Home Again, Home Again.....

Jiggity jig.

Earlier than expected, too. You see, when someone tells Anne they will see her on Thursday, and the assumption all along was that she would likely have all her appts this week, etc, etc, etc.....the mind assumes that is what is going to happen. One does not think to look more closely at the appt print out page, and check the small print that shows the date of the appts. One sees Thursday, in big letters, and assumes this Thursday. So, I got up early, got a good start on loading the car, woke Anne, we ate and checked out, and drove to the Mayo Clinic, and went to the 2nd floor west wing for Anne's appt. To be told, your appt is in October. WHAT????? Took a look at the appt sheet, yep, 19 October. Geezzzzzzzz. We were so shocked, surprised and irritated, we weren't sure what to do. So, we stopped at the cafe and got Anne a drink, and we killed a little time. Then, off to the car and we headed home.

The distance from the Mayo Clinic itself to the house is 160 some miles. It took just a bit over 2 hours and 20 minutes to drive it. The distance from here to the motel isn't quite as much. It is about 10 miles from the motel to the Mayo Clinic. Just some trivia, for anyone who might be interested.

I guess this all answers some questions. One of the sets of blood tests they are running are blood cultures, and those take a good week or more to do. We did sort of wonder how they were going to have all the results back before her appts. Now we see.

Anne snoozed in the car all the way home---she was really tired. She is napping again. Poor kid is really exhausted. I am going to get her up soon so she doesn't over do it.

It is nice to be home, in any case. I noticed that the rain gauge was full of water (I have checked it and emptied it already) and we had 2.9 inches of rain while we were gone. Mike had mentioned that they had a lot of rain the one day. The kitties seem happy to see us, which is always nice. I think Mickey is busy snoozing with Anne.

The anti-inflammatories that Dr. Dunne prescribed seem to be helping a good bit with Anne's foot/ankle, which we are really happy about. She will go in to pt on Monday for her initial evaluation, etc.

I guess that is it for now. Take care all and more later.

Mayo

Humm, should be a joke with a sandwich involved, right?

We got a later than expected start yesterday. We got the kitties to the vets just fine. Anne was in prime kitty whisperer mode. She did an amazing job of scooping up the kitties without any need to chase them all over the house. It didn't hurt that they were snoozing, but she managed to get them scooped up and I was there with the kitty carriers. It helped too that Mickey had been sleeping on Anne's bed, and Meggie was out in the living room snoozing. They managed not to scare each other. A huge help.

Anyway, we got home and decided to wait a bit after loading the car---let the traffic slow down a little. It was after 6 before we left. The traffic was not bad at all. The only thing I would have changed would be the timing, and only because we got here after dark and the motel location was not quite as straight forward as the map showed. Still, I found it without any trouble, and that is the big thing, right?

The room is really nice, with great beds and 4 pillows on each bed, 2 soft and 2 firm, so you can have your pick. Really is great.

We over-slept this morning, didn't notice till 6.21---I had planned for us to get up at 6. We set a record getting ready and out of the motel, and arrived at the Mayo with time to spare. Anne got registered, and we were on the 7th floor for her appt with plenty of time to spare too. She was in the back for ages, then was back out to wait. They gave her a print out with blood work to be done, and her appts. She had blood work done twice today. They took a ton from her this morning. The one gal really did a number on her arm--I still don't get people who insist on trying when they can't get it easily the first time or two. Someone else ended up getting it, but she has a good bruise and lump as a result of the first gal's efforts. She had to go back later this afternoon for the other set, ended up being just one more tube. This gal was great, did it easy as pie. Was horrified when she saw Anne's arm, wondered what it was from and then where it was done. She was not at all happy to hear that it was someone there who did it. As Anne was leaving, the gal was checking to see who had done it. Hurrah!

Anne has appts with an endocrinologist, an infectious diseases guy and the doc she saw today. She has appts through Thursday. We might be clear to go home after her last appt on Thursday. We will see how it goes, and meanwhile are mildly optimistic that we will manage that.

