Happy Birthday To ME!

Sorry, Jenny! I'm not trying to rain on your parade; I know my birthday isn't until January! And, happy belated birthday by the way! I was thinking of you on the 20th, even though I was a slacker and didn't even e-mail proper birthday wishes.

Ron came back from California tonight. As is custom when he picks me up from the airport, tonight when I picked HIM up, he got to choose what he wanted for dinner. He had a hankering for Mexican food, so we settled on a restaurant close to home.

It was starting to not be one of our best dinner experiences. We were seated immediately, but we didn't see a waitress for quite awhile. We had chips and salsa, but with no drinks, we couldn't eat any of it.

There were some people but I didn't think it was too busy. But we weren't in a hurry so we did our best to be patient. Finally, the margaritas arrived and all was right with my world.

When we're almost finished with dinner, suddenly, the staff is all assembled coming through the dining room clapping and hooting and hollering. They were carrying a very large black sombrero complete with all of the sequins and glitter and all that good fluff. They placed the sombrero on a gentleman a few tables over and they all clapped and sang happy birthday in Spanish. You know I love birthdays! So we clapped and hooted and hollered along with them.

As the servers were leaving the area, the one girl stopped by our table and I said, "geez, had I known you went all out like this for birthdays, I'd have celebrated mine here! I'm definitely coming for my next birthday!"

We had a language barrier for sure. She understood "my birthday" and unfortunately, not a whole lot else! Or, fortunately. A few minutes later, the staff was once again assembled, carrying a PINK sombrero and headed straight at me! You know I eat this stuff up! They all clapped and hooted and hollered and sang happy birthday to me in Spanish and all was really good in my world.

The best part came when our waitress came to the table with a free shot of tequila for me, the birthday girl! Damn I love birthdays! Especially my own! I sure did make out today. Ron did try to capture my moment with his camera phone but unfortunately it was too dark for much to come out.

Again, happy belated birthday, Jenny! I sure did celebrate for you tonight!

That's Just Wrong, Page 7

As stated previously, on Monday, Ron dropped some ties off at the local dry cleaners. Big sign on a pole, about 10 feet high states: "IN BY 10, OUT BY 5".

What are the store hours? Monday through Friday, 8 am to 3pm; Saturday 8 am to 2pm.

Think about it. How the hell am I supposed to pick something up by 5 pm?????

I wanted to get a picture of that today, but the shade of the afternoon was not cooperating. I'll try to add this later.

So, as of Monday afternoon, the ties are at the dry cleaners. (Did you know it costs $4.50 PER TIE to dry clean them?!? What the heck is up with THAT? It's a little piece of material for crying out loud.) He was told they'd be ready on Tuesday after 2 pm. Since we didn't know that they closed at 3, he was not able to pick them up since he didn't get there until close to 5.

I was off today, so I said I would pick them up for him. Too late to take on his trip, but at least now some of his ties are cleaned. I showed up at the dry cleaners around 11 am. I was told they are not ready! Can you believe it?? I asked why if they were supposed to be ready on Tuesday, how could I show up almost 48 hours late and they still not be ready?

I was told "one of the gray ones had a stain so he kept it out to work on it. We don't do anything on Wednesdays so I didn't go back to it until today." Can you believe it? I did turn around to look at the door to see if they were open on Wednesdays and they are. I can't explain what the heck is meant by "we don't do anything on Wednesdays". Once again, the magic hour of 2 pm was mentioned as a time the ties would now be ready. Smart aleck me asked on which 2 pm they'd be ready.

I got wild and headed back there at 2:30 this afternoon and sure enough they were ready. Lucky for them. I was in a mood. I haven't had anyone to argue with since Ron left yesterday morning! I didn't want to have to get dressed for nothing today.

Good advertising slogan though, huh? In by 10, out by 5. Just close early every day you're good to go. That's just wrong.

This And That

We are on vacation!

Well, I am anyway. Ron may be in California, but it is a work trip. He was called to the mother ship (aka the corporate office) for a few days. Since I had a few vacation days to use up, and we can't seem to go anywhere since he doesn't have any vacation days accrued yet, I decided to take these two days off to revel in peace and quiet at home.

