Saturday.

Chelsea and I went for a nice long walk this morning. She was really perky and the temperatures between 6 and 7 AM are perfect for walking in.

Then I showered and got ready to go pick up SHARE. Dick and I have started getting that after about a 10 year break. It is a program that is available for anyone. Once a month at designated sites, if you have signed up by a designated date, you pick up about $50 worth of groceries, meat, some canned and fresh produce, for the grand total of $18 plus $2 for handling. It is great. This month we got chicken drumsticks, Italian sausage, pork breakfast sausage, rice and apple sauce and this is not the complete list. Jim and Michelle had signed up so this month I showed them how to get to the Plymouth Armory which is one of the secrets of Plymouth. It is out back of the city park and almost impossible to find if you do not know where it is. Kate also went with us and signed up for next month. She is excited because she may have a speaker for her Rotary Club.


Then this evening I went to my Class Reunion. It was at the Bull at Pinehurst Farms out in Sheboygan Falls. I had SUCH a good time. And Joanne is going to send me a picture of all of us. There were well over forty of us there. Out of a class of 68 with 11 of us gone on to God, that is not a bad turnout. It is so good to see everybody. We had a wonderful meal and such good companionship.

I left at 9:30 on the dot so Dick would not be alone too long. I worry about him and whether Chelsea will start nagging him. He was fine and Chelsea was apparently waiting for me as she is now asking me to take her out for the second time since I have been home and it is only about a half an hour. Either that or she wants me to go to bed.

Can't decide so I better take her out

Sleep tight.

Love

Mary

Today was special. Chelsea let me sleep until almost 6:15 and we had a really nice walk. Then the day was spent making calls, kind of sorting things and (as we are still figuring out how to conveniently have everything available) putting things away. Soon we will have to attack the books and videos which will be a major event.

I had lunch at Dairy Queen with my bank friends. Then after dressing Dick's wounds and doing his sequential compression thing, I left just before 4PM to meet Bobbie at Richardson Brothers in Sheboygan Falls. We were investigating the ad that Bobbie saw on a billboard about their new Chef/Kitchen Area in their store. We figured it was also a chance to try out their tea room. The tea room is charming and we had two BIG cups of a special tea. I have already forgotten the name but it starts with an O and mine was pomegranate flavored. They have the neatest pot for one with matching cups. AND another item for steeping loose tea that is really cool. I told Dick about it. Hope he noticed as my pot for one is hard to work with though it is very pretty.

Went from there to River Park in Falls for the first part of my High School reunion. I guess a bunch of them played golf this afternoon but this was a picnic. Simply getting together to share sub sandwiches and chips and pretzels. It was BYOB. A goodly number of us were there and I had a marvelous time. I left at about 8:05PM because I had promised Dick I would be home at about 8. Not too bad as he knows how I talk. We can pick up tomorrow at the Bull when we have the official dinner.

Now I am tired. Chelsea is becoming such a pest. I have taken her out 3 or 4 times in the past 45 minutes. I think that the last time she bugged me she was really asking to go to bed. So I am going to oblige her.

Did I tell you that she has taken to sometimes going to sleep with her head, and only her head, under the bed? She used to do that during thunder storms when she could hear them. I think it must be comforting for her somehow.

Til tomorrow


Mary

Where has the week gone already. Chelsea and I had a nice walk this morning. She decided to lead me through the park, to the right and through the woods today. For the past several weeks we have been going through the park but then turning left and turning on Highland back to Tallgrass Lane. I really have not encouraged going through the woods because of the mosquitoes but if we move fast I don't really get bit much.

Then I spent most of the morning clearing my desk and working on poems for the contest at Irish Fest and the Robert Frost Competition. There is a contest with a water theme that I have been working on also.

Dick took a long nap this morning and has taken two naps since then so we got a late start on his sequential compressions but as of now (8:30PM) we just have one left and might make it since I THINK he is awake again.

Anyway, I went to Walgreens to pick up four prescriptions and take advantage of a couple of sales there. I also, went to the Pig because they had blueberries on sale and I want to make a fresh blueberry pie. I shop on Wednesdays when their flier goes into effect, however, they usually have some things that are ONLY on sale on Thursday and Friday. Kind of irritates me. I also had to stop and pick up a new rubber strap to do my exercises with. I threw it over the door this morning to start a routine, pulled it taut and it snapped. Becky said that if it is too easy I should switch to the red one which is heavier. I want to give it a couple of more days before I do that.

Tonight we had tuna steaks, fried potatoes and cheesy broccoli for dinner. I have enough tuna to make a fresh tuna salad for tomorrow or Saturday lunch.

I read something on Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac that impressed me in this election year. Richard Morris and author who wrote extensively about the founding fathers said."In the founding of the nation we needed charismatic figures, but today we could to with honest ones." I am inclined to agree. How can we know positions when they all seem to cloud the truth, lie or evade answers.

Have a nice Friday. I have two evenings of High School Reunion, my 50th, to look forward to. AND Bobbie and I are going to Richardsons to see the new Chef's Corner and sample the Tea Room.

Hope your weekend will be as much fun.

Love

Mary

Thought I had better get an early start tonight, since I was so delinquent last night.

This morning we had to have Dick at the Anti Coagulation Clinic at 8:45AM so we got an early start. His blood count or whatever the status is was 2.9, so that is three weeks that he has been OK. We are encouraged. We will check again in two weeks unless he is put back on antibiotics which we hope is not likely.

The rest of the day was ours. I went grocery shopping this morning while Dick took his nap. I got home in time to put the groceries away and fix lunch, then I took a little nap.

This afternoon, I watered the deck plants and vaccuumed the den and sewed the ragged ends of the sleeves that I put on Dick's legs when we do the sequential compression. We are now on the third of three for the day. Whew. Some days it is hard to get three compressions in. Time gets away from us.

I fixed oven fried chicken drumsticks, raw fried potatoes and fresh green beans from my own garden for supper and then we had strawberry shortcake. I remember that my brother in law, George Hiner, after a good meal, would say "I wonder what the rich people are eating tonight?"

I remember one meal that I had at Jacquie and George's house. He was growing Ortega Chilies in his garden and we made Chili Rellanos, a marvelous dish of Ortegas, stuffed with cheese and then dipped in a special egg batter and fried and served hot with salsa. They are SOOOOOO good and with the fresh chilies were to DIE for. Until, my ex husband got a really hot one and got the hiccups like you could not believe. (But they still were heaven to eat. I must make them sometime for us again. It has been years since I made them.)

Love

Mary

Guess What. I forgot to blog before I went to bed last night. It is about 3:30AM and I woke up kind of stiff and uncomfortable and remembered. SO. I thought I would just put a few lines in.

It was a quiet day. We did not have to go ANYWHERE. That has not happened in SUCH a long time.

Rachel, the VNA, came today for her weekly visit. We may be able to terminate her visits. She said it is up to us. He would qualify because of the wounds, but we are doing well on our own now. Dick and I will discuss it and talk to Dr. Moreno on Monday. We have til mid next week to decide.

I spent the day cleaning my desk and putting a bookcase together.

Love

Mary

This day started at 6AM. It was really pleasant out there when Chelsea and I walked and I only got one mosquito bite.

Bible study was nice. There were six of us there and we had a lot to say about Solomon and his being smart enough to ask God for an understanding heart as he took over the ruling of his people. God was glad to give him that AND threw in wisdom and riches and other stuff. We think that maybe all the rulers of the world should read 1 Kings 3:5-12 and ALSO ask for the gift of understanding.

