Last Day Of January Already!-January 31, 2011

Where did this month go so fast? seems the days are flying by quicker than I want them to. But I do hope I get to see another Spring and Summer. That would be a bonus for me. I thought I'd already would have died but I'm still here and still feeling pretty good.
I have noticed a little swelling in my legs lately. Never had that problem before. I wonder if the liver causes that? But I am eating more salted stuff and I never did before so it just might be fluid build up from that but it still means that something isn't working right. But hell! Nothing has ever worked right on me my whole life..Ha! Ha!
It's a beautiful day but very cold. It was 3 below zero this morning and it's only 14 right now at 2 PM. The snow is going to start tomorrow and then real heavy snow coming in on Wednesday. I was debating if I should go out to get a few things but I don't really need anything and by Friday everything will be plowed and I can go out at that time. I hope.
I changed my flange this morning instead of last night. It wasn't stinging too bad. Not sure if this one will stick very long. I had to take it off after I stuck it on because it wasn't going to fit. I had to add a barrier ring. By that time some of the stickiness was gone. It's still on but I am not too confident in it. Just have to wait and see. But these are more comfortable.
Mark, the maintenance man talked to me today about my complaint. The upstairs apartment's kitchen sink water bubbled up into mine on Saturday night when they were up there cleaning. The lady moved in yesterday. Then today her toilet got plugged up and he had to go plunge it. In all the 14 years I've lived here I've never had water come up into my sink like that. He has to go down into my drain with a snake to see but I told him I filled my sink up and let it go down and it went fast and smooth. So not sure why that is happening. And I sure hope none of her bathroom water and crap comes down into mine..Yuck!!! I'd be so pissed.
Jen, the girl that does maintenance around here also came in and cleaned the top of my kitchen cupboards off for me. I haven't been able to climb up my ladder in over a year to do it myself because I broke my wrist last year. I paid her to do it. I was so happy to have that done. My bird likes to go up there and I knew after a year it would be a mess. I used to do it once a month and I've been so concerned about it. I even had a note on my refrigerator in case I died that they needed to be cleaned. Ha! I am going to hire Jen to clean my whole apartment after I die and instruct the manager to give her my deposit money. Then my family won't have to worry about doing it because no one wants to anyway. My daughter sure wouldn't want to.
By the time I got this finished it is now going on 5 Pm. getting towards dark time now. It will be snowing tomorrow. I like the snow. And I will like it on Wed. when we get a lot. I love watching it.
That's all for now. My bird is screaming at me. It's about their bedtime. I cover them at 5.

Sunday, January 30, 2011-Quiet Day

I haven't done much today except for work on my Granddaughter, Vanessa's album of her trip to Italy. I had to keep changing the pages and adding more to get them the way I wanted and I had misspelled something on one. Good thing Vanessa pointed that out to me. I don't want any mistakes if I have this made into a book for her. I won't be able to make any changes after tomorrow because Scrapblog will be closed. I have tried the new site, Mixbook, and it seems nice but we can't download our pages like we could on Scrapblog. At least I can't see where I can yet but it's all new so I have to explore that site. I already started making a Scrapbook on there with one of their already made templates. It's nice. Doing the winter critters of January.
I will have to change my flange tonight before I go to bed because I can feel it stinging. It lasted two days. I will be putting on the Coloplast ones this time and hope I like them and they stay stuck for a few days.
Haven't heard from Nina yet. On the 4th it will be two months since I've seen her! I guess the Christmas presents will be put away and she can find them when I'm dead. It's really pissing me off now that she hasn't even called me.
Oh well. That's all for today. I'm going to watch for some deer. Hope I get to see some soon. At least I have the critters to keep me happy.

January 28, 2011-Damn Flanges!

I've changed my flanges each day for three days in a row now because they weren't sticking well. Now my belly area around the Stoma is all irritated and raw again. I almost ripped the skin off with it today. Had to be real careful and put hot water on it to help it come unglued. Wish it would stick that good right next to the Stoma but it doesn't. Then the crap starts getting on my skin.I sure hope I find the right solution to this problem soon. I don't want any infections starting.

I got a package with more samples today from the Coloplast company. I liked their flanges the best but not their bags so they sent me something different to try. They are the only ones that are working with me the most. I really appreciate that too. They sent lots of bags! I told them I need a deeper convex style flange because my Stoma has inverted too much.

