Been watching that new show, "The Big C" on SHO...it's pretty good. The woman has cancer and hasn't told her family. She has only told the old lady across the street. I can't imagine.

She's going nuts with this stuff....cashing in her 401K and spending it on stuff. Having an affair with a guy at her school, etc. WHAT???!!!

Oh well...everyone is different...it's what makes the world go round.

Sandy's vacation was wonderful...made us wish that she could retire soon, so we can always be "off" together.

We did go golfing at Chanticleer. It was a perfect day for golfing...sunny but not too hot. And not too many leaves either! I golfed the best nine holes I've ever golfed, which isn't saying much.... We had a great time. Just as we left the course and headed to Harry's for lunch the car place called and said Sandy's car was ready. What great timing!

Friday I went over to Lynne's to make good on our birthday present to her....an agility lesson for her and Franklin. I brought two jumps, a tunnel and two weave poles. I showed her how to get him to do these things and they practiced a bit. Franklin caught on quickly...he will "work for food." I think if Lynne keeps up working with him and going to classes, they will have a lot of fun and will do well.

Sandy took Bubbles out in the kayak to see how she would do. She did great! She was able to balance on the very tip of the kayak without falling in....something Truman and Rocky can't manage to do. So, when we go out together, she can ride with me...the soaking wet boys can ride with Sandy.

On Saturday AM I went and got my hair cut for the first time since last October...well, except for the two times that Sandy shaved my head...that doesn't count. Kelly trimmed me up nicely and it looks good.

When I got home from Kelly's Sandy was packing her car for the agility trial on Sunday....I pulled part way into the garage to see that she had stuff piled up, blocking my way...so I started backing out of the garage. Suddenly I hear an awful scraping sound. Sandy went behind the car and directed me to keep backing out...so I did...and my side view mirror got whacked! So much for her skill at guiding me!

I was so pissed...way out of proportion to what happened. I was slamming the steering wheel and swearing...a lot. Then I got over it. Nothing that duct tape couldn't fix.


In the afternoon I went up to Woodstock to a party for Jim Donovan. Jim and Carol came up from Tennessee and a bunch of folks got together to see them. I hadn't seen Jim in almost 40 years! And I had never met Carol before, but we hit it off like we've always known each other.

I have been following Jim's journey with cancer on the internet and he has been following mine. It's like we are cancer buddies. I understand most of what he is going through, but he has had greater obstacles than I have. Carol and I hand out advice to each other and it really helps to know that there is someone out there who is sharing the experience.

Saturday night I had lots o' trouble sleeping. I think it was the full moon. I love it, but it makes me kind of crazy in my chest...keeps me awake.

We had to get up early Sunday AM, to head off to Wrentham for the agility trial. We took all the dogs. Lily was so relaxed in the tent....it was great seeing her like that. I got to see Rocky run a few events...he was the only one of the three to come home with a ribbon...he qualified and took first place in tunnelers! Truman made up his own courses out there so he didn't get anything. Bubbles ran all the courses perfectly (except for the weave poles) but she took her damned sweet time so she was way over time.

Sandy and I think Bubbles is going to retire from agility. She gets slower and slower every year. She likes doing it in the yard and she may take some classes every once in awhile...but as far as competing....not so much.

Sandy is back at work now and I've had a burst of energy in the kitchen....cooking dinner the last two nights. Last night I found a Rachel Ray chicken thigh recipe that made some sense and I cooked that up...just threw in garlic powder as it was kind of bland...it was good. Tonight I served up a eye round roast, with gravy, mashed potatoes and spinach...yum. First time I've ever made a roast...and I did this one in the crock pot.

I'm going to work hard to make more meals...and more importantly, to plan them ahead of time. We end up getting food to go way too often. Sandy is gaining weight and I struggle to maintain. So, I am going to plan menus like I should have been doing all along.

Of course, I don't know how to cook for just two. So we have a huge amount of roast, potatoes, gravy and spinach from tonight. I will have to learn to reduce.

