Adam Is Five!

Adam’s birthday was two days ago (Sunday). He is the coolest 5-year-old I know! 

Bode Is Here!

Oh.... Joe and Kelsey are here, too!

Some introductions....

My Sister Is Here!

Kim and Kaelen are here!

Debbie and Zack (not Josh) picked them up at the airport around noon today. I was at work until 1:30, so they beat me home. 😊

It was a rainy day today, but who cares? 

My niece is here! 💗

My sister is here! 💗

Dad 420: Waiting for Planes and an Automobile

(Company is coming! Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another very hot, humid, muggy day of summer. Rainy day predicted for tomorrow. Need the rain. Just wish all rain would come between midnight and 4 AM. Never happen.

 

Well, tomorrow will be the day we have been waiting for all summer. Kim and Kaelen will be flying in from Illinois. Joe, Kelsey, and the person we are waiting to meet will arrive by automobile probably on Saturday. That would be great-grandson Bode. Then on August 5th, Zachariah (Bode's dad) will fly in. He will then travel back with Joe, Kelsey, and Bode by automobile. That will be on August 14th.

 

One week after their visit, Spouse will report for surgery. We are still on schedule to have her left arm removed as her stroke makes it useless and painful. Prayers still welcome.

 

Hope Deb and Josh remember to pick up Kim and Kaelen tomorrow. Happy days are here!

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

My Sister Is Coming!

Kim and Kaelen will be flying to Maine this Thursday. Joe, Kelsey, and Bode will be arriving by automobile sometime this weekend. Zachariah will be flying in the following week.

We are all looking forward to this visit by sister Kim's family. It will be the first time that Mom, Dad, Josh, Lew, and I will meet Bode in person! I can hardly wait!

I love my family, and I am so very excited to see them all. 💗
But this is what I really want to shout from the rooftops:

MY SISTER IS COMING!!!!! 

A Lovely Evening

Lew and I had our annual summer get-together with my friend Carmen tonight.

This get-together consists of a walk on the beach, dinner at the Clambake, ice cream, and a lot of gabbing.  :)

Carmen and I usually have lunch together a couple more times during the year, but our summer outing is our favorite. It’s fun that Lew joins us for it, too.

A lovely summer evening!

Lew's Logbook: One Out of Four Ain't Bad

(And adding "touch" would make it two of five! Enjoy Lew's post! ~ Tracy)

One out of four ain’t bad.

As most of Tracy’s readers know, I lost my senses of smell and taste several years ago. I had a cold, they went away and never came back.

I finally went to a hearing specialist on Monday. No surprise that my hearing is not good. I have a severe loss in the higher frequency ranges and I’m marginal at the lower end. Now that I have official confirmation of what I already knew, what do I do about it?? That is the million (or should I say 6,000) dollar question. The place that tested me was encouraging me toward the $6,000 option but I felt like I was being sold a time-share. I just couldn’t do it. I’m still trying to get into the VA system but that hasn’t happened yet. I’ve been told by many people, including my doctor who worked in the VA system, that Uncle Sam will buy hearing aids for me. We’ll see.

I went to have an eye exam on Friday. I am told that my eyes are very healthy and, with my contacts, I have very good vision.

So to summarize, I can’t smell, I can’t taste, and my hearing is bad. But my eyes are doing fine.

As I said, one out of four ain’t bad.  😊

The Annual Celebration Trifecta

I stole the "Trifecta" title from my sister Debbie; she used it in a Facebook post today. 😊

Today:

1. Anniversary #18 for Lew and yours truly. Happy Anniversary, Sweetie!
2. Anniversary #22 for sister Debbie and brother-in-law Glen. Happy Anniversary!
3. Birthday #80 for Dad (a.k.a. Derf). Happy Birthday, Dad!

