justa Wishen all the Mom's out there a happy mothers day!

Wendi Kelly on her blog Life's Little Inspirat

ions had a link to this video. I love the way Martina Mcbride sings. Momma does a lot of her music and it always sends goose bumps down my spine when she does her music. I'm always telling Cindy that Martina would have to sit down and listen to her sing some of the songs that she does. For those of you that have heard Cindy sing I'm sure you would agree with me. This video is awesome and is my present to all of you moms out there. Hey even you future mom's might enjoy it.

As I write this on Friday night for Saturday mornings post. I'm thinking of some of the things Momma and I have coming up tomorrow. The Mayor and his wife are going to be picking us up for breakfast at 08:00 am at Mimi's in Fulton, Ny. If your in the area a great place to eat and its reasonably priced. From there Shawn wanted to see the land. It's almost ours and we will feel better about being there. It's funny the neighbors across the street keep looking over at us like we are Hela monsters or something. I feel like acting crazy and running around the yard bare naked. That would be a warm welcome to the community wouldn't it?

PreciousRock one of my blogging buddies picked on me for doing a post on gas prices. So I better stay away from them for a while. She is missing her buddy Stan the man. If you've been following along with some of the comments you notice Stan has some really long ones sometimes. He's also Bipolar and it shows in his writing. Some of the most caring people I have come across on line are the links to the mental health blogs on my sidebar. They are real, genuine,and honestly care about other people. I guess it takes being down in the dumps to understand and relate to others going through the same things. I value the fast friendships I've developed. Garry Conn isn't a friend but he has reached out to me on a few occasions and I really appreciate him taking the time to do that.  Ian from Forest parks fame and I have connected on a certain level also.

We have about 4 to 6 weeks before we will be able to move into the new house. Momma and I thanks to Len & his wife Cynthia are going to start packing this weekend. I'm going to reach a point where I'm going to have to go dark myself here. I don't know how long it will take me to get back up and running in the other house. We will wait until the last possible moment to disconnect. Hopefully won't be as long as Stan the Man. If your checking in from time to time don't be afraid to check out some of the blogroll sites on the right side bar. There are some kick ass bloggers on that list. Happy Mothers day moms.

Technorati Tags: Happy mothers day,Seizing the day

Justa inspiration!

 

 

 

I'm feeling pretty good today. Many of you know how long winded my post can be sometimes. Not today, follow this link and watch this video, enough said. See ya tomorrow. The attitude of staying put.

Technorati Tags: seizing the day

 

He is ready to take the shot! Pass him the ball!

Justa random thinking, again,and again!

I justa had an idea today. While I was pressing my stumble button on the Internet today, I came across and interesting web site. I've decided that I'm going to start doing this for a while. Every time I find an interesting site that I just come across on the web I'll share it with you here. I'm not going to do it at any special time and I'll try not to do it too much.Here's is my stumble for today. Fourteen habits that make you fat I hate to admit it but I can see myself in almost every one of them. How bout you guys. You skinny people, well you'll just have to wait for an article about you.(laughs)

                                                                                                                                                        Picture courtesty of Google images 

 

 

 

 

 

 

picture courtesy of Wise Bread

 

Ok I lied,I found another link that you should check out gas tax holiday don't fall for it . It's an article at Wise Bread that tells us not to be sucked in my the fuzzy math of the Gas tax holiday that Billary and John McCain are supporting. Check it out, it is a real good read and informative.

Indy and I went for a ride today. we Drove over to G&I homes in North Cicero to pick up some stuff we are going to need for the permit. Dan had it ready to go in an envelope at the front desk. No muss no fuss. On the way there we stopped at Bj's in Clay on Rte 31 and filled up the gas tank in my car. $3.66.9 per gal times the 14+ gals $54.00 dollars please. That sure would have bought a lot of groceries. We have to go shopping tonight and because we don't need much it will be well short of $54.00. But still... By the way the gas over in Cicero was $3.64.9 per gal. It's getting where the prices at Bj's are just about as bad as the ones at all the stations around them. The days of them charging $0.12 less per gallon seem to be gone.

Technorati Tags: Dumocrats,gas,groceries,wasting money,whinning.

Justa putting one foot in front of the other right now!

I continue to feel somewhat down.

I don't want to belabor the point but my Abilify experiment is not working. My taking it every other day at a half dose is still grogging me out during the day. My moods are swinging back and forth on a daily basis and the "Foggy" feeling is around all the time now. I don't feel like I'm having any times of clarity. I understand from my wife that a name of a Psychiatrist has been submitted to the insurance company for me to go see in Oswego Ny. I'll let you know how that goes when and if I start seeing him. I feel like I'm going to need to switch medicines. For those of you doing the medicine game how many different ones have you taken over time to get to where you are now?

The Lime Green Drama Queen is over for the night

We were so busy last night that she and I didn't even have the time or the inclination to do a post together like we have in the past. After picking her up from her house yesterday at 3:00 pm. We came back to our house and did her homework. By time we warmed up some Goulash for dinner and tossed together a salad it was time to take off for her Concert at 7:30. She plays the Clarinet in her school's band. She, to say the least is less than excited to be playing the instrument. She says she wants to quit playing but her dad won't let her yet. We'll see where that goes. The band sounded good from where I was sitting. As you can tell from this picture Courtney's a looker. Watch out Dad there are going to be a line of guys beating down your door for a date with your daughter when she gets older. Court Court as she likes to call her self is a little down right now. Maybe it is something in the air. A lot of people seem to be down right now.

Speaking of being down

Billary must be feeling a little down right now after her whoopin in North Carolina. She won by a slim margin in Indiana and vows to continue on. Rush Limbaugh will be happy. The Chaos that is the Dumocratic primaries rolls on. This battle for the parties nomination is helping deflect the scrutiny that would be dumped on McCain right now. I don't really care which one of the two of them win. Barrack or Billary. They are pretty much non choices for me. I would have to choose none of the above if they were my only choice in the election. That's just me. Others of you may have your opinions. If you feel like sharing them feel free to comment below.

