Heather's Girls

When I got up this morning, I had a message from Heather.  Pato had to take Alyce to the ER last night.  She woke up during the night crying from the pain she had.

It ended up she had a kidney infection and was really constipated.  She was so bad, they put an IV in (which she did not like) and also gave her a prescription.  The pharmacy they normally go to closes at 11 PM now.  Used to be they were open all night.

So, this morning Heather went to get her script filled, only to find out no one had it.  After the ER gave them a different prescription, she finally got it filled.  After going home, Kat was in pain.  Heather took her in and found out she has an UTI.  Jordan was sick, too, so only Nano was feeling good.

Heather didn't get much sleep last night and she's fighting an ear infection herself.  At least none of them has anything contagious.  Now Kat is on a med and both girls have been told they need to drink more water.

Heather makes money on her blog, does writeups for a lot of products, and has a business online for scrapbooking.  I wonder if she uses a bixolon product.  We've never talked about it, but I'll ask her next time we talk.

Nano and Jordan have birthdays Feb 23rd so they all need to get healthy to celebrate those birthdays.

Do you have a Will?

We've told ourselves, over the years, that we needed a will.  Making one, however, is not as easy.  My nephew, Mike, gave me a CD to make one and I actually started it.  I wanted to make one will for Steve and I together.  It didn't have that capability.  Plus, some of the wording was confusing, so I gave up.

Not long ago, I saw a book at the library that walked you through the process.  It also had a CD and was simplified enough for me to do it.  So I printed out the blank forms to make our own wills.  It also, did not show one  to have both on one will.  But at least I have the form to type out.

Of course, I haven't done that yet.  But, there's hope out there for me.  The next thing is, how are we going to deal with his retirement plan.  What he has is not a 401K, but it is similar.  When he retires, he has the choice to transfer that plan to a local financial organization.  I'd like to check in to getting money into gold or silver.  I think that is something to look into.  That, or gold coins or ounces of either.

Let me know if any of you have done this and the result so far.  I am dense when it comes to financial planning.

A Dreary Day

Although it is in the 40's, it is windy and rainy.  Not a heavy rain, pretty light, but no sunshine at all.  Steve left about an half hour ago.  He's on his way to Joshua's to help him with put a light in the living room, I think.

I'm not sure if they'll need cmm fixturing, but Steve will be able figure it out.  I think they are working the electrical end of it.

After that, he'll go to the Y (as usual) and on to school at 5:30 or 6, I'm not sure.  Tonight's the night for Linda to come over so I'll have company instead of being alone.

I hop the sun will come out soon and the wind will die down.  It's kind of depressing outside.  What's it like where you are?

The Finished Result Was....

beautiful.  Please read the post below this first.  Abby's living room looks so fine, I couldn't believe it.  When Josh started rolling paint on the south wall (I think), I didn't think I'd like the color.  After it dried, it was really fantastic. 

Their colors were like a medium tan and a richer darker one.  Not something I'd pick out until I saw the results.  Then, I could see using those colors real easy.  Their carpet had both colors in it and it will really be the icing on the cake.  They are having it installed Tuesday.

Then, little Aiden can roll and crawl around all over the place to his heart's delight.  He has such a sweet smile.  Steve picked him up and talked to him (and made his duck voice, which I'm not sure Aiden enjoys that like the other kids did).  He really loves his grandkids.  It's fun to watch him with them.

Steve wants to get into his own business someday.  I would like that, too, we just don't know what we want to do yet.  I could imagine setting up our business in one room and sell things online.  Of course, we'd need some equipment from star micronics.  Then we'd be ready to go.  The question is 'What are we going to have as our business?'

Well, time will tell.  If you have any great ideas, leave a comment.

Painting at Abby's

Yesterday Steve, Josh, and Abby painted Ab's living room.  When we first got there, Justin and Abby had a first coat on all but one wall.  Justin had to work so the three of them got busy.

I went along to help watch the kids so Abby could paint, too.  Aiden was in his little activity center jumping up and down, babbling and playing with the toys on it.  Mikayla ran to me as she was so happy that Grandma came, too.

