It rained! Most of the day yesterday! What a shock! When the paper said 'chance of showers' I thought probably afternoon thundershowers, not rain all morning. Granted, we did not get a lot of rain - but enough that I needed my windshield wipers on when I drove - unusual for August! I think our high yesterday was around 65 - a bit of a change from earlier in the week when it was 110! We probably set records for both the high and the low in one week! (I heard that the 100 was a record.)

AJ spent Saturday morning working on Conner's Eagle Project. He took me down to see it when I picked him up. Conner is building a rock bench on a trail that leads from his neighborhood to the River Trail. There are some beautiful views on the trail! (Bad picture of AJ, but you can see the scale of the bench better!)






The kittens knocked down some of the newspapers stacked up:

What a week! I'm glad it is Saturday! AJ had his follow-up with his surgeon yesterday, which meant a trip to Chico. His appointment was at 9:00, which meant we left here at 7:30, and we didn't see the doctor until almost 10:00 (he had an emergency at the hospital) It was almost noon before I got in to work. The surgeon is happy with AJ's recovery, but not satisfied. He thinks he can completely clear up his arrhythmia with another surgery, but AJ wasn't sure he wanted to do that. Right now, we are on a two month call back, and we'll see how much it bothers him in the mean time. I would like to see it completely clear, but....not my call!

The kittens are getting along well now (well, except for Rufus!) They have so much fun playing under the food shelf!



I finished up a pretty little doily the other day, too!

It registered 108.7 as a high at our house yesterday! That means it was hotter in town! The RAV registered 114 in the parking lot IN THE SHADE! This was at 5:30 or so when I was leaving - too hot! I am ready for Autumn - maybe not for Winter, but definitely Autumn!

Indy is the weirdest sleeper for a cat I have seen - this is him last night conked out on the kitty tower:



He was just snoozing away! The light from the camera woke him up and he rolled over and went back to sleep.

We got Indy on Saturday - what a sweetie! He loves to cuddle, and is almost as big as Picot, and he is only about 10 weeks old! If he grows into his feet and ears, he will be a big cat! The cats are beginning to settle down a bit. Rufus just growls at him, and Picot was trying to establish dominance over him, but he doesn't listen to either. He just barrels right through.



Coming from Susanville to Mom's house on Saturday, it was a bit windy in the valley. This is alkali blowing around by Honey Lake!



There were some interesting clouds out there too!



From our walk last night - almost a full moon!

I'm off to Susanville today - Eastern Star meeting at 2:00! It will be a quick trip - I still have all my normal weekend chores to do, all crammed in to Sunday now. It will be nice to see everyone - I missed the gathering for camping.

Indy should be here Saturday afternoon around 5:00 or so! Ralph talked to the foster mom last night and talked her into bringing him by. Her original plan was to bring him Sunday afternoon, but Ralph convinced her we could use more weekend time with him. These are some pictures from his website - isn't he cute! I think he's going to give Picot a run for her money!

I think I'm beginning to get into the 'back to school' routine again. The kids adjusted better than I did, but then again, they just have to get up - I'm the one making breakfasts and lunches! I don't get as much time as I want for the computer in the morning - I guess I need to get up earlier!

We might be getting Indy tonight - The foster mom might be by after work with him, we'll see! Her schedule was a little iffy, so it may be Sunday before she stops by. AJ is gone tonight, so he may miss out! One of his friends is doing his Eagle Project tomorrow, and AJ is spending the night at his house so he can help out. I wish AJ was doing his project!

AJ's arrhythmia did flair up again. He swam a lap at the Y, and his heart started racing. It did respond to his meds, though, which is good. We were just hoping it was gone for good!

The kids survived the first day of school. AJ got his schedule switched around so he has his classes with his friends. He also has a long lunch break - he doesn't have a 4th and 5th period, so he has a long lunch. He only has one class in the afternoon, and that is Chorus. He is done a little after 2:00! He better hurry up and get his license so he can come home after school - or better yet, get a part-time job! That probably won't happen! He also shares the long lunch break with his friends - they may be in trouble!

Yesterday, Alli spent some time in the pool, as usual for a Sunday. I took a nice little video of her just playing around. She is quite a little fish!




While I was lifeguarding her, I found a friend!

This is my last day before I go back to work. Bummer! I have been a slug around the house, and have gotten almost nothing done while I was off. Kind of nice, but....I wish I magically had my house clean and yard all in order! I guess I can't really complain - Wednesday through Friday were actually sick leave days, not vacation. AJ's doing okay, but he has had a couple of migraines since the surgery. Now I need to take him in to see the doctor about those!