I'm going to keep it short this morning.

Those of you following along with the blog. Thank you. It helps me keep posting knowing some one is reading any way. The daily hit count on the Bravenet stat counter on the bottom right tells me that I'm getting an average of 7 new hits a day with an average of 4 returning visitors.3407 people have hit on the site since I set this blog to type. Thanks again for checking in. If you feel so inclined to comment.  Feel free to do so.

43 Things Tags: Another rant Bipolar disorder,Drama Queen

Justa really big project I've signed us up for here.

With the upcoming move. I'm starting to feel overwhelmed a little bit. There is an awful lot of stuff that has to be done. We've done a lot already. I'll list below what we have accomplished so far. I won't even attempt to put them in order.

1. Checked out the land 3 or 4 times to make sure it's what we want. After all we have to live there for 30 years.
2. We put a deposit of $500.00 on the new Double wide that is sitting at the dealers now. Gave them $125.00 more for the DMV registration. (Isn't that crazy we have to register it with DMV, can you say revenue enhancement)Cha Ching.
3. Went to the Post office to pick up change of address cards. We have to remember to turn our keys in for the PO box we have been using for the last few years.
4. Went to Wally world looking for a mail box. They are all kinds of cheap(must be the Chinese's don't get rural mail delivery). We decided to go to Home Depot to see what they have.Jeff said they have a pretty good choice there.Cha Ching
5. Went to Town of Granby town offices to get a permit for the house. That has to be gotten before they can move the house onto the land.The cost of this is going to be a couple of hundred  dollars. Cha Ching
6. Called Sue from the Realty Company to set up an appointment for Thursday to sign the paperwork on the land purchase offer. I'm sure that will cost us some up front money.Cha Ching
7. Started telling friends and relatives of impending move. This one seems more like it will happen than the last one we were planning. Much better situation all the way around for us.
8. Talked to a guy about moving our shed. It's a 12ft by 16 ft 81/2 ft high beast. So it will cost us $300.00 to move it 12 miles. Cha Ching.
9. Still have to figure out how to move our 1500 lbs of front steps. Anybody have any ideas. Cha Ching

I've probably left some things out the above is enough for a 3 or 4 day period any way.

 

Went to the Chiropractor today. It always feels better after I've seen him. But the adjustment doesn't last because of my convoluted gait when I walk. He gave me some exercises he wanted me to do on the machine at the gym. I will try to motivate myself to go this morning. I'm trying to do 20 minutes of cardio every time I go. The problem is I haven't gone in over a week again because of the pain in my leg and hip. It seems like a big circle I'm riding around with on this leg. If I don't work  it, it will hurt. If it hurts, I can't work it. Oh well. I'm home every night with Momma. That is the important thing.

Your not going to believe it. We drove up to the land again today to see what it looked like in the dark. We're crazy. When ever Cindy and I do anything that has a potential to be labeled crazy we call it "Mark & Cindy's excellent adventure" Guess what the land looked like in the dark. D-A-R-K is what it looked like. We will need to get some outside lights to see anything out there.

Justa driving around the town!

Man were we busy Saturday

We did every thing we said we were going to do and then some. Cindy took pictures of her friends baby. We visited with them a while in the late morning at Crouse Hospital where she took the pictures. We went off and did the rest of the days activities and returned back up to the hospital for Cindy to run upstairs and drop the pictures off. Her friend was quite pleased with the photo's. We would show them here but don't have permission to so you'll have to take my word for it that there are some neat pictures of the new family. She is definitely going to be a "Daddy's Girl" (laughs). And there ain't nothin wrong with that is there?

Jeff & Amanda have their new baby's room 99% done.

It is done in a baby snoopy theme. The colors of everything in the room match very well. Even the blanket that Grandma Cindy made match perfectly. How neat is that. Momma got some good pictures of the room. Jeff & Amanda feel much better getting that room done. If I was a baby boy I know I would like it. They seem to be down to 3 names for the baby. When we know what the name is we will let you know. Jeff and his buddy Justin are also just putting the finishing touches on the deck that they have been putting in. Can you tell Jeff is a "projects" kind of guy. He got that from his dad, not me. I'm a more "get out of projects kind of guy" if you know what I mean? Don't take me wrong. I'm not lazy. I just believe in spreading the wealth more. Jeff likes to do it himself.(which if I could do what he can do, I would too)Myself I will hire it done if I can afford it. If not then it ain't time to do it. Does that make sense?

We went out to the dealer in the morning to talk to Dan

and let him know about us wanting the one on their lot from before instead of a new ordered one. We really like the model is has a lot of things we really like. April one of  the managers of the G&I dealership in Cicero took us back through the model so we could do a "how would our stuff look in here" inspection of it because Dan was busy with another customer. It was funny, Dan was bringing another customer to show the house while we were sitting in there talking to April. He was kind of surprised to see us. To make a long story short he was going to make two sales that day. Ours without even trying that day(All though he has worked his but off up till now) and the girl he was showing homes to. If you are in the market to buy a modular or even a mobile home the salesman to see there is Dan Mayock. Tell him that Mark & Cindy sent you.

After seeing the baby up at the Hospital we came home

so I could take my hour or so nap that I need every afternoon and to pick up Indy the wonder dog. Than off to drive up to the lot we are buying and visualizing the home on it. We decided that it is indeed the lot we want. Sometime next week we will put in an official offer on the land and get this project kick started. Within a month or so we should be moved into our new home. Man do we have a lot of work to do to get ready.

Sunday turned out to be truly a day of rest.

Momma and I stayed home from church and we both took our respective me times during the day. I got my Sunday nap in after helping with some of the cleaning.(ok all I did was sweep the kitchen floor) it felt like work to me. As I'm finishing typing this post, it's Sunday at 1:45 pm. Momma is just finishing up lunch and we are getting ready to take Jeff & Amanda up to see the land we are buying. We will definitely know the way it will be about my 5th trip in the last week up there. We'll we went up to see the land, went to Wally world and then over to Jeff and Amanda's for dinner. Taco soup made by Amanda and a Taco salad made by momma.  Can you say delicious. Good time was had by all. Day of rest over. See ya 

43 Things Tags: driving,family having fun,seizing the day,walmart

Not justa nother boring Saturday!

