Changed Partially

We have the new internet service and it seems to work fine.  For the internet, anyway.

 

We are having issues with the email.  It received my new confirmation emails from the new company without any issues.  But since then, it's not retrieving the new email.  We'll get it worked out, eventually.

 

I think it's sending from the new email, but I want to get it fixed before I send out a mass "new address" email.

 

However, since I've been online for a while trying to get the email issue straightened out - the internet has not crashed one time!!!

Changes Coming Tomorrow

We're changing internet providers officially tomorrow.  We will still keep the old carrier for a couple of days, to give us time to get everything switched over.  Email mostly, but Bill has some Pachinko Restorations stuff that he'll have to attend to.  Cox is coming out tomorrow, they say between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., and that it should only take 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  We'll see on both of those!

 

After it's all installed, up and running without any issues I'll call the current carrier and arrange to have the internet turned off with them.  We have decided to go ahead and turn off the satellite tv service like we were talking about.  We just never watch it anymore.  We watch PBS a couple of times a week for specific shows, there are the "big 3" networks but we really don't watch them that often.  We watch one of them (NBC usually) and switch between it and Fox for news coverage.  There are a lot of small local stations, we watch more of them than anything else.  The surround system we've had for several years is on it's way out anyway, we were going to take it out once it quit for good but it's not hooked up to the local only to the dish so Bill's going to take it out in the next few days.  That will leave two small shelves on the entertainment center that should hold the rest of the dvd/blu-rays we have.

 

I cleaned up the dog yard this afternoon, it needs to be cleaned out at least once a week but I don't always remember.  It was Otter's job when she lived here and I keep forgetting about it.  It was not too bad this time because it's only been a week since the last time I cleaned it - as opposed to 3 weeks between cleanings the last time!  The installers might have to trench the yard a bit to run the lines, the customer service rep said that she's pretty sure they can just attach to the old lines that were there (and buried) but we're pretty sure that our current carrier's installers cut those lines and dug part of them up when they did their installation.  So, the dog yard has been cleaned up a bit for them, although I'm sure the dogsters will still have time to leave a few "presents" for them!

 

I've also been doing some research on switching health insurance carriers, since the deadline of March 31 is bearing down on us.  I've talked to a few companies and gotten a lot of information, we think we know which company we are going with but we aren't actually switching yet.  Mostly likely, it will be the old one ending on March 31 and the new one taking over April 1.  I did confirm that the story about "no pre-existing conditions" is true, so Otter will be covered as far as her asthma care.  We'll still have a huge deductible that we will probably never meet, but at least her annual visit will go towards the deductible instead of going nowhere.  Also, Bill's skin cancer will be covered although it will also apply to the deductible.  But that is still better than it not being covered at all.  The premium is going to go up, that can't be avoided.  But I really didn't expect to find major medical coverage for 3 of us for under $500.00/month like we have now.

 

We got the pachinko machines moved out of the attic access in the garage last night.  Bill got up into the attic and checked the wiring he installed when the current carrier installed the service, at the time he ran cable himself to be able to have service in the rooms we wanted it in.  He wanted to make sure he got the right one marked to be sure the new installers hook up to the correct lines.  It would kind of be a problem if they hooked up the new service to the wrong lines!  The machines are staying out of the way for a while, Otter is going to go through the boxes that are stacked in the corner of her old room and see what she wants to store.  Some of them are her journals, some have some of her artwork in them and some of them just have "stuff."  She was in a packing frenzy as the moving day got closer and she thinks that some of the boxes were just filled with whatever she could grab to put in them so it would be out of the way.  She might take some of it back to her apartment, some of it may be donated.  But I think the majority of it going to be put up in the attic.  We pulled 4 boxes out of the stack yesterday after moving machines, they are in the center of her old room.  There are still about 4 boxes stacked.  She'll be here Thursday to do laundry and will go through at least the 4 in the floor.  She and I are going to take the huge pile of books to the used book store on Saturday, they are piled/stacked along the wall in the entrance way.  After we get back from that, we're going to go through whatever boxes are still stacked - I don't think she knows that yet! :)  The craft stuff in the garage on my shelf can wait, it's more important to get the garage-bound boxes taken care of first and out of the way.

 

Froggy, you'll have a place to sleep when you visit!  There may still be some boxed stuff, but not very much.  What you will actually be sleeping on, however, is still under discussion.

Gusty Sunday

It's windy.  Very windy.  Like I needed an anchor when I was outside earlier!  I have to get out again in a couple of hours, I'm Otter's transportation home from work today since Bill needs the car tomorrow.  Otter had the car most of last week and drove it to work today, then I dropped Bill off there when I was running an errand and he got the car.  But since it sounds "howly" outside the window, I don't think the wind has died down at all.

 

Froggy, I started on KN#3's blanket earlier today.  I texted you (and her) a picture of the first row.  I have a couple more rows on it now.  I have several projects going, which is how I like to be.  Bill has a pachinko machine on the way to get restoration work and pin polishing is part of the work it needs.  I'm the "official pin polisher" so I'm trying to get as much crochet done as I can while I still can - pin polishing kills my arm muscles for crochet for a few days.

 

I'm really enjoying having a craft space.  I am working on a recipe box for Otter, she knows about it - she picked out the box.  But she doesn't know exactly how it's going to be "decorated" and won't know until I get it finished.  I'm also going to have two other craft projects soon.  One is the clock I think I've mentioned before - I'm going to make a clock with a wooden tray; I'm going to attach a crocheted doily to the inside front of the tray and the clock parts will be put on it.  I'm also going to be making a shadow box, which I might have mentioned before as well.  I had a small shadow box that Mom made, it had specific items belonging to AJ but the frame fell out of it and I decided it was a little too small so I didn't repair it.  I have some items that were Mom's and I'm going to put all the stuff together in a larger box.  I bought some fabric that will be the backing.  I bought a clear plastic box-style picture frame but it wasn't big enough either so I took it back to Michaels and found a bigger one.  What I bought isn't actually a shadow box, it's a box with a plexiglass lid but it will work fine.  I priced actual shadow box frames and they are outrageous - like $90+ for the size I wanted.  The box I bought was somewhere in the $10.00 range and it will actually work better.  The lid looks like a picture frame, but it doesn't latch shut.  Bill looked at it and he thinks he can attach a magnetic closure like he uses on some of the pachinko machine wall-mounted cabinets he makes.

