Online 'Bill pay'--

'Live and LEARN!' [as my mother used to say] Today, I set up 'online bill pay.' What a JOKE!! After 2 hours, I finally got it right. So, how does it benefit me? I save a stamp and a trip to the Post-office. Oh yea!!!! Other than that, it's exactly as if I paid them by mail, MYSELF! So, what's the point??? I guess I just don't GET today's technology.

Spring has SPRUNG! I'm as happy as----well, something!!! Worked in the yard today. Now that's, a formula for a better mood. I feel SOOOOO good tonight. That's amazing, as I ripped off Dennis' head and fed it to him yesterday. [ quite a trick, how I did that, him not having a head and all!] Luckily. he's gotten use to my 'sour' moods and just ignores me. Nice, that way I don't even have to apologize. [I usually do ,all the same!]

I stand corrected!!!! Ya'll DO read my blog. Thanks guys, You're the Greatest!!!!

You CANNOT buy a dogs love--

Tonight has been super weird. It started this morning, actually. The dog was outside and I wanted him to come in. It upset me A LOT, when I realized he wouldn't come in, because he was afraid of me. Good heavens, afraid of ME? I've never abused him. Oh sure, I yell at him now and then, especially if he pees on something, but hurt him? However, there was no getting around it, the dog is afraid of me. I was upset all day at work, about this. When I get home, I try to make friends with him-- not a chance! I decided to give him a bath--I used to get all kinds of 'kisses' when that was over, not today. Bathing him was upsetting because it was so very obvious that he is totally underweight. I guess catfood really isn't that good for him. Breezy and I decided to go buy him some dogfood tonight. Funny what guilt will do! I bought Dack ,food, a sweater, a bed, a new food dish AND I was the one who fed him when we got home. So now he loves me, right? WRONG! He hides under Breezy's chair if I'm in the same room. I've had a lot to say about 'panpered pets!' in the past , no more! From this day forth, I vow to have the most 'PAMPERED pet ya'll have EVER seen. I'll win that dog's love, or DIE trying. Hope 'all is well' with each of you. Yes Bridget, this means you. [as you are one, of the few, who seems to read my blog these days]

I broke my toothbrush--Using it?

Can you believe you can break a toothbrush, USING it? Neither can I. I was happily brushing away, when I got the feeling that something was definitely wrong. One half the bristles were exactly where they ought to be, while the other half were flopping around like a dead thing. What's up with that?? The darn toothbrush had broken right in half. I feel so USED!!! I'll bet it wasn't more than 6 or 7 months old. And futhermore, I'll bet I paid AT LEAST 2 dollars for it. There ought to be a law against such things. Imagine, a toothbrush that doesn't even last a year! I couldn't even throw it in with my cleaning supplies to get 'at' those 'hard to reach' places. Well, I showed them. I went to Costco last night and paid 15+ dollars for 7 toothbrushes. I should be good for AT LEAST 6 years. Either that, or perhaps I might CONSIDER replacing the darn things a bit more often. I can still beat this however, anyone remember the day I 'flushed' my cell phone????

"Hide and Seek' or 'Now you see it, now you don't'

Fun at the Doyle house! Breezy has been clearing out my kitchen cabinets for days and days. She is doing a super job, but-- If, any of you, have never lived with someone with obsessive/ compulsive tendencies, you have no idea how much fun you've missed. It wasn't so bad when things were being moved around in the SAME cupboard. For the past two days, it's been a fun little game of 'hide and seek'. I know the item isn't where I used to keep it, but WHERE is it??? I found the sandwich bags, but only by brilliant deduction. [Sherlock Holmes would have been proud.] Who'd have thought, all my kitchen bags would have ended up in the baking pan cupboard ?
But that, is only half the fun we've been having. The other half is 'now you see it, now you don't.' Although, I have given Breezy a free hand, in what to keep and what to discard, I couldn't imagine why she would throw away my new coffee cups. I bought two really small ones recently [to cut down on the amount of coffee I was drinking, it didn't work] and they disappeared. After three days, I thought they were gone for good. Not so, I found them in the dishwasher. I'm not even USING the dishwasher right now. I LOVE my life.

Ever wonder----

Have you ever wondered why you react to things a certain way? Is it because of things that have or have not, happened in your past? I am wondering this right now because of my house. I know that sounds strange. Every time I clean house, I am so overwhelmed by all the nice things that I have. Why? I have had some nice things all my life. Is it because I have so many right now, or because they mean so much, or because a few years ago, the house was pretty run down? I can't decide. It feels so nice to sit in the t.v. room. or the sitting room, and just ENJOY! I would hate to think that material things are starting to mean too much to me. Have any of you ever had this happen?? What did you do about it?