This is day one of the new experiment in taking my Abilify 1/2 dose every other day. I am typing this at 3:30 am on Saturday morning. This is a slight improvement on my sleep pattern from a few days ago. I went to sleep last night at about 11:30 and woke up at 3:30 am. That's four hours in a row. Not bad for me. I'm going to type and publish this post and climb back into bed. Hopefully sleeping until at least 7:00am.

Today is going to be a busy day in JustaKrusenville. We have to go grocery shopping. That's right Save A Lot here we come. We might have to toss in a Wally world or P&C into the trip because of the things we can't get at Save A Lot.We are going to run back up to where the lots are and make sure of the one we want. Sue from the Realty company said there are a total of 8 lots available ranging in price from $20,000 for a small one at the front of the complex to $30,000 for some larger wooded ones down the road farther. One good thing is that the road is a dead end. So no thru traffic will be coming by at all hours of the day and night. The one we are seriously considering is about 1 acre costing $23,900. We are pretty excited about the possibilities and are justa trying to cross our T and dot the I's.

 

We also are going to go up to Crouse Hospital and visit a coworker of Cindy's. She just had a C-Section and wants Cindy to come up and take a few pictures of the baby. (See,Momma does a little bit of everything) Some time today speaking of babies, we are going over to Jeff & Amanda's and see the baby's new room that Jeff & Amanda have remodeled. Somewhere in here the next few days we have to start packing seriously as we may be moving within 30 days and if thats the case we have 17 years worth of  stuff to pack to move to the new house. Just the thought of that is a little over whelming. Good thing Momma is so organized and through when working on something. Those of you that work with her will know that from seeing her at work.

 

 

We finally sat down together last night and watched a movie. Of course Cindy was sewing something while watching the movie. As sit turns out I wish I was sewing instead of watching the movie.(And I don't even sew) We I hate to admit it watched the movie "Babel". It had Brad Pitt in it. To say the least the movie was under whelming. Not only did you have to listen to the foreign language which  I didn't speak, you had to read along with Mitch on the bottom of the screen. If I wanted to read a book I'd read a book. The Story line was pretty bazaar also. It made sense at the end because it all tied in, but I thought a couple of the stories were tossed in to the movie just for fill. I'm not a movie critic but I have to give this movie a "Don't bother" on the should I watch this movie scale. Justa my opinion.

Tomorrow is Sunday and I'm taking the day of from blogging again. I hope you had a great day on Saturday and a restful Sunday. We'll catch you back here on Monday bright and early. Don't forget to sign up for the email subscription to get each and every update mailed right into your inbox so you don't miss even one day of life with the Krusen's . Thanks for stopping by.

43 Things Tags: Bipolar,groceries,saving money,walmart

   

Images courtesy of Google Images.

Hang on,justa nother day in the life of...

 

What a difference a day makes!

I'm feeling much better this morning. I got a hold of Len my social worker. We are still in the process of getting me a Psychiatrist. But in the mean time we've determined that I shouldn't take the Risperdal at all. That is what made me depressed enough the last time to put me into enough of a tail spend to send me to CPEP. So now I'm going to be on half a dose of Abilify every other day. I will take 1/2 pill at night every other night. Len feels that that should cut way back on it making me drowsy. We shall see.

Those of you that have followed along for a while know

that we were in the market for a new double wide on land. You remember that the deal fell apart at the end because we were worried about the monthly cost being a little to much with my Workmen's Compensation not being settled yet. Well the Workmen's Comp isn't settled yet buy we believe the new package we found for land puts us much better off financially to go ahead with the deal based on saving quite a bit on the land package and Cindy getting another raise at work.

The land we found is just west of Fulton, Ny.

It is about 1/2 acre that already has the Septic,Electric, City water already hooked up and ready to go for $ 24,900. That would save us quite a bit on the set up compared to the last time we were looking at it. I saw this land yesterday while up to the Town of Granby offices checking on a permit for the deck we were looking at getting  installed for our current home here in the park.The only other thing we would have to do for land preparation would be to have a slab installed. That should  be about four or five thousand. So rough figures we should be able to get into the deal for almost $20,000 less than we would have before. That would be a number that we wouldn't be house poor or at least we wouldn't feel like we were. (laughing)

So we went back up to G&I homes last night.

Got there just before they closed. Dan our salesman from before was there and took us around to look at a few different homes including single wide's. The home we wanted that was on the lot before is still there also. We eliminated single wide's, they just seem to be set up differently then what we have become used to. Also the bedrooms were all just to small. So we think we have settled on a new one that we would have to order.It's a double wide model that they are just introducing to the public. It would be similar in size to the one we have now. We have some time to think about it. We aren't going to just jump in. We have a lot of research and checking around to do. Financing shouldn't be a problem as we were approved last time it should be just a matter of doing the paperwork. I'll keep you informed as things develop in our latest house buying saga. These pictures are current ones of our trailer now in the park that we haven't shown you yet. That bench is the one that momma bought me for a present a while back.

43 Things Tags: new home,saving money,seizing the day.

Justa hanging on! Sort of...

I wasn't going to do a post today. i am d

                                                                o

                                                                  w

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today. That right down, feeling lousy, poor attitude,miserable, how low can you go down. But you know what. I had to post today didn't I? If I can get on this thing and spout off my words of wisdom when I'm up, I need to get on here and do the same when I'm down. At least that's the way I see it. I was going to let yesterday's post sit there for at least another day. I would get maybe my normal 10 or 15 hits a day and that would mean a few more people would read it that didn't get to yesterday. So I hope if you weren't here or even if you were and didn't read it that you take the time to scroll down and read it and maybe even put your two cents in if you feel so inclined. WE just have to get to the point where we put these things behind us and move on. That's my thinking on it anyway. What is yours?