Except for the mean vampire, all is going well. The Mayo is huge, well organized, and has been a good experience, I guess. The area is wild---the road from the motel to the Mayo, that I thought was a regular surface road, is a 2-3 lanes each direction (it varies) state route. Not what I was expecting. But, it works out fine. I am learning my way around and we have had things all work out well since we have been here.

Not much else. We won't know anything till the last appt on Thursday, with the same doc she saw today. That appt isn't till 4 p.m. If we end up heading home after that, I will email/blog from home. I might not blog again till we do get home--unless we end up staying till Friday---since we won't know anything new.

Take care all!

Good, Bad, Indifferent?

That is the dilemma? Anne saw the foot doc this morning. The MRI doesn't show any break, but there seems to be a good bit of inflammation. Hard to say if the contrast would have made a difference or not. I guess the good news is that it will heal eventually, and that there isn't anything bad going on under the arch of her foot. He gave her a prescription for an anti-inflammatory, and suggested a good round of pt. He is sending her to Beachside, which is where I went for my foot, and where Anne went after her brain surgery. She will get to torture them some more, she says! She is to have a month of that, and then see the doc again.

We got home----after some errands, etc, and had a message from the growth hormone gal. That is all set, she has the prescription now, etc. She could have had it here for us on Wednesday, but since we likely will not be home yet, and it is best for it NOT to sit outside in the heat all day, we put it on hold. I will call once we know what Anne's schedule will be at the Mayo, and we know when we should be home. We also had a call from the nurse who is to teach Anne how to use it, and I will call her once we know when we will be getting the growth hormone. So, all is coming together.

Just a few things to finish up and we can relax till time to round up the kitties for their vet visit. I really swear, if it were not for it being the law that they have to be vaccinated, I wouldn't ever take them, they hate going so much. Oh well.

I will keep you all posted, as much as possible, while we are gone. Take care and more later....

I Would Forget My Head Today......

Yep, that is right. I am currently trying to remember something that I realized I wanted to blog about and didn't. Maybe I will remember in time to include it?

Meanwhile, I did want to mention Mount Union! They have a superior football team, to say the least. They are having another winning year, which thrills me to no end. Yesterday they played Muskingum, and won 62-0. They scored 42 points in the first quarter. Amazing.

Well, I still can't remember what I wanted to say, so I will go for now and will post again if I ever remember it. Do look on down, as I had already posted once today.

Oh!!!!! I just remembered it!!!!! Hurrah! Anne and I finally watched her newest arrival from Netflix, the very first episode of Inspector Morse, of PBS Mystery fame. It isn't one of my favorite episodes (although I didn't know which one it was going to be before seeing it, since I didn't know what order they went in). Still, it was good, and it was interesting to find that it was the very first one. Mom---it is the Jericho one, I don't remember the exact title.

What I found especially interesting though, was Anne knew that there was some extra info on the disk and checked it out. There were some trivia type comments and we had to read them, of course. I am so glad that we did. Two or three really stood out. Did you know that Colin Dexter, who wrote the books, did a cameo appearance in each episode? That the notes at the beginning music of the shows spells out "Morse" in morse code? And that at some point during the show, the music spells out the name of a character in the episode, also in morse code? It is usually the name of the murderer, but sometimes just the name of one of the characters, to throw people off! Wow!!!! I never would have guessed, and it will make the shows even more interesting. I will have to look for a photo of Colin Dexter, so I can try to pick him out!

So, go read the bit I wrote before, if you like, and I will blog again when I can! Take care!

The Eve of the Eve.....

of Anne's appt at the Mayo Clinic. Time is getting short, and it seems the time has just disappeared. I hope this week goes by as quickly.

A note about Mike's Photo of the Day page. He made some changes and the buttons have changed a little bit. You can choose a light or dark background for the photos. You will easily notice which buttons you click for that. The thumbnail versions can be seen by clicking on "index" now, instead of "thumbnails". He has been having plenty of fun, tweaking his page! It sure looks nice, and I love the photos.

I am hoping to finish laundry today. I don't know how much time we will end up having between Anne's appt with the foot doc in the morning, and the kitties' vet visit in the late afternoon. The more I get done today, the better, right? I think things are pretty well sorted. I did a big shop at the commissary yesterday, so there is plenty of food for Mike for however long we are gone. We will hope not too long.

