March 2016, even if DG has the date wrong

WOOT WOOT!!!! WOOT WOOT and WOOT WOOT AGAIN ,

The county I'm sure likes it when property changes hands and they can get a new assessment. My property tax is frozen and has been for 8 years. They can't raise it as long as I live here but whoever moves here after me will have to pay a lot more in taxes. I'm sure as long as you have been dealing with this your tenants have known you were in the process of selling.

The ones that are like family but there are some that are just tenants. The girls laughed at how lenient I was.

Wow, I didn't know you guys had frozen property tax assessments. Around here they can do reassessments whenever they want to, which really isn't very often, but they can and do once in a while. Ours was re-assessed a few years ago but it didn't increase our property tax but a few dollars if I recall correctly. Of course if you re-finance or anything like that, it opens the door.

Haven't heard from Genna. I sent her a D-mail. I know they were spending last weekend with Alex helping him with their house and Jess was gone to San Diego. hope everything is ok. I think the big match day is Thursday which will mean that is the day of the scramble also I think.

In Arkansas you can get your assessment frozen when you reach 65. They do reassessments here from time to time but even if they raise it they can't change my taxes. I don't understand or remember how it works but CA has some similar rules but it has to do with when and what you paid for your house. I know Jeff and Kristi have not wanted to move because their assessment is based on what they paid when they bought their house in 1991 or 92. They also considered adding on to their house and that would have caused them to have to pay considerably more in taxes. Every state seems to have a unique way of handling taxes.

I don't know how the scramble works or when it is but hope Alex can get a spot then. I'm sure he has to looking at his options is very busy right now.

I'm planning to go to CA sometime before June. I'm going to Jeff and Kristi's and then we are driving down to Santa Barbara to spend the weekend so I can see Justin's college and where he lives. He is one block from the beach this year. Next year they are moving into a new house and it's right on the beach. Jeff loves Santa Barbara and wants me to see it. I've been through the area but not actually in Santa Barbara. The whole college is on the beach.

I went thru Santa Barbara on my way to Vandenberg AFB several times. It is a very beautiful city. I'm sure it's grown a lot more now, but we stayed there overnight several times and drove thru the town and I always loved it and wanted to spend more time there. Very peaceful, or it seemed that way anyway. And you could drive on the one of the main highways into town right by the beach and it was just beautiful.

Jeff and Kristi really like the downtown area. There is some public building (maybe city hall) that overlooks the whole city. Jeff's taken lots of pictures there. A sea of red tile roofs. I think everything has to have the same red tile roof. Justin really likes it there too. He should! Life on the beach! The whole college is on the beach. He could lie in his bed in the dorm he was in the first year and see the ocean out his window. He is a surfer and keeps a surf board in his room. Whenever he gets a little free time he just walks to the water. He's just a block away right now. Next year he will be directly on the beach.

Sounds like a great place I will have to see it from heaven I guess--LOL
Looks like Elaine and Earl have taken some time for fun from her FB pictures

They do look like they are having fun!! I'm going hiking Sat at Pedestal Rock. It's about an hour and a half or hour and forty minutes away. I think it's going to be a really pretty hike. It's just a little over a 4 mile hike.

I know you are enjoying your hiking again, is Sara going?

Yes she is going. She is taking a Scottish dance class and a lady she met there is also going with us. She has gone Ina couple of other hikes with us and is a really nice lady. We are going with the hiking group so there will be a lot of us.

Hope you all are having great weather like we are. It's supposed to get cooler again this weekend but boy we sure are enjoying this.

We are now on our way back home from Nashville. I could have stayed a few more hours or more but need to get home to the dog. We really did enjoy it this trip. Got to walk around town some, went to the Country Music Hall of Fame which is really good. If you ever go, get the Playinum Package which includes the tour of Studio B which is the old RCA Victor recording studio. Really cool! Had a great dinner and then the show. There were so many stars there who sang Kris Kristoffersin's songs...Reba, Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Willie Nelson, Martina McBride, Allison Krauss, Hank Jr., & others. Jennifer Nettles was awesome & so was Darius. They reprised the Highwaymen with Willie, Kris, Waylon's son & Jamey Johnson (he's a new artist & good). At the end they all god back on stage and sang.

