BLOGGER FRIENDS I URGE YOU TO VOTE FOR RALPH

I nominated Ralph for Sexiest Male Blogger. This is a picture of Ralph in his blue rollers.
Does he not look sexy? How can anyone think otherwise?

He has made me his campaign manager. I am honored. I have never had a position like this before but try I will. I will work diligently to get him elected. However, it does seem that it will be a tough race. If it were not an internet campaign we could go door to door and sip sweet tea and eat cake with the folks. Since it's a blogger campaign then I must get the word out here.









You can see from these pictures that Ralph has accomplished many amazing feats! Here he is practicing shooting and not once did he accidently shoot anyone else. He also fought off a bear to save his lovely wife Char from harm, putting himself in danger.

Here he is in a cornfield. The picture was taken on the Cliff Morrow Farm on July 3rd. He is showing that it truly was knee high by the fourth of July. He is also doing some work with the tractor too. In these picture ladies, (and gents who might be interested) you can get a nice view of his legs as well. See those muscles in his legs? This is a man who biked 838 miles in 2005! He possibly will be doing a bike ride of 550 miles this year for a wonderful cause; Tree Research and Educational Endowment. This man has stood in front of 800 people and gave a keynote speech.

This is a man who loves beef jerky. He loves his family and is a true friend to so many. Being the most sexy doesn't necessarily have to mean the man who has the 6 pack abs and a bodybuilder figure. Look inside the man.

You can vote once a day through April 6 at
Best of Blogger . I urge one and all to consider Ralph for this position and cast your vote for him. Do it now. Don't put it off. Time is of the essence. (You might forget if you put it off). Go now and cast your vote for the one who is deserving. It just takes a couple of seconds to cast your vote. My blogging friends, I urge you.....seek deep into your hearts, look over these pictures, and vote.....vote now! Vote for Ralph!!

Thank you. Thank you very much.

No thanks, I believe I'll keep driving!!











At least they are warning folks ahead of time!!

Here is a joke I received by e-mail.

While attending a marriage seminar on communication, Ralph and his wife listened to the instructor declare: "It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other."

He addressed the men: "For instance, gentlemen, can you name your wife's favorite flower?" Ralph leaned over, touched his wife's arm gently and whispered, "Odlums self-rising, isn't it?"

The rest of the story is not pleasant.

Childhood Memories

When I was a kid I remember running barefoot on a hard packed dirt path. It was actually a road through a hay field that went back to one of the barns. That road was packed down hard and smooth and there was grass in the middle. I remember running on those paths with my bare feet just flying! You didn't have to worry about any rocks or anything at all to hurt your feet.

There was also a creek we used to play in. There was a swimming hole there but I didn't go in the deep part since I couldn't swim then. If it rained a lot we had a swinging bridge we could cross. I have seen that creek really deep and rough. Normally there, at that one stretch of it, the water was only about an inch or two deep as it ran over the slate rocks. This creek was wide too, not a small creek at all. I used to lay down flat and just let the water run around me. The only think I feared in that creek was leeches. My Uncle got some on his legs and he had a hard time getting them off. I sure didn't want one of those blood suckers on me and thankfully I never got one!

Trials of Life

This week has been.....well, I'm not sure how to describe it. The first part was good but the last part has been very trying. My husband's sister was here and then they left early Thursday morning. My husband had some new medication and I started the first dose on Wednesday night. Thursday night he was so confused and had me up most of the night. He got real upset with me. He thought he was in the garage and that I would do nothing to help him get out of there. Finally he got really loud and yelling at me and even tried a few swings at me. I got him up in the wheelchair and took him into the living room and then he realized that he was not in the garage. Then after a while he was ready to go back to bed, but he did not sleep. He did not sleep all day long. I was tired from lack of sleep and not feeling worth a hoot that day. Thankfully, Friday night he slept and so did I. I got to thinking that that new medication might be the cause for the major confusion so I didn't give him any after the first 2 doses. (He had them on Wed. night and Thurs. night). Last night started off good but then about 3:30 a.m. he was calling for me frantically. I went in and he thought there was a rat and a snake in battle in his room. He got scared when I started in there telling me to watch out for them. I talked to him and tried to reassure him and calm him down. Finally it was back up and into the living room. After he sat there a little while and I still explained things to him about there being no snakes or rats in our house, etc., and that it was probably the medication making him so confused he agreed to go back to bed. I left the lamp on and he went back to sleep.