Last night, I ordered my favorite pizza (Donato's thin crust pepperoni lovers), not a favorite of someone else I could name, and chowed down. Life is good! Tonight's fare will be fried cabbage and noodles. Fried cabbage is always best eaten alone, as the after effects could be quite noxious. Again, go me!

On to another subject, yesterday I stopped at Kohl's on my way home. Something about Kohl's, I love 90% of the stuff in there. I spent a long time walking up and down aisles I don't usually walk down, looking and touching and experiencing all kinds of fru fru stuff. I've never been a fru fru type person, but lately, I feel like I want to be.

If that doesn't make sense, here's what I'm talking about. I like the minimalist way. Maybe I've gone too far overboard with it though.

I have no pictures hanging on my walls. I think I want some. My problem is, what kind? What do I like? I looked at pictures at Kohl's. Didn't know which ones to buy so I didn't buy any.

On to table cloths. Some people keep table cloths on their tables all the time. I like that! I want one too! So I looked at table cloths. Couldn't decide what I wanted, so I didn't buy any. Why can't I be a fru fru kind of girl? Why is this so difficult for me? I really do think I'm challenged in this area. My DNA must be missing a few crucial strands. I need help here. Any shopping helper volunteers, please apply here. I also need window treatments, wall colors and well, just about everything else.

On to another shopping excursion I had. Well, sort of a shopping excursion. Ron dropped some ties off before he went on his trip to a local dry cleaners. This dry cleaner needs to be a blog unto themselves. And, I have a feeling they will be. Anyway, Ron's ties were supposed to be cleaned by 2:00 pm on Tuesday. Unfortunately, Ron got there to pick them up after they were closed, so I said I would take care of that errand on my vacation. I will have to post the results of that little piece of fun later today.

For now, I think I want lunch. I think it will be a bowl of cereal, eaten right over the sink! I love vacation!

Bats In Our Belfry

Well, I don't exactly have a belfry in the house, instead I have an attic. So, to be truthful, I have bats in my attic. At least one bat anyway.

Ron is really good about not smoking in the living areas of the house. One of his smoking sections is the attic. Thursday night, he went upstairs to have a smoke and came back down rather quickly. I guess our freeloading visitor bat was not happy with cigarette smoke and made sure that Ron knew that.

First thing Friday morning, I called a professional who specializes in wildlife removal. Well, that's what his website said anyway. He was so professional that the voicemail I left him early Friday morning as of now has not been returned. So much for that idea.

Until I could get ahold of someone else, we decided that our third floor smoking area is closed for now. Poor Ron has either run down to the basement or outside. At night, I'm brave when I say that in the day light we need to search upstairs for the bat. Unfortunately, when day light comes, I think of every excuse there is as to why we shouldn't go upstairs!

Tonight Ron finally decided to go up and have a cigarette again. So far, so good. No bats.

Either our freeloader found his way out or else he had an unhappy ending in my attic. Now I'm going to have to think of excuses why I can't go upstairs and look for a dead body before it starts decomposing. Ugh.

Anyone wanna come over and go looking up in my attic?

Labor Day Party!

Ok, I know, I’m running behind in postings.

Monday, we had the honor and the pleasure of having a little get together at our house. Jim was nice enough to bring Dad to Ohio for the day, and Mike and Mary Jane were also able to attend.

The meal was a bit eclectic. Ron wanted regular cook out fair, so we had brats on the grill. To go along with the cook out theme was the corn on the cob. Whenever Dad and Jim make it to our house, I like to serve something they don’t get on a regular basis. This time I chose Mom’s potato pancakes.

Anyone that knows Mom’s potato pancakes knows that they are worth all of the work that goes into them. I didn’t tell anyone I was making them, so all were happily surprised. Luckily, they even came out just like Mom’s!

Dad and Jim served as “taste testers”. The pancakes just have to be spot tested while you’re frying them just to ensure quality control. As the cook, I generally reserve this duty for myself. Sometimes, by the time they’re ready, I’m no longer hungry! Yes, taste testing can be serious business. But this time, the honor went to Dad and Jim. As long as I kept hearing mmm mmm sounds coming from them, I knew dinner would be a winner.

