Austin's Here

The past couple of days have been kinda bad....I'm not going to whine about them, as they're over, and we've had some really GOOD things happen to us in the past few days also, so as Tony Soprano says, "Let's focus on the good times."

First of all, and this is really GOOD news ~ here's Austin, being held by big sis Jamie, who has a birthday of her own tomorrow. She is going to be 5 years old. Nice birthday present. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 12 ounces. Here's another picture of him; he looks a little bigger without being all wrapped up.

Very nice family, and Amy is feeling really good, and gets to go home tomorrow.

Also found out that cousin Chris and his wife Lee Ann are expecting. We certainly wish them the best. Jeffy has 3 grandsons, so I imagine, even this early in the game, that they are "thinking pink". Wasn't it Jerry Lewis that was always thinking pink, and ended up having like 7 boys? Well, we have 5 boys and 4 girls, but when Ava joins the group in November, we'll be even again.

May I still *itch about the weather and say it's 97 outside. I had to take Baby bird, the Blue Front Amazon for an annual physical today, and it's HOT. Hmmmm, how long has it been unbearably hot now???? I think it's been like 8 months or something.

I'm adding a site to my sidebar, check it out. It's just a little site regarding wild bird rehabilitation, and a very nice lady that works very hard taking care of orphans. I admire people like her, and enjoy her site.

Alrighty then . . . I'm going to go feed my critters so Marco and I will be free to venture out again in this heat, and probably run up to the hospital. More later.....

I love my mommy.

You keep cool, Columbus!!

Tomatoes and Tailgates

Even though the heat index outside is 110 today (will it ever end??), we are thinking about the beginning of tailgating season. The first home game is Saturday, September 1st. Three of the five September games are at home: 9/1 (Youngstown), 9/8 (Univ. of Akron) and 9/22 (Northwestern). Papaw went out to the lake and cleaned all the awnings on the motor coach, and we need to vacuum (is that spelled right??) and dust, but other than that we'll be ready to go. GO BUCKS!!

As for tomatoes, zowie, this time of year we have a ton of them. They're a bit smaller this year - not just ours but everyone's that we've talked to. Anyhow, I've eaten so many that my mouth is sore. The acid in the tomatoes makes it burn, but I can't help myself. They are so good; too bad tomato season only lasts about a month or so here. And after a horrible summer of unrelenting heat, who knows how this will affect midwestern crops.

I'm getting close to doing my post on remembering cousin John, who died on 8/25/06. In the memory book that the New York Times published, there is a list of things that John loved. I think I'm going to snag that idea and try to end my post each day with an item that I love. I know I published 50 of the "100 things about me" early in my blog many months ago, but that took some real thinking, and I only got halfway there. I'll just stick one thing in a day, starting with the obvious:

I love Marco.

Lots of Rain/No baby yet

Here's a new pic of our little Greys, MaggyMay and Pepper. I finally made up my mind to take some pics, and then found out the battery was 99.9% dead in the digital camera, and this is the only pic I got. I know our battery charger is around here somewhere. And probably fresh batteries in it....hmmm.......

Maggy, on the left, has had a hard time of it this year. An eColi infection and heart problems, but everything is under medical control now, and we are hoping for the best. You'd never know anything was wrong with the little stinker now, and hope it keeps that way.

Still no baby, so it's looking more like Friday will be the day. I didn't know we had rain last night as I sleep thru anything. Marco knew it rained, but didn't realize the extent, either. Our pond was really full this morning, so we thought we got a fair amount, but was surprised to see roof-top rescues here in town featured on CNN later this afternoon. Well, we don't exactly live in town, and I think the suburbs did okay, but we sure were clueless.

Jared, Jessica and Kayla will be here tomorrow, and we'll get to hang out one more day before school starts. Hard to believe that time is here already, but I'm more than ready for it....or at least for this heat to cut back. It's supposed to be 91 tomorrow, and 94 Thursday, but hope that will be the end of the really beastly stuff.

Going to cut it short right now, hubby is fixing dinner, and altho' it's just bacon, lettuce and tomatoe sandwiches, the 'maters are from our garden, and the bacon frying is luring me off the computer and in to the kitchen.

Be cool Columbus,

Grandma B.

A couple of digitals!

I found a couple of digital pictures on my camera - one of Jamie and Papaw that's more recent, one of Todd and Brad, and one I took of Mr. Big, our big koi. The pic doesn't do him justice, he's huge. Too bad I can't line them up on this page!

