My leukemia's back.

[LittleLakePhil]

-22 below this morning - again. Wind chills of -30 to -45. I love Wyoming I love Wyoming I love Wyoming.............

Yup we've had some of that cold too.... Although it finally warmed up to 14 above today and I hear we got 30's tomorrow.... I have to take my wife to the cardiologist.... She's worried.... Me too....

And now you know why my other hobby is quilting! I've said it before and I'll say it again...heating these old trailers is like heating a corn crib! I can't imagine how you manage with a wood stove and space heaters. It was 22 below this morning with a wind chill factor of -44. That's cold! But we hate to stick a bunch of money into this place too......next thing you know we've got a Mercedes package on a VW chassis. Our central forced heat does a pretty good job, but it also heats one half of the house much better than the other. So the front is always chilly while we broil in the bedrooms! We did crank the registers way down back there, practically shutting them, but the shortest distance between the furnace and the rest of the house is the back bedrooms. When we want to raise bread in winter, we put it in the second bedroom. which serves as Ken's office. The stupid thermostat was in the hall on the NORTH wall...yeah, a two inch thick wall that probably has nothing more than 1970s newspapers in it for insulation. So the doggone furnace would kick off, the thermostat would chill down in minutes and then kick the furnace back on. We did move the thermostat and that helped. But yikes! When Ken's aunt lived in this place she qualified for LIEAP, and they "insulated" the place and put in new windows. That was 25 years ago. We also put in new windows, but with 2" thick walls it's hard to find any energy efficient ones...they are all designed for "normal" wall thicknesses. We have to get ours at the Old Mobile Home supply company, and aside from having better sashes and such, they aren't much better than the old crank type that were in here before. So why not move? Why not have this old trailer yanked out and build something new? Well, because it's paid for, and our yearly property taxes on the house, the garage, and a corner lot with mountain views on two sides are only $169, which is a big reason. We're in our late 60s....the last thing we want to do at this point in our lives is start a new mortgage. So we make do. Besides, I love this house, with all it's idiosyncrasies. After 26 years of living in Navy Housing, and then another 6 years of living in a duplex, we finally own something, and I'm hanging on to it!

Heck stick with it.. I live in a shack too....I spend all my "free time" (Yeah right) improving it. But it's almost paid off..... Less than 2 years .....Been making double payments for years..... So I guess we stay

2017 is getting off to a rough start for us - as I mentioned on another thread, my mother's cancer is back. She was first diagnosed more than 20 years ago; it was caught at an early stage, and recovery was, as they say, uneventful. This time, it looks more serious. She had a mastectomy a few days ago, and apparently some of the lymph nodes they took came back positive. When I last spoke with Mom on the phone, she said they hadn't settled on a treatment plan yet; she will know more when she goes back next week to have the drainage tube removed. I'm coveting y'all's prayers for my parents. Mom had a nasty fall during the summer, and wound up shattering the bones in her right arm. That has been slow healing, and she still has only limited use of it. This latest surgery was on the left side, so she basically hasn't any arms to work with, and her knees haven't been reliable for years (which might be why she fell in the first place). My father has been hugely helpful to her for the last few months, but he's not exactly a spring chicken himself. Since my brothers and I all live at least an hour away, we are of limited availability to help, and my folks have always treasured their independence. Until very recently, they were doing Meals on Wheels at least once per week in their community. I am concerned as much about their mental and emotional needs as I am their physical health at this point. I know our Father holds them in the hollow of his hand, but knowing that they are in the hearts and minds of my friends is a comfort to me, too.

Sorry hun take care I'm day and extra prayer tonight for you and them.

 

[N F C]

Good morning all!

Rachel, that's nice about SM going the extra mile while you were down. A new hat is a lovely way to tell him thank you.

Phil, I hope your wife's appointment goes well today.

I've got an appointment myself today. My IBS seems to be getting worse, hopefully the doc can help me find some way of handling it better.

Hope you all have a good Tuesday!

 

[sourland]

Phil, and Debby, good luck today.