 

We are possibly going to change internet providers.  We had a bad time with Cox a few years ago and finally switched to the phone company we use - it's not Bell/AT&T or whatever they are called.  The only one available where we live is a smaller carrier and it was fine at first.  But there are so many houses out here now and only so much bandwith available.  The internet literally spends more time down than it does up.  After the fiasco with someone cutting the lines a few months back, it's gotten worse.  The wires being cut was not the companies' fault, the problem was their reaction to it and the lies they kept telling me about how it was fixed when they hadn't even sent out a repair crew.  We may well be going back to Cox.  A lot of the problem we had with them was similar - the lines were being cut on a regular basis by construction crews and they were not sympathetic to their customers.  But the houses are pretty much all built now.  Their service was good, that was never the problem.  The current service is becoming a serious problem.  Bill's going to talk to Cox and see what it would take to get service with them again - mostly the monthly fee.  Otter's internet service is through them and she told me what she pays, it should probably be similar.  We'll let everyone know when we make the switch, as the email addresses will be changed.

 

And at the same time, we are probably going to do away with the satellite service.  We both realized at about the same time that we hardly ever watch it.  We have a boatload of local stations and we generally watch them.  When Otter was younger, she watched more of the satellite than we did.  If Cox's service is higher than what we pay now for internet, and it might be because we may have a bundled package discount, we will still be seeing a cheaper cost because the satellite is a big chunk of what we pay each month.  We are not going to change the phone service, at least not yet.  We have a lot of issues with it, like every time it rains!  Although that is better, because we've been able to address each leaky spot in the buried lines when we have rain issues.  They are still there, just less problems.  Also, we want a landline.  There have been a few times when we've had weather related issues where the power might be out for a few days and that includes cell towers!  We have pretty good cell service, but the towers only have a certain amount of battery power and eventually they run out.

 

Tomorrow is our 30th Anniversary.  We're celebrating big:  I'm picking up pizza from Little Ceasar's on the way home!

2014

It has been a busy year.

January:

Otter started the year off with a bang:  she woke up puking her guts out!  It was allergy, but still not fun.

The next day, it was my turn!  But I didn't get "it" as bad as she did.

We had some snow.  On the 6th, it was so cold that I literally could not breathe outside and that is never good.

We decided to get a booth at a local antique mall. We started out with pachinko machines but then added a few smaller items.  I cleaned out a lot of things!

We had mice in the house, but that's a somewhat normal happening in the winter.

Bill ran out of gas - less than 1/2 a mile from home!

The first of many issues with my computer - caused by stupid windows updates!

Bill replaced the fuel gauge sensor in his/Otter's impala.

Our 29th Anniversary happened.

I started planning a trip to visit Froggy, probably in May.

February:

The groundhog saw his shadow.  And there were people wanting him skinned & turned into houseshoes all over the place!!

We had a lot of snow & cold weather this month.

Otter woke up with a bad headache one day, turned out she had the 2nd sinus infection she's ever had.  Fortunately, she does not have my sinuses.

I finally finished my afghan!

Bill came down with bronchitis, an upper respiratory infection and he also had a sinus infection.

The next day, I came down with it.  I didn't have the bronchitis, but I did have the URI.  And coincidentally a sinus infection.

We spent about the last 2 weeks of February dealing with the bugs and missed a lot of work.  We spent most of that time parked on the couch with blankets and didn't do a whole lot besides that.  Bill was worse than I was due to the bronchitis and had a lot of really bad pain from sore muscles/coughing.  But I have asthma which he doesn't, so I still had to deal with almost as much coughing and muscle pain just not the actual bronchitis.

Bill decided to get a UPS box for the pachinko business.

Booked my flights for my May trip to see Froggy, except that I had a strong feeling I needed to change it to June so I did.

March:

We were still dealing with the end of the illnesses for the first part of the month.

We had more winter weather!

We extended our booth into the booth space next to it, I sold quite a bit of stuff there.

Bill cleaned out a lot of the "useless collection" a/k/a his shot glasses.  He kept several, but he got rid of a whole lot of them.

Found a dead gopher in the back yard - very close to the back fence. Found a dead cardinal a couple of days later - in almost the exact same spot.  As if they had been tossed over the back fence out of someone else's yard and into ours.

Otter planted her crop - mostly jalepenos.

We had a hail storm.

Discovered (the hard way!) that I am allergic to something in the green tea Arby's sells.  I think it's the additive that turned it actual green - green tea is not named that because of the color!

Otter turned 22!  She picked a chinese buffet for her birthday dinner.

April:

2 Hot Flashes in one day!  Talk about miserable.

We had a hail storm with a lot of rain.

2 baby blues came up in the whiskey barrel!

I found honeysuckle at a local nursery, we planted several of them.

I had to replace our coffee maker.  We wore the last one out!

Dead frog mysteriously showed up in the same place as the dead birds in March.  At this point, we started walking along the back fence and talking loudly about all the dead animals we were finding - anytime that we saw the back neighbors out in their yard,  Amazingly, the dead animals stopped showing up.

Snow!  Not extremely common this late, but not unusual either.

One of Bill's sisters came to visit.

I'd been expecting a jury duty notice for a while, no reason for it but I expected it.  And it was in the mail this month - for the dates I originally planned to go see Froggy!

I came down with a cold.  I think I caught it from Otter.  I shared it with Bill.

We thought we were going to have another bad year for wasps, but they weren't as bad as we feared.

Otter's annual lung check at the allergiests - he is very impressed with her asthma status.

May:

RHTW had a nice long talk with PayPal!  They got the message.  I don't think that they liked it, though!

Bill's compressor broke.  Again!  This time, it was out of warranty.

I decided not to turn the old quilt top I bought into window curtains.  It was intended to be a quilt by whomever made it, and they put a lot of work into it.  It needs to stay a quilt, so I bought batting and backing fabric for it.

It was a fun Mother's Day, we saw Captain America 2 and went to Cici's pizza.

Jury Duty.  Which wasn't that bad, but it was pretty boring!

Froggy's cat, Chester, went to the Rainbow Bridge.  He was a good kitty, very fluffy and spoiled.  Just the way a cat should be.

J made a million and one brownie points with Otter - he got her Brent Spiner's autograph!

It rained.  A lot.  A LOT.

Otter and her friend (Roomie) started seriously thinking about getting an apartment.

We thought the deep freeze was going out, it turned out that Bill hadn't quite shut the door all the way and the water we saw was from that and not because the entire thing was thawing.

