Back To The Real World

I'm having a little bit of trouble with the pictures this morning, I hate that! The weekend turned out to be rather bright and sunny despite the Dire Predictions of the Crack Weather Team so we headed out to Barrackville, WV. Ray has been dying to see a covered bridge and this one isn't overly far. The boys were making faces about going, but both found it pretty interesting once we got there. The bridge is pretty much historically intact and is special in the way it's constructed. Ray and I both took tons of pictures. I wanted to go to Clarksburg but David insisted on trying to find the highway and the next thing I knew we were headed back home.  We went to the little museum in town also but that was a big disappointment, they were no longer showing the local paintings but instead have an expo on steel drums. That would only be interesting if you liked steel drums. We stopped in at Carvel next door which was far more interesting. Sunday we shopped and messed around, we went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday which everyone loves. Monday went rather smoothly - oddly enough - Ray got off in good time and the boys were packed and ready to go to the airport. It was odd coming home to an empty house though. in other news, my shawl is going well and faster than expected, I may have to switch the cable out again soon.

Saturday

The weather predicted for this weekend changes of course on an hourly basis, I suppose it all depends on what window the Crack Weather Team is peeping out of at any given time. Ray made good time despite the occasional squall, I was a bit worried at one point as it was really coming down, but it was short lived. I did an admission on a patient I've had before and in the course of conversation she mentioned the drunk astronauts. I told Lindsey Lohan could join the space program which started everyone laughing and since we were discussing the news - the cat that predicts death came up(the one I mentioned yesterday in my blog). That was about 10 minutes of everyone - including her husband -  laughing hysterically about that stupid cat, her husband said he'd have a big sign over his bed that stated SEVERE CAT ALLERGY. I told him I wished I'd had that cat when I worked in the hospital so if someone kept ringing the bell I could threaten to send in the cat if they didn't stop. So, I was not the only one who thought that was the most hilarious thing I'd heard in awhile. I got home a few minutes earlier than I had thought I would and we went out to dinner at the italian restaurant and then to the bookstore of course. David thought I was being good by not buying any knitting books, but that's only because I've ordered a bunch from Knitpicks this morning (40% off this month all books!!). It's a bit crappy and hot this morning, David had to run over to Bridgeport to pick up the solar cover reel he's buying used as we need one. Then what we're doing is anyone's guess!

Baby You Can Drive My Car

Jackson's planets finally decided to do the right thing and align themselves in a positive way. Murphy's Law was suspended and the Powers That Be must've taken a holiday because Jackson FINALLY took the driving test. David picked up the car and took him to DMV - while waiting he said to the counter person (who apparently was not taken out back and beaten to death previously for misinformation) that they must've changed the rules again. The counter person said "No, they changed the rules for YOU" - David wisely decided to drop the subject. Jackson was a bit nervous but got a nice tester, you can parallel park 3 times - he got it on the 2nd try and he even remembered where the hazard light was! So, needless to say when I got home from work we all got to stand around to admire the Spanking New Driver's License which Jackson will show you on request. He was very happy after all the false runs he's made at the DMV for the past two weeks and it's just in time for the last day of summer school and the subsequent vacation to Aunt Janet and Aunt Diane's (he was determined to have a license to show them before he left!). So it all ended quite well with the exception of the fact I now have to alert the insurance company who will gladly raise my rates. Sigh. In other news - there was a news story this morning that had me in gales of laughter, I couldn't stop. Apparently there's a cat in a facility that can tell when a resident is going to croak in the next 2 to 4 hours AND WILL GO SIT ON THIER BED UNTIL THEY DO SO. The staff was yammering on and on about how he's done this 25 times and he was Team Member but all I could think of - can you imagine laying in your bed and that morbid cat walking around scoping you out? I would be like COULD SOMEONE GET THIS DAMN CAT OFF MY BED - NOW! What if you didn't like your roommate - could you give them a Friskies Rub Down or hide cat treats under thier pillow as a joke? I started crying I was laughing so hard - that's nurse humor for you.

