The Agony Of It All

I am miserable. I have been suffering with some of the worst allergy/sinus issues of my adult life. My head is so stuffed that breathing through my nose is almost impossible. I am sneezing and today my eyes finally started to itch...

I have taken Claratin, Sudaphed, Tylenol Sinus, and Zyrtek...nothing gives me much relief. I have an appointment with the doctor at 8:50 AM to see if it is just allergies or if there is something else wrong. My chest was a little "rattley" a couple of days ago but it feels better now.

I have been fighting with allergies my whole life. When I was a kid I was miserable. As an adult they got better (I could afford better drugs) but over the years they have gotten worse. I have tried one prescription med that has helped, Xyzol. It works but it is kinda pricey. However if I don't get relief soon, I will be willing to take out a loan for it if needed.

Time Flies

It has been almost a week since my last post and I am not sure where the time has gone. Heck I am not even sure I know what all has happened during that time.

The most memorable event in the past week was my little Geocaching adventure on Saturday near Monksville, Texas. It was my first long hike (nine miles) Geocaching and has to be one of my favorite trips ever. It ranks right up with my caching trip to WV a few weeks ago. You can read more on that over at my geocaching blog.

Work as been tolerable. There are always little things that irk me (like changing processes and not telling anyone) but over all things have been pretty good. My colleague is on call this week and we are both covering for a colleague in Brazil who is on vacation. I am not sure how other countries can afford to let employees take two to four weeks off at one time (we could never get by with that here in the States) but I am glad he can get some time off. He is a very busy man.

Our weather here has been warmer lately than I would have expected. We had a cool snap that kept me in long sleeves at night for a few days but that is gone now...we are back to normal later summer temps which is causing two problems for me: Allergies and the tempurature of our office.

Rag weed is heavy right now and since I am allergic to the stuff, I have been stuffed up so bad I can hardly stand it. 24 Claratin only lasts about 12 hours or so at best (one day it lasted about 6) and I hate to mix and match meds just to get some relief. Thankfully this should end soon and I will be back to "normal"

With the late summer temps comes the HVAC's system at work becoming "confused" on what to do. Right now it is blowing ice cold air into an already cool office. Not only is out office ice cold but the restroom closest to my office is bitterly cold. This happens every fall and it really is annoying. It is so bad my office mate wears a jacket in the office. It is about all I can do to tolerate it.

My wife got an e-mail from our pastor the other day. He is a young pastor, with the majority of his experience coming from pastoring youth. He also is very likable and somewhat boyish, but I digress. The reason for the e-mail was to have my wife and I pray for him as he delivers a sermon on Sunday on tithing. The subject of giving is always a touchy subject. Many who feel they do their share are offended and feel singled out. Those who do not give a tithe or give one regularly think the church is greedy. I used to feel like the latter until I decided to give tithing a try.

It was not easy but after a few years I was able to gladly write out my tithe (10% of my income) check to the church. And while things have been tight, we are still eating, have a roof over our head, and employed. Besides, if your budget is so tight that 10% will make or break you, then you need to reexamine your priorities.

A lot of people look for a way to lower their tithes like some people try to lower their taxes. They bicker over tithing on the net or the gross, on re-embursed funds, tax returns, bonues, etc. I think it is silly to do that. The rule is in my house, that unless you have already tithed on it, you will tithe on it! And sometimes we will tithe on something like a tax return as an offering to God. Yes, since we tithe on the gross, we have already tithed on that money, but what the heck, it all belongs to God anyway.

How Do You Start Your Day?

Well, if you are me, and the day is today, you start it by having all FIVE smoke detectors issuing a "low battery" warning at 5:00 AM. They started one at a time until all were chirping by 5:30 AM.

The dogs noticed it first...they hate that noise and run away from it when it starts. The problem was, there was no place to run because the 1650 sq ft home we live in is covered with smoke detectors.

And of course we were all out of 9v batteries. So my wife takes the more social dog and jumps in the van to go to the drug store to get some. The drug store is closed, so she goes to another one not to far away. An alarm is going off as she pulls up, so she leaves...slowly. She then goes to Wal-mart and picks up two 4-packs of 9v batteries, but it takes her over an hour. During this hour, I get to listen to a cacophony of chirping smoke alarms, each one going off at an interval different than the other four.

My wife finally gets back and I quickly replace the batteries, which leave three for the next time this happens. Well, we really need five, so she is taxed in picking up at least one more 2-pack.

