Morning girls! It rained last night but instead of it being cooler it is just more humid this morning. Looks like we are gonna get more of it today. I did absolutely nothing but read yesterday. I was gonna clean downstairs, but Jack wants me to "relax" on the weekends. That's all I do during the week!

Jean: Jack wanted me to run for city commissioner or a school board post, but I figured I didn't know enough about how Memphis government was run and hadn't had a kid in the system since 1989. Well, surprise on me, at least I have never been in jail! I found out there are a LOT of people on our commissions who know nothing about anything anyway! What are they called...politicians. Besides, I would probably get up in ole King Willie's face (the mayor) and probably land in jail that way. The man is such a piece of scum makes old mayor of Chicago Richard Daly look like a boy scout and that man was seriously corrupt (personally, I don't think ole mayor Daly 2 is too honest)

Ok, here's a laugh for you. Jack and I are already planning next year's Vegas trip! We do love going there so much and decided several months ago that we would return again next year only for a shorter period of time and during the work week when it is the cheapest. I have always wanted to stay on the strip, but it is more expensive. We decided on staying at Bally's right on the strip and I can get 5 days for only $69 a night, which is great. The cool thing is that Bally's, The Paris and the Aladdin are ALL connected so you can walk from one to the next to the next and never go outside. Which means if we want to get up in the middle of the night and gamble we have 3 casinos to do so in without wandering outside at all. Plus, Caesars Palace is across the street and has the Forum Shops a huge shopping area. I will book probably in Feb again and buy the airline tickets. I guess it is sort of like other people's trip to their favorite cabin every year, we just love it.

I guess I should go as I need to do a couple things before going to the pool ths morning.

Faye

Good morning gals! Another day off the calendar and one step closer to the city of lights. It is again sticky this morning and looks like it may rain, who knows anymore? As long as it holds out for an hour in the morning!

Jean: Is your father deceased? I don't think I ever hear you talk about your mom or dad much, do they live far away? None of our parents are alive. Jack's dad had cancer and died 3 months after diagnosis in Feb of 1974, my dad died exactly 30 days later, (you know old wive's tale, death comes in threes, well my mil's mother died in Jan of '74, then dh's dad then mine, boom boom boom.) My mil passed in 1989 on Valentine's day of congestive heart failure brought on by taking steroids for over 20 years for a brain tumor that was removed in 68 and my mother died in March of 1997 just 4 months before my dd got married of diabetic complications. In fact, she had flown home from her bridal shower and had to turn around and come right back. Three of our parents died in their early 50's!

Boy, sounds like you are going to have a busy couple of weeks! Is Maddy going to be 2? I can't keep up on how old their are. I know Ian is a couple years younger than Thomas. We are supposed to go to their house sometime this weekend for my SIL's birthday cookout. I haven't seen Thomas since the middle of June! I do miss the little stinker but they are pretty wrapped up in their lives and it is hard to make connections sometimes.

I talked to my dsis who lives in Indiana yesterday and she is just a mess. She takes thyroid meds and they need to be readjusted so she is sick from that, she has to go to work sick, then her dh is not doing well at the nursing home. He can't sit up right in his scooter anymore and cannot stand at all anymore. They can't get one of his bedsores healed and so of course she is worried about him (I have to say a friend of ours with MS, when she was at the "listing" stage as far as sitting up, she passed away within a year afterwards) At least he can still swallow and eat. Then her ds and his wife who is mentally ill have problems because HER meds aren't working and my sis has taken that on herself too. She said yesterday, "Your son is just so wonderful. He comes and gets Jim and takes him away from the situation for the day and is a sounding board for Jim." Makes a mama proud to know she raised her kid to be compassionate, especially a big hulking man like my son.

I guess I better get off and start some housework before I go to the pool. Have a great day!

faye

Morning ladies! It is icky again today. On top of that, our association changed garbage companies and they only pick up once a week so I have smelly garbage on top of it and they don't come until tomorrow. ICK!

