Silver Sneakers at the Cowboy Stadium

What a great day it was today. A bunch of us that exercise in the Silver Sneakers program went to the new Cowboy Stadium. There were 900 people there. Of course, we were all seniors except the staff and leaders. What a great group of people work for Silver Sneakers. We sure had fun. They led us in an exercise program after they talked about Silver Sneakers and how they got us there. After our exercise, we went on the field. I had my camera so I took pictures of Lena, Maria and myself. No, I didn't take the pictures of myself except for my feet but I actually got in the pictures. That's something I don't like to do unless it's for something special and this was special. We went on a tour and saw the Cowgirl's dressing room and the Cowboy's dressing room. There weren't any cowboys there. Hmmmm, the locker room sure was clean for a bunch of guys. Oh, that's right! Cleaning crews!
We went to the pro shop and I got Dallas a dodge ball. Everything was too expensive, not a surprise!
We got back on the bus (provided by the First Baptist Church of Allen). We went to a nice Italian restaurant and ate. We also had great conversations in the restaurant and on the bus. All in all, it was a great trip!
Here are just a few pictures. I'll add my friend's pictures later.
Oh, the feet are mine standing on the field!

So Many Things I Want To Do But...

I can't do them all at once. So, don't do any of them? I went in the back yard. I need to pull the long grass out of my flowers and cut away dead flowers. I started to do it but sweat got the better of me so I'll go out later this evening and do it! I could knit right now but I think I'll do it later this evening. I would like to read some of my book. Oh, I think I'll wait until later this evening. I want to send out a few postcards. Maybe I'll wait until later this evening. I have to make some hummingbird feed but, since it's so hot out, I think I'll wait until later this evening. My desk needs cleaning. That's a good job to do later this evening. I could watch the shows that I recorded. Later this evening would be a good time to watch them. And there are things that I SHOULD do! But now isn't the time to figure out what needs to be done. I can figure it out later. So I guess I won't do anything. Hey, I'm retired, aren't I?

Check out my Shelfari

You can see the book that I read on this blog by looking at my Shelfari. If I didn't put the books on the shelves, I'd forget what I read. I wish I would have done it years ago. Especially because I read a book years ago and I used to tell people to read it. When I was in the hospital back in 95, I started to tell a nurse about the book and I completely forgot the name of the book! I've searched for it on the internet but,to this day, I cannot remember the name of the book!

I just read two books by Gillian White. They were fantastic. One was called Dogboy. It's about a disturbed young man and a pit bull! I liked it so much that I tried to find more of her books. There was only one at the library. It's called Mothertime. Children lock their mean, drinking mother in a sauna in their basement for four months to try to make her a good mother. It's really a surprising book. She has around 11 more good books. I ordered one from Ebay and I may be getting more from another vendor on Ebay. I'm waiting for an answer about cheap shipping if I order several.

When it's so hot out, you have to do something inside. Oh yeah! I have facebook to keep me busy! Knitting too. But I save that for watching TV in the evenings. I can't wait for the shows to start again. Dexter and Sober House are two that I'm waiting for.

It Is Soooo Hot Here!

The temperatures have been in the 100s for a couple of weeks now. We should be getting a cooling trend Monday and Tuesday...98°! That's what they said this weekend was going to be but now they moved it forward. Oh, those weathermen. I'm sure they went to the same school as the politicans. And this week another parent 'forgot' that their 2 year old was in the car and left her there for 3 hours!!! The temperature in the car was over 115! No punishment for the parent. Hmmm, they called it an accident. Accidents shouldn't happen like that!!!!
We're in the house when it's hot except when Dallas goes in her pool. Then I sit out there with her with a misting hose on me. But, I'll take heat over cold any day!!

Fire Allen, TX 08/10/10

Today is

National Mustard Day. What can I put mustard on? I don't eat meat anymore. Oh, I can eat some potatoe salad, deviled eggs or something else that is good but not meat.

If you grind your teeth...better stop!

I went to the dentist the other day and spent 5 hours there. I thought that I was getting my teeth cleaned and checked but they did everything: cleaning, xrays and prepared two of my teeth for crowns! I like that when I don't have to go back once a week. However, I'm grinding my teeth down! I'm not actually grinding. I find myself rocking on my teeth from one side to the other! So I went to the drugstore and got a nightguard. I'll be wearing it during the day too...no, not in public!