January 27, 2011 Back To Snow And Colder Weather

It was so nice yesterday. It was in the lower 30's. So I just had to get out. I shoveled a bit around my car. Someone had shoveled a path on my driver's side but they left the snow near the curb where I have to get down. So I shoveled that heavy, wet stuff up onto the sidewalk and over to the other side. I could feel a slight tugging in my belly area so I had to be careful. I don't want to be hurting myself. That damn right hand hurt also. I cannot lift a shovel full of snow any more like I used to all my life. It's hell to be sick and old..Ha! Then I salted all around my car again. This keeps it bare so when it snows again it is easy to shovel the snow for whoever is doing it. I never catch them.
I sprayed WD-40 on my door jams so if it freezes again maybe the doors won't stick. I did my key lock also on the door.
I went to Walmart and got a few things. Came home and unloaded it all then went back out to fill up my gas tank. First I put a bottle of "HEET" into my gas tank. Might help keep the moisture out. It felt good to get out in the fresh air again. Gas was $3.49.9 a gallon!! I could have saved a dime a gallon by putting regular in but I have always used the 89 octane. So I will continue to. Or if I do put regular in then I add a bottle of Octane Booster.
It was snowing this morning and it's colder again today. More snow later and tomorrow but not much. No more than an inch they say. Not like NYC!! They are getting hit hard again. They can have it!
I'm noticing some slight little pains in my right upper back area lately. They go away but I don't like feeling them even if they don't hurt much. I'm also noticing some weird spots that a slight pinging pain will go through in my anal region where the stitches are. But inside. Hope the cancer cells aren't starting to grow there again. Loose cells can start growing anywhere if some are left. That's why they always want to give you Chemo or radiation. But then the Chemo ruins your immune system so much that you could get sick. Or the radiation burns you so bad that you always have problems. That's why I opted out of all that stuff. I know I haven't got long but I do want to feel good as long as possible without being sick. And right now I'm feeling pretty darned good! I'm gaining weight and am back up to 139 lbs!! That's because I'm eating anything I want, including sweets. I took some pictures yesterday of myself. I added them so you all could see that I'm getting fatter..Ha! Ha! Like I put on that photo, I'd rather be fatter and happier than skinny and sick. The skinny will come again eventually but for now I'm going to be fat!! Because when the time comes that I'm dying I won't be able to eat anything. Going to enjoy it now while I can.
I just got done downloading over 50 albums I had on Scrapblog. They sold or are merging with another company and after February 1st I won't be able to make any more nice pages on their site. And they allowed us all to download our pages at a high resolution. Before we were only given a low resolution unless we wanted to pay $1.99 for each page. So this is nice of them to let us have them. So that is what I've been doing for the past two days. Going in and checking each Scrapblog and correcting any flaws before downloading them. On a couple of them some photos are missing. Not sure what happened to them. But it was only my animal ones and not the family ones so it didn't matter. I also added to my Grandkid's school pic one that I made last year. Then I downloaded it. This way Jessi is in it also and this year's pics are on them.
I only have till January 31st if I want to make any more pages so I have to hurry and finish Vanessa's (My Granddaughter) Italy photos. I have to make a few more pages and then download those. I am going to have those printed out in a book for her. You can see some of the ones I've done on my other blog that I keep for the oldest Grandchildren. I have 14 blogs on here..Ha!
So that is all I'm doing today. Just puttering around with pictures. My favorite hobby!!
Be back soon.

January 25, 2011 We Are Having A Heat Wave!

Ha! Ha! Well, it seems that way. It was 30 degrees warmer than yesterday morning when I woke up. It was 9 degrees above!! And it's going into the low 30's later!! I already had to turn off all my heat. Can't stand it when it gets too warm..Ha! A bit cloudy and a few snow flurries though.
I'm off to get my breakfast and clean the bird cages. Be back later. Have a nice day everyone.

