As I was reading the Rutland Herald this morning I noticed a small article written by someone at the Associated Press. I could not believe this story as it seemed to be too out there to be true. Bubbie & I were at her Bone Builders' class so I read it to the group... everyone laughed, and everyone agreed that it could not be true. Oh yeah... the story... it seems that a woman in Wichita, Kansas had spent the last two years sitting on her boyfriends toilet... so long that not only was her butt stuck to the seat, but it appeared that her skin had grown around the seat. Yes, you read it right... too bizarre to be true right? Wrong! I got back to Bubbie's fully intending to send the story on to Jay Leno... he would love this one... but before I could do that my friend Audrey called to say to turn on the TV to CNN Headline News... unbelievably the story was true... they had to take her to the hospital toilet seat and all. Man, you just can't make this stuff up!

Ciao for now... Bubbie & Me

Thought for the day: "I think everyone should treat one another in a Christian manner. I will not, however, be responsible for the consequences." - George Carlin

Today Bubbie & I traveled to Bennington to have lunch with an old family friend, Mildred Rose. She lives at the very lovely Village at Filmore Pond. There are many bright spots to this wonderful facility, but I would have to say that their best asset is their staff, particularly their restaurant staff. These girls not only make it their business to learn the names of all their residents, but they know what foods they like and don't like, they know what they like to drink whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, they do their work with a smile on their face and patience in their every move... all wait staff should be so kind, capable, and intuitive!

Ciao for now... Bubbie & Me

Thought for the day: "Never lose a chance of saying a kind word." - William Makepeace Thackeray

Today I went to Scotia, NY to take Aunt Ellie out to dinner for her 82nd birthday along with my cousin Billy and his beautiful and funny better half Margaret. We were also going to meet Margaret's sister Linda (also beautiful and very, very funny), her husband Paul and their friend Dave. I was looking forward to it, but it was not to be. I received a call from my mother while we were shopping at Walmart, a frantic call I might add, to either stay over or start home that minute... it seems that Pittsford's roads were glare ice. Since I did not have any clothes, etc. with me I had to head home instead of having a nice dinner with good friends. As I headed home I thought of two things: 1) there was no ice on the roads until I was in Whitehall, NY, a mere 20 miles from home so I probably could have stayed for dinner, and 2) I made a hell of a long trip just to shop at Walmart! The prices are not THAT good.

Ciao for now... Bubbie & Me

Thought for the day: "You know what my drink is? Jack Daniels. That's a wild man drink. That should come with bail money. Because on Jack you never know where you'll end up, but you know when you get there, you won't be wearing any pants." - Dave Attell

Today is voting day in Vermont. It is an honor, and everyone eligible should get out there and exercise their constitutional right.

Before I took Bubbie to vote, her son Mark wanted her to hear a few commercials from Democratic nominee hopeful, Barak Obama, via the computer. As we were listening to the commercials Bubbie's daughter-in-law, Sandra, came in and somehow we went from discussing the differences between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Obama, to discussing gerbils in the tuchas... butt to you gentiles out there! Now, I know what you are thinking at this point...how did they get from discussing politics to talking about gerbils up the butts? That is a very good question, and even though I was right there in the room I could not, even if my life depended on it, answer you... I seriously have no clue... and even funnier, Bubbie had to ask, "what's a gerbil?" While we are on the subject of gerbils and tuchas'... is this practice fact or myth? (I have to ask)

Ciao for now... Bubbie & Me

Thought for the day: "What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican? A Democrat blows, a Republican sucks." - Lewis Black

Finally it's Sunday... and we all know what that means... I get to go to my guy Jack's place. Yeah!!!!! It's the most incredible thing... even with 2 dogs, 3 cats (one that hates me being there), and my 11-week old kitten; it is the most peaceful place on earth to me. A calmness takes over my body, and for those of you who know me well you have to admit that the word calm does not usually come up when describing my personality.

It's hard for me to leave come Monday morning, but I do... little Jack and I go home and he spends the first few hours looking for his playmates and I spend the first few hours getting ready to be pulled into many different directions as the rest of the week gets under way. I am not complaining mind you...I wouldn't trade it for anything. And the best thing of all? I have all week to look forward to my special Sunday with Jack and the gang!

Ciao for now... Bubbie & Me

Thought for the day: "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close knit family in another city." - George Burns

Today my mother and I had to bring my father to the emergency room. I am sorry that he was not feeling well, but over the next 5 hours of being in the ER I came closer than I ever have in my lifetime to kicking his Tuchas... I felt like a Klippeh, and that isn't a good thing! After finally being tended to, we were told that the doctor would be back in one hour... after the lab results and chest x-rays were ready to read.

During that one-hour my mother and I were asked, every 30 seconds no less, what was going on? What was he waiting for? When could he go home? And where were the darn (I had to clean up the language) nurses? Seriously, I wanted to throttle him. When I calmly tried to reason with him, telling him it had not been an hour yet and that he was not the only one in the ER he very calmly told me to "kiss his a--." Okay, so that was actually a funny moment cause he really wanted to scream it to the heavens but restrained himself... he looked like his head was going to pop off his shoulders!

