she went thisaway!

birthday sixty-two almost over

I'm old enough to collect social security...Nifty!...I'm how old?

When I was in high school, I thought teachers my age now were ancient! The body is slower, it aches, it doesn't heal as quickly, but the mind doesn't feel any different. I still think the same as when I was younger -- with a bit more maturity, for the most part -- but not old.

I've had calls and cards and lunch and dinner out. Altogether a lovely celebration.

happy 2009!

A safe, happy, and prosperous new year to all who wander by.

last quarter roundup

The Baltimore B'con was wonderful. I didn't write it up as Kaye Barley did it right.  I visited my sister for Thanksgiving and spent the week. It's 'home' again in PA for Christmas and New Years. I'm going to try retirement, but will take a class in preparation for taking the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam as a 'Plan B', just in case I decide to find a part time job.

another birthday down

Sixty-one today. A prime number. A prime day.

I had breakfast with a friend. Had four separate calls with birthday wishes. Got four more cards today -- one a Halloween card (+ birthday wishes) from my sister with a really cute bat on it. She said it wasn't going to be like any birthday card I'd ever gotten before. She was right. I also did lots of laundry and worked and played on the computer. And the three cats have been extra good too.

Yep, a prime day!

u.s. open

Tennis is not something I've watched much recently until this year's Wimbledon. The play has been wonderful to watch, and it amazes me what a fine commentator John McEnroe has become. The sport has changed so much with improvements to the racket and player conditioning. Everyone but Jankovic seems to have a killer serve. That wasn't a factor in the women's final last night, though. The men's final is tonight. Federer's favored, but I'm probably going to root for Murray, the underdog.

The Open came along at the right time to prevent 'Olympics withdrawl'. After this evening, thank goodness there'll be football to occupy my attention!

my big brother is gone

My sister and I buried our older brother on Friday. He had prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. When he found out that last fact, the initial prognosis was for a couple more years, and that a new treatment could be available toward the end of the year. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be nearly soon enough. At the end of February he was hospitalized and my sister got to talk to his oncologist. That doctor said he had no chance of surviving longer than 90 days. It turned out to be just 48.

After a week at the hospital and another at a hospice in-patient facility, where they got his pain medications fine tuned, we brought him home and took care of him there. He died last Monday morning with both of us at his side.

He was intelligent, helpful, totally honest in all dealings – an all around great guy. We are going to miss him terribly.

Goodbye, Charlie.

new year 2008

May the blessings of this new beginning include health, peace and love.

back from Christmas visit

Visited with my brother and sister in PA, had Christmas dinner with them and friends of my sister. While home, my sister and I went to the Phipps Consevatory to see the Chihuly Nights glass exhibit. It was spectacular at night – which my sister had been told was the time to go. Unfortunately, we didn't take a camera with us. If you're near Pittsburgh before February 24th, it is well worth seeing!

back from Thanksgiving visit

...and finally getting this posted. (Actually got home Wednesday, just in time for handbell practice.)

I went home to PA for Thanksgiving.  We had the usual roast turkey and gravy, with stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, cranberry sauce (whole and jellied – my sibs and I don't like the same thing), and pumpkin pie (homemade by a neighbor). My sister had invited friends, and they brought freshly baked (and wonderful) cookies.

On Friday, my sister and I went into Pittsburgh to see Bodies: The Exhibition at the Carnegie Science Center's UPMC SportsWorks building (which is across the street from Heinz Field). Then, on Sunday, we went to see the newly reworked/rebuilt (2-1/2 years and $36M) Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the Oakland section of town. Some of those guys are huge, and others surprisingly small. (The T-Rex display won't be ready until Spring '08, though.)

I also got to see the last three of four televised WPIAL football title games on Friday, the Pitt game on Saturday, and the Steelers game on Monday night – all at Heinz Field. The field was in well-worn shape after the Pitt game, and its subsequent re-sodding was undertaken without any clue as to what the weather was going to wreak on it for Monday night's game. (The field didn't look bad for last night's game, even though it rained the whole time.)

The project I finished before first starting for PA, a 'cage' I made to erect around the driver's seat of my car when I got out for rest stops and fueling, worked well to keep my three cats in the car and not threatening to get out or down about my feet and the brake pedal. In the past a harness and leash on each cat helped, but the leashes got dragged through the litter pan and that wasn't too lovely for anything they were dragged over right after.

The cage is made of 1/2" square opening 'wire cloth' and took me several days to make – first creating a pattern from cardboard, then cutting out using side-cutters, fitting to the car, and finally taping around the edges with duct tape. It's in four sections: two are installed semi-permanently and the other two are erected just before I get out of the car. (I can't drive with the last two in place.) Everything is held together by Velcro wire wraps, small Bungee cords and an 'S' hook.

no drips here!

My kitchen faucet had been dripping for a very long time. It got bad enough a couple months ago that I put a pitcher under it to catch the water to use later. Then last Sunday morning (of course, not when stores are open or anything reasonable like that), when I figured out I was dripping away about four gallons a day, I decided to fix it. My initial attempt seemed to make it worse. So Monday morning, I went to the real hardware store in town, talked to the plumbing guy, got cartridges and water line springs and gaskets for both hot and cold sides, and replaced 'the works'.

No more running water when I don't intend for it to. The parts should pay for themselves in three months. And the faucets work so easily, I turn them way too far when using them. New parts are wonderful! Just like anything else I put off doing, now that it's done, I wonder why it took so long to get to it.

I replaced the gaskets in the bathroom faucet several months ago – so no drips here!