Catching Up

Yes, I am still blogging!  It's just been pretty busy and I don't always have the time.

I took last Friday and Monday off, I really needed a break and it was slow enough at work so I took some vacation time.  Friday was nice, I went back to bed after Bill left for work at 6:00 a.m. and didn't get up again until 7:00.  I ran a couple of errands, shopped, got lunch out and made a crockpot full of soup.  The weekend was fun, Otter and I went to the flea market at the Tulsa Fair Grounds and had fun.  We didn't buy much, but we had a lot of fun.  We had lunch at the Mexican place that Bill and I found a few months ago and went to a thrift store along with a junktique place.  Sunday was laundry and stuff around the house then pizza with Bill.

Monday was not so fun.  I went back to bed when Bill left and slept until 7:30, which was nice.  But the day went downhill pretty fast.

Otter thought that her crown was loose and the dentist could see her at 11:30.  She came over and got her laundry going, and I went to Braum's to get breakfast for us.  When we got to the dentist, it stopped being a fun day.

The dentist said that her crown is loose because the tooth underneath it is broken.  And, by the way, she needs fillings in quite a few teeth and the estimate is over $7,000.00!  The treatment plan includes a bridge on her front top two teeth - which means that the over $2,000.00 we paid for the crown was basically wasted.

Also, it turned out that the dentist never did the exam and cleaning she was supposed to get when we first went to them.  And on Monday, Otter said that the dentist actually only spent long enough to come in and say hello and then one of the assistants did the x-ray.  We are not really sure just how much work she actually needs and we will most likely not go back to that dentist.

We went to him originally because the dentist we've seen for several years retired and when it was time to get another cleaning, Otter had what she thought might be a cavity starting.  We got an ad in the mail with coupons for a free cleaning with the purchase of an x-ray, so that's where we went.  I didn't realize until just recently that she never got that cleaning.  And that the dentist rushed that time, too.  When we were there last Monday, the clerk was very pushy that we had to schedule the work right away and she also pushed the credit plan they have - which we used last time and then closed it when we paid it off.  She couldn't seem to understand why anyone would ever close a credit account out!  Maybe the 25% interest it would have charged if we'd kept it?

We decided to call the previous dentist's office, someone bought her practice but we wanted a closer dentist to where we live.  But they still have her records and they can see her in 2 weeks.  I didn't tell them everything, just that she hadn't had a cleaning in a while because the dentist we went to after that didn't do it and I didn't know until recently, and I also told them that she'd gotten a crown there but that it felt loose.  Part of what we do in that type of a situation, which also applies to auto mechanics, is to see just what they tell us is actually needed in case we've been told wrong and it's also a way to be sure that the dr/dentist/mechanic/whatever is thorough.  So we'll see what the new/old dentist says and then go from there.  I do think she probably does need at least some work, and it may turn out that she does need what the closer dentist said she does.  But we won't be back to the closer dentist, either way.

We're also going to see what kind of a discount or price break we can get if we pay for it outright.  But that isn't really going to be the deciding factor.  And since Otter has the decalcification problem that I passed down to her from my mother's side of the family and it is worse now, she's going to have to be really careful in the future and keep a close eye on her teeth.  She's in for some unpleasant times in the near future and she's also allergic to codeine, which is the main pain pill for things like that.  She's pretty much limited to tylenol!  I forsee cooking a lot of potato soup and similar meals in my future.

2012 Start to Finish!

2012 is just about over, although since Blogger is being so slow it might actually BE over before I get through typing this!  Anyway.  I think we'll be glad to see this year end.  It hasn't been horrible, but frankly we have had better.  We've had worse as well, so I'm not really complaining.  Just stating a fact is all.

January

Well, I brought back a cold from our TEXAS trip in December 2011 and then spent at least half the month fighting it.  It turned into bronchitis and I was very sick.  Otter had a touch of the cold, but she was over most of it early in the month.  I made it into a marathon!

I did manage to get quite a bit of crochet done, mostly because I was home sick so much.

Bill's pachinko collection increased (this happens a lot).

There was a Friday the 13th this month.

Otter got new glasses.  We decided that we don't like the Oakley brand, they don't curve around the ear and keep falling off.  She doesn't want that kind anymore and I don't blame her.

Bill took a turn with the cold but he didn't have a very bad case.

My tendonitis showed up and it stayed around for weeks and weeks.  It's one thing I want to do without for 2013!

Bill's car had a leak in the power steering system.  $516.00 to fix it. Ouch!

Otter was mistaken for an actual librarian at the library one day. :)

February

For a while, we were concerned that Otter might have a thyroid imbalance.  The doctor was too, but so far she seems to be ok.

Bill got the first of what turned into several fillings.  Actually, he got a few this month and then for the next few months.

There was an attempted kidnapping of a 13 year old girl at a school bus stop, less than 2 miles from our house - the boy that tried to grab her was 14 years old.

We had a trace of snow (finally!)

A very special couple I know celebrated their 75th Wedding Anniversary!

We replaced the filter on the ice maker in the fridge.  And discovered billions and billions of multi-colored twist ties.  With no idea where they came from!

This was a leap year, so there were 29 days in February.

March

Froggy's hubby got a great job in the Austin, TX area and they decided to move.

Otter started the month with what she thought was a night of not sleeping and then a cold/allergy coming on - but it turned out to be the flu!  She was one of many in the Tulsa area who got the flu shot and then still got the flu.  She didn't have a bad case, but it was still not good.

The Oklahoma primary was in March.  Our first choice, Herman Cain, dropped out earlier so I voted for the 2nd choice - Rick Santorum.  He won Oklahoma, but ultimately dropped out of the race.

Otter was thinking about changing her major from Library Sciences to an English Degree and that is what she decided to do.

We had a pretty intense hail storm.

I got to crochet again!  I didn't even attempt it for several weeks, thanks to the tendonitis.  Then I had to be careful and just do small sessions.

Bill shaved his beard!

The dishwasher died.  It had been on it's way out for a while, but we were nursing it along.  We didn't replace it at the time and later I decided that I don't really want one.

We actually had weather that was nice enough to sit out on the deck.

The frogs showed up, so the bricks went into the dog water.  Don't want any drowned frogs!  Dead frogs don't eat bugs.

We switched from the humidifiers to the fans in the bedrooms.  In March!

Bill had a cold or allergy.

We had pouring rain for a few days.

Otter's annual lung recheck at the allergist.  He was very impressed with her status.  She also had Spring Break.

Birds started building nests in various places around the house and yard.

Otter turned 20!

April

Discovered a bunch of bluebonnets coming up in the front yard and whiskey barrel.

Also, we discovered the first of what became a major invasion of yellow-jacket nests.

Dallas had tornados!

The iris plants started to bloom.

The vet started really watching Frasier's leg.

We had a nice Easter at Grandpa and Sweetie's house.

Spring Storms made their appearance, especially in the western part of the state.

Otter learned to crochet!

Froggy & Uncle Crazy found a house!

May

We had a storm with a lot of strong wind.  And then we had pieces of one of our trees all over the back yard!

Maggie caught a fledgling mockingbird, but Otter got he to drop it and then Maggie was in major discgrace!

Mother's Day.  We saw the Avengers movie and had buffalo burgers.

The office cat disappeared.  We eventually found her, she was deceased and we think she "came home" to die.  She had adopted us several years ago and was probably just old but she was still a fun pet at work and we miss her.

9 yellow-jacket nests at the office.  That was just in one day, we killed them and they kept coming back!

We got the septic tank cleaned out. Not a pleasant job, but necessary.

June

The hummingbirds showed up!

