It's Only Rain. Press the Gas Pedal..

I awoke to heavy rains lashing against our bedroom window. The sound is, to me anyways, magical. It helps me sleep. Lulls me to sleep, keeps me asleep, makes me want to remain asleep, or at the least, stay in bed. But again, I digress.

I dragged my little butt out of bed and into the kitchen where I fixed, in this order, the cat's breakfast, the dog's and then my tea. I sat and watched the rain through the sliding door and tried to waken myself. I watched the song birds flit from tree to tree to our feeder and watched the chipmunks that have, apparently, taken up residence under my shed, dash out into the grass and scoot thougt the fence into my neighbors yard...now where was I going? Oh. Right.

So I hop into my car and make a quick stop at the Starbucks that is located in the Stupid Stop and Shop I pass every morning. I chat up Ruth and on my way. So here's my beef. Why is it that when it rains people lose the ability to drive? I mean really. They drive slower, brake harder, and keep a much greater distance between themselves. "Smart, safe driving Connor..that's why.." I bet you're all saying. No. Look. The road is wet. With water. Not ice. Have we not learned how to drive in the rain yet? Rain is not a new event. It has been raining for how long? I dunno... since the beginning of freakin' time...

How long will it take you guys to adjust? It's not that hard. My main route of travel is Route 130 South. Posted speed limit is 55. Most people here do 65-70. Today, because of the rain, we are reduced to 35-45. Come on. Just pull to the left and let the guy who knows how to drive get to work. Please??

I am from New England and therefore, I can drive 80 on ice. Snow does not bother me, nor does sleet, hurricane winds, moose or whatever else. Maybe I could open a driving school and give lessons in 'wet-weather driving' to these hapless New Jerey drivers.....oh I can hear Mags laughing already at the thought..

I Know..I'm Just Being Lazy...

I haven't posted in over a week and I apologise to my faithful following..all three of you. The week has been busy at work and I come home wiped out. Lots of heavy lifting. It's definitely hard work but I'm not complaining. Just stating...oh never mind.

As I said in my last post Mags was down with a dose of pneumonia. She hasn't felt good for a long time. She went back to the doctor and told her so and the doctor suggested a CT Scan. The office would call the insurance company and set it up. Of course the brainiacs at the insurance company denied it saying that Mags had had a CT Scan "only 7 months ago". Thank goodness everyone at UHC is a trained physician/psychic and can determine that nothing had grown in her lungs since then. Long story short, neither of us was pleased. On Wednesday night I came home from work and found Mags in a good sleep. She had finally been able to get a nap in. I moved about the house in Ninja mode as not to disturb her and hog-tied both the animals.

When she finally came downstairs she said to me "I think I need to go to the E.R."

I almost fell over. When my wife tells me she wants to go to the E.R., she is sick. If I were to suggest it she would scoff and say something along the lines of "don't make me get you in a headlock little man." So I ate my dinner quickly and off to the E.R. we went. Luckily it was slow night and we got in relatively quickly. Herself was hooked into an IV, which she really, really, really dislikes. The nurse with the needle however, was apparently top of her class in 'I.V. needle insertion' or whatever they call it nowadays. First shot. No collapsed veins. Good job Tracy.

So then she was give I.V. fluids, taken for a chest x-ray, then waiting, then a CT Scan (both of which were clean save for the scarring in her lungs from the massive radiation she had whilst battling Hodgkin's some time ago. Her nurse Joella was also very good.

We then waited for blood work results and for the doc to read all the films. He said the pneumonia has cleared and she is just feeling like poo because of well, the pneumonia.

We rolled up to our house at midnight and then were off to bed. I made the mistake of having a Coke at the E.R. A Coke with caffeine. Big mistake. I usually don't take caffeine after 3pm because, well I won't sleep because I'm wire for sound. I laid there until 1:30 and then was awake for work at 5. Bummer right? So I plodded through the day without killing myself or anyone (or anything) else.

Good news is, Mags is feeling much better and actually went to work yesterday. She already has done some errands this morning including a stop at the beer store to pick up some Sam Adams Summer Ale for me. ( Isn't she sweet) She says it's 'Connor Appreciation Day'

It certainly is nice to be appreciated.

I had my mop clipped this morning and stopped in to see Bubs and J.W. We may be going back later.Now, while I am still motivated, I must cut the grass.

Have a good weekend all....

Happy Birthday Mags

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to the cutie pictured here. I always try to post on her B-Day but did not get around to it last night.

Mags is sadly, under the weather at the mo'. She is as tough as nails and when she breaks down and goes to the doc, she's sick. So I get a call at work and I am informed the lovely one has pneumonia. You heard me right. Nu-Mon-i-a.

