GRRRR

So frustrated and sick of feeling completely disregarded at dialysis!  Our new televisions came at the cost of all our usual programming and TV guide.  Our old systems had regular channels on the Direct TV guide.  The channels matched what I had at home.  There were, of course, no movie channels or premium paid channels,  but we got the basic channels, locals, all the major cable channels,  about 70 or so.  With the new TVs, somehow we lost most of these.  There is no longer a guide, so you can't tell what is on anyway, and now all the channels are mixed up and in crazy order.  For example:  USA is channel 24 and Channel 13 is 27.  Makes no sense, it is still Direct TV that provides the channels but now they are few and screwed up.  At first we were given a certain set of channels...  someone must have complained about a favorite going away,  cause Allen decided to switch up what we get (not get back what we had!)  So they got rid of one of the ONLY channels that has anything on after 11 PM.... Nick At Nite.    I have watched Nick At Nite for the last 30 years and love having silly sitcoms on in the middle of the night when I can't sleep.  It has been replaced with the Outdoor channel, cause that is a friggen essential channel!  Also we now haw have 4 ESPN channels, NESN AND GOLF....   Outdoor, Food Network, Weather Channel, Discovery and more channels that are ALL geared towards OLD PEOPLE and MEN and more specifically OLD MEN.  Now I realize there are a lot of old men at dialysis, however not all of us are and it would be nice to be acknowledged now and again.

Until next time... write on!

Kittery!

So, I tried really hard to sleep at dialysis Sunday night in anticipation of going to Kittery with friends on today.   Friends of friends from Connecticut and Rhode Island met us in Kittery for a day of shopping and gabbing...   At first I questioned if I should even be going, I haven't felt great lately and I have been having bouts of dizziness and numbness in my hand and feet.  Nobody is quite sure why this is happening to me, but it comes and goes.   I got up, debating if I should go, but Linda and Teresa showed up on my door step with Dt. Dr. Pepper and egg sandwiches...  so I pulled it together and we left...  late, but we were on the road buy 9:30AM.  

We got to Kittery around 11:30 after going around the turn about in Kittery a few extra turns for good measure,  did I mention I hate the exit to Kittery?   Any way,  we got there and located Anne and Maggie in the Children's Place.   Debi and Addy got there around the same time after dropping the teens off at Funtown and doing a little shopping else where.   Linda and I watched the others shop for their little ones in the Children's Place, fun, but not really missing having the little ones...  other people's little ones are entertaining enough.

Next stop was Dress Barn Woman to look at the bargains and poke fun at some of the styles...  we all tried on a few things and had a great time trying to get each other to spend money...  a few purchases were made,  Not really sure what Debi did with herself during this time  :)   I then ran into Brookstone outlet, one of my favorite places to look around...    I ended up buying myself a leather (read -brown vinyl) I-Pad case with a blue tooth Keyboard....  I have wanted a keyboard case for along time, but kept seeing them at around 80bucks...  with a coupon, I got one for 28 dollars...  I was very pleased...  even if I get nothing else -the trip was worth it!

The next debate was about lunch...  surprising the outlet area of Kittery has very few choices when it comes to eateries.  Without leaving the main strip...  there is Weathervane (sea food focused and expensive and slow)  Burger King, McDonalds, and a Crab Shack.  There is also a Subway with no real area to sit down....  We decided that we did not want to sit down to a meal for over an hour,  so Weathervane was out, (yeah, I DO NOT do sea food!)   and none of us wanted Burger King or McDonalds...so we settled on grabbing stuff at Subway and finding a place to land to eat it...  we ended up mainly on benches outside of Dexter Shoes... I laid on the lawn... the shade was lovely and it felt great to lie down and relax for a bit.

After lunch we all went into a few of the shops in the small mall were at... Rue 21, Cold Water Creek, Hanes, and a couple of shoe stores...  We managed to wander over to the Corelle store eventually and I bought a few replacement plates in my pattern and some smaller plates with the deep dish design (LOVE these for the sloppier meals!)  I also managed to get a couple oven mitts in my Corelle pattern...  still found no lasagna pan in the desired dimensions...   I also went into Pro Cook and got a couple more trivets...

