2015 Review

2015 is just about over.  And I am glad.  It's been a hard year, although I haven't (and won't) posted about most of the issues we have had to deal with.  Very possibly, 2016 (for reasons not being mentioned) could well be a continuation.

There have been some good things, it hasn't been all bad.  I really don't mean to gripe.  But I guess I am!

Anyway:

January

Very cold month with some winter weather.

It was very stressful for Otter because Roomie lost her job right before Christmas 2014 and January was the first of over 3 months that Roomie was without a job - and not looking very much, either.

Michael's had yarn on sale and I added to the stash!  (Always good.)

Froggy started planning her trip to see us.

The Teenager's health suddenly took a turn for the worse, he was weakened by a bug and while he did recover from the illness, he never got his strength back and although we didn't realize it at the time, it was the beginning of the downhill turn for him.

We celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary, this year we had pizza!

February

We switched internet and email providers.

The stupid groundhog saw his shadow!

I had what I first thought might be the flu, but then realized it was "just" a cold.

This month saw the first issues with Frasier; he fell in the kitchen and couldn't get up.  We had to help him up but he was sore and stiff for days.  The vet thought he might have age-related issues, probably arthritis in the mix as well.  But he was always a happy dog when J came over!

Otter was really getting concerned about Roomie and the lack of a job.

The Teenager and his lovely bride celebrated their 78th Wedding Anniversary and were one of the featured couples on the Today Show!

Snowy weather.

22 years since we moved from TEXAS.

On February 27, the world lost one of it's shining lights in the form of Leonard Nimoy.  We're still mourning this one.  LLAP!

March

The month started with having to replace tires on the car that Otter was driving, as well as a front-end alignment.  $1200.00 was Chevy's estimate and it was also the last time we actually used that particular dealership - and they are under NO illusions as to why.  It was a M.A.J.O.R. moment for *RHTW.  We had the work done at a local shop for about $500 less than Chevy's estimater.

The vet suggested we start Frasiser on pain pills, which did seem to help but he didn't need them all the time.

I came down with another cold!  I literally sneezed all the way to work one morning and by about 8:15, I was feeling miserable.

We had more winter weather.

Otter was overjoyed when we discovered Green Apple gatorade!

I started crocheting a poncho for Otter, which took me a while to finish.  I had a lot of interruptions!

The dogs had their "beffday" and we spoiled them with plenty of treats - in hindsight, I'm glad we gave them so many extra treats.

We got several boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

The dry air caused me to have a few nosebleeds.

We decided it was time to talk to the minister at the church we'd been attending, we had to reschedule the appointment we had so we didn't actually talk to them this month.

Otter turned 23!

There was a tornado that struck a very nearby, next-door to Tulsa town.  It was bad.

My glasses broke in 2!  Bill had to glue and tape them back together so I could at least go get them replaced the next day.

We had to replace our insurance, thanks to NObamacare.

April

Our new insurance company took 2 premiums and *RHTW had a few "fun" phone calls with them.

One of the bright spots of this year happened.  Otter had her annual lung recheck and we feel like we have received a miracle - it's gone!  It never really goes away, but hers is as close to not being there as it can possibly be.  It is a true Blessing and we are so beyond thankful for this.

Otter gave Roomie a "no job, move out" date.  Amazing how motivated she got when that happened and she suddenly found a job.

Otter officially became the owner of a 2002 Chevy Impala.

The electric company messed up our yard and also cut the phone lines.

The hummingbirds showed up this month.

My precious dog, Frasier, one of the most special pets I've ever had, left us on the 23rd.  He was one of those rare, once in a lifetime dogs.

May

Otter proved that yes, she is very much her Father's Daughter.  She the cut palm of her left hand and had to get stitches!  I think she got 4.  She was a typical Redhead and bled a lot.

Maggie Moo was sick, the vet thought she had another UTI and the medication helped her pretty quickly.

Stupid electric company kept at it!

Bill was rear-ended in his work van - it was not his fault in any way, he wasn't hurt.

Maggie Moo was scratching herself silly - and driving us nuts!  The vet said she has allergies and put her on zyrtec - which didn't work too well but then we tried it later and it worked fine.

Bill's sister got married!  We went to TEXAS over Memorial Day weekend for the wedding and it was really nice.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

I had my one and only migraine of the year.

It was one of the better months of the year.

June

Otter went to Dallas with J, his mom and some of their friends.  They went to a convention and debuted their "Joker and Harley" gender switched costumes.  Which were very well-received.

We decided to get rid of the landline phone, since it was out more than it was working.

We decided to try an automatic feeder for the Magginator, it works very well.

Maggie met two other beagles when we went to get her annual shots.  Then she met a wolf!  Luna the wolf lives in our neighborhood and she is absolutely gorgeous.

