Patti: Things I Love

This will be boring, but I just wanted to write about some things I love, so here goes in no particular order:

1. The cool, quiet summer mornings in the west Texas desert. It's so nice to walk
in my neighborhood before it gets too hot.

2. The fact that my darling grandson, Landon, loves to make really good brownies
and I don't have to when he's around, unless I just want to.

3. Brownies.

4. The velvety skin of my new little twin grandsons - Hyrum and Joseph.

5. The smell of babies after a bath with Baby Magic, although I'm not allowed to use it in the twins' bath - "too many harsh and toxic chemicals" Jen says.

6. The relief I feel after giving a talk in church.

7. A long nap.

8. The smell of men's cologne, preferably on the men.

9. The smell of freshly washed laundry.

10. Most of the songs we sing in choir at church.

11. Trees

12. When my husband, Eddie, makes a special trip to Sonic to buy me a blended float.

13. Getting all our kids together, which is getting harder and harder.

14. Not being too shy anymore.

15. Rain

16. Our kids and all the joy they bring: Jennifer Lynn, Robyn Patricia, Kristin Leigh, Erik Edward, and Kimberly Dawn

17. My grandkids and all the joy they bring: - Bethany Renee, Conor Ellis,
Kyla Aurora, Reid Ammon, Landon James, Claire Hannah, John Mahonri, Joseph
Eduardo, Hyrum Jerome, Camilla Hope, Joseph Hyrum, Rheddick Grant, and Keane
Michaelangelo

18. Going to the movies.

19. A wonderful and long book.

20. Every room in the house clean and neat. (A rare occurrence!)

21. Rum Raisin ice cream

22. Rum Raisin ice cream with Coke poured over it like a float!

Tuesday Health Tip of the Day - Tourniquets

We all get cuts and scrapes, but sometimes they're alot worse than usual. Some people think using a tourniquet is the smart thing to do, but it can be really dangerous if you haven't been trained on how to use one. They can cause severe nerve, muscle and tissue damage if left on too long. The rule of thumb is NOT to apply a tourniquet if you don't know how long it's gonna have to be there.

Almost all bleeding will stop by simply applying pressure to the wound for several minutes. So, stay calm and try to do this with the cleanest material you can find because you don't want to introduce more bacterial into the wound. You might need to keep changing the "bandage" if it gets soaked with blood.

If the lacerations are visibly large and deep, you probably should see your doctor or maybe just go to the ER, because alot of doctor's offices aren't set up to take care of complicated lacerations.

Even a small cut can become a problem because if it's deep, which you can't always see, it could still involve muscles, nerves and/or tendons and may need stitches.

Minor cuts can usually be taken care of at home. If the edges are clean and come together nicely, you can use a butterfly to bring the edges together again. Butterfly bandaids and maybe some tincture of Benzoin should always be part of a first aid kit. There are lots of new and different first aid products available now, but butterflies and bandaids and a kiss are usually the best!

Oh, and don't forget about the Tetanus shot. If it's been more than 10 years or if it's a particular dirty cut, you're probably gonna need one! Sorry.

Memory Lane Mondays - The Sunshine Club

When we were little kids, Patti, Rico and I had a club. We called it the Sunshine Club, and we met in the basement of our home. I can't remember what went on in the meetings, but I also can't imagine it was of any world-altering importance. I DO remember Rico was usually in charge, and there was a membership fee of five cents each week. The money went into a cigar box. I was pretty young and every now and then I would take the money and buy all the club members (Patti and Rico) popsicles. They would get so mad at me and call me a stealer and a thief. I never thought of it as stealing . . . I really thought I was doing a good thing! After more than 50 years, Patti continued to bring this up at family events, but to her credit, I don't think it's been mentioned for a while now. Thanks, Doodle Bug.

Poll results

The poll of which picture of Patti or Bobbi was the goofiest is now over, and has been removed from the site. But the winning results were reported as: Patti and I being equally goofy looking in our 4th grade pictures, but I (Bobbi) was definitely the cutest! I think it was a good poll. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Patti's quirky and/or boring list

I, Patti, having been tagged by Jennifer, and so as not to be outdone by Bobbi, I hereby publish MY boring/quirky, list:

I love peanuts, especially the roasted kind! I love peanut butter even more, but I hate anything with peanuts or peanut butter as an ingredient, such as in peanut butter cookies.



I am an open book, which isn't too smart sometimes, and I should be more like Bobbi, who keeps everything "close to the chest," as she says.