We landed back over at the original mall, to look in the other Hanes store, and few others we missed the first time around...  we said our goodbyes to Teresa, who left with Anne and Maggie as they headed back to RI and CT.   Debi left with Addy to go back to find the Teens at Funtown...   Just before we said our goodbyes, it started to pour...  really pour!  Along with some thunder and lightening, she had to go and rescue the teens, getting soaked in Saco.   Linda and I checked out a few more stores after the other departed...  specifically Wilson's Leather...  another favorite of mine to at least check out...  nothing called to me today though....  all too pricey, but you never know, I have found treasure there in the past.

We hit the road around 5PM and decided to drop into Portland on our way home.  I needed to run into Target for dog food and we treated ourselves to supper at the Home town Buffet...  (decent, cheap and quick)  It was a nice time to sit and relax after a long day or driving and running around shopping.  :)   We got back to town near 8PM...  A good day, considering I wasn't sure I was up to going at all....

Until next time...  write on!

Girl Scouts' End of Year

Interesting day today, we had the end of year party for our Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts.  We took them to the YMCA for swimming and then had a pizza party and awards.  It was lots of fun.  Kendra, Doris and I met at the YMCA and we were given the party room off the family pool.  It was about 100 degrees and humid in there.  The window had a sign that stated it was climate controlled room and the window could not be opened....  we almost died.   The girls could not have cared less...  they all were excited and headed into the pool.  We had two lifeguards and the kids swam and played for the first hour.   It was strange, the YMCA closed at 2pm and we had the whole place to ourselves, and the front doors were locked, I had to let parents in after 2.    Ken and I headed out at 2:30 to pick up pizza from Al's pizza.  We decided, because of the horrible climate of the party room, to hold the second half of our party outside by the playground.  So we had pizza, chips and juice by the playground.  The girls ran around and climbed, swang and slid all over the place and had a great time.  We called them all together and handed out the year end awards and patches and pins as well as had our new Juniors walk across the playground bridge and slide into their role as Juniors.  Our Juniors stood at the bottom of the slide and received them...  it wasn't fancy, but it worked and the girls all had a great time.   :)

Me and My fishes...

Craft night tonight was a lot of fun....    I decided to completely unplug after spending recent craft nights on the computer writing, or trying to write.  I haven't really done a craft in months so I made it a priority to find something to do this month.  I found some color by numbers at AC Moore recently, though I am always on the look out for more and better ones.  I find them fun, but get annoyed when the lines can be seen through the color on the end product.  I bought a salt water fish design and a whales design.   I also found two sketch by number kits, which I have yet to open...  the look interesting though.   I decided to work on the salt water fish...  It has some brightly colored fish and looked interesting.  I get annoyed too, when the picture I have to color, with lines and numbers, does not match what is on the front of the package.  The front of the package is beautiful and I want mine to look that way when complete.   Unfortunately, the lines are so different,  even if I complete it flawlessly, it will not match the picture,  oh well, it kept me busy Friday night.

We actually called it a night early for us, cause most of us had plans for the next day, but it was a fun night.  I enjoyed relaxing and coloring and gabbing...  I need to remember to unplug more often and find other things to do besides write and read smut.  (that is read smut, I write stuff that isn't smut, most of the time)  I am really looking forward to continuing to work on my project next month when we meet again.  I am hoping everyone will show up again next month and the weather will allow us to enjoy our evening and not melt in the fellowship hall at the church.

Until next time... write on!

Now You See Me! (no spoilers)

I wasn't sure what to expect when my daughter wanted to go see "Now You See Me" in theaters.  I had not really seen much about it, other than some fairly vague ads indicating they did a heist during a magic show;(not a spoiler all the ads show that)  I was pleasantly surprised.  We ended up going to Lewiston because the showtimes in Augusta were not to our liking.  Lewiston is cheaper anyway.  It reminded me a bit of the Ocean's movies.  It had a similar style, showing us what we think we see and then going back and breaking down what actually happened.  It was very interesting and though somewhat predictable, had some interesting twists that kept you wondering until the end.  It was enjoyable and had a nice blend of magic, action and romance.  Ashleigh then got to drive us home from Lewiston at midnight, so she had a good time too!  

