Life in Weyers Cave

The last day I get to sit with DJ in church. The last day she conducts the music. I'm gonna miss her. But she is all grown up and I can't keep her. We had Hebdons come over and play games this afternoon and it was fun. It was last minute since Allen's friend Jessica was going to come, but then she missed her flight and things got changed so much I got dizzy and then all of a sudden there were Hebdons invading. They could only stay a short time though. And now Jessica is coming tomorrow. And last night they said they found ghosts at the Red House, some said three and others said five. I don't have the full report yet. But it will be juicy.

I just went skimming through old posts and found several where I must have hit Save Now instead of Publish, because they were saved as drafts. It would be silly to go back and find or read them, but I wonder if anyone else makes this stupid mistake? I went ahead and posted them only because this is an online journal for me which I want to print and save. Oops, Faraday is bothering me big time. Did I mention that she is a LOT better? The $400 in doctors visits? The special expensive vet diets? The smelly canned cat food? The molly coddling? Nope. Vitamins. She's put on weight and very seldom throws up. But I STILL don't want David to feed her the cat treats.

NY author Ned Crabb (WSJ) found the following instructions, coffee-stained and dog-eared, lying in a box amid a jumble of broken tools and electronic and mechanical parts outside his apartment building, along with other discarded holiday trash. Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a new Sony model GTYR3000-VX-HDP2 Series 2000. Your unit comes completely assembled from the factory and is ready to use. Follow these simple quick-start instructions to set up your unit and begin unparalleled enjoyment of state of the art in electronic home entertainment. IMPORTANT: Begin by opening the sealed box and removing the 17-piece Styrofoam packing shell. Lift out the shrink-wrapped plume section marked “lithinode ostrillator” and refer to the blue-colored regulator intensity chart found on the side. If the chart has the fuchsia-colored code BRZ3435334 your unit requires an AC4- z3z4 power inverter, available from your local Sony dealer. If the intensity chart is cyan instead of blue, you wil...

Allen and I woke up at 7 this morning and went to feed baby calbes. It was a lot of fun. They had big appetites and were excited to see their bottles. Funny how it is that they are MILK cows but can't have their own mothers' milk! Some of them liked to grab the end of the nipple, pull it to the side, and let it fly, spattering milk everywhere. Others wouldn't take it or kept dropping the nipple, and the holes were so big that the milk just kind of drizzled on the floor. Some of them were covered in milk. I was asked to put buckets in the pens of the some of the slightly older calves. One bucket I put in with the handle still sticking up. There was milk in the bucket which the calf enjoyed, but when she lifted her head, her ears got stuck on the handle. She went nuts trying to get the bucket off her head and finally shook it off. But there was still a little milk left in it. She was SO SCARED of the bucket but wanted the milk, so she stared at it intently for quite a while...

Christmas has lost all of its charm without excited little ones in the house. No one got up before 10, there were just a couple of presents, no one was excited. The dishwasher I had run last night had quit working. My computer died on me. I was in awful pain all last night, so just didn't feel too good today. We had a family day, but Allen played on his computer and Dianna moped that Allen was playing on his computer and David was unhappy about his kidney stone and I was dead tired and grumpy and it just wasn't a good day. We had a nice steak dinner and then played some Catch Phrase after that and it was fun, when the phone wasn't ringing. A day off from normal stresses, but looking forward to a normal tomorrow.

We are in the mall. I call, 20 feet away "Allen". No answer. I try again. And again. Finally, I think about it, and call out "Fordham!" and get his immediate reaction. He used to POP out of bed in the morning if I shook a glass of ice water. (He learns fast...) Now he pops out of bed when the light goes on and I yell "Fordham!" Of course, he is grateful it isn't four in the morning when I do it. In fact, this morning it was 1130. He said he had a good night's sleep. He can't often say that in the Army. Friday night he and I took Gail out to her favorite restaurant, Rowe's. The first time out of the skilled nursing care facility in two months. Allen was such a gentleman, making himself scarce and waiting patiently for potty trips, and then being right there patiently waiting with the wheel chair. He had stuffed green peppers, sauerkraut, and collard greens. Not a menu I would have ever served him, but I am glad he enjoys all foods. I made ...