Speaking of books, my very favorite subject is anything having to do with the Holocaust. I probably have 50 books on that topic and have read every one of them, and some of them twice. My secret dream is to do something brave enough to be included on the list of the Righteous Among the Nations, but it's probably too late for that.


My favorite thing to do is go the movies. However, since so many movies are rated R, I seldom get to do my favorite thing, like the lucky people below.



My favorite smells are the aroma of the barbequeing at the UTEP tailgate parties before the football games mixed with the smell of the cologne of all the guys who are doing the barbequeing at the tailgate parties. Mmmmm!



I hope somebody plays "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes at my funeral which I also hope takes place a very long time from now.


I think there is no one funnier on the planet than my sister. She's funnier than she looks in this picture:

Being tagged is NOT a good thing!

OK, Jennifer tagged me and now I have to write 6 quirky and ridiculous things about myself. That will be difficult because I'm such a dynamic person, but I'll give it a try. I won't be able to tag anyone else because Jen has already done that! I'm sure you're all relieved!

1. I love to put ice in my milk, both plain and chocolate milk.


2. I never put bottles or food containers on the table while we're eating. I always serve them in glasses or dishes. The table looks so much nicer! I learned this from Aunt Nellie over 40 years ago, and it's stuck with me all this time.


3. When I order oatmeal in a restaurant, and I ask them for extra cinnamon, they can never bring me enough......ever! It probably looks as if I've ordered a bowl of cinnamon with a little oatmeal! (the following picture doesn't come close to looking like my oatmeal!)


4. I don't share my thoughts very often. I don't know why I keep things so close to the vest. Patti doesn't understand it either, but she's an open book. Sometimes I wish I were more like her.



5. I'm always on a diet of some kind. Is it working? YOU decide!!



6. When I get a new car I like to see how far I can drive after the gas gauge reads empty and the warning light has come on. I don't know why I do this, but now I know I can go 39 miles on an empty tank in my Thunderbird. I think that's good information!!


Now there - you probably know 6 more things about me that don't matter one bit!

Tuesday's health tip of the day

NOSE BLEEDS! Aren't they just the worst? But unless there's an underlying problem like a clotting disorder and you're taking blood thinning medication, or you've just been popped in the face and have a broken nose, they're pretty easy to manage.

First, clean the blood off your face and hands. You don't want that in your eyes or mouth! Eeewwwwww! Using a small ice pack, all you need to do is apply pressure to the affected nostril. You might also want to tilt your head back or lay down without a pillow for a few minutes. That's really about it. It will stop bleeding shortly and you can usually go about your day. If it starts bleeding again just do the same thing, and if you're not near any ice, use a kleenex and apply pressure until it stops. Simple, huh?

Alot of people put a cool cloth on their foreheads. While there's nothing wrong with doing that, it doesn't do anything for the nose bleed. I guess it just makes them feel better.

In Winter when the weather is dry, it's always a good idea to use an over-the-counter saline spray occasionally to keep the tissue in the nose moist and decrease the chance of bleeding spontaneously.

CAUTION: If you have frequent nose bleeds for no apparent reason, you might want to be evaluated by your friendly family physician.

Good luck!

Destruction of County Property

In order for this to make sense you might need to refer back to "True Confessions" written on June 10, 2008.

I received a call from my niece Kristin almost 2 hours ago and she said my stop sign incident reminded her of something she had done about 10 years ago and has been feeling guilty about it all this time. Apparently, at the Institute, if the parking lot is full, Kristin learned from another friend that if you go across to street to another parking lot which has a gate like you see in the picture, you can drive your car up to the gate and nudge it until it opens, then park for free! Well, when Kristin tried it, she must have nudged it too hard and it broke off and fell to the ground!

After 10 years she was still feeling guilty about it, so she called the UTEP Police and spoke to a detective. After a long dreaded silence, the detective broke into laughter and told her it had been so long ago that it would be impossible to research the "offense," and she could just forget about it.

So after she called me and told me what she had done, I became all guilty again about the stop sign incident that happened when Patti and I were coming home from Colonia Juárez. I got to thinking on the way to the bank and decided to call the Doña Ana Sheriff's Department. I first spoke to the dispatcher who, after I finished my story, asked me how much I had to drink, then started laughing, and said he was kidding. So I told him "Nothing! I'm a Mormon, I don't drink." He continued to laugh, but said he would turn it over to an officer who would call me back.

By now I'm really nervous because they have my name and cell phone number! Officer Ontiveros called about an hour later and listened to my story and laughed most of the way thru it! I offered to pay for the cost of righting the stop sign, but didn't think I should be arrested, because I really didn't think it was that big of a deal. That probably wasn't what he wanted to hear, but he said, through his laughter, that all they did was stick the stop sign back in the sand and it was no big deal. He also said I was the only person he could remember who had ever called to report anything like this!

