Whoooo, Halloween!

It is the spooky day, but it was mostly uneventful. So far, anyway. I imagine we will have kids trick or treating tonight. We have a supply of goodies for them.

I had physical therapy this morning. Early, because I forgot about physical therapy when Dr. Dhruv's office called last week to see if we could come earlier today, so then had to change my pt appt to even earlier. Yikes! So, 8.30 saw me on an exercise bike. Most people at the therapy office didn't dress for Halloween, but one therapist wore a kangaroo costume that his mother-in-law had made. Looked great!

Anne and I easily made it to Dr. Dhruv's for Anne's appt. I will talk about that in the Brain Blog.

We ran some errands after that. I had gotten a call in to Dr. O'Hare's office about the antibiotics this morning, before leaving for Anne's appt. Dr. O'Hare is out today, of course, so they were going to check on it and someone would call back. I did get a call, and they called in a prescription to the pharmacy. We picked the new meds up before coming home!

We got home and Anne headed to bed for a nap. We are both pretty tired. I had a call from Christine right after getting on the computer!!!! They got the package with the costume. It arrived on Saturday but it was very foggy on Saturday and they wisely stayed safely at home. Christine got the package today before taking Michelle for her baby appt---time for shots. Our poor baby! As can be expected, she didn't like that at all!!! Everyone loved the costume, and we look forward to seeing photos of our baby in it! Brian and Christine will wait till another day, when Michelle is happier, before taking the photos! As can be expected, she wasn't a happy little girl after getting her shots. She has been pretty fussy and unhappy all day.

On the growth front, Christine reports that Michelle is up to 12 pounds, 12 ounces and is 23 and 3/4 inches tall!!!! Our baby is growing! I am sure she is cute as can be, and we will be so glad to have Michelle and her mommy and daddy back in the States, and easier to see!

I guess that is it for now, and I will go update the brain blog now. Take care and have a safe and spooky Halloween!

Moving Along

Hi again, just a little more news. I updated the brain blog, be sure to go see it if you haven't already.

Let's see, I mentioned the car. I talked to my insurance this morning, after getting a call from the offending driver's insurance. I kind of like that expression I came up with, offending driver. Has a bit of a ring to it, and I am glad I am not that! Is that mean of me? I wasn't sure if I needed to still go and get the police report, but figured it was best go to ahead and do it. I got all my calls made, gave Anne her pill-----I don't know that I ever said, she has diabetes insipidus----------also known a water diabetes. It is not real common, so unless you know someone who had/has it, you may not have heard of it. It is usually caused by damage/trauma to the pituitary. Basically, the body dumps water, and the person affected is thirsty. Extra thirsty. She has to take this med first thing in the morning, as she isn't to eat or drink anything but water for 30-60 minutes after taking it. We have gotten into the habit, that I take it to her while she is still asleep---she has gotten used to it, her brain hears me coming, she wakes up enough to take the pill, then goes back to sleep! That way, she can sleep through the 30-60 minutes, and then when she does wake up, she can eat and drink as she desires! Works out well!!!!! Since she is on this med, she is only supposed to drink when she is thirsty, as because it keeps the kidneys from dumping water, it also means that it is much easier to get water poisoning. Not a good thing! So.......

Well, that was a long aside. I gave Anne her pill and went to Cocoa Beach Police Station, to get the police report for the accident. Then Anne and I went to Dr. Paine's this afternoon for the briefing, ran errands, took the car for the estimate, etc. Time was getting short enough that I didn't stop to fax the report to my insurance, which was just as well, as I found a message on my cell phone from the insurance, saying that she had talked to the offending driver's insurance and they faxed her a copy of it. So, I have a copy I don't need, but it was interesting to see it, so that is okay!

I have to call the stucco guy tomorrow, as I have had no word, and I hope he can come and do the stucco job before Anne goes in for her surgery or while she is still in hospital, so that the noise of people on the roof doesn't bother her too much. Will call the roofing people and painting people too, once I have a date from him.

Things are moving along, all will be good, and we look forward to the end of Malco. I am sure if he were conscious and self aware, he would be offended that he is to be replaced by a little plug of fat---how degrading!!!!! However, he will be, and all will be good.

Take care and check here for further news......same bat time, same bat station.....oops, wrong show!

Good News or Bad News?

What a day. Yesterday it only got up to 65, despite the forecast for low 70's. Oh well. I thought it felt nice, so my blood still hasn't thinned out much! I went to PT in short sleeves and no sweater. I didn't put one on till we were at Dr. Venero's office for Anne's appt.

Speaking of that, the xrays came out fine. He is concerned that her wrist is no better, and is sending her to see a hand doctor. By the time we were checking out, it was too late for them to call and set that up, so they were to call today. That didn't happen, but there were also 3 messages on the machine, so they might not have gotten through if their timing was bad. I will call tomorrow and check, and let them know about Anne's surgery date.

