Money is getting so tight now I think shortly we will have to give up our Direct TV and go with Netflix. I hear the box you need is about $100 and cost of streaming tv and movies is about $9.00 per month.Right now we are paying about $80 and the choices are dwindling. Direct TV is now playing tv shows, repeats, on satellite and choice are declining. It isn't what it was. I hate this economy and what it has done and continues to do to innocent people while the real criminals who caused it and those who knew and stood by are hardly touched and not severely punished. Those who KNEW they were deceiving their people should serve jail time AND lose most of their possessions to repay those they've destroyed.
Still sick..guess I am just frustrated and scared... like so many others. YOU are not alone.

Always listen to that still, small voice. Tonight, tho sick, I decided to shower and let the warm water ease the aching. I was getting light headed so quickly turned the shower off..something felt wrong and that voice made me look. I'd turned the valve onto its hottest setting by mistake. With no time to spare I was able to twist and shut if off before being scalded.
My husband, a plumber, told me later that it was because I was in the shower... it takes 2-3 sec for the hot to reach the shower head. Had it been in the tub, the heat would have been almost instant.
If we added up all our close calls, we would have a greater appreciation for our lives. We tend to forget them and move on.Never forget the extra time a close call gave you.

Wow, this getting better is harder than I thought. Still can't work. No strength at all and can't eat much. The methotrexate butchers your immune system and makes getting better more difficult.But, the mtx has helped me keep my low grade Lymphoma low for about 10 years now so I dare not complain.
It's been so long since Salt Lake has had a good winter storm that the local media is going a bit nuts over the series of storms finally headed our way.You'd think it was an ice storm or something apocalyptic. Kind of cute, tho, as they've been getting bored reporting no weather for weeks. :)
The power flickered a half hour ago so the flashlight is right here beside me. Last month we were out twice in a week for over 6 hours each time...ended up it was some bad connection. This is pure weather.
Take care, peace and joy. Wish me well..good thoughts work wonders.

We're finally getting some snow. Once again, the minute it snows, all driving knowledge goes out the window and people slide off or roll down embankments. Fortunately no serious injuries...this time.Last year an above average number of State Highway Patrolmen were injured investigating car accidents.
More storms are coming with most of the snow going in the mountains and rain down here; that is how I prefer.Water supply is happy, driving isn't so frightening.
I love living in Utah and having such beautiful 4 seasons.

Spent the whole day watching NFL football with the Channel Flipper. It was fun; we did nothing but munch and stayed in jammies all day. This week will be very busy for him and Tuesday is my first day back at Target after missing 9 work days. Lots of fluid, I know.

Today, I got out of the house for a little shopping.It felt great, another couple days and things should be back to my irregular normal.
The haze is building up again in the Salt Lake Valley. When it gets real bad you can taste it. I get so frustrated because one of the largest contributors to the pollution is a company called Mag Corp. or Magnesium Corp, just west of the Great Salt Lake. They're using a 100 yr old stack for burning and it releases chlorine into the air. They change their name every 7-10 yrs after paying fines but not one Governor has seriously enforced their constant breaches. Someone named "Ira B." who is a multi-multi millionaire and doesn't live here has never been accountable. One day.
One day someone who fess up, heads will roll, the stack will come down and a new , safer one will replace it. But for now, the politicians are somehow afraid of this man. Can you hear the sound of money?

Today was bizarre. I've missed 6 days of work now with the stomach flu and lower back spasms. Going to try work today but the constant side movement while cashiering may kill. Wish me luck, I make a low wage but every penny counts.
Tonight,groggy from little sleep all week and starving, I put the salt in the frig and the macaroni salad in the cupboard right after checking the tv log for Thursday instead of Wed. Funny how when you've been sedate for days your brain freezes. Sorry, I sort of fibbed. I can't blame it all on being sedate. Both hubby, daughter and now grandkids know that grandma is lots of fun but sometimes she just gets befuddled..so before you make a judgement here - I've been like this for many years. They laugh, thank goodness. I am their source of entertainment sometimes.
Health is iffy today and breathing doesn't come easy; when someone removes the piano on my chest things will improve. I love you who ever and whereever you are. It is so nice to have someone to talk to.

