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Thanksgiving weekend is over and all is back to normal. Holidays are nice, but last too long for me. One day of any holiday is plenty in my opinion, then I'm ready to get back to my normal daily routine. I was so glad to toss out all the leftovers! But I'm happy to say that my strange aversion to turkey and dressing this year not only resulted in me not gaining any weight, I actually lost a couple of pounds. Now if I can just get through the Christmas and New Year celebrations without gaining any weight...
I finally finished cleaning and organizing my studio late yesterday- whew! The landfill now owns bags and bags of stuff I got rid of... half done canvases, sculpts, sketches, and other projects I knew I'd never finish. Plus odds and ends of things I've saved thinking I'd someday use them for something. And boxes- so many boxes! I have no idea why I've saved all those empty boxes. As I cleaned the studio and bagged up all that crap I realized I need to be careful, or I could end up on an episode of Hoarders on A&E. Sweet jezzuz, have you seen that show?!? Good gawd almighty, it's a wonder those poor people don't die from all the decaying crap in their homes. The animal horders are the worse- between the decaying animal carcasses and feces everywhere... ewwww.... Anyway, my studio is now clean (as clean and orderly as I can get it until I get more cabinets hung for storage) and I assure you I didn't find any rotting animal carcasses or feces under the piles of stuff on my tables (or the floor for that matter). And all my beads are sorted and organized by type and color. That was a huge accomplishment! What a mess I had made.
I played in the studio today trying to come up with a tropical themed holiday card. As you can see in the photo, I've already managed to clutter up one of my tables. When I finally get the sketch I like, I'll import the image to my graphic program and print out cards. 
Now about rude people... if you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know about Isabella and her craziness. If so, you can skip this paragraph. She's a fantastic dog, my constant companion and has a heart of gold. She's gotten me through some bad times, and has made my happy times even happier. But she has her problems, too. She barely eats enough to keep herself alive, is terrified of even the lightest rain or wind- let alone thunder and lightning, doesn't like to go out to unfamiliar areas except when she's in the car (which she loves unless she has to get out of the car), and freaks if strangers try to touch her- just to name a few of her fears and odd behaviors. For example, we've been walking the same route every day since she was a 12 week old puppy. Four years later, she still freaks if an unfamiliar car or object is sitting in the street on our daily walking route. And yes, we've tried behavior modification and everything we can think of to help her work through her problems, to no avail. Unfortunately for her, she always catches peoples' attention. When people want to pet her I have to explain her reluctance to be touched by strangers. In fact, I've had to explain it so many times I've thought of printing cards with the info and hand them out when someone asks what's wrong with her, just so I don't have to keep repeating it.
Anyway, back to rude people... when I took Issy out for her morning potty this morning, a woman was walking by and she asked if she could pet Bella. Once again, I explained her anxiety with strangers touching her. Then the woman goes on to say she'd met lots of poodles and had never seen an unfriendly Standard Poodle before. Then she asks me why Isabella is "that way" and not like normal Standard Poodles. So I asked her if she was always so rude, and if she approaches people with autistic or mentally challeged children to ask them why their kids aren't like normal children? And that dogs, like people, are sometimes born with problems, whether from bad genes, birth trauma, or for unknown reasons. The woman just gave me an odd look and walked on-LOL I should have told her she could pet Isabella and when she pulled away from the woman I could have said- "You're the first person she's had that reaction to. She must sense there is something wrong you and you're not like normal people." Today all of us that live in Florida breathed a sigh of relief as another hurricane season came to an end with our homes and towns still intact and standing. 
... Mother Nature had a surprise for our first wave of winter tourists. Though Thanksgiving Day was gorgeous, the temps began falling that evening and we've been chilly the rest of the week. I imagine the holiday visitors' plans for basking on the beach and swimming in the Gulf were pretty much ruined. In fact the past few nights it's been down in the 40's. But the temps will begin warming back up to normal tomorrow just as this horde of tourists head home. Now if all the tourists and the snowbirds would just stay home, but I don't see that happening.