I then get ready to start working from home. My mailbox is full, mostly for issues I am not tracking but people want to "keep me in the loop". I get a couple of, "why did you do this?" e-mails, which to be honest one of them was my screw-up. Never put me in charge of something if you are not going to give me instructions on how to do it. They will get over it and I am sure I will not lose my job over it, either.

My wife begins getting ready to go out with one of her girlfriends while I check my personal e-mail. Oh boy, my sling bag (for Geocaching) is going to be delivered today. I got a great deal on it ($8) but raped on shipping ($7), however the overall price ($15) is very good for this so I am not too irked. It only took four days to get here via Standard Shipping US Mail. At least I have it in time for this weeks adventure.

It has been a busy week for me so far. Monday and Tuesday I had church business meetings and Wednesday we had small group. Today I am free once I get off at 4:00 PM but I do not know what my wife will want to do. Maybe nothing. I am okay with that.

I am working from home today, like I normally do on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I took yesterday off to burn another day of vacation. I wasted it on a Geocaching run in Plano. It started out pretty badly but ended up okay. I onoy got scratched up a little.

Finances have been a major source of concern for us, as well as the thought of more layoffs at my job. 24,000+ jobs to be cut, half of them in the US, most of them in my business group. I really would like to be out of debt but that just is not possible right now. We are hoping for some bonus money and an income tax refund that will clear out what we owe. It is not much by most people's standards, but it is enough to bug me. Of course all the issues with banks over the past few days are beginning to worry me some as well, but only a little.

We have deposit placed on the beach house for next spring. Since we cannot pay it off in 2 payments like the owne asked, we are sending him payments monthly. My wife going back to work has helped, so has working from home.

Off The Hook

I wish all my on-calls were like my last one. I did not get called all weekend long and the calls during the week were few. As a matter of fact, the week was rather light compared to the past couple of months. While we did have a few lingering issues (just like today), there were no frantic calls at 2:00 AM asking to have a server rebooted or a report of a network being down...although one call did come in at 4:00 AM. While that issue was a mess, at least it was resolved with minimal problems.

The only other notable issue was the hurricane that tore through the Texas Gulf. While it had little effect on us (it was about two hours east of us) we did wind and rain, although it was minor. The real damage is being realized today as the gulf area of several states is being investigated and searched. It looks pretty grim. About the only plus that I can see is that the impact to oil and gas production will be a lot lower than expected. I am glad I filled up on Friday at Kroger ($3.33/gallon) since now it is $3.60/gallon and rising.

Hulu Love

I really cannot stop singing praises for Hulu. If you are not familiar with Hulu, it is a streaming video service that carries movies and popular TV shows via the web. There are no fees and you only have to sign up if you want to see movies with an "R" rating.

Overall the content is not bad. While I will admit the movie selection might be considered poor by many or most people, you cannot beat the price. Now if Joost can just make a web version of their service and offer more selection.

Hulu has allowed me to catch up on a few shows that I have missed because I had other things to record or watch during the time they were aired. They even have the recently air pilot of "Fringe", the JJ Abrams ("Lost") creation from Fox.

I am currently watching "The Bionic Woman" season one on my playlist. Past shows I have watched were "King of the Hill", "Firefly", and "Battlestar Galactica". There are probably more but there is so muc TV programming (both old and new) that you will keep busy for quite some time.

The one other down side is the ads that are broadcast but they are short (30 seconds or less) and fewer (four or five per episode), so that is not such a huge issue. I really hope they increase content for movies. If they do then this will be the place to watch your favorite TV show or movie in hi-def (when available) on the web.

And I Should Care Because...?

From The Drudge Report (as reported by ABC News) : BBC POLL: WORLD WANTS OBAMA...


Why should I care what the world wants? It is our president, not yours! The world is largely socialistic, so I should care what a form of government that I do not prefer thinks about who is best for the US? If you want Obama so bad, you take him.

What I want is a leader (and VP) who is ethical and has similar values that I do. Do you want to know a secret? Neither party has exactly what I want, but the Republican ticket is awfully close. Well, close enough to at least vote for them.

The internet is full of "world opinion" on who our next president should be. The US largely does not care who the next King, Prime Minister, or Chancellor is, so why should we care what the world thinks about who our next leader is? If we wanted our country to be like yours, then we might listen to your opinion but since we work hard to make our country different, your opinion means little to us.

