Common Sense Plan

I copied this from the Dave Ramsey website and it sounds like a good answer to the financial crisis that is looming large today. Here is the website address and a link to email your state senators and representatives if you are so led:

http://www.daveramsey.cometcfed_bailout3_steps_to_change_the_nations_future_10928.htmlc?ictid=sml

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps:

Common Sense Plan.

I. INSURANCE

A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.

B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:

1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.
a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes.
b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while
working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.

2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.

C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.

II. MARK TO MARKET

A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.

B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.

III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX

A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.

B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to
stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

Catching Up

Well, I took a little time off from blogging as I was wearing myself out during the day time and too tired to think clearly when it came to writing my blog so I did not. So let me try to compress the last few days into a quick blog.

Friday I met with the guys and after that I went to Fred Meyer to pick up a prescription for Kathleen and while I was there I picked up some Cheerios, shredded wheat and bananas for myself as I had run out of my favorite breakfast food.

It seems like that was all I got done that day at least I cannot think of anything else I did at this point in time, so whatever else I might have done it must have been rather insignificant.

Saturday I had a bad headache and my hip was bothering me, but one of the guys had said that he needed to get an antenna for his TV and I said that he could have ours. It had been up on the roof for about twenty years and we had not used it for over ten years. Kathleen had asked me to take it down several times but it was one of those things that I just never got around to doing.

So after four or five trips up a thirty-two foot ladder and another five trips down to the basement I finally had it down. I had to take the antenna down, the rotor, the two poles and two brackets attaching it to the side of house. It probably took me as long pulling the wire for the rotor through the basement and up through the living room floor than it actually did to take the antenna down.

I think that must have been all I accomplished Saturday I know that I rested quite a lot that afternoon. I think I went through two shirts that day as I had worked up a couple pretty good sweats.

Sunday I went to church by myself as Kathleen could not wake up and get herself out of bed. in the afternoon I took out some more of the boards in the bathroom; the only ones left are the ones that I will need to take the medicine cabinet out and take the toilet take off to get off so I will wait until we take the toilet out and the vanity and medicine cabinet and then do it.

I also removed some more of the metal tiles that was behind the boards. After I cleaned up the vanity counter a little I started to put all the bottles and things from the vanity into boxes; I filled up three cardboard boxes and two plastic boxes with all kind of things, but the vanity and all the shelves are now empty.

The only thing left in the shower is my soap and shampoo and the only thing left on the vanity is my medications, shaving stuff and my tooth brush and paste which I will leave there until next week when we start the destruction.

Today after breakfast I raked the leaves from the front lawn, took the garbage and yard debris up front for tomorrows pick up, pruned the roses and trimmed the apple tree so that I could fill up the yard debris container. After I finished that I went inside and rested for a half our or so.

By this time it was a little after 1300 so I made myself a brat on a whole wheat bun and the left-over Bush's baked beans and then decided to finish pulling up the linoleum from the bathroom floor. That took an hour or so and after sweeping up the mess and cleaning up I took a nap.

Then tonight around 1730 one of our friends called and wanted to know if we wanted to go to dinner with then down at the Marina Fish House on the Willamette River. We sat out on the upper deck. It was really nice sitting outside in the breeze and enjoying watching the boats go in and out of the marina. There were sail boats, jet sleds, kayaks, dragon boats, and yachts.

Then after we finished eating we took a walk along the river front and saw the Spirit of Portland take off on its dinner cruise. We finally got home a little before 2000.

So today I had a pretty busy day and now I am tired so I think I will call this caught up and this a day!

Tired of being Tired

This morning it looked like it was going to rain just about the whole morning, so after eating, washing the pots and pans and putting the dishes into the dishwasher I noticed that the sun looked like it was trying to come out. Since I also noticed that not many leaves had fallen since I last raked I decided to take a walk instead.

I felt pretty good when I finished my walk so I got out my garden tool and reset the stepping stones that I had put down the other day. I removed the top stone and put more dirt underneath where it was to raise it up with the ground. When I got it to the point where it looked pretty good I went and got my level and made sure and then made a couple adjustments until the bubble was on center.

Next I laid the level out east and west and got that level with itself; once I had it level east and west I leveled it out north and south. Once I had the first stone level I leveled out the second stone with the first one and then followed the same procedure as I did on the first stone with the second and following stones.

When I finished the bottom stone was a little higher than the ground to the east of it so I started dumping dirt around that stone to make it a gradual slope from the east and then level on the west, north and south sides. Once I had that done I dumped more dirt on the remaining stones and made the stones level with the ground around them.

I also took the birdbath apart and placed a stone under where the birdbath was to go and leveled it out and then reassembled the birdbath and then filled it with water. While I was filling it up I also washed down the area that I had been working on to settle the dust and also to help the dirt to settle in better.

Then I put all my tools away, went into the house and cleaned up. Since it was around noon I got the mail and opened it, as usual there was not a lot worth keeping. Kathleen did get a prescription and something from the sleep doctor but I think that the rest went right into the recycling pile.

By the time I took care of everything it was about time for me to make myself something to eat for lunch. I heated up the rest of the fried rice for yesterday's lunch and had the last of my brats on a whole wheat roll.

After putting my dishes into the dishwasher I went and sat in my chair and promptly fell asleep. There seems to be some connection between taking Vicodin and sitting in my chair and falling asleep. Kathleen woke me up when she came downstairs around 1430.

It took me fifteen or twenty minutes until I was able to get my mind functioning again and then I did I asked Kathleen to come outside so that she could see what I had been working on. So she put one of my old flannel shirts on over her PJ's and put on her Crocks and went out and toured my work in process. While we were out there we munched on some raspberries and then I cut some more roses for the house.

We are still having enough roses so that I can keep the house pretty well stocked with fresh roses. That will be ending in a month or so, but we are enjoying them while they last. Pretty soon I will be doing my fall rose pruning where I trim them back to three or four branches and about two feet from the ground. In the spring I will cut them back a little further and then thin them out as needed throughout the summer.

Well, it is 1800 and it is time for me to check with Kathleen to see what and when she is planning for dinner.