I was responsible for one bad thing that day. I know that Mom’s potato pancakes are one of brother Philip’s favorite things. Whenever I make them for Ron and me, I usually end up text messaging Philip or calling him, sort of just to rub it in that we’re having pancakes! I know; I’m mean.

Since I had willing accomplices at the house, I used them. I planted a bug in Jim’s ear to bust Phil’s chops and had him send the text message! We all went back and forth for awhile and after things calmed down, Mike got into the act and gave Phil his opinion of the fare! Yes, we are mean, but it was all in fun. Not to worry, Phil. Next time you’re in Ohio, I owe you a big batch just for you!

All the food was good and the company was even better on Monday. We celebrated well the end of summer, had a lot of laughs, a lot of food and a lot of hugs.

Thanks to everyone for coming over!

Crikey!

Steve Irwin, famed Crocodile Hunter from Australia died today.

I guess I'm not surprised he died young; I'm surprised it wasn't a crocodile accident.

Rest in peace, Steve.

Bye, Summer

Can you believe we are into September?

I'm not the biggest fan of summer. Mainly because I absolutely hate the heat. I will skimp in other areas of my life in order to keep paying for my air conditioning. I just turned it off for the first time in two months on Thursday. I hate to be hot. Just wait until menopause gets here. It will not be safe in Lorain, I'm sure.

The heat may have gone and with it came a summer bug for me. I'm talking myself out of feeling badly since we're having company tomorrow for the holiday. So, my sinuses really aren't full, and my sore throat is just my imagination. I'm sure of it!

Yesterday, Ron and I were running errands in the rain. As an incentive for being responsible and running needed errands, we went to lunch at Qdoba (owned by Jack in the Box). One of my new favoritest places! I'm a HUGE fan of Chipotle's (believe it or not, owned by McDonald's) and Qdoba is a close second to it. Qdoba's are not as good as Chipotle's, but they are much closer to home. Some days you gotta do what you gotta do.

With Ron's eye surgeries, his biggest precaution has been to keep everything out of his eyes. Whenever he leaves the house, he has his big sunglasses on to protect his eyes. One of the points mentioned was no gardening, to make sure no dirt got in his eyes. Well, the grass has been growing, especially after all the rain we had. Our yard was looking like a jungle out there! As a side point, when the grass gets long enough, you realize how much really isn't grass but weeds! Interesting. Oh well. At least they are green and when kept to a reasonable length can fool most people that it's actually grass. Had me going for almost three years!

This afternoon, the sky was getting black and we really thought we were just in between rain storms. I offered to help with the yard work so that we could get it cut down before the next deluge. I took the hand mower duties, since we figured that was a worse choice for Ron. He stayed on the riding mower with his sunglass protection in place.

I don't mind helping with the yard I guess. All I had to do was go around everything with the hand mower since the riding mower can't cut everywhere. That sounded easy. After five trees, one telephone pole, two water shut off valves and one road sign pole, I was one dizzy broad! I couldn't walk a straight line if I had to and I realized I was done for the day. I took the hand mower back to the garage and just watched Ron finish the rest. I think I'm much better suited for a supervisory position than actual manual labor.

There is my exciting weekend so far. Tomorrow will be a cook out with Dad and Jim and maybe a few surprise guests. Lucky for everyone, Ron is cooking so all should be ok in our world!

May everyone have a safe and happy holiday.

He Can See!

Yesterday, Ron had cataract surgery on his right eye. Now both of his eyes are done!

We had an earlier surgery appointment this time. Ron was scheduled at the surgery center at 8:15 am. That is a bit easier when you're on that stupid restriction of nothing to eat or drink after midnight. We showed up on time and ready.

The only "bad" news we had was that instead of Ron going through the surgery under twilight anesthesia like for his left eye, this time he was to go fully under anesthesia. According to the doctor, Ron fought him so much during the first surgery, they didn't want to take any chances. So, Ron got the full dose of the happy juice!

That little stumbling block aside, Ron came through surgery like a trooper. The recovery time took a little longer since he was under more medication this time, but other than that, piece of cake.

