Tuesday's Tracking

I did not get up until almost 0830, I probably could have slept longer, but I was awake and knew that Reggie needed to get outside. I made some raisin toast, put peanut butter and a banana on it made a cup of tea and was satisfied.

After breakfast, I read the paper and after finishing it, I took it out front to put in the recycling tote. Kathleen came downstairs and was not feeling well. She finished cutting out the coupons that I left for her to look at, as we were going to go to the credit union and grocery store today.

It was getting to be afternoon and I knew that I should eat something before we went shopping, so I quartered an orange and grabbed some carrots and called that lunch. I let Reggie out one more time and we were off to take care of some errands.

First, we stopped at Montivilla Sewing Center, as Kathleen wanted to pick up her monthly disk and whatever else she gets. Then off to the credit union, while I made the deposits, Kathleen went to the Cingular store to check on the different plans available now.

We are paying too much for our service and want to either get the pay as you go phones or get a different play. We did not make any decision, but I picked up some of their brochures so that I could sit down and calculate out which option would be less expensive and meet our needs better.

Next stop was Winco to do our grocery shopping, I had about eight things on our list, but we wound up with a cart full of things. Since Kathleen was not feeling well, I picked up a couple frozen lasagnas, I got her one with meat and I got mine with soy. Then home to unload the SUV and put everything away.

Kathleen had gotten some chocolate, so when we got everything put away she melted the chocolate and finished making the almond roca that she started the other day. I heated up the lasagna and then we had dinner as she was finishing up the roca.

Kathleen has gone upstairs now and here I am doing my blog. Kathleen has to get her annual report done for tomorrow. I am still tired so I imagine that it will be another early night, so I will just say good night now.

Misty Monday

This morning when I woke up as I lay in bed, I could hear kind of a muffled sound on the skylight in our bedroom and I thought, could this possible be snow. So I got up and looked out the window...no snow, but the ground was wet, nothing unusual for this time of year.

When I went downstairs and let Reggie out, I noticed that there was a very light mist and I decided that what I had heard in the bedroom was an occasional dripping off the fir trees and the accumulation of mist got heavy enough on the fir branches to finally fall off. I guess that we will have an opportunity to see some snow later this week.

The temperature was in the high forties early this morning and eventually got into the fifties, so it was too warm to actually snow, but one can dream. Anyway, that was the extent of the excitement for me to day.

I made myself some oatmeal this morning for breakfast, and then emptied the dishwasher and did some more hand washing of the crock-pot and frying pan. Then I went into the living room and read the paper. The mail came before I finished the paper, so I went and got it, but there was nothing there of any importance. Both Kathleen and I got credit card applications, which we promptly shredded. The rest went into the recycling bag.

After finishing the mail and the paper, I gathered up all the recycling paper and got it ready to be recycled tomorrow. Then I took the plastic bottles and metal recycling out to the front and also brought up the garbage can.

While I was out there, I decided to rake the front of the driveway because I had noticed that during a couple of the heavy rains over the last couple of weeks that the water was collecting in certain areas. I was trying to remove those areas and keep the water flowing down the street.

About 1300 I decided to make myself some lunch, so I took the hash browns and the egg whites that Kathleen had left over from her breakfast, heated up a couple sausages, and had that for lunch. Afterwards finishing eating, I cleaned up the pots and pans that had gathered and put the dishes into the dishwasher.

Kathleen called the radiation office today to find out about my appointment. I was planning on waiting until Wednesday, but I am glad that she called and we were able to make an appointment for Thursday. So hopefully I will find out more about what is going to happen at that time.

I think that we are going to have the leftover spaghetti squash from the other night for dinner. I am watching the Ohio State championship game tonight so I am writing this a little early.

Sleepy Sunday

This was a pretty typical Sunday morning, with church and Sunday School and that is where it stopped being "normal". I had a meeting after Sunday School with the missions team that lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes. Then the couple that I worked on their computer last week invited us out to dinner.

