Need A Boost?

I will admit, I've had a 5 hour energy before. I've even had a Red Bull a couple of times. Usually if I'm driving long distances and just can't seem to keep my focus. As a general rule, though, I get my artificial stimulants from coffee any soda. Call me a traditionalist. ;)
Years ago I became a Bzz Agent. This means that I get sample or discounts on products to kind of give them a test run and let people know about them. Recently a product I've tried out is from Green Mountain Coffee and its called Focus Blend. It's a part of their Wellness Collection. Now, you do have to make this as a 6oz cup if coffee or its too weak, but it DOES give you hours of focus with no jitters and no crash. I also tried the Antioxidant Blend. I've just got to rave about that Focus Blend, though!! That stuff is da bomb!!

<img src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/greenMountainWellness.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=7167868471&Campaign=2041194021&Uid=262790&token=9b8af58b118fbf0a7225973d9d000191" alt=""/>

Gizmo

In the early morning hours of the fourth of July our Gizmo was hit by a car and killed instantly in the road in front of our home when he got loose and ran.  The driver did not stop; we did not see it happen.  A friend of my son's found him when everybody went looking for Giz.  He was 2.5 years old, 7.5lbs, and the best dog I've ever had.  I miss him so much it hurts, still, and I keep crying about him at random times.  Like now.  Kyle mentioned my birthday, which will be in a couple of days, and the only thing I really want for my birthday is my Gizmo back.  

To help fill the emptiness, though there could never be a replacement, we've adopted a minpin who was being fostered in the Ogdensburg area.  He is six years old and we've named him Jake.  He's very fearful and has obviously been mistreated somewhere along the lines.  The only problem we're having with him is that he's not housebroken....or he's forgotten how to be.  So earlier I brought Max's pet taxi up and cleaned it well and made Jake a nice nest in it.  We'll have to crate train him, I guess.  We hate to do it to him because he's been through so much, but I'm getting damned frustrated cleaning up all his piddle spots.  

The Dark Monk Bzz Campaign

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Bah!  I was really excited about joining this Bzz Campaign!  I was hoping to read The Dark Monk and The Hangman's Daughter.  They didn't tell us until after the campaign started that Kindle Fire and iPhone Kindle apps wouldn't be able to access the books.  Very disappointing.  I would really have liked to have had that information before joining the campaign.  The books look so good!!!  I've got to say, it's the first time that I've been disappointed in the coordination of a Bzz Campaign.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm a Bzz Agent.  A Bzz Agent is somebody who gets to learn about products before they're released or as they're released and share what we've learned about them.  I've been in some pretty terrific Bzz Campaigns over the years.  You can learn more at www.BzzAgent.com.

If you're looking for something good to read, I've heard many really good reviews on these books!  Hopefully I'll be able to read them soon.

The Dark Monk

The Hangman's Daughter

Well It Figures

Death of the Well

The last couple of days we've had intermittent problems with the water.  It'll be flowing just fine, then it stops.  It comes back within minutes, but it's bothersome....and foreboding.  This morning Colin had to end his shower early as the water quit on him twice.  It quit during my shower, too....after I'd rinsed my hair thankfully!!  Then by 11am it quit entirely.  I got Kyle up, he called his friend Bruce over, and they determined that the well was dry.  So Jeff Vice came with the pumper from Station 2 and a few other firemen showed up and ran water into the well.  So that's how we know the well wasn't dry because they didn't get 50 gallons in and the water came shooting out of the top.  So it looks as if the pump isn't working.  There's a switch in the basement that could be the problem or it could be the pump itself.....at the bottom of our 375ft drilled well.  Brian Jenack is coming by in the morning with a friend who knows these things and can test that switch.  So now here's hoping that that switch in the basement is kaput and we can replace that and be done with it.
Meanwhile, I had Kyle bring in a bucket of water from the creek to use to make the toilet flush and told the boys they can go outside.  He and Colin have run in to Peggy's for now to use the facilities there....I have no desire to run the risk of clogging a toilet when we've got no water.  I think I'd have a screaming breakdown and run howling madly out of the house.
Pretty pretty please let it be that switch!

