Where did the sun go?

I got up about 0700 and it was still dark out, it does not seem that long ago that even when I got up at 0530 it was light out. I went downstairs and had to turn the lights on, which for me is something. Even though it did not rain today, it was overcast all day.

I had cereal again this morning and I also had some raisin walnut bread with peanut butter on it. After breakfast, I went and raked the front yard, mostly to get the walnuts shells off the lawn. I also did a couple loads of laundry, folded, and put it away.

Kathleen came downstairs about 1115 and had something to eat, so I went upstairs to put the laundy away. By this time I think I was on my third or forth cup of coffee. I was reading the mail when she came into the living room, we got out property tax statement, I went up a little, but not as much as I thought it might.

About noon I micro waved the leftover spaghetti from last night and had it for lunch, Kathleen went upstairs to get ready for her physical therapy appointment at 1300. We were even early for it today.

She is doing much better with her physical therapy, she did not even cry when she was stretched today. She only has three more appointments and we were discussing whether or not she needs to continue beyond that.

We stopped by Fred Meyers after her appointment and Kathleen got three pair of gloves, one pair were extra long for pruning roses and the other two pair were regular work gloves. We also picked up a couple mum plants and four pansies plants.

After we got home and I changed clothes I went out front and planted them. I think that this is the first time in a really long time that we have actually planted something the same day as we bought them.

Before we left for physical therapy, Kathleen prepared a roast I cut up some onion and garlic and then we put it in the oven, so when we got home the smell had permeated the whole house. More incentive to hurry up and get the plants planted.

Well, I think that is it for today...good night!

Yep, the rainy season is officially here!

Well, Kathleen came to bed about 0500 this morning, for some reason she woke up about 2100 and did not get sleepy until early this morning. I finally got up about 0730. I was not raining at the time, but it rained most of the night, at times it rained really hard.

I let Reggie out and made myself some cereal. After breakfast, I read the paper and then went outside and picked up after Reggie. By the time I got back in the mail had come, so I read the mail.

Kathleen had come downstairs about 1100 and took a hot bath about noon. While she was taking her bath, I reconciled my checkbook and savings account. I like to do it as soon as the credit union statement gets here each month. Luckily, it checked out okay.

After Kathleen's bath, I made myself a couple limburger cheese and pumpernickel sandwiches for lunch, mmmmm good! Kathleen finally came back downstairs about 1500 and we went to Winco, we had not been to the grocery store for a couple of weeks and were running out of many things.

We got home about 1700 and put the groceries away. Kathleen went upstairs to do something, so about 1800 I was getting hungry so I made some whole-wheat spaghetti and some garlic sausage tomato sauce. Kathleen sliced up some baguette and put some butter and garlic powder on them and them toasted them.


It rained again today but we were grocery shopping when it started and it stopped by the time we were done. I cannot think of anything else to write about so I will just say good night.

I think that the rainy season is upon us.

I got up a little after 0800 this morning, not quite as sore as when I went to bed last night and my stomach was feeling better. I did not feel well enough to go to church and Kathleen went back to bed about the time I was getting up. She had gotten up earlier, did not feel good, and was still tired.

I went downstairs, let Reggie out, and noticed that it was drizzling. After Reggie came back in I made myself a couple eggs and I had the leftover hash from last night for breakfast. After I ate, I spent about an hour loading up the dishwasher and cleaning up the kitchen from Kathleen trying to make grape juice last night.

After I had the dishwasher loaded, I started it up, and then went to work on the hand washing. It is hard to believe that the kitchen was such a mess; I had it pretty well cleaned up while Kathleen was at "Women of Faith" yesterday. Oh well!

While the dishwasher was still going, I made myself some coffee and decided to sit down and read the paper. It felt good to sit for a while. The dishwasher stopped before I finished reading, but I waited until I finished the paper and then emptied it.

Kathleen still was not up and it was after noon so I decided that I would make myself some lunch. In the refrigerator, I found a leftover baked potato and hamburger grave that Andrea made Friday night before they took off for "Women of Faith". There was also some broccoli and green beans leftover from sometime last week.

Kathleen finally got up about 1330, she still did not feel too well and the only reason she got up was to get something to eat. Since she was up, I decided that I would do a load of towels. However, I had put the grapes in the utility sink that the washing machine drains into, so I asked Kathleen to do something with them. She boiled the grapes and is now draining the juice out.

I was answering Andrea's e-mail when the dryer signaled that the towels were done, but I finished the e-mail and then took the towels out and folded and put them away. By now, it was getting to be dinnertime; I looked in the refrigerator and there was some fried rice, a half of a baked potato and a couple hamburgers, all left over from the last few days.

I heated up the fried rice and one of the hamburgers for myself; I did not heat up anything for Kathleen as she just went and lay down on the couch. When she finally got up, she decided that she would rather have a couple egg yokes on top of the potato half.

Well, I think our nice weather is probably over for this year, it was nice while it lasted, but we do need the rain. I did not get a lot done today, but after all, it is the day of Sabbath rest. I think I will just call it a day, so good night!

Women of Faith weekend

Well, today was a little different; Kathleen had to get up so that I could take her to church so she could ride one of the church vans to the conference. Her alarm went off about 0645, and even though I was awake I was not quite ready to get up yet, but I did.

We left for church a little before 0800, I helped her put up the posters that she, and Andrea had made. We managed to get them all up before the vans left; in fact, I left before the vans left.

I got home about 0830 and made myself some cereal for breakfast. By 0900, I was outside raking the front lawn, so that I could put some lime on it. Once I finished that, I raked the back yard and mowed it.

Realizing that this may be one of the last chances that I will have before the rainy season starts, I decided to do some more weeding in the rose garden. Two of my smaller roses were just barely visible because the weeds were so thick.

It took me most of the day but I got all but a small section, about four feet by ten feel left to finish. Some of that area is part of one of my iris beds. I dug several irises up a couple of weeks ago for Alyssa so that area is not going to be too hard.

I also cut off the foxglove stalks and pulled most of the dead plants. This might be the best my gardens have looked this time of year. I guess there is something to say for not having to work.

I finally quit and put all my tool away and went into the house, I could not believe it but it was 1620. I guess I was having too much fun as I had no idea it was so late. I ached pretty much all day, but I was just too stubborn to quit.

I cleaned up a bit, just enough so that I could pick up Kathleen at church. I got there about 1645 and Kathleen did not get back until 1720, so I read my "Arthritis Today" magazine that had come today.

Kathleen went out back and picked a large colander full of grapes and she is in the process of making some "grape juice". She fried up a couple cans of hash, so that was good.

I am writing this now as I am looking forward to taking a long hot shower. So I will say good night.

Friday the thirteenth

Well, it is almost over, I knew it was Friday the thirteenth, but I did not think about it too much, I had too much else to think about.

I got up early, before the sun came up, so I ate breakfast and read the paper before 0900. I hand washed a couple of the frying pans that Kathleen used last night and the night before and vacuumed the living room floor, there was a lot of scrap paper on it from Andrea and Kathleen making those posters yesterday.

I also raked the front lawn again, it is not that it was really bad, but if I keep up with it, it is a lot easier than when there are a lot of leaves and they are wet. I know that this great weather will not last forever... and when the wet weather sets in it is usually here for a while.

I had the leftover sausage from the other night wrapped in a couple of tortillas. I did not have too much time to be too creative as it was getting close to the time we needed to leave for Kathleen's physical therapy appointment.

The appointment went well, and everyone was saying how much better Kathleen's range of motion is than when she first started going there. We got home about 1530 and I changed my clothes so that I could plant the columbine that I dug up yesterday. After planting it, I watered the rose garden, where I had planted the columbine.

It still was not time for dinner yet so I did some more weeding in the berry patch. I hope to have most of the gardens in pretty good shape for next Spring. It is always such a chore trying to get the gardens looking good each Spring.

Before I finished Andrea called and said that dinner was ready. She and Kathleen must have eaten before she called me as they left for the "Women of Faith" conference just as I got into the house. I just had time to say good-bye to them and they were off.

I do not think that I will be doing much more of anything note worthy tonight, so I will just say good night now.

Well I just found out that Reggie had an accident in the utility room so I had to clean that up.

So now, I will close and send this out…good night again.

Columbus Day?

Growing up October 12th use to be Columbus Day, but now all the holidays are either on a Monday or Friday...too bad! I think that many people just look forward to a day off and not really caring what is behind it.

Anyway, I cannot say that I really accomplished a lot today. This morning after breakfast, I changed the furnace filter and then went outside and watered the berry patch. I had put some of the fir needles from the driveway around the blueberries and strawberries and I wanted to water them down. I also cleaned out the birdbath and refilled it.