Mom is fine, we had a nice visit this morning. I brought her some Mac and Cheese and a piece of pie. She was baking some cinnamon rolls and is really proud because now has her new oven down pat. She had a bit of trouble turning it off for a while. She had to get used to pushing the buttons firmly. She has a very busy week ahead of her. The Senior meals tomorrow, canasta on Wednesday and Jeff is coming in on Thursday.

I got home in time to hook Dick up for his second sequential compression session of the day before I went to Writer's Club. That was very good. Everybody was full of ideas and plans. I like that kind of meeting, it gets a person stimulated. We also got hints about some good contests out there. I am going to have to hustle to get the poems written in time. I especially want to do two before the end of the month to send to Irish Fest. I won that one in 2002 you know. I am sure you all have read the poem or heard it but this is it anyway.

THE KNOCKEEN DOLMEN

Light and shadow.
Rock and color.
Life and death.

We walk across the pasture
Picking our way around green cow splatters
Scattered amid the green grass.

Up and over a wood fence
Behind a cover of trees and bushes is
The portal tomb.
A broom bush provides a splash of yellow and green
In front of a stark white capstone perched on three uprights.

How did the ancients do this?
And for God’s sake - Why?

Around the dolmen we walk
And find heaven in a shaded graveyard
Nestled amid old shady trees
At the edge of the ruins of an old church
Vivid bluebells light the ground
Providing lush carpet amid the gravestones.

Two ruins side by side, one ancient - one mediaeval.
Is one truer than the other?

Dick had an appointment with Dr. Moreno today. The right foot is looking pretty good. The left is no worse and I have more instructions as to his care. We have to go back in a week, unless the Profor Wraps start to unwind or slip. I have to change the dressings every day as usual.

The appointment was at 3:30PM and we finally left at 5PM. They were not late either. By the time they take the vitals, remove the old dressings and wraps, the doctor does his thing and everything is re wrapped it is an hour and a half. I am not surprised as it takes me 20 to 30 minutes to just clean and dress the wounds each day.

We just had hamburgers and fries for dinner tonight.

Now it is time for bed. Chelsea is strongly hinting that she really wants to go there.

Later

Mary

I managed to sleep until 6:30AM this morning. Chelsea had other ideas but I put her out in the living room with some lettuce and I was able to get back to sleep.

First thing, we hooked Dick up to the sequential. I fixed breakfast and took a shower. I went to the 10:30 AM mass (which turns out to be at 10:45AM but who's checking. Actually, I did. I checked the web site which still has it listed at 10:30AM. Oh, well, it does my soul good to pray an extra 15 minutes.)

I was rather busy all day. I had purchased two bookcases. One to put next to Dick so he has a place to set the things that he needs around him and one for the old office, which is now a sitting room. Today, Dick's got put together and is in place.

We had Mac and Cheese for dinner. I used one of the winners of Emeril Lagasse's Mac and Cheese contest. It is called Smack yo Mama and is really quite good. However ---- We still like Robin's and Diane's the best and you cannot do much better than Patti La Belle's Over the Rainbow. It sure is fun to try all these recipes though.

Tonight I went to Beth Hoegger's home to meet with the Wilsings and Joe (a bagpiper) to plan the mass for Celtic Faire at Blessed Trinity. We had a good time and got the bones all assembled. I even got to play and sing the song I wrote for Beth and Jim. Beth said that when she understands her software she will print it up properly for me. It is a lullaby.

Now we are waiting for the sequential to be done again. Dick's legs are swelling I am afraid and this is the ONLY resource we have to use right now. I am concerned. We will see Dr. Moreno tomorrow. I hope he has some solutions.

Love

Mary

Today was a play day. We got up early and were able to do a compression session before I left for the Fireside. I got to Kmart at 8:20AM and the bus was already there. They were early, I was told so I did not feel bad.

I sat with Bobbie on the way down and Bill was right in back of us. We had an easy trip down. The meal was good as usual. We had a wonderful salad, asparagus, scalloped potatoes, baked sirloin and baked mushroom flan. Dessert was REALLY good, A Banana Creme Brulee. Creme Brulee is not usually my favorite, but this was great.

The show was The Rock and the Rabbi, a Christian musical about the relationship between Peter and Jesus based on the Gospel of John. Sometimes Christian Music can be a bit much but I have to say that this was really wonderful. I signed us up to see the second of the trilogy called Witnesses which will be presented next July. It is based on Peter and Paul and the early church. The same people wrote the music and will perform it, so I am sure it will be good.

I was home before 6PM so it was not too long a day but I am very tired.

Chelsea had an exciting day. Our neighbor Dick came to take her out at about noon and then Jim and Michelle took her out at 3PM. But she was sure glad to see me anyway. It WAS almost six and she had not had dinner yet.

Later

Mary

Friday. And a busy one at that. I got a log done and still spent some time to myself, thanks to Jim and Michelle.

Started off this morning with a nice walk for Chelsea and me. When I got back we got Dick hooked up to the sequential thing. We had breakfast and I took a shower.

I did some paper sorting on the desk and some computer work. When I was doing that, I had the opportunity to try the new printer. I was delighted that I had gotten the printer and copier to work but was still baffled by the FAX part.

At 10AM or so I went to my PT. I am still pretty sore, but much better, so Becky gave me a set of exercises that I will do every day to strengthen and perhaps eliminate the pain. We decided that it is probably best if I put off shooting trap for a while as my neck hurts more now than it was which is consistent with the impact of 25 shotgun shots. So I guess I will stick to pistol and just go to the bust up party. I stopped at Kmart on the way home and bought Dick a toothbrush and picked up two bookcases, one for next to Dick and one for the new "sitting room.' We are however going to go through our books and donate a number of them to a book sale, probably next year's at the Plymouth History Museum.

I fixed lunch for Dick and then joined the bank retirees for lunch at Dairy Queen. It had been several weeks so I enjoyed the break. Poor Betty. Three of her trees, nice trees, over forty years old, fell in the big storm last Wednesday. She also found out that she has to have a hip replacement. She had one done 15 years ago but it is wearing out. So we must pray for Betty.

Got home and dressed Dick's wounds and hooked him up again, so we were done when Jim and Michelle came over at 4PM to help us. My friend Kate, sent us sandwiches for supper from the Rotary food stand out at Road America. What a sweetie. She sent them with a neighbor from June Grass Lane who is also a Rotarian.

After we ate our sandwiches, I left. I went to Evans, Mother's and stopped at Kate's to thank her again. I got home at about 7:45 and we all had apple pie for a late dessert.

I can't believe all that Jim and Michelle did for us. They got the fax machine working and then gave me a tutorial on top of cleaning the house for us again. They even cleaned under the fridge and stove tonight. I am so grateful. That is hours of work that I don't have to do and can spend with Dick and taking care of him.

Guess that is about all. Tomorrow I will be going to the Fireside with Bobbie and Bill on Discovery. Going to see The Rock and The Rabbi, a new musical about Jesus and Peter. The word is that the music is really good. At any rate it will be brand new to all of us.

Love

Mary

A full full hot muggy day.

We had to be at the Sheboygan Clinic for an appointment with Dr. Moreno at 8:30AM. THEN, his FIRST patient was a problem and we did not even get into the examination room til after 9:30AM.

Then Dick turned out to be a problem too. Both wounds had to be debrided ( I think I am using the right term) The one on the right foot looks pretty good. Dr. Moreno is pleased that it is pink and healing. The other he just said he has not given up on. Anyway, he cleaned them, dressed them and the nurse wrapped his legs in the four layer ProFor wraps to help keep the swelling down. We will still be doing the sequential compressions three times a day and have to go back to see Dr. Moreno on Monday.