David is doing better, but is doped up pretty well. The car is in the shop. Allen is working at the recruiter's over Christmas so these days don't count as vacation. Tonight, he and I took Gail out to dinner. First time she has been in public in two months. She LOVED it. Afterwards, we drove her around looking at all the Christmas lights. Allen was so sweet and thoughtful and helpful, he really blew her away. He blew me away too. This is MY kid! She felt very special. I was so glad for her.

Wednesday I drove down to Raleigh on my way to pick up Allen two hours down the road the next day. I got there, dabbled on Jeff's computer a little, and we went out to a nice dinner. Then I got back, called home, called Mom, and went to bed about 9:30. I left my cellphone in the car. (Alltel has me so screwed up with minutes, I am trying not to use it.) I slept well, but thought I heard a phone ringing in the house at 6:15 am. I went down to the car, got my cell, and found 8 missed calls, all from Dianna. Oops. So I called Dianna, knowing she was supposed to be in seminary, and the first thing she said was "Mom! Dad's in the hospital!" Apparently, he had woken her up around midnight and had her take him to the emergency room with a kidney stone. But it wasn't big, just 3.5 mm, and you are supposed to be able to pass anything under 5. "Oh, and by the way, I hit a deer on the way there. I was driving along and saw a deer by the side of the road and thought ...

I had two jobs yesterday at local pharmacies in the photo processing departments. I have worked for this chain several times before. The first one had me changing out a multi-card reader in a computer. I got there and had to wait half an hour for the manager to get back from the bank. Then she said she thought the night shift lady had already changed it out and she didn't know if the one in there was the old one or the new one just shipped. I checked for dust, none in either. So I had to drive home, fill an SD card, CF card, thumb drive, and memory stick with pictures and return there to test and see if they worked. They did. The night lady HAD changed it out. So all I had to do was get the paperwork signed and take off the old one. It took almost two hours for nothing. (I did request that if the night lady did the work again, she be asked to leave a note on the old equipment saying what she had done. Is that too much to ask?) Yes, I still get paid. I'm not going to tell the pe...

 

I've been watching the presidential race in earnest, and being LDS, people think I am supposed to support Mitt Romney. He is a great guy, but I have finally found the candidate that not only agrees with me on everything, but has the fire in his belly to make it happen. The newcomer to the race, Alan Keyes . He is incredibly intelligent, has a strong sense of personal integrity, and really seems to "get it." His web site blew me away. Check him out.

Yesterday I went to Gail's in the morning and we played recorders. Gail fingered it all perfectly, but had trouble blowing into it since she has a bad cough. She fell asleep sitting up in her bed with the recorder in her hand. I put on some recorder background music and she was fingering the songs in her sleep. It was so cute to watch. Yesterday evening was the annual Fish and Oyster Fry at the Weyers Cave Ruritans. Fred Houff catches enough fish in Sarasota each year for the entire 68 member Ruritan club and they boy the oysters. All the men have their special jobs as far as breading and frying and oyster stew and one even makes the cocktail sauce from scratch. Many hands make light the work and everyone is busy and moving and it all just kind of gets done with nobody in charge, no power struggles, and nobody getting their feelings hurt or insisting it be done their way. I love watching the way these guys work together. I got to run the big dishwasher. Whoo Hoo! And I taught Mari...

The contract fell through on the Red House. We have some paranormal investigators who are supposed to check for spirits there on the 29th.

These are pictures of Mechelen, Belgium.      

Everyone is going a mile a minute at this time of year. I have had recorder concerts, trying to recover from the trip, organizing chocolates to send out to friends, along with paying bills, Christmas cards, and shopping. Gail has taken a sudden turn for the worse and I will be checking her into the hospital this morning. We are deep trouble. Her superbug (bowel) has kicked in, which happens when she has too many antibiotics -- they let the C Diff flourish. But she also looks like she is getting pneumonia. She is kind of semi-conscious, not eating, talking to her dead husband a lot, can't sit up because she is too weak, has a fever. I am afraid this time may be it. I don't know what is causing it. I called her sister last night -- it is always difficult to give her a bad report. We were both crying. Well, off to Gail's now. Pray for her. Thanks.