The electric company was still being stupid!  I made a pest of myself, or actually I let *RHTW deal with them - and they finally decided to send out a repair crew, which was a company they contracted with and the repair crew foreman was appalled at how bad the damage to our yard was and how tacky the electric company was being about fixing it.

After they fixed it, we realized that our house was not getting the electric current it was supposed to and I had to place an emergency call to them.  I started the call but *RHTW finished it.

Froggy and her daughter came to see us, which was a bright spot.

Bill's birthday!  For 6 months, he was older than me.  He got bacon for his birthday meal, which made him happy.

My vacation started and the first thing was Maggie the Wonder Beagle getting stuck under the shed.  That should have been our first clue that it was not going to be a good week.

The Teenager was pretty sick in June.  The last time I actually saw him was right before I went on vacation at the end of the month, he was weak but he was very mentally clear and it was actually a fun day with him.  But in hindsight, I think he knew something was coming and from what he said and how he said it - I think he was telling me goodbye.  When I was on vacation, he had to be hospitalized for pneumonia and he was recovering from that when he had what was probably a stroke.  That was actually in July.

July

The frame holding the driver's seat in my car (the 2008 impala) broke and we had to buy a replacement seat at a salvage yard, then put the seat from my car on the frame of the salvage seat.

The next day, the brakes on the El Camino basically failed and Bill had to replace them.

Otter and Roomie decided to move to a 2-bedroom unit.  Otter was cautiously optimistic about it, since Roomie was working again and she hoped that it would work out but she was also pretty sure that when that lease was up she would suggest that Roomie find her own place.  They moved on the 31st.

On July 8, the Teenager had the probable stroke.  It was overnight and he was most likely asleep; he never really woke up from that and that is actually a blessing.  On the 12th, he left this life behind.  He was 98 years, 9 months.  This was one of the worst things that happened this year, at least from our perspective.  But we know exactly where he is and that we will see him again.  Until then, we'll all miss him terribly.

August

This month literally started with Otter's car having issues.  The radiator ruptured and we had to replace it.  It was just the beginning of trouble with that car.  It spent more time at my house than it did at hers!

But she did get a pretty good raise at work so she was happy!

Bill saw the dermatologist for his annual visit, the spot we thought might be a skin cancer on his nose turned out not to be but there were a couple of very small ones on his hand that the doctor froze off.

We finally met with the pastor at the church we'd been visiting.  And we knew almost immediately that it is not the place for us.  That was very disappointing.

We put tires on my car, the 2008 impala.

I was sick, it was a bug that was going around but it took me a few weeks to really recover from it.

We closed our booth at the antique store.

The Bluebell plants reopened!

September

Labor Day.

Bill came down with the mega-bug I'd had.

Otter and I got our flu shots and I spent most of Labor Day weekend dealing with my reaction.  Which wasn't as bad as some years have been.  But the reaction hit me within 2 minutes of getting the shot, I got my shot at 5:30 and at 5:32 I was suddenly freezing cold.

Then I came down with a cold.

I crocheted purple baby caps for a local charity.

There was a lunar eclipse, we could see it from the back yard and it was very pretty.

It was pretty obvious that Otter was under some stress, she was having problems with Roomie and was very upset over the situation.  She wasn't sure what she could do, as Roomie was on the lease but she really regretted moving to the 2-bedroom unit, although at the time it was a good decision.  But she knew that she would not renew the lease (or any lease) with Roomie when it was up.

October

We went to the State Fair in Tulsa, we took J along with us and we had a fun time.  We were tired but it was an enjoyable day.  I discovered that I am a sheep magnet - they are evil!  They know I'm beyond extremely allergic to them.

We had a lot of the typical "persecution" because of the TEXAS/ou game the first weekend of the month.  Then TEXAS won!

Roomie lost her job.  Or at least she admitted to Otter that she'd lost it, the actual time that happened might have been in September.  But it was a major retailer and she was fired, she would not say why but this particular store does not fire employees unless they have very good reason.  She claimed to have gotten another job at a fast-food place and probably did, but we're not totally convinced that she kept it longer than a couple of weeks.  When she told Otter that she'd lost the job and got the new one, Otter told her then that Roomie was going to have to find her own place a) when the lease was up or b) immediately if she lost the fast-food job.

Because Otter was expecting to have to move when the lease was up, she did a little looking for other complexes that might be a little cheaper but nobody expected Roomie to do what she did:  move out and attempt to do it without giving Otter any warning at all - but Otter caught her packing.  It was a very ugly, nasty situation and I'm not going to detail it here because it was already detailed.  But it was bad, however it could have been much worse.  There was very heavy *RHTW involvement.

The Teenager would have been 99.  We had cupcakes at work to celebrate and remember him.

The 32nd anniversary of when we met was on the 14th.

Bill decided to get another booth for the pachinko machines.

We put Maggie Moo back on the zyrtec, she was scratching again and had caused a little bald spot above her tail from it.  She had a slight case of Bald Bobo!  But the zyrtec helped her a lot more this time.

