as Sept ends...

Tux drinking my water...

Why is it that my drink glass is so attractive to Tux? It's not like he doesn't have a water bowl in almost every room...

*****

OK, I went to lunch Monday with friends from Dominican High School in New Orleans. One is a close friend that I grew up with on the same block and the others I knew in high school, but not well. We started meeting for lunch when our 50th HS Reunion came up and we realized that we all lived somewhat close. It's been fun catching up and  learning about each other. One recently went through a traumatic diagnosis of BC, following through with chemo, radiation, and now meds. Despite it all, she is doing very well. Another has reached the age where it's difficult (if not impossible) to find career work... but needs to... and interviewing for jobs at this point in her life is not conducive to happy times. My close friend and myself are both retired and as she calls us, "blessedly boring"... as we are not fighting these other problems at the moment (although both she and I have already done the BC thing). I had hoped to get a waiter to take a pic of the 4 of us while there today, but we talked for 2 hours and not once did I remember to do this. 

My daughter called this evening and apparently they are going to A&M to check out the campus and grounds this week. My grand daughter is only 14, but is considering going to college there. She is very into her horses and is curious about their equine programs. Right now she is doing cross-country trials.

In these top 3 she is riding Hemi

In these bottom 3, she is riding Tootsie

And these are actually old pics she's sent me, but I'm told that both horses (although young) are doing well and grand daughter is doing great. 

Cats about the house today...

Tux and Ghost sharing warmth

Rose waiting for us to return

This last one of Julie wasn't taken today... but it shows her love for the kitchen counter. She is one silly cat!

That's about it. This post is a bit fragmented, but then so is life. Have a great rest of the week! 

interesting times...

Took pic off the TV while Pope was giving his speech Wed morning

Interesting times. I really like this Pope.  I'm not a religious person although I was raised Catholic and taught by Catholic nuns. But (IMO) I am spiritual... and feel that this Pope is very spiritual. It seems that he can relate to the people on a very basic level... and not everyone can do that. 

In general, I stay away from religion, politics, and other confrontational issues in my posts. Not because I don't have opinions, but because I'm not sure this is the place for that. This blog is about day to day life... and although occasional issues may pop up, confrontational issues are not on my agenda (and you're welcome to confront me on that).

Now on to mundane issues:

DH and I went on our neighborhood crime watch patrol ride-along this morning. We joined this a few weeks back and went to a meeting given by the Police explaining how this is done and what to look for, etc. It was very interesting. We were told what we can and can't do, how to report what we see, and basically how to be the neighborhood eyes. 

Monday I spent part of the day taking tests at the Cardiologist's. Happy to report that my heart is in good shape... no problems seen. So whatever caused the chest pains is not my heart! So happy! The doctor mentioned other possible causes, but I told him that if it wasn't my heart, I wasn't going to worry about it.

And the bloodwork taken at my primary physician's came back fine also... except for my D3 being low. It's supposed to be 30 - 100 and mine was 14.  Told them that I would start taking some over-the-counter Vitamin D... but didn't want to take the Rx 50,000 units... and I would try to eat fish and eggs at least twice a week (and a Vit D fortified milk).

Genealogy class yesterday was fascinating. Our instructor talked mainly about DNA testing and explained all the in and outs involved. It was more like a science class (Genetics). Enjoyed it. As for getting much further in my research online, I try to use only free sites, but almost always end up where to get more info, you have to pay... and I'm not ready to do that until I've exhausted all the other possibilities. 

And lastly, when we went to Central Market this morning for groceries, all the pumpkins were out on display...

Aren't they great?

and the beat goes on... (we hope)

DH and I attended another of our grandsons' high school football games Friday night. Their team didn't win, but it was fun non-the-less. We go to watch one grandson play his baritone sax in the marching band and the other play offensive tackle on the football team. Nothing else really matters (to me anyway). We only see our boys out on the field (a form of tunnel-vision I guess). 