I am not an elitist. While I do think the USA is the greatest nation on earth, I do care about what goes on in the world. I work in a multi-national, global company that holds accounts in many nations. I have gotten to travel a little and I can appreciate the countries I have visited. However, my opinion on what is best for your country is hardly relevant.

Let's just keep American issues in America.

I Am Hank Hill

I just became a fan of "King of the Hill" last year and for a long while I was the only one to watch it. My wife did not seem to care for it even though it portrays middle class small city (as opposed to small town) Texas pretty well. Heck you could substitute Arlen for the town we live in and it would be a pretty good fit.

Over the past couple of months I have noticed a change in my wife as she has started to watch King of the Hill on a more frequent basis. I was even told that she watched it most every day while I was out of town visiting family and friends. I began wondering why my wife, who is usually anti-anything that I like, now races me to the TV at 6:00 PM CDT to watch the latest mis(adventures) of Hank Hill and his family and friends and then it hit me. I am Hank Hill.

I think that is the attraction. Now my wife is no Peggy and our son is certainly no Bobby (my wife is not bookish smart and my son is not effeminate at all) and our neighbors do not resemble Dale, Bill, or Boomhauer but I am for all intents and purposes, Hank Hill...right down to my mid sized pickup truck (I prefer Dodge over Ford) and glasses. Heck, we even both suffer from DGS (look that one up on the Hank Hill Wiki) or at least so says my wife. We both even had cantankerous fathers.

We were both athletes in high school, although his claim to fame is much greater than mine. He played football (it figures...he is from Texas) while I ran track. He of course was not born in Texas and always thought he was whereas I was not born in Texas and never wished so.

Hank and I share a penchant for "Farmer's Tans", grilling over propane versus charcoal, and love our family very much. We both attend church (Hank is a Methodist and I am non-denominational), and we both have and dote over dogs (which are geriatric). We are both conservative, Republican, and consider our wives to be our best friends. Also, we consider loyalty to be a very important and endearing quality.

To be honest there are a lot of differences between Hank and myself. For one, I do not sell propane but I have supported the same customer for 12 years. I am not a football fan (actually I do not like any professional sport) but I am a huge college basketball fan, especially the NC Tarheels. I have never smoked (other than a few tries in high school) but I did dip snuff for a few years.

Also Hank tends to be a bit naive, where I am a bit more cynical. When angered, quite often threatens to "kick someone's ass" as where I don't threaten...I would just do it (if I were so inclined. I have not been in a fight in quite a long time).

So, which King of the Hill character are you?

Something To Keep In Mind

There has been a lot of press regarding the nomination of Sarah Palin as VP of the USA. I have read a lot of blogs (both professional and personal) that tend to get a simple fact confused:

Sarah Palin is not running against Barack Obama for President of the US. She is the VP candidate for the Republican ticket. Comparing Sarah Palin to BHO is inaccurate. Please keep all the comparisons in order, BHO/McCain and Biden/Palin. If you want to comment on how good of a VP Palin will be, compare her to her opponent, Joe Biden. The same goes with Barack Obama. If you want to sing his praises, then compare him to McCain...apples to apples.

It drives me absolutely crazy to see BHO being contrasted and compared to Sarah Palin.

Now to be fair, you can do a "what if" on Palin. "What if John McCain kicks the bucket after 8 months in office...can Palin do the job? Would she do a better job than BHO?"

That is a pretty good and a fair question. Information has been surfacing that Palin ran her governership like a popularity contest rather than an executive office. Wether that info is true of just disinformation, I do not know.

Again, I like the personae of Sarah Palin. She has a lot of qualities that I think most people can admire. I believe she is a good mayor and we all know the majority (80%) of the population of Alaska approve of her, but can she fill the shoes of a dead president, if things go that way?

Fanning The Flames

If you have spent any time at all on this blog you know I am a mostly conservative Christian father and husband. My wife is far more conservative than I am but we will agree to disagree on some issues to keep the peace.

My wife and I watched the big RNC speeches last night on TV and to be honest, we were both blown away. Rudy and Sarah both made great speeches and they had the crowd fired up. There was only one thing wrong with it. It was all politics.

Don't get me wrong, I like Sarah Palin and think she is an good role model for young women everywhere. While she is far from perfect, she still embodies what I believe the United States needs. She is a powerful speaker and proved that even when the teleprompter makes mistakes, she will still march on without missing a beat. She is a great spokeswoman for the Republicans. But can she do the job?