Aiden went down for his first nap and Abby let Mikayla use a little paint brush to feel like she was helping.  It was sooooo cute, I took about 3 minutes of camcording it.  I just loved it.  She would paint circles and lines all over.  Then they'd have her move to the right and they would use the roller to paint over what she'd just done.

We would have never thought to do that with our kids.  Actually, I think just Steve would be painting and I would be running after the little ones.  Of course, back then, I'd probably be having an allergic reaction to the smell of the paint and would need to get an allergy treatment austin.  What's great is the paint Abby got didn't smell much.  It was great.

I made a run to Home Depot to pick up one more gallon of the paint and when I came back, Mikayla was down for a nap and Aiden was awake.  So I got to play with him a lot.  He sits up now, it's so cute.


It's Beautiful Outside

I went outside a few minutes ago and it is like the beginning of spring, seriously!  I just love it.  Steve left about an hour ago, headed to the Y and then to church.  So I was alone and feeling far better than this morning.

I woke up in serious pain and nausea again.  I can't seem to figure out how to keep that from happening.  I know I overdid it yesterday, plus forgot to take my pain pill at 9 in the morning.  Remembered it at 5:15 that night when I hurt so bad I wanted to just sit in the car for a long time.  (It has a wonderful lumbar seat.)

When Steve left this morning, he said, "Goodbye, my darling wife, Kathy!"  I about fell over.  Number one, he doesn't usually use complimentary words (unless it's babe - and that's been quite a while); number two, he called me by my name directly to me.  He never says that.  He rarely says my name when he's talking about me to others, either.   I walked into the kitchen and thanked him and we hugged.

I gave him a kiss and he responded in kind and that's pretty unusual, too.  We're just not romantic anymore that much.  So, anyway, I'm here alone with the beautiful weather and am feeling so much better than this morning.  Have a great day!

I'm a Winner

We left Abby's and drove to Walmart, got some groceries, drove to HyVee and got the rest.  As we were walking out, I told Steve I'd meet him in the car as I needed to buy a Powerball.

They have one of those self-check things there so I slid my first ticket across:  You're a Winner - $12.  I slid my second ticket across:  You're a Winner - $40.  I made such a sound at that, the girl behind the counter asked what I'd won.  I had to laugh as she thought I'd won a big one.  No, I'd make more noise if it was that.

I slid the third ticket across:  Sorry, not a winner.  OK, that's my normal response.

I've told Abby and Heather about it but it's too late to call Jackie.  She'd get a kick out of the story.  They have an above the ground pool in their back yard (Prattville, AL).  I wonder if it has one of those a.o. smith motors.  I don't think they swim in the winter but I'll bet some days it's warm enough out.

They will be coming to Iowa in August (her class reunion, I think).  I can hardly wait!

I'm Thinking Romance

This July will be thirty-five years of marriage for Steve and I.  Man, I can hardly believe it.  I mentioned it to Steve and he said "Who told you?"  Oh, brother. 

He entered a contest with Pulse 99.5 to win a weekend in a motel downtown, Bonbons, a Mercedes for the weekend, and a meal out.  That would be fun to win.  But I've been wanting to go to Hawaii for oh, about 35 years now.

I would think since it's #35 it should be worth a trip there, but if not, I'm aiming for an eternity band.  I already have a ring guard with diamonds (around our 25th anniversary), but a true eternity band would be out of this world, don't ya think?  Let me know your ideas!

Visiting with Abby

As I said in my last post, we headed to Abby's to give her her birthday card a few days late.  Aiden was in a little bouncy toy playing with the toys attached.  Mikayla was asleep on Abby's bed.  So we played with Aiden until Mikayla woke up.

He is such a bright eyed child, smiling most of the time.  He let Grandma check his two new teeth on the bottom.  I will say he has quite a bite, too.  Little squirt.  He rolls all over the place and now he gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth.  He also does the start of the Army crawl.

Then Mikayla woke up!  She was so happy to see us, I just love it!  I gave her the new scarf I made as I had left over yarn.  She said, "I just love it!" as she put it on.  Then she noticed it didn't have fringe on it.  I think she'd rather have fringe, but, oh well.

