So, here is the Genius idea.    While I was laying awake in bed this a.m. my mind was wandering around as usual.  And all of a sudden I figured it out:

Dear President Obama,

We all know how you have been struggling with the Health Care Plan, and you have received much criticism for your ideas.  Well I for one will never be able to read the million pages that are in your proposal, but I just wanted to let you know that there is a much simpler way to handle this problem.  

There are many things in this world that cause people to get sick and need health care besides being hit by a bus.    Some of these items are:  cigarettes, alcohol, fast food, and junk food.   And don’t even get me started on how the meat companies are pumping up the animals with steroids, hormones and antibiotics which cause a whole other set of problems, like e-coli, mad cow, and humans building up a resistance to antibiotics!!!   And that is just the beginning!!!

Are you ready for the genius part yet??   here goes:   I think you should put an extra tax on all of the above items.   If everyone that bought cigarettes, alcohol, candy, potato chips, big macs, contaminated meat, etc. . . would pay an additional tax on those items, the money could be used  to help pay for Health Care.  Also, you better put fish on the list of things to be taxed, since we all know about the problems pollution is causing in our lakes and oceans!!!    

You see, even poor people who are unemployed, and jobless, somehow find enough money to buy their smokes and drink their  booze, even if they are using food stamps (which I think can’t be used on those items, and if they can, that law ought to be changed too!!!   Unless those people are stealing those items, and that is a whole other problem that needs to be solved– but I can’t do it all!!!!)     Anyway, then the big complaint that the rich have to pay for the health care of the poor, would be balanced,  cus the poor would also be paying tax on the things that are a direct cause of many health problems.  

I think this makes perfect sense.   Do I want the cost of my tequila to go up??  Of course not, but if paying a little bit more for it will help pay for my  health care — well then — I will once again, suck it up, and just do it!   I rest my case.

I was all ready to post it, but I had this bad feeling  – - – that if I would hit the Publish button, the blog would go back to the unfinished version or it would vanish!!   So just to be on the safe side, I decided to copy it.  That way if I lost it, like I have so many times in the past, I would at least have a back up!!   Doesn’t that sound like a great idea??????    Well, I highlighted everything and then I went to save it, and the whole freakin’ thing disappeared!!!   

I worked so hard to get it perfect, and it was!!!   I tried  to write it again but my words and thoughts are all scrambled!   It’s gone!!    It’s dancing in cyber-heaven where all my other accidentally deleted blogs have disappeared to!!!!    And it was such a good one!!   I hate when that keeps happening to me!! 

Now, anyone who knows anything about Waukesha will tell you that it is the worse place to drive!!!   The layout of this city is very confusing!!   It is difficult  NOT to get lost!!  In fact, that is the main reason I had second thoughts about living here!!   Don’t get me wrong–it is really a great little city, but you  definitely need  a GPS  (or Map Quest) to find your way around—even if you are not directionally challenged like I am!     After 5 years, I still get map quest directions for any new places that I have to go to, but now, there are many places I can actually get to and get home from without my  piece of paper to guide me!!

Last week I had to go to Waukesha Mem Hospital.  I have been there many times before, so I can now find my way there and back — usually without my directions, even though it is very tricky on the way home!!   But on this day, I was not going back home!!!  I had a few errand to run!  I started to Panic when it dawned on me that I didn’t  print out directions  from the Hospital to the Post Office, and then to my framing supply store!!  Yikes!!   There was no time to go back home to get directions since I was already running late!

After my appointment, I thought that I could just go back home, since I knew how to get there and I knew how to get to my other stops from there, so it did seem logical!!   The whole back-tracking would only take about 10 extra minutes vs. the potential amount of time I could lose if I got lost!!      You see, sometimes I would be driving around Waukesha for (what seemed like) hours, when I didn’t follow my directions!!   It took me years to figure out how to get home from the hospital without making a wrong turn!  Now I had to venture into unfamiliar territories to get to where I was going?  Pretty Scary!!!   But I sucked it up  and decided WTF!   

I not only found my way to both places — I NEVER even made one  wrong turn!!!   As I was driving around the city, feeling very proud of myself, I had a smile on my face.   Really, I don’t think I am exaggerating if I say that this was the very first time I had such a successful adventure—NOT EVEN ONE BAD TURN!!  What  a sense of accomplishment!!!  I even felt that I actually belonged to this community!!  

But  to be on the safe side—I think next time I will print out the directions–I’m just sayin!!

We Checked into the Hotel at 3pm.  The first floor consists of the bar and “Black Tulip” restaurant only.  To check into the Hotel, it is necessary to take the elevator to the second floor.  The hotel rooms are on the second and third floor, but the elevator only goes to the second!    Since our room was on the 3rd,  there was a winding staircase to our destination.  But it was definitely worth the walk!  Our room had a wonderful view overlooking the busy downtown Main Street!  

We loved the decor–contemporary, just our style!!  The main room was not very big, but the bathroom was huge!!  I should have taken pictures, I meant to take pictures, but I forgot to do it before we messed it up–oh well!!!  But the bathroom had a whirlpool tub and large black marble vanity and a giant glassed-in shower, with not just one shower head, oh no, it had all kinds of jets of water coming out of the wall, and a totally separate detachable shower head, too.   Since I had no idea how to control all that water, I was glad that J took the first shower and then instructed me on how to use it!! LOL   It was actually pretty easy and definitely wins the price for BEST hotel showers!!!