It rained.  A lot.

One morning was really strange:  The sunrise was brilliant in the east, it was dark and cloudy in the middle area and then there was a huge rainbow in the west.  All at the same time!

November

Our "lovely" insurance carrier sent us a letter with a $400+ increase in our monthly premium.  We made a lot of changes that took weeks.

Otter went to a Dias De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival with J and his mom in his not quite next door to Tulsa neighboring town.  She left rememberances for the Teenager and my aunt we refer to as AJ (who Otter was named for).

That night on her way home, her car acted like it was overheating and we had to go get her.  About 9:30 at night, in almost the middle of nowhere, dark and very isolated - but J and his mom came to wait with her until we got there.  Bill drove her car home, although he had to stop a couple of times, I brought her home in my car and then she took my car on home with her.

For the next few weeks, we dealt with her car acting up and she had my car quite a bit.

In the midst of all the car issues, Otter moved to a one-bedroom unit in the same complex.

Bill got a bad cold.

Then I got a bad cold.

Thanksgiving was a little different, we wound up at Taco Bell because it was the only place we could find open when the power went out!  That was the first of several times we got a senior discount!

We finally got our Bluebell ice cream!

There was a hard rain storm and then we saw a double rainbow.

The new booth store opened up.

The El Camino developed a problem with what is probably the thermostat but the specific part is pretty much unavailable.  It is a 1976 vehicle, after all!  It's going to spend the next few months in the driveway anyway, like it usually does in the winter.

We started discussing Bill buying a 2nd hand car to drive in the winter, since Otter had the 02 impala he used to drive.

December

We realized that Otter's car was becoming a serious concern and it was not a car we were comfortable with her driving any longer.  We bought a new car for me, a 2015 impala.  Then we traded the 2008 to her and she gave Bill the 2002.  The 2002 is still acting up, it is probably a series of cascading problems that keep causing other things to act up and it may well be that the car is just worn out.  But in the meantime, Bill will drive it and she has a car that she can trust.  New tires and in very good shape, she should be able to drive it for several years.  I am very happy with the new car, but we really did not want a car payment yet.  However, it was a good decision.

Otter and I went to the mall to Christmas shop one evening and had a very interesting encounter - I didn't mentioned details when I blogged about it, but we almost literally ran into her first boyfriend - and his girlfriend - and their two very young children!  He was a real jerk when he and Otter broke up and at one point we had to tell his dad to reign his son in or we would call the police - which explains why the former boyfriend would not even look me in the eye when we saw him.  Otter said that she's extremely glad that she dodged that particular situation, and she hopes that the idiot boy treats his baby mama better than he treated her and also that he's finally learned to be faithful.

We decided to put up a Christmas tree so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought another artificial tree.

We still had to deal with the cold bug we got in late November.  Even up until right before Christmas.

Then Bill came down with another cold which I thought was the flu at first.

We finally got actual winter weather, much later than usual.

There was a lot that happened, it wasn't all bad and most of the really cruddy stuff is not being mentioned.  But this has been a fairly bad year.  We do realize that it could have been worse, and there have been some good things.  But the main thing that defines this year is the loss of a man who was like a father to me and that Otter considered to be another one of her grandfathers.

Here's to 2016 and hopes that it will be a good year for everyone!

Wednesday?

I know what day it is, but I have had to be reminded all day.  I don't know why, but I have been off on what day is actually is all week long!

 

Yesterday was Froggy's birthday.  I did get a card in the mail to her and I texted her birthday wishes.  But that's about the only thing I know for sure this week!

 

I spoke with Toadles yesterday.  He reminded me about something today, which I knew of but hadn't done the math for yet:  Dad earned his Purple Heart 70 years ago,

 

Rain today!  Lots of it, at 3:30 when I left work the radio news was on and they were reporting that Tulsa had received at least one inch of rain.  Just since mid-morning.  It came down all day and some of the rain was heavy.  It's quit now, but there is probably still more on the way for tonight and tomorrow.

 

Bill got the first truckload of firewood yesterday.  He went to the lumberyard and loaded up the back of the White Lightning, but when he went to pay for it - they told him he could just have it for free this time.  We've made a good start on the wood we need for this winter, but we want to get more.  Anywhere from 2 to 4 more truckloads.  He was going to get another load today, a little rain wouldn't have been a problem but it was too much rain today so it'll be next week sometime.

