I'm Back...

Well, the blanket is done. It has been taking up all (haha--all) my spare time, and it is finally done. I was up till the wee hours of Tuesday finishing it, as Anne needed it at 9.15 a.m. on Tuesday. It came out quite nice, and is pretty big. I am sure it is the biggest thing I have ever knit. Anne and I measured it last night, and it is just over 50 inches by just over 55 inches. Anne still needs to do the crocheted edge. She is trying to decide just what edging pattern she wants to use. I think it will look really good with the darker yarn edging it, but on the other hand, it looks good as is, so we will see.





Mickey decided she liked the blanket after all, so she is guarding it! Will get better photos later!





Anne did use her blanket when I took her for the ACTH test, and a good thing, it was quite chilly in there. I was glad I remembered to bring a sweater. The test went well, one useless needle poke that so missed the vein that it didn't even bleed---I think the gal was trying too hard to do it low enough that it wouldn't hurt Anne to bend her arm. Anyway, she is one who will poke once and only once, so another gal did the second poke and got it on the first go. Hurrah! We will get the results next Tuesday.

We have continued to have a good bit of rain, mostly in the evening, which is really nice! Some thunder along with it too, but not always. I dumped another half inch of rain out of the gauge yesterday, and I think it has about that much again from last night.

Anne stayed home and slept while I went for my doc appt today. Just needed a new prescription for ultram (which I really like, by the way---hard to find anything you can take for pain/inflammation when you can't take NSAIDs) and a quick follow-up on all the past things. I saw a major, who is a nurse practitioner. She said I have been assigned a new doctor, I should be getting the letter about it soon. My old doctor has been reassigned to another base in Florida--he got lucky, he was afraid he was going to get Minot or someplace like that!

I feel like there was something else I was going to write about, but can't think of it now. I will be a better blogger now, that the big knitting project is done. More, later.....

Hot, Hot, Hot

Not so much that it was hot outside, it was actually sort of nice. Although hot! A nice breeze though!

No, what we had was a different kind of hot. I got up and got dressed this morning, and noticed that I was feeling a little bit hot, but figured it was a hot flash. Logical..... Well, I went out and got a cup of coffee, etc, and just for grins, checked the thermostat, and found that it was 84 degrees in the house. I always have it set on 78----day, night, etc. Well! I got Mike to change the air filter---always a good start!----and we both did what little bits we could think of to check it all out and try to get it going again. No luck. Fortunately, the name of the company that installed the A/C was listed on the outside unit and the unit in the garage. So, I made a phone call, and even on Saturday they have an operator that will take a message and get it to their technician who works after hours. The technician was able to come this afternoon, and it was an easy fix, thank goodness! Shoot, now I just forgot what it was that went. Oh, I think it was a capacitor???? It was a little thing down in the bottom of the unit in the garage. It had blown, and leaked some kind of machine oil. All the repairman had to do was replace it---we were lucky, he had just one of the right kind in his truck----and it was all fixed in no time. We were immensely glad it was something quick and easy to fix!!! How lucky was that? The house had gotten up to 86 by the time he had arrived, but it returned to its set temperature in a reasonable amount of time once the repair was made. What a relief!

I guess that is our excitement for the weekend? We went out for our weekly dinner out tonight, and went for Chinese. We hadn't been there in ages, and it is always so good. Yummy! When we got back, Anne and I went to the side of the house and checked on the progress of the jasmine. It is doing quite well. There are several sections that are climbing along the trellis, that are already to the top of it. The one piece was long enough that it extended several inches over the edge of the trellis. I guided it back down the other side. It is really growing a lot. I really need to go check the rest of the plants. I usually try to take a walk around the whole house now and then to check everything. I haven't looked at the grapefruit tree in ages---maybe not since I went through and removed a lot of the fruit? Mike says it looks like it is leaning more than ever. I need to see if Joel can come up with some sort of more permanent plan to support the tree, so we don't lose it.

I am now on the last skein of yarn, and nearing the end of the work on Anne's blanket. It is really going to be nice, if I may say so! It is almost as tall as I am, and there are still three "basket segments" to go (each segment is 18 rows of knitting) and the garter stitch edging (12 rows). Then also, it is to have a crocheted edge on it too, that Anne wants done with the darker yarn she got. We haven't yet decided who will do that, she will if she feels up to it, if not I will. I have enjoyed working on it, and it has gone much faster than I would have dared to hope. When I look at it, I can't imagine that I have done all that knitting. I think it has only been a little over a month that I have been working on it.

We have had very little rain from Hurricane Katrina, and they don't seem to think we will get any more from her journey up into the gulf. It seems she is far enough west that we are not likely to get anything. It was a shame that they seem to have underestimated what she was going to do---they had thought she would hit the gulf states as a catagory 1, now they are saying she might make it to a catagory 4. A real shame. We really like the ones that go back into the mid-Atlantic and die!