I finished the Aging Bathing Beauty today. One more UFO scratched off my list. Then I spent the rest of the day ruthlessly cleaning the studio. I carried bag loads of stuff out to the garbage can, then began sorting my beads. Oh dear jezzuz, what a mess. If I ever get all my beads organized, I swear on all the saints, gods and goddesses of the arts that I will clean up after every single beading project I ever do as long as I live! I finally quit about 7 tonight and so far have just gotten the copper and turquoise beads gathered up and organized. That still leaves all the other beads to sort through, put in individual containers, and organize. Then I have paints, canvases, pads of various papers, colored pencils, pens, markers, clays, clay tools, etc. to sort through and put away. But I'll start back in it tomorrow, and I'm determined to get it done. Then I'll have quickly take a photo to prove I actually have a clean and neat studio before I make a mess again ;)
The cool weather didn't stop me from enjoying some time on the patio tonight- it just meant instead of wearing flip flops, I had to wear two pair of socks. Please note that each layer of socks match. Of course I can't claim that the first layer of red socks matches the second layer of turquoise socks. 
Bella said my feet smell wonderful!
And that she loves me very much-
... has now come to an end. I began cooking about 11 this morning - sauteing onions and celery for the dressing, then adding the sage and seasoning, mixing it with the dried bread cubes, placing it in the roaster pan with the turkey and popping it into the oven. Then the giblets were placed in a sauce pan of broth and simmered for hours. 
Everything was ready and on the table at 5 p.m. We had entirely too much food- turkey, sage dressing, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, green bean casserole, broccoli and rice casserole, and hot rolls. Within a half hour of eating, I felt like going to the ER and having my stomach pumped. It's now 1:15 in the morning and I still haven't been able to even consider having a piece of pie.
In my younger years I could gorge with abandon and still have room for pie, and not gain an ounce. Of course that was when I worked full time, had a three acre yard to take care of, a kennel of dogs to walk miles a day, and weekends were spent driving hundreds of miles in the middle of the night, loading and unloading crates of dogs in and out of a van, and showing dogs all day Saturday and Sunday at AKC shows. Then driving back home, unloading the van just in time to sleep a few hours before getting up and going to work Monday morning. Then along came menopause, retirement, and spending my time sitting on my ass in the studio. Now I merely look at or smell food and gain weight. So I've had to readjust my eating habits- very small portions of low carb/high protein low fat foods. Now on the special occasions when I over eat rich foods, my stomach goes into shock. I decided today this would be the last huge Thanksgiving meal I cook. I realized that I'm actually tired of typical holiday dishes and would much rather spend the day on the beach with a turkey sandwich or a bucket of iced peel and eat shrimp, then walking the shoreline collecting shells. No more holidays spending hours in the kitchen cooking, then eating so much I can barely waddle from room to room. And then trying to lose the pounds I gain between Thanksgiving Day and the next two days of leftovers, just to do it all over again on Dec. 25th.
Isabella certainly enjoyed her holiday meal, but then she's only 4 years old, has a great metabolism since she's not pushing 60 like me, and she didn't have to cook it!
By 11 tonight I finally was able to hoist myself off the couch to go outside ( though I'm sure I gained enough weight in the few hours since dinner that my thighs felt like they were rubbing together with each step I took) and enjoy the moonlight and starry sky. I had noticed earlier in the day that the bougainvillea growing around the light pole was blooming so I took a photo. I wasn't sure I'd get a decent shot since it was dark, but love how it turned out. The gorgeous red color against the nighttime darkness. (Click all my photos to enlarge to full size)
I hope you all had a fabulous day, with no indigestion or ballooning thighs!
