Strange Remedy

Shortly after arriving home from Addison I noticed that Cal's hands were significantly better. I was shocked because we didn't medicate or moisturize them the entire time.

Then I remembered a little "home remedy" that I read about several months ago. Bleach. Yes they recommended that you give your child a very diluted bleach bath. I didn't try the bleach remedy because that sounded like it was just the opposite of what I wanted.

On vacation Cal spent hours each day in my sister's pool. The chlorine must have worked the same way that the bleach would have.

We don't have a pool so having him swim in chlorine for hours each day just isn't feasible. What I do have, however, is Clorox wipes. I have been wiping his hands each day and they look better than they have all summer.

So I am using a Clorox wipe on Cal's eczema. Do you have any home remedies that you would like to share?

Irritating

We just arrived home after making a trip to Staples.

Cal had to get a few things for school and I needed toner for my HP printer. I have needed this toner for several months and my printer/scanner started giving me a warning message that if I continued to use the scanner without toner that I could damage the machine.

I needed to purchase the yellow and the magenta. Remind me did we ever have a magenta color when we were kids?

I promptly put the toner (that was not sale) in the machine and turned it on. It went through it's warm up process and then a pop up window opened to tell me how much toner each cartridge had in the machine. The magenta cartridge that I just purchased (it was HP by the way) was NOT a full cartridge. The yellow was full.

I checked to make sure that they yellow and the magenta were the same capacity and they were. They gypped me on toner.

This made me wonder, how can you tell (on a printer that doesn't have this feature) how often these toner cartridges are not full?

Shame on you HP. Is this the way you are cutting costs in this economy? We already pay you an exorbitant amounts of money for ink and now you have to play dirty.

I have always purchased HP equipment, computers, scanners, printers, and toner, but I am honestly reconsidering being that loyal to a company that has no loyalty in return.

PARTY

Have you ever heard the ignorant comment: I don't want to go to heaven because me and all my buddies are going to have a party in hell when I arrive. Usually a beer can is required to say such a stupid thing.

There is no party in hell that you will be invited to. The Devil might have a party in your honor but you won't attend. You will be sitting in a dark corner listing to the painful screams of those around you that you cannot see.

That being said, I do believe that there is a pretty big shindig down there today. One of the devils finest has arrived and there is a celebration.

Vacation Mondy

I better finish this project up because I am beginning to forget what happened. Isn't it funny how vacation was over last week but it seems like months ago.

Monday I had planned to meet up with a friend from high school. Since facebook this person and I have become better friends than we ever were in school. I love facebook.

I drove to Hornell and had lunch with her and a male friend of ours. It was interesting and a lot of fun and I have no idea why I didn't take pictures. I really enjoyed their company.

Also on Monday we had cake and ice cream for my nephew. Erich turned 14 on Monday. We sat around the pool and had a great conversation with the family. I was very blessed to be a part of a birthday celebration with these kids. I rarely have that pleasure.

Tuesday was a day of rest.

Wednesday was the big day and the most memorable day of our trip, Niagara Falls. Mom wanted to stay overnight but I just couldn't find any travel deals. I mean Niagara Falls is only about 3 hours from where we were staying. It would have been less if Mom and I had not gotten lost thanks to the GPS.

There was a road under construction that we could not take. When we went off that road the GPS kept trying to turn us around to go back. For the next two hours it constantly tried. Mom said it should reset and take us forward from the point that we were at, but it didn't. We should have shut it off and started over but at the time we didn't think of that.

If you have never been to Niagara or only be on one side I highly recommend that you plan a day and go. I only wish that The Hubby had been along. Maybe next year?

Vacation Sunday

This was the big day of my trip. CAL and I were going to visit my friend Becky at her church. Her husband is the pastor and they have the same beliefs that we do so I was very excited. I had asked my sister if she would go to church with us, and her response was "No thank you I have already been".

My mom took us up on the offer and Sunday morning we headed to Addison. I misunderstood exactly where the church was located and was pleasantly surprised. Another surprise was when my friend Candy also came to church.

Becky is in the blue to my right. She was a very good friend in high school and has become an even better friend in the past few years. We have much in common and, as in high school, she keeps me honest and on the right track. Candy is to my left in the yellow. Candy and I went to high school and college together. She was my roommate for a brief period. It was good to see both of them again.

After church we headed to Candy's to "catch up". Now if you are not a Christian it is referred to as gossip but since we are good Christian girls we will call it catching up.

I really enjoyed Becky's church. Her husband is a very strong man of God and I enjoyed his message.

Saturday

First thing Saturday morning Cal and I got up and went to my dad's house. He only lives about ten miles away.

My dad and his wife run a fruit stand and I was really looking forward to helping them with all their customers. It didn't quite turn out that way, business was really slow.