Once again, I am writing this on Saturday, at least still Saturday for me! Sorry about that--since the heading date says Sunday.

I am Still on Monday!

Okay, I haven't been to bed yet, so it is still Monday! Despite what the date heading for this says!

I have been very happy to see that Mike is blogging again. Be sure to go see his blog---he has put up some really neat photos! He went for a walk this evening, to good purpose, I see. What a great looking sunset. He mentioned to me that the baby swans are almost all white now. They sure have grown up fast. I remember back when they were little gray fuzzy things!

I haven't walked with Mike, the times he has gone. I still haven't found a chance to call orthopedics at the base, to check on my referral to podiatry, which has surely been lost. My foot/ankle doesn't bother me a lot (thanks to distractions!), but it is most likely to bother me by hurting while walking, so I haven't been going in for excess walking. I will have to try to call this week and get that sorted out.

The weather has been "cooler" in the Orlando area, but the high for Melbourne seems to continue in the low 90's, no change. I just checked Mike's blog a little bit ago, and checked his weather thing while I was there. At almost 1 a.m., it is still 86 degrees, 70% humidity, and a heat index of 95 degrees. I can guarantee you, when I put the garbage cans out at 7.30, it didn't feel nearly that hot. Perhaps I have gotten used to the heat already? I won't complain, if that is it!

Anne and I had a quiet day and ran some errands. We made it to the base post office before they closed, thank goodness! I just finished up paperwork with her for her visit to the endocrinologist tomorrow. Also paperwork so Aetna disability can talk to me instead of having to deal with her. A benefit, since she doesn't want to have to deal with them.

Well, I am blithering, so I will go and will write more soon!

Killing Time

Well, Anne and I had a quiet day on Friday and in the interest of getting out of the house, and getting cheap books, we headed out to the local friends of the library book sale that afternoon. We had an interesting sight meet our eyes on the way out of our neighborhood! Driving along Old Glory, we spotted a guy out mowing his yard. Not a big deal, right? But, while he was mowing the edges of the yard with a regular mower, one of those neat new automatic lawn mowers was mowing the rest of the yard!!!!!! How cool is that???? I have read about them in the newspapers, but had never seen one "live" so to speak! I know that the prices for the automatic self propelled vacuums are coming down, and are made by a number of manufacturers now. I really thought I would be more likely to see one of those, before ever seeing one of the lawn mowing ones. So neat!!!!!

So, after that excitement, it was off to the library! Anne was feeling a bit pooped, so she camped out on a bench, and made occasional trips into the sale room to take a quick peek. I found a number of books, and could have picked up more, if I had been more sure of what I already have and what I don't yet. Oh well!

Our Joann's is closing, and will be reopening in October (??) in a new location. They are getting rid of as much of their inventory as possible before the move. We stopped by to see what the current status is, since we hadn't been in there in a while. The yarn is almost all gone, although Anne did get a few skeins for a jacket she wants to make, to go with the hat she made herself last month. It was nice to get the yarn at 40% off! They have just about sold all the things we would be interested in. The yarn is almost all gone, and although there is still a lot of fabric, other quilting supplies are pretty much gone. There won't anything to bring us back till they open the new store. Just as well!

Saturday was a quiet day. I spent a lot of time knitting, and am making good progress! We didn't get any rain today, but there is still a good chance of rain tomorrow. They did get a lot of rain inland--one place got almost 4.5 inches. We sure don't need that! No news from Brian recently, although I know he has talked to Anne on IM, I just haven't heard of any big news. I think they just chat. I will let you know if I hear anything interesting!

Travelogue Finale

Well, Anne tried to fool me, but I perservered and fooled her back. Or I am totally mistaken and losing it. Which is a distinct possibility too! I was sure that I saw the photo below in our joint photobucket account. I went there intending to do the magic that is "putting a photo into html" by just clicking on some buttons and then installing it in this blog update. Well, I got to photobucket and it wasn't there!!!! Anne had added more photos, but this one was not there! Horrors! What to do???

I have now learned enough over time that I had a tiny inkling of where to go to find the photo and actually did find it. However, the method I used to take photos from the email Christine sent didn't want to work for this. I was obviously doing something wrong. I tried several times, and it still didn't work. I think I stopped short of meeting the criteria for insanity---doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

To cut a long story short, I tried a different method, and it worked!!!!! In the old days, I might have had the courage to try once, maybe, but if that hadn't worked, I probably would have gone for help. I feel so "computer-y!!!!!!"

