JustaKrusen/ Mrsjustakrusen

A Happy Weekend , with a Happy 2nd Birthday party for Mackenzie.

She has come a long way in her 2 short years of life and she is so full of energy that it is unbelievable to think she was born a 2 pound little girl . She spends a lot of energy from the time she opens her eyes in the morning until nap time. Adrianne being pregnant, she must get exhausted at times. It is a good exhaustion though… for Mackenzie appears to be very healthy.

We went out to Rochester for the party, Jeff and Amanda and the 2 boys drove in their van- we had a little convoy. Walkie talkies and laughter along the way.

It was a perfect weather day, Mackenzie was enjoying the sun and the sprinkler and the small pool. She seemed to enjoy her yard, the water and to variety of things to do.

Brandon found a lawn mower that blows bubbles out of the chute, so he was busy mowing the yard here and there…he was having a great time between the mower, the swing set , the sprinkler with Mackenzie and the pool….

and little Preston was day one after having a precancerous lesion removed from the back of his head, so we had to be careful he did not fall backwards, or get water in it.

He was able to have the pain masked with some Tylenol and codeine that the surgeon had prescribed. As I watched him, I was impressed at the resilience of a child. Heck if an adult had just had scalp surgery, with 13 stiches from the top of the head to the nape of the neck… well I think they would have been home moping… but not this little trooper… he was going strong.

When we got home, it was: we were busy…. getting groceries,  mowing the yard, weeding the garden, weeding the flower area in front, planting some annuals along the front of the house, and we went to B-Ville to take some sunset pictures… ended up and Shawn and Pat’s , on their front porch…. drinking some coffee…and being Hors d’œuvres for the mosquito family. Man I was miserable…. they were chomping on my legs, face, arms, scalp…. I was trying to be polite, but I was squirming and really getting annoyed with the vampires. Lessons  numero uno… Citronella candles do not scare away mosquitos…in fact… I think they like the citronella.  Can someone tell me what good mosquitos are… please… I need to find a reason to appreciate them !!. Dang they are bad this year….

Today was a church, gym, Delta Sonic, get my roll of 35mm film developed and work around the house day.. and tonight I am pretty worn out . I got the 35mm camera out because I wanted a hummingbird picture… ta—dah….. I got one…

See my digital has a delay- so when I snap the picture , the camera thinks..and than all I get is a bird feeder..with the bird already gone.

Now I just need to get a lesser speed film to cut out the grain … but I am a happy camper…. I got my picture… I hope your weekend was great… mine was busy and felt like a good weekend. Love to all.. Mrs Justa alias Cindy

As I was thinking about things in life, which I tend to do often, I was thinking about how much many of us think a lot about what to do and how to do it.

An example this evening was we were talking at Jeff’s about many angles of life.So in my trails of thinking came potty training… yes potty training….  This evening this was brought about by taking Brandon in for hopefully a successful journey down the road to being potty trained. Thinking about my mom as we were in the bathroom…. My mom was a believer that the kids needed to take their mind off what they were there to do. So she would bring in books to read with us. She patiently would read a part of the book and than remind us in her ever soothing voice why we were sitting on the potty chair. It is funny, I remember for years following, that to go into the bathroom to perform the needed task, I read the inside of shampoo labels, a label off soap, a magazine that may have been read over and over again, I have to do something to relax my mind, and poof… the task is completed almost effortlessly…

Than I was going over the discussion on how we each think the direction the  country is going in , the financial pitfall that is being projected, how main stream media tells us what they want to tell us, and how we do not get a real picture. I do not for the life of me, understand how some of the people in the legislature, the senate and even the president..can accept money for arguing with one another, for trying to gain political standing.. and forget they are in their rather well paying positions because the majority of people who voted.. voted for them . I think when they are arguing their pay should be held…. no pay unless you are thinking… planning….  I can not believe any of them run their personal finances as they are running the government. And the government needs to get their fingers out of our wallets, and look at the whole picture. IF there are close to 50 % of the people not paying taxes….maybe there should be ways to change that… If there are big corporations who have so many loop holes, that they do not pay taxes… maybe we need to look at that. Heck, if someone would just give the president a tour of the White House and tell him this is where he lives… I think the country would save a lot in travel costs and security.