Well, take care and I will keep you posted.

And The Beat Goes On

Or so it seems, and feels like. There isn't any real news, just mostly sort of "un-news".

There was no word back from the foot doc's office by about 2 yesterday. Humm, did I blog or only email? It all has to do with the MRI and the forgetting of the contrast. I called Thursday morning to let the doc know, and they were checking it all out. I had a call Friday morning, confirming Anne's doc appt on Monday, but the time was wrong. And we had never heard anything back from them about the MRI. So, I commented that it wasn't the appt time they had given us at the office, and asked about the MRI situation. Long and short, the doc wasn't happy with the MRI films and they were working on it. They would call back before the end of the day.

So, by 2, no call back, and we had some errands to run. I called to check and to give them Anne's cell phone number. The phone rang before we got out the door, just keep the appt set for Monday morning, the doc decided these films were okay. I am guessing that the MRI place was totally unable to get her back in and do more films before Monday, and since we will be going out of town...... I could be totally wrong on that. The doc and the MRI film reading doc maybe have been able to come to a consensus on it all and all is truly visible, etc. I guess we will know more after her appt on Monday. I will keep you posted!

We did make a stop at Kohls and found a couple of pairs of comfy pants for Anne to wear, that will be more comfortable for her while wearing the big black boot. I will get those washed up for her this weekend.

Not much else going on. I will run to the commmissary after I finish this, and I won't have to worry about it on Monday. That will be a busy day too, with the appt for Anne and the kitties have a vet appt too. But at least it will all be out of the way, and we can leave for Jacksonville with nothing hanging over our heads.

Take care and more later, you all!

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was the sound of the shuttle passing over, on its way to Kennedy Space Center. It happened at about 6.20 or so a.m. this morning. Mike was in the shower, I don't know if he heard and/or felt it, but I sure did! There was a very loud boom, the windows rattled and the house shook a little. There was a lot more to hear and feel than when we heard the previous one at Dr. Venero's. I really wonder if I could have seen it, had I been outside. I am thinking the answer would be yes. Oh well....

Now to backtrack to last night. Anne had her MRI, at 9.20 last night. Yikes! The nice thing is that there is less traffic at night, and it was easy to find a parking space--haha! They let me go in with Anne while she had the MRI--actually into the room with the big machine. There was a chair to sit in, and the tech gave me earplugs, which I definitely needed. MRI's are very noisy, as I knew from past experience. It took quite a while, we weren't done and in the car till 10 p.m. Of course, Anne had to change back into her clothes, but that didn't take long. We were on our way home when I realized that they hadn't done the contrast. Yikes!

I called Dr. Dunne's this morning to let them know about the lack of contrast. They were first inclined to just wait and see on Monday if the films were clear enough without it. I reminded them that we are heading out for the Mayo late Monday, and the gal went to get more input. New plan, they will be checking with the MRI place, try to find out what the results look like and will try to get things sorted out today so they know if the MRI needs to be repeated, and will get it all done in time for her scheduled appt on Monday. So, we will see. I'm really glad I called, and they were too.

We are still waiting on growth hormone. Nordicare is waiting for the dosage, and not having any luck getting it so far. It just sounds like a bit of chaos going on at the doc's office. I called this morning, after having a call from Nordicare before 8 a.m. this morning! Hopefully, all will be sorted out today and the hormone will be on its way.

Mike fixed my link to his Photo of the Day page. I had added a slash, as all the other links had one. Mistake! It wasn't supposed to have one, and that is what messed everything up.

Well, I had best go and get some work done! Take care all and more later on.

Thundering Tuesday

I started to put Thursday, carrying on with the "Th" sound. Glad I caught it--haha!

I have found that my link to Mike's Photo of the Day doesn't seem to be working. I tried changing it so it went right to all the thumbnail photos, thinking that the daily change was the problem. That seems not to be the problem, as it still isn't working. Sorry about that.

The bug guy came today and did his spraying. We see very few bugs in the house and most of them are dead---thank goodness!

