My mother is driving me insane today...am i horrible or what? It all started because she is not feeling well....she just got her antibiotics switched because she wasn't tolerating the others. She had to see a doctor on call yesterday because of it...a doctors appointment on a Sunday, such a rarity...anyway...so she hasn't been feeling well. When she is like this, she is clingy and whiny and just wants me there, with her. So last night..i meant to have a nice relaxing bath and then go to bed..well mother wasn't having that. She wanted me to stay up with her because she was in a panic. Ok so i did...and it was almost 7am before i got into bed and was falling asleep... next thing i know someone is hitting the bed (i hate that) and calling my name, over and over and over again in a real annoying way. When i was able to open my eye and peer at the clock, it was 8.26am....i'd had about and hour and a half of sleep....and i felt like it too.

I tried to calm her down but she was having none of it...she gets herself all wound up and there is no consoling her. I was cranky and rather short with her. I am on medication to help me sleep and if i don't 'sleep it off' then i am often cranky and groggy. I tried to get her to allow me to sleep for a while but she was totally against it...so i resigned myself to waking up...it took my over 30minutes to totally wake up. Once awake, i still felt cranky and was short with her (and now i feel guilty for it) but i did my best to comfort her.

Part of her complaints was that her stomach was "on fire"...i suggested she have some breakfast. She wasn't convinced at first but i eventually talked her round and so i made her some oatmeal and toast with a big glass of milk. She ate some but not all and so i did the dishes and then sat with her, holding her hand, coddling her and trying to get her to calm down...all in vain.

At 11am her favourite game show comes on...she couldn't get interested in it at all...much to my dismay..i was really hoping for the welcome distraction, for her sake as well as mine. We sort of watched it...followed by Funniest Videos and then Family Feud, all her favs.

After that i just could not stay awake any longer...i explained to her that i had to sleep, i was feeling nauseous because i hadn't slept long enough and also i'd be better for her, more patient if i could just have a couple of more hours of sleep. She finally aquiesced and i got some much needed sleep. I slept for almost 3 hours, thankfully...but now i have a rotten headache...so i'm off to take some tylenol and then get ready to make dinner....no idea what i'll make tonight, leftovers from last nights dinner i think...but we shall see.

An award

I just found out i was awarded this award by Zirelda at http://zirelda.blogspot.com/

Award Rules

1) If you have received an award simply choose either the dark or light background image and save it to your files, then post it proudly on your blog!

2) Pass the award on to five other people, you can choose any of the awards from the series, you do not have to pass out the exact award you received. Choose whichever of the awards below that you'd like to give out. You can give out one of each or five of the same one, whatever you prefer.

3) You can change the size and color of awards to suit your blog, that's up to you, it's your blog, just leave the titles the same.

4) Please link back to this post so that people can read these rules and so that the meanings of the awards will not be lost.

5) If you feel that you or a friend are deserving of an award and no one has given one to you yet then email me at sayhitochristy(at)hotmail.com and tell me about your website.I would like to pass the award to:

Brie She is courageous because she is caring for her elderly ill mother (which is no small feat) I would like her to have the

A quiet Friday evening...not

All is not quiet on the homefront. Mother is till unwell and very clingy. I am trying to be patient with her and i'm doing a pretty good job of it but i have such a painful headache right now, my head is throbbing and my neck and shoulders are so tight..i definitely need a massage.

It's been a busy day..i had a lot of jobs to do today, cleaning actually...but i got it all done and squeezed in a nap while mother was asleep. I woke up to her calling my name... which isn't so bad normally but i woke up with this killer headache and it's right in the middle of my forehead...and i felt so groggy, as if i'd been drugged. Not good. Once i got her settled down it took me a while to come to...but i did eventually.

She has been relatively quiet since, which has been a relief... right now she is watching 1 vs 100 and while i usually enjoy the show, it just seems loud and is driving me nuts.

