Monday's Menu

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With that said, I will say good night!

Sunday Stuff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Surprising Saturday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanksgiving Day Two

I got up a little earlier than I probably should have this morning as Kathleen had said that she wanted to go to a couple stores this morning before we went to Aaron and Tami's for Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately she did not get to sleep well until about 0700, so we wound up not going shopping.

I also was suppose to meet the guys from the accountability group this morning for breakfast, but since I thought that Kathleen and I were going to go shopping, I did not make that either. So I wound up making myself some frosted mini-wheats and banana for breakfast.

After I ate I emptied the dishwasher and then did the roasting pans and other large dishes that did not fit into the dishwasher last night. Then it was time to hit the paper, it was not as thick as yesterdays, but it still was pretty good size.

The mail came about the time I finished the paper, so I opened it, mostly junk mail, but a couple bill and a few catalogs. I recycled the paper junk mail and then took the glass jars, cans and plastic bottles out to the garage to put them into the respective recycling bins.

When I got back into the house I went to my office and logged on to the credit union site so that I could pay the bills that arrived today. Then while I was thinking about it I opened up Quicken, subtracted them from the checking account, and then backed up the account.

Shortly after I finished with that it was getting close to the time to leave for Aaron and Tami's house. So I loaded up the ingredients in a large bag and loaded it into the Acura.

We had a really good time, Toni and Chucky got there late, as Chucky had to work. Then we had a really good meal, thanks everyone, and then shortly after that Andrea had to leave for work. Some of the adults played some games and I helped Tami clean up the kitchen and loaded up the dishwasher. Then I sat down and joined in on the conversations that were going on in the living room.

Before I knew it the dishes were done, so I put them away and then loaded up the dishwasher again. I did not quite fill it up, but when I finished loading all dishes into the dishwasher that I could, I did some of the pots, pans and larger items that would not fit into the dishwasher.

Then I sat back down in the living room and waited for the current game to get over so that Kathleen and I could go home. I think that most of the grandchildren were getting a little tired and I knew that Aaron and Tami would be going to Tami's parents for dinner tomorrow and that they probably needed to finish cleaning up and putting their girls to bed.

So here I am after two Thanksgiving dinners. I think that is all for this year. Next comes the Christmas meals. I think I will have to start wearing suspenders with my shorts.

I think that is it for tonight, so good night for today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, it is not original, but it is true. This year as always, there is so much to be thankful for, what comes to my mind first is my cancer and then successful surgery. Then Kathleen breaking her arm and her good recovery.

After that comes to mind the children, their families, and the many blessing that they bring to us. It is really nice that they all live relatively close by and we get to see them all on a regular basis. Just the fact that they all seem to get along so well most of the time is really a blessing. It makes family get togethers some much nicer.

Well, I did sleep in this morning, it was raining out and there really was no good reason to get up and going earlier. I made some raisin toast for breakfast and picked up the ten-pound paper, probably eight pounds of it were ads for tomorrow. For some reason I really did not see much of anything that would tempt me into going to one of the malls and fighting the crowds and traffic.

Kathleen made some chex mix snacks, so I munched on them for a while. We did not really have lunch today, but it was more of a snack, nuts and chex mix. Toni and Chucky came over a little after 1400 and we ate about 1530.

Kathleen wanted to have some turkey left overs, so we decided that we would have our own small Thanksgiving dinner today. Of course, tomorrow we will have the family Thanksgiving dinner at Aaron and Tami's.

Chucky works until 1530 and Andrea is suppose to go to work about 1700, so we will all be together, but just for a short time. I will just be nice to have everyone together for a short period of time, although I guess we all were together for a short period of time last Saturday for Becca's birthday party.

Well, Chucky helped Kathleen load up the dishwasher and I will get the hand wash pots and pans either later tonight or tomorrow morning. Toni and Chucky just left for home about 1700 and so now the house is quiet once again.

Chucky gave Reggie a bath, so now he smells and looks much better. Chucky misses Reggie and I think they would love to take them home with them if they did not live in a duplex. They keep talking about taking him for a day or so, we will see!

Well, I think that is about it for today, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Good night!

Wednesday's wasteland

I did not get a lot accomplished today. After I got up and made myself breakfast, I washed dishes, posts and pans and then read the paper.

I did take out the vegetable compost waste and put it in the composter and sorted out some of the other recycling. By the time I got that done the mail had gotten here, so I sorted it out, not much of anything worthwhile. There were three catalogs that I looked at quickly, but the rest went into the recycling bag.

Andrea came over and she and Kathleen went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and a couple other places, I think that they got home a little after 1600, and all I got done was clean up where Reggie had gotten sick and vacuumed the floor.

I guess I did make myself some lunch, a burger patty on some toast and melted cheese and the last of the sweet onion. It is a good thing that I bought another one yesterday.

Kathleen made some tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner tonight, and put the turkey in the oven for tomorrow. Our family is celebrating Thanksgiving on Friday at Aaron and Tami's house; I think all the children and grandchildren will be there then.

It gets really interesting with four married children around holiday time, so we try to pick out a time when we all can get together even if it is not on the holiday. This year Alyssa and Dan are having Thanksgiving at Dan's mother's house and Andrea and John are having it at John's parent’s house. Tami's parents are having their family Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. So that left Friday open for us.

Toni and Chucky are coming over tomorrow for Thanksgiving Day dinner, so we will have turkey dinner two days in a row. We decided to do a turkey this year so that we would have some turkey for leftovers.

This evening after dinner I loaded up the dishwasher, so that we will have plenty of dishes and flatware for tomorrow's dinner. Well, I think that is all the "exciting" things that happened around here today. I had thought about not writing a blog today, but once I got started, my fingers keep hitting keys and this is what came out of it.

With that said, I think I will say good night!

Tuesday Activities

This morning I was awakened about 0500 to the wind blowing, I tossed and turned for the next hour or so and finally got back to sleep for about another hour. Shortly after I was awaken it started to rain, what a surprise, and at times it was a pretty heavy rain.

I finally got up about 0730, went downstairs, and made myself some toast and coffee for breakfast. After I finished eating I cleaned up the kitchen, did some of the hand washing, and then cleaned up the sink.

Then I took some more coffee into the living room and read the paper. When I finished the paper I took it out to the curb and put it with the rest of the recycling. The mail came shortly afterwards, so I opened it and took the junk mail out to the recycling as well. There were a couple bills and a medical insurance check for over a hundred dollars for a refund on one of Kathleen’s diabetes medications. I put that in my wallet as I planned to stop by the credit union on our way back from the doctor's office.

Kathleen and I had an appointment to get our flu shots this morning at 1115 so we left the house a little after 1100. It took longer to fill out the paperwork for the shots than it did to get the shots. As we were pulling out of the doctor's office parking lot, Kathleen said that she wanted to stop at Office Max, and I proceeded to forget about stopping at the credit union.

She did not find what she wanted there so she had me stop at Staples next. She found the paper that she wanted there, so after purchasing it we took off for church so that she could make copies for a bulletin insert.

We had purchased some napkins, while we were at Costco the other day for church, and I had left them in the SUV to take to church, but when we got to church, I completely forgot about them and so did Kathleen.

After leaving church we stopped at Winco to do some grocery shopping, it was then that I remembered the napkins. So after we were done shopping we headed back to church, luckily it was only about a half mile away, and then dropped off the napkins.

Then home, where I unloaded the SUV and helped put things away. Kathleen and I were both tired and when I asked what she had planned for dinner she said that she did not know. So I suggested some corn-beef hash and eggs. We just bought some corn-beef hash and we had a few eggs left from our last dozen eggs. So that is what we had for dinner. Kathleen separated out the yokes and cooked them up and then I took the whites and added some low fat cheese, onions, a little garlic and some cayenne pepper.

Well, since we are both tired tonight, I do not think either one of us will be getting into too much trouble tonight, so I will just say good night now.

