August does that. I still hate to see the summer go. Even if I'm retired, summer is my favorite time of the year. It doesn't matter if I'm working or not.
We are having the kind of weather we like to have all the time, up here. It's a good temperature outside, no humidity to speak of, and lots of sunshine. Wow. That's all I can say. You southerners - eat your heart out. Crystal and Bob, up in Boston area, are usually enjoying the same weather. They're our next door neighbors in Fla. and we have just about the same seasonal schedule each year.
Doesn't seem possible that summer is on its way out, and that I've had my car for 3 months now and I've gone 3000+ a couple. Due for an oil change. I can't get used to the fact that my computer here tells me that and knows how many miles I've gone in my car and how it's doing. Strange how Big Brother is taking over our lives. Also that my XMSirius radio free subscription is about to expire. No loss there. Although I use it all the time, I can't see spending all that money each month on what they have to offer. I'll wait and see what happens when I don't bite. Will they offer me less?
Brother Bob is having a day and a half. He's moving out of his home in Venice TODAY and going up to Alpharetta. I keep thinking that they have a beautiful day to move (Jon, his son, is there to help him). Of course in NYS we're having a gorgeous day to move. That's true. I'm sure it's sunny and HOT down there. How very exciting and life-changing it will be. I can't wait to hear from him. I'm excited and happy. I'll be thinking about him all day.
Well - the ordered window blind arrived, and Paul put it in downstairs on the window. It was quite inexpensive and looks great. We also got a new futon for downstairs from Sam's Club. I've never seen this kind- it has cloth arms, like a regular sofa. It isn't what you'd call a klikklak either. Or maybe it is. Material: Brown corduroy with two loose pillows. The only draw-back is it's a full-size rather than a queen-size mattress, but being full-size, it is more comfortable to sit on. ( Drawback: Full-sized seems like it would be small to sleep on after queen.) It looks really nice.
Paul moved his big desk into the area now, so he has - the futon, desk, wooden rolling chair, tv, tv stand, standing lamp, and a hope chest he's thinking of using as a cocktail table.
I talked with my good friend, Marcia, yesterday. We had a good long chat. I'm going to make a promise to myself to call her more often. We enjoy talking with each other! It's HOT down there in NC. Yes. I'm sure it is.
I'm going to be playing the piano on Sunday in church. I'm playing the Prelude - God So Loved the World, and Special Music - My Faith Looks Up to Thee. They have the most wonderful grand piano there. It is such a pleasure to play it. After Bible Study Thursday morning, I went in to the Sanctuary and practiced a bit. It's quite dark in there, but there was a light on the organ that I could use to shine over my shoulder onto the piano for me to see. When I talked with Dave on the phone, he gave me instructions as to what to do, but I promptly forgot. . .except he saying that there was a lamp there near the organ.
As I was finishing and stopped playing, and was putting the piano to bed, I heard some voices in the back and looked at the silhouettes, remember it was kind of dark in the sanctuary, in the main aisle of a man and two small children telling them that this is where he and their mom got married. How nice.
I'm not sure if I've said it, but their organist is a first-class musician who travels around giving concerts all over the country. He also repairs and rebuilds organs. When I was a Trustee in Bath, I was in charge of the music committee and when our organ there needed some really special work, we had him come do it. This church is very lucky to have him. He's also THE organist at the Clemens Center in Elmira. The Clemens Center is the venue for most of the large musical events in the area.
I am feeling very good. As I said in my last post, it probably isn't the wheat-free diet that's causing me to be able to sleep so well. I'd like to think it, but I have my doubts. Perhaps because it's not a medicinal answer? Time will tell. Unfortunately, I am gaining weight - I'm taking medicine that causes that problem . . . at least that's the reason I'm using. I also have developed an appetite. Not to be cliche-ish - but I have to learn to take the good with the bad. I always think I'm not going to develop any bad side effects. I'm different from everyone else, I should have NO side effects!
I have to laugh - just before I began this new medication, really - Just Before by a couple of days - I signed up for a contest that if I went to Curves 30 times in the 60 days of July and August, I would be eligible for some free things, plus if I lost weight, inches, I'd win some other prizes. Well - forget about the weight loss (today - they sorrowfully said I gained 2 lbs.) but I did manage to go 30 times. Today was the 30th.
