Chronicles of a Country Girl: Giveaway! All weekend!

I've been following a few blogs over the last few months, mostly to find like minded photographers sharing the daily experience through photos and stories. A couple of my favorites are Chronicles of a Country Girl and Kate's Picture A Day, these were probably the first two I started following. You can see on the left that the list has grown a bit, always fun to keep up on these sites.

Chronicles of a Country Girl: Giveaway! All weekend! the lucky winner will receive one of her prints, there are 7 to choose from. Check it out, you win a really nice pretty AND you might just have a good time sharing the blog!

Boogie with the M's!

Friday Fun Foto




Here are some lyrics from a 1986 top 10 dance song, can you name it?

"What is happening here? Something is going on Thats not quite clear Somebody turn on the light Were gonna have a party Its starting tonight"

Boomers! The Heart Must Go On

This story is taking far too long to tell; putting it all in words and finding the strength to actually write the entry has been a bit difficult.

Hubby came home and all is well; we'll be following up with our family doctor and neurologist from the hospital. He's finally accepted some hard truths - he has diabetes and he needs to be watching his diet. He's been fighting this diagnosis for some time now and well, after a couple doctor visits over the last month and this last trip he finally has accepted this medical fact. Amen, like anything else once you admit you have a problem you can then work on solving it.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the end of the week's extenuating circumstances. Thursday morning at approximately 4 am I awoke not feeling well; a strange feeling in the chest along with some pain in the left shoulder. Once up, the chest got tight and I began to sweat... since my daughter was in the living room I woke her to call 911 and to wake her father. It was less than 36 hours since leaving the emergency room, and we we're on our way back! I have to say as scary as the episode was, it amazes me how the whole process worked. Clearly time was of the essence, thank goodness the hospital has a innovative Cardiac Care Center and a 90-minute "Portal to Cath" policy. A few days in the hospital under some pretty good care and I was back home by Sunday afternoon. Not quite good as new, but all things considered on the road to recovery!

Boomers! Part 2

Strange how the body works, especially to the average person. He couldn't put what he was feeling into words, just that he didn't feel good and he felt like he was in a tunnel.

We rode to the hospital and entered the Emergency Room at 2:30 PM promptly being shown to the waiting area which was pretty empty. After a short wait the nurse took him in and we were on our way down an 8 hour journey of emergency medicine diagnostics. Blood tests, x-rays, CAT Scan. After reviewing the CAT Scan the doctor ordered an MRI because there was something "suggestive" on the CAT Scan, possibly an aneurysm in the brain. The MRI confirmed it, there is a 2 millimeter aneurysm. It's small and the action is to just follow up with a neurologist regularly, apparently it's too small to really to anything else but watch. It sure is scary though, kinda like a time bomb in the brain... the ER surgeon agreed. All is good, we just need to get to a neurologist to keep an eye on this.

Boomers!

It's been 10 days since my last post, and let me tell ya it's been a doozie. Just a little bit of sunshine can certainly make for an attitude adjustment, but the diagnosis of a cerebral aneurysm and a major MI definitely changes one's outlook things!

The week started out simple enough, ride up to Newark to help the youngin get a close-up glimpse at the American Idol Tour. Very strange city, Newark, they have no place to park! So we just drop of the star gazer and amuse ourselves sitting in the car. Here's a picture of my photo-buddy Rosie, playing chauffeur

And here's a mirror flip shot of the bus traveling Market Street and making special stops "Via PruCtr"

That was Sunday, then Tuesday came along and with the heat there was a power failure in my office building. No big deal, no power between 12:00 and 1:00 PM it's August finally got some heat. Power just has to go.... 1:20 call from hubby "I don't feel good, I think I should go to the hospital, can you come home?" Thank goodness our daughter was home, to keep him calm and help me keep my cool as I left the office and headed home.

To be continued......

Just a Bit of Sunshine

Sometimes just a little bit of sunshine can make all the difference in our view of the world around us. Sunny days have been few and far between this summer, and I'm thinking I really need an attitude adjustment, this Funk is lingering over me like the clouds over head!

Alas, this week we had some breaks in the dreary, starting with lunch with my brother on Monday, it was a nice break and we had a bit of fun with my photo-buddy Rosie.

The waitress thought she was adorable! She also thought we were taking pictures for post cards, not a bad idea :-) My brother is now on a quest for a photo-buddy of his own!

Tuesday I found myself across the street from this local Stewart's Root Beer Diner.

And it just got me to thinking how quickly people forget about the established traditions around them. I thought about how the NEW Sonics (2 of them) opened last month in North Jersey and they were causing all sorts of traffic problems due to the droves of cars trying to pull into the 12-spot parking lots! Funny, people kill themselves for the next "New Thing" while these establishments are ignored.

But, alas Friday arrived with BRIGHT SUNSHINE, clear skies and low humidity. A fine summer day from the beginning.

Morning at Tommy's Pond.

Late afternoon on Main Street.

The end of the day, with a view that bids farewell.

And with that the weekend begins! All in all, not a bad week after all.

Enjoy your weekend! Until next time - Live, Love, Laugh!

Oh No! It's Gizmo...

Friday Fun Foto




This goofy little Gizmo doll from the Original Gremlins movie is still in my possession (or should I say my husbands). We introduced him to Maddox and then took this picture, I'm not sure if Maddox really liked Gizmo all that much... I think he wanted to stick his tongue out at me here!

More Rainy Travels

Another lovely stormy day in Central NJ!

Today is the BIG Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park and hubby decided he'd go despite the rainy weather. He needs to add another baseball cap to the old collection, don't cha know :-D. He decided it would be better to take the train today, so off we went to Woodbridge to avoid the delays of making a connection.

Safe and dry in the drivers seat, with the camera handy,


And then it started, the rain began


As I passed J.J. Biting it came a bit harder...



A quick stop to pick up printer ink brought with it a deluge and lots of running Office Depot customers!

From every view... it was WET!

Glad I'm home, ready for a nice movie!