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

A very peaceful Sunday. Chelsea and I went on our walk. She let me sleep a LITTLE late, almost 6:15. She was a little adventurer this morning. We went up the path between the ball diamonds in the park and turned right instead of left and then went around the other part of the park and back home through the woods. I made her run so we could get ahead of the mosquitoes. The path is almost overgrown. When the mosquitoes die off, I will have to go through and pull the edges.

I did not have to go anywhere at all today. So. I cleaned my desk. I really cleaned it. Wax and all. I have a mailing ready to go to Kalkthaler about my Kitty Situation in Tallgrass. I am proposing a change to the amendments. I did some quilting too. The wall hanging is shaping up nicely. I just do a bit every day or so to relax.

I am drying some dill for seasoning this winter. It works well for several recipes that I like and mind is so old. I bought some fresh and one needs so little that it seems a shame to waste it. I read online that you could dry it in the microwave. It said to put it in a single layer for three minutes. It dries nicely allright, BUT it also started to flash bits of fire in the microwave too. So I asked Jim if I could borrow his dehydrator. THat seems to take a while but at least there is no danger of burning the house down.

Today I was thinking of a friend of mine who lived two doors down from me when I lived in Santa Ana Heights. Her name was Beverly Morgan and she was a wonderful person. She had three children, one of them the same age as my Bret and he was named Bret also. So we called my Bret, Bret Francis and her Bret, Bret Allen. He was a sweet boy too. But what I was remembering was that Beverly had a really sharp, loud and explosive laugh. She always said that it scared babies. She was right too. Bart was born while we lived near her and he would cry every time she laughed for quite a long time.

Have a great week. Tomorrow we start all over again.

Mary

Such a nice Saturday. I got up at 6AM after a pretty good night's sleep. Chelsea seemed a bit tired and sat down TWICE while we were on the walk. THEN, when we got home, she saw Dick standing by the counter and BOUNDED into the house to him.

We did the sequential compression early this morning so that we could get it in three times today. As we speak, it is 8:50PM and the third time is well under say so we did good.

Jim and Michelle came over at about 9AM to clean. They were volunteering last night so changed to today. I left for about 2 hours and did some shopping. I finally got to Amy's Hallmark to get the Christmas ornaments for everybody. They were ALL there. Usually I have to order one or two but now that part of the shopping is over. Then I picked up a prescription at Walgreens, went to the bank for Mom and stopped at Cappelle's for corn and tomatoes for supper. We invited Jim and Michelle to come over after I got home from Mass for a corn/tomato supper with us. They are leaving for St. Louis for a vacation and to find out more about Michelle's father. She is quite excited as well she should be. I hope she finds out a LOT. I figured that it would be nice if they did not have to cook and clean tonight as they are leaving VERY early in the morning.

I will be feeding the Boots Kitty while they are gone. He is easy. In the morning, I just check the litter box, his water and his food as he is not used to much attention then. In the evenings I always spend a half an hour to an hour with him. Just so he has some company.

I have been listening to Garrison Keillor's Poet's corner. I have it sent to me by email, that way I don't have to be near a radio at any particular time. Today, one of the authors he featured was Isabel Allende. He had a wonderful quote from her that I will share with you. "Erotica is using a feather, pornography is using the whole chicken."

Hope your Sunday is blessed. We still have a couple of seats to fill on the bus going to Irishfest on August 17. If you are interested let me know.

Love

Mary

It was a stay at home day. I could have gone out for lunch but decided not to. It was just nicer being able to be here all day.

I slept til a bit after six and got a really good night's sleep. That was certainly welcome after the night before. I was so uncomfortable that I had to get up and soak my hips in a hot bath at about 3AM. But last night was really restful.

Chelsea and I had a good walk anyway. I spent the day baking and sewing and taking care of Dick.

Nothing really interesting to report. I called Mother this morning. She is doing fine and looking forward to the "Reunion of the Clans" at St. Michaels in Parnell a week from Sunday. Jeff is having tshirts made for us with the Clifford Crest on . He is going to have Clifford above the Crest and Bowser below as a Clifford married a Bowser which is what gives us our Irish on Mom's side. It will be such a good time.

I think I have everything ready to present my request to change the amendments of Tallgrass Condo association to allow more than one pet. Now I need to send it to Phil, the president to present to the board and decide if I should get presignatures from the residents so I know that I have the 2/3 majority that I need.

So much to do.

Have a nice weekend.

Mary

The morning was the busiest part of my day. Chelsea woke me up way to early after a not so restful night. I woke up in the middle of the night again with achy hips an knees. I have finally accepted that the only solution is to get up, fill the bathtub with water as hot as I can stand it and soak.

