Thursday's Tempest

Well, I felt a little more wide awake this morning when I got up, but then I had gone to bed a little after 2100 last night and I dozed in my chair before I woke up enough to get up and out of my chair. I did not go for a walk this morning as my system had still not settled down and besides it was rainy and I just did not feel like it.

When I got downstairs I emptied the dishwasher and then started to make myself breakfast. As I was starting to make my eggs Aaron called and wanted to check to make sure we were up because we were going to watch Alexis this morning. I told him that I was up but Kathleen was not up yet, so he said that he would be over shortly.

I was just sitting down to eat when they got here, I asked if they wanted any thing to eat and I thought that Alexis wanted some Cheerios, but when I made her a bowl and gave it to her she let it set for a while and then she said that she did not want any. She really looked like she was ready to fall asleep, so I suggested that Aaron put her on the couch and by the time I finished eating and we got into the living room she was just about asleep.

Aaron took off a little after 0900 for the teacher conference and thought that he would be back around 1000. So I read the paper and before I finished it Aaron was back and it was only about 0940. Alexis was still sleeping so Aaron stayed around and finally called Tami to see if she were home from helping out in Becca's class.

Just before Aaron and Alexis left one of our contractors called to make sure that we were going to be home. He pulled into the driveway about a minute after Aaron pulled out, so the timing worked out just great.

He spent about two hours with us going over what Kathleen wanted the cabinets to look like. I suggested that maybe next week we could get the two contractors together and they could go over their plans together so that it all comes together and looks as good as possible.

After he left Kathleen made a couple open-faced tuna salad sandwiches for lunch. We had talked about going to the store to shop for some more of the items that we needed to finish the bathroom, like draw pulls, knobs, etc. We never made it out, Kathleen got busy upstairs and I just kind of dinked around and then realized that I probably should call my Mother, so I did.

We had a good talk for about twenty minutes, I keep getting busy during the day and by the time I remember about calling her, it is usually the time of night when she is either in bed or just about there. So today when I thought about it I thought that I better do it while the time availed.

Tonight Kathleen was going to make some spaghetti, but when she got to adding the sauce, she discovered that she did not have any, so she added some rice and made some homemade rice-a-roni with some Italian sausage. I liked it, but Kathleen said there was a flavor in it that she did not care for.

Here are the pictures from yesterday if anyone is interested; I guess the best part about them is that the colon looks rather normal. As you can kind of see they went from one end to the other and took pictures at both ends.

Well, another rather unproductive day, so I think I will say good night before I find something to do.

Waiting Wednesday

Well today has not been normal in anyway, shape or form. I did not go for my walk; I just did not really feel that it was a prudent thing to do. So for "breakfast" I had a hot lemon/honey drink followed by a cup of bouillon, then I went into the living room to read the paper with another cup of bouillon.

The mail had not gotten here yet, so I finished reading the book I was reading yesterday, and when it had not gotten here when I finished it, I started reading another book. By this time it was 1000 and time for me to take my final two of the Dulcolax tablets, then at 1100 I started drinking MiraLAX/Gatorade cocktail.

Last night I was drinking an eight ounce glass every half hour, but today I decided that I would just do it every fifteen minutes instead as that was also an option. I figured that this way I would get it over with sooner and not have to worry about needing to run to the bathroom while I was waiting for my procedure.

The mail finally got here as I was finishing up my third cocktail, so got it and opened it up. Most of it was junk mail, with the exception of a magazine, which I have not had a chance to read yet. I read about three quarters of the second book before I stopped to take my shower in getting ready for my appointment.

We left the house a little after 1500 as I needed to be there at 1515. Kathleen dropped me off as she wanted to go to Montivilla Sewing Center, so once I got checked in I sat around for about fifteen minutes before the nurse called me to get my pre-procedure vitals.

Then I got to put on a really "pretty" gown and matching booties. Next she came back and inserted the IV and I had to wait another ten minutes before the next nurse came to take my to my procedure room.

I was scheduled for 1600 and I got to the room at 1550 where they put me on oxygen and put a blood pressure and pulse meter on me. Then I just lay there waiting for the doctor...he finally arrived at 1610 and started the IV drip. He asked if I wanted to watch, so I said sure, although I think I spent a lot of time drifting in and out as I can only remember parts of it here and there.

It was really over before I realized it and then got to go to the recovery area. Once there I was given some pictures of my intestine and the doctor's evaluation. After a short time the doctor came in to check and see how I was doing and explain what his findings were.

Then I was given a can of diet Sprite as I had not had anything to drink since 1400 and it really tasted good. Kathleen was let in and I was able to get dressed and after a little while longer the nurse asked if I would like another glass of Sprite, so I said sure. Before I could drink much of it they said that I was free to go home...so I did.

We got home about 1730 and I changed clothes and decided that I would do my blog early again tonight because I did not get to sleep until about 0100 last night and I am pretty sure that I will need to go to bed early tonight.

I tried calling Sue and Mom when I got home, but the phone kept ringing so I hung up and tired again with the same results. I hate to call much later as it is after 2100 there now, so maybe if I remember I will do it tomorrow.

