As The Sun Sets On Another Week

It is with anticipation I look forward to the weekend.  The past two weeks have been challenging and so it will be fun to be able to get out and see Rob & Jodie tomorrow.  Have not been over to their place since they got their new entertainment center.  Also, it looks like Markie will be venturing to my place on Sunday for dinner.  Thinking of making a pork tender loin with a mimosa marmalade glaze.  Going to make a green bean salad with feta and cherry tomatoes.

Have been doing some additional walking back and forth on the floor where I live and next week I am going to expand and add on doing a half flight of stairs to start.  It has been nice to see the clothes fitting a bit more loosely.  Amazing that I have now been not drinking for over two weeks and it has had an impact as well.  It is all about making choices.  I would guess I might enjoy a cocktail or two this weekend, but nothing crazy.

Heard from Damon several times this week and it looks like he may be on his way to Las Vegas by mi-March.  Appears there is work to be done plus he really does need to take care of his eyes and teeth.  He mentioned he would likely head north after that for a visit.  We shall see when that does happen.  So that is all the news for now my friends.  Enjoy the weekend and until later...

Three Weeks...

There is a rumor that spring arrives...

One can only hope that is true in that I have had numerous conversations with friends in the Midwest and back east.  They are not a happy bunch right now.  You need only to see the nightly news to know that the ice is beginning to melt and cause havoc for so many people back there.  I know that in Minneapolis they have gone something like 60+ days without going above freezing.  Sometimes too much of a good thing makes it not so.  And so the clock ticks on.  Enjoy Friday Eve all! 



Do You Use Wine Charms?

Wine charms are something of an oddity and can be quite annoying and at the same time very useful.  At a party it allows you to know which wine glass is yours.  I have several sets of them that go unused in that I never have that many people over for drinks and dinner.  As you might notice above, the wine charm is a coin from another country that has been drilled and has a ring binder to clip on the glass.  A crafty project for a cold winter's day.  But that would not be today as it is nearing 60 here and just a skim of clouds overhead.  Cheers!

A Moment Of Anticipation

Just taking a moment to share a quick glimpse into what awaits us in the coming weeks.  Granted a lot of places already have various bouquets available to enjoy and yet the anticipation of the wonderful spring blossoms does help to get through these final gray days of winter.  I know a lot of people in the Midwest and back east that have just had enough of old man winter.  I hope this spot of color makes your day.  Enjoy!

Monday Moment

Tiny violin shop inside of a human-sized violin!   And all the little ones are playable!  It just never ceases to amaze me what people are able to create for other's enjoyment.  Have a great Monday all.

Sunday Recap

A happy Sunday to you.  Well, it has been quite the week and tomorrow I will be testing the waters back at work.  I am feeling a whole lot better and have taken to heart something that the doctor told me to do not only on Monday but revisited on Thursday.  That is to just slow down.  While dealing with recuperating and being the big guy I am I keep trying to just live life per the norm.  Well, that is just not working.  Since Thursday, I have been doing more walking and at a slower pace.  Well, go figure, the doctor is right.  I can go much further and still keep a normal breath going.  Granted, it does get a bit more labored, but nothing like before.  I am hoping to get back to working on the stair walk in the next couple of weeks.  It is all about the baby steps.

Also, naps are a thing of beauty.  But they also make for night sleep not to be as sound.  Yesterday, while I did lay down for the 4 periods as required by the doctor, I only allowed myself to sleep once.  Thus, last night was a lot better sleep.  Going to repeat that this day. 

Groceries were delivered and I made a late brunch of a hamburger and egg mixture.  Added a bit of cheese and called it good.  Got to try a new coffee I received as a Christmas gift.  It is called Polin.  From their website:   The dark roast lends itself to a rich and flavorful cup of java. Whether you drink it with milk or "straight up," you will never be disappointed. This is South Florida's favorite espresso coffee.  Now what is interesting is that Markie found it in New Orleans.  But I must say it made for a good cup of java.

The Olympics are winding down and there is not a lot to watch on boob tube today.  Plan to get a couple of things out of the way and take the noted nap.  I did find out from my friend Michael that his good friend Gordon passed away early this morning.  Gordon was in his mid-80's and it more a blessing than anything that he passed.  He had not been well since mid-December.

Know that I am doing a hell of a lot better than I was and actually looking forward to getting back to work as I am a bit stir crazy being in this apartment for the last week plus.  We were to have this snow storm hit today, but alas, it did not happen which is fine by me.

No Post Saturday XI

Yes, it has been 5 weeks folks and in honor of my brother's birthday this day there will be no post.  Hope all are having a relaxing weekend.  Until tomorrow.

