We are warm again. It was in the 80s today and actually quite wonderful. Chelsea woke me up at 5:30AM. I got up and took her out because Dick was sleeping and I really did not want to wake him. He seems to be sleeping an awful lot. He is tired and kind of weak. Probably it is a normal reaction to the infection and the problems he is facing.

Then I lazed around and just puttered until 10. Jim and Michelle came over then to clean. So I left. I went to Walmart to pick up some upholstery cleaner (my desk chair is FILTHY) and then to the Sewing Basket. I now THINK I have the fabric I need to make the wall hanging that I have envisioned in my head. It is time to get it out of there. I had a lot of fun shopping. I have decided to rejoin the Quilt Guild. Even if I only go once or twice a year, it will give me the option of good classes if I am interested. That is where I got my neat doll pattern.

I came home at about noon and fixed Dick some lunch, Then Jim, Michelle and I went out to lunch to NJoy the coffee house I told you about. We had a nice lunch of wraps and paninis and Mocha coffees, then proceeded on to Best Buy and Office Max to check out multifunction machines. We brought the information home and Dick and I picked the one we like. Now Michelle will see what kind of a price she can get. If she can't better it we will go back to Office Max next week.

We go home about 2PM. Dick was napping again but woke up pretty quickly so I changed the dressing on his foot and then got to rest for about 25 minutes before I went on to Mass at 4PM. When I got home I finished the spaghetti dinner. Jim and Michelle joined us for that too. Seemed like a good idea to me so I asked them. After we ate we played hearts for a bit. Would you believe I won? Well I did. I only had 29 points. The cards were JUST right.

Now it is exactly 9PM and I am very tired. We had ice cream cones for dessert. It reminded me of when I was a little girl. We only got ice cream when Mom and Dad did their grocery shopping because we did not have a freezer big enough to keep it on hand like we do now. So when they bought it, it had to be eaten that night. There were lots of kids, as you know. I remember that they ALWAYS got Neopolitan Ice cream so we could all have a choice and choices we did. I remember how patiently Dad would sit with that gallon square of ice cream, cutting each child the kind of ice cream he or she wanted and being very careful to see that we all got an equal amount. And you thought Job was patient.

Love

Mary

A quiet Fourth of July. I woke up a little early. It was 50 degrees outside which is really nice walking weather. Chelsea and I had a good one. We stuck to the sidewalk areas today because I am sick of fighting mosquitoes.

Dick was very tired today and slept most of the morning and part of the afternoon. He is in bed now and it is only 8PM. I hope this doesn't cause him to be awake all night.

I fried out this evening. I made enough for a couple of meals and some to take to Mother. I think I will go over to her house tomorrow morning when Jim and Michelle come. I will visit with her and then go fabric shopping for my new quilt idea. I have it fixed in my head. Now if I can find the fabric to go with my picture. Then Jim, Michelle and I are going to Office Max to look st multifunction FAX/Printer/scanner/copier machines. I will be taking them out for lunch for their advice. That will be pleasant. Dick suggested NJoy, out near Hwy 23.

I made spaghetti sauce this morning too. It will be nicely seasoned for tomorrow's dinner.

I spent an hour over with Bootsy this evening. He broke his toy again. Well, Jim will have to fix it again. He seems to accept me but will not cuddle. I do miss my kitties. Oscar cuddles and Roxie likes to sit on my lap. We now have nice desk lamps so they can sleep where they always did on the desks and be warm and cozy.

I did a bit more rearranging of furniture in the old office. It will now be quite pleasant for just sitting and sewing or being quiet and away from things. I would like to pick up a bookcase for the overflow. Dick and I ARE going to go through our books and taped and DVDs and get rid of those not needed but we still need more storage space.

Have a good day tomorrow.

Love

Mary

Some of you may not have seen this. Since George passed so recently I thought I would share.

George Carlin's Solution to Save Gasoline

---

Bush wants us to cut the amount of gas we use.....
The best way to stop using so much gas is to deport 11 million illegal imigrants!
That would be 11 million less people using our gas. The price of gas would come down.....

Bring our troops home from Iraq to guard the Border.... When they catch an illegal immigrant crossing the border, hand him a canteen, rifle and some ammo and ship him to Iraq ... Tell him if he wants to come to America then he must serve a tour in the military.... Give him a soldier's pay while he's there and tax him on it..... After his tour, he will be allowed to become a citizen since he defended this country..... He will also be registered to be taxed and be a legal patriot..... . This option will probably deter illegal immigration and provide a solution for the troops in Iraq and the aliens trying to make a better life for themselves....

If they refuse to serve, ship them to Iraq anyway, without the canteen, rifle or ammo..... Problem solved.....