Anyway, back to the travelogue! We had a fairly uneventful trip home. For that reason, I will combine the whole trip back into one report. We got a later-than- planned-start, as we stopped at the base hospital after leaving the Hope Hotel that Monday. We wanted to check and see if it was possible to get a copy of the MRI films from Anne's head MRI taken there back in 1998. Turns out no, as the films were lost when they switched to digital. However, the tech did print out the report for us. It was sure better than nothing! Meanwhile, they have greatly changed things there at the hospital. The atrium used to be a funny combination of light and dark---lots of skylights, but darkish stone all over, with big planted areas, etc. It is totally different now! They took out all the planter areas, and the walls are all smooth and light colored now. There is nice light tile on the floors. The pharmacy is there now, and they have a lot of nice seating areas, with comfortable looking arm chairs and tables. Also, there is a nice area of tables and chairs further back in the atrium. It really looks nice!

We took yet a different route home, and it was interesting to see yet a different group of things, scenery, etc. It did add about 50 more miles to the trip, but it didn't seem to take any longer, and I think there was less road construction, so that was good! The primary point of interest was this stop for gas. We got off for gas and stopped at a station that had a name I recognized. Anne says it was at/near the Alabama-Georgia border, and I will trust her on that. This gas station, instead of the usual quick-mart attachment, was primarily a fireworks shop. Interesting combination, eh? Gasoline and fireworks. And the best/worse part, was that after the gal waited on me---the pump wouldn't spit out my receipt, so I had to go in and get it-----she came outside and stood by the door and SMOKED A CIGARETTE!!!!!! We got out of there as quickly as we could!!!!

You may be wondering what this photo has to do with all that? We pulled into the gas station, and immediately saw this sign, which we thought was hilarious. Anne took a couple of photos of it, while I was pumping gas. Fortunately, she got that done before I went in!!!! Maybe it was just the trip, but the sign struck us as really funny. Here it is! Be sure to click on it for the larger version!






Since we didn't have to arrive home the next day in time for any particular activity, my primary concern was to make sure we got at least halfway home, so we wouldn't have a long second day. We found a nice place to stop, and it was a much earlier stop than on the way up---I think we stopped at about 7 p.m.? The motel was nice, and we had a relaxing evening, watched some TV, read some Harry Potter, all the fun things! We got a decent start the next morning, not too late, not too early (!!) and got home at about 7 p.m. or so? We had a lot of rain right before we got home, it really poured something fierce. Most of the traffic really slowed down, which was nice. We made it home safely, which was the important thing.

So ends the travelogue, and I will have to find something interesting to write about next time! I still haven't told about the benefits/advantages of the German style restrooms, or some of the other interesting things from my trip to Germany, so I may move back in time and revisit some of those things! I guess it is also about time for a telling of how all the plants around the house are doing, too! So many things to write about, so little time! Till next time.....

Brian in Bosnia

Anne talked to Brian on IM today, and I am passing on some of the info! He seems to be enjoying himself, actually. He said that Bosnia is "fricken cool," which I supposed at first to mean that it was quite cool outside. Anne got it, but checked with him to clarify---he meant cool as in neat. He says the post (its Army) is like summer camp. I can well imagine that what is neat to visit, and what is summer-camp-like during a visit, would be the pits for a longer period of time, for winter, etc. However, I am glad that he can enjoy the experience while he is there. I would guess a high tech summer camp, by the way!!!! He did get to use a computer.

They have a PX there, which isn't surprising, as AAFES is all over, aren't they? He says one of the top selling items is ----the chain saw. Not for cutting down trees---he says you can't go into the forests, they have barbed wire in them, and there are land mines all over the place, and no one seems to know where the mines are. I believe he said that no record was made of where they were put down. Hard to say if that is true or if it just suits the ones who put them down to leave them down? Anyway, that is the word on it, that no one knows where they are located and so they haven't been removed. Back to the chain saws, he says they are mostly bought by foreign nationals, who seem to use them for home repair/demolition? He did say that Bosnia is very much like Germany in appearance EXCEPT for the lack of new cars and all the damage to buildings from the war.

He leaves on Tuesday to go home to Germany. I imagine that Christine and Michelle will be glad to see him!

Anne and I had an outing today, so Anne could get out of the house, let some sunshine on her, get some fresh air, etc. We weren't gone long, but it was a nice time out. Before that, she got to have another of those funky "hair washing in the shower" sessions. This time I got to find out just how wet I got when my shirt wasn't already soaked! I actually didn't get very wet at all, which is really nice. That would never happen if it was a regular shower head!

Well, I am going to go. I will keep you updated on things, and will do my final installment---the wrap up of the travelogue---tomorrow!

Friday, The Better Half of the Day

Don't I look adorable in the dress Tia (Anne) crocheted for me?





After a hard day of watching movies....there is nothing like napping on my dad!

Isn't she adorable???? Thanks to Christine for sending me photos in an email!

Well, the day is looking up. Not only did I manage to put some wedding photos on this blog the other day ALMOST all by myself, but I managed to move the photos Christine sent onto Photobucket all by myself, and put two on the blog. I just might get the hang of all this computer stuff!!!!!