This morning, we went back to see the doctor to get the patch off and to make sure all looked good with the eye. The doctor did say that the pressure in his eye is slightly elevated. So be honest, I'm not exactly sure what that means. But, it was decided that one prescription of eye drops to be administered once a day to his right eye should do the trick.

His vision in the right eye is 20/20 and in the left 20/25. His distance vision is as close to perfect as he can ever remember it being. Unfortunately, because the astigmatism wasn't corrected with the cataract surgery, all is not perfect. His close vision is blurry at the moment. Until his eyes settle down, we don't know exactly what his vision will be for a few weeks yet. But, to get him through now, we stopped and picked him up a pair of reading glasses from the pharmacy. With the glasses he can finally read again.

It's just amazing how much better he can see. The funniest thing, shortly after the patch came off and we had left the doctor's office, Ron headed for the men's room. When he came out, he looked at me in all seriousness, and said "hey - when did the doctor add all these gray hairs to my head?" HA! Man, that had to be the greatest line of the week. It really is amazing how much better he can see now.

That's the news for now. His next follow up appointment with the eye surgeon is next Friday. There will be an update as soon as I have more info to pass along. For now, it's time to put in his eyedrops!

I Am T-I-R-E-D

What a night last night. Before y'all get your hopes up and your dirty minds racing, it is NOT what you're thinking.

For some reason, last night I was exhausted when I got home from work. We went out for a quick dinner and by the time I got back home, I did nothing but fight to stay awake. It wasn't even 8:30 yet last night and I lost the fight. I said good night to Ron and I collapsed into bed. I was hoping I was done for the night.

Boy was I wrong.

I was up around 11:30 for a potty break. Crap, I was mad. I thought I refuse to open my eyes all the way because once I finished peeing, I was going right back to bed. Well, that part worked as planned unfortunately, falling back asleep wasn't part of my plan. I laid there, trying to convince myself that I really was falling back asleep. That lasted for about an hour. At 12:30, I gave up that fight.

So, Ron headed to bed and I was getting up and out of bed. That just sucks.

I sat and watched some shows I had taped on the DVR, I played bingo on Pogo, then I heard something....to me at 2:30 in the freakin' morning it sounded like someone was breaking into the house. What do I do? Wake Ron up at 2:30 in the morning? Lock my self in the bathroom and hope the intruders don't find me? (Please note - our bathroom door doesn't have a lock so this option was quickly discarded.) Walk downstairs and check out the noise myself? Oh my, what is a girl to do?

Yes, my imagination is a little overactive when I'm punchy tired. A minute or so later, I see lightening outside. Aha. That's when I figured out that the sound I heard a bit earlier was just thunder. Ok, I am safe for another night.

Since I was safe, I finally turned off the computer and the taped shows and headed down to my recliner. I think I've written this before, but it bears repeating. There is nothing worthwhile on television at 3:00 in the morning. Nothing.

I had just convinced myself that I was just going to go up and jump in the shower and actually show up to work at 6:00 a.m. Figured this way I could get out early! Nice plan, huh? Unfortunately, just after 5:00 a.m. I made the mistake of falling asleep in my recliner. I dozed for just over an hour and then I ended up feeling like poop the rest of the day.

I am still fighting sleep. I am trying to make it to 10:00 tonight so that I can sleep the whole night through. I have two minutes to go.

Tomorrow is Ron's cataract surgery on his right eye! Keep us in your thoughts tomorrow!

Happy Saturday

Some days are bad, some days are good and once in awhile you get a really great day in there. Today was one of them days.

Ron and I just went for a day out today. We had lunch then went for a ride. I heard a restaurant I knew moved into the neighborhood, so I wanted to drive over and see if we could find it. Once that was confirmed, we thought we'd just take the lake road back towards home; the scenic route.

Once we got closer to home, I thought let's go down to the river and just walk around at the Black River Landing. You know, one of those local places that when you live close by, you never take full advantage of! It's a beautiful place. The city was having a back to school festival, and we walked around looking at a few things. Then we decided to walk over to the river. They have a nice boardwalk up and down the river and it's just very peaceful, very beautiful. And, I happen to really enjoy just watching the boats go up and down the river.