Lunch with Some Old Friends

This morning was another really nice day so like just about every other day I went outside after breakfast and raked the front lawn. After I finished raking this morning I worked on the pathway from the main part of the back yard to the vegetable garden and the raspberry patch.

I found some round pavers that I dug the ground out for and then set them in place so that they would be somewhat level with the ground around them. After I finished doing that I realized that while they are level with the ground around them there is quite a drop from one end to the other so I will have to raise some of them up so that they are a little more even in relationship to each other.

Then I went inside, cleaned up and sat in my chair for a while. While I was resting one of my old employees called me and wanted to get together for lunch. He was out visiting his parents and is now living and working in from North Carolina.

So he, and two other friends got together and Kathleen and I had lunch with them. It was good seeing them all and going over good old Boeing times. I helped get them better jobs because they had done such a good job for me when they worked for me in an entry level position.

As it turned out they all wound up working for me again as I asked for them as I needed someone that would really work hard and get the job done without me having to keep an eye on them all the time.

Anyway lunch lasted about an hour and we talked for at least another hour before we decided that we needed to get going. We all ate family style where we just ordered food for the five of use and then we all ate some of everything. When they worked for me we use to have pot lucks just about every Friday and that is pretty much how things worked back then as well.

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After Kathleen and I left the restaurant we stopped and looked at faucets and then looked at tops for the bathroom vanity. At first we looked at a granite one and then we went to a place that specializes in marble tops and brought home a couple samples. The marble is rather expensive but it sure is nice.

There was so much food left over from lunch that we took three take home containers home and had it for lunch. We still have about a container left if we combined them which would be enough for me for lunch someday or part of a dinner for the both of us some day.

Well, it has been a long day for me and I am starting to get rather weary.

A Really Nice Autumn Day

The weather folks had said that we should expect morning fog this morning, but I never noticed any. The ground was pretty wet from rain but the sky was pretty clear. So after breakfast I emptied the dishwasher and then went outside to rake the front lawn. There are just enough leaves falling that if I do not keep at it every morning they get really heavy when they get wet and make it really hard to rake up.

Another reason is that it does not take that long if I do it everyday and I have some energy left to do other things. So after I finished raking I got out my ladder and cleared off the pollen pods and fir needles from the valleys on the front of the house. There are four of them and three of them get really full of needles and pollen pods.

Kathleen had gone to church to do some knitting with some other women for different projects that they donate the things they make to.

The gutters on the front corners of the house also still have to be cleaned out as they were the only ones that I could not get Leaf Guard gutters put on since they were only at the corners and not enough room for the product. But even with that I only gathered out about seven gallons of goopy needles and pods where before there would be twenty or thirty gallons every couple of months.

The best part of it is that I do not have to climb up thirty-two feet in the rear of the house to clean out that gutter any longer. I was able to get everything with one section of my small extension ladder. That made it much easier getting set up and I was not as tired after putting everything away.

After I had the gutters cleaned out I got out my blower and blew off all of the sidewalks, then the driveway and then around the gardens in the front yard. By this time though I was getting a bit tired, but not as tired as I had been a few weeks ago so maybe I am doing a little better.

Best of all my back and hip did not give me any grief either so that was a added bonus! Not wanting to push my luck I went into the house, cleaned up and then sat down with my feet up and rested in my chair for a while.

Before I knew it, it was almost 1300 so I figured that I would make myself something to eat. Today I used some Talking Cow cheese on some wheat bread with sliced up tomatoes and then broiled them in the toaster oven. The cheese was pretty old so instead of spreading it I had to slice it up and put the slices on the bread with the tomato slices on top of them.

After eating I checked my email and then went and sat down in my chair for as I was more tired than I though that I was and my eyes were bothering me; probably something irritated them when I was cleaning the pollen pods from the valleys and corner gutters. Kathleen called while I was resting and said that she was going to go to Bi-Mart and wanted to know if I needed anything; I reminded her that I needed a pair of rubber gloves to help me put on my compression socks.

The rubber gloves were a trick that I learned from the fitter at the medical supply place where I bought them. I had been using a pair of Kathleen's but they were a couple sizes too small and with the arthritis in my hands I had a really hard time putting them on.

So when she got home I tried them on and they go on much easier and should make putting the socks on a little less painful.

Kathleen was watching Becca and Lexis tonight while Tami takes a class; I am staying home as I have been going to bed around 2100 lately and we would not be getting home around 2230 of so.

Well that just about does it for me tonight I am starting to get a little tired and my brain is not working as well as I would like right now.

Autumn has Arrived Right on Time

Well, today marks the beginning of autumn and the temperature and weather certainly has made it official. The temperature only got to the mid sixties today and yesterday and last night we had some rain, not a lot but a definite change from all the dry weather that we have had the last three months or so.

Since it had rained sometime last night and everything was still pretty wet when I went to have my cereal I did not pick raspberries to go along with it so I used raisins instead. I did go out later and picked some just to eat but many of them had gotten too mushy to be picked.

After eating I went out and raked the front lawn; there were not quite as many leaves as I would have though there would be after a rain but that was okay. After raking I went out back and pruned the spent roses and after that I grabbed a few raspberries before going inside.

When I got cleaned up I picked up the rugs in the kitchen, shook them out, swept the floor and then mopped it. While I was waiting for the floor to dry I read for a while and then put the rugs back in place.

By this time it was time for me to think about lunch so I cut up several tomatoes and smeared some Limburger cheese on some wheat bread, put the tomato slices on the bread and then toasted them to really bring out the aroma of the Limburger. Doesn't that just make your mouth water?

After eating I sat in my chair for a while and took a nap; when I got up I decided to gather up some things to take to Goodwill and wrote it down for tax purposes. I got three boxes and four bags of clothes, books, coffee mugs and general junk. Now we just need to get it to the Goodwill drop off.

Kathleen and I had discussed doing some more shopping for things for the bathroom remodel but when 1600 rolled around I decided that it was too late to do much and I was too worn out to do much wandering around. She agreed so I guess we will have to do it some other day.

It has been a rather uneventful day, but at least I have not injured myself and my back and hip is feeling better. If I can gather up the energy I think I might try to box some of the things up from the downstairs bathroom so that I will not have to worry about that when the time comes to start the remodel.