Then I went in and read the paper and mail, the mail actually got here before 1000. The weather is still too nice, like almost 80 degrees today, that I could not stay inside, so I went out and weeded around the side gate next to the back door. There were several columbine growing there that I wanted to dig out anyway so I had not been mowing there. Needless to say, it was pretty much of a mess.

About half way through, about 1600, I got hungry so I went inside and made a couple cheese and chicken sausages and I wrapped them in a couple of whole wheat tortillas. Not too bad, if I do have to say myself. For desert I made, Alyssa do not read this, a peanut butter, marshmallow cream and nutella rolled them up in a couple whole wheat tortillas, again not bad.

Andrea came over today just before noon today and she helped Kathleen make some posters for the Harvest Festival at church later this month. She stayed until just about 2000, she was going to go grocery shopping, but I do not think that she thought that she would be here that long.

Kathleen fried up an onion and the leftover rice from last night and cooked some hamburgers for dinner. I asked Andrea if she wanted to stay for dinner, but she wanted to get home so that she could have dinner with John.

When one does not eat dinner until after 2000 it makes for a rather short night, so I am writing this now, before I get too tire to do it.

I think that is about all for tonight, so on that note, I will just say, good night.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

I am not sure if it is just the time of year or just the time of life, but I can hardly close my hands. Every once in a while I get these shooting pains from my thumbs and going up my arms. This is in addition to the pain that is there continually. Not fun whatever the cause.

Anyway, I made myself some whole-wheat blueberry waffles for breakfast this morning; I have not done that this week. They really tasted good. After breakfast, I folded and put away the towels that I washed yesterday and then gathered up the throw rugs from the upstairs bathroom. I shook them out and then washed and dried them.

While I had the rugs up, I swept the floor and then vacuumed the upstairs carpets. Once I had the upstairs rugs in the dryer, I gathered up the throw rugs from the downstairs bathroom and washed them. I swept the floor of the downstairs bathroom while I had the chance.

While the rugs were being washed and dried, I read the paper and the mail. Then I vacuumed the downstairs carpets, and by this time the rugs from the downstairs bathroom were dry and I put them back down.

I made myself a Boca Berger, put it on a couple whole tortillas, and spread some limburger and provolone cheese on it. Surprisingly enough it tasted pretty good.

After lunch I went outside and vacuumed up the fir needles from the parking area. Then I used the blower to blow off the rest of the driveway, so for about five seconds the driveway looks pretty much clear of fir needles.

As you can guess I looked like "pigpen" from Charlie Brown fame, so when I got inside I took a shower. I felt much cleaner afterwards. I wish that I could say that my hands felt better, but no such luck.

Kathleen made some rice and sausage tonight for dinner; we also had some peaches and avocado. Now I am writing this early as I meet with the accountability guys tonight and I need to leave in a few minutes. The way I feel now, I will probably go to bed shortly after I get home tonight. So I will say good night now.

MRI results and physical therapy

I slept in until 0830 this morning, which is a lot more sleep than I am am use to getting. Anyway, I had cereal for breakfast with some peach slices and of course coffee. After finishing breakfast, I loaded up the dishwasher and did some of the hand washing.

I then went and gathered all the towels that needed washing and loaded up the washing machine. While they were washing, I read the paper and by the time I finished the paper the towels were ready for the dryer, so I loaded it up and went outside with Reggie.

We got a lot of mail today, partly because of the Columbus Day holiday yesterday, and we have been getting a lot lately. By the time I finished going through the mail it was about noon, so I made myself lunch and got ready to take Kathleen to her physical therapy appointment at 1300.

Her physical therapy went well, they did not even have to stretch her out, so I guess that the brace thing that she got last week must be working somewhat. We had an hour to kill between when she finished up at physical therapy and her doctor’s appointment, so she wanted to stop at Office Max to get some colored paper.

When we got to the doctors office the waiting room was overflowing, luckily we were able to find a place to sit. After about a half hour she was called. The doctor said that her MRI looked good and that he could not find anything wrong. So that was both good news and bad. Good news as there was nothing wrong, and bad because of the pain that does not seem to have any answers as to why.

We got home about 1730 and Kathleen warmed up the potatoes, beans, broccoli and salmon from last night. The salmon was getting a little dried out, but it still tasted good as did the veggies.

Well, I am doing this a little early tonight, but I do not invasion anything else happening tonight so I will just say good night.

The weather is just too nice.

I slept in until 0800 this morning. I got up and made my self some cereal and raisin/walnut toast. After breakfast, I put away the dishes and read the newspaper. Next, I gathered up the trash from all the rooms, took it out to the garbage can, and took it up front for tomorrow’s pickup.

I also did a couple loads of laundry, folded it, and put it away. I thought that I had better mow the leaves in both the front and back yard. I did not have the energy to rake the leaves so using the mower is a quick option. Besides there were a couple patches where the grass actually needed to be mowed.

It was about 1400 by the time I finished so I went inside and made myself a salmon sandwich and had some of yesterday’s leftover rice dish. Because it was so nice outside I just could not bring myself to stay inside and do some of the inside jobs, so I went out to the big rose garden and started weeding. I was getting really sore, but I had so much to do that I just kept weeding. Kathleen came out and asked me if I wanted to work until it got dark and by that time I was sore enough that I decided to quit for the day and get cleaned up for dinner.

We had leftover meatloaf, some green beans, broccoli and new potatoes. I think that this is our forth meal out of the meatloaf and there is still some left for a sandwich or two tomorrow.

After dinner Kathleen went to Michael's to use her 50% off coupon and I think that she was going to Staples as well. I am just too sore to go, I took an Advil after dinner, but it is either not working or has not kicked in yet.

I do not think that I will have any trouble sleeping tonight. I doubt if there will be anything exciting happening tonight so I will just say good night now and call it a day.

Slow Sunday

Today was a pretty quiet Sunday. Kathleen and I went to church and Sunday School this morning. When we came home, Kathleen made some salmon and a rice and peanut dish that was really good. We used our new rice cooker; it is only half the size of or other one, which is nice since it makes only enough for Kathleen and me.

The other one was great when we had several children living here, but it is way too big for just the two of us. We will probably keep it down the basement in the pantry down there for when we need to cook more rice than for just the two of us.

After lunch, I read the paper and checked out my e-mail and then about 1645 we went to Aaron and Tami's where we joined Toni and Chucky for dinner. Before dinner, I helped Aaron pick us some of the rock out their front yard. The spent most of yesterday removing rhododendrons and the lawn and then tilled it. They are going to plant some other plants and replant the lawn.

Chucky barbequed some chicken and we had sticky rice and Tami made some rice in her new rice cooker. After dinner, I rinsed off the dishes and then sat around and talked with Aaron while the girls played. Kathleen and Tami were planning stuff for the harvest festival at the church at the end of the month.

We finally left about 2115 and by then I was getting pretty tired, not that I had done anything today, but I think I must be fighting off a bug of some kind.

Well, it is almost 2200 so I think I will say good night.

Sleepy Saturday

I had a Discipleship Team meeting this morning, so after I ate breakfast I loaded up the dishwasher and started it up. The meeting went until about 1100 and when I got home the Acura was gone, Kathleen had driven herself to Montivilla Sewing Center.

She called a little while later and said that Toni and Chucky where going out to eat with Charié and wanted to know if I wanted to go meet them there.

I was pretty tired so she went without me; I made myself some lunch and then read the mail and newspaper. After that I unloaded the dishwasher, I am not sure why, but my get up and go, got up and went somewhere.

I did manage to get my hair cut today; it had been about four months since my last haircut. It is just long enough to almost put a part in it. I think my next haircut will be a little longer, just because it will be my winter cut.

Kathleen is out again this time to Michael’s and maybe somewhere else. She asked me if I wanted to go, but I am tired enough and as long as she can drive, I do not feel like I have to go everywhere with her.

I do not invasion anything else exciting happening tonight so I will bid my ado's and say good night.

MRI Friday

Well it was almost 0800 before I pulled myself out of bed this morning. I made myself some cereal and then read the paper and just about the time I was finishing the paper the mail came. For some reason the last few day we have been getting a lot of mail, maybe it is just that it is the first part of the month.

I loaded up the dishwasher, did all the hand washing, and wiped off the stove and counters. I was noticing that the kitchen floor was starting to look a little shabby, so I picked up the rugs and shook them out and swept the floor and then mopped it. While waiting for it to dry I vacuumed the rest of the downstairs.


Before I realized it, it was time to take Kathleen to her MRI appointment. We got there about fifteen minutes early and had to sit around until about 1345 because the person who had the appointment was stuck in traffic. Once Kathleen was called in I had a couple hours to kill, so I read several magazines and before I knew it she was done. We left there about 1530 and headed home the back way to avoid the rush hour traffic.

We stopped by Fred Meyer to pick up a pain medication prescription for Kathleen and some items for taking over to Alyssa where we were having dinner. Aaron, Tami and the girls were there and we picked up Toni and Charié on our way to Alyssa's. Chucky came after work and Andrea was working so she and John were not there, but we had a good time.

