Merry Christmas Everybody!

Just wanting to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year, and sending blessings to you all. Wishing my Jewish friends, Happy Channukah, and to those celebrating other holidays, I hope yours are also joyous and full of memory making!

This has been a busy year for me and mine. It seems like it has gone very quickly ... I guess it's true that the older you get, the quicker the years seem to pass by. I hope yours has been a good one, but my prayers are with those who lost a loved one this year, whether to death, divorce, or an ending of a relationship. The pain of loss is never an easy one to deal with, and especially at times when families come together, that pain is exacerbated.

Work-wise, I achieved President's Club with my AVON, and I am looking forward to working towards achieving it again in 2017. My WATKINS, I will soon have my own website for that too, and am hoping that will help me expand that business too.

My goals for hubby and I to downsize and make his life easier, with a lakeside retreat so that he could get off work, push his rowboat out into the middle of the lake, to unwind, have changed.

Hubby would like us to get into raising some livestock and koi, for our retirement income, so our homesite searches have changed.

We are slowly decluttering.

We were going to donate my Land Rover to Goodwill and take a tax break, but cannot find the title, so have put it up for sale as is, with lost title, for $1200 which can then go towards our new place.

I've started collecting my Thrive cans and am going to be getting 5 and 10 gallon buckets so that come Spring, I can plant in them and will be able to move them easily to our new place.

I am looking forward to our New Year and putting our plans into motion!

I hope you have lots of plans for yours, and I wish you well in getting them all to fruition. 

God bless you all 

December is here!

Well, this has been a busy week, and that's for sure!

Wednesday, we had a tornado hit our area, and missed us by maybe 1/4 mile. To say I was terrified, is an understatement. I had to hobble down the hallway and sit in the bathroom there since it had no outside walls, but the loo is normal height, not like the taller one we have in my bathroom. No way could I get in the bathtub to take shelter, but getting to sit on the toilet itself to wait out the storm ... well, suffice to say, that (in itself) was a major feat for me. And when we got the all clear 40 minutes later, I had the joy of then TRYING to get up off there. I can laugh at it now, but I was stiff as a board and my knees and hips did NOT want to work to help me get up!

Seeing the damage some people experienced, I am even more thankful that we were spared. Apparently it was an EF1, which is nothing compared to those that places like AR and OK experience, but for us, here, it's a big deal. People had roofs fly off, siding and fences down, plus we had trees and power lines down.

I am thankful that's not something that happens frequently here!

With my AVON, I am struggling this year to make President's Club and have until 7th December to accomplish it. I am short about $1000 in sales and am hoping some lovely people will want to take advantage of AVON's great offers, and will place an order through my website .

Working on my diet because of all the issues, I've managed to combine all the finer points of eating for my blood group, along with eating foods that are more alkaline (in order to neutralise the acid that is the aggressor of the hernia that raised it's head a couple of months ago) and seem to be doing something right as the hernia symptoms are lessening (hoping that means it's healing naturally) AND I'm losing inches. That's a big WOOHOO all the way around.

Hoping you all have a wonderful day

Way too cold for me, already!

I used to love Winters back when I was a kid. Cold and snow wasn't going to stop me. Scarf, hat and mittens meant I could go out and play in the white stuff as much as I wanted. Extra socks and wellie boots kept my feet from becoming icicles, and "layering" clothes meant 2 or 3 blouses and a couple of jumpers so that I looked more like a Weeble than a child. It was so much fun, we'd be out building snowmen and having snowball fights ...

Now that's all just memories, as my arthritis means my joints can predict the weather with far more accuracy than any tv weather man or gal. That low deep throb reverbates to let me know when cold, damp, rain or snow are on their way, and there's no joy in that knowledge.

Added to which, I just cannot stay warm any more. Even in bed, under 3 quilts and an extra one folded across the bottom, for my tootsies, I shiver, and my hand that is outside the covers, gets icy cold. My nose, well, let's say that if I was a dog, I'd be a really healthy one, as my nose stays cold and wet!

It does not help that I am a cheapskate. I pop the heater on for a few minutes of a morning, so that hubby can be warm as he gets out of bed and gets dressed.  When I'm in the kitchen, feeding animals, I pop the one gas burner on to take the edge off. When I'm cooking the heat from that helps get the kitchen nice and cosy.

What irks me right now, the most, is that it's NOT EVEN WINTER yet! This is supposed to be Fall! I want an Autumn, and it slid in and out in about a week.

I'm not a "bah humbug!" type of person, but my heart just does not enjoy Winter the way that I did when I was a child.

I still love seeing the Winter scenes in pictures, and I love hearing children laughing outside as they play in it, but other than that, I'm just not into it any more.

