What? You Want To Stop for Ice Cream??

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Have I mentioned my hubby, Chuck, is hard of hearing??  Well, bless his heart, as if having Multiple Sclerosis isn't enough, he suffers from loss of hearing most likely from the MS.  Well, over the last few years, we have had many, many interesting conversations......unfortunately, they usually aren't about the same thing.  Here's a typical conversation as we're driving down the road:  LIZ: "Did you put the trash out by the road this morning?"  CHUCK:  "Yes, I'd like to stop at Dairy Queen for some ice cream."  Hummmm...as I turn and stare at him with that rolling eye "I'm not believing this" look, he looks back at me and says, "What???".....At first, it was kinda funny, but now; it's just irritating.   This happens EVERY SINGLE DAY.

About the time it went from funny to irritating (3 years ago), I forced him to the Audiologist who said he needed hearing aids.  DUH!  So, we got him the very best hearing aids that didn't take away from his handsome ears.  They were state of the art; barely noticeable, matching skin color and very small.  We were so excited!!  No more weird conversations; no more strange looks at each other!!  Knowing my hubby, I thought it best if we take out the replacement insurance "just in case" he lost one....or two.  I remember that day well.  We were sitting in the audiologists office waiting on her to fit him with his brand spankin' new "very expensive" hearing aids.....Chuck was assuring and promising me he would be careful and not lose the hearing aids and we would be living in a new world from now on!  Oh, life is good!!

Fast forward.............1 week.  Yep, first hearing aid disappeared.  All we knew was he was mowing at the time and had the aid on when he started; didn't have it on when he finished.  He mowed an acre of land......under trees and tall shrubs!!  I was determined not to use that insurance policy one week after taking it out......so, I literally got on my hands and knees and in straight-line fashion, crawled the entire acre on my knees looking for that hearing aid.....  Did I mention it was "small".  Never did find the hearing aid or anything that resembled a hearing aid.  However, I did find an earring I had lost 2 years prior, a neighbor's key and a couple of snake skins.   We replaced the hearing aid and this time attached it to Chuck with a fish line and alligator clip, clipped to the back of his shirt.

Fast forward.........3 years.  The hearing aid isn't really working for him anymore (he has Tinnitus....cricket sounds in his ears) and we are back to having strange and bizarre conversations again. He ordered the Lee Majors 6 million dollar man hearing aid via Infomercial which is an over priced,  glorified amplifier.....and what a squealer it is!!   His neurologist referred us to a UTSW audiologist, which is suppose to be the best of the best, in doctors.  I was sooooooo excited!  I just knew this was going to fix the irritating, bizarre conversation mode we are currently in.  So today we went to see the UTSW Audiologist....Oh Happy Day!!  They call us back to do the hearing test and determine, yep, the boys' got a hearing problem.  DOUBLE DUH!  As we're waiting on the doc to come in and give us the miracle cure; not to be mistaken for "Miracle Ear"; to kill the crickets, I give Chuck the "Be positive; they will find a way to fix this....you're just too negative....you must think positive" speech.  I no more get these words out of my mouth, and the doc comes in and tells us there's nothing he can do about the tinnitus and, although hearing aids would help his hearing loss, he will still have those annoying crickets.  I don't remember much after that except hearing these words coming out of my mouth, "I'm not leaving this place without a solution!  You ARE going to kill these crickets and you ARE going to fix his hearing.  We drove 2 hours here and 2 hours back so you could kill the crickets.....now; KILL THE CRICKETS!"  As he started slowly backing away from me, he started spitting out solutions that some people had found to help....some "desperate" people had tried this......or that.....he said.

We did finally leave, much to the doctors relief, and discussed our next game plan on the two hour drive home.  At one point, I asked Chuck if he thought we needed to pull off the highway to let Murphy pee and he excitedly answered, "Yes, I'd love to stop at Dairy Queen for Ice Cream!!"

We Had To Say Good-Bye......

Sunday, November 15, 2009

First and foremost; HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAX!  I love you more than you'll ever know!!