I have found a perfectly wonderful place to read my kindle in the afternoon: the front porch. It's shady, we don't seem to have bugs. I can see the world going by. The people across the street just had their fourth little baby born yesterday - the mailbox has pink balloons (so it's a girl) - three - I wonder if it's from each of their other children - Natalie, who made good friends with Evie, Abrigail, the oldest, and little Graydon, their two-year old son who will eventually be perfect for Walter. Haven't seen anybody out and about. I don't envy her, I know I shouldn't say that. It's not nice. Paul said she wanted to have four children. So it was her wish. Good for her. I'm happy for them.
Sharon, Dave, Ida and Charles went to visit Lee last weekend as he finished his "bootcamp" called indoc. at his military college. It's been quite an experience. Good pictures of him in his dress whites. Very handsome. Looks so much like his dad! They got there a day early which became lucky - because they had time to see his room.
Paul just got back from Lowe's - his home away from home. The van pulled up outside my window and he's loading 4 X 8 panels downstairs.
I was so annoyed last night. As a surprise for Paul, I ordered the last season 7 of Monarch of the Glen. It was one of the few seasonal series that we both enjoyed. Netflix BBC had seasons 1-6 streaming - subtitled. I don't know why, but they didn't do Season 7. So I ordered it. Through Warner-Home Videos. It took a couple of weeks to get it here.
It arrived Thursday (yesterday). We put it on. No subtitles. With the Scottish accents and different ways of talking, we really need that. So - it was a complete waste. I wrote them a letter. Sent it out today. Probably was a waste of time, but I felt better. BTW: I was very nice. I played on their sympathy. I told them we were elderly and had this hearing problem. Did they know of any place we could get Season 7 with subtitles?
Friday, August 29, 2014
Saturday, August 23, 2014
It's nice to have good news.
Good news in as few words as possible: This week: One mammogram, two mammogram, a biopsy - negative! So, we've been a little stressed lately, but very happy now. And very thankful. And sincerely pleased. It's been a busy week. . . thinking of what if's. . . that now won't be. Thank the Lord.
********
Nancy, Dan and the kids came for a visit last week - from Wednesday to Tuesday. We enjoyed having them and the little ones.
Vincent is growing so fast - he's now eight years old. He's getting out of the little boy stage and into the "boy" arena. Amazing how quickly that happens. When did he grow up so fast? He still enjoys his legos and luckily I had some pirate/sailor legos here that he was able to put together. Interestingly, he's going to some summer day camps near his home and one of the "courses" he took was making videos of legos. He and Dan made up some fun 60 second movies using the legos we had. . .moving them frame by frame. They added music and cartoon captions. Very clever.
Evie is adorable - on her way to being four at the end of September. Where has the time gone? She enjoyed the hot tub very much. Nancy says she loves water. She, Walter and Nancy were in the hot tub and so I thought I'd join them wearing my new flowered bathing suit. Now, you know a 74 year old woman is not exactly a bathing beauty, but three-year old Evie - unrehearsed - yelled out - I LOVE it! to me as I entered the hot tub area. She's pretty cute.
Walter is going to be two in February, so he's still quite a little guy, and a handful. He's constantly on the move - either running or walking or tumbling fast. From one thing to another. This was not an easy week for him. It was hard for him to adjust to new surroundings and new people. Nancy (especially) and Dan needed to be constantly available for him. As has been said many times before, this too will pass, but while you're going through it, it isn't easy. Patience is a virtue that wears thin, but I didn't see that too much. Nancy has a load of it. I'm proud of her. I don't know if it's easier to have a job, or to be available 24/7. It doesn't matter. Whatever your choice in life is, it is what is, then and there, and that's the path you're on.
Nancy and I took Vincent and Evie to the Science Center in Ithaca last Sunday and had a wonderful time. The Science Center is a huge building full of nooks and crannies of all kinds of science experiments for the kids to enjoy. They aren't aware of the principles of science that they are using for most of the time, but they had such a good time with giant bubbles, a rube-Goldberg contraption, an invisible harp, stairs that were musical notes, giant foam building blocks, outdoor drums, cymbals, were just a few. Afterwards we played 9 holes of miniature golf (we gave Evie a lot of leeway with the score) and went for some ice cream. A perfect day. Lots of smiles and happiness.
