May 30, Who says we are not ready for summer?

I don't think I am in a very good space!  Things and people are getting on my nerves.  This reminds me of a story....
When Davin was about 4 years old, this is what happened...it was Sunday morning and we were in our Sunday school class...All the kids, ages 4 to 12 were sitting in a circle and we were ready to start the class.  Davin raised his hand and said..."my muver, her has not been feeling very good, her has been lelling at me, her has been pulling my hair and her has been getting on my nerves!" lol!  At the point the 12 year old says"my brothers are getting on my nerves too...I was babysitting last night and my brothers were roller skating on the pool table" lol!  At which time I said..."his is not a group therapy session, this is a Sunday school class!  lo

So, this is about where I am today...I felling like lelling and pulling someones hair and they are all getting on my nerves!  Needless to say, I did not enjoy our coffee session today.  There were 6 of us and that was probably 4 too many!  lol!

At 12::15 today I have an echo cardiogram and then we rush to pick up Rosine at 1:45 to take her to her chiropractor appointment.  We will be lucky to be home by 4:00 this afternoon!
The temperatures are raising starting today and we are headed for the 109's and up.  This is a factor that will not help my mental condition!

Vicki had another really bad night again last night.  Now she is going to tytrate off the nerve medication and start all over again!  It appears to be an allergic reaction that is causing the problems...she sees the neurologist next Thursday!

                     I really wonder why we feel so hot?  103 tomorrow.....you mean36...right/f  lol!


DEAR DAD 5

SUNDAY 

Lou came over and painted the two bedrooms. He did a really good job. My room is blue and Vicki's is green. We had a nice Easter dinner with Lou and Bobby.

DEAR DAD ..... I just had my bedroom painted. It is a bright green. I wanted it to be CELERY and i think it is MINT. I don't know for sure but i am going to go to the grocery store and match it to the celery. ..... I checked and it is definitely  not celery I do think it is MINT.. It is a beautiful color but it does not match any thing I have ever seen. I can't get it right. Will paint it yellow next week! DON'T TELL MOM!  lol!

Saturday
went and picked out the flooring for the front bathroom. it is a new pattern and it is beautiful. they will take up the old flooring on wednesday and lay the new on Friday. it will be beautiful. the curtains in the Master bedroom will be installed on Thursday morning and finally the sun will not make it's wake up call at 5:00A.M.

DEAR DAD... Lou just finished painting the bedroom and it is yellow, I think it might be the color of lemons, which part of the lemon I am not sure but will know for sure after i go to the grocery store an check it out. It could be the color of butter, buttercups or even Goldilocks. will let you know ! DON'T TELL MOM! lol!

MONDAY 

Went to Sears today and picked out a small freezer. we will put it in Vicki's large walk in closet. It will be great to have a small place to store soups and other things we make up.

DEAR DAD.....I just can't seem to get it right! Went to Sears today and ordered a very small freezer to put in my walk in closet. The freezer is only 5 cubic ft. Now i have discovered that I can't get it into the closet! Aren't doors suppose to be more than 23 inches wide? Did midgets live here? How can this be happening to me? DON'T TELL  MOM!  lol!

WEDNESDAY 

Today was the day to end all days. They came to remove the old flooring in the bathroom!

DEAR DAD...Today a man came to the door and he scared me! He was wearing a mask, boots and was covered from head to toe with a white suit. he put a tent over the bathroom door and it had a funny sign on it. He had a big orange vaccumn cleaner that did not look at all friendly. I was scared!!! Johnny Angel came to the house and tried to make me feel better. He fed me chocolate cake, popcorn and 3 sips of a margarita. I felt better. This should all be over soon. I think I will stay here, I really like the chocolate cake! DON'T TELL  MOM about the man!! 

I am sure that the events of DEAR DAD are not quite finished and we will keep you posted. 

love yas, 

Be careful out there! 

May 29, Spa day at Starbucks!