Where the road goes over the river, there is a "singing" bridge that will split at the middle with both sides lifting straight up to let taller ships or boats through. It's really cool when that happens! While we were standing there, we heard the bell whistle signaling that the bridge was about to go up. As long as we're there, we thought we'd stay and watch what was coming through. It could be a big barge headed in to port, it could just be a tall sail boat, it could be just about anything.

Imagine my surprise when we saw the Brig Niagara coming though! Talk about a blast from my past! With most of my life spent in Erie Pennsylvania, I have never seen this ship actually on the water. While it wasn't under the power of sail, it was still an awesome sight watching this magnificent ship come into dock right at the Black River Landing! The only camera we had was Ron's phone camera so he took the picture posted above. You can even see the road raised on the left of the picture!

It sounds silly, but this really made me emotional. Maybe for my lost youth, I don't know. Maybe just the magnificent sight of this old ship right in front of me. I felt the history before me, and in a way, I felt honored just to be there.

We really do need to take more advantage of what we have right in our own backyards. I would have driven a lot farther to see this, and here we are lucky enough to have this two miles from our house. What a great day.

Home Grown

Ron and I have a little garden. Well, Ron does. We have three tomato plants, not sure what brand they are, three cherry tomato plants that are the bomb, and three yellow sweet pepper plants. It's a start at farming.

As for the big tomatoes, we've only had a few harvested so far and they've been ok. The cherry tomatoes are so sweet, it's like popping candy! I'm telling you, they are the bomb! We could stand out at the plants and eat them as fast as we pick them off of the vine. The sweet yellow peppers, we had no clue about. They sure did look like green peppers for a long time and I thought that perhaps the sticker was mismarked on the plants.

Ron did some research on the internet to find out that they are green peppers left to ripen longer on the vine they will turn into the sweet yellow peppers. Awesome! Who'd have thought? I'm not a big fan of green peppers, but any other color of pepper I love.

The other night, Ron picked the first of the yellow peppers. The first dish we chose to jazz up with our home grown peppers was some brats with fried peppers and onions. WOW!

The brats were just fried up in a pan, and the onions and peppers were mixed with a dash of olive oil, some salt and pepper, and then added liberally to our brats. There was a lot of lip smacking going on at dinner at our house! Holy cow, they were so awesome.

You just can't buy them like that at the store. Don't be surprised if our whole yard turns into a garden next year. I think we're getting the hang of this farming stuff!

Ron Update - Good News!

Ron had his one week check up yesterday on his left eye. The good news is that all is progressing well with that eye. His vision at the moment is very close to 20/20. With his astigmatism, that might change a little but, but not expected to change much. He was given a new schedule for his eye drops, which has him tapering off of them one drop at a time.

The bad news is that there is such a disparity between his left eye and his right eye, that he's having trouble seeing. He can see out of one eye or the other at any given time, but he's having issues trying to use both eyes at the same time.

Back to good news! He has been approved to have cataract surgery on his right eye now! Yahoo! Even better news is that his surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, August 30th! He just has to hang in there one more week with his vision problems and he should be a new man.

I guess this means I have to go back to shaving my legs once he is able to see.

Meet me at Rockne’s

I have a client down in the Akron area. Since she had a birthday recently, I called and told her I’d like to take her to lunch to honor her special day. We decided to meet at a place called Rockne’s, which has some of the best sandwiches around. Order their fish sandwich and it’s like getting a side of Moby Dick. It’s awesome!

We all know I’m directionally and geographically challenged. I don’t know my own area let alone the Akron area. Since Ron is originally from the Akron area, I deferred to him as which Rockne’s we would meet at.

He suggested the Rockne’s on West Market Street. So, I relayed that info to my contact. How can I screw up something so simple as “Rockne’s on West Market Street”. Well, I did screw it up!

We were supposed to meet there last Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Ron and I were even early, showing up about 1:15. I didn’t want to just sit in the car, so we decided to go inside and wait for her in the lobby. We waited. We waited. And we waited some more. Finally, about 1:35, the place is getting pretty busy, and the hostess suggests that we grab a table and she’ll send our third party back to us. Fine by me, I’m getting hungry!

