Bob's "quick" trip to the county... hehehe

Well, last night Bob, (husband, not next door,) advised me he was going to Harrow to look at a truck that was for sale. I casually said... "maybe I'll go with you." So we left at about 11:30am today and got home after 4pm!

I, of course, had different ideas about a "quick" trip to the county. There were many reasons for this long of a trip. First of all, I had never been down Gore Road before. Then, we passed a farm where two of four horses were laying down, in the dirt, in bright sunshine. Now, horses lay down for two reasons, 1-to give birth, 2-they are sick. So after we saw the truck he didn't want to buy after all, I had to double back to check on the horses! (They were standing back up but keep an eye open on Gore Rd. if you're driving by ok?)

Then we had to drive up and down country roads as farmers often just park their trucks by the road with a sign in the window. Oh, if anyone needs a tractor or 5, call me... I know where there are some available. If you need a seadoo... call me for that too! The only trucks we saw were Fords and Chrysler/Dodge's and being a 4 car GM family... they just wouldn't do!

Then we had to find a Tim's and get a coffee and a donut.

Then we had to drop my sister-in-law's dish off to her I've had since Christmas or Easter, I can't remember.

Then we had to stop at the cemetery in Amherstburg to visit Bob's Mom & Dad's graves. Then we had to find his Grandparents and Uncle's graves. Then we had to clear their plaques as the grounds had grown over the Grandparents and Uncle. (Luckily I had a tool thingy in the glove box and was able to do this! I'm calling the cemetery tomorrow as Grandma is sinking and perpetual care is... hello... perpetual!)

Then we had to go to the Verdi Club because my company was doing their fireworks show. We were too early to hook up with the crew though, so we left.

Then we had to stop for gas. Then we had to stop at A&P, then we had to get newspapers, (real ones... not the Windsor Star,) at Sam's. Then we came home.

See, no frivolous stops or driving around... It was all very important. Bob, of course, at about 1:30 was whinging that he would have been home by 1pm had he been alone! Whatever!

Someone searched my blog from Omemee Ontario...

Click the screen shot to make it bigger.








Do I know someone in Omemee? I hope so, it's a fun place name to say! Hi, this is _________, my friend from Omemee; or... I was on the phone chatting with _________ from Omemee. So, if you come back, drop a comment with your name so I can fill in those blanks!

ps. I was result #8 so it doesn't show up in the screen shot. I am also having a vague memory of recently searching "Omemee" on Google but I can't remember why?

Happy Birthday Matthew!

I hope he has a great "30" in Lloydminster. I can't believe...a) he's 30 and b) he turned 30 without us!

Attempted fishy rescue

Last night we were over at Debbie & Robin's house having a bbq and planning the pyro party. We noticed that the pumps were not running at the pond next door. I snuck into the yard and found two filthy, algae infested, bathtub hot, stagnant ponds. I spotted a couple of small, lethargic, sad little fishies.

What was I to do? I went home, got a net, a container and attempted a rescue. The fishies resisted. They hid under rocks, in the algae and well... just wouldn't co-operate! I tried two different times. Each time, before I left the yard, I tossed my net and container over the privacy fence into Debbie's yard. I didn't want to be seen leaving their yard with my "fishnapping" tools! I may try again.

Can you get serious time for this?

My Dad, I miss him

My Dad is the young soldier, bottom right. I remember when he went to these manoeuvres. He brought us back the coolest presents. Toy koala bears, but made of kangaroo fur and skin as koalas were/are protected and kangaroos were vermin. He sent authentic boomerangs too. It's a month tomorrow and I miss him terribly. There have been so many things I've wanted to tell him about, talk to him about and just share because I know he'd appreciate them. Time does go on but I don't have to like it.

He did have an interesting and exciting life, for that I am grateful.

My famous God-daughter Alex!

Click on the pic, make it bigger, far right background wearing a striped poncho... it's my Ally! (and her Mom, my friend Debbie) I hope she'll still talk to me now that she's famous!

