Sudokuaholics Anonymous 10

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.
Dorothy Parker

Theresa, what a miserable day!

After Heidi's post about putting flags on Veteran's graves, I wondered with would be done and when at Alabama National Cemetery, in Montevallo. Last night on the news, they showed volunteers who were out with a ruler and a bent piece of rebar, plus a small sledge hammer. They were pre-punching holes exactly 12 inches out from the center of each tombstone, in preparation for others who will come Monday with flags. It seems the ground is to hard to just press the flags into the ground, too many staffs were broken last time. So talk about an unseen act of kindness, all the hype will be over the Boy Scouts, I believe, who will place the flags Monday. Thank you to those volunteers.

Cell phone went off at 5:45 this morning. I told the person texting me, call back around lunch time, and tried to go back to sleep. Next, someone's car alarm went off. there was a person with keys in hand, trying to turn it off, unsuccessfully. Yep, that also got me out of bed, and it was still not 6:30 am. But my car was parked nose to nose with the car alarm car, so I had to get up to check if something had set off my alarm. Back to bed again, and then the dern computer printer decides this is a good time to do a self cleaning and diagnostic. I was ready to toss it out the window, but figured my luck it would hit MY car, doing damage and setting off alarm . all this before 7 am, aaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhhh, that is usually my best sleep time.

Getting sleepy again, hope I can catch a few winks. Heidi, hope at least you got to sleep in.

Hugs to each of you, with extras.

Suzy.... I repeatedly suggested to the group that I was helping that we photograph all the veteran's grave sites, so we knew where to look and what to look for. I was repeatedly ignored. I even offered to take the pictures and was still ignored. Since it wasn't their idea, they didn't want to hear it. Next year, it'll probably be one of their ideas, and loudly applauded.

Morning all. I actually got to sleep in today. Did not get woken up until about 7 am. A lot better than my normal 5 am.

Mom called this morning. Dad is back at the hospital. He was having shortness of breath. I have already spoken to my boys. They need to realize that this will be one of many. I know that this is the beginning of the end, but who knows how long it will take. My only hope is that as long as he is pain free, let him live and enjoy. I don't want to see him suffer.

It's going to be a lovely day here. I get to spend it mowing 2 lawns. At least I'll be outside.

Tomorrow is a Memorial service/ Celebration of life for a dear friend who passed away Thursday evening. George (not my neighbor) has been sick for some time, and really was suffering, but he never complained and never said a cross word to anybody. The complete opposite of Helene. Everybody in the community liked and admired the man. Even while dying, he worked on remodeling his house so his wife would have a beautiful place to live. He finished it 2 weeks ago, with help from friends in the community.

I'm sorry to hear that, Tami. But admire you for realizing the truth. Keeping Bernie comfortable and enjoying life is of paramount importance. Please give him and Bobbie an extra hug for me.

I have NO idea what happened there! Sorry.

TAMI, it is good to know that your Dad is not in pain and still able to enjoy life. I hope this stays the same right up to the end. Hugs to you and all your family.


HEIDI, enjoy being outside today. Our remarkable spring day was yesterday, I had to be out a bit and enjoyed the unusual for almost June cool crisp air. I hope your day today is as great as ours was. Warming trend coming here, and no rain forecast for over a week. I must be sure to remember to water the flowers. Are the puppies still enjoying being outside? Thoughts and prayers to your friend George's family at his passing. He sounds like a remarkable man.

SUZY, good TOPP. Curiosity is responsible for all the improvements and comforts we enjoy today. They came about because someone thought, what is we . . .

Have forgotten what was said last page, so I will post this fore I loose it. Hugs to each of you, with extras.

The lawn around the office is mowed. Now I'm gonna run to the grocery store. I'll mow the lawn around the house tomorrow.

That's done. The puppies were so funny when I tried to bring the groceries in. They were attacking the bags and grabbing hold of my pants legs. It's so much fun to walk dragging a passel of puppies behind. Grrrrrrrrr (in puppy sopranos)

HI ALL,
Tami, many of us know the heartache of realizing that we may lose a very big part of our lives when a close relative ages or is sick. Really thinking of you all.
How are you going MizT? Are your pot plants doing well?
I have missed many Birthdays, and I apologize. Still having internet or windows issues and keep losing posts, so I give up.
Greg has had a birthday, Pauls twins turned 10 yrs, Paul been in hospital, Council are on us about the pool breeding mozzies, Breast screen result all good, had the fluvax,etc so life is never dull.
Brother from Gosford coming to Bundy on Tues which will be great.
Truly hope you are all good.