We FINALLY got home at about 11:45AM. We had stopped and picked up a bacon cheeseburger and fries to share for lunch on the way home.

Dr. Siddique's office had called while we were gone. He IS going to have to go through more surgery to put in at least one, maybe more, stints in the arteries in his left leg. He is distressed, that is the procedure where he has to lay flat on his back for 8 hours after the process. He is not happy about that.

Then I went to Joan Kramer's for my Reflexology session. It was wonderful. I came home very relaxed, with smooth hands and painted toe nails. I will go again. I think it will provide some healing for my aches and pains. She found it interesting that she detected more of problem in my LEFT neck and shoulder than my right which we are doing the therapy on, perhaps because the right IS being treated.

This evening I started hooking up the new printer/fax/scanner. I got it to fire up and print the test page. Now I AM having trouble with a couple of questions. I don't know if the PC Modum is hooked up to the phone line or not. If anyone knows, please tell me. I decided to stop because it is past my bed time and I can resume again when I am rested.

I know I will sleep tonight because I am SO tired.

Take care

Mary

Boy did we have storms today. Dick had to be at Sheboygan Memorial at 1PM for his ultra sound. This one took well over an hour. He was not comfortable because he had to be on his back but he said he was nice. The technician DID let him sit up half way through to ease his back pain.

Anyway, it started to rain just as we left the hospital and by the time we hit Highway 23 and it was bad. We passed on police car with the lights on and I saw a car in the ditch. It must have hydroplaned.

We got home alright any way and before the sirens went off. Then the TV said to take cover as some tornado type conditions were in the area. So, Dick and I went into the bathroom and closed the bedroom doors. I was not about to go downstairs without him and that seemed to be the safest spot. We did crossword puzzles until they announced the all clear. A couple of more heavy storms came by after that but none with quite the intensity of the first.

I went grocery shopping this morning and then out to Rhine to shoot a round of trap. I joined the summer league. So far it does not seem to have done any damage to my arm or shoulder. We will just have to see. I shot a 13. Which is not too bad for me.

So. It was a busy day. I did tell you that we had the carpet cleaned yesterday. It looks nice. So this evening, Chelsea threw up. Wouldn't you know. I was able to clean it right away so there is no damage, but what a little jerk is she.


A little summer poem.

The music from summer concerts

Floats over strawberry fields

Sounding red and green and yellow,

Every bit as exciting as

A vacation to exotic places.

Sleep tight

Mary

The day is almost over. It is 7:30PM and I am winding down. We had a rather busy day. I am hoping that Dick wakes up in about an hour so that we can get one more sequential compression on his legs. He went to bed because he was so tired.

Got up early this morning. My side and arm were uncomfortable so it seemed better to be up an moving. I do feel better if I am busy. Chelsea and I did have a nice walk. When we got back, I filled the birdbath and took out the trash.

Then I fixed breakfast for us and took a shower before heading to the Clinic for my Physical Therapy. Becky had me doing some different exercises today. Tomorrow I am going to try to shoot some trap. There is a summer league at Rhine. I shot in it last year and the year before and really liked it. I do not need to find a team for this one. And am just shooting against myself. Becky said that the only way to find out if it is a problem is to try. Nancy is going to meet me out there too and we will shoot some pistol since the place is open.

When I got home from PT, the carpet cleaners were already here and cleaning away. They finished just before lunch. So, I fixed lunch and tried to rest afterwards. It is sometimes just too hard in the middle of the day.

I got a haircut at 2:30 and then was really done for the day. All I had to do this afternoon was to change Dick's dressings and hook him up to the machine.

I will be going for a Reflexology session either this Thursday or next Thursday, depending on Dick's doctor appointments. I am really looking forward to that. (The reflexology, not the doctor appointments.)

It was really hot today. The temps are down to 83, so, I think I will go sit on the deck for just a bit befoe it gets too dark.


Harry Truman said:

'My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference. I, for one, believe the piano player job to be much more honorable than current politicians.'

Would that we had some politicians like him around today.

Mary

Mondays usually are OK. Today was no exception. At least the morning. I had Bible Study at Blessed Trinity. There were six of us. The readings were on the qualities of God which are also the qualities of a good leader. They seemed to also stress the fact that we have to know when to ask for help and to look for the things that God sends to help us. Sometimes it is hard to recognize the help that is there and to admit that we are not in this all alone.

Had a nice visit with Mom. When I got there, her cleaning lady was cleaning and Mom was sitting on the porch. It was a lovely day, so we just decided to stay out there for our visit. I brought her some cheesecake. I will be helping her choose a binding for the quilt she has just finished. She thinks that from now on, at least for a while, she will just make crazy quilt squares when she feels like creating. I told her that I have trouble with crazy quilt. I think backwards and CONSTANTLY have to tear out and try again.

Got home at about 11:30 and hooked Dick up to his sequential compression machine. We were expecting Rachel, the VNA, at 1:00 but she never came or called. We wonder if we misunderstood.

Anyway, I had a doctor appointment with Dr. Ganju here in Plymouth. He said that I do have cysts on my kidneys but they are small and he can't really do anything about them. At least I know that I am not crazy, the discomfort is caused by something. I also know that it is nothing serious apparently. Perhaps, the reflexology that I am going to have will help the discomfort. The only thing he could suggest was Tylenol, unless it gets much worse. It will have to get a LOT worse before I will spend any more precious dollars on it.

The rest of the day was very quiet. I sat our on the deck for a while and read. Our deck is just beautiful and very restful. I planted a hummingbird pot with a fuchsia, begonias and sweet potato vines. It is blooming and the fuchsias are gorgeous. Next year I will get more fuchsias. They are SO gorgeous and obviously do well back there between the trees and the house. Everything else is doing well and I even have buds on the bean plants.

We had leftovers for dinner which was very easy. Now, I hooked Dick up again and as soon as he is done will hit the bed. I am really tired.

A thought for today, Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair Magazine, who objected to the war in Iraq before it began said the following about Bush. He wrote, "I see none of the worry lines that should be etched in the face of a man taking the greatest military power ever assembled to war."

Take Care and be well.

Mary

A quiet Sunday mostly. I got up at 6:15Pm and Chelsea and I went for our walk. It was not the best night for me but I slept pretty good towards morning. Some day I may be able to sleep myself out.

We got Dick on the sequential compression machine the three times today. As usual the last one was a little shorter than the hour because he just gets so uncomfortable. I changed all his dressings this afternoon and we got his hair washed too so it was a successful day.

At about 11AM, I went to Rhine Plymouth to help out with the Pig Roast/Lewis Shoot. I stayed for two hours. That was as long as I felt good about leaving Dick alone. It was a nice break for me. I helped dish up the food. Jerry Coenen and Doc both asked about Bobbie. Jerry said that I should tell her that her year is "coming up" and he is looking forward to her coming back to the club. We do hope that she does come back.

I am going to try the summer trap league on Wednesday. Becky, the PT, says that if I want to shoot, the only way to find out if it will hurt is to try. So I will. Nancy Roehre is going to meet me out there at 10AM and we will also shoot some pistol. We shot on Friday and did pretty good considering that we had not shot for several weeks now.

I brought dinner home for Dick and I. Pork sandwiches, beans, German potato salad, coleslaw and desserts. WOW. Was it good and we have enough for another meal too.

