A HOT DAY IN THE MIDWEST

I guess summer is really here, temperature is 101 degrees. Needless to say, we are staying inside today. Even the dogs want back inside immediately after taking care of their doggy duties.

I hope everyone had a good Father's Day. Wayne was very pleased with his. He got phone calls from all of his kids, including Terri. Garret called from England right after it turned midnight there, so he could be the first to tell Wayne happy Father's Day. We got a kick out of that. Sunday evening Wayne and I went to Lonestar Steak House for supper. It was so good, and since it was Father's Day, they gave Wayne a fifteen dollar coupon good toward his next meal there.

One of the problems with both of us being retired, it is sometimes hard to keep track of what day it is. We both thought Father's Day was the Sunday before. We stayed around home all day, wondering why none of the kids had called. Terri usually sends cards for all occassions, and Wayne hadn't even heard from her. We thought maybe the mail was just slow, and he would get a card Monday. It was sometime Monday before we found out that we were a week ahead of ourselves. Now, this has nothing to do with getting old, it is just a simple mix up that could happen to anyone.

Less than a week to go before my next colonscopy. I am rather nervous about what will happen after it. I'm not having much pain, but a lot of discomfort, and still having other signs of problems. I will be so glad when it is over. I just hope the problems can be treated with medication.

I have heard from the Scooter Store, and they are working with Dr. Botts to get me a power chair. Found out that Medicare won't pay for the scooter, but will pay eighty per cent of the cost of a chair. Blue Cross will pay part or all of the rest of the cost. I should be hearing more some time this week.

Time to start thinking about fixing supper, so will talk some other time.

NERVOUS WRECK

We got a phone call from the police department about fifteen minutes ago. The storage shed we rent has been broken into. We had a really heavy lock on it, so someone wanted in badly. Wayne has gone out to see if he can tell what has been taken. We had so much stuff in there, both our's and Garret's. The most valuable thing was Garret's motorcycle. Hopefully they didn't take it. A lot of things had no value to anyone but us, but there were a few things of value in the shed. I am just waiting for Wayne to get home.

Speaking of sheds I have better information about one. Wayne, with help from Kathy's son Ethan, spent between two and three weeks building Kathy a shed for her back yard. They did a pretty good job. I'll have to post a picture later.

I have to admit that I enjoyed the time while Wayne was working on the shed. I haven't had much time to myself since Wayne retired, just a couple of hours now and then, and I had really missed that. I even got a few things done while he was at Kathy's house, but I also just wasted a lot of time. Enjoyable.

Garret and Kalee will be coming home from England in a couple of months. It will be so good to see them. Garret will then be stationed in Maryland, at Fort Meade, so we will be able to travel to see them from time to time.

Wayne just called. He doesn't think anything was stolen from our storage shed. He said that they went through a bunch of stuff, but it didn't appear that they had taken anything. Garret's motorcycle is still there, too. What a relief! Guess it pays to have nothing but junk. lol

Going to get off here, now.

HEALTH AND WEATHER

I can't believe how fast this year is going! I was planning to keep on top of my blog, but that didn't happen. I will have to do better from now on.

I had planned to go to Denver to spend some time with Danny, but about the time it began to heat up enough that we could sit out on the patio at Pete's, I began to have some medical problems.

Ended up having to have a colonscopy, and have been on medication since then. I'm still having problems, but I was already scheduled for another test next week. I'm not looking forward to it at all. The colonscopy itself isn't that bad, after all one is medicated, but the prep is terrible. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good result, but not very hopeful. At least the doctor has said that my problem isn't caused by cancer, so that is a good thing.

Went for my six month appointment with my pulmonary doctor, Larry Botts, today. Not much change in my breathing from visit to visit, but can tell some difference when I am active. I get winded a lot faster than I used to.

The good news is that Dr. Botts thinks I would qualify for an insurance paid scooter or power chair. His office is going to look into it for me. He said that he would recommend me for it. That would be so cool. I could go to the grocery store, Wal-Mart, book stores, movies, and other places that are hard for me to go to now. Maybe I could put skis on it in the winter, and train Teddy and Jackie to pull me. Whee!

I got a haircut and body perm Saturday. The hair looks pretty good, but I was a little shocked today when I looked in the mirror while wearing sun glasses. My darling kids used to kid me about looking like Ozzy when I put on a droopy face look while my hair was shoulder length. Today I sucked in my cheeks while wearing sun glasses, and I swear I looked like Maxine!

We have had a lot of rainy weather the past few weeks, and we are scheduled for more this week. Chance of rain tonight, and there are already severe weather watches out just west of us. Some of them are fairly new, so we may get into them later. The weather channel is talking about the Kansas City area right now. They say that we will be getting hail, strong winds and heavy rain, and it will probably last around three hours. I missed what time it is expected to get here. I had better put any unpaid bills and my medicines in my purse, just in case. Wayne is at lodge, but will probably be here before the storms reach us.

I have been feeling very melancholy today. I have no idea why, but I find myself wanting to listen to sad music, etc. Feel rather weepy, too. Oh, well. This too shall pass.

Have some things I need to do, so I will wish everyone a good night. Talk to you later.

CAST LIST

It has been brought to my attention that some of my readers, mostly ones with whom I email, sometimes get confused about whom I'm talking about. So, I decided to post a list of the people I mention the most. I hope this helps.

