This was a strange day. Chelsea and I had our walk, of course, but had to cut it short because we were trucking along pretty good when I heard thunder in the sky so I decided that we had better get home. Thunder can be an indication of lightening AND heavy rain and I did not want to be stuck out in that. Chelsea is so deaf that she does not hear thunder any more, but she is an agreeable little thing and if I head back that is where we go.

I picked up Kate at about 9AM and we went to get the Share and sign up for next month. That went well, I picked up Jim and Michelle's Share also as Jim had a doctor's appointment this morning at about the same time. Then Kate wanted to go and get some breakfast so I went with her and I had a cup of coffee as I had already eaten. Then we hooked Dick up to the sequential for his first session. Then after lunch, I cleaned his legs and wounds and rewrapped the legs. The wrapping with the tubes IS keeping the swelling down.

At about 2:30 I left to go to Bobbie and Bill's to feed my kitties. They are on vacation. I also got to glean from Bobbie's garden. The tomatoes are marvelous. The plants themselves got a fungus and Bobbie is really irritated, but the tomatoes that had already set are just fine and delicious. My kitties seemed glad to see me and let me pet them and hold them. I miss them so very much. Maybe if we get the by law changed, I can have them back by Christmas. I sure hope so. I makes me so sad without them.

Jim and Michelle had to take their Boots to the veterinarian today. We now know that there is NOT a Vet on call in Plymouth on Saturday or Sunday. They had to take him to Port Washington. He had blood in his urine and is now set up with pain pills and they will probably have to change is food after they see the vet again next week. Poor little guy.

After I left my kitties, I went directly to church for mass. Now, tomorrow, the only thing I will have to do is go to take care of the kitties in the afternoon. Jim and Michelle are going with me. Maybe that will be easier.

Here is a quote from Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul by a Jean Cocteau about Kitties. "I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul."

The evening has been quiet. I called Bart and Barb because I had not heard from them for a while and then my brother George called. It is good to have people who care about you call. I am just tired.

We had pork and lima beans for supper. Was that ever good. I prepare the lima beans with cheese and cream of mushroom soup and it is SO good.

Tomorrow will be quiet and maybe I can settle my soul.

Love

Mary

This was warm humid day. The temps were not too bad but the air was heavy. I spent the morning catching up on emails to people that I owed them to. And I got Dick on the sequential compressor once. Did I tell you that when walking the other morning, I saw a tree that has allowed one of its branches to turn color already? What is that all about, it is only mid August, way too early.

This noon, I joined the bank people at Dairy Queen. That was a pleasant break. While I was out, I picked up Dick's prescription and a couple of bargains at Walgreens. Then this afternoon, we changed Dick's dressings and did another compression before the kids came over. Jim and Michelle cleaned AND helped me get my database address books into a place where I can print them again. So along with cleaning, they had to be technicians and then cooks and card players too. Whew. What WOULD we do without them.

My friend Nancy picked me up at 4:15PM and we went out to Rhine to shoot pistol. Then we ate at Culvers before going to her house to visit for a while. We go back a long way as we graduated from high school together and were in the same school from kindergarten on, though not always in the same class. The only years we were not in the same school were the two and a half years I spent in the convent.

We did come to the conclusion that we were in different kindergarten classes as she remembers one of her classmates coming to school in a pink tutu and doing a ballet dance for the class. I would have remembered that for sure. We always have a lot to talk about past and present. It is good to have such friends around. On the way home we swung by Culvers and picked up a scoop of Oreo Landscape custard for Dick. He was pleased. I like to bring him treats.

I have been reading about Travels through Celtic Holy Ground also referred to as "Thin Places". This is a very interesting concept. To quote, my first source. A 'thin place' is a place where the veil between this world and the Other world is thin, the Other world is more near.' Cemeteries can be such places and I believe I felt one when I was soaring up above the ground in the parasail many years ago.

Take care and have a good weekend.
Mary

A rather quiet day after yesterdays cleaning frenzy.

I slept until almost 6:30AM. It was kind of cool again, in the upper 50s. Nice for walking.

I picked Mom up at 9:30Am and took her to see Dr. Nytes to have her hearing aids checked and cleaned. The doctor upped the volume a little bit and gave her some tips as to how to adjust them. I think this will help Mom. I went in with her because as Kathy Keyes told me once, Four ears are better than two.

Got home in time for lunch and then spent the afternoon kind of writing and puttering around. This evening, heard from Jim and Michelle, they were answering phones for a telethon for the 106FM CAP fund and were on the internet to be viewed, so we watched them for a while. They sure have a wonderful TV presence. We called and pledged a bit to the fund.

When they got home, they brought us treats. Muffins and cookies. Guess what we are having for breakfast tomorrow.