Now, I know you guys are all sick and tired of me wining and crying over losing our dear neighbors, Mike and Kim, but please try and stay with me through one more Blog about our loss.

Well, last night, they made their final move from the lake.  After the hugs and "I Love You's", we all stood there, tears in our eyes, watching as the U-Haul drove away from the house and down the road for the final time.  I know this wasn't just hard on us as their neighbors, but also on them.  I could see it in their faces.  I could hear it in their voices.  I felt it in their hugs......

I have come to realize over time that its rare these days to find neighbors who "want" to know each other; that want to hang out together and know each others families; that want to get involved in each others  life.  Well, that's what we have here at the lake.  Its different than living in the city where the only neighbors you usually get to know are your alley neighbors as they come and go from work or take out their trash.  Mike and Kim were telling us that they have lived in their Garland (Dallas) neighborhood for many more years than they have had their lakehouse and yet, they barely know their next door neighbors.

When Chuck and I lived in Dallas in a similar neighborhood as Mike and Kim, our first house was a rental and we tried our best to get to know our neighbors.  They weren't interested.  We hosted a party at our house and invited all of our new neighbors and only one showed up.  Six months later, we purchased a house a block away, and the day we moved in, every neighbor on our new block, ONE BLOCK AWAY, came by, brought us coolers with ice and drinks, snacks and introduced themselves.  What a difference a block makes!  We went on to live in that neighborhood, Woodbridge, for another 8 years and have said many, many times how truly blessed we were, and still are, to have such wonderful friends there.  The Lord has always plopped us down in the neighborhoods where we could grow and gain some of the best friends anyone could ever ask for.

So, thank you Mike and Kim, for going to the BBQ joint with us on that first day we met.  And thank you for cooking for us all those Saturday nights; for introducing us to all of your families who are now a part of our lives; for fertilizing our yard and treating for grubs every year when you did your own yard; for all the quietly done things you did to help Chuck and I..........you will be so deeply missed.

So folks, that's it.  I won't be blogging any more about Mike and Kim moving......we are, however, going to turn the page and start a new chapter.   The next chapter is going to include these wonderful friends coming to visit and staying in their very own room here at the Etheridge house where the head of Chuck's Fan Club can cook her famous meals and we can have our Rock Bank concerts on Saturday night.........and Uno can steal Murphy's monkeys and Senator McCain doll.......Can't wait!

12 More Days.....The Countdown Has Begun.....

Monday, November 9, 2009

Well, have you been missin' me??  I haven't blogged in almost two weeks and I'm having blog withdrawls........so today, its officially BLOG DAY!!

We have 12 more days till Mike and Kim sign away their neighbors.......it's funny; I know them SO well, that when they just read that last line, they both said, "Geezzz Liz, its hard enough; stop it already!" but nope, not gonna do it!!!  They will have to feel our pain........

I've always called Mike and Kim my "minimalist" friends, as they are completely opposite of me when it comes to decorating.  To them, Less is More.  To me, More is even Better!  Anyone who knows me and has seen my house, knows that I like "stuff" everywhere......I'm comforted by my stuff around me.  I seriously wouldn't last 5 minutes in a white walled room with no pictures on the wall and no curtains made from hot glue.  I watch them pack up a weekend home; yes, a "weekend home"; not their primary residence where you have most of your stuff, but a second home where you keep just the essentials.  I keep hearing them saying things like, "How do we have this much stuff??" and "I thought we were minimalists".......and I laugh.  What they are forgetting is that once I finished decorating our house, I decorated THEIR house.....thus the reason for all the "stuff" they are having to pack up.  They are having an "Ah ha......." moment right now.  It just dawned on them why they are having to purchase more boxes.

This past weekend, they arrived at the lake as usual on Friday evening and we did what we all always do  on Friday evening, and that is head to the Marina for pizza (not counting the time a few months ago we boycotted the Marina for a few months due to the increase in price on the caesar salad!  Try as we may to keep up the boycott, we just couldn't; we love the pizza too much.....but you can bet we NEVER order the caesar salad anymore!!).  We got our usual 2 large pizza's and for just a little while, we pretended nothing was changing.  We forgot that we were less than two weeks away from not having our minimalist friends here anymore for these special Friday night get-togethers........for just a little while, things were normal.