Wayne - Husband
Terri - Daughter, married to Don; Derek, their son, my grandson
Danny - Son who lives in Denver
Garret - Son in Air Force, currently stationed in England, married to Kalee
Kathy, Step-Daughter, but more like my own
Jim - Ex husband, but good friend
Charlie - Our friend, but mostly Wayne's. Plays and sings country. Pat, his wife
Teddy Bear and Jackie - Our dogs; Misty, my cat; Phoenix - Garret's used bird he bought at yard sale when he was in high school, but who lives with us now.

I think that is everyone I mention very often. I will try to bring this up to date today or tomorrow. Time has gone be so fast, and I am so far behind.

Reasons I Blog

It seems most of what I blog about concerns the stupid things I do. I do seem to have more than my share of "experiences", but my life is not always like that. Today for instance, Wayne and I took Charlie's wife Pat to her doctor appointment in Liberty. Charlie was working and she did not have anyone else available to take her. We were glad that we could help her out. On the way home, we stopped at Wal-Mart so she could drop off her prescription. She didn't want to wait for it, as they were very busy. She said that she would pick it up when Charlie got home. Pretty normal day.

Yesterday we stayed home until late afternoon, and then went to Lone Star Steakhouse for supper. We asked for our favorite waiter, Cory, and did eat in his area. Food was delicious, and we even had a little bit of steak left to bring home to the dogs. Nothing unusual about that.

Of course, there was Monday. I had an appointment with the Chiropractor for my back. Again. When he told me to turn from my stomach to my side, I hit my hand on something on the table/bed. Didn't give it another thought until I was standing at the counter talking to the receptionist, and I looked down and saw blood dripping onto the counter. My finger was bleeding heavily. She gave me a Kleenex, but that wasn't enough. Dr. Decker got a wet paper towel and wrapped it around my finger, but it kept bleeding. Then Dr. Decker put a band aid on my finger, and that controlled the bleeding. The cut was only about an inch long, and not too deep, but it is still pretty sore.

The rest of my day was very normal. I stopped by the library and the bank on the way home, and nothing else unusual happened.

This proves that I am normal (be quiet Derek and Don), and can go out in public like anyone else. SO THERE! One occurrence over three days isn't bad.

ONLY GOOD NEWS

Pointers' Jewelry called yesterday afternoon to tell me my ring had been repaired and the two rings had been fastened together. This afternoon Wayne and I went to Richmond and got them. They did a great job; you can't tell the ring was ever damaged. We got to visiting with the owner, Roger, and ended up standing there talking for over an hour. He, his wife, and his sister, as well as the young girl who works for them, are all great people. We haven't actually talked to the man who does the repairs, but he does wonderful work.

Wayne told Roger about my adventure in Arkansas, and he had to tell his wife about it when she came in. My getting the ring stuck on my finger got lots of laughs, too. Roger kept telling Wayne to just bring me back whenever I got another one stuck, and he would cut it off for us. I'm glad I can be so entertaining for folks.

Then we got to talking about the "true" stories I told my kids about belly buttons and chickens with wooden legs, so now the folks at the jewelry store will probably never take me seriously.

When I had shoulder surgery, my pulmonary doctor, Larry Botts, asked me how I had injured it. He didn't believe me when I told him I injured it bull riding or sky diving, but when Wayne told him that I fell off a bar stool, he said that he could believe that. IT WAS NOT TRUE. I get no respect.

Yesterday I sent an email to one of my favorite authors to tell her how much I liked her books. I received an answer from her today. I can't believe that she took time from her busy schedule to write to me. Very impressive.

LAZY DAY

Today is cloudy with temperature in the low thirties. I don't think we are forecast to have snow or rain, but there is a really damp feel to the air. Good day for staying inside and snuggling down with a good book.

I got into the habit of listening to audio books at night, before falling asleep. I had started actually reading four other books, but just couldn't get into them. Then I picked up one of Nancy Pickard's books from her Marie Lightfoot series. I am conpletely hooked on reading, again. I had read and liked her earlier books, but for some reason had not started this series. Now I am glad that I had not read it in the past. They are so good; kind of books you don't want to end, but you can't stop reading. I have read the first two in the series, but I am reading an Alex Kava book before I read the third one. Kava's book is from the library, so I want to get it read and returned as soon as possible. Besides, the third Marie Lightfoot book is the last in the series, so far anyway, so I don't want to finish it too soon.

Now to bring you up to date on my latest dumb move, my ring caper. I couldn't find anything to make the ring slip off of my finger, so a week ago yesterday Wayne cut it off. My ring, not my finger. Last Wednesday we took both rings to Pointer's Jewelry in Richmond, and they are repairing the wedding band and fastening the two rings together. I will wear them on my right hand from now on. They are to be ready by the twenty-fourth, and I will be glad to get them back.

Wayne has a big Harley Davidson motorcycle which he seldom rides. He said the other day that he had thought about selling it and buying a scooter. I am safe from the motorcycle as it is too heavy for me to hold up, but I can just imagine my trying to ride a scooter. No telling what bad thing would occur.

Many, many years ago, when he was young, Danny had a trail bike. I thought that it would be fun to learn to ride it. It was summertime, so Danny, Terri, and their dad and I went to Washington School for me to learn to ride. I was cautioned about turning too sharply, so when I started toward the teeter-totter, I was afraid to turn and so ran headfirst into it. No damage, luckily.

I decided that I would practice driving it in our yard, which was softer than the playground in case of accidents. The day I was going to practice, I looked out the kitchen window and saw Danny had lined up the benches from the picnic table, and all the neighbor kids were settling in to "watch Danny's mom wreck." Needless to say, I didn't get on it that day or anytime in the future.

Wayne just got out of our most comfortable chair, so I am going to grab my book and a blanket and enjoy the afternoon.