Pancakes, Chili and Cornbread!!

Yesterday was cleaning house and changing oil in the car day, today it is cooking! I got an easy chili recipe from a gal at work, she got it on the Food Network. Also, baking cornbread as I write. I made Duane pancakes for breakfast, I used a new pan and they didn't get done enough. Taking note not to use that pan for that again!! Will walk the dogs, cut Dad's hair, get cleaned up and take Dad out for a while, he gets cabin fever. I need a few things at the store and dread it, all those Thanksgiving shoppers will be out in force. I am going to Albertson's and staying away from Fred's today, will have enough of that tomorrow. We have a new one hour machine and I will have to open it for the first time in the morning, I am not looking forward to it. I tried to run some photos the other night before we were supposed to go live with it, and it had a jam that none of us could find and had to call a tech out, so I am afraid of the thing now! Oh well, the worst that could happen already has, so maybe it will be okay, right?

Here is the recipe for the chili:

1 jar Paul Newman's marina

1 pkg chili mix

1 pound lean ground beef

2 15 ounce cans kidney beans

1 15 ounce can tomato sauce

1 14-15 ounce can diced tomatos w/jalapeno's

1 medium yellow onion

Fry chopped onion in a little butter, cook and crumble ground beef. Rinse and drain kidney beans, add all ingredients together and simmer for a couple of hours, enjoy!! I used stove top

kettle, but would probably be ideal in the crock pot!!

It's been 4 weeks?

I guess the novelty is over, or I am on facebook more than I am here these days!!
I can't believe Thanksgiving is almost here, and "Black Friday" is looming and lurking once again.
My boss tried to hire 3 people for the holidays, hoping to keep at least one of them after. The first flaked out when they told him he had to cut his beard off, the other 2 made it through register training and orientation. The second one was terminated today under "mysterious" circumstances, they wouldn't even tell my boss the reason. The third guy is Andrew, he is a substitute teacher in Vancouver, is about 6ft. 8 or so, nice guy but kind of "goofy".
What is the deal? I figured we would be flooded with prospects looking for work, instead, we seem to still be scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel. We are at least getting another employee, she is a transfer from Scapoose, OR. She recently moved to Vancouver, and has been commuting to keep her foot in the door. She has worked CCK mostly, and has worked in photo a few times, so is familiar at least a little bit... Jen talked to her manager and got a good reccomendation, we will see. Ugh, she can't start until week after next, so next week we will be short hours again, so that means I have to work more once again. No rest for the wicked!! Duane has to bid for his next 6 month schedule next week, and we have to plan our vacation schedule as well for 2010. I hate that, it's written in stone, how can you know exactly when the best times are to take your time off a whole year in advance? Oh well, it's not like we are doing much right now anyway. We want to concentrate on getting our loan for the property paid off in the next 3-5 years. If we can do that, or better yet get moved in that time frame, it will be worth sacrificing a couple of expensive vacations!! I wanna get on with it and get to Central Oregon!!

Tedious and Boring!!

So, life right now seems like more of a grind than an adventure!! Work hours suck, too many hours, and too many closing shifts!! I sit here, it is 12:38am in the morning..... I should be in bed, but am still trying to wind down. No days off with Duane this week, he's off Tues, Wed and Thurs, I am off Mon and Fri, go figure. Next week is better, we have Thurs off together!! WOW! The only reason that happened is because I have to take Dad to the doctor. His rash on his hind end is getting better, but he keeps making it worse by wiping too hard!! I think I may have found a secret weapon, vaseline!! Go figure, the fancy cure-all creams that are at our disposal, and vaseline is the best so far!! Winter is coming, like it or not, I don't like it at all!! I will be glad to move, at least it is sunny more over on the other side of the mountain more than it is here!! If Duane's job is still there, we plan to put this place back up for sale and get over there next year. We will see!! Well, I had better get to bed, at this rate I will want to sleep until 10am, and I have to be to work at 2pm, and want to spend some time with Duane before I leave. At least on Thursday I don't have to be in until 4:30pm, so maybe we can at least go out to lunch together!! Ho hum!!!!