My two lovely days off are now over. Oh well, I guess I still have a mortgage to pay. [even if it did go down 2 dollars a month!]

Rachel--can't wait to get the new pictures. You are so good at those kinds of things. How lucky for me,that YOU are the mother of my grandchildren.

A shopping I will go--A shopping I will go--

No!! Breezy has NOT let me off her budget.! Today's shopping will be done by her. She has 46 dollars and intends to get a 'bunch' of new clothes with it. If she succeeds, I WILL, kill her. I keep telling her, that she just does not understand how expensive everything is. She says, I am a poor shopper. If she manages to 'show me up', I promise to be in a 'bad' mood for days. Just between you and me, a part of me, thinks she will. I am impressed that she has over 1,000 dollars in her savings and intends to shop with 46. This might just be a great 'learning' experience for 'your's truly.'

I'm so tired from the past 4 days. I might aim to do 'as little as possible,' at least for today. I figure that will make me so stressed, that I do double tomorrow! Well, it's a PLAN, at least. I do have a ton of 'little' things, that need doing. Maybe, I'll shoot to get a few done during the next two days.

Hope all is well with each of you! Loves

Presidents day--you can have it.

'Tis the season'--again!! No, I HAVE NOT LOST MY MIND!! I KNOW it's not Christmas time. No, this is much, much worse. At work, tis the season of the Northern Utah Mormon's [sorry kids] and the California soccer Mom's. I've never been able to decide which , of the two, is worse! Both groups seem to feel that it is 'beneath' them to show even the most basic courtesy to the employees. That I can take, but the filth they leave behind--good heavens, I hope they don't treat their own homes that way!! For the past 3 days it's been one filthy mess after another. I wouldn't complain so but this particular season lasts about 10 weeks. I love the bigger paychecks but trust me I WORK for them.

On to more pleasent subjects! I miss Briddy and the Bradster so much already. It was so cute, when we got home last night. Breezy and I had worked an 8 hour shift and were tired. I walk into the t.v. room and just 'cracked up.' I had told Briddy not to put the hide-a-bed away as it had a loose leg. I said I would do it, as I knew how, so as not to make the leg come off. Bless her, she listened to me. However, the hide-a-bed was completely stripped and all the pillows and blankets had been put away. I was surprised that she hadn't washed, dried, folded and put away the sheets. She really is something. She borrowed my car and put gas in it. Don't tell ME she didn't pick up my mom's useless lessons.
Breezy has decided to put me on a budget. Oh my!!! She doesn't want me to have any 'spending' cash AT ALL! For a shopoholic!! I don't know, I just don't know!!! We will just have to wait and see!

kicking and screaming--

I'm not totally behind this, but--- It looks as if my kids are going to drag me into the 21st century [?] kicking and screaming. Today's technology is so far ahead of me that I simply gave up. Were my darling children OK with this? Absolutely NOT! They teach me just enough to interest me, then they drop it. What to do? It looks as if I must learn this on my own. Darn kids anyway! The first thing--learn to 'rip' my own songs, then, --learn how to 'instant' message. I KNOW how, as long as someone else sets it up. No one will, so I guess I'm on my own.--then, --well, there ALWAYS seems there is something NEW to learn. This from the person that can't even 'delay set' her own coffee maker.
Brandon--I don't remember the sat. days quite as fondly as you do. Love ya!

Valentine's

I hope y'all had a wonderful Valentine's day. I love you all. I'm sitting here with Dennis' gift. He really surprised me! An mp3 player. These things are totally amazing!! The sound is much better than with things that I've used 'in my ears' before. Maybe one of you will know, why does it give me songs that I swear I haven't 'ripped'? I knew there were a couple of 'demo' songs on it, but there seems to be more than that, that I don't think that I 'ripped.' Oh well, no matter! It's been a lot of fun. Briddy and the Bradster are here. I do wonder just how long Brady stayed up last night? Briddy got him an old Ninendo game. He brought his unit with him so he could play. Play he did!!! It's a good thing Clyde was ok with playing with him. Bradster was so cute. He would beg people to come 'watch him play!' He is certainly fun to give gifts , he wants, to. He was even sweet about trying to eat dinner last night. FYI -The Bradster isn't crazy about bean enchilada's. Jo and Cylde are two of the best people out there. I always enjoy time spent with them. Thanks for my new 'little friend', kids.

Bryon was also by before the kids got here. He brought coffee and candy. It don't get better than that. He 'ripped' about 30 songs for me. I need to give Breezy credit. She's the one that set things up so the songs could be downloaded. After Bryon left, I felt much more familiar with the player. Breezy gave me a basket, for my closet, ealier in the week. I didn't hear from Brandon and Family. I should have remembered to call them:[ Sorry, Kids! I hope your Valentine's was wonderful and I'm sorry this is late:] By the time that I picked Breane up from work and delivered Mom and Diane's [and kids] dinner, and ran back home, Briddy and the Bradster were here. It was mostly crazy after that. WHAT a Valentine's. This one I'm sure to remember for many years. By the by, Briddy makes a great chocolate cake. Love to all of you!