MIlder Monday

Today was a really nice day, when I got up about 0745 the sun was shining and it was nothing like the forecast for the day. I made myself some frosted mini-wheats for breakfast and afterwards I cleaned up the kitchen and did some of the hand washing.

Kathleen went to her art class at 1000 and I decided to go outside and put some lime on the lawn. I put down three bags and did the whole yard. I started in the back, because I thought that it might start raining before I had a chance to finish that whole yard.

I finished the back yard and then since it still did not look like it would rain for a while. I finished the front lawn and the sun was out brighter than it had been for a while. I decided to put some fertilizer on the berries as well.

Once I finished the yard work, I decided to go in the house and make myself some lunch. There was one croissant left, so I sliced it in two and toasted it. The I cooked a burger patty and when the croissant was done I put limburger cheese on one side and a slice of provolone cheese on the other and a slice of onion on the side with the limburger and than put the burger in-between.

Pretty good, and it was almost healthy. Just about the time I finished eating and cleaned up after myself Kathleen came home, it was a little after 1400. We decided to go to Costco after a little while since we did not get to go last week.

We got back from Costco about 1630 and I put the stuff that we bought away. Kathleen was not sure what to do for dinner so I suggested that we heat up the left over scalloped potatoes from last night, so she did. That freed up some refrigerator space and we did not have think about what to have for dinner.

Kathleen is crashing and she has gone upstairs to play on her computer, so I think that I will stay down here for a while and watch Monday night football. I hope everyone had as good a day as I did and that they get the rest they need tonight. So good night for today and we will see you tomorrow.

Soaker of a Sunday

I did not get up until 0830 this morning; I had gone to bed about 1900 because I felt terrible. I did not get to sleep until about 0115 in the morning; I mostly tossed and turned for five or six hours.

It was really blowing last night and then later in the evening it started to rain again. I had though that it was not suppose to start raining until this afternoon, but what does the weatherman know.

Chucky was going to come over after church and help me put the hard top on the Wrangler, but since it was raining all day, I did not get it done. The hard top just is a lot quieter than the soft top and probably a little more waterproof as well.

Since I got up too late for early church service, and when I looked in the mirror my eyeballs looked like an olive that had been turned inside out. Kathleen talked me into putting some eye jelly in my eyes and that made my vision slightly blurry, but they did not itch as much.

Once I got downstairs, I made myself a couple waffles and sausages and some vanilla biscotti coffee. When I finished breakfast, I cleaned up the counters, did a little hand washing, and then put the dishes away from the dishwasher.

Then I went into the living room, read the paper, and watched a couple football games. I also went upstairs and gathered up the clothes that needed washing and started doing the laundry. When they were done, I dried, folded and put away the clothes.

Then I took a shower since I did not get to take one this morning. Since I noticed that there were a lot of towels that needed washing I decided to do a load of towels as well.

I think that I will send this off early today as I did not really get much rest last night and I probably will be going to bed early tonight. So I will just say good night now.

Happy Birthday Sue!

This is my sister's birthday; she is a little younger than I am, but not by much! Anyway, I hope that you had a great day and were able to do something special for yourself.

I got up about 0730, I had been awake for a half, and I probably could have stayed in bed longer, but I did not. This morning the paper was here when I let Reggie out, so I got it and put it on my chair so that it would be there when I was ready to read it.

I had some frosted mini-wheat with a banana and coffee for breakfast this morning. I have been trying to use up a lot of the dry cereal so that it will not get stale when I start eating oatmeal on a regular basis.

About 1000 I asked Kathleen if she was ready to go to a coupe stores so we could pick up a few items that we needed. She said something like "just about", and headed upstairs. I thought that she needed to get something, so I sat down and read the paper. The mail came so I opened and read that, although again, most of it was junk mail.

I did get my monthly investment statement from my broker; it was a pretty good month, even with the monthly withdrawals for living expenses I made a pretty fair share. Of course, that will just go back into the portfolio and be re-invested.

An hour had passed and she still was not down, so I changed my clothes and went outside to rake up the leaves and mow the lawn. By this time, I had worked up a pretty good sweat, so I went inside and post the portfolio statement to the spreadsheet that I created to track it.

It has done very well over the long haul, and with the exceptions of a couple dips it has been on the rise since I invested it. My real estate holdings have really done well, and I have had several offers to sell it. Of course, they do not want to give me what it is worth, they just want to make it tempting for those who need quick cash.

After I finished tracking my investments, I decided that I probably ought to eat something as it was about 1330. So I went into the kitchen, heated up the noodles and Kielbasa from last night, sliced a croissant in half, and spread some Smart Balance on one side and limburger cheese on the other. Then I put slices of onion, tomato and avocado on it. I really thought that it was yummy!

Kathleen still had not come downstairs, so I loaded up the dishwasher, cleaned all the hand wash pots and pans and started the dishwasher up. Since I had spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen, I had noticed that the floors were getting pretty dirty, so I picked up the rugs and shook them out. Then I swept the floor and mopped it.

While I had the broom out I though that I would clean the utility room, it is where Reggie sleeps and it was getting pretty dirty as well. I took his bed out and shook it out and then took the cover off and put it in the washer and turned it on. Then I picked up most of the things on the floor and swept it. It was amazing just how much of Reggie there was on the floor.

Once I had that cleaned, I decided that I would vacuum the downstairs, since I had not done that in a couple days. So I picked up the stuff that was on the floor, so that I could vacuum and then proceeded to vacuum. Again, it was amazing how much fur there was on the carpet. It is not as noticeable until one starts to vacuum, and then it really becomes obvious.

Kathleen came downstairs about 1415 and was ready to go shopping, but by this time I was pretty tired and I think we will have to postpone it for a couple days. Tomorrow I have to cook for the men's breakfast and then right after that is Becca's 5th birthday party, so I do not think that we will be able to get it done Saturday either. Then Sunday is next and that is not a good day to do it. There are just too many other people out shopping.

Kathleen cooked up a couple hamburger patties and tater tots for dinner tonight. The burgers were a little dry, probably from being in the freezer too long. Other than being a little dry and chewy, they were not all that bad.

Well, I think I will just say good night now, I will probably go to bed early as I have to be at church by 0700 in the morning to get breakfast started. It takes a couple hours to get set up and get the food all cooked.

I am hoping to leave a little early from the breakfast so that I will be able to make Becca's party. So good night for now, and Sue, I hope that you had a good day. I tried calling about 1600 our time 1900 your time, but there was no answer. I hope that you were out celebrating your birthday.

Thursday's Tribune

I did not get up until 0730 this morning, for some reason I have been sleeping in a lot later than I ever have. I could not find the paper when I went out to look for in after I got down stairs, so after a while I called and let them know.

It was only about ten minutes and the district manager stopped by with the paper. I do not think I have ever had that quick a response. I think I called a little after 1000 and the paper was here by 1015.

I made myself a couple eggs, some hash brown potatoes and a couple sausages for breakfast. I had breakfast late again today, about 0930. I spent a lot of time before that cleaning up the kitchen. I had to clean out the popcorn maker, it had some crusted on grease and Kathleen said that it did not look like it had been cleaned the last time it was used.

I cannot remember the last time we used it; we have been making microwave popcorn for a long time. I think that it has been at least a year, and I am not sure that I have ever used it. Besides the pop corn maker, I also had to clean up the frying pan that I used last night to make the Kielbasa last night. There were also several other things that were needing cleaning.

Anyway, the mail finally arrived, only three pieces, only one, my monthly insurance charges was worth keeping. The mail carrier must have been shocked, for the last couple of weeks I think that we have been getting a couple of pounds of mail and magazines.

I also sorted out a lot of the insurance paperwork that I had just been stuffing into the file folder. I did not realize it that had been as long as it had since I did that last time. I found things from 2002. I am going to just take the time when I get them and through out the old one and replace it with the current one.

This afternoon I went out and got some raspberries for Tami, and pulled a few weeds. The ground is really nice to work in, a little wet, but weed pulling is a lot easier than it has been. I also spent a little time picking up some of the small branches and fir cones that came down last night.

