Family tradition continues...

For as long as I can remember, my mother has always gone to Marblehead, MA to plant flowers at her mother's grave. She used to take a day off from work and go with her father and stepmother. Mom remembers her mother planting flowers at the Campbell-Dingley plot and always wanted to continue the tradition. When my grandparents were too old to make the trip, I started to join mom on her yearly trek.
We would head to Marblehead, plant flowers, look around the cemetery and then stop in Peabody to have lunch with our aunt. Gramma always planted germainiums -- ugly flowers. I always teased mom about buying them....Gramma wasn't planting them, who cared what kind of flowers we got? Thankfully mom stopped buying germainiums.
This year, Wil joined mom and I on our trek. We planted flowers, talked to Grampa and Gramma, discussed family history and took a tour of Marblehead. I told mom years ago that the tradition will continue with me and my children -- just don't expect germainiums!


Wil, mom and I at Fort Sewell, overlooking Marblehead harbor

All better

I'm "normal" again -- well, I'm Bethie normal! :^)
I met with the GI doctor's PA last week. Marcy was wonderful! Very nice, explained everything in normal-speak-terms and reviewed all my test results. Again, no real reason for being sick -- just the inflamed lymph nodes in my abdomen. Luckily the pain went away as mysteriously as it appeared. The ER doctor was right -- it's like a cold, last for 10-14 days and there is nothing that can be done except deal (and take Vicodin!).

Many thanks to those who wished me well earlier this month.

It's not a baby

I've had a stomach ache for over a week now. Course, everyone's first question is "Are you pregnant?" No.

It started with what I thought was just a tinge of a stomach ache....bad food, not enough sleep, etc. Just an overall icky feeling. So I stayed home from work and camped out in bed for a few days.


Still not feeling better, I headed to the doctor. She thought the tenderness in my abdomen might be associated with my gall bladder. I went for an ultrasound and blood work Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon brought excruciating pain; my ultrasound was normal and the blood work didn't show anything. I was off to the ER for pain & a CT scan. If you have the chance to have a CT scan -- DON'T DO IT!! I had to drink two bottles of this wonderful chalk shake. It was all I could do to keep it down; two shots of nausea medication kept it down.

The CT scan was clear. JOY! All my insides look normal -- except my lymph nodes were inflamed. Apparently this is a common occurrence that has no cure. It's not viral, so there are no antibiotics that can be taken. Just wait it out with pain medication (Vicodin is my friend!), follow up with the GI specialist, drink lots of fluids and keep a bland diet.

Thank god for a wireless network, laptop and cable....

Purple Iris

There comes a point in your life when you realize:
Who matters,
Who never did,
Who won't anymore...
And who always will..
So, don't worry about people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.
Enjoy life -- each and every day!

Sweep sweep sweep!!!

The Red Sox played three games against the NY Yankees this past weekend -- one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in the league.

Friday's game was won by Boston, in 11 innings. Jason Bay had a 2 run homer in the bottom of the 9th and Kevin Youkilis had a single homer in the 11th to win the game -- 5-4.
Saturday's game was won by Boston, in 9 innings. At one point, Boston was down 6-0; but it's not over until it's over. The boys came back to win the game 16-11!!
Sunday's game was won by Boston, in 9 innings. Both teams battled each other well -- but Boston pulled ahead in the 5th. They kept their lead and won the game 4-1.

Welcome to Boston - sweep country!!

Visting the Basin

The Basin -- Franconia Notch Parkway

Wil, Scott, Jeff and I visited the Basin on Sunday -- it was overcast and a little chilly. But we had a great time wandering around and watching the water rush by us.


Beautiful water pools -- very loud!!


Wil and I enjoying the scenery


Swirling pools of water...


Water rushing over the rocks


Wil at the Basin


Wil and Scottie -- there isn't really THAT much of a height difference between them. Just uneven ground.


Jeff and Scott

Quilting day

NH Eastern Star has been creating quilts all year. Upon completion, they are being donated to around NH for families and children in need. Yesterday, Wil and I dropped by Bristol to help out the quilters for a bit. Most of the quilts are complete; they needed to have sleeves basted on the back (so they can be hung & displayed at Grand Chapter) and labels sewn on.

One of the many beautiful quilts that were made.

Our small group -- hard at work.

Threading needles -- the bain of our existance all afternoon...

Wil, Cindy & Gloria.

Mom always said she couldn't sew....
And yet here she is!!

Mom making sure she's doing it right.

Even Kenny pitched in!

