New Year

What can I say about 2008? other than - IT SUCKED ;-) I can't wait for it to be over.

I hope 2009 is a better year for me and a lot of people I know.

Here's wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year!!!

Viki

Random thoughts

I hope everyone had a good Christmas.

On Monday, I decided to make the stuffed cabbage for Christmas Eve. I was so proud until I was ready to take it out of the oven and realized I forgot to put the rice in LOL. It tasted okay but I could tell something was missing. Ron went to the grocery store Tuesday morning to buy the ingredients so I could make it again. As he was going back to the van after shopping, he noticed the cart guy laying on the ground. He yelled to him but the guy was passed out. He went into the store and told customer service. The lady came out right away. By the time she came out and called the guy, he was awake. Apparently, the guy was getting the carts and slipped on the ice and hit his head. They called the ambulance. I think that's probably why I forgot to put the rice in the stuffed cabbage so Ron could find the guy laying on the ground ;-)

We had a very nice Christmas Eve. My brother and sister-in-law came. She made some really good kielbasa and sauerkraut.

We had a quiet Christmas. I made roast beef. Ron and I weren't going to buy anything for each other but then the day before Christmas we decided to get a GPS for the family. A will probably use it mostly but who knows, sometime Ron and I might be able to take a trip and it could come in pretty handy.

Mom's been doing pretty well. Her sugar seems to be under control now. We are still having problems with the blood thinner.

We started taking down our decorations today. Usually, we wait until New Years but I'm ready.

Talk to you all later.

Christmas

I wish I could say that this picture is from my home but it's not. It's my brother-in-law and sister-in-laws home. Don't they have a lovely fireplace. All my Christmas pictures vanished when my hard drive crashed and I had to get Windows re-installed. But anyway,

Have a Merry Christmas.

Viki

Random things

We had a pretty nice Thanksgiving. I hope everyone did as well.

The weather around here has been nasty lately. Today, we've had rain, snow and hail. Sign of things to come ???

We've got our Christmas tree up and decorations. I've got all my cards done. They are just waiting to be mailed. Probably tomorrow. We decided to cut way down on our Christmas giving this year. It seems like most people I've talked to have decided the same.

Mom's doing okay. We've had trouble getting her blood thinner regulated for some reason. Today, she had to get another blood test. She's had about 4 in 2 1/2 weeks. Also, I think her blood glucose machine was messing up. She should be getting a new one in a day or so.

Have a good night :-)

Holiday

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Hope you have a good one.

I'll try to blog soon.

I'm still here

Sorry, I haven't posted in a while. We finally have our walk in shower installed. It was finished on Tuesday. We had to wait until Wednesday to use it. Mom and I both took showers in the morning. When I went to sort some laundry, I noticed there was water down the basement. Ron took a shower but we didn't notice it leaking. We called the people that installed it and the plumber came and looked. It seems it wasn't a plumbing problem it was a wall problem. Thursday the guy that installed the drywall and fiberglass walls came. It looked like some of the caulking shrunk up. He re-caulked it and said to try it today and see if it still leaked. Thank goodness, it seems fine now. It's great to have a shower again.

Things are still crazy around here. We had a couple of unexpected appointments for Mom. Hopefully, things will settle down now for a while.

The leaves on the trees are really beautiful here. A lot are falling off already. Before you know it, it will be Halloween. Where has the time gone? Ron's got the garden all taken out and the marigolds. I never did get more mums to replace the ones I lost from last year. I did have one that came up though.

I'm starting to do some Christmas shopping online already. At least I have all my address labels for my cards done.

I hope to write again soon.

P.S. If you haven't had a mammogram this year, please go. It could save your life.

Register

If you are not registered to vote, you have until October 6th to register to vote in the Presidential election in our State. This could be the most important vote of your life. No matter who you vote for, please vote. These women fought for our right.

http://vodpod.com/watch/463965-history-women-activists-suffrage

Corky

Corky went to the groomer's yesterday for a bath and brush. Supposedly, he has no fleas. We shall see.