Back home again!!

We went over to Duane's folk's on Sunday afternoon, came home yesterday afternoon. We went up and worked on our property until Duane broke the pick axe handle, so had to quit a little sooner than we planned. But, we did get some more brush cleaned up in the back area, so that is good!! Anything helps! We took his Mom to Prineville to meet with the cabinet guy, and to a flooring decor place to look at carpet and linoleum. She got saturated pretty fast, heck, it was giving me a headache too, all the choices, and trying figure out what would go together!! We went into Bend, had lunch and went to their lot to see the progress. They should be in their new house by sometime in December. Here's a picture of their lot, they have the foundation started. Also, some cute pictures of the dogs, Tuco got a surprise on his doggie door a while back, a little tree frog decided to crawl up on it, and Tuco didn't quite know what to think!! I am glad the camera was handy to catch it.

15th Wedding anniversary for us!!

It actually was on Thursday, but I have had so much other business stuff and work to contend with. So, now I can reflect!! Saturday, September 17th, 1994. 2pm, Lutheran Church on 92nd and Holgate where I went to church as a child. Hot day, no AC, Mom sitting in front pew as we had our before ceremony pictures done with my powder puff in case I got "shiney", LOL. Being so pumped up with nervous addrenaline that I couldn't feel my feet, good thing, they were heels I wasn't accustomed to!! Duane asking me how long after the ceremony he had to wear the tuxedo...... Someone going to McDonald's to get me some chicken nuggets, and I couldn't even swallow!! Family and friends, loved ones there that are gone now, my Mom, Uncle Bob, Duane's Grandma Harvey, my Godfather Mike...... The cake that I don't remember tasting, lol, and having to throw away what we froze the next year...... We went to Seaside afterwards, no fancy honeymoon, we had went to Disneyland in the Spring, so that was our big budget trip for the year. We met up with a gal that was a bride's maid for me that I don't hear from anymore and her fiance (at the time, it didn't last, long story about Stacia!) and had drinks and then breakfast the next morning. Went back home and out to my folk's house and opened up wedding presents, and since it was close to my birthday, if felt like wedding and birthday all rolled up into one!!

There's lots more I remember, but it would take to long to write. It was a special day!! Here's to many more anniversaries, and Happy anniversary to Jamie and Galen, since we share our anniversary date!

Wallowa Mtn's trip

Duane's Mom, my Dad and I went to the Wallowa's last week, left on Tues AM and returned on Thurs afternoon. We stayed at the Best Western in Enterprise, OR. A very small town!! The only grocery store of any substance was a small Safeway, and it was crazy busy both times we had to stop there. Joseph, OR is the next town on the way to the mountains, it is a tourist town with small shops, the most prominent is the Bronz foundry and gallery. That was awesome, and his work is displayed on almost every corner of town!! Wallowa Lake and the mountains are just past Joseph, we all went up on the tramway, small gondola's!! I had been on a tram in both Palm Springs, CA and Albuquerque, NM, but this one was quite a bit smaller, but went higher up into the mountains!! We had lunch at the cafe, and when we got back down Lois and I did some shopping at the local gift shops. Both nights were kind of a nightmare with my Dad, the first night he got up and dressed at 2:45am, woke me up completely, and I never got back to sleep. The second night (mind you, after Dad and I had a discussion about the previous night, AND he promised not to do it again) yep, you got it, he started announcing the time out loud, very loud, from about midnight on, then announced, again loudly that he was getting up and staying up, this was around 4am. He proceeded to sit in the dark room while Lois slept, and I attempted sleep until we got up around 6:30am. He is so done going on trips!! I have a friend with a daughter that does'nt work, so she is lined up to be my babysitter here at the house. Not that we can afford to go anywhere right now, with the impending possible doom at Albertson's coming in October (I hope not!!) but I need to feel that Duane and I can at least go somewhere if we want to without worrying about my Dad. It will be 5 years next June that we took Dad's name off of our house, so after that we can arrange for the state to help him with his care if we need to put him in a home. I just don't know how long I can continue taking care of him. It is making me old and fat!! I am a stress eater, and have been doing a good job of it. Well, here are a few pictures of the trip. More later, some awesome shots!! I will also tell about the brewery I was happy to find in Enterprise!! LOL!!