Gretta & Wil

Consideration

I was headed home today after my manicure -- 93 South in Concord. Traffic was busy, but we were moving. I slowed down near the on ramp of exit 13 to let traffic in (plus my exit is only a half mile away). Some jack-off with Rhode Island plates was going slow....I was giving him the room to merge into traffic, instead of just passing him and leaving his turtle butt in the dust. So I'm being semi-patient and waving my hand as if to say "Ok, c'mon, you can do it - merge!"
The jack-off keeps hedging his way in and finally decides to merge, but not before he decides to flip me off. WHAT IN THE.... ?! I wasn't being rude -- in fact, I thought I was being nice! So I returned the favor. Jack-off rolls down his window to flip me off again before picking up his phone and speeding off down 93 South.

Thank you Mr Jack-Off. I appreciate your enjoyment of my courtesy.

bnc

Blog Move

I've moved my blog! This format promises to be easier to read, write, edit, share and comment on. (Never saw comments on the old format....) I was never sure if people were reading my blog -- so it was time for something new!

The posts from 2009 were copied over to this new format. All previous posts are still available on my website.

Enjoy the new format -- come back often and comment all you like! :^)

bnc

15 April, 2009

Baseball season started last week with a bang. I was all geared up and ready to rock on Monday -- watching my boys play the home opener against the 2007 ALCS Champions, Tampa Bay Rays, but mother nature had her way and the game was postponed a day. Tuesday afternoon, Wil and I camped out on the couch to watch the Sox beat the Rays 5-3. Yeah buddy!!

It was a victory -- but it didn't last long. We're currently at 3-6 -- not a great start to the season, but it's April and anything can happen. Hell, this is Red Sox Nation!! It ain't over until the fat lady sings!!

My favorite player is Kevin Youkilis --



Kevin joined the Sox in May 2004, starting at third base. It wasn't until 2006 that Kevin moved to first base, where he currently plays as a fabulous defense. He has also played second base and left field. On June 25, 2007, Youkilis played in his 120th consecutive game at first base without an error, breaking the prior Red Sox record set in 1921 by Stuffy McInnis. His batting average started at .260 in 2004 and in 2008 was .312 -- he hit 29 homeruns and 115 RBIs in 2008.



bnc

2 April, 2009

Surfing the web over the last few weeks I happened upon a website -- Lolcats n Funny Pictures of Cats ICanHasCheezburger.com. I've flipped through over 400 pages of pictures and laughed my butt off at some of the pictures. Sometimes I wish my job was an animal photographer....lots of patience for that one -- wait for the perfect pose or moment.

Here are a few of my favorites....









bnc

27 March, 2009

Welcome spring!!

These pretty purple flowers show up in my front yard when spring has arrived.... They showed up earlier this week, just
hadn't gotten a chance to snap a good picture of them. They're a beautiful color and start to appear mid-March. At some point,
there must have been some gorgeous flower beds around our house as there are a lot of flowers that come back each year.

bnc

25 March, 2009

Sign of the times....


Since we moved in to our house in July 2007, part of the directions that I give are "across from Crazy Jay's Auto." No more.

Crazy Jay's pulled all the cars from their lot last November. I didn't think much of it; perhaps they were just moving things around prepping for a bad winter. Over the last few weeks, our neighbors have shut their doors -- taking the signs down, cleaning the yard & garage and I'm sure taking care of the paperwork.

It's always sad when the little guy gets screwed......

bnc

24 March, 2009

How to entertain yourself and a cat for $6.99?


Buy a laser pointer!
Steph bought a laser pointer for her cat at Pet Smart today. Course, she has been having fun playing with Hunter while
she has been visiting....so of course we had to try out the laser pointer on Hunter. That crazy cat had us laughing so hard!
He kept trying to catch the red dot, chasing after it, pouncing on it, head bobbing as he watched it, jumping for it and running
in circles. It's hilarious!!!

bnc

18 March, 2009

Last Thursday afternoon, Wil took off to Pennsylvania for the weekend -- much to the shock & disbelief of his family. He arrived about 2am at his parents house and called them to say hello. Of course, mom wants to know what's wrong....then wonders who is ringing the door bell at that hour. She was pleasantly surprised to see her son standing there!

Wil was able to spend quality time with his parents and nieces & nephews. And...we have a few visitors for two weeks! Our oldest niece, Stephanie, and her boyfriend, Ricky, came to stay with us for two weeks. It's great to have them visit and see NH. :^)

Steph LOVES animals -- so she has been having fun playing with our zoo. Hunter just adores Steph -- they have been playing together. Not often that an animal tires before the human...but he's a fat cat! Casey is getting more attention too and is enjoying it. The baby....well -- she's been very standoffish....not sure why -- she used to be Steph's cat. Weird...

Wil, Steph, Ricky and I will be able to do something together on Monday & Tuesday next week before they go home next weekend. But it's great to have them visit :^)

bnc