Help

I work with someone who hates me, that is not an exageraton. She refuses to sit at her desk when I am there because it is next to mine. She speaks to me only when I speak to her and there is a supervisor around. She is rude, unpleasant and the unhappiest person I have ever met. I have been told both by my immediate supervisor and the big boss that she has been ask to find a different job. She has been here 20 years and they say she has been here too long and she doesn't remember what it is like in the real world. She comes in late, messes around and spends too much time outside smoking. I start 30 minutes after her and I am here before her. I have been having terrible headaches she causes me so much stress. I have been as nice as can be I pray for her daily but I just don't know what else to do. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cooking

I love to cook, actually baking is what I really love. I love making yeast bread, sweet bread, cakes, cookies, pies. I love it all and I am not afraid to try new things. One year our church held an auction. My entry was a year of deserts one a month. The people who bought it seemed to love it. I tried to taylor it to their needs. If I knew they were having company I tried to have something for that time. I made sure to ask about their likes and dislikes. I made all kinds of things from cheesecakes to pies. They begged me to do it again the next year but by that time I was busy with other things and didn't have the time. I alway thought I would like to hold a class for young women who are about to get married and teach them things like how to make homemade noodles, easy beef stew, chicken pot pie so they could start out with a basic knowledge. My daughter was never interested in learning, but my granddaughter loves cooking with me. See below.

My bucket list

If you have seen the movie "Bucket List" you will know what this means. This is not a serious list just things I would like to do before I kick the bucket.
They are in no particular order.
1. Build our dream house
2. Fly first class round trip to Europe
3. Fly in a private jet
4. Be a single digit size
5. Go to Australia
(i'm sensing a theme here)
6. Not have to ever have to think about money again.
I really don't have a lot of wants. Mostly travel is high on my list. I guess I just am boring.

Adventures in hair coloring

The first time I ever colored my hair I was 18. A friend talked me into frosting it. That was really big back then. Of course, she volunteered to do it, even though she had never done anything like that before. My hair is naturally very dark brown, almost black. It ended up being very blonde. I was horrified. I went back to the store and got a dark brown semi permanent color thinking (in my naive mind) that by the time it washed out I would be back to my own color. All it did was turn my hair a darker shade of blonde. So I just let it grow out. The next time I ventured into color territory I went wild. I colored it eggplant. Now if you have ever looked carefully at an eggplant you will notice that it is almost black with a purple cast to it. I loved it. When I was in the sun the purple really came out, and purple is my favorite color. I wore it like that for several years and finally decided it was just too expensive. I had to be done at a salon and after about three weeks the purple faded away. After that grew out I found out that it was time to start coloring for a different reason. I was unbelievably gray (or is it grey). Any way I had always heard that as you get older your hair should get lighter. So I started coloring it a medium brown, which by the way, is very dark. From there I went to light brown. For the last several years it has be sometimes a dark blonde sometimes a medium blonde.
I can imagine you are thinking, ok so why are you telling me all of this. Well, my hairdresser wants to do something dramatic with my hair. I have an appointment for Valentines day. We are going to a wedding that day and I figured it would be the perfect time to try something new. So if I don't see you very often, the next time may be something of a shoch. We'll see.

2009

As I think back to the last year of my life. How blessed I am. I spent from February until July on the couch, homebound. Recovering from what will be my last knee surgeries. God sent us to the Mayo Clinic and to Dr. Arlan Hanssen. He truly is a God send. He saved my leg and my life. I spent four years recovering from various knee surgeries and in that time I learned a lot. I learned to be thankful for such a wonderful husband, not that I wasn't befoe. This is different. He proved/showed me how very much he loves me. I learned to be thankful for my daughter who was there to help when ever she could be. And then there is Shelby. She had never known Grandma without a boo boo. She helped me with my walker, helped me lift my leg and generally watched out for me. When I got to the point that I was using a cane, she would remind me to take it with me. I learned to be happy in my circumstance. I would be lying if I told you being alone most of the time unable to do the smallest thing for myself was fun, but God was there with me and kept me from getting depressed. I tried hard not to complain and look for the bright side.
Now that I am recovered I find I am more content. I don't need to be entertained like before. Before I didn't like sitting at home, I wanted to go. Now even though I am still very social, I find I can be content. I am calmer, more at peace. So if you are ever going through a trial just remember God's word says: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. I figure he waited four years to heal me because I had a lot to learn, and I am at the point now that I have taken steps to see that this does not happen to someone else. God never waste suffering.

Things that make me happy

It has been a long time since I blogged. I tend to compare myself with my fellow friend bloggers and I do not measure up. But I am going to carryon anyway. I have been thinking about what it takes to make me happy. I work with someone who seems never to be happy. Maybe my standards are low, I can think of so much that makes me happy. I will cut the list down or it could go on forever. Some are personal some are general, and in no particular order here they are.
Spring
Flowers (not florist flowers, although they are nice)
Shelby
Kenny
Bree-Ann being happy
Getting something right
Baking
Doing something for someone else
Purple
Crafting and sewing
Clothes that are not too tight
Music
Seeing my husband smile
Hearing my two year old granddaughter be very polite
A clean house
Friends
Knowing I am loved
Feeling loved
Laughing
Cows
Shelling corn in a combine
Travel
These are a few of my favorite things (that sounds familar). I could go on for sometime but I have to go to work. That sometimes makes me happy.

Government Insurance

If Medicare is any indication of what government insurance will be like, count me out. I work with insurance and Medicare everyday. Medicare covers nothing at home. They want you to go to an extended care facility for something you can easily do at home and for much less cost. They won't cover any antibiotics that are given IV at home. Any treatment that you may need at home has to be administered by some sort of machine (durable medical equipment). You could probably do it cheaper another way but Medicare won't pay for if you do. You must jump through so many hoops to get anything done with them that sometimes it just isn't worth it.
Any time the government gets involved there will be problems. Some Senator probably owns stock in a durable medical equipment company so he puts in the Medicare bill that you have to use that equipment in order for Medicare to pay for it. You get the idea.
If someone has a Medicare supplement insurance policy and Medicare denies the claim, so will the insurance company. You have to have a secondary not a supplement. Let this be a warning to you.