Uncle Paul

Uncle Paul called last night. He was telling me that his white cell count is on the rise again. Dr suggested another round of chemo, but it is was entirely up to him, and he has to wait for approval from insurance. That is the situation he is in. He always asks about everybody, but I can't tell him what I don't know. So I am leaving it up to you to call your Uncle Paul. RB

Richard's Life Rules

1. Don't shoot yourself in the foot, but keep your gun loaded.
2. Don't piss off anyone you can't outrun.
3. Don't piss in others' Cherrios.
4. Don't "backlight" yourself.
5. Don't let your bank account run dry, you might need it for your escape.
6. Don't sweat the petty shit, and don't pet the sweaty shit.
7. What goes around comes around. Have patience Grasshopper.
8. Don't start any forest fires that you can't put out.
9. This is my last blog. Good bye. Signing off and closing down.
RB

Down & Dirty

The latest and local news from The letha Sewer all the way from flush central to the depths of the south pond. Ever thing and thing's are flowing smoothly right from the twist of that little chrome handle followed by the sounds swirling water to thump's of the chunks to the final gurgle as ever thing and thing's disappear down that deep dark hole. Good by! Now for the good news, The letha Sewer has passed the seepage test as mandated by D.E.Q. ya raw and little fishes. All this B.S. took up the other half of my summer what a bummer. Do I hear some sniveling going here, ya I think so. Coast us around 8 gez that's a lot of money. Now we are on to bigger and better things like raising the sewer rates and buying powdered degreaser, every household gets some to flush down the crapper, cleans as it goes and winds up all together at the pump station. Keeps the float switches clean and functioning as per the tech manual and everything turns on and off in the correct order. Ya you have to have order, if not then things back up then blows up then OMG !!!!! The mess ! Can you imagine the crapper back flushing into your freshly cleaned and scrubbed throne room. Thing's are not looking so good right about now. You may think that I am full of it, but guess what, DILLIGAF.
   Did you hear about Fred and Ethel ? Well F. & E. were a long time married couple, about 60 years ,they had been together so long that they just hated each other. Their fights around the hood were legendary, whether in the local bar, bowling alley or laundry mat. One of the things F. always said to E. was, that when he dies he was going to dig he's way out of his grave and come back to haunt her. Well just before his 90th B. day, F. passes away. So they planted him. That night at the bar E. was sucking down beer after beer and gettin kind of wobbly, the bar tender comes over, sets down another beer and says to E. Do you think F. will keep his promise and dig his way out and come back to haunt you? E. looks at him with a silly grin and says, you don't have to worry about F. I buried him upside down!!!!!!!!!!!

Later RB

Somewhere..over the rainbow..

Richard and I both went thru that "poor me" stage. We each had a meltdown of sorts. But life goes on and we adapted and over came. Drove all the way to Nelson's from MH with no lights hooked up. Extremely lucky.

I get to go back to MH on Tuesday morn for Mom's dr appt. He has told her not to drive, and he will do some tests on mental capacity, as she has told him she has memory loss. Don't know if she is telling the whole story or not. We believe her memory fades are sometimes of her own doing. Convenient for her. Dad is not doing as well as we hoped. Might have to separate them again for each of their own good.

Jason worked for Richard and did a wonderful job. Can't say enough about that young man. Hard worker, easy to get along with, just all around good guy. Our place looks so much better for his efforts. Thanks again Jason.

Yard is getting watered, at least the part the flood missed. Looks like someone lives here again. Hey, that's US!!! So good to be home.

Has anyone out there tried the Eggies?  There is a learning curve, but I had a great time making hard boiled eggs. Sounds weird, but they work great. Saving work on the backside with no peeling, but a little more work on the front end. Worth it in the end. If you don't know what they are, you aren't watching the right commercials on the stupid tube.

Bought peaches yesterday. $.75 per lb. Found them in the paper. Emmett has a farmers market, but all were gone and the ones that had been there were $1.50 per lb. These are Albertas, and still a little green, but they will be gone before most ripen. I bought them for a friend, and we will just keep a few. Got some nectarines for Rich too. I don't can, freeze maybe. We usually do cherries that way and have them all year long.