I get to eat real food tonight, but I am not sure what Kathleen is planning, she was going to put a roast on before we left, but that did not happen, so I will be interesting to see what she comes up with. Well, I bell better now that everything is over, I am really not even that hungry, although I think that I am starting to feel a little hungry now.

Well, I think I will go and see what she has in mind, so good night for today.

Tuesday's Timetable

This morning started out pretty normal, I went for my walk; although again it started to rain a bout five minutes from home, but that is where the normalcy ended. I have not been able to eat anything today so for breakfast I had some hot lemon juice with honey and then several times a day I had chicken and beef bouillon.

Kathleen made me some lime Jell-O so I had a bowl of that for lunch. I think so far I have had eight cups of bouillon and also a couple of classes of white grape juice.

I have not done much today except work on cleaning up my office. I finally got it so that the extra chair can now be used to actually sit in. I had been using it as a place to put things that I wanted to go over at some other time, well that some other time was today. It is funny how most of it was either out of date or something that I really did not car about anyway. Needless to say, I put a lot of paper into the recycling bag.

Well, I have taken two of my Dulcolax tablets and at 1800 I get to drink a ten ounce bottle of magnesium citrate. Then at 1900 I get to start my cocktail of 238g of MiraLAX mixed into a sixty-four ounce bottle of Gatorade.

I have to drink thirty-two ounces tonight, eight ounces ever fifteen to thirty minutes. With all the fluids that I have had today I been spending a lot of time in the bathroom...and I am afraid that the fun has just begun.

Well, I have to take my bottle of magnesium citrate now, so I think that I am just going to say good night now.

Monday's Misting

This morning’s walk was dry until I got about ten minutes from home and then it started to drizzle slightly. It stopped raining again and I made it home without getting wet. It was kind of a preview of the rest of the day.

Kathleen came downstairs before I had a chance to make myself an omelet and made pancakes instead. We both must have been hungry as we finished the batch of pancakes, normally there are three or four pancakes left over.

The mail came while we were eating breakfast so I went out, got it and looked through it...most of it was junk mail. After putting the dishes into the dishwasher I went into the living room and read the paper.

After finishing the paper I went outside and raked the leaves in the front lawn, there were not that many, but when they get wet they really make a mess of the lawn, so I wanted to get them up before it really started to rain. Although tonight the lawn almost looks like it has not been raked, it would have been worse if I had not done it.

Now with rain in the forecast for the next ten days or so, I will not have a chance to rake much while it is dry, so I will be raking soggy leaves for the next few times that I rake.

I made myself a veggie burger on dark rye toast for lunch and after cleaning up my mess, I kind of vegetated on my computer most of the afternoon. Kathleen went to look at tile and then to Winco to do a little shopping about 1630, I was just too tired to go, so I stayed home and read a couple of magazines.

She had not gotten home by 1945 so I heated up a frozen Mexican dinner and the mouthful of leftover salmon from last night. Kathleen came home as I was finishing up my dinner so I helped her unload the groceries from her SUV. She heated up a can of bean soup for herself for dinner.

Well, I just had my last real meal for the next two days, tomorrow I get to drink clear drinks, like broth and tea...I cannot wait! Well, I think that is all for tonight, I am just going to say good night and call it a day.

So Long Sunshine

We made it to church and Sunday School this morning, although Kathleen was pretty tired and not feeling quite up to par. Before leaving for church, I loaded up the dishwasher and started it up and then I put a load of towels into the washer and started it up.

After church I changed clothes and then put the towels into the dryer. Then I had a Smart One French style cheese cake. I did not taste too bad, considering that it was suppose to be somewhat healthy. Once I had something in my stomach, I read the paper and then unloaded the dryer and folded and put away the towels.

Around 1330 I made myself a couple sun dried tomato and habanero tortillas filled with sardines...do I know how to live it up or what. I also fixed myself a Morning Star tomato & basil pizza burger on dark rye toast. I topped it with an onion slice, some dill pickle slices and a slice of cheddar cheese.

After eating I unloaded the dishwasher and put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Andrea called and told us about the house that she and John are looking at now and later she sent us a link that showed us fifteen different pictures of the house.

Kathleen left to look at some of the cabinets at one of our friend’s house that our contractors did at her house. I had thought about doing some work out in the yard, like rake leaves, but I thought that I was tired enough the way it was and I wanted to just relax today. The leaves will be there for a while and if I do not get them the east wind will take care of them.

When Kathleen came home she was feeling worse, but she decided to make a chicken breast and baked potatoes, she also had some corn on the side. It tasted really good, I guess I enjoyed it because for the next three days I am very limited as to what I can eat and it was probably going to be my last "real" meal until after my colonoscopy.

Well, it is suppose to start raining tomorrow sometime and rain off and on for the next ten days or so. I will probably do some more demolition tomorrow to try and get as much done before the contractor starts to work next week.

I think I have probably run out of things to write about so I am just going to say my good night now.