We have a good thunderstorm going. Not much rain yet, although Anne and I did get sprinkled on a bit at the base. It is sure rumbling outside now though. In the small world category, we were checking out at the BX and the cashier stopped to say hi to old friends who were behind us in line---it seems they are back in Florida (PCSing, not vacation), having come from TX. I asked where abouts in Texas, and it seems they have just come back here from Dyess. He was a pediatrician there. Wow!

Not much else going on. We are keeping busy, trying to get ready for our little trip. I will be very happy to be done with all this, especially if they find out what is wrong with Anne, and know how to fix it all and return her to good health. We will see.......

Oh, the shuttle landing has been postponed, as I guess you all know by now. I hope that all works out okay.

Take care all.

Podiatrist, Part 2

Hi all. Anne saw the podiatrist again this morning. Some examination of her foot showed more painful bits--the underside of the arch being the primary one. The verdict---MRI with contrast. So, she has an appt for that on Wednesday night---this place is one she has been to before, and they do have evening appts. This time she goes at 9.20 p.m.----I am not sure how late they stay open, but evidently past 9 p.m., in any case? She will follow up with the doc on Monday morning. That works out fine, since I don't plan for us to leave for Jacksonville till late afternoon or early evening.

The bug man is coming tomorrow, so I have the usual vacuuming, etc, to do before he comes. I have been getting some laundry done today too. I will have to make sure Mike has plenty of clean stuff ready before we go.

I saw on the news that the shuttle is to land on Wednesday. I don't imagine I will see it, but will probably hear it!

I talked to Brian and Christine yesterday, and actually, to Michelle, too! She sounds so sweet! They are all doing well. Well, Christine is still having trouble with her back, and starts her physical therapy today, I think it is?

There isn't much else going on around here, just the usual things. I guess that keeps us plenty busy enough. Take care all and more later.

Addition

Hi you all, sorry it has been so long. I guess I should have reviewed my last post to make sure of what I told last time--haha.

First of all, though, please note that I have added a link to Mike's Photo of the Day page to the list of links in the sidebar. It is right under the link to his Crunchy Frog blog. He has some lovely photos up over there! His photographs just keep getting better and better! The military photo is part of the parade at Brian's graduation from Basic Training in San Antonio. That was taken with our first digital camera, which is still going strong. Anne and I use it a lot. It is the camera I used to take the recent shuttle shots.

There really hasn't been much going on, which is probably why I haven't been blogging as often. Anne and I are getting ready for our trip to Jacksonville. I have our motel reservations made, and the place had a really decent discount for Mayo patients. We sure hope the docs at the Mayo can figure out what is going on with her.

Anne's ankle continues to be a problem for her. The boot isn't helping with the pain she is feeling--and that has been increasing. Add to that the problem that she keeps hitting it on things, as it is so bulky. She called the doc's office on Friday, and they want her to go in on Monday. So, we will see what the doc has to say. Needless to say, we have been taking things easy since it bothers her so much.

We went to a Friends of the Library sale on Friday. Anne took a quick look, then found a handy chair to sit in. She did find a really cool book written in old German. The print looks so neat! It was a pretty good sale and I found a couple of books for Mike, too! It all worked out well.

We haven't been having nearly as much rain. We had a big thunderstorm go through early Thursday afternoon, and we got 1.2 inches of rain out of it. No rain since then though. We only have about 5-6 weeks till our rainy season ends. It wasn't very rainy this year.

I had a quick email from Brian saying that they are home from OH. It sounds like they are fine.

Well, I guess that is all the news that's fit to print this time, more later!

Edited to add: Christine posted on her blog, and there are some great photos of Michelle!

OUCH!!!!!