We stopped at REI on the way home. We've decided to go to Alaska for our anniversary. Picked up some new binoculars, new jacket on clearance, & a few other things for the trip. I am excited about the trip.

Has anyone heard more from Genna? I think tomorrow is match day & that is when they have to scramble too. My friend at work who has a daughter in med school said her daughter did match. She is happy but her daughter is still worried about where she will end up.

Sounds like a great trip!! Are Yall cruising to Alaska?

Genna texted me this morning and said that Alex didn't match. She has no idea what the next step is. Hard to believe that he waits until next year.

No he didn't get a match, but the numbers are crazy, there is also about 10,000 from last year that were in the match this year because they didn't match last year.
It is simply ridiculous that there are that many med students waiting for an internship when we need more doctors. In the small town of Ripley MS, we have 2-actual doctors and about a dozen nurse meds and they are full every day all day. My own doctor is retiring next year, but he plans to hand pick his replacement and his nurse will stay on too. There are very few doctors in family medicine anyway, and we really need them in the rural areas. Even in Tupelo they are down to 5 heart surgeons. I guess that is why Ruth had to wait so long for her surgery. It seems to me if they are able to pass medical school then they should get an internship. Sounds like a crazy system to me!!

So sorry to hear Alex didn't match. I'm sure he is really stressed right now. Lot's of decisions to make. Sandra there is a program to aid in recruiting doctors to rural areas. Unfortunately I think few choose to actually get involved in the program. Here is a link to the one in Arkansas. I believe every state has a similar program.
https://services.aamc.org/fed_loan_pub/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.program&program_id=5

Yes there are few doctors in family medicine. Seems most want to go into other fields.. But like you said we really need a lot more general practice doctors.

While it doesn't seem fair, the procedure he had to go through is the same as every med student in the US.

Jeri, yes, we are taking a cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage (Seward) and then driving from the port to Anchorage. Will spend a couple of days in Anchorage and then take the train to Denali (not part of a tour), stay a couple of days, then return to Anchorage, stay one more day and fly home.

I knew Alex didn't match, but apparently there are a few 'openings' (my word) where those matched don't take the positions or there are un filled spots that are up for grabs somehow so they compete/scramble for those openings. That is the way my friend at work explained it. The more popular specialties don't usually have positions open, for example orthopedics. And at her daughters school they are fairly certain several who want to specialize in ortho won't match because there is a high ratio of them to the number of positions likely to be filled from their school. Make sense? So it's really hard to figure out, Sandra, when you factor in what we know to be true about Doctor shortages in under-served areas. I guess there aren't enough young people who can afford to take the lower pay with all they owe in student loans to do it. That's all I can think.

I just hope Alex gets something in the scramble, whatever it may be. It must be so heart-breaking for Genna for him to have put his heart and soul in this and not be rewarded now. Have faith Genna, if you're reading this, and know something good will come.

This message was edited Mar 18, 2016 1:10 PM

I would like to do an Alaskan cruise one of these days. I need to add that to my list!

I also think that very few young people want to move to small towns regardless of the pay. I think that's why all the small towns across the south are just drying up. Sad! Our whole medical system seems to be broke. Jeff has a very good friend whose nephew is now practicing medicine in San Francisco. Through with his residency - now in actual practice. He was telling Jeff how much he made and Jeff was shocked at how little it was. Well not how little but the fact lots of other professions paid more than than what he was making. About half of what he earned went to medical malpractice insurance and other insurance which really cut his take home down.

It's hard for me to find a doctor I always trust and when I finally do I stick with them forever!! My favorite doctor is my endocrinologist. I saw him this morning. The reason I like him is I feel very confident that he knows what he is doing. He explains things to me very well. He takes time to actually talk to me as a person - if that makes sense.

I agree Elaine. Genna needs to have faith. While it's heartbreaking now something much better may turn up out of this. When one door closes another door opens. One they we may never have considered before.

The place Justin works really seems to like him. They gave him a 20% raise. That was a good raise for a part time job. Jeff was not sure about Justin getting a job. Not something he encouraged. But he said it has actually been a really good thing. He can see that it is really helping Justin's self confidence. He had never had a problem with self confidence before . He's always done things just to prove he could do it. LOL But this is in the real work world and it has been good for him. He does accounts payable and accounts receivable for a large insurance company. The largest in the west coast area.

