Sunny Sunday

This was a pretty normal Sunday morning, Kathleen's alarm went off at 0700, I got up, and she did not. I made a couple pieces of raisin toast with peanut butter and all fruit on them. I also had a cup of coffee and a half-cup of mango/lime juice. When I finished I cleaned up some of the dishes from last night and put them into the dishwasher.

Then I went upstairs to see if Kathleen was going to make it to Church this morning. She was still in bed and still did not feel too well. So I got dressed and went to church by myself. It was our worship leaders last Sunday, and he spoke as well. After Sunday School, I went home and Kathleen was up and on her computer.

I changed clothes and asked her if she wanted that creamed chipped beef from last night and she said no, so I heated it up and toasted some toast. I had to add a little water to the sauce as there was not a lot left and it was pretty thick. I added some cayenne pepper powder and Tabasco sauce and it tasted as good as it did last night.

Then I went into the living room, read the paper, and turned on a couple football games. About 1400 I decided that I wanted to take a walk, as it was a bright sunny day and I had not done it lately.

I went upstairs and told Kathleen that I was going to take a walk, and she said that I wanted to go as well. So we both go a walk in, we even took Reggie, so the walk was a little slower and a little shorter than I had planned on, but it was good to get out and get some fresh air and move the body.

I could tell afterwards as my hips were really bothering me about two hours afterwards. Shortly after we got back from our walk, Kathleen asked me to bring up a container of Thanksgiving turkey soup, so I did. So that is what we had for dinner, there was about enough left over for another meal out of that container and there is still one more container in the freezer downstairs.

Kathleen has been making cinnamon rolls for tomorrow’s fellowship time with our Sunday School class tomorrow. Our class has been getting together New Years Day for many years and it is always a good time.

Well, I think that is all that I can think of for tonight. I do not think that I will be staying up to see the New Year in, so I will say Happy New Year and good night.

Saturday Shopping... Groceries that is

Well, so much for my experiment of getting up early. This morning I got up shortly after 0800 and slowly made it downstairs. After my usual computer time, I went into the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher, and then made some raisin toast. I reheated the left over coffee from yesterday, cleaned out the coffee carafe and made another pot of coffee.

When the toast finished, I put on some butter, peanut butter and Smucker's all fruit. After I finished breakfast, I put the dishes that were in the sink into the dishwasher and then went into the living room to read the paper.

Just before I sat down the mail came so I got it and all but a check from the medical insurance for Kathleen's medication was junk mail. After finishing the paper, I recycled the mail and the paper and then took the recycling bag out to the garage to go out with the recycling on the next recycling day.

It was a pretty nice day, the sun was shining very brightly, it was chilly, but really nice. So I went outside, picked up after Reggie, and did some weeding. I am trying to make it easier for the spring when the weeds do not need much to overtake the garden.

After cleaning up, I went up stairs to see if Kathleen had planned to go grocery shopping today, and she said that she would. So I went back downstairs and watched one of the bowl games. It was getting past lunch time so I figured that if we were going shopping I did not want to do it on a hungry stomach, I tend to buy a lot of things that we do not really need and often are not too healthy.

I wound up making a ham and toasted grill cheese sandwich, then I went back to watching the game. Kathleen came downstairs a little after 1400; I had just about given up going shopping again today. So I went upstairs and changed my clothes, when I got downstairs, Kathleen was just finishing drying her hair. I mead Reggie a little treat, something I do when we leave him for any length of time, and then brought him in from the back yard.

We finally took off and did our shopping; we even managed not to buy too much that was not on my shopping list of what we needed. We finally got back home about 1630, and put the groceries away. Kathleen asked if I wanted creamed chipped beef on toast for dinner tonight, since we had not had that in a while I said sure!

Neither one of us ate a lot, Kathleen made six pieces of toast and there were two pieces left over when we finished eating. Kathleen has gone upstairs and I am here doing my blog. Since I do not think that I will be doing anything exciting tonight, I will just say good night now.

?Friday?

Well, today was anything but ordinary. I have been waking up about 0330, tossing and turning until about 0600, then falling asleep until about 0800 or 0830. This morning I decided to get up at 0600 and see if that would make much of a difference.

It was much darker outside, and Reggie was not sure what was going on, but he was glad to get to go outside. Anyway, after my morning computer ritual, I went into the kitchen and finished washing a pan that I had left soaking last night to try to get some of the burnt on residue loosened up so that I could get it clean. Then I gathered up all the rest of the things I could find to put into the dishwasher.

I had not had eggs yet this week, so I took out a couple eggs, sliced up some summer sausage and toasted some raisin bread. While that was cooking, I poured myself some coffee. After finishing breakfast, I put the remaining dishes into the dishwasher and turned it on. Since the pan I used to cook the eggs and sausage was cool by now, I washed it as well.

Then I poured myself some more coffee and headed into the living room to read the paper. It did not take too long to read, as there was not a lot of anything interesting. For some strange reason the mail had been getting here around 0930 all week, but today it had not.

I was suppose to be getting together with my accountability group this morning at 1100, so I did not want to get into anything, so I just kind of paced. Kathleen had come downstairs and was making herself breakfast and the mail finally arrived about 1030.

There was not really much of anything there; probably the only thing I kept was my American Express bill. Kathleen did get a few things as well, and I looked over my Arthritis magazine quickly as I need to leave by 1045.

We met this morning for pizza and to watch the Oregon State Beavers beat Missouri in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. It was a good game and we, only three of the five of us were there but those of us there had a good time of fellowship and food.

I got home about 1515 and expected that we would be going grocery shopping. Kathleen was still in her robe and said that she needed to take a shower, but she lay down on the couch and took a nap instead. She has said that she did not feel well, and she certainly does not look like she feels very well.

Anyway, we did not make it grocery shopping another day, maybe tomorrow! Kathleen was going to fix me some clam chowder, but I still did not feel hungry, so I told her not to bother. I probably will pop some pop corn later tonight and call that supper. I can afford to miss a meal every now and again.

Well, this should be another quiet evening, so I will say good night.

Just Thursday

I am not sure why I slept in until about 0830 this morning as I went to bed about 2100, but I did. Anyway, after letting Reggie out and cleaning up the kitchen some more, I made myself some raisin toast with peanut butter and Smucker's all fruit. I used some blackberry and some apricot.

After I finished eating the mail had come so I went and got it. There was a medical insurance statement for Kathleen's doctor's appointment and a new statement from Boeing on my monthly pension amount for next year. The rest of it was junk and was quickly deposited in the recycling bag. While I was in the back porch, I decided to gather up all the plastic bags so that we could take them to the grocery store when we went there today. Most of the grocery stores have a place to recycle used plastic bags.

Then I sat down in the living room and read the paper. When I finished the paper, I recycled it as well. I downloaded a couple of updated programs on my computer which took about an hour and a half, a lot longer than I thought it would and by this time I was thinking about lunch.

I had mixed the baked beans, chili and rice from yesterday last night, so I added some water and microwaved it. There was not a lot, but I decided to just have that as it was after 1400 and I did not want to be stuffed when we went shopping.

Shortly after that, Kathleen came down and said that her stomach was not feeling well and that she was going to take a nap. About 1715, I went upstairs and Kathleen said that she would come up with something for dinner.

At 1800, I decided to make something for myself, since we bought a loaf of bread yesterday, I decided to toast it and add some salsa, summer sausage, Italian seasoning and cheese and then toast it again to melt the cheese. Not bad for making something out of nothing.

Well, it looks to be another quiet night; most of them are nowadays, so I think that I will say my good night now.

Wednesday Wandeings

Today was more or less back to "normal", whatever that really is. After doing my computer thing, I unloaded the dishwasher and scrubbed a couple of pots and pans The mail came as I was finishing up cleaning the kitchen so I went and got it. There was not really anything there and most of it just went to the recycling.

I thought about making some eggs for breakfast again, but decided on the more healthy oatmeal. I also heated up the remainder of the coffee I made yesterday while I made a fresh pot for today.

Since I had the kitchen somewhat clean, I decided that I would shake out the area rugs, sweep the floor and mop it. That made the rest of the downstairs look worse, so I vacuumed the downstairs carpeting.

The garbage truck picked up our trash as I was vacuuming, so I went out to the front to get the empty can and bring it to the back. When I got out there, I noticed that there was a bag of trash, a couple houses down that was in the middle of the street and it was starting to loose its contents, so I went over and gathered up the trash and put it into my empty can. I think that is the fastest that I have ever gotten trash back into our empty can.

Now I could sit down and read the paper. After finishing the paper and recycling it, I took the eggshells from underneath the sink, took them outside, crushed them up, and spread them out among the strawberries. It is my environmentally friendly slug control.


I was starting to get hungry as it was after 1330, so I mixed up the bean and bacon soup that Kathleen had yesterday, the left over Bushes baked beans, and the left over rice from last night and heated it up in the microwave. Before I ate any, I had my Beano, so that the beans would not be quite as potent.

While I was eating the fellow in charge of our men's help group told me of an elderly couple that was having some problems with their computer, so after I finished eating I called them to find out what the problem was.