The end of the book... (no spoilers I promise!)

Mich finished The Deathly Hallows at 1:15am. A marathon session of about 14 hours with a supper break. I will NOT tell you what she told me, that would be mean.

Harry Day Update...

Mich is up to page 447 and is taking a shower break. She did stop to eat supper, quickly! Only 160 pages to go...

Happy Harry Day... Sad Harry Day!

I went and got Michie her copy at 8am this morning. She didn't know I had done that. She got up a couple of hours later after not coming home until 12:44am, (but who's counting?) She jumped out of bed, washed her face, dressed and was prepared to go buy the book. She found the copy I bought her on the kitchen counter.

It is now 6:20pm and she is 1/2 through the book! Apparently it is good. She will be sad when she's done though!

Additon to posting below...

In reference to the post below... add... #4 - do NOT eat Nutty Buddys! Thanks Robin!

Very important information...

Having never had a tooth pulled before, I am a novice. There are things I did not know but have since learned in past two days.





#1 - Do NOT eat rice!
#2 - Do NOT let your tongue wander over to where your tooth used to be! It's gross!
#3 - Did I mention do NOT eat rice?

sigh...

This is a test...

For some reason my last two posts won't show up. One will if you click on "July" the other won't but it's there, in my list of posts in the editing section? So... test, test...

**Edit** Wow, this guy is good! As soon as I posted him... tada... my posts showed up!

My beautiful, but rude daughter!

I found this pic, this beautiful pic, on Allison's facebook page. I did not know it existed... why you ask? Well, let me tell you. Michie won't be my friend on facebook. Apparently, again by reading Allison's wall, I've learned Michie has a strict policy of not being her Mother's friend on facebook. She is not ready to revisit it at this time! rude, rude, rude! But a great pic eh?

Ouch

Well, I didn't have to be "put out." Just frozen by 154 needles, give or take about 147. I saw the instrument ,(not quite exact, but similar,) pictured above heading toward me and immediately shut my eyes, grabbed the arms of the chair and started loudly humming "ABCDEFG..." I figured that way I'd drown out any noises I didn't really want to hear. After just a few minutes I realized that they weren't poking around in my mouth anymore so I opened my eyes and asked... "is it out?" They said yes and we were done! I didn't even feel it, (or hear it!)

Now... I began to feel it on the way home... Oh, I forgot to mention Debbie was kind enough to take me lest I was too woozy from drugs. We dropped off my script for some good drugs, picked up a Timmy's and she dropped me at home.

I tried Tylenol... nope... waited for Shoppers to deliver the good stuff, ripped it out of the driver's hand and swallowed one. Slept for a few hours and am now wide awake!

Hurts like the devil again though but don't think I want to take another pill. I'll see how it goes.

All in all, it's been two painful days, yesterday City Council, (don't want to talk about that as it's all just too weird to really explain,) today the tooth. To be honest, I'm not sure which one was more psychologically damaging!

Off to the oral surgeon!

Yep, getting a molar extracted in about 45 minutes... Not happy. I've only ever had my wisdom teeth extracted. The tooth is fine, no cavities. I'm a grinder. I've ground it right loose, like wiggling a post in a hole. There's no saving it. Hopefully they can just pull it and not have to put me out!

*cartoon courtesy of Susan who sent me good luck emails!

Looooooong day and I'm a cliche!

When you get up at 4:40am it makes for a very long day... I'm trying to force myself to stay up. So I went outside and helped Bob, (husband, not next door,) clean up under the front porch. He leaned the rake up against the porch and yep... I stepped on it and yep... it hit me in the face... I hate being a cliche! (I hate being hit in the face with a rake, even more than being a cliche!)

4:40am

Not much to do this time of the morning. Sleeping would be a great idea, too bad it doesn't work for me :(

I haven't felt much like writing lately... Too much going on... too many words flying around in my head to actually put them on paper. Should the truth be told, I don't feel much like doing anything. hmmm and my "title" section won't work... just as well, don't really have a title anyway.