T.V. Anyone--

I promise that not all my posts will be about Bryon, [I do have other amazing children] but he really helped me out last night. We lost most of our Cable channels at the beginning of Jan. Our cable company decided to go mainly internet and not carry any but the basic' channels. I think we have about 15 channels and half of those are in Spanish. So anyway, we've been viewing mostly movies since then. About two weeks ago, Breezy decided to watch a VHS tape. For some reason, the VCR broke. Everything was run through the VCR. We weren't getting any T.V. at all. Dennis was able to get us back our 15 channels [oh yea] but we couldn't figure how to get the DVD player to play on the T.V. We've had no choices but out t.v. [15 channels] for about 2 weeks. Last night Bryon comes over and messes with it. In just a few minutes I had T.V., VCR and DVD with just the touch of a button. He even gave me stereo sound with the T.V. viewing. When I was just sitting back in amazement [I'd played with it trying to get to work, as well] he says, 'remember, I DID grow up with Dad and Brandon!' Boy, if he's that good, and he was younger, just what is Brandon capable of???' I guess I never really paid too much attention to what Thad knew about T.V. Maybe I should have.

His mother's son--

Another post about Bryon? Yeah, that boy really 'cracks me up!' Yesterday he was telling me about their 'holiday' tree. It seems that they did not take down their Christmas tree. They decided that it would make a great 'holiday' tree. As I understand it, it is now decorated for Valentine's. I must go and see that. Soon they will decorate it for St. Patrick's day. Then Spring, and so forth. While he is telling me this, I'm just staring at him. Then he delivers the 'punch line!' 'It beat's the h--- out of taking it down.' I laughed so! That's my boy--I also will spend 3 days avoiding something it would take 30 seconds to do! In fairness to the kids, the tree does look good where they have it and our Libby is so creative that I'm sure it will look good all year. If fact I'm looking forward to 'checking it out' each holiday.

The bookcase is now in the T.v. room. I'm not 100% behind this. It IS better than the sittingroom but--. I suppose I'll just keep looking for the perfect spot. NOT the D.I.. Breezy suggested that.

Check out my sweet granddaughters on Rachel's blog. They are so cute.

Valentine's anyone--

So, is everyone ready for Valentine's??? This is a holiday I rarely do much for but I really like it. It's so nice to pause and think about the dozens and dozens of persons who matter to me.. I wish I could think of a way to let each one know they are important to me. Breezy and I decided to make some more valentine's tonight. What a joke. Neither of us is feeling our best so our attention span was a big fat zero. It took more time to get everything out again than the time we spent working on the valentine's. Looks like Dennis is getting another I.O.U. this year. I remember dropping valentine's around the neighborhood as a child. They don't seem to do that much anymore. Do any of you drop valentine's, ring the doorbell and run?? I remember getting doorbell rings, where no-one was there when you answered,when my kids were young. No valentine's [of course it wasn't Valentine's day] just an empty doorstep. Very annoying!!!

Breezy is priceless!!! She helped me look through the stuff I have on the family. She helped me trace Joseph George's family all the way back to Ireland!!! I wish I'd had her look at this stuff before. Didn't realize how much information I had. Thanks Bre.

Opinions Requested

Dear ones, I need help. I seem to be going through some type of rebellion where Dennis is concerned. I refuse to listen to him. [The chair] This is about the bookshelf. It is in the sitting room on the wall between the dinning room and the sitting room. It is next to the loveseat near the end of that wall. Dennis thinks that I should move it into the t.v. room. He thinks I should put it in the alcove. My reaction was, 'um no!' On giving it more thought, I think this might be rebellion rather than that I wouldn't like it there. Those of you who have been in my house might be able to visualize this. Please, tell me what you think. Bookcase, NOT in my bedroom, sitting or t.v. room??? I would love to hear your opinions. Thanks all!

Dinny's Surgery

I am pleased to report that Dinny's surgery went well. Some of us were well aware that is was way past time she had it. She has had pain in that shoulder for several years now. I believe that the surgery has been scheduled twice before but she canceled because she felt that mom had more pressing needs. Needless to say, I am pleased that it has FINALLY been taken care of. Mom asked if I would be willing to have Dinny to the hospital by 7:15 a.m. Naturally, I WAS willing. I stayed until they took her to surgery around 8:30a.m. By then, mom and Jamie were there so I left to get ready for work. As I understand it, there was considerable damage to her rota tor-cuff [is that right?] and that he had to clean and pack the shoulder joint. The doctor wants a 12 week recovery, her work wants 8, and she wants to do it in 6 weeks. That's our Dinny, always optimist. Won't be at all surprised if she doesn't do it on HER schedule. Anyway, that's all I know as of now,
but if any of you want to call her, her # is: 435-673-3706.