Migraines

Colin has another one.  Poor kid.  All this gorgeous weather and the bright white sky makes his head scream.
I think I had a migraine once.  I remember as a teenager having this one headache and the silence hurt but any noise hurt, the darkness helped a little but if anybody even cracked open the door I'd sob.  But it was a one time thing and was over in the same day.  These ones Colin gets last for days.  The last one was a four day event from day one until the recovery day where the headache part is gone but there's hypersensitivity to stimuli still.  I guess my cousin Josh used to get them, and a second cousin Reilly gets them, too, so there's some family history there.  It's also common in the puberty years.  His seem to come on with dramatic weather changes.  I guess I should just watch the barometer and start dosing him with meds when it jumps around a bit!  Gah.  I hope he grows out of it, and quickly.  If we catch it right at the beginning we can head it off at the pass....but this time we chalked those early symptoms up to the cold he's had.  And then it was too late.  Any advice on tips and tricks to avoid them or alleviate them are always welcome!  We may have tried it already, but hey -- any help is appreciated!  Or even shared stories!

Fukitol Day

So this morning I declared today to be Fukitol Day here at our house.  Colin gets to blow off school and catch up on some sleep, and nobody is going to be given any chores....no expectations.  Kyle and I both have the day off.  Right now it's sunny and waaaarm out there...it's supposed to rain this afternoon.  Hopefully that will wash away the last of the ice and snow.  The back yard is a pocked skating rink in the shade of the trees and buildings.  I took the doggies out front this morning and realized that the neighbor's dog has used our front lawn as her personal potty for the season....that will have to be picked up.  But not on Fukitol Day!!  I changed the litter and put the trash out because there's no choice in that, and I'll do some laundry because it's easy.  But really....today is Fukitol Day and I have no plans, no chores, no projects...nada.

We're going to have a Saint Patrick's Day party on Saturday.  Nothing big, nothing fancy, just getting our friends together, eating good food, drinking like we can handle it, and enjoying the early days of spring weather.   Anybody is welcome to come, but I'm not going to advertise it.  I'll have fun this week planning the menu!

I'll be heading down to Syracuse at some point to pick up my mother.  Glen's house and affairs are just about settled, and she'll be going into a home to spend her last days.  I guess they're at a doctor's this morning where they'll learn more about how much time she'll have left now that she's foregoing further treatment.  There's a lot of madness down there.  I'll miss Glen, when she's gone.  I'm glad that we all got back in touch and had a few years to spend together.

Alright -- off to surf Pinterest!!  lol  If you haven't found it yet you're missing the revolution!!!

Happy Fukitol Day!!

OMG -- Spring!!

Every window in my house is open!  It's spring!  OMG....time to start getting in shape for summer.  Ugh!  Well, I did some good grocery shopping this last go round.  I did that thing they recommend where you only shop the perimeter of the grocery store, going down aisles only when I needed a specific product.  I ended up with a cart full of fruit, veggies and dairy -- but hey, that's a good thing, right?  I mean, I got my coffee (of course!!), and picked up some Health-full breads.  Have you tried those?  Mmmmm!  I've always liked Arnold breads so I was happy to try this out.  I got coupons and information on it as part of a Bzz  Campaign (see www.bzzagent.com and tell them Saille sent you!) and gave them a try -- mmmmm!  Nice to have healthy bread that doesn't taste like chalk.....anyway!  I'll be making some tasty salads, sandwiches, and snacks.  I've really got to get walking...I think the last of the snow will go away today.  It's supposed to rain this afternoon and that will wash a lot of it away.  Maybe I can get down to a size 12 this summer as planned!
Ah....it's good to dream!  lolol

Link To Your About.me Page

<img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/aboutme.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=8907819073&Campaign=4813611877&Uid=262790&token=a698523e7ffa1ae6073c768a79b70b80" alt=""/>

I wish my about.me page had a matching iPhone app!  I do enjoy personalizing it, though.

