A Quick Trip

Today was not a good day.  I felt miserable.  So, I packed for my weekend trip to Ohio.  Packed Penny’s stuff for her stay at Companion Boarding.  Worked on my genealogy.  Read a little bit.  Talked to Jana on the phone.  Visited with Renea (she came over to see my curtains).  Talked to Brian on the phone.  Saw on facebook that Steven is home.  Did my physical therapy.  Can’t believe how tired I am.

WOW!  We had a doozy of a storm last night.  Lots of thunder and lightning and even some rain.  Miss Penny snuggled with me.  I don’t think she liked it. 

Today is getting ready for Ohio.  Just plan to be there over the weekend.  This afternoon I will be taking Miss Penny to Companion Animal Clinic.  I board her there when necessary.  They spoil her just as much as I do.  I am all packed and everything is sitting in my dining room.  Miss Penny knows something is going on.  In fact, she makes me feel guilty.  She hides under the table or a chair and looks at me with such sad eyes.  But, I know she will be fine staying with the girls at Companion. 

We left Friday morning.  Kevin drove.  We went in Renea’s car.  Had a nice trip to Cincinnati.  Went up I-75 and it took about ten hours.  Went straight to Jana’s house, unloaded the car and met Mattie.  She is adorable.  The four of us went to Skyline for supper then Kevin and Renea went to Brian’s because they will be staying there. I stayed with Jana.  I did my pt and went to bed at the usual time.

After breakfast Saturday morning Jana and I went to Shoe Carnival.  I bought two pair of East Spirit shoes.  I have more trouble finding the kind of shoes I want, but I know they will have them.  I bought New Balance the last time and I do not like them.  Went back home and had lunch.  Jana and I then headed to Brian and Tracy’s.

We had a really good time.  It was hot, and a lot of the group went swimming.  The rest of us sat on the deck in the shade.  Rita and Bob were there, and it was good to see them.  They put their house for sale on Sunday.  Minnie and Frank (Minnie is Tracy’s Aunt) were there.  It was good to see them also.  Brandon was there, and his mom and her fiancé stopped by later in the afternoon.  Samantha and Brandon are engaged, and her ring is beautiful.  And, of course, Steven was there.  He was the reason for the party.  He will be in town about a month.  It was good to see him.  He is so grown up and looks really good.  Tracy’s sister came bringing food and her son Dom.  Several of Steven’s friends stopped by.  Bradley and Brianna were there.  James and Kerri stopped with their two girls.  Needless to say there was a good crowd to see Steven.

The day before Steven and Brian spent the day cooking so they wouldn’t have to do so on Saturday.  The food was delicious!  And, they had plenty. 

Jana and I left shortly after supper.  The heat and trip to Cincinnati finally caught up with me.  We went back to Jana’s and basically crashed. 

Kevin and Renea picked me up Sunday morning about seven o’clock and we headed for home.  Had a nice trip back.  Didn’t do much after arriving.  Just got a good night’s sleep.

New Curtains

I’m back.  Yesterday (Thursday) I had the oil changed in my car.  They also rotated the tires, and checked the brakes.  All is well.  I wanted everything checked before we headed to Ohio.  We (Kevin, Renea and I) will be there for one day.  We will travel on Friday, be there on Saturday and come back home on Sunday.  Steven is coming home from Hawaii, and Brian is having an open house type party so we can all visit with him.  He will be home for about a month.  I have made arrangements to board Penny.  However, Stephanie and Rebecca (Bruce and Jennifer’s daughter) will be staying at Kevin and Renea’s to take care of the dogs.

After I had the car taken care of I went to Barnes and Nobels.  I bought a couple of books.  Not many new ones out there that I am looking for right now.  After leaving there I went to WalMart which is in the same shopping area and bought a few groceries.  I also bought curtain rods for my new living room curtains.  I then headed home.  I was shocked at the amount of traffic.  I’m usually not out driving at that time of day. 

After I finished eating supper I had planned on doing my physical therapy since I didn’t do it earlier.  However……I was kidnapped by my next door neighbors to go with them to see Bruce and Jennifer’s new house.  It is big and beautiful.  And, they were kind enough to bring me back home.  By then it was almost bedtime and I’m sorry to say I didn’t do my physical therapy.

Woke up bright and early this morning (Friday) and after I ate breakfast and started my laundry.  I did my physical therapy.  If all goes well I hope to do another session later this afternoon or evening.  Depends on how tired I am.  My laundry is now finished, dishes are done and the house has been straightened up.  Time for a break.

No, I didn’t do another session of physical therapy.  I was too tired.

Saturday I woke feeling miserable.  Had a lazy day.  I did do my pt, but I did it in “sections” kind of like I mow my grass.  Kevin did mow the back yard.  He stopped in to tell me my mower is out of commission.  Something has broken on it and he will be fixing it when he gets a chance.  That’s okay because he has been mowing my grass since I have been having my dizzy spells, etc.  Now I have another excuse J 

YEA!!!! We had some rain today so I won’t have to water the trees and plants.  I received my water bill yesterday and it was triple what it normally is.  Hope we get more rain!

Forget more rain.  I am back to watering everything.  Right now the most important item is the dawn redwood tree (Jim’s tree).  It is starting to look better.

