A busy (read: expensive) year shaping up

Well, just when we thought Bill might actually get to use some vacation for, well, vacation . . . .

Life happens.

Kids, when they grow up? Become big, giant money sucking machines.

You think they're big, giant money sucking machines when they're in diapers and daycare?!?

Just wait. Just you wait.

And when you have four of them? Might as well just hand over the checkbook.

My kids? Just nickel and dime us to death. "Mom, I need gas money." "Mom, I need groceries."

And now? We have two big events coming up this year. Poor Bill, all he wanted was to have a week off just for himself. But now? Two big unexpected family events.

First, we found out about a month ago that Bill's oldest daughter is expecting a baby sometime in October. Grandbaby number two! While that's exciting news, it means a trip down to southern California when the baby's born -- probably for about a week.

Bill only gets two weeks vacation a year, mind you.

He has nearly a week saved up.

Then, a few nights ago we get a phone call from his younger daughter.

"Dad, I'm getting married!"

"Yeah, I know, you told me last year. You're getting married June 15, 2010."

"No, Daddy we moved it up."

(Bill is praying under his breath -- please don't say this year, please don't say this year please . . . )

"I'm getting married June 7th!"

Bill, hopefully, "Next year?"

"No Daddy, this year!"

Bill, trying not to groan, puts his head in his hand, while trying to sound excited, "This year? Like, in three months from now?"

"Yeah, isn't that great, Daddy?"

"Oh yeah, honey, that's wonderful," Bill says, watching his vacation flying out the window.

Where does Daughter #2 live?

Cleveland.

Ohio.

We live in California.

**sigh**

We just moved. Moving is expensive.

Because at the time? We didn't know a wedding, necessitating a plane trip to Cleveland, Ohio, was in the works.

I checked airfare? Cleveland is not a popular stop in the airline industry. It's certainly not anybody's hub. Even on Southwest, it costs over $900. One reason, is that we're wanting to fly out on a Friday and fly home on a Sunday, two of the heaviest (and most expensive) travel days of the week. The reason? Poor Bill doesn't want to burn any more of his vacation days than he has to. And besides an expensive plane trip, there's renting a car, and a hotel room, and food . . . OMG.

We had hoped to put our tax rebate/economic stimulus money from the government into the bank and start building our savings.

Yeah.

Not gonna happen. I just hope we get it soon enough to buy our plane tickets.

And then, another trip to SoCal when the baby's born in October. At least we can drive there. But there's a week of motel costs and meals out . . . not to mention gifts. Oh, and a wedding gift for the younger one, and I'm sure some wedding expenses. Sheesh.

We'd hoped to go to Chicago for Christmas to be with Bill's Dad and sisters back there. First of all, Bill won't have the vacation time anymore. Secondly, we won't have the money.

We thought that at this time in our lives, we'd finally have some time (and money!) for ourselves. Ha!

And I'm really not complaining; it's wonderful to have so much family. Children, grandchildren, parents, siblings -- it's truly a blessing to have such things. I just wish most of them didn't require a plane trip to visit.

There's No Place Like Home . . .

Fortunately, no flying monkeys in this post! heh

I'm home, I'm exhausted and I'm headed for bed. Flight was good; uneventful. Got into Sacto a little early, so was home by 10:30pm. Yay! Hate driving home on 99 in the dark. Yuck!

'Night for now. More later.

Happy 4th of July . . . and some pictures!

Wishing everyone a fun and relaxing (and safe!) 4th of July! Bill and I have had a busy day. We woke up early (6am -- it was 8am Chicago and our bodies' time!) and after lounging around for awhile, we went out to breakfast at Kalico Kitchen. Then we came back home and I made a grocery list and Bill started some laundry. Then we ran a bunch of errands.

