Friday, April 28, 2017

Posting a day early this week. We've started spring cleaning and I'm going to be busy tomorrow. Or, at least I think I'm going to be busy!

We had to take Miss Kitty back to the vet. She started sneezing over the week-end and got very lethargic Monday. The vet was dismayed that the antibiotic wasn't working (and I had been giving it to her twice a day). She was very close to pneumonia. She's still there and is improving, but will be staying at least through the week-end.

We had the edge of a tornado go through Wednesday afternoon with no warning. We later found out that the siren warning system wouldn't work when they tried to sound them. I was standing at the front door when it went through and it was over in 10 minutes. But in that 10 minutes all of the transformers around blew and there were sparks and flames everywhere. Of course the power went out. So, switched Bill to one of his big tanks and waited until the storm had passed before going out to start the generator. The power came on sometime in the middle of the night, but I didn't switch back over until daylight. The other side of the street didn't get power back until sometime in the night last night and one house was still waiting on the building inspector to come. Their meter was pulled from the house. Not only that but it left a huge hole in the house! But, everyone was safe and there were no injuries and only minor property damage that I have seen, mostly tree limbs.

The trees we planted before we went to Florida for Bill's transplant have flowered. We bought flowering poplars because they grow fast and this is the first year they have flowered. The flowers are yellow "tulips" an really pretty. All of the flowers of course blew off in the storm, but there are more blooms out now...just in time for more storms this week-end.

These storms are supposed to be stronger than the ones we just had and we are supposed to get 4-6 inches of rain. So of course we have a flood warning through Sunday night. We will just hunker down here.

Our allergies have been better and Bill isn't coughing quite as much. I'll have to see how they do when the cat comes home. We may have to find another home for her.

We're getting ready to be busy with Brianna's graduation then leaving for Mayo the next day for Bill's check-up. Time will fly by probably.

That's it for today. I need to get back to my knitting and get the baby sweater finished so I won't want to sit and work on that instead of working like I need to. All I have left are the sleeves. Have a good week-end!

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Bill and I are feeling as exhausted as new parents! Sometimes we have wondered why we ever let Miss Kitty Cat into the house!

She came home from the vet Tuesday afternoon and made herself right at home. She used the litter box and hasn't gotten into anything she shouldn't. She did try helping me cook the first night and I don't think she's been back onto the kitchen counter. She's made a couple of trips on top of the dining room table but only once while we were getting ready to eat. I was pleased when she used the litter box for both, but Thursday morning she didn't use it for #2. She went in front of the dryer, far enough away from the box that it wasn't an accident. I took it that she was just going to be very picky and needed to have the box emptied every time, but she hasn't used it for #2 since. She always goes in the basic same place, even if the box is clean. So, more research on what to do about this and if any of you have cats, any and all advice is welcome.

The first couple of nights she was not happy when we went to bed and if we get up to the bathroom it takes quite a bit to be able to get back to the bedroom. Last night she didn't even move when we went to bed and I was up once and she didn't even move, but when Bill got up at 4:30 for the bathroom, there she was. I think it's because he closes the bathroom door loudly and I just pull it closed. She was also meowing at 4:30 the morning before. It's hard to go back to sleep, especially since the birds start in about that time. I think that is also why she starts in, that signifies something in the feral cat world. So that's why we're feeling sleep deprived like new parents. It also didn't help that Bill wanted to talk when we got back to bed! I finally told him if we were going to talk we were getting up so he quit and went back to sleep. I got up about 7:30, when I heard some meowing and a bell jingle, but feel very tired and headachy.

We don't seem to be suffering from any additional allergies. We're both stuffy this week, but the pollen has been bad and now it's turned very cool from the front that came through last night. Bill has had a harder time breathing and has been coughing more, but I don't think it's anything to be concerned about. 

That's it for this week, didn't have anything else going on, and next week is looking to be pretty quiet too. Hope yours goes well too!

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Our electrical problem from last week turned out to be a fairly simple fix and we could have done it ourselves if we had been given the correct information 8 years ago when we had a lot of electrical work done. We had been told when we installed the generator that the apartment, garage and air conditioner were on a new separate panel and not on the panel in the house. The electrician who came Monday tried and tried to find the problem and finally decided to look at the panel in the house. Lo and behold, there was one tripped. It didn't look tripped or even feel wiggly, but that did the trick! He has given us an estimate to have the generator changed from manual operation to automatic. It will kick in within 20 seconds of the power going off. We will also have that breaker changed because it tripped again yesterday just opening and closing the garage door.

We've had a good week otherwise. We took McKenna to counseling again last week and then out to eat. She's our chatterbox and talked the whole time...even after an hour of talking to her counselor! We got home just before dark.

When I went out to feed the cats this week, there was a new one having a drink. This one was a little skittish, but not like the others. It also "talked" to me. I've not heard a sound from any of the others. This same cat was laying on top of the trash can Friday night when I went out to take some fresh water out, and it came to me and let me pet it. Yesterday it was waiting by the back door for breakfast and then came around to the front door and meowed all day. We let it in and it was not scared so it has been around a house before. We've decided to keep it and took it to the vet this morning. It is a little girl and weighs a little over 7 pounds. She has a couple of sores on her and I think she's missing a tooth, but whether it is just a milk tooth or as a result of a fight we don't know. The vet wanted to keep her because she seems to have a little upper respiratory problem. One eye and her nose were a little drippy, just like us! So, she's staying the week-end. She has been taken care of because she got it the carrier willingly and was very quiet and content and let the vet check her out. Once she is well then she'll get started on her shots and get spayed. I had thought that I would name her Reese because her coloring reminds me of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, but I didn't put any name down and they just called her Cat, so that may be her name. We'll have to see! 

