What's going on?

December is always a busy month, and this December, so far, hasn't been an exception.

Alan and I have had the usual and unusual rounds of doctor's appointments.  He's still cancer free after almost 13 years, Praise God!

I had a scare after we returned from vacation.  Right after we got back I had an appointment with our GP, and after a standard urine test, she decided I needed antibiotics because I seemed to have a bladder infection.  Too much information?  Just wait!  Well after two weeks, the antibiotics hadn't cleared up the infection so she wanted me to have an ultra sound.  That showed something she didn't like, so she wanted me to have a renal CT scan.  That showed a "mass in the right kidney" and she referred me to a kidney specialist, for which it took almost two months to get an appointment.   Finally after all that waiting he told me I had watery cysts which was a common affliction among the elderly -- yes, I'm officially an elderly -- and I was fine.  No cancer or any indication of cancer. 

All that time I had put on hold having total knee replacement.  I guess my trip back home to attend my 50th high-school reunion pushed me to make that decision.  I was pretty miserable, even though I had a scooter to get around with.  And our vacation to Lancaster County, PA, while it was enjoyable was still pretty painful. 

So last week I finally got back in to see my orthopedist (I had also seen him prior to going back to Runnemede) and I will have total knee replacement on January 11th.  I can't wait.  I wish I could have both knees worked on at the same time, but then where would that leave me?  Also, I wasn't given that option.

Mixed in with all those appointments has been the hope, but not the reality of shopping in stores.  So I've ordered most things on-line.  I haven't wrapped a thing, yet, though.  And I have at least 20 gifts that need either bagging or wrapping.  However, I can't find my wrapping paper keeper that is usually stored with my Christmas stuff.  So, I need to get at least to the Dollar store and get paper and/or bags:  a sore, uncomfortable trip, but I can't let my shopper do that for me.  I'm pretty fussy about what I like for wrapping presents in. 

And, the only Christmas cards I have addressed are the ones to my grandchildren.  And I know you all love to get cards from me at Christmas time, right?  Well, not this year -- and not last year, and not the year before.  In fact, in my married life-time, I think I only sent out Christmas cards  maybe 10 Christmases.  I have to admit that.  I think if cards still cost 10 cents to mail, I might be induced into sending them, but at 44 cents (it is 44 cents, right?) I'll just write to you all:  Merry Christmas and remember what you're celebrating and why you're celebrating.

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Tomorrow

Tomorrow I shall become a grandmother again.  I told Alan (on Sunday) that Cyndi, our youngest, will have her baby on Wednesday, November 9.

Today she called me and told me that she was having her baby tomorrow, if not sooner.  Since it's now 9 p.m. on November 8th, I have no doubt that we could still have a baby today since Cyndi is one of those fortunate women who has babies very easily and very quickly.  However, I still think it will be tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 9.

I find it so amazing that these days letting a woman go at least two weeks past her due date is not common practice.  When I had my children -- all of which were late, by the way -- it wasn't even considered no matter how much one begged their ob-gyn doctor to "please, get this lump out of me."  Yes, I was one of those beggars. 

My first was a week late, my second was a week late, and Cyndi was almost a month late, or the Army doctors were way off on her due date when I tested pregnant.

Cyndi, my youngest is having another baby!  Yippee.  I can't wait.  It's a girl, by the way, and her name is Savannah.

I'm praying for another easy birthing for her and that she goes into labor before she's induced.

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It's me, again

I cannot believe it has been almost two weeks since I posted anything on my BLOG.  I have to blame it, once again, on old age aches and pains. 

Have I read any good books lately?  I know you all want to know.  Well, yes, as a matter of fact I have.  Nothing heavy, though.

It is, after all, the beginning of the Christmas reading season.  So, I had downloaded 30 or so Christmas books that were either free on Kindle or 99 cents -- this was done throughout the last year, since last Christmas. 

A couple of weeks ago I read Nicholas Sparks' newest, The Best of Me.  Very enjoyable. 

I've decided to read a Christmas book one day and a free download from one of the Christian publishers another day.  Of course, the beginning of the month gives me a plethora of new material to choose from.  It's so much fun.

Alan is getting me the Kindle Fire for Christmas and it's supposed to arrive in a couple of weeks.  He won't let me have it before Christmas, and he's going to fiddle with it.  I sure hope he doesn't break it or mess it up for me.  He hasn't had much success with working with his own Kindle and has me show him over and over and over how to order books or do some of the other things that Kindle does.   Funny thing is, he knows how it works, but can get it to work.  Same with his computer.  Except for Excel, which I can't figure out at all, and really don't want to, he asks me 'how to' questions quite often.

Well, enough rambling for three o'clock in the morning.  So I'll say:

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Another day in a hospital

Seems it's my turn to be in the hospital -- not for any overnight stays, but for tests. I had to go in for a test today, and, of course, the weather is lousy. Cold (wind chill at 30) and rainy. Last week I also went in for a test (same problem) and the weather was just plain rainy -- hard, driving rain, but at least the temperature was around 70 degrees.

I've been having kidney problems for a couple of years and when we got home from vacation there were markers that I was having more than just low functioning kidneys, so I was sent in for an ultra-sound of my kidneys. That was last week and the pictures showed that there was a mass of some sort in there, so this Thursday (seems to be the out-patient day for me) I went in for CT scan. I won't know until next week what the results are.

I'm just lazing around wondering what's in there. Is it a large blot clot? Is it a large kidney stone? I've had small ones before. Is it a tumor (Yikes, I hope not!). Is it perhaps a hair ball? Just kidding on that one. I don't eat my hair like some people on TV do. Yuck.

Oh, yeah, I am NOT in pain, nor do I have any other complaints, other than the usual. To you young folks, don't get old. I said that to the nurse today and she said, "Do you know how many times a week I get told that?" I guess I'm not alone in the aches and pains department. My PT specialist says its the weather. Okay, I can buy that. We've had crummy weather for four days, and my pain levels have been at about 7 in all joints for that many days.

So, when I find out what's happening I'll post it here on the Fat Lady BLOG for all the world that is interested to know.


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Prayer works

Anyone reading this, please pray for me. I have had a bad bout of fibromyalgia. Alan has prayed for me several times, and I get relief for several hours after that, mostly. But the symptoms are driving me up a wall. Not only the hurt, but the creepy/crawlies that sometimes accompanies these attacks. It's been four days now. Not fun.

On the bright side: My porch is lovely and I'm enjoying the sun, at short intervals. My next grandchild is due in about five weeks. I'm looking forward to welcoming a new baby into our ever-growing family.

I think I had the most grandchildren born to my birthed children (not step-children) of anyone at the reunion. People kept commenting on what a wonderful gift it was for me to have that many "grands". And it is. I love them all. Wish I could see them all more often.

Thinking about Christmas. Lots of shopping is already completed. Just a few more gifts to get, then the wrapping begins.

Thanksgiving? Not sure what we're doing yet, whether we're going to go down to Tennessee for the week, or stay home alone (not wanting to do that).

So, I've updated my BLOG so my sister knows I'm alive and almost well for this week.

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No pain, no gain

Well, the physical therapist has upped the ante. Today we started working on the knees in addition to the back, in preparation for surgery in January. I asked for it. I asked that they do what they normally do for a patient who has bad knees. I need to have the surrounding muscles doing a good job before they slice me open :).

Am I worried? Scared? Not really. I guess I just got tired of the constant pain, except when I sit down, and then the painlessness is not a given any more.

It seems that when we were in Lancaster County I did too much walking. I didn't think I was hurting anything, even though my body was trying to tell me something, I suppose of the total-muscle-cramp days.

At least the doctor visits are over for at least a week, then they start up again. Yippee!

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Another day, another doctor visit

Tomorrow, hopefully, is the last one for a while.

