Good Weather for Ducks

We don't have to worry about wildfires anymore for a while.

It started raining here the other day and gradually built up into a real storm which, according to the local weather prophet, is going to be with us for at least two more days. It hasn't been non-stop, but we have gotten a lot of rain over the last 36 hours and tomorrow looks like more of the same. I'm not complaining, though, because we needed it and the temperature has been about twenty degrees below normal for this time of year. In fact, today it didn't get out of the 60's. Nice!! Way to go, Weather Maker!!

This is a massive storm and had everyone concerned about the possibility of it developing into a hurricane. It looks now as though that isn't going to happen, which is also good. That's one thing we don't need.

I don't mind rainstorms, as long as they come and go. I don't like gray, gloomy skies which hang over me and don't leave for days or weeks on end. I can remember winters in PA when (it seemed to me) that the sky would turn gray and stay that way for a month without the sun showing.

Ah, well. This too shall pass. And then it'll be too hot, too dry, too much grass to mow too many times, etc., etc., etc. Ad infinitum or at least until someone gets tired of listening and tells me to shut up. At which point, I'll change the subject and start talking about my lumbago.

It's the boring....Knauer"s

Not much too exciting going on here. Work, sleep, work, sleep..that's the story of our life...

Today is Scott's Birthday... It's hard to believe he is 23 yrs old..Wasn't that long ago that he was just a little baby or at least a little boy!! I know, I know...I am getting old... They went to Williamsburg to celebrate their anniversary--it was last Sunday.. They stayed here last weekend cuz of Mother's Day (isn't that nice of them??) They came on Sunday, and we had chicken, (Walmart was out of ribs--my favorite meal!!). Then they went home to eat to eat their top of cake--Gary said ours wasn't too good, when we ate ours(YEARS ago---I can't even remember...

Then we played Shanghi--a card game we played years ago--remember Beth, Bob and Rose? We were going to play Shanghi at the reunion but forgot about it, I guess... Maybe this year....It was fun..

When Rose was down to Beth's she was talking about making this planter... You take a big planter on the bottem, Put a pipe or rebar in it, then put a flower pot with the hole part of the way up (fasten with waterpipe clamp(?)) and let the pot tip over to the side, you plant your flower in it tipped over. Then you keep going til the top... I was gonna do two for our patio this year but kinda forgot,, Then was at yard sale yesterday--saw some clay pots and thought oooooh, I can do that... Was anxious to try it...I said something to G about welding the rebar or pipe to a flat metal on the bottem, he said about making a concrete (after all he's a concrete man!) clump and putting the rebar in that...Not sure what we will do in the end... Let me know if you've seen any or if you did it, Rose..

I finished most of my mulch and planting of flowers yesterday... Keep seeing more flowers that I would love to plant... but it looks nice. Two years ago, I brought at a yard sale a lilac bush but Gary and I could never agree where we should plant it.. so it stayed in the flower bed, in the pot by the butterfly bush...Got roots and all coming out of the pot,, we finially agreed--and I planted it yesterday afternoon.... But made a little new bed so can plant more flowers in there too!!! Yippee!!!

Did you guys sign that thing for Laura? And send it out yet? What did you think?

Man I do ramble on... so sign off for now..love ya.

Florida, here I come!

Today, I leave for Florida for business with my company. Looking forward to it. I should learn a lot and the break from the office will be good. I'm going in this morning for a couple hours to orient a new Clinical Supervisor, then will have lunch with Ed, and then head to the airport.

Not sure if I've told you all or not, but we're going to build a one story house down on the farm next to the old farmhouse. Ed really likes it down there and the isolation up here doesn't help his depression. We decided to build one story with NO steps anywhere (hopefully) except into the basement. It will have an attached two car garage that we actually park our vehicles in! Digging should start this weekend with our basement walls coming next Thursday. So, I'll miss all of that being in Florida, but it will give Ed something to concentrate on while I'm gone and that's a good thing!

Wishing for the Weekend, Last Weekend.

Went to Little Talbot Island State Park last Friday afternoon and settled down for a nice, relaxing weekend. Unfortunately, it had to end, so Sunday afternoon I came home. (Cindy left Sunday morning. Said it was getting too hot.)

It was great! No kids, no dog, no work (except what I had to do around the camp, which doesn't really count), no TV (unless you count the neighbors who hauled their set and satellite in), no phone, etc. Actually, my cell did ring twice, but it was a friend of mine (and his woman) who spent part of the day with us on Saturday. He was looking for directions.

My manager at work loaned me his kayak, so Sunday morning I popped it in the river as the tide was coming in and went upstream about three or four miles. Got to a point where it was difficult to tell the main channel from the side streams, so I spent about an hour just sitting in the marsh, then rowed back to the camp. The fly in the ointment was the traffic going by on A1A, a major road. Noisy and non-stop. Couldn't get far enough away to lose it.

Weather was warm and dry. Mosquitos not too bad. Coons on the prowl as soon as it got dark. Comfortable air mattress, hot showers, vodka screwdrivers, and good company. All in all, I'd say it was worth it. In fact, I think I'll reserve Ol' #39 for a long weekend in late October and maybe do a stint in November as well.

P.S. I did a pencil sketch of my tent Sunday while I was waiting until I had to start packing. Don't have a scanner on my computer, don't know how to operate Cindy's. I'll try to get her to work it in for you to see.

Chaotic but Alive & Well

Not much time to write but wanted to give you a brief update on life in the Hartley house!

Kath will graduate on June 10 and will be having a party on the 14th...The 14th is a Sunday - sorry about that but it is the only time that worked - Hope some of you can come - announcements & invites going out this week - let me know!

Thanks to Bob, Lee, My bro-in-law Steve, and quite a few other people we have a bathroom downstairs and the project is moving toward completion. We are in the home stretch and should be mostly complete by graduation time! Lots of hard work by lots of people! Can't begin to express our gratitude! We are taking pics but haven't uploaded any yet but I'll do that soon so you can see -- or better yet come to Kath's party and see for yourself!

Kath's prom was last weekend - she went with a group of friends (no dates) and they were beautiful and had a great time....I'll upload those pics too!

See ya soon!
B.

Happy Mom's day to all of you who qualify. Hope you all had a awesome day . Love you all.

"Happy Birthday to You!!!"

Today marks the beginning of a new season. Helen has a birthday. From now on until Lee's birthday in November, all of us will be turning one year older. Happy 49th, Hon! Hope it's been a good day for you.

Hello everybody. How is it going just got done putting mulch around my fish pond, I got the cedar kind. Looks nice. Planted two upside down tomatoes, hopefully they will grow for me. All the early stuff in the garden is up except my potatoes. Planning on planting the rest of the seeds this next week and the plants at the end of the month. I have around 600 plants started in my green house. It works so nice. Hope you all have a great week. Love you all, Rose

State of Affairs

I had not heard anything at all concerning the settlement of Laura's trust fund for a long time, so last night I e-mailed her attorney. I received an answer today. Here is the gist of it.

The person who had been handling the case left the office for another career. The person it was handed over to is new and his wife just had a baby. Also, there is apparently a tremendous amount of legal work to be done. Consequently, it's not moving very fast, if at all.

However, I was assured that they would get back to work on it and wrap it up as soon as possible. I don't doubt that, so I wrote back and requested a regular updating, at least once a month if it wasn't too much trouble. That's reasonable, don't you think?

At any rate, I am going to stay on top of this until we see it through to the end. I'll let you know when I hear anything.

The Knauers

Not too much or exciting going on here. Last weekend it was supposed to rain most of the weekend but it was pretty nice on Saturday. So we got most of our flower beds cleaned, edged, planted, and mulched... Gary helped with mulching---but of course he likes to do it different than me...And we had to come to terms as to which way to do it so both of us were happy....As he said---we are both "bull-headed"!!! Humph!! Not me!! Anyways--got most of it done but then went and brought more flowers so.....was gonna plant them on Sunday(yeah I know about the Sabbath and all...) but....it rained...so they were out in the rain all that time..Brought them in the garage this morning---they are really soaked and sodden!! Mostly petunias, few marigolds, lots of allysum and some snap dragons.