We moved plastic shelves into Otter's room, now she has a place to put all that craft stash of hers.

More yellow jacket nests.

I got stung by one of the beasties.  It wasn't pleasant.

The drive-in reopened in Tulsa!

We found out (the hard way) that Otter is not allergic to yellow jackets.  We were already destroying them as we came across the nests, but not Bill was on a mission!

Bill's 51st birthday.

Froggy's house in SA was an interesting story.  The first buyer had a stroke just a few days before he was to close, they had to put the house back on the market and the 2nd buyer was kind of a turkey.  But it was eventually sold.

Ozone days started for the summer.

Otter found a wasp.  It was climbing up the curtains inside the living room!

We found a box turtle in the back yard.  She was relocated under the fence.

The supreme court made a collosal mistake.

July

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

A sparrow flew into the dining room window.  It did not survive. :(

We watched fireworks from our back deck.

We found an injured dove in the back yard.  We gave her food and water and kept the dogs out.  After a couple of days, she was nowhere to be seen so we think that the got her strength back and was able to fly off.  There was no sign of anything else.

Still finding yellow jackets.  Still squashing/spraying/killing them.

The Olympics started in London.  We watched quite a bit.

Our neighbor pointed at me as I was driving off one morning - actually it was the husband/boyfriend/whatever he is and he mimed pulling a gun on me and shooting.  This was the 2nd time, the first was just pointing.  I waved at him and gave him a big smile - and then they seemed to do everything they could to avoid us after that.  Guess they didn't like realizing that we don't intimidate?

My favorite author, Maeve Binchy, died.**

August

Otter decided to take a break from college and think about her plans for the future.  She started applying for jobs, then after a long talk with her councilor at school she changed her mind.  At least for the immediate future.

We supported Chick-Fil-A.  And continue to do so.

Otter went to TEXAS for a week, she saw her TEXAS grandmother and most of her cousins.

Found another yellow jacket nest!

The vacuum cleaner died.  Unlike the dishwasher, it was replaced!

I made my specialty soup with frozen vegetables and it worked pretty well.

The vet decided that Frasier's "spot" needed to come off.  We scheduled his surgery for Labor Day weekend so it was actually August 31st.  It was the beginning of a roller coaster that we actually thought at one point was the end of Frasier's time on earth.  He got better!  But we really weren't sure he would at one point and we (and the vet) were actually planning the timing for euthanasia.  It was that close and that serious.

Otter started her 2nd year at college.

The driver's side window fell off it's frame in Bill's car.  We had to replace the motor assembly but the window itself was intact.

September

We didn't get a lot of sleep this month, courtesy of one large, furry dog!

We went to Wallyworld one morning and there were was looked like (literally) millions of crickets!

We got our flu shots.  Later than we planned, but at least we managed to get them!  I had my usual reaction.

Frasier, in his cone, got his head stuck between the couch and a magazine rack.

The dogs came veryclose to getting a cat under the shed.

Talk Like a Pirate Day!  Otter got a free dozen donuts at Krispy Kreme, and so did most of her friends, just for dressing up like a pirate and talking like one.

The dentist agreed that Otter's top wisdom teeth were just about ready to come out.  She also diagnosed the beginning of de-calcifying in Otter's teeth.

October

I brought the hummingbird feeders in the for the year.

Frasier kept us up at night.

I had a chance to educate two neighborhood girls on not throwing rocks at passing cars.  RHTW got the job done and I don't think that they will do it again.

We went to Bartlesville and areas north, one of our shopping rambles.  It turned out to be the last one for the year although we didn't realize it at the time.  It was fun.

Otter and I went to the Fair.  First time in two years.  Fun, lots of walking.

The vet recommended a bitter apple spray for Frasier's leg.  It didn't keep him from licking and I'm firmly convinced that it made his mental state worse.

We had a bad dust storm.

Otter started showing signs of Red Hair anemia.  She's increased her iron intake and is much better.

We heard coyotes.

I found one of the two opal earrings (two different ones) I lost over a year ago.  Thought it was gone for good, it was in the dryer!

The vet had us start the dog on benadryl at night.  It worked two or three nights, then we were right back where we started from.

Bill transplanted an elm tree sapling that came from the elm tree we put in a couple of years ago.

The vet suggested leaving a light on in the living room with the hopes that Frasier would be able to see that there was nothing to bark at.  He only saw that I wasn't in there and he kept barking!

November

The vet suggested tranquilizers.  They did the trick.  He still gets one occasionally, but after about a week of a pill nightly he was much better.

Time change.

Bill briefly considered selling the El Camino.  I'm glad he decided not to.

The "big" election happened.  Without us, frankly.  At least without us on certain parts of it.

I had a cold.

Grass fires in the area, lots of smoke & dust.

My puppy is back!  He's been so much better and actually wore the beagle out on a few occasions.  That is not easy to do, by the way.

We scheduled Otter's oral surgery for mid-December.

I started an afghan for Grandpa for Christmas.  Which I didn't get finished until about 30 minutes before they came on over Christmas morning!

Bill had time off at Thanksgiving.  And he got sick!

Thanksgiving.  We had a great time at Grandpa and Sweetie's.

Otter and I saw an annual exhibit at a local museum.

We took the curtains down from the dining room and put up mini-blinds.

December

Otter made a great find at an estate sale, she found a fairly rare and collectible picnic basket.

12/21/12 happened.  And nothing happened.  We didn't expect anything anyway, but it was fun watching people get stupid about it.

Well, one thing did happen on 12/21/12:  my notary commission was renewed for another 4 years.

We made cookies.  Lots and lots and lots of cookies.

And then I threw away most of my cookies sheets and got new ones!

The dogs jumped the block in the garage.  And discovered a full back of their food.  It wasn't full for long!

Otter had a fairly heavy nosebleed - in line at the dollar store!  Thankfully, they sell kleenex.

Otter had oral surgery.  The two two wisdom teeth came out and the surgery went well.  She didn't have any problems from it.

But she did have problems from the pain pill, it was a hard way to discover a codiene allergy but I guess it was the only way it could be discovered.

Christmas!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

I turned 51, I caught up with Billyboy.  We went to Incredible Pizza and a few thrift stores.  It was a lot of fun.  Otter made me brownies. :)

Bill was on vacation and he did what he's known for:  he got sick!

I finally gave in and bought a purse.  I buy purses when I need one, but this one was a little different.  And it cost a lot more.  I still can't believe I paid that much for a purse.

We had a touch of snow on the 28th.

One other thing in December:  The publisher that handled Maeve Binchy's books announced that there was one more book and it would be coming out on Valentine's Day 2013.  I'm not sure if it was one that was just never published for whatever reason, or if it was going to be published and then she died.  But whatever the reason, I am going to buy it.  She was a major talent and is very much missed.

I had 4 migraines in 2012.  Which is about the average.  I had a few hot flashes, only a couple of them were really bad (hot flashers, actually).  But I guess it's to be expected.

We had very little car trouble, what we did have with mostly with Bill's car but it's a 10 year old car and has around 150,000 miles on it.  I guess it's to be expected too.

It was a warm year and a dry one.  It didn't feel as hot as 2011, but it actually was.

But we managed to get through the year without losing a special dog, that is something that we didn't expect at one point.  He's an old dog and we're just going to enjoy however long with have him.  And spoil him even more rotten - same thing with the beagle!

But I really, really do NOT want tendonitis.  Ever again.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

(Before I forget - Otter's fine now ,she recovered from her dental experience and the nightmare of being allergic to the pain med.  The stitches are out and the dentist was pleased with how everything looked.  She can eat real food again and she's happy!)