Nice Family Breakfast!!

Dad, Lois amd I got back from our trip to the Wallowa's yesterday afternoon, details on that later!! This morning, Lois and I met Tiana and Cassondra with their 2 little boys at Elmer's here in Gresham! We had never seen Cass's little one, Landon is a doll!! So quiet, too, had his binky in his mouth most of the time, when it was out he was all smiles!! Aiden, Tiana's boy, is 2 1/2, and quite a talker already!! He got to go to the State Fair last weekend, and had lots of stories about all the animals he saw, and that he rode the roller coaster. Tiana is doing a great job with him!! Here are a couple of pictures from this morning.

One more day at work to go!!

Just one more 2-11pm shift to go between me and almost another week off from work!! The only bad part about it is having no monie's!! LOL!! Lois called from Aunt Mackie's and left a message on my voice mail to let me know she made it over okay, that is a relief!! I emailed Tiana today to see if she and Cassondra would be available when we get home from our trip to see them and the kids, haven't heard back yet. I hope we can connect, it would be nice to see them, especially Cass and her little one, Landon, we haven't seen him in person yet!! It was kinda depressing to see it rain so much today, reminds me of what we have to look forward to with Winter coming!! Oh well, it won't last forever, just seems like it will, ha!! Well, had better head to bed, didn't sleep well last night, hope to do better tonight!!

Duane's Birthday!!

Today is Duane (and Wayne's, of course!) birthday.... So, what is he doing? Helping one of our neighbors replace his 2 broken fence posts!! Our neighbor hasn't a clue of what he is doing, good thing my handy hubby is there to help!! I am hoping they wrap it up so we can go have a birthday lunch before I leave for work, I have to be there at 4:30, so with traffic I need to leave at around 3:15. We will see. I work until 11pm tonight, and then have to get up around 4am in the morning or so, ugh!! Duane and I are meeting his folks and their builder in Prineville to discuss details on the building of their new house in Bend. The builder lives in Prineville, so figured that would be a good place to meet. Then we can go up and visit our property, and get back home since Duane has to work on Friday. Well, that is all for now, I am going to go take a shower and go to the store to get some stuff for Dad's lunch while we are gone tomorrow!! I will try to get a current "Birthday" picture of Duane today!!

This picture of Duane is about 2 years old, I know it's kinda creepy posting one of him at a grave marker, but I like the picture!! We were in L.A. at the gravesite of Curly from the 3 Stooges. Duane has always loved them, and said it was the closest he would ever get to their greatness!! His brother, Shemp Howard is in the mausoleum there, we saw that as well. Kinda cool!!

Finally, a little time to catch up!

Here are a few photos from my trip to Idaho, didn't take a lot this time!! I picked up Susie's little girl in The Dalles, she had been staying with her Grandma Joyce in Dufur, so I got to take Holly on home to Weiser. It was great to have the company, it made the trip over go so much faster! Holly just turned 8 in June, and has started 3rd grade. Hard to believe she's that big!! I told Susie that I would be stealing her away in a year or so to hang out with me so I can spoil her rotten!! She's so cute, likes makeup a lot!! I had an extra lipstick, so I gave it to her for her purse. I bought her a powder compact too. She and I would put on our makeup every day, she is quite a pro now!! Her Mom doesn't wear it at all, so I think I will be her instructor, which suits me just fine, lol!! We did our usual, shopped til' we dropped, ate a lot, and enjoyed celebrated Susie's birthday on Saturday (Aug15th). We started the day with "facials" and then went to Boise for a shopping trip to the outlet mall. I was there from Thursday afternoon, until Monday morning, then the long trip home. Not as much fun by myself!! Now the trip with Lois coming up, I have been dragging my feet making our reservations for the motel, it is so expensive over by the Wallowas. I need to go get on with it, I guess!!

