Winter Journy by Diane Armstrong

I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to read at times with the graphic descriptions of things that happened. Being Polish myself and having visited Poland, it was interesting to read about the people and places in Poland. I won't spoil the story for people who haven't read this book yet. I'm going to look for the author's other book. They sound very interesting too.

Our house is a very,very fine house

We don't have two cats in the yard but we do have one dog! We've been in our house since September and we love it. Moving in did have it's problems though. We couldn't get our couch out the door of our old house and we ended up using a sawsall to break it up. I'm still not sure how it got in the house. It must have gained weight in the years we had it. We needed a new couch anyways. Then after we moved in we discovered that the tub was not draining and the toilet was not flushing.  After trying everything to clear the lines, we hired a professional. He found out that tree roots were blocking the line. After much grinding and cutting, the line was opened up. We also had trouble with our electrician. He came in August the work that we needed done but then never came back to finish. I had to hire someone else to come in to finish the work. But now everything seems to be working ok and we're enjoying our new home. There are still a few things that we need to do, like unpacking the many boxes in the basement which we are working on. And our dog Zoey just loves the house and the big back yard.

Sad News

There is some sad news to report this week. My ex wife Beverly was found dead in her apartment on Sunday. She was 65 years old. This was totally unexpected and was a shock to all of us especially her children, Heather, Brian and Erin. We have been divorced for some time now but we were still friendly towards each other. We had our differences in the past by we also has some good times too. It's hard when someone dies suddenly like that. She will be missed by all, especially her children. Rest in peace Bev.

catching up

It's been quite a while since I wrote anything here so I thought I do some catching up.

Susan And I purchased a home in February. It's a 3 bedroom ranch on a half acre of land. It's very nice but is in need of some updating. It was build in 1959 and not much has changed since then. So we decided to gut the kitchen and the bathroom. We're putting in all new cabinets and tearing down a wall between the kitchen and living room. We already had a new roof put on and we're doing a lot of work in the yard. We hope to be moved in by August. We're both very excited.

We added a new member to our family last October when we got a Golden Retriever puppy. Her name is Zoey and she's a great dog. She has lots of energy which is good since it makes us take more walks. She is a true retriever too. She is constantly finding baseballs at the park that is near by. Al last count, she has 24 baseballs in her toy box.

I have come one step closer to true retirement. I retired 4 years ago but I have been working 2 days a week since then. As of the end of June, I will only go into work for special projects. I'm ready for that. Susan also retired this year so we both have time to work on the new house. We also want to travel more in the near future. There are so many places we want to visit!

More to come....

Erin's Wedding

Erin and Greg got married on August 23, 2015. But let me go back a few hours before the wedding. It started as a normal day with me getting up and having breakfast. And since it was a Sunday, I went and got my usual Boston Globe and fresh rye bread from the local bakery. I then settled down to reading my paper and watching "Sunday Morning". All that changed when I received a call from Erin at 10 am. She was at the hairdresser with the rest of the bridal party getting their hair done before the wedding, which was at 3:30 that afternoon. She told me that my other daughter Heather had fainted in the chair and was going to the hospital by ambulance. So off I went to the local hospital to meet Heather at the ER. I was there before the ambulance arrived but it drove in shortly with Heather. By the time I was able to go into the ER to see her, she was doing fine. This has happened before to her and it's always a stressful situation. The ran all sorts of tests and they all came back normal. The ER doctor wanted to admit her but she checked herself out of the ER and came to my house to finish getting ready. It was now 1PM. She got ready and headed to the wedding location which was about 30 minutes away. I finished getting ready and Susan and I headed there too.

We arrived at the wedding site and everything was perfect. Heather was doing fine and Erin just looked beautiful. I escorted her outside to where the ceremony was to take place. The ceremony was very nice and Erin and Greg were married. The reception was perfect too. The food was very good and the "Red Barn" was decorated nice too. I had my father's dance with the bride and Greg had a dance with his mother. After that the fun began. They had a DJ for the music and his choice of songs was great for dancing. He said that he never saw so much dancing at a wedding! Everyone had a great time! Even my mom, who is 92 years old, got up to dance several times. I just wish my dad could have been there with her. Everyone said what a good time they had.  All in all, it was a perfect day!

More words and phrases

Here' more words or phrases I've come to dislike.

The new normal - Everything now is "the new normal". A rough winter - it's the new normal. A dry summer - it's the new normal. Floods - it's the new normal. Now everything can be "the new normal".

Over 27,000,000 will be affected by this weather event. So what does that mean to me? Is it going to affect me? Weathermen love to hype things and this is their latest hype.

Shelter in place - This is being used now when ever something dangerous (or not so dangerous) is going on in a certain area. Why can't they just say "stay inside". I think most people know what that means.

Pets

Pets are a big part of many person's lives. They become part of the family and are always there when you need them. They give unconditional love and expect nothing in return besides food and water and maybe a walk every day.  Because their lives are so much shorter than ours, it's inevitable that we will outlive our pets. This year, it has happened to both Susan and I. My dog Shelby was 16 years old. She was a golden retriever and has got me through some of my hardest times. She was always there to greet me every day when I came home from work with a wagging tail and a playful jump. I had her since she was a puppy and she was always there for me. Yes, she could be a pain at times. She would sit by the table while we were eating with those sad eyes just begging for a scrap of food. And it seemed like she wanted to go out at the most inconvenient times like in the middle of a movie I would be watching right at a crucial part of it. And she had a habit of wanting to play or go out or go for a walk every night around 7pm. As Shelby aged, things started going wrong with her. He hips got so bad this year that she would fall down and couldn't get back up. It was getting harder for her to even squat to go to the bathroom without falling. Her eyesight was failing too and I don't believe she could hear any more. So this February, I made the decision to put her down. It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made but I knew it was for the best. I just couldn't watch her suffer any more. So on February 26, 2015 I brought her to the vet and put her down. It was so hard to go back home to and empty house and have to put all of her things away. The next day, my dad died. It was one of the saddest weeks in my life. But I have to think that Shelby and my Dad are together keeping each other company.

And if that wasn't sad enough, Susan had to put her cat Sofie down this past weekend. Sofie was 19 years old and had some of the same problems Shelby had, especially the hip condition. And the past couple of weeks she was hardly eating and losing weight. Susan had the same decision to make and she decided it was time for Sofie to be put down. She felt the same way as I did. She didn't want to see Sofie suffer any more.
Sofie and Shelby were never the best of friends but they tolerated each other. So no our house is pet-less. We're not sure when we'll get another cat or dog. It will take some time I'm sure.

Rest in peace Shelby and Sofie. You were loved and are most surely missed.