I took Bunny to the groomer at.  9 AM.  Had our phone conference at 10:00. John just left to pick Bunny up.  When the AC men came yesterday, there were so many things going wrong with it and it's 10 yrs old, that we decided to get a new one. They are installing it today!  After John gets home, I'm heading out to the grocery and the library.  All this on top of not getting to sleep till 3:30 and getting up at 8:00.  I think there will be a nap in my future 

Jane, I'm glad there wasn't any damage in your area last night. I was thinking about you when I watched the weather forecast.

Mary, quiet days are nice ones anymore!

Hope everyone else is doing well and having a nice sunny day like ours. To be 85 here!!   Sharon

Good morning, Buddies.  It's almost 10:00 and I've had breakfast, read the paper, did my morning walk, and am showered and dressed for bridge.  Olyne is picking me up about 12:20.  We're playing at Terri's today.  I'll probably have a grilled cheese sandwich and some fruit before I go.

The weatherman here is expecting rain/thunderstorms either Friday or Saturday.  I hope Tim and I can eat our lunch and do my Kroger shopping before it starts.  We could use the rain, though.  Just not much fun shopping in the rain!

Jane, I'm glad you escaped a deluge last night.

Sharon, was the phone conference about Bunny?  I can't remember how old she must be now.  You've had her a long time. 

Hello to everyone looking in today.  I'm still looking for a post from GinnyAnn!
Sue

Hello everyone. I am back from the Hospital  with Freckles visiting the patients. We had the third floor and there weren't many patients to visit. We aren't allowed to go into the rooms of the joint replacements or the rooms that have stop signs.I am really looking forward to Sunriver in June. Furry Friends school program is filling up this month for me along with the Tai chi classes and Furry friend visits, I really need a break. Oh the bliss of 8 days without any obligations.
Keith wants to take a trip to Vancouver to see his kids some time in the next couple of months, He says if I don't take him there he won't go with me at Christmas to California. I don't m ind the visit but hate that drive through Portland  traffic on the freeway in the afternoon.

Marilyn, I know you hate that trip up to Portland, but I'm sure Keith wants to see his boys and grands as much as you do yours. Can you arrange any kind of commercial transportation for you? You're between a rock and a hard place.  I know you're looking forward to your vacation. You work hard and deserve it.  We're going to Brian's for Memorial Day weekend with most of the family coming, so I'm looking forward to that too.  John isn't interested in going to Jocelyne's in Minneapolis later in the summer, so I'm going to see when it is convenient for her and go by myself if I cant change his mind.

This has been a really long day. I am one step away from dying!! I started the morning by taking Bunny to be groomed, came home and had a conference call on finances, went to the grocery, came home and the men were here installing our new AC unit. As soon as they left, John and I went out in the garage and started pulling stuff off of shelves to throw away, recycle or donate or keep. You can't imagine how much room there is out there now! I was near collapse, so came in. John is still breaking down boxes and getting stuff ready for the trash, but doubt he will last much longer either. Goodwill is going to get a big donation! Some of the stuff was never used, but wasn't going to be, so we're donating it. It's amazing how much stuff one accumulates even with all our moves. I hate to throw anything away that I might use again. John is the opposite, he throws anything away he's not using right this minute. Blows my mind. Anyway, by the end of tomorrow, we will have a spotless garage all neatly organized! Less for our kids to do when we move on. Leftovers for dinner and then shower and crash.

I have been feeling better and getting more done. I hope it continues.  Hi to all.  Sharon

Marilyn, good to hear from you.  I know you're glad to be busy, but it'll make your time in Sunriver even sweeter!  Driving through cities at "traffic time" is tough.  Is there any way you could go earlier or later in the day so you would miss the worst of it? 

Sharon, your garage sounds wonderful - I can only imagine.  Ours certainly never looked like that.  I hope you get some great rest tonight and tomorrow.  And it's wonderful that you're finally feeling better.

Sue, hope you got some good cards today.

jane, I  hope your joints aren't giving you too much trouble.  The changeable weather is tough.