I though that perhaps I could fix it over the phone, by no such luck, so Kathleen and I went over to their house and I spent about an hour and I think that I got it working properly. I asked them to call tonight or tomorrow if it were not running right.

Kathleen needed to pick up some prescriptions and we were planning to go grocery shopping today anyway. We also needed to take back some Christmas decorations that we got too many of. So we took the decorations back and then only had time to pick up her prescriptions. So I guess we will have to go grocery shopping tomorrow.

Since we did not go grocery shopping, today we did not have a lot to choose from for supper. So Kathleen found a couple cans of chili and we still had some left over rice from last night. She mixed everything together and microwaved it. We added some cheddar cheese to it and again I took my Beano to prevent much bean damage.

Well, Kathleen went upstairs and I think that all the excitement is over for today, so I will just say good night.

The day after - crash day

Well, this morning I got up around 0830 and I could have slept in a lot longer, but I knew that I needed to let Reggie out, so I got up begrudgingly. On my way downstairs, I picked up the towels and then loaded them into the washing machine and started it up. After I finished my morning computer stuff, I emptied the dishwasher and put everything away.

When I went to let Reggie in I noticed that there was water going underneath the sidewalk and was collecting near the window well. So I went down to the basement to see if we had any water coming in and I noticed that it started coming in, in a couple places.

I went upstairs, out to the garage, got a smashed tin can, put it in the hole, and then covered it with some dirt. It seemed to stop the water from coming into the window well, but the other area I could not do anything to stop. Luckily it was not coming in the other area very much or very fast.

Then I made myself some of my oatmeal concoction and some coffee. Then I cleaned up my dishes from breakfast and went into the living room to read the paper. There were several ads and Kathleen wanted to look through them to see if there was anything that we could not live without.

The mail had arrived by this time so I went out and got it and everything but a couple of catalogs and a magazine wound up it the recycling bag. I passed on all but one catalog on to Kathleen.

Then I started doing the rest of the laundry, I wound up washing, drying, folding and putting away four loads of laundry. I think that is all I accomplished today. I spent most of the day sitting in my chair and trying to stay awake.

I made myself some corn beef hash for lunch and went back to sitting. Then when Kathleen asked about dinner I suggested some Bushes baked beans, using some of the left over ham and cooking some rice, it really hit the spot.

Well, I think that I am too tired to do much of anything tonight, so I will just say good night now.

Merry Christmas

Well, today did not start out like most other days. We spent the night at Alyssa and Dan's, as did all the children and grandchildren. Kathleen and I slept on the floor in the family room, Aaron and Tami slept on an air mattress, shared the living room with Andrea and John slept on the couches pushed together, Becca and Alexis slept in the dining room on the floor. That was downstairs, upstairs, Toni slept on the floor in Natalie's room, Chucky slept in Zander's room, and both Zander and Natalie slept in their new sleeping bags that they got from their mom and dad. Alyssa slept in their own bed. They suggested that Kathleen and I could have it, but I thought that Alyssa probably needed to sleep in her own bed.

Anyway, I got up a little before sunrise to let Reggie out for his morning constitutional and I went back inside to get some day clothes on and when I went back to get Reggie in, he had decided to take himself for a little walk. So I went back inside to get some shoes on so that I could go look for him.

I thought that I saw him across the field playing with a little girl, so I went out to the street and started to walk to where the house was, it was still dark enough that I could not see a driveway, so I went back to Alyssa and Dan's driveway and started to walk across the field. The little girl must have seen me as she put him on a leash and started to walk toward me. She let him off the leash about a hundred yards away, and I called out to him and he came running.

By the time I got back inside most everyone was up. I started to put away the dishes from last night and the other adults went upstairs to sing to Alyssa and Dan. Once I had the dishes put away, I started to load it up again and also did a lot of the hand washing stuff. The grandchildren had a snack so I gathered up their dishes and put them into the dishwasher.

The adult females, scrambled some eggs, sausages, toasted some cinnamon bread and made some juice. Andrea had to cook the eggs in two batches, so we kind of ate in shifts. After everyone ate, I gathered up the dishes, finished loading the dishwasher, and then started it up.

Sometime this morning the grandchildren got to open up their remaining presents and even some of the adults got some gifts.

Toni and Chucky had to leave early, as Toni had to work later this afternoon. Andrea and John left next as they still had another Christmas with John's family, they were also hoping to catch a little nap, as no one got as much sleep as they would have liked.

I loaded up our SUV and waited for Kathleen to finish visiting. When she was getting close I opened up the back door and Reggie jumped in and was ready to go, I took the back roads back and even went down to the Columbia River and drove along it for a while and then headed home.

Reggie was glad to get home, I let him out into the back yard and he did not want to come in for quite some time. Kathleen and I unloaded the SUV and I put my things away. After changing my clothes, I went downstairs and read the paper. Lots of adds, not much news!

After recycling the paper, I decided to collect the trash from all the trashcans in the house and took it outside. The trash is usually picked up on Tuesday, so I took the can to the front, even though it will probably not get picked up until Wednesday this week.

Well, I think we will be having some leftovers tonight and I do not think anything else will be happening tonight. I think that I will probably call it an early night tonight, so I will say good night and Merry Christmas again!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

This will be a rather short blog, as we are headed to Alyssa and Dan's for Christmas Eve, a sleep over, and than Christmas morning. We just finished wrapping the presents and the ham smells really good in the oven and Kathleen is packing her things for the night.

This was a pretty normal Sunday morning and day so far. I made some raisin bread for Kathleen and myself for breakfast, then off to church. For lunch, I heated up a can of soup and Kathleen had her left over salmon on a sandwich.

Well, since I cannot think of anything else exciting to say for today, I will wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to all a good night!

Saturday Shopping

This morning started out pretty normally, I was going to make myself some hash browns and a couple eggs, but I thought that my oatmeal concoction might be a little healthier, so the healthy food won out.

After eating, I washed a lot of hand wash pots and pans and things that I do not like to put into the dishwasher. The mail had gotten here, so I opened it, one bill and the rest was junk mail so it went right into the recycling bag.

Then I poured myself another cup of coffee, went into the living room, and read the paper. After finishing the paper and recycling it, I took the kitchen scraps out to the compost tumbler.

While I was out there, I noticed that the field that I was using yesterday to cut down the blackberries was being bulldozed, so it was a good thing that I did what I did yesterday. Today if I had tried doing it, I would be up to my knees in mud.

Since we did not get to go shopping yesterday, we were planning to do it today, but Kathleen was busy going through stuff and finding some things that she had been looking for, for quite a while. Then about 1400 I made myself some chicken gumbo soup and soaked some stale bread in it to give it more volume.

Finally about 1530 Kathleen came down stairs and was ready to go, I was almost ready to say forget it as it had gotten so late, but I realized that we needed to go and we were running out of time. We took back what we had to take back and bought a coupe of things that we were looking for.

It was 1930 when we finally left the mall; I was hungry and tired so we headed for home. Kathleen reheated the stir-fry from last night and we played the sound track from "the Nativity Story", one of the things we bought today, while we ate.

It is now after 2030 and I think that I will just say good night now.

Friday Follies

This morning started up just about like any other morning, I had my oatmeal concoction for breakfast, the mail got here before I had a chance to sit down to eat, we got a coupe Christmas cards and the rest was junk mail. After eating, I put the dishes away from the dishwasher that I started last night and then poured myself another cup of coffee and headed into the living room to read the paper.

I was waiting for a decision as to what we were going to do today and decided to go outside about 1130 and dig up some of the fox glove that had grown up around a couple of the roses. While I was doing that, I noticed that the blackberries were more exposed now and I could get at them to dig or cut them down. These were all on the other side of the fence, so I went around the vacant house and into the vacant lot and began working on the blackberries.

Naturally, I was only in my shorts and shirt, so I did manage to get cut up from the thorns pretty good. I did think about wearing gloves, so my hands were pretty much protected. I really started working up a sweat, and after I finished I thought that I would just go inside and get cleaned up, but on the way back to the yard I noticed a columbine growing near the foundation in an area that I was trying to redo, so I dug it out and replanted it.

After that, I noticed a couple young arborvitaes growing where I did not want them. So I dug them out and transplanted them in a row by the existing ones on the east side of the house. Then I thought that I would do some more pruning on the roses.

I had cut a couple roses off and brought them into the house, I am pretty sure that these will be the last ones this year, so I thought that it would be a good time to do some more surgery on the roses. Then I took a garbage can full and put it into the can for the yard debris.

By now, I was rather hot, sweaty and tired, so I decided to go inside and get cleaned up. After a while, I realized that I was also getting pretty hungry. I asked Kathleen if she wanted the left over salmon from last night, unfortunately she did, so I did the next best thing, I made a Limburger cheese and sardine sandwich. It was good, but not as good as the salmon would have been.

After eating, I went on to my computer to see the status of the package that I was having sent to my mother and sister and her family. I saw where it was delivered at 1346 east coast time; the notice said that it was left on the front porch. I called to make sure that it had in fact arrived and that they had brought it inside.

Mom answered the phone and so I had a chance to talk to her for a little while. She sounded good and it was good to get the chance to talk to her.