Another ten minutes go by, we have appetizers ordered and still she hasn’t shown up. This is very unlike her as she has always proven to be either early or on time at the latest. It’s now 1:45 and still no sight of her.

I decide to go outside and check my phone. I had left my cell phone in the car, so I ran out to check for messages. Sure enough, there she was! She said she was AT Rockne’s, and she was asking where the heck we were! I called her back immediately, and said HEY! We’re at Rockne’s, where we’ve been for ½ hour now and where is she? She assured me she was at Rockne’s on West Market Street. I looked around, saw the street sign at the corner, and I assured her that we too, were at Rockne’s on West Market Street.

I had the bright idea that both of us should meet in the lobby. I was heading in from the parking lot and when I got to the lobby, she wasn’t there. On the phone she was assuring me that she WAS in the lobby and it was I that wasn’t there! Talk about the twilight zone!

Believe it or not, there are TWO - count them TWO- Rockne’s on West Market Street! In all fairness, one is actually in Akron and the one we were at was technically in Fairlawn. Who’d have thought though, huh?

Take this as a lesson. Don’t ever assume I know where I’m going or where I’m supposed to be!

I've Been Phished!

Wow. I've read a bunch of articles about keeping yourself safe on the internet. I thought I was at least a little savvy when it came to phishing. I couldn't believe that some people would actually fall for something like that.

Today it was my turn to receive an e-mail! I couldn't believe it! ME! Nothing fun ever happens to me.

My regular bank is Fifth Third Bank. The e-mail looked as if it came from Fifth Third Bank but there were just too many flags for it to actually be from my bank. The verbage in the e-mail stated that these instructions were sent to and followed by "all" Fifth Third Customers. I can't imagine that "all" Fifth Third customers have e-mail, let alone an e-mail account that the bank has on file. Plus, there was a link in the e-mail that they wanted me to follow to update all of my personal information for their software upgrade. We all know we should never follow links. You should always pull up the website in a new browser.

So, I did the responsible thing and notified my bank about this e-mail. They asked that I forward the e-mail to their security department which I did. It just tickled me that I finally got something cool in e-mail! Ron gets the Nigerian scam e-mails often but me, never!

We were talking about this e-mail after work tonight and I was anxious to follow the link and see what the bogus form looked like. The amazing thing was they actually took some of the actual verbage and the logo from the Fifth Third Bank site to try to make it look more real.

Every single question that was asked, Ron and I sat here and made up answers. From the account number and password to everything else.

In case anyone wants to know more about me, here are some of the made up answers we gave.

My name is Rosilind.
I have two pets named Killer and Twinkie.
I was born in Texas.
Mother's maiden name is Gonzalez.

We had a lot of fun filling out this form. It gave me a little satisfaction picturing some poor slob sitting in front of his computer, rubbing his hands together, thinking he had another sucker on the line.

Ron and I were just talking about this a few minutes ago when I started this blog entry and we thought we'd go and play again and fill out another form.

Imagine my surprise that the website is now not available. At least I can say now I've been phished!

Eye Spy

Ron has been recovering nicely, thank you very much.

His eye looks good to my untrained eye. The biggest problem Ron has been having is adjusting to the changed eyesight.

He has really been fighting frustration since the patch came off on Tuesday morning. He can't see with his glasses, he can't see without them. He's been dizzy as all get out on top of it all. We've tried taking the one lens out of the glasses, and putting it back in again. Unfortunately until his brain retrains itself to accept his new vision, there isn't much else to do.

Luckily, Ron said he's not as dizzy as he had been before. At least that is diminishing.

Day by day for now. Here's hoping that the trend continues that each day is just a little better than the one before it.

Ron Update!

Today was the big day for Ron. Cataract surgery day. Ain't he cute?

I think the only bad thing I can say about this was that Ron had a late surgery appointment. When you're on no food or drink after midnight, come 7:00 a.m. you seem to be hungrier and thirstier than you normally are. Unfortunately, his appointment to show up at the hospital was 11:15 a.m.

We were there on time, and he was called back around 11:30. They got him ready and then called me back to sit with him. He had a nice nighty on for a top, but they let him keep his jeans and sneakers on. To complete the outfit, he was wearing a most fashionable hair covering with a big "L" sticker on it for "Left eye". Fashion plate, if ever I've seen one!