Anyway - they're now home and back to their routine. Vincent starts school after Labor Day. Seems so strange when Nicole, Bob's daughter in law and their kids, started school two weeks ago. Brenda's in California started also. I think I wrote about that a while back - interesting how different the school schedules are.
********
Paul's waiting for special-order blinds to come for the down-stairs cottage that he worked on. We've decided to keep the futon upstairs in the office and buy a new one for downstairs. That downstairs area is going to be beautiful when he's done. He's having such a good time putting it together. Gracie and I like going down there and seeing what's been accomplished.
Gracie has Ping-Pong balls all over and she enjoys going after them and watching them bounce, roll. She's not that good about dropping them in front of us so we can throw them for her, but she's learning. I had looked for some small balls for her, but everything is bigger than them. And she has trouble getting her mouth around them, so she loses interest.
Oh, yes. Lue brought Greta, her Bernase Mountain Dog, here for the kids to see. Lue leaves the seats down in the back and puts a rug down for Greta, so she travels in style. As Dan said - kids, you're going to see a dog that's twice as big as Ivan (their Siberian husky). And she was.
We don't see Greta very often because she's over 100 lbs. vs. Gracie 5 lbs. 1 oz. And there's rightly a possibility of some squooshing there. Although Greta is much much calmer, as is Gracie. We let Gracie get close to Greta and Gracie licked Greta's mussel. Greta even let the kids hug her too. She has a double coat and is as soft as can be. She's a very well-behaved dog. Lue's done such a good job with her.
After Lue left us on Saturday, she had an accident - she was stopped in traffic in Watkins Glen, a truck didn't notice she'd stopped, and plowed into her. The compact car in front of her was fine. The truck was okay too, but her van got rumpled front and back and is in the shop for repairs. Lue's okay. Sore. They loaned her a little Versa. She's fit to be tied. She said it's like a tuna fish can with wheels. Not sure if they factored in having Greta join her. Guess not. Not sure how long the van will be out of service. God Bless her.
My cousin Carol in Venice, is getting used to dialysis - three times a week - Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Recently, I talked to her on the phone and she sounds so upbeat. I love her to pieces and it was so nice to hear her voice.
Sunday, tomorrow, our church is having a brunch after it's 9:30 service. I am going to make some gluten free muffins this afternoon. I've discovered that there always seems to be someone at buffets that brings something GF, so I thought I would too. And (as the books say) I'll have something to eat. I forgot to put the butter out to get soft, so I may do it tonight. Such is life.
I had such a nice e-mail from Edna, Paul's sister. She reads my blog all the time and missed it. That was so nice of her to think of us. We appreciate responses and its always good to know people are reading it. Thank you, Edna, for your kindness. It means a lot.
I am feeling so much better since I went Gluten Free. I would recommend it to anyone. I am sleeping so well. I was trying to figure out why and tried to make a connection. I am taking a lot of medications now, but I checked them out and I don't think any of them cause that to happen, and even if they did, the only thing I recently added was GF. (July 23 I began a wheat-free diet) Before that, I had trouble sleeping. I considered old age as the culprit, as to why I had trouble sleeping, but perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps it may be partly due to GF. Or all. I am still hesitant to give it all its due. But I am very grateful. There's nothing like a good-night's sleep.
********
Nancy, Dan and the kids came for a visit last week - from Wednesday to Tuesday. We enjoyed having them and the little ones.
Vincent is growing so fast - he's now eight years old. He's getting out of the little boy stage and into the "boy" arena. Amazing how quickly that happens. When did he grow up so fast? He still enjoys his legos and luckily I had some pirate/sailor legos here that he was able to put together. Interestingly, he's going to some summer day camps near his home and one of the "courses" he took was making videos of legos. He and Dan made up some fun 60 second movies using the legos we had. . .moving them frame by frame. They added music and cartoon captions. Very clever.
Evie is adorable - on her way to being four at the end of September. Where has the time gone? She enjoyed the hot tub very much. Nancy says she loves water. She, Walter and Nancy were in the hot tub and so I thought I'd join them wearing my new flowered bathing suit. Now, you know a 74 year old woman is not exactly a bathing beauty, but three-year old Evie - unrehearsed - yelled out - I LOVE it! to me as I entered the hot tub area. She's pretty cute.
