Long Time, No See

It's been over a week since I posted anything here. That is highly irregular. Where have I been? What might have been the problem?

¿Quien sabes? ¿Who knows?

Well, to be honest with you, I did post a few comments. That is not irregular. In fact, you probably expect that I would post comments of some sort or another. ¿Right? Of course, right!

It's been extremely difficult this week. I have had a very hard time getting back into the "work" thing. I'll tell you that if you want to lose sight of your job, take a few weeks vacation.

Whoops, I just lost track. One of my subs called me a minute ago and threw my whole train of thought off. Why is he calling me on Saturday afternooon at 3:45? Probably because I didn't call him back at 6:30 last night. Man, what a sloppy way to manage a business!!

As I was saying...two weeks...

Any go, my focus now is on May 1, 2010, which is the date I have set for making a move to Montana. Ten months to make it work! It's so close I can almost taste it.

So close. So close, and yet so far!

Happy Birthday to you, Rose!!!

Just wanted to tell you again, Happy Birthday.... Thought of you all day long...Then when got home Gary said he was gonna call you and I said ok when we go in...Mowing, pulling weeds...then came in and made supper...and poof before you know it ---it's 9:30!!! and I'm not calling anyone at 9:30 anymore.....so we were thinking about you...Have a GREAT weekend!!!

p.s. They are going camping in the woods....

Hello!

Hey, Helen, tell Gary that I'm sorry I missed his party....I spent all evening on the sofa then moved to my bed and didn't get up until 8:20 this morning! I just felt "yucky"! Well, we are gearing up for VBS at church and I'm directing this year so needless to say I go right from remodel to graduation to VBS....I'm usually much better at time management than that so I'm not sure what happened this year (except maybe denial about graduation since that seems to be what I forgot to factor in!)...I guess, truth be told, I had no idea that the graduation thing takes up so much time! Seemed like for about 2 weeks every night was something that we were doing for it! Oh well, over now and she starts college in the fall. Well, it's 12:18 am so I'm off to bed! I'll write again!

Camping and Gary

We had a good time camping this weekend.. We went with Randy and Julie (Gary's brother and sister in law). We got there on Thursday night. We went to a campground near Wellsboro. So then Friday, Gary and I walked down and back up the canyon...UGHH---we are definately OLD and out of shape!!! But it was still nice and we enjoyed it alot. Then Randy and Julie came on Friday evening. It rained a lot on Saturday. We were going to ride our bikes on the old railroad trails at the bottem of the canyon but since it rained we didn't. We just sat around talking, reading and the guys played ladder ball.. But we still enjoyed ourselves and relaxed.

Gary hurt his leg yesterday at work. Stepped down off a truck and heard something snap. Had it xrayed and they said he just tore the fibers in his leg, not his ligament. He was supposed to ice it and take ibeprophen (sp) for it but he only "iced" it for a little bit. But said it's better this am.

Well better go to work. see ya.

Happy Birthday to you to Rose!!!

Happy Birthday to you too, Rose!!!! After all you are sooo OLD!!!

We had a nice birthday party for Gary tonight. I had called his brother Randy and his wife Julie, and Scott and Allison, and Beth and Donna (they couldn't come because Beth is sick) then Brad has 2 friends here so it was a nice happy time...Enjoyed it....

Brad and his two friends are going to see Transformers II tomorrow..He wanted to go and drive himself but we didn't let him..we are SOOOOO mean!! Don't like the idea of 3 young boys driving a car by themselves especially where they haven't been before...see we are old!! But of course, he resisted and begged and pleaded....but I stood firm and said no...I'll come and take you but you are not driving out there by yourself... I am not going to watch the movie with them..will do something much more exciting than that..... maybe get my hair cut or go shopping or something like that...probably could even come home since it's an 2 1/2 hour movie....

talk to you later...

happy Birthday

Just wanted to say Happy birthday to Gary, Val and Chrisopher also Gabby today hope you all have a awesome day Love you all Rose

I landed in Jax Thursday morning at about 0940. No problems, but the air was a little bumpy. Cindy and I were glad to see each other again.

