice guy and I'm proud of him. He's a good father to Jordan and husband to Sue....well, Sue may laugh about that part of the sentence. Anyway, Denny and Sue and Jordan have land around 5 hours away that they go to on weekends. They love it there. They're out where there are no buildings. They can hear critters during the night. They can see the stars. It's so dark there at night. They've added onto their cabin so it's almost like home. Well, not quite but satisfactory. We visited them one weekend and I really enjoyed it. There are a lot of deer on his land and he has feeding places for them. Here are some nice pictures.

Randy's birthday and his gift to us

Randy on his birthday with his new haircut.
Today is Randy's birthday! I called him to tell him 'Happy Birthday'. I cannot express to you the change in him from yesterday to today. I asked him how old he is now and he said " He's been talking silly talk with his conversations mixed with what was going on on television. He talked slow and didn't make sense much. He'd remember some things but not much. Yesterday, Danielle told the nurses that she wanted his medicine for the aggrivation cut in half. They did. He was talking to me today almost normal. He made sense, told me who was visiting him, told me about the games the rehab drs play with him to help him get better. It was unbelievable. Truly a miracle that he could change in such a short time! He told me that his boss visited him today. He told me that Danielle told him that he can't ride the bike anymore. He said that when he gets out of the hospital, he's going to ride. We'll see. Danielle cut the rest of his hair that the surgery missed. Anyway, that's the latest on Randy!!!!

Randy and his cycle

Here is a picture of Randy with his cycle.

Randy's Eating Ice Cream!

I think he's enjoying his ice cream. He's even using the spoon.

Randy's been moved!

Randy has been moved to the rehab unit of the hospital today. He will have three hours of therapy in rehab. Memory/speech, occupational and physical therapy.
It's been 16 days since his accident. Pretty good progress, huh? He still is confused when talking to him about things. But the therapy will take care of that.
More later.

Friday:
Randy was evaluated at rehab today. He got the brace off from his neck a couple of days ago. I talked to him. He was watching TV and was telling me about everything he was watching with a few of his own comments. I told him that it will be his birthday and asked him how old he was going to be and he said that he'll be 21.
When I ask him who I am, he says "My mom". It just melts my heart!

More 'Randy' updates

It's still Tuesday. No results are in about the blood clot in his leg or taking the brace off from his neck. However, he's been moved to another room. He's in fair condition now. He's sitting in a chair and eating liquids. He got up out of the chair by himself with two nurses by him and he walked to the bathroom on his own. He went to the bathroom and walked back to his chair. He took his cell phone off from the table, opened it and started to play the game he plays on his phone. He did pretty good, Danielle said. He played for awhile and then tired of it. He talked to his dad and me. He sounded really good. I told him to watch Wheel of Fortune tonight. He likes that show. Today he said that he was watching Andy Griffith on TV. He was. So he's still improving.

Small World

My friend Jerri asked me yesterday if Denny's dad's name was Floyd. I was surprised! Because that was his name. Floyd Reilly. Well, it turns out that Denny's uncle Don is alive and living at the VA home in Grand Rapids. His son, Don, has dinner every week with Jerri's cousin! I called Donna to find out if her Uncle Don is still alive and she said that she never heard that he died. She's excited and is going to visit him. So, Don Jr, who didn't know of his cousins living right there will find out that he has a lot of relatives there! How exciting is this!

And how did this come about? Jerri told her cousin about Randy's accident and she told her friend, Don! Isn't it a small world?

Randy's recuperation continues....

Randy is doing pretty good today. It's still Sunday. Danielle shaved his face today and she said that he looks a lot better. She took off his neck brace to do it. Danielle works in the medical field and knows a lot about medicines, procedures and how to take care of patients. It's good to have her with Randy while he's in the hospital. Here are a couple of pictures of the two of them. The pictures were taken Wednesday.