They rolled him into surgery before 12:30 and I was speaking with the surgeon by 1:00 p.m. Per the surgeon, the cataracts were removed without incident and the lens was implanted. Ron did very well and the surgeon is hopeful that this has solved his problems with his left eye.

He sat in recovery for a little bit and by the time I was called back into recovery, he was sitting up, dressed, and enjoying an apple danish! Not a bad deal, surgery came with breakfast! We were out of the door and back in my car by 1:30 p.m. I knew all was well with Ron when all he wanted to do was go and have something to eat before we went home.

We hit Bob Evans and did some serious eating before heading home. Ron looked around a bit and then decided it was time for a nap. Gotta love them meds!

For the rest of the evening, Ron is to rest and take it easy. Tomorrow morning we head back to the doctor and the doctor will take off the eye patch and check out his eye. He will go on a drop schedule of antibiotic drops and anti-inflammatory drops. He will have to tape the eyeshield back on at night for a couple of weeks until the doctor is sure the lens has set in his eye as it is not stitched in there. He will have to take it easy for a few weeks, minimal bending over and not lifting anything over 20 lbs.

So there we are. He came through the surgery very well and tomorrow we should have the results on just how successful the surgery was. Until then, I think he'll enjoy his buzz and hopefully enjoy having me wait on him. Check back tomorrow, I'll post his post op visit update.

Addendum: Ron's surgeon just called! 9:30 at night, and the actual surgeon just called to make sure Ron was doing ok. Now that's a bedside manner!

Freedom

Today was Ron's last day of freedom. Well, maybe I'm being a little dramatic here, but I'm entitled. It's my blog!

Ron will be laid up for the next few days with his cataract surgery. So, on his last day of freedom, we decided to have an outside kind of day. Since the weather was as close to perfect as you could want, we decided a day on the motorcycle was definitely in order. As a public service announcement here, you really should work up your butt-tolerance on the motorcycle before you take it out for a 150 mile ride.

We were everywhere and then some. We stayed on all back roads, not even coming close to a highway or freeway. I'm telling you it was an awesome day!

Some of the highlights from today need to be noted. On Route 82 are three state/local prisons. One of them has a softball field pretty close to the road. As we were driving by, there were about four or five guys standing near the fence by the road. No worries, the fence was high and topped with barbed wire! But that aside, when we went to drive by, the guys stopped to watch us drive by. One of them was even waving. Aah, the freedom he misses. I didn't want anyone to think that I wasn't all about rehabilitating these inmates, so I indeed waved like crazy right back at him. Hey, it's the least I could do.

When you're on the back of a motorcycle, you really have to sit still. If I start jumping around in the back, or wiggling, I will make the whole bike move and then Ron has to fight to keep it steady. The reason I'm telling you this is because we came close to an accident today because I went crazy on the back of the bike!

It started with something smacking my hand that was on my knee. The next thing I know, something is flying up towards my face before it lands on Ron's back. Now I don't need to know what the heck it is, I already know it's a BUG! I was dumb enough to try to put as much space between me and Ron's back. When you're sitting on the back of a motorcycle that has a back rest, there isn't much space to maneuver. All I succeeded in doing is almost making Ron lose control of the bike. Good thing he's a good driver and kept us upright. Luckily, before I went over the back, I saw it was just a grasshopper. I think he was almost as scared as I was. He caught his breath and then took a hop off of our ride.

All in all, it was just a great day. The only down side is that after 150 miles, my butt is sore. So, now, me and my tired butt need to go. It's going to take Ron the rest of the night to get the snaggles out of my hair.

August 12, 1997

Nine years. Nine years ago today.

I sat by your bed and I held your hand. I remember talking to you, though now I don't remember what I said. I remember holding your hand though. I was afraid to let go.

Suddenly, your eyes opened, but I don't think you saw me. A single tear made its way down your left cheek. Why were you crying? What were you looking at? Were you afraid? Were you happy? Did you know I was there?

