Yeah, Yeah. I Know.

Been a while!  As Froggy reminded me.

There just isn't anything spectacular going on.  Normal, quite, calm "real life" and that is about it.  I'm not complaining, it's still a nice and obvious change from what we had been dealing with concerning Bill's last job.

Speaking of Bill, he had his annual skin cancer check last week.  For the first time in more years than I can remember, he did not have any.  He had three or four little spots that could become skin cancer in the future and one of them was probably close, so the doctor froze them all and the big one was frozen twice.  Because of the size, the doctor was afraid it might not all freeze so he wants Bill to go back next week so he can look at it and freeze it again if it needs it.  But that's all, no cutting, no slicing, nothing!  It is such a nice change.  The doctor said that Bill should get two weeks of back rubs, but Bill settled for lunch that day. :)

Beyond that, it's just normal and quiet and I'm not complaining.

Tuesday. Day 2 of Stay at Home Vacation

Not a staycation!  I dislike that word intently.

Anyway.  Yesterday was a lot of fun, we went to Bill's dad & stepmom's for the 4th.  Bill's niece, her husband and kids were here to visit and it was nice to get to see them.  Otter had to work, but she came over to join everyone when she got off work.  Bill and I both try to stay out of the sun, redhead complexion and sunlight don't mix very well.  He was not really in the sun very long but his face is pretty red.  I was not in it at all, but I was sitting close enough to the pool that the reflected light got me a little pink as well.  Just on my right side.  Bill said I have one raccoon eye (because of my glasses) and I have a patchy sunburn on my right shoulder because of my shirt strap plus my upper right arm.  Not a bad sunburn for either of us and we've been using a lot of aloe vera gel but Bill has to be very careful because he tends to get skin cancers.

We slept in a little bit this morning, we both woke up around 7:00.  After breakfast, Bill got the back yard mowed and I did a little work on the honeysuckle bed/trellis.  Yes, he wore his hat with the flap covering his neck.  And he also hollered at me because I forgot my hat - I'm always getting on him about his, so he wasted no time in returning the favor!  :)

I had to run to wallyworld for carpet cleaner, since we're going to clean the carpet on Thursday.  Possibly Friday.  Anyway, since I was there I went ahead and got the few grocery items I needed.  Walmart is already clearing out the summer stuff - pool toys, sun block, etc., and stocking school supplies.  It's only July 5!  But I did discover half-price chocolate candy, since the holiday was yesterday and the packages were decorated with the American flag.  I grabbed several bags, I don't have a deep freeze any longer but it WILL last us a while.  Yes, Bill.  IT WILL.

Tomorrow is my play day.  The only day I actually planned an activity during my vacation week.  I'm going shopping with Otter!  Bill is going to stay home, he's not into the shopping thing.  I don't think it's going to be an all day event, but we are going to one of the not exactly next door but close (sort of) small towns because they have a couple of antique stores I've been wanting to check out.  We may go to a book store in Tulsa and we may go to a thrift store or two.  We'll figure that out tomorrow.

And now I'm going to go back to my crochet.  Then I might just follow Maggie Moo's example and take a nap!

2015 Review

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

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

Anyway:

January

Very cold month with some winter weather.

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

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

Froggy started planning her trip to see us.

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

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

February

We switched internet and email providers.

The stupid groundhog saw his shadow!

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

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

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

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

Snowy weather.

22 years since we moved from TEXAS.

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

March

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

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

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

We had more winter weather.

Otter was overjoyed when we discovered Green Apple gatorade!

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

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

We got several boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

The dry air caused me to have a few nosebleeds.

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

Otter turned 23!

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

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

We had to replace our insurance, thanks to NObamacare.

April

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

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

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

Otter officially became the owner of a 2002 Chevy Impala.

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

The hummingbirds showed up this month.

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

May

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

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

Stupid electric company kept at it!

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

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

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

Rain, Rain, Rain!

I had my one and only migraine of the year.

It was one of the better months of the year.

June

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July

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

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

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

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

August

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

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

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

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

We put tires on my car, the 2008 impala.

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

We closed our booth at the antique store.

