Went to the funerals. Made it through the whole day, both days. Saw Grace, briefly, at Mike's funeral. I didn't go over to Helen's house afterwards, it would have been too much as I had to stop at the Tractor Supply store on my way home.

I returned the pole for the Purple Martin house that I bought last year...it had parts missing and no directions...someone had opened the box before I got it. I wanted to do a swap for a new pole, but there was only one box and guess what? Someone had opened it and there were NO parts (just the pole) and no directions!

I got a rain check. Hope it comes in fast, the birds will be in the neighborhood any day now. If they don't find a house, they'll nest elsewhere.

Speaking of birds, the hummers are here. Sandy had one buzz her tonight out on the deck. I immediately got up and put the water on to boil to make food for them. Tomorrow I'll put out the feeders and sit back and watch.

Saw Scott at Pat's funeral...and Rose Josiah and Della Evans. Haven't seen those two in ages. Meghan Stone dropped in when we were out in the parking lot after it was all over.

I didn't go to the VFW for the after service get-together....again it would have been too much and in the middle of the ceremony it dawned on me that I had to go get my bloodwork done! I stopped by Backus on the way home and got that chore taken care of.

There was a good group in the waiting room while I was there, we were all chatting and laughing. A lot livelier and funnier than the group that is there when I go in the AM...I think I'll go on Friday afternoons from now on!

What am I talking? I'm hoping that was the last time in a long time that I have to go to Backus for bloodwork! Next week I get it done at Women and Infants and after that, I shouldn't need regular testing....except for my physical.

My counts are down a bit. I notice some bruises on my arms and I have no idea where how I got them. Also, I cut myself on a scissors tonight and I was bleeding all over the keyboard, and the cut wasn't that bad! So...I guess I still have to be careful...as much as it pains me to say it.

Tomorrow Deanna and Lorraine are coming by and we are going to Buttonwoods for ice cream...because we can. Sandy has the weekend off, because of her new job and she is going to relish every second of it...she will be relishing a few hours in the AM as she stays in bed late!

I'm looking forward to planting the seeds I have picked up. I got some seed pots and will be keeping them under the plant light system in the cellar until I'm sure there is no danger of frost..which might not be until JULY at the rate we are going!

I got some roma tomato seeds and some cherry tomato; a variety of morning glories to plant around the arbor; and some herbs etc. I picked up a herb pack and a salsa pack at Ocean State, we'll see how they do...I didn't pay a fortune for them...it's an experiment on my part.

If it works, we have herbs and salsa!

Ooooooh...the Sox are tied in the ninth vs Baltimore. There is one out and two on....here's hoping the Sox can cash in on this opportunity. Of course, the way they seem to be enjoying extra inning games so far this season....

I have a "new" night time routine....I have a glass of wine and two pieces of chocolate to finish my day. Birgitta gave me this in Sweden when I visited and I loved the combo. Tonight I had two Lindor truffles and wine.

The wine helps me sleep I swear. I just have a little glass, but it's enough to just make me sleepy. And that is a HUGE thing for me...who lies awake for hours many a night.

Uh oh...JD just struck out....two down, two on.

Big Papi...can he get it done?

I don't have the confidence I used to have....I don't think anyone does anymore. It's sad,really. But wouldn't it be something if he put it outta there???

Let's watch.....

Baseball is soooooo slow....a beautiful part of the game I think.

Still watching....

More shots of players in the dugout...now it's 3-1...will he be swinging???

He swung...two strikes....they fooled him....

He got fooled again! Struck out!

SURPRISE!!! We're headed to the 10th inning!

Well...I'll be finishing this and signing off. I'll stay up awhile to see if they get the W...big day again tomorrow...have to get my sleep.

Nighty night!

Been busy spending money. Bought some pillow cases from Overstock.com. I had ordered sheets from bestbargains.com, but they only come with two pillowcases. We have SIX pillows on our bed! So, I shopped around for "generic" pillowcases and got pretty good prices on Overstock (the site Maria swears by).

Good prices and all...pillowcases are still damned expensive! Why the hell do we have to have six pillows on our bed???

I'm not giving up my pillows. When I was a kid I used to dream of the day that I would have two pillows. I guess I wasn't content with that...I had to get greedy and add two more.

Yes, Sandy manages to "make do" with "only" two pillows!

I've been busy.

Yesterday I got up at 11 AM and cleaned the first floor, dusted, vacuumed, scrubbed the bathroom, scrubbed the sink, windexed everything that has a glassy surface. I would do a job, sit and take a break, work some more, break, etc. It was very satisfying and I slept like a log last night.

Which means I got up earlier today: I rolled out of bed before 9 AM. Today was clean the second floor day...and iron Sandy's outfits for work and do laundry. Did it all, folks! Then I felt sick...took a long nap and felt better.