We went to Sweet Tomato and had a very nice lunch, and we talked for quite a while afterwards. Then after when we got home, I changed clothes, came back downstairs, and read the paper. After reading the paper and recycling it, I sat back down and Linda, our sister-in-law called.

Well, I had been dozing off and on for most of the call and finally knocked out completely. Kathleen and Linda got a big laugh out of it and I got a little catnap. I am still pretty tired, but I do feel a little more awake than I was.

Kathleen reheated the ribs and rice from the other night for dinner. After dinner, I emptied the dishwasher, loaded it up again, started it up and then did the hand washing. I had not done any hand washing for a couple days and the sink was overflowing.

Kathleen has gone upstairs now and I am on my computer doing my blog. I think that this will be another early night. I have been really tired for the last couple of weeks. I am glad that I was able to postpone my jury duty this next week.

I am not sure how I would be able to get up at 0530 and to be able to make the bus and Max connections to get to the courthouse by 0730. So, I will just say my good night now.

Settling in Saturday

Today started out much the same as any other day, I did have to get ready to go to a Discipleship meeting at church at 0900 this morning, but just about everything else was pretty normal.

The meeting lasted quite a lot longer than they normally do, and after the meeting Pastor Brian wanted me to show him how to do something on the computer so that took a while as well. I finally made it home about noontime.

Some one had thrown a fast food bag and a couple drinks out in the road near our driveway, I tried to pick it up, but the bag was so wet that it just fell apart. So I went into the house, got a plastic bag, went back out, picked it up, and put it into the garbage can.

Shortly after I got home and changed my clothes, my mother called and I talked to her for a while and then my sister got on the phone and we talked a while longer. By the time we finally hung up we had been on the phone for almost an hour and a half.

I fixed myself a sardine sandwich for lunch and heated up a couple cinnamon rolls to top it all off. Then I went into the living room and read the mail. I think most of it wound up in the recycling. Then I tackled the paper and after finishing the paper, I pretty much vegetated in my chair the rest of the afternoon.

Kathleen made some spaghetti squash for dinner, with some spaghetti sauce on it, it really tasted good. I settled for one helping and then had an orange for desert.

Well, I am more tired than I should be tonight, but I am tired nonetheless, so I think that I will just say good night.

Friday’s Fretfulness

This has not been the best day of my life. I got up early as I had my quarterly post surgery appointment this morning. I felt pretty good as I went about my morning, I had oatmeal with raisins, a banana, wheat germ, molasses, maple syrup and "Go Lean Crunch", and I even made a fresh pot of coffee. I left for the doctor's office early as I thought that I might have to fill out new paperwork, I did not, but I got there early, just in case.

I even got into see the nurse about 0900, my appointment time, for a blood draw and urine sample. Then back to the waiting room for another twenty-minute wait. Then I was called again, this time I got to see the doctor's assistant. The nurse hen she brought me into the room said that my urine sample was good.

That made me feel pretty good, but about ten minutes later the doctor's assistant came in and said that my PSA levels were higher than they should have been and that the doctor would be in to see me in a little bit.

Twenty minutes later the doctor, the one who preformed the surgery last June, came in and told me that there could be a couple possibilities as to why it was elevated, one he said was very unlikely and another he said my body could be producing PSA from some other source, again, probably not too likely.

The third possibility was that there is still some cancer there that was not detected last June. Since the last two times that I have had my PSA checked, it has gone up each time by .1. So it is now about three times what it was last June, right after my surgery.

He recommended that I undergo radiation therapy and gave me the name of a radiation oncologist that he recommended., so when I got done seeing him I went down to the first floor and talked to the folks at the radiation oncology office.

I could not set up an appointment at the time, as they wanted to get my files from the hospital, on the surgery, and from my urologist, who did the surgery and has been treating me since. They did give me several forms to fill out and bring back with me when I have my consultation appointment.