Kathleen and I left early as I have a Discipleship Team meeting tomorrow morning. I think that just about covers the day. I am headed to bed, so I will say good night all.

New Brace

Woke up earlier this morning and did not go back to sleep so I finally got up about 0600. Kathleen had a physical therapy appointment today so I did not want to get started on any projects this morning.

I went outside with Reggie this morning, mostly to check out the chairs and the bench that I oiled, the bench was all beaded up as it had rained a little last night. I must not have rained very much as the cultivating that I did was not very wet.

Kathleen was downstairs before I finished reading my e-mail this morning and asked if I would like some pancakes this morning, so she cooked up some.

We have not had pancakes for a while and they really tasted good. I think it may have had something to do with the weather turning a little cooler. After I put the dishes in the dishwasher, I sat down, read the paper, and had a cup of coffee.

For some reason today I received lots of mail, much of it was the usual junk, but I also got three magazines and a couple catalogues that I had ordered. That took me up to lunchtime. I made myself a Boca burger and toasted a couple of bread heels and some provolone cheese.

Kathleen also put together a meatloaf and put it in the oven to bake while we were at physical therapy. After we were there for a while the person with the brace showed up and put it on Kathleen. It does not look like it has any metal that would give her a rash and it is not too heavy, so I hope it works for her.

After the appointment we stopped by the credit union and deposited some checks and to change some monthly transfers. Then we headed for Rossi Farms to pick up some fresh produce.

I scrubbed a couple potatoes and put them in the oven. Kathleen cooked some of the green beans and broccoli that we got at Rossi Farms, and by 1730 we were having dinner.

I got really tired after dinner and dozed of while reading a magazine, so now that I am somewhat awake I though that I better do this before I fall asleep again. I think that I covered our day and I think that I will just say good night.

Cleaning up

Well, I did get some sleep last night, I did not get up until 0815 and considering that I went to bed at 2100 that is a long time for me to stay in bed. So I must have been as tired as I felt.

I did not get much done this morning other than make myself breakfast and put away the dishes I washed last night. Oh, I guess that I did change the water in the beta's globe, but that only took about fifteen minutes.

This afternoon I put on another coat of oil on the planter bench that I had been working on earlier in the week. I also picked up some of the foliage from the irises that I dug up for Alyssa Monday.

After that I spent most of the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the collection of odds and ends that have been collecting by the garage door. I even weeded around the door and low and behold I found a tree rose. Well not really, but after I pulled out the mint and violets it could be seen a lot better.

I also opened up some old gallon paint cans and put the dried paint in the garbage and the empty cans in the recycling. They had been setting by the garage doors for about two years. I originally set them there so that the paint could dry up and I could take the chunks out and recycled the cans. Some how I never found the time to finish the project until now.

I even swept the cement around the door so that one can actually see the cement instead of the fir pollen pods and leaves. I did not know what time it was, but when I went into the house it was 1730, so I had been working outside since about 1330. I guess that is why I am just a little worn out.

Kathleen has another Fellowship Ministry team meeting tonight so she made some Au Gratin potatoes and a couple of the left over hamburgers from last night. I just finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher and am soaking the pots and pans so that I can get most of the baked on potatoes off before I put them in the dishwasher.

I think that is all I am going to attempt to do for today, so good night is in order.

Taxi!

I slept in until about 0730 this morning, I woke up about 0200 and it took me quite a while to get back to sleep. About 0915 Kathleen came down stairs and was dressed, when I mentioned something about it she told me that we had to pick up Toni and then go to the airport to pick up our niece Charié. Charié was coming into Portland to take a bus to Seaside where she is going to spent a few days getting some R & R.

We picked her up and got to spend a little time visiting with her. Andrea came over as well as the girls were all going out to eat. Kathleen had her physical therapy appointment today so we had to leave shortly after the girls took off.

While we were picking up a prescription for Kathleen at Fred Meyer, Toni called and asked if we could take her to the doctor's office for a 1615 appointment. Well it was about 1520 when she called.

We picked up Toni and Charié and headed to Clackamas Kaiser for Toni's appointment. It only took about a half an hour and then we headed to downtown to the train/bus depot. We made pretty good time considering what time of the day it was. We dropped Charié and Toni off at the station and then headed for home once again; I took back roads, as they are usually quicker during rush hours.

We made it back home about 1715 and we are both tired. Hence, I am writing this early, before I fall asleep. I did not get a thing done today except run from one place to another. So good night and I hope that I sleep better tonight.

A tiring Monday

I did not get up until about 0745 this morning, I guess that I was still on my Sabbath rest. I made up for it a little bit today. I did a load of towels, washed, dried, folded and put away. Then I vacuumed the downstairs and did a lot of the hand washing dishes. Kathleen got up this morning and when she came downstairs she was dressed, something that she had not done all weekend.

I put the solar house number sign that I bought several years ago in the ground and put the sign on it. I bought it and set it aside to do when I had time and it was buried and I ran across it the other day.

About noon we went to Home Depot to pick up some more of the teak oil so that I could finish the planting bench. I went outside just as soon as we got home and I changed my clothes and started to apply the oil to the bench.

It only took about forty-five minutes to finish the bench. When I got in the house Kathleen was talking to Alyssa, she was going to come over with the children. The other day when I talked with Alyssa she wanted to get some raspberries and irises. So I went back out and started to dig up some raspberries for her. I cleaned out an area that was becoming overgrown and in the same area where I cleaned out under the apple tree.

I also dug out a couple dozen irises in a part of the rose garden that I am trying to clean out and open up a little.

When I went inside and cleaned up Andrea was there having her lunch on her way to work. She had been there a while and just stayed for a while after Alyssa arrived.

Hayden played with one of the toy Wranglers that I have for the grandchildren to play with while Zander played with the battery operated train. He spent a while assembling the track, but he finally did and then Hayden wanted to play with the train as well.

Natalie went upstairs with Kathleen to see how her pillow was progressing. Kathleen is embroidering a little pillow for her for her new room.

Alyssa left with the children about 1730, and we heated up the leftover chicken and rice from last night for dinner tonight.

My eyes are really irritated, I think from all the digging in the soil. I feel tired, but I think it is mostly from me not being able to keep my eyes open as they are really watering.

Well, I think that is it for tonight, so I will just wish you all a good night.

A Sabbath Rest

Well, today is the day of Sabbath rest and I mostly rested. I got up and got ready for church this morning and a little after 0800 I went upstairs to see if Kathleen was planning to go this morning. She was just waking up and said that she wanted to go, but I could tell from what happened last week that she would not make it and I would not either. So I just said that she was about an hour from being ready to go and that I was going now and she should just stay in bed and rest.

Yesterday she never did get dressed and when I got back from church and Sunday School, she still was in her nightclothes. She came down stairs about noon and still was not dressed. She got herself some puffed rice and wheat and had a raspberry and cream cheese croissant. Since it looked like she was not going to have any lunch any time soon I made myself a limburger cheese and onion sandwich.

I gathered up the laundry and did two loads, one dark and one light. After I finished reading the paper I went outside and oiled the bottom and back of the planting bench. By this time, the first load was ready to come out of the dryer and fold. So I put the second load in the dryer and folded the first load.

Kathleen came back down stairs and was dressed, so I asked her what we were going to do for dinner and she suggested rice and chicken. It sounded good to me, so Kathleen got the chicken tenders out of the freezer and cooked some rice.

After dinner Kathleen wanted to go for a walk around the block, she did not need to ask me twice. She was really tired afterwards and her glucose level was only about 74, so she took a glucose tablet and that helped bring it back up to 130.

As you can tell, I did pretty well keeping the Sabbath rest. Oh, I almost forgot, last night after I sent off my post I cleaned out the bathtub downstairs. It had been stained for years and nothing I had tried before worked, but we recently tried Kaboom for the toilet and it worked really well, and so we bought another Kaboom product, “Ultra Scrub”, that was almost like a liquid cleanser.

I worked on it for about fifteen minutes and got most of it cleaned up. I was pretty tired from working outside most of the day so I did not do anymore. I think in the next day or so I will probably try it again. It will be nice to have a bathtub that does not look really dirty all the time.

Well, I think that is all for tonight, nothing else to do but say, good night!

Saturday and I am ready for a day of rest

After breakfast, I looked for and found my tin snips so that I could put a patch on the roof. I found them and then got the old wooden ladder out and set it up on the side of the house. Then I got the piece of aluminum and cut it up to fit on the roof. Now I just have to wait until it rains to see if the patch works. If it does, I will have to make it a permanent patch, right now it is just in there temporarily.

After that, I picked up the walnuts and then mowed the lawn. I was pretty worn out so I took a break and got a 32 ounce jug of ice water and went and sat out on the front porch for a while.