Denis P. Toal, CD : December 26, 1936 - June 24, 2007

Tomorrow...

Edit: My tomorrow was very different than I had planned. I ended up driving back to London where my Father's condition had gotten much, much worse...

My Father, Denis P. Toal, is President of the Royal Canadian Regiment Association. He was to be here, in Windsor, this weekend for the re dedication of the Boer War, RCR monument in Jackson Park. He is too ill to attend. I shall be there for him. I will post pics of the event. The Parade is at 1pm with the re dedication ceremony afterwards.

Back home

I just realized this picture was taken 49 years ago this month, maybe this day? June, 1958. (Friday, two days after original post...) I also just realized that my Father is the age Michelle, (my daughter,) is now... in this pic! Well, he's about a year older but still!

I've been in London, with my Dad. It was nice having so much time with him. We even played poker at the kitchen table. He's very ill and it's so sad. He's a strong man, with a fighting spirit. All four of us Sisters are taking turns to stay with him and to make sure he's well cared for and has company.

It's actually weird being home, I got used to our daily routine pretty quickly. I imagine I will be back there very soon.

The best laid plans...

I had big plans for this morning...

1- get up
2- make coffee/take my 6 morning pills
3- turn on computer
4- win lotto 649

sigh... three outta four ain't bad?

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

T'shirt design contest on BitTorrent... these are my 2 favourites.













Go here to vote ->

http://torrentfreak.com/anti-drm-t-shirt-designs-vote-now/

Hillarry

Perception vs Reality

"Mayor Eddie Francis's State of the City address May 14 ruffled some feathers. In a rare step for a mayor of union-strong Windsor, Francis suggested labour leaders refrain from talking tough - lest potential investment be scared off."

These words, infuriated Buzz Hargrove... insisting that the CAW is NOT militant, not threatening and does no harm to the perceived image of Windsor as a welcoming, prosperous and investment worthy city...

then today's paper...

Tough talk
"CAW boss vows to 'take down' GM if transmission plant is left out of future plans..."

Yep, it's a perception problem alright, no militancy here. Way to "court" new investment Buzz! Why waste money on flowers and candy when you can just cut to the chase with "pick me or else!" Hey wait... if GM was a woman, he'd be in jail!

Life

The bad news... sometimes, no matter what you do, it's not enough.
The good news... nothing lasts forever
The bad news... sometimes people are thoughtless and mean.
The good news... it can give you the good cry you've needed but haven't let go.


The bad news... often, when you need to talk, no one answers the phone.
The good news... you don't get to say things you might be sorry for later.

And such is life.

A reminder on where "thirty pounds of cat" comes from.

Put this game on your blog   Create your own   More games

:(

This is me and my Dad in 1958. He's quite ill. I wish I lived in London.

Random ads...

The Brantford Expositor Newspaper...

Really, someone should be watching this stuff. Random ads, generated by topic don't always work!

Away for a while

'Tis the season... yep fireworks season. Victoria Day is just days away, we're busy as sin and well... no time for blogging. I miss it though not much happy happening in my life so really, besides my working until 8 or 9 every night there's not much to talk about!

What's with the goose thing?

Yesterday, Michelle and I were driving home from my work. We are just passing the airport, where the day before we had said goodbye to Matthew, and I suddenly had to brake.

A goose was crossing the road, yep... walking across. He just strolled across, in front of my stopped car and kept going. I cannot tell you if it was the same goose that was sitting on the tail thingy of Matthew's plane, nor do I know if it is the same one Michelle saw a story about online and was asking for earlier that morning?

All I can tell you is that for some strange reason geese, (or the same goose?) keep popping up in my life?

Any theories?

Weird... and Goodbye :(

Well, we took Matthew to the airport. He was supposed to be there by 8:30am, I was there, they were supposed to be behind me in the other car as Mich and I were carrying on to the office after Matthew's departure. I waited, and waited... walked around, went outside... heard them call "last security check call" for his flight, still no Bob, Matthew and Michelle! Finally they pull up and we run in.

