the "white plate special"...

(just what the doctor ordered... southern style)

well, hey, all...

i'm back after a not so little hemorrhage, a unit of fresh frozen plasma, 2 units of blood, and an all-inclusive 3 day/2 night stay in the maternity ward at st. mary's medical center... no, i did not have a baby. but, i will have to admit when the tech first squirted the heated ky gel on my tummy and i looked up at the monitor, i had a moment of hope and wonder:)
but, there will be no more babies for me without a true miracle...

here is where my public service announcement goes>>>
(IF YOU ARE TAKING OR EVER START TAKING BLOOD THINNERS OF ANY KIND, HAVE YOUR PRO-TIME/ AND INR CHECKED AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE DRUG FOR 2 MONTHS OR NEARLY 15 YEARS (likemewho'dgone1&1/2yearswithoutbloodwork...)!!!)

a hemorrhage along with blood that will not clot is a dangerous mix, REALLY!!! and, i am going to say that i was thisclose to going back home instead of taking myself to the hospital on tuesday morning because i felt more like going back to bed (exhausted) than dealing with an emergency room.

had i made that choice, i was told i probably wouldn't have been alive to pick katherine up from school on tuesday afternoon...
I'M TELLING YOU THAT IT WAS DIVINE INTERVENTION...
it would have totally been my own decision to go back home and to bed.

further, let me just say that i have not told you any of this for your sympathy (as i am usually very private about my health matters) but TRULY for educational purposes only. it was NOT smart of me to have gone so long without having the blood work-ups that i was supposed to have been having monthly. my only defense in the matter is that i have been on the same dosage for all these years, and the only time i have had to readjust my coumadin (blood-thinner) dosage is when i have had to take antibiotics, which i haven't had to take in ages.

if you are wondering why i have a picture of a plate of food at the top of my post, it is because the 'anonymous d' sent her darling, little elizabeth katherine escorted by ek's sweet, sweet grandmommie with that meal in tow. the anonymous one knew that the iron i have been having to take to build my hemoglobin up has been 'killing' my stomach.

so, being the amazing friend she is, she sent me comfort food, AND IT WORKED!!!

A PLATE FULL OF STARCH HELPS THE IRON MARCH... IN A MOST 'D'LIGHT FULL WAY:b
(who needs mary poppins when you have super-d's??? i ask!!!)

why did i call it the white plate special??? meg m.'s (who i used to help babysit and later visited in memphis after her family moved) mom, annie, used to refer to the cracker barrel's dumplings and mashed potatoes that meg always ordered as "the white plate special". annie died about a year ago. so, when i pulled the food from the bag i smiled sweetly at the words i could hear her voice saying in my head...
the reference i'd heard so often...

thank you, "anonymous d" et al for the "white plate special"... as well as all you dear blogger friends who have sent well wishes and prayers my way!!!

you know, heaven smiles softly and hears every prayer...

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

remembrance...

(memorial day in our town)

crosses are set up each year in our central park in memory of all those hendersonians who served in the armed forces and have since died. our local american legion has always been in charge of this great undertaking. they have seen to it that all the crosses have been erected and that new names have been added to the crosses each year.

it has always been up to friends and family members to decorate (place flowers, flags, pictures, etc.) at each of the crosses. up until the last few years an elderly couple, herb and jane hoffman, in our community have gone to the park with artificial flowers in tow and have decorated each empty cross so that no veteran's cross would go undecorated... unnoticed.

given that mrs. hoffman died recently, and mr. hoffman is no longer physically able, the legion now sees to it that every cross has at least a small american flag attached.

it is a really quite beautiful, serene sight to behold...

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

wii be fit and 'ish...

(it does look like a set of scales...)

on our trip home from the movie friday night, barrett and i were discussing the new wii fitness that had just recently been released. barrett told me his mother was wanting to buy it. i told him that if she found two to buy two and that i would repay her (they are very hard to find as they are flying off the shelves as fast as stores are stocking them).

anyway, my little rett called last night at around 7pm to let me know that walmart had gotten 3 of them in and that they were going to buy one of the three. i, of course had just gotten out of the shower, had wet hair, and couldn't leave right then.