While sitting there I noticed that the hedge really needed to be trimmed. So I got out my hedge sheers and started whacking away at it. I had been using the electric hedge trimmers lately and this time I decided to use the manual ones as they really do a better job, although they are much more labor intensive.

Somewhere between mowing the lawn and trimming the hedge both my hip and shoulders were really bothering me. I am not sure about the hip, but the shoulder I am pretty sure is bursitis, (I think I need to take some more Advil.) So I finished picking up the clippings and put them in the recycling bin.

I sat on the front porch some more and drank more water. After a while, I noticed that I was getting a little hungry so I went inside, made myself a grill cheese sandwich, and had a few chips.

Knowing that I needed to clean up and sand down the planting bench I decided to do that. I hosed off most of the crud and than took a nylon 3M pad and got the finish to the point where I could oil it. I will have to wait until tomorrow or Monday so that it will completey dry out.

Not wanting to go inside yet I decided to straighten up the junk pile under the apple tree. I through out a bunch of old plastic flower pots and several plant trays. It does not look great yet, but it is much better than it was before. I also threw away some of the junk that had been collecting by the outside garage door.

I was pretty filthy so I got the hose out to dust myself off before going into the house. While doing that I decided to clean out the bird bath and refill it. I went inside and got another 32 ounces of water. I sat down for a while, drank the water, and then checked with Kathleen to see what she wanted to do for dinner. We had some black beans and I cut up a couple chicken and cheese sausages to go with it. It was not bad, and there is a little left over for a snack tomorrow.

Well, that is just about it for today, I am tired, but I fell that I got quite a lot done. Now it is time to say good night!

Friday?

I made myself some blueberry waffles and Morningstar sausages this morning for breakfast. It must have smelt pretty good as Kathleen came down while I was eating and said that she smelled blueberries, so she had some waffles as well. She is more into regular sausages than soy ones so she cooked up some of those for herself.

I chopped out some of the ivy vine roots, some of them were two inches in diameter, healthy ivy. I also cleaned off my planting bench so that I could oil it before the rain sets in.

Between both these activities, I got pretty dirty so I went inside to clean up as Kathleen had a physical therapy appointment today at 1300. I did not have time to eat lunch so I grabbed a Cliff bar and off we went.

Kathleen did well with her physical therapy and even did her stretching with out tears!! She finished up a little after 1500; it seems that her hour and a half appointments are becoming more and more like two-hour appointments.

We headed out to G I Joe's to return something that Kathleen bought earlier in the month. While I did that Kathleen went to Oregon Craft Warehouse. I joined her there, waited around for about twenty minutes, and then finally told Kathleen that I would wait outside for her. I waited out there fore another half hour until she finished.

We were going to go to Wal-Mart as well to pick up some pills for Kathleen. Since it was already almost 1700, I decided to skip Wal-Mart for today, as I was not only tired but also hungry. That Cliff bar did not quite do it for me.

So I guess that is about it for tonight. Have a great weekend and good night!

Another somewhat productive day

I had breakfast and then decided to finish the dishes from last night; Kathleen still was not up so I read the paper. She had gotten a couple phone calls that she needed to return so I woke her up a little after 0900. We had a couple frying pans on the stove and a couple other hand wash things so I washed them.

Kathleen did not feel like going anywhere today so I went outside, did some edging, and pulled out some more of the violets from one of the back gardens.

It was starting to get warm in the sun so I went inside and vacuumed the downstairs. By this time, I was starting to get hungry so I made myself some lunch. Kathleen was upstairs talking on the phone, so when I finished eating I went out to the front yard and did some edging to the garden in front oft the house. I also decided that I needed to rake the leaves from the front lawn, so I got the rake and started raking.

While I was doing that, I talked to one of the guys that was doing some work next door. They were taking the aluminum siding that they had taken off to the recyclers. I asked them if they wanted some steel and he said sure, so I got rid of the old barbeque and the frame for the futon that we had bought for Toni several years ago, but had gotten bent and was not good enough to keep for using.

So I was able to get rid of a couple of items that I was not sure how I was going to get rid of. After I got that all hauled over there I put some fertilizer on the blueberries and strawberries earlier in the day so I watered that in.

About that time, I was starting to get hungry so I suggested to Kathleen that we use some of the left over mashed potatoes, the cube steak that we bought the other day and the green beans that Kathleen and Andrea bought at Rossi farm last week.

We still had about half the mashed potatoes left over and a little bit of the green beans, so I will probable make that for lunch one of these days.

After dinner I put all the left overs in containers and put them in the fridge. I also loaded up the dishwasher and started it. There were several hand wash items so I washed them as well. So now, the kitchen is semi-clean and I am ready to go to sleep.

Kathleen has still been really emotional again today, she does not know why and neither do I. She had a meeting tonight so I have been able to just take it easy and rest up. So I guess that I will just say good night.

It has felt like Friday today!

I guess that one of the problems with not working or going to school, is that one tends to loose track of what day of the week it is...not that it really matters much anymore. I just have to remember where I need to take Kathleen that day when I wake up.

Today it was a new place to try to get a device to straighten out her elbow. It was mostly filling out forms, an interview and taking some measurements. We got home about noon, Kathleen finished her breakfast, and I made myself something to eat for lunch.

I was hoping to go to Costco right after that, but Kathleen needed to rest for a bit. I dinked around for as long as I could and then finally changed my clothes and got the ladder out so that I could clean the fir needles off the valleys in the roof.

We got Leaf Guard gutters last winter that make it so that I do not have to clean out the gutters eight or ten times a year, but I still need to get the needles out of the valleys. I guess that is one of the problems with living under several huge fir trees. Oh well, they do provide some really nice shade in the summer time, but the rest of the year they are really a pain.

It seem like they are always dropping something, whether it be pollen pods, needles, fir cones or sometimes-huge breaches.

We finally got off to Costco about 1500; Kathleen needed to take back a couple photo albums she bought the last time we were there. I guess some of the pages were not up to par. I needed to get some vitamins and Kathleen found a couple other things that she wanted. We also stopped at the new Costco gas station and got gas, it seems to be a little cheaper than the other gas stations...and I am all for saving money.

Well, I am writing this early tonight as I am meeting with the accountability guys and I probably will not feel much like writing when I get home. I cannot think of anything else exciting to write home about so I guess I will just say, good night.

A Full Day!

Today was a busy day! Kathleen had her doctor's appointment at 1045 and the break looks like it is still progressing as expected. He did suggest that she get some kind of elbow extender, something that will help force the arm to straighten out. From what I understand, it is adjustable so that the wearer can make minor adjustments to finally get the arm straight. He thought that the physical therapy office could do it.

Well, when we got to the physical therapy office they told us that they do not do that. Kathleen's physical therapist did some checking and found a place just down the hallway that did it. Her physical therapy went pretty well today, but she is still pretty emotionally drained and the tears come at the drop of a hat.

Anyway, she finished physical therapy a little after 1500, so we walked down the hall to see about the device that the doctor recommended. They had to order one so we need to go back at 1000 tomorrow.

So off to Winco to do some grocery shopping, we had not really gone grocery shopping in about ten days, so it took about an hour and a half. By the time we got home and got things put away, it was 1730. Kathleen was crashing and took about an hour and a half nap on the couch.

I was getting hungry so I fixed a couple of cans of chili and woke Kathleen up. It is a good thing that we had called Alyssa earlier and said that we would not be going to her place tonight. I was pretty worn out myself, it was not from doing anything, but from just sitting around waiting for Kathleen's Doctor's appointment, physical therapy appointment, the other place and then grocery shopping.

So I guess that I am about ready to call it a day and good night!

Nice Day!

I did not plan it, but I got several things done that I have been meaning to do for a long time. Andrea picked up Kathleen about 1000 to so that Kathleen could go with her to her doctor's appointment. Then they went out to lunch and then to Fabric Depot/Montivilla Sewing to see the Phaff trailer. They did not get back until about 1530 so that gave me a good part of the day to get things done.

First, I emptied out the compost barrel and put in into the compost bin. Then I took out the compost and started a new mix. I went back into the house, vacuumed the downstairs, and cleaned up the kitchen.

I decided that if I did not oil the other chair this week I probably would not get it done this year. So I went outside and did the bottom of the chair. I went back inside and made myself lunch. By now, the chair had dried enough to turn it over and do the top side.

I also raked the front lawn and gathered all the inside trash containers and filled up the garbage can. I also gathered up the recycling and put it into the proper containers.

It may not seem like a lot, but I got several things done that I needed to do. I do not feel too tired right now, which is a good thing. I just have to learn to pace myself and not take some breaks between doing things.

Well tomorrow Kathleen has a doctor's appointment at 1045 tomorrow morning and a physical therapy appointment at 1300, so tomorrow should be a very interesting day.

Today the bottom fell out!

