I emailed Garrison Keillor:  “Hello, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your wit and the courage to speak it.  I have listened for decades.  The most memorable show?  Father’s Day 1987, the “last” show.  I would so miss your company every weekend.  It was the end of an era in more ways than one for me.  You see I began driving home from Miami as the show started, having just left my father’s bedside where I signed for him to be taken off life support.  His wife didn’t want to sign without me, so I signed and within minutes he had passed.  I drove the 3 hours north along highway AIA, the ocean drive, and caught the show on various public radio stations all along the way up.  It was memorable indeed.   Thanks for all you do, I’ve been a fan from the first time I heard your show.  I wish you luck and lots of love in your life.”

I’m in a house in a neigborhood in NC and locals don’t like it because our tags are from Florida.   In a large room, a house really with a large meeting room and a lot of chairs and couches.   We are waiting for a program to start, but they won’t be here until 9:30am. I think it might be a band.  The owner of the house are a couple and they are very nice although a little reclusive it seems. I speak to both of them. He is a painter and is setting out his paints. They are well worn tubes of acrylic or watercolor. I am very thirsty and he pours some water, but it is for a paint jar, and I am helping to arrange the jars on the table. I am on one of the couches, a smaller one, and watching other people come in. I move around from seat to seat trying to find which will have the best view of the dias where the speaker or band will be.  Continue reading →

I’ve been working away here.  New Kitty and YinYang are tolerating each other.  I don’t know if he went out yesterday at all.  I think the Universe is using him to get me to sleep in my bed instead of on the couch.  I will go in there for a nap because I know he’ll appear as soon as I get settled in.  It’s got to be better for my spine, but since I don’t have any problems I just sleep on the small chaise I call my couch.  I place the armchair at the end of the chaise to make it long enough for me to stretch out (kinda) in.  It’s not real comfortable but I don’t want it to be, otherwise I’d be in it all the time.  I know it’s hard to discipline yourself to do creative visualization to pre-pave what you’d like your future experience to be, but I have learned that is key to my happy tomorrows.  I know it’s hard to think happy fluffy thoughts when I’m stuck in the reality of my chaotic life surrounded by the downward spiral talk and opinions of people I can’t get way from, but I know if I don’t do it, I’ll be stuck there tomorrow and the day after and the day after.

I cooked penne pasta tonight, while it was cooking I sauteed some chopped fresh mushrooms in Pam spray with olive oil and also 4 scallions and some chopped fresh tomatoes from Danny’s garden.  I also put pepper (I use salt only AFTER it’s cooked so it doesn’t make the veggies watery) and garlic powder like a teaspoon (I use a lot of garlic powder, I sprinkle it on everything, it helps keep your arteries open) and some basil and oregano also.  Oh, also a squirt of lemon juice and a teaspoon of sugar since the tomatoes were very acidic.  While the pasta was draining, I put a teaspoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of my fake butter Earth Balance in with the mushrooms and threw in the penne, and let it all saute for about 3 more minutes as I mixed it around.  It was really good.   Continue reading →

The new kitty is settling in.  YinYang even came into the bedroom this morning while NK was on the foot of the bed and she didn’t howl or growl or anything, just glared.  When I saw her and stepped over to pet her, she let me instead of hissing and ripping my hand to shreds.  Progress!  This morning I’ve been reprogramming my new Nokia 6555 phone, the insurance replacement for the one I dropped into my soup last week.  To make it even more embarrassing I was at a lunch meeting and we were waiting for a call back and it was while answering that that the phone jumped.  And of course it was not a simple tom yum where it would have landed on the vegetables, but a pho so it was submerged… sheeesh. I went to my tax accountant’s and had my new will notarized and heard a little about her trip to Japan she just returned from. Went to Hioki’s for lunch and had miso soup, grilled fish, seaweed salad and california roll, which is their box lunch special for $10.50.  Came home and packed up my drums for tomorrow night’s hand drumming class with Janine.  A friend returned some books and saw the new kitty as he bolted when he came in the driveway.  I scratched off some lottery tickets that Denise gave me and won $2 and a free ticket 🙂  might be the One!!!  Tonight I rest and tomorrow I finish billing.

The new kitty is settling in.  I’m pretty sure he’s a neutered male.  I will check again to be sure.  He’s settling in and even YinYang is not so actively hating on him.  She doesn’t like it but at least isn’t stalking him and snarling at him. She just glares at him from across the room.  I set up a cat box in the hallway just in case and about 3:30am this morning he used it while I was in the office.  Aaaugh!  I want him doing this outside, I will not have a box in the house, this had better just be a temporary thing.  But one reason I think he did was because yesterday I was wondering if I should get him checked for worms.  So me discarding his evidence gave me the chance to inspect it and no worms yay. I typically get my cats their first shots when they are neutered and that’s it, unless they go back to the vet for something.  Then the vet requires their shots get updated.  Otherwise, I think them eating their partially wild diet keeps their immune system strong.