Genna just texted me that there are some positions that didn't fill so Alex's is contacting those places and if he doesn't hear anything than he is gonna look at research positions. So much on the line right now and she is asking everyone to lift him up.

You are gonna love Alaska, Elaine. It's like a whole new world. We sailed out of Seattle on Holland America and did the bay cruise. Another trip we flew into Anchorage and did a land tour of Alaska. I have some nephews that live on Kenai and we enjoyed our visit.

Good to hear that Jeri. I only went to Anchorage and Fairbanks on business. Fairbanks was interesting but I don't care to go back there. And didn't really get to spend much time in Anchorage, so this will be fun to cruise up and see the glaciers and then see some other things in the ports and go to Denali.

I'm so glad that there were some positions that Alex will be able to scramble to fill. Maybe someone will notice him and he will be able to fill one of those. At least he has the back-up plan for doing research. Good to hear!

Charlotte, yes, you need to do it too! There are so many options. We opted for a smaller cruise line, but there are about 4 cruise lines that cruise between Seward (Anchorage) and either Vancouver or Seattle or vice versa. Costco even has some cruise/land packages! Like everything else, you just have to watch for the fine print and see what is included and what isn't. Ours includes all food, gratuities, most of the land excursions at the port stops (except for a few paid ones like fishing excursions and airplane excursions), alcohol...just not spa services or casinos which I can leave off. We've planned the land part ourselves in Anchorage & Denali and saved a lot of money. I can fill you in on what not to do (i.e., don't believe everything you read on the internet).

This message was edited Mar 18, 2016 1:09 PM

Elaine I've cruised before - just not to Alaska. I like Holland American and like a balcony room.

I thought my koi pond guy was coming today. We had to reschedule because of the rain and I must have written down the wrong day. I called around noon and talked to someone in the office but haven't heard back from him. It's an actual company that does nothing but water features and sell koi and other ornamental fish. They are very busy as they also do monthly maintenance for a lot of people and I'm sure this is a really busy time of year.

I've been working on a really neat dressing table. It's by Sligh Furniture which was a premier furniture company back in the day. I looked up the label and my table was manufactured in 1919. It has very straight lines but what sets it apart is the gesco (not spelled right) trim. The trim is raised flowers in colors. It's on the drawers and on the front of the legs. There is also a matching chair and the chair has the trim across the back. It still has the original finish which was an off white. It is an thick enamel type finish but has started to crackle in spots and flake. So I sanded the top back to the bare wood and have sanded the legs where they are smooth enough to paint. I'm going to paint it very close to the original color and leave the trim the original color. It has a 3 way mirror on the dresser. I'm going to end up putting a lot of time in it. I had been watching it for several months and they finally marked it down to a price I thought I could work with.

[deleted by admin]

I love the long summer days and hate the long winter nights ! I have no desire to change anything, isn't this post against the rules anyway?

I hope it's against the rules!!!! I also have absolutely NO desire to change anything!!!!!

I thought so. Someone just trolling.

I have reported it!

After our cool spell this weekend it has turned out to be a beautiful day today. I need to get out and clean up my back yard. It's a mess and things popping out more and more. My pink dogwood tree is just about to bloom. I have so much to do inside and outside I guess I just need to pick what I'm in the mood to do and go for it!

I'm going to CA the last week of the month and stay a week. Kristi has rented a house in Santa Barbara and we're going to go down on Thursday and stay until late Sun. Clint and Jake may drive down after they get out of school and off work Fri and also spend the weekend. I'm looking forward to the trip.

Hope Alex is able to figure out the direction he needs to go next year.

I am hoping to get some yard work done next week. Leaving in the morning to go to Caylas and on to Nashville with her for the spine doctors. She has 3 appts on Thursday, coming back to her house Thurs and home Friday. Jerry is taking a vacation week next week and right now thinking he will say bye bye after that week.

I meant to say I was going to CA the last week of April.

I sure hope the doctors can figure out something to give Cayla some relief. She has suffered far too long!

Jerry has really held in there. He will know when he is ready to say goodbye for good. There comes a time when you just know you can't do it anymore. I'm sure it's really tiring for him trying to do things.