Since I wrote in 2009 my daughter was able to adopt dear Bella and keep her as their own cat.It's perfect, I can still see her often without the effects of the allergies.I still wish, somehow I could get a cat or well trained short hair puppy but doctor's say no while I am on methotrexate..as the minute I come off the pills my allergies will be full blown awful. i should not complain as I was once blessed with an incredible dog for 17 yrs, and I must stop this now before I burst into tears.It has been7 yrs since we were forced to put him down and the pain runs deep.
It took my approx 1 1/2 yrs but I finally got hired by Target that is only 7 min away. I could only work parttime due to health and they agreed to work on hours. Fun, great team to work with.At Wal Mart, here anyway, their employees are always annoyed, ditch you or you hear them bashing fellow employees and the store itself. I was so desperate for work I applied there online 2 days before Target hired me.
Quickly, for tonight,4 months into working a freak accident.It could have happened to anyone.I had just reached out a receipt to a customer and was bringing my hand back down to ring up the next one when the conveyor belt started with a jolt and knocked over a large, glass jar of Olive Oil.It tipped and fell dead on onto the right thumb joint at the base of my thumb and cause irreperable damage. It took several doctors, x-rays, Nerve and muscle tests for them to see I'd totally blown the joint and minor arthritis just beginning was sent from painfree hand at 60 to the hand of a 75 yr old. They admitted the 24/7 pain was work related and paid for a few cortizone shots & special made brace to wear at night. Soon I'll be forced into surgery where they put in an aritficial ball joint and clip the nerves. Knock on wood. I've heard they will be up to 75% of lost wages while I heal and rehab.
Phew! Bear with me...this whole year of working with the pain, I had to compensate by overusing the left hand and twisting awkwardly.Just between us, about the time of the surgery recoup, my left hand will be suffering the same but it will be on my head to pay. I have no money. Life happens.
I have so overburdened you but this has become a part of everyday life for some time and it affects much..needed to catch that up.
Target keeps me on the Express Lane so I avoid most heavy items and carts full of lost of cans and boxes.I'm limited to 5 lbs which is hard to due but they never complain and do all they can do make it a little easier for me. It is a wonderful company to work for.I am blessed.

It has been just over 2 years. Is it shame on me? No, because life took turns I could never have foreseen. I found friends, I lost friends. I became so lost in "their" here and now that I lost where and who I was again. I don't mind being lost in others except for the trial of finding my way back to me. Me. I am here.
I need to update you , you who is always there, you don't pack up and take your life to someone elsewhere, you stay and your loyalty even if you aren't there is appreciated by me who prefers to believe you are there.
Facebook is a come and go world. Kathy's Korner is the one constant. It took be 2 years to figure this out, always looking for solid space for who I am.
This is my step.

Wow, I am behind on blogging. This getting out of the shell and moving forward is all good and fine until it gets to be too much. I need to pace what I am doing and where. My other blog site, Kathy-SimplyMe, is new and mostly poetry and short stories from life. I am having thoughts of someway to combine them.
This blog is a way for me to speak my mind and talk about things happening that I don't really tell other people, just you.
See, just talking to you I have made up my mind to keep this one just for these moments..
Thanks for being there.

I'm removing the duct tape that has wrapped my thoughts, my words, my adventures. What a genius, this inventor of duct tape. How could he have ever imagined the heights to which it would be taken? And it seems, everyday more ways to use it come forth. Today, after many, many years I choose to gingerly remove them and toss them into the bin of no return.Time to share..(gulp).
Since 7th grade when I began to rapidly grow tall I also developed the unique and uncontrollable episodes of clumsiness, trips, missteps, drops and breaks, gullibility and the start of my life's misadventures.
Though life has been difficult at times and you know a little of my health and distractions it is time to tell you of the real Kathy in her myriad of adventures and one day, God grant me the time and ability, to write what I've learned; and lived through so much it would be selfish not to share the ups and downs but so much laughter and joy and how so often I've landed on my feet..and my butt; but I always got up.
As you can see I am slowly getting braver on the blog and finding the who and why and how of me .
Read what you will...into it or from it.. but know this, It Is All True! I hope you will enjoy sharing my life of today and memories of yesterday...I Love Lucy had nothing on me. That's the truth!