Have to take meds now, Rich just reminded me about them. You all have a great Sunday. Later   Cathy

Nova

Here is the new baby. She is about 2 lbs and is full of piss and vinegar. She runs circles around us and Lucy. She has figured out the dog doors already. Too smart.  She has learned Lucy's trick. Go out the front door and beats us back in. She sleeps all night (until about 6 am).

Hello! We're Home!

Home is a wonderful place. Kinda thought we wouldn't see it again. But here we are! Got home Tuesday afternoon, after we dropped the trailer off at Nelson's RV for needed warranty work, picked up a new family member, and came on into home. The grass didn't grow much after the flood, but the weeds went bonkers. We had tree sized weeds. Wednesday evening, Rich mowed most of the yard, and finished it today. We had Jason come over and help clean out the pump house as he is littler and more versatile than Rich. They got it cleaned and re insulated. Jason is coming back tomorrow to do some weed eating. Yay!! The place looks like someone lives here again. Now, onto the new family member. I had been grieving the loss of Emmy something fierce. Last Thursday, Robby sent me a photo of a little girl (puppy) who had lost her home to a red bone hound. Owners didn't want her, so guess who did. Rob had to keep her until we could pick her up. I'll post a photo soon. She is a Min-Pin/Chihuahua mix and is about 9 months old. Lucy has put her in her place several times, and continues to complain about the pup. Her former owners called her Nevaeh. Heaven backwards. Might that be a warning? I shortened it to Nova. She comes to that easily. She is black and tan like Lucy, with a long tail. Lots of energy. She runs circles in the yard. We have installed a bell on her collar as she is so small we need to know where she is at all times. I don't want to step on her. She has adjusted enuf to quit following me everywhere and has started following Rich. She is not allowed up with Rich yet. Needs to be here awhile longer. She has found many pens, pieces of books, lots of chewable things. We need to get her some toys. We have nothing for puppies, it's been a long time. Here we go again.
You all have a great weekend.
Happy birthday Royce, Justin, Robin and whoever else I forgot. (Saw Justin's and Robin's b-day on facebook) Later...Cathy

Last one of the bunch.

She's gone. We are so sad. She was my baby. We got her at 6 weeks old, one year after Oscar. They were full brother and sister, just different litters. She went to find Oscar, Little Man, and Minnie yesterday afternoon. It hurts so bad.

The end is in sight

Waiting for carpet. Mom and Dad are both planning on the 1st of Sept. to come home. Still up in the air as far as we are concerned. No notice from doctors or therapy staff so the date is still iffy.

Took Dad to see Mom yesterday, then took both of them to see the house Heather is building. No, not hers that way. She is the contractor. Beautiful house, in Eagle. Not where I would want to be because of the all the extra costs, but nice house anyway. I guess it could be hers to live in if the people wanting to buy it, back out of the deal. She is building the house with that in the back of her mind. The way she would like it to be.

Taking Rob to see a surgeon tomorrow. Seems he has a hernia. Lisa has one also. She was born with hers and didn't know it. Will find our more tomorrow with Rob.

Vacation seems to be coming into reality. Told the folks that 1 week after they go home, we are leaving. They agreed that it has been well earned. So keep your fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong.

Thanks to all for the good thoughts and wishes.
Later, Cathy

Photos...finally!

before

next

same corner, different perspective

Now, just no carpet yet

entry into kitchen before cleaning and deconstruction

after widening doorway and before paint

after paint

before

after

this is the ramp installed

More later. Yard work to do.  Later Cathy

Another week passes

Today is the 20th of August. It is about 9:33 am. Been up about 2 hours, and am now on "home" mode. We were back at Mtn. Home last Monday afternoon, and stayed until last night. As we drove up to the house, we looked at the yard expecting to see very dried up grass and trees, but no, there was standing water everywhere. Got around to the back and found a broken pipe in the well house and water going full tilt. Pump was doing a good job of irrigating, sand and all. Don't know how long is was running, had to be at least a day, but no one bothered to let us know about it. Neighbors were supposed to be checking daily. Evidently not.

