Well, It's Wednesday.

Hi All!

Well, it is Wednesday. The day that I get to end with my "fabulous" class. *sigh*

Oh well! I am going to show you some more pictures from today's walk. Just an update on what is going on - flower wise.












This tulip is blooming at the house on the corner. It was just a bud yesterday morning.










The red tulip above is joined (across the sidewalk to the front door of the house) by this yellow lovely.









Every time I walk by this collection of daffodils I just smile. They are little but they do make a nice sight.











Here is the Bluebonnet patch. As you can see there are more blooms than before. It is becoming quite beautiful!

The blue flowers are getting darker in color. Impressive!

The "good" tree in my front yard is showing tiny leaves in a fresh "Spring green!"

If you look past the reflection of my arm you can see Miss Cleo waiting for me to return!

Skor was waiting too - just inside the door, under the piano!

Yesterday was a full day. I went to the ASL lab and finished an assignment. Next I headed to the grocery store. Hauling the groceries into the house and putting them away was next followed by a rousing play session with Skor. A brief, 45 minute nap was followed by some reading (a good book!!) and then Hubby coming home. We hit the sidewalks for our second nightly walk of the week (yeah!) which was quite enjoyable. Then I stopped next door to visit my neighbor, C, and to see her kitten, Corky. I also made sure to show my good friend, Callie, some attention since I didn't want the new kitten to make her jealous.

After all that, I returned home and made a Digiorno pizza for dinner. Hubby and I watched a little TV (okay - I read while he watched TV) and then "hit the hay" so that we could be rested for today and whatever adventures it might bring.

What is on the agenda for today?

I have a speech appointment at 12:45 and then I will head to the college to meet with a group to get a group project done. Then . . . it will be class time. I can "hardly" wait. Yeah, right.

I hope your day is great.

Trisha

Voice Update: Okay, I am officially frustrated. I have amped up my voice exercises and massage and it doesn't seem to be working. I have a lot of hesitations and the unvoiced consonants are harder to say than they have been for a while. I wonder if it is because I am not talking all the time. It is sort of the old . . . darned if you do - darned if you don't scenario, isn't it?

Oh, Crab Cakes!

Hi All!

Was it just me or was yesterday a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG day? Even with my unplanned nap of two hours, the day seemed to last forever. Not necessarily in a bad way . . .it just lasted a long time!

Let's see. Yesterday I said I was heading to the ASL lab. Wrong! I fell asleep and decided that I could hit the lab today.

Yesterday I said I was going to go grocery shopping. Wrong! I fell asleep and decided that I could grocery shop in the evening. Wrong! Hubby decided that today was the day we were going to start our evening walks again so I "get" to shop today!

As you can see, today is starting to get scheduled up!

Oh well, at least it won't be a boring day!

Another event from yesterday was that I made crab cakes. From scratch. From fake crab ( the real stuff is WAY better but WAY more expensive!). Without a recipe. I pulled stuff out of the fridge and the pantry and just got busy mixing stuff together. An egg to hold stuff together. Some Dijon mustard because it seemed like the right thing to add. Some Miracle Whip because you always need Miracle Whip. Chopped up fake crab because that was the entire point of the dish, right? Bread crumbs to soak up some of the egg and the Miracle Whip and to add the cake to the crab cakes. Some Old Bay seasoning which I found in my spice drawer since it seemed to go with crab.

Everything got mixed up and then formed into perfect appetizer sized cakes to be fried in sizzling olive oil. When they were done, the crab seemed to melt on my tongue and the seasonings were perfect - not too strong but not too bland either. I was so proud of my crab cakes!

Hubby, whose proclamation of hunger prompted my creation of crab cake appetizers, refused to even taste them! Refused. To. Even. Taste. Them! What nerve!!!

So. I have some left over crab cakes. Hopefully they reheat well and will make a nice, tasty lunch for me today.

Trisha

Voice Update: Still working on my exercises but still having some sneezing issues. There is something in the air which causes me to sneeze about three times each hour. These, my friends, are not small, dainty sneezes. Oh, no! They are HUGE, scary sounding things which leave my throat feeling worse for wear and cause the cats to hide. Not good. Not good at all.

Onward! To the Pantry!

Hi All!