This Would be the morning that Chelsea starts bugging me at 5:30. I decided that there was no hope for it an just got up and walked her. It was actually a very nice walk.

When I got home Dick was up but he went back to bed right away. I took a shower and fixed some breakfast for myself and cooked bacon for Dick when he woke up. We got him up and dressed before 9AM when Rachel, our nurse from VNA came . She checked him all over and answered a few questions that I had. She is ordering more Saline Wound Wash for us. I did not know that they provide that too. I have been buying it at Walgreens. We should be in pretty good shape now. Rachel is going to come every two weeks now and I can call if I have any questions.


At 10AM I met Rich and Janet Bieschke at Rhine. Toni, Janet and I had set this time to meet and review and shoot pistol. Toni apparnetly had somethign else going on, so Rich and Janet and I did just fine. Janet is really good. Rich and Janet may join Rhine as members. That would be nice. I am always glad to get another woman in the club and Rich is really wonderful. He shoots pistol pretty good too and is interested in the rifle range. Sounds like a perfect match to me.

When I got home, we had lunch and I hooked Dick up to the sequential machine. Then I took a nap. When I woke up, he took a nap and I did some quilting and some phone calls. We had brat patties and hamburgers for dinner.

I am glad the day is almost over. It is a bit early but I want to just hook Dick up again when he wakes up and then go to bed so want to have communicated with you all.


I feel like I should be saying something wise to you today so will repeat something that I know that I already told you is one of my favorite saying.

Jesus said. "I never told you that it would be easy. I just said that it would be worth it."

As Fr. Van Beeck said, Wouldn't it be awful if we walked up to the gates of heaven and knocked, and Jesus came to the door and said. "I don't know you."


Tomorrow is a quiet day. I will probably have lunch with my bank friends. I still have some seats left f0r the trip to Irish Fest on August 17. Let me know if you are interested. My friend Cindy Matyi, the artist is going to be in the cultural village and is doing some classes. Could be a lot of fun.

Love

Mary

We had to be at the Plymouth Clinic at 8AM for Dick's lab tests. No problem getting up, Chelsea started at 5:30 and managed to make me get up by coughing so much that she choked up phlegm. That is the first time that she has choked anything up. Hope she is not going to turn into another Zero. He had allergies and was ALWAYS choking up phlegm. Got to be a real pain.

Anyway, on our way back from the clinic we stopped at Mc Donalds and picked up breakfast. Dick had been fasting and we were really quite hungry.

After we got home and settled, I went to the Pig and did out grocery shopping. It is always good to get that out of the way.

I had lunch at the Family Restaurant with the Rotary Club. Kate had invited me to come because the speaker was from the Physicians Health Network and telling us what services are available in the area from their network and about ways to make ourselves more healthy. There will be a series of speakers, once a month, on specific problems such as diabetes, sleep apnea, respiratory problems etc. Should be good. I figure anything I can learn will help me to take care of Dick more efficiently.

The rest of the afternoon was easy. I did some computer stuff and took care of Dick and watered a LOT. Good thing I got out to the deck plants because one of my tomato plants that actually has a little tomato on it was starting to droop.

We had leftovers for supper so the fixing and the cleaning up were really easy tonight. This evening, I went out on the deck and read for a while. If I go before it is too late, the mosquitoes don't discover that I am there. It is absolutely gorgeous out there and I can hear the happy noises from the park off in the distance. My pots of flowers and herbs are blooming and beautiful. I will have to start harvesting one of these days. Maybe with any luck at all, I can figure out how to deep the herbs thriving during the winter. When I was at Hunters Glen, I had an herb garden next to the house that must have been in just the right place because my lavender, oregano, thyme and chives all came back year after year.

Try to stay cool tomorrow. It is supposed to get REALLY hot.

Love

Mary

This morning I HAD to get up at 6AM to get Chelsea out for her walk. It was a lovely morning for a walk. The temperature was 57 degrees and it was dry. I met Toni and Janet at the Wilderness, a restaurant over on Hwy 57 for breakfast.

We wanted to discuss Toni and Janet doing pistol shooting. We are going out to Rhine on Thursday morning to do a bit of practicing. Toni went out with John in the past couple of days and did not do badly at all. Janet has done some trap, I think, but no pistol shooting. So we will go on Thursday and just go over the safety measures and the basics of the pistol itself and shoot a couple of targets. It would be really nice if we had a few more people to join our pistol league in the fall. This was a nice break for me. I ordered an omelet, which is way to much for me, and brought half of it home for Dick's breakfast along with half of the hash browns. We have always found that sharing an omelet is MORE than enough for the two of us.