Monday: Randy is doing a lot better today. I talked to him this morning. He was sitting in a chair. He said "Hi mom". I asked him where he was and he told me that he's in the hospital. He told me that he wants to see me on the phone. I told him that he can't. I told him that I was there for a week. He said hi to his dad. He asked Denny if he had a license. He's still talking silly but it's to be expected. I talked to Danielle this afternoon. She said that he cussed out the nurse and she wouldn't repeat what he said. The nurse said that the guys always talk like that.
Randy is on a liquid diet. He drank juice out of a straw and ate some jello.
One of his friends went to visit him. Randy said "Hi Dude" when he walked in. Danielle asked him who it was and he said "Gary" like 'duh'.
He has a blood clot in his leg so they're going to give him a low dose of thinner but they can't give him much because of the bleeding on his brain.
More later.

It's Tuesday morning.
Randy had an MRI yesterday to determine if his neck brace could be removed.
Today he's in for a cat scan of his head because he has a blood clot in his leg and they need to determine if they can give him blood thinners.
He's going to be moved out of ICU and into a regular room today.
Danielle went in his room this morning. The nurse was helping him eat. He had Jello and juice. He isn't so gabby and talking about silly things today. Danielle said "Hi Honey" and he responded with "Hi Babe". She asked him where he was and he said that he's in the hospital. He didn't know why so she explained it to him. He kept feeling his tooth that was broken in the accident. She got him a mirror so he could look at it. When he talks, he uses facial expressions now. He's doing great. When she left, the nurse asked him who she was and he said 'that's my wife'. She asked her name and he told her Danielle. Danielle said he said it like he was real proud to be married to her.
More later.

Are all squashes this big?

I got home from NC and checked on the little fuzzy squash that was growing in my yard. I couldn't find it. Then I found this huge green thing growing. I guess it's a squash but it's bigger than any squash I've ever seen! I gave the squash to my neighbor who gave me the seeds to grow the squash. She didn't get any off from her vine! I don't know what to do with it and she cooks it all the time because she makes Indian food. She gave me some green beans off from her plant.

Randy and the Motorcycle Accident

Saturday, October 4, Randy was on his way to a friend's house on his motorcycle. He's a very careful driver. However, there are a lot of people that do not pay attention to motorcyclists. Therefore, they do not watch out for them. A 74 year old woman pulled out of a mall, turned left right in front of Randy. He hit her. From the impact, he flew 50 ft and landed on his head. He had a helmet on but it one of the skull helmets and it flew off. This was in Fayetteville NC. They airlifted him to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Hospital. He was unconsious. Deda, his wife, called us. His injuries included a crushed left wrist, cut on forehead, the bridge of his nose and earlobe. He suffered a broken left collarbone, three broken ribs and worse of all, he had a brain injury. There were three places that were bleeding on his brain and some blood clots. There was bruising on his brain. They put him on a ventilator, screwed a plug into his head to monitor the pressure on his brain and he received a strong sedation for pain. They couldn't do anything about the bleeding or blood clots.

Denny and I flew to the hospital from Dallas Sunday morning. We arrived around 10:00 that morning. It was not a happy trip. I won't go into the details of my reaction since I'm sure everyone knows how a mother would react to seeing her son in a hospital bed. He reminded me of Denny when he had his accident 14 years ago. Ashley flew in from upstate New York Monday morning. It was hard for her to see her dad in his condition. It was important for her to be here though.

He was in critical condition all day Sunday. He started to move his arms and legs when they would shut off the sedation for a few minutes.

Monday morning they took out the monitor on his brain because the number went from 20 to 8 and 7. If it had gone over 20, surgery would have been required.
That afternoon they took the ventilator off from him because he was breathing over the ventilator. We were quite happy about that.
As they slowed down the sedation, he started to respond to commands. By afternoon he opened his eyes a little and was talking a little. He puckered his lips to kiss Danielle. When we told him that several people said that he looked like his dad, he growled. He knew where he was and why. He wanted us to blow his nose but he had an oxygen mask on. He kept asking and when I said "no" he said "Pleeese". Then he wanted us to pull off the monitor from his finger. He'd say "pull it off" and we'd say we couldn't. He'd repeat it again. He was doing quite well. I put moisturizer on his feet so they won't dry out.