Rose, we did get that stuff to clear the fish pond. The lady at Petsmart talked him into getting something to use first, and then use those Jungle buttons. The first stuff was a liquid stuff--he's used it before and it does help clear it up but the "jungle" button really made it much clearer--maybe the other stuff started it.. He got a big pack--used two buttons and I think it has 10 or 12 in it. Says you should use every two weeks..Not sure if it was really the Jungle brand though...I'll have to ask him.

Brad has his knee immobilizer off now. Went back to the orthopedic last week and so he said to take it off on past Monday and then he starts 4 weeks of Physical Therapy.. Oh fun... But you can really see where his muscles have atophied so....he needs (or is it knees???) it...haha... Said he did ok at school except couldn't really go down stairs good--hurt too much..so guess it's time for the PT.

oh well, that's all for now...see ya..

Interesting--Came in today's email.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying from cancer).

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth
would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in
storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained,
or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much
less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his
youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day
because my hair had just been teased and sprayed..

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while
watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't
show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every
moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only
chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later.. Now go
get washed up for dinner.' There would have been more 'I love you's' More
'I'm sorry's.'

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute. look at
it and really see it. live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE
SMALL STUFF!!!

Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what.
Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us..

Summer's Here!!

Starting to warm up here. It's been hitting the 80's regularly the last week or so. From now on until October, it'll be hot, hot, hot. Not good for my electric bill since the AC will be running non-stop.

It's also getting quite dry. I mowed my lawn tonight for the first time in two weeks. The grass wasn't very high, but the weeds were looking a little shaggy. We haven't had any substantial rain for quite some time. Relatively speaking, we're still in good shape, Central and South Florida are in serious drought mode.

Cindy and I are going camping at Little Talbot Island State Park May 8 & 9. I'm a little concerned that if we don't get rain, they may impose a ban on open fires. That happened to us when we went to Destin last summer. Where's the fun in camping if you can't have a fire? At any rate, fire or no, I'm going and I'm going to relax and enjoy it. We go there a few times a year and I always use Lot #39. Sometimes I have to reserve it two or three months in advance to get it, but it's worth the wait. Best one in the park.

Hot, hot weekend

Well, we've went from winter to summer, with nary any spring in between! It's 94 here today and was at least as hot yesterday. And you know I'm not like mom....I like it 70!

Other than the heat, it's a nice day. Morgan and Makayla are here this weekend (like most weekends) and have convinced Pappy that they need to go fishing! So...even though he wasn't sure he could, he's taken them to the pond using the 4-wheeler. Of course, to be on the safe side, he took one of his radios and I have the other one. It really does him good to have the girls here "making" him do things. Otherwise, he'd sit in his chair and think about how bad he feels and how scared he is to do things. He's so much better than he was a year or two ago. It's been a long haul, with a lot of struggles and stress, but we're showing great progress. It tested my faith, but I'm happy to report, my faith is here, stronger than ever. Life is good!

I'm working on wedding dresses for Joe's wedding. Have two of the bridesmaids' just about finished. I have another bridesmaid's, two flower girls', and Shannon's to do yet. Still trying to figure out what I want to wear. They're all in "camo"....it's a little difficult to coordinate to camo colors!! At the moment, I'm thinking, I'll wear my tan slacks and get a nice blouse to go with it....but have to watch the colors due to corsage ribbons, etc. We'll see.

Leigh Ann just asked Michelle this weekend to be in her wedding also. So, Michelle's in two weddings this summer! She's getting a lot of ideas for what she DOES and DOESN'T want to do, when and if, she gets married. I get REAL emotional just thinking about her wedding--not sure I'd ever make it through the real thing without a major breakdown!

In three weeks, I'm headed to FL for my conference with my company. Rog, how far are you guys from West Palm Beach? I don't know what my schedule is yet, but if it's not too far, maybe we could get together for a coffee or something.

Caution: Be Advised!!

This is the only picture you will ever get of my bathtub and my bubbles. Look well!! Without further ado, here is the picture that Cindy has named,

"Wynkem, Blynkem, and Nod".

Wednesday & All Is Well

Well.........at least I think it is! I spent most of the day listening to the Corporate Volunteer Consultant telling two other Volunteer Coordinators and myself about everything that we're "supposed" to do. Then after the others left, she went through my paperwork and made a lot of corrections. Makes my head spin.

My bathroom remodel customer is going along fine. I've been spending a few of my lunch hours working on that --meeting them to pick our tile, getting the plans drawn, etc. Not that I'm loosing weight missing lunch, I just eat on the run which means that I actually eat more!

I forgot to deliver two paintings last night until my friend called to remind me. By then I was in the bathtub. But the woman in charge was going near my house on her way home so was kind enough to stop to pick them up. Wade carried them out to her car for me so I didn't have to go out in my pjs. I have to deliver and hang 10-12 next week for a month long exhibit. That one has an opening reception on First Friday which is a city wide event every month. It's pretty well attended so usually quite a bit of fun. Then I really have to buckle down and prepare for a three person show in July--need some new work for that one since it's right down the street from the one in May and I don't want to show the same stuff every time.

Wade had no work this week. Helped a friend for three days but going to work around the house the rest of the week. We're really trying to get this house ready to put it up for sale.
Shadow is NOT helping. He is too big for the crate that we were keeping him in when we went out so we got a gate and lock him in the back hallway. Now he is peeling the wallpaper off--a little bit more each day. I had enough to patch the first day's damage but now that he is peeling off a little more each day, it's hopeless. I'll have to do something else with those walls.

I think I'm about due for a haircut. Just thought you'd wanna know that little tidbit.

I'm back!!!

Hello!!! Well guess what??? I ain't too smart either!! It took Bert and Brad working together to figure out why I couldn't post....I was actually using imarugg@comcast.com instead of comcast.net as my signin.... After they figured it out---I could post again....so guess you'll see more of me here!!!

Not much too new or should I say exciting here!! I live a very boring life....

Brad is doing good...He went back to the dr last week and they said everything looks good. Still has some pain in his knee and still has to keep the knee immobilizer on for another two weeks but...seems to be doing good... He would have liked to have the immobilizer off since he just went to Pittsburg from Wednesday to Sat for a competition . Its kinda like a "shop or tech ed" competition but has elements that are more like electronic and computer generated. Like one of the things he did earlier was build a bridge support system. Had to be so big and have so many supports and be able to hold so much weigh, etc. Then another thing was take a remote control car and tear it down and make it weigh only so much and make the chasis and all from scratch. It uses his mind and makes him think and of course that is what he loves... They stay in Pittsburg at a ski resort and so big hotel and so he really likes that..but this year couldn't swim which is one of the things that he really likes to do there. So back to the dr in two weeks and then probably approx 2 months of physical therapy....

Work is going ok. We had a girl quit in our unit so they "demoted" my boss so she knows processes claims. So after being there for almost 9 yrs--I have a new boss which means new things and new way of doing things and also new assignments. So far it's ok...a little different but still seems to be alright..In some ways it will be better and others....we'll wait and see... But it's all about doing more work than before, but still being paid the same but at least we have a job..

Gary's job is getting a little busier with spring and all. Last winter they cut out all overtime so that was a big pay cut.. Also took away the matching 401K but.... at least he's still also has a job and seems to be picking up so that is good.

Our paper business is changing and at this point not sure what that will mean to us. They are going from two daily papers to just one morning paper. They combined the Saturdays papers about a yr ago so that changed our route then. Not sure if that means we will do more papers, less papers or no papers at all. Or even if we'll have to do papers 7 days a week--(we don't really know that we want to do that but....) We should know by the end of April, I think they said so ....it will be interesting to see what they do with that...