I don't think it got much warmer today. At 5.52 p.m., it is 66 degrees in Melbourne. I thought it was nice again. I did wear short sleeves and a thin cardigan part of the time, but most of the time the short sleeves were fine. It has been nice and sunny, and that makes a difference too. Have still needed the AC in the car.

I called the gal at USAA who is handling this last accident. I did that before going to PT this morning---I got up earlier than I needed to and actually had time to do it!!!!! I told her that I could go and get a copy of the accident report from the police. Because of the way things happened, I have no info at all on the woman who hit me. Kim at USAA said they could request the report, but it usually seems to take them 5-6 weeks to get it (I don't know if that is a typical average time or what??). In the interest of getting things moving, I will go get it. We had thought we might do that today, but decided that I will do it tomorrow morning while Anne continues to sleep, and then we will be all set to do the things we need to do together. After talking to Kim at USAA, I called the Cocoa Beach police station. They are very nice there, gave me all the info I needed, and I know just what to do, how to get there, etc. I am especially glad that we will be on the road to getting this all sorted, since Anne's surgery is coming up so quickly. Kim was also going to put a call in to Certified Auto Body to do an estimate on repairing my car. She obviously did get that done, as one of the messages on the machine was from them. I will call tomorrow to set that up--going for the estimate.

My car is filthy and really needs a bath. As I told Anne, I wondered if the hurricane scared the c**p out of the birds, as I seem to have an inordinant amount of bird c**p on the back half of my car. I guess I will find a car wash sometime soon, in my spare time!!!!!

No word from the stucco guy yet, so I will probably try to call him tomorrow too. And then the roofing guys he recommended, once I know when he is coming. Depending on extent of the stucco problem, he might have to remove shingles, hence the need for roofing guys. Bit by bit, things will get done.

The baby costume was mailed "fast overseas military" to Germany yesterday. Michelle will be so cute, and Brian has promised photos! I talked to him briefly on IM today. They are doing well. Michelle is eating baby cereal, with a spoon. None of this "baby" thin cereal in a bottle stuff for her!

I am sure there are a ton of other things I need to talk about, but they escape me at the moment. I need to get my knitting and quilting projects--for occupying me while at the hospital---ready and put together to take, and books for me to read, for me to read out loud to Anne, etc. Best to be ready and prepared. I am sure I will have a lot of time for all this kind of thing, when I can actually focus on it. I have some machine sewing to do on the quilting projects, then will have plenty of hand work to do on them at the hospital. That is what I have to gear myself up for, getting the machine stuff done so they will be ready. Not that I mind the machine sewing, but I haven't used the sewing machine yet since we have been here, and it is just a case of getting myself to do it, finding thread, getting bobbins ready, etc. There is still plenty of time, but maybe if I tell myself there isn't, I will get at it quicker? Heaven knows, there will be more than enough other things to get done too, in the few days left before her surgery.

Well, enough rattling on. Take care and my best to you all.

The Promised Follow-Up!

Hi All! We came through the hurricane just fine. About 4 p.m. or so, the sun popped out and the wind had slowed down. I went out about 6 or so and took a walk around the house. There is a good bit of small debris from our oak and some neighborhood trees in our yard and along the sidewalks, the driveway, etc. Also some pieces of palm tree--the part where the frond attaches to the trunk of the palm tree. The magnolia is leaning once again, but I don't think it is quite as bad as it was last year.

The trellis took a direct hit. I think that actually the trellis itself is okay, it is just the wooden posts that were supporting it. I think that Joel and his guys can just replace those and it will all be fine. Perhaps next time, fatter posts would be better? These were pretty well snapped off a few inches from ground level. I think the jasmine all looks fine, so that is good!

Walking along to the back, I had to watch for water---there is standing water in the low areas. I got to the back to find that it was probably just as well that Joel trimmed all the hibiscus, etc, so far back this time. The newest one looks pretty good, but most of the rest have lost almost all of their leaves. The frangipani has lost most of its leaves. The plants that the butterflies love so much--I don't remember what Mike told me they were called?--- are almost leafless. The grapefruit is okay, but looks like it perhaps leans a bit more than before, but if so, it would be because of the very wet ground, as the wind came from the direction it is already leaning to. Too bad it didn't correct the lean! I forgot to look for dropped grapefruit, but didn't notice any when not specifically looking, so maybe it didn't drop any? The bougainvillea in the back is almost stripped too, while the one in the front has most of its leaves but looks a bit wind burned.

All in all, I think we came through pretty well. I forgot to look for shingles, but didn't see any on the ground, so that is a plus! The news says that Melbourne had 57 mile per hour winds, almost the highest in the reporting area (the station is in Orlando and covers that area, out to the coast, etc.). We had quite a cold front come through with this too, and it is nice and cool outside. I have been knitting a lot today, and it has been keeping me rather warm, so the 68 degrees outside felt really nice. Most of the area will be in the 60's tomorrow, but Melbourne is to be the warmest, the only one in the reporting area in the 70's!