And it's 65 degrees!

This is the actual forecast, obviously they got today wrong, but it would still have been warmer than usual.

But, there is hope.  Look at Tuesday.  The 50% chance of something.  It's not rain, either.  This being the area that it is, the forecasters don't quite know what they are doing.  I heard a dj commenting on the radio the other morning, he said that since the forecasters were calling for a slight chance of white stuff and a small chance of it actually accumulating, we'd probably be inundated because they don't know what they are doing!  :)

We'll see.

Otter and I went to Wallyworld today.  I needed 5 or 6 things and they were all grocery related.  We decided to go shortly after we got home from church, which would have been about 10:30.  But it was actually closer to 12:30 when we got there.  The "After Church" crowd wasn't there yet, we were able to get in and get out fairly easily.  But they were getting busy as we were leaving, and judging by the way that most people were dressed I'd say that most of them came straight from church and we're glad we were there when we were.  Any later and it would have been a madhouse.

Of course, we still have to get out tomorrow.  Bill needs to take a box to UPS and he also ran out of peanuts (the edible kind, not the packing kind!) to we're probably going to run to the farm/ranch/general store where we buy them in bulk.  Probably early, and then we will also most likely go to the dollar store.  That's kind of become Otter's and my tradition on Christmas Eve, although we didn't intend for it to.  I might also need to go to Michael's - yes, I know how chaotic it will be!  But I'm working on a crochet project which is a Christmas gift - nothing like waiting until the last moment! - and I'm seriously afraid that I'm not going to have enough yarn in the specific color.  It's white, so it's one that I don't use a lot of but I do use enough of it to justify buying more.  I just didn't exactly want to go tomorrow.  I may have to, though.  Otter (my chief enabler) read the Michael's ad and informed me that they have ALL their yarn on sale. :)

Okay...

I think we've discovered that Otter can not take lortab, also known as tylenol # 3.  She has been sick all day, She took two doses last night, one when we got home and then one when she went to bed.  It didn't make her drowsy, so she was in her bed but awake until about 10:00 last night.  She had the laptop powered up, and the pill did seem to help the pain.  I woke her up about 7:00 this morning to check on her before I left for work, she was not feeling the best but that was mostly the results of the surgery - or so we thought.  She called me about 9:45, when she woke up and she was feeling a little nauseous but she hadn't really eaten anything beyond a little yogurt last night so she thought she was just hungry.  Sometime after that, she started throwing up.  Several times.  She was texting me to keep me updated since she didn't feel like actually talking.  After about the third time, she noticed a tiny bit of blood and that's when I decided I'd better head on home.  I was going to come home at lunch anyway, to check on her.  But I wasn't planning on staying home originally.  About the time I realized that I needed to head home, the Teenager got there and he told me that I'd better leave and not come back today - which is what I was already thinking.

I talked to the dentist and since it was a tiny amount of blood and didn't continue, she thinks it's probably from the stitches being pulled but they seem to still be there.  Also, there wasn't any bleeding later on.  We have to watch for dry socket, but that's more of a general concern because she was throwing up and not that we expect it.  She can take plain tylenol, which is probably what she'll do.  Just not # 3.  Ever, I think.  She had a long shower and then she decided to take a nap.  That was around noon, she slept most of the afternoon and is still in bed although I think she's woken up a couple of times.  It's after 6:00 p.m. now.  We're keeping an eye on her, obviously.  At this point, she doesn't need to go back to the dentist until Thursday but that may change at least if the stitches come out.

I'm really glad now that I changed Otter's appointment, it was originally set for tomorrow afternoon but I was afraid that she might have a reaction or problem and it would be when the dentist was out of the office on Friday.

Since I was home today, I did a few things around the house that I'd been meaning to get to.  Otter napped all afternoon, I dusted!  And fought cobwebs, cleaned a couple of things out of the coat closet, did a couple of loads of laundry, ironed, swept and also attacked the dryer's interior lint trap - which was loaded!  When Bill got home, he cleaned the ceiling fan (I couldn't reach it but I did try) and then I ran to Subway for dinner for the two of us.  Otter's mashed potatos may be potato soup instead, but it'll be tomorrow whichever way we have it.

I think Bill's cleaning the fireplace.  I was going to do it and had started, but then he ordered me out of the way.  :)

I did not get any crochet done today, but I really need to get on that tonight since I've got two Christmas presents in progress.  I might work on that this evening.

Odd Monday

It's Monday, it's been an odd day.  Otter's fine, more on her dental adventure in a bit.

Friday's horrific news is still on my mind.  It would be upsetting and terrible beyond words anyway, but my mother's heart is broken for all those parents who don't have their children to hold anymore.  It is simply unfathomable, that someone would do something so despicable.  I know the shooter most likely had mental issues.  But that doesn't heal the grief of the families.

Our system is broken.  People with mental illness need help.  Plain and simple.  But they don't always get it.  If someone doesn't act out, they are frequently going without the help that they so desperately need - until they do act out.  Not much has come out yet about the shooter specifically other than that he had issues, but not much has been released about his problems.  Maybe that's the way it should be.  The point is that he most likely needed help and maybe he was getting some help.  But it wasn't enough.

I'm not sure if it's made the national news or not, but there was a near-miss school shooting/bombing in Bartlesville, which is about an hour north of Tulsa.  It would have been similar to the Columbine shooting.  If not for a couple of scared but brave students who told the assistant principal about what they'd been told - and threatened with harm if they did tell - and he believed them.  The 18-year old boy in this case was arrested Friday morning, a couple of hours before the CT tragedy happened.  But it would have been another one.

Otter told me that she noticed that I always, always hug her first thing when something like this happens.  She's right, by the way.  I told her that she'll understand when she has children of her own.  She wasn't complaining, just stating a fact.

OK, on to other things:

Otter's oral surgery was this afternoon.  She had the upper two wisdom teeth removed.  It was quicker than last year's when the bottom two were removed.  For one thing, one of the uppers was already coming in pretty good.  She's doing ok, she had some yogurt when we got home and a pain pill.  The dentist gave her a slightly stronger one, since last year's didn't even phase her.  Not surprising, given the way that redheads metabolize things.  She goes back Thursday afternoon to get the stitches removed.  Until then, she's going to be careful with what she eats.  I took her to Arby's for lunch today, then I was going to take her to the library but they were closed due to a major water line break in Tulsa.  So I wound up taking her back to the office with me for a couple of hours.

However, not before the Redhead Curse made it's appearance!  She had a nosebleed.  In the middle of the check out line at the dollar store, where we'd run in for a couple of things after lunch.  She had one over the weekend, it wasn't bad and it was also not unexpected - dry air and the fact that we're still dealing with allergies that normally would have stopped weeks ago.  Today's was not extremely bad, but it was probably worse than yesterday's - or it might have actually been Saturday, I'm not sure.  Today's was surprising, and it was the one time when we didn't have kleenex handy.  We were next to be checked out, so I asked the clerk if they sold kleenex and told her why I was having to interrupt her.  The clerk literally ran to the other side of the store and grabbed me a box.  I opened it right then and then of course I bought it.  I thanked the clerk for doing that for me.  Otter got it stopped quickly, and then she stuffed her jacket pockets as full of kleenex as she could get it.  She mentioned it to the dentist just in case.  The dentist is well-versed in the care of Redheads, but nosebleeds are probably not something she's used to having to deal with like this.  But Otter was fine, she hasn't had another one.