Update: 7:30 PM
Well. It never did reach 30 here today. Guess the cold got stuck in this valley. I think it only reached about 20-25. But tomorrow they say 32. We'll have to wait and see. It was cloudy all day but we didn't get any snow. Just a few flurries early this morning.
It was an uneventful day. I haven't done much at all today. My Scrapblog site has been sold or something and they are merging with another company. I won't be able to make the scrapblogs like I used to but I guess the new place will still let us. Not sure if it will be free though. Even Scrapblog went to selling a lot of stuff in the past year that we had to buy for our Scrapblogs. They still had some free stuff and that is what I used most the time.
One thing they are doing now is letting us all download the Scrapblogs we made in high resolution. And for free! Before we could only download the 600x900 size which wasn't good for printing anything bigger than a 4x6. The pages look great now and I will be having some of mine made into books. I just wish I hadn't deleted some of my Scrapblogs. I would have loved having them in high resolution. I deleted a lot of my family stuff. The Alexander history and my Christmas Memories ones. I could kick myself now for deleting them. But how did I know they were going to be giving them to us free ?? I only had them printed in 4x6 Flipbooks. I did have the Christmas ones printed bigger but they are a bit blurry. Oh well. It's too late now and I'm sure not going to make them all over again. That takes a lot of work and time to do. As it is I have about 30 Scrapblogs on there or more to download. I downloaded 18 of them today. They look so nice in the high res.!!
The poor little old lady down the hall had no hot water today so I called the office for her to get the maintenance man here to look at her hot water tank. It happened to her last week also and he fixed it temporarily I guess. She's 93 years old. She don't need to be upset over that. She was worried she'd have to heat water on the stove and then try to carry it on her walker to the bathroom. I sure hope he got here to look at it for her. I have to call her and ask.
That's all for today. A boring day for me. Watched some old movies this afternoon on TV too.
Be back tomorrow if anything exciting happens..Ha! Ha!

Jan. 24th Yikes!! It's 21 Below Zero This Morning!!

He's so cold!

Brrrrrrrrr!!! That's all I have to say right now. Can't believe my little birdies and a few squirrels are out there in this wicked weather.
I'll be back later. Breakfast time.

10:09 PM
It sure has been a cold day here but at least the sun was shining. I felt so sorry for all the outdoor critters that dared to venture down for some food.
Things are looking up though! It is now 6 degrees above zero and by tomorrow afternoon it might be 30 degrees!! Going to snow some also.
My bones have been hurting in my legs and arms the past few days. When I wake up in the morning my shoulders hurt if I've been lying on that side. My left knee is hurting because of that damn foot that drops to the side. I can't seem to get the lifts right inside my shoes. I wear my slippers all day with the lifts. Maybe I should be wearing something sturdier. But I always have that foot problem. I just have to readjust the home made lifts I put in that side.
Now and then I will have a strange pain or ache. My upper back was uncomfortable all day. Maybe it's just the way I'm sitting. I want to think so. I don't want any pains yet.
Well. It's bedtime. Take care everyone. Tomorrow's another day! Hopefully.

January 22, 2011-Getting Colder Here

It was a pretty, but cold day . Here you see a BlueJay who just landed there and over to the right is a House Sparrow coming in for a landing.

This was yesterday morning. The squirrels came down after a while but not as many.
We got a few more inches of snow overnight. It was sure pretty though!