Well, better go..rambled on for awhile now.... worked in flower beds over the weekend.. That was nice.. Bob, Rose, Lee came for supper one night last week--that was nice. It's " yard sale" weather which I always enjoy so Rose and I went on Sat am--that was nice and fun.. Didn't buy a whole lot but had fun anyhow.

Hey Bobby send a picture of next year's cabin by email. Changed our "hard drive" on our computer and that was on the old one--wanted to show Gary..And Brad (our computer genius) can't get those pics transferred to this one yet..

write soon.

The Robinson Project--a Snapshot

This is a picture of the project I designed after about one day of framing. The rear wall will be 22'2" long and the projection wall will be 20'3" long finished size. Beneath the windows will be a brick knee wall which will closely match the existing. Beneath the window to the right of the door will be an HVAC system. The rafter you see is a 2 x 12 x 24' long. We need ten of these and they cost about $37/each. Imagine the size of the tree these had to be cut from.

Since this picture was taken, we have built most of the roof structure. I didn't have my camera with me yesterday, though, and was not able to get a picture. I'll keep you up to date.

I thought I had the design pretty well done, but when we started construction I noticed numerous things which were either wrong or could have been done differently and/or better. Nothing serious or that can't be easily fixed. The overall design has been quite accurate, however, and I am pleased with the way the project is turning out.

Happy Easter! (one day late)

Hope you all had a glorious Easter Day! Ours was very nice. Berty & Ed were rambling around and got to our house about 2:30. We all went over to Tara & Tom's house for dinner--had a cold buffet with ham, turkey, salads, vegetables, fruit, and cupcakes. Very enjoyable. Berty & Ed stayed overnight and left after I went to work this morning. My boss had given everyone at work a big loaf of Paska bread and I used it to make french toast for our breakfast.

The taxes are done and ready to put in the mail. The PEPS art show in Glenburn has been hung and the artists reception was last Sunday. I have to deliver some paintings a week from tomorrow for a show in Moscow and the following week to the Now Hair Studio. I'm making postcards for the Now show as it is a solo and going to be open for the Scranton First Friday Gallery Walk. I have to do some work on the house plans so we can get some estimates together--Wade is getting anxious to begin. Trying to get a rhythm to my life again so I'm not so far behind all of the time. I used to have time to do things before work in the morning but now I start at 8:00 so I'm trying to do things after dinner--not yet successful at that!

Easter Sunday Ramblings

It's a beautiful day. Sunny, light wind, cool, maybe 65 degrees. Can't get any better as far as I'm concerned. It looks like it's going to cloud up. Might rain, which would be a good thing. It's dry here, although we've got it good compared to south Florida. I'm not complaining, though, because my grass doesn't need to be mowed three times a week and it is easier to get my work done if the sky isn't dripping.

Amanda, Justin, and the grandbabies are coming over this morning. It's our Easter get-together. Joey might show, might not. It's also Christy's birthday, so we're celebrating that too. Actually, her birthday was yesterday, but, since we're all procrastinators and we didn't get any rountuits from Bob, it's today.

We're having a rare treat--breakfast. We don't normally eat breakfast here, unless you count a cup of coffee from Starbucks, which I have within ten minutes. (I don't know what Cindy does.) She and I both go out the door in the morning as soon as we get out of the shower. That is, after we get dressed, of course. I got half-way to work one day before I remembered and had to turn around. Just kidding! Ha, ha!! Made you look!!!

Justin put in an order for my homefries, so I'm cooking. I cook them with butter, onions, green peppers, and garlic, and I have to admit that they turn out pretty good. And, of course, there will be bacon, sausage, eggs, and toast along with the home fries. Sounds good, doesn't it. I'll probably spend the next two days getting over it.

Notice the difference in the fonts between this post and the last ones. I switched from Georgia to Lucida Console. Which one do you like better?

That's my boy!

This is Gabriel at the control of a slot car at the home of a good friend of mine. We were there last Saturday for a few minutes and Mike let him play with it. Mike built this from scratch. He has a winch in the attic so that he can raise it up to the ceiling if he wants to. What you can't see under it is a pool table.







I helped him build the room a few years ago. Turned out quite nice, no?

Off to a Good Start!

The proof is in the pudding. Or at least that's what I've heard.

We have begun building the room addition that I designed. The footer has been dug and the rebars set. Tomorrow the termites will receive their required treatment and the whole process will be inspected by "The City", either for approval or denial. Then it's time to pour concrete after which I'll be there cutting and nailing. Unless, of course, I use screws. Or someone else cuts. Maybe someone else will nail as well. Probably will be at least two, maybe three others there cutting and nailing.

I went to the job site this morning to verify some measurements and check my drawings so that we could order the windows. Lo and behold, the dimension from the new concrete elevation to the existing soffit was only off what I had anticipated by one-half inch. And while I was there, I double-checked to make sure that my designed roof would actually fit the existing skylights. It would have been bad, very bad if we had to change the roof pitch because I had made a mistake. I sweated off about ten pounds getting back to the office so that I could check it on my computer. Not to worry, though, everything is fine.

I'm learning a lot, especially about Florida Building Codes (extensive, exhaustive?) and the whole procedure of getting a project from start to finish through City Hall. It's a heck of a lot easier in Potter County. But then, hey, who's complaining? At least, I've got a job and it keeps getting better and better. Now, if that would translate into a bonus or a raise...

Ah, well, everything comes to those who wait. Or at least that's what I've heard.

I'm going to enjoy building this project. When it's finished, I'll post some pictures.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. This is near the middle of April in Florida. Tonight the temperature is going down to the mid-30's. Great, huh? I love it!!

OK, I guess it's time that I wrote something on here again. Rose and I celebrated our 29th anniversary today. Hard to believe that she has put up with me that long, but the calendar doesn't lie. We decided to do something that we both like to do, so we went for a ride. Just got in the car and went to find some roads that we have never been on before and find out where they go. The more off the beaten path, the better. Today we ended up going on some back roads around Shinglehouse, Port Allegany, Smethport, Coudersport, etc. Drove for several hours, had to turn around once or twice, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We are both doing well, had colds but mostly over them now. Continuing to get things together in my shop. I have all of the major machines that I need now except for a hydraulic press. I plan to get one of them when we get our income tax refund back. Then I just need tooling - cutters, turning tools, etc. Most of these I can pick up as needed as I am doing jobs. Have a lot of organizing, cleaning, and hooking up to do yet. Seems to take a long time, but I do enjoy it, and it is a good feeling when I get another machine connected and can use it. I am still working at Hi-Tech Ceramics, will continue to do so either until I get laid off or until I get so busy in my shop that I can afford to quit and pay my own insurance and wages. They have laid off 19 people at work (out of 80 hourly workers - none of the 20 salaried have gone yet). No one in the maintenance department yet, but there are only 3 of us anyhow. I don't feel like I am ready to leave there yet, but if I got cut, I wouldn't cry about it. I would just feel like it would be time to get my butt in gear and go it on my own. Rose is still working at the nursing home, no chance of her getting cut there, there are not enough qualified Nurses Aides to go around.

We are taking a week off the week after Easter, going down to Beth's to help put a downstairs bathroom in her house. Lee is going with us, so we will have some family time with all of us and Helen's. Should be a great time, really looking forward to it.

Well, better go, Rose is telling me that supper is getting cold, wouldn't want that to happen, so...
Love ya all, Bob

Love them, love to see them go!

As you have probably already guessed, we had the grandkids with us for the weekend. Cindy went to babysit for Amanda on Friday morning and came back in the afternoon with them. She took them home this morning.

I love them dearly, but I'm glad that they are being brought up by someone else. At my age, I don't want to raise kids. Two nights once in a while is enough for me.

