No Longer A Blogling

Today Is The footnoteMaven's 1 Year Anniversary

On 28 February 2007, the footnoteMaven's Blog was hatched. You may blame/credit Jasia of Creative Gene for this journey, as she was then and still is my inspiration. I had been reading the Carnival of Genealogy for quite some time and thought I'd like to give this bloging thing a try. My first post was Shelter From the Storm, Stories of the Home and Hearth. This was also my first contribution to the Carnival of Genealogy. Since that time I have become addicted to the COG.

So today I am no longer a blogling, I am an adult Spectacled Cascade Mountain GeneaBlogolink. I have feathered my nest with bloggers who became friends and friends who became bloggers. Many of their blogs can be found in my quilt and in the blog roll to your right. My range has been the world. I loved blogging then and I love blogging today.

So who is the footnoteMaven? Perhaps now is the time to tell you. She is identified as Aunt Lilian. A lovely English lass from Huddersfield. The first time I saw her I knew we had a connection; made even more so by the fact that her name was Lilian. My mother and my grandmother were both named Lillian. The photographer who took her photograph was Jno. E. Thaw. John Thaw (the actor) played my favorite television detective "Inspector Morse." So you see, we were destined to be together.

The name "footnoteMaven" was given to me by one of my Nearby History-Writer Friends, Cathy Lykes. She dubbed me the footnoteMaven two years ago, because I was such a nudge about footnotes and sources in our workshops. It stuck.

One day soon, I hope to use the "Birthday Club" method on my alter ego and tell her story here in that little corner of the world that has become her/our home. (You were expecting something else perhaps?)

Since my first post there have been many stories about my family, some filled with laughter, some with tears. I was blessed with a family history that is full of stories and if my grandchildren are any indication, this could go on forever.

So, stop by today so that I may say Thank You - you have made my blogging adventures such a joy.

Drink a toast with me -

To many more posts and many more friends!

All photographs and art in possession of the author.

Isthmus Be My Lucky Day

When I read Jasia's post on This Is My Lucky Day!, I couldn't help but remember one of my favorite episodes of the Our Gang Comedy Series - Mush and Milk, 05/27/1933.

The kids live in a boarding school, where they're brow-beaten by the ghastly old matron. But in school, they're taught by gentle, lovable Old Cap.

Cap to Uh-Huh: "Uh-Huh, can you use the word "Isthmus" in a sentence?"

Uh-Huh answers: “Uh-huhhhhh…Isthmus be my lucky day!" (John Collum as Uh-Huh (appeared from 1932-1938) – b. 06/29/1926; d. 08/28/1962.)

This Image May Be Purchased At All Posters.Com

I have always been a fan of the Our Gang Series. Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals, was a long-lived series of American comedy short films about a group of very poor neighborhood children and their adventures together. Hal Roach produced the Our Gang series at the Roach studio starting in 1922 as a silent short subject series. Roach changed distributors from Pathé to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1927, added sound in 1929, and continued producing until 1938 when he sold the series to MGM. MGM continued production of the comedies until 1944.

My Grandfather, Edward Jesse Greene, worked for MGM and I believe had something to do with these charming children. When he and my Grandmother would come to visit my family, he would bring Our Gang reels that had been shown in the theater and turn our living room into a day at the movies.

My mother had always told us that he worked as a talent scout and discovered several of the child actors. (Something I have been unable to prove, but discovered a clue in doing this post.) In searching for a photograph of the "Our Gang" actors, I found a photograph of an "Our Gang" audition. In the photograph is a man who looks a great deal like my Grandfather. The website contains the information as to who owns the photograph. Now I have a clue, the search is on! Wish me luck!

Isthmus Be My Lucky Day!

We've Come A Long Way Baby!

Creative Gene's
Carnival of Genealogy, 42nd Edition

My 411 On Technology

Well, at least some of us have come a long way and others are sticking to their guns. Terry Thornton of Hill Country swears by his pens, pencils, and paper; and I think he's on to something. There is a connect between the movement of the hand and the brain (I was taught that in some class, and no I don't remember which one because I took notes on my laptop and there obviously was no brain connect).

As for me, "I love the smell of technology in the morning." So let me tell you which piece of hardware I use every day and can't live without, other than my trusty bug-free shiny new impossibly wonderful iMac (yes, I love my Mac).

That piece of hardware would be my Epson Photo scanner. I scan photos every single day; my family history photos and those contained in what is becoming a vast collection of "Orphan Photographs."