Well i am off to do a load of laundry, but i'll be back.

Mother isn't feeling the greatest, not since last week. Last Thursday i had to take her to the doctors because she was doing poorly...and he put her on antibiotics for a kidney infection. That medication seemed to make her feel worse and bothered her stomach and so i had to call on Monday and they switched the antibiotic and so far it hasn't helped.

When mother isn't feeling well...you kind of have to walk on egg shells with her...she cries at the drop of a hat. Say something wrong, she cries...ask how she's feeling, she cries. She has always been a crier but when she isn't feeling well, it seems to be overly exaggerated.

I haven't been out to have my walk yet. I am feeling down...when mother is like this it really gets to me...i mean i try to be a patient person and for the most part i am but when she is like this it is hard to deal with. I will just have to grin and bear it to the best of my ability.

Tonight i am making pork chops in a garlic/mushroom sauce with rice. I wish i could make it ahead of time...because i'd like to make it now, but i've never done it like that, so i'll just wait and do it later....at least i know what's for dinner. Lately i've been struggling to come up with ideas...i seem to be in a bit of a meal rut...always making the same things and getting utterly and completely bored with it. I need to add some new meal ideas to my repertoire...any ideas, keeping in mind i am cooking for four and i prefer plain and simple yet tasty.

Any help would be appreciated. = )

Monday morning

The weekend was a good one, very productive but also relaxing. Friday night i did groceries...this time my sister came with me and it was great having two extra hands. We got tons of stuff and it took me ages to get put away once we got back home with it.

Friday night was just tv viewing and then when it got late, i watched the Big Brother live feeds on the internet. I paid for them last week and i've been enjoying them ever since...yes i'm a BB addict.

Saturday i tidied up around here. S was babysitting her grandsons for the day at their house and M was working so it was just mother and i here. When my sister got home, she'd gone shopping with the boys and purchased a bin/shelf type thing for us to store our veggies in because we are always struggling with room in the fridge for everything...so now we can store out potatoes and onions and whatnot in the bins. Very cool...i am a sucker for things like that. It was fun loading all of the stuff into them since we'd just done groceries and had lots in.

Saturday night was another night of tv viewing...not a lot on and by 11pm i was tired and went to bed....i only slept for a few hours then i was awake...playing some games online then watched some BB....i'll miss that when it's over...but thankfully a ways to go before that happens.

Sunday i went and picked up a few more groceries, mainly fruit. We've all been on a kick here for cherries and so i bought more of those...and some grapes and various other things. I was up and out of the house by 9am so there weren't many people at the grocery store...i love that.

When i got home from shopping, i put it all away...S had made breakfast for mother and she was doing the dishes when i got back. That all done...i vacuumed and tidied up again and then settled in with my sister to watch some stuff she'd taped during the week. We both do that, tape stuff during the week to watch on the weekend when there is usually nothing on. I did laundry and then laid down for a nap....by that time i was very tired. When i woke up it was almost 5pm and S had dinner going, yum. We had spaghetti and meatballs with pork cutlets, salad and garlic bread. After we ate ( we were all stuffed) S and i did dishes...they were done in a flash, thankfully...and then we settled in for Sunday night viewing. This year BB is on on Sunday nights as opposed to the Saturday nights that it used to be on. I confess, while i do like it on Sunday nights..i miss having it on Saturday...because there really isn't a lot on Saturday night, apart from Cops.

Well...that was my weekend...looks like today is shaping up to be a good day...so i will go and get on with it...i hope you have a great day today.

Thursdays thoughts

It is warm out today, a bit sunny but sort of humid, not my favourite kind of day.

Mother isn't feeling well at all, so i had to call the doctors to see if i could get her in to see the doctor. Turns out they are swamped, doublebooked...seems the doctor is going on holidays soon and so everyone is trying to get in to see him. If they don't see her, she is hoping they will send her an antibiotic...with her lungs they way they are, it's a safe bet they will.