It's so sad to see someone like that. I have worked with confused people before and it's so hard because to them it's all so real. They just think you're the one who is crazy because you can't see the things they see. The doctor wanted to start him on a different sleeping medication not long ago and I tried that and he got more confused than ever, so I went back to giving him what he had been taking before. I told the doctor that that one made him confused. This latest medication is to help him void better. He is doing fine without it and I'll just watch and see how things go. I can't handle all this major confusion stuff.

I feel so bad for him. It's so heartbreaking when he knows what is going on and he told me he's so sorry that he tried to hit me, and he reaches out that frail hand of his to touch my hand. I explained to him that I know that's not really him talking but just the confusion. But it's sad to see him like that. We never know what will happen to us as we get older. So many people have strokes and they are often devastating. Makes me realize that I need to take better care of my body and try to prevent anything like that happening. I know we can do everything right and they can still happen to us. Unfortunately, under all this stress it makes me just want to eat all the things I shouldn't and more of it.

This is how our dog loves to lay. But at night he lays on the bed beside me with his feet stuck up in the air while he snores! He is a Shih Tzu and my buddy. They are a very smart dog and make an excellent house dog. Ours loves everyone but he's not overly fond of children. I watch him pretty close with them. He has snapped at my greatneice before. She did have him by the tail pulling him backwards at the time, so that might explain that! I'd be snapping too in that situation! If I had a tail that is. His hair is getting long and tomorrow he goes for his grooming! He'll feel better after that.



There are a few of these fish around town. I just happened to see this one at Sumerset Houseboats and I thought it was so pretty. The picture doesn't do it justice. It looked like it had pieces of mirrors on it and it really shined brightly all over, more like you can see at the bottom. I guess it was the bad picture taker!

These last few days have been busier than usual for me. My sister in law and her husband came in from Indiana. She stayed with my hubby while I went out. The first day was cold and wet. I went and got our taxes done. Then on Wednesday it was so pretty and I called a friend I used to work with and we got together and had lunch! That was great to visit with her. Then we went out for some shopping and I really enjoyed the day. I stopped at Haney's Apple Farm and got some of their fried apple pies to send home with my husband's sister. Those fried pies are really good. It's really nice of my SIL to come in like that and stay with him so I can take a break. She is a really sweet person though and always doing good deeds for others. What a blessing she is!

Let's All Go Down to the River.....

A minister was completing a Temperance sermon. With great emphasis he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."With even greater emphasis he said, "And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river." And then finally, shaking his fist in the air, he said , "And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."

Sermon complete, he sat down. The song leader stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, nearly laughing, "For our closing song,let us sing Hymn #365, "Shall We Gather at the River."


That joke made me think about when my Mom got baptized. The church didn't have a place to baptize folks, so we had to go to the creek. There was a couple of other people that were getting baptized that day. I don't recall how old I was but the best I can recall I was around 10 years old. The preacher did some preaching and it was very hot. I remember standing there and thinking how tired I was and wishing he would hurry up. I kept shifting from one foot to the other. Finally I looked down at the rocks and everything just went black. Next thing I knew someone was holding me and saying, "Little girl, are you okay?" The man behind me had caught me before my head hit the rocks. My Dad got his handkerchief out and ran to the creek to wet it and came back and put it on my forehead. Then they let me lay down in the back seat of the car while the baptizing continued. I don't know why I passed out. They didn't take me to the doctor. I recall my brother telling them after that that they shouldn't let me go out "riding that old horse by myself. She might pass out and be dead before we'd find her." (Me, not the horse.) They did make me stick pretty close to home for awhile but I didn't pass out anymore so soon I was back to normal routine and riding far and wide again!

It has been snowing hard today. It was so pretty as it came down thick with huge fluffy flakes. Soon everything was covered. Now it has changed to rain and is melting. A great mix to herald in the first day of spring!

Today's Mix

Today has been depressing somehow. I don't usually get down in the dumps but I was this morning. I had an appointment to see the eye doctor at 0915. The corner of my eye gets irritated and itches and stays red and gets junk in it. Basically it's just an annoyance. I've had it before. They would not refill the medication. I had to be seen.