I awoke about 0300 this morning and never really got fully back to sleep. I think I must have dozed off a little but every time I looked at the clock it was only thirty minutes since the last time I looked, so if I did sleep it was in really short catnaps.

I finally got up about 0645 and went downstairs to take my morning shower that must have awakened me just a little. I got dressed, made myself some raisin/nut toast, and had a glass of juice.

About 0800, I went upstairs to see if Kathleen was planning on going to church. She said that she wanted to; she even got dressed. She came downstairs about 0830 and while standing in the kitchen she said that she just could not do it. Well, I had been sitting long enough that I decided that I did not really have the energy to go myself. It was about fifteen minutes past the start of church and by the time I would have gotten there the service would have been about half over.

I am glad that I did not go this morning, as by 1500 I could not stay awake any longer, so I went to bed and slept for a couple hours. I feel a little better, but I still need a good nights sleep. I think it will be an early lights out tonight. That is one reason that I am writing this early today.

I did manage to water the houseplants and change the water in the beta's globe, but I really did not get much of anything else done today.

Well, I have a load of laundry in the washer and another one in the dryer that is just about ready to take out and fold so I think that I will just say good night now and if anything really exciting happens between now and when I finally crash for the night I will add another post.

Question for Aunt Sue

Sue

"After dinner, we went out for gelato. Mom had peach, I had amaretto, Jeff had tiramisu, Jen had peanut butter fudge, Jeremy and Bill had pumkin pie. The cones are homemade, so it is a delicious dessert. (Not quite as good as Katarina's Tartufo, though)!!!"

Did you ever find these (Katarina's Tartufo) anywhere besides that Italian restaurant we went to? Those were amazing. Probably the best dessert I've ever had! I looked on-line but only found a restaurant listed as Katarina's Tartufo. Hmmm...

Very interesting about the wheel chair. I worked in a pharmacy for 6 years and we had to deal with a lot of people with disabilities. Some more awkward than others...like, how do you give change to someone with only 3 fingers? Sounds like Jennifer is doing great in school.

Hugs to all,
Alyssa

I think I accomplished quite a lot today!

I woke up to a really nice day, so I got up and made breakfast and then emptied the dishwasher. After reading the paper, I put the towels in the dryer that I just washed.

I did not want to waste such a nice dry day, so I went outside and pulled more of the ivy off the fir trees. I now have it all the fir trees free of ivy at least up to about seven feet. I did not feel ambitious enough to get the ladder and pull the rest of it off...maybe another day.

Since it was so nice I decided to pull out the violets out of the strawberry and blueberry garden, I got about 75% of it finished, when I decided that I was getting hungry and went inside to make myself something for lunch. I did not realize it but I had been working outside from 0900 until 1345. So I cleaned up and made myself a chicken sandwich from the left over chicken from the other night.

I went to get the towels out of the dryer that I had put in there before going outside, but the dryer was empty. Kathleen had emptied it and folded them, so I just put them away.

We were going to Aaron and Tami's house about 1630 to celebrate Tami's birthday, so I decided that I would just stay inside and rest up. I had not realized that I was as tired as I was until I stopped working.

We had a really nice time with Aaron and Tami, Alyssa was there with her children; Toni and Chucky were there as well. Andrea was working so she and John were not there and Dan came later so just about the whole family was there.

The grandchildren play so well together...most of the time and they really had a good time tonight. They are all getting so big it is hard to believe...where has the time gone?

Kathleen was feeling pretty good for most of the day, but tonight, just before we left, she started to feel bad again. She is now dozing on the couch. We were planning on going to Alyssa and Dan's tomorrow after church, but the way she is feeling now, I am not sure if she will be up for it. We will just have to play it by ear I guess.

Well, I think that is all for tonight, so I will just say good night.

Mix emotions today

This morning I had breakfast with my accountability group so from a little after 0800 until about 1045 I was out of the house and felt pretty good. I got there a little early so I walked for fifteen minutes or so and it felt good.

Kathleen had her physical therapy appointment at 1300 today so while she was getting dressed I made myself something to eat before we left. She was very emotional today, crying for no apparent reason and not able to control it. She also was not feeling well, her stomach hurt and so did her head. The arm almost always hurts, so I do not even count that.

When we got to physical therapy she started to cry, and they asked her if she just wanted to forget therapy today and go home. She needed to have her range of motion checked today so they had to do that so that they could send it to the doctor for her appointment Tuesday.

I suggested that perhaps the therapy might be beneficial to her and that since she had to do the most unpleasant part anyway she might as well do the exercising. She did and while she did not feel better, she did not feel any worse.

Kathleen asked if we could stop at Target and get a mango smoothie, since we had not done that in a while I decided to stop there, besides we needed to stop at Safeway and get some of her special coffee and they were in the same strip mall.

Fewer and fewer places are carrying the coffee that she likes so we have to keep on finding new places. Last week I checked on line to find out who was still carrying it and it looks like Safeway and Albertson are the only two close by that are carrying it now.

Well we finally made it home about 1645. I had planned to mow the front lawn today, but I was really tired. After I changed my clothes and sat for fifteen minutes or so I decided, I better get up and get outside as no one else was going to mow it for me.

I even parked the Wrangler in the driveway this morning when I got back from breakfast, so I did not have that as an excuse for not mowing it.

I even mowed it twice, once to rake the leaves and then I dropped the height and mowed it again to cut the grass.

After cleaning up and sitting for another half hour, I decided to make dinner. I made ravioli, and corn on the cob. It only took about fifteen minutes total...about five minutes quicker than Alyssa's Blackened Tilapia Sautéed Zucchini and Onions Dot Noodles, which took her 20 minutes. It probably was not as taste though.

After dinner, I cleaned up the kitchen, did the hand wash dishes, finished loading up the dishwasher, and turned it on.

Well, that was my day, I am tired now and I think that I will head for bed...good night!

Things are greening up again!

After I got up this morning, I went out with Reggie and I noticed that the grass was starting to green up once again. I made waffles for breakfast and then went and read the paper.

After a while I went out to the garage and gathered up the things that I had set aside for Goodwill and loaded them into the SUV. The mail came in the mean time so I read that and took care of a couple medical insurance issues. Then I went and dropped the things off at Goodwill.

That is four trips to Goodwill in about a week, at this rate I will eventually get the garage cleaned out and maybe I will be able to park a vehicle or two in it. Who knows, I may even be able to work out there and not have to move half of the garage to do it.

When I got back from Goodwill I cooked up a couple sausages for lunch and than I went out and mowed the back yard. The grass has not started to grow yet, but the weather is cool enough now that I felt that I could lower the height down and not worry about the grass being too short.

I was going to mow the front yard, but I did not feel like moving the Wrangler...maybe tomorrow. I put the mower away and thought that I would move a few things around so that it would be easier to move around in the garage. If I can get enough space cleared out I will be able to install the pulley system so that I can hang the hard top in the summers when I have the soft top on the Jeep.

When I finished and went into the house, Kathleen had started making dinner. She wanted mashed potatoes so I mashed them for her. Kathleen had cooked up some chicken and onions, so we had a very nice dinner.

Kathleen seemed to be better today; her emotions were not running the full spectrum as they had been for the last couple of weeks. Maybe the medications are doing their jobs...I can only hope.

Well, I think that is about it for tonight, good night!

Looked like rain all day

I slept in again today. After getting up, I made breakfast and read the paper and mail when it got here. Kathleen was still sleeping so I went out to the garage and loaded up the SUV with some more things for Goodwill.

I checked upstairs and Kathleen was still sound asleep so I left her a note telling her that I was dropping that stuff off at Goodwill and then took off. I got back home about 1230 and Kathleen had just gotten up.

I made myself some lunch out of some of the leftover steak from last nights dinner. After eating, I paid a couple of bills online, then went out to the garage again, and sorted out some more things to take to Goodwill. I think I have enough for another load.

I cleaned up for dinner, chili and corn on the cob. We ate early tonight as we had a church business meeting at 1900. The meeting got over about 2030, but by the time I helped clean up and we left it was after 2100.

So I checked my e-mail and looked to see if there were any new blog entries and Alyssa had one so I paged through it and then decided I had better get started on my own.

That is pretty much how my day went, and now it is time for bed. So good night and have a great day!

New photos

Just thought you would like to see my newest projects...in case you haven't already, go to
Paper Capers

Leave a comment, so I know you stopped by...I wish these blogs would tell you who visits like Dad's Care Pages did...it kind of drives me crazy.

Alyssa

Physical Therapy Day!

I had taken some nightguil last night as I felt my sinuses starting to close up on me before going to bed last night, so I slept until about 0730 this morning.

I did not get much done this morning except make breakfast, read the paper and the mail. I helped get Kathleen ready for her appointment and drove her there. Once she was checked in, I went up to her doctor’s office to pick up a couple prescriptions for her.