Fun Friday

Since I have been home bound for most of the week there is not a whole lot to share.  Went to the doctor yesterday and he was pleased with where I am going, but ordered me to rest through the weekend.  The hole in the ceiling did get patched up and I got pretty high from the paint fumes as they began spray painting without notice.  Threw open all the windows.  Thankful there was no rain. 
Now if you have not watched the YouTube clip of Brian Williams doing rap, you must click here and enjoy as it is just too good.  It was shown on The Tonight Show on Wednesday and already has been seen over 2.6 million times.

Did watch some of the Olympics, but in the spirit of fun Friday I share a picture I got from my friend Markie.  He is in Denver this week and took this picture at a grocery store outside of Denver.  An interesting way to display soda.  Quite clever.

Additionally, my friend Alan shared the following picture in the spirit of the #1 movie currently in the theaters - yes, I am talking about "The Lego Movie" and I love the title of it.

Le Gogh

Talk About Poor Losers!

The US women's hockey lead nearly all of the game and then in the final 3.5 minutes of the game allowed it to tie and then lost in overtime.  Ok, that is a bummer and it would have been nice to win, but they did it to themselves.  What happened next was stunning.  During the medal they all did not even smile when getting their silver medals.  Heck, Switzerland got third and they at least smiled.  The Americans were being poor losers and that was just sad, sad, sad.  Not a very proud day for how they represented their country.

A Drip Becomes A Hole

Yes, that is my kitchen ceiling currently.  The dripping was coming down to the left of the exposed beam above.  But they needed to cut out the honking huge hole to get a feel for what was happening.  I must give credit, they were very careful to put up plastic and cleaned up thereafter, but the exposed hole is making my apartment quite a bit cooler than normal.  After they made the hole, the gentleman went up and did something on the roof last night.  Whatever he did has to sit 24 hours and not get wet.  I am counting the hours and praying for no rain which as of this posting has worked.  They are to return tomorrow and repair the ceiling.  Hopefully before Moonsong arrives to clean. 

During the period they cut out the ceiling yesterday I was pleased to have found a facemask to wear to keep all the dust out of my lungs.  Do not need any problems right now.  Starting to feel a tad better, but still am worn out and oxygen does drop to low 90's with movement, but rebounds back quickly.  No more dropping into the 80's like what was happening.  Have been working a bit this day and need to go lay down and use the CPAP per doctors instructions.  Enjoy the day.

Trying To See The Positive

As I am captive for the week, I am trying to make the best of a situation.  One thing that is good is that I am able to maintain my meal pattern and work on dropping some weight as that is a huge (every pun intended) part of the problem currently.  Breakfast has taken on a yogurt and oatmeal for a good base for the day.  Mid-morning is a couple of slices of cantaloupe or pineapple.  Lunch is some sliced meats and cheeses and either a few crackers or slice of bread and I have some more fruit.  Afternoon snack is a handful of nuts. 

Dinner is mostly a salad with a protein.  Above is a close picture of what I had last night, but added a cut up chicken breast.  I am trying different proteins and salad dressings.  One thing that has helped a lot is that I am now taking a bowl and putting the dressing in first to reduce the amount used overall and then add the salad and toss it so everything gets a light coating and then add the protein.  Tonight I am likely going to make some coleslaw and add shrimp.  I have found this bag of shrimp that takes only a couple of minutes to cook and there is enough for several meals.  It is a lot about watching portion control.  That has been a challenge, but a friend shared a spreadsheet program that is helping in meal planning.  Trying to see the best side of a rather challenging situation.

And Life Continues, Not As Planned

Now at this point I would like to say life has moved on, but cannot.  Got a call tonight at 7pm to let me know the elevator is out of  service - again!  They are hoping to have it fixed tomorrow.  The roof continues to leak.  No one showed up yesterday or todayand so will be on the phone later this day.  But wait, there is more.

 

Awoke this morning and knew something was wrong.  Could not get a solid deep breath and yup, majorly concerned.  Got to the doctor and found out that I have an upper chest infection.  I was actually worried it might have been a collapsed lung.  But I was recovering too fast for that to be the problem.  As long as I am not exerting myself I am fine.  But I do need to live.  Doctor has put me on an inhaler and confined me to home for the week.  REST is a must.  I have to be laying down with CPAP at least 4 times a day.  The inhaler makes me light headed initially, but passes and boy can I tell a difference in my breathing for a while.  I will be brutally honest, I was in tears from being scared yesterday and I know I have no one to blame but myself.  I go back to doctor on Thursday for follow-up.  Not sure where the future is taking me but change must happen.