Well, this was indeed a different coffee time.  Sandi came in and approached Vicki...."""I don't mean to hurt your feelings but you have a lot of black hairs on your chin!  I brought my tweezers and after we have breakfast I am going to tweeze out those hairs!"  lol!  Vicki got all excited and said she really wanted to do it!  So, after we had our bagels, the 3  of us marched out to the patio and off to the side so that people inside could not see Vicki's operation!  lol!

                         

Now, hold still or I will hurt you!  1, 2, 3, 4...OMG, you have more than I thought!  lol!

Now hold still and let me check you!  Sandi said as she grabbed me!  Well, I'll be darned, the blind lady only has one!  lol!

Meanwhile back in Starbuck's, Irwin was patiently waiting for all the surgeries to be over and looking forward to hearing the good news that " all the hairs were extracted without any complications and the patients are both doing well and do not need "last rites"!  lol!

Vicki and I ran to Kohl's and then went home....oops, we forgot to go to Curves....maybe tomorrow!

After a few hours at home, Vicki and I went over to see Rosine...we made her play cards with us!  That might not have been such a good idea because, of course, she won!  It was a new game for her and she kept claiming that she did not understand it!  Right...she won didn't she?  lol!

Before we go on to the Dear Dad letter for today, I must tell you a story that happened when we were trying to get a condo in this building!

Before Vicki actually got this condo she had put offers on 4 other condo's in the building.  We had been over to the condo's and had just found out we did not get the 4th one.  We decided that we would take a walk over to the park which meant we would walk right by the Episcopal Church where I had been married twice!

As we rounded the corner in front of the church.....and were talking that maybe we should rethink living in Hillcrest as we were feeling as though we were being black balled...boom, down Vicki went, landing flat on her face...I was sure that it was a bad sign, especially since it happened right in front of the church and the last man I had married there was an Episcopal Priest!  I was frantically trying to scoop Vicki up as a small black convertible pulled up and a nice looking young man jumped out of the car and came running toward us!  "Are you all right?"  He helped Vicki up ...straightened out her glasses and jumped back into his little sports car and whizz and he was gone!  Vicki saw this as a good omen and that we should continue trying to get a condo in the Coral Tree Plaza building.

DEAR DAD 4

Tuesday

It seems like years ago but in actuality it was just 6 weeks ago today that we moved into the new condo.  Of course the fact that we were gone 3 weeks and 2 days  of the last 6 weeks does muddy the picture.  

Let's back track and see what has transpired during that time.

After we arrived and got through the initial shock of the move we tried to start settling in.  Before we left, as you remember. we discovered that our neighbor John was the " nice boy ", who fixed Vicki's glasses when she fell on 6th ave several months ago.  from this day forward he will be known as Johnny Angel.

The day before we left for Scottsdale we were in a bustle.  Johnny Angel was hanging our dining room light, a new bathroom fixture, and lowered the cable cord so that it is no longer in the middle of the wall at eye level.   Who ever installed that cable must not have been able to bend over to put it at base board level.    Lou was busy cleaning blinds and trying to hang them and I was busy doing windows and trying not to fall 6 floors to a bloody death. Vicki was running from room to room trying to help as needed.    The nice man from the blind cleaning company cleaned and reinstalled  the clean blinds 

and we were ready to go.  almost....Says Johnny Angel ...  your dryer is venting through the dining room vent and blowing across the room.  right on to the dining room table of course. lol!

Lou hung the clean drapes and the Travis rod promptly fell from the ceiling.  The big scree T.V. quit working  and we wheeled the smaller one to the living room.  lol!

We bought a load of stuff from Home Depot and left it piled in the middle of the living room so Lou could work while we were gone.  

We left Lou, the downed Travis rod, the stopped up dryer vent, the broken T.V.  and  the pile of supplies and went to Scottsdale.   We had a wonderful time and forgot about all the problems.  We actually forgot where we lived as we had been there such a short time. lol! 