We decided to close down the 2nd half of the booth and just keep the original size.

June:

I got a lot of work done on a lap blanket I started in May for Froggy.  I took it to her!

My 20th anniversary at work.  I got a cake, a gift card for a local Mexican restaurant and a pretty good bonus.  Very good, in fact.  I was very surprised.

I went to see Froggy!  Among other things, we hit a lot of thrift stores and went to San Antonio.  And she took me to a COACH outlet!  Of course, I bought a purse.  The flight back from Austin was rough.  I spent several hours in the Houston airport on a weather delay - it's not my favorite place, to say the least.  But I did enjoy the visit and got to see Toadles.

Saw the first hummingbird of the year.  I think they were here already, but I just hadn't seen any.

Moved my yarn stash out of the closet in the office, they were put in the bedroom for a while then into the living room until I had a place for them because we knew by this time roughly when Otter would be moving out.

Bill's birthday!  I made him a pineapple upside down cake.  And we had bacon!

I got the work done on the car that it had been needing, but we never really had time to get done.  We still didn't have time, but we didn't want to wait any longer.  And it was determined that the previous (crooks) place didn't exactly do what they said they did as far as the power steering leak that was repaired - sort of.

July:

Vacation!  We stayed home.  Shopped a lot.

Bill started changing the office to his pachinko workroom.  That means that the machines have left the living room!

I went to the Coach store for cleaner and left with another purse.

Found out just how sharp a Ulu knife is.

We saw fireworks on the 4th.  Otter used her sparklers that we bought last year and she got sick before she used.

Otter started working on her cosplay outfit for TNT.

Bill got two or three wasps nests this month.

Brake replaced on the car.

Bill's sewing machine broke - just as Otter was getting to the end of a sewing project for her TNT cosplay.  I finished it by hand for her.

Otter had an ear infection.

Toadles' daughter went through Tulsa on her way to somewhere else, we met her and her kids at the Hog Trough (Golden Corral).

Otter got a raise - the 2nd on e this year and she also got a promotion but I think that was with the first raise.

The lumberyard started stocking firewood.

Bill broke in a new dermatologist.  He had a skin cancer removed from the back of his left hand.  Best of all, the doctor already knew all about Redheads and how to take care of us!

August:

10 years since we moved into our current house.

Otter's purse was nearly nabbed in Goodwill, I posted the details already.

Retro TV started running the original Dr. Who series!

I visited several fabric stores for Froggy.

Otter and I got our flu shots.  I had my usual reaction, it was a little worse than usual actually.

The world lost a major supernova and we are all so much poorer for it.

The doctor took 7 stitches out of Bill's hand but left a few in place.

Froggy's daughter graduated nursing school!

Bill's sister came to visit again, we had a really nice visit with her.

Bill cleaned out the first rain barrel and replaced the broken spout/spigot.

We had a lot of internet issues.  Our provider got more than a hint of RHTW in full flow.  They are now afraid of me, which is not necessarily a bad thing!

I took the rest of the stitches out of Bill's hand.

Bill bought a log splitter.  And had a lot of fun with it.

We got the chimney cleaned.

We had some limited water restrictions but not bad.

Otter and Roomie looked at several apartments.

I found the "holy grail" of purses  - at least, it was my "holy grail."  A Brahmin!

September:

Bought a new camera.

Otter and Roomie applied for an apartment, put a deposit down and were approved.

We'd been collecting stuff for her for a while but now it was all moved to the living room and piled in front of the fireplace until she actually moved.

Froggy's cat, Callie, vanished.  She never turned up and they never figured out how she managed to get out.

2nd sinus infection of the year!

We got the notice that our insurance company is leaving the state next March.  Nobama care is the reason.

I finished Uncle Crazy's lap blanket.

Bill got a bunch of firewood.

Otter requested a bunch of comfort foods leading up to her move.

We got 10 crepe myrtle plants and they are planted along the back fence.

The passenger window fell down in the door frame on Bill's/Otter's impala.

The Chevy dealership we use for repairs was introduced to RHTW.  And RHTW won that round, but then She usually does.

October:

This was a big, very busy month.  At least at first it was, it got calmer towards the end of the month.  Especially on the first, when our nest because officially empty!

The TEXAS persecution was especially bad this year.

We decided it was time to get serious about finding a new church, we've been unhappy with our current one for a very long time.  We still haven't found the right one.

There was a lunar eclipse.

Bill fixed the oxygen sensor on his/Otter's car and replaced the windshield wiper blades.

This month is when we realized that Maggie was leaky and having lot of problems.

The vet thought that she mad a UTI, she was on medication for a while and it did seem to help a lot.

Bill went over to Otter's apartment one day and showed Roomie all the basic car maintenance things - she'd never been taught any of it, not even how to check her oil OR how important all those things are.  We officially refer to her as out Other Daughter and that's how we feel about her.

Otter had a tummy bug.  And she shared it with me!

My email quit working - thanks to another unwanted, unneeded update!

Otter had what she thought might be a cavity starting.  Turned out, she needed a root canal.

I started a lap robe blanket for Otter.

Major migraine - I have had several this year, but this one was the worst of the year.

Bill replaced the brakes on Roomie's car.

Halloween.

 

November:

 

Otter's root canal actually took place this month.  She had her typical Redhead reaction to the laughing gas.

We decided to have a low-key Thanksgiving.

Which almost didn't happen as we planned, the heating element on the stove went out.  The part came in a couple of days before, so we had the pizza we wanted.  And that Otter could eat!

Otter had a pretty bad migraine.

After running around all day, I finally found towels and stuff to redecorate the guest bathroom.

Snow!

Bill's other sister came to visit.

I had what I first thought was the flu, but it turned out to be "just" a bug and not the actual flu.

Froggy - this is when KN#3 contacted me about the towels you liked but couldn't find locally.  I got them and shipped them to her around Thanksgiving.  And you were very surprised with them on Chrismtas!

Thanksgiving.  We had our pizza.

We cleaned the living room carpet.  And realized that Maggie Moo had been leaking for longer than we realized.

 

December:

 

We decided to close out our booth.  We actually were thinking we'd probably get a new one in a few months, but a new antique mall opened and we were able to get a good deal on a slightly larger booth so we emptied the old booth and took the pachinko machines directly to the new booth.

Bill replaced the lights in the kitchen.  And I saw just how dirty my kitchen really was!

We had a spell of very foggy days.

Retro TV finally got to the episodes with the real Dr. Who, # 4!