 

I have watched some of the Olympics, but mostly have been focused on my health and getting the various items around the apartment fixed.  Funny, you sign a new lease and everything goes to pot.  Last night I discovered one of the burners on the stove is out.  Need to get that fixed.  A huge thank you to Markie for taking time out of his day to take my car in for servicing since I could not.  It was badly needed and had canceled once and so glad it could be done.

 

And The Rain Continues

It has been a parade of rain storms for the past week.  I am so not complaining in that we really need it, but there does not seem to be a break.  Over 3 inches in the past week and more to come.  Having the leaky ceiling really spotlights it as I know it has been raining a while when I begin to hear the drip, drip, drip in the pot on the counter.  Alas, no where to be and so besides a few phones calls, a wonderful nap is in order as is watching some more Olympic coverage.

The Power Of 3!

This is not how you want your Friday to begin, but it was how mine did start.  Went down the hall to get on the elevator and it was out of service.  While the sign above was not on the elevator, I pushed the button several times only to not have it arrive.  Back to the apartment and called building maintenance and found I was not the first to report the problem.  They hoped to have it up and running by noon.  Well, by 3pm it was so I worked from home for the day and quite pleased that it was repaired in that I had a grocery delivery coming between 6pm and 7pm.  Mind you I live on the top floor of my building and the car is parked on the lowest level and thus 9 flights of stairs was not my idea of fun.  I do appreciate tele-commuting. 

Indeed, the groceries arrived and the man was quite pleasant and I got all the bags in the kitchen and he was off to his next delivery.  Well, as I put things away, I noticed that there was something very odd.  I had gone and ordered 4 bags of cole slaw mix and not salad mix as I meant to.  Even more odd was that they did not send out 4 bags, but rather 6 bags.  I called Amazon fresh and not only were they nice enough to give me credit, but then said to pass along the cole slaw mix to friends or a food bank as they could not take it back for health reasons.

So at this point I am thinking to myself what will be the 3rd thing to happen.  It did not take all that long as I was in the kitchen fixing lunch and I kept feeling water on the back of my neck.  How odd?  Well, it was not too odd when I discovered that my ceiling was dripping.  Not fun.  Called the office and someone was up here very quickly.  He had to call in a roof specialist - who knew there was such a person - and he went up and thinks he has fixed it but will be checking back tomorrow.  So for the time being I have a pot on the counter in my kitchen catching any remaining dripping water and oh, by the way, it is suppose to rain through the night tonight.  Wonder if I should consider a bigger pot?

Ah Yes...February 14th

However you mark this day, I hope you enjoy.  I got to celebrate a little early as Damon gave me a box of chocolates last weekend and we exchanged cards.  We enjoyed the chocolates together, but he insisted I keep a few pieces for today and so will enjoy later on this evening.  Going to be a mellow weekend as I have been doing chores all throughout the week to keep busy.  Groceries get delivered this evening.  Laundry was done last night and so may take time to watch some of the Olympics, but they are just not calling me like they have in the past.  Suppose to be stormy so movies may be in order.

Who Knew - Seriously Who Knew?

This weekend is the whole big NBA All Star weekend.  Have you yawned yet?  With the Olympics going on plus it is a holiday weekend plus Valentine's Day who knew it was the All Star weekend as well.  Quite frankly, basketball just does not capture my fancy, but I am amused when networks try to make a big deal out of nothing and that is what is going on here.  All I know is that there is a heck of a lot going on and I have to wonder how many people will actually be tuning in for the game especially when it is on cable only TNT.  I do not think it will have nearly the audience that the Super Bowl had a couple of weeks ago.  Happy Friday Eve to all!

Olympic Fever - Not!

This is what, day 5 of the winter games and I am just not into them this year.  It is not that they are horrible, just not exciting.  Perhaps it is the 12 hour time zone difference or all the negative stories that keep coming out of Russia.  The results to date have been less than stellar in that so much expectation was put on the shoulders of the athletes and they have gone bust.  I do try and tune in to watch yet find myself channel surfing as they are not keeping my attention. 

What I do know is that the opening fireworks were pretty awesome and that Olympic flame is huge.  Last night on the NBC Nightly News, they showed a picture taken from space and you could see the flame, pretty amazing.  I do hope to see an improvement in the coming days, but even with Markie clipping articles and forwarding articles online, I am still pretty uninterested.  Have not bought a single trinket and do not know if I will.

Feel The Cool Refreshing Taste

February 11 is Peppermint Patty Day, a day in which fans of the confection rejoice for the creation of the lip-smacking, creamy peppermint filling covered in semisweet dark chocolate.