I didn't hear the final report yet on rainfall. I know it was 10 inches back at noon or so. I dumped 3 inches out of the rain gauge, but that is all it holds, so no help there!

I am sure things will get back to normal pretty quickly. Anne has an appt with Dr. Venero tomorrow, unless it is canceled, which I do not anticipate. Mike will still be home, but I would imagine he will go back on Wednesday with no problems. It will be nice to get back to normal and try to get things finished up before Anne's surgery. It will be good to get that info (a date) later in the week.

Take care and thanks for all the good thoughts, etc!

Wind and Rain

That is what we hear and see outside, lots of rain and wind, or wind and rain, whichever order you prefer! I think we have probably had enough of both. The news this morning said we have had 10 inches of rain in Melbourne, and I think that is more than enough for anyone????? And it is still raining! When I last looked at the news, they said that Wilma was almost all the way off Florida and onto the Atlantic. It still just takes a while for all the wide area of wind and rain to finish moving on too. From the weather maps, it looked like the center of the hurricane hit at Palm Beach. A good bit to the south of us. It seems, from the maps, that we are taking the brunt of the rain.

My pt was cancelled this morning. I figured it would be, but had put the card with the phone number by my bed, and called this morning to check. Not that I would have gone, as I could hear it blowing and raining up a storm (ha). I got the voice mail though, with the message that they were closed because of the hurricane! Smart people! Smarter than the newscasters who stand outside on the beach in this and let the sand blast them, so they can have live outside shots. How stupid is that?

We are all fine, still have power--thank goodness for underground utility lines. Some parts aren't as lucky and there are tons of people with no power. Well, I am going to go, and will plan to blog again later once things settle down and we can get out and see what things look like. Hurrah for hurricane shutters, I think we are all pretty calm for this one!

Enough is Enough!!!

What a day! I got through to Dr. Paine's office, and as I suspected, the delay in a surgery date is a result of trying to get it coordinated with Dr. O'Hare's office. It should be all sorted out early next week.

It looks like Anne's wrist is not broken. We will get all the info on Tuesday at her appt.

I had another car crash. Just a very minor one, I am fine, Anne is mostly fine, but suffering from whip lash. She has a good headache going too. I got rear-ended, when a dog ran out in the street I was traveling on (two lanes, one way road). The dog had cleared my lane and it should have been clear sailing, but the nut in the car next to me honked his/her horn at the dog---if they had just waited and slowed down a little more, the dog would have been across the street and out of the way. Instead, the dog got scared, turned and came back into my lane, and moved himself even closer to me in the turning. I made a mighty effort to stop and not hit the dog, going off the road a bit to avoid the dog. Don't ask me how, I did actually miss the dog. I sure didn't think I was going to. However, the car behind me didn't miss me. I really must have gotten further to the right than I realized, as the other car just got my bumper on the driver's side--probably less than 2 feet of it. It is mostly a case of paint scraped off and red paint from the other car left on---I can't really tell if it is cracked or not. I think we really got off lucky. The other driver didn't get off so lucky--the one who hit me. Turns out it was a woman, although we weren't sure at the time. She got scared and left the scene--but later did come back. (she didn't have much damage--mostly broke out her right headlight) I had called for the police, and at the very least, she was going to be ticketed for hit and run, they said. What I would like to do is smack the nut who honked his/her horn at that dog! And while I am at it, smack the owner who let the dog out to run free! Oh well, we are fine, or will be, the car will be fine, etc. It does make me wonder if my car is jinxed or cursed or just what the story is. There really wasn't anything else I could have done---even if I had been willing to hit the dog, with the way things have been going, I imagine it would still have wrecked my car. I figure with my luck, the dog would have been thrown up on the car and would have smashed my windshield. I am just as glad not to have found out what would have happened if I had not managed to miss the dog!!

Anne says that it would be an insult to the local birds to call the dog bird-brained for going out into traffic!!!! She has noticed that the sand hill cranes tend to stop and look both ways before crossing the street in our area! And they really do!!!!! How smart is that?

OOPS!--I started to title this Thursday!

I guess that says something about the kind of day it has been? I have been confused all day as to whether it is Wednesday or Thursday. Oh well. Anne had a link to this quiz on her Daily Drudge blog, and I tried the quiz out. See the results! Anne says, ha ha, I am weirder than you! I guess that really makes us weird, right? I will write more below the weird test results, so go on down!

You Are 50% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird... But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How Weird Are You?