Allez, Allez, In Come Free!!

Did you used to shout that at the end of a game of Hide and Seek?  When either the seeker has caught some poorly hidden hider  or finally given up and decided it sucked to wander around alone, knowing they're all snickering quietly at you as you peer into empty corners looking for them?  I really have no idea where it started, if everybody says it, where I learned it....nada.

Hide and Seek.  Now there was a game.  If you didn't lose the game of One Potato you got to show off how well you knew your area, and your awesome ninja skills, by becoming a shadow...a puff of smoke...an invisible agent hiding from your enemy!  And this is not as easy as it sounds because you have to find a hidey hole that the other neighbor kids aren't going to beat you to because they're faster runners, but you need to get going or your little brothers are going to be tagging along and they ALWAYS get caught because they're little, aka slow and stupid, and if you get caught you'll have to be IT.  And being IT always sucked.  If you kept tagging the little ones Mom would eventually yell....and they really couldn't be IT anyway, not being able to really count past 10 yet.  If you somehow managed to find one of the older kids, well, they could outrun you with their shoelaces tied together anyway, so they'd be back at Safe before you could even get up to speed.  So there you are, wandering around the yard hoping that you'll somehow sneak up on that one other kid who maybe won't see you coming, who you can tag and escape the hell of being IT for at least another turn, once again getting to show off your mad ninja skills hiding under the car or the bushes or the shed or where ever.

The brutal lessons of childhood:  If they're bigger and faster then they're going to have an advantage and all you can do is cross your fingers and HOPE maybe you'll outwit them just one time.  Otherwise they're just going to keep trouncing you and if you whine about it they'll do it even worse and call you a baby and not let you play anymore.  If they're younger you have to give them special treatment because you're bigger and faster, and if you don't the authorities will force you, so you really can't ever beat them, either.  All you can really do is play along and hope that sometimes you'll get your shot to be the winner.

I'm pretty sure everything I needed to know about life I learned playing Hide and Seek....

About.me

http://about.me/Saille


Have you checked this out yet?  These about.me pages are pretty cool. It's kind of like a central hub....it's a handy spot to put all the links to all the various things you do and have it all in one spot. If  somebody wants to check out who you are and what you're about they can use your about.me page.  You can edit it to look any way you want:  professional, humorous, sarcastic, epic, whatever!  So stop in and check mine out and make your own!  I learned about mine as a Bzz Agent....part of a group who tries out products and services in a trial setting and then lets others know what we think.

Click me!! Click me!!

http://www.shoedazzle.com/styleprofile/14mtybb8cx

Just discovered this site....apparently if a few people sign up after clicking through my link I get something or other.

A Sunny Saturday

It's such a beautiful day out, today!  The sun is shining, it's in the 30's outside, and there's been no excitement today.  Colin had a friend over last night and they're outside playing.  They've been out there for just over two hours now in the sunshine, sledding, playing on the ice, tromping through the woods, laughing and generally enjoying themselves.  They spent hours outside yesterday, too, which is WONderful!  It's been such a cruddy winter with ice instead of snow and the continually overcast skies.  I really like to see Colin play outside where he can get the fresh air and the sunshine.  This is Elias' first time here, but I've known his parents, specifically his mother, since we were the boy's age ourselves.  He's one of the few kids in Colin's class who gets better grades than Colin does, which I like because it challenges Colin, and they enjoy many of the same video games and other things.  They're very much on the same level.  Awesome!

Kyle went over to his friend Brian Jenack's garage for the morning.  He woke up before dawn and Brian is usually at the shop by six so Kyle headed over there.  He just left again with his co-worker Tyler for Churubusco and Dick's Country Store to look at guns and guitars.

I've got some laundry going, got the dishes done, did some vacuuming done.  I made a cheesecake yesterday for Kyle to take to Lurch's house tomorrow for the SuperBowl.  I also made up some Michigan Sauce which we had with dinner and I'll send some of that to Lurch, too, as he'll appreciate it for sure.  I've got boneless chicken breast cut up with a buffalo rub on it in the fridge to cook up later as boneless hot wings.