Sloppy Saturday

I had a good walk this morning and when I got home I made myself a Southwestern omelet for breakfast with a Gardenburger sausage and a couple slices of dark rye toast. This is the last day until after my colonoscopy that I will be able to have seeds or nuts, so I thought I would make the most out of it.

After eating I loaded the dishwasher and then went and read the paper. After I finished the paper I decided to go outside and pull out the rest of the ivy on the west side of the garage since the mail had not come yet. Just as I was going around the fence to get to the side of the garage I saw the mailman a couple housed down, so I waited for him and got the mail.

Not wanting to interrupt my plans to get the ivy gone, I just put the mail in the house and then proceeded to work on the ivy. I finally got it all pulled out at least what I could get. There will be some coming up later I am sure from the roots that broke off, but at least the majority of it is gone.

Since the ivy was out of there I also decided to dig up my iris tubers and either plant them someplace else or see if anyone wanted any. I have given away over a hundred iris tubers over the last few years, so I probably will keep some of them, but I have more than I need right now.

Kathleen came out looking to see what I was up to while I was in the middle of digging out the iris and by that time I already had a ten gallon can filled as well as a five gallon bucket. I must have stopped just long enough for me to realize that I was getting pretty tired, so I stopped what I was doing and cleaned up my tools.

Kathleen had discovered some ripe raspberries so she shared a couple of them with me. It is amazing that in the middle of October we still have raspberries that are ripe.

I happened to look down at my shoes and noticed that they were coated in mud. While it has not rained for a couple days, the ground is wet enough that when I dug it up I loosened it up enough to make a nice muddy pile, so before I could go into the house I tried to get as much off as possible.

Once inside I put them into the sink and scrubbed them with a fingernail brush to get the mud off. They were rubberized garden shoes so getting them wet did not hurt them. Then I scrubbed myself off and went into the house and read the mail.

We had gotten our credit union statement, so I reconciled our savings and my checking accounts and then filed the paperwork. Then I made myself a spinach and romaine salad with yellow and red peppers, cucumbers, radishes, green onion, mushrooms and a tomato then I topped it off with some raspberry dressing and some red wine vinegar.

So after putting my dishes into the dishwasher I went into the living room and looked at a couple of the catalogs that came today. Not being able to sit still any longer, I went upstairs and took the door off the bathroom cupboard and then the molding. Not being able to do any more damage there I started to pull the paneling off the wall above the stairway and made quit the mess. So I went out to the garage and got my big shopvac and vacuumed the upstairs floor, the stairs and the downstairs landing.

For dinner tonight Kathleen made some salmon, fried sugar pod peas and Tatar tots. Everything tasted pretty good and could have eaten more, but I was satisfied and refrained from eating what Kathleen did not want.

Well, that is all I can think about for tonight, I think that I will be taking my shower and heading to bed a little early tonight, so I am just going to say good night now.

Fun Filled Friday

This morning started out as most mornings do, with a walk, breakfast, reading the paper and mail and then yard work etc., but today that is were the normalcy ended. Alyssa had an appointment with her urologist at 1300 but needed to have some work done before that so she dropped the children off about noon time.

She mentioned that she had not had time to fix lunch for them and they might be hungry, she had not even pulled out of the driveway when the grandchildren started to say that they were hungry. Kathleen and I had needed to go grocery shopping but just not done it. So I looked around for something quick and easy to fix that they would enjoy and could not find anything.

So I thought to myself what do most children like...macaroni and cheese! So I put some water on the stove and boiled it and then add a cup and a half of macaroni. I think the children came in about four times to ask if it were ready yet before it was macaroni and cheese. If I had had a little more time I would have baked it, but I did not think that they could wait that long.

Zander had five helping, Hayden four and Natalie three, so I guess that they were hungry, I do not think that the macaroni was that special so it must have been that they were really hungry.

We also did not have anything for them to drink, so I found a packet of Crystal-light pink grapefruit and they each had several glasses of that as well, I just barely got a six ounce glass down.

After they finished eating I gave them their choice of either a mini Milky Way or a fruit snack, Zander wanted a Milky Way and Natalie and Hayden wanted a fruit snack. So while I was cleaning up the kitchen Kathleen put in a DVD, "Over the Hedge", and they all sat on Kathleen and my lap during the whole time.

Alyssa came back before the movie finished so we let the children continue to watch it and I gave Alyssa some macaroni and cheese and the drink. Alyssa needed to leave as she had to get home because she and a couple of her friends were going to "Women of Faith" this afternoon and tomorrow.

The place where we had ordered our new glasses had called this morning before the grandchildren had arrived but we did not have time to go then so as soon as everyone had gone I changed clothes and off we went. Kathleen has needed new glasses for several years and just not gotten them, mine were only a little over two years old, but I wanted to get some a little less bulky looking.

I had been use to wearing my safety glasses at Boeing and so when I got my last ones I got some beefier frames than I needed to. These are much slimmer and like my last pair are made of titanium and I can tie them into a knot.