In one article it stated “Air Force One cost $214,768 and the cargo plane cost $32,140. For a grand total of $246,908 for Mr. Obama’s two round trips to Chicago.”It has got to be that this guy does not know yet that his office is in Washington DC… so the way I figure it.. if on their morning break the legislatures and senators could work together… maybe put paper feet prints on the floor guiding him through the place… he might like it and stay put. He could actually speak to the public from the White House… Thinking thinking thinking….. that is what many of us do….

We were talking about all the thinking about what car to buy , what amount do we need to invest now so we can maybe survive for a few years in the future retirement days of our lives, what will become of the government if this spending does not stop, thinking about those who have been totally devastated by the loss of jobs in the US, about how we as a country have let our pride in “ American made”  things be bought out by greed. We choose to import cheaply made products, sell them with an incredible mark up and watch our own neighbor look for work… or totally give up.

Thinking thinking thinking… we need to act… we need to write our elected officials, we need to be a voice. Thinking may work in the bathroom… but actions work in every other room in the house…. Let’s rally around, work together…to make this the country we are proud to live in. Love to all… Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Life… it is really a mystery in a way. We are here and than we are not. For some it may be only a breath and they are no longer here..for others over 100 years on earth.

My brother did a mind boggling blog one day

on the end..http://jackofall58.wordpress.com/

and it has come back through my mind for this past month.

I look at the different scenarios in this world—people here—people gone.

The tragedy of us each being given the freedom of choice—only to make choices that end another’s life.

IN nursing school we worked and trained ion all areas of the hospital. When the training and working was  in peds or NICU- it made it tough to comprehend life and death. My training in Labor and Delivery was for the most part a feel good place to be… oh there were times when people may have not been so pleasant, or peoples lifestyles or lack of respect for life and prenatal care were very hard to comprehend- but in general that was the good side of the circle of life.

NICU could be good—sometimes hard to comprehend—why an infant is born to die moments or weeks later. There must be some good from it… I truly believe we are all on this earth for a purpose—now we may ignore the purpose set forth-and unfortunately other peoples choices may affect our purpose. In NICU I felt it was always special as there people are trained in caring for the tiniest of people. Peds..that rotation was tough for me…as the kids there are not visiting for a play date—they have something that needs acute care. I had a son and step daughter who were both 6 at the time , and it was too hard to separate them from the kids I was caring for. Now though—I think peds or NICU might be a good place to work, if I had to change jobs ever.

Than there was med surg. That floor was a passion of mine, a 50 yr old on the floor was the “kid” age ones- most pts were 60 and above. I made a pack with myself to never let a pt die alone. And to die with dignity..as much as possible.  So at times there were tricky moments to be with the dying pt and care for all the others too. No patient I had ever went without, and I can remember a Christmas Eve where I stayed late to sit by the bedside and hum Christmas songs to a dying pt. I punched out on time..and than I became her visitor of sorts….. It was not the pay—it was the feeling like nursing was helping people in their most vulnerable times. When all their life is stripped from them and no matter if a person was a dignitary, a lawyer, or a street person—everyone had the same gown, the same nurses, and the same treatment  So nursing to me was a way to provide the care needed-but also appreciate the stressors of being out of their elements. Trying to make it the best experience for the situation at hand, And in the end,,,, when a pt died… I hope they went in peace .
Life is in our control yet out of our control.. we live here..than I truly believe we move onto a better place… eternal peace. We must always look for things to be thankful for—they are there—we need to take time to appreciate them. We need to appreciate life..for it is not around forever. We need to stop procrastinating and just do it..whatever it is….

A motto my mom taught us… along with  the golden rule…. is to treat each person as if this is your last encounter with them.. how do YOU want to be remembered when ( as my brother put it) The lights go out.  Love to all, Cindy alias Mrs Justa…

Well it seems like it has been forever—but really just about 2 months. We needed to either replace the shed or repair it… so we ended up repairing it. About 2 months ago Mark got in touch with a door place and ordered an overhead type door to replace these doors, which were trashed when “Mr Wonderful” moved the shed  from our old place to here 3 1/2 yrs ago.

We have nursed these doors since than, thank God for my brother and his father-in-law- who came over after “Mr Wonderful” literally ripped the doors off it when he was unloading it from his truck.

