Dec 31st

This is my mother’s birthday. She would have been 88.
It’s that time again when each news program reviews the top stories of the year and remembers those we lost this last year. Believe it or not I had my biggest reaction being reminded that Soupy Sales died this year. He had a local kids show on TV when I was in jr high and high school and we thought he was great.
From a personal standpoint this past year was OK. From a political standpoint I think the past year has been the worst I’ve seen.

Here’s hoping for a better 2010.

Happy New Year!

Last Wednesday of the Year

There is 1 more day left in the year and 1 fewer possum in our neighborhood.

Last night as I opened the door to go out and feed Meredith I frightened a big possum that was feeding on the cat food. It waddled off. After feeding the cat I went about setting the live catch trap. I baited it with tangerines, marshmallows and some peanuts—things I thought might get the critter and not attract a cat. It worked. This morning the possum was trapped . So my first task this morning was to move the thing to a new neighborhood.

Penny and I also went to Home Depot to buy the first installment of lumber for the kitchen island. We got excellent assistance at the store. I got help selecting plywood and they loaded the trailer for me. It saved some stress on my thumbs.

Penny felt well enough to help move the wood to the shed but for some reason after we finished that I didn’t feel great. That went away at lunchtime but I felt tired for the rest of the day. I guess I’ve got the end-of-the-year funk.

Last Tuesday of the Year

As we approach the end of the year I’d like to share with you the words of Dave Barry:
“It was a year of Hope -- at first in the sense of ``I feel hopeful!'' and later in the sense of ``I hope this year ends soon!''


It was also a year of Change, especially in Washington, where the tired old hacks of yesteryear finally yielded the reins of power to a group of fresh, young, idealistic, new-idea outsiders such as Nancy Pelosi. As a result Washington, rejecting ``business as usual,'' finally stopped trying to solve every problem by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at it and instead started trying to solve every problem by throwing trillions of taxpayer dollars at it.”

Penny felt well enough today to want to go to Harbordocks. She wanted to see how it looked after the remodeling was complete. To me it didn’t look that different. It was cleaned up and some seating changes incorporated. The food remains spectacular. Today I had Sesame fried Grouper with cheese grits and slaw.

We found out today that Harbordocks has a lunch card. Lunch there 8 times and get your next lunch free. They’ve been doing this “for a long time” and we just didn’t know about it.

We actually went out to Destin, ate and returned home with no other stops. We usually use the restaurant as a starting point for shopping. Today we couldn’t think of anything we needed or wanted to shop for. Only 2 shopping days left this year!

Last Monday This Year

We drove back from Jacksonville yesterday and didn’t do much once we were home. We had a relaxing and enjoyable family Christmas.   Penny is feeling badly and didn’t get any better overnight. She spent the day today in bed. I decided it was a good day to do laundry and housework and be around for Penny if she needed me.

I watched 2 DVDs in the From Earth to the Moon series (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120570/ ) series about our Apollo Program while I was doing the house stuff. I am enjoying the series.

Freezing weather has arrived this year so I made sure the outside cats were well fed tonight. They need the extra calories to keep warm.

Us Day

We decided to spend an “us” day today. I was sick so much these last 2 months that Penny and I really didn’t spend much quality time together.

We started with lunch at Harbor docks. Next we went to Pensacola to a fabric shop Penny has been wanting to go to. She had a wonderful time there. Finally we went to Harbor Freight looking for stocking stuffers. We didn’t find much but did pick up some stuff for us.

We finished the day with a dinner of crackers, cheese and apples.

It Was 20-Years Ago Today

Yes, indeed. The big news story today was the “big snow” that happened in 1989. I was watching the Panama City TV station and their coverage included news clips from that day. We got a 1-2.5 inch snowfall followed by 3 days of cold temperature.
I know Karen will find it interesting that the news anchor for the evening news 20 years ago is still the news anchor today. It is an interesting contrast to most TV stations. There is just not a lot of turnover at the local stations.

Karen and Christy probably remember that snowfall because we had some of their friends over . I think it was Jennifer and Stephanie and maybe Katrina. I’ve got it on video somewhere but it’s not a tape I’ve transferred to DVD yet.

I spent a couple hours today checking the cars out to be ready for any upcoming travel. I finished reading the half blood prince Harry Potter book while I was doing the cars. I actually enjoyed the book. J K Rowling’s writing has matured with the characters and Jim Dale’s reading performance is as good as it gets for audio books. I got this copy of the book from our dentist. I’ve already got the last book in the series (from our library surprisingly) so I’ll probably read it when I’m working on the rolling kitchen island for C&C.

I may get started on that project next week. I’ve done about ¾ of the preparation I need before I actually start to cut wood. Here’s a drawing of the design I have in mind.

The top of the island is a 50’s vintage red Formica table top. The island will be about 4 ft long, 30 inches deep and about 3 ft tall.

I talked to my Aunt Dot today. I tried to call her last night and missed her so she called me this morning. She’s still feeling stress from losing her husband but she is moving on nicely. She’s joined a church and a local senior’s center and is getting great support from family. She’s got Christmas weekend all planned out and it sounds like she will have a nice Christmas.

Haircut and Lunch With Lou

It is Monday, laundry day and in between our other activities today I got the weeks laundry done.

