9/7 No labor Labor Day

Went out to lunch with Jane and Sarah, then an exciting jaunt to KMart. I've written one article today and have one more to do. Plus one more load of laundry. Yep, I've put everything off until the last moment as usual.


Today's Reality TV article--Big Brother 11: I want you to be in the final two with me

8-15 Back home

After a fantastic vacation, I'm back to normal. (Normal?) Am working on publishing photos on Facebook, but am running into just a little trouble. I promise they'll be there by tomorrow.

Today was great--my sisters, niece Sarah, and I volunteered at HELP which is a back to school extravaganza, providing many needed services for kids going back to school. Back to school physicals, sports physicals, dental exams, clothing, haircuts, school supplies and backpacks, and probably more--all these services were offered today. It was wonderful. The other family members have been doing it for four or five years, but this is my first one. Won't be my last.

Then afterward a whole bunch of us met at Cassano's for Jane's belated birthday lunch. It was fun and delicious.

Tonight's article is: Euthanasia: Australian with quadraplegia has right to die.

6/22 I didn't win

Went to the Hyundai/Honda dealer to check my numbers from the newspaper and guess what? I didn't win $50,000. Okay, check that off my to-do list.

Enjoyed work today. I really think I helped some people. Found someone else who sees Jane for medical services. Lots of people seek mental health services after seeing Jane. You do the math.

Tonight's article is Chris Brown plea bargains a deal.

Now for dinner--thanks, Cindy, for the pasta salad. I can't wait to dive in.

5-23-09 A great start to the weekend

Went to WW this morning and lost another three pounds so that makes me smile.

After breakfast with Jane and family, Gus and I went to work for a few hours. I have my new office pretty well organized. Now I just need to get some work done, which I'll do on Memorial Day.

Tonight we went for dinner at Jan and Tim's. Oh my it was so good and the weather was perfect. Gus had fun with their three dogs.

Tonight's article: The 90-years-plus club

5/18 Yum

Had another hard day at work, and Jane gave me some homemade soup. I don't have to cook tonight. As soon as I'm finished publishing this, I'm diving in. And she gave me a WW dessert too. Yay.

Tonight's article is Mothers have great influence over children's social skills

5/16 A good (and lazy) Saturday

Jane and I weighed in at WW and both did very well. Then Gussie and I went to the office for more than three hours. Afterward I came home and have been sleeping off and on. Have a terrible headache--a sure sign the weather will get bad again. Maybe it's a stress headache though and not related to weather at all. We'll see. And stress is probably why I'm so tired. But I move offices on Wednesday even though I'm still "the boss" until June 1.

Am on call right now so my slumber has been interrupted by crisis calls. How dare they! :)

Tonight's article is In the military you don't want anyone to think you're "crazy" (Hey, I have to have interesting titles to get people to read the articles.)

5/1 Relaxing

I took the afternoon off and am happy. This afternoon I bought more goodies for my garden. Can't wait to plan more items, but may have to wait for Rob and Beata to arrive for some help. Jan said she may have time soon to do more planting. I'm okay either way.

Went to dinner at Maya tonight with Jan, Jane, Kris, and Sarah. It was delicious as usual. Then I wrote an article about racism--and mentioned Maya in it.

The flu virus isn't as bad as the racism virus

4/25/09 Another good day

Gus and I had a fun day. This morning I (without my faithful companion) went to Great Debate books downtown. Off Broadway, the coffee house located inside, had free coffee and food for QU professors and adjuncts. I met some nice people, including reconnecting with Jimmy's old girlfriend, Barb, who reminded me of when they would come over to John's and my house on Maine Street. (Not brother John, husband John.)

Then I picked up Gus and we went to my office for a few hours. Following that, a leisurely trip to the pet store and we saw Cindy out in the parking lot. She was buying more flowers for her beautiful garden.

This afternoon Jane called and asked if I wanted to go to Jan's for dinner and I yelled SURE! The food was awesome and so was the company. Just got home and finished up the article I'd started earlier in the day.

Now you can 'think' instead of type your Twitter message

4/23 Happy birthday, dear Gussie....

Happy birthday to the Guster. He's one today and is having a slumber party at Alpha Dog. I didn't get home from work until after 8 so he stayed out there.

Hope to have a nice lunch with my sisters tomorrow afternoon. Hope it works out. Love to all.

If you want a happy child, move to the Netherlands

4/18 Up and down all day

UP: This morning early Gussie and I went to my office and I caught up on a lot of work. Then we went to the Barkus Parade and Mardi Paws at Washington Park. I bet there were 200 dogs there. Gus loved it. So many butts to smell.

DOWN: Right after the weiner dog races it started pouring and we had two blocks to walk to get to the car.

UP: Came home and took a nap.

DOWN: Wrote an article about an 11 year old boy who committed suicide last week after being bullied. A picture of the young man accompanies the article and makes me sad.