Here is the latest news first. Anne has a sprained ankle, and quite likely a hairline fracture in her ankle. That is the news this afternoon, after a visit to a podiatrist. The morning started with a 10 a.m. appointment with Dr. Venero, because of ankle pain. He checked it out, and felt that it was best for her to see Dr. Dunne. They called right away to make an appt for her, and we were amazed that they were able to get her in at 1 p.m. today. It isn't even that he was having a slow day, as the office was pretty full. Anyway, Dr. Dunne did a quick check of her ankle, immediately finding all the sore bits, and ones she hadn't known about. He quickly pointed out the painful bit that indicated the sprain. They had already taken x-rays, and he said that it really looks like she has a hairline fracture in this bone that is shaped like a turtle. He could have ordered a scan to be sure, but it would involve contrast, and he didn't want to put her body through that, with all the other contrast she has had the past several months. So, she is in one of those lovely boots for 3 weeks, and then sees him again. If it isn't better, they will go ahead and either do the scan, or do an MRI. So.... poor kid still can't catch a break---oops, I guess she did, just the wrong kind. We aren't sure just how she managed to do it--the sprain and likely break---but there was that day a little while back when she kept catching her foot when she was walking. With the osteopenia, it might have been enough.

Now I am going to skip back to Saturday. Just a nice piece of news. I was out of the house to check the mail on Saturday early evening, and took a look at the butterfly garden. I was surprised to find/count 13 passion flowers fully open, and many buds getting ready to open. It is really pretty, as you might guess!

And, finally, for Sunday's big news. I was looking at the paper Sunday morning, and felt my recliner moving a little--sort of as if one of the kitties was slightly bumping into the back of it or something like that. Not that they ever have done that, but I figured that might be what it would feel like if they did. It lasted for less than a minute and then stopped, and I didn't think anything more about it. Till I heard the news last night and heard about the earthquake in the gulf!!!! It was at the same time! I know there were reports of others in the area feeling it. It sounds like most of Florida felt it, for that matter. How amazing. My second (I think??) earthquake as an adult, and I didn't even realize it was an earthquake.

I guess that is all the news. I would have been just as happy to have no real news but word of distant earthquakes and flowers. I would have been happier had we not found out that Anne has a sprain and likely a break. But, at least it isn't worse, and she is allowed to walk on it with the boot. That sure beats having to deal with a cast and crutches. She has been really lucky. Take care and I will keep you posted. Check the brain blog now and then, as Anne will update that soon.

LIFT-OFF!!!!!

Hurrah! After all the delays, worries of Ernesto, etc, Atlantis is finally on her way! Mike watched the preliminary video on the tv while I was on the computer, occasionally checking the NASA web page. Mike came back to give me a nine minute warning, and we watched the countdown together, then headed out to the driveway. There were quite a few clouds to the north-west, and we weren't sure how soon we would get to see the shuttle.


  

Here is the first photo I took. We saw the shuttle sooner than it is shown in the photo---it was so bright outside, I couldn't see anything at all in the camera viewer and had to just point the camera in the right direction and hope.


  



  

I figure I did pretty well, getting three shots of the shuttle. After the third photo, the shuttle was so small it wasn't worth trying to take any more. We watched for a few minutes, then went back inside. On taking another look at the photos, I see I got the camera in action quicker than it seemed at the time.

We did have another thunderstorm last night, but it was far enough off that we didn't get any rain. We didn't really need any, so that worked out well--haha.

Take care all......

Scrubbed Again

Yep, the launch was scrubbed again for today. The launch time was set for 11.14 a.m. Oh well. They are going to try again tomorrow morning. I sure hope it goes off just fine!

Yesterday was a somewhat busy day, with an early appointment for Anne with the hematologist. The good news is that her spleen is at a "normal" size again. It sounds from the measurement like it is a little bigger than the ultrasound people estimated her "normal" to be, but it is in the normal range now, and deemed safe. So, that is good. The doc has released her now, but is happy to see her again in the future if needed. Being released is a good thing, the doc commented that she doesn't get to do that very often.

We had a humongous thunderstorm last night. I am really glad we were all at home when it hit. A lot of thunder and lightning and a lot of it closeby. It absolutely poured rain, and I wasn't at all surprised to find 2.5 inches of rain in the rain gauge later on.

I haven't heard from Brian, but I always figure no news is good news. They are in Ohio doing the visiting thing, so I am sure they are keeping very busy. We are sure looking forward to our chance to see them all!

I have made some good progress on the stack of mail/junk mail on the nook table. A good thing we don't really use it often. I have quite a stack of paperwork to file. I am feeling more and more organized, which is a nice feeling.