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Silver Sneakers

If you have a Silver Sneakers program where you live, join it! If you have Humana or Secure Horizons, you can join it free. Our leader is Melaney and she is super! I've been going three days a week now for a couple of months and I've worked on every muscle in my body. We listen to cool music. We work with a ball, weights and a rope. If you think that seniors don't get workouts or that they do wimpy exercises, I'm going to set you straight! We work it out! And I feel so good. My rght knee that was operated on is great now. I had problems with my left knee and I'm afraid that I'll have to have surgery on that knee before too long. I'll have to have it, and any other things that need repairing, before 2012. Our health insurance is going to be changed and not for the better. The government is really screwing with us! I think my voting days are done. Politicians are all alike and they're trying to get rich and screw the rest of us. The oil spill that is ruining our environment, waters and animals could be taken care of but it isn't. Oh well. I'm done talking politics.

Jordan Has His Batchelors Degree

The first in our family to graduate from college! He's going to go on now for his Master's Degree. We're really proud of him. He's a really nice young man. We went to his house yesterday for the party. Just family was there. We had a good time and Dallas went in the pool with Lindsey. It was so hot yesterday.

Son Denny Finally Had Stone Crushed

Poor guy is in pain right now but the stone won't bother him anymore. I hope he doesn't get another one. He was in such pain.

Memorial Day, Hot and No Air

Happy Memorial Day! The day we remember our soldiers and everyone that died for our country. It's good that we have this day designated but we need to remember them every day. And the families that have to go on without their loved ones.

The temperature is in the 90s here in northern Texas. And that's pretty close to what it is in our house right now. Friday the fan in our air conditioning unit outside decided to go on a holiday. And our repair man is in Utah playing a gig in a band. So we'll have to suffer it out until tomorrow. Tomorrow is Jamie's day off so Denny and I were going to go to the casino. We haven't been there in ages. But our gambling money will go to repair the air conditioner. Can't win, can we?

But we're alive, not dying from the heat so we can't complain. We can always go out in the back and jump in Dallas' pool.

I Added More Pictures of my Rocks

Instead of making new posts, I'm going to add the pictures onto a previous post calle "More Garden Rocks".

Where Does The Time Go?

I can't believe how fast time goes. I thought that I just added to the blog. And the date is May 4th when I last posted? Wow! I hope my life isn't going that fast. Speaking of life. I had minor surgery the other day and I'm still alive. I guess it's natural for someone going into surgery to wonder if they'll still be around after the surgery. I had a benign cyst removed from my urethra. Sounds worse than it really is. But I'm fine.
I feel bad for anyone who has surgery but doesn't come out 'fine'. Anyway, on to better and brighter things.

More 'Garden Rocks'

Randy and Danielle Are Visiting Our Home Ground

What a place to spend a weeks vacation! Michigan? Grand Rapids, at that? Randy wanted to show Danielle where he was born and raised. Of course, he only lived his first 17 years there. After he graduated, he went into the Air Force so he only visited home a few times after that. Randy is the nostalgic one in the family. He went by our old house that Denny and I brought all three of our kids up in. He asked the owner if Danielle could take a picture of him on the front porch. I couldn't believe that there have been hardly any changes to the yard, except that the flowers are all gone! The same mailbox is standing but not straight up like it was when we lived there.

Today they went to Gobles, MI. They took pictures of stores that said 'Gobles' on it. Too cool. When we went to Germany to visit him when he was stationed there, we went to Goble, Germany! They went to Holland beach, all around Wyoming where our house was and visited old friends. And, they had a Wet Buritto! Mmmmm. So good. It's about the only thing I miss in MI. Oh, except for all of our friends. But I can visit them on Facebook. And, Chui's restaurant here in Allen, has their own 'Wet Buritto'. But it isn't called that. It's just a huge buritto.

Here are a few pictures Danielle sent.

Enchantment Lillies

I planted flowers at Sandy Pines that I took from my yard on Charlesgate, since I was letting my garden go to pot. Here are a few of the pictures before the rabbits got them. I had the flowers for a couple of years and even gave some to neighbors when they started to spread. Unfortunatly, the rabbits ate all of our flowers and even ate the bulbs so it was the end of our Enchantment Lillie.

Wildflowers from the past

Years ago, maybe 20 years ago, when we lived in Wyoming Michigan on Charlesgate Ave, I decided that I wanted my backyard to be like a 'secret garden'. I wanted a lot of flowers. So I planted a lot of wildflowers. I mentioned that I wanted to have a path to go to the upper level of our yard. I came home one day and found my son, Denny, digging the path. So I went to the store and got stepping stones. He even made steps for me. The yard was starting to look beautiful. Then we decided to buy into Sandy Pines so I had no time to work on my garden. Here are pictures of the bottom level of the yard.

Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus Martius)

I got a card from a Postcarder today. It has a picture of a Black Woodpecker on it. I didn't realize that there are birds in other countries (other than tropical birds) that we don't have here in the United States. This card came from Finland. The bird is found in all of Europe.