So, Anne had her test today, and that went okay. Nothing else new. I called the stucco guy and he said next week was fine, he had planned on calling about it if I hadn't. Said no way would he open up that stucco just before a big storm, if it looked like it might come this way. I think the main thing at this point is that we will get something, it is just a question of how much. I don't mind that we aren't on the gulf coast of Florida, and that Wilma will be much weaker before she gets to this side. I don't want to wish ill to anyone, but I also don't mind that most of the forecasts still seem to show Wilma going to the south of us. Who would have thought that Wilma would go ballastic the way she has, growing so fast, getting so strong, etc. What a monster she is turning out to be. Our weather reports had shown that temps (on the water) on the gulf were about 84 or so, and I really thought she would get in there and start to dwindle, as that is so much cooler than what we have been having in the Atlantic during the other hurricanes. Go figure, eh?

I took a look around the house last evening after putting the trash cans back in the garage. Joel and his guys really trimmed back most of the plants, except the philodenron monstero, or whatever it is called? I thought from what Mike said that they had trimmed it, but it doesn't look like it to me. They have put some branches with "V" ends under two of the main branches of the grapefruit to help support it. Mike had gone out to get the paper on Sunday and Joel and guys had just pulled up. Mike asked about the grapefruit, and Joel said he is waiting till the fruit is off to work on it, re-establish it, etc. As luck would have it, the side that it leans to is the side with the most fruit, which adds even more weight to the problem. I probably should have just taken all the fruit off back when I took out some. Mike really did enjoy the grapefruit last year though, and his folks did too, when they came. Oh well.

We will hope for news of a surgery date tomorrow, and will keep you posted on things in general. I have made good progress on the sleeves of Michelle's costume--I am doing both at the same time. It is working out really well, plenty of room on the needles for both sleeves! It will be so cute! More later.......

Plodding Along

Well, sort of plodding, anyway! I got a good night's sleep, and still had time to do my stretches/exercises, etc. I took the phone in with me when I took my shower--not in the stall, right next to it with paper and pen for messages (!!) in case Dr. Paine's office called with Anne's surgery date. The phone rang! Oh boy, I exclaimed! I jumped out of the shower, grabbed a towel so I couldn't electricute myself on the phone, got it turned on, and it was Mike. Oh well. It seems that it looks like Wilma will most certainly give us rain and wind, if not more, and he really definitely thinks we should hold off on the stucco till next week. I thought we had already decided that last night, but I think he was more sure of it after being at work today?????

We made it to Anne's appt with Dr. Venero in good time. It was the first time she actually saw him instead of a nurse practitioner. We really like him! He is from Venezuela, and is very nice. He did his internship at the hospital associated with Yale University. Anne enjoyed speaking Spanish with him for a little while. Anyway, he got up to speed on Anne and her background, and then checked out her wrist. He has ordered xrays, which we got taken care of after her appt, and he gave her prescriptions for meds for inflammation and pain. She is to see him again next week. It will be interesting to see if the xrays show anything.

Not much else going on. Tomorrow we will go for the test, and that will take all morning. We will run some errands afterwards, places that are in that part of town.

It seems like there was something else I was going to write about, but I sure can't think of what, so I will go ahead and post this, and will save anything else for another time. Take care all!

A Busy Day, is Like a Melody?????

Well, I don't think so! This is me on not enough sleep! Sorry about that. I was up at 7 this morning (Monday) to be at physical therapy at 8. I know that isn't all that early, but since I seem to have difficulty getting to bed at a decent hour, it is early for me! Oh well.

PT went well. Steve the therapist was going to increase the tension on the exercise bike again, but kindly put it back to Friday's level, when I mentioned that the previous level had been pretty tough, which it had been. I am glad I said something, as it was still pretty tough today, although a tiny bit easier than on Friday. I really did feel it in my left leg, which is attached to the left foot, which is the problem foot. Then it was off to something new, the leg press. I have 3 different exercises/stretches to do on that. I then got through most of my usual exercises/stretches. The pain in my foot is slowly subsiding, and the massage was not quite as painful as in the past. I have noticed that the pain at the top of my foot has lessened quite a bit, so that is a big help too. I had both ultrasound and the electric stuff again today. My foot is definitely improving, and I very rarely now have that pain on standing up any more. Such a nice change!


I came home and got laundry started, did some sorting in the living room, did a little bit of inventorying, sorted and tossed junk mail, paid bills, etc, this morning. Anne and I went to the base this afternoon. We took a spin through the BX, and Anne had a chat with one of the gals she knew from her working days. She also had a chance for a quick chat with a new girl, that we met last time we were there. She is really nice, I think she and Anne will get along well. She is hoping Anne comes back soon. Then we did a quick run through the commissary, and got more juice, etc. Anne's friend Eunice was working today, and they had a good chat. Eunice is such a sweetheart, it is always a good day when we run into her.

