Kitty's Ramblings

Typed half of a blog, edited three rolls, but only scanned one roll

12:01 A.m. of Sunday – I’m still waiting for our room to “clear”. Scott has a stomach virus, and it’s going through both ends. I feel sorry for him, but the SMELL – quite literally – makes ME sick, too! My hyper sense of smell is going absolutely crazy, and I just can’t take it. Scott understands this, and knows I can’t be around him – which makes me feel even worse. I’m the wife; I’m supposed to be able to help him, somehow! Instead, I flee for the hills. Well, at least to the next room. There isn’t much I can do, but offer sympathy, anyway. And he’d rather I’d not gag around him.

Actually, Scott had a rather busy day today, before he felt so sick. This morning, before 8:00, he took the boys to a Father / Son Breakfast at the church. They returned about 9:45. Scott wasn’t feeling well, so he rested on the couch. Then he puttered in the garage, had lunch, and off he went to the Reichman’s – with middle son in tow – to finish fixing the door. They had a trip to Home Depot, and back again to finish the door.

Once the guys returned from that errand, Scott tried to fix the downstairs toilet, which seemed to be leaking. A pipe broke! The pipe that is on the bottom of the toilet – yeah, that large one that connects to the drain. Scot went back to Home Depot for parts, and went back home again. He didn’t wear a mask, and boy! Did that room smell like the sewer, or what?!?! (And he left the door open, because it’s a very small space in that room.) Scott must have breathed in a nasty, because he has been ill all evening, and still is while I’m writing, at 12:10 a.m.

My day? I got out of bed at 8:00 to eat breakfast – 1 small muffin. I played with girlie, then the dogs, who had to be involved too, of course! I did the accounting, read emails, and did surveys. (Just HOW do chips become “friends”? If Sun Chips were a person, would you say they are friendly, approachable, cold? Good Grief! They are CHIPS, not people!!)

I made a list of all the things I was taking to Neighborhood Needs, bagged / boxed it up, and packed it into the car. Middle son helped me pack, and then went with me for the delivery. He had mentioned that he wanted to make a shopping trip to Mardel’s, but I forgot, until we were more than half way home again. Oops!

Turned around, and went to Mardel’s. Come to find out, they were having a sale on t-shirts and cd’s! One day only, $7.99 each.

Oooohhhh! Scott had said he wanted cd’s to take to work, because it is quiet without people to talk to, and Christian stuff would be appreciated. So, I chose two Gaither cd’s, and son chose a couple more of other artists. (It occurs to me that I do not know my husband’s favorite artists, to know which cd’s to buy. I bought two that *I* like, so we can share J )

While we were there, son was looking at t-shirts, and wanted a couple. He also mentioned that he thought his older brother would like them, as some of the cartoons were funny. So, I called oldest son, who asked that I send pictures! Well, gee – over 60 shirts, and you want pictures?!? Just the ones you think I would like, Mom. Oh. So, I sent a few pictures. He later went to the store (with girlfriend in tow) and looked, too – and found a few shirts he liked, of course!

We went home, and I distracted Scott while son took our packages upstairs.

I spent most of the evening doing s/e&t – but I also played on Fb, too. I felt dizzy, so I took a rest on the couch, until 7:30. I made supper, but Scott and I didn’t eat it. (Both of us felt “off”, so food was not on the top of the list.)

We watched “Dr. Who” extras on a disc for quite some time, and it seems no one was willing to leave the couch, even to go to bed. So, the kids went to bed very late, and we did, too – but, by then, Scott was being sick, and for me, being around him made my own stomach get worse.

As I finish writing, our bathroom, our bedroom, AND the downstairs bathroom and living room all smell like a sick room! Where am I supposed to go, outside? Sheesh.

Day 2 of hormone pills – feel a little better, though a headache.

Scanned: half a roll, another half a roll (not the same roll), and three more complete rolls. Typed FIVE blogs!

WOW! I typed a lot today, and I’m almost caught up. (So much for that – I’m now typing on the 29^th, and ten days behind!) Once I AM caught up, I can re-start on the 207 blog, and get that finished up.

But, I’m “paying” for all of this sitting – my neck and shoulders hurt. I try to sit up straight, and yet I find myself curled over, with just my “claws” moving over the keyboard, mouse, and the scanner.