The Star Trek rumor of the day is this:  The blonde woman in the previews is not Dr. Dehner but is in fact Carol Marcus.  Interesting idea.  It does not look like the bad guy is Kahn, he could still be Gary Mitchell but he could also be Garth of Izar.  I suggest that non-Trek fans (all 5 of you) google the names, it's a long story to explain who they all are and I'm tired.

We did get our Christmas tree up yesterday.  It's kind of pathetic, actually.  We used the smaller fiber-optic tree, I think it's probably about 2 1/2' tall or thereabouts.  But it's not exactly straight.  It leans a bit.  I straightened it as much as I can but it's still not quite there.  It also doesn't stay in it's base very well so most of the ornaments are actually towards the bottom and back side, it needed ballast.  We don't have a topper on it, I didn't get it with the ornaments I brought down from the attic but it's probably just as well given the lack of stability.  I did manage to find the wreath and the stockings.  We used older ornaments, some of which are from our Aunt who lived with us.  Froggy, I think you probably have some of her ornaments as well.  I also brought down one of my smaller Nativity sets.  I didn't want to deal with the big set, the box is heavy and I was seriously afraid that I would drop it on the way down from the attic.

Now, I just have to see about a few things to put under it!  Otter's already given me her list, that didn't take her long at all.  :)

Nearly Friday

It's still not Baby Friday, it is in fact Thursday.  But it's nearly Friday, so that's close enough I guess.

I went to the grocery store after work today, and I was armed with Otter's list of requested food items for next week.  There are now 8 cartons of assorted yogurt in the fridge, two frozen pasta dishes, a carton of Breyer's natural vanilla ice cream, 2 packages of Pioneer brand gravy mix and an 8 lb. bag of potatos.  We already had 3 or 4 boxes of jello.  I also bought eggs, which I would have anyway, so she might also have scrambled eggs.  I also bought two Digorno frozen pizzas, which will be dinner tomorrow night and a frozen lasagne which will be dinner the next Friday.  Although I'm sure that Otter will be able to eat regular food by then.

Froggy, I accidentally deleted your two comments on a recent post.  I was trying to edit one of them because I didn't want a particular name to be used.  I finally decided to just copy it, take the name out and then re-post it.  Except that I accidentally deleted both comments you left, so I had to go find the email that blogger actually sent me (!!) to tell me about the comments and then I had to copy, paste & re-post them.  Like I said on yesterday's entry, it was a Derpy Day!

My notary commission has been renewed, so I guess that the end of the world has been averted.  :)  My commission expires on the 21st, but it's been renewed for another 4 years.  I guess the Mayans must have known that I'd be renewing my commission!  Actually, it almost wasn't renewed in time - I have to get my signature notarized on the commission bond (yeah, irony I know.  The Notary has to get her signature notarized!) and I got it notarized in plenty of time.  Then I discovered that the notary (not me, the one at the bank!) had signed in places where I was supposed to.  So, I had to get another copy of the bond issued by the insurance company and it just got here Tuesday.  Today was the first day I had time to get to the bank, but it's now done (correctly) and I'm renewed for another 4 years.  But it has been fun, signing things and putting my commission expiration date of 12/21/12!

C is For...

Cookies!

We've been baking.  We mixed up two different kinds yesterday, Hunky Chunky Chocolate Chip and Gold Rush cookies.  Both are Bill's name for them, they are a standard sugar cookie mix but he rearranges things and adds in a few ingredients to make them his own specialty.  Gold Rush uses yellow candy melts, broken into a billion pieces by Bill with a metal meat tenderizer - he has a good time with that!  It also has raisins and walnuts.  The Hunky Chunky Chocolate Chip cookies are similar to a chocolate chip cookie but he uses chocolate bars or kisses, again broken up with his mallet, and sometimes he puts nuts in but I don't think he did this time.  Today, we mixed up the ice box cookies that were handed down from his grandmother or possibly his great-grandmother.  I think the ice box cookie recipe is on the cooking blog - it's the one that uses a pound of butter and 6+ cups of flour!  The ice box cookies are currently rolled and wrapped in waxed paper, sitting in the fridge for a while.  He's going to bake at least some of them tonight.

Most of the cookies are going to work with him this week, but we've had our share to snack on.

Otter made chocolate chip cookies two days last week, they went to school with her and were gone in a matter of seconds.  I don't think I've posted the recipe she used, it's one from my family and it's also used for cut-out cookies with a few changes.  I will eventually get it posted on the cooking blog.

One discovery from the cookie marathon baking sessions is that I need new cookie sheets/baking pans.  The ones I had have been used way past their intended life span so most of them have been tossed.  I told Bill that he can get me some new ones (good ones this time) for my birthday.  And that I will even pick them out myself, I don't mind a bit.  Same thing for my Christmas gift from him - I need new house shoes and that's something I'll have to get myself.

Usually, I don't like picking out my own gift but this is one of those years when I kind of have to!

Otter's about to start her last week of this term at college and it's finals week.  She's also a week away from her oral surgery.  We usually have something special or fun on Friday nights for dinner, I suggested that Otter pick what we eat this coming Friday, since she's going to have a period of a few days when she won't be able to each much "reguar" food.  I think it's going to be DiGiorno's pizza this week.  Which is fine, we haven't had that in a while.  Even though we've had cookies the last couple of days, we've still been fairly good about our diet.

The dogs seem to have recovered from their pig-out session when they tore open the dog food bag last week.  However, Maggie was in disgrace last night - she apparently forgot that she is housebroken and peed on their blankets.  Actually, she might have been asleep and either dreamed or just leaked.  It wasn't a lot, but she's the one that did it.  Shortly after that, she wanted me to let her out so I did.  She immediately went out to the grass and relieved herself there so I'm not really sure what happened.  I washed the blankets last night and Frasier actually slept on them last night - usually, he avoids their blankets for hours after they get washed.  Maggie's also got an interest in something under the shed.  Every time I let them out, they head that direction but then Maggie Moo crawls underneath and it takes a lot of calling to get her back out.  I don't think that there is anything actually under there, usually it's a cat but she keeps going underneath and I'm not sure I like it - there are a couple of animals that burrow and one of them is black & white striped!

It's a little on the cold side today.  It wasn't bad this morning, misting slightly and cool when we got to church.  By the time we got out, it was dry but it was also getting cooler.  Otter and I ran an errand this afternoon and we could tell that the temp was really dropping.  It's supposed to get really cold tonight and we could get the "s" word although that's not expected.  It was supposed to be today but the forecast keeps getting pushed back.  However, since the forecasters here don't know their heads from a hole in the ground, the best thing to do is to be prepared for any and all eventuality!

I've seen a little more about the new Star Trek movie.  The trailer released in Japan is longer than the one here.  It also contains what I'm pretty sure are scenes designed to throw the fans off the track as to who the villian actually is.  The Japanese trailers are leaning in a direction that pretty much none of us want to go - Khan.  But I hope that they are really just trying to muddy the waters on us, because that would be a major, MAJOR tactial mistake on the studio's part.  However, after I went back and viewed the trailer released in the US and noticed a couple of specific characters that were fairly prominently featured, I'm still thinking that it's Gary Mitchell.  Which would make perfect sense and could actually be a good thing.  Khan would be the wrong way to go.  They need to leave him alone, at least for now - maybe forever.

I got a lot of crochet done yesterday.  I'm mostly working on the bigger project that is a Christmas gift so no details here yet, but it's coming along very well.  I have a smaller Christmas gift project that I'll be starting soon but it won't take me as long as the big one has.  Although it is smaller, it's a little more intricate so it will still take a little time.

Think I'll head back in the direction of the kitchen shortly.  Bill's going to be baking those cookies and he's a dirt/clutter magnet.  I've already cleaned the kitchen twice today - once was a full-scale, counter wipe down, wall cleaning assault on flour dust after he mixed up the dough!