Coming home the traffic was really bad as it was Friday evening rush hour but we finally made it home and I thought that I would do my blog early tonight, before dinner and I would not have to worry about being too tired.

I think we are going to have the rest of last night’s dinner and the rest of the macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight. Maybe tomorrow we will be able to get to the grocery store to get some food. I will have to eat food that I do not normally eat, so for that reason we will need to get some things.

Well, I think that is all that I can think about for now. I keep thinking that I will call my Mother one of these days, but we have been busy doing one thing or another everyday. I guess that it is time for me to say good night!

Tamer Thursday

This morning was much different than yesterday, there was not continual threat of rain and the wind was rather calm. I had a good walk and when I got back I needed to clean up change my clothes and meet the guys for breakfast.

We had a good breakfast and a long conversation afterwards and I finally got back home about 1100. After changing clothes, I read the mail and then the paper.

Kathleen left shortly after I got back to go to Montivilla Sewing Center to exchange the hoops and feet from her old machine for ones that will fit her new machine. While she was out she also stopped at Target and bought a couple tee shirts that she wears all the time.

While she was gone the contractor who is going to redo our floors and walls in the bathrooms and a couple other projects called to let us know that he was back from his hunting trip and wanted to come over to go over what we wanted.

It was a good thing because we decided to do the upstairs bathroom first and then the downstairs bathroom. We also figured out a couple other jobs that we wanted him to do. I could probably have done them myself at one point in time, but I did not have the time to do it then. Now I have the time, but not the energy.

I told him that Kathleen had just left and to try back in a while. Then I went outside, raked the front lawn, mowed it and then put down Scott's Turf Builder winterizer with weed control to try to get a better root base for next year and also to deter the weeds.

After finishing the front lawn I drug out the Honda and put the grass catcher on and raked and mowed the back lawn at the same time. After I finished mowing I dug up some tree suckers and pruned the roses. Just as I was finishing up Kathleen drove in and before she got into the house the contractor called back and said that he could come over in about a half an hour.

So I went into the house cleaned up and made myself a veggie burger on toast with a slice of onion and some melted cheese. Just as I was finishing cleaning up, the contractor drove up and we spent an hour and a half going over what we had in mind.

Tonight for dinner Kathleen fried up some hamburger meat added the left over wild rice and a can of stewed tomatoes and some hot spices to give it a really good flavor. We are both really tired...so what else is new, and I am sure that I will have an early to bed night, so I think I am just going to say good night now and call it a day.

Weary Wednesday

I awoke a little before 0600 this morning and about five minutes later I heard rain drops on the sky light in our bedroom. So instead of getting up I decided to roll over and go back to sleep. I finally woke up again about 0700 and I did not hear any rain on the sky light, so I got up.

When I got downstairs, I could see that the streets were all wet, but it was not raining so I went for my walk. I drizzled a little on my walk, but I was wetter from perspiration than from the rain. It started raining a little harder when I was about three blocks form the house, but it still was not hard enough to get wet.


After breakfast, I read the paper and looked through the mail, but the only thing that was really interesting was my investment statement. I made almost nine thousand dollars last month, I wish that I could get that kind of return every month, but I will take it when I can get it.

Kathleen wanted to look at some tile for our upstairs remodel, so around noon we took off to a place that specialized on floor covering. We spent about three hours there and then went to Home Depot to look and see what they had. We spent until about 1800 there and then realized that we were both so tired that we could not think any longer, so we headed home.

Kathleen heated up the leftover rice pasta and sauce for me and she heated up some of the leftover rice with cheese on it for herself. We were both so tired that we could hardly keep our heads up to eat. After finishing dinner, I loaded the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and here I am.

I cannot really say that I accomplished anything today but I sure am tired. Well that is all that comes to mind for now, there is probably more to write about but I do not know what that would be right now, so I am just going to say good night.

Tuesday's Trekking

This morning after getting up I went for my morning walk and when I came home I made myself a southwestern omelet, a garden burger sausage and a couple slices of sough dough toast. Then I went upstairs to change my clothes to get ready for my gastroenterology appointment at 1045.

I wanted to leave a little early because I had never been to the clinic before and did not know what the parking would be like. We got there about fifteen minutes early and after checking in I only had to wait a couple of minutes before I got called by the nurse.

After he took my height/weight and did the normal medical history routine it was only about five more minutes before I got to see the doctor. He spent fifteen or twenty minutes with me explaining what would be going on and then after a couple more minutes he turned me back over to the nurse again.

This time the nurse gave me a time line as to when I needed to stop taking aspirin, fish oil, cod liver oil and flaxseed oil and various other things. He also gave me a list of things I needed to pick up at the drug store to clean out my system.

Then I got to meet the scheduler to schedule my colonoscopy and fill in the dates to stop doing certain healthy things. Like I will need to stop eating whole grain bread, whole grains and most of the other things that are good for me and that I like. I get to have two days where all I can have are clear liquids and these wonderful things that are suppose to clean me out. As you can probably tell I am really looking forward to this.

