Weekend recap

Blogger is acting buggy so let's hope I get through this...

Sunday we go to church and notice we're the first one's there from Ryan's family. That's weird I thought. We find a seat and get settled in with the kids when a lady came over and said did you know grandma was in the hospital? .. uh, NO.

Turns out she was taken to the hospital the night before with bronchitis. She has emphysema so any kind of respiratory infection can really set her back.

After church we visited her in the hospital. She was in ICU, on oxygen, and scheduled to receive breathing treatments every 4 hours.

We left, took advantage of the nice fall day we were having and did some chores around the house. At around 8:30 p.m. Ryan's brother calls from work. Turns out their uncle was called home from work because his mother (Ryan's g-ma) had a heart attack. Neil wanted to know if we had heard about it. .. uh, NO.

He's worried, can't get a hold of anyone and I told him I would try to find out something and call him back. Basically, yes, she had a heart attack. A mild one. She got up out of bed to use the restroom and her heart started racing. She's now being transferred to Deaconess in E'ville and will undergo the heart catheter to see the extent of damage from the heart attack. But before that procedure, they're hoping her lungs will improve.

Ryan's Mom has three other sisters and a brother. They all live locally and are on-call 24.7. Ryan's grandma knows this, but doesn't like the attention. She initially withheld the medical information from them and they had a cow. She also told the doctors she wanted a D-N-R, and Ryan's mom is about to go crazy over that one. I don't know if she's talked her out of it or not.

So that's been going on the past day. It bugs me that we're not in the loop on this stuff. We live 10-15 minutes from town and you'd think we lived in like Texas or something. Actually, maybe we would hear about this stuff sooner if we did live out of state.

Boo! I scared you!

Tonight was the Fall Festival. It's a yearly Cannelton tradition. They have a Queen crowning and a masquerade costume thing. Cole was cooperative with putting on his costume and face paint. Judging by his behavior last nigth, I didn't think he'd be in the mood. I guess Pam got him prepared for it and he gladly let me get him ready.

Blake is a bat. It's basically a one piece sleeper type outfit but has the batwings under the arms. On the front it says "I go Batty for Candy". The hat is my favorite.

Do your part!

The past month I've been working my tail off for the local democrat party. Lucy doesn't have competition so I don't have to do anything with her campaign, but I've been helping Chet Mathena. I met him last spring at the candidates debate forum. He had excellent ideas for the County Council, plus he's an extremely nice man. And to top it off, he's my grandpa's cousin!

This week I've been writing 100+ postcards to area democrat voters to encourage them to get out and vote.

My new philosophy... If you don't like things, do something about it. So I'm doing my part in the legislative process. I'm volunteering my time and skills to help candidates I believe in.

Glamourous Eyes

I had my Halloween "Girls Night Out" last Friday (the 13th of course). We didn't wear costumes, but I decided to spice things up with some fake eyelashes. After the initial shock from the guests, the most surprising comment was "you know, those actually look good. Maybe we should start wearing black ones." And you know what was on the Today show this week.. beauty tip: wear fake eyelashes. 

Cole went hunting...

This is Cole's first hunting trip with Ryan. He was patient for a while, but was very bored. And in the end, he saw a deer approaching, and then scared it away. lol 

I'm a messy eater.

I think this is with the Squash. Can't blame him.. I didn't like squash either when I was his age. 

We're being invaded...

By illegal aliens. Who exactly? Ladybugs. Yes, that's right. Ladybugs.

Supposedly.. some "farmer" around here released a (non-native) type of ladybug that doesn't die off in the winter. It prefers hybernation. So now, each fall, like around now.. when you might have cold days followed by warm days.. they come out in SWARMS.

I'm not kidding. It's like something out of Stephen King. We're talking a Million to the tenth power. And they just flock to you when you step outside. You swat them as much as you can.

