High School Homecoming & Sports

Our granddaughter Elizabeth will be going to homecoming at her high school in a couple weeks and has already picked up her dress.  She was telling us about it on Sunday night and I bugged her enough so she agreed to model it for us.  She looked great and reluctantly agreed to pose with us for pictures. She sure is a pretty girl and looks so grown up.

Elizabeth

Gerry & Elizabeth

Elizabeth & Me

It's been beautiful around here the last week or so with warm days and cool nights.  The trees are beginning to turn on the mountain and even some down lower in the valley.  This farm house, barns and outbuildings make for a very pretty picture.
 

Sunday was a special day with it being Gerry's birthday and Cassie preparing a great dinner for Gerry.  She couldn't decide whether to prepare spaghetti or stuffed shells, so she prepared both of them.  In addition she baked a carrot cake and it was great.  We brought a Dairy Queen ice cream cake and it hit the spot, also.  We managed to stuff ourselves and had a great visit.

It also helped that the Redskins won and the Giants, Eagles and Cowboys lost.  They are all in the same division and it looks like it is the weakest division in football this year.  What a change from a few years ago when it was the toughest division.  It looks like the winner of the division could possibly have a losing record. It's still early, so all this could change.

I've rooted for the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team since 1952 and there have been some great years and some bad ones.  It's been 19 years since the Pirates finished above .500 and they finally broke this streak.  In addition they are in the playoffs as a wildcard team.  Go Pirates.

Gerry's Aunt Mary is a rabid Cleveland Indians fan and watches all their games at 95 yrs of age.  She must be in seventh heaven now that her beloved Indians have made the playoffs, also.  They won the last 10 games and were one game ahead of two other teams who had a playoff game tonight.  Way to go Aunt Mary.

We are getting closer to getting out of here and are looking at a Wednesday departure.  Of course all this could change in a moment.  Stay tuned for our getaway date.

 

Wedding Anniversaries & Birthdays

Gerry and I celebrated our 112th wedding anniversary yesterday.  No, that isn't a typo, it was the 112th wedding anniversary.  We eloped and married in a civil ceremony the first time and then a month later told our parents about it.  We didn't have much choice about telling them since we had to fill out an application form for jobs at the FBI and knew they would find out sooner or later.

Gerry wanted to be married in the Catholic church and I took instructions for the specified length of time and said all the right things so Father Guido consented to marrying us.  We were married in the church house with a few family members in attendance.  So, we were married twice within a short period of time.  Our 2nd marriage was September 28, 1957.  

Today is Gerry's birthday, but we celebrated it a day early by joining her sister Darlene and bil Tom at Callahan's in Frederick, MD.  Since my birthday was a couple days ago, I was also included in the celebration.  We picked the middle of the day to meet so the restaurant wouldn't be so busy and we could take our time and have a leisurely dinner.   They live in Annapolis, MD about 90 miles from the restaurant and we had a drive of 50 miles.  

There wasn't another patron in the dining room when we got there and it was nice to be able to chat without all the usual noise and chatter.  I think we were there more than an hour before another couple finally arrived.  They sat them right next to us, even though there were open tables far from us.  Just like RVing, park your RV in an open area and someone will park right next to you.

The company was great and we had a very nice time visiting with them.  It may be the last time we see them this year, unless they come down to Concord, NC while we are still there.  It's always sad to say goodbye, but know we will see them again next year.

We stopped by the soft ice cream place on the way home to get an ice cream fix.  They had a sign up saying it was the last weekend of the year for them and they would be closed until next spring.  We got in just under the wire for that ice cream fix.

We did start our day off by making repairs to the screened in porch roof.  Gerry noticed a leak a while back and I found another area where it was leaking.  Upon further inspection, we found about 15 places where there were tears in the roofing fabric.  It was time to sweep off the roof and fill in all these small holes with Dicor.  Then I will put some Eternabond over the repaired places and hope it holds until next summer when we will have the roof replaced.  By this time next year we should have a metal roof on the cabin and that will take care of any future leaks.  Always something that needs to be done up here.  Now I know why we got rid of the house.