From everything that I have heard the prep for the colonoscopy is worse than the actual colonoscopy itself. Anyway I have scheduled it for 1600 on October 17th. The sad part about the whole thing is that I am just now starting to get my bowels regulated again.

So after leaving the clinic we stopped off at the Gateway Christian School office so that Kathleen could pay for something that she had ordered. Then we went to Wal*Mart to pick up my colonoscopy prep items and Kathleen picked up a couple of other things.

We next stopped at Lowe's to check out their bathroom fixtures. We actually bought a new bathroom sink, faucet and a new light. We almost bought a new fan, heater and light combo, but we decided to wait on that just a little while.

We finally got home about 1630 and there was a note on our front door from one of our contractors to give us a call as he was just up the street at one of our friend’s house. He came over and we talked about or cabinets for the bathroom and what kind of wood we wanted him to make them out of. He also showed us some marble tile for the vanity top; it was a black with some flaking in it to give it a really nice look.

Now we need to get a hold of the contractor who is doing the tiling of our floors and walls. He has been hunting and should be home soon. I would like to see if we can get some of this done before I have my colonoscopy, but that may not be possible.

For dinner Kathleen made some rice noodles, pasta sauce and sausage and then had a spinach salad on the side with raspberry dressing. Well, I am pretty much beat tonight, all that shopping has taken its toll on me. So it is good night from here for now.

Muddling through Monday

I did not wake up until almost 0800 this morning and since it was not raining I decided to go for my walk. I did not get back from my walk until almost 1000; I spent over an hour picking up trash at the high school. I saw most of the trash Saturday when I went for my walk but I had to go to church for a meeting and did not have time to pick it up then.

I did not get all there was as there was a lot of streamers and the rain had made them next to impossible to pick up. I think that the rain will continue to help disintegrate the rest of it so I am not planning on trying to get any more of it. I just could not believe how much trash there was, I think that it was as bad as I have seen.

Anyway after eating, I read the paper and then gathered up the house trash and took it out to the garbage can and took it out to the street for tomorrow's pick up. After that I decided that I would start doing some of the demolition to the upstairs bathroom so I took off the molding, and the stuff on the walls. I also emptied the cabinets and had Kathleen empty her medicine cabinet so we are just about ready for the contractors to start working.

Andrea came over with Brandon so I visited with her for a while. I also Visited with the son of the neighbor across the street who is doing some major work outside on the house, or more specifically the back and side yard.

For dinner Kathleen reheated the mahi mahi rice and green beans from last night. Kathleen just had the rice with some cheese; I had the rest of the mahi mahi, green beans and some rice. Well, that was my day in a nut shell. I am just going to say good night now and watch some television before going back to bed.

Slow Starting Sunday

I slept in a little this morning and knew that I would not be making it to church, but I thought that I would be going to Sunday School. Kathleen was tired as well and we wound up not going at all.

I cleaned the counters, stove and sink and then I washed, dried, folded and put away three loads of laundry and unloaded the dishwasher this morning.

I fixed myself a Boca burger and some couscous with basil and sun dried tomatoes for lunch and thought about going outside and trying to mow the back lawn, but I reconsidered because I really did not have that much energy.

Then this afternoon I vacuumed the downstairs carpeting, shook out the kitchen and mud room area rugs and then wash and dried them. While the rugs were off the floor I swept the kitchen and mudroom floors and then mopped the kitchen floor.

I felt like taking a nap, but Kathleen was trying to nap and I did not want to disturb her. I also thought about trying to get started on taking the upstairs bathroom apart to get ready for the remodeling, but again I did not want to disturb Kathleen.

So now I am kind of worn out but I do not want to hit the sack just yet as I would be up in the middle of the night. Well, Kathleen came downstairs and made some mahi mahi for dinner along with some brown/wild rice and green beans. Kathleen did not care for the mahi mahi very much, but I thought that it was okay.

Well, I think that is about it for tonight, so good night and I hope that everyone has a good week. I am off tomorrow, does anyone else have the day off?

Somber Saturday

When I went downstairs and saw that it was not wet outside, I decided that I would go for a walk. It was drizzling a little but even though I took an hour walk I did not get very wet. When I got back I made myself a southwestern egg beater omelet and a garden burger sausage. After eating I loaded the dishwasher and started it up.

Then I had to go upstairs and change my clothes as I had a discipleship meeting at church. After the meeting I had a long discussion with our assistant pastor about the placement of the drums during the services.

The drums are right in the middle of the platform and right underneath the projector screen. I was saying how distracting it is to have them right there during the service. They are not used during the service that we attend and I suggested having them on a rolling platform and move them into place when they need them.

I also mentioned that they are too loud during the second service, for some reason they have a microphone in front of the base drum and it overpowers the guitars and especially the song leaders. I pretty much have given up on attending the second service as the noise level during the congregation singing is too loud.

At first I thought that it might just be an age thing, but I have had several younger folks tell me that it is too loud for them as well. They have been telling me for eight weeks that they are going to do something about it and so far nothing has changed.