The boys just came in.  They found a large dog collar with rabies tags from '07 and '09 on it from some animal clinic I've never heard of.  It was hung up on a tree branch in a place that, Colin says, it wasn't on before or he'd have noticed it.  He was going to look it up online but I told him it was probably more sensible to walk up the road to one of the new houses where we have some new folks in the neighborhood and ask if it belonged to them.  So they threw their coats back on and headed up the road with it.  It didn't have a registration tag on it or a current rabies tag, so there's really not much more we can do with it.  But there are two new neighbors up the road a bit and it's almost surely got to belong to one of them.

We won't be going over to my mother's today for the February birthday party dinners.  Mom and Heather headed down to Aunt Glen's this morning.  Heather has the day off but will have to come home for work.  Mom will be staying there indefinitely.  Glen will be starting chemo and radiation on Monday and Mom is going to stick around for a while and help her out.  I hope that it goes well.  I got to say hello to Glen briefly last evening when Katie gave me a call.  It was good to hear from her.  Sometimes we got weeks and weeks without any contact and I wonder sometimes if there's something going on, but I know it's just that life is hectic and full on both ends of the road and time just slips away from us.

Not sure when I'll bring Elias home.  It's already 2:30pm and they're having so much fun I figure it'll be a while, yet!  lol  I feel lazy, like I want to curl up with a book, but restless like I want to start a project.  I hate that feeling!  If Colin didn't have company I'd probably be cleaning his room already.  Thankfully he does have company!  Bwa-ha-ha-ha!  Guess I'll watch some reruns, cook a little, bake a little, clean a little and read a little.  Maybe I'll try some more of that "relax" thing I keep hearing so very much about....sounds like fun! Superbowl is tomorrow.....what are you up to?

Any Random Day

Today...

Today I got to sleep in a little bit because my husband got up for me this morning.
Today there was a two hour delay for school due to freezing rain.
Today I ran some errands in the morning with my son before dropping him off at school.
Today one of my friends is starting a new medication that will hopefully change her life in a good way.
Today my husband got some overtime.
Today I made a tasty dinner that everybody can enjoy.
Today my son brought home his report card having achieved high honor roll.
Today I napped with a toddler in my arms.
Today I learned that my aunt has lung cancer.
Today I learned that my aunt has an aggressive form of cancer that, with treatment, may well take her from us within the next year.
Today is a pretty suckish day, all in all.

It Never Rains

...but it pours.

I don't generally mind getting older.  With each passing year I feel a bit older, but I usually learn a bit more and have a bit more to show for myself.  One of the things I hate about growing older, though, is that everybody else does, too.  Not only do I miss those years with my son when he was small and snuggly and would curl up with me to watch Rollie Pollie Ollie or Bear in the Big Blue House, but I'm also seeing the generation ahead of me grow older.  People who I don't think of as old, are getting....well, old.  Health problems are becoming more common, there is less mobility, less energy....worst of all, there is more death.  I know that death is a part of life....it's the final hurdle that we will all face.  It looms ever closer at hand, a quiet shadow that whispers it's greeting.  Sometime we know it's coming, sometimes it sneaks up upon us; sometimes it's somebody we don't want to face this world without, sometimes it's somebody we barely know and we can wax philosophical about it.  Always, death is with us.
"Suppose death had a heart to love and to release you, to whom would he turn this passion, would you chose a person from the crowd there. A person to suffer as you suffer." Santiago, Interview with a Vampire, Anne Rice. 

Our New Addition

Today I adopted "Truffle" from the Massena Humane Society. She's an approximately 6-7 month old tortie. When I left the house I just felt like it was the right day to pop in at the Shelter and there she was. We're waiting to see what her new name will be and letting her and the other critters adjust to one another.

Monday, Monday...