Fleas, et al

I think we have control over the fleas in our home . On Sunday, we tore the living room apart and vacuumed everything. I washed the stuff I could in hot water. I also vacuumed the other rooms. Thanks to Sue, we bought the capstar at the pet store and that seems to have helped the dog. We're taking Corky to be groomed tomorrow. Ron went to Mom's house with a spray he bought and sprayed her whole house. Hopefully, that will take care of the fleas over there. If not, he'll probably try it again before we have to take more drastic measures.

Nothing much has been happening here. We are starting to adjust more and more. Next Thursday is Mom's doctor's appointment so we will find out the results of the tests.

Viki Downer

Did you ever just have one of those days, months years where nothing goes right? I haven't been on the blog because my computer was in the shop for a week. I got it back yesterday. I needed a new hard drive and Windows re-downloaded. You know how you are supposed to back up your information? I didn't. I lost tons of stuff. I've got programs to re-download. One of my CD drives wasn't working but the technician couldn't find anything wrong but sure enough when the computer was home it isn't working for me.

Today, our one toilet was leaking. Hopefully, Ron fixed it. Then we found out my Mom's dog has fleas. We'll have to get some flea stuff. Who knows if we will have to bomb (not literally) the house.

Mom went for the sleep study test. She also had the oxygen test. We haven't heard any results yet but go back to the doctor on Sept. 12th.

We made arrangements to have the bathtub taken out and a big shower put in. The stuff is being ordered but we have no idea when it will be installed.

Viki Downer signing off (I promise to try to be in a better mood next time)

tomato thief

Some of our big tomatoes have gone missing. We couldn't figure out what was taking them. Tonight Ron was sitting on the back steps and yelled for me to come. Up in the tree, was a squirrel chomping down on a tomato. So, the mystery is solved. We found out who the culprit is. This is the first time in the 22 years we've lived here the squirrels have ever stolen our tomatoes LOL.

John Edwards

What a disappointment!

Spoke too soon

I probably won't be blogging much if at all. Mom ended up calling last night around 8 p.m. saying she couldn't breath again. We ended up bringing her back. We will keep her here until we figure out what to do. We can't keep taking her home and then turning around the next day and bringing her back.

Mom Update

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. When I last left off, Mom was here after going to the ER. We took her home the following Tuesday and by Wednesday morning at 5 a.m., she was calling me saying she couldn't breath again. She went back to the ER, where they still couldn't find anything wrong.

We brought her back over here. We took her to a therapist to see if she was having anxiety/panic attacks. It was concluded that she probably does have some anxiety issues but we needed to explore further that there isn't something physically wrong.

We went back to the family doctor and last Monday Mom had a stress test. Everything was fine with that. The doctor wants her to have an oxygen test and a sleep study test to see if she has sleep apnea. Someone was supposed to be calling to set these up but so far haven't. We go back to the family doc on Friday so we'll see what's happening.

We took Mom back to her home yesterday. We'll see what happens next.

Relay, interrupted

Yesterday, I went to the relay for the Survivor's Walk. We got there, got our T-shirts and then met with our friend that was on a team. They just started the speeches before the walk and A called, saying Mom called. Ron was in the shower so he didn't answer the phone. I finally got a hold of Mom and she wasn't feeling well. I called my brother and he was already going over there. My friend who I went with took me home and Ron and I left to go to her house. Before we got there, my brother called to say the ambulance was already there. We decided to meet them at the hospital.

I guess she was having trouble breathing. Who wouldn't. She doesn't want any windows open because she's always cold. She just has the front screen door. With the temps at 90 degrees and the humidity so awful the last few days, we think it just took it's toll on her. The hospital did all kinds of tests and couldn't find anything wrong. Her oxygen levels and breathing were good by then but she was retaining water. We already knew that and she started taking water pills earlier in the week for it. We decided if she wasn't going to be admitted, we would bring her here because of the air conditioning. The doctor talked to her family doctor and they released her. They just figure the heat got to her. My brother had been over there yesterday morning. I had talked to her about 4:00 and she was fine - by 6:00 she wasn't. My brother has an old air conditioner that we are going to put in for her.

Luckily, after we had gotten to the hospital, Ron decided to go get the dog and her stuff and take it to our house because he knew we would be there for a while. It was a good thing too. She got to the ER about 7:00 and we never got out of there until close to 11:30.