Total Meltdown.....

Not 10 minutes after I got to work, long story short, a lady yelled at me and told me I was rude!! If I was, it was not my intent. I have been yelled at, cussed at, demeaned, ignored, interrupted and discriminated against over the past almost 30 years. I pretty much just let it run off my back..... NOT THIS TIME!! I started crying, couldn't stop, poor Kyle (my coworker)!
Kyle sent me off the floor, told me to get some iced tea or something. I went in the bathroom, kept crying. Went to our locker room, kept crying. Got my cell and headed for Starbucks, kept crying!! I called Duane, he tried to settle me down, it kind of helped, but still took me a while. Finally got myself together enough to get a venti green tea, by this time a half an hour had went by!! Poor Kyle was hammered with customers, and had called apparel to cover for him so he could do a customer carry out. Kyle is usually a bit moody and sometimes hard to get along with, he was super to me all night last night, I felt sorry for him having to put up with a basket case!! So, now I ponder, what sent me over the edge? Reflecting, probably a lot of things.... Duane found out a couple of days ago that Albertson's parent company sold all of the Utah stores and the distribution center. The article he brought home mentioned that the new CEO is not done "trimming the fat". Basically, they over bought when the economy was high, and now need to scale down. So, we don't know when and/or if the axe will drop..... Also, a lot of pressure trying to get the bagapoo business going, my Dad drives me nuts, the heat has been stifling, and my hours at work have been all over the place. Duane also thinks the reason I have been so forgetful (AND strung out about it, thinking I am turning into my Dad!) is all of the diet soda I have been drinking. So, will cut that out and see how it goes. Over all, I think that lady yelling at me just broke the dam that had been filling up for some time. Well, gotta go, work starts in an hour!!

OMG!! Sooo Funny!!

My first attempt at downloading video to my blog!! Our 4 year old Chihuahua, Tuco Sam Overcash, and his fetish for fire truck sirens!! He howls at nothing else!! HA!!

Vacations...One right after the other!!

Here are a few more pictures from our trip..... For those who are not familiar with the super-wonderful burger chain, "In and Out" there is a picture of the one we stopped at on our way to the motel in Klammath Falls, via Redding, CA. They have the most AWESOME hamburgers, french fries, and milkshakes on the planet!! Everything is fresh, they even make their own french fries from whole potatoes!! Can't make it much fresher than that!! They are all over California, Duane has been known to hit them twice in one day when we have visited Southern CA, and he is a health consious person by far!! In and Out is worth the risk of heart clogging!

Okay, seriously.... I no more get back from our vacation, and, on the 13th of Aug I am off again, this time on my own!! I try to get over to Idaho every year to visit my best friend Susie for her birthday, which is on the 15th. We are lucky to see each other once a year, so it's a combination visit, birthday celebration!! Her little girl Holly just turned 7 in June, she is as close to being my "kid" as I am ever going to come. I plan to kidnap her in a couple of years when she's more comfortable to be away from her Mom and Dad and spoil her rotten for weeks at a time during Summer break!! In fact, she's at her Grandma's house in Dufur (just outside of The Dalles) right now, and the plan is for me to meet them in town and take Holly back home to Weiser, ID. I am looking forward to that!! Holly usually spends a couple weeks or more with her Grandparents, and takes swimming lessons at the local pool. This year, she will be doing that, and also spending time with her Uncles, Aunts, and going to the "Thrashing Bee" event they have in Dufur every year, there is a parade and other festivities, I went with Susie years ago, and it's pretty fun!!