I want to thank each of you for your hospitality while I was with you. I had a wonderful time and wish that this vacation didn't have to end. Fortunately, I still have two days left before I have to hit the "grindstone" again.

Amanda brought the babies over Thursday afternoon and left them with us. She'll pick them up sometime Saturday. They are a handful, but we sure do enjoy them. They (Justin, Amanda, and kids) will be moving to New Jersey next Friday, so it's going to be quite a while before we see them again. It appears that Joey will be moving to Tampa which isn't quite as far, but it's not just around the corner either. Cindy's taking it pretty hard. Her whole world has been those kids and now they're gone.

We're still planning to move to Montana next spring. Nothing to hold us in Florida now except inertia. I'm going to be working overtime between now and then to build up my savings account. Wish us well. We're going to need it.

Reunion in 3 years

While at Gary and Helen's this past weekend for Katherine's graduation, I was telling about Ed and I going on a cruise to Alaska for my 55th birthday. It occurred to me that summer would be my time to "host" the reunion and I had what I thought was a FANTASTIC idea. How would you all like to join us and that would be our reunion for that year? I figure it will cost somewhere around $1500 per couple. I know that our extended family probably wouldn't be able to come, but we could have one year once in awhile where it was just us siblings and spouses, couldn't we? Think about it and if you all want to, we'll finalize details in a couple years!!

I have my "referral" event this next week at work. Have been working extremely hard getting everything ready for that. It'll be nice, but I'll be glad when it's over and things can settle down a little.

Speaking of settling down.....Joe's wedding is July 11, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. at the pond on the farm. You are all invited. Been a little confusion about who was invited and who wasn't (as they wanted a small, intimate wedding) but they told Ed a couple weeks ago that he could invite whoever he wanted. So, I'm inviting all of you. Hope you can come. Let me know if you need somewhere to stay overnight and I'll make arrangements. We have two bedrooms here at the cabin and one bedroom at the farmhouse. May have a bedroom at Joe's available too. Plus I have a living room floor and a tent or two. I've got one bridesmaid's dress and the bride's dress to sew yet. Hoping to have the bridesmaid's ready for a fitting by this next weekend and then will put lining in and I'm done. Then on to the bride's dress. Patterns are fairly simple. Biggest thing is they're all lined, so instead of making 6 dresses, I'm really making 12. Should have started sooner........but you know me.

House is started. Foundation/cellar is up and they should have subfloor down by the weekend. Then it's time for backfilling. Ed and I went shopping today and ordered windows. There was some talk of having a "house raising" to get it up and under cover before winter. Ed is going to try to get it all figured out and then I'll let you know when it will be. If any of you can/want to help, we'll be grateful for your assistance.

Shadow

Am I ever going to see the sun again?

It's 0800 Friday morning and I'm sitting at Bob's computer. Outside all I can see is fog and gray, gloomy skies. I know, I know, this constant complaining about the weather is getting you down, but, doggone me, it seems that all I've seen for the last six weeks has been wet, dripping weather. I don't think I could take monsoon season in India. Montana sounds better and better all the time.

Anyway, I'm going to see Aunt Rene today. I haven't seen her for a long time, since Mom died, I think. I've been thinking a lot about her lately and made up my mind that it's time I made a visit. The older I get the more I realize that I need to see people when I can because, if I don't, I may never get another opportunity. Besides, I love her and have always enjoyed our times together.

Patterson Home Improvements is starting to recede into a distant memory. I'm hoping I'll be able to go through one whole day while on vacation without thinking about work one time. That would be relaxing!I don't have to go back until June 22, so I have plenty of time to "work" on it. Wish me success.

Isn't it funny how we keep the same basic formation on both pictures...Actually this one is almost a flip-flop of the one with Laura.... I was thinking about our personalities and do we stand with the ones that are most like us?? what do you think??? I'm thinking I could get myself in BIG trouble here if I'm not careful....

