No time...

Time to say...NO TIME TO KEEP CHECKING THIS BLOG...in order to see comments that aren't there.

I must admit that after checking my three daughter's blogs and one friend's...I am left with LITTLE time for this. Besides, I really prefer EMAILING.

SIGNING OFF AGAIN...and really don't "plan" to return...JUST EMAIL ME!

PLEASE NO texting, MySpacing OR Facebooking either. Does anyone have ANY time for ANYthing important anymore??? Planning to return to my former "love" of letter-writing. Anyone care to join me???

IF you are reading this, you know all you need to do is "click" on the envelope to the right and bottom of this screen...

Okaybye! Alane SAYS SO!

UPS and DOWNS...and REPEAT...

Having both is "kind of" balanced so that makes me feel better. SOME people are honest about themselves and their short-comings and that helps, too.

MOST OF ALL...BEING LOVED BY GOD IS THE TRUTH TO A PEACEFUL LIFE...

Doesn't matter what happens...God is always there!

Hoping and praying that I have "readers" who share this JOY!

That's it...Going to hit the shower! Good night all...or the few of you who read this!

Injury update...

Ken/Jim's thumb is better and no further problems besides general soreness. Old bones and muscles don't feel so good even without falls.

My burns are slowly healing. No pain except initially and just after I stopped medicating (thinking I was done with that).

Okaybye...SEE I CAN be concise! Alane

Did you notice...

Surprised that I got little response (jimandnancyf@yahoo.com) about my last post about my hubby's fall. YES, he's okay! However...just thought "more someones" might respond.

I burned my arm kind of "good" with a curling iron that I use to "smooth out" my natural curly hair. I guess that won't mean much to anyone either. Not to worry, it's also getting better...

People are too busy staying employed and doing "stuff" at home to even want to go near a computer in their off time. That's fine and I understand...REALLY! I just get lonesome for more contact. Some of you are pretty faithful at that. I don't even mind "shorties"...though I can't seem to be concise with my mouth OR my emails, blogs, pens. (This isn't a result of our move from PA to NC, either. My feelings have followed me here, rather than "developed" here.

I usually get out often with my husband...by BEST friend and enoyed some special time with my daughter here yesterday but, I guess ONLINE friends RUIN the person to person contacts? We have too many websites that aren't blogs...that all make us computer WACKO! We'd rather "visit" that way, I guess.

Oh well...back to my cookies. I'm making my infamous chocolate chippers for the workers again. This time the guys (different ones than those who've worked here before) are closing our back porch...just one wall, but we can open the three windows between that and our living room. This means we can use the porch MORE with those. My hubby will install a fan soon on the porch. We had one installed in the living room yesterday because that's a HIGH ceiling. Not many more "ladders" for us OLDER-ies

Okaybye, BUT...one more "thingie"...Alane wishes every mother, especially the ones who don't think of themselves as mothers! Many of those "gals" are missed, but NEED to be recognized, too!!! Cards are simple and GREAT!...Think about that all you who are of BIRTH!!!...ALL OF YOU!!!

My Mom isn't alone in her "falling"...

My wonderful husband just fell in the garage, but he's okay...so far. He caught himself with his UGLY thumb. (He really does have ugly thumbs, fingers and toes! I wonder how he got those!) ANYWAY...it was quite a scare when he opened the door saying he just fell! He is always getting hurt when he works and this has been since he was really quite NOT OLD! He is SO GOOD to me that I decided to give him some "credit" here! I was so glad I didn't have to make a run to the hospital! I'm more glad to know that he didn't hit his hip, knee or his HEAD! He is so not needing any more problems especially being married to me!!!

Thanks for listening to me, but also for allowing me to chat about my husband instead of myself for a change!!! He IS very dear to me and deserves LOTS of credit for being him!!!

Have a great day EVERYone! ALANE says!!!

How are YOU!

One problem with blogs, emails and other communication devices is that, no one seems to have time to "talk". I believe this way of "talking" is supposed to be more convenient than the phone. I don't care for telephones because I cannot limit myself. I need to GET OFF THE PHONE as soon as possible in order not to talk too much! I just don't like feeling "mouthy" or "wordy", which is a kinder way of saying it, I guess. Many people who consider me a "talker", are so busy talking that I interrupt in order to say something and then they interrupt me. It's LOOKS rude, but at least we're communicating. "Quiet" and I just don't get along!

So...I'd love to hear about YOU. The envelope below on the right can connect you with me by email if you don't already have that address. I think it's ON my profile, as well. I would really enjoy hearing from anyone "so moved".

