Posted 3:47 PM by Bonnie

Smarty cats! We couldn't figure out why the phone battery was dying so quickly. Or why sometimes the phone was on when no one called. Or why people would say they called but the phone was messed up. Or why the answering machine would be on the floor when we got home from somewhere....

Until the other day when the secret was revealed! I was back in my room when the phone rang. When I got out to the living room BJ was trying to answer the phone! He had knocked it on the floor and was trying to get the right button! Then the answering machine came on and as the person spoke he ran over there and tried to find the person in the box, and in the process, knocked it to the floor.

Okay, now if we get a phone bill with a call to CAThay then I'll know who placed it!

Posted 10:41 PM by Bonnie

Drew's Blues Cafe Blues Jam! I keep talking about this Friday night Blues Jam, so tonight I took my camera along and got some pics. Thought I'd share a few here with you all. Anyone in Sumter who hasn't come by really should come and enjoy the sounds and the fun! Tonight Allan did a song called "I'm So Glad" and had the audience sing along..he would point to one section and that group had to sing. Well, he decided to pick on Keith tonight and at one point said, "okay, now just the Ph.D.'s". LOL!!! Anyway, here are a few pics. I sure wish I could post the music on here too! These guys are a trip and a half! Allan reminds me so much of my friend, Rick, (the one passed away last March) that it's just too uncanny. He plays guitar like him, he sings like him, he even smiles like him! Dang! Okay, a few pics for your viewing pleasure.
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He also did a song called Hip Shake or something like that. Now last week he told the audience they had to get up and dance. Last week and this week only one person, from our table was brave enough to get up and do it.... Here's Tom!!!!!



Even DaMayor got in on the fun tonight! This is the guy who let's me host open mic poetry nights once a month, so gotta give him some space here!



A fun night! As always...great food! great music! great time!

Posted 1:53 PM by Bonnie

All the leaves are gone.... As I look out my window now the tree across the street is bare of leaves. The ground is now covered with a blanket of colors that will soon be raked up into bags and hauled away to a landfill, preserved forever in plastic bags. This is a tradition of fall I have never understood and I know my neighbors think I am totally bonkers for not following the same line. I have this theory that nature knows what it is doing and we interfere too much in the natural process. The leaves cover the ground in the winter to protect the grass and flowers (that will bloom again in spring) from the cold of winter and up north from the snow that covers the ground. I leave my leaves to blanket the earth. In the spring those that haven't composted do get raked, but again I don't follow the tradition of putting them in plastic bags to be hauled away. They still have another service to provide. Those that remain are raked around the trees to mulch and add nutrients to the earth around the trees, bushes, etc, that grow in the yard. I trust that nature will nurture the earth with the composting leaves and add much needed nutrients back into the soil. IMHO.

Posted 12:43 PM by Bonnie

Wal-Mart's $4 generic drug plan: Before you go thinking this is such a great deal do what I did. Sit down and compare the prices for the generic drugs you already get to the $4 Wal-mart charge.

Of the seven drugs my husband takes regularly three are generic. This is the comparison:

Drug............Wal-mart..........Walgreen's.....Savings
Pindolol 5mg....30 for $4.........60 for $8.99-----.99
Warfarin 5mg....30 for $4.........60 for 10.00----2.00
Furosemide 80mg.30 for $4.........60 for $5.99----2.11 loss
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Total savings:--------------------------------------.88

Now Walgreens is about 4 blocks away (I can walk on a good day) and WalMart is a couple miles at least. Taking into consideration just the gas that would be used to save that 88 cents for us it would not be cost effective. So, unless you have absolutely no insurance at all do some comparison shopping and take into consideration the gas, the time, and the aggravation involved. You know the old saying that if it sounds too good to be true - it probably is? Keep that in mind.

Posted 10:28 PM by Bonnie

Open Mic Night! Every month I think it can't get any better than this and the next month I am proven wrong.

Our guest poet, Michele Reese, PhD was wonderful. She shared poems from her book, Following Phia, and also did some newer poems. I have her book and as I told her each poem is better than the previous one. We really enjoyed her and appreciated her sharing her time and her poems with us.