... and the counters are covered with food I'll be cooking tomorrow. Here's just one area- where you can see the Butterball Turkey, cans of soup to use in a couple of the casseroles, green beans, an onion, some spices, and a pan of cubed bread drying out over night in preparation for the dressing. And there's more on the other counter and in the fridge. Why I'm making so many dishes, I have no idea, other than it's a tradition. We'll spend hours cooking, followed by eating too much, and then spend hours cleaning up, all the while complaining we ate too much and our tummies are way too full. And after we have all the dinner mess cleaned up, we'll eat dessert, while still complaining we're too full... as we shovel the pie into our groaning stomachs. But that's the traditional Thanksgiving day in America- we express our gratitude by gorging! 
Our first Thanksgiving in Florida was a delightfully warm and sunny day. We made sandwiches from a turkey breast Mike had smoked on the grill and had our dinner on the beach. I think that was my favorite Thanksgiving ever! A couple of years ago for Thanksgiving, we went out to eat at the fabulous Mattison's On The River where we had a prime rib dinner and it was delicious. I'm thinking we should make that our new tradition. It was wonderful food of sensible portion sizes, and there were no rich and fattening left overs to eat for the next two days (adding at least 5 extra pounds I will then struggle to take off). Plus there was no cooking or clean up!
You may notice in the photo that the backsplash tile is up. It was supposed to be put up Tues. and then grouted on Wed. But they called to say the tiler couldn't be here until Wed. and the grouting would be done on Friday. So today the tiler showed up about 10 a.m. and started putting the tile up. Luckily I happened to walk in and notice that the bullnose edge was all wrong and didn't line up with the rest of the tiles. So he took that down and redid it, and it looked better, but not the kind of edging I was expecting. After all the tile was up we were expecting him to leave and return Friday to grout. But he surprised us by saying he was going to grout right then. I was concerned because everything I've read said the tiles and adhesive had to sit for 24 hours before applying the grout, but he insisted it would be okay ( even the tile salesman had said there should be 24 hrs. for the adhesive to dry before grouting). So... I hope the tiler knows what he's talking about because within a four hour time period he had not only glued the tiles up but had also finished the grouting. And I wasn't crazy about his grout lines. But it's done now and all that's left to do in that area is for us to put up the outlet plates.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! Eat too much, laugh alot, be in the moment and forget all your worries for the day.
Sometimes I struggle to come up with entry titles so I give up and fall back on the old generic "this and that". It often take me longer to come up with a title than it does to upload the photos and write the entire entry! I guess if I didn't ramble and stuck to one topic it would be easier. Which leads me to my first topic...
Do any of you read Post Secret ? It's updated every Sunday and I never miss it. The secrets range from hilarious, sad, creepy, to inspiring, and sometimes thought provoking. This one was posted last Sunday and caught my attention because I've thought this about my own brain function. I seem to have a tad of ADD and with a splash of bi-polar, and when combined with the chronic insomnia I'm pretty sure my brain doesn't function normally. And as crazy as those things can make me feel, if I could take a magic pill and become "normal", would I still be me? Would I like the "normal" me as much as I like the quirky me? Would I lose my creativity? Would I be boring and somber?And since my quirkiness doesn't cause me problems in my personal life, get me in legal trouble, or scare my neighbors, I think I'll leave well enough alone. 
What really drives me crazy are the memory glitches that seem to become more common the older I get. I've become a list maker- for everything! Like today... I needed to pick up some art and pet supplies, and since there's a walk-in hair salon at the same shopping center as Michael's and Petsmart, I was going to stop in and have about 3-4 inches cut off my hair. After getting everything I needed at Michael's, I hit Petsmart and couldn't find the clippers I wanted, but knew I could find what I needed at Sally's Beauty Supplies. So I got back in the car and... drove home. After I got home I realized I had forgotten to stop to get my hair cut, and had driven right by Sally's without stopping to get the clippers. Why did I do that? Because getting my hair cut and going to Sally's wasn't on my freaking list!
But I did get some things at Michael's that wasn't on my list- I find art supplies so seductive. I saw these little tiny easels with itty bitty canvases (the canvas is 3"x3") and thought it would be fun to do something with them for little holiday gifts. Aren't they cute?