I had to wake Momma up in the middle of the night to talk this morning. Just needed some company. That's how down I am. Some negative thoughts creeping in. I have to get involved with a support group of some kind where I can drop a dime at any time of the day or night so I don't wake Cindy up. I justa didn't feel like typing last night or early this morning. That's why the time on this post is so late compared to most other post I've done lately.

The Abilify was knocking me out, making me tired and foggy so I couldn't take it. Apparently the Risperdal ain't going to work either as my depression is starting to engulf me again. It is amazing how quick I can feel or not feel the effects of the medicines I'm taking. My mood is swinging really fast now from ok one part of the day to depressed the next. Something has to change or I will end up in CPEP again. If you've been reading this blog at all you'll know how I feel about that. CHECK THIS out if you want to see what I'm talking about.

I'm feeling so disconnected right now. I go to my favorite web sites and read the post and they don't inspire me like they normally do. Even two of my favorites Tom Stine.com and The Simple dollar.com can't inspire me. I have even debated on wether I should keep blogging or not again. That mood strikes me ever so often. That's why I forced myself to get on here and post today. Those of you with Depression or some other mood disorder will understand this post today. Others maybe not so much. Here's hoping you have a great day. I'm going to dig down deep and see if I can't salvage a reasonable day out of today.

The picture is a picture of my father in Nam when he was there the first time years ago.

With friends like him does Obama justa need an enemy!!

Wow, Is all I can say. Well not really,

you know I'm going to say much more than wow. Jeremiah (Wrong) came out yesterday and showed me why  there was one reason I was no longer a member of a congregation in The United Church of Christ. That's right as some of you know I used to be a member in A Church that will go nameless in Bayberry, Ny. They too have a pastor at that church that thinks nothing of throwing a member of the church under the bus. I'm not going to go into great detail here. Just suffice it to say. The Pastor of the church that I was a member of, had not a clue as to how to deal with a member of his church in the middle of a Bi-Polar manic episode. Luckily for both me and the church I was able to extract myself from the situation before it got overly ugly. Enough damage was done though to scar both myself and a pastor. Maybe for life. I'm working hard to pray daily for the ability to forgive and forget. Obviously from this post it is still an uphill battle for me.

Enough about me.

Again I refuse to call some one Reverend that doesn't deserve the title. At that news conference at the press club. Jeremiah (Wrong) had some valid points. Some of them I agree with. It's the ones I don't agree with that I'm going to talk about here. Listen up Jeremiah, come a little closer to the screen so you can here this.I WAS NOT AROUND AT THE TIMES OF SLAVERY!  I don't want to be blamed for things my relatives may have done that were wrong any more than you would want to be. Get over yourself. Rise above your past. Let's try to be positive about the future so that we don't repeat the mistakes of the past. I'm sure with friends like you in the pew beside me I sure as hell don't need any enemies do I? You in the eyes of many people in America (white & black) embarrassed yourself the other day in the question and answer segment of the news conference. You were giddy and boastful and enjoying your 15 minutes of fame. Time is up!! You've done your damage you can go home now.

Oops! One other thing before you go home though

You are not from Africa are you? Why do you and your brothers continue  to call yourself African Americans? I'm from German decent. I don't call myself a German American. Drop the African and maybe that will be the first step in reconciliation that you so ardently seek. Just a simple request on my part. I can't and won't speak for others, but when I hear others put something else as a heritage in front of American it makes me question your loyalty. I don't care how many years you spent in the military. I too served my country for 4 years in the Military. I don't flaunt it like I feel like I'm owed something.It was a privilege shared by many of my brothers and sisters black or white, or green or red or what ever color you would like to insert. I worked for everything I have, always have and always will.I'm not embarrassed to have things. I worked my ass off for them. I'm not going to apologize for what I have. I could go on because you brought up a lot of points but to do so would be rambling and I think I'll leave that up to you as you seem to be on a roll right now.  One more thing, lets all stand together as one race of people, not races of color. lets all stand together in these tough times as Americans . I'm justa saying!!    P.S. I'm tired as hell when making a phone call to a business, pressing 1 to speak English. You've got- to- be- kidding me!!!              

Sorry no picture today. You have to use your imagination.

BuzzNet Tags: Dumocrats,another rant,sieizing the day,whinning.

Justa reflecting on some things.

Is this a tired looking old timer or what

Notice the sweat shirt. Yeah I'm a Buffalo Bill fan(I usually wear a bag over my head when wearing this one) Another reason I wear this sweatshirt is because of the word "Bills" on it,it reminds me to keep going every day. That's why we get up and get going every day isn't it? Because we have bills to pay. Staying in bed isn't an option. Ok maybe on Saturdays and Sundays for a while. If you didn't have get up and go to work what time would you get up? Me I am so ingrained with doing most of my driving at night between the hours of 10:00pm and usually 3:00 am the next morning. This is the time that a lot of truckers like to drive because traffic is less around the big cities and it was a lot easier to get around. That being said I have a hard time staying in bed around 01:00am every morning that's why many of days you'll see my post being marked rather early in the morning.

The Yankees aren't exactly tearing up the American league east are they?

They won last time I listened to them on the radio on Sunday for a few minutes. It is so hard for me to sit still and watch or listen to a whole game. My mind is so Fuzzy right now from the Abilify. I just can't seem to get the medicine balanced and I'm always tired. I don't think I'm getting the right amount of sleep.I'm starting to sound like a professional whiner aren't I. :) Sunday Momma and I went to a concert at the Church. I enjoyed the music but it was really hard for me to concentrate. I called Len my social worker at home(how amazing is this to be able to do this) Sunday night. After a short conversation he decided that maybe I should go back on the medicine I was taking before. The name escapes me and I don't want to go back into the bedroom an wake up momma just to get it. It is Ripserdal or something like that. We shall see how that works as I took a dose two nights ago. Wish me luck.

