Friday, August 27, 2010

Yesterday I did some yard work and that did me in for the day. I don't know why it did either. It was lovely outside, not hot and humid, that's why I did yard work. Anyway I had a splitting headache and sore neck so I took a long nap.

I've been working on one of my novels for the last couple of days.

The other day Kent did his laundry and washed and dried a ballpoint pen. The pen exploded in the dryer and left the drum in a mess. We've been trying different methods to remove the ink. The one that seems to work was rubbing the drum with nailpolish remover...worked like a charm. Then you wipe the drum with warm, soapy, water and run the dryer for 30 minutes with nothing in it.

The clothes on the other hand one of which were a pair of tan work pants look like they've been tie dyed. Home remedy didn't work. I told Kent to pick up some OxyClean and we'd see how that worked. His clothes are soaking as I write this. They need to soak 1-6 hours. Then you wash them.

The above two pieces of this journey I did today. Kent worked on the dryer for two days without a lot of success.

Right now Kent and Heather are both at work. Brian is here with me. Heather plans on taking him to Leigh Ann's at 8:00 p.m. He will be going back to Pittsburg over the weekend. School starts for him next week, so he'll be with his dad.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

The past two days have been pretty hectic.

Monday, August 23, 2010 I had an appointment to get my yearly mammogram. I'm always sore, muscle-wise, afterwards for a couple of days. The test itself is not painful at all...with the right technichian. I was up early so I took a nap...there goes the day.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 - Up early, again. Cardiology appointment with Dr. Pattison. He was so proud of my progress. My EKG was perfect, blood pressure was normal. He reduced one of my meds, I only take 3 now instead of 4 a week. (He's trying to get me off some of my meds.) If I continue doing this good we might be able to stop the coumanim (woo hoo!). We sent me down for blood test to check my liver function and a couple of other things. I don't need to see him again until March of 2011.

The rest of the day went like this: When blouse shopping for Heather; went to the library; picked up Brian for a stay; dropped of med refills (renewals) at CVS and Krogers; went to lunch at Blocks Bagels; picked up Kent from work; went to Walmarts so Kent could do some shopping; back to Krogers and CVS to pick up our meds; and stopped again at the library.

Today, right at this moment, Kent is at work, Heather is at work, and Brian is sleeping. My day has begun!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Yesterday was an interesting day. I heard from an old friend from 30 years ago. It was just a note saying hello and please get in touch with them. An email address was included. I did send an email, but have not heard anything back. I wonder what prompted them to want to get in touch with me?

Outside of that, Kent went to Springfield to spend some time with friends for the weekend. We're picking him up tonight. Heather went to Dayton with her friend to a "garden party" thing. She got home around 11:30 last night.

Heather worked today from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. now she is sleeping in the recliner with her laptop in her lap. I'm to get her up for lunch in a few.

Me? Just chilling at the computer. LOL

Friday, August 20, 2010

Today was my yearly pap test. They drew blood, as well, to check my cholesterol. The rest of the day I worked on my poetry.

Kent worked from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Heather worked from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Brian was still with us until 7:00 p.m. then we took him to his other grandparents.

Heather, Kent, and I went to Blendon Woods for a moonlight tram ride. It was truly nice and cool. You could hear frogs and crickets in the woods and see fireflies all around. The smell of fresh grass and wildflowers filled the air. They took us to a marsh area and we could see Canadian geese, as well as wood ducks, before what little light that was left departed for the day. A friend of Heather's met us there and went on the tram ride with us.

Kent, Heather, and Heather's friend are out in the kitchen playing Monopoly.

I'm ready for bed. but it will be a while before I get to go to bed.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Wednesday, August 18, 2010, Heather picked Brian up and they went to the storage shed to collect things Brian needed to take back to Pittsburg with him when he goes back for school. Fortunately it didn't take long for him to locate what he needed.

Kent wanted to go to WalMart so we went there and did some shopping. We stopped at Taco Bell for lunch.

Heather had plans in the early evening, so it was Brian, Kent, and I for dinner. I made stuffed cabbage with fresh vegetables on the side. While that was cooking I collected the trash and swept the kitchen/utility room floors so the trash could go out to the curb.

Kent had to go to work at 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. and as he was leaving he couldn't find his employee badge. Heather took him to work so he wouldn't be late while Brian and I tore the house apart looking for his badge. By the time Heather got back home I had found the badge in the drier. Heather took that and Kent's cellphone back to Speedway so he would have them.

