Hi everyone, checking in. We are going home in the morning but there is no internet, electricity or cell service out there. They restored the water/sewer and the gas station has their pumps running. I won't be on for a while they said it may take 3-4 weeks to get power and I don't know how long it will take the cable company to get things fixed.

I was sent some pics from one of my neighbors who went down. They aren't of my house but of my yard. Fence is gone, shed is there, garden is there (it's so strange) and the top is off gone off the MGB. I'm sure it is water damaged. The RV is still standing upright but it looks like the jacks are damaged on it via the pics. The neighbors shed is in pieces and against the RV, I think I see some damage to the RV siding due to that. The car trailer is still in the yard.

We will find out if we have any flooding in the house when we get there. Bought a generator online and should get it within 1 week. They are warning of all the snakes and other dangerous wildlife that have come out looking for food since the hurricane came through. We will be on curfew in by nine and not out until 6:00 am.

It is very humbling. So many lost everything they owned. I packed so much stuff in case I didn't have a home to come back to. It is very sad. There is a lot of damage in my city and all around us. There will be a lot of community work to take on when we get there.

I'll check back in when I have internet or happen to go somewhere that does have it.

Good Morning, Anew, I hope you have safe travels and are able to get settled back in without a huge amount of trouble, I'm sure there will be troubles, how could there not be? What an adjustment to your life.

I was both shocked and pleased at how well Sashay, the goose, behaved yesterday. She let us pick her up without a lot of thrashing around and settled into the cage in the car and was no trouble at all. Even the doctor was impressed, he said that when he hears a goose is coming in, he cringes, they are usually so mean and dirty. Sashay cooperated with everything he needed to do to examine her and he said she was extraordinarily clean. John got upset because her foot was dirty, she had stepped in her own poop in the cage, and the doctor laughed..."You don't know dirty, I've seen birds with poop all through their feathers". He said that she's really healthy and "plump", the biggest and best looking goose he's seen. Would make a great Christmas dinner, ha ha ha

Anyway, the growth is most likely a cyst, but won't know for sure until it's removed and analyzed. It is a solid mass, not fluid, and is in the skin, not growing in muscle or bone. So, her jaw will be fine afterward. Since she's so healthy otherwise, she will handle the anesthesia very well and she has enough skin to stitch up to heal, no open wounds. It will cost $548.00. Since it is surgery, I really was expecting a higher amount, I guess I got used to paying top dollar to the vet for the llamas, so this didn't sound so bad. It's worth any amount to me just to shut John up. Since her life expectancy is over 20 years and she's now 9 years old, I don't want to hear John whining about her for years to come. Also, the doctor said the bigger the growth gets, surgery will be more dangerous and her recovery will be much harder. We'll get this done now. Back to price, $185.00 of that price is for the histology, sending the lump to the pathologist. I could forego that expense, but I'm wondering if it's important to know, for sure, what it is and if it might affect the other birds.

So, next Monday morning, we take her in for surgery. I never thought I'd say those words for a goose, or any bird, but, here we are. Yes, they are open on Labor Day. Their regular hours are for 7 days a week.

Last night, John was all confused and thought that Sashay had died. He was surprised to see her when he looked out the window and at the same time, he was searching for a chicken who had died about 2 weeks ago. He'll never find her, but he was looking.

John is fascinated by this cat, thinks he's very smart and very special...I tell him this is typical cat behavior, this is what cats do. Too funny.

John got up early again this morning and is full of questions, just now seeing the news about the hurricane and I can hear all kinds of mumbling and remarks coming from the other room. I'll get my coffee and check on him. I'm not sure how the morning is going to go, I may or may not get to Bible study.

