October 26, 2011 8:08 AM It is 8:08 AM and 32° outside… a good time to be inside!

I woke up at about 6:15 AM and got up and turned the heat up so the children would be freezing in the house and then I returned to bed and didn’t get up until about 7:35 AM.

There was frost on the grass, which tells me Kenneth have a brisk walk to school. I think it won’t be long and he will be asking for a winter coat.

Nora made coffee this morning and is checking out the other computer. I revised the settings on the router so that Nora can use the iPad until 11 PM at night.

This morning we will go to the school district central office and speak to the lady who’s in charge of hiring the subs to let her know that Nora has completed all the training modules and has signed up with the school district as a sub candidate.

I would also like to go to the bank today to find out what is happening to Nora’s debit card, I would’ve thought that it would be here by now but so far it has been a no-show.

We went to the school district office and Andrea could not find Nora’s online application so we came home and logged onto edapp again and filled another one out then returned to the district office… this time Andrea found the application ok and gave us papers to fill out.  We took the papers home and Nora will fill them out tomorrow and we will take them back on Friday.

Then we went to Rite-Aid and bought a few things after which I took Nora to BurgerKing for lunch.  They had a special where you got another burger for $1 so we bought two of them for the kids.

Back home, watched some TV and computered around awhile, chatted some with Lollie… We had dinner then more TV and after a fashion we went to bed.

October 24, 2011 7:55 AM Yet another Monday starts out the week

I woke up this morning at about 6:45 AM and got up to turn on the heat so the children would have a little bit warmer house. Shortly thereafter Kenneth came knocking at the door media ride to school as he had mistaken what time it was and was actually running about 18 min. later than he thought.

I got up and threw on some pajamas and we got out of the pickup and I drove him to school. Outside of not being able to see out the windows it wasn’t too bad, but a little bit chilly.

Nora made us some cappuccino this morning because we don’t have any regular coffee left. We may pick up some today or we might use drip grind that I bought. I may fire up the Farberware coffee pot that I bought many many years ago to emulate one that mother had when she was working.

We will go to the school district office today to check and see if we can get Nora on the sublist for work in the kitchen, I am in hopes that that will produce something positive for her. It would be a good job for her working for the school district, when she got her foot in that door and proved what a good worker she is I am sure that she would be on call almost constantly.

I am going to drink my coffee now and enjoy the morning, checked the news and my e-mails and prepare for the day.

October 23, 2011 8:41 AM Sunday, overcast and a little on the chilly side too...

Rolled out about 8:30 this morning, Nora woke up several hours ago and began tossing and turning, thus waking me up as usual. I ask her what is the problem and she tells me “I am just sleeping”… I told her maybe not.

Anyway after fussing with her for a few seconds, I got up and used the RR then returned to bed… she tossed a couple more times and finally drifted off to sleep again… She has odd sleeping habits for sure.

I doubt that we will go to church as she is in the beginning of her period and doesn’t like to go anywhere during that time.

I don’t have much planned, I want Kenneth to mow the yards though as the recent dampness has given the grass a rejuvenation and now it is growing and green… it does look nicer green, even the weeds look good.

Perhaps today I will cut the ¼ round to length and get it painted in preparation to installing it in front of the tub.

We ended up going to church… Then off to Wal★mart to get some notebooks for Kenneth and some poster board for Joyce… Kenneth bought himself a flannel shirt, good choice.

I did paint the ¼ round and installed it then caulked around the top and bottom of it to keep the water away from the subflooring.

October 22, 2011 8:18 AM Today is Melba's birthday bash in Corvallis...

Nora’s auntie Rhed came to visit yesterday. Nothing new this morning, we managed to roll out about 8am after a pretty fair nights sleep. Yesterday was a busy day for us what with the two kids having conferences at the schools we needed to attend and her Dr. appt in the morning.

Today, we will need to go to Wal★mart and look for some trinket for Melba before we head over to Corvallis for lunch with her. She is either 23 or 22 I think.

October 21, 2011 7:02 AM Friday, No school for the kids...

The alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, the time Nora had chose to get up and prepare to go to the Doctors in Albany. She wants to drop off some spaghetti sauce with Melba too, along the way.

I love my family, my wife is a wonderful but at times confusing woman to whom I am blessed to be married. My children of this union are good kids and I love them both also.

We will leave here about 7:20 or 7:15 to go to Albany.

Got to the Dr. office at 7:55. Nora’s visit went well, the nurse talked to her and also performed a pap smear which is something that Nora wanted to get done anyway. Nurse told her that everything looked normal and good and also reassured Nora that the discomfort she is feeling is like brought on by ovulation.

From there we came back home and had a late breakfast at the new Jack-in-the box restaurant in Lebanon… from there, we stopped at Safeway and got a couple items then went home and dropped them off. From there, we went to the High School for the parent teacher conferences and finished that about 12:30pm.

Back home now, Nora is doing some more laundry and I am chatting with Lollie a little bit.

October 20, 2011 8:02 AM Today is Thursday, PT meetings start this afternoon and continue tomorrow morning.

Awoke at about 7:16am, went to the can then retired again but just hugging and such… about 7:40am, Nora decided we should get up which is correct.

Gotta call the Doctor this morning and make an appointment for her. She started a load of white clothes in the washer already and coffee is setting here beside me.

Just finished making a help file for Lollie about setting up “Mover Connect” and where it stores the files you transfer with it...

I called Dr. Thayer’s office, they are evidently closed until next Monday… they seem to keep bizarre office hours. I asked Nora if she can wait until next week and she said she could.

October 19, 2011 8:12 AM Wednesday, forgot to send forms with Joyce, (she forgot to give them to us!!)

I woke up about 7:30 this morning, but didn’t get up until about 7:50… just too nice laying next to the little brown girl.

We will need to go out to 7 Oaks and fill out a form for the parent teacher conferences being held on Thursday and Friday. I knew about it yesterday, but forgot to ask Joyce for the form and she forgot to give them to us…

Nothing special planned for today I guess… Nora said last night that she wants to clean our bathroom today, I told her I only cleaned it about once ever 3 months… she thought that was really bad.

October 18, 2011 8:15 AM Tuesday… tonight we will watch 'Biggest Loser'

I woke up about 6:15am, got up, dressed and went to McDonald's for coffee. I bought some apple pies and came home to give one to Nora.

Last night, Kenneth was using his big mouth to backtalk Nora and insult Joyce by calling her stupid.

 I will talk to him about that today when he comes home from school. He is disrespectful to his mother and has been since I met him in Basud… I don’t know what he thinks when he is doing that, but it won’t be tolerated here.

I need to get a resume printed out for Nora today. We also need to go to the store and get a couple things, bean sprouts and something else...Nora and I went to Safeway to get some produce, unfortunately they are out of bean sprouts today, but will have some tomorrow, she did find some fish oil though.

A couple of sneezes and a slightly runny nose make me suspicious that I may have contracted yet another cold… I do NOT like them.

We just finished dinner, rice and chicken chunks cooked with spinach… rather anemic in my mind but that is what we had.  Always plenty of rice but tonight there just wasn’t much to accompany it on the plate...

Nora was at the big computer watching some videos and I was watching some TV… about 9 I headed to bed to catch some ‘King of the Hill’ and ‘Family guy’.

October 17, 2011 7:55 AM Wow it's really foggy outside this morning…

Nicholas text me messages warning about 7 AM which woke me up and then we got up at about 7:30 AM and Nora made some coffee for us. We are now each of the computer checking your e-mail and our Facebook. Seems to be a daily routine.

It was only 65° in the house this morning when I got up so I cranked up the heat to 72° and that will make it more comfortable. I need to set it up so that he comes on at about 6 when the children get up so that it is not quite so cold for them. Maybe I can find that manual today that tells how to set it up automatically.

I’ve already taken my medication this morning so I don’t have to worry about forgetting that. Not exactly sure what the gameplay is for today, but I’m sure that I will be informed before long.

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October 15, 2011 10:20 AM Saturday morning, TV and Job Apps for Nora...

We got up a little after 8:00am, slept pretty good but Nora had one of her ‘I can’t sleep’ things again last night.

I asked her to fix some brown an serve sausages and two eggs for me, I specifically asked her to make sure to brown the sausages as they appear like the ‘Un Dead’ gray and yucky if you don’t. She served them to me Microwaved, gray and with only one egg… She either does not understand my requests or, perhaps she doesn’t pay attention when I am speaking to her… either way is very annoying.

I will go the extra mile and from now on, I will confirm with her that she heard me and understands what it is that I want… I think it is just a communication issue that we will overcome in time.

She is filling out another online job application this morning… the only thing she has gotten from all the rest of them is calls offering to finance her continued schooling… damn scumbags only want her money… and their placement services are laughable.

They advertise hundreds of jobs available in Lebanon, Oregon… that is nothing short of an outright lie… but she has high hopes anyway. I hope something materializes for her but have warned her that jobs are scarce and many people bring much more to the plate than she does…

I want her to be successful but it will take a great stroke of luck to pull it all together in this economy.Got the bottom shelf fixed in the refrigerator so now it will work ok again… I hope they take it easier on it from now on...

Fred finally made it over here about 6:15… seems things at the Crosair ranch might be on the lame side and Fred tells me Ray and his new bride are not doing so good.  Sad, I hope that they can work it out.

Nora is talking to her Father in the Philippines now so I am just messing around here on the computer.

She told me that from now on, she wants to send Jenny’s allowance to Father, based on her decisions and stubborness I think it’s a good idea too.

Off to bed now.

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October 14, 2011 9:42 AM Friday, and believe it, a kids school holiday… Bummed !!!

We got up about 7:45 this morning, no school for the kids today.

It is only about 46˚ outside but hopefully later this afternoon, Kenneth can mow the yards here and at Mom’s place.

Nothing special planned, Nora is filling out a UPS application or at least trying to.