I also picked up this set of Inktense pencils- which is Mary's fault because she's told me how much she likes them, which I did happen to remember. I also got some more little 4"x5" canvases, copper chain, beads for the Aging Bathing Beauty, and some other stuff. I was able to make all these random impulse buys (things that weren't on my list) at Michael's but I couldn't remember to get my hair cut... sigh...This photo is just one bag I carried out of Michael's, there were several more bags-LOL
And now I'm working on my list for Thanksgiving dinner. If I can just remember to put everything I need on my list....
... or rather lack of-I used to be quite well groomed back in the days when I worked as a cocktail waitress while raising two kids and going to college full time. How I had the time for hair and makeup, I don't know, but somehow I made the time for it. After college when I worked in an office as a mental health therapist, my hair was always done, make-up perfect, and my clothes and shoes were current and stylish. Even on days off, I did my hair and makeup as soon as I got up in the morning and wore cute trendy casual outfits. My appearance was very important to me back then.
But I recently realized that over the past few years my daily attire consists of paint spattered shorts or capris, and tee shirts or stretched out and frayed ratty sweats. And of course flip flops. Occasionally on cool winter days I add miss matched socks. (One evening not long ago we were taking the dogs on their evening walk when Mike asked me why I had on two different socks. I looked down and sure enough- I had a crew sock on one foot and an ankle sock on the other foot, but in my defense my flip flops matched on that particular evening.) There have been a few times Mike has had tell me that I had my tee shirt on backwards or inside out, or that my flip flops didn't match. Why he feels the need to point that out after I've gone through the entire day with my shirt on inside out, I haven't a clue. He's just nitpicky that way. My nightime lingerie, now consists of a tee shirt or tank top with men's boxer shorts. On the few really cold nights we have, I often wear an old faded and worn thin flannel nightshirt my oldest grand daughter gave me for xmas 10 years ago and flannel pj pants.
As for my hair, it's too long and I usually just pull it back in a ponytail or braid, with loose wispies that annoy the hell out of me and I'm constantly blowing out of my face. Sadly, I've been in need of a good cut for some time. A stylist gave me a truly horrid haircut about 10 years ago, and I haven't been back to a stylist since. There was the incident a few years ago when I had an emotional melt down, went temporarily insane and whacked my ponytail off. It looked like a pack of crazed wolverines chewed it off. But now it's grown back out, and we don't like to talk about the incident. I do keep the color done. That's the one thing I haven't gotten lazy about- can't stand those grey roots.
How and why did this happen? I blame it on art. That's why so many of my clothes are paint spattered (and of course the never ending renovating work). It would make sense to change into old clothes before working in the studio. and every time I buy new clothes, that's my intention. But I step into the studio intending to put something away, then I decide to add a few paint strokes to one of my numerous UFOs, and the next thing I know it's hours later and I've some how managed to ruin another piece of clothing. So rather than try to remember to stop and change clothes before I go into the studio, I just put my ratty old clothes on as soon I'm up and showered in the morning. Seeing as I've become something of a recluse in the past few years, no one sees me on most days, other than the neighbors when I'm walking the dogs. And neither the dogs or the neighbors seem to care what I'm wearing or whether my socks or even my shoes match. But on the days we do go out, I make an effort to dress in decent clothes, a bit of makeup, and even put a bra on! And my toenails are always painted. You may be wondering why I'm rambling on about dressing like an eccentric homeless person. First because you're now forewarned what you'll see if you ever happen to be in the neighborhood and drop by unexpectedly for a cup of coffee. And second, because its on my mind tonight as we have company arriving tomorrow. So for the next 8 days I need to make an effort to dress like a normal person, including appropriate foundation garments, like a bra. I didn't realize how uncomfortable those damn horrid things were until I stopped wearing them around the house. Now that I know how comfortable it is let the tatas have their freedom, it's agony to restrict them with a bra.
