The devil made me do it..............

Excuses excuses.....everybody always has excuses.  Well here's a little twist.  What made you NOT do it?  A study published recently in the Journal of Neuroscience (which I read faithfully...right!) has "uncovered a surprising new property of oxytocin!"  When monogamous men in a steady relationship ( I realize that's a relatively obscure term in today's world) took a whiff of it, they subsequently put more distance between themselves and an attractive woman they had just met....Hmmmmmmmm  On the other hand, single, heterosexual men were unaffected..  The single man would stand about 2 feet from their newly, introduced female friend while the dosed up fellow in the strong relationship chose to stand 6.5 inches farther away.... Hmmmm 6.5 inches....Just about the average length of a h..............otdog roll.  Out of the gutter girls!    Unfortunately we can't yet buy an inhaler to keep in our purses for our men when we are socializing but this study group sniffed it from something.. It's curiously the hormone that floods the body in response to orgasm (WTH is that?), early romance (or that?), breast feeding and childbirth (no clue here). The research suggests that boosting oxytocin in the brain will promote trusting, friendly behavior.  Sounds to me that a little sniff of this miracle "drug" would favor men staying over straying!!!  Just think what General Petraeus, Bill Clinton, The Governator and even a few guys at the Betty Blue could have avoided if they only knew to take in a little "Oxy" in place of thinking they're so "Jocksy!

OK.. just did a little research... it's for sale!!!

Liquid Trust Pheromones | Powerful Oxytocin Pheromone - Love Scent    

I may have just found the perfect male stocking stuffer:-)

The Miracle Worker

I think I should read Annie Sullivan's, "The Miracle Worker" again.... That is IF I could read...Alright I can read I just can't see to read. Thankfully I can hear, so between Lee and me, we almost make one functioning adult. Let's back up.....for those who are interested...to Tuesday. I started the 3x a day drops in anticipation of fixing the left eye cataract and finally being on the path to reasonably good eyesight.  For a couple of days, I had been seeing a large, white floater in my now, "good eye!"  I called about it and they wanted to see me ASAP.  Good news/bad news/fair news......Good news.....no retinal tear, bad news...vitreous tear and fair news....no surgery for now.  Which brings us to the Christmas holiday....which then brings us to January which takes those of us self employed into a new year of deductibles.  So, this is where I am.... corrected lens in my right eye with the correct distance lens in the new glasses (no bifocal so reading is arms length or more.)  The left eye is clouded with the existing cataract and will have to just wait till we make sure I will have vision in the new eye with the floating vitreous and it doesn't tear off the retina with it.  So the left glasses lens is the old lens. No photogray in either so no dark glasses.  The Dr. explained that I can see distance in my R eye and close up with my L......I just need to let my brain know this. WTF.  If I start talking to my brain, I"ll be in deeper sh-- than I am now.  If my brain answers, I'm happily screwed and on my way to the funny farm.

So that's the rest of the story..Paul Harvey.... Hurry up and wait, hope the floater settles to the base of my eye and pray that any bright flashes I see are associated with Christmas and not a detached retina.

I guess I can live with the Golden Years as long as I can see them !!!!

Monday = Normal

Whew.... that holiday is over.....no, not Thanksgiving not even hunting but Black Friday.... almost as much commotion and advertising as those darned political ads. Now if we can just get past Cyber Monday, we'll be down the home stretch to a normal Christmas season.....whatever the hell that is. I just checked my email and I had 57 new emails since I left for coffee at 7:30. Everybody wants to give me at least 10% off all those things that I either already bought or don't need.  Now, if they had 2 new eyeballs on sale...that I'd gobble up like pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream!!!!  Since my first cataract surgery 3 weeks ago, I've been cranking my neck forward to read anything as I no longer have bifocals (until we finish this whole process).  This in turn makes my neck ache which hurts my back and gives me a headache.  My brain is even in revolt mode as it has no idea what happened to the ridiculously poor but workable eyesight I've had for the past 60 years. It's trying to connect all the right waves but my computer surfing is putting a cramp in it's relatively calm seas.  Maybe Wednesday will help put the puzzle back together and all cylinders will fire together!  If not, it'll be dark glasses, a new dog and audio books. Until then, I'll peruse Facebook and hit the highlights on Yahoo. The silver lining to blindness may  be that I won't be buying things nobody really needs anyway.  I'll sit back and relax on my favorite day of the week......Normal Monday!

TIATF

Facebook has a fun "tradition" of posting TIATF (Today I am thankful for) statuses in November.  It gives us a chance to have glasses half full versus those half empty glasses that we complain about the other 11 months. Today this is my post!

