TGIF!

Well, we are under a winter storm advisory. Hopefully, the worst weather is going to go north of us. It sounds like Tennessee is about to get hit. It is sleeting/raining here now. The temperature is dropping. That is the thing I hate the most about winter here in Alabama. ICE! The worst weather we've had since I moved here in 1980 is ice storms. Starts out rain, then freezing rain, then the ice gets so heavy the trees break. I was not use to that growing up in the Chicago area. Snow.....lots and lots of snow! We didn't have things come to a standstill because of snow. That was only rare. 1967 was a biggie. I think we had over 3 feet of snow in a 24 hour period. It really did shut things down for several days. I was a senior in high school and I thought it was fun! Then in the late 1970's. That was more of a blizzard! The windchill was like 40 below. The wind blew snow in huge drifts. I was working and got snowed in at my job for 3 days. What an experience! I learned after that, carry a bag in my car with toothbrush and clean undies! Again, I was in my late 20's and I thought of it as an adventure. The thought of something like that now freaks me out! I guess I'm officially an "old fart".

Well, Keith just came in and we got to run to the store. The Alabama thing to do if they give winter storm warnings is get to the store to stock up!

Hope everyone has a good weekend. Ashley & Brent should be home again tomorrow. Can't wait to hear about their vacation.

Feeding the poor....

I was surfing and ran across a news bit about Andre Bauer who is running for governor in South Carolina. I sincerely hope he was just making a huge gaff but I suspect the man really feels this way. He likened helping the poor to"feeding stray animals" "if you feed them they will breed"

I am enraged by uncaring politicians. The culture of poverty is an extremely difficult issue! Oh, I've got to get ready for work so no time for soap-boxing now.

"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity nothing exceeds the criticisms made of the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and the well-fed."

Herman Melville

Carol's practice photos / killing time before work

Emily and I want to take photography classes. She got a new Nikon for christmas. I took an intro to digital photography in Birmingham last fall. Really enjoyed it. Just haven't had a chance to work out my schedule to enroll in another class yet. I love to take pictures. Photography is the one thing I would love to go back to school for. It is just hard to find the time to keep at it. Well, I can at least say I still have dreams!

Tuesday's are my long day at work. I start at 10 a.m. and go till whenever we get done with the night clinic. We have a volunteer Doctor on Tues. nights. The night clinic starts at 5 p.m. and we usually see about 20 patients. I'm usually done by 8 p.m. Sometimes sooner, rarely does it go longer. I really enjoy my Tuesdays. I enjoy working with all the Doc's who donate their time to volunteer. We also have various churches, businesses, etc. donate a meal to feed the people who volunteer their time on Tuesdays. It really gives me a sense of inspiration when I remember how many good people there are. I think sometimes we forget that people are good and there is a lot of unselfish people who donate their time, help, money, good wishes to others. I do like my job! It is so good to be glad to go to work!

I have another nurse practitioner student with me again. I finished preceptorship with a student in December. We have the perfect setting to help teach a student. Also, I like teaching.

Ashley & Brent are going to Cabo (?) Mexico for a little vacation break. I'm so happy they get to travel. This is a vacation Brent earns from his job. I'm jealous. During the worst cold snap we had in several years, they were in Pasadena. Now, it's turning cold again and they will be in Mexico. Good for them!

Ashley & Brent in California.

Our granddaughter Ashley came by this afternoon. She helped me make some changes to my blog. She is a wiz at the computer, I seem to struggle along at least half the time. Ashley and her husband Brent went to the Championship game to root for Alabama in Pasadena. We're all big Bama fans. I found this really neat Alabama scrapbook/photo album at Costco. I bought one for Ash, Emily, and myself. I can't wait to print out some pics for my album. We were so happy that Alabama won the championship this year! Roll Tide! Can't wait till next year and we can do it again!

I have a day off today and I am really appreciating it. I decided to take it easy today. This past weekend I was super busy. I started out saturday morning with my friends Rebecca and Wendell going to Leoma, TN. The Story & Lee Furniture store and a really good sale on Lane recliners. I ended up getting all new living room furniture. I had finally convinced Carl that our old 1990's sectional sofa needed to go. So it left our den kind of bare. To make a long boring story short, I now can put my recliner from the living room in the den and I got two new recliners and tables for the living room. I got up Sunday morning and started again cleaning and rearranging one of the bedrooms. It's funny how 20 years ago I could have done all this in one day. It took me two full days and then I paid for it with aching muscles and bones all day Monday.

I hit the big 6-0 last December but in my mind I still feel like I'm 30! My ole body just doesn't want to cooperate with my brain! I'm sure our friends who have hit or approaching their "golden years" know what I'm talking about. I'm still confused about when the golden years are going to begin. I read in a book one time, that "nostalgia is the arthritis of the baby boomers". It is interesting to think about this. Many times I get emails about life back in the 50's or 60's. Our childhoods were definitely different that the kids now. I hate to sound cliche, but I really do think there was an innocence that the kids today don't seem to have. Or is it, we as adults now know the innocence of our childhoods was kept that way by our parents. I guess along with my recuperating muscles my brain is exercising in nostalgia some today.