Holy Crap! I can't believe how long it has been and all that has happened. Here's an abbreviation... I did not go to the reunion as I said BUT......the night before that I met with some of my high school friends at a local restaurant called HOPPER'S and we ate dinner and had a wonderful time...the next day after the reunion my husband and I met up with them at a bar called DAVID'S. Get this, THEN, the next afternoon we all met up Big Cottonwood Canyon and ate lunch at The Silver Fork Lodge and chatted up a storm. We all enjoyed it so much that we plan to get together more often and keep fresh the new bond we all formed. I have no regrets in passing up the reunion. I am so happy to have this. It was a dream weekend and will always be a happy memory.
The very next morning I had my gallbladder removed and made a speedy recovery. I am having some infections but nothing too serious. Two weeks ago my son in law Bob had to have a troubling hernia removed that they missed when they did the last colon surgery but he is mending well. We are certainly having our share this year. Abby has been stricken with her 2nd bout of Strep in 2 wks and 3rd sore throat in 3 wks. We are pretty certain her tonsils are going to have to come out..so far it hasn't triggered an asthma attack.
I am trying to hide my great fear of the H1N1 virus... not for me because I am in the safer range but for my family.. my 2 grandchildren had the rsv virus at 6 months and get sick quite easily. They've already had their flu shots but gosh, this scares me. The public will once again become alarmed when the cases start to shoot upwards. They've become complacent since the initial fears eased up.
Hopefully going to lunch again at HOPPERS this coming Wed with the high school gang. With Crohn's Disease you have no idea in advance if you can go anywhere or not but I am planning on it.
Have decided that I must give up my kitten, Bella. I don't know if it is because she is a Bombay or what but her wildness is difficult. She's beautiful and loving but gets pretty aggressive at times. I love her but it will be easier to give her up now than wait til I am too attached. Losing Pepper about did me in but that was different. Bella is such a beauty. This is such a hard decision..really, hard.

I went sailing.. I went sailing on The Great Salt Lake with my good friends from high school, Dave and Janet. Dave owns the boat, Wind Poet and I have not had such fun in a long time. I have never sailed and have never been out on the Great Salt Lake. The weather and waves were perfect. We talked forever about life 40 years ago and life today. In fact, some of us will be getting together again. But, I am still not going to the reunion. That would be too hard. I now know for certain I have to have gall bladder surgery on 8/24 and even tho the reunion is the 22nd my health isn't up to a day of food I can't eat, being in pain, tension and there are several people I want to live the rest of my life without seeing again. Mostly, as things are, I get sick on a dime and don't want to be a bother. I wish so badly I felt better..the timing just sucks. On a happier note, I hear a lot that having this will help me feel much better and I can get back to living more actively. That I'm excited for.

My daughter has eye surgery coming up soon. She has had lazy eyes since she was about 3 and she learned to control them but the muscles never fully strengthened. Now, as she is getting older her eyes get more tired from the work and stray so they are going to clip and tighten the muscles. It will take some time for her to get used to seeing without forcing her eyes to stay inward. Her dr. says she'll be off kilter a bit and we are joking each other about different things that could happen.
Bob, now also needs more surgery.. after the diverticulitis, he now has a hernia right there that the dr. missed on the initial xray. Boy, we are really having a bumpy patch, but on our way out. :)

What a week. Andrew turned 6 on Thurs and had his Transformer Birthday party on Saturday. He's been counting the days for 3 months. Being 6 is a real big deal for him. He's a sweetheart.
I am so excited! Tomorrow afternoon I get to go sailing on The Great Salt Lake for the first time in my life. An old high school friend has a sailboat and has offered myself and another classmate to join him tomorrow. I am scared, nervous, happy, on-air. We haven't seen each other in 40 yrs so it will be quite the adventure.
It is now or never for me I fear. But I want to build good memories. Mark (Dave) was such a good friend in school and it will be great to reminisce.
Wed. morning I go to the hospital early for the nuclear xray (Hide A Scan) to learn whether the gall bladder is working at the proper capacity and determine if the polyp and/or gallbladder needs to come out. Our fear is that with the cancer and chemo pills my immune system is so low that the chance of infection is of concern. Let's pray for the best. If it is any less, then we will face it with the same smile and optimism. Humor and joy, always the answer.

