children and guns

I'm not a gun hater or do I ever think we could be a nation without guns but I really hate the fact that there are so many irresponsible people who have guns.   

Right before Thanksgiving a 3 year old boy reached under the sofa and pulled out a loaded gun.  The child accidentally shot his mother in the head and killed her.  She was a veteran and had just given birth to her second child.  This happened here in Oklahoma.

Then yesterday a two year old in Idaho pulls a gun out of his mother's purse and accidentally kills his mother in Walmart.  She had 4 children with her at the time.  WHY do you need to pack heat on a trip to Walmart with 4 little children?   I don't get it.

Is everyone paranoid?  Children and guns don't mix!

So sad!

Happy New Year

In spite of being sick since the 23rd of December I had an enjoyable Christmas.  Unfortunately I had to miss most of the festivities since I was in bed for a week but my daughters were thrilled with a visit from their half-brother.  Their first Christmas together.

I can't believe the year is quickly coming to an end.  Ron and I have had a blessed year.  His first year without cancer surgery.  I got my painful hip replaced.  My brother managed to make it another year living on his own (with assistance).  My daughters are finally on the mend from their shoulder surgeries.  All in all a very good year.

Ron signed up for his social security last night on the computer.  I can't believe he will be 66 in February.  I will follow shortly.  I'm excited about what the next year may bring.  We will both retire August 1st (or at least that's the plan as of today).  The next 6 months will fly by I'm sure.

Next week Ron has a routine CT scan and results.  I have a follow-up with the hip surgeon and our dog gets her teeth cleaned.  Busy week.  I still can't help but hold my breath every time Ron has a scan but the anxiety is a little less....on a scale of 1 to 10 I'm about an 8 now when it comes time to get the results.  I don't live waiting for the other shoe to fall but at the same time I' m aware that it could.

Here's wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

Well, I was wrong...they did manage to pass a spending bill just hours before a government shutdown.   I haven't read what cuts the final bill included but at least they got something to the Senate before a shutdown.  I'll give them that much.

I'm so glad today is Friday.  I have so much to do this weekend.  Ron has to work tomorrow so that will give me time to wrap presents and finish a little shopping.  Then Ron and I are bell ringers at the mall for the Salvation Army tomorrow night.  We also have a dinner and a party to go to on Sunday.  It's going to be a busy weekend.

It feels like Christmas but it's just going by so fast!

The Spending Bill

I absolutely hate politics.  The older I get the more I hate it.  I’m wondering where we will stand this evening if Congress is unable to approve a spending bill.  There are several trade-offs embedded in the $1.1 trillion spending bill that the Democrat and Republican negotiators unveiled Tuesday in an effort to keep the federal government functioning past Thursday.

One trade-off I do not support is the changes that would allow the wealthy to donate up to $777,600, from the current $97,200, to the national party committees.  This country is already run by big corporations and the wealthy.  This would further silence the average American from having a voice in our government.  I support campaign reform but this is going in the wrong direction.

Banks also won a rollback of a section of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law related to derivatives trading.  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) blasted the changes to Dodd-Frank. “We all need to stand and fight this giveaway to the most powerful banks in this country,” she said. “These are the same banks that nearly broke the economy in 2008 and destroyed millions of jobs.”

Michelle Obama’s school nutrition effort was also targeted.  States would get the option to let schools skip out on rules requiring serving whole grains while the defense industry secured new funding for F-35s fighters the Pentagon didn’t even ask for,

I can’t wait to see if these mental giants can reach some kind of resolution before they shut down the government.  Today should be interesting.

Christmas with Jesus

My most memorable Christmas occurred in 1956, when I was about six years old. The town where we lived had a naval base, sort of the last remaining remnant of World War II. My oldest brother, Butch, was about sixteen or seventeen.

One Christmas Eve he came home telling our Mom and Dad he had just seen a young sailor walking all alone down town. He told them he had almost stopped and invited him home for Christmas. Mama and Daddy asked, “Why didn’t you?”

“Really?" Butch replied. “Well, maybe I can still find him.”
Butch quickly left to go look for the sailor while I sat by the window pondering about what I’d just overheard. Not long before this, my grandmother had told me the story of Jesus going to three homes as a stranger. At the first two he was turned away but at the third he was welcomed and the family had shared what little they had with the stranger.

