I DID IT I DID IT

Oh happy dance oh happy dance...............................
I DID IT!!!!!!!
Well, you are all wondering if I went off the deep end. I didnt but Im so proud of my self! Remember the post I did a few days back titled I just dont know? (read here)
http://gabalotgal.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-just-dont-know.html
Well I was troubling over it a lot. So today I got off my butt. I'm always using the internet so I thought hey lets try for something good maybe. SO I started with classmates.com. I didnt get anywhere. Then I went to people search. I put in my girlfriends name and did a search. Well they came back with about 4 pages of names same as hers, and for just 8.99 I could get more information to narrow it down or actually find her. Well I just dont have extra money right now so I started to leave. But then the web site popped up a special that said for a one time use on just these names and if I had her close last known address I could pay 1.98 and get the extended information. SO I broke down and used my credit card(bank card) and paid for the list. It came back with 3 names 2 with the same phone number. So I wrote down all the information and closed out. Then I took a deep breath, said a prayer and dialed. I got a voice mail. (now here I must say the voice sounded like my friend but it's been over 20 years so I wasnt really sure)I left a message saying I was looking for so and so who used to live here and here and if you were that person please call this number XXX-XXX-XXXX and if your not that person please disreguard the message.
With in the hour my phone rang.................
IT WAS HER!!!!!
We talked for 2 1/2 hours. and I told her I wanted to get together as soon as we could. I learned that she knows where her kids are but she doesnt get to see them. I know that she has been married to this guy for 6 years and they seem really happy. I learned that she lives in Mpls. Then we talked about old times. And guess what?
I cried!!!!! and was very happy I got off my butt!

UGH come on already enough is enough

Well we had more snow last night. Just enough to make the ground all white again. Thank god we aren't in SD where I heard that Watertown had 10 inches of snow! Now Watertown is 110 miles east of our house in SD and about 105 miles more or less from our farm. Oh poor poor people of SD. See now again if you remember I told you we were snowed in long time ago when I was a kid, well it was like either April or May that it happened. And like I said that turned out to be a nightmare as my youngest sister was bit by a dog when we finally returned home and she had over 3,000 stitches in her head then she got really really sick. The worse part was the dog had already bit three others, and was considered dangerous and should have been put down. Now the even strangest part? The people who had the dog on their property ( they really didn't own the dog but kept it there after it had bit the 3rd person) They are now my brother in law and sister in law. Yes that's right It was Mr Gab's Brother! In fact I used to babysit their two girls. I was the babysiter turned Aunt! Now hows that for weird?
ahhh the awful memories of that spring so long ago.
Do you see why I want to move to FL?

Unique and /or funny signs

This weeks hunt is unique and/or funny signs. Well I have to admit that this one was actually on my wall at one time. I am not a cook. In fact the other sign said something to the effect of this kitchen is clean now but you should have seen it yesterday. Or something like that. I've long taken these plaques down and packed them away. I'm not even sure if I know where they are at.
Hope you have a good weekend.

It looks great!

Ahhh let me tell you the new kitchen floor is looking great. Mr Gab is only 1/4th of the way finished putting down the new peel and stick tile but oh does it look nice. Well, yes I suppose when anything new gets put in it would look good but I kinda had my doubts about the color and design but it is looking good. Mr Gab had to run out to Home Depot to some well it used to be called Roc hard for filling in spots on the floor, and is now called Spackle. I always thought Spackle was the stuff you put on your walls. Either way he had to take time out for that, and you have to wait for it to dry before you can put the tile down. With the few that he has down though I began to realise that once we put down the new carpet that it will go together so well that it will flow.
So I'm looking forwards to seeing the end results. I will of course take pictures of the end product.
Then I was looking through Home Depot's ad (which we got after he went there) and they had the right size Vanity and sink at a very nice price(in other words fits our range)So Mr Gab is thinking of running over there and picking one up. We do want to remodel our bathroom anyways, and even add another bathroom.
The inside is starting to look as good as the outside.
Now some small updates.....I chickened out on my dentist appointment. Why? Well, something they said and did has made me uncomfortable. So I plan to look around for a different dentist.
Mr Gab has gone to his recheck appointment and all is going well with his eye. He says he's still having a little problems reading but all in all its all good.
Aj has his next eye appointment May 2nd and I think they will say all is well with him as well.
My Doctors appointment is May 20th (I think) and I should have a good report as well. I'm not in much pain unless I over do it. I can eat a whole plate of food (small portions)without getting sick. And my blood pressure is down,so all in all I'm doing good!
Hope your all doing well

