Happy birthday to me!  Ralph started asking me last week what I wanted for my birthday, and....I couldn't think of a thing.  That, in and of itself, is a blessing.  It has been a good year, and I don't think I stop often enough to think about it.  I stop often and appreciate the little things - the sunrises and sunset, the people that fill my life, the actions of the critters in my life (including the hummers - greedy little beggars!!), Alli's growth and humor that she adds to my life, but I don't know that I sit down and put it all together very often.  Probably only at 'milestone' days like birthdays, New Years, etc.  It's going to be a good day (month, year, life)!!!

Back to square 1 with Ralph.  He had follow-up X-rays yesterday to check his lungs, and the fluid is building up again.  Now he has an appointment next Thursday with Dr. Singh at Shasta Critical Care to check with a lung specialist.  Hopefully there is an easy fix to all this....

I went to Alli's back-to-school night last night.  this year, she has 12 kids in her class and 5 in the adult class (in the next classroom).  Her teacher has been able to expand into 5 rooms on the campus - two of them for adapted PE rooms.  One is set up with 2 treadmills and 2 exercise bikes, and they are adding an elliptical, and the other is set up for aerobic and yoga type exercises.  They have Alli doing modified yoga (this I've got to see!) and walking on the treadmill.  They have taken weights and measurements of all the kids and they are all tracking their progress throughout the year.  How great for them - and Alli.  This is one life skill that she will really need!  The teacher is really pushing self-management with the kids this year.  Even Alli will be involved in her own IEP, according to her.  I told her 'no problem, but she doesn't get to set her own goals!"  The teach agreed and said Alli's goals would be more couches and naps!

flat tire, cat hair

I've been neglecting the blog lately.  I think I'm putting too many hours in at work!  I've been going in as soon as I can in the morning, so I haven't been blogging before Alli gets up or after she gets on the bus like I used to.  By the time she's in bed at night, I'm too tired to blog - I'll fall asleep on the keyboard!  Unfortunately, I stayed up after 11:00 last night to finish a book, and Alli was up bright and early at 5:20.  Bummer!  Oh well, it was a good book, worth staying up for.  Maybe I can sneak a nap in this afternoon!

I finished up more of the bookmarks for the book club.  I was on a roll yesterday and wanted to make a few more, but....I ran out of 2013 pennies.  I have the bare minimum done now, so I can get by with what I have, but....it means I don't get one, and I don't have any extras, so - I'll be scrounging pennies in the next few days, looking for more.

On the way home from work Friday, as I was getting close to my exit on I-5, I hit something in the freeway.  I looked in my rear view mirror and didn't see anything, so just shrugged it off.  When I stopped to get on Knighten, I looked, and sure enough, my tire pressure gauge was indicating a problem.  Bummer.  Since I was so close to the truck stop (and I figured I was safer driving there with a flat tire than stopping on I-5) I drove over the freeway to the truck stop and tried to air up my tire.  It inflated some, but not very much (I thought it might just be a combination of me and a pay-for-air compressor) so I decided to try to get home (since I knew our air compressor worked).  No go.  As soon as I pulled out, the tire was completely flat again.  I pulled back into the truck stop.  First I called Ralph to come get Alli - no need for both of us to sweat to death in the parking lot, and then I called AAA.  I got my text alert from AAA that they had logged my call at 5:44.  The tow truck got there around 6:30.  Not too long a wait, considering, but....it was hot out there!  I was pretty much wiped out by the time I got home around 7:00.  Lucky for me, Ralph had started dinner, so I just finished up around the edges.  Steak dinner - almost waiting for me when I got home!

Here's what they found in my tire when Ralph took it in to get it replaced:

It looks like it might be part of someone's brakes.  I'm glad it stayed in the tire - it that had gone flying in the air when I hit it, it could have put someone's eye out!

This morning, I decided that Rufus needed to be brushed.  He is getting all sorts of clumps (not quite mats yet) in his fur, so his winter fur must be coming in (like he needs that!).  I brushed him as long as he would let me - and just a little bit longer.  (It stopped bleeding pretty quickly!) and had a huge pile of fur (and this doesn't count what fell on the floor, or was stuck to me that I didn't get added to the pile!)