Now, Christmas, oh I still love Christmas. The Nativity. Father Christmas. Carols and Christmas songs. The lights. Old movies. Magical memories. Picking the perfect gift for each person. I am most definitely a Christmas person. For the last few years, I've not had a tree up (an accident waiting to happen, with 4 furry felines!) and I do miss it but safety comes first. We already had a cat set fire to our kitchen a few years ago, we do not want the living room going up in flames as well.

Explaining hat to the insurance man was almost funny.
"The cat did it."
"It's ok. You're covered even if you left a pan on the stove and it burned dry ..."
"Nope, the cat switched the burner on and the dehydrator was sitting on the stove top and that's the plastic that's all melted and flared up."
He was a nice man. Yes he probably thought I was nuts, but Outlaw had reached up before and turned the gas on, and I'd had to open windows to clear the air. This time, he had somehow managed to turn it more and the starter had sparked, successfully lighting that burner.

Over $4000 in damage ... and then the darn cat committed suicide less than a week later :(  He was an indoor/outdoor cat, and we found him on the side of the road, near our gate, just looking as though he was asleep.

He's buried in our pet cemetery in the back yard.

Hence, no Christmas tree with dangling lights and shiny trinkets that it would no doubt delight the felines to pull down.

Most of my Christmas gift shopping is done. I did it though friends online, who have home based businesses, some of whom do wonderful home crafts and through my AVON. I have just a couple of things left on my list. Since I don't like crowds and traffic, it's the perfect solution for me, and I've found awesome things for some of my favourite people.

Well, stay warm, my friends. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families, this Thursday.

If you still have Christmas shopping to do, please take a look through the Holiday Gift Guide on my website www.youravon.com/rosemarydempsey  I'd love to have your support, and you can use code WELCOME to get a 20% discount off a $50 order!

Way too cold for me, already!

I used to love Winters back when I was a kid. Cold and snow wasn't going to stop me. Scarf, hat and mittens meant I could go out and play in the white stuff as much as I wanted. Extra socks and wellie boots kept my feet from becoming icicles, and "layering" clothes meant 2 or 3 blouses and a couple of jumpers so that I looked more like a Weeble than a child. It was so much fun, we'd be out building snowmen and having snowball fights ...

Now that's all just memories, as my arthritis means my joints can predict the weather with far more accuracy than any tv weather man or gal. That low deep throb reverbates to let me know when cold, damp, rain or snow are on their way, and there's no joy in that knowledge.

Added to which, I just cannot stay warm any more. Even in bed, under 3 quilts and an extra one folded across the bottom, for my tootsies, I shiver, and my hand that is outside the covers, gets icy cold. My nose, well, let's say that if I was a dog, I'd be a really healthy one, as my nose stays cold and wet!

It does not help that I am a cheapskate. I pop the heater on for a few minutes of a morning, so that hubby can be warm as he gets out of bed and gets dressed.  When I'm in the kitchen, feeding animals, I pop the one gas burner on to take the edge off. When I'm cooking the heat from that helps get the kitchen nice and cosy.

What irks me right now, the most, is that it's NOT EVEN WINTER yet! This is supposed to be Fall! I want an Autumn, and it slid in and out in about a week.

I'm not a "bah humbug!" type of person, but my heart just does not enjoy Winter the way that I did when I was a child.

I still love seeing the Winter scenes in pictures, and I love hearing children laughing outside as they play in it, but other than that, I'm just not into it any more.

Now, Christmas, oh I still love Christmas. The Nativity. Father Christmas. Carols and Christmas songs. The lights. Old movies. Magical memories. Picking the perfect gift for each person. I am most definitely a Christmas person. For the last few years, I've not had a tree up (an accident waiting to happen, with 4 furry felines!) and I do miss it but safety comes first. We already had a cat set fire to our kitchen a few years ago, we do not want the living room going up in flames as well.

Explaining hat to the insurance man was almost funny.
"The cat did it."
"It's ok. You're covered even if you left a pan on the stove and it burned dry ..."
"Nope, the cat switched the burner on and the dehydrator was sitting on the stove top and that's the plastic that's all melted and flared up."
He was a nice man. Yes he probably thought I was nuts, but Outlaw had reached up before and turned the gas on, and I'd had to open windows to clear the air. This time, he had somehow managed to turn it more and the starter had sparked, successfully lighting that burner.

Over $4000 in damage ... and then the darn cat committed suicide less than a week later :(  He was an indoor/outdoor cat, and we found him on the side of the road, near our gate, just looking as though he was asleep.

He's buried in our pet cemetery in the back yard.

Hence, no Christmas tree with dangling lights and shiny trinkets that it would no doubt delight the felines to pull down.

Most of my Christmas gift shopping is done. I did it though friends online, who have home based businesses, some of whom do wonderful home crafts and through my AVON. I have just a couple of things left on my list. Since I don't like crowds and traffic, it's the perfect solution for me, and I've found awesome things for some of my favourite people.

Well, stay warm, my friends. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families, this Thursday.