Walter is going to be two in February, so he's still quite a little guy, and a handful. He's constantly on the move - either running or walking or tumbling fast. From one thing to another. This was not an easy week for him. It was hard for him to adjust to new surroundings and new people. Nancy (especially) and Dan needed to be constantly available for him. As has been said many times before, this too will pass, but while you're going through it, it isn't easy. Patience is a virtue that wears thin, but I didn't see that too much. Nancy has a load of it. I'm proud of her. I don't know if it's easier to have a job, or to be available 24/7. It doesn't matter. Whatever your choice in life is, it is what is, then and there, and that's the path you're on.
Nancy and I took Vincent and Evie to the Science Center in Ithaca last Sunday and had a wonderful time. The Science Center is a huge building full of nooks and crannies of all kinds of science experiments for the kids to enjoy. They aren't aware of the principles of science that they are using for most of the time, but they had such a good time with giant bubbles, a rube-Goldberg contraption, an invisible harp, stairs that were musical notes, giant foam building blocks, outdoor drums, cymbals, were just a few. Afterwards we played 9 holes of miniature golf (we gave Evie a lot of leeway with the score) and went for some ice cream. A perfect day. Lots of smiles and happiness.
Anyway - they're now home and back to their routine. Vincent starts school after Labor Day. Seems so strange when Nicole, Bob's daughter in law and their kids, started school two weeks ago. Brenda's in California started also. I think I wrote about that a while back - interesting how different the school schedules are.
********
Paul's waiting for special-order blinds to come for the down-stairs cottage that he worked on. We've decided to keep the futon upstairs in the office and buy a new one for downstairs. That downstairs area is going to be beautiful when he's done. He's having such a good time putting it together. Gracie and I like going down there and seeing what's been accomplished.
Gracie has Ping-Pong balls all over and she enjoys going after them and watching them bounce, roll. She's not that good about dropping them in front of us so we can throw them for her, but she's learning. I had looked for some small balls for her, but everything is bigger than them. And she has trouble getting her mouth around them, so she loses interest.
Oh, yes. Lue brought Greta, her Bernase Mountain Dog, here for the kids to see. Lue leaves the seats down in the back and puts a rug down for Greta, so she travels in style. As Dan said - kids, you're going to see a dog that's twice as big as Ivan (their Siberian husky). And she was.
We don't see Greta very often because she's over 100 lbs. vs. Gracie 5 lbs. 1 oz. And there's rightly a possibility of some squooshing there. Although Greta is much much calmer, as is Gracie. We let Gracie get close to Greta and Gracie licked Greta's mussel. Greta even let the kids hug her too. She has a double coat and is as soft as can be. She's a very well-behaved dog. Lue's done such a good job with her.
After Lue left us on Saturday, she had an accident - she was stopped in traffic in Watkins Glen, a truck didn't notice she'd stopped, and plowed into her. The compact car in front of her was fine. The truck was okay too, but her van got rumpled front and back and is in the shop for repairs. Lue's okay. Sore. They loaned her a little Versa. She's fit to be tied. She said it's like a tuna fish can with wheels. Not sure if they factored in having Greta join her. Guess not. Not sure how long the van will be out of service. God Bless her.
My cousin Carol in Venice, is getting used to dialysis - three times a week - Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Recently, I talked to her on the phone and she sounds so upbeat. I love her to pieces and it was so nice to hear her voice.
Sunday, tomorrow, our church is having a brunch after it's 9:30 service. I am going to make some gluten free muffins this afternoon. I've discovered that there always seems to be someone at buffets that brings something GF, so I thought I would too. And (as the books say) I'll have something to eat. I forgot to put the butter out to get soft, so I may do it tonight. Such is life.
I had such a nice e-mail from Edna, Paul's sister. She reads my blog all the time and missed it. That was so nice of her to think of us. We appreciate responses and its always good to know people are reading it. Thank you, Edna, for your kindness. It means a lot.