 

The "sometime" is subject to change.  I'm getting Billyboy to the doctor tomorrow, he has a spot on his left hand that is in all probability the next skin cancer to be removed.  It's actually been coming up for a while, but there were some changes where Bill works and they were unable to take any time off at all before July 1st.  But since the dermatologist couldn't get him in until tomorrow, it doesn't really matter I guess!  He's not seeing the same doctor he saw last summer.  For good reason, that dermatologist turned out to be the one I went toe-to-toe with when Otter was little and she got sub-standard care.  Sub-standard would actually have been better than this guy!  But we didn't realize that until Bill saw him the first time last summer and we decided we didn't want to change doctors in the middle of treatment.  However, we knew that when it was time for the next skin cancer removal (there are always more!) that we'd be finding a different doctor.  The one that Bill really liked retired a few years back, but we are going to the same office he was out of and Bill will be treated by another doctor in that practice.  Keep your fingers crossed that he's a good doctor and that Bill likes him!

 

I'm taking tomorrow off, Bill is off both tomorrow and Friday.  The doctor may say that he wants to just do a biopsy and then have Bill come back later for the removal, but Bill will not go for that.  He'll need to get it all out at once, or at least give it a good try.  So, I took tomorrow off and Otter is off on Friday if Billyboy needs home nursing - which he might, but I don't think it will be like last year's skin cancer removal from the bridge of his nose.

 

I'm tired.  Otter had to be in to work at 5:30 this morning, so she got up about 4:00.  Bill woke up somewhere around that time, they both tried not to wake me up but I think the lights on in the office/pachinko workroom and Otter's bedroom were just enough that I was aware of them.  I tried to go back to sleep for a while, but it was hopeless so I got up about 4:30.

 

Friday is the 10th Anniversary of when we moved into our current home.  Our tradition is that we get pizza, since it was the first meal we had here.  When we moved out of the old house, we had McDonald's because that was the first real meal we had there - it was actually before we moved in, but the house was ours at that point because we had closed on it that afternoon.  We decided to continue that tradition here.  If we ever move (I'm not planning on it!), our final meal here will be pizza as well.  We have pepperoni pizza every August 1st or as close to it as we can.

 

Pizza Pizza!

Of Fish, Squirrels and Stuffz Burgers

It's Billyboy's birthday today!  He's 53.  I had to ask him, in case you are interested.  The reason I had to ask him is that I'm 6 months younger than he is but I can never remember how old I am!  So, now I know how old I am (52 until December) and that Bill is 53.  So, I'm married to an older man for 6 months and he's married to a younger woman.

 

Otter has been known as the Birthday Squirrel on her birthday since she was little bitty.  I don't remember how we came up with the name, but I think it was a play on the words "birthday girl" and she loves animals so squirrel was a natural nickname.  She's not ready to share the Squirrel nickname, so we decided that Bill is the Birthday Fish.  It just works for him so we're going with it!

 

The Stufz burgers worked ok, but they weren't as easy as it looks.  They weren't difficult, and they actually tasted very good.  Mine was stuffed with chopped onions and shredded cheese.  Bill put cheese, onions and chopped jalepenos in his.  Otter, being Otter, went with a plain hamburger - no stuffing!  But they were beef burgers, so she was happy about it.  Bill thinks that they might work better on the grill instead of cooking them on the stove, we'll probably try that the next time.  But it would have been just as easy to make stuffed patties the old fashioned way - meat patty in one hand, stuffing in the middle and another patty on top.  Then form into the shape and cook.  But it's a gadget and Bill's an engineer...

 

Otter and I went to a thrift store this afternoon.  She found a backpack to use at TNT next month.  I found a new & unused foam padded slim laptop case that actually fits my laptop.  $14.99 for the exact same thing I priced at Staples for either $69.00 or $72.00.  I'd say a got a good buy.  I found a few other things, but nothing spectacular.  Otter tried on a corset (actually meant to be worn as a blouse, it had spaghetti straps and strings in the front) but it was a little too small for her.  Which is a shame, it was a very good quality and looked really cute on her - except for the fact that she couldn't breathe!  It could have been worn as a blouse by itself or underneath a jacket.

 

The pineapple upside down cake is in the oven.  I was going to make it last night, but they are really better warm because of the brown sugar.  So I made it when we got through with dinner.  Smells really good!

2013 Review. It Was a Busy Year!

It was a very busy year, for all of us.  So, here goes:

January

I had the flu.  Even after a flu shot!  It was so light that I didn't realize it in time to get a prescription for Tamiflu.  It still wasn't fun.

Otter decided not to continue with college at this time.  She almost didn't go back in the summer of 2012, but decided to give it one more semester to be sure.  She made the decision on her own and we supported it, given her reasons.  She decided it was time to start looking for a job.

I reorganized my stash closet.  Which has now outgrown the closet!

First flat tire of the year.  Caused by a WOOD SCREW.

I crocheted a lot.

Second flat tire.  SAME REASON AS THE FIRST ONE.

We celebrated our 28th Wedding Anniversary.

I discovered (the hard way!) that I'm allergic to Acai.

Bill followed by lead by coming down with the flu himself. But he never got the flu shot, so it wasn't a surprise.

February

It was a short month, but it was busy.