THEN..... in September, right after Labor Day, Lois and I might be going to the Wallowa Mtn's.

She has been wanting to go for a while now, and I have never been there, so we are planning a trip for a few days. A "girl" trip thing, I guess!! Things are pretty slow at Fred's right now, so me taking time off just gives the guy below me on the totem pole enough hours to not get laid off, so it's for a good cause, LOL!!

Some more vacation pictures....

Hmmm, I think I left off at the Steens Mtns. We went to the top lookout, very nice and a great view!! Duane's Mom and my Dad had never been there, they both enjoyed it, I enjoyed not going up the back way, over the rubicon-ish terrain of rocks and steep drop offs that Duane took me up the last time over!! We stopped in Fields, OR and got one of their world famous milk shakes, people come from all over to experience them, and their hamburgers too.

On to Winnemucca, NV to spend the night. From there, on to Reno, NV. We stayed at the Eldorado, nice place!! We did the usual, a little gambling and a lot of eating at the buffet.

Duane, Dad and I caught a Catch a Rising Star comedy show at the Silver Legacy, we hit it on a special night, they were taping a commercial for advertising and had 4 commedians instead of the usual 2, so that was fun!! Left there the next day and went to Lassen National Park in California, went thru the visitors center, and drove the loop around the mountain, very pretty!! Lassen has several sulphur steam vents, we saw them, but the boiling mud pots were too far of a hike with Dad and Lois with us, too hot to leave them in the car, so we will do that on a future trip on our own someday!! Someone got hurt while we were there, guess it's standard procedure to call life flight in as a precaution, so we were held up there while the helicopter landed and took off. Apparently it was a kid with non-life threatening injuries, so they didn't take him with them when they left. Duane and I stood by the Jeep, and both got our noses and eyes full of the dust it stirred up, and I got a few pictures. We stayed in Klammath Falls that night, and then drove on home to Sisters. Duane and I went over to Prineville and back again yesterday, I dreaded it in this heat, but surprise!! It was almost 10 degrees cooler over there, go figure it's hotter here for a change, I am ready for some cooler weather, this stuff is nuts right now!!

More Pictures....

We are back!!

The first day out was a long one!! We left Duane's folks house a little after 4am (ugh!) and headed out East on HWY 20 towards Burns. A few potty breaks later, we passed thru Burns and headed on to Malhuer Bird Refuge. The misquitos were there to meet us, and rolled out the red carpet for me, especially, ha. We drove thru the refuge and saw a lot of wildlife, really an interesting place!! Then on to the little town of French Glenn, I will post pictures of that later, I am on my way out to go get my hair done.

Oh yes, we have a website for the product Duane is starting a business with, go see it at

http://www.bagapoo.com/
or just click on the link above where my list of blogs are!! Hope everyone is surviving this heat okay.... Drink plenty of fluids!!

I got back in!!

I tried to sign into my blog a few days ago, but Google wouldn't let me, said something about cookies and cache, blah blah blah, so waited it out, and got back in, whatever!! We have been trying to settle into Duane's new schedule, it is so weird!! Our "Friday's" are now on Monday, and when everyone else that has "normal" schedules is off on the real weekends, we are working!! ARGH!! One of the gals in my department at work had surgery last week, she is messed up in a lot of ways, the surgery was for hemmoroids, OUCH!! She called me yesterday when I was on lunch and said that she's gained over 30 pounds in the last week and a half, I freaked out on her and told her to go to the doctor right away!! I called her back later in the day, she was still waiting to hear from the doctor, or so she says!! She had 6 blood transfusions, so who knows why she's retaining water like that!! Needless to say, we are short handed at work because of her, so I have to work this Saturday until 1:30pm. I will probably be a little late to the shower, at least my store is in Orchards, so it won't be like driving from Gresham time wise! We leave for our next vacation on Sunday, we are taking my Dad and Duane's Mom with us and driving to Reno, NV, and various places along the way and back, I want to go on down to California to the Napa Valley and do some wine tasting and see the area. We will see what happens! Duane's Dad will be in charge of dog sitting. Anyway, I will take a lot of pictures!
See everyone on Saturday!!