I'm making a pledge to carry the darn camera in my backpack. I carry a Vera Bradley quilted backpack as my purse-carrying shoulder is getting either arthritis or bursitis in it. Jeesh!

This week in the garden

This picture of Miss Jamie is a year old now, and she's changed so much, but I have no current digital pics of Jamie or her brother Travis, mainly because we forget our camera most of the time. All are regular prints (people are nice about giving us copies), and scanning, saving and downloading are a pain, and I only have about 5 minutes before I'm on the run, so this will have to do for right now.

The real reason I'm mentioning Jamie and Travis is that they are going to have a new brother - Austin - this Friday, which is the day Amy will be induced. This makes #9 for us, and for now, we have more boys than girls. This will change on Thanksgiving when Todd and Aubrey have Ava. It'll be 5 girls and 5 boys. And after that, who knows???? Ages right now are: 16, 14, 11, 9, 9, 7, 5 and 3.

I'm a little surprised that we only have one set of twins - the wonderful Jessica and Jared - as there are twins everywhere in the family. The oldest set that have been uncovered are Fred and Florida, who are something like great, great, great aunt and uncle. Cousin Mary Ann has been working hard on the geneology, and she herself has sisters who are twins, Nancy and Sallie. I think we ~ well, Scott & Jackie ~ hold the record for the biggest twins; Jared and Jessica weighed almost 7 pounds each. I think Jessica weighed 6 lb 12 oz, which is what her dad weighed when he was born. Jackie was very large, to put it politely. Both were heads down, delivered naturally. The operating room (standard procedure for twins) had quite a few doctors and nurses that just came to watch, as they have never seen a non C-section birth of twins and no complications.

I guess I just wanted to say today that we have been blessed by such healthy, beautiful, and fun grandkids; we're looking forward to the 2 new ones, and life is wonderful. Amen

Grandma Barb

The last of HBO

Sunday night ~ it used to be our favorite television night, thanks to HBO. Over the years it's been Sex and the City, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, Carnavale, Deadwood, and our favorite of all of them, The Sopranos. The "Ojibwe Saying" is from episode 69, when Tony is in the hospital recuperating from Uncle Junior shooting him. I just happen to like it, so I posted it. I don't think there will ever be a show as good asThe Sopranos. James Gandolfini made the scary Tony Soprano likeable. And Edie Falco was marvelous, as was every member of the cast. I have all the seasons on DVD, so we'll never lose The Sopranos. It's just that we can't look forward to seeing them on Sunday nights anymore.

The Sopranos finale was great. A lot of people were disappointed in it, but Marco and I thought it was excellent. I TIVO'd it, and have played it several times, both for myself and for the non-Soprano watchers that have visited. Mixed reactions from them. Again, I played it for mom, and she loved it. I think I'm corrupting her. And to make matters worse, I gave her a bunch of VHS tapes today as we never watch tapes anymore, and one of them was Hannibal. Can't wait to see if she enjoys Hannibal Lechter.

But what we considered all the good HBO shows are over now. John From Cincinnati is playing in the time slot where The Sopranos used to be. I think it's been cancelled already. Big Love is on, but I can't get in to a show about polygamy. Just sounds boring. So we did what I never thought we'd do: we cancelled HBO. It's just a shame when there's nothing on HBO that we like. And we never watched it except on Sunday nights, so it was kind of a waste all along.

So, I just want to bid a fond farewell to HBO, and to say it was great and it was fun while it lasted. This evening, I'll have free time to sit on my deck and enjoy the constellations and planets (Venus is getting very low in the west, so is Saturn, and Jupiter is shining bright) and have a glass of wine.

Dog Rocks

I just love the series "Dog, the Bounty Hunter" on A&E. I love Dwayne Chapman, his wife Beth, and the rest of his family. It's a reality show where Dog and his team go after criminals who have violated their bail. Even Beth. She's one cool mama. They also own a bail bond shop in Honolulu. It's kinda like Cops. But it goes a little further than cops, as it also shows aspects of the Chapmans family life. Apparently, Dog has about a dozen kids by several different women. (!) Some are little kids, and the older ones are grown. One of his boys, Leland, is a costar of the show, and he's really good looking. Dog has a soft side for a bounty hunter, and he treats most of the people he catches with respect, and tells them they gotta clean up their acts. Everyone usually ends up crying, including Dog. And before they go after someone, they all hold hands and offer a prayer. I love this show.