Blinded by the Light

Well, actually we aren't blinded and the light no longer shines through the dining room windows.  Bill got the mini-blinds up and it looks great.  Now that the curtains are down, it actually looks less cluttered.  We rearranged the plants, same ones are still there but the cactus and ivy have now switched sides.  Also, I trimmed the ivy as it was long enough to ensare the beagle (and I think it might have tried to a few times!)  I washed the curtains, but then I decided against moving them to the living room window.  They had some discolored places that I think were actually sun fades.  I'm still going to replace the curtains in the living room window, just not sure what color, etc. I'll be using yet.  But we don't have to worry about the neighbors (current and/or future) being able to see inside from the outside any longer.  Just hope we can remember to open the blinds for the plants in the morning!

One of Otter's cactus plants is blooming.  It's a small one and we really weren't sure about it.  It hadn't grown at all since we bought it last spring but apparently it's still alive and happy since it's suddenly covered in deep pink almost purple blossoms.

It was cold today.  The forecast was for low- to mid-50's.  At noon, the weatherman on the news made the comment that we'd be lucky to get up to 50 and he was right.  (Rare occurance for them to be right).  It was grey, cloudy & windy all day.  It's going to be in the high 20's tonight.  We've used the fireplace once already, Saturday morning.  It was nice to sit in the living room with our coffee (and dogs!) and enjoy the fireplace.  I also changed out the filter in the humidifer tonight.

Bill's better, he went back to work and mananged to stay all day.  He's still coughing and congested but I think he's a little better.  Otter and I cleaned/decluttered/dusted the dining room this morning before we left so that he wouldn't have to deal with a lot of dust tonight when he put the blinds up.

Otter's oral surgery is 3 weeks from today.  She keeps reminding me that she'll need lots and lots of yogurt and jello.  Guess she doesn't want me to forget!

Nobody Stop Him!

Bill's still at it.  Cleaning the garage, that is.  I'm not stopping him and I'm not about to let anyone else stop him, either.  :)

Today, he counted pachinko machines.  He has 53.  Sometimes, there are more.  But he's sold a few so the number is down a bit.  Also, when you walk out my kitchen door into the garage and look to your right there is now actual space to move around and space to get into a cupboard that has probably only been opened once since we moved into this house.  I think the old ice cream freezer is stored in there, but since I haven't been able to even get to this particular cupboard I can't really say for sure.  No telling what else we'll find in there, but it wil probably be things we thought were gone for good.  :)

I talked to the dentist today, about Otter's upcoming oral surgery.  I requested that Otter get the nitrous oxide gas so that's taken care of.  I asked about stitches and when they might need to be removed, seeing as how Christmas is the next week and there will be a few days that the dentist's office is closed.  Normally, it's about a week - which would put it at Christmas Eve and they are not open that day.  Possibly, she can be worked in on Friday if the dentists feels like it is ok but upper extractions don't always need stitches.  Either way, we can postpone our normal Christmas Eve picnic meal if we need to.  We'll have to see how things go.

I'm not going to talk about Frasier and how good he's behaving for a while.  Every time I talk about it, he proves me wrong.  Last night was no exception, but he only barked once right after we went to bed and I yelled "NO" as loud as I could.  Then he was quiet after that.  I thought about getting up and giving him a pill, but I didn't want him to think that barking was allowed since he was probably checking to see if I'd come in there.

Froggy, Otter was overjoyed with the box of fabric you sent her.  She was also happy to get the bag of buttons that was in the box.  We went through it a little bit and will probably dig into it this week when we have a little more time.  It was bigger than I expected.

We noticed that the Salvation Army bell ringers are out already.  They usually start the day after Thanksgiving, but they're out early this year.  We stopped at the grocery store for a couple of things this afternoon and Otter had a bunch of change fortunately.  All mine was at home, since I wasn't expecting them to be out so soon.  When we left the store, there was a woman talking to the bell ringer and it was almost like an interrogation.  She was asking him how much he got paid and couldn't seem to accept the fact that he was a volunteer.  Not sure what her issue was, but she was strange.  Guess that some people just can't understand being selfless and doing things to help others without getting recognition for yourself.

Thursday?

Last Wednesday, I thought it was Thursday.  And I was happy that way.  But then Bill had to go and rain on my parade and tell me that it was still only Wednesday!

So today, he thought it would be fun to tell me that it was only Wednesday.  But since I'd already seen the correct date on the newspaper (what part of it they actually delivered that is), I knew he was fibbing.  I'll let him slide.  This time.  :)

Only half of the paper was delivered this morning.  Actually, there were two halves.  But they were the same half twice!  I called them and they brought me out a full one.  Not that I've actually had time to read it, that is.  I'm hoping that I manage to find the time sometime before tomorrow.  We'll see.

I had to go buy new drinking glasses tonight.  We had a bunch of them.  Suddenly, we only had about 3 and about 4 that were originally jelly glasses.  So, off to Wallyworld we went!  They don't have nearly the variety or selection that they used to have, and it's that way in nearly all the departments.  What they do have is a large amount of their own brand but not a big variety even in that.  But we found a set of 12 and they are now washed and waiting to be used.  We use a lot of eating utensils, for some reason.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the White Lightning might be up for sale.  But Bill's decided against it, and I'm glad.  He bought the truck because there are times when he needs one.  Not all the time, but when he needs it, he really needs it.  For that reason, we've decided not to sell it.  He drove it yesterday, he had to go get lumber for one of his pachinko related projects.  You probably heard it and thought it was a low-flying jet!

We're following the news about Israel very closely right now.  For the record, we are firmly on Israel's side.  In this and in just about every conflict, probably all of them actually.

We've also seen the news reports about the Hostess company and their union difficulties.  It probably will come as NO surprise to anyone, but we have zero use for unions.  At all.  Never have had any and never will.  I find it to be extremely selfish that a minority of the employees are willing to let 18,000 people lose their jobs over arrogance.  I have had some experience with a union, at my job in Texas where I was the assistant personnel manager and have had to deal with union idiocy on a regular basis, so I do know where I'm coming from on this one.

(I gues that this might be a T & T Thursday to an extent, but I didn't realize it until just now).

I wanted to elaborate about Froggy's comment about placing her order related to Otter's upcoming oral surgery.  She's got the same decalcifying teeth/bone loss issues that I have, and so does Toadly (our big brudder).  Our mom had the same thing, we probably inherited it from her.  Which means that we actually have something that is not redhead curse related! (How did that happen?)  Anyway.  Froggy's managed to go a whole lot longer that Toadles or I did, our mom was in her 30's when she went the denture route and I was in my mid-40's.  I'm not sure about Toadles, but he might have been in the same general age range I was.  Froggy will be joining the group very shortly.  Although she might actually have implants, at least on the bottom jaw due to the same bone loss issues I have.  Froggy - you are going to wonder why you didn't do it sooner.  Believe me, it will be worth all the inconvenience and discomfort of the assorted procedures.  I guarantee that.

Then, you and me and Toadles can have our own little contest to see who can gross our offspring out first!  Although I think he's probably the master at popping his teeth out!

One of These Days, Eventually, Maybe

We'll have time to actually get our Etsy shop up and running!

We've already reserved the shop name and were getting started on it.  Then the mess with Fraiser happened.  One thing that is not conducive to crafting is stress, and we certainly had a lot of it.  But that was also when we had time (or would have if we weren't exhausted) and now that we have less dog-related stress, we don't have time.  I've done a little bit of crochet and Otter's gotten a little bit of crafting done.  But nowhere near enough to even begin to think about stocking our store.  I haven't shared the name yet and won't, until we're actually listing things, but it will eventually be on the sidebar with Blogs I Follow.  Just not yet.