I am overdue for taking a good look around the house. I really need to get out and do that. I do regularly get the view out the sun room windows, and enjoy seeing the butterflies that like the fly around in back. They drive Mike nuts, as half the time, if he goes out with his camera, they decide they have had enough of the back yard. The rest of the time, they fly around so much he can't get a shot of them. The ones in the butterfly garden tend to be a bit more considerate--haha!

Well, nothing new so I am going and will hope for something interesting next time--maybe news of the launch and a photo or two?

Couldn't Resist

Once again, I couldn't resist doing this. An Aussie astronomer/blogger had it on his blog and I had to try it out. It is a little different than the one I did ages ago. I don't remember at all how I did last time. I guess this is pretty decent--nothing to compare to the Aussie astronomer's score though--his was 92. Wow!



More in a tick, but it will be above this, so I guess that was a rather meaningless comment. Haha.

Thoroughly Disgusted

I imagine most of you have heard the news by now, that Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, has died after being stabbed in the heart by the barb of a sting ray. I only saw his show a few times but I saw him a number of times on other shows. He was an interesting guy, and he did a lot to promote interest in crocodiles, wildlife in general, etc.

I just went out (before starting this) to get a cup of coffee. I saw that they were showing an old interview with Steve on The Today Show. I went for a closer look, and they were replaying the interview done with him two years ago, when there was the huge fuss because he took his baby son into a crocodile enclosure with him. How disgusting of The Today Show. The man has just died, his family and friends are in mourning, there are surely tons of footage of interviews with the man, and they are showing this???????? With Matt Lauer or some other talking idiot coming up with all kinds of scenarios on how the baby could have been injured? None of them did occur, of course, the baby was fine. Then suggesting that perhaps young children, seeing the clip, might think that crocodiles weren't dangerous. ---Excuse me, I would assume that the parents would be with the young children, or should be if they were around crocodiles???

Anyway, it just made me absolutely sick that they were replaying this particular interview, when the man has just died.

If any Australians happen to read this, please except my condolences on your loss, and my apologies for the insensitivity and crassness of our media here in the U.S.

I guess that is my excitement for the day. It is sunny out today, although there is a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon--big surprise there, right? We didn't get any rain from all the rumbling yesterday, although other areas did get a good rainfall. We don't particularly need more rain right now, so it worked out just as well--haha.

I hadn't been totally sure before, but read in the papers that they had not removed the shuttle from the launch pad before Ernesto came through. This was a safe course, since it could withstand quite strong winds and Ernesto was already weakening significantly. Because they didn't move the shuttle, it is ready for launch this week. The big day is Wednesday, with possible back-up days of Thursday and Friday. A very small window, so we sure hope it can go off as scheduled!

Jo has some great videos on her blog, showing the tree that fell on their house. It looks much bigger, in the videos, than it did in the initial still shot. Stop by and see it! It is obvious she is enjoying the video capabilities of her new camera!

Well, time to go, take care all......

Thunderstorms

We are back to the afternoon thunderstorms. I didn't miss them, and won't miss them when they are gone again. Still, they are kind of nice as long as you are safely at home and don't have to go out!

We had a nice quiet day yesterday. Mount Union played their first game of the season yesterday afternoon. They played a team that is new to the line-up, so an unknown quality. Seems that they weren't much of a challenge to Mount. The final score was 64-7. Ouch! Mike listened to most (all?) of the game on the radio by way of the computer. The announcers were horrible, and Mike said that 4 touchdowns were called back. I am sure that Coach Kehres will have something to say to the team about that. Three of those did end in touchdowns, but even so.

We had our usual Saturday evening dinner out. We went to the Gator this time, and it was very good, as usual. Anne and I shared the pork tenderloin, as usual. Yummmm! They take a chunk of tenderloin, split it, and grill it. It has a tasty barbeque type sauce that adds to the flavor. Delicious! We made a stop at the book store after, and came out to find that the gray clouds had spread and were quite black. As we got closer to home, the rain started and it was pouring when we did get home. It looked like it had been raining for a while here, so we probably would have gotten wet anyway. I checked the rain gauge this morning, we got an inch of rain from it.