I did finish up a doily while I was waiting at the hospital. As long as you don't compare it to the pattern, it looks pretty good. The lighting at the hospital was dim (sitting by AJ's bed while he was sleeping) and I was distracted, as well. I missed a couple of things, but - unless you know what it was supposed to look like, it looks pretty good!



I picked up a new toy for the kittens yesterday. It was a definite hit! Even Rufus played with it, just a little bit. Most of the time, he just sat around, watching Picot play with it.



Patti is off to Ft. Bragg this weekend for a soccer tournament (Her son is playing in the 'traveling league' - Division III soccer. AJ plays Division IV soccer - the 'fun' kind, according to him.) She sent me a couple of pictures. Too bad she couldn't send the cool breezes too!

Somehow, I don't have time for everything, even when I'm on vacation! I kept meaning to update the blog, but just didn't 'get around to it'.

AJ's procedure went well. The doctor didn't find what he thought he would, which was a good thing. He was afraid the area that needed ablating was close to the A-V node and he wouldn't be able to ablate it. As it was, it is still a problem. The area is in the direct path of the normal electrical movement, so he couldn't clear it out completely. He did clean a lot of it up, and AJ hasn't had any more tachycardia. It is possible that he won't, either, we'll just have to wait and see. Thursday night and Friday morning, AJ had what he descried as a migraine headache. Thursday night, I gave him some of my migraine drugs, but Friday I called the doctor to make sure it wasn't a reaction to surgery. It sounds like it was a just a headache - good news!



The dogs and I have still been walking after dinner, but I think the time is going to have to change. It was getting dark last night when we came in. I don't mind walking in the subdivision at dusk, but I don't really want to be walking out in the field in the dark!

Last night, there was a blimp out at the airport! I only had my cell phone camera, so the picture isn't very good, but I was quite surprised to see one!



Yesterday in the paper, there was a list of adoptable animals, and one caught my eye - a 9 week old Manx/Bengal cross that needs a home with someone to play with. Boy, do I have someone he could play with! Picot needs a playmate badly! Rufus just isn't enough to keep her busy. AJ filled out the paperwork to adopt him, we'll see if we get him or not. His coloring is very similar to Picot's. If you go to www.resqac.com, and search for Indy, you'll see a picture of him. Too cute!



This is what happens when you turn your back on Picot - she was pulling the plastic bags out of the drawer, and then curled up for a nap.

I did it! I actually finished it! The colors are a bit washed out from the camera, but I finished it!

A heads up for those that come to visit - the guest house is occupied for the next couple of months! You are still more than welcome - we'll just kick AJ out of his room (not a hardship for him - he sleeps on the couch half the time anyway.) A girlfriend that I offered the house to a couple of months ago due to marital problems texted me yesterday. Patti is planning on staying until the first of October. Again - everyone is still welcome - they just don't get the guest house to stay in.

Yesterday was back-to-school shopping. Oh boy! Shopping with AJ is different. Like most men, he doesn't shop, he buys. He is pretty good about bargain shopping, but, if he likes it, he wants it. We also went to the school for Arena Day - picked up his schedule, signed up for a locker, bought his year book, etc. I say 'we', but the only 'we' was 'me'. When we walked in, AJ headed for his buddies, and hung out with them while I did all the rest. He did pick up his schedule, and then requested changes to it. (He wanted the same time period for classes as his buddies.) The rest was up to me while they caught up. They had a lot of catching up to do - he hasn't seen them since school was out. AJ also talked to the soccer coach about the possibility of him playing - or not playing - soccer this year. The coach assure AJ that if he was able to play, he would be on the team, even if he missed try-outs. AJ also asked him that if he couldn't play, could he help him out with the team, just so he was still part of the team. The coach agreed, so it looks like AJ will be part of the soccer team, regardless of how his surgery goes tomorrow. That means a lot to him, I know!

I got all the parts for my doily done yesterday, but I have one little problem. When I got up this morning, one of my flowers was missing. Pins were scattered all over the table and floor, and there was no sign of the flower anywhere. The usual suspect was questioned, but Picot denied everything. She swears she was sleeping quietly all night. I don't believe her, but....I'm lacking the evidence to convict her. Of course, if I had the evidence, (the missing flower) I would be happy, and probably drop the charges. Oh well, it looks like I get to make another flower today!

What a week! I took yesterday off to just do nothing! I even took a nap!