David's Turn

Things were going rather ducky at work yesterday - we had worked out the schedule and I was getting ready to leave for my afternoon visits when my cell phone rang. It was Jackson wondering who was picking him up - it was also an hour after summer school had let out. I asked Susan call the patients to let them know I was running late and then zipped off to the school to find a rather upset boy. We tried to call David several times though he was out of phone range - Jackson then informed me he was supposed to take his driver's test today. David forgets a lot of things - but it's unusual for him to forget to pick up Jackson - and he would NOT forget a driving test. Then Adam called to let us know David's cell phone kept ringing, he knew this because it was sitting on the desk. We called information and got the number of the house David was working at and called - no answer. Meanwhile Jackson was trying very hard not to freak out -but he's getting to a point of being completely discouraged as everytime he's tried to take this test SOMETHING has happened. He was also supposed to go to Becky's on Thursday because she's leaving to visit her grandmother, etc... then the phone rang and it was David (when he heard the phone ring a couple of times he checked the caller ID) - he was under the impression Jackson was going to Becky's on Wednesday and taking the test on Thursday since I'll be in Pittsburgh all day and they can just drop me off and take the car. I had Jackson call Becky while I turned the car around and drove him over there - her house happened to be on the way to my next visit and told him he would take the test today. Hopefully Murphy's Law won't kick in again today!

Yada yada

I finally got the police report from my most recent, that has to go to the insurance company so they can hate me some more. We got a call from DMV yesterday -apparently Dad yelling at them paid off. Jackson's failed written has been removed from the computer and they have to go over today to straighten the rest out but it looks like he may be able to take the test after all. Dad also then had to have a talk with the Injured Party who feels the counter person at DMV should be taken out back and beaten, fired and held up to public humiliation. David has pointed out that might be a little on the harsh side and maybe the fact they are trying to fix it and have apologized is enough. The Injured Party agreed, but rather grudgingly. Ray will be on his way Friday, I told David to try to get him to come earlier but he's a creature of habit like myself so I doubt that will even be entertained. I washed all the of the  bedding but will wait until Friday to put it on as the resident Evil Felines have been dying to cover it all with cat hair to make it Thier's. Adam is still bored but has been finding things to do, he's a bit of a computer pest and between him and David the resident Computer Pest I can barely sneak on these days! The weather has been quite rainy lately so swimming has been a no go for the past few days which I hate since the pool still needs to be cleaned and vacuumed. I finally bought a new vacuum head yesterday and also picked up a new hummingbird feeder - David's broke last week and he left it hanging in front of the window, much to the disappointment of the hummingbirds.

West Virginia Strikes Again

Jackson is convinced he will never drive. Last week we went through the missing paperwork stuff and finally got it all straight and accounted for. The game plan was he could take the driving test today and if he didn't pass he'd still be able to take it one more time in the 7 day period. Guess again. I ran through my visits and was back at the office by noon, David picked Jackson up at school and they came to get my car to take the test in at 1. David appeared back in the office completely furious an hour or so later - he never even got to take the test. When they got there it turned out the rules had been changed on 7/13 - they are no longer issuing 1 year permits but are doing 3 year. If you're in possession of a 1 year (like Jackson is) it is NO LONGER VALID after 7/13 and you need to retake the written. Jackson retook the written and failed miserably, he said they changed all the answers but I'm sure he was so upset at that point thinking straight was not possible. He of course can't retake it for 7 days which means - next Monday he'll be at the DMV, retake the written test, do the driving part and then go flinging off to the airport with Adam to go visit Aunt Janet. David pointed out to counter person that we'd been at the DMV on 3 separate occasions in the past month and not once had this all been mentioned. David called when he got home and they're looking into it, big deal. Jackson is better now of course, when he takes the test on Monday he'll have the 3 year permit and can take the driving part anytime. Eek. As you can see from the pictures I've posted I managed to switch out the cable on my circular needles with only a tiny bit of Drama And Intrigue - I LOVE my circular needle set. It comes with a set of needles from size 5 to 11 and cables from 16" to 40" so you can just unscrew the needles and make the cables bigger and smaller. And it's all contained in a Nifty Carrying Case. Yes, I don't get out enough, thank you for asking.