Jean: Do you have siblings? My bil worked my poor sister like a slave. We all wanted to just slap him. When he COULD walk but he has one arm that is useless, she would bring him a plate and get him all ready to eat then go and get her a plate and the minute she sat down, he wanted something. He is a big pain too and is convinced he can come home, but that is NOT going to happen. We are again going to rent a hall for Thanksgiving because it went so very well last year and she wants to bring him over but I do not see how they are going to get him in and out of her van let alone keep him upright in his scooter now. Last Thanksgiving, Jack had an absolutely horrible time getting him into the van because his legs won't bend anymore at he used to be able to at least stand and hold onto something to help him in. Now he can't do that and she doesn't have a van that has a lift, but just one that has a scooter hoist. I feel awful that he would be alone but it would be worse if we had to call an ambulance because he fell and they couldn't get him up and they have pretty bad winters up there.

My dgs only lives about 10 miles max and his mom only works about 5 miles from us, but his other grandparents want to keep him so I don't say anything about it. He also starts school on Thur so he will be going all day. Maybe we can find a Sat when we can take him to Chucky Cheese and his fall soccer starts again in a week or so.

Poor Jack! I think I need to circumvent him and call his cardiologist about bruising. Jack is bruising really easily lately. If you didn't know better you would think I was beating the crap out of him. I e-mailed my dd, who is a pharmacist, if she thinks we should call the cardio. I think we should, but if she says we should and he doesn't I am going to sic his son on him and then I know he will call. A week ago the car door hit him in the chest at breast level and he has this horrible almost black bruise now. He also has tons of little ones all over his body from things as easy as leaning over a piece of metal equipment to get it out and I don't think before it would have bruised him. If one of his meds has a blood thinning component, and I bet it does, the bruising may be something to do with that and he will need to talk to his cardiologist. He came home last night just wiped out. They had finished a job that took almost a week to do in extreme temps and he had stood on a ladder all day so his calves were killing him. I felt so sorry for him so I gave his calves a good rubdown. My dad used to have this wintergreen rubbing alcohol he would use on himself (he had rheumatoid arthritis) and maybe I should get some of that if they even make it anymore.

Funny how something will trip a memory. He used to use that stuff all the time and the house always smelled like wintergreen when I was a kid. Guess that is why I love the fragrance and the Lifesavers. I just wish I had appreciated him more growing up. He was an alcoholic and had this loud voice (which unfortunately he passed on to ME!), but sweet as he could be. He was never violent and never ever hit any of us kids. My overbearing control freak mother drove him to drink (he was a tea totalling Baptist deacon when I was a baby) but I was his favorite as I would get up on Sundays to go fishing with him when I was probably 7-8 and I remember going up to the house we were going to rent and helping him paint it on Sunday's and I was about 10 then. He would take me across the street to this little diner and buy me chocolate milk (he knew I hated white milk and still do, will NOT drink it) and hot cinnamon donuts. I haven't thought about that in years! He has been dead 30 years but I do miss him.

Well, enough walk down memory lane. The pool is calling. I guess I better do laps instead of aerobics today as my left knee has been hurting since yesterday for some reason.

Have a great day gals and talk at you later!

Faye

Morning girls! We still haven't gotten any rain, but it is sure sticky here. Looks like Vegas has cooled down to a balmy 96 degrees!

Jean: I am sure Ian is going to love his new toys! There is just something about a wagon and little boys. They just go together.

I had a rough rough night last night. Dinner made me violently sick, not vomiting though I thought it was going to come up, but intestinal cramps. I was almost in tears and it last for like 3 hours. I took some Pepto hoping it would help and almost upchucked it. Then it turned to heartburn and had to deal with that the rest of the night. I used some oil in cooking last night and I think that is what did it. Don't want a repeat performance of that though!