After leaving the hospital, I stopped at Fred Meyer to purchase some TriMet/Max tickets, as I was scheduled for jury duty next week. Then I headed home.

The mail was hanging out of the mailbox when I got to the front door, so I picked it up and set it on the piano. Kathleen was in the living room, so I told her about my morning and then I went upstairs and changed clothes.

Once back downstairs, I opened up the mail, most of it this time was something that I wanted to look at. Most of it still wound up in the recycling, but there were a few items, a fly-fishing catalog and a discount Christian book catalog, that I kept.

I spent quite a lot of time this afternoon canceling some obligations that I had made, as once the radiation begins I probably will be pretty limited in what I am able to do. I also decided to see if I would be able to postpone my jury duty, they usually require a weeks notification, but since my circumstances were a little out of the ordinary, they have rescheduled me for June.

Somewhere and sometime this afternoon I decided that I needed to eat something, since we were out of leftovers, I toasted some raisin bread and smeared some limburger cheese on it and poured myself an other cup of coffee.

I finally got to read the paper about 1600, for some reason I just did not feel the need to read it any earlier. Kathleen had slow cooked some ribs today and then made some rice, so that is what we had for dinner tonight.

She is upstairs now and I am pretty tired, mostly emotionally, so I think that I will say good night.

Thursday's Travels

I got up a little early this morning, as I needed to leave a little after 0800 for breakfast with my accountability group. We had a good breakfast and fellowship, there were four of us there for breakfast and the other one joined us afterwards.

After finishing breakfast, three of us headed out to seem one of our friends who is undergoing a gamma knife procedure tomorrow morning. We also visited him last month when he was originally scheduled for this procedure, but had to be canceled due to insurance not okaying the procedure in time.

After our visit, the other two took off in one vehicle and I took off in my Wrangler because I needed to stop by the credit union to deposit a couple checks. So after taking care of the checks I called the folks that I had worked on their computer last week to check to make sure that they would be home.

They were planning to be home, so I stopped by on my way home and fixed their computer again. It only took about five minutes and I was on my way again. When I got home, the mail was there and there were a couple more checks, for some reason as soon as I deposit checks, there almost always seem to be more checks in the mail either that day or the next.

There really was not much else in the mail other than my Visa bill; I think that the rest of it was destined for the recycling. After taking care of the mail, I read the paper, as I did not take time to read it this morning.

I was starting to get a little hungry, so I took the rest of the leftover turkey soup out of the refrigerator, heated it up and added son nutmeg. There was just a soup cup left, but it was all that I needed. Afterwards I washed the pot that Kathleen had used to cook the ham and bean soup the other night. Kathleen had put the remainder into a couple bags and put them into the freezer.

Afterwards while I was sitting in the living room Kathleen mentioned that the bouquets that I had gotten her before Christmas were looking like they needed to be taken out, so I gathered them up and put the flowers and the greenery into the yard debris can. Then I washed out the vases and put them back on the shelf.

Tonight we had some more of the ham and bean soup, I added some hot sauce and it really gave it a good flavor. Well, Kathleen is back upstairs on her computer and I think that I will call it a day and say good night for now.

Wet Wednesday

I got up a little earlier this morning; I think I just was tired of listening to the rain on the sky light. At least on the main floor the rain is not as noisy. I let Reggie out and if he did not have to go so badly, I think that he would have stayed inside.

After my morning computer time, I made some oatmeal; I heated up a couple cinnamon rolls and coffee. After eating and depositing the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, I poured another cup of coffee and went into the living room to read the paper.

The mail came while I was still reading the paper, but I waited until I finished the paper to get the mail. I thin that I had four magazines, three catalogs and four pieces of junk mail. For not having mail service for three days, I was surprised that that is all the mail that there was.