It was only 15 degrees here today but at least the sun was shining most of the day. Yesterday we woke up to quite a few inches of new snow. Last night it was so windy.
As the day went on today I kept debating whether I should go out to the store or not. I finally decided to go out around 3 pm. Even though it was cold it wasn't too bad. My car was all cleaned off, thanks to some nice neighbors and the maintenance man moved all our cars yesterday so the plow could clean the yard up good. So it was easy for me to get out today. I did throw some more salt around my car to make walking easier for me. I keep rock salt in my trunk every winter for that reason. And it usually helps for shoveling too. I haven't done much yet this winter. Just the first couple times I went out I cleaned around the car. I can't lift snow too well any more because of that right arm where the wrist broke. It still hurts. It just never healed right. Lately that hand has been bothering me. I use it a lot and forget that it will hurt. Even when I peel a potato or slice something it will hurt a lot afterward. But I have come to ignore it mostly.
Walmart was packed of course. It's finding a parking spot that's hard. I drove around a few times till I found a spot close enough. It was so slushy that I had to be real careful when I got out of my car and walked the few steps to get the cart. I try not to take my crutches if I don't have to. I'm usually lucky to find a cart close by. It's hard to push them in that slush too. Lots of people shopping. The weather is going to get bitter cold tomorrow and Monday. I was going to wait till Wednesday because it will be up to about 29 degrees but they also said we might be getting snow. I also went to Abuchon hardware for my critter food. Figured I might as well get some ahead in case I don't get out next week.
I was back home by 4:10 pm. It felt good to get out. The fresh air is good. I don't like being around all those people at Walmart though. Too many germs flying around. I can't wait to get home and wash my hands and wash anything I might think has germs on it, like my car keys and the handles on my cart. Those are the first things washed when I get in the door. Then I wash out my nostrils with salt water. I think it helps a lot. A few of the women here have had colds. I stay away from them and don't go out to the community room much.
It's my Granddaughter, Salena's, 10th birthday today. She was having a birthday party at a skating rink up in Utica today. Her father always has those kind of parties for the kids. Salena is on Facebook now. At least I can talk to her through there sometimes. She had the stomach bug this past week and missed most of the week of school. Monday they had off anyway. But Tuesday and Wednesday she was sick. She went on Thursday but Friday all the schools were closed because of the weather.
My sister, Jeanne called today and was going to come over but I told her I was going out so she will come another time.
I'm still feeling pretty good, thank God! I did change my flange last night though. So that only lasted two days this time. I started feeling a little stinging under it. It had leaked a little but not bad but I can't take a chance on having my skin irritated too much under those things.
The Coloplast Company called me to ask how I liked their products. I told them I really liked their flange but not their bags. They are sending me some more samples to try. I got some samples from another company today also. One flange and one bag. I'll try that someday. I'm still going to keep trying new ones till I find the one I want permanently. Then my doctor will write a prescription for those instead of the ones I have now.
My Stoma seems to be shrinking into my belly even more now. It's so hard to keep anything sticking around it. Hope I never have to go back in the hospital to have that done over. I don't want any more pain or discomfort after all I've been through this past year. I just want to live out my days the best I can and hope that the pain doesn't start for a long time. I feel lucky at the moment.
Guess that's all for now.
Oh! Those Ghosthunters did make it up to the castle yesterday. John sent me an e-mail to say they made it and it was very colddddd. I told him it would be. But at least they had a sunny day today. They are all staying in Rostoprovich's house up there. He said they work on all the property around there, looking for anything.
I asked him to take some pictures of the beautiful outdoor scenery before they leave. I've never seen any winter photos of that place. Hope he does.
Okay. I'm getting off this computer now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone. Stay warm!

January 20, 2011-Not Much Going On-Ghosthunters

The old castle in 2006 when my sister was up there and took this picture. It is even more run down now.

I haven't been doing too much the past few days. Going through some pictures and weeding out more stuff. It has snowed each morning. We are getting maybe an inch each day but it adds up after a while. The warmer weather is gone that we had the past couple days. On Wednesday it was a messy day with the sleet and snow and rain mixture. Not a good day to be out.
On Thursday it started cooling down again and today it's even colder. By this weekend we will be in the single digits again. That's winter!
I got an e-mail from a group in Long Island that does ghost investigations etc. They came across some of my pictures on Webshots of the Gelston Castle and wanted to know if they could use some of them. Of course they can! How interesting! Those pictures were the ones my sister, Christine took when she was up there in 2006. And some were from the Internet. They wanted to give me the credits for them on their site but I told them it didn't matter. There are so many pictures out there now of that place since it got bought.
This group is called "Entities" and they are coming up to Gelston Castle this weekend to do an investigation. They are just like the "Ghosthunters" on TV. I can't wait to hear what they find.
They sure are coming on one of the coldest weekends though and the snow must be at least a foot deep up there and maybe more.. I didn't ask them where they will be staying but I imagine they will be staying at the house. It is used for weddings and parties now and there have been concerts there the past two summers. You wouldn't believe the pictures I've seen online. Port-A-Potties all up and down the nice driveway and people all over the place smoking their pot and drinking. I bet the old people that used to live there and buried there are rolling over in their graves.
I don't think they are planning on renovating that old castle. It would cost way too much money. It's falling down so bad. But the land is one of the most beautiful spots in New York State. It's over 300 acres. I added this photo so you will know what I'm talking about, to those who don't live in this state.
Anyone can do a search on the Gelston Castle and find all the information about the new owners and what is going on there now.
Some of these pictures are in my other blog, "My Hometown Area" if you want to see more.
It's almost noon and the sun is shining but it's only about 18 degrees. I won't be going out anytime soon. I already went out last Saturday and it will be another week maybe before I go out again.
My Granddaughter, Salena, is going to be ten years old on Saturday. How the time flies. Seems like she was just a baby when I was watching her all the time. Now I never see her but she just got on Facebook so now I can talk to her on there when I want. She said she's having a birthday party at the ice skating rink in Whitestown on Saturday. So that will be a fun day for her. I just sent her a card with money since I know I won't be seeing her. She was home Tuesday with the stomach bug. Kids sure are sick a lot these days. I never remember missing much school when I was a kid.
My colostomy flange lasted four days last time! I just changed it yesterday. I do change the bags a lot though. Even though they are drainable and cleanable they get worn or don't look as good so I like to change them. I have a new box of the closed end bags now also. Those you just wear once. They give you 30 in a box and I'm allowed 60 per month. I also got the Eiken seals that I have to put onto the flanges before I stick them to my belly. It keeps them from leaking. So far I am still feeling okay. Every now and then I will get a strange ache or feeling and I do get nervous that the liver is starting to go. The pain I was having in my upper back on the right side has gone now. That was from lifting too much when I went out that day to get groceries and misc. stuff.
So I can say I have no complaints at this time. Thank God!!
I'll be back soon. Have a nice day everyone.