Anne was quite pleased, as you might expect, to see Michelle in the dress she made for her. As you will have noticed, it was made especially for the 4th of July!

After Anne blogged on the brain blog, she went and took a nap, and felt immensely better when she woke up. She will be fine, and one way or another she will muddle on till she sees Dr. Lozito next week.

Earlier today, we made a trip out to run errands. We finally made it to the post office, which we had been meaning to do since Tuesday, when we finally got the boxes ready to mail. It was just one of those weeks, you know? We also stopped at the credit union and deposited Mike's birthday checks. Sorry it took so long to get that done, those of you who kindly sent checks! Then, we went to the BX. Anne had paperwork to turn in, having to do with her medical leave. Also, although we had been told that we could send her insurance payments to the main office in Dallas (sure don't want to get behind on those!!!!!), the form mentioned that the payments could be made at any base exchange. So, we checked on that, and it was correct. I would much rather make a trip to the base, since I do go on occasion anyway (hahahah) and make the payments there, than count on the USPS to get a check there on time. So, we got the first payment out of the way, and it was quite painless, once the cashier realized I was paying, rather than her paying me!!!! Just got things backwards for a minute there! It did provide a moment of laughter, and that is always welcome!

While I was taking care of all that, a friend of Anne's stopped by, wondering where she had been, etc. A movie was suggested, and that is where she is now. She was excited about getting out of the house without me, although I can't imagine why--hahaha. I am glad of it, and I hope the movie isn't too weird and does have funny bits--she could use that! They are seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I have heard that some people liked it, so we will see what Anne's verdict is!

Well, I guess that is about it for today. Take care and have a good weekend!

Wedding--Part Two

Before leaving the wedding totally, I wanted to put in some photos from the event! Our little old digital camera is such a treasure---I took the photos of the dancing while sitting at our table, several feet/yards away. I just used the zoom to get in closer. As usual, you can click on the photos for an enlarged version!






Anne and Hilary




You can't have a party without the song "YMCA"!!!





Hilary isn't really taller than Anne. Anne is in bare feet, as you will have noticed in the one dance photo, and Hilary is wearing these big platform flip flops! Her dress was too long, and could only be shortened a little bit because of beading. So she had to wear tall shoes. All the women of the wedding party had these fun flip flops for the reception, to spare their feet further torture! I thought it was a brilliant idea!

You will see how much weight Anne has lost. Hilary is an athletic, slender-ish young woman. Anne was amazed to see the photos and how thin she looks next to Hilary---not that she hasn't always been thin, but of course, she is even thinner now. Just think of the fun she will have putting the weight back on! We are hoping maybe the Endocrinologist can sort out the problems with lack of appetite she is having---or getting Malco the tumor removed will do it. I know she will be thrilled to be hungry and be able to eat like she used to!

Travelogue Day Three

Okay, so as the corrected version goes, we did not go to Michaels on Friday evening for the first time, we went on Saturday! But, I am jumping ahead!

I let Anne sleep in a bit, and occupied myself with the tv (volume very low!) and knitting on her blankie. I made good progress, and Anne eventually decided she had enough sleep! We went to Panera Bread for lunch, and split a sandwich. They have done a little bit of remodeling there, as the section outside where they used to have tables is now enclosed like a sun room. Really does make the place seem bigger. There was also some excitement, in a good way. There was a young-ish woman and an older man (seemed like her dad?)who came in. She had a service dog with her. She trains service dogs, and this one was a seizure dog. Really was a beautiful dog, it was a German Shepherd. They drew a lot of attention, and a lot of people wanted to pet the dog, which she said was okay. It seems that it is really only the seeing eye dogs that you aren't to interact with. This dog was very friendly, as would be expected, and loved the attention. They were sitting quite close to where we were, so we saw and heard it all! The gal had some funny stories. The one I liked best was the time she DROVE to a restaurant, got the dog out of the car, walked to the door, and the hostess---who WATCHED her drive up and park---took her arm and guided her to a table!!!!!! She said it is amazing the number of times that people will assume that because you have a service dog, you must be blind, even if the dog doesn't have the harness, etc, that the seeing eye dogs wear.

We finished there in time for the quick trip to Michaels!!!! Anne found a much better selection of yarn than we have here in Florida. She picked out a few things, then it was time to check out and get back to the room to change. We got to the check out line and ran into one of my friends from quilt group in OH--Lisa!!!! It was really great to see her, and we had a nice chat!!!!