So here I sat with my seven-year-old brain quickly concluding that the sailor was Jesus and that my very own big brother had recognized this fact and invited him to our house for Christmas.
I waited by the window for what seemed a very long time when suddenly the old white Studebaker appeared in the driveway. Butch walked toward the house followed by a young sailor not much older.

Mom and Dad welcomed the young man to our house and though he looked a bit confused at first, he soon relaxed and made himself at home. Mama explained to him that the entire family would be going to Christmas Eve service at church and he was more than welcome to join us.

So off we went, Mama, Dad, Butch, Mike, Jesus and me. I made myself comfortable right by his side. Sometime during the service I fell asleep and was later told that our guest had carried me to the car. When we returned home and as the tradition in our family, we were each allowed to select one gift to open.

I was worried about our guest not having a gift so I asked Mom if she thought Daddy would mind if I gave the embroidered handkerchief I had made for him to the young sailor. I had embroidered the initial “S” for Simpson on the starched white cloth but thought it could just as easily stand for sailor.

Mom said she didn’t think he would mind and so I gave my gift to our special guest.

We never did see the young sailor again, but I always wondered what became of him or if he remembered the family who welcomed him for Christmas when he was just a stranger.

It's A Wonderful Life

Well another whirl wind weekend.  Last week was so busy I was glad to get it over.  I had a colonoscopy on Friday and after Ron viewed the pictures of my colon I told him he can honestly say he knows me inside and out!  Don't have to repeat this for another 5 years.

As much as people hate having this procedure it beats the heck out of dying from colon cancer.  Both Ron's and my father died of colon cancer.  Had it been caught early they both probably would have lived another 20 years.  So, it is something we take very seriously and it is one of the most curable cancers if caught early.

We celebrated my daughters (plural) birthdays Saturday night.  Had a great time with them.  I got them T-shirts that say Thing 1 and Thing 2 along with things they really wanted.  I can't believe they are 44 years old.  It seems like yesterday they were just five years old and refusing to let anyone sing happy birthday to them.

Jamie & Julie age 2

Right now the world is looking pretty wonderful to me.  Ron is doing well, Mike is doing well, my daughters are healthy and I'm free of pain.  Life is really good!

Too busy for Christmas

Well, I'm sorta started preparing for Christmas.  I have gifts purchased but not wrapped.  We put up our Christmas tree and that's about as far as I've gotten.  

This week is just full of appointments.  Saw the doctor Monday and had lost another 6 pounds.  I was kind of shocked because I really am not trying.  I've lost 36 pounds since June 11.  

I had a dentist appointment this morning and I have a colonoscopy scheduled for Friday.  But it will be good to have all this stuff behind me then I can get back to wrapping gifts and having fun.

Our annual Golf Cart parade was this past Monday and again people out did themselves.  In spite of the cold weather we had a great turn out and I was very aware that this would be my last parade.  Bitter sweet!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving.  My daughter Jamie couldn't wait to give me one of my Christmas presents and when she did I just busted out in tears.

When my daughters were young I told them about the Christmas when I was about 10 years old and I had asked for a Pink Ponytail Scrapbook.  Every little girl my age was collecting Ponytail and I wanted this so bad.  Well, Christmas day came and there was nothing Ponytail under the tree.  Instead I got a red baseball autograph book.  I was so disappointed but I tried to hide it from my mother.

So, anyway this is what my daughter found on Ebay....she had been searching for 7 years.

 I immediately burst into tears because I was so touched.  I guess it was the reaction she was looking for......

Anyone else remember Pontytail?

My most memorable Thanksgiving

I have eaten Thanksgiving dinner at least 64 times in my life but I never had a Thanksgiving like the one I had in 1982.  My parents had moved to Poteau, Oklahoma about 150 miles from my home.  Myself and my two 12 year old's were there along with my brother Mike and my older brother and his then 11 year old daughter came as well.  In addition to all the human beings we brought our dog and my niece's hamster.  It was quite the menagerie.  

Well, my mother was in charge of the meal, as usual, and I was trying to do my duty as the cook's helper.  My mom would get rather frazzled when she was cooking for an army and especially as important a meal as Thanksgiving.  So I knew it was best to wait until I got my orders before just diving in to help.  

Well, the turkey had been in the oven since breakfast but I noticed there was no roasted turkey smell wafting through the house but my mom seemed to have things under control and who was I to intervene.   So I got the table set and everything was ready for the main act when my mother let out a scream that her turkey was still raw...........it seems the oven was broken the whole time.  

