5/26 Getting close

They aren't here yet, but are getting close.

Tonight's article is Update: Parents agree to chemo treatment for son

5/25 So much excitement

Rob and Beata (and Chilli) are on the road and should arrive tomorrow sometime. I can't wait.

Have been straightening up the house and have put in some more flowers in the yard. But I'll need help with more of them. The last poppy faded into oblivion--the storm knocked off the petals, so that made me sad. Wanted R and B to see those huge orange blooms. And of course Gussie had to pee on the rug. He's not had an accident in weeks. Guess this is to greet Chilli and let him know whose house it is.

Article tonight is Update: Arrest warrant lifted on cancer patient's mother

5-23-09 A great start to the weekend

Went to WW this morning and lost another three pounds so that makes me smile.

After breakfast with Jane and family, Gus and I went to work for a few hours. I have my new office pretty well organized. Now I just need to get some work done, which I'll do on Memorial Day.

Tonight we went for dinner at Jan and Tim's. Oh my it was so good and the weather was perfect. Gus had fun with their three dogs.

Tonight's article: The 90-years-plus club

5/20 Just everything

The poppies are blooming and will soon be gone. Some of the columbine are blooming with many more to come. The peonies are glorious and cheer me when I come home from work. Thanks so much Kris and Jan for making my beautiful little oasis.

My contributions are helping too. The only bad news is that the pole holding the birdhouse and flowers fell over during a bad storm. Jan thought she had it so far in the ground that it wouldn't dare fall over. Too bad. You tried, Sis.

I'll have Rob re-pot it. :) Plus he gets to put together my patio table and chairs.

He and Beata should be here Tuesday sometime. I'm taking off Wednesday and Friday, plus Thursday morning. I'm so excited.

Article tonight is--Update: Is it okay to let your child die?

5/18 Yum

Had another hard day at work, and Jane gave me some homemade soup. I don't have to cook tonight. As soon as I'm finished publishing this, I'm diving in. And she gave me a WW dessert too. Yay.

Tonight's article is Mothers have great influence over children's social skills

5/17 A beautiful day

What a gorgeous day, huh? Gussie and I walked for a mile or so. Then we went to Panera where Gussie held court again. My oh my he is so popular, and he behaves perfectly there. Quite unlike at home. I mean he's good at home but when a person comes in he jumps all over them. Not at Panera. He is a perfect gentleman. I love it and I'm happy he's so popular.

Tonight's article is Is it okay to let your child die?

Just a little over a week and Rob and Beatka will be here. I can't wait.

5/16 A good (and lazy) Saturday

Jane and I weighed in at WW and both did very well. Then Gussie and I went to the office for more than three hours. Afterward I came home and have been sleeping off and on. Have a terrible headache--a sure sign the weather will get bad again. Maybe it's a stress headache though and not related to weather at all. We'll see. And stress is probably why I'm so tired. But I move offices on Wednesday even though I'm still "the boss" until June 1.

Am on call right now so my slumber has been interrupted by crisis calls. How dare they! :)

Tonight's article is In the military you don't want anyone to think you're "crazy" (Hey, I have to have interesting titles to get people to read the articles.)

5/12 Storm's a'comin'

The air looks a weird shade of green outside my house. Don't know how I'd get all my pets in the basement if necessary. But I'd do it. Anyway, I think the really bad storms won't come until tomorrow night. We'll see....

Tonight's article is When a pet dies: Grieving is grieving and love is love

5/11 A good lunch and more

We had a healthy lunch at work for all of us who signed up for the getting fit program. It was a wonderful salad bar. But the fun was afterward. We got a lesson in Tai Chi. I've wanted to try that for a long time. And it was actually enjoyable. Very slow but I can feel that we did it.

Everyone says that Tai Chi is really good for your overall health, and the teacher talked a lot about arthritis and bad backs, so I know it was for me.

Tonight's article is New type of workplace violence: Women bullying women

5/10 Happy Mothers' Day

I've had a great day. Bought some outside furniture. (Thanks, Pete, for unloading it for me.) Gus and I sat outside while I started reading Twilight. I LOVE IT!

