Saturday's Saturation

This morning was overcast when I woke up; I had been cat napping for about an hour and a half when I finally decided to get up. My throat and nose were both plugged up so I thought that I might as well get up and see if I could get them to drain.

About an hour after I got up they both started to drain and then I started to cough and that caused my throat to get soar...sometimes one can just not win.

After eating breakfast, and loading the dishwasher up, I started into to the living room to read the paper, but I saw the mailman delivering the mail, so I went out and got it. There were several things in the mail, including our back statement.

After going through the mail and recycling the junk mail, I went into my computer room and reconciled the savings account and my checking account, Kathleen's account has not been reconciled in I cannot remember when. She just keeps writing checks and I just keep transferring money into it.

After balancing the accounts, I voted my proxy on some more of my stocks, it must be that time of year, it seems like I have done this three or four times in the last month. Now it was time for me to go into the living room again and try to get the paper read.

I got a couple sections read when Kathleen came downstairs and wanted to go to Best Buy to exchange her battery backup. So I put on some shoes and socks and packed up her battery backup and off we went.

After finishing at Best Buy we went out to Harbor Freight because Kathleen wanted to get a new umbrella for our patio table and I had a coupon for the one she wanted that expired tomorrow. Well we did not just get the umbrella; we also got several other little things.

While we were at Harbor Freight we decided to stop at BiMart as we had a couple things that we wanted to get from the coupon book that expired tomorrow as well. Then it was time to go home as I was getting hungry seeing that I had not eaten since about 0830 and it was after 1400.

Kathleen heated up a can of beef vegetable soup and I toasted a couple slices of multi-grain bread and made a couple open faced sandwiches to go along with my soup. I also took an antihistamine to see if I could get my nose and throat to stop running. After finishing lunch, I went back to the living room to finish reading the paper.

I made myself some hot honey with lemon and red wine vinegar to see if I could get my throat to feeling better. It helped a little but not enough. I finally dozed off in my chair for an hour or so, I had thought about going upstairs before I fell asleep, but I was too tired to make it upstairs. I think that the antihistamine probably had something to do with my falling asleep, but I was also tired to begin with.

It was now about 1800 and I asked Kathleen what she was planning for dinner, and she asked what I felt like so I said spaghetti because I though that the sauce would help sooth my throat. Kathleen also made some steak to go along with the spaghetti and that was really good as well.

Well, I hope my allergies clear up soon as I have my annual physical Monday and I want to feel as good as possible when I do that. I cannot think of anything else to write about, so I will just say good night.

Friday!

I was too tired last night after I got back from meeting with the accountability group last night, but that was a good thing. I had not been able to meet with them for over three months so just being able to do that was good for me.

This morning I woke up with my throat feeling rather thick, I felt like I had a lot of mucus that had settled in my throat over night. Usually when this happens it breaks loose during the morning but this morning I could not get it loose.

Anyway, after breakfast this morning I emptied the dishwasher and then put the dishes from last night into it. Then it was off to the living room where the mail had just gotten here, so I went out and got it. Nothing for me, but Kathleen had a couple things, so I just read the paper.

Seeing that it was Friday and it was not raining, I went outside to mow the lawn. I mowed the front lawn, my neighbor's front lawn and the others neighbor's strip along our fence on the east side of the driveway.

While I was mowing our lawn, Kathleen said that she was going to go to the Barn to pick up a fuchsia hanging basket. She also said that she was going to stop off at Aaron and Tami's for a few minutes; she finally got back around 1700.

Back to mowing...after I finished the front yard, I brought the mower to the back yard and then was going to rest for a while, but about all I did was go into the house and get a glass of water. I felt pretty good, so I went right back outside and gathered up the lawn furniture so that I could mow without having to stop the mower to move it.

After finishing the back yard and putting the mower back into the garage, I decided that I would rest for a little while, so I put the lawn furniture back onto the lawn and plopped myself down.

Unfortunately the weeds were making so much noise that I had to get up and pull them. I spent about a half hour pulling weeds and then decided that I needed to go inside and make myself something to eat for lunch. By this time it was about 1500, so I just made a Boca burger on dark rye with onion and dill pickle slices.

Then I went back outside and picked up some trash from the parking strip and met our new neighbor, who just moved here from outside Chicago. After talking with her for several minutes I noticed that my pedometer had fallen off somewhere.

So I went all over looking for it, but could not find it, so I went back into the house and started to watch the news. Kathleen came home shortly after that with her purchases and said that she stayed so long at Aaron and Tami's because Becca was having a school is out party, but unfortunately not too many kids showed up, so Kathleen stayed to make it seem like there were more people there.

Besides getting the fuchsia hanging basket, she also got some herbs, some tomato plants and several flower. So while putting them into the back yard, I remembered that I had not looked on the other side of the fence for my pedometer, and there it was, it was one of the first places that I had mowed, so I did not record any of the walking that I did while mowing.

Yesterday I had over 2400 steps, and I am sure that I would have had at least that many but it only registered about 400, so I guess that I will just have to believe that I got a good amount of steps in today.

Tonight, Kathleen made a flounder dish along with some wild rice, the flounder was kind of mushy, and so I ate it with a spoon, kind of like fish chowder. Kathleen did not care for it too much, but I said that I would finish the left-over tomorrow. Kathleen was going to throw it out, but I hate to throw food out.