I import those photographs into Photoshop CS2 and they go from the scanner to my computer screen.




I scan the front and back of every photograph in color in the Photoshop native format. I digitally restore those that are damaged and save the restored image as an uncompressed TIFF keeping the native format as well. (There is more to my scanning process than this.) Here is an example of my digital restoration.



Before

After

Now that vast collection of orphaned photographs should have given you a clue as to the web site where I hang out. It's the "There's Nothing Good On eBay?" site. And if you knew my real name you'd see that several eBay sellers leave notes for me in the photo descriptions. I also hit the family Bibles, genealogy books, and any thing else that takes my fancy.

Ahh, the internet is a wonderful place! Oh, and Randy (Genea-Musings), my husband calls me Techno-Babe rather than Maven.

Photographs:
_________________
New England Telephone and Telegraph Co. “[A Telephone Operator.]” Photograph. Washington, D.C., c1911. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?ils:5:./temp/~pp_idPk::displayType=1
:m856sd=cph:m856sf=3b00075:@@@mdb=fsaall,app,brum,detr,swann,look,gottscho,
pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,yan,bbcards,lomax,ils,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,
iucpub,tgmi,lamb: 25 February 2008).

Vintage photograph of "young girl with glasses" in possession of the author.

Under the Fair Use Doctrine the photograph of the scanner, Photoshop box, and computer were acquired from Amazon.com, altered and a new photograph created for demonstration purposes. Think this will work, Craig?

Sign Here Please!

A good family historian is possessed of a curious nature. We want answers to many questions. What did our ancestors look like, sound like, how did they live? More than "just the facts" we want to know the whole story, as much as we can possibly gather.

Possessing that curiosity, I've begun collecting my ancestors' autographs or in some cases their mark. In writing my family history I have taken those signatures and placed them together on a page identifying the signer and their place in my family tree.

The signatures displayed here are of the John and Sarah Graham Campbell family. John and Sarah are my Great Great Grandparents. When you see the signature of my Great Grandfather Isaac Reed Campbell, try to reconcile this neat precise handwriting with the man I wrote about in The Tale Is Here To Tell.

I have listed where I obtained the signature and the date the signature was made, as well as, the date of birth and death for the signer.

My family has enjoyed this addition, this small detail, this curiosity to our written family history. I hope you enjoy it.


Select the photograph to view a larger version of the page from my family history.



How Did You Do That?

The signatures were contained in probate documents that had been copied from microfilm. I scanned just the signature from each copy into Photoshop CS2 (what I did would be the same for Elements). I then opened levels (found under Image - Adjustment - Levels). I moved the input slider until I got the desired level of white. I then moved the input slider to darken the signature. (White level is on the right, dark is on the left.)


Any spots or marks I removed with the clone tool. I saved each signature as a JPEG file.

Note: I also kept each signature at the same width and height, making it easy to drop and center in the document.

Then using Word for the Mac I created the document and dropped the signatures into place. Really very easy to do. Thanks for asking.

Fashionista

In response to my iGene Awards, Jasia (Creative Gene) posted the following comment:

Bravo fM! Bravo! Very well done indeed. And may I add that you're looking especially lovely for this year's award ceremony. I'm sure the cameras will catch your walk down the red carpet and we'll see you on the cover of all the fashion magazines. Oh, to be as lovely as thee...

So, I couldn't resist. Just for you Jasia, footnoteMaven on the cover of Vogue.



Put yourself on the cover of the Rolling Stone, or National Geographic, or whatever strikes your fancy at MagMyPic.com.

Ahh-Choo! I Think I've Caught Something

I’ve been tagged, by my favorite GeneaBlogging bookseller and Flutaphone player, Bill West at West in New England for that new contagious non-fiction reading reviewing meme malady going around. You know me, if I can catch something I will, and I have.

The symptoms are:

A) An uncontrollable enthusiasm for non-fiction issues/interests;

B) An elevated temperature requiring the review of books written about those interests;

C) An unquenchable thirst for renumeration brought on by the elevated temperature;

D) Babbling incoherently to friends and family, or spreading the malady through email or blogs;

e) Have I suffered from this malady before?

Take a look over my shoulder and let's see how the contagious non-fiction reading reviewing meme malady affects the footnoteMaven.