January 17, 2011-Brrrrrrrr!!!!

It was 10 below zero this morning!!! At 5:30 am it was 4 below then it went to 6 below then to 10 below by 8 am. Then it finally started going up again. The sun is out bright today but oh, it's so cold. I feel so sorry for the little critters. The birds have to keep lifting one leg at a time and tucking it underneath them to get it warm. It's only going up to about 15 today. Then later tonight it's going to start warming up and tomorrow is going to be a mix of snow and sleet I guess. Weird weather. Such extremes in temperatures.
Anyway. I'm glad I'm inside a nice, warm apartment. I had some slight pain in that back area on the right side again this morning but it went away. I'm sure I just over strained it when I went out the other day. Today I feel pretty good. I keep looking at my hair and know I have to cut it again but am just too lazy to do it lately. I have to be in the mood or get sick of it enough to do it..
I never heard from Nina all weekend. I'm a little pissed at her now. She could have brought the kids over long before now. She starts back at the college tomorrow I think. She's been off for a month. I guess she won't miss me when I'm gone. Kids get older and have their own lives so her kids won't even care to come over any more. But that's life I guess. Some kids are real close to their parents and some aren't. My fault probably because they lived with their father most of the time when they were young and only came with me in the summers. And anytime that they wanted to when I lived back in the valley. When they got old enough to leave their father's house they did come to live with me. I had the bar though and wasn't home a lot to be with them. My family is not a close knit one like others are. Maybe it's because we all went our own ways after our mother died and some were adopted out and some went into foster homes. We never had the love of both parents growing up. Our father was a drunk. Mom tried her best but she had too many kids and her body just couldn't take it and she died at 40 years old in childbirth. It was not an easy life. Dad beat her and us kids all the time. She was better off leaving this earth. Poor woman. She really should have left him but she was always afraid to.
I got married so I wouldn't have to go into a foster home. Married a jerk that I had only known two months who ended up being a pervert that molested my sister when she was 12 years old. My daughter doesn't like me talking about that. She thinks he isn't like that because he never bothered them but perverts never change. I feel like writing a letter just before I die about all that. My daughters will be pissed at me if I do but what will I care after I'm dead. Ha!
Don't know why I'm going on about that stuff. I better get off this computer and enjoy the view outdoors while the sun is shining.
Have a nice day everyone.

January 16, 2010-Pain

I woke up to some discomforting pain in my upper right side of my back this morning. It feels like it's coming from the gall Bladder but I can't be sure. I could have slept on that side too long also and with my crooked spine it just made it hurt. I'm not going to think that it could be my liver already. Nope! I think I might have just did too much yesterday with hauling groceries in and lifting 20# bags of bird seed. Hopefully it will go away later as I move around more all day.
I thought we were going to get more snow but so far it has gone to the south of us. And the sun is shining a bit!! It's real cold and going down to zero by tonight.
I saw my first deer last night after dark but he saw me the same time I saw him and he ran. He was right outside my bedroom window on top of that rock wall. So hopefully soon I'll catch him with my camera. It's hard to do at night though. I have to open my window to take a flash picture and the sound usually scares them away. If I know about what time they are coming through I will sometimes already have the window open and waiting for them but with this cold weather I don't think I will be doing that at this time.. What a beautiful face he had, looking right at me for a second.
Let's see what today brings.....I'll be back later, maybe.

January 15, 2011-Saturday

This was the back hill yesterday. The sun was so pretty for a change. But it was so cold. Only in the teens. Now today we are back to the clouds and snow. But at least it is getting up to 25 degrees! Ha!