Scot slept in today, knowing that he needed to see fellow workers on the night shift. He left the house at 10:30.

I ate cereal today, because I was really hungry – and tired of yogurt for breakfast. I paid for that, too – cramps.

While I did the s/e&t, I’d get up to do something – anything: chase the dog, do a chore, run water for the fish tank – just anything to MOVE. At lunch, I read my Bible again – I’m caught up, finally! I took the kids to the library to turn in books, but first, we stopped to pick up middle son’s band uniform from the dry cleaner’s.

After the library, to Petco to purchase crickets. Went home, and fed the frogs. Hoppy frogs, hoppy frogs! Heehee.

Scott left work at 4:45, and went straight to Seagoville to retrieve oldest son, just returned from his two week duty in Georgia. They returned home by 7:30, stopping here at the house so son could retrieve his mail – and his mother could make sure he was okay J and Toby went wild! Missed the boy, I guess.

Once oldest son went back to his apartment, Scott went back to work. He still had the nightshift staff to meet with. He was there until 11:30.

For supper, I took the kids to Subway; we purchased sandwiches, and went home to eat them.

I went back to s/e&t, and girlie watched Little House on the Prairie on the ‘puter next to me. She watched two episodes – one before her shower, and one after. She was really upset about Laura’s injured horse – I would have been, too (and I was, though I know they didn’t actually shoot the horse) – but at her tender age, she “knows” they shot the horse! She cried a lot. Oh, I went through that! So, I just sat with girlie on my lap, and held her while she cried.

It was 11:50 as I finished writing; Scot had just come home and popped on the television, to sorta unwind before going to sleep. So, what does he watch? “Law & Order”. Great.

But, ooh, I’m sore from sitting so long in one spot!

Day 1 of Hormone pills

Edited 2 rolls – and Finished 1999 negatives! All of the pictures – that I have found, anyway, for 1999 – are on four cd’s, and stored on the Mionet, too. Whew! Now, to start on the year 2000… but it needs organization first, that’s for sure!

I also “fixed” the Wilder photo file – I added some pictures from “years” files, and added them to “Wilder” file, and then uploaded this – rather small – file to Facebook, so that my aunts and cousins can see the pictures. Unfortunately, there are not many pictures – but then, I haven’t really started on my negatives, to know what is in them – I just might have more pictures down the road! I also started to organize my movies, but that got confusing – I may have to take out all of the movies I have saved – all twelve of them – and start over. I’m trying to decide if I need to only save the file that the computer recognizes as the movie, or if I need all of the instructions for that particular movie, so I can make a disc later. (Or whatever technology comes along, may still need the instructions.) And some of the movies have the one file, the rest do not, but have the other files instead. I must have changed theories half way through!

Anyway, for today: Scott left for work around 7:00. I got out of bed at 8:30, while the girls and middle son were still asleep. I had my breakfast of yogurt – again – and a cinnamon roll. (Which actually stayed down! But I felt like I had eaten a rock.) I read my Bible, including two days worth of Old Testament.

The kids were up and around; I took my shower, and then did laundry. (Can’t have a shower and the laundry run at the same time – like many houses, the shower loses it’s “oomph” when other water is running in the house.)

I did the accounting, read my emails, and checked Fb. It took THREE HOURS to get through the “invites” for a game that I play, on FB! I kept getting “error”. So, while the page was reloading, I would chase the dog, go through the stack of papers on my desk and organize, shredded papers, and cleaned the kitchen – all between the “error” messages and once in awhile, I’d get the page I wanted. (The process usually only takes 20 minutes, not HOURS!)

After all that, I had lunch at 2:30! I tried reading my Bible – no go, the girls were watching a Muppet movie. I can’t concentrate on my Bible when the television is on, so I gave up. Now I’m behind by 3 chapters of New Testatment.

We went to the pool at 3:30, and only stayed until 4:15. Home, to quickly clean up, and take Destiny back to her house, and fetch my son from her house. Scott came home just as we were leaving – at 4:35! I did a quick turn around – we didn’t visit much.