Now, this morning, before we left, Michelle was on the computer and she suddenly blurts out, "can I have a goose?" I said "no" and carried on getting ready. There must have been a story about a goose somewhere that she was reading. She's always asking for random animals, penguins, llamas, pigs, puppies etc.

Back to the airport, Matthew hugs us all goodbye and we go outside to watch him take off. It was a plane like the one in the pic. And... what do I see? Standing on the tail thingy? A giant Canada Goose, honking like mad! He stood there for quite a while then we see another come flying over and they both leave. Now that is weird! Don't have any idea what it means, but it's dang wierd. After the plane took off, the two geese returned.

Our house is full of Matthew's stuff. Here's what he took with him. Two suitcases of clothing, a pillow, a carry-on with his towels and his coffee maker! Gotta love those Bondy men!

Matthew leaves today

Matthew, my 29 year old step-son, leaves for Lloydminster today. I don't know whether to say Alberta or Saskachewan as the town is 1/2 in each province? He's starting a new job there.

We take him to the airport in a couple of hours. :(

A week's roundup... one word... "fireworks"

Well as Victoria Day is only a couple of weeks away, I've been working 7 days a week. I haven't had much time to blog. Not much has gone on really. We're busy at work and I'm in my "I hate fireworks, they should be banned" mode! hehe

Tons of orders to fill, shows to design and build and so little time...

(the pic is a lance board we made for the Essex Fun Fest, it burns for about a minute)

Even Microsoft doesn't trust Microsoft!

This is a security warning Windows XP gave me when trying to open a video in Yahoo!
Click pic to enlarge.

Oh and btw... for any "nielsen" types

I'm 49, female, married (sort of,) have lots of disposable income, travel, read, collect stamps, have a University Degree, work full time and have 2 children. Aren't I who you want watching?

T'was an awesome Heroes Episode

I loved it. I want more. I'm glad it's only one week, not eight this time, until the next one! See? There can be REAL tv shows, with REAL story lines, REAL actors, REAL sets and we will watch! Give me more, I'm losing way too much pretend money at online poker dammit!

hip hip... hooray!

Only 22 minutes until a new episode of Heroes!

Seriously what's there been to watch? Deal or no Deal? Bachelor? Biggest Loser? Wife Swap? (and bless is untalented little soul,) Sanjaya? Donald Trump's newest hair style... wait, it never changes unless it's really, really windy ... and now coming to a tv near you... National Bingo? The dumbing down of the tv viewing audience is advancing at such a rate that I despair for any future intelligent, well written, well acted REAL shows! (I'm also more than just a little embarrassed about what the history books will show about us when looking back!) Even Lost is lost, Law and Order... on the verge of cancellation. Studio 60? Hello? Where are you? West Wing... flown the coop.

Thank goodness for online poker! I love playing and collecting all that pretend money! Then there's the joyous hours pouring over my stamp collection!

Oh and what's with "Extreme Makeover?" So now you have to be a) recovering from/ the surviving family of, someone who's died/been killed in action or a Veteran in a wheel chair or suffered some other horrible fate. Don't average, struggling hard working ordinary folks deserve a hands-up too? I can't watch it anymore. I'm pretty sure George Bush is now funding this show from his war chest!

yawn...

Worked 9:30am to 10pm... Shot off all the new fireworks out back of the warehouse tonight for our wholesale customers and staff. It was much better weather than last year's snow, rain, driving winds and freezing temps! It went well, a great turn out but I did notice certain neighbours were'nt there? Bob, (next door, not husband) and Susan, (you were missed!) You'd have loved the display pieces, the guys at the airport control tower gave them high marks! :)

Virginia Tech and our "sensibilities"

I haven't blogged about this yet as I really don't know what to say. Today, however, I was driving to work, listening to AM800 CKLW's Lynn Martin call in show. The theme? Should they have shown the video of the killer? When is enough, enough? After commercials they played the audio of his rantings. With, of course, the swear words bleeped out! Last night onMSNBC, the swear words were ****'d out! On tv the bleep, the papers the ****. So let me see if I understand this correctly?