Today was beautiful. It was kind of cool. Only in the high 60s and I find that quite comfortable if there is no rain or wind. Chelsea and I took a shorter walk this morning because they had sprayed the grass with pesticides and it is recommended that you keep pets off of the grass then for 24 hours. I don't think that she really noticed.

We had to be at the Sheboygan Clinic at 8:30 to see Dr. Moreno so Dick and I just kept moving with our morning routines and left at 8AM. It was a good visit. Dr. Moreno says the wounds look better. We were concerned because there is some weeping on the legs because of the swelling. BUT the wrapping is bringing the swelling down. So his legs are rewraped. I need to change the dressing on the worst of the callouses once a day and we go back on Monday.

We got home in plenty of time for me to get to the Plymouth Clinic for my PT. Becky says that there is much more range of motion. My neck feels much better and we are working on the sore arm. So progress is being made by both of us.

The rest of the afternoon was home. I finished cleaning the old office carpet. It looks better. I know it is clean because the vacuum tells me so but there are still stains that will NOT come out. I think eventually we will have to replace it. Right now there are more pressing things.

When I lived out in California and my boys were young, we belonged to a Jeep Club. The club was the Four Wheelers of Orange County and we prided ourselves on having families as members. So our family was a member of the club. One of the other families was Ernie Heinze and his remarkable, lovely wife, Twila. Ernie had been injured very seriously in a rollover jeeping accident many years earlier. Ernie was a mechanic and had his own auto repair business. When he was injured, they were still raising a family so Twila came into the business and learned how to be a mechanic too. She could hold her own with all the guys.

Their son Ron and his family also belonged to the club. Her grandchildren, boys and girls, all had dark hair and my Bret was a blond. One time we were talking about little boys and she remarked that she had noticed that little blond headed kids smelled like puppies. I think she is right. I loved my puppies.

We exchanged Christmas cards for a bit after I moved away and she thought it was VERY funny that I married another man named Dick.

Twila and Ernie are both gone now. Such a special couple.

Mary

Today was a comparatively quiet day. The only out of house adventure was to the grocery store. Actually, I went to Mc Donalds first to get us breakfast. We do miss going out for breakfast together. That was our date.


Shopping went well. Then I spent a good chunk of the day cleaning the carpet in the old office. It cleaned somewhat but lots of the stains are still there. I will vacuum tomorrow and then try another stain remover that I have on hand.

Tomorrow Dick goes to see Dr. Moreno again. The swelling in the legs is down a little but not enough and here was some seepage on the ace bandage this morning. The wounds themselves look better I think.


It rained in torrents twice today. BUT it is supposed to stay clear and the temperatures should be nice through the weekend. Nice for the Fourth of July weekend.

We will have a quiet one. I plan on frying out on Friday and making spaghetti sauce for Saturday. If anyone wants to join us, just let me know. Dick always wonders what I would do of any of you DID take me up on these invitations. I always tell him, I would feed you.

In my previous life, I never knew who I would be feeding. My ex used to work on cars in the back garage and often the owners of the cars would be there when we ate so they did too. My kids always knew that we would feed anyone who was there if they had permission from their parents too. I grew up that way and it is perfectly normal. I know how to stretch a meal or how to make second or third meals out of the leftovers.

Have a nice sleep.

I Sure need one.

Love

Mary

Today was a truly quiet day. Chelsea did not stir until 6AM. Which was really nice. We had a pleasant walk. We got back around before the workers were milling around on Highland Avenue. I had to be at PT by 8:15AM, so I took my shower and ate some toast for breakfast and took out the trash. Then went on to PT.

I seem to be doing better generally but by the time my appointment rolls around I am having trouble sleeping again. The day the therapy is done is kind of painful too. But as I said, things are generally better.

I stopped at Walgreens for prescriptions and vitamins and then headed home.

I took a nap shortly after I got home. For some reason, I have been very drained today. I got a lot of computer work done and worked on my quilt design. I also watered the indoor plants and washed the sheets on our bed.

Can you believe that it is July already? When I still lived in Santa Ana Heights, a truckdriver friend of my ex husband was delivering fireworks and we ended up with a ton of them. There were really neat bottle rockets and sparklers that were over two long and about 3/4 inch in diameter. You lit one of those suckers and it sparkled forever. We had most of the neighbors over and it went on for a couple of hours. The only trouble was that Bart was afraid of explosions and fire. So, he and I sat in the living room looking out the front window with me assuring him that all was safe and that it would be ending soon.

We should actually have a quiet Fourth of July. Last Saturday, first we heard the cars at the race track, then I started hearing explosions. I figured that either the fireworks were early or we were being invaded and the former seemed the most logical. Apparently Plymouth did their big deal then. However, other communities will be celebrating on fourth or later that weekend. Dick and I intend to have a quiet day, just us, at home. I will fry out for us. I am going to try spraying with Listerine again to see if it keeps the mosquitoes away.