While in Scottsdale the Travis rod fell out of the ceiling 2 more times,  the dining room lamp was too high and the sewer backed up and flooded the master bedroom.  When we got home the drapes were on the floor, the master bathroom had a fan running to dry out the carpet, there was dirty water in the bathroom drawers, and guess what that was?  and the lamp was still too high. lol!

Lou had done a wonderful job painting all the woodwork and fixing some other odds and ends of things.    But he had  his own set of problems while we were gone.  He tried to paint the doors on the balcony and they got dirty and had to have another coat, the Travis rod fell again and  he couldn't put the condo numbers on the front door as it was steel.

Dear DAD,Please don't tell mom but we are having lot of problems  and think we should just pack up and move.....the Travis rod is down and can't get up, the light fixture is up and can't get down, the sewer is in the house instead of in the drain and my nail bent when i tried to hang a picture over the fireplace.

Thursday

Today Johnny Angel came over.  he hung the picture on the cement wall, hung the Travis rod on the cement ceiling, fixed an electrical outlet and worked on my computer.  the next door neighbors brought us a care kit which consisted of different things and ways to hang pictures on cement walls.  j.a. will finish the dining room lamp tomorrow.  the T.V. repair man came today and Lou will be here tomorrow to paint the master bedroom. lol!

Dear Dad....disregard my last letter.  Angels are appearing out of no where and everything seems to magically be falling into place.  

Could use a bottle of Tylenol as I have this strange headache.  speaking of things falling into place I just flushed my toilet and I broke the toilet...the whole bowl cracked....I just don't get it.... I think I need to move...AGAIN...DEAR DAD....HELP.....don't tell Mom!  lol!

Be careful out there!

         S'

May 28, Another Dear Dad!

Today is Tuesday, but in my mind it will be Monday all day today!  Sandi called this morning and we are going to pick her up at 9:15 and take her to coffee.  Irwin had an appointment to go to and he will meet us at coffee.  Both Irwin and Sandi were feeling good and we had some good laughs.  I am not sure that I was feeling all that great today!  lol!  Who cares? lol!

Going to see the new heart doctor at noon today!  He is my lung doctor's heart doctor and I like him better than the one I have!  This doctor is from Denmark and is the best one I have been too.  He is doing 2 tests in the next 2 weeks and we should have a good idea if my episodes are mental or physical!  lol!

Vicki went to her mother's today ....by herself.  This was good as she is unhappy if Vicki and I should, God forbid, talk to each other while we are there!  lol!  Mama Mia, is a tough old bird! lol!


                                                 

                                       Karen brought the final papers by....little does she know!  lol!


DEAR DAD 3 

today was the event  that  tops all events.

We decided to go ahead and redo the front bathroom.  we talked to the maintenance manager and ask him if he could recommend a painter.  the guy went there yesterday and gave us a bid.  after talking with Jerry last night we all decided it would be a good idea to repaint the living room and the halls and remove the popcorn ceilings.  we then called Isamael that would like to get a new estimate with the time line of having the project done by Wednesday night.  Ismael said that his uncle would be providing the service and he would meet with us at 130 today.  At 130 Ismael arrived with his uncle and one of his workers.  Can you imagine the looks on our faces when Isamel wheeled his uncle in sitting in a wheel chair?

DEAR DAD....don't come visit me... i just hired a man in a wheel chair to scrape popcorn off of my ceilings!  don't tell Mom! lol!

well, Isamel has worked there for 10 years so we think that it must be okay!!  right?  i do admit that i had to remind myself that i can't see and that i should not think that he can't do the job.  I think he must have a scraper with a really long handle!  lol!

                                                                                   

DEAR DAD...leaving in the morning for Las Vegas to win money for the paint job. Don't tell Mom! lol!

"be careful out there" 

          S'

May 27, Memorial Day!

Mychal JudgeMemorial Day!  A day to remember all who have served and lost their lives for this country.  Also a day to remember all those who have passed before us.  Today was my grandfathers birthday.  It is hard to believe that both of them have been gone  for over 50 years!  We really missed out not having him around for a longer time

A special "thank you" for those who hav served and those who are still serving!