First of all, we went to Ashley Furniture and purchased a drop-leaf table and four chairs that we'd had our eye on before we had to suddenly leave for Chicago. When we got home from our trip, in the mail was the check for the refund of our deposit on our old place. One of the things we desperately needed was this table, because the old one just doesn't fit in the space we have. We used some of the money to reimburse ourselves for some unexpected expenses we had while we were in Chicago, and we used some of it to purchase this table. (Big thanks to Bill's dad, who paid for our plane tix and rental car while we were in Chicago!!)

The table be here in a couple of weeks. That will be nice. We will put our current, overly large table in storage, and the small table will allow us a lot more room in our dining area. We currently have to "scoot" around the table to get to the washer and dryer. I'll post a before and after pic when it comes in and you can see the difference.

Here is a pic of the table and chairs (the pic shows two chairs, but it comes with four) from the Ashley Furniture website. Fortunately, it isn't very expensive:


Next we went to Wal-Mart and got several items. Then we decided to go home and drop off the things we'd purchased at Wal-Mart, since we'd filled our trunk! Then we went to Safeway and purchased a bunch of items that were on special, then back home to pick up Scott and take him to work. Then on the way home from taking Scott to work, we did the bulk of our grocery shopping at WinCo. Whew! We were hot and tired when we got home -- thank goodness for air conditioned cars (and homes)!

Since then, we put groceries away, did some laundry, and then just relaxed. I finally got the pics off our camera from our Chicago trip, and I'll post them here. Then tomorrow it's back to work for two days, then the weekend! Yay! We hope to get a lot of things done around our place this weekend, like getting the last of the stuff put away and then our pictures and things for the walls put up. Then it will really feel like home!

We felt really lucky weather-wise while we were in Chicago. The first couple of days we were there, it was very hot and humid -- felt like we were breathing through a wet blanket. However, after that it cooled down, had a couple of days with great thunder-and-lightening storms (nothing like a good midwestern thunderstorm -- as long as there are no tornados!) and after the storms, the humidity dispersed and for the rest of our visit, the weather was great. Low to mid-80s and relatively little humidity. Thank goodness for small favors. Especially for the day we were in Chicago. We were very glad that the weather was cooperative.

Anyway, here are the pics:

On the right is Bill's brother-in-law Paul (married to sister Nancy) and a neighbor (on the left) goofing around after too many beers! This is a good one!!


Bill and his sister Nancy looking through pictures at Jennie's house. Unfortunately, because of my migraine on the day of the funeral, I didn't get family photos of everyone. I was really disappointed about that.


Bill and Karen on the train into Chicago


Interesting note: On the way back to the hotel at O'Hare after our day in Chicago, the train stopped at the last stop right before the airport (the station is underneath the airport) and did a security check. Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to inspect each of the train cars before it was allowed to proceed to the airport. I hadn't thought of it before, but that makes good sense. What an important part of their security at the airport!

We spent a fun afternoon at the Navy Pier. Lots of walking and looking, but still lots of fun.

Karen at the Navy Pier:


Bill at the Navy Pier:


The inside of the main building on the Navy Pier:


The outside of the Navy Pier:


The Chicago Skyline from the Navy Pier:










The end of the Navy Pier


Bill and Karen (thanks to a nice bystander!). Note the lighthouse in the background!

Services and such . . .

Today was Jo's service. They held the service at the funeral home, then had a graveside service, and then everyone went to Nancy and Paul's for a reception. That is where everyone is now, and I am still at Jennie's. Believe it or not, I woke up with a migraine this morning at 4am. I tried to sleep it off, but I got up at 5:30 am and ate a piece of bread and took four ibuprofen and went back to bed, hoping to kick it. That didn't work, and I was up again at 6:30 nauseated and sick to my stomach. That's when I knew it had gone into a full-blown migraine. Fortunately, Jennie's husband Rick had some Vicodan and saved the day. Unfortunately it meant I couldn't participate in today's events, and I felt really bad about that. I couldn't be there for Bill, but the altnerative was going to the services and puking all over, and that definitely is worse than not being there! Fortunately, he was very understanding and encouraged me to stay home. The only way to beat a migraine for me, is to take a Vicodan, and sleep for about four hours. And that's exactly what I did.