We wound up calling off our after-supper bridge game here tonight.  The room where we usually play was being used for something else.  That's okay, though.

I'm letting my a/c take over now.  Temps here were in the high 80s.  Looks like we're skipping straight to summer, although it is supposed to cool off some next week (into the 70s).

Just a quickie before I go to bed and read a bit more.  I've been watching TCM tonight--they had a special about Robert ? (the guy who used to introduce the films) who is now in his 90's and still living in NYC.  Then an oldie goldie movie from the 40's.  The wife is a selfish pill who has affairs and the nice guy husband finally gets a divorce and has met a nice woman.  It ends happily, just the way I like!

I hope you've had a nice evening.  Sleep well, Every Buddy!
Sue

Yes, Mary, I've started feeling a lot better. Maybe the increased dose of thyroid is finally working and my body is recovering from all the surgeries.  My back still hurts a lot, but doubt that will change.  I really crashed last night after we finished. Fortunately, I had leftovers to heat up for dinner.

Today I had to have the car at Toyota for a maintenance thing for 35,000 miles. I had a 10:30 appt and it is about 25 miles from here.  The man who is going to clean my dryer vents is due any minute.. I got everything clear for him to work. AC is working fine.  They picked up all the trash and boxes, etc this morning and I have to call Goodwill to have them come pick up all the stuff in our entryway.  John still has to sweep and hose out the garage but was too beat last night to do it.

Have a good day, everyone.  Sharon

Good afternoon, Buddies.  I slept a bit later this morning due to the late night last night.  Tim came by about 10:45 and we met Kris for lunch at Laredo's.  I had my usual 2 tacos, rice and beans.  I ate both tacos and about half each of the rice and beans--and I'm thinking I won't eat much supper!

Sharon, I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better and I hope you keep improving.  It sounds like you are doing a really good house cleaning.  Did Toyota give you a good report?

Mary, I had so-so cards yesterday, but I enjoy this Thursday group a lot.  So I had fun and Terri served a yummy dessert that Mrs. Kroger made!  It's always a nice afternoon out with these gals.  It's to get to the high 80's here today, too. But I've finished all I'm going to do outside today, so that's OK with me.  I think we'll get rain here tomorrow and/or Sunday, so it will cool down a bit then.

Ard came by after her lunch with my neighbor, Brownie, who was released from the hospital about noon.  Ard still volunteers there every Friday, so she took Brownie to lunch and then brought her home.  So Ard and I had a nice visit, although a short one.

Not much else to report.  I'm expecting Bill late Sunday afternoon.  He'll be coming from Oxford, AL, near Birmingham where the SIUE softball team is participating in a tournament.  He'll be here Sunday night and perhaps Monday night.  If he goes up to Oxford on Monday and plans to come back here for the night, I might go up there with him.  Otherwise, I'll stay home as my cleaning ladies will be here early on Tuesday a.m.

Have a nice day, Every Buddy.
Sue

Good morning, Buddies.  I'm up late this morning.  I've finished breakfast and read the morning paper and am trying to decide what I'll do with the rest of the day.  It's a bit cloudy and might rain later on.

I have plenty of yard work I could do, mostly raking up leaves and taking them down to the curb.  My flower beds need weeding and the azaleas need to be trimmed of dead limbs, etc.  I'm just not much in the mood for that today--and I have a whole bag of new library books that I brought home after lunch with Tim and Kris, and Kroger shopping.  I'm sure I'll probably goof off most of the day and hope to remember to watch the Kentucky Derby this afternoon.

Have a nice day, Every Buddy.
Sue

Marilyn...hope you can find a solution to driving in the city, but probably too close to stay overnight somewhere and get through the city right after morning rush hour?

Beautiful day here today, and I hope to get my hanging baskets fixed and up.  Last frost date here is May 10, but I have already bought my white geraniums.  They aren't as plentiful here as the red, and last year I didn't find them when I went looking. 