Dad's milestone birthday warrants a little more coverage on Mainely Tracy. So, once again, I will steal from my sister's Facebook post. (I did not ask permission first, so perhaps she will sue me.... Ha ha!)  The two photos she posted today:

Our handsome father, a few short years ago....

A more recent photo (yesterday!) of Zack, Dad ("Papa" to his grandkids), and Josh

A Good Buy

Lew and I went to Best Buy yesterday so Lew could get a new laptop. His old laptop was running slower and s..l..o..w..e..r and s...l...o...w...e...r.  (He had had it!)

We didn't pay Best Buy to set up the new computer for us. We just brought it home, box unopened. (We paid for the computer, of course!)

I remember how much trouble we had with Windows 10 on my all-in-one computer when we first got it, so I was a little nervous about what might happen with Lew's new machine.

I needn't have worried.

Lew fired it up last night, and the lovely Cortana assistant voice guided him through the whole setup process. It was nowhere near the trouble I had with my computer... not even close. I'm guessing some of the kinks have been worked out of Windows 10 since we bought mine. (It figures.)

Lew is happy to have a new laptop, so we should be all set technology-wise for a while now. Hooray!

Dad 419: Rain, Rain, Come (Slow) This Way

(Dad writes today. Enjoy! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! A beautiful summer day. Another one to follow tomorrow.

 

Last Friday Spouse and I spent some time at the surgeon's office. Barring any further problems as they check Spouse's medical history, we will be in surgery for Spouse on August 23rd. Continue prayers that this will all work out. Thanks!

 

Yesterday we had a shower, complete with lightning and thunder. Also a very lot of rain in a short time period. We need rain, but a nice slow long rain would be the most beneficial. We are close to a drought. Not severe yet, but our lawns are very dry and brown.

 

I am going to start cleaning our apartment to the best of my ability for our company. Company is due to arrive one week from tomorrow. We are looking forward to the visit.

 

Two days from now I will catch my spouse in age. It has been good to be a year younger than Spouse for one week. Eighty, here I come! I can't believe it, but it is true! That's it!

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Fenway at the Office

Our company president brought his dog to work yesterday. 

The dog's name is Fenway, named after the park where the Red Sox play. 

Fenway is the cutest little dog you ever did see! He is so friendly and is quite the ham. We all enjoyed meeting him. (Sorry that I didn't get a picture.)

I asked where Fenway was today. Fenway was home.

My subsequent analysis:

The office with Fenway: Fun!
The office without Fenway: Not nearly as fun.

I think Fenway should come to work every day!

In My Happy Place

I did it! Yesterday evening I finished my massive decluttering project!

I worked on it practically the whole weekend. I was happy when I was done... SO very happy.

I celebrated by putting in a long day at the office today. (I think I need some lessons on how to celebrate, ha ha!)

It is so nice to know I can spend time doing other things when I'm home now. I forgot what that is like.

Did I mention how happy I am?!

😁

Lew's Logbook: Hooked Up

(Lew writes today. "Ouch!"  ~  Tracy)

We have a phrase in our modern culture that we use in a variety of ways. Getting “ hooked up” usually refers to some kind of romantic get-together. But it is also used to offer some assistance, such as hooking someone up with your mechanic or a job prospect.

The last two weeks it has had a different meaning for me. 

A friend, who is an avid fisherman, managed to hook himself up while fly fishing. He tried to get the hook out himself but only succeeded in driving it deeper into his finger (see picture below). Medical assistance was needed.

This past Thursday I was fishing with another friend of mine, and he landed a very nice large-mouth bass. I saw the fish and turned away to tend to my own tackle. Then I heard him say “uh oh.”  The fish had done a hard flip at the wrong time and my friend had the hook buried deep into the palm of his hand. The hook has a barb so it cannot just be pulled out without taking a chuck of flesh with it.  Medical assistance was needed.

I may need to start my own version of the TV series “Deadliest Catch.”

One More Weekend

Here we are at the weekend.