Well, it is a little after 1800 and I think that I will see if I can get Kathleen to reheat something for dinner tonight. We have a couple containers in the refrigerator from a couple nights dinner that should be enough for at least one more meal.

Still Tired even After a Weekend when I did not get much done.

Well, while Kathleen was celebrating Tami's birthday yesterday I got tired of sitting around so I got out a couple of my pry bars and went into the downstairs bathroom and started pulling off the wood paneling from the wall where the sink and toilet is. I did not get all of it taken out because I did not want to take the toilet tank off or the vanity top off just yet.

I did get about twenty boards off, it is really pretty nice wood; tongue and groove, but I threw it all away as it had been treated with some kind of varnish and since I did not know what it was I did not think it would be good to use as fire wood.

I also resisted storing it because I might need it someday; I have been trying to turn over a new leaf and actually throw things away instead of hording them for some time in the future as I am learning that they usually take up more space than they are worth and then when I do need something I either cannot find it or it is not usable for what I need.

Anyway as much as it hurt I broke it up and threw it away; but underneath the wood was some metal tile, some of it had some contact paper on it that had a "velvet" design on it. It was kind of a turquoise color with a darker green "velvet floral (?)" design on it...really lovely! Here are a few pictures of what I am talking about:






That pretty much did me in so after making myself something to eat I took a shower and was in bed by 2100.

Today I woke up with my back and hip hurting, so I am not sure if it was something that I did or what but I did not make it to church this morning. I kind of sat around most of the morning and then finally around 1300 I went out and raked the front lawn. While I was out there I weeded a little in the gardens in front of the living room and then moved some of the stepping blocks that I have off the front porch so that I can get to the outdoor water faucet without getting full of dirt or mud.

By this time I was getting a little tired so I went inside, cleaned up and heated up the plate that Kathleen brought home for me from Andrea's for Tami's party. Then I got out the laptop and updated it and ran a virus scan to make sure that nothing was there that I did not want. I also ran a spy ware check to clean up any spy ware that I might have picked up, there was only one that was found so I cleaned it out.

I had done the same with my desktop computer earlier in the day. Right now I am doing a defrag on it to see if I can open up more space on my hard drive.

Well, I am starting to get hungry so I think that I will post this and see if I can get Kathleen to fix something for dinner.

Five Simple Steps to Prepare Your Lawn for Winter

I am not feeling all that well tonight and so I thought that I would just send out some ideas for finishing up your lawn in preparation for winter. I have been following Scott's lawn care fertilizer plan for several years and I think that it is a good one, at least it works for me. This is just the winterizing part of what I try to do in mid fall.

Now that temperatures are beginning to drop and the growing season has faded to memory. But that does not mean your lawn chores are finished...and you should not let your lawn settle into a long winter's slumber without properly tucking it in, either.

Fall is arguably the most important time for lawn care. Here are five steps to take if you dream of a green healthy lawn next spring.

Step One: Mow until your lawn goes dormant.

You will know it has reached this phase when the grass stops growing.

When mowing late in the year, lower the blades to cut your lawn 1 inch shorter than your normal cutting height. This will give you a little cushion before you have to mow next spring.

Step Two: Pick up debris on your lawn.

This includes leaves, sticks and anything else you might find scattered about; give it a good raking. Debris left on the lawn over winter will block sun from reaching the grass and will trap moisture, encourage moss, snails and slugs. This increases the risk of disease or even the die off of your lawn.

Step Three: Reseed bare areas.

Fall is an especially good time to plant grass (overseeding your existing lawn) as conditions are ideal for the seed to take root and since the sun does not cook the seeds they actually have a chance to grow. Also by planting now, you eliminate space for weeds to grow in spring.

Step Four: Aerate your lawn as needed.

This procedure removes small cores or plugs of soil from your lawn. It should be done if soil is compacted or to break through thatch that's deeper than a 1/2 inch. Thatch is the build-up of dead grass, roots and stems that collect on your lawn. The resulting holes allow roots to breathe, improves drainage and helps your lawn absorb more nutrients. I have also raked in a thin layer of sand at this time; this of course depends on what type of soil you have as the sand helps break up clay type soils.

Step Five: Apply a final feeding.

Fall fertilization will give the lawn better fall and winter color, earlier spring green-up and strong root development. Apply fertilizer to cool-season grasses (fescue, bluegrass and ryegrass) in late fall, before the grass goes dormant, and to warm-season grasses (Bermuda and zoysia) in early fall.

For cool-climate grasses, look for a slow-release winterizing fertilizer with a high nitrogen content, like a 20-5-15 ratio. Warm-season grasses will thrive if treated with a fertilizer that has more potassium, like a 5-5-25 ratio. Such formulas are designed to help your grass survive the winter and emerge with a healthy resistance to disease. Before applying any fertilizer, however, it is important to conduct a soil test first to see exactly what amendments your soil might need. This is pretty easy to do; simply fill a old quart jar about three quarters full of water and then put about a half of a cup of soil in it; put the lid on and shake it up well.

If you have a university extension service near by they can check it out for you or most good garden shop or nursery should also be able to tell you what type of soil you have. Of course you could probably go on line and check it out as well.

Spread fertilizer evenly, I like using a drop type spreader as it allows for a more even spread of the fertilizer. However you choose to spread your fertilizer following the label instructions, and water it thoroughly afterward to prevent burnt turf.

First Day with the Compression Socks

Today was quite the change in the weather going from high eighties or low nineties to mid seventies and from sunshine to overcast the whole day. When I first got up and saw it overcast I figured that it was just going to burn off in a couple hours but it never did.

After eating breakfast I went outside and raked the front lawn; of course before I went outside I put my bib overalls on so that I did not have my white over the calf compression sock showing with my shorts.

There were quite a lot more leaves on the ground this morning than there has been so far this season so I got out my collapsible container out along with my rake. Then after I finished raking I watered the gardens in the front yard.

After finishing the front yard I went to the back yard and watered all the gardens back there. Then I dug out one of the pesky blackberry bushes that had started popping up in my iris garden along the back fence. When I finally got the root dug out I could see that the root was coming from the other side of the fence so I pulled out as much as possible from the other side as well.