Yesterday, I got 6 windows washed and the curtains for those washed and back up.  I was tired last night, believe me, and had to put a cold pack on my back.

I've got beef and broccoli asian style in the crock pot for dinner tonight and the bed changed and those sheets in the wash.  Always seem to have a lot of laundry in the spring and summer when we're working outside.

jane

Sue, I slept late too. I was up early most of the week + had 2 sleepless nights.  But I have breakfasted, read the paper and my SS lesson, so am not doing too bad.  John went out early and put in a small fence around our new azaleas & spread some extra mulch.  Then he swept & hosed out the garage and it looks wonderful.  The irrigation guy is supposed to come today, but he isn't very reliable as to when he comes. Speaking of which, the dryer man didn't show yesterday!  He was at the Vet's hospital all day for an annual exam and spaced his appt with me, so he is supposed to come Monday. We'll see.

I need to note down all the stuff we are donating for tax purposes before we take stuff to Goodwill. That will take a while.  Otherwise, I don't have many plans for the day.  I've done about as much as I have energy for this week.

It's a little cloudy here too although the rain is to go north. Tomorrow, we have a 30% chance of rain. I hope it doesn't mess up the Quail Hollow golf tournament in Charlotte. I hope to watch the Derby too. I need to go in and tape it.

Jane, you just posted as I was going to.  I bet things look nice at your house with clean windows and pretty hanging baskets.  I like the hanging baskets but we don't have anywhere to hang them. I hope your back is better today.

Have a good day everyone.  Sharon

There used to be a flight from here to  Portland but it was discon tinued  last year. If we could fly the kids would make arrangements to pick us up but  no flight and Freckles goes with us too. I could take her on the plae as a Service dog if necessary, she does have Service Dog Velcro pieces for her vest that we don't use except when necessary to get her into  certain places like the timeshare at Sunriver. If we were to fly from Eugene it would be half way to Portland already. That's out.

Marilyn...guess you’re left to drive.  The airlines have really messed up the schedules and charge a fortune for those they do have.

Sharon....could you take photos of the things you’re donating, instead of writing it all down?


We’ve worked outside this afternoon, and we’re both beat.

Jane, I suppose I could have but it never occurred to me.  We loaded the car to the gills and took it to Goodwill this afternoon. 

The irrigation man did come this afternoon just as we got home and got it all up and going for the year. 3 sprinkling heads needed replacing.  I think those great big mowers the landscapers use play havoc with them, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Marilyn, that is a shame that there are no flights. Is there a plane or a bus?

I've got spaghetti sauce and meatballs simmering for dinner, but even though I slept in, I'm still tired and my back is still hurting.  So spaghetti was easy for dinner. Added some fresh basil to it too.

Not much else going on.  Sharon

Sherry you have been working too hard.  Flights ARE planes. Buses cost as much as a flight they are private buses.

I got a bus from Chicago to Indianapolis for $11 last summer.  They are called Mega Busses and are very comfortable and you can get tickets online.  Maybe they don't have those in your area.  Lori told me about the one I took as she had taken it a couple times. I went back and reread my post. I meant to say a train or bus. 

We had a wonderful youth Sunday at church today.  The little ones sang, the seniors gave talks about their church experience, we had several musical performances that were absolutely great.  I was so impressed by the young people our church is leading.

It's still sunny and bright here despite the forecast for afternoon showers.

Our church's Vacation Bible school has the theme of Rampage River Week (or similar) and they asked for 15 Christmas trees of all sizes for their forest and camp chairs among a lot of other things, so we took in a 4 ft. tree that we use out on our covered entry and 2 camp chairs. We had to carry them up 2 flights of stairs to where they were storing everything!  Not fun. However, it's good to know the little ones will be benefiting.  Leyton, our ggrand went to a VBS last summer and learned so much and he was only 5 then.  I hope he goes again this summer. Nothing else going on here.  Sharon

Good afternoon, Buddies.  I've been to Sunday School and Church with Olyne.  Our children's classes, K through H. S. did the program--and very ably at that.  The teachers they have are all volunteers and the kids did a superb job. 

