Saturday, February 27, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
My Brain Exploded!
Explosion of something in my brain... (this may be a little bit dramatic, but it fits the emotional, if not physical) occurred on Friday, February 5, 2010 just before 11:00am.
I had one of the scariest moments of my life yesterday. At first I thought I was going blind or I had inherited my father's macular degeneration. Very quickly! Quickest onset imaginable. Within seconds I went from seeing fine (well, with the aid of contacts) to seeing floaters and blurry spots. Sort of like the what you see if you have a bright light shone in your eyes. But it got bigger.
My first thought was that it was my contact, so I removed it and put on my glasses. Nope, still there. Thinking it was my left eye, I rubbed it and realized my right saw it too. I then covered my right eye and found that it was also in my left. My next thought was this is not an eye problem, but a brain problem. I now was certain that I was having a stroke or an aneurism.
My vision continued to quickly deteriorate. It had been maybe 5 minutes so far. I was beginning to seriously panic. I left my office to speak with Ronnie, the parish receptionist and my friend... she had never heard of such a thing. I decided to call my eye doctor, as I had been speaking with the office so often lately getting my contacts straightened out. Luckily I knew the number, as I would never have been able to look it up.
When I reached the doctor's office, I was immediately put at ease by an incredible office staff and doctor. (Dr. Garfield and Dr. Bradley of Hobe Sound) It seems that I was having an Ocular Migraine / Ophthalmic Migraine. I was not going to die, or go blind. I would have to calm down and wait it out. They told me 15 to 20 minutes is all they last. They told me to come in to be checked if I felt the need or if there were any other vision problems.
Now, before I heard the word migraine, I did not have one... but upon hearing it, I noticed the pain in my head. Was the pain in my head there before and I was too panicked to notice? Was the pain a result of suggestion? I don't know, but I do know at it was the definite start to one of my migraines.
After I hung up the phone, I simply waited. No longer panicked, but still nervous as my vision was becoming more and more distorted. I was losing the ability to see clearly at all. After about 20 minutes of blurred vision, it cleared up pretty much instantly.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Just a rant...
How many zeros in a billion?
The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is
spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain... let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans.
Interesting number... what does it mean?
A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.
B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets$1,329,787.
C. Or... if you are a family of four... your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington , D. C ~ HELLO! Are all your calculators broken??
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax (Fed)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
(And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes -- Sorry Barrie, my love... no disrespect intended.)
THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago... and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world... and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'
The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is
spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain... let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans.
Interesting number... what does it mean?
A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.
B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets$1,329,787.
C. Or... if you are a family of four... your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington , D. C ~ HELLO! Are all your calculators broken??
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax (Fed)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
(And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes -- Sorry Barrie, my love... no disrespect intended.)
THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago... and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world... and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'
Monday, January 18, 2010
Grandchildren... absent minded rambling.
Babies and more babies… is anyone getting sick and tired of hearing about my babies? How about my babies’ babies? Naw, I didn’t think so. And that being the case, here we go again.
I spent most of yesterday with Melissa, Matthew, Banee, and most importantly… Big Ben. We went shopping at the Vero Outlet Mall; looking for maternity clothes for Banee and grandbaby clothes for all of them… born and to be born. It was wonderful! A great day for me! And Matthew almost tolerated the entire thing. To ease some of his pain, I did take everyone to dinner following the day shopping. Well, everyone except Matt and Banee – he is so independent that it would apparently kill him to allow me to buy there dinner. But, he had a great time at dinner, playing with Shaun and Xzavier who joined us for the meal. Shaun knew better than to go baby shopping with a group of women. Jessie also joined us for dinner. Matthew is still a newlywed husband who wants to be an active part of each of Banee’s waking moments… that they are not working. Isn’t he cute!
While we were shopping, we found incredible deals! I do love sales. Especially clearance sales – and most especially clearance sales that say take an additional 70% off. How can you go wrong? Christmas and Halloween outfits will be coming back again! Just kidding – I was tempted, but even I did not buy for next year’s holidays. Well, truth really be told here… just between you and me… the only thing that kept me from buying outfits for a year in the future is I don’t know for sure what size any of the babies will be! Oh, and Barrie would probably kill me for spending like that.
I have mentioned before how wonderful my husband is – how much I love him – how cute he is – how understanding he has the potential for being…. but… he actually likes me to at least make an attempt at sticking to the budget we have agreed upon. We so very carefully go over our finances and pay bills together so that we both know where we stand, and then he expects me to follow whatever game plan we made.
Oh, how I digress. Not that I had a real plan when I sat down, but I do remember clearly saying this was about the grandbabies. (Isn’t everything?) On to the grandbabies…
Xzavier got his afghan last night at dinner. Poor baby has been waiting since Christmas. I kept doing little projects here and there and that one just kept being put aside for a few minutes here and there. Finally it is done and he has it.