Im rested but busy as heck

Well hello all you nice blogger people! I have stopped at a few of you while I was resting and left a comment.
I am rested as my title says but boy oh boy am I busy. We have bought tile for the kitchen floor and as soon as Mr Gab isn't working we will put that in. We only got some cheap peel and stick stuff, but hey the last peel and stick we had down lasted 10 years, so it cant be all bad!
I'm also packing stuff out of the living room. As we do have new carpet to lay, and we will need to move entertainment center and blah blah blah. lol. Some of the stuff I'm packing away is daughter's and she moves out June 7th. So that stuff will stay packed. Heck it all may stay packed!
Then Ive gone through my stuff to see what I think might sell and will be taking pics and listing them on E-bay.
In between all that Ive been separating my coins. When Mr Gab drops them on the bed, I pick them up and toss them into a large Holiday drink cup. When that's full I go through them and separate the silver from the copper. I also separate the half dollars from the quarters,dimes,nickles. And if I'm lucky enough to get gold dollars or Susan B Anthony dollars or Kennedy half dollars, I separate them as well.
Then on to the copper. I go through and look for all the wheat pennies and toss them into a container to add to what I have in my safe. The regular pennies go into empty pickle jars(yes the jars have been washed and dried out!)
And last is my funny money. Which when I find I add to my funny money jar which is actually an old jar once used for coffee. Now what you might ask is funny money?
NO! its not fake money although some times I wonder. No, Mr Gab sometimes gets money from other countries. Like the yen that he brought home. And then there is the Canadian money I have. Mostly pennies of course, but I have some other coins that say Canada on them. Not sure how much they all worth but hey they are fun to look at and if I ever get to Canada I'll have a start on money to spend! Hope your week is going well.

Some time away

Ok.....I'm stopping in to let ya all know I'm taking some time away. I really need it.
This week has been nuts with Mr Gab driving truck, getting up at all different hours this week. I'm just exhausted!
So you all have a great weekend, and if your lucky (or not depending how you look at it) I'll see you all next week.

I JUST DONT KNOW

Long time ago when I was a little girl, and even before then, it was customary for the man to take care of his wife. He went to work made the money, she stayed home & cared for the house & kids. Then women got a little Independence and they went out to work. Now a days both husband & wife need to work to make ends meet. Leaving the poor kids who either were lucky to have family care for them or day care. I have heard more than once "I really don't know my mom and dad, they always are at work."
I had a girlfriend who lived down the street who's dad went to jail because her mom had wrote bad checks. Every night her mom hit the bars and it was not unusual for he to bring home an "uncle". My parents drank when I was real little, I know this for a fact because I have seen home movies of it. But after my sister D was born I never seen them with a drink of liquor. Many days and nights she was at our house. I never thought our house was considered normal but to her it was. My dad went to work everyday came home every night. We had supper together most nights. We took family vacations together and a lot of times included her. When her dad came home from jail when she was in high school,Her mom stayed home but now both her parents were drinking. There were many nights they were passed out by 5pm. One night all that was in the house for her to make to eat was a box of butterscotch pudding,so many nights she would call and ask if she could come and eat with us. She would leave a note and come over but when she got home her parents were usually in the same spot she left them. When her parents died she kinda drifted. I heard she got married and had some kids, but then I also heard her husband was arrested for trying to kill a neighbor, and her kids were taken away. I haven't heard about her or from her in a long time. Sometimes she pops into my mind and I wonder what ever happened to her. My family had problems but I was truly lucky.