The news continues to be positive

(Not) Gas & food prices are continuing up unabated what to do. Check out some of my favorite sites. You can find them on the side bar on the right. Trent over at the Simple Dollar is continuing his "Born to Buy" series it is a continuing series on how advertising effects our buying habits. Trent leaves no stone unturned. Also check out Mrs. Micah on her blog she is giving us advise for Teen financial books that we can all put to use in our lives today.Also check out her blog roll on the right of her blog. Check out these and other sites on my sidebar. I have an interesting blog roll, that I use to stop by different sites all the time. Check out one more site on money that I came across here she has a podcast that is interesting to listen to if you have a few minutes. All we can do is all we can do. Cut where you can. But keep in some of the things you really like if you can. Remeber Cindy and I still eat out every week for breakfast because it is "in" our budget. We also have a $20.00 slush fund that we each get a week. We are only able to do this because we have set up a budget and know where every dollar goes. We choose where our money goes not the other way around if that makes sense.

43 Things Tags: ny yankees,whinning.

Justa sidewalk buildin'

Saturday Momma and I went to the Home Depot over in Clay

Ny. We went there mainly to pick on the mayor of Baldwinsville. We heard he was going to be giving a speech on the finer points of wood and the use of such on building a deck. Apparently he got word we were coming over and didn't show up to work that day. We were going to price out a 12ft by 12 ft deck for the side door.

We have been talking about putting a deck on the house somewhere for years. I guess we are still just talking about it. We came away with $50.00 in rocks for the front sidewalk in stead. We used to put mulch chips in every other year. We just decided together that rocks would be a more permanent situation and that the added cost this year would be worth it. What do you think? I like the way these look. We already had the blocks  in the walk way. I think the stones set it off pretty good. They drain the rain pretty good also as a pretty good rain storm came through a couple hours after we had put the rocks down and none of them drained off into the driveway. This project took 10 bags of stones which were very heavy to haul around. My leg bothered me quite a bit. My fanny ended up sitting on those steps watching momma rake and making it look awesome. We got pretty lucky we figured just right on the amount of rocks we would need.

I have recovered from my game of tag.

As of this writing two of my tag victims had responded. My brother in law Tom who has responded in his blog. He is very funny and makes me crack up all the time. I think he like all of us has some issues up stairs if you know what I mean? And the second one to respond was Forest who has a great blog. He got us all going with some interesting comments on a post the other day. If you have some extra time check out these two sites. I wasn't very comfortable with being tagged at first blush. It however turned out to be a fun time I'm honored to have been invited into the game.Stan chimed in with his answer to the game just as I was finishing up this post (So all of my "victims" were good sports and played along.) He was a good sport about it even though he is busy packing and getting ready to move. Thanks Stan. Sorry for the added task at a busy time in your life(Photo via of Google images)

 

 

I enjoyed my day of rest from blogging and reading

emails and networking. I love to do all of that. But I also look forward to that day of rest. That day that God has set aside for us to just stop and smell the roses.This picture isn't one of roses but does show the tulips my wife planted a few years ago coming up again. Spring has truly sprung in upstate New York. Momma took these pictures the other day she is so good at capturing nature at it's finest.

I know I've said it before but this is my favorite time of year. The rains of April not only bring spring flowers but wash away the dirt and grime of winter. It makes me see the possibilities in life. You know the saying "Hope springs eternal". Here's hoping that all of you out there have an awesome spring and may that saying pertain to you and yours. Thanks for stopping by. If your so inclined leave a comment below. And if you don't want to miss any of Justakrusen feel free to subscribe to the email subscription up in the top right corner. It is an easy no hassle sign up to receive Justakrusen in your email every day. Heck if you miss a day no telling what will have happened. I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: family pictures,intersting web sites,God,seizing the day

I was tagged, now your justa tagged~ Sorry!

ok damit. I've been tagged I am it. I wasn't going to even play the darn game. I was standing in the middle of this playground. Some people call it a blogeshphere and I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Kelvin over at Moment in Time. He said tag I'm it, and laid down some rules to me. They are as follows:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post,the player than tags 4 or 5 people and post their names,then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment,letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you have posted your answer.

I'm not comfortable with this. Some of the people I tag might beat me up. That is just the risk I'll have to take. Hopefully the bully's in the playground will play nice. Here some things you might not know about me.

1.What was I doing 10 years ago?

I don't even know what I was doing a day ago and you want me to remember 10 years ago! Ok. It's fuzzy but here goes. I owned my very own large car(tractor trailer) and drove mostly in the northeast delivering general freight and groceries to the upstate New York region and all points in between up and down the coast. I didn't particularly enjoy my job but had no idea how to get out of it.

2.What are the 5 things on my to do list for today(not in any particular order).I didn't have a list.

• Take a nap catch up on some much needed sleep.
• Take car to Cole muffler in Fulton, Ny for repairs.
• Go to Gym.
• Take Indy(my dog out back to stretch his legs).
• Go Grocery shopping with Momma tonight.

3. Snacks I enjoy.

I enjoy the small Jelly beans I can buy at Wegmans, Low fat ice cream, fruits, chocolate chip cookies.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.

• Pay off all my friends and relatives bills then give them a one time gift of $50,000. When that is gone it's gone.
• Buy a log cabin.
• See if I could talk Momma into quitting her job.
• buy me a Mercedes Benz
• Wake up from my dream. Ha. Ha.

5. Three of my bad habits.

• I kid around to much sometimes.
• I sometimes am pessimistic.
• I'm too fast to anger.

6. Five places I have lived. (What? only 5)

• Rochester,NY
• Elmira, Ny
• Fort Bragg, Nc
• Fort Knox, Ky
• Heidelberg, Germany

7. Five jobs I have had.

• Busboy
• Army-Personnel clerk
• Factory worker
• Shoe salesman
• Truck driver

There that is over. Now its supposed to be time for me to tag 4 or 5 people. I'm not going to tag that many but I will tag 2 or 3.(See I don't follow rules. I don't play well with others)

Tag your it!!

Tom is my brother in law. He started his blog just trying to comment on my blog. One thing lead to another and now he is blogging. He has an awesome sense of humor and an interesting take on life. He sometimes has a little to much time between post for my taste but when he post, I always try to read it.