Love

Mary

A rather nice day. Pleasant temperatures and a lot accomplished. I even got to sleep til almost 6:30AM. Dick shut Chelsea out of the room for a while which helped. They were putting the second layer of blacktop on Highview today. This turned out to be very traumatic for me. The crew blocked off ALL ways out of Tallgrass. One had to kind of just be ready to go out or in whatever of the three ways they had open. It took a mind reader. I am not handling stress very well these days but I believe that the worst is over now.

I went grocery shopping at about 8:30AM. All went well. I got home by 10AM having shopped, stopped at the bank AND filled the gas tank on the car. When I got home we got Dick hooked up to his compression machine. We got all three sessions in today and changed the dressings and re wrapped the legs. The swelling is a bit down so we will continue with the wraps.

I went to Rhine for lunch. It was the bust up party for the summer league. I was only able to shoot once because of the sore neck and arm, but figured that I might as well enjoy the bust up. Good thing I did. Doc needed help cleaning up the kitchen. He asked if I had time and since I arrived close to the end and had about a hour I was able to help him. I brought home some Sloppy Joe mix and potato salad. That will be a good meal for Dick, Jim and Michelle on Friday. I have rolls.

I got to stay home the rest of the day and even got a little nap. I also canned a couple of jars of refrigerator pickles and worked on some of the computer projects that I HAVE to get done by the weekend. I need to finish a writeup for the worship folder for Celtic Mass and I need to get a quick letter off to my CWI group.

Friday, Nancy and I are going to go out to Rhine and shoot some pistol. We can take our time and then go somewhere for a sandwich or something.

Tomorrow, I only have one errand. I will be driving Mother to see Dr. Nytes, her ear doctor. She needs her hearing aid checked. The NEW one seems to be having a volume control problem and they both need cleaning.

The rest of the day is mine, I hope.

We had Kraft Tangy Spaghetti for supper tonight. Dick has been hungry for that for a while, so I decided that this was a good night for it. That is about the best package spaghetti around.

Have a nice Thursday.

Mary

Here is a quote from Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul that I found really touching. A Steve Smith wrote this in his story. "Chris was the archetypal freckle-faced little guy with missing teeth and chubby cheeks. He had the knack of looking sad and pitiful even when he was happy. When he was broken hearted, the angels held their breath."

What a day. I am exhausted. I woke up at about 6AM and Chelsea and I had a lovely walk. It looks like they are working on Highview Avenue again. They oiled the road and I hope they put another layer of blacktop soon because there are big bumps at all the intersections and the cars really get bumped around.

During the night, Dick's foot start seeping again and there was a blood path from the bedroom to the kitchen to his chair and back again. So, this was a busy day. I soaked up the blood with a vinegar and water mixture, then vacuumed, then ran the carpet cleaner over all. By tomorrow it will be dry and I will vacuum again. Poor Dick. We seem to finally have it all stopped. Tonight I redressed everything and there is no sign of bleeding.

I left at 11:30 to go to the Clinic to pick up some meds from Dorothy at Dr. Moreno's office. I had called this morning to ask for help. Dr. Moreno told me what to do about the bleeding, the swelling and dressing the wound on the right foot. They gave me a dressing which is what I picked up. Then I had lunch with my friend Esther Hasler. Esther is a friend from Blessed Trinity and is moving towards the end of September to Florida to be near one of her sons. We had a really nice lunch at the restaurant at the airport. We had a nice lunch, both opting for Paninis.

Then I went to Cappelle's and bought some corn for dinner. So we had corn and tomatoes. Always a good meal.

I FINALLY have Dick's wounds dressed and DRY ( they got wet after I changed them the first time because we forgot that the carpet was wet from the shampooing. DUH!!), I put fresh tubes AND wrapped them with ace bandages. Now he is in bed and I hope the swelling will go down. I got a lot of instructions from Dr. Moreno when I called this morning and did EVERYTHING.

Now I am tired too.

An Irving Townsend said "a family cat is not replaceable like a worn-out coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes his own cat and none is repeated. I am four-cats old, measuring out my life in friends that have succeeded, but not replaced one another."

Isn't it interesting to think of oneself as "four cats old."

Dr. Fehrman's nurse called this morning. His stint procedure with Dr. Siddique is still on for 8/27 and Dr. Fehrman will do his surgery the next day. Pray for us.

Love

Mary

What a day. Chelsea and I had a very nice walk, though my knee and feet are still sore from all the walking at Irishfest yesterday. We didn't see any other walkers out there this morning. That is a bit unusual.

I went to bible study at 9AM as usual. There were 5 of us there this morning. We are a strange little group but keep plugging along. We had a lot of good discussions and I collected some more people to pray fro Dick this afternoon when we had our appointment with the Orthapedic surgeon, Dr. Fehrman. Ione was able to tell me that a mutual friend had Dr. Fehrman operate on him and was very pleased with him. That is always reassuring.

