It has been a while

I realize that it has been some time since I have updated my blog. A lot has happened in that time. I am sure most of it boring but I will touch on the highlights.

First of all Jeanette got married. She had a beautiful ceremony in San Diego. 5 bridesmaids and 5 groomsman. She looked just like Cinderella. It is obvious that she and her husband are very much in love and he is an amazing young man.

My 4th grandchild has been conceived and will be born in April. She is a girl and Ashley couldn't be happier. She wished and wished that her "Aunt Nette" would have a girl and she is so happy that her wish is coming true.

Much to my relief after 2 yrs and 2 weeks our house in VT has sold. We actually sold it 3 times but it was the 4th time that actually closed. I cannot believe all of the crap we had to go through to sell that damn house. After we had sold it for the 3rd time we were notified that the driveway was actually owned by somebody else. I couldn't possibly have concieved of the issue of my property line being disputed on a house I had owned for 25 yrs. Its was straightened out but it cost me a ton of money.

I will be spending my second Thanksgiving and Christmas with an Ohio address. That makes me very sad. I miss Vt and all of my family and friends there very much. I am still planning to return whenever I can convince Mike to retire. As soon as he gives me a date this house goes on the market and as soon as it sells I am so out of here.

On a positive note I am redecorating. I have painter in the house as we speak. Time to change the decor, it will be 2 yrs in Feb and I am getting bored with the look so time to change it all.

An update

So I realize that it has been a while since I have updated my blog. I have been in my new job for 4 weeks now and I must say I am very happy. Even the drive into downtown Cincinnati cannot get me down. I feel I am in a much better place professionally than I had been for the prior 18 months. Lets just say that I love being in an acute care setting!

Jeanette's wedding is coming quickly. 3 months and counting. I am heading to CA in 1 1/2 weeks to help her with some of the next to the last minute activities. I am looking forward to seeing my little girl and soon to be son in law.

My grandkids continue to grow and be a source of joy even though I don't see them often enough. Ashley will be in Kindergarten in a few weeks and Collin will be in the 3rd grade. Brendan is learning how to pee in the potty. They are all milestones! Ashley's birthday is coming soon and she has a list of things she wants including an American Girl doll, jewelry and many items of clothing. Being the kind of Nana that I am I have all of this and more and it is going to cost me a fortune to ship. Oh well.

Summer in Ohio has not been as miserably hot and dry as last year. I really thought last summer I was in hell! I just hope that August and September don't decide to become unbearable.

And as for the Tiger on my back, the Cincinnati Zoo has been blessed with the birth of 4 Malayan Tiger cubs, all males, from one mother. We went to see them on Sat. They are gorgeous. Lets just say I need a souvenir to take home and Mike would not let me have a real one. LOL

A new adventure

So I walked out of UHC for the last time on Thursday. Thankfully, I might add. It was the worst 16 months of my professional career. The people I met are very nice and a few of them have become friends but the micromanagement in that company is unbelievable. Never, ever make the mistake of thinking that you want a job working for an insurance company. I learned a lot but having to work in a place where you are literally tied to a phone and all of your calls are timed and recorded sucks. I would have thought twice about it if I hadn't needed a job when I moved to Ohio.
Today I began my new job back in a hospital, three of them to be exact. I am excited and eagerly looking forward to this new challenge. I am very hopeful that I will be happy there. It must be a good omen as this job found me and yesterday was my birthday.
Now if I could only sell my house.

I am OK

It has been a while since I have blogged. I am doing OK. I am convinced the State of Ohio hates me. 3 weeks ago I began having pretty nasty L sided pain. After ultrasounds, KUB's, CT scans and lab work I was diagnosed with a kidney stone. Nasty little bastard wouldn't move. I am currently scheduled for its removal this Thursday unless my some miracle it finds its way out. On a positive note I passed the CCCM certification test so now I am a certified Case Manager. LOL.
Wedding plans are going well. 5 months to go. I can't wait.
Its getting really warm here in southwestern Ohio. Another thing that makes me want to go back to VT. The spring here it too short. Jumps into summer before June. There were three days in April that we had to have the AC on it was so hot. Its really humid now and the AC is going on.
Still haven't sold our house in VT. Must be a reason. Wish I knew what it was.
My sister and her family have gone on a kayaking vacation, wish I were with them.