FOXNews.com - Cops: Unidentified Dead Child Found Near Texas Lake Had 'Significant Medical Needs'

FOXNews.com - Cops: Unidentified Dead Child Found Near Texas Lake Had 'Significant Medical Needs'

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My Little Sister's Birthday

Oh my gosh! Laurie is 60! I can't believe it. I can still remember her as my 'kid' sister. I'm seven years older than her. We still get together since we live so close. Every Saturday night we eat out with Steve and Laurie. And every Sunday morning, Laurie, our two friends that also happen to be sisters and I all go to a movie. First we go to Starbucks or the Corner Bakery for coffee, chai and a goodie. We have popcorn at the movie, of course. I'm sure glad I live close to my 'little sister'.

Cowgirl Dallas

It's Getting Warmer...I think!

Well, the weather is warming up and my fingers are warmed up so I can start writing again. So much has happened in the last few weeks.
We got Dallas signed up in a pre-school. She can't stay all day because she's afraid of the dark and they have nap time at 12:00, so I pick her up before that. I signed her up for a different pre-school in the fall. The one she's in now is great but the new one is cheaper and is right by our house! I didn't think they'd have room but they do.

I've been working on my rocks. I'm having a great time with them. I'm going to put pictures on.

I'll also put pictures that Dallas drew of racecars! She's an artist, I tell you!

Got a new computer but I'm having a problem with the printing. I can print off the internet but my pictures that I took look terrible. I'm calling Best Buy at 3:00. If they don't fix it, I'm going to tell them that I want to return it. I have another week to return it! I need to print!

I made Dallas a sandbox out of a big car tire Saturday. She loves it. I put in 250 lbs of sand. And, I had to pull the cart with all of the sand, Dallas' 40 lbs and a couple of plants Saturday! Hey, that's pretty good for a 66 year old woman!!

So, here are the pictures. I promise to write more often...my garden is taking a little of my time too!

Where Does the Time Go?

It's been a long time since I got on the blog! Time goes so fast. I had knee surgery and had to go to therapy every day. Jamie has been working a lot of hours so I was busy with Dallas. Let me tell you, she keeps me busy.

We had another snow storm here last night. We went out to eat at 6:00 and when it was time to go to bed, it had started to snow. This morning we got up and there was 7 inches on the ground! Fortunately, the ground doesn't freeze so the snow doesn't stick. It's already almost completely gone!

Dallas in in pre-school now. She just completed her first week, three days a week. It's made a difference with her already. She needed to go somewhere instead of staying home. Tomorrow they have swimming. It's a great pre-school.

Jamie is working at Dillards now. She like it but she gets tired out from so many hours.

I have a lot of flowers coming out but, with the snow, they may not be any good. I'll find out tomorrow. It's supposed to be in the 60s tomorrow and 75° Tuesday!

Wow! Time Goes Fast

I can't believe that I haven't written in two weeks. Why?
Knee?
Weather?
Olympics?

First: My knee
After the surgery, I did pretty good, except for falling twice. It was strange how my knee would just 'give out'. I had the surgery on Saturday, Sunday I walked with a walker and by Monday I was doing great. A little pain but not the horrible pains I had in my leg and foot every day. I went to the library and the post office Monday. I was doing really good... until this last Thursday. I don't know if our weather caused me to start having pains in my leg when I walk but it started Thursday. I went to the dr for my followup Friday. I told him that it hurt when I walked but even then it didn't hurt as much as it does now. I have to start therapy twice a week for four weeks. Today is Sunday and I'm back with the walker. I walked yesterday and today but it hurt really bad.

Second: The Weather
Maybe the weather is what caused my leg to hurt. I went out in the snow Thursday night with Dallas. Yes, I said 'SNOW'. We got 12 inches of snow in northern Texas! It is the most snow Texas has ever had. In fact, the snow we got in one day was more than Texas had in the last 30 years...all put together! We went on a tour of snowmen like people go on at Christmas to see the Christmas lights. I think 8 out of every ten houses had snowmen in the front yards. Dallas built a cute snowman. She said that she had to build it 'all by herself'. No help.

Third: The winter Olympics started in Canada this weekend. The first day, even before the opening ceremonies, a 21 year old man from Georgia (not the state but the country) was in his last practice run for the luge and he hit the wall, went over and was killed. So sad! We're watching the Olympics. Of course, I love Apollo Ono, the speed skater! He's so cute.

So, hopefully I'll be on here more often. Facebook takes a lot of my time now too. And I'm playing a game on the computer too. Addicted.