Alan's oncologist called yesterday (well, not the doctor, but his head nurse) and told me, because Alan wasn't here, that Alan's creatin level was high, and that his kidney function was lower than last time. So I wrote all that down, and was telling this to Alan.

Low and behold, this a.m. my doctor's nurse called to tell me that I had a bladder infection and she was prescribing Cipro for me, and that I should make a date with her for 10 days from now. Okay, done! Then the nurse preceded to tell me that there were a couple of other "issues". My kidney function was down (again) and I should drink more water. I told her I was drowning now, but I'd drink more water, then she tells me that my creatin levels were a bit high. Sound familiar. My creatin level was the same as Alan's, and my kidney function wasn't much better.

Golly it's fun getting old.

Then she told me that my cholesterol was high and I should cut out red meat. I told her I eat red meat, maybe, twice a month. And she asked if I was taking my Rx for cholesterol. I told her, "No. I've read too much about the bad effects of Lipator and Crestor, and I'm going to die someday anyway. Does it matter which way I go, or when I go?" She laughed, and said, "You think just like I do."

We're both about the same age (the nurse being about 5 years younger than I am), and about the same weight, only she has diabetes.

The good news is: my blood sugar levels are good and there is no evidence that I'm on my way to diabetes, and my BP is really good.

So thankful for good news!

Alan's gets to see our GP tomorrow and gets to find out about a few matters that his oncologist wanted him to check with our GP, including his ability to faint dead away at any time of the day or night, at the most inconvenient times, and for which even his neurologist cannot find a reason. Hmmm. Maybe it's because he, too, is getting older?

Next time I go to my favorite doctor, that being my GP, I'm going to ask her to refer us to a gerontologist and cry as I wave goodbye to her. I really do like Dr. Caoili (pronounced ko-wheel-lee) and she always spends as much time as I want or need to just listen to me.

Finally, I've been crying a lot lately. I cry when I see a 55 MPH sign on the highway (just kidding, but you criers know what I mean). Well, I had forgotten that the fibromyalgia medicine that I cut out because of the charley horse problem I had on vacation where my whole body locked up, and charley horses was a side effect of this particular medicine. Well, I should have backed out of it slowly instead of cold-turkeying out of it. That aside. The medication is also an antidepressant, which I had forgotten about, because it wasn't prescribed because I have a problem of being depressed. Well, the crying, she said, is probably because I cut myself off from that medicine.

So, as I'm weeping here, trying to finish today's epistle, I just want to say that I feel good. I had a good physical therapy session in which I actually rode a bicycle for several minutes before my knees quit on me (that fact makes me cry -- the fact that I could ride a bike for a couple of minutes) and I got my weights increased that I have to lift with my legs and arms, so it was a good session.

And I'm crying because my personal assistant came today and got my house back in order, all the laundry from our trip put away, the house now smells clean, and a new slew of groceries was purchased. I really missed her while I was away, but she kept my house clear of unwanted visitors while I was away and I always enjoy her company.


And that's all I have to say about all this stuff written mostly for the benefit of my family.

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Issues

Well, Alan and I have ALMOST finished our quarterly round of doctors' appointments. I finally got a cortisone shot in my knee and it has helped quit a bit, but the handwriting is definitely on the wall.

I finally found a surgeon (sports medicine surgeon) would has no problem with doing a total knee replacement on my right knee even though my weight is as it is. He would like me to lose some weight, but after Weight Watchers, Atkins, Jenny Craig, etc., and nothing working, including eating only one honeymoon salad a day with lemon squeezed on it for dressing, for a month, and still not losing weight, I don't think any weight loss is going to happen.

I am scheduled to reappear in his office after Christmas for another pep-talk and scheduling date for the surgery. Can't wait for that to happen -- NOT.

Anyway, I have other issues which I will not divulge yet, at least not until I see one more doctor -- that's coming up on Monday. Alan also has been referred to another doctor by his oncologist, because what's wrong is probably not a cancer problem, but his GP can order the tests for checking it out.

Now, family and friends, don't start worrying. It's just another bump in the world of aging and we're riding over these bumps like all the other ones.

We may not like them, but we tolerate them.

Alan and I actually got to church together for the first time in ages tonight. It was a real blessing to be back. I have to amend the first statement, we DID get to church in NJ -- we went to church in Runnemede, and I have to say, that little church is still my favorite. Not many folks that I know, or knew, are left there, but Alan and I are always received like best friends whenever we go back there.

So, stay tuned, more to follow after our Monday appointments.

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Great vacation

One of the must-stop places in Lancaster County is the Bird-in-Hand Bake Shop. Such good stuff and I have to recommend the cinnamon buns with raisins (they also come plain and with nuts and with nuts & raisins) and the three cheese bread -- soft loaf, sandwich style, which makes the best BLTs in the whole wide world.

This is a photo of one of the many family-style Amish restaurants that are in the area. This one is at Stoltzfus farm and there are 16 dishes delivered to your table which you can refill as you wish. Amazing, and goooood!

Just one of the gorgeous breakfast appetizers we enjoyed at the Apple Bin Inn. I think this was on day four. Not one single appetizer or main course breakfast dish was the same in the 7 mornings we were there.

This picture was taken through my side mirror. The Amish do not like you to take pictures of them and I was really trying for the horse and buggy (at rest) since all the buggies we had seen were on the road and we were definitely going to get a picture of them. The little girl in the picture was a bonus.

First, let me say that Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is probably not high on any of my neighbors' or family's vacation list, but it should be. We had really great accommodations at the Apple Bin Inn in Willow Street, PA, and our host, Steve, was such a blessing. He built a ramp to the door to the kitchen entrance, just for us. That's going beyond...

Second, my body locked up when we arrived in Lancaster County and didn't unlock until today. I can't explain it, but for one week I cold barely move, not just because of sciatic back pain, or knee pain, but my whole body just didn't want to move. Today? Barely a whisper of a pain. How I wish all my days could be like today was.

We went to Sight and Sound -- a really professional production of Bible accounts -- on stage until the end of October if Joseph. Next Spring is Jonah. I might just head east for a few days just to see that production.

We spent another day at the automobile museum in Hershey, PA. I sat in the car and read, while Alan scooted around the museum. Glad we don't have to go there again. I think two, five-hour stints is enough.

We spent two days just traveling the back roads in the county looking at farms, looking for a phone shanty, which I never found, trying to get photos of at least one Amish school. The ones we saw were fenced and I couldn't get a good shot, so I bought a book.

Then I ran out of battery power and our road trip(s) were over until next time.

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I am putting up just a few of the pictures I took in Lancaster County. I loved the place and want to return, and it's only an 8 hour drive, doable if my body is working as it should for a 68-year-old in one day.

Back home again in KY (not Indiana)

Trips take more and more out of me, I find, and the difficulty seems to be increasing exponentially.

Take our most recent trip for instance.

Alan and I went back to New Jersey. The purpose? I wanted to attend my 50th high school reunion, and I was determined to go with or without Alan, even if someone had to push me in on a gurney. Well, Alan went with me and if anyone was going to rolled in on a gurney, it was Alan.

We always have some "health" disaster when we travel, and really, that makes the trip all the more exciting, right? Wrong? We pray each time we go for protection while driving, and for health, and for rest. We praise God that we had no driving problems, unless you consider a 4-hour traffic delay on the Schuylkill a problem. The rains of Thursday morning (Sept. 8) in the Philadelphia and South Jersey area caused flooding which caused many roads to be closed which meant since the Schuylkill was high and dry all seven million drivers in the Philadelphia area on a Thursday afternoon (I made up the number) funneled onto the Expressway and I could have walked the distance from Valley Forge to Downtown almost as fast, assuming I had good knees, which I don't.