Fun & Games

(While the link is a fun look at TEXAS secession, in all honesty we don't expect it to happen.  Although, also in all honesty, if it did - we don't really know what we would do.  But it might just mean that we pulled up stakes and headed south.)

Otter and I went to the grocery store today.  That's how exciting it's been around here lately.  And Billyboy might be coming down with the "cold" bug I had.  He was sneezy last night and couldn't get warm, then he went to bed about 8:30 and I piled about 4 blankets on him on top of the camo quilt.  He woke up at 2:30 because he was so stuffy he couldn't breathe, and then he just stayed up.  He's crashed out on the couch at the moment, attempting to stay awake so he can work on pachinko pins but I think he'll probably be calling it an early night.  He's also having a hard time staying warm tonight.  He's got all the symptoms I had when I was first coming down with it.  Let's all just cross our fingers and think good thoughts, please!  Bill's not a good patient.  But since he's about to be off work Thanksgiving week, it's about time for him to get sick.  He generally gets sick either right before or during vacation time.

Otter's upper left wisdom tooth has been bothering her, I may have already posted about this.  She wanted me to talk to the dentist, so I called yesterday.  Otter was concerned about it needing to come out now and not being able to wait until her December appointment.  The dentist thinks she's ok to wait, but we have to keep an eye on it.  If she has any bad pain or bleeding, if it hurts when she eats or anything like that then it's time and we won't wait.  But since it's just a month and she has not had much pain, mostly discomfort, the dentist thinks it should be ok.

But she's already placed her order for jello, pudding, ice cream, yogurt and Bill's Famous Mashed Potatoes with gravy.

Two in a Row!

Two bark-free nights, that is.  :)

Frasier is obviously getting more sleep, but he's also getting playful again.  One of the signs we were seeing that we thought was old age was that he was not nearly as playful as normal.  But he's back to terrorizing the beagle again and wearing her out.  He was up at 4:15 again this morning, I think we'll give him the pills about 9:30 or so tonight and see if that makes a difference.  But I was already awake before he was, for some reason.  Maybe the fact that for two nights in a row I'd managed to sleep all night long might have a little something to do with it because I woke up ready to face the day even though it was about 4:00 a.m.

Tonight, I was making sandwiches for dinner (Bill and I were eating light) and small salads.  Both dogs absolutely love lettuce, Frasier was outside and Maggie was dancing around the kitchen - on her back feet only, by the way.  I gave her a piece and then called him in.  He came in but did not see the lettuce I dropped right in front of him.  I touched the floor and he saw it, but it makes me think that his vision is worse than we thought.  Or maybe it's worsening.  Quality of Life is the deciding factor as far as he's concerned, we'll just have to keep a watch over him as far as his vision goes.

Froggy, I know I said that I'd get your crocheted stuff finished up and in the mail to you this week.  But I haven't quite gotten there - I really didn't want to attempt to finish up the last one when I was dealing with so little sleep.  No telling what it would have looked like!  I'm aiming for Monday or Tuesday of next week to get them mailed to you.  I'll let you know.

Otter and I ran to Wallyworld this afternoon.  She's always been a milk drinker, but now she's drinking even more milk.  Along with taking a calcium supplement due to the fact that her teeth show some signs of decalcifying.  I've always gone through a few gallons of milk in a week, and now I'm remembering how many gallons we would go through when she was little!  Fine with me, by the way.  Calcium is important for both Otter and myself.  But she's needing to increase her calcium intake a lot more than I do at this point.

Otter's also been dealing with a little bit of what is known as Red Head Anemia.  It's part of the Red Head Curse, and it's been a big issue for me at times.  I think I blogged about that but I'm not sure.  When she was a baby, she had a pretty strong case of it.  Anyway, she's been increasing her iron/protein intake lately and it's beginning to work.  She's like most of us, she's got the very pale, light complexion.  But she's been almost as white as a piece of paper lately.  That's better, she's getting her normal color back.  Well, she's still pale but then we all are! :)  Red Head Anemia is one of the many problems that we deal with, iron (and lack thereof) is a big issue for most of us.  Froggy, you might have just enough of the Red Hair coloration gene to deal with this yourself.  There are several facets to the Red Head Curse, and we learn to deal with them.  Then they become routine and normal for us, which leads to forgetting to mention it to people like medical technicians who get a rude awakening when we bleed all over the place!  I was "lucky", when Otter was born I did have a little more bleeding than a non-redhead, but not nearly as much as I could have.  But it was still a learning experience for one of the nurses!

Otter's also got a pair of fangs that she bought at a local Halloween store.  These are the good ones, they look pretty realistic.  She wants to wear them when she goes to the dentist in December for her oral surgery.  I think it's a funny idea, and I also think that my Dad would have loved it.

It started out in the 70's this morning.  Then the expected cold front hit, about 10:00 or so.  It was in the low 50's when I left work at 3:30.  It was also windy and cloudy.  The clouds thinned out a little and I saw the sun for a few minutes, but now it's cloudy again.  It's supposed to be in the 40's tonight.  Tomorrow is the 50's, with tomorrow night right at freezing and Saturday is also supposed to be cool with a better freeze Saturday night.  Got the blankets ready to be deployed, I'm going to spend Saturday keeping the couch company and making sure that the blankets don't feel lonely!

Early October

It's October already.  I find that hard to believe.  This year has been a whirlwind, so many things have happened and there are still 3 more months to go (counting this month).

Fall allergies are hitting us right now.  Otter is having an especially hard time with hers.  She's running through kleenex at a record pace.  She's living on tylenol during the day and allergy pills at night.  She woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat and she was very congested.  After she'd been up for a while, the congestion improved some.  Her throat was sore most of the day, but it got better after a cup of tea with plenty of honey.  She didn't have any fever or anything and her throat isn't sore any longer so it's probably "just" allergies.  Mine are bothering me, but not anywhere near as bad as hers are.  It's mostly ragweed, it's a really bad year for it and we'll be dealing with it until we get a good, hard freeze.

The weather is definitely turning!  It's been cool & nice the last couple of days; the early mornings have been wonderfully cool.  It's going to get cooler, we are expecting a cold front and it will probably bring rain with it.  The rain is supposed to end Saturday, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it does, since we are going to the Fair on Sunday and it would be really nice if Otter can actually ride the rides - since we already spent $$ on a ride pass for her!

Bill mowed the lawn after he got home this afternoon.  Depending on the weather, he might not have too many more times to do that this year.  Probably at least a couple, but not many.

I brought in the hummingbird feeders today.  I was going to bring them in the other day, but I saw a hummer so I refilled one of them and put it back out.  But I think the bird might have been a migratory hummer on her way south because she didn't come back.  However, there are a bunch of very happy honeybees now!  They emptied it in a matter of 3 days!!  There were also a few casualties - some of them managed to get inside of it and drowned.  I rinsed out a bajillion ants and about 5 or 6 bees.  Both feeders have been washed, bleached, rinsed and rinsed and rinsed..., and are now drying on a towell on my kitchen counter.  After they are well dry, they'll get put out in the garage on my shelves.  Soon enough, it will be time to put the seed and suet feeders out.