I took Dianna out to lunch today. She said "Woo-hoo, we got a discount!" I looked at the ticket. Ten percent off. Nice. Senior Disc. Not so nice. Today is Dianna's birthday. DIANNA. I am not the old one here. And I thought it was a good hair day...

First of all, Happy Big 18 Dianna! No more kids in the house. David will be happy, but I am not. Yesterday, we got up at 5 am in Antwerp to pack and clean, left the flat at 6:30 for the 7:00 bus, made it to the Brussels Airport at 8:30, got the 12:30 flight, got to the states at 3 pm (new time) without incident, and were supposed to catch the 5:30 puddle jumper home. It was canceled, our suitcases were getting wet from the snow and we were scared the candy would freeze, and they said we "might" be able to get the 9:30 if it wasn't canceled as well. David had class this morning, so we decided to rent a car and drive, but another nice lady decided the same thing so we car pooled. Except her company picked up the tab, thank goodness. Of course we left a few candy bars for her and her family, despite the fact that her son-in-law works at Hershey. We got home about 9. What a surprise! We walked in the house and there was our tree, up and decorated, and Christmas decorations ...

I am sitting in the airport, far too cheap to pay the twenty dollar fee or whatever it is to connect to the internet, so I am writing this and will post it later. On our last day in Belgium, we visited Annie one last time. She has cataracts in her eyes and will have surgery on the 5th of January, so I will be sure to call her and find out if she is okay. It seems you have the surgery once, everything is okay but gets worse again, and a year later you need to be zapped again. But after the second zapping you are good to go and don’t need it again. I hope this works for her. Then we went down to Bastins and picked up 150 chocolate bars. We gave them some maple syrup and they were delighted to get an American gift. We also stopped at the copy center and gave Lutge a jar of Ranch dressing, and she was quite thrilled as well. Then out to Carre Fourre to get more chocolates – still trying to find my Mom’s favorites, but we struck out again. So I guess mom is getting something different thi...

These are pictures of the inside of the new mall on the Meir in Antwerp. Very Ritzy, but standard stores. Their versions of Bath and Body Works, Dollar General, Penney's, etc. There is a Neuhaus chocolate shop, one of the better ones but not generally considered the best. And of course the bars and restaurants.        

Today David and I were invited to lunch at the local University Club. Wow. The building was commissioned as a monastery in the early 1400s but not dedicated until 1505. That is a whopping 13 years after Columbus discovered America and over 100 before Jamestown was settled. Just within the last couple of years, they kicked out the remaining Jesuit priests and the college took over the building. Probably a good thing, because the priests are elderly, the stairs steep, and despite leaving what has been home for many of them for over 50 years, they can be tended to better in their new homes. The meal today was the chosen menu of the day. Usually there is little selection. There is always a vegetarian alternative, but that is about it. First, we had a appetizer. I wish I had taken pictures of it all. The appetizer was a one inch square of a thin bread, with a small slice of cherry tomato and some goat cheese, backed and surrounded with a pesto sauce. Next was the pre-meal. This I had ...

Yesterday we went to church and saw many, many dear friends. I wish I could have spent more time with all of them. I stayed in the flemish-speaking classes even though there are some english-speaking ones, and didn't understand a lot, but it was good to be there anyway. We came home and I called several friends all afternoon while David napped. Then we went to the Schiltz's for dinner. The Schiltz's are some of my favorites. She is Irish and even though she is older than I, is probably the most enthusiastic person I know about everything. I want to be like her when I grow up. We brought a few little things like York cookies and syrup and popcorn salt (cheese flavored) and she thought it was "too much". I also brought some headphones and installed Skype on her computer so she can save a bundle calling her family in Ireland. We'll see if they actually try it. But we had a lot of fun, then came home and I slept through for the first time, so maybe my jet lag is ...