The new cat came home about midnight, came in thru the cat door. I tried to snooze on the couch and she kept jumping up and so I gave in about 2am and went into my room, which I had sealed off until I know her better.  She jumped up on the bed and stayed there until I got up about 7:30am.  I let yinYang in thru the bedroom sliding glass door and new kitty stayed in the room while I coaxed Yinny into the kitchen to eat before she could see the other one on the foot of the bed.  Then I took new kitty outside and we walked around a bit so I could let her know these are our woods.  I sat in a couple of the chairs in different areas of the yard as she walked around, and kept talking to her so she’d know where I was even when I couldn’t see her. So when she disappeared into the east woods, I know she knows:

1. she’s allowed out there
2. she knows to come back

I am not so anxious now.

Kitty is now making herself at home and the other cats are accepting her.  Not liking her yet but not not trying to fight, just growling at her.  She stays put behind a chair peeking out when they do that, and I squirt them with a water pistol so it’s over soon.  She patrolled the foot of my bed, patty-pawing her way, all night long.

I went to Orlando to have lunch with Dennis Hollin at Sweet tomatoes, very neat place, picked up a kilo of incense from him. I burn so much of it that I buy the Nag Champa by the kilo.

Danny Gaude died May 19th. He and his mom lived with us when I was a toddler, she baby sat us, he was 12 years older and we’d always kept in touch.  I went down yesterday to help the family sort thru his things to find his will, etc and am going down in a few minutes for the funeral.  He has 4 cats that no one can catch, not that I need another cat but if I can catch any, they may as well live in my woods as his.  I went down today to Danny Gaude’s funeral and took home the one black and white cat. Don’t know if it’s a boy or girl, has a yin personality, a tiptoe tuxedo, is getting used to the house. 5 hours later, she is now missing in action. But I shoved her a few times in and out of the cat door so in case she got out, she would know where she was.   She already stood her ground when my little YinYang growled and snarled at her.  She just stayed halfway across the room and watched her pitch her little fit.  She does that when Izzy walks by also, she hates everyone.  I think she is channelling my mother’s cat Lady, who was the supreme bitch cat of all time.  I found her twice behind the water heater in the garage, and I opened and closed the garage door a couple of times so she knows what that sound is.  My garage door is very loud and scary sounding.  I wish I could settle down, I feel like I have a newborn, wanting to make sure it’s ok every second it’s out of my sight.   I fell asleep about 9pm on the couch and an hour later woke up to Izzy growling at her as she was under the couch.  I got Izzy calmed down and fed and then he just seemed curious.  I think he was letting me know in case some intruder came in while I was asleep at my watch, he was letting me know he found it.  Then I fell asleep for another hour and when I woke up, the cat is no where to be found and Yin Yang is sitting in the living room acting normal.  So I guess the new one is outside somewhere.  I checked the garage but maybe s/he’s hiding wherever s/he was before.  I hope it comes back. I walked around outside to call it.  At least she knows where the food can be found.

I received this email today” “Dear Friends of Dan Gaude,   I am Dan’s cousin and, it is with the greatest sadness that I inform you of Dan’s passing.  I’m sure that some of you have already heard of this; if you have not: Dan passed away suddenly on May 19th. We’ve organized a memorial gathering from 9:30 to 10:00 A.M. at Aycock Funeral Home, 1112 Military Trail, Jupiter; a brief memorial service will follow at 10:00.  You are all invited to attend. I replied. “Danny and I kind of grew up together.  Dan’s mom was a friend of my parents, and she and Danny lived with us in Hialeah in the 50’s.  Dottie babysat my brother Bobby and me, and Danny probably just caused trouble .  I’m 56 now, twelve years younger than Danny, so when I was 4 and he was 16, I was the little sister.  Danny and my dad bought property next to each other in the Everglades in the 60’s and 70’s and were great friends until my dad passed in 1987.  My brother passed in 1976, my mom in 1996, and Danny and I felt like brother and sister. We talked on the phone every few months to catch up. Danny and Dottie would often go camping with us and that was always so fun.  My parents raised ocelots (like small leopards) and we’d bring them to the campground and they’d draw a lot of attention.  Danny and my dad always took advantage of that and had the cats put on a little show for everyone.  Danny was always the cut up and always had a quick remark.  And those corny email jokes he would forward to us all , now I will miss them. He was loved and will be missed.  I am glad to stay connected to ‘family’.  I will see you Saturday morning.”

I went to ATT to have Mark see if he could rescue my simm card, no luck but while I waited, a woman came in,, yesterday she damaged her Nokia 6102i and they are sending her a Nokia 6555 instead, a later model than mine. I called ATT insurance and asked why I was getting the 6085 then, a much lesser model. I was told to call and ask for a supervisor when I receive my replacement phone and ask for it to be swapped out. Mark told me that when I called the insurance division, the operator pulled up a list of replacement phones and the 6555 was on the list, she just chose the 6555. I didn’t know I had a choice. So that’s what I’ll do.  I’m anxious wanting to get the phone workable before I go to the lightworker’s conference. But now I may just cancel going.  An email to my group: “Hello, yesterday I dropped my cell phone in my soup and lost all the magic secret numbers: back line numbers, home numbers, cell phone numbers, etc.   So if I had yours and you want me to still have it, please email it to me here and include your first and last name to make it easy for me. “