Recuperating from 2 mini-vacations. Took my daughter and grandkids for a drive Thursday. We drove up Parleys Canyon to Park City and walked along Main St. Then across the meadows and east to Heber City for a park lunch and down Provo Canyon to home. The kids have never been up the canyon and couldn't see enough. Boy, if they only knew what it was like just 15 yrs ago. Where meadows and farmlands, fishing streams and pioneer trails were are now subdivisions, homes on tops of every mtn around, roadside ads. Society is encroaching everywhere. It used to be impossible to get permits to build in these protected areas but sadly, money and power can get you what you want.
Anyway, yesterday was a ball. We decided on another road trip and drove over to the Oquirrh Mts and up the mountain to the Kennecott Copper Mine. I'm terrified of heights but once acclimated to the depth of the pit I gradually was able to walk to the fence and look over...TIGHTLY clinging to the safety bars. I can't remember if it's the largest or 2nd largest open pit copper mine in the world. Until you see it up close you just cant comprehend the massive expanse of it! It is a must see if you live here...and the tourists yesterday seemed from all over the world. The kids looked
to enjoy it so much we are going again real soon with PB&J sandwiches so we can take our time.
It is easy to overlook the wonderful sites we have here when they are so close. We are planning to take more mini excursions as my health is allowing. Everyday is a blessing, with family around me.
Here's to mini-excursions! :)

Good late evening! I am going thru many blood tests and ultrasounds. My doctor since 1975 has promised to get me well or managed to a point I can get back so much I've been missing. I believe it best to trust him. So as the results come in.. you lucky devils will be the first to know.
It's been a trying 2 weeks for my husband and I. First he found that his very best friend has inoperable stomach cancer and a few months to live, then last week one of my dearest friends from my radio station called from a local hospital. She snapped a bone in her hip & when they xrayed her at the ER they saw an abnormality. She has bone cancer through-out her body that has spread to her lungs. They gave her 6 months. 5 days ago we had a good conversation and we pray for a miracle. Tonight I called her and she could barely speak, because of her lungs and pain. Her life expectancy has lessened. It is happening so fast I can't wrap my brain around it. This year's garden was her best, she has so many plans. We lost 4 plumbing customers and 1 friend. All in 2 weeks. Our hearts are heavy and I will truly be lost with out my dear Rhonda Leigh. She is the one I call crying, pouring my heart out, I call laughing about nonsense, talking radio and making fun of hosts, sharing secrets. Selfishly, I will be lost without her. Not an ounce of shyness with her. Praying for miracles my friend. I love you.

As my old high school friends have been meeting up on Face book life has become more fun for me. I don't feel as isolated and shy. Mostly my friends were neighbors or a few ward members and I had little at all to say. Now my best lost friend Dave (Mark) from high school found me on Classmates a few weeks ago and my life is changing for the better." If you could read my mind now, what a tale my thoughts could tell. Just like a paperback novel, the kinds the drugstores sell"~Jim Croce. Other friends are joining up and like a jigsaw puzzle we are coming together around this Face book Table slowly chatting, sharing and becoming those characters we lived and loved in spite of the grownup characters we have become.
Of course with high school there are those who treated you unkindly, cut you out of their "clicks" and some who would not even look you in the face between classes.They judged your status or station without even trying to learn who you were. Some of these have now shown up and will on yours, Just remember to hold your head high and enjoy the true friendships you had and now found again.
Let yourself enjoy these simple pleasures.