Lately I've been having problems maintaining the ban on milk that the doctor ordered. I broke down and had a glass of chocolate milk the other night when I was desparate to fall asleep. For some reason the milk works like magic for me. I fell asleep before I finished the glass.

I don't think the milk is what was causing my bathroom problems. I think it may have irritated my stomach, but it wasn't the sole cause. I'm hoping I can go back to milk when all is said and done. I just love milk and cheese too much!

Oh, and people said how they loved coconut milk?? YUCK! I like the almond milk though...that's pretty good stuff. Can't kiss Sandy after I drink it though, she's deathly allergic to nuts! Go figure!

Anyway, I see the gastroenterologist next week. Maybe I'll get some answers from the tests she ordered. In the meantime...I'll try real hard to not have milk and hope for the best.

Oh and I went to see Bob Miller today. I went to the local Chinese restaurant and tried to get them some different things to try. I did order Bob's usual "chicken chop suey"...which he always gets. I also ordered sweet and sour shrimp for he and Wini to try. And egg drop soup, wonton soup, crab rangoon, steamed dumplings. Well, they really screwed up the order....even though I circled the items I wanted on the menu to help the new girl out. They forgot the sweet and sour part of the shrimp...just gave me a big box of fried shrimp; they gave me chicken and broccoli instead of chop suey (but Bob ate it anyway); they threw in barbecue beef sticks which I didn't order and they put the wonton soup on top of the bag...it fell over and all the liquid poured out into the bottom of the bag, making the crab rangoon and the fried wontons very soggy. YIKES!!!

They did like the egg drop and shrimp and chicken and all the rest of what I could salvage....so I left them with plenty of left-overs and the knowledge that they had tried something new and had lived to tell the tale.

Tomorrow Lynne is coming for lunch...she's bringing grinders. Taylor will be coming too...she comes up on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 to 1 (in between classes). In the afternoon I'll load all the dogs into Sandy's car and drive up to Colchester to order the replacement mirror for my car. For some reason they won't take a credit card number over the phone....weird. Sandy has to go to classes in Massachusettes tomorrow and Thursday so she will take my car.

This weekend I hope to be able to see my "old flame" Mark Russell. I found him on the internet finally after having lost contact with him some years back. He is coming up to CT for a Marianapolis Board of Director's meeting and we hope to be able to arrange a time for us to get together. It will be great to see him again and catch up on old times.

Well...enough now. I have to make an effort to write in this thing more often...so the entries aren't so long.

Nighty night!

Sunday was a quiet day, Carol came over for breakfast, I made cheesy grits and eggs and we ate out on the deck. Weather was perfect. In the afternoon Barry and Janet came over and we watched the Patriots lose to the Jets...dammit!

Monday Sandy and Jean worked on the garden...ripping it out and the pool--taking it apart. I ripped out my potted plants on the deck, the tomatoes and peppers, etc. It looks a lot neater out there, but it doesn't smell as good--the basil really made it smell nice.

Monday night we went to the Big E, with Jess and Janet. We had a great time. Sandy got a leather cowboy hat to wear at agility trials when it's raining.

I got a beautiful pashmina shawl, now I have to figure out all the different ways to wear it. I also found my guy who sells the raw shea butter and I got a big container of it from him.

Sandy bought an order of deep fried oreos and I took a couple of bites. It was tasty but too sweet for me. Janet had me try deep fried cheese curd which was delicious...salty, but delicious. I could only have one little piece though.

Tuesday the weather was great again. Jean came up again and helped Sandy in the yard, trimming bushes etc. I worked inside. Then it was time for me to go to the allergist...but first I was praying that I would take a dump...so I could finally get my stool specimens down to the lab. Just when I thought it wouldn't happen....VOILA!

I've never done a stool specimen before and I had to prepare THREE of them. Two of them had directions...the third one...just an empty bottle, no directions. So I just dumped poop in it and hoped for the best.

I ran those over to Quest and then hurried down to E. Lyme to Dr. Ber's...the allergist. Well...knock me over! He tells me that he doubts that I have allergies, he thinks that what I have is non-allergic rhinitis. And he questions if I have asthma. So, I come home with two nasal sprays and two inhalers to use for a month and then I go back.