So with my mother in tears and somehow making this all my father's fault for moving her to Poteau in the first place my older brother quickly got the phone book to see if there was anyplace open where he could get a Thanksgiving dinner.  The Black Angus Restaurant was open and Butch immediately drove there and purchased a Thanksgiving dinner for 12.  Help was on the way.....that us until my brother (who is anything but agile) managed to spill the entire meal in the car complete with giblet gravy. While he was in the car trying to scrape the meal off the seats and floor board another scream was heard only this time from a younger set of pipes.  It seems my dog ate my niece's hamster or at the very least mauled it to death.

A considerable amount of time lapsed before we were all gathered around the table eating dinner.  The offending dog banished to the back yard and the rest of us trying to pick around the floor mat fuzz for the best turkey pieces. 

Thankful

I haven't posted in awhile because other than the weather I had nothing to talk about.

We got 4 inches of snow last Sunday but the streets were a sheet of ice Monday morning.  I didn't get the message that we could report to work at 10:00 am that morning so I there at 8:00.  There were a few wrecks on the way and my car didn't want to slow down at the entrance but I made it just fine.  The sun came out later and quickly melted the snow.  We had a slow warm up the rest of the week.

My brother was having anxiety issues last week partly because of the weather and maybe the upcoming holidays were getting him down a little.  I had the ability to bump up one of his meds so I did and he has been a little better since then.  Holidays can be hard for lots of people but especially for those who suffer with a mental illness.  Depression can really be an issue and I hate to see him suffer at all.  He cried a lot last week because of all the loved ones we have lost.  I know how it makes the heart ache....mine aches as well but I can't let Mike see that.  So I remind him of all the family he still has and how much we all love him and that we are making new memories.  Then I just keep telling him about the good food he will get to eat on Thursday and all the leftovers he will take home and ............that does the trick!  He really gets excited about food!  Just like a man!

I had a great weekend.  I shopped with my twin daughters but separately.  Julie and I had lunch on Saturday and shopped and I kept up the whole time.  She is like a bullet so I was really happy my stamina has improved considerably.   On Sunday I had lunch with Jamie after church and then we shopped.  I was a little tired from my Saturday outing but did OK.  It is just wonderful to finally feel good again.   I've almost finished my Christmas shopping and I'm only working 2 days this week.  I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving because I have so much to be thankful for this year.  I'm truly blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone........may your holiday be blessed as well.

Who shrunk my pants?

The winds have died down a bit and the 40 degree weather doesn't bite like it has all week.

Last Saturday I dug through my old clothes looking for a better fit. (since I lost weight)  I found a pair of jeans that fit perfectly (last Saturday that is) and was looking forward to wearing them today.  

But, wait........something happened.........these can't be the same jeans.  They fought back when I put them on this morning.  With a lot of tugging I finally got them buttoned but my breathing is definitely restricted.  I told Ron I was wearing them anyway just to punish myself for not sticking to my eating plan.  It's amazing what 6 days can do.  Somewhere in the back of my head I knew it hadn't been a very good week so I really wasn't that surprised!  I only have to look at food to gain weight (or so it seems).

We are starting to gear up for Christmas around here.  Our golf cart parade is the first Monday after Thanksgiving and though we have an idea for our float we haven't done one thing to get ready to build it.  Hard to believe this will be my last Christmas here.

Hostages

On Tuesday a young man who was tired of being homeless got a gun and took hostages in a office building on the west side of town.  Although he fired several rounds into a glass door in order to gain access to a law office there were no other shots fired during the 5 hour ordeal.  The young man instructed the secretary to call the police.  

Police negotiators were able to convince the man to release all his hostages except the secretary.  He held her hostage for the entire time.  She was exceptional and kept him calm by discussing everything from politics to religion with the man.  Anything he wanted to talk about she talked with him.  He even allowed her to text her family to let them know she was safe.  

Once the standoff was over and he was in custody he was polite and cooperative.  He said he just wanted to go to jail.  He was tired of being alone and on the street. 

There is something so sad about this story!  

One of my co-worker's husband was in that building and they have two very young children.  His wife collapsed when she heard the news that he was a hostage and that shots had been fired.  Those hours of waiting were hard for the families of the hostages.

But....I'm sad for the young man as well.  I don't think he ever had the intention of hurting anyone.  He just wanted to go to jail.  Well, his wish came true.