Finally...we arrived at the DoubleTree hotel in Mt. Laurel -- reunion headquarters -- after dinner time on Thursday evening. We didn't venture forth, because traffic was so bad, still, so we fasted that evening -- no food, in other words. The room/suite was lovely and the big bonus was that we had two TVs. Alan's and my taste in programming are as far apart as New Jersey is from one mile off the coast of New Jersey traveling West past China, Europe, etc. You get the picture?

I must also mention that our health disaster this time included another trip to another hospital and I took another picture to add to Alan's hospital album. Alan fainted or something right after breakfast. No one knows what happened, least of all Alan, but when the breakfast lady came rushing out into the lobby where I was sitting shouting to call 911, I knew Alan had done it again. Yes, he had.

When I entered the breakfast room he was on the floor, unconscious. I figured his blood pressure had dropped suddenly, and he would be fine, which is what happened, we think. He felt dizzy, decided to lay down on the floor, and while doing that he lost consciousness and hit his head on the table leg. He was infused with fluids and released to his family doctor after about 4 hours.


Friday I had a wonderful lunch with my cousin Joan. She prepared manicotta and several other dishes as well as several desserts and a wide range of appetizers. Joan is a terrific cook. I took several desserts back to the hotel for Alan, as well as a dish full of the main course foods, and he loved them, especially the cheese cake which he devoured while I attended the first evening's party. He wasn't supposed to eat the whole thing. I would have loved to have had a piece, and I should have known better. Put something sweet in front of my SWEETheart and it disappears very quickly.

I guess the highlight of the lunch besides the food was seeing each other again and getting to share a few things that we hadn't thought about for years. Joanie is a beautiful woman, both physically and spiritually.

The Friday evening party was a lot of fun and since I was on the scooter I was able to mingle freely without worrying whether I'd fall down or not be able to walk back to the room -- and not because I had imbibed too much, but because the knees wouldn't work right.

Saturday night's dinner dance was a hoot as well. And all those free breakfasts got us (my classmates and me) sharing more about our years in between June 1961 and September 2011.

After the reunion weekend -- I wish we could have stayed for Sunday, but couldn't -- we went on to Lancaster County, PA and stayed in a small cottage at one of the B&Bs in the county. I had been reading many books about the Amish and Lancaster County recently before I made the reservations for us to go there. the trip through the country lanes was especially enjoyable.

So, we're home. The trip home was good, except for some rain through Ohio, the weather was really nice. I'm really happy to be home again.

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More family

This is Grace. She is growing up so fast and is getting prettier every time I see her, as is Annie her sister (picture following Dan's). Grace is very caring and very much like her mom. And oh, my kitchen is such a mess. These pictures were taken right after breakfast and nothing had been cleaned up yet.
Dan is getting so tall. He's 13, but he doesn't realize that teenagers are supposed to sleep later than 7:30 a.m.! He and I love to spar with each other. He often wins!

This is Annie on her daddy's lap (Quinn). She's almost 11 and very affectionate. She's the only one who gave me a hug without my asking for it. Love that.

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Last night my oldest daughter came into town with her husband and her children. We had a really nice time of talk (no TV) and we finally stopped talking a little after midnight. I was falling asleep, I was so very tired.

I barely woke up in time to get ready to go to therapy, but I was able to make it with a minute to spare. If you know me, I'm always EARLY. I can't stand to be late. I guess one minute early is still early.

Anyway, the pictures are labeled and are Becky's family. Becky wouldn't let me take her picture. She's still in a lot of pain and can't really sit down well. She is still laying on the couch or in bed a lot.

They'll be back tonight to pick up their stuff, which they left here so they could spend a day at The Beach.

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Family

Jack is so shy. He usually has his hand in front of his face, but I was able to get a quick picture of him with his hands down. He's so cute.

See, here he is trying to hide from me. So we play a game where I cover my face and "hide" from him. Eventually, he lets his hands down. I just love this child.

This is Ellie Mae, posing for me. Yes, that is not a design on her shirt, but because she was wearing a hungry shirt, we could call it I love my breakfast (the shirt is talking there).

I just dropped in on my youngest today and spent about five minutes visiting. These are the only two children that are still at home, until the new baby comes along. The other four are in school. The new baby is a girl, but no name has been picked yet. Cyndi looks beautiful, as always, even without make-up, and she is carrying a basketball under her shirt. LOL.

I was glad to have these few minutes with her, the children, and even Shandon who was working on his Viper. Jack was helping him. So sweet.

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Physical Therapy

I started physical therapy (PT) yesterday. This is supposed to fix me up for good. Walking is the goal.

I had a second spinal epidural last week and handled it about the same as the first one except my legs didn't go numb, just my head. I had a difficult time with the head. I felt dizzy and light-headed for almost an hour. So, of course, I had to remain in the small cubicle until I could prove that I could walk a straight light. After an hour, they put me in the waiting room for another half hour and then I decided I was walking out. And I did.

They also -- on that same day -- scheduled me for physical therapy. That started yesterday. It wasn't too bad and I was given three exercises to do at home until tomorrow, my next session. Then he (Mike) will give me three more, at least that's what he said. However, the last two we tried, I couldn't do -- no stability in my left leg.

I realize it's been ages since I BLOGged, but since after the epidural I was incapacitated for a couple of days -- you see it doesn't work on me as it does other people -- it makes me feel worse for a few days, then heals up. So after healing up it was the weekend and since Alan is feeling so well he is constantly planning all these things for us to do.

The best news is that I saved almost 25 percent using coupons this week and our food bill was the lowest it's been for a couple of years. And...the main items I bought were meats. Even with all the extra meat (and no coupons, of course, for meat) I did very well, and Alan is pleased.

It's almost time for my 50th high school reunion -- 3 weeks. Can't wait.

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Day Seven

Hasn't been too bad today, at least not until this evening.

I was telling Alan today that I am so very happy that we purchased a new a/c-heat pump earlier this summer, actually it was in the cold spring. It has been doing its job.

Every day this past week I had intended on going swimming in the a.m., but each morning as I stepped out on the open porch, it was too hot, so I just went back into the air cooled house and stayed put. We keep our thermometer at 79 in the summer, 69 in the winter. And 79 is just right for me and Alan, except when I get those hot spells a few times during the day.

Tomorrow is church. I hope the a/c is working well. I don't do heat at all. I never have. My mom used to tell me to just sit in front of the fan and not to move. So, if the porch wasn't breezy enough, I'd head indoors and sit in front of the fan and read a book or work a puzzle. I can't believe we didn't have any air conditioning back when I was a kid or when I was growing up. We didn't have air conditioning until we moved to Cincinnati. And except for a few well placed fans we did okay.

Now I don't know how I would survive without it. Actually? I probably wouldn't. I just be a statistic.

Also check out: http://www.runnemederemembered.blogspot.com


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Six days

Well, it's been six days and today is the first time in those six that I've had to take a pain pill, and it worked right away. I'm doing so well.

I had some wonderful pink-bunny days this week. What's a pink-bunny day? It's a day when I just keep going and going and going. I may be late getting started each day, but once I do, I'm off and walking fast.

I didn't say "running" because I don't run any more.

I'm missing people like crazy. Grandchildren, cousins, children, siblings, friends. I guess it's because I can do things currently that I'm missing people.

I've read some good books, at least good from my perspective, so far this summer. My Kindle now holds 738 unread books, and 525 books I've either read or read a few pages and then deleted (or put into the archives). I need to go through my archives and finally delete those no-good books.

You can't really tell from the description whether you will like a book. For me, I've now decided that I'm only downloading books from Christian publishers, or books by authors I've read in the past, OR books mentioned by Glen Beck or Rush or Mark Levin.

So, tomorrow I'll get down to the pool before it gets too, too hot. Well that would be around 3 a.m., I suppose, but I can't get in before 9 a.m. Hopefully the water won't be too warm and I'll be able to keep cool for an hour or so before I have to leave the pool water and go home.