I told him that in the past I've been told that I am severely allergic to dust mites, cats, oak trees, maple trees, grasses and I don't remember what else. I've taken allergy meds every day for years! He said maybe I was allergic then, but my blood test shows that I'm not allergic now.

He checked my nose, ears and lungs. My nose and ears were filled up..as usual... and my lungs were clear...as usual.

I'm hoping he's right about the allergies and that the nose sprays help. I hope he's wrong about the asthma...but my breathing test showed it's likely, or I have vocal cord dysfunction...which is also possible...I do clear my throat in a very annoying, constant way and I do get hoarse easily....although that's also symptoms of reflux...which I also may have.

Today Sandy took Bubbles out in the kayak to see how she would do. She did great. She didn't fall off and she didn't jump into the water. Maybe if she was out there with the other two, she would go in the water like them. We'll have to try that next.

Lynne came by today, in between jobs. Haven't seen her in so long. It was so good to spend time with her. We got lunch from Panera Bread....Taylor came up from school and the four of us ate on the deck. It was so nice out there.

I was supposed to go for a hike with Pam and I was going to take Lily with me, but last night I spent in the bathroom...like about 18 times. I got little sleep....there was no way I could have made it on a hike. Dammit!

Wini called this AM and we made plans for Bob's 90th birthday. She and I are going to take him to Miller Park for a picnic. It's too much for him to be around big crowds now.

He went to the geriatric doctor today and took THE test...the one that determines if he can still drive or not. He does well on the test generally, but he's losing more and more of his memory every day. He sees it and Wini sees it (and accepts it). Wini told me that she wants him to stay as long "as you will let me keep him."

We are so lucky to have her taking care of him. She really loves him and he loves her. He loves living in that environment. He loves the yard, the trees, the moon. Wini said he knows more about the outside than he does about the inside.

So, he hits a milestone and it's going to be a bittersweet birthday, for all of us. It bothers me that he gets upset about his memory. I try to reassure him that it's okay, but how the hell would I feel if it was happening to me?

So, I'm happy and relieved to also know that he is happy with Wini. It means so much.

Tomorrow I'll call Wini and see if she can give me the news...if Bob isn't around to hear the conversation.

Also tomorrow we're taking Sandy's car to get a big tune-up and we have a noon tee time at Chanticleer. We are going GOLFING! YAY!!!

Nighty night!

Oh, and stick a fork in the Sox...they're done...you heard it here first folks! :)

Dopey me...

I had written a blog entry and never posted it. Pam emailed me to chastise me for not updating and I realized that it was saved in "draft." So it was posted a little out of date, but it was posted!

Been busy cleaning house, which has worn me out. I'm hoping it's the hay fever that is making me tired, or the fact that I'm still spending most of my night getting up and going to the bathroom and not that the gremlins are coming back.

Janet, Jess, Jeremy and Barry came over last night. Frannie Johnson joined us too. We got take out..pizza and salads and then retired to the living room, where I showed some Sweden pictures. I still haven't finished editing the slide show, so they were subjected to the multiple shots of several scenes, ones I hadn't deleted from the camera before getting the files downloaded. I must say, I do have some good shots in there.

I have been doing the non-dairy diet for awhile now and it seems to be doing something...or maybe it's a coincidence. Actually, lately I have been having reflux...which is making me think that maybe that is what has been causing the problems all along.

I used to have to take medication daily for reflux when I was morbidly obese. Since my gastric bypass, I haven't had to take it that often, just situationally.

I have never had the "classic symptoms" of reflux. Like heartburn...I had heartburn for the first time in my life the other night, in the middle of the night, and I thought I was having a heart attack at first. I took a pepcid and it cleared right up.

When I had reflux I used to choke a lot when I ate. Sandy always said it was because I breathed through my mouth (old habit from years of not being able to breathe through my nose) when I ate...or from talking when I was eating. She was wrong...(first time)...it was from reflux. That was my only symptom.