I have never been a John McCain fan. I supported Fred Thompson from the beginning and was truly saddened when he bowed out of the race. I then started looking towards Mitt Romney. While he is a Morman, he still sticks by his faith and I have to admire that.

When all the men I wanted to pull for dropped out, I felt like I was left looking at an old broken down draft horse in John McCain. He is old and has had at least three bouts of skin cancer. Oh, I know he is a fighter, but he old. Too old to run for president of the greatest nation on earth.

How does he remedy this situation? He recruits a young (early 40's), attractive hockey mom who just happens to be governer of Alaska. Now, tell me that does not just reek of politics?

To be honest, neither the Democratic candidate for president, nor the Republican candidate for vice president have enough experience to run this country. Not to mention that McCain is too old and I am really not sure what to think of Joe Biden...I need to research him more.

If John McCain is elected and he dies while in office, Sarah Palin would become president of the USA...a rather large job for a mother of five.

Am I a sexist? Not really. The bible has outlined roles for men and women but it does not state that women cannot be the leaders of countries.

This election is going to be 100% politics. Lots of mud will be sprayed on each and every candidate...no one will be spared.

Back In The Texas Groove: Part Three

After a week of not eating very well, not sleeping very well, and putting up with some cool, rainy days, my week was over and it was time to head back to Texas. I enjoyed myself, mostly because my friends and I had some great times driving all over WV to look at scenery and pick up a geocache or two...or 41, which is about what I grabbed if my total is correct. It was fun to be on my own for a week. Any longer and it would have been boring, any less and it would not have been enough. Being back revived, if only for a week, my fantasies of moving back to "The Mountain State". I miss that place more than I had thought...maybe more than I miss North Carolina. I guess if I could merge parts of my past and my present together it would be something like my current job, in WV, with my current church, my childhood friends, and my NC house. Of course none of that is in my future but it is a nice little fantasy nonetheless.

I got up early and packed my gear while I waited on mom to get up. I had hoped to leave by 7:00 AM but the longer she slumbered, the less likely that scenario would unfold. I was completely packed and dressed by the time mom got up at 6:30 AM. When the coffee was done, I ate a couple of corn fritters left over from the night before while I sipped my overly creamy and a touch too sweet coffee. Flavored creamers rule.

Mom and I chatted and when I was finished I began loading the van. I said my good byes to her and left the house at 7:30 AM. Before I pulled out my wife called me (like she did so many times during the week) to make sure I was up. I chatted with her just as I hit the road.

My wife had a hard week while I was gone. After her thyroid surgery, her energy level has dropped drastically. She still has the same drive, but the energy just isn't there. With that in mind, she was not able to keep up with her own demands, let alone completing the tasks I normally do on a weekly basis. The anguish of not being able to keep up with the demands of the house while I was gone were evident in the tone of her voice.

I made pretty good time on the first day. While I could have made it to my destination a little sooner had I not been adamant about grabbing some geocaches along the way, I still made it to Memphis, TN by 8:00 PM. Far from impressive but not too bad overall.

I stopped off to spend Friday night in Memphis. Why Memphis? My friend Block lives there with his sister and since he and I have not seen each other in a year or so, he invited me to stay with him instead of the campground. He called me during the week I was in WV and I was not too sure I wanted to stay the night with him and his sister. I did not know her and I did not want to impose. When I finally arrived I noticed several cars in the driveway and soon found out that I was not the only guest that night. I was a bit ticked off but I bit down the anger and went inside. Soon my anger was gone and I had a nice chat with his sister and the other guests, who just happened to be former roommates. It was sort of a get together for them and I just happened to show up for it.

After getting some good quality sleep in less than perfect conditions (Block snores louder than I do) I got up and packed my gear. I cleaned up a bit and then said my good bye's to Block. No one else was up yet so I asked him to thank his sister for me.

Saturday was my last day of driving. It was the shortest of the 4 days and I did not start feeling the drive until I crossed the Texas state line. That point on the map (Texarkana) marks the three hour point in my trip...either I have three hours to go or I have been on the road three hours. In this case it was the former and the road began to take it's toll.

Feeling a little run down, I pulled off at a gas station and got an iced coffee drink and some gasoline. I took the time to drain the drink and tune the radio to an 80's station before I hit the road again. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Thankfully, I made it home in one piece about three and a half hours later. Coming home is such a sweet feeling.