This was a nice weekend for me. I went to the ASL lab on Saturday and managed to spend some time (almost three hours!) with the lab assistants getting some clarification on some ASL basics which I never really understood. I know - I have gone a long way in the program and there are still things I don't understand??? Yeppers!

Apparently, my ASL 1 teacher wasn't too good at teaching some of the basics so . . . I never got them. My ASL 2 teacher wasn't any great prize so the gaps in my "foundation" just continued to be lacking.

Well, I finally figured out what I didn't know and am determined to get the gaps filled in the best I can. After Saturday, I believe I am off to a good start!

When I got home I took a nice nap. It felt so wonderful since the weather was cool and I opened a window so that I could snuggle under the covers! Heaven!

In the evening I finally picked up my crochet project again and started working on it again. I didn't get very far but - I am working on it. Hopefully, I will have a picture of it for you tomorrow!

Sunday meant heading to church and finding a spot in the crowded sanctuary. They held the Easter Egg hunt and party for the kiddos this past Sunday so everyone who had kiddos was there! It was fun to see the little bitties walking around with their Easter baskets.

After church I got into the cleaning mood again. This time I attacked the pantry.

We are very lucky to have a rather spacious pantry in our house. It is a long closet accessed through two doors situated side by side. One side of the pantry is dedicated to all things food. The other to all things non-food but possibly food related.

I started on the non-food side, took everything off of shelves, wiped down shelves (and items) and then re-organized. There were some things which had found their way into the pantry which simply needed to be ditched (which means donated to a local charity resale shop). Other things were just in need of some dusting and repositioning.

The worst part of the whole cleaning experience on Sunday was the floor of the pantry. The doors don't go all the way to the floor and so there is a sliver of space just perfect for dust and kitty hair to sneak under. Can you say dust bunnies??? These were HUGE and took a lot of work to get rid of since the cat hair gave them a stickiness that ensured that they stuck to pretty much everything! Yuck!

Anyway - I finished with the non-food portion of the pantry and went on to the other door - the food side of the pantry. This side is pretty regularly organized as I grocery shop so all I had to really concentrate on was the top shelf with its storage items on it and the floor with its dastardly dust bunnies! There was a little sorting of old food and then . . . it was done!

Another project finished!

Hubby was pretty good about this cleaning. He tends to get a little disturbed by change and my going through closets makes him edgy. We had a discussion about my need to clean the various areas of the house (No, I don't feel dirty. No, I am not angry about anything. No, I don't feel like my mom is going to comment if my pantry is disorganized!) and his need to keep things as they are. I thought it was rather funny that he was telling me that he doesn't particularly feel comfortable with me sorting through things and then turned around to tell me that the coat closet needs organizing.

Thanks, Hubby!

Trisha

Voice: Okay. Hubby told me yesterday that my voice "needs work." I have been sneezing a lot lately thanks to allergies and that seems to be really affecting my voice quality. Hubby was rewarded for his comment with the opportunity to listen to me do my voice exercises on the way to and from church! Isn't he a lucky duck?

A Clean Laundry Room

Hi All!

Have you ever just had that feeling that if you didn't clean/organize something "Right this minute" it would never get done?

I had that feeling last night while doing laundry. My laundry room is a rather spacious area, relatively. There is the mandatory washer and drier, a little counter for folding clothes, a bar for hanging clothes, three shelves above the appliances, and a litter box for my "kiddos." The floor space is adequate that you can walk around even when you have piles of sorted clothes hanging out waiting to be washed.

All in all - the laundry room is great. However . . . . Hubby seems to have an obsession for pulling things from the shelves, using them, and then putting them back - on the counter where I am supposed to fold clothing! When/if he does manage to put things back on the shelves they are always in weird places instead of in the neatly organized sections I originally had them in. A few months of this kind of behavior and . . .I walk into the room and feel the urge to organize!

Lately, I have had that urge for a while but couldn't really act on it since I didn't have the time due to work and school and whatever was going on in my life at the time. Now, I DO have the time so . . . . last night I organized the laundry room!

Everything came off the shelves and was dusted. The shelves themselves were cleaned. In the case of the shelf where our laundry supplies are kept this was a rather big ordeal since the supplies were sitting on a layer of paper toweling which had gotten stuck to the shelf by drips and drops of various liquids.

After working on that section of shelving for about half an hour, it was finally clean and Hubby helped me to lay nice, clean shelf liner which SHOULD be resistant to the drips and drops.