Anyhow, I'm by myself (and the dog). Oops, amend that, Cindy just walked in the door.

OK, I'm back. Had to take five minutes and get my wire cutters for her. She'd been to The Dollar Store and bought some fake wisteria to put in the window boxes. "Why?", you ask. I'll tell you, although the answer should be obvious--to put some color in them until the plants she put in yesterday take hold and start blooming. Personally, I like plastic flowers. They bloom all year long and don't require a lot of care. But then, that's just me.

Looks like its going to be a cool summer. Won't hurt my feelings at all. I hate the Florida heat and certainly it will be a relief on my electric bill if the AC doesn't run so much.

Well, I'm still beside myself (so's the dog). Guess I'll sign off and go do something else, like hold the sofa down for a while. Y'ever notice how they tend to get up and move around? Or is that called rearranging the furniture?

New World Record

Well! That was a conversation! At 1:48 p.m., Saturday, April 04, 2009, there were 13 comments on Berty's last post. We haven't talked that much since our get-together last September.

Here's to more thought-provoking discussions!

I've BEEN in over my head for a LONG time

First off, I want to say that I haven't been offended by anything anyone has said in either the blogs or the comments. I know you all are just being you--and sometimes our humor has a sarcastic nature. Not a problem, to me anyway.

My biggest problem has been lack of time to blog. Like Phyl, I seem to have way more things than I have time to do. I know....I know....I need to make better choices, but...
Anyway, the two biggest things I have to report at the moment are Ed was hospitalized last Thursday (his birthday) because his heart was in Atril Fib again and he was having chest pains and shortness of breath. He's stabilized and back home, but his heart is still out. They cannot put it back in with the paddles because his blood was too thick, which significantly increases chance of stroke. They tried to adjust his medication to get it to go back in that way, but his blood pressure dropped and they had to return his meds to normal. So....now it's just a waiting game....wait for his blood to be thin enough for a long enough period so they can shock him or wait for his body to decide to go back in by itself. He's feeling pretty decent now, though.

Second issue is me....I had his birthday dinner on Saturday night (since he was in hospital on Thursday and Friday nights). I had made lasagne on Wednesday and refrigerated it. Had the rest of the fixings ready too. Plan was for him to put lasagne in oven at 4:00 and I would be in good shape by 6:00. Since that didn't happen, I changed it to Saturday night. We ate at 6:00, had a great time, but when I got ready to go to bed at 9:00, I told him that I still felt "stuffed" and "bloated"--like I'd really overeaten, but I hadn't. I probably had a little more than necessary, but not a lot... Anyway, couldn't get comfortable, didn't sleep good, and by time I woke up Sunday morning, I felt awful. Stuffed my feelings and took Ed and Morgan and Makayla to church, but came home from church and went to bed. Was miserable all day Sunday and got up to go to work on Monday not feeling much better. Called doctor, but they didn't have any available appointments, but told receptionist what my problem was, and what I thought I had. Then I left work and came home. Doctor called about an hour later (bless her!) and asked me what was going on. I told her I thought I had diverticulitis again. She said that I shouldn't have....surgery a couple summers ago should have taken care of that. And my colonoscopy last fall didn't show anything. I said, "I know....but that's what it feels like." She made room in her schedule for me and I went in for a "look-see". She's pretty sure I have diverticulitis. Of course, they could do a CAT scan and know for sure, but that means drink that awful stuff and then waste the entire afternoon in the hospital. I said, "I'll take my chances, since I think that's what it is and so do you." So, she gave me a script and told me to go on liquid diet and I'm better. Guess the biggest thing is now, I MUST change my diet or the chances of losing the rest of my colon are pretty significant. I had been doing better--eating healthier, drinking water, etc, but guess it wasn't enough. I have an appointment for Thursday to talk about what I need to do, but my thought is I'll probably have to give up white flour, white sugar, all processed foods, eat lots of raw vegetables and fruits, drink lots of water, etc, etc, etc. Tom, Tara, anybody--any great ideas, I'd love to hear them. Not really liking the idea of giving up white bread, pasta, and desserts.

Well!!! I'm in over my head.

This working for a living is messing with my schedule! And all of those things that I said I had time to do because I wasn't working now need to be done! Trying to remember to do everything and get it done on time is ...................yeow...............starting to make me feel a bit crabby. Everyone at work seems to think that I'm worried about the job and they're all telling me that I'm doing ok. Actually, if all I had to do was the job, I'd be fine---it's all of the other stuff! Taxes, art shows, church flowers, plein air picnic paintouts, helping friends remodel, helping former customers with another project, house cleaning, banking, groceries, raking the leaves out of the flower gardens, planning a new house, getting this old house ready to market, and who knows what else.

What's wrong with me??? And why am I asking you--since most of you are as bad or worse than I am???

And it's only Monday! Maybe I'll have some ice cream and go soak in the bathtub!

Running up the White Flag

OK, OK! Enough already!

Before this blog escalates into the Internet War, let's take a step back and consider what we want Rooted and Rambling to be. Maybe we should think first about what we don't want it to become, that is, a place where we can snipe at each other facelessly.

Instead, we should be working together to build the blog where each of us can contribute to it voluntarily out of the gladness (or maybe sadness) of his or her own heart. No one should be proud because he or she contributes more than anyone else and, conversely, no one should feel bad because he or she doesn't. Perhaps I owe you all an apology for writing about "lazy rascals".

Let me say that I like to write on this blog. I like to write, period, but don't generally because, for one reason or another, it doesn't get read by others. I know, however, that whatever I post is going to read within short order and someone will make comment about it. I need that and I want to say "Thank you" to all of you who have done so.

Whether I post every day (or seven times a day) or not at all for a month is irrelevant. The fact is, I can, and if I have something to say and the push to turn on my computer, go to the blog, sign in, and write, then we are all better for it, even if it is the only time I have ever done so. Right?

In the comments on Beth's last post, I could sense the tension rising. Who is right? Who is wrong? We are all adults. There is no good reason to let something like this spoil a good thing. As the rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof would say, "Let's all sit down."

I agree. Let's sit down. Let's keep this uptempo and encouraging. Let's make a point of not "pointing fingers" because someone else isn't performing like we think they should. Let's keep this fun for everyone. If we don't, it will disappear and that would be a bad thing.

I love you all and I want to see what you have to say. Please continue and I will try my darndest to be as gracious as I can be.

!!And that's saying a lot!!

help

is there a way that I can have the blog email me when someone posts?

I'm Sure Cindy Could Do A Better Job

I think you'd have to also have plastic surgery to change the shape of your eyes.

Just Me and the Dog!

I have the weekend off!!!!

That is, Cindy has gone to Tampa with Christy to a renaissance fair and won't be back until Sunday night. Just me and the dog until then! Whatever am I going to do?

So far, tonight, I have cooked and eaten my dinner, ran a load through the dishwasher, let the dog out twice, written this blog and a comment to Beth (see below), and am listening to 60's on 6, an oldies channel on XM. I think it's going to be a good night.

Tomorrow, I've got a couple of job quotes to finish and send out, one of which has been dragging for some time. After that, the day is mine to do whatever I want. Quien sabes? Who knows?

so much to do so little time!