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my life

Well, I had a lumbar epidural steroidal injection (in the spine) to relief the horrible pain I've been having for 6 weeks caused by my sciatic nerve being out of whack. I had 36 hours of relief then the pain came back again. It's not as bad as it was on the day I received the injection, but it is bad enough that I don't want to do much.

I thank God, though, for the few hours of non-sleeping time during which I enjoyed walking FAST.

Today I'm heading out the farmer's market at Lunken Airport. That's a smallish airport near where we used to live on the east side of Cincinnati. There has been a farmer's market there every summer for at least 37 years -- as long as we've been out here.

Today I shall certainly buy tomatoes and peaches. Hopefully some cucumbers, and maybe some early corn. Melons -- Indiana Melons -- like a cantaloupe but bigger and sweeter.

I have started several exercises that are supposed to relieve the pain of the sciatic nerve flareup. I hope it works. So far--I'm waiting.

I had a bad spell last night. Poor Alan. I am so discouraged about my immobility after several hours of enjoying walking again. So he did something or said something that annoyed me, and I yelled at him -- just exploded and I don't even remember what I said or what it was about. But I do remember saying after the screaming and yelling: "At least there's something I can do, and I do it well."

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Fireworks

I know this is a little late. I know the 4th of July was a couple of days ago, but back problems and not being able to sit have hindered any posting on my part.

This post is a vent.

It was Sunday, the 3rd of July, and what to my ears do I hear? Fireworks. Not the in-the-yard type of fireworks, but real, over the roof, town-type fireworks.

You see from my deck I can see 8 towns' fireworks displays. Yes 8. And on the 4th of July it's quite a sight.

Well, this year, three towns decided to do their fireworks thing on the 3rd. Excuse me but the 4th of July is the 4th of July, not the 3rd. And that is the day we celebrate. Why would a town have the 'works on the 3rd instead of the 4th? The reasoning is beyond me. Alan thinks it's because people have to go to work the day after the 4th.

So what? When I was growing up and until recent years people went to work on the 5th of July and the parades and fireworks were on the 4th, regardless of the day following the 4th being a work day. No one cared. Fireworks were (and still are, I hope) a traditional way to celebrate our independence.

And another vent: The news media spent the 4th honoring our troops -- which I'm not complaining about per se -- but said little or nothing about the 4th being the celebration of our independence and the beginning of our country. Yes, we should honor our troops, upon which we depend for our current independence, but hey media folks, get with it. The 4th of July is the celebration of our independence. Give us a little history, if you know any, about how it came to be, how we declared to King George that we were going it on our own without his help. How George didn't like that and sent all kinds of troops to put us in our place. They lost their place, we won ours.

So, it's now the 6th of July and I'm just getting around to venting about the 4th. I love the 4th. I love the tradition. The parades. The picnics. The fireworks. The family get togethers. The celebration of our independence! And, oh yes, this year I was able to watch five towns' fireworks displays from my sunporch. The wind was blowing the other way, so the sound wasn't too loud this year, but I loved it, even if three towns were missing.


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It's that time again!

I'm so happy! It's tomato time again. I am moving so well today that I decided to go to the farmer's market. Tomatoes are in. Tonight I made my mom's tomato/basil salad. Was it yummy? Yes, it sure was. With that we ribs. I may have overcooked them because the meat just fell off the bones. So yummy.

Alan will have pulled-pork sandwich tomorrow with the left overs.

Just one more thing: I bought ten pounds of tomatoes and hauled them into the house with no adverse affects on my walking. I was thrilled. Pray with me that the Lord allows this painlessness to continue. Even my knees don't hurt!

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Getting caught up

This is Ellie May and Toria. They visited us on Saturday for a couple of hours. It was such a nice visit. I don't remember what Toria and Cyndi were laughing at.

Here we have hidden by hair (Toria), Cyndi, and Jonah.

You know, when you are in bed for two straight weeks, things just sort of pile up. Laundry. Dishes. Unopened mail. Reading my favorite BLOGs?

Well, I finally got caught up on most everything. There are clean dishes in the dish washer and dirty dishes in the sink. The mail has been read. And I finished reading three weeks' worth of my favorite BLOGs. Yeah, that doesn't add up, but it does really because I was already a week behind in my BLOG reading when the pain came.

I'm still in pain, but it's manageable, mostly -- as long as I don't move.

Alan is in great shape, except for his kissing the floor a couple of days ago.

Now he's pushing me to find a place for us to visit in mid to late July. Not a problem, except right now, I'm not all for driving somewhere to pretend that I will sight see when I know that I won't be able to do that. Although with the new scooter....

Our new scooter is so cool. It comes apart into four pieces and even I can put it in and out of the trunk and put it together. So, we can take it with us wherever we go. It's much better than a wheel chair and any place that can accommodate a wheelchair can accommodate a scooter like ours because it is only 18 inches wide. HINT: I'm wider than the scooter!

I did mention today that I wanted to go back and visit our friends in Wyoming. Alan asked me if I thought I could drive that far. I told him, "Well, not today, but maybe next summer."

I am so thankful that Alan has pitched in these past few weeks and kept us fed (sort of) and the laundry washed and dried. My faithful assistant, Tamara folds and puts the laundry away for me. I am also thankful for that dear lady who comes without fail to help me do the things I wish I could do but can't.

So now I'm going to go out on the sun porch and listen to the children at play in the pool wishing I myself was down there with them. Maybe tomorrow?

ttfn

New post on RR

I posted a new BLOG rendering on Runnemede Remembered. Be sure to read it.

I haven't been posting for a couple of weeks. I pulled my sciatic nerve and have been bed bound for almost two weeks now.

I'm up to about 1/2 hour at a time of being out of bed at this point -- six times a day. It still hurts pretty bad, but not at the 1000 (on a scale of 1-10) it was when I first realized I had a problem.

So, while I've been flat on my back, the weather has been perfect for summer. Warm days, warm nights, warm pool water. None of which I have been able to enjoy. Well, I don't enjoy warm/hot days, but I do enjoy warm pool water.

Today was the first day in 12 that I finally went down to the pool. I didn't go in. I just couldn't. I got to the pool and sat until I couldn't sit any more and then came back home. Alan did his aerobics while I watched.

Tonight when Alan was helping me by putting away the dishes that were clean (in the dishwasher) he broke glass and it shattered. There is glass (still) all over the kitchen floor and counter. I'll have to clean it tomorrow when the sun hits the kitchen so I can see all the tiny pieces of glass that I'm just not picking up with the kitchen lighting.

I am now on my way back to bed for the evening. I'll be back soon, I hope.

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Round and round it goes

It seems that both Alan and I are in a "sleep" mode. He's sleeping a lot more, and I've just come out of an "I can't sleep for trying" time. His affinity for snoozing comes from a new medicine he's taking for shingles pain. I know the med, it did the same thing to me when I started taking it, then when I got used to it, I was back in my normal 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. sleep, and then 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. sleep.

Of late, however, I've spent three days with no sleep, none, nada, nothing. And today I can't seem to open my eyes. Well, my eyes are open now, but it's been a fight to keep them open.

I have to admit it is a normal bedtime (11:00 p.m.) and as soon as I finish here, I'll get to bed.

Today the man came to see about fixing our A/C. No such luck. A new A/C (outdoor unit) plus a new heating unit (indoor unit) is going to cost us $4,500. There goes the rest of the college fund. Just kidding. We did have an account into which we've been slowly dipping for such things as kitchen redo, new furniture, etc., but with the new A/C-furnace, we've finally hit bottom in that account. Time to start rebuilding???

We're not broke, don't misunderstand, it just hurts me to see a small savings account get wiped out because our equipment was brand new 10 years ago, and that's the lifetime for a heat pump/furnace these days.