We decided to go to the bar for a cocktail (or 2) before dinner.  The cocktails were huge–well worth the price!!  Originally we had thought that we would go somewhere else for dinner, but after looking at the menu, and totally enjoying the brochetta appetizer we had at the bar, we decided to stay right where we were!!  I had the Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo, which was totally delish (yumm—I would go back for it again!) and J had Salmon.    The service was slow, but the servers were really nice!!   But I do have to mention the Carrot Cake!!!  Wow–IT OWNED!!!   It ranked right up at the top of our fav’s!!!   We ate a little bit of it cus it was so good, but I mostly ordered it to take back to our room for a little sweet treat with our morning coffee!  By the time we finally finished our meal, it was already past our bed time!!    Good thing we didn’t have far to go!  The King size bed with a clean white down quilt, pillow top mattress  and oversized pillows was the perfect end to the perfect evening.    Upon waking, we were so happy we had our sweet treat with our  first cup of coffee, followed by the continental breakfast which was served in the lobby.   We took full advantage of the late check out time of 12 noon!!  This was the best weekend “get-a-way”  EVER!!

  Dad and I would like to  say thanks to all our children.  This wonderful weekend escape was a Christmas gift from our kids, last year!!  After a busy spring, summer and fall — of bailing out the basement, yard construction, house painting  and wedding planning, we finally had this weekend available to kick back and just relax–you know, on the DL!   Thanks kids,  for a great weekend—you rock!!

Yesterday I was looking for some other options to record and I came across a show on TBS at 10:00 p.m. called Lopez Tonight.    First I thought it was a show about Jennifer Lopez (I like J-Lo), but then I  remembered hearing something about George Lopez having a night talk show, so I recorded it!  I always did like George Lopez too!    This morning  I watched it , AND — I think I like it!!!  Really, I thought it was much better than  Leno,  Cohnan, or even Letterman!  Yeah, yeah, there were a few things on those shows that were funny, but mostly—NOT.   But Lopez Tonight?  What a hoot !!!   He is more like just a real person, who is not always politically correct!!  

Today I recorded the series!    At least I will have something to watch when there is nothing else on the TV this holiday season!!!    Of course, usually when I find a show that I like, it seems to disappear after 1 season–like  “Kath and Kim”!  LOL   

I do hope that there are other people that find this show entertaining.   Maybe it will stick around for a while—or better yet—get promoted to a real channel!!   Give it a try!

 OMG—I saw a commercial for your subs tonight and I wanted to run right out and get one—and I had just finished dinner!!!  They looked AWESOME!!  They were plumped high with meat and fixing’s and my favorite—tuna!!  

 BUT THEN I REMEMBERED WHAT THEY ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE!!  The last time I was at Subway, I thought to myself:  these sandwiches just keep on getting smaller!!  But on the up side, I do believe the calories are shrinking right along with the size!!  It wouldn’t even be bad if the bread shrunk proportionately with the filling, because really, I have to take ½ of the bun off the sandwich, just so I can taste the inners!! 

 Don’t get me wrong; I am all about down sizing and cutting calories, but really—the commercial??  It is soooo—FALSE ADVERTISING!!!!  I’m just sayin’

 SHAME ON YOU!!

Anyway, back to the headaches.  When I am not in Florida, as I said, I get headaches everyday.  Some days they are not bad enough to take anything, but most of the time I take a prescribed pill that works wonders!  Every once in a while I get a migraine headache.   But I am not kidding you when I say ”these are miracle pills!!”   When I am in the migraine mode, it could last for an hour or days!   The crazy part is that I usually get them in the middle of the night.  I will go to bed feeling OK, and then at 1 or 2 in the morning I will wake up from the pain.  And I just know it’s a migraine, which is totally different from a “tension” headache, or an “arthritis in the neck” headache (which I get a lot of when I am doing ceiling work), or a  “too much tequila” headache!!  LOL 

Thursday I was working.  As I was priming the walls I was having a conversation with my customer.  We were actually talking about headaches.  Nancy also suffers from migraines, so we were comparing our drugs and their side effects.   But as we were talking, it dawned on me that I have’nt had a migraine in a really long time!!

So, what do you think comes next?  Yup, last night I got one.   I woke up at 1:22 a.m. in horrible pain.  Luckily I have learned to keep my pills close by!  Do you think I jinked myself  by talking about it?  If I wouldn’t have talked about it, I wouldn’t have thought about how long it has been since I had a bad one, and maybe I wouldn’t have gotten this one!!  I’m just glad that it was only about an hour before the meds kicked in!!  Maybe next time I should talk to my customers about something good, like winning the lottery !!             I’m just sayin’!!

#1  My day-to-day activities are really not that exciting—at all! 

# 2  It is hard to find time during the day to sit down and write something creative, especially when I know I have 10 other things that I should be doing!!!

# 3  If I wait until after my hectic day is over, well then  we have already had cocktail hour, and then while I’m trying to think of something clever to write, my eyes close before the brain clicks in!!

#4  We really didn’t watch a whole lot of TV when we were in Florida, so we have so many of our shows to catch up on, and if I am watching, I am not writing, and when I am writing — I have no idea what is happening in my show! 

So, in other words, I will faithfully read Sara’s daily November blog, and I will actually really appreciate the commitment she has made to it, but me?  I gave it a shot, but it just isn’t working any more.  Besides, as soon as I finish writing this I can go play with my G-son Michael, and that just is so much more fun than trying to think of something really profound to talk about.  But thanks to my peeps who have been reading every day, even when my blogs were boring!!   And I will try to write more often than I was, but maybe not every day!  I’m just sayin’

Now as I sit here waiting for Angela to get here from MN, and it is already bedtime , I am thinking that even though Michael is not here, I should run around the table!  It might just keep me awake a bit longer!  Of course when Angela  gets here I will be wide awake again, at least for  10 minutes!!!