Every week I tell myself I'm going to sit down and "blog" a little, but....well....you see how much that has happened!
We've also been taking in a little culture - High School culture but still fun! -- so far this year we saw "The Music Man" and "Hello Dolly" - Oklahoma is scheduled for next weekend! Area high schools with friends in each of them so we go and enjoy! They've actually been quite good productions!
Destruction has begun - you know, the destruction that must come before the construction?! We are going to be adding a bathroom downstairs and will be doing some cosmetic work in the kitchen - adding beadboard around the bottom, new wallpaper on the top, paining cabinets, etc...new vinyl floor tile in kitchen, bath & laundryroom....we've packed away the things that were on the walls and have started removing the old wallpaper. my brother in law in builing a cabinet to put over the washer/dryer so that we can move the stuff from the cabinet on the wall in what will be the new bathroom. Next weekend he will hang the cabinet and begin to tear up the floor, etc....Bob, Rose & Maybe Lee maybe Val are coming down in 2 weeks to do the plumbing, electrical work for the new bathroom and some other "honey-do" jobs (sssshhhh don't tell them about the others!) so my next several weeks will be crazy. Good news is that we went to Carpet Mart to find new wallpaper and they are getting out of the Wallpaper business so all of their's was $2 per roll - bad news is that we decided at that price to get enough to do up the steps and the hallway as well as my bedroom -- all together -- 22 rolls of wallpaper to be hung! -- that sounds like work to me! -- all of that at the same time that work is going crazy.
We are merging two offices at work and the office that will be closing seems to have fallen to my responsibility because only my staff had recently been working there. Lots and lots of work to be done - things to be packed up, decisions to be made, etc. and all while the normal work load continues as usual. -- aaahhh , just a little busy!
Oh yeah, and....I'm teaching a young adult SS class and directing VBS so, in my spare time....I sleep! balance - it is all about balance - and I do pretty well with the balance thing except I had no idea that the office closing would be mine to deal with and that means I travel to Media (about 1 hr away) at least 1 day per week. Oh well, this too shall pass! I'll write again soon!

Traditions, Traditions!

We had a little culture last night.

Cindy and I went to the theatre downtown and saw a stage play of "Fiddler on the Roof". The show is being billed as the farewell tour of Topol, who plays the main character, Tevye. I had to see it since the movie is my favorite. It's the only one I can watch over and over again, generally about 10 or 12 times a year and many of those times I fall asleep before its over. But I love it.

The play was excellent. It followed the main story line fairly closely, but varied enough to keep it interesting. If I had the money and could still get tickets, I would go see it again. If any of you gets the chance, you should take it. It's well worth it.

Cindy got a picture of Tevye and I standing together which she is going to work over. I'll have her post it when she's done.

Do you think I'd look like him if I grew a beard and wore a cap?

Success at Last!!

When I got back to the office this afternoon, I found a building permit sitting on my desk. OK, OK, it wasn't sitting there. Laying there? Lying there? (I could get so caught up in this that I might forget about what I wanted to tell you, but I won't.)

Anyway, Pedro (one of my co-workers) had taken my design (and Dave Miller's), gotten it copied, stamped, and approved. Ta Da!! Now, all I have to do is figure out how to get it done without Dave Miller. Oh, well. One step at a time.

I'll think about it tomorrow.

P.S. I'd post it for you to see, but it would be so small, you wouldn't be able to read it.

Wasting Time

Not much new to report so I'll just waste a little time with this post. The weekend was good. I got some housecleaning done on Sat. Then after church on Sun, I went to help my friend with the kitchen layout of the house that she and her husband are remodeling. Wade is doing the electrical work there on the days that he is unemployed. Then home for a nap and off to our Sunday night small group. We eat together every Sun evening and then have a Bible study. Right now we are watching "The Road to Armageddon" video series. Each one is done by a different speaker--some are great and some are a little too dry & deep. Last night was a good one. It's over by 8 pm so we can make it to work on Mon. morning without too much trouble--although this morning was the first time the alarm went off in a long time.

I'm trying to get back into some sort of rhythm. Not easy after all those months off from work. But I'm feeling good these days so I'll adjust quickly I'm sure. I think the job is going well--trying to develop my program and get things in order since the position was unoccupied for quite a while before they hired me. Don't like cleaning up the files, etc. but at least I'm learning what not to do. And I think I have some really good program ideas--we'll see if other people like them enough to volunteer to help!

My crocuses are blooming and daphne is ready to bloom!

A Day to Relax and Enjoy

Today has been a good day. I've been able to take it easy and do what I wanted for a change. Nice!

I started out by not getting out of bed until almost 0900 when the dog came to me with a request to open the door and let him out. OK, already!! I had to do what someone else wanted, but only for a minute. As long as I was up, I figured I might as well stay up, so I got dressed, brushed my teeth, and went to Starbucks. Since Cindy was still sleeping, I didn't even tell her where I was going.

At Starbucks, I bought a Sunday paper, a blueberry scone, and a tall black coffee and sat down. For the next hour or so, I looked at the paper and worked out the Sudoku and crossword puzzles. When I finished, I read the comics, then rolled up and went to Wal-Mart for my weekly grocery shopping.

After that, I built a keyboard shelf in my new desk layout. (I've been converting a spare room into my office and just moved the computer. Cindy took over the previous one where she installed her new Mac.) Then I did a little graphic design on a letterhead (improvement on the official Patterson Homes), checked out a technical question on my trailer, and edited a couple of posts on the Rooted & Rambling blog. Oh, I also managed to find time to knock off a couple of beers.

I'm really getting into this blog thing. I find HTML fascinating and am constantly learning new things about it. You may have noticed some changes in my posts. Cindy will be having a class in website design sometime this summer and I want to audit it. I expect to make a quantum leap in my understanding then.

We have overcast skies, although the sun is coming through in patches. There is quite a lot of wind and, for this time of year, it's quite cold--60 degrees +/-. I don't mind a bit and it certainly saves on my electric bill since the AC is not running.

I have to go to Lowe's yet today and I hear another beer calling my name. Got to go.

Pride Goes before a Fall

D ang it all, anyway. I thought I had it nailed. The Robinson project, that is.

Since the economy took a downturn, the company has been in a sort of state of confusion, what with layoffs and economic turmoil. This has resulted in a lot of work being thrown to me. I don't just manage anymore, quite often I'm out on the job pounding nails and making sure that everyone else there is pounding nails as well. The paperwork on my desk has been piling up as a result and desperately needed some straightening out. It was so bad the office has been making jokes about it. Since I'm not the neatest person in the world anyway, this just compounded the problem.

Today I went in with the intention of honing my skills on Auto Sketch, but it turned out that I spent the first three hours cleaning. Ruthlessly cleaning. If I didn't need it, trash. If I didn't think I would ever need it, trash. If it needed to be filed, I filed it. Etc., etc., etc. I can actually see my desktop now. I still have to take care of my inbox, where I shoved all the papers that need action, but that'll wait. Don't you just love it?

However, in the exercise of organization I found a paper which stated that Mrs. Robinson had requested 10" transoms and I had designed 6". Ooh, big mistake!! Now I've got to go back and raise the roof before someone else does. Ha, ha. Get it?? Raise the roof, since that's what it will take to put in taller transoms.

However, it shouldn't be too bad. I looked over the drawings and figured out what I have to do. Monday morning I'll work on it. Since I have a kitchen installation scheduled, I'll probably have to work on it Monday afternoon as well. Probably won't get a permit until Tuesday, which will upset Ian, the Production Manager, but he's a good sort. He'll let it ride.

Dang it all, anyway. Thought I had it nailed. It's no wonder architects get so much money. There's a lot of detail work involved in this business and I'm the sort of person who won't let it go unless it's right. Although, I do know that there comes a time when you have to say, "Good enough, let it go."

One more shot. Then it's off to Permitting at City Hall.

They won't know the difference anyway!

Right Again, As Usual!

First thing I did this morning when I got to work was to pull up my Auto Sketch project to verify that my suspicions were valid. Guess what? You guessed! Sure enough, Dave's (the other designer) drawing was off by seven inches in length. I was wrong, though, since it actually took me about an hour and a half to correct it, but I got it done along with a few other minor changes. I had one 22 x 34 copy printed out and saw a couple other things. Funny how that works. I've got it on the run, though, and Monday we'll be getting official copies for our resident engineer (not me) to stamp and sign. Then it's off to City Hall to get the permit. Doggone, getting the paperwork done is harder than doing the work.

