JustaKrusen/ Mrsjustakrusen

If at first you don’t succeed… try again! I e mailed Pastor Carol apologizing again for being sick and not soloing Sunday… I asked him to let me know if there is a day that people have not signed up..and lo and behold…next Sunday is in need of a singer… So I will give it a try. I feel better than I did Saturday… fingers crossed.

Preston is about to turn 2 years old… kind of hard to believe the time has flown right by.

It seems like each grandchild their years go faster. My goodness…. 2 years old..really!!

I still have trouble believing our own kids are 30. Where does time go?

We have some home repair stuff to do around here… nothing major..the furnace guys should be coming back soon with the part for the furnace.Fortunately it is working for us..dang it has been cold out.

Than I was raising the mini blind in the living room this weekend..and well let’s just say it became more mini.. Yep—the top support bar on it totally snapped—so the 44 1/2 inch blind was now maybe 32 inches wide… So we need to put up new holder on-ers to hold onto the new blinds…I can get the little ladder and stand on it,, he can help me hold the pieces in place, and we will be the new pieces up there…….

and

the infamous squirrel saga… well it continues.. So we had Orkon come about a month ago and quote us 2500 buckaroonies to put up flashing under the lip of the house…

so we went and bought the flashing and this weekend..if it warms up ( it is suppose to) ..it will be a gluing of flashing under the lip of the house party.

( Now do we know how to have a good time!!) We will get through it…2 more Mark and Cindy’s wonderful adventures…

Mark get’s pretty dizzy and his leg is messed up..so if we tag team—well I think we will be okay. He does have another test tomorrow…sure would be nice to get some answers… this has gotta be so uncomfortable to live like that every day!

I am off to cut his hair… the test is gonna be putting probes on his head… less hair… easier to not have any sticky stuff on your head… than next week… maybe the tests will lead to an answer..

Peace to all… prayers to those in need, Love always. Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Ok.. so the solo for Sunday… well in addition to tossing the 2 songs , battling which one to do… Saturday I was tossing my cookies (so to speak) at about 4:30 in the afternoon. So the songs took the back seat to some funky viral GI thing I had going on.

Yep.. around 5:30 I called the Pastor—I felt really bad..both physically and commitment wise, but there was not a darn thing I could do about it.

We had gotten up Sat morning rather early… it really was cute..in a way… Brandon came next to my side of the bed… about 2 inches from my sleeping face..and said “Gamma the sun is up..so it is time to get up.” Than hew said  “ Will you sing a song for breakfast?” I was touched…. I was trying to figure a way to settle his ready to go 3 yr old body down..and than he said.. Preston is up too. I asked if Preston woke him up, he said.. No..”I said good morning and Preston got up.”..”Can we have french toast sticks and sausage now?” So we all tried a bed cuddling session and we were up starting our day with the roosters. Lesson learned… 1) Do not tell them what breakfast is after he and his brother wake up.. 2) It is okay to tell him it is too early to get up and have him go back to bed….

By 6:00 AM they had helped me get laundry started…

they love sitting in front of the washer and watching the clothes slosh back and forth.

Some kids like Sat morning cartoons… these guys liked Sat morning laundry.

Asking about what was happening and telling me when the soap was bubbling.

During the day I was feeling kinda tired..but thought it was just that. We were to have Jeff and Amanda come over , all have  lunch, than the kids were going to go home for nap time. Well I was feeling so tired and kind of blah..that when they kids left with their parents, I got in my PJS and took a nap for myself. The nap went on for 24 hrs !! With the exception of getting up to throw up, or go to the bathroom.

Needless to say…. it is a heck of a weight loss plan—but I HATE..and I mean HATE throwing up. Than add to it.. once you are an older person and have a lower partial… as you are waddling to the bathroom to bless the toilet…. you have to yank the partial out of your mouth… uggg… the trials of aging.

I am feeling better than I was at 4:30 last night…looking forward to continuing to feel better. Love to all…Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Shhhhh the house is quiet… A baseball game quietly spoken  on the radio in the background, as I sit and type this.

We offered to take the boys for the night, so Amanda and Jeff could have a Friday evening for themselves. They dropped them off around5:45 this evening. So we got to do dinner and bath time, and as the boys ( Grandpa included) were hanging out in the living room, I asked Mark if he was okay if I went and practiced for 6 minutes… so I went into the bedroom the boys sleep in to practice a couple songs – both are options for my Sunday solo. I am debating back and forth between the 2….