Well, I fell asleep watching Hannity & Colmes tonight, and I still feel pretty worn out, so I think that it will be early to bed tonight. So I think that I will just say good night!

Wet Wednesday

Today was one of those days when the sun would shine and by the time I got ready to go outside it would start to rain. Anyway, this morning was pretty normal (?) whatever that is except Kathleen made apple kiwi pancakes for breakfast.

Then about 1030 Kathleen and I headed out to do our errands, stop by the credit union to deposit a check, stop by the radiation/ oncology office to pay the $15 co-pay from my last visit, then stopped by the State Farm office to get our copies of the 50 Million Pound Challenge, then to Goodwill to drop off a SUV load of things that we no longer needed, then on to Winco to do our weekly shopping.

By the time we got back home it was almost 1400 and by the time we got the groceries unloaded and put away it was 1430. Kathleen made a frozen pizza that she bought today and I made a sardine sandwich. Kathleen shared some of her pizza with me so I put some sardines on the pizza, kind of a poor man's anchovy, it really was not that bad, but Kathleen could not stop laughing at me.

After letting the food settle we were off to return the hard drive that Kathleen got last night, as it was not the correct one for her machine. After she made the exchange we wound up buying a couple battery backups, one for upstairs and her machines and one for downstairs for mine.

With all that running around today, I am rather tired, in fact I seriously thought about not blogging tonight, but after dinner I got a little more energy and here I am. For dinner Kathleen made a shrimp salad, which was great since I had not had my lunch salad it worked out really well for me.

Well, the house is a little cleaner and there is more room with all the things we took to Goodwill today, now we just need to keep it up. I think I have run out of words today, so I will just say good night.

Turbulent Tuesday

Well this morning I woke up to rain hitting the sky light in our bedroom. It was kind of a nice sound and almost relaxing. Too bad that I was wide awake enough that I knew that I would not be able to go back to sleep.

So after breakfast, I went into the living room to read the paper. Then after finishing the paper, I put it with the paper recycling and then took the bin out to the street. While I was doing that the recycling truck came, so I waited and then took the bin back into the mud room and put a new bag in it for the papers.

I had not heard the mail come, but when I checked, it was there, so I brought it in and opened it up. I got my senior recreation guide from the Portland Parks and Recreation department also a couple of catalog's and our East County paper. The only thing that I wound up keeping was the senior recreation guide.

They have several excursions and a couple classes that I would like to participate in. I first saw the van for the excursions while we were staying at the beach a couple weeks ago. They only charge $18 to go to the beach, it is cheaper than buying gas let alone wear and tear on the vehicle.

After I finished the mail, I sorted out all the clothes and things that we have been setting aside for Goodwill. It took over two hours to sort, catalog and box everything up. Kathleen was really surprised when she came downstairs and saw that I had been working on it. I have been meaning to do it for quite some time, but the weather has just been too nice to stay inside and work.

After finishing boxing everything up, I had worked up an appetite, so I made myself a salad. In doing so I used up all the lettuce, finished off one pack of celery, the last yellow pepper, next to the last tomato and green onions, so we will definitely have to go to the grocery store tomorrow.

This afternoon it cleared up a little but it was too wet outside to do anything, which may have been a good thing. Kathleen said that yesterday after I came in from working outside my eyes were a bright red from allergies. Anyway, I decided that I would vacuum up the downstairs and pick up all the lint from sorting out the clothes.

After finishing that I washed, dried, folded and put away two loads of laundry. For just the two of us it seems like I am still doing a couple/three loads of laundry every week. So we are either really clean people or really messy, or maybe a little of both.

Kathleen talked about dropping the things off at Goodwill this afternoon but by the time she came downstairs I was too tired. I did however after a while load it all into the SUV. I not only filled up the cargo area but the back seat as well.

Now tomorrow when we go to Winco we can drop the donations off at the same time seeing as they are both in the same parking lot.

By this time I was getting hungry again, Kathleen had her left-overs from last night so she heated that up and I made myself a Boca burger on dark rye with onion, Kosher dill pickle slices and cheddar.

We had a brief power outage this evening, probably from a lightning hit to one of the substations and both our computers went out. Mine eventually rebooted, but Kathleen's hard drive crashed, so she is out now buying a new one.

Well, that is about it for tonight, good night for now.

Milder Monday

Today was a much nicer day than it was suppose to be, I guess that they had a brief storm on the west side this morning, but today on the east side was quite nice. After breakfast I emptied the dishwasher, took the towels out of the dryer and folded them. I put the ones that belonged downstairs away and put the ones for upstairs on the stairs to put away the next time I went upstairs and then went into the living room to read the paper.

Just as I was finishing the paper the mail came, so I went out and got it. There was quite a bit of mail there, much of it was junk mail, but I did get my proxy vote pamphlet on some of my stocks, and the Visa bill, but other than that there was not much for me.

Kathleen got about the same amount of mail, and Toni got a couple. Some days Toni and Andrea get more mail than we do. By the time I read the mail and voted my proxy on-line it was about 1230, so I went outside and dumped the weeds that I had pulled yesterday. After that I noticed a bucket of rose prunings that I had not put into the yard debris barrel.

Not really wanting to go inside, I decided that I would start to weed around the area where Kathleen wants the arches to go, by the time I stopped and got cleaned up it was 1530. No wonder that I was hungry!

