Not the Cone of Shame

Fiona is proudly displaying her war wounds.

Every Monday night, the family rolls the garbage cans out to the road. The dogs love this.

Fiona is one half border collie, one half golden retriever. The border collie personality is dominant.

She chases and herds everything. By everything I mean the garbage can on wheels, cars, the cat, the other dog, the children, wild animals, bugs, toads, frogs, and me.

She ran off barking after something on Monday. When she came back, she didn't look so good. We did not "see" anything on Monday. Black fur hides blood.

On Tuesday, we noticed she was a bit sluggish. When my daughter tried to hug her, she noticed that Fiona was a bit "cut".

Cut badly, to the muscle. She required overnight hospitalization, 12 large stitches and this lovely drain. She wears a T-Shirt instead of the Cone of Shame. The first day she wore an anti-bullying T-shirt. On this day, she wore "Refuse to Lose" on one side and "Go Ask George" on the other. My daughters both loved this shirt. We are not sure where it came from. Today she is wearing a girl scout Tee.

You can sortof see "Refuse to Lose" here. Those are my hobbit legs. I covered the hairy feet with sneakers. Note the Bitchen Red Honda Civic in the background behind the wood pile.

Fiona is one dignified dog.

Happy Happy, Joy, Joy!

I need happy thoughts and positive energy folks. My husband's best friend from Boston, "Michael", was diagnosed with Acute Lymphotic Leukemia a couple of weeks ago. Today I hear he has some sort of infection. I also heard he went into kidney failure 14 hours ago. Thoughts, prayers, Love, peace and happiness.... Think upon these things. I want to muster as much positive energy as possible.

Cancer Sucks

I'm sorry dear friends but I've been a bit preoccupied lately.

It seems that f**##ing cancer has been rearing its ugly head.

In the last two weeks, I've learned that my brother-in-law has been "revisited" by cancer. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer. "They" did the surgery and chemo. He was healthy for a year. "They" just found a new tumor near his esophagus. He went to Houston for surgery. Dr. Joe is 58. He is an Electrophysiologist. (He installs Pacemakers). He is now "recovering" in Virginia.

This past week was surreal. I was poking around on Facebook, playing Mafia Wars, icing people, stocking up on tommy guns, investing in my Strip Club, you know...basically minding my own business.

I received a Chat prompt from my husband's best friend. He said "Hi! I'm in the hospital with some strange undiagnosed illness." Turns out it was Acute Lymphotic Leukemia. His brother died of it when he was like "eleven". Michael is fifty. Michael is one of the most amazing, intelligent and inspired persons I have ever met. He and Doug (my husband) went to graduate school together. Michael went on to get his doctorate in education. He was a high school principal for a while. He had difficulty with the political B.S. in that environment. The district created a position for him. He became a liaison between the district and the community. He continues to inspire people.

Michael is a trooper. He started a "Care Pages" blog to write about his illness.

Some of you probably know that my mother died of lung cancer three years ago. My mother-in-law died almost exactly one year before that.

Some cynics might say that cancer is a disease caused by bad lifestyle choices (i.e.smoking). Okay Mom and Mrs. Williams smoked.

Dr. Joe doesn't smoke, rarely drinks. He is thin. In fact, he is one of the most health conscious, persons I have ever met.

Michael doesn't smoke, rarely drinks. He is the most optimistic, positive person I have ever met. Seriously. No exaggeration intended. I don't get it. None of these persons "deserved" this disease.

It is random. It sucks.

Sorry if I have not been in a funny blogging mood lately.

I don't get it.

Halloweenies

Happy Halloween Everyone! I found all these lovely photos on the internet. Not one is an original photo.

In my defense, I will state that the entire Williams family, having succumbed to the H1N1 virus, aka Swine Flu, have been a bit delirious as of late.

I feel that I've missed my favorite time of year.

Fall is the time that I am typically painting out of doors. I did paint on the one day I wasn't running a fever. It was also the one day it didn't rain. The painting sucks.

Instead, I am surfing the internet for outrageous Halloween Costumes. A Kate Gosselin wig! Who woulda thunk? Doesn't everyone want to be Kate? Okay. There is the tacky and the tasteless and then there is the amazing!

This one is really, really amazing! Tasteful, creative, beautiful. I would do this.

This is what Halloween is all about folks. A chance to transform yourselves into an imaginary spirit, sprite, creature, monster or whatever. Have fun being creative.

Our school district outlawed costumes back when my oldest was in first grade.

They claimed it was "devil worship". These were the same people who put Dover on the map for "Intelligent Design".
And then we have Martha.

This little ditty was credited to the American icon "Martha Stewart" . WTF?

Uuhh? I wouldn't dress my child like the Thanksgiving turkey?

That is too effing weird.

Thankfully, the baby is just enjoying the attention.

Swine Flu, Stinkbugs and other Vermin

Shazza is having mouse problems. We are being bombarded by bugs! First the stinkbugs. Those ugly shieldshaped insects that cling to the windows, the siding, the screens. You open a door and they swarm with a horrible buzzing sound. If you swat, they emit a foul odor. Worse yet, they cling to your clothing. I endured the unfortunate experience of unwittingly wearing a shoulder stinkbug while shopping! Can you imagine? Fortunately I am not a celebrity. Can you imagine the tabloids? I thought the store clerk was looking at me funny.