The daffodils came up and brought a few tulips along for company.

Otter got a job!  At a party store, where she discovered that she absolutely hates to inflate helium balloons.  :)

I made a few scarves for the local yarn store which was collecting them for Tulsa police officers.

I discovered that a bird's nest from last year had an interesting construction supply:  YARN!

It snowed, a couple of times.

The last book by the great Maeve Binchey was released.  I got my copy immediately.  I didn't want it to end.

We had a snow/thunderstorm and also sleet and hail - all in one storm.

It was the 20th year of our move from TEXAS.

March

Otter got her first paycheck!  She bought me candy and bought dinner for Bill at Dairy Queen to celebrate.

Bill discovered his driver's license had expired - several days after the fact.

Otter was sick, we thought it was strep but that was ruled out after the test for it.  Although the doctor thought it was, until he got the results back.

I got my new glasses.

I got a lot done on the afghan.

Bill got tires on the El Camino.

He also got 16 pachinko machines in a single transaction, a local-ish collector sold his entire collection.

Otter saw her allergist, she got a terrific report.

I got my driver's license renewed, but I was on time with mine.

We had a severe rain storm. It was B.A.D. and I was on the road at the time, Otter worked late and I picked her up.  We should NOT have been on the road, but nobody knew it would be as bad as it was until it happened.

Otter turned 21!  We had a small party with her local grandparents, which was exactly what she wanted and it was a lot of fun.  She celebrated with her first official "legal" drink:  Champagne!

Easter. Which also as Otter's birthday.

April

I got a dishwasher!  It was one that Sweetie didn't need any longer, as she was re-doing her kitchen.  It works and we are glad.  Especially Otter!

We got the first hint from Bill in SA that he might be thinking of selling out his (huge) pachinko collection.

The bluebonnets showed up!  And they kept coming up.

I made two scarf/hat combos for a lady Bill works with.

The first of the Spring Storms, this one went north of us.

But the storm the next morning was tornadic! And it was also just a couple of miles from us.  It took out the roof of a house but nobody was hurt.

I accidentally gave myself a mild concussion, by hitting my head on the corner of the washing machine when I was attempting to get something out of the dryer.

Finally, after 21 years, I got to take the traditional Texas "child in the bluebonnets" picture!  Of course, the child in question had just turned 21 and the bluebonnets were in my front yard in Oklahoma!

We ordered new computers.

May

We had sleet.  In May!

We found out some unpleasant facts about Frasier's life before he came to us, and how badly he was taken care of by the so-called rescue group that had him.  A lot of their dogs didn't live.

Mother's Day.

Nana came to see us for Mother's Day weekend. :)

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(the dashes are courtesy of a very large, furry dog who leaned on the keyboard).

The first spoilers were released about a certain movie that made the BorgQueen (and most of the drones across the UNIVERSE) very unhappy.

On the 20th, we all got a reminder of what exactly "tornado alley" really means.  It was not good, the worst was in Moore and the OK City area but we got a series of bad storms.  Many deaths, including many precious children at an elementary school that was destroyed.

On the 30th, the storms were even closer but the Tulsa area was spared.  At first.  At 8:45 that evening, the sirens went off and they were for our area.  It was very close, but not directly in our area although it was within just a few miles.  No injuries, but lots of damage.

June

Bill turned 52!  We celebrated by having dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then by coming home and trimming tree limbs that were in our yard courtesy of a storm with lots of wind.

More bluebonnets!

I nearly got speared by a dive-bombing hummingbird!

Froggy's sweet doggie, Cookie, went to the Rainbow Bridge. :(

We saw the Memphis Belle!

Construction started on the house directly behind us.

There was a water main break in our small town.  We had enough warning to get water into every available container so we were ok, but it lasted a few days and wasn't pleasant.

Father's Day!  We made a pineapple upside down cake for Billyboy.

Hailstorm, tree damage.

The rain barrel overflowed.

Bill started working on shelf plans for the pachinko machines.

July

Vacation!

We mostly spent the week off working on the shelves Bill came up with for the pachinko machines.

Otter and I did escape a bit, we went to a local acquarium and to a nearby town for shopping.

July 4th was celebrated with burgers and dogs grilled by Billyboy.  They were good.

Spectacular news at work, I got a humoungous raise.  I was very surprised.

We had another storm, lots of wind and lots of tree damage.  Our gate was blown open and part of it broke off - which we didn't find out until after the dogs had been out in the back for a long time.  We were without power for a few hours, but parts of Tulsa were in the ark for a day or so.

We saw bats!

I had a few asthma issues, due to the wind.

August

Otter went off for a weekend, she went to a cosplay convention and had a great time.  She worked on her costumes for days beforehand.ma

The annual sales-tax free weekend occurred.  Now that I don't have to buy school clothes, I didn't need all that much.