The house we lived in had a furnace in it when we arrived and it was still going strong when we left. We replace the outdoor A/C unit once about 15 years after we moved in.

Why don't they make things the way they used to? And they wonder why the land fills are getting so high!

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Two new posts at Runnemede Remembered

Two new posts can be viewed at Runnemede Remembered.

I've been so remiss

I've been so remiss, but I have an excuse (reason?). My computer is really bumming me out. The keys are sticking so bad, or else they're running. If I hit them all hard, like an old typewriter, they go crazzzzzzzzy. If I hit them lightly, they sip leters. See what I mean?

Alan says can have his laptop, but I'm thinking I need my own, so I'm scoping it out to see if I want to get a notebook, or a full-blown laptop. Since I only BLOG, e-mail, and surf the Net, I don't need all the photo/graphic features that Alan has on his laptop.

If you're interested, Alan and I are doing okay. We had a rough time getting our land-legs back, but we're back in full-swing again.

I'm motivated after 45 years of grocery shopping and avoiding coupons like the plague, after watching those ladies who do couponing for their job week after week, do at least do a little bit of couponing.

Several weeks ago, Alan and I decided to stock up on grocery store specials because food was getting so expensive. So, 10 for $10 became my mantra. Now, I'm looking for even more reductions in the products I use and there is a website called ShopAtHome.com that groups coupons according to groceries, pharmaceuticals, electronics, etc., and Kroger.com permits me to enter the coupons they're offering for extra $$$$ off and they go directly to my Kroger card and when I buy the product, it deducts the amount on the coupon automatically on the computer. A neat idea. Now, if I could just get them to deliver my food to me, but then my friend who shops for me would have time to spare and she might not like that.

I want to make some lemon curd this week so I can make a couple of lemon meringue pies. I need to get some coupons for pie fillings or remember to include that on my list next week. I do have a couple of coupons for Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts. $1.00 off. Hopefully, Kroger will have a double coupon day soon. Do they do that any more? I know Thriftway used to do that every Tuesday, I think it was.

Well, I've checked in. I'm chilly. It's cold out and our heater/AC is busted. They're coming on Wednesday to fix t. So, I'm bundled up, and hoping tomorrow is a little warmer than it was today. I'm not optimistic, though. I swear (not really) it's either too hot or too cold. Doesn't the weather know it should have the temperatures in the 70s, no matter what the other features are (rain, sleet, snow, hail, etc.).

Hope you all have a good week. Just 10 more days until our pool opens!!!! Can't wait.

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Did Y'all miss me?

This is the hotel where we honeymooned. Not the same exterior from when we were there, but the drive from the main road up to the hotel, the entryway into the hotel, and the view from the road were all the same. You can see the similarity to the old Castle. Ask any old-timer and they know about the Castle Harbour hotel. Lots of traffic on the roads now. I don't think I would be willing to scooter (a small motorcycle) around the island these days as I did 45 years ago.




This is the view from our deck. Yes, we were land side, and I'm glad we were. We got the morning sun, which was definitely cooler than the late afternoon sun and the view was certainly more interesting that the sea side. I know this because I was able to view that other side by going down two decks and going out on the port side of the ship. We were roomed on the starboard side.

A round-about near Georgetown, Bermuda. They drive on the wrong side of the road. That's the left side, by the way. I got use to scooting on that side with no problem, I have to admit.

I'm back from BERMUDA and the cruise that got Alan and me there. It was so much fun. I only took a few pictures since this was a return trip. Bermuda isn't much like it was 45 years ago when Alan and I went there for our honeymoon. Almost all the green space on this small island (21 miles long by 1-1/2 miles wide (mostly) is used up with housing and condos and hotels. There are a few golf courses (mostly on hotel properties).

Alan and I did return to the hotel where we spent our honeymoon. That was exciting, I guess. I was unable to walk that day unfortunately, but it didn't deter me from enjoy the view from the outside which included the pool area, the pink sand beach, and most of the grounds. Alan went inside and was impressed by what he remembered and what had changed drastically. You see, the hotel in which we stayed was demolished, but the folks that rebuilt on that land kept the same footprint and remade the common areas to be almost the same.

Alan purchased a scooter (for old people, not one of the ones they ride around on the Island). It's amazing. It comes apart and fits into our car's trunk nicely leaving enough room for two large suitcases and three bags of dirty laundry!

One of the most exciting things I did, besides winning a $200 gift certificate to Crisson Jeweler's, the best jewelry store on the Island, was a dining with the ship's head chef. Man, was that a great experience.

It started with a trip through the galley (that's kitchen to you land lubbers), where they prepared five wonderful appetizer bites for us to eat. There were only 14 of us permitted to dine with him. Believe me, I got my request in early for that opportunity. Back to the seven-course dinner. Then we gather around the table and ate and ate and ate. I took pictures of most of the dishes which were so beautiful, you really didn't want to destroy them by eating them. Each course was only two or three bites of the dish, but that was enough to fill us all to overflowing with food. Some of the folks eyes seemed to glaze over after the fish course. That was the only course I did not like because my fish wasn't cooked through, and I'm not really a lover of raw Chilean Sea Bass. I have to say, it was the best food I have ever eaten. And none of it was prepared with any butter. The Chef did use olive oil in most of the dishes.

The Lord gave us wonderful weather, temps in the 60s at night and mid-70s during the day. The seas were calm the entire week. No storms or rain. And no mishaps. Alan and I both suffered near the end of the weak with muscle cramps and pains, but other than that little crimp in the week, all else was great -- even our travel from Cincinnati to and from Baltimore, from where we sailed.

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Facebook versus BLOGging

Okay, so I now have four BLOGs. My favorite is, of course, Runnemede Remembered. This BLOG is about my ups and downs as I age not so gracefully. Then there's my recipe BLOG and now my newest which is detailing Alan's journey from life to near death back life again, a.k.a. Multeple Myeloma (bone marrow cancer). And wouldn't you know, I can't remember the link for the newest BLOG. I'll post it some time soon. Wait for it..... So, I'm thinking about all the BLOGs I try to read and how in the past couple of years since Facebook has gotten so popular, more and more people are putting one or two sentences on Facebook instead of their "Hi, this is all about me" BLOGs. So, if I skip a couple of days of Facebook I don't get their message, but I can skip several days of BLOGs and still go back and get their messages without scrolling down 300 pages to find out what's going on in my friends' lives. Just thought I'd mention this. I'm as much at fault as my fellow-BLOGgers who are on Facebook, and I do apologize. I know some of you don't ever get on Facebook so you miss so much of my life -- not that there's a lot more to know about than what I put on my BLOGs. However, I am not BLOGging as much as I used to on any of the BLOGs, and I am not Facebooking (new verb?) as much as I used to either. I am at a stage of my life where I have other things to do and computer pecking isn't one of them. But, hang in there. I am really, really trying to get at least something up each week as an update and a notice to you all that "Hey, I'm still alive and well -- well, being the definitive word." Must be well so you can know that I'm also alive! I will be offline for a couple of weeks. Alan and I will be going on a trip to Bermuda for a second honeymoon, sort of. I was able, once again, to find someone to "house sit" for me while we're away. Their names are -- well, never mind, you don't need to know, just know that they are armed and dangerous, and I mean that truthfully. I love them to bits, but they can handle an ironstone frying pan like Rapunzel in the new cartoon. I kid you not. Be back talking to you maybe tomorrow or later this week, and then I'm off for a few days, then back again. We're not taking any computer with us this time, just a cell phone and our Kindles. The phone only works in Bermuda, not while we're in the TRIANGLE. So, folks, that's ttfn.