I only got the front half of him done - and not much of his belly.  I'll try for more later.  If nothing else, this is hair I won't have to vacuum up!

Yesterday morning, no one was up by Alli and i for quite a while.  I didn't want to start making a bunch of noise and wake everyone up, so once I was done with the quiet things I wanted to do, I sat outside on the patio and drank my coffee (and had a snack, too!)  The hummingbirds were going crazy out there!  I took a ton of pictures, and got one good photo out of the bunch.  This is one of my 'friends' (they are only my friend as long as the feeder has food - after that is gone, watch out!!)

I finished up a pair of baby booties - going to the niece of a co-worker.  I have the baby bunting/cocoon done except for putting the buttons on, a matching hat, and I'm crocheting around the edge of a couple of receiving blankets.

The next book club meeting is coming up soon - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I finished the book last week, and have been pondering what to make for a bookmark.  I've done a tree before for one book - but it was a brown gnarly tree with no leaves, so I thought about trying for a nice green leafed tree, but....one of the things mentioned constantly in the book is pennies - the cost of everything in pennies, the things they do for pennies, etc.  One Christmas present was 10 shiny, newly minted pennies (1917, I believe!) so, I am doing a lucky penny holder for everyone.  I need to find a few more 2013 pennies, but I have enough to start with at least!

I had a girls night out last night - it's been a while!  Tami (from work), Meredith and I went out to Olive Garden for dinner after work.  Tami talked us into trying their Italian Margaritas (it didn't take much talking!) and then after dinner, ordered dessert for us to share (and I was already stuffed from the salad, breadsticks and lasagna fritta!) that was to die for.  Then, after lots of good food and laughs, we went to see "Women of Lockerbie", a play that Malorie (also from work) is in.  It is set 7 years after the Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people on board, and 11 people on the ground.  Beautifully moving!  Malorie told me to bring tissues, and she was right.  The plays deals with an American couple trying to deal with the death of their son in the plane crash and the people of Lockerbie trying to deal with their own family deaths caused by the crash and having to deal with the carnage on the ground afterwards (and dealing with U.S red tape and bureaucracy).  It was loosely based on true activities, and....was wonderful.  What a fun evening - I didn't get in until 10:00 p.m. (and I left for work at 6:45 a.m. - a long day!)

I'm also going to finish up posting the rest of the pictures from Mom's.  Alli and I stopped at the Sulfur Works on the way through Lassen Park.  I remember there being a path you could walk up a short way off the road to see more of the boiling mud action, but now - there is just the parking lot and sidewalks long the highway.  I think "they" are protecting us from ourselves again - but I will have to admit - a lot of people probably need it.  I wonder how many people actually tested the boiling mud to see if it was really hot or not?

I couldn't get Alli to pose for me very well - not that I ever can, but sometimes I get lucky.  I love this one - this is such a candid shot of her:

This is probably the best "pose" I got - not bad!

That is the boiling mud in the background, and Alli being Alli - dancing to the music in her head.

The view from the Sulfur Works out over the valley.

I stopped at the rest area outside of Chester, and Alli was getting pretty grumpy by then.  I tried for one more good picture - one with Almanor in the background.  I got pictures, no doubt, but this was the happiest I could get of Alli.  She was done with pictures and just wanted to get back in the car.

Mom's kittens are growing up!  Here's Tommy, playing in Dave's window:

And sitting pretty for the picture:

Jake spent the weekend trying to get the kittens to play with him.  They, being contrary things, spent the weekend trying NOT to play with him - I think they had more fun running from him.  Poor guy - all he wanted was a kitten to hold and cuddle with.  I think he finally got hold of Maddie when she was taking a nap and was able to get her to cuddle for a while.

Lassen pictures

Today is the ice cream 'contest' at work - not really a contest this year, thank goodness, but I made mint chocolate chip ice cream last night (two batches) and blackberry ice cream (just one batch). I meant to do it over the weekend, but....I didn't.  So, last night, I'm trying to whip up 3 batches of ice cream.  They all tasted pretty good to me - we'll see what the rest of the bank has to say.