The Bluebell plants reopened!

September

Labor Day.

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

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

Then I came down with a cold.

I crocheted purple baby caps for a local charity.

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

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

October

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bill decided to get another booth for the pachinko machines.

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

It rained.  A lot.

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

November

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

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

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

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

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

Bill got a bad cold.

Then I got a bad cold.

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

We finally got our Bluebell ice cream!

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

The new booth store opened up.

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

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

December

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weekend Shopping

The sales-tax-free weekend in Oklahoma is this weekend.  It started on Friday and ends at midnight tonight.  We don't have to buy a lot anymore, since we don't need school clothes.  But Bill needed jeans, shirts for work and socks.  Otter need jeans and she also got a pair of shoes.  I found a few t-shirts at Walmart.  We saved a whole $12.36!  (I'm being a little sarcastic here.)  Not a fortune, but it all helps.  Otter wanted to get her glasses adjusted so we went to the mall for that but didn't actually buy anything there.  We got most of the clothing items at WalMart and one of Bill's shirts at Sears.  But the mall was still fun.  We also went to a Goodwill, where I made another Fenton find:

These are stock photos, but I found one of them.  $1.50!  I'm not really into the bells that much, but Fenton at $1.50?  Yes, it will come home with me!  This one did.  I had just remarked to Otter that I didn't think I was going to find anything at the store today, and it was on the next shelf.  It doesn't have the sticker that the last picture shows, but it's the Daisy and Button pattern and it is in perfect condition.  It's a little more iridescent than the pictures show.  The clapper is intact, which is usually the first thing to be broken off and lost.

I did get my closet rearranging done yesterday, like I planned.  It wasn't difficult.  I mostly had to move a few boxes around and then shift the longer clothes to the center of the closet rod.  And then I had to hold my left foot over the sink while Bill poured peroxide over it, after I dropped a small wooden box on it!  It wasn't a long drop, more of a slide out of my hands than an actual drop.  But it landed on the top of my foot and caused a small cut.  No damage, it wasn't hard enough of an impact to worry about broken bones or anything, but I'm probably going to have a bruise!

We got Maggie Moo another bed yesterday.  She was so funny.  She was a little on the confused side, but then she generally is, when she couldn't find her bed.  We kept the pillow out of the old bed, but the bed itself was thrown out last week.  It developed a hole in the bottom of the bed when I washed it one time and it slowly grew larger each time the bed was washed or the dog rearranged herself or the pillow.  Since they are somewhere around $7.00, we figured we would just go get her another one.  Yesterday, we ran a couple of errands and then went to Otter's store since that's where the first bed came from.  I brought it inside, cut the tags off and put it in the place by the couch where the first bed had been.  The Magginator was outside at the time, when she came in and saw the bed - she squealed like an excited toddler!  Then she literally bounced into the new bed, curled up and went to sleep.  Silly baby!  She made a few new puppy friends on our walk this morning, so she has had a good day.  She's snoozing on her blankets at the moment.  She was napping under the futon when I left to get Otter and she's been rearranging the pillow in her bed today too.

I also got the soup made yesterday, but I put off making the pinto beans.  Possibly one evening this week.

Bill's assorted frozen spots are fine, they are still a little sensitive but not actually painful.  He slept on the couch Friday night, we figured out that he would be more likely to stay on his right side and not his left (the wart was on the left side of his nose) so we made him a bed on the couch.  I went to bed before he did, but sometime after he got into his nest, he realized that he was laying on his right side and that was the arm that had the frozen spots!  So, he switched to his back.  Which means that he didn't sleep too well.  Last night, he decided he'd better stay on the couch and we fixed his pillows up a little so he'd be propped up more which would help him sleep a little.  I'm not sure where he's sleeping tonight, but he may decide to stay on the couch again.  I'm just glad it wasn't actually a skin cancer on his nose after all.

Sun Tea is happily being made on the back deck!  I forgot to put it out yesterday, but I remembered this morning.  When I picked Otter up for our shopping trip, I noticed that her jar was out on her patio today, too.

