[gma22]

Good morning all! I had a very real dream about my father of all people and it bugged me a bit as my dad has been dead 31 years, so I got up. I hate those kind of dreams. You tend to remember them. It wasn't bad or anything, just sad to think about my dad as he died in his early 50's.

Jean: We have had riotous weather the last couple days. It rained off and on yesterday and it is blowing like the dickens this morning. My wind chime is really going to it out on the deck this morning. Hope you are drying out and your basement is becoming a little more comfortable to get the laundry done in.

Gloria: It was good to see you in hear. Sounds like you got some beautiful new furniture. Was it for your birthday by any chance? I know your birthday is on Tuesday.

I didn't do a darn thing all day until evening yesterday then went upstairs and did everything but the vacuuming. It is a much easier and shorter job so I decided to tackle it around 6 PM last night. Jack will have to drag the vacuum upstairs for me today and I will vacuum up there tomorrow. I am going to do the downstairs in spurts today so that I don't cause anymore problems. They are getting better and going down so I want to keep up the progress.

We are having roast, potatoes, and carrots for dinner today. I can stick it all in the oven and be able to clean and not have to deal with making dinner. I even make the gravy right along with it, but using a package of dry gravy mix and a can of beef broth with a can of water. It comes out perfect and not much mess this way at all.

I have started the second strip on the blanket yesterday and got two of the six squares finished. I also knitted on the cardigan sleeve all day yesterday and have it almost done, about 3 inches to go. Then it is doing the next sleeve, picking up stitches down each front and putting 6 rows of trim on, chain stitching a loop for the button and sewing it all up.

I think we are going to take T to a baseball game for his day out for a good report card in a couple weeks. The Iowa Cubs are playing the Redbirds here on the 28th and 29th so I am waiting to hear if either of those is good for my dd and sil. The Saturday game is an evening game and the Sunday one is an afternoon game. I told her either one would be ok with us. I told Jack he will have to buy all kinds of stuff for Thomas, food and souvenirs since we aren't going to be going to the video game type of stuff this time. I will let he and his Granddad decide what they want to get. I hope to hear from her so I can still get good tickets. They had some great ones on Saturday night still available, 4th row from up from the dugout.

Well, gals, I need to get back to doing what I was doing, namely knitting until Jack gets up and I can make more noise cleaning!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Faye

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! It's a beautiful day in my neighborhood! The sun is shining, no wind, and it's supposed to hit 60 degrees this afternoon. I've been to church, and Bob stayed to "coffee" before he sings at second service. I need to go through some clothes for a church garage sale coming up, so that is my plan for this afternoon.

Gloria -- It's nice to see your post this morning! I hope your weather doesn't turn out to be as bad as predicted. Do you normally get water in your basement? We get trickles behind the furnace and it runs to the drain, but it is still a nuisance! Since we've had quite a bit of rain, the basement has been wet longer than normal. I'm trying to convince Bob to put another sump pump under the stairs (next to the furnace) and to drill a trench along the wall so the water would run into the pump hole rather than across the room to the drain. I'm afraid that is more construction than he wants to get into. Your new furniture sounds beautiful! We bought a loveseat for our TV area and now wish I would have gotten two for the livingroom and put that couch in the TV area. Bob likes to lay down and watch TV, so the loveseat is a bit short for him and the cat both.

"Gma" -- Your dinner sounds delicious! I thought about doing a roast today, but didn't make a trip to the store to get one yesterday. Now I wish I would have. I hope baseball souvenirs are less expensive than the Doodlebop's were! Your knitting projects sound like they are coming along well. Don't overdo on your cleaning projects!

I'm off to read the Sunday paper and do some more laundry. Have a great day . . . the choice is yours!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning all you flowers! It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day here today. It is supposed to get back up into the 70's. I am tired of the rain. I know we needed it, but it pretty much rained all week for me. It rained as I left to go to Little Rock, rained the whole time we were there, rained all the way back home then rained the rest of the week pretty much here and has been darn cold for this time of year.

I hope to get back to walking in a day or so. I stretched out all the cleaning into tiny little jobs and didn't lift anything, Jack did all that for me. I am finally coming around and certainly don't want to aggravate them again.
I did get all the downstairs cleaned and Jack took the vacuum upstairs for me last night so I will do the upstairs vacuuming sometime today along with getting the bed made up there. The cat is on the bed at the minute and he is getting stubborn about shooing off it and I dare not pick him up as he is too heavy. I will wait until I see him down here then get up there and make it back up.