Today, she seems well. I'll keep you updated. At least I got my T-shirt from the relay. I didn't really get a chance to take pictures. Oh well!

Check another one off

Today was our usual day to go to Mom's. Earlier in the week, Ron and I decided we were finally going to get to Mom's junk room. Why I picked a day that was going to be 90 degrees and humid, I'll never know but I did. It took us most of the morning and early afternoon but we got it all done. Now, we can go in there and get cleaning supplies and other things without having to go through an obstacle course. We threw a few things out and there is still some junk in there - but at least it's organized junk now LOL.

Cukes

We got 3 cucumbers from our garden yesterday. Ron planted several kind. These are pickling cucumbers about 4" long. We had them for supper last night. You forget how good fresh vegetables are until you eat them from the garden.

Garden happenings

Ron picked our first green beans today. We had them for supper. They were delicious.

We also have a few cucumbers. They are about the size of small sweet pickles.

The tomatoes are coming along nicely as well. I can hardly wait until they are ready to be picked.

Darn, I missed it

A little while ago, I happened to look out the front. Ron was out there and there was a mamma deer and a baby deer right across the street from our house. It was a stare down between the deer and Ron. I was so excited I opened the door. Then I ran for the camera and then they were gone. I missed the picture;-( This is the second time in a couple of weeks, I've seen deer walking down our street. It's always so exciting. One time we had a deer that jumped over our fence into our yard and then jumped over our back fence. I guess I'm going to have to keep the camera out and be ready next time.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July. I hope it's a good one.

Flowers, flowers

So far, I'm very pleased with the rose bush we bought. It is as advertised - a prolific bloomer. I'm not sure if it will bloom all summer. I'm hoping it will soon grow higher.

The sunflowers are starting to get tall. My shasta daiseys that I thought were completely lost because of the snow, siding and roofing guys came up little bit. Although the original one is gone.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

Well, actually in this case it was custard. Ron suggested last night that we go to the local stand. We haven't done that in years. He had a waffle cone with vanilla custard and I had a chocolate milkshake. All I can say is YUMMY!

Sue

I got a call from my sil, Kay, saying something like did you hear about Sue, my other sil. I said no, what happened. She was having heaviness in her chest on Wednesday and went to the doctor. They sent her right over to the ER. Yesterday, they transferred her to another hospital for a heart catheterization. Several years ago, she had triple bypass surgery and since then she's had to have some stints put in. We went to the hospital after doing our thing at mom's. She had gotten there about an hour before we arrived and no one had been able to see her yet. We only sat for a couple of minutes and we all were able to go in. Turns out she had some blockage but it wasn't enough to do anything about it. She has to follow up with her cardiologist. She came home last night.

Dinner Friends

Wednesday night was my night out with the girls. What fun! This is the second time we went to this restaurant but it's been a while. When we got off the freeway, we were just gabbing away and forgot to look for the road we were supposed to turn on. We got back on track and finally got there. Unfortunately, the dinner friends weren't seated yet because you had to have your whole party there. I don't know why some restaurants do that.

The food was excellent. I had 1/2 rack of ribs (which I ended up bringing most of it home), baked potato, roll and a salad. The salad was very large but the best part of it was there was TOMATO in it. We haven't had any tomatoes around my house since the whole salmonella thing, even though there were no reported cases around here.

After dinner, some of us went to my friend's new home. She lives close to the restaurant. Ron and I had already been there. When we went to my sil's house last year, she lives close to her so I called to see if we could
barge right incheck it out on our way home so we did. Since we were there, they've built a beautiful deck on the back. I wish I thought to take a picture on the cell because when I came home, I had to try to explain to Ron what it looked like. It was hard.

I got home around 10 p.m. through another rain storm but thankfully no hail.

Lifetime Waranties

As mentioned in my previous post, the van was in the shop. Monday when Ron was going to get the newspaper, it stopped working about 10 - 15 minutes from the house. He was able to coast it to the corner where the gas station used to be. He came home, called a dealership and then called AAA to have it towed there. When he went back to the van, it started up. He canceled the tow and took it up himself. They hooked it up and couldn't find anything wrong. They suggested leaving it overnight.