All this introspection on my lack of style has given me an appreciation for my Aging Bathing Beauty. She just seems so comfortable, and quite at ease wearing nothing at all! I began applying her hair last night, and she still needs a necklace and earrings.
***Warning- as you scroll down there are photos of a naked old lady. If you're offended by the sight of naked old ladies, you may want to stop reading now and come back to visit on another day. Viewer discretion is adviced. Naked old people may be disturbing to some people!*** 
We had to run by the Bradenton Manasota Flooring showroom this afternoon to pick out grout for the kitchen back splash, and I remembered to take my camera. Our new best friend who saved our marriage, James Shondel, greeted us as soon as we walked into the showroom. After we picked out the grout color, James was kind enough to show me some of the most gorgeous tiles I've ever seen.
James knew I feel in love with the Hi Tech Saicis Tira Molla tile I spotted when we were in the showroom Saturday. It's so expensive I couldn't justify spending that much on a back splash, especially since we have so much more to do to the house. But I still fell hopelessly in love with it! I couldn't find much info on the internet about it, other than it's imported from Italy and is made from ceramic and semi-precious stones. Here are the two sirens that first sang to me, luring me to the display... I stood gazing at them as if I was memorized, I may have even drooled. I can't remember because I entered an altered state of consciousness. Click all photos to enlarge to full size- 
Excuse me, I got lost looking at those pictures again. Where were we? Knowing how much I loved these tiles, James took us on a tour around the store to see some other stunning works of art that pretended to be tiles. Oh my, it was sensory overload! If I ever win a multi million dollar PowerBall, I will have a home completely tiled in these gorgeous tiles- floors, walls, ceilings. Until then, I can visualize these beauties being used in mixed medium art work- on canvases or pieces like Big Frog and Giant Gecko.
Because I took so many pictures and there's so much to show you, I'll have to make several entries to get all the photos up.
... and how a mere $600 saved our marriage. We've been dragging our feet over tiling the kitchen backsplash, but needed to get it done before we started laying the laminate flooring. Our very first experience with tiling was when we did the sills of the bay windows. Although it wasn't physically hard to do, it was nerve wracking trying to get the tiles laid just so and even. I knew it would be even trickier doing the walls than the flat window sills, and we both were dreading this job. And then add in the fact that we've had more fights in the past few years over this renovating than we've had in the entire 25 years of our marriage. In our case, renovating does not equal martial bliss. There have been discussions with one of us announcing "That's it I've had it! I'm leaving!" To which the other responds "Over my dead body! You're not leaving me here in this mess- I'm leaving!" and "If you leave, you have to take Emmy". We often threaten each other with who has to take custody of the demon dog, Emmy.
Sooo... I suggested to Mike we hire someone to do the backsplash, and to my relief he jumped at it. We spent Saturday traipsing from one flooring store to another, and the fifth place turned out to be the place for us. Several of the stores would sell us the tiles but they didn't have staff that actually did the work and we'd have to hire a tiler from the list they would provide us. I didn't want to deal with that many people- hell, if we wanted to do that we would have just gone to Lowe's or Home Depot. But the last place, Manasota Flooring, have not only been in business for beaucoup years, they also had their own tilers to do the work. And to sweeten the deal, the guy that waited on us was personable and knowledgeable. At the other stores it was like pulling teeth to get info and they seemed bored to tears to even be talking to us. Anyway, so our new best friend asked us a few questions about the type of tiles we wanted, and then showed us the ones he thought we might like. OMG- decision time!