I had my walk this morning and didn't really enjoy it...i think, since i am a creature of habit, that i need to change up my route...as i'm bored with the same scenery. Will have to do that tomorrow..don't want to be discouraged from going for my walks, they really do set the pace for the rest of my day.

Big Brother is on tonight and it is an elimination night...i am anxious to see who will be going home...that and the results of So You Think You Can Dance will mean a good nights viewing.

I had better post this and get my work done then i can just relax tonight.

Have a good one.

What's for Dinner?

Today is another headache day. I didn't wake up with it though...it just came on a little while ago. I've had my walk, fed mother but i've yet to tidy up or do dishes...but i will... but this headache crept up on me. I wasn't expecting it, there were no signs...it just arrived, like a fog that overcomes a city in a sinister sort of way. So here it is...now what shall i do.

Well firstly i will tidy up the kitchen and get the dishes all done and then will get all of the recycling together, then take that all down so it's all sorted out.

I will take some tylenol at some point, but not too soon. This kind of tylenol has caffeine and codeine in it and so it will often make me sleepy...and while i do want to nap, i don't want to nap right now.

Perhaps the headache is weather related. It is overcast and there is the threat of rain and thunderstorm activity. Maybe it is lack of sleep. I was up late watching those Big Brother live feeds...well i did pay good money to watch them. = )

Today i also need to figure out what to have for dinner tonight...any ideas, what are you having?

Big Brother live feeds...oh the frustration

Today i have a very painful headache. Whenever i've heard people describe migraines, it often sounds like the pain and symptoms that i have but my doctor says, based on the location of my pain and the fact that my neck and shoulders get all tense, that it is a tension headache.

I am not surprised that i am tense, uptight. I've had quite the morning.

Firstly, i had my walk this morning and that was as enjoyable as it usually is...i feel i'm on my way to losing the extra weight i've gained being home, looking after mother...but when i got home from my walk, i thought i'd turn on the Big Brother feeds, which i bought and paid for, only to have problems getting the feed to work. An hour later and much frustration, a friend suggested i do a system restore. A nifty tool that has come in handy for me before...so i set it back to a day earlier when i'd created a save point...and bingo, boingo...it was reset...only i forgot the changes i'd made would be lost. So the thirty or so icons that i'd painstakingly changed to lovely little flowers to match my wallpaper...all gone. Grrrr.. so now i'll have to work on that today as it drives me a bit crazy, i like my desktop to be pretty (call me anal)...so i have all that to work on...when mother asked for her breakfast.

Okay, i'm guilty as charged...i got caught up in my computer stuff and the time slipped away from me..i got right on it. She wanted a toasted english muffin and a hot cup of tea. I can do that, sure no problem....only i go into the kitchen to a sink full of dirty dishes soaking in less than clean soapy water....(my nephew is notorious for leaving such messes for me, grrrr) and since i can't stand to have dishes soaking..i drained the water and filled it up with clean, soapy water and washed the dishes...then put the muffin in the toaster so it would toast as i was doing dishes...and put the kettle on to boil.

After i got the dishes done, i noticed the butter dish was ....EMPTY...yet another thing my nephew does...puts it back in the cupboard empty, needing to be washed and another pound put in. Grrr...yes well we do have margerine too (my sister and i prefer it to butter) but mother doesn't care for it....so after i washed the dish, i went to break the news to my mother...surprisingly she was fine, said use margerine just not too much. Sure, i can do that...by the time i got back to the kitchen, the muffin had popped and the kettle had boiled. Mother requested the muffin be well toasted..so i pushed it back down and thought to myself...that i won't let it go the whole time...only i got busy making the tea...and then the muffin popped again...too dark if you ask me, so i began to butter it (well, margerine it) and then i remember the tea bag was in the water...ooops, mother doesn't like her tea very strong...so i quickly grabbed that out and finished the muffin, adding some unsweetened jam (not mothers fav, it's mine but it's all we have right now) to her very dark muffin. Sigh. I was sure she would complain but she didn't, thank goodness...and happily ate it..thankfully she likes it dark..and when i say dark i mean almost burnt, dark. Yuck!