I am feeling so much better since I went Gluten Free. I would recommend it to anyone. I am sleeping so well. I was trying to figure out why and tried to make a connection. I am taking a lot of medications now, but I checked them out and I don't think any of them cause that to happen, and even if they did, the only thing I recently added was GF. (July 23 I began a wheat-free diet) Before that, I had trouble sleeping. I considered old age as the culprit, as to why I had trouble sleeping, but perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps it may be partly due to GF. Or all. I am still hesitant to give it all its due. But I am very grateful. There's nothing like a good-night's sleep.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Old things, an old old Bible, old me.
Okay. Things have been either very hectic, or not very writeable. In other words: Rush rush rush, or STOP. Does that make sense? I found a posting that I had begun on July 22nd, (this has never happened before) and somehow didn't get back to it to complete it, so I'm going to now send it on. I'll put in parenthesis if I have anything to add.
This is what I wrote:
Paul is still busy downstairs working on the room. It'll be really great when it's done. I shall try to get some pictures up. Really. ( We now have rugs down there and the last part of everything is done. Paul has been finding pleasure in doing the little odds and assorted things, only he will see. No perhaps that isn't right. He added a light switch so he can turn off the lights from the room to the outer area. So we all can see. A pun intended. )
We're having a rainy Sunday afternoon. July 22nd. (It's actually a Thursday in August.)
Lately, I'm taking advantage of all the energy I have to clean out some boxes downstairs in the cellar. I'm trying to throw out, consolidate, and get some to the Salvation Army. I see Paul has a box on the dining room table to go for my car trunk. I got some new boxes from the grocery store and have filled three - two to go out, one to stay. . . cleaning out three boxes. And yes. There will be less there "stuff" when I'm through. (I did get one o the boxes to the S & A Boutique - and have been filling up another. So, I'm making a dent in it all.)
I did find a scrapbook full of letters I wrote home when I was in college. My mother had put them carefully back in their envelopes on each page. They weren't attached, so I could take the letters out in their envelopes, and throw away the old, old scrap book that was falling apart. I'll attach them with a ribbon and put them away. (I found a decorated lidded box and put a ribbon around them as I had planned. They're now sitting on my dresser, forgotten for the moment, but I will soon find a home for it on a shelf in our closet.)
I also found my family bible. From what I remember, it's in German. It's wrapped up in black plastic bag - probably I'm sure the utmost horrible way to keep it. As it doesn't "breathe". That'll be one of my next steps. To see if it can be saved. If I remember correctly, it wasn't in good shape to begin with. And it seemed like a tremendous undertaking at the time to properly look and see what can be done.
( I DID take the plastic off, and the Bible was wrapped in cording because it is in pretty bad shape. It wasn't at all like I had thought it was. It isn't as old as I thought it was, and hoped it was my great grandparents. I cut the string, and opened it up. The covers are completely separate from the book. Thus the reason for the attached string. It's in English and was given to my grandparents from their wedding. Around 1900. It's HUGE. It has a bookmark in the middle, set to the page for weddings, births. My uncle, father, brother, my birthdates are there, as are the wedding dates of relatives since. Paul found some new string which got quite dirty - a rusty dusty colored disintegration of cardboard, leather-like cover, appeared on the outside, on my white blouse, fingers, everything, but now it looks like its re-wrapped and good to go)
I did find a white china teapot, coffee pot service - trimmed in gold - that is rumored to be the 50th wedding anniversary for the Smith Family circa 1860-70. I'm keeping that.
We talked with Brother Bob on the phone last night. He's doing fine in Florida - waiting for his home to sell. He's had a lot of people through. Talked to Alice, and I guess he drops over there when he has people at his house. Ah - It's a chance for them to get together. (It's sold! He sold it last week! So now he is busy packing, getting ready to move to Alpharetta. I'm so excited for him. Now he can get on with his life. The house was sold to a person who fixes up houses and resells them. )
Alice has her grandson, Philip, staying with her for a couple of months this summer. Philip's parents, Craig and Sue, are missionaries in Peru. He's going to college here in the states, to be a youth pastor, and he's doing his "internship" at his grandmother's church. Alice and Bob both said what a nice young man he is, and Alice said he's a joy to have around. I'm sure she'll miss him when he leaves. She said Philip did a lesson on the Parables with her Bible Study group.