I just kind of sat around and rested the rest of the afternoon, I had thought that we might have been going to Alyssa's to help her clean up, but we never did. Then about 1645 I asked Kathleen what she had planned for dinner, she was not sure, but she went into the kitchen and thawed some chicken and cut up some vegetables and made some stir fired with some of the left over rice from last night.

Well, it is now a little after 1800 and I do not think I will be doing anything too terribly exciting tonight, so I will just say good night now.

The Things of Thursday

It really got warm last night. Kathleen got up and opened the windows wider to let more fresh air into the bedroom. I think that my body had gotten use to getting up at 0800, as I seem to do that on a regular basis.

By the time I got my morning computer times done the mail had come, so I went out and got it. While I was finishing sorting it out Kathleen had come downstairs and asked if I had breakfast, I said no, so she asked if I wanted pancakes again. I said sure, as nothing I was thinking about really appealed to me.

We did not have any banana's left, so she peeled and cut up an apple, then fried up some chopped up hazel nuts. I suggested adding some cheddar cheese, since I have seen that with apple pie before. The pancakes really tasted good, especially the hazel nuts. I could taste the apple as well, Kathleen could not and neither one of us could taste the cheese.

After eating I loaded up the dishwasher and ran it, and then I did the hand washing and cleaned up the stove. Once I had that done I went into the living room and read the newspaper. After I finished the paper I read a magazine and a catalog that came in the mail today.

Nothing worthwhile so I recycled them. I am trying to get into the habit of disposing of magazines when I am done with them rather than just keeping them.
I am trying to prevent stacks of magazines, if there is anything worthwhile in it; I just cut the article out and then recycle the rest of the magazine.

We were suppose to be going shopping today, but Kathleen had gone upstairs to her computer, so I heated up the little bit of stir fried left over from last night. Then I went out side, picked up some more branches from the driveway, and put them into the recycling can. When it was full I put the can out by the street.

Andrea drove up as I was picking up some of the branches, so when I finished we went into the house. She had a meeting and was bored sitting around her place. She had some mail here so that was another reason for her visit. She only stayed about forty-five minutes.

Shortly after she left Kathleen came downstairs ready to go shopping, so I went upstairs, got cleaned up and put on a clean pair of shorts. We wanted to pick up a few small items for the grandchildren, but by the time we got done shopping and got home it was after 1700.

Kathleen fixed salmon and rice for dinner, salmon is always good. Well, tonight looks to be a rather normal evening, I see by the weather forecast that the rain is coming in from the coast, so we should have rain here sometime during the night. I think that I will say my good nights now and that way I will have my blog done for the day.

Midweek Messes

I got up about 0800 again this morning, I had been awake for a while and was not going back to sleep. After my morning routine, I went into the kitchen and cleaned it up a bit and then made a pot of coffee and made myself a couple eggs, sausages and raisin toast for breakfast. While I was making breakfast the mail came, so I went out and got it, I think everything was junk mail.

After eating I cleaned up the kitchen again, I poured myself another cup of coffee and went into the living room too read the paper. After finishing the paper and putting it into the recycling bag, I went outside to rake up all the small branches and fir cones from the front lawn. I had picked up all the larger branches a couple days ago, but it still looked a mess from all the small branches and cones that had come down during the high winds.

As soon as I got outside it started to rain, the freezing kind, but I wanted to get the lawn raked, so I just stayed out there and finished the raking. When I did finish raking I had a pretty good-sized pile, so I put it into the yard debris can, then put the rake back into the garage and went inside to clean up.

Since I had not vacuumed the carpet for a couple days I decided that I should do that before it got too much worse. I had already picked up a couple clumps of Reggie fur, but there was still a lot of it left and many fir needles. This time of year, we always seem to have almost as many fir needles inside as there are on the ground outside.

This afternoon, I cleaned up some unused files and removed some unused programs from my computer, then updated a couple programs and generally did some computer house keeping.

Kathleen made some stir fried tonight for dinner and it was good, we have been kind of living off leftovers for the last week or so and it was nice to have something different. Tonight it is suppose to get warmer as the night goes on, I think that it is suppose to get up to the mid to upper 40's tonight.

Well, I cannot think of anything else to write about, so I will just sign off and say good night.

Tueday Things

It was almost 0800 when I got up this morning. After going downstairs and doing my morning computer activities, I went into the kitchen and made myself some oatmeal. It was that kind of morning. Cool and something nice and hot sounded and tasted so good.

Kathleen came downstairs as I was finishing my oatmeal and we talked at the table for a while as we watched the latest on the search for the lost climbers. It certainly does not look good, especially as they discovered that they only had light packs and were not really prepared for a very long stay on the mountain.

After a while, I went into the living room and read the paper, the mail came, but I waited until I finished the paper until I got up and got it. More Christmas cards and a medical insurance statement, all the rest was junk mail.

After I recycled the paper and the mail, I went upstairs and changed clothes as Kathleen and I were having lunch with my accountability group and their wives. After we ate, we all went to see the movie "The Nativity", it was really pretty good and probably as accurate as any "Hollywood" production could be.

We got home about 0700 and as the sun was down it had really started to cool off. The temperature is supposed to hover just below the freezing level again tonight. It has been cold at night and then warming up during the daylight hours. That is soon to change, as they are predicting rain for the next few days. They are also warning of the possibility of freezing rain for the next couple of days. Winter in Oregon!

Well, Kathleen said that we are having chili tonight for dinner, it is a good cold night meal and I like it no matter what the weather. I some how do not think that there will be anything else exciting the rest of the night, so I will say good night.

Monday Madness

Well, I went to bed before Kathleen and she got up before me this morning. She was not feeling well and got up just a few minutes before I did. I gathered up the towels, loaded them into the washing machine, and then let Reggie outside for his morning duty call.

Then I went and sat down at my computer to do my morning readings. When I finished my morning computer stuff Kathleen was coming downstairs and asked if I felt like pancakes this morning.

Since I had though about either oatmeal or eggs this morning, neither one did I really feel like, but pancakes did sound pretty good. We had a banana that was about a week past what I would eat and even beyond what Kathleen would eat so she added that to the pancakes and it really tasted good, I cannot remember the last time I had banana pancakes.

The mail came before I sat down to eat, so I went out to get it and other than a Christmas card, there really was not much there. The towels were done washing so I put them into the dryer and sat down to read the paper.

About the time I finished the paper the dryer was done, so I unloaded the towels, folded them and put them away. Then I took the kitchen scraps out to the composter and then picked up after Reggie. Then I took the recycling and the garbage out front.

Kathleen came downstairs a little while after I came back inside and got cleaned up. We were planning on going to the credit union to deposit a couple checks and then do some more Christmas shopping for the grandchildren.

We looked at a couple stores, but just did not find what we were looking for, so we went to Costco. We were planning on going there anyway, but we were able to find what we were looking for and picked up the spiral cut ham for Christmas. I even got Kathleen a bunch of flowers that she arranged in a couple large vases when we got home.

She asked what to do for dinner, so I suggested that we use the rest of the open package of meatloaf from the other night and a couple of baked potatoes. What that was warming up she asked if I wanted green beans or creamed corn, since it had been a long time since we had creamed corn, I said let's have the corn, so we did.

After dinner Kathleen asked if I wanted some hot chocolate, we had gotten some dark Belgian chocolate mix at Costco, so I thought that we might as well try it. Kathleen took hers upstairs and I have mine here at my computer. I do not think that there will be anything else to write home about tonight so I will say good night now!

Sunday Shuffling

I slept in this morning as we were not going to our church, but Alyssa and Dan's to see and hear Natalie singing in the children's choir, so I was able to sleep in until after 0800. I even made myself some oatmeal for breakfast. We left for Alyssa's church about 1030, got there about 1045, and then drove around the building until we were able to find a parking spot.

We got into the sanctuary about the same time that Alyssa did and then saved the seats as Alyssa took the children to their classes. She and Dan arrived back a little before the service was about to start. Dan's Mom arrived shortly after that and we had just enough seats for everyone.

They had a really good drama to start the service off, then the message and finally the children's choir. They did a really nice job, Natalie keep looking at herself on the big screen behind her so it was a little hard for Alyssa, Dan or Kathleen to get a good shot of her face straight on.

After the service, we headed home to let Reggie out and also to change clothes. We were getting together at Aaron and Tami's house at 1600 to celebrate Aaron's birthday and then on to Chang's Mongolian grill for a family dinner.

Tami's two brother's and sister-in-law were there as were Tami's parents. Alyssa, Dan, and their children came about twenty minutes after we got there and we had already gone and gotten our food cooked.

After I finished eating, I sat with Alyssa and Dan to help with the children as did Kathleen. When they went back for seconds, I stayed there with the children. Then I went back there to keep Dan company after Alyssa's food was cooked.

After Tami's family left three of the grandchildren wanted to sit on my lap, it would not have been too bad it they just wanted to sit there, but they also wanted to jump around and play. After a while the children were getting a little tired and so we all left and then talked in the parking lot and talked for fifteen or twenty minutes.

We finally got home about 1930; I took the final load of clothes out of the dryer and took them upstairs to fold. Kathleen came upstairs as well and changed her clothes, after finishing the clothes and putting them away, I came downstairs and here I sit.