When I got back home Kathleen was still gone, she had gone to a sewing class at Montivilla Sewing Center. I did not know it at the time but she also stopped by our old house as they were having an antique sale there and the house itself was up for sale again. The people who live there now have really fixed it up nicely and made it larger.

I made myself the rest of the stew, there was only about a half of a bowl so I also opened up a can of sardines and made myself a sandwich. After that I went into the living room to read the mail and the paper. I had gotten several magazines and catalogs but the rest of it was junk mail.

After finishing reading I went outside to mow the front lawn, it was not really a good day for mowing as it was still pretty wet out, but the grass has started greening up again and growing, so I though that I had better mow before I got into a situation where it rained for a couple weeks and the grass got waist high.

The back yard is not quite as bad, so I did not mow it, I will have to chance that I will be able to get a dry day next week to mow it. After I finished mowing, I pulled out some more ivy from the side of the garage. I have about another garbage can left to pull out, but I was just too worn out finish it.

For dinner Kathleen heated up a couple shepherd's pies from Trader Joe's. Kathleen did not care for hers, but I liked it. My hamstring just cramped up on me and I need to walk it off, so I think that I will just say my good nights now.

Fatiguing Friday

I felt pretty good when I got up this morning and even after my walk, but we had an appointment at the credit union to have our home equity line of credit paperwork signed and notarized. After that I dropped the package off at the FedEx office, which just happened to be in the same mall.

Then on the way home we stopped at a new Kohl's that opened up near us, and by the time we finished there I was ready to take a nap. Kathleen opened up a can of hash and we had that for lunch and then I sat down and read the paper and the mail. I had not had time to do that earlier, and I could barely keep my eyes open, in fact I dozed off a couple times.

Kathleen is off with Andrea at Fabric Depot, so I think that I will reheat some of the stew from last night for my dinner. This has been a pretty uneventful day and I really cannot think of anything else to write about, so I am just going to say good night and have some dinner.

Thursday's Travels

Well, I went to bed last night at 2030 and did not get up until 0630 this morning and surprisingly enough I felt pretty good. Normally when I have gotten that much sleep I wake up really groggy.

I had a nice DRY walk this morning, the weatherman said that we should be having showers most of the day, but I do not think that we had that much at all. It did drizzle a little bit while Kathleen and I were out running around today, but hardly enough to even need to run the wipers.

For breakfast I made myself some toast, broke it up and poured the left over creamed chipped beef on top and then added a couple sunny side up eggs. I think that will have to be my quota of eggs for a couple weeks, I am going to have to go back to using egg beaters again. Not that I really mind them, it is just that having a real yoke looks so much better on the plate.

After depositing the dishes into the dishwasher I went into the living room and read the paper and then the mail. Not much there so it all went into the recycling. Then I went upstairs and changed my clothes as Kathleen and I had a lot of running around to do today. We left the house about 1030 as Kathleen had an appointment with her sleep doctor over in Tigard.

After we finished up there and since we were on that side of town we stopped off at Shane Jewelers to have Kathleen's ring cleaned and the setting checked. She get to do that on a regular basis and if she keeps it up they guarantee that the stone will not fall out and if it does they will replace it free.

After getting that done we went to Macadam Vision, as Kathleen needed a new set of glasses. We got there about noonish and did not leave until after 1700. She got a pair of prescription glasses and also a pair of prescription sunglasses, but it took her almost four hours to pick out the frames. While she was checking out one of the opticians asked me if I would like to up grade my glasses to something more contemporary.

My last set of glasses were almost like my safety glasses that I had at Boeing, just not as heavy. So I thought that I might as well...I picked out my glasses in less than fifteen minutes. I also got a pair of prescription sunglasses as well. So by the time we left we were right in the middle of rush hour...not a fun time.

We did make pretty good time, but we took side streets once we crossed the river and since we were down below a quarter tank of fuel we decided that we probably should get it filled up while we where out. We finally made it back home a little after 1800.

Kathleen heated up some frozen dinners, not the most tasty of meals, but when one is hungry and tired it will do. Well, aside from running around all day, I did not get anything productive done, but did get some things done that needed doing. Well, I think that this is it for today, so good night!

Wednesday's Wet Weather

When I got up this morning it was not raining, so I decided that I would go for my walk. About a mile into my walk it started to drizzle but by the time I got to the point where I could head home it stopped so I kept going.

Then when I got to the furthest point it started to rain again...then it started to pour. By the time I got home I was soaked to the bone, so I dried off, changed my clothes, put the wet ones into the dryer and once they were dry I put them into the hamper.

This was a hot cereal morning, so I made myself a bowl of oatmeal with a banana, raisins and black strap molasses. After eating I loaded the dishwasher up and started it up, and then I went into the living room and read the paper. The mail came and so I got it, more junk mail. I think that junk mail is the real reason behind the "global warming" issue...spread the word!

Since it was not raining, I decided that I would go outside and pull up some ivy on the west side of the garage. So I got my gloves and yard debris barrel and went around the fence and started pulling ivy. Well, it was just one of those day, and about ten minutes into it when it started to drizzle. It was not bad so I continued to pull up ivy, then all of a sudden it started to thunder and lightning; then the rain started coming down really hard.