Finally replaced our microwave.

I got Bill a leather wallet for Christmas, he got me a calendar - after I finally decided that was what I wanted.

Microsoft did it again, and this time I found the settings on the laptop to where I have to approve all updates before they are installed.

I had the 9th migraine of the year.  I haven't had that many in more years than I can count.

Vacation!

I got My/the Guest/Craft/Sewing/Front/YARN room mostly organized.

Otter went to Oklahoma City for Christmas with J and his mom.  She "met the family" finally.

We had a quiet Christmas.  It was nice, we had steaks & baked potatos and enjoyed it.  It was different, but it was nice.

I got snow on my birthday!  And went to a local flea market.

 

2014 has been a busy year.  It hasn't been a bad year, but there has been a lot that happened.  But at the same time, it's kind of hard to realize that it's already about to be 2015.

Since When...

is microsoft in charge of what I need or want on my computer?  I'm pretty sure NEVER.  Last night, it took two hours for the updates to install.  Then I had a problem getting on the internet, I was able to get them to text me a temporary password and I thought I had it set to where I could go online automatically.  That took about an hour, just trying to find out how to get them to text me the temp password.

 

Today, I turned on my computer to discover that the (unwanted) upgrades also changed a lot of my settings and I had to input my password just to turn the computer on.  Except that I did not have it set that way.  And microstupid wouldn't recognize my password (I do have one for it) and I spent a long time trying to log in.  I turned the computer off in disgust and came back to it later.  I was going to actually call microstupid and trust me, they would not have enjoyed it.  RHTW* was already set to make the call.  I turned it on and gave it one more try - it took the password immediately - the same one it rejected over and over and over and over to infinity and beyond last night and today.

 

I changed a bunch of my settings back (again) and this time, I am fairly certain that I have the updates set to where I have to approve them.  Last time, microstupid's updates took out my entire email and that took days and days to resolve.

 

Not sure why people who a) I don't know and b) don't know me think that they are supposed to be in charge of decisions for me!

 

OK, enough whining.  For now, anyway.

 

I had a couple of things to do yesterday morning including the post office.  I went to an antiqueish junkish store and didn't find anything but I still enjoyed it.  I was on the way home when I decided on the spur of the moment to go to Goodwill.  Along with a whole lot of other people, it was very crowded.  I'm glad I went.  $3.99, amber (yellow ish) thumbprint pattern small compote!  I go years and years without finding any thumbprint Fenton and then I find two in a row.  :)  That's a Good Thing, by the way.

 

I also got Otter's lap blanket finished yesterday.  I texted her a picture of Maggie Moo with the blanket draped over her.  I tried to get a picture of both dogs, Frasier was cooperative for once but the picture was blurry.  When I tried to take another picture, he got up and walked out the dog door - and I just barely managed to snatch the blanket off him before he got to the doors!  Maggie was quite happy to pose for me again though.  She was happy because she got the blanket!

 

I got a little bit more done in the front room.  I'm really about done in there now, except for the miniblinds and the doily curtain drape, and we might put a lighted ceiling fan in there too.  Bill hung three of the four bulletin boards for me and I started putting the sewing & crochet stuff on the shelves that formerly held Otter's shoe stash.  I have a tiny decorative spinning wheel, it came apart so I got the hot glue gun out and put it back together.  It is sitting on one of the two wall shelves Otter left, along with all 4 (or 5?) of my yarn spools.  I have a thread holder made from yardsticks, it is now on the wall in front of the desk beside one of the fabric covered bulletin boards.  At the moment, there are several large plastic boxes (the kind for under the bed storage) in the middle of the room.  They have a lot of Otter's fabric stash, and there are also three picnic baskets in the closet that have a lot of her fabric.  We may get into that when she gets over here in a little while with her laundry.  Or we might do that later in the week when she comes over here to get the car again - Bill will have it for the next couple of days.

 

I also have a new project idea.  I really need a clock in the front room, I was thinking that I could probably make a clock with a doily as the face of it.  I looked online, apparently a lot of other people also had that same idea because I found a lot of pictures.  Bill suggested that I use a wooden tray instead of a round piece or square piece of wood as the base, I think that will work nicely.  I'm going to get on that in the next few days.

 

Also, I think we are going to get one of those inflatable mattresses instead of an actual bed or pull-out couch to use for guests.  The kind I'm talking about is big, not like a pool float air mattress.  I noticed that Academy Sports has one on sale in their ad, but the regular price is not nearly as much as I expected them to be.  Also, it comes with a pump so you won't have to inflate it yourself, Froggy! :)

 

Bill's been making cookies today.  He's been cooking all afternoon and the house smells so good!  He ran out of vanilla, so I went to Wallyworld (which was a nightmare!) and I could smell cookies baking before I even got to my front door.  He's taking a bunch to work tomorrow.  When Otter gets here tonight, she's going to make brownies to take to her work.  I told Bill that I'd be his clean-up crew, which is actually self defense on my part.  He loves to cook and I love to let him, but he has this one problem:  he heads into the kitchen and it immediately looks like a nuclear bomb went off in there!  This time, he actually got flour all over the lower cabinet doors.  Not sure how he managed that.

 

Maggie Moo is curled up on her blankets, where she's been for a few hours.  Snoozing.  And snoring loudly!  We've had the back door and windows open because it was so hot in the house due to the oven being on and also the dryer was running.  But I think I'm going to have to close up soon, the rain that we were supposed to get starting this morning is finally hitting (it's nearly 5:00 p.m.)  It's getting colder, too.  I think that Maggie's snoozing might be connected!  Or maybe not, dog might just be a little bit lazy.  OK, so she's a lot lazy.  Frasier is also conked out on the floor at my feet, but he's only been there for a little while.  He spent most of his afternoon out in their yard, barking at nothing.

 

*She's a little miffed that she didn't get to give microstupid a dose of What-For.  If anybody has anyone that needs a Talking-To, RHTW is more than ready and willing!!  But I think She'll be satisfied with one of the many cookies Billyboy made. :)

71 and 2,024 **(EDITED)

Bill got my email working again!  He had tried to reload Office and a couple of other things that were supposed to fix it but none of them worked.  He talked to the IT guys at work again today and they suggested a couple of things to reload Office since it hadn't worked before, he was able to reload it this afternoon and I can get my email again.  I had 71 to wade through!  Most of them were crochet related but there were a few "real" emails in there as well.