Okay, here's the funny thing. Sunday Marco had a golf tournament and he was gone all day. It was hotter than hades outside, so I decided to just veg out in front of the t.v. I called mom to see if she wanted to come over, and she said "yes". Well, there was a "Dog" marathon on, and I think it was 3 hours long. How cool was that!! We caught it at the beginning, and we watched ALL of it. It ended with Dog's wedding to Beth. I guess they've been together like 15 years or so, and decided to marry. This was a rerun, as they were married in May of 2006. But all in all, I think mom enjoyed it very much. At first she said, "what the heck are you watching?" I explained the particulars, and she settled in and got hooked also. We had a pretty good day just goofing off. Before she left (after a late dinner) she asked again "Now what channel is A&E?"

Right now Dog is having problems with our government .... it has to do with him going into Mexico and apprehending rapist Andrew Luster, and getting in trouble as bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico. Even tho' Mexico dropped the charges, the U.S. is giving him crap about it for some reason that I haven't had time to read up on. But I will. He was on one of the CNN stations yesterday with his attorney, and I just caught the very end of it. Rats.

So....just wanted to relate that a person is never too old to enjoy good television! We had fun hanging out all day watching Dog. We especially liked the wedding.....I think Grandma is a real Dog Chapman fan now.

Also just wanted to mention the horror out in Utah. What a nightmare; my heart goes out to everyone caught up in the tragedy. Prayers to all concerned.

That's it for Friday folks,
You keep cool Columbus.....

Remembering Elvis

Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. It's hard to believe it's been that long, as I remember exactly what I was doing when I heard about it. Brad was 6 and Scott was 8. I was....well, never mind that. Anyhow, we were across the street at MaryAlice's house. She was a good friend, and had 3 kids, just a little older than Scott and Brad. Her cat was having kittens in her closet, and everyone was in the bedroom helping with the delivery. Well, actually, they were mainly watching, fascinated. I think it was the first time I'd ever seen kittens born, myself. It was awesome. MaryAlice had the television on in the living room, but no one was paying any attention to that. But after a while, the tone of what is being said gets through to you. It's like the voice of "breaking news" on t.v. now. I forget who wandered in to see what was going on, but pretty soon the news got to all of us, and we were understandably upset. Who at that time thought that Elvis would die so young. I'm thinking he was only 42. Of course, with what we know now, it's a wonder he lived as long as he did. Now there are bunches of young stars who didn't even live that long, due to all the excesses of that lifestyle. It's a shame he became such a junkie. But today, I'm not here to judge.

So, here's to Elvis.....he was a big part of Americana, faults and all. I think Priscilla and Lisa Marie have done well in taking care of his business since he's been gone. He would have been proud of them, I'm sure.

Other than that, it's still hot as hell outside, and I'm ready for a Coke.

Try to be cool out there, Columbus.....

Looking back musically

I'm just sticking in a pic of the pond for no particular reason. I'm pretty sure I've posted it before, but whatever. I've worried about the koi during this awful hot weather, but they seem to be doing okay. The lattice cover over the pond, plus the water hyacinth and parrot feather in the pond keep the water fairly cool. Seems there's no middle ground for the koi either. It's either too hot or too cold, but this morning they were chasing each other around the pond like there was no tomorrow, so it looks like they're having fun and all that.

This morning I found a neat web site where you can look up the song that was number 1 the week you were born. Without divulging too much information, the number 1 song the week I was born was "I'm Making Believe" by The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald. For Marco it was "Crying Down The River" by Russ Morgan. For my mom, it was "Angel Child" by Al Jolson, and for dad, it was "Cherie" by Paul Whiteman. It's interesting that someone would compile a list like this. Actually, on the internet, you could probably look up ANY list and you would find it. The amount of information at our fingertips is just amazing.

So if you want to look up your song, here's the site: http://www.joshhosler.biz/

*** Note: I'm posting this for you just to look up the name of the song. Don't actually play it, as it does something bad to your default media players. I just got an email from a friend that got her files all botched up by playing the song.*** I'd delete this post, but someone may have bookmarked the site already..... :-(

I used to listen to more music than I do now, that's for sure. I used to even have a radio at work, altho' I mainly listened to Howard Stern in the mornings, and then just a little bit of music and then turned it off. After a while, even music irritates me. Just too much noise. I suppose if I were younger and still working, I'd have an iPod, but you couldn't give me one today.