I can't believe that after all Alex's hard work there is not one position for him. I pray he holds onto his dream until a position is available for him.

I sure hope they are able to give Cayla some more relief!!! Jerry was able to hang in there longer than most!!!

Charlotte you are gonna enjoy seeing the family and that is a beautiful setting!! Hope Yall take the opportunity to get some rest. LOL!!! I know better right!!!

Everything looks like it faired well here with our cold snap except me. I have a head cold now!!! I have to be better to get in the yard a bit this week. It seems I have been sick the last few years for Good Friday...regardless when it falls(starting to think allergies)

Charlotte, I'm glad you have your Santa Barbara visit set. That should be a good time to go. Excited for you, and hope you'll have a relaxing week there.

Sandra, good to hear Jerry is talking about hanging it up. He knows when it's time. Good luck this week with Cayla, and I too hope she will get some positive news from her doctors and some pain relief. Don't work too hard when you get home!

I worked on a bed by our propane tank last weekend. Got cardboard put down, pulled weeds and spread mulch. I had already planted some things. Some I planted a couple of years ago and I had put out 3 shrubs a month or so ago. Of course the spring weeds came up overnight so I had to deal with that. Most of them I just covered up with the cardboard. There is still one end that had my compost bin and I didn't really do anything with that end. I generally just spray the weeds around the bin. I really don't need another bed to take care of but I needed to do something out there and kept putting it off. I still need to work on my perennial bed by the veggie garden, and hope to do that this weekend. I have the mulch to put down fresh in the pathway around the raised beds but need to pull a few weeds and put down some fresh cardboard or newspaper before it gets too hot.

Jeri, I hope your cold or allergies get better. As I get older I think my allergies get worse. I never had any problems when I was a kid but find it's different now.

Jeri I've been the opposite. I used to have horrible allergy problems. I would have to have a Kenelog (sp) just about every year I would have such a bad allergy attack. I remember one year they even gave me shots up my nose!! I think the reason I've gotten better over the years is a change in environment. Smoke (especially cigar) was one of the main things I was allergic to and of course smoking was allowed everywhere. Then I worked in old buildings that I'm sure were full of mold and all kind of other things. Now I have what I would consider minor problems with allergies.

I have decided to take it easy the next few days. Last night I was just totally pooped and my body felt stiff. I guess I have to realize I'm not as young as I used to be. I was on the go the whole time I was in Oklahoma. Then came back and processed several shipments of merchandise and rearranged all my booths. Then went hiking Sat. We hiked 4 miles. A beautiful hike. Then Sun I went furniture shopping because I haven't been able to get enough things painted myself and was really low on furniture in both locations I did find several pieces. I loaded 2 dressers and a chest of drawers with the help of a nice gentleman. Then Mon I unloaded both pieces myself and rearranged my booths at Mid-Towne. Not as difficult as it sounds when you've loaded and unloaded lots of furniture. You learn how to leverage. Then late Mon I went back and picked up another big chest of drawers I couldn't get in my truck Sun. I took it to my other location Tues. The guys there helped my unload it. They are so good to help me there. Then I had to do some rearranging there. Then I went to my other location and did some rearranging as a chest had sold that morning and left a big empty spot. Tues morning I had packed up Easter boxes for the boys and taken them to the PO to mail. I forgot I also went to my MG project Tues morning and worked. No wonder I was tired last night!!!!

I had a church meeting today but I've decided I need to stay home and get my house in order and rest some. It's cloudy here today.

I'm going to meet my friend Judy in Hot Springs Sat for lunch at our favorite place. I've suggested we go to Garvan Gardens after lunch and walk around. They have thousands of tulips and they are almost in full bloom. Plus the azaleas, dogwoods, red buds, etc. It should be breathtaking right now.

This message was edited Mar 23, 2016 8:54 AM

Happy Good Friday my dear friends. I hope the Lord blesses each of you on this Holy day!!!!