Then I went over to Mother's house. I took her some scones and Cauldron Cakes. Didn't have any meals for her as we did not really eat at home during the weekend. But she will enjoy the breads.

When I got home I had time to hook Dick up for his second Sequential Compression before I went to Writers Club. I decided to go because it is only an hour and Dick needed to rest some more anyway. When I got home, he was sleeping. When he got up, I went down for an hour before we had to go to see Dr. Fehrman. Boy Did I Sleep!

We had to wait until almost 5PM to see him. Our appointment was for 4:30PM but they were way behind. Dr. Fehrman seems very nice. He showed us the MRI and what the infection looks like. It is on the side of the bone in the toe and all the way down the bone on that side of the foot. He had three treatments. 1. Pump it full of antibiotics. But with Dick's lack of circulation, this is not a very practical solution. 2. They could remove or scrape off the part of the bone that appears infected. There is always a chance that they can't get it all AND this would not solve the problem of the healing wound. OR 3. They can remove the little toe and the adjoining bone. This would insure that the infected bone is gone and maybe give him the ability to pull the flesh together which would mean that instead of a gaping hole of a wound, there would be basically a surgical scar which would heal much easier. We are opting for three. Dr. Fehrman is coordinating with Dr. Siddique and Dr. Moreno to see about circulation solutions as we do have that procedure for another stent scheduled with Dr. Siddique. They will get back to us in a day or two with arrangements. Thanks for all the prayers, I will keep you informed. We are rather relieved because when we heard "bone infection" we got all kinds of REALLY bad thoughts and this is the least of them.

Tonight was exciting. I cleaned the wounds and put the dry dressing on his left foot. Then I called Mom to report on what had happened and suddenly Dick was calling because the left foot was bleeding rather profusely and there were blood spots all over the carpet. I told Mom I'd call her back and recleaned and dressed the wound with a compression patch and a more protective seal. Then I cleaned the carpet. Richard called from Madison in the middle of that. We were glad of that. He talked to Dick and found out what was happening before the blog even. Quite a coup. They are well and I am happy he called and had a good talk with Dick.

Now things are quiet and it is after 9PM and I am very tired and going to go to bed. Tomorrow the only thing scheduled is lunch with a friend. I will pick up corn for our dinner. With me being gone, we did not have our usual weekend meal of corn and tomatoes.
Have to catch up.

Take care. I love you all.

Mary.


"good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience - this is the ideal live." Mark Twain

Well, the bus trip that I organized for the Celtic Women was today. It was a great success. We had almost all our seats filled, plenty to pay for the bus, parking and give our driver Bill a nice tip.

We left the Kmart parking lot at 7:30, got to the grounds at about 8:45. We all went into the Marcus Ampitheatre for the Mass which was spectacular. There were thousands of people there. All enthusiastically singing along with the seated choir. We had TWO bishops Bishop Callahan, our new Milwaukee Diocese Auxiliary Bishop and Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway, Ireland. We also had lots of priests and they had enough Eucharistic Ministers that communion only took 10 minutes.

After Mass we all scattered to the grounds. Kate and I got lunch right away because we were starved. I dropped Mary Schultze's painting at the baggage check place that is on the ground and prayed that she was indeed going to be there because I didn't want to haul it home again. As it turned out, she marched in the parade with the Celtic Women (yes, I got to march in the parade at IrishFest) and I gave her the pick up slip then. I told her that if she had NOT come, I figured I would just TAKE it home and hang it because I do love it. It is a watercolor of people carrying the Irish Flag in a parade.

After we ate, we walked to the north end of the grounds and came back along the lake shore, stopping at the Children's Stage to listen to Tom Sweeney for a while. I first heard him when he sang in a group called Barley Bree many years ago. He sang with his brother and another guy and they did some great stuffl. Now he performs alone. He does two shows a day at Irish Fest. One early for the kids and one later on a bigger stage. We left before the later one so I made sure to see the Kid's show.

Next on to the Cultural Village where Kate ran into some O'Hara's from Sligo. Her mother was and O'Hara so Kate is a happy camper. We found my friend Cindy Matyi, She brought her prints AND the children's book that she wrote, Little Town of Spirals. Kate bought one and a print or two. I need to put Cindy back on the prayer chains. She still has the cancer. They are holding it at bay with radiation, but can't cure it or get it in remission. So Remember her, and her daughter who still needs prayer too.

We met Nancy and her friend Kathy at the Harp tent where I listened to a couple of songs then headed off to the Irishfest Song Circle which is SO much fun. There were at least 20 people in the circle and I was able to stay long enough to get once around. Each person has to sing a song and if the crowd knows it they join in. I sang Tom O'Connor's Wedding day.