Last Saturday I heard Linda Rowe sing this hauntingly beautiful song called The Old Man and it's about the streets of London. It's a very personal song and story for her and her family so I asked her to come and tell the story and share the song for us. She graciously agreed and everyone enjoyed the performance.

Tonight was a special night for her husband, Tom, as it was his birthday. I read a special birthday poem I ahd written for him. He shared three of his poems with us tonight. His poems are very deep and thought provoking. Haunting in their openess and honesty.

Shawna Bauer joined us tonight as part of her English class at USC Columbia. She lives in Sumter and part of her class assignment was each had to go to an open mic poetry night and read at least one of their poems. She shared three with us and we certainly enjoyed having her with us! So if Shawna's teacher is reading this, yes, she was there and yes she did perform.

And Develon Douglas was back! Just after Keith asked if Develon would be coming this month he walked in the door! Yea!! This guy is phenomenal! Also, his CD is out so check out his web page for more information on that. His lyrics make you sit back and listen and take notice. His style and delivery are impeccable. I can't say enough about him. Just check him out!

And my buddy Colette Jones! She keeps us in stitches! We love her! Everyone talks about her and asks about her and wants to hear more of her! Her poem Grab Bag is requested every month and I'm sure she's tired of performing it for us. But it is hysterical! This is the one I spoke of before that she was challenged to write. While standing in line at the lunch counter at Shaw AFB she was challenged to write a poem about candy. Whew! Who ever knew candy could be that sexy!! Someday I will have to get a copy of that and with her permission post it here for you all to enjoy!

Marie Grady, aka Lyric, has become one of the regulars we look for each month. Her poetry is always heartfelt and compelling. She takes you with her through each line and makes you feel the words. I always look forward to hearing from her and hope she continues to grace Open Mic Night.

Joyce Williams was back again with her fun poems. She was having more trouble than usual with her eyes tonight. She was able to perform one from memory but then had Cynthia Harris, PhD perform the last one. This was a hysterical one about a friend, who years ago, gave her so much flour she didn't know what to do with it. She put some in a cedar chest to keep it from the mice and when she baked with it...well, yep, everything tasted of cedar!

And Dr. Cynthia Harris to the rescue!

Yarbough (Yarbie) Miller was a first timer tonight. Yarbie is a student at Morris College. We are getting more and more students and I am so thrilled to see them there. We certainly enjoyed her poems and hope she will become a permanent member of our Open Mic Family!

And Kiki was back! You will all remember her as our featured poet last month.

And this time she brought her boyfriend, Theo, (I hope I spelled that right) who also shared one of his poems. Hopefully these two will continue to attend and share their poetry.

And here are some group shots of the cafe crowd.

Posted 2:57 PM by Bonnie

OPEN LETTER TO THE CATS IN OUR HOME

1. The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
2. The stairway is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.
3. I cannot buy anything bigger than a king-sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep.
It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.
4. For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - feline attendance is not mandatory.
5. The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other cat's butt. I cannot stress that enough!
6. Regardless of what Keith has told you I WILL NOT... I repeat...WILL NOT go down the drain while showering, so you do not need to line up outside the shower waiting for me.
7. Also, in regard to the shower you do not need to dry me off with your tongues. You would die of exhaustion before the task would be completed and I have found a large towel is much more efficient, but thanks for trying.

8. To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:
RULES FOR NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT MY PETS;
A. They live here. You don't
B. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture (That's why they call it "fur"niture)
C. I like my pets a lot better than most people.
D. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly. Cats are sometimes better than kids...they eat less, don't ask for money all the time, are easier to train, usually come when called, never drive your car, don't hang out with drug-using friends, don't smoke or drink, don't worry about having to buy the latest fashions, don't wear your clothes, and don't need a gazillion dollars for college---and if they get pregnant, you can sell the children.....

Posted 10:39 PM by Bonnie

Good food! Good Friends! Good Times! It's been a rough few weeks and even though my husband didn't feel up to going to our local cafe, Drew's Blues, for the jam session I wanted to go. Friends were meeting me there and it would be a night out to unwind.