If you still have Christmas shopping to do, please take a look through the Holiday Gift Guide on my website www.youravon.com/rosemarydempsey  I'd love to have your support, and you can use code WELCOME to get a 20% discount off a $50 order!

The Struggle is Real

One of the sadder things about getting older is losing one's independence, and dealing with pain. It happens to so many, but is never easy. Even worse though, I think, is when younger people have to go through that. 

Recently, a friend had foot surgery. She has 2nd grade twins who she home schools, and is very much an "on the go" person. She was getting so depressed at her lack of mobility while she could not use that foot. I tried to keep her spirits up, and she asked me how I am so positive, when this is my reality day after day. The thing is, this was all new to her, whereas I have had years now to heal the depressive "woe is me" and get to the "it is what it is" and "letting go of what I can't change". Don't get me wrong, am I happy to be basically bedridden 90% of the time? NO! Of course not! But I have made my peace with a body that no longer does what I want it to, and no longer trust to allow me to stand or walk safely without something sturdy to hold onto. I don't like it but this is how it is and there's no changing it.

However ... the things I can do ... I do to my fullest ability! When I cook, I trundle myself down to the kitchen with my walker, and then sit to prepare the ingredients and use the stove. While I am down in the kitchen, whether preparing hubby's pack lunch, breakfast or dinner, I'll sit and feed my animals or wash the dishes.

With my AVON, hubby will bring my boxes in and onto my bed, and I'll log them all in first, and then get my invoices printed up. Then, because I've been sat up awhile and kind of twisting getting stuff out of the boxes to check them in, I'll have to lie down on my side again to "rest" my back and relieve the pain. After resting, he'll bring me the printed invoices, and I'll bag the orders, stand the bags in the boxes, and he'll take them into my other room for me.

I don't know how I'd get along without him, he's my second rock. God being my first.

The thing is, I do as much as I can. When we do deliveries, I can still drive, but he's the one that gets out of the car and takes it to my customers. I have come to terms with my limitations.

Recently, my friend, Dimple (she who comes and cleans for me weekly), helped me with a project that's close to my heart. I have many. This time it was for a local shelter, Safe Harbor.

In my first marriage, I was an abused wife. 

My ex used to hit me all the time, embarrassed me by offering me to his friends (who I think were as embarrassed by his behaviour as I was), and even tried to make me miscarry my youngest daughter by pushing me down a flight of stairs, dragging me out of the house "cave-man style" by my hair and then kicking me in the stomach (supposedly - he said then - because his girlfriend was pregnant at the same time and didn't want to run the risk of us being in hospital together).

I was so young. I was demoralized. I had nowhere to go. I'd left and gone to my mum's a few times and he would come there, crying, and she'd say "he's your husband, talk to him". It was only when he got mad there one time, and she said something, and he grabbed her by the throat, that she realised exactly WHAT I had been going through. It took me 5 years to get away from him, and then I was 22 and with 3 small children.

So, I know how these women feel. 

I was going to donate some AVON to the Salvation Army as they also run a shelter that we donate to weekly, out of hubby's paycheck, and Dimple suggested Safe Harbor as an alternate, so we made up these awesome bags with a skin care product, a fragrance and a couple of other goodies like lotions, etc and she delivered them for me. She said the lady there was really happy to get them and knew the women would love them.

It might not be much, but we did a small thing, that made some other folks lives a little better. Their struggle is real. Being able to pamper themselves a little may help them as they work through self esteem issues.

Everyone has their own demons to fight.

It was my great granddaughter, Zayleigh's, birthday this past weekend and she is the big 3. My grandson is down from New York to spend time with her, and took some pics. She looks good in his fireman's hat, doesn't she?

He, on the other hand, I feel badly that he is so poor he cannot afford razors! LOL. I rag him about his fuzz all the while, he just rolls his eyes and grins.

I hate that he doesn't get to see her as often as he likes, but am glad he does get to spend some time with her. He loves and misses her so much.

I'll get to see HIM this weekend, before he goes back up to New York. It's been 22 months, and I miss HIM! LOL :)  He is still my baby boy! Way taller than me now but that doesn't change a thing!

I'm proud of the man he has become and is still becoming.

His struggle is real.

I guess my thing today is that pain, in different forms, and life in general, aren't always easy and everyone has their own struggles that they deal with. We have to try to be kinder, and make a difference when and where we can.

Have an awesome day, my friends.

The Struggle is Real

One of the sadder things about getting older is losing one's independence, and dealing with pain. It happens to so many, but is never easy. Even worse though, I think, is when younger people have to go through that. 

Recently, a friend had foot surgery. She has 2nd grade twins who she home schools, and is very much an "on the go" person. She was getting so depressed at her lack of mobility while she could not use that foot. I tried to keep her spirits up, and she asked me how I am so positive, when this is my reality day after day. The thing is, this was all new to her, whereas I have had years now to heal the depressive "woe is me" and get to the "it is what it is" and "letting go of what I can't change". Don't get me wrong, am I happy to be basically bedridden 90% of the time? NO! Of course not! But I have made my peace with a body that no longer does what I want it to, and no longer trust to allow me to stand or walk safely without something sturdy to hold onto. I don't like it but this is how it is and there's no changing it.