I stoppped in at Hardee's for a cup of coffee to take with me. I thought about getting a sausage biscuit but decided not to. A couple of miles up the road I am sitting at the light and the driver heading in the opposite direction but facing me is picking his nose. Not really picking it. He was digging up there for all it was worth. At that point I was so glad I had not gotten the sausage biscuit.

I got to the eye doctor and had to fill out my life history again. I point out to them that I have a $2400 deductible on my insurance (hoping they'll have pity and adjust the cost some). Works sometimes. Didn't work today. She gave me some samples of one kind of drops. Then she gave me a prescription for another drop to use. The office call was $70. Ouch. Then I went to the pharmacy. Usually I have a $30 co-pay. Not today. It was almost $50 for that tinunsy (this is my neighbor's word for super small) little bottle of eye drops. Ouch again.

I was just reading last night in Reader's Digest about how people say they can't afford to get sick because so many people can't afford insurance. I can understand. Since I don't work anymore I have to pay $334.02 a month for my BC/BS and I have that $2400 deductible, but it pays 100% after that is met. That way if something major happened it wouldn't wipe us out hopefully. But that high premium each month is mighty painful. I don't know what is going to happen to the health care in this country but it sure needs something done. I can understand how people cannot afford it. You would think if they can put a man on the moon and come up with all this technology, that they could solve some of the more pressing problems here in America.

Smile, You're on Candid Camera

Have you ever noticed that often when you read in the paper where someone was arrested and they show their picture, many times they are smiling like they are at Olan Mills having their photo taken instead of at the jail getting ready to be locked up after committing a crime.

Recently there was two that were arrested after they went to a construction site and had a fun night driving the equipment and doing damage to the property, even turning one large piece of heavy equipment over that caught fire and burned up. Damage, about $500,000 worth. Two cousins about 21 years old. Their pictures are in the paper. One looks like he's thinking, "Oh gee, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." The other one was just smiling like he's real proud of himself for getting his picture in the paper.

This is not the first time I've noticed this. Usually people don't look too good in mug shots or you can tell if they look like they are high on something or drunk. Then you get the ones that smile just like they are on Candid Camera and it's all a big joke. I just don't understand it.

Laughter truly is great medicine!

When I was reading Rhodent's Blog she mentioned laughter being good medicine. I am a firm believer in that as well. Trouble is I just don't get enough of it. If you are ever in a restaurant or somewhere and a group at a table will burst into loud laughter it makes everyone kind of get quiet and it brings smiles to most everyone elses faces too. Laughter is contagious that way. I was trying to think when was the last time I had a good old 'all out laughing until I cried' moment. It's been far too long.

One time I can remember is when I was playing miniature golf with some friends down at Pigeon Forge, TN. When the last ball is hit in the hole it goes on back to the building where you check in at. I knocked mine in there and then we were laughing and talking about who beat who, etc. Suddenly I realized that I didn't have my ball in my hand. I said, "Where's my ball. I've lost my ball." Then it dawned on me and I got so tickled. Then they all got tickled too and I got so tickled I fell over on the bench I was sitting on and we were all laughing until we were in tears! When you have one of those moments it makes you feel really good. They never let me live that one down! Some of my best laughs have been laughing at myself.



click here to hear some laughter.

Signs of Spring

For the past couple of days I have been under the weather. Mainly sitting on the commode. Yep, diarrhea. No fun at all. Thankfully yesterday was better and I had a peaceful night last night. So far so good today, so I hope it is all behind me, or out of me fits it better!

I thought I'd share some signs of spring. Today is in the 70's and very nice. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Joke

The Devoted Wife

A devoted wife had spent her lifetime taking care of her husband. Now he had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet she stayed by his bedside every single day. When he came to his senses, he motioned for her to come near him.
As she sat by him, he said, ''You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you gave me support. When my health started failing, you were still by my side. You know what?''
''What, my dear?'' she asked gently.
''I think you bring me bad luck."

Rachel's Tuesday

A beautiful day here! Not real warm but still beeyoutiful!!