Well, the jam session didn't happen. As it is with musicians at times, they are fickle, and bowed out one by one. When some of my friends arrived we discovered one could play guitar and sing. Since they only lived 10 minutes away her husband graciously left to get the guitar and her music. What a wonderful surprise. You know how sometimes people say they can play and sing and you have to politely smile through the pain once they start? Well, Linda could really play! and really sing! So well, I requested she do one that has some family history, at the next open mic. And she has agreed, so we are in for a real treat.

Also, a couple new friends joined us. Eric and his fiance, Christen, had never been to Drew's Blues Cafe and I have been trying to get them there. Finally tonight they were able to make it and as I knew would happen, they fell in love with the place, and are looking forward to going back. We all talked, laughed, giggled, and just had fun! It was hard to leave, but you do have to let them close the restaurant and do their clean up so they can go home. But it feels so much like you are home sometimes you forget the time. That's what I like about DBC. You don't go in and feel like you are just another customer...you feel like this is your extended family and you are sitting down to a family meal. It doesn't matter what is served, although the food is always out of this world, mouth watering, good! The atmosphere is so inviting and comfortable sometimes you forget you are in a restaurant and not your family's dining room.

Like tonight, Drew, the six year old son of the owner, wanted to race me... so we'd say ready, start, go and he would run off as fast as he could. I'd take a step forward and turn around and wipe the sweat off my brow and ask him what took him so long. He would swear up and down I never moved but everyone else told him yes, she did! she was just so fast you didn't see her!

Anyway...it was a fun night! Good food! Good Friends! Good times! What more could we ask for?

Posted 10:31 AM by Bonnie

Untitled: Since this is going to be a hodgepodge update I just left it untitled.

Wager: At the beginning of the year my sister, Victoria, myself and our friend, Bernie agreed we would all update our blogs once a week. Up to this point I was proud to have been the only one who managed to do that, but here is it is November 10 and the last time I posted was 10/31...so in the end none of us managed to fulfill the promise.

Husband updates: The past few weeks have been the weeks from hell...

One week my husband had a doctor appt every day! and on top of it his car was in the garage so not only was I driving him to and from doctor appts, and sitting and waiting with him, but driving him to and from work. Somewhere in there I cleaned house, did laundry, fed cats, cleaned litter boxes, did grocery shopping..etc etc etc.....

Then the docs decided he needed and upper GI and a TEE... both were scheduled to be done back to back so he would only have to go under the VERSED once. When we got to the hospital they only had him scheduled for an upper GI which was the least of the tests he needed. I told them I sat in the office while the woman who sets these appts. up coordinated the proceedings and they told me they didn't have that so would only do the one. I said we may as well go home then as it was set up to do both back to back. They argued with me, I told them to check and finally had to get rude...they finally checked and lo and behold! yep, both doctors were there and both were scheduled for the procedures. Dang, I hate having to get ugly to get things done, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

And tuesday he was scheduled for a root canal. Now we'd already paid $200 for a filling before they decided he needed a root canal. When we got there the dentist (orthodontist) discovered the tooth was cracked and couldn't do a root canal, but the tooth needed pulled. Of course, he is so specialized, root canals only that we had to schedule an appt. with the other dentist to get the tooth pulled. Complicating matters is Keith is on coumadin as he gets pulmonary embolisms... he had to go off the coumadin and they scheduled it for thursday morning. Of course, after it wouldn't stop bleeding and we had to go back and the dentist put an astringent in the root canals to slow the bleeding, which it eventually did.

The bad cats! Just one cat story...the other day I was washing dishes and when I turned around ready to sweep the kitchen floor I found that BJ had not only emptied one of the bowls of crunchy cat food on the floor, he had dumped the water bowl over it! Okay...deep breath... I take some paper towels and cover the water and food to absorb the water while I come clean down here. When I go back up BJ and Tiny Friend (who isn't so tiny anymore) had cleaned up the paper towels for me. Deep breath... I picked up the mess, wiped up the water, swept and mopped the floor and wondered why I bother. Oobal di oobla da....

Now it's Friday...and hopefully...fingers and toes crossed...next week will be a better one! Have a good weekend everyone!!!