Lt. Col Tami  daughter,  Air Force National Guard reserves  Molly granddaughter, Air Force National Guard  reserves, Lt Col Mark  SIL, retired National guard!


                                          Daughter Tami in an military exercise~!

Grandson Tyler,  finished his 20 week training and is in the Air Force National Guard!

                                 Our friend  the  Rabbi Irwin served 4 years in the U.S. Air Force!

                                   Our friend Lou, served in the U.S. nAVY.

                              Our friend Jerry served 4 years in the U.S. Air force!

                                                     

Our friend Roger, served in the U.S. Army.  Mary ...thank you too!

My brother-in-law, Olias, served in the U.S. Marines

Remember Them,  by Rabbi Jack Riemer 

At the rising of the sun and at its going down 
We remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and the chill of winter 
We remember them.
At the opening of the buds and the rebirth of spring 
We remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer 
We remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn 
We remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends 
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live; for they are now a part of us, 
As we remember them.

When we are weary and in need of strength We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart We remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share We remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make We remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live; for they are now a part of us, 
As we remember them.

Those who have passed!

 Chief Norman Lipperd, my father, U.S. Navy, serving in World War II! ....passed away Nov 23,1991 at the age of 76.

                                                                         

                        Vicki's father, Lolly Ariano served in the U.S.Air Force as a pilot in WWII!


                                           Vicki's dad,  Lolly Ariano.....passed away June 13, 2008. at the age of 90.

Father Michael Judge was the first fatality of 9/11  ng the many hats Judge wore was as chaplain for the New York Fire Department. He was killed after going to the World Trade Center with some off-duty firefighters after the first plane hit.
              

Prayer for 9/11

By Rick Hamlin, September 6, 2011

Lord, take me where you want me to go.
Let me meet who you want me to meet.
Tell me what you want me to say,
And keep me out of your way.

It’s not my prayer. It’s a prayer that came from the Franciscan priest Father Mychal Judge, who was killed on 9/11 at the World Trade Center when he was ministering to a fallen firefighter.

Mychal Judge was a chaplain for the New York City Fire Department. His church, St. Francis of Assisi, was right across the street from the fire station Engine 1, Ladder 24 on West 31st Street, not far from our Guideposts editorial offices. He had printed the words of the prayer on a card to hand out to anyone who needed them.

On September 10, 2001, he called his fellow NYFD chaplain Everett Wabst of Staten Island for some more prayer cards. Father Mychal had run out of them. Wabst was driving into New York with the cards when he heard of the attack. Soon he learned about Father Mychal’s tragic death.

For the next 48 hours, Wabst counseled firefighters, survivors and first responders. And he used the prayer that came from one of the disaster’s first victims. They’re words that work any day of the year, but they seem particularly poignant for this day.

Lord, take me where you want me to go.
Let me meet who you want me to meet.
Tell me what you want me to say,
And keep me out of your way.

Our friend James served in the U.S. Marines as a nurse, he passed away July 29, 2011 at the age of  65.
                                                                                   

    OUr friend Captain Rich Richenberg, U.S. Air Force.....passed away May 21, 2011 at the age of 53.
                                          
                   Our friend Frank served in the U.S. Navy, passed away April  2012, at the age of  73.

Our friend, Louis Goldman, served in the U.S. Army, he passed away August 6, 20012, at age 82.
 
                                                                         

MEMORIALS BEGIN FOR 19 ARIZONA FIREFIGHTERS

 Previous 1 / 20 Next 

• 

This photo combination made with undated family photos provided via the City of Prescott, Ariz. shows the 19 firefighters killed battling an out-of-control wildfire in Yarnell, Ariz., on June 30, 2013. Top row, from left: Andrew Sterling Ashcraft, Robert Caldwell, Travis Carter, Dustin James DeFord, Chris Mackenzie, Eric Shane Marsh, and Grant Quinn McKee. Second row, from left: Sean Misner, Scott Daniel Norris, Wade Scott Parker, John Joseph Percin Jr., Anthony Michael Rose, Jesse James Steed, and Joe Thurston. Bottom row, from left: Travis Turbyfill, William Howard "Billy" Warneke, Clayton Thomas Whitted, Kevin Woyjeck, and Garret Zuppiger.