Hi.Not enough time in the day today. Had to run errands for my granddaughter's birthday party and baptism family get-together later tomorrow. In the middle I had to stop and have my narrow-band light therapy. Unfortunately the new girl punched in the wrong length of time and I burned pretty good all 360 degrees of me. Yes, a tad uncomfortable in clothes tonight. As usual when this happens I will suffer a lot tomorrow but kazam! the pain dies after about 24-36 hrs.



Thinking about politics again. There is a gentleman who is our state Attorney General ( he adores the spotlight and photo-ops of his own making) and he recently decided to run for State Senate against our quite old Bob Bennett. I used to talk to Bob when I was on radio. He is so tall and skinny I always imagined a long walking-stick as he pulled himself out of the chair. Until recently I felt he had been in too long,, still do but I am having some uncomfortable doubts about the AG Mark Shurtleff. I watch him closely and he has already begun a somewhat braggart campaign on Twitter and Facebook. His persona is changing, his arrogance that was once a little complimentary is becoming distracting.
At this moment, I would vote for Jason Chaffetz over Mark...Heaven forbid, maybe even for Bob over Mark. I want to feel I can trust whomever it is. Utah is in dire need to have fresh, KNOWLEDGEABLE, honest and constituent-obligated people in Washington DC.I do my own thinking & don't need a party to tell me what to do. I vote for the person and the issue. Only people who can't think for themselves vote straight party line. It breeds hate with no room for compromise.
Anyway, I have a big decision coming up shortly that could cause me pain or great joy. It could cause a blow to my self-esteem or it could give me memories and laughter . School reunion...the dreaded occasion of seeing those who teased or ignored you amongst those you loved and have never forgotten. Trying to work things out with my dearest of old friends that won't be so difficult. Praying a lot for the right thing. Afraid I am already frustrating my friends. But if I meet them I want it fun, perfect and something to always remember with joy.

The results are finally in... no cirhossis or malignancy in the liver but there is inflammation. My doctor for the Lyp says it is not severe enough to interfere with the methotrexate and to keep taking them. As much as I fear the toxins in the drug I know how much they have helped me since I was first diagnosed with this disease. It makes you a hermit, fearful of stares and cruel words. The light treatments every week and the pills have cured the outside of me to where I'm not as afraid to go out. I used to have pale light skin, then pale skin that started to get small sores and rashes, then tanned skin with lots of freckles and far less noticeable spots. It took 10 years to get to this point and the thought of it all coming back put me into a very dark place. There is no cure, I will die with it, hopefully not from it.It is an extremely rare skin cancer that is a form of Lymphoma... not Melanoma. Only 1 in 1.9 million people get this. At anytime it could turn into full blown Lymphoma but then anyone at anytime could get full blown Lymphoma.
Now, my internist needs to find out what's causing the inflammation internally, its not just the liver but I have far less fear of this. The fact I can now finally give myself Insulin for Diabetes is a huge feat for me. Other issues become just a part of life that you accept and thank God that things are not worse and pray for those whose life is. We all have challenges at one time or another. It is how we choose to deal with them that is important. This was my hardest post so far.

I am down to 5 marigolds. Neighbors have 3 new gopher holes..we think that makes 18 now. The constant rain has diminished the other 15 but they are there. I've spent too much money; let Sandy Ordinance come out and issue them yet another advisory to keep up their yard. They have 2 wks & then the City does it and charges them. Yet they always wait for 13 days and use a weed whacker to chop the 3 ft weeds on their lawn they never water and wait til they get summoned again. It makes me sad. I work so hard for my yard and since they moved in I cant keep up with t he dandelions, gophers and ugly site. Those plastic fences are great but expensive. OH well, will just keep working on it.
My last foster mother I called Aunt Alberta kept me from the age of 12 1/2 until I married at 20 and we remained as close as a mother and daughter. She passed away in 2004 at 93 and sharp as ever. She was from New Ulm, Minn, German heritage and a good cook. I've decided to start typing
her recipes every few days or so. Some are German, some are just darn good. Some have those famous Mormon recipes that are fabulous comfort food as well as good for sharing with your neighbors or families on get-togethers.
See, I am taking positive steps to get out of my shell. I will have a link for my writing blog soon also. I am doing the dream, if only for me.