We headed back to the room, arriving later than I had intended, and perhaps set a record for women preparing to attend a wedding!! Fortunately, all went well, no runs in nylons, or anything like that. I guess it worked, making sure we each had two new pairs of nylons along with us! As it was, it didn't take us as long to get to Hillsboro as we thought it would, so we arrived in good time. The service was absolutely lovely, and Hilary was a truly beautiful bride. After the service everyone headed to the VFW hall for the reception. Anne and I were at the table next to the bridal party's table, and were seated with three young couples. They were all very friendly and we all talked a lot, etc. So, it was all quite enjoyable! Anne got to spend some time with Hilary, and she was very happy about that. The food was very good, catered by Ponderosa. The cake was really delicious, and before the end, every bit of cake was gone. Of course, they had put aside the top layer! The wedding started at 3.30 p.m., and I think we left the reception at about 8 or so? We did hang around a little bit, as Hilary had something for Anne. Anyway, even with a yahoo map with the reverse directions, I managed to end up going the wrong way at an intersection----in the one town, the route makes 4 turns--all the same state route!!!!! I felt like I was going the wrong way, and when I finally got out of trees and saw where the sun was, I knew I was going the wrong way! Turned around and headed back, and this time managed to get the right turns in. We had a quiet time the rest of the evening. I don't remember now if we read some Harry Potter that night or not. We did most nights, but there were times when it was too late or Anne was too tired to be read to. I know the one night--perhaps it was that night?---I had read three chapters, and wondered if she had dozed off at times. The next night, I had to reread the last chapter from the night before, as she had dozed off and hadn't realized till she couldn't remember what had happened in the book! I figure if that is the worst we deal with, we are still lucky!

Correction and News

Well, I think it is pretty sad when the girl with the tumor has a better memory for some things than her poor Mom, who seems to be losing it a bit! We were eating a bit of lunch, and she says to me, you made a mistake in your travelogue. We went to Michaels on Saturday and then again on Sunday. I was sure it was Friday evening, and then another quick stop on Saturday, after lunch, and before heading back to the room to get dressed for the wedding. I was so sure I was right, and that she was mistaken, but I found the receipts just a little while ago, and she was totally right. Go figure. More about that when I next do the travelogue bit!

So, if you have read the brain blog, you will know that there are new developments. After the stop at Dr. Paine's office and the setting of a new appt date and time, we decided to go ahead and go to the base as planned. Anne didn't want to be left alone at home, and I had to pick up a new prescription for the ultram at the clinic, and we needed a few things from the commissary. We figured it was best to go ahead and get it all done---she isn't going to want to be left alone while she is having the double vision and there is no way of knowing if it will clear up at all before the tumor is removed. And, since she has the appt with the surgeon tomorrow, there is no telling what he will decide and how quickly things might progress. We figured it was best to go ahead and do the quick shop.

I am getting pretty good at leading the semi-blind---only in that she is keeping her eyes closed. I fixed it so she could hold on to the buggy handle and I walked next to her, with an arm on each side of her and both hands on the buggy handle. It is handy that the buggies are wide enough that we could both walk behind it and not extend past the sides! The arrangement worked out well. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm hit just before we got out of there, but since I was parked really close to the commissary, she was okay with me leaving her with the buggy, right against the wall, while I got the car. I got soaked, but was able to get her into the car without getting her very wet at all, and then got the groceries into the trunk. We made one more stop, at CVS, to get her new refill of Antivert. Fortunately, it wasn't raining there, and wasn't wet at all when we got home. It made it so much easier to get her into the house and get the things out of the car!

So, it has been quite a day. I am so glad that things worked out for getting her in to see the surgeon sooner, I never dreamed that they might get her in tomorrow. It really is a relief. I will probably write more later.

Travelogue, Day 2

As we go back to continue our saga of the long trip to Ohio, we find our travelers rising early to continue their trek! One slight digression though! Anne thought I was totally nutty, but I think you will all agree with me. See what you think....on Thursday night, I had checked my estimate of the remaining distance to travel, and did a rough calculation of our rate of travel. I then took a pessimistic view, and deducted about 5-10 miles per hour from that number, in case of traffic delays, etc. I figured that in order to arrive in Beavercreek around 1 p.m., which was our target time, we really needed to leave by 8 a.m. the next morning. So, I set the alarm for 7.30 a.m.! That makes sense, right? Anne thought it was crazy--that I should set the alarm for 8! I think that in better times she would have seen the wisdom of what I did, but under the circumstances, she did not see it! As it was, I didn't make her get up till almost 8, and we weren't on the road till about 8.20. Despite that, I think we were in Beavercreek by about 1.10. Not bad! When we got into Ohio, we had a brief panic, when we worried that Anne had left Hilary's phone number at home. I had a brain storm, that perhaps it was on the little yellow pad in my basket, which was in the back seat! Hilary hadn't called by the time we got to Beavercreek, and Anne then found that the yellow pad was within reach---I had thought it was on the side against the back door, where she would not have been able to reach it. Fortunately, the number was written on that notepad, and Anne was able to put in a call to Hilary.