UP: Jane called and asked if I wanted to go to the Chinese buffet with them. Hence I'm ending on an up note. (Burp!)


Article: Did bullies cause boy's suicide? Are they liable for his death?

4/4 Nice surprise

Jane and I went out to dinner by ourselves tonight. It was really nice. Went to Gem City. Then went to Kohl's and did some damage. Thanks for asking, Jane. I had a really nice time.

Gus and I walked a mile today. Yay. But first we stopped in Joe and Cindy's yard. We saw Kirby in the backyard so I let Gus and Kirby run and play awhile. Don't know where Cindy and Joe were, but it didn't matter. I sat in the sun on their swing and enjoyed watching the dogs.

Jill, Todd, and the kids are officially on their cruise. I spoke to them today as they were driving down to Long Beach. The kids are really excited. Kayla said the best part will be the "formal dinners." She can't wait to dress up. Plus she said they can have dessert with every meal. :)

Tonight's article is Studies say 'no' to vaccines as autism cause

3/21 An odd day

A year ago today I moved from Biloxi to Quincy. Wow, time has flown by.

I'd planned to work on my class for QU and to write my article. But Jane and I went shopping at CJ Banks--40% off of everything in the store. Couldn't resist that. And the great thing is that Cindy took Gussie for a walk while I was shopping. I'm so grateful. Afterward we went to lunch with the rest of her family. Then went to TJ Maxx.

While there I got a crisis call (am on call this week). Had to go to Pittsfield to help out a colleague. So poor Jane and Sarah had to take me home to get my car. Jane suggested I take Gussie with me. I wouldn't have thought of that--but it was a great idea, Jane. We got to spend time together--one hour drive there and one hour drive back. The hour I was in the sheriff's office he slept, so it worked out well. Thanks for the idea, Jane.

Tonight's article is a real downer, but a sign of the times. Suicide forest.

3/15 Today

Gus and I went to Starbuck's this morning and I worked there until 12:30 pm. It was a beautiful day to be outside and Gus behaved really well. Only greeted people when they wanted to be greeted. It was a good day.

This evening I'm going to the funeral home with my sisters for the wake of an old neighbor. Sad.



Tonight's article is Mass murderers: Similarities and differences

3/6 I still love Cindy

After I got home from work I put Gus's collar on to take him for a walk. Then I noticed Jane's and Sarah's cars at Joe and Cindy's. So Gus and I stopped by. Gus visited with Kirby, while I talked to the humans.

Cindy was wrapping some presents for Jane, so I ran home and got my present and wrapping paper and she did mine too. Not only that, she ended up taking Gussie for a walk with Kirby. So I was doubly rescued. Thanks a million, Cin.


Tonight's article: Rihanna/Chris Brown: More information revealed

3/1 Update on lots of stuff

First, a cat peed on the clean towels I was folding on my bed. When I was there! And they had a brand spanking clean litter box. Am not 100% sure but I think it was Bozie. At least Allie looked innocent. Maybe that's her ploy.

Second, Gussie pooped on the floor. At least he waited until I wasn't there.

So now I'm washing my sheets and blankets as well as the towels again. What a day.

At least I had fun this morning. I went to church with Jan and Jane and we did some shopping for the shower(s). In between we also had lunch at Nothing Special. It was nice to spend time with them.

And Jill is now an official referee for youth soccer in Southern California. I'm so proud of you, sweetie.

Tonight I published an update-- Update: Reporter lives on food stamps

12/6 New member of the family

We stopped at the Humane Society today and I came home with another kitten. Her name is Hazel Alice and am calling her Allie.

So I have Grandpa Gussie (Gus), Grandma Bozie (Bozie), Hazel Alice (Allie). The dog loves both of them but the two kittens aren't friendly yet. I'm sure it will happen soon.

Jane, Jordan, and Sarah stopped by for a while this afternoon and played some Wii games. We had a really good time. Then tonight Sarah and I went to see Twilight. It was really REALLY good.

Now I'm going to continue my coughing regimen. I'm going to set a world record.

11/15 I hit the family jackpot

I'm always wanting to be with family on the weekend and I really hit the jackpot today. I spent all afternoon with Jane and Sarah, having lunch and shopping (lots of that). Our lunch was free because it took so long to get to us. That was cool.

And in about an hour and a half I'm going to have dinner with a huge bunch of family. Yay. I love it.

This morning Gussie and I went to the Padua Pet Parade at Quincy University. KHQA-TV interviewed me, while holding Gus, and it's supposed to be on the 10 PM news tonight. In the middle of the interview Gus jumped out of my arms, so we'll see if they air it. :)

It was a fun experience, even though it was mega cold and windy. I look forward to doing this again next year. It was a fundraiser for the Quincy Humane Society.