I went to a meeting of the WMU (Women's Missionary Union) from church. I wanted to take some film to the one hour processing at Rite Aide first and I was running behind, or so I thought. I rushed in and the 3 girls working there were sitting behind the counter talking and they were in no rush to come over to the picture counter and help me at all. I mean I walked right past them and said Hello and they could plainly see me there at the counter. It tried my patience. It really did. I knew I should not get upset because I shouldn't have been running behind. I had gotten behind 2 semi's and you know when they stop for a light the take off is real slow for them. They just can't take off fast like a car with all that weight. It took me a while before I could manage to get around in front of them. Three lanes of traffic but lots of traffic out there.

Finally one of the girls got up from behind the counter and slowly, while talking over her shoulder to the other two, came over to collect my film. I already had the package filled out and I told her I wanted the one hour processing and I left. I got to the meeting thinking I was late but then we had to wait for 2 more to arrive, so I really wasn't late. I actually got there right on time. I just hate being late anywhere I go. I am a firm believer in being on time for any appointments, meetings, or whatever.

Afterwards I was hungry. I had toast this morning but by the time the meeting was over it was after 2 p.m. so by then my stomach was growling in protest. I got my pictures and then headed for the Mexican restaurant again. This time I had Enchiladas Verdes which was beef and chicken enchiladas covered with green chile sauce topped with lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream, and served with rice and beans. Oh my, was it good. Far too much to eat at once, so I brought enough home for tomorrow. Now Jamie Dawn had suggested that I try the fried ice cream. I did. Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, was it ever gooooood. Thank you JD for these extra pounds on my thighs. Thank you very much. I declare I'll have to walk a few extra miles this week to make up for today's eating. The fried ice cream was nothing like I thought it would be but I highly recommend it.

One last note. I got behind a car today with this bumper sticker:

HORN BROKE
WATCH FOR FINGER

Home Again

We made our trip to Wilmington, Ohio on Friday. It was really good to see my Aunt and Uncle. They both are not doing well though and I fear this might have been the last time I'll see either one of them. They both are so frail. He was getting therapy when we went to the hospital and they have to give him pain meds before they can try to do therapy. He said he was only able to take 2 steps and that was it. She has brain tumors which are cancerous and she is confused at times. Someone stays with her all the time. Very sad. I'm so glad we went. I got home at 7:30 p.m. I was tired. That riding in a car does tire you out.

My brother drove. I didn't have to whomp him on the head any! We just flew along at about 85 mph like everyone else. You get run over if you slow down and try to drive the speed limit on I-75. Coming back we got bogged down in traffic through Cincinnati. Once we got to Florence, Ky then it clears out and you can pick up the speed again. It was also nice spending time with 2 of my brothers!


Rain is heading our way and later this week it's going to be in the 70's. WooHoo! Spring is knocking at the door and I'm ready to let it in.

The Cat Ain't Stupid

Today was pretty again but it's getting colder. That wind was really blowing too. I put gas in the car and it was so cold standing there with that wind whipping around. I tried getting on all sides of the pump to get shielded from the wind but there was nowhere I could escape. Thankfully my car didn't need too much gas. I'm off tomorrow for a day trip to Ohio. I have someone to stay with my husband. Two of my brothers are going with me. That way I won't have to drive, but we will take my car. My brother will drive. Then I can sit in the back seat and whomp him on the head if he gets too speedy, which he probably will! I'm only kidding. He's a good driver but he has a few speeding tickets under his belt. He has to do so much driving though that I'm not surprised. Anyway, we are going to see my Aunt and Uncle who are both in their 80's and not doing so well. My Uncle fell last Sunday and broke his pelvis, so he's in the hospital in horrible pain. He was the one taking care of her. So now her kids stay with her around the clock. I've been wanting to go up there so I'm glad we are finally doing it. Sometimes we put things off until it's too late. I didn't want that to happen. It will be a change for me to get away for a whole day!!

Here's a joke for everyone;


Cat Hating Husband

A man hated his wife's cat and he decided to get rid of it. He drove 20 blocks away from home and dropped the cat there. The cat was already walking up the driveway when he approached his home.
The next day, he decided to drop the cat 40 blocks away but the same thing happened.
He kept on increasing the number of blocks but the cat kept on coming home before him. At last he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then left, past the bridge, then right again and another right and so on until he reached what he thought was a perfect spot and dropped the cat there.
Hours later, the man calls his wife at home and asked her, "Jen is the cat there?" "Yes, why do you ask?" answered the wife. Frustrated the man said, "Put that cat on the phone, I'm lost and I need directions."