Jeanette's Getting Married

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It has been a few weeks since I have updated everyone. Mike and I were recently able to travel to San Diego to visit with our daughter Jeanette and her boyfriend Robby. While we were there they had planned to take us to a beautiful restaurant on the harbor for dinner. Robby's parents were also invited so we could get to meet them.

During dinner Robby, in front of both sets of parents, asked Jeanette to marry him. It was a very beautiful moment and I felt very honored to have been there. She said yes! She is amazingly happy. Their ceremony takes place at the Hyatt in downtown San Diego on Oct 24 of this year.

She is very busy with the plans and I get to go back to see her at least 2 more times this year.

Her fiance is a wonderful young man who obviously loves her a great deal.

Spring arrives

Its spring here in the Cincinnati suburbs. Freesia's and Magnolia's are in bloom, daffodils have almost gone by, the tulips are ready to open and most of the trees have small green leaves on them now. I guess that one of the good things about being here is that when the calender says its spring it really is unlike Vt where is won't really be spring for a couple more weeks.

Physically I am healing from the car accident. Having therapy three times a week. Emotionally is a different story. Its very different driving now. I have to say I actually get sick seeing cars come up from behind me driving a little too fast. I guess some people would say that I am having PTSD or something along those lines. It really sucks. After driving for nearly 40 yrs without concern and now this.

Post traumatic stress

So now it is a week since the accident. I guess my car is salvageable with $9000 worth of damage it is off to the body shop for some R&R. Hopefully it will look as good as new when I get it back. As for me I still feel like I was hit by a truck. My back especially. I can't sleep at night because I can't seem to get comfortable for more than a few minutes at a time. And now when I am driving I stiffen up and my heart starts racing whenever I see a car approaching me from the rear. I can't believe how difficult this whole thing has been and I am afraid it has only just begun. Oh well this too shall pass.

Give me a break

Tuesday morning 8 am and I am about halfway through my 40 minute drive to work. Stopped on the highway because 2 cars ahead of me one is making a left hand turn. I glance in my rearview mirror while I am waiting and I see this rather large truck type SUV barreling towards me doing at least 50mph and I see no attempt at him slowing down. OK so I brace for impact and put all of my weight on the brake because I don't want to hit the car in front of me. Unfortunately the truck that hit me is going so fast it pushes me into him anyway.

So then I had my first ride as a passenger in the back of an ambulance. 5 hr later in the ED I find I have no broken bones, just strains, sprains and contusions. But my poor car, thats another story. Only 24,000 miles on the beauty and it is very badly damaged. Now dealing with the insurance companies. I was clearly not at fault but my car suffered the most damage. My insurance company I thought was supposed to act as my advocate. The adjuster wanted to claim it totaled without even looking at it. I said no way. I did not want to have to buy a new car if I don't have too. After all this poor baby is paid for and should have had a lot of miles left in her. But Mr insurance man says they will do what is least expensive for them. So then I ask well aren't you getting reimbursed from the crazy man's insurance, after all he was cited and should be responsible? He says yes but he was still ready to total it without seeing it. Wanted to take it to a salvage yard because the place it was towed to is charging storage. I say no friggen way. I want an estimate of damage first. And not once does he ask how I am.

Then while I am still in the ED Allstate, the crazy mans insurance starts calling me wanting my statement. When I get to speak with him he was very rude and also didn't ask how I was. I don't think that was very smart on his part. You would think he of all people would want to know what injuries I had. Maybe its just the way they do things here. All I know is back home if your car is hit in a parking lot and you call your insurance company the first thing they ask is if you were hurt!