ENTERJOHNFROMHISMOTORCYCLINGTRIP
WITHTHESOREBOTTOM!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

"john, i know what you can get me for my birthday..." i said very sweetly.
"what???" he asked.
"well, they have 2 wii fitness games at walmart," i replied.
"a wii fitness!!! what is that???" he inquired.
"it's a new, low-impact exercising game, wii has just released," i said.
"oh." he stiffly lowered himself into his chair-and-a-half while rubbing his sore bottom.
"and, if you go right now, you can probably get me one..." i continued.
"are you serious???" he said looking over his shoulder at me.
"yeah, if you don't go now, they will be gone..." i continued (smiling and batting my kelly greens).

to my surprise (not really), he stood, checked his back pocket for his checkbook (or was rubbing his aching arse, HA!!!), and said he'd be back in a few minutes.

ILOVETHATBOYOFMINE!!!
EVENIFHEHADDISSEDMYREQUEST!!!

about 20 minutes later, i heard hannah squeal from the den then call for katherine. katherine had just come from my shower. she and i went into the kitchen to see about what hannah was squealing. there stood john grinning like the cheshire cat holding the wii fit box upright on the counter for all to see.

"it was the last one!!!" he exclaimed victoriously (obviously feeling quite proud of his feat)... the sales lady asked me if i was the one who called to say i was an hour away on my way to get it," he continued. "i told her it MIGHT have been you:D" he told the sales lady a fib!!! BRILLIANT!!!
(but, it WAS first come first served, and my boy WAS first on the scene...)

"HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY, DEAR!!!" he said elatedly.
(idigwhenhecallsme'dear'!!!)

************************

now, for those of you who read me on a daily basis, remember back to mother's day/my anniversary... when katherine said she was sure john had given me my birthday present for my (forgotten) anniversary???
i'm pretty sure she was right...
BAAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

when john handed me my wii fit, i said to him. "oh, i love it!!! i cannot believe you've been riding around with this in your truck for 5 weeks now:o[)!!!" he just grinned.
(so sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!)

*************************

i haven't gotten it out of the box yet because i want to start it and my diet at the same time... ahem, today. but, i know it is going to be interesting. i was reading barrett's new blog last night. in it he said the wii fit told him he was fat (which he is NOT/i on the other hand...), it made him upset, and, so he went and ate!!!

lol, pray that when the thing tells me i'm morbidly obese i don't do the same!!! REALLY!!!

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

where they throw the rolls???

john came in a couple of nights ago from work and with his sheepish grin proceeded to tell me he was going on a motorcycle trip saturday (today). i vaguely remember him saying that a group of guys from work were going to travel to somewhere in missouri. i was more concerned about pointing out the fact that he hadn't gone to the riding classes he promised me he would attend before taking any trips on his harley.

"i'm really good at it, dani," he assured me. "i am always really, really careful."
SIGH!!!
WHATAMIGOINGTODOWITHHIM???

anyway, last night i asked him what time he would be leaving this morning and
would be returning this evening. he said they were meeting at 8am and should return before dark. so, a little before 8 this morning, john gave me a kiss on the cheek, whispered an "i love you", and said he was leaving. i remember telling him back that i loved him too (and, i do!!!) and to be careful; then i drifted off to sleep.

i got up this morning and did around the house. at about noon, katherine's phone rang. she talked for a few minutes and then told me that her dad had just called to say that he'd gotten there safely... THERE??? where was there???

"where did he say he was?" i asked her. i didn't know he had a destination, as i just thought they were riding???...
"i don't know," she replied, "i think he said somewhere in missouri."

so, i grabbed my cell and called him.

