Just comparing

This is soooo funny and so true! While I watched the movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, I could not help but notice the similarities. But I thought that it was just me. Just so you know, I liked both movies.
Be sure to shut down my iPod on the right so you can hear the clip.

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

Last night, after over 60 hours after being admitted, we finally got some answers from the hospital. My diagnosis seems to be 100% spot on and I'm not even getting paid for my opinion. I dn't know if I mntioned what happened. My mom woke up and found my step-dad clammy & unresponsive. He uses a c-pap but it was off. She called 911, and performed CPR. Rescue arrived and transported to the hospital. He was concious and breathing upon arriving at the hospital, yet they still sedated and intubated. They suggested kidney failure, heart failure and stroke before actually doing any tests. I suspected apnea. After 2 1/2 days in ICU, they came to the conclusion that it was apnea. Which is nothing to be taken lightly.

While waitiing in the waiting room, I listen in overhear conversations between other family members. All of them were saying that their family member(patient) was sedated & intubated. Which leads me to believe that if you arrive at this hospital on a weekend, be prepared to be intubated until Monday, or die. Reminds me a little of that old 70"s movie, "Coma". Anyhoo, needless to say, I do not like this hospital.

Sleep Apnea is nothing to lay around with. Which is why I have been after Danny to get a sleep study done. Not only to avoid being kicked out because of his snoring, but for his health as well. Maybe this will be a wake up call.

I HATE hospitals!

The worst time to be in a hospital is on weekends. My step-dad was taken by rescue at approximately 6AM Saturday morning. As of right now, 42 hours after being admitted, they still don't have any answers for us. He has been intubated since he arrived but they have him sedated because he tries to pull the stuff out. Why? because he can breathe on his own. No real reason for intubation, except maybe just waiting for Monday morning. Since I'm ranting, I will rant about insurance & doctors as well. He's been seen by his group of doctors for over 10 years. Since this was an emergency, he was taken to the nearest hospital. Not our choice and not where his doctors are on board. My mom calls his doctors and they say that there isn't anything that they can do since the insurance will not pay them since they are not affiliated with that hospital. OK, all she is asking as that maybe they can give the hospital his medical history with them and maybe, just maybe give her some reassurance. As soon as he's stable we plan on moving him to our prefered hospital but in the meantime, can they just toss us a bone??? Geez.

Rant over. For now.

Wow, I have really been neglecting this blog. Either that, or my life has been just too boring to write about. I did learn something really interesting this week. Let m back up a bit. Since my heart attack EXACTLY 7 years ago today, I have been gaining weight at an astounding rate. I have ben askin my Dr. for years if my meds have anything to do with it. She aalways tells me no and that I just have to eat better & exercise more. All this while piling on more meds. So the other day, Danny was talking to a Dr. friend and he askd how I was doing. Danny told him that I was doing good and mentioned the meds that I was taking. The Dr. told him that all those mds at such high doses would lower my metabolism. Vindication! Why was I not told this before it got so out of hand! Maybe the plan was to get m miserable enough to put me on anti-depressants! Anyhoo, he suggested taking CoQ10 to see if that helps. So on we go.

I have been avoiding my beloved Target. A need to save money and all. They must really be worried about me over there though, I might have to pay them a visit soon. Just to show them that I'm all right ya know.

I have basically been hibernating in an attempt to save money & avoid food temptations as well. So I have been organizing and purging. I have way too much crap. We planned on having a yard sale but never did. I'm hoping to have one soon though. We have never had a yard sale before so any tips will be appreciated.

I tried to finish purging my magazines today. I already went through about 20 last week. There is no end in sight though.

I used to actually sit down a look through my magazines as they arrived. But lately, I put it off and end up with stacks of unread issues. I go through them, cut out what interests me, like recipes, tips, etc. Then organize them in a binder. So far, I just have another stack of clippings because I have yet to organize them. Here is one recipe that I won't be cutting out:

Can you read it? If not, I'll help you out. It's Spicy Chocolate Wings. Chicken Wings! Covered in chocolate! I love me some chocolate, but can I just say Yuck!