  On the way to dinner tonight, we passed this sign and it was just something I couldn't go by without taking a picture.   The one thing she had asked us to bring from America was ring pops. Here her two daughters and the boyfriend of one daughter enjoy the treats. They were exposed to them by Americans at girls' camp. I brought 12 but judging from how happy the redhead daughter Linsey was with them, we should have gotten more.   The dog Tipsey is 14 and likes to get under your feet and chew on shoes. Not a bad sort, and she does let you pet her.   And lastly are Bro and Sis Staepels and their younger daughter. The meal was outstanding because she is a chef of sorts, making everything look beautiful. We had pork loin which was deliciously tender, something you don't get in Begium since I find most meats are toughh and somewhat tasteless compared to America. She also had green beans wrapped in bacon and Potatoes au Gratin -- yes I broke down and ate potatoes and they ...

I guess I should change the name of the Blog, although this is only temporary. When I checked into the hospital last August they asked me what kind of room I wanted and I had to sign a form indicating I wanted a quad (75 euro a night), semi private (150 euro a night) or single (300 euro a night). Anyone who knows me knows I asked for the quad. When they charged me 323 for the room, I was, of course, upset. But it turned out that the 75 was just what was supposed to be the downpayment for the room. Actually, the room itself costs about 27 euro a night more for a private than a quad. So the single is 350 and the quad is 323. But more importantly, that related to every price I had to pay in the entire hospital, from the drugs to the doctors to the CAT scan. Since I had put down the poor person's rate, they charged me literally half for the services than had I requested a single room. Since insurance isn't covering squat, I am really, really glad I opted for the quad!

    This is my favorite restaurant which I have written about before. It has a wonderful 1400s theme and is in a cellar from that time period. No silverware except the large wooden spoons and huge knives. We had a super time.

Last chance. If you want me to reserve some of the space in my now-empty return suitcase for your taste buds, you need to contact me as soon as you can. Regular candy bars are a dollar, large ones are four. Really nice ones from the homemade mom and pop shop are two. Unless told otherwise, I am bringing home mostly dark truffles and marzeipans because these seem to be the favorites. Okay, a few milk. It's best to email me directly on this as opposed to leaving a note on the blog. Hey, that's a perk for being a faithful reader!

I brought my laptop to Belgium but didn't have the address book on it from my other computer. I loaded the file on a thumb drive but got here and realized I had an older version of Outlook on this computer. It took some major geeking to get it moved over. How do normal people do it? It is nice being able to solve problems. That is something that really gives me a high. Last night at the restaurant, we had Bricks for the appetizer. Fancy Tunisian restaurant with lamb flown in from New Zealand as the main course. The Brick was an eggbased dish like a quiche with a crust and LOTS of vegetables and a red tomato based sauce. Very good. Always fun to have something new. We also had Tunisian crepes, filled with tuna and cheese. Very crispy and nummy. I stopped at "my" chocolate shop and my friend Annie's shop and my little grocery store Prima today. Prima is a lot like the little Super Save Grocery store in Weyers Cave -- in fact it is about half the size and very crowded wi...

We arrived in Belgium this morning at about seven with very little incident. We had seats with plenty of legroom for David, but he had an aisle seat and I had a wall seat. They had taken out the window. But we got a great view of the restrooms. Jim Kelley picked us up -- always a joy to see him. Then we came back to "our" flat and unpacked, quick nap, and off to the hospital to pay be bills from last time. In typical Belgian fashion, they couldn't tell me if more bills were forthcoming, couldn't give me a diagnosis, couldn't write "paid in full" on the bill, and in general seemed not to feel they had to cooperate very much. But one guy was helpful and showed me how to find out the American equivalents of the charges so that I can now submit it to insurance. We then came back to the flat, through the cold, misty, weather, and took another short nap. David has been working hard t get his stuff packed to take back home. We have six suitcases so I don't...