We made it home in plenty of time to get things put away and were ready for the stucco guy. When the fireplace guys fixed the chimney they noticed and made note of some water behind the stucco on the chimney. I was able to get a recommendation for a stucco guy, and he came today to take a look at it. I am really glad I pursued it---I hadn't gone out and looked before, but the stucco is buckling out in a small section on the chimney, and it sure wasn't going to get better on its own! We can't see the other sides from the yard, so hard to say what they look like. He will check it all out and fix any and all that needs attention. The stucco guy is going to come on Friday and repair it. It sounds like he really knows his stuff, so that is good. I am slowly getting all these little things taken care of. Sure best to try to get them done while they are smaller jobs.

Well, I can sleep in a little tomorrow, so I imagine they will call first thing in the morning from Dr. Paine's with the surgery date. Not that I will mind! It will be good to know and get our plans all settled. In the afternoon I will take Anne to see Dr. Venero. She is still having a lot of pain and reduced mobility in her right wrist and it really needs to be checked. On Wednesday I have to take Anne for the second try at this test at Dr. Dhruv's. On Thursday I have pt at 8.30. I don't have therapy till 11 on Friday, but the stucco guy asked if 7.30 was too early to stop by to work on the chimney and I said no, that was fine. I will eventually be able to get to bed earlier and then it won't be a chore getting up early, right?????

We are wondering what Wilma is going to do. It looks like we could get rain, at the very least, as a result of her meanderings through the gulf, etc. I guess it wouldn't hurt to call and ask the stucco guy about that. Whether it might be better to put it off till that all passes through? I guess I should know more about stucco and the ins and outs of it????? I guess we will see.


I got the pattern sorted out for the last part of Michelle's Halloween costume and will get that done up this week, so I can get it washed up and mailed to Brian's. She will be so cute!!!!!

How Does That Work?

Okay, strange but true. You are, in the old tales, supposed to be able to stop someone's hiccups by scaring them, right? Well, last night (Friday) I was on the computer, and Anne came in to tell me something. She startled the ____ out of me, I nearly jumped out of the chair, and I got the hiccups! They must have lasted a good 10-15 minutes, then went away on their own. How weird is that?

We had a quiet day today, no scaring, no hiccups, just a quiet, non-rainy day. The sun shined, and there were a few clouds in the sky, just enough to be a nice detail. No threat of rain at all! What a nice change. We have a collection of little mushrooms growing in the yard, from all the rain we have had, and some little patches of dollar weed. They will all go away again, now that the over abundance of rain has ceased!

Nothing else of any exciting nature to write about, so I will get this posted and go clean the kitchen. Maybe I will have something more exciting to write about next time!

Webbed Feet?

I am wondering if that will be the new look around here? It is still raining! Not hard, thank goodness, but still, raining. This is to be the last day of it for a while and we are glad of that! On Wednesday I dumped 1.75 inches of water out of the rain gauge. On Thursday I dumped out 2.75 inches. I don't think we will get that much today, but I forgot to look at the gauge when coming back from physical therapy a bit ago, and it rained last night. It rained pretty hard, so that will have added to the mix. The lawn is definitely squishy, from all the rain. We do almost every day get either a bit of clearing, or the clouds are not solid---something to let us see some blue sky and so it isn't as bad as it could be! Still, it will be nice to have some rain-free days!

I had my third "working" visit to pt today, and it is going well. My ankle and foot are doing much better and I can tell that the therapy is helping. The massage session is still quite painful, so I know there is still a lot going on in my foot. It is very encouraging though that the pain I was having is clearing up! Today he did an ultrasound treatment on it too, then the electrical stimulation, and ice. I ended up changing next week's Wednesday appt to Thursday, because of Anne's test that has to be redone on Wednesday. I tried for something in the afternoon, but that wasn't going to work. They don't mind doing back to back appts once in a while, so that will be okay.

Not much else going on. The list of possible assignments Brian is eligible for came out this week, and sadly, Florida is not on the list. There is a base in Texas on the list though, so that isn't too bad. He has to submit his preferences later this month, and he should get word sometime next month as to where he is going. We hope that he gets the assignment he wants!

Well, I had best move on to other things. Have a great weekend!

OUCH!!!!!!

Well, I had my first "working" session at physical therapy this morning. The therapist is really good and I am sure I am going to get a lot of good out of this. He started me off with the exercises he gave me last time---stretches, actually----and gave me a new one, which should be really good too. Then, I was on an exercise bike for 10 minutes. That worked out well, as it was one of the recumbent ones, rather than the kind that kills my tail bone. So, that was good. Then, he took me to a table so he could massage my foot. Sounds good, right???????