I had no idea how the boys would react to me singing—for all I knew they would not notice—than….All of the sudden I have 2 little boys in the room, looking up at me, and walking so softly to the bed. I looked over and they were sitting on the bed, eyes kind of glazed , small smiles on their faces, listening. When I finished the first song, I did not know what they would do. Almost together they asked me to do another. So I did the second choice. They had started to talk to me, so Mark had asked them if they wanted to come out of the room, Preston walked out..but only to come right back in.. he wanted to be there… I thought it was cool.  
I got ready to put it all away and Brandon and Preston said ‘nother gamma”.. so I sang a few  more… during the third song it was was so neat.. I had sat on the bed, Preston cuddled up to me as I sang the song, Brandon shut the light off in the room—the only light was from the TV screen with the Karaoke words highlighting…. he put a small fleece blanket around his shoulders and started dancing …twirling and tip toeing….This continued for the next couple.  It was one of those special moments… one that may not ever go out of my memory… totally special.

I am still debating over which song, as Brandon was lying down in bed he said maybe we could call my daddy and mommy and they could bring over my “speaker” for tomorrow…see he has a kids microphone. He told me he has to share it with his brother, but it works and he could sing with me. I told him maybe next time he comes out we could try to sing a song together.

I am going to have to get a kids karaoke CD and let him and his brother sing songs too… Yep.. today was a special evening…. Love to all.. Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Have you ever come across a person that just should not be doing the job they are doing? I mean maybe they are a good worker..but the job they have… just not meeting their mannerisms.. Ya just wanna say… “HELLO__ANYONE IN THERE??”

Tonight we went to our main  grocery store and there was a new cashier there. She was pretty focused on her work, but see this grocery store is a bag you own grocery store, so the cashiers put the rung up  items in your cart and you bag your groceries at a huge counter area after they are through.

She was scanning stuff and I noticed the more she did, that she was dropping the groceries in the cart. It really did not matter what the item was… can, bananas, lettuce… nope they all got equal treatment… swing arm over cart with about a foot clearance above the cart…. –open hand—and plop… GRRRR… the turn the other cheek part of me was ready to stop turning and say something—but than I thought that might increase her distance from the place she held the grocery items to the place they landed.

Now she might be good as a female boxer…. but a cashier at a grocery store –not so much…

There is a place just up the road from us that changed owners this past summer. It is a gas station with an eatery and it is a  lottery ticket place, has some aisles with some food items for those in a hurry and not worried about paying 3 x the cost in a grocery store… well the people behind the counter—they almost growl when you come up to the register. No eye contact, their movements and mannerisms are as if the customer is bothering them. They are probably late teens early 20s..and man oh man… I just want to say something… Like  “NEWS FLASH>>> without the customers..you would not be here!!!” and than slap them a couple times   ( Just kidding about slapping them!)

Yep…than earlier  today one of the nurses was on the phone with an office that needed an authorization for an MRI for a patient. The nurse reviewed the info and was ready to give the person the authorization number..and she said—“Oh wait a minute..I have to put down my MAGAZINE !!!” Are ya kidding me????? Bet the docs would love to know their employee is reading magazines while working… Oh the list goes on and on….

I am just amazed…. so I am off now to cut one of the bruised bananas up…life goes on… (at least she did not drop the eggs !!!. I was worried she was going to..) Love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy  Thanks to free clipart/google images for these images tonight…

Do you have places where you spend time in every single day…?

Well this room gets about 2 hrs of my time some nights. It is a place to relax, reflect, read up on the news events of the day, look at the stupid stuff people put on Facebook , and write a few thoughts down to you.

Mark asked me why I do this, and I thought—gee… this was his blog a while back..he had done 2. After doing 2 blogs for a while he asked me to be a ghost writer…which I did..but he left the ghost here and stopped coming to this blog to write anything. So why I do it, because a he asked me to help him out a zillion months ago..and he seemed to forget the way back.

He has not done the other blog for quite a while either..so now it is me solo… But the more I did this, the more I realized I was opening up parts of my mind and memories—that without this avenue  those words might be locked up for only me to experience. For our grandkids,our own kids,  for our friends, for you… there might be a thought or an experience that brings value or meaning to someone else.

I have had memories I have shared that were painful, and many that were pleasant memories..all of them got me to here, and I know here is not the end of the challenges and accomplishments.