"hello?" he said.
"hey, where are you?" i asked.
"well, i'm standing outside lambert's cafe waiting to get in to eat," he replied.
"the place where they throw rolls???" i inquired.
"yes, i told you where i was going on thursday night."
"i don't remember you saying you were going to lambert's, though. i thought you guys were just going riding..."

MY HUSBAND RODE 8 HOURS FOR A MEAL AND TO GET ROLLS THROWN AT HIM!!!
I'D SAY IT'S A MID-LIFE-CRISIS; BUT HE'S PAST THAT (i think).
GO FIGURE!!!

thankfully he is home now and in one piece:D
with a full tummy and a sore bottom (bahahahahaaa!!!).

ILOVETHATMANOFMINE!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

two girls, a peasant, and indiana jones...

i had a date this afternoon with katherine, her bff hannah, and barrett (kat's peasant with a fro, who has a most humorous new read:o) to go and see the kingdom of the crystal scull... i love, love, love harrison ford as well as the aforementioned three:D

the indiana jones movies have all been incredible; my favorite is the last crusade because, imo, sean connery and harrison ford rock as a father/son duo!!! it is hard for me to believe, however, that it's been 19 years since that movie was released!!! where has the time gone??? i was only a sophomore in college in 1989 when the last crusade was released...

anyway, i picked my three "dates" up from school this afternoon, we were entertained by the peasant with a fro (barrett's sure all are envious of his curly locks and rightfullly so, lmao!!!), we went to g.d. ritzy's (a greasy burger joint) because barrett's "tumblin' was a rumblin'" (or so he said), ate, and went to the early movie.

the kingdom of the crystal scull was VERY good. i think it has gotten mixed reviews, but we all really liked it:D

*****just as an aside... something that was very funny to me was nearly all the talk shows have made a big deal out of the fact that harrison ford could still fit into his original costume (mainly making a big deal that he could still wear the pants)... well, if the pants he had on in the kingdom of the crystal scull were indeed his original costume pants, he and i could have both fit into them;] they were waaaaaaaaaaaaay loose!!!
and, indy still has only one fear... SNAKES!!!
(i don't like them either!!!)*****

that's all i'm giving away about the movie because it really is worth going to see on the big screen. enjoy:D and, get a box of jr. mints for me (they didn't have any today:[...)!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

thread in time thursday...

my snap-shots of katherine 4 to 8 years-old:D
LOL!!! my baby had some big-arse bows, huh???

love and blessings,
dani xx

george washington is most definitely rolling over in his grave...

my brother showed up at my house donning this pink hillary clinton shirt last night...
(dani shakes head... not as a political statement.)

sadly, just wondering if there is anything we hold sacred these days...

love and blessings,
dani xx

the mouth of the south...

(my incognito kitty...)


i never have to ponder long about what to blog... the stories usually come to me. and sometimes... just sometimes they physically come to me. today she did meowing so loudly i'm sure the not-so-near neighbors could hear:D

maisey, my little half-pound, pound kitty turned 22 pound phat-cat just came galloping i mean running through the house to bring me a "mousie" (not a real one) so that we could play fetch. yes, fetch as in i throw the "mousie", she runs to retrieve it, and she brings it back to me so that we can go through the whole process several more times.

uh-huh, we are all "animal confused" in this house given dogs are supposed to fetch (right???)...

but, i am pretty sure i am a female homo sapien!!!
yes, i am quite sure of it;P

anyway, back to maisey...

on february 12, 2003, we lost our first family pet, mabel, my stripy kitty!!! i felt in my heart that i needed to quickly attempt to fill that big void she left. thus, on valentines day i awoke, took katherine to school, came home, and quickly got on the phone in an attempt to find us another female stripy kitty. i called every place i knew to call in the tri-state area.