While mother was eating i decided to try out the Big Brother feed... but did it work...nooooo....i started to think i might cancel this if it continues... but then the one time i tried it, i got a message suggesting i try to adjust the setting which during connectivity, allowed more time...so i changed the number and tried again...nope, didnt work but it suggested i try again to adjust the setting..so i did...still no...then i tried it one more time...and lo and behold it connected, yay! By this time my shoulders and neck were/are so tense..i really don't handle stuff like this very well. Soooo, i get the feed going...only to connect and see that all of the houseguests are still sleeping...Sigh. I'll try again later but at least i'll know how to get it working...i hope.

That's been my day so far. Wanted to go for groceries today but i have a bad headache...did i mention that?

Boy it's been a while since i've actually sat down and posted something. I've been in a real fog lately... well, not so much of a fog but a funk...yeah that's it, a funk.

One good thing of late is that i've been walking every day and lost 4 pounds, which is wonderful. I've been getting up in the morning, throwing on my baseball cap to cover up my bedhead and heading out the door....and it's been great, i've really kept at it a nd it's doing me the world of good. The only thing that would make it better is if i had a friend to walk and chat with along the way...or a dog, that would be wonderful, to have a dog again.

Though i haven't been writing here, i have still be reading blogs and thoroughly enjoying them...i'll have to add them to my list as there are a few. I just really enjoy sitting down at my computer to read...now i'll have to get back into the swing of things and sit down, not only to read...but to write too!

Last week or so, Big Brother started here. Well, it's the American version because we don't have one in Canada...but i'm hooked yet again, so much so that i paid the $40usd to watch the live feeds online...and oh boy am i addicted. The last couple of nights since i purchased it, i've been up till 4am or so, watching...i can barely pull myself away... am i pathetic or what.

One girl though, i have to tell you about...her name is Jessica and last night i guess she washed her hair and was blowing it dry and the camera was on her and i swear she blew it dry, very meticulously for 30mins...more than the time she took but it was the way she did it, almost focusing on each hair and section of hair and took painstakingly care to dry to her roots too...gosh i couldn't stop watching and when she was done i felt totally inept with the way i dry my hair...i mean i don't even dry my hair totally, i always thought that was bad for your hair...so i just do the basic shaping and let it finish drying on it's own. Am i wrong...how long does it take to dry your hair?

I'm very curious to know....

Word of the day...

Word of the Day for Friday, July 13, 2007

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:

A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

Wish i could say that i haven't been posting regularly because i've been off enjoying the summer...but nothing could be further from the truth. About the only thing i'm really enjoying about this summer is the air conditioning...i mean it.

I don't know why but i've always preferred winter...i love the cold, the snow...the winter sports, the spiffy winter garments..jackets, scarves..mittens (or gloves)...all of it....so when winter was over and thoughts of summer prevailed...i got depressed and i've been depressed ever since.

Not seriously depressed...but enough to know that i'm just biding my time till summer is over and fall hits with the promise of winter soon behind.

...is that a snowflake i see....nah, just some heavy-duty wishful thinking.

Had a nice, relaxing weekend. Most weekends are but this one was especially...and mother has been in a good mood and that makes it that much better.

Cherries are in season and we've all been on a kick for them...which means i've had to go out shopping twice this week to pick up some, even after my sister picked up a basket of them from the farmers market that she visits weekly from her downtown office. All i can say is, they've been yummy!

That's one thing i enjoy during the summer, all the fresh fruit. Had some lovely watermelon the other day and i can't hardly wait for the peaches to come in during August, yum!