Catching up!!

Well, Let's see....... Vacation was so long ago, I don't remember all the details... We did get a lot accomplished on the property, we hired some heavy equipment for about 4 hours of work to pull out stumps, and do some grading, filling up the septic test sites, etc. I was out there 2 out of the 3 days spent working, it was a blast to watch him pull out those huge stumps, roots and all, complete with shaking the dirt off of them and putting them in a pile!! I guess it doesn't take much to amuse me, lol!! While Duane was out there the last day, I stayed behind, slept in, took a soak in the tub, and went shopping in Sisters. There wer a lot of people still in town left over from the Memorial Day weekend, talked to a couple of them that were carrying little dogs, namely a Chihuahua, they were from Grant's Pass and had never been in the Central Oregon area before, really nice!! And, another older couple with a Yorkie, it was a female that had just had surgery, had cancer, the poor little thing, so they had to spay her, it was in her female parts. What a sweet little dog she was, not like my holy terror!!

So, anyway, here it is, 3 weeks almost later, and well back into reality!! Duane bid for his next 6 months, they butchered his scheduled run for this time around, so he had to take something else. The only one available that wouldn't work him harder than he already has been has Tues, Wed, and Thurs off, YUK!! So, not that we had a social life to speak of before, it's knocked to heck now for the next 6 months starting next week. SO, yep, that means no 4th of July celebrating for us again this year :(. Oh well, there's always next year!! On a good note, we paid off my car last Friday, at least, sent in the lump sum payoff balance, so that's out of our hair!!

Well, I will throw a few pictures of the property and downtown Sisters, on here for now, will write more later, hopefully not much later!! HA!!

Vacation time again!!

We FINALLY got the Tacoma back a couple of weeks ago!! It looks really nice, however, I am fighting with the insurance co. they don't want to put full coverage on our policy, just liability. I sent them pictures of it, requesting to have full coverage, we will see how it shakes out!! We are leaving in the morning for Central Oregon, will stay at Duane's Mom and Dad's place in Sister's and work on our property. We plan to take his Mom for a drive somewhere to get her away for a while. We are taking both vehicles, Duane wants to take the wheelbarrow and misc tools, and since they won't fit in my car, and Dad won't fit in his truck, we will be doing a "Convoy" tomorrow!! Duane sorta wanted to go tonight, I said no way, too much traffic!! Most should be where they are going by the time we head out. Well, instead of dorking around on here, I should be packing.... so better go!! Will have new pictures when we get home!! Oh yeah, I asked for July 4th off, and it's Duane's usual day off, so if I get it, we will be able to celebrate with the family this year!!

Whew!!

Duane and I made a day of going to work on the property!! It was snowing and icy on Mt. Hood. Kinda scary!! We drove my car over this time, it handled pretty well!! Duane went over last weekend and busted his behind on cleaning up some more, had a HUGE brush pile!! GOODY!!

The limbs were bigger this time, he had limbed up ALOT of the bigger trees, and then went higher on some that he had already done. He also cleaned up a lot of the debris that is still left from the former owner (he was a pig!!), that is still a work in progress, but still much better.

We got home around 7:30-ish, dead tired and sore (not to mention dirty and smokey!).

It is looking really nice, but still has a long way to go, we will get there! Got Marshmallows? :)

Finally got some stuff done!! Yay!!

Duane and I finally found some cabinetry that will work above the new washer and dryer in my utility closet!! The best part, being the price!! The guy at Lowe's was awesome, made us a great deal!! Duane and I hung them last night, and finished up tonight. NOW all I need is my new washer and dryer, we are confirmed for delivery on Monday morning. I am keeping my fingers, toes and eyes crossed that they get here undamaged this time!!

