Frog Collectibles & Other Such Nonsense: 09/01/2010 - 10/01/2010

Frog Collectibles & Other Such Nonsense

A look at my frog collectibles as I get them and my wacky world in the meantime.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Feeling Better

Tuesday evening, the last time I wrote, I caught a second wind and made a trip to the curb with the trash. I felt pretty good - talked with mom for a bit and watched my late night shows. I woke up Wednesday feeling quite queasy in the stomach. I made the decision that for a day, I should stop taking my pain medication - it wreaks havoc with my stomack - and see where I stand. Or don't stand, as the case may be. By last night I was in so much pain I thought I was going to die, and it was a pretty bad night. But I awoke this morning feeling a bit better, and once I got a pain pill in me it didn't take long to quell the feeling that I have ground up glass in my right knee.

Gertie is happy that things are going better today, she's wanted to spend the majority of the day outside. It's beautiful weather here for a couple of days now and so I'm trying to give her as much time outside as she wants. Having windows open and getting some nice cool air circulating throughout the place is great too.

Speaking of which, Gertie is crying to go out. Just to let you know a new frog arrived today! Can't wait to share with you....

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Sick and Tired

And spending the day in bed! I woke up this morning feeling horrible - and it's only gotten worse as the day has gone on. I've ended up spending the majority of the day in bed. I no more than wake up and I need a nap. Tonight is trash night and I think it will end up waiting until next week - I don't think I can even make it down the driveway and back.

Gertie has been pretty good. She lets me sleep for an hour and then wants me to get up and walk around with her. So I come out to the living room and plop in a chair while she checks everthing out - then she's o.k. with me going back to bed.

So I'm off to rest - and hopefully I'll feel a bit better tomorrow.....

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Weekend Dog Blogging


Gertie
Originally uploaded by KenCalvino
Gertie is enjoying the cooler weather! The windows are open and she's wearing herself out keeping track of what's going on outside. Whenever a dog goes by she has to let me know and wants to run out and say hello. So when she runs down, it's time for a little nap. That's when I snapped this picture. I have also been trying to get a picture of her other favorite sleeping position - she puts her head down and the floor and is out like a light, even though she's forgotten her back half which is still up in the air. I honestly don't know how she can sleep in that position, but she does.

Today is Appleknocker Festival Day here in town. It's a great festival that raises money for a lot of local organizations. In return they give half the money they raise to the academic foundation. I decided it was a good day to stay home - you can't get near the place where the actual festival is being held unless you are willing to walk. And that I cannot do.

Friday, September 24, 2010

AC - Round Two

My plumber called early this morning. By the way, some people have written and asked why I called a plumber for my air conditioning. A lot of plumbers also do heating and air conditioning - he happens to be one of them. He's old school and really good. Of course when he called he was in Michigan on a family emergency. He wa sending a stand-in. The stand-in put some coolant in the system and walked away, never checking to see if that was actually the problem. It wasn't. I had the air conditioner set at 50 degrees and the temperature inside was 80. Same as yesterday. Thankfully, it has cooled off quickly and the weather for next several days is supposed to be downright frigid. Any further repairs will have to wait until my regular guy comes back.

I spent the whole day working on a genealogy problem. I have two Williams that both married an Ella. I now know which one married which and tomorrow I'll double check the census records and then get all the information into the book. It's a long slog working on double checking all my information and inputting all the footnotes. I'll be glad when the whole project is done.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Loss of Air Conditioning

Today we're under heat advisories as it is so late in the season to be into the 90's. This afternoon I was sweating bullets and realized it was nearly 90 degrees inside! I went down to the basement to see if the circuit breakers had been tripped - they have not. The air conditioner is not working. Now the dilemma - have it fixed now on the last hot day of the year, or wait until spring when temps start to get warm again. I've decided to leave that up to the plumber. If he gets here today he can go ahead and fix it - if it he calls me late tonight and says he can come by tomorrow I'll tell him to wait until spring. Either way, he'll be here next month cleaning the furnace and getting it ready for winter.