Spring and breakfast

I try to have breakfast with my daughter-in-law (DIL) once a month. Well, did you know that April was the first month of 2011? I'm four months behind. Now the conundrum is: Do I make up the three breakfasts we missed, or do I pretend April is January? Makes no difference, I'll probably skip the next couple of months as well because time does seem to get away from me. Where does IT go? We went to First Watch and had a great meal and wonderful conversation. Amy and I talk when we get together, mostly about the children, and more recently about getting back in stride after Phil's being out of work for a year and a half. They're getting into the swing of things, sort of. It's extremely difficult, though, with Phil having to drive three hours a day. He gets home grouchy (well, wouldn't you?) and doesn't want to play kid games, all he wants to do is sleep. I remember when Alan was doing the long commute thing, and he was 20 years younger than Phil, and it was like, "Hello", "Goodby", "See you on Saturday morning." Yes, that was our time. Saturday morning Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd cartoons kept the children occupied for a couple of hours and we had our time to talk over the weeks events and do a little cuddling. I know it's difficult for younger women whose husbands are starting a new job or who are trying to get their businesses up and running well to have to "give up" their husbands for hours on end, especially if there are several children vying for mommy's attention. Regarding the tiredness: I recall that when I was working 8 plus hours a day, which really made for a 10-hour day, I would get home exhausted, still had to make dinner, and do a load of wash, but I did it. All I can say to you women (and you are women now, no longer girls) is, your job is being a full-time wife and mother, which means the duties of cleaning and cooking are all on you at this time in your life. A time will come when he will help you again, but for now you're on your own, but still have the comfort of knowing that he is available for emergencies, which hopefully will not happen. (See Proverbs 31) It is hard, and as a woman who is much older than you all, but who has experienced the same type of angst, I'm here to tell you that with prayer on your part and asking others to pray for you, you will survive. God will get you through this hard time, and he will give you more grace because of it. Special note: Don't nag. Don't beg. Don't bitch. (Don't be offended by the "B" word, there's no other way to describe that action). DO love your husband more than ever. DO offer to help him. DO, DO, DO. If you DO, DO, DO, then the DO, DO, DO will come back to you in time and you will have a great relationship/love-life/friendship and everything else you can think of because in the DO, DO, DO you are also praying through. ttfn

Never Again

Well, after a horrible lunch date -- not the company, it was the food -- Alan and I are never going to Frisch's again. I ordered a patty melt (hamburger with Swiss cheese on Texas Toast) and onion rings as well as a sweet tea. I received a sandwich that was dry as sawdust and tasted much as I imagine sawdust would taste. It was horrible. No flavor, no salt in either the bread or on the hamburger. Just awful. The onion rings were even worse. They tasted like cardboard and looked like brown cardboard as well. Horrible. Why did we go there? Well, in the past, we have enjoyed eating at Frisch's. Of course, we haven't been there for probably four or five years. And now we will never go back. I guess they are watching my weight for me. The onion rings were NOT fried, they were baked, no fat at all. Absolutely awful. The sandwich toast was not buttered at all, it wasn't seasoned at all, and the hamburger wasn't seasoned either. I didn't finish either the rings or the sandwich. Yes, they have salt on the table. That's not the point. They should serve the food ready to eat, flavorful, as it used to be. The onion rings wouldn't event accept salt they were so dry the salt just sloughed off them. And the worse offense was that I had ordered sweet tea and they gave me unsweetened tea. I took a large swig and nearly choked. I don't like unsweetened tea, either hot or cold. Bye-bye Frisch's. (AKA Big Boy) ttfn

New BLOG

I decided to start a new BLOG. Thinking about it kept me awake all last night. And last night was not a good night to go without sleep since I had a rather extensive eye exam today.

But the idea kept swirling in my mind so I took the plunge and began a BLOG about Alan's cancer, treatment, and well-being (and not-so-well-being) for the last 12 years.

Why am I doing this since I have to glean my remembrances from all the e-mails that went between me and the doctors and nurses where Alan received his various treatments?

I had posted a record of my early life and my parents' lives and my grandparents' lives as far as I knew about them. I wanted my children and grandchildren to know where they came from.

I was unable to do anything like that for Alan's family because frankly he's been rather closed mouth about his family, and since he spent most of his early life on the mission field with his parents, he really doesn't know much about his other family members.

And I wanted my children and grandchildren to have a written record of their fathers'/grandfathers' struggle to conquer as much as possible bone marrow cancer, aka, multiple myeloma (MM).

The link to that new BLOG is http://www.mmmyhusbandandme.blogspot.com/. This is really written for the family, but anyone who has family that has MM might want to read this for encouragement, since Alan has been alive for 12 years since first diagnosed.

The BLOG will address the treatments, our feelings , both good and bad, and the comfort received from the support group at UAMS (University of Arkansas Medical Sciences) where Alan received his treatment, and the results.

I intend to add humor to this BLOG; not to make light of any of the situations, but to add levity to the BLOG.

So, if you're interested, go ahead and read it. If not, that's okay. I'm really writing it for the children and grandchildren.

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Getting ready

Getting ready to go on a trip is very time consuming. Maybe it's my age, but it seems to be taking me so much longer to get ready for our next trip (cruise) than it usually does.

Alan is not so sure I'm going to be able to handle it. For our last four cruises, he has been the one who has either almost not made it, or if we did make it on board, he got sick or worse. So, as far as my being unable to handle a cruise which I've been looking forward to for 8 years or more, I SHALL be able to handle it, even if I'm on a gurney, I'll be able to handle it!

Back to the preparation: So much to do, and because I only gave us a month to get ready for this cruise, I guess I have to get the work completed in a much shorter time frame. I also have to get all the paperwork in for my high school reunion finished this week, including making all the reservations for that trip.

I have my house sitter all booked for the two weeks (week on cruise, week at reunion) and that's about all I have completed.

It used to be that the cruise lines would send you tickets, like the airlines used to do. Now it's all done via computer, including luggage tags, and boarding passes, etc. So, that's what I've been working on, including our wheelchair requirements as well as our scooter requirements.

Our new scooter meets the ship's requirements for width so I'm sure Alan and I will be fighting over who gets to use the scooter and since I was the one that wanted a scooter for the cruise, I'll be the one with the best reason to use the thing.

I went to the doctor and she recommended I see an orthopedist for my knees (again), but I won't be able to do that before our trip. I also made an appointment with the eye doctor so I will be able to see on our trip. My eyes are terrible, and for two years I've been saying I need to get new glasses. Why have I put it off? It's so expensive, that's why.

I supposed based on our income level percentage-wise it really isn't that expensive, it just seems it is because I'm still think 1960 prices. Glasses back then cost $50 and exams were included in the cost of the glasses. Now the exam costs $87.00 and glasses are $250 and up, at least they were two years ago when Alan got new glasses.

So, we're off and running. Alan is hurrying to get the tax report for 2010 finished. I'm scurrying to make hotel arrangements for our trip going and coming to the port. But in a few weeks I'll be enjoying the pink beaches of Bermuda. Back again after 47 years. Can't wait.

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The sun is shining

The sun is shining, the birds are singing.

Yesterday I was bemoaning the fact that light in the mornings was not happening. Well this morning was another such morning. A heavy cloud cover kept all things dark and needing electric lighting under almost 10 a.m. Take that Congress! No savings this morning, whereas, if you'd (Congress) have left the time zone as it was with out skipping ahead, we wouldn't have had to use so much electricity this morning. I mean that's the goal, correct? Use less electric lights, heaters, air conditioners? Did not work, at least in our area, today.

Today is Alan's quarterly with the oncologist. Not expecting anything but a good report.

I'm going to try to head over to Whole Foods (the only one in Cincinnati area) and make like Bobby Flay and buy some herbs, seasonings, fresh exotic produce, and some fresh fish. Can't wait. Of course, if they don't have drive-around carts, I won't be visiting that fine store. No personal shopper to help me today.

Legs and knees are doing well, so far.

So, that's the report for today. Alan and I are up and at 'em.