You know, if you didn't have to have nasty neighbors, this wouldn't be such a bad place to live. I seem to be continually picking up their darn garbage and the other day one of the brats dropped part of a hotdog and bun right at their gate and no one cleaned it up. I wasn't about to pick it up with my bare hands, but I guess I need to go out and check to see if they ever cleaned it up. We don't need the rat back again! We have another rude group and Jack got mad at one of them the other day for parking in front of our garage. They had no one in front of theirs so I don't know why they felt they should park in front of ours. He told the guy he wasn't allowed to park in front of other people's garage for the fat lot of good it will do. Problem is, you call a tow truck and by the time they get here the car is gone and the tow driver wants to be paid for his time. It is a no win situation as the condo association doesn't and probably can't do a whole lot about it.

Pool opens in 7 weeks! Yippeeee! We have a bunch of new renters so we will have a bunch of new trouble probably again this year. I wish they would invest in a high redwood fence with barbed wire or something, but one year they actually climbed over the clubhouse to get into the pool!!! Unless we have fulltime security, which no one wants to pay for (except maybe us!) this is never going to get better. One of the things that really irritates me about the association is that they have thousands of $$$$$ outstanding for people who haven't paid their association fees. Problem is, they have the right to confiscate the condo under the law if they are more than 6-12 months in arrears, but if they would take the condo in lieu of payment then they are stuck with a condo that won't sell. We have at least 10 here for sale right now, some of them have been for sale for over 2 years. It isn't an easy situation. I do know that Jack wants on the board as soon as a position becomes available.

I need to get my morning started, get the dishes put away out of th dishwasher and get myself some breakfast.

Have a great day everyone!

Faye

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's been a beautiful day in my corner of the world . . . sunny and 77 degrees on my way home from school. Of course the weatherman says mid 50s and rain for tomorrow. I just dress in layers so I can take it off or put more on if I have to. I have card club tonight and it is our last one of the season so we will eat at the home of the hostess. We usually go out to eat, but she likes to cook.

"Gma" -- Why aren't the condos selling . . . priced too high, run down neighborhood, or what? It's too bad that the landloard isn't more picky about who he rents to. I suppose as long as they pay the rent he could care less. Too bad you have to have them for neighbors!

Not much newsy from my corner of the world today. I'm off to check the mail and decide what I'm wearing to school tomorrow. Have a terrific Tuesday tomorrow.

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning all! I woke up for the third time having to go to the bathroom so I gave up and decided to just come on downstairs.

My sister, the one I went to visit is in the hospital. She hurt her knee bowling several weeks ago. They did an MRI on it, but that is not the problem. I guess it has been swollen and stiff and hurting for several weeks now and when they went to Mulberry, AR a week ago then this last Tuesday she drove over to Little Rock to meet me for her birthday it caused something major. It is a 2.5 hour drive one way and we walked all over the place on Tuesday, doing shopping and such. I guess the long flight and the drive caused a blood clot to form in her calf and now she is in the hospital and they are trying to get it dissolved. Larry said she will probably be in the hospital about 5 days or longer. She is on complete bedrest, not allowed out of the bed at all, ie to walk to bathroom or whatnat. She has an injection into her stomach of blood thinner every 12 hours, which is fast acting then will be on oral blood thinner at least 3 months maybe more. She has a chest xray twice a day to make sure the clot has not broken loose, possible CT scan also. She is resting comfortably except for having to stay in bed 24/7 and she says the shot isn't bad, but the alcohol swabbing afterwards is worse because it stings so badly. She laughed and said the worst part is the bedpan is too small for her butt! lol Bless her heart, at least she has kept her sense of humor!
Keep her in your prayers. We, of course, are very worried about the clot breaking loose and heading for her lungs.

Jean: The condo situation is a combination of what the neighborhood has become, they are old, and no one wants to own a condo they would rather have a detached home. It is perfect for us and if it weren't for the fact we have such a large number of renters who could care less about the property, I would like it here very much. The neighbors, except for the older folks who have lived here a long time are mostly rude. I will say though that the owner on the left of me only rents to decent people and so far all of the condos he owns are kept up well or out they go. He also charges quite high rents so people have to have jobs and such to live in his condos. Since he used to live here and he and his wife are on the board, they keep their property up and their renters decent. With that being said, they are few and far between. The idiot who owns the one on the other side, promised me he would put in good renters and spent thousands to update the condo after the previous renters tore the heck out of it and he bought it for a steal. So much for promises. They are rude, noisy, come in and out at all hours, throw stuff like wrappers and food anywhere they darn please, don't take care of the outside of the property at all and have little brats that live there and are undisciplined.