Wednesday: He is still in the same ICU but is now out of critical condition and is in stable condition. He wants us to take off the monitor from his finger yet. And he managed to get it off with his thumb this morning! He is only being treated by the trama unit. They will move him when they find a bed for him. They just took him to surgery to fix his broken wrist. The doctors all called him a fighter! He sure is.

Thursday: This morning Randy told me to pull him up because he wanted to stand up. He didn't like it that I told him he couldn't stand up and didn't need to. He said that he had to pee. I told him that he could pee right where he was. He again told me to pull him up. I had to scratch his back for him. He had a headache so I rubbed his temples for him. I put cream on his feet every day to keep them soft. Danielle and Ashley are finally taking a nap in the motel room. They both need sleep. Me? I have a huge blister on my toe that opened up and is raw. It hurts to walk on it.
Saturday: Randy has been moved to intermediate care. He's no longer in critical but is in stable condition. That doesn't mean that he's sitting up, talking and laughing with us. The stages for a brain injury start at 1 and end with 8. The therapist said that he's at 4. Which means that he isn't awake all the time, gets agitated very easy, says senseless things sometimes, is in a lot of pain and sleeps a lot.

She said that when someone's head hits something hard, the brain actually bounces to the other side of the head. If there is any brain damage to the right side, that would be the artistic side of his thinking. Because he had blood clots and bleeding in his brain where they don't know where it was (but it isn't occurring anymore), there could be something damaged. We won't know until he's in therapy. But he can talk, he can move his limbs, is very strong, can see and respond to commands. He calls me 'mom' and called out for Danielle one time when she was in the waiting room. When the nurse asked her who Danielle was, he said "My wife, you fool!" She wasn't surprised or hurt by his remark. They have a sitter in his room at all times. He is restrained but still slid himself where his head was in the middle of the bed and his legs were hanging over. He wants to go to the bathroom!

The therapist said that they are going to try giving him food and give him meds to stop his aggravation. Once they accomplish that, they will move him to the rehab and start with physical, occupational and speech and memory therapy.

Sunday: I called Randy's room this morning. I was talking to Danielle about how he was doing. I could hear him in the background talking. Danielle put the phone by his ear. I said hi to him and he said hi back. I asked him if he knew who I was and he said "yes, my mom". I felt good about that. This morning earlier, Danielle asked him who he was and he said "Mr Banana"! He sounds a lot better and Danielle said that he's opening his eyes more. He's still on the pain meds and the meds to keep him settled down. I'm sure as they lower the meds, the more he will respond to us.

Young joins the Phelp's family

So Kitter and Sollie will have a new brother! Here is the note that Jan wrote about him.
Just wanted to let everyone know we are going to raise another CCI puppy. His name is Young and he is 3/4 lab, 1/4 golden retriever. He is scheduled to arrive this coming Wednesday, October 1. He will be flying in from San Francisco on Continental Air Cargo. I'm sure when he gets here Kitter and Sollie will say to him, "OK kid, here's the rules."



I have started a blog with a couple of pictures and what we know so far, and I'll update it after he gets here and as we go through the "raising up" stage. Here is the link: http://raisingyoung.blogspot.com/
Feel free to visit it to get a preview of our new little fella. As soon as he is "trustable" from a house-training standpoint we'll bring all the boys to visit at the Center.I'm saving their blog as one of my favorites so I can keep up with his training.


The CCI is NOT a puppy mill, by the way. This is a great organization.

Judge Judy and a Puppy Mill

We watch Judge Judy in the afternoons. She gets to the point, doesn't like interuptions and is quite entertaining. Today she had a good show. A couple was being sued for money paid to them for a cute little dog that wouldn't do anything but lay down and was puppy pad trained. Judy talked about puppy mills. She said that this particular dog was from a puppy mill. Because she was in a cage for the 18 months of her life, she didn't have human response, didn't know how to play and was not properly trained. To top it off, the dog never had shots and had never been to a vet. The lady who bought the dog took the dog to a vet. The vet said that the poor little thing was unresponsive and didn't know how to act like a dog should act. When I go to the flea market in McKinney, there are cages and cages of puppies. Some cages hold more than 3 or 4 puppies. You don't see dogs, only puppies. I asked a seller one time why there weren't dogs but only puppies there. She said that she only sells puppies. I told her that she couldn't possibly sell all of the puppies she had with her and what happens to these puppies when they are no longer 'cute' and little but are grown dogs. I asked her if she had them put down. She was not happy with me. She said that she turns them loose on her land to run. Come on! How many dogs would she have running around her land while she continues to breed puppies.
People need to be aware of what a puppy mill is. Here is a description according to HSUS. I condensed what they wrote. You can read the full story at: http://stoppuppymills.org/inside_a_puppy_mill.html

