SUNSHINE

Beautiful day!  After an absence of several days, the sun is shining.  The sky is a beautiful blue, and the fall trees are beautiful in their red and yellow  leaves.  It has been so dark and dreary lately, which makes today even more beautiful.

Wayne got to work on the new porch/deck for an hour or so today. He could have gotten a lot more done, but he had to go to a Mason's installation dinner.  I could have gone, but after showering and washing my hair, I was so out of breath I decided to stay home.  They had their annual elections a couple of weeks ago, so Wayne no longer has to furnish and prepare meals or snacks for the meetings. He has been elected to the cemetery board for the next year, which will be a lot easier for him.

Speaking of the Mason's, I started Dan Brown's latest book, LOST SYMBOLS, a few weeks ago, but still haven't finished it.  To be truthful, I got really bored with it.  I will probably go back to it from time to time, but can't imagine it holding my interest long enough for me to finish it at one sitting.

Terri and Don are mostly settled in their new home.  They have a lot of yard work to do, but I imagine most of that will have to wait until Spring.

Garret and Kalee moved into their new row house Thursday.  Kalee has really good taste, so I imagine she will soon have it looking wonderful.  They have been a little aprehensive about this move, but I think they are really going to love their place

Danny is working again, thank goodness, so his mood has improved.  At least while he was off work he got a lot of song writing done.  Wish he would get his music recorded.  Some of his songs are really great.  And I don't think this is just a mother speaking, either. lol

We have a lot of health stuff coming up.  I will have to have a blood test done in November, in reference to my colon problems. We are both getting our regular flu shots November 6th, and Wayne has an appointment on the 4th for an eye exam. I need to make an eye appointment, too. In December I go back to Dr. Botts for my six month pulmonary visit. I think that is all we have scheduled.

I am getting hungry, and I think I will slice an apple and heat up the caramel apple dip. Hey, apples are healthy. 

THIS WEEK

Wayne worked on our new back porch this week, and it is really looking good.  He took yesterday and today off  from working on it, yesterday because of rain, and today just to rest his back.  He is planning on building a new step and moving the dog to Jackie's run tomorrow.  He will soon be starting on the ramp and putting the new railings up.  It will be nice to have it done, even though I probably won't be taking advantage of it for a while.  The car carrier for my power chair is rather expensive, and I'm not eager to spend that money.  I am eager to be able to spend more time in bookstores, etc., so I have mixed feelings.

Talk about mixed feelings, I am getting itcy feet to take a trip.  I am really wanting to go to Denver to see Danny, but with the weather cooling off it feels so cozy staying inside with a good book. My body seems to think I am getting ready to hibernate, I can't get enough to eat.  As soon as I finish eating something, I start planning what I can eat most.  This is not a good thing.

We ate lunch at Country Buffet Thursday, and while Wayne was eating dessert, I took a survey about the restaurant, which earned me a card for a free meal.  It is good until the end of October, and I know we will go back there in time for me to use it. Where else can two adults eat lunch, including drinks and desserts, for just over thirteen dollars?

Garret and Kalee moved from the base hotel to a long term motel today.  They were looking forward to having a kitchenette, but were disappointed when they found out what a fully furnished kitchen consisted of. One pan, one skillet, and a plastic spatula. Not much in way of dishes, either.  The good part is that they will be closing on their new house in only thirteen days, so they won't be in the motel very long.  The bank estimate on their place came back, and it was estimated to be worth a lot more than they are paying for it, so that made them very happy.

Trees are starting to change colors and the temperature right now is 51 degrees.  Brrrr

This is going to be a good sleeping night.  I hope.

EARLY MORNING NOT FOR ME

Everyone who knows me well knows that I am not a morning person.  As far as I am concerned, the day should not start until at least eleven in the morning.  I could even put up with it not starting until one or two in the afternoon, but that would not leave time for a nap. I like to think I am not entirely lazy, as I honestly believe my breathing problems have something to do with how tired I get.  Anyway --------

Sunday evening Wayne suggested that we get up early Monday morning and go for breakfast at our favorite buffet.  We really like the lunch and dinners there, and someone had told Wayne that the breakfast buffets were really good. 

We didn't set alarms, as the dogs always get at least one of us to let them out in the mornings.  Monday morning the dogs slept late and didn't wake us until around nine-thirty.  It is about a thirty minute drive to the buffet, so we decided that we would wait and go Tuesday morning, instead.