When we started renovating, I had no idea how hard it would be to make all these decisions. In my other homes, all I've had to decide is what color to paint the walls, which carpet to have laid, and select drapes. When you renovate the decisions start with what walls to take down and where to put new walls, and then what kind of walls, ceilings, lights and fans, cabinets, sinks, stove, fridge, flooring, windows, doors, bathtubs, toilets, and even the little things like switch plates and plugins. After making some bad choices earlier in the renovations, I've become terrified of making decisions. I'm so brain dead from making decisions, lately I can't even decide what I want for supper- just the choice between beef or chicken is too much. Okay, back to the tile story... We narrowed our choice down to the tiles in the photo below and brought the sample home to consider it over the weekend. We finally decided on the shade of the smaller tile in the upper left hand corner. Our new best friend came out to the house this afternoon to measure and give us an estimate. Everything including labor will be under a mere $600! We were giddy with relief! We have to go by the store tomorrow and select the color grout we want, and the tiling will be done before Dec. 1st. And we'll still be happily married. Tile = $250 Labor = $300 Happy Marriage = Priceless!
Finally we will have tile on this wall- 
And this wall-
When we go to the tile store tomorrow, I must remember to take my camera. You have to see the most beautiful tile we saw when we were there Saturday. I've never seen a tile like it- it's made from ceramic and semi-precious stones. And it costs a 2 kidney and 1 liver per foot, but damn, it's gorgeous.
I hadn't been into my studio for weeks, first because I was busy painting the living room, dining room and hallway, and then because I had the flu. But I decided Monday that enough was enough! So yesterday I told myself that at 1 p.m. I was going into the studio, turning on the stereo, turning off the outside world, and work on something for at least 4 hours. When I got in there, I remembered what a mess I'd left it in, and recalled that I had even posted photos of all my work surfaces buried under UFOs and supplies. Somehow I had conveniently forgotten all about that. I had a choice... I could begin cleaning and putting away supplies, and try to find somewhere out of the way to set the UFOs, or I could finish some of the UFOs with the supplies already setting out. It sounded easier, and like less work to just get busy finishing some pieces. The next thing I knew, it was 11 p.m. and I had finished all four of the tribal men. I did some shading on them, and then embellished them with copper wire, copper beads and findings (some of the findings were salvaged from old vintage jewelry), and turquoise beads. 
Though it doesn't look like Hurricane Ida will come close enough to bring us any badly needed rain, we have been getting a lot of wind.It was a challenge yesterday to even read the newspaper while sitting on the patio, with 20 mph winds and gusts up to 30mph. And the same is forecast for today.Though not as stressful for her as the sound of rain or thunder, Isabella doesn't enjoy the wind either. It's like she doesn't understand where it's coming from, so she stands around looking in all directions with apprehension, not sure what to make of it. 
That's kind of how I felt when I first heard the news about the Fort Hood massacre. I'd think a military base in our own country would be one of the safest places to be. What a cowardly act of senseless violence to gun down unarmed people! Thirteen people killed and 38 wounded.This guy is truly an evil bastard- I don't even want to dignify him by using his name. Soon after the shooting the news began trickling in that the gunman was a home grown Muslim with anti-American sentiments. Though I find all religions irrational, I'm particulary baffled by the Islamic religion that seems to produce so many people willing to kill others and themselves. I keep hearing how peaceful and loving the Islamic religion is, that the terrorist acts are commited by a small percentage of extremists, but I sure don't see any evidence of that.
But then I remember the Oklahoma City bombing- committed by good ol' home grown American men, and not a Muslim in the bunch. And it was just last week that the bodies of 11 women were found in a house in Cleveland- all raped and murdered by one man.
In fact, according to the FBI, "An estimated 16,272 persons were murdered nationwide in 2008." Spouses killing spouses, parents killing children, kids in one gang killing kids in another gang, strangers killing strangers, and the killing goes on and on, year after year.
So like Isabella, I stand around looking in all directions with apprehension and sadness, wondering from which direction danger will come. I don't know what the answer is to all the senseless killings. I guess as Bob Dylan said...
"How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind."