I kindly refer to him as Mr Wonderful… because he basically told me he was MR WONDERFUL in no uncertain terms. When he came to move the shed he told me “ This is your lucky day, you met me today… and I will get this shed moved for you..” He neglected to add that he might move it..but he was going to leave in a hurry—sliding the shed off with no concern of the end result.

Well he was the most arrogant , in love with himself.. jerk I have ever met…. I bet his mirrors have lip prints on them from when he kisses himself good morning and good night.

Anyhow    Mark had ordered the door to go with the shutters on our house. So we re-painted the shed to be on the same color scheme as our house, and for about 4 weeks we had the shed painted but the doors were still gray and white. …I am sure that made people wonder if we ran out of paint…. LOL

Finally … we got the over head door this past week, the guy who installed it did take away our old beat up doors, and installed the new one set in about 5 inches- so we were faced with an really unfinished frame look on the outside of the shed.  We had gone to Home Dept and Lowes looking for ideas,….  and than we mentioned something to Jeff too. He has tools and more carpentry talent than Mark and I do… plus he had offered if we ever did get a door he would help up finish up the area…

So Jeff came over Saturday and helped frame around the opening for the door. He brought his saws and ingenuity- and he and Mark got the new wood all up. Than tonight was final work—painting the new wood frame, and caulking some and we ended up using a porch paint on the floor of the shed that is now exposed to the weather.

and VOILA>>>>
Here is our 18 year old shed…

We are pretty proud of this !!

THANKS to Jeff for helping with the framing… and thanks for no rain… and thank God for the health and determination so we were able to finish it this weekend.

Ta Dah….

It feels really good to have it done…Hope you had a great weekend… Love,,, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Okay.. so some of you might just be wondering how our garden is growing. WE have retied the tomato plants- which are getting pretty heavy with all the tomatoes that are trying to grow.

I pulled one plant totally out of the ground- thinking it had that dang tomato blith again.. but after researching on line, it appears there may need to be calcium added to the soil. Or it could have been cuz it has been so darn hot… So one plant gone… and 8 left…

Next ….

our first cantaloupe. Isn’t it cute??? Let’s see if it will continue to grow. I am a optimistic person… but growing  things can be kinda of nerve racking…

Man I was out there tonight retying the tomato plants and pulling weeds and supporting the bases of the plants- and I was sweating so much.. I bet I lost 2 pounds in the garden for almost 2 hrs.

Not complaining…justa stating a fact….

Than we have zucchini and summer squash beginning to show…

In the next aisle we have gourmet lettuce and blossoms for egg plant

and than pumpkins and a cucumber

and green peppers are on their way too….

so all in all- we have somethings coming..AND hopefully we will reap the benefits of nurturing these things since February. If you remember I started many of these from seeds I have dried from last years veggies. So this is a complete recycling program going on here.

I am hoping the pumpkins take time to mature and be ready in the fall… and I am really hoping we grow enough that we can share with family and friends.

We will just have to see. As I was finishing up the garden stuff I was blessed with a golden sunset. …

It reminded me of how lucky we are to be able to see the sun, to feel life happen, to be healthy enough to play in the garden, to be lucky enough to have a job to go to .. and one I love, to be able to say I have a husband who loves me…and children and grandchildren…. to have family and a few good friends… fresh water, and clean clothes, food in the fridge and a car in the drive… yep..the sunset made me stop, and say Thanks to God for all we are blessed with.

Hope you had a good week. Good weeks can be  good times with some bummer times too… that is life…. but at least we have life…

Love to all… Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Welcome to a “shut –up” day , as I so fondly referred to them SILENTLY ..in my mind… as I was growing up.

Notice I stated SILENTLY and IN MY MIND!!! That is because my mom… ( May she rest in peace) transformed into a not so timid , not so tolerant person when it was this hot and humid.

She became down right MISERABLE. I think if I tiptoed through the house, she would have asked why I was not making noise. If I had looked at her, she would have wanted to know what I was looking at.

She sighed a lot, she SWEATED… ( my mom did not sweat often , so when she did… I would look for a place FAR FAR away..)

