Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Alphabe-Thursday Letter X


Good morning class.

Welcome to round fiveAlphabe-Thursday! Today we will be studying the X-cellent letter:


Please link directly to your Alphabe-Thursday URL (if you don't know how to do this let me know!) and please continue to visit the five links before and after your link and leave a comment. Minimum of 10 links visited please. You can visit more if you like, of course, and please try very hard to visit the blogs that visit you for this meme.

I also want to let you know that each week I visit every blog. If it appears I haven't visited your blog by the following Wednesday evening, please let me know! I have had some trouble leaving comments on a few blogs...I've tried to e-mail you if that is the case.

If you have any difficulties with your link, please make sure to include the number of the link when you e-mail me. It is really difficult for me to find you easily otherwise.

If you have any questions about Alphabe-Thursday or problems doing your link just post it in a comment or send me an e-mail. I'll do my best to help you as quickly as I can.

The McLinkey will be live from 1:00 pm MST time Wednesday afternoon in an effort to assist our lovely "friends across the pond" and continue through 10:00 am MST time Friday morning!

And remember.... link back to this post, you need to be registered as a follower of my blog, PG posts only, and you must visit at least 10 other posts...perhaps consider starting from the last posts and work backwards. The links will stay live after the final post deadline has passed so you can even wait and visit over the weekend or whenever you have more time.

Please link your X-citing X post now!

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'Twas Halloween Day...

and all through the house...
Things were in readiness, even the mouse...The pumpkins were lined by the front door with care
In hopes that Trick or Treaters soon would be there ...

Wrinkled witches hands reached sneaky and slow
To grab some of the treats piled up and ready to go...
Scary pumpkin heads watched with diabolical glee



for the first sign of children....ready to flee... So Pa in his witch hat
And me with nails painted black
Had just settled down for TV and a snack...
When what to did appear before our wondering eyes,
But a weiner dog dressed, in a Halloween disguise.
Oh he begged with his eyes and he howled most forlorn,
For Kit-kats, for Dots, for M&M's and candy corn.

To his great disgust we had to refuse
and when he turned around we saw he had a broom!!!!

And showing his fangs he gave us such fright...
when he barked out these words "It's almost Halloween night...
protect all the candy because I'm coming back"
And off he flew on his broom without getting a snack!
We went back in the house and were feeling quite wary.
Because it was almost Halloween and a hungry weiner dog is scary...

...and what we saw by his food dish gave us another great fright...
Ooooooh....there's nothing as scary on a Halloween night.

This is a re-run from a few years back!  I thought it was funny and wanted to share it again, though.

Here's a few current pictures!  And not nearly as frightening!





 


 

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Story-Time Tuesday-Prayer and a Giveaway

Gosh.
 
My story is so much less than what's going on right now for so many dear friends and acquaintances across the US, so I will delay part two until next week.
 
For now...
 
Sending prayers for those that struggle with the aftermath of this monumental storm.
 
Be safe, dear friends.

 
The winner of the first book is comment #4. 
 
          upinthecosmossaid...
Wow, I sensed there was some history of medical issues but you've been through the ringer it sounds like. I look forward to reading more. I the past couple years I was dealing with some stuff similar symptoms but had no pregnancies. I've been diagnosed with a hypothyroid and while the drugs for that do seem to make a difference, there are some flare ups now lately that I'm nervous are going to bring me back to the days of the past. It's scarey, again.... look forward to reading more!

 
Miss UITCosmos.  If you would e-mail me your snail mail address, I'll get a book right out to you. (jennymatlock at cox dot net)  Congratulations!
 
 
I will stay with my plan on making today a second book giveaway.   To enter this weeks giveaway (winner announced next Tuesday), please click here to visit the book website.  Leave a comment on this post that you did to be entered!
 
 
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Monday, October 29, 2012

Don't waste your time taking fashion advice from a six year old...

On Friday I wrote  about my youngest Grandlittle giving me some fashion advice.

So.

When I went to the elementary school to pick up my Grandlittles on Friday, I went all out.

Dug a shirt out of my closet that was an entirely different color and style from my 'usual' uniform.

Broke out the khaki shorts...instead of the jean shorts I wear every day.

Put on make-up.

Including...

...prepare yourself...

...eyeshadow, eyebrow pencil AND mascara.

I put a swipe of black honey near lipstick on.

Man.

I looked different.


Mr. Jenny said to me, "Wow, you look so different."

And I did.

I'm telling ya, true, it gave me some serious pep in my step.

I waited at the school all excited for the bell to ring.

I saw my blond-haired fashion diva swept to the gate in a tsunami of little kids.

I crossed at the crosswalk and gave her a hug.

She was happy.

She didn't notice.

We waited for her sister.

