January 30, 2010

We had a wonderful day together. Went early to Huckleberry's. We started the Low Carb diet today in earnest. Lots of meats, and products with low-carbs and very little, or no sugars. We watched Medium and Ghost Whisperer--two of our favorite shows, and we watched Travelogue from CCTV9 featuring Qingdao. A very beautiful city. We would love to retire there. I'm feeling somewhat better and haven't been coughing hardly at all, but I do feel that this cold has affected by lungs, which is always a cause for concern. Susan's sore neck is better, but not completely well, yet.

January 28, 2010

It's Thursday, the end of my week. I still haven't been feeling well. I've got this nagging cough, besides work was rather stressful. I'm not complaining--except for the darn cough--just wanted to briefly mentioned this when I look back on these posts later, or next year. The weather has been good: just below freezing in the morning, and high 30's, nearly 40, with sunshine in the afternoon. Tomorrow is predicted to be 42 degrees.

January 24, 2010

I forgot the mention this in yesterday's post, but on Saturday morning Susan received an automated call on her cell. It seems that someone was trying to purchase airline tickets to Switzerland using her Debit Card. She, of course, blocked the purchased when asked to confirm or deny the transaction. This purchase was for $1,000.00. There were at least four others. We were shocked! Later, Susan called WSECU and spoke to Katie. Her Debit Card has been blocked from all future purchases. We are very relieved that it didn't turned out worse.

January 23, 2010

Well we have suffered through another week. I have been ill. Caught the virus, but rallied enough to make it to work. MLK-Day, being on Monday necessitated working on Friday which I usually have off. However, I only had to make it through four short hours, and Susan was so wonderful to meet me at 12:30 (in the car of course). Ordinarily, I would have had to endue another cramped bus trip into Spokane, and then transfer to another bus to Medical Lake. Ah, life is so tedious most of the time. I'm pleased to report that I'm feeling better, and Susan is quite improved. Still we have not managed our usual weekend constitutional (i.e. walk) around the lake. Well, we have been ill, you know. It's nearly 40 degrees, but they are predicting some snow on Monday. I don't care--it will not amount to anything. We are in--they say--an El Niño weather pattern.

January 18, 2010

Today is Monday, a holiday. MLK day--big deal! (Earlier, I made the remark that the Blacks were better off in this country even if they had to sit at the back of the bus. (I was thinking of Haiti, the Congo, Rwanda, the mindless violence that Blacks inflict upon each other--but here they are, whining about this or that. So tiresome.) The bad news is that Susan's cold is somewhat worse. It started yesterday. However, there's lots of lovely sunshine, instead of that dreary rain. It's remarkable that the temperature is nearly 50 and here it is third week of January. We have no complaints, nor should we. A few weeks ago, the local weatherman reminded us that at this time last year we had already had over 70 inches of snow fall. We got hammered the last two years. The change is most welcome. Susan, informed me, after my usual weekend nap, that she chatted again with Bentley. That's wonderful! Later...Susan has retired. It's 6:35 PM. I am so pleased to report that she, by her own admission, is feeling better. Praise the Lard!

Same day, but later (January 17th)

I'm very happy that Susan was able to chat, again, with Bentley from the hostel in Thailand: a good indication that he got there safely. We always worry about the children.

January 17, 2010

Yesterday morning at 7:00 am Susan and I drove Bentley to the airport for his trip to Thailand. It was rather nice having him stay with us. He moved in the day after Christmas. He was able to get an earlier flight to Seattle, and once there, he was able to take advantage of SEATAC's free Wi-Fi. Susan chatted with him via Skype. Early this morning, around a quarter after 1:00 am, Bentley was able to chat with his wonderful Mother from an airport in Seoul, South Korea, also.  I'm so pleased that she was able to hear from him. He will be going to Bangkok and we might not hear from him for awhile.

January 3, 2010

Well, life handed us another disappointment: we didn't WIN the lotto. Rats! Despite that, we were able to "walk around the lake" this morning. We wore yak-tracks, though, and left around 7:00 am. Did recycling early. Came back home, and Susan showered. Bentley was eating pizza for breakfast. Great! So glad that he enjoyed it as much as we did. Susan suggested that we might want to replace the toilet tank parts. Bentley was willing to help me right now, so we did that, and the toilet works! There are always things to be glad about! We went to Denny's to get a few things. Susan's hair looks so beautiful. She's in the kitchen cooking: Chicken in lemon creme with penne (another recipe from Giada).Late in the afternoon, towards evening, I made another pizza from the second ball. It was delicious. Bentley and I had two pieces each while watching the Science channel. Later Susan and I watched another Star Trek episode, #10, with Captain Picard. Susan retired just before 7:00 pm, and I stayed up a little later to play online chess at RedHotPawn and read more of The Looking Glass War by John le Carré. Neither Susan and I want to go to work tomorrow.

January 2, 2010

Had a wonderful Saturday. We couldn't go for a walk. It was too icy and dangerous. We started to go to Safeway in Cheney, but the road were too icy. Susan turned the car around. We waited until it got warmer, which it did. We did our grocery shopping and then Susan went to Great Clips are had her hair cut and shaped by Gail. Then we stopped by Jarm's and got a toilet tank kit. I took a nap when I got home, reading first for a little while. Susan colored her hair Pecan brown. It really looks lovely. In the evening we made pizza. I make the dough; Susan does the toppings. And it was the best, ever, Susan said. The dough was fabulous! 4 cups of flour, 1 1/2 Cups of water, and 3 TBSP olive oil. Susan layered pepperoni and sausage, chiffonade of basil, onions and cheese, of course. We finished watching The Russia House--a love story! We went to bed together, and slept soundly all night.

January 1, 2010

January 1st, the beginning of the Decade of Susan. It's all about me! Actually, it's all about Susan whom I love, adore, cherish, and yes, even worship. She's my goddess. One of her sons, Bentley, has quit his job. His last day was December 31st. He's staying with us, but will be leaving for Thailand on January 16th. Susan and I had a great day. The little snow that we received has melted. Today was in the mid 30s. Right now, as I'm writing this at midnight, the temperature is 37 degrees, with wind at 17 from the SSW. Today we went into Spokane to the Safeway and WalMart at Shadle. Then we picked up some magazines at Barnes and Noble. Waiting for the stores to open at 10:00, we walked the Mall. Susan is determined to lose weight and wear slim clothes again. I believe her. We figure that in a parallel universe she is already thin and beautiful, and that reality needs, somehow, to blend over into this current reality. I think it can. For lunch we had steak and salad, and for dinner we had pork chops and orzo a recipe Susan got from Giada. Bentley dined with us. It was delicious and enjoyable having meals with him. We sat at the table with the TV off. In the evening we watched the new Star Trek movie that Bentley had gotten from NetFlix and had put on our computer.