I was not arrested for felonious behavior! and it's all behind me for the time being. I am enjoying a glass of Pinot Grigio. My brother was effectively "beside himself" when I arrived at his home; I knew because he was puttering around making up flashing for his garage... . I asked him what he thought was going to "go down" and we decided our strategy would be to let them direct things and interject when the opportunities arose. They were pretty much stunned when I walked into the room, a lot of sideways glances at each other. :) (wimpy handshakes, too... didn't look me in the eyes). Meeting started with a discussion of how disruptive Mum has been in the past two weeks; I asked for details of the "events" and asked who had witnessed them. Details were scarce. I asked about the time of day they occured; typically late afternoon... "sun downers"? yes, suspected. They asked US what they were going to do? I suggested using the "scientific method" and begin by checking the basics... "how much water is Mum drinking daily?" didn't know. "She must have 48 oz./day to maintain adequate hydration and keep her neo-bladder and the requisite urinary pouch from becoming a breeding ground for UTIs"; we measure fluids in cc s. "Don't you have a conversion chart? I'm sure you could download one in a few seconds... "; silence. "What has the stoma nurse at the medical facility next door had to offer?"; we didn't call her, we didn't think it was necessary. "You didn't think it might be a good idea to establish a rapport with a stoma nurse NEXT DOOR when you clearly had no practical experience with urostomies and were unable to adequately change the appliance for the better part a month? If I may be so blunt, that seems like common sense to me. Moreover, my mother has had 2 UTIs in 4 months, she has 1 in 39 mos. with me, and brought that one home from a rehab. center.". Embarrassed silence, during which time I presented the nurse with a ton of literature on urostomies from Conva Tec, as well as their hotline number, a contact name, AND the name of the area Conva Tec representative (all are very well trained). We asked about exercise, fresh air, outings... minimal. Not surprising. The the head administrator and director of nursing arrived shortly thereafter. The admin. guy "strongly" objected to our blunt assessment of their ability to manage an urostomy patient. "Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating... the reality IS that your facility utterly failed to provide the most basic adherence to the fundamentals. I don't want to hear any more about your credentials... I want to see you start using them.". I suspect they don't often get legal guardians like my brother and me. Upshot? the replacement hearing aids, increased hydration, and greater attention to the fundamentals of urostomy care, as well as increased exercise OUTDOORS are to be the focus of the new "program" for the short term. It was made very clear to them that medicating a elderly woman "livn' in her own private Idaho" WASN'T going to be the first option. Not when they'd failed so utterly and miserably on the very points of concern my brother raised repeatedly before admitting Mum. Then we talked about the hearing aids and the "loss" of Mum's personal property. And it was made perfectly clear that the missing items are to be replaced in a timely manner and that the inconvenience it has caused is not to be repeated. I will be following this up with strongly worded letter. My big brother has, I think, a new appreciation for his little sister (he calls me his "little pit bull"; I hate dogs!). He remarked that watching me write down names and take notes blew him away! and he quietly thanked me 2 times for coming down for the meeting. It's been a tough month for him; he's lost 2 friends, and one of his cats, and has been beating himself up over selecting the wrong place for Mum. I told him not to waste time on the latter... there are no guarantees and trusting people are often the ones prone to "guilt". I teased him, telling him I really did understand just how it felt to be absolutely overwhelmed... "yeah, now I get it". I'm whipped. Traffic was dreadful coming home. Sue, the sickest I've been in my life was with Lyme Disease. I don't doubt you must feel some crummy! did the do a Lyme titer on you? Check out the New England FAQ for my story and my insights on that. Take good care, we need more people like you in our world! Hi to everyone else; I promise to reread with a less distracted mind, but know I think of you guys every single day in one way or another.

Nobody lost their homes, Melissa. This is a little bitty river so they probably got water damage about a foot deep. They replace the flooring, some sheetrock, and sell it to another victim. Because of the drought, the last set of victims showed up years ago. All of this occurs because we have no laws against it. I live half a mile from the river, and I've seen the water almost get here. Most of the trouble with this river is all the little bends and turns were straightened out and cleared for crop land. Then they made irrigation ditches to turn out the excess water. All those old cowboys are riding in the sky now, and everything is mostly subdivided. I guess there is federal grant money through the Clean Water Act to fix up and restore wetlands. Don't know how to get some, though. Say, I'm a lucky woman, though. Chance of thunderstorms through the weekend-50 percent. AND the band has to work.

Here are a few I found browsing the library. Some may not be rockn' roll but anyway....... Wild Thing- The troggs Wishing Well- Terence Trent D'arby Yellow River- Christie Yellow Submarine- The Beatles Viva Las Vegas- Elvis Twist and Shout- The beatles Revoloution- The Beatles Ring of fire- Johnny Cash Rocky Mountain High- John Denver Roxanne- The Police Private Dancer- Tina Turner Purple Haze- Jimi Hendrix Night Train- Guns n' Roses Mustang Sally Wilson Pickett Lovely Rita- The Beatles Lucille- Little Richard Hotel California- The Eagles Dancing in the Dark- Bruce Springsteen China Girl- David Bowie Ace of spades- Motorhead Denis

I went for the Calacatta caldia because I need for the counter to be very white with just subtle hints of green and gold (not gray) and very quiet with not a lot of movement. The walnut is busy and the kitchen is narrow. I originally thought about using a quartz counter but I prefer the depth of the marble. I even thought about quartzite but it was just too much going on with the walnut. I saw the calacatta caldia with walnut cabinets in my KD's showroom and fell in love. And I had been reading GW enough to know that when you fall in love, well you know. Unforunately for my checkbook, the hardware that was installed on those walnut cabinets at the KD was fabulous--the Forms and Surfaces Sweep pull. At $35 apiece, I was appalled and tried to find a substitute. But I was in love and although Hickory had something close, it was not close enough. So I found the F&S for $31 apiece after a lot of looking because they are hard to find (very small consolation) and am going to use them.