Summer 2012 comes to a close

It's been awhile since we talked. Lots has happened with us as I'm sure with you all also. Things have settled down to a maneagable degree. Dad, Gary my hb has been dealing with diverticulosis which apparently runs in his family but no one mentioned it to him till recently. He's had other things for awhile but apparently it was caused by his Cancer treatments, quemo and radiation in 96'. You can't eat nuts of any kind or seeds as in tomato seeds,berries,pickles the list goes on as my hb discovered on line. He's fine if he doesn't eat at night, only mac and cheese or noodle soup. The result of eating any seeds is cramps and diahrea at any time any where. He has determined that it takes 17 hours to see if he's violated some other nono, at which timw he'd best be close to a comfort station.
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While Dad works  through this jungle of trial and errors, he won't slow down. He rides his motor and we ride our trike whenever the weather is suitable which has been better than last summer. Now he's back to school teaching in Garland High School here in Texas. He's writing curriculum for a new course  he and other Science teachers in the district are creating. He was recognized for his extensive work this summer in outlining and creating materials for the teachers in the district to use in this new course meant to bridge Physics math and Science which has not been totally successful as many students are in my hb's remedial science class for tax as juniors who failed the Tax test. Sorry about the run-on sentence.

I, in the meantime, enjoy retirement from teaching Spanish here in Texas. I keep busy with  our house and our two girls, Maggy,a black Lab, and Sugar(shuggie) our Red Bone Hound. In the last week, for no apparent reason, I've had the urge to purge our home of everything unnessessary. No, I'm not pregnant although the thought had entered my mind that I might be going to shuffle off this mortal coil, you know, die. I go through the house gathering up books and magazines and clothes to donate more than ever before. I have used our den for an office since I retired and opened a shop on line selling hand sewn items on Etsy a homemade site for over 20,000 shops of all types for men and women. After three years of pleasure sewing and taking pictures and putting the pictures on my shop on line I had to close. Uncle Sam says if you don't make a profit in three years you are a hobby. I was so busy sewing and showing on Etsy I reluctantly realized my shop was full of things our Mothers and Grandmothers made to GIVE to their families, not sell. So, since last December I've been trying to find my next project, job or purpose.  The den was this next purpose, although my hb suggested I get a job! To which I repeated, as I have before, I had worked since I was sixteen and had no desire to leave my nest to go out in the world to be told what to do by someone half my age. However, I succumbed to the idea when we happened upon an import shop that intrigued me so much that I applied for parttime work there. No news yet, but in the meantime I've turned our den into that, a den. That was the beginning of the whole house transformation. And not just during the daytime hours. My Maggie has awakened from a peaceful sleep some wee hours of the morning to me carrying things here and there and there to here. Tonight was one of those nights when I got the urge to clean out my closet. Our son, Thad, has a place of his own so I have temporarily commondered his room to store overflow as I decide what to do with it. While I was moving shoes and luggage from my closet a huge cockroach appeared before me. I tried to hit it with an old sandal but it went back into the corner of the closet.  Due to West Nile Desease we have mosquuito spray for inside and out so I grabbed the spray and blasted the corner into which the roach had retreated. Soon it raced toward me and as I grabbed the sandal and swung at it, it took off for under the dresser. I sprayed under the dresser and the bed and the night stands. By then I had to escape from my own room!  That is why I am sitting here at my computer blogging away at 5:40 am. My hb has left for school and the girls are asleep again.I will resume soon and bring you up to speed. All my best. Kathie