Andrea called and said that she was coming over; she got here about 1130 and stayed until about 1600. Kathleen and I had planned to go to the credit union, as we have several insurance refund checks to deposit. I have had some of those checks for a couple weeks, so I guess that another day or two will not make much difference.

The rain stopped for a little while, so I went outside and transplanted another shrub and pulled some weeds. I am hoping to have the weeding pretty much under control come springtime, but somehow the weeds just seem to come out of nowhere and it takes a couple weeks to get the gardens looking presentable. At least this time of year the weeds pull up easily.

Kathleen soaked some beans last night and this morning she added the leftover Christmas ham, so we had bean and ham soup tonight with a couple cinnamon rolls to top it off. Well Kathleen is reformatting her external hard drive and is slightly bored. I think that I have pretty much covered my day, so I will say good night for now.

Catch-up Tuesday

I got up a little before 0800 this morning and after my normal routine, I went into the kitchen. I emptied the dishwasher, then reloaded it with the pans and cooling racks from the cinnamon rolls, and started it up again. Then I heated up a couple cinnamon rolls and made a pot of coffee for breakfast.

After eating, I gathered up the towels, loaded the washing machine, and started it up. Then I brought the rest of the laundry down and when the towels finished I put them into the dryer and then did two more loads of clothes. When they dried, I folded and put everything away.

Then I went downstairs again and read the paper. It was a pretty slim news day, with yesterday being New Years Day, and then I added the paper to the recycling bag. By this time the second load of dishes was done, so I put them away.

I heated up a cup of the left over turkey soup and some cinnamon rolls for lunch and then loaded the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. I thought about sitting down in the living room for a while, but I just saw too many things that needed doing.

Since it had been a couple days since I vacuumed, I decided to vacuum, the stairs, the upstairs and the downstairs. Then I decided that I would go outside so that I could transplant a couple shrubs that were growing in areas that I did not want them. I took advantage of a few minutes when the rain had slowed down or stopped.

Speaking of weather, the news just said that it was 58 degrees today. Last night the temperature started out in the forties and before morning, it was in the low fifties. It is hard to believe that it is the first part of January.

As I was sitting in the living room, I noticed several "stacks", so I decided to go through them, sort out, and throw away. I managed to throw out quite a lot of "stuff" and put where they belonged most of everything else. There is still a lot to do, but I went through what was mine and what I knew I could do something about.

Kathleen heated up a couple cans of corn beef hash for dinner. I am not sure why, but I can eat hash just about anytime. Well, tonight looks like another quiet night, I probably will be hitting the sack early as I am tired so I will just say good night!

Happy New Year!

Well, this will be a short one today, I got up about the same time as I have been lately and after spending some time on the computer I had a quartered an apple, an orange, a banana and had a couple left over scones that Kathleen made the other day for breakfast.

Then I cleaned up the pans that Kathleen made the cinnamon rolls in last night. Then I loaded up the dishwasher and started it up. After reading the paper, I decided to go outside while it was still fairly nice out and cut down a butterfly "tree" and dig out a couple of blackberry bushes that I had noticed the other day.

Before I got finished, it had started to rain, so I finished chopping up the branches that I had fallen and decided to stop for the day. Kathleen was up when I got inside and was putting the finishing touches on the cinnamon rolls and then went upstairs to get ready to go.

So I went upstairs, cleaned up, and even put on some long pants. It is not that it was that cold, but everyone seems to feel cold when I am wearing shorts. We arrived at Aerts a little before noon and were the first ones there; usually we are one of the last ones to get there.

We all had a good time and finally left about 1800, I was more than ready to go, but Kathleen was in the middle of a card game and I guess that it took longer than they thought.

Well, I am too tired to get into any mischief tonight, so I will just say good night for now!

Sunny Sunday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday Shopping... Groceries that is

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

?Friday?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just Thursday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday Wandeings

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

The day after - crash day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Merry Christmas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twas the Night Before Christmas

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

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

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

Saturday Shopping

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday Follies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Things of Thursday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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