She didn't notice.

We got in the car.

She didn't notice.

We drove home.

She didn't notice.

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Mo?   Do you notice anything different about me?"

She squinted at me from the back seat.

"Hmmm...no, Grandma.  I love you!"

We got out of the car at my house.

I tried again.  "Mo?   Do you notice anything different about me?"

She squinted at me again.

She looked at me carefully.

"Oh Grandma!   I see!   You need to get those gray hair things fixed.   Right?   Right?  Is that what you meant?   You wanted me to remind you, right?"

I paused.

She paused.

Then she opened the door to run into the kitchen.

But before she did,  she said, "You're welcome, Grandma!  Can we have a snack?"

Hmmmm...

Hmmmm...

Geez.

Different shirt.

Different shorts.

Make up.

And near lipstick.

She didn't notice.

And now my whole wash/dry/wear again rotation is all screwed up.

And on top of that.

I need to make an appointment to get my roots colored.

Sigh.

I hate when that happens...
 
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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Saturday Centus - Five Little Pumpkins...

Jenny Matlock

Welcome to week ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-ONE of Saturday Centus.

I'm sorry.

I'm obsessed with fall.   And maybe Halloween.  This little picture will work for either.


The prompt this week is the picture above.  I promise next week I will come up with a dastardly written prompt.
Number of words: EXACTLY 100 words.
Style of writing: Any
Pictures: Any you want to share

The regular restrictions apply: PG, no splitting of the prompt, play nicely and visit the other entries, any style or genre of writing you prefer. Please display my link button or just a hyper-link back to Saturday Centus. Be careful to link your SC URL to the Linky and not just link to your main blog.

E-mail me directly with ???'s or ask your question in a comment and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Feel free to link up anytime between now and next Saturday.



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Friday, October 26, 2012

Misinterpretation?

This odd little story is linked to week 130 of Saturday Centus.  To read other links, just click here.

We all wrote using this picture prompt for the week.


                                                                           “You’re fired!”
“Excuse me, what are you saying,” I said.
 “I said you’re fired.   F-I-R-E-D!   Fired!”
“Well, d’oh.  I know how to spell ‘fired’ “.  
 “What part of ‘conservative’ didn’t you understand?  What part of ‘sentimental’ marketing DIDN’T you get?”
“Well, d’oh.  I did what you said, Boss!”
“You didn’t!   You’re fired!   Get out!”
 “You told me to make an ad campaign for Visine.   Right?  You said, ‘Make it catchy’!   Right?   How can the customer NOT love this idea!” I retorted in self-defense.
 “Just get out!  An upside down vampire picture with ‘Get The Red out!’? I repeat, you’re fired!“
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Have you seen those blog memes...

...that feature 'what you're wearing today!'?

The blogger always look so cute in the pictures!  

And then they write about where they bought the clothes.

I'd love to dress like those fashionable bloggers...

...but I think the learning curve might be too steep for me.

Consider this.

I basically wear the same shorts (I have a lot of them EXACTLY the same) and two shirts.

Okay.

Technically, they're the same shirts...but they are in a DIFFERENT color.


When one shirt is dirty, the other is just coming out of the dryer.

It's a swell system.
 
And really.   Why mess with perfection?

I just do it over and over again in rotation.

The only alternate for these 'uniforms' is when I'm wearing my painting clothes...

...which are not for public consumption.

I only wear them around the house...

...to look cute for Mr. Jenny.

Ya know?

(mwahahahahahahaha!)


I've used this process my entire adult life and heard a few derogatory comments about it.
 
I've always ignored the remarks.
 
I figure the people noticing were just jealous of my simple, stream-lined wardrobe selection process.
 
But now I'm thinking I might need to change my clothing rotation a little bit.  Even our youngest granddaughter is commenting on my wardrobe limitations.

A few days ago she was rummaging through my closet for something.

She looked up.

Squinted.

Did a little double take.

And squinted again.

"Whose clothes are these, Grandma?" she asked with a puzzled look on her cute little face.

"Those are mine," I said.

"Are you sure, Grandma?"

"Yes, I'm sure.   Those are my clothes."

She put her little hands on her little hips, and squinted her big blue eyes suspiciously.

"Ooookay, then.   If you HAVE all these shirts WHY do you wear the same two.   All the time.  Like, over and over again?"

"Ummm...welllll..," I explained, "It's easy.   I just take
one out of the dryer and put it back on while the other one is washing."

"Seriously, Grandma?   Seriously!   You need to work on that!"

...

...

Hmmmm...

Tomorrow the Grandlittles have an early out, and I'm going to pick them up at school at 12:30.

I'm planning on wearing a different shirt. 

And shorts!
 