Once everything was off the shelves and cleaned up it was time to replace them on the shelves in some kind of logical order. For me, this means putting things together which have similar purposes. All of the car cleaning supplies (don't ask why these are in the laundry room instead of the garage - that is a whole different story) go together, all of the furniture cleaner and polish goes together, etc.

Then it was dealing with the miscellaneous items left on the counter. Bags and odds and ends of clothing. A set of sheets. Two pillowcases. A nail. Assorted bags of various sizes. The covers of long exhausted lint rollers. A hugenormous zip tie used to clean out occasional sink clogs.

Suddenly, as I was folding up the last of the bags and putting them neatly in a box where Hubby can easily find them later, I saw something beautiful! A stretch of empty, clean counter top!

Visions of folding clothes on the counter top and having a place to flat-dry items of clothing raced through my mind. Imagine actually having the use of a counter instead of making due with the top of the drier! I could hardly contain my excitement. In fact, I promptly put the counter to use drying one of my sweaters!

Then Hubby walked in to survey the results of my work. I was disturbed by the gleam in his eye when he looked at the nice, clean counter top!

I wonder how long it will remain clean?

Trisha

Voice Update: Darn those H's! I am doing really well except for those suckers!

My Walk and My Books

Hi All!

Yesterday I totally crashed and ended up taking a three hour nap. It felt so decadent to sleep that long during the day! Such is the life of a lady of leisure!

This morning I was up to make Hubby's lunch and then hit the sidewalks for my morning walk. Once again, I took my camera with me.











There are a lot of trees with pinkish/reddish/purplish buds on them. Mom keeps asking if I see Redbud trees but . . . I honestly don't know!

Here is the Bluebonnet patch. More and more blooms "pop" up each day. They are so lovely.

Okay - tilt your head to the left to view this picture. This tree has the prettiest "blooms." Like green waterfalls!

The "good" tree in our front yard is sprouting lots of tiny, green leaves. I love seeing the tree turn from brown to green.

My strawberry plants look so lush this morning with the dew still clinging to their leaves. That bloom means that we will have berries this summer!

Okay - tilt the head to the left again for this shot (and the next one too). Here are my recently read books. I know I promised to talk about them more frequently so that I don't end up with a huge, long post but . . . as you can tell - that didn't work out as I planned. So - I am just going to show you a picture of the books and then talk about my most recently read ONE!

Here is the most recent book I read. I just finished this yesterday (after the marathon nap) and really savored each word. Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips is a fun journey with two completely opposite personalities as they travel across the country.

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A famous, playboy NFL quarterback, Dean Roulliard, is taking a break from his life and picks up a woman in a beaver costume on the side of the road. Initially, he was only providing a ride but soon he found himself with a traveling companion.

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Blue Bailey, the costumed woman, found herself at a crossroad in her life with each direction looking rather dreary and depressing. Her ex-lover shows up and steals her rent money days after her literal saint of a mother cleaned out her saving and checking accounts to help save some kidnapped girls in a third world country. Getting into the car with Dean provided a way out and a way to a new adventure.

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Both Blue (her real name!) and Dean find out that the car ride was only a prelude to a journey that neither of them could have predicted.

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I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well written and developed and the addition of more characters is done in a way that makes the reader feel that they have always been there in the shadows just waiting for their moment in the sun.

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I don't believe that I have ever read a book by Susan Elizabeth Phillips but I will certainly be keeping my eyes open for more of her books if they are as good as this one was!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: I am trying to increase my exercises. My voice seems to be marginally better - fewer breaks and hesitations than earlier this week. I am back to talking to myself and my kitties since I don't have to talk for work these days!

Another Tired Thursday!

Hi All!

As I am typing this I can barely keep my eyes open. The sporadic "Beep" of the IM window telling me that Mom has made a new comment (okay, that and my iTunes playing loudly!) keeps me from falling asleep but, I am TIRED!

Why? My "lovely" class, of course! I managed to get home about five minutes before eleven (at night) but then was wired and couldn't fall asleep. Just my luck!

Why is it that I can sleep during the day for a nap with no problem but when it is night and I am supposed to sleep - my brain won't stop???

Anyway. The entire point is that I am T.I.R.E.D!!!