However ... the things I can do ... I do to my fullest ability! When I cook, I trundle myself down to the kitchen with my walker, and then sit to prepare the ingredients and use the stove. While I am down in the kitchen, whether preparing hubby's pack lunch, breakfast or dinner, I'll sit and feed my animals or wash the dishes.

With my AVON, hubby will bring my boxes in and onto my bed, and I'll log them all in first, and then get my invoices printed up. Then, because I've been sat up awhile and kind of twisting getting stuff out of the boxes to check them in, I'll have to lie down on my side again to "rest" my back and relieve the pain. After resting, he'll bring me the printed invoices, and I'll bag the orders, stand the bags in the boxes, and he'll take them into my other room for me.

I don't know how I'd get along without him, he's my second rock. God being my first.

The thing is, I do as much as I can. When we do deliveries, I can still drive, but he's the one that gets out of the car and takes it to my customers. I have come to terms with my limitations.

Recently, my friend, Dimple (she who comes and cleans for me weekly), helped me with a project that's close to my heart. I have many. This time it was for a local shelter, Safe Harbor.

In my first marriage, I was an abused wife. 

My ex used to hit me all the time, embarrassed me by offering me to his friends (who I think were as embarrassed by his behaviour as I was), and even tried to make me miscarry my youngest daughter by pushing me down a flight of stairs, dragging me out of the house "cave-man style" by my hair and then kicking me in the stomach (supposedly - he said then - because his girlfriend was pregnant at the same time and didn't want to run the risk of us being in hospital together).

I was so young. I was demoralized. I had nowhere to go. I'd left and gone to my mum's a few times and he would come there, crying, and she'd say "he's your husband, talk to him". It was only when he got mad there one time, and she said something, and he grabbed her by the throat, that she realised exactly WHAT I had been going through. It took me 5 years to get away from him, and then I was 22 and with 3 small children.

So, I know how these women feel. 

I was going to donate some AVON to the Salvation Army as they also run a shelter that we donate to weekly, out of hubby's paycheck, and Dimple suggested Safe Harbor as an alternate, so we made up these awesome bags with a skin care product, a fragrance and a couple of other goodies like lotions, etc and she delivered them for me. She said the lady there was really happy to get them and knew the women would love them.

It might not be much, but we did a small thing, that made some other folks lives a little better. Their struggle is real. Being able to pamper themselves a little may help them as they work through self esteem issues.

Everyone has their own demons to fight.

It was my great granddaughter, Zayleigh's, birthday this past weekend and she is the big 3. My grandson is down from New York to spend time with her, and took some pics. She looks good in his fireman's hat, doesn't she?

He, on the other hand, I feel badly that he is so poor he cannot afford razors! LOL. I rag him about his fuzz all the while, he just rolls his eyes and grins.

I hate that he doesn't get to see her as often as he likes, but am glad he does get to spend some time with her. He loves and misses her so much.

I'll get to see HIM this weekend, before he goes back up to New York. It's been 22 months, and I miss HIM! LOL :)  He is still my baby boy! Way taller than me now but that doesn't change a thing!

I'm proud of the man he has become and is still becoming.

His struggle is real.

I guess my thing today is that pain, in different forms, and life in general, aren't always easy and everyone has their own struggles that they deal with. We have to try to be kinder, and make a difference when and where we can.

Have an awesome day, my friends.

To All My CNA and Nurse's Assistant Friends Working With The Elderly

For many years, I worked with the elderly, both in nursing homes and privately. I was good. I was conscientious and I (thought) I was gentle. Days like today bring home to me that even gentle is not enough, when the body you are assisting, is dealing with chronic pain.

I now deal with chronic pain, in my knees, hips and back, courtesy of arthritis and osteoporosis. It is a pain that, at times, is almost unbearable. The deep dull throb at its center, no matter where that center is, exudes a stomach clenching grip that brings nausea immediately to your throat, whilst making your toes curl with a mix of electric shock and coldness. The overall feeling is a helpless hurt that you'd give anything to stop, but know that it is in control, and it will run it's course. Sometimes it will come in waves and wash over you. Others, it will arrive like a microburst and be over moments later, having let you know that you can do nothing to stop it.

I feel sick to my stomach now, thinking of some of the frail ladies and gentlemen that I cared for. When they said it hurt, and I was "being gentle" I didn't realise that THIS is what so many were going through. 

When I heard the moans in the night, or dried tears, I did not KNOW how that pain can wake you from the deepest slumber. I do now. There are nights when I sob, even after applying the oils that relieve some of the pain. When I groan into my pillow. When I cannot turn over, or sit up, the pain is just so intense.