A Fish Out Of Water

Adam was feeling a bit low yesterday - we kind of figured this would happen. As happy as he is to be out of the navy it's a bit disconcerting to find yourself suddenly with no job and no where to go. And to add to that no way to get anywhere and everyone is out of the house all day - but you. David and I finished up with our respective activities and took him out around 2, but I think even that was galling  - to be taken out by your parents. Over an early dinner he said this was great - the 17 year old brother was tripping around Pittsburgh and the 23 year old was sitting home on his butt, playing video games. We pointed out Jackson IS in Pittsburgh - but at a concert and under the supervision of an adult, not just running around on his own. And we let him know this all going to take time - life doesnt' just instantly rearrange itself for your change in plans. His goal at this point is to get an english teacher's degree and go back to Japan  which we think is an admirable goal, but it'll take time. By the time we got home he felt better I think. Ray is coming out next weekend so he has that to look foward to and then he and Jackson are heading to PA that Monday - I think he just feels out of place right now and it's got to be odd to go from being surrounded by people 24 hours a day to spending all day - with nothing to do - by yourself and Pearl The Hostess. We went to the bookstore after dinner and shopped, I got the latest Harry Potter book which contrary to ever newscast in the nation is NOT hard to get your hands on, they had a mountain of them right in front -and 50% off to boot. I have to work on my shawl today changing out the cable - wish me luck!

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

I didn't hear anything about that job I applied for - and now they've called twice in as many days! I have an interview scheduled for the beginning of August but that even makes me wonder if it's worth going in. It took them over a week just to do the internal interviews and if they're scheduling me that far it means there are  a lot of applicants for the one job. If I did get it - it would mean less travel and possibly more money - but it might also mean more work since it said "some oncall" without being specific. And the other problems of course are we don't know what we're doing next year so starting a new job this late in the game might not be wise, not to mention my boss is going to know I'm off applying for other jobs when they check my references. And things have started to be better at work - of course!! - so, do I keep my bird in hand or go looking in the proverbial bushes??? Where is that easier life when I need it? Anyhoo, Jackson is off to Pittsburgh this weekend, he went to an all weekend blues concert with his girlfriend, her Dad and her Dad's friend so he was pretty happy as they go every year. This leaves Adam Bored as I have an admission to do this weekend and David is going to the gun club for event or something. David's had a bit of breathing room lately so he's been down there at least one day a week, occasionally after work shooting skeet and most likely shooting the bull too. I'm still knitting the shawl I had to restart several times, it's all bunched up on a 16" circular so it's been hard to see - I have a set of circulars that you can change the cable to larger sizes but haven't quite figured out the mechanics of it yet. Given how long it took me to get this thing off the ground I'm a bit leery of messing with it, but it's already not quite fitting on the cable so I have to figure it out soon. But  I could pull it a bit straight and it appears to look like it's supposed to so I'm knitting on! I ordered some "back up" yarn just in case as I don't want to get 90% done and run out. I'll take a picture when I get it on the larger cable - when I can figure out how to do that without accidently pulling it off the needles!

Not Much To Tell

And no new pictures either. The weather has been moving towards the Crappy Side of things. I did get to go swimming last night after work right before it started raining. David has a fit if I'm out there swimming in the rain but I don't know why - does he think I'll get wet?? Adam is doing well, he's a bit bored during the day but has been finding plenty to amuse himself with. He and Pearl swim together daily and I don't know if she's being less of a pest or he's just getting used to her. David took them out to the stores last night after he got home so that was something to do. Adam's also been online of course and is trying to figure out his future, he'd like to eventually become an english teacher and go back to Japan - he's been investigating online but I've told him to be careful as there are plenty of scammers out there. One of the woman I work with just had debit card information stolen off the internet and is having a heck of a time with it. I'm very paranoid about that myself (as everyone knows!) and I worry about that anyhow. Jackson continues slogging along in summer school, he's going with Becky's family for the weekend to a blues festival they always attend. Ray might be coming out this weekend or next, I'm hoping next as Jackson won't be here, I'm on call and I have friends coming over to swim in the pool. I hate when people come while I'm oncall, even if no one calls I can't really go too far so it very much limits any activities.

Stepping Lightly

Back to work, back to the same old crap. I called the agency I have my resume into for that management job - they just finished up with the internal interviews which means a lot of people have applied for the job. Oh well - I'm in no hurry, I figure I'll only apply for whatever interests me. The urge to just take any job is overwhelming at times, but having acted in haste in the past has shown me it will make you sorry at some point. And really - I'm not completely ready to give up the ship quite yet, I've invested a lot of myself in the job. Adam has been getting bored I think - we live outside of town so there's no public transportation and we're gone all day - there's no help for that. But on the other hand he has a swimming pool, video games, the computer, books, etc... so it's not all bad. I'll take him out after work tonight as I have to do some shopping. I also have to get Ray's room ready as he's planning on visiting us this weekend. I'm on call but they can pal around for the weekend and if it's not too busy maybe I can get Ray out to that covered bridge in Barracksville this time.