It's nice and sunny here today, might get up to high 70's and possibly 80*.  I'm expecting Bill to arrive about 5:30-6:00.  I'm taking him over to Shaky's for pizza this evening and will cook salmon and other goodies tomorrow evening.  I want him to take me to the car wash tomorrow and hopefully over to Tammy's home after the car is clean.  She lives in a neighborhood across the freeway from the car wash.  She has been home from Aspen for a few days now.  She had to have foot surgery while out there.

Not much else going on here today.  More reading of library books and right now I'm watching my Carolina Gamecocks play baseball against #5 Ole Miss.  So far at the top of the 7th inning, Carolina is ahead 5-3.  So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a win for Carolina!

I need to cut up a cantelope and put it into the fridge to chill.  We'll probably eat some for tomorrow's breakfast or lunch.  I have a few errands I would like Bill to help me with, so we'll probably do that tomorrow, too.  I think he'll be leaving on Wednesday, but don't know for sure.  I'm supposed to play bridge with lunch at the University Club at 11:00 and then play bridge after that.  He's going up to Oxford, AL, to attend a soft ball tournament with his SIUE softball team participating.  I'll know more about that this evening when we eat at Shakey's.

Sharon, it sounds like the Mega Bus situation might be a good one for Marilyn if they have something like that where she and Keith live.  We had a Youth Service today, too.  The kids from pre-school, Kindergarten, and all grades 1-12 gave short presentations.  Lots of folks were in attendance to see their kiddies perform!

Jane, I hope you both have a nice quiet and cool afternoon inside after all that outside work!

Have a nice day, Every Buddy.
Sue

It's been a quiet Sunday here too.  Ray went for a ride on his Terra Trike, and then called me from the Brewery, and I drove down and joined him ...with a diet Pepsi for me.   He then rode home and then we both went over by car to see the new Veterans Memorial that's finally about done.  They did a nice job with it.

Then out to DQ...which was very busy....you can tell it's hot weather in the rural midwest when the DQ has a long drive through line....so I went in and we had some dipped in chocolate cones.  First time this warm weather.  It's 80 here today....so we've gone from winter to summer.

jane

Not much spring here, either.  In the mid80s now, and then to be in the upper 80s by the end of the week - adding in the summer humidity.  Oh, well.

The MegaBus is really pretty good.  Our daughter has ridden on one, very successfully (like Sharon).

Hope everybody has a good week coming up!

We don't have those here. They look more like a small bus shaped like a van. The handicapped buses look the same. We don't even have  buses running  the towns except for Dial A ride. North Bend and Coos bay are two very small towns connected to each other. the population  in North Bend is under 10,000. about the same in Coos Bay

Hello, Every Buddy.  Bill took me to the car wash and now my car is squeaky clean.  Then we went to a place that sells sporting goods, sneakers, clothes, etc. and I just walked around and looked at everything.  He usually buys something there, but didn't see any thing he'd liked or needed, so no purchases.

When we came home, I made the tomato aspic I'm taking to the Women's luncheon tomorrow.  Bill (at least I hope) will attend with me.  Every circle member (we have 5 circles) will bring a dish for pot luck, so I think we'll have a good variety of food.  I'm thinking my tomato aspic will be the only one there!

Bill is communicating by phone with employees at SIUE about things that need to be finished while he is away--and he's using his computer for that kind of thing, too.

We wanted to go visit my friend, Tammy, who is home recuperating from major surgery on her leg, but she told me that she wasn't feeling up to visitors today.  I won't be able to go to see her tomorrow if she's feeling better as I have to attend that Circle luncheon.  And Bill will leave here on Wednesday about 9:00 a.m.   Hopefully she'll feel enough better to talk on the phone in a day or two.

It's a lovely sunny day here.  It's now too warm this afternoon to do much weed pulling today, so I think I'll read until time to start dinner this evening.

Have a nice day, Every Buddy.
Sue

Marilyn, I've never been to Oregon so didn't realize how small your town is.  It's a shame they don't have a shuttle or something to Eugene so you could fly from there.

