New Baby Blankets!

I have finally finished another group of baby blankets for the hospital. It has been fun making them especially trying to use different patterns. I also try to use different colors instead of the pink or blue. The one picture that looks like a dark green is actually yellow. I also tried to make hats to go along with the blanket. That is hard because you don't know if what you are doing is big enough.

UPDATE NEWS

Dad has made a plan for his retirement. He will continue to work full-time for another 3 years and then part-time for one year. After that, he should be 62, he will retire. Where are we going or what are we doing has not been decided yet. We are still looking at the Carolina's, Tennessee. Virginia, Maryland, and Colorado. We do know it won't be Florida. Another 49 states to go!

I have had some tests done because of a problem unrelated to MS. Be very lucky that you don't have to deal with a colonoscopy yet. The prep work is the worst but this is a necessary evil. The doctor did find a couple of polups which were benign but one of them did look suspicious for cancer. Again, they were benign but I need to repeat the test in three years instead of five. I also had another test called an EGD. This test required a tube to be inserted down my thoart to check on things and I have not received the results on that one. The initial result was everything was OK but the doctor did take some biopsies to check on things. Such fun!! At least I did not know what was going on with this test as I was sedated.

We went to look at dogs yesterday (Sunday) and Dad really liked this chihuahua named "Dino". We had a laugh. The dog was cute but not house broken or knew how to walk on a leash. These are things we could work out but we aren't sure about getting a dog right now. I would be the one that would need to take care of the dog. Most days that would not be a problem but I still have meetings to attend during the week. Can I get into a routine of having a dog around? I don't know. It has been nice with Chester because he doesn't require any work except to brush him once in awhile (which Dad does) and to feed him and clean his litter box. With a dog, it will require walking on a daily basis and training. As we don't have a back yard, we would need to take him to a dog park for excersise. Just so many added jobs ... I think we are going to wait until we have made our final move.

Everything else has been going well for us. Dad was asked to be on the State board for the AGC (Associated General Contractors). It will require him to attend more state meetings which he isn't doing now. I will be able to attend also as the wives usually have something planned to keep them occuppied. It is an honor for him to be chosen.

I continue to make baby blankets. I am on my fourth one now. I am also making little hats to match. It is fun and I know that they will be appreciated. You will have to look for new photos later.

I guess that is about it. The weather is great. We are starting to get Fall temperatures. Of course nothing like you will be experiencing. We do miss the Fall festivals and the change of leaves. Enjoy and take pictures for us :-)

TIME GOES BY SO FAST

It has been awhile since I last posted and the only reason for it has been time. Where did the time go?

I was busy with my MS Support Group in getting a new location for us, making sure notices went out, and having all the supplies needed for the meeting.

I am also on a Government Relations Committee with the MS Society and I was chosen to represent the disabled with the Operations of Emergency Services for the State of California. I was sent by email a document to review which was 483 pages long. After printing it off, which took almost a full ream of paper, I had to read it. It wasn't an exciting paper. The document talked about how California was going to handle floods, earthquakes, wild fires, tusanamies, and any other emergencies. I was to review to make my comments regarding the disabled. The paper did not have much and I had to point that out.

I also had to take care of the house with cleaning, laundry, and other stuff. I had to call and get my cleaning people back as I wasn't doing a very good job or at least I felt I wasn't. It was very hard for me to try and stay on top of things. I would get tired easily and that lead to things being put off until another day. Dad helped some but he has been so tired lately with his job that I did not want to add more to him.

We also had to have a termite service in to take care of a termite problem. Dad had to cut back a beam over the garage as it was messed up from the termites and wood rot. He had to go to Home Depot and buy a couple of sanders for the job but he needed them anyway. Besides he likes going to Home Depot. I guess it is a guy thing! We still have about 14 boards under our eave, that are gone from termites that need to be replaced but this is going to require removing some roof to get to them. They are at the peak of the house. Not an easy job to get too. So this will be a major job and a major cost. I don't know when we will get to that!!

We are also trying to figure out where we are going to live after Dad retires. Now Dad is not retiring for at least another 5 years. We aren't sure whether to buy a home already built, buy land and build later, or stay in California. Where do we look? We are checking out North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Colorado, Oregon, and Tennessee. I am sure there will be others.

Dad and I miss everyone and wish we could make more trips to see everyone. It is that time thing again. Where does this thing called TIME go?

Baby Blankets

I have been crocheting baby blankets to give to a hospital for their neonatal unit. I have made about 6 blankets and I gave two away. The others showing were ones that I gave to the Irvine Regional Hospital. This was the same hospital were Jennifer gave birth to Noah. The neonatal unit helped with giving Noah a start with his life. To see him now you would not recognize him as a baby that weighed 3 pounds at birth and had so many problems.

Madilynn was also born there and also had a visit in the neonatal unit. The nurses do some great work.

When I gave the blankets to the unit, the nurses were very surprised and grateful. They have some other blankets to give to a lucky boy or girl. The nurses said they would be glad to take others. So my work is cut out for me. They were fun and easy to make. Sorry for a picture sideways. The colors were blue, purple, light yellow, and cream. I also did one in pink but we gave that one to Dad's assistant who was going out on maternity and was having a baby girl.

DOE A DEER, A FEMALE DEER

I took some pictures of a couple of deer that were just outside of our house. I was so close to them it was unbelievable. They even laid down for awhile (I didn't get a picture of that and I wished I did). I will see deer once in a while out back but never in our front yard. It was something to see.

The deer stayed around for at least an hour or more. At times they were staring right at me. I didn't want to take a picture then as I was afraid they would run off. Dogs barked, people opened and closed their garages, cars were moving about but they were not bothered by any of it. I guess they have become so used to everything that it would take a lot more to scare them.

Yosemite Work Outing

Dad survived his work ordeal building on the deck for his boss. He was so impressed with the area that he took several pictures. I have also shown you what the deck looked like once it was finished. The group of guys really worked very hard to do this deck in 2 days. Sorry for any pictures that are turned sideways but you can get the idea of height.

On the Road Again

No this does mean we are moving even though that has been our theme song. No, Dad is doing the flying. He just had a quick flight to Las Vegas yesterday. It was a one day trip - there and back. On Monday he will be going again but for two days. The company has a couple of bids they are working on in Las Vegas so Dad has to go to make sure things are going smoothly.

Dad also has 3 other projects here in California that he is working on. His assistant estimator that he has depended on will be going out on maternity leave starting tomorrow. Dad's stress level has really increased. He is ready to retire as he is getting tired of the job. I am just glad that I am doing as well as I am so that is not an additional burden for him.

We are having two more companies out to give us their decisions on the termites. Dad does not feel we have them and is very skeptical when told we have them. We are replacing the garage door frame because of dry rot with new boards. We were told to have the new boards treated for termites so we don't have a problem in the future.

I think Dad is ready to move again. He just can't decide where because he wants to be close to everyone. Hmmm, I wonder how that will work. It is just talk today but you never know what will happen.