We changed Otter's appointment for her oral surgery.  It's still in the same week in December, we just moved it back to Monday from Wednesday and it's at 4:00 instead of 3:30.  While we don't anticipate any problems, since the dentist is out of the office on Fridays and the weekend, and the next week is Christmas, we decided it would be better to get it done a few days earlier.  I'm thinking that she might also be able to get the stitches out that same week, about Thursday maybe.  I can't remember how long she had to wait between the first wisdom teeth being removed and going back to get the stitches removed, but it seems like it was only a few days.

Either way, she's already put in her order for Bill's famous mashed potatos!

Tooth Fairy Report and Whatever Else I Think Of

Otter saw the dentist today.  Her teeth are now shiny clean, and they look like they don't have any cavities.  The two top wisdom teeth are ready to come out, the dentist said that they can come out at any time but we don't have to be in a huge hurry.  So, the oral surgery/extraction is the Wednesday before Christmas.  That's over Otter's break between semesters.  It's an afternoon appointment, at 3:30.  Our thought is that she can have the procedure done, with the laughing gas, and then will probably be ready for bed (and a pain pill or allergy pill) early in the evening.  The thought is that she's still going to be uncomfortable and in pain, but maybe it will be easier on her if she can just come home and go to bed early.  I'll lay in a supply of yogurt and ice cream, as she's already requested.  One tooth is beginning to come through, which is an extraction.  But the 2nd tooth is not coming through as much, so it's an actual surgical extraction like both of the two lower ones were last year.

The rest of the story from the dentist is one that we were hoping never to hear.  Otter's teeth show some signs of possibly heading towards decalcification.  Like mine.  Like Froggy's.  Like Toadles'.  Like our Mom's.  It's not a given that it will happen, but it's a strong possibility.  The dentist wants her to try to head it off, she already takes good care of her teeth but she needs to increase her calcium intake.  She already gets a lot of calcium, but she's now going to start taking the same otc calcium supplement I take.  And probably even more calcium-rich dairy is in her future.  But she has the advantage of realizing it earlier that I did.  She has strong teeth (thanks Bill!), which is also in her favor.

We ran a couple of errands after the dentist, including going out to the fairgrounds to get Otter's ride pass.  The rides can be expensive, the passes are good for the entire run of the fair although we'll probably only go once.  She'll still get my money's worth out of it!  I'm going to try to remember to take pictures of the quilts and crochet, etc. at the fair this year.  I didn't get any pictures of the ribbon winning quilts last time (2 years ago) and Froggy was a little bit miffed.

So Froggy, this is for you:

Pucker up!

A word of explanation:  Froggy had a frog lick her foot one time, in the flower bed in front of her house.  She's not blognamed Froggy because she has any particular affection for them, either.  Which is Toadles' fault.  I'm responsible for the issues she has with turtles, fyi.  Froggy is a certified Master Naturalist and sometimes takes groups on tours for things.  Like an owl hunt one time, properly called an Owl Prowl.  Just to see and hear them, that type of hunting.  She signed up to take a group last Saturday evening, but didn't bother to read what she'd be hunting for.  You guessed it!  FROGS!!!!  Next time, you'll read the details first, I bet.

Otter, this next one is for you:

Smooch!

Sunday Changes

Yesterday was the first day of Fall.  But it's felt like Fall was already here for the past few days.  Mostly, morning and night.  It was actually chilly this morning, I went out on the back deck shortly after sunrise and it was cold.  It was a nice change.  It's still warm, today is supposed to be in the 80's but the air has that quality that says that Fall is here.

We went shopping today.  We hadn't been on one of our Rambles lately, so we did today.  We went to a nearby town that we've never been shopping at - even though we've lived here for nearly 20 years and it's a well-known antique area!  We just never quite got around to it, for some reason.  Somebody Bill works with told him about a pachinko machine at one of the antique stores, so Otter and I went one day last week.  We found the machine but didn't buy it, it was a little more than Bill wanted to pay.  Normally in that situation, the shop workers will call the seller and ask if he'll take less.  Or, if they can't get ahold of the seller they'll usually take one of our cards and call us when they are able to contact him.  Not this place!  Additionally, they were about the rudest people I've ever come across.  We're not the only customers that have been treated badly - turns out, they have a very well-earned reputation and are losing customers although they don't seem to understand why.  But there are several other stores in the area, so we decided to go back today.  While we were there, Bill wanted to go the first store again with the idea of sticking his card to the pachinko machine and a note to the seller.  The seller happened to be there at the time and he had absolutely no problem at all with coming down on the price.  He also said he might have a couple of other machines as well.

(I posted a negative review on one of the main online sites about the unpleasant experience I had when Otter and I were there the other day.  There were a few others besides mine.)

We hardly saw any spiders this summer, besides the occasional one in the house and one brown recluse.  But yesterday, there was a big one with a big web.  It was on the deck, in front of the windows from the living room.  I saw it early in the morning, it didn't have any bugs yet but it was a perfect web so it was probably newly built.  Later on when I went outside, it was gone.

Otter found several books at one of the other stores.  I didn't find anything, but I did see a lot of Fenton that I liked and the prices were actually good.  But I didn't particularly want to buy any of it.  Sometimes, it's just enough to see certain pieces.  It was still fun.  And everybody else in the other stores were nice!  And a lot more crowded than the first store.

Froggy, I started another potholder for your collection.  This one is several pieces that are assembled into one.  I was going to start on the 2nd part of it today, but Frasier had other plans for me.  Such as petting him with both hands at once and every time I took a hand off of him, the leg would come out and bop me and he'd whine.  Maggie decided that it looked like fun, so she plopped down in my lap (I was sitting on the floor since I'd just treated his leg) and got affectionated for a while as well.

Otter goes to the dentist tomorrow.  She just needs to get her teeth cleaned, but the dentist is also going to x-ray to check the status of the top two wisdom teeth.  Since Otter can feel at least one of them starting to come through her gums, we're hoping that a) they are coming in straight, b) she'll have enough room in her jaw for them to fit so that they won't have to be taken out, or c) if they do have to come out it will be easier since they are already on their way.  We'll see what she says tomorrow after she's had time to look at the x-rays.  After the dentist, I think we're going out to the fairgrounds and get Otter's ride pass since we are going to the fair this year.

Bill was going to mow the lawn today.  His plan was to mow when we got home from church, but we had just enough rain during the night to make the grass too wet.  He then thought that he would mow when we got home from our Ramble, but it started sprinkling and the grass is just wet enough that it's too wet.  He's aiming for tomorrow after work at this point.

Movie Review:  Snow White and the Huntsman.  It was better than I thought it would be.  It was also longer than we expected.  It's a fairly dark story, but then the original story is very dark - the Disney version is not the original story by a long shot.  It's an old, old story actually.

Guess that's it for now!  My laundry is calling me.

You Know the Line From The Wizard of Oz?

The one about "I'm melting!"?  Well, that's how I feel today.

Otter and I just got through loading the trunk of my car with recycling, so we can take it tomorrow.  It's hot and we try not to be outside any longer than we have to, but it took a little creative packing to get it into the trunk and I'm melting now.  Or melted.

Froggy, you asked about Otter's schedule for the rest of summer and school starting again.  She has her last class & final tomorrow.  Next week, Friday Aug. 3, I take her to the airport bright and early so she can catch her flight to see Nana.  (I'm jealous!)  She'll be back the next Friday after that, August 10

Next week, she has a dentist appointment for a cleaning & exam and I've also requested the bigger x-ray to check the remaining two wisdom teeth.  Those are the top teeth.  If they are ready, we'll have to figure out what the schedule is to be able to have them removed.

Froggy, you also mentioned not being able to eat at ChickFilA since you are a vegetarian.  They have a carrot-raisin salad that it out of this world!  I usually get it instead of fries.  They also have delicious lemonade.  We don't eat a lot of fast food, but they are going to be our first choice now.