Otter decided it was time to look for a better job.  One where she wasn't obviously, extremely taken advantage of because she is a hard worker and dependable.

Mosquitos!  We eventually figured out that we were growing our own, in a plant that we were rooting in water.

We got a 2nd rain barrel.

The builder behind us realized that the fence was in the wrong spot. They decided that it had to be moved a couple of feet into our yard.  We didn't protest, it wasn't a big deal.

Bill (finally, after literally months of arguing, resisting, threats, etc.) decided it was time to see the dermatologist about the spot on his nose.  The first attempt did not get it all.

We got the trellises put in place behind the house and the 2nd rain barrel hooked up.

The dermatologist had (another!) lesson in the care of Redheads.  Specifically, the part about how much we bleed!  Bill had several days of sleeping sitting up on the couch, not being able to do much of anything and being grouchy!  But I would have been grouchy, too - 18 stitches!

September

We got our flu shots.  Well, Bill didn't.  But I did and so did Otter.

Otter was offered a new job and she took it.  Much better environment, better pay, better hours, better future...

For a week, she worked both jobs.

I made several baby caps for a local charity.

Dead battery in my car.  It was still under the warranty so we got a break on the price.

The world had a Star Trek Moment!  V'Ger left the solar system.

We got new cell phones and switched companies.

We wore out the Ice Tea Maker we'd had since before Otter was born!

The bats were back, they hung out on the front porch around the light.  They were happy bats, but I don't think the bugs were happy!

Bill is SA finally decided to sell his entire inventory of pachinko machines.

October

Bill went to SA to get the inventory from Bill in SA.  Well over 100 machines.  The shed is packed to the gills and beyond.

I finally finished the afghan!  The one I started a few years back.

Bill got the first of several truck loads of firewood.  And several more.

TEXAS BEAT THE STUFFING OUT OF ou.  36 - 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a bug that I thought might be the flu at first, but I don't think it actually was.

The cars were frosted for the first time one morning.

Found a coffee table at a local "garage sale" store.

The driver's side window in the El Camino messed up.  Bill had to block it in place.  It's still blocked as of 1/1/14 because he can't find the replacement part anywhere.  For a 1976 vehicle.

I had another screw in a tire.

November

I had to get a new ATM card, the bank notified me in October that my card might have been among a group that was hacked.  Nothing funny in our account.

First of several mice in the house.

We got the tulip bed planted.  Around 100 bulbs.

I went to Otter's store and bought a magnetic tool to use in the driveway.  I found lots of screws, nails, misc. metal pieces that have more than a passing resemblance to pachinko parts!  Bill claims to have no knowledge about how it all got there.

We got the first freeze of the season.

Bill got a chain saw sharpener!  No injuries, though.  Which is a very good thing, with Bill it's almost a given that he'll hurt himself.

The vet put Frasier on antibiotics, they did seem to help his deadly breath issue.

Otter got good news at work.

We had our first winter storm, the roads were ok but it was very cold.

Chevy diagnosed a minor oil leak in my car.

For the third or fourth time this year, the phone company had to come out and fix our phone lines.

December

I had another "flu-like" bug, but it was not the flu.  Just a bug!

It turned out that it was a very good thing that we spent a week in July working on a shelf system for the pachinko machines in the garage.  Because our hot water heater failed!  Major leak, water all over the place.  But the bulk of the machines were up out of the way.

The first ice storm of the month started the afternoon of the day we had to get a new hot water heater.

Snow.  Ice.  Cold.  We were very glad that Bill got so much firewood.

My (new) debit card was used at Target during the period of time that they were hacked.  I got another one issued at the bank.  Infuriating.

The neighbor behind us has two dogs.  We think that they might be doxies.  Frasier and Maggie seem happy to have friends to talk to!

More rain and sleet!  The ground is very soft from all the moles we have to deal with, the rain didn't help.  I stepped through the ground up to my ankle!

Because of the soft ground, the shed settled a bit.  I'm sure the overload of pachinko machines had a lot to do with it.  Maggie Boo got stuck under the shed!

Vacation!

Christmas!  We had a nice day, Grandpa and Sweetie came over for the annual Bill Breakfast.

Motorcycle Day!  I turned 52.  We went shopping.  All day long.  I found a few Fenton pieces.

Maggie Moo got out of the back yard.  There is a small spot where the gate had a gap which is from the storm in the summer when it was blown open.  We didn't realize it was there.  But Maggie did!  She didn't go far and she came back when I called her.

 

2013 was a busy year.  I managed to get quite a few crochet projects done.  I acquired a few Fenton pieces, some of them fairly rare.  Otter turned 21.  We didn't take any trips, other than a couple of nearby towns for a few hours of shopping.  We had visits from family and that is always enjoyable.  I had 4 migraines this year, some of them were stress-related and happened around the time of Billyboy's skin cancer surgery.

 

Happy New Year to everybody, and may 2014 be a good year!

