I am so clever I scare myself . . .

The Crape Myrtles are not very healthy this year.

Since our Connecticut Kiddo will be coming for a visit with his folks and then staying with us for a few days when they leave to go back North I decided I should find a comfortable place for us to play basketball, swim etc in this very hot humid Louisiana Summer. I've decided to take out a membership at a fantastic facility here in DS with an Olympic Pool, first class exercise machines, air-conditioned basketball court and an outdoor walking pool so I've got to talk myself into going to the pool.  I'm not really a good pool person but I do have a bathing suit that actually fits me! The problem is that I only have one prosthesis and it's not a good idea to swim with it in chlorinated water (up North I had an extra prosthesis but I gave it away as I didn't think I'd ever need it again.) Well I've found out that if I use bubble wrap (P&D's Pop's suggestion) I can make a pretty good substitute boob. Now I'll have to see how it all works when I get up the courage to go swimming.  I'm planning to go to North Park Monday to buy a three month membership but one of the ladies told me it takes a few days for them to activate it. Hope I don't lose my nerve!

Spoke with our nephew who lives on Cebu in the Philippines; he's vising his family in Massachusetts. We have an open invitation to visit him on the island.  I'm certain it would be a great visit but I can't picture us ever flying that far.  We struggled with long flight times flying to England! Getting older and more difficult in our dotage!

 Had the best Fireworks display in the entire world yesterday at a three kid birthday party put on by our Big Kiddo and his wife. Wow, I love fireworks and when they go off right smack dab in front of you it's the cat's meow. Time to finish reading today's paper before Grampa grills us some Brats and we watch the NASCAR racing in New Hampshire!

Quote:  The contemplation of night should lead to elevating rather than to depressing ideas.  Who can fix his mind on transitory and earthly things, in presence of those glittering myriads of worlds; and who can dread death or solitude in the midst of this brilliant, animated universe, composed of countless suns and worlds, all full of light and life and motion?  ___Richter

Passed with flying colors . . .

Yesireebob, I did it again - went to Woman's for the last of the yearly checkups , this one with the gynecologist and he says all is well. Wow, I'm passing all the tests! Since P&D's Pop also went to the VA in Baton Rouge for his yearly checkup and was told to exercise more but that all is also well we went out to The Longhorn for dinner. I swear they have the best Margarita and 6oz Filet Mignon so that's what I had and P&D's Pop had a Burger and a couple of beers. That should last us for a while. I think we're just about out of Doctors' appointments!

It's been much too hot and muggy but we went to South Park this morning and I managed to almost make two laps but Grampa got a bit disgusted landing his planes in the rather longish grass so he picked me up before I completed my regular walk. That was probably a good thing because I was already pretty pooped - I hadn't even made it back to get my camera for my third lap! We were really bad because we stopped at Delicious Donuts on the way back home. They really are the best.

 Not much else going on. Finished my summertime puzzle last night and have already taken it apart and ordered a Springbok Puzzle from Hall Mark for when I decide I need to make another one. I saw some that reminded me of the summers we spent with Ma Tante Rose on the sun porch in Moosup making the hardest 1000 piece puzzles I could find for her July birthday presents. I particularly remember The Marbles. That was miserable but Ma Tante always managed to complete them and it was pleasant to go out with her and the kids and help out. I'm lucky if Grampa puts in 10 pieces! Not complaining, though, because he generally helps when I get ticked off because I can't find the pieces I want and then after he puts in a few I'm all over my pique.

Quote:   A man who gives his children habits of industry provides for them better than by giving them a fortune. _Whately

Living in the 50's . . .