Surgery's Done...one more to go

My knee is repaired. I had it done yesterday. There was a lot to clean out and the Dr said that I have arthritis in my knee too. He said that I will have to have the other knee done too.
Sue and Denny came over and Sue took really good care of me! When I needed something, she got it for me! What a doll.
I fell once last night when I was trying to use two canes. I'm using a shower chair now and Denny's going to get Mary's walker today. I fell once this morning. It's a scary thing because you can't stop the fall! I grabbed the chair but it fell on me. Then I remembered that one of my friends at the center told me to be sure to keep my leg straight. I think that I turned it and that's what made me fall. It feels a lot better today.

My Poor Knee

After months of pain in my knee that spread to my foot every day, I finally decided that I can't continue with the pain. So after three shots that didn't work, pain pills that didn't work (except for Denny's Vs, the doctor sent me for an MRI. I went to the orthopedic doctor Thursday. I'm having surgery next Saturday. I have a torn mediscus that has to be repaired. It's going to be done as an outpatient. So dummy me thought that since it's going to be done as an outpatient with only a couple of cuts, I'll be fine and would be able to continue my life as is without pain. Oh, I knew that I'd have to rehab and that there would be some pain. But I thought that I'd be able to go out to eat Saturday night and go to the movie the next day. NOT! I got a lot of info from others and I will not be going anywhere for a couple of days. I'll work hard at the rehab because I'm not going to be one of those people that have to keep having more surgery because they didn't want to do the rehab! I don't want any more of this continuous pain and my knee giving out! Think about me next week, January 30. Hmm, my friend Betty's birthday!

Little Isobelle is Third Place in the GR Press Baby of the Year

We thought that she should be #1 but third from all the participants is pretty good! They got a lot of nice prizes.

Jan as a child

I put a picture on Facebook of when I was a child because everyone was doing it. Here are the pictures I found in my album.

Facebook and Old Friends

What I love about Facebook is that I'm communicating with the people that I worked with at Meijer. It's so neat to hear from them. And the kids I went to school with. No, I know that they aren't kids anymore. It's been 49 years since we graduated. But I think of us as kids yet. If I saw any of them on the street, I'd probably walk past them because I wouldn't recognize them. Hmmm, maybe people should wear a button with their senior picture on it. Just in case! Don't you think that would be a cool idea?
Anyway this week alone, I've added three or four friends. What's really funny is this: For the last few years I was thinking of one of my friends and wondered what happened to him. Someone told me that he passed away. But I read the obits all the time for Grand Rapids and wouldn't miss it. So whenever I'd talk to someone from school, I'd ask them if they ever knew what happened to Rich Herringa. We were good friends (anyway, I thought so). He was like a brother to me in jr high. I remember fixing him up with a girl in high school...hmm, I'll have to ask him if he remembered it. I got an invite for a friend, Bob Ingersoll, yesterday. Of course, I responded. And when I was writing something, I noticed that he had Rich as a friend. No way could that be possible. I asked him if could possibly be the same Rich Herringa and he said that it was! So I wrote a note to Rich and he answered me that it is, indeed, him! Wow. Now that's a mystery solved.
I think one of these days I'm going to put the pictures of the kids I went to school with on my facebook that I'm friends with.
There's one more mystery regarding kids I went to school with. I used to sit by a kid in study hall and we'd talk every day. If he's alive, he probably wouldn't remember. I remember everyone that I was somehow connected to in my life. I remember him as not a good looking kid, bad complexion and he wore an ROTC uniform. He wasn't a popular kid. But I enjoyed our talks every day. I have no idea what we talked about. After we were out of school and the Viet Nam war was going on, I remember seeing his picture in the GR Press and it said that he was killed in Viet Nam. I went to the 5 year class reunion and he was on the 'can't find' list. I mentioned that I thought I read that he was killed in Viet Nam. To this day, I've looked for him. I'd ask people but they didn't know or didn't remember him. When I worked at Meijer, if I got a call from a Nowak (his name was Arnold Nowak), I'd ask if they knew him. One year I went to a park here that had the Viet Nam wall on display and they had computers to look someone up. I asked but they didn't find his name. Maybe he wasn't killed after all. So that's a mystery not solved. I think I'll look around in the internet for his name. Maybe I'll find it.
Anyway, I went to the 5 year class reunion and the 15 year class reunion but I've never gone to any more. I think one is coming up next year. Perhaps I'll go.

MRI

Well, I finally gave in to having something done about my knee. The pain is so bad that I had to resort to going to the doctor. I always refused to have it checked because everyone that I know that has had a knee replaced had to have it done more than once. But they were all heavy women and I'm not so maybe mine would work. That's if I have to have it done. I won't know until the doctor calls me. One neat thing is that they gave me a cd with my knee (in action). I don't know what the heck it means but it looked cool!

Pictures of Dallas

Here are some new pictures for 2010 of Dallas and Stella.