Had Oatmeal for breakfast and took my meds so all the requirements of the morning have been met.

 Lollie got Gareth’s phone updated and is going to do hers soon… I sent her a link about a new app called ‘WhatsApp’ and it allows text msgs to anyone anyplace using the app for free… would be good to get for Jenny…

We just finished lunch, the kids, Nora and I will go to Wal★mart in a little while, we have a couple of things to buy and I will give the kids a little spending money too.
Gave each of the kids $10 to blow anyway they wanted… Our first stop was at Wal★mart where I dropped $75. then we hit the Dollar store. Both kids had fun at the Dollar Store and Nora got some more cookie mixes and muffin mixes.

Got home and Lollie called, they took their iMac to the Apple store and the genius there found some virus checking program loaded that was choking the shit out of their computer… he removed that so hopefully things will even out.

No good luck with the computer, even on Skype, she cuts in and out on audio.

We had dinner and then watched some TV, Nora caught up on her soap, ‘Amaya’.

Going to bed now (after a quick shower)...

October 13, 2011 7:57 AM Thursday, another one, yep, one in each week...

I got up about 12:30 this morning to see if the iPhone had updated, it had, so I did the final touches and then got the iPad and hooked it up for the update also.

This morning, I got up about 7:45 and came out, the iPad had successfully updated also so I finished up the process and everything seems to be working good, it will be fun to see some of the new changes that have been invoked in this new version of the Operating system. Hope that there aren’t too many glitches… from what I read, it is a pretty darn stable release.

I need to take Maria to Albany to Fred Meyer this afternoon so she can mail a couple of LBC boxes to her kids in the Philippines. I will buy a couple boxes myself for Nora to use later on.

I helped Nora with an application for Kohls and then we had soup for lunch.  I took my meds late though… wish I could make a habit of when I take them.  Something consistent for a change.

Nora and I went to Mega Foods and bought 10# of chicken wings and some baby back pork ribs, then off to the Dollar store for some cake mixes, muffin mixes and brownie mixes… back home now, she mixed up the muffins (blueberry) and we baked them off… pretty good too.

Nora is updating her games, it is almost 9pm so I am off to watch my cartoons...

October 12, 2011 6:45 AM Tuesday and it looks wet but isn't raining currently...

I woke at about 6:22am this morning, used the rest room then tried to go back to sleep but got to thinking that if it is raining, I should give Kenneth a ride to school but it is not raining now so maybe not. It is still dark outside, nothing too unusual for this time of year though.

Joyce is at the other computer, singing to herself and doing FB. I wonder what the life here would be like for them if they didn’t have that connection to home in the Philippines. I guess that it is a mixed blessing.

Thought about going down to McDonald's for coffee but the longer I think about it, the less appealing it becomes. I do miss the cronies though, I formed some good friendships there and probably should think twice about not going down to visit them now and then.

Friendships are things that we tend to take for granted and don’t realize their true value until we’ve pissed them away and allowed them to dissolve. I don’t think that is a good way to treat friends so I will make a point to go there a little more often.

Went to McDonald's about 7:30am to see Myron, he is back from China now.

I just finished upgrading to the lastest OS X system software ver 10.7.2 which brings iCloud and a host of other improvements to the Apple devices… iOS 5 is not yet available on iTunes so will have to wait for the iPhone and iPad system updates.

October 11, 2011 5:15 PM I am tired today...

Nothing special today, we stripped the bed and I remade it with the light colored sheets. Nora washed and hung the others out to dry. We worked on her job apps today, then this afternoon, I went to the post office to mail the grill rebate form and also stopped at Mega Foods for some milk… Nora doesn’t like the taste of the ‘Special’ brand so I got her a quart of Western Family 2% and she said she like the flavor of that a lot better… funny thing is it comes from the same cow and same dairy, just rebranded to Western Family… Oh well, if she thinks it tastes different that is ok with me. Gonna watch some TV tonight, we watched a movie with Arnie in it before he became the Governor of Ca… damned if i can think of the name of it though… Oh, it was “Collateral Damage”… good action and typical Arnie. Lollie and I chatted for a tiny bit, I called Apple and got Safari to render pages right again… maybe. Then I chatted a bit with Gareth. We are getting ready to have dinner now, Kenneth is doing homework or something. Not much else happening here today… <smiles> it’s always good.

October 9, 2011 9:22 AM Chilly and overcast… Winter beckons…

Last night was nice, cool enough for good sleep and just a very nice evening. We woke this morning about 7:30am. I think Nora would have liked to sleep longer, but we’ve got Church to go to and breakfast to prepare. I got up first and made the coffee and some Hawaiian English muffin w/peanut butter, Nora’s had honey on it too. She started to tell me she didn’t want it but then decided to eat it or I should say half of it… She rarely has much of a morning appetite. I don’t want to go to church today, or at least I don’t want to go to the Catholic one. I will, for the family but I won’t like it… I am not sure why, I suppose it is because it seems cold and impersonal to me, then there is also my disassociation with organized religion that comes into play. Actually I miss VLC !!! Don’t know what is planned for the rest of the day after church, but the weather certainly does not encourage going outside and we’ve not really got the money to go shopping or anything like that. I hope that Nora meets with some success with her job pursuits… she is dedicated to getting a job, I just wish that she had some credentials or past experience that would help her. I want her to be successful and happy and I think that a major part of that will come from feeling self sufficient.

October 8, 2011 11:59 AM Today started out nice and sunny but now is clouding up a little bit…

We got up at about 8 AM this morning, I was surprised that it was as late as it was.

Nora got dressed and we left at about 8:45 AM to go to Albany for target appointment. We got there early and she decided to go up to the office and check and found out that her appointment was actually for Monday morning not this morning so we will make another trip.

From there we went to the Salvation Army store where she bought a pair of jeans and I got a Powerball (it is an exercise machine for the wrist sort of like a Gyro scope). They are normally about $30 in the sporting goods store, I got this one for $1.99.

We’re home again now and I just filled out the rebate form for the Electrolux range and will mail it perhaps today.

Kenneth is washing the Mini Cooper now so that will be taken care of.

Fairly quiet afternoon, not much going on, the weather turned chilly so staying inside seemed best… Kenneth and Joyce are finishing up their homework assignments.

We had dinner then retired to the living room to watch some TV… I did manage to take a food handler permit site and get an Oregon Food Handler card for Nora, cost me $7.99 but now she has it.

It is after 9pm, going to go to bed and watch some King of the Hill…

Hmmmm ‘King of the Hill’ got pre-empted by my lovely wife… better program me thinks...

October 7, 2011 7:51 AM Another Friday… well my throat feels better but not good but I do believe I am on the mend.

This morning Nora got up at about 7 AM to check on Joyce and use the restroom. When she came back in the bedroom she checked on the iPad for mail and God knows what else. I got up to use the restroom and while I was there she decided it was time for us to be up and opened the blinds which flooded the bedroom with light and ruin my chance to go back to sleep for a while. Oh well! Oddly, I received a text message from Tim, acknowledging that I was right and that Apple is the largest technological firm on the planet. I don’t know if that was meant sarcastically or if he finally came to realize it was true. Doesn’t really matter to me either way. I wonder what will be for breakfast? I have no idea and furthermore I don’t really care. Stupid cold!

October 6, 2011 7:20 AM Steve Jobs, died yesterday the new technology the loss is dramatic.

The day ended yesterday on a sad note with notification that Steven Jobs, the iconic leader of Apple Computer had passed away. Truly a visionary in the computer industry and related technical fields he was one in 1 million perhaps one in 1 million million. It would’ve been a great pleasure to meet him.

The cold that I managed to acquire from my daughter has been wreaking havoc with me as all colds manage to do. I took some medication last night which Nora insisted upon. I don’t feel particularly better this morning, but as with every cold I’ve ever had, eventually I will get over it.

It is overcast outside and the potential for rain is there. I’ve not looked at the forecast for today but I faintly remember seeing either rain or showers forecast.

I did have to make one trip today and that will be to take the immunization forms for Kenneth to the high school and I do believe that today I will have to take Nora back to taco bell to speak with the manager about her application for work there. Nothing else should be pressing today.

I took the immunization forms for Kenneth to the High school. The nurse entered them as I waited and at the end, told me everything was fine now. I thanked her and left.

Back home, we, Nora and I, worked some more on her online test for the iMatchSkills program… we are having a hard time getting past the 5th level though… I am dumb I think.

I have decided that I truly feel lousy today… early bedtime I think will be the order for me this evening and some tylenol pm also..

The early to bed happened, but the tylenol did not. I went to bed around 8pm and then Nora doctored me up with something we bought for Joyce’s cold and it managed to stop the coughing.

October 5, 2011 8:20 AM Wednesday morning, gloomy outside and raining.

I went to the alarm at 5:55 AM, got dressed and went down to McDonald’s for coffee. When I left there at 7:55 AM I picked up an apple pie to bring home to Nora. I had called her twice on the Vonage phone with no answer, when I got home she had just gotten out of bed so she must’ve been tired.

I need to contact the high school today and see what the issue is with the drinking fountains. Kenneth wants money to buy bottled water and says that none of the kids drink out of the water fountain and I need to know why.

Nothing special is planned for today except to visit back to Taco Bell to check on Nora’s application there.

••• October 5th, Steve Jobs passed away… my God, only 56 years old… and a billionaire 8x over. Greatest visionary CEO in history.

RIP Steve, the world lost a keeper !!!

Well, it is 9:46 PM and I am headed to bed...

October 4, 2011 7:42 AM Overcast and rainy. A good day to curl up by a warm fire!

I woke a little before 7 AM this morning after a somewhat restless night. I had to get up a number of times to go to the bathroom but was lucky enough to always return to a warm bed and loving wife. I put water on for coffee after saying good morning to Joyce who was at the computer doing her typical Facebook stuff. She left the house at about 7:35 AM for school. She told me her nose was not running this morning after using the Vicks vapor rub on it last night. That stuff is miraculous. I will have to tell all in honesty we probably will not make it down to Sacramento for Christmas… at least not by train. Just too much money has been spent so far this year. Hopefully next year I will be able to retain more of my income and hopefully Nora will have a job by that time. Today, we will drop off the applications that Nora has completed and she also wants to resubmit the application for Walmart.

