Good morning ladies! I was so pooped from lugging clean clothes and such yesterday I crashed early so I am up early too. I have to take Jack to work this morning so I can run some apres vacation errands. Have to pick up Fortune, get mailed started, take back library books and take some clothes to the cleaners. I also have to pick up a few things for dinner. Tomorrow is commissary day and I have to get going on a list too.

Once again our primary care facility is dragging their feet about giving Jack a referral to his cardiologist. His appt was the day before we left but we thought his referral was still good and it wasn't so we had to postpone and make another appt. Now he is trying to get his referral and they are saying his dr is no longer at the facility (that practice is like a revolving door, I swear) and he is going to have to make another appt and come in. I am well tired of this and want to change practices, but Jack keeps dragging his feet about it. It is ridiculous that a man that has had a cardiologist for 4 years ongoing, has all of it in his medical records, can't just be issued a referral.

Susan: I sure hope you guys don't have any hurricane issues this year. I remember what that is like when we lived in Va Beach. It looks like we are going to have a busy hurricane year again.

Jean: I thought I saw on tv while we were sitting in the airport to change planes to come home that you guys are supposed to get some really cool weather this weekend. Fall may be well and truly starting for you. We are still in the 90's here, but looks like we may cool down to the 80's this weekend. I just have a bunch of birthdays all scrunched up now, but I am well on my way with getting gifts going. I didn't work on my knitting much while we were gone, read mostly when we were relaxing in the room, but I hope to get Kelly's sweater done next week and maybe get Jay's hat started if the yarn comes. I did order his patches and pins so they should be here in about a week or so. His birthday is Oct 22 so I still have some time.

Gloria: Hope you are fit as a fiddle now that your stone business is all settled. I had a wonderful time in Las Vegas, but whoee it was hot there. It didn't get below 90 at night so our ac in the hotel room ran constantly. It kept things nice and cool though. We rented a car so we didn't walk around in the heat much, which helped a lot too.

Well, chores call before Jack gets up in a little while. Have a good Thursday!

Faye

Good morning gals! The boys are back together, which seems to make them happy. They both sat on my lap most of the evening while we watched tv. We were watching a BBCA show called "My Family" and I laughed loudly at something, scared the cat and he jumped off, but with his back claws out so I got long gashes on my right leg and left breast. Bled like a son of a gun and boy they are sore this morning. I have to get Fortune back to normal. He doesn't want to eat when he is at the kennel. Thankfully, he was retested and his bacterial infection is all gone.

Today is clean the downstairs day. I put off the commissary until tomorrow as I need to make a list and a menu and haven't gotten around to it yet. I did get all my errands run, a very nice and profuse apology from the post office manager with her personal card to call when we stop the mail again. She assured me it wouldn't happen again so we shall see.

Jack got a call yesterday that he had to make an appt to see another dr so I am sure they are going to get a piece of his mind when he goes in. He told them in no uncertain terms he had to have an appt at 4 PM because he wasn't taking off work to do it. I am supposed to lodge a complaint with Tricare, but had to sign up for an online account with them and now have to wait 10 days to get a key code to use besides a user name and password. I haven't told Jack that part! lol

I better get crackin' on the chores and cleaning I can do at the moment. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Faye

Good morning all! Well, I did get the downstairs cleaned yesterday and get to face the commissary today. UGH!

The phone rang yesterday and Jack answered it and it was Thomas. He ask if he could speak to Nonny so Jack put me on. He asked me if on Saturday he could come and spend the day with us and we take him to see this cooking show about a chef learning to cook or some such. His mom put him up to it. It is "Ratatouille" which is a kid's movie about a Rat who lives in a restaurant and wants to be a chef. You know he loves to tease me about my rodent phobia and his mom loves to help him. Anyway, I told him sure so we are going to have him all day next Saturday, which should be fun. His parents have some Cub Scout wilderness survivor cooking thing they have to attend all day. I bought him a tshirt, mug, and pin from the "Love" show with the Beatles on it so I will give it to him on Saturday.