When experimentation pays off

Ok so there are times I can be a snob. I admit it! There are some things I am just willing to spend the money on. One of those things I purchased last weekend. I bought an All Clad Slow Cooker. Very pricey but highly rated by consumer reports and my Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker, while less than a year old was starting to burn things.
Well once purchasing my new beauty I had to test it out of course. So looking at what I had on hand I decided to try some pork chops. This is what I did. I had 4-2inch thick pork chops and put them in the cooker, covered them with 1 sliced onion and 2 garlic cloves minced. I then added fresh ground black pepper and covered with about 1 1/2 cups of sauerkraut then 12 oz of apple juice. This I cooked on low for 6 hrs. Let me just say that these pork chops were absolutely delicious. Mike loved them. He wanted me to document this recipe as I never follow one when cooking and he is afraid I won't be able to recreate it. So there you have it. They really are good. These and some freshly steamed asparagus-doesn't get much better.

Out of the mouths of babes!

My Ashley is a very precocious child! The way her mind works I can't help but think she has been on this earth before. She definitely is an old soul. No 5 yr old should be able to reason the way she does. But I digress. My sweet girl was sick most of this week with a stomach flu. She had the usual problems one suffers with that type of bug, nausea/vomiting and dehydration. About 48 hrs after it started she was lying in her bed an wanted something to drink. Her mom brought her a small amount of ginger ale as prescribed by Ashley's pediatrician. Her mother explained to her that she needed to drink small sips and that if she vomited again she would need to have a Phenergan suppository. Ashley stated she wasn't sipping anything, she wanted a large glass of water. Her mother told her she needed to sip the ginger ale and left it in Ash's room. A few minutes later Ash called for her Dad. When her Dad went to her room Ash stated she wanted a big glass of water. Her Dad told her she had the ginger ale and she needed to sip it or she would need to get the suppository "up her butt." Here is where it gets real funny. My beautiful perfect princess of a granddaughter said to her father " I don't think so mister, the only thing going up anybody's butt is my foot up yours now get out!" Where does this come from?

Well thankfully she is feeling better and she called me today to thank me for the Valentine I had sent her. We talked for a few minutes and I was getting ready to leave. Now Ash likes to talk on the phone and she doesn't like to hang up. One of the ways we get her to hang up the phone is we tell her we are driving and can't talk on the phone when we drive. So today my precocious baby says "Who's driving?" And I immediately answer that Papa will be driving us to the store. And she says well since Papa is driving then I can talk with you as long as I want." Oh oh, now how am I going to get her to hang up? What will it be like when she goes to Kindergarten?

Zen and the art of knitting

I knit. Some might say I knit a lot. I have a walk in closet full of yarn with some spilling out into 2 large cabinets in my craft room and a three tiered basket in my living room.

I knit whenever I can. Riding in the car or on a plane. Waiting in doctor's offices and sometimes even in restaurants.

My knitting habits serves two purposes. 1. It helps me relax and keeps me sane. 2. My finished projects make great gifts or garments for myself.

Posted her are a beautiful pair of mittens I made for a co-workers teenaged daughter. The mittens are based on the ones worn by Bella in the movie Twilight. My friends daughter loves all things from Twilight.

Another recent project is a pair of fingerless gloves I made from a free pattern I found at knitty.com. These are the red ones. They are so soft. The hat above was inspired by a hat knit by a friend of mine that was on display at the new Green Mt Fibers in Rutland. I purchased the yarn on my last trip home.

I am now working on a sweater for Jennifer, a pair of socks and a Jacket for me. That is in addition to the sewing I want to do. I don't have enough time for my hobbies. I need to win the lottery or come into money some other way so I can spend more time doing what I love.

Other than that not much is new in my life. We are surviving the winter much like everybody else. I am very optimistic that soon the economy will turn around and people will stop losing their jobs. Lets hope our new president delivers on his promises. I would like to hear from all of you so drop me a line or a note. Call me, collect if need be. Love ya!

Its crazy!