The arrangement was to meet somewhere in Beavercreek, and since Red Robin (a great hamburger, etc, joint that they had put in our last year in OH)is one of our favorites, and also Hilary's, we planned to meet there. We hadn't had lunch yet, so we went ahead and ordered, after hearing from Hilary. She left home after hearing from us, which meant it would be at least an hour before we saw her. I think she told Anne she had already had lunch, too. We had a great visit with her, and were so glad that she was able to take time out to see us the day before her wedding!!!! What a great friend! It did work out well for her too, as she had wanted to bring her car up and leave it at fiance Zack's place, for after the wedding. Zack lives in Fairborn. She got a ride back home with "the boys" who were going to be going down for the rehearsal. It all worked out really well. Anne was so happy to be able to spend some time with Hilary, as we knew that things would likely be rather hectic on the big day.

After Hilary headed off for Zack's place, we headed over to the base, to see if they had a room at the Hope Hotel. They did!!! I got the car unloaded and Anne had a rest, as she was awfully tired. We made a trip to the BX, as she wanted some backs for the earrings she had made to wear for the wedding. They are not studs, but have wires, and although the wire is long, she was worried about losing them. We ran into one of the commissary baggers that we always used to talk to--she was shopping in the BX! She was really surprised to see us, and we had a good chat! It was nice to see a familiar face! Oh, for those of you who might remember the base at all, the lemon lots at Kittyhawk have been emptied, and the one on the east side of the road has been all torn up and there is a building project going on! They are building a big shoppette and gas station there!!!! It looks like it will be really nice.

We had a quiet evening--dinner (the whole trip, we split meals, so as not to waste any more food than necessary), a stop at Michaels to check out their yarn assortment and then back to the room to relax and knit, while watching TV.

Next installment, Saturday, the wedding day.

New Look!

As you will have noticed immediately, there have been some changes made! I am not sure it is totally what I want yet, but it is a big start. It is nice to have more color going on it, instead of so much white!

Do be sure to let me know what you think, and if there are any parts that are hard to read, etc. I can make more changes as needed. The whole point is for people to be able to read it, so do let me know if anything is too hard to read!!!!

You know, a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous!!!! With valuable help from Anne, and the little bit I have already learned from my HTML Simplified book, these changes were much easier to make than I would have guessed! It is so much fun!!!! I guess it is mostly contrast and novelty---some of you will remember my old encounters with computers at college, when they filled huge rooms and involved punch cards. It seemed the computer was so fussy, it never accepted a program on the first try. It really gave me a bias and insecurity, when it came to computers! It is nice to get a little closer to embracing the computer age!!!!!

I didn't notice any mention in the previous posts, so I guess I had only emailed once about it--maybe to Brian? I had decided I was interested in being able to do some of these things on the computer---Anne makes it look so easy when she is messing with the HTML stuff! So, while in OH, she helped me choose a book---an easy HTML book! I do recommend it, I am actually enjoying it! I was able to find the place in the HTML on the Brain Blog and add the names of the two new doctors, all by myself! Hurrah!!!!

Travelogue, Day One

First, I must have read too much of my new HTML simplified book, as my brain is slightly muzzy. At the end of the previous blog, I suggested I might blog more and you should be sure to scroll on down to see. Sorry, there is a new one after this, so do scroll down!

Day One to Ohio! We got a later start than I would have liked, but earlier than it could have been, considering Anne's allergy to early hours. We wanted to make good progress and get far enough along so that we could get to the Dayton area fairly early on Friday. Anne had been in touch with her friend, the Bride!, and the amazing girl was actually going to be able to meet up with us in Beavercreek on the day before her wedding. That is a good friend!

The AAA gal routed us a different way than the gal in OH liked to use, and took us through Atlanta. We figured it would be a new and exciting route, no big deal! We did still see parts of the Smoky Mountain area, so it was fun. I like those up and down, steep and windy roads! No tunnels though. I imagine Anne was glad of that, I don't think she likes tunnels much.

We had good weather and all was fine. The trip seemed to take forever to get going, but eventually things picked up. Except for TWO big slow downs before we hit Atlanta. And, we never did see what caused the slow downs. I hate that! Anyway, we were tootling along, and it was getting late. We were thinking we would want to stop for the night before long. I made the fatal flaw of rubbing my eye, and my contact was just dry enough to come right out. Someone was watching out for me, as I did not drop it, and managed to hold on to it. It is very hard to see with corrected vision in one eye and not the other! I finally had to close my one eye so I could see. Fortunately, I had saline solution and a contact case right in the car with me, Anne set things up and I deposited the contact into the case. Needless to say, I took the first exit that listed anything, and even then, wished I had gone a little further, as I seemed to drive forever before finding anything at all. It was not one of those nice exits with everything within a mile of the exit. I did eventually find a gas station, and was able to get my contact back in. What a relief!