Life is particularly bad for "breeding stock," dogs who live their entire lives in cages and are continually bred for years, without human companionship and with little hope of ever becoming part of a family. These dogs receive little or no veterinary care and never see a bed, a treat or a toy. After their fertility wanes, breeding animals are commonly killed, abandoned or sold to another mill. The annual result of all this breeding is hundreds of thousands of puppies, many with behavior and/or health problems.

There are many websites that you can read about the horrors of puppy mills. Type in Puppy Mills in the Search and you can take your pick on which article to read.

LB's new cat named Alice

Laurie has a new member of her family today. She was hanging around a friend's neighborhood and had kittens. They caught the momcat and had her spayed. But they needed a home for her. Since LB recently lost one of her cats, she has room for her. Her name is Alice. So LB and Steve have three cats again...Norton, Trixie and Alice. Sound familiar? I think she needs to get one more named Ralph to complete the circle.

Wild Life Blog

If you love animals, especially wildlife, check out this blog. The pictures are awesome. http://cwildlife.blogspot.com/

New Yard Critter

Yesterday I was looking over my plants and thought that a leaf from my honeysuckle vine was stuck to the fence post. It's a cute little tree frog. He looked so cute that I wanted to pick him up. I didn't. I let him be after I used him to take pictures, that is. I've never seen a green one like this.

Plano Hot Air Balloon Festival

Last night was the opening of the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Plano TX. Jamie, Dallas and I rode toward the festival to see if we could get a good look at the balloons as they went across our sky. We not only saw them fly, we ended up parking right where they were landing!! We were by a big open field. Last night the balloons didn't fly far, they just went up, flew a little and landed. A policeman told me that I had to move my car and he told me that I could go down a block and turn left and park there. It was wonderful! Balloons landed all around us! The people in #4 balloon were so nice to us, gave us cards and kids tattoos of their balloon. I look a lot of pictures. I got some pictures of the Neighbors Go balloon. The Neighbors Go has a section in the Dallas Morning News regarding things that go on in our area. I sent the pictures to them. I'm sure they will enjoy receiving them.
Here are some pictures of the balloons and of Dallas pointing at them. She also got to sit on one of the baskets!

Snipp, Snapp and Snurr!

Sometimes I think of something and look for it on the internet. Most times I'll find it. But sometimes I don't. This is one time that I didn't think I'd find what I was looking for. When I was a little girl (smaller than all of the kids my age), I read all the time. In elementary school, we didn't have a library but the Bookmobile would come to our school every other Friday and class by class would be allowed to go get books. I can still smell the books in the bus, picture how crowded it was on the bus with thousands of books (well, it seemed like that many to me) and the smell of the gas running while the driver kept the bus warm in the winter. I lived in Grand Rapids MI. I loved Bookmobile Friday. One book always stayed with me throughout my life. It was called Snip, Snap and Snurr. (That was the way I thought that it was spelled). I didn't remember if they were animals or what they were. I just remembered the name of the book that I loved so much. So today, I went on the internet and wrote Snip, Snap and Snur. When a bunch of websites came up telling about the children's book about triplet boys, I was dumbfounded! Now I remember the boys in the book and there was more than one book about them. I was a little disappointed that it said that the books were printed in the 70s and even the 90s. I looked them up on Ebay and there they were. And, to top it all off, some were the original books printed in 1941 and 1948! No, I didn't order them. Maybe I'll check the library to see if they have them in the children's
section.
Libraries are wonderful places. The other day, I looked up an author on the internet that Denny graduated with. He was a year ahead of me. His name is Max Apple. He's also a playright and wrote the movie "The Air Up There" with Kevin Bacon and directed by Paul Glaser (Starsky from Starsky and Hutch). I went to the library and they're getting two of Max's books from the Plano Library for me. I'll write about the books after I finish them.