I think it's time to go check on the load of jeans I have in the dryer now.  Then I think maybe I'll answer the call of the chocolate that I can hear calling me all the way from the freezer!

'Splain Me...

Why people act so surprised that it's hot?

IT'S AUGUST, PEOPLE!!!!!

It's supposed to be hot in this part of the world in August.  Summer?  Last time I checked, Summer does not mean snow and ice!

Geesh.

OK, rant over.  That one, anyway.

Billyboy saw the dermatologist today.  The spot on his nose is not a skin cancer, although it did look like one and is in the same spot as he's had them before.  It's actually a wart, but it was growing so the doctor froze it.  Bill did have a place coming up on his right hand (that he had NOT told me about) that he had the doctor look at and it was a skin cancer, but very small still. There was also a "wanna be" on the same hand and on his right arm, so all three of those were frozen as well.  The doctor gave him a pretty good once-over and didn't see anything else to be concerned about, so unless Bill has something pop up between now and next August he is good to go.  We really like this doctor, he's very thorough and he's also very familiar with the care of Redheads.  He told Bill that he has to go to work next week, but that he doesn't have to do dishes or vacuum for the next two weeks.  :)  However, he may still sleep on the couch tonight so that he can keep from rolling over on his left side.  If he sleeps on his left side in our bed, that means that he's snoring in my ear!

Today is the first day of the Sales-Tax-Free Weekend.  I went to Wallyworld this afternoon.  I found 2 golf shirts for Bill (for work), a package of socks for Bill, a pair of jeans for Bill and 3 t-shirts for myself.  He really needs at least one more pair of jeans, I may go to a different Walmart tomorrow or Sunday, when Otter and I go shopping.  So far, I've saved a whole $3.57!  It's not like when Otter was little and we bought school clothes, but it's still fun to go.

Since Bill does not have any restrictions other than being careful not to bump the spots he had frozen today, I don't need to stay home and be nursemaid.  I'm still going to make soup and possibly a pot of beans tomorrow, since we want them too.

Maggie Moo might also get a shopping trip tomorrow.  Her bed got a little tear in the washing machine and it finally tore enough that we just decided to toss it and get her another one.  It cost less than $8.00 at a certain tool store we frequent.  Dogs are allowed and since her Otter works there, she loves to go in there anytime I take her.  The pillow from her bed is ok, it got washed this morning along with her blankets and regular pillow, she likes the pillow from her bed but I think she'd prefer her bed to the pillow.  At the moment, she's snoozing underneath the futon!

Such a hard life that dog leads...

Still?

It seems like this year should be over by now.  But it's still only early August.

It's been a busy year, I guess.  And a very stressful one.

Anyway, I checked in with Miss Dorothy today.  I am going to visit her each Wednesday morning.  She is doing very well.  She obviously has emotional moments, but she has gotten to the point where she can remember the Teenager and the fun they had over the years.  She is such a precious person, and very special.

Otter came over today.  She had laundry to do and also Bill wanted to check on her car.  The car seems to be running fine.  She said that it seems to be running "not as hot" as it was before, it wasn't overheating but in hindsight the radiator might have been losing efficiency or maybe actually leaking slowly for a while.

The Sales-Tax-Free weekend in Oklahoma is this coming weekend.  I think TEXAS has it the same weekend.  We don't need to buy school clothes anymore, but it's a good time to get things we need.  Otter said she could use a couple of pairs of jeans and I know Bill needs a couple, so we'll do a little shopping.  Otter has to work Saturday but she's off Sunday.  Bill isn't into clothes shopping, but I can get him jeans without his presence.  However, Otter's presence is required for buying clothes for her.  I told her I'd spring for lunch, and she also wants to get her glasses adjusted while we are out and about.