Go Red

It's that time of year again. So here is my public sevice announcement.

This is actually my life. Daily. Not just in February. I know what I'm supposed to be doing. I actually do try my best to eat right and exercise the way that I'm supposed to. I take my meds and see my doctor regularly. I absolutely, positively do NOT eat this:

Makes me sick!

The following is from the Miami Herald. This made me royally sick. Not only for the unimaginable loss that these parents have to endure but also because a person with his driving record should not have been driving in the 1st place. As of today, it was reported that his alchol level came back at 3x the legal limit. THREE TIMES! I've always asked what will it take to get them off the streets. Sadly, this is just one example. I was in an accident with a drunk driver many years ago. ABout 5 years after the accident, I received a subpoena to testiy in another one of his DUI cases. It just so happens that this was his 6th arrest for dui since my accident. This one included a fatality. Something was finally being done.

Here is the article. All I can say is that I could never be a defense attorney. Not for all the money in the world.


Miami, FL - Early Sunday morning, Hector Serrano, 42, roused his three children and loaded them into the family’s minivan to drive his wife, Mirian, to the Metrorail station so she could get to her early shift at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Hector didn’t like waking the kids at 4:30 AM, but he didn’t want to leave them alone, either. While stopped at a red light on their way home, their vehicle was rear-ended at full speed by a Chevy Trailblazer driven by Gabriel Delrisco, 40. All three children were killed instantly.

''There were no skid marks,'' said Lt. Pat Santangelo, with the Florida Highway Patrol , indicating that the SUV's driver did not brake.
The impact knocked the minivan across the intersection, said Santangelo. Its rear was crushed . . . giving the rear seat passengers no chance of survival.
The wreckage remained in the intersection for hours while Florida Highway Patrol troopers investigated.

Delrisco has been stopped and ticketed no less than 20 times since 2001. Twenty times. He was convicted of driving under the influence in 2001, and his license was suspended for six months. He was last ticketed in January 2008 for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. That ticket, like so many before it, was dismissed.

Hector Serrano, 10, and his sisters, 7-year-old Esmeralda and 4-year-old Amber died at the scene, as their father — despite a broken arm — tried desperately to pry open the rear door of the minivan. Esmeralda would have been 8 years old today. Their mother, Mirian, collapsed with grief at the accident scene. Hector Serrano says, ”She’s destroyed. My wife and I, now we’re left alone.”


There were no skidmarks at the scene. He never stepped on the freakin' brakes.

I can NEVER live in Iowa!

I have been a bad blogger. So here's a little recap of what has been going on and what will be coming up.

Danny & I took a little roadtrip up to St Augustine. It's about five hours away by car. We left very early in the morning on Tuesday since we wanted to be there in time to watch the inauguration. Temperature was 65 degrees when we left. We had a smooth, uneventful ride up. Except for watching the temperature go down. We arrived in St Augustine at 10:00AM and the temp was 43. We both had to change out of our shorts. I haven't changed in a car since college! We should have taken it as a sign of things to come. Anyhoo, we went straight to the
Plaza de la Constitucion , America's oldest public park, where they were having a public viewing of the inauguration. People were all bundled up in their hats, gloves, coats, scarves etc. Are you sure we're still in Florida?

The days were GORGEOUS but freakin' cold! Nightime lows dipped to about 24. I don't think that I have ever been in temps that low. We were staying at The Saragossa Inn, which by the way, I HIGHLY recommend. The innkeeper is great and he's an excellent chef. Well, they have a bird bath in front of the house. Unless the birds know how to ice skate, they did not get any use out of it! It was frozen solid!! Now, St. Augustine is a walking city. My thin blodded self was miserable most of the time. I thought that my nose was going to fall off! Note to everyone. Do not trust weather.com. It said that it was going to be in the 60's so we packed accordingly. We only accomplished 1/2 the things that we had planned on doing, so I guess we'll have to go back. Fortunately we have been there before, but this ives us another excuse to return.