This will be another busy week. Tuesday we are getting the carpet cleaned. I am going to take all the small stuff out into the garage tomorrow. Schroeder's said they will move the big stuff. I am so glad.

Someone named William Carlos Williams said, "In summer, the song sings itself."

Have a good summer week.

Mary

Chelsea tried to wake me up shortly after 5AM. She kept bouncing on Dick's side of the bed for quite a while but at about 5:30AM she finally came over to my side and managed to make eye contact so I got up and took her out for her walk. It was a strange morning. We walked for a while, then it started to rain, so I turned her back towards home.

It was a quiet morning. Dick had gone back to bed and slept until about 10AM. So we got started on his compressions then. I had a day mostly at home. My only outing was Mass at 4PM.

So I spent the day baking and getting my quilt pieces cut out. I baked a cheesecake and cleaned strawberries and peas for supper and baked some cookies to take to Rhine tomorrow.

On the way home from church I realized that Prairie Home Companion was starting, so Dick and I listened to that show for the first time in a long time. There was a time when we never missed that show. Perhaps that will happen again. It is a perfect time, now that I get home from Mass just as it comes on.

I heard a nice Turkish saying today. I think I need to paraphrase. "A cup of coffee shared, brings forty years of friendship." Perhaps that is why coffee shops have become so popular.

Tomorrow brings another rather quiet day except for a couple hours that I will spend at Rhine helping out at the Pig Roast/Lewis Shoot. It is supposed to be dry for the very first day in several so we can hope for a successful event.

Wish us luck

Love

Mary

Well, here we are at another Friday night. It was a very busy day and I am, as usual, tired.

Started off with a very nice walk, despite the mosquitoes, with Chelsea this morning. Fortunately we walked between the rain. It started much heavier about the time I had to go to PT but was light enough that I could "run between the drops."

PT went quite well. I must keep doing my home exercises as between Becky's work and them I AM feeling better. I went from there to the Blood Center with a side trip to the Bagel Place to pick up a couple of bagels and neat cream cheeses. I was still about 15 minutes early for donating blood and they were a half an hour behind so I spent a LOT of time there and was getting a bit nervous as I wanted to get home to Dick to see that he was OK and fix his lunch. I was OK because I get cookies and juice when I finish donating. My vitals were really good and my iron was at 43% which I guess is really good for a woman. We take pretty good care of ourselves here.

I was really drained when I got home. So we ate and then I put the sequential compression on Dick and laid down for a nap. I did get some sleep, but the phone rang and it was time to "turn Dick off" anyway, so I got up. About that time, the delivery guy from Aurora came with the new inflatable cushion for Dick's wheelchair. The first one had a leak.

I changed Dick's dressings and we hooked him up for another session on the compression machine. We are supposed to do three a day. We finished at about 3:30 just in time to settle things down as Jim and Michelle came over at 4PM. They are coming earlier and leaving earlier. Which is fine with us as I am a 9 O'Clock wonder. Anyway and I think Michelle is an 8 O'Clock wonder because she has to get up for work so early most days.

After I saw that Dick was settled in his chair, I loaded up the car and headed to Mom's. I had some vitamins and hearing aid batteries for her and it seemed like a good time to get them to her and have an extra little visit. She looked so cute tonight. Her hair was SO pretty. We had a nice visit and she gave me some leaf lettuce which we will enjoy tomorrow and a few kohlrabi plants for the garden. I will give a couple to Jim and Michelle too.

I went from her house to pick up Nancy Roehre and we drove out to Rhine Plymouth and shot some pistol. We were really quite pleased. We had not shot for a long time and we did not do too badly at all. My arm was not TOO sore though I could feel it. Then we went to Antoinette's for supper and a visit. Such a pleasant evening. Nancy graduated from high school with me. We cannot believe that it has been 50 years. At the end of this month we will be celebrating with our class. I DO see some of them, especially the girls, as we get together for lunch occasionally but many people I probably have not seen since our last reunion or maybe even further back. It will be fun.


Anyway. It it time to wind down and think of sleep. I remember Mother saying "Up the wooden hill to Four Corners." It took me quite some time to realize that the wooden hill was the stairs to the upstairs where our bedrooms were and Four Corners was our beds.

Sleep tight.

Mary

I got up at six this morning and walked Chelsea to get done in time to shower, hook Dick up to his sequential compression device for the FIRST hour and arrive at Aurora Plymouth by 8AM. Then at just before 8AM we got a call. The person who does the ultra sounds remembered that when she did my gall bladder a couple of months ago, she had also scanned my liver. She said my liver is full of cysts (which I think was a silly thing to say) and that she had passed that information on to Dr. Ghanju who said that it was not necessary for me to go through ANOTHER test. So, I was free for the morning.

I ate first. And made some coffee. I was fasting, you know, and was really glad to be done with that. Then I went to the bank and grocery shopping.

By the time I was done with that and put everything away I had just enough time to rest for about a half an hour before we got Dick ready to go to see Dr. Siddique in Sheboygan. That was successful, we think. Dr. Siddique is also concerned about the bad callous and has ordered a special kind of ultra sound for next Wednesday to see what the arteries in his legs are up to. He told us to continue with Dr. Moreno for the wound care and is also, as well as Dr. Moreno, not adverse to hyperbaric treatments. We will bring it up again to Dr. Moreno and find out if it is covered by Medicare, etc.

It was a beautiful day today. The temperatures were in the upper 60s and lower 70s and there was a pleasant breeze all day. I have buds all over my bean plants and the tomatoes are finally growing and starting to get some buds too. I must remember to fix sandwiches with fresh herbs like Joan did last night. With the fresh mozzarella and the fresh herbs those open faced sandwiches were absolutely WONDERFUL.

Tomorrow will be a much quieter day. I do want to go and check out the Farmers Market in Plymouth in the afternoon but the rest of the day I can stay home. I hope to work on the quilt and do a bit of straightening down in the den.

When they boys were young, we had all kinds of animals for pets. They were like I was growing up. At one point, we had a hamster that lived for all of his two years and more. We named him Spike. He was up in Bart's room. He would occasionally escape. When he did, I learned that if I waited til I got up in the morning, he would have worked his way downstairs and I would be able to catch him scurrying around the edge of the kitchen heading for a certain spot under the cupboards. I would take him upstairs until the next time.

One time, I had purchased a new box of food for him and it was sitting next to his cage. He picked that night to escape, but the next morning he was still in his cage. He was sacked out up in one of his little towers and every piece of that food was stored in every nook and cranny of his hamster cage. He must have worked his little buns off all night.

Have a nice Thursday. I will

Mary

Well, we had a busy day today. Chelsea almost drove me bananas this evening. Before I went to the CWI meeting she had me running her outside every time I turned around and since I have been home, less than an hour, she has begged to go out three times already. I can't take a chance of not taking her out because with her age and the "water pills" she takes she might really HAVE to go BUT I really do get worn out. It would be lovely to SIT for over half an hour without having to get up for something.

Anyway, we did start out the day with a very nice walk. She seemed a little tired though and actually sat down twice to just get her breath. They have torn out the sidewalk on Highland Avenue so we walked on a gravel path. But the temperatures were pleasant and it was quiet.

I had Physical Therapy at 9:45AM. That seems to be really helping. At least my neck and arm are much less sore. I took Dick's walker to Adams to tell Deanna that the left brake was not working. She offered to exchange it IF NEEDED, but suggested that I take it to the Bike Shop on Eastern Avenue. They apparently know just what to do. So I dropped by there on my way to get gas and Josh fixed it. He just adjusted the brake wire at both ends and sent me on my way. He did not even charge me for it which was really very kind. It is fine now and we don't have to worry about Dick falling on his "bumpers" as I used to say to the boys when they were little.