So I gathered up everything and headed back to my yard and back into the house. For the second time today I was pretty wet, not as wet as I was this morning, but wetter than I have been in a long time with my clothes on.

It was just about time for lunch, so I made myself a salad and had a can of sardines for some protein and Omega 3 fatty acid. I was feeling a little tire as even though I went to bed early last night I did not get much sleep as the air was so smoky that I had a hard time breathing. I think everyone in the neighborhood must have started up their fireplaces or wood stoves last night and with the cloud cover the smoke just stayed low.

I decided that I needed to lie down and get a little rest, I did not really sleep much, but I did feel better when I got up. Kathleen thought that this was a stew type of night, so she made a pot of stew. It not only tasted good, but it felt good going down. She added just enough hot spices that it had a slight bite to it which felt good on a cold and damp night.

I think that today has been a really nice day at time, maybe ten minutes at a time, and really wet at other times, I think we got almost a half of an inch of rain today. Well, I think that the rest of the night is going to be rather quiet, so I will just say good night.

Turbulent Tuesday

After getting about nine hours of sleep last night I got up and since it was not raining, I decided to go for my morning walk. I walked for a little over an hour and felt pretty good when I got done. I did notice, once the sun came up that it was really overcast and windy. I could see the clouds blowing toward the north, but I knew from the news that the rain was dropping down from the north.

I wanted to walk as soon as I got up because the weather reporters kept saying that the rain would start this morning...it did not start until about 1715 but it looked like it could have started at any time all day long.

When I got home I heated up the left over potato pancakes and the left over part of the pork chop and also fried a couple eggs...kind of a country breakfast. The mail came while I was eating so I went and got it and took care of it before I finished eating. Then after putting my dishes into the dishwasher and doing the hand washing I went into the living room and read the paper.

Since the recycling truck had not picked up the recycling yet, I took the mail and paper out to the street and put it into the bin. I also retrieved my neighbor's trash can and put it into her back yard. I had gotten ours just after it was picked up. The wind was blowing hard enough that I did not want to go chasing it down the street.

Since it had not started raining yet, I decided to go out back and turn my compost and cut down some of the plants that had stopped blooming, like the oriental poppies, foxgloves and a couple others with tall stems. Before I cut down the poppies, I harvested the seeds for sowing next spring. I collected about a quarter of a cup of seeds, so hopefully some of them will grow for next year’s crop.

I thought that I would only be out there for a half of an hour or so, but it took me an hour and a half to get done what I did. By this time it was lunch time, so I made myself some ham, cheese and turkey roll-ups using sun dried tomatoes and habanero tortillas that we got from Trader Joe's and then filled them with chicken and the micro waved them to melt the cheese. Not too bad!

I did not get much of anything done this afternoon except tying to find some information on the web. Kathleen has been feeling poorly today, she just came down stairs and said that she was running a fever. I think that she has what I had Sunday and Monday.

Tonight she is making creamed chipped beef on toast, not the most nutritious meal, but one that always seem to taste pretty good. Well, that is pretty much my day, it looks like we are in for a good rain for the next couple of days so tomorrow is probably not going to be too exciting. So for today I am going to just say good night.

Milder Monday

After a couple days of pretty good rain, hail and what-ever today was rather mild. I think that it rained early in the morning, before the sun came out, but the rest of the day was mostly rain free.

I decided to stay in bed a little longer this morning as I was feeling the drainage starting to drain already and I though that it was going to be another day like yesterday. When I did get up, I decided that I would not go for a walk as I did not want to spend the rest of the day coughing.

I made myself a breakfast pilaf, by Kashi and added raisins and a banana to the mix topping it off with soy milk made a pretty healthy breakfast. After eating, I emptied the dishwasher and then put in my breakfast dishes. There was also some pots and pans that needed washing so I did that as well.

Then I made myself some hot lemon juice and honey to sooth my throat and headed to the living room to read the paper. Monday is usually the smallest paper and so it did not take too long to get through. Then mail came while I was reading the paper so I got it and went through it as well. Again there was not much there.

When I took the paper and mail to the laundry room to put in the recycling bag, I remembered that I still had the towels in the dryer, so I took it out, folded them and put them away.

The weather looked like it was going to stay clear for a while, so I decided that I would go for a walk. I took a shorter than normal walk, I am trying to learn not to push myself when I am not feeling well. I would have liked to go a little longer, but I was at a point where I either had to go back or be gone for a lot longer and I chose to head back.

After a while I went outside and pruned the roses and dig up tree suckers. I also gathered up the cans, plastic bottles and paper recycling and set the bin on the front porch to put up front in the morning. After cleaning up I realized that it was almost 1500 and I had not eaten yet.

I made myself a salad and opened a can of sardines that I had with some onion rye bread. I think that it took me longer to make the salad than it did to eat it. After eating I sat down in my easy chair and dozed off and on for a while.