So Big Brother started last Thursday...and was on again tonight. I don't know if Sunday night will be a regular night for it, but i enjoy the fact that it's usually on three nights a week. Will take some getting used to the guests in the house and the fact that there is one guy in the house that is America's player, which basically means he'll be doing whatever America votes for him to do. Will be interesting to see how that plays out. I know i'll be tuned in.

What did you do this weekend?

Have you ever had a day where all you wanted to do was go back to bed.

Sure it started out alright, things were fine...i woke up around 9am and i usually, after a visit to the bathroom, get cups of water for both my mother and me....usually in plastic cups, but today was different. I needed to wash the cups and i was thirsty, so i grabbed an actual glass from the cupboard to get a drink until i did the dishes...i ran the water and filled the glass and put the glass to my mouth, when it slipped from my fingers and crash, it shattered on the kitchen floor.

That cleaned up and sorted out, i did the dishes...an assortment of dishes besides our favourite water cups...so i washed them all and put them in the tray to drip dry...when my nephew brought a plate that he'd been eating off of...and handed it to me...but apparently i didn't make the grab correctly and smash, it fell to the floor, breaking in a few pieces.

I am generally a patient person but two things in one morning, grrrrr!

So i cleaned that mess up, grabbed our ice water and carried the glasses into the bedroom. I set mine down and it set it down on top of a loose pill on my bedside table and the water spilled all over the table and floor. Sigh. I cleaned up that mess, which thankfully, didn't include any broken glass and sat down to take my morning pills.

By that time i had a small headache...so took some tylenol, along with the other pills and that was the beginning of my day.

Mother had her breakfast, then lunch...and all dishes are safe and sound...so far, but the night is still young.

The Rules: Use ONE WORD for each answer

Yourself: sad

Your Spouse: none

Your Hair: straight

Your Mother: difficult

Your Father: deceased

Your Favorite Item: computer

Your Dream Last Night: scary

Your Favorite Drink: water

Your Dream Car: tt

Your Dream Home: safe

The Room You Are In: bedroom

Your Fear: death

Where You Want To Be In Ten Years: married

Who You Hung Out With Last Night: mother

You’re Not: disciplined

One of Your Wish List Items: camera

The Last Thing You Did: read

You Are Wearing: tshirt

Your Favorite Weather: snowy

Your Favorite Book: funny

Last Thing You Ate: fudgesicle

Your Life: boring

Your Mood: melancholy

Your Best Friend: Rich

What Are You Thinking About Right Now: bed

What Are You Doing At The Moment: blogging

Relationship Status: single

What Is On Your TV: CNN

What Is The Weather Like: cool

When Is The Last Time You Laughed: yesterday

Gosh, i haven't blogged in a while...time just slips away, doesn't it.

All is relatively fine here...except i had a small accident, i slipped on the wet floor and bruised my ribs, which doesn't sound like much but it is very painful. Sometimes it feels okay but then i move in a certain way and ouch, it hurts...very bad. At times it just hurts to breathe...and getting up or sitting down is painful too.... other than that, life has been good.

Mother is doing relatively well and has been in a good mood, which always makes life easier. Tonight we watched the concert for Princess Diana and i have to say i really enjoyed it and found parts of it very moving, especially the song Diddy did...i guess it was the things he was saying too as well as the lyrics to that particular song.

At the end of the concert, the Princes spoke, thanked everyone and then they showed some video of Diana as a baby/child...she was such a beautiful person, in body and in spirit. I still remember the night i heard that she died...i called my sister and the two of us, each in shock, talked and watched the news reports together. We were so sad and we cried...and even now, i still can't believe she is gone.

After the concert, we watched Mystery on PBS and then some stuff i'd taped during the week, mostly episodes of Who Wants to be a Millionaire....the episodes were good but Meredith is absent and they have a guy from the UK that i've never heard of, filling in for her. We still enjoyed them though.

Now i am here, blogging...but not much to say...so perhaps i'll go to bed and blog tomorrow.

It's good to be back.

Happy Birthday Canada!