DONT OPEN THE DOOR

It's Sunday night.....the night we set the garbage out to the road. Ahhh but Mr Gab is working at the station and wont be home tonight because at 1:30am he will be trucking. So he is going to sleep in his car. Well, he called and wanted me to bring him some supper and take home some bananas that they should toss, but would make great banana bread. So the older two boys and I went out there as daughter and younger two boys had taken off earlier to do something. While I was there I fill up with gas to the tune of 54.00. But hey wait there will be a discount, not much but a discount none the less.
Then the boys and I started for home. As we were driving along I said "Oh yeah it's Sunday and grandpa wont be home so you all need to put out the garbage". They said "ok". But when we got home and oldest grandson went to open back door he slammed it fast and said "Oh no grandma I'm not going out there"! I asked "why"? "Because the raccoon is sitting right by the back door." SO I brought in the bananas and I went to the back door to have them yell..."DON'T OPEN IT"!
But I of course don't listen. I opened the door and at first I didn't see a thing. Then I realised he was sitting right there in front of me but down one step. I screamed and he jumped off the step and waddled to the middle of the yard and turned to look at me. Well, I screamed again, and he moved over to the junk pile that we have sitting there (this is a pile of copper, aluminium, & steal to be recycled). And stood there watching me. I picked up the bag that someone tossed out without putting into the can and I put it in the can then I told Tj the oldest grandson to push it to the street. I could see him there by the pile most of the time but when grandson took can to the street, I couldnt see him any more. When grandson came back he said the raccoon was already in the neighbors yard. I said I just hope he doesnt dump our can over! SO I gotta make sure that whom ever takes the trash out that they put it in the can so that we can get the raccoon to stop visiting our house. At least he's outta the garage!

Ups and downs (photo hunt)

(Oh yeah by the way HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my nephew B! Love ya)

This is suppose to be the sat photo hunt but I do not have a photo for this weeks word which is twisted. So I thought I'd share some twisted things that have happened.
If you read previous blog you know that here it is April 12th and we are getting more snow. Talk about twisted. Course I remember one time when I was about 12 or so that we got snowed in in SD at the farm. My mom went crazy cause she was outta smokes, and every one in MN thought we were nuts as they had no snow. That was the year my little sister C was bit by a dog and had like 3000 stitches in her head, face neck. Oh that was one bad year.

Then if you remember a few posts back I was telling you my cat Puff had a digestive disorder. This was diagnosed by the vet. Well about a month ago(maybe less) he lost all his weight. He is so skinny you can feel all his bones. I called the vet and questioned him about it and he said"I still have samples from before that I can use to test with let me get back to you".
When he called back he told me how sorry he was that he misdiagnosed Puff. Because Puff is part Siamese, and he had all the symptoms of this digestive disorder and that's what they tested for that's what they thought he had. Had he tested for everything, he might have saved Puffs life. Puff has cancer. All I can do now is make him comfortable. Puff is extra special to me as he is the last link to my mom. twisted huh?

and now a funny story:
The other day before all the kids had left for school and I was making Mr Gab breakfast, I went to open the back door to toss out some stale bread. I opened the door and seen a flash and thought that there was a cat running for the shelter of the van parked in our back yard when I caught a glimpse of the tail. That was no cat! That was a raccoon. Try as I might I could not get him to come out far enough to snap a picture with my cell phone camera. I got the biggest two kids that were still home to look out the window just in time to see the raccoon make his way........ OH NO NO NOT THE GARAGE! someone had left the garage door open and in he went. In about 2 minutes flat a big orange cat who stays in our garage came flying outta the garage, with his tail all fluffed up. He would stop look back over his shoulder at the garage like he was saying what the hell was that?! It was so funny. We don't know if the raccoon is still in the garage, but no one is in a hurry to go look either.

KNOCK KNOCK

Who's there? Just kidding! Just Kidding who?
Spring
We got a dash of snow last night here but other places got over a foot of snow and they say more is coming. What happened to Spring? Those poor robins I seen in my yard today are all fluffed up and look like they are totally bewildered. As are we. I am luck though.....a lot of my neighbors were out uncovering their flower beds only to have them freeze. I on the other hand always wait until the last minute to uncover stuff and mine are still sheltered. One neighbor told me "I used to think you guys were plain slow or lazy when it came to uncovering your gardens" She said. "Now I watch you and when you do yours I do mine because then it is safe. I havent lost as many flowers as I used to". Well Im glad I could help. Actually I wait so long because Im usually waiting for Mr Gab to do it! lol
This week Im very glad that Ive waited. Old man winter may not be done yet...But Ive not cleaned up my gardens yet either. I guess I get the last laugh!