 

[N F C]

Thanks sour

 

[donrae]

Praying for sound hearts and bellies

2 hour delay for schools today. They just left. Feel the peace descending.

So, I gotta tell you folks......cause of my remark about the smell of the rooms. Well, Big Boy's room developed a different smell. Not dude, but NASTY. I made him search it out.......he's got a snake in his room, and apparently not keeping a good eye on her. She's fine, but the last mouse he fed her didn't get eaten and died, and started to stink---dead mouse stench. How on earth did he sleep in there? Ewww, ick, gross. Looks like what happened is the snake's heating pad came unplugged, so she hunkered down and didn't eat. He wasn't paying attention. We've got her warmed up and will try feeding her tomorrow.

So, dead mouse trumps dude for smell........the wonderful world of teenage boys.


Oh, and speaking of which. We've got a dilemma. Big Boy has asked us about letting another friend move in. Kind of same story, kiddo is going to be 18 in a few months but is only a junior at school. I don't think things are near as bad at home for him as they were for Echo, I"ll need to talk to him more. He's getting good grades and has a part time job, and when he's here he's always pitched in with chores and projects, etc. I just don't know if we literally can shoehorn another body into this space! We're praying about it, seeing where God is leading.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

@N F C -- hope that your appointment goes (went?) well today. That is such a difficult condition to manage, hopefully you are able to come up with a game plan that gives you some relief.

@LittleLakePhil - will be thinking of your wife (and you) today -- safe travels and hoping for good news from the cardiologist!

@donrae -- oy, never a dull moment in your house, eh? Dead mouse stink is THE WORST (had one in a vent once that had died while we were out of town for about a week so by the time we got home it was full on nasty and blew up through the house every time the A/C would cycle on, got some great "dead body spray" from a friend of mine that did crime scene clean up that helped because by the time I figured out what/where it was it was so well melted into bottom of the vent that there was no scraping it all up/out so we just had to get what we could and wait the rest of it out) -- glad you caught what was going on in time to get your boy's snake friend warmed up. You have a good heart in opening your home and family to those in need - I know that with some thought and prayer the right answer will come to you all.

 

[Blooie]

I think I'll take "dead, unfound mouse" smell over "hamster fried on the heating element of the dryer" smell any day. <sigh>

Debby, hope your appointment went well. And Phil, also that your wife's cardiology appointment was good too!

Rachel, pray hard.....this one is a toughy with your breathing issues at the moment!

 

[drumstick diva]

OlGreyMare, you always express your sentiments so thoughtfully, wish you would give lessons. I'm like,"duh!"

 

[donrae]

I think I'll take "dead, unfound mouse" smell over "hamster fried on the heating element of the dryer" smell any day. <sigh>

Debby, hope your appointment went well. And Phil, also that your wife's cardiology appointment was good too!

Rachel, pray hard.....this one is a toughy with your breathing issues at the moment!

I think I'd give you that one, happily.

 

[N F C]

@N F C -- hope that your appointment goes (went?) well today. That is such a difficult condition to manage, hopefully you are able to come up with a game plan that gives you some relief.

@LittleLakePhil - will be thinking of your wife (and you) today -- safe travels and hoping for good news from the cardiologist!

@donrae -- oy, never a dull moment in your house, eh? Dead mouse stink is THE WORST (had one in a vent once that had died while we were out of town for about a week so by the time we got home it was full on nasty and blew up through the house every time the A/C would cycle on, got some great "dead body spray" from a friend of mine that did crime scene clean up that helped because by the time I figured out what/where it was it was so well melted into bottom of the vent that there was no scraping it all up/out so we just had to get what we could and wait the rest of it out) -- glad you caught what was going on in time to get your boy's snake friend warmed up. You have a good heart in opening your home and family to those in need - I know that with some thought and prayer the right answer will come to you all.

No appointment today...seems someone just had to have a baby during MY time, lol. I'm going in Thursday.

Your friend that did crime scene clean up reminded me of a not-real-new movie, something like "Sunshine Cleaning Crew" with Alan Arkin and Amy Adams. Really good, check it out if you haven't seen it.