Jordan and Fight Club

Jordan is quiet and laid back. So it really surprised me when I found out that he started a fight club at Texas Tech. Oh, it's not like the movie Fight Club so don't get worried that he's like the character in the movie. He started it quite by accident. He went to the gym to do his workouts and someone asked him if he's spar with another guy. No problem. Well, he gave the guy an uppercut and knocked him out! Jordan, his dad and grandpa are big boxing fans. Jordan went with his grandpa to the Golden Gloves in Ft Worth last year. He told his friends about it and they wanted to box too. That's basically how it got started. It's all approved by the college and if it goes over good, they will put it on the school programs next year. There are 25 guys in the club now and 35 more are interested. I asked Jordan if he was going to have califlower ears now and he said that they wear helmets, mouthpieces, gloves and cups.

Waterfall cheerleader!

We've been having just beautiful weather this week. In the 80s during the day. When it was really hot, Jamie would take Dallas to Centennial Park to run in the water park. She'd have her in her bathing suit and have nice towels to wrap her in when she was done. No way would Dallas get wet. She just wanted to run and play on the play equipment. Well, Monday afternoon, Jamie, Dallas and I headed to Centennial Park to play. Dallas had on her cute little cheerleading outfit, socks with ruffles and her tenny shoes. What did she do? As soon as she was 'released' from Jamie she ran as fast as she could! RIGHT INTO THE WATER! She was soaked. She still played on the equipment, shivering since it was a little chilly with the light wind that we had. Then back to the water she'd run. Her little skirt was so wet that it was hard to keep up and her socks slid into her shoes. So here's a picture of her trying to slap the water. It looks like she's cheering, doesn't it? We finally got her out of the park, turned the air off in the car and took her home. What a kid!

Ike and the Anniversary of 9/11

Ike is supposed to be joining us in Texas this weekend. I hope that he decides to turn around and leave and not visit us! I'm debating if I should tie my tree down in my backyard. They're predicting 60 MPH winds. Maybe he'll get too pooped out and not get this far into Texas. Or hopefully it will weaken.

I can't believe that it was 7 years ago that the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were hit and many died in the plane that was diverted by the many brave people on the plane to make September 11, 2001 an infamous day in history. It's still sad and our prayers still go out to the survivors and the families of those that lost their lives on that fatal day.

So there are two days in my life that I remember exactly where I was on those days. One November 22, 1963 I was on my way home from the doctor and was due to have my first baby that day. I heard it on the car radio. I had my first son the next day. And on September 11, 2001 I was at an water arobic class at Sandy Pines when a lady came in and announced that a tower was hit. Then a second lady came in and announced that a second one was hit. Then we all knew that it wasn't an accident. Such a sad day in the history of the United States of America. And it's still the best place in the world and I love it here. I'm proud to be an American and no one can ever take that away from us!

Jamie has jury duty

She had to be there at 8:30 today. She's hoping she isn't picked for a jury because she just started her job at Kohl's. She likes working there. She'll work in the beauty department and in the back unpacking boxes and hanging clothes. She likes to hang the clothes because it's good exercise. I think she'll do great in the beauty department, don't you?