I finally decided to get up and go on my computer and start my blog. I had gotten about half way through when Kathleen asked me about dinner. She made a chicken breast, some potato pancakes, corn and opened up a jar of apple sauce. She was not too sure about the potato pancakes, but I liked them.

The potato pancakes were frozen from Trader Joe's and we had not had them before, but I have liked most of the things we have tried from there. I remember having potato pancakes growing up and I always like them. Kathleen said that they reminded her of the state fair...I think it was probably greasy deep fried smell.

Well, I just got done putting the left-overs into the refrigerator and the dishes into the dishwasher. It is kind of funny that between the two of us we did not even eat a whole chicken breast, there was still two pieces left and will make a nice lunch for me tomorrow. Well, I cannot think of anything else to say other than good night.

Stormy Sunday

Seems like I missed writing my blog yesterday, I had intended on writing one, but the day kind of slipped by and I did not get around to doing it.

I did get the leaves raked, the front lawn fertilized, pruned the roses and dug up tree suckers, but I had to clean up early as I was watching Aaron and Tami's girls. Kathleen was at Montivilla Sewing Center all day taking a class, so I got the girls all to myself until she got home. I had her pick up a pizza for dinner so she had to stop of there before coming home, so it was about an hour and a half before she got here.

By the time she got here the girls had burned up a lot of energy and were ready to have something to eat. We also made some lemonade which Lexis really liked. After eating we watched a children's video, but about half way through it the girls were ready to do something else. So they played with the Lincoln Logs that I bought Kathleen a few years ago.

Pretty soon they were looking for blankets and pillows and just about that time Tami called and said that they were just leaving and would be here shortly. So by the time they all left I was too tired to get back onto my computer and write my blog.

Today was another story...I had planned on going to church but when I finally got up I could not stop coughing, so I decided to stay home. Once I decided to stay home Kathleen decided that she would stay home as well. So today I did absolutely nothing except try to keep from coughing.

I did call Sue and talked to her and Mom for a while, which is always a good thing, and I am planning to wash towels before the day gets over, but other than make myself a couple meals, I have mostly just sat around. I think I will check with Kathleen to see when or if she is going to do anything for dinner. It seems that unless I ask, nothing gets made, I keep trying to wait, but when it gets to be 1830 or so I need to ask. If she is not going to do anything, I will need to make something for myself.

Well, I need to get going so I will just say good night.

Follies of Friday

It rained most of the night, but when I got up and went for my walk the rain had stopped. Everything was still really wet, but there was not rain, so I decided to go for a walk and hope that the rain would hold off until I got back...and it did!

Well, I had my last cold cereal for a while; it is officially time to start my hot cereal; more often than not that means oatmeal. I finished off my shredded wheat, so that we will not have a partial box open for months at a time and it will not be taking up room in the cereal cabinet.

After eating, I emptied the dishwasher then went into the living room and read the paper. The mail came before I had finished the paper, so I went and got it, opened it up, read it and then finished the paper.

I had been watching a show and they said that one could fertilize roses one last time this year, so I went out to the garage and got my systemic rose food and spread it around the roses. It is suppose to encourage root growth and prepare the plants for winter. I also took the kitchen compost and deposited it into the compost tumbler and cranked it over a few times.

About two minutes after I got back into the house it started to pour, so that will help the fertilizer disintegrate and get to the roses quickly. I could tell when I went outside that it was going to start to rain, and I wanted to make sure that I got the roses fertilized before the rain came.

Kathleen needed to do some running around, so I went with her, we needed to stop off at our old bank and turn in our safety deposit box, I wanted to stop off at the True Value Hardware store and check if they could order a part for my mower...they could not but recommended that I try the Parkrose Mower shop, which was just around the corner.

They could not order it either, but gave me another suggestion, but I have not had a chance to try there yet. Next we went to Trader Joe's and on the way it got to hailing so hard that one could barely see the road. I think we had about a quarter of an inch on the hood and the wipers at full speed could not keep up with the volume coming down.

The road was completely covered and it looked like it has snowed! The roads were even slick, especially when starting up from a traffic light or stop sign. After Trader Joe's Kathleen wanted to stop off at a fabric shop, so I waited in the car while she went in and looked around. She found some really nice silk, but did not get it because she wants to find something to make first.

We finally got home about 1515 and heated up some of the left-over spaghetti from last night for lunch. Then after a while Kathleen took off for Fred Meyer's to pick up a prescription and a few other things. She also had some other running around to do. I was feeling too worn out so I just stayed home. It seems shopping wears me out faster than just about anything else.

She finally got home about 1900 and cooked a yam and heated up some of the other left-overs from this week. So today was a left-over day and we have just about cleaned out the refrigerator. The is still some left-over salmon cakes, but I think that I will be having them tomorrow morning for breakfast along with my egg beaters.

Well, today has certainly been an entertaining day as far as the weather goes. It has gone from raining, to sun shining, to hailing to sun shining, to raining and back to showers again. Never a dull moment in the weather department here in Oregon. I think that is about it for tonight, so I am just going to say good night and call it a day.