Heidi.. love hearing about the puppies.
When Greg was away recently, I came home and found a bare patch on the shag pile carpet square.
Sonny was so happy to see me that I didn't have the heart to go really mad. He must have been lonely and had to get into mischief even though he had many toys to play with.

Tami ♥ ((((Big Hugs)))) ♥

Rolanda....yours was one of the Birthdays that I missed. Hope you had an enjoyable day! Happy belated Birthday!!

By now, your front garden must be settling in very well just before the winter slows things down.

Theresa...had to laugh about the nurse being as pleasant as a toothache!
How do you stand being so cold. It must be awful. I am such a sook when it comes to the cold, and you would probably feel the same about the heat we experience. I had the privilege of choosing the heat over the cold when we moved to the sub-tropics. It would be so lovely to experience a snowy Christmas in my life time though.
I had better get moving.
Take care everyone.

Good morning all and love and hugs to those who need them!
Tami - what a heart-warming story about those 2 students. It must be a wonderful feeling knowing you had such a positive influence on their lives.
I'm sorry to hear that your Dad is back in hospital. I wish him a rapid recovery.
I haven't been around here in days, most of you know we had a scare with Colin's health on Thursday and he spent the night in hospital. Initial thoughts were that he had a heart attack, that, thankfully has been eliminated. He's under severe stress in an unhappy workplace. Basically he needs another job or maybe the next attack could be worse. In the meantime, my vertigo comes and goes. I feel fine for days and then, wham, back it comes. Maybe it's stress-related, too.
Must get on with things, got to get the house ready for our Tasmanian visitors in 2 weeks, looking forward to that.

Hello Cyn, many hugs to you both also as you deal with yours and Cols health issues.
Hope all you want to do in readiness for your visitors, is make up a bed. Anything else can wait and your visitors will appreciate your hospitality. Visitors to my place would see dust and spider webs, an overgrown weed infested garden, but a clean bed and toilet. I still feel embarrassed though.
I hope Col can find a less stressful job in these hard times.

Tami, big hugs! I hope your father is home, still pain free, very soon....

Heidi, there's a way around that. Go out and take photos before the flags are taken down, then next year when someone else 'thinks' of it you can say 'already done', here they are!

MizT, why would someone text you at 5.45am???

Nola, your life is anything but dull! I have no idea how you managed to get any studying done when you were doing your courses!!! I hope Paul is on the mend and not overdoing it..

Cyn, sounds like Col needs to get a new job so your health can improve... big hugs

Nola, your house is better than mine! I've been so lazy since January! I did get in and clean the outside of my kitchen cupboard doors though...

Suzy, I have not figured why this person text me at 5:45 am. Some people must think, when I am up then everyone is up. She did not call back today at a reasonable hour, so I may not figure it out. she has a smart phone, it can send and receive more info at a time than my dinosaur of a phone can. I am limited to 160 spaces. So the text I received came in pieces, I could not get them into any order that made sense to me. Ball is in her court, I am not gonna worry about it.

Nola, some of my plants are doing very well, some are not getting enough sun and I do not have a sunny place for them, unless it is to the center of the grass area of the garden. The dogs would run those over very quickly too. I hate to see them struggling. If I could find a spot for one of them in full sun, I could start rotating them, one of them out for a bit of sun while the other brightens the patio. I must start now to find shade loving blooming plants, other than impatiens, for next year. Thanks for asking after them. I fould 2 more broken limbs on the pot of coleus that is sitting on the ground under a tree. Not sure what is breaking them. I brought them in to root, noticed the ones I brought in from LAST time are rooted, will take them back out next i water.

Remember me telling you a friend found a broken branch and just stuck it into the soil in the pot. I do believe it has rooted! Must find her and tell her, she claims to have a black thumb. I did help it out a bit by putting water absorbing granules around the stem, under the soil, so it would stay moist. We will not tell her that, though, OK??

As for me, still not hitting on all cylinders, but have appointment with my doc in about 10 days. Will try to hang on till then with continued nausea, no energy, need for lots of sleep, and pain levels on the high end of the chart. It could be worse.

I did get down today to water the containers, and give that grape vine a hair cut. Removed about 1/3 of the foliage, it was going wild, it is beside a car parking space and wss in the road there, not good for plant or persons who had to pass.

One lady told me quite sternly that plant was NOT a grape vine, it was a potato vine, and on to a long spiel about Frank Loyd Wright using potato vine in his huge landscape designs. I looked at over a hundred potato vine images, not a one like that. I looked at ONE grape vine image, perfect match. But I will not tell her, if she is happy that we have a potato vine like FLW, why should I spoil it for her? Trying to remember the name of the little curly que bare shoots that grape vines grow to grasp anything to support themselves, I know they have a name. Hate it when I cannot find the pathway to that bit of stored knowledge.