So all is well, and I really have been forgiven for this unfortunate, ugly incident. Patti on the other hand, drove the get-a-way car.......

Memory Lane Mondays

Where we grew up there was a Dairy Queen a few blocks away from our home and we loved going there! We also had a father who wasn't at all tolerant of kids and some of the stupid things they sometimes do . . . because they're kids!

One day Daddy drove Patti to the Dairy Queen and didn't have enough change for her ice cream cone, so he handed her a $10 bill and told her to walk over to the store next door to get change. She was in the store for what seemed like hours, (Daddy must have been inappropriately dressed or something because he never came in after her) but finally she proudly returned to the car with a paper sack filled with 1,000 pennies, apparently not realizing exactly what the word "change" meant. Daddy, not surprisingly, gave Patti a blistering lecture the gist of which centered around the fact that Patti lacked even a minimal amount of intelligence and made her take all the pennies back to the nice man at the store who had just counted them all out for her. Needless to say, to this day, Patti reminisces about this sweet experience with her Dad every time she sees a Dairy Queen!

Walmart Rage!

It's kind of funny (but not funny "ha ha") that while Patti was writing her "Walmart Woes" blog, saying Bobbi would NEVER be caught dead at Walmart, at that very moment I happened to be at Walmart! I hate Walmart with every fiber of my being. Let me explain, as this is a "normal" visit for me. The story rarely varies.

The story you are about to read includes unfortunate events from different trips to Walmart, but alot of it happened yesterday. For me, it's nothing unusual.

On my way to Walmart, I try to psych myself up for a pleasant experience, or at least not a raging meltdown. The first problem comes with trying to pry the carts apart while the "friendly greeter" either stares at you with a blank look, or turns his or her back on you so he or she can growl at all the other "potential customers." Until you can actually wrestle a cart free from the massive lockdown of other carts, you remain a potential customer, because like me, you may be intolerant enough to turn around and walk right out of the store thru the entrance, which really confuses the greeter.

Off I go with my limping, squeeking basket, trying to hold my head high. This is not easy! I only have a few items on my list and I've planned well enough to keep my shopping in just one area of the store. Yes, when I go to Walmart, I PLAN where I'm going to have to shop.

While in the grocery department I try to go down the void-of-customers aisles, because the alternative is more than I can take. Should someone else be in the aisle, here's the drill. I pick up what I need, then am trapped from going forward or backward from that point. The other customers park their carts in such a way as to block 2/3 of the aisle, while they stand, popping their gum and yelling at their children in the remaining 1/3 of the aisle. This procedure takes some mathematical skill to pull off.

I stand there, trying my hardest to smile and act as if I think their kids are cute as they struggle from their mother's grip. Does the mother move so everyone else can get by? NO! At this point, the "no passing" rule has been permanently enforced! My heart sinks. Other customers behind me are shifting their weight from one foot to the other, sighing OUT LOUD......at ME!! So I have to tell the mother to "Please move" or sometimes it's just "Move!" After the glares,she wrangles her cart out of the way so I can begin my strategic navigation thru the rest of the patrons. I've been in the store about 4 minutes by this time. This part of the story never varies....ever. The only difference is in which aisles (plural) is this going to happen?

After getting my groceries, I remembered needing one more thing. Now I have to veer away from the "plan." Walmart on Mesa is remodeling, or so they think. All they're really doing is shuffling things around so even the employees don't know where they are. I was directed in 3 different directions by 3 different sales associates, as they're called. This detour made a significant dent in the 10,000 Steps-a-Day exercise plan! But I was successful in finding what I needed.

I went to the self check-out, which is never a smooth process, but preferable to being checked out by a human at Walmart. It's rare that a customer can get thru that process without the machine breaking down at some point. Yesterday was a new low. When I rang up a bottle of Tilex, the machine asked for my age! Apparently you can't buy Tilex any longer unless you're over 18!

So that part behind me, not without issues, and by now I'm REALLY worked up, I take my cart to my car. Unlike Patti, I go straight to my car. It's important for me to know where my car is, especially at Walmart - I need a no-fail exit strategy.

You all know how I am about my car, so I park far away from the door, but when I return with my groceries, I'm surrounded by other cars, one parked so close I can't open my driver's door. I wondered how they got out of THEIR car. There are also a good number of carts wedged between my car and the others because the customers are too lazy (or maybe they're lives are just too busy!) to take their carts to the cart corral. I'm grinding my teeth by now. My jaw aches.