I made an appointment to see Dr. Siddique tomorrow. Hope we can resolve a few things.

Rachel, our Visiting Nurse, came at 1:00PM and gave Dick a good once over. She said that she DID feel a pulse in his left foot and Dr. Siddique's nurse said that Dr. Moreno has sent patients before that he said had no pulse but there was one. So that is hopeful but does not help with the healing of that sore.

Tonight was the CWI meeting. I told you that. Joan Kramer had us to her house. She is an amazing woman. She is a nurse, a teacher and an accredited Reflexologist. She had lovely open faced tea sandwiches and iced tea for snacks. I brought some soda bread which went well with it. But those sandwiches were wonderful. Marvelous mozzarella cheese topped with tomatoes or cucumber and fresh basil or dill. Just to DIE for.

We talked a bit then Joan explained the basics of reflexology to us and led us though a simple hand massage. We did each other. I think it is a wonderful natural healing solution and with her nursing background, she knows when a doctor and medicine are called for. She told us that she recently was treating a patient and found something very wrong in the breast area. She told the patient to see a doctor and it turned out that it was breast cancer and was treated and healed.

It was a great break for me.

Our next meeting is the bus trip to Irish Fest. If any of you want to join us, let me know. You need $25 for the trip and a can of food for the food drive and admission. We would leave Plymouth at 7:30AM and return home at about 6PM on Sunday August 17th. We have 12 seats remaining.

I was touched. Janet, Toni and Joan gave me a gift of a reflexology session with Joan. They say I need it. I am amazed constantly at the goodness of people. God is showing himself to me. Twice today. Josh at the Bicycle Shop and these three lovely women.

Pray for us tomorrow, we both have medical visits.

When Bret was little, (I may have told you this before) we were going through a really bad stretch. His father had broken his arm and a lot of other things were going on. I was hanging clothes out in the back yard and Bret was swinging on his swing set. As he was swinging he was crooning to me, "Don't worry, Mom. It will be OKAY. Don't worry. Everything will be ALL RIGHT!" It was the sweetest thing. He and I still go back to that when we are troubled. My neighbor, Marge Neff, was in her kitchen and heard him that day. She told me later that she heard and was just so delighted with him.

Have a nice day.

Take all the love you can

Mary

A very distressful morning and all discombuerated too. Chelsea tried to get me up at 5:08AM. I gave her some lettuce and shut her out of the bedroom. Then I almost overslept because I wanted to be up at 6 but slept til 6:09AM. (Boy, digital clocks take all the fun out of rounding time.)
We had a quick walk because I still had to shower before we left to get Dick to the Clinic by 8AM.

We did just fine and guess what. He had his blood coagulation checked and it is perfect again. 2.7. We just hope it will maintain. We will schedule his next test when we get all our other appointments figured out.

Next we headed up to see Dr. Moreno. Things are NOT good there. The callous on the left foot is worse again. He cannot detect a pulse in the left foot. We are waiting to hear from Dr. Siddique to get in and find out what has happened. Dr. Moreno said that sometimes, very rarely, stints can clog. We don't know. But in the meantime he can't wear the stockings because they aggrevate the callous AND constrict what circulation there is. We cannot wrap them because that constricts the circulation too. So what to do? He is back on the sequential pump, which we had to abandon for a bit when his legs were being wrapped in the ace bandages and Profor Wraps. Stay tuned for the continuing Saga and PRAY.

On the way home we dropped Mom's meds off to her. She was out in the back yard filling her bird feeder. Such a lady.

We got home and ATE. I am not good at all without regular meals and we ran out of time for breakfast so I was starved. It was almost 11AM so we had our lunch and then took naps. I didn't get moving again until almost 1:30PM.

I made a few phone calls and cut out some pieces for the quilted wallhanging that I am designing. That will keep me occupied. I am also trying to write every day. Got to keep my mind busy.

Tonight was the Rhine Plymouth Meeting. This Wednesday starts the Summer Trap League. I really want to shoot that but will ask Becky, the PT, if it will cause any problems with my arm and shoulder. Perhaps, Nancy and I could go out and shoot a little pistol if nothing else.

Thunder is rolling across the land and rain is pouring down. Chelsea is not to happy with her bathroom being that wet. A little bit is OK but this much upsets her. The advantage to her deafness is that she no longer hears the thunder. Of course, we kind of miss laughing at her. She used to pace around frantically then go and put her head under the bed. Just her head. She did not seem to realize that the rest of her body was exposed.

Be good and safe.

All my love

Mary

Sundays still feel strange to me now that I go to church on Saturday nights. One would think I could sleep late, wouldn't one. But NOOOO! Chelsea the wonder dog woke me up this morning at 20 to 6. Dick was sleeping and I saw no sense in letting her keep whimpering and waking him up so out we went for our morning walk.

When I got back, Dick was awake anyway. So we had our breakfast. Sunday breakfast. We had fried potatoes, bacon, eggs and toast. Nice. Then I took a shower and a nap. I hate to admit it but I think Dick is right. I really need more sleep.

This afternoon, I drove over to Mother's house. I was intending to bring her pills. Guess what. I brought the local papers and some food to share and forgot the pills. Tomorrow, Dick has doctor appointments in the morning, so I can't go to bible study but we will come back home through Sheboygan Falls and drop them off then.

We had a nice visit as usual. I brought her some of the spinach salad that I made for dinner last night. She commented that she had never grown spinach and really never bought spinach either. I don't recall her feeding it to us when we grew up either. I know that she likes the spinach casserole and I think she will like the salad too. Perhaps I have introduced her to a band new taste.

Well we are at the beginning of a brand new week. It is a relatively busy one for us. How about you?

I spent a good portion of the afternoon sitting out on the deck reading. I have discovered that as thick as the mosquitoes are in the grass and trees, they don't spend much time on the deck. I see and hear squirrels, rabbits and lots of birds as I sit out there. Did I ever tell you about the time Chelsea and I were walking around the house on Hunters Glen and I glanced over and saw a little baby bunny huddled up against the house. He wasn't over 4 inches long and his eyes were as big as his head with his little ears flat on his back. I reached over and stroked his little back with my finger. He was too petrified to move. Then I thought I had better move quickly as Chelsea, rotten hunter that she is had not seen or smelled him. BUT if she did notice, she could have hurt the little thing by sheer excitement and clumsiness. So I left him and we hurried on our walk.

But I got to pet a baby bunny. Isn't that neat.

Mary

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

Today was supposed to be hot and humid. It was rather warm when Chelsea and I took our walk this morning. (She came to get me at about 5AM but I gave her some lettuce and shut the door and then I did not hear from her until Dick woke me up a bit after 6:30AM.) So we got a late start. Not a bad deal when we did not have any appointments today.

I did have to be at the Plymouth Armory to pick up my Share Delivery. We started taking Share last month. It is such an easy way to save on groceries. One gets at least $40 worth of groceries for $18 plus a small delivery fee. This month we got Chicken drumsticks, Pork tenderloin, Meatballs, fresh veggies and fruits and other stuff that I just can't remember. We used to do this several years ago when my friend Jim Fleming had a Share distribution site established in Sheboygan Falls. I can't really remember why we stopped. But with the price of groceries AND gas going up steadily, I think we need to conserve where we can.

While I was out, I picked up some cards for Mother, some wood screws that SHOULD fix the door downstairs AND went to the bank.