I woke up about 20 minutes ago, pain-free and hungry, which is a good sign. I had a caffeinated diet coke (which helps) and a half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It's about 12:30 pm here, and I took the Vicodan about 7:30. If I bend over or move my head too fast, I can still feel it lurking in the background, so I know I have to take it easy. I will probably go lie down again after I'm through here.

Yesterday was the viewing, from 2pm to 8pm, and we were there the whole time. They didn't have any caffeinated soda there, so I didn't get much caffeine yesterday, and that is probably one of the things that triggered my migraine. That and I slept wrong on the pillows last night and hurt my neck, and that will contribute, as well.

We went into Chicago on Saturday and spent the night at the Hilton where we had prepaid for a room through Hot Wire before we knew we were going to have to change our travel plans. We figured that we might as well use the room - we didn't want our $69 to go to waste, and it would be a nice break from the difficult week we had. O'Hare is maybe 50 minutes from here (depending on traffic), so we drove in on Saturday morning, took the train into Chicago from the hotel, and spent the afternoon at Navy Pier. It was a fun afternoon. Then a nice dinner out and slept in the heavenly beds at the Hilton. They are so comfy. Then the next morning we got up and drove back to Jennie's about 11am. I have pictures which I will post when we get back.

Our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 11:35 and gets into Chico about 5:15. It will be nice to be home.

Back to work tomorrow!

Well, it's back to work tomorrow. After all the work of the past week and a half, I need to go back to work just to rest! We finished up at the old house (well almost -- I have to mop the floors, but I don't want to do that until absolute last). The carpet cleaners are coming tomorrow, so I will mop after they are gone. Then we are DONE. At least I hope so. The property management company is going to do a pre-walk through, and if anything needs to be cleaned, then they'll let us know. If it's only minor stuff, we may just leave it for them to do, and have it deducted from our deposit. I didn't clean all the windows completely, and I really don't care!! I absolutely HATE washing windows. Bleah! I did the inside of the windows, but I am not going to do the outside. Fuggetaboutit!!!

Not much else to report! We didn't do much today -- I took Scott to work at 10:00, and Bill went over and got the rest of the stuff out of the garage and took it to storage. He also de-cobwebbed in the garage and that was it! Then we went out to brunch and came home and picked up a cabinet I am giving my friend Tracey who is setting up her own place after separating from her husband. We loaded it up in the truck and took it over to her about 1:00. While we were there, Richard and Suzie, two other co-workers, came by with a queen size mattress and box springs that they are giving Tracey. Bill helped them carry it up the stairs, and when Tracey said she didn't have a bedframe, Bill said he would go to storage at get her one of ours. We have THREE of 'em in storage right now! So I stayed and chatted with Tracey while he went over and got it for her. Then he set it up for her, and put the leg back on a wine chiller that she had. He is so sweet and so good to her! I so appreciated his doing that for her, after all the work we'd done this week. He is such a good guy.

We are thinking about planning a trip back to Chicago in September to see Bill's parents and sisters. We were hoping to wait for Christmas, but not sure we can wait that long. Bill's mother's health is not that good. We'll see. I checked airfare online and it's not too bad on Southwest, if we fly mid-week. United is about $800 and Southwest is about $500. Big difference!! We'll see. It would be nice to see Chicago during nice weather, since the last time we were there was in November.

Well, time for bed! Hope everyone has a great week.

We're home!

We're home . . . we're tired and exhausted, but we're home. We left Tucson this morning at 9:30 -- took off from Phoenix airport at 1:40, exactly on time. Landed in Reno at 2:30 Reno time (its an hour earlier here than in Arizona). Grabbed our car and took off for home. We were never so glad to see the lights of home! We are so looking forward to sleeping in our own comfy bed tonight.

It was a very good trip, and very productive. Too exhausted to write more tonight. Will catch up when I can breathe again (and the suitcases are unpacked, and laundry is done, and groceries are shopped for . . .). You know how it goes when you've been gone nearly a week and a half. Whew!