She seemed to do well at therapy, so afterwards she wanted to go to Jo~Ann Fabrics to use some of her coupons. So we looked around for some wool batting and some handles for a purse she wants to make.

After what seemed like a couple of hours she started to get hungry so we checked out and headed to Fred Meyer to get her prescriptions filled and pick up a couple of steaks for dinner.

I broiled the steaks, mine only about half as long as Kathleen’s and scrubbed a few potatoes to microwave. The steaks were really good.

Kathleen is now taking a muscle relaxed as well as her pain medication, so after dinner she dozed on and off for most of the night. She also is complaining about the pain, so the next day or two will be more of the same.

Well, I have run out of things to say and I am getting too tired to think of anything else, so I guess it is time to say good night.

Back online!

Wow...it's almost been a whole week since I have been online, blogging or anything of the sort. What did I miss? It'a amazing what one can accomplish without a computer in the house. I am caught up on laundry, the kids' rooms are clean, the kitchen is mostly clean, living room, family room and entry clean...bathrooms...not clean...yet! I even did some scrapbooking. We just got our computers back tonight and thought I would stop by and say hello. I think I will wait until tomorrow to add to my blog.

Goodnight,

Alyssa

Rain and than Sunshine!

I must have been really tired yesterday, I slept about 10 hours. It started raining about 0230 this morning and rained on and off until around noon. The rain made the room darker than usual and it felt earlier than it really was.

I got up about 0730 and made myself some cereal, juice and coffee. After reading the paper and the mail I decided that I needed to go out to the garage and try to sort out some of my auto stuff, like was, polish window cleaners and the like.

So I put together a shelf and started to pull the piles apart. I found many things that I had forgotten that I had. After sorting out the garden stuff from the automotive stuff, I started to put the automotive stuff on the shelf and sorted them out by type of product.

I was able to combine many of the same things and filled up a recycling tub with the empty plastic containers. Some of the stuff I just dumped because either it had dried up or there was not enough left to worry about.

I even found some things that I had gotten for my old sports car, which I could no longer use. Finally, about 1600 I decided to wrap things up. I had not eaten lunch and was starting to get hungry. I also was starting to get tired, so it brought things back into the garage and decided to finish it another day.

I washed a garbage can that I had filled up with dirty rags that I use for washing and waxing the vehicles. By the time, they finished drying I was really ready to stop for the day.

Kathleen heated up a couple of potpies for dinner and after dinner; I fell asleep in the chair in the living room. I think I was reading a magazine, which did not help.

I just got up and decided that I had better write this or I might not get it done tonight. That said I think that I will say good night.

Just a couple of words here – I found, once again, that trying OTC pain relief makes for a difficult day. I tried it again Saturday which was a waste. The pain gets a bit dull but continually nags at me and I get whiney. Whinier. Ask Bob, no, don’t ask Bob…. The actual break isn’t the source of much pain any more but the muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, red and white corpuscles, you name it, whatever resides in my right arm and shoulder are not happy with the use they are getting and not much besides heat helps... and Rx pain pills. I guess this means another call to the Doc. The last Rx was for fewer pills and it was supposed to last a week longer. I hate being dependent on them, but, for now, I guess I am.

Yesterday I picked up my copy of Faith for a Lifetime, the Women of Faith Devotional I got last year. I was trying to see if it would point me in a way which would help my frustration. I mistakenly turned to today's page but wouldn’t you know what it said was, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18. (Actually it had a type-o and said ‘in everything give things’ which isn’t bad either.) I can pray and I can be thankful but that ‘rejoicing always’ stuff just isn’t happening. Rejoice - To feel joyful; be delighted; to fill with joy; gladden. This is definitely not happening.

One of the reasons I want to use OTC pain meds is to get away from the numbing the Rx stuff gives me. However, it is the numbing that keeps me from being as grouchy from the pain.

Another definition of rejoice was ‘be very happy about something’. Pain tends to keep me centered on myself and I know I need to find a way to get beyond me – and that means doing something.

Yesterday I did do a bit of mending and that was a major accomplishment. I had a new pair of PJs that was too long for me. I was putting them in the wash when I noticed the bottom couple of inches of the pants were filthy from being worn by a short woman. I took a deep ‘growing’ pleat above that and now they fit. I know I’m not going to need to let them down some day but it got the job done quickly. I was going to put on another pair of PJs that were too long. The elastic had come unstitched, making them longer yet and I was putting up with it until last night. I cut off the waistband and re-applied the elastic. I don’t know how many of you can relate to this but it is just wonderful to not be tripping on my PJs - especially now. I don't need to fall again. It wasn’t that it was so difficult to fix but it did mean that I had to do it.

Well, the ‘couple of words’ seemed to stretch, as usual. I did have a great time at Tami and Aaron’s today. It is delightful to have them so close – about 52 blocks away. Toni and Chucky brought the salad and the newest addition to their family – Spooky. Toni says she gets spooked by everything. It was fun to play with a kitten again. Alexis and Becca really loved playing with her too, but the kitty preferred to sleep. She was a feral kitty they had rescued from where they live. The vet said she would have died from fleas if they hadn’t taken care of her. She is black with a tiny bit of white in her ears, is between two and three months old and is mostly ears. Aaron and Tami’s cat, Jasmine, was definitely not happy to have a visitor - maybe because they are both females.

It is time for me to go to sleep. It took Bob his usual 1 ½ minutes to fall asleep about two hours ago. It takes me much longer to wind down at night because I'm usually feeling much better than I do the rest of the day. I would love to feel as good in the morning as I do at night….

Kathleen

Sunday September 17th 2006

Kathleen was sleeping pretty soundly when I went upstairs to see if she was going to go to church and Sunday School this morning so I let her sleep, she probably needed the rest.

I got home a little after 1100 and she was awake. I gathered up some light colored clothes and did a load of laundry, as I did not get a chance to do them the other day when I was doing the laundry.

Aaron called after they got home from church to see if Kathleen was feeling well enough to make it to their house for dinner, she said she was.

I really did not do much except the laundry this afternoon, but I found myself taking a nap in the chair this afternoon, I think I have run out of reserve and am tiring more easily.

Tami had made a couple of enchilada casseroles for dinner that were very good. We had stopped by Winco and picked up the makings for hot fudge sundaes for dessert and that topped off a very good meal.

Toni and Chucky were there with their new kitten that they rescued, it sure was tiny and frail looking. The grandchildren really enjoyed her.

Well, like I said, I did not do much today, so I guess that I will just say good night and have a great new week.

Almost autumn

It is hard to believe that it is almost autumn already, I feel like I missed the summer. I know that I went through the motions of summer, but between my own recovery and taking care of Kathleen, I feel like I missed summer this year.

Before I know it, the rainy season will be upon us and that means almost nine months of sun depravation. I was so worn out this summer that I did not get to do many of the things that I enjoy doing. Typically, Kathleen and I spend some time at the coast in early September after school starts, and this year we have missed that, we will be lucky to make it in October.

Oh well, on with life. This morning was the first Men's Breakfast at church for the Fall season. I helped with the cooking duties and as I was doing that I realized that all three of us men had been in the hospital for one thing or another in the last three months. I think that is a sign that the cooking staff is getting old, although I am the youngest of the regular five that head up the breakfast crew.

I got there just a little before 0700 and did not get out of there until a little after 1100. It is always tiring, but a lot of fun and very enjoyable.

Aaron asked if Kathleen and I would like to go to their place for a 1600 meal tomorrow, but right now, it kind of depends on how Kathleen feels. She got up a little while after I got home.

I worked outside most of the afternoon, cleaning up the area just outside the back door and digging or chopping out some of the sucker trees that have been growing in the yard for the past couple of years. I have to do this a couple times a year, and this year I did not get it done until now.

I made sausages and tater tots for dinner tonight…really nutritious!

I also put away the dishes that I had washed a couple days ago and forgot were still in the dishwasher. While cleaning up the kitchen I realized that I probably needed to do a load of towels as well. I just got done folding and putting them away a little while ago.

I guess that is all for today, have a great Sunday!

It rained again today!

This morning I met with the accountability guys this morning for breakfast. We had a good time for breakfast and finished up with a good time of sharing and prayer.

I got home about 1100 and tried to get Kathleen motivated to get dressed and ready for her physical therapy appointment at 1300. We finally left the house about 1255, so needless to say we were a tad bit late for her appointment.

Kathleen has really been emotional lately and she has had a hard time getting motivated to do anything. Some days she cannot motivate herself to get dressed, and that gets her to feel worse about herself… and so the cycle continues.

I thought that she did really well with her physical therapy and she is able to move her arm much more than she could even a week ago and much better than a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, after her physical therapy she wanted to stop by Kohl’s, Lowe’s and Wal-Mart. So by the time we went to Lowe’s and Kohl’s we were both pretty hungry so we stopped by Taco Del Mar and had a couple tacos apiece. We then went to Wal-Mart to pick up some coffee and cookies that Kathleen likes.