I think that is about all for tonight, so I will just say good night!

Saturday's Summary

I got up about 0800 this morning with a slight tickle in my throat, I still have it. It is developing into a rather annoying cough. Anyway, after letting Reggie out and doing my morning computer routine, I decided to go into the kitchen and make myself breakfast.

I had not had oatmeal in a couple of days so I got some oatmeal, wheat germ, raisins and black strap molasses added some water and put the bowl into the microwave and cooked it for three minutes. I also made a pot of coffee, sliced a croissant in half, put it into the toaster oven, and toasted it. I added cream cheese and orange marmalade to it and that was my breakfast.

After cleaning up in the kitchen, I went into the living room and read the paper. The mail came while I was reading it, but I waited until I finished reading the paper before I got it. There was not much there, other than a Christmas card and a bill, the rest was junk mail.

Alyssa was having Zander's birthday party at noon, so I changed my clothes and put on my "cowboy" duds. Kathleen had made the appetizers for tonight’s progressive dinner and asked if I would take them over to the people's house where we were having the first phase of the dinner.

So I did, by the time I got back Kathleen was ready to go so we took off for the party. We got there a little late, but it did not really matter, as the youngsters were busy running around. I now really appreciate the fact that we have children at a younger age; I do not think I could handle a steady diet of that now.

Alyssa had the whole western theme going, the dining room had bails of hay and the entryway into the living room had a plastic solon door. In the kitchen, she had all kinds of cowboy goodies for the young cowpokes to eat.

I think Zander's favorite part was opening the presents, cards, clothes were quickly tossed to the floor, but the cars, trucks, and other such items were looked at much closer. It was fun to see the children wanting Zander to open their presents, but it did get a bit chaotic at times. Again, children are for the young.

Kathleen and I left a little after 1600 so that we could get to the progressive dinner on time, but as we were leaving my stomach started to really bother me and by the time we stopped to get gas, I told Kathleen that I did not think that I would be able to make the dinner. She did not want to go by herself and said that she was really tired.

So around 1800 I toasted a couple buns and opened a can of sardines and that was my dinner, Kathleen heated up her leftover ham and yam from the other evening. Well it is almost 2000 and I think that I am just about ready for bed; my stomach is really crampy so I hope that I can get a good night sleep so that we can go hear Natalie singing tomorrow.

This getting older is not all that it is cracked up to be. Good night!

Fickled Friday

What a day! I got up about 0800 and could have slept for a couple more hours, between the wind and rain last night and just being really tired from running around yesterday. Anyway, the sun was shining and it was nice and warm out. When I got downstairs, I let Reggie out and looked around the front yard to see what kind of damage was done by the winds last night.

There were many branches down, nothing over an inch in diameter and there were many fir cones all over. I went back inside and started my morning computer stuff. After that, Kathleen had started shredding potatoes for hash browns and dividing eggs for breakfast. She gets the yokes and I get the whites with cheese. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down to breakfast.

Before I had a chance to start eating the mail came so I went out and brought it in. Some of Kathleen's medications arrived and other than a couple wood working catalogs the rest was junk, so I deposited it into the recycling bag and than had breakfast.

The sun was shining so brightly it looked like it was going to be a really beautiful day, boy did that ever change in a hurry. I went outside to pick up some of the larger branches and while I was out there I noticed that the shy was starting to get dark and before I knew it, it had started to hail. I stayed outside working for a little while longer, until it started to come down really hard.

It did not hail very long, just long enough to leave a layer of hail on the lawn. Since I had not read the paper yet, I decided that I would do that and see if the sun would come back out.

Kathleen left to her doctor's appointment and I went into the basement to fix the water exhaust for the furnace. These were the parts that I bought the other day at the True Value. It only took a couple minutes and I was done.

Since it was not raining or anything at the time I decided to go back outside and pick up some more of the fallen branches. I was working under the fir trees most of the time and did not notice it starting to snow, just little flakes at first and then they got bigger and started coming down faster.

Again I game in and went inside when I got into the kitchen the phone rang; it was Kathleen wanting to know if it were snowing here. I told her that it was. Just after I got off the phone it really started snowing, almost blizzard like, so I called Kathleen back and told her that the snow was starting to build up and sticking to the ground.

As soon as I got off the phone with Kathleen, Andrea called to see what the weather was like here so she could make a decision about work. By this time the snowing had slowed down and the streets were pretty clear, but the temperature was starting to go down.

When I let Reggie out about 1630 I could really feel the coolness of the outside, it was really pleasant earlier in the day, but now it was starting to feel like winter. Kathleen was home and starting to make dinner, I had taken some of the meatloaf out of the freezer earlier and she was making mashed potatoes and peas to go with the meatloaf.

After dinner, I put the leftovers into the refrigerator and washed the dished that needed to be hand washed. Kathleen has gone upstairs and I am down here doing my blog. I do not think that tonight will be as billowy as last night was, but I think that I will be going to bed early tonight. So good night!

Turbulent Thursday

Thursday started out as a pretty normal day, the only difference was that we left the house about 0930 to go to Zander's pre-school Christmas program. It did not start until 1015, but we had had a lot of rain during the night and I did not know what we would run into.

As we were going there and stopped at a traffic light the cars in the right turning lane were about axle deep in water. I even remarked to Kathleen about the puddles having their own waves. I almost wish that I had brought my fishing gear!

At another intersection, the water from the corner reached to the center of a four-lane road. It was probably several inches deep at the curb and only about a quarter inch at the center. I felt more as if I should have been in a canoe or a kayak going down the street.

Then once we got off the main roads and onto Foster Road, the water in the ditches alongside the road looked more like creeks, the water was really running fast and in several places, it was crossing the roadway. I told Kathleen that I thought that on the way home we would take a different road.

Zander's Program was really good and Zander did very well. While they had their "party" afterwards Kathleen and I held Hayden so that Alyssa could do what she needed to do. When given the choice between a banana or a cookie Hayden said cookie, so it looks like he has developed somewhat of a sweet tooth.

After everything was over Kathleen and I did go home a different way, I needed to stop at Bi-mart and pickup a wiper blade for the back window of Kathleen's SUV. While there we did some shopping and then we stopped by Lowe's to pick up a couple items to redirect the heating vent in Kathleen's craft room.

There was a Fred Meyer just down the road from the Lowe's so we stopped there, as Kathleen needed to pick up a few items for an appetizer that she is bringing to our Sunday School class progressive dinner.

While we were there, she found a slow cooker that she liked better than the one we just bought at Bi-mart, so we bought that one and would stop by the Bi-Mart near out home and return the one we bought at the other Bi-Mart.

By this time, it was after 1600 and my stomach felt like it was ready to start eating itself. I had breakfast earlier in the morning but I had not had anything other than a small cookie that got Hayden started on them. So Kathleen reheated the scalloped potatoes and ham from last night.

After finishing dinner, I went to sit at my computer to do my blog, as I was heading to a Missions meeting at 1900 and would be late coming home. As I was opening the web page, the lights flickered and then turned brown, so I decided that I had better shut the computer down so that in case the power did go off it would not damage the computer.

I did get home late from the meeting and Kathleen said that the power did go off briefly a couple times, so I am glad that I did turn the computer off. Well that was my day yesterday. The wind has died down this morning and from the looks of the yard and driveway, I think I will be picking up branches for a while.

It could be a lot worse, there are several homes that have had trees fall through their homes and while we did have some branches hit the roof, they were an inch or less in diameter and did not do any damage that I can see now.

Well, I think that I will make breakfast now and get started on my day.

Midweek's muddlings

This morning I got up a little after 0700 and after spending an hour on my computer, I got ready to meet up with the guys for breakfast. We met at a different place this morning, it was different, but I am not sure if it was any better. The food and service was good and it did have windows that we could look out.

I had the light breakfast, a couple eggs, bacon, toast and coffee and it was plenty. Everyone had something different, one ordered a pancake and it covered the whole plate. Another had a waffle and it was about the same size. One of the other guys had a side order of a sausage patty, and it was almost as big as the pancake was, it must have been a pound of meat...too much for me.

After breakfast, we went to visit Duane Huntley, in the care facility. He was suppose to go in for a Gamma knife surgery tomorrow, but his insurance has not approved it yet, so he will have to wait until that happens. We spent about an hour talking and praying with him. He was looking good and was pretty alert.

After leaving there, I stopped at Loews, to try to find some tubing connectors to modify or heater water exhaust line. After looking around for about forty-five minutes, I could not find the right combination, so I did not get any of it. Next, I stopped at Kohl's to try to find something for Kathleen and did not have any better luck there, so I started for home.

On the way I got gas for the Wrangler, it had been four months since I got gas for it. That shows you how much I have been driving it lately. I use to fill it up once a week, now it is a lot less frequently, which is a good thing.

After leaving the gas station, I decided to stop at the Parkrose True Value store to try to find the connections. After looking around for a while and with some help from one of the employees I was able to put together something that I think will work okay.

I arrived home about 1240 and Kathleen was just about out the door heading to her hair appointment. So I read the paper and opened the mail, even though the only thing that I wound up keeping was my jury summons for January 9th.