By the time I finished and got cleaned up it was after 1200 and so I went out and got the mail. There was not anything worth keeping except my auto renewal policies for our vehicles and also a note from our insurance agent advising us about the possibilities of changing the structure of our policies.

I called his office as I was finishing lunch but he was out to lunch and his assistant said that she would have him call me back when he got back. But about 1530 Kathleen was ready to go look at fixtures for the bathroom remodel, so we took off and he called back while we were gone and by the time we got back it was after hours so I will have to call him back tomorrow.

We did pick out a tub, sink and toilet; the sink and toilet are the same as we have upstairs. I had to order the toilet as the assistant manager told us that there was about a five week leed time on them. They just came out with a new flushing system and they did not have any in stock yet. Along from the new flushing system came a hundred dollar price increase, but I guess everything is going up in price.

My legs feel better I guess, my feet are still sore and my back still hurts although if I keep up on my Vicodin it is not as bad as it use to be.

Well Kathleen is making a tuna and macaroni dish for dinner tonight and it is just about done so I think I will wrap this up and call it a day.

Tired and Sore

This morning after breakfast I took myself for a walk and about the point where I could either turn to go home or walk around another couple blocks my hip started to bother me so I went home and did not walk as far as I would have liked to. By the time I got home it was feeling better, but I decided that I would do some yard work instead of walking some more.

I got out my tree pruning equipment and started cutting large branches out of the tree, mostly those that were hanging over into the raspberries. Kathleen came outside just about the time I was finishing up and she noticed right away how much I had trimmed out of the tree.

I spent about two hours hacking away at the tree and cutting up the branches. I basically did one of three things with them; the really little ones went into the yard debris container, the medium sized ones went into the barrel to be chipped and the really large ones I stacked to be cut up for fire wood at some time in the future.

After cleaning up I called the doctor's office as they had not returned my call from yesterday and then I made myself some lunch. They finally called me back around 1330 and since they were not given the information that I left with who ever answered the phone I had to give it to them again. They called me back around 1430 with the answers to my questions; my doctor wants me to continue my medication and he also wants me to get some compression socks for my feet swelling.

So Kathleen and I took off first to the doctor's office to pick up the test results which I had requested yesterday, but again when I got there, there was nothing for me. So I signed a release form so that they could mail them to me.

Next we stopped at the credit union so that I could deposit a refund check that I received last week. Next we stopped at Fred Meyer's to pick up some compression socks because the doctor's office said that I could get them at a pharmacy.

Well, Fred Meyer did not carry them any longer and gave me the name and address of a medical supply company that would carry them. On the way we stopped at a Walgreen's to see if they might have them, but they did not have them either.

So we got to the medical supply company a little after 1700 which was lucky as they closed at 1730. The manager there spent a lot of time with me explaining the difference in the socks as far as support firmness and height. She recommended an over the calf pair and a medium tightness.

She also said that they have a certified fitter and she would be able to fit me with a different kind that goes up to my thighs if the over the calf ones are not sufficient.

When I got home I put them on and for someone who does not usually wear shoes or socks it was quite a shock. I have had them on now for over three hours and my legs and feet do feel better. I got white ones as I though they might be a little cooler than the navy or black ones but they look a little silly with my shorts.

My left eye has been really bothering me this afternoon; it kind of feels like I got poked in the eye and my vision is a little blurry. On top of that I have a dull headache and I have been taking so much Vicodin and arthritis Tylenol and neither one seems to be doing much good.

Well I think that I am going to end this as I am having a hard time focusing on the monitor and concentrating on what I am saying.

Test Results and more Questions

Ugh! This morning after breakfast I went out front and raked the leaves from the walnut trees and then went out back and dead headed the roses and picked tomatoes and raspberries. I ate all the raspberries that I picked and a few of the cherry tomatoes but the rest of the tomatoes I brought into the house.

I had used about a dozen cherry tomatoes in my hash brown potatoes and also mixed in some yellow pepper and green onions and I put some hot salsa on top of my egg beaters so I got plenty of vegetables in my breakfast.

After I took the tomatoes into the house I changed into some shoes and took my self for a walk, but not until I took some pain meds. This was one of the first walks that I have had lately where I did not get really sore about half way through my walk. I did feel a little twinge but nothing too bad and by the time I finished with my walk it was not bothering me.

Moral to this story I guess is stay doped up! I do not like having to take so much Vicodin, but right now it seems to be the only way that I can function to any degree.

Speaking of medications I got called back today about the blood work and everything looked pretty good except my potassium is a little low so I need to double the potassium-chloride that I already take. So not instead of taking one 20MEWQ only in the morning I now also have to take one 20MEWQ in the evening as well.

I guess that some of the problems with my chronic radiation proctitis (kind of like Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) has caused low levels of potassium. The radiation proctitis produces conditions that can cause potassium deficiency like diarrhea, excessive sweating, and use of diuretics (for my blood pressure). I also may have to cut out coffee for a while as I understand that it helps deplete the potassium level, bummer!

The same conditions that cause potassium deficiency also effects the magnesium levels in the body and magnesium and potassium go hand in hand so I might need to take a magnesium supplement as well. I guess that is something else that I should talk to the doctor's office about.

Right now I am waiting for another call from the doctor's office to see what he wants me to do about the Lotrel that has probably helped cause me feet swelling. Well, I need to get my feet up again so I will wrap this up for tonight.

More Hot Weather

I know that in a couple months I will be wishing for a few sunny days but right now I could really go for a little rain. It has been in the mid eighties to mid nineties for the last couple of weeks and the only hope in sight is a chance of some rain come Thursday. Tomorrow it is suppose to be in the mid nineties again but the weather is suppose to drop to more seasonable temperatures in the next couple of days so that will be nice but we really need some rain.

We are almost five inches of rain short of our average for the year which ends in October so hopefully we will not drop any further down because so much of what makes this part of Oregon so nice is all the greenery which needs rain to stay that way.