Yesterday I had my physical therapy and she added a few more things to do.  I sure hope this helps.  After the pt I am always tired, so the rest of the day was kind of lazy.  On the way home Renea (she was driving) and I came to a complete stop on Hwy 80.  The police were making everyone turn around.  That was interesting because we don’t know the back roads too well.  So we got out the GPS and found our way.  Turns out there was a wreck between a tractor trailer truck and SUV.  Five people were killed including two children.  So said.  Don’t know any details.

This morning I washed the windows in the living room and hung my new curtains.  They are burlap, and I’m glad I went with them.  I really like the way they look.  Now let’s see how long it takes for Penny to try taking them down.  I hung them differently so she shouldn’t be able to

Do that.  I did hang them in a way that she can look out the windows.  Now it’s time for a rest before I do anything else.

Did you see her waiting to check them out?  This is going to be fun :)

Physical Therapy

It’s been a couple of slow days.  I had two days where I felt really good.  Now everything is back with a vengeance.  I am still doing my PT at home, but I don’t think it is helping.  Monday I start taking my PT at the Speech and Hearing Center along with what I do at home.  I sure hope we make some progress.

I have been busy with my genealogy.  I am working on my Mother’s side of her family.  Namely, her Mother’s side.  I have found that one of our ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War.  I think that is so awesome.  I am researching to find out more information about him. I am also planning to sign up for another class.  So, I have been busy, but it’s all been sitting down work.

It has been extremely hot here.  Temps have been in the upper 90’s with feels like in the triple digits.  Therefore, I am staying inside!  Of course, as far as the rain, we are in the donut hole again.  We get a few sprinkles, hear some thunder, and that’s about it.  My water bill is going to be astronomical this month.

We are now going to skip a couple of days.  I have started my physical therapy.  I will be going every Monday morning for 45 minutes.  I thought, gee, that’s not bad.  Well, it’s a good thing Renea went with me to drive home.  I would never have made it by myself.  The therapist gave me numerous exercises to do at home which takes about 45 minutes.  I am worn out when finished.  I sure hope this helps.  I do half in the morning and half in the afternoon.  Ashley said that would be okay. 

I have now finished my genealogy class.  This one was very informative and should help me find a lot of information.  Lately I have been “organizing” all the information I have.  I seem to collect more pieces of paper, both printed and handwritten.  I decided it was time to organize them so I have some idea of what I am searching for.  I have been working on Leipnitz/Nessler; Althoefer/Meyers; (they are all on my dad’s side); then Heltman/Miller (they are on my mom’s mother’s side).  I am getting ready to start on mom’s dad’s side which is Myers/Irwin.  Then I will be ready to do more research.  So far I have traced the Heltman’s back to the 1600s.  I found a couple of men who served in the Revolutionary War.  My Grandma Heltman was a member of the DAR.  This is getting more interesting all the time.  I still have a lot of research to do here.

Updates later.

Exciting Times Ahead

This afternoon I took Nicholas to his wrestling practice.  He will be going to Smith Station School and I had no idea how to get there.  He had directions on his phone and we did just fine.  I will be taking him again tomorrow since Renea still cannot drive.  I will also take him to his physical therapy tomorrow.  We will probably go there first and then straight to practice.  His dad, Bruce, picks him up from practice.

Tuesday morning Nicholas painted my entrance fence.  It sure looks good.  I will take some pictures later.  I watered several trees and my plants.  Several more plants have died.  And, I am still worried about Jim’s tree.  It does not look good.  I watered it this morning.  Sure hope it survives.

Nicholas came over a little while ago and we put together Penny’s Kitty Condo that I bought for when Jana comes to visit with Mattie.  It was supposed to be a one person job, but it took both of us.  Penny hid while we put it together.  Should be interesting to see if she will even go in it on her own.  I plan to leave it up hoping she gets used to it and will go in.  Of course, just like the kids, she prefers the box it came in J

Thursday was grocery day.  Didn’t do much else.  Not the best of days.  And…..we had a really good rain!  Yea!  Watched Home Free last night.  I kind of like that show.  I have a whole new respect for Tim Tebow.

Friday – today was laundry day plus a lot of other chores.  I didn’t have the best of days, but I still finished a lot of things on my list.  Watering the dawn redwood tree now.  It has been hot and sunny.  I sure am trying to save that tree. 

I received a phone call this afternoon regarding my physical therapy.  Starting July 11^th I will be going for 10 weeks every Monday morning.  They will be 45 minute sessions.  I sure hope they help.  Today has been a really bad day.

Yesterday was Sunday, July 3^rd.  However, we celebrated like it was July 4^th.  We celebrated Stephanie’s birthday.  She turned 22 on July 4^th; only eight years from being thirty J  Kevin fixed a pork butt in the smoker and Renea fixed baked beans and macaroni salad.  We had a birthday cake and cupcakes.  Everything was great. 

About 9:30 p.m. we had fireworks.  Kevin and Bruce bought a bunch of them.  Ryan, Nicholas and Josh had a great time setting them off.  The show lasted about an hour.  It all took place on KARSAKERFARM.  At one point, between fireworks, we saw a shooting star.  How appropriate.

Also, yesterday, Samantha became engaged to Brandon.  Congratulations to both of them.

We also found out that Steven will be home on leave for a month beginning later this month into August. 

Earlier this month we were told that Bradley and Brianna will be getting married on 7/17/2017.

Exciting times ahead!