About 1500 I decided to make myself something to eat, so I heated up the little bit of left over turkey soup, split a croissant, sliced some cheese, and made a croissant melt to go along with the soup.

When Kathleen came home, she was not sure what to do for dinner, so I suggested using some of the left over ham from Sunday's potluck and make scalloped potatoes. So she did, I now I feel like just sitting around for the rest of the night. It is not that I really did much of anything today, it has just been one of those waiting for the next storm to get here kind of day.

With that said, I think that it will be an early evening as Zander is having his preschool Christmas program tomorrow and we will need to leave the house around 0930 to get there in time. So good night!

Look Ma, no cavities!

This morning I was up around 0800, I just could not sleep any longer. After I got off the computer, I made myself some oatmeal with wheat germ and black strap molasses. I also put a banana and some raisins in to give me some more iron and potassium. After finishing breakfast, I loaded the dishwasher and did some of the hand washing that was sitting around.

Then I poured myself a cup of coffee and went into the living room to read the paper, and again before I had a chance to finish the mail came. The only thing that I kept was a catalog and a magazine that I set aside to read later.

Kathleen had mentioned that she would like to have leftover turkey soup tonight for dinner, so I went down to the basement, brought up a container of soup, and put it in the sink to thaw out.

Since I do not have a work office, I decided to decorate my fly tying room, or at least one of the desktops. I have several fly fisherman and four or five ice fisherman that are either huddled around the fire or cutting a hole in the ice. Several of the pieces light up and are kind of neat. I also set up my miniature nativity scene. I have not set up my miniature tree yet, maybe later on this week.

Alyssa called and asked if we could watch Hayden for a while, since I had a dentist appointment I gave the phone to Kathleen to answer. I started cleaning up the living room and then vacuumed it along with the rest of the downstairs. Later on Kathleen decided that she was too tired and called Alyssa back, but Alyssa had already made other plans.

Anyway, about 1400 I decided to make myself some lunch, I heated up some stuffing and gravy, and since there was not a lot of it, I also had a bowl of cottage cheese and loganberry jam mixed together in a bowl.

I did a little more straightening up and about 1520 I started to get ready for my dentist appointment. It is a good thing that I left early, as when I got there I had to fill out a new medical history form. Shortly after I finished filling it out the hygienist called for me to come on back to get my teeth x-rayed and cleaned.

After she finished doing that, the dentist came in, looked at my teeth and x-rays, and said that my teeth looked great and he would see me in about six months.

After leaving the dentist office I stopped at Bi-Mart to look for a T for some small plastic tubing for Kathleen, I could not find any and Kathleen called me saying that she had the soup warmed up and ready for me. So I took off and headed for home before going anywhere else to try to find one.

When I got home Kathleen was upstairs in her computer room on her computer, I let her know that I was home and then changed my clothes again and went downstairs. Since she did not come downstairs right away, I decided to check my e-mail and after I finished on my computer, I was leaving the room and Kathleen said that she would be right down.

She heated up a couple rolls from Sunday's potluck and that was our dinner. I added nutmeg to my soup; it is something that I always remember doing as a child at my grandparent’s house. We use that power, but I remember grinding my own nutmeg with a small grater at their house.

Well, Kathleen is back upstairs and I think I will read my magazine and call it a night. Tomorrow I meet with the guys from the accountability group for breakfast and then we are going to visit one of our friends who is in a nursing care facility. I hate to think that I am getting to that age where my friends are in nursing care facilities.

Well, I think I will just say good night for now.

Monday's Mischief

I slept in until about 0730 and got up mostly because I had a lot of mucous in my throat and was having a hard time breathing. Kathleen got up about the same time as well and we talked about having pancakes or waffles for breakfast. I went downstairs, did my computer things, and than Kathleen came down, I asked her about pancakes, and so we had pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast. While she was making the pancakes, I made a pot of coffee and she opened up a can of mango juice.

After eating, I went into the living room and started reading the paper, about half way through the mail came so I went out and got it and then finished reading the paper and then the mail. There were not a lot of things worth keeping, so I deposited the paper and junk mail in the recycling bag.

Kathleen had gone upstairs and was working on her computer, and I collected the garbage, took it out to the garbage can, and took the can up to the street for tomorrow's pickup. Then I washed up, heated up the rest of the beef and barley soup from yesterday, and made a grilled cheese sandwich to go along with the soup.

About 1500 Kathleen came downstairs and wanted to go to church to pick up a couple CD's that she left there yesterday. I had planned on stopping by Multnomah and pick up my alumni card so that I could use the library and the fitness center. After that, we headed to Wal-Mart.

On the way, we came to Boyd's Coffee and Kathleen wanted to stop and get some more pancake mix, so we stopped and looked around while we were there. The off to Wal-Mart.

Kathleen and I both got some sweats and Kathleen got some other clothing. She also found a magazine that she wanted to look at as well as some Christmas ornaments and a couple other things.

While we were checking out, she was wondering what to do for dinner as it was about 1800 and I suggested using some of the left over ham from the potluck yesterday. She thought that was a good idea and would have been quicker than anything else that she could come up with.

So after we got home she heated up a couple potatoes, a yam and a couple slices of ham. After eating, I put the dishes into the dishwasher and she went upstairs to do some more work on her computer. I came into my office and here I am writing my blog. Well, I think that is all the interesting things that I can think of so I will just say good night.

Sunday Summary

I woke up a little after 0700 this morning, a little later than I normally do on Sunday morning's, but I was still really tired, but I knew that I needed to get up and get ready for church and Sunday School. So I pulled myself out of bed and shaved with my eyes closed and then took a sh0wer and woke up a little.

After drying off and making my way to the kitchen I made some coffee and toast. Once I finished that I went upstairs and woke Kathleen up and got dressed. I was still too tired to read the paper, and I just did not feel like doing the dishes either, so I just kind of sat around.

We made it to church about fifteen minutes late, but we did make it. After church and Sunday School I cleaned up the class room and then went over to help set up for the pot luck. Afterwards, I helped clean up the fellowship hall and put things away.

When we finally left, I could hardly stand up, I was really tired. Once home I changed clothes and went downstairs to read the paper, it took a long time, as I probably should have taken a nap, I would not have been as tired as I am now if I had.

About 1800 Kathleen made some beef and barley soup and I made some grilled cheese sandwiches. There is something about a warm cup of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich that tastes really good on a winter night. Well, it is late enough, and I am tired enough that I think that I will just say good night now.

Saturday's Stories

The wind and rain woke me up about 0300 this morning and I dozed on and off until about 0600, when I finally fell asleep until 0730. I was still more tired than hungry when I got up so after doing my computer stuff for an hour I went and read the paper. After that I heard the mail come, so I brought it in and sat down to some scrambled eggs that Kathleen made along with some cinnamon raisin toast and a couple veggie sausages.

After eating I went through the mail and sorted out the good from the bad, and put a couple magazines on my chair to read later. Kathleen had to be at church at 1000 to help set up for the Christmas pot luck tomorrow and I went along to help as well. We were planning to come home to let Reggie out before going to Alyssa and Dan's house for a birthday party for me. However, when we finished at church we felt that it would be more of a hassle to go home and then go to Alyssa's than to just go, so that is what we did.

Aaron, Tami and the girls were there as well as Toni and Chucky when we arrived and Andrea and John arrived a short time later. Alyssa had decorated everything like a 50's style dinner and they had 50's music playing in the background. For food there was barbecued cheeseburgers, with all the trimmings, and frys in the plastic baskets with the red and white checkered paper inside. Then for desert there was banana splits with all the goodies for toppings. They also had some anniversary Coke bottles and several kinds of soft drinks.

I took some of the diet Coke and some of the juice from the maraschino cherries and made my own cherry Coke. Natalie and Lexis kept wanting sips of my drink so I really did not get as much as I had planned on, but it was fun watching them enjoy the drink.

Poor Alyssa will have to redecorate the house all over again for Zander's party this next week. Originally she wanted to invite a lot of my friends for a big party for me, but I knew that she also was doing something for her children and suggested that we just keep it a family party for me. I am not big on parties any way and she certainly did not need the extra work and planning for a party for me.

We got home a little bit ago and I am still stuffed. Kathleen forgot her purse, so we will have to go out to get it, so I think that I will just sign off now and say good night.

P.S. I did not write a blog yesterday, I woke up about 0200 with really bad leg cramps and never did get a good nights sleep, so I was tired all day and I continued having the cramps through out the day.

Again good night!

This is how I started my day!

http://howtoprankatelemarketer.ytmnd.com/ (copy and paste this to your browser)

One of the regular e-mails that I get is from CNNMoney.com and I always look at their "fun site of the day" and "joke of the day", they are usually pretty funny.

Anyway, after doing my morning devotions, I checked my e-mail and the above was some of what awaited me. I usually spend the first hour or hour and a half with my devotions and catching up on e-mail first thing in the morning. Today I think that I spent a little longer as I had to replay it over again, it is good to start the morning off with a good laugh.

After, my morning computer time, I loaded up the dishwasher, the washing machine, made coffee and then made my breakfast, a couple eggs, sausages and cinnamon raisin toast.