I finally finished one sleeve and will start the other this morning. Sooner or later I will get this sweater finished. I haven't had to rush it since I only want it to wear with my sleeveless shell, so I can put it down whenever I want. Besides, I have other projects going at the same time that have more of a time crunch, like the blanket. I am on square 4 of the second strip so it is coming along too.

My 13 year old niece (my brother's dd) called me on the phone last night asking me to help with her homework! Uh, oh! Well, she just needed to interview me for a math class and ask me ??? like, "When you were my age did you have a way of making money and what did you do if you did? Did your parents give you an allowance and if so how much?" I think she asked me 8 questions. She is a knitter and bless her heart she told me she just finished her first project, a scarf, and it took her a year and a half! Well, for one thing, she has Cerebral Palsy and I would imagine her motor skills are hampered just a bit to go very fast. I told her I was anxious to see what she knit to have her dad help her send me a picture of it. I told her the next time we saw each other we could knit together and I would show her some new stuff. She wants me to help her knit a hat.

My son called last night to talk to his dad about the Cubs. He has been making nightly calls about how they are or are not doing! He is so funny. They actually won big last night 12-4. We don't get to see many of their games unless they are on network tv or on WGN, but we have a subscription to MLB.com where we can listen to the game on MLB.com radio broadcasts. He is such a sweety. He told me he was going to call his aunt this morning and see how she was doing.

Well, I wanted to do my downstairs chores, then it will be about time for Jack to get up and I can go upstairs and make the bed.

Have a good day all!

Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Faye, sorry to hear your sister is so ill. Right now the hospital is the best place to be with a blood clot. I'll add her to my prayers.

I'm sure you have all heard about the horondous shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday (about 200 miles from where I live). I cannot imagine that horrible senario. Of course, all those with hindsight will say what should have been done, but what happened was a nightmare for all. I hope they find a note or something saying why he did it. Faye, one of the professors that was killed was researching movement and cerebal palsy.

Faye, we have a homeowners association that does nothing. The neighbor 2 door down threw a mattres on the curb 2 weeks ago and you have to call for a big item pick up to get rid of that. With all the rain, it's a mess. They sent me a letter and said I had to remove my husband's ramp from the front door. This is not a big eyesore, there is only 1 step. I sent them a letter back and told them to reread the Americans With Disabilities law and then contact me. That's the last I heard. Two of the neighbors at our end have taken them to court for harrassment because of a flurry of demands that had to facts to back them. The ones they should go after, they leave alone.

We had a little rain and a lot of wind but nothing as bad as they were predicting and no flooding although the water got about 4 feet higher at high tide.

Taking Stan today to have the vein mapping done so they can figure out where his fistula will go. It's either a fistuala or a graft (which doesn't last as long). Personally, I'd go for the graft because the needles are insert through a plastic tube. With a fistuala you are actually stuck with 2 big needles into your vein and it is painful at best.

Have a good day.

[Jean]

Good Afternoon! It's been another beautiful day in my corner of the world -- not as warm as yesterday, but so far no rain and just a slight breeze. I love it! School was SSDD again. The kids don't give a rip, the administration isn't doing anything about discipline turned into the office, and the teachers are frustrated.

"Gma" -- I'm so sorry to hear about your sister! I will keep her in my prayers; she is where she needs to be, but I'm sure it is hard to stay in bed 24/7 when you don't feel 'sick.' When we rented our condo, back in the early '70s, the association was on top of everything and everybody coming and going. I'm sure things have probably changed there also.

Susan -- The shootings in VA are just horrendous! It is such a sad thing to happen for everyone connected in any way. It makes you wonder what was (or wasn't) going on in the shooter's mind. Neither of Stan's options sound like any fun to me. I hope everything works out for him.

I am off to WW in a short time. Not expecting any loss -- I need to get serious about this weight loss journey! Have a relaxing evening and a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning all! Hope you are all having a nice day.

Gloria: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!! I cannot believe I forgot to do it yesterday!

Susan: UGH, hope they can do a graft for Stan, poor thing. I can't believe they threw a fit about the ramp. Good for you to let them have it. I too was greatly saddened by what happened at VT. This kid is able to get all those weapons and all the ammo into his room without anyone knowing about it. Sad, really sad about all the deaths. Of course, only excuses are going to come out of all this and all those young wasted lives and the lives of those professors with families and all.

Jean: It was in the 80's here yesterday and it is kind of balmy this morning when I let Fortune out. Looks like finally maybe spring has sprung here for good. I can't believe it is near the end of April already. That grandbaby is going to be here before we know it.