Our Visit to the Dairy Farm

Jamie wanted Dallas to see some real cows so we went to a place that I saw a ranch on Jupiter Street. When we got there, the cows weren't close enough to the road and there wasn't a place to park anyway. So I said that I was going to ask the people if we could see their cows. I pulled into the driveway and a very nice young lady came out of a building. She took us to see the little calves. The cows we saw were all in the 'maternity' ward, as she called it. All of the cows were pregnant. We were at the Lavon Farms, a dairy farm. They also had a little store where they sell cheeses and yogurt. I'm saying 'fresh' yogert and cheeses. I bought some of the cheeses. One is called Texmex cheese and it has peppers in it. The other is called Campesino cheese. It's delicious with no additives, all natural. Deanna, the lady that greeted us, told me that you can fry the cheese just like you would fry an egg and it's delicious. We also bought yogurt cheese. We're going to put it on baked potatoes. It's soft and creamy. And, of course, we had to get something sweet! Fresh made with no additives caramel! Oh boy, I can't wait to mix it with chocolate, pecans and ice cream and make myself a turtle blizzard! So, if you live near Plano, you HAVE to check it out. They have yogurt and even milk with the cream on top! The farm is on Jupiter between Parker and Park.

Randy and the Purple Cross

When Randy was a little boy, I didn't know it but he used to sneak in my room, take out the lamp that my grandma gave to me when I was young and turn it on. It has a crucifix in the bulb. I didn't turn it on much because I didn't want the bulb to burn out. I don't know how old the lamp is. My grandma had it when she was young. She was born in 1890. So I got the lamp out and took some pictures to add to my blog. Too bad I don't have a picture of Randy sneaking a look at the lamp.

Svengali

When I was young, a movie was on TV that really got my attention. I haven't seen it since but it was so scary to me. No monsters or vampires. But the man in the movie was so scary to me. It was such an old movie so, of course, it was in black and white but it was also choppy, bad music and scenes. But it got my attention! I've remembered Svengali since I first watched the movie. Well, I decided to look on Ebay to see if I could find anything. I found the book and won the bid for a song. It came in the mail today. I love to get old books. This story was first published in 1897 but the book I have was printed in 1982. So it isn't real old. I have a few classics. For now, I'm putting the picture of the book I received today. I'll get all of my books out to show you later.
I'll also list the books on my bookshelf.

Randy

Our son, Randy, lives in NC with his wife, Danielle. It would be nice if they lived closer but we stay in touch on the phone a lot. I have a cd that he made with his singing. I wish I could download some of his songs to my blog but I don't think there's a way to do it. Randy is our second son, middle child. Oh, oh, you know what they say about middle children. No, he's a great guy. Danielle is a beautiful girl. I think Randy got a diamond this time.

Another blog

I have another blog to show off my new hobby. It's called Postcrossing. I received my first card today from Canada. Actually, the sender lives in Ottawa, Canada but she mailed it from Nova Scotia where she was vacationing. Check out the new blog. It's called My Postcrossing and to go to the blog, it's you write goblepostcrossing.blogspot.com.

Did what she was told!

Jamie and Dallas went outside in the back yard. Jamie told Dallas that she couldn't play in her pool....she obeyed! I put some buckets outside to catch the rain yesterday. Before Jamie knew what happened, Dallas ran to the bucket and climbed in. Well, it wasn't the pool!!

Postcrossing

I got a response from the first postcard that I sent on Postcrossing. My card went to Finland and it took 18 days to get there. I'm waiting to find out if the card that I sent to Germany was received. Here is what the girl responded to my card.
Hi Jan. Dallas was my first tv-series which I remember. J.R was so mean and
bobby was my favourite. I was then like 5 years old. That's all what I know your
city. Have a nice time with your flowers! Jenni

Jordan's newest artwork creation

Jordan doodles in his lab classes for college. He listens but already knows what the professer is talking about so it doesn't hurt for him to draw. Denny and Sue have several of his drawings in their home and I have a couple. This is his latest. He explained it to me but I'll let you make your own interpretation.

Denny got a new truck

Denny traded his truck in today for a new Dodge pickup. It's a beauty. Here are a couple pictures of him with it.

Family pictures

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A little Artwork

Here are a few pictures that are on my wall in my office.
My grandson, Jordan, drew the deer. He didn't notice that he drew a deer head over the moon. I noticed it. The second picture is a picture that I made with a needle. I was working on it when they announced that Elvis Presley was dead. The picture is very big and it took a year to complete it. And the third picture is a picture that my aunt gave me. It's a real old picture. If you focus on the middle of Jesus' face, you'll see his eyes closed. If you look at his eyes, you'll see them open.