Danny was being Danny and took a picture of me in my misery. I have TWO jackets on and am still freezing!

The next couple of pictures are from the cafeteria at Flagler College. Students dine surrounded by Tiffany Windows!

Oh, and in case you'd like to visit the Giggling Gator... here's some info for you!

As for what's coming up. Nothing too thrilling. The start of a new diet & my return to the gym. Wish me luck. I really need to lose the weight for health reasons and because I just saw all the cute Spring/Summer clothes at Macy's.

Braces?

At my age? I .Don't. Think. So! I wore braces for about 2 years when I was about 10. I'm 42 now. I had perfect teeth for 30 years. So what if they are shifting a bit now. I'm too old for that crap. What am I going to do, sit with all the other teens in the ortho's office and wait to get my colored bands on? Nope. As long as my teeth are not falling out, I'm a happy camper.

In other oh, so exciting news, I renewed my gym membership. Oh, joy! Now if I actually make it to the gym this year, we will be in business!

Nothing else going on around here. The new year has started off on a sour note. Been sort of busy, trying to get to my start of year dr. appointments but aside from that, not much else going on.

Hope ya'll are having a great start to your year.

Blog It Forward For a Wonderful Cause!

As some of you may know, my charities of choice are Curesearch.org & St Jude's . They get the bulk of my annual donations. My previous blog post is the reason why I chose these organizations. I came upon Let's Eat Cake. First of all, an event name that just happens to be my personal motto!

This is a copy & paste from the original post:

Masterpiece Weddings, an event coordination agency founded by Melissa Margarita-DiStefano, is working really hard to put on an amazing fundraiser in February called Let’s Eat Cake! - which will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital - an incredible organization that’s dedicated to treating children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.

Let’s Eat Cake! is a wedding cake competition, featuring Wedding Cake confections from all over the United States. Bakers will feature their cakes to be judged by Local and National Culinary Celebrities. In addition bakers will be asked to make enough cake to feed the general public, so that they may judge the cakes as well! Our Goal is to raise $50,000 for this extremely worthy cause, we know times are tough for everyone out there. But that doesn't mean that doesn't mean that kids still aren't getting sick. Please help spread the word about our goal, and our mission. If you can help financially, that'd be great, if you blogging about this right now.... your spreading the word - and that's all we can ask for!

All it takes is one short blog post. Make those dollars add up!

R.I.P. Sweet Coleman

Coleman Scott Larson

December 10, 2003 - January 5, 2009

I do not claim to understand why these things happen. But I do know that something must be done to prevent children from going through this. Coleman was one tough "Tookie" & he fought a brave fight. Please keep Coleman & his family in your prayers. Especially his twin brother Caden.

PRAYING FOR COLEMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coleman did not have a very merry Christmas. On Dec. 24th he was airlifted to the hospital. He was unable to swallow or speak. My heart hurts for him & his family. And for all the children that are fighting this beast. Please include Coleman & his famly in your prayers.

Who is your Idol?

WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL???

Try it without looking at answers
1) Pick your

Favorite number between 1-9
2) Multiply by 3 then
3) Add 3, then again Multiply by 3 (I'll wait while you get the calculator....)
4) You'll get a 2 or 3 digit number....
5) Add the digits together
Now Scroll down ..............



Down..........................




Down..........................










Now with that number see who your ROLE MODEL
is from the list below :
1. Einstein



2. Nelson Mandela



3. Abraham Lincoln


4. Cesar Chavez



5. Bill Gates



6. Gandhi



7. Brad Pitt



8. Hitler


9. Lissete


10. Barack Obama


I know... I just have that effect on people... one day you too can be like

me... :-) Believe it!