Tuesday when they tried to start it up, it wouldn't start. Thank goodness, we were afraid they wouldn't find anything and then we would have to be worried that it would happen again. They figured out what was wrong and Ron was pretty sure he remembered this part had to be replaced before and had a lifetime warranty on it. Sure enough, they looked it up and he was correct. You've got to love those lifetime warranties.

Assume the position

Monday was my annual visit to the gynecologist. Oh Joy!! Usually on the way there, I complain and moan to Ron on how I hate going for my pap test. This time was a little different. I complained and moaned to my girlfriend instead;-) The van broke down and had to be taken to the shop in the morning, so my friend took me.

I had the first afternoon appointment. Then came the weigh in and they checked my height. I'm pretty sure I shrunk some. Unfortunately, more so the height than the weight LOL. After putting on the lovely gown, it was time to assume the position for the test and within seconds that part was done. I thought wow that was fast. I didn't even feel it. Then he says to me, did you notice I didn't give you a pap test, I'll explain when I'm done. He did the other exams (you women know what I'm talking about) and he started explaining about why no pap.

Turns out, the recommendation now is if you are over a certain age (which I clearly am) and have clear pap tests for so many years and don't have HPV (which they tested me for last year- I didn't even know) that you only need a pap every three years. I had read a while back about these recommendations but was still surprised. As much as I moaned about doing it every year, there was a level of comfort in having it done and knowing everything was okay. I'll have to think about this over the year and decide if I want to follow this or tell him I want it done next year. What do your doctor's say?

Hail, hail the gangs all here......

Strange weather we're having. I don't remember the last time I've seen hail, and now I've seen it twice in the past two days. Yesterday evening, it was pretty nasty. Windy, rainy and hail. This afternoon coming home from Mom's - again with the hail. It was bigger than yesterday. A lot of cars just parked under the bridges on the freeway.

Doctors & Relay

Went to the doctor's on Tuesday, I'm off my cholesterol medication for now. Last time I went he cut me to a half of 10 mg. Since Mom was in the hospital, I wasn't even taking that regular and I thought my cholesterol would be up but it was pretty good. He said to go off it completely and we'll recheck in 6 months. That's great one less pill to take.

Wednesday, we took Mom to the foot doctor. With this weather we've been having, she's been having a hard time walking. When we got to the office, he's in an old house with lots of steps to get up. At first she couldn't pick her leg up. There was a guy standing in front and he tried to help. Finally, I went into the office and told the receptionist/the doctor's wife that she couldn't get up the steps. She came out and helped and we were able to get her in the office. When we got back to her house, the furnace wasn't working again. The pilot light was out AGAIN. Ron relit it and then it went out. I called the furnace guy and was pleasantly surprised when the girl said he would be there in 5 minutes. He cleaned something and so far it's been working again. He didn't even charge us.

In case anyone's wondering why you haven't gotten my annual letter about the Relay, I'm not going to be on a team this year. The woman that usually has the team isn't having one this year. Her mother passed away earlier this year and she got a new job and it was just too much. I was also afraid to commit myself to a team since I never know what's happening around here lately. Her and I are still planning to sign up for the Survivor Walk though. If I take any pictures, I'll either post them or email them.

Have a great weekend.

Father's Day

To all those Dad's out there, I hope you have a great Father's Day.

Nothing much happening

Last Friday when it was 90 degrees outside, it was 90 degrees inside too. The air conditioner was on 78 but wasn't cooling the house. David (bil) came over Sunday morning and looked at it. He couldn't find anything wrong but he cleaned the inside and outside part. Looked at the vents and dampers; turning some off and back on and it seems to be working. Thank goodness because the last couple of days have been really hot.

I think Ron's going to try to get his boat out this weekend for Father's Day. We'll see.

The garden seems to be growing pretty well. He also planted an extra row of marigolds in the front because we had an extra flat. Above picture is of the flowers I have on the front steps and back porch. Have a good weekend everyone.

Spring

What happened to it?????

Wash on Monday

I guess that's when women used to do their laundry in the olden days LOL. I'm going to try to start hanging some stuff outside. I do have some lines in the laundry room but they take at least a day to dry. When I was younger, I remember hanging the laundry outside for Mom. If you click on the picture, those are just some old rags from the garage that's why they still look kind of dirty. Believe me, I wash clothes better than that ;-)

Flowers, fish and THE furnace

Yesterday Ron put the marigolds in the front. I don't know if we had the frost they were predicting last night but it looks like they held up. The rose is already flowering a bit. Ron also has the sunflowers in the front. Right now they are protected by the green flower pots. If you click on the picture you can get a closer view.