She would try to get through it, and the first few hrs were not so bad.. but by high noon— ugggg… we had better have headed off to the Bayberry pool. She would have no patience for comments, talking, being… it was more like we stayed out of her way and let her have some ME time. I do not blame her.. I feel the same way when it is so dang hot and humid. I could not stand living permanently in a place with weather like this… People would remember me as days became hot and humid after I was long gone.

My mom, she had a tone, a tone of frustration or maybe totally discomfort. She would become really annoyed, and would tell us way before sunset how miserable she was. (news flash.. she did not have to tell us !!!!)

Me… I am not a fan of the humidity either. I get really sweaty, hate feeling sweat trickling down the center of my back and into my undies… or when my chest sweats, my hair, I feel all sticky… and than I get DIARRHEA. I am not sure why that happens- but it does… like my gut has to give its 2 cents worth in heat humidity or BAD snow storms. Living in the NORTHEAST- I am amazed I am not a twiggy.

SO here I sit.. fans blowing on fans, curtains trying to flail in the artificial wind, my sweater top it feeling itchy ( I have nto changed from work.. so yes—in this 100 degree house I have a fricken sweater top on!!!), my legs are sweating in my dress pants, I thin my eyeballs are sweating… yuck…. I am off to take my very hot shower- and that way the house will feel cool.

Drink water still…. dress so your body can breathe  ( I have not done that yet) and look at the days ahead… pretty pathetic I am looking forward to an 80 degree day !.I am so thankful I live in a time with electricity, with fans, and the A.C. in our bedroom…..  Until later.. I am going to get out of these winter clothes !!!> Love mrs justa alias Cindy

Oh this is HOT … summer time in the US of A has been summer alright. It brings me back to days of yesteryears….

I probably have told this story before- but it is fresh in my mind—so just incase I did not – here goes… See if many of the readers are over 50… they might not remember if I wrote this before or not… That is the nice part about aging… we can read the same books and watch the same movies and it is ALL NEW !!!

When I was 18 I bought my first new car. It was a 1972 day-glow orange , 2 door, ford pinto. I cost me 1995.00. This car had an AM radio, bucket seats that were jet black vinyl.

I those days of yesteryear—I had some shorty short denim shorts. I think my underwear I wear today has more material than those shorts. Well I gotta tell ya, one could get some pretty serious burns on their legs , on days like today, wearing short shorts and plopping thine butt on those seats. I remember that I used to have to start to sit, than do these movements like backwards push ups , to block the sun and I guess I  kinda fanned the seats. I would probably have to take 5 minutes gradually introducing my flesh to the very hot vinyl.

Now if that was not painful enough.. I did not want people to know I had the major stripped down model. So I would drive around for as long as possibly able to withstand it… with the windows rolled up and my vents open, blowing hot air on my face and making my hair move… I pretended to be “rich” like other people and have air conditioning. I remember often sitting at a light, windows up as tight as a drum, and me nodding to the other people as if I was comfortably cool. HA HA… I thought I had fooled people… but I am sure they figured it out if they were by me for any amount of time, because there would come a point I would frantically roll the windows down ( yes with manual cranks) and rapidly breath in the air from outside…

Tonight I went on a semi frantic search for some window fans…… it is hotter than Haiti here and tomorrow has the potential to break some over 100 degree records. We have some of the tower fans..but they do not help to suck in the outdoors air…they just kinda move around the hot air in the house. We have an air conditioner- but it is in a bed room. The window fans do work really well.

So we stopped at K Mart—they only had the box fans and a couple stand up pedestal fans… but alas—back to old faithful….. the Fulton NY Super Wal-Mart and they have tons of fans… so I got 2 window fans and we are moving some air around this place.

Yes…. this has been a good summer for summertime stereo typical weather… but things are dry…. very hot…. and snow is looking really good right now !!!.

Stay as cool as possible…. eat some freeze pops,suck on ice cubes, drink water , gater-aid..and let things be when it is up in the 100s.

  Until later…. Love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

This is our home. Home sweet home. We live in a quiet part of the world, and we have the house to ourselves… WE THOUGHT!!! Until Yesterday when we realized we are possibly sharing it with some squirrely individuals.

