Jaycee Dugard - found after 18 years

I saw a story on GMA this morning about Jaycee Dugard, the 11-year-old who was abducted 18 years ago. The two women who were instrumental in rescuing her were interviewed. One said to be aware of your surroundings -- pay attention. Always follow your instincts and if you are wrong, apologize later. What great advice! We do have a responsibility as a society to help keep others safe. They said their mother's instincts helped solve this case.

My heart goes out to Jaycee and her entire family. I can't imagine what she and her family have been through in the last 18 years. It amazes me that in 18 years, noone's instincts were stong enough to help save this girl sooner. Maybe we all need to have a little more Gladys Kravitz in us. (For those who are young to remember, Gladys was the nosy neighbor on "Bewitched".) Gladys never missed a thing.

Please Help Me Start Something New

Please help me start something new. This help request is precipitated by my being slightly germophobic. When washing my hands with soap and water in a public bathroom, I usually look over at the paper dispenser and ask myself, "why didn't I pump out the paper before washing my hands"? Then I say to myself, "wouldn't it have been nice if the last person had left a small amount of paper hanging down? If they had, I could use that to pump out more paper if needed." It seems a real waste of both soap and water if you must touch everything after washing.

Two weeks ago I went to the beach and the next day I woke up with a sore throat. The public bathroom I had been using did not have a paper dispenser-- it had a blower dryer. To make it worse (since I had no paper to use to shut off the faucet and spaced out using my elbow), to get out of the bathroom, it was necessary to grab the screen door that swung in rather than out. Two days later my throat was worse rather than better and since I had no cold symptoms, I suspected strep. A throat culture proved it to be strep as I suspected and the nurse said, "it is a strain we don't see very often." NO WONDER I'M SLIGHTLY GERMOPHOBIC!!! I'm just glad I called the doctor so quickly.

The next time I'm at the beach, I'll bring my own soap and water and just wash my hands back at my umbrella. But in the meantime, when we use a paper dispenser in a public bathrrom, how about we all leave a 6 inch piece for the next person? (Especially with the threat of Swine Flu so imminent.)

Blast From the Past - TV show "V"

What a blast from the past I got this morning. While searching for something on ABC.com, I noticed they have a show, "V" coming out on November 3rd. I remembered watching a tv show named "V" back many years ago. I surprised even myself by watching that type of show. It was a show about aliens that looked like humans but were actually reptile-like aliens under that human skin. Searching the internet, I found it aired back in 1984 - 1985 -- wow! 25 years ago. I was hooked on that one; we'll see what happens with this one.

Have You Had Hip Surgery??? Survey

I have a friend who broke broke her hip this past February. In July, since she didn't seem to be healing quite right, she went back to the doctor and an x-ray showed she had broken the plate. She is eighty-nine and now faced with having a second surgery to replace the plate.

She is interested in knowing any details from anyone who has had a second hip surgery. If you have, are you glad you did or do you wish you had left well enough alone? and Have you ever heard of a plate breaking? Any comments are appreciated.

UPDATE - 10-12-09: My friend, who is now 90, was forced to have surgery. She twisted just right and it caused severe pain. The good news is that when the doctor went in to put in a new plate, the bone had healed and they were able to just remove the plate. She is expected to be able to go home by the end of the week. She would still love to hear from others in her same situation.

More gardening...

Yesterday I was very proud of myself that I was able to go into my garden all by myself to weed. It's that snake thing that typically scares me away....

Actually, the above picture was taken July 31 -- the same day as the other picture. Yesterday he did a good job of hiding from me which I really appreciated(unless he's moved on to someone else's garden or stone wall). I'm calling it a "he" because I can't stand the thoughts of lots of little baby snakes slithering around!

Summer 2009 in New England

This has been one of the oddest summers here in New England. Three words...rain, rain, rain!!! I might be exaggerating, but I think we've had three sunny days this year. Ok, so yes, I am exaggerating! I'm actually quite surprised that our garden is growing very well. We've been able to pick lots of summer squash -- zucchini, yellow crook neck, a round green one (that looks like zucchini that morphed into a softball).

The snake that decided to take up residence this year in the garden has not kept me from gardening. (I think we've always had snakes, we've just kept it weeded better this year so they have a harder time hiding from us - phew!)Ok, I'll admit that I try to stay on the opposite end of the snake. He seems to like the tomato and summer squash plants. I don't care what anyone says, I AM MORE SCARED OF HIM THAN HE IS OF ME!!! The proof was when my husband took a hoe to him to try to get him out while we weeded. Nope, didn't work. He stayed right there and watched us the whole time. No fear of us at all. Naturally, I did not take my eyes off him either!

2009 Emmy Nominations - and the winner is......

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - Jon Cryer (Alan Harper) wins my vote, as much as I love "Barney Stinson", I think I love "Alan Harper" more. I think I've seen each and every episode of Two and a Half Men at least three times. Every time I watch the show, I just shake my head in amazement at the things Jon Cryer has had to do. What a good sport! I'm smiling just thinking of some of the episodes...like when he fell off the roof or when he got his (wrong) ear pierced.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series - this one is a tougher choice - Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk or Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper (Sorry Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper, I really do love your show). Even though Two and a Half Men makes me laugh out loud and Monk only makes me laugh, I think the winner of my vote is Tony Shalhoub. It has to be a tough acting job to get into that character (although I think most of us can relate at least a little). It is sad the upcoming season will be the last. Monk will be surely missed!