Uncredited | AP

                                                          May they Rest In Peace

In loving memory of our grandparents!

Joyce and Rodney my maternal grandparents....passed in the late 60's

John and Rose, Vicki's maternal  grandparents! Passed in the 80's!

  In the 20 years that Vicki and I have lived together we have lost family and friends....in memory of them!                                                  

My Aunt Jean, Jeannie Wiennie....passed 1998! 

                                                                

Vicki's Aunt Florine......passed 1999!

                                        Good friends Judy and Laddi..... passed in 2002

                                                 My mother Dottie .....passed 2002

     

 My sister Susan age 61 died on December 8, 2008.  Sue's best friend Andy, age 78 died June 15, 2005                                                    
                                                                                     

Louise O, our friend Mary Lou's mother was 96 when she died in July  2008                                                                          

                                                                                   

                               The Children of Sandy Hook, December 14,2012

May they all rest in peace!

George K. 89,10/2010 and George G 88, 10/15/2012

May 26, Holiday Weekend!

We are spending a nice quiet day at home.....went to coffee, Walmart, QT and then home.  We were going to grill hot dogs but decided they have too much salt in them.  So, now we are in eat the freezer mode.  This is good.....try to not eat sugar and salt!

This afternoon we will go and see Rosine and then we will be done for the day!
Rosine is very frustrated because she is still having problems walking.  She does not seem to want to accept that if she is not using her muscles that they are going to atrophy.  Since she is unable to do any extra walking I suggested to her that she lock her walker after she puts it in front of her and that she stand up.....stand up for as long as you can....do this through out the day...standing will help her muscles maintain and help with her balance.  She says she cannot do it because she is wobbly.  She does not understand that if she does not use the muscles that she will totally loose them.  She believes, at some level that the chiropractor will build her muscles....also if she starts taking cocoanut oil it will help her muscles.  I don't know what else I can say to her.....after all she is 94 years old and has a mind of her own.  She has a tendency to listen to what I say....tell me why she cannot do it....thinks about it....then she comes up with the idea, thinking it is her own....this is fine...hopefully she will get it before she is full time in a wheel chair...it is not far away at this rate!

                                         

Today is the 2nd Dear Dad letter.  We really were too funny trying to get into the parking garage!

DEAR DAD 2

Another day and another in the adventures of Vicki and Sandi.

today we decided to try a new approach to getting into the garage without turning across a busy street.  this means going 7 blocks out of the way.  all i can say is that after we made 3 wrong turns and had gone   20 extra blocks, almost 2 miles out of our way we finally reached the garage opening.  again we must say  DEAR DAD...HAVE TO MOVE...CAN'T FIND THE GARAGE.!  Don't tell Mom!  lol!  

Into the garage and turn left....wrong...back up and go back...turn right.    up a floor, turn left and what do you know.  there it is. But there is a big speed bump in the middle of where she needs to turn...oh, no not again...DEAR DAD...HAVE TO MOVE, SPEED BUMP IN MIDDLE OF MY PARKING SPACE...DON'T TELL MOM!  lol!

talked to the old owner who did not have my pass key  ready for me today.  he informed us that he should keep one of the keys in case we get locked out.  DEAR DAD...have to move...old owner won't give me my key!  DON'T TELL MON!  lol!

Now, we thought, things are going to change.  I saw the man next door and went down the hall to introduce myself to him.  Vicki followed and what a wonderful surprise.  he filled us in on a lot of things including how pushy the old owner was.  they leave their doors open when they are accepting visitors and about 400 they get together for wine.  he said that the man across the hall loves to bake and  the rule is if you make something and the smells go out in the hall, you have to share.  well, what do you know?  DEAR DAD...STAYING HERE... LOVE IT!... REALLY NICE PEOPLE!.. WILL PARK ON THE STREET......WILL CHANGE THE LOCKS!... TELL MOM!  lol!