Ok, so we are returning to Ohio from VT last Wed. The weather man says the weather is clear, no precipitation. Should be smooth sailing unlike the week before when we traveled through an ice storm to get home. Things are good, we leave at 6:30 am, should be home by 7pm. Not too bad. The first 1/2 of the trip is uneventful and we are making good time. 7pm and we will be home, time to watch some TV, have some dinner and relax before going to bed. WRONG!
Just outside of Buffalo it starts to snow. Not too bad, just enough to make you slow down but it is still light out, so maybe we will get home at 7:45. Wishful thinking.
So we hit Cleveland and it is now nearly dark and snowing like a bastard. Fools are on the interstate driving old Trans Ams like they are 4 wheel drive. Not getting home now until after 8.
Outside of Cleveland, less than 4 hrs away from home traffic just stops. We are going nowhere. 18 wheelers are turning off their lights. Must be they know something I don't. Ok so make the most of it and learn something about the Blackberry I have had for a year and still don't know much about. Not getting home until God Knows When.
While we are waiting 4 large tow trucks go buy on the shoulders of the highway. Can't be good. 40 minutes later we start to move, very slowly. Finally we see why traffic was stopped. 1 very small van with both front and rear ends compressed and two very large 18 wheelers with only 1/2 of their front ends in place. Hope the poor person in the van wasn't hurt too badly.
So we are moving slowly again, snow is coming down. We might get home tonight, who knows. Must be 6 inches on the road by this time. No plows or sandtrucks anywhere in sight. Then, all of a sudden, 30 miles from home the snow stops. Just like that, no snow, nothing on the ground. We finally make it home about 10pm and not one flake of snow. Just weird.
It is very cold here though. Colder than normal they tell me. Oh well. Thats life! What the hell can you do anyway?

Thanks for the Memories

Well Christmas and now New Years have come and gone. Quiet times as Mike and I are here alone and it was too busy a time for family to travel. Christmas was good to me, it always is. It was really great to be able to have a real time computer connection to watch my grandkids open the presents we had sent to them. (For those of you not familiar with it Skype.com has a very user friendly, free service that connects web cams together very easily.)
One of the gifts I bought for Ashley was an American Girl Doll. Mike and I actually went to Chicago to purchase this doll for her. Not her first American Girl Doll, I bought her a Bitty Baby when she was born, but her first "real" American Girl. I bought her the "Doll of the Year, Mya" The make one special doll each year and when the year is over that doll is retired.When she opened it I explained to her, via the internet, that this was a very special doll as only a few of them were made and she was a very lucky little girl to have received one. She said nothing more about it on Christmas, just continued opening her gifts.
So Ashley called me yesterday and was thanking me for all of her gifts and then she started talking about Mya. She said and I quote "Its a very good thing that you were able to go to Chicago to get me my doll. You were lucky Nana to get one of them because they don't make them anymore." I told her she was right and she then asked to speak to her Papa. I gave him the phone so he could talk to her but is was on speaker so I could her everything she said. She started by thanking him for the gifts and then began to talk about Mya again. She told Papa that it was a good thing that he got one of those few dolls for him. She asked how far away Chicago was and Mike told her it was pretty far away. She then asked "how many planes do you need to fly on to get there?" Mike told her that we did not fly we had driven. Ashley asked "Well don't you think you could get there faster if you flew on a plane?" And of course Mike had to say yes. So then Ashley gets to her point. "Well Papa they have another special doll this year, do you think you can get me one?" Mike said we probably could and Ashley told him that he should take a plane so we could get there as soon as possible before all of the dolls were gone. I am trying not to burst out laughing and Mike is speechless. He then tells her that he will discuss it with me and she asks to speak with her Nana. I take the phone and she broaches the subject about getting this years special doll. I assure her that they will still have some dolls when I get there but she is insistent and wants to know I am going to take a plane to go to Chicago. I tell her I will look for a ticket, she than tells me that we have talked long enough and that I have to go and buy plane tickets to go to Chicago. That's my Ashley, the future Brain Surgeon.
For my knitting friends you need to check out this knitting bag, http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/KNIT/TB0660.
I just found out about it through Ravelry and just had to order one. Judy treat yourself. Well Happy New Year everyone.