TIATF: my Hatfield family.... the entire goofy bunch! They have taught me the values and traditions of family. I was thinking this morning that I only remember one single Thanksgiving with my side of the family ( and that could be forgotten in a snap. mashed potatoes from a box...NOT)......I do, however; remember every single holiday on the hill. We may agree to disagree on some issues and we may do some things differently but every single member is but a phone call away if needed. We all have Grandma Iva to thank for the often unsaid bond that squishes us together. I wish you all a wonderful day tomorrow and thank you for being my family too ♥

Tha Ancient Art of .....Etiquette

I posted this on Facebook last evening.  It did provoke some conversation.  It appears that those of us over 60 understood perfectly the idea of a little decorum at the dinner table. Once again, a generational thing.  We generally all had meals together as children. We waited for Mom to sit before we dug in and we used cloth napkins and placed them in our laps without being prompted.  We kept our elbows off the table and we took a little of everything and ate it all.  We chewed with our mouths closed, shoulders back and our knockers up... those of us with knockers.....(we didn't call my sister, Pirate Christie and her sunken chest, for nothing.) Slouching was a no-no at our table. We all knew how to properly set the table and that the blade of the knife always faced your plate. Hats were never an option at the table and they were only for outside anyway. Mom cooked, we cleared and did dishes. The sink was subject to inspection before we left the kitchen and water marks weren't acceptable. I'm sure you'd think my Dad was a descendant of the military but not so....he was a descendant of Etiquette.  None of these things seemed demanding or over the top.....that was just the way it was...no questions asked..no complaints made.  It appears that along with being taught a modicum of etiquette, the respect was a natural progression.  Excuses today include the lack of time, the hustle and bustle of today's families, the economy forcing many to work multiple jobs including the kids and my favorite...lack of importance.  It's really no different than please, thank you and you're welcome. If you're taught it from the time you can focus, it becomes second nature...Thank you follows God bless you, you're welcome follows thank you and please should lead most everything.
One of last night's "conversers" said they learned it in Girl Scouts, another 4-H and even another said they were actually schooled in etiquette when they were out of the country at a Scottish wedding. Some shared their Moms were the teachers too. Several admitted they were rednecks and others thought it was much ado about nothing.  I'm sure many think that what was apropos 50 years ago may be obsolete today.... Not me. There's not much that trumps appropriateness and respect and nothing better than a tea party to teach it.  Right Bailee?

She's SIX!

 Well, she is now officially six years old.  We enjoyed having a birthday supper on her real birthday and celebrated with an ice cream cake.... so much easier when it's "all in one."  Her Dad let us share the evening of her birthday....for that we were very thankful.

 

"Really..........an empty box.......that's my birthday present?  Just kidding but we did have fun playing various games with that small empty box.  Often times imagination is the very best gift...and believe me, she has LOTS of imagination!!!

 

The night brought everyone under the same roof for a "sleepover"...Things don't get much better that that♥

 

Seasons

One of the reasons I love where I live (upstate NY) is the different seasons.  The anticipation of falling leaves, beautiful snowscapes, lilac buds and fresh veggies.....is one of my favorite things.  Then there's HUNTING season:-(  Starting tomorrow, I will figuratively hold my breath from dawn until dusk.  I'm not a big gun fan, I'm not sure I see the worth of killing anything (except maybe spiders, germs and maybe pigs for bacon) and the idea of my family in the woods with tens of other people gunning for the big kill terrifies me.  This year they're adding rifles to the mix and frankly I think it's a huge mistake.  They all try and placate me by explaining that everyone knows where the the others are....doesn't work!  They may know where our crew is but does the neighboring group know where "we" are?  Shotgun shells easily and unintentionally cross property lines.  Now with rifles, those distances are increased.  It used to be we had Sundays to relax and the worries would dissipate for at least 10 hours. The kids could play in the yard and the dogs could freely roam their territory with no fear of being mistaken as deer.  Not any more!  Every single day for the next few weeks will be fraught with gunshots during daylight hours.  Our own little DMZ.  Maybe if I liked eating venison I'd feel differently....Naaa... As a mom, wife and aunt, I will worry each day until I see the whites of their eyes (or in my family's case...the reds) come marching up the driveway!

Tomorrow is the beginning of Deer Wars - 2012 :-(  Hope I can buck up and at least enjoy the kids being home:-)

In GENERAL......

