Monday December 8 2008

The New Welcome Sign is Hung Up Now

Craig did it a couple of days ago.

Maybe of interest is that the siding is

some kind of cement, ..... or was it steel?

Anyway something more durable than

aluminum.

Across the Street Yesterday Evening

Craig Hanging the Guest Coat Rack.
Tayler took riding lessons for some years
and this was one of her trophies.
She gave it to me for the new house.

Had not mentioned that James and Kathy sent us a box of Georgia apples - four varieties. They arrived day before yesterday. Oh, the smell of them is just like being in the orchard. THANK YOU SO MUCH KATHY AND JAMES. This is a wonderful gift, but I will share some of them because it is almost too many for the two of us alone to use before they would spoil.

It's not very cold but we got a snowstorm today, more or less changing from heavy or flurries most of the day. It ended up being about 2 inches or so. The wind didn't really blow.

Today I had every intention of getting the studio room all organized. Not!

One of the first things I did was decide to wash my sheets and whatever else we had in the laundry and that could run while I was working on the room. As I was eating my cereal the washer started shrieking and howling and put water all over the floor. It was coming from underneath, not from any of the hose connections. I sure hope it doesn't harm the flooring. I was able to get it to spin and although it hadn't rinsed out the soap, I figured it got the clothes clean, so shoved them in the dryer. Then called Home Depot. To make a long story short, the young woman I spoke with said the warranty said they would not replace - only repair and gave me a name of a repairman here in Pinedale to call. I was practically in tears after talking to her but resigned at that point.

Then Lois called and said she would come and pick up her portable table that she left here after we had the art group here last week. I asked her and Bud to come to lunch and they said yes, so I hurried and made that turkey noodle casserole with some asparagus while they went to the clinic and then came on up. Joe and Bud had a pretty good visit, and Lois helped me get the lunch on. Bud said he could talk to Joe good, that most of the people any more weren't old enough to talk to. She brought us some of her extra hot house tomatoes because they will be going south in a week for the winter so we added that to the menu. We did have a nice lunch and get together. Sent some casserole home with Lois and Bud. Got that cleaned up and made the bed, and took a short rest. Then Joe cut his toe trying to cut his toenail and we were trying to get that to stop bleeding. I think I have talked him into going to the Senior Center pedicure person. I'm going to make us both an appointment because it's getting difficult for me to get mine cut too.

Soon it was time for Cheyenne to come by after getting off work and fix the laptop and get the email program going again and make sure the Norton Symantec virus control was doing what it should. It didn't take him long and he has it all fixed again. I sent some apples home for his family and to share with Bonnie and Craig. He offered to sweep off the walks. But I thanked him and said there wasn't that much snow out there. What a wonderful young man he is. AND THANK YOU FOR FIXING THE COMPUTER, CHEYENNE - I'M VERY GRATEFUL.

I called the washer repairman who is here in Pinedale. He gave me some good information, mainly that the symptoms I described were quite serious. So I called Home Depot back with my loud, angry voice demanded that they bring me a new washer and take this one back. I had a tirade for a while and the manager I insisted on talking to this time said he didn't have one in the store but would order one today and when it gets there they will bring the new one up and take this one back. So that's where that is for now. Have I said "Why Meeee??" before?? Acting like an agressive assertive b_ _ _ _ seems to work better than whining, at least for this time.

So, I made us a bacon and tomato sandwich for dinner. And after we finished eating the doorbell rang. It was Chris from across the street bringing Charm's package. I invited him in to meet Joe and he said that his roommate was cleaning off our driveway!! He has a 4 wheeler with a plow on it and did a great job of getting the snow off the whole drive. We got a little bit acquainted and I gratefully thanked he and his friend for being so thoughtful.

It turned out to be a day of difficulty and blessings. And the blessings outweighed the difficulties. I've been doing a whole lot of being thankful for all our blessings lately.

I'm going to bed and watch some old movies.

I very quietly confided to my best friend that I was having an affair. She turned to me and asked, 'Are you having it catered'?
And that, my friend, is the sad definition of OLD.