I am so upset at myself for being just a dope!!!!! I have told you all about my dsis in Ca who lives like they are Donald Trump but are up to their ears in debt. Well, she has been whining about coming to Vegas and not knowing where they were getting the money, etc for weeks to me. Well, I talked with Jack and we decided we were going to help them out so I sent HER MY $$ off coupons for their room and it came with 4 free meal coupons, then we decided to pay for their room, give them a tank of gas to go home on, pay for the entertainment we were going to do together AND made reservations at this fancy Italian restaurant SHE picked out over where we wanted to go (which of course was cheaper) because their anniversary was the 4th so it is our gift to them. WELLLLLLL, I talked to the other sister on Sunday and she informed me her dd and sil were leaving for Ca the day before we go home from Vegas to visit my sis and bil and they are going to the NASCAR race in CA!!!! NASCAR tickets aren't cheap let me tell you. So , I emailed my dsis not once but twice about my niece coming out there and she ignored it both times and responded to everything else in both e-mails. I am hopping mad that we fell for that again! Last year at my son's wedding, they were so rude to Jack. I got invited to go shopping with the two of them and their three dd's and Jack said to go. Neita said my bil and nil would call Jack about going with them! They left him stranded at the hotel with nothing to do and my stupid sis and n spent all day shopping in extreme heat in an outdoor mall, ignoring me completely like I was their chauffeur (she had rented a Lincoln Town Car and was afraid to drive it so I drove everywhere!) I thought we were going to be gone a couple hours and 6 hours later we come back and Jack is in the room playing a game on his computer because he was stiffed! Then the day of the wedding, the two of them went off for coffee and rolls and ignored me completely and I had a shoe emergency (my beautiful new shoes wouldn't fit as my feet had swelled) so I called my sis on her cell and ask is she could take me to Walmarts to get a pair of shoes to wear under my dress. Yeah, they came back and got me, then shopped for 2 hours in Walmart and 45 minutes in the store next door and left me sitting in the hot car! I was a nervous wreck about the wedding anyway and they are screwing around like they have nothing better to do and it is like 2 hours before the wedding! We decided not to spend money on a rental car because our hotel had a shuttle that connected with three of their other properties on and off the strip and we had relatives in town for the wedding that could take us to the wedding in their car. My bil decided he KNEW Vegas and first off, messed around until it was 15 minutes before the wedding before leaving our hotel, then took a "short cut" that ended in a deadend and got us lost. We arrived at the chapel in a huge traffic tie up so Jack and I got out of the car in the middle of the road and hot footed it to the chapel. Thank goodness the wedding before was late or we would have missed our own son's wedding. Anyway, I told Jack I was never ever ever doing anything for them monetarily again. She has already hinted about not having airline ticket money to go to Indiana for Thanksgiving and there is no way we are giving them money! These people probably make $120,000 between them to our $75,000! I just feel like such a moron to fall for it again!

Well that is my gripe for the day. Going to the pool in a few so have a nice day!

Faye

Morning gals! It is starting to heat up already today. Heat index is supposed to be about 105 this weekend!

I was busy yesterday and this morning is the trip to the commissary so you know I am looking forward to that!

I have lost 14 lbs in 2 weeks so I treated myself to a new "on the plane" outfit. It is the crinkle material in a deep turquoise pant and tunic and it is like wearing pjs so it will be nice and comfortable for that long plane ride I think. I think I am going to get some woolite and take with me and wash it out and hang it up and wear it back home then.

We are going to dd's on Sat for sil's bday so I get to see t and see how his first week of school went. He was all excited about it, but he has never been all day everyday so we shall see.

Jean: Don't you just love those "pop in" guests? I hope you enjoy the hopefully short visit! I am making pasta salad for sil's bday and I put everything but the kitchen sink in it so I hope they like it. Jack won't eat it but he is a meat and pot guy anyway.

The dr office called yesterday and they totally removed Jack from one of his meds (the Plavix) because of the bruising. Of course, I had JUST ordered another 90 day supply!

I gotta get in the shower and get out of here.

Have a good weekend everyone

Faye

Good morning girls! I fell asleep early last night so I am up early this morning. I feel pretty good though so it isn't like I haven't had any sleep. I am one of those crazy people that listens to so much music, that I constantly carry some tune in my head. Drives me nuts sometimes! I woke up this morning hearing "The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down" I am surprised I wasn't dreaming about the Civil War! (I was in the car a lot and had the oldies channel going most of the day and it was on sometime yesterday)