September 15, 1919

Happy Birthday Dad.

I miss you.

Sunday Accomplishments **EDITED

1.  Father's Day Breakfast (Check)
2.  Church (Check)
3.  Laundry (Check)
4.  Dishes (Check)
5.  Otter clean out dog yard
6.  Find out if Otter is allergic to yellow jacket stings (CHECK!!)
7.  Find three other active yellow jacket nests (Check)
8.  Move rest of Otter's craft stuff from garage to shelves in her room.

Well, I guess 6 out of 8 isn't too bad.

Except for # 6.  It wasn't a good thing to accomplish.  I don't think Otter much appreciated it, either.  I feel her pain!  Otter was starting on # 4, I knocked down the two dead nests from the lean-to and she was carrying them in the shovel to toss over the fence.  However, wasps are very protective of nests - even if it's not their own, and we think that one from the two active nests that we discovered in the lean to after # 5 was accomplished probably thought it needed to defend the one of the two nests that had lots of (dead) eggs in it**.  I was out in the front yard, I was going to go knock down the two dead nests Bill got last week and trim the remaining tree limblets off the tree I was working on when I was stung, and I heard her yelling repeatedly OWOWOWOWOW all the way from the back - I figured at that point that she'd been stung because she's pretty stoic about pain.  By the time I got inside, she and Bill were in the bathroom and he was checking the sting.  It's on her belly.  No asthma issues!  Just the usual intense, burning pain that makes you want to scream.  She iced it, washed it, took tylenol and used alchohol on it.  She also put a bandaid over it, she was afraid her clothing would rub the spot.  Bill and I checked the area where she was when she got stung, by the back fence, and found two old nests but nothing active.  But then I looked in the lean-to when I was putting the shovel and tree tool up, and that's when I found the two active nests.  They are going to get sprayed this evening.

The third nest?  It's on the front porch.  They are building inside the metal tubes of my windchime!  It's going to get taken care of this evening as well.  But it's going to get a watery grave, it should just fit inside a bucket full of water.  After it's dead, I'll move the dead nests from the front of the house - I don't want to get stung again!

Bees and yellow jackets/wasps are not the same thing, so there is still the possibility that Otter could be allergic to bees.  But, and this is just a guess, I'm thinking that the fact that she didn't react to the wasp sting might be a good sign about that.

# 5 & # 8 on our list will be taken care of later, probably tomorrow.  Otter's had enough of being outside today.

After all the drama, Otter and I went to the dollar store and Wallyworld.  Among other things, we bought cookies at the dollar store.  And a tube of hydrocortisone cream since it's used on bug bites/stings and the ones I have in the first aid kit were out of date many years ago.

Movie review:  John Carter.  It was not as bad as we expected.  It felt very rushed and badly edited, I think that a great deal was left out of the books that might have been needed to explain a few things.  But it was better than we expected.  It was set-up for a sequel at the end, but Disney's already announced that they actually lost money on it and that there won't be any more.

Bill was checking on our eBay stuff while ago.  He might have gotten a "listing confirmation" email from eBay, but somehow he discovered that our eBay account had been hacked.  Someone posted a vehicle, a one day listing that started at 10:50 this morning and would end at midnight tonight.  It was a cash-only or send a money order transaction.  Only thing is, we don't have the vehicle in question and aren't selling anything at the moment!  He canceled it, then he changed the passwork and notified eBay.  Since they stated cash/money order only, he didn't think that PayPal had been hacked (it was before) but he checked it anyway and it looks ok.

I did a little crochet yesterday.  Not much, but I got a couple of rows on my scarf.  I went through my patterns, I'm looking for new projects to destash and also because it's just fun.  I have a few ideas, but nothing is certain yet as far as my next project.

I think Bill's enjoyed his Father's Day.  He got to play with power tools!  Later, we're going to have Digorno's pizzas and Otter is going to bake him a cake.  We will probably also have some of the strawberry cheesecake ice cream pie from his early birthday (yesterday) which is surprisingly not all gone yet.  It won't last long, that's for sure.  And Otter made sure that Pastor Dave knows that Bill's birthday is tomorrow - she announced it to Dave when he was asking what everyone was doing for their dad's for Father's Day.  I think she probably figured that it was a fair thing to do, since he embarassed her one time when she was very young with a birthday announcement in church and she's never forgiven him.  I think that they are even now.  At least for that one. :)

**While it's highly possible that the firedevil thought it was defending a nest, it's also highly possible that the active nest she was standing close to was where it came from.  I was walking the back fence, to see if I could find any nests and I found one that is hidden behind the trellis we have on the back fence for the morning glories.  It's just a few feet from where Otter was standing.  It's going to be gone tonight as well.