Life is full of adversities…and I guess my outlook is much like this quote…

“We have no right to ask when sorrow comes,

"Why did this happen to me?"

unless we ask the same question

for every moment of happiness that comes our way.

~Author Unknown”

When we were married there was a rose part of the ceremony. And in that we said that a rose would be a silent way for one of us to let the other know—we messed up..we are sorry… we are thinking of them…..it would be an ice breaker in the times of life’s adversities. A symbol of our love. So if we felt the need to show a silent gesture of love… a rose would appear… we knew it came from the other person.

The first spring after Mark and I were married.. He and Jeff went out and bought 3 huge rose bushes… I laughed when Mark said he was paying in advance…

As I look back.. at  the not  so great times that have come into our lives at times… I focus on all the good times we have had.. Those rose bushes died a long time ago.. but the memory of them goes on… In their life—there were more roses than there have been some not okay times… As I look back—each time of struggle—maybe related to  emotional issues , financial issues , caused by stress, or just by the trials of living… we have come to the other side stronger. The adversity just opened a doorway to a stairway of strength.

I guess in a way I hope at sometime maybe something I say ,or a memory from long ago,  or something I  think and write it out  , or something I share about something I have  done…that it might be like  a rose in your day… And hopefully someday, people who have known me might find comfort in the words after I am not around to write them anymore…

I hope you can find comfort in the memories you have, and thanks for coming and sharing a moment with me.

Love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Work ethic, work pride… we have to get better!.

Last night..guess what… the furnace stopped working again. I do not know how it knows to go out on wind gust warning nights, when it is below 40 degrees out…but it did.

Fortunately the heated mattress pad continues to work ( my side somewhat Marks side real well) ..(that is because he is my side more than his !) During the night the house got cool. It is pretty well built—so I think even being off all night –it only got down to 62 this morning. Now that is not a bad temp—I guess… but when you are butt naked coming out of a hot shower…well it is kinda cold.

Mark tried to see if it would work this morning and we witnessed a miracle… as the shower was warming me up..the furnace came on for one cycle and heated the house up a little. For the rest of the day… nothing….

The lady at the office assured Mark that someone would be here towards 5. She said someone would call before they got here…. well no calls….so Mark called this afternoon to make sure we were all set… She said yes and she would call back with more info.. NO CALL… Mark had driven me in this morning and he came to get me at 4:30. I left promptly so we could get home for the propane guy…. NO calls..no man…. I called the office—it goes to their after hours message center. I left a message…. about 15 minutes later a guy calls back and says he did not know anything about us needing a service call.. GRRRRRR.. SO I went through our last 24 hrs… and he determined it is most likely the vacuum switch.( which he has none with him) . He asked if we would be okay till morning… well we have lots of blankets, and what are our choices??? Pay him to come out to say we need the switch and still not have heat…. so tomorrow is the day perhaps it will get fixed.

It is just frustrating… this was not working a few weeks ago—they arrive—it works.. $64.80 for it to work for them.. SO for the past couple weeks..working fine…. now again not working. it is blinking an error code “ Combustion switch stuck open” so at least now it is telling us what is wrong.. last time the error code was “would not ignite”

I am thankful we do not have any pet birds (ya gotta keep them warmer than this)…. I am thankful that it is in the 30s and not in the zeros…., I am thankful we do not have a pilot light to play with..( this is a self contained furnace with a hot plate that lights the propane..)  ..and I am really thankful tomorrow morning they will be here….

It is annoying , it is only 3 + years old… But what can ya do..reaccept try to stay warm…

We will try to see if we can get it to cycle a couple times to warm up the house… but than it will be off for the night. The repair guy told Mark to tap ere and there and try it… We tapped here and there tonight—it came on once…. uggg… we will get through it..BUT people on the phone should not promise things that can not be true. There should be a mutual respect for each others time… AND do not say you are going to call..and than not call…..

Until tomorrow.. see ya. Love to all,, Chattering Mrs Justa alias Cindy

On my way home tonight I was listening to a talk radio guy..and well he kinda irks me at times. He was talking about this reinvestigation on the 6 yr old who turned up missing 30 years ago, and they are now thinking he might have been killed very close to his home , by an adult who was nice to him, and possible buried under a new basement floor that was supposedly put down right after he turned up missing.

The radio guy..he is not afraid to say anything..so he was rambling on about child stalkers-murderers and such..and that you never should trust person older that the kids they are around, who has a liking to smaller kids. Well this brought me back to being about 13 years old… I lived in a neighborhood that was referred to as suburbia. Where there are streets that loop off of a main street through the development, and kids found the street a fairly safe place to play.