Forest is the first blogger to ever put me on his blogroll. That is a humbling experience knowing that some one thought enough of your content to want to let people know he reads it. Thanks again Forest.

Stan is a crazy bastard just like me. He has Bi-polar disorder like I do and stops by often now and leaves lengthy and thought provoking comments on this blog. You've got to check his blog out. Very interesting indeed.

There are many others that I could tag. I am just really hesitant to tag them as I don't really have a relationship with them and just wouldn't feel comfortable putting them on the spot. Tom if this bugs you (getting tagged) sorry about that. That will teach you for cheating on our contest (laughs out load and long).

43 Things Tags: family,friends,Having fun,interesting web sites.

HOT OFF THE PRESSES. CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT POST!!!!

Amanda and Jeff are with child. Jeff just called me. Woke me up from a nap he did. It is going to be a boy. My guess had been a girl. Now do you see why I only buy lotto tickets once in a while. Yep they were on the way back from the Doctor and called to tell us the news. Justa think. Baby pictures soon. Also, dirty diapers. Can you say Grandma? I can't wait to spoil him and then send him home to mom and dad. More to follow I'm sure.

Justa planning ahead.

Picture courtesy of saving advice.com via Google images

 

Those of you that have been with us here at Justakrusen

for a while, know that I was posting what Cindy and I were paying for groceries every time we went shopping at Save A Lot, or where ever else we may have gone to pick up things we couldn't get there.Well I stopped doing that because it just seemed redundant. I'm not thinking of doing it again unless someone really lets me know that they want me to in the comments.

What I do want to talk about today

are some of the things that Cindy and I are doing to save money on our grocery shopping at the same time stocking up for a price hike on certain items. We have seen the price of some foods go up quite a bit in the last few months. I'm not going to go through the items that have increased you can tell when you look at your grocery bill. One of the things Cindy did the other day was go to the store and stock up on Bread making things as I mentioned the other day. She bought enough for us to go quite a while without buying bread at the store if we had to.

Something I did yesterday, which on the surface

sounds expensive but in the long run will save us money at the same time providing high quality meats with menu planning ability right at our fingertips. It happened like this. I got a knock at the door yesterday and it was a young guy standing there. He went right into his pitch about saving money on meat, they were in the neighbor hood and blah, blah, blah, I usally just tell these kind of salesmen "no thanks" and shut the door. For some reason I put my shirt on and waddled out to his pickup with him. On the back of the pickup was his partner and a freezer. They proceeded to bring out a case of meat. I'm going to make another long story really short. I bought a case of top line meat with about 13 weeks of meals in them for $199.00. These are top of the line meats. Momma and I had a Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon that was to die for. Just ask momma if you don't believe me.

My Bi-Polar disorder is cycling pretty fast right

now. I'm going into the depressive mode as I type this. During the day and early evening I seem to be up. Night time and early morning down. Time to adjust the meds Len. I'll talk to him in the next day or so as he always calls to check on me. I'm very lucky to have a counselor and a wife on board to help me through this. A lot of you going through similar experiences have no one, or you feel like you have no one. I know the feeling. How is your day going let us know in the comments.  I'm cutting it short here this morning. And as always. I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: Bi-Polar,Groceries,saving money

You've gotta justa be kidding me!!

 

The fine folks of Pennsylvania obviously are just about as dumb as us fine folks in New York have been for a couple of elections any way. That's right the majority of the people in Pennsylvania  have voted for Billary. They must have not read my post from a couple of days ago. Rush Limbaugh got his way. Billary won and this primary will probably run all the way to the convention now. Goody, Goody, we get to hear all kinds of more dirt. On both candidates. The longer the primary goes on for the Dumocrats the better it will be for the Repuglicans. It couldn't happen to nicer people. The Dumocrats just don't get it. I'm amazed that seemingly intelligent people could vote the way they do. I've even seen some Dumocrats stand on two legs and walk can you believe it?

Don't worry I'm not going to be ranting on the election the whole post.

I just had to get that off of my chest. Whew. Deep breathing....  Ah much better now. Where was I? Does anybody out there but me listen to Glen Beck on the radio. He is very funny but informative at the same time. If you listen to him I'm sure you agree. Well the other day Glen was telling us that some of the commodities futures would be climbing, in fact they already are climbing. The gas futures are why we are paying so much for gas right now. In fact they are the reason we are going to be paying $4.00 per gallon for gas by summer. wise bread has a post about this very subject from back in July 2007. It is well worth taking the time to read it.

Another one he warns about is Wheat.

Apparently for various reasons there will be a possible shortage of wheat. The same stuff that goes into making all of our breads. So guess what. Bread will be going up. Momma and I got ready for this possibility by storing up a little on bread making stuff and we are prepared if the price does rise real high. If not we still like to eat home made bread and it will not spoil as momma put it in containers. I don't remember the other commodity he mentioned besides these two, Gas and wheat. I'm sure there are more though. Now is the time to listen for those little hints and hidden news items to see what is happening that will be effecting us.Just for example if the price of fuel goes up another $0.50 cents per gal,which experts say is a certainty can your budget tolerate another $7.00 per fill up for gas. ($0.50 X 14 gals)This will push some people over the edge budget wise. Heck a lot of cars or trucks have bigger tanks than the 14 gal example I used just do the math.

Don't be tempted to put things on a credit card to get by.

That is the worst thing you can do. It will only make things worse. The only thing to do is to start thinking about cutting back on some things. Can you cut out some on eating out? Is there any way to combine some of your shopping trips.(This may take some planning) Maybe you could start selling some of your kids off.(oops did I say that out loud? only kidding) You see what I mean though. What area of your budget can you start cutting. Cindy and I have been in cutting mode lately. We haven't been to a movie out in months. We don't eat out as much.(We still haven't given up our Saturday breakfast trips). We have cut our grocery bill almost in half most weeks. We shop at Save a Lot in Fulton, Ny because of this we spend 40% less than you folks that shop at Wegmans or P&C do.Granted we don't get all the name brand things you can at the other stores, but what we do get is rather tasty and some of the things are the same brands as are at Danny Wegmans just packaged under a different name. If you don't believe me try it out for yourself. It is named SAVE A LOT for a reason. I'm sure there are more money saving things we can all do. Does anybody out there have any ideas? What are some things that you and your family do? I'm justa asking!!