Then he kept trying to get us to take off the heart monitor, the blood pressure cuff, and the oxygen sensor but we wouldn't, so he threatened to take it off himself. How did we respond? Go right ahead, it won't affect us so what did we care. He's pretty clever though, because he didn't want to get in trouble with the doctors so his thinking was that he couldn't be reprimanded if it was one of us taking it off, and not him... always thinking that one!

Finally we were spared more antics... the doctor came back in to tell us that the labs show he probably had a mild heart attack and he recommended that my dad stay overnight in the hospital. By his carrying on you might have thought that he was just personally asked to give birth to triplets or something... geez! Needless to say he went home, back to his own comfy chair... after all, one must be comfortable when stressing their spouse to the breaking point because of their stubbornness don't you think?

Ciao for now... Bubbie & Me

Thought for the day: "'Home, sweet home' must surely have been written by a bachelor." - Samuel Butler

It seems like it has been forever since we last "met." This past weekend I went on a quick trip to North Carolina for my oldest and dearest friend Jennifer's 50th birthday surprise party. She is 50 and fabulous and was absolutely stunned when she saw that beside myself, her parents and youngest sister and her family also drove down from Vermont to surprise her! I really hope that out of the 30 cameras at the party someone got her reaction as it finally registered on her face that we were standing in front of her... the look and emotion was priceless!

It was a long trip for me, but it was well worth it. I drove straight through the night Thursday, 800+ miles and 14+ hours later I was in my brothers kitchen in Lexington, NC. surprising my nieces. The surprise birthday party for my friend was Saturday night in a little town called Mt.Airy, NC (remember the Andy Griffith show?) about 50 miles away. I returned to my brothers and headed to Virginia Beach Sunday morning to see my cousin Linda and her family. I drove over 2000 miles round trip from Thursday to Sunday... arriving back into Vermont at 6:00am Monday morning... and even though I'm exhausted I would not have missed it for anything!!

People tell me I'm crazy, but I love to drive and long trips have never bothered me. When I was in school in Minnesota I would drive 24 hours straight home to Vermont when I could string 4 or 5 days off from work and school. I have to add that I travel best alone... I can sing along to my cd's when I want to without having someone comment that I sound like a wounded animal of some sort. I made the mistake of taking my baby sister on a trip last November and it is a mistake I will not make twice!

Now I'm back to reality and the day-to-day hustle and bustle. Bubbie was finally able to return to her Bone builders class today and afterwards at lunch she ate everything on her plate plus a large slice of chocolate cake... I'd say she's back!!

Ciao for now... Bubbie & Me

Thought for the day: "Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from!" - Al Franken

Bubbie needs some magic dust to make her feel better, so if anyone out there has some please come and spread it around. It is taking way too long for her to get better, and the walls are beginning to close in around us, and if I didn't know any better I would swear that Bubbie is trying to poison any fluids I drink just for the sport of it. She has this weird color to her eyes if you know what I mean.

Everyone have a good weekend... no... football... what am I to do? See you on Tuesday unless Bubbie gets me first!

Ciao for now... Bubbie & Me

Thought for the Day: "Conservatives say if you don't give the rich more money, they will lose their incentive to invest. As for the poor, they tell us they've lost all incentive because we've given them too much money." - George Carlin

Happy Valentines Day to all of you out there... young and old, single or not. This is the first year in many that I actually have a valentine... and it feels great... not that I will be spending any time with him today since we live so far apart from each other. I'll have to get by with a phone call and the thought of seeing him this weekend.

Bubbie & I actually got out of the house today for the first time in a couple of weeks. I think the fresh air is good for her. We couldn't make the Bone Builders exercise class, but we were able to make the luncheon at the Manchester Town Hall. As usual it was delicious and I think Bubbie liked being fawned over by everyone. Not that she likes the attention or anything... yeah right!

By the way, when are we going to stop listening to the weather reports? Where is the 6-10 inches we were supposed to get yesterday?

Thought for the day: "Do you know why it's so hard to solve a Redneck murder?... 'Cause there's no dental records and all the DNA is the same." - Jeff Foxworthy

This has been a tough week for all. I had thought that Bubbie & I were both getting better, but after a horrible night I've decided that I don't feel better at all, and poor Bubbie sounds better, but is very weak. I know what the problem is... THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS LOST THE SUPER BOWL!!! It has zapped us both of our strength and our sense of humor!

I'm sorry that we have deprived you of the goings on at our weekly Bone Builders class and the rowdy lunch crowd. There is no telling what juicy piece of gossip we have missed out on! We should all cross our fingers that Bubbie feels better next week so we can get out and stir up some trouble. Bubbie is not the greatest patient on the planet, so getting her out of the house would do us both a world of good!

Enjoy your weekend... personally I am looking forward to being snowed in with my new beau Jack!

Ciao for now... Bubbie & Me

Thought for the Day: "I don't want to tell you how much insurance I carry with the Prudential, but all I can say is: when I go, they go too." - Jack Benny