For a car to come down the street-they had to go super slow—there were signs up all over saying kids playing. It was okay to do. So I would play with my younger brothers and sisters… they were step down in ages from me—my brother was 4 years younger, followed by a brother 5 years younger, a sister 8 years younger and a sister 10 years younger. The sun would come up and we would go out..we played tag, hide and seek, jump rope, badminton, we bounced tennis balls, went together to the community  pool, went to the school playground, played jacks, and the  most fun was kick ball.

The street we lived on had to have about 14 kids on it at least. Many the ages of my younger brothers and sisters . I often was incharge of watching them—so the play time was also babysitting time in action.I remember a guy about my age who would sometimes come down and play kick ball with all of us. The little kids would choose the teams..and well to them I was the prize person on the team. My legs were longer, I was taller, and I could kick the ball to the end of the street. I LOVED playing with all the younger kids. WHY?? Because they were real, they were innocent, they were not judgmental…  we had a mutual respect for each other..and I had people to play with while watching my siblings.

I remember this one day…. summer was probably 2/3rds of the way through..and only a few kids came out to play when I was out there. It was strange—like a ghost town feeling. I did not know why..but I felt all of the sudden super uncomfortable. Every once in a while I would see a curtain drop down, like people were spying out their windows at me…One of the kids snuck out of their house and apologized to me..saying the kids wanted to come out but their parents said they couldn’t. Seems some of the parents were talking to other parents and they all think it was strange I liked playing with the younger kids…. the assumption seemed like I must have had ulterior motives…

I was crushed… I felt discriminated against… I felt so hurt and lost. I had done nothing wrong… Sometimes when we were playing a kids might come up and give me a hug and say they loved me… but it was all innocent…For the rest of the summer my brothers and sisters played out with me… and when I was not out there—they played with their friends.

That was the last summer I played neighborhood kickball…and I think it was a ground breaker in realizing how unfair people could be…. and as I listened to this guy tonight generalizing about people older than your kids being really friendly with kids … it brought back that horrible time..when I felt guilty until proven innocent… but there was never a time to prove myself..the parents told their kids they could not play when I was out there…. 

Now these same parents had me babysit their kids after their accusations settled down… and I did it without ill feeling towards the parents… for I figured they were weak and evil at the time they banned their kids from me…. see I NEVER stopped being cordial to the people who made these assumptions… I would go out early in the morning and shoveled their driveways for free that next winter—I smiled and waved at them….it was their problem—just my hurt… It was a great learning experience in turning the other cheek….

I think as parents –we have to look at the whole picture. Make sure our kids are safe—but do not label people without knowing what you are talking about. Yes I know that sometimes a close friend or relative is a person who might commit crimes against children— but we can not assume everyone is like that. The pain you cause the innocent—the abandonment they feel..the loss….it may lay inside ones souls and heart dormant… BUT  it never goes away…Love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

hmmm WHAT TO DO? We are having some friends over Saturday night, people we do not get to see very much at all.People who we enjoy being with every time we are together… I was wondering when the last time we were all together.. Ya know I think it has been a couple years. The sad thing is that we live maybe 20 minutes from each other.

So I am wondering what I will make for dinner. I have an idea but I have not made a solid decision yet. It just has made me think about how we can not make up minutes we lose, times we have lost, meetings we never did.

Wow, thinking about my life, my family, my friends, my age… just is kind of humbling. I look at the calendar and it is already April. Wasn’t it just the first day of 2012 yesterday? I feel like life is a treadmill… going faster and faster.. What are the things that we are missing while the treadmill takes us faster and faster through day, weeks and years.

I am not sure how we can not lose moments, lose precious time. I get home from work and I am busy doing stuff… go to bed and get up the next day and do it again. Before I know it another week is gone…5 days gone—and really no meeting with people who mean so much to me, to us.

Tonight we did STOP and took  some time to have coffee with the friends we normally  have Sat breakfast with.This couple and us—we do stay in touch with one another.  As everyone was sitting there..the guys talking and joking with each other…making their silly innuendos… enjoying the time together… Pat and I watching them as they sunk to adolescent levels of humor intermittently…  it made me realize how precious each of these moments are.

I have had times in my life when people have left my life—by death, by relocation, by situations…. and there are things I never said—times we never shared,    moments that I have lost the opportunity to share with them.