I hear thunder rumbling outside, so it sounds like the afternoon storm is hitting earlier today. At least we don't have to go anywhere! We are enjoying the quiet holiday weekend. Anne gave Mike one of her Terry Pratchett books to read. He did look at the science fiction at the bookstore yesterday, but wasn't sure what he would like or not like. I already have most of what I am interested in, and he isn't too sure about those. Anne and I figured total fantasy would be better for him--just totally suspend belief or any need for logic or realism. I know part of the reason he wasn't wild about Eon was that the author hadn't set it far enough into the future---most of it was taking place in 2005. Oops! At least Heinlein had the sense to use alternate universe/history lines in his books, and tended not to mention dates, so that it wasn't "our Earth" that got caught up with.

Well, time for me to go. I am on the last book of the Agatha Christie monster-sized book---it is called Passenger to Frankfurt. It is one of her spy/"idiots trying to change the world" type books. They always make for interesting reading.

Take care all......

Hippo-Bird-Day!

Is that right? Happy Birthday, Mary!!!!!! Another year has come and gone. I hope the future holds great huge gobs of happiness for you! Have a great day with the folks, eh?

I am sure this will be a short post, as there really isn't much to talk about. We had a lively thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. I am so glad that Anne and I were home, having finished all our errands long before the thunderstorm hit. We only got 7/10 inches of rain out of it, so that isn't too bad. I am sure that Melbourne has probably just about got rid of its rain deficit.

Last I heard, Ernesto is still in the news, making his way further north and wreaking havoc as he goes. It looks like there has been a good bit of flooding in VA, and I see from blogs and email that Jo and Eric have had a tree fall on their house, due to winds (and rain) from Ernesto. Fortunately, the tree looks like a relatively young and thin tree, so hopefully there isn't much damage? One tends to forget that these hurricanes don't always do their damage just in Florida and the other southern/gulf states.

The shuttle launch has been rescheduled for this coming week! I hope it all goes off okay this time.

Well, that is all the news and more, so I will bring this to a close and hope for something interesting to write about next time. Best wishes to you all, especially to Mary!

Really Now!

I just checked Mike's blog, and his weather channel weather report says that it is (was?) 92 degrees, with a heat index of 101 degrees. Really now! Are we so very acclimated to the weather here already? How could that totally be? We don't freeze when it is in the 70's. Or even in the 60's. Anne and I were out today, as she had a CT scan at 8.45 a.m. Not that it happened at 8.45 a.m., mind you! It was more like 9 a.m. by the time they called her back. Anyway, the point is, it did feel like 92, or thereabouts, while we were out running errands after the CT scan. We didn't get home till almost 1 p.m., so we were already in the hot part of the day. It felt warm/hot but not hot/hot. It sure didn't feel like 101 degrees. It is all relative, isn't it?

Anyway, I won't be surprised if the temperature drops now, as we have a lovely thunderstorm going. Plenty of rain coming down. Nothing to do with Ernesto, he is off playing in VA now. I am glad I remembered to ask Mike to turn the sprinkler system off last evening--haha!

Not much going on around here, now that Anne and I have completed our errands. We are all set for a quiet long weekend. Anne is napping, after having to be up at such an ungodly hour. I have been going through a book (fat one) with 5 Agatha Christie books in it---some of her international ones, some of which tend to be more spy/thriller type stories rather than her usual mysteries. I have already finished Murder on the Blue Train, Murder in Mesapotamia, and They Came to Baghdad. Next in the book is So Many Steps to Death or something like that. The book was too big to cart along to the diagnostic center, so I found a paperback on the shelves that I hadn't read yet, something about magic ships, etc. More on that later, if it warrants it! I am not positive that the Agatha Christie titles are all correct, that is from memory, which sometimes plays me false. I hope to get some more sorting and such done during the long weekend too, but we will see about that. It is nice to take time just to relax and enjoy having Mike at home.

Take care and more later!

Edited to add: Okay, my memory did play me false. It was supposed to be Mystery on the Blue Train, and Mesopotamia, not Mesa..... I actually spelled it with the "o" and decided it looked funny and must be an "a". Oh well.