Joanie Phelps surprised me with a phone call this AM...said she was coming up to see me and bring me something. She came a bit before 6PM and presented me with a FANTASTIC AUTOGRAPHED picture of Maya Moore in a game vs North Carolina. I was so
thrilled and surprised with this wonderful gift! She bought it at a silent auction at her church to raise money for the youth group. It is fantastic and now I have to find a great place to hang it.

Then Sandy came home from her training day in Massachusetts. I made shrimp scampi and a nice Ceasar salad....a simple meal that took me all of a half hour to put together. We even sat down at the table to eat...like real human beings. For too long now we have eaten on tv trays in the living room, while we watch our recorded shows, because of Sandy's old work schedule...we didn't have that much time together so we got into that horrible habit. I'm trying to get us back to the table.
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Now that she has a job she can talk about without it being a HIPPA violation, we can sit and eat and chat about her job. She likes the job. Oh, yesterday she took some pictures of her office on her iPhone and sent them to me. I am so happy for her...she has always wanted to have an office and now she has a very nice one...albeit small. She shares her office with another person...as I did when I went to work for the state. But the difference is, her office mate is very nice...not a crazed prankster like my office mate was!

Tonight I feel so good I actually had a glass of wine. A small glass...so I had another. Now I'll take my meds and I will sleep like a baby!

On an ending note, read the names of two friends in today's obituaries. First, Mike Molonson...Grace's brother...who I got to know over the years. A true Gentle Giant. He died very suddenly, but in doing so, avoided a horrible death from bone cancer. He didn't even know he had cancer...and it was at stage four. A blood clot mercifully ended it for him before he could even spend a week in the hospital. I think it was for the best.

The second name was Patsy Dickson...who had the office next to mine for awhile at Seaside. We always had a good time and I have many fond memories of Patsy. She retired around the time I did and I haven't seen her since...I wish I had called her now. I used to go by her house occasionally, but dike didn't feel free to just drop in. I hope this makes me smarten up....and I don't make that same mistake with someone else down the road.

I'll sign off with that thought....I'll be going to Mike's funeral on Thursday and Patsy's on Friday.

Nighty night.

Technology

Every once in awhile I am reminded of how my life has changed because of technology and my use of same.

I'm sitting in my living room, watching the Sox (down 1-0 to Baltimore), texting with Katie in Arizona who is watching the Celts and keeping me up on that game; texting to Lynne about getting together; and writing this on the laptop.

That's just a sample of life here. What got me thinking, and appreciating, technology is the fact that I found an old Army pal, Barry Farber on Facebook the other night.

Barry was one of my bosses at the mental health clinic where I worked at Ft Jackson when I was stationed there. I loved him the minute I met him. He was so anti-Army....only came in because he signed an agreement to give the Army two years if they agreed to leave him alone when he went through his residency. He is a psychiatrist, one of my favorites.

He fought the powers that be about just about everything. Once they threatened him with jail time if he didn't reveal something that was told in confidence. He told them to go ahead and throw him in jail. He stood up for gay soldiers when no one else did. My first impression of him was right on....he was wonderful.

He also didn't know how to act in a military manner and that provided us with lots of laughs. He truly made our clinic like M*A*S*H and we loved him for it. We (the enlisted people) had had to endure some bad crap from some pompous psychologists we worked with...turned out they were the rotten apples when all was said and done.

I am so glad I found him. And he hasn't been that far away from here. He's been working for UMass at Amherst and recently retired and set-up private practice. I'll bet they loved him at UMass!

See...the internets is a wonderful place. I have found old Army, college and high school pals. I have found and been found by, relatives I didn't even know I had....which has led me to go to Sweden once and will be returning there this summer.

I have never been afraid of technology. I've always been one to keep up with the latest gadgets. Not that I go out and buy them right away....I wait for the price to drop and the bugs to be worked out. But I'm not afraid of them. I love it when I can use it to do positive things and to find ways to make it work for me.n't

I can't wait to get that Kindle and see how that works for me....

Oh...I love that Pedroia and Orsillo ad that NESN shows...he he...

I digress.

Okay..Celts have tied the game after being down by 12 or more. I think I'll watch them for awhile and chat via text with Katie about the game.

Sandy is at the agility trial. I went yesterday and surprised myself at how much I was able to do and how long I was able to do it. I told Katie I think I'm finally getting the hang of this chemo thing! Ha ha...just as I'm on the verge of having my last round of chemo.

I told Sandy I would make her grits and eggs for supper when she comes home. Poor thing, she's worked such long hours this week and had to get up so early five days...for work and for the trial. Now she's out there in the rain, working hard for the club. She deserves a nice grits and eggs meal.

Later!