Throwback Thursday

I haven't done one of these in weeks, so I thought today I'd scroll through  the oldies and find a picture.

This was taken in 1964. Bob and I went to my Jr.-Sr. Prom. Bob went to another school so it was quite an experience for me to show up on the arm of a guy from our biggest rival in football. But that fall, we beat them.

Hope you're having a great day.

7/9 Hodgepodge

Another Wednesday, and a beautiful Wednesday it is. And now we have another version of Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce, at From This Side of the Pond  I hope you enjoy today's questions and my answers. If you would like to join in the fun, here's where you can find more information...... Click here

1. July is National Anti-Boredom Month. When was the last time you were bored? What's your go-to cure for boredom?

The last time I was bored --- this afternoon. 
My go-to cure --- a book, a long walk, or go to WalMart to watch the people.

2. What's the last thing you made a reservation for?

When Hubby's father's health condition became terminal, we flew to Texas to be with him and we made reservations at a B&B.

3. What's one thing on your summer 'bucket list'? Any plans to make it happen?

I have no bucket list, for summer or otherwise. For me, it's one day at a time.... no plans, no expectations, no stress.

4. What's your favorite summertime sip?

Iced tea. Sadly I'm not allowed to have anything stronger, now that I've become old. hahaha

5. What do you find is the best way to handle another person's hostility and hopefully ease the tension?

Leave the room? I don't know. I can't say what I'd do. It would depend on the person and the circumstances.

6. Your favorite film set in summer?

Dirty Dancing .... I love that movie

7. What word are you using too much lately?

"What?" My grandchildren just won't speak up so I can hear them. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Summer is just getting started and already we're hearing about children being left in hot cars. It's so sad. Some of those instances the parent says they "forgot she was back there". Some are just stupidity. Like the story I just saw on TV. The child was rescued by another customer at a WalMart somewhere, didn't catch that. He and the story manager got the child into the store and got her cooled down. EMS were called and she was taken to the hospital. The parents? Well, they showed up 45 min. later, looking for their child, crying their heart out!!!

I get SO angry when I see these stories. I did see a good idea on Facebook the other day. For parents, when you buckle your child into their seat, put your left shoe beside them. You won't forget they are there.

You have a great day. 

Recovering well

This Thursday it will be 5 weeks since Hubby had stents put in his heart. His recovery has gone well. He's back to mowing the yard, on a rider, and taking care of a few things around the house that he didn't feel up to doing a few weeks ago. We have so much to be thankful for. The doctor called his blocked artery a "widow maker". Thank you, Lord.

The only problem we have now is his meds. One prescription the surgeon put him on costs $289 a month!! Being on Social Security/Medicare, we can't afford that. Also, since it's a new drug, his Humana drug plan doesn't cover it. We've tried to get some help, but that's not gone well. You've seen the commercials for drugs on the market, where one particular company says at the end "if you have trouble paying for your prescription, Astra Zenica can help". HA!! That's a joke. That multi-BILLION $$$ drug company won't help.

We've gone through so much paperwork but on the application, Bob checked the box that asked if he was a veteran. Consequently, the letter we got back from AZ said to "contact your local VA representative for assistance". With the VA in the mess they're in right now? Well, Bob did contact our local rep. We've known Barry for years, so Bob explained his situation and was told what he already knew ---- he didn't qualify for VA benefits. Bob was in the Guards but stayed in the states those 7 years and wasn't called into a combat zone . Now we're waiting on a letter from them stating he didn't qualify, then we'll send that to AZ and see what happens. AZ did help a little bit. When they got Bob's application from the surgeon, with his signed letter, they sent him a 3-month supply free of charge.

AZ also gave us a web-site address where we could get more information on assistance. Guess where that took us? Yep! Obamacare! Don't think so....Not going to mess with that. Then there's Medicaid, which Bob refuses to try and I agree with him. At this point, our only recourse is for him to tell his doctor to try something less expensive.

This has been quite an experience. Sixty-eight years of good health and then BAM! We just never know what will happen tomorrow until it happens. Thank goodness God is in control.

Hope you have a good week ahead.

What happens when we pray.......

You may have read this before, but today, it spoke to me and I wanted to share. I got it in an email from a friend. I guess I needed to read it again.  

[Author Unknown]  I dreamed that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.
I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.
Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.

The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section, my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed."How is it that there is no work going on here? I asked."

"So sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments."

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings, I asked?"
"Simple," the angel answered. Just say, "Thank you, Lord."
"What blessings should they acknowledge?" I asked.
"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy."

"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day."

"If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation... You are ahead of 700 million people in the world."
"If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world."
"If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you 're unique to all those in doubt and despair......."
"OK," I said. "What now? How can I start?"
The Angel said, "If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all."

So count your blessings , and if you care to, remind someone else how blessed we all are..........

"Thank you Lord for giving me so much."

I hope you're having a great day. 

♪♫♪ GOD BLESS THE USA ♪♫♪

Today is the day we, in the USA, celebrate the birth of this great nation, the signing of the Declaration of Independence and a day to remember how our Founding Fathers gave so much for us to be able to live here in freedom. We have so much to celebrate. 

The Declaration of Independence.... A marvelous document, written for us.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

This has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language", containing "the most potent and consequential words in American history". The passage came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive. This view was notably promoted by Abraham Lincoln, who, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and argued that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted. It provided inspiration to numerous national declarations of independence throughout the world. [from Wikipedia]

One of the most widely held misconceptions about the Declaration of Independence is that it was signed on July 4, 1776. In fact, independence was formally declared on July 2, 1776, a date that John Adams believed would be “the most memorable in the history of America.” On July 4, 1776, Congress approved the final text of the Declaration, but it wasn't officially signed until August 2, 1776.