I ate my breakfast while the first load was washing and it finished about the same time that I finished. Since the first load of laundry was done, I put it in the dryer and loaded up another load of clothes. After breakfast I finished loading up the dishwasher, started it up and washed the pots and knives and other hand washed items.

By this time the first load was done drying, so I unloaded it and went upstairs to fold and it away. When I got back downstairs the second load was done washing, so I loaded it into the dryer and then went around the house and gathered up the towels and put them into the washer.

Next I started writing this as I did not want to forget to include the"fun site of the day". I thought that it was just too funny not to share it with everyone. Well, now the second load of drying is done so I will close for now and since we age suppose to be going to Andrea's place to help her clean up today I will hopefully write more when we get back from there.

Well, we got home from Andrea and John's about 2030 and now I am trying to stay awake long enough to finish this up. I help her clean up her kitchen, washed a lot of pots and pans and loaded and unloaded a couple loads of dishes. I also did four loads of laundry and cleaned up her laundry area.

Kathleen and Andrea worked on straightening up the living and dining rooms and got it to looking much better. Then I helped Andrea haul out a couple bags of garbage and several bags of recycling.

Andrea made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, John came home a little after 1900 and took a shower and than we ate. After we finished eating I think that I could have fallen asleep at the table without much trouble. So we left and I took the freeway home rather than the back roads, as I wanted the light and other traffic rather than the windy dark roads.

Well, I think that this is the time that I say good night for today!

Wednesday's Wonderings

I woke up about 0230 and woke up about every half hour until about 0500 hen I finally went back to sleep and did not get up until about 0800. I went downstairs and made some cinnamon raisin nut toast with peanut butter and banana.

I had taken the craft gloves that Kathleen got for me last night off and was amazed at how much better my hands felt. I left them off most of the day and put them on for a while this afternoon after I had been outside working.

After eating, I washed the pan that Kathleen cooked the bacon in last night. I had soaked it with hot water and Dawn so the grease came off easily. Reggie liked the bacon grease and dry dog food that I gave him last night.

After straightening up the kitchen, I went into the living room to read the paper. Before I finished the paper, the mail came, there was really nothing there, I think Kathleen got a couple things and I got a catalog, but the rest was junk mail. After recycling the paper and mail, I took the full bag out to the garage, and while I was out there, I thought that I would do a little work, so I cut some more of the Italian prune tree down and pulled some weeds in the garden.

I was getting hungry so I went inside and made myself a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. After eating that I went back outside, dug up a couple blackberry bushes, picked up some of the fallen branches from the back yard, and then dumped the barrel into the main barrel that I use for yard debris pickup.

While I was dumping the branches, I noticed that Andrea’s Jeep was in her old parking spot, so I went inside and cleaned up. She brought over some chocolate covered marshmallows that she made, so I had a couple. Kathleen and I were going to go to her house and help her clean up today, but she had a couple things to do so we decide to do it tomorrow instead.

Andrea left about 1600 and shortly after that, Kathleen left to pick up her prescription that she did not get yesterday. She asked me to put some water on the stove and cook some ravioli for dinner tonight. I filled the frying pan with water, but got busy doing something for church and I never got the ravioli into the pan.

Kathleen came home about 1740 and added the ravioli and we had ravioli and Alfredo sauce for dinner tonight. Well, Kathleen has gone upstairs, probably for the night, so I think that I will just say my good night now.

Today is Tuesday

I slept in again this morning, I guess because there was no reason to get up earlier and I must have needed the sleep. My thumb joints have really been bothering me a lot today. I have been taking a lot of Advil and it helps, but it seems to wear off too soon.

I made my first winter breakfast, oatmeal, raisins, and black strap molasses. I used up the last of my regular cereal, so it was a good time to make the change. I also had my first morning cup of coffee. After eating, I cleaned up the kitchen and then went into the living room with another cup of coffee to read the paper.

Shortly after I finished the paper, the mail came, not much of anything exciting, just a couple of catalogs. After depositing the junk mail into the recycling bag, I went outside to pull up some more of the ivy that is growing west of the driveway. When I got tired, I cleaned up and then went upstairs to change clothes so that we could go to the grocery store. Then I went back downstairs and looked over a couple of the catalogs that came today.

While waiting for Kathleen to come downstairs, a UPS package came for me, it was the cover to store my soft-top side and back windows in while I have the hard top on.

I have not used one in the past, but the windows get really dusty and I was afraid that they would get scratched. Shortly after I opened the box, Kathleen came downstairs dressed to go shopping. She even remarked that she was dressed for the first time since Sunday.

Well, we went grocery shopping, and put everything away and then Kathleen wanted to go to a craft store, I was just too tired to go, so I stayed home and since she is not back yet, I thought that I would do my blogging.

We are planning on having bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato on croissants for dinner tonight whenever Kathleen comes home.

Well, I cannot think of anything else to write home about so I might as well say good night now.

My Monday Miseries

I was awakened at 0030, or shortly after midnight, with my Wrangler alarm going off. It was in the garage, so I was not too worried about anyone breaking into it as I could see that the garage door was shut from one of our bedroom windows. Since it had gone off a couple times about an hour earlier, I thought that I had better get up, get dressed, and go downstairs and out to the garage to see what was going on.

When I got out into the garage, I could hear the wind blowing against the metal garage door and I figured that it was just the vibration that was causing the alarm to go off. So I disarmed the Jeeps alarm system and went back into the house, upstairs, changed out of my clothes, and back into bed.

I wish that I could have fallen asleep as quickly as I normally do, but no such luck. I lay there for what seemed like most of the night and finally fell asleep. I finally awoke and got up about 0800, but I was by no means rested.

I think that I was in slow motion all day long; I made myself some cereal and coffee and then sat down for breakfast. After eating, I went through some of the coupons from yesterday’s paper. After sorting the coupons and throwing out the expired coupons, I went into the living room to read the paper.

I thought that we were going to go grocery shopping today since we have not done it the last two or three days, but Kathleen never came down to go. I went out to the garage to check on the Wrangler, and found out that the battery was just about dead and that may have added to the alarm going off last night. The alarm goes off if some one tries to cut the power to it, so when the battery is getting low the alarm will sound.

At first, I was going to use the jump starter, but then I thought that I would just put it on the charger, so I did. When I checked on it about an hour later, the charger was giving me an error, so I unplugged it and then plugged it back in again. I kept checking on it every hour or so, and it seemed to be working okay.

I spent a while picking up some of the branches that had been blown down the last couple of days and put them into the yard debris container. When I went inside, I heated up some of the leftover turkey and stuffing and put some of the gravy on it for my lunch. After eating, I went out to the garage again to check up on the battery’s charging progress.

While the battery was charging I decided to clean up the mess on my office desk, it seems like I did that not all that long ago, but it was stacked pretty high again. This time it was much easier and I can see the top of the desk once again.

While I was working on the desktop, I remembered that yesterday as I was looking for a program disk on the shelf above the desk, everything started to slide off. I just kind of restacked everything and thought that I would have to sort it out one of these days, well; one of these days was today.

I was able to throw out several outdated manuals and put some other things into the file cabinet with the contracts. Then I put everything left back on the shelf and it is now usable. I also sorted out several disks and was able to throw out several that were out of date. Before I threw them away, I broke them up, because they contained backups to my bank accounts.

When I finished I asked Kathleen what plans she had for dinner and she said that she was going to make some tuna noodle casserole. After dinner, I went into the living room and promptly dozed off. I was awaken when Alyssa called, Kathleen answered at the same time I did, so I just hung up and decided that I better get in here and do my blog, before I fell asleep for the night.

I have a feeling that it will be a real early night, as I did not get much sleep last night at all. So good night!

Sunday's Saga

I got up a little before 0700 this morning, I could have slept in longer, but I knew that I had to get up to shower and get ready for church. After my shower, I let Reggie out and made coffee and toast for myself for breakfast.

I got dressed and waited for Kathleen to get ready and we left the house a little after 0830. All the front parking spots were taken when we got there, so I dropped Kathleen off and went around to the back parking lot.

After church and Sunday School, we went home to grab a bit to eat and then off to Natalie’s “princess” birthday party. Alyssa had the outside of the house looking like a castle and the inside as well. Natalie had several her girlfriends there as well as Becca, Lexis, Toni and Chucky were also there. Andrea arrived a while later, but could only stay a short time as she had to go to work.

Alyssa had made all kind of decorations, crafts and things for the girls and they were all dressed up as little princesses. I think that everyone had a really good time and I am sure that Alyssa will sleep well tonight. I do not envy her having to clean up after everyone leaves.

The party got over a little after 1700 and we stayed a little while longer, but we were home around 1830. I did stop and get some gas while we were out, the tank still was about a third full, but in the wintertime, I like to keep the tank as full as possible.

I think that I will just say good night now, as I am too tired to think about writing any more. So, good night!

Sarurday's Stuff

I really slept in this morning, I got about 10 hours of bedtime and did not get up until after 0800. I guess turning 60 was harder on me than I thought! Actually, I think that I was just catching up on lack of sleep earlier in the week.

