Somewhere new to go to

My daughters and I are heading to a local coffee shop tonight. It has offered a Thursday Ladies' Night Out... with coffee, beverages and food. We had never been there before and Ladies' Night is a new event.

After my elder daughter's trip to help her cousin last weekend , we needed a chance to get together!! We are all looking forward to it.

Bob wouldn't fit in... so he is planning a grilled ham and cheese...lol !  With the cats.

Later:

We enjoyed our venture out...Nice place. The charcuterie boards were good as were the drinks. I had a HUGE glass of mead which I drank slowly. But it still had a kick.  Lots of talk... lots of subjects. We will do it again!

Bob enjoyed his grilled ham and cheese!

BTW... tomorrow the temps are expected to be over 70 with thunderstorms in the morning and lots of wind in the afternoon. This area is on fire alert!

back from South Carolina

Our elder daughter spent the weekend helping her cousin in South Carolina. My sister-in-law's death left a lot of work for the cousins. I'm hoping that almost everything was done to make it ready to sell. Our niece lives in Florida. Her brother lives in Michigan ... so no one  lived nearby.

Of course that meant some tasks for Bob and myself. He took our daughter to the airport after dropping off the dogs for boarding.... and then  we went back yesterday to take the dogs home ( boy were they glad to see us ). They enjoyed some time out in the backyard before our return trip to the airport.

Kansas City has built a new huge airport and it just opened days ago!! If you are picking someone up... you wait in the cellphone lots for person to text you and say he is ready.  Then you go to the arrival lanes with the person's location marker ( hers was 1J ). No parking there... no sitting and waiting etc. Or you get a ticket! Suitcase popped into the car... our daughter next and off we went!!

It all worked... and Kansas City-ans will learn !

Our PBS station (KCPT) filmed a "documentary" on all the artwork in the new airport which we watched. Artists applied to have their work chosen and the amount and diversity is amazing!! The artwork is hanging everywhere from walls to ceilings !! And the possible problems artists had to adjust to was amazing  ... how things could be hung... how to protect from lots of light...from being touched... and so on.  The video included some artists talking about their work.

People fly into Kansas City will find things very different!!

phone

 I think my husband spent most of the day on the phone... our niece is devastated over her Mother's death and lives 5 hours away. A long drive with husband and two middle school aged children.  Her brother lived in Michigan. Her father ( ex-husband) lives in Washington DC. They are currently at my sister-in-law's but will be leaving ...

my niece's family have to leave too and she will be alone... so  my niece asked my elder daughter to come. So all the phones calls were about getting things organized for my daughter to go.... plane tickets and schedule... dogs to the vet for boarding...trips to and from the airport.... and so on.

Since my niece is a council person for her city and has to be back Monday my daughter will be coming home Monday too. Not sure just how much they will accomplish.... other than talking. My niece , her brother and my three kids were very close as kids and there are a lot of memories...

Looks like the memorial service will not be until fall... at the Wheaton Cemetery up on Lent Hill. The family property there was bought with money given to soldiers after the Revolutionary War... a more recent family member was an aide to Lincoln after loosing his arm in the Civil War and was present at the theater when Lincoln was shot.

Bob's family, on his Mother's side, goes back to the Mayflower...me? I am an immigrant (legal tho').

Life goes on...

 Life goes on... some good things such as the couch surfer fitting into my daughter's house. He cleans and eats everything put in front of him (LOL). He has a job interview toorrow and has placed applications all over. A job is the first real thing he needs. It is the first step . His grandmother has given him a phone and pays for his line...

Bad things... a wellness check on my sister-in-law  down in Florence, SC found her deceased... and deceased for several days. She lived alone and had COPD... hoping to get more details soon.

Bob's visits to the cardiac rehab program are helping him on his recovery... He has signed us up for Silver Sneakers online and we will go to finish up the sign up progress at Blue Springs' Park and Rec building. The Fieldhouse has a gym with all the machines etc. one could hope for.

One birthday ... a million years ago... my younger daughter gave me a potted daffodil which I planted. It has spread and this year there are 10 glorious blooms!!

I miss my teacher/daughter's daily phone calls... she calls on her way home after school ( hands free), but she is on spring break....

"mean-ness"

 My daughter's emphasis today with her kindergartners was not being mean to one another... mean by pushing, shoving physical stuff and mean by hurting another with words.

She had a day where too much "mean-ness" was going on... so what does one do? Evidently what she did, it helped!

The rest of the day was spent on bar graphs using cereal with "magically delicious" marshmallow bits!! And making food coloring rainbows to catch leprechauns ! St. Patrick's Day made it into the classroom!! 

Bob and I took a trip to a new, to us, antique mall. It was a huge place ... not enough antiques and too much home decor. Nice to get out of the house. We took the back way home and noticed all the new stuff. Guess we hadn't been out in awhile.

couch surfer

 A friend of my grandson's called him asking for a place to stay. Evidently his Mother had "kicked" him out... with nothing... no clothes, no phone and so on.My daughter could not say "no" but there had to be a discussion first.

The problem between this young man and his Mother ( and her boyfriend) is not recent. I won't go into the details... but my daughter, to agree to his staying, has put limits on things and a deadline for him to find a place to live. (My s-i-l is part of this discussion) The friend has finished high school and is working part-time in a submarine shop and is 17. This is legal adulthood in Missouri and his Mother is no longer ( nor is the State) responsible for him.

Fingers crossed that a solution can be found for him....hoping that a non-profit that works with homeless  teenagers can be enlisted to help.

So far things are going ok... he and my grandson rearranged my grandson's bedroom so they each have an area.. Didn't want to ask my daughter anything more since my grandson was in her car too. They were both coming home from school.  My grandson did have fun with his Mother's 5th grade... lots of chess playing!!