How can I keep smiling as P&D's Pop and I sit on the back porch in 90 degree temperatures and push you down, burdensome humidity? Well it is so reminiscent of Moosup when we were kids - the music from the radio is exactly what we were listening to back in the 1950's and we went to Friday night dances at the Town Hall. It was at this time I learned to drag race on the streets of Putnam and beat those tough, handsome guys from the Trade School. The '56 Golden Hawk loved speeding down Route 52, which was only a two lane to Norwich, with the PCA girls hanging on for dear life as we were racing at over 100 mph. Holy cow, not sure why I ever worried about our kids growing up doing crazy stuff! I'm quite sure I could still win a few races if P&D's Pop and Big Kiddo were souping up the '56 Hawk.

Much too long between posts . . .

Not sure why I've been such a slacker but it may be because I'm on Facebook too often. I've got to cut back on FB because most of it really is a waste of time. I rarely see something that grabs my interest and I tend to like too many posts! But in defense of FB there really are some people that I enjoy keeping track of!

Got back from the Early Learning Center today and I was so hungry I talked P&D's Pop into going to the Longhorn to eat. They have an excellent Margarita and the best 6oz Filet Mignon with a sweet potato side. We didn't even order desert. I didn't get a chance to walk off all of the calories because it was in the 90's and super muggy. When we got up this morning the storm doors had condensation on the outside! That's a first for us. The door looked like the Zachary Waffle House early in the morning! We only keep the air on 78 and the outside temperature this morning was 78 with humidity in the 98 percent range and it wasn't raining - just heavy as heck.

Besides a great meal today I stopped at Stage, a clothing store in DS, because I finally remembered to use a 50% off coupon on the clearance racks and I snagged P&D's Pop five nice shirts for $51. I had to laugh because the slip said I had saved $193. Oh the games these stores play. But for $10 a shirt I couldn't go wrong. He wore one when we went out to the restaurant and looked super!

That's about it for now. It's late and I'm trying to catch up,on my reading.

Now that was a pretty good day. . .

Wild flowers at South Park

Started out yesterday by not going to South Park with P&D's Pop because it was just too hot and muggy and I had a Doctor's appointment at 11 am. The incredible thing was that I left home at 10 and was back home by noon! Dr. Deepak's office was running like clockwork. And to top it all off he came into the room and told me that I had the best numbers of any cardiology patient he's ever had. He said my numbers were better than his. So I was pretty happy with that. When I returned home we decided to celebrate Father's Day early and went to the Longhorn for dinner. P&D's Pop had salmon and I ate the best 6 oz filet mignon I've ever had. It was broiled with black pepper and outrageously tasty and tender. I ordered medium rare. Come to think of it it was the best steak I've had in a restaurant. So I guess I shall have to order steak when I go to a steak house!

We had some company today. It gave me a chance to go to our Delicious Donut place and pick up some super good sweets. Daughter-in- law, grand daughter and kids stopped in for a pleasant visit. I'm glad that I kept my pop up books! The five year old liked the Dinosaurs, Sharks and Marvel Comic's Heroes books. I was surprised at how carefully he opened and closed each page.

It was so humid and hot today that I set up my Beatspill and the iPad. As I walked in the shade of the carport I listened to a couple of podcasts about British History and was really surprised at how interesting it is. I'm in the year 878 or so and found myself enjoying the narration. P&D's Pop and I also completed Crimetown. It'll be interesting to see where they go from Buddy Cianci and Raymond Patriaca!

Also heard from our Kiddo today. It was his last day of  seventh grade. He made honor roll and was pretty happy to tell me about that. He sounded good. He'll be going to Parks and Rec in Groton for the summer. I'm glad he'll get a chance to spend some time with the kids with whom he was in school for seven years.

Quote:  The spirit of man, which God inspired, cannot together perish with this corporeal clod.  ___Milton (I wouldn't bet on that, Mr. Milton. A corporeal clod tried shooting up some Republicans. I feel that God must re-inspire the spirit of man. We are in dire straits.)

This has been interesting . . .