Anyway, we got the family room painted, trimmed, and semi cleaned up and ready for carpet. Hopefully next week. Mom and Dad want to get home ASAP so we are on "get it done" mode. Informed both brothers they need to be available the weekend after carpet to help move furniture into room. No excuses allowed. They need to help.

Tried to upload photos, blog won't let me. I can't get spell check to work either.

Another week starts

Here it is, Sunday evening, and we are getting ready to leave home again. Tomorrow we head for Mtn. Home to get more done. The walls are ready to be finished, be that more paint or trim around the windows and crown moulding. We got a small air compressor instead of renting one. Rich has the days planned out pretty much. Have to call DirecTv tomorrow to get the wiring reset for the tvs cuz somebody cut them to fill in the holes in the wall. I wonder who would do that? Nobody I know. Ha Ha. I get to handle all the financial stuff for my parents. That in itself is a chore. I finally got the account to balance, for this month anyway. Along with the inside fixes, the VA installed a ramp for the front entry. It extends all the way to the front sidewalk. Rich told me it is worth approx. $4k. He expects someone to try to steal it as it is all aluminum. Gues we will see, as we are bound to be there.

On Satuday (July 30) we took dad car hunting. Mom hated their car, so he decided to find something for her. Found it at Dennis Dillon. A 2004 Lincoln Town Car with all the bells and whistles. Rich brokered the deal and we finalized it after we took dad back to the ISVA. Now the car is used to pick up dad and take him to see mom or it sits in our driveway. Sure got some long looks from the neighbors when that car appeared.

Last Tuesday morning, we had a meeting at the VA for dad and his progress. Doing well, thank you. Then we took off for Home Depot in Meridian to collect a window and the paint we ordered. Got to Mtn. Home safely, unloaded the window and tools, etc.

Wednesday, the rest of the windows were to be delivered, the ramp installed and the walls had to be sanded in prep for paint. The ramp got installed on time. Took most of the day. The walls got sanded. The windows, however, were supposed to be there by 3:30. At 4, I called. Seems the big truck broke down and all the windows had to be off loaded by hand where it sat. So the windows actually got there about 6 pm. Thursday, the window installers got there about 8:30 am, and we spent the day helping them by getting supplies and an extra door sidelight to be put in also. Friday, the head installer returned to do the finish carpentry, some drywall, and be a general helping hand for Rich. He answered all questions professionally and helpfully. The guy is really good at his job. By 8 pm, we were exhausted. Rich had already said we would go home on Saturday, but, as I was on the phone, he came into the room and said "let's go home." Yea Rah!!. So we packed up and went home. Got here about 10:30 pm. Sure did feel good to be home. Yesterday, we picked up dad to go see mom. We are getting burned out quickly. Going back to Mtn. Home tomorrow some time. Hopefully we will be done, other than carpet, in a couple of days. Keep your fingers crossed. We could use some good luck.
Later...Cathy

We are having FUN!!!!

Today is Thursday the 11th. We have been in Mtn. Home since Tuesday afternoon. We have sanded the drywall, are getting windows installed as we speak, and finding more stuff. STUFF. Seems to be an affliction of those who survived the depression era. Not my dad but my mom. She is very ingenious when it comes to hanging stuff. Curtains are on nails, pins and whatever else other than real live curtain rods. The only ones on rods are the ones in the front room, and that because Heather put them up. Above them are pins to hold the Christmas lights that we took down last week. Tomorrow, the painting begins. Think happy thoughts!

Cathy

Home Coming

The latest news that is all the news. Well, maybe. Anyway, the latest to date.

Thanks to all the well wishers.

Mom is still in Life Care Center. Dad is still in the Idaho Vets Home. He likes it better than Mom does. Her test came back positive for the colitus, but she is not symptomatic. So trying to get her to VA with Dad, and they are hesitant. She had a meltdown yesterday after they told her she couldn't go. Now we have to wait until our "meeting" for Dad and his problem to know what to do with Mom. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday morning. She may have to stay where she is, cuz Dad may get to come home sooner than later.