Not long after that we started looking for a motel. We got off at an exit and stopped at one place, to find that all they had was some smoking rooms. Anne is off the singulair (for asthma) as it has been bothering her, so there was no way I was going to risk triggering an asthma attack with a smoking room! We decided to make one more stop at that exit (the guy at the first place told me that most of the others were either full or had only smoking rooms). We stopped at a Holiday Inn Express, and they had had a cancellation!!! So, they had a non-smoking room for us! Hurrah! It was 10.30 by the time we stopped, so it made for a long day. I think Anne was asleep within 10 minutes of checking in.

More later!

Friday!

Once again, I am slow and it is actually Saturday, but still Friday in my book since I haven't been to bed yet. Do keep in mind when reading our blogs (Anne's and mine) that we often write late enough for the blog to list as the next day. I know that can get confusing when we talk about things we did "that day" and it would seem from the date on the blog that it was a different day.

We had another monster thunderstorm today. Really a gullywasher and tons of thunder and lightning. I was glad that we were all home by the time it hit, and that we didn't have to go out in it! I imagine the rain gauge is full again. I will have to be sure to check it tomorrow.

We had a slow day today, as Anne was feeling pretty pooped. We went to the BX to get the form for the insurance. Someone called the house from the BX yesterday (Thurs)to remind us---we were on our way to CVS to get meds, and then home. Unfortunately, we didn't think to ask Mike if he caught a name, and in any case, all the HR people were gone, they were in Orlando meeting HR people from McDill. I think that is what we were told? So, we will just call and leave a message, and will either get them to mail it or will at least make sure someone will be there to give it to us next time we go.

I have been busy deciphering reading my HTML book. I did mention it in my last blog? Or did I just imagine it? If this has worked correctly, and I can do in a blog what I should be able to do in a web page text, you will see a cute trick, of stiking out a word! I guess if it doesn't work, I will have to come back and edit the blog and take this bit out!

I will go ahead and post this now, as I am excited to see if my little experiment worked! I may do a second blog with a little bit of a travelogue, so be sure to look further down and see if there are two blog entries!

Our Old House in Ohio

On Sunday in Ohio, after doing our running around, we stopped at N. Tulane. The egg tray (which I had forgotten was in the pantry at the old house) had gotten packed by the movers. Although I had it and more of the paperwork for the new windows we put in there all put aside, with plans to mail them, that never happened. So, I brought it all along and figured I could drop it off at the house.

We had a nice visit with the Jurkoviches who were next door to us. They have a daughter the same age as Brian. They also have Mickey's brother, Comet. We also had a nice visit with Charlene Ballard across the street. Their daughter, Larissa, is expecting her second child. Larissa is a couple of years older than Anne. It was really nice to see the old neighbors and catch up on news.

We think the McClammas were home, as the garage was open, but since there wasn't really anything to talk about, and we needed to get moving, we just went up and put the bag with the egg tray, etc in it on the door knob. It was interesting to see the house again, and to see what all had changed. It looks to me like they were pretty ambitious and perhaps got a little ahead of themselves. They took out the pine tree at the front corner of the house. The one that was way too close to the house, and that we had sometimes considered taking out, but it was easier to think about than to do!!!!! Most of the bushes in the front along the house were gone. Most of the bushes in the area next to the garage (before you get to the courtyard) were gone. I think the big rock was still there! When we went up to the door, we saw that the whole courtyard had been emptied, and was now full of rough earth and weeds. They took out the dogwood, the vinca ground cover, the nice bush, everything. There were a number of pots of plants around near the front, most were dead, but there were a few that were newer and still alive. One really nice spot was by the mailbox. They had taken out that big bush that I hated (too hard to watch for traffic, and it kept scraping my car!) and that area was nicely planted with red and white flowers. Really did look pretty! I think the clematis is gone, but it was getting smaller each year anyway and not blooming as much. I never got a chance to see what they might have done to the side of the house. We did notice that at the side closest to Jurkoviches, they had a storage barn in the back yard. A pretty good sized one, red, etc. Looked nice. The other trees in the front were still in place and even bigger than when we were last there. That was one thing we noticed everywhere while we were in Ohio, how much bigger all the trees were.

It would be interesting to see what it all looks like when they finish with the landscaping. Most of the bushes were horribly overgrown, and really hid the house, so I do understand why they took out so many of them. I did think it was a shame about the dogwood, but then we never know, it might have finally hit the end of the road. I know each year there were new sections that had died. Perhaps it just reached the point that too much was dead. It was always really pretty in the spring when in bloom. Oh, it did look like the flaming bush in the front was still there.

I will tell you about some changes at the base next time, unless something more interesting comes up!!!

All the News That's Fit to Print

Where to start? I guess I will start with today. I was evidently more tired than I realized after the long trip home, as I slept through the phone ringing this morning. Aren't answering machines lovely? It was one of the young gals from PT at the base---just letting me know that the Therapist I had seen last Wednesday had conferred with the guy at Orthopedics, as he had planned. They both agreed on sending me to a podiatrist, and Ortho will be calling me to set that up!