Invented in 1940, the patty was a success and its popularity gained further momentum in the mid-1960s when the comic strip Peanuts made its debut and named one of the main characters Patricia “Peppermint Patty’ Reichardt.

Blue Monday

Well, it was bound to happen.  What began as a kind of experiment back on November 20th has come to a close.  Damon departs tonight on an 11pm flight to Houston and then on to Jackson, MS where he will meet up with his friend Rob.  We have had a wonderful time and became a whole lot closer.  It was an awesome experience to get to know him better and to have time to laugh and experience a lot of different things.  He learned a lot about me and for me likewise about him.  It was with some trepidation that I went into this extended stay and in the end I am sad to see it end. 

The past 4 days were really cool and the snow Saturday night was like icing on the cake.  It made for a wonderful finale.  We watched movies, had Rob & Jodie over and in general got to have some quality time to wrap up this visit and also to look forward to his return which appears likely in May, but who knows, it might be sooner.  He is on a path now to wrap up some things which I refer to as the "What If"" list.  He needs to do this for him so that he can move forward and likely so we can move forward.

He surprised me with a box of Valentine chocolates which was very nice and we exchanged cards.  By the way, I shared the chocolates with him, I am not a complete pig.  During his stay he realized he actually likes asparagus and blue cheese.  I got him hooked on The Food Network and HGTV.  The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart became a part of our daily routine.  He makes a mean breakfast and is so helpful in so many ways.  With his departure I will need to take on a lot of the projects that he jumped in and took over.  What I do know is that Damon has touched my life in a way few others have in the past decade.  Thank you!

Snowy Sunday

What is it about mixing Sunday with snow?  The day becomes quiet and comfortable.  No need to rush or get anywhere.  Have been up a few hours and got usual chores out of the way, but in a very casual pace and even got a few extra chores done.  Many of you saw the pictures of the paperwhites.  Well, they are now gone.  Off to recycle the go, but that cool box is being used in the bedroom.  Dishes are put away and laundry done.  Did the weekly restocking of my pills while Damon sleeps. 

He flies to Mississippi tomorrow and I shall miss him.  While it is sad to see him go it is a trip he must make.  I get to now begin counting down to his return in late April or early May.  It all depends on when he gets his laser surgery done on his eyes in Las Vegas.  The afternoon will likely be leftovers and watching a movie or too.  But I can tell you a nap will be in there too.  Plus, there are a couple of calls to be made as well.  Have a nice and relaxing day.

Fabulous February Feast

Can you say amazing?  Rob who is looking at the tarter sauce is one amazing guy.  A couple of weeks ago he came over and made an amazing sleeping platform.  Well, today he came over as did Jodie and went about sawing 2" off all 9 4"X4" posts to bring the height of the bed to perfect.  Who knew 2" could make such a difference.  After that he and Damon went to Fred Meyer to get dinner fixings.  Well, here is what we got to enjoy!

Yes, the food tasted as good as it looks.  Korean Tri-Tips with grilled zucchini and grilled sweet potato chips along with a crab cake for each of us.  And yes, you heard grilled!  He was out on the balcony and is truly a grill master.  We had this glorious meal after a fun game of Catan and I was embarrassed as I won again.  I actually tried to lose and the roll of the dice were with me.  Well, after a marvelous dinner, all were getting tired and so Damon took them down to the parking garage and they headed for home.  None of us were prepared for what they say when they exited.

YUP!  It had started to snow.  We did not notice it at all.  To think not an hour before we had dinner grilled on that very propane grill.  Boy, did we have a laugh.  The news reported that the city saw about 2.9" which was the most we had had since a storm back in 2012.  Truly amazing.  Got this shot looking out from the doorway.  Too cold to go outside.  But this does not rank anywhere near how hard the Portland area got hit and south.  We were quite lucky.  All in all a very fun Saturday.

Let The Games Begin

Competition began yesterday, but tonight is the opening ceremonies.  I am not as excited about these games as I have been about others.  It has a lot to do with costing over $51 billion which is insane plus all the tactics of Putin is just not leaving a good feeling in my stomach.  From gay rights to having dogs put down around the grounds.  It seems a lot is not done.  We shall see.

Above is the site of the games down by the sea.  It is like 42 degrees there and things are not in a good way.  There is the whole security issue as well.  I do wish all the athletes and visitors are safe.  Below is the official logo of the games.  Did not buy any swag this time round, just not interested enough.

What A Thursday

Boy, what a difference a day makes.  The storm swooped in on the Portland area and here is the big statue of "Portlandia" in downtown Portland getting a mess of snow.  It was amazing to watch on TV as none of it got up to Seattle proper.  To the south, they got hit.  My sister shared that school let out early and she had nealy 4" where she was.  Some places got up to a foot.