The part where he explains that he can no longer run but must take a stand for, "my children, my brothers and sister that you've fucked over" The word "fucked" is apparently the most threateningly offensive part of his ramblings.

Bleep out the profanities to protect our sensibilities. Well guess what?

The act committed 4-16-07, was one of the most profane things I have ever seen or heard. The nonsense of bleeping out the swearing just goes to prove that they really shouldn't have broadcast anything at all. If we cannot, tolerate profane language, than how on earth do we sit and watch this malevolence spew on our screens over and over again? The priorities of our society are so skewed as to be beyond straightening.

I'm not going to go into how "profane" it is that he apparently took a break, went for a walk, stopped in at the post office and mailed a package. Perhaps, had the University done something after the first killings, 30 others would still be alive. Had there been a visible police presence would he have carried on so casually? Would he have turned around and walked away? Would he have simply put the gun to his own head and ended it there? That my friends is profane. The word fuck is just the talk of the angry with limited vocabularies and I for one, will not shrivel up in horror to hear it or read it on a page.

Too busy to blog...

Well the day started out attending a City of Windsor "Licensing Commission" meeting but... no quorum! Two Counsellors and a member failed to show up so meeting cancelled. Then went to work then home to make dinner then... Yea! Patty (radio news reporter,) came over and we sat outside, on the rear deck, out of the wind, and drank wine until about 10 minutes ago.

Tomorrow night is the fund raiser for George Copland, the Firefighter so grievously injured in the accident of last month so I must go to bed to be bright and alert for the event.

Other than my fish all being terribly sick with what now appears to be a fungal infection - I don't want to talk about it as I just sent one down the great white porcelain chute to fishy heaven!

nighters and sweet dreams all...

A Weird Coincidence

If you google Pierre Trudeau under "images" you get 22,600 returns. I chose the pic below last night. Pierre and the Queen signing the "Charter of Rights and Freedoms." This week is the 25th anniversary of that signing...(which I did NOT know at the time, learned it from Rex Murphy on CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup.)
Not terribly earth shattering I know, but a bit weird nonetheless. {cue "Twilight Zone" theme...}

My brushes with the famous...

I was thinking about going to see Camelot the other night and being in the same room as Michael York. That got me to thinking about famous people I have met or almost met... as in been up close to or had some other almost close encounter. So... here's my list.

Shared a smile/wave with:
Queen Elizabeth (corner of Erie & Ouellete - a personal/official Liz wave- have pics!)
George - Donald Trump's former right hand man, a smile in Trump Tower NY
Melanie Griffith - I'm 95% sure it was her on 5th avenue in NY - she had a ball cap on and sometimes I confuse her with Michelle Pfiffer - nice smile which ever person it was!

Almost been run over by their limo:
Elvis Costello - London, Ontario gates of UWO, his driver apologized to me. Elvis did NOT leave the limo.

Had drinks with:
Jean Cretien - Former Canadian P.M. (he was not P.M. then.) London, Ontario - he's very a funny guy at private, in-camera parties.
Judd Buchanan - London, Ontario - very nice man, worked for him and his wife many elections
Frank Gorshin - The REAL Riddler from Batman - Ponchatrain Hotel, Salamander lounge, Detroit, Bob, (husband, not next door,) Frank and I had drinks and a lovely chat, got his autograph on a cocktail napkin.
Margaret Trudeau - Capitol Theatre, cocktail party after her talk on mental health
Bunch of Republicans - when the convention was in Detroit in the 80's they all came over here and there was a party at the Cleary I think, I crashed it by wearing Trudeau buttons! (Those Republican guys were a pretty raucous bunch!)

