SUCKERS

As a child growing up in the 1950's suckers were a normal treat. You got them at the doctor's office, the bank, and many other places. We rarely had chocolate candy. I don't think they had invented the mini-candy bars yet. If you got a candy bar, it was BIG! We had a lot more hard candy. Suckers have always been a staple for Halloween candy. They were cheap, not as messy as chocolate and kids liked them.
About twenty years ago, Handyman's dad was making wood crafts. For Thanksgiving one year, he made wooden turkeys. They have holes drilled in them where you are supposed to insert suckers. The suckers are there for their tail feathers. Several years ago we started having a little trouble finding the suckers at Thanksgiving, but if you went ahead and bought them when the Halloween candy was out, you were all set. Several years we forgot to buy them at Halloween so the turkey stayed in the attic. I was on top of it this year. I put suckers on my shopping list so I could get them while the Halloween candy was on the shelves. I looked at Walmart, Kmart, called the candy store in the mall, but no one had plain suckers. They had fancy lollipops, lots of Tootsie Roll Pops, Dum Dums, chocolate covered suckers, but no plain suckers. I did find some on Amazon, com and at Oriental trading, but with an $8.95 price tag plus $6.95 shipping I decided to pass on them.
I finally thought about the Dollar General Market and stopped on my way home tonight. They still had their Halloween candy out, but the only suckers I found were orange with white pumpkins imprinted on one side. I had about decided that they would have to do when I found a candy display section that had, no not the plain suckers I was really looking for, but suckers that would do.
There was an extra sucker in the package without a stick, so I decided that I would eat it --- YUK! They are the worst tasting suckers that I have ever had. Oh, well. They'll still look good on the turkey!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY

Holly thru the years

I can hardly believe that it has been 30 years since our youngest daughter was born. She was early to walk (9 months) but not much with talking (and still isn't). She's the quiet one, the loner. She was always happier when everyone just left her alone. I'm not sure what she does to pass the time. She loves to read and watch movies. When she moved out to her first apartment, we thought she was gone, but like her sister, she kept coming home. It was always nice to have her back. Then she bought a house and returned no more. She likes her job at the police station, but because of her hours, we hardly ever see her. I go to work at 7 am, but she gets off work at 7:30am. I get off at 3:00 pm, but by that time, she's gone to bed. She gets up to get ready for work about the time that I'm going to bed. Her days off and mine don't coincide so there just isn't much time to get together. I miss having her around.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!!
WE LOVE YOU!

Basal Cell Carcinoma?

Yep, it finally happened. I had a "spot" of skin cancer. I am blue eyed and fair skinned, a perfect example of someone who gets skin cancer. As a child, if I was out in the sun for even a short time, I burned. So I figured one day that I would have to deal with skin cancer. But I thought it would be on my face or shoulders, not somewhere the sun rarely saw.
I've been going to the dermatologist fairly regularly for the past 18 months to be treated for Rosacea. It's a fairly benign skin condition and although it's chronic, it isn't a big deal when you catch it early and treat it. About 3 months ago I noticed a spot on my back that looked like a rash. It was only about the size of a dime, red, and raised just a tad. The only time that I paid any attention to it was when I rubbed a towel or a piece of clothing across it and it would burn kind of like a sunburn would when rubbed on. I went for my 6 month followup visit at the dermatologist's last week and decided to ask about this red spot.
After the Dr. looked at it, he said it was 'probably' a basal cell carcinoma. He could do a biopsy (and then in all probability have to come back and take the whole thing off) or he could just go ahead and take it all off (by scraping & burning) and be done with it. So that's what we opted for. I was actually surprised that there was no pain and it took less than a minute. Then he sent it off to a lab somewhere to see just what this thing was. I can only see the place when I look in the mirror and couldn't reach around to it while looking in the mirror, so handyman came to the rescue and twice a day cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide and put vaseline and a bandaid on it. As it turned out the glue in the bandaids irritated my skin and I couldn't wait to quit using them so this routine only lasted for about 2 1/2 days. I called today to get the results and it turned out to be a squamous cell carcinoma which is a relative to the basal cell carcinoma. From what I've been reading, the odds are that I will have more of these as time goes by. We'll see. It seems to be healing okay and I don't go back until January. Thankfully it wasn't worse.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABBY

GABBY'S CAKE

The fall birthdays are moving right along. We got to celebrate Gabby's 3rd birthday a few days early on Saturday. She's not much for posing to having her picture made so we had to take a few unexpectedly in order to get grins from her. She is so much like her Aunt Holly that it's scary!
We tried to get her to hold up 3 fingers for us, but then ended up having to get Kate to do it. But she held up a different set of 3 fingers than is normal. Here are just a few pictures from the day.

FALL AT THE CABIN

Glider catching leaves

We got to spend some time at the cabin this week. The leaves are changing colors and falling off of the trees. Even though I had to drive in to work each day, it will was still nice to have some quiet evenings there. It was still light enough to take our evening walks with Toby. When we went out in the mornings, it was pitch dark though. It won’t be long until the time changes and maybe we’ll have a little light in the mornings, but evening walks will be in the dark. I am amazed at all that handyman has accomplished in the past year. He took this trashy looking place and made it into a wonderful getaway place for us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTY

It seems like forever ago, but also like yesterday. I had wanted a baby for quite a while, but God had other ideas for us. Evidently He didn't think we were ready. So after quite a few years my dream of having a child finally came true. She has been a "grown-up" since her sister was born 2 years later. Now when she's having issues with her own kids, I just smile and nod. I know exactly what she's going through (most of the time).
Here are a few pictures of some "firsts" during her first year with us.

First Picture

First Bath

First ChristmasFirst Birthday

Happy Birthday Kristy! We love you!

BIRTHDAYS

We have begun our annual fall birthday celebrations. Our granddaughter, Kate started us out on September 26th with her 5th birthday. This coming Monday, two weeks and a day later, is her mom's (our daughter's) birthday. Exactly one week later we'll celebrate our granddaughter, Gabriella's, 3rd birthday. Then we have another two week break before our daughter, Holly, celebrates her 30th birthday. A week and a day later, I'll get to celebrate my birthday and then four days later will be our grandson, Nate's 1st birthday. The fellows (other than Nate) have their birthdays late winter and spring. So there you have it -- in 6 weeks and 6 days, we'll have 6 birthdays!! Anyone getting tired of cake?