Kathleen made some noodles and put in the Kielbasa that I made last night she also added some peas and buttermilk. It was pretty good! I am writing this early tonight as I have a Missions meeting tonight; so I will say good night for now.

Happy 100th Post!

Windy Wednesday

It was another dry morning when I got up about 0730. Kathleen was up already, she still was not feeling well, and she thought that she had a bladder infection. I made myself some cereal and toast again this morning.

The mail came while I was still eating breakfast; I had a late breakfast this morning. I think it was about 0930 before I decided to make myself something to eat. There was more junk mail today; I do not think that there was anything other than a magazine that did not go into the recycling bag.

Kathleen called the doctor's off and waited for quite a while to get a call back. When they finally called back, they also called in a prescription for her, so about 1145 I left to go to Fred Meyer to pick it up. I was not ready when I got there so I wandered around for twenty minutes or so and tried it again.

This time it was ready, so after paying for it I headed for home. It was just starting to get stormy when I was driving home. There was a little stronger wind than normal, earlier in the day, but now it was starting to get a little stronger.

As I was walking from the car to the front door, I could see the fir trees swaying in the wind. Right now, we have a high wind warning and now they are saying that it may be worse than last Sunday's storm. It still has not really started to rain; it has spit a little but not really any rain.

I made myself a limburger and onion sandwich; I picked up the onion while I was wandering in Fred Meyer waiting for the prescription to be filled. Then this afternoon I sliced up a couple sticks of carrot and celery for a mid afternoon snack.

Well, I think that I will cook up the turkey Polska Kielbasa that Kathleen bought last week, it will give me an excuses for me to have the sauerkraut that Alyssa gave us that was left over from her Oktoberfest. Kathleen does not feel like having much of anything, but would like something warm.

I think that it I will just say my good night now, as I do not think that there is going to be anything exciting happening tonight.

Turn Around Tuesday

I think it was around 0730 when I got up this morning. Kathleen was already up as she could not sleep. She got up around 0530 and was on her computer when I got up. However, she went back to bed about 0800 and slept until about noon.

Today was sort of a turn around day, as the weather was really mild and no or very little rain. That is about to change again tomorrow as the forecast is for about an inch or more of rain for tomorrow with more rain predicted for the next couple of days.

I made myself a couple waffles, a couple egg whites with Tillamook light cheese and a couple sausages for breakfast. Kathleen had fixed herself a couple egg yokes the other day and I thought that I would use up the egg whites before they got spilled or got too old.

After breakfast, I loaded up the dishwasher and did all the hand washing from the last couple of days. The pot from the soup, the pan from the spaghetti the other night the stuff from making the bread and the blender from the peppermint coffee that Kathleen made the other day.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I went outside and picked up some fir cones and small branches from the storm the other night. I was tempted to rake the leaves, but I did not. For some reason I just could not get my energy going today.

For lunch I heated up some of the leftover spaghetti, it was really filling so I did not have too much. Kathleen came down about 1400 and I reminded her that she had a doctor's appointment at 1515 to check up on her arm.

The doctor was impressed with her progress and said that she did not need to come back unless she felt she needed to for some reason or another. He took some x-rays and they looked good as well.

After the doctor's appointment, we stopped by the credit union so that I could deposit a couple insurance checks that have been lying around the house for a couple of weeks. I also transferred some money into Kathleen's account.

When we got home, Kathleen heated up the leftover soup and spaghetti for dinner. We finished both so now we have a little cleaner refrigerator. After dinner, Kathleen lay down on the couch and took a nap and I cleaned up the kitchen.

Tonight should be pretty quiet from here on out so I will just say good night now.

Morphing Monday

I think that it was about 0730 when I finally got up this morning, when one considers that I went to bed at 2100 last night that was pretty late. I guess we had a pretty good storm last night; I managed to sleep through it. When I first woke up about 0530, it was quiet out and not raining or at least I did not hear anything.

I think that today was a day of change, moving from a very storm night to a relatively nice morning to a very stormy mid day and back to a relatively nice evening.

I had cereal and toast this morning when I finally made it downstairs. After I ate, I went outside to survey the damage if any and I was pleasantly surprised. There were very few branches in the yard or driveway, but lots of fir cones. No branches bigger than a half-inch in diameter and a couple feet long.

Kathleen got up shortly after I did, as she wanted to attend an art class down at the grange hall, a couple blocks from the house. So she left the house before 1000. I finished reading the paper about 1030 and started to get ready to go to church, read take off shorts and put on long pants and a button-down shirt.

Our Associate Pastor and I were going to "Rolling Hills" church to attend the kick off luncheon for a men's program called "Spirit Warriors" based on a book by Stu Weber, the senior pastor at Good Shepherd Community Church, where Andrea and John attend.

On the way to Rolling Hills, the rain was coming down so hard that visibility was only about twenty-five feet. I almost think that we could have traveled on the freeway in a canoe or a kayak; there was that much water on the roadway.

I am being asked to help head up a men's ministry at our church. I am thinking about it and I am also considering trying to get some kind of new believer classes going at church. I was involved with something similar to that when we attended Hinson Memorial Baptist Church, many years ago and I have been trying to get one going for a long time here.

Anyway, the lunch was really good, chicken noodle soup, a Cobb salad and an apple crisp. The speakers spoke while we ate, so it was not a really long and drawn out process, which was really nice. Both the pastor and I thought that the concepts were really good and we will just have to see how well it is received by the men of the church.

When I got home, about 1500, Kathleen was still gone; she had her physical therapy appointment at 1300 this afternoon. So I read the mail, which had come just before I left for church. She called about 1515, was going to stop at Fred Meyer, and wanted to know what we needed.

She finally got home a little after 1700 and decided to make some spaghetti; she had bought some hot Italian sausage for the sauce. It was really very rich tasting and neither one of us were up for seconds.

Well we were both tired tonight, so I think that it will be another early night, so I will say good night.

Soggy Sunday

I got up a little before 0700 this morning so I could shower and get ready for church this morning. Kathleen felt better this morning, not as tired or sore as she has been. We left a little later than we should have to day, but we got there in time for the first song.

Sunday School was good; we had a combined Sunday School with everyone from youth through adults meeting together. Dr Ray Lubeck from Multnomah talked on "World View", the room was packed and I think that everyone enjoyed it.

After Sunday School Kathleen wanted to stop by Mall 205 to look for a couple pair of boots, one pair for the foul weather and one pair for dress. She found and bought a pair for foul weather. Since we were at the mall, she also wanted to stop by Bed Bath and Beyond; there she found a new ironing board cover and a couple cookie cutters.

When we were leaving the mall, she said that she wanted to stop at Fabric Depot also to try to find some more fabric. We dad driven just about past it on the way to the mall, but I backtracked anyway so that she could look. I figured that we were closer now than we would be once we got home.

When we got home, I changed clothes and took the clothes down to the washer to wash. While the clothes were washing I started reading the paper. Kathleen heated up some of the soup that she made yesterday for lunch.

After lunch, I finished the paper and then took the dry clothes out of the dryer, folded and put them away. The rest of the afternoon, I sat in my chair and watched football. I did go out one time to pick up after Reggie, and it was really blustery. It was raining, but the wind made it feel like it was really stormy.

My nice leaf free lawn is now once again full of leaves again. I think that the next time I rake or blow the leaves off the lawn will be the last. There are just not many more leaves left on the trees.

Kathleen decided to make some peanut, oatmeal, raisin and chocolate chip cookies. While she was doing that, I heated up some more soup and put some limburger cheese on a slice of bread for my dinner. When I was done doing that, I put away the dishes from the dishwasher and then put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

Other than a really stormy evening, I do not anticipate anything exciting happening tonight. I think that I will just shut down the computer and call it a night. I hope that we will not receive any wind or storm damage tonight, so I will just say good night now.