Rob and Beata called me today and so did Jill, so my Mothers' Day was perfect. Plus I got a package from B and R with a lovely turquoise necklace and earrings. Additionally, a shout out on Facebook, an email, and a text. How connected is that? I'm so grateful. Love you all so much.

Last night was tons of fun at Kris's bachelorette party. It started at 4 and I was done by 8. This is a real down side of being old. But it sure was fun while it lasted. :)

Tonight's article is Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi: Moms trust them most and so do I

5/8/09 A great day

My sister and brother-in-law (Jan and Tim) are celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary. That's really something to celebrate!

And 54 years ago today I made my first Communion. Another day to celebrate. :) I remember it very clearly. Feeling like a 7-year-old bride in my white dress and veil. It was such a special feeling. After the Mass, we went home and had a really big party and I got so many presents. I remember my godfather, Uncle Bob, gave me a statue of Mary and I treasured that for many years. Don't know what happened to it, but probably one of my five brothers broke it. When in doubt, blame it on your brother.

Tonight's article is Feel-good Friday: Use this plate to lose some weight

5/6 Last class

Tonight was the last class at QU for this semester. I love teaching, but it will be nice to have my Wednesdays back for a while. Thanks, Cindy, for taking care of Gussie all these weeks. You'll have some time off too. :)

Today was so crazy at work. I keep saying to myself--June 1 isn't that far away. The stress just exhausts me.

Tonight's article is a "feel-good" one for me--Katrina students graduate

5/5 A very long day

After a long day at work we had a dinner at Tony's Too for a colleague who's leaving. (I'm taking his place.) So I'm pooped.

But I still had to write an article. Tonight's is Second swine flu death confirmed: Stay calm

5/4 I've been a good girl

So far I've stuck to my eating plan. But now am sure ready for dinner. Just walked about a half mile tonight because of a dumb old foot, but it was sure nice anyway.

On our walk we stopped to see Cindy, Eric and Julie. And Kirby was a lunatic. Such a funny dog.

Tonight's article--Panic attacks: They can be cured

5/3 Fairly productive

Gussie and I walked a mile today, I watered my flowers, picked up the house, cleaned up a hairball (thanks, kitties), went to the grocery store, wrote my article and did laundry. Makes me tired just to read it. :)

Tonight's article is--Do you really want to know if someone is lying to you?

5/2 A day with ups and downs

A huge happy birthday to my favorite grand-daughter. Kayla is 9 years old today. Can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday I was holding this beautiful infant girl in my arms. She's still beautiful though. And quite the soccer player. She told me today, "You won't believe what happened. Mommy and Daddy and Uncle Joe and Aunt Cindy...(I had no idea where this was going)...gave me the same birthday card--a dalmatian with spots. Isn't that funny?"

She's adorable.

Then Pete had some problems today which caused a trip to the ER. He's absolutely fine now, but it caused a lot of worry for a short time.

Jan and I (and Gussie) went to the Juvenile Diabetes Walk at South Park. We were supposed to walk for an hour. Gussie and I made it for 33 minutes. Afterward Jan came over and planted some more flowers I'd bought. She's helped me so much and my backyard is looking really good. Last year the garden went to pot because I couldn't do anything at all. I can't do much now, but can do some things.

Jane, Pete, and I just returned from Ruby Tuesday for dinner. It was very good. Jane and I re-joined Weight Watchers this morning and we behaved very well at dinner.


Tonight's article is--Swine flu: More racist comments

5/1 Relaxing

I took the afternoon off and am happy. This afternoon I bought more goodies for my garden. Can't wait to plan more items, but may have to wait for Rob and Beata to arrive for some help. Jan said she may have time soon to do more planting. I'm okay either way.

Went to dinner at Maya tonight with Jan, Jane, Kris, and Sarah. It was delicious as usual. Then I wrote an article about racism--and mentioned Maya in it.

The flu virus isn't as bad as the racism virus