Electronics Get Me Charged Up-date

You may recall my trials and tribulations when trying to hook up the converter box to my old tv in my scrapbook room that doesn't have cable. Well, the Radio Shack guy that sold me the converter box told me that I would get more than the 2 channels I was currently getting and even more once the digital switch had taken place. I could only get channel 8 (PBS) and channel 2 (ABC). That was really fine with me because even though our other tv's get hundreds of channels, there's never anything good to watch anyway. 

When I finally got the box hooked up, I got 4 stations---2 were PBS and 2 were ABC. I could see that there were others in the higher numbers, but they weren't coming in yet. So now, I'm a happy girl. I'm thinking that when the change takes place, I'll have at least 6 channels. 

Well, guess what? After the change, I only get ONE channel---PBS! I don't even get channel 2 anymore. What will I do without the GMA crew? How else will I get my news? A newspaper, you suggest? Never! I don't have time for that and besides, it makes my fingers all black. I'd rather stay ignorant and rely on my friends to keep me up-to-date on local news.

Not to be deterred after I've already invested so darn much time in this friggin' converter box (not to mention the money---okay I had a good coupon---but it wasn't FREE), I consulted Butch. I was trying to logically figure out what the converter box was supposed to do and what part the "old" tv played. Butch starts talking all kinds of language about signals, ions, electrodes---you get it---foreign. I guess he was having deja' vu of his tv repairman days. Then he says that he needs to hook up a larger antenna on or near the window. Whoa, baby! I don't want any ugly antenna sticking out in my "cute" room. Before he ran off to the store, I stopped him. I just wanted a simple answer to a simple question. Could the problem be the old tv?

With that, Butch goes to his office which he doesn't use---which used to be the exercise room that never saw any exercise---at least it's a guys kind of "cute" room now. He hauls a huge 'nother friggin' "old" tv into my cute room. He hooks it up and voila'---I have channel 2 again. But now I have the stupid converter box and this big, old, honkin, ugly tv that takes up practically my whole table. He didn't really see the problem. 

I've decided to take matters into my own hands. I've ordered myself a new tv via the internet. It's cute, small--15", flat screen, built in dvd player and best of all WHITE---so it goes well with my scrapbook room, junky, white furniture decor.

And the next best thing of all----I don't need the stupid converter box! So much for that time wasted...

A bit of sad news

Well, I've done it again. I lost my "good" diamond bracelet. And I wasn't even drunk. We girls were shopping on Monday before our spa treatments. Somewhere in St. Andrews is a very happy person. I just hope that whoever found it is someone that could really "use" it. The hotel was very good about calling all the places we'd been. This bracelet had two safety guards and neither had ever come undone before. Who knows. Anyway, although I "loved" that bracelet, I was determined to keep the loss from ruining my trip---and everyone else's too. It's just stuff. Still, I'm pretty sad. I've been saying it ever since the kids were little: "I can't have anything nice!" Now I don't think I'm even going to try!

A Wee Leetle Greeting From Scotland

We are having a great time and Scotland is beautiful. We've visited castles with the most gorgeous knot gardens. I told my friends that this is what my knot garden is supposed to look like---of course, mine is paltry in comparison.

The golfers are having a lot of fun, although the actual golf isn't so good. The weather---in Butch's words, "we had sunshine, wind, rain, and sleet---then we moved to the second hole." They have a saying here: "sun at 7, rain at 11" and it seems to be true. You can tell we are the tourists as we're the only ones with umbrellas---the Scots don't even wear rain hats.

The best thing we did was arrange for a private "coach" and driver. Ivor has become our new best friend. He anticipates our every need. He surprises us every morning with little treats. Makes me feel like I'm at a scrapbook retreat! Oh, and Butch has gotten him into geo-caching. Ivor found his first one in Dornoch. He's hooked! We've taken him to dinner and out for drinks with us and the guys are taking him to play golf with them tomorrow. I told him I'd drive the coach tomorrow and he handed me the keys. I guess we're actually driving our driver now---and taking him on vacation!