After I got home I noticed my throat was sore and my sinuses were really painful. Over the next couple days it got worse but on Wednesday I started to feel better. I am not sure what it is but it is contageous because my wife is now feeling the same way. Ain't love grand?

Well, now that I am back and slowly getting back into the swing of things, updates should get back to regularity. Hopefully political, technical, and faith based posts will be included once I get used to working every day again.

Back In The Texas Groove: Part Two

My first night back at my mom's house went well enough, but there were a few issues. First, mom lives right by a creek and her house is damp. Texas is dry and I am acclimated to Texas, so the mildewy, moldy, dampness of her house is tough on me initially. Also, she tends to use older down pillows and I am allergic to down. She never seems to remember this, even though I have been coming in to visit and stay with her for 20 years.

By the time I got up I was stuffy and congested but some sinus/allergy meds were in my bag so I took a dose with the fresh coffee mom made. Her coffee used to be so weak that you could see through it but over the years it has gotten stronger. She still drinks it black but she makes sure sugar and creamer are handy for me (even if it is powdered cheap stuff...at least she tries).

We chat and I watch the news while mom reads the morning paper. Being Sunday, we would be going to church in a few hours. Mom is a member of a little tiny country Baptist church with a membership of 60 or so and attendance of maybe 15. It is even tiny compared to our little country church here in Texas.

After church, many of us go to McDonald's for lunch. This is the first time I can remember since I have been coming in that I have gone out with her church friends for lunch. She tends to go out with them every Sunday after church and she appears to look forward to it. I got the feeling that she felt she had to come home with me instead of going out with them, so I invited myself along. In the end, it turned out well. We had some good conversation and I learned a lot from her friends.

We came home and changed into some lounging around clothes. I did not have an agenda but since I had been driving for two days I wanted to get out and stretch my legs. I figured I would go walk some at the park on the walking trail and grab a geocache that had been recently placed there. I found the cache pretty easily and decided to grab a couple of more in the area.

I came home and had a light dinner and chatted with mom for a while. My friends Rob and Brenda wanted me to come over and hang out with them when I had time so I figured tonight would be as good a night as any. I grabbed my laptop and headed over, hoping to get caught up on my e-mail (and some of my geocache logging) as well as catching up with old friends.

I stayed over at R&B's until 2 AM or so...a common habit when visiting them. I tend to spend a lot of time with them when I come in because they are such nice people. They will invite me over any night I am free.

The next few days were a bit different than they had been during past visits. Normally I spend the day with mom, helping her with things around the house that she cannot (or will not) get done by herself. However, this time I had been asked to go Geocaching with the friends who got me hooked on that hobby in the first place. While I had planned to go out once, maybe twice wit them, we ended up going out three times during the week. I am not sure that it made my mom overly happy, but to be honest, she is becoming such a hermit that it is maddening to sit all day at home with her and do...nothing. She rarely leaves the house and most of the time she watches QVC, reads, or knits. If it was not for her dog I bet she would never leave the house at all. I love my mom but she does not lead a helathy life.

During the week mom did do some "El Gee" specific things that meant a lot. She made a home made applesauce pie that turned out very well. She also made some home made pepperoni rolls with pepper jack cheese. The rest of the week (in the food department) was pretty much "fend for yourself". It is a pity mom does not cook anymore. At one time she was a pretty good cook. I especially liked he hot dog chili. It was sort of like what "Texas style" chili is supposed to be like (meat, spices, no beans) and all the kids in the neighborhood loved it. I just realized that I did not have any hot dogs while I was visiting, although I did have more than my share of pepperoni rolls.

I visted Rob and Brenda a couple of times and my sister once. My sis and I have a strained relationship centered around the man she married. There is no love lost between him and me. I have never been able to find any common ground with him. It surprises me that my he and my sis ever clicked.

I still have not seen my younger brother. I managed to talk to him a couple of times in the past but it was rather impersonal. My family back home is crumbling apart and it breaks my heart. While I admit that we are so different that any real time together would result in an explosion, it would be nice to see them now and again.

On Wednesday I was able to go to the local library and get caught up on e-mail and geocache logging. The head librarian knows my mom and let me use the system for a couple of hours while it was slow. I did not get a chance to check my e-mail or log any caches until Saturday evening after I got home. I am truly amazed how fast things pile up.