Jean: Poor kid probably just needed a ear. I have an online friend I met at my knitting website and she is my son's age. She lives with a disabled mom and she emails me because she has no one to talk with about it. Her mom is pretty ill right now as her blood count continues to bottom out and they keep infusing her, but nothing is working. The young woman is the bread winner, working two jobs to make ends meet and she has it tough. On top of that, she is morbidly obese and struggles with all those issues. I emailed the commissary after the last time I was there complaining, but never even got a courtesy email back.

I am getting the two of us back on WW and going full tilt since we are back from vacation. Lots of fruits and veggies for me and water!

I guess I should get me morning chores done and maybe do a little knitting before Jack gets up. Commissary opens at 10 today so I want to get out there and get back. It is still pretty warm here and very humid. It rained last night I see from the wet deck, so it will probably be miserable today.

Faye

Just a quick post this evening to let you know I sent you all emails with a link to a blog and pictures of my trip. I know I can't link from here, so just did it that way! Talk to you tomorrow morning!

Faye

Good morning ladies! I have upstairs cleaning to do today and want to get some more knitting done. I am almost finished with dd's sweater back and I would really like to get the whole thing done this week.

Jean: Glad you enjoyed my trip report and pictures. We had such a good time. You would have cracked up at me in the elevator in the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty packed and we were the last ones in. I started out standing front ways, but turned backwards so I didn't have to see out as we climbed. The elevator is glass and it is nauseating watching it climb into the air. I kind of have a height thing that bothers me and this gave me the willies big time. Sounds like you and Bob will go back to being busy, busy again since everything is starting up again.

We are both back on WW, thank goodness. I went to the commissary and got lots of good fruits and veggies yesterday and even bought brown rice and wheat pasta and breads for myself to eat. This morning is oatmeal and fruit for me though. You sure get sluggish when you eat poorly and I feel really run down and tired and I know it is because my food intake has been rotten. The pool is closed for the year, but I will get out and start walking again for the fall and winter and using my weights and the treadmill too.

Everyone have a terrific Monday. I am off to get started on the cleaning and such.

Faye

Good morning to you all! Hope Tuesday has started out well for you. We got some rain last night and it fooled with the satellite for a bit, but not for long. We were in the middle of the CUBS game and they were winning, but Jack just got on the computer and put it on through the WGN radio and we listened to it until the tv came back on. They are in a very tight race between Milwaukee and the Cardinals and they played the Cardinals last night and whupped their behinds. They are only 1 game ahead of Milwaukee so it will come down to the wire I imagine.

Jean: The other elevator inhabitants were a group of black gals and one of them commiserated with me in a teasing way. Turning back towards the crowd you could still see out the back, but I kept looking at them! The bed at the hotel, while not uncomfortable, had a thick mattress pad that made us sweat every night. We would turn down the AC, which was really cold as the new section has actualy thermostats not just high, med and low settings, but then we would get cold. With my menopause stuff I would have night sweats, hot from the mattress pad, but I sleep on my stomach so my backside would wake me up freezing cold when I would kick off the blankets. I was soaked on the underside and cold as ice on the upper! The mattress pads are on there to protect you so I didn't take it off every night. They changed them everyday.

Today is vacuum the upstairs and dust day. I made myself sick yesterday. Stupid really, but I have an obese friend and I was talking to her back when I messed up my knee again how hard it was to get down on my knees to clean the tub. She recommended this scrubber with a long handle where I could clean standing up. I found a Mr Clean Magic Reach and bought it. I used it to clean the tub yesterday, but I have no windows in the bathroom so mildew gets in the grout pretty easy and the bottom of my cloth shower liner. I used Tilex as it has bleach in it and bleach is the only thing that kills mildew. I had the fan going for ventilation and sprayed the grout, but I didn't know the cleaning pads on the Magic Reach were presoaped. I thought they were just pads, like the Swiffer mops have. I guess the soap stuff reacted with the bleach and caused some fumes. I am always so careful about that and now I know to do the grout one day and let it dry and then do the actually tub and tile cleaning the next day. Mainly caused a sore throat, but I know it can cause chemical pneumonia so I am usually very, very careful with chemicals of any kind. Dumb me for not seeing they had soap in them.