Sunday December 7 2008

Feeling better today than most of the time since the last treatment. I've been sleeping a lot. Probably catching up from when I over do. Joe's watching the weekend sports. Dogs are enjoying the sun on their deck at the moment. House cleaning today and glad I feel good enough to do it. It's very dusty here. When the mud dries up it turns into a very fine gritty sand. The neighbors here call it glacial silt. Charm said she ordered something for us from LLBean and gave them the wrong address - 18 instead of 19. So that's the house across the street. She called them and talked to a man named Chris who sounded very nice. He said all the packages end up at his house and he deliveres them around to where they go. So that will be an easy way to get acquainted with the neighbors.

The photos are more of the living room, may have put in similar ones before, but these are new pictures. The new desk and a nice matching file cabinet will go in the space behind the couch. There is quite a good sized area there. I am anxious for the desk to come and I can quit using the laptop on the dining room table.

Betty called and we had our usual good weekly visit.

GOOD HEAVENS: I accidentally clicked on this "Blog of the Day" and checked it out. Talk about blogging, this one is great!

http://willowmanor.blogspot.com/

Sally said they add a new photo on here every day through Advent. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/hubble_space_telescope_advent.html

It was on this day in 1941 that Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harbor. 2390 Americans were killed. Congress declared war the following morning, and the U.S. officially entered WWII. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that December 7th was a date that would "live in infamy".

Saturday December 6 2008

Sunset Tonight

Shows how far houses are from us

in that direction.

This was definitely a slow quiet day. So..... nothing to write about. Still not accomplishing much that I would like to. But it will have to be o.k. right now. Not able to reply to the email yet either, but I can read it anyway. Took the dogs for a walk in a wide loop around the house. Raven sure has a good time running when she's out. I forgot our anniversary was December 2. Neither of us remember it any more.Made an apple pie, and pork chops and artichokes for dinner. Joe has the pie half gone already.

Friday December 5 2008

Kay with Customers

Helen and George, Brother and Sister

PICTURES OF MEEK'S

ART AND CRAFT OPEN HOUSE

This morning Joe and Craig went to the ranch. He took the dogs along. He fed and watered the cats. I'm not sure what else they did yet. About 10:15 Bonnie and I went out to The Meek's family open house. About five of them do different artistic creations. The pictures show you how they clean out George's shop and set up tables with all the things on them. Kay had lots of wonderful paintings. Kasha did country crafts, Chris did horseshoe and other metal creations. George does a different kind of western metal work with antique and old tools and horseshoeing things made into housewares, and Helen does western theme sewing. I was kind of in the market to buy several things for the new house that they had in past years but didn't find those things this time, so bought a couple pot holders.

Then Bonnie took me home and I got a sandwich, Called the furniture store in Rock Springs about the table not closing when the leaf is in it. She said they would bring another one and take this one back when they bring the desk on the 19th. Since I wanted a couple of extra chairs, I just ordered two more dining room chairs and will use one in the studio or guest room and one for the desk. They will match what we have that way. I also said to send up another end table to use in the studio or guest room for that TV and receiver. I'd been shopping on the internet and just want to see what I'm getting instead of a cardboard "something". Maybe one more glider rocker later and the furniture shopping will be done.

Joe got home just when I was leaving again, so I put the dogs in my car and took them with me. Then I went down to get my eye dr. appointment for the driver's license. Afterwards I called Cheyenne and a "real person" talked to me and said just to fax the form and I was fine 0 no fees. So got the eye dr. report faxed off to the driver's license department in Cheyenne - and I'm good to go with that - with still five days to the deadline. I took the window shade book back to RM Home, and gave her a couple styles I had chosen. They will have an estimate by Monday. So a productive afternoon. The dogs and I walked around the park's nature path. I've been worried about them getting depressed with not having their freedom, so they might feel a little better today. I felt pretty good that I went clear around the path, as I haven't walked very far for some time.

It was cold and windy today. Debbie called this afternoon and we talked for a while. We hadn't talked for a while. Tonight I heated up some leftover lasagna with a salad so that was easy. I'm tired tonight and will go to bed soon, but it was a busy day.

Thursday December 4 2008

This is your room when you come to visit.

.
The last job to do is still being procrastinated.
Yeah, I know .... "Just Do It!"
This will be the studio.