I made some coffee and had some cereal this morning. After breakfast, I washed the pan I used for yesterday's breakfast. I had not had a chance to do it yesterday, as we seemed to be on the run most of the day.

I saw that the mail had arrived so I went out, got it, and opened it up. I had three birthday cards, one from my Mom with a check, one from my sister and one from my finical advisors with a Home Depot gift card. I also got a couple catalogs and a magazine, the rest was junk.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I fixed the back storm door with parts I picked up at Home Depot yesterday. It works much better now. Next, I took off the old broken dryer vent cover and replaced it with one that fits closer to the house and does not stick out as far as the old one. I think that the other one stuck out far enough that it was always being bumped when I mowed that area; the new one is almost flush to the house.

After doing the outside chores, I went downstairs to sort out some of my tools, by use, i.e. electrical, pluming, carpentry, etc. and put them into separate plastic boxes. Then I put the electrical tools into the electrician’s bag that I bought yesterday.

I already had a bag that I did not have anything in so I put the plumbing tool in it. I also had a bag with some carpentry tool in it, so I added a few to it and then put the bags into the plastic boxes and labeled them and put them on one of the workbenches, for now.

After finishing that, I went back upstairs and read the paper. Then I started to go through some more of the magazines that I started a couple days ago. I made more progress the first day than I have the last two or three days.

My stomach started to growl, so I thought that I had better make myself some lunch. I went into the kitchen and saw that there was just enough leftover potato soup from the other day for one person, so I heated it up. There was just enough for a little less than one bowl, so I was a little hungry after I finished it so I grabbed some peanuts and almonds, and that filled me up.

I went downstairs to the basement, moved my mobile tool carrier over to my workbench, and re-arranged some things and before I knew it, it was about 1800. So here I am writing, I think I will have to see what Kathleen is planning on doing for dinner tonight. I am not anticipating anything else going on tonight so I will just say good night now.

Fun Friday

Well, I slept in two more hours this morning than I did yesterday. It was a little overcast, but not too bad for a December day. After Letting Reggie out, I started to make myself breakfast.

Before I had a chance to make the hash browns, Kathleen sliced the potato up and even the onion and mushrooms that I had set out. Then I had to fry them all up myself.

After the vegetables were cooked, I fried a couple eggs and sausages. A nice breakfast even if I do have to say so myself. I do not do that very often, but today was kind of a special day so I splurged a little.

After eating, I went into the living room and read the paper. We did not get to Home Depot yesterday so we were planning to go this morning. I finished the paper and Kathleen still had not come downstairs, and just as I was going to go upstairs, the mail came.

So I sat back down and opened up the mail and most of it again was junk mail. I think that the only thing I kept was a card from Alyssa and quarterly statement from Boeing showing how much retirement pay they had paid me.

After recycling the paper and the mail I finally made my way upstairs, I guess my coming upstairs inspired Kathleen to get dressed so that we could go shopping.

We first headed to the credit union to deposit a couple insurance refund checks from Kathleen’s prescriptions. Next, we headed to CompUSA, as Kathleen wanted to look at printers. She saw some that she liked, but we are going to wait a while before we buy another one.

Then it was on to Home Depot, I had a couple items that I wanted to pick up to do some home repair. They also had an electrician’s tool bag on sale and a set of cordless tools that are the same as the ones that I bought myself a couple years ago. I got everything that I was looking for and I found a tool set that had an extra tool in it for the same price so I got that as well.

Michael’s was the next stop and about half way through shopping when I got tired and told Kathleen that I was going to go sit in the car. It was dark before Kathleen finished and then we made our way home.

Well tonight, we are having dinner with Toni, Chucky and Aaron and Tami’s children. Aaron and Tami are at Eagle Crest with Tami’s family, so Toni and Chucky are house and children sitting for them while they are gone.

Well, I think that this is all I will write for tonight, I will probably be too tired when we get home tonight, so good night!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Reggie barking woke me up at 0600 this morning; I think that he just needed to go outside. Anyway, since I was up, I decided to just stay up, it was raining and I did not think that I would be able to get back to sleep anyway, so I might as well start my day...early.

I did the cereal thing for breakfast this morning and then poured myself a fresh cup of coffee and headed to the living room to read the paper. Before I finished the paper, the mail arrived, so I brought it in and opened and read what was worth reading and the rest I put in the recycling bag when I finished the paper.

Since I still had a couple stacks of magazines to go through I started on that...it looks like it will be a long process of these stacks. I have to look at every page and determine whether or not it is something that I will want to keep or will ever use. I worked on it all day and got about a quarter of the way through it.

I called Mom about noontime to wish her a Happy Birthday. She was home alone, so I talked to her for a little while. Kathleen joined in about half way through our conversation and Mom sounded cheerful.

Then about 1330 I decided to make myself some lunch, I reheated some of the stuffing and turkey and added some cranberry sauce and it was almost as good as a week ago.

I also called Boeing to see what I would have to do to rejoin the Health and Fitness facility that I use to belong to when I worked there. I need to do something to get a little more physical activity into my life. Kathleen would also like to go with me, as we both need to be a little more active.

Kathleen made some potato soup for dinner tonight; this is just the kind of weather that soup taste extra good. Well, I think this might be an early night due to getting up early this morning.

So I will just say my good night now and wish my mother a Happy Birthday!

Wednesday's Wanderings

When I got up this morning the first thing I did was look out the window to see what the weather was like and it was just still outside, which meant that it was still cold. I had noticed that it was very quiet and still before I got up, and when I saw that there was very little wind, I knew that we were in for a cold day.

I made myself a couple eggs, sausage and cranberry toast for breakfast. After I ate, I unloaded the dishwasher and then put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. I also washed the pan and the spatula that I used to make my breakfast with.

I poured myself another cup of coffee and headed to the living room to read the paper. When I finished I put the paper into the paper-recycling bag on the back porch and then decided to go outside to pick up after Reggie. The ground was slightly hard, so I knew that we had a frost.

We often do not get a frost in November, although it in not all that unusual to have one either. Some years are really mild temperature wise and others are not. They are predicting freezing rain tonight; although I noticed that the temperature is suppose to get warmer as the night goes on.

After coming back inside I noticed that the mail had come, so I went out and got it. There were a couple magazines, my American Express statement and a lot of junk mail.

I had planned to sort out some more of the boxes of magazines up in my “fly tying” room today so I went upstairs and brought down my first box. All in all, I went through five boxes of magazines and books.

I tore out the articles that I wanted from many of the magazines and sorted the rest by name and date so that they will be easier to catalog them when I get around to it, (my next big project).

Andrea had come over about 1400 and she and Kathleen went “baby” shopping. I kept sorting and before I knew it, it was 1900, so I finished the stack that I was working on and made myself supper.

I heated up some leftover turkey, stuffing and gravy. When I finished I put my dishes in the dishwasher and then went back to the living room to work on the next stack. I decided that there was enough in the magazines that I would just keep them and then catalog them later.

Kathleen and Andrea came back about 1950 and I decided to call it a night as far as the sorting went. So I put the boxes aside and here I am. I think I will just say good night for now

Trying Tuesday

When I got up this morning, I looked out the window to see if there were any snow, but there was none. When I got down stairs to let Reggie out I noticed that it was snowing lightly. While Reggie was outside, I went out the front door and got the paper off the front porch.

I made myself some cranberry/nut toast and put peanut butter and a banana on it. While the bread was toasting I made a pot of coffee. Reggie wanted to come in so I let him in and gave him his morning treat. After breakfast, I poured myself another cup of coffee and went into the living room to read the paper.

When I finished the paper, I took it out to the recycling bag so that it could be picked up today. It was snowing a little harder now, but still not really sticking to anything. When I got inside Reggie wanted to go back outside so I let him out.

As I was letting him out I noticed that the upper area of the back yard had about a 1/4 inch of snow on the grass. The middle and lower areas did not have snow on it, I am not sure why, because the upper portion is not really that much higher than the rest of the back yard.

While I was out there I decided to do a little weeding, not much, but just enough to keep the garden looking like someone cared. When I went inside, I decided to look at some of the catalogs that I sorted out yesterday. I kept three of them and the rest I took out to the recycling bag.

As I was going back toward the house, I noticed some small branches that had blown down from the storms over the last couple of weeks. I picked up a couple handfuls and I noticed a couple cars driving by, the people in them were all bundled up and here I was in my shorts, tee shirt and sandals.

The mail came a little while after I got back into the house, so opened it up and took the junk mail out to the street for recycling. Kathleen came downstairs about 1115 and made herself something to eat.

I decided to go upstairs, bring down a box that I had of maps and travel brochures, and sort it out. I found several duplicates and some really outdated brochures, which I added to the recycling. Next I put them all in a file folder, by location so that they would be easier to find when I wanted them or to see what I needed to get new one for.

Kathleen decided to make herself some more to eat and I thought that it would be a good time to make myself some lunch. I heated up some meatloaf for last night and some mashed potatoes for Thursday’s Thanksgiving dinner.

After I ate, I went upstairs to do some more cleaning up in my “fly tying” room. I was able to get everything off the desk and so I wiped it down and then put things back to where I could use it when I needed or wanted to.