In General....who cares?  I guess the press and the Pentagon and the White House needed news.  Thank you Generals and your baggage.  No longer are we worried about the economy or the fiscal cliff or even foreign policy.  We're devastated that two of our illustrious generals have been involved in a bit of hanky-panky.....As Jay Leno said last night, It's disgusting that these men are acting like.........well..........Congressmen!!!  Actually, who cares?  Bill Clinton?  I personally think it's quite a coincidence that General Petraeus resigns just short of his testifying before a Congressional committee on the debacle in Benghazi....Perfect time for a scandal.....OK, I've been watching too much TV.  Call Olivia, she'll handle it....We all know big wig politicians have "handlers" and what better diversion for a dead ambassador than a sex scandal.  Really? what press box do they think we just fell off? ( I know..I ended a sentence with a preposition) 

Gawker.com has graciously provided the world with a flow chart to help sort out the nation's latest crisis.

If you feel the need to be more informed about the Generals and their "internal affairs", just turn on the TV...it's everywhere. The gals on the "View" are already casting the movie and I'm sure the ladies of the "The Talk" will be happy to give you the latest updates on who's entering who's foreign territory.

Stay Tuned!

Whew! #6 in the bag!

We went around the world in a week-end and we had a blast. Mother Nature cooperated and we had a great 65 degree morning to celebrate Miss B's 6th birthday. We had yummy food (thanks Dave), great cakes (thanks Mommy) wonderful gifts (thanks friends and family) and relaxing bloody marys (thanks Russia!) Other contributing countries were Spain (Spanish omelets), Belgium (waffles),Poland (sausage), France (French toast), Greece (yogurt), Canada (bacon), USA (OJ) and Brazil (coffee)!!  It was a delectable journey for our tummies!

After a little clean up, Bailee, Jess and I were off to one of our favorite places....Hope Lake Lodge at Greek Peak. The girls went directly to the water park and I relaxed on the big comfy bed in our suite. I took in a little football...less than favorable results and a little SU basketball..SUccess!  We enjoyed a nice supper with grilled rib eyes, baked taters, salad and dino nuggets.. guess who had what? We passed on the bonfire and headed back to our room with blueberry cheesecake, chocolate PB pie and a chocolate sundae....into our jammies and R-E-L-A-X was the word.  It's such a great place for R & R.

Just because a picture is worth a 1000 words..... Here's a short story!!!

It's a cupcake world:-)

A mini world cake

Time for a dance with Hunter in the cottage

From Jillsy and Jim

A world ornament from Aunt Kyle and Uncle Ray

Love the water park

REAL captain's pilot wings from Uncle Jeff

A brand new "Mommy made" blankey!

The (my) fiscal cliff

Today the press is all a-twitter about the impending fiscal cliff and what will happen when we all fall off.. It appears that that fall will cost each of us around $2500.  That's an extra $5000 that my household will have to cough up... and I say that literally.  Obamacare is so wonderful that our health insurance will cost a mere $1200 a month when the new year rings in and that includes a $1000 deductible for each of us.....cough-cough!  The only way to stop our plunge is to play well together in the congressional sandbox and get along well enough to build some bipartisan structures and programs. We may very well catch colds from each other or maybe even the flu but Obamacare will have that covered.  Elections are over and it's time that Johnny, Barry and the other kids in Congress get their act together and do what they know has to be done to stop the financial bleeding and start to heal the wound.  I think if the "It's mine, no, it's mine" mentality is set aside, it can be done. After all, it's not really any of theirs, it's ours!!! (and if it can't be accomplished outside in the fresh air, go inside and sit in time out....we really don't care how you get it done at this point!!)

The "Eyes" have it

The vote is in and in my humble opinion (and obviously Wall Street's) we're in for 4 years of rough sailing.  I think there were many factors for the loss.... including but not exclusively linked, to hurricane Sandy, Romney's wealth, miscommunication, media hype and our obvious deluge of minorities in the US...( Hispanics, blacks, women, etc).  I'm also not a fan of the Electoral College....never have been even when it gave the White House to a Republican.  I'm not sure what to expect for the next 4 years but unless we can learn to get along in the sandbox, we're in trouble.

Yesterday's cataract surgery was....well..... eye opening!  It took longer to get prepped than for the surgery.  It's a great place....Surgicare in Ithaca.  The staff was extremely professional, courteous and skilled.  Is my eye better? .....not so much:-(  There is no pain...scratchy and extremely blurry.  I know that things should be better after the Left eye is "repaired" but I was expecting to be able to see something clearer through my right one.. My glasses are not the correct prescription now for my R eye but even if I take them off, I cannot decipher any words or even faces. I'm heading in for a post-op visit shortly and I'm hoping he says things are A-Ok.  Guess miracles don't happen and I was a little too optimistic to expect... so..  We'll see.................hopefully!