We have been back to Mtn. Home again. Left here last Sunday and got home yesterday. While at MH, we got insulation installed, drywall installed, and a wall (about 16" worth) taken out to widen the doorway for wheelchair access, and the windows will be installed next week. There will also be a bathroom reno when we can get it done, and the front walk was measured for a modular ramp. Got lots of photos, but they are on Dad's camera, so I don't have access to them right now.
Mom is so upset about all the changes. She feels we have taken all decisions out of her hands. In a way we have. The house was so bad, and she would not admit it. We got rid of a lot a junk, and put alot in the shed out back. Standard answer to any of her questions about her "stuff" is "it's in the ham shack." (Dad's old radio room) Hopefully, we will get paint and carpet in before either gets to go home. Mom is still iffy about her future, but her goal is home, so she is trying to do more each day in rehab. Her legs are swollen, her feet are swollen. Lymphodima (?). She has water blisters down the front of each leg.

I have to go mow the lawn now. (Thank goodness for riding mowers) After that, we have to go to the carpet place to get some samples for Mom to look at. She has to pick the colors for the wall and trim and carpet. Later everyone.

Here we go again...

Let me see, where did we leave off? Oh yeah...still working on getting mom and dad taken care of.

As of last Friday, we were in Mtn. Home, mom was transferred to Life Care Center in Boise, and dad was transferred to Idaho States Veterans Home in Boise.

Here it is, Saturday the 30th, and not much that way has changed. Now, the rest of the story. Mom had to leave St. Lukes so was headed for the same place dad is, but because of the sedus colitus (spelling?) she had to go to Life Care as they were the only ones with isolation. She is now off all meds for the infection, so just waiting for test to confirm all is okay. Then she can get to where dad is. After this, who knows what will happen.

On the other side, dad is worried about going home. Not getting to, but having to. He is not ready to take care of himself (with help) so he has asked us to look into assisted living again. There is that facility at the VA so we are doing our homework.

We have been busy with fixing their house so they could come home, as that was the last thing we knew until Thursday. We took down the paneling in their family room, took out the old insulation, pulled up the old carpet (moldy) cleaned the floors, arranged for new windows, and generally cleaned it all up. 4 days of work last week. We bought the insulation to put in the walls, the windows are on order, and now dad doesn't think he can come home. So yesterday, I had my meltdown and West Nile reared it's ugly head again. I just lost all control and bawled all day. I feel much better now, thank you.

I am not looking for sympathy. Just letting out my frustrations on someone besides Rich. Poor man. He is absolutely wonderful to me and my parents. He has taken over running dad's rental properties, and been the foreman on this remodel. I thought he deserved a break, so, now you all are up to date. Going to have a heart to heart with mom today, so if you hear a loud crash, you know she threw something at me. It will not be pretty. I fully expect her to get extremely pissed off at me. I will let you know. Eventually.

We have had the last couple of days at home. It has been wonderful to have peace and quiet, if I could only stop my mind. Going back to Mtn. Home on Sunday to collect rent and put insulation up.

Going to the gym soon. Works off frustrations well. We hope to be able to get over to Phil and Jody's in September, but that seems to be up in the air yet. Keep your fingers crossed for us. Thanks for letting me vent. Later...Cathy

Another update

Mom went back into CCU for several days. Had low blood pressure, was incoherent and babbling, and developed an infection in her colon due to antibiotics. They transferred her to the floor last night. We all have to put on gowns and gloves just to go into see her, for our protection. Not sure how things will pan out. Not very optimistic at this point. Just hoping.

We get to find out about Dad on Tuesday. They are saying 24 hr care, but I don't quite see that. We'll see.

Have to work on our home now. Laundry, vacuum etc. Rich has to do sewer pond work tomorrow. These will be our last days together for a few weeks. CB

It's not tomorrow, but close enough

I know, several days have passed, but we really have been busy. Still unloading the trailer as we need things. Been into Elks several times to get business done for mom and dad and maybe visit a little. Had younger brothers go over to do some work at the house. Idaho Youth Ranch made out like a bandit. Can't tell mom. She would come unglued and be really pissed off. When she gets home will be soon enough. Looked in VA benefits for dad yesterday. Made 2 trips to Elks to get papers signed. Dad can get a modular ramp for the front porch, and help with redesigning one of the bathrooms to make it safer and larger, and several other changes that I can't recall right now.
Mom is on a lot of meds. Dad will recover close to where he was, not sure about mom. Free will, being what it is, they are going home. Date to be determined.