I  feel so bad. So many of the assistants didn't even attempt to be gentle or considerate, they had x residents to "do" in x hours, so it was all matter of fact and like clockwork, dehumanizing in many respects. Disrespectful in others.

Please, if you work with the elderly or those dealing with chronic pain issues, understand that - until you experience it - you do not know how bad that pain is. It is not just a little ache, it is a searing and debilitating pain. Even "gentle" is not what you think. Treat these sufferers as fragile, as delicate as a rare porcelain. Then you will really be "caring" for them.

Great news!

Well, I'm late updating, but yesterday was ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! The visit with my doctor couldn't have gone any better, it was amazing.

The past week, I've been using www.sparkpeople.com to keep track of everything I've been eating, basically to track the sodium of everything, so as to help lower my blood pressure. It's an awesome site and can help you keep track of your nutrients and composition of the foods you're taking in.  My doctor had also upped my meds last week ... wow, yesterday my blood pressure was 118/64 ... and I'd LOST just over 8lbs in the same number of days! I was soooo happy (and so was she!).

So, yesterday was great ... added to which I had a new team member join me with AVON. Woohoo!!! That's always exciting! I love helping people achieve their own success, watching them blossom and then soar.

Today, one of the games closed on the group I'm in, and I won a $70 order from doTerra! I do love my oils, so that was awesome. Made my night!

I am feeling very content right now, and very thankful that my blood pressure is doing so much better than this time last week!

Have a great weekend, my friends!

Doctor's Orders

Today has been another not-so-good day for me.  

The doctor had told me she wanted me to get a blood pressure monitor for home, which we did yesterday. I took my bp 3 times last night and the results were awful! Today again, this morning's were not what I'd hoped for, so I duly called the doctor (as she'd asked me to) to report my numbers. She has now upped the meds that control the top number and wants me doing multiple monitorings each day for 2 weeks so that we can see if that helps, and at that point she will then decide whether to mess with the meds that control the lower number.

I'm taking my own steps to be stress-free. Much as I love my Facebook and Google+, I am staying off social media as much as possible. Too much drama and so many friends who are really into one or the other of the candidates running for President, whose posts end up as massive arguments with trolls galore and massive name calling.

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, and sadly this old girl has to do what's best for my health right now.

On a good note - hubby's doing much better!!! Thanks for prayers and good thoughts!

Have an awesome evening my friends.

Doctor's Orders

Today had been another not-so-good day for me.  The doctor had told me she wanted me to get a blood pressure monitor for home, which we did yesterday. I took my bp 3 times last night and the results were awful! Today again, this morning's were not what I'd hoped for, so I duly called the doctor (as she'd asked me to) to report my numbers. She has now upped the meds that control the top number and wants me doing multiple monitorings each day for 2 weeks so that we can see if that helps, and at that point she will then decide whether to mess with the meds that control the lower number.

I'm taking my own steps to be stress-free. Much as I love my Facebook and Google+, I am staying off social media as much as possible. Too much drama and so many friends who are really into one or the other of the candidates running for President, whose posts end up as massive arguments with trolls galore and massive name calling.

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, and sadly this old girl has to do what's best for my health right now.

On a good note - hubby's doing much better!!! Thanks for prayers and good thoughts!

Have an awesome evening my friends.

Doctor's Orders

Today has been another not-so-good day for me.  

The doctor had told me she wanted me to get a blood pressure monitor for home, which we did yesterday. I took my bp 3 times last night and the results were awful! Today again, this morning's were not what I'd hoped for, so I duly called the doctor (as she'd asked me to) to report my numbers. She has now upped the meds that control the top number and wants me doing multiple monitorings each day for 2 weeks so that we can see if that helps, and at that point she will then decide whether to mess with the meds that control the lower number.

I'm taking my own steps to be stress-free. Much as I love my Facebook and Google+, I am staying off social media as much as possible. Too much drama and so many friends who are really into one or the other of the candidates running for President, whose posts end up as massive arguments with trolls galore and massive name calling.

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, and sadly this old girl has to do what's best for my health right now.

On a good note - hubby's doing much better!!! Thanks for prayers and good thoughts!

Have an awesome evening my friends.

A Sick Hubby And Other Stuff

I hate going to the doctor's office, or to the ER, because they are places where there are SICK people. Well, hubby and I had our 6 monthly checks last Thursday, and there was a lady in the waiting room coughing all over the place. Yesterday hubby had it AND a fever AND congestion, poor baby. He ended up taking today off and we dosed him up and he slept most of the day. 

So, between his sciatica, and this nasty cough/congestion, he is in a very sorry state.

Then there's me, my hip and knees have been giving me gyp all day, as I pottered back and forth on my trusty walking frame, to the kitchen to wash dishes and feed ye animals, and to the front door to play the doggie do-si-do.