I had not seen my dad in almost six years. When I first walked in his wife didn't even recognize me. I had that effect on several people this past week. I think people are shocked to see how much weight I have gained. It hurts, but obviously I have not hit rock bottom yet or I would get serious about doing something about it.

CAL had a blast at my dad's. He had a friend to play with and he was allowed to drive the mule.

I let him drive while I sat on the passenger side. There were several times that I thought I should instantly compare term life insurance quotes, but all in all he did a great job.

My dad has been trying to expand his business from fruit to "junk". I use the word junk in a positive way. He goes to yard sales and auctions and buys the stuff that no one else wants. He has sheds after sheds full of junk. I could have spent the entire day there and not seen everything.

I had a great time catching up with Dad and Carol. CAL spent the rest of the day with his cousins. I knew that I had church on Sunday and tried to get my family to go but only my mom was brave enough.

Friday

I had a wonderful vacation in NY with my family. Many of them I had not seen in four or five years and several people that I met I had not seen since high school.

Cal and I arrived after a 7 1/2 hour drive on Friday afternoon. For the life of me I cannot remember what we did but I think it was just hang out and catch up with my mom. I know that my sister and brother were both tied up that day.

Friday night we had a campfire. I am so jealous. They live in the country and they can have HUGE campfires. Here in Nashua we are only allowed to have two or three log fires. My sister. Dee, had that fire roaring.

The biggest difference was the bugs. They don't really have mosquitoes. Here - you could be carried away by the bugs and if you want to sit out at night you better wear long pants and shirts. I have no idea why they don't have bugs at night they live in the middle of no where.

The stars look so beautiful there, because they don't have any city lights you can actually see all the stars and they just seem so much bigger.

We sat at the fire until well past midnight. We had a great time just chatting - just the girls.

Vacation

I did so many things on my vacation to Addison this past week. I don't even know where to begin. I took hundreds of pictures and have not even started to try to edit and save them to my hard drive.

I think maybe I should try online storage. There are so many, it is going to bog down my computer. I do have an external hard drive that holds many of my pictures but it is inconvenient.

Keep checking back and when I get my farm (on facebook) in order, I will start posting about the trip. We had a great time. The highlight was taking a day trip to Niagara Falls.

Another Government Failure

I have not blogged about the "Cash for Clunkers" program because I have been trying to stay away from topics that make my blood boil. This is the most ridiculous program that I have seen in many years.

The thing that upset me the most was to drive past dealers and see them destroying these cars. As many bloggers before me have stated: These cars could be used for salvage, parts, sold to other countries, the list could go on and on. I understand the administrations desire to have these cars off the road and to save the planet but don't you think our money could be better spent.

Today I opened FoxNews.com only to start laughing so hard I was rolling on the floor. I know I should have used the initials but honestly folks I don't know what they are. I guess that shows how out of touch I am. Fox is reporting that only 2% of the claims that dealers are submitting are being paid by the "Obama administration". 2%. This program was not to get cars off the road it was designed to over inflate the car industry and fool Obama supporters into thinking that "his" plan was working. It was a pyramid scheme. I wonder if the cell next to Bernie Madoff is available because Obama belongs there.

The dealers will be left holding the bag and they get what they deserved. You cannot live off the government without paying the price. Getting involved with the Obama administration is like getting involved with the mob.

Now the article states that

Rep. Joe Sestak says only 2 percent of claims have been paid and that four of every five applications have been "rejected for minor oversight."

and we all know what an honest man Obama is, I am sure he will take care of this "minor oversight" and pay these people their money asap.

I wonder how many of our healthcare claims will become a "minor oversight" and how many people will die waiting for the "administration" to take care of the problem.

Getting Excited

I will be leaving for Addison in just a few days. I am so very excited. I only have a few days planned out but I know that things are going to fill up quickly.

I will be spending Saturday morning with my dad selling fruit, veggies, and flowers at his fruit stand. I am really looking forward to this task. It will be so much fun. His wife said that things have slowed down a bit but first thing in the morning it can be pretty busy and she doesn't allow my dad to have contact with the customers. See my dad and I are a lot a like. If we think it, it comes out of our mouths. Dad cannot handle all the customer complaints to try to save a nickle. I know that I could not work with the public on a regular basis either.

I also want to spend a lot of time with my good friend Becky. We have recently reacquainted and have found out that we have more in common as adults than we ever did as children.

There are so many things that I want to do and places that I want to see, I think I will be busier than if I were on one of those Gatlinburg vacations.

So many places to go and people to see. I hope that my friend from Syracuse is able to make the trip down and spend a day with me. I also want to go to Little Niagara. Well the list could go on and on and on.