Vacation Girl

Yesterday the weather was awful, damp and then raining. I took Adam downtown while Jackson was at summer school, we poked around all the little shops and so forth. Then we went up to the old mall which I havent' been in for awhile - it's pretty sad. The anchor stores moved out last year - Walmart and Gabe's - and now most of the shops are closed down or there's odd shops of people trying to make a go of it. It was so quiet in there, there were maybe 20 people shopping and it made me self conscious when we went into shops since most of the time we were the ONLY people in there. We picked Jackson up after school and headed over the the DMV for him to take his driving test. When we got to the window the guy asked for the official school enrollement form and his 30 hour driving log which we didn't have since no one had ever told us we needed them. I was pretty steamed as David and Jackson had been there last week to find out when he could take it, etc and the person they saw never mentioned any of this. Poor Jackson - he was all set to take it and then this. I called the school when we got home and of course the enrollment form we need has a great deal of rigamarole to it and if he gets it in time it will be a miricle. He only has til the 3rd to take the test so David will be doing handstands next week to get this done. In the afternoon we went to the movies, no one could decide what they wanted to see - Harry Potter or Transformers - I picked Harry Potter and then when we got there they all voted Transformers. So Transformers it was - it was very good and since Jackson and Adam grew up with the Transformers they were especially taken. We dropped Adam off in town, there's some bar band he wanted to see and he'll be spending the night at a hotel in town. I'm just hanging out for today, whoo hoo is all I have to say.

He's Here.

There will be pictures of the Boy at some point, I only have the one with the mohawk that I haven't downloaded yet. The mohawk lasted about 10 minutes after we got home and David got vocal as expected by the owner of the above stated hairdo. So Adam is bald and David is happy. I picked Adam up from the airport - I got there 45 minutes early as the traffic was much lighter than I'd expected. On the way back we stopped at Gabriel Brother's so Adam could get a bathing suit and socks and he went a little crazy clothes shopping. Anyone who's heard me about Gabe's knows that it's the World's Greatest Place To Shop and he was all over it. Adam looks wonderful, glad to be back to the US but I think still a little unsettled at the moment. I don't think he realized what a difference 5 years makes in your life and how different things are here. In Japan you CAN walk around with a mohawk - here, it's not so easy. David and Jackson came home early and we hung around for the afternoon. I'm taking full advantage of my two vacation days and trying to relax before Monday (I don't even want to think about that! Work was a mess again when I left at almost 6 on Wednesday), so I swam in the pool and played with Miss Thing. Miss Thing didn't like the mohawk either - when Adam got out of the car she refused to let him come near and was so scared she was peeing! We went out to dinner and actually got a table at Cheddar's, we hit it right before the line started forming which was excellent. Then we went to Barne's and Nobles and off to Sam's Club to stock up on food. I don't think it's going to be too exciting of a visit for Adam, Jackson has school until the 27th and I can't get anymore time off, but Ray is coming down next weekend and Pearl will be most happy to continue with Her Hostessing Duties.

The Two AM Girl Is On Vacation I Guess

I've been scanning the Help Wanted ads lately - not sure what I want to do - or not do as the case may be. I found a job that looked interesting so I thought this morning I would print out my resume and a cover letter. I have to say I slept VERY well last night - the first time in a long time. The 2 AM girl might have come by but it did her no good, I feel asleep at 8 and didn't wake up until almost 5. I told David I would drive Jackson to school since it wouldn't take that long to print my stuff out and mail it off. Haha, guess you could call it Revenge of The 2 AM Girl because apparently while I was sleeping she was down here messing with Word Perfect. My resume now insists on only being viewed as a tiny document which even a mouse would have a hard time squinting at and when you print it out - faded purple. And yes, I changed the black ink cartridge. I fixed it as best I could - and just copied it after selecting Darker Copy and that seemed to work. When I went into work I told Susan I'd sent off my resume - I've finally hit that point where it's no longer worth it anymore. I'm tired of trying to work two full time positions and failing miserably at both - I get hit with all the patients and then get slammed because the office end is a mess. Stick a fork in me I'm done. So I went off to do the 3 patients at opposite ends of the earth since everyone else is off, on vacation or just being huffy and I when I came back everyone was being nice and everything was being taken care of. Crips, just shoot me now.