PS: Stop picking different numbers - I AM YOUR IDOL, JUST DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!

Excuse the Mess

I'm messing around with my blog and trying to get my old template back. As if I didn't have anything better to do! I may have messed up though. I hope I don't have to start from scratch.

OMG

I said that I was not going to watch that new stu*id reality show, 'Momma's Boys". I swore up and down, just as I do every time that a new season of "The Bachelor" begins. But as always, I caved since there is not a single thing on. Can I just say that I already hate that one mom, Mrs.B. I cannot believe the blatant racism & bigootry that spills out of that woman's mouth! I feel sorry for her son. He will probably be single for the rest of his life! He cannot choose a girl that is either black or asian. She can't come from a divorced family or be a "fat-butt". She cant be Muslim or Jewish, becacause momma hates Jewish girls. She must be petite & white. This coming from a lady from Iraq that has a huge a$$. Oh and the girl HAS to cook, clean & do what Momma tells her. No lie that is what she said! If I find a clip, I will post it.

While we are on the subject of bigots, I'm sure that by now you have all seen this. But I thought that I would spread the joy (insert sarcasm). You're welcome.

Remember this? Instead of typing it again, I thought I would direct you to that post. Because, it will be ditto this year again!

But on a lighter and more fun note, look who made Santa's List! This is so cute! Get your kids on the list too!

It's a Wonderful Disney Day!

So today I received a cute Disney ornament from my bloggy friend Damselfly @ Growing a Life. It matches perfectly with my tree! Thank you so much Holly!

Then today, I receive this wonderful piece of news:




I'll set up a place & time for autographs soon!!! ;)

What now?

We finally finished our tree yesterday. And today Danny finished up the outside. When he turned on the outside lights it shorted the whole shebang. The tree, the outside lights, even our foyer light. So being the genius that he is, he fixed it right quick. So I'm walking upstairs and I notice that the top part of the tree is not lit. Not good. Not good at all. The tree is freakin' 9 feet tall and wide as heck on the bottom. PLUS obviously, all my ornaments are on. How the heck are we supposed to fix that??? Without having to take everything off?

It took me long enough!

Here is a post from 2006. Go ahead, take a look. I'll wait.

Back? Ok, after over 25 years of wanting to do this. I finally did it! And it was just as amazing as I imagined! Pure joy!

I may have jumped the gun a bit on my last post. I was a bit put off by the lady that came to pick up MY doggie. She came by last night with some human treats for us and a Thank You card. She also put a $75 check in the card. We figure she was just overwhelmed at actually having MY doggie back.
Note to self. I must remember not to rush to judge.

Happy weekend all!

Oh, and we will be leaving on our Thanksgiing Cruise on Sunday. SO Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Sad

I get attached too quickly and then I end up getting my heart broken. But c'mon, who would not fall in love with this face?? On Thursday Kat rescued this little furball of total cuteness. She was dodging in and out of rush hour traffic and was so close to getting run over. Kat brought her home, we bathed her, brushed her and she made herself totally at home. I fell in love with her at first sight. She didn't have a tag and the only posted flyer that we saw (and called) was for another dog.

She loves being held and cuddled. She gets so happy to see us and her little tail does not stop wagging. Until today.

So last night, Kari saw a flyer with my doggie's picture on it. Mind you it's been four days and the flyer just went up. So I called. They came. They took her. Thing is that my furbaby did not seem very happy to see her owner. Her tail was not wagging and she kept looking at me with sad puppy eyes. I hope that I did the right thing. I hope that they treat her well. I hope that they don't use her for pros-ti-tution breeding and making money, since Yorkies are so fragile.

Kat just pointed out the fact that the owner never once said thank you. She appeared happy to see her doggie, but did not once acknowledge that the doggie was well cared for, that we bought her food & treats, that we bathed her or that we had totally fallen in love with her.
Disregard the water forming in my eyes. It must be allergies :(