10/31 I'll fire my plumber

First of all I'm grateful for the work my (free) plumber did--but leaving the door closed to the utility room is not a good idea. The cat had no access to the litter box. So far I haven't found any surprises in the rest of the house, but who knows.... :)

Anyway, Tim, thanks for fixing the leak. I do appreciate it.

Gussie and I are waiting for trick or treaters. He's wearing a Halloween scarf that he got the last time he was groomed. And he looks so cute. But right now he's passed out on the floor after being at Alpha Dog today. He is also filthy, but I'm too tired to bathe him. Time enough for that later.

I AM SO DAMN HAPPY IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!

10/29 House woes

Mortgage company called with little things that must be done to the house before closing. I told them to email it to me because I'm old and can't remember things on the phone. So that's what they're doing.

Plus the toilet in the master bedroom is leaking. Luckily it's clean water from the tank. I turned off the water, but can't get down to tighten the bolt. I told Kris I think she can do it; that we don't need to bother her dad with it. If I could bend well, I could do it. My animals liked it because it was another place they could get a drink of water. Unfortunately it soaked the old carpeting in there and it smells nasty. Guess I'll have to get the carpet cleaners in again--between that, Hunter's vomit stain, and Gussie's pee stain.

But at least we're getting close to closing on the house. That'll be nice. I'll have to find my own handyman however. It's easy when someone else is responsible for it. :) But I can't wait until it's all done. One less thing to worry about.

10/27 Too much

Too much to do. Work is requiring a lot of time and effort and it wears me out. I sure do enjoy the therapy part of the job though. I saw a new patient tonight and it's interesting to figure out the diagnosis and then come up with a treatment plan (with the client's major input).

Gus was thrilled to see me tonight and so was Bozie. It's nice to come home to pets when theyappreciate you. :)

Thanks for the photo, Beth. I just love it. This is one happy dog.

10/26 Soup and stuff

Made some spinach and potato soup and I always love to have that on cold days. It's both tasty and low calorie. For a while I took Gussie to Starbucks for me to do some work on my QU class. But it was so windy, even though it was sunny, that I put Gus in the car with some treats and went inside. Drank some wonderful hot green tea while I worked. Felt bad about Gus though.

Spent some time playing with him at home though, so I think he's happy.

Went shopping with Jane at CJ Banks. Everything was 40% off, so it was well worth the trip.

Back to work tomorrow. I've got myself double booked for therapy sessions at 4 tomorrow so I sure need to get that straightened out.

10/25 A good long walk with Gussie

The breast cancer walk was great today. The weather was perfect, the leaves were beautiful, and Gussie was well-behaved. We met Jan and Kris at 9 AM and the walk started around 10. I thought Gus and I would only do two miles because we usually only walk one mile, but we ended up doing all three. I sued my walking sticks and they really made a difference. I was so proud of both of us. He did get tired after about two miles and he just stopped abruptly which was hilarious. I think Cindy said he's done that with her before.

I ended up carrying him for about a half block and then he was ready to go again. I felt proud of both of us.

Tonight we went to Matt and Beth's for a fall fiesta. What fun! I brought Gus because he loves their kids and the feeling is mutual. They have a huge huskie named Storm and he is so calm and sweet with the munchkins. The kids played well and Beth had craft tables set up for them, and the evening culminated in a hay ride and hitting a pinata. Beth made it herself. She is so great with kids and so very creative. There were tons of kids there and every one of them had a great time. Most of them are still there, but Gus and I got tired. :)

10/24 Breast Cancer walk

Tomorrow Jan, Kris, and I are doing a local breast cancer walk. It starts at Washington Park and the walk goes to Madison Park and then returns. That will be such a beautiful walk, since Maine Street is full of lovely trees, most notably maples that will be gorgeous.

In the afternoon we're going to Matt and Beth's for a "fall fiesta." They're accepting food donations for food pantries, so that's a really good thing. It will be fun to be with family and friends too.

10/23 Gus

I know some people are celebrating their anniversaries today, and I'm sure Joe will honor them. (Happy anniversary, you guys!) But today is about Gussie. :)

He's six months old today. Can't believe it. He's still an adorable little critter and I'm crazy about him.

His mom gave birth last night (C-section) to several more little lhasa apsos, and there are three white and black ones. Gus was the only one in his litter. So this is big news. Wish I could have another dog, but I can't. One dog and one cat is plenty.

Happy six month birthday, little Gussie boy. You make me happy.

10/22 Dog poop

What a way to start the day! I was going out the front door this morning when I smelled an unmistakable odor. Yep--I'd stepped in dog poop. Dear Gussie left me a present in the dining room, an unusual occurrence. I was in a hurry to get to an appointment so just kicked off my new athletic shoes and put on my (very) old ones.

I still love the little crapper, but it wasn't love at first step this morning, that's for sure.