I have devoted the last few weekends to my massive decluttering project. I am pleased to announce that I expect this weekend to be the last of that sort!

Yes, I am getting really close to being done. One more big push this weekend and I think I will be able to breathe again.

It will be nice to breathe. Breathing is good.

😊

P.S.  When I speak of "being done," I am not including the attic — only our regular living space. I do not wish to think about the attic.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I am writing this post after Mom has already gone to bed, but I still want Mainely Tracy to be in honor of Mom today. A milestone birthday: 80!

My sister Debbie shared this photo of our beautiful mother on Facebook this morning.

Happy Birthday to you, Mom!

Dad 418: Spouse Turning 80; A Major Decision

(My advice for reading Dad's post today. Read it first, take a breath, then read it again. Yes... you probably read the final paragraph correctly!  ~  Tracy)

Derf Here! Enjoying extended summer weather; to continue for the week if the experts are correct. Bring it on!

Only two things to discuss today.

The first issue is a birthday of significance tomorrow. Spouse will reach another milestone. She will celebrate her 80th birthday. That will also make her older than her husband (me). I will, however, catch her in eight days. But for one week I will live with an older woman. A week of excitement!

The second subject of the night is about a doctor's appointment Friday. We will meet with the doctor first and then with a nurse practitioner to go over pre-operation data. At least that is what we hope. If all works out, Spouse will lose her left arm. For three years she has had absolutely no use of her arm and it has been unbearable at times. She is hopeful of the operation. Prayers are welcome! Stay tuned!

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

My Summer Hobby

I may have written about this before, but this time of year seems like a good opportunity to mention it again:

Sometimes I think of my job as a hobby.

I have a really flexible schedule as far as arrival/departure times each day.  And as long as I work enough hours each week to stay full-time — and to get my work done, of course — there is no mandate to work a full 40-hour week.

It's summer, it's more leisurely, so it's definitely "hobby" time for me! (Please don't bother to tell the company president.... He already knows!)

😉😎

Lew's Logbook: A Very Good Day

(Lew writes today. Enjoy!  ~  Tracy)

What makes for a “good day”...?

The weather was great today. We had breakfast with some friends and then came home and worked on some projects. I even took a little nap (stayed up too late reading last night). Tracy and I had dinner and watched one of our favorite shows.

All of that constitutes a nice day.

But when my son calls me to talk about spiritual things and what Jesus is doing in his life, that makes for a “good day”… a “very good day.”

Below is a selfie that he took today while at the beach.  He was trying to take a picture of Eli and Adam but got himself instead.

The Heat Was On

The heat wave is over!

The past few days have been so hot and humid that we've had the air conditioners running night and day. But now it has cooled off enough so that we can sleep with the windows open tonight.

The cooler weather comes at a great time for me. I need to spend the weekend doing more decluttering, so at least I won't be sweating buckets. (Should I have said "perspiring" buckets?)

I am going to cut this post short (hey, at least I posted tonight... better than I can say for last night) so that I can go and relax a bit. The Red Sox are on (currently ahead 8-1 over Kansas City) and I just started reading an interesting novel.

Good night!

Dad 417: Independence Day!

(Happy Birthday, USA! ~ Tracy)

Derf Here!  Hot and Humid!

YES!  FREEDOM!

HAPPY JULY 4TH!

Until next time!
Toodle Pip!
Derf!

Blog Delinquency

I have been of a one-track mind lately. I worked all weekend on decluttering and re-organizing in the house. Consequently, I was a delinqent blogger. (Maybe I should temporarily change the blog's name from Mainely Tracy to The Delinquent Blogger, ha ha!***)

Lew and I did go out on Friday night, though, so the weekend wasn't all spent toiling in the house. Our breakfast buddies, Dick and Carole, were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary! It was a lovely party celebrating a lovely marriage of two lovely people.
💕

*** Hmmm... maybe I should change the name... at least until I am done with the massive decluttering project I have undertaken!