Light Pole Mockingbird

Had to have some fasting blood work done today for my six months regular check up with the cardiologist and after we ate breakfast at Waffle House in Zachary (it had been excellent once; went downhill last year and is starting to come back to pretty darned good) I felt the need for a ride to somewhere. The grey days are getting to be a pain in the derrière and I needed to get away to something different so P&D's Pop agreed to take me to Cabela's in Gonzales, about 32 miles south of DS. He generally finds something in the fishing department that is useful for making the 60 foot lines he uses to fly the control line planes. We did find what he wanted but they were too expensive so when we returned home he bought them from Cabela's on line for a much better price - go figure! In any case I got a chance to try on a couple of what nice t-shirts but they looked terrible on me so Grampa lucked out until after we renewed our fishing/ hunting licenses and we agreed to mosey up stairs. After looking around for a bit I spied the On Sale Room and it was pretty cool - at least for me! I actually found a few things that I liked - I now own a new pair of Teva's - not quite sandals but not thongs - very comfortable; I also own a laser pistol with two targets that works quite well. I'm not even close to comfortable around guns, especially pistols so I thought this might get me used to doing some target practice. I've always like to shoot a 22 rifle at a target but haven't done so in eons. I would love to be a good marksman and now I just may get a feel for it. The only drawback at this time is I'll have to use the hallway in the house for practice as it's too bright outside for the targets to show up! Oh well, nothing is perfect. The pistol is pretty hefty and is somewhat like a Glock 42/43, so the paperwork says! I am treating it like a real gun and so I'm still overly cautious but I hope I never get over that - I would like to be comfortable though! We'll see where this leads me. I haven't gotten too far with getting to a real practice range and maybe this will goad me on. I also bought a set of marbles and a floor target so I can beat up on the Kiddo when he comes to visit! Lastly I insisted that Grampa buy a new mesh hat. So for $160 we did okay.

I've already walked today because so far the rain has left us alone! That's a good thing. My plants are turning yellow from over watering! Time to think about supper tonight - pork chop casserole à la Moosup - browned chops, raisin and brown sugar gravy with apples on top and mashed potatoes on the side.

Quote:  No wickedness proceeds on any grounds of reason.

Most pokey, dull day . . .

Sky at South Park

P&D's Pop has gotten himself a formidable cold; it showed up yesterday with a sore throat and it is progressing. Not used to seeing him not feeling well. It's a good thing it's Sunday and he can watch the Dover Race on TV. Speaking of TV - Friday I had a cleaning company come in to see if they could clean up the living room carpet before I decided that I wanted new carpets all over hell and damnation. Well he tested it; it was cleanable and offered to do it right away instead of scheduling it for next week. That was cool but we ended up watching LSU trying to lose its home game on the TV in the bedroom! That worked out well once I remembered how to work the darned thing. We brought my rocker and a glider in the big bedroom and had very good seats for a terrible game even though they managed to win after committing only five errors!

We went to breakfast at IHOP this morning and  P&D's Pop didn't even go to the flying field afterwards while I went to Mass! That's odd. I walked In the neighborhood after Mass and it is muggier than hell; I imagine hell is pretty bad because I was drenched; only did about 5,000 steps before I quit, sat on the swing to get a breeze and recuperate. We'll watch LSU play again this evening if the weather holds. They won yesterday but it was too late for us because of the rain delay. At least they won again. Hope they can hold it together - I wouldn't mind a National Championship! That would be pretty cool.

Will start back at the Early Learning Center Summer Camp this week and will also help for a full week at the Bible School. I was accosted at Mass today and agreed to help with Bible School as long as I'm not teaching. I'll be watching over the high school kids who are getting ready for confirmation and have to perform so many works of charity etc. I had a really good kid last year - I expect I'll get the same type of kid again. Got a cornbread jalapeño stuffed chicken cooking for supper and we'll have a nice salad with our own cukes and a creole tomato thrown in. Should be just what the doctor ordered to clear up that fierce cold and keep it away from moi!

Quote:  Bashfulness is an ornament to youth, but a reproach to old age.   ___Aristotle