NOT KITTEN SEASON!!!
NO STRIPIES:`[
ONLY ONE LITTER OF KITTENS!!!
ONLY ONE FEMALE (a solid black one)!!!

i called john, "dear, i'm getting a kitten today."
"hey, i'm in a meeting right now. i'll call you back as soon as i get out so that we can talk about it," he whispered in reply.
"i didn't call to talk about it; i just wanted to let you know that i'm going to pick her up in a minute:D"
"OH, uh... well, ok... just don't get one of those damn siamese cats!!!"
"why??? i mean i wasn't planning on getting a siamese anyway; but, why???"
"because they're too damn loud... i gotta go. love you. bye..."

i didn't mention that the one black cat that i was going to get was in a litter of all boys that were found here in one of our parks following a really bad ice-storm and that the lady at the shelter said the only way they knew that the litter wasn't full-bred siamese kittens was because of the one black, female kitten in the litter; did i??? yeah, i failed to mention that to john, too...

as soon as i hanged up the phone i raced to the animal shelter (the lady told me that they wouldn't hold her for me as it was a first come first serve basis). i sped like i thought she was a hot commodity. i won; i was the first to arrive... followed by three or four others who were dropping adult cats.

i looked at her, told the lady i wanted her, and started filling out the paperwork. as i was filling out the paperwork being the sap i am i started crying over the loss of my mabel... ok, i was sobbing as i had to explain my pet owning history, what had happened to my previous pet, etc... i took the paper work back to the window and handed it to the lady.

without even looking up at me, she started her spiel... "we have to do a background check on you before we can let the kitten go; it will take about three..." she paused before getting out the word, "days", when she saw my face (i splotch when i cry). "oh, honey..." she said, "i think we can bypass the holding time. i'll let you go ahead and take her... if there's a problem, we have your address... hmmm, i don't think there will be a problem. let me go get her for you."

she did, i paid, and "maisey" and i were on our way.

i stopped by the church with maisey in her box in tow as i was supposed to help the notorious and anonymous d's with the valentines day party.

maisey let out a huge, siamese "MEOW"...

the anonymous d looked over at my baby in her box and said, "that cat's got siamese in her!!!

"oh, ish!!!" i thought to myself. i told them about what john had said on the phone.

the anonymous d laughed and said, "he's going to know..."

how could he not know???
i'd just left the animal shelter with THE MOUTH OF THE SOUTH, for heaven's sake!!!

she was right; he knew within about five minutes of his getting home from work. but, he never said a word, and we've had her since...

btw, mabel was a fetcher too.
go figure!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

our "security system"...

i had to laugh this morning as i stood in the middle of my den contemplating freshening up the white paint on the wood-work... as i looked around the room in an attempt to figure the amount of paint i would need, my eyes stopped at the top corner of door that leads to the deck. there it was... the security system i "installed" two years ago!!!

long story short...

katherine invited 23 girls to a sleep-over to kick off spring break when she was in the 7th grade. not knowing how i was going to keep them all safely in the house (it was a big thing to "sneak out" at that age; which terrified me), i went to our local hardware store and bought a stick-up door alarm... ONE!!!

so, i stuck it up really high on the facing of the door. i told all the girls once they arrived that i had set the "security system"; which was a laser beam that went in both directions around all the walls, windows, and doors in the house. further, i told them that if the laser beam were to be broken by opening a door that the police would be here immediately.

lol, i told them all that so that they would know that they were safe (reverse psychology!!!). it worked:D that $10 security system was worth its weight in gold in a pinch!!!

after realizing the real need, we have, since then, installed a security system... but, i hadn't taken down the little stick-up one because i figured the adhesive would mess up the paint underneath it.

well, it's coming down this week, as it is time to paint:b

love and blessings,
dani xx

a man and his "hog"...

katherine, maggie, and i were snuggling in kat's bed watching a movie about an hour ago when john, with a big grin on his face, stuck his head in her door to say he was going for a ride... on his motorcycle (dani rolled her eyes while shaking her head).