Serendipitous Saturday

I woke up about 0600 this morning and heard the rain hitting the skylight and thought to myself, that we were going to have another day of rain. So I rolled over and went back to sleep. It was almost 0800 when I decided that I would get up. I was surprised to see that it was not raining.

I made myself some cereal and toast for breakfast and then went into the living room to read the paper. I half expected the mail carrier to be dropping the mail into the mailbox any minute. It did not happen, so I went outside and decided to rake up the back yard. At first, I was just going to rake the area under the cherry trees, but it looked so good after I finished that area, I decided to do the rest of the back yard.

By the time I was done, I was getting a little tired and my hands were starting to hurt a little. I did not bother putting on my work gloves as I thought that I was only going to do a little section, not the whole back yard.

When I got back inside, I made myself some peppermint coffee, which Kathleen had made last night. As I sat down to enjoy the coffee I realized that this was really Veteran’s day and that was why we got mail yesterday.

Feeling a little better, I got my spading fork and went to the front yard to dig up a small fir tree and a couple small bushes that were growing where they should not have been. These were all volunteers and would be fine somewhere else, so I moved them. If they grow okay and if they do not, that is fine as well.

Kathleen cooked up some ham hocks last night and made some soup today that I had for lunch. I took some beano before hand, and I think that helped somewhat. She is also made some bread, as we were just about out of the bread that she made last week.

After I finished eating, I sat in the living room for a while until I became bored and decided to go outside and pull some more of the ivy. I have most of it pulled out on the south side of the fir trees; of course, I will need to take the spading fork to it to make sure that I got all of the roots. Right now, it is so torn up and wet, I want to wait until I have a chance to rake the ground and get all the ivy leaves picked up.

We left for Alyssa and Dan's about 1600 because we were watching their children while they went out on a "date". They went to Edgefield, it use to be the poor farm, but now it has turned into a couple restaurants and a small inn. The place where they is also a small theater, so they were able to watch a movie as well.

Kathleen made some homemade macaroni and cheese for us and Natalie had about four portions, Zander had three and Hayden had about three as well. I guess they liked it! I had a good time watching the older two making cages as they were pretending to be a hamster and an earthworm. Natalie was the hamster and Zander the earthworm.

I have no idea where they came up with it but they had fun dragging everything that they could find down into the family room. Then about 1930 I helped them take must everything back upstairs.

We got home from their house about 2100 and we are both ready for bed, so I think that I will say my good nights now and head upstairs.

Foul Weather Friday

I stayed in bed until almost 0800 this morning. I think that I heard it start to rain again around 0630 and decided that there was really no rush to get up. Besides, I was nice and cozy and I knew that today was supposed to be a little cooler as well.

I made myself some cereal for breakfast, and had planned on making a couple of slices of the cranberry, orange, raisin nut toast after I finished my cereal, but when I finished the cereal, I forgot about the toast. I did not think about it until around 1100 and by then it was too late for breakfast.

So around noon I made my self the toast and after a couple slices, I sliced some of the bread that Kathleen had made and made myself a limburger cheese and onion open-faced sandwich.

I had gone outside for a while and picked some more English ivy, but it really was too rainy out and I did not need to get sick.

I also ran the check and statement for our property taxes to the post office. The mail was late today and I wanted to make sure that I got it mailed so that it would reach the tax office by the 15^th.

When the mail did arrive, it was mostly catalogs and junk mail. I have a feeling that between now and Christmas we will be getting many catalogs. The junk mail seems to come almost every day no matter the season.

Kathleen had her physical therapy appointment today, I have not been going with her, as it has gotten a little boring just sitting around reading old magazines for a couple of hours. Now that she can drive again, there is really no need for me to go.

I stayed home and pinched the barbs on some fly hooks and snacked on some carrots and celery filled with peanut butter.

Kathleen came home about 1730 after her physical therapy she stopped by Winco to pick up a "few" items, eight bags to be more precise, she also stopped by K-mart to pick up some candy and sweetened cereal for herself. When she got home, I unloaded the car and put things away.

Kathleen opened up a couple cans of soup for dinner and cooked a yam, which we divided. A good meal for a cool wintry evening. Well, it has been dark for several hours now and I do not envision anything exciting happening here later so I will just say good night now.

Thursday transition

When I woke up this morning, I noticed that it was not raining, finally! I got up and got ready to have breakfast with the guys in the accountability group. All of us were there and we had a good time fellowshipping and discussing scripture.

When I got home, the mail had already arrived, so I opened it and other than a rebate check from the medical insurance there really was not anything there worth carrying into the house.

Since it was not raining out, I decided that I needed to go out side and pull up some more of the English ivy from the side yard. I worked for quite a while and pulled up a lot of ivy, but when I stood back it hardly looks like I did anything.

My back was starting to let me know that I needed to quit, so I put away all the tools that I had taken out of the garage and I took the yard recycling out to the road. Then I went inside and decided to sit down and read the paper, I had not read it yet because I spent most of the morning with the accountability group.

Andrea called and said that she was coming over. I decided that since it was mid-afternoon I probably ought to eat something. I cut up an apple, a couple Of Satsuma Mandarin oranges, a couple of carrots and two celery sticks that I put in peanut butter. Not too bad and not a lot of calories.

When Andrea came, I gave her, her mail and a couple dozen pens that were hers. She showed Kathleen some of the things that she had bought and then they got to take about Joann fabrics and they decided to go there for a while. They got home about 1730 and Andrea left with out coming into the house, so I went out and gave her some information about an artificial Christmas tree.

Kathleen cam inside and decided to open up a couple cans of beef and barley soup for dinner. She did not have time to prepare anything from scratch as she had a fellowship team meeting. I did a little more sorting of another box that I found and that is about all I got done tonight.

It looks like another quiet night so I will say good night.

A Milder Mid-week

When I got up this morning guess what... it was raining! Not that that was surprising, but it had been raining off and on all night and I had though that it might not be raining when I woke up. I had stopped for quite a while during the night, so I was a little surprised when I heard the rain when I finally got up.

This was a blueberry waffle and sausage morning again, it just sounded better than cereal. After I finished eating, I loaded up the dishwasher and started it up. I also did some of the hand washing, but there was not really too much of it to do.

After finishing in the kitchen, I went into the living room to read the paper and drink my coffee. I just finished one section when I heard the mail come; there was not much of anything important there. I think the only important thing that came was the credit union statement.

Kathleen came down stairs and was dressed, I think that is the first time she has been dressed when she came downstairs in a long time. I gathered up the towels, loaded them into the washing machine, and started them up.

It was getting to be about lunchtime so I made myself a burger with a couple onion slices and tomato slices on some homemade bread with melted cheese. I thought about have something more, but I was really satisfied with what I had.

It had stopped raining for a while so I went outside and raked up all four areas of the back yard. I probably could have saved my time as the leaves off the cherry trees were falling as fast as I could rake them up. The main reason I did it was that I did not want the wet leaves on the lawn. Grass has a hard enough time growing there due to all the shade in the summer time, and with the wet leaves, it is really hard on the grass.

Kathleen left for her physical therapy appointment and I stayed home to get some work done. I cleaned and polished the stovetop, it is a flat glass top and it needs to be polished on a regular basis. The clothes also were ready for the dryer so I took them out of the washer and loaded up the dryer.

The handy man that is doing the work on the house next door started to cut down the Italian prune tree that is on the property line, so I helped him with some of the branches that were on my side of the line. I have been after them to take it down ever since they started to work on the house. I just wish that they had started before the leaves all fell.

By the time, I got back into the house the dryer had gone off, so I emptied it, folded, and put away the towels. I had not vacuumed in a couple of days, so I did that as well, only the downstairs. The upstairs does not get quiet as much Reggie hair or fir needles as the downstairs, so it does not need cleaning as often.

Kathleen came home about 1730 and had stopped at Safeway and picked up some coffee for her, some limburger cheese and some yogurt. I went out to get the groceries from her car and then put them away. Kathleen made some fried rice with the left over chicken from last night and what she had Monday night; she also cut up some carrots and celery.