Here are some more pictures from Lassen.  This is the path at Lake Helen's to our lunch spot.

A view of belly button rock...

Alli waiting (again) for me at Lake Helen.

Look at the cones on the top of the tree - a bumper year this year!

Mt Lassen trip

Today is Alli's first day of her Junior year of high school - I can't believe it!  She's all decked out in a new shirt and shorts and looks so cute.  Since the bus is picking her up at 6:30, there isn't a big change for her wake-up schedule - she's already been getting up at 5:30 or so all summer.

We had a good trip to Susanville.  We took the long way round - through Lassen Park.  Here's Alli rockin' out on the way out of town.  She sure loves the music!!!

Then, we got stuck in road construction - both on 44 and on 89 through the park.  (Luckily, we breezed through the construction on 36!)

At least we had a pretty view while waiting!

Here's a view from one of the turn-outs at the Park.

And Alli waiting patiently for me to finish taking pictures.

Then, we stopped for a quick snack at Lake Helen - my favorite lake!!!

Alli' advancement

You know how you plug along, doing the same thing, seeing the same results, over and over ?  (I know - that the definition of insanity, but I am speaking trying to get Alli to do things)  For years it seems, we have been working on the same skill sets, and haven't seen a lot of improvements.  Yesterday, it seems we might have had a breakthrough!  Alli and I went to Mom's - usually a 2 hour drive, but we went the  - through Lassen Park (pictures after I get back home, I promise.)  That, and road work, turned it into a 4 hour drive.  She stayed dry the entire time!  I will admit, I stopped several times (for me - too much coffee!) but she didn't go every time I stopped, but she still stayed dry.  Then, after we got to Mom's, we were going to go back into town to the store.  I took Alli to the bathroom (still dry!) and told her we were going to 'go get her shoes on, and then go to the store.'  when I got in the living room, I couldn't find her shoes where I thought I had put them - no big surprise there - where did I put them???  Then, I noticed that Alli had picked them up and had them on her lap.  That is the first time she has gotten her shoes herself when I told her we were going to go put her shoes on!  Then, while I was pointing this out to Mom, Alli out the shoes on the floor and out her foot on one of them.  She didn't get her foot in the shoe exactly, but....she had the idea!!!  All from one verbal prompt!!!  And then this morning, she didn't wake up dry, but she wasn't soaked through.  She went potty when she got up, and then a little bit later, took herself in and went potty again - and was still dry!!!  Woohoo!!!

It's Friday, and I have the day off!  I was looking forward to sleeping in on the last weekday before school starts, but.....the best laid plans!  I didn't get in from work until after 8:00 - nail appointment and grocery shopping.  By the time I got the groceries put away, something to eat, Allison put to bed, started a load of laundry, etc.,  I was ready for bed myself!

AJ had two friends over, so every time one of them moved around after I went to bed, it work me up, and when Ralph got up to go to the bathroom, it woke me up.  When Dallas left, it woke me up.  When AJ went outside to the guest house to sleep, it woke me up.  Then, at 1:30 this morning, one of the cats started meowing.  Loudly.  Incessantly. Piteously.  After a few minutes, I tried to analyse it.  Do they sound hurt?  No.  Do they sound like they are stuck?  No.  What's the problem?  I got up to find out, and about squished Rufus, he was sleeping right beside me.  So, it wasn't him.  (Not that I thought it was - he is much too quiet and regal to be doing this at 1:30 a.m.!)  I can't find Indy, I can only find Picot, and she won't come near me, so I wonder what has her spooked.  At least if it was her, she was quiet now!  I started looking to see if Indy was stuck somewhere, but all the bedroom doors were open, so that wasn't it.  He wasn't in a closet.  Finally, he came out from wherever he was, blinking and yawning (a lot like me!) so it wasn't him.  It must have been Picot - and I still don't know what her problem was, but at least it stopped!  Back to bed I go, thank goodness!