And I'm thinking I should have Mr. Jenny take a picture so I can link to a 'What I'm Wearing Today!" meme...

...because it's going to be an epic event.

At least for me.

And possibly little Miss Fashion Police.

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Painted Letter W

What a wonderful letter W is!

And speaking of wonderful, I am having a book drawingfor a number of weeks for an informative (and possibly life changing - at least it was for me!) book that my wonderful Naturopathic Doctor wrote.  The Giveaways will be linked to Story-Time Tuesday.   To go to the first giveaway, just click here.

W


 Feeding my Bee-Gee's obsession.  Darn.  I love this song.  14" x 16"

 
Look!   There's a world in the background.  I might have gotten carried away roughing this sign up, but I still like it.   A lot.    16" x 15"
 
 
No stencils. No stickers. No vinyl.  Handpainted with my own layout.

Each picture is linked to my Etsy shop. Simply click on the picture to go visit!

You can see other signs in this series by clicking on 'Painted
Alphabet' in my sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by!

To visit other links to the letter "W", just click here.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Alphabe-Thursday Letter W


Good morning class.

Welcome to round five of Alphabe-Thursday! Today we will be studying the wonderful letter:



Please link directly to your Alphabe-Thursday URL (if you don't know how to do this let me know!) and please continue to visit the five links before and after your link and leave a comment. Minimum of 10 links visited please. You can visit more if you like, of course, and please try very hard to visit the blogs that visit you for this meme.

I also want to let you know that each week I visit every blog. If it appears I haven't visited your blog by the following Wednesday evening, please let me know!

If you have any difficulties with your link, please make sure to include the number of the link when you e-mail me. It is really difficult for me to find you easily otherwise.

If you have any questions about Alphabe-Thursday or problems doing your link just post it in a comment or send me an e-mail. I'll do my best to help you as quickly as I can.

The McLinkey will be live from 1:00 pm MST time Wednesday afternoon in an effort to assist our lovely "friends across the pond" and continue through 10:00 am MST time Friday morning!

And remember.... link back to this post, you need to be registered as a follower of my blog, PG posts only, and you must visit at least 10 other posts...perhaps consider starting from the last posts and work backwards. The links will stay live after the final post deadline has passed so you can even wait and visit over the weekend or whenever you have more time.

Please link your witty letter W post now!

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Hooray! You longer need to go to this guy...


...if you don't have insurance.

I'm pretty sure he isn't offering the newest technology anyway.

However...

Imaging companies all over the US are offering really, really inexpensive imaging offerings including digital and 3D.

Having no personal health insurance, I've been procrastinating for a year or so because of the cost of the exam.

The nurse practitioner I saw a few weeks ago made me PROMISE that I would get a mammo by months end.

I agreed I would.

"No!" she said firmly (I think she might be a reincarnation of the nun I had for PE class a long time ago....SSssshhhiver).  I agreed.   And promised.   And even (I kid you not!) had to pinkie swear with her I would.

As it turns out, I can get digital OR 3D mammography for $89. 

A good deal if you don't have insurance.

And if you're procrastinating for the same issue, you need to make an appointment, too.

Or else you might end up going to the cheap clinic pictured above.

And think how ACKWARD that would be!

PS.   I'm doing a giveaway for a wonderfully informative book that my naturopathic physician, Dr. Tina Marcantel, wrote.   To enter that giveaway just click here.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Story Time Tuesday - If Good Health was Easy Everybody Would Have it! - Part 1 - Giveaway

I'm making myself write this story.   Partly because my Naturopathic Doctor just published a very interesting book and I want to share it with you.   Partly because I'm pushing myself to write more.   And partly because I think this story might be YOUR story.  And sometimes reading makes pain hurt a tiny bit less.  This story will be pretty candid...I'm not attempting 'the glass half full' philosophy here.  I know it could be worse. 

I'm using the Story-Time Tuesday format for this and each week I will be doing a giveaway for "A Different Kind of Medical Care" but Dr. Tina Marcantel. 



You can read about this book by clicking here.

Giveaway Information:   Enter to win a copy on this post today or you can purchase at that link.   10% discount code is 'healthy1'.

I will have Mr. Jenny select a random number from all the comments on this post.   Feel free to enter any time before Monday.

Winner will be announced next Tuesday along with the continuing story.  Autographed book will be mailed out on Wednesday!

Jenny Matlock

PART ONE - IF GOOD HEALTH WAS EASY, EVERYBODY WOULD HAVE IT!