So, then the switch from people who care and actually make phone calls that are totally just a courtesy, to Dr. Greenspoon's office. They aren't all bad there, of course, but the bad ones give most of them a bad name in our book. If that isn't fair, well, too bad. It is the way we feel about it! We saw the PA that we have been seeing all along. I mentioned that since our last meeting with him, we had heard no word about the referral to a neurologist, or for more PT. This time he rather shrugged it off. I may or may not, depending on mood, write a letter, although I doubt it, as we have bigger things on our plate. We did tell him about the tumor, and he was so stunned, that at first it was like he was wondering how a shoulder injury resulted in a pituitary tumor!!!!!! I explained that it was unrelated and it was different symptoms that led to the discovery. He wished Anne well, hoped for a speedy resolution, and said that he figures the shoulder is as good as it is going to get. We weren't too surprised, and had pretty well figured that anyway. Truly, it is much better. Anne did stop in at their PT section, which is very good, by the way! She stopped to see the gal--Shawna--who did her therapy. She told her about the tumor, and Shawna felt that explained a lot--she had never been able to figure out why they were unable to make as much progress with strengthening her arm as she (Shawna) expected. It seems that and the continuing weakness Anne has in her arm could well be caused by the tumor. I guess we might know for sure after the tumor comes out????


We stopped at the base after that, and then came home. I got the rest of the car unloaded-with the rain last evening, Anne and I had agreed that we would just get out what we needed, and leave the rest for today. Then Anne went and took a nice long nap, which I am sure she really needed. We had a humongous thunderstorm that killed the lights for a short bit, with tons of really close-by lightning, and tons of rain. We had about an inch or an inch and a little bit in the gauge this morning, and it is now almost full---it holds 3 inches of rain. The clouds did their worst, for what seemed like ages, and then moved on, leaving sunshine behind. Sure beats all day rain storms!

Home Again

Anne and I are home, and I am glad of it! I am not sure if she is or not, but it is time. We had a really good visit in OH. We did feel a little jinxed, or that we were jinxing others. A really good thing I am not really superstitious. People we had planned to see ended up with relatives ill in hospital or dying, and that was no good at all. Once we heard of the second case, we decided we would not try to call anyone else. Just in case, you know.

We had a good trip home, no bad hold ups or anything. We did get some heavy rain and thunderstorms between Jacksonville and here. Humm, we had some heavy rain somewhere else too, and I don't remember now where it was. Most of us slowed down and put on our flashers, and all was well. We got home before 7 p.m., I am not sure of the exact time. It is nice to be back, and Mike looks the same as ever!

I am going to go ahead and close and will write more tomorrow, tell about the old house, things we saw and did, etc, while we were gone. Anne has her follow-up at Greenspoon's office tomorrow morning, so we will have to get up earlier than we might otherwise, under the circumstances. No one from that office has yet done what they were supposed to about the referral for Anne to see a neurologist about continuing pain/numbness in her hand/arm, or about more pt. They sure are pretty darn slack. I don't know if the office staff feel they need not give it full treatment because it is a workers comp case or what, but still it is not appreciated. Once again, I did not waste my time calling and checking back and nudging them to get things done, mostly because of Anne's tumor diagnosis soon after that last visit to Greenspoons, and that has rather changed our focus. I will let you know what, if anything, happens.

Meanwhile, take care and I will write more later on. Jo, it was great reading about the continuing progress on your house! Amy, it was great seeing photos of Skyler! I will email people soon too, but figured this might be the fastest way to get hold of everyone and let you all know we are home! Oh, read two more chapters of Harry Potter tonight, it is really coming along. I think we can finish it tomorrow, which will be good, as it would be nice to just keep reading till we are done with it now!

Almost Home

Well, we are about half way home, and will have a pretty easy day of it tomorrow! I will blog more once home-- maybe not tomorrow, but within a day or two-- but did want to go ahead and write something, since it had been so long and since I haven't emailed. Anne and I were busy enough, we never even hooked up the computer till our last night in OH. We tried not to be on too long, since the info about the room there at the Hope Hotel mentioned that they charged for local calls. We were relieved to find that we had just 4 local call charges, so that wasn't bad at all!

We are at Adairsville, GA at a Comfort Inn. It is really nice, and it is a nice light room, unlike so many, than seem so dark and seem to have such low wattage light bulbs. This is really nice, and it is amazing how much nicer the room seems with some light! Our trip has been going really well and we have had no problems, which is really nice!

Well, I am going to go ahead and close for now, and will write more from home. We hope you are all well and please be assured we are fine! It will be nice to be home though! We will have plenty to tell you!!!!! (we stopped by N. Tulane, and saw the Ballards, the Jurkoviches, our old house, there are changes to the base, etc!!!)