I left in time to meet the others at the parade gathering spot. On the way, I picked up a my Irishfest glass of mead and stopped at the Tipperary Tea Room for a piece of Guiness Chocolate Cheese Cake.

There were not too many of us in the parage. Mary Schultze, Gail McAleese, Joan Kramer, Sheila Isaacson and me. We were joined by three others on the route, including Nancy and Kathy. Then it was time to head to the bus and come home. Got home just about 6PM. Dick and Chelsea were glad to see me. It is nice to come home to a happy welcome.

Dick had Bobbie pick me up an anniversary present. It is a neat tea for one pot. She and I saw them when we went to Richardson's to their tea room. We were both so impressed with it. Now I won't be having tea dripping all over the desk or the top falling into the cup. My other one does that. It is SO pretty but so messy. I can hardly wait to try the new one.

This evening I went out on the deck and heard cranes calling. I looked in the direction of the noise and three of them were flying. What a joy.

THEN: When I took Chelsea out, I saw a toad sitting next to the garage trying not to be noticed.

It was all together a very enjoyable day.

Hope yours was too.

Mary

I was in bed already when I remembered you all.

It was our anniversary today. Dick and I have been married 22 years. We went to Sweet Basil for dinner, our first time out in months. It was nice and Dick enjoyed it too. We got a gift from Sweet Basil of a dessert and champagne toast for our anniversary so took advantage of it.

We got lots of cards and some beautiful flowers from Jim and Michelle.

Now I am tired and will go to sleep. You have sweet dreams too.

Mary

Chelsea and I had a very pleasant walk this morning. She took me to the right around the park and through the woods today. Lately, we turn left more often than not. I leave that up to her. There were several walkers out this morning and we went out pretty close to 6AM too.

I had changed his dressings this morning. Then when I was all done, Darlene from Dr. Moreno's office told me that he said I should just put a dry dressing on the worst sore because Dr. Fehrman had called and made an appointment to see Dick at 4:30PM on Monday. I am just to keep it clean and dry. I am out of the dressing that he gave me anyway and would have to buy 5 packages which will not be here until Monday if I get any. I am just going to keep both wounds clean and dry and pray that it is right.

I spent the morning doing a bit of cleaning and getting things organized for Sunday. I also realized that I have two days to come up with a cover for the Celtic Mass worship folder and I can also write up a cover sheet. What to write, what to write.

At 12:30PM I joined Betty, Ceil and Joyce at the Dairy Queen. That was a welcome break in the week. When I got home, I hooked Dick up to the sequential compression machine.
and got done with that before Jim and Michelle came over at 4PM. Then I did a bit of shopping and went over to Ron and Kate's. Kate and I went to Mass at 6:30PM. It is the Feast of the Assumption and a holy day. Then we ate and I got home at 8:05PM. I think Dick was kind of sad that I was a bit late. He just does not feel well. I am worried about him.

Now Chelsea is whimpering at me. I think she wants to go to bed. All she ever wants is food, water, a walk or bed and she has had the first three.

When I lived in Huntington Beach, the boys had a hamster for over two years. He was a nice hamster and they named him Spike. He was kept up in Bart's bedroom. I think I told you about him before. He would escape once in a while but I could always get him back the next morning by getting up early and going down to the kitchen. There he would be scooting along the edge of the room. I'd just pick him up and take him back up to his cage.

My boys liked having pets and were very good to them. I like having pets too, obviously.

Take care. The weekend is supposed to be very pleasant. No rain and sunshine. Perfect August weather.

Love

Mary

Boy did we have rain today. It was really nice when Chelsea and I went out walking. It was actually a little cool but the sun soon warmed us both up.

I spent the morning working on getting things ready for the Irishfest Bus trip. If Candy is right, we now have a full bus. Whew. Things were getting a bit tight. Then after lunch, Dick and I headed for Sheboygan Memorial for his MRI. That is when the rain started. It was sprinkling when we pulled out of the garage but it turned into a full blown cloudburst as we were going down Highway 23. I HATE driving in that kind of rain. One always is afraid of hydroplaning. EEEWWW.

But we got there alright. They have valet parking at the hospital and believe you/me, we took advantage of it today. They are ALWAYS helpful getting Dick into the wheelchair and into the building whether I park or they do. We were there right at 12:15 for our 12:30 appointment. Which is what we were told to do. Then they were behind. An in patient had come in with lots of problems and Dick was not taken in until 1:15 or so. Then the process which the technician told him would take 35 minutes lasted well over an hour. He did not get back out to me until 2:30. I guess the process itself is 35 minutes but this does not account for the time of preparation and changing. He was so uncomfortable as this is all done on his back and he is miserable on his back. BUT it is done. Now we have to wait to hear from Dr. Moreno as to the results and the next steps.

By the time we got out the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. So the trip home was just fine. Dick pretty much just headed for bed for a nap.