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Busy days

It's been a busy couple of days. Alan and I both had our hair cut on Monday, then we went mattress shopping. I was really hoping for a sleigh bed frame as well, but it didn't happen. We did get new springs and mattress, though. About time, don't you think? We purchased our present bed back in 1991. I do love the bed and I personally still find it quite comfortable, but then after 20 years I guess it fits my many curves and bumps. And, except for the "princess and the pea" syndrome (aka fibromyalgia) I suffer from time to time it has served me well.

Alan? Not so much. He hasn't slept in a bed (except on trips when he has to) since he was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma almost 12 years ago. Well, I should amend that, except on very rare occasions, he hasn't slept in our bed. And no, it's not because I was in that bed and he was relegated to the couch/recliner. Because of his back and the various broken vertebrae he has which have calcified and are really painful, the sofa and/or the recliner has been the most comfortable.

Well, we spent almost two hours trying out mattresses to find one that he really liked. Me? I like hard. Him? He liked soft. At the end of the two hours? Me? I didn't care, just pick one. Him? He decided on one of those mattresses that squishes to fit your form, but I cannot recall the brand name. Oh, yeah, EXPENSIVE, that's the name. At least he will hopefully, sleep on our bed now, and my year-old sofa will not suffer any more wear and tear (except when we have guests, which is when my sofa SHOULD experience wear and tear).

By the time we got home I was wiped out. And unfortunately, while my legs/knees didn't bother me, the old fibromyalgia kicked in, so I went to bed at 7 p.m.

Speaking of which....

What happened to all the light? I was so enjoying getting up at 6 a.m. and watching the sunrise. Now I can get up at 8 a.m. and watch it. 8 a.m. is really a lot later than I'm used to rising. I'm back into a 5:30 a.m. rise-and-shine. Or should I say, rise-and-take-my-meds-and-read-and-wait-and-shine. Read that slowly and you'll get my drift.

Then at night, I haven't really noticed that there is much more lighted time. I want light folks. I don't like the dark. If I could bottle up June 21 and have that much light every day of the year, except during the week of December 21-27, at which time I like the dark because of the season, I would. Alas, I'm stuck with the screwed up system our congress has imposed on us. Why don't they just leave it alone, pick one, either standard time, or daylight savings time.

The big joke is: it's supposed to save energy because we don't use as much electricity supposedly in the morning. Well, I do. Lots more, because I'm up early, as are, I believe, most people. And if the sun goes down at 9 p.m., as it does where we live during May, June, July, and August (at least it did last year), bedtime for most folks is 10 or 11 p.m. That two hours, so what's saved, if I have to have the light on for at least two hours in the morning? I'm sure folks that are still working also used electricity in the a.m.

Oh, yeah, I get it. I'm on the edge of the Eastern time zone, and DC gets lighted by the sun at least an hour earlier than we get sunlit.

The point is, though, let's just leave it alone and forget about skipping ahead or falling behind, or whatever it is. And November, December January, and February, and a week in March? Four months? Forget it.

I was also busy today, Tuesday, and ache all over again. My legs and knees are really sore. I guess that's a holdover from yesterday.

Today I booked our cruise to Bermuda. YEAH! I sent in my reservation for my 50th high-school reunion, and finally, I booked us a week in Virginia Beach -- Alan wants to see the sights in Norfolk, VA.

TTFN

Snowing, again

After days and days of rain, river floods, and bad arthritic days, we now are having "snow showers". It looks pretty white out there, but since it's late in the night, I can't get a good picture, and I'm sure by the time the sun doesn't come out tomorrow, the snow will be all gone, so I will have no proof that we do, in fact, have snow out there.

My dishwasher is still sitting in the living room, uninstalled. When they removed the old dishwasher, they found lots of wet floor board and dry wall, so I had to dry the space out with a fan. We also found lots of mold, which they will remove before the install the dishwasher.

It's a nice washer. Inside it's stainless steel, not that plastic stuff that sucks in any oil/butter/grease spores and makes the whole insides of the dishwasher tacky. I didn't like that about my old washer, which was replaced not because it wasn't getting the dishes clean, but because it was leaking all over my floor, and even caused several of the new tiles to bulge.

Oh, did I mention it's a Kitchenaid -- white on the outside, not stainless, because I have white cabinets and my other appliances are white. Also, stainless, my cleaning person told me, is very hard to keep clean. She says, she cleans up stainless kitchens, the kids come home from school, and it looks like she didn't do her job. I love the look, but hate the work. So, white it is.

We have had such a busy week. And tomorrow night (Friday) my granddaughter Rosie will be strutting her stuff in a musical play at the elementary school she attends -- next year is middle school for her. Can't wait to see her. She's a very good singer and actress, so I'm sure she'll do well. Hope the video part of my camera works so I can post it in a future TFLS.

Next week is doctors, doctors, doctors. Yippee. And, hopefully, we'll both get our hair trimmed and my highlights touched up, if I can fit it in between doctors and swimming.

So much for this week's episode. When did I go from daily to weekly? It just happened.

Who ever said retirement was a time to lay back and relax? Re-TIRED - ment is what I call it. I never seem to be able to sleep in, get a nap in, or finish a book in a day, like I'd like to do -- at least one of those (in)activities.

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What day is it?

I woke up at 6:45. I thought it was a.m. and thought I had had a stroke because I couldn't remember at all going to bed, what we had for dinner last night, or what I had watched on TV, let alone what day it was. The sun was going DOWN not coming UP -- there's where the confusion was. After about five minutes of worrying whether I could speak to call Alan, I figured it out. It was still Tuesday, not Wednesday. I could smell the pot roast and knew I had dinner almost ready. Bad thing to fall asleep after four in the afternoon.

Now, this not knowing what day it is or what time (a.m. or p.m.?) it is started last night. I was watching TV (in bed) and can't even remember what I was watching, but I think it was "Pickers." Anyway, I woke up at 1:50 a.m. and realized that Alan had turned off the TV and the bedroom light and I had slept through the whole thing, including his night-time ablutions, which I must saying aren't that quiet.

I did fall back to sleep until 7:30 a.m. and then Alan told me what had happened last night. My falling asleep during a TV program is not all that unusual. What is unusual is that Alan turned off the TV and was quiet enough that I didn't wake up when he was getting ready for bed.

Right now, he's snoring away in his recliner -- well, my recliner that he has absconded -- and the TV is still working. I did wake him several minutes ago, but apparently, I didn't quite get thought the haze of sleep for him to understand that he needed to get into bed, and not not watch TV. Yes, there are two NOT(s) there -- a double negative. I didn't know how else to express what I needed to say.

So, that was my day. We didn't go to the gym today, Alan wasn't feeling like it. I was. Three days and counting of no pain in my knees. Our small group prayed for me last week. Prayed that my knees and hips would heal up. So I've been pain free (no drugs either) for three days. Praise God! Tomorrow I plan to go swimming. After trying the bicycle at the gym the last time we were there (Monday, a no-pain day) and thinking I was going to cry from the pain, I'll be happy to get back into the pool.

In case there is anyone wondering why I didn't go in the pool on Monday, instead of trying the bike, well, the heater was broken and I didn't feel like swimming in a cold-water pool. I'm trying to avoid cold. Cold hurts.

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New offerings on Runnemede Remembered

Two new offerings on Runnemede Remembered today (Feb. 22, 2011).

Annie is 10!

My granddaughter, Annie, Becky's youngest, is now 10. She was born on February 20, 2001.

Annie has always been beautiful. In fact, when she was younger, before she could really talk, I would sign to her, "Beautiful, Beautiful, Annie." (Remember, Mr. Holland's Opus?). And ever since, I am still awed by her beautiful face.

But Annie also has an inner, quiet beauty, like her mother.

I have to admit that this picture, taken in December, at breakfast with "My girls" is not the best, but you can still see how sweet and beautiful she is.