While I'm putting my groceries in my trunk another car pulls up to wait for my parking spot. I don't understand this because it's not a particularly good spot, but I don't really care. After putting away the groceries, I take my cart to the cart corral, because it's the right thing to do. Angrily, and before I can get back to my car, the waiting car has sped off! I guess he was unhappy about the cart corral event.

THIS is why I don't go to Walmart.

Walmart Woes

THIS WAS POSTED BY PATTI, AS BOBBI WOULDN'T BE CAUGHT DEAD AT WALMART.

I once made a lot of fun of a friend of mine because when I ran into him in the Walmart parking lot he was dispiritedly wandering about looking for his car. I offered to drive him around to look for it, but he politely refused; then I helpfully suggested that I would be finished with my shopping in about ten minutes and would be more than happy to drive him around if he hadn't found his care by then, chuckling to myself as I entered the vast depths of Walmart.

I see now that this experience was a harbinger of things to come.

Yesterday, I spent a vast amount of time happily waltzing through the air-conditioned aisles of Walmart. I even spent twenty minutes in the book aisle sharing book reviews with another middle-aged woman I had never met. When I went to pay for my groceries, I spotted two missionaries in another line about to pay for their groceries. I darted over and enthusiastically stated that I would be paying for their groceries. I wish I'd had a camera to capture the shocked look on their faces. After I paid, I glanced into their cart only to realize that I had just contributed, perhaps, to their early demise, as there were nothing but Little Debbies, Twinkies and the like. Oh well, hopefully I'll get some stars in my crown in Heaven anyway, but maybe not, because I am being a bit puffy about the whole thing. So perhaps I already have my reward.



Because I had spent so much time doing good deeds and making new friends in Walmart, I completely forgot where I had parked my car. I was sure I had parked it near the entrance where I came in, but between traveling back and forth between entrances to try to find a phone when I first came in, I later became confused. (Surprise, surprise!) I began walking up and down the lanes of cars, certain that I would soon encounter mine. However, as time wore on and I had not yet found it, the sweltering heat and humidity began to weaken me. I also was wearing inappropriate shoes, flip-flops to be exact, which, I have been reading, are very bad for your feet. I am living proof of that today. In addition, my ice cream began to melt and was dripping out of the bag onto the burning asphalt. I was physically exhausted and emotionally drained and humiliated (certain that scores of other WalMart shoppers were passively and unhelpfully observing all this) and after trudging for what seemed like hours up and down the lanes of this parking lot, I finally broke down and decided to call Ed. I was fairly certain that my car had been stolen by this time and, before calling the police to make the report, I thought, just to be sure, that Ed should drive me around to look for it. I called him at work, and he promptly came to rescue me. In the meantime, since my ice cream had melted, and it was Walmart's fault for having such a big and confusing parking lot, I decided to exhange the dripping ice cream for a new, solid gallon. I did this without inconveniencing the busy people at customer service, simply going back to the freezer section and making the exchange myself.

When my hero arrived, I transferred all of the groceries, including the new solidly frozen ice cream, from my cart into his car and we began the search. In approximately 30 seconds, we came upon a car that looked just like mine, complete with the identical license plate. I was forced to sheepishly admit that it was, indeed, my vehicle. I thanked Ed for for the chauffeur servce and I made a mental note to self to apologize to the aforementioned friend for my insensitive reaction to his plight.

Upon arrival at my home, there was a reception of my daughter and three grandchildren (one of whom is pictured below) waiting for me, grateful that I had survived this experience, as I could have easily perished of a heatstroke .



After a two-hour nap, I felt renewed and ready for another trip to WalMart! I just hope I wasn't caught on camera during the ice cream exchange!

Tuesday's health tip of the day....

Jennifer suggested we add different items of interest to our blog like she does with her housekeeping tips of the day! She and Kristin also gave us other ideas but I don't remember them now, so Jen and Kris, when you read this, send me the other ideas you told me about.

There's probably very little I can tell you that you don't already know, but here is the first health tip of the day from our blog.

Never put butter on a burn. The concept makes sense because you want to keep air away to stop the burning process, but ice or ice water is the best thing to do. If it's a bad burn that requires a visit to the ER, before they can treat you, they have to scrub, yes SCRUB, the butter off to get to the burn! OUCH!

I hope this helps you or someone you know, but mostly I hope you don't get burned!

Patti....

BLOG SOMETHING ~ ANYTHING!! We need to move that picture of ME down the page so it's not the first thing that comes up every time. AND you need to blog or I'm going to stop. What will our devout readers do then? It's all on your shoulders now.