Since it was so late, I did not want to make anything too filling, so I made a Limburger cheese and onion sandwich on dark rye bread. That did the trick, as I felt pretty full. I was still pretty thirsty even after drinking a 12 ounce glass of water, so I made myself a cherry slushy.

About 1700 I sat down and watched Fox news and then about 1830 I went upstairs and asked Kathleen about dinner. She cooked up another chicken breast and reheated the wild rice. Since we had two bundles of asparagus in the refrigerator, Kathleen steamed one bundle to go with the rest of the dinner.

It looks like the rain will be here tomorrow, I just hope that it is not an all day, all week affair. Well, I cannot think of anything else to say, so I will just say good night.

Savoring Sunday

Well, I got up around 0600 this morning and my nose was so stuffed up that I could not get back to sleep, so I finally got up after trying for a while to go to sleep again. The paper had not even arrived yet when I got downstairs, so I went outside and pulled some weeds and picked up some trash in the front of our house and our neighbors and when I came back from putting it in the trash the paper carrier was just coming up the driveway.

So I took the paper into the house and then headed for the shower and then breakfast. I had not heard Kathleen upstairs yet, but as I was brushing my teeth, I could hear her moving around. Before I went upstairs, I arranged the ads and the paper to make it easier and quicker to go through when I got around to doing it.

We both got ready, out the door and to church before it started this morning, something that rarely ever happens any more. By the time church was over I could hardly wait to get up and move around, I was getting so stiff.

The same thing happened after Sunday Sch00l, I just can not sit very long, and when I have to I get really stiff. After cleaning up after S.S. we took off and went home, I could not wait to get out of the long paints and into my shorts, so as soon as we got home I headed upstairs to change.

Kathleen made a salad for lunch and then I went outside and did a little yard work. She came outside after a while and cut some boxwood branches to go with the cluster of roses that I had brought into the house earlier. She then told me where she wanted the arches to go that I bought and put together a couple of weeks ago. I need to do some more landscaping before I can put them where she wants them to go, but at least I have some idea of where they need to go and what needs to be done to get them there.

She went back into the house and I pulled some more weeds. With the weather scheduled to change tomorrow, I wanted to get some weeding done, even if it was kind of hit and miss. I am hoping that sometime this week I will be able to get the arches up and the clematis planted.

Then tonight for dinner Kathleen made some chicken and wild rice and also cooked an artichoke. We each had a half of an artichoke, half of a chicken breast and a cup of wild rice, I finished all of mine, but Kathleen only ate about half of hers.

Well, that was our day, I am tired and sore, somewhere along the line I must have pulled my calf muscle yesterday, it is really sore and it makes it really difficult for me to walk or move around at all.

So I guess this will be the last nice day for a while, it is suppose to start raining tomorrow and I am not sure how much outside work I am going to be able to accomplish...not that I do not have enough inside to do, but being outside is so much more fun!

That is about it from this side of the world; I guess that it is time for me to say good night!

Sunny Saturday

Today was another really nice day, so after breakfast, reading the paper and then the mail, I decided to go out and mow the front lawn. While I was at it I also mowed the neighbor’s front lawn and the other neighbors strip on the other side of the west fence.

After finishing that, I was smart enough to stop and go inside and rest for a while. I felt pretty good, so I went back out and finished mowing the back yard after moving the lawn furniture out of the way. When I finished I was feeling a little light headed, so I went into the house and had some water and then sat for a while.

It was getting close to 1400, so I decided to go into the kitchen and make a salad for lunch. I am getting pretty good at making a good and quick salads, so now it only takes me about fifteen minutes to make a salad with about eight different ingredients in it.

So after resting for a while, I went out side and did some weeding on the east side of the house, I got done what I wanted to accomplish, but there is still a lot to get done yet. When I finished up, I noticed that it was after 1630, so I put everything away and went into the house and got cleaned up.

About 1700 I asked Kathleen what she planned to do for dinner and she said a salad, nothing against salads, but I try to limit them to one a day, so I said that I would make myself a Boca burger and she could have a salad.

So about 1830 I went in and micro waved the burger and then toasted a couple slices of dark rye bread and that was my lunch. Kathleen came down about 1915 and decided that she would just have the rest of her chicken from Tuesday's trip around Mt Hood.

Well, that is all I can think of for now, I feel pretty good considering that I mowed the whole yard and half of the neighbors. I am pretty tired as well, so I have a feeling that it may be an early night for me, so I will just say good night for now.

Friday's Field Trip

This morning started out pretty normal, breakfast, read the paper and then the mail, but that is where it stopped being normal. About 0930 I went upstairs to check with Kathleen to see what time she planned on leaving for Alyssa and Dan's as we were going to watch Hayden because Alyssa was going on a field trip with Natalie's class and taking Zander and Dan had a business meeting with a new client in Sandy.

While I waited for her to get dressed and come downstairs, I vacuumed the downstairs carpeting, as it had not been done since Monday and was starting to show little white specks, not like when we had Reggie, but annoying just the same.

Anyway, she came downstairs about 1015 and we did not get out of the house until about 1030 and arrived at Alyssa's about 1100. Dan was talking with his Uncle Bill and left about fifteen minutes after we got there.

We played with Hayden for a while and before we knew it, it was about noon and time to put him down for a nap. Kathleen changed his diaper and put him down. While she was doing that, I swept and mopped her kitchen floor, I think the pool party Wednesday had taken its toll on the floor.