We had been watering the garden and doing a few things to go from camping mode to home mode again. Mark was in the backyard and there was a squirrel in the back yard who got scared. So he took off like a bat outta Hell.. but not to the tree line..  no siree… he headed up our foundation and it appeared under the frame of the house into the 3 foot crawl space. UGGGG!

So I did some on line research for what to do if you have squirrels in your crawl space. A common repellant was Cayenne pepper. mixed with various other things. It said even if you wanted squirrels to not eat the bird food- you add cayenne pepper to the bird seeds… the birds are not affected but the squirrels will stay away.

There was a suggestion to put a strobe light in the area they are, and they will leave. ( Guess they do not like to get down and boogie!!). So off we went on a hunt for a strobe light. We ended up at Spencer gifts..after unsuccessful trips to hardware and home improvement stores. Than we needed Murphy’s Oil Soap. It is a natural type soap and when mixed with 2 spoons of the pepper, and a dilution of 4 parts water to 1 part murphys oil soap.. well that sprayed will keep them away. So as soon as we get home, I plug the strobe light in the crawl space. We were laughing as we imagined the squirrels all break dancing to the strobe light in the dark crawl space with strobe lights flashing, but really hoping this worked. They do not like bright lights- so they exit when there are bright flashing lights. Than  I mixed the concoction together and pour it into a spray water bottle… WRONG THING TO DO!!! It was too thick to go through the sprayer.  I kept taking the spray bottle apart, rinsing out compents and trying again,

Now mind you, as I attempt and fail.. I am getting this mixture on me… and IT BURNS!!! How do people eat that pepper??? I feel like I have been under a sunlamp.

Off we went to Wally World and got a lawn and garden multipurpose sprayer. And after a few moments of trying to make it work, I successfully sprayed the under the house lip to keep away those squirrels. Hope it works… See I thought in the Spring the Squirrel was just being cute, looking at the house and letting us take his picture..BUT he was staring at the house and planning his invasion.

SO we will have to keep an eye on these critters.. We definitely do not want them thinking our home is a boarding house. More to follow on this little escapade ! Love to all… Mrs Justa…and the mischievous squirrels.

We just finished a wonderful couple days at Letchworth State Park  with Jeff, Amanda and their two little guys. The weather was dry, a tad hot and humid, beautiful blue sky and sights galore to see. It was neat that they actually have parking areas you can drive to to see many of the things and avoid huge walks up and down gorges.

On Thursday night my number one husband ( Walt) came to visit Jeff, see the boys and Amanda… (he is  Jeff’s natural dad) and we did pop down to Jeff’s campsite when he was there. It is a strange feeling to have my first husband there and realize all the time that has passed since we were together. Mark and Walt did get to spend a little time together too, we all get along. But it was strange.

Now fortunately we have a civil relationship, if we did not, a suggestion he had might have been taken differently. We were talking about taking photos on Friday of various things to see and he suggested we wanted some really neat photos that we could go onto a trestle railroad bridge and take pictures of the falls below. I asked if it was a marked path to go on..he said no… I asked if it was a live railroad bridge .. he said yes. Well here is what he was referring to…

Now, maybe it is just me… but I really do not think it is wise to walk along a live railroad track, 140 feet above the water, and hope a train does not come through. Now.. maybe it is a wish some ex husbands might have for their x wife… but I am thinking he was being sincere.

In looking at this shot I took though..,. I am going back through my mind to see if I had done something really bad that I have forgotten about !. Look at that… there is no railing, no path….

Many may not know my clutz ability in life… but this is not a place meant for me to explore. The photo I would have taken would have been of me with my foot caught in a railroad track board…. or……………., of falling into the water… neither of them are really worth it to me.

I was pretty from below!. On Friday night we got to see Josh, Adrianne and Mackenzie for a cook out dinner.. So it was like a mini family reunion with Marks and My kids and their kids.

Coming back on Saturday was nice because I still have the weekend. We picked up Indi at the kennel, he was seizure free for the 3 days he was there, and we have everything packed in the camper that stays in there, and will get ready for our next venture.

This summer has been incredible!, Not tons of rain, sun shine and more cool nights than not. We have to water the garden, cuz mother nature has kinda let it go…. and we will see how it grows. Hope all is well with you. Love Mrs Justa. alias Cindy

Pondering moments we deal with every day. I heard not so long ago someone say they were from England. And that in England there is a form of socialized medicine. And if there was a person, lets’ say over 60 who needed a very expensive procedure..they could be denied because they were old and had lived a full life. Now…I do not know if that is true or not..but she was pretty convincing.

