Dad 286: Happy New Year!

(And the honor of writing the last post of 2015 goes to my father. Enjoy! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Well we did see a little sun today on the last day of 2015.

 

Spouse's cataract operations are now complete and all appointments for checkups have been completed. Her eyes are now as perfect as possible.

 

Today we had the first visit from the occupational therapist. Spouse has lots of work to do. Her physical therapist is scheduled for next week. We are on the move forward again.... We hope!

 

Enjoying the visit by Kim and Joe and all of the visits by Deb, Glen, Josh, and Zack.

 

Not much to say except....

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Lew's Great Day

Today was Lew's last day of working full-time.

 

Debbie made a retirement banner.

 

My father bought a cake.

 

Kim and Debbie made hamburgers and french fries for dinner. Yummy!

 

It didn't take Lew long to get into "retirement mode" this evening. The kitties are happy he's going to be hanging around more. :)

Favorite Gifts

Eli and Adam (ages 4 and 2, respectively) took their own money and purchased Christmas gifts at the dollar store.

The gifts they selected for me are precious!  I am wearing them in this picture:

I love the colors in the boa. The blue beaded necklaces have plastic shot glasses hanging on them, so I am all ready for my New Year's Eve Moxie toast!

Best Christmas gifts ever. Love....

Books to Go: NONE!

I did it!

I completed my 2015 Reading Challenge.

I finished reading Gone With the Wind around 9:00pm last night.

I'm glad I did this challenge, because I read some books that I may not have otherwise pursued. Example: War and Peace.

I have seen other reading challenges for 2016, but I will not be doing one. Year 2016 is the year of reading what I want to, when I want to.

And, yes, I have already started reading another book.  :)

Christmas Dinner

Kim and Joe flew in today, so Debbie had her Christmas dinner a day late so they could join us. It was worth the wait!

Merry Christmas!

Joy to the World, the Lord is Come!

Wishing everybody a very Merry Christmas.

Dad 285: Merry Christmas!

(Don't forget to hang your stocking tonight! Enjoy Dad's post.  ~  Tracy)

Derf Here!  Another warm, foggy day here in the Northeast. No snow yet for us in southeastern Maine. The experts tell us we'll get some Tuesday. I hope not!

Spouse spent the last three days in the hospital. We did bring her home today, but for a while we were not sure if we would get her home in time for Christmas. She made it! (More details next week.)

Enjoy the day that we celebrate as the birthday of our Savior. Peace be with you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

And Then There Were Two

Books left to go in my 2015 Reading Challenge:

A book my mom loves.  I am almost 2/3 of the way through Gone With the Wind. I am reading this on my Kindle – a lovely way to read.

A play.  I have read three out of the eight plays in The Mousetrap and Other Plays by Agatha Christie. I could argue that I have already met this category's requirement – one play, after all, could be a stand-alone book. However, this is a paperback. It just wouldn't feel right to not finish reading all eight plays.

This will be my last "progress report" regarding my 2015 Reading Challenge. The next time I mention it will be when I've crossed the finish line!

A Letter

Dear Windows 10,

I do not like you.

Have a good day.

Regards,

Mainely Tracy

Christmas Sunday at Church: A Photo Essay

Batman was there.

My view of the front screen.

Those are some antlers!

Debbie still sits between her boys at church so they will behave.

Lew sits beside his boy at church sometimes, too!

Grampa and Batman (a.k.a. Eli)

Adam and his favorite girl.

Zack (in red) and Josh both tower over their mother... and their father, too!

And that's all, Folks!

Musical Closets

I've purchased a few new clothing items since I went back to work.
My closet was too cramped so I've been hanging the new clothes in the guestroom closet.
Just about every morning I've been going into the guestroom to get what I want to wear.
Today I finally took the time to swap closets.
(I do need to weed out some things, but I'm waiting for spring cleaning to do that.)
I feel like I have a whole new wardrobe now that my closet contains the clothes I actually like to wear.
Why didn't I do this swap before?
Beats me.
I just didn't think to do so until today!

The Last Friday

One of Lew's co-workers pointed out that today is the last workday Friday of his working career.

Lew is retiring from full-time employment on Thursday, December 31st, leaving only one Friday between now and then.