In other news, I managed to make it to the post office to ship a package to Mom yesterday on my way to class. Normally, our post office is the model of inefficiency. The line can stretch out of the assigned space and into the lobby. There are four windows but there is never more than one or - on a great day - two people working the windows. Yesterday, however, something odd was happening. Each person in line was taken care of quickly and cheerfully. The line was only ever one or two people long and no one in that line was grumbling. Odd.

After the "bizarro" stop to the post office, I headed to good, old, Wally World (Wal Mart for those who don't speak Trisha). I needed to get a binder for a class project (which we won't be talking about right now) as well as some allergy meds. I walked out of Wal Mart without the meds but did manage to snag three short sleeved shirts which were on clearance.

I haven't actually tried these shirts on so I am not certain they will fit correctly but - I couldn't resist. I got a bright pink shirt, a bright pink with white polka dots, and a orange sherbet colored shirt. I think they will be super!

That is all my tired little brain can contemplate this morning. Oh - I did walk this morning and it was chilly - much colder than yesterday. I should tell you this because it made me laugh on and off for my entire walk. . .

In my never-ending search for appropriate and comfortable walking clothes, I purchased a pair of yoga pants. They are lovely and soft and comfortable. However, when I purchased them, they were obviously made for a giantess! I had to take about six inches off the bottom and then I put in a big (three inch) hem.

Well, these yoga pants keep shrinking in length each time I wash them. This has resulted in some nice "high-water" looking yoga pants. So - I decided to take the big hems out to get more length. I started this project yesterday morning and finished ONE leg.

Of course I didn't finish them last night since I wasn't actually home so - this morning when I needed to wear the yoga pants to walk in . . . I had one long leg and one short leg. Who care, I thought. No one normally sees me walking other than people passing in cars and I don't really know them.

So - off I trotted with my comfortable yoga pants and their uneven legs. Each time I looked down and saw one nice, long pant leg and one, short pant leg, I chuckled.

It is good to laugh at yourself - right?

Trisha

Voice Update: Not too good. Okay - relatively speaking I am doing fine - MUCH, MUCH better than when I had NO voice at all. But - I need to do something to work on this "missing" I have going. I think one thing is that I am trying to talk too loudly. I need to remember to speak quietly so that I don't strain my poor vocal cords. My exercises help but the talking too loudly doesn't help things. Having to think about talking well is so tiring at times!

New Additions at the Farm

Hi All!

It is Wednesday and, after a lovely week off, I now have to resume going to my interpreting class. What fun! NOT!

In an effort to not think about class tonight I will now smoothly change the topic.

This morning was absolutely beautiful for walking. It was about 58 degrees and there was a nice breeze blowing. The breeze hinted at the possibility of rain and the grey clouds in the sky seemed to agree. We will see if that comes to pass or not.

Currently Skor is playing with his paper shopping bag in the living room. I can hear him batting it around. He is probably trying to get inside to "hide" from Miss Cleo who is sitting nearby looking on with a bored expression. I am just glad that Skor is playing. He has been in such a little snit this morning.

Have I told you about Skor's habit of chewing on stuff? Well, one of his favorite things to chew is the light beside my bed. It is a sconce type light attached to the wall and it is the halogen kind which gets very hot. Does this deter the little bugger? NO WAY! He chews on the metal light shade which gets hot, hot, hot. He chews on the cord - for which he promptly gets a whack. He chews on the knob used to turn the light on and off. In fact, two days ago he managed to pull that little knob off of the light and drop it behind out headboard. Isn't he a fun little thing???

It is lucky for him that he is also darn cute!

Okay - my parents recently made an addition to their farm family. Take a look.

That is right! Goats! Seven Boer goats. Soon the plan is to put the goats into the enclosure which has the goat shed in it. However, that can't be done right away because the goats need a guardian.

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They will be in the enclosure 24/7 and that makes them vulnerable to predators. They need protection. Like a donkey.

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You may think donkey's are cute little things but in reality they can be quite mean and can really do damage to a coyote or wolf looking for a tasty goat snack.

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So - until Dad can find a nice donkey to purchase, the goats will be bunking in the barn.

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They are so cuties, aren't they?

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Still missing once in a while but I am working on that. I am!!!

My Walk This Morning.

Hi All!

A while ago I promised I would take some pictures to show you what Spring is looking like in my neck of the world. So . . . .come along with me on my walk!