We are staying at our house until the last minute. Sanity issues, you know? Both brothers try to help but are limited as to what they can do. Middle bro works for UPS our of MH and puts in 12 hour days, then has to come home to take care of his "chores" and himself and wife. Youngest bro is in the National Guard as well as security jobs on the times off from NG. He also has 2 young children and a wife and lives in Boise, so he really cannot help alot. He brought the kids with him on Sunday, and put them to work too. So now the house is livable and mostly safe for the parents to get around in.

Yesterday, Mom's case worker called. We were on our way into Elks. She tells me the van is unable to take Mom to her Dr. appt. on thursday, and could I do it? I need to wheel her over to St Luke's for x-ray, then across street to dr. office. Could be fun. Supposed to be around 80 that day. Wish me luck.

Have to go now. Lawn mower is calling. Richard is working on the pumps. You all have a nice day. C

Home again...who knows how long though.

On Friday (week ago) Dad and I were getting ready to go to Boise to sign the lease agreement (2 yrs.) for the assisted living facility that we really liked. They would do an assessment of Mom to let us know what level of care she would need there. That is when fate stepped in. Dad fell and broke his hip. 8 am called 911. At Elmore Hospital until 2 pm waiting for a room to open at St. Lukes. There about 1 hr and into surgery. 40 minutes later, all pinned and screwed. Great way to start the holiday weekend. I got to BonAventure about 5 pm that evening, paid the first month rent, but did not sign the papers even though I could do that legally. Richard had a bad feeling about that. Turns out to be a very good thing. Got to the house Monday afternoon (4th) and started getting ready for moving on Tuesday. We had to tear the house apart in order to load the furniture they would need to have for their houseshold. Tuesday afternoon, the Masons helped us load a trailer, then we sat down to relax. I called the assisted living place to let them know we would be there the next day (6th) at 1 pm to take possession of the apartment and put the furniture in. Ok. Hang up and within a minute, they call back to tell us that we cannot take possession as we had not paid for the extra that Mom would need. They assessed her at a level 5+ care and that entailed more than $2200 each month. We had to tell them the deal was off. No way could dad pay the rent of $3385 and then more than $2200 on top of that. We changed horses in mid stream. Now everything had to be put back in the house. We accomplished that and cleaned at the same time. It appears to never end. The more we clean, the more we found to clean.
Time to go to bed now. More tales tomorrow. CB

More RR Adventures

This was our "provided entertainment" for the evening. Music was good, could not hear him sing, and the songs all sounded alike. He played for tips. We left him at the station.

My wonderful Hubby!! He even smiled for the photo! Ain't he cute?

Here I am, in all my glory. Get show off my new duds. Down 62 lbs. now.

This is the dinner car. Air conditioned and all. It was either on or off, no medium. So I had my jacket on most of the time.

Guess where this is?

Mock up of a western town with a stagecoach and saw horses to pull it. This was the smoke break time. They have shoot outs during their Western rides.

After we spent 30 or so minutes at Banks, we headed back down river. I moved over with Rich so as to see better. He took most of the photos going down river to Horseshoe Bend. We got dessert and coffee. Wonderful!

White water galore! Lots of rapids and whirlpools too.

Beautiful picture. Richard caught it just right.

More scenery.

Day is done, and night is falling. By this time it is around 10.

Bought a bottle of Soft Huckleberry wine from Ste. Chapelle. Looks really orange in the flash. It is pretty good. Waiting for a special occasion to open it.

Cathy's Party on Wheels

This was the best birthday day ever. No phones, no kids, no loud noises. Just the sound and feel of the train going over the rails. We had a riverside booth and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
This was waiting for us as we were seated. Roll was soft, not warm, but okay. Salad had potato crispy thingys and a tart dressing. Rich ate his in a heartbeat. I cannot eat a lot of salad as of yet, so tasted a little. Wanted to saved room for dinner as my stomach is really small.