On my last night in WV (Thursday) I went out to a new Mexican place with the gang. After spending a week together, there was not a lot to say, but we managed nonetheless. It was good to see them all again. We still have a lot of the same interests and we all appear happily married. I only wish that my wife and I could come in together, but until we get the extra money to stay in a hotel (my wife refuses to stay at mom's), that just isn't going to happen. We did not stay out late...everyone had a busy day ahead of them...so we said our good bye's and went off on our way.

Since my vacation had a lot of geocaching in it, I will update my geocaching blog with all those details later.

Back In The Texas Groove: Part One

I know it has been a while since my last update. I was planning to update this when I got back but I had terrible sinus problem for 3 days...

Well everyone, I am back to my "normal" life, having returned from my yearly pilgrimage to West Virginia to visit family and friends. This trip was a bit different than most but it was a good different.

I left on Friday morning (August 22nd) at 7:15 AM CST. My plans were to drive to Wildersville, TN and spend the night at Natchez Trace State Park before continuing on the following morning. Since I was traveling solo and had a new GPSr unit, I was excited to test it out on the road as well as doing a little Geocaching along the way. For more info on my Geocaching adventures, please see my Geocaching blog.

I stopped at Kroger to get a few things I would need for the road (milk, juice, sandwich stuff) as well as some cash before I started out. I took my time, driving carefully even though I was in a hurry to get to my destination. I had been informed by Knightmare_Duck that "caching along the route" would delay my arrival time considerably so I made plans not to over do it.

Gas prices surprised me some. In the Dallas area we were paying $3.40 or less per gallon but the cheapest I saw it my first day was $3.49. The prices only increased the further north and east I drove. Of course when I got back the prices were about the same as they were when I left, albeit a couple of pennies lower. I guess the rest of the world as not gotten the word yet.

My first day of traveling took me from Dallas,Texas to Wildersville, TN. While I normally get to the camp by 5:00 PM, it was closer to 7:00 when I actually got there. Blame it on the geocaching. I found a great spot (actually I was just the second camper to make it into this area) and nibbled on some food I had packed. I grabbed my geocaching gear and took a little stroll to see if I could get one before the light failed. I was successful.

The campground was wet and the air was humid. I was soaking wet with sweat and I hoped that I would cool down in good time. I was getting sleepy and the park ranger had still not shown up to collect the camping fee of $11.00 per night, of which one night was all that I would be staying. I did not want to go to sleep and have him wake me up so I stayed up until he finally arrived. In the mean time several other campers showed up looking for some sort of gathering that had was supposed to go on. I later learned the gather was cancelled due to weather.

I slept fitfully Friday night. It was hot and humid and I was sweating profusely. I tried to cool down but nothing seemed to work. Finally around midnight/1:00 AM I was able to fall asleep. I noticed a few campers came in late and set up in the dark. I got up and treated my self to a hot shower at the bathhouse. It felt good to wash away the sweat and grime from the day before. After I was finished with that, I ate a light breakfast of fruit, yogurt, cereal bars, and milk. A quick brushing of my teeth and I was ready to hit the road. First stop, the gas station.

Mileage on the van on the first day was about 22 mpg. Not great but considering the hills and the fact it is a v6 and a van, I was not too disappointed. The second day's mileage was more of the same and my meals were also more of what I had eaten the previous day: sandwiches, water, and fruit. I am a creature of habit.

I arrived in WV about 8:00 PM local time, which is about two hours later than normal for me. Again, caching along the route will slow you down. I also made sure to make some calls along the way (via mobile phone) to those who needed to know where I was and when I would be in.

When I arrived at my mom's house, I unloaded the van (my wife's vehicle, the vehicle of choice when traveling) and gave my mom a hug. We chatted for a while and then she asked me if I was hungry. I was, since the last meal I had was a sandwich eight hours before. I told her I was and she asked me what I wanted. In the old days, mom would have a ton of leftovers in the fridge. Coming home meant some of mom's home cooking. But ever since dad died back in 2002, mom has stopped cooking and lives of frozen dinners and sandwiches. Wanna take a guess what delectables I was offered upon my arrival? I declined food when I learned what was available and she seemed hurt. I tried to explain things to her but she just did not understand.

Mom and I caught up on things and before I knew it, I was yawning. It was about 10:00 PM local time and I was bushed. I have not had a plethera energy lately and I really need to go to the doctor to see what is causing my deminished stamina.