Flat roofs are problems

More patches in white.

View from the roof top of the meadow.

Tons of acorns on ground.  Cold winter?

That was our exciting day, how was yours?

The End of this subject

The Endoscopy Surgery Center called me at 7:00am on Monday and asked if I could come in earlier than my 1:45pm appointment for the surgery.  They wanted me there by 12:15pm and I hadn't started on drinking the medicine and fluids as of then.  I thought, what the heck, lets get this over and agreed to the new time.  By the time I got out of bed and started on drinking the 48 ounces of fluid I only had about 30 minutes to down it all.  It's amazing what you can do if you set your mind to it.  I finished at 8:15am and was good to go.

I won't go into any more details, except to say they called me again and wanted me there even earlier.  Since we were on the road and still 25 minutes away, there wasn't much I could do about getting there any earlier.  I made it 15 minutes early and then spent the time filling out more forms.  Thankfully, they had most of my information and it only took 10 minutes.  

I no more sat down when the door opened and they asked me to come back to the prep area.  As I was trying to get in, a woman came walking out and she looked like a zombie.  I thought she'd gone through the procedure and sure didn't look too good, but no, she was there "helping" someone else.  I am glad she wasn't helping me

Once I got settled in, they brought a woman in to the space next to me and since there was only a curtain separating us, I could hear everything going on.  When the bells and whistles starting going off there I was wondering what was going on.  Evidently she was in some sort of heart palpitation problem so they called 911 for her transport to the ER at the hospital next door.  Wow, two events and they hadn't even gotten to me.

I am happy to say that my procedure went off fine and everything is good to go.  Nothing bad was found and I am good to go for the next 5 years.  I did receive more birthday wishes yesterday than ever before since each nurse asked me my name and birthdate.  They were all surprised to see me getting the procedure done on my birthday, but I told them Gerry had arranged everything for me.  Hummm, should I be worried?

After the above, everything was normal and Gerry drove us back to the cabin and we watched a movie that I received for free for my birthday from Redbox.  Just another day on the mountain.

Our friend Dee had her cataract surgery on Monday as well and came through it with flying colors.  Now see will be able to see the big C on the helmets of her beloved Chicago Bears football team.  She should enjoy seeing them that much more now. 

Seems like everyone is getting ready to head out to Tucson by getting parts repaired on these old bodies.

That was our day, how was yours?

Friends on the move

Our friends Linda & Sherwin from Maine are leaving in the next couple days and will be passing about 15 miles from our cabin.  I know Sherwin gets behind the wheel and doesn't like to stop for anything and wants to continue driving.  However, since there is a nice Perkins restaurant in Chambersburg, PA right off of I-81 and US 30 East, hopefully he will take the time to have lunch or dinner on their trek west.

I go in for a colonoscopy on Monday, September 23, 2013 which will also be my 74th birthday.  Gerry said she had something special planned for my birthday this year and she exceeded my expectations.  Wow, what a present.  

My good friend Mann sent me an early birthday card and I thought I'd share it with you all.

This procedure will delay us leaving by a few days and we still hope to be out of here later this week or possibly Monday of next week.  We did have a problem with a camping spot in Charolotte due to the NASCAR race, but the campground manager said he would fit us in at our regular rate, so we don't have to rush down there.  That should make life a little more pleasant for us getting out of here.

In the meantime, Gerry is fighting a cold and seems to be on the mend a little this morning.  Not to be outdone, I pulled a neck muscle and have been in a lot of pain.  I can't take pain medication due to the colonoscopy, so it is a little touchy right now.  These golden years do have little bumps in them at times.

Now I will sit around and think about food all day since I can only have jello until after the procedure.  A nice steak and a baked potato with sour cream vision is dancing around in my mind.  I hope I don't starve in the next couple days.  Luckily I have stored some muscle (fat) and should make it through this ordeal.  

  

Birthday Girl

This is a special day for Cassie Clark McClure since it is her birthday.  In her honor I have changed the type color over to green since it is her favorite color.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

CASSIE

Your mother and I hope this birthday begins a great year for you.  You have brought a lot of joy into our lives and we love you dearly.