Well, I certainly have symptom A. I'm one of those who never met a non-fiction book she didn't like. The malady goes from mild to rampant depending on my current projects. Right now I'm researching old photographs so I'm reading:


An Illustrated History of Hairstyles 1830-1930
by Marian I. Doyle

Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900
by Joan L. Severa

Biographies of Western Photographers 1840-1900
by Carl Mautz

I've just ordered two more new books to help ward off the malady:



Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865
by Peter Palmquist & Thomas Kailbourn

Pioneer Photographers from the Mississippi to the Continental Divide: A Biographical Dictionary, 1839-1865
by Peter E. Palmquist & Thomas R. Kailbourn

And if you want to write a book about old photographs you should take the cure by reading two such lovely books:



The Best Dog in the World:
Vintage Portraits of Children and Their Dogs
by Donna Long

A Pony in the Picture:
Vintage Portraits of Children and Ponies
by Victoria Randall
Symptom B is not present in my strain of the malady. I would rather read and work on my vast (read failure to focus) projects than write a review any time. So since Symptom B isn't present, taking money as a cure is totally unnecessary.

Were I to develop a temperature, I'd love to bring it down with that green pill known as MONEY. It would help to pay for the malady. However, I don't see that in my near future.

Do I babble incoherently to friends and family about this malady and spread the virus through blogs and email. Yes, to all of the above. I am very contagious. My friends and family avoid contact through selective deafness and the delete button. Is there no one to listen to me?

Have I suffered from this malady before? The malady yes, the symptom of needed review, no. I discuss my malady by example, several examples were the recipients of a 2007 iGene award and can be found at All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up!

All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up!

footnoteMaven's 1st iGene Award Winners For 2007!

We're here on the red carpet with the footnoteMaven who has nominated several of her 2007 Blog Posts for award consideration. Red Carpet trends come and go, but some styles are classic. Maven is wearing just such a classic style; a beautiful white silk and lace gown designed specifically for her by the House of Worth, Paris.

Maven's escort for the evening's festivities is robberBaron. Maven has been seeing Baron since her very public split from that other famous nome de plume, Mark Twain. It is rumored that when Mrs. Clemens saw a preview of one of tonight's winners, she ordered Sam home for good.

Jasia of Creative Gene will host the 1st iGene Awards Gala. When asked what she thought of Jasia as the hostess for the Awards Gala, Maven said, "Jasia will be a terrific hostess for the 1st iGene Awards Gala. She is smart, quick, funny, loves to blog and is a great gal. Her own Carnival of Genealogy is a crowd pleaser. What else could one ask for?"

The house lights have flickered so join the crowd inside the Kodak Theatre and let the festivities begin.

Best Picture
Best old family photo that appeared on this blog in 2007.

And The iGene Goes to:

Finding That Two Hundreth Edwardian Woman In A White Dress

Absolutely stunning - what a work of love on your part. One of the best posts
of the year IMHO! . . .Randy Seaver - Genea-Musings

The Birthday Club - Lamoure, N.D. - 1911

There's a certain sadness associated with the ability to go back in time, to view the past and future of faces in a photograph, faces frozen in time. I loved sharing the real lives of the Edwardian women in white dresses pictured in this photograph.

Best Screen Play

The family story that would make the best movie.

And The iGene Goes To:

Wedding in Nirvana

I am swept back in time to those high society events those of us in the "
fly over" states canonly read about! What a wonderful set of
documents/photos to "tell" the story of your grandparents
and what a wonderful job you've done letting their
story tell itself. . . Terry Thornton - Hill Country

The Wedding Party
Louis Salter, Julia Salter, E. Jesse Greene, Lillian Greene, Unknown

Weddings in New York City during the early 1900s were most often held in the home of the bride's parents. As the Salters lived in Carnegie Hall other wedding arrangements had to be made for Jesse and Lillian.

Burton Holmes offered his New York Studio "Nirvana" to the young man of whom he had become so fond. This was a wonderful gift from Holmes to the young couple. "Nirvana" was a famous New York studio and gathering place for the elite that were Holmes' friends and associates.

Wedding in Nirvana is coming to the big screen and fM is very pleased to announce the following have been cast in the lead roles for this period piece.


Best Documentary
Best informational Article in 2007

And The iGene Goes to:

Wait It's A Tie!

What's In A Name?

Incredible post, Maven! Wow!. . . Miriam - AnceStories

Family names (hereditary names or surnames) originated at many different times in many different places. The modern family name is of medieval European origin and we can thank bureaucracies for its inception. As tax collectors, bailiffs, sheriffs, law enforcement and court officers needed a more precise form of identification of individuals, the surname was born.