I decided today to take a day away from "The Project." I've been pushing hard all day, every day for some time now and thought I needed a day away to get perspective on it. Tomorrow I'll be re-energized and ready to go again.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Wednesday

Today I had to run some errands in order to keep a roof over my head. Off to the bank, post office, CVS, and, because it's right next to CVS, McDonald's where I got some french fries. I can smell those french fries from home if the wind is blowing right.

I've spent the last two days trying to find a definitive genealogy connection for a family that I'm 95 percent sure is related. But as long as there is that 5 percent I can't put it in my book. So I've put it aside until I can get some newspaper research time and am moving on to the next family. I started with the smallest families first because I thought they'd move quickly. I'm finding out it's very much diffeent.

I think I need a nap.....

Monday, September 20, 2010

Busy, Busy Day

And yet I feel as if I got nothing done. The phone started ringing shortly after 8 this morning and continued to ring pretty much all day. In the midst of everything the doctor's office called to tell me that my vitamin B12 level did not move at all in the last 6 months of injections. So starting with my next shot they're going to double the dose! I should be flying through the day - maybe....

Gertie is as cute as ever. She helped me get the trash ready today for tomorrow. She had to check out each of the boxes as I cut the down to be sure nothing was in them. About 9 boxes were cut down and packed up to go out tomorrow. Sometimes I wonder where all the trash comes from - I'm positive my neighbors must wonder.

Tonight the new telvision programs premiered. I didn't watch any of them. I fell asleep sitting in my chair! That after a solid 2 hour nap this afternoon. I think I need another B12 shot right now!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A hot weekend

It's a hot weekend and I forgot to turn on the air conditioning. Until a couple of minutes ago. It will probably take all evening to cool down. And of course I've turned on the oven to cook dinner.

Of course I could eat Bugles for dinner. I was perusing the internet and looking for coupons for Bugles snacks. Lately that's been my snack of choice. When I came across a site that was selling a case for much less that I could buy at the store. And if I bought two cases, they would throw in free shipping. Who could refuse that? I didn't realize the ramification of this decision until today when two gigantic boxes showed up at the door. Oh My Lord! (as grandma would say). That's 16 large bags of Bugles snacks. I have enough snacks for the next year......

I'm always happy when my research for the genealogy book provides a whole new family of cousins. Such was the situation today. I had been looking through old newspapers, finding little tidbits of who is visiting who. I came across an entry of someone visiting their aunt. A bit of digging further and I come across a name of a living relative. I contacted her and a whole new set of relatives appear. Lots of brothers and sisters, all have children, grandchildren, and even some great grandchildren. And the book continues to grow.....

Thursday, September 16, 2010

A Total Project Day

I spent the entire day working on "The Project." I have done all the initial research, have all the names typed into my Adobe InDesign for the printers. I've been putting in the footnotes, which is extremely time consuming. One small family branch I've been working on for the last four or five days. Research paid off - one family that seemed to drop of the face of the earth, basically did just that. I came across the first murderer in the family. He committed murder-suicide. Papers back in the late 1800's and early 1900's tell every gruesome detail. I am a bit more selective as to what I'm putting in the book.

Now it's time to go watch Project Runway and spend some time with the puppy. She's feeling very neglected today.....

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Visit Number 2

This morning I was back at the doctor's office for bloodwork. The vampire lady was out on Monday, and they wanted me to be fasting - so into the office I went. I'm a notoriously hard stick for bloodwork - and I seem to get stuck every 6 months for something. Not a good combination at all. We finally have it down to one vein in the middle of my forearm. She always says, "This is going to hurt - a lot!" And indeed it does. Afterwards I hung around and got my vitamin B-12 shot. Then it's back out to the front office to pay. If I thought Monday was expensive seeing the doctor - that was just a warm up to having blood drawn. $280.00! Good lord - they only took out two little tubes. For that price I should be laying on the floor with 3/4 of my blood missing because of the number of tests they're running. I had thought it would be nice to go out to breakfast afterwards. Instead I came home to a piece of toast and a cup of hot chocolate.....