Ron went fishing again today. They've finally been catching fish even with the cool weather. They are in a tournament and Ron hopes to catch some bigger fish then he has. It ends the last day of May.

We got Mom's yard pretty much cleaned up on Sunday. It looks much better. I couldn't believe it, Wednesday when I talked to her in the morning she said her furnace was blowing cold air again. We went right over and the pilot light was out again. Ron relit it and so far today it's still working <knock on wood>. Good thing warmer weather is coming.

Flowers and vegetables

We went to the garden store today. Last fall, Ron dug up the old climbing rose bush. Today, we got a new one called Crimson Sky. It is supposed to be a prolific bloomer. He planted it after we got home and put the trellis back up. We also bought flowers for the front and back porch. Plus tomatoes and cucumbers which he planted as well. We bought a watermelon plant. I think we might have grown watermelon before but we couldn't remember. We still need to get some marigolds for the front. Also, in the fall we'll have to get new mums. We've only got one that's coming up so far. I think last winter they bit the dust.

I had a couple of gift certificates that I needed to use up so that came in handy today. One I lost a $3 service charge on because I didn't use it for six months. I thought they weren't allowed to do that anymore but I guess they are.

Random things

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful weekend. Ron's going fishing in the morning.

Monday is Mom's 81st birthday. We will be going over there on Sunday to clean up her yard. With all the rainy weather, no one's been able to clean up her leaves from the fall yet. So, Ron, A, my brother and I will be cleaning up her yard for her birthday. We also bought her new phones. I think the amplifier on her phone she has isn't working. They also light up in case she doesn't hear it. One plugs into the phone jack and one is a portable phone and just needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet. We can put the portable one right where she sits. Sometimes it takes her 7 to 10 rings before she gets to the phone. I think if someone other than us calls they probably hang up thinking no one is home.

Wednesday was my night out with my Dinner Friends. This is a group of women most of whom I met from PTA when Aaron was in elementary school. We started with a few women going out occasionally for lunch when the kids were in school. Then as everyone's kids moved to junior high, and some of the women started working, we changed to going to dinner. There's 10 of us that go out every month and we celebrate someone's birthday. We went to a Japanese Restaurant. Normally, I'm not thrilled with Japanese food but this was pretty good. The guy cooked on the hibachi right in front of us. It was a lot of fun. He took the spatula and lifted the food up and you had to catch the food in your mouth. If you caught it, he squirted saki in your mouth LOL. It was pretty funny.

Finally

Ron went fishing last night with his buddy; finally he caught something. He cleaned it this morning. Hopefully, with the warmer weather that's supposed to be coming there will be many more.

Brown water, etc.......

So, I cleaned the main bathroom and just got done cleaning the toilet in the 1/2 bathroom when I go back in to clean the rest and I notice the water in the toilet is brown. Weird!! I go into the main bathroom and sure enough that water is brown in there when it wasn't when I cleaned it. Fill up a glass of water from the kitchen sink, brown again! I was kind of freaking, I drank water will my pills this morning. Ugh!! Called my neighbor behind, she has no brown water. Called the city and before I could get the whole sentence out about the water, she tells me people have been calling. She said it happened about 40 minutes ago which made me feel better that I didn't drink toxic water ;-) . They are trying to figure out what's happening. Don't flush or use water for an hour, then turn stationary tub on until it runs clear. Luckily, the problem has corrected itself. When Ron came home from going to the store, he said there's a water main break on 130th. I wonder if this had something to do with our water.

Ron hasn't had too much luck fishing so far. He went on Thursday and caught nothing again. With all this cold and wet weather, I guess the fish must not be biting much.

Mom loves Meals on Wheels. Every day she waits and calls to tell me what she's having. I think this is going to be great for her.

Random Stuff

Mom started her Meals on Wheels yesterday. I think she liked it. She said they gave her a menu for the whole month. When I go there I will have to look at it. We took Mr. Chicken to her house on Mother's Day so she should have enough stuff to eat this week. On Thursday when we go, hopefully we'll get to putting her clothes back in her drawers.