This message was edited Mar 25, 2016 8:30 AM

Thank you Jeri, hoping you had the same
Her MRI'S looked "OK" for now. She still has several smaller cysts in the area where he put the drain. They are watching these is why she has the regular MRI's. He saw some small changes, but not enough to go back in. All complaints are still the same, bladder, bowel, legs, neck, shoulders. She had one new complaint, her toes are turning very blue, and one foot has pain from time to time under her 3 middle toes. He examined the toes and thinks it is Morton's Neuroma, which is a type of wart inside the foot. The blue is all part of the nerve damage he thinks, he is 99% sure it is not from a clot or bad circulation, but he made her an appointment this morning at Jackson for the scan to make it 100%
The doc that examined her and listened to the pulses in her legs said they were good, but she also wanted that 100% and we had to wait there in Jackson until 12:30 to get the ultra sound. They will let her know about it later.
Her right leg is the worst and he wrote an order for the PT to fit it with a brace to see if that helps her stability.
He also started talking to her about a pain pump, and a stimulation device. He gave her videos to watch and think about. He also is going to get her in with the pain doctors there in Nashville, he told her she needed the best as she is such a complicated case. She sees him again in 2 months. We are going back Monday to see her lung Doctor. This doctor treats her asthma and it takes 6 months to get a new appointment if you have to cancel. She called to beg Thursday, but her doctor wasn't in clinic.
I got home about 7 tonight. We didn't go back to Caylas last night because the appointment was so early this morning. We drove back to Jackson and checked into a hotel at 10pm. I played with Eli about 30 minutes when we got to her house before driving on home.
Jerry and I both are going early Monday and hopefully come back Monday night to Caylas, if we have any problems we will stay overnight in Nashville.

Sandra I didn't realize that so much was being effected. Dear Father in Heaven please hear our prayer. This child of yours needs a break from all this pain and suffering!!! Please guide these Doctors to find a solution for her. Thank you Jesus, we're claiming this healing!!!

On a brighter note. It was a gorgeous day here yesterday and I spent a couple hours in one of my front beds getting the weeds out. I can barely move today. LOL!!! Really enjoyed getting in this shape. Took a jacuzzi last night and ready to hit it again. I can certainly tell that I'm over 60...not bouncing back as quickly.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

I know it was a long tiring couple of days for all of you! I wish they could find an answer that would give her some relief. She is too young to have all these problems! I didn't realize she also had asthma. Try to get some rest this weekend before you take off again Mon.

I finally got my pond fixed yesterday. I had to wait overnight to finish filling it and turn it on. The silicone glue had to dry overnight. But it's running good and looks great. It should as much money as I have invested in that hole in the ground! But I love the sound of running water. It will take a few days for the water to clear up and settle down. He said I could start putting fish in by Mon. So fish shopping will be on my list next week. Now to start working on some of the things that need to done around the house.

I'm meeting Judy for lunch in Hot Springs today and we're going to play the rest of the day. We going to Garvan Gardens after lunch. It's a botanical gardens in a beautiful setting by one of the lakes. There are thousands of tulips in bloom right now plus all the other spring things. I've been there numerous times but never during the time the tulips are in bloom so looking forward to that.

It was cool here much of the week. But it's supposed to be up to 74 in Hot Springs today.

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter. I plan to just spend the day here. I'm actually looking forward to an afternoon where everything is closed and I don't feel like I need to be doing something. I may work in my back yard getting it cleaned up. Boy does it need it!!!

Forgot to say I made my first nursery run the other day! I had a gift certificate my sweet neighbors had given me. I got 2 tree form (not sure if that is the right term - tall with with just a ball of foliage on the top) gardenias for the pots on my front porch. I have ivy and a shrub rose growing in the base of each pot so they look good. Hope I can keep them going for a few years anyway. Then I bought two really big azaleas to put behind my pergola. I have had a couple die back there and some others that have a lot of dead wood. Not sure what's going on back there. I think I may need to change the sprinkler head. Richard had put a couple of heads back there that also swung around and watered plants in the pots on the deck. I think I'm going to change those back to regular heads like the the other areas I have azaleas. I think water is not getting on all the areas it should. The areas that water azaleas have heads on a tall copper pipe that just sprays in a circular pattern.