We have a chance of rain about Thursday.  Everybody get out and do your rain dance!  (Clothing optional, but highly recommended if you are out in your front yard).

Sunday Scoops

July is International Ice Cream Month.  (Maybe National, not sure!).  July 15 is International Ice Cream DAY.

We're participating in this particular holiday, just in case anybody is interested.  :)

This is my kind of ice cream cone!  We went to Braums on Thursday or Friday and picked up 2 cartons, so we're having ice cream.  Just not in cone form.

I like this kind of "scoop" as well.  Just in case there was any doubt!

I put two rows on Otter's scarf yesterday.  It's going to be 6 rows in all, the yarn is smaller than what I usually use so it will need an extra row.  It's turning out well and I really like the yarn.  Then, I think I'll get back on my turquoise shawl.

We went through the grocery bag of pictures that I mentioned a few days ago.  We tossed a lot of it - about 3/4 of the pictures wound up in the trash.  They were things like animals from the zoo and/or Seaworld, pictures of Otter's stuffed animals when she was tiny (remember the Beanie Baby craze?), a whole bunch of pictures that I'd taken when we first moved into the old house to send to Mom and Dad so they could see the house (those came back to me as part of their estate, so they did see the pictures) and quite a few were duplicates as well as lots and lots of assorted scenery that nobody could identify!  Froggy, I found a few pictures that I'm going to send you.  Some of them are from when you and your crew came to see us, your kiddos (and mine!) were a lot younger and it's amazing how much they've changed.

I'm sure we still have more pictures to go through, I think that we might actually have a couple of boxes of them.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but Otter goes to the dentist on August 1st.  It's her regular cleaning, but the dentist will also take an x-ray to determine the status of her remaining two wisdom teeth.  I had an appointment set up several weeks back, but then Otter's allergies kicked in strongly and I didn't want to subject her to the dentist at the time - also, we thought she was actually coming down with something and didn't want to expose anybody else to it but then it turned out to be "just" allergies.  If Otter's wisdom teeth are ready, it will probably be over her Christmas break when they are removed.  (I don't call it Winter Break, it IS Christmas Break.)  Which is probably not a fun time, but since the Fall term of her 2nd year of college is about to start and she has a trip to Nana's coming up right before it starts, she doesn't really have time.  Besides, I don't want to have her undergo oral surgery right before school starts again.  We did that last year and I'd like to avoid that this time.



We Made it to Friday, Finally!

Urg, what a week it's been.

At least it's finally Friday.  I don't have to do anything tomorrow.  That's a good thing.

(Just because I thought it was cute!)  (RIF, Y'all!)

Otter's just about through with her freshman year at college.  I was thinking that she would have to go most of next week, but it turns out that Tuesday will be her last day.  It's also the day she's going to see what books she can sell back.  Then I'm going to pick her up for our Girls Lunch (Cici's Pizza!) and then she'll spend the afternoon at the library.  Then she has about a month off before the summer term where she'll get the first part of the math requirements out of the way.

I managed to get her an appointment with the dentist in the middle of May.  While I'd love the dentist to say that the last two wisdom teeth are ready now and that she can get it scheduled for the next week, I really don't expect that.  Mid-May or sometime after the Fall semester starts, since her summer is booked up, are the two windows for the next oral surgery.

I'm just really, really, really glad that it's Friday!

Busy As A...

Bee!  (Isn't the bee lovely?  She's just gorgeous. No, I am not being sarcastic.)

It's not just me.  Otter's in the thick of things as far as college goes, finals and the end of her first year are looming.  Actually, she's already had one final.  It was in the form of a research paper and she finished hers up Monday so it's been submitted and she's through with that particular class.  The rest are next week.

She'll have about 3 weeks off, before starting the summer semester.  She's not a math whiz, she is very much her mother's daughter in that regard.  So she's decided to take her math class in the summer when she won't have any other classes to worry about.  She'll be in school all of June and July, then she'll have about 3 weeks off before the fall semester will start.  Somewhere in there, she's going to spend a week in TEXAS with Bill's mom.  We had originally planned on the final two wisdom teeth being removed during the summer break, but I don't think that's going to be possible so we'll have to figure something out about that.

I'm going to try to get her in to the dentist for a cleaning & x-ray to get the judgement on the wisdom teeth, sometime between the end of this term and the start of the summer term.  When she had the oral surgery last August, the dentist thought that we were looking at about a year before the top two would be ready.  Which would put it right at the beginning of the fall semester.  The dentist wasn't really sure that they would be ready by then anyway, that's something that is different for everyone and I didn't expect her to be able to tell last year anyway.  If they are going to be ready, we will probably wind up waiting until just a little later like after the semester starts and then she might have to miss a day or two but we won't know yet until she sees the dentist and also gets her fall semester enrollment finished.  Fall enrollment has just opened, she's going to get it done soon but probably not until after finals.  So we can't really plan anything anyway.

Also, on the winged things with stingers front:  One of my birdhouses that sit on the back window had a colony of wasps starting a nest in it.  Early Tuesday morning, before it got light out, Bill put the birdhouse in a paper sack and then we wrapped it in a heavy, black trash bag along with a few other birdhouses that were falling apart and we put it out with the trash.  If it had been actual bees and not wasps, we would have slowly moved it to a better spot besides right outside the back door.  But wasps, hornets (we've had a few) and yellow jackets are not allowed.

Otter's jalepeno seeds have decided to sprout!  I think that most of them are up now, some of them are two plants in one spot.  We're going to transplant them into pots in the next couple of days.  I was beginning to think that it had been too long, but Bill didn't think it had been long enough so we waited a few more days.  I'm glad we did.

Hope that they survive and produce fruit.  It looks to be another S. TEXAS summer on the way.  Oh, joy!

And Otter will be in S. TEXAS in early August.  When it's at it's worst there.

Taxing Sunday!

(Bet you can't guess from the title what Bill's doing today!)

The sun is shining!  It's really nice today.  Not quite as warm as it looks, but it's still very nice.  Sunny and pretty, the birds are chirping and the dogs are lazy.

OK, so the dogs are always lazy!  But the birds are chirpy today.  They are also possibly looking for nesting material, so I might get some yarn scraps out soon.  It's still  a little early and we might still get winter weather, but the birds apparently don't think so.  Otter and I were out in the back yard earlier and we saw a few assorted bugs, so I'm sure the birds are happy.

I attempted to crochet just now.  It's doable, but I'm not going to be in a big hurry to get back into it.  I just did a few simple single stitches on my scrap-scarf-turned-lap-blanket project to see if it hurt my arm.  I definitely felt it, but it didn't hurt exactly.  I just did a few dozen stitches, just enough to test.  I probably won't do any more for a while yet.  But, it was nice to be able to crochet at all!

Bill goes back to the dentist tomorrow.  His appointment is at 9:00.  We'll take Otter to college and drop her off, then head to the dentist's office.  I think I'm going to take a book or two with me, normally I take crochet but it's going to be reading material this time.  Then after we get home, I'm hoping that Billyboy will get some rest.  He's not going to be in the best mood, understandably, but he's got to get it done.

Otter and I will be in need of our teeth cleaning soon.  I'm going to talk to the dentist at that point and see if she can give me a better idea of when Otter's two remaining wisdom teeth will be ready to come out.  I'm really hoping that we can schedule it sometime other than 4 days before the next semester starts!

OK, back to my laundry now.  And then I think Otter and I might make brownies.  We have 3 partially used cans of frosting in the fridge, I think we're going to have multi-colored frosted brownies this time.