But then Kim said she had to go to Home Depot for more boxes.  You know, because they have so much "stuff" here........and we were back to reality.

BTW, they still have "stuff" to sell if you're interested......check it out at my website on LizBay at 

http://www.lizetheridge.com/Liz_Etheridge/LizBay.html

Can You Hear Me Crying???

Thursday, October 29, 2009

I'm sad today.

Today, I got a form from a friend that is also one of the best local real estate agents here at the lake.  The form is one I've received many times before, completed and returned without any emotion.  But today, I would have done just about anything to not complete this form.  You see, I am the Treasurer of our homeowner association and when people sell their homes and move, they can't close on their house until I sign off on it.  I have to confirm they are paid up with the Association.   And today I had to complete the form on our next door neighbors, Mike and Kim.

Although I tried to convince my friend, their realtor, that they owed $28,000 and hadn't paid their homeowner dues for 8 years, she knew me too well.  Dang.  Dang.  Dang.  So, here we go.  They are scheduled to close in about 3 weeks and this just simply isn't enough time for their neighbors who love them dearly to wrap our minds around the fact that we will no longer have the wonderful homemade Saturday night dinners that Kim is famous for; we will no longer have the EP3 (the name of our group) Rock Band concerts in their living room till late in the night; no more Saturday night charades that leave us rolling on the floor laughing; no more lawn mower races between Chuck and Kim and no more Charlie's Fan Club President.

You see, Mike and Kim are family to their neighbors on Eagle Cove.  We vacation together; we shop together; we share our immediate families with each other; we know each others deepest, darkest secrets.  They are what helps us full-timers separate the weekend from the weekdays.  There has been a dark, black, rainy cloud hanging over Eagle Cove since they signed the contract a week ago.

I know I'm sounding as if they're going away forever and we'll never see them again.  Actually. they've promised us they will be back every other weekend to cook and mow for us (kidding!), and we did promise to put their name on the door of our guest room which I'm working on as I write.   Truth is, Chuck and I feel so incredibly blessed to have such dear friends like Mike and Kim.  We feel blessed to have the wonderful, unforgettable memories they have provided us and we thank them for making our life fuller.

You will be missed (at least every other week), my dear friends.

Lance #62

My nephew, Lance, playing his final Homecoming football game as Center for Midwestern State University.

Who Is My Congressman??

Saturday, October 17, 2009

I don't know about you, but I've never been that interested in knowing who my State Representative is in Washington or how to contact him/her.   But in light of all the crap (uh...I mean "stuff") coming down the pike from Washington these days, Chuck and I have felt the need to know who the dude is that votes on our behalf and to let him know easy it would be for us to FIRE him if he doesn't vote appropriately.

Soooo....I googled and found this really great site that allows anyone, no matter where you live, to easily find your representative; see what he stands for; see what he's done for (or against) you; see if he was one of those Democrats that "slipped" out of the room so they didn't have to vote on Countrywide; and how to contact him.  Thought I'd share it with you so you, too, could make your voice heard:

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

My neighbor, Becky, and I went last month to Longview in the pouring rain to our very first, but not last, Tea Party opposing this ridiculous health care reform issue.  It felt good, I've got to tell ya, to be doing something....ANYTHING......to be heard; plus, we got to carry cool signs and I thought we looked kinda cute too!

So, as most of you know, I'm not usually much into politics; actually, I took Government twice in high school cause I wasn't paying attention the first time, but I feel strongly that we'd be negligent to NOT be doing what we can to be heard; irregardless of what side you're on.

So, my Blogger Friends, use this website to find who represents YOU and see if they stand for what YOU stand for; and if they don't, let them know.  And if they do stand for your issues, let them know that too!

"In God We Trust"

Sallie, Larry and Jerry Jones.....All In One Day....

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Geeezzzz, where to start......