So Saturday night is a night to really enjoy spending time with these friends of our…. I want it to be a special time. HMMMM… I am leaning towards pecan chicken dinner…. I made it one other time and it was delicious.

Than my next goal will be to have a family dinner here in the future…. just because… not wait for a holiday… a just because time…nothing fancy, but time to get together and just enjoy our family….We need to do this more.

Love to all, cherish each moment, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

I think I could lie on the ground and stare at the clouds all day long. I am not kidding you. I love the show that we are blessed with. It is better than a movie, better than a good book, it is awesome. It is totally mesmerizing.

We go about our days and I wonder who never looks up and really sees the majestic display of WOW.  We are truly blessed with so many things, I write about this often, but never enough.

Today I was sitting in my car at lunch time, rehearsing over and over again a song I want to learn for a solo in 2 weeks.

It is strange how it all came about. I needed some new CDs for accompaniment and so I went onto a Christian music site and starting choosing ones I thought might work. Well this one I had no idea what it was… but I liked the title. “The Prayer” So I blindly chose that one, thinking while I awaited the delivery of the 6 CDs, wondering what this song would be like…. They came Saturday. SO Monday on the way to work I put this CD and 2 others in the car’s CD player.. Well… 2 measures into the song and I was mesmerized… like how I am when I look at the clouds. Today is day 2 of working on this song… I have a back up in case I can not get it… but I am working really hard on it.

Yes clouds and music take me to places I can not go to without them….I hope you have something that brings you peace , as these things do me.

Love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy…

First I have to share this photo. Mark took it with his cell phone last night – Jeff and Amanda invited us over for a visit and coffee last  evening. Brandon said “Gampa.. and than he did this .

He tilted his head and did a wink like a wheeling dealing guy… Kinda like “Hey there ..you’re looking pretty fine tonight!”

It was so funny..and every time we asked him where he learned it,,he just turned towards us and winked.

The bird saga in the dryer vent is resolved. We found at Home Depot website  that they had a dryer vent cage, Mark picked it up Friday  and we got in on Friday evening. We put it on with mounting tape…than tonight we pulled the dryer away from the wall and took off the vent pipe from the inside…let’s just say..this is done and there were no nests left in this pipe… and ..it was interesting trying to get this accomplished… the space to pull the dryer out is very narrow..and neither Mark or I are as narrow as it is… yep… very interesting…..

So now we have the squirrel dilemma, which we are not certain is an issue any longer. We are listening… observing…

We have our camper out of the storage area and it is going for the Spring workup- where they inspect it, they flush out the water system and replace the filter, and check it over.

We can not go to the camp site where we have a membership , until May 15th… so we have time.

It seems like life just is going way too fast at times. Get up on a Saturday morning and it is time to go back to bed before I know it !. Now heck—it is Sunday at 7:42 and the weekend is gone. Did a lot… intended to do way more than I did….

I can not complain though— just reminds me of those old merry go rounds in the play ground… like this one I found on google images…

does anyone remember these things… Kids would be on it and a few others hanging on and running to get it to go real fast… once you were running so fast it felt like your feet were gonna end up sticking straight out behind you – it was time to try to jump on… any other kids coming to ride had to try to jump on while it was spinning… wellll..life it is  this merry go round..and me I am the runner trying to hop on.

It is time to unwind… time to maybe make a spot of tea and get ready for the week that is starting… Peace to all. Love, Cindy..alias Mrs Justa…

Who would have thunk…. Birds in the dryer vent..Yep… we are turning into a little wildlife commune…

This morning I heard a rustle in the laundry room.. figured it was the cat messing around… than I looked down and saw the cat next to me..looking in the same direction I was… his tail was huge… my eyes were huger…

I went back… was not sure where it was coming from… sounded like rustling of foil… I went to work..Mark actually drove me in today to get out of the house for a little while…

Fortunately Mark was not visited by any creatures during the day….

and than tonight… the rustle happened again… Hmmm sounded like the metal dryer vent… hmmm did the squirrel get in there???

Solution..turn on the dryer for a moment and scare the little guy outside.

Dryer on..something left quickly… we saw nothing…

So we check the outside… not good… bird poop on the side of the house right under the dryer vent… we start to look around… bird stuff on the steps… so my guess is birds are trying to build a nest in the dryer vent…

Oh my goodness… another Mark and Cindy’s wonderful adventures. Home Depot has dryer vent covers… so I guess Mark is going to go get one tomorrow.