Ron was able to go fishing on Saturday but they didn't catch anything. That really doesn't bother Ron much, he just enjoys being out on the lake.

It's supposed to be a beautiful day today. I'm hoping to open the house up before it rains tomorrow and gets cooler again. Talk to you all later.

Moms

Happy Mother's Day. Hope you have a great one!!

Back home again

Mom went back home today. On Wednesday, when the furnace guy called to have us meet him at mom's, we decided Ron would just go to make sure the furnace worked. We thought in case it didn't we didn't want to bring mom, the dog and all her stuff back. It was a good thing too. Turns out the guy didn't get the right part so he had to reorder it again. Thursday morning we had to take mom for her blood test and the guy never ended up calling until about 3. Ron had already gone to her house to wait for him. Luckily, he got the right part this time. We decided instead of trying to get through rush hour traffic to take her home, we'd wait until this morning. That's it, until the next time.

Back again

Not because of health. Her furnace is broken. When we went over there Sunday, it was freezing in her house and the vent was blowing cold air. Ron checked and the pilot light was out. He relit it and it started working. Monday when I called Mom the usual time, she said it was real cold in her house again. We went over and the pilot light was lit and out of the vent was a little bit of warm air. At first, we were going to leave but then I turned it up real high. The thermostat would only go up to 70 and then it would cut off. Then the furnace wouldn't come on at all. Ron suspected it might be a broken thermostat so he bought one and installed it. No go, it still wouldn't turn on. I called the people that installed the furnace for her and they were supposed to be there between 3-5 or she said they might come after work. When it got to be 5:20 and no one came, I called and left a message. By 7:00, I told Ron just to go home and I would stay the night in case the guy came. Finally, this morning at 9:30, the girl called and said the guy would be over in about 5 minutes which naturally was 20 minutes or so. Turns out, he had to order something so we just brought mom over here. It was pretty cold last night without any heat. The guy says normally it takes 3-5 days for the part but they are having it over nighted from Columbus. The guy's supposed to call some time late morning and will give us an hour to get back to her house. I don't have much hope that this will get done tomorrow but we'll see.

Ron's retirement so far - not good. He ended up missing out on going fishing yesterday.

Kentucky Derby

Anyone watch? Poor Eight Belles. I used to watch the coverage all day of the horses, so I could pick who I thought the winner would be. I didn't this year. I know I would have fallen in love with Eight Belles since she was a filly (I'm all about girl power). After coming in second, Eight Belles collapsed with broken ankles and had to be put down. A couple of years ago when Barbero got hurt I wasn't as interested in the Triple Crown. After deciding at the last minute to watch the race, I think I finally had my fill of horse racing.

Retirement

Today is Ron's official first day of retirement. Yesterday, Ron didn't have to go into work at the regular time so he left here about 8:00. He only had to stay a little while. He said goodbye to everyone, pulled the van around to the back to get all his tool boxes and tools. Then he had to go turn in his badge and locker keys. He was home by 10:30. He has a lot of organizing to do. He brought 5 tool boxes home. There is a ton of stuff in them. I guess after 43 years you accumulate a lot of stuff. On Tuesday, another guy that was retiring and some guys they worked with plus a couple of retirees went to the bar for a little celebration. Last night, he went with his friend fishing. So starts retirement for him.

Last night, I went with my Dinner Friends for our monthly dinner.

I guess this is a new chapter in our lives.

Home

Mom's back at home. We took her there after lunch today. The swelling all went down in her legs. Ron picked up these arm rests that went on the toilet which seem to work well for her. Hopefully, she'll be all right for a while again.

Only three more days and Ron's retired ;-)

Retirement

I hope you have a good last day, Kay. HAPPY RETIREMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update on Mom

Mom is doing much better. As soon as we got here, I gave her a water pill. When she got up this morning a lot of the swelling had gone down already. Last night after Ron went to bed she finally seemed back to normal - no confusion. This morning I talked to her about what happened. As far as the sitting on the toilet, she said she just couldn't get up. She has the riser on the toilet and I'm not sure if because she was retaining so much water if that's why she couldn't get up or what. They have these bars that go to the floor but I don't think they would fit around the toilet so she could use those to help herself up. As far as the confusion, she says she realizes she has that sometimes. I don't know what we'll do about the toilet situation. She said she'll just go on the portable one but maybe Ron can rig something up for the regular one. I will probably keep her here at least until all the swelling is done with. I might just have to bring her here every few weeks for a few days. Only one more week and Ron will be retired. Thank goodness!!