                                                  

This Lyle and Terry who live next door to us in our new condo....we did have have a lot of fun with them

Be careful out there!

         S'

May 25, Holiday weekend!

It is Memorial Day weekend .....are we going on a picnic, to an amusement park,  to the lake, to the beach, to a barbecue,to a ball game or a pool party? No, no, no, no,no and no!  We are spending the weekend at home and grilling hot dogs on the Forman Grill and we like it like that!  .  Today we are going to a movie with Irwin and Sandi and then to dinner.  It will be a nice evening and then we will be left to our own devices.

   I am going to start putting the "Dear Dad"letters on the blog for you to read!.  I think there 9 of them....so I hope you will enjoy them.  The stories are true and are written  when we bought a condo in San Diego....would I say the stories are written to entertain...yes, but they are true!

Dear Dad 1

February 24, 2003

Two weeks ago yesterday Vicki put the offer on the condo in Hillcrest and yesterday they gave us the keys.

  We went down  to the condo  and spent about an hour at the condo trying to let it all sink in!  We are really going to live in Hillcrest!  

we were hysterical by last night.  felt very intimidated by all the security.  Vicki's dad hopes she will live there for a long time and not be going through all this again in the near future.  this is how the following fun came to be.  could you imagine writing her dad a letter telling him she wants to sell the new place?  

last night we were so shook up about the place that Vicki started being funny and said " maybe we can't live there, I can just see it , telling my dad", DEAR DAD, have to move,  scared to go into the building....don't tell Mom! lol!  Now, the man who sold her the place conned  Vicki into letting him keep a parking space and then Vicki says, DEAR DAD, have to move,  the old owner won't let me have both of my parking spaces and I am too nervous to park in the other one......don't tell Mom! lol!.  Now anything that comes up about the condo and our adjustment to living there, will be a" DEAR Dad" letter....these adventures are unbelievable but true and we had so much fun during that time!! 

These are pictures of the Condo after we moved in!

                                                    Vicki loved her slate bathroom!

This is the 40 ft balcony,  this is facing east and in the winter we could see snow capped mountains!

                         This is the west end but we needed to be up 2 more floors to see the bay!

This my bathroom, I loved the fluted sink and the rich mahogany cabinet's with the chocolate and white marble counter!  I really do miss this condo but it if it weren't for it we would not be in Sun City West now!

Be careful out there!

     S'

May 24, Another busy day!

I honestly do not know where the days go!  We left the house at 8:30 this morning and we just got home and it is 5:00!

Now let me back track and see exactly what happened.....we started at Starbucks with Irwin and Sandi...We had fun but did not solve any of the world problems!

                           

                                                 So good to see our coffee friends!
                   

Next we drove  to Scottsdale to meet sista Nancy for lunch.  Nancy  is Vicki's sister-in-law...I have adopted her too!

                 

                                          We are all busy talking...one of the things we do best!  lol!

Talk talk talk,eat, eat eat eat, drink drink, drink!  Somehow this has a familiar ring to it!  lol!  We tried hard to solve the problems of the world but we did not get far.......wonder why?  lol!  Nancy told us all about her Spa and how all the changes are coming along.  Nancy's grandson graduated high school yesterday and her oldest son got married last week.......it is a busy place and with 7 kids between she and Bob, there is never a dull moment.

Time to get into the car and head west........go visit Rosine.....Rosine entertained us with her latest stories and we all had a couple of good laughs.......then it was time to go home and here we are!

I am so glad to be at home.....I have a lot of things to do on the computer...I feel good about my new hair do and my new color....how come it is giving me so much energy?  lol!

It looks like I don't have anything else to say for today and since I cannot call for room service....I am going to call it a day and say ....goodnight, don't let the bed bugs bite!  lol!

Be careful out there!