The recent Nor'easter seemed to clear some of these critters. They are still around but they are being replaced by aggressive flesh-eating ladybugs. You all know what I'm talking about. Those adorable orange mini-beetles with the black polka dots. Don't trust them. They swarm our house every October. They invaded my youngest daughter's bedroom and snacked on her flesh. She was covered in mini-beetle welts. We had to release a bug bomb.

They're ba-ack.

This is of secondary importance compared to the Big Bug - the Swine flu. Daughter A has come down with it. She was sent home from school Monday with strict instructions not to return until at least 24 hours after becoming fever free (without the benefit of ibuprofen). Looks like she will be home again tomorrow. Daughter D is now coughing. I am missing about one fifth of my students. Many apparently have the swine flu. It has been confirmed through testing. There is a lot of denial going around. For what? School districts are being hush-hush about it.

I called the pediatrician and described my daughter's symptoms. He also spoke directly with A. He told me it sounds like H1N1. They are getting hundreds of calls. I could bring her in if I wanted to wait until midnight to get in and get confirmation. That's okay, I say, I'll take your word for it. Fortunately the symptoms are milder than the hype. Still she is sick and miserable. We have stocked up on hand sanitizers, but I am out of kleenex. Campbells Chicken Noodle soup tastes funny to her. She does not like my homemade soup with real chicken stock. (Maybe she wants to try it again?) I think the Swine Flu beat the vaccine. Our area did not qualify for the early vaccine. Oh well. So much for the hype.

It is now Day 2 at home and Daughter A is obviously feeling a bit better. She was up on her compy giggling and watching Maru the cat. He is an adorable Scottish Fold who lives in Japan. The doting human films his every move. Life goes on after the big bug! Check him out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urizHysauG0

The National Apple Harvest Festival

On Sunday, my daughter convinced us that we should take her to the National Apple Harvest Festival in neighboring Adams County, PA. We hadn't gone for a few years. Doug and I used to work the ticket booth eons ago b.c. (before children). You should know that Pennsylvania is the #3 apple producer in the USA. There are about ten thousand acres of apple orchard in Adams County (just north of Gettysburg). Adams County is home to Musselmans, Motts and Lucky Leaf brands of applesauce and apple juice. The Biglerville High School Football team is known as the Canners.


The National Apple Harvest Festival is the closest thing I've been to an old time, country fair. The only rides are pony rides and hay rides. Kids can make scarecrows and participate in pie-eating contests for fun. Exhibits include antique tractor, steam engine and car exhibitions.

There are lots of apple products. Apple cider, apple sauce, apple fritters, apple pie, apple sausage and plain old apples.


You can see here an old fashioned, steam powered apple cider press. You could buy freshly pressed cider by the glass or the gallon.

The air smelled of apples, and freshly roasted pit beef. I love a pit beef sandwich on a roll with fresh horseradish.

And for those folks who want something a little less healthy....

There is "The Happy Belly". Supposedly Amish made ribbon chips and Fried Oreos.

I could not even think about it.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunny and crisp afternoon. We bought some jewelry and freshly roasted almonds from the vendors.

My daughter's friend is originally from El Salvador. She tried apple pie for the first time! Bluegrass and country music bands were playing at several stages throughout the day. Elvis was heard in and around the buildings (but seen only in bright green Chuck Taylors and skinny pants).



Johnny Cash is alive and well!
This guy was rocking out the Folsom Prison Blues at the Cider Barrel Stage.


He sounded so much like Johnny. I had a better picture, but I think I uploaded the wrong one.

In fact I have a bunch of other photos but blogger would only allow me to load four tonight.

Hope you all enjoy them!

Yosemite Park - Family Tour 2009

Majestic Half Dome - Partially obscured by smoke - caused by natural forest fires due to lightning strikes.

Astonishing waterfalls.
El Capitan and the entrance to Yosemite Valley. Half Dome can be seen in the distance.

Ken Burns. You've gotta love him. His new series is about our national parks. I think it's called Our Best Idea.

You've gotta love a guy who focuses on the good and the beautiful.


I was focusing on the falls. I didn't realize my husband was posing. I did manage to get his hat. (or cut off his head). Heehee if I edited this photo before I posted it... Oh well.

So take a break from Kanye West, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and other obnoxious Americans.

Take a break from politics.

Remember that there were once a few visionaries among us. My Grandfather Harrison was a chauffer for one of them - Theodore Roosevelt. Not bad for a guy just off the boat from Ireland.

The National Park Service preserved some national treasures from land hungry developers.

I've only visited three...Yosemite in California, Acadia in Maine, Shenandoah in Virginia.

This was my second visit to Yosemite.

Some of the views weren't quite as clear as they were twenty two years ago due to forest fires.

The National Park Service Rangers have come to realize that forest fires can be a "good" thing. They are part of the natural cycle of things. The redwoods and the sequoia trees are benefitted by fire. I have enough information to bore all of you for many future posts. I am a nature and weather geek who loves this kind of thing.




Doug and Delaney climbed up to the falls.

Here's to the good things.

Don't let the turkeys get you down. Do any of you remember the Boynton cartoons? (I used to have that on a T-Shirt).

Peace.