I can get myself into all kinds of questionable stuff.

When I'm overly tired I start to think to much. I started wondering why we had all these problems when the answer was so easy. In fact I was going to write a book and title it: It's so easy. My first problem that I seen as being easy was the crooks. Now why can't we give them "truth serum"? I mean come on after all we would know for sure if the person was guilty or not and guilty of exactly what. So instead of having all these people wasting their money hiring a lawyer to get out of what ever it is that they have done and go free to do again. We give them truth serum and find out for sure then lock them up. No need for lawyers! Can you imagine if you caught some guy who robbed a gas station and gave him the truth serum and found out that that was one of many jobs he pulled off but no one had a clue? Well until now that is. We could clear up all these cold cases. Ah but I know there would be someone out there who would say invasion of privacy. Well, would it be invasion of privacy if it had been your wife that died and you wanted to know who done it? Or how about all the children who were killed? We might now find out for sure who did it. Oh I gotta go to sleep! But thing is I will start to sleep get woke up and lay there and start thinking all over again. I will start wondering why we spend so much money to put junk into space when our children our suffering here on earth in our school system.
Do you know how many kids who are in high school who cant read? We need more money in our schools to pay our teachers to teach the kids and get extra help for those who are sliding by.
Or I'll lay there wondering why we keep these people in our government who refuse to help us lower gas prices. Have you ever seen the E85 gas? Have you seen it lately? Why? or why not? Who is stopping us from using something that's good for the environment? How many green cars do you actually see on the road? Or for sale for that matter. I remember not to long ago an ad for a car that was going to save us lots at the gas station.( I don't remember which one right now but)where is it? They ran those ads so much I figured that's all what we'd be driving by now. Instead I haven't seen any more ads, nor the cars! Why? Who stopped them? What is going on? Oh no its starting again.....I'm thinking to much. I have more I could put out there but I think Ive been up on soap box to long. If you care to leave your comment please feel free to do so. But again remember these are just my opinions and my wondering. I'm neither right nor wrong. Just curious. And trying to go to sleep

Ive been tagged!

Tony

has tagged me to write a 6 word memoir about myself.

The Rules:
1) Write your own six-word memoir about yourself.
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you'd like.
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible, so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4) Tag five more blogs with links.
5) And don't forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

So here goes:
Love family even the black sheep's

Every one has black sheep's in their family. Some have more than 1. So even though I may not talk to them or even see them I still love them! Some times its easier to just love them and let them be because you try to do what you can and they just aren't receptive. So to my family from coast to coast I may not speak to you and I may not see you but in my own way I do love you. You are family after all.

Lets see now who to pick:

Croaker

Baba

Flipflop

Lori

Walker

Whoo-hoo today's Monday & it's Back to school!

OH HAPPY DANCE OH HAPPY DANCE
Today school is back in session, and kids go back. Granted while it was a good spring break grandma is glad they are going back. We did lots of stuff and we had loads of fun, yet at one point or another there was always at least one kid who was bored!
So grandma even though it gets a little hectic during the day is looking forwards to them going back to school again.
So for a lot of you who go back to work again Today and are goaning its Monday again I feel for you but for now I get my happy dance!

A ONE WORD MEME

I GOT THIS OFF ANOTHER BLOGGERS BLOG AND LIKED IT SO WELL I THOUGHT I'D GIVE IT A TRY. ONLY THING IS I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO I BORROWED IT FROM YOU IF YOU RECONISE THIS AS COMING FROM YOUR BLOG THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.



You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.

Not as easy as you might think. Remember: one word answers.

