Tropical Storm Cindy has come and gone, and we are none the worse for wear. It had been forecast that we would get 4-7 inches of rain. We may have gotten 2 inches and there was so localized flooding, in the places that usually flood with heavy rain. 

We had a quiet week, not leaving the house much. It was still so hot and steamy. Thursday morning it was 77 when I got up at 5:15 and 78 Friday at the same time. The rain didn't cut the heat much, except for when it was raining at times. We did have one little storm earlier in the week that dropped the temperature from 90 to 69. But as soon as it stopped raining, the temp started climbing again.

Bill hasn't had any issues this week, just the usual ups and downs. He had a couple of days where he stayed hydrated without me having to nag him, and then a couple of days where his mind was cloudy, which usually means he's a little dry. When I say that he's dry, I don't mean that he's dehydrated as most think of dehydration, but his blood volume is low. And, no, I don't check that, it's just how it was explained to me.

I'm still waiting for my referral to the ortho dr. about my ankle. Hopefully I'll find out soon.

We found out this week that one of the two great grandchildren we're getting this fall is a boy, so I've been looking at baby patterns. I think I cast on 10 different patterns before a very simple, but intricate looking pattern dropped into my lap (actually in my Facebook Newsfeed). I've also tried to work on some of the other projects I've had (4 afghans in various states of completion) and have aggravated the carpal tunnel in my right wrist and thumb. I don't know where I put my braces so I've been struggling through with just my compression gloves. I still really want to work on the afghan that causes the strain (it's really heavy and I have to manhandle it across the needles), But I want to finish it because the child that it's for is afraid that it will never get done!

That's it from this end. Just another normal boring week at our house! See you next week!

Good Morning!

It's only a little after 6 and I've been up for an hour. She still thinks 5 is a good time to wake up, and usually once I'm awake I can't go back to sleep, no matter how much I want to. Of course now that she's had some loves and a little food, she's back up on her perch snoozing away.

This week seemed to drag on forever. We got part of the outside painted. (Of course we didn't do it ourselves). We found that some of the trim had dry-rotted so I had to get a new piece of molding. It just needs cut. 

It was extremely hot all week, in the 90s with the heat index 95-100 most days, so we just stayed in as much as possible. We had a chance of rain every day, but most days it by-passed us. We finally got some yesterday and ended up with about 2 inches in about 4 hours. One town not too far from us got more than 4.5 inches! They said that the little cell just sat over the area for awhile. There were also some high winds and some places got some hail. We had a little wind and no hail that I could tell. It did drop the temp from 90 to 69 in a couple of hours before it started back up, ending in the 70s. 

Bill has done well this week. His coughing comes and goes and this week it mostly went. He seems to cough more as bedtime gets closer. I haven't followed it enough to see what could be the trigger for it. A couple of times this week he has used an extra pillow at night, although sometimes he gets all scrunched down so he may as well only have one.

Yesterday, for the first time in the 5 years since his transplant, I forgot to give him his medicine in the morning! I didn't even think about it until it was almost time for his night doses! That is so unlike me! And, I have an alarm set on my phone to remind me and I remember when it went off! I don't know if it's because we're getting up earlier or what. Bill doesn't get up at 5 with me since I try to keep the cat from waking him up, but he's been up by 6:30 most mornings, which is very early for him. So, I don't know what it is. I do know I was a little grumpy yesterday morning so maybe that was it.

That's about it, nothing major or newsworthy, and that's a good thing! Until next week, have a good one!

Sorry to keep you waiting today. I woke up sick and have spent most of the day in bed. I still feel lousy but decided to do this before going back to bed.

We had a quiet week ourselves, but it was a very productive week around here. We got all of the screens replaced and the outside windows washed. We also got the house washed and it looks so nice! Instead of hiring someone to pressure wash it, a friend of mine recommended Jomax Mold and Mildew cleaner and preventative. This stuff is great! You mix the cleaner with bleach and water, then spray it on the siding, let it sit 10-15 minutes and spray it off. That's it! There were a couple of places that had to be brushed where the buildup was heavier, but most of the time you could see it sliding off. We couldn't believe the difference. Now, to get the painted surfaces scraped and painted and the outside will be done.