Weekend

We didn't do much over the weekend. Ron worked Saturday and then we went to mom's to help with her shower, some laundry and straightening/cleaning house. Before we went to mom's I finished up our laundry.

On Sunday, Ron went to the union meeting. The cable guy came in the morning. Some of our stations weren't working. When the guy checked, one connection was loose. Oh boy, was I embarrassed. Usually when you call, they tell you to check your connections and we never thought to look LOL. I asked him about the wires outside. Ever since we had the house done, one wire in particular is very low and every time the garbage men come their truck touches the wire. I couldn't figure out if it was the phone, electric or cable wire. He said it's the phone so I'll have to call to see if they can fix it. I keep thinking one of these days it's just going to fall down on top of the garbage truck.

I got about 4 books I wanted for Christmas presents and haven't had a chance to start reading. I also have a couple I bought before that I hadn't gotten to yet. Sunday, after doing some laundry I brought home from mom's I decided it was the day I would make a dent in the pile of books. I don't know what kind of reader you all are but I'm the type, if I start it I keep reading until I'm done. I started around 2:30 and finished by 11:00. Of course, I pretty much didn't do anything else except read but I kind of felt I deserved a little bit of time just for myself. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Diet and exercise

I've had so much trouble losing the weight since chemo ended but it's finally coming off. What diet and exercise did I use, you ask? It's called "Have your mom go into the hospital, rehab and at your home diet". Yep, since everything that happened with Mom, I lost like 12 or 13 pounds. Probably because when I'm stressed, I don't hardly eat. As far as exercise - not so much. In fact, NONE. Now that things seem to be getting back to normal I noticed I already put back on a pound or two. I'm really going to have to get on top of this so I don't put it back on. I'm almost back to the weight I was in 2004 which was still not great but better than it has been. I need to get back on the treadmill, pronto!!!!!!!!!

This and That

So much for our nice weather. Rain and colder. Looks like in the days ahead we might even get a little snow. Blech!!

Mom's almost done seeing all the home health care workers. The only one she will still be seeing yet is the nurse and that might be only one more time. Tomorrow, we go to her regular doctor and she will probably get her blood test done afterwards. The doctor is having a hard time getting her blood thinner regulated. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Yesterday, for the first time when I talked to mom on the phone she seemed back to normal. I don't know if it was the weather or what but I feel a lot better about her being home.

Only three more weeks from today and Ron will be retired. Only two weeks and two days my sister-in-law, Kay, will be retired. Yippee for them.

Spring

Wasn't it just gorgeous yesterday. Today, looks like it's going to be a beautiful day as well. With the terrible weather we had this winter, these last couple of sunny days just makes a person want to jump for joy. I've been able to open the house up a little bit and let some fresh air in which feels great. Now, all I need to do is get in the cleaning mood. We'll see if that happens any time soon.

Posting

I've had several people ask me how to post comments. I'm not real clear myself but I tried a couple of test comments and just used anonymous, wrote the comment and hit publish. That seemed to work. Make sure if you leave a comment that you put your name so I don't think your some anonymous wierdo that somehow got to my blog ;-)

Viki

Second - First time blogging

Well, I don't know if my first post is ever going to show up. But anyhow........, I've wanted to blog for awhile now. So, I thought I'd give it a try. As most know, our year has been pretty crummy so far. With mom being in the hospital, rehab, our house and finally her home. Hopefully, we'll be getting back to normal soon. Ron will be retiring soon. Everyone's asking if he's excited but he says he has no feelings one way or the other. I think he's in shock that he finally made the decision LOL. It's going to be a beautiful day today. I think Spring has finally arrived although we're not putting away the shovel just yet ROFL. That's about it for now. Who knows how many posts are going to show up if any. I hope to get this blogging figured out soon;-)

Viki