Yesterday morning Duane gave Homer his "Summer Cut" and a bath. He tolerates the haircut, but loves his bath and blowdry!! He looks so cute, we call him "Skippy" when his hair is short!

I think it turned Tuco on, he was prancing all around Homer and sniffing him when he was done, HA!! Dad is doing a bit better, I took him to get frozen yogurt, then we stopped at Freddie's, and since I was able to get a really close parking space, I encouraged him to go in. He walked a pretty long ways around the store, but was tired by the time I got him back into the car. I have the senior bus scheduled to pick him up on Monday, we will see if he can get on the bus by using the wheelchair lift, he still can't climb the steps up into the bus.... I will be here to help, and if he isn't ready, we will find out in short order!

GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

So, the delivery guys were supposed to be here between 11:30am and 1:30pm, of course, it was exactly 1:30pm!!! That isn't the bad part!! They pulled the boxes off of the washer and dryer, the washer had a big dent in the side, Duane looked at it, and said "No way" in case it damaged the drum or the inside workings of the washer. Sooooo, no new washer or dryer for Nancy today!! They can't deliver a new set until Monday, so I am totally without until then!! AND, yesterday afternoon, my computer monitor wouldn't turn on, I have had that happen before. So, I did what I have done before, cut the power off at the power strip for a while, then powered back up again. The monitor came back up, but guess what? It messed up the wireless router, and I couldn't get on the internet!! Duane called his brother Wayne, he called me, and told me to reset the router. That didn't work. I gave up last night and called Verizon today, they were awesome, got me back up and running. Today has been a bit exasperating!! Not to mention, we went looking for either cabinets or shelving for over the washer and dryer (when they finally get here, that is!!) and didn't resolve that either, so I still have boxes of stuff all over my family room, which is driving me nuts!! Hopefully we can fix that tomorrow!! Yesterday Duane ended up mowing the grass before he went to work, and I made meatloaf patties in a frying pan instead of a loaf in the oven... Mom did taught me that one years ago, it is just as good and takes half the time!! I usually put tomato paste on top of a meat loaf in the oven, but just used ketchup instead!!

It's been a while!!

Let's see..... Since I wrote last, we went to Central Oregon last Friday and Saturday, made it safely, thank you very much!! Visited our property, bummed around Prineville, then on to Duane's folks house in Sisters. Visited with them, I did a little shopping, then came home late Saturday night. Dad is slowly doing better, I am going back to work this Sunday. I have been doing a lot of things around home that I have been wanting to do, but had no time or energy. My washer is leaking, and my dryer is scorching or staining anything it wants to at random, clothes, underwear, socks, towels, you name it!! Sooo, I have spent the last couple of days shopping around for the best prices, I wheeled and dealed at Best Buy today, and bought a new set!! Pending Duane's approval, of course, we are going to pop down there in the morning to look at the washer (they didn't have a floor model of the dryer, no biggie to me!) and if it looks alright to him, they will be delivered on Thursday!! The new problem is, right now I have a stacker, and now it will be a side by side, so I lose my shelves to the side that serve as my pantry!! I emptied most of it tonight. Yes!! The moving boxes that I had collected and never used finally came in handy!! Moved some stuff around in the kitchen cupboards, but still have a lot of stuff that need shelves!!

Duane said he would put a couple up over the top of the washer and dryer, that will be a job, and I wonder if it will be enough room for all the crap I have!! Canned goods, snacks, doggie food and snacks, washing stuff, etc. Guess we will see!!

Truck update: Should be done in another week and a half, at that point it's been down for almost 2 months!! Well, it's late, I am beat, and tomorrow's another day!! Plan is to mow grass, clean house, and make meatloaf!! We will see!!

Addendum to Mini-Van Posting......