I am so happy to have my "Beautiful, beautiful, Annie."

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A burst of snow

Well, what can I say? We have had a spurt of warmish weather here in N. KY the past few days. Yesterday was a light-weight sweater weather, around 60 degrees. And then...

This morning I was getting into the shower and I looked out the window and I thought, hmmm, the roof next door is awful white. And then I looked closer and it was snowing...again. I couldn't believe it. There was no snow in the forecast. In fact, the weather was supposed to be warmish again today. I think it finally reached a chilly 40 degrees. So where did that burst of snow, which covered the grassy area in our little community, as well as the roofs and cars with about 1/2 inch of that white and fluffy cold stuff come from?

I haven't a clue, but thought I'd mention it since I've read so many BLOGs over the weekend that were praising the fact that the weather was getting warm and the snow was no longer around.

I hope today's burst was the last of the season, although I do recall an April 1st four-incher in Cincinnati on opening day in 1976. Or was in it in 1977? Somewhere in that decade. It had to have been after 1975 because that's when we moved out here.

So, I'm waiting for April 15 or so to announce that yes, the snow is finally out of here for another winter. If it happens sooner than that, goody. If not? I'm prepared.

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Valentine's Day

I have never really liked Valentine's day. My husband hasn't been enamored with that holiday either and more often than not didn't participate. I.e., he didn't get me a card or gift.

This year, for some reason, he did. He bought me a beautiful rose bouquet and the roses actually smell like roses. I was surprised because we had discussed getting me a Vermont Teddy Bear -- the one with the boxer shorts. That's another story. But the bouquet is beautiful and the whole living room smells like roses. I love it.

Has anyone else out there noticed that roses don't often smell like roses and lilies don't smell like lilies, and other flowers have no odor at all? Why is that, do you suppose? I think it's because they force the plants to bloom rather than waiting for God's timing. Just my own thought.

I really writing this BLOG today to let my family know that I'm okay and Alan's okay. The last couple of weeks have been really dull and painful for me, which means I'm in bed most of the time. HOWEVER....ta-dah! I have discovered Icy-Hots.

When I went to the doctor last week she said her mom, who is slightly older than I, uses them for her arthritis and they have been very helpful to her. So, I tried them. First on the knee. No result. But on the shoulder the Icy-Hots work great.

Then throughout the past night when I was supposed to be sleeping, I was in pain. My right knee, which is my worst knee, just wouldn't cooperate and so I thought, why not put an Icy-Hot on the back side which is where the pain was (not the front side where the pain is usually). Well, it worked. Yes, it did. I'm so excited.

So, I'm off to Walgreen's to pick up some more Icy-Hots. They are expensive. Like $1.50 each. And they stink -- well they smell like Vicks Vaporub. Not a smell I'm fond of. But hey, if they work, I'll just smell like Vicks all the time.

If any of you hear of a sale on Icy-Hots, let me know. Or if you see any coupons anywhere, let me know.

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I'm still thinking

Yes, I'm still thinking that the cold weather is over. At least, next week we are expecting temperatures into the high 50s, maybe even 60 degrees.

Today my sun porch had a reading of 75 degrees. Outside temperature at that time was 35 degrees. Last I heard, though, we were supposed to get snow flurries tomorrow morning. I hope that was incorrect. I need the warmth. My achy/breaky joints are driving me nuts.

I didn't make the community Valentine's party last night because I knew I wouldn't be able to walk from the parking lot into the clubhouse. I could hardly walk from the bed to the bath, a total of 8 steps. Not good. Today, however, was a little bit better. Still aching all over, though.

I went to see the doctor on Thursday and she told me to take an anti-inflammatory, then corrected herself. Because of my kidney dysfunction, I'm not permitted anti-inflammatories. Bummer. So, I stick to what I can have, which isn't much -- the medicines prescribed for fibromyalgia, and blood pressure meds (which have been reduced) is about it.

I'm taking all kinds of vitamins and herbs to try to get things under control. The cherries' effectiveness has abandoned me.

Please pray for Becky. She's having a terrible time with joint pain this winter. Seems like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I recall that I started with arthritis pain in my mid-40s. She isn't in her 40s yet, so it has hit her sooner than it hit me. I feel for her and wish I could do something to help ease her pain. I know that prayer works, so please pray for her. Thanks.

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Finally, I think

Well, it seems that the snowy weather and the bitter cold we've had since early December is finally taking its leave of our area. Predictions are for our temperatures to rise to the mid-50s next week. We haven't seen the mid-50s since late October. Basically we went from summer to winter, as far as temperatures go. And the fall leaves were not very colorful. Now, however, I'm looking forward to the warmer temperatures.

Oh, I love the snow. I really do. But this year I found out that I don't like the cold as much as I thought I did. And you have to have cold to have snow. The cold has done terrible things to my joints, and have laid me low on more than one occasion these past few months. My doctor agreed with me, the best place for me to be in the winter is either in Arizona or Florida or the part of Texas that didn't get the cold winter blasts this year. Were there any areas of Texas that were spared?

Well, my spending December through February in warmer climes is not going to happen. So, I'll have to wrap up again next winter and stay indoors.

Happy days are here again as I notice that there are more minutes of daylight. In the morning there is a dim light in the east around 7 a.m. becoming full sun by 8 a.m. Yeah! And, in the evening, we have light until after 6 p.m., even on cloudy days. So the extra 3-4 minutes per day of added sunlight is becoming more evident each and every day and I'm loving it.

The only drawback is that I'm used to cooking dinner in the dark, not the light, and so our dinners are getting later and later. I'll catch up in April, I suppose. I do every year.

Tonight is our annual Valentine dinner for the community. It isn't just for couples. The whole community is invited and lots of singles enjoy the dinner along with the couples. The social committee sets the tables with our good china and silver and stemware and we enjoy an evening with our neighbors and each other (Alan and I).

I suppose that other than noticing that the weather is improving and the hours of daylight are expanding, the week has been rather dull. I'm certain it's my fault. In trying to keep off my feet and minimize the pain in the joints, I really haven't done much this week except to make sure the valentine cards for the grands were written out and mailed. They should get them today or tomorrow.

TTFN from a room in which the temperature hasn't gone higher than 60 degrees all winter. The heat needs a boost from a space heater, which I do have in my office, but mostly forget to turn it on until I'm ready to leave the room. Senior brain drain -- that all I can say.

Birthday #2

Today is my oldest grandchild's birthday. Happy birthday Shandon.

Alan and I went over to visit with Shandon, and the rest of the family. We didn't stay real long, but it sure was nice to see the grandchildren -- 6 of them -- again. The baby, Jack, is very shy, but today he let me get close and actually touch him. I even got him to giggle. Wow!

Ellie ran up to her grandfather and gave him a great, big hug. That made Alan's day. I got and gave hugs to the birthday boys (I finally got Jonah's gift to him, two weeks late). And I got hugs from Toria and Adam. I love grandchildren hugs. They don't hurt, not even the big one from Shandon.

It was quite chilly outdoors, and it was snowing most of the time we were out and about. Af, ter the rain yesterday washed most of the snow away, now we've got another covering. We still have mounds of snow all over our property, just to make sure I remember that it's still winter. Well, the darkness reminds me of that fact. I don't need any more cold or snow to remind me.

We also went to see The King's Speech. I enjoyed the movie very much, but I had seen something similar on PBS a couple of years ago, so the subject matter wasn't new to me. I did enjoy it, though, and so did Alan. Next week maybe we'll go see, True Grit, the remake. I don't know if it will compare favorably with the original one with John Wayne. I mean, how can someone else play Rooster Cogburn? I'm told by my children that have seen it, and by other folks that it's really good. However, these folks have never seen the one with John Wayne. In fact, the younger ones asked, "Who?"

And, of course, I forgot my camera!

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