I have four dinners with friends lined up and more to come in Belgium. I have a suitcase full of Milano cookies and various cake mixes and seasoned popcorn salt. I am trying to gather all the loose ends. I will be bringing three footballs as presents for boys. Poor Santa. I washed his suit last year (cold water, quick wash) and all the trim turned pink. I took off the trim and bleached it, hot water, extra long soaks, triple detergent, and finally got the RIT dye remover, all to no avail. Martha says I should just put the trim back on and say he/she is politically correct. Martha, I love you, but I am decidedly NOT politically correct. And don't think Santa is either. She said I should sell it on Ebay. Anyway, I will have to look for more white trim which will be tough to find here (fabric stores are not Harrisonburg's specialty) and Santa is just going to have to rent a suit in the meantime since I won't have time to get him fixed up. I bought Gail three pairs of pajamas a...

This is the house that we bought for Allen and Chantell in Waynesboro and they were supposed to fix it up. But they really never got around to doing anything, so my brother Jeff came and saved the day be fixing it up. He did a wonderful job and now we are selling it. We have a contract on it to close February 15th, but will see if it falls through, since three other contracts have.        

Hey, mom says she wants pictures on the blog! So here is my niece, Robynetta.

I wish I could just remember things that I want to do. I needed a key copy for Allen's truck. So I took the key and got in the car. but had to go back in to get my keys so I could drive my car. Then I forgot what I went back in for. Tried again, then remembered I needed keys, and made it to the car with my keys and Allen's key. Went into the co-op. Had left Allen's key in the car, so went back to get it. Had the keys made without incident, paid for them, came home. Where are the key copies? Empty out purse, search car, no keys. Go back to co-op and ask. They remember me putting them in the purse. Come home, hand purse to Dianna and tell her to find keys. They are in outside pocket. I quickly label keys and put them away before I lose them. Can't find my ozone generator. Loaned it to someone, and, at three hundred dollars, can't afford another one. But I've asked everyone I can think of having loaned it to. Can never remember to bring my cell phone, or to turn t...

Friday we went to an Airborne Museum. On the way in, there was some excitement behind the museum because a guy had just stepped in front a train. I guess he lost his leg. Drunk. Anyway, the museum was great, but I was having terrible trouble keeping awake. I was stumbling and couldn't walk. (No, I wasn't drunk as well.) So I snuck back into the car and took a nap in the back seat. We did go shopping, something I swore I would never do on Black Friday, but we didn't get to the stores until 5. Allen bought some clothes. Since he has lost a total of nearly fifty pounds, and has only worn Army stuff since August, he doesn't own anything that fits him. He got a new suit for church and a baseball cap for his bald head. We went to dinner at Red Robin and Allen was kidding with the waitress Amber big-time and she was dishing it right back. They had a lot of fun. Saturday morning they changed the rules and Allen's roommate Tanner was allowed to go out with us. He came to th...

We drove down to Fort Bragg yesterday and took Allen out to dinner last night. Then this morning we took him out to "The Club" (thanks, Mom), his favorite and a family tradition. Unfortunately, mom is up in Northern Virginia with my brother Gary and his family, and although it was great, without the Allaways and Blisses and Grandma it just wasn't the same. We mostly talked about holidays gone by. Allen brought me the book "The Once and Future King" which is the book about Camelot, including The Sword in the Stone. He was right -- I am really enjoying it. I have always liked to read books my kids like. With a few exceptions... He also brought me some Ritter German dark chocolate from the Commissary. It has a dark mousse filling and is his favorite. I think it is super, but still am looking forward to Belgium next week. We are staying in a very nice Marriott Residence Inn. I am spoiled. But it does make me appreciate that even though it is nice here, I really do ...

No more attacks of the killer kidney stone. I don't know if it has passed or is lying in wait to terrorize me at the most inopportune moment. But I am prepared! Have Percocet, will travel. (But only as a passenger if I have actually taken the percocet.) I am taking the med that is supposed to dissolve it, so who knows? I didn't sleep well last night at all. Something that sounded like a single ring of a phone on vibrate kept going off every two minutes over by David's bed. I finally had to give up and move into Dianna's room, but her bed isn't as comfy as mine (and it's kinda lonely). Then of course the cat had to wake me up. And David's alarm went off at 6. So the night was shot. The computers I've been working on are all falling into place. I had a tough time finding how to get to the hard drive on the laptop, couldn't even find it on the HP Tech site. But eventually I got the right screws and twist and it just dropped into my hand. Replacing i...