I find it interesting that something can fall and make a scene so picture perfect and yet it can do so much damage at the same time.  Heard about a couple of huge accidents in Oregon.  And California was not left alone as they are getting hit with a lot of badly needed rain.  Who knew.  Below is what Portland had today, a scene we have seen a lot of this year back east!  Could not deal with that!  And just as the storm was a big story today locally, down in southern California Jay Leno was saying good bye. 

Indeed, it was quite the show that they put together with Billy Crystal and then a whole cast of notables coming out singing the famous "Sound of Music" good bye song.  Carol Burnett, Oprah and others all performed.  It got quite emotional at the end, but was classy.  Now the show is moving back to New York which is where it originally began.

My Oh My! Super Bowl Parade Today!

The city of Seattle is in full on PARTY mode. I'm not downtown but am watching online and the response to the Seahawks parade is mind blowing. The city has ground to a complete joyous halt. Over 700,000 people attended.  Several people from our office deiced to try and get downtown.  After an hour and a half in traffic and only going about 7 miles, they turned around and came back.  And the best part is that despite all the city's streets being overwhelmed so far the crowds are behaving them selves. Very classy Seattle. Well done. Keep it up.

Now, it is going to be interesting to see how we get home tonight.  I have a few tricks up my sleeve, but traffic will be a nightmare.  The rallies are going to be getting out just about 4pm and so I hope to miss most of that insanity.

It's Gettinng Cold!

Yes, I know the Midwest and east coast have had it rough this year.  Yes, we have had a mild winter to date for the most part.  But, that is all changing.  Today's high will be 28 and tomorrow during the big championship parade it is suppose to be 18 with a wind chill in the single digits.  There is no way you are going to get me out there.  To make things even better when we arrived at the office this morning the office was an ice box.  Thankfully we were able to get ahold of a maintenance person and they got some guys from Pacific Heating out here quickly. 

Appears several things have happened.  About 6 weeks ago the main cooling tower blew and that is key to keeping the boiler from over heating the building.  Well, it is a custom made thing and we are still waiting for the replacement.  In the meantime they have to keep a sharp eye on the boiler and make sure it does not overheat.  What happened this morning is that two of the thermostats blew up and a line decompressed unexpectedly.  So now they are hard at work getting things working again.  What makes this all the more interesting is that the day before the whole thing started going downhill, the building changed ownership.  I bet they are not too happy about all this mess.  Go figure.

In Other News Of The Weekend...

After the Super Bowl victory yesterday, the whole city went crazy and the fireworks went off on top of the space needle.  Quite the show.  Afterwards, this is how it looked with blue light going into the sky and the whole top in green.

While it was Super Bowl Sunday it was also Groundhogs's Day.  According to Groundhog Phil, the world's most famous furry forecaster, there are six more weeks of winter ahead this year.  Phil saw his shadow at around 7:25 a.m. yesterday morning in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pa., Sunday, amidst mostly overcast skies and temperatures in the mid-30s. Thousands of revelers showed up for the folksy celebration.

What A Day!

It was a game to be remembered.  The score 43-8.  Billed as the #1 offence vs. #1 defense.  It ended up being a game that from the beginning was all Seattle.  The energy in the city tonight is amazing.  For the most part the people are in a festive mood and there is not a lot of problems as of right now.  We shall see how it turns out.  The parade is slated for Wednesday downtown, I do not think I will be there.  What a season for the Seahawks. 

Slinging Through Saturday

Today was one of those kind of days where there were a lot of chores to get done and so after my weekly chat with Michael at 6AM decided to just get started.  Emptying the dishwasher and then it was on to the laundry.  While we did get most of Christmas packed up, the closet looked like crap so Damon dragged everything out and I supervised the repacking of the closet and what a difference it made. 

We also got all his clothes organized as he leaves a week from Monday.  Then there was a quick vacuum around the apartment and it was then time for a break.  Made brunch for us and it was good to know how productive we had been all morning.  Most everything had gotten done.  And then it happened, we discovered that they were having a "Love It or List It" marathon on HGTV.  It is fun it watch people freak out when things happen during home renovations. 

He tries to find a new house for the featured couple while she tries and redo their current living situation and my oh my it gets interesting at time.  Roof replacements to bad wiring can cause major problems.  Asbestos is also a huge problem at time.  All cost money and then the homeowner gets mad at Hilary when she has to break the bad news.  Needless to say, we got a few laughs out of it.  This was all good in that Friday was kind of a funk day for both Damon and myself.  In fact, we had some Chinese food and called it a wrap for the evening.