Well first, as you could see by my last Blog, it's been raining, raining, raining............It's times like this, I like to reminisce about the moments we were all hanging out in what used to be the middle of the lake, praying for rain......googling "rain dances"......trying to jinx the gods into sending rain.....so we could get our boats out and stop having golf cart races out on the dry land that used to be called Lake Cypress Springs.  The dry land is long gone; the septic alarms are screaming from full tanks of rain water; and we are having to canoe to get to the mailbox........

But I digress; yesterday, as I was still in my PJ's doing yoga to my Wii Fit (quit laughing....I can hear you!), I get a call from our neighbor Steve doing what good neighbors do; checking to make sure I secured the jetski's and raised the boat lift due to the rising water.  Well, I hadn't.  So, deja vue to May, I'm in the same PJ's (pink with horseys on them), grabbing a jacket, ball cap and galoshes and heading to the boathouse in the pouring rain to secure everything.  As I'm trying to find the lock for the jetskis, here comes my good neighbor, Steve, to the rescue (check him out on the Harley).  Such a good guy, that Steve-o!!  Anyway, I digress again.  About the time he gets to our boathouse, I hear someone calling out from the backdoor of our City-Laker neighbor's house (that's our slang word for neighbors who live in the city but come to the lake on the weekends)....that is located between Steve's and our house.  Now, whats so unusual about this, is our City-Laker neighbors are in Colorado right now and there shouldn't be anyone at their house.  Hummmmmm......I know their house is For Sale right now (they put it up shortly after I was caught taking pictures of their daughter & her boyfriend through the window (see Blog from 7-27-09.....but they swear it didn't have anything to do with that...uhh huh....), but I just couldn't imagine in my wildest dreams a realtor showing houses on such a dreadful day.  Anyway, I can't hear what they're saying, so Steve asks them to repeat and all we can hear them say is, "Did you get the Cayman fixed yet" and "It's Sallie and Larry"....As I'm trying to process this in my weee little rain-soaked brain, it occurs to me that I only know one couple named Sallie and Larry and we only knew them for approximately 3 hours.

We had met a couple named Sallie and Larry while we were traveling this summer in Colorado Springs. They were staying at the same wonderful campground and we had the same type of motorhome; a Monaco Cayman.  Now, if you followed my Blog this past summer, you know we had a few, well.....what I'd like to call "hicups" with the motorhome on the trip.  Well, they had "hicups" with their Monaco that Chuck helped them with and we had issues with ours that they helped us with.  That's how we know Sallie and Larry.  And here they were in our next door neighbor's house with a realtor.  As strange as that all sounds, it wasn't totally a coincidence.  Sallie, who has been receiving my Blogs, checked out my website and saw pictures of where we live.  Finally, someone was actually checking out my website (www.LizEtheridge.com)!!!  She loved the look of the lake and told Larry if they ever made it to Texas, they were going to check out Lake Cypress Springs!  And here they were!!!  Unfortunately, they were here viewing beautiful Lake Cypress Springs at its very worst..........but they loved our neighbor's house! (Check out the picture of Sallie and Larry with their adorable pup, Buddy)

So, there you have it.   Isn't that amazing??  Isn't that crazy cool???  Isn't that just......just......the most unbelievable thing ever?????

And to top the day off of unbelievable stuff, I want to know what anonymous wiseguy mailed me a picture (obviously photoshopped) of Jerry Jones signed, "To Liz, hugs and kisses......Your Friend, Jerry Jones"????  I have it narrowed down to about 25 people.  CONFESS!  Everyone knows Jerry Sucks!  But that Blog is for another day.........

It's Raining, It's Pouring; My Old Man Is Snoring....

Obama Awarded Nobel Peace Prize.....Is It April Fools Day???

Friday, October 9, 2009

Seriously; a Nobel Peace Prize???  Are we all being Punked???

Ya, ya, ya.....I know its a dangerous road to travel to Blog about politics, but how can I not?  Can someone please tell me what Barack Hussain Obama did to warrant getting a Nobel Peace Prize?  Anyone??