Well, let me tell you! Parts of it did feel good, but part of the purpose is to stimulate the painful areas, so that blood flow is increased to those areas, and they can be healed. All I can say is, I am so very glad that my foot/ankle hasn't been hurting as much as it was before. I do think it has slowly been healing a good bit on its own. I now very much know that there are still a lot of really sore, painful places in my foot. A lot of sore, painful places that I had no idea were there. All I can say is, I am glad this is all just theraputic, as I can see that with a few modifications (such as more force, etc), there is great potential for using this as a means of torture. I was truly amazed at how tender the foot can be. Fortunately, that went on long enough and not too long! Then I had some of the electrical stimulation treatment and had my foot wrapped in a really really cold icy thing. I think that was on for about 15 minutes? Fortunately he was right when he told me my foot would go numb in a bit and I wouldn't notice the cold as much!!!!!

My foot actually did feel more "energized" when I left, and I really think this is all going to help a lot! It is a bit sore now, but he mentioned that it quite likely would be. I will continue my exercises/stretches as required---twice a day----and I go back on Wednesday. Hopefully, the massage will get more and more comfortable, less and less painful, as my foot/ankle continue to heal!

Tomorrow is the big day, Anne sees Dr. Dhruv, the endocrinologist, and we will find out how her thyroid levels are. Please send out the good thoughts and wishes, and we will all hope that the levels are good, and they can get her surgery scheduled! Thanks in advance!!!!!

Some News of Michelle!

I talked to Brian and Christine on the phone yesterday---they called! What a nice surprise!!!!! It seems that our little angel has become a major chow hound, wanting to eat rather often. As you will understand, this makes life difficult for Mom Christine, who is still nursing. Christine has wisely been gathering opinions and will make a decision as to what to do about the situation. It seems the base clinics have been of little help, as they seem to think that a baby nursing every 1-1.5 hours is "normal." Well, it may not be abnormal, but it can be remedied and isn't exactly helpful for mom! I was able to tell her that Brian did the same thing--except that he was on a bottle, and Dr. Lindsey wisely had me put him on cereal. I have thought about it all, and I am sure Brian probably wasn't more than about 2 months old at the time. At least Michelle waited till she was closer to the standard "start cereal" age. I figure she is getting ready for a big growth spurt. Christine says she hasn't grown much the past month and more, which I think makes it even more likely she is getting ready for a spurt.

It sounds like Michelle is getting quite adept at turning, rolling, etc. All those little "baby gymnastics" bits that babies go through! Christine says she moves quite a bit in her crib also. She will put Michelle down at one end of the crib, and finds her at the other end. Quite a little squirmer we have there! I figure she will be crawling before we know it!

Brian and Christine both sounded really good, and it sounds like all is going well for them. Christine does wish Michelle would nap, it seems she may sometimes condescend to nap for less than an hour now and then. However, they really do have it made, as Michelle sleeps through the night and even will sleep for 10-11 hours sometimes. How lucky are they???? It sure makes it a bit easier to deal with a baby that doesn't want to nap!!!

I go for physical therapy tomorrow morning. Mike and Anne will be able to stay at home and relax--since it is a holiday, neither of them have any appointments, work, etc. I feel very confident that this therapist will get my foot problems all sorted out, he seems to know his stuff!

I am getting some laundry done today, which is something that was sorely needed, as Mike was almost out of clean shirts for work, and Anne was pretty well out of clean shirts of any sort, except dress shirts. I got Mike's shirts finished up already and have gotten a good start on Anne's things. I hope to finish the pants of Michelle's Halloween costume today, I have just a bit left to go on them. All the knitting is done, it is just the finishing bits. It should be really cute when all finished! Anne and I are looking forward to seeing photos of Michelle in it!

Rain, Rain---Splish Splash

I had a productive day today. I have arranged for someone to come look at the chimney--up top---to deal with the drip we get from it when it rains. The fireplace backs onto our room, and we hear it loud and clear while trying to sleep, if it has been or even is, raining. It will be good to get this taken care of. I seem to be able to manage just so much in addition to dealing with Anne and making a stab at keeping house and laundry together. Not that Anne is difficult, but the appts, getting through daily life, etc, is pretty much a full time job. It is a real sense of accomplishment to get extra things done too!

I also called the auto body place that repaired my car after the accident. I had noticed earlier this week that one of my headlights was out. I called over this morning and the gal said bring it in anytime and they would get it taken care of. I made it over late morning, while Anne slept. (I did let her know I was going and gave her her synthroid, first!) One of the guys checked it out, the bulb had blown. It was all black and bubbly. I am wondering if defective? Anyway, he quickly replaced it with a new one and I was ready to go. Came home and got Anne and we headed out to see a movie. Of course, the skies had to let loose with pouring, drenching rain on our way there, and we got soaked getting from the parking lot to the theatre. We both had jackets/sweaters, so that helped some! Fortunately, it had stopped raining by the time we got out, and we had a chance to finish drying out.

I feel relaxed enough to get back to knitting! I had best get with it, as I still have to finish Michelle's Halloween costume. Anne has the hat almost done, just one little bit left to finish up! It is so cute, and she will be absolutely adorable!

