....good news!

 So it turns out that Paul's eye issue is part of normal aging.  The details of what happens to the eye as we grow old:  yucky blucky, but they definitely change, and sometimes this happens more abruptly and we notice it more.  He had leakage of fluid, but no retinal tear.  He does have to go back in to be checked in a few weeks to make sure, as when one has symptoms like that, it could indicate a retinal tear, which would have to be dealt with quickly, as to minimize damage.  

And, Sonja got a 90 on that test yesterday!  It was a very difficult exam, she's so thrilled.  I didn't want to tell her it was because of kind thoughts and prayers from my blog friends, because then I'd be telling her that I blogged about her, ha.   What?  You wrote about that?!

Yesterday, Camille and I drove up to her orthopedic dr.  Her range of motion in the knee which had the surgery is 20 degrees less than the other knee, and her quads aren't nearly as strong as they'd like to see them.  So she needs to continue physical therapy and continue her exercises at home.  She was also told it's almost inevitable that her other knee will dislocate again, statistically when it happens at a young age, it happens again.  She also learned that the pain she's been having is normal, because of where nerves were severed for the surgery, and it could last for months...a year, even.  Take ibuprofen, massage it, ice it...ugh.  So, I bought her a vanilla chai from Dunkin on the way home...well, I had a free beverage reward that was expiring, ha.  

We did go into Aldi, because it's right down the road from her dr., we just got potatoes and lemon juice, heavy cream, a pizza dough, and some frozen chicken wings.  I also stopped at Tops, because they have their ground beef buy one get one free this week, so 85% beef for $3.10 a pound, not bad for these days.  

When we got home, I cleaned.  I washed bedding and vacuumed and straightened.  I cleaned our room because Paul was off at his appointment, his office is in our room, so I can't usually vacuum whenever I want. 

In the afternoon, he had to drive up to the city where Margaret and Adrian live, so I asked Margaret if I could visit...she said yes!  :).  Grace came over with Grant and Ruth, because Sam has classes on Monday night, and Adrian was in class.  

Tennyson...he knows I have gum in my purse, oh that boy!  He had so many pieces!  

Wulf hugging cousin Ruth...I didn't get a pic of Grant!  Paul came to pick me up too quickly!

Home...what's for dinner at seven o'clock?  Our girls are quite self sufficient, they had already eaten (they know how to make a sandwich, a panini, or something in the air fryer).  I made some burgers for Paul and I, and some chicken in the air fryer, mmm.

These cool autumn evenings though:  how could I have forgotten, in my love for summer, how much I appreciate the coziness?  The little wax melt lantern, the string of lights illuminating the little jack-o'lanterns, the furry blankets everywhere?  

This fine morning, Joseph is coming over to pick some things up, and to visit, with his puppy dogs.  Then I believe I'm going out and about with Kathryn, and Achilles and Rhys.  

There was a question I saw posted recently...What characterized being "rich" when you were a kid?  We were what I would consider lower-middle class, my parents were responsible and hard working.  My father came from an extremely poor family, but worked his way up the ladder in his county job in water pollution control (the sewer plant!), taking college courses and eventually becoming a big boss.  I'm the 6th of 7 kids, so when the older ones were young, things were much tighter.  But my parents had a house, a station wagon, and a camp on Lake Ontario (Okay, it was a lovely little mobile home with a beautiful yard, down a little dirt road from the lake but with full beach rights to a small private beach, owned by all the mobile home and camp owners in the little circle).  My mother was home with us mostly, but had some part time jobs through the years...she worked at K-mart a few nights a week, she worked at the bakery in the grocery store that was walking distance from our house.  

Anyway, I thought rich people had wall-to-wall carpeting.  Little did I realize that our house, with it's original hard wood floors, was rather nice.  We rarely had orange juice, (we drank Tang!), never ate out, until I was in high school and we ordered pizza once in a while, or if Burger King had a special of 3 burgers for a dollar, we would pick some up.  My parents drank instant coffee with Cremora in it, and smoked Raleigh 100's, which...you're not going to believe this, sometimes they would say..."go light me a cigarette...", and I would, on the gas stove.  My mother did quit smoking when she got converted, and my father did too, but struggled with it, then did quit again after a few years.  

Ah well.  A stroll down memory lane, remembering Sunday mornings when the newspaper was divided and shared, taking turns with the comics, maybe using our Silly Putty on them, me waiting for my mother to finish with the Lifestyle section, so I could read "Ann Landers", and see the brides.  I also liked the Opinion section, with the letters to the editor, and of course the front page section...I remember reading about the first test tube baby, Louise Joy Brown, in 1978.  The K-Mart ad was probably the best part though...

Kathryn's coming over soon, I need to vacuum, these dogs shed so much...:)