Getting Better

Yes I know I need to take some more pictures, maybe today. I had an open to do this weekend in Clarksburg so I hopped over to AC Moore's - I still had some money left over on my gift card. They were clearing out thier old knitting books - whoo hoo!! - I got a bunch for a few dollars so that really made my day. I did NOT buy any yarn as I even I have to admit the stash is a bit over the top these days and I've been a bit lax in the knitting department lately. I had to restart the shawl after teaching myself how to knit on two circular needles instead of double points. The yarn for the shawl is so light it was just impossible to keep the tension and keep count. THEN I had to restart again as I had done it wrong - knitting on two circulars is one of those things that once you get the hang of it it's easy but it's just trying to get the hang of it that will do you in. I had insomnia again last night, that gets old fast. I finally fell asleep about 12:30 or so and woke up after 5 so at least I'm not working on no sleep. The weather was beautiful yesterday, I went swimming in the pool as did Pearl of course. Becky was over and we went to the mall and then out to dinner at Garfield's. I got my haircut finally - my hair needs to be either very long so I can put it up or very short, there's no inbetween for me. I also got a new phone - we've been shopping for a new service so I'm now signed up with Sprint, I have the same number BUT not the same Cheap- O - La phone, I have a cherry red Razor which is very neat. I got my address book on it but now have to set up my voice mail. I also have to start exercising, all this lack of sleep leaves me to tired to do any of it even though I know if I did start exercising again I would probably sleep better.

Oops, I Did It Again

Yesterday was awful at work - what else is new? I had to do an injection training and an open, drove about a hundred miles and arrived at the office around 2:45 to be hit with yet another crisis. I didn't leave until 5:30 - after being called at 4:55 from Bridgeport to be told I had to open a patient in Clarksburg this weekend and had to wait for the paperwork so I was hurrying home. At the intersection there's a yield and between 5 and 6 lately it's gotten pretty bad - I thought the car ahead of me had gone and saw a spot open up. I hit the gas - and then hit the car in front of me. ARRGH! I got out and asked the other driver if she was alright and guess what the first words out of her mouth were? You've got it, I hurt her neck. Do they give everyone in WV a fucking class on these things???I did put a large ding in her back door I'll grant you that, but that was all. I'm more angry at myself than anything else, that I could do this AGAIN - my insurance company will probably drop me. I've gone my entire life without an accident and this is my second one in under a year. This has just been a terrible month, it feels like thing after another is going on and will not end. The 2 AM Girl has been having a field day with this of course, she's even been starting early to make sure she gets it all in before morning.

Crappy Days Are Here Again

The day after the fourth the clouds moved in and the sky darkened up appropriately. I was out on the road yesterday when the rain increased to the point you couldn't even see with the wipers on high, it was crazy. The rain around here amazes me as it tends to reach epic proportions instantly and leave just as quickly. There were people pulled over on the side of the highway and of course that bizarre group of Emergency Flasher People that drive me crazy. When the weather gets bad there's a certain group that seems to feel it's necessary to use thier emergency flashers as they drive, why is beyond me. I can see the taillights just as well and I find it distracting - are they broken down or just driving slowly? All I want to do is get out of my car, smack them one upside the head and tell them to cut it out. They're on my list of Driving Pet Peeves right between people that use the passing lane no matter what speed they're going and of course the top spot will always be occupied by the Baby On Board Sign People who I've always despised. I did get off the road momentarily at the truck stop hoping to wait it out, but then realized if it continued the highway would flood and then I'd be stuck there so back on the road I went with the Emergency Flasher People being totally annoying. It finally let up after I got back to the office, just in time for me to go to my late visit and then hike on home. I'm glad I covered the pool before I left yesterday as the Crap Factor is greatly increased during a storm. It cleared for a bit but this morning the clouds are back - and I'm on call for the weekend so I'm sure I wouldn't have time for the pool anyhow. Adam will be here next week and I took off Thursday and Friday to visit with him. Unfortunately it's too late to take a real vacation but since he's here forever I guess I have plenty of time.

Happy Fourth Of July

I had a back tooth extracted yesterday - the dentist had looked at it and told me there was no point in trying to save it. It was all fillings and so forth and had gotten a cavity underneath all of that. I had to go at 5:30 -he has after hours appointments so I don't have to use any of my time. It went well and he's a very good dentist, thank goodness. I have another tooth that has to go but that I'm putting off for a bit and then he'll make me a partial for the back. Over the years I've lost most of my lower molars - they seem to be the worst despite all I've done to save them and a lot of times even after all the drilling and filling, they abcess underneath. It's very discouraging. Things at work are starting to look up a tiny bit, the LPN did indeed pass her boards and we are sending the other per diem nurse out on Thursday for a few of my easier patients so hopefully we can get things back on track. I'm actually off today! - I had planned on having this tooth pulled yesterday so I could have today to get over it. Today they're predicting rain all day so later I guess I'll cover the pool to keep all the crap out. Every bug in the universe appears to know where my pool is located and they drown themselves by the hundreds. You would think being a bug with hyper-instincts they would SEE THIRTY THOUSAND GALLONS OF WATER but apparently thier Super Senses don't cover that situation. Stupid bugs.