We finally got Alex back from Jamboree - though it was looking kind of iffy there for a while. He flew out of Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon to Chicago, and guess what! Obama was flying between those places (he had his birthday party in Chicago - for a mere $30,000, you too could go to his party!) and National Security shut down the planes in the area. By the time the planes could leave, a thunderstorm hit, and they were sidelined another couple of hours. They held the plane in Chicago for them, which helped. They were scheduled to fly out of Chicago at 7:00, but didn't land until 10:00. They got in to Sacramento at 12:30 our time, and in to Redding at 3:30 a.m. Since they were up at 3:30 a.m. their time to pack up their camp on Wednesday morning, the boys had been on the go for 27 hours. When we got home, AJ was still wide awake (he had slept some on the planes and bus) and it was 7:00 a.m. for him, so he stayed up all day. I had problems staying awake all day, and I just missed a few hour of sleep - oh to be 17 again!

It's nice to have him home! He is off of his heart medication now, preparing for his procedure on Wednesday. Poor baby! His heart is almost always irregular and fast - about 140 beats a minute now. He went for a walk with me Thursday night, and we walked pretty slow. Last night we walked pretty fast - he said he is getting used to it so it doesn't bother him as much. It's nice to have a walking partner!



Thursday night we saw the largest snake I have seen in this area. He had been injured and his back third of his body wasn't working, but he was still motivating. AJ gave him a hand up on the curb, and he slithered off into a hole under some equipment. When we went by last night, he wasn't visible in the hole (he was when he first went in) so maybe he is doing okay!




Friday, the Derby girls and Emma came over and hung out with AJ. Ralph was off, so they were able to swim and play video games. We had a big BBQ Friday night - With the Derbys and the Fishers, we had 11 for dinner! I spent Thursday night (before I crashed in bed!) cooking and cleaning. Friday morning I got up and cut up a fruit salad and made hamburger patties, so I was pretty much ready to go after work. I didn't get home until almost 6:00, so it was a good thing I planned ahead! It was a fun evening - nice to see everyone. We need to do that more often!

I did get a little bit of crochet work done, mainly while life guarding Alli in the pool after work. My 'project' for my Yahoo Group was a pencil cup. It was supposed to be decorated with crocheted ducks, and I just really didn't want to go there. I showed it to Ralph and told him I was trying to figure out how to decorate it - maybe some flowers and a butterfly? He asked if he could have it and decorate it with some fishing flies. This is the end result:



Not too bad!

Back to work today. I 'wasted' the whole weekend just lounging around. I did get some things done, but I always look back on Monday morning and see all the things I didn't get done. I didn't even get a crochet project finished - and I have a couple started that are small projects. My flower fairy is almost finished - I just have a few more pieces to make, but....I don't like making them! All that is left is the leaves, and I need four more. Which means I need another hour of crochet time to finish. If only I liked making them, I would be done! I still haven't figured out how to display it after I get it done. It's looking like I will have to have it professionally matted and framed, and I don't want to spend that kind of money on a doily! Oh well, inspiration will strike, I am sure!

I talked to AJ again last night - he is having fun, but is really tired. I don't think he is getting much more than 6 hours of sleep a night, and he is used to a lot more than that! He will probably sleep around the clock when he gets home, but then again, he will have been up for almost 24 hours by then, too. They are usually up around 6:00 a.m., and then they will break camp, go to Gettysburg for the day, go to the airport at 3:00 p.m. to start their travels home, and they will get to Redding around 4:00 a.m. the next morning (their time, 1:00 a.m. my time - bummer!) I'm tired just thinking about it!

I've been walking the dogs after dinner, and the light has been fabulous! I think it might be because of fires in the area, but still, the light is gorgeous. They were running tankers yesterday to a fire off of Dersch by Bear Creek - relatively close to us.



I know we always have geese flying morning and evening, but it still seems odd to see and hear geese flying in formation in July! It reminds me that summer will be coming to a close - faster than I want it to.



We got a call from AJ last night. Jamboree had their "Extravaganza" last night - Lights Across America. It was broadcast on the BYU channel, and I appreciated the chance to see it. AJ wasn't quite as impressed. I heard two different numbers about the evening - over 50,000 scouts and over 100,000 people. And, any time you try to bring in music that will appeal to 'everyone' you are doomed to fail. AJ sent me a couple of texts expressing his disdain of the first two music acts. The last one, "Switchfoot", was one of his favorite bands, so he was happy about that one. The organizers also upset the Western Division - it was "Lights Across America" and they had TV crews at several locations across the nation, but the furthest west they came was South Dakota. Nothing from the west coast, and three from the east coast. I did record the event, since it was over two hours long, and I fixed dinner in between. Otherwise, AJ is having a good time. He isn't getting a lot of sleep, but he seems to be feeling okay.

This is a picture from earlier in the week:




This is from the 'Extravaganza". After the show, there were some awesome fireworks. (Awesome according to AJ - the TV program ended when they started.) That's a lot of boy scouts!