Now I'm having gastric disturbance, nausea and heartburn. And I'm wondering if the diarrhea is associated with reflux. Guess I'll be taking pepcid daily for awhile.

I get to see Dr. Ber on Tuesday. He's the allergist who we like so much. When I called, the receptionist, (a wonderful person) found out that I had ovarian cancer and told me her mother-in-law had it and is very involved in the National Ovarian Cancer organization. She is going to get me information about the group.

I went on their web site, but I don't think I'll be going back for awhile. Too much info about mortality rates/survival rates...and it's not positive news. I need to keep positive. Can't afford to spend much time reading that stuff.

I've been reading more lately, thanks to the Kindle. Am reading a book about the Marines fighting in the Pacific during WWII...chilling stuff. I have another war book downloaded, about the war in Afghanistan.

I also downloaded Stephen Hawkings latest book on the Universe. I've been reading a bit about this book and am intrigued.

Sandy is off this week and will be getting things done in the yard. I will be doing stuff in the house and yard, getting ready for winter. Probably will clean out the pond a bit, trim bushes and get plants protected.

The chimney guy's wife is sick and he isn't able to get to us for awhile. I was hoping we'd have the gas fireplace all installed this winter, maybe it won't happen. We'll see.

Well...I'm watching UConn football while I'm typing this. It's almost halftime and I should get up, change clothes and get some work done before the second half starts up.

Later.

Maniacs

The beautiful weekend in Maine is over. We left on Friday and got to Ogunquit in time to sit on the beach for an hour and a half before dinner. We found a place that is a combo take-out/eat-in and it was very good. I had fried clams, which tasted great going down but messed with me later. Jean and Sandy loved their meals and wanted to eat every meal there for the rest of the weekend.

Cooler heads prevailed however, and I convinced them to go to the Maine Diner for breakfast Saturday AM. We had to wait about a half an hour but it was well worth it. I had the Aces High...one egg; one piece of bacon; one sausage and one blueberry pancake. I had been wanting to have the blueberry pancakes as i heard that they were fabulous, but I didn't want a full order...too much pancake.

Well, the pancake was awesome! I can't believe how many blueberries were in it...I'm not a huge blueberry fan but this was great.

We headed down the road to Sanford to find a store that Jean and Sandy had gone to a few years back...we found it...it's called Mardens. It's like an Ocean State Job Lot and Railroad Salvage all rolled into one. We found Hush Puppy shoes for $24!

Then we stopped at a moccasin shop and I bought my first pair of moccasins. They make moccasins there, and Sandy bought a pair of them. Mine are Minnetonkas. They had a leather boot there that was made by the woman's grandfather. The owner is in his 80s and he just brought the boots back to them. He had worn them for 57 years. He even brought a picture of him wearing the boots, out tapping maple trees for sap, in the snow. The boots looked worn, but not worn out. It was awesome.

I'm wearing the moccasins now and they are so comfy. My mother used to wear moccasins, but she had to get men's moccasins because she had size 13 feet and it was tough to find shoes that fit. Unbelieveable.

After those great finds, we went to our usual...Reny's and the Wells Clothing Outlet. Found some good buys there too. Fun.

Saturday night we sat out on the beach again. There was a wedding party down by the water, getting their pictures taken. The ring bearer and flower girl and some other girl in a gown were playing...IN THE WATER! I got pictures of them.

Sunday we hit the Kittery outlets...Coldwater Creek and Liz Claiburne (which is going out of business, at least up there)...got some nice capris at the Creek and a top; hoodie and purse at Claiburne's.

We got home around 2pm...in time for me to catch the second half of the Patriot's game.

We had a very good time. The Meadowmere was great, as usual. I went in the hot tub and Sandy and I took a dip in the pool. Jean didn't bring her suit. We sat out and had wine, crackers and cheese. Later they had a fire outside, but we were tired and headed in to bed.

Charmine and I went to our semi-annual training session at UConn today. It was pretty cool...one of the things they did was show us "Sim Man"...the automated dummy that has a pulse, breathes and can simulate loads of physical conditions. You can even shock him to change his heart beat. So cool.