It seems EVERYone is BUSY and sometimes I'm guilty of that "excuse" as well. Life is passing and we all need to slow down. People need to communicate...

Going to I-Hop for lunch tomorrow after church with our daughter and the "FAM", Ken and I will go out another time for a quieter meal, but we appreciated going to I-HOP since we've not yet tried that here in NC. BESIDES we love being with our daughter and her family.

So...I will get back to my cake. I am going to make the "filling" and then soon I can just wait a bit for the layers to cool so I can "stuff" them. I'm making one small layer with no coconut for my son-in-law and at least some of the kidlets. I wonder if the kidlets will like the pecans? We'll see!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. Happy MAY!!!

On our way HOME...

Had a nice week in PA and now we are on our way home! Good to see dear ones...our relatives and friends.

Our daughter is presently trying to "land" in FL to be picked-up by her sister in Tampa. Bad weather has been the problem and they diverted to West Palm...no news about her "landing in Tampa"...yet. Both daughters are under much stress at this time. This trip may result in a baby for our baby! It may end in disappointment, but we know God has a PLAN and we pray it's for this time and for this little "star".

On our way to our motel tonight I "stroked" a star on a chain around my neck and thought that it was not only a representation of our next grandchild ("how we wonder" what he or she is...or where...or when we'll all get to meet...)

There are 5 people in our family...two parents and three daughters and we THANK GOD FOR ALL THREE daughters! This wasn't the "story" last September and you know that if you've read my blog in September when this was not "so".

Now that we are reunited there are 5 of us once again! This is reminding me of the 5 points on the star and makes our next grandchild even more significant. Things like this make me cry for the JOY I feel!

Just received the call...The plane has landed and our two daughters are having a much anticipated meal at WENDY'S!

Joy and frustration go hand in hand, so we ALL need to remember to "hang in there" and remember that this is just the WORLD! We have another world ahead as Christians!
AMEN!

Thank you for "listening" again! It means a lot to ME!!!

Another week in NC

Well...It's another week behind us and still lots to do...OR leave to do later!

Going to PA to do some "work" and see some doctors and our Moms. We may be able to fit in a few other friends and relatives and look forward to seeing church family there. We feel (already) a bit distanced with friends there, but that's to be expected. We are "away", but do look forward to seeing a few familiar faces. It's taking more time here to find that in our new church. They are friendly, yes, but not being "yet involved" we have not found anyone to really be "interested" in us. We will have to be patient. Some neighbors were out a few nights ago and we talked a bit. There are many similarities between our next door neighbors and ourselves. They came "down" from Ohio! The next house down is another retired couple. (Actually the ones next door are not really retired...but have health insurance issues. Jeannie works somewhere at Birkdale Village and Bob is in produce at Walmart. Walmart is their insurance source...I LOVE Walmart.

Going to our grandaughter's play today and then home to pack. We will do a bit of "socializing" with Rachel and her "FAM"...before the work begins, though. I hate packing because I leave the things I NEED (and want) and take the things I should have left behind! UCK! Returning home it's all just dirty laundry for the most part.

Have a great weekend everyone. Can you believe I've not posted in just over a week!

IT's FRIDAY!!!

Even retired people like Fridays! We seem to get more done on weekends because (with the increase of weekend traffic)We are "called away from our work at home, but are"less" tempted to go out and STAY out exploring our area OR buying stuff! We have hardware and storage needs and just "stuff" on our running list of things. I guess that is part of the move thingie. We also need lots of breaks since we get really worn out! We try to use those times for breaks. I've been told by my counselor to TAKE BREAKS when we saw here last time. She's a smart woman! (Thanks Becky! Looking forward to seeing you soon to "report" how things have been going.)

We discovered the cheapest movie theater! (We are on this quest to support our at least weekly "habit" of going on Fridays to the Erie Dollar theater.) Anyway...we can pay $5 on Wednesdays here instead of $7 or more at other theaters in the area. That's for any time of day and I don't think you have to be Seniors...and I think they offer a few other days, too. We are going to plan on most Wednesdays instead of Friays now!

ALMOST got to rent the movie PRECIOUS at our closest grocery store, but all copies were out. We may try again today? Going to be out to recycle stuff and have our Brusters ice cream in Kannapolis. The recycle place wasn't open yesterday and we were glad we checked our pamplhet before driving all the way there! We are learning what doesn't recycle here...a process...another one we are learning slowly. No curbside pick-up for those here. We are just over the county line where our daughter lives and "enjoys" recycling. Here they say it's been tried, but too expensive.