And that one Friday is the paid holiday known as Christmas Day!

Lew may continue to work part-time for a bit after the new year starts... but not on Fridays.

Happy "Last Friday" to you, Lew!

Dad 284: Awards and Permit and Stitches, Oh My!

(So much news, I can hardly keep up with it. Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another cool, damp rainy day in the Northeast. Up to a foot of snow in our northern Maine counties. Nothing like snow in the south yet. A big cheer for that!

 

A lot of information today....

 

Josh received several awards at his football banquet:

• His team's Lineman of the Year.
  
• Coaches' Award.
  
• First-team All-Conference in their league.
  
• Gaziano Lineman of the Year nominee.
• National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete nominee.

A successful year!

 

Zack finished his classroom driver's education course and passed his test. A few more hours of driving and he will be able to drive Aunt Kim around with his permit!

 

Spouse has completed her cataract surgery with a good report on both eyes at follow-up. One more follow-up next week. Then she completes the eyedrops.

 

Spouse had two stitches taken out of her lip by sons-in-law. Glen cut the stitches while Lew held the light. A job well done. Spouse no longer looks like she has been through a war after her fall two weeks ago. We are on the mend! One week left with night eyepatch!

 

Wishing good luck to Joe, Kim, and Kelsey in their Christmas concerts. Wish we were there.

 

That's all, Folks!

 

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

Bait

This is a photo of the stand that is just inside my parents' living room.

When I get home from work, I usually pop in to say "Hi" to my folks. And I look down at the stand.

Do you see why I look?  My father knows me well.  :)

Marilyn Helps Celebrate . . .

. . . Red Pants Tuesday!

Wrapping Fail

Lew was fighting off a bad cold this weekend and I was preoccupied with I-still-don't-know-what, so we didn't get much wrapping done.

In fact, the only wrapping I've completed so far is what we needed to ship to Illinois and Florida. Lew sent it off today.

I told a friend at church yesterday that I am doing the "just in time" approach to Christmas gifts this year. And it seems to be working!

Except for the kitties.

The kitties are not happy that the guest room is still off limits.

Patience, kitties, patience!

Not Quite a Shakespearean Work

Marilyn writes:

fg                

When I was working on my computer earlier today, Marilyn kept hopping up and trying to get on the keyboard.
So I thought that I could get her to write today's blog post.
I picked her up and the above is all she came up with.
Thanks a bunch, Marilyn.
When I need you to be my personal assistant, you bail.
Actually her post is more interesting than most of mine are!
Smile! (Meow!)

Time to Wrap It Up

My kitties aren't happy because they can't go in the guestroom at the moment.

Christmas gifts are on the bed and scattered throughout the room.

I really don't want little paws to be walking all over the items.

Tomorrow is "wrapping day" and hopefully the room will be open to our furry friends once again.

We've been saving a Christmas music special on our DVR.... It will be the perfect background for when we wrap!

Dad 283: Haircut Week

(The Thursday of Tracy was a success. Enjoy Dad's post!  ~  Tracy)

Derf Here! Another mostly cloudy day but not too cold. Tomorrow is supposed to hit fifty degrees. We'll take it.

Well, Spouse successfully managed to get through the week with no falls. Her weekly follow-up went well and we are now about to start preparing for the other eye (to remove cataract from right eye). This will be done next Tuesday with a follow-up on Wednesday. If all goes well the last follow-up will be on Wednesday the 23rd of December. We will still have to continue an eye-drop steroid until January 1st for the left eye and finish the right eye later in January. Then get new glasses.

Today was my haircut day. I went late in the day (3:30) while Spouse napped. Actually, she didn't nap but watched TV instead (Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Rifleman, and Judge Judy).

I managed to get Spouse a haircut appointment for Saturday. Cindy (our hair stylist) and I set a time that allows Spouse to get in the chair shortly after arriving at the shop. Cindy is very cooperative, which makes it easier. Thanks, Cindy!

Done for today. Sooo....

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

The Wednesday of Tracy

Have you seen the Seinfeld episode about the Summer of George?

 

I was feeling very behind at work, so I dubbed today the Wednesday of Tracy.