Another kidney stone! :P Good vibes and sympathy sent my way are greatly appreciated. Now where's the percocet?

When the boys were little we had this fun little toy car. When you turned it on and put it on the floor and it zipped on ahead at full speed until it bumped into a wall, then it backed up, paused for a second, turned a little, a took off in a different direction at full speed again. Again it would bump, back up, pause, and turn. Eventually it would find a door and then it would be FREE! That's how I feel when I am working on these computers. Can't find a password, missing a file, won't recognize the mouse, needs a disk, etc. I pause and regroup. Sometimes I solve the problem and then I find another one. Until all of a sudden, without realizing it, I've taken a right turn and everything works! Anyway, one day the car bumped once too often and died. The End

Today I had a letter to the editor published. A local mover and shaker called me to get permission to use parts of it for his radio blogs. And I had an appointment at 10:00 in Broadway, but couldn't leave because Dianna was washing her hair and the water is so soft it takes ten minutes to get the conditioner out of her hair. Bleah. I went to Broadway and returned the computer that took two days to fix. Vista. Sigh. I brought it home because she wanted Printshop on it, but it isn't compatible with Vista without an internet upgrade, and she can't go on the internet. Vista of course loaded all its little Vista upgrades and one of them turned off the USB ports. No keyboard or mouse. No other way to plug them in. Research showed a lot of times this has happened, but none of them show how it was fixed. I poked and pried and tried all kinds of things. Keyboard is fine to go into BIOS, but once Windows kicks in, the lights go off on the mouse and keyboard and boom, dead in the w...

It was a blistering 72 degrees in the house today. I had to turn off the heat and open the doors. I went out in sandals and short sleeves and sandals and was finally comfortable. There were only a few little snowflakes, it wasn't REALLY snowing. Ah, the joys of being over 50!

Don't steal your perfectly wonderful daughter's keyboard to fix someone else's computer, and then not return it when you said you would because you're "too busy"... Because your amazingly bright and talented daughter will have to use your computer while you are away and then has the ability to sabotage it! Heeheehee...

Yesterday Dianna and I went off bright and early with the to do list. There was a long wait at Alltell, the bank was closed, the post office was closed, the key making machine didn't work at WalMart, there was still a long wait at AllTell, and basically everything I tried to do seemed to be slamming into a brick wall. So today, I got up early and went to Gail's. I had two letters for her to sign. One was for me to change her old cellphone to a newer one since her old one has a four minute battery life. The other was for me to have some local say in her medicines and talking to doctors. It took Gail 20 minutes to sign the Alltell one and she never signed the other. She says she isn't sure, which is what makes it so tough for me to work with the doctors. Alltell wasn't open. Dianna and I went to the hospital to get the stuff the bulldog left there. We found some of it, the rest had been thrown out. Alltell said they couldn't switch Gail's phone to the new one ...

When Dianna says she can't get out of the car if it is locked, don't believe her.

Well, we don't say "nursing home", it is a "skilled nursing care facility." (A home by any other name would smell as rank.) Anyway, it isn't as bad as it could be, she has a caregiver with her, and she is really doing a thousand percent better now that she is off the medicine. I doubt I can get the doctor to admit she is "allergic" to it, but I will make sure she doesn't get on it again. I stayed with her for five hours today, then came home and called a lot of her friends to tell them where she is. Hopefully she will have visitors. She is not too tired and making great strides, but still having a tough time walking. Allen gets day passes only at Thanksgiving, so we will try to see him at Fort Bragg. Someone took his socks since they all go in a big hamper and, heck, how can you distinguish your socks from someone else's. Maybe I will embroider some roses on the new ones I am mailing him. What do you think? I remember the church onc...

Don't accidentally hit the LOCK button on the keyring when Dianna is waiting for you in the car and you are stuck in the store for a while because she might want to get out to go to the bathroom and once the car is locked, it won't let her out. And then she is grumpy.