We had an early supper and he rested again. It is now about 7:30 and we are doing a second Sequential Compression before I go to bed. I am really tired and will be very glad to get to bed.

I was talking to someone on Sunday at the Reunion of the Clans picnic and was telling about the Clifford Crest and remembered that as young kids, we always believed, probably from something that Dad said, that we came from royalty. Ireland was after all an island of kings. We called our home Deeleyville and I remember dressing George up in robes and a Crown and calling him the King od Deeleyville when he was just a little guy. Kind of nice to feel that you are royal and special from the time you are young.

Love

Mary

I read that in the Torah it says something like this. "Every child has the right to believe that God created the world Just for him."

A typical Wednesday. Dick shut Chelsea out of the bedroom so I got to sleep until a little after 6AM. Could have done better if my body did not start aching, but it did.

We had a nice walk. There had been rain during the night but we managed to walk "between the drops" and it was very pleasant.

I then took a shower and zipped off to the bank and Mc Donalds for the first of my morning errands. We, as I said yesterday, have half a date being as I bring breakfast in. Dick had a big breakfast and I had a bacon egg and cheese biscuit. When we opened everything up, Dick had a big breakfast DELUXE which also has pancakes. He can't even eat a big breakfast so we put the biscuit and the pancakes aside for another meal.

Then I went to the Pig to do our shopping. I was totally dis-com-bub-erated. (sound it out). First, I picked out a product that I thought had Pig Points for gas and questioned that. (I was wrong) Then I had forgotten to hand in my Brewer 4 point for a home run coupon, so had to go back for that. They are so very nice at the Pig. After two years I really feel at home there.

We were able to spend the rest of the day at home. I baked some cupcakes. I made Cauldron Cakes. A recipe that I found from Harry Potter. They are very good. I did add my own frosting, a brown sugar cooked frosting which really sets them off. I think Harry and his friends would like them even better.

Tonight we had chicken and spinach with potatoes for dinner. Dick had peas and I had sweet potato for our veggies.

It is getting much closer to Irishfest. I only have three empty seats on the bus now, much better than five. But feel free to join us. I am trying to contact the Celtic Women to be sure that I connect with all who are there. I have pulled a schedule and am going to be sure that I don't frantically run around like a chicken with a head cut off this year. I want to find some Heather and Moss soap and find Cindy Matyi and listen to Tom Sweeney and find my CWI friends. Then I want to join the song circle for at least an hour.

For some reason or other I remembered a story my ex husband experienced. He worked on putting together sport fishing boats. As he said, they are the kind of boat that if you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it.

He went out on a shake down cruise with an owner and with a fellow worker who was really a dork. They did some fishing while on the cruise and hooked up a shark. Not a real big one but a shark. This goofy friend stepped out on the back step and reached down to pull the shark in managing to stick his arm right in the fish's mouth. Chomp. Fortunately it let go almost as fast as it bit, BUT they had to abort the cruise and take him in to the doctor on Catalina. He suffered for a long time from that bite. Shark bites don't heal easily. Apparently, it was a really dumb thing to do because my ex was more irritated than worried about his friend.

Have a nice Thursday. Pray for us as Dick gets his MRI.

Love

Mrry

We were able to stay home all day today. Chelsea and I went for our walk at 6AM. It was cool again. Ran into one of the regulars, Tim, and he said that it felt like Fall to him. I love walking in that cool air though.

Rachel, from the VNA, came today to check Dick out. We are having her come every other week. I don't want to lose that support. We are really managing OK but she is another help. I am afraid of being alone. Thursday, Dick has his MRI and we will know if there is any damage to the bone.

I cleaned the downstairs bathroom and kitchen today. I also added the "river" to my quilted wall hanging. It was a pretty good day.

We had red beans and rice and Italian Sausages for supper tonight. It was quite good.

Today was Leslie's birthday AND her and Bill's wedding anniversary. I sent e cards and hope they know that we are thinking of them. Dick and I have our anniversary on Saturday. We are going to go to the Sweet Basil Restaurant for dinner to celebrate. We know they have easy access and we REALLY want to go on a date. I miss our breakfast dates. On Wednesdays, we would go grocery shopping and always went out to breakfast. We called them our dates and really loved them.

Tomorrow I am getting take out from Mc Donalds so we can have half a date anyway.

Have a special hump day.

Love

Mary

Another LONG day. I am very tired and we are almost smack in the middle of the Packer's First pregame. Whew. So far I am not sure. I need to figure out who all the players are. Right now both teams have scored twice, but we are behind, as the Bengals got two touchdowns and we had one and a field goal.

Chelsea and I had a crisp walk this morning. The temperature was 51 when we headed out. I actually like that. It makes for very comfortable walking. They were getting ready to put the asphalt on Highview. Sure will be glad when that is done. They seem to be pretty much done for now as they were done with the first layer before Dick and I came home from the doctor this afternoon. The barricades are down and everything.