The food has been good, albeit, very unusual. I've been adventuresome---willing to try it all. Today, we went to an antique fair. One of the Scots asked me how we were enjoying our trip. I said that it has been fabulous, but the haggis---not so much. Haggis is a kind of mush made with blood, guts and oatmeal all mixed up. It's black---as is the black pudding, made from blood and oatmeal. This is the stuff that the poor people ate, but I guess no one told them that they're not so poor anymore....

One last thing---it stays light out until almost 11 p.m. and is dark for only about 5 hours. I guess I've never been this far north before.

I'm picking up a wee bit of an accent. I'll quit with the "blethering" (babbling) now me lassies, lest I start to look like an "eejit" (idiot).

Pictures when I get home....

Feed my Fish!

Just click anywhere in the fish tank and you'll leave some fish food. All the fish will rush over to it. Aren't they cute? Now that's my idea for a pet!

As you can see, I've added a little more fun to my blog. Now when you check it each day, you can learn something---even if I haven't posted.

My Sister the Big Fat Baby

I figure if Jeanne can "trash" me on her blog, then turn-about is fair play!! 

Jeanne's a big fat baby. Well, not that kind of fat, but the kind of fat you slung at your siblings growing up because you weren't allowed to use words any stronger, except maybe stupid, retarded, brat, fruit, jerk---but I digress.

I just want to call your attention to our hospital experience after the M.O.M. episode. Now that's what I call an appropriate acronym---Milk Of Magnesia and MOM. I'd say that darting from the room every 5 minutes and "ditching" your big sister when the "sh*t" hit the proverbial fan is far worse than shopping at a boycotted nursery. Wouldn't you?

Oh, yeah, she's a big fat stupid too. She almost killed our mother by dispensing the wrong medicines---that "I" had clearly measured and marked!! Jennifer also earns this title as she did the same thing. Wait a minute---they were together when Jennifer messed up the meds. Maybe they had a plan, got caught, so Jeanne tried to complete it on her own! 

Okay Jeanne, I take it all back. You're visiting me in July and I don't want to worry about any mishaps that may cause me harm in my own pool!!!

Home Sweet Home

Well, I made it home all in one piece. And now, with just a couple days behind me, it seems like my St. Louis experience was a long time ago. It does feel good to be home. Of course, I was irritated right off the bat. I pulled into the driveway to discover that Butch had "taken" my parking spot. I know that doesn't seem like it should be a big deal, but it was raining and due to Butch's new car, we definitely have a few parking issues. Appropriate don't ya' think? To top it off, when he programmed his new car for the garage door opener, the other 5 (yep, we now have 6 cars) quit working.  So, I had to run through the rain to open the garage door and then unload in the rain. I was already preparing my rant for when he got home, when, to my surprise, I discovered a bouquet of flowers with a really sweet note welcoming me home. That settled my dander. Instead of yelling at him when he got home, I greeted him with, "it's a darn good thing you got me flowers because I was going to yell at you!"

We were having a nice conversation and catching up on the news, when Jordan called (it's 6:30 by now). No, "hi Grammy, glad you're home." She starts with, "grammy, can you take me and my friend (sorry about the bad English, but that's how they talk) to the mall?" Their chauffeur had returned. I said "no." She said, "okay, can I talk to grandpa?" Again, I said "no" as he had just driven to Atlanta and back the same day. I knew that he would not be able to say no by himself, so I saved him. He's always been a soft touch for his "girls"--all of them.

A few minutes later, I got a text from Morgan. "Can you take me to Taylor's tomorrow at 11?" My quick (I got a lot of practice in mom's room at the hospital) response, "no can do." Then a little text conversation transpired where we agreed that I would pick her up at 8:45 and drop her at her friends. 

Oh yeah, I'm home....but honestly, I like the fact that the girls feel like they can call us and ask us to drive them around. It would never have occurred to me to call my grandparents---and they lived closer to us than Steph does to me. 

Besides that, I can only stand them for 15 minutes at a time anyway.