October 3, 2011 7:48 AM Another week, it is wet outside, but not raining.

Slept good, Nora had a pretty good headache going when she finally came to bed, I made her take 2 excedrins and that seemed to take care of it. We will go to Costco today, stock up for the month I guess… hope it’s not like the last time. Coffee is made, Nora is talking to her sisters to arrange for her mother to remain interred where she is, in the Philippines, you only get to contract for a burial place for 5 years at a time… if you cannot pay, the bones are removed and disposed of. hmmmmmm. Another good case for being BBQ’d. Dust to dust.

October 2, 2011 9:33 AM Sunday, overcast and wet… probably no church today.

Although it is Sunday, the day started late for us, at least it did for Nora and I. We didn’t get up until after 9am. A really late morning.. The kids were both up at 6am this morning. Probably will not go to church this morning, Nora has a headache and it is just not a hurry up and lets go to church morning… Nora and I both had English muffin w/butter for breakfast, hers was peanut butter and honey. I made the coffee. We filled out the rest of the Target application for Nora and then did one for Costco. I hope she hears from them. Watched a Horror movie called “Headless Horseman” on the SciFi channel… typical blood and guts show but it was enjoybable. Chatting a little bit with Gareth, they are looking at getting rid of the Acura and picking up another car or SUV depending. I went to the store, to get Nora an orange and some orange juice so she could make orange chicken… the dinner was different… not the same as the orange chicken she made in the Philippines. Bathed and bed ready… now to see what is on TV... After watching some TV, I decided to go to bed, it is about 9:10, I will watch some ‘King of the Hill’ and maybe ‘American Dad’. Nora followed me shortly.

October 1, 2011 9:46 AM.… Is October 1 Saturday morning, we made some pancakes for breakfast.

We woke up at about 7 AM this morning. I got up and got dressed and came out and made drinks for everyone and then checked my e-mail.

Today is cooler and we will be going to Albany and the Salvation Army to see if we can find Kenneth a winter coat and God knows what else.

It is as I said, cooler today and the skies are overcast and we are predicted to have rain most of the day.

I cleaned up all the kitchen dishes and the stove so now all we have to do is get the family dressed and head out.

Nora is talking to Shanna Meanne. in Tennessee. The nice thing about the call is that on the weekends they are free, and free is a price that I like very much.

September 30, 2011 7:20 AM. TGIF and another week is done.

I woke up this morning about 6:30 AM and got out of bed about 7 AM. I made coffee for Nora and I. Joyce is that the computer doing some school work and Kenneth has already left for school. Not sure just what is planned for today but I’m sure we will have something to do. There are some high clouds in the sky outside but that will probably burn off around noon or so. I have not looked at the local weather yet this morning.

September 29, 2011 11:30 AM Thursday morning beautiful day…

I got a call from 7 Oaks school secretary and she wanted me to drop off the immunization forms for Joyce as soon as possible which I did. Then I stopped at Carl’s Junior and got an application for Nora, from there I stopped at Burger King and got another application for Nora then I went to mega-foods and got some stew meat and milk. Back home now, I scanned in the applications that I got for Nora and filled them out using PDF Pro and then printed them for her so she can sign them and submit them. Nora is baking some cinnamon rolls in the small oven I can smell them already. I told her to watch them closely so that they do not burn.

September 27, 2011 8:35 AM. It is raining this morning and I found out at the high school that Kenneth will be walking to school

We awoke to rainfall this morning, I don’t know what time it started raining last night but the streets are wet and it still drizzling out this morning. I drove Kenneth school and check with the transportation people and they say that if you live within 1.5 miles of the high school that you walk to school. I stopped at the barbershop and got a haircut, then home where Nora was busy investigating replies to her job searches. Most all of them are headhunters nothing is specific to what her abilities are. I told her after breakfast we would go to the employment office where she can register for work. We will also pick up a local newspaper and see what’s available there. I think also we will scoff at the district school office and see what the job listings are. She also noticed a job listing at the Lebanon community Hospital for housekeeper. Now she has her green card and Social Security card she can apply for work anywhere with no problem. We spent a few hours at the Employment office, getting Nora registered for work. We then went shorts hunting for Kenneth and found some at the Mennonite store. We stopped at the little bakery and had a roll and coffee then back home… I found a perfectly good pair of gym shorts in Kenneths room… that pissed me off. We will go to Goodwill again Saturday. Nora is looking at available jobs online now. I worked with Nora to complete the application for Samaratin health care, a housekeeping job at the Lebanon Hospital… Received a message from 7 Oaks nurse, something regarding Joyce’s immunization records so we will go to the school tomorrow I suppose.

September 26, 2011 6:07 AM Monday and the beginning of yet another week. This will be Kenneth's first week of school

I woke up this morning at 5:58am. Washed my face and got ready for the day, Kenneth was already awake so no need to roust him out. Not too much to do now, let him get ready for school and then drop him at the High School by 7:30am. He will meet up with Mr. Olson at that time. Slept good last night, the weather has cooled down and the evenings are very pleasant for sleeping now. Nora is still in bed. Nora got up about 6:20am, she has made coffee. We got a reply from Globe so hopefully Nora will be able to resolve the broadband contract issue soon. Delivered Kenneth to HS at 7:25am, met with Mr. Olson at main office, he gave Kenneth his schedule and then walked us thru his first 4 periods. We sent Kenneth off to his first class then returned to the cafeteria where I set up the account for free lunches for Kenneth. He and Joyce both receive free meals. Back home and Nora connived me into making breakfast, eggs over easy, pepper bacon and toast. Not bad. During cleaning of the stove, I cut two of my fingers on a shield that was not properly finished and had a very sharp leading edge… some diligently applied sand paper took care of the issue, now it is smooth and won’t cut.

September 24, 2011 11:26 AM A beautiful sunny day...

We woke up at about 7:45 AM, for the 2nd time. No backup at 3 AM thinking there was a ghost in the room. She often has nightmares and believes that ghosts actually exist. It truly does scare her so I am glad that I am here to be support to her during those times.

After making each other smile, we got up and got dressed. I had an English muffin for breakfast and coffee and took my medication of course.

After that we go to children some housecleaning orders and chores to take care of and we decided to go for a walk all around the block. It was nice and we stopped down at Columbus Park and played on the swing sets for a little while.

Back at the house now and I just saw Maria walk-up, she had written her bicycle over here. I guess that her and Wayne are still a little upset with each other. He was an interesting person but not the kind of a person that I want to be. I wish he treated Maria much better than he does.

Later today I may go down to moms and plan out the old range and perhaps prepare the space for the new one from our home. I do know we have to go to Walmart today and Nora wants to buy some stockings to where was her dress when we go to church.

September 23, 2011 7:06 AM. Today Kenneth takes the placement/eval tests at the high school

We woke up this morning at about 6:30 AM, then nature called and Nora spent some time in the bathroom, and I proceeded to get dressed as Kenneth and I need to go to the high school to meet with Mr. Dick Olson at 8:30 AM.

After we drop Kenneth off at the high school so he can start taking the placement exams, Nora and I will proceed downtown, she wants to walk around a little bit and check out more of the shops and see what else is available.

Joyce is already getting ready for school, she will leave the house about 7:35 AM or so to walk down to Columbus Park where she can catch the bus to 7 Oaks.

This afternoon, I want to take our old stove down to mom’s house and replace the one that is there and I think I will take your old one down to teen challenge and donate it to them. I will probably have to cut some of the back wall out so that our old stove can fit properly.

My coffee just arrived so I’m going to sit back and drink that and perhaps read the mail.

Took Kenneth to the High School for the test then Nora and I went to the bank and then to Kellenberger to pay off the range. Stopped by South Santiam plumbing, but nobody there to pay so I will do that later, perhaps tomorrow.

Took Kenneth back to the High School at 1pm so he could do the English test. Did some more running around then took Kenneth and Nora for ice creme at McDonald’s.

I bought some switches and wire to make a splitter for the speaker output on the iMac so we could leave the headphones plugged in and the speaker system also but it don’t work, have feedback so I must see if diodes will cure the problem…

Melba and her boyfriend and Maria came over and Kenneth prepared some chicken and cooked lumpia for them, and they had a bottle of wine. Maria had brought a 12 pack of beer.

The kitchen is clean now everyone has gone home and we are going to go to bed.

September 22, 2011 7:16 AM. 9:00am and things are poppin... Frank is here and the stove will be soon

This morning is starting out beautiful and some nice blue sky and crisp temperatures.

The stove should be delivered sometime this morning and Frank or his crew from South side plumbing should arrive to install the gas line and make the final connection to the stove.

I will call Mr. Dick Olson who will be Kenneth’s counselor at the high school to see what needs to happen to complete the enrollment process.

Coffee has magically appeared at my side so I’m going to take some time and enjoy a cup while I watch some of the morning show.

Frank, from South Santiam Plumbing is here installing the gas line, the stove is supposed to be delivered by about 9:30am.

Kellenburger just delivered the new gas range and Frank is in process of hooking it up to the newly installed gas line.

The extension that Larry Anderson gave me for Mr. Olson was incorrect so after getting the correct one, I left him a voice mail regarding Kenneth’s enrollment.

The Navy recruiter came at about 3pm today… after greetings, the first thing he did was put Kenneth in front of a laptop and had him take entry tests… no chatting to tell of potential benefits or schools or educational benefits, nothing to ‘sell’ the Navy at all… I was not impressed.

I am getting tired, gonna go to bed.

September 21, 2011 8:12 AM. Early morning coffee at McDonald's...