I was just kind of worn out this weekend, partially from the heat and party because my body does not feel too good. My legs and feet are still pretty swollen and that really makes them uncomfortable. Yesterday for church I wore regular socks and when I got home and took them off I could really see where the elastic was as the rest of my leg looked swollen and there was a dent in my skin that took quite a while for it to go down.

Last night we really had a beautiful harvest moon and we are supposed to have another one tonight, with the clear skies the moon really stands out. Although I was outside about an hour ago and the sky was almost orange from the pollutants in the air.

I had gone out to pick tomatoes, I had meant to do that this morning but got busy and forgot. I picked six dozen cherry tomatoes a half dozen roma, three early girl and a couple beefsteak tomatoes.

After I brought them inside I had about three dozen for a little afternoon snack and to get some of my vegetables in today. While I was out there I picked a couple raspberries to snack on before going back inside.

I had picked several earlier this morning to go with my cereal; I also cut up a banana so I have gotten my daily requirement of fruits in today.

This morning after I ate breakfast I went out front and raked the walnut leaves off the lawn and then I watered the gardens in front. The front porch has been collecting a lot of "junk" so I took everything off the porch, swept it and then threw out and recycled a lot of stuff, It does look a lot better although it still has a lot of wood there but if we start remodeling in a couple weeks we will need some of it.

After finishing in the front of the house I went into the back yard and watered all the gardens in the back yard. After I finished watering I gathered up some more flower pots to be recycled and straightened up a little more under the apple tree.

By the time I got back into the house it was 1230 and since I went outside around 0830 I was pretty tired. I was also tired so I made myself a sandwich and then sat and rested for a while.

Kathleen took off to meet with the lady from church today because the lady and her husband are going hunting and would not be around for their regular Wednesday meeting.

Well, has kind of been my day, my feet are bothering me so I think that I will put them up again and see if that helps.

Another Doctor's Appointment

This morning I took my cereal, coffee and the paper outside and sat out by my gardens and enjoyed the cool morning and the birds singing. After I ate I went out front and watered the gardens around the front of the house and then raked the front lawn.

After I finished in the front yard I went to the back yard and watered all the gardens and then pruned the spent roses. Kathleen came out while I was watering and sat in the sun for a while. After I finished watering I sat in one of our Adirondack chairs for a while and watched the birds and squirrels enjoying themselves.

After cooling down and resting for a while I went back into the house and got the mail; although other than one magazine there really was nothing worth keeping so most of it went either into the recycling or got shredded. I have been shredding everything with my name on it; I use to just shred things that had an account or some other important information but I have heard that identification thief's can get important information off almost anything that has a name and bar codes on it.

While I was in my office shredding I decided that I would reconcile my credit union accounts as I got the statement yesterday but since we were gone most of the day I did not get a chance to do it yesterday. Both my savings and checking accounts checked out fine the first time through, it usually does but sometimes I forget to put information into my Quicken checkbook or some of the automatic monthly amounts change and I need to update them when I do my reconciliation.

Anyway by the time I finished it was getting to be close to 1300 so I made myself some lunch and then when I finished I went and took a shower before my doctor's appointment. I usually like to take my showers either first thing in the morning or just before going to bed at night.

When I have a doctor's appointment, other than ones that are first thing in the morning I usually wait until just a little before my appointment; that way I can get some work done and not have to worry about needing a shower when I am at the doctor's.

I made an appointment because my back and hip have been bothering me enough so that I do not go for walks or exercise as much as I should and when I sit too long I can hardly get up. Also my feet have been pretty swollen the last couple of months.

The doctor said that my back is not going to get any better on its own but unless the pain starts going down my legs there is not much to worry about. He did prescribe some Vicodin for me which I went and got filled.

He said that the swelling was probably as a result of the Lotrel that I have been taking for several years and he said that it finally caught up with me. One of the side effects is Edema which is retaining fluids in organs and the skin is an organ.

Just to be sure he had a blood draw taken and several tests run so now I have to wait for the test results to come back to find out what my next course of action will be. I do not wait well so it will be a long weekend and I asked Cory the doctor's nurse and she said that the results would not be back until Tuesday or Wednesday.

After leaving the doctor's office I went to Fred Meyer to have my prescription filled; since I had to wait twenty-five minutes for them to fill it I went out to the garden area and looked around and before I knew it a half hour had passed. By the time I got back to the pharmacy and waited on line it had been over a half hour, but the good thing was that my prescription was ready for me.

Since I had not gotten gas for my Jeep since last February and I paid 2.979 a gallon; today I paid 3.539 a gallon and cost me fifty dollars but when one figures that it had only cost me fifty dollars over seven months that is not too bad.

By the time I got home it had been two hours since I had taken off for the doctor's office and I was getting pretty tired by then. So after I changed clothes I came back downstairs and checked my e-mail.

Kathleen had a woman’s dinner at church so around 1830 I made myself a hoagie sandwich with some slice deli turkey, ham and roast beef. We still had some left-over tuna and macaroni salad and a deli salad that Kathleen bought last night so I had some of each to go along with my sandwich.

Well I think this is about all that I have the energy for today.

9/11 Never Forget!

9/11 always causes me to think back to seven years ago and all the emotions that raced through my mind. I was at work when they announced over the loudspeaker that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.

With so many of my memories from my youth being in New York and several relatives living in New York City my thoughts quickly turned to them and I sent up a prayer that they would be safe and that this was just a hoax like the "War of the Worlds" many years ago in the radio...but alas it was not!

Over the years as I have been watching birds I watched how the mothers care for their young I have come to appreciate their loving care for their young. 9/11 has never been the same for me and here is something that kind of puts things into perspective for me!

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day (Psalms 91:4, 5 NIV)

On this day we remember the unprovoked attack on America by Muslim terrorists. Despite attempts to make the country more secure, the threat remains scarcely abated today. So what should our response be? In Psalms 91 we see that we have no cause for fear. The physical danger may be real, but our Lord promises protection in tender words likened to a mother bird's care for her young. Our ultimate deliverance is guaranteed by His sure promises. Trust in His power and truth sustains us as surely as would a shield and buckler.