I take a horrible picture!! Always have--so nothing new there..

.Did you have to change the pixels on these so that the people with dial-up wouldn't have to wait for them or not?? Was wondering about that...would like to upload some from last yr's reunion...

Roger is here and helped me upload this picture for your enjoyment. Who is that great looking guy in the back row with the hat?

That's GREAT, Phyl that you have no new abnormalities!!!! So glad you caught it when you did and you have done so well with it..Are you and Wade coming to Katherine's party? Since Roge is here, it would be nice to all be together...

Thanks Roge about the fish pond. We enjoy it very much too...

Now This is More Like It

I am sitting at Helen's computer while I'm writing this. I stayed last night at her house. They've all gone their separate ways and I only have Boomer for company. I'm bored to tears...

Are you kidding me? This is great!! It's the first day of the rest of my vacation and already I can feel the weight dropping off my shoulders. It would be really good if I could convince it to fall off my waist also.

I was supposed to fly out of JAX yesterday morning at 0615 and get into PHL at about 0824, but because of severe weather in the northeast, didn't leave Jacksonville until after 0930. We were also put into a holding pattern at Philly, so didn't touch down until almost noon. What a way to start, but, considering the alternative (staying in Jax), who's complaining? Now, if I could just figure out how to extend the time off...

Guess I'll stop here, get a shower, and mosey up the line. I haven't figured out my schedule yet, but I do know that I'm going to see all of you while I'm here.

P.S.I love Gary's backyard creek. Wish I had one of those at my place.

Busy Time at Our House

Just adding a photo of the house to prove that I do a bit of gardening. The yard is looking pretty good right now except for one area that got out of control last summer. So I'm moving some of those flowers to Glenburn and giving some to friends for their gardens and allowing the lawn mower to deal with the weeds, etc.

We are trying to get things together to start building our new house. Wade is unemployed and starting his retirement. He likes to stay busy so that'll be a good project for him. Crunching the numbers and getting everything lined up is a test of his patience though.

I'm working --well, sort of working--in some ways this job is the easiest one I've ever had and in some ways, it's just impossible to do what's expected.

I had some sales at the recent art shows that I did and have to get stuff ready for the next couple. Have not been painting much this year--too many things distracting me. But I had to go out to Mahoopany last week to meet one of my volunteers and the scenery was so beautiful that I hope I have to go there again and will take along my paints and use my "lunch" break to start something.

Shadow has gotten quite big! He seems to be getting a bit more calm too--about a year old now, we think. Maybe I'll get pictures of him for the blog. Please note the "maybe" and don't hold your breath while you're waiting.

Today I had my chemo. Only two more times to go! This medicine doesn't make me sick though so it's really more of a inconvenience. I had a MRI last week and they said "no new abnormalities". Still have plenty of doctor appointments--and a few more tests coming up. Still.........I'm feeling ok and glad they know what to do!

Aaaaargh!!

You will notice that the first line in my last posting has been indented, but none of the others are in the following paragraphs. What a struggle to get that! Blogging is hard work or, at least, manipulating HTML code to get the appearance I want is. Probably that's because I don't know much about it. That being said, I'm going to give it another shot right here. Will it work? I can't say until I take a look at the preview. So, here goes...

OK, looks like I might have it. Now, let's move on to bigger and better things.

I've been educating myself in the fine art of designing websites. I have three different books and over the last few weeks have gotten to the point of starting to understand just a little bit of the procedure. I'm going to get it, but it probably will take the next few years and by then there will be something else to learn. This is something like a jigsaw puzzle with a mathematical flair.

Ah, yes...maybe I've gotten the indents figured out. One step at a time.

Ahhhhh!

Today is the first day of the rest of my...VACATION!! It's been a while.

I've got my work caught up to the point where someone else can work on it while I'm gone. We don't have any other projects starting until after I get back. I have 93 hours of vacation time built up and I'm taking it. Pennsylvania, here I come!