This message was edited Mar 26, 2016 8:31 AM

I am trying to rest today, Jerry woke me up at 11:30. I was sleeping very well in my own bed!!!
Cayla has had respitory problems since birth, it was back and forth between asthma and allergies growing up they never could decide. She was sick when she went to Nashville the very first time with her lungs, they did a test and said she had a type of pneumonia that only asthma patients get. This is her years check up and refill her meds for it.
I always felt it was because they induced me with her, because of my age. They watched her closely the last 6 weeks with me going into the hospital for tests every week. At one of those the doc decided we could go ahead and have her before any trouble started. She was ok for a couple of months, then she started with the coughing and stuff. She stayed 11 days in hospital when she was about 6 months. In the doctors office very frequently. One time we were there and waiting for a shot en I heard him outside the door making notes--he said, patient presents pneumonia, mother is very good with child so will not put in hospital at this time-LOL--I drove them all crazy with her ! I think she needed a few more days to let the little tiny bronchial passages grow some.

Nothing like your own bed!! I didn't realize Cayla had had respiratory problems since birth! She has had lots of problems. Yes you would have been very good with her!! Still are!

I had a really nice day. We ate lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Then went to Garvan Gardens. I've never seen so many people there!! So many pretty things blooming. Every color of tulip imaginable! We also had fun just people watching. There were lots of families with small children taking lots of pictures. We would sit down and so often and just watch the people go by. The weather was just perfect.

I didn't get home until about 6 but went outside and cut my monkey grass back and did a little other trimming. Tomorrow I'm going to get really serious about cleanup! I need to plant the 2 new azaleas first and then I plan to put a lot of the pine straw I rake of the stones around the azaleas. Lots and lots to do!!

Amen, to your prayer for Cayla. Dear Lord, please help her and relieve her pain.

Jeri, it hurts me more and more to work outside several hours. I ran early Saturday morning. Have another half marathon next Saturday. It was so pretty here Friday and Saturday. I worked a couple of hours in Friday pulling weeds and putting out mulch but didn't want to overdo it before running. So I came home and finished it Sat morning. Well, almost finished it. I still have a little more mulch to put down, but I am so much more ahead of getting this done from years past. Even managed to sprinkle some more Preen down on top of the mulch.

I may not be able to walk tomorrow!! I worked outside all day - until 7:30 pm. I needed a day of quiet time to myself. Just me and God outside today. I decided it was better than a busy church. I am beginning to believe I have some arthritis in my lower back and hips. I've decided to treat it with exercise! LOL I'm determined it's not going to get the best of me. As long as I'm moving I'm ok it's when I sit down and take a break I can feel it. I got all the dead stuff cut back in the back. Got all the monkey grass cut. Got most of the stuff off my walkways. I got the 2 azaleas planted. That was quite a challenge. One spot I wanted to plant one was full of tree roots. I had to cut a lot of root out to get a hole big enough to plant it. I also put a lot of cardboard down and put pine needles over that hoping it will help hold the moisture in. I am seriously really limiting what new I plant this year. I know I've said it before but I mean it this time. I found several pots of hostas I bought last year and have never found a place to plant them! I bought 5 hydrangeas last summer and never got them planted. They made it through the winter fine in their pots. I have a small bed around a bloodgood maple in front of the pergola. I have a bunch of chinese lanterns in there now. I am going to dig them all up and plant 3 hydrangeas instead. The hydrangeas are the small low growing variety. One of the 5 is a taller hydrangea. It looks like I may have lost one of my hydrangeas in front of the workshop. If so I'll put it there. I'll figure out something to do with the other short one. Four might fit in my bed.

Charlotte, I haven't worked an entire day in a long time. I could probably do it but I just don't push myself over the edge anymore. I never had any back problems until the past couple of years, but if I start digging holes or bending over for a long period of time I can sure feel it. Last year I bought myself some knee pads. I had one of those kneeler pads but I kept forgetting to move it when I moved so that was no use. The knee pads are great and I can just throw them in the wash if they get dirty. That really helps my knees.

That is our problem here too, roots from trees, even if they aren't very close to where I'm digging a hole! I hope I'm finished digging for a while, but I realized Saturday that one of my peonies isn't coming back this year! I have no idea why because the other one nearby is just fine. It's an older one and was one of my favorites. Anyone have a guess why they don't come back? I guess I will try to replace it.

By the way, Garvan Gardens is just beautiful. I wish I could grow pretty tulips but the squirrels have dug up every tulip I have planted around here. I even put down hardware cloth, but as soon as I took it up when they started to sprout, they were gone.