 

It was my night to stay late to cover student payments, so I knew I had a good opportunity to make some progress.

 

And unlike the disappointment of the Summer of George, the Wednesday of Tracy was a success.

 

I didn't get everything done, but there's always the Thursday of Tracy!

Football Folly

What a terrible football day we had on Sunday.

The New York Giants blew the early afternoon game.

The New England Patriots blew the late afternoon game.

The Indianapolis Colts lost big-time in the night game.

I have family and friends that are fans of at least one of these three teams.

So it was a terrible football day indeed.

However....

Lew and Matt made the playoffs in their Fantasy Football league! Hooray!

Oh, Christmas Wall

We decided against putting up a Christmas tree.

 

Our reason for this decision has a name: Marilyn.

 

But we did want to decorate for the Christmas season, so we devised our own way to hang ornaments.

 

What do you think?!

 

 

 

And Then There Were Four

I have four books to go in my 2015 Reading Challenge.

I am halfway through one: The Tapestry.

I am a third of the way through another: Gone With the Wind.

I have two that I have yet to start: The Mousetrap and Other Plays, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

I lost some of my momentum the past couple weeks, so I need to pick up the pace a bit.

Can I do it?

I think I can.... I think I can....

Please Ask How I'm Doing :)

"How are you doing?"

My favorite response is, "Living the dream."

Not that I've said this myself yet.

But I've heard it about three times in the past week.

I enjoyed hearing it every time.

So I think I'm going to respond this way in the future.

It makes me happy.  :)

Dad 282: A Dose of Excitement

(Dad, Mom, and I discussed adding a photo of my mother to the end of this post. The vote was 2-1 against doing so. I will leave it to you, the reader, to wonder who voted "yes". Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another cloudy, cool day in the Northeast. We are told the weather will be fairly sunny for the next few days. Not very warm though.

 

As mentioned on Mainely Tracy yesterday, Spouse had cataracts removed from left eye on Tuesday. Everything went well. Then the fun began. The operation was at 7:30 AM, so we arrived home fairly early afterward. I opened the doors and then went back outside to help Spouse from the car to the couch. We made it up the stairs, through the hallway, and into the living quarters to the couch. As we were getting her to sit on the couch, she lurched forward, crashed into a cabinet and took a vicious dive, banging her head very fast and hard on the floor. (We believe she passed out.)

 

I tried to get her to respond to me. Her response was unresponsive. I attempted to get her to the couch. Eventually I was able to get her up and to the couch where she sort of collapsed again. I then called 911. They came and she made a trip to the emergency room.

 

Hospital took a scan of her head and found nothing broken. Spouse looks like she got beat up. She has two black eyes, a bruised nose, and two stitches in her lip.

 

We got home early afternoon as she was very alert. We made it to the couch. Success!

 

The next day (yesterday) we went back to the eye doctor and he said everything was fine. A big sigh of relief. We now wait until next week for the follow-up. Then we will prepare for the right eye surgery the following week. Hopefully Spouse won't look so beat up on our next trip.

 

Everything is back to normal as she has her monthly doctor's checkup tomorrow. We're looking for a fast healing. That's about it. Sooo....

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

A Wild and Crazy Perfect Storm

This has been quite the week so far.

Mom had her first cataract surgery yesterday, which was not without a dose of excitement.... More on that in Dad's post tomorrow, I'm sure!

And work has been so very, very busy. Several things have contributed to this, and they happened all at once:

• Last week was a short week.
• This Monday was a month end.
• We had two big classes start at one of our locations on Monday.
• Open enrollment for benefits ended yesterday and the changes hit this Friday's payroll deductions.
• Two co-workers just went out on maternity leave.

Each one of these reasons sent additional tasks my way. I am slowly but surely digging out from the avalanche — albeit more slowly than surely. I do take comfort in the fact that several of my co-workers are digging out with me. I do love our team!

Gotta relax now.  :)

Driving to Work With My Sister

When I drove by Debbie's road on my way to work this morning, I saw her vehicle waiting at the intersection.

She turned onto the road in back of me, and we waved to each other when we stopped at the lights.

She was behind me for another mile or so before we went our separate ways.

It was fun driving partway to work with my sister!