We still have a lot of lovely blooming trees around even though most of the Bradford Pears have now transitioned to light green leaves instead of snowy blooms.













Up North is is always Spring when you see your first Robin of the year. Well, here the Robins have been around for a while. This one and a friend were watching me from above and chirping their hearts out!












The Forsythia blooms so nicely here. There are many shrubs along the route I walk. They look like little bits of sunshine!

















Mockingbirds are common companions while I walk. This one was silhouetted so nicely against the "almost daylight" sky.

I am not certain what kind of shrub this is but there are several in landscaping that I walk by every morning. I think I would like one of these in my landscaping - IF we ever get around to re-doing it!

These lovely blooms took a bit of a beating from the recent cold weather (and snow!) They are still pretty though!

This sideways picture shows two of the many beautiful daffodils blooming in our area. Oddly, there are many daffodils which are still only buds, too. It must be the odd weather we have had this Spring!

With pink being my favorite color I couldn't resist a picture (or two or three) of these lovely blooms! In this bed they are mixed with Texas' "winter flowers." pansies.

Evidence of the Bradford Pear blooms is everywhere. They even make this sidewalk almost pretty!

Speaking of Pansies. This yard has TONS of them. This close-up shot is especially for Mom!

Here is a close up of some remaining Bradford Pear blooms. They are so pretty.

The state flower of Texas is the Bluebonnet. One yard has a large patch of them which are just starting to bloom. The traditional flower is bluish purple.

Then there is the orangeish-reddish color. It makes a nice contrast.

There are many trees with red/pink/purple buds bursting out all over.

The Honeysuckle is in bud and soon the world will be scented with their sweet fragrance.

My Pincushion plant is already blooming its heart out. It actually bloomed a couple of times during the winter as well. I love this plant!

Here are my strawberry plants - I am so glad that they survived their brief covering in snow this weekend! I was worried about them!

This is my most recent "blow-up" banner. The sun's face has a blow-up bladder in it to make it 3-D! I am trying to get the sun to come and feel welcome!

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Well, there you have it. My morning walk and the signs of Spring from around my neighborhood.

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I hope Spring is showing itself in your neck-of- the-woods as well!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Yesterday I noticed that my voice was hesitating a bit more than normal. I was talking to my class-mates as we studied together. I know, I know - back to the exercises!

"Rain" and Snow

Hi All!

This weekend was fun . . . and pain!

First the fun!

Hubby and I went to see "Rain" on Saturday. This is a very, very good Beatles tribute band, if you didn't know that already. They perform in theaters and basically do the same rounds as the musicals do. We saw this group last year and Hubby enjoyed them so much that we got tickets for them again this year.

The group didn't disappoint even though some of the original people were not performing at the show we went to (which was a big bummer to Hubby).

The group took the audience on a trip through the history of the Beatles using music (of course) and costumes as well as audio-visual displays. I must say that I was a bit traumatized to realize that the Flintstones actually promoted SMOKING at one point and time!

Rain attracted a diverse audience from people who were there for the "originals" and those who probably didn't even know who the Beatles were. By the end of the concert, everyone was standing and cheering for the wonderful music and the great performance!

The next "fun" thing was this . . . .

Snow!

Yes, snow in Texas in March!

Hard to believe but true! Of course, the snow didn't even make it through the morning before it melted but . . . it was there!

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Along with the snow came cold temperatures - of course. It was quite a change to go from the low 70s on Friday to the low 30s on Saturday and Sunday!

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I am not sure if it was the temperatures or what but . . . my back really started acting up on Saturday night and continued all day Sunday. Today it is a bit better but it still isn't "right." I had horrible spasms in the area of my shoulder blades that just wouldn't stop despite the high-test Motrin and sports creme that I liberally applied.

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Due to the spasms, I spent most of Saturday night and Sunday lying flat on my back. That isn't too much fun!

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I hope your weekend was better!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Doing okay. I am working on more exercises but it is hard going at times.

My College . . . Ummm. . . University?

Hi All!

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I graduated from a nice, little liberal arts college in Ohio called Mount Union College. I know - you have never heard of it! Don't worry about it - that is part of its charm!

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The only way you could possibly know about Mount Union is if you are from Ohio or if you follow Division 3 college football - Mount is a powerhouse in that division!

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Anyway - I have REALLY fond memories of my college days. I learned a lot - both in the classroom and out of the classroom. I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything.