We are trying to keep the refrigerator cleaned out of left overs as much as possible, so that when we go grocery shopping we have a place to put them. Well, Kathleen has gone upstairs and is probably on her computer, I do not think that there will be anything else noteworthy going on tonight so I will say good night now.

Torrential Tuesday

I got up about the same time today that I have been getting up for the last month or so and it was still raining. When I went downstairs to let Reggie out I noticed that there were several large puddles in the back yard behind the apple trees. Earlier when I got the paper, I had also noticed a large puddle in the in the front yard out by the street, it was a couple inches deep.

I had cereal and toast again this morning, although I think that when I use up the rest of the dry cereal I will be switching to oatmeal during the cooler winter months I like the warm oatmeal and raisins.

After breakfast, I went into the living room to read the paper. I got about half way through the paper when I heard the mailman putting the mail into the mailbox. Mostly catalogs and sales fliers. After I finished the paper and the mail, I put them into the recycling bag and since it was full, I took it out to the garage to put it into the recycling bin.

Shortly after I got back into the house, Tami came over with Alexis. Alexis was busy "playing" with Reggie and finally Reggie got tired so she wanted me to play with her. So we went into the living room and played catch with a nerf soccer ball that I have to play in the house with. It is soft and light enough that it does not do any damage.

After they left, I decided to make myself some lunch as it was after noon. I decided to make a burger and put it on a couple of slices of the bread that Kathleen had made last week. I melted some cheese over some onion slices and toasted the bread, yummy!

Kathleen spent a lot of time this afternoon going through some of her magazines, mail and who knows what that had been stacking up in the living room. I got to haul it all out to the garage. I also spent a little time picking up some of the small branches that had fallen through the night.

Kathleen made some chicken, rice and green beans for dinner. I noticed that it looks like the rain has stopped for a while. From what I have seen on the news it looks like tomorrow might be partial rain and Thursday may be almost no rain, which will be nice for a change.

I have a lot of work to do outside before the winter rains really set in. I hope that it is dry for a couple days, as I need to get the leaves off the lawn before they get too wet to pick up. There were a lot of leaves that came down during these last few days of rain, but I am surprised at how many of the leaves are still on the cherry and apple trees. The ash and walnut trees have just about shed all their leaves.

This is election night so I do not think anything important will happen here tonight, so good night.

Muddy Monday

This morning I got up about 0645, I had been awake for a while and had tried to go back to sleep, but I had just enough sleep to take the edge off and it was blowing and raining hard enough that I could not get back to sleep.

Once I got downstairs, I made myself some blueberry waffles and a couple veggie sausages. I found some real maple syrup in the pantry the other day so I used that. There really is a lot of difference between real maple syrup and the pretend stuff.

After putting the dishes and things in the dishwasher, I made myself some coffee, then went into the living room, and started reading the paper. I finished the paper and then made myself some green tea. I have been drinking a lot of green tea lately; we seem to have a lot of it laying around for some reason.

The mail came a little later today, and for the first time in about a month, we did not have any political advertisements. There really was not much in the mail that I even kept, just my medical insurance statement on benefits that they paid out last week.

I went outside for a while when the rain let up for a few minutes and picked up a couple branches that came out of the fir trees. They had been dead for a while, as they did not have any needles on them. The biggest one was a couple inches in diameter and was pretty rotten.

I also went into the back yard and the ground was pretty soggy, I think I heard on the news that we had an inch and a half of rain and they were predicting another couple of inches by tomorrow morning.

Later this morning I finished up my ballot, children did you see that, remember it has to be dropped of tomorrow. When Kathleen came down stairs and after she ate something, I prodded her into filling out her ballot as well. We discussed a couple of the issues and I was able to explain them to her.

Kathleen had been trying to get a hold of her nurse practitioner or a while today and when she finally called back, Kathleen had her phone in a couple prescriptions for her. So about 1630 we took off to Drop off the ballots and then to Fred Meyer's to pick up the prescriptions.

On the way, we both realized that we were getting really hungry so while we were at Fred Meyer's we picked up a couple of things at the deli. Kathleen got a fried chicken dinner and I got a rolled sandwich and some potato salad.

Well, I think that tonight will be relatively quiet, other than the rain and wind, so I will just say my good night now.

A Sunday Soaker

I got up this morning at 0645 to the sounds of rain; I think that it rained pretty much all night. I went downstairs and made myself some orange, raisin and nut toast and coffee for breakfast. When I finished I went upstairs to get Kathleen up, unfortunately she was still not feeling well and decided not to try to go to church and Sunday School. So I continued to get ready myself.

I left for church a little earlier than we normally do, as I am usually ready early and wait for Kathleen to get ready. So this morning I just left when I finished getting ready. As I usually do when Kathleen is not there I sat on the opposite side in church, just to get a different perspective.

Our youth pastor spoke this morning as our interim pastor's daughter was married yesterday and he took the day off. It was a good service and it was also communion Sunday as well.

When I got home Kathleen was up and on her computer, but she was not feeling well so I suggested that she go back to bed and get some more rest, which she did. I went downstairs and made my self a sandwich using the leftover cube steak from the other night and a couple slices of the bread Kathleen made the other day.

She got up a while later, made some puffed wheat, and puffed rice, dry of course. I spent a good portion of the afternoon reading the paper and looking at a couple of the catalogs that have been arriving in the mail for the last couple of weeks.

Kathleen went back upstairs, could not get to sleep, and eventually came back downstairs just as I was heating up a hamburger patty for myself. She said that it did not appeal to her so she just snacked on some cookies.

She has been on the couch since she came downstairs and I do not think that there will be much of anything else happening tonight so I will just say good night.

Alyssa finally got to have her Oktoberfest

I woke up this morning and did not feel much better than I did when I went to bed last night; in fact, I spent the majority of the first hour I was up on the toilet. I did make myself a couple eggs, veggie sausages and orange, raisin and nut toast for breakfast.

After eating I cleaned up the kitchen, Kathleen had made some bread yesterday and so there was quite a lot of things that needed cleaning. I am also trying to keep the counters a little cleaner.

After finishing cleaning, I went into the living room to read the paper. While I was reading the paper, I heard a voice on the front porch, so I opened the front door and there was the mail carrier talking on his cell phone.

After finishing the paper and the mail, I went outside and trimmed the irises that I split the other day. Then I put a couple dozen in a bag to give to Tami. I wanted to get it done today, as we would see them either at Alyssa's Oktoberfest or tomorrow at church.

Kathleen was still not feeling very well and we had almost decided not to go to Alyssa and Dan's, but then about 1500 Kathleen said that she felt well enough to go so we took off. We had a good time, I think almost half of the people there were us and our children and their families.

There were also two guys there from Boeing, one was an uncle of Dan's, his mother's brother, and the other was the father of Natalie's best friend from pre-school. Dan's uncle had retired shortly after I did and the other one was hired back after a layoff. So it was fun to get caught up on what was going on with them.

We left about 1800 as both of us were getting tired and it was a dark rainy night that made for a long ride home. I do not envision much of anything else happening tonight, so I will say my good night now.

I think I am tired of the rain already.

I slept until 0730 this morning, and it had been raining off and on most of the night. I went downstairs, made myself some breakfast, and went outside with Reggie. Since it was so wet I knew that I would be inside most of the day.

After breakfast I cleaned up the kitchen, the counters were starting to get a little sticky and the stove had something on it as well. After getting everything wiped down I emptied the sink and scrubbed it down as well.

With that done I decided to go into the living room and read the paper. As I was finishing the paper the mail arrived, so I opened up and read some and just recycled the rest. Kathleen came downstairs about 1045 and had her breakfast.

She had her physical therapy appointment at 1300, I had planned on going with her, and then go grocery shopping afterwards. I started to go upstairs to change clothes when I realized that my stomach was starting to get a little upset, so I told her that I thought that I would stay home.

It did not get any worse while she was gone and around 1630 she came home from grocery shopping, I unloaded the car and Kathleen started to cook dinner. I felt fine during dinner, but about fifteen minutes afterwards my stomach started to get really crampy.