When Kathleen came back down, she worked on clearing the sink from the dishes and I watered a couple of her plants that I think only get watered when I think about it. While I was in the family room, I noticed that the floor could probably use a quick vacuuming, so I started to pick up some of the loose things lying around and started to vacuum.

All of a sudden the vacuum stopped running, I thought that it probably needed to have the bag changed, so I opened up the compartment that houses the bag and I was right. I looked for clean bags, but did not find any, so I decided that I would just empty the old one, not the best practice, but in a pinch it works.

So took it out to the garbage can and then I pulled out the stuff from the bag and put it into a plastic bag and then went back and put the bag back on. Then when I turned the switch on but nothing happened. I checked out the hose and it was plugged up as well, so I dug out the stuff from the hose, but it still would not start.

Next I went down to the circuit breaker box and checked the breakers and they were all okay, so I figured that there was a reset button on the vacuum someplace or it would shut off for a time and then work again.

I did not find a switch, so I just left it sit for a while and then decided to clean up and go outside for a while. I was going to sit out by the pool, which I did for a while, but I saw a lot of things that needed picking up, so I had Kathleen bring out a couple bags and I picked up the trash and tried to get the assorted socks and shoes in close proximity to one another.

Alyssa returned with the two older children about 1430 and Hayden woke up from his nap about the same time. When Alyssa came in a told her about the vacuum and she found the reset button and I was able to finish vacuuming the family room.

It was time for us to get going, so we left about 1500 just as Dan came home. By the time we got back home I was really feeling tired, so I sat down in my easy chair and took a nap. I had not planned to take a nap, but I guess that I was more tired than I thought that I was.

Kathleen was tired as well so when she came downstairs about 1845, I said that I would fix myself a Boca burger if she wanted to finish off her leftovers from her field trip on Tuesday with Linda, Karis and Toni, so she did. She also cooked up a sweet potato and sliced it up.

So I had the Boca burger, a few sweet potato slices and a couple dill pickles for dinner. Probably not the type of meal that most people would consider eating, but I was too tired to think of anything else. Well, I am really worn out tonight, so I think that I will just say good night.

Tremendious Thursday

I had pretty good nights sleep last night, so after breakfast and reading the paper and the mail, I loaded up the dishwasher and turned it on. Then I decided that I would go for a walk, since I had not done that in over a week.

I took a couple of walks while we were at the beach, but nothing very long, so today I decided to try it again. I just started out walking and when I got to a point where I could have turned and gone home, I decided to keep walking.

As it turned out I walked three miles and only had a little problem with my hip joint. My feet were plenty sore as I forgot when I took off that I had on my Birkenstock's and not my walking shoes. The did not feel too bad while I was walking, but about a half hour after I finished up, they let me know that they were not happy!

Kathleen had still not come downstairs yet, and the dishes were done, so I emptied the dishwasher. Kathleen finally came downstairs and we both went outside and sat out in the sun for a while.

I could only sit for a while and then I had to pull some weeds and do some pruning of the roses. When I took the rose trimming out to the yard debris, I noticed some low hanging dead branches on one of the walnut trees, so I cut them as well.

I was getting hungry and it was about 1400, so I decided that I would go inside, clean up and make my self a salad. I have gotten so that I really enjoy having a salad for lunch. It really gives me something to chew on and does a good job of filling me up without a lot of calories.

After eating, I sat down for a while and then went back outside and pulled a few more weeds. It was getting pretty warm again, so I decided that it would be better if I went back inside where it was nice and cool.

About 1830 I called up to Kathleen to find out what was for dinner, and she came down a little while later and made some shrimp stir fry and mixed in the rest of the left-over wild rice. The when that was all done, she cut up a mango to top it off, and boy was that ever good.

Well, that is about it for today, so I will say good night for now.

Whew What a Wednesday

Well, today was in the 90's and it is supposed to stay rather warm the rest of the week. This morning after breakfast and reading the paper, Toni called from work and said that she was not feeling well. So Kathleen took off around 0930 to take her some Gas-X, Pepcid AC Plus and some liquid simethicone to see if it would help with her stomach problems.

While she was gone I decided that I would do a couple loads of laundry, so I wash, dried, folded and put away a load of dark clothes and a load of light clothes.

I was thinking that she would be gone an hour or two, so I did not plan on doing too much, and I needed to stay home as Linda and Karis were stopping by before they went back up to Tacoma to drop some things off.

So I went outside and weeded for a while. They came and I gave Linda an old pair of sunglasses so that she could drive without squinting. Then I went back to weeding. I finally went into the house, not because I was done or overly tired, but just because it was hot out and I did not want to get too hot.

After a while in the house I decided to make myself a strawberry smoothie for lunch. As I was sipping the smoothie, I read a couple magazines and a catalog that had come in the mail. After a while I went back outside and weeded in the shade for a while.

I finally decided that I had better go inside as even in the shade it was hot. It got to be about 1600 and we had told Alyssa that we probably would be coming over to take advantage of her offer to go swimming and have a barbecue. So I called her and after many rings I got the answering machine, so I left a message that we probably would not be coming.

During the message I could here an incoming call, so I quickly hung up and answered the phone, it was Dan, so I gave him the message again that we would probably not make it tonight.