Going to make our chicken and biscuits for lunch today! We ended up OUT again last night...beer and wings...just up the road at a Pizza shop. Not Steak and Lube, but good enough. We just had too much other stuff waiting at home and NO ENERGY to face any of it. It was 7 o'clock, too...TOO late for me to cook even though I had cooked the chichen earlier. We just "folded" and watched TV and did Sudoku...another of our habits! We both were able to take lazy baths, too.

Our "outing" was precipitated by a prescription from my Erie arthritis doctor for Naproxin instead of the Sulfasalazine I've been taking. I've been weaning from that because I was at the point of three twice a day and the doctor wanted to increase that to three times a day. WE are just both tired of SO many meds. I was going to go with over the counter "stuff", but the doctor says I need the "script". We had a fax # for our CVS two minutes away, so he sent it there! I see that doctor in Erie in about 10 days. We both want to limit our "specialists" and hope to be able to do that with the new PCP here. We have yet to get lined up with one, but found out the women's center (also just 2 minutes away) has many doctors practicing there besides just "womoen" doctors! We are going to check that out. It's a branch of the CMC (Carolina Medical Center) and that's likely going to be our choice "location".

Getting ready for our trip to PA and are also preparing to have things ready for more painting next week. Today we get an estimate on closing the third wall of our covered porch. We have nice porch furniture that we do not want exposed to moisture...so we don't want it just screened. We are able to "afford" this on top of everything else due to a successful sale of our home and the "rebate" for home buyers with contracts before April 30th. THAT will help and we THANK Obama for that...not our choice for president, but we'll "take" the money and "run"! Income tax money is always helpful, as well.

Anxious to get something done here RIGHT NOW...so THIS is the end of yet another long post! Thanks for "visiting". Email me IF you'd like! I'd love hearing for any or ALL of you! I have enjoyed responses there since lots of people seem unable to comment on the blog here.

Have a great weekend EVERYone!

Easter is over, but...

Yeah...the message lives on, but I'm not going to PREACH today.

Reading THE UNQUIET MIND now...the author (Kay Redfield Jamison)...was a psychiatric "student" and has lots of KNOWLEDGE about bipolar. (She suffers from this ILLNESS, as well.) I no longer am suicidal (as in many years past), but in my HEAD I feel "at times" the desire to LEAVE everyone and be introverted in order to "spare" people and feel comfort myself with NO need to feel bad for being hard to "be around". However...

The good thing is that I'm seeing my MANIC side as "illness" instead of my "personality". Most people see my actions as the latter. This is true for many "mentally ill" people...WE ARE PEOPLE, though and ONE point of my blog is to SHOW the "people side" of us. We really can offer a loyal and true friendship IF given the chance. I know I am sometimes overwhelmed with how many "wonderful and true friends" (and even relatives, the hardest people to "get along with" sometimes) who DO stand by me and two of three sisters, as well as a brother. I feel loved and for this I am TRULY greatful! THANK YOU GOD!

We all deserve to feel like PEOPLE and to feel that we are LOVED. I want to make bipolar or any other mentally ILL people feel THIS acceptance and love, too!

SO...That's it for this time! I am surprised that NO ONE responded (NOT HERE, but through EMAIL) to my April Fools post. However my DEAR husband didn't notice that either because in scanning quickly at the top of the page it looks like just another "title" for the former POST. If you want to go check it out...it will be there forever and later in the archives! (Does anyone read those? I must admitt that I don't read the OLDIES very often and I only follow a FEW blogs...mostly my three daughter's blogs and a friend of my youngest daughter's...BUT still don't have much time for that! Even a HOMEMAKER and never "really employed" woman with grown "children" is a busy person...

Have a great week...I'll post again...You can count on that whether anyone reads or NOT!

Another LONG post from "her"!!!

APRIL FOOLS! I got nothin' ta' say! HA HA!!!

Better times...

As some of you may have read in my post late on Friday night, we didn't have a very good evening. It was mostly my disappointment with myself for being short-tempered or "crabby". I felt LOST because I've been trying NOT to be this way and I am sad about this. I'm not "cured" by any stretch of the imagination, but today's trip to church helped immensely.

I had told my hubby that I've extended "grace" to those who cannot "deal" with their mistakes...telling them that there is nothing God will not forgive...(other than turning AWAY from HIM, of course.). I know that God is forgiving of me, but I was tired of MYSELF. I couldn't accept myself for my crabby ways. I was tired of being this way. SOME of this could be blamed on plain tiredness from our "move" or my bipolar and the fact that I have missed some of my meds (again). However I still felt unable to accept myself. I get tired of "being me"...and having to "accept" that my loved ones (friends and relatives) are often needing to "cut me slack" for my "ways". It's exhausting to TRY and FAIL, but this is "life".