Well in case you missed hearing anything from me, the Internet was out for about two days. There was a cable cut somewhere in Montana that had several servers down. I bet they didn't call before they dug. I'll just kind of go through the days with a quick report of what went on.

On Tuesday Dec. 2 In the morning our small art group met at Rendezvous Pointe for painting and lunch. There were six of us, and we had our usual good time. Stayed until after 3:30. Saw Maxine there at lunch and nice to say hi to her. She goes to Tai Chi. I got a good start on a snow scene which will have some Angus cows in the pasture. I got my protime at the clinic. It was 4.4 (too thin) which the lab lady said was critical, so she would fax it to oncology and also call them to make sure they got it. When I got home late in the afternoon Judy B. had called but they were already closed, so I didn't know how much coumadin they wanted me to take. I decided 2.5 sounded good, and talked to her the next day when she told me how much to have each day. Shopped at Ridley's - seems like I covered all the aisles three times before I got most of everything on the list. We've been eating leftovers for dinner, so fussing with food has been kept down to a minimum. The alignment of the crescent moon and Venus and Jupiter was absolutely gorgeous. Told Joe to come and look at it and even he was impressed. Glad I saw it and it wasn't cloudy.

Wednesday Dec. 3 Joe went to have coffee with his friends, but he says he's not going anymore because he doesn't like the coffee. I called the furniture company and told them about the scratch on my dresser and they said they would make an adjustment. So for this one I said fine - I'll live with the scratch. I might send the dining room table back for another one though, as when the leaf is used, the holes and pegs won't align up to close the table all the way.

The Dish repairman came from Idaho Falls and fixed our TVs. The wind had apparently blown the dish off alignment where it should be pointed. The signal was about 5 which it should be 55, so that's why we weren't getting any signal or programs. He repointed the dish and went through all the systems and receivers and said everything was set up just fine. That was good to know. He fixed it fairly quickly after he got here, but we had to hang around all morning. I used the time for getting paperwork and phone calls and appointments taken care of, and housework started. Soon after the Dish guy left, Bonnie and Craig came over and hung the new Welcome sign he made up by the front door. It looks beautiful. THANK YOU CRAIG. We had a nice visit with them.

In between all, I got laundry done and house cleaning done. Later in the afternoon I got my haircut. It took a total of 30 minutes to drive there and back and get the haircut. A big difference than going from the ranch. Charm stopped by toward evening with the box my paintings were packed in for the show. They took them to Big Piney library and hung them for me, where the Mixed Media show will hang for the next couple of weeks. And Ruth sent me a little birthday gift for the kitchen. THANKS ALL YOU GUYS - YOU ARE SWEETHEARTS. I had run down in the morning and picked up the biggest painting and will hang it in the living room. I got a few filing supplies for the next project - organizing the new file cabinet - from Office Outlet while I was out. Talked to Gina again to see if her Internet was still out, and she told me how to unplug the modem to reset it which I did, but still didn't have Internet last night. After dinner I went right to bed.

This morning Dec. 4 we're having snow flurries and the ground has just enough to make it look white. It got down in the single digits for a low. At least the wind isn't blowing.

Found that when I clicked on my email there is Internet now, but all I can do is read it in Outlook. All the buttons for reply etc. are "dead". So I can read email but not answer, forward, or do anthing else with it - except delete. Why meeeee???

Anyway, the dogs have just decided to stay in bed today, literally. They aren't getting up. Must be the weather. Today I took them out for a little walk in a big circle around the house hoping to get their spirits up.

I've been having an upset stomach lately, so did not work on the studio room unpacking boxes as I planned. I took a nap and watched a great afternoon of programs on National Geographic about the Grand Canyon. I want to see them all again. One thing they have learned is that - although the condors have had some success coming back they are still dying. One of the things that is killing the condors is lead poisoning - from eating hunter's gutpiles that have shattered bits of lead bullets. Hopefully, the hunters will stop using the lead bullets.

Monday December 1 2008

Lynn's Room right side.

Betty Pfaff made me this beautiful quilt

all hand done. It has aprons on it.

.

Lynn's Room left side from doorway. The bedroom set in Joe's and my room is one set with twin beds. If in the future, it should ever be needed to be put together in one room it will match nicely.

