2011 FEELING OFFICIALLY OLD!!

I qualified for Medicare, turned 65 in March and am feeling older than I have ever been before. Makes sense because that statement is true for every day I wake up.

We had a hard winter and I cannot remember a time when we reached low temperatures in the 30's and 40's during a winter and they stayed low all winter. We were glad we had installed a new system to give us air conditioning that also can supplement our oil heat. Worked fairly well, but

 with four units located in only 4 rooms of the 17 rooms plus large hallways in this place, it was a cold winter with use of lots of blankets and layers of clothing!  The guy who came to talk with us about the unit Bob wanted installed really tried to talk him into a more conventional heating system. One to be installed in the attic that would have provided air to just the upstairs and cost more than this one which has two units upstairs and two down. The one we purchased does an excellent job of removing the humidity in the hot humid summer months and that is what we wanted. They installed them and then we had problems and they finally came and discovered a wire was installed incorrectly. The units had ice caked on them and I believe some damage was done when they froze up. Still need to get them back over here once again to check them out. The one in our bedroom helped to keep it warm all winter. But the den, even with the new windows in that room, was pretty chilly. I bought a set of gas logs and we need to get them installd in the den. We also will need to keep on replacing windows to have less drafts in the winter.

I still have my job, but am working with an awful lot of new fresh out of college lawyers. We are merely relieving each other and do not ever work together in the office at the same hours. Things are calming down from all the turmoil, but I am learning that the newer youngsters, who make me feel like a dinosaur. Including my new Chief Magistrate who just started April 1st, they are all so young. I bet maybe 26-30! Younger than our kids are. Most of them complain about how things are and seem to think they need better hours, more pay and more time off than allowed. In my opinion they should find other jobs. Our offices require coverage twenty four hours a day seven days a week. They are thinking we should be allowed to choose which shifts we work. Got news for them I would rather stay on the shifts, as I am used to them. But if we choose, as our youngest member in the office wants to, my former Chief stepped down to a vacancy in our office and I have 25 years and he has at least 15 so we will say it has to be by seniority that we choose which shift we want and I have already told John he can take the day shift and I will take 4-12 and then the lawyer can take all the midnight shifts~!

I did take off from Feb 19th until March 21st this year. More time than I have ever taken off consecutively. I went to Indianapolis to be with Tonya, our daughter, while she underwent two surgeries to remove her thyroid. They found a small cancer in the left side and then went back to remove the right side and found a very tiny amount of cancer there also. She has seen a specialist in endocrinology and he says the cancers are so small that his feeling is she does not need to take the radioactive iodine treatments and will be fine. She will have to take medication the rest of her life. But she is doing well. I sure enjoyed my time with her though both of us were mostly resting. Had some nice mealst together and I got to know her three "kids" who she calls Moodles... Poodles she got while living in Mexico. First the Mommy.. Bonnie. Then Cocoa who became the Daddy. Tobby is their first baby. He ended up being much larger than either of them. Way taller than either of his parents. When I got home and saw Jacque he seemed very short and looked as if someone had pushed his legs into his body compared to them. While I was up there I helped Tonya take the dogs for their check up and vaccinations. They all got a flu shot. Not log after I got home apparently Toby got sick and he developed a disease that caused his body to not be able to produce red blood cells. Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA) Some of what I read indicates that maybe Toby had a weak immune system and the vaccination may have brought on this problem. Sadly they tried hard to get him better but Tonya had to make that very difficult decision to allow him to have some peace and he died. This is Tonya and her three kids on a swing they have out back. We had a few days nice enough to enjoy being outside. Toby is the larger one next to Tonya. She and Ismael are really grieving badly they miss him so much.

      

I had to be at the office Easter Sunday and missed Rob and his family came over for dinner. I had baked a ham and Bob fixed the sweet potatoes and green beans and put the rolls in the oven Kathy brought fresh corn on the cob and they hall had a nice meal. Then Aaron's friend Rebecca helped Kathy with an Easter Egg hunt for the girls and Bob said they had great fun running and finding the eggs.  We actually have wild bunnies living in the hedge and yard and the girls get excited when they see them.  Glad Rebecca took some photos of the girls for me.

I have really truly been looking forward to the warmer weather. Wishing for Spring to arrive during all our cold Winter days. But forgot all about the consequenses of Spring pollens on my allergies and have been coughing for four weeks since coming back from Indianapolis. Horribly stuffed up with coughing and congestion for several weeks. Have resorted to taking Allegra and using a nasal steroid spray they gave me and it is helping some...but I think I will turn into a cough drop any day now.

Enjoyed the beautiful Spring flowers. Wish they lasted longer!                                                  

I guess I have caught every one up for what is happening with us since Fall. Oh forgot to say Bob is no longer with Vector Industries. He is selling vans or vehicles to those who need spccial handicapped modes of transportation. His being back to straight commission only is a bit scary for me. One would think we could  retire now, but though we are old enough to we are not able to do that yet. Many recommend that we downsize but who the devil would want this huge elephant of a house? Not to mention the housing market makes it a very bad time to sell.

Maybe one of these days when all the unfinished projects are completed I can start a bed and breakfast and retire. I am seriously of the opinion that will not happen during my lifetime.