I woke up about 5:30 AM this morning and left the house at about a quarter till 6 to go to McDonald’s for coffee. Ralph was there and later Rick Alexander came in. I left at about 7:30 AM to come home. When I got home Nora asked me where are the “apple pies”, I had forgotten so I went back down and bought 4 of them.

Maybe today I will wash the windows on the inside at least in the kitchen and in Joyce’s bedroom and possibly the front room also.

I do have the appointment with Larry Anderson at the high school this morning at 10 AM.

After the talk with Mr. Anderson, I came away thinking that the whole process is going to take a little time and even then I am not too sure of what the eventual outcome will be. Hopefully, for Kenneth, it will be good.

This afternoon, we went to Wal★mart and got a couple of bulbs to try with my night lite idea then stopped at the dollar store and Bi-Mart to get plug end and switch. Then to Bi-Rite for the cord but they don’t have any so off to Economy to buy that and the base for the bulb to fit into.

Made it home finally then I stayed in the garage to put it all together and will try it out tonight. We got the kitchen curtains back up after scratching our head for awhile to find out which combination went where and now as I look at it I see it is still not right. But it will be.

Nora is talking to her Father in the Philippines now...

The evening is quiet, watching TV and chatting a little bit. Nothing more from Lollie tonight.

Brian should deliver our new gas range tomorrow morning and Frank should be here to install the new gas line to feed it.

We watched some television for a little while and then went to bed about 9 PM.

September 20, 2011 7:57 AM

The alarm awoke us this morning at 7 AM, I had decided earlier that I was not going to go to McDonald’s for coffee this morning. The nights are much cooler now so sleeping is easier, I did have the AC set for about 68°. Nora kept telling me to turn it off and I kept telling her no. I would like to take Nora to the Social Security office today to apply for her card as she now has her green card so the process should be quite simple. The Navy recruiter will not come today but rather call me on Thursday to see what the results of our conversation with Mr. Anderson yield. The skies outside are nice and blue, but the temperature is cool. My kind of day.

September 18, 2011 8:55 AM. Catholic church today...

Well, our anniversary was a nice day, spent shopping at 2nd hand stores for winter coats and other as-sundry items. We chowed down at Burger King and made the mistake of ordering Whopper Jr. burgers… they truly are made for youngsters and not adults.

Today starts with another overcast sky, we will be going to the 10:30am Mass at the Catholic church. It is to accommodate Nora as she and the children are Catholic.

I have nothing special planned for this day.

Saturday; September 17, 2011 Saturday morning, Nora and I's 1st wedding anniversary… what a year!!!

Earlier, a few weeks ago, I had thought I would try changing the header from the date, to my comment of the day... now I will change it back to reflect the date of the posting...

Sleep was good last night, the house cooled down to 67°, the AC never did come on all night long.

To lose the 17th and is one year since Nora and I got married in Basud. it has been quite a tumultuous year looking back, we had many obstacles to overcome and was not a cheap endeavor. I do not in any way begrudge the money spent to get my family here to the United States. You cannot really put a price on happiness.

It is overcast outside today so I would imagine that will either shower or rain at some point, all we certainly could use some rainfall. The kids, Nora and I will go to Albany to Salvation Army store and look for some winter clothing. She has found things in secondhand stores here in Lebanon that are almost brand-new and you pick it up for pennies on the dollar. Once you run it through the washing machine it’s like the other person never existed.

Randolph Lalonde is going to soon release the next book in this spin free series. I will certainly get that.

The new iPhone 5 is surrounded by speculation regarding the design and appearance and capabilities. If Apple follows suit with the past, we will be surprised once again in another week or 2.

I think I’m going to have my coffee now and read the mail.

TGIF… I have a couple of appointments and must renew the Toyota registration.

Sleepless good last night we watched 2 episodes of “King of the Hill” and then “family Guy” and then we went to sleep. I woke up about 6 AM, used the restroom and then went back to bed and tried to sleep. I got up about 7 AM and went down to McDonald’s for coffee. Back home again by 8 AM. We have an appointment at 11 AM this morning at Rhodes Warden to check into the insurance possibilities for me. User before that appointment or after we need to go to the DMV and reregister the Toyota. That will cost me $86. Kenneth is online looking for more jobs, but cannot really apply for anything until he receives his green card. I know it is hard for him to wait, but some things just take time.

Thursday morning, sunshine everywhere

Sleep was good last night, the temperature in the house drop down to about 70°. I did not set an alarm last night so this morning I woke up at about 7 AM. Nora got up to make sure Joyce was getting ready for school. She came back into the bedroom about 7:30 AM and jumped on me like a little monkey. This morning we will go down to the other house and I will take down the remainder of the bifold shower doors and also re-caulk the base of the toilets. We will then do a walk-through and make sure we haven’t missed any items that need touchup cleaning. Kenneth is in the kitchen at the present time making pancakes for breakfast. Nora and I went to the other house, I removed all the silicone sealer from the tub and the toilets and replaced it with new, looks much better… removed the bifold doors from the main tub in the big bathroom and will do the same to the shower in the bed/bathroom. Cleaned some ceiling globes and repainted the floor register in the kitchen. Nora is quite the trooper, cleans really thoroughly too. We will go to Wal★mart and get some Mr. Clean magic erasers to clean the prints off the cabinet doors and drawers, also will take the portable air compressor down and blow off the blinds… Old english the window sills too I guess. Nora and I went to Wal★mart to get the magic sponge and I also bought her and Joyce some tops that were on sale. Then to Seven Oak to check on the gum rules and after that, to Comcast to see how much for the pinoy channels. We found out that the 2 Filipino channels would cost us $21.95 per month and to get another DVR would cost $9.95 per month so almost $30 per month. Then we came home and prepared for dinner, we made hamburger patties with onion and garlic in them and mashed potatoes and hamburger gravy. It was a good meal and the hamburgers were very big. We watched some TV, Nora watched some Filipino TV on the computer. Going to bed now after a shower.

Wednesday, Hump day...

The day is overcast and cooler. We all slept pretty well I think. Today Nora and Kenneth and I will go to Mom’s and do some spot cleaning which the management people noticed needs to be done. Perhaps after that, we may go to Albany to see if we can find Kenneth and Nora a winter coat. I blew off the appt. with Rhodes Warden (Mary) today, rescheduled it for Friday at 11am. Off to the store to buy some cleaning supplies. Kenneth fryed some chicken tonight, it was good too and Nora made a salad for us also.. Been helping joyce with some homework, she would prefer that I do it, but I told her that is not my job.

A damp Tuesday morning…

I woke up this morning at about 6:25 AM got out of bed got dressed and went down to McDonald’s for coffee. When I got home Nora was up and Joyce was getting ready to leave for school. We had to hustle her out of the door because she was slow this morning. I got on the phone with someone aged people and was able to get our vonage line up and running, I made a call to them and they called me back and the connections were good. I do have a blinking light on the AirPort Express that I must investigate. We are able to connect to the Internet so that is not a big issue. Laura and I went to the megamart again today and bought some hot dog buns and hamburger buns and also some vegetables we got out of the store for less than $9 so I felt lucky. I also got rid of the tin.

Monday, beginning of the week… fortunately nothing terrible happened yesterday.

As I went to bed last night I was quite thankful for the fact that nothing disastrous or terrible or terror related happened yesterday on the 10th anniversary of 911. Making Nora happy is something I truly enjoy doing, we shared a bottle of sangria last night before bed. She seems to enjoy the wine, but she does seem to drink it very quickly. I hope to teach her how to savor it and enjoy it slowly. I will need to check my mail and see if I got anything from Casey about the Spartan photo book requirement. If I haven’t received anything I will go out to 7 Oaks school and inquire. At 9 AM this morning we are scheduled to go to Linn Benton community college and talk to a counselor about the possibilities that exist for Kenneth. Today is not a sunny day, it is overcast but that probably will not last long. Went to LBCC and I must admit, the counselor Janeen, was something else, ranting about the phone system and you could not get a word in edgewise, she is most definitely an “Alpha” female if ever there was one. I was totally unimpressed with her demeanor and ability to help us. After that we went to town and Nora and Kenneth searched for some clothes at the second hand stores, we did get a top for Nora and a winter coat for Joyce. Nothing for Kenneth though… Once home, I got up on Burger King site and downloaded and filled out an application for him. I did one yesterday for him for McDonald’s. I will check for Taco Bell and Taco Time and Hardee’s also.

Today is September 11, the 10 year anniversary of a very dark day… May all who perished on that day be remembered today.

It looks to be another beautiful blue today, the will take this opportunity to break in her new clothes line. It seems funny to me how the simple things bring so much joy. Yesterday was a great day we all had a good time it wasn’t quite as well planned out as it could’ve been, but sometimes that makes for the very best of times. I just finished repairing with some contact cement, a bet that Nora had bought to wear with a new dress that she bought prior to leaving the Philippines. It is a very pretty one also. I think today I may make some icons for the folders that I made for Joyce for school. Something to give them a little bit of personality I also want to figure out how to share the photo album with the children. I’m going to close and drink my coffee, we will see how the rest of the day unfolds.

A portable Blogger... Who'da thunkit!!

Well this is just a simple test to see if this new app works!!!

TGIF Friday is always a good day

The alarm went off at 6:30 AM this morning. I rolled Nora out of bed to get Joyce up so she could get ready for school. I observed that one hour is not quite enough time for her to prepare herself to walk out the door so Monday morning I will get her up at 6:15 AM. Nora said that’s too early but, Joyce is not so very fast in the morning.

Today, we will go Linn Benton community college to check on classes and possible scholarships for Kenneth. I would like to see what is available for him.

7:35 AM Joyce, Nora and Kenneth all walked down to the bus stop with Joyce.

I am enjoying a cup of coffee right now, and getting caught up on my journal and a few other things… I configured the dropcopy program for each of the users on the other computer. Maybe tomorrow morning I will get Nora up early and we will go to McDonald’s for coffee and let the kids sleep in here at home.