And we have a confession to make. We sat on the opposing team's side for the first quarter. It was hot and that side was shady. The sun was beating down on our team's side. I guess if we were younger, we would have 'sucked it up', but being the age we are, we chose to play it safe and sit in the shade (off by ourselves) until the sun went down... then we switched over.

And today I spent the whole day (9 - 4) at the pottery studio throwing *goblets*.  Don't know where I'm going with this, but I'm enjoying the experience of trying something new. 

Oh, I also made a batch of home-made nutty granola for DH and I to healthy snack on.  It's really good and a favorite with my daughter and her work buddies in San Antonio (and DH apparently). She tried to convince her dad to part with some of it, but he refused... acting like the Soup Nazi on the old Seinfield show with "no soup for you!".... saying "no granola for you!". So I guess I'll have to make another batch soon and mail it off.

Quick Update on my Cardiologist appt Thurs: All went well. Nurse collected info and did another EKG (they hadn't received the one my primary physician's office was supposed to have sent). It showed the same abnormality apparently as the first one... and the computer had printed "possible myocardial infarction" on the top. However, the Cardiologist said that this was not always accurate, but it, my age,  and chest pains warranted further tests which are scheduled for Monday. I did have another episode Thursday night... almost exactly the same as the first. Reported it Friday morning and was told to take a baby aspirin each night before bed until my tests on Monday (and of course call 911 or go to emergency room if warranted).

It's been a most interesting week...

redundancy... the state of being no longer useful

"No one is useless in this world

Who lightens the burdens of it

For anyone else..."

- Charles Dickens

I had saved this saying that I saw somewhere and came across it recently when going through my word documents. It says exactly what I feel... in another person's words. 

So even though many of us "retired oldsters" are no longer contributing to the working world, we do have our uses. 

*We can offer moral and physical support to family, friends, and others in need (including our own and neighborhood cats) 

*We can lend our ears to those who have something to say

*and our voice to those who want to listen

*We can lend our arms to our grandchildren (in hugs)

*our vehicle to our kids

                and 

*our time to our community

*We can keep in touch with old friends

*and make new ones through  outside activities

It's true that we may be old and financially limited, but no, we aren't totally useless...

ps: (a personal update) Thank all of you who commented on my last post and recommended that I check in with a doctor after my little scare. I did just that today and apparently the EKG showed some abnormality (I still say probably nothing), but they are sending me to a cardiologist to check it out.

a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday update...

DH decided that he'd really like an apple pie Friday. Well, I'd already spent the morning trying out a new recipe for meat loaf, but since we were out running errands anyway, it wouldn't be hard to pick up some apples. Do you know that apples are expensive when you have to buy a bunch? Usually I just pick up one or two each week to put in our salads, but when you need 6 - 8 and best to get a variety of types, it can cost you. Anyway, the only other choice would be to buy a pie already made (probably cheaper too), but you know, home-made almost always tastes better... so-oo here it is. the crust isn't exactly beautiful, but should taste good... and I can't wait to put some melted cheddar cheese on top. I know most people prefer ice-cream (DH does), but I love apple pie with melted cheddar!

Our first Fall pottery class met Saturday. I wasn't sure that I was going to go because I'd had a strange night (which I'll explain later), but ended up going anyway... a little late. It was fine. Some of the old pottery wheels had been replaced with new ones. This was great except that the foot pedals were a bit stiff and took a little breaking in. I had watched a few videos on making clay goblets, so gave it a try. These are my results... not perfect by any means, but works in progress.