I went to bible study at 9:30AM. We had a pretty good turnout and lively discussions. The readings were about the Lord expecting us to welcome EVERYBODY at the table. And the readings were from both the Old and New Testaments.

Then I went to visit Mom. She was nicely rested from the busy day at the picnic yesterday. I brought her some Jello and coleslaw which she was happy for. I had a couple of things to do for her and then headed for home so Dick and I could lunch and get to Sheboygan to see Dr. Moreno.

Things are mixed there. There was another blister on his right foot but it had drained so Dr. Moreno cleaned it up and dressed it. The wound itself looks pretty good. Wish we could say the same for the left foot. The wound is down to the bone and bleeding. Dr. Moreno has set up an MRI. After the results of that we may have to see a surgeon to work on it. I don't understand totally, but apparently there is great danger of infection in the bone and this must be removed. So pray for good results and good doctoring. The MRI is Thursday.

Home again. I watered all the pots and filled the birdbath. Then I worked on various paperwork. I have one more person signed up for the trip. Luanne called and does not have another person so we are down to four empty seats. I am hoping for more from the ad in the
Blessed Trinity bulletin.

Well, As soon as Dick is done "sequential compressing" I will go to bed. I probably will not sleep well until the game is over, but I will try. Tomorrow, we will be home all day. I am SO glad.


Mary

WINNERS VS. LOSERS

Losers quit when they are tired.
Winners quit when they have won.


Author unknown

Hi.

This was a perfect day. We had an August day that was in the low 70s, clear and dry. Chelsea and I had a lovely walk this morning. We saw three other dogs in our travels and Chelsea was quite excited about that.

I picked up Mother at about noon and we went out to Parnell to St. Michaels. I took the Clifford Crest Banner to share and I pulled the Clifford part out of my computer genealogy information.

Jeff and Kathy and Dolores and Ken and Mother and I represented the Bowser/Clifford families from St. Michaels. We saw lots of people that made Mother feel good. She visited for quite a while with Bud Dwyer. Bud Dwyer's brother George started school with Mother. Also, Jack Slattery, who knows so many people that Mother does. Rosemary Mugan was there also and joined us for lunch. We are looking forward to next Sunday for IrishFest. Peg Payne was there too. We had a wonderful lunch. Delicious sandwiches, fruit, veggies and potato salad with cake for dessert.

Jeff had tshirts made for us with the Clifford family crest. I will send pictures in the next couple of days. He and Kathy also brought veggies, cukes, zucchini and dill. I was able to share them with Jim and Michelle.

Anyway It was a great day and I am happy.

Love you all

Mary.

Friday. It was a busy day but moved at a gentle pace. Chelsea and I headed out for our walk shortly after 6AM in the cool of the morning. We ran into several other walkers, including our friend with the cane who is a sister in law of the neighbor across the street. Chelsea was very excited about the golden retriever that we passed on the walk.

The morning was spent putting Dick on the sequential, shopping for fruits and veggies at Cappelles and preparing a poster for tomorrow's Reunion of the Clans about the bus trip to Milwaukee Irish Fest. We had soup and burritos for lunch which really tasted good today. We must have been hungry.

I went to the 4PM Mass at St. John's. I have been a Eucharistic minister almost every mass as Fr. Van Beeck has added a station for the host but the schedule does not reflect this. So, I have been going up to fill in the sixth person and then the seventh shows up. Father must be telling one of the scheduled people to hold back. We had a teacher from the Catholic Schools in Milwaukee's inner city speaking to us to ask for funds. This was our mission Sunday. She was very interested and is obviously very dedicated to her charges. She told a story of telling a young student that if he learned his math she would take him to Mc Donalds for lunch. He Did It. So one noon, they walked down the street and she bought him a lunch. He ate half of it and then stopped. She knew that he usually wolfed down whatever was in front of him so she pressed him a bit and found out that he was planning on taking the rest back with him for his brother who had helped him pass the course. Needless to say, after her tears, they bought another meal and went back to school to share it with his brother.

Lots of good people out there and lots of kids who need to be able to be treated or at least not be hungry ever again.

Love

Mary

Fridays have kind of become my day. This morning, Dick managed to keep Chelsea away from me until almost 6:15AM so I got a GOOD nights sleep. We had a very nice walk. Saw a couple of other walkers which is always pleasant. Lots of bird singing and it smells SO nice this time of year.