Went to Economy with Kenneth, we got the 4x4’s and brought them home only for me to discover that I didn’t have any stovebolts long enough to mount the 4x4’s to the metal upright posts of the carport… off to Bi-Mart to purchase some ¼” all thread and some fender washers.

Got it all installed, wire hung and tightened and received the blessings of pope Nora.  She is happy now.

Thursday, an intro to Dr. Thayer...

Today, I will take my new family to Albany to meet Dr. Thayer who has graciously accepted my new family as patients. He will spend approximately ½ hour with each of them in a “Getting to know you” appointment. This morning, I and maybe Nora will walk Joyce to the bus stop by Columbus park and 10th st. Other than the appointment with Dr. Thayer, we don’t really have anything special to do… I would like to hope that maybe the money will quit seeping from my wallet eventually. It has been an arterial flow up until now. We will go to 7 Oaks this morning, I would like to be there at 10am to check on the lunch program as I understand that lunch is not free. picked up Joyce about 10;15AM then off to Albany and Dr. Thayer… that visit went well and he has the information on all three of them now. On the way thru Lebanon, we stopped at BurgerKing to get some lunch, another $22 shot. Everyone likes burgerking better than McDonald’s. Can’t say I blame them either. Dropped Joyce off at school then home. Shortly after we got home, Maria and Melba came by to take Nora and Kenneth shopping in Salem, don’t know when they will be home but wished them a good time. I then took the Toyota out to see if the landfill was open, found it closed, only open on the weekends. Drove out to Myron’s and unloaded all that would burn and tossed some stuff in the bushes across the street from his place. Came home and knocked the desk apart and cut up what I could not knock off, now to find a place to dump it… I will walk down and meet Joyce’s bus at about 3:30 or so. Joyce’s bus arrived at about 3:45. She was happy and smiling and told me she had a good day. Makes me happy that she is adjusting quickly to what has to be a dramatic change in her schooling atmosphere. I am proud of her. I called Melba, they are at Target in albany and will likely be home around 7 or 7:30. I told her to have a good time and enjoy herself… I am sure Kenneth is having the time of his life with those 3 women.

Wednesday Joyce's 1st day at school

I woke up to use the bathroom earlier this morning and saw light at the bedroom door and when I investigated that I found that my son Kenneth was already up I don’t know why. He said good morning I said good morning and then I went back to bed. Sleep was on and off, and it seemed like I was too warm. The alarm went off, I got up and looked down the hallway and there was Joyce, at the kitchen table eating her breakfast. The morning is starting very nicely. Today, I will order the vonage phone system so that Nora can contact Jenny and her father in the Philippines. In the meantime, I suggested to her that she could go to Maria’s and use her phone and then I will just pay for the call. At about 8 AM this morning we will leave to take Joyce to school for the 1st time. We left the house at 8:00 and arrived at 7 Oaks about 8:13am. Lots of kids and lines and noise. We hooked up with a teacher assistant I think, he took us where we needed to go, got Joyce a locker (#688 comb: 15-49-41). We also talked to her English teacher who will do one on one with Joyce for her English comprehension. Her first period teacher is Mr. Moore. I also spoke to her last period teacher to ask him to make sure Joyce knows where to go for us to pick her up. Pickup time is around 3:30 (that is when school lets out). I just signed up for Vonage world plan, that will allow Nora to call the Philippines for .09 cents a minute. We went downtown after lunch, to Tremble jewelers to pick up Noras wedding rings, they were not quite ready so we walked around and window shopped a little, after we got done doing that, the rings were finished and I paid $66 to the jeweler for his services. We then stopped at 7-11 and got a couple of drinks to take out to 7 oaks while we waited for joyce to be released. After getting her, we went to Wal★mart and spent another $33 getting things for Nora and Joyce (face creme/moisturizer) and some last minute school supplies. Back home now, I just set up Joyce another email account with Yahoo… it is joyce.balisbis@yahoo.com and her password is her first and middle name. Nora just took her bath… I always wait till it is nearly bedtime so that I am fresh when I hit the sheets. Nora is cooking dinner now so we should eat before too long I think. Jenny was online just now, she is in Basud and had gone to Daet. Got to see baby denny and voice chat with Jenny as did Kenneth, Nora and Joyce… that made all quite happy. I am tired and am going to take my shower and head off to bed...

Off to Salem today to get the Deers updates done

I am up, been awake since about 5:30am this morning. I am going to roust Nora and Kenneth soon, Joyce is already awake. We will first go to McDonald's where I will introduce them to the folks I usually have coffee with and then we will traipse up to salem to the armory. We got to McDonald's about 6:50am, Ralph had already been there and gone again, his loss… Tim and Rick and Marvin were there so all got to meet my family. About 7:50 we took off for Salem, when we got there, found a note on the door that they would open at 1pm. I told some people and they located someone to come, we got in a little after 10am and it only took about 20 minutes to get the family registered with Deers and get them ID cards. Stopped at Arbys in Albany for lunch then to Lebanon where we looked at Payless drugs for the missing school items… no luck, on to Wal★mart where we bought some Graph paper (AKA Algebra paper I hope) and some red and black ballpoint pens. Never did find the erasers they talk about. Back home now.

God gave us a beautiful Sunday… we won't waste it!

I went to bed about 9:30 PM last night, I took a shower 1st then was watching “King on the Hill” and then later Nora came in the bedroom and was texting to a couple of relatives in the Philippines. She came to bed in about 15 min. then we started to watch “Family Guy”. Soon, the Sandman came and we went to sleep. She woke up about 1 AM and was texting to another cousin in the Philippines. There is an issue regarding the Wi-Fi connection there in the Philippines and Alex, her cousin and the fact that Jenny, our daughter is unable to login. We will probably cancel the service. That will leave Alex and everyone else without any Wi-Fi access. The fact of the matter is Nora and I are tired of Alex free loading the Internet that I pay for to allow Jenny to communicate with us. I think we will look for a laptop to send to her and then we will get a tattoo stick USB broadband connection device from Globe. It is now 8:41 AM that everyone is still asleep except me. It is good, because they are finally getting over the jet lag.

Saturday morning sunshine everywhere.

Nora had a kind of a rough night last night. Quite a bit of abdominal discomfort, the Midol seems to help but it does not take it all away. This morning I got her another pill and some water. We got up at about 7:30 AM and I made some English muffins in the toaster and Nora made coffee for us. Kenneth was the next one to wake up and I gave him half of a muffin. Then was Joyce. I showed them how to make hot chocolate so they will be able to do that whenever they wish. After breakfast I went out into the garage to break down the cardboard boxes for the recycler. I filled up the cupboard behind the garage door and also the shelves beside the garage door with food items that we bought yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, Joyce and Nora rearranged the broom closet storage in the kitchen that I had installed shelves in years ago. Now it is more to her liking. We will be redoing the pots and pans area and make it so that it is easier for her to use. My goal is to make the kitchen comfortable for her not only because she is shorter but also I want things in the logical place that she would put them. A little bit later this morning we will go to Bi–Mart and by the utensils that she would like to have in the kitchen. Hopefully, this afternoon we will be able to go and walk around all the stores downtown to get Nora and the children familiar with what is downtown. We also need to make a trip to Walmart to get Kenneth another pair of pants. Other than that we’re just acclimating the family to their new surroundings and purchasing items that should be enough families pantry anyway. Progresso soup had become a way of life for me and that is now changed.

Friday morning and another beautiful day…

I went to bed a little bit earlier than everyone else last night, but shortly after I went to bed Nora came in. We chatted for a little bit and then off to sleep we went. She has her monthly now so she will be uncomfortable for a few days but she actually weathers the storm quite well. We have planned a trip to Costco today but of course that will depend on how she feels and whether she is up to it or not. I know that the 1st couple of days can be rather trying. It is now 8:45 AM, so we did sleep in a little bit but Nora woke up a couple times last night and of course woke me up to tell me that she could not sleep which in turn made my rest will be up tedious. Joyce wrote her assignment yesterday I thought quite nicely although the spelling is a little bit off but I don’t know if she wants to send it in with the spelling not being correct or if she wants to go back and correct it but I will ask her today. The printer is working very well so that’s a good thing. I haven’t been down to McDonald’s for coffee since Monday morning, but they also knew that that routine would change once my family arrived here. I made her cup of coffee but she went back to bed so I don’t know maybe it will be cold.

A beautiful Thursday morning, sunshine and a happy family

Yesterday was a busy day, we took care of Joyce’s school and also did some shopping at Walmart and then we came home. Nora has been busy trying to get a hold of Jenny and find out what went on when she left home. The rest of the day was spent with children on the Internet catching up with their friends. We had fried rice for dinner last night which was very good, our 1st actually cooked meal here since my family arrived from the Philippines. It was nice to have a woman’s touch in the kitchen again. Jenny finally called Nora later last night after we had gone to bed via Yahoo messenger and they talked for about an hour so that took care of that issue. We woke this morning to sunshine and expectations for a wonderful day. We will take Kenneth to the high school today and turn in the registration packet that we got yesterday. Nora took some of the chicken breast that we bought at Walmart yesterday out of the freezer that is what we will have for dinner today. I think the sleeping schedules are starting to even out and the jet lag is slowly going away. We will see how the day turns out and what we get accomplished. I will add to the journal later as time and events permit.

Today is Tuesday, Nora and the children arrive today

I must say it was a pretty restless night, I did not sleep all that well with the expectation of the drive to Portland to pick up my family from the Philippines. The car that I drove up was a very nice Chevrolet Impala four-door sedan. It seemed to get pretty good mileage and it was comfortable. The aircraft landed at 8:34 AM and it took about an hour and a half for Nora and the children to appear. Everything went very smoothly and no problems We stopped at the T and a truck stop and have breakfast then stopped at the farmers market north of Lebanon and bought some vegetables and from there went home. Maria came over for a short visit then Nora and I went to mega-foods and lots of groceries and went a couple other places and then back home. The evening was pretty quiet everybody’s tired and and in the midst of unpacking and investigating the house. They seem very happy. We’re going to bed now it has been a very long day.

