Discouragement

Blech! The asthma flare up didn't respond as well to Prednisone as it should have and I ended up with a sinus infection. Bummer. I thought I was doing so well and getting over it and BAM! Now I'm not feeling 100% well, but not sick enough to be sick, if you know what I mean! Perhaps it is just taking longer to go away. I forget that I am not 20 anymore sometimes and I probably worked too much when I should have been resting. OK, so I get the hint! I am resting, resting, resting and in fact, I think a trip to the recliner with my book and a hot cup of tea is in order. Perhaps I'll even doze off. ZZZZZZzzzzzz...zzz....zz.............z

North Carolina Vacation 09

Cora, Me, Dorn, MaryDorn

Mary

Reed Gold Mine

Cora & Dorn have some gold!

Panning for gold - Cora, cousin Griffon, Mary, Aubreanna

Discovery Place pirate display

Discovery Place

Poolside!

It is a little bright out here!

Overdue Updates!

I have let way too much time slip by! The main event of late was the trip to North Carolina to see three of the grandkids. Aubreanna (14) went with me and we flew out of SEA on August 5. We stayed ten days and had a great time! We spent time at the pool - a lot of time at the pool! We also went into downtown Charlotte to Discovery Place. It is an educational fun place for kids (and grown up kids!) where they can explore and learn and just have fun! They had fulcrums and pulleys and a pendulum among other things. A big area with blocks was a big hit! Then the highlight for me, anyway, was the Reed Mine. We took a picnic lunch. Gold panning was only $2 a pan and a few found some flecks of gold! Carla and her husband, Joby were great hosts and Aubreanna stayed with them. They have a brand new baby named Henry. He is 3 months old. A very busy household! I stayed with Carla's mom and it was great to have a place to escape to! I learned how to use GPS and loved it! All in all, it was a very enjoyable vacation!

I came home with my asthma in a flare up - humidity got to me. My right elbow also decided it didn't like me. It was a little sore before we left, so I took one of those little bands you can put on below to see if it would help. I think it helped me remember to be careful is all! The Monday after we got back I went in to get checked out. A week of prednisone for the asthma and Naproxen for 2 weeks for the elbow, plus ice 2X a day and rest. HA! If it is not completely better by Monday, I have to go back in, probably for a cortisone shot and/or physical therapy! Not fun! Vacations can be hazardous to your health!

Perhaps next year they will make the trek out here. We would love to introduce Joby to the Pacific Northwest! What a contrast!

We're havin' a heat wave, a tropical heat wave...

Can you say 103 in Seattle, Washington? We nearly can't! Wednesday, July 29 the mercury bubbled its way up to 104 in Tacoma and 106 in Bonney Lake where our kids live. Unbelievable! And since we seldom climb above 85 around here, hardly anyone has air conditioning in their homes! Thankfully the kids do, because we decided their house was our own personal "cooling station". I spent the night there Tuesday and we both stayed Wednesday night. We needed some sleep! Not funny! It is still warm, but 90 something feels better than the low 100's any day! I promised myself I would not complain about heat this summer - back in the spring when we had buckets of rain and gloom! Little did we know this was coming, which is probably a good thing!

More water, please! With plenty of ice!

Oh, and of course the refrigerator has taken this opportunity to die a slow death! I thought things didn't feel cold enough! So, the new one comes Tuesday. This one was in the house when we moved in and the freezer has a label inside that says "also available in avacado, harvest, coppertone, and white. Ours is white which helps disguise its age! It has to be almost 40 years old, so I think it has earned its final rest in the big appliance home in the sky! (The new one is very pretty - stainless steel with black doors - very cool! (Pun intended!)

Too Hot! Too Hot! screamed the penquins!

When our oldest son was a toddler, he had a favorite Golden book. I think it was about a circus and somewhere in there the penquins were in too hot a situation! Since then, we have always used that line when the weather gets too warm. Well, the weather is now too hot! I promised I wouldn't complain when and if summer ever came, but this is pretty rare for the northwest! It was over 70 degrees at 8:00 a.m.! It is still 90 at 7:00 p.m.! The forecast is for more of the same with no relief in sight til at least Thursday evening! The air quality as you might imagine is getting worse and worse too. Well, it will soon be fall and we will complaining about the rain and cold again! More iced tea, please!

Family Reunion

Summer is a time of family reunions. While ours was not huge, we did have the pleasure of a visit from both our oldest son and his daughter. Geoffrey lives in the San Antonio area now and Aubreanna, age 14 is from Klamath Falls, where she will attend the same high school her dad graduated from! Too weird!
It was good to reconnect with Geoff and get caught up on each other's lives. Aubreanna enjoyed seeing him, too and while he left on Monday, she is staying for a few more days. She is staying with her cousins and family and I think she enjoys that a lot! They are only 2 and 4 so they keep her extremely busy! We are going miniature golfing tomorrow night with Uncle Brian.
The first picture is of Aubreanna and her dad with Puget Sound in the background. The second is me with Geoff, third is the John Stoliker wing of the clan, and the last is Bill with his youngest (John) and oldest (Geoffrey).

Family Visit

Well, today is the day! Our oldest granddaughter will be here this afternoon and we pick up our oldest son, her dad this evening in Seattle. It has been about a year since we saw the granddaughter and two and a half years since we have seen our son. We are looking forward to seeing both of them and the weather couldn't be better! He is from the San Antonio area so 80 will probably be cold to him, and she is from Klamath Falls, OR and knows that it can be very changeable here in the northwest! I will have pics to post later, I'm sure! Well, there are a few more details to take care of, so......