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As an Alumni I have always believed it is important to support my college so that other young kids could have the same wonderful experience that I did at this fine college. That belief is being shaken though because of some actions my college is taking.

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First, the college changed the reunion times for classes after a certain year (including mine) from the summer to the fall. Well, I am sure that this isn't a problem for people who actually still live in the same state but - for me. It has made coming back pretty much impossible. I am a bit bummed about that!

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Next, the college decided that being a "college" isn't good enough and is changing its name to The University of Mount Union. What? Now, I know that in many countries a college isn't higher education and a university is. However, in the United States, a college and a university are BOTH institutions of higher education. The term "university" generally refers to a larger institution with a huge enrollment while a "college" infers a smaller institution. Both are equally adept at providing a quality education but the colleges are smaller and more personalized with universities are the ones with huge classes in auditoriums with professors who can barely speak English.

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What is up with my Alma mater?

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I am feeling more and more alienated from the place that I spent four years of my young-adult life.

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IF they change their name and are no longer Mount Union College - do I still have to give them money? After all, I didn't graduate from The University of Mount Union!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: I haven't talked much today yet to figure out how things are going but, I am willing to bet that I should be doing more exercises! That is always a safe bet!

Pop! Goes the Garage Door Spring!

Hi All!

Sorry - no pictures today - I need to get myself back into the swing of taking pictures for my blog again! Now that I have more time I should be able to do that soon. Adjusting to not working again is tricky!

Let's see. Yesterday I had a fabulous lunch at Fudrucker's with my friends Donna and Caroline. No, I didn't get a burger but the fries with cheese and bacon bits and the strawberry shake were excellent!

We then headed the the Cupcakery to try some "gourmet" cupcakes. They were pricey and fun to look at. They were pretty tasty too!

We had quite a gab fest and then it was time to head home. When I pulled into my driveway, I hit the button to open the garage door. Nothing. I tried again. Nothing. Again. Again. Again. Still nothing. Hmmm. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I parked my car in the driveway (after repositioning it so that when Hubby came home he could pull in beside my car) and walked around the house to let myself in the front door.

After a quick pit stop and some kitty greetings I headed to the garage to figure out what in the world was going on. Once more I tried the garage door opener. The door raised less than an inch before falling back to the closed position. Hmmmm.

I walked to the door to do a closer inspection and noticed that some cables were hanging loose. Then I looked and . . . the spring was sprung. No wonder the door wouldn't open!

So - today I will be waiting for the garage door guys to come and fix the thing instead of meeting up with people from class to work on some class stuff. In a way I am relieved because I really don't want to deal with class. However, I will really miss getting together with everyone and working. All of the people in class are so wonderful and it is so nice to be friends with them!

At least I might get a nap today!

Trisha

Voice Update: Well, my voice is still doing pretty well but I have noticed that I am straining a bit too much to talk at times. I need to dial it back and speak softer to fix that. I am also missing some words, well, really sounds. That isn't good. I must admit that I have been taking a break from really concentrating on my exercises. Yes, I have been doing them but I haven't been very serious about the, and - it shows! Ugh!!!!

Oh Fudruckers!

Hi All!

Happily, I have rather good news from speech therapy yesterday. Even though my recent cold and the coughing which it brought with it did some "damage (nothing permanent!)" to my voice, I was still deemed as doing well. Of course, while Susan was checking my voice out, I was checking out her finger.

If you recall, Susan cut her finger a couple of weeks back - badly. She had to have surgery to fix it all up and that caused considerable pain and that kept her from working for more than a week.

Anyway, she is doing much better even though she has entered the physical therapy stage of recovery. According to Susan, that is the worst part of it all. I am just glad that she is starting to feel better.

After speech and doing a bit of work around the office (the new person is doing very, very well!) I headed to the nearby mall to hit Lane Bryant. Let me tell you, I tried on a TON of stuff. Of course, my main objective was to buy some new bras and maybe some shirts. Pants and jeans were also on sale so I, or course, checked out some of those. I ended up leaving with some bras and underwear (you have to always check out the new patterns when you are there!), a shirt, and a swimsuit. YES! I actually tried on swimsuits!