My husband saw the posting "broadcast" to EVERYBODY!!! He was not amused!! He has now informed me, because he is the "Big Dog" that I have a choice between losing the keys to my car(which "The Big Dog" is paying for!), and riding the bus to work, or a spanking!! So, he's asking EVERYBODY to vote!!
Election day starts now, and husband AKA "Big Dog" will announce the results, VIA "Big Mouth"
(me, Nancy). Hubby has often reminded "Big Mouth" it's not nice to mess with "Hillbillies".

Another Twist of Fate.....!!!

Poor Dad!!! Monday, Dad went to the Retiree's breakfast from where he used to work at the machine shop, with a fellow retiree, Dan. They had just gotten out of the car, headed for the entrance to "Pig N' Pancake on 122nd and Glisan.

Dad apparently caught his shoe on the curb, and went down like a ton of bricks. Dan helped him up, and they proceeded in to have breakfast. About an hour later, they were getting up to leave, and Dad couldn't stand up. His legs were shaking, and couldn't bear his weight. His entire right side that he fell on hurt!! Dan called me, I had just gotten up. I raced down there, and evalutated the situation, Dad could not stand up, let alone walk to my car. So, I called an ambulance, and they transported him to Kaiser Sunnyside. They gave him a tetnus shot, since he scraped his arm, and x-rayed his ribs, leg and pelvis area. No broken bones, thank goodness!! The doctor showed his x-rays to me, the one of his femur showed the scarring from an old break Dad had in the 1930's when he was a boy and got ran over by a car. Facinating to see that, after hearing about it all my life!! We were at the hospital for about 6 hours. They gave Dad a walker, and off we came home. I made an appointment with his GP for this morning for a baseline follow up. Dad cannot walk without the walker, he had a very hard time getting into my car, and back into the house when we got home. I had to push him around in a wheelchair during his doctor's visit, a new thing for me, he is heavier to push than Duane's Mom!

(I had to take her to one of her appointments after her last head injury.) Bad news is, Dad's recovery may take as long as 6 weeks, if he ever gets back to where he was before. He can't be alone, so I have to take a family leave of absence from work. Worst possible timing too, with Easter this weekend, and we have resets in our department coming up. We only have 8 employees, and now with me out, down to 7!! I feel lousy about it, but, Dad needs me now more than ever. Dr. Greeder said he could be measurably better in as little as 2 weeks, so my boss and I decided to take it on a weekly basis, she will call me when she writes the schedule, and see if I can come back. That's all we can do for now!! My last scheduled shift is Saturday, which I will work, (I missed Monday and today, Wednesday) Duane will watch over him while I am gone, from about 8:15am to 5:45pm. Then, he's all mine!! Wow, I knew it was coming, but didn't know it would be so soon. Guess we are never prepared. I will probably go nuts. Dad is already getting stir crazy. I just hope he can get better. This year so far hasn't been the greatest, I hope this isn't a trend for us!! No word on Duane's truck, I assume the repair place is working on it. Duane hates the mini-van!! (Hee, hee!!) Well, had better fix to go to bed, I had to get up way too early this morning to take Dad to the doctor!!

A New Picture of Aden and Landon!!

We received this new picture of Tiana and Cassondra's little ones today in an Easter card from Tiana!! Aden is 2 yrs old already, and Cass's little boy Landon is 5 months!! How cute??!!!! Tiana's Husband is overseas again, and last word on Cass is that they are moving to Fort Lewis up in the Seattle area, I am not sure when or if that has happened yet!!

Hee, Hee, Hee!!

Honey, this is what you get for not paying heed to my plea's to not sell the Mitsubishi, you get to drive a Mini-Van!! Yep, Duane gets to drive the number one car on his most detested vehicle list from now until his Tacoma is repaired!! HA!! I probably sound mean!! I wanted so bad to keep my car, but lost out, told him that it would come in handy somewhere down the road... Yep, this would have been it!! We got to clean out the stuff we wanted to when we picked up the minivan, so at least that's taken care of!!