Our hope cannot ultimately rest in our own military might. God does not promise temporal safety to us, for there have been millions who have succumbed to undeserved violence. Our last hope is of a different order, firmly grounded in "the LORD, who is my refuge" (Ps 91:9 NIV). He responds to our trust and worship with the promise "With long (read here eternal) life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." (Ps 91:16 NIV). God is much more interested in our response to troubles than in our deliverance, He desires us to believe and serve Him, all the while trusting Him, even in perilous times.

A New Testament application of this principal can be found in 1 Peter; "But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.”Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." (1 Peter 3:14 NIV); “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," (1 Peter 3:15 NIV).

The Lord Jesus Christ is our example and inspiration. "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:3 NIV). Fixing our eyes upon Him, we have no cause for fear, but it is good to remember.

Another Nice Fall Day!

Well the weather people were saying that we would finally drop below eighty degrees today, well, it is eighty-two degrees right now but I do not mind them making this kind of mistake. Earlier in the week it was closer to ninety degrees which is a little hotter than I care for especially this time of year.

This morning while I was outside picking some raspberries for my cereal I notice a lot of red over in my tomato patch so I knew that I would need to pick some more tomatoes later on.

After eating I went outside and thought that I would rake the front lawn before it got too warm so I got out my rake and got most of the walnut and rhododendron leaves and the walnut shells that the squirrels had chewed the meat out of. There were not many leaves yet but I like to keep it that way. If I wait too long it gets to be too much.

After raking I got out my blower and air swept the front and back sidewalks and the driveway; again it was not really too bad but if I keep at it a little at a time it is not as big a job for me and I can get it done quicker.

After I finished with the driveway I put away the blower and then went out back and pruned the roses and cut down some spent fox glove plants. Then I got our old dog food storage bin and put my garden tools into it.

I had been keeping them in a couple buckets and now they are in one place and I am keeping it under the apple tree for now. I will have to see just how water tight it is once it starts raining and I may have to change my plans at that time.

I got into the house a Kathleen was making herself breakfast so I cleaned up and poured myself another cup of coffee and had an Entenmann's glazed buttermilk donut while she had breakfast.

I decided that I needed to make a doctor's appointment to see if there is anything that I can do to relieve my back and hip pain; the Tylenol is just not helping much anymore. After I made the appointment I took the vegetable scrap container out to my composter and dumped it in there and gave it a few cranks to stir everything up.

I just heard that this weekends temperature is suppose to be in the nineties...much too hot for me. The only good thing about that is that it cools off enough at night so that it is not as bad as it is when the temperature stays warm at night.

Well, Around 1330 I made myself a Boca Burger with a freshly picked tomato, sweet onion and pepper jack cheese and then toasted it in the toaster oven. I also had some tuna salad from last night and some multi-grained chips.

Kathleen left shortly after I started eating to meet with the lady from church and she is still gone so she must have decided to do a little shopping. Well the longer I sit the stiffer my back gets so I think I will go ahead and post this.

My Monday Morning

This morning after I ate and read the paper I ripped up the splash guard from around the downstairs bathroom and took it out to the garbage and I also took more of the recycling out as well. Then broke up the old backboard and put it into the garbage can, which pretty much filled it up.

Then I went into the back yard and started digging up the area where I want to put in a new pathway leading to the vegetable garden and the raspberries. By the time I got done I was pretty tired and when I went to get the cement bricks that I was going to use for the pathway I did not have as many as I needed because I wound up making the pathway wider than I had originally planned on so I will have to come up with a plan -B-.

So before I went inside I went up front and got the mail. Kathleen had come downstairs so I showed her what I had done and while we were we grabbed some raspberries before going back inside.

After reading the mail I went and sat in my chair for a while and then got up and made myself a salad and a brat. After putting the dishes into the dishwasher I went and sat down again and woke up when Kathleen came downstairs because we wanted to run a few errands.

So I went upstairs and changed clothes and then we took off; first stopping at church so I could drop off our Campbell soup labels and General Mills tops for schools at the pre-school office.

Our next stop was Bi-Mart to pick up thirty pounds of sunflower seeds for our bird feeders; that ought to be about enough to carry us to winter. Kathleen also picked up a few plastic boxes to store things in.

I though that we were finished but Kathleen had one more stop...Fabric Depot. She had ordered a heavy duty thread holder for her large spools of thread. While she was getting that I stopped and looked at the day light lamps and they are now carrying a new item that is for fly tying. It is a magnifying lens that clamps onto my fly vise. I did not get it yet as I am not able to do any fly tying right now because my room is full of stuff from the hall.

Anyway after she got her thread holder she wanted to look around some more so I went to the waiting area and looked through a couple fly fishing magazines. We finally got home around 1800 and Kathleen started making dinner.

Well, I need to get ready to eat so I am going to close this now and post it so that when dinner is ready so will I.

Rough Weekend!

Well, I think that I have mostly recovered from last weeks work; I was pretty wiped out over the weekend. Yesterday after church I changed my clothes and then loaded our old large outdoor plastic table and chair set into the SUV and also several boxes that I had put some of Alyssa's old stuff in to take over to her pool party.

It was about noon by the time I finished loading the SUV up and since some of it was in the basement and some of it was in the garage I was a little worn out between lugging all that stuff and going up and down stairs.

So I went into the house and rested for a while. Finally around 1330 I decided to make myself something to eat so that I would not be too famished by the time we got to Alyssa and Dan's. Then I went back into the living room and waited for Kathleen to come downstairs and be ready to go.

Since I had hoped to be at their place by around 1400 so that I could set the table and chairs up and help getting set up I knew that we would be a little rushed when we did not leave here until after 1400.

When we got there I set the table and chairs up and then brought the boxes of stuff into the house for Alyssa to see what it was. Alyssa was making some of the food for the party and so I helped Dan take the pool cover off and skim off the leaves that had fallen into the pool.

Another reason I had wanted to get there early was to be able to use the pool before it was loaded with little people. Since we did not get there early enough I played life guard so that everyone else could enjoy themselves a little more.

Toni and Chucky arrived after she got off work, Andrea was going to come over but John had just gotten home from Men's Roundup and was really tired. Aaron was working so Tami did not bring the girls over.