I have a person I know who is born and raised in America and has that same outlook. Now maybe when I was 12 I might have thought on the surface that logic made sense..but now that 60 is at my back door ..I am not liking that thought process.

I hope all my parts that are going to break do it in the next little time..so I am maintenance free after 60. Just incase it becomes a society way of thinking.

Now take this thought and turn it towards our 4 legged friend , our pet fish, our pet parakeets and such. When is life okay to stop? We have put a number of pets to sleep—(Now that sounds so much nicer than stating the doctor gave them medicine that stopped their hearts.) Each one for different reasons, in summation their quality of life was no longer what would be anywhere close to their norm. The vet consulted with us on each pet, and supported the decision. One cat was ancient and had a body full of tumors and had lost weight.. ( from being a 20lb cat to a 7lb cat –and most of that weight was the growths on his body)>..another had cancer of the spine and was paralyzed in her lower quarter of her spine… a parakeet with a liver disease…. many fish just died… an old dog who totally lost all bladder control, another that had an aggressive streak in him and nipped at a few people and incidents proved to us that he would not be safe around other people. He would have had to been locked in a cage anytime people were over..what kind of life would that have been.

Now we have a dilemma with Indi. He had had grand mal seizures in the past, and most recently this past day- he had 3 in 24 hrs. He is on meds..but one of the meds we had to stop because it can cause irritation with the pancreas in RARE occasions…and he just had a bout of pancreatitis which he got REALLY sick with.

So in 3 weeks we have an appnt at Cornell University pet neuro dept, they are going to examine Indi and give us some ideas for treatment. And as I think about this, I want to be sure everything that is being done will be for a better quality of life, and not because he is a good case to research but the end product will be a fatal seizure. We are not the Bank of America, and the cost will be tough to handle if they start with MRIS and such. So we need to know what we can afford, what is in our budget, and what would be too financially strapping that we would not be able to comply.

When our journey with Indi comes to an end… I am never.. I MEAN NEVER going to get another dog. These times when we had to end a life of a pet..and now watching a pet suffer thru seizures… it just rips my heart out. Too painful.. too too painful. So hopefully LONG LIVE INDY… I am off now, finishing laundry getting ready for the weekend early . love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

As I sit here, feeling really almost suffocating from the humidity, fans blowing humid air into my face, but nothing really cooling the air…    I have to go to another place in my mind…

Ahhh..now we are talking. My toes are stinging from the bitter cold..my shoulders remembering the stiffness from heave hoeing snow…by nasal hair frozen together, cheeks aching from the wind… yeah… it is cooler already.

This evening it was 96 degrees… and the gym- even though it is air conditioned- the ceilings are probably 30 feet high, and it is filled with sweaty bodies… it was worse than standing by a stove at 90 degree humid weather and boiling pasta !.

I worked out, and I got the sweatiest I think I ever had. I tried to not focus on it, but when I could feel the sweat beads trickling down the center of my spine, (heck I think my socks were even absorbing sweat off my calves!.)..it was really hard to play mind games and think snow, blizzards and cold fingertips.

The mind is a wonderful thing really… if you give yourself permission- you can go to “happy places” while you are doing things that are difficult. Tonight the elliptical was a little tough because of the heat. The music was not doing it for me… cuz the sweat was soaking my ear plugs too.. So I unplugged my music and tried to focus on the 6:00 news, the weather, even the commercials. Judge Judy was verbally walloping people ( HEE HEE I love when she kicks their proverbial butts with her words…)  and every once in a while… my mind went into winter..snow banks, blustery wind, walking through ice, pellets feeling like they are going to drill into my face, hurting toes and fingers from the below zero temps….( Let me tell you..it I hard to go to that cold memory bank in my mind with sweat running through my bra!..) but I did.. I made it …and I got about 55 minutes into that work out…. now…I am going to go take a REALLY HOT shower..and than the rooms will feel cool.