Getting ready for the arctic blast!

Well, the wind is sweeping down the plain around here and going to be sweeping even harder tomorrow.  This is our last day of warm weather and tonight the thermometer drops big time.  We are going to cover the outside faucets tonight and get ready for the arctic blast!

I met a woman yesterday at church who had both her knees replaced at the same time and only 5 weeks ago.  She is up moving and going without so much as a limp.  Did find out we have the same doctor but she's only in her 40's so he was willing to do both her knees at the same time.  Either way it was a good recommendation.  Of course you couldn't pay me to have both my knees replaced at the same time!

My daughter had to put her cat Tillie down this morning.  She and her husband rescued Tillie about 4 years ago and they were told at the time that she was a very old cat.  About 2 weeks ago Tillie went blind literally over night.  They worked and worked with her to try and help her acclimate but the poor cat would do nothing but walk in circles and cry.  It was just awful to watch.  They took her to the vet on Saturday and he advised them to put her down.  So they spent the entire weekend holding and stroking Tillie (and telling her good-bye).  

It is amazing how animals can work their way into our hearts even an old be-dragled stray cat like Tillie.  Jamie always said Tillie acted as if she were being forced to live with them.  I think she had led a very independent life on the streets before she was "rescued" by two tender hearted animal lovers.

Short memories

Before Tuesday's elections congress had an 11% approval rating......yet 96% of those in office were retained.  I don't get it!

I hate politics!  I feel like we need to grab our butts and hang on cause it is going to be a bumpy ride.

I will give my husband kuddos for not rubbing it in.  He has more class than I do.  

So the pendulum swings.
  

Dr. Visit

I have a busy day ahead.  I am taking Mike to see his psychiatrist this morning and trying to squeeze it into my work day.  Last night I was on the phone with Mike and he was asking me to remind him to take his noon pill.  Somehow we ended up on two different planets because I thought he wanted me to remind him to take the pill at lunch time.  What he wanted was for me to remind him to take the pill with him.  I can't tell you how many times I get it wrong...... I don't remember to ask him a million questions in order to figure out what he is actually talking about.  What's funny is he NEVER forgets his pills.  He is obsessed about his medication which is actually a good thing.  It is rare for schizophrenics to be so diligent about taking their medication so for this I am thankful.

Mike's Dr. is a really nice guy.  He seems to truly enjoy visiting with my brother.  Last time we were there he told Mike that he is one of his favorite patients because Mike is always so upbeat.  This absolutely thrilled Mike to death! Mike always gets a little anxious before his appointment because he is scared the doctor will change his meds.  No matter how many times I assure him that if it ain't broke he won't fix it.  But that doesn't ease his anxiety much.

Tonight Ron and I are taking Mike to dinner as a reward for how well he has been managing his money.  With his cognitive impairment it is really hard for him to count his money or figure out how much he has but he has managed really well this week so he deserves a night out!

It was never in my plan to be a caregiver for my brother.  Maybe I didn't really have a plan.  But life sometimes leads us on a path we may not have chosen but since I'm here I'll do the best job I can.

My morning started with a bang (literally) Mike got the bang when he fell face first and split his eyebrow open.  He called me this morning at 7:30 and told me he had fallen and was bleeding pretty bad.   I got the first aid kit and drove over to find he had a substantial laceration in his eyebrow and a big ole rug burn on his forehead.   I tried to close the eyebrow with butterfly strips but without success so I took him to urgent care where he received 3 stitches.  He is fine but will have a black eye and will probably be sore for a few days.  Luckily he didn’t hit his head on anything on the way down.

I got to work 2 ½ hours late but since I have to work tonight it will all even out.  I’m going to have to take off again on Thursday to get Mike to his psychiatric appointment.  I told Ron this morning that one of us definitely needs to retire.  It’s way too hard to take care of Mike and work at the same time.

Weight loss has been a nice bonus from my hip replacement.  Because I'm more active and gave up caffeine and diet drinks....I've lost 30 pounds.  Everything I gained while I was inactive from hip pain.  Back in my old clothes................hooray!

Election Day tomorrow....don't forget to exercise your right to vote!

What's your cure?

I was reading yesterday about ways to cure the hiccups.  I had no idea there were so many methods out there to cure them.  

Here are a few of the ones I found:

Try the open-mouthed swallowing method. Open your mouth and keep it open for a couple of minutes. If you feel the need to swallow, do so, but try to keep your lips apart when you do.