It's been a struggle getting here. About a month ago, an e-mail was sent to everyone at the office that we were moving and would need to vacate by Monday, June 15, which really meant Friday, June 12. Then I never heard another word about it--no orders, no activity, no plans. Nothing. This is typical. Every six months we do the Home Show and usually it's a "rush to complete at the last minute" type, although the last few have been far simpler and easier to set up. In fact, I didn't have to do anything at the spring show, which was nice. Somebody's learning...but I digress.

At any rate, I made plans to fly into Philly on June 9th and purchased plane tickets. I also sent an e-mail to my super and the CEO, advising them of my plans. This happened on a Friday. On Monday when I checked in, Rex (CEO) had sent me a reply stating that we were considering a move and were my plans set in stone. I went to him and quite bluntly asked whether we were moving or not. After some hedging, he said "Yes" and sent the prospective landlord an e-mail advising him that we were taking the space. He also requested that I cancel my flight and change my plans until we were moved, which I did that night. Luckily, I was able to get a full refund because I was within a 24 hour window.

The next morning, I learned that the current landlord had approached him after I did and "begged" him to stay, dropping the rent rate to a point where it would be foolish to go anywhere else. So...guess what happened. You guessed! We're not moving. I don't have to tell you that I was upset, but I kept it under control and simply ordered new tickets, at a cost of $54.00 more.

The upshot is that I am still going to be in Philly on June 09 and will not be leaving until June 18. The difference is that I informed my supervisor that I didn't care what happens, I am not changing my plans this time.

What a cluster! I can't complain, though, because I knew that the move was being considered and I completely forgot about it when I bought the plane tickets. Besides, I'm just happy to have the time and I don't care what it costs.

I am planning to totally forget about work and enjoy myself for the next two weeks. Clear my head, see people I have missed, breathe in fresh mountain air, and relax.

I should have done this a long time ago!!

Helen

Whatever you all what to do is fine. I know that that is not the way the blog is intended but I think its much easier reading and more fun to comment considering none of us have a whole lot of time but...whatever...

Brad passed his driver's test today. So stay off the roads!! He does pretty good. Just kind of broke it up since he had surgery in the middle of learning to drive but oh well...He was happy and proud that he passed today and so are we.. So much for keeping him home forever!! He also went to the orthopedic dr today and he seems pleased that the knee is doing so well...So a few more times of Physical Therapy for him..

We ate fresh peas from our garden tonight...Not a whole lot but enough to give Gary and I a good amt to eat..We both loved them!! I never like peas at home but then ate them frozen and love them...even really like to eat them raw -Gary thinks that's digusting... oh well...They were good tonight though..

We are going camping this weekend with Brad and his friend. This is a pretty big campground and we have wanted to go here before but never could get in b/c they were too full. So are looking forward to it..Then next weekend, is Kat's party; and then the next weekend we are going camping again with Gary's brother, Randy and his wife, Julie.. so looks like it's gonna be pretty busy summer already...But we do soooo enjoy camping....so it'll be fun to relax....

Well better go and pack the camper some and get dishes and wash done...Either just comment or make a short or long post--whatever your hearts desire, I guess...love ya.

Could we try this instead?

Gary and I went up to Bert and Ed's over the weekend to help pour the concrete in the basement of the house they are building...Actually Gary did the concrete--along with help from Dave, Joe, Ed, and a few others. Bert and I took Michelle's things back to Edenborough so that she could move into an apartment out there this summer. We had a good time. We talked a little about "the blog" and how we miss the emails and so we came up with an idea.

What happens if we try to make it more like Phyl's cancer website was: We liked the continuous stream of talking. You could go on and look down until the last time that you had read, and just read up til the top and then you were caught up..You didn't have to go into each blog to see what each comment was. It made for easier reading and more spontaneous reading and thinking to write back.

I wonder if instead of writing comments under someone's blog. We would just make a new post anytime you wanted to say something. No one would write under comments anymore.

Am I making myself clear or is it as confusing as the "flower pot" thing? Let me know what you think.....