Although Thomas Jefferson is often called the “author” of the Declaration of Independence, he wasn't the only person who contributed important ideas. Jefferson was a member of a five-person committee appointed by the Continental Congress to write the Declaration. The committee included Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Livingston never signed it tho'. He believed that it was too soon to declare independence and therefore refused to sign.

Philosopher John Locke’s ideas were an important influence on the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson used Locke’s contract theory of government when he wrote in the Declaration that governments derived “their just Powers from the consent of the people.” 

Just powers from the consent of the people!! Now we have a president that hates these words, plus many others, and wants to throw out the constitution, calling it "out-dated". He and his minions want total control of the country, just like the monarchy of England that our fore-fathers fled from. However, we have something he doesn't. We have God on our side. 

So, my fellow Americans......... Fly our flag! Shoot off the fireworks! Rejoice! Praise God. And have a great day. 

Only in America

With our Independence Day fast approaching, I can't help but think about what our forefathers went through to give us this great nation. Then comes the thoughts, the anger and the fear of how a group of men and women today have destroyed, or is still attempting to destroy, it all. Consequently, I've decided to get this out of my system today, so I can enjoy the July 4th celebration tomorrow. 

This is Canada's Top Ten List of America's Stupidity.... "Only in America"

Can you blame them for writing this?

Number 10) Only in America... could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 per plate campaign fund-raising event.

Number 9) Only in America ... could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General and roughly 20% of the federal workforce is black while only 14% of the population is black 40+% of all federal entitlements goes to black Americans - 3X the rate that go to whites, 5X the rate that go to Hispanics!

Number 8) Only in America... could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner (the head of the Treasury Department) and Charles Rangel (who once ran the Ways and Means Committee), BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.

Number 7) Only in America... can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media and liberals react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.

Number 6) Only in America... would they make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege, while they discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just 'magically' become American citizens (probably should be number one).

Number 5) Only in America.... could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country's Constitution be thought of as "extremists."

Number 4) Only in America... could you need to present a driver's license to cash a check, board an airplane or buy alcohol, but not to vote.

Number 3) Only in America... could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. Oil company (Marathon Oil) averages 12% profit and they take all the risk and the US government takes by force 18.4% to 24.4% in gas tax for taking zero risk and doing absolutely nothing for that revenue other than creating a law to force the oil companies to give it to them. So the government makes 6% to 12% more profit than the oil companies themselves on gas sales for doing absolutely nothing but using force.

Number 2) Only in America.... could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year - for total spending of $7-Million PER MINUTE, and the left complains that it still doesn't have nearly enough money for all their programs.

And Number 1) Only in America... could the so called "rich people" who pay 86% of all income taxes - be accused of not paying their "fair share" by people who don't pay any income taxes at all .

Hope you have a safe, fun-filled holiday. 

7/2 Hodgepodge

Another Wednesday... another version of Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce, at From This Side of the Pond  I hope you enjoy today's questions and my answers. If you would like to join in the fun, here's where you can find more information...... Click here

1. Speaking of 180 ... when was the last time you 'did a 180' on something?

I can't think of a thing. I'm stubborn so when I plan to do something it usually gets done. I may have to lay aside the plans for a spell, but I can't remember a time when I had to do a 180. 

2. It's Independence Week in the US of A! What's your favorite thing about America right this very minute? Favorites only! Let's hear what you love about America.

Our freedom.... something we must NOT take for granted anymore. We've had a US presidential administration for the last 6 years that has succeeded to do things to this country that we never thought would happen here. 

3. Stars or stripes? Red, white, or blue? Watermelon, homemade vanilla ice cream, or blueberry pie?

Stars .... red ... homemade vanilla ice cream! 

4. When did you last see stars, figuratively speaking?

Today.... I suffer from a hemiplegic migraine, otherwise known as a "silent" migraine, that affects my eyesight. Often times I'll have spells that can last just a few minutes, or even days, that causes floating stars, among other things. Not much fun. 

If you'd like to know more about this, check out this web site:  HERE

5. 'Clear as a bell', 'with bells on', 'lots of bells and whistles', 'saved by the bell'...which phrase 'rings' truest for you lately? Have you ever seen The Liberty Bell?

Lots of bells and whistles.... I'm a modern technology junkie. I love seeing the recent advances in many things, such as computers and cell phones. When the iPhone first came out, I got excited. I did lots of research on them to see what all a person can do with one. It took a couple years, but I finally got one and I love it. Compared to my old cell phone, this has lots of bells and whistles.

No, I've never seen the Liberty Bell, but I would love to. There again (see #2), the bell comes from a time in this country's history and our freedoms.

6. Are you caught up in World Cup fever? Have you watched a lot or a little or none at all?

None at all. I'm not into that sport and have not followed any of it.

7. Bid farewell to June in 10 words or less.

A good month, our #1 grandson turned 21 and we had no severe storms. (13)
Oops... I went over, I know. It's always been hard for me to limit words. I'll tell a story in all the details and drive people crazy.

8. Insert your own random thought(s) here.

1) As of 12:00 noon today, we are officially half-way 2014. Now's when we should start our Christmas shopping. We can pick up some good bargains before the prices go up in Dec. 

2) A Facebook friend of mine had a tornado rip through their town Monday night. She's ok. It missed her house, but her parents had a lot of damage done to their place. Her parents are in their 80's and are very shook up over this. According to what she wrote last night, she's very worried about her mother. 
The day we had an F4 go through here, taking out one whole side of our town, that changed me. It missed our neighborhood by less than a mile, but the emotional damage is also horrible. I've never been so scared. And now, whenever I hear of a warning or watch, I instantly get so nervous I can barely function. 

Happy 4th of July! You have a fun, safe, holiday weekend.