This replace the salad bowls. Bread, and the dip was spinich and onions in a creamy cheese sauce. Bread slices ringed the bowl and Rich ate most. I am not supposed eat a lot of bread yet, either, so I got one slice. It was delish.

Dinner was pork loin with spuds and veggies. The only thing to make it better would have been some gravy and butter. (How did I do Royce?)

This was the car we rode in. The open ones were available to us, but it was still a little chilly to do that as yet. We will add more photos tomorrow.

This was our entertainment for the evening cuz we left the guitar player at the station:

There were these two surveyors for the RR. They were checking their markers when they happened across a big sink hole. They were both looking over the edge of the hole, of course they could not see the bottom. So men being boys at heart, one of them tossed in a rock. They listened and waited and they never did hear the rock hit the bottom. They both looked at each other, one says "We gotta find something bigger that makes more noise." So the grab a RR tie and tossed it in the hole. About 3 seconds later, here come this pig out of the woods, about 60 mph and in the hole he went. The men stood in amazement, wondering what the hell just happened. About that time, the superintendent showed up. "What are you doing boys?" "We were standing here watching this sink hole when this pig come out of the woods about 60 mph and jumps in." "Well," said the big boss, "it couldn't have been my pig, it was chained to a RR tie."

The new Dress

Started painting about 10am worked till it was all finished about 2pm, I'm pooped.

I'll let set up and cure for about 4 days and start wet sanding with 600 grit wet paper to take the texture out in preperation for the clear.

Should take about 4 days, with no problems.

That is some party dress.

Thats all for now. Later RB

Birthday Doings

Had a really great day. Coffee at the computer, a "Happy Birthday" from the hubby. We went in to the gym and worked out, came home, showered, and took off for Mtn. Home. Mom "made" potato salad out of store bought by adding eggs, Lisa introduced us to her new family. His first and middle name are John Robert. So is my Dad. His daughter is 5 and 1/2 and very precocious. Her name is Emily Alexis Marie. Emily is my mom's aunt name. Alexis is my brother's daughter's name. Marie is Lisa's middle name. Emmy's biological mom is Margaret, that is my mom's name. Emily's nickname is either Emmy (like our dog) or Emmy Bug. Smart girl. Has a hard time with names, other than that, a sweetheart.

I am looking forward to our "dinner date" on the train. Richard heard about it on the radio and arranged it all. They do a number of different themed train rides. Some with dinner, some with an old west theme. Ours will be a dinner ride to Banks and back. The car Rich reserved the table in is for adults only. There is a family car too. I just bought some new clothes, so I have something nice to wear. They don't have the Cascade run right now as the tunnel is under inspection and making sure it is safe to go through.

I have lost 61 lbs. so far, and am still going. Feels great. Jim put in into perspective like this "That's a 2nd grader!" Love going through the closet and realizing nothing fits BECAUSE IT IS TOO BIG!!!!! Greatest feeling in the world. Or close to it. Richard is very supportive. He cheers me on each time I do a weigh in. I have such a great hubby!!

Hope your day was a good one too.
Later CB

SWEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been almost two years since the Princess has had any fresh air.

The old gal started right up, bless her
fully charged Delco battery and my delicate touch on the key.

Such fine lines and sweeping beauty, it's just breath taking.

Oh ! golly gee whiz I love my little car!!!

I was working on cleaning the shop and hanging up plastic turning it into a paint booth while the Princess was getting some rays and a few drops of rain. I think she almost cried when I put her back in the shop for the night. But not to worry old gal you will get some more sun shine today cause there is still more to be done on the shop.

Later RB

Jammin

Jammin the jams

Door jams that is

Trunks have jams to

One thing I've learned about paint, if you don't want over spray on it cover it UP

Squirted the paint on the jamms on saturday let it rest till sunday then unmask and cleaned up the shop in preperation for more work. Can't let the mess get too deep
More to come.

LaterRB

Memories