I felt like there was something else I was going to write about, but I can't think of what for the life of me, so I will just go ahead and end this. I will be really glad to get my memory back some day, this spotty memory deal is no fun!

And The Beat Goes On...........

We had so much rain yesterday and last night, that when Anne and I got home today and I finally checked, I found 2.5 inches of rain in the rain gauge. It has all been dumped out, onto a bush, so it can do some good (!!) and is ready for our next rainy day! As I suspected, our wind and rain were a result of Tropical Storm Tammy (Tammi??), off along the coast and headed AWAY from Florida. Always a good thing, although we always hope that they are going off into the ocean to pass away quietly, and are not headed on up the coast to menace others. The wind blew something fierce last evening, and during the night, too. I will have to remember to go out and check for dropped grapefruit. The Postons warned us that windfalls have to be recovered, as they will sour the fruit on the tree if left to rot on the ground. I don't know if that is really the case, but would hate to find out through experience that it is! Besides not wanting a lot of rotting fruit at the bottom of the tree!!!

Anne and I continue to try to muddle through our days, seeming to accomplish very little and it sure seems to take an especially long time to get that very little bit done. All I can guess is that it is all a result of the tumor and our reactions to it. We will be so thankful on so many levels once we are done with it all. Please do keep hoping and praying that Anne's thyroid levels are good when she sees Dr. Dhruv next Tuesday!

Meanwhile, Anne and Mike are sick. We must have been exposed to something, possibly while out for dinner one weekend? Mike and Anne both got sick the same weekend. I am fine, thank goodness. Just as well, I can't afford to get sick. Not that Anne can either, but she can more easily get away with not doing anything but recovering. She nearly coughed up a lung yesterday, so I called and got her an appt with the nurse practitioner at her GP's. Was able to get an appt for this afternoon. She gave Anne a prescription for antibiotics, to nip in the bud any attempts to have it go to bronchitis. I don't think the meds are sitting too well on Anne's tummy, but only 5 days of them, once a day, so it won't be too long to get through, in any case. Mike came home from work early today----he wasn't feeling well, and I got the impression from what he said that his co-workers really didn't want to catch what he has. I can't say I blame them! I just hope I can continue to fight it off----I daily thank my folks for my good immune system!

I have an appt with PT tomorrow, off base. It will be interesting to see what they are like, it is a place I have not been to before. I have been so distracted lately, I haven't noticed my ankle and foot much lately, but then I am not sure I would notice anything smaller than a two by four.

Well, I guess that is it for this evening, and I will let you know how PT went, etc, next time. We are so anxiously counting the days till next Tuesday.

Unintentional Kitty Torture

It was one of those days. The kind that you don't think you will ever get through. It will never end. One bad thing after another will happen. There is no end in sight, you will live this day over and over and over for days on end. Whew! After dealing with a number of phone calls I had to make, and getting a piece of information that I would just as soon NOT have had (nothing bad, just not what I would have liked!), I realized it was time to get changed and gather up the kitties for their annual visit to the vet. Not a red letter day! Especially since I was just finishing changing and getting shoes on when I got the phone call with the information that I would have preferred not to have! Oh well. It was one of those days, right?

So, the phone call took longer than I expected, and I got off the phone at about 2 minutes to 2 p.m., and the kitties were due at the vets at 2.20!!!!! Horrors! Anne and I had been closing the doors to rooms that had things the kitties could hide far away under, like beds, etc. I finished my shoes, and got the carriers, while she finished up her bits of preparation for leaving the house. Then it was time to snag the kitties. Meggie is the easiest to get these days, I think she finally realizes that it is inevitable, she ca't elude us forever, and it is less stressful for her to cooperate. So, she makes only a token run for it, "hiding" in the living room, at the side of the chair. It took a little bit of effort to get her from between the chair and the little table, but in the course of kitty snatching, it was minor. She went into her carrier quite nicely, so that was pretty quick and easy.

Then it was time to catch Mickey, who is fast as the dickens, and still hasn't learned yet that being caught can not be escaped. "Escape is futile, you will be assimilated....."---oops, wrong story! Anne managed to catch her, and reports that once she was caught, Mickey seemed to catch the idea that it was futile to resist, and she cooperated. We got her into her carrier without incident also! We were out the door and in the car at 2.10!!!! The vets' office is close by and we were there a few minutes before appointment time. What a relief!

So, we eventually get into the exam room, and eventually the tech comes in. You really have to wonder, just how much experience do some of these people have? Is it an indication of the primary pet they deal with, when you see 4 dogs and no cats besides yours in the waiting area???? When the tech doesn't realize that it is best to have all things ready and be able to complete all required actions with each cat before she is removed from her carrier???? Evidently not! I will have to remember this for future visits though!