Michael received his Nana and Michael photo album from our New Year visit. I made a small photo album just for him with pictures of us together. My plan is that if he can see us together having fun, he will remember me better for the next visit. It feels like visits are few and far between with him; probably not as bad as it seems, but his Nana wants to be with him more often. I guess as he gets older (two in March) he is going to remember me better anyway. Breaks my heart that he has to be reminded who grandma is. Once he remembers me, it is all good!
Honey Blossom. I am afraid she will be grown up and have kids of her own before I see her again. Last time we saw her was in June. She was 9 months old. Before that she was like 6 weeks old. We only head over to England every two years or so. I am thinking that it might be easier to fly them all here next time. Then maybe I could babysit all the grandbabies while all of the adult kids go out for fun. I may have a plan forming here!
Big Ben – Xzavier’s little brother, my teeny tiny little guy. OK, most recent birth… I may have mentioned every move he has made already… but, did I mention he is over 7 pounds now – has passed his due date by four days – is 8 weeks old today! I believe he almost rolling over – trying to hold his head up – grabs at things with his cute little hands – follows objects (and grandmas) with his eyes – and, most important… he loves his grandma! Loves to cuddle with her and spend time with her.
Well then – time for me to stop for now. Until next time!
I spent most of yesterday with Melissa, Matthew, Banee, and most importantly… Big Ben. We went shopping at the Vero Outlet Mall; looking for maternity clothes for Banee and grandbaby clothes for all of them… born and to be born. It was wonderful! A great day for me! And Matthew almost tolerated the entire thing. To ease some of his pain, I did take everyone to dinner following the day shopping. Well, everyone except Matt and Banee – he is so independent that it would apparently kill him to allow me to buy there dinner. But, he had a great time at dinner, playing with Shaun and Xzavier who joined us for the meal. Shaun knew better than to go baby shopping with a group of women. Jessie also joined us for dinner. Matthew is still a newlywed husband who wants to be an active part of each of Banee’s waking moments… that they are not working. Isn’t he cute!
While we were shopping, we found incredible deals! I do love sales. Especially clearance sales – and most especially clearance sales that say take an additional 70% off. How can you go wrong? Christmas and Halloween outfits will be coming back again! Just kidding – I was tempted, but even I did not buy for next year’s holidays. Well, truth really be told here… just between you and me… the only thing that kept me from buying outfits for a year in the future is I don’t know for sure what size any of the babies will be! Oh, and Barrie would probably kill me for spending like that.
I have mentioned before how wonderful my husband is – how much I love him – how cute he is – how understanding he has the potential for being…. but… he actually likes me to at least make an attempt at sticking to the budget we have agreed upon. We so very carefully go over our finances and pay bills together so that we both know where we stand, and then he expects me to follow whatever game plan we made.
Oh, how I digress. Not that I had a real plan when I sat down, but I do remember clearly saying this was about the grandbabies. (Isn’t everything?) On to the grandbabies…
Xzavier got his afghan last night at dinner. Poor baby has been waiting since Christmas. I kept doing little projects here and there and that one just kept being put aside for a few minutes here and there. Finally it is done and he has it.
Michael received his Nana and Michael photo album from our New Year visit. I made a small photo album just for him with pictures of us together. My plan is that if he can see us together having fun, he will remember me better for the next visit. It feels like visits are few and far between with him; probably not as bad as it seems, but his Nana wants to be with him more often. I guess as he gets older (two in March) he is going to remember me better anyway. Breaks my heart that he has to be reminded who grandma is. Once he remembers me, it is all good!
Honey Blossom. I am afraid she will be grown up and have kids of her own before I see her again. Last time we saw her was in June. She was 9 months old. Before that she was like 6 weeks old. We only head over to England every two years or so. I am thinking that it might be easier to fly them all here next time. Then maybe I could babysit all the grandbabies while all of the adult kids go out for fun. I may have a plan forming here!
Big Ben – Xzavier’s little brother, my teeny tiny little guy. OK, most recent birth… I may have mentioned every move he has made already… but, did I mention he is over 7 pounds now – has passed his due date by four days – is 8 weeks old today! I believe he almost rolling over – trying to hold his head up – grabs at things with his cute little hands – follows objects (and grandmas) with his eyes – and, most important… he loves his grandma! Loves to cuddle with her and spend time with her.
Well then – time for me to stop for now. Until next time!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Global Warming in My Own Little World.
January 14, 2010
I know it has been a while since I last wrote, and I am so very sorry... but... I was cold.
No, not just cold... I was literally frozen. I know what you must be thinking, people do not just freeze and then defrost and still function. Well, apparently some of us do! Here’s what happened.
As everyone knows, it has been cold. The temps here in South Florida have been sticking pretty much to the 30’s. One morning it was in the low 20’s when I left for work. And that does not even count the wind chill factor. Now, keeping that in mind, my car has not been working and I have been riding my bike to and from work. For anyone who does not know, I live 16 miles from work. On the morning that it was in the 20’s when I went to work, I had ice forming on my visor. So… quite simply, my brain froze. I had a difficult time working, much less thinking at home too. You can ask my husband or children – there was no real thought process going on here for at least a week. I was a non-functioning cerebral mess. Example; when making a list of who is who in the family, I left off one of my children. Who forgets a kid?!?!?!?!