• Keep gulping every few seconds, especially when you feel a hiccup might be coming. A couple of hiccups might escape, but with continuous gulping, hiccups should be gone within 3 minutes.
• Make sure you are not wearing anything tight around your chest. If you are, loosen it.

Imagine breathing in a figure eight. As the out-breath reaches the end, slow the breath and twist it around so that it becomes the in-breath. Then simply create a figure eight of continuous breath.

• The hiccups will subside almost immediately. It usually works within 10 cycles.
• Another way to visualize this is to inhale as much as you can hold, then exhale all but a small amount of air. Continue doing this for 15-20 seconds, or until the hiccups have gone. 

 Employ the rotation method. First, pinch your nose together. Then, spin around in a clockwise direction, while singing "Row, row, row, your boat."

Put your earlobes to good use. About time, right?! What are they there for anyway? Drink a normal-sized gulp of water, but don't swallow! Leave the water in your mouth. Then, pull down both your earlobes and tilt your head back. Swallow and tada! Hiccups, vamoose! 

Trust me this only touches the surface of the number of cures I found.  But...I don't use any of these sure fire cures.  I found what works for me in the 1st grade when I sat next to Alan Barker, the  the cutest, brown haired, boy in my class.  

Now, you ask what he has to do with curing hiccups?  Well, I'll tell you.... Whenever I would get the hiccups my mother would say, "Guess who I saw today?  Alan Barker."  

She usually didn't have to go any further than saying his name for my hiccups to vanish but sometimes she'd elaborate by saying he asked about me or his mother told my mother I was cute.  It really didn't matter because usually just the mention of his name would do it.  For some weird reason this continued to work even into adulthood. 

A day at a time!

My hip surgery was on June 11^th and I’m still getting random EOB’s from my health insurance.  The one we received for the surgery was $43,000 which they negotiated to twenty something thousand.  We received another EOB yesterday for the rental of the compression machine.  We had the machine for about 6 days and they billed the insurance company $3,000.  My insurance company does not pay for durable medical equipment and so I’m waiting to see if we are going to be billed for the $3,000 which seems very exorbitant for a 6 day rental fee.  After all I didn’t BUY the machine.  Even though I have a secondary insurance through Ron’s employer they will not pay either since the claim was denied by my primary insurer.   What a maze to fight through.  So frustrating!

My knee is feeling better.  I guess the compound medication is working.  I can walk further and am having less pain and stiffness in the morning.  It took about two weeks before I began noticing any difference.  Too bad insurance won’t pay for the medication.

We attended a meeting on United Healthcare Advantage plans last week.  It was informative.  I signed Mike up for a 0 premium plan that will at least give us a backup to his Indian health coverage.  The plan will also pay for his Silver Sneakers class at the gym.  That will save him $40.00/month just on that alone.  And on his limited income that is a good deal!

Finally my older brother is receiving some help with my niece.  She has been hospitalized for the past 3 weeks and they are going to try a program where someone will go to her apartment every day to administer her medication.  Because she has been non-compliant in taking her meds she had another psychotic break.  If this plan doesn’t work her psychiatrist has recommended she go to a group home.  My brother said she can’t go because she would have to break her lease.  I said, “So what”!   They can’t get blood out of a turnip.  She would probably lose her deposit but she’ll lose it anyway because she has destroyed the place but they can’t hold her to the lease.  She’s mentally ill and she doesn’t have any money to get.   She says she wants to go to a group home because she can’t take care of herself.  It really would probably be the best thing for her and my brother.

Life is hard sometimes.  It’s just the way things are.  We just have to take each day as it comes.

St. Vincent

Ron and I had a movie date yesterday to see St. Vincent.  I had heard it recommended on the Ellen DeGeneres show and though I had no idea what it was about I wanted to see it.  I was not disappointed.  Bill Murray was a big surprise!  The following is a short synopsis I found online.  Don't want to give too much away because it is a movie worth seeing.

"Maggie (Melissa McCarthy), a single mother, moves into a new home in Brooklyn with her 12-year old son, Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher). Forced to work long hours, she has no choice but to leave Oliver in the care of their new neighbor, Vincent (Bill Murray), a retired curmudgeon with a penchant for alcohol and gambling. An odd friendship soon blossoms between the improbable pair. Together with a pregnant stripper named Daka (Naomi Watts), Vincent brings Oliver along on all the stops that make up his daily routine - the race track, a strip club, and the local dive bar. Vincent helps Oliver grow to become a man, while Oliver begins to see in Vincent something that no one else is able to: a misunderstood man with a good heart."