They are either not carrying the coffee any longer or they were out of it, but either way she did not get the coffee she wanted and Wal-Mart was one of the last places still carrying that brand.

By the time we got home it was after 1900 and it was too late to start doing anything, so today I did not accomplish much of anything.

Well, that is about it for today, tomorrow morning I get to get up and go to church to make breakfast for our first men’s breakfast since June. We get there about 0700 so that we can serve breakfast by 0900.

Good night.

It Rained Today!

Did not do too much today. This morning I worked outside first washed the Wrangler and then pulled some more of the ivy off the fir trees. I was a little smarter this time as I stopped before I wore myself out completely.

I made my self a couple Polish sausages for lunch and then went out to the garage and sorted some more things to take to Goodwill. I worked under cover, as we had our first real rain in about three months.

After I did all I could for today in the garage I went in the house and vacuumed the downstairs. I am really amazed at how much dog hair there is every day, but more than that I am amazed at the amount of “dirt” I collect every day. I think that a lot of it is being pulled up from under the carpet.

I made some cod, tater tots and corn for dinner tonight and after dinner Kathleen made some peach ice cream with our new Kitchen Aid ice cream maker. We had some and it was really good, it was a little runny yet, but a couple of hours in the freezer will fix that.

Well Kathleen did not have any energy today so she never made it out of her nightclothes so we did not do any running around today…probably a good thing.

I think that is about all for today…see you tomorrow.

A somewhat productive day

This morning I got up about 0600, I think mostly because for the last couple of mornings Kathleen’s car alarm has gone off between 0630 and 0700. It did not go off this morning, but I was awake enough that I could not get back to sleep. The plants needed watering so I did that and then picked some raspberries for my breakfast cereal. I then went inside and had my cereal, juice and coffee.

I needed to rake up the leaves from the front yard again, but I just did not feel like it, so I vacuumed the downstairs. Not quite the same, but it filled the urge.

Later in the morning, I went out to the garage and sorted out more things to take to Goodwill. I got another SUV load full and Kathleen and I even went there and dropped it off. I can now go from one side of the garage to the other with out injuring myself.

Andrea came over and took Kathleen to “Bed Bath and Beyond”. They stopped off at Rossi farm and brought home some corn for dinner. I had a couple ears and the leftovers from last night. Yummy!

Kathleen had a Fellowship team meeting tonight so I took her to church and then went home and sorted out some more things to take to Goodwill tomorrow. Kathleen got a ride home so I did not have to pick her up.

Well, that is about all for tonight. Have a good night!

The day after

I worked out in the garage a little bit this morning, mostly getting recycling ready to put out for the haulers to take away. I have also been inspired to get some more things ready to take to Goodwill. I just have to list it, box it up and load it into the SUV.

Kathleen had her physical therapy this afternoon so that took a couple hours out of the day. She is doing so much better than she had been even a week ago, and I do not think that she is in quite as much pain, although she might not agree with that.

After her physical therapy session, she wanted to stop by Fabric Depot to pick up a few things. I do not think that she picked up what she stopped there for but she did manage to find some things to buy no the less.

We then stopped by Winco for a couple items that we neglected to get yesterday. When we got home and put everything away Kathleen and I both worked on dinner. I think that this was the first dinner that we made from scratch. No frozen food, no pre-pared meal, just real food. We simply cut up some potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, onion, and of course garlic and parmesan cheese.

I think we had enough left over for at least one more meal for at least me and maybe even for Kathleen as well.

Well, that was our day, and it is time to say good night!

09/11

Well I am sure that everyone realizes what day this is and I am sure that you all can remember where you were and what you were doing five years ago.

I remember I was still working at Boeing and I was sitting at my desk listening to the radio, while I was working, when they interrupted and said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I went to an internet site, caught a live feed from one of the news stations, and watched in horror.

I spent over fifteen years of my youth growing up about 70 miles outside of New York City and I remember the skyline from the harbor. I was really taken back as I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing. My first thoughts were of my family especially some of the extended family aunts, uncles and cousins that lived and or worked in and around the city.

So today with the news shows showing the same pictures again brought back some of the same emotions from five years ago. I had a hard time thinking about doing anything today.

I did manage to load up the SUV with some things to take to Goodwill, and we did actually take the stuff to the drop off center. We also stopped by the bank and straightened out the account that the payment comes out of and then stopped at Winco and did some grocery shopping.

We did not need a lot, but just enough to make shopping necessary. After putting away our purchases, I pretty much crashed. Partly because for the second day in a row Kathleen’s Acura alarm went off and I was not able to get back to sleep.

Well, I am too tired to think of anything else to write about so I will just say…good night!

A very good day!

Today started out like just about every other Sunday, Church and Sunday School in the morning, then home for dinner or at least some kind of food. Andrea called and said that they were going to go look at a house or two that they found on the internet. Then Alyssa called and invited us over for swimming and to visit with the grandchildren…an offer that is hard to turn down.

Now remember that the last time we were going to Alyssa and Dan’s was the very same day that Kathleen broke her arm. So it was almost a trip back into time. While we were still on the phone with Alyssa Andrea called back and said that the house that they looked at really would not work out for them.

Well off we went to Alyssa and Dan’s, Kathleen went into the water, I did not. I did not feel all that well, I thing that I did more physical work than I was ready for yesterday. I did take the older two for a short walk and wound up carrying Zander for a good portion of the “walk”. Later when I was resting in the chair Zander came and curled up on my lap and asked if I could spend the night. I thought that was cute and made my day.

Well, I did not realize it when we came over but Alyssa was having us over for dinner. She had chicken, rice and lentils…it was very good. Toni and Chucky were there as well and Aaron called just as we were serving dinner, so I was able to talk or see all of the kiddos today.

Well, I think that is about it for today, good night and have a great week!

Saturday!

Well today is Saturday so I emptied the dishwasher and then made myself breakfast, I made myself a couple eggs and sausages. Then I spent most of the rest of the morning weeding and pulling out baby prune trees that were growing in the rose garden.

I also pulled the ivy that was growing on the west side of the garage off. I like having the ivy on the ground as I do not have to mow that little strip between our garage and the neighbors driveway, but I have to keep it pulled off the garage at least once a year.

I also washed a couple loads of laundry, dried them, then folded them and put away. Of course I had to vacuum up Reggie fur. I did not do much more than that today, it was kind of a take it easy day.

I think that is about it for today, good night!

It is Friday!

Yep, it is Friday, and for many of you that means the weekend is here. For some of us it is always the weekend!

Today was a special day for us as Alyssa stopped by with the children. I think she just wanted the coupons that I had been saving for her. We had some of the banana bread that Andrea had made and also some rice checks. For dessert, I took the two oldest, Natalie and Zander, out to the raspberry patch and feasted on some of the fall crop.

It was good to see them, they have not been here for quite a while and Zander wanted to “borrow” some of our toys, but we keep them out for all of our grandchildren to play with when they visit. Well I do play with a couple of the toy Jeeps, but usually only with the grandchildren.

After they left Kathleen and I went to Costco, a place we had not been to in about three months. When one considers that we use to go there at least once a week it has been quite a long time for us. Of course, we made up for what we did not spend over those couple of months today.

By the time we got home we were both really tired. Luckily, we had bought some ravioli so I boiled up some and opened up a jar of sauce and we had dinner.

That is about all we did today. I did manage to vacuum the downstairs a couple times today and did a load of dishes, but they are still in the dishwasher. Well I will say good night…see you tomorrow!

A long day!

Well we are just getting home after a long day. This morning I got up early because Kathleen was moaning and groaning and I had already tried to get back to sleep for about an hour.

It was probably a good thing as I needed to water the plants, even thought the weather has cooled off we still have not had any appreciable amounts of rain in a couple of months.

I raked the leaves from the front yard this morning. After I finished and got back into the house and made lunch for myself, I looked outside and the front yard was full of leaves again. The leaves on the walnut trees are so dry that they are falling off a month or so early.

Kathleen had her second physical therapy appointment today, so that took up a couple hours from about 1400 until 1530. After that Kathleen wanted to stop off at Fabric Depot, so that took another hour and an half, and then we needed to stop off at Fred Meyer to get Kathleen’s pain medication prescription filled.

While we were waiting for that to happen, we did some shopping. When Kathleen stopped by to pick up her prescription, they could not find it, so we had to wait another twenty minutes for them to figure out where it was. They finally found it and by this time it was about 1830.

We went back home to let Reggie out because we were going to Andrea and John’s for dinner tonight. Andrea made some pot roast and decided to have us over. John did not get there until about 2000 and we had just started to eat.