We make a fine pair, crotchetty and crotchettier. Well, I guess we are well-matched, and having been married 30 years now, we are doing the "growing old together" and with a definite helping of "in sickness" as a side.

Then we have our menagerie of ancients, other than Snuggles who is now about 3 and a half, everyone else is in double figures. 2 surviving chickens, Sadie our 13 year old Nubian goat, Max and Mystery 10, and Angel and Boo, almost 13, our dogs, and Gizmo, Bandit and Precious our 13 year old cats. We make an awesome seniors collection with all our ailments.

Suffice to say there's never a dull moment, that's for sure.

Unhappy With My Doctor Appointment

Oh dear, today was NOT a good doctor appointment by any means. 

In 6 months I have PUT ON 12lbs ... how - when I eat less now than before and have actually been trying to move more with my walker - I don't know! Suffice to say, neither she, nor I, were very happy about it.

Nurse Chris made the mistake of telling me I had to have labs done, before she did my blood pressure, and it was high. Then the next attempt it was even higher. Not good! I hate being so cowardly about lab work.

I was right about my issues being a hiatus hernia. She and I discussed it and everything I've been doing is good and on the right track, but I do need to lose the weight (which she admits is going to be extremely hard for me being so physically immobile). My heart and lungs are great, she said.

Hubby's hip issues are actually better than we hoped, although no less painful. Thankfully, it's NOT his hip. Unfortunately, its sciatica. But he had also lost another 10lbs, lucky man! He walks miles doing his job though, so is constantly getting exercise.

I so wish I had a lap pool in my yard, I'd be in it every day, just gravity is my biggest enemy. In water, I can walk, jog, swim and exercise. Need to win the lottery I guess and then I'll be able to.

Meanwhile, have to toy with my diet and see how I can get as many nutrients as possible into 800 calories, and try to alternate that with 1200, a the same time as keeping to mainly alkaline foods.

She did say (as she always does) that for 2 people who are so chronically ill with issues, we are remarkably healthy. LOL. My one claim to fame. 

WOW I am now so tired!

Hi everyone, boy, what a day!!! I have been soooo busy! AVON started a new program today, and I was trying to work for all my people, to give them a headstart as it gets underway. I have been advertising and networking with people, talking to new team members and updating documents and communities, since 6am this morning. I have been so busy, I kept giving myself a headache trying to keep straight on what I'd done and for whom, and what I still need to do. 

However, I have had a blast and feel so satisfied with all I've done. I have more to do tomorrow, but everything I've completed today has been amazing.

Hubby is at PepBoys getting a bushing replaced in our vehicle, which I'm hoping will eliminate the whining hum that we kept hearing. While hubby keeps getting overtime, we're trying to get all the stuff taken care of. We've had the rear struts replaced, we still need to get the transmission flushed and serviced, and then we have the front struts to replace, but we're thankful to be able to be moving on and getting them done.

Looking forward to him coming home though, he's bringing dinner - ribs from Little Pigs BBQ in Mauldin.  Nice way to start the weekend!

Have a lovely evening, my friends!

Beautiful Day

Another  gorgeous day here in "sunny SC" but just a tad bit cooler, and with the promise that Fall is on its way. Hope you are all enjoying it, seems perfect outside!

Seems the other day may have reawakened my poetic muse a little. I was doing some work online earlier (AVON advertising, so nothing that one would expect to be bringing ponderings to mind) and the first couple of lines of this poem came to mind. I immediately took them down, and as more followed, this little piece evolved. Hope you enjoy!

WHEN I SHOULD DIE

When I should die

think only this of me:

That I lived, my life was full;

That I loved wholeheartedly, and was loved in return;

That I suffered, yet many bore worse;

That I was blessed, in oh so many ways

from my birth until the ending of my days;

That I had regrets but would change nothing, given that chance,

for to do so would mean also losing good along with the bed;

That I made enemies

yet found the peace of forgiving;

and through it all,

I found the joy of living!

Rose Dempsey

Sept 15th 2016

I am quite happy with its simplicity. Short and sweet!

Today I am busy. My granddaughter, Jel, stopped by earlier, she'd needed some stuff printed out to enable her to enroll my great-grandson in a pre-school class. I'm proud of her, she is still pursuing her dream of becoming a lawyer, scored an A in her last History class this week, a mum of 2 and works weekends!

Meanwhile, I've been sharing today's AVON freebie (with a $45 order) for direct delivery customers on my website: www.youravon.com/rosemarydempsey simply by using code: DAY4 at the checkout.

I love sharing the website offers as I know it helps people get more for their money ... and we all need to be able to do that!

I'm also gearing up for tomorrow when AVON launches 3 new kits and enrollments will change to $25, $50 and $100 depending on kit chosen, based on why the person is coming to us and what their goals are. It's exciting as there will be new tv ads, all kids of team building events and things happening all week. Today being the last day that people can join with us for only $15, I have been getting the word out.