Kathleen finally got home about 1630 and was too tired to think about going. So she sat down on the couch and read her mail and then went upstairs. About 1915, I went upstairs to see when she had planned to do dinner. She came down about fifteen minutes later and heated up some of her left-over meals from yesterday and cooked a skinless chicken breast for me with wild rice and sliced up a mango.

Well, that is abut it from here for today, so I guess a good night is in order.

Temperate Tuesday

Well this morning after breakfast and reading the paper, I went to Becca's pre-school program. Kathleen, Linda and Karis went up to the mountain and I am not sure where else today. I got there a little early as there were some other things that I needed to drop off. The program was about forty-five minutes long and the children did a really good job.

Alexis sat on my lap for a while off and on; she got a little restless as the program went on. Afterwards they served up juice and cookies, but I passed on them. I took off after a while and took some clippers back to Target that I had gotten the other day and broke.

After coming home I changed clothes and mowed the front lawn. Not wanting to wear myself out, I stopped after doing the front lawn and went into the house to rest a while. It was also getting pretty warm out, mid 80's, and I did not want to get too hot.

I also took the time to make myself a salad for lunch, so after letting that digest for a few minutes, I went back outside and mowed the back lawn. After finishing the mowing, I dead-headed some of the roses that were pretty spent.

The hot dry weather does not do much for the life of the flowers after they have been out for a few days they get really wilty. I also pulled a few weeds and then decided to go back in the house and rest some more.

I do not feel too bad tonight, I did not do all that much, but I also tried to pace myself a little better than I had been. I sat down and watched the news and then about 1830, I decided that I would make myself some dinner, as Kathleen had not returned yet.

I made myself a Boca burger and reheated up some of the wild rice that was left-over from the other night. Kathleen called while I was eating, there was so much static that I could not understand what she was saying very well. So Toni called and her call was much clearer, I guess that they were going to get something to eat and wanted to know if I wanted them to bring anything back for me.

Since I was in the middle of eating, I declined. I think that my Boca burger and wild rice was probably a little healthier than just about anything that they could have brought home.

Well, that was my day, dull as it was. Tomorrow it is suppose to be in the 90's, so I probably will not be getting a lot done outside. Alyssa has invited everyone over for a swim tomorrow, but I am not sure what Kathleen has lined up, so I will have to wait until she gets home to find out. I think that I will just call it a day and say good night.

Memorial Day Monday

This morning after breakfast and reading the paper, we went to Winco to pick up some groceries for ourselves and also some hot dogs and hamburgers with their perspective buns and a watermelon and some strawberries and pound cake to take over for the celebration.

Shortly after we got back Kathleen's brother's ex wife and their oldest daughter came by and then after a quick visit we all went to Alyssa and Dan's for Memorial Day where all the grandchildren and their parents were there. Toni and Chucky got there later on as Toni had to work today, but we stayed there until a little after 2200.

The grandchildren all took turns jumping on papa and then asking him to cut them some more water melon. I think it will make for interesting diapers for the little ones and the older ones should not have any problem with constipation for the next couple days.

Tomorrow Kathleen is taking them up to the mountain and I am not sure where else. I am staying home to go to Becca's preschool program and also to take Andrea to Costco. It is supposed to be in the high 80's and low 90's the rest of this week, so it looks like we are getting a little jump on summer.

Well, that is about all for tonight, I am really tired and should have gone to bed about an hour ago, so I will just say good night!

Sanguine Sunday

Well, let me see if I remember how to do this blog thing. I decided to take a few days off while at the beach and then when we got back Friday I was really worn out so I thought that I would forgo doing the blog for another day.

Then yesterday, I worked out in the yard and mowed the whole yard and my neighbor's front lawn and was ready to take a nap when Kathleen came out and said that we were invited to Aaron and Tami's for dinner.

So I cleaned up and off we went. They had just bought a wrought iron gazebo and a round steel and plastic picnic table so I helped them put it together as well as played fetch with Archie for a while.

Tami started to barbecue some chicken, but ran out of propane, so she finished it in the house. By the time we finished dinner, I could hardly keep my head off the table.

When we finally got home I was too tired to even think about doing a blog, so here we are today, and I am still tired, but nothing like what I was like the past two days. It has been a pretty lazy day, but every time I do something, I get this way.

Today Alyssa and Dan had Hayden dedicated at their church so we went and stood on the platform with them along with Dan's parents. Then after the service, one of my friends and her husband came up and talked to us for quite a while.

After we left the church we stopped at Lowe's to look at a picnic table, but it was too light weight for us. So after Kathleen got done looking at the flowers and taking pictures of a humming bird, we finally left for home.

I finished off the couple slices of pizza from Friday night, so we actually had it for three meals, not too bad. Anyway, after a little while we took off for Costco to take advantage of some of their coupons that were expiring today.

We have been putting it off for about a week, because we were just too tired, so today we ran out of tomorrows so we had to go. I probably would have been better off taking a nap, but there were some things that we needed, so off we went.

Then tonight I had some chicken gumbo soup and added some of the left over wild rice from earlier in the week. The extra rice really made it nice and thick, just the way I like it. The best gumbo that I ever had was while I was down south, boy was that ever good.

Well, that is about all I can think of today, I am tired, but it is a good tired. So I think that I will just say good night, and see you tomorrow!