And The iGene Also Goes To:

Dating Old Photographs :: Becky's Mystery Photograph #9

Beautiful, beautiful analysis! I tend to do things intuitively, and it is a
great help to see your detailed reasoning (a lesson to us all...)
I am a footnoteMaven fan . . . Chery Kinnick - Nordic Blue

A dating analysis of a family photograph on the kinexxions blog that Becky Wiseman lists as Mystery Photo #9.

Best Biography
Best Biographical Article Written in 2007

And The iGene Goes To:

There'll Be No Hell For Dogs

As usual you post an article that really makes one think about family,
relationships, and adversity.Thank you for your frank,
well-written story. . . Janice Brown - Cow Hampshire

My father, a love story. He was the most handsome man I have ever seen. Movie star good looks handsome, and he was my father. From little girls to little old ladies he could turn them all into babbling idiots just by acknowledging them. He was a farm boy from Missouri who was totally unaware of the havoc his good looks created with women. Oh, women noticed him, but he did not notice women. From the day he set eyes on my mother there was no other woman in the world.

Best Comedy Story
A sad and poignant story for 2007. Funny? You be the judge.

And The iGene Goes To:

The Tale Is Here To Tell

Drink has been the undoing of many of the men in my family but never so
colorfully as yours. Good for Molly!. . . Apple of Apple's Tree

The Campbell men, it has often been lamented, didn't have the strength or conviction of the Campbell women. Drink was often their undoing. Drink, as the tale goes, was both the doing and undoing of my great grandfather, Issac Reed Campbell.

Best Comedy Video
The post that shook the Geneablogging World in 2007

And The iGene Goes to:

The footnoteMaven Cuts A Rug

The dance that almost cost me my marriage . . . Mrs. Samuel Clemens

I humbly accept these awards on behalf of my ancestors, my fellow
GeneaBloggers, and the family history and education for which
we have been privileged to be a small part.

Thank You to the Academy and my ancestors for providing the material!
And Thank You to Jasia for one terrific idea!

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, the clock has run down on the
2007 iGene Awards Gala.

Now it's off to the After Awards parties. I have a lot of GeneaBlogs to visit.

"See You At Next Year's Awards"


Academy of Genealogy and Family History (AGFH)
Founding Member


All photographs and illustrations are in the collection of the author.

My Valentine Gift

For Valentine's Day, I received three years worth of The Amateur Photographer's Weekly (1916, 1917, and 1918). The magazines are in perfect condition and contain wonderful old articles, advertisements, and photographs.

Readers of the footnoteMaven blog know that I collect vintage and antique photographs and most things associated with them. I have a very large resource library for dating old photographs and am working on a new blog that will cater to these interests called Shades Of The Departed (not yet ready for prime time). I am also writing a book about one specific category of my photograph collection.

The information contained in these magazines is invaluable to my research and very entertaining to boot. I will be sharing the wonderful things I find in the coming year.

Here is an example of a Kodak Advertisement
December 15, 1916

Thank You Mr. fM for indulging me. I know how lucky I am.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Guest Blogger - Dillon H. James

Nine Great Writings From The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Grade
Index School
Index, Washington

February 11, 2008
These are some of the daily writing assignments from our class. We write everyday sometimes from prompts and "Free Write Fridays." The students chose which work to publish. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did.

Ms. Carol
3 Questions
By Dillon H. James
3rd Grade

1. What if there were flying cars?

I would have cracks in my neck from looking up. I will see a whole lot of car crashes, and if we lost power, all cars will come down on a cloud of dust. Trust me no one would like to spend money.


2. What if computers were alive?

They might rule the world. They will use us like we use them. They will put numbers on our teeth and they see the screen through our eyes.

3. What if cars drove themselves?

Cars will run over people. The cars will run into buildings and into water. They will just drive nonstop on their own so people will get trapped inside them.

Congratulations Index School for encouraging a new generation of writers. The work by the students is published as a hard copy and each child is allowed to illustrate their own cover. Dillon added a thank you to the school on the back of his book, a true author.

Dillon loves to write and is very interested in computers. His Grandmother fM is encouraging him to blog. I think you can see the resemblance in the "trust me" quote.

A Really Good Poem Day!

I love this poem! O.K., so it's about me and I do so love things that are about me. But, it really made me smile and it sounds just like the footnoteMaven.