I haven't been doing too much the past couple days. A little tired. And it's been way too cold to go out but I am hoping to get out today if it gets up to at least 20 degrees. It's supposed to snow later today and tomorrow so if I don't get out today then I'd have to call someone to take me to the store. I don't like doing that. I'm just hoping my car doors open and I can unlock them. They always freeze. I keep forgetting to grease the doors. I do have some kind of lock spray. It's only 10 degrees right now at 10:30 in the morning. It was 4 degrees at 7 am. Yikes!
The man upstairs was so nice to clean the snow off my car yesterday or the day before. Not sure when. I didn't see him do it. One of the other ladies told me. So at least I won't have to scrape and shovel. Just warm the car up if I can get into it.
Haven't heard from anyone the past couple days.
I'll be back later. Have a nice day everyone.

Update:
2:00 pm
I went out before 11:00 this morning. Got my car door unlocked and had to pull on the door to get it unstuck but I got in. The spray that I had is no good. It wouldn't work but I got the door unlocked anyway. My car didn't start up as fast as usual. But it's been so cold and it is an old 1993 Oldsmobile. But it's a good car yet. Hope it lasts as long as I do..LOL
It's a good thing I went when I did because the snow flakes were already coming down and when I came out of Walmart an hour later I had to wipe my car off. I also went to Aubuchon for my bags of critter food. By the time I got all my stuff hauled into the apartment it was about 1:30. The snow is coming down heavy now. So glad I went out!! I was almost going to wait till about 2 pm when they said it would be warmer. When I went out it was about 16 degrees. It felt good to get out in the fresh air though. It never did get up to 25 degrees. Maybe about 20 here.
Got everything I need for another ten days or so. Got a few things I didn't need of course, like Russell Stover candies. I found this bag of individually wrapped chocolates. They come in a 20 oz bag and were only $5.98. I was glad to see they still had some left because that is what I bought last time I went out. And I ate them all! Ha! Ha!
I had to change my Ostomy Flange and bag again before I went out. The other one had been on for three days and it started to come unglued. Got a little irritation again around my Stoma. I put the special powder on it like I have been. The people that have their Stomas sticking out from their bellies are lucky. They can wear flanges for 7 days before they have to change them. I don't think I'd want to go that long though. I think every three days is good. I have the drainable ones and clean the bags a few times a day. I flush it out with water. That might make the glue come undone faster also but I want it clean. Just wish I wouldn't keep having problems with it sticking. When I am standing up without the flange on it looks like I have this big, deep hole in my belly. I've seen pictures of Stomas that stick out about one inch from the bellies. Some even further. I am glad that I won't have to be dealing with this for years like some people do. I can take the little time that I'll have with it because it sure has made my life easier for now.
My left knee is killing me. Too much walking today and I also have a problem with my left thumb joint. The area between my thumb and wrist. That has been hurting since last year. Just seems to be getting worse. I do use that hand a lot more since I broke the right wrist last Feb. That right hand is all messed up and still hurts all the time. But that is the least of my problems. I have sort of ignored it.
I am going to relax this afternoon and watch some movies on TV. I like Oprah's new Network, OWN. It has good movies on at times.
Have a nice weekend everyone. I probably won't be back here till Monday. Unless I have something to tell you all. :)

January 12, 2011-Snowy Day

This is the Cooper's Hawk that is always watching my little birds and catching them.

It has snowed quite a bit overnight and lightly this morning. I haven't gone out yet this week. It's been too cold. The snow is frozen on my car now anyway. I'll just have to wait till it warms up a bit. But looks like it's going to remain in the 20's for another week.
I have been trying new flanges and colostomy bags from two different companies. Put a new one on yesterday and had to change it already this morning. I didn't like that one at all. So now I'm back to using my original products. I did like the flange from the Coloplast company but not the bag. These aren't interchangeable so that means I will have to go back to using the Convatec flange and bag that I started out with. They seem to be the easiest to work with. Just have to get the Eiken barrier rings to work better with the flange. My Stoma is so inverted that it's hard to make anything stick good. If I can get a different Coloplast bag then maybe I'd change to them because I never had one problem with their flange coming unstuck from my belly. I'll keep experimenting.
I finally heard from my oldest daughter yesterday. She's living in TN now with the boys and their dad. They are building a house down there and she seems to be happier. Not that her situation is ever going to change as far as the boys are concerned but I am not sticking my nose into her business. Let her older children do that if they want.
I still haven't heard from my younger daughter. But Jordan did send me a message on Facebook answering mine that I sent. He said no one was sick and that they had a nice Christmas and he hopes to see me soon. Since he lives with his father he has to wait till he's at his mom's for the weekend. Salena's birthday is the 22nd. Maybe I'll see them at that time. But I have taken all my Christmas stuff down. Wasn't going to wait any longer. It's a new year!!
That Cooper's Hawk was watching the little birds all day yesterday and caught one for his breakfast. As soon as all the little birds disappear then I know he's around.