After getting my hair cut Penny and I headed out to Niceville to have Christmas lunch with brother Louie. We went to a place called T. R. Frogs. Lou said someone told him they had the best pizza. He got pizza , he ate a whole medium pizza, I had fish tacos and Penny got a Hawaiian burger with gouda cheese grits. My tacos were good but after tasting Penny’s cheese grits I wished I had ordered them as my side instead of steamed broccoli.

Lou is getting along well with the Niceville folks. They seem to appreciate him and also understand that he needs help sometimes—and they give it. It’s good to see him happy with his life.

We gave Lou a ride to the Laundromat and back to his bungalow and came home. Lou will spend Christmas with the Pastor.

Tomorrow will be spent getting ready for Christmas.

Beach House Pictures

Christy wanted some pictures of the beach house we are renting for the wedding.  I thought this was the quickest, easiest way to send them.

No Pill—No Ill

I finished the nasty antibiotic pills I was taking yesterday. Today I was much better. What I had the last couple of days was induced by the pills.

Penny went to a baby shower last night so we ended up going to church this morning. We were treated to an inspirational homily by Father Pathe. I’ve liked everything about this priest except when I saw him do a wedding. He was too fussy about the details of the ceremony and it detracted from the wedding. Otherwise he is a knowledgeable biblical scholar and an accomplished speaker. Today he painted a verbal picture about the way we might experience God in our lives and he had everyone in a trance entering into his imagery and being mentally led to his message. I almost expected him to snap his fingers at the end to bring everyone out of his spell.

This weeks the parish newsletter has a 12 min clip of father pathe talking about advent.  http://www.pt-dccr.org/

Each time I hear him speak I savor it. It’s like hearing Walt Richardson sing. I never know whether this will be the last time I hear him. He is quite old and getting frail.

We’ve had 2 cold days in a row now and I’m making sure the outside cats are well-fed. Penny made turkey soup for me this weekend out of the carcass of our thanksgiving turkey. She had pieces of skin and bits of meat left that didn’t make it into the soup and also some ham hock skin left over from peas, beans and okra she made. Tonight all 4 cats were there and they got a big plate of turkey mixed in with a can of wet food. They liked it.

I dug out our old Disney Christmas cassette today. In the process I also picked up the last wake-up tape we used to get the kids up oh-so-many-years ago. I listened to it on a quick trip into town. I only heard the first 3 songs—For Baby by John Denver—Do You Love Me (now that I can dance) and You Can’t Touch This by M C Hammer. There are lots of memories there getting the kids up and dancing to the music on the way to breakfast.

We are going to take Lou out for a Christmas lunch tomorrow. He’s going to spend Christmas day with the pastor. He is being treated very well by the Niceville congregation.

Paul Update

Here it is Friday already and I’m still not 100 %.  I have 1 more day to take those yucky pills.  Then I’ll find out if it is the medicine or something else making me feel bad.

I’ve been doing various inside tasks this week- laundry, end-of-year budgeting, backing up computer files.  I also set up some Christmas decorations in the front yard.

I’m not doing anything interesting and don’t feel the inspiration to blog.

Here’s to feeling better this weekend.

Getting Better?

I’ve been sick for something close to 5 out of the last 6 weeks. It sure did spoil the Fall. Lots of things didn’t get done. And now there is catching up to do. I’m glad I was OK for Thanksgiving.

I’m not back 100% yet—maybe 25-50%--but I’m feeling much better. My biggest issue is taking the antibiotic pills that the doc prescribed in the proper manner. I have to take them twice a day on an empty stomach (at least 2-hours since last easting), stay upright (sitting or standing) for a half-hour and eat no sooner than 1 hour after taking it. This morning I tried to cheat and went back to bed after taking the pill and fell asleep in a ¾ sitting position. It was not good enough and I had to pay the penalty.

The good news is that the weather has been miserable for the past week so I couldn’t do those outside things I need to do anyway.

Who knows, I may feel well enough to get back on that treadmill before the weeks up.

A Cocktail, a Shot and to Bed With You

Those are the doctor’s orders. The cocktail was a 3 oz cup of some chalky cherry flavored concoction to settle down my acid reflux. The shot was an anti-inflamatory to beat back the effects of a virus the Dr thinks I have. The Doc thinks the virus can explain my symptoms. He also got lab work done to see if I’m viral or bacterial.

I got 3 subscriptions filled on the way home (cost $3.65—generics are great). I took a 2+ hour nap when I got home and when I woke up…. I hurt worse than I have all day.

If this treatment works I should be feeling better in about 3 days. Good night.

Got a Bug

I got on the treadmill 4 days ago making another attempt to get into a regular exercise regimen. The next morning I began to feel achy all over and an upset stomach. Surprisingly I had one good belch and began to feel better.

The next day my chest hurt all over, I had an upset stomach on and off, a little bit of scratchy throat and my middle ears were achy. Today I was achy all day. We did Waffle House and Lowe’s—a couple other stops and then home. I still felt like crap. I checked out the car—making sure it was ready for our upcoming trip (even if I wasn't). Then I went inside and took a nap until it was time for church. I could hear my heart beat in my ears which were also ringing.

I didn’t have a fever so I figured church was OK. When I got home my lips were dry so I drank some water. At this point I had a slight fever (100). Finally a little after 8 PM, while we were talking to Christy on the phone my fever broke and I began sweating profusely. Just like that the achyness is gone! My ears are ringing but I feel a lot better,

I need to stay off that treadmill.