Abby and Justin have new porcelain tile in front of their door now and it looks so nice.  I think they need a wooden gazebo out back and then their place will be perfect.

We stayed while Abby gave Aiden a bath and boy did he tinkle in the tub (over and over).  I couldn't believe he could hold that much liquid in him.  What a riot.  Well, until next time.

20/15 WooHoo

I am so excited.  I went for my yearly eye exam today.  My distance eyesight is 20/15 (better than 20/20).  What a change.  Six years ago I had LASIK surgery.  Dr. Ejaz Husain was my eye surgeon and he is awesome!  I was legally blind in both eyes, so you can see why I am so excited.  I think he said my sight was 20/200 twice. 

Now I have to wear is over the counter reading glasses unless I'm outside in bright natural light, then I don't need them.  Cool, huh?  I do have a cataract in both eyes but they are a 1 out of 10 so no problem yet.  As the nurse said, obviously they aren't affecting your sight.

I'm sitting in the little bedroom on our laptop, next to the desktop computer.  Steve has started looking around at apple desktop computers.  I hope he invests in one.

While I had my eyes examined, he went to QT and got a coffee.  That guy, he really likes their coffee.  On to Abby's to deliver her birthday card.  Happy Birthday (late), Abby.  February 5 is her day.

Our Little Singer and Dancer

I know I've told before how Mikayla loves to dance, specifically at wedding receptions.  She's always a blast to watch and she'll usually corral you to dance with her .  Well, she has a new talent now.

Abby and I were talking on the phone and I said, "Oh, I just love listening to Mikayla sing in the background."  Abby said, "You should have seen her the day we put the ceramic in the entryway.  She's been watching this show where the little girl looks out the window at the stars in the sky and sings.  We had the living room window open so we could toss stuff out it.  Next thing I know, she's got her head out the window and she's just singing up a storm.  She was waving her arms all around.  It was so cute.  I got my camcorder and started recording her and she turned and caught me doing it.  She looked kind of embarrassed that I caught her and she stopped."

Is that not cute or what?

Of course, it would be nice to have one for Heather, too.  She's the one with the talent in our family.  Serious talent.

Do Elephants Cry?

I may have mentioned a while back that I collect elephants.  It all started with a dress I wore that had elephants on it, Jackie bought me my first one or two elephants.  Denny bought me many through the years.

Since Denny died, Steve II has brought me most of my elephants.  My favorite one from him is an elephant standing next to a globe.  The globe has a baby elephant in it.  I just love it.

The majority of my elephants (from Denny) are in a building that we stored the things we couldn't fit into this house.  Furniture, dishes, kids things, elephants, etc.  I wish I had teleconferencing services so I could hear how to take mold and mildew off of priceless objects.

Sometimes I think I hear the cry of my elephants to be treated in such a way.  I don't have the space to bring them into the house.  It is so sad.

Watching the News

I was sitting in the living room watching the 6:00 (PM) news on channel 13 (WHO) when they showed a picture of a house with a snowman out front and a little boy and girl on either side of it.

I couldn't believe it.  I just saw that snowman Tuesday night in Josh's front yard.  Yes, the little boy and girl were Carter and Cambria.  I was speechless.  The tag said "Carter and Cambria in Waukee".  Soooo cute.  I called Josh and said, "Did you watch Channel 13's news?"  To his negative reply I said, "Guess who I just saw on the news?"

He didn't know Shelley had sent in that picture.  The weatherman said, "This is Carter and Cambria of Waukee.  Check out the Mohawk on the snowman."  The Mohawk was iridescent green spikes, really funny.  That's how my evening started out.  Maybe next time they'll show a pic of a pool fence.  (Also would be cool.)

Any of your grandkids hit the news?  I just loved it.

What a Dream

It started with a teeny little kangaroo about 6 inches tall.  And the kangaroo turned into a little girl.  Weird or what!  The funny thing is every time she had to go potty, she slipped into the toilet.