Transitioning Tuesday

Today was kind of a transitional day in a couple of ways. First the weather is transitioning to a little nicer although tomorrow there is a possibility of a few showers. Secondly I am starting to feel a little better again today, although I did have a spell of light headedness again early this afternoon.

Anyway, after breakfast I went into the living room and read the paper, and the mail must have come some time when I was out of the room, because I was getting ready to go outside and mow the lawn but decided to check the mail first and it was there. There was not much there, just a couple catalogs, so I flipped through them quickly and then took them and the rest of the junk mail up front to the recycling bin.

I finished the front lawn and then went into the back yard and did a little edging, and when I got up I felt really light headed, so I went into the house and ate an orange and felt a little better. So I went back outside and mowed the back lawn.

Then I took my scythe and cut the blackberries starts from the field behind our property. By this time I was getting pretty worn out, so I sat for a while and then made myself a salad. I used up all the lettuce, yellow bell pepper, cucumber and used the last of one of our sweet onions. It is a good thing that we are going to Cannon Beach tomorrow, as I am out of most everything that I need to make one of my staples.

Aaron called this afternoon and I answered the phone, so I talked to him for a while. I guess things were a little slow this afternoon, so he decided to give us a call. I think I must have dozed for a little bit later this afternoon because before I knew it was 1700.

Kathleen has gone to a demonstration on some soft-ware at Montivilla Sewing Center tonight so she is gone until late tonight. I think that she is planning to go to Fred Meyer after she is done at Montivilla.

So when dinner time came around I made myself a Boca burger on some multi-grain bread with some dill pickle slices and a nice big slice of onion. Does anyone besides me feel like I am eating a lot of onions? If it were not for the fact that I am not suppose to have more than one slice of bread a day, (I have two every other day) I probably would have had a Limburger cheese and onion sandwich for lunch today, but I had in the back of my mind needing the bread for a Boca burger tonight.

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

More of the Same Monday

I guess that we have gotten a little spoiled with all the nice weather lately, because I have really gotten frustrated with the last couple of rainy days. I do not feel like taking my daily walks and I cannot work outside when it rains, to of my more consistent things for the last several weeks.

Aside from the weather turning I also have not been feeling as well as I had for a while. Last Friday I think I really must have overdone, because Saturday, Sunday and today I have just been exhausted and I no longer have the resiliency that I once had to bounce back.

I got another pretty good night sleep last night, about another ten hours, but when I got up I did not feel really refreshed. I did feel better than I had the last couple days, but after shaking out the kitchen throw rugs, sweeping the floor and then mopping it I was pretty much done for. I did manage to vacuum the downstairs again and do two loads of laundry, but that is about all I accomplished today.

Anyway, after getting up, I had some puffed rice for breakfast and then went into the living room to read the paper. After finishing the paper I took the recycling out to the street and brought the garbage can up as well. The mail truck was down the street when I brought the trash out, so when it got here I opened it up and threw most of it into the recycling.

I did have one magazine and two renewals that came today along with the usual credit card application which I shredded. By this time it was getting close to lunch time, so I went into the kitchen and made myself a salad. Salads have become almost a staple for me, I can get a least a half dozen of my vegetables in that way.

Today I used carrots, celery, yellow bell pepper, onion, sugar peas and several kinds of lettuce. I use just a hint of raspberry vinaigrette to top off the salad and it really adds a lot of flavor to the salad.

I almost took a nap this afternoon but decided to do the laundry instead, so that took up a good portion of my afternoon. After I had the laundry washed, dried, folded and put away, I went downstairs and read the magazine that came today in the mail.

By the time I finished it, I asked Kathleen about her plans for dinner, she thought chicken and rice. I said as long as the rice is either brown or wild that would be fine. There is just something about eating white rice...there is nothing there!

Kathleen stir fried the sugar peas, onion sun dried tomatoes and sesame seeds and then cut up a mango to put on top of the wild rice/brown rice mix. It really tasted good, Kathleen made the comment that she really likes chicken and rice and I said that I do not mind it as long as the rice is not white.

I think she likes the white rice because it is quicker to cook, but I like the brown rice because I feel like I have eaten something when I am done. Well, that was my day, good night.

Showery Sunday

I woke up feeling a lot better than I did yesterday, of course I did not feel all that bad when I woke up yesterday, just really tired, but by the afternoon I could hardly keep my eyes open. I tried taking a nap around 1500 and just as I was dozing off the phone rang and after I answered it I was too wide awake to go back to sleep.

Anyway, I accomplished very little yesterday, and went to bed earlier than I have in a long time and slept for ten hours. So of course when I woke up this morning I felt a lot more rested. I was still not feeling well enough to try to make it to church, so I just took my time and made myself an egg beater veggie omelet.

After eating I put everything into the dishwasher and than went into the living room to read the paper. After reading the paper I watched the Spurs game and then shortly after that the Kreig's came over for a visit and to bring us some beef stew for dinner. They only stayed for a short time and had to take off.

Andrea called shortly after they left and said that they were going to come over after visiting with John's parents. They got here shortly after we finished the stew that Dianne brought over. It was really good with lots of mushrooms, onions, green beans, zucchini and potatoes. I still am not eating potatoes, so I gave most of mine to Kathleen, I ate a few of the smaller pieces, and Kathleen gave me her mushrooms as she does not really like them cooked.

Anyway, I got to hold Brandon for quite a while and he even fell asleep on my shoulder. I think that this was the longest that John has ever stayed at our house. Most of the time it is in and out, so that was kind of nice as well. They finally left about 2100.