THE NIGHTMARE OF FOOTNOTES
with apologies to Poe and to the Beach Boys
by Terry Thornton, Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi

Here I sit all blogged
and bleary; tired of logs ---
In endless dreary of citations slog.
May I make up my own style, Maven?
I implore -- to which she caws like a raven
"Nevermore!" As she starts to slug and flog . . .

While singing "Gimme some good vibrations
I told you all about good citations;
Do it right do it nice or suffer lacerations!"
So here I sit all blogged and bleary ---
Maven's right, but damn, I'm dreary:
If you don't cite rite, you suffer damnations!

Awake from the nightmare I start to write
Ibid, Op cit and passim the rest of the night ---
Of course that sweet Maven is right ---
One gets the best of vibrations
When correct their citations.
But the raven is watching me with all his might!

"Nevermore! Nevermore! Nevermore!"
He caws from atop the door
As I huddle on the floor ---
Muttering "Gimme some good vibrations. . . .
I wanta some good citations. . . ."
Stop rhyming, Terry, you're becoming a bore.

Quote the Maven, "Never bore!"

Thank you Terry.



Note: I must apologize, this would have been posted sooner had not the sunless Washington knocked out my electricity three times yesterday!

Who's The Man On That Coin

I haven't seen my Grandchildren in four weeks, and was having Grandparent withdrawals, when my daughter made the hour long trip to bring the boys to see me. It was so great to visit with them. They are the best medicine.


WyMan and Pickle

Like his Grandmother fM, Pickle is a collector and brought his latest acquisition for Grandma to see.

Pickle, whose birthday is today - Happy Birthday Dillon - is nine years old. (I should explain that when Dillon was born we called him Baby Dill which as he got older became Pickle. I doubt we can get away with this for many more years.)

Pickle collects rocks.* He was given some polished stones by his other Grandmother after she took a class at the local college, and some are rocks and fossils he has collected on his two hunting trips with his Grandfather to Montana. He has special divided cases that he carries them in and now he wants to read about them and classify them. So of course, Grandma had to order a good guide for him from Amazon.

While we were looking at Pickle's collection, WyMan who is five chimed in, "I collect something too!"

"You do," I said. "What do you collect?"

Wy reached in his pocket and took out two coins and put them face up on the table. "I collect money," he told me. "I have more at home. Grandma, can you tell me who the men on my money are?"

Not having my glasses on I could tell one was a penny by its color. The other could have been a nickel, a new one I thought, but I wasn't sure. "Grandma doesn't have her glasses on but this one is a penny so it must be Abraham Lincoln," I told him; "I can't read the other one."

"It's O.K. Grandma I know who it is, "WyMan said matter of factly as he put the coins back in his pocket. "It's George Clooney."

Ah, yes. George Clooney that famous American and former president (never say never). George Clooney. Now that coin's going to be worth something.

*****
*I collected rocks when I was young and my husband says he's sure they're in a box somewhere in the house - NOT!

Note: The shades the boys are wearing are for the purpose of looking cool. You will notice they cast no shadows. The sun never shines in Washington, trust me.

DIY Photo Studio

I'm catching up on reading my favorite blogs and ran across two very interesting posts about creating a photo studio to photograph small articles and collectibles.

Nikki-ann wrote Photo Studio about purchasing a professional studio that her cat developed a fondness for immediately upon being unpacked and set-up. Nikki-ann takes absolutely beautiful photographs, many of which I'd love to have framed and hanging in my home.

I on the other had could be classified as "high performance camera, low performance photographer." I am interested in photographing my collectibles for posterity and insurance purposes. Of course one of my major considerations is money. Being a low performance photographer should I spend the money for a professional set-up only to find my skills just don't match?

The answer came from Becky Wiseman at kinexxions writing a DIY article called Photo Studio - Light Tent. The article is filled with excellent information about creating something that functions basically the same as Nikki-ann's setup, but costs much less. Becky points us to three very excellent articles about creating our own photo studio. Note: One of them she mentions is the blog post I discuss below, Strobist.

While lounging by the pool sipping margaritas this past four weeks, I read an excellent article about the same thing in the December issue of MacWorld magazine. The article is titled DIY Photo Studio - How to get pro lighting on an amateur's budget, by David Hobby, and it can now be found online. It is an expanded version of his blog post.

I mention this article for the addition of three points to the very fine articles written by Becky and Nikki-ann.