I spent the next half hour on toilet, and I feel somewhat better now, but not as good as I would like to feel. I am writing this early, as I am not sure that I will feel much like writing later.

So good night for now!

Yes, this is the rainy season.

I got up about 0730 this morning and took my time getting dressed and going downstairs. I knew that I would be leaving a little after 0815, as I was having breakfast with the guys from the accountability group. Kathleen came downstairs about the time I was getting ready to leave. She still was not feeling too well and she still had her headache.

Breakfast was great and we had a good time talking. It was not as long as usually because several of the guys had to do something around 1000. I was glad, as I wanted to get home to see if Kathleen was doing any better. She was back up stairs on her computer, but soon went back to bed and to sleep.

When she awoke, she asked me to fix her something to eat, I asked her what she wanted and she just felt like some puffed wheat and puffed rice. So I went downstairs and mixed her up a batch. I went downstairs and read the mail, again, lots of catalogs and election stuff. I will be so glad when the elections are over; I am so tired of political phone calls, mail and ads on television. It seems like there is no escape from it all.

I was getting hungry myself so I made myself some chili with lots of onions, garlic, and hot sauce. It just felt like a hot chili day.

Since I Had breakfast out this morning, I had not read the paper, so after lunch I sat down and read it. Kathleen came downstairs just as I was finishing. She still was not feeling very well and stayed on the couch all afternoon.

About 1730 she said that she was hungry, so I asked her what she felt like and she did not know, so I suggested a frozen dinner that she bought the last time we went shopping. She said that sounded good so I microwaved it and then went downstairs to the freezer and got myself a hamburger patty and cooked it for myself.

I added some Tillamook cheese and a large onion slice to it and put it on some Hawaiian bread and toasted the bread and cheese in the toaster oven. Kathleen decided that the dinner was too spicy for her and asked for the frosted mini-wheats, which she had dried.

That is about it for today, I do not see anything unusual happening tonight so I will close and say good night.

I think that the rainy season is officially here!

I got up about 0730 this morning and felt pretty good, except for being sore. I decided before I got up that I would make myself a couple waffles and veggie sausages for breakfast. I have had cereal, just about everyday this week and we only have one egg in the refrigerator.

After breakfast, I went into the living room to read the paper, and before I finished the mail came. It really must be the time of year, because just about every day we get three or four catalogs. I enjoy looking at some of them, but after a while, they all begin to look alike.

About noon time I decided that I would go outside and work some more on the garden, I wanted to get as much done as I could before tomorrow when the rain is supposed to start and not let up for a week. Even though my hands hurt so much, I kept pulling weeds and separating the irises. I think that I have fifty or sixty irises, say does anyone out there want some irises?

I also dug up a couple dozen red raspberry plants, I think Tami wanted some, but I am not sure how many she wanted. I guess I will have to call her tomorrow and find out. Any way, I finished weeding and digging up irises clear to the fence, which is what I wanted to do, I just did not think that I would get it done today.

When I finally finished, cleaned the tools, put them away and then went to the house to clean myself up, it was 1630. I was not only tired, but I also realized that I was hungry as well. Kathleen was still on the couch, so I sat down in the easy chair and rested a while.

I heated her up some bean and bacon soup, and I cooked a Boca Berger with Tillamook cheese, a big slice of onion and the heels from the multi-grain bread. I also heated up the left over rice from last night and added some hot salsa to it, not bad.

Well, I am really tired and sore, so I think I will soak my hands in the hot wax and then take something for the pain. I think I will make it an early to bed night, so I will say my good night now.

Almost back to Normalcy

Well, I slept in until 0730 this morning that was almost ten hours sleep. I made myself some cereal and toast this morning and then some coffee to have while I read the paper, but the mail came about 0900 this morning so I had both read before 1000.

Kathleen got up shortly after I finished with the paper and mail; she still was not feeling too well. I think she is feeling like I felt all of last week. I reminded her that we needed to go grocery shopping today as tomorrow is booked up with her hair appointment and physical therapy.

It got to be about 1300 and she still had not gotten dressed so I went upstairs to see how she was doing. She said that she still did not feel well, so I told her that I would go outside and do some more work in the rose garden.

I pulled out about twenty gallons of weed, dug up about twenty more irises and probably another day or two; I should have the garden in pretty good shape. I will still need to re-dig up the rest of the garden to loosen up the soil, but that should not be nearly as hard or as time consuming as the 20' X 4' section that I have been weeding for the last couple of weeks.

I do not think it would have taken me as long if my arthritis where not bothering me as much. I spend almost as much time rubbing my hands, to help relieve the soreness as I do pulling weeds.

Kathleen called me in about 1530; Andrea came over on her way to work and brought a pumpkin pie. So after visiting for a while, we cut the pie, put some whipped cream on top, sat down, and enjoyed the pie.

It rally tasted good to me, as I did not have lunch today. I was so busy working outside that I did not realize that I was hungry. Maybe I should try to be that busy every day, maybe then I would be able to loose a little more weight.

Kathleen made chicken, tuna and noodle casserole for dinner tonight; I am not sure if that is what she felt like eating or if that is what she could come up with based on what we had in the pantry. Anyway, it tasted good and filled me up.

Well, I am writing this early as we will be getting trick or treaters arriving throughout the evening, in fact I have had several ring the doorbell already, so I better close this and say good night.

A really different kind of day

For some unknown reason I woke up about 0330 and felt pretty much awake, after trying to go back to sleep and not being successful I got up about 0345, to my surprise the paper had just gotten here so I read the paper.

I heard Kathleen upstairs about 0430 and when I went upstairs to see what was going on with her, she said that she woke up about 0400 and could not get back to sleep either. So I am not sure what it was, but both of us were up really early.

After reading my e-mail and devotions, it was about 0800 so I made myself some cereal. I had a doctor's appointment at 0900 so after eating I started getting ready for that. It was basically an appointment to check up on my surgery and check up on my PSA levels. They said that the scar from the surgery look good, but my PSA lever was about twice as high as it was three months ago.

My doctor said that he did not want to make a decision based on one reading so he will see what it looks like in three months. The PSA reading should have been lower than it was after the surgery, not higher, so that concerned me a little, but I guess if the doctor is not that concerned maybe, I should not either.

Shortly after I got home, about 0930, Kathleen took off to Michael’s to pick up some batting. I thought she might be home in an hour or so, as we where going to go grocery shopping. I decided to do a couple loads of laundry, towels and linens and while they were in the machines, the mail came so I read that. When it got to be noon, I decided that would go outside and do some weeding.

Kathleen got home about 1345 and made some soup and open-faced toasted cheese sandwiches. So I finished the area that I was working on and then went inside and cleaned up.

I still had a little bit of energy so I went back outside and raked the back yard. I am trying to keep the leaves off the lawn in hopes of preventing too much moss to grow in the shady part of the lawn.

Since it has been somewhat windy the last couple of days, I decided that I would go to the front yard and rake it as well. It still does not really need mowing, but it will not be much longer before it will need it.

Kathleen cleaned off most of the shelves in the refrigerator this afternoon and found a few things to throw out. It really has not had a good cleaning in quite a long time. Right now, she is out getting some candy for tomorrow night. We were going to do that when we went grocery shopping, but since we did not do that she had to make a special run.

I think both of us just ran out of steam about 1600 this afternoon. When one considers that we have both been up almost seven hour by 1600 it is no wonder. Kathleen is feeling much better today and I woke up feeling much better as well. This is the first day that I have felt like doing much of anything outside in about ten days.

We had dinner tonight about 1730; Kathleen cooked up some chicken breast and rice for dinner. I think tonight will be a real early to bed night as I have fallen asleep a couple times already tonight. So good night!

Strange Sunday

I got up this morning about 0645 as I thought that I would try to go to church this morning, but I got to coughing so much that by the time it was time to leave my throat was too sore. Kathleen did not fell like going either so we stayed home.