 

Otter saw the dentist this afternoon.  It's not a cavity.  She needs a root canal!  $2,024.00 is the probably cost for the root canal and crown.  It's one of the very front teeth and she has a slight infection in it as well, so she's on an antibiotic.  Specifically, penicillin.  I think she took it before and was not allergic but I'm not positive that she has actually taken it before.  The pharmacist told her what to look for in case of an allergy and he suggested we get some Benadryl so we got her some of that as well.  It will be done over 3 appointments, the first one is next Monday morning.  I'll probably pick her up on my way to work that morning, then after the appointment she'll either come back to work with me and crash out on one of the sofas we have, or she'll come back to our house.  She thinks she'll want to go back to the office with me.  We arranged a payment plan with the dentist, Otter will probably only have to pay for about half of it and we'll take care of the rest.  She really is trying to be an adult, but sometimes things happen that can't be predicted and she hasn't really had time to build up much of an emergency fund so we're going to help her with it.  This is a new dentist, she liked him.  She gave him the "redhead lesson" and he seemed to listen.  She and Roomie are coming over here tomorrow afternoon for the brakes in Roomie's car to be fixed, I'm going to get her some yogurt and bring it home for her to take back with her.  She decided to wait until tomorrow morning to start the penicillin since Roomie had to work this evening, in case she has a reaction.  I don't think she'll have any problems with it.  **EDIT:  I forgot to mention that there were yogurt coupons in the paper insert last week.  Guess I shouldn't have been surprised!

 

The dentist and the assistant did insist that she can't be 22!

Not Yet.

My email issues are still not fixed.  Not for lack of trying, but it's still not working.  Bill tried a couple of things the IT guys at work told him about, one of them gave him a cd with the program to reload - only the cd didn't have the right program on it.  So, he tried downloading it from Windows - two or three times, and it still won't work.  I think it's time to get someone to fix it for us, but Bill's a typical Engineer.  That means that he doesn't trust anyone else to do it right!

 

Mans smart, but sometimes...

My migraine spell finally ended.  But it took a while.  I woke up Friday with a slight headache still but it got worse as I got more active.  I left work about 11:00, the original plan was that I was going to get Otter at her apartment after work and she was going to bring me home so she could have the car for the weekend since she was scheduled to work both days.  I went ahead and picked her up when I left work, she had a slight headache and wasn't feeling the best.  We stopped at the post office so she could run in for me, but as soon as she started to open the car door she was suddenly hit with a strong wave of nausea and her headache got worse quickly.  Which could have been a migraine, that's sometimes how hers start.  I took her back home to her apartment, then I came home (with her dirty laundry) and parked myself on the couch.  I did go ahead and do her laundry, the original plan included her getting it done after I brought her back home with me.

 

Saturday morning, I woke up feeling pretty good.  After breakfast, I was going to check the booth and then go get Otter to take her to work.  She wanted to go to the booth with me and felt better, but she had a slight stiff neck from the way she slept.  We went to the booth then I took her to work, I picked her up when she got off work.  She stayed at the house for a while, she hadn't gotten to see her dad in a few days.  Then she headed back to her apartment.  She was going to take her/Bill's impala, but we never got the tire checked so I let her take my car.

 

She was going to bring it back this afternoon, she was scheduled to get off work at 5:00 (it's 2:00 p.m. now) but she texted me about 9:30 (she went in at 9:00) to tell me that she was feeling really bad and wasn't sure she would make the day. Bill needed something from her store, so we headed up there about 10:30.  She was working the cash register and I could tell just by looking at her that she was feeling awful.  Bill got what he needed and headed home, I stayed so I could take Otter home - she was waiting for the next cashier to come in at 11:00.  She felt like she might have a little fever and she was very pale.  I dropped her at her apartment, but first we stopped at Walgreen's so I could get her a thermometer.  She also wanted Gatorade and I got her a couple of sprites.  About this time, Roomie texted Otter to let her know that she was also sick.  Otter has a spot that might be a cavity, her dentist appointment is tomorrow at 4:00 but that might have to be rescheduled.  She's going to let me know how she feels in the morning.  She was already scheduled for Monday and Tuesday as her days off for the week.

 

Otter had a little more laundry in the car, she was going to wash it when she brought the car back this afternoon so I went ahead and tossed it in with mine.

 

I stopped at Subway and got lunch for us, today is the final Sunday of the month and we usually do something fun.  But there was so much else going on, including Bill still working on my computer, that I decided I'd just bring lunch home and we'd consider that our Last Sunday fun stuff.

 

Bill's going to talk to the IT guy at work again tomorrow, hopefully then he'll be able to fix whatever the issue is that the last Windows update broke!

Funny Monday Stuff

Well, funny stuff is funny.  But Monday is not!

Love this one!

Not a major fan of the 11th Dr.  (His tagline is that ______ are Cool and he fills in the blank with just about everything he sees.)   Not sure about the 12th, considering the "secret doctor" storyline which I guess would make the current one 13?   I've lost count.  But the point is, # 4 is THE BEST ONE.  # 1 was good, obviously because he was the first.  But 4 is the best!

Enlarge this one if you need to, it's worth the read!

 

As far the Monday stuff, it's just that:  Monday.  I picked Otter up at her apartment at 7:00 this morning and got her at work at 6:00 p.m to take her home.  I will also get her to work tomorrow, then she'll have the car for Wednesday.  Bill needs it Thursday and Friday, but I think she's off those two days.  She'll get the car Friday evening and bring it back after work Sunday.

 

On Monday, she is probably going to have the day off.  Which is because she requested it, due to the dentist appointment she has for a possible cavity that needs to be checked out.  Our dentist retired a few months ago so we need to find a new one, we're going to try a new one on Monday and see how he is.

 

Still no email.  Saturday night, the computer had a notation about "restarting in 2 days to finish installing updates."  Which is never true, it always does it the next time it's turned on.  I had to turn it back on to look something up after checking my email Saturday evening, and  the updates installed.  And I haven't been able to access my email since then.  Turns out, some of those "needed" updates included updating my not-broken-and-should-not-have-been-fixed email program!  There is a way to reset back to before the update, we tried that yesterday but it wouldn't take.  Probably because of the anti-virus program we have.  Bill talked to the computer geeks at work and they all told him the same thing:  Reload Office.  Which we will probably do this week.  Hopefully, that will a) work and b) I haven't lost all my emails.  I'm thinking we need to do a back up before we attempt to reload anything.  I did discover that there is a way to not have the updates install automatically, but we aren't making any changes until we're sure we've gotten everything working again.  Stupid Windows!