Worth Her Weight In Truffles

We called the Emergency vet at noon on Sunday - Karen informed me that Claw "was going the way we want her to" but to call back at 5 to see how she was. Hmm. I pointed out I was picking the cat up TODAY and she responded that she would hate for us to make the trip only to go home without her if she needed to spend the night. Hmm. I told her we would call at 5 before we came AND PICKED UP THE CAT. David got the 5 o'clock duty with strict instructions to get the cat back from the vet. He spoke with Karen who told him they did want to keep Claw overnight as she was still dizzy. David very nicely told her that a) Claw could be dizzy at home and b) he now owned a 300 dollar cat and was not interested in owning a 500 dollar cat. Karen did not like that in case you're wondering. So David and Jackson went off to the vet's, carrier in hand and retrieved the cat, he had to sign some release before he handed over the moola, $305 dollars total. Claw peed in the carrier on the way home - I guess since she's worth money now she can do what she wants - and then horsed down her dinner along with everyone else's leftovers. She's been fine ever since, we kept her in all day yesterday, every time she protested I showed her the bill so she would be impressed and shut up. It didn' t work. So the end result is we spent over $300 on a cat that doesn't even really like us. Anyhoo, Adam is coming home on the 12th - we flying him on a cheapy flight here to save everyone the drive. It was more than Janet though it would be - $79 - but David would burn that in gas alone. Besides, it's cheaper than the cat!

Tired Already

David got up first this morning, Pearl was gracious enough to let us sleep in til 5 AM and then that was enough - she started laying on everyone and waving her feet about. He let Claw and Vincent out and made the coffee, etc... At 5:30 he called up the stairs for me to come and look at Claw. She'd returned and was unable to keep her balance, she was staggering around the walk, crying. I picked her up gently and she started purring - I guess she was just relieved we came to get her because picking her up without Express And Definate Permission will get you a bite most days. When we brought her in and turned on the light, we also discovered she was having a great deal of involuntary eye movement to go along with the loss of balance. I found the number for the emergency vet out off of the  Prickett's Fort exit and called, they said to bring her in. So at 6:15 am this morning instead of watching old movies in bed and drinking coffee we were heading out with a very irate cat in a travel crate. And I might add though she was fairly distressed and off kilter she still managed to nail me a  couple of times while I was busy stuffing her fluffy butt in the crate. The vet took blood and examined her, they're keeping her for the rest of the day to give her fluids to flush her out in case she ate something toxic and to do a repeat glucose as it was pretty high. When he wanted to keep her a while longer the first thing I did was ask how much - I hate to be like that but I hate it worse getting surprised with a huge bill because I was too embarrassed to ask.  And EVERYONE has a price tag on them, the cat is no exception. So we'll have to see what the vet says, I was on the fence about leaving her as she was able to get around enough to get through the next day and we could've taken her to our regular vet. But on the other hand she could've also gotten much worse during the night and ended back up at the emergency vet, so I guess it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. All of the pets with the exception of Pearl and Vincent are getting on in years, even Mr. Lee is slowing down. With Copper and Charger gone things are quieter, Mr. Lee has grown quiet too, she sleeps a lot now, her hearing is not what it used to be. This year is a year of change, Adam is back, Jackson is getting ready to go, our much loved and fawned over family pets are growing older. We're talking about selling the house next year and perhaps moving to another community for good, I've gone from nurse to manager, Grandpa has had a major setback, on and on life goes. Adam had spoken about being out of the navy and having a nervous feeling in his stomach all the time, feeling like home was no longer home and not sure where he belonged anymore. I told him to wait it out and it gets better - you'll eventually find your place. But that's not entirely true as the place your in now can change or you can change and no longer belong there. I do understand what he talks about because lately I've been getting that "nervous feeling" in my stomach, not all the time, but enough to make me aware of it. Life is static and changes whether you like it or not I suppose, but I would - just for a little while - like to feel like everything is where it should be and so am I.