43 Things Tags: dining out,driving,dumocrats,gas,groceries

Justa checking on the gas prices!

Picture courtesty of Auntyeviel via flicker

Have you noticed the way the gas prices have been creeping

up to that $4.00 per gal mark.The market has been telling us for months now that its coming this summer. Well guess what? It's spring, rushing into summer. After priming our pumps so to speak all winter the gas companies are all set to get those prices up to the $4.00 per gal mark. And guess what? That's right, we are letting them. Supply and demand folks.  We as consumers have to have the gas to get back and forth to work and our other "have to drive to" events in our lives.

The other Countries that we are competing with

for the World market on oil are still increasing their demands for oil. It is a win win kind of environment for the oil companies right now. The ole rich get richer syndrome if you will. I don't know if you've been keeping an eye on the prices and the fluctuations in the local market. Your's truly has! I'm writing this  post on Monday morning for posting on Wednesday, so the prices I have checked on are for  last Saturday.(Click on the Syracuse Gas Prices link on the Sidebar to the right to follow along if you'd like) That's the latest update as of this time Monday am.

The lowest price in the area as of Saturday

was at Sam's club on Rte 31 that came in at $3.42 a gal just $0.01  lower than Bj's right down the road. The next lowest prices we're in the $3.43 to $3.47's and up. The gouger of the week continues to be the Mobil station on the corner of Velasko Rd & Onondaga Blve at a whopping $3.73 per gal. Week in and week out they come in as the highest priced gas in the Greater Syracuse area. Can you say. Howdy neighbor. They don't care what people think of them obviously. I've never been over there, but they must have people buying gas from them. Just as a side note the Sunoco gas station on the corner of Taft and Morgan Roads came in at $3.28 per gal for their regular unleaded at one time when I checked on Sat.

So you see, its pretty tough to keep up with the prices. You'd almost have to have a phone tree set up with people calling in 2 or 3 times a day from various locations to keep up. That's not practical so what can I do, you ask? Good question I don't have all the answers. Do any of you out there have any ideas? What are you doing to combat the high fuel prices? We can't drive less can we? We still have to get to work, go to the gym, go to Grandma and Grandpas for dinner on Sunday.How can we drive less any ideas? I'm justa asking?

Maybe signing up for a site like Syracuse Gas Prices.com would help. I signed up on Monday. One of the ones I posted was on there. I posted 3 or 4 prices the one that bothers me not showing up is the Bj's one. It was only showing the lowest price of Saturday. But as of Tuesday at 2:55 pm the price was $3.52.9. quite a difference wouldn't you think. I'm wondering a little bit about who owns and runs the site mentioned above. Some research is needed. I'll get back to you if I can find out.

43 Things Tags: gas prices in and arround syracuse,ny,having fun

Justa wondering where your allegiances lie! Or why are you a Dumocrat!!

If your even thinking about voting for Barack

My wife is embarrassed to be an American Obama or Billary (self explanatory Clinton) I have to question your patriotism. That's right! Have you forgotten the War on Terror. Are we afraid to go out to Restaurants, or malls, or our church's? I'm not thinking so! It's not because we are talking about pulling out of Iraq. It's because of the Tightened noose on the terrorist organizations around the world . Come on people the war in Iraq was  probably most assuredly not a super idea. History will determine that. But If you can vote for some one that would say they are going to pull out the troops just to get elected with out knowing the ramifications of that move ahead of time. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Think for yourself's don't let the nightly news dictate who the next president of the country is going to be.

If your a Dumocrat I'm embarrassed for you

. You think it's ok to take a human life. Abortion! What if you had been aborted. What if the Pope had been aborted. Come on America think about it. If God didn't want that life he wouldn't have created it. Give me a break. Stop your whinnying about the Gas prices. Cut back on your eating out, your cigarettes, heck yeah give up your beer if you have to, but stop your WHINNING! pretty please( there was that politically correct enough for you?) If we stop using so much gas the prices will come down. Demand will drop so will the prices. Supply and demand. It's what drives any Economy. Please stop waiting for our Government to do something. It is up to us the people. Each and every one of us can make a difference right where we live, work and play. By the way if you vote Democratic,open up your check books there goes the taxes. Check out The Syracuse Gas Prices.com site on the sidebar on the right. Join that. Give the prices for gas stations you drive by every day. Let's work together to beat the oil companies. They have a head start on us,

I don't know where this hair up my fanny came from.

It's just in my mind and I wanted to share it with you. There is more ranting I could do about the Dumocrats if I wanted to. But why beat a dead horse. Fortunately the good, the bad and the ugly is coming out on both candidates. That's another thing you guys do, you eat your young. Barrack Obama could have made a good President, maybe he will some day. He's just to inexperienced. You can't be all things to all people. And really Hillary Clinton could care a less about her country. She's more interested in staying in power because with out a position of power she is just another old bag of wind.Remember the promise of more jobs for upstate New York she was going to work for? We're still waiting Billary! If you must vote for one of these two people so be it. Don't vote for them because your union says to, or your friends, or relatives, you get the point. Know the facts study every thing you can, than make an informed opinion.

 

 

 

Repuglicans have their issues also.

John Mccain isn't going to be strong economically. He has admitted that.Also, he hasn't meet an old crony from either party,that he won't jump on the band wagon with. But the one thing he is going to do is protect our country. That's a pretty good place to start. I am technically a registered Republican but my bent now is more toward being an Independent.You all know the story on how to tell if a politician is lying, "his or her, lips are moving!" I just think we should all weigh the facts and choose who we feel will best lead our country for the next four years.Hopefully we can all agree to disagree in a reasonable way. I'm still not sure 100% who I'm going to vote for this year for President. I might not make my final decision until I'm in that booth. For anyone to know beyond a shadow of a doubt who they're going to vote for now. Tells me that they aren't making an entirely informed decision, if you know what I mean. All the facts aren't out yet. Good luck and may God continue to bless the United State of America. I'm justa saying!!