 

Maggie is snoozing at my feet, on the pillow I was going to use as a foot rest.  Frasier is probably curled up on their blankets, since that is what he usually does about this time of evening.

 

I think they both have the right idea:  frequent naps!

Internet Troubles

We're having trouble with our internet connection again.  It might actually be the ongoing problem with the phone lines that is causing the problem.  We've been without phone service since sometime Tuesday morning, but we all have cell phones so we are reacheable and also can call out.  We just can't get anywhere with the home phone and can't get internet/email.  The soonest the company can send a tech out is Thursday.  We are unhappy with them, and they know it.

 

Courtesy of RHTW!

 

We may be looking into another internet provider, but that won't be decided until after the repair on Thursday.  And they had better be able to fix it!

Records are Falling!

Specifically, the ones about the latest day of snow in Tulsa.  May 2, 2013 is now the new record.  EEK!

Actually, it was just a trace and probably melted about as soon as somebody actually saw it.  But, it still counts.  I saw sleet, when I had to run to BigLots about 6:00 tonight.  Again, it was melting as soon as I saw it.  But, it still counts.

Yesterday was warm, today wasn't.  We hit our high temp of mid-40's early, like before dawn.  It's been heading downward steadily ever since.  It will be in the 30's tonight, although it might not get quite to 32.  It's been rainy off & on today.  Tomorrow will be the same, although I'm not sure about the rainy part.  We'll have a cold weekend, at least for early May.  It should be nicer by Monday.  It's just kind of odd to have to wear sweatshirts and coats this late.

Froggy, we've usually had better experiences with Dell.  It's just this particular transaction.  Fed-Ex came yesterday, about 10:00 in the morning.  They weren't supposed to come until later in the day.  Of course, Bill didn't get home until about 12:30 and they left a note on the door.  He got online and arranged for the re-delivery to be after 7:00 p.m. tonight.  Otter was home today, and it's a good thing because Fed-Ex was on our doorstep about 10:30.  She signed for everything and Bill's now working on my laptop.  It's a slow process, much slower than I thought.  The errand to BigLots was because he needed to create the rescue disk and the only choice was to get a usb drive.  We have plenty, but none of them are big enough.  So, I ran to BigLots and got two because he'll need to make one when he gets his new computer set up.

I'm not sure when I'll actually get to email you, so Froggy this next paragraph is for you also:

I'll get back with you regarding a visit.  It's still what is referred to as "season" and in this area, that means Tornado Season.  We'll have company next weekend, Nana will be here over Mother's Day weekend.  After that, we'll have to get together with our calendars and see what we can come up with.  Did you have any particular time in mind?  Let me know, we'll get something figured out.  I know you did want to go to Oklahoma City at one point, to the Memorial.  And you already know that there are lots of thrift stores, antique shops and flea markets here.  (No, I'm not forgetting Braums!)

Buds & Beans

The trees are budding.  It's only February, they shouldn't be at this stage for several weeks yet.  One of the maple trees in the back yard is starting to show colors in the buds, leaves are not far behind.  The redbud hasn't started pinking up yet, but it's probably not too far off either.

I told Bill that I think it will soon be time to switch from his camo quilt to my patchwork quilt on our bed, but he disagreed.  Silly boy! :)

I made a pot of pinto beans for dinner.  I also made rice, we had beans & rice and it was delicous.  (Otter's gone to her regular Sunday Dungeons & Dragons game, but beans aren't her food of choice anyway.)  I decided against cornbread because I just didn't quite get around to it, so we had rice instead. :)  It was still good!

Froggy, I'm not sure what the problem is regarding comments you've left.  Blogger still shows that it's set to email me when comments come through, I've checked the spam settings and there aren't any comments that were sent to the spam file instead.  I just doesn't show any other comments other than the one you left on the snow post.  I emailed you already, but you might email me to let me know you've left a comment and you also might email me the comment as well.  I don't know what the issue is, but Blogger has made a bunch of changes and not all of them seem to be working.

Otter seems to be enjoying working.  She's working for a party supply store and she's learning a lot.  She's a hard worker, that's never been an issue for her.  But she does have one complaint:  she said that if she never, ever sees another heart-shaped mylar balloon, she'll be happy!  She had to fill literally hundereds of dozens of them in Valentine's week.  Apparently, Valentine's is one of the biggest seasons for party supply places.  Halloween is also heavy, Christmas and Thanksgiving are also big weeks.  In between, there are many other times that people have parties and the summer is a busy season.  She has worked one Saturday so far, she just uses one of her days off in place of Saturday as a day of rest.  She was off yesterday and is also off next Saturday.

I can hear Billyboy sneezing his head off.  We've all been having to deal with varying degrees of allergy issues.  Still too soon!  Also, the Tulsa Health Department made an announcement the other day.  Seems that there is a strain of the flu going around that has just enough symptoms to make people think that they might have the flu but not be sure if they actually do - which is why I no longer think that I had to deal with RSV in January.  The main strains are the two that the shot was for, plus a few others this year.  Including the milder one, which I had and then Bill decided to get as well.  We're just glad that Otter didn't get it!  She was sick enough last year, we don't want to go there again.  And I'm sure that she doesn't want to, either.

Been a Few Days!

Since my last post, anyway.

We lost our internet for a few days, not sure what the problem was but it was area-wide.  It's fixed now.  And not a moment too soon, we've realized over the last few days just how little there actually is on tv!  We don't watch a lot anyway, specific shows but not much.

Let's see, what's happened this week that's worth discussing.

I know!  IT RAINED!  Pretty much constantly for the last couple of days, and it's been wonderful.  It's nice and cool, mid 90's is the highest we've had but it's mostly been high 80's to low 90's.  I'm not sure how much rain water is in my rain barrel, but it's quite a bit.  The plants are all happy now, and the yard is beginning to turn back to green (as opposed to brown!).  Of course, that means that Billyboy will have to mow it soon.  He also had to clean out the rain gutter, you can't tell if it's clogged unless it's actually raining.  It was raining and the gutter was clogged.  It only had a few spots, mostly dead leaves that have fallen off of the previously very dry trees.  We've had thunderstorms off and on the last couple of days, so I guess the internet being out was good timing since we wouldn't have been on the computers then anyway.