Later

Love you all

Hope I have some energy tomorrow.

Mary

Mondays are really too busy. Why can't we spread some of the events into the rest of the week?

Started out with a nice walk, Chelsea and me. It was very pleasant. We did not see too many other people and Chelsea is getting so blind that she does not see those that ARE out there. The workers are coming VERY early to work on Highland. I told you about our detour. Today, they seem to have opened one lane from Valley to Tallgrass, but I think it intended for their workers and is very bumpy and icky. The trouble is that SOME people are taking it and it means that one REALLY HAS to pay attention to the stop sings or you might get blindsided.

After the walk, I hooked Dick up to the sequential thingy. I can't see that it is helping too much right now. Without the stockings, his legs are swelling up again. We are in a real pickle. The stockings are causing the callouses to grow and get deep and open and without the stockings we get the swelling.

Then I went to bible study. Right after bible study I went over to Mom's. George and Betsy were there. Betsy's nephew was married in a Greek Orthodox ceremony on Saturday. I was able to spend about an hour and a half with them and Mother and Jeff and Kathy arrived while I was there too. I gave George and Betsy a poem that I wrote for Courtney. They had pictures of the home that Shawn bought in North Carolina. It is really nice. A three bedroom really close to campus where he will be teaching.

Then home, just in time to snack and load Dick into the car for two appointments at the Sheboygan Clinic. His blood count is still a bit low. Surprising, since the antibiotics usually cause the reverse and he is ON antibiotics.

Dr. Moreno is not unhappy with the way his callouses are healing but is concerned about the swelling in his legs, so they are wrapped again. I will have to rewrap them as the legs shrink so that there is no constricting or sagging. We will see Dr. Moreno again on Thursday.

Then we got home at about 3PM and Rachel, the RN from VNA came shortly afterwards. She checked him over and supplemented our supplies and ordered a cushion for the wheelchair. We are concerned that he needs something in there to help avoid sores. Don't need wounds in THAT area.

Finally, we were done.

Then I got a chance to pick up my messages and found a message from Dr. Ganhju. He is checking the CTScan that I had done last Wednesday. I called him back and was told that his nurses would return my call but nothing ever came of that. I am sure disappointed. I don't believe that there is any chance that there is an answer for the pain in my side but it would be nice to know. I will try to reach him or his nurses tomorrow. All we have scheduled is my PT in the morning and that is rather early. I asked Dick to answer the phone if it is the Clinic while I am gone. I would surely like to know. It is not that it is so bad but it has been going on for months and one wonders why.

It was a beautiful day today. I know why I live in Wisconsin when these days show up. It was in the high 70s with a nice breeze. No humidity and everything is green and blooming. Heaven must be like this.

Had such a nice visit with George and Betsy. We, Mother, Jeff, George and I, were remembering when we were kids.. I told George that I remember Nora and I dressing him up in a towel ( for a royal robe) and a homemade crown. Then we crowned him the King of Deeleyville. He was the cutest little guy, I remember with his blond hair and blue eyes. Who needed dolls when we had little brothers.

Hope you had a good Monday. It is now time for me to go to bed. Sleep tight yourself.

Mary

Sundays seem very strange to me now that I am going to Mass on Saturday nights. I was so used to starting my Sunday and my week with Mass that it feels rather disomboberated.

Chelsea tried to get me up at about 4:15 AM but I put her out of the room with some lettuce until almost 6AM. We did have a nice walk. This was a comfortable day. Kind of cool actually but after the hot muggy days we have had it was a real relief to be cool.

I was busy all day. I did some sewing, and some cleaning and a lot of taking care of Dick. He slept off an on most of the morning but we have been compressing his legs and cleaning his wounds since then. We washed his hair this evening and did a sponge bath. It is rather difficult to clean ones self without getting one's feet wet.

Jim and Michelle came over this morning and helped me rack the two batches of wine that I have working right now. They said that they will be glad to help me do the one kit of White Zinfindal that we have ready to mix. Unless things change, that may be our last batch of wine. I really enjoyed doing it but more than half the fun was doing it with Dick. He cannot be going up and down the stairs and standing to cork and rack so half of my fun is gone. I will decide that before we are faced with batches of currants or whatever fruits are offered.

When my boys were growing up, they sure were funny little guys. One day, I was in the backyard and the phone rang. Bart was somewhere around 4 years old and answered it. It was his father. Bart picked up the phone and asked who was calling. My ex said. "This is God." Bart never missed a beat. He said. "Did you make me?" Dick said. "Yes." Then Bart hung up the phone and ran into the backyard and told me that God called. When Dick got home he told me about it.

Bart was a precious trusting little boy.

Have an excellent week.

Mary