We had a good visit and John and I went out to get some gasoline for his truck that was in his shop. Kathleen and Andrea stayed there as Kathleen was looking at a couple of Andrea’s books.

We were going to stop by Alyssa and Dan’s but it had gotten too late. So Alyssa we still have the coupons for you here.

Well, I am tired and I think that I will just say good night!

A First!

A first…Kathleen had her physical therapy yesterday and today is the first day after that she has been able to function. Of course having her hair appointment today probably helped a whole lot.

After her hair appointment we went to DEQ to get Kathleen’s Acura passed and re-tagged. It passed fine and after about ten minutes and $75.00 we were on our way again.

We stopped by GI Joes to get a small weight for Kathleen; she also found a jacket and another exercise device while there. Since we were just about next to the Craft Warehouse, we stopped there as well. Of course, she found a few things there to buy as well.

We were both getting tired so we decided to head for home, but made one last stop to get some gasoline. We were only gone about four hours, but neither one of us had much energy left.

After resting for a little while, I heated up some leftovers for dinner. I think that I have just about finished all the leftovers in the fridge. Tomorrow night Andrea has invited us over for roast beef. It has been quite a while since we have been over there to see their place.

Well, I think that is all for tonight…good night!

I GOT THE CLAMP OFF MY POOR BROKEN ARM AND THE STRAP THAT WENT AROUND ME FOR THE PAST SIX WEEKS OFF TODAY!!! It is healing – maybe not as fast as they would like but really well considering that I am diabetic – usually well controlled. I’ve not been as good as I should in remembering to shoot myself with Byetta. It keeps me in great control but sometimes it hurt to think, much less remember to do what’s good for me.

Now to keep going to physical therapy twice a week, doing what I can to stretch myself at home and just be good. I am and I’m not looking forward to going to bed tonight without that clamp. I’m not going to fall apart but I do have to be really careful. No surgery, no pin, no MRI on the wrist or elbow – at least for now. YEA!!!!

Sometimes it has felt like forever then, well, I guess not so long.

Day of Appointments

Today was a full day, not rushed, but enough to do to keep us busy. Kathleen had a couple appointments today that pretty much took a big chunk out of the middle of the day.

She had a doctor’s appointment this morning at 1045, which went very well. The x-rays looked good and the doctor told her to take the brace off her upper arm. So now she feels very vulnerable. She is very protective of her arm right now, which is understandable.

Then this afternoon at 1300, she had her first physical therapy appointment without her brace. I think that it went pretty well for her. I think that the brace was somewhat limiting in her range of motion. She did not seem as sore afterwards, but we will still need to see what tomorrow brings.

Tomorrow she has her monthly hair appointment so that should make her feel better. Usually the day after her physical therapy appointments are the hardest days for her…I cannot wait!

We took a walk after dinner tonight, something we have not done on a regular basis since she broke her arm, I would like to make it a regular happening for us. We took Reggie with us tonight, the last few days his arthritis has been making it really hard for him to get around. So the walk was not only good for Kathleen and me, but Reggie as well.

Well, I think that is all for tonight.

Bob

Blog Protocol

I just had a question regarding responding to comments. If someone comments or asks a question on my blog, (or this blog) is it better to reply in the same post or to email that person directly. Do you check back to the comment section to see if I have responded there? Not sure of the best way to reply...is that clear as mud?

We're Back

Just wanted to let you know we are back and had a great time. I'm too tired to post pictures on my blog, but will try to work that in early this week.

Love,

Alyssa

Labor Day weekend

I did not write yesterday as I really did not do anything exciting except feed and play with Archie. I could not get Kathleen going yesterday, she never did get dressed.

Today was better, although I could not get her going this morning so I went to church myself, it was Pastor Mark’s first service and I was impressed. I finally got Kathleen showered and dressed around 1500 this afternoon. She wanted to go to Wal-Mart and Michael’s, but we only got as far as Wal-Mart and she needed to get home once again.

Today was almost pleasant weather-wise, it did not get as hot as they were predicting and that was a nice surprise. I think it only got to about 85 degrees instead of the 90+ that they were predicting. I will take 85 any day over 90+ weather.

As I have been walking around the back yard the last couple of days it is really crunchy, the hot wind we had a couple of days ago blew a lot of leaves down and it is just like the end of October, except the leaves are usually wet in October.

Well, nothing else exciting to write about today so I will say good night.

Where has the summer gone?

How can this be September already? What happened to June, July and August? This has been a very different summer for me, first my surgery and than Kathleen breaking her arm. I almost got to recover when I had to start taking care of Kathleen. I guess it was a good thing, as it did not allow me to get bored.

She is still having pain in her elbow and wrist, which has not been explained by anything shown in the x-rays. I think that the doctor said that if she was still having this pain this coming Tuesday that she would need to have an MRI. Therefore, she still might be in for a long recovery.

It was really windy here today; it was not the normal cooling wind, but rather a really hot wind coming out of the gorge from eastern Oregon and Washington. This is the weekend and once again the temperature is supposed to be in the 90’s. We have gone from the low 70’s on Wednesday to 90’s this weekend. It is a little hard on the body to adjust to such a swing in temperature, or at least for my body to make the adjustment.

After Kathleen’s physical therapy appointment today, we stopped by the local truck farm just down the street and picked up some corn that I shucked and boiled for dinner tonight. This is just the right time for corn; it is so sweet it is unbelievable!

Well this is another ordinary day in our lives, other than the physical therapy appointment we really did not do much of anything constructive. Tomorrow should be interesting; it is usually the day after physical therapy that Kathleen has the most pain.

Aaron, Tami and the girls are camping at the coast with Tami’s family so I get to take care of Archie again this weekend. It is mostly feeding changing his water and playing fetch with him for a while. He is still pretty much still a puppy…a bigggg puppy, but still just a pup. Reggie is an old dog compared to Archie, Reggie spends a lot of his day sleeping or resting…kind of like his owners!

Have a good night and a great long weekend!

An Interesting Day!

This was an interesting day. It started out just about like any other day, but Kathleen was having a cousin that she had not seen in 41 years and her husband come down for lunch and to share family history. So that meant I needed to sweep and mop the kitchen floor, clean the downstairs bathroom, vacuum the downstairs carpets, do a load of dishes and do two loads of laundry.

So, by the time they got here, about 1230, I was ready for a nap. It was interesting listening to the two cousins talk and get some of their family history sorted out. They left about 1645 and I was tired for an already long day, and hungry, as I did not eat too much for lunch.

I think that I dozed off for a while and got not quite a second wind, but at least I was not ready for bed. So we had some left over lunch and some corn on the cob from last night for supper and then some watermelon for dessert.

I think that Kathleen was pretty well spent as well. She had a good time and I think it was probably good for her to get reacquainted again.

Tomorrow is physical therapy day again; it has been since Monday so it should be interesting to see how Kathleen does.

I think that I will head for bed now, it has been a long day and I am ready for it to be over. I am just curious to see how sore my muscles are tomorrow.

Good night!

It actually rained this morning! I was awakened this morning to raindrops hitting the sky light in our bedroom, something that has not happened in a couple of months.

When I finally made my way downstairs there were actual puddles out in the road, of course the driveway was pretty much dry…it has to really rain for the rain drops to make their way past the fur branches and onto the driveway. It is so protected that frequently even it the rainy season the driveway is mostly dry. The only way part of the driveway gets wet is when it rains enough that the water run out to the street and it get wet that way.

Kathleen was doing much better today…she was still needing her pain medication on a regular basis, but she has had a day in between her physical therapy to recover from it.

We had our meeting with our financial advisors today and that went very well. Since we had to go to the other side of town there were a couple other stops that Kathleen wanted to make. We made most of them and because it was getting late, we left to avoid a lot of traffic.

I wanted to get home as I was meeting with the accountability group tonight. I try to make as many of the get togethers as possible because I enjoy them so much.

We went a little long tonight, normally we try to end it at 2100 and tonight it went until 2130. I am just getting settled in and thought that I would do a little blogging.

Well, there is not much more to write about, so I guess that I will say good night!

Bob

Today was physical therapy day for Kathleen, so this morning I did not get much done. Her appointment lasted from 1300 until 1530, because they are having her do more and then they have introduced a few more processes. She is also doing her therapy without her brace, so it takes me a while to get it off and then back on when she is done.

After her appointment today we were going to go to a couple stores and then home, but since it took so long we just went home and got something to eat.

About 1730 we went to the grocery store and got some groceries. It took us almost two hours to do the shopping and check out. Then it was head for home to put it all away.

Tomorrow is a “free” day, so we will probably do the shopping that we were planning to do today.

I vacuumed again today, I even did the stairs, and it was amazing how much Reggie fur and dirt the vacuum picked up. Each day I vacuum the same area and then do some different areas and I keep getting about the same amount of dog fur and silt…amazing!

Well, that is about all for today.

Bob