I guess I better get the rest of the morning chores finished so I can get upstairs in a bit.

Faye

Good morning, Ladies!

Faye, I love those Mr. Clean Magic Reach cleaners. It sure makes bath tub cleaning a lot easier. I use the Swifter Wet Jet on my ceramic tile. Great pictures from your vacation. You hair looks just like mine!

It has cooled off to about 80 around here but the humidity has been frightful. We didn't even get a drop of rain over the weekend - not that I'm complaining!

Stan gets the catheter out tomorrow. No restrictions as to food and drink before hand because they just take him in the procedure room, numb the area, yank it out and then put in a couple of stitches. I will take off work, however, because he has to have someone with him for 24 hours because of it being in the juglar vein and the chance for a hemmorage.

I've just about got my files cleaned out and everything filed properly and then I'm going to start the really fun job - my sewing room. It really needs it but I hate to do anything because I can actually find the stuff now but when it's neat I can't find anything.

Anybody have a recommendation on a carpet steamer? I'm looking for a new one. It has to have an attachment for stairs.

I could either say late good evening or early good morning. Jack is sick so I am up with him. Not a lot I can do, but I brought the animals downstairs so as not to bother him for awhile. He just has an upset tummy, but he said he had some crackers and cheese last night so that might be the problem.

Susan: We have a Bissell Proheat that works terrific and has a stair/upholstery attachment, but the thing is dragging the darn thing up the stairs to clean them. The machine is heavy. Bissell has some handhelds that might be just as good for something like stairs. Hope Stan does well with removing his catheter. I had to laugh at the fact that messy does better for you then clean for finding things.

Jean: I just let Fortune out and it has cooled off overnights now, which is nice. It was cooler yesterday, but the humidity is still so very high.

WW is coming fine, though the oranges I bought aren't very good. No juice and the pulp grainy if you know what I mean. I bought a bunch of frozen fruit too so I can use that if I end up having to toss the oranges. I also bought bananas, a few peaches and a couple apples and a couple cans of fruit. My veggies seem to be ok, though they sure don't last long if they are fresh. I bought some Healthy Choice veggie soup, which is really good. A whole can, which is one nice sized bowl is only 4 pts and lots of good fiber. I am also taking Osteo-biflex now to see if I can strengthen the knee area. I have only been taking it a couple days so we shall see.

I guess I will check on Jack and knit awhile, then go back to bed.

Everyone have a good Wednesday!
Faye

Good morning gals! The week is flying by. Jack went to the dr yesterday and the primary care manager/physician actually came into his room and talked with him. Jack complained about the situation and this guy explained Jack hadn't been in in over a year, which wasn't true as he had to have a referral last November, but anyway. The thing that got me is they didn't check him out at all, even listen to his heart. I mean, why couldn't they have just looked at his chart???? I know we only pay $12 per visit, but still, it was stupid. If they wanted him to come in for a regular physical, which they do, then they should have just told him so and let him schedule one instead of this nonsense.

Jean: Hope Bob's throat is better. I think there is nothing worse than either an earache, toothache or sore throat. Why can't the bell choir play one service on one Sunday then the next Sunday play the other service and be done with it? I agree with you, I wouldn't want to have to sit through two services, or waste my time just sitting and waiting.

I now have Kel's sweater done except for one more sleeve then I can sew it up and I-cord the neckline, which I have never done so it will be interesting. It is such a pretty color and when it is done, I have to take the yarn to the fabric store or Michael's or something and get organza ribbon for the ties. I found some online, but I am not sure how it would match. I may just go with a white color as they did for the original pattern. I think the hyacinth color is much prettier than the gray blue of the original pattern. Besides, the original pattern is wool yarn and Kelly can't wear wool because of the skin disease she has. I am using a silk/alpaca combo that has some wool in it. It is very soft so shouldn't cause her a problem.

I talked to my dil last night and our boy is now eating cereal and jar food. He had sweet potatoes last night and she said he did really well. He was hiccuping in the background, but not crying. She says he gets the hiccups a lot after he has eaten. I sure can't wait to see him again.

Well, it is on to morning chores for me.

Have a great Thursday!
Faye