Tomorrow I work in the afternoon and again on Thursday.

Oh, I got my blood work done last week and they took 12 vials of blood. Did I already write about this? 12 VIALS....jeez that's almost a pint! I have never had that much drawn at once before. It was because it was a combo of blood tests requested by Dr. Valin and Dr. Sansone. I was sent home with three containers for stool specimens too...another first for me.

Such fun I'm having! Actually, I AM having fun, stool specimens aside.

I'm doing okay on the milk-free diet, although it's hard when you are traveling to do what you are supposed to do. I had to use creamer in my coffee and some cheese snuck into my breakfasts..but to be honest, I don't think the milk is the reason my stomach goes nuts...I think it's more greasy things. Or not...I don't have fried stuff that often.

Things do seem to be settling down a bit in the nighttime bathroom scene. I have been getting up only about five times a night...big drop from the incidents that were up in the "teens" in number before.

Hopefully things will continue to settle down to a dull roar in that department. I'm so sick of it already.

We have a skunk...actually, two skunks, setting up residence in our yard. Sandy tracked them to the ramp by the cellar door. The opening under the ramp is so tiny and yet they fit in there...it's a losing battle to think that we can keep them out of the yard. If they can fit there, they can squeeze into any little hole in the fence. All we can hope for is that they decide to hibernate soon.

Sandy is off from work next week so we are going to plan some work projects and some fun stuff too. Can't wait. I do have an appt with the allergist but that's something I've been wanting to do so that's not an intrusion.

Sheila Dolan died and we'll be going to her wake and service Wednesday. We didn't know Sheila that well...we know Pete better, but we knew her well enough to know that her death is a real loss for Aussies and the agility world. She raised some awesome dogs and was a very talented writer. She will be missed.

Nighty night.

Labor Weekend over...sniff sniff....

The Labor Day weekend is over and what the hell did I do in this absolutely gorgeous weather?

Well, Saturday I was feeling sick and very worn down. Sunday I cleaned the house, both floors and dragged Sandy out to kayak and today I slept until after noon, washed my car and then collapsed.

Oh well...I did get that kayak trip in.

Of course, when Sandy and I go kayaking, or canoeing, or anything that involves paddling on the water, we have to have a tremendous spat. It's a requirement I think.

It started when she was tired and hinting that she didn't want to go kayaking. I told her it would be quiet and peaceful and rejuvenate her. She had slept late both Saturday and Sunday after all...I had hauled my ass out of bed to feed the pets and get things going both days. I was a little miffed that she was "tired."

Then things got worse when it came to putting the kayaks on the top of her car. Of course I'm not as strong as I used to be and I've never been as tall as I need to be to reach the top of her car (which is why I want to buy a trailer to haul things), so there's your basic recipe for disaster.

Of course I couldn't hold up the end of the kayak the way she would want me to, of course she had to do most of the work. And of course, I couldn't help too much in getting the kayak tie-downs secured.

And when we got to the put-in point on the Pachaug River it got worse. I still wasn't tall enough or strong enough to help much when it came to haul the kayaks off the car. She kept asking me if the path to the water was steep...I kept telling her to go check it out and see for herself.

It ended with me cursing and saying "I don't know what's wrong with you, I go kayaking with Roxie, Dori, Deanna and Lorraine and Charmine and Pat and I don't have problems....!" And, "this is the last damned time I'll go kayaking with you. I'll go by myself from now on, that's preferable to this bullshit!" Etc, etc.

Rocky and I got into my kayak and paddled off. I really thought she was going to head the other way and that was fine by me, but she and Truman caught up with us and she admitted that it was peaceful out there and very nice. She stopped yawning all the time and had a good time. AND, she had the good sense not to mention my tantrum on the shore, until much later, when we could laugh about it.