BTW I understand Bible study has been suspended for the month of August. And Alice has places to go and things to do. Not enough people. And of course she deserves some time off. We usually had over 20 in the winter months. Now there were 4 at the last one.
(Alice is now home after taking Philip back to college up north,and visiting relatives on Long Island, and get away from the heat! She was gone for about a week, I think. I talked with her on the phone and she's glad to be back home and back to her usual routine (minus Bible Study. . . because it's still August.)
This is what I wrote:
Paul is still busy downstairs working on the room. It'll be really great when it's done. I shall try to get some pictures up. Really. ( We now have rugs down there and the last part of everything is done. Paul has been finding pleasure in doing the little odds and assorted things, only he will see. No perhaps that isn't right. He added a light switch so he can turn off the lights from the room to the outer area. So we all can see. A pun intended. )
We're having a rainy Sunday afternoon. July 22nd. (It's actually a Thursday in August.)
Lately, I'm taking advantage of all the energy I have to clean out some boxes downstairs in the cellar. I'm trying to throw out, consolidate, and get some to the Salvation Army. I see Paul has a box on the dining room table to go for my car trunk. I got some new boxes from the grocery store and have filled three - two to go out, one to stay. . . cleaning out three boxes. And yes. There will be less there "stuff" when I'm through. (I did get one o the boxes to the S & A Boutique - and have been filling up another. So, I'm making a dent in it all.)
I did find a scrapbook full of letters I wrote home when I was in college. My mother had put them carefully back in their envelopes on each page. They weren't attached, so I could take the letters out in their envelopes, and throw away the old, old scrap book that was falling apart. I'll attach them with a ribbon and put them away. (I found a decorated lidded box and put a ribbon around them as I had planned. They're now sitting on my dresser, forgotten for the moment, but I will soon find a home for it on a shelf in our closet.)
I also found my family bible. From what I remember, it's in German. It's wrapped up in black plastic bag - probably I'm sure the utmost horrible way to keep it. As it doesn't "breathe". That'll be one of my next steps. To see if it can be saved. If I remember correctly, it wasn't in good shape to begin with. And it seemed like a tremendous undertaking at the time to properly look and see what can be done.
( I DID take the plastic off, and the Bible was wrapped in cording because it is in pretty bad shape. It wasn't at all like I had thought it was. It isn't as old as I thought it was, and hoped it was my great grandparents. I cut the string, and opened it up. The covers are completely separate from the book. Thus the reason for the attached string. It's in English and was given to my grandparents from their wedding. Around 1900. It's HUGE. It has a bookmark in the middle, set to the page for weddings, births. My uncle, father, brother, my birthdates are there, as are the wedding dates of relatives since. Paul found some new string which got quite dirty - a rusty dusty colored disintegration of cardboard, leather-like cover, appeared on the outside, on my white blouse, fingers, everything, but now it looks like its re-wrapped and good to go)
I did find a white china teapot, coffee pot service - trimmed in gold - that is rumored to be the 50th wedding anniversary for the Smith Family circa 1860-70. I'm keeping that.
We talked with Brother Bob on the phone last night. He's doing fine in Florida - waiting for his home to sell. He's had a lot of people through. Talked to Alice, and I guess he drops over there when he has people at his house. Ah - It's a chance for them to get together. (It's sold! He sold it last week! So now he is busy packing, getting ready to move to Alpharetta. I'm so excited for him. Now he can get on with his life. The house was sold to a person who fixes up houses and resells them. )
Alice has her grandson, Philip, staying with her for a couple of months this summer. Philip's parents, Craig and Sue, are missionaries in Peru. He's going to college here in the states, to be a youth pastor, and he's doing his "internship" at his grandmother's church. Alice and Bob both said what a nice young man he is, and Alice said he's a joy to have around. I'm sure she'll miss him when he leaves. She said Philip did a lesson on the Parables with her Bible Study group.
BTW I understand Bible study has been suspended for the month of August. And Alice has places to go and things to do. Not enough people. And of course she deserves some time off. We usually had over 20 in the winter months. Now there were 4 at the last one.
(Alice is now home after taking Philip back to college up north,and visiting relatives on Long Island, and get away from the heat! She was gone for about a week, I think. I talked with her on the phone and she's glad to be back home and back to her usual routine (minus Bible Study. . . because it's still August.)
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