Bill doesn't know what his Saturday plans will be, it depends on what the dermatologist does on Friday so he may be home on the couch for the weekend.  I have a few things I want to do around the house, which I'll do on Saturday since I want to be close in case Bill needs anything.  Obviously, we don't know if there will be anything but the last time Bill had a skin cancer removed from his face he was unable to bend or do much of anything for something like 72 hours (or maybe more) but that was a big one and it required a very intensive removal process.  So, we're planning on similar to the last time in the hopes that it won't be that bad.  I've been trying to find the time to make my specialty crock-pot beef-vegetable soup but I haven't had a chance to stay home all day, so I have soup plans for Saturday.  I'm going to rearrange my closet, for one thing.  I have a few boxes and misc. stuf stored in the closet but it needs to be arranged better (I'm gong to channel the Borg Queen!)  My dresses and longer skirts are crammed into one end of the closet and keep getting wrinkled just hanging in it, so I'm going to move the boxes to the end and my dresses/skirts will be hanging in the middle where they can actually hang and not fold at the bottom.  Also, Bill's suits and dress pants are in the same position at the other end of the closet.  I may also clean out some of the clothes that we haven't worn in a long while.

Is it Friday yet?

It's Summer, So That Means...

Another possible skin cancer for Billyboy!

And I was just thinking the other day that maybe he would miss this summer, because had no sign of anything.  Then a couple of days ago, he brought to my attention the fact that he has a small spot on his nose that is coming up exactly like the big one he had removed from his nose 2 years ago.  But this time he's admitting that it might be an issue now, when it first showed up, as opposed to waiting months and months (while it got bigger and bigger) before admitting the maybe/possibly/there was a slim chance/probably wasn't a skin cancer - and the delay caused by his denial turned a small procedure into a Very Big Deal.  I called the dermatologist today and he has an appointment on Friday afternoon.  He's taking the day off, I'm taking the afternoon off.  It probably is another one, but it's still small so (hopefully) it won't be a big deal.  It's on the right side of his nose, the one before was more in the middle, but it is close to his eye so it might be a bit tricky.  I told him to be sure and let me know in plenty of time what kind of alcohol he wants me to buy for him before Friday!

Please Please PLEASE wear sunscreen.  And stay out of the sun as much as you can.  Wear a hat, keep the back of your neck covered and wear a t-shirt if you have to.  Teach your kids that sunscreen is a sacred ritual and enforce it.

It's not fun, and I'm only on the outside of it looking in.  But I know what Bill has had to go through.  Too many times and probably more in the future.

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.

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.

Friday Has Been a Long Time Getting Here

But it finally got here.

 

TGIF!

 

This has been such a long week, it started out with major sadness.  I was also still dealing with the after-effects of the flu shot on Monday and I think that next year I will go back to my original plan of Labor Day weekend.  Sometimes, I really need that third day (Monday) to recover and this was one of those years.  I managed to make it to work on Monday, but I was sluggish all day long.

 

We've been having internet issues all week, also.  It was an area-wide problem, our internet service provider was aware of the problem and was working on it.  They finally got it fixed last night.  Hopefully, it will stay fixed!

 

Bill went by the lumber yard Wednesday.  They had quite a bit of smaller cut pieces that a lot of people use in chimineas.  They said he could have all he could load into the El Camino, it brings us up to about a cord of firewood and we haven't had to pay for any of it yet.  He's going to go back for more, probably the larger stuff and he will attempt to pay for it this time.  Most likely sometime next week, depending on the weather.  It could be rainy.

 

Bill saw the doctor yesterday about his hand.  It was a skin cancer, the lab report showed that it was the 2nd stage and not the first stage like the doctor originally thought but it was still not the bad kind.  He took out 7 of the 16 stitches, the remaining stitches are in an area that he was afraid might not heal up as fast and he was right about that.  It is healing, it's just an area that is harder to heal as far as incisions go so he left a few stitches in.  Bill could go back in a week, or he can take them out himself - you probably already know that he's going the DIY route!  They gave him a set of disposable scissors and tweezer, although they will most likely be run through the dishwasher and then join the other tools in the pachinko workroom!

 

I took off the entire day yesterday.  I took Otter to work at 7:00 a.m. and dropped off a carload of recycling at the recycling center.  I went to the doctor with Billyboy, then we had a couple of errands.  Otter got off at noon, we picked her up and went out for lunch.  We had Chinese, there is a pretty good buffet we go to sometimes and that's where we decided on.  Since we were off, we went to an antique-ish booth store in our small town - not the one where our booth is, but down the street from it.  Otter found another picnic basket, not a Redman like her other two but older.  It will work perfectly for her craft supplies, she has fabric in the other two.  The one she got yesterday also had plastic cutlery inside, some of it was cracked and thrown out but some of it was just dirty.  It got washed up and she'll probably incorporate it into her craft stuff as well.