Rocky loved the kayak. He immediately headed out for the nose and promptly fell off. I put out a piece of rubber pond liner that we each brought for the dogs to stand on. He stood on that and was very happy to be there. He would venture further out on the nose and would slide/jump off. He liked paddling around next to the kayak. I got soaking, sopping wet.

At one point I let him pull me along with him swimming ahead. We had a life jacket and a rope on each of the dogs. I hung onto the rope and he towed me. It was good exercise for him....and fun for me.

When we got home I showered, ordered food from Milanos and went and picked it up. We ate supper and then planned to have a fire in the chiminea. We called Carol and Mark to see if they wanted to come over but they were planning to do the same thing in their yard. So, we went over there. We sat out by the fire (bundled up...it was very cool out there), made "somemores" and chatted. It was fun.

They are big "Jersey Housewives" fans like we are and we had a lot to talk about what with the riotous "reunion show" that was on last week, to be continued tonight. We are of one mind about who are the heroes and who are the villians on this show. I told Carol that I think Danielle is like Cruella deVille....she agrees.

Now they have a new "Housewives" show...the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"...I cant' wait to see this one. I can just imagine how much $$ they will be spending and how they will be behaving. I watch the DC Housewives (Sandy doesn't) and they are unbelieveable. The only one I like is the African American woman and her husband. The rest of them (well, except for the one who is Arthur Godfrey's granddaughter) are crazy rude.

I know these shows are stupid, but I can't help myself...I'm stupid.

Did I say that I got tickets for us to see Kathy Griffin in November at Foxwoods? Can't wait! I'm going to go online and see I can win a chance to meet her before the show. I truly love her. She reminds me of me in a lot of ways.

Oh...I am totally in love with Louis C.K. I had just heard his name before, had never heard his comedy. Then I saw that he has a show on FX and I started taping it and watching it. I totally "get" him....I'll have to go see him in person too. I hear he's coming to the Sun later this month...going to check that out.

Okay, Carol made apple crisp and there's a bowl of it waiting for me at her house. Have to run over there and get it.

And, my car looks lovely after I scrubbed it today. All set for me to drive to work tomorrow.....YES!!! I'm back to work, baby! Brain tumor coming up! Not in real life, dummy, brain tumor is the scenario I have to play tomorrow at work.

Nighty night!

Hay Fever UGH!

Hay fever has hit me...and has hit me hard. I guess it's the down side of having an immune system that's working once again.

I have been dragging the past few days and today was the worst. I got little sleep last night, I don't know if there's something going around or if it's something I ate (the thai food at Mary Ann's and then the leftover thai food last night) but something has been killing my stomach. I mean it actually HURTS! Last night and the night before I felt like I was going to puke...actually got up both nights, went downstairs and took a Zofran...that's how bad it was.

Of course the Zofran stops that shit right away...thankfully! But, what the heck?

This was my doctor week. On Wednesday it was seeing Dr. D; Thursday I saw Olympia for my annual gyn check. I had to ask, now that I don't have a cervix, how do they do a pap smear? Answer: they scrape the vaginal wall. DOH!

Friday I traveled to New Britain (New Brit-tain) for my gatroenteroly consult in preparation for my colonoscopy. I went way out there at Carol's recommendation that I see Dr. Sansone. She said I would love her and she was right. Dr. Sansone gave me all kinds of blood work I have to get done and I guess I have to crap in some bottles and have those analzyed too. And, get this....no dairy for a month and then I go back to see her. She thinks I may have celiac disease...or is it ciliac disease. We'll see. This is going to be torture for me as I loves me my milk! And cheese, and butter....

My Facebook pals are very helpful with the suggestions of good milk substitutes and it seems that coconut milk is the way to go. I guess I'll be learning and experiencing a lot of new things. Oh joy.

I will have my colonoscopy in December, something to look forward to after my hernia surgery. Because my innards are so complicated and screwed up now she has to do the procedure in the hospital, not the office. Fine by me. I get to see New Britain Hospital...a new hospital for me.

On my way home I swung by Trader Joes and got my coffee, some great bread and some other goodies. I realized how much I have missed my trips to Trader Joe's and how much I wish there was one in Eastern CT. Charmine and I think Colchester could accomodate a Trader Joe's quite nicely.