Had lunch with:
Pierre Trudeau - London, Ontario - there were about 200 of us BUT... when Pierre was leaving (and he was not talking to anyone or stopping,) I held out my program and a pen and said, (M. Trudeau, s'il vous plait?) He stopped dead, put his hand on my shoulder, babbled away in French and signed my program!

Was on their Christmas card list:
Pierre Trudeau - thank you Judd.

Got a personal letter from:
Pierre Trudeau - grade 10 - can see a line of erasure where secretary forgot to double space (that's on a typewriter - google it!) I'm a huge Pierre fan... see pic at top right of my blog.

Have met/spoken to and now on a postage stamp:
Pierre Trudeau - after his death, Canada Post issued a commerative, I own it of course, two of my favourite things, Pierre & stamps!

Beanie Babies I own named after people I've met:
Pierre - you know who!

Met and shook hands with:
Joe Clark, London, Ontario

Met and have a pic of me with:
The Click Five - google them too

Have stood on stage just before or after they performed:
Limp Bizkit/Godsmack/DMX - Joe Louis, Detroit - after show
Bow Wow - Fox Theater - Detroit - after show, back stage before show
Backstreet Boys - John Labatt Centre, London, Ontario - before show with Fire Inspector checking the pyro.

Went to school with:
Brad Marsh - former NHL player Atlanta/Calgary/Philadelphia/Toronto/Detroit
Craig McTavish - Edmonton Oilers former player, now coach (was in jail in the USA for motor vehicle homicde once)

Known for years:
Dr. Alistar McLeod - writer - No Great Mischief, The Lost Salt Gift of Blood, As The Birds Bring Forth The Sun, (I have autographed copies) I'm quite lucky :)

Helped Mich stalk:
Cynthia Nixon - now if you're like me you say "who?" I had no idea who she was - she refused to take a pic with Mich and Jenny in NY... I say if your name makes people say "who?" you can't afford to snub anyone! (she was in Sex and the City which I've never seen even one episode of.)

Thanks all I can think of right now, I may edit if I think of more.

The Mich is exempted!

Michie was to have had 5 exams in the next couple of weeks. She called me at work today to tell me that as she already had an A+ in Science, Technology and Society, she was exempted! Can't get any higher than an A+! She and 6 others of aobut 70 are exempted. Not bad for 3rd year uni!

Now, I'm still not sure where all this science stuff comes from... just more ammo for my "I'm sure she's adopted or a changling" theory!

Spring? Whatever!

Spring has sprung? Yea right, tell that to the robins shivering in my evergreen. Don't tell me there's no such thing as climate change!

Home from Camelot

Well, "for a brief, shining moment there was Camelot." It was wonderful. Michael York shows how a seasoned actor, who may not have the booming Broadway voice of the other players, takes control. He can exhibit subtleties, ages, emotions with nuance, with a change of facial expression, with grace. The sets were amazing. The show flew by, the story was ageless and full of humour.

Thank you Patty. I can't believe I was in the same room, a mere few feet away, from Michael York! I also can't believe that the guy sitting in front of me kept feeling my leg but hey, that's another post!

Going to Camelot!

I'm very excited. Patty called and we're going to see Camelot tomorrow night at the Fisher in Detroit. Michael York is King Arthur! Yes, THE Michael York. Now for those of you too young to really appreciate him, let me put it into context... Austin Powers movies apparently he played someone called Basil Exposition. (Having never been able to sit through more than about 2 minutes of an Austin Power movie I have to take Google's word for it.) To people my age, his 40 year list of credits go a tad beyond Austin Powers... sigh. Wow just looked up the original cast, waaaaay back in the early 60's, Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, Robert Goulet...!

It's like when I tell Michie and my favourite God-Daugher Alex that I saw Maggie Smith, up close and personal at Stratford, they say... "who?" Then I tell them she's Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies... ohhhhh! (I do sit through and enjoy Harry Potter movies!) Oh and she's in the Sister Act movies too. To people my age, I would reference The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to be going and happy to have it to look forward too!