Well, about all I got done today was to sort out some of my magazines and cut out the articles that I wanted to keep. I did vacuum the downstairs and emptied the dishwasher this morning, but I only went outside briefly today as it has been raining off and on most of the day. Well, that is all I can think about now, I am really tired so I think that I will just say good night.

Mount Saint Helens Twenty-seven years later

It is hard to believe that it has been twenty-seven years since Mt. Saint Helens erupted. I remember when I went off almost like it was yesterday, all the ash floating around for months. I remember cleaning it out of the gutters and having to change the air filters on the vehicles almost weekly.

Anyway, after getting up and having breakfast I read the paper, and then I went to Aaron ad Tami's to pick up my landscape rake because my neighbor wanted to borrow it to put in some lawn and needed it to level out the compost top soil mix that he had dropped off.

I took Kathleen's SUV because she had parked in the driveway and I would have had to play vehicle shuffle and that would have taken almost time as it did to use her vehicle. I could not stay at their house very long, as I needed to get back so that Kathleen could get to her class.

I did get a chance to say hi to Alexis and Becca for a little bit. I also got to see how their siding project was coming along. They have really done a nice job on their residing. As a side note, Aaron called me later this afternoon and said that they had completed the residing. Now they just need to spray paint it.

The mail still had not come yet so I decided to mow the lawn. Not only did I mow my front lawn, but I mowed the strip along the neighbor's driveway and the other neighbor's whole lawn. I was getting pretty worn out, so I decided to go to the back yard and do a little weeding around the rose tree. I had not done it since last year and the ground was pretty hard.

After finishing what I had planned on doing I decided that I had better mow the back lawn before I completely ran out of gas. By the time I finished I was really tired, so I went into the house and cleaned up. It was about 1400 so I decided that I better make myself some lunch.

I decided that I would have a salad for lunch as we were going out to dinner tonight with Andrea, Toni and Chucky. After lunch, I cleaned up all the dishes and put everything into the dishwasher and started it up. Then I took the arches that I bought yesterday and took them outside.

It took about forty-five minutes to put both of them together and I set them up in the garden, but the wind was blowing them over, so I just left them on their sides. I have some steel posts that I will be wiring them to, but Kathleen has not shared with me where she wants them.

Once that was home, I went into the house and took a shower in preparation for dinner. Kathleen called a little after 1700 and said that she wanted to stay a little longer and work on her project. Toni called a little after that and said that we would meet at Newport Bay at about 1800.

She called about an hour later and said that they would pick me up as she talked to Kathleen and she did not have time to pick me up, so Andrea and Toni picked me up. We got to the restaurant just as Kathleen drove up, and Chucky was already there.

I had a good salmon, asparagus and rice pilaf that was really good, I was so tired that I could hardly eat it...but I did. I cut it in half and so I will have it for dinner tomorrow. I was the only one to have rice; everyone else had potatoes of some sort or another. I would not normally have rice but a potato for now is something that I am not supposed to have.

This last week I have lost almost twenty-five pounds; I do not feel too badly having cut my calorie count by more than half. I am sure that I will not be able to keep this kind of weight lose up for the next couple of weeks, but even if I can lose ten pounds a week that would really be great.

I eventually would like to get down to about 180 pounds, so I still have quite a few pounds to go. I would be happy if next year at this time I am at that weight. Well, I think I have used all my words up for today, so I will just say good night.

Thursday's Trips

Another good night, I actually woke up semi-refreshed and felt better than I have in a long time. After breakfast, I read the paper and then the mail when it came, although there was not much there.

Kathleen started her class at Montivilla, so she left the house about 0930 and I took my walk just a little while after she left. I took a little longer walk than I had been taking, and felt pretty good when I got back home.

After resting for a little while I decided to run some errands that Kathleen and I just have not seemed to be able to do. First I stopped off at Winco and too the bottles and cans back. While I was there, I picked up some apples, as I was out of them and I try to eat one a day.

I have been eating about a dozen different fruits and vegetables a day and so we go through a lot of them in a week. After finishing at Winco, I took off to go to Organ Craft Warehouse as I wanted to pick up a couple arches for our clematis to climb up on.

I looked at my Wrangler records today and noticed that I have only bought gas two times in this last year, once last August and then again this last December and I still have a half of a tank of that left. So my gas expenses for this last year is under sixty dollars. Before that would have been about what I was using every couple-three weeks.

Once I finished there I headed home, it was about 1400 by the time that I got back and time to start thinking about lunch. A salad was the easiest thing that I could think of so I sliced up some mushrooms, scallions, a couple slices of yellow bell pepper, some sugar peas, a radish and of course a couple kinds of lettuce and some spinach. I topped it off with just a dash of raspberry vignette.

After finishing the salad, I cleaned up the dishes and put things into the dish washer. Then I went outside and worked in the rose garden for a little while. I pulled about a five gallon of weeds, and I could feel myself getting pretty tired, so I cleaned up and went inside.

Kathleen came home about 1830 from her class and was pretty well worn out. So she made herself a baked potato and put some sour cream on it and cheddar cheese. The eating plan that I am trying to follow does not allow me to have any of those, at least not at this time.

In a couple weeks I can start eating some of them, but for now I am limited to what I am suppose to eat. I is a fairly strict diet, but that is one of the reasons that I have been able to loose about twenty pounds in this last week.