Today is Monday and Nora's last day in the Philippines.

I woke about 5:30 AM this morning after having slept pretty well. I text to Nora, with no answer and called her and she answered about 5:50 AM. She’s very tired, but she won’t get very much sleep as she will be getting up at 3 AM Tuesday morning to go to the airport with the children. I went to McDonald’s this morning for coffee I left the house at about 5:55 AM. I was back home by about 7:30 AM made some oatmeal and cleaned up the dishes. I then stripped the bed and the laundry is washing when it’s all done I will make the bed again solo be fresh for Nora when she arrives tomorrow. Today I need to go to the bank and deposit the check from Gareth, also I need to make sure to stop at Rhodes Warden and get a copy of my insurance for the car rental place I need to go to the dollar store and buy the balloons and perhaps go to Safeway and buy some flowers to put on the table. At about 4:30 PM Delbert should pick me up and take me to Albany to the enterprise lot where I’ll pick up the rental car. Nora told me this morning that she would call me when she woke up in the morning which should be about noon I believe that would be 3 o’clock there it may be a little bit before noon. I do hope that everything goes smoothly for her and the children and that they don’t have any trouble at the airport.

Today is Sunday here in the United States and Monday in the Philippines Noras last day there

I slept quite well last night, did not wake up until about 5:30 AM, I text with Nora then called her and we just chatted for a while she still had many people in the house so not ready for bed yet. After that I got dressed and went down to McDonald’s for coffee.

After I got home I proceeded to finish the laundry and cleaned the bedrooms dusted and dusted the other things that were out here in the living room and dining room and also clean the mirrors in the bathrooms. Everything with the exception of the yard is as good as I’m going to do for now.

Tomorrow I will purchase the flower arrangement and the balloons at the dollar store and I got here. About 430 or so Del will come and pick me up and take me to Albany to pick up the rental car. I do need to go to the bank tomorrow and also stop by Rhodes Warden and get a copy of my insurance.

Well here it is Saturday morning and a beautiful day.

I woke up this morning at about 2 AM, and could not really get back to sleep after that. I started calling Nora at about 5:30 AM and she returned my call at about 5:45 AM. She is not sure if she will go to church today as it is raining quite heavily there in Marilao. I left the house at about 6:15 AM this morning to go to McDonald’s for coffee and stay down there until about 7:50 AM at which time I came back home. I noticed a garage sale a few houses down from me and I picked up a storage unit (made of wood) that will hold all my VCR tapes and some DVDs. I cleaned out the right side of my closet so that nor will have at least half, but I still need to remove the stuff that is on the shelf above the hanging rod. Today is Sunday and the Philippines, so Nora has today and tomorrow and tomorrow night she must go to bed early because they leave at 3 AM Tuesday morning for the airport. That is exciting. I have a few more things to do here at the house today, but the major cleaning will be done tomorrow and Monday.

Greetings and it is a very beautiful Friday.

Last night I actually slept pretty well, I heard a thunderstorm coming about 2:30 AM then I dropped back off sleep and from what the neighbors tell me it came right over the top of me and I never heard a thing and it rained from about 3 o’clock until probably 4:30 AM or so.

I woke up to a message on Yahoo from Nora, we chatted for a while, she has been packing her suitcases and she tells me that she’s happy and excited and sad and I told her all 3 are very understandable emotions at this time. After little bit longer of chatting back and forth we said goodbye and I went down to McDonald’s for coffee.

I came home, got my tools, and went down the moms to take the door off the refrigerator and change the gasket around. It seems to work a little better so maybe it will be okay. I also cleaned up the range and scrubbed out the kitchen sink… Lori is by no means a good housekeeper she didn’t clean anything except the cupboards.

I went down to Bi–Mart and bought the trays for the burners on the range, but they don’t fit very well so I will probably have to exchange them. I also bought a carbon monoxide detector and mounted on the wall back by the bedrooms. I still need to purchase a furnace filter.

I think once I get finished down at moms, I am going to come home and take a shower. I think this afternoon it is going to be very warm again.

Finally finished up down there, it is nearly 2pm and I am dripping wet.  Taking a shower now!!!

Thursday Morning… maybe it will rain today??

I woke up about 4:55 am and used the bathroom, then went back to bed but couldn’t really fall back to sleep so go up at 5:30. I am now at the computer, waiting for Nora to get ready for bed, probably in about ½ hour. I think maybe I will mow the yards at Mom’s place and here today, must also drop off the keys to Barb’s property management this morning. A little later after talking to Nora I will go go McDonald's for my morning coffee.

Today is Wednesday and a beautiful day it is

Well I cannot say that I slept well last night I didn’t hear the text that Nora sent me and therefore I didn’t answer it so, about 5:30 AM this morning she called me because she was worried when I did not answer her text. I explained to her that I was sleeping and was in the middle of a dream and could not understand why my phone was ringing and it took me a moment or 2 to answer it. She has her tickets, unfortunately the travel agency raised the price 6000 pesos from yesterday until today when she bought them. Their reputation as being a very corrupt nation is well-deserved I am glad that this saga of our life is almost finished the last money she should have to pay in the Philippines is the 750 pesos each to use the airport facilities... they call it a travel tax. I went down to Kevin’s Café and had breakfast and surprisingly Lindsey, Mike’s daughter, works there and bought me breakfast which I thought was extremely nice of her I met her boyfriend/stud and he seems like a nice gentleman also much better than her choices of men in the past. The carpet place is installing the carpet at mom’s house this morning. I stopped by Rhodes Warden and started the landlord policy on the house. That will cost us about $318 a year. I had them mail the information to Lollie and Gareth so that they can reimburse me half of the expense. I have heard nothing yet from Mark Moreland regarding the Toyota, perhaps today he will call with the bad news. Tuesday will be a great day, Monday afternoon I will have Del take me over to Albany to enterprise where I can pick up my rental car and then I will leave at 5 AM Monday morning for Portland airport.

Today is Tuesday and today Nora will have her tickets in her hand…

Well yesterday, the travel agent tried to put a little bit of salt in our ointment, by telling Nora that she could not use my Visa card to pay for the tickets. So I told her to give them enough money to hold the tickets until tomorrow and I will send you a money gram and then you can take Philippine pesos down and pay for the tickets.

So this morning, I transferred the necessary funds to my checking account and then went to Walmart where I purchased a money gram in the amount that she needed to complete the transaction at the travel agency and obtain the tickets for her flight on Tuesday morning. So this afternoon about 4 PM she will wake up and then I would imagine she will go to Manila about 10 AM to complete the transaction.

I told her to make sure and ask the travel agent about how much luggage she is allowed to take both check-in and carry-on. She may end up buying another bag or 2 if she is allowed more luggage on the aircraft. She will be flying via Delta Airlines. She is due to arrive in Portland Oregon at 8:35 AM Tuesday morning 30 August. I am excited!

I will probably hear from Moreland’s automotive today about how much it’s going to cost to get the Toyota back. Mark’s original estimate was about $1000 but I am actually expecting about $1500 hopefully, no more than that.

The folks installing the carpet at mom’s house should be there sometime around noon, I dropped a key to the house off at the store right after I had coffee this morning.

Stopped by the house mid-afternoon and saw that they had removed the old carpeting... the lady from the carpet store called and told me they would install Wedesday morning.

Nora left about 10am to pick up the funds and then head to Manila to pick up the tickets... Yea !!!

Enjoy your day.

Monday again, we are so close now...

Well, I woke up at 5am this morning, went to the bathroom then back to bed. Could not fall back asleep so here I am in front of the computer waiting to hear from my lovely wife Nora. Nothing too special is planned for today, a care package from Lollie is supposed to come today… she said it has chocolates in it so that might be interesting considering the warm weather. I just disassembled the speaker for my computer sound system and will later take it to Radio Shack and see if I can order another midrange speaker. I may stop at Pro Audio/Auto and see if they have access to such an animal. Maria told me this morning that in January she will return to the Philippines. She and Wayne are not getting along well at all. It is sad to me as she is really a nice lady. I decided to go to Pro Auto and see if Jim had a speaker, they tested mine out and decided that the tweeter had gone bad… they sold me a pair of tweeters (replacement) with crossovers built in for $19.95. I brought them home and installed using alumina weld epoxy and it seems to work just fine. Lollie and Gareth are having some computer problems again, the gray screen descending and then the sound is acting up also.

Today is Sunday a beautiful day with a couple of clouds in the sky.

I woke up this morning to the sound of an incoming Yahoo messenger message from Nora. I then called her via Yahoo and we chatted for about 10 min. she was just getting ready for bed and baby Denny was with her and he was so full of formula and so excited about playing that he threw up all over her and the bed so she had to change bedding and change her clothes and take another bath. The little guys seems to have a pretty nervous stomach. I lost about 6:15 AM to go down to McDonald’s and have coffee. I didn’t get home until about 9:15 AM, I was busy talking to people, reading the paper and whatnot. I do not have any particular plans for today, I may go to coastal Farm and home in Albany and by some licorice or maybe not. I haven’t really decided yet. Yesterday I did get the cut off valve installed in the main shower so that is done. I may go on the Internet shortly to see if I can find a dealer for Hardy plank, a variety of siding. But I won’t make any decision on it until Nora is here to help pick out a color and we may have to wait until next year to do it anyway. Other than looking around on the Internet I don’t have any particular plans I may play around with the new software program “acorn” that I purchased using my Apple in-store credit. I hope everyone has a nice day.

Blue sky and Saturday morning…

Well here it is the weekend I spoke with Nora this morning about 5:15 AM I woke up about 4:30 AM needing to use the bathroom then couldn’t seem to get back to sleep.