Probably if I do this long enough, it will become work too. At least right now, it's fun.

Taking the Bad with the Good!

It's been one of those days. Do you want the good news first or the bad news?

The good news is that I'm making some serious strides in Auto Sketch, my CAD program at work. My manager has just about given me the default position for design. I spent most of the day today working on a project which he wants to get permitted as soon as possible. I've got it almost done, but there are a few minor corrections to make. I always print out a copy to look over, since I notice mistakes on paper a lot quicker than I do on the monitor.

Also, while I was working, a man walked in with a request for a quote to remodel his daughter's house. I spent half an hour talking with him, looked at his pictures, and made an appointment to walk through it tomorrow afternoon. I'll do all the design work on this one.

I love my job! Most of the time anyway.

However, there is a fly in the ointment. Cindy recently purchased a Mac for her work and displaced the old PC which had been hooked up to the Internet. It has been moved to another room. We found out we could get a wireless modem for it so that we wouldn't have to run lines and hard wire. Sad to say, but when the wireless arrived, I couldn't make it work and spent a lot of time before a technician told me that Windows 2000 won't support the modem.

It gets worse. Macs require an Ethernet port while the PC used a USB. The modem we had before wouldn't support the Mac and the PC doesn't have an Ethernet port. I can't make the wireless work, I can't hard wire it, I can't use my computer online. I have to use the new one and getting used to a Mac after fifteen years on a PC is hard work.

But wait, there's more. I printed out a copy of my Auto Sketch project, blew it up as large as I could on the copier at work, and took that to Kinko's where I had it blown up to a 22 x 33 size so that I could actually see the thing. Bad news is that mistakes started jumping right out at me. Good news is that they're all minor and easily fixed. Seriously bad news is that I noticed some discrepancies in scale between two elevations and it just won't work that way. Got to be right. I figured that I'd have to copy them to another file, rescale them until I know they're correct, and then re-insert them into the file.

However, after some studying on it, I saw that one elevation (which doesn't have a dimension listed) is too long by about three inches. The height is right, the length is wrong. That will take me a half hour to fix. Not too bad, after all. The really good news, though, is that it's not my mistake. I robbed it from a preliminary drawing that our erstwhile architect had developed for this project. His drawing is wrong, not mine.

Guess maybe things don't look so bad after all. I'm back in the saddle again.

Home Again

Flew to Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon after my chemo. No more direct flights to Pitt from Scr/WB so had to transfer in Philadelphia. Got there with no problem and picked up the rental car to drive to the hotel in Washington, PA. I took our Tomtom so had no problem finding my way there but when I got to the Holiday Inn, the corporate credit card had been sent with permission to charge my room but no reservation had been made. And the Holiday Inn was full. So I went across the parking lot to the Hampton Inn and asked if they could accept the credit card fax and give me a room--they did (whew!). About 15 minutes later, the woman who is in charge of all Volunteer Service Coordinators called me to tell me she had arrived at the Holiday Inn. So we got together for dinner and she gave me my training manual so that I could look it over if I wanted before the seminar. Next morning I had to drive about 2 miles to the Southern Care office on S Johnson Rd. but Tomtom took me to N Johnson Rd. and even though I reprogramed it a couple of times, would not take me to S Johnson. So I stopped at Wendys and asked for directions--20 minutes late so guess I made a great first impression!!!

Spent most of the day with five other people in the same position from different offices going through the manual with Pat teaching us the ropes. Then went with Pat and Debbie to eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Back to the hotel for an hour of rest and then met Pat for some one-on-one training due to past problems in the Scranton office. Next morning--up and to the airport to check in car, fly to Philadelphia, and then home. Got back to Scr/WB and knew exactly where I had left my truck but couldn't remember which level of the parking garage so had to go up & down a couple of times to locate it--used the panic button on the key chain so knew when I was getting close! What a sieve brain!

Slept late this morning so was late getting to work. Learned a lot at the seminar and got lots of good ideas for my program so I guess it was worth all the trouble.

Egor

This is a picture of Eric "Egor" Hotchkiss which was printed on the pamphlet at the memorial service last Friday. Sandra, Matthew, Amy, and her daughter Courtney were there. Some Mennonites from their church came along with them. Numerous local friends and most of the local family were also present. Had a good turnout and a good time.

Some of us went to Phil and Deb's place afterwards and spent the rest of the afternoon "socializing." I got back home about 9:30 that night.

Grapefruit

My instructor has this hanging on the wall in his office and shows it to potential students at open house.

GRAPES

Went to Hobby Lobby, 

Took Photo for reference.

POMEGRANATE

 This is one of my projects for my digital illustration class. What do ya think?

T. G. I. F.

Hooray, hooray! It's Friday. I've put in a whole week of work and I'm a little stressed and tired. Have to keep reminding myself that God has a plan and put me into this job for a purpose even though I don't know what it is. Spent a lot of time training with the VC from Williamsport office on Wed. and that was helpful. Then the vice president of something in Alabama questioned why I was not on the list of people going to Pittsburg for training next week and when they said that it was too far to drive so they were going to train me in Scranton next month, he objected. Short version--I'm flying to Pittsburg on Mon. and home on Wed. of next week. I'm not delighted but doing what I have to. Today I tagged along with a couple of the nurses to an assisted living facility to observe and get a sense of what they need from the volunteers. Then back to the office for paperwork and meetings. Not sure that I'm cut out for this medical stuff but still have to believe that God put me in the job for a reason.

Beautiful day today. I went out for a walk around the parking lot after lunch. Our office is located near some of the "big box" stores and shopping plazas but there were ducks and geese on the retention ponds beside the parking lot and it was really beautiful. Hoping it's nice all weekend!

Told you I'd get them!

These pictures were taken at Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine on Sunday, March 08, 2009 by Cindy. Shown are Emily, Brianna, Gabriel, Amanda, Justin, and Roger. (not necessarily in that order)

Wednesday, Glorious Wednesday

50 degrees at 5:30 p.m. and I'm home from work already!! Of course, it's supposed to drop to 15 overnight, but....I'm happy with the 50's. At least there's a promise of spring. Oh! Ed saw a robin yesterday, so we've only got about two more weeks of winter weather.

My life remains hectic. I know, I know.....it's my own doing, but I just seem to find these things lurking out there with my name on them. Started working on wedding dresses in earnest last night. I've promised myself that I'll work on dresses nights after work, I'll work on taxes mornings before work, I'll work on yard, flower beds, and outside on nice weekends, and I'll wallpaper the upstairs bedroom on nasty weekends. That should keep me busy until July, at least!!

Ed's doing much better. On warm, sunny days, he feels good. On cold, rainy days, he doesn't. But at least that's so much of an improvement from the past two years that we're happy.

We took Morgan and Makayla roller skating last weekend. I skated with them; Ed watched. Bad news is.....I fell just minutes after we were on the floor. I was "helping" Makayla and trying to skate slow and you all know how much harder it is to skate slow than to skate fast... Hit elbow hard; jarred my whole body, but I'm ok. Nothing broken, just badly bruised. It's so much further to the ground than it used to be!! Good news is....we had a really good time. Well, at least I did. Not sure about the girls. I think they had a good time. Ed didn't mind the sitting and waiting. Of course, the skates hurt our feet and I told Ed that if we're doing this on a regular basis, I'm buying my own skates. Had a blister on my toes, on the TOP of my toes. Not at all where I expected to get a blister. This weekend, we're going bowling with Joe and Shannon and their girls. Should be fun!

Dave and Ed built a little playhouse for our grandchildren. It's really cute. They'll love it! Well, it's dinner time, so guess I'd better go. Hope you all are doing ok. Doesn't seem like we "blog" very much....

End of a Long, Hard Day!

I left the job early today and went home without going back to the office. I can do that. Quite often, I'll go back there and work for an hour or so on Auto Sketch, but today I was more interested in my dinner, bath, and bed. Not necessarily in that order.