I'm going to have an easy, relaxing day at home with the animals today and then will teach tonight at QU. Sounds like a really good day to me.

10/21 GREAT news for YOU!

I've started another blog for all my bitching and moaning about pain. So you never have to read my whining anymore. You probably can't contain your happiness, right? Well, it's the least I could do for you. You've been reading this blog since December of '03. (Well, my Adventure blog from 12/03-6/04, and then this one after that.) I had to pay you back for your faithfulness. :) So this blog will go back to it's usual boring repertoire. No need to thank me.

Little Gus is just adorable. He passes out the minute I pick him up from Doggy Day Care. What a cutie. Elizabeth said she had to give him a bath because he was so dirty from digging in the mud and eating it. Does that remind you of another dog? Quincy used to do that all the time.

It's always an early night around here after Doggy Day Care. He is just plain worn out.

Today went fast at work and tonight I'll again spend time at the computer working on my QU class. I'll have time tomorrow as well since I have to stay home and rest after a procedure I have to have. (I didn't mention "pain," just said I'm having a procedure.)

My dear, beautiful, eight-year-old grand-daughter Kayla sprained or strained her achilles tendon while playing soccer. I feel so bad for her, but must confess she looks adorable with her crutches. (Hi, Kayla.)

10/20 Work day

Today just sped by. Can't believe how fast days happen when you're busy. And tonight I worked on the QU class. Gussie wasn't too happy about not getting a walk. But at least he goes to doggy day care tomorrow, so he'll have a wonderful day there. :)

10/18 A good day

I went to the Hannibal Folk Life Festival with Jane and Sarah. We met Jan and Kristen there. It was really fun. Jane made me take my walking sticks, and I'm so grateful she did. There was a lot of walking and it was painful after a while. So it was a good idea.

The day was super. After Hannibal we drove through Pike County to see the leaves. They weren't at peak yet, but it was still a lovely drive. We stopped in Barry to look at some crafts and we ran into Joe and Cindy--a really nice surprise. Then we drove on to Pittsfield where I bought two cool things for my back yard. Can't wait for spring to come so I can display them. :)

Then Jane, Sarah, Pete and I went to Cassano's for a quick dinner. Yum.

Now I'm home with sweet Gussie and Bozie and will have a very quiet night. Tomorrow I have to work all day on the class for Wednesday night. Love to all.

10/17 Nothing much

A busy day at work and I'm glad it's over. Gus and I will have to go in tomorrow to finish some stuff, but it shouldn't take too long.

Made my flight arrangements today to go to NC for Thanksgiving. It will be fun, but I'll sure miss little Gussie while I'm gone.

Guess that's it for today. Boring, I know.

Oh...wait...big news is that St. Joe let Gus out over lunch today because I had a meeting that was scheduled at the last minute. Thanks, St. Joe.

10/16 Misc

I got a beautiful picture frame with family engraved on it for Boss's Day. It's gorgeous and I appreciate it so much--also the funny card that came with it. Made me chuckle.

Gussie is so cute in his "shorn" state, but now that the weather is cold I almost feel guilty about having him shaved. Guess I can let his hair grow again until spring. We'll see if I'm patient enough.

Last night I started teaching a new course--Social and Cultural Conditions. It's going to be a great class--10 students who are near graduation. It's a senior level course. Last night started well, and I sure hope it continues.

Today I saw my doc--my bronchitis is totally gone. Yesterday I saw a neurosurgeon. He said my spinal stenosis was bad but he's seen worse. :) He also said I will need surgery some day because it's going to keep getting worse, but that I'd know when I need it, and then he'd do it. So that sounds like a deal. I'll hold out for a long, long time. :)

Decided today that I'm going to walk in the Avon Breast Cancer Walk, instead of working on the crew next year. I'll do my fundraising and my training. And if I can only walk a few miles, then so be it, but I'm going to do my best to walk the whole way.

I really miss my kids. It was amazing how sweet they were to me. The only bad thing was that when I had to go back to doing things for myself, my back started hurting again. However, I'm used to it again, so things are back to normal. :)

Love to all.

10/13 Story of Gus

I took Gus to the vet for his surgery for "cherry eye." When we got there the malady had disappeared. Doc said to wait until it comes back--and it definitely will. While we were there I said we might as well get him groomed, so he is back to his adorable, skinny self.

Will try to post pictures as soon as I can hook up my phone to my home computer. Problems there.

Had a rough day physically at work. My brother Joe helped me to carry out the yard waste tonight. I really appreciate it, Joe.

10/12 More family pics

I miss my family already, but I know they were all happy to arrive home. Here are a few more pictures:

10/11 Pictures of my loved ones

I'll write words later. For now, the pictures will tell you how happy I was that my family was here.