I have this expensive sweater I bought on QVC from a company called QuackerFactory. To make a long story short, the sweater has these darling button covers, daisys and lady bugs. Well, all but one of my button covers have been lost now. They would come off when I wouldn't notice and one of them I took off and put with other things when we came home from Indiana, but now I can't find it. Anyway, I contacted the company and they don't make replacements!!! They said the sweaters are specially made and only enough covers for that sweater, blah, blah, blah. I told them I would never order anything from them again that it was ridiculous, etc, etc. Well, I actually found them on Ebay, had a $.99 bid until the last day then had to over bid to $2.75 and won, but then she charged $4 in shipping so they cost me nearly $7. That wasn't what irritated me. I got the package and the shipping was 68 cents! All Ebayers do this. They inflate the shipping costs 300-500% and if you want the item, you pay for the shipping. Anyway, I now have a new set of covers!!!

I guess I better get to chores! Keep praying for my sister. When I talked to her yesterday, she said that on Monday night the dr came in and said they have found several small clots in her lungs, which you know can be very dangerous. She is now on Albuterol treatments as well at the blood thinner, has had a CT Scan and continues with chest xrays I guess.

Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Okay, who knows what today is? Answer below.

Faye, I'll keep praying for your sister. Clots are scary things. I haven't had any experiences with ebay because I'm afraid to buy there. I'd be the one that got nothing.

Jean, I'm telling you we have a generation of worthless kids coming up who feel entitled to be given everything and want to work for nothing and are ignorant and lazy - and they need to work to pay into Social Security so we can get our pensions - WOW!

The veins in Stan's lower arms are so scared from all the blood draws and IVs he's had they can't be used so they will be putting in the graft (hooray) in his upper left arm. Hopefully that won't be a problem but it could affect the circulation in his hand. They don't know until they do it. Just waiting now for them to give us a date.

Answer - Twas the 18th of April in '75
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere!

We had to memorize that poem in the 5th grade and I can still recite it!

Scale said 146 this morning. Hope that is right - I'll have my weigh in tomorrow.

[Jean]

Good Evening, Flowers! It was another nice day in my corner of the world. School was just another day in paradise . . . I tangled with a smart a** who thinks he doesn't have to follow any directions given by a woman. We had a sub and the kid was a jerk from the minute he walked into the room. I left a note for the teacher so I hope he gets a Saturday School. I'll really be on his list then, and I don't really care.

Bob has been having trouble with the tooth that he had worked on last summer to the tune of $850. He finally went to the local dentist who doesn't want to mess with it; he is thinking there is a crack somewhere. Anyhow, the hives have returned and Bob is on potent antibiotics and pain meds. He has an appointment with the specialist he saw last summer tomorrow, so I am taking the day off to go with him. He is thinking he may need a driver coming home, depending on what they do to him. I'm hoping he will feel well enough so that I could take some time to look for an outfit to wear to a June wedding and his aunt's 90th birthday party in May. We'll play it by ear.

"Gma" -- I have seen the Quacker Factory lady and would love to tell her how silly she looks with that bandana around her head! I hope things turn around for your sister . . . a scary situation for sure. She is in my prayers.

Susan -- I am impressed that you remembered your poem from 5th grade! We had to learn the "30 days has Sept., April, June, and Nov." ditty. I remember standing in front of the class and being scared to death that I would forget part of it. I also remember my mom helping me memorize it. I keep thinking that today's young adults may be taking care of us some day and that is a very scary thought! Congrats on the 146#!

Gloria -- I want to add my belated wishes also! I have your name written on my calendar right by the computer . . . the secret is to look at it! I hope your day was a special one and may you enjoy many, many more!

I am heading off to bed! Have a terrific Thursday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning to all you lovely ladies! Good news, as my sister got to go home yesterday. The doctor says if after 24 hours the patient is still alive the danger has passed. She remains on blood thinner meds, has to have a blood test every other day, etc.

They put Jack back on the Niacin a few days ago after his ldl was too low on the blood test he took and he has started with the flushing and itching again. I told him to call them, tell them that instead of it taking months, it started back up in a week and they are going to have to change him. He was miserable for a good half an hour last night. I felt so sorry for him, but there is not a thing I can do to help until it just goes away.

Susan: When I was in high school we had to learn a Shakespeare Soliloquy and boy was that tough. I learned some of the "memory" stuff from of all things that little Saturday Schoolhouse Rock thingy they used to put at the end of Saturday morning cartoons. That didn't even start until I was in high school I believe. I learned the Preamble to the Constitution by singing the song! As I said before, when I can put something to music, I can remember anything. That's how I made the dean's list at college! lol

Jean: Hope the doctor and dentist can get Bob right as rain. Jack remembers the hives and surely doesn't want to go back to them too! He does get a smidgeon every once in awhile still, but it has been months since the last one.