I had the day from yesterday! Let's see, broke my reading glasses as I walked into the commissary so I couldn't read anything, ask for plastic and they bagged up everything in paper, though the checkout clerk told the bagger, I heard her. When I am alone, I only like plastic because it has handles and I can carry more than one bag. I made them rebag, though the checkout clerk and myself helped and the bagger still got a tip everyone can make mistakes, got home had to drag it all in and put it away in the heat, then started a pan of water to make rotini for pasta salad for my sil's bday cookout today. I had taken off my brand new outfit to fix the stuff, but I finished and redressed because I was going to have to go get Jack. I put the chip dip container on top of the pasta Tupperware bowl (for you oldies, you may know what the big fix and mix bowl is and that is what it was in) and when I put it in the fridge, the dip container slid, the whole thing fell out of the fridge bounced on the floor, the lid came off the tupperware and yes, you guessed it oily pasta salad all over, which I slipped in and fell, messing up my Clark sandals and putting Italian dressing all over my new outfit. I just cried! Took me half an hour to clean everything up as I had to clean it up, mop the floor 4 times to get up the slippery oil, gather up all the kitchen towels I grabbed when I fell so I could crawl out of the mess! I rushed around to the laundry room and sprayed my suit with Shout and let it sit while I took another shower to wash off the dressing. Came down and put it in the washer then when it was finished, re-washed it in dish soap (HINT HERE: DISH SOAP WILL CUT THE OIL IN CLOTHES) In the meantime, Fortune had thrown up all over the recliner and pooed on the floor in the dining room! SIGH.....The only good thing is I guess all that swimming has helped strengthen my bad knee because it didn't dislocate when I slipped and fell and it always has before. Hopefully, today will be better!

Jean: We live with the jumping bean syndrome with the animals. That and a queen size bed and you don't usually sleep well when they seem to be agitated. I am definitely buying a bigger bed by the end of the year. I can't take it anymore. I am actually looking forward to 9 days, king size bed, no animals!

I will probably get into trouble, but bought T some candy and a Spongebob Pez dispenser. Durn, those things are a dollar apiece now! I think we used to buy them for like 10 cents! I watched an Antiques Roadshow a few years back and they featured this guy who collects them and has thousands. It was cool to see some of the ones he had.

Well, better get my day started.

Faye

Morning gals! It was sure miserable here yesterday with the heat. Good old Al Sharpton was in town trying to stir up trouble over these parks that are named for confederates but I guess the two sides stayed peaceful! It is so ridiculous to make a stink after all this time.

Jean: I did make another salad than nobody ate any of it but a couple bites. Oh well, it was just money! I threw it out when I got home as Jack won't eat it and I didn't want to eat all that fat. Tasted pretty good too! Hope your weekend with the kids is going well. T is growing up so incredibly fast. He instructed me on the finer points of his video game yesterday and I got totally lost. He taught himself this game by memorization as he can't read yet except recognize letter and numbers. He would give his dad the controller from time to time and ask him to play a difficult part, but would then give him instructions on what he was doing wrong! My dd said, "He isn't like me or anything is he?" He is getting so tall and the kid is a stick. His dad is rail thin so I guess he is going to be just like him because he does eat. His favorite thing is broccoli. He would eat that for breakfast if you gave it to him! Oh, yes, dish soap works for grease or oil stains, but it is better with a little glycerin added. I have never used it, but I guess that waterless hand cleaner mechanics use is the absolute best to use on grease and oil stains. Just rub some into the stain and launder. I got this free book from my book club written by this guy that does programs on PBS called Haley's household hints and it has all kinds of cleaning stuff in there. I also have a queen of clean laundry book.

I am going to clean the downstairs today and the upstairs tomorrow I guess. It is too hot to go outside and do anything. We about cooked just going over to dd's yesterday.

I am going to do some packing today. There are things I want to take that I won't use before now and then and I don't want to forget them. Besides, I have all my vacation clothes folded and put aside anyway.

I better get going. Have a great Sunday everyone.

Faye

Good morning girls! Gosh I thought it had been miserable but this morning is the worst. The humidity has to be 80%. I can't even stay cool in my own house and it is only 6:45!

I did get done what I wanted to get done and have most of my packing finished. I actually have room this year! Maybe it is because I didn't take every pair of shoes I owned almost and I didn't take sweaters etc that are heavier too. We also had to take a garment bag last year for our wedding clothes and that holds almost nothing so all in all I am happy. I can fill it up with souvenirs and stuff! I can't believe we only have 10 days.

I cleaned downstairs yesterday, fixed a roast and we watched the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen. Our favorite, Indiana native Tony Stewart, won the race quite handily. I know this is awful, but my bil and nephew in law are big Jeff Gordon fans and always gave dh a hard time about liking Stewart. I hope after what went on with them and the money stuff, Stewart beats his pants off in the CA race the 4th of Sept!

I did get the upstairs cleaned this am except for the vacuuming and I will wait until around 9 to do that, though people should be up to take their little monsters to their first day of school.

Well, I wonder if Maggie and Cowboy are having a good time traveling around. I thought maybe we would hear from her by now, but they must be having just too much fun!

Time for the pool so gotta go.


Faye