It's getting harder every year to go out and work like I did when I was twenty or thirty. I think all my accumulated ailments are catching up. Let me tell you about my lumbago! Or not. White collar is better than blue collar, but as long as things are slow, blue collar is definitely better than none. I'll just have to slow down some.

The funeral for Eric Hotchkiss will be held Friday at 1:00 in Gainesville. I'm taking the day off. I can do that too. I still haven't decided whether to pull a vacation day or work Saturday to make up for it and keep my vacation. Guess I don't have to decide right now. Too much work.

Sunday, gorgeous Sunday!

Just a beautiful day in Jacksonville. Sunny, blue skies, 75 degrees. Can't get any better.

Cindy and I drove to St. Augustine today to a birthday party for Amanda's daughter, Emily. She is now officially two years old. Cindy took a lot of pictures and I will post some of them when she downloads them from her camera.

Amanda is pregnant again. This will be her fourth. (Or fifth and sixth if she listens to Cindy.) However, we should soon know whether it's pink or blue. We currently have six grandchildren, five of whom are girls. Grandkids are great! I love them. Should have bypassed the previous generation and had them first. The problem is that I didn't know that until it was too late.

As the saying goes, "We get too soon old and too late smart." It's like a retirement account--extremely difficult to catch up if you fall behind.

Three Days On The New Job and Other Stuff

Well.........I made it to the weekend! Spent the first three days filling out paperwork for the personal file and reviewing the manuals for my new job. Should begin to get into it a bit more next week. Will be riding along with various people to observe what they do and "absorb". Also will be planning a "meet & greet" for the few volunteers that are already on board. And someone is coming in from the Williamsport office to spend a day training me. It's just SO different than anything else I've done.

We have daffodils poking out of the ground--hooray!

Wade is on partial unemployment--off a couple of days each week--so he is working around the house and helping a friend who is remodeling a house.

Hoping for nice weather tomorrow (today was warm) so I can paint outside with a couple of friends.

Saturday, blessed Saturday!

I haven't had a lot of "paying" work on Saturday lately, so I am enjoying myself. Usually I go to the office in the morning for a few hours and work with Auto Sketch, a CAD program, which I am learning. I try to learn at least one new thing on it every day, that is, every day that I work on it. On Saturday, I am the only one at the office, so I can focus completely on the project.

I am designing a house addition which we will be building. We have another man who is designing the same project. He will be paid, I won't. However, the other day, I showed some of my drawings to my manager who oversees the entire production department. I've got his attention!! It's not going to be very long until the company buys a program to put on my computer at home and start paying me to do the designs.

I love the work. It doesn't seem like work. I can go there and burn up four hours without even realizing it. The only problem I have experienced so far has been with my right wrist, which pains me after some time manipulating the mouse. It's arthritis, not carpal tunnel. Something I've got to live with.

When I get my designs completed, I'll post them for you.

"Here's to ya, Egor!"

I was sitting at home relaxing tonight, watching one of my favorite shows, "How It's Made", on the telly when my cell phone rang. At 7:30 pm, either my boss doesn't realize how late it is or it's one of the family. This time it was Phil Mitchell, my twin cousin. We were both born the same day and seem to draw closer with each passing year. Last fall we went deep sea fishing to celebrate our 50th birthday, but...that's another story.

Phil had some sad news. Eric Hotchkiss, "Egor", died this afternoon from a massive heart attack. He was 50, about a month and a half older than Phil and I. That's hitting pretty close to home.

Eric was the son of Lloyd and Sandra Hotchkiss. Sandra was Phil's older sister, one of Uncle Henry's daughters. He had had health problems for a long time, was overweight, and carried an oxygen tank with him wherever he went. It didn't seem to slow him down much, though, and I never saw him when he didn't have a happy face on.

I don't know any details about "doings", but I'll be making a trip to Gainesville in the very near future. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to see him one more time. I did see him (and many others) at our last get-together about a month ago. The older I get, the more I realize that we should always take the opportunity to see or talk to each other whenever we can. It may be the last chance we have. I'm grateful.

Brrrrrrr.........Brutally Cold

How did it get so cold again?!!! This wind is terrible! We were both home today--I'm nearing the end of my unemployment and Wade is just starting his. He is working part time and taking partial unemployment. I did some more sewing this last week--made covers for our patio chair cushions. I wanted ones that I could remove and throw in the washing machine when they get dirty. Found a bed set at KMart with comforter, sheets, pillowcases, shams, & skirt that I liked, so cut them apart and had plenty of fabric for the covers. And I got some foam at Ollie's to add to the seats so they no longer sink into the slats--nice and cushy! Now all we need is springlike weather so we can sit out there to eat dinner.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Jacksonville. Sunny, dry, temperatures in the low 70's. The kind of day I once used as an excuse to take the day off and do absolutely nothing. Yesterday I took 1-1/2 hours during the middle of the day and went to Starbucks. Ahhh!! Luxurious laziness!

Along toward evening it started to change. Wind picking up, temperature dropping, clouds moving in. This morning when I got up it was raining off and on, but I didn't think anything about it until I was leaving Wal-Mart after my grocery shopping. It hit me then that this was like a cold, rainy November day in northern Pennsylvania. If I had been deer hunting, it would have been great. As it was, it was just plain nasty.

Now, the rain has more or less stopped and the sky has started to clear. It might not be too bad after all.

Cindy's father and uncle are here for a few days, so this afternoon we're going to have a mini-reunion with them, Amanda and her family, Joey (if he shows up), and Christy (if she shows up). Cindy, Amos, and Herb are at church, Amanda is on her way, and I have the house to myself (with the dog, Luke) for at least a few minutes. No laziness here though. I've put away the groceries, started laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and started working on meatballs for spaghetti. Pretty good, huh?

They Offered, I Accepted

So I have a new job! I will be the Volunteer Coordinator for Southern Care Hospice starting next Wednesday. I will be recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers. Will certainly be considerably different that what I did before but I'm ready for a change. Looking forward to it.

I'm Back

Hello everyone..I didn't forget to update on this thing, but I am just a little behind. Lets see what is new..... My car FINALLY went to the body shop on saturday, it'll be about a week, so I have a rental for a bit. They gave me a hybrid Toyota Prius--not bad, rides nice, doesn't use a "real" key, but a push button start. I wouldn't buy one, but I can't complain--it is getting me around so far.....
Tom and I are well--no major accidents for me since the last problems!!! YEAH!! We are looking forward to our annual ski trip to Vermont in a week. We love it (at least they are getting snow there--it has been a pretty dull winter for us!!) I'll post some pics when we get back.
Rog--I am sorry to hear you aren't a beach guy---WE LOVE IT!! I enjoy visiting and vacationing at them, but I don't think I would want to live there all year, I love the change of seasons too much.
Helen--hope the basement is all dried up now--water damage is miserable, but hopefully since you caught it quick, you won't have any permanent damage (especially the smell!! YUCK!)
Hope all is well with all of you. I'll be back again to chat!!

Took all day to land this one!!

In case you're wondering, I happened to catch this one while Cindy and I were vacationing at Destin last summer. What a whopper! I can't believe it!

Probably you don't either. Doggone it!

Actually, we did get the photo there, but the shark was cast out of some type of man-made material. Makes for a good story, though.

Destin was nice. It has beautiful white, sugar sand beaches with crystal clear, emerald green water. Just gorgeous!! If you ever get a chance to go, you should.

We spent three days tent camping at a state park. It rained for two of those. We had taken a lot of firewood to burn, but the rangers wouldn't let us because of a fire ban in that region due to extreme drought conditions. Wasn't a chance of anything catching fire, but they wouldn't bend the rules. However, we did find out our tent was waterproof and caught up on a lot of sleep.