This might be a good time to share a little trivia with you about this Joke-Of-A-Prize......

* Did you know that the deadline for nominations for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was February 1, 2009?  That means Obama had only been President for 12 days when the nominations were closed.

* Did you know that Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler also were nominated for this obvious Joke-Of-A-Prize?

* That Bill Clinton is the only Democrat President in the past 50 years that has not gotten this prize?

* And this is my favorite: Al Gore received the prize in 2007 for doing a "slide show on global warming", beating out a lady by the name of Irena Sendler?  If you haven't heard about Irena, let me tell you little about this lovely lady:

During WWII, Irena received permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist.  She had an ulterior motive to working as a sewer specialist, though.  She knew what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews.  Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried in the back of her truck.  She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto.  The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.  In all,  she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.  She was finally caught and the Nazi's broke both her legs and arms and beat her severely.  Irena kept a record of all the names of the kids she smuggled out which she kept in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.  After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and reunite the family.  Most, of course, had been gassed.  Those kids she helped were placed in foster family homes or adopted.  In 2007, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.....she LOST.  She was beat by Al Gore for his slide show on global warming.  Irena died on May 13, 2008, never having received the recognition she deserved.

Do you still wonder why I call this a Joke-Of-A-Prize?

I find it amusing that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on the same day that he's becoming the first POTUS to bomb the Moon........And I believe this is the first time they have awarded the Peace Prize to someone because they were breathing..........

I Want A Taser Gun.......

Thursday, October 1, 2009

I want a TASER! A pretty camo-pink Taser........

Ya ya ya, I know I live in a 99.999% crime free neighborhood; and yes its true, the worst crime in Mt. Vernon last week was reported by a woman on Main St. who reported losing her checkbook; it's orange with ladybugs on it and she last remembers having it in her car after church. But you just never know when you're going to need a Taser....Big City Crime sometimes finds its way to the Country, you know!

My niece, Jacque, and I were talking on the phone the other day about how we each need a Taser. A pretty camo-pink taser! We're willing to take Taser-Control Classes if need be and earn a certificate; why, I'm even willing to practice the Tasering on her! But we figure we're both safer with a Taser than a real gun. Who knows whether that guy running up behind you is truly planning on hurting you or maybe he was just returning your checkbook; you know, the orange with ladybugs on it checkbook. I'd much rather "electrocute" the guy with 50,000 volts than shoot a bullet through him if he was just returning my checkbook. Eventually, he'll get over the electrocution, but he may never get over that gunshot wound.

The pictures you see are of my niece Jacque and me PRE-taser.......the next picture is of my niece Jacque POST-taser........see, she's still alive!!

I can remember when I first realized I needed a Taser. Mom and I had taken the train at Union Station in downtown Dallas to downtown Ft. Worth last year for an event. We had planned on catching the 7:00 pm train back to Dallas, but unfortunately missed it. We had to wait for the 9:00 pm train which put us at Union Station in Dallas around 10:00 pm. We noticed this dude staring at us on the train, so we were keeping an "eagle eye" on him through the reflection in the window. As we got off the train, he went one way and we went another. We were relieved. We started towards the car, when we noticed another crazy-looking dude running out of a building right towards us yelling something. As I attempted to "hurry" Mom to the car, I was thinking, "Wow, I sure wish I had a Taser about now". See, I really could have used a Taser right then! We successfully made it to the car, but wow, a Taser would have been awesome!! Teach him to come running towards us yelling stuff......

And why camo-pink?? You know, I'm not really a pink-kind-of-gal, but I figure that if Charlie ever gets mad at me, he'll NEVER be caught dead borrowing my pink Taser and hurting me with it and if its Camo, he won't be able to "see" it anyway! It's CAMOUFLAGED! Win-Win!!! Plus, I just think its cool.

So, with Christmas coming up in 3-4 months, I figure I'll get my family thinking about the Taser idea.........and I hope they remember it needs to be a Camo-Pink Taser......afterall, I'm a girl and I live in the country now....