Now the only way I can figure getting the stuff out of the vent is.. Step one…

turn the vent on and have whatever leave…

Step 2—really quickly—get the shop vac—stretch the hose in and start sucking out whatever is in there ( wearing gloves and maybe eye glasses or goggles…

Step 3… put up the cover so no more come in…

Hmm why did this happen… because this is the first year we have not had a dog out there a zillion times a day….

Now mind you… when Mark and I tackle things… well there should be a filming crew.. we probably would get an offer on a reality Show …. ( heck if Operation Repo can do it… we could on how not to do stuff around the house!.

A couple years ago—we found out why you do not spray the spray insulation upside down—with you directly under where you want it to go… HA HA .. we had more foam insulation on us, the grass… our hands…than we had on the crevices under the over hang of the shed we were trying to seal… Miraculously it got sealed… but I have 2 pair of sweats reminding me of the day.

More to follow on the continuing saga of life in the outskirts of Fulton!.

Love to all… Mrs Justa alias Cindy

The other day I saw something that was so neat. There was a man – I figure this young boys dad, walking next to the riding mower, as this young boy was driving the tractor and cutting the grass. The mower was going slow, the boy had both hands on the wheel, his concentration could be seen for miles, but more than that was the pride on both the dad’s face and the boy.

That is what being a dad is about. Showing your children how to do things, and giving them a little string to try it out..but not too much distance—so you can coach them, guide them, teach them .

As I drove by I wanted to zoom home, grab my camera and take a photo—but I felt it was one of those special moments that I must treasure the image in my mind..and share it with words.

I wonder how many times in my life someone has done the same for me! More than I can count . From the time our parents are encouraging us to point to our eyes, our noses, to take the first step…. there are key people in our lives sharing their knowledge with us. Teachers, leaders, parents, friends, peers, orientors, the list goes on and on….

I hope I have done that for others. For I am truly thankful for all that others have shared with me, trusted me,, taught me.  I think back to many times in my life when someone showed me how to do something, and to know now that because of their time… I have abilities to do things I would not have understood on my own.

This boy I saw..I bet he will remember  that moment for a very long time. To know that his dad trusted him enough to let him drive the tractor… to feel big enough to be able to drive it… to be able to show maturity to know this is serious and not something to horse around with.

It was a special moment to watch it in passing… and it brought to the forefront all the people who have been there for me….

The sad thing is many of the people I never have thanked… but I hope they know how important they were in my life…

Oh..and the furnace saga…. go figure…. the guy comes here this afternoon—and it worked !! It was not working last night..it was flashing a code which confirmed there was a problem… and tonight—it worked for him… Now I am gonna be worried it is going to do it again… sigh….(hmmm..I have not heard it come on for a while)

… Love to all… Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Yeah, go figure…the furnace is not working, the winds are whipping..THANK GOD it is not in the zero temp range! When I came home I noticed the house was getting a little cool. I went and turned up the thermostat and it sounded like it was gonna kick on.. humming…. than silence… So we did what the furnace sign says… shut off gas, shut of electricity… wait 10 minutes and try again . Try 3 times and call for help if not working….

I looked at the thermostat during our little trials of fixing it…one time the thermostat was flashing the word “LEAVE” …now that is kinda nerve racking !!!. What the heck is that supposed to mean !…. We stayed… I looked thru the manual for the thermostat—nowhere is a section on what the messages mean… uggggg so I gave it some time to get it’s manners back and a little while later it was flashing the words “RETURN” …. so now I am thinking… if the thermostat tells you to leave… How do you know after you left that it has changed it’s ways and is now flashing “return”??? Just wondering… ????

I figure I am smart to be getting my hot shower tonight… that way I can zip out of the electric heated mattress pad bed in the AM, and slither into my work clothes , heat some coffee and get to work. I hate being cold.! We are fortunate this house is sound, wind does not creep in through spaces in windows or doors… it is just the house will not stay at 65 all night…. not when it is 40 outside!.

Now if we had the camper here..we could have that furnace on..but alas it is being kept held hostage at the storage area…

So I think about things to be thankful for…. 1) that it is not a blizzard out and the furnace would be broken…2) That our propane service has a 24 hr /7 day a week emergency line.. and there is a repair guy who can fix it…(he would have come tonight but it really is not such a horrible night that we felt he needed to do an emergency call) .3) That Mark and I seem to thrive on our lives together filled with “Mark and Cindy’s excellent adventures”….. 4) That this did not happen when we had house guests over….5) That we have electricity , electric hot water, and a coffee maker…. at least!