Memorial Day

Memorial Day  -  After a rainy yucky Saturday and Sunday, we got lucky and Memorial day itself was quite nice.  I got home from dialysis at the usual 5 am and instead of going straight to sleep (makes too much sense) I had to watch an old episode of NCIS LA...  so I slept from about 6 until 8:30.   I reluctantly got up and got ready for the parade.  Tay was overnight at Ang's and Ashleigh was overnight at Debi's so it was a quiet house as we got ready.  I sent Scott to get Taylor and then I took her to the meeting site.  I was the first adult from our Girl Scout Troop there.  There were about 5 girls there when I arrived.  My other adult volunteers showed up within minutes and I left Doris with about 8 girls and headed down to get a spot on Main St. for the parade.

I was really surprised that it was as easy as it was to get a prime spot in front of the businesses on Main St.  In past years these spots would have been taken early...  but not this year.  I walked across the street to the spot my husband had found and sat in our lawn chairs on the side of the road in front of his car.   There was no crowd at all.  As it got closer to 10AM (parade start time) a few more people meandered about.   They made introductions from the stage and slowly the parade could be heard coming down the hill.   Most years the Scouts are right behind the Legion in the beginning of the parade, this year the band somehow ended up in front of the Scouts.  This made it more difficult for the Scouts to be in position as the speeches began.

Every year, for the past few,  the Girl Scouts have read Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance speech from the forties.  This year Sam and Stephanie (fourth and fifth grade) read the speech for the town.  They were introduced and stood on stage behind the podium.  Unfortunately, both girls are quite short and could not exactly be seen because of the podium.  They could be heard though, thanks to the speakers and microphones.  They both did a very nice job.  The speech is a two person explanation of the Pledge of Allegiance -  the first speaker basically says the pledge and the second speaker explains each part.  I like the speech, but I really wish we could do something different each year,  or a rotation of different speeches.  We have done this exact same speech every year since 2006

 They were then asked to bring the wireless microphone over to the cemetery for the bugle and drum to be heard.  Note to self...   turn OFF mic before sending little girls a half mile down the road with said Mic.   Needless to say, the mic had to be unhooked from the speaker system as the girls skipped down the road with it, oblivious to the LOUD hideous noises it was creating...  but it was all good...  the mic was re hooked in for the bugle and drums to play their tributes and the girls returned in good spirits.

The speeches were good,  hard to hear and too long for the audience to stand through, but interesting, for those of us paying any attention.  Eventually the parade continued to Norcross Point and the chaos of locating the kids and their parents was fun as usual.

 Overall it was a success,  the girls who marched had a good time and the girls that spoke did a wonderful job...

Until next time...  write on!

Epic!

So Ashleigh and I went to see Epic tonight.  We went to a 3D showing because we wanted to go to the latest possible show.  It ended up being a private showing.  Apparently we were the only people who wanted to see a 3D child's movie at 9:40 at night.

The previews were fun...  lots of cool things coming out in the near future...  including Despicable Me 2 -  it looks as cute as the first.  Smurf 2 - um...  I love Smurfs, but too smurfin much smurf and I just want to Smurf all over everything - but Neil Patrick Harris might pull it off.     Monster University - again, this looks ALMOST as good as the first; not quite as cute, but maybe funnier.  Rio 2 - beautiful animation, never saw the first one, probably won't see this one, but I really admire the scenery.  Finally the strangest offering...  about a snail that wants to be a race car.  Turbo.  It looks really weird and I am sure little boys and some little girls will love it, but seriously, a SNAIL that wants to be a race car?

Finally the movie started...  it was.... well...  Epic.   I liked the movie more than I expected to.  I wanted to see it, but really knew very little about it.  The animation was lovely.  The 3D effect was cool, but I think the movie would have been just as good, though maybe not quite as beautiful, in 2D.   The action was good and there was a touch of romance.  This could have easily been a movie done with real people and a lot of CGI and would probably be getting a lot more blockbuster fanfare,  but it is instead an animated movie and written off by most as a kid's movie.

This movie combines the battle of good vs. evil,  the struggles of the environment, an estranged father/daughter relationship, young love, true love, and lots of funny moments.  It is obviously kid friendly, but also interesting and held my attention as well.  Not sure the very young wouldn't be a little overwhelmed by the battles between the guardians of the forest and the evil army that are out to destroy it, but they will love the silly dog and the beautiful flower people and talking bugs....

Until next time... write on!