 

I am nearly through with my second donate scarf, I started it yesterday morning and got almost done with it.  Put myself to sleep at one point, I was sitting on the couch crocheting and the next thing I knew I was waking up!

 

Guess I was influenced by my oh-so-energetic (not!) dogs.  They've been snoozing on the floor at my feet ever since I sat down to blog!

Riding the Wave

Got flu shot just after 4:30.  Around 4:45, I felt the first edges of the Wave.  (The Wave is what I call the flu shot reaction, it hits like a wave.  Starts small, then builds.)  We got all our errands done so that Walgreen's was the last stop, I needed to get milk but we got it there.  So all we had to do after getting the shots was to head home.  There's no way to tell for sure, sometimes the speed of the Wave hitting means a worse reaction.  Sometimes not.  But I kind of expect this year's Wave to be a harder one.  We'll see, I guess.

 

At any rate, I'm parked on the couch and that's pretty much the extent of my Friday evening activities!  The frozen lasagna is going in the oven as soon as it warms up, we also have garlic toast and I just might have to get into the Bluebell Cookies & Cream ice cream I picked up at the grocery store last night.  Or maybe not, the ice cream might wait until tomorrow.  Either way, the ice cream is in the freezer and we'll eat it.  Bill got into it last night, he always get to partake of the post-shot ice cream even if he doesn't get the shot - he has to put up with me/us dealing with reactions so he deserves it!  Besides, he got cut on last week and he's still got 16 stitches on the back of his hand so I think that counts.

 

Bill's actually doing really good, he worked Wednesday and yesterday but his hand was kind of sore this morning and slightly swollen, so he decided to stay home today and rest it.  I have not heard anything from the lab report, so I'm thinking the doctor probably got all of it.  He gets the stitches removed on Thursday, he's ready for that already.

 

Froggy, your Care Box is on it's way to you.  It will probably be Tuesday, but you might look for it on Monday.  Just some stuff to keep you occupied while you recover from your ankle surgery in 2 weeks.

 

Maggie Moo is nuts.  She was bouncy and crazed while ago, she came in from whatever she'd been doing out in the yard and had a serious case of the Zoomies.  Then she quit running around like a headless chicken, played Carpet Shark for a while and now is parked beside me with a worried expression.  The worried face generally means that she saw a bug that she couldn't catch, which means it must be a Bad Bug and that it will eat her.  Nobody ever said the beagle was overloaded with brains!

It's a Jungle Out There!

Or at least it looks like it in my front yard.  I called someone we know and he is going to either come out here in the next day or so, or possibly send one of his crew over here.  Probably tomorrow.  Maggie Moo will be pleased, she's afraid of getting lost!

 

Bill's doing pretty good, just a little stir crazy.  Not that I blame him.  It's hard not to use your hand, but he's trying very hard.

 

Froggy, I know what you mean about women and their purses.  Many times, I've seen a woman shopping and the basket with her purse in it is either behind or, our several feet away.  I've seen more than one nearly be stolen, just my presence and obviously seeing the person has been enough to have the would-be thief walk away.  Otter has noticed it pretty often as well.  In fact, if she and I are shopping together and notice it we will make a point of walking by the basket/shopper in question and loudly (so that she hears us) commenting to each other how someone could have grabbed that purse and the owner would never have even noticed it.  Otter thinks she should print up cards to leave on top of the purse with words to the effect of "I could have stolen your purse and you'd never have seen me" as a warning.  I remember one time walking into a grocery store and hearing a woman yelling that her purse had been taken out of her basket.  I also went to Sunday School with a woman who had her bag stolen out of her basket at a clothing store.  There are enough bad people in the world, why make it easier for them?  But it happens.  Very frequently.