I remember a long time ago, January1993 to be exact….I had just had knee surgery , it was my first night home. Jeff was young… he had gone to bed, and well I was starting to feel pain from the knee surgery. I heard the furnace come on and the flame started..but the blower would not come on. I remember after a while…smelling the warm aluminum smell..and had no idea what to do. I am uncomfortable as all get out… Jeff was sleeping… Mark was on the road….and I just wanted to cry. I called the 24 hr propane help line  I remember trying to talk to him..my voice was quivering as he was asking me to check things… finally I said I was just fresh post op, could not walk… and was unable to bend and twist the way he needed me to to check everything….  the guy came out in the winter storm…. . Until he got there he told me to keep turning the fan on manually to circulate the heat each time the furnace recycled. This meant that each time the thermostat noted the temp was low, the burner kicked on..and if we did not click the fan on—the furnace did not force the air to warm up the house……so it kept the burner on. … I was scared, felt so darn helpless… Jeff woke up and helped me keep the fan on… It was too cold out to not have the furnace going… ugg what an awful night!

The guy arrived after what seemed like forever, he was there a good hr, but left and we had a working furnace again. I remained feeling pain, and bumming over feeling helpless… but at least I could wallow in my self pity in the recliner and not suspending on my crutches in the hallway.

SO that is our excitement for tonight.. It is chilly in here… 62ish right now…I looked over at Mark at his computer—he had these heavy ass gloves on…. he was mocking me !!But I just might take those gloves to bed !!. HA HA…So a wonderful adventure is starting tonight. Hope you have a peaceful night…. Love to all. Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Easter was a beautiful day today… sun blessing us with warmth, a cool breeze, and few clouds. I really was a nice day.

For many many years, we all got together for Easter and had a whomping big meal… but that seems to have dwindled in the years past.

This weekend has been a busy one, seemed to fly by and was filled with very special moments.

Friday we had the opportunity to pick up the boys and have them spend them sleep over. We had a nice time with them and somehow fit in stories, playing, drawing, baking cookies, going to the Easter extravaganza at church and making a Goulash dinner Sat night for when their parents came over to pick them up. It was quite the 24 hrs…

Today brought a day of sun shine. I enjoyed a wonder service at church this morning and than made a promise to myself to weed the walkway and put down some new mulch.

It took a couple hours, but it was fun doing it, and rewarding to have it done.

We are going to have turkey cutlets tonight, but we at a kind of late lunch so I am about to go cook now.

I feel great really, I love having a lot of time outside. It really is amazing how awesome that life can be. Sure we have heartaches, and tons of challenges…. but it is truly awesome.

I feel blessed. I hope you have had a good day… now to get ready for the week ahead!.

My love to all, Mrs Justa alias Cindy

I really do not understand how lending places can say you are getting only 3.5 % interest—and than you look at the payments and you are paying pennies off the principal and the rest is interest!. It looks more like 70% interest.

We have one payment—699.11 a month— 104..00 goes to the principal. Another ..246.86 payment… 92.00 to the actual loan… THE REST is interest!…

GRRR> It is just so lopsided— I know it is so the lenders get all their interest up front—but how is that legal? Dang—if something happened and 7 yrs into it you had to sell… whatever you have is 7 yrs older and you owe what you did when it was new !!

It takes a really long time to pay down a loan at that rate !.

But that is how they do it.. I am hoping as the loans get older the interest will be next to nothing and the payment will be actually taking down the loan!

So on the one loan …. I did some calculating ..and if we pd the 246 per mos—and than an additional 246. per month—the 14 yrs left on the loan would be less than 6. Now that is kind of enticing…

The other one… uggg… that has 27 yrs left on it…. so we have been trying to pay extra on that one.. slowly we are lessening the time left on it.

I love how the sales talk is –only so much a month—and we can get you into a brand new car… or a unbelievable deal on a home, or this or that… but when you loo at the contract—and see how much goes to interest if you pay the loan for the full time… man— it double the cost of the loan… ( does not seem right when it is a great 3.5% interest..??) I just wish the 401 Ks and Roth IRAs did the same thing… But their 3.5% a yr is definitely not inflated !.

Money… it can drive ya nuts…. and tonight… it is driving me bonkers..

Just does not make sense… clip art from M.S word and free clip art on google images.