Well, I have to eat crow. The Cubs lost to Atlanta again last night and I shot off my mouth at another site about them beating them. Ahhh, well! We got our nightly call from Jay asking his dad how they were doing as he was traveling on a business trip! At that time, they were down 4-1. They rallied then lost 6-8.

Well, ladies, I am going to finish up my chores before Jack gets up in just a mo' as the Brits say. Have a good Thur. Today is skinless baked mutant chicken and rice night.

Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Okay, Faye, what's mutant chicken? I need more chicken recipes. I'm so glad your sister is home and doing better. A pain to have to get blood tests every other day but better than the hospital.

Jean, I hope Bob's problems turn out to be short lived. I hate going to the dentist and hives are a misery unto themselves.

Gloria, I hope you had a wonderful birthday.

Dr's office called for me this morning and they are going to increase my Levoxyl yet again. I may get to feeling better yet!

[gma22]

Susan: You must have missed the times when I posted about "mutant chicken." That is what Jack calls Cornish Game Hens. I skin them, remove as much fat as possible, use a spice rub of garlic powder, cayenne, onion powder, thyme, paprika, pepper and salt and roast them in the oven in a pan of ff chicken broth to baste them a bit. They come out very tasty.

[Jean]

Good Evening, Flowers! The wind is blowing hard -- the few days we had w/o wind were so nice. The rain is supposed to arrive tonight sometime. We spent most of the day on the road to and from Sioux City. The dentist stuck a probe down around Bob's tooth and got a bunch of gunk out. He couldn't see anything on his fancy computer x-ray machine and said to finish the antibiotics and see how it goes. He thinks there may be a crack in the root that he did last summer in which case Bob would have to go on to another specialist to have that part of the tooth removed. The other option would be to pull the tooth which Bob doesn't really want to do either. I did a quick walk through looking for an outfit -- found lots of casual stuff, low cut slinky dresses, and prom dresses. So I came home with a new pair of slacks and two tops instead of a dressier outfit. I may dig out one of the outfits I wore for Jason and Amanda's rehearsal dinner. No one will know how it is!

"Gma" -- That is good news your sister is home again! I hope that things continue to go well for her. Bob's hives are gone except for one large one in the palm of his hand. Hives are so weird!

Susan -- I hope the increase in meds does the trick for you!

Bob is wondering what is for supper so guess I had better go down and get something started. We grilled hamburgers last night and I have some left . . . leftovers again.

Have a relaxing evening and a fantastic Friday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

good morning ladies! Well, today is errand day so I will be in and out of the house all day then tomorrow is the dreaded commissary. I haven't even got my grocery list ready so I have to get that done tonight sometime. We are just going to have sandwiches tonight as I want to go to Walmart's and get all the stuff I can't at the commissary.

I bought this yummy organic mango, tropical single serving juice this morning. I rarely drink juice as the actual fruit is better for you, but I have a hankering for some juice today. I also found some lowfat hot dogs (the ff ones are nasty so I buy lowfat turkey/pork combo that are actually only one pt more and taste a lot better and finally found some premade turkey sausage patties. The only rolled turkey sausage I have been able to find is Walmart brand and it has no spices in it so it is terrible. I had some really good turkey sausage on Easter at Cracker Barrel so I have been hunting around for some patties and found some at the expensive grocery store this morning. Every once in awhile, Jack wants sausage and I buy lowfat if I can get it, but the turkey is better yet. I just hope he will at least try it.

Cubs redeemed themselves and won 3-0 last night so I can now hold my head up again! We didn't get our regular nightly call from Jay, which was surprising. Hard to believe in a little over a month we will have us a new grandson. I am getting anxious for Jackson to get here. Such a big name for just a little boy, but I am sure he will grow into it. He would have made his great granddad very proud knowing he is carrying on the Wilkinson name. Jack doesn't let on, but you know he is pleased as punch to have the baby named Jack.

Well, ladies, I haven't much to talk about. I do have the other sleeve almost done, about 10 rows until bind off then I have to pick up a bazillion stitched down the sides of the front pieces and rib 6 rows for the sweater placket then sew it all up.

Oh, if anyone likes Cold Water Creek clothing, they are having a humongous outlet sale online. It is just www and their name all one word then .com I bought these two things for vacation this year. I have a new camel colored handbag and camel slacks to wear with them. I am deciding about whether I want to buy some dressier sandals or use what I have.

Faye