I spent a couple hours reading the paper and drinking tea. I was feeling better by about noon, but I was worn out from coughing so much. Kathleen spent most of the morning upstairs, so I made myself some macaroni and tomato, sausage and garlic sauce for lunch. Kathleen never made it downstairs this afternoon and I did not go upstairs.

Aaron, Tami and the girls stopped by after church. Aaron wanted to pick up my router table, so I had to dig it out of the garage. He had mentioned that he wanted to borrow it a couple weeks ago, I did not dig it out then, I just located it.

There is still enough junk in the garage that I thought it was better to just leave it until he really needed it. I think once I put the hard top back on the Wrangler it will clear up enough floor space so that I can organize everything a little better.

This afternoon I did plant a begonia cutting that we rooted in water. It is from a plant that we have in the living room. It took me a little while to remember where the potting soil was, we have a couple bags open. I knew I had seen a bag just the other day, but my memory is not what it once was.

I also cleaned out one of the vegetable drawers in the refrigerator; something in there turned to mush and was leaking out of the bag and all over everything that was in the drawer.

Well, it is just about time for me to make something for dinner, I think that I will just reheat what I made for dinner. Kathleen has not felt like cooking or even eating lately, so I have been using my imagination a lot lately, especially since we have not gone to the grocery store recently.

By using my imagination, I mean using what we have in the refrigerator. I have been trying to use up bits and pieces of things.

Well, I think that I will send this off, as I do not expect that I will have much more to write home about. I need to eat dinner and then see how long I can I can stay up before falling asleep. So good night!

Sunny Saturday

I got up about 0630 today and felt rested, or at least I could not go back to sleep. Made myself some cereal and a banana for breakfast. After cleaning up the kitchen, I noticed that the inside of the microwave was looking pretty ugly so I took some time to clean it out.

Kathleen had to go to church this morning to finish getting ready for the Harvest Festival. She thought that she would be home around noon, but she did not get back until after 1300. She stopped off and picked up a couple of junior Whoppers for our lunch.

While she was gone, I read the paper and then decided that I would move the exercise bike into my office. Once I had that done, I went upstairs and moved the old dining room table back down stairs. With all the moving around of things, I decided that I had better vacuum the carpets.

Since Kathleen was out of bed and gone I decided that it would be a good time to change the bed linen and wash the sheets and pillow cases that were on the bed. It seems like the sheets are not changed as frequently as I would like to see them changed.

About 1600 I went outside and raked the leaves off the back lawn, and then decided that the lawn was long enough that I needed to mow, so I mowed the side and back yard. The front lawn is in the shade much of the day and does not usually grow as fast this time of year.

Shortly after I got back in the house, Toni called and wanted to pick up one of our spare computer monitors. Thinking that they would be right over I went upstairs to dig one out of the pile of things that have collected around the old computer station.

They got here about 1815 and stayed for a little while. Beside the computer monitor, I also talked them into taking the old pet cage to use for their "large" cat, coffee. I thought that they were going the get it about a month ago, so I dug it out of the garage and it has been sitting on the front porch ever since.

Well, I told Kathleen to call me after the festival was over if she needed help cleaning up, it was over at 1800 and I have not heard from her so I guess that there were enough people to help clean up.

In a way, I am glad as I still do not feel really great and by the end of the day, my throat is really sore. Well, I just shaved for about the second time this week, I guess that is one of the benefits of not having to be all fancied up for work. I think that it will be an early shower and to bed tonight.

Even though we gain an hour sleep tonight, I think I will try to take advantage of it and say good night.

Friday Fun

Again this morning I got up about 0730, I probably could have stayed in bed longer, but I was not breathing well and thought that I should get up if for no other reason than to be able to breathe better. I made a couple of waffles and veggie sausages for breakfast. I even used lite maple syrup, I really do not mind it, and it has a whole lot less calories.

While sitting at the kitchen table eating, I noticed some rather large weeds growing in the garden just below the window. So after eating and doing the dishes I went outside and started pulling them up, just in time to get them in the yard debris can as the recycler was driving up.

With that done I went inside and read the paper, and again, before I finished the mail came. Kathleen's needles for her medication that came yesterday arrived with the mail. She was concerned that they were not with the UPS refrigerated package that arrived yesterday.

By the time I finished the mail, I started to feel hungry so I made myself some refried beans and tortillas, it use to be one of our staples, or at least one of Aaron's staples. I mixed it with some hot salsa, yummy!

After a short rest, I took some things out to the garage. Going back to my office, I decided to tackle a couple of the boxes that have been sitting in the corner for a long time. I went through five boxes and a couple of bags and when I was done I had recycled a box of paper, magazines and catalogs. I also through out about a half a garbage bag of junk.

It is amazing what one saves. The sad thing is I could probably do the same thing tomorrow and have the same results. I have cleaned out my office so much that I can even move the exercise bike in here and get it out of the living room.

Kathleen was supposed to go to physical therapy today, but she had an upset stomach and did not feel that it would be wise to go today, so I think that she rescheduled for next Wednesday.

Well, Kathleen had to get set up for the harvest festival tonight so that it will be ready for tomorrow. I was going to go along and help, but since I have not been feeling too well, I decided that it would be better not to go. I do not think that other people there would appreciate some one coughing constantly. I am okay as long as I am not doing anything too physical.

My cough is mostly from drainage, but it is very annoying and I know that my resistance is low, and I do not need to expose myself to others that might be coming down with something.

Since Kathleen was not home tonight, I made myself some hot, spicy chili and I cut up a sausage and cooked it with the chili. Between the refried beans for lunch and the chili tonight it is probably a good thing that I did not go tonight. I think that those that did go would appreciate that I was not there.

Well, this looks to be a quiet night again, so I think that I will say my good night now!

A rather quiet day

I did not get up until 0730 this morning; I think taking the Claritin-D not only helps my nighttime congestion, but also allows me to sleep a little longer. I made myself some cereal this morning and had a banana to top it off.

After I ate, I cleaned up the kitchen a bit, and than sat down to read the paper, before I was done with the paper the mail came. It seems like every day we get about three or four catalogs each day. I bet the mail carrier really enjoys the holiday season.

After reading the paper and mail, I went out and raked up the front yard, a two or three times a week task this time of year. I would not be too concerned except that they are walnut leaves and are large and heavy and I have seen them kill off everything underneath them before, so I do not really want to do that to my front lawn.

After coming in the house I made my self a couple roast and cheese whole-wheat tortillas. I used up the rest of the roast and the whole wheat tortillas so I need to put them on my shopping list.

After lunch I vacuumed the downstairs carpet, the vacuum was not picking up very well, so I snaked the hose and did not find anything. So I started to take it apart and found a pretty good size Reggie hairball clog. After I got the vacuum put back together, I re-vacuumed the carper and was surprised at how much more I was able to pick up.

Andrea and Toni stopped by for a while this afternoon, they had just had something to eat and were going to do some more shopping so they did not stay too long.

Kathleen wanted to go to a polymer clay thing tonight so she asked what I wanted for dinner about 1600, I suggested that she fry up the left over rice and the remaining ham and add some peas and onions. So she did, we ate dinner about 1645 tonight, I think that is the earliest that we have had dinner that I can remember.

Kathleen had me load all her stuff into her SUV and was out of here by 1730. I was going to meet with the accountability group tonight, but I think I breathed in too much dust taking the vacuum cleaner apart. I have been coughing quite a bit tonight and did not think it wise to go and either get someone else sick or get worse myself.

Well, I think tonight will be really quiet, so good night!

Lethargic Wednesday

I took another Claritin-D last night and slept in until 0730 this morning, but still was not fully rested, just could not sleep anymore. Kathleen got up shortly after I did this morning and asked if I wanted hash browns and eggs for breakfast, I said sure. So I cleaned and shredded a rather large potato and Kathleen cooked the yokes of a couple eggs for herself and cooked up the whites and some cheese for me.