1.Where is your mobile phone? POCKET
2.Your significant other? JACK
3.Your hair? SHORT
4.Your mother? PASSED
5.Your father? ALIVE
6.Your favourite thing? SLEEPING
7.Your dream last night? FARM
8.Your favorite drink? PEPSI
9.Your dream/goal? WEALTHY
10.The room you’re in? BEDROOM
11.Your ex? NONE
12.Your fear? SINGLE
13.Where do you want to be in 6 years? FLORIDA
14.Where were you last night? HERE
15.What you’re not? SKINNY
16.Muffins? TOAST
17.One of your wish list items? MONEY
18.Where you grew up? MINNESOTA
19.The last thing you did? READ
20.What are you wearing? CLOTHES
21.Your TV? OFF
22.Your pets? SLEEPING
23.Your computer? WORKING
24.Your life? INTERESTING
25.Your mood? SLEEPY
26.Missing someone? MOM
27.Your car? DURANGO
28.Something you’re not wearing? SHOES
29.Favorite Store? WAL-MART
30.Your summer? SHORT
31.Like someone? SUSAN
32.Your favorite color? PURPLE
33.When is the last time you laughed? TONIGHT
34.Last time you cried? TODAY
35.Who will/would re-post this? ANYONE

PHOTO HUNT SAT-GLASS

This weeks photo hunt is GLASS. My first picture is the glass on the front of our clock. See the nice design? I just love the bird and oh I don't know flowers? lol

The second one I'm including for my oldest grandson TJ. He bought me this at the state fair last year with his own money. He knows I collect bells and he know I collect mystical things. So he found this bell that covers two things I like to collect. and its made of glass. Thnaks for looking.

Spring at last-I hope

I seen a Robin today.......so that's gotta mean spring is finally coming riiiiiigggggghhhhhttttt??????????
I'm really tired of the cooler than cool weather we have been having, cause Ive gotten another cold because it cant make up its mind! Ahhh well.
Went to the dentist today I need two root canels and they want to do them both at the same time. They want me to take valuim before I come in, says to relax me so my back will let me sit for 1 1/2 hours straight! Fun I think not. Thats set for April 14th. Something to look forwards to.

DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL

Daddy's little girl....we have all heard that saying. The apple of her daddy's eye. I have always wondered about that saying.In our house hold my oldest sister was daddy's little girl until her mom divorced my dad. Then it was me and my youngest sister to some extent. But the one who was daddy's little girl was our sister D.Dad spoiled her endlessly. He's always told us you girls can run and play she can't. Now its her 3 year old mind locked in a 48 year old body.and dad still spoils her and will until he passes.But I always wondered about other families who had more than one daughter. How did their dad choose? I have a friend C who has 7 daughters. I joked with him one day about it. And he said well honestly they all have their day. He said daughter 1, 3, 5, &7 have Monday, weds, Friday and Sunday respectively daughters 2, 4, 6 Have Tues, Thurs and sat. respectively and each girl knows this and don't hone in on their sisters day. Then he laughed and said thank god he didn't have any more girls because he ran outta days of the week. Then he told me seriously that he really felt like he was missing something by not having a son.Another friend of mine who had 3 daughters said his second born was his favorite because she almost died. He said he tried really hard not to show the other two but he thinks they knew it.So how do dad's do it? Do they have their favorites? Of course I'm sure they do. The worse part of course is when the dad knows his daughter is doing wrong and he turns a blind eye to his little girl. She could be 8 or 30 but he cant admit that his little girl could be wrong.But what about the daughter? She looks at her dad with the knight in shining armor hero. So what does she think or do when her dad isn't so perfect? What if her dad tried to rape a family member(or actually did)? How does she feel? Does she even know? Or is it one of those things where every one says the person who was raped is making it up? What if daddy drinks to much? Does she think differently about her dad then?But what if he drinks and then drives and kills someone? Is he still her knight in shining armor?Or what if daddy is sick and doesn't take care of himself properly? Does she say oh well he's a grown man? What can I do? The road runs both directions. If daddy doesn't care enough to say to his daughter your wrong and you need to step up and admit that your wrong, the daughter will never step up and say dad you really need to take better care of yourself. (or stop drinking or get treatment for sexual abuse)Now adays though most kids who are abused by a family member can go somewhere to get help. Back a few years ago like when I was a kid, most of the time when they told someone it was pushed aside not talked about. Or the girl was never left alone with that family member again But the most likely thing was they never believed the person who was raped. Because it was more than likely something that was made up according to the adults. Who covered stuff up like that all the time. It's just the way stuff was and is done.