So she spent yesterday trying to rest. I swung by the market to pick up some sunflowers to cheer her up, Mendokers to pick up her birthday cake. A nice all-chocolate cake with fresh strawberry filling, strawberry's on it and a nice chocolate ganosh filling. About 3 billion calories but worth every bite. Then across to the next town to pick up her scripts.

She was told by her doc to take the rest of the week off from work. To rest. When I called her on my lunch break she was sweeping the kitchen floor, doing laundry, grooming the cat and working on her juggling routine. Okay, maybe she wasn't juggling, but she needed to be resting.

Anyways, hopefully she can take it easy tomorrow and be feeling better by the weekend.

Happy birthday sweety!

This Post Will Ramble..Be Warned

OKay so I'm in the mood to blog but have no 'destination' in mind. So bear with me..or just go read Juds. He's got a good blog so you can't lose.

On Saturday we were both awake at the crack of dawn. Again. Part of the problem is the fact that our bedroom is on the east-facing portion of our home. Add to that the fact that we have some very sheer lacy pretty curtains and they are covered by some somewhat sheer white curtains. I told Mags it's like being in a Nazi interrogation room. The room is filled with light at 505 am and being a big baby, I cannot sleep with all that light flooding in. I also need it to be almost silent to go to sleep (I'm a lot of work aren't I??). But I digress.
My back is feeling better today. I had some pretty heavy pain going on during the end of last week into early Saturday morning. I am feeling better today, although, I've been up since 5. Mags went back to bed at 7 and just got up around 1030 or so. I'm happy she did because she hasn't been feeling to good. And besides, whilst I may be slightly grumpy, I can get by on less sleep better than she can.

Yesterday we went to the in-laws for most of the afternoon and evening. We grilled some good food and Mag and her sis whipped up some salads, including potato, fruit and green. Plus Mags marinated a tasty sirloin. Dotties man Dave was the Master of the Flame for the evenings festivities. He's a really nice guy and he seems to genuinely care for Dottie. Plus he cooks a mean hamburger. So he's good in my book.

Dottie pureed a couple of burgers for the Big Guy and he enjoyed those. We sat and had some good conversation after dinner. I like to see Mags and her sis just sitting together talking. They don't see each other too often and between them they are really holding things together for their mom in this very hard time. I'm not sure what Bubs will do when Dottie has to go back to Albany. We will of course be here to assist.

There is one thing that burns my little ass and I guess maybe unless you know my SIL you can't truly appreciate this but...both Bubs and my SIL own Boston Terriers. A nurse at the rehab told Bubs that a standard collar is very bad for these dogs because a) they have respiratory problems becasue of their flattened little snouts and b) they are 'pullers' and choke themselves when you wlak them. plus c) they get hung up with a collar and hang themselves. All bad right?? So he suggested a harness. Two weeks ago Bubs asked me if I'd be so kind as to go to our local PetSmart and get her a harness. "Of course" says I, and I did. A pretty pink number with little white paw prints all over it. Now here's my problem, the SIL comes over and decides the dog would rather choke herself to death and puts the collar 'back' on her (because her dog wears a collar) And when I go over I have to put the harness back on her. Really?? What's the deal here?
I threatened last night to Super-Glue the harness on her. Bubs chuckled a bit so I think that means it's okay...doesn't it??

Today I think we may run to our local Wegmans and maybe visit again. We've had a good weekend so far, and lest I jinx Meself, it has not rained once....shhh...

Happy Independence Day Everyone

Three Day Weekends Are My Friend

Yes a 3-day weekend is upon us. Work was tough this week. Physically tough. For me anyways. Mix my bad back with 40-60 pound boxes of books and the lifting of said books and you've got yourself one tired and achy Leprechaun. It's cool though. It was worth it when I got my check yesterday. My wife was also pleased with the check. I learned how to use the RF scanner gun at work yesterday. My boss is cool and told me 'if you have any problems just ask. I'd rather answer 20 questions and have it done right. And don't feel like you're buggin me. Just ask." This put me at ease. So I immediately, of course had a question. As the day went on though, it got easier.
The guys I work with, except for the GM, are all younger than me. Significantly younger I think. This is weird to me. I feel my age at the end of the day and when I hear these young dudes saying " I can't wait 'til I turn 21 so I can buy my own beer..."..well geez...

This morning CrazyDog had us awake at 5. It is tough for both of us. Especially Mags who has not only a stressful job, but with her Dad being very ill, it's twice as bad. She got up early with the pooch and told me to stay in bed and see if I could go back to sleep. I was going to protest but..I fell back to sleep. Sorry hun.
I mowed early and then ran to our local Shop Rite, which was packed to the gills and then to Home Depot and then the beer store.
Then I came home to do a few household things that needed doing and then I hit the shower.
It looks like it may rain again but I have 3 days off, as does me wife. So hopefully we'll get some quality alone time in.
Well I'm off to see my pop-in-law.
Have a good day all.