January 9, 2011-Quiet Weekend

This is the Hawk, watching the birds.

It was a quiet weekend. It snowed lightly all day Saturday and Sunday. I was watching the hawk a lot today. Early this morning it swooped down and got one of the little birds. I wasn't sure which kind it got. All I saw was the feathers flying and the hawk disappeared so fast with it's breakfast. Then later he was sitting on different tree branches all day, watching the birds. I got a few photos of him finally.
I finally took all my Christmas stuff down today. Threw my little tree out. Half the lights weren't working anyway and I've had it too long. If some miracle happens and I am around for another Christmas then I'll buy a new one.
I never heard from Nina. I did get a short message from Jordan on Facebook. I had asked him if anyone was sick yet. He said no one was sick and he had a nice Christmas and that he was looking forward to seeing me soon. I was hoping they'd come this weekend but with the snow coming down all day I guess they didn't want to come out or maybe Jordan wasn't down this weekend with his mother. I did tell Nina not to come without him. I never see Jordan and now he has had that growth spurt and is tall and thin. I won't recognize him..Ha! He'll be thirteen in February. But he's a big kid for his age. Takes after his Uncle Mike on his father's side and his Paternal Grandfather.
Guess I better change this Flange on my belly tomorrow morning. I can feel a slight stinging, which means it's starting to leak a bit onto my skin underneath there. I've got one more Flange and bag to use from the Coloplast Company and that will be all. I am not going to stay with them. I don't like the bag as well as the Convatec ones. I have three to try from the Hollister Company next. Got those samples in the mail this week.
Got my book I had made of this blog. It came out nice. The cover and back cover are in color and laminated but I had all the inside printed in black and white because it was cheaper. And I got a soft covered one also. They are cheaper than the hard cover ones. I had it end on new Year's Eve. I'll have another one printed just before I die.
These Share Books ( Blog To Print) do a good job if anyone wants to have their blog printed out as a book.
Well. It's my bedtime. I'll be back another day, God willing.

January 7, 2011-Snowed All Day! So Pretty!

As you can see, we didn't get that much snow but it was still pretty out there all day.

It snowed all day today and I loved it! But that's because I can stay inside and just watch from my windows. We might have gotten around 6 inches. Fluffy stuff. The birds were out in full force looking for seeds. I had to throw their food close to the building where the snow doesn't pile up. makes it a little tough for them and they hit the windows more but at least they get to eat. The Hawk was way up in a tree watching them too. He swooped down next to the window one time but missed the birds, thank heavens.
Sure am glad I went out yesterday while the sun was shining. because I won't be going out till next week now. If the snow melts a bit. Not sure if it will. Not supposed to get above freezing all week.
It was a very quiet day. The phone never rang once!! That's a miracle! Ha!
I was going through all my loose photos and I bet I threw away a few hundred. I have baggies for each sibling with pictures in them. I don't throw away pictures that I think someone might want. Mostly my old traveling photos and scenery and bar ones. Trying to get rid of more stuff so my daughter won't have to deal with it all. It will be bad enough just dealing with what I have left here. The DVD's and CD's are enough!! She will be throwing those away probably. I probably have close to 500 of those around. Full of pictures and files from the past six years. If I get time I will go through all those too and throw away some. I have lots of duplicates anyway.
I still have not heard from Nina. Now with this snow she probably won't be coming this weekend either. Guess I better get all my Christmas stuff taken down. I'm going to throw a lot of that stuff away now also. Don't think I'll be around for another one. I've got a lot of stuff for the Salvation Army. I'll have my sister take it all there in the spring .
I don't think the foxes will be down tonight in this snow. But I did put some stuff out next to the building in case they do come down.
That's all for now.