Scott had discussed some private time – which went well. At 6:00, we went to the Reichman’s house; the Handyman Ministry had received a call that the back door needed repair. Scott wasn’t sure what he could do about it, but we thought we would at least look; he managed to fix the lock so the door would close. But, it still looks crooked in the frame, and the threshold needs to be replaced. Water pools on the brick step, and it has warped the concrete / metal pieces. And the screws are not holding well – the threading is gone.

Okay, the lock can be fixed, the crooked part fixed with a shim. But the concrete part might be beyond him, Scott says.

In the meantime – I’m admiring the house! Mr. Reichman is a born-again Christian Jew. Once a year, he takes a traveling tour of Israel, with about 40 people. And every year, he brings back artwork or wood pieces. And Mrs. Reichman did a wonderful job of blending antique wood furniture, pieces with various backgrounds that actually match each other! Oh, and of course, I had to admire the bunny J! Since She is often home alone, her only daughter decided she needed something to care for, so a baby bunny was the answer. Too funny!

With the door as finished as Scott could have it, we left to go out to eat at Jason’s Deli. We had a good supper!

We went home, and watched a couple of “Dr. Who” episodes. While the family watched the shows – since it was on the computer, I worked at the next one, editing pictures and making cd’s and updating the Mionet. I have a binder for the year 2000 film negatives – same as I do for every year that I took pictures. However, I also retrieved the box of pictures from the closet – only to find that at least half of the picture envelopes still have negatives in them! Hmm. I checked my notes – yep, I noted that negatives needed to be put in sheets, and which ones. I should decide whether to put the negs into sheets, or scan what is in the binder, and then scan the boxed … ok, so that was not too important to write about!

It was almost 12 as I finished writing. It was a quiet day!

Scanned three rolls – finished scanning 1999! (Still need to edit two rolls, though.) I edited the four rolls from Christmas.

Today was a different schedule. I got out of bed at 8:00, and ate my breakfast, and read my Bible. I took a shower, and all of us into the car to go to the orthodontist.

The three kids had appointments, all for 9:30. Didn’t work out that way, but all three were seen by the doctor, eventually! Girlie had her turn first – she now has three brackets of braces, all on her front teeth! She chose light purple, and bright blue bands. (This surprised me; I thought she would choose pink!) Youngest son went next, and he simply had his bands replaced – with neon green, and neon blue. Middle son was last; he had his “ramps” removed, new wires, and of course, new bands! (Actually, I haven’t looked, to see what color he has in his mouth!) Of course, there were other patients to be seen, so we were in the office for a couple of hours. We also saw the Pollacks there, a family that we are friends with.

We arrived home about 11:30. I ate my lunch, and read my Bible again – I’m caught up in the Old Testament reading, but still behind by several days in the New Testament. I did a bit on Fb, until the Wrights arrived at 2:30.

About 3:00 all of us to the pool to swim and play, until 4:15. I had sprayed sunscreen on my chest, arms, and back, and made sure it was well rubbed into my skin. And it worked, for the most part – but I forgot to put the stuff on my FACE. My nose is rather red! Not painful, but rather red.

Once we returned to the house, I let the kids have Popsicles. The Wrights left at 5:00, taking my youngest son with them, and leaving their daughter with me. The “child swap” will more than likely become a regular thing this summer! (It only lasts overnight, and until the next day, as schedules allow.)

Once they had left, I popped a lasagna into the oven. Scott came home at 6:00, just as the lasagna was finished. We already had garlic bread (heated in the oven, too) and salad leftover, so just added that to the mix for supper.

All of us ate – except middle son – he was at church from 3:00 to 8:00.

I had started scanning while I was playing on Fb – I’ve finished scanning the 1999 negatives! Whoohoo! A binder is finished – well, will be, after I edit the last two rolls, dated December 30^th, 1999. I uploaded Christmas pictures to Fb, so family can se them. I never remember which pictures I have sent to Grandma Hughes, and which ones I have not. I hope she sees these!

It was 12:10 a.m. as I finished writing – wow! The girls went to bed at 11:00, and middle son is still awake, watching a Star Gate program – with permission from his dad. Oops, wait – he just went to bed. Well, it’s late, anyway!

I scanned two rolls, and typed two long blogs.

I probably should have gone to the gym today, especially since I am not going to have the opportunity to go tomorrow.