Love to all…. ( can ya tell we just pd bills tonight?) Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Why can’t media let sleeping dogs lie? I mean give me a break. They get stuck on a story and they not only eat the meat off the bone—heck they suck the marrow out!.

Like….Whitney Houston drowned in the bathtub. She is dead.. May she rest in peace… My goodness—she is still in the news about the “final autopsy report” Crimany!!!! She is dead already… Now if there was a strange hereditary thing that might affect her family—they should know… but my goodness..enough is enough. Not only were we slammed basted with them finding her…but than a 4 hr funeral ( that was supposed to be a small quiet saying goodbye”) and every single night there is something more. How many different ways can a journalist say… “She drowned” Instead—maybe have a tribute concert of her beautiful music….

There are stories that continue to hook the journalist—and my stomach turns..cuz I know I am going to know far more than I should about whatever the topic is.

Like Kate and Jon Goslin…. married—had lots of kids… got a TV show… split up… Poof end of story… But NOOOO>>> we get to hear who is seeing who, and what they fight about, how much money they have….… I bet if you researched far enough you would know the type of clothes they wear, how they sleep…. uggg… leave them alone…

The other night, there was a car accident. A single accident… the driver decided to shoot himself while driving and than it was up to his car to come to a stop. This was so weird..so it got mega attention… I think all are thankful that none of us were in the area he chose to do this… but we really only needed to hear… possible traffic slow down- road is closed due to a fatal.. But NOOOO— this is weird so it makes the news.

The news is not always the facts either… there was a head on collision last week… and the reports had the wrong people in the wrong cars.. So all these comments are really being slanderous towards one driver—thinking she caused it..when in fact..she was the one driven into… AND no matter who caused it..accidents happen !!! It was sad.. it hurt both families….maybe a little more of how can we help….

And than WHY do articles have to have places for comments… Have you ever noticed how many of the people commenting have NOTHING worth any value to say… many are nasty, they are judging people they do not know…making hateful, despicable comments…. I just do not understand…

Ann Murray did a song called “A Little Good News” –she did it probably in the 70s. And it is true… We sure could use a little good news… imagine having the news on..and not one bad thing on it… Just positive stuff, maybe a quotation of inspiration for the day, maybe a happy little quip about a winning little league team, or a special moment someone witnessed.. Now that is the way to start out the day… or end it on your way home…

We need to change our focus..not look for how the world in ending..but look at how we can put an end to the bad and bring on the good… I truly believe for every creep in the world there are hundreds of good people… Let’s talk about them!.. love to all. Mrs Justa..alias Cindy

We live longer because we know more about how the body works, and we can do various tests to see when symptoms arise— to find an answer for those symptoms.

Being in the medical field, I appreciate what medications can do. When is it that the person is actually having symptoms based on an abnormality, and when could it possibly be due to the medication?

One has to be careful though, as medications can help…but they can hurt too.

I am watching a person who is super sensitive to meds, and who has a slew of symptoms, go through numerous tests, no answers yet, and the docs are trying to alleviate the symptoms with meds, while trying to find an answer.

For this person, it is very hard, because masking the symptoms is not working, they are still there..only adding the adverse reactions to the meds on top of the problems that the various treatments and tests are being done.

I am hoping that soon, very soon, the next few tests will indicate what is causing the symptoms, so the meds or treatments can be geared towards fixing what is wrong.

It does make sense to me to try to subside or quell the symptoms while each test is being requested and waiting for approval…. but the hurry up and wait is hard for the person going through this problem.  In a way ..wouldn’t it be nice if we could just get checked into a diagnostic type place for 2 days and let them test away. Mri here and there, blood work, diagnostic tests…and come out at the end of 2 days with an answer and a treatment plan.

I remember a very long time ago I had hurt an ankle at work. I hurt it in November…and do you know… because we had to wait for comp to approve each next step… it took until the fall to have the surgery approved. By then the damage to my ankle was 10 times worse than had I just been able to get and different tests, a diagnosis and fix the darn thing.

Sometimes I think we get in our own way in the medical field. There should be a team of doctors all working together to get the answers and go forward with the treatments. What I find more- is the patient is like a racket ball that was hit hard in a small 4 walled room. Bouncing here and there..very hard to have all the points come together.

Patients need to have someone be their advocate with them…. it is not imposing on the docs—it is working to help gather information for the patient. Love to all.. Mrs Justa alias Cindy