After breakfast, I washed, dried, folded and put away a couple loads of laundry. I read the newspaper and had a cup of tea while waiting for the first load of cloths to dry.

While I was reading the paper the UPS driver rang the doorbell and had Kathleen's diabetes medicine, it has to be kept refrigerated so it came in a foam box with a couple chill packs to keep it cool. This was the first time we used the mail order pharmacy for it.

Normally it costs about $165.00 for a months supply and the insurance company refunds me about $135.00, so my cost has been about $30.00 a month. With the mail order, it costs me $30.00 for a three months supply, so I save myself about $40.00 every three months.

Since no one brought me over some chicken noodle soup, I decided to make myself some, and it does help. I think it must be a combination of the warmth and the saltiness of it that does the trick. I did not cure me, but I did feel better for a while.

I plotted my finances for the last couple of months and I have been averaging almost $4000.00 a month. That is only the last couple of months, but for the four months before that, I was just about breaking even.

Of course, over the last couple of years I have done pretty well. That is the thing with the stock market, some months are good and some are not so good, but for me over the long run it has been very good.

Tonight Kathleen heated up a couple slices of leftover ham, from the men's breakfast Saturday, and cooked some rice and peas for dinner tonight. We both remarked that we are eating less than we were a few months ago, which is good since we are both less active and it is too easy to put on extra weight.

With he holidays coming up I do not need any extra weight, I usually find a way to add a couple of pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years. This year I am going to try to break that cycle.

Well, I did not get much of anything constructive done today; I just did not seem to find any energy today. I think this evening will be rather uneventful, so I will say good night now.

Better, but still not well

Well, last night I took a Claritin- D, and I slept much better last night, I did not get up until about 0830. I felt pretty good most of the morning. I made myself some cereal and toast and then emptied the dishwasher.

After getting the dishwasher emptied, I put my breakfast dishes in it and headed to the living room to read the paper, before I got to sit down the mail came, so I opened it and since most of it was junk mail, I put it in the recycling.

Now I was ready to read the paper, I have to admit that it does not take too long; I do not read much of it. Most of it is not worth reading, I do not even read most of the comics anymore, and most of them are just not funny or interesting anymore.

Kathleen had a physical therapy appointment today and I had planned on going with her, but around noon, I started feeling light headed again and I was developing a ticklish throat. I decided that it would be better for me to stay at home; I can do that now that Kathleen is driving again.

While she was gone, I decided that I needed to sort out some of the paperwork that was stacking up. I had some of my property management statements and my stocks and mutual fund statements that I had not filed since last March. That took about three hours to complete.

I also decided to clean up a couple of the shelves in my fly tying room, I got two of the three cleaned up and somewhat organized, now I just have the most cluttered one to do.

I finished my sorting about 1600, and was tired enough that I sat in my easy chair and looked at a couple catalogues, nodding off a couple times in the process. It is a good thing that the phone rang a couple of times, at least I think that I am glad.

Kathleen had not come home by 1800 and I was getting hungry, all I had for lunch was an orange, a few crackers and a couple oatmeal cookies. So I made myself a melted cheese and ham sandwich.

Kathleen came home about 1830, grabbed something to eat, and then went to one of the people’s house from the Fellowship Team to work on stuff for the Harvest Festival. Who knows when she will be home from that.

I am writing this as I am planning on going to bed early again tonight, so good night all!

Miserable Monday

I got up at about 0700 tins morning, I was having trouble breathing and I was not sleeping too well either, so I thought that I might as well get up. I was still pretty tired, but I was not able to get back to sleep either.

I made myself a ham and cheese omelet (made with some egg whites that Kathleen had use the yokes), and some multi-grain raisin, walnut toast and some tea. After I finished eating, I did lots of hand wash pots and pans. Then I went into the living room and read the paper. I took a couple antihistamines to try to get my head cleared up and they really made me groggy.

Kathleen had an appointment at Epic Imaging at 1145 and I had planned to go with her, but I was too light headed and thought that it would be better if I did not drive, so she took herself. While she was gone I vacuumed the downstairs carpeting and then dozed a couple of times in the chair and felt better, but still very lightheaded.

I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich with the left over ham from the men's breakfast and some provolone cheese. I tasted good, but I did not have much energy. When Kathleen came downstairs I asked her if she would be interested in helping me clean out the junk draw in the kitchen. She said okay, so we did, it took about two and a half hours, but it looks so much better.

We threw out lots of bread ties, advertising magnets, plastic utensils, straws, and too many other things to mention. Kathleen said that the draw feel so much lighter, but I think that it was just that before there was so much "stuff" in the draw that it would bind up and prevent the draw from closing easily.

Kathleen heated up the rest of the roast and nuked a couple of potatoes for dinner tonight. Kathleen did not finish all of her roast but so far we got four meals out of it. I think that I feel more wide-awake now than I have all day, I still do not feel great, but much better than I have in the last two days.

Well, I think that this is all for today, good night.

Sunny Sunday

When I woke up this morning I knew that I would not be going to church or Sunday School, back in the old days I probably would have forced myself to go not caring or realizing that I would probably cause someone else to get whatever it was that I had. I am realizing that I do not have to be there every Sunday, and expose everyone else to my germs.

After breakfast Kathleen went off to church by herself, I stayed home and was going to just sit around and relax. That lasted until about 0900, when I went outside to rake the leaves and walnuts in the front yard. I went to the back yard to put the rake away and decided that I really needed to rake the back yard as well, so I did.

When I put the rake away, I saw the lawnmower sitting there and decided that while the weather was still so nice I probably ought to mow the back lawn before it starts raining again and I cannot. I finished mowing and thought about mowing the front yard, but it really did not need it and I was starting to feel a little worn out.

Once inside I sat down and read the comics and then the paper, and by the time I was finishing up, Kathleen came home. After we talked for a while I decided to check my e-mail and answer a few e-mails. About 1300 Kathleen made me some chicken noodle soup, and I added a lot of multi-grain baguette that we bought the other day when we had spaghetti.

After I finished eating I decided to go back into my office and finish cleaning off one of the other desks. I got everything taken off and sorted, now I just need to find new homes for it all. I did fill up another paper grocery bag of paper and ole magazines. I also managed to fill up a garbage bag between yesterday and today.

Well, I have been sneezing and coughing quite a bit, so I think it is time to call it quits for now. I have a feeling it will be another early to bed night, so I will say my good nights now.

Men's Breakfast

I got up at 0600 this morning, as I had to be at church by 0700 to clean up the kitchen and start the breakfast. I finished about 1100 and felt pretty good. However, by the time I got home I started to feel really tired and sleepy.

Before I knew it, my throat was starting to get that feeling that it was going to be getting sore before too much longer. I made myself some lunch and hoped that that would help me feel better, but no such luck.

After I finished reading the paper, I really thought about going outside and doing some work as it was such a beautiful fall day. I probably would have done that last year, but for some reason I decided that I should stay inside and work on getting better.

Once I resolved to the fact that I was stuck inside I decide that it would be a good idea to sort out some of the things that had been gathering in and on one of the bookshelves in my office. I managed to clean off the top of the bookshelf and four of the other shelves.

Then came the sorting of the stuff that I removed. I wound up with a full paper grocery bag full of old magazines and just things that I was saving at one time for some reason or another. The reason for keeping it had long passed or at least I could not remember what it was, so it was history.

If I do not feel any better tomorrow, I will probably work on the last shelf and then start one of the spare desks that I have in here. There are three desks in here and I only use one for a desk. The other two just kind of are a place to store things I am not sure what to do with. Now that I have some "free" time, I think that I had better put it to good use, before it is too late.

Who knows, I may even go upstairs and clean up my fly tying room, so that I can use it for fly tying, wouldn't that be shocking! Right now, I have so much "stuff" on the tying table that I could not begin to tie a fly if my life depended on it.

Well, I got a little done today, not what I would have liked to get done, but some things that have needed doing for a long time. I think I will take something to help me sleep, like NightQuil, and call it a day. So goon night!