Moved my book shelf into the sitting room. Now it REALLY feels like a reading room. My bookcase is completely full. If a get a new book, I will have to discard a book. I admit for a house this size, one bookshelf is enough.

Moved Tootie's litter box YET again. Now it's in the Laundry room. That poor cat is so confused. She doesn't know WHERE her bathroom is. Angie asked how I'd feel if I woke up in the middle of the night and someone had moved MY bathroom? What if I couldn't find it? Would I just dance around looking for it? Ok, I get the picture. No more moving the cat's bathroom!!
Hugs all

Chessman and other random thoughts

For those of you not 'in the know' our very own Chessman is the top rated amateur Chess player in Utah. He has been invited to play 'top board' for Utah at the amateur chess tournament in L.A. this month. Just how cool is that? My 'claim to fame, AND the son who NEVER forgets me on Valentines. [yeah, I am hinting for another gift this year:) Anyway, just want the 'Chessman' to know that his momma is pretty darn proud of him. On another note, that boy was born under a lucky star, I swear. That star must have been smiling down on him the day he convinced our very own Libby to marry him, she has blessed his life AND mine. Libby love, you are friend, mentor, and a pretty wonderful daughter-in-law. I don't deserve you, but I love you!

New random thought--Never, I repeat, NEVER allow Breezy to prepare ANY food for you. This morning she decided that Tootsie was just a 'tad' cross [she bit Breezy], so Bre added some [a lot] of chamomile tea to Tootsie's food. Well, that cat eats like a horse. Sure, the cat is relaxed, in fact if she was any MORE relaxed she'd be dead! So I repeat, Don't let Breezy prepare your food. It does make me wonder just what's been added to MY food. The truth be told however, tonight I wish I was Tootsie!

'I'm not crazy--I've just been in a really bad mood for 40 years'

The title says it all! I have been in a 'bad' mood for several days now. I think it is a hormone imbalance of some sort. Today I thought that I had found a cure. I am craving lemons so I was putting them on/in everything I ate. Wahlah, better mood! Unfortunately that was only a temporary cure. Tonight it's 'bad mood' city again. I feel so sorry for the person who pushes my 'button' at the wrong time. It's not that my 'buttons' aren't being pushed now, it's just that I've been able to control it. I now understand why old people have such grumpy faces. It's showing on their face that they are doing all they can not to tear someone/anyone apart. So if any of you 'sweet darlings' happens to be the one who gets their head ripped off and fed to them, I am so, so, SO sorry! If you know of a NATURAL' cure for this problem and were willing to share it with me, I would be forever grateful!!!!!

SUPERbowl???? 43--

What a night! I've looked forward to this night since late December. Problem #1: My new t.v. room is too small for more than 4 people. There were 9 people here. I turned on the t.v. in my bedroom and that helped some. Problem #2: I was feeling cheap and tired last night so I ended up buying cheap pizza. You know the kind I mean,it doesn't matter if you take the cardboard base off or not, it tastes the same. Problem #3: Those who actually wanted to watch the game were 'out of luck' as those of us talking drowned out the t.v.'s. All of that having been said, it was a fun evening. I started out in a pretty bad mood but it got progressively better. It must have been all that 'special' coffee Gabe kept giving me. I must say that when it comes to 'tending bar' Gabe is the best. I did watch the second half and saw some great football played. I was sorry that the Cardinals didn't 'pull it off' as it would have been quite a feat! I was disappointed in the commercials. I expect better of the Superbowl. There were one or two that were outstanding but as a whole--yawn! The half-time show should have 'taken me back' but I've never been into 'rock' so it wasn't familiar. Besides, I'm more than ready for 'boobs' again. Thanks to Janet they may never let another female artist do the half-time show. That would be a shame as there are so many good ones. Breane asked me about the 1st Superbowl. Like I know??? I would have been all of 6-years-old. I would be SUPER offended if I didn't recall asking my mother if she wrote with feather pens. [you have no concept of time when you're young]

Trent moved to Salt Lake today. Even though I've had a few minor problems with him, I'll miss him. He's been a good neighbor. He even left a small basket filled with kitchen towels on my doorstep. What a guy! I am still really enjoying the chair. It has to be the best 'reading' chair ever. That would be a good thing as it is in my 'sitting' room. Sitting, reading, that goes together like---well, something good.

The kids are back in Utah county. I'm happy they are home safe and sound. It was wonderful seeing them. Guess that's it for tonight. Love ya all!