We had a beautiful ride home last night taking the river route. The sun was just setting and the orange sky was reflecting on the river and the boat lights were an added touch. By the time we got home last night I was too tired to think about trying to blog so I did not.

Today after breakfast I took a walk, and about half way around I knew that it was a mistake; my hip really started bothering me and so by the time I got home I was not only sore but pretty tired as well.

I went out back and cut some roses for the house and also picked some beefsteak and cherry tomatoes. I could have picked more but I wanted to give them an extra day to ripen a little bit more.

Since I fertilized last week we have not had any rain; we really have not had any dew so I thought that I would water the lawn and also the berries, roses and vegetables. By the time I finished that I was really tucked out so I sat and rested for a while.

When I finally got up I decided to make myself some lunch so I made myself a turkey brat on a bun and also sliced up a couple roma tomatoes and put some pepper jack cheese on a bun and toasted them in the toaster oven. I think I eat a dozen or more cherry tomatoes a day and a couple roma tomatoes as well. Tomatoes are suppose to be good for me so I am taking advantage of this tomato season.

So after eating I sat down in my chair again and Kathleen woke me up when she came downstairs a little after 1500. She had not been downstairs all day and was going next door to visit with our neighbor.

Since I was awake I decided to go and water in the front lawn and also water the flower beds in the front of the house and along the drive way. When I came in I though that I would do my blog now as I might not make it if I waited until later in the evening.

Still Wipped out!

Yesterday was a really nice day with the temperature hovering around eighty degrees with just enough puffy clouds to make the sky picture perfect. Before breakfast O went out and picked enough berries for my breakfast and also a days worth of tomatoes.

Then after eating I went outside and watered the berries, vegetables and roses pulled a few weeds in the back yard. While I was doing that I discovered a bird that met an untimely death. I have been noticing a lot of cats in the back yard lately so I am afraid that one of them did the dirty deed.

I guess that is one of the drawbacks from encouraging birds to ones yard. I am not sure if there is a way around that or not, but it is hard to keep the cats out of the yard.

I was still pretty sore from Thursdays sledge hammering the concrete so I did not feel like doing a lot of work; but while I was outside I though that I would see if I could break the old rusty bolts and nuts loose so that I could take the supports off the backboard and make it a much more compact pile.

After cleaning up I made myself some lunch and then waited for Kathleen to see if she wanted to go cabinet shopping. She finally called down and let me know that she was getting ready so I went upstairs and changed my clothes.

We looked at two cabinet shop outlets the first one was out in Boring, not too far from Alyssa and Dan's place. We walked around and looked for a couple hours and my back and feet were really killing me and Kathleen's were starting to hurt as well so we decided to think about it some more and head home.

As we got close to home Kathleen asked if we needed bread, and I said that we really did not but we could put some in the freezer so we decided to stop to see what they had. In the same area we passed by another cabinet shop that we had looked at before so we decided to stop to see what they had now.

Since they were only going to be open for another half hour I felt that I could probably stand that so we looked around and saw some things that Kathleen liked. We also found some bread, donuts and rolls at the Oroweat outlet.

After leaving there we stopped at the Barn and picked up some fresh produce. While the Barn is nice it is not nearly as convenient as when Rossi farms had their barn as it was just down the street.

So for dinner we had corn of the cob and left over sweet meat squash, peas and some left over sesame chicken. I think that there is still some chicken left over and a couple ears of corn so that is probably what we will have for dinner tonight.

This morning was just like a morning at the coast, overcast until about 1030 and then it started to burn the clouds off and turned out to be a really nice day.

This morning after I finished eating and cleaning up the kitchen I waited until I heard Kathleen moving around upstairs and then I went up and stripped the bed, loaded it into the washer and then went outside and picked the ripe tomatoes. By the time I finished the washer had finished so I loaded the bedding into the dryer and started it up.

While they were drying I made myself a couple sliced chicken, tomato and pepper jack cheese sandwiches and then put them into the toaster oven. By the time I finished eating and cleaning up the dryer went off so I took the bedding out and took it upstairs and remade the bed.

I noticed that a couple of my pillows we getting pretty squishy so I took them downstairs and put them into the washer. They are just about done now so I think that I will wrap this up and call it a day for blogging.

Too sore to get much done

This morning when I woke up I could hardly close my hands I guess my arthritis did not like all the pounding from breaking up the concrete yesterday. After taking some Tylenol I could close them with a little pain so I made myself some French toast for breakfast.

After eating I finished my coffee and paper and then went to work on the kitchen. First I washed all the dishes in the sink, and then I picked up the rugs, shook them up, loaded them into the washer and washed them. While I had the rugs up I swept and mopped the kitchen floor; then went outside and pruned the roses, topped the fox glove and pulled some weeds.

Since it was still like a morning at the beach, extremely overcast and cool feeling, working outside seemed like a good idea, and then I realized that my hands were starting to object again. Before I went back inside I picked a couple dozen cherry tomatoes a couple early girl tomatoes and three roma tomatoes.

The mail had come so I went and brought it in, opened it up and filed most of it in the recycling pile and put the magazines in the living room for me to read later on. Kathleen had wanted to go look for cabinets for the downstairs bathroom as we are hoping to start on the remodel in a couple weeks.

Well this afternoon I did not get a lot done, I took a nap while I was waiting for Kathleen to want to go cabinet shopping and when I got up I decided that since she had not come down yet I would do my last fertilizing of the summer of the lawn. I will be doing another later this fall and again this winter but this was the last for the summer.

After I fertilized the front lawn I watered the gardens around the front sidewalk as I had noticed that the soil was getting pretty dry. It is amazing how quickly the soil dries out after being so wet last week.

While I was fertilizing the back lawn I noticed three gold finches; yesterday I had seen one feeding at the thistle feeder; I had heard them chirping in the trees before but I had not actually seen them. They really blend in well in the canopy of the golden mountain ash tree so it has been hard to pick them out, but today and yesterday I saw them in the apple tree.

When I got back in the house Kathleen was dressed and deciding whether or not to go cabinet shopping as it was 1530 and that did not allow much time to look at many places.

Well, keyboarding is not the most comforting thing for my hands so I think that I am going to quit and call it good!