Hi all, since it is a holiday weekend my boss did not want to work today so I am home getting caught up on stuff like laundry and facebook. We will do our usual shopping and errands later then dinner and a recorded movie. Such creatures of habit. But we like this simple life. I'm thinking of buying some hot Italian chicken sausage and fresh rolls at Sprouts and making sausage sandwiches for dinner. I found Oscar Mayer all natural nitrate free beef hotdogs at Grocery Store Outlet for $1.49 a pkg. They are very good. We will have those on Labor Day. Not sure what I'm going to make tomorrow. I might just make a large salad for each of us. It has been triple digits here all week (though only 97 so far today) so not much real cooking going on.

Debora, neat that you got to see a full eclipse and that people shared their glasses with you. I would have loved that. Sounds like KC was a good trip in spite of the heavy rain for a while. I always had mixed feelings about the last Sunday School class of the year too. Glad to hear that your brother is in rehab now. I'm sure he is in good hands. How fun that you went to the watermelon festival. You never did say - how was the watermelon?!

Sheryl, Good idea to get a compatibility package for your system so you can open/view newer versions stuff. Makes life much easier. Funny that Gray Kitty is making himself quite at home! You may have the best of both worlds with a "part time kitty" for a pet. That was quite a compliment from the vet that your goose is the cleanest, best behaved goose he's ever met! I think sometimes animals sense that you are only trying to help and they need your help (when they are not well) and so they are more compliant. The only experience I've ever had with a goose they were mean and chased you. And those bills hurt! I think it was the right decision to move mom over to assisted living. It will give both she and Norma more peace of mind. And the added blessing of being in a quieter part of the complex. Sorry to hear that Christina is having additional issues. Please give her my love and let her know that I continue to pray for her.

Anew, I've been praying for you both and for all the people affected by the hurricane/storms. I am praying that there was no water damage inside your home. It is a shame about the MGB. Did your car stored in Rockport survive? How is the RV upon closer inspection? I know there is a long road ahead. Looking forward to an update when you are able.

Marcie, so glad you got a chance to check in. Wow, a 32lb watermelon?! Did it have seeds? They are now saying that the "old fashioned" watermelons with the seeds are sweeter and healthier for you. Hm - ya never know! That was so nice of your co-worker and nice of you to share it with the neighbors. Is this a good time to use the swimming pool or is the water too warm? Well, take care and stay cool!

Okay ladies, hubby is talking about lunch so I guess I'll go and see what I can muster up. Have a wonderful Labor Day holiday and a great week!

Happy Labor Day everyone! It's been a nice weekend so far. Dan is going to take me to lunch today so that will be really nice. We may try the Thai restaurant that we gals went to a couple of weeks ago. We'll see. It's getting close to time I will need to start getting ready for my trip to NJ. I had Dan get my suitcase out today. Now I just have to book a ride to the airport. Dan doesn't feel up to taking me. That's OK.

Debora, you've had a very busy week as usual. But it was a good week too. Wonderful that they found your fitbit. And even put some steps on it for you. . Wow, 90 more chics?! Hubby is really making a business of this isn't he? Do you ever eat them or are they just for eggs?

Well, have a great week everyone!

Good Morning, what a sad, but sweet, photo. Not too long ago, Portland had a K-9 police dog die in the line of duty. I had never seen a grown man, cop owner, cry so hard. Those dogs are terrific. Marcie, I can handle personal stuff really well, but give me a photo like this, or a romantic movie, and I bawl like a baby.

I, too, had a busy week, now, if I can remember everything I wanted to tell you. Last Thursday, Ray (the handyman I found through Home Advisor) came to pressure wash the garage doors and fascia boards and prep all the painting areas. He pressure washed all the gunk off the sheet metal siding too, looks so clean. We need to do that to the metal barn, that has all kinds of dirt and moss on it. Anyway, Ray returned yesterday to paint, got the first coat on and will return today to do the second coat. Looks great! After that, not sure what day yet, he'll come back to put up the gutters. He wants to bring his granddaughter sometime to see the llamas. We'll set that up, not sure when.