One good thing about it taking 6 months to get my power chair, assuming it arrives next week that is, I was able to put back a bit each payday to cover my co pay on it, if it is gonna be what I figured that is. They do not even talk about money, I as

YEP, ran over a bunch. Here is the rest.



They do not even talk about money, I asked first visit. Shannon said, 'don't worry, we will work something out'.

SUZY, very good idea you had for Heidi, just take the photos and keep them.

As some may remember, Joy is my step daughter, I just never think of her as that. This week, she told me her Mom is now on hospice care in the nursing home where she resides, and her mom is only in her 50's. We had expected this, but still such a shock. Joy has lost so many these last few years, it is very hard on her.

Cyn, thanks for the hugs, I could use a few at the moment, and since you could also, a hug would be of mutual benefit. Here is your hug back. [[[CYN]]]

NOLA, I had one snowy Christmas, do not see the attraction it has for some :). I flew to Connecticut on Christmas day, and the flight over snow, with Christmas lights everywhere in the snow on the ground was beautiful. Once was enough hehehe.

Heidi, good for you, splitting up the mowing over 2 days instead of pushing way to much. I can just see the puppies 'helping' you with the groceries, cute story.

Off to watch something on the tube, till time to go to bed. I just had a nice homemade burger on an onion roll, it was yummy. Need my fruit now, since the burger set well, will be adventurous and have an orange.

Thinking I have run off at the fingers to much, let me copy this and post. Hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

Yes Nola, the Garden is look good, 1 month on. :)
Thanks, I did have a lovely day on my birthday.

Middle of the night Text!!!!
I have had text in the middle of the night, twas a while ago ~ A certain Ms Brisbane has sent text wayyy too early. That is ok, I texted her early one morning, on one of my middle of the nights walks!!

Tricia, give Joy an extra Hug from the SA Ladies ♥

Yes, Please, MizT. Give Joy an extra hug from each of us.

I'm off to bring Sere in for the night. Then off to bed. Birds and puppies are already fed and watered and settled in for the night.

Hi All, Very late here to be posting but wanted to do so before I got side tracked.
Tami...Bernie is a fighter so don't give up on him too soon. We are all dying a bit each day. As one who experiences shortness of breath all of the time due to COPD, I know that it takes practice controlling it...but given the rights meds AND
using them correctly help keep thing under control...That being said, It is also good to be realistic and prepare for the end, as hard as that may be for some, so good onya for preparing yourself and the boys. I too hope all goes well and may the bumpy course of life have a long smooth bit ahead for you and yours...Hugs and an ear any time.
Trica and Heidi...you two just keep on moving and set such good examples for us ...thanks.
Nola...you don't do too badly either...hope things settle down a bit for you and Cyn...you both can use some of that smooth road to travel for awhile also.
Suzy.....Thank You....you make me feel warm and loved...that's special...♥♥
Running long and the clock is running faster..so I need to get myself in bed so that I feel like getting up in the morning for church.
Take care all...such a great group of folks....I am so blessed!

Greetings, Everyone!

Always good news when someone is feeling better, as MizT making progress against the UTI and the effects of the antibiotic. I hope you are able to get caught up on the sign language class! Maybe someone would be willing to work with you, a great way to reinforce the learning for whoever might volunteer to help.

Heidi, thank you for being one of the 'they' who place the flags on the graves! Congratulations on finding all of the civil war veterans! Tami has a great idea for photographic documentation of the location of graves, since there wasn't really a map, though that would be another idea.

Tami, I hope Bernie is making progress! Tami, we are all so proud of you for making a difference in the lives of those boys! Thank you!

Theresa, I can't imagine having to deal with those temperatures. We had temps in the low 40's (F) a couple of days ago, and thought that was bad. Time to drag the winter coats out again?

MizT, what a frustratingly early start to your day!

Tami, thinking of your Dad & sending positive thoughts and prayers!. I hope your realistic approach is premature and he has MANY more good days ahead!

Nola, belated birthday greetings to Greg and Paul's twins! I hope Paul is doing well! Enjoy your brother's upcoming visit!

Cyn, I hope Col AND you are both feeling better. Relax when you can!

Suzy, great idea for Heidi to go back and take photos of the flags at the cemetery before they're removed!

MizT, please give Joy a big {{{HUG}}} from all of us here!

I'm rapidly turning into a pumpkin and can't remember what else I was going to say. Thought of all of you and sending positive thoughts, prayers, healing vibes, and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for all of you!