Today I was just so darned tired and washed out feeling from the hay fever and from the stomach problems and from not sleeping and from having to get up early to feed that dogs so Sandy could get her sleep....I opted to stay home and miss Secchiaroli's pig roast...something I attend every year.

I did go to Jean's later in the day with Sandy as Jean had a big dinner planned for us and Taylor, Andrew and Ryan. Taylor was feeling under the weather too...stomach bothering her (hence my questioning if there is something going around) and she and I kind of hung out together in the living room, being quiet. It was unfortunate, Jean had filet mignon, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole etc and I couldn't eat much and couldn't enjoy much.

Now I need to stop this nonsense and get upstairs to bed. We'll see if we can do more tomorrow. I would love to go to the fair, or go kayaking or something.

Oh...Andrew has a trailer like the kind I want to get. He will sell it to me. Yay! It has been well cared for and he even installed one of those silver tool storage lock boxes on it. Excellent! Now we have to get a trailer hitch put on Sandy's car, buy the trailer from Andrew, get it registered (he doesn't have a title for it) and we are in business! What business I don't know...but we are in business.

Nighty night!

Clean as a whistle!

Went to see Dr. DiSilvestro today, at Woman and Infant's new Norwich office on Sachem Street. How convenient.

Dr. D. walked into the room proclaiming loudly "CT scan is NEGATIVE!" We cheered.

They drew my CA 125 there and will send it up to W&I to be analyzed. That way I don't have to drive to Providence and the test results can be compared. If I had it done at Backus, it would be hard to compare the results as Backus uses a different scale for the test. My score at W&I might be 2 but a 9 at Backus. I like the W&I scale better...

After the check-up, Sandy headed home and I headed to Foxwoods, to buy tickets to see Kathy Griffin. I got of the midpriced tickets, checked out Apple computers at the Apple store they have up there and then came home.

I looked in my car manual and learned that they don't recommend installing a towing hitch or towing anything with the Camry. So there goes my idea about buying a little trailer to tow the kayaks, etc. with my car. I think we might buy a trailer for Sandy's car though. They have them on sale at Tractor Supply this weekend, and I'm sure they'll be on sale again.

Hurricane Earl is heading this way so tomorrow I have to haul in the lawn stuff and put the potted plants in a safe place. I'm going to haul the potted plants out of the garden pond too...so they don't end up splattered all over the front of the house...I just powerwashed out there!

Jean is sending Frank down tomorrow to buy a generator. They have more to worry about down there along the shore. She figures that we can share it, if we lose power up here we can go down and get the generator. I like that idea.

The man hasn't called me back about installing the gas fireplace. He wants to come on Saturday...I guess that will depend on the storm.

I will be watching the progress of the hurricane as I have an appointment for a colonoscopy eval in New Britain on Friday afternoon. There's no way I'm driving across the state in pouring rain and high winds!

The Sox are done for. They lost to Baltimore last night. I think they are demoralized. They realize that upper management has given up on them...there were no big moves made to acquire top talent to help them make it into the play-offs. Now the most fun we'll have is watching Manny Ramirez and Ozzie Guillen. You know Ozzie isn't going to put up with Manny's shenanigans! This should be great drama.

Well, I'm off to bed. Going to read on the Kindle for awhile and then lights out.

Oh...I THINK I have figured out at least part of my continuing diarrhea problem. I think it's the l-glutamine I've been taking for neuropathy. I had told Shirley about L-glutamine and she tried it and told me it gave her wicked diarrhea. She is someone who also had gastric bypass. I looked at the label and note that the number one mentioned negative side effect is "abdominal distress." It says if you have that you should discontinue use and notify your MD. Well, I have been taking this on and off for almost two years!

I'm going to try to go without it and see if I see improvement. I didn't take it while I was in Sweden and still had troubles, but now that I have added probiotics twice a day to my regimen I have noted some improvement. One can only hope. Otherwise, the mystery will continue.

Nighty night..