Nite for now. Zzzzzzzzzz . . .

Notes from Tucson . . .

Well, I'm typing this from a computer in a branch of the Pima County Public library system. The main branch is in downtown Tucson. This one is a tiny little branch in a strip mall just about 10 minutes from Bill's parent's house. They live wa-a-a-ay out away from civilization, and so they're 10 minutes from anything and 30 minutes from Tucson itself. They actually live in a development called Saddlebrooke, and even though it has its own post office and cable system, it still has a Tucson address. Go figure. I have no idea how they came up with that. But its at least 30 minutes if not 45 from downtown Tucson and at least 20 minutes from the nearest shopping center. It would drive me crazy, but they seem to like it. You know you're a bit out of town when you've been driving for 20 minutes, and you come to a sign that says Tucson - 14 miles. YIKES. Makes it difficult to just "pop" down to the store -- you definitely have to make your errands count.

But anyway, this "ordeal" hasn't turned into an ordeal at all. So far, Bill's dad has been very appreciative of our company. Bill and I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday afternoon and rented a car and drove to Tucson. We spent the night at his folks's house (courtesy of an extra key the neighbor provided). We picked up Bill's dad from the airport the next day (he mentioned that it was a good thing we were picking him up, or he would have gotten lost going home -- interesting!). We spent a good deal of the day Friday and Saturday cleaning up the house (it wasn't all that dirty -- someone must have come in and done some cleaning recently). Since then, its been just a lot of sitting around and reading, making sure Bill's dad doesn't go anywhere alone, and just "being there" for him. Bill is going with him to the doctor's this afternoon, where Bill's dad will hear for the first time that he has been officially diagnosed with beginning stages of Alzheimer's. This will be a difficult appointment. Bill and I have noticed some confusion on his dad's part. He repeats himself sometimes, and gets confused as to where he is. The first few days he was back, Bill's dad kept thinking he was still in Chicago. He is lucid more often than not, so fortunately it is the very early stages. There is some medications that the doctor is going to recommend. We hope that Bill's dad will take the meds, which should reduce the frequency of his "spells." It only seems to affect his short-term memory.

Another thing that we're hoping the doctor will help us with, is convincing Bill's dad that they need to live in assisted living. Bill's dad is insisting that after "a week or so" in assisted living, that Bill's mom will be "just fine"; when in fact they both need to be in assisted living on a permanent basis. I'm sure it is a very difficult thing to face, and we are hoping the doctor's appointment won't be too horrible. Hard to know how Bill's dad will react.

The financial paperwork for the assisted living is all filled out and the financial information has been gathered. So for Bill and I, most of this time has been spent napping (I don't sleep well at night; their guest bed is EXTREMELY hard. I've been taking Nyquil at night, just to help me sleep!!! Its awful) and I've read three books so far while I've been here (okay, a couple of them are short and easy reads!). I also got to go to the Barnes and Noble the other day and browse for a couple of hours. Its a HUGE store -- two stories, and it has a music section. Fun stuff!! I bought a couple more books, and I'm glad I did. I've had a lot more downtime and time to read than I ever figured.

Mainly, since the house has been cleaned up, my job has been to cook dinner. Yesterday, Bill and I drove around the development in his dad's golf cart. That was really fun. The weather here has been incredible -- I think I see why people live here in the winter!! Wow. There are all kinds of birds, and the weather has been in the 70s. I've worn shorts and short-sleeve tops. It still gets awfully cold at night though -- down into the 30s. But the air is crystal clear and gorgeous. Its weird to hear the birds in January -- but they fly south for the winter so -- here we are, in the south, with the birds! They certainly have the right idea.

Anyway, my time is nearly up on this computer and so I will sign off. I don't know how tomorrow will go, since the doctor's appointment is this afternoon. It may be a rough couple of days, depending on how Bill's dad takes the news. We put him back on a plane to Chicago on Friday, and then we fly home on Saturday. I can't wait to sleep in my own wonderful, soft bed again!!

Ciao for now!