 
Yesterday wasn’t a good day.  It was hard to raise my head off the pillow.  It was hard to walk with my cement encased feet.
Today is a little better.
Tomorrow may be better still.
I hope so.
I’ve been doing this a long time.    
I’ve been to at least fifty doctors in the past decade.
Only one has been able to help me.
That part of the story is important, but I want to begin with the doctors from long ago.
That’s when this story really began for me.
As a young mother in the early 1980’s, I could not believe that my level of exhaustion and chronic pain was ‘normal’, even with two very small children and two miscarriages behind me.
The constant diagnosis at all the physician’s offices I visited, though, was always the same. 
Depression, depression, depression.
I heard it from suave doctors wearing trim white coats, rushed physicians barely making eye contact, and surly doctors who seemed to begrudge the 9 ½ minutes of time allotted to me.   They all said the same thing, “It’s depression.”
In those years I was still a little in awe (and afraid of) doctors.
I would push hesitantly against their diagnosis.  “So depression is what makes me so exhausted I have to lay on the floor to watch my children?  Depression is what has caused me to miscarry so many times?   Depression is what causes me to feel like I’m walking around in cement tennis shoes?  Depression is what makes my bones and joints hurt so bad I want to scream or cry?”
 
 
“Depression,” they said.
Firmly.
Definitively.
I thought perhaps it was partly true…all those pregnancies in quick succession had worn me down.
So maybe it was depression causing all the health problems.
That’s what all the doctors said, so it must be true.  Right?
My ‘prescription’ in those years was, “Lose a little weight, stay busy, think happy thoughts.”
I’ll be honest.
I didn’t think happy thoughts about those doctors and their medical advice. And the rest of the advice involved things I was already trying do, with limited success.
In the following years I had another child and another series of miscarriages, but I continued to try to think happy thoughts even while I cried with pain and exhaustion.  
That same bumpy, unhappy path continued until late in the 1980’s when the current doctor came up with a new solution. “Obviously this is depression.   Let me prescribe medication.”
Having been an extreme ‘sensitive’ to medication since my teen years, I was reluctant. 
The doctor reassured me, “It will be fine.   There are no side effects of this medicine…it’s called Prozac.   Let’s think of it as a happy pill.”
For me, personally, it wasn’t a happy pill.
It made me anything but happy.
If my exhaustion, lethargy and constant pain were the side effects of depression up to that point, I’m not sure what level of personal hell the Prozac catapulted me to.
After just a few days of taking that medication, I became seriously, totally and completely unhinged.  I was taking care of three small children and thinking about suicide all day.   Every day.   Twenty-four seven. 
“Just keep taking the medication,”I was advised, “This is part of your body becoming accustomed to it.   Oh, and here is a referral to a psychiatrist.”
The doctors didn’t swirl their fingers around their ears indicating, “Oh boy, here’s another crazy one,” but I suspect they might have when I left the room.
The medication continued to put me in an even worse place.  A darker place.   Combined with the tension and ugliness of a pretty awful marriage, I began to suspect it was true.
Maybe I really was crazy.
Maybe I was at fault for being in an abusive marriage.
Maybe my craziness was causing all the physical health stuff.
Whatever was causing it, I truly felt I had no place to exist in a world filled with happy, energetic, smiling families.
Maybe if I just worked harder at being ‘normal’, I would become ‘normal’.
But the lonely extremes of the suicidal feeling scared me.   A lot.  I quit taking the Prozac.
I still felt lousy some of the time, but at least my days were no longer accompanied by the perpetual loop, “maybe-this-would-be-the-best-way-to-kill-myself!” soundtrack. 
The doctors failed to tell me that one of the side effects of anti-depressants can be INCREASED depression and suicidal tendencies.
Oopsie.  No big deal, apparently.
In those pre-google days, what the doctor told me was the truth…and I never thought to question it.
Instead of questioning, I finally just tried to accept that feeling lousy was just the norm for me.
Every so often one pain or another would accelerate to the point that the doctors would do ‘exploratory’ surgeries trying to find the culprit.
They took out a few unnecessary internal organs on several occasions, but it never really helped.
I continued to feel like I was missing the world because of pain and exhaustion.  Could all those other women truly be THAT peppy AND happy AND content?
I told myself I felt so awful because of all the pregnancies in such a short period of time.
I told myself if I kept pushing I would eventually come to the end of the tunnel of misery.  I pushed harder against the feelings…unwilling to become a victim to them.
I was tough.
I was a survivor.
I was going to get everything done that I wanted to get done, damn it, and I was going to be happy doing it.
I was focused on finding my way through feeling terrible.   But it was a long tunnel.
The oval of light at the end was a moving target.
Some days, weeks and months were good.   Some moderate.   Some were absolute hell.
But I trudged ahead…believing things would improve…believing my strength of will was all that was required for a happy ending.

PART TWO, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30.
PLEASE READ BOOK GIVEAWAY INFORMATION AT THE TOP OF THIS POST.
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