"BE CAREFUL!!!" i said as he turned to leave.
"i'm ALWAYS careful..." he replied.

his careful and mine are NOT the same. i do hope he is having a great ride. the weaher is amazing today, and sunday traffic is usually light. however, a couple of months ago on a sunday just like today i had a real scare while 'my boy' was out playing on his 'hog'.

john had been gone for a couple of hours. i really hadn't expected him to be gone quite that long because although it was a beautiful, sunny day, it was rather cool. another half hour or so passed, and i started to get a little anxious. (it didn't help that the day before i had told my great uncle that i'd gotten john a new harley davidson jacket and gloves and he had replied that i'd be buying him a coffin next.)

as i've said before, we live just a half a block from the busiest street in our small town. well, the next thing i knew i heard sirens racing down that street. i opened the blinds. i saw two or three police cruisers followed by two fire trucks followed by two ambulances with two more police cars bringing up the rear.

"i wonder what's going on???" katherine inquired.
i was wondering the same thing and secretly praying it didn't involve john.

i sat and became more and more anxious until i couldn't stand it any longer. after hearing more sirens going in the same direction, i got up put on my tennis shoes and grabbed my keys.

"where are you going???" katherine asked.
"i think i'm going to take the commander to the car wash," i lied. i didn't want her to start worrying too.

all the emergency vehicles were heading south from my house. they could only go so far before they would no longer be in the city limits (at which point the state/county as opposed to the city would have been called to respond).

i got in the jeep and headed south. i didn't see anything. the street that i was referring to ends in a Y (you either have to merge to the right or to the left. i merged to the left and followed it to a by-pass that runs between the two branches of the road. i still saw nothing.

however, after travelling about a half a mile on the bypass i could see that there, indeed, had been an accident!!! as i got closer, i saw the police cars alining the shoulder of the highway. the police were pulling what looked to me like john's red and black motorcycle out of a ditch. i could see that there was also a dark green mini-van involved in the accident.

even though there was relatively no traffic on the road there was still a police officer directing traffic around the accident. i rolled my window down to express my concern that the bike belonged to my husband. the police officer motioned me on without giving me the time of day. so i quickly pulled over to the shoulder on my side of the road.

i leaned my head out the window and yelled, "I THINK THAT MAY BE MY HUSBAND'S BIKE!!!"
"YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO KEEP MOVING MISS. I HAVE TO KEEP THE TRAFFIC MOVING!!!" the officer heatedly replied. (by the way... there was one car behind me that had already gone around me and no other cars in sight!!!)
again and louder, i repeated myself.

another police officer at the scene, started walking toward me telling the first officer he would take care of the situation. very nicely he helped me make a U-turn (where i would be located on the same side of the road as the accident). when i came to a stop, he asked me if he could help me.

i told him that my husband had been out riding his motorcycle and that the one i saw them pull from the ditch looked like his at least from a distance. he said he didn't think it was my husband because the man who was in the accident had a woman on the bike with him who he told the police was his wife... the officer flashed me a sheepish grin. "at least i hope that wasn't YOUR husband..."

i knew immediately it was not him. he has never let anyone ride with him!!! as a matter of fact the only time anyone other than him had even been on the bike was katherine and her bff hannah for a picture (see above)...

"orachonda???" was the next thing i understood him to say to me.
i said, "no, my husband's last name is 'berrong'."
"i don't know what the man's last name was; but it was an orange honda we pulled out of the ditch, ma'am..."
"an orange honda???" i asked. (conclusive relief!!!) "my husband rides a red and black harley. it is definitely NOT his..."
"no, that bike is an orangie-red honda, miss. i think the couple riding are ok; we sent them to the hospital so that they could be checked for abrasions and bruises."

i thanked him, thanked him, and thanked him again.
i drove away thankful that it wasn't john's bike i saw, thankful that the people who'd been riding on that bike were alright, and hopeful that john would be home and safe upon my return.

and... he was!!! thank you, GOD!!!

"orachonda!!! i thought he was talking about the owner of the bike's last name...
ROTFLMAO!!!
he had to have thought i was one dingy broad... (on occasion he'd be right!!!)

love and blessings,
dani xx