Tami, I cried happy tears when I read how those boys responded to you, nothing more that I expected from any of us SA group.
Also cried heartbreaking tears for the time you have ahead preparing the boys, wish we never had to do that.
Cyn, give that boney a*rsed man of yours a kick up the rump for me and tell to what is right for him and you.
Mama, we are blessed to have you and your words of wisdom(or is that just learning life's lessons?)
Forgot the rest but....
Love and Hugs to you all

MizT, I was so sorry to hear about Joy's mother. I have to admit to reading it from a very selfish viewpoint as that is my fear for myself. If I have another stroke will I end up like that? I've told hubby and the girls that if I have a severe stroke they are to sign a DNR for me, that I don't want to live on a machine etc etc. But I think the worst part of it is how I now feel about the future. In my early 40's I went back to school with plans for my future. Now I don't think like that because I may not have a future... it's a horrible feeling.

Don't get me wrong, I don't walk around going woe is me! Poor me! But I was reading something the other day and I realised that I was reading it differently, that my view of the world had changed. I am now working on changing that!! I can't live the rest of my life like that and expect to be the kind of person I want to be.

But back to Joy.... sorry about that digression... I'm glad she has you!

Rolanda, I laughed about your early morning text! I could see myself doing that to you - forgetting about the time difference..

Julie, what a good idea about the sign language classes! I didn't think of that but it would be good for MizT and the person who was helping her catch up!!

Hugs to everyone I haven't mentioned... Tami, Theresa, Broni, Heidi...oh, you know who you are....

I'm going back out to the warmer room...

Forgot to mention that Dana was prescribed panadeine forte for the pain from her ovarian cyst but nobody told her that the codeine would be constipating. She started getting pain that the pain killers wasn't helping and thought the cyst was getting worse. I've been working with her today to fix the constipation and get her back on track, which is why we had Tahli this afternoon. ...

Morning all. Just getting ready to go out for a few hours. We are taking the boys out the breakfast. We are then going to take a walk by the beach or in a park and then go visit my dad. We are planning a big dinner for tonight. Wings and ribs, my boys favorite. I cooked the ribs yesterday in the oven, low and slow, and will just grill them today to heat them and give them flavor.

Mamacita, you understand what my dad is going through with COPD. Problem is, he does not always want to listen. My mom deserves a medal for putting up with him.

I also want him to live a long time but I am a realist. I am 'daddy's little girl' and don't want to lose him. This is his 4th hospital visit in about 2.5 months.

Mama really is the voice of experience! I, fortunately, don't know much about COPD, and don't want to be on familiar terms with it.

I need to have brekkie, then let 5 horses and the donkey out into the calving pasture, then give Sere and Whimsey the horse pasture alone. They're close friends, and Whimsey will be no threat to Sere's foal. The others might accidentally hurt it. Or traumatize Sere. She's very non-agressive. Like Whimsey.

The Celebration Of George's Life is in 3 hours, so I can't start mowing the lawn until I get back. I'm bringing some of the refreshments, as well.

The horses are split up, though Whimsey and Serenade aren't too sure about being separated. They can visit the others across the fence, with only the driveway separating them. They'll get used to it.

I'm cleaned up, and almost dressed. I just have to feed the puppies, then leave in 1/2 hour. I want to say my goodbyes to George, and comfort his wife Bea, but then I HAVE to get the lawn mowed. It looks awful right now.

The lawn is finally mowed and looks great. Don and Barb are coming over tomorrow to play with their new puppy (Kola) so I want it looking good here.

Hi all.
Suzy...thinking of you. Have you got an Enduring Power of Attorney which governs medical issues? Power of Attorney only does monetary issues. Depressing as it is, even a will is vital for us all.
Glad to hear you are positive. We never know what is to come but being prepared gives us a bit of peace of mind, regarding our wishes.
Poor Dana. Hope it is sorted soon.
Tami...thinking of you and the boys too.
Must run. Have to take neighbours to the train station.
Catch up soon.

Suzy - thinking of you as well. Nola is right about getting an EPA (if don't already have one in place) and also an Advanced Health Directive. These will ease decisions for your family and ensure that your wishes are carried out. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that I hope they never have to be used!
And it twas I who sent Rolanda a text very early one Christmas morning forgetting about the time difference. It was a group text and also included my cousin in WA as well. Ooops!
Tami - continued thoughts and wishes that your Dad comes good and has many years left for you all to enjoy.
Col has gone back to work this morning, and yes, Broni, I think I've persuaded him to make sure he's covered for anything that may, but hopefully not, happen in the future.

Suzy.... when is Dana having that surgery? It's been a long time.