9/20 Not much new

Still sick. But I'm getting better I'm sure--I now have antibiotics and a fierce cough medicine (thanks, Jane and Jan). Slept most of yesterday and a lot of today, so that's got to be doing something good for me. Took Gus for our usual Saturday morning Starbucks excursion, and instead of going in to work, came home and slept again.

My nephew Cody took Gussie for a walk this afternoon. That's about all the exercise the dog's gotten for a few days--he and the cat have been sleeping with me all day. They sure are sweet.

In about an hour or so the entire family will meet for my sister-in-law Paulette's 60th birthday party. I know they'll have a wonderful time, even if the life of the party can't attend. :) Sure wish I could go, but Typhoid Mary needs to stay home.

I should start feeling normal by tomorrow (whatever normal is).

Oh, found out last night that my daughter-in-law Beata has pneumonia. I feel so bad for her, but glad it's getting taken care of now. They're coming to visit in two weeks so she should be all better by then. I can't wait to have a full house--with Rob, Beata, Jill, Kayla, and Hunter. It's going to be great.

8/13 Surrounded by saints

Jan stopped by at lunch and took care of Gus. Cindy picked him up after lunch. When I got home at 8 PM Joe and Cindy brought Gus home and also gave me a huge salad and a huge brownie. As I said, I'm surrounded by saints.

And St. Jane is doing taxi duty for my epidural on Friday, although Jan said she may go too.

Here's the non-saintly part. They're going to go to lunch while I'm having my spine stuck with a needle the size of Cleveland. Ah well...

8/8 Happy birthday to Jane

Of course Joe has blogged Jane's birthday, but I wanted to acknowledge it too. She's born in 54 and is 54 today. Also today is 8/8/08--what a special day.

Can't wait for all of us to spend time together tomorrow. Love you sis.

7/31 Say hello to Charlie

Yep, Snickers is now Charlie. For some reason I found it hard to remember the name Snickers. So he is part of the Grandpa Gussie clan now. Grandpa Gussie's first name was Charles. So both dogs are named after my great grandfather. Sorry, Sarah, but Charlie fits the little critter. And he's getting used to his name quickly.

My boss is taking on call responsibilities for me from Friday night until Sunday morning, so I won't have to be on call for my birthday after all. That makes me happy.

Jane sent me a text message today saying they are leaving Wisconsin tomorrow morning. They've had a great time.

7/18 Act quickly

Family, I'm falling in love with Snickers. You better act quickly if you want him. It won't take long for him to be totally mine.


Bozie loves both dogs and plays rough with them. But when she's tired of it, she climbs the gate and goes to the living room.



A drug rep took some nurse practitioners and nurses to Maya last night. I was invited to join them because some other nurses couldn't make it. It was the day after Jan's birthday, but Jane had arranged for her to get the birthday treatment anyway. Omigod this was fun. She seemed to enjoy it too. And to top it off, the fried ice cream was delicious.

7/16 Happy birthday, Jan and other stuff

Hope you have a great birthday dinner tonight with Kris and Tim. Thanks to you and Jane for a delightful taxi service today.

The epidural went well. Other than two brief times when I experienced bad pain (he was trying to find the right place to inject the meds), the procedure was painless.

Right now, the paim is gone/minimal in the upper areas of my spine, but still hurts from my lower back down to my knees. I expect this to be gone in a day or two. The power of positive thinking. :)

Gus and Bozie were happy to see me. There's a chance I'm going to get Gus's brother as well. Will keep you informed.

7/13 More down than up

Today is the worst day I've had in a long time. Jane took me shopping for some things I needed, and while in the stores I kept experiencing attack after attack of extreme pain. Spent a lot of the time in tears and there was nothing I could do about it.

It's very discouraging.

Plus my internet isn't working except for two sites--my writing bb and Blogger.com. I can post but can't go to my website and answer comments. This is freakin' weird.

Anyway--back to bed.

6/28 Good weekend so far

Got up early and took Gus out. For the first time he decided to roll in poop, so at 5:45 AM he got a bath. Such a skinny little thing when his hair is wet. Went back to sleep until about 7:30 or so. Made breakfast, then talked to Jane. Jan was busy, but Jane, Sarah, and I went to the Midsummer Art Faire at Washington Park. It was really nice.

Saw so many people that I knew. It is indeed nice being home. Plus got a personal tour of the Tranquility Med Spa, owned by a physician who works with Jane. It is a beautiful (and peaceful) place.

Gus was a star. I can't even count the number of people who stopped us to talk to Gussie. A popular fellow. This is another good thing about having a small dog. I can take him places with me. Right now I'm at work (trying to get my new office organized), and Gus is sleeping at my feet. Just what I want.

Forgot my security code, so the police came out. Oops. But I finally found the right one and everything ended up fine.

Nothing going on tonight, but tomorrow is the Gustison reunion, so Gussie is definitely going there since he's named after their patriarch.