With all the comings and goings, I was tired enough that I missed hearing Allison get up at 4:00.  Bless her heart, she got up and toileted herself and went back to bed.  I heard her get back into bed and went to check on her, and.....she had toileted herself, but........she had a poopy diaper and now, was a mess. So was her bed.  Sigh.  After getting her cleaned up, her bed stripped and laundry started, back to bed I go.  To get up 30 minutes later when Alli decided that 5:00 WAS time to get up (and needed another diaper change).  Coffee!!!!  I need coffee!!!!

That being said, it is still a day off!  Work has been very stressful lately, and it is nice to have a long weekend.  I'm running up to Susanville today, and I think I going to take the long way up - through Lassen Park.  I haven't been through this year, and it is a beautiful drive.  Maybe Alli and I will even stop to take in some of the sights.

We did hear from transportation for Alli for next year.  They will be picking her up at 6:27 in the morning and dropping her off at 3:40 at daycare.  That is just about a one-hour ride each time, which is wonderful!  The only down side - I had planned on using the time between what I thought her pickup would be (around 6:00) and when I had to get ready for work (6:30) to walk, write, read, something!  Now, not so much.  I guess I will just have to get myself up early and do it before she gets up.  Self-discipline - not my strong point!

Coaster, snowflake, necklaces

I'm hoping with school starting here next week, I will settle back down and start blogging regularly again.  It seems I would rather sleep those extra few minutes than get up!  Starting next Monday, that won't be an option.  I haven't heard yet, but I'm sure Alli's bus will be here around 6:00 a.m. to pick her up.  

I did finish up a couple of thread projects - a quick little coaster and a snowflake.  I also have almost all of a baby cocoon done - it went together pretty fast!  I have an order for an 'ensemble' for a little girl due in November (what ever I want to make) and then a friend is having her first grandchild in February, so I'll need an ensemble for it too (we don't know girl or boy yet, so I have a while before I start anything.)

I also made up some necklaces last week - using the ladder type yarn and a pretty little heart pendant.  One is mine, and the other three are gifts.

Ripe Wheat doily, cross bookmarks, vegan BBQ

A major accomplishment - for me at least....I've been working on this doily since March, but just couldn't get it finished.  I don't have anything large enough to block it on, so I just ironed it, and it is 26 inches across - which means it would be larger if I could block it out.  I really like the pattern in it, and I'm really glad I finally finished it!

I have two (or is it three?) babies to make things for, so I will probably be focused on baby things for a while.

I found a photo of the bookmarks I made for our book club.  I had taken some photos before, but this shows all the colors that I made them in.

I had a very nice dinner last night with Kandis, her husband and, or course, Elora.  Elora was the recipient of the baby dragon afghan.  She is almost 6 weeks old now, and was a perfect angel last night.  Kandis and Steven are vegan, so I tried out new recipes last night.  I made a potato salad with no mayonaise, and it was pretty yummy.  The base recipe is here.  I did read the comments, and followed them - doubling the potatoes and not the rest of the ingredients.  We also BBQ'ed some portabello mushrooms (and had some veggie burgers too, just in case the mushrooms didn't turn out!)  The recipe I used is here.  I followed this recipe just as it is - a minor miracle!  I also made a strawberry sorbet for dessert.  It was a fun evening, and Kandis said it was so nice to get out and about - she even out on makeup!    Here's Elora, snuggled up on me after dinner:

Ralph passed the next test....they removed the fluid from his lung Friday morning (and re-inflated his lung - ouch!) and determined he did not have a blood clot that causing his problem.  Now he is breathing easier, except for the soreness from the procedure.  He has an appointment next week to see the results from the tests on the fluid they removed.  I guess it is good that they can't find anything - maybe that makes it just an anomaly that won't happen again???

One more test done - one more to go!  Ralph's CAT scan came back clear yesterday except for fluid in his lungs, so........he is having that drained at 7:00 this morning, and has an angiogram at 11:00 today.  Maybe this will tell us what is going on - at the very least he will have clear lungs for a while.