I haven't shared with you yet about the new man in Norma's life. With all the ups and downs we had with Simeon, I have kept this to myself, but it's out now and I am anxious to share with you. I know you will be as excited and happy for Norma as I am. His name is John, so Norma and I have a "my John" and "your John" going on right now, like what JoAnn and I do. He's a truck driver at this point in his life, (rather new) so he's traveling a lot and this past weekend, we thought that he'd be passing through my area and we were all set to meet up with him. His trip load fell through and the meet-up didn't work out for over the weekend, but we'll get to see him sometime. He was military for years and also several other professions after he got out. Very well educated and well rounded, but thought traveling as a truck driver would be a great experience and good money. He'll continue for awhile, but I have a feeling that after Norma retires, he'll also want to "settle down". HA! I can not see either of them "settling down", they will be even more active, but do it together. Possibly Norma will do some traveling with him, however, she'll be tied down with Mom. Since Norma had the long holiday weekend, she was going to fly up so we could all be together, plus Brent and Beth could drive over too. Disappointing for all of us.
Instead, Norma spent the entire long weekend, plus yesterday with Mom. Yikes, that's a lot of Mom to take. Norma's a saint! Norma thought that she'd be back to work yesterday and only leave long enough for Mom's doctor's appointment and then go back to work, but it didn't work out that way and Norma kept calling the office changing the time that she'd be coming in until it was evident that she wasn't going to make it in at all. I trust she gets to work today, she needs the break. Work in the office will be a sweet relief after dealing with Mom. The appointment yesterday was for "release" to move into assisted living. Had to make sure that she does not have anything that will spread to others. They also had a meeting with the manager on the assisted living side to sign papers for Mom's transfer on Friday. Norma ran to the bank for cash to pay the movers on Friday and also called the phone company and will have the phone changed over from the old apartment to the new one on Friday.
Norma said that Mom is doing less and less for herself, not sure if it's truly a problem or she's having Norma do more simply because Norma is there. Mom said that she can't even dress herself anymore and Norma had to help with that. I can't see it, I think Mom is milking this, but then, I'm not there. One silver lining for assisted living is that Norma is not allowed to spend the nights on that side of the building. Yay!! Norma gets to go back home after a visit and can't be accused of "abandoning" Mom, Norma has to follow the rules.

Back to our busy life...got Sashay (the goose) to the animal hospital 7:30 Monday morning. I wanted to run some errands before going home to wait for the phone to go pick up Sashay and we also stopped for breakfast. John is so funny..."I'm not hungry", but I ordered anyway and he ate it all. One of the times we went out with Norma, when she was here last month, and John said that and I believed him and didn't order for him. When my breakfast came, my bacon and eggs were on one plate and a waffle on the other and John ate the bacon and eggs. I realized then that I will order for him no matter what he says. While we sat there, watching traffic on Airport Way, John had the realization that he never sees 2-door cars anymore. "Do they even make 2-doors anymore?" I said that I'm sure they do, but he is right, we hardly see them. So, we started searching and counting and out of the hundreds of cars that passed by, (literally, there is a lot of traffic on that road), we only saw one little red sports car that was a 2-door. That was entertaining.

Picked up Sashay at 2:30 pm and brought her home and set up a pen in the living room. Haven't had an animal cage in the living room since Cookie, (Oh, that's another story, next paragraph). Sashay is doing very well, looks good and acting good. She's extremely cooperative, what a shock, I'm so pleased. We have to give her oral medication every 12 hours for 3 days, then I plan to let her outside. Since it's summer, all the windows are open and the geese are talking to each other constantly. Pretty loud. But, at least the others know that she's back and she knows they are out there waiting for her. Here are before and after photos:





This post is getting very long, I'll submit this and continue in another...

John slept in this morning, didn't get up until almost 11 am, quite late, even for him. Anyway, I cleaned the smaller pools and had everything ready to take Sashay outside and we got her out shortly after 11 am. Boy, was she happy to get out and the other geese were happy to see her. Their family is complete again. She had a "spa" morning, getting in and out of the pools and bathing for over 2 hours. She preened every single feather. They just now headed out to the pasture.