Like I said, we didn't personally do much this week. Bill did get out and walk once. I went to the dr. for just a check-up and to get new prescriptions. Connie, the nurse practitioner, told me that I was perfect. All of my bloodwork was good, weight not so good but she doesn't tell you what you already know. I showed her the place on my ankle that I thought was a strained Achilles from the way I sit (curled up with most of my weight on that ankle), but my sister had said it looked like the fatty tumors my mother gets, so it needed seen to. She felt it and said that part of it felt like a tumor, but the other side didn't. So she's referring me to an ortho to have it checked out. He will probably want an MRI of it to make sure what it is. I'm still just waiting to hear back on it.

The cat that lives under the house now, I call her Lola, has had her kittens. I only know this because she's not as fat as she was and she now eats like a horse! When they are old enough to venture out I'll get animal control to come and trap them. Our kitty gave us a good laugh the other night and it was one of those situations that will cause giggles for quite some time after. She was sitting on her perch looking out the window. It was dark and she was really watching something. All of a sudden she jumped up and jumped down from her perch and took off running to the kitchen. We both looked at the window to see what scared her and it was a....lightning bug! She had been watching it intently until it lit up and that's when she took off. Bill laughed for an hour!

He's done pretty well on his own today. He hasn't eaten like he should have, but he did fend for himself. I think I will feel like cooking something light, at least for me, but he'll get a decent meal tonight. We went out to eat last night, and I think my whole problem is that I had a big salad. Sometimes I can digest greens and sometimes not so much. This just happens to be one of those times. I also have had a bad headache, but I think that it is from not having my usual amount of caffeine.

I don't think we have anything on the calendar this coming week, unless I hear from the other dr. I need to get some things ordered that we've been talking about getting. May do that this evening. They won't get here unless I get them ordered.

This is longer than I thought it would be for not doing much this week and not feeling well. I'll talk to you next week!

Good Morning! Our cat has decided the last couple of mornings that 5 am is time for breakfast and she'll start batting my cheek and sitting on me to wake me up. But, it does give me some quiet time with my coffee.

Our trip home was uneventful. We drove 11 1/2 hours the first day and 4 hours the next. We made it home with 1/2 of a big tank of oxygen left, and we nursed it along until we got resupplied yesterday. Bill stayed home a lot just to conserve it as much as possible.

Stephanie called with his biopsy results and it showed no rejection, so he's good to go. We're doing the stool specimen collection now and I'll be able to mail it next week. The one from yesterday got contaminated and I don't think I have one of the collection things. But, we had some and I may have put it away in the closet in the bathroom.

We've neither one felt really well this week. I think it's probably more to do with being exhausted than anything else. But, we have nothing that has to be done this coming week, so we can continue to rest.

We're getting the screens replaced on the house and then getting the house washed. The man we had hired to power wash the house did about a 3rd of it and hasn't come back. He also ruined a couple of the screens which is part of the reason of replacing. But, they were also 18 years old and were seeing signs of age. While the screens are off, Joe, the one doing the work now, also washed the windows. We have the kind that will fold in to wash them from inside the house, but doing that involves moving furniture. I don't have to move it as much to just do the inside ones. That was my plan for today, but since I got up so early, I don't know. It's supposed to be somewhat rainy today so I don't know if Joe will be able to work or not.

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with our oxygen delivery man. We were talking about how inconvenient it is to travel with all of the tanks, and having to stop to change them when empty or going into a store. He said that the ones who make these decisions on supply and reimbursement need to get out into the real world to see just what patients go through, especially travelling. He said that writing letters to congressmen would be a good place to start. So, I'm gathering addresses. I'm also going to check to see who is on which committee that makes these decisions. Who would have thought I would become an activist at the age of almost 63!

So, that's our week. We don't have any travel plans now until July when it's a trip to Illinois to see family and attend a class reunion. We have a grandson getting married in September in Oklahoma and we're not fully committing to that. They may do a destination wedding and that may be the deciding factor. Then it will be time for another trip to Mayo in November and by then the year will almost be done.

Have a good week!