 

Migraine today.  This is the 4th one this year.  I usually average about 3 per year.  This is only August, I still have several months left in 2014.  I hope that it is not a trend!  I did have ranch dressing on my salad yesterday, I usually don't eat ranch dressing unless I can read the label on the bottle because it usually has msg by the ton in it, but this was a prepackaged salad and I just didn't think about it.  Hidden Valley brand is one of the worst, and it's also the most commonly used ranch dressing.  Well, it does taste good.  I think it's the most likely culprit.  The headache hit about 11:00 or so, I had planned on getting lunch and bringing it back to the office so I could crochet but crochet and migraines do not mix!  I was a little nauseated, which is also common with migraines.  I went ahead and ate lunch, I had a tuna sandwich at Subway and it helped.  I managed to stay at work but I left about 30 minutes early.

 

Otter needed to get something at Hobby Lobby and I had already asked her to wait for me so I could go with her, so I forced myself to go (not that it was all that hard.)  I actually need to buy yarn this time, I bought 5 skeins for Uncle Crazy's lap blanket but it's going to take 6.  At least.  I cruised the yarn aisles while Otter was getting her stuff, the fall colors are starting to come out and they are nice!  I was able to resist, but I'm not making promises for any future trips!

 

Froggy, you do realize that you are now an Official Conscript of the Pachinko business!

 

We just saw an advertisement for a can't miss movie:  Into the Storm.  All I got to say is, Yeah Right!  As Otter says, anybody who lives in Tornado Alley should know just how B.A.D. that one is going to be.  I'm pretty sure we'll pass on that one.

Weekend and Shopping Stuff

It's Sales-Tax-Free Weekend.  Otter and I went shopping!  Big surprise...  Anyway, we went to the mall yesterday and spent a few hours there.  And bought nothing!  We went to 2 different Targets stores, a few smaller stores and were ready to just give up and go home empty-handed.  We bought lunch at Whataburger (It's a Texan Thing) and decided to give thrifting a try.  We went to two Goodwills, and those are the only places we actually bought something at.  Well, we did go to Michael's but that was for something specific that Otter wanted and not connected with sales-tax-free shopping (I found yarn but you aren't surprised at that, are you?!)  Anyway, I found one blouse at the first Goodwill.  Otter found one blouse and one skirt at the 2nd Goodwill.  We knew we would get stuff at Wallyworld, but we were tired and my feet hurt so we put that off until today.

 

Otter found a pair of pink converse-type sneakers at Wally.  I got a package of socks.  So exciting!  Bill needed jeans and pj bottoms, he needs new jeans on a regular basis so they were already on my list to get this weekend.  A few weeks back, I bought him a pair of pj bottoms with the Captain America logo on them.  The tag said that they were the right size, and so did the size label printed on them.  So, I washed them and put them in his drawer.  I came home one day and he had just put them on - let's just say that it was a sight not to be missed!  I think that they were actually a larger children's or small adult size, but they were mislabeled.  I would imagine that there was a run of mislabeled pj's one day but Hane's quality control left a little to be desired.  They fit Otter, although they are a little long for her (happens often).  They are now in her pj drawer and she wears them often.  Today, I triple checked the size on the pj's Bill usually wears and then found a pair at Wally.  I checked the inside label and the sewn-in laundry instructions on the ones he had and I even copied down the numbers on the tag.  Of course, the ones at Wally had a different number on the tag!  I decided to grab them while there and made sure they were the same size as the previous pair and they are, so Bill now has enough pj's to lounge around in.

 

I think we saved about $7 or $8 this weekend.  Not nearly as much as in years past, but then again we don't have to buy school clothes and that always added up fast.

 

Bill's incision site looks pretty good.  He uncovered it yesterday so he could clean it up and start using the medicated ointment.  He's trying hard not to over use his hand but it's difficult.  The lawn desperately needs to be moved but he's not able to.  I was going to mow it and went to get gas for the mower this morning, but it's really humid and I can't really breathe outside so Bill won't let me - I'm not arguing with him about it, either!  I'm calling someone tomorrow to get both the front and back mowed, I was just going to mow the front but they both need it and it will be worth whatever we have to pay to get it done.