Mickey was chosen by the "cat-clueless" tech, to be the first victim. Not a good plan, as it agitated Meggie also! Anyway..... first she tries to weigh Mickey, while I am finishing paperwork. She does manage, although there was quite a bit of cat hair scattered about the room after she finished. Then, she planned to take Mickey's temperature. Well, I held Mickey and the gal went at her with the thermometer. Mickey wasn't having any of that! She acted like she was being skinned alive, and finally escaped my grasp, leaving me with a good set of scratches on my right forearm, and half jumped off the table, with the thermometer hanging out of her butt!!!!! The tech quickly grabbed it and decided "close enough!" Good call! So it was now Meggie's turn. She wasn't interested in taking part in any of that, but she is a good girl, and older, and so didn't fight it as much. I carried her to the scale for her weigh-in, and put her on the table. I held her while the tech tried to take her temp--only problem is that she is a bit hairy back there, and the tech couldn't find the proper spot!!! Oh my goodness! Meggie was getting a bit irate, and the tech was afraid I was going to get scratched again, so she went to get more help!

She eventually came back with the vet, who was able to get the temp, as the tech and I gently but firmly, held Meggie down. She was much more cooperative, and that worked out okay. She examined Meggie, who is fine, except for tartar on her teeth. Meggie got her rabies shot, which was minor after all that had proceded it! Then it was time for Mickey to be examined. Anne had managed to extract her from underneath the bench seat in the room, and we got her on the table. She was a big baby through the whole thing, but did get examined, also has tartar on her teeth, and took the shot like a pro. I guess it was about time she was good about something!

Needless to say, we were glad to get the kitties home, minus a ton of kitty fur, which was being swept up while we were getting checked out and paying! I am so glad it is only once a year!

Meanwhile, all continues to move along slowly. No changes on the Anne front. I will take her tomorrow for her blood work, as the endocrinologist's office said a week before the appt, to make sure the results are back in time. Please keep your fingers crossed for us, say a prayer, whatever!!!! We are sure hoping and praying that Anne's thyroid levels are back up and they can schedule her surgery!!! Anne sees the doc on 11 October. Hard to believe it is so close already, it has taken ages! Take care and I will keep you posted!

Slacking Off

Well, not really, but I have been slack about keeping up with this. So, here I am!

I finished a really good book last night. It is Swimming to Antarctica, by Lynne Cox. She is the swimmer and author, and she writes a pretty exciting book! I had seen the book listed in Books and Company's "Up All Night Reader", which can be found at some other books stores in a different format, as "Book Pages". It sounded like an interesting book, and I had put it on my Amazon wish list. I got it for Christmas last year, and have been doing so little reading (relatively!!!) that I just got to it! I was glad I found it, I had put it in one of the new bookcases in the living room! Anyway, the book was really good, and the story is amazing. It is amazing to hear of her adventures, and the adversities she was able to overcome. She has unbelievable physical abilities---I sure haven't heard of anyone else who can swim in 32 degree water, for the time it took to swim more than a mile!!!!! She is truly awesome and I heartily recommend the book!!!!!

I don't think I had ever mentioned that I saw the podiatrist off base that I was referred to? It seems that I do have tendonitis in this tendon that runs along that bone that I refer to as the inside ankle bone, and also along the little bone on towards the back of the inside of the arch of the foot. Also, a little bit of plantar fasciitis. I guess that explains it all???? He gave me a prescription for new custom fit orthotics, which I can get through the orthopedics clinic at the base at a reduced price, and referred me to physical therapy. I am sure he would have given me a prescription for some kind of NSAID too, as we talked about it, but I get tinnitis from them, so that won't work. It was good to get confirmation of just what the problem is, in any case! I have been to orthopedics and the tech took the impressions for my orthotics. It will take about 2 weeks or so to get them in. I sure hope they help! The tech said the place they send them out to does a great job.

Anne continues to muddle through. Her whole life has been turned upside down, in many ways, and I know it is hard on her. She has ideas and plans of what she would like to do in the future, but everything is on hold. She has to get through her surgery, see what she is left with after recovery and healing, and see what her limitations will be. Any thoughts of the Foreign Service are pretty well demolished now, as even with a complete recovery, she would not be physically fit for postings anywhere in the world, and that is a requirement. Just as well that her thoughts have mostly moved into other areas.

We were very relieved to hear that the Walters in Texas got their power back on Thursday. It sure is no fun, especially when the temperatures are in the high 90's and worse, and it doesn't cool down enough at night to cool things off.

Mike's sister Jo and her husband Eric move into their new house! Today, I think???? I am sure they are very excited about it! They have lived on a boat for 8 years, and enjoyed that greatly. I know they were able to sail to some lovely spots all along the east coast, etc, and will have wonderful memories of it all. I think they were quite ready to move ashore and Jo will be thrilled to be so close to daughter Becky and her family. And it isn't too far a jaunt to travel to East Texas to see son Russ and his family, Mom and Dad Walters, etc. Best wishes to them!!!!