The Death Book

The topic on elder story yesterday was pre-planning for the inevitable end.  I am always surprised by just how many people are uncomfortable about the subject let alone actually doing anything to prepare for it.  I on the other hand started thinking about this when I was 26 years old.

Because I was a single mother I wanted to make sure I had things in order in case anything happened to me.   My children were too young to make such decisions so I knew I had to put information somewhere so it would be available to whoever had to take care of things.  That's when I made my "Death" book.   I put everything in this binder including appointing a guardian for my children.  I had talked to an attorney about how I wanted my children to go to my parents because their father wasn't in their life and I didn't want him to just show up and take the kids.  I found out I couldn't prevent that from happening but I could appoint a guardian over the girl's money....anything they received from my estate.  Well, I knew that if the money didn't come with the girls their dad would probably not want them and he'd leave them with my parents.  It was a gamble but I felt better about it.  

So that was my motivation to get my end of life affairs in order.  I have kept that book up-to-date ever since.  It was a relief when the girls turned 18 because I knew then they would be of age to make decisions for themselves.  I would go over the book with them every few years so they understood what all the documents were and what they would need to do in case something happened to me.  I know they thought I was morbid when they were younger but this year they each asked me to put together a book for each of them that they can complete for themselves.  This is what they want for Christmas.   

I guess I don't look so crazy to them anymore.

Well, my need to be prepared for all situations is a little over the top I guess.  I even have a "death" book for work.  I made a book explaining everything I do so that if I suddenly died anyone would be able to follow the instructions in the book and do my job.  I just don't want to leave anything undone.   OK....maybe I am a little extreme!

Dry Eyes and Dry Kidneys I'm blowing away..........

Well, had my appointment with the diabetic doctor yesterday.  I spent the month checking my blood sugar every day fasting and before bed.  I thought my numbers looked pretty good but my A1C had gone up slightly.  It was 6.3 in January and now it is 6.6. The goal is under 6.5 or better.   I also learned I'm anemic, have low oxygen in my blood and have dry kidneys.  Hmmmmmmmmm

I've got to go get an iron supplement and I'm drinking 3 leters of water every day.  He also wants me to have a sleep study done to see if I have sleep apnea.  I don't think I do but hey who knows.  I asked Ron if I snore and he reports no.

Anyway, I'm good to go for another 3 months.

I can't believe it is already almost the end of October.  Where does the time go?  The days just seem to fly past me.  I'm trying to get my Christmas list put together and I think I could get it done if I just put a little time into it.  I remember when I made most of my gifts but I don't seem to have the time or the inclination to do that anymore.  Maybe I just ran out of ideas.

Mike called us last Saturday and said he was going to wear a tie to church, a red tie.  Ron and I thought awhile and wondered if he was going to wear it with his yellow shirt.  We decided to wait and be surprised.  Well Sunday morning Mike came walking out wearing a yellow shirt, red tie (tied in a sailor's knot) and sporting a lavender sport coat that belonged to our dad.  The coat was at least 4 sizes too big!
Ron helped get Mike's tie tied right but we didn't say a word about the "brightness" of his attire.  Sooooo now I'm going shopping for a sport coat for my brother and I think a white dress shirt. (just to be safe)

I've purchased so many clothes for Mike over the past 5 years but somehow they come up missing.  Sometimes he just gives his clothes away to Goodwill. 

TGIF

I have been on the go this whole week.  I had early morning meetings, late meetings, doctor appointments and had to get lab work done this morning.  I'm pooped!

Our weather has been unusually warm for mid October...85 yesterday and not really seeing any signs of fall yet.  Trees still have their leaves and they haven't even changed colors.  It will probably happen overnight one of these days soon.  The weather man predicted a very wet and cold winter for us.  It's hard to imagine when it is still so warm outside.

I have no plans for the weekend other than doing a little fall cleaning.  Ron and I are going to a presentation sponsored by AARP on Medicare next week.  We are trying to learn as much as we can about supplemental insurance and what we need before we retire.  It's all so confusing.  A former co-worker was here yesterday and she was saying it takes her entire state retirement just to pay for her health insurance.  That doesn't sound very encouraging.