Spent the morning, hooking Dick up to the Sequential compression machine, showering, cleaning my desk, trying to catch up on the computer. I had a nice visit with our neighbors Harold and Helen Wendorf. Harold called me over to see a clock that he had made. It is marvelous. A Brewer clock. It is in the shape of the state of Wisconsin with a Brewer decal for the clock face, a small Brewer hat on it in three dimension. He said he enjoys making clock and has made over 200 Packer Clocks. Wow. Bet he will have a lull in that for a bit because of Farve's escapades. (As Michelle said, and she is right, I am sure there were problems on both sides, but I still think Farve has been acting like a spoiled brat. This is not the first year he tried to keep everybody on a cliff until the last minute. This year it did not work. ) I just hope that Aaron Rogers does well. He is young but needs to get his chance. I hope the fans will remember that HE was not the decider of this whole fiasco.

I had lunch with my bank friends at Dairy Queen. That was fun. They are lovely ladies and such fun. My friend Ceil was talking about their trip to the horse races. They go once a year apparently. Ceil just waited until the end of the day and then took all her bets to the window to have them checked instead of keeping out her winning stubs. Apparently the ticket man was not to civil but Ceil just laughed and figured that that was his problem.

Got home in time to hook Dick up again before Jim and Michelle arrived to clean and send me on my way. I met Bobbie at Marcus Theatres in Sheboygan at 3:30PM. We went to see the new XFiles movie. We both loved it. I found out that the gift cards that I have left are still good and I have enough for another movie. Yippee. Bobbie and I want to do this again anyway. We need to wait for a change in the movies though. There isn't much else there that we want to pay for.

On the way home, I stopped at the Plymouth Art Center to see the new exhibit. It is the night of the Jazz Crawl. I viewed the exhibit and ran into a few friends. The new exhibit is fiber art and is WONDERFUL . It gives me courage to work on my projects. I zipped through the silent auction and put my bid in on three items. I always figure that if I am the first bid and it is early and I can afford the total if I have to I can bid on those kind of things. Then I came home. Jim, Michelle and Dick were finishing up a card game. Jim and Michelle left planning on going to the Jazz Crawl. I hope they did as it is a wonderful experience and they deserve special things.

Now I can wind down for the night. Whew. I AM pretty relaxed. It is nice to be looking forward to a pleasant weekend.

A Sydney Smith said "When you rise in the morning, form a resolution to make the day a happy one for a fellow creature."

Mary

Dick let Chelsea bounce on the bed to wake me up at 6AM on the dot because we had to be at the Plymouth Clinic by 7:45AM to see Dr. Lang, the bone specialist, about his knee. So Chelsea and I went for our walk but I made her turn around a bit sooner than she liked because I had to get us all fed, including Boots AND take my shower before we left. I was a hoppin' but we got out in plenty of time.

We are very happy with what Dr. Lang had to say. Since Dick is not hurting like he was, and the since the second X-Ray showed no deterioration, he said that we should be OK. He does not think that a knee replacement will be needed unless something else causes an injury or something. So we can concentrate on the other problems. Dick says that he thinks the doctors are graduating much too young. This guy is really young.

Then we had to go into the Sheboygan Clinic to have his blood thinness checked. He was at exactly 3 which is at the top end but within the parameters.. He won't have to be checked until September now unless he has to go on antibiotics or something. Then the new nurse, Deb, will hopefully be established at the Plymouth Clinic so we will not have to go into Sheboygan for it.

I stopped at Discovery World and paid for the rest of the bus to Irishfest, stopped at the bank and headed home. We were home before 10AM and I got to stay home for the whole rest of the day.

Jim and Michelle got home shortly after lunch. They had a successful and enjoyable trip. I invited them over for dinner as I had just put a pork tenderloin into the slow cooker and then I would have someone to eat sweet potatoes with me. We got some from Share and I know that Michelle likes them even if Jim and Dick don't.

I baked sour dough bread and zucchini bread today too. So I was on a cooking frenzy again today. Tomorrow will be much easier for me.

The dinner was good too. I had a salad and potatoes and peas with it and then we had ice cream cones for dessert.

Did I tell you I talked to Bart the other day. He sounded good and said they are well. I do miss my boys. Of course, they are not my little guys any more. I remember when they fit in my arms. They fit until they were about 10. When they got so big that their head didn't fit on my shoulder when they were sitting on my lap, it was kind of hard on me. My little boys weren't little any more. And they are so far away.

Tomorrow late afternoon, Jim and Michelle are coming over to clean again and spend time with Dick. I called Bobbie and we are going to see the new X Files movie. That should be fun. I think I will have lunch with my bank buddies tomorrow.

It was a beautiful day today. Warm but not too humid. It is supposed to stay that way through the weekend. The Reunion of the Clans picnic at St. Michaels out at Parnell will be a really pleasant experience. It is so comfortable and so odd to be picnicking amid the gravestones of those who came before.


Love

Mary

Hello - Here it is Wednesday already. Tomorrow Jim and Michelle will be home from their trip already. I spent some time with Boots again this evening. He played with his toy but will not cuddle. I sure miss my Oscar. That cat knows HOW to cuddle.