She had taken some medication earlier in the day and no longer has a fever but she has a persistent headache which bothers me.

She hopes to go to church in the morning when she wakes up but it will depend greatly upon how she feels.

I went down to coffee at McDonald’s at about 6 AM. Talked to Tim for little bit, he seemed to be a little bit more affable today. I left at about 8 AM to come home and have some toast and take my medicine.

I need to fold the last load of clothing that is in the dryer now.

I will go to the plumbing store this morning and by a short nipple cutoff valve for the children’s bathroom shower.

Sometime next week the Toyota should be finished, I hope that the head will be salvageable. If not, it will add another $250 at least to the price of the repair. Mark did tell me that he has never had one that could not be surfaced.

The 1st shopping trip that Nora and I take will probably be to Costco and that will be a little expensive I believe.

Thank God It's Friday!!

Well I made it through another week albeit a rather expensive one, but at least it’s finished for now.

Nora called me this morning before the alarm went off which was just fine. She says to me “honey, you know what?” I said to her no, what? So she tells me I have the visa! I could see the happiness in her words she is so relieved and so am I. She told me that she will go to Manila tomorrow to see the travel agent and buy the tickets for her and the children.

She knows what she has to do and she knows that wherever she enters the United States she will have to go through immigration and it will take a little time because there are 3 of them to do. I hope that she chooses to go through Guam or Hawaii or even a straight through flight to Portland would be good. I expect I will have a schedule from her by Monday perhaps even some time yet before I go to bed tonight.

I cleaned up the Mini Cooper washed the outside, the inside, the Windows, the door jambs then vacuumed everything inside and cleaned the floor mats. It looks pretty darn good. I am considering whether I want to wax it or not. Maybe no.

It is a beautiful day today I probably should call Mark and see if he plans to pick up the Toyota today or not. I also need to go down town to the carpet place and see about having mom’s home re–carpeted. Then I need to send Lollie and Gareth a bill for the money I’ve spent already on the house.

It is going to be nice weather all week long and from what I understand quite warm. I’m glad I have the majority of things that I need to do outside completed.

A very beautiful Thursday morning, blue sky and a blown head gasket.

Good morning everyone as the headline announced today is Thursday I went to McDonald’s this morning at about a quarter till 6 AM sat there had my coffee got into an argument with Tim and then left at about 7:45 AM to go down and pay the plumbing bill. While I was there I asked Frank to stop by and give me an estimate to run the black gas line over to where the new gas range will eventually go.

I also asked Frank about putting in a water recirculation pump under the kitchen sink which would allow us to have instant hot water at any faucet vice having to let the water run for so long before it becomes hot it will be an over time savings for us. The cheapest pump I have seen which looks pretty good and gets very good reviews is over $200.

The pickup didn’t want to start this morning, to give you a little history it has always used a little water and in the back of my mind I guess I always knew it had a seeping head gasket. I think it is no longer just seeping. I will call Mark Moreland today and get an estimate to repair it. I hope that the head is not warped.

When I talk to Nora this morning, and also yesterday morning she indicated that she will leave the Philippines at the end of the month… I wish it were next week. Well more money goes out again I guess. Today I need to call the car rental places and see what it will cost me to rent either a small van or a sedan to go pick up the family when they arrive in Portland.

Perhaps more will be added to this today I’m not sure if not, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Wednesday... Hot Water Day Yipeee!!

Well, today is Wednesday. The man from Northwest natural gas came down to mom’s house and put in a new part in the gas meter, turned on the gas, and made sure everything well only 2 things the hot water heater and furnace are working properly.

I have moved the filing cabinet and the water dispenser away from the Bosch on-demand system in preparation for South Santiam plumbing to install my new 50 gallon water heater. I am not certain when they will appear, but I assume it will be shortly after lunch.

Nora sent me a message on Yahoo messenger this morning and that was my wake-up call. We chatted for a few moments and then I got up, dressed, and went down to McDonald’s for coffee.

I was back home by 8 AM, made a call to Wells Fargo bank and got information that I needed and will conclude my business in about 3 days.

It is supposed to be warm today in the high 80s, that is nice. I have no plans other than to be at home while the installation of the new water heater takes place.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day.

I decided to buy the DropCopy app for the phone and another one that scans networks and allow you to assign icons and alias’s to them. I found out also that Dropcopy will not work in the background.

Frank from South Santiam Plumbing and his crew came about 1:20 and began the plumbing update. I now have an A.O Smith 50 gallon hwh and a new faucet in the front of the house. The estimate for the hwh was $$$$ but then there were some issues and the added job of replacing the broken hose bib (faucet). That brought the total amount to $200 higher so that is still reasonable as they were able to put the hwh exactly where I wanted it.

Tuesday and a beautiful one at that.

Good morning good morning today is Tuesday, 16 August in the year 2011.

What a great day it was yesterday with the news from the embassy of the approval of Nora’s visa. When I called her and told her she could hardly believe that it was true, she was so excited. I certainly don’t blame her after all, we started this journey in May of 2009 and then she see it finally come to reality is a very uplifting experience.

The visa coupled with the information from Dr. Thayer about my blood pressure has really lifted my spirits tremendously. I expect my family will be here before the end of the month and that will be a wonderful wonderful thing.

Frank, from South Santiam plumbing, came out yesterday and looked at the situation involving the Bosch on demand hot water heater and told me that he could install a tank style hot water heater in the same location. I’m going to have a 50 gallon hot water heater put in, it will be gas fired so the recovery time will be fast. I bought one with a 10 year warranty which according to what I read will be a better made hot water heater than the five-year warranty model.

They will be out to install it on Wednesday.

I believe that today a little bit later on, I will go down to mom’s house and repair the bad board that is near the steps on the rear deck.

Monday... the week begins afresh

Well here it is Monday morning and the time right now is 8:30 AM. I got home from coffee at about 7:45 AM and started looking at one of Lollies photo albums that she posted on Picasso.

At about 8:15 AM I called Dr. Thayer’s office to see if I could get in to see him this morning. They have a 15 min. appointment available at 11 AM so I will be there at that time. Cindy checked my chart and said that there was no report written up from the Lebanon hospital emergency room visit that I made Saturday.

No news yet from the embassy, but is 11:30 at night so that makes good sense, I did however, get a reply that they had received my e-mail.

I will add to this a little bit later after I see what Dr. Thayer has to say.

I just called Ries plumbing to see about an estimate to replace the on-demand hot water system with a conventional gas tank style water heater...

I am going to stop by the fire department and make sure my FireMed insurance is up to date...

Re-instated my firemed insurance and added the family to the list of eligible people. Went on over to see Dr. Thayer, he said that he is sure the dropping of the Hydra... medication (water pills) was the culprit and wrote me another prescription for another water pill that doesn’t have the same side effects. He also reassured me that there is no Arterial problem leading to the high blood pressure, rather he believes it is the stress and meds change that caused it… he read the EKG results and lab results from the ER and said all is good there.

Frank, from Santiam Plumbing came to the house and looked at the Bosch tankless and told me that he can install a water heater where I want it.

Del came over, wanted me to show him how to set up his voicemail on his phone, I showed him how and also sent him an email with the instructions on installing it and changing his password.

Called Nora at 4:10pm, she had just gotten up, we chatted for just a little and then I told her to have coffee and breakfast and call me back when she was finished. She said OK. I also informed her of the things Dr. Thayer told me so she feels better about all that stuff too.

I just got an email from the US Embassy 7:20 PM. Nora’s Visa was approved Aug 15, 2011.

Sunday... seems like Autum temperature wise...

Good morning everyone, today is Sunday I just got back from McDonald’s and it is about 8:18 AM now. Believe it or not I turned on the hot water faucet to do up the dishes and guess what? The hot water worked. The reason I’m going to replace it with a tank style is because it is not dependable and I need to have something dependable when the family is here.

Tomorrow is Monday and I will contact a couple of places to see about having a hot water heater installed in place of the Bosch on demand system that is now failing.

The system I have now is over 9 years old so I suppose there is such a thing as built-in obsolescence, but this Bosch system has always been undependable in the fact that when she set the water temperature, it sometimes will go to cold when you least want it to then you have to turn the water off and back on and hopefully it will recycle itself. The problem lately is that it does not recycle itself so you’re stuck with cold water.

Not a good thing when you’re in the midst of a shower.

It is overcast today and on the colder side outside. I turned the heater on in the house to bring the temperature up a couple of degrees.

Saturday... a good day

Well today is Saturday, it is overcast outside and a little on the cool side. I went to coffee about 6:15 AM after chatting with Nora little bit. I came home about 10 min. after 8 AM. I made some oatmeal for breakfast after taking my medication, a little bit of brown sugar and some milk topped off the dish. Lollie and I chatted, I helped her with some of her iPhoto stuff and also had her read the email that I sent regarding my ER visit today… Nora came on a little earlier that I expected and I told her of the visit to the ER also, she was worried and called and I explained it to her and assured her that I am ok. She was going to early mass at the church and maybe Joyce will go with her.

The end...

I have decided to end the online blog posting of my daily life in the desire to create a more private life and less exposure of myself and my family… there will be postings still, but not of such personal nature as has been the case in the past… Thank you for your patronage and interest… denny

Hump day is gone and the weekend Looms...