I've got a strong possibility of extending my hours at the clinic where I work. I'm really excited about that. Something happened yesterday that made me not only angry but a small part of me felt a sense of satisfaction. For yall that don't know, the clinic is for persons who have limited income and who do have have health insurance. Basically, it is a free clinic. Patients can been seen by the providers for a fee of $10.00 per year. Lab work and meds are free. Most patients qualify for charity care (free) testing at the hospital that supports our clinic. We discovered that one of our frequent patients has had insurance since Feb. 2009. She did not want to go to a private Doctors office because she enjoys coming to our clinic. However, this is keeping someone else who needs our service from getting it. Of course we had to inform her that she could no longer come as a patient. I wish there was a solution to this immense problem of inequity in healthcare. I really don't feel what is being planned so far will help the majority of people. I can see both sides of this issue. All I know for sure, it is broken! Solutions? No, not from me.

So, we are suppose to be getting a lot of rain soon. As I mentioned in my initial blog, Buddy has severe storm anxiety. Also, camera phobia or anything that makes a loud noise or has a light on it. Carl is convinced Buddy was in a tornado as a puppy and it traumatized him. I've explained that many dogs have this problem. He has just never had one before and he is sure Buddy is suffering a doggie form of PTSD. I don't want to make things sound even worse, but he also believes Buddy listens to the TV news everyday at noontime with him. He has really anthropomorphized our animals.....especially Buddy. He has told me on several occasions that Buddy listens to the weather reports and he knows when bad weather is coming. I guess it's one of the qualities about Carl that makes me love him AND worry about him! He is still unhappy with me because I'm trying to train Rusty to go in his crate and not sit on the furniture. It's really hard to train a dog when only one person in the house is putting in the effort.

I really missed my Mom and Dad during the holidays. It's hard to believe she's been gone almost 15 years. I was going through some old photos again recently and found this one. One of the projects that I have continually going on is photograph sorting and transfers to my Mac. It will take me forever. I can't wait to share some of our beautiful granddaughters soon. We are so proud of them, they are lovely in spirit and person.

I can't believe I'm blogging!

There is a well known phrase, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". I guess this statement is really not true. Who would have thought that I would begin a blog for our family?! It will probably be boring to most but it is sure to be funny to some. We don't lead an exciting life; in fact it is pretty routine and ordinary. However, our "kids" (animals) keep us entertained and I will probably share their antics. Carl loves our kids and he is really very funny with them. I would have to say they is a definite hierarchy in this household and I am NOT in the top 3!

The Livingston Family consists of:

Carl "Big Daddy" Officially retired. Considers himself a cattleman and an "assman". No, nothing to do with tushes, he literally owns a bunch of Jenny's (female asses) and Jack's.

Carol (usually the responsible one) Part time employed as a Family Nurse Practitioner at a free clinic for patients who have no health insurance.

Buddy -- our beloved dog that I brought home from an adoption day at PetSmart in Huntsville in January 2002. This beloved $35.00 adoptee who happened to be heart worm positive turned into a very expensive mutt right away! He is a wonderful dog though and we love him. He is a little nuts at times (fits right in this house!) because he has severe storm anxiety!

Hoot -- He is our 15 year old cat. He's a yellow tabby with a wonderful personality. He loves Keith, who happens to be his savior. Keith found him one day when he was about 7 weeks old. He was on the edge of Highway 67 and would certainly have not made it if Keith had not stopped for him. He had a broken back leg. Again, he turned into an expensive addition to the family. He unfortunately developed diabetes this past summer and so that has been challenging. But he is happy and seems to be doing well.

Socks -- She is our 15 year old little girl. I named her Socks cause she is a black & white tuxedo cat with 4 white socks. Also, the Clinton's cat was named Socks and they looked very much alike. She's doing good but is really showing her age.

Tippy -- She is a smart, good yard dog. Carl found her on the road (June 2004) when she was a very young puppy. She is definitely "the boss" of the backyard.

Rusty -- What can I say about Rusty? Well, if you've never had a dachshund it will be hard to understand what these dogs are like. He is Carl's baby. Most of the time he is #1 on my list of things I'd like to see disappear. I have a real love/hate relationship with him. He is funny yet some of his traits are really bad. He gets mad when we leave him alone and he has his territory in the hallway he has designated as his personal potty. He also wants to eat constantly! Carl feeds him table food (ok, I do too) and I keep trying to convince him he should not eat hot dogs. This has been a loosing battle. I've learned after being married to Carl for 25 years I must accept what I can not change. Took many years to learn that too!

Last but not least, there is "The Duke".

Have you read the book or seen the movie "Marley & Me"? Duke is a reincarnated version of Marley. He is (was?) our granddaughter Emily's dog. He needed a home where he could run loose. So, since we have a big back yard, we gladly welcomed him into our family. He tore down the sun shade, nearly ate the swimming pool that Tippy loved, chewed and ruined our phone line attached to the house, tore the downspouts off the gutters, and most recently, he broke the basement window! The house is starting to look like a prison yard. Everything is covered in wire to keep it safe! He is a big lovable yellow lab. Not the brightest bulb though.

You'll probably hear lots about our granddaughter's, Ashley and Emily. We are very blessed to have such wonderful young women in our lives. Also, our new grandson-in-law, Brent. Ashely and Brent were married August 29th of 09. Last year was exciting and fun!

Also, Keith is here frequently. My son Mike lives in Indianapolis. He tries to visit 2 or 3 times a year.

Well, I guess I've sufficiently bored all of you. I will close this first blog out now. Hope some of yall will continue to check in on us.