My car's acting up.  Tuesday, I was nearly to work when it started making a noise.  We were thinking that the main belt was acting up and I thought that the noise was the belt failing.  I was about a mile from the repair shop we use, so I took it in and they took me on to work.  The belt was fine, in fact the belt is in great shape so we don't have to worry about that right now.  But he couldn't find the noise, as the car did what they always do - quit making the noise as soon as I got it to the shop.  He thought that maybe a small twig might have been flung up and got caught in the belt, which was a possibility as there were a lot of trees damaged in the storms we've had and debris is everywhere.  Today, it started making the noise again and I realized what it is.  The air conditioner "doors" that separate the interior air intake from the exterior air intake are sticking.  This is the 3rd time that it's done this and I'm thinking it's time to call Chevy.  I think that I heard something recently about a recall involving similar situations, but it was not for my model year Impala.  When the car started it's thing today, I was just leaving the office for lunch so I just went straight to the repair shop and this time the car cooperated.  Which means that it was still making the noise and the owner of the shop came out to hear it.  They were full, so I'm taking it back tomorrow on the way in to work.  I'm going to talk to him about calling Chevy, because this should not happen 3 times in less than 2 years.  Actually, it might even be less than 2 years.

I had an interesting experience at Wallyworld today.  I bought dog food.  I had a coupon, but I was going to buy it anyway because the hounds like to eat.  For some reason!  Anyway, the coupon would not scan.  I think it was wrinkled up a little.  The cashier absolutely COULD NOT FIGURE OUT how to redeem a coupon without scanning it!  She made a big thing about how I couldn't use it because it wouldn't scan and that's when RedHeadTexanWoman came out to play.  I finally asked her if she "could just do it the old fashioned way and actually input the numbers from the bar code into the register by hand."  She didn't have a clue what I meant.  After several minutes of this nonsense because she kept repeating herself, I told her that she obviously didn't know what she was doing and that she also didn't know what she was talking about.  She kept insisting that coupons can ONLY be scanned and I told her that she was wrong and I knew it, and I took the coupon back out of her hand.  I paid for my stuff and she started telling the lady next in line behind me how the coupon wouldn't scan (about mine) and that they couldn't take it.  I turned around, looked her straight in the eye and repeated my earlier statement.  Then, I just left.  (Even though RedHeadTexanWoman was out of the fence, I was not rude).  The lady behind me was not impressed with the incompentent clerk, either, by the way.

Since it was obviously Texas Attitude Day, we had chili tonight.  We have it on a regular basis (see many previous posts!), so we would probably have had it anyway.  But I thought it was a good night for it.

Among other things this week, Otter and I went out to the college bookstore and investigated the textbooks she'll need.  We are going to look online for them, but most of them are specific to the college itself and it's not a huge school.  So we might still wind up back at their bookstore.  They weren't unreasonable, I'd just like to not have to pay any more than we have to.  Especially considering the fact that we have to pay for her oral surgery next week and now have an unanticipated car repair cost.  The car won't be much, it's just that we've already had it fixed twice.  The college expenses are not extremely high anyway.

Froggy, you asked about a comment not posting.  I haven't gotten any about last Monday's post, which is the one I think you were asking about.  You might need to re-comment.

Speaking of frogs, we've been hearing the tree frogs again.  They like rain, and when it's raining they get very loud.  I think we had one on the deck last night, we just sat in the living room and listened to it for a long time.  Really neat sounds.  The dogs response to the rain has been to sleep even more.

Frogs are cool.  Right, Froggy? :)

Email Issues

For some reason, I am unable to send email.  I have been receiving it, Ijust can't send it.  Bill will check it tonight, but in the meantime if you send me an email and don't get an answer - be patient!

Some Sunday Stuff! EDITED & UPDATED in Bold at End

First things first: I'm having computer troubles. It's sick. Dr. Bill is fixing it, but I don't know if it will be fixed today or not. So if you leave a comment here and it doesn't show up for a day or so, that's why. Also, if you email me and I don't respond right away, same thing. I don't normally like to let Bill near my computer, it does strange things when he gets through with it. But this time it's necessary. If you need to email me, use Otter or Bill's email address and put my name in the subject. (Otter's email is finally fixed, it turned out to be one little place that should have been clicked and wasn't.)

We're still getting rain very frequently. It's not officially Fall, but I think it really already is. One benefit is that my rain barrel is full. However, the ground is very soft and the dogs don't like to be out in the rain. So they play and go crazy in the living room. Maggie seems to think that the hallway is her personal runway, she seems to really enjoy running up and down the hall. Several times. At full beagle speed. Watch your feet! We have to sit with our feet up on the couch, otherwise they tend to get "runnd over."

Froggy, I keep forgetting to ask you but can you take a couple of pictures of the crochet bag I made you and email them to me? I forgot to take pictures of it. I'm working on a couple of other projects at the moment, I spent quite a bit of yesterday with a hook in one hand and yarn in the other. I got several books from the library the other day, Bill found several pictures he would like me to make. Such as a swim suit. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at that! But it was kind of fun when I had to explain how to read the directions to him, as it's like another language and the Engineer needed a translation. That doesn't happen often! :)

I had more, but it's not in my head any longer. Bill is repeating one word over and over and it's distracting me. Which is probably what he intends. The word? Breakfast!

Later: Bill finished with my computer! It seems to be infection free and working fine. There are a few minor differences. But mostly, the problem now is that I forgot to copy down all my stored email addresses because I thought that the address book would transfer to the back up along with all the stored emails. Which didn't happen! I'm going to rebuild it, but I need a few email addresses from people I can't recover. Jan (in Arizona), you are at the top of my list! Froggy, Toadly, FutureJediMom - I have all of yours. I think I have most family members. But as I find ones that I need, I'll indicate on here so keep an eye out.

Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmm

We have hummingbirds now. Please note that I said birds plural. I saw one chase another one away from the feeder this evening, so I put two more feeders up just now. I still have three more hooks where I had feeders last year, I just won't get feeders up on those until they are needed. The picture is one from last year, or possibly the year before when we had so many. Sorry it's blurry, but they are impossible to catch when they are still! I had to sit out by the feeder with the camera ready for a very long time to even get the pictures I did.