43 Things Tags: another rant,Dumocrats,gas prices,Pouting,seizing the day,whinning.

I was justa thinking!

I'm writing this post on Sunday Morning

at 04:27 am. This is for Monday.  We'll why are you typing this on Sunday instead of on Monday morning  you ask? Just to get a head a little bit. Sometimes my mind gets so cluttered with things that I like to just get it on paper so I can let it go.

Here are some of the things on my mind as Sunday comes rushing in. In no particular order:

• It really hurts when a friend is down and you feel like there is nothing you can do. You realize that although you may have given them advise that is valuable it is ultimately up to them to make the move for change. They have to want to change, and make that first move to change.

 

• Momma and I are really looking forward to Jeff and Amanda coming over for dinner tonight (Sunday) They are so busy in their lives right now. It is going to be nice to help them stop and smell the roses. I envy those families that make it a point to get together for meals. especially like my Sister Donna and husband Steve's family. Every Sunday they get together at one of the kids for Dinner. The whole immediate family. That is way cool.

 

• My Yankees aren't doing so hot again. It is early in the season but they just seem to be digging themselves a big hole. I haven't paid enough attention yet to know what the problem has been. Does any one know what they're major malfunction is?

 

• I used to dread Sundays. That's right I dreaded them because it would create an environment for Momma and I to go our own separate ways on Sunday's at 11:00 am. I thank God that Cindy stayed the course and on most Sundays went to church even though I was being stubborn and stayed at home. It is because of her faith and prayers and the prayers of others that I am again attending the church of my choice on Sundays. The Community Wesleyan Church in Baldwinsville, Ny. is that church.

 

• We have penciled in a date for dinner with Norm & Sandy our friends that moved out of the park years ago.So our social calendar is full for dinner on May 17, 2008. Bill O'rielly if you are reading this I won't be able to do the interview for that day. You'll have to pick another day and time. :)

 

• I enjoyed lunch out with my Buddy Shawn on Friday. We went to Doug's fish fry on the corner of 31 & 57. If you like fish you have to try them out if you've never done it. Can you say Delicious? (I hope you can say it better than I spelled it, thank you again spell check) 

 

• My number one commenter is missing in action again. He actually really does have a life outside blogging. Must be nice.:) He has been busy again with family obligations. He just finished up the bathroom off the master bedroom. And went right from that project into a rehab assignment on a house with his wife, Daughter Natalie and boyfriend Cory. I don't think they have any quit in them. Relax guys, take a chill pill.

 

• Another thought that just slid into my mind. Is that I'm glad for the friends and family that are always there when the going gets tough. That when the chips are down, when life gets really busy, family no matter what takes care of family.And really, really good friends are always there when you call That is a pretty neat place to be isn't  it guys?

That's just some of the random stuff that was rumbling through my

head this morning . It's 5:02 am. time to walk, ok limp back into bed and cuddle with Momma again. Man life don't get any better that this does it? I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: family,friends,having fun,Ny Yankees,Pizza hut

I'm justa bearly able to do this post!

Photo courtesy of Cubicle nation

I'm really stretching it with the Metaphors aren't I?

Maybe that's why The Lime Green Drama Queen calls me "Chief Dead Horse beater." It's one of the things I do. I think it's  to amuse myself more that anything. So that is pretty pathetic isn't it? My wife's eyes go up into her head when I start one of my shticks that she has seen a million times already.

Speaking of Shticks I didn't use one of my favorite ones

when we went out to eat two nights ago to celebrate (more on that later)I suppose I have to tell you what it is I always do. I'm proud of myself I haven't done it in quite a while but hey, like the lottery "You never know". Here it is. When the waitress brings the check back, I look to see if she wrote Thank you. If yes than hopefully she writes in her name. Lets say its Jane. So stay with me here. I call her over  to the table and tell her I have a problem with the bill. Pointing at the bill I say. "I have a problem with the bill." she looking where I'm pointing acts a little concerned thinking she made a math error.(The only error she made was getting me for a customer)So any way. I then say,"This isn't my bill, It belongs to Jane." :) get it? Thank you Jane. now isn't that bad. I know, I know, I just can't help my self.

Now as to the reason for our celebration

Drum roll please... Momma and I are days away from paying off our credit cards in full. It has been 15 years since we are going to  be able to say. " No credit card bills at all" As soon as the check from my 401k account clears the bank we will write the final check for a credit card bill. One that we aren't paying in full at the end of each month that we use it anyway. The only reason we have had the balance all these years is because of the truck I owned. Momma to hold it together when the truck just wasn't bringing in any more money than what the truck needed to operate, from time to time had to use the credit card to pay the bills of the truck or household needs that I wasn't providing for.

We went to a steak house  that we hadn't been to before

I can't recall the name right now. As it is now 1:52 in the morning that I'm writing this, the restaurant will have to remain nameless as I'm not waking up Momma to ask her the name. Momma and I both got what we wanted to eat. We shared a Bloomin Onion and Cindy had to get a doggie bag for her meal.(Can you say,"There's her lunch for tomorrow?') As for me. Well I just pigged out and this picture is pretty much how I felt after the meal. It was good though. We spent over half a weeks groceries on the meal but hey we were celebrating. The amount of the credit card's we were paying off were over $3,300 dollars so we felt pretty awesome. Now we have to continue to build up our emergency fund to 6 months worth of expenses. Hopefully Murphy will stay a way for a while. We have almost $4,000 back in our savings after canceling out our home buying adventure.

Now as to the title of the post. I'm pretty tired doing this post as it's 2:00 am Friday morning and this is my 2nd post since I woke up a while ago. So I'm going to shut it down go back in a cuddle with Momma. Hopefully I can sleep until 5:15. We shall see.

 

43 Things Tags: dining out,drama queen,groceries,seizing the day