We are heading up to Easton in just a little bit, which is always fun. The humidity is down a little today, so I think I'll survive. A little shopping and a glass of wine for me. That will be it for the day. So, I'd better get ready, and I'll catch you later.

I can't take any more

I'm not even going to insert a picture this evening. I'm drained with this heat. This is the 9th of August, and all 9 days have been over 90 degrees. The heat index hovers around 110 degrees. Marco and I went to Matress Mart about 11:00 this morning to look at the "Craftmatic-type" beds that they had. Just to see how comfy they were, and if you could feel whatever it is in the mattress that moves up and down. I couldn't feel anything, by the way. They weren't bad. Pricy. I also decided to try a couple of the regular beds, just to see how they felt. The store had big plate glass windows all across the front of the store. The whole darn store was basically just glass. And it was shining in, and if the air conditioning was going, the sun was cancelling it out. At about the 4th bed, I started sweating like a pig, my head started pounding and my heart started racing. I was sick as a dog. I could barely stand up. In like 3 minutes time. I told Marco, "We're outta here". I just am so fed up with the heat that I can't stand it. Our thermostat is set at 74 degrees, and if I just get up to fix a glass of water, I have sweat streaming down into my eyes. I realize this blog has been nothing but kvetching about the heat, but that has been all that's going on the past few weeks. It's too hot to do anything, therefore, I have nothing to write about. I'm reading Anne Lamott today, "Grace, Eventually", and I love her books. I've wanted to mention a few thoughts regarding the last episodes of my favorite show "The Sopranos". More conspiracy theory stuff. Even a dig or two at my least favorite person, Dick Cheney. But not right now......
I'm actually roasting, just sitting here at my computer screen. It's throwing out heat. And I have a fan on the table next to me, set at high. So, I'm going to do what I do several times a day in this heat: put cold water in the bathtub and go sit in it. I'm getting pruney, but who the heck cares?
Folks, so sorry about this, but I'm a mess....more later,
B.

It's gettin' hotter each day

I don't know if you can really see the bridge posted in this pic. Someone sent it to me the other day. It's a bridge in southern France that basically connects a Paris "motorway" to the Mediterranean Ocean. And it's HIGH. And you couldn't pay me to go on it. Just sitting here and looking at it makes me queasy. I may just have to lay down on the floor a minute......

Okay, I'm alright now. That bridge just fascinated me. Had to throw it in. And mainly because it's so damn hot outside that I can't do anything else worth writing about. When we go to the store I have to start the car and turn the air conditioner on and then run back in the house for 2 or 3 minutes. My clothes have been damp for about 2 months now. I put 'em on dry, and within 2 minutes, I'm damp. The dogs run out, pee, and run back in. The birds just hang out as usual. When will this ever be over?

Since I'm so fried, I'm just going to bed. It's 10:15 - I'm an old lady - I'm entitled to go to bed early. Nothing is on t.v. yet.....same old summer reruns. So gang, sorry, but at least I'm kinda back. More later....

LuvYa,

B.

Are the dog days over yet?

We have an abundance of baby birds in our yard right now. This little robin was sitting on the fence by our sliding glass door, calling for his mother, and he was loud. She eventually came back for him, and had a nice fat worm in her beak. We also have a bird house that is a little too close to our bedroom window. We've had about 3 clutches of baby sparrows in it this year, and the newest group just fledged this morning. It was really cool to see them emerge from the nest box, and look all around. They look just about fully feathered, even tho' their little wings are just that: little. But they're a bit noisy, too. These guys all look small next to our parrots, especially the Amazons.

Congrat's to cousin Rick who finished the St. Mary's Triathon in Huntington yesterday. I was worried about him, but he did good. If you want to read about what he had to say about the race, just click the Goatrope link on the left sidebar. Also, his mom was up here last week, and we had a nice visit. She is looking good, and she and mom had a good visit, even tho' it was hotter than hades. I want to sit out on my deck, and I can't breathe the humid air, and can't stand the heat, period. Come on September. You'll see that phrase uttered a lot.

Marco is just about finished with Scott's basement, and it's looking good. We were teasing the kids about school starting in 3 weeks.....which I can't wait for. Maybe it'll be cooler then.......

No other gossip or anything right now. Nothing much on our calendars. Amy's new baby is due on the 26th, but that's a couple of weeks away. I got a DVD of the Jim Carrey movie "23" to watch sometime....maybe this evening. Looks kinda good, but didn't hear much about it at the boxoffice. I'll let you know.