Oh, well what can I say?

Brian spent the night with us. Heather is at work right now (10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) not sure if Kent goes to work later. He is sleeping at the moment.

That's it for now.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Well, pooh! Time has slipped past me again.

Monday, August 16, 2010 - Brian was with us so we decided to go to the cheap movies to see Shrek Forever After in 3D. Cost .75 per person....wrong! We got there and it was $2.00 per person (still cheap, but more that we could afford). We saw Marmaduke for .75 each and it was just as good. While dinner was cooking Heather and I went to Value City to window shop (actually we went to see what types of recliners were available and could fit my needs). The recliner I have now is so old that it is hard to close and since I'm shrinking I have a devil of a time sitting in it and getting out of it. I found a recliner that was the right fit and semi-automatic when it came to the reclining part (motor operated). We were also checking out the price ranges. Right now we can't do anything...no room...no money to spare.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - Brian went home to his other grandma. Heather worked from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and Kent had the day off. We had made plans to meet Chip and Margaret (brother and sister-in-law for those who didn't know) for dinner at a nearby restaurant. We "hogged" the table for two hours but we had good food and a great visit.

Today - Brian is back with us for the day and we are planning to go to WalMart. Kent needs to get something there. That's where things are for the moment.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Kind of a quiet day. Heather worked from 5 a.m. until 10 a.m. Kent worked from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. Heather picked Brian up and he's over here with us.

He played paintball yesterday with some of his uncles and he had a good time. He, also, garnered a few bruises out of it.

It seems so much like a Monday instead of Sunday. At dinner time I tried to take my Monday meds when I realized it was Sunday. Now the Sunday box in my pill rack still had my evening meds in it. What clued me into the fact that something was amiss was there were "colored" pills in my hand and it should have been all white pills. I take the blue, green, pink, and some white ones in the morning. Duh. Made the correct pills happen and all is well. LOL.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Not feeling all that good today. Not ill, just out of sorts. Alot of it seems to be my sinuses. The one behind my left eye felt soooo much better after a hot compress was put on it. I then took a short nap which helped. I've been up four hours now and it's beginning to ache again.

Kent worked from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Heather had the day off. Her friend, Mark F., is visiting with her, he's been here most of the day. I managed to get the laundry started.

It's been beastly hot around here, but it did rain for a bit and has cooled it down a little, but it is still humid. Air conditioning is a good thing.

Friday, August 13, 2010

I relized that I haven't been mentioning what I have been doing writing-wise. This week I have been working on my cartoons. The week before, if I forgot to mention it, I worked on the next novel in my series. This would be book three of two in the Flickertail Saga (Snow Flower in print) and (Tehya's Tree out in the market world) and the one I'm writing.

That's pretty much it for today. Kent worked until 6:00 a.m. and is currently sleeping. Heather is at work now until 3:00 p.m.

Michael (the neighbor boy) is mowing my grass. He mows my yard in exchange for using my lawnmower to mow his yard. Works for me. We've done this for 6 years now.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I had a rough sleeping night on Tuesday, so I slept when I could. Yesterday, Wednesday, didn't go as planned. Supposedly I would be home alone, but it didn't happen. Instead we had company in the evening. Two of Heather's friends were in town from Boston.

Grandpa Kurt sent me a WebCam and I installed it late last night. Then I had to get Kent to show me how to make a call. I already had Skype but the install program wanted me to do something to get Skpye...so it confused an easily confused old broad...lol. I didn't want to do anything that would mess up the installation. Thank goodness for grandchildren!

A big thanks to Grandpa Kurt for his generousity.

I did manage to get the trash together yesterday since it was trash day. Kent had to go into work for a couple of hours so Heather took it to the curb for me.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Right at the moment everyone is at work. Kent went in at 5:50 a.m. and works until 2:00 p.m. so I am expecting him home any time now. Heather works from 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Her plan then is to pick up Brian and some KFC for dinner and return home with both.

Supposedly I might be home alone tomorrow. Guess we'll wait and see. Kent is planning on going to Springfield to visit friends and Heather has plans for the day. I'm not sure where Brian fits into all this.

I still have a sore right side (rib cage area) from my yard work yesterday. I took an Advil last night before I went to bed to see if that would help. I ended up tossing and turning for a while before I dozed off for a couple of hours.