So today is MLK day so the kiddo had no school.  Last Wednesday was a half day which he missed having a stomach bug, then Thursday and Friday were snow days for a minor ice storm that blew through the area, and today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so no school.  Quite a nice long break for him!
I got to sleep in a bit, got up about 10'ish.  Colin had already taken the dogs out and was puttering around the house keeping busy.  His sciatic nerve is acting up from sitting too much these days off, surfing, so he wanted to make sure not to plug in today.  So after I got up and about we ran out to the mall so he could go to Game Stop.  I finally got to run into Pam as we were leaving and she was on her way in to work.  I got a nice shirt at Sears for a whopping .51 cents!!  WooHoo!  Picked up a few Hallmark things for next Christmas as it was 75% off, had lunch together at Jreck's Subs and came home.  I should be cleaning and stuff, but I'm kind of taking it easy today.  I'll get up in a bit and get to the dishes and laundry and stuff.
My cousin Kate and my aunt Glen came up Friday, though it took them about three times as long as it should have to get here in the storm, so they stayed until Sunday.  I got to see them Saturday and visit and go back later and have dinner.  They stayed at Heather's.  
One of my friends is having surgery on her thyroid today....hopefully.  So she's in my thoughts.  She'll be home recovering for a week or two so I'll go visit her.
My cat Lucky has been wandering the house nights calling for his twin, Stinky.  It makes me very sad and I so wish I could explain it to him.  I still choke up here and there....I suppose I will for a while.  Funny how much a part of our lives our pets are.
Ah, well....I suppose I'd best get moving so I can get those dishes done and the next load of laundry going!
Have a good Monday, folks!!!

Friday the 13th

What a horrible, horrible day today has been.  Thinking about Stinky makes me feel ill, still, and I could lay right down and cry.  I don't only because there's no point in it and it doesn't make me feel any better.  I held his head while the vet gave him the injection this morning, then wept over his body with Kyle.  But he's out of it, now, and he won't have to suffer the indignities that nature wreaks on the body when it gets beyond it's years.  It could have been hyperthyroid or diabetes, but either way it meant needles and tests and pills or injections every day with the ever looming threat of organ failure.  Lucky seemed to be looking around a bit earlier but otherwise hasn't really noticed  yet.  I expect over the next day or two he's going to get to looking around for his twin, but that will pass.  But there's an empty spot where another cat ought to be tonight.

My Cat Stinky

Tomorrow morning at 8am my 14 year old cat Stinky has a vet appointment.  He's an albino twin.  I adopted him and his brother Lucky after spending a week alone during the Ice Storm of '98.  These cats have been in my life a very long time.  They are the most lovable lap cats ever, they love everybody, they are everything anybody could want in cats.  I noticed last month, before Christmas, that Stinky was dropping significant weight and his fur was getting ratty looking.  He doesn't seem to be in any pain, or to have any stiffness, he's eating and drinking.  All three of our cats share a litter box so there's no way to track that.  He still snuggles and purrs and doesn't flinch when you pet him though he's nearly skeletal under his fur now.  I wish so much that I could just pretend there's nothing going on with him, but I don't want to find him in pain some morning because I let whatever this condition is go on untreated.  I am afraid that he's not coming home tomorrow and I'm very upset about it.  This cat was my baby before I had a baby, my companion when I was alone, somebody to talk to and play with for over a dozen years.  I held him and cried earlier.  I'd drink some wine but I'm afraid I'd just start crying and not stop at all, and I don't want to be hung over in the morning.
Kyle is coming with me, and Colin will be with us if school isn't cancelled because we'll be dropping him off about 20 minutes later.  This will be the first time as an adult in my own household that I'll have to have a family pet euthanized, if it comes to that.  And I really do think it will....there aren't many good reasons for an old cat to drop weight like that, and nearly all of them terminal.  I'm not going to start giving my 14 year old companion shots or stuffing him with pills....that would freak him right out.  That's not quality of life for him, that's selfishness for me to hang on to him in defiance of the natural course of his life.  :-(
At least tomorrow I'll have family around me to keep me company and keep my spirits up.