Just about all of my favorite "treats" are off limits, so that is another reason for me not eating very much. I can have about four ounces of red meat, chicken, turkey or fish a day and all the rest of it is fruits and vegetables. I can also have about an ounce of nuts, 8 ounces of milk or soy, and 8 ounces of juice a day.

It is a pretty restrictive calorie wise, but there are a lot of things that I am allowed that have that I enjoy, so it is really not that difficult for me. Anyway, I broiled the rest of the sirloin from the other night and mixed the wild rice and brown rice that we had left over from the last couple nights.

Well, I am kind of tired right now, so I think that I will just say good night!

Wednesday's Weather

I am starting to feel better, I can tell it by when I wake up, and I feel like getting up and not just getting up because I cannot breathe. After eating breakfast, I read the paper and since the mail had not come yet, I decided that I would take my wake a little early.

When I got out to the street, I noticed the mail truck about a block away, but I decided that I would go walk anyway. I had a good walk and felt pretty good when I got back, so I got the mail and sorted it out and then took my shower.

Kathleen had an appointment with her sleep doctor and she asked me if I wanted to go with her, but I thought that I would go get my blood drawn. I wanted to do that so that they would have a week to do the testing and then the doctor would have the results when I went to see her next Wednesday.

I thought that Kathleen would be home by the time I finished and then we could do some running around that she wanted to do. On my way home, I stopped at BiMart to pick up some Resinol that Kathleen had ordered for a couple of the grandchildren who are prone to diaper rash.

Well, when I got home Kathleen was still not here, so I made myself some lunch and then decided to sit outside and wait for her to get home. I sat for a little while and then decided to prune the roses of some spent flowers and dead wood, and then pulled some weeds and still no Kathleen.

So about 1500 I decided to go into the house and do a little reading, as I was sure that once I started reading she would show up. Well, she finally got home about 1630, seems that she had done some shopping on the way home and even stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up some items that she had on her to get list.

One of the things that she brought home was some salmon, which she thought would be good for dinner. Then about 1800 she took off for the fabric store to pick up some things that she needed for a class that she is taking the next few days.

So about 1845, I decided to heat up the left-over wild rice and cook the salmon, so I had it for dinner and Kathleen can have hers whenever she gets home tonight. She also needed to pick up either a jacket or a shirt for her class, so there is no telling when she will be home.

Well, that was my day; I think I covered all that I could remember about today, so I will just say good night.

Tuesday's Temperature

I felt pretty good again this morning when I got up, although I was up earlier than I would like to have been. Anyway after getting up and having breakfast, I read the paper and then recycled it up front, as today was our garbage pick-up and recycling day. While I was out putting the paper in the bin the garbage truck was at the corner, so I just waited for it to pick up the trash and than I took the trash can into the back yard.

The mail came a while later, so I opened it and read what looked interesting and set the rest in a pile to take to the recycling bin. After finishing the mail, I decided to take my morning walk; I have been trying to walk at least a half hour every morning. I had meant to take the paper recycling out when I went for my walk, but I forgot.

Anyway, when I got back the recycling truck had not come yet so I took the junk mail up front to the bin then I rested for a little while. After my quick rest, I decided that I would go out and mow the front lawn.

I finished that and then I went into the back yard and trimmed the grass along the backside of the berry patch. I was tired enough that I did not want to mow the back yard...just yet, so I went into the house to rest for a while. As you can see, I do a lot of resting.

Anyhow, after a brief rest, I went upstairs and asked Kathleen if she had filled out her mail in ballot; she had not, so I reminded her that she needed to do that. She also said that she wanted to stop by BiMart, so I said I would go with her when she got dressed.

I also reminded Kathleen that we needed to take her SUV to John's so that he could change the oil in it before we made our trip to the coast. So she called John and he said bring it by anytime. She also called Andrea and they were going to meet up and go to Joann's, so I decided that I would stay home and work in the yard.

It was getting to be about 1330, so I decided to make myself a salad for lunch. It took about fifteen minutes to cut everything up and another fifteen minutes to eat it. Then I waited about twenty minutes and then decided to go out back and mow the back lawn. Well, I just about finished that when she came outside.

After putting the mower into the garage I decided to sit in the sun for a while before I went into the house. I heard that the temperature was 86 degrees today, so that is three days that it has been above 80 degrees. It was about 1500 when I finally made it back into the house and got cleaned up.

I was pretty warn out, so I just sat in my chair for a while and then I read my Golf magazine that came yesterday, but I had not had a chance to read yet. John called about 1800 and said that Kathleen's SUV was ready and asked if I would call her as he could not get a hold of Andrea. So I called Kathleen and told her and then asked if she had planned on being home by 1900 as that is when I have been eating lately.

She asked me to make some rice and that she thought that she would be home a little after 1900. So I put the water and the wild rice into the rice cooker and turned it on. She finally got home a little after 1900 and then she put some steaks into the oven.

I have been trying to cut down on my portion sizes so I have only been eating about 4 ounces of meat or fish at any meal. Besides the steak and rice Kathleen also cut up a tomato and an avocado. I also have been trying to eat slower, so that seems to help me feel full and I do not get stuffed from eating more than I really needed.

Well, Kathleen has gone upstairs and I cannot think of anything else to write about, so I will just say good night for now.