I talked on Skype with my brother today. He still sounds under the weather. This heat seems to be exceptionally hard on him this year. He was just checking in to see how I was. We talked for a little bit.

Then Kurt Jesse called me on the cellphone to tell me that he had a serious sunburn. I sympathsized with him. I have had serious sunburns myself. We talked for a little bit.

That's how the day has been.

Monday, August 9, 2010

It's been a quiet day so far. Kent got home okay (he worked 10 p.m. yesterday until 6 a.m. this morning) and is now sleeping. It looks like he has the rest of the day off. I worked out in the yard and got the trimming done that I planned to do before it got too hot. Heather is now at work and will be there until 6 p.m. Kent is still sleeping. I've got the dishwasher going, hope it doesn't wake him up.

My back aches, my hernias hurt, and a chest muscle on the left side of my chest aches....all this thanks to the yard work. I even took it easy. Oh well, good exercise I guess. Hope I can get through the day without a nap. LOL.

Kent got called into work. He's working 4:15 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. He will be beat by the time he gets home.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

A year ago today I lost my long time companion, lover, and friend. Stephen passed away in a nursing home of COPD. I was no longer able to care for him at home. We tried to keep him here, at home, because he knew if he went to the hospital he would not come back. Unfortunately his home care nurse could do nothing more for him and under his doctor's directions an ambulance was called. He spent two weeks in the hospital and four weeks in the nursing home. He was on 100 percent oxygen. Every time I saw him I could see him going downhill. His breathing got harder to do day by day. I miss his humor and caring for me.

We knew each other for twenty years or so, but were a couple for only 15 of them. He wasn't a mechanical, handy-man, type of guy and he freely admitted it. He was someone I could talk to and he would listen. He offered his support and embraces when I needed them. On long hard days at work I would come home and he would have a simple dinner ready and waiting for me. These were the things that endeared him more to me.

Stephen had overcome many hard times. He was an alcholic for years, but was a recovered one years before I met him. I do know that he still attended AA meetings. He was homeless for a while. He had four marriages and we both agreed we were not marrying each other. We lived together, grew together, and held together through our health problems.

He has two beautiful daughters that I accepted as my own. He accepted my daughters as his as well. Between the two of us we had four daughters, three sons-in-law, six grandsons, and four granddaughters. Shortly after his passing he became a great-grandfather for the first time. As it turned out he never meet his youngest grandson, Wyatt, nor Logan his great-grandson.

We know that he is in a better place where he is no longer struggling to breath. He is with his mother, sister Lois, T.Tom, and Baby Jane. He has family with him. May he rest in peace.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Catch up time.

August 1 (Sunday) - Sat around twiddling my thumbs...arrgg. Did nothing much. Rested up from yard work. This hot muggy weather takes it toll on me. Not to mention the fresh air, sunshine, and labor.

August 2 (Monday) - Walked over and paid the rent and by the time I got home realized I should not have been out in that heat. Had my blood drawn for the couminin level. Worked on the dreaded grocery list. Took Windows updates on my computer. Worked on a novel.

August 3 (Tuesday) - Did my laundry, continued working on the dreaded grocery list (have I mentioned that I hate grocery shopping? It is not one of my favorite things for the past eight years.) Worked some more on my novel.

August 4 (Wednesday) - Dunt, dunt,done - Grocery Day! Everyone was home to day so we went (dunt, dunt, done) grocery shopping! We started at 9:30 a.m. and went to Meijers for the bulk of our shopping. Brought that home. Had lunch. Then went to Krogers for the next wave of deals. Brought that home. Next we went to Gordon Food Store (GFS) and bought meat in bulk. Brought that home. It is now late afternoon and trash needs to be taken care of. I gathered the trash and Kent took it out to the curb for me. I said a sad good-bye to the litter box. Brian was here. That took care of Wednesday.

August 5 (Thursday) - Gathered up remaining cat stuff (wet food, dry food, litter, pan liners, pan deoderizer, flea dip, etc.) so Heather can take it to a friend of her's. Helped out with others laundry, and worked on my novel. Brian, Kent, and Heather went back to the Ohio State Fair.

August 6 (Friday) - Did yard work on till I was dizzy from the heat. Spent most of the day trying to stay awake. Napped a bit. Kent made cookies last night...yummy.

Now we are caught up to today. It's still pretty fresh so not much to report. See you later.