Yesterday, when I went to visit Gail in the morning, I waited for the doctor to come. I confronted him about the hydralazine that Gail had been put on two weeks before she got to the hospital, and said she needed to come off it -- now! He disagreed, said all the medical personnel, pharmacists, and online studies I had done were wrong and there was a "one in sixteen million chance" that it was causing any of Gail's problems. BUT he would take her off since I was so insistent. (This is after unanswered phone calls, letters, and notes in the chart.) So he took her off. By evening, the staff noticed a difference. Today when I went in, she was totally back to her old self again mentally. Laughing and joking, asking questions. She ate all of her breakfast, was up and alert for six hours when I left her, and is working hard to get the strength back in her legs after not standing for nearly three weeks. The improvement in one day is nothing short of a miracle! Gail's...

PFC Fordham, Allen S Class 01-08 A Company 3rd BN 1st SWTG(A) Bldg D-2723 Merrill St. Ft Bragg NC 28310

  Yup, this makes me giggle.

Yes, Dianna and I arrived home again tonight after a relatively easy nine hour drive from Atlanta. Faraday was happy to see us and hadn't vomited once while we were gone. But she is in my room BEGGING for treats and I know that usually precipitates her vomiting. Hard to say no. Well, not really. It was so fun to see Tammy and her family. I was particularly happy to get to know Forrest better, hear him on the double bass, and work with him on the computer. The home is gorgeous, of course, particularly the kitchen and master bath. Dianna enjoyed playing the Wii -- I'm glad she won't be around long enough to beg for one. Our time was all too short, and we had to leave at 1:00 to drive home. Fortunately, Daylight Savings Time ends tonight so we get an extra hour of sleep. It's always good to sleep in my own bed!

Allen graduated from Boot Camp today and will be leaving on Saturday to go to Fort Bragg to be in the 82nd Infantry Psychological Operations. It was a neat ceremony on a huge outdoor field. First there were some colorful smoke bombs set off. Then two tanks went across the field very fast, missing each other by inches. Soldiers came pouring out of the tanks in the middle of the smoke and made for some interesting pictures with the smoke. A small army band played, the soldiers (about 450) marched out and they had presentations and some maneuvers and then they were graduated! We took Allen and Private Franca out for the rest of the day. Out to lunch at the PX (where we didn't buy much of anything) and then to the Infantry Museum, then dinner at Johnny Carino's and then back to the hotel room to play Who Wants to be a Fifth Grader or something like that. We didn't really play -- just asked questions like Who wrote Little Women? and How fast is the speed of light? We got...

Dianna and I drove down to Columbus, Georgia on Tuesday. We left at 9 in the morning and got in at 9:30 at night, the only problem being a traffic jam in Atlanta. We were grateful to have two in the car so we could take the HOV lane and even MORE grateful that we live in a town that doesn't have traffic jams! We spent the night with my cousin Wendy, whom I have never gotten to know well. It was great. She has a beautiful home but was very laid back. The next morning we got up and went to Fort Benning. We got to the base at 8:30 and the Family Day program was at 10, but it took half an hour to get a base pass and try to follow the poor map and directions. Finally, I got gas and asked at the gas station and found a soldier who was going in that direction that I could follow. There were lots of people hawking pictures of the soldiers, but the lines were very long, so we went to the presentation field to wait. Even though we were an hour early, we got one of the last seats on the...

Dianna and I are going to Georgia to see Allen graduate from boot camp tomorrow. David will drive down a day later. It is 620 miles. Dianna and I will stop in Atlanta to see Tammy and her family for a night on the way home, and David will drive on to Jacksonville to see his parents. I've never been to Tammy's house, I am looking forward to seeing my cousin, and Dianna wants to hit all the stores on the way home to see how much more she can soak me for before she turns 18 in 38 days. (Every day I hear the count.) Bryan is saying he is coming, too. How exciting! I only wish Cathryn could make it. Then we would be complete! (Stupid Alaska, grr.) Smart me has decided Faraday will go to a boarding house while we are gone. Then maybe she will appreciate us and we won't return to a mess. I went to see Gail at the hospital yesterday and just after I arrived the phone rang. It was a family wanting to look at the Red House. I ran over and showed it to them and it seemed a gre...