I remember water running all over the blue carpeting when the toilet was flushed.  My Dad came in and he wasn't real happy about the toilet situation.  My Mom showed up with a dress she'd sewn for me.

I'm telling you, I have no clue what was going on or what triggered the dream.  This all happened in the space of an hour and a half.  I woke up late at 10 AM and hadn't taken my pain pill yet.  Once taken, I had to wait an hour to eat, so I went back to sleep.  That's when the dream occurred.

I normally don't have such bizarre dreams, although I called Steve "Mom" once last week when he walked into the room.  I don't know, maybe I need to check into a los angeles rehab and have myself checked out.

Any of you have any bizarre dreams?  Any interpretations out there?

It Finally Arrived

As you probably know, I've started making my grandchildren afghans.  My Mom made afghans but she never made any for my brother, sisters, or myself, that I know of.  I've already made them for my four kids.

Since Taylor is my oldest grandchild, I asked what colors she wanted.  Purple and gold, the colors of Waukee Schools.  I had her look at them online and again asked if that's what she wanted, "Yep", she said.  So that was the first one made.  When the yarn finally arrived, I was in shock.  Very bright colors.

When I finished hers, I still had a lot of yarn left over and the packages were open so I couldn't send them back.  Heather solved that dilemma for me by telling me Katiana wanted one  in the same colors.  Since she goes to Waukee, too, the problem was solved.

Jordan chose camouflage, and while I waited for his yarn to arrive, I started Kat's since I had yarn to start it.  I had hers half done by the time Jordan's yarn came.  I had ordered more purple and gold with his so while waiting for Sydney's yarn, I finished Kat's.

Since I had one purple and one gold skein left, I made Heather a purple scarf (her favorite color), Taylor a purple and gold one (every 2 rows switching color), and Kat a purple and gold one (mostly gold with purple in the middle).  While waiting for Syd's colors to arrive, I made Mikayla and Cambria a pink scarf with a leftover skein from Abby's afghan.

Sydney chose red and black, which happens to be the colors of her school (Adel, DeSoto, Minburn).  Her yarn arrived two days ago and so I'm back to making an afghan.  I am so excited to get this one going, but I'm happy to be crocheting again.

I almost hate to ask for favorite colors when they are this young as they're probably the only afghans I'll make each of them for their lifetime.  Oh, well, at least with school colors, they'll always remember why they chose those colors.

This all brings me back to watching my mom crochet in the living room.  She was either doing that or reading.  Which makes me think about sitting in her kitchen where she had one of those 2 step stools that I'd sit my youngest on and tie a dish cloth around them (this one had a back) so they could eat.  And, she always had yummy food.

My kids tell me that I make their favorite foods, but, my Mom made the best chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes with corn on the side (which we'd mix in the potatoes).  OK, now I'm getting hungry.  Gotta take a break :)



Staying Home Tonight Again

Tonight is Wednesday and normally, I drive to the south side for church.  Two weeks ago I fell on the ice and landed on the arm I broke awhile back.  I was scared I'd broke it again, but only for a few seconds.  I didn't end up with the throbbing and then later pain. PTL.

I decided last Wednesday to stay home and listen to the service on the computer.  I believe tonight I'll do the same thing.  It's always nicer to be there in person and greet all you know and some you don't.  Just a great time.

Steve has been having problems with our desktop computer.  It is soooooo slow.  I think he should look into some cheap desktop computers.  He thinks he needs to get another card (?) to put into it.  Time will tell.

The last time he did that, he took off the housing.  I remember he had to be real careful to not touch anything else.  He did insert the card which gave us more memory, I think.  I guess he'll make that decision.

It's Winter

I never thought I'd be happy when the temps are in the 30s.  We've had our snow, rain, and icy conditions, finally.  Today, according to our temperature gauge, it got to 29 today.  Woohoo!  S'posed to get down to 13 tonight.

The wind wasn't too bad, but it still made it cold to be outside.  I bundled up each time I've gone outside.   I have to get outside each day.  The sun was shining bright, which helps.  I must be one of those who have to be in the sun.  Heather is another one that is affected when she cannot be out in the sun.