If you want to join my Dream Team today, just use my referral code "rosemarydempsey" at www.startavon.com. 

I can't imagine my life without my AVON income especially since there are no other options open to me to make money. It's not as though I can pick up a job flipping hamburgers, working in a laundry or as a CNA (when I now about need one myself, really!) when I am in bed most of the day and my walking is painful, and very poor now.

I gave a pep talk to a friend, this morning, who is temporarily disabled by a  foot surgery. She is dealing with being unable to do for herself, and relying on others, and is trying to come to terms with all the emotions that come into play at being unable to do things for yourself, when you previously took them for granted.

I think I left her somewhat cheered, if only because she knows that I KNOW how she is feeling, having had to deal with it myself. Just had a thought, maybe it was partially that which helped prompt this morning's poem. Because my premise is always to (in the words of Monty Python ... and you may sing it if you wish, LOL) "always look on the bright side of life".

I have so many things to be thankful for and I am, every day!

What's that old hymn verse? How does it go?

"Count your blessings, 

name them one by one,

Count your many blessings

see what God has done".

Be blessed, my friends. And thank you for stopping by!

Poetry

It's been awhile since I last waxed poetic, and I hadn't realised how long until I reconnected with an old friend a few days ago and he asked "are you still writing your poetry", and I had to admit, sadly, no, not in many months.

It's kind of sad as, for many years, poetry was my outlet for an array of emotions, for pain and loss, for tribute, for joy, for faith, even some humour. I often "thought" in rhyme, even though not all of my poetry was written in that form. I often wondered whether the cockney rhyming slang of my childhood had somehow programmed my brain into that way of thinking. As I get older, I believe it must, because as I lose many cockney words from my speech, I also seem to have lost that immediate poetic reaction to everything. Occasionally it still pops up as if to say "I'm still here!" but for the most part, it lies dormant.

Some of you may not have been aware of my poetry, some may read it and dismiss it as "not quite right", but that's ok, as over the years, it has given pleasure (and in some cases, comfort) to many, and some of the sillier has just caused friends to shake their heads with a smirkish grin, and rolling eyes.

I figured today, I'd share a couple of my favourites. This first is called "Where Is The Young Girl". Others who write have critiqued it's changing cadence, mentioned that it's like 2 halves of different styles, advised me to change it. I have read this poem on the QE2, in a passenger talent show, and was feted by the audience, they loved it, as it was. As do I.

This poem "wrote itself" one night as I sat at my computer and I realised later it was about an older woman, maybe suffering from Alzheimer's or paralysed by a stroke, from the view of a caregiver.

When I look into your eyes  I see the pain from deep within,  the confusion and inner turmoil  of an active mind  in a body which frustrates it.  I catch glimpses of an earlier twinkle,  when life was good  and your manner gay;  now, in the twilight of your life,  the copper hair is silvered  and a mist falls over your eyes.  Where is the young girl who ran on the clifftops,  paddled in oceans, picked shells on the shore?  Where is the maiden who courted the young man,  resplendent in uniform, bound for the war?  He who returned to her, shell-shocked and wizened,  who took her to wife, and whose children she bore?  And where is she, that mother, who gave birth to two children,  but whose love had no boundaries, and who craved even more?  She is here, in your mind,  in the pictures that play there,  the memories of all that you've seen and you've done,  and I see her sometimes, in the looks that you give me,  with your mind ever active, and the body you shun.  I feel for your sadness, your independence long taken,  and wish I could grant you, strong limbs, straight and true .  But all I can offer, is respect and assistance  in this twilight existence, I'll stand beside you. I have a friend who has told me I need to record a reading of it, so that the intended cadences are heard, and seen to fit with one another despite appearing as though they would not. This next, I wrote in early 2004. Randy was my grandson for a few years, when his mother married my son. Sadly, we lost him in 2000, and I have written other poems about him, over the years, but this one just sticks with me as my favourite of my "missing him" ones. It's called "Possibilities". A poem about my grandson who died just after Thanksgiving in 2000. The last two lines say it all. Sometimes your memory just comes to mind  and I wonder how you'd be  if you'd been given a chance to live  to be a man of twenty three.  Maybe you'd be married  have a son to call your own,  drive a truck, maybe fly a plane  and we'd chat on the phone.  And you'd tell me all your good times,  I'd commiserate with the bad,  give you a shoulder to lean on,  and listen when you felt sad.  But this is all wishful thinking  as I'll never again see you smile,  only in the pictures  I look at once in a while.  Three years ago you left us,  in fact it's almost four,  sometimes I really miss you  and others, I miss you more.  A few years ago, a beautiful wooded area near us, was cleared and I was both saddened and angry, at the same time. I wrote this at the time. It's called,"Bemoaning The Destruction of Trees". Inspired by the sight of a beautiful woody copse destroyed to make way for a housing development. Regal trunks, strewn,  scattered like bodies on a battle field.  Once majestic providers of shade,  leafy statuesque reminders of God's power.  Gone.  Hewn down.  Forest ravaged by man and metal.  Woods no more,  just rotting limbs  and earth  and sadness.  Soon beauty will be replaced by houses,  tarmac will cover the red earth,  money will flow.  Gone the life giving oxygen  to be replaced by  destruction,  pollution.  Gone the silence of the  cool, damp shadiness.  Gone the birdsong  and woody scents.  Gone forever,  destroyed for mans greed.  Soon,  no one will remember  that once trees stood here,  majestically holding court.  Soon  there may be no more trees.  In the words of Bugs Bunny and his merry band, I'll say "That's all Folks!" and leave you to enjoy your day. I'd love to get your views on my writings. Let me know whether you like them, dislike them, whatever. They're just my thoughts, my emotions. If some like them, I'll share more.