Dick had his yearly physical this morning. His vitals are pretty much under control. His sugar levels are good, his blood pressure and all other things are OK too. Now if we could get his feet and legs squared away, we would be able to run races.

I dried some herbs today since I have Jim's dehydrator in the house. Tomorrow I have to store them. Did I tell you that two of my tomato plants have tomatoes on them? This is quite a miracle as tomatoes don't often do well for me. I have hope that I will have more than one or two for our consumption.

Tomorrow we have doctor appointments again.

Have a good one.


Mary

I was abale to stay home ALMOST the whole day. The only place I had to go was to the Veterinary Office to pick up Chelsea's pills. And that was fun for Chelsea. She got to go for a RIDE!

She tried to wake me up shortly after 5AM but I gave her lettuce and shut her out of the bedroom. I was able to sleep or kind of sleep until 6AM. We had a nice walk. It is always so pleasant that early, before the heat and humidity get to heavy. We only saw the two ladies who come down Highview and then onto Valley today. Nobody else was around.

When I got home I fed Chelsea, fed Boots, took out our trash and Jim and Michelle's trash, emptied the dishwasher, fixed breakfast and took a shower. This was a nice day, I started a sour dough culture for some bread, finished drying the dill, made some easy chili and rested.

I also "sewed the sun" onto my quilting project. Now I have to add the ocean and the shadow of the sun. I am having some fun with that project and it does not require a lot of time at any one time. So I can just pick it up when I want to.

Tonight, after dinner, I went over and spent some time with Boots and I called Bart and had a nice long talk with him. They are all OK. Adam and Lexie, Barb's son and his wife and kids, have been around. Adam is getting out of the service and looking for work, probably in Dallas but they are kind of dividing their time between Dallas and Lawton at this point.

Got two more people signed up for going to Irish Fest on the bus so there are only five seats left, maybe four. I feel a little better but will be happy when all seats are full.

A little poem

Tuck sunshine within.
When days are dark and gloomy
Let it shine from you.


Love

Mary

Tomorrow Dick sees Dr. Sharon for his yearly physical and for the physical required before he has the next stent put in his left leg. I also have to go grocery shopping. The rest of the day should be easy though.

During last night it thundered and poured rain and lightening was cracking all around. It was toward morning. As a matter of fact, Chelsea got me up at 5:30AM and we couldn't go for a walk anyway. I took her out but it was raining pretty good and thunder was rumbling above us. Fortunately, she can't hear it anymore, so she did her duty pretty quickly and we zipped back in the house. I laid down on the couch and rested for about an hour because I was still quite tired. Then Dick got up and I put the sequential compression on his legs while I took a shower to get ready for the rest of the day.

Bible study was well attended. There were nine of us. The readings were nice too. They talked about faith and hearing God speaking to us. Elijah didn't hear God in the earthquake or the high winds or find him in the fire but found him in a quiet whisper. Sometimes we have to look in the quiet places to find him. The gospel was the one where Jesus walked on water. Remember, Peter asked to join him and Jesus said to come ahead. Peter started out gamely enough but then looked at the storm around him and got scared and sank. So Jesus pulled him up and back to the boat. HOWEVER, it was pointed out in one of our commentaries, Peter was brave enough to START walking on the water. Even though his doubt caused him to start sinking, he was the only one to even TRY.

Then I stopped in to see Mother. She is fine as usual. I brought her some soup, fruit salad and a piece of pie. Donna and Randy brought food over too so she says she is set for the week. She loves it because we fix things that she does not. I had her medicine and money too.

Then home to fix a quick lunch and get Dick to Dr. Moreno by 1:15PM. The appointment went quite well. Dr. Moreno is very pleased with the wounds on his right leg, except for a funny skin buildup that he has on the side. But we just have to watch that. The left huge deep callous is about the same. We have to go back in a week.

When we got home, he rested for a while. I had a lot of stuff to do. Trash and fixing dinner and just things that pile up but I got it all done before dinner. Then I went over to spend some time with Boots before I drove to Rhine for the monthly meeting. That went quite well. I had ordered a coupon set for the converter box for TVs. We did not need one but the club did and I gave the other to one of the members.

Now the day is about done. Dick is on the sequential for the last session and I have one more trip outside with the dog. Tomorrow I can probably stay home all day. I have a lot of things that I want to get done so I surely hope so.

I hope Michelle had a successful meeting in St. Louis, searching for information about her father. It is important to know where we came from and she deserves that. They made it to St. Louis safe and sound. I hope they are not melting in the heat. If all continues as it has, I won't have to water their tomato plant at all. The rain is taking care of that. Mother and Ione, my bible study friend, both registered two inches on their rain gauges.

Hope you have a happy Tuesday too.

Til tomorrow

Mary