... when you have too much time on your hands. This damn flu sure took the zap out of me. Though I'm not sick like "sick in bed, wish I'd die" kind of sick now, I just haven't gotten my energy back. After a few hours of chores I'm pretty much pooped for the rest of day. And when I think about going into the studio to work on some UFOs, there's just no enthusiasm or a hint of creativity in me at the moment. So I kill time sitting on my ass cruising the internet. I was browsing through the Yahoo Most E-Mailed Photos and just about wet my pants laughing when I saw this GoGirl photo. And when I went to the GoGirl website, it just got funnier and funnier. Each page of the site was hilarious, I mean laugh out loud hilarious! (Or maybe I'm just so bored from languishing in the house, I'd find just about anything funny) It's like the commercial spoofs they do on SNL, only this product is for real.According to the website:"Only GoGirl is made with flexible, medical grade silicone. Dispose of it after use. Or clean and reuse as you like. (Urine is sterile, but the product can come into contact with contaminates during use, so take precautions when cleaning.) Our patented splash guard eliminates messing and spilling. Once you practice a time or two, using a GoGirl is going to feel like second nature. You won’t be like a man. You’ll just pee like one."
So you can shell out $6.99 every time you pee and throw them away, or carry a urine smelling piece of silicone around in your purse- I'm assuming no civilized person would wash their GoGirl in the sink of a public restroom where other people wash their hands, but would wait until they got home to use their own sink for something so disgusting. Oh- and for the outdoorsy gals they offer GoGirl in camouflage colored tubes. I guess the camouflage color wouldn't stand out as much as the pink tubes when discarded in the wilderness? I mean, come on, nobody wants to see pink tubes with used lavender mini- urinals stuffed back in them littering up the National parks. Remember America- we're going green! (I wonder how long it takes silicone to break down?) Anyway, if you're bored out of your mind and your life has no purpose, visit the GoGirl site and have some laughs. But for gawd's sake, if you buy any please don't tell me. I don't want to know any woman who would buy and use something so ridiculous.
And one more chuckle I got today was from an article about discount caskets now being sold by Walmart and Costco. If you buy a casket now at a discount price, where would you store it until you needed it? Or does your family place a rush order the minute you die and just hope it arrives before the funeral? Actually I'm all for not wasting money on burial expenses. I've never understood spending lots of money for a box to be buried in the ground. I've made Mike promise me that he will not pay to have me embalmed (many states don't require embalming), have me placed in a cardboard box, cremated and my ashes placed in a simple degradable container and tossed into the Gulf. But if you'd rather spend eternity in a coffin, check out Walmart and Costco. And if you get one now, you can add some of your own creative embellishments to it- go out artistically!
I'm sure you're all hoping I'll be feeling much better next week and back to work in my studio so you don't have to read any more posts like today's. But I'm not promising anything -
.. but I ran out of clean underwear and had to get up today to do laundry.
I felt absolutely dreadful last Wed. and thought it was allergies and a reaction to the paint fumes. So I gave the entire house a thorough cleaning- vacuumed, dusted, laundered all the bedding and rugs, and bathed the dogs. All the while I thought I would die, but told myself I'd feel better once the house was cleaned and all the allergens sucked up into the vacuum. But in the middle of the day Mike came home sick and by Thursday I realized we had the flu. I'm assuming it's that damn Mexican flu because it is rampant here in Florida. Last count I heard, there have been 140 deaths from this nasty bug. We seem to be over the worse of it now, and Mike went back to work today. The plus side to having the flu- I lost 5 lbs. and Mike lost 8 because not only does this flu make you cough until you feel like your ribs are broke, muscles so sore in your neck you can barely hold your head up, and a pounding headache, it also plays havoc with your tummy.
Instead of dressing up as planned and going to the big Zombie Fest that was held downtown on Halloween night, we laid around praying the Grim Reaper would come get us. He didn't. So here I sit waiting for the load of laundry I'm doing to finish so I can shower, put on clean undies and jammies, make the bed up with clean bedding, and then I'm going back to bed. And Bella will be back to laying on her sheet at the foot of the bed. 
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