When we were growing up in suburbia..alias no windia…no air-ia…. alias sticky summer nights when no skin can touch another part of skin,,, and mosquitos would get in the house and find our ear drums to buzz in while we were trying to go to sleep…well..I would gather my 2 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters and we would go into the bathroom..close the door and stand on the floor as I ran totally hot water in the bathtub. we would let the bathroom get super steamy and when we could not stand the steam any longer- we would open the door..ahh now the house felt cool-cuz the bathroom was so hot !!!/////so we would all zoom to our beds and try to fall asleep really quick- before our brains processed that it was NOT COOL in the house.

Hey anything to get some sleep… now as an adult—I would kick someone’s butt if they ran our  hot water like that…

so I am off.. a hot shower.. a zoom to bed… and than off to work tomorrow.

Peace to all.. Stay cool somehow…

think SNOW!!

Love Mrs Justa alias Cindy

There are times in our lives when we have needed to find the light. The darkness is overbearing and our eyes can see no shadows or glimpses of light. If you have never had a time like that in your life, I am glad for you.

Me, Personally ..I have probably hit bottom and started over again 4 or 5 times. I hope to never ever have to be there again, but you just never know.

I was thinking about this because on a personal level and on a society level there are a lot of people hitting the bottom. Dang , when it happens it hurts, it is scary and it seems almost insurmountable to recover.

I remember when my dad died and my mom was faced with a newborn, and a  2 ,5,6,10 and 11 year old to carry on with. No advanced education, a stay at home mom, we had just bought a new home , and the main income ..no the only income for the house had died. Her lifetime partner, the father of her children, the love of her life… gone in a moment. Can you imagine how hard that was ! She was a strong woman though, and she somehow made it work.

She was a proud woman and did not want to impose on others, but fortunately for us.. there were others who lent her a hand, helped her get up to an area not quite as dark as those first few days after he died.
And you know what was neat about my mom… even with the nothing that we had at times, if anyone —stranger, friend or family…needed the shirt off her back.. she would have given it to them, and than looked for a burlap sack to replace it with. She was an amazing woman… she had goals and she set her sights on them, and she jiggled this and that and made things work out.

Not enough pasta for spaghetti… throw in left over veggies…… milk was tooo expensive… that buy 1/2 what we needed and mix it 1 part milk with 1 part dried milk mixed with water…stretch the bag of chocolate chips by making a quadruple recipe but leaving the chocolate chips to the one bag.. ( HA they became a treasure hunt to see who got a cookie with one chip in it !!)

Today we were on our way back from the gym and I saw two people at a dumpster… rummaging through looking for bottles, cans, and they were pulling out fast food bags. They were not super clean appearing, their clothes were unkempt  and  frayed. I was wondering as we passed them if they were at the bottom, in a dark place.. or was this normal for them? There is a man that every day he walks for miles and collects cans. this is his norm.. he wakes up and collects cans, his clothes are clean, it is just what he does. ..He has done it since 1991 !!

But these two people at the dumpster— I am not sure this was their daily routine. As they became a memory in my mind I wondered what got them to where they were right now. And than I thought about how we …in a blink of an eye… in an unfortunate situation…. we could be in that same spot.

Our lives are fragile, we are dependent on things going right.. but what when they do not and our somethings become nothings? I, personally,  do not think I could have resurfaced the way my mom did… but I can also testify that I have come out of the darkness a few times, and I think with each time I imagined the light..before I could see it… and as it came into sight, I did not rush, I did not stop… I moved carefully… watching for the speed bumps of life to try to stop me… and I got through it.

If you are struggling with life, keep the faith, work your butt off to get towards the light, believe in yourself, and never let anyone knock you down. DO anything you can to get that one leg and move it in front of the next. And one day.. you will be like my mom.. and see darkness I the rear view mirror.. but glowing skies of sunshine in the forefront. Love to all… ( I hope those people at the dumpster are okay tonight) Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Going back to work after 5 wonderful days off is kinda hard to change gears for. Oh do not get me wrong, I really love my job, but sometimes there are things about my job that can be mind draining.

We did have a new nurse start today, she must have thanked me 5 times for hiring her. That felt great, as she really really appreciated the opportunity to try a different kind of nursing. She left smiling as real as she was smiling this morning, and even said she would be back in the morning. So that is great she was not terribly overwhelmed with the business of our every day lives at work.