The rest of the day was rather quiet until 3:30 when I got ready for church at 4:00. It started to POUR just before I left, but the dear Lord eased up on the torrent while I was making my way from my car to the church. Then we could hear more thunder and lightening and more torrents of rain while the service was going on. But it had passed over before we left church so the Lord was looking out for us. This week we got a sermon. I am not sure exactly what happened, but the lector did not read the first and second readings that were scheduled for today. It was very confusing. Fr. Van Beeck did not refer to the readings in his sermon but chose to speak about the role of Peter and Paul as unlikely people to have managed to get the Church strongly based enough to still be here after 2000 year. He mentioned that perhaps we are unlikely people to be ensuring that it continue for the next 2000 years.

I fixed two potato salads today. The Kunert potato salad and My potato salad. I am sending the recipes in to the Emeril Potato Salad contest on GMA. I made them and then took a picture but now I find I don't know how to get the picture moved from Picasa to the entry form. Isn't that a dilemma?

We had chicken, potato salad and broccoli for dinner with strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Do Kings eat better? I think not.

Love

Mary

Another eventful day. I got up rather early. Don't know why except that my arm hurt and it seemed silly to stay in bed when Chelsea came and hinted that she was ready to go outside. Sometimes I just give her some lettuce and shut her out of the bedroom.

We had a nice walk until we got too close to the trees. The mosquitoes were like the legendary herds of buffalo that used to blanket the prairies. It is impossible to stay away from them. So I made her hurry through the woods and we ran into the house.

I went over to feed Boots after I fed Chelsea. He is really easy to take care of in the morning because Jim and Michelle don't spend much time with him in the morning anyway.

We had to be at the Sheboygan Clinic at 11:00 to have Dick's blood tested at the anti coagulation clinic. His blood count is now 2. This is perfect. But guess what. Before we left we received a call from Dr. Moreno's nurse. The blood test showed that he has a slight infection so he is now back on antibiotics and this might throw the count off again. After we left the Clinic we went to the hospital but Dr. Siddiquie put off his procedure for three weeks so that we can get the infection under control.

It was good to get home early. We did the second sequential compression treatment and took naps. Then I spent a lot of time while Dick slept getting information on cushions for the wheelchair, ramps and confirming appointments for next week.

We had ordered desk lamps and they were on the porch like a magic gift. I put them together and on the desks as a surprise for Dick while he was sleeping. They are really nice. Much better than the floor lamp and ceiling lights.

At 5PM Jim and Michelle arrived and I went over to the Herman's. Kate and I drove over to the Depot and picked up a fish dinner for Dick and delivered it. Kate and Jim and Michelle got to meet each other. Dick was delighted with the fish dinner. The Depot does a great job.

After the delivery, Kate and I went back to her place where her son Ron Jr. and his wife and two boys had arrived. They are fun. The boys are handsome and witty. We all walked back to the Depot for a wonderful meal. The mosquitoes were just as thick on Collins Street as they were in Lion's park. I ran into Dennis and Dianne Gatzke dining with Jim and Gail Kapellan. Hadn't seen Dianne in SUCH a long time. We worked together at United Savings and Loan 24 years ago. A great couple.

After dinner, everybody had some form of fish, except for little Riley who had corn dogs, we walked back up the street to the Herman's. We visited for a while and then I went home. They showered me with fresh strawberries and jars of canned pears, tomatoes and pickles.

It was an altogether delightful evening. Kate and Ron are good to me and I love their family. It is such a pleasure to come home after a break to a sparkling home too. Jim and Michelle work very hard and really polish things up for us.

I talked to my brother George today. He is at Mom's. He and Betsy are here for her nephew's wedding this weekend. I will be able to spend some time with him on Monday after Bible Study.

Glad the day is winding down. I am tired and ready to sleep.

Take care and have a great weekend.

Love
Mary

A very stressful day. We had to be at Dr. Moreno's office at 9AM. He checked the open callouses and the one on his right food is MUCH worse. We have new medicine, had to get a blood test and Xray. We also are not going to be putting on the support stockings because they seem to be contributing to the problem by putting bad pressure on that callous.

We are quite upset but have to just keep moving. We received the sequential compression sleeves yesterday which should help keep the swelling in the legs down.

We left Dr. Moreno's and hurried to Plymouth Aurora for his xrays and blood test and my physical therapy. We got done with everything at about 11:30 so decided to go to Chester's for lunch. Everybody raves about their food. We ordered cheeseburgers and fries and brought them home. The fries were OK but the burgers WERE great.

Then we both napped. We were exhausted.

When I got up I took care of registering the sequential compression sleeves, baked some corn muffins and caught up on my emails and that kind of thing.

When Dick got up we put the sleeves on his legs. We are supposed to do it three times a day for an hour each time. Today we just did it once. This will keep us busy - for sure.

This evening after dinner, I went over and fed and watered Boots, the cat, for Jim and Michelle. They volunteered to work for the opening of Summerfest and decided to stay in Milwaukee as they will be up late and Michelle has to work in the morning.

Got nice letter from Fr. Mike today. He was thanking us for the donation that I gave him on Tuesday. It was a nice summary of the current status of his Sarnelli House. Here is a paragraph from the letter.

"We blessed the new two-story' House of Hope' nursery before I came home. It is big, airy, with places to play and much more lawn space than we had before. It has a modern kitchen. It also has a wading pool. The kids play nude, and the first trip into the pool turned out to be a disaster, when a 2-year-old fat little oar named Kane took a huge dump in the pool, sending all the wee ones screaming shoving in their rush to get out. Mis Don Rak is demanding that he be banned from the pool for life!"

I love his letters. He must really love those little people a lot. I asked him if he was ever going to retire and he said. "What would I do." He will stay there I am sure until he is gone. You can check the website at www.sarnelliorphanage.org. Read his brother Jack Shea's letter. It is great.

Have a nice Friday.

Love

Mary

Today was the day for my CTScan. It was not hard but it still wore me out.

I got up at my usual time and walked the girl. Except for mosquitoes it was a lovely walk. We did not meet a single soul EXCEPT as we walked down June Grass, that scary dog Molly suddenly appeared from under an opening garage door. So Chelsea and I turned around and went back up the street. She may be alright but I don't like that she is off her leash and comes galumping down the street right at Chelsea who is SO much littler.

Since I couldn't eat or drink anything after 5AM, I then did the grocery shopping. Got that all done and everything put away in plenty of time to get over to Aurora for the test. It is a weird test. You have to drink two bottles of Crystal Lite that have been laced with iodine. You have to spend an entire hour drinking them so your whole system gets coated with the stuff. Then the technician took me into the room with the big machine that looks like a bagel. I had to lay on my back, she hooked up an IV with more iodine and then I was passed through the "bagel" four times. A voice from the machine tells you when to take in a breath and hold it and when you can breath again. Very simple.

But when I got home I was starved and also exhausted. So I fixed lunch for Dick and me and then lay down for a nap. I slept about an hour when the doorbell rang. It was Mary Meshler, the Occupational Therapist. She is VERY pleased with the progress we have made and will not have to come again unless there are changes. I agree, the things she was assigned to help us with are pretty much solved and we can call if we have questions.

I spent the afternoon getting "ducks in a row" for the Sheboygan CWI trip to Irishfest. I have to forward the ads to the church papers to fill a few seats but have chartered the bus and have almost half of it committed to. We are going on Sunday August 17th if you are interested. It will cost $25 plus a can of food for the Hunger Task Force.