Scott left for work at 6:30. I got out of bed at 7:30, with the sun in my face from a slice in the window that isn’t covered by the curtain. Once out of bed, I took care of the critters, and then ate my breakfast. By then, girlie had joined me at the table. I read my Bible – two days worth! I went to the backyard to hack the Morning Glories that had – again – covered up my rose bushes.

And then, something strange – my neighbor to the West, whose dog had been chewing the fence, decided to come to our door. He asked me if I knew anything about his wife – last night, someone threw bottles at her as she got out of her car. He accused another neighbor, just a couple of doors down on the street that meets my street. No, no, I had not heard anything like that, nor seen any broken bottles anywhere. He then went into his recent history, telling me his wife had a restraining order against him, he had never hurt her, but they always had fights… a very long story, in which he tried to defend himself from unheard rumors, I suppose.

Forgive me, father – I’m not a great Christian person. I tried to listen, and be attentive – but it’s none of my business, I really do not care. I’ve lived my own horror story, and hearing the excuses this man gave for his behavior was all too familiar.

I finally escaped, with the excuse that I needed to get back to my yard work. (Which I did – it was already getting rather warm.) So, right back to hacking, and pulling – and trying to NOT catch the rose stems in with the vines.

Ten minutes later, the man came back! First, he wanted to know if I wanted his leftover weed-n-feed. Huh? Uh, no, thanks. Then, right back to his whining, where he had left off. This was just too weird for me – this guy, who hasn’t said much to me, except for excuses as to why he didn’t have money for a new fence, now had a lot to say. And he wanted to borrow my phone, call his wife, and get permission to mow the lawn. Ummm….(he never did mow the lawn) he just gave me a creepy feeling. I excused myself, and went back to work.

I finished my task, and went to the computer to do the accounting, read emails, do surveys, and check Facebook.

About every 20 minutes, I’d stop whatever I was doing, jump around, and back to work. (I chased the dog, ran up and down stairs, out to the mailbox and back, etc.)

At 12:00, I did the Wii - for the first time in 28 days! At 1:30, after a shower, I had my lunch – and read my Bible again. I’m still behind by two days.

I took middle son to the doctor, for his camp exams. He also had to have two shots – though, one needle – to be ready for school, apparently. Son also had his first, umm, “man test”. He didn’t know this was coming (neither did I!); he was embarrassed about being naked. I looked down at my purse on the floor, and bent over to fiddle with my phone, rather than pick it up to look at it, so that my face was away, and vision covered. Didn’t see a thing. Though, I did hear the coughing J so I knew when they were done.

Once the exam was finished, and the forms filled out for the two camps, we headed out. Next stop, Petco, to purchase crickets. Then to the Dollar Store for treats, and Walgreens to pick up my prescription.

We went home, and I was getting the kids ready to go to the pool, Charlie’s mom came by, and asked to take the youngers swimming with her and Charlie. Well, sure, they can go! I did a bit of computer work, and then went to my own – crowded – community pool about 4:30. There was a new, female guard. I swam about for a bit. I watched whole crowds of teenagers leave, hand the card to another teen, and he let in eight more teenagers. With filthy mouths, and loud music, and careless-around-the-pool-and-people attitudes. Yikes!

So, I left. I hope the guard gets better instructions! As it is, I told her that the rules state no floats in the pool – and she asked the one person to not use hers. The guard didn’t know the rules were posted, or never thought to look, or just did not care.

I went home to shower, as Scott drove home from work. We had decided on fish for supper, but once he arrived home, Scott changed his mind about cooking. He went back out, to the grocery store, for garlic bread and salad dressing. I made the salad while he was out, so it was ready by the time he returned. Middle son had started the spaghetti and meatballs. I only ate the salad and a piece of garlic bread.

It was almost 11:00, and the supper I ate was still coming up. Guess I ate too much. (I had yogurt for breakfast, for the 2^nd day in a row. A slice of orange pepper, and a slice of cheddar cheese for snack. Then, a bowl of cereal for lunch.) I’m eating less, and “light”, so not much tummy trouble, but there has not been much weight loss – or gain.

After supper and one “Dr. Who”, I went to the computer to do some s/e&t. I’m working on the Christmas 1999 film negatives, so I’m not going to edit them until all re in the computer, just to make sure the organization makes sense. This makes them easier to organize!

It was 11:00 as I finished writing. Scott is reading.