The swimsuit thing has been on my mind for a while. I haven't had a swimsuit for a long time (well, since I have "grown") and had decided to bite the bullet and buy one for those times I would like to go swimming. And - who knows, maybe I will utilize the "adult pool" in our development this year. I figure I can walk to the pool, swim some laps, and walk back in the morning. Should work, right?

We will see how that goes.

Today I will be meeting my friends Donna and Caroline at Fudrucker's for lunch. My only hesitation is that since my bout of illness following the ingesting of a What-A-Burger hamburger my appetite for hamburgers has been - shall we say - Nil! I have it on good authority that Fudrucker's has a wide range of selections for those of us who might not be yearning to eat "a hunk of cow." I guess we will find out, won't we?

Not wanting a hamburger is such a bummer since Fudrucker's is a hamburger lover's paradise!

Maybe I will feel the need for beef once I get there today!

Okay - I put this picture on today's post before deciding what to write about. Is it just coincidence that I wrote about getting a new swimsuit??

This is a picture taken from Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransisco, California when Hubby and I were there after a cruise. We also visited my cousin, Brynn, who lives relatively close to the area. It was a great trip. Hmmmmm. Maybe we need to go back there!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: I pretty much already said everything but . . . still doing pretty darn well.

Happy Wednesday!

Hi All!

Check out this little bugger.

He was along the side of the road when Hubby and I were walking in Alaska. He has been eating dandelion seeds for quite a while if you look at the pile of fuzz around him!

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Of course, he has nothing to do with today's post. I just thought he was cute and I wanted to put up a picture!

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It is Wednesday! Yeah!

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Today I have a speech appointment with Susan. I haven't heard how she is doing lately with her injured finger so I hope things are going well for her. While I am there I will also be doing a little work - helping to answer questions from the new person and figuring out a credentialing mess for one of the bosses.

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Doesn't that sound like fun?

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I am thinking that maybe I will go to Lane Bryant while I am in that neck of the woods as well. I have been wanting to go there but haven't gotten there lately. The Lane Bryant near work is actually a really nice one so . . . I think that is a good idea!

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My legs - my shins to be exact - are KILLING me today. I had a tough time actually getting out of bed and walking this morning. Not good! I walked just a short distance today before needing to stop. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

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Have a super Wednesday!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: I think I am still doing well but we will see what Susan thinks!

A Day In the Life

Hi All!

Well, I managed to get my grocery shopping done yesterday - which was a HUGE deal since I hadn't been to the store in something like three weeks! The only real down side to grocery shopping during the day is that Hubby isn't home to help me haul everything into the house! That means multiple trips in and out while trying to keep Skor, the Curious, from sneaking out the door!

Next up was calling the vet to arrange to take Miss Cleo in for a gum check. The gums around her canine teeth are swollen and I wanted to get them checked out. Here is a synopsis of how the news of the trip went over with Miss Cleo.
















Hey, Little Girl! Wake up! We need to head to the vet's office.

















Yes, I can tell that you are THRILLED!

















No, Miss Cleo! Calling and cancelling the appointment won't work. I have warned them about you. Even disguising your voice won't help.

















Okay. Time to get into the carrier. Now, don't be like that! Throwing a tantrum won't work! (I am just glad she didn't decide to hide from me!)

Anyway - I got Miss Cleo to the vet with a minimum of fuss - only a bit of whining in the car on the way there and, surprisingly, a bit of whining while waiting in the room for the vet!

The vet told me that the gums were fine - a bit inflamed but brushing Miss Cleo's teeth daily would take care of that. Um. Have YOU ever tried to brush a cat's teeth? Let's just say that I have been there, tried that, and have moved on. Next idea?

There is a nifty liquid that you can squirt into their mouths which helps to break up the plaque and tartar. Hmmm. That might work. At least it won't take as much holding down as the brushing would.

After paying what was left in my savings account (okay, it just FELT like I was paying that much!) and keeping Miss Cleo from breaking out of the carrier and sitting on a tiny little dog (seriously, she could have smooshed that little bugger!), I headed home with the liquid and one seriously miffed cat.

Luckily, after about two seconds, Miss Cleo was all purrs and love again. Until I had to grab her to give her a couple squirts of the liquid. Interestingly, it must not taste too bad since neither kitty (Skor got a shot too) tried to spit (or in Skor's case - drool) it out.

That was how my day went. How was yours?

Trisha

Voice Update: Doing well, thank you very much!