Even though poor Indi was sick all weekend, it was comforting to see each day be a little less filled with wincing in pain and watching him find interest in things like tennis balls, big black birds and squirrels.

I believe he is almost back to normal. Thank God. Many many prayers came flooding the air waves for him, and we thank everyone.

At about 2PM this afternoon I finally was able to look at things that needed to be done today and I will need to hit the highway early tomorrow to catch up on two things that are needed to be done.

I am glad to be back… but glad also that tomorrow is already Thursday , Friday is jeans day ( my favorite day of the week  ) and than the weekend will be here.

I do solo a special song on Sunday, so I need to be working on it for the next few evenings. I think I am going to do “Jesus Take The Wheel.” I really like that song. It talks about a woman who obviously had made some choices in her life that perhaps were not the wisest, and she has been trying to live her life without religion, without faith. She is overwhelmed with the trials of where she is at, and goes into a skid in the middle of the night, and for a brief moment thought she and her baby might be injured in a crash.

As she was spinning.. her life and her babies life flashed before her eyes and she lifts her hands and asks Jesus to take the wheel- not of her car—but of her life. Often in church there are testimonials from people who tried to drive their life and left religion on the shoulder of the road. Lost God somewhere no the way. Something happened, something changed their focus, and they let Jesus take the wheel, or they let God into their lives …

This song means a lot to me.. I hope the people in church find it meaningful to them too.

So I am off, bedtime…. and than off to work, to the gym, and practice tomorrow night. Love to all… Mrs Justa alias Cindy

The fourth of July.. There is a faint sound of bing-bang-booms in the far distance. People from all around are celebrating the freedom that we, the People of this incredible nation have.

When I watch news clips of places around the world, I am often feeling very blessed I was born here. We could all be in the countries filled with hate… but the sad thing is that there is more and more hate within our boundaries in the US>

There have been events that have happened over the past few weeks, months and years that seem mind boggling to me. Starvation, poverty, unemployment, road rage, hatred, cruelty. We are not allowed to speak of God in schools, can not place the ten commandments out in public—it might offend people, leaving “In God We Trust” out of the “Pledge of Allegiance” …off of money….  so many people thinking they can do it ( what ever “it” is..) alone .. without trust or faith…..

To refocus on the wonders of life, on the blessings in our lives… I have to take off the 3D glasses of life and look closely at those who mean so much to me….

These are 3 precious parts of our lives that take away the ugly of the world, and fill the world with magic, wonder, innocence, and curiosity.

I hope that as they grow up, that we can help them to see the good of the world.

TO see that there are reasons for hope, reasons for goals, reasons to be the best they can be, and to believe in God.

TO know it is okay to stand for what you believe in , and that guns and unkind words and gestures  are not the answer to problems.

To know that they each have special traits, and to polish those special things about them… shine…and share the goodness that lies within them

Yes the 4th of July is winding down…. I hope everyone remembers why it is a day of celebration.. and not just a day for cook outs and hot dogs and fireworks… but to remember what the many who came before us have done to get us to where we are today.

Treasure you special moments, whatever they are… and be safe. Happy Independence Day… Love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

He came home Friday late morning. He is on antibiotics and pain meds twice a day for a few days. He is really a hurting unit, gingerly laying down, difficulty with the stairs, and generally kinda logy. But he is eating and I think is glad to be home.

The vet was really passionate about Indi and we really trust both vets up there. The bill for 2 1/2 days in patient on tons of meds  , including the blood work, x rays, came to $660.00. We did not think that was bad. Heck when we had to take him 1 1/2 yrs ago for pancreatitis to the ER vet in Syracuse it was 1600.00 for 1 1/2 days.

We just are hoping he gets better.

This weekend was the family reunion, where as many of my brothers and sisters and their families and their family families all gather for camping. We had a site reserved.. but it would have bee pretty selfish of us to disregard Indi’s pain and haul him 4 hrs away camping. He would have endured the pain, but it would have been wrong. The vet actually recommended keeping him in low key mode for 10 days.

So this is the first family reunion I have missed in 40 years !!. But we had to…

I am off, we have to do a couple things and Indi needs close watch. Love to all, and thanks for your prayers… CIndy alias Mrs justa…