The third day was real nice so we got some beach time. Cindy is a beach person and wants to go back. I'm not, so I told her to find someone else who loves the beach as much as she does and go with her. Or she might take Joey. I've seen it. It's a long drive. I don't think I'll be going back.

Just Wondering

Today in church a young woman (our Pastor's daughter) updated us on her plans to go to Torino, Italy for a five year mission trip. She mentioned that it has been extremely difficult to get churches to allow her to come and speak. I was wondering if any of you want her to come to speak in your church sometime in the next few weeks? She is scheduled to leave for Italy in May if all of her support comes in.

It's the Knauer's finally!!

Good grief!! Someone said I sound like Charlie Brown when I say that!! Anyways as you can see, I finally figured it out...I had actually made my own blog (somewhere in cyber space!! ) Not that any of you--except Phyl saw it but.....now it's right here so....

Our basement flooded again!!!!!!!! Think this is the fourth time---this time was really discouraging partly because it was our fault and partly because last time--we had really fixed everything so it WOULDN'T happen again but....guess what it did anyhow!!! It'll be two weeks ago on Sat night, that I discovered our hot water heater was leaking, so Gary said after I was done for the night, he would turn the breaker off (since sometimes when they leak a little, then they burst--and we didn't want water everywhere!). So he came up about 11 or so pm and I still hadn't taken a shower and was still cleaning--he said "Good grief-woman--finish up here and get a shower and go to bed!" Then he turned the breaker off.. When I went down to get Brad up for work on Sun am (11 am) or is that afternoon?? I noticed the carpet looked funny. As soon as I stepped on it--I was soooo mad!! Hollered for Gary and then he was mad too!!

So then we spent all day Sunday sucking up water with carpet shampooers from the store, Carrying loads and loads upstairs here to get it out of the water....UGH, UGH!! And then on Monday I got carpet fans from the store and we put them down.. And also sucked up more water.. by Monday night decided to pull the padding out from under the carpet and throw that away..then just kept the fans running all week to dry up the carpet and the concrete underneath. Then last weekend put padding down again and put carpets back in place and moved stuff back in the family room and Brad's room. Got to finish moving the rest back down in the storage room...It sure was nice to have things back in place...My house is never spotless but neither of us can stand that it was so cluttered and a mess either!!

But then this week was very easy compared to that so that was nice and relaxing...

Will write more later..enought for now..

Still At Home

I've been spending a lot of my time looking for a job, sending out resumes and applications, etc. but without success. Decided to cut back a bit and use some of the time to catch up around the house. We want to have someone come in and give us an idea of how much we can expect to sell it for. Today I started cleaning up the laundry room and made valances for the windows in there. Wade converted part of it into a pantry after the electrical wires fell and damaged the house. I had made a "skirt" to hide some things and had a little bit of fabric left over so I wanted to make valances to match. Today was the day and I'm happy with the way they turned out.

After I finished that, I got a phone call from a company that I had interviewed with about 6-7 weeks ago and they asked me to come in for a second interview. The person they hired was supposed to start this week but was unable to take the job at the last minute. Not sure how many people they are interviewing again but at least I'm on the list.

Shadow has discovered the kneehole space under the computer desk and he crawls under there every evening when I'm on my computer. He barely fits!

from the Hartley household

I think we should all begin titling our entry with whom they are from....

Busy week. We are integrating our processes at work with another company that we purchased last spring so lots of work to be done but we have already downsized the work force so we have twice as much work with half as many people --- aaahhhh but, I keep telling myself, I have a job so ......! Officially spring has sprung here - I can tell by my allergic response to all things in the air. I wonder why I spend so much money on allergy pills and nasal spray; however, if I miss it for even a day I quickly remember why I spend the money. ok - enough whining. Kath & I are both fighting colds (and losing - I might add) but I'm hoping we'll be on the mend soon.
That's all I have for now. Sorry, I warned you that I lead a boring life!

Made Some Cookies This Week

Well..........that's just one of the things that I did. I made two kinds--one was sugar cutout cookies and the other was Finska Pinnar. Don't ask me to translate that name but the cookies are good. Tara and I once discussed changing the name to Teddy Bears since we like them so much!!!! Thought I'd share the recipe with you all.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teas. almond extract
1 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour

Beat butter with sugar and almond extract until light and fluffy. Stir in flour to form soft dough. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Mix together:
1/2 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
3 Tbl. sugar

Beat together:
1 egg yolk
1 Tbl. water

Shape dough into small balls (about 3/4"), dip top into egg yolk mixture and then into nut mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Melt together:
2 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 teas. vegetable shortening
Drizzle over cooled cookies

Beat egg white. Beat in 1 cup confectionary sugar and a small amount of milk. Add milk to thin or sugar to thicken. Drizzle icing over chocolate. Let set until firm.

Makes about three dozen.

OK, here I go. We are all waiting for the snow to all melt off, which it has been doing this week. It seems like we have been busy, but we don't seem to get done all that we want to at any time. I have been working for some time now at acquiring the machines that I need to start my machine shop operation. Just this week, I purchased a belt sander and a bridgeport mill. Now all that I need other than tooling is a shop press and I should be pretty well set. I will pick up the mill on Saturday, then I need to spend some time hooking up some of the machines, cleaning, organizing, and getting started on finding customers and jobs to do. I intend to keep working at my regular job until I have enough work and money coming in to go entirely on my own. I am extremely excited about it all, but also somewhat nervous, too. I am looking at this whole scenario as a retirement that I can afford and enjoy.
Phyl, in answer to your question, the reunion that we will host for our family is Sept. 10-13, and the reunion for the whole Mitchell clan is July 25 at our place. For our family, we have rented a large cabin between Hornell and Bath, NY for the weekend. There are plenty of beds, cots, etc. to sleep on, and if someone wants to, they can bring their camper. However, there are no hookups for the campers. We spent a weekend at this same location (different cabin) for our anniversary last year and really enjoyed it. You are all welcome to come on Thursday if you can, but if you can't, come when you can and we will enjoy you for that time. We are really looking forward to it.
Well, I will post more later, won't spill all of our secrets at one time.
Love, Bob and Rose

I've been going to write for days....just can't seem to find time. My job is extremely busy right now and free time is a rare commodity. Looking forward to my training/conference scheduled in April and May. It's still work, but a different routine. I know I have written (short message) like Beth, but it's all I have time for right now. More later.

Phyl, do you even think the rest signed in yet? They are vewy, vewy quiet...shhhhhh.....not normal for this crowd. I love your painting. I hope your show does very well. You're so talented!
OK, well, I warned you all that my life is pretty routine so not a lot to write here. I have breakfast with 2 of my friends one day a week and this was breakfast morning. It is a really good thing. Two great ladies trying to live life the best they can. It is a very encouraging time each week - it is very real - not "fluffy" stuff. -- we have some pretty deep discussions laced with humor and great coffee (kinda reminds me of my family).
Tara - did you get you car fixed yet? That is so frustrating! - Glad you weren't hurt. Katherine is bible quizzing again this year and I am coaching - it's pretty intense and she is pretty good (as long as she studies) -- We both really enjoy it! It has taken me all day to write this small amount so I'm giving up for now.

Upcoming art shows

I've scheduled two art shows for the spring--one our PEPS group and one solo. I'm working on getting an invitation ready for the solo show and using this painting for the image on the card. My friend Joanne and I went to see another show last week and she took along a painting to show the gallery owner in the hope that she could show in that space. Ended up looking like we may do a three person show there (Joanne, Maryann, and me) in the summer--gotta get everything together but looks promising.

Pictures of our new dog

Here are a couple of pictures of Shadow. I took about 20 today but erased most of them because they were a blur--he was chasing the dust particles in the sunbeam. The second one was from a couple of weeks ago before I took down the Christmas decorations.

If you want to upload pictures in your post (please do!!!), you just click on that little picture to the right of the spell check (abc checkmark).