Yes, I heard a voice from the past! Lani called! The craziest friend I ever had. (Also, the best cook, but you can BUY good food, you can't buy good friends!) I know I have laughed harder with her than anyone else in my life. Then she just LEFT me a few years ago and there has been a deep, dark hole left by her absence. Diane is great friends with her as well, so we will get together soon and laugh until our sides split. (Or Diane wets herself...) Ooohhh, I think I am going to get it for that one! Anyway, I only told her a few teasers about my life and the lives of the kids. So I am really looking forward to getting together with her. Gail was better Friday night when I went to visit her in my bear costume after the Halloween party. She seemed to really like it. But she was down again yesterday. I got a phone call at 8 am yesterday from a local church group saying they had 25 people, mostly kids, together to paint the Ruritan Concessions hut NOW. I couldn't work with ...

Gail continues to be very, very sick and I sit with her every morning and every evening for a couple of hours. She turns on the television and is GLUED to it and doesn't even notice I am in the room or carry on a conversation. Strange. The nurse says it is kind of a form of ADD type of behavior. She has gone into congestive heart failure and they are giving her pills to get fluid off her lungs. Not good side effects. I went to the diabetes doctor and my A1C level is 5.8, well within the 4.0-6.3 which is considered normal, but I think I can do a little better. The only problem is my sugars rise at night. No more bedtime snacks and I am supposed to walk in the evenings. Lani called! Yes, the craziest nutcase I know! I have missed her SO MUCH. She has promised me and Diane a lunch when I get back from bootcamp graduation next week. Tomorrow is the church Halloween Party. I have candy bars I got for a quarter each and hope I can find the time to make creative covers for them ...

Gail is 90. She is my "adopted" mom and has no husband or children. Her doctor is Dr. D. Her sister, age 85, in Massachusetts, is her decision-maker if she is out of commission. Gail's mind is totally there, but she is so weak that nobody will take the time to listen to her talk or ask questions. They only talk to the caregivers, who all have different ideas. I am supposed to coordinate her medical problems, and be her advocate, but I don't have that power legally. Two weeks ago, the doctor gave her a new drug, hydralazine for her blood pressure. Two pills a day didn't work well, so after three days he told her to take four instead. She went to three and they worked fine. She told me to write her drug list to reflect three because they scared her and she didn't want to take four. But the caregivers read the bottle and thought I was wrong and didn't ask her, so they gave her four anyway. She didn't pay attention. When we checked in the hospital, we...

I saw Gail this morning and she is still very, very sick. So weak, but her mind is still at 100% but no one seems to notice. They talk about her like she isn't there. Mom is out of the hospital, so is my mother-in-law. I worked on setting up a new computer system and installing a new thermal printer head at a pharmacy today for developing pictures. That was so much fun. I should have brought my digital camera for free prints. Happy Birthday Karen!

Life is hopping here. I have two contracts, both verbal, on the house. Both lower than I would like because the realtor talked me into lowering the price too much. But I need to just get on with it. And the realtor showed it again yesterday even though the contract had expired. (I gave her permission.) Plus another realtor wants to show it I think but it is TOO CONFUSING! And Gail was so sick yesterday in the hospital I was worried sick she wouldn't live through the night. With so many trying to keep up with what she is taking, I made a master list that I update when there is a change. But one caregiver insists that it is wrong and so now Gail is getting way too much blood pressure medication and she can't even raise her head. I took a Dell Soft Skills certification but it was supposed to be a Dell Softskills certification so I have to do another one now. I hate the Dell certifications, because they have "trick" questions and I haven't figured it out yet. The...

Six nights ago I was unable to sleep until about three in the morning. Just too many things waking me up after I went to sleep got my adrenaline flowing. The next night I couldn't sleep either. This continued until Saturday night, when I spent the night until midnight at the hospital admitting Gail and got to sleep at 1. Last night, I was determined, but ended up spending the night in the basement bed and, even though I did sleep all night, now have a backache all up and down my back. Bah!