One happy grandmother


Beata and Jill


The gang--


A very proud and happy mother.


Jill, Kayla, and Hunter


Rob and Beata


Hunter and Kayla


The gang--Rob, Beata, Jill, Kayla, Hunter, me, and Gus.

10/7 So happy

Hear that purring sound? It's me. I'm so happy my family is here. Physical health has been really rough lately, but who cares...I'm in Grandma and Mommy heaven. No time to post anything original, so will copy what I wrote to my writer friends.

"Kids arrived Saturday. Am in nirvana.

Too much to write about, but some up and down news from the pain doctor.

Met with him late last week and was scheduled for another procedure today. My kids went with me. I got to watch it on the xray. Before he began the doc said, "I'm changing my mind. We can't do the blah blah blah. Your arthritis is so severe I can't get in between the bones." Imagine how sad I was to hear that.

Then he said, "So we'll move on to the next procedure." He did a test today to see if I would response to a radio wave procedure on a filament, like a nerve, next to my spinal cord. I had to wait about a half hour and he said if the pain was at least 50% better, then we could schedule the full procedure. Imagine my sadness when the pain in my buttocks was still horrible. Then he remembered that I had had lots of pain in my sacroiliac, and he hadn't done the test there. Turned out the place he'd done the test was totally pain free.

So Wednesday Rob and Jill will accompany me for the full procedure, which should help significantly with the pain.

I'm full of hope.

By the way, doctor's first name is Omid, which is Persian for hope.

More on family later."

Then today I wrote:

"We have tons of pictures and will post them soon. Right now I'm struggling a bit with my back.

Everyone arrived around 5:15 PM on Saturday. I had most of the relatives at my home already, so it was a noisy, wonderful welcome. Saturday was such fun.

Sunday we had our photos taken about an hour away in Missouri. They didn't turn out as well as hoped because the overcast day turned into bright sunlight, but it was the only time we could schedule. Those are the ones I will post in a little while.

Sunday night we had a wiener roast at my brother's cabin--an hour in the other direction. The kids drove kid-sized tractors and had a ball. The food was excellent, as well as the company.

Yesterday we went shopping for a 22 inch monitor for my laptop and some other office items, for the work I'll be doing for Rob and Beata's company. Before that we went to the clinic for the procedure that I already wrote about.

Last night Rob met up with his best friend and they sat and talked until midnight. The rest of us just relaxed and enjoyed the kids.

Today we are running errands, getting a few more things for my home office--a printer, fax, and copier combo and Office '07. Yay, fun stuff. And tonight we're going to my sister Jan's for dinner, so this will be another good day.

Tomorrow is another procedure followed by rest and teaching at the university.

Thursday we're going to Nauvoo, IL--historic in the Mormon faith. They've reconstructed a village from that time and it's such fun. The kids will love it.

More later. Love to all."

I promise pictures very soon.

10/03 Much better news!

I don't have pneumonia, which is great news. So here's hoping the damn bronchitis goes away soon.

And I met with the new pain doctor and for the first time I really have hope. He is going to do a new procedure on Monday. It's similar to an epidural, but the needle goes on the individual facets of the spine. He's also going to do something with radio waves on a nerve running next the spinal cord.

And for a change, I won't have to ask someone to give me a ride back from the procedure--my kids will be here. That'll be nice. So Monday is going to be a quiet day rather than an active one. But one day out of seven won't be bad.

The doc asked me what I wanted to do (activity wise). I said I wanted to do the Avon Breast Cancer Walk (40 miles). He asked when it was and I told him June. He said, "Okay."

That gives me hope.

In the meantime I slept all afternoon, which felt good. Tonight I'll use the nebulizer for the bronchitis and try the tens machine for the back pain. I got it from the physical therapist this morning. It's a personal version of the machine the therapist uses. Pain doc said that it works more for muscle pain and not the kind I have, but that anything (but surgery) was worth a try.

There's still lots of work to be done around here, but I may have my family make their own beds. That will help. Joe and Cindy came over and helped move stuff after the carpet cleaners were here. Jane is going to go grocery shopping with me tomorrow. So everything will be ready when my kids arrive.

I can't wait!

10/2 Don't bother reading....

it's just more about sickness.

Doc listened to my lungs and said, "We need to get an xray." I didn't even ask why, since I know several people who started with bronchitis and ended up with pneumonia. Don't know if I have it or not, guess I'll find out in a few days.

I have a nebulizer now and am using that four times a day. And doc told me I couldn't work for a few days. He even wrote it out. In order to be able to take off tomorrow, I worked until 7 pm tonight. Am pretty tired.

Because my back hurts so much worse I have an appointment tomorrow morning for physical therapy and then with the new pain doctor.

Have some different meds. Just hope I feel better by Saturday. At least bronchitis isn't contagious, so that's good news. :) Love to all.