Remembering 9/11

It is a day that nobody who was old enough to comprehend what had happened, will ever forget. It brought together people from all over the country, and made them aware that terrorism was not just something that happened overseas, it could happen here too.

It was a day that made heroes out of everyday people, as they did extraordinary things. A day of sadness and loss, when many families were broken apart by the tragedy. A day when another generation lost its innocence.

It is good to remember them, but it is sad that our country has been torn apart more by division these past few years. 

Keep all those, who lost a loved one that day, in your prayers. Also keep the survivors in them too, who knows what nightmares they have every year as this date rolls around, or who feel the guilt of being alive when so many perished.

God bless them all

Almost another week over ...

Hi everyone. I guess Monday being a Holiday is why this week seems to have gone by so quickly! Plus, being homebound most of the time, the days do just meld together in a flurry of same old, same old things going on. Mostly being the ringmaster in the circus of the doggie-do-si-do where all 4 of mine connive to NEVER want to go in and out en masse, but usually 5-10 minutes after the last one ... so I am constantly trundling my trusty walker back and forth to the door to let them in and out. I am very thankful for our huge fenced front yard, so that they are able to run and hang out safely. Now that I cannot walk very well myself, trying to walk even one on a leash, let alone 4, would be a massive problem.

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Summer is trying to make a last ditch effort to stay despite Fall being just around the corner. Today we're in the 90s again and I've had to give in and run the ac ... I should have shares in the power company, I swear!

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Tuesday, I made headway on the question of my 2 year old great-grandmother, Matilda Burton,  being enrolled in school, at a time when education had to be paid for, and was not even compulsory in England for 5-11 year olds. It seems that it was more like "childminding" at that age but there were activities for the children such as singing and playing games. I was quite surprised, as in the 1970s,  when my children were young, I was heavily involved in pre-school playgroups, in England, and a somewhat radical supporter of nursery school education which was still not mainstream back then. Amazing to find that there had been pre-school activity back in Victorian England, actually within the school's framework. There were even some very forward thinkers who believed that children could be receptive to more formal learning at an earlier age. WOW! And when I was teaching my 3-4 year old son to read, 90 years later, it was STILL out of the ordinary. I just find that kind of a mix of awesome and sad, that in 90 years we were still contemplating whether kids should be formally taught anything before the age of 5.

My beliefs have always centered around the individual child, in milestones (I had 3 who all "did" things at different ages, and sometimes at extremes of the "normal" curves). I still have the playgroup mentality, as well, that learning should be "fun". Teaching toddlers and preschoolers basics of reading, numbers and sums, songs and other activities, should always be fun. 

I love that the school is still open today - as a school - 136 years after my great-grandmother was born.

I babysat for many years and did home day care, and many of "my" children learned to read and write before school, understood number values, colours, shapes etc and all because the way they learned it was part of play and fun experiences.

That was always my premise, that learning was fun!

It seems that the Victorian 2-3 year olds time spent in school was also that way, although it became sterner as they progressed through the system.

****

I guess old dogs are like old people, things start to happen. We have one of our oldest (12 years old, 13 in November) who could now sleep all day, another the same age who has hip issues like me and now takes longer standing and lying down, a 10 year old who is getting stiffer, and the youngest, although also 10, who though still spry is gradually turning grey on her black face. Seems also, that their immune systems aren't as great as when they were younger, as I am getting patchy spots on their backs from hair loss and I've treated for mange, lice etc and nothings clearing it. We are having to use steroids on 2 of them, same as we have to do with one of our 13 year old cats, but I don't like doing that :( Plus it gets expensive! Hoping when the Summer disappears, so will some of whatever is aggravating them :(

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PLUS ... get ready for tomorrow ... 

September 9: FREE shipping on your order of $25 or more! Use code: TGIF Plus, pre-sale alert! 

Don't miss out on the amazing "For the Love" makeup palette.

www.youravon.com/rosemarydempsey

That's all folks !!!!