Election Day

Four years ago a new President was elected on the platform of Hope and Change.   How'd that work for us?  Today, I'm just plain hoping for a change!  I am NOT a racist although I can't say that either of my families taught me how NOT to be one.  I'm pretty sure we're all pink and bloody on the inside!  Don't get me wrong, I've told my share of racial jokes but I've also told my share of redneck jokes and I'm also pretty sure the redneck frenzy hasn't been portrayed by Chinese, Black or Native Americans with their caps on backwards and their sleeves cut off.  What I'm not too sure about is the fact that an American President has the ability to actually do ANYTHING!  Certainly they can spend billions of our dollars to merely exist. We house them, protect them, feed them, transport them, insure them and then............pay them, but what do they actually do?  They can accomplish nothing themselves.....especially this one.....I have yet to actually learn of his qualifications for the job he has held for the past 4 years.  Shouldn't you have made an impact on somebody somewhere at some time to be the POTUS?  I understand some voter's reticence to place a millionaire in the office of President but people, this country is not the Golden Arches. We need a leader, albeit Congress has the real power, who has some experience in making the wheels of what used to be the most powerful country in the world turn in a forward, successful motion. I'm really thinking that's NOT Barack Obama.  He's a nice guy, he meant well and he was up against interminable odds....but he failed.  If you fail at your job, whether it's greeting at WalMart or designing rockets, they replace you!  If you're not helping your team score points, they replace you.  I'm hoping today they call in from the bench and score one for Team USA.  We'll survive one way or the other but I have my doubts about our grandkids.  This game is for the championship and I don't want them to be the losers!

My name is Grandma Hatfield and I approve this message!!

Cottage Complete

Well the cottage is complete........almost!  One major component is missing...the game table....but it's pretty close. The tiles just need to be set and the legs attached.

Bailee arrived home from her Dad's and we spent the next couple of hours in the cottage. We read 5 books, played Simon Says, Minute to Win it and school, danced to Wooly Bully and filled the shelves with books.  I even passed on watching most of the Giants/Steelers game in favor of B-time. (not much of a concession:-)  Once Santa arrives, we 'll have lots of games to play at/on the new table.

I love it when a plan comes together♥

Cottage sweet cottage

our snuggle spot

Game table goes here

Lumiere (from Beauty and the Beast)

Filling the shelves with books!

 

Better late than never....

It's been a very busy few days with even busier ones ahead.  Halloween was fun, as always.  Betsy Ross came to town and showed us the magnificent flag she had been stitching.  We visited Great Grandma and her friends at the Nursing Home and made it back in time to take in Locke's parade and Halloween festivities at the Fire house.  Betsy and her flag won the award for best overall costume for all ages:-)  She was very excited.  We trick or treated around Locke for awhile and then headed to the "Aunts" for goodies.... They always have the best treats... popcorn balls at Aunt Wendy's, a goodie bag @ Aunt Kelly's and special treats at Aunt Kim's.  A stop at "Uncle" Dave's garnered another special bag of sugar filled snacks.... Betsy headed home with a full pumpkin and tired feet:-)

The cottage is complete...They say if you want the job done right, hire the best... I have the best electrician, painter and carpenter! ... They are all so very patient with me and seldom roll their eyes (in front of me) when I explain what I want.  They've learned that I just might know what the hell I'm doing...or at least are smart enough not to question me.....Regardless, it's coming together just as I had envisioned. Tomorrow, I'll clean and begin the phoo-phoo faze and load in furniture Sunday....just in time for B to get home from her visit with her Dad...

Next week is busy and I might not get to my babbling blog every day.  Elections on Tuesday may force me to eat all three meals at various fundraisers. Wednesday is right eye cataract surgery.  I'm so looking forward to having a non-cloudy day.. unrelated to weather :-)

Next week-end we'll all gather to celebrate Bailee's sixth birthday with breakfast around the world.  Who would think a 6 year old would want a geography birthday!  That afternoon, B, Jess and I will head to Hope Lake Lodge for an overnight and some swimming....outside!!!

So, blogging may be hit and miss but I'll have LOTS to share in the following week.  Then hunting begins, Jeff and Jerm get home and the holidays begin... along with Jeff turning 34...I can remember when he turned 4 !  The world sure spun that 30 years away?