The doctor makes a house call

This picture is of Cindy and three of her neighbor friends whom she forced to play dress-up with her . . . or maybe they actually wanted to. The boy on the right is Randy, the doctor, and I've written about him before. He and Cindy spent much time playing doctor and nurse or something similar when they used my old discarded needles I'd used to give myself shots for an allergy that turned out to be caused by Cindy's pet rat that I let sit on my neck. But that's another story for another time. They used the needles to shoot water into a rubber doll that eventually rotted! But they had a good time while it lasted. I wonder if meth mothers let their kids play with their needles these days. I certainly hope not. 

So Randy is on the right in the picture, and Todd and Troy are the two other boys. They didn't live by us for very long so I don't know what happened to them, but as I said in a previous blog, they may have gone into the porn business when they were older. With names like Todd and Troy, how could they not? One of them is holding a snowman that I think was ours and I've always wondered what happened to it. Possibly it might turn up in a porn movie? Exciting!

Randy called Cindy the other day - they haven't seen each other for many years. He was coming through Tacoma and said he'd like to stop by her store. She was excited and told him she even had a hospital bed with stirrups in her store, but he said he didn't have time for anything like that! Besides, he was only a "play" doctor and couldn't perform actual services. They had a good visit and he even bought some of her stuff.

I'm so glad they got to see each other after all those years. Our families were very close back then and through the years.

Maybe I'll run into the little Japanese boy who gave me my first kiss in the first grade. I slapped his face and ran into the cloak room and cried! I was such a wuss! 

SURPRISE!!  New Television

Here's a picture of Teri, Cindy and me with my mom at my folk's place at the coast. You'll notice that my girls and I are wearing sun glasses which is due to the fact that we all watch a lot of TV, and when we are out of the house, we have to protect our eyes from the shock of the sun. In one of my previous blogs, I mentioned Mama's TV class which the girl's attended. This all leads into what this blog is about.

Last week Teri's husband, Mark, called me from New York and said they were having something delivered to me the next day! I jokingly said, "What is it? A 100 inch TV?" They both laughed hysterically and hung up. So the next day here came a flat screen TV, but only 40 inches, thank God! They know how much I watch TV and how I would love it. I was thrilled! A couple of days later, a guy came and set it up for me. It's on top of my entertainment center where my old one was nestled in for many years. I called a mission here that picks up old used things and has done it many times for me in the past. I thought they would be thrilled to get a TV that may be old but was still working fine. They asked if it was older than 5 years and if it was a flat screen TV. I said yes on the first and no on the second. They laughed and said they just pick up flat screens. I thought, "Picky, picky" but didn't say it as I didn't want to piss them off as I send them a lot of stuff. I wonder what they've done with the bras that I've sent? I suppose if I asked they would tell me they just take double D size which lets me out. So I won't ask them about anything ever again!

I love the TV. It is so big and beautiful. I don't actually watch all the time - I'm not watching now as I don't have it in my computer room, and I couldn't manage that while I'm writing this. I don't multi-task very well. One task is my limit. Teri has done so much for me and I can never thank her enough. I think this is about it for this birthday although Mark did say a construction crew would be here soon to remodel my kitchen. I assumed he was kidding . . . although one should never assume anything.

No more aviary

I took my hanging bird feeder down about a month ago because it was causing too much trouble as it was drawing too many undesirables who tried to get at the food and also the birds. I had a rat come looking for food, squirrels all the time and eventually cats started checking it out. One morning I looked out and there were bird feathers all over the deck. So I knew the cat would keep coming. The last straw was one morning I heard what sounded like a bird screaming! I ran to the  window and a cat came running out from behind my fern planter in the corner. I think he was back there eating the bird. So that was the last straw. I took the feeder down but the birds kept coming and looking in the windows at me, and I felt awful! But I just couldn't go through all that anymore.The birds gradually realized there was no more food so they must have gone elsewhere.

I was worried about my one special bird, Larry. He was here in the bad winter of 2008, and that was when I started putting food out for him. He's been with me ever since. He always comes in the early evening when it begins to get dark, and sometimes sits on the ledge. I feel like he's my special pet. He sits out there and I look at him and he looks at me. We have a very exciting life! I don't have any pets - no cats, dogs, goldfish, etc. I did have goldfish and a bullfrog in the fern pot when it was a fishpond, but a raccoon ate them all up one night. So I'm very protective of Larry, my sparrow. And I'll be darned if Larry isn't still with me! I put a little food out every day in the corner of one of my flower pots and he goes right to it. No one else does and that's the way I want it. In the top picture is Larry which was taken quite a while ago. I couldn't get a new picture of him. The bottom picture has the flower pot with food in it. I put the food in the back part of the pot so Larry can see if the cat is coming in under my gate. I feel like Larry is my family and I don't want anything to ever happen to him! I'll never forget the screams I heard coming from a bird the cat was eating. I don't want that to ever happen again.

I may be fooling myself to think that little sparrow is Larry from 2008. I don't think they live very long, but I've never had more than one sparrow on my deck, so I call him Larry whoever he is. He's mine!