In David Hobby's MacWorld article he says,

"Want to show off? Try floating the object in your photo. This is especially easy with small items, such as coins."

He then tells you how to build the box with the ability to float an item. I think this would be really good for some of the pieces of jewelry I have inherited. I'm going to give it a try.

Secondly, online he adds something to the article not found in the magazine - Kill troublesome reflections.

"If you’re shooting a highly reflective object and the lights cause unwanted reflections, try this tip that not even all pro photographers know: you can eliminate the errant reflections . . ."

This is a great tip, well worth reading.

And last, but not least the article tells us that David Hobby is a photojournalist at the Baltimore Sun and blogs about flash lighting techniques at Strobist. Following the link to Strobist you'll find a blog filled with hours of tips, tricks, and information. Try this blog, I think you'll enjoy the vast amount of information David shares with his readers.

FYI - check out a walkthrough on how to do an advanced product shot with your cheap new macro studio. You gotta love this guy!

Thank you Nikki-ann and Becky for some really great information and for getting me moving in the right direction!

Good News - Bad News!

I have "good news" and "bad news". The "good news" is I'm going to live; the "bad news" is I'm going to live.

I have gone undercover as a quality control inspector for several local emergency rooms and a hospital. I can tell you how many black dots are contained in a single ceiling tile in at least two emergency rooms as well as who has the best looking male nurses. (They still can't get an I.V. in me, but the scenery is nice.)

The pain has been very difficult, as has temporarily losing my eyesight and respiratory involvement. Finally couldn't take it any longer and let them give me drugs. Drugs make everything difficult. You're still in pain, you just can't verbalize the level of pain, so they give you more drugs. I love the question, "On a scale of 1 - 10 how bad is your pain?" How can you believe anything someone already on drugs tells you? I think I said 42 on several occasions.

I just don't understand how drugs could ever be called recreational. Not my idea of fun. I asked my doctor if next time we could fore go the hospitalization and drugs and just send me to the beach with a frosty Margarita.

I am home and may be down for the next two weeks or so. I'm getting up a little every day and wanted to blog immediately and thank you all for your cards and emails. (My husband reads them to me - refuses to blog for me though!) You are a wonderful group of extremely supportive people and I have missed you all.

I owe you so many personal answers and I hope you understand that it will take me some time to play catch up. I am one tough old broad, so don't worry about me. I will be swinging the mighty blogging sword again soon.

Now, just a few observations. I would like to thank the writers for striking just when I've had to stay in bed with a television as my companion. I thought I could catch up on my soaps, but they are all using flash backs that are sixteen years old - approximately the last time I watched a soap.

The new movie advertised most often is "The Bucket." A movie about two guys doing all the things they have ever wanted to do before they kick the bucket. A really inspiring movie to help you get back on your feet, reminding you that you too may be kicking the bucket.

I can tell you the number of minutes in each hour of television devoted to commercials, as well as how many of those commercials deal with food.

I am a firm believer in signs from God. So, Janice (Cow Hampshire), when I opened my eyes in one of my emergency visits and the name tag on the doctor read "Webster" I knew I was going to live. I tried to crack a dictionary joke, but he had heard them all.

I was much more ill than I thought, thank heaven they don't let you have a mirror. I know I was really ill because yesterday my husband made me update my will. I was resistant until I looked in that mirror and instead of my mother looking back at me it was my grandmother. Ugh!

You will probably see me testifying before Congress, as they've loaded me up with more steroids than all the accused baseball players combined. Another nasty drug. Although I know they are not the same type of steroids, I have to wonder why anyone would take them voluntarily. If my husband goes missing it will probably have something to do with "roid rage."

Jasia (Creative Gene), thank you for using my suggestion for the COG. It made me feel I was still a part of our community. I will blog this one, it will just be late.

Also, my love and admiration to my husband. He has had to miss a lot of work to care for me. He has shouldered the burden of doing everything (cooking, cleaning, shopping, nursing) and he has done it without complaint. He has done it when I have been so cranky I couldn't stand myself. On several occasions I've had to use my cell phone to call him in another room of the house to tell him how sorry I was that I was so impossible to live with.

And a gentle reminder. Never take your good health for granted. I know from experience you can be standing one moment and flat on your back in an emergency room the next.

I have now exceeded my time sitting up, so it's back to bed.

P.S. Please excuse the fact my tenses are all over the place, I probably spelled everything wrong and the post makes very little sense. Wait, wasn't that how I blogged before I got sick?