What's so bad about a million ladybugs? Well, they stink. They secrete some kind of oil and it can leave tracks on your walls and windows and leaves your hands stinking if you touch them. They also bite. It's like a little nip. They're so annoying when they get in the house too. At night, with the lamps on, they flock to them like moths.

The cold keeps them away. Lets hope it stays cold.

What's up with Santa Claus?

I don't know what's going on.. but within the last MONTH.. Spencer County, more specifically the Santa Claus area is receiving alot of media attention.

First the Colbert Report discussing the plight of Santa Claus fighting with the area's history-rich Abe Lincoln connection.

Then Extreme Makeover Home Edition came to town and did their magic for a family.

And now, some guy from Santa Claus is going to be on Deal or No Deal.

What's up?!

College Reunion

Last Saturday I went to my friend Brian's surprise 30th birthday. I thought he lived in Louisville.. but it's actually in the middle of no-where in Crestwood in the middle of several cookie-cutter subdivisions. The directions were more complicated than they would be to my house and I live in the middle of the woods!

(me and Brian - birthday boy)

Anyway. He had no idea about the party. Everyone parked there cars in other places so he thought he was coming home to an empty house and his wife. What he got was a house full of about 30 people!

The picture above has several of my college gang in it. We were all in SGA together. Two were even Board of Trustee members.

It was great seeing everyone again. We keep up a little on email, but some of the people there I hadn't seen in YEARS. For instance, one guy is in med school at Vanderbuilt studying Neurosurgery. Amazing! One guy is going after his Ph. D. in Education. Another is a project manager for Berry Plastics and personally deals with execs from Disney, Kraft, Mc D's and many other big companies.

I'm not surprised this group is doing wonderful things. They were all great student leaders and we got along great.

Now see! This is the useless bit of information I thrive on!

In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb".

Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury.

Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

It is impossible to lick your elbow .

The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this..)

The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400

The average number of people airborne over the U.S.in any given hour: 61,000

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar

111,111,111 x 111,111,111= 12,345,678,987,654,321

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes

The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given
hour: 61,000



Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later



Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?

A. Their birthplace


Q Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat
name requested?
A. Obsession


Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go
until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand


Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and
laser printers all have in common?

A. All were invented by women.



Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?

A. Honey



Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the
year?

A. Father's Day



In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by
ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the
bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "Goodnight, sleep
tight."


It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a
month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law
with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their
calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which
we know today as the honeymoon.


In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts...! So in old
England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them
"Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."

It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"


Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into
the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill,
they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the
phrase inspired by this practice.

Busy Busy Busy

I've been so busy lately. We had a cookout last Saturday with a bunch of friends. The weather was horrible. A little cool but scattered showers all day. We already bought all the food so there was no way we were canceling it. We just moved everyone indoors. The only bad thing about that is that the house now looks like it did before my cleaning frenzy last week.

I'm also helping one of the local candidates with his campaign for County Council. Me, Lucy and Adam tried to paint large wooden campaign signs for him on Saturday but with the weather the way it was, we didn't get much accomplished. I've been trying to work on them here and there since then. I'd like them done this week and out in people's yards.

Yesterday I had to go to the chiropractor, then to the dentist.. come home and work, then pick up the kids, take them to Mom's (where she wanted them so they could carve pumpkins) and I went home to work on the above signs, then went to Danny's (photographer friend that got hurt shooting a football game) brought his family dinner with other friends.. then went to Wendy's to get me and Ryan supper, picked up the kids from Mom's and finally got home around 8:45. Not fun.

At the dentist I had to get a cavity filled. The cavity was just starting to form and was in the crevis on the crown of the tooth. I didn't have to get numbed since it was just on the surface! I didn't feel a thing either. I've also scheduled to get my teeth whitened next month. They make a form that fits your teeth and you put gel stuff on there for 10 days. My insurance pays for half of it! I really like my dentist. They're so nice!

The multiple trips to the chiro is helping too. I can finally turn my neck around more than before. I'm still not back to normal, but at least there's progress!