It's supposed to get cold tonight.  Tomorrow, it will get to 32 degrees out again, hurray!  I cannot say that under all those clothes I have on cheap lingerie.  Instead, I have your grandma types on.  :)

I cannot wait for the sunshine tomorrow.  Does the sun affect you?

A Shy Little Girl

I went to Josh's last night to watch his two youngest while he took Taylor to an informational meeting about driver's ed.  Man, I cannot believe she will be driving before long.  Jordan went with them as one of Heather's kids is sick.

They both were asleep when I got there so I settled in to watch MASH, which is one of my favorite shows (a close second to Raymond.  After a while Carter woke up and I warmed up his supper.  He is so cute and sweet, he talks to me all the time.  He had to show me all the cars and trucks he has in his case, what a riot.

Finally, Cambria wakes up.  She looks up at me and then hides her face in the corner of the couch.  I tried to get her to turn over so I could change her diaper, to no avail.  Finally I just changed her while she was lying on her stomach.  Quite a feat!

I got her supper out of the fridge and asked if she wanted her drink.  That got her up and walking to me.  When I put her food on the little table for her, she smiled and sat down to eat.  I just love those kids.  She was still eating when Josh and Taylor got home.  Boy, did she jump up and hug Taylor's legs and then ran and put her arms up for Daddy to hold her.  She was all smiles then.  Josh just laughed.

Josh took me out to see their new car, which is pretty cool.  Then, I had him walk me to my car as it was icy in places.  He wanted to pay me for gas at least, and I declined.  When I think of the garden gifts my kids have given me, I just am so happy.  Josh gave me a beautiful angel that's in my little garden.  Every time  I see it, I smile and think of him.

Heather gave me a butterfly that lights up green at night.  I have another angel, too!  I just need to get a moon to be complete!

First Teeth

Abby is celebrating her birthday today!!!  My littlest girl who now has two little ones of her own.  She called me last night from PM where they were celebrating her birthday since today is the Super Bowl.  Sure sounded like she was having fun.  OK, I did have a twinge of wanting to go out there, too.  But I gave it up and am determined to keep it that way.

I can't remember if it was Friday or Thursday, but she called me and said Aiden finally has 2 little teeth breaking through the surface.  Hurray!  He has been teething forever, but just lately has he been running a temp.  We'll have to get some lapel pins that say, "Warning, teething baby!"  What do ya think?

Last night Justin's Mom took the kids overnight while they went out and said he was running a temp again.  I had hoped since the teeth broke the surface, maybe he'd be in the pink again.  Time will tell.

As you all know, I am addicted to reading books (all my life).  One of my favorite authors is Laurell K. Hamilton.  Some of her books are about were animals such as, were tigers, were wolves, were rats, were lions, etc.  Fanciful reading at its best.

One of the latest I've finished reading was about someone who raises zombies for a living, plus she is a vampire slayer.  The head of the vampires is in love with her as is a were wolf (not like in the old movies, more like the Twilight series.  It's pretty cool, scary, yet not scary enough to give you nightmares.

One thing I like about it is that there's a whole series so you can end one book and keep reading the story in the next one.  There aren't any charm bracelets in the books but, there are silver crosses that should protect you from vampires.

Have I grabbed your attention yet?  Get to the library and read to your heart's content.

I have not been paid by this author or her publishing company to write about this writer.  I only wrote because I love her books!

Poor Steve

Steve worked for about 3 weeks, then was laid off for almost 2 weeks.  Finally his boss called and said he had work for him.  Problem was it was 12 hour days for 7 days a week and 2 weeks.  It's up in Ames so he has to leave here around 4:30 AM in good weather, 4 AM on days like today.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and I am here alone as Steve's working.  I may look at triangle direct media rather than watch the game, but you never know.  I normally don't watch sports, however; lately, when Steve watches football, I crochet and glance up at the game occasionally.

Will you be watching it?  Poor Steve, will be working till 6 PM, then it's another hour and a half to get home.  I know he wishes he could see it.  Have a great day and enjoy the game.