Thursday Stuff of Varying Degrees of Importance

My head itches where the firedevil stung me.  I'm trying not to scratch!  But I keep finding myself scratching.  It finally quit hurting with the searing pain last night - it didn't quit hurting, it just got better, but it wasn't a pleasant experience to wash my hair a few hours later and combing it out afterward was torture.  I took a couple of motrin when I went to bed.  Also, I'm pretty sure that it was a yellow jacket and not one of the small, brown wasps that we also have.  Not that it makes a difference, I'm sure!

I came home and found two more of the beasties attempting to start a nest on the front porch.  Bill thought he squashed them, but they either came back to life or two more showed up and took their place because they were back at it when I went out again a little later.  Bill got the spray this time, and they are deaddeaddead.

The office telephones needed a tecnhician to come out today, he found a huge nest full of inhabitants while he was working on the outside phone box - they were on the gate this time.  I've lost count of how many we've had at work, but I think we're up over 15 now.  Don't know why they are so bad this year!

Otter's off with HP today.  They went to lunch somewhere and went to the movies this afternoon.  So she doesn't know that there is a strawberry-cheesecake ice cream pie in the freezer.  I'm not going to tell her, either!  (It's for Saturday when we are going to have Bill's birthday since he has to work a b(oring)oard meeting Monday evening and won't be home until who knows when.)

I took my car in for an oil change today.  I got to the Chevy place just after 7:00 this morning.  They had one car ahead of me, so they told me to just wait and promised to be done in time for me to make it to work on time.  They were done in less than 30 minutes and that even included running it through the car wash!  Nice change from the previous place.  Also, it was about $12.00 cheaper.  And the other place wouldn't have washed it, either.

Now, I'm going to go surf the 'net for a while.  Anything to keep from scratching my head!  I will probably crochet later, I'm making caps at the moment with scarf plans for the near future possibly.

Birthdays and Beffdays

Today's March 12.  It would have been Mom's 88th birthday.  I didn't make a peach cobbler, but I did think about her all day long.

Because Mom loved animals so much, we decided that the dog's "beffday" would be today.  (We don't have dog parties, it's just a fun way to remember Mom).

She also loved babies.  I don't think that there was ever a baby she was able to walk by, without stopping to hold it.

The dogs?  Well, they got treats.  They got a particular type of dental chew bone that we get them sometimes.  And a couple of pieces of uncooked spaghetti.  And Maggie got a bath!

Maggie would probably have preferred not to get a birthday bath, but she was kind of smelly.  Now, she's a clean dog.  She was also a crazy dog, after the bath.  Frasier was not as playful, but he did look amused as he watched her zoom around and around and around and around...  When he got tired of her craziness, he started grooming her.  Which caused her to immediately fall over in the floor and not move until he was through.

And the entire time, I was thinking about how both of my parents would have been laughing at the crazy dogs.

Happy Leap (Year) Day!

Photo posted especially for Froggy!

Leap Year is confusing.  February is a busy month for me, I have so much stuff at work that has to be done at certain times and on certain days and then February comes along and rearranges everything!  Leap Days make February even stranger.  It's still fun, just confusing!

Bill and I were discussing Leap Year this morning.  Otter's birth year was not a Leap Year, but the next year was.  If it had been Leap Year when she was expected, I firmly believe that Billyboy would have had me out running laps or doing strenuous excercise in an attempt to bring on labor so she'd be born on Feb. 29th!  However, he had to be content with hoping for April Fools Day.  She was born the day before April Fool's Day, which was not a bad thing.  He'd have gotten a lot of mileage out of an April Fool's Day baby, but I did an end-run around him and had her the day before. :)

Speaking of Otter, yesterday's comment about how she'd never had a "real" hamburger at home was meant to be jokey.  But I don't think it came across that way.  The cooking part was not a joke, I started teaching her when she was tiny (teeeeiiiny in Texasspeak) and she's pretty much able to cook everything.  But she really had never cooked a "real" hamburger!

A Word From Frasier

My momm saided that I could tail you aboutt today.  Today is a goooooooood day.

Weee all gots beffdays.  Even the peoples.  We dun't think the peoples haves as much funns on their beffdays as weee do.

I had a beffday when I firstest came to my peoples.  Mommm saided it was the day they got me.  But really, I got them for a present.  They didn't getted me, I gotted them.  Then when the big people pup was having herr beffday, shee gotted my sister Maggie.  Maggie had her beffday on a special day that was a special people's beffday, we dun't know that people but Maggie's mommm saided that it was a special lady people named Grrrmy Clrrra.  My momm saided that my beffday could now bee the sames day as Maggie's beffday.  That was okkk with meee.

But my mommm and Maggie's mommm (shee's the big people pup) tolded me about a different beffday for doggies.  It's for all the doggies that were in shelters (like me!) before they getted their peoples and their furrever homes.

It's today.  If you gots a dog, even if it didn't comed from a shelter, you should go hugg it.  Doggies like huggs.  And treats!  We likes treats.