These were made in 2 pieces. I tried to do one all in one piece, but it didn't work out. However, I will continue to work on that. The goblet in the center has a solid stem. The others have hollow stems which are better for firing... but what I didn't realize until doing this was that the hollow stems dry out a lot faster than the cup parts. This can be a problem when attaching the two. There's also a 4th goblet, but I didn't take any pics. It's huge!(about twice the size of these)

Now I'll mention what almost caused me to skip class Saturday. I woke up about 2:30 Saturday morning with chest pains.  I've had these off and on before  on occasion and they usually go away in about 5 minutes. But this time they continued until I finally got out of bed and went to sit in the den. They continued until about 4am... and then eased off. I did take my blood pressure (which is usually low... sometimes very low) and it read 171/81 (high for me), but the 2nd time I took it about 15 minutes later it read 151/123 (that was an unusual diastolic?), later it went to 185/87, then 169/81. By morning it was back to 131/70 (normal for me). Strange, yes?  I plan to check it out with my doctor this week as I have to admit it scared me... not enough to go to the emergency room, but enough to warrant a consult. 

Tux enjoying the Sunday morning sunshine

For those of you who have cats, you won't be surprised when I tell you that both Tux and Julie spent Saturday morning sitting with me and looking very concerned during my scary episode. Cats can be very comforting.

a ghost of a cat...

This is Ghost...

She is sitting in the hall. I got closer to take another pic...

and then closer...

Notice the subtle change in expression as I get nearer? No? 

That's because there is none! 

Ghost has very few expressions... usually either this one which is expression-less or really grumpy like the following.

Oh! Found this one... kind of surprised expression (like I caught her when she was playing)

and then this one's my favorite. She is her *still grumpy, but wants to read along with me* look...

I think she's saying, "I like this part..."

Anyway, as you can see, I've nothing better to do today. Our pottery class was cancelled due to Labor Day Weekend. I spent the day working on a quilt and making a custard pie. Then took a few pics of Ghost in the hall which lead me here... 

Have a great weekend!  

Ghost as a kitten

September, cat boxes, and baby chicks...

September is here! Can you believe? Our hot summer is over! ... not hardly... and it really wasn't that hot. I mean, we did have a few triple digit days (100 - 107 F), but not that many. So all in all, it wasn't a bad summer. And since it started slowly with such a wet spring, there's no reason to complain. 

Black ferals in trees

Now... I may complain about the winter even before it gets here. The cold and I don't do well... never have. Guess us "Southerners" have thin blood (or maybe it's just me). I do do better with layering since my Alaska trip, but still once I get chilled to the bone, I stay cold. We could call it 'old age', but actually I've always been this way (daughter too). There have been times when only a hot shower will raise my body temp back up where I'm not shivering. 

Will it be a bad winter? I don't know, and haven't heard any predictions. I did read somewhere that with El Nino, we may have a wet winter and some areas (like NY) may have even more snow (seems like they had an awful lot of snow last winter). But it's never wise to worry about something that hasn't happened yet... so I won't. But I will make sure DH and I have plenty of  warm clothing, blankets, and hot soup on hand (as well as get our annual flu shots!... and of course heat lamps and lots of warm hay for the outside ferals!)

Now on another topic.  Started my genealogy class yesterday. It was OK.  We sat in front of computers and our instructor ran through the syllabus and a list of online genealogy websites. He explained how to basically surf the sites to get where you want to go. However, most of the sites that we checked out were US sites only. When I asked about this, he said that world sites were available also... but they may not be in the 13 Favorite Sites list he gave us. He said that some may have world access, some may not. 

Since my paternal grandfather only immigrated to the US from England in 1920, almost all the info I need to search his family tree will be outside the US. And it's not that world sites aren't available, it's just that I thought that perhaps they would be more available (meaning free) through this class. This may not be so, so I'm a little discouraged.

Tux was first to claim Keurig coffee box!

We get our Keurig k-cups by ordering from keurig.com and so have a constant supply of boxes for cats to play in. Tux is generally the first to jump in and claim it, but the others will hang around and wait their turn. 

Julie's turn!

And great news!  I have 5 (so far) grandchicks!  Let me explain. Last year a baby chick (at my daughter's place) hatched on my birthday. My grand daughter named it Rian for me. Now Rian laid 9 eggs and hid them underneath the Chicken Coop. They just started hatching today and so far, I have 5 grandchicks! Isn't that wonderful?

picture grand daughter sent of Rian and 4 of her chicks

Aren't they cute?