On the way home, I stopped at Walgreens to pick up a prescription for mother and got a few other things that were on sale, including some licorice for Dick.

After that I got to be home for the rest of the day which was a real treat. I cleaned the downstairs kitchen and bath and sewed and made several necessary phone calls.

This afternoon, I received a message from my friend Janet Thomas who lived in Costa Mesa CA. She reported that there had been a 5.4 to 5.6 earthquake in the area. She said her house was really rattling but they were all OK. So tonight I called my Bret. He is just fine. He said that it was definitely a quake that was felt and there was some damage in the warehouse where he works as some of the pallets fell but that all was good with him and his.

Tomorrow we have to get up by 6AM again as Dick has to be at the lab at Aurora Plymouth for his pre physical tests. He sees Dr. Sharon NEXT Wednesday for his annual physical.

One can be serene
In the sultry heavy days
Of lazy summer.

Have a nice Wednesday.

Mary

I had to get up at 6AM this morning so I could get everything done before I had to leave for bible study. I had a LOT to do. First. The Walk. Then I had to shower and get ready. On the way, I stopped and filled up the gas tank.

We had a lively discussion.The first reading was from Isaiah 55: 1-7. I love the idea. The first verse says "Let all who are thirsty, Come to the water." There is a beautiful hymn (Probably more) that use that theme.

My friend Dan Vircks sent me an e mail of Tony Snow's Testimony, a summary of his faith before he died. This is an excerpt from it. I found it a really wonderful read and if I did not forward the whole thing to you and you want it, let me know.

I sat by my best friend's bedside a few years ago as a wasting cancer took him away. He kept at his table a worn Bible and a 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. A shattering grief disabled his family, many of his old friends, and at least one priest. Here was an humble and very good guy, someone who apologized when he winced with pain because he thought it made his guest uncomfortable. He retained his equanimity and good humor literally until his last conscious moment. 'I'm going to try to beat [this cancer],' he told me several months before he died. 'But if I don't, I'll see you on the other side.'

His gift was to remind everyone around him that even though God doesn't promise us tomorrow, he does promise us eternity

After Bible study, I went and visited with Mom. I took her a piece of pie and a dinner of pot roast. Jeff had brought tons of leaf lettuce so she shared some with me AND the cleaning lady.

I got home in time to fix lunch and then Dick and I had to get to Sheboygan at 1PM to see Dr. Moreno about his wounds. The right foot is healing quite well, but a blood blister showed up. The left is at least pinker and the toes are warm. He put some extra padding on the foot and wrapped the leg in Profor bandages again. We go back next Monday so this week we keep up with the sequential compression and the daily bandage change.

That was pretty much it. By the time we got home it was almost 3:30PM. Dick took a nap, I don't blame him after doctors and nurses messed with his legs for almost 2 hours. I watered the plants outdoors and then sat out on the deck for a while. It was a really beautiful day.

We had fresh corn, salad and blueberry pie for dinner. Sure was good.

Hope your week started out as well.

Love

Mary

Today was both stress and quiet renewal. Our walk was very pleasant. The mornings are comfortable. I even wore a long sleeved shirt because the temps were in the low 60s.

Then I fixed breakfast and worked on computer stuff until it was time to go to church at 10:45AM. Mass was very nice. We helped two couples celebrate anniversaries today. Bud and Mary Dwyer celebrated 55 years and Richard and Faye Wieser celebrated 45 years. I have known Bud for many years as he was a realtor when I was a mortgage banker AND when Mother was very little, the Dwyers lived on a farm near the Bowsers. Mother went to school with Bud's older brother George. The first day they went to school, Grandma Bowser was working in the kitchen when Mr. Dwyer appeared at the kitchen door before lunch with George and my Mom. Grandma was alarmed thinking that something had happened and asked what was wrong. Mr. Dwyer just said that he went and got them because "That was long enough for these little ones." They had to tell him to leave them there for the whole day after that. I think that is so sweet.

I don't know the Wiesers, but I am probably related. My Grandma Deeley was a Ziegler and one of her siblings married a Wieser.

Then home and I got to stay home all day. I baked a blueberry pie and make a pot roast and just took care of Dick.

Jim and Michelle came over after supper to have dessert with us. It seemed like a good idea in fresh blueberry season. They went camping this weekend at Elkhart Lake and had a great time.

Well that is it for today. Chelsea is being a pest and wanting SOMETHING. This is the time of day when she really pesters me and I never know exactly what she wants. She is old and I think a bit senile.

Have a good week. Til Tomorrow,

Love

Mary

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