So folks, again, nothing being said, but want to keep this up and running.

Take care,

Prends soin de toi!

Long hot week

I'm adding a pic I took recently of the Beanie Babies I have on the top of my bed. I belong to a fun group of MSN ladies online, and I posted this as "How many Beanies are on my bed?". About 10 people guessed, and one lady only missed it by one. She guessed 85 and there are 86, counting the large bald eagle. I stopped collecting long ago. I'll bet there are at least 500....600...beanies out now. Every sign of the zodiac, every state, 2 or 3 new ones each year for each holiday. Just too darn many. Plus, I have to take mine down and dust the top of the bed, and fluff the beanies in the dryer (about 4 seperate loads) at least twice a year, or else hubby and I start sneezing with the dust.

We went to dinner with Todd and Aubrey at Brio's last night. We usually eat on the patio, but it was 98 outside and only a couple of hardy people were out on the patio. We had a great meal and even greater dessert. Their baby is due on November 21st, and they are going to name her Ava. I like the name very much. We had a real nice time.

If you have been reading Rick's blog (the goatrope) you'll see that he's doing a triathalon tomorrow, and I am worried about that. I know people that have had bypass surgery go on to lead pretty normal lives, but that's not exactly "normal". And now that he has a pacemaker, it worries me more. But he knows how he wants to live his life, and I say, more power to him. I just hope the temp (mid 90's again) won't be too hard on him and all the runners, bikers, and swimmers. (The swimming part would do me in.)

I am planning on doing zilch today. This week has been a long, hard and hot one, and I'm doing my blog, a load of laundry, sweeping up in the bird's room, and stretching out and watching a DVD. In fact, I may just run over to Wal-Mart and pick up a new DVD. I think a couple of good ones came out yesterday. Marco is finishing Scott and Jackie's basement today, so at least they will be working in the basement where it will be mucho cool.

I'm getting back in the blog groove by just blabbing a little; hopefully, more thoughtful issues will be forthcoming soon . . . but this heat is just killing me, even with air conditioning I'm sweating like a pig after running the sweeper or folding laundry, and I don't feel thoughtful. Just hot and cranky. So folkes, stay cool and tune in later.....

Grandma Barb

What blog??

I'm baaaack......Has it been 4 months since I stopped blogging? I've been asked by several family members, "what's up with no blog?" And I don't know what's up. I'll just try to start again, and spread family news around. I'll do what I can. :-)

Pictured above are Pepper, Amazons Baby and Sunny, and MaggyMay, who has been a little under the weather, but is now doing pretty good. Poor Mags has heart failure, and he's only 17, which is young in parrot age. He is now on Lasix, and that apparently is all he needs right now. 3 drops twice a day. They are keeping me busy. I wanted to get a fairly large cage to put out on the deck so 2 of them at a time can go outside, but didn't get around to it this year. I'd love to roll their cages outside, but the 3 steps down to the deck are steep, so that wouldn't work for us.

One of the reasons that I haven't done as much as I wanted this year is that my "bad" knee has become my "really bad" knee, and needs to be replaced. The only glitch is that I am allergic (for a better word) to ALL medication. Pain meds, antibiotics, muscle relaxers, antidepressants, even things like Vitamin C tablets. Can't even do I.V. pain medication. I had to be admitted to the ER this summer with a splitting headache and a bloodshot eye (thought it may have been a stroke, but ruled that out) and they put me on a pain I.V., along with Phenergan for nausea, and I threw up for 4 hours. So. Doc says we have to figure out what to do about this little problem, as the surgery and the rehab is very painful. 2 people who have had the surgery said it's VERY painful. Why am I such a weird person. (MaryAnn, this paragraph for mainly for you, as we are in the same boat with bad knees.)

We still have dauschunds Dusty and Bud, and they are sporting shaved little bodies, as the summer up here is hot, hot, hot. I let mine grow a bit this summer so I can pull it back in a ponytail, as I'm hot, hot, hot, and that's the best way for me to get cool. Cool-ish.

Marco has been jet-skiing a little, but I can't even get on the darn thing with my knees, so he's been skiing alone.

Grandma Jean is doing okay, and Aunt Bobbie is here this week visiting, which is GOOD.

Other than that, not a whole lot has elapsed in the past 4 months. This is just a quickie just to get started back to blogging. Rick is still doing his faithfully.

Tune in tomorrow, and maybe I'll have done a little more. It's my "August resolution."