Sue, you and Bill have been busy.  Enjoy your luncheon tomorrow.

I went to the vet to donate a dog crate and some towels for the shelter and also made an appt for Bunny tomorrow, but after looking at the calendar, I'm going to have to change it since the rug cleaner is coming.  The dryer guy did come this morning and took care of that and I asked him if he could do some other handyman jobs so waiting for an estimate and date from him.

I also went to HT to take advantage of the super double coupons and then to CVS, but they didn't have what I wanted, then to the library to pick up the church book, WALK TO BEAUTIFUL by Jimmy Wayne.  I had hoped it would be a small book but it's medium. I have to have it finished by next Monday.  I guess I'll have to give up some of my TV shows.  Sharon

We're home and it's still summertime here....in the 80s...so guess Spring was about 2 days long this year.

We had a long wait at the dealership, so glad that's good for, I hope, many miles.

jane

Hi everybody...warm in Texas...getting my walk in early AM...my kids and some of my grandkids will be here for Mother's Day..looking forward to that..they are doing most of the cooking...plan a roast for Sunday after church.....Jane are you getting a new vehicle?.....Hi to any looking in...Darlene

Darlene....my husband got a new vehicle.  Now to try and figure out all the "bells and whistles."  And there are a lot of them.

Hot here, too, Darlene.  80 is hot for here in May.


jane

I also traded my 2012 for 2018....Silverado....lots bells and whistles hat I don't need...even a warning when you turn your vehicle off to check backseat ..like for kids..lol.....When My kids were small..sure didn't need a reminder for them....of course my insurance went up to.....Darlene

Nothing exciting here.  We haven't had much spring here, either, although more than you did, jane.  Supposed to be near 90 by the end of the week. Oh, well - that's why we have a/c. 

I'd like to have some of the new bells and whistles, but not enough to get a new car.  I'm assuming that the one I have will be the last one.  Played duplicate tonight.  The hands were strange ones.  I certainly had a lot with only 5-6 points.  Even so, we finished in the middle, but no MP. 

Good Tuesday morning.

Only thing I have today is a haircut at 11:00.

Rains to come tonight into tomorrow, again.

Jane

Nice to have a new car/truck, but I'm really happy with my Avalon and figure it will be my last car too with only 35,000 miles on it.

High 70's today and then up to about 90 Thurs or Fri.  Crazy.

The community landscapers finally got our grass cut and trimmed but it will probably take another couple cuttings to look good.

The rug guy is here and is also spot cleaning the sofa cushion Bunny has claimed.  She dripped on it after her first aspiration.  I try to keep a dog cover over that end, but she scoots it off sometimes.

Because of the rug cleaning, Bunny's appt is moved to Thurs. I have a lab appt and a hair cut on Friday.  Nothing scheduled for the rest of the day or tomorrow.  TTYL  Sharon

Hi Buddies.  My cleaning ladies were more than an hour and a half late--due to training some new cleaning ladies--and I was worried about getting to the Women of the Church luncheon at 11:30.  We did make it in time, nice crowd there and enough men/husbands so that Bill wasn't uncomfortable.  And the bonus is, I don't have to cook this evening.  We'll be having sandwiches and fruit, plus a glass of wine!  Bill is leaving tomorrow morning about 8:30 to go up to Oxnard or maybe it's Oxford, AL, for that softball tournament his U. is playing in.

The luncheon had so many dishes it was hard to choose just a small smidge of many.  All were salads and quite a variety.  The program was led by our co-pastor, Kathy, and she did a really good job of winding up this years group of programs.

Afterwards, Bill took me by my bank to withdraw some money for the next week or so.  Tim will be glad that job is done for a while as well as Bill taking me to the car wash yesterday.  So my car is clean and I have some cash for a couple of weeks. 

I've started a good book by David Baldacci, _Hour Game_ and am going out on the deck to read some more before time to fix supper.

Have a nice evening, Every Buddy.
Sue