A little bit more about me

Well the past few days the defining thing about me is my disease as I've been in a major flare!

I have psoriatic arthritis. (PA) I've known since I was in my early teens that something was wrong. I knew other kids' hands and fingers didn't hurt like mine. I knew that their knees and elbows didn't ache. The Doctor told me I was "too young" to have arthritis and that it was in my head. My fingernails started going "weird" when I was about 14, they are very weird now!

This went on for years... actually decades. It wasn't until my mid thirties that I wrote my Doc and said "fine, if you think I need a psych consult, do it!" That made them pay attention. Still, I didn't get a diagnosis. Just a bunch of maybes. I have positive biopsies for Lupus, negative for the blood antibody. Huge family history of Lupus and many other systemic diseases.

One day I was in a book store and saw a book called "Arthritis." I bought it, it listed every type there is. I diagnosed myself and then noticed the author was a Doctor at St. Joseph's in London, Ontario. I wrote a long letter and faxed it. Well, his secretary called me the next day, told me to get a referral and voila... I was off to London. He confirmed my psoriatic arthritis and I was able to start taking the proper drugs. This after a full year of a swollen achilles tendon on my left foot, massive, painful idiopathic hives that showed tissue death when biopsied (though interestingly only appeared above the waist, below the knees and never on my face?) back pain, burst blood vessels and swollen fingers.

The drugs have changed many times over the years. I've even done one drug study. I don't qualify for most of the new studies as they are the biologics and any TB history excludes you. (I was exposed as a baby and still carry the TB germ in my lung. It shows up on Xrays and I always test positive on the skin test - I am NOT contagious and NOT sick though, it's held in check by my own immune system)

So the last few days I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I wake up constantly through the night from back/hip pain and I'm exhausted. I still go to work, do all sorts of stuff but feel horrible. The good thing is I know it will pass. The itchiness drives me to distraction and I'm scratching and breaking/bruising my skin. It's quite ugly and I'm glad it's long sleeve weather. The funny thing is I have very little skin psoriasis, just my elbows and my in my fingernails.

I have 2 cousins with Lupus, we're pretty sure my Grandmother and her sister both died of undiagnosed, untreated Lupus. A sister with psoriasis and my Aunt in Ireland tells me that "we're a scaly bunch back home!" You see, psoriasis comes in many forms some people have PA. There are 5 kinds of PA and you can have one or a combination of the 5. We're an orphan disease group as there's not a huge number and no money in it for the drug companies to find drugs just for us. They make the news ones for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus, then test them on us to see if they work.

The good news is they've identified the gene that causes psoriasis so the next step is a cure hopefully. I"ve been going to work, enjoyed Easter dinner and my guests and am still doing everything I usually do. I'm just whinging because I feel so crappy, I'll get over it. This too shall pass... hey though if you've stumbled in and have a PA story, post it!

Easter Hoppenings... (yes, that was intentional!)

Well I awoke at 5:11am! Dang... don't know why, but it's now 8:40pm and I'm still going. At 5:12am I really wanted to start cooking but everyone was still in bed, no kidding? HELLO? 5:12am! So I turned to my trusty computer and played on line poker (for pretend money of course.) Got to love the machine, no time zones, no date lines, just people playing games. Now with all the snow lying on the ground I was tempted to go out and make snow bunnies and line them up on my stairs, but I fought that urge.

I started at 9am to get the bird in the oven and basically cooked all day. Patty, (radio reporter friend,) stopped by with a gift of Easter wine and candies and a lovely ceramic egg. I delivered all my bunny treats around the neighbourhood. Susan and Bob, (next door,) came for dinner and brought 2, not 1 but 2, pies! woo hoo...

Michie's friend Jenny Le, currently a UOW pre-med student came too as well as Matthew. A good time was had by all and I ate way , way too much! I may have had a tad too much Easeter wine too!

Happy Hippity Hoppity to all! (see how politically correct I am?)

ps... boy did I have to edit this post! I must have had waaaaaaay toooooo much Easter wine!