Monday, September 13, 2010

The Doctor's Office

This afternoon I had to go to the doctor's office. It's really an all-day affair. The morning was spent spending extra time getting ready. It's like getting ready for a date where you might get groped inappropriately and you know ahead of time you're not getting a kiss afterwards. Finally you arrive at the doctor office and there you sit in the office and wait an extra fifteen minutes. I think she keeps me waiting that long just so I'll think she is really, really busy - even though I'm the only person in the waiting room. Finally you get ushered to that little room where, between the nurse and the doctor, you feel like a piece of meat being looked over and judged. Your flaws are pointed out and things they wish you had done better over the last six months, but didn't, are given that unspoken tsk! tsk! tsk! Papers are rattled, prescriptions given, and you realize that you've forgotten to tell her about a pain your having. Unfortunately the doctor's coat is swirling as she turns to head out the door and anything you say now will fall on deaf ears. Better luck next appointment......

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Weekend Dog Blogging


Gertie
Originally uploaded by KenCalvino
Last night it started raining, which meant that I had no internet access today. The joys of living in Tidy Town. Things are back up and running smoothly for the moment.

The one thing I've been really happy about is the fact that I don't have to have the air conditioning on 24/7. In the last week I've only had it on one afternoon. The night time temps are in the 50's ad it is so nice.

Gertie loves the cooler temperatures too. She has been out and quite a bit this last week. Today with the grass wet, she's decided sleeping was a better option. Although she does come up to me while I'm working on "The Project" as if to say, "Hey, come on. Let's Play." And of course I fall for it almost every time. I mean, who can resist that face?

The project is moving right along. All the genealogy information has been loaded into the computer and most of the entries are formatted. Now I'm going through and putting in footnotes. That way when I head back East later this year to do some research, everything else will be done. Hopefully I'll be going to press by spring.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Frog of the Day

It's been a while, hasn't it? But here we are with a brand new frog for the collection and all the frogs here at Frog Central are excited to welcome this little lady - she's a real star!

This frog collectible is from The Hamilton Collection. This is part of their Hop to a Cure Frog Collection. This particular piece is called Cling to a Promise. This pink beauty is made of resin and stands almost 4 inches tall. This set is limited edition - limited to 95 casting days. Each piece is numbered - this one is 0441A. A nice addition to buying this piece is that a portion of each purchase goes to breast cancer research. A total win-win!

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Shopping

I finally ventured to the grocery store today. My knee has been really bothering me for a while, but I took an extra pain killer and headed off. An hour and a half later I was heading home with hopefully enough groceries to last several weeks. I got just the necessities - I really need to do a very thorough shopping, but honestly, I started up and down the aisle and I was saying to myself - tired of this, don't like that...... I guess I just wasn't into it. Well, at least that is until I hit the ice cream section....lol. I bought a container of Americone Dreams by Ben and Jerry's. Yummy!

Gertie was so glad that I came back that once everything was put away and I settled down, she curled up in my lap and slept for several hours, her tail thumping the whole time.

I received some really interesting news on "the project" today. My genealogy research has taken me to the civil war archives. I ordered the records last week and was surprised when they showed up today. I was told it would take several months. Anyway, it confirmed my suspicions about a distant cousin. Now if I could just get his marriages straightened out. That's the next thing.....

Friday, September 03, 2010

It's Time for a Long Weekend

So get out there and enjoy yourself. We'll see you on the other side...

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

The Project

The last two days I've been steeped in research. I found a new site that is a wealth of information. I guess you should have a little fear of what you might find. Today I found a great-great-great-great grandfather who when he was in his 70's married a 20 year old. Yep, they even had gold diggers back then. Their marriage night she locked herself in a room and told him if he came near her she would shoot him! LOL Poor guy. When he divorced her 4 months later he lost his farm and half his money to her. Plus he had to pay her alimony! Guess they didn't have prenuptual agreements back then.

Gertie has been none to pleased with my latest research find because I've been spending too much time at the computer. This evening I'm powering down, unplugging, and spending some quality time with my little pooch.

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