Our email problems are solved. Hopefully for good, but you never know! Bill spent quite a bit of time on the phone to our service provider, he called a few times yesterday and even in the middle of the night last night. On the rare occasions that he wasn't cut off during the extremely long hold process, he was connected with someone in India. Someone in India who spoke bad English over a bad connection! They all told him the same thing to do, which was not the problem. Eventually, today, he got an answer that said it was the software and not their problem. Except that he knew it wasn't the software. So that meant another round of numerous phone calls until he finally let his Inner Texan come out and play. Which immediately got him transferred to a higher level technician and then from there to a supervisor. Who told him exactly what to do to fix the problem! So now we can email again. Just about filled up my inbox this afternoon, with all the email that had not been delivered over the last few days.

After he got through dealing with the email problem, Bill had planned on mowing the lawn. But Frasier had other plans - the dog chewed through the pull cord that starts the lawn mower! And he also left tooth marks in the rubber handle to the pull cord. I have absolutely no idea what he did that for. He's not afraid of the lawn mower, and it wasn't an easy thing for him to reach. We found a replacement at Wallyworld, Bill is going to fix it tomorrow and then mow. And I don't know what he's going to do to protect it from the dog this time! Short of turning the dog into a rug, that is.

It's the end of the world as we know it! Bill de-cluttered his desk! I almost don't recognize his corner of the office. Of course, there is now a pile of stuff that was formerly on his desk that has just suddenly appeared on my desk with no explanation...

I went thrifting after work today. Among other things, I added to Otter's Steven King book collection. Today's selection is Carrie, the one about the telepathic girl. I've never actually read it, but I'm going to. I prefer the older works over his newer stuff.

I have another craft project. Like I really needed another one! But since I cleaned out some of my craft stuff last weekend, I needed something to take up the space on my shelf. I think I'm going to make a windchime. I have one that I got a couple of years ago, it was a double windchime had a lovely tone. I had it out on the trellis in the back yard and it was so nice to hear it when it was breezy. But it apparently was meant to be more of a decorative one than a functional one, the strings basically biodegraded on it and it came apart. Remember the small glass bowls for potpourri that were popular a few years back? They had pewter lids that were not solid, they resembled open carvings. I have one of the jars with a hummingbird (what else?) lid and I found just a lid at one of the thrift stores today. For 49 cents, I'm not about to pass up a hummingbird related item! Anyway, I'm thinking that I can use it as the top to a windchime, I can use fishing line or similar to hang the chimes from it. At least a few of the chimes, the windchime that came apart had quite a few chimes on it. If it works, I'll post a picture. But I need to get some fishing line, or see what Bill has out in the black hole he calls a garage. Actually, the chimes might be too heavy for the lid I want to use. But I'll come up with something!

Monkey See, Monkey Do (Toadles Relatives)

We've been to the zoo today! Toadles, you have lots of cousins out there. Of the chimp variety. There are two babies, both born last spring/summer and they are really cute. (For the record, I do not believe in evolution. Except in Toadles case, and then it's backwards - he's de-evolving!) :) It was a very pretty day, slight breeze and lots of sunshine. It wasn't too crowded, but there were still quite a few people out there today. There is a temporary exhibit this year, Australian Birds. Not really worth the extra $ to get in, if I want to feed a parakeet I can do so in Otter's room. But it was still fun. The otters were very active today, my Otter spent quite a bit of time watching them and they seemed to know that they had an audience. I have sore feet, but it was worth it.

Froggy, 2 months until you visit! Can you tell I'm kind of excited about it?

Movie review: Cloverfield. Not your typical monster movie, but it was not bad. It was a lot better than I expected. Kind of a surprise ending. It was shot as if it was filmed by a guy with a camcorder who was filming a party and then all the exciting, monstery stuff happened. I probably would have been disappointed to pay full price at the theater (I usually am), but it was a good movie to rent. Definitely a popcorn movie. Of course, Otter thinks that they all are!

With it being spring, most of the trees are now green although some of them are still in the blooming stage. It's very obvious the amount of damage that the trees sustained in last December's ice storm. It wasn't as obvious when the trees were still bare, but now you can really tell where there is damage. Especially at the park that the zoo is part of. There are still piles of limbs waiting to be picked up. We saw several spots at the zoo where trees had been cut down.

Off to go surf the internet now! FYI: We are having email problems (again!), so if you don't get an answer from us please do not assume that we are ignoring you!

Email Issues

Ok, my email is fixed! Toadles, I still have the brick picture. It was on the old email system and Bill was able to retrieve that. However, I don't have anything sent to me in the last couple of months, but I think I had already answered everything anyway.

Gonna be another cold day but no more snow is forecast. Just very cold.

Email difficulties

I'm temporarily unable to email. Bill installed the trial version that Microsoft had for people to try out a couple of months ago. I did not like it! Anyway, the trial version ended today and I didn't want to install it and continue with it so we took it off. And in doing so it took out my entire email!!!! He's going to work on it later on, but in the meantime I am not able to receive or send email. Toadly, if you still have the brick pictures I'd be happy if you would send them to me again - but wait until I've emailed you to let you know it's up and running!

Still cold but the ice is gone!

Well, mostly gone anyway. There are still small patches here and there. But it's still pretty cold. We did have a couple of days about freezing and it has been sunny, but it's back to being winter again. Not that it ever really wasn't! We have another cold front on the way in but it is not supposed to be anything other than cold. However, since the forecasters never quite get it right.....

Interesting news article. Here's the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16891832/
My only comment is that if this does become law, it will be one that we will NOT comply with.

If anyone has tried to email the Otter for the last few days, it might not have gone through. Her computer crashed last Friday and it's now up and running again but she lost nearly everything. Her email is not working at all right now, she is getting some emails but she is unable to send any out at all. So if you sent her an email, don't take it personally if you didn't get a response! Bill's working on it but it might be a while.

I'm watching Huckabee, whose first name I forget, as a potential Republican candidate. He seems to be very conservative, absolutely pro-life which is extremely important to us, and looks good on a few other areas as well. But it's early still and who knows what will happen between now and the election!

I have a prayer request, one of our very good friends (Larry) has a biopsy scheduled this week because of a suspicious spot on his lung. It does not sound good. So I would like to ask for prayers for him.

And I get to make another sock monkey! That makes two I need to work on since both sides of the family are expanding - my brother is going to be a grandfather again! Les & Jacque and Kim & Kenneth. No promises that either monkey will be ready by the time the babies arrive, however! I'm just glad that sock monkeys will be needed.

Email addresses

We have had some problems with the new email, I think we've gotten all the bugs worked out but if you sent me an email and wanted an answer then you might want to resend it, if you sent it Tuesday through about Friday. I think we're now getting all emails sent to us but I know I missed a few in there!