I wiped the tear from your eye and I held your hand tighter. I told you I loved you. I told you I would be ok. I told you it was ok to let go. I'd be ok . . . we'd all be ok. Finally, your last breath came and you were gone. I still held your hand and told you I loved you.

Nine years later, I still reach for the phone to call you when something good happens or to tell you when I'm worried. Not a day goes by that I don't think of you. I still can't believe you're not there. I miss you so much.

I love you, Mom.

Not Again!

I just started an audit today, and this one is a one person audit. So, I’m on my own. Sometimes I’m ok with that. This audit is just on the outskirts of downtown, in an industrial area. That part is kind of scary because there are trains to deal with, the roads around here have not been repaired in as long as I’ve been on earth and the general area seems to be in disrepair. Probably not a good idea to be around here by myself at night for sure.

I thought I was kind of familiar with the area, so I decided to venture out for lunch. I know there is a Subway over by the Red Cross Blood Bank. In my mind, that wasn’t too far from where I was, so I decided to try to find it. Well, the shortest distance between two points may be a straight line, but that is not the way I chose to go. Somehow I ended up back on the freeway just to get off at the next exit, and from there I found my way to Subway. Ok, not too bad.

My problem was coming back. The building that I am working in was not here when I tried to come back after lunch. Someone moved it on me! Somehow I spent over ½ an hour trying to find my way back.

Round and round I went. I’m not sure what I was looking for, but I sure wasn’t finding it. I only know how to get to the building where I am performing the audit from the freeway. I was on surface streets, and I was looking for a street that is only a few blocks long to begin with. Needless to say, I wasn’t finding it. Finally I gave up and decided the heck with it; I just needed to find the freeway again. It was a long way, but at least I knew how to find this street from there. And there are big green signs posted to tell you how to get to the freeway. Just as I started to implement this new plan, I recognized this crazy intersection. You stop at a stop sign, where your intersecting street is an off ramp from the freeway, and about 30 feet after the stop sign is a traffic light. There is actually a sign posted there that said “Obey traffic laws after stopping at the stop sign”. Gee. No kidding? What am I saying? At least I recognized that!

So one more time around the block, I had turned myself around and finally was on the right path. Sure enough, I saw the street sign for the street I needed. Holy crap. What a lunch hour.

From now on, I’m packing my lunch. No Subway sandwich is worth all this!

What's My Sleep Number?

After a week with a sleep number bed, I still have no idea what my sleep number is. To make matters worse, no number on the dial seems to be any better than the one before it.

Yes, I succumbed to an infomerical for the sleep number bed. I haven't slept a night through in my bed in probably over a year. We need a new bed. I've watched the infomercials. I even sent away for the information packet complete with a longer commercial for the bed on DVD. We've read all of the information and we've watched the DVD. You know what? They still don't tell you everything.

Basically, we paid $1,800 for an air mattress. Just when I think I can't be any dumber, I pull out my credit card and prove myself wrong. Ok, spending that much for an air mattress and have it be everything they say it is in the commercial might have vindicated me in some small manner. But, since I still haven't slept a night through in the bed, I'd say all this proves is I really am an idiot.

The bed came in like three boxes which Ron was nice enough to put together without me. My only talent in building things is pretty much holding the flashlight. Anyway, he set up the bed and we both jumped in with our respective remote controls to adjust our sides of the bed. In case anyone is interested, you may only adjust one side at a time. When one person is playing with the remote, the other person's remote is disabled.

We both had a chance to play with our remotes, and we both have been playing with them all week. I've tried a setting from 15 to 80. Nothing impressed me. It's still an air mattress. Actually, it's TWO air mattresses. So, there is this hard ledge that is the bed form, going down the middle of the bed. I guess if we didn't sleep in the middle of the bed that night not be an issue. However, one of us is having to adjust on top of this divider every night. And there is the joy of having to get up and out of the bed in the morning. The bed form goes all the way around the mattress. So, in order to get out, you have to get up onto the form and then get out of bed. Ugh. What a waste of money.

We've both decided that this is not a good idea. When I ordered the bed, we were told that we have 30 nights in which to test the bed and then send it back if we don't like it.

Well, I don't like it. At all. It sucks. I'm calling tonight to send it back. I still need a new bed.