 

One other thing happened at Goodwill.  Well, almost happened.  We think someone tried to grab Otter's purse.  I had noticed a younger girl, maybe mid-teens or thereabouts, a few times because she seemed to be in the same area we were quite often.  I always notice that and then I always watch when that happens.  I'm really glad I did this time.  Otter was standing in front of, but not right close to, the shelves where the stuffed animals are kept at.  I was standing by her, she was facing to my left and her purse was hanging on her shoulder more of less between us but slightly towards her back.  I noticed the same girl coming towards us with a larger stuffed animal in her right hand and she was almost running - and she was looking straight at Otter's purse and starting to reach out with her left hand.  Otter became aware of her movement just as I did, she was starting to turn around just as I reached my right hand up VERY FAST and got it between the girl and Otter's purse.  As soon as she saw my hand and arm go up, she (the girl) looked up at me and the only way I can describe her expression is either a) Deer in the Headlights or b) Caught and she knew it.  More B than A, actually.  She grabbed the stuffed animal out of her right hand with her left hand and threw it in the general direction of the shelves, then she turned around and RAN as fast as she could to the other side of the store.  We watched her and she was doing everything she could NOT to be seen.  I think she left immediately after, it looked like she was with a couple of other people and I think what happened is that she "reported in" that she'd been spotted and that we were on to her because they cleared out in record time.  There is no way we misinterpreted what nearly happened and we have zero doubt as to what the girls intention was.

 

Two things would have happened:  A)  I would have put the little b--ch down on the floor and held her there while yelling for Otter to call 911 AND B)  Otter's a black belt, and she's got the reflexes so do I need to explain?

 

Otter may be petite, but she is a RHTW in her own right.  With a black belt.  She's also her mother's daughter.

Talk to the Hand!

But I don't know if it will listen.

 

Bill's hand is doing ok, it's still bandaged and wrapped so we don't actually know how the incision looks but he thinks it's ok.  It does hurt a bit, but he's probably used it too much today.  He is trying to let it rest, but it's pretty hard not to use your hands.  He had Otter helping him today, she washed pachinko parts and was at home in case he needed help with anything.

 

He's on his own tomorrow, at least for several hours.  Tax-Free Weekend!  Otter and I are going shopping.  We are going to one of the malls, then we'll see where else we need to go.  I'm thinking Wallyworld but that might be Sunday, depending on how crowded the mall is and how long it takes us.  Not that we really have anything specific there to look for, although I'm sure we'll find things.

 

I picked up Bill's prescription at Walgreen's this afternoon.  I was about to ask when they would get the flu shots in, and the counter display popped up with "Flu Shots Available Now" so that question was answered.  I did confirm that they have it in stock, and they do.  Otter is off next Friday, Saturday and Sunday so we're going to get our flu shots next Friday.  I guess I'd better get to Braums on Thursday then!  We'll probably get Subway for dinner next Friday, flu shot days are made as easy on me as possible because of the reaction I usually have.  It's early to get the shot, but the thought used to be to wait until about September or October because the protection wouldn't last very long.  But it turns out that either it does last longer or the vaccine has been reworked, because it will last until next Summer.  I prefer not to wait on this one, I want to get it as soon as I can.  I usually aim for Labor Day weekend, that way I have Monday off because sometimes I have bad reactions.  But I'm not waiting that long this year, Otter generally has a much milder reaction that I do but she has had harder ones some years.  So, since she's got the entire weekend off next week we are going to get the shots done then and out of the way.  We'll share our ice cream with Billyboy, since he has to put up with me (and sometimes both of us) feeling icky and being grumpy all weekend.  Payback for us taking care of him this weekend!

 

We had our Anniversary Pizza today.  I stopped by Little Ceaser's on the way home.  I bought three pizzas with the idea of leftovers.  Looks like it's pizza for breakfast tomorrow.  Good shopping fuel!

Tales From the Bill Side, Part 298234821478923498724987

(And probably more to come in the future!)