I am much better now. This morning was in the 50’s and I awoke with the ability for thought. This will be a catch up blog.
From the photo’s in shutterfly (bazandmary.shutterfly.com) you can see that we had an awesome Christmas and New Year. OK, most everyone got sick for Christmas, but New Years was completely awesome. Not counting the freezing thing that was going on in North Florida. Barrie and I had gone up to visit MJ and his family. Freezing aside, we had a ball. Actually, this may have been the start of my brain freeze as we had no heat in the car. The trip home was soooo cold! We had even tried to go to a huge flea market while the weather was in the teens…. What were we thinking?
Brittney went to a New Year’s concert in Miami. She saw Lady Gaga. By the way, this beautiful and sweet girl who is growing up way to fast… she is the baby I forgot. I am so devastated. She is fine. She laughed about it. I cried; and the more she tried to make me feel alright about it, the worse I felt.
Aunt Ollie is visiting with us for a while. We are thrilled to have her – keeps mom out of trouble! Or maybe… they are in more trouble, but the two of them work better at covering it up. Maybe we should watch them more.
MJ and Myrahia… Matt and Banee… both working hard at growing babies… MJ and Myrahia are due in March, two days before Michael’s birthday. Matt and Banee are expecting in July. Oh, tis good to be a grandparent!
Melissa and Shaun are doing their own baby growing with little Benjamin. He is now over 7 pounds. Xzavier is doing wonderful also. I was up at their house the other day and showed him the afghan I am making him and he is very happy with it. He is such a loving grandson. He makes me so proud and happy to make him a special gift from his grandma.
I don’t think I mentioned, Matthew has today off work and is fixing my car. He is such a good son; taking care of my problems. He is an incredible mechanic. He is one of the top mechanics for this region with Firestone. I am not just a bragging mom… Firestone told us that he was the second best tech out of hundreds in this region. He is the head tech at the Stuart branch. We are so proud of him.
Speaking of work – my break is over and I need to get back to it.
God bless you all…. Love ya, Mary
I know it has been a while since I last wrote, and I am so very sorry... but... I was cold.
No, not just cold... I was literally frozen. I know what you must be thinking, people do not just freeze and then defrost and still function. Well, apparently some of us do! Here’s what happened.
As everyone knows, it has been cold. The temps here in South Florida have been sticking pretty much to the 30’s. One morning it was in the low 20’s when I left for work. And that does not even count the wind chill factor. Now, keeping that in mind, my car has not been working and I have been riding my bike to and from work. For anyone who does not know, I live 16 miles from work. On the morning that it was in the 20’s when I went to work, I had ice forming on my visor. So… quite simply, my brain froze. I had a difficult time working, much less thinking at home too. You can ask my husband or children – there was no real thought process going on here for at least a week. I was a non-functioning cerebral mess. Example; when making a list of who is who in the family, I left off one of my children. Who forgets a kid?!?!?!?!
I am much better now. This morning was in the 50’s and I awoke with the ability for thought. This will be a catch up blog.
From the photo’s in shutterfly (bazandmary.shutterfly.com) you can see that we had an awesome Christmas and New Year. OK, most everyone got sick for Christmas, but New Years was completely awesome. Not counting the freezing thing that was going on in North Florida. Barrie and I had gone up to visit MJ and his family. Freezing aside, we had a ball. Actually, this may have been the start of my brain freeze as we had no heat in the car. The trip home was soooo cold! We had even tried to go to a huge flea market while the weather was in the teens…. What were we thinking?
Brittney went to a New Year’s concert in Miami. She saw Lady Gaga. By the way, this beautiful and sweet girl who is growing up way to fast… she is the baby I forgot. I am so devastated. She is fine. She laughed about it. I cried; and the more she tried to make me feel alright about it, the worse I felt.
Aunt Ollie is visiting with us for a while. We are thrilled to have her – keeps mom out of trouble! Or maybe… they are in more trouble, but the two of them work better at covering it up. Maybe we should watch them more.
MJ and Myrahia… Matt and Banee… both working hard at growing babies… MJ and Myrahia are due in March, two days before Michael’s birthday. Matt and Banee are expecting in July. Oh, tis good to be a grandparent!
Melissa and Shaun are doing their own baby growing with little Benjamin. He is now over 7 pounds. Xzavier is doing wonderful also. I was up at their house the other day and showed him the afghan I am making him and he is very happy with it. He is such a loving grandson. He makes me so proud and happy to make him a special gift from his grandma.
I don’t think I mentioned, Matthew has today off work and is fixing my car. He is such a good son; taking care of my problems. He is an incredible mechanic. He is one of the top mechanics for this region with Firestone. I am not just a bragging mom… Firestone told us that he was the second best tech out of hundreds in this region. He is the head tech at the Stuart branch. We are so proud of him.
Speaking of work – my break is over and I need to get back to it.
God bless you all…. Love ya, Mary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