Now I am going to dip you hands into my pariffin dip machine so that maybe my sore finger joints will feel better.

We also got a great UPS delivery. The sequential compression pump for his legs. Tomorrow I have to fill out all the papers and we need to determine how and how often to use it. I am just hoping that it will reduce the swelling in his right leg.

Take care.

Mary

This was a wonderful day.

Chelsea TRIED to get me up at 10 to 5. I staggered out to the kitchen, gave her some lettuce and staggered back to bed until 6. We had a fine walk. It was a pleasant temperature. We saw several bunnies and lots of birds. I saw house finches and those lovely yellow finches and the usual robins and red winged blackbirds. She is so perky in the morning that it is rather startling because she sleeps so much of the rest of the day.

I had a physical therapy session at 8:15 which was good because my arm was SO sore. She did relieve it a LOT. And I have anew exercise to do.

Then Dick and I drove into Sheboygan to have Dick's blood tested. We were quite shocked that his count had jumped from 1.7 to 3.7 in two weeks. We don't know why. It is supposed to be between 2 and 3. Oh for the early days when he went for well over a year right where he was supposed to be. So they adjusted the meds and we will retest on Friday just before he has his procedure with Dr. Siddique. Dr. Siddique likes it low so Dick doesn't bleed so much.

Then for the fun part of the day. I drove over to Mother's at noon and met the people that I mentioned yesterday and we went downtown to The Other Place for lunch. It was so great. Fr. Mike gave us all presents. He gave me a beautiful silk tie (I know that is for Dick but he doesn't wear ties, so I will figure out a way to wear it myself. ) He also gave me a bead bracelet made by his kids and a lovely silver and red stone dragon ring. We spend a nice lunch finding out about how things are going in his world.

He is so good about describing things. He said his girls don't understand why he is buying rice fields and having them planted and plowed by the shared efforts of all the kids. The girls tell him that he really could just go down the road and BUY rice. But the planting they do feeds the whole group for 6 to 8 months and that is a fantastic savings. I told him that I understood how the girls feel and Mother delighted in telling him what a poor "farmer's daughter" I was. Dad always gave each of us kids a row to weed and I always managed to be "sick" when it was time to weed it.

Next year he said he would bring babies. I told him that maybe that could replace the other gifts. He said that the little girl who came to them at about 30 pounds and 12 years old is still hanging in there and finally gaining a bit of weight. She had had a really rough time, but he never gives up on them. He always tries to keep kids with family if they have any that can take care of them but will not give teenage girls back to families who suddenly appear and want them. Obvious reasons. Once they are in his facility it is home as long as they need it.

So a delightful day. Mike said that he WILL be able to say the Mass next year at St. Michael's in August. His scheduled trip home will be later in the summer.

Jim and Michelle stopped by tonight and hooked up the sound, the printer and the backup on the computer so we are all set again. Now it is a matter of getting things put back and rearranging the peripherals.

Tomorrow I have my CTScan. I cannot eat or drink after 5AM so I figured I would get up early, walk the dog, shower and get the grocery shopping done so I won't be thinking about eating and drinking. If I keep busy it will go fast.

For some reason today I was thinking of Uncle John and Aunt Ruth from my previous marriage. We were talking about odd couples and I remembered them. They were married for many many years but there were at least two incidents where they got mad and wouldn't speak to each other. This is not too unusual. However, John and Ruth did not talk to each other for years. I believe their record was 5 years. Their kids were old enough to be furious with them.

Til tomorrow.




Mary

Well, it is almost 9PM and I am READY for a good night's sleep. Got up at 5:30AM because I had to be ready at 7:30AM as Time Warner was scheduled to arrive between 7:30 and 9AM. The technician arrive at about 8:30AM. Not too bad. He was really nice. When I told him where the cable jack was and that we did not think it was hot, he said that he would test it first and if it was hot he would just go away. It is hot and he said there is a good signal too. Since that was all he had to do, he did not charge us either. What a man. I was delighted.

I even got to bible study on time. We had a nice group discussion and went on our way. I stopped at Mother's next. Then home again so I would be there by noon to fix lunch and to take the call when Rachel, the nurse, called to set the time she would be coming. She called just at noon when Dick was thinking of lying down. Since she was coming at 1PM, he just stayed up. She checked his wounds and vitals. Things are looking better and we set another appointment up with her for next Monday aftenoon.

At shortly after 2PM the people from R &R Moving arrived and within an hour, they had moved all the furniture that we needed moved. They also brought in the heavier pieces of computer equipment for me. There is still a LOT of work to do. It is like when you empty your closet to clean it out and find out that you cannot get everything back in. I think items multiply when they hit the air.

Jeff stopped by while the moving people were here and looked at the area we need a wheelchair ramp. We decided that it would be best to buy one. He could build one but it would be permanent and would end up taking too much of the garage. He said that he will go with me to West Bend to look at them. I would like advice.

Now, I am going to tell you something that I am REALLY proud of. I - all by myself - moved the computers into their new spot on the desks in the living room AND HOOKED THEM UP. I first got them fired up, then went in and got the cable, attached it and reestablished our connection with Time Warner. And it WORKS. Jim and Michelle are going to come and help finish. I ran out of places to plug things in and still have the printer, the backup and the speakers to go. I could probably figure it out but Jim and Michelle are SO much better at that kind of stuff.

Anyway, the living room really looks nice. The next project after we get the final touches done will be to clean and fix up the old office into a sitting room. That will be pleasant. I also think that I need a bookcase or tape/DVD case. I think I will go through everything and perhaps get rid of some.

I went over to Kate's at about 4:00PM to join her and the CWI board on a telephone conference. We took about an hour and covered what was necessary. I hope to be able to go the Chicago in mid September for the annual meeting, especially since I will be taking over as president about then.

Michelle called tonight to be sure that we were indeed OK until tomorrow. Very kind. She also told us that Barbara, the kid's mother, will be coming home in a couple of days from the hospital. They are not sure of the prognosis, but she will be able to be home. Pray for her. Also, Michelle is having a bit of problem with the foot that has given her problems before. Pray for her too.

Bret called tonight. It is always so good to hear his voice. He is doing very well. He says he will be able to come and visit next year. He is very close to solvent and is being quite cautious and practical before he commits to any travel, except for going to his place at the river. He would LOVE to live there. Maybe some day.

Tomorrow we have two appointments in the morning, then I will be joining Mother, Uncle Pat and Aunt Joan, Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathleen and Fr. Mike Shea for lunch at noon. That will be all though. Good thing because I am tired.


Take care and be happy

Mary

We are having thunder storms with rain passing quickly through our part of the country. There was even a bit of pea sized hail bouncing around on the deck. Poor Chelsea chose to go out for a bathroom break during the worst of it. I tried to tell her it was not so pleasant but her needs were real. I stayed in the garage and she ran over beside the house to do her business.

With no Mass this morning, it seemed like a very odd Sunday to me. I have been clearing desks and trying to mark wires for the furniture and computer move which will both occur tomorrow. I did take an almost two hour nap which I must have really needed badly. I did have a rather difficult night last night. My arm started hurting so badly that I got up and did some stretches and some of the exercises that Becky gave me to try to loosen it up. Not too successful, which is why the nap was so welcome.

I do not like spiders. I was reminded by a segment on America's Funniest Home Videos. The episode showed a man crawling under a house and having a spider jump on him. Dick says spiders don't jump but that does not make sense. Dad used to try to tell me the same thing. Dad also tried to convince me that spiders are our friends. I know that they eat other insects BUT they are still icky and ugly. And there is not way you will ever convince me that a creature with 8 legs cannot jump.