Sure enough, the dogs got us up before seven-thirty Tuesday, so we got dressed and headed for Gladstone.  It was very cool that morning, so Wayne turned the heater on in the car.  I honestly had trouble staying awake as it was so warm and cozy in the car.  When we got there, we noticed that there were only a couple of cars in the lot.  We figured that we had missed the early rush, but when we got to the door we looked at the sign showing the hours of business, and found that the breakfast buffet is only on weekends. Too early for lunch, so we started home.  Wayne suggested that we stop at Cracker Barrel in Liberty, which we did. No buffet, but by this time we just wanted a good breakfast.  My breakfast was eatable, but not anything to make me want to go back, and Wayne says that it was the worst breakfast he had ever had.

To make a long story short, I took my upset stomach back to bed for a few hours.  See, nothing good comes of getting up early.  It was a pretty morning, but not any prettier than the evening.

Terri had to take some time off from unpacking to rest her back, which often gives her trouble.  She hated this, but I think she should just enjoy this time.  She is under no deadline to get everything put up, and these days when you can just relax and enjoy the quiet times don't come that often. 

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but the row house Garret and Kalee are buying passed inspection with flying colors.  Next is the bank's appraisal.

Danny still has a touch of the flu, but is finally feeling better.  His job hunting is picking up, and hopefully he will have something soon.  His mood is a lot better now that he is not so sick.

I am catching up on laundry today, and Wayne is starting to remove the railings from our back porch, so he can extend the porch to make it easier to get my power chair out and turned to go down the ramp he is going to build.  Everything had been put on hold for a while, because of all the rain we were getting.  I still don't use the chair around home, but look forward to being able to go more places away from home with it.  Once I can get it out of the house and have a way to transport it, that is.  LOL

With Wayne outside, the television is off, and I have to admit I am enjoying the quiet.  Still can't understand why some people will sit and watch it for hours, and complain that there is nothing on worth watching.  As far as I am concerned, that is what the off button is for.  Oh, well.  In a little while he will come in and turn the air up, because he got hot working outside, and will then turn on the Weather Channel to see how hot he really is.  Are all men like this?

CATCHING UP

I've been very lazy about blogging, and I had really thought that I would keep up with it. It has turned out to be a lot like a New Year's resolution - good intentions and lots of determination, but full of holes.

So much has happened over the last month or so.  Terri and Don haven't gotten their Texas home sold, but they did buy one outside of Richmond. The movers delivered their things last Friday, so they are all moved in, even though it will be a while before they are completely unpacked. They have lots of room and I think they are really going to love it there. The view from their family room and deck is out of this world. Some of their friends from Texas have promised to visit, so that is good, too.

Garret and Kalee were here for a month, but it didn't seem like it.  Time went by so fast.  They are now in Baltimore, and Garret is at work in his new post at Fort Meade.  He is still in Intelligence, but his job is completely different from what he was doing in England.  The hours are much better now.  He works five days a week from eight to four, instead of twelve hour days with revolving days off and shift work. They are both very happy about this new schedule.

They have found a row house they want to buy, and their offer has been accepted.  Now they are waiting for the inspection, etc.  The house has  been renovated, and the photos of it are gorgeous.

I still haven't made it to Denver to see Danny.  He is out of work right now, and he also has the flu.  His spirits are pretty low right now.  Wish I could wave a wand and make everything right for him.

It has felt a lot like Fall lately.  Temperatures have been in the seventies and the leaves from the Walnut trees are falling constantly.  We have to park the car in our lower drive because of the walnuts falling. We have three walnut trees which extend over where we prefer to park, and between the nuts falling on their own and the squirrels throwing down half eaten one, it is dangerous to even walk there.  So many have struck our roof that the dogs don't even react to them any more.

Next Friday evening, we are meeting for pizza some folks we worked with at the police department. It is a new place where we are meeting, so just for fun we drove out there one day to make sure we could find it. They had home made pies for sale, and we bought a blackberry pie.  It was the best pie I have ever eaten, and today we went back and got another one.  They are not baked; they are frozen and we have to thaw and bake them, so they are really fresh.  I warm a piece up in the microwave, and then add a little ice cream to it.  Soooo good.

It is getting close to time to take the dogs our for the last time before bed.  Talk to you soon.

Congratulations to Garret

I can't believe that I left this out of my other blog! A few months ago Garret took the tests for advancement to Staff Sgt. Thursday the results were posted, and he passed with flying colors. It will still be a while before he is actually promoted, but at least he knows that he passed and the promotion is coming. I didn't doubt but what he would pass, but it was still good to hear for sure.