Good morning to everyone. This is Thursday morning, and Thursday evening in the Philippines. My lovely wife, Nora, will soon be getting ready to go to bed. I have sent her a couple of instant messages through Yahoo already this morning but she must be watching television because she has not answered me yet. My right foot is indicating that perhaps it has a little uric acid build up maybe from the one beer I had yesterday I’m not sure. But since cutting out the one medication that Dr. Thayer had me taking, I have not had another attack and I have been drinking beer. Nothing really pressing that I need to do today however, I may go down to mom’s house with a bucket and some rags and my commercial vacuum cleaner and begin cleaning the things that Laurie missed. As I told Gareth on the phone, there is probably about between 2 and 4 hours of work remaining. Yesterday the man from the Lebanon utility company came out to inspect the water meter and found that the meter itself had a cracked flange where it attaches to the main water line. It is on the city side so they will be responsible for it he said they have a lot of work right now so he’s not sure when they will get out to take care of it. He indicated that he does not want me to turn off the water if I want to replace my faucet gasket he would rather I call him. It’s not that hard to turn off the water a 90° turn of the valve does the trick. It’s 5:38 AM right now and I will wait until 6 AM to go down to McDonald’s for coffee. I will continue to try to get a hold of Nora in the meantime. It really does start my day off well if I get to speak to her… I miss her a lot. Well perhaps I will post this and add to it later on if anything happens that might be interesting. Have a wonderful day, take advantage of the opportunities presented to you, stay healthy and be careful. I called Apple to find out about fixing the issue regarding reading PDF files in Safari, we had gotten to the point of starting a remote viewing session when some alarm went off in the site he was in and we had to terminate the conversation and he is to call me back… odd stuff happening there. He called me back in about ½ hour and we continued… he solved my problem and for that I am appreciative. Wayne came over and convinced me to go to mom’s house and wash the windows and vacuum the cobwebs, he helped me and then after that, we loaded up the Organ and donated it to Teen Challenge and also gave them the console stereo… everything is now out of the garage at moms place. I then took Wayne out to lunch at the San Pedro mexican place next to Sum yan… $23 spent there. Came back home and tried to turn on the hot water, no luck so I went out to Reis plumbing and had the tech come over to trouble shoot the Bosch on-demand hot water system… wouldn’t you know, it worked just fine… that little diddie cost me $95 bucks… dammit I wish it would have acted up for him like it did me. He did clean a little sensor but I doubt that it was the problem… He had the same opinion of Bosch as do I now… Never again. Piece of Carp crap.

Wednesday and blue skies... cold though !!

Today is Wednesday, I had so nice clear blue with blue sky, however it is nippy outside. The weather was much more like fall weather than summer. Nora sent me a text message about 5:45 AM this morning, I was sleeping. I then called her and we chatted for a while she was watching television and getting ready to go to bed. I went down to McDonald’s and had coffee, it is now 8 AM and I’m back home. I have a few minor things that I must take care of today I need to get a new outside faucet handle to replace one at moms house. I probably should get a pail of hot soapy water and go down to moms and go from room to room cleaning the things that Laurie missed. Not too much but there are some things. I went down to Bi-Rite and got another faucet handle and some washers to fix the outside faucet at Moms place and the one here at mine. I had to make 3 trips to Bi-Rite to get everything but it is finished now and doesn’t leak so that was the desired outcome. I pulled the access cover off my water meter and found the whole thing swimming in water so I called the Utility company and they will send someone to look at it today… I went to LinnCo and closed out the Money Market account, also Karen reversed the returned charge of $27. That made me happy… I went to Wells and deposited the money in checking and will transfer it later. Then I stopped in at NAPA and saw Ben, while there I bought the oil and filter for the Toyota. After I got home, I dropped the oil, changed the filter then refilled the crankcase with Castrol 10-40, checked for leaks and now it is good to go... I got to chat for a little bit with Nora, it is after 9am there and her and Kenneth are on their way to Manila for the suitcase shopping spree… I probably will not be talking to her until tomorrow morning.

Chilly Tuesday morning... time passes albeit slowly.

Today is Tuesday, the sky is overcast and it’s a little on the nippy side. Actually the weather now is more like what you would expect to see in the fall of the year. I woke us morning at 5:30 AM and called Nora we chatted for a little bit that I went down to McDonald’s for coffee. I just got home and it’s 7:58 AM. McDonald’s was quite busy this morning. There are no pressing plans for today, Barbara should be here this afternoon to take a look at mom’s house and give me an idea of what she thinks it would rent for and if there are any improvements I need to do prior to contracting with her to take care of the rental. I haven’t decided what I’m going to make for breakfast but I think that probably oatmeal will be on the menu. I thought about going down to the big Jim’s Café, but really don’t want to spend the money. It’s not that I don’t have the money, but I know that once the family is here what money I have will be quickly depleted if I don’t keep a very watchful eye on it. Anyway we will see how the day unravels and will take whatever events come up and handle them in whatever way we can. Decided on having corn flakes and milk for breakfast… that and a cup of Hot Chocolate.

A dreary Monday morning... Shrub butchery time today !!

Today is Monday, I woke up at 5 AM and called Nora shortly thereafter. She was wondering why a woke up so early and I really didn’t have a good answer for her. We chatted for a little bit and she asked me to see if I could remember how long it took from the time we sent the documents for the children to the embassy and the time the embassy notified us that they had approved the visas. I will research that today. It’s cloudy this morning and a little on the brisk side, the dew is quite heavy and leaves a missed on your window. I just took the hose down to mom’s house and watered down the area around the shrubs in the front so that Myron will be able to pull the weeds easier. He plans to arrive about 9:30 AM. He’s bringing his gas trimmer and I guess I will use it to trim the tops of the shrubs and once I get it down to a manageable level he will take over from that point. I am going to trim them down to the bottom of the bedroom windows and the hedge, I am not sure about. I think that today I am going to take to cover off of the Harley and see how difficult it will be to remove the gas tank and empty the old fuel. That I think maybe later today I will go to Earls and see how much your battery will cost for the Harley. I would like to get it started. But most important I need to get the old gas out of it. Myron came about 9:35am and I went down and trimmed the top and end of the evergreen hedge, he was then going to trim the shrubs next to the house, pull the weeds and put down bark mulch… it will look much better then. I got up in the bed of Myron’s pu and trimmed the top of the hedge and the end facing the street. I then came home and did some stuff then after awhile I went back down and took my blower and cleaned up the garage and the driveway so now it looks really nice. I also turned over the sign that said ‘Tillie and Cecil’. Just blank white now. A little after 6pm, I went to Mega Foods and bought bread and soup and cheetos… 2 loaves of bread, 8 cans of soup and 1 bag of cheetos and 2 boxes of corn flakes… $26. Well, when Nora finally gets here I am sure my eating habits and shopping habits will change… for the better !!!

Sunday, a great day to rest and reflect on the past week's happenings...

Sunday! Well my sweetheart is asleep and when she wakes up it will be Monday morning and she will take the documents required to the courier service and they will be delivered to the United States Embassy. It is my hope that she will receive her visa within 5 to 10 days. Of course, the sooner the better. Today is a cloudy and quite chilly, not what one would normally expect for the 2nd week of August. Weather all over the United States has changed and shifted. I am having some cinnamon sugar covered toast for breakfast I haven’t done so yet but I will soon make a cup of hot chocolate to accompany it. I have nothing in particular to do today, although Ralph did call me to let me know that his son, Johnny, said he would possibly give me $8000 for the Harley. I am not too excited about that. I realize that I am going to need a bigger vehicle to accommodate the size of my family, but I don’t know how much I am willing to compromise or lose on selling my Harley to accomplish that end. I don’t have much to say on here today, I think I will go make my hot chocolate and see what kind of news is on the Internet. Have a great day, rejoice in the fact that our God is looking out for us. Got a couple of quick text messages from both Sean and Nick… Also had some Mushroom soup for lunch, tricky to heat up even in the microwave... The soup was pretty good. I am checking on some keyloggers and find that most are around $70 bucks but all seem to do about the same thing. Might be a good investment with the kids coming here and all. It is 4:21 PM and I tried to get hold of Nora, but no reply in YM or on the phone in YM so maybe she is still asleep. Actually I did finally get hold of her but it was about 7:30 her time. I went downtown and got some money from the bank and then stopped at the little Mexican restaurant across the tracks from Sum Yan and had a pretty tasty dinner for $11 including tip. Back home by a touch past 7pm… Nora sent me an IM that she is just leaving to go to SM and the courier place. I am going to take a shower and then go to bed… Nora must still be in town or maybe at the SM mall. Well it’s almost 10 PM and I have not heard anything further from Nora so I’m going to go to bed, and I left her a message to go ahead and text me when she got home.

Saturday morning, the weekend is here now !!!

This morning I woke up to the sound of an incoming instant message on YM. I looked at the clock and it was approximately 5:45 AM and of course the message was from Nora. I called her and we chatted for a little bit and then pretty soon she said that she was going to go to bed and I should go down to McDonald’s and have my morning coffee. By about 6:10 AM I was on my way to McDonald’s and stayed down there until about 8 o’clock and then came home, took my medication and now I’m updating this journal. It is a beautiful morning there are a few clouds in the sky but no rain is forecast so it should be a nice day. I don’t have anything in particular that I need to do today, with the possible exception of rearranging some things in the garage. I may have to go to town and try to locate some boxes. Lollie and Gareth should be either on Maui or on their way there for their last few days in Hawaii. Then they will be heading back home to Sacramento. I believe they have had a good vacation and really enjoyed this time on the islands. Perhaps someday Nora and I will be able to travel there, I don’t know yet. There is a tractor pull scheduled for about 11 AM today across highway 20 from the hospital, a few people that I know are going to go to it, it is a free event, but I doubt that I will go. Just got a letter (email) from Melissa with her work email and other contact information. We emailed back and forth a few times, I got her latest address and contact info so that was a good thing. I banged my shin earlier today and I think that maybe I broke a blood vessel or something cause it raised a little lump the size of a dime but it hurts even now… if it still is hurting on Monday I might have the Doctor look at it… Been watching some videos by a photographer named Mark Johnson and some of the techniques he uses to enhance and change photos are nothing short of amazing. Had a double batch of Oatmeal for dinner, a little brow sugar and a dash of milk and I was good to go. Chatted a bit with Nora after she woke up, she is planning on staying home today, except she will probably go to church or maybe not. They have races out at the track today or rather tonight… I don’t go cause it cost’s too much.