Today's sermon covered that Jesus DIED for ME...I am responsible for HIS death as a Christian. He died so that I CAN be forgiven. I AM forgivable! AMEN! I knew all of this in my "head" and even in my heart, but I was tired of ME...

So one of today's revelations was that God KNOWS and I CAN KNOW that HE'S got it all "covered" with the GRACE HE gives through the death of HIS ONLY SON. I DO believe that JESUS ROSE AGAIN! This belief can be GRASPED and RE-GRASPED as we go through so many mistakes during our lives. The GOOD NEWS is that THIS is "just the world" and when JESUS returns, we will be enjoying ETERNAL LIFE! AMEN!

I DO apologize for being "preachy", but I do NOT apologize for sharing my FAITH. I do not apologize for my beliefs and I REALLY DO KNOW that JESUS LIVES!

I pray that all who read this KNOW the same, so that we can all "meet again" and I pray that you have a GREAT HOLY WEEK! HAPPY EASTER! Friday IS a GOOD day because without Friday we cannot celebrate Sunday. It's GREAT to believe and celebrate that JESUS ROSE FROM DEATH!!! AMEN AGAIN!!!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Sometimes you just have to let it go...

I'm having a tough time...No, WE are having a tough time! Moving can be a pain. We don't always see our progress, we get crabby, we feel bad about ourselves because we do and we continue to cycle. We feel DIZZY and SAD and MIXED UP and FORGETFUL and I JUST DON'T LIKE ME, BUT that's okay. Some days are like this and OH...it's already tomorrow! God gives us a sunrise every day. (There's another song I like called GOD GAVE ME A SUNRISE...I wish I had the author's name at my fingertips...Stay tuned for another email when I try to update you on that! Okay?)

I wish I could post something nicer, but I guess it's just time to throw in the towel and go to bed. Tomorrow is a new day and I pray that God gives me some patience to be a better wife. I am not so good at that right now. IF I were better at being a good wife, I'm sure I would feel better and I'm sure my husband would. So...if anyone has a moment, could you please say a prayer for us! THANKS!

Unpacking can be fun...

Yes, we are having some fun, but are pretty worn-out. It IS coming along. We just went to Mickey Dee's for lunch as another break. I was trying to find a casserole dish to make rice with some pork for lunch. Guess what we're having for supper! I found many other dishes and "stuff" that I'm glad to have OUT of the boxes, but will continue to search for one of three casserole dishes that I'm sure I have in ONE of those boxes! The rice is an oven recipe from when our kidlets were in grade school and having the oven on will be fun! I baked cookies on move-in day, but haven't used it since.

We found our laminate floor to match the rest of our floors, so we can have that in our "master". We are having three painters come to quote the painting and Home Depot will be "available" just a few days after we tell them we're ready to have the floor installed. It will be nice to have the bedroom furniture out of the living room.

We got TV last night, but didn't watch much. We were out for several hours shopping for various items we felt we needed and now I think we'll be able to stay home more. That will help us progrss with the settling-in process. One reason we were out was to open a bank account, but we got side-tracked trying to FIND some meds in the mail before they were re-routed back to PA! Our temporary forward was my attempt to be sure the meds got to our daughter's house since we weren't yet "closed" in NC! (I didn't feel able to send things to an address that wasn't finalized!) We DID intercept the package which contained three prescriptions, one of which was my anti-stress one! Talk about stress! I was pretty upset for a while! We had been all ready to go into the bank, but decided we needed to go to the post office first! It was a PAIN, but we were glad to "catch" the package. It could have taken about a week to get back to Erie and another to get back to NC!

So...I'll end this here and hope to have a better "report" on our being settled soon!

We're IN!

Well, I'd like to say we're unpacked and settled, but that will take a while. It's good to be in NC and we're making this a slow-paced settling. We got to "lunch" here at the house with our daughter. (No, we didn't move here JUST for the grandlets!) ALSO enjoy seeing both "parental units". Met up to just get that chance while her daughter was at play practice. It gave her father and I a chance to visit quietly and feel more like we've arrived. We did joke around a bit, so it wasn't really that quiet. Laughing is fun! I really wasn't in the mood to "work". Just trying to catch up on some ENERGY! I could have used the help, but I told my daughter I really wasn't all that interested in getting stuff done. TOO TIRED!

Anxious to see the family on Sunday. Going to lunch after church to celebrate my son-in-law's birthday, which is Tuesday. We won't be joining them after church every Sunday, but this will be our FIRST week there and we were invited to go along for a bit of a celebration. We aren't sure if we'll continue to attend "their" church, but if we do we'll try not to "smother" them! Being "older" we would likely be involved with a different "crowd" much of the time, so we can be sure we aren't "on top" of the family too much.