Goofy photomerge of the kitchen, but

give's you an idea even if everything's

not connected.

This is a quick blog today. I've taken some pictures of the furniture and rooms requested by Betty, and will put them on in the next few days.

Please send me a little message to the new email when it's convenient ..... lt5678@centurytel.net ..... so I'm sure to have your email address. Wouldn't hurt to include your address and phone number either, unless you suppose I have it in my old tattered address book (the paper kind). I have to start a new address book all over in the laptop, although I might be able to import the old one out of the external drive. That’s seems low priority on the list right now though. I thought I did that back when but it is empty right now.

I been doing the paperwork all morning and it’s piles all over the kitchen counter and dining room table, that’s how much there is. I’m making up a calendar in the computer to keep track of things to do and getting all that organized. Paid the bills last night. Have to go through the credit card receipts next. Going to tackle that room with the boxes and files after that. Tomorrow I’m going to the small painting group at Rend. Pt. to work and have lunch – about 6 of us probably -and get my protime at the clinic, shop in Ridley’s and finally get the pleated shade estimate from RM Home.

I called DISH and the tech guy is coming Wednesday morning. At 4:30 that day I finally get my hair cut. It's really gotten long - too long for the spiky do. Friday Dr. Jensen will be in Pinedale and I’ll get the eye exam for my driver's license at 1:30, and I will get the result faxed to the DOT in time before they cancel my driver's license 12/10!! Yikes. So things are moving along. My new desk will be delivered the 19th – wish it were sooner but that’s their schedule. Still don’t know when I’ll get the phone/computer finished up – need to spend some more time with Sandy at some point finalizing that.

My neck still hurts but only one pain pill today so far. It’s getting better and maybe within another day or two the pain will be gone. Kind of seems like I have an inkling of getting a cold. I took a slug of cough medicine just in case. Was awake most of the night last night but don't seem any the worse for wear.

Be sure and check our new addresses -scroll on down below on the blog.

STOP THE WIND!!

Space Weather News for Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 http://spaceweather.com

When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look south. Beaming through the twilight is one of the prettiest things you'll ever see--a tight three-way conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon. The event is visible from all parts of the world, even from light-polluted cities. People in New York and Hong Kong will see it just as clearly as astronomers watching from remote mountaintops. Only cloudy weather or a midnight sun (sorry Antarctica!) can spoil the show.

The great conjunction offers something extra to Europeans. For more than an hour on Monday evening, the crescent Moon will actually eclipse Venus. Astronomers call such an event a "lunar occultation." Venus emerging from the dark edge of the Moon is a remarkably beautiful sight. Sky watchers across Europe will be able to see this happen.

NEW ADDRESS INFORMATION

Here is our new address information. Better copy it down.

Joe and Lynn Thomas

Mailing address is still ..... 105 Richie Road, Boulder WY 82923

The new phone number is..... 307-367-4878

(Our mail will be forwarded from 105 Richie Road Boulder 82923 to..... General Delivery Pinedale 82941 where you can send us mail directly.... (There are no p.o. boxes available in Pinedale at present. This service is free for six months - by then we should be back at the ranch).

I also have a Verizon cell phone which will get reception here now.

It is .....307-286-4162...... I will try to get into the habit of having it close by and learn to use it more often, so for those on Verizon - so we can use free minutes. Another gadget to learn.

If you do call our Boulder number, 307-537-5678, it will eventually have call forwarding to the Pinedale number. I will try to check messages more regularly - I'm not too good at it now.

The new email address is..... lt5678@centurytel.net...... It should be working now. I will turn off hughes.net and put it on vacation as soon as I know this is working as it should.

The new street address is..... 19 Arrowhead Avenue..... in Carmichael Hills (do not send any mail to this address except UPS etc.).

(Directions to the new house: Go out Fremont Lake Road SE of Ridley's- Pass the Pinedale clinic/ballfields and the cemetery and then pass the Orcutt Hill turnoff on the left and come to the next left which is Broken Hills Dr. There is a little patch of landscaped aspens and spruces with a rock wall sign that says Carmichael Hills. Turn left on Broken Hills. In one block turn right on Arrowhead. We are the house with beige siding and brown trim about 1/2 a block down on the left.)