Thursday, January 6th 2011-Cold But Sunny Day

At first I thought I wouldn't be going out till Sunday or Monday to get a few items but then I saw the weather report for tomorrow and Saturday. It might be snowing quite a bit. So this afternoon I went to Walmart to pick up a few grocery items and misc. things. The sun was bright and it really wasn't that bad out there. The sun made it feel warmer. I'm so glad I went. Now I won't worry about running out of eggs etc. If it snows I can just stay in.
I'm still feeling great! I'm trying out a new bag and flange these past couple days. It's working good so far. I have another sample of bags and flanges coming from another company to try also. I want to settle on the brand that I like the best and that works best for me.. I've read a lot of reviews online about different brands. Between the top three there are people that like them all. Testing them is the only way I will know. I like my original one the best so far. But I'll give this brand a try for a few days. I have three flanges and three bags they sent to me.
I can't believe how expensive these things are if people don't have insurance to pay for them. It's ridiculous . Some places want up to $50 for one flange!! What a rip off!! I can find extra bags on Ebay though if I want back ups. Some people are selling their dead relative's stuff. It's still in the boxes so what the heck.
Got to go watch the news. Be back soon.

Wednesday-January 5, 2011-Cancelled Dr. App't.

There was about two inches of fresh snow on the ground this morning. It was so pretty. Then the sun came out but it isn't that warm and there's a slight breeze.
I called my doctor's office 9 am to cancel the appointment. They have more snow up that way than we do here. They said that since I'm doing so well and have no problems then I won't have to reschedule. And they are phoning my Pharmacist to give them the subscriptions for my Stoma supplies. So I am happy!! If I start having any problems then I will just go to my Primary doctor in Herkimer. But I'm hoping I will continue to feel this good for a while.
I'm not doing too much today. Just cleaning out more stuff. I also cleaned up my computer and put all my stuff on externals. I'm starting with a clean slate for the new year.
I saw my daddy fox last night. He was the only one out there at that time. I can tell it's him by the nicks in his ear. And he's the only one that comes out of the woods when I call. Glad to know he's still around. haven't seen his mate yet. But I'm sure she's around.
That's all for now.

January 4, 2011 Not Much Going On

There hasn't been much going on for the past few days so nothing to write about. Jeanne did stop over on Saturday for a few minutes. She brought my dish back that I left at her house on Christmas day. It was her 63rd birthday on Monday. I gave her my big wall poster of our family that I made a couple years ago. I already had it in a frame. She says she has the perfect spot for it. I hadn't gotten her card out in time though so mailed that yesterday.
I still have not heard a word from Nina since before Christmas. I can't believe she hasn't called me yet. Even if she was sick I would think she'd call me. The kids still haven't gotten their Christmas gifts. I know the two girls were sick just before Christmas so I'm presuming Nina got sick also. I had called her twice on Christmas day but she never returned my calls. The kids are back to school now. Nina still has a couple more weeks off I think before she goes back to teaching at the college.
I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow in Oneida but I think I will call and cancel and just ask her to send me a prescription in the mail for my Ostomy supplies. It's going to snow heavier up that way and it's supposed to snow here overnight. I don't want to be driving that far in snow. It's not worth it. It's only my 6 week post op check up. I'm feeling great now and they really will just ask me how I feel anyway.. But I can go another time.
I am feeling real good. Not having as many problems with my bags. I called a couple other companies to get some samples of their products. I want to try different kinds of flanges and bags to see what kind I like the best. I already got some from Coloplast. I don't think I will like theirs as well as the Convatec ones that I'm using now. I can't get the lock together very easy. I sure don't want to be fighting with something...LOL The other company is Hollister. Not sure what they have to offer but will wait till I get some samples and try them. I think more people use the Convatec brand than any other. I can't believe how expensive this stuff is. It's a good thing Medicare pays for them. But they only allow us so many bags per month. Hope I never run out. I might have to get some on Ebay just to have them on hand.
Take care everyone. I'll be back soon if I have anything new to write about. :)
PS:
It has been snowing a little each morning but never amounts to much. So I am looking forward to more snow!
I ordered a book of this blog through Sharebook. From when I started it till December 31st. If I live long enough I might order another one of the last days of my life. I just got a soft cover one that is black and white inside. I've ordered another book through here of my Childhood Life. That came out nice. That one is a hard cover. The family will have them forever. I'm hooked on books now.. I have ordered quite a few of family ones and my critter ones. Nice memories to leave behind.