Tiring Day

I felt pretty good again this morning when I got up. Kathleen got up about the same time as I did only she had a bad headache. On my way downstairs I took two loads of laundry down with me and by 0930 I had washed, dried, folded and put it all away.

Before I made my cereal I went outside and picked a cup of raspberries so I had berries to go along with my banana, Cheerios and shredded wheat. After eating I finished my coffee and read the paper and then went outside and started cutting dead branches out of the old apple tree.

The more I cut the branches out the more I realized that the tree will not be around much longer. There are so many dead branches and so many half rotten branches that by the time I finish trimming them there will not be much left of the tree.

I worked on the tree until about 1300 and then I went inside and made myself a couple open faced sliced chicken with pepper jack cheese on top and then toasted it in the toaster oven.

While that was toasting I also made myself a salad topping it off with garden fresh tomatoes, green onions, yellow peppers and mushrooms. After washing the knives and cutting board and putting everything else into the dishwasher I went and rested for a while in the living room.

Kathleen left for her meeting around 1330 and shortly after that I went back outside and started trying to break up the chunk of concrete at the end of the basketball hoop standard. I finally broke it into enough small and large pieces so that I could pull the pole out.

After I got all the pieces out of the way I filled the hole in with some dirt that I had nearby and then raked it all out so that other than the loose dirt it looked like nothing had been there.

After putting all my tools away I went inside and cleaned up and sat in my chair and fell asleep within minutes only to be awoken when Kathleen called from Bi-Mart to ask me a question. I quickly fell back asleep until shortly before she came back home.

After taking something for my headache I watched the evening news and Kathleen made dinner. We had some squash, a mixed wild rice dish from Trader Joe's and some sesame seed chicken.

Now I am watching Sara Palin's speech and since I cannot think of anything else to say I think I will just call it a day and take some more pain meds so that I can move.

Nice Weather Returns Just in Time for School to Start!

Well after a mostly cloudy weekend the nice weather is upon us once again. This morning Kathleen was up almost as early as I was and made hash browns and eggs for the both of us; that is egg yokes for her and egg whites for me. After eating I loaded up the dishes and did the hand washing then I took the recycling outside. Since it was getting pretty nice out already I decided that I would mow the lawn before it got too warm.

After I mowed I dug some weeds out of the back lawn since the ground was nice and soft from the wet weekend and the weeds were easy to pull. When I got done pulling the weeds I took them up front and put them into the yard debris container.

When I got finished outside I cleaned up and then read the mail that had come earlier. There really was nothing there and so it all found its way into the recycling pile,

After a while I made myself a salad with some garden fresh tomatoes, yellow pepper, mushrooms and an onion slice. Then I gathered up all the dishes, silverware and anything else that I could get into the dishwasher and started it up. Then I went to sit in my chair to try to rest up but Kathleen wanted to talk, finally after an hour or so after she went back upstairs I took a couple pain relievers and went outside to see if I could get some work done out there.

First I spent about an hour and a half working on cleaning up the garage, I managed to get some things thrown out and rearranged many others. I can now get both my garden carts out of the garage without having to take my Jeep out. The one cart was full of all kinds of junk and hence the things that made in into the garbage can.

Once I had finished in the garage I went about trying to dig out the old basketball basket. Years ago when I put that in for the children I really used a lot of cement and rocks to hold it securely, really securely! I dug all around it and then when I got to where I could see the cement I got out my trusty sledge hammer and started wailing on it.

I managed to break some of it apart but what else happened was that I was able to loosen the dirt around it enough so that I could push it over. Once I had it down I took it apart and then move the main pole out of the way of the driveway. I was too tired to try to break up the cement any further so I put my tools away and left it for another day.

Kathleen heated up the rest of the mac and cheese and some green beans. We got three meals out of that mac and cheese...not too bad. Well I am pretty tired so I think I will quite before I fall asleep at my computer.

Long Weekend Wrap up

Yesterday was almost a waste for me. I woke up at 0300 and finally got up at 0400 because I knew that I was not going to be able to get back to sleep. So I got and read the whole paper and then made myself breakfast. So after a leisurely early morning I got dressed for church, Kathleen was still sound asleep when I left at 0815 and had just gotten up shortly before I got home about 1130.

By this time my early morning was starting to catch up with me and I could tell that I was not going to get much done the rest of the day. So after changing clothes I went out to the garden to pick a dozen or so cherry tomatoes and my first roma tomato. There were several others that I could have picked but I wanted to give them a couple more days to ripen naturally.

It rained off and on all afternoon and so I wound up taking a couple naps in the afternoon before I finally decided to go to bed when I could not keep my eyes open any longer and managed to get a pretty decent night sleep.

This morning I woke up at a much better time and after eating breakfast I took my time reading the paper and enjoying a cup of coffee. Upon finishing with the paper I put it in the stack of recycling and took it out to the recycling container, and then I got the kitchen recycling and took it out to my composter.

After giving it a couple turns I opened the other side and checked on the contents and all the plant material that I had put in last week had pretty much broken down and was blending in with the rest of the composted material.

While I was out there I pruned the roses and then cut up the shrub that I dug out last week and put them into the yard debris container and took it up front for tomorrows pick up.

After coming inside I went downstairs to the basement and started sorting things down there. Most of it went into a couple piles, one for Alyssa's stuff; one for Aaron's stuff; one for paper recycling one for metal recycling and one for the garbage.

Kathleen came down as I was finishing up sorting and just before I got the broom out to sweep the stairs from the outside entrance to the basement and the floor of the basement. After I finished this I went upstairs and cleaned up and made myself a ham, turkey and provolone sandwich.

After I had finished Kathleen made herself breakfast as I was putting my dishes into the dishwasher. When I finished I took the bag of garbage that I had from sorting in the basement and put it into the garbage can and took it up front.

Most of the rest of the afternoon I spent sitting in my chair dozing off a couple times and getting in one pretty good nap. When I finally awoke the last time I decided that I would do my blog while I still was awake and not have to worry about it later.

Well, it is now just about time for dinner and I need to call up to Kathleen and see what if anything she has planned for dinner. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend and got rested up before the start of school.