We finally got our forwarding address taken care of this morning after trying at the wrong post office yesterday! We had a temporary forwarding to our daughter's...and had to change again at her post office. Didn't realize that was necessary since we could drop the card in the mail OR do it online. (Not always able to know the WHYS???) Did a bit of shopping in "stages" for groceries and other "stuff". That was a bit of a break from unpacking! We keep going back to the grocery store for a few items...One of these days we'll be ready to real grocery "run". Visited one of three Walmarts in the area and we will eventually make it to all three!

Have heard from several of you through email and this pleases me. I like to know my blog is not just going out to cyber-space...and many people have trouble commenting ON the blog, especially if they aren't bloggers themselves. I LOVE feedback! I WILL respond to emails, too.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend and we will try to do SOME unpacking by Monday, maybe. Tomorrow will be another day of FUN! I'm really good at that!!!

WIRED!

Realized I missed my Klonopin yesterday and probably for about a week! Missed putting them in my med box...except for two days! I was FULL of caffeine yesterday in order to drive and stay awake! THAT worked all too well, so my night was restless and sleep was SHORT, AS WELL!!! Today was much better since I do have the bag of all my meds with me and have "fixed" that problem!!! I was wondering why I "sounded" so critical and crabby all day. The last several days I blamed the "move". Now I know! Mistakes aren't fun and I DO recommend being careful with any meds anyone "takes"!!!

The money for the purchase of our house here has been confirmed "received" (by wire from PA to NC!!!) GOOD NEWS since we need that to subtract ourselves from "between homes limbo" tomorrow! (It's only a day away!...Credit to the "show/play/movie ANNIE!)

Comments are valuable, but emails are even better...jimandnancyf@yahoo.com, so hopefully anyone who wants to make comments can do so that way more easily than here.

Going to enjoy spending money on the house tomorrow and we are fairly confident all will go as planned!

HAPPY TOMORROW TO ALL!

House is sold...

Well...the Erie house is now someone else's! We are heading south to "close" on the next! We're hoping that "closing" happens without "incident" on Wednesday...Gotta spend that money a'fore it burns a hole in our pocket. Actually it's not in our pockets, but will be there "in form" IF all goes as expected. We don't want to be homeless for more than TWO nights.

Sad to say goodbye to our hometown. Have done that before! That was nearly 40 yrs. ago and we didn't plan to leave Pennsylvania again...Life turns out differently as we live it. PLAN TO DO SOME OF THAT LIVING NOW! "We" aren't fully retired, but KJF will be working online (computer and cell!)for a few more months. We'll return for a week on campus" in April, so he can work "in person"...

Nice to have TV again and internet without having to buy coffee or chicken nuggets. We've been to Tim Horton's and Mickey Dee's off and on for this past week since our cable and DSL were disconnected last Wednesday. Using WI FI at the motel tonight and tomorrow.

So good night and MAY GOD BLESS!

We're moving and I'm back...for now...

Lots has happened including a few TV "ads" about bipolar. I wish the "stigma" for this "disorder" would lift, so that more people could feel better about themselves and their loved ones...OR shunned ones...

Anyway...We are leaving for NC to live near one of our daughters and to be midway between the other two. Lucky us! We don't expect anymore snow for this next week and we'll have HOPEFULLY no chance of freezing rain for the trip.

Packing is a BLAST...Yeah, right!!! I AM uncovering memories...some sweet and others not so sweet. I'm finding things and I'm looking forward to my husband's retirement. Today he is at "school" for the last time until April when he spends ONE week back in PA. He will be working "online" till then, but he's semi-retired already, so this shouldn't be bad at all.

We have enjoyed plenty of goodbyes already and have a few more to get through. This isn't easy, but there is the excitement of being close to grandlets AT LAST! We also look forward to "settling" instead of the UNSETTLING of packing!

Please email if you don't want to comment here. I just want to know that someone is reading now and then. I will try not to be so LONG as in the past, but I don't apologize for trying to "foster" some understanding of bipolar...at least in the fact that I am a FUNCTIONING individual who wants others to know that bipolar is NOT the end of the world. When properly treated things are much different. For 34 yrs. (in case you've not read earlier posts here) I was treated for "depression" and that made it WORSE! Last July 30th I FINALLY began the RIGHT meds and I'm doing MUCH better!

Hope to hear from you...ALL, actually, but I will "settle" for a few in order to feel enough reason to re-start this blog.

Have a great week! Alane SAYS...She rarely stops talking!!! Sometimes, though!!!