Have a ham in the oven, and it really smells good! Will probably just have hot ham sandwiches tonight, and then in a day or so we'll cook a big pot of beans. The best thing about air conditioning is being able to eat whatever you want any time of year.

Have to tell you about Wayne and cell phones next time.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP

This was a fun day. We met Garret and Kalee for lunch in Liberty at our favorite Mexican restaurant. We must have sat there talking at least an hour after eating, then came back to our house. Garret and Wayne varnished a library index card file that Kalee had bought at an on-line auction, and she and I looked at pictures on-line of some of the houses they are looking at in Maryland.

Then Wayne showed them some of his old family dishes that he will be dividing among his kids. They stayed a while longer and had some pie. It was fun and I was sorry to see them go.

They had been using our car since they got here from England, but they have bought one now, so my car is back. I didn't mind them using it at all, but I'm still glad to have it back.

Terri was here again for several days. She and Don had found a home they liked near Richmond, and after a little back and forth, they made an acceptible bid. The house is empty, so they were able to speed up closing, and should be able to close by the third of September. Terri has already made arrangements with the movers, and things are moving right along. Their home in Texas hasn't sold yet, but they will still be able to move right away.

Terri and I went to lunch one day this week, and we had a lot of fun. Don was working and we didn't invite Wayne to go with us. It was fun spending time alone with her. She and her dad left for Texas the day after that.

Garret and Kalee will be here another week, but that isn't nearly long enough for me. Although after they leave I may be able to drive to Denver to spend some time with Danny. I've been trying to visit him for months.

I talked to Dr. Coleman's office this week, but about all they could tell me was that I don't have cancer. I was having a "flare up" when they took the last samples, so apparently the pathologist couldn't tell if they had gotten all of the pre-cancer cells. I will have a blood test in three months, and maybe they will be able to tell me something more positive then. At least I didn't get really bad news.

Weather this week has been almost like fall. Not quite that cool, but cool enough we turned the furnace on for a short time a couple of mornings. We turn the air down to sixty-three at night, and the house wasn't warming up very fast on those mornings.

Wayne had Lodge last Monday night, and I really enjoyed that time. The worst thing about being married is never having any time to yourself. I've always been this way; enjoy being alone at least a few hours a week. Or day.

I don't think we have any plans for the weekend, so maybe I will actually get some ironing done. I've been putting it off for way too long.

SUNDAY MUSINGS

Back to the waiting game. I had my Sigmoidoscopy yesterday afternoon, so now I am just waiting to hear the results. Most of the time I am optimistic, but I am also nervous. I don't think I have cancer, and neither does Dr. Coleman, but until I hear for sure, I'm sure I will notice every little pain and feelings of discomfort. It will be a week to ten days before Dr. Coleman gets the results.

I didn't have to have sedation yesterday, so we were able to go out to eat as soon as we left the hospital. I hadn't eaten for over twenty-four hours, so I was ready.

Terri thought that they had their house sold, but the potential buyers didn't show up for their appointment with the realtor on Friday. She and Don will be house hunting in this area this coming week, and hopefully they find something soon. It will be good to have her living close again, but I will miss their Texas home. For their sake, I hope it sells quickly.

Garret and Kalee will be flying out of Heathrow Airport tomorrow, on their way to Chicage. From there they will fly into KCI, arriving around seven-thirty tomorrow evening. Can't wait to see them.

Been talking to Danny a lot, via phone, e-mail, and Facebook. Love keeping in touch with him. Miss seeing him. Still planning to go to Denver to see him when all the health things are taken care of. I want to sit on the patio at Greektown and catch up with my friends there.

I had a strange experience this afternoon. When my mother died several years ago, Wayne and I got her everyday silverwear. I reached in the drawer to get a spoon this afternoon, and when I picked it up I had the strangest feeling wash over me. I looked down and noticed that I had picked up one of mother's spoons. I really can't explain the feeling. It was almost like she was there. I really miss her and think of her often, but this is the first time something like this has happened. I wasn't even thinking of her when I picked up the spoon, and didn't notice it was one of her's until after I seemed to feel someone there. It wasn't scary, just strange.

I had an email from a favorite email friend recently (from California), and I realized how easy it is to lose touch with people. I am going to try harder to be a better friend. Better answer that email right now.