Bill got to break in a new dermatologist today.  I think he actually liked this one, which almost never happens.  We were taken back to the exam room on time, the assistant was right in and took blood pressure, etc., the doctor came in very soon and he was very attentive.  He listened to Bill and explained everything to us very clearly.  He was polite.  And, most important, HE ALREADY KNEW ALL ABOUT THE CARE AND FEEDING OF REDHEADS!!  That alone tells me that he's thorough and knows how to care for his patients.

The upshot is that it was a skin cancer, it was the lightest of the three different kinds - the worst one is melanoma and that's the really BAD one that can kill you.  Most of the ones Bill has had have been the lightest but he's had a couple of the middle kind as well.  Today's was kind of tricky because of where it was on his hand.  There was also another little one beside it, I'm not sure if he got that one or not.  If not, it's a very slow-growing beastie and might not ever need to be removed if it doesn't really grow.  I think he did get it, but since Bill's hand is all wrapped up I can't go look at it!  He gave Bill the several small shots to numb his hand up (which did the normal puddling and not spreading out - part of the Redhead Curse) and while he was waiting for that to take effect, he literally zapped Bill's arms in many places with the freezing spray to get rid of several pre-skin cancer spots.  Then he got to work with the "slicing and dicing" tools and took out the big one.  He's fairly certain he got it all, but it's been sent to the lab to verify.  Then he put 16 stitches in Bill's hand, which come out two weeks from today.  The lab test should be back before that.  He gave Bill a prescription for an antibiotic ointment, which he's supposed to start using on Saturday because it needs to stay covered for 2 days.  The doctor also checked Bill over and didn't see anything to be concerned about, mostly they are on his arms and face when they show up but occasionally he'll have something pop up on his chest or back but there is nothing at the moment.

Bill's off work until Wednesday, he had already taken off today and tomorrow.  The doctor strongly suggested that he not even attempt to go in on Monday or Tuesday, which I agreed with because a)  I know Bill and b)  I know how they are where he works!  The doctor also said that a backrub before bedtime would be a good idea - I told Bill he will have go to find another masuese!  His alternative suggestion was a good, stiff drink.  That one, I can do.  The doctor was really funny, which was nice.  Bill actually likes him, I wish we'd gone to him last year when Bill had the surgery to remove the one on the bridge of his nose.  Also, since we paid for it ourselves they gave us a 50% discount.

 

Bill sent me to the liquor store after we got home, I think he's probably going to self-medicate and have that drink tonight.

Wednesday?

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Pizza Pizza!

2013 Review. It Was a Busy Year!

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

January

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

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

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

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

I crocheted a lot.

Second flat tire.  SAME REASON AS THE FIRST ONE.

We celebrated our 28th Wedding Anniversary.

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

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

February

It was a short month, but it was busy.

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

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

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

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

It snowed, a couple of times.

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

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

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

March

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

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

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

I got my new glasses.

I got a lot done on the afghan.

Bill got tires on the El Camino.

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

Otter saw her allergist, she got a terrific report.

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

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

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

Easter. Which also as Otter's birthday.

April

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

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

The bluebonnets showed up!  And they kept coming up.

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

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

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

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

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

We ordered new computers.

May

We had sleet.  In May!

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

Mother's Day.

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

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

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

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

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

June

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

More bluebonnets!

I nearly got speared by a dive-bombing hummingbird!

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

We saw the Memphis Belle!

Construction started on the house directly behind us.

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

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

Hailstorm, tree damage.

The rain barrel overflowed.

Bill started working on shelf plans for the pachinko machines.

July

Vacation!

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

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

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

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

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

We saw bats!

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

August

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

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

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

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

We got a 2nd rain barrel.

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

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

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

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

September

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

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

For a week, she worked both jobs.

I made several baby caps for a local charity.

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

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

We got new cell phones and switched companies.

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

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

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

October

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

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

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

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

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

The cars were frosted for the first time one morning.

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

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

I had another screw in a tire.

November

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

First of several mice in the house.

We got the tulip bed planted.  Around 100 bulbs.

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

We got the first freeze of the season.

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

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

Otter got good news at work.

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

Chevy diagnosed a minor oil leak in my car.

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

December

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vacation!

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

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

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

 

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

 

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