I also put all my empty containers into a large plastic container and all my empty zip lock bags into a large bag, (I use them for storing tying material). Then I put all my flies into containers, fly boxes, and put them into a large plastic container so that they will all be in one place when I need to find them.

Kathleen decided to heat up some left over meatloaf and baked potatoes from last night. We also had some applesauce to go along with dinner. After eating I gathered up all the dishes and flatware that I could find, loaded it into the dishwasher and started it up.

Well, I think that is it for tonight, I guess that our “threat” of snow is on hold for a few days, no precipitation in sight, it is just suppose to get cold for the next few days. By cold, they mean, just below freezing.

Good night!

Monday's Menu

Well, it seems like everyone of the family blogs is including a menu or recipe for what they are making so I thought that I would give you a sampling of what I had for lunch. I did not include any pictures, as I did not want anyone to copy my delicacies. (I am sure Kathleen would add that the picture might make the week of stomach really sick.)

First off, I started off with the left over green bean casserole, from Friday's Thanksgiving dinner; then I added the left over corn, from Thursday’s Thanks giving dinner; then I added the leftover sauerkraut from Alyssa's Oktoberfest; and since there was still room on my plate, I added a little dressing from Thursday's Thanksgiving dinner.

Another reason that I did not add any pictures is that you could really substitute any of the above leftovers with whatever you happen to have leftover in your refrigerator. If nothing else I cleaned out three of the many containers that were in the refrigerator before they spoiled. Of course, Kathleen would also add that having a cast iron stomach helps when preparing such a gourmet delight.

Wow! I kept dozing off this morning and when I finally awoke, enough to get up it was about 0815. The first thing I did when I got up was look out the window to see if we got any of the snow that was suppose to be falling around us. Nope, not even a hint of snow, so I went downstairs to let Reggie out.

While Reggie was out in the back yard, I got the paper off the front porch and then went into the kitchen to make myself some cereal, banana and heated up a left over grill cheese sandwich from the other night. After breakfast, I emptied the dishwasher from last night and scrubbed the meatloaf pans that I had left soaking overnight.

I also scrapped some left over fat out of a couple bowls and mixed it with some dog food for Reggie; I am now his new best friend. The fat was left over turkey fat and meatloaf fat, but Reggie did not seem to care that I mixed the two. He has such dry skin that I have to feed him fat so that he does not scratch himself raw.

After cleaning the pans, I scrubbed the sink, cleaned out the drain stopper, and then scrubbed the sink mat. Once the kitchen was reasonably clean, I made myself some maple coffee, it smells so good this time of year and headed to the living room to read the paper.

While I was reading the paper, I noticed that my shins were pretty dried out, one of the problems with not eating much fat in my diet, so I put some lotion on them and they look much better. Reggie can afford to eat just fat, I cannot!

Before I finished the paper, the mail arrived and so I opened it, there were only a couple things worth keeping and most of it went into the recycling bag. When I was putting the paper in the recycling bag, I noticed that the cardboard recycling bag was getting to the point where I needed to take it out to the garage, so I did.

While I was out in the garage, I noticed that the plastic, metal and cardboard bins were getting full enough to set out at the curb for pick up tomorrow, so I readied them and will take them up front later this afternoon.

About 1300 something white started coming out of the sky, it was not snow flakes, it was not hail or sleet, but it was some kind of snow pellets. It lasted for fifteen or twenty minutes or so and then it was gone. While it was falling it stuck to the ground, but it did not last long at all.

While all that was going on, I spent a couple hours upstairs in my "fly tying" room digging out. It seems like it has become the dumping ground for my magazines, catalogs and whatever else does not have a home. I sorted out the magazines by name and put them in their own boxes. The catalogs, I sorted out by current or not, the not I put in the waste can and took downstairs to go through to see if there is anything that I really need, if not they will be recycled.

We had left over turkey soup tonight and I finished off the rolls that Kathleen made for Thursday Thanksgiving dinner and the bread she made last week as well. I like my soup thick like stew. We still have several meals left of soup and with this weather it is a good thing. It is starting to feel a lot like winter.

Well, I think that I will end this and finish looking at the magazines that I brought downstairs. If I can get a few more read, I will have enough to make it worth while taking out to the recycling bin for pick up tomorrow.

With that said, I will say good night!

Sunday Stuff

I got up this morning about 0700 so that I could shower and get ready for church this morning. I was all ready to go at 0800 and I was trying to get Kathleen up and going, but not having much luck. So I went downstairs and thought that I would read the paper while I waited. About 0830 she came down stairs still in her nightclothes, when I started to get up my hip hurt so bad that I had to sit back down again.

I think that it is from slipping on some moss in the driveway last year. It is the same spot where I removed the moss from the driveway yesterday. I cannot remember what I was doing, but I remember that Aaron was over and I think that we were getting something out of the garage. All I can remember is that I landed in a very unusual position and that it hurt a lot at the time, but I just tried to walk it off.

It had not bothered me very much until the cool damp weather set in once again, so I can only guess that it is more arthritis. My thumb joints, where the thumb connects to the hand has been really hurting for the last few weeks. It is bad enough that I have a really hard time gripping anything very tightly.

Getting old really is not as much fun as I once thought it was. When I was in my 20's and 30's I thought that it would be great to be retired and get to do all the things that I wanted to do. Now that I am here, I am usually so sore or achy that I do not get to do anything anyways.

Well, I never made it to church, so I finished the paper, put it with the rest of the paper recycling, and then vacuumed the downstairs carpeting. Reggie has been dropping fur at a record pace lately.

I also gathered up the trash from all over the house and took it out to the garbage can. I also picked up Reggie's dropping, put it in a bag and put that in the garbage can as well. When I got inside, I decided that I would make myself a turkey and cranberry sandwich for lunch. After lunch I went into the living room and watched a couple football games and dozed off a couple times.

Kathleen got dressed, came downstairs, and was headed to Fred Meyer to pick up a prescription that she had e-mailed in earlier this morning. I told her that I could not go because Andrea called and said that she would be coming over on her way to work and wanted to pick up the family cradle, so I went downstairs and brought it upstairs.

Kathleen went and came back before Andrea got here. Kathleen had also picked up a couple potatoes and some hamburger meat while at the store. She said that she felt like making meatloaf and baked potatoes for dinner.

Andrea finally got here about 1630, and when she got here, I helped put the cradle into her Jeep. She stayed for a few minutes and chatted with us and then headed off to work.

Kathleen went into the kitchen and made two pans of meatloaf, we had a couple slices from one of them and then she put the rest away for another four or five meal. After dinner I gathered up all the dishes, silverware and whatever else I could get into the dishwasher and then started it up. I also soaked the meatloaf pans in some hot soapy water to loosen up the grease and cooked on meat from the pans.

Then I went upstairs and gathered up the laundry and washed, dried, folded and put away two loads. Then I gathered up all the towels I could find and loaded them into the washer and started it up.

Well, I cannot imagine getting into any more trouble tonight, so I will say good night.

A Surprising Saturday

I did not get to sleep as long as I would have liked to this morning, I woke up about 0700 and I could not get back to sleep, so I finally got up at 0730. When I got up I noticed that it was not raining out and that was quite a surprise as I thought that we were suppose to have rain pretty much for the next week.

Anyway, I made myself a couple eggs, sausages and raisin nut toast for breakfast. I usually do that on Saturdays since I used to not have to work on Saturday mornings and I have just kind of carried that over even when I do not have to work most days.

After I finished eating and washing the dishes, I went into the living room and read the paper. I heard the mail carrier put the mail in the mailbox before I had finished the paper, so I went and got it. After opening it and sorting it out, I finished the paper and then looked at the mail that was definitely not junk mail.

There were also a couple more catalogs, but as usual most of it was something to fill the recycling bag with. It still was not raining so I thought that I would go outside and try to get some of the bulbs thinned out and replanted.

I managed to get the bulbs dug up and replanted and while I was a mess I did some weeding as well. I did not think that there was that much, but I filled up a five-gallon bucket.

I went back into the house and cleaned up and Kathleen asked me to clean up the turkey scraps, giving Reggie the skin and fat and put the bones in the garbage. Meanwhile Kathleen had put the rest of the leftover turkey in the stockpot and was making turkey soup. One of the best things about turkey is the soup that is made afterwards.

I talked to Chucky to find out what time he was coming over to help me put the hard top on. Since it was about a half hour away, I decided to start taking the soft top off. I got it off before Chucky and Toni got here so I swept out the garage and then scrapped the moss off the driveway in front of where I park the Wrangler.

Chucky and Toni got her shortly after I finished and it only took about ten minutes to put the hard top on and tighten the screws down to secure the top. I even parked the Wrangler in the garage. I still cannot get both vehicles in the garage, but it is a lot cleaner than it has been in years.

Last year I was able to park the Wrangler in the garage, but it was really tight getting in and out. This year there is plenty of room and I still have room to work in the garage.

After that I went inside and made myself a cranberry and turkey sandwich for lunch. It was about 1415 so I did not want to eat a whole lot as we have been trying to eat the evening meal about 0700 or 1730.

Well, that was just about my day, I think that I will just say good night now as I do not think I will get into any more trouble tonight.