So, that's been our week for the most part. I printed/stuffed/labeled/stamped 107 flyers for my 45th class reunion. They still need taken to the post office and I was 3 stamps short so need to get those. Hopefully there will be more of a response to this than the email/facebook class page posts. We'll just have to wait and see. 

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter! 

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Welcome to our wonky world! When we were in Florida waiting for Bill's transplant and then during his recovery, I often wished for a "normal" life. And after we got home, we got a mostly normal life, and that gets boring. This week started as normal but it is ending with a bang.

As far as Bill's health goes, everything is normal. No problems at all. That's a good thing! I've had a headache most of the week and yesterday my eyes felt like I was really straining to do anything. I thought that it might just be allergies, because I can tell they are really kicking in, but I'm concerned that it might be my new glasses, although I've worn them for a few weeks now with no problem after the first couple of days. I know our allergy meter is high right now so maybe that's all it is.

I had to take McKenna to ball practice Monday and while we were in the car she pushed the seat all the way back to put on her cleats and....there was Bill's wedding band! He was quite happy to get it back and is wearing it along with the old one that fits so that it won't fall off again until we can get it sized.

Amanda spent the week-end in the hospital and they determined that it was just a nasty virus. At one point they said she was on the edge of becoming septic, so we were relieved that it was just a virus. We saw them Tuesday. They had some paperwork that needed notarized.

We've notice this week that our thermostat has been acting up. It would reset back to the factory settings at different times of the day, usually in the middle of the night. It's been cool enough that we still need the heat at night, although we had a really warm on and had the air on one night, them back to the heat.

Yesterday Bill went out to walk and I was working on some paperwork on the computer and had to reset the thermostat again. Bill came in a little later and asked what happened with the power. Everything was fine in the house, but there was no power to the garage or apartment. We check every breaker and couldn't find anything and Bryan came after work and checked a few other things with no luck. He's coming back today with his meter to check some more. In the evening it got cool in the house and I kicked the temp up a little, but the furnace kicked on. I remembered then that the furnace and air conditioner were on the same panel as the garage and apartment. So, no power there, no power on those. It's still a little cool in here this morning, but bearable. It's going to get pretty warm today, so the house should warm up soon.

If Bryan can't find the problem then I'm calling an electrician Monday morning. Not going to call today, don't need to pay the week-end rate, especially since it's not really affecting the house itself.

We took McKenna to counseling Thursday. Her session was from 4-5 and she had a softball game at 6. It takes an hour for the drive, but I got her to the ballpark with 5 minutes left for her to get to the dugout. She had her uniform with her and she changed in the car, after making Pa promise not to peek! After we got home our neighbors Joe and Barb came over for a bit. We noticed as they were leaving that the handle on the security door was very loose, but none of us could figure out how to get to the screws! So, I had Bryan look at it last night too, and he slid one piece down and there they were! We had all tried to get it to move with no luck! So another honey-do for him! I guess that's what these sons-in-law are for. 

We have recently found out that we had a great-grandchild born last week, and we have 2 more due before the end of the year, one in early October and one in mid-November. I think these will make 18 great-grands!

So, that's been our crazy week. But, baseball has started so that makes it all better! The saga continues and I'll let you know how it all turns out! Have a good one!

Saturday, April 1, 2017

It's been a much quieter week and I for one am glad of that!

I've talked about our unintentional menagerie of cats before. We were pretty much down to the two kittens and an occasional visit by the others. The little gray cat is very curious and shows up at the strangest times. It has looked in the back door when I leave it open to go back out for some reason. We had the front door open the other night and it sat on the front steps looking in. The little black one wasn't quite as curious, but he would also watch. I was able to get within 3 feet of the gray one after feeding them and he/she wasn't quite as skittish as before. All of this to say that last Saturday afternoon the little black one was hit and killed and now the gray one is acting like it's MY fault! It has regressed and I'm really having to coax it out. It is still pretty curious, came out to see what all the noise was when the lawn service finally came and mowed yesterday, but not as bold as before.

Bill has lost his wedding ring. He has lost so much weight, especially in his left hand and arm that it just slid off somewhere and he didn't even feel it. We haven't found it laying around anywhere, or in a pants pocket. I'm thinking that it fell off as he was emptying the smaller trash cans. I got him his older one and it fits him better. We had replaced our rings on our 10th anniversary and that is the one he lost.

He walked on his treadmill some yesterday for the first time in a long time. Hopefully he'll go back out again today. He will at least need to turn the light out! He left it on yesterday and I didn't notice it until it got dark and I looked out the window.

We have no plans for next week, as far as I know. Amanda is having surgery on her back on the 5th. She has some disc/muscle problems. She was admitted to the hospital last night for another problem that has been recurring but no cause can be found. It's sad that she's so young and has so many health problems.

That's about it. See, I told you it was a quiet week! I'm just glad that baseball is starting again! I told my sister I will only answer calls from her on Sunday night, because she will also be watching the Cubs game and we will probably need to discuss the game as it is in progress. Other than that, all other calls will get a rejection message! Sorry, Mom! See you next week!