Pi Day

Carolyn's gifted class made a paper chain today... all the pi numbers till they ran out of paper strips .. then they went around and around the room chanting the pi numbers!! 

These were second graders!!

quiet..

 I did a trip to the grocery store this morning... to my surprise, the car warned me that I might find ice. Yes... it was right since it showed me a 27 degrees!!

The store was quiet and my list and more filled the cart....when I got home Bob helped me unload and bring the bags into the house.

Now the house is quiet... he is off to his 3 times a week cardiac rehab program and will follow that with  a trip to the library..

And I will settle down shortly with my Kindle's e-book!!

BTW... I think we have adjusted to Daylight Saving Time... lol

Had to find something else to do... my Kindle's battery was low!!

My daily call from teacher/ daughter mentioned two lock downs at her school.... the first was duo to a fatal shooting at the apartment complex across the street. The second was due to a medical situation with a student and an ambulance was needed.  So she had to explain lock downs to her first graders... to reassure them that these were for their safety. And if something happened IN the school she would do her best to keep them safe...she found that they really trust her... and she found what a huge responsibility that was...

updates

It looks like our grand daughter Lili has found a new car ... to replace the stolen and totaled one.  Not an easy task....She has money from her insurance - what's left after paying off her loan.... and has figured out how much she can afford - monthly- for a new loan. Figures crossed that everything will work out!!

It did... she got all the things she wanted - the car loan is in her name and without a co-signer...a reasonable loan interest rate... and the final cost. Pretty good negotiating for a 20 year old!!

Friday I had another "draw" - a Thoracentesis - of fluid from the space between the lung. No where near as much fluid as the last two times but I was left feeling quite uncomfortable.... naps and pain pills helped!

out and about

 Even though today is damp... super gray... and cool we are up and about.  We headed off early , hoping that others were staying home, to the Driver's Office.... the place where you go to renew your driver's license, car plates etc. But found that loads of people tried the same thing!

Thought we had brought all the proof that I am who I am but evidently my passport isn't good enough for the third thing... no address. So we had to head home and find a credit card bill and/or doctor bill!

So electronically signed things, paid my fee and had my picture taken. I now have a paper copy of my new driver's license ... the actually one should arrive in several weeks!!

Bob is off for another session at the cardiac rehab gym...He does stretching and some minor exercises and has his blood pressure monitored. All should help on his return to pre-attack norm?

Fluid draw #3 on Friday...so no blood thinners tonight and tomorrow.

My younger daughter calls every afternoon on her way home from teaching... hands free cell. I hear all about how her gifted class of the day went. Yesterday I heard all about mobius strips ... the kids were fascinated... made their own... cut them up along a center line.. flipped the strips before connecting and so on. The kids made many many of them!! 

Today they worked on graphs... each got a bag of gummi bears and had to graph the number for each color... worked on the  percentages... all good math skills.

She has been arranging field trips for the end of the school year... the youngest class ( kindegarten) will go to the zoo. Several older classes will go to  Kansas City's Science City. The school will make bag lunches for her to take along! I like the fact that her school district provides free breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack for all the kids.

BTW ... she has a different grade level each day. The kids are bussed in from all the grammar schools. The kids are tested and must meet certain guidelines to qualify for her classes.

Gorgeous day

Sunday was gorgeous...sunny and in the low 70's... but windy enough that I thought my hearing aids would blow away!!

So we went to one of the Blue Springs parks. Where the parking lot was packed and lots of people had the same idea.

Last year the Park Department  tore down the old  band shell and erected this new one...Sunday music events will be scheduled soon. All the old bushes etc. have been removed around the lake and the Canada geese are enjoying things. I wounder if it mating season... lots of following and honking going on!!

Bob didn't take a picture of the expanded play area which has equipment for all!! Including a large swing for wheel chairs!! Also a roofed area for picnics with tables etc. And a large sand box for play and volleyball!

Zarda's BBQ is just outside of the park... go through the drive through and take everyone for a picnic!! Sounds like fun!!

We didn't picnic but enjoyed seeing all the changes and  a walk!!

another fluid draw...

 Never can remember the actual word for this... but I had an echocardiogram and  , when reviewing it, my cardiologist did not like the look of  how much fluid had accumulated in the lungs again.... so draw number three will be as soon as they can schedule it!

Actually the process isn't a big deal... after a sonogram locates where the fluid is, the radiologist uses a large needle to drain the fluid. Only  a topical pain killer is necessary. The problem is the fluid compresses the lung and makes me have breathing problems and can be bad for  my heart.  Wish it would stop.

dimmer switches

"Ask this Old House" had a diy excerpt on PBS for  adding dimmer switches...especially for fixtures with the new bulbs. Bob had added one years ago but this tempted him to do it again for the newer bulbs and fixtures.

Updates...

 Of course Lili is currently carless...especially when her fiance needs his to go to work. They are managed to organize most things but she found that she had to ask Grandpa to take her and bring her home from Thursday's college class ( luckily two others are online).

She and Spencer have been looking at car replacements... not an easy thing. Used cars are super high in price and new ones can be hard to find.

Bob signed up with our cardiac rehab program yesterday...he will go a few times each week and do exercises and be monitored. Another step in getting back to normal...

Today he put in a new shower head... one with a hand held head and multiple settings!! Looks like it will be very helpful!!

He also purchased a dimmer switch for the dining room chandelier... It can be super bright with 6 bulbs which is helpful when the quilting group works on projects but a little "much"  at times. Hoping he will put that in SOON.

One of Bob's credit cards called.. someone has been charging things and requested a physical card ...to go to a Houston address. Told the person from the credit card company that none of this was him!! The card has been cancelled and a new one is coming.  Rats!!