Tomorrow will be triple busy with the big rearranging adventure. Poor Chelsea with have even more people coming in and out of her house. She is really getting bummed.

Have a good week.

Love

Mary

Chelsea and I slept until almost 6:30AM. That is unheard of but I wish it would happen every day the I don't have to get up earlier. We had a pleasant walk. She decided to go through the park, not the long way, but along the close side. I think the weeds that she likes to eat are now at their peak and she is liking her little snacks as we go along.

We spent the day kind of getting ready for Monday when the BIG MOVE takes place. I picked up everything from off of the floor on the couch side and stacked it so that the movers will have free space to just move furniture. I also moved the stereo away from the windows as the couch will end up there. I also cleaned out the paper and envelopes from the shelves of the desk that sits in front of our desks. This also holds the printer and fax machine. We are going to replace the fax machine as the catch shelves have broken and it is will over 10 years old and kind of bulky. We really doubt that we would be able to replace the shelves or even at this point find the ink and toner cartridges.

Dick did a lot of cleaning of his desk. We still have tomorrow and part of Monday. Time Warner will be here early on Monday to move the computer jack. I figure they can help us move stuff too or at least tell us what gets plugged in.

This is the first week of the new Mass schedule and I was a little disappointed. Fr. Van Beeck was kind of nervous about getting to Elkhart on time and asked us to do without a sermon. I hope this will not be a pattern. I like his sermons and actually since our bible study does a preread and discussion, I like to hear his comments on the readings. We will certainly be shortchanged if we do not hear his sermons.

Tonight we watched a little bit of Lawrence Welk on PBS. We were watching Big Tiny Little play the piano and it reminded me of when I was very young. Nora and I both took piano lessons when we were young from Cyrilla Danks who was a friend of Mother's and the organist and choir director for St. Mary's Church. She was a good teacher and we were good students but we definitely did not have that SPARK. I know that I was a plodding "by the book" pianist. I could sight read but was not able to shine. It has been very helpful to me throughout my life however. In choir it is a great asset and did I tell you I wrote a song? Well I did. Beth Hoegger is going to help me get it into a music program on her computer. It is a very simple song but pleasant, I think.

Tomorrow, since I am now going to Mass on Saturday's will be an at home day and we can get everything ready for the moving and Time Warner people.

Have a good Sunday.

Mary

Chelsea and I started our day with a nice brisk walk as we usually do. It was very pleasant weather for walking and the mosquitoes were not swarming.

Sarah, the physical therapist, came a bit after 8AM. She called on her way for directions being aware that Highland Avenue is in the middle of a construction mess. She helped me figure out what length we need for a ramp, now we have to start shopping around to find exactly what we want and also to determine if we can afford it.

Dick reviewed his exercises with her also.

I called the moving company that we used when we came here and they will come Monday at about 2PM to help us move the furniture from room to room. I also called Time Warner and they will send someone on Monday morning to get the hookup ready for the computer transfers.

Dick used the shower bench for the second time and with the few changes we made he is much more comfortable. Standing is just too hard.

I had lunch with my bank buddies today. It has been several weeks so I had a lot to hear about. Everybody is well and we had a good gabby lunch. Even under new ownership, they still have the grilled cheese sandwich. That makes me happy.

This evening, as instructed by Jim and Michelle, I left the house at 5PM. My friend, Nancy, could not go after all so I did not go out shooting. Instead I went to the Exchange Bank for an egg salad sandwich and a latte, then walked back up to the Art Center for the opening of the new exhibit. The main artist is a Dolores Marusarz. She was there and is charming. As charming as her paintings. If you want to see her work, her website is http://marusart.tripit.com. There were two pieces I would like to have if I had more money and more wall space. There were two artists displayed in what they call, the Alcove. Gary Zimmerman, a photographer, was one of them and I had a nice talk with him. He has two also that I would like. One is a fox kit peeking around a tree, the other a beautiful shot of the sky from inside an old silo. Hard to explain. I told him about my red winged blackbird and showed him the poem and picture in my book.

My friend Beth Hoegger played piano for the reception. She IS really good and it was a pleasure listening to her. She gets called for the Art Center occasionally.

I also saw other friends. Linda, who went to school with my sister Dolores, I think her maiden name was Sebald, Rosalie Hartman and Peter Ullrich. So I had a good time. The art would have been enough.

I did a bit of shopping after I left the opening and then came home. I WAS 10 minutes early but they let me in anyway. Our house is sparkling. Jim and Michelle worked like whirling dervishes. They cleaned the living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathrooms. Jim even got the fan blades for me. And Michelle got the fronts of all the appliances and the corners of the kitchen floor. I hope they realize what a big help this is to us and how grateful we are for them being here for us.

It rained again tonight. It started just before we left the Art Center and it just poured. The skies literally opened and the rain tumbled down. The light was just right because as we left we all saw a gorgeous full rainbow in the sky. It was still in its full glory when I arrived at Walgreens but by the time I left it had faded. Rainbows mean good luck and are the promise of God so things are looking pretty good about now.

Have a good weekend.

Love you all

Mary

Today was a better day. I realized yesterday the my arm and shoulder hurt much less, at least for most of the day. I was sore again by morning but went in for PT again today. I think it is working. Becky said that the muscles seem much more relaxed, so I have hope.

I had Dick come along with me to my therapy which was at 7:30AM because he had an appointment with the orthopedic specialist Shawn Murphy for a re-x-ray of Dick's right knee. He reaffirmed that the knee is "collapsing" and the the only treatment is a knee replacement. HOWEVER, he had some hope. He said that sometimes these collapsing knees will wear smooth and flatten out and kind of heal. At least they become better and the pain is not as intense. People get along quite will with care and walkers and mild exercise. Sounds like a good hope to us. We are to continue as we are and have set up a meeting with an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Lane for six weeks from now. Lets all pray and cross our fingers.

We got home at about 10:30AM. And I did not have to leave again all day. So. I caught up on wash, phone calls and some things for Dick.

I have a call in for a proper wheel chair cushion. Mary M. is concerned that Dick should have a proper cushion so that sores do not develop. Apparently this is a common problem so we want to ward it off.

Tomorrow, I am going to have Sarah, the PT, check my measurements of the steps so that I can order a wheel chair ramp so that we can get Dick out of the house without him having to step down those stairs. I am also going to call a mover, the one who moved us here, to see if they also do furniture rearranging. I measured the rooms and the big furniture and think we have it all figured out.

The only exit to our street is Highland Avenue. Highland Avenue is being rebuilt this summer. It is all torn up and blocked off. We now have to go several blocks out of the way to get out or to get back in. This will be until August. It is an adventure - sometimes we have to stop and wait for them to move the machines to let us in or out. I hope they at least smooth out the road in the process. It has been very bumpy all this time.

I remember when I lived in California. There was a road that was a main thoroughfare and ran right by Costa Mesa Community College which was a VERY busy 2 year college. Every year they would tear it up in August just before registration began at the college and finish the construction project in about February. Then the following August they would dig it up again.

Tomorrow night I will go to the opening of the new exhibit at the Plymouth Art Center. My friend Beth Hoegger, the choir director at Blessed Trinity, is playing as part of the musical entertainment. She doesn't know I am coming. That will be fun.


I guess that's all folks. The day is winding down and so am I. Chelsea is hinting that she thinks that I should be heading off to bed and I think she is right.

So. Until tomorrow. I will tell you about the art exhibit.

Mary