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More plumbing issues

Boy, just when you think you have your house in shape ...

There is water dripping out of the seam between the kitchen cupboards and the kitchen ceiling (sound familiar, Mother?) and we can't tell where it is coming from.

Sigh!

Another thousand bucks or so down the proverbial drain.

On the bright side, I am healthy - Bill is healthy - Jess is healthy - Noah is healthy - I have many sisters, a brother, and a mother who will take me in if everything falls apart. I have a job, Bill has a job, Jess has a job, and Noah has a job (and if he would stop buying shoes he might do more than break even!).

And I am much loved.

Diana

Lion King and Phindile Mkhize

First of all, let me tell you, Sandra, that I nearly split a side reading your last blog entry. It was very, very funny and thus a wonderful afternoon reading break,



Bill, Jessica, Noah and I went to the Paramount theatre last night to see the Lion King production. The baboon was played by Phindile Mkhize and she has a voice that will rock your world!!! Wow! All of the cast were excellent, but she was phenomenal. The costumes and sets were fabulous also.



We got about two to three inches of snow in the middle of the night! It is beautiful out, but the schools on the Island are closed and getting to work required careful driving. Luckily, JB doesn't go to work until 2 pm, so the snow will have melted by then, I think. Noah doesn't have class until noon, so I am not worried about him either.



Love,

Dee



REPAK AGAIN

After reading about the activities of other members of this blog, I thought I would tell you about some really exciting things in my life. YES, it repak again! How I look forward to the exciting, rewarding activities involved in opening plastic bags so that crew members can fill them with nourishing frozen vegetables. And then, there is the potluck! Wow, what tasty food and enjoyable company to go with it. And that isn't all. THEN comes the rewards. It is always so tense and hopeful to try to guess what items we can choose to come home with.



It is raining today. We are short of rain for the year which began last September. But the rain so far is mostly like April showers. Still there is time for the snow to melt and fill the dams on the Columbia River and also some on the Willamette and McKenzie rivers.



I love reading the blogs. Love, Bopcha

Finally writing

Hello Everyone,



I found myself smiling when I read about the high scores Theresa had - especially the when she mentioned being the highest scoring female currently. That is such wonderful news and Kay is obviously proud.



Tom, I assume you are doing wonderfully now that surgery is over and it seems that it was successful. I hope you are feeling relaxed and getting plenty of rest.



Diana, it must be kind of nice to go out for a jog at lunch time. I was just thinking today that I would love to be able to jog at lunch time and have a shower nearby and have it in a place where people at work don't see me in sweats and sneakers and wonder what I am up to. Especially now that my office is in the Cafe, I have a constant audience of people who seeme go in and out of my office.



But trivial matters aside, that is great that you are training for a marathon. I would love to train for a marathon but my knees are too damaged to committ to anything like that. I still go jogging sometimes with a friend of mine (not Sid, he won't go with me). I really enjoy it but I never know when I am going to have knees that will start acting up so I don't ever plan for marathons. Jogging is still one of the most gratifying exercises, and the simplest. You don't need a gym, etc.... which is why I always jog when I am out in Oregon. Of course, it is also so beautiful out there that jogging is made much more interesting and enjoyable.



Well I am enjoying the Jazz and Java Cafe" outside my office. :-) Just kidding. Although I have to admit that it hasn't been too disruptive lately. But that is because the cafe isn't very busy, in fact it is very slow. I can't even imagine how the cafe manager feels it is worthwhile to continue its operation. All that might change because today an e-mail was sent to the entire school/hospital announcing that the cafe is now officially up and running (well not to challenge anyone's perceptions of reality, but as far as I can tell it's been operating since the first week of January). Well obviously the message is a marketing strategy to remind everyone that they exist and have many new items on the menu to try. Because of the very limited menu, I have not had a constant smell of food in my office. Although now it seems that real food is being introduced, so my office might start smelling like a kitchen :-(



Oh perhaps the Seattle crowd on this blog could explain what "Eggspresso" is all about. The cafe will be offering scrambled eggs cooked with the milk steamer. This sounds crazy, but maybe it is really delicious. Has anyone ever tried it? This is the very first time I have ever heard about this. But this cafe tells us it is available in the "streets of Seattle." Is it true?



Sid and I went to my sister's house the other day, and had a nice visit with Nina and Alex. We had not been there for a really long time and apparently Alex was really missing Sid (of all people) can you imagine? That is really cute though I must admit.

Alex wants Sid to help him with a very massive puzzle that contains 1000 pieces. Since Sid and George go immediately into their lengthy chess games, I offered to help Alex with the puzzle. Alex questioned how I am going to do that whole puzzle if I can't even do one piece." First I tried to not laugh and then I asked him where he got the idea that I was that clueless. He said he just wanted Sid to help him, because Sid could do the puzzle. I figured I wouldn't argue with this very wise six year old.





Well work has been intense. I am working late many days and really beat when I get home. But as many of us say, I am just feeling fortunate to have a job these days, even if I do have to work in a cafe. By the way, I was told (as a token of appreciation for putting up with all the cafe traffic) that I would receive free coffee. So I tried to order coffee twice and both times - it was NOT free. So that settled that question. I just make coffee in my office, like I always have. I figured if I save the $1.60 each day instead of buying coffee, I'll have maybe $500.00 more dollars when I retire at the age of 85+. Of course I'll make sure I put the $1.60 under my mattress - you know the only safe place to keep your money these days. :-) :-) I am joking about the money stuff - in a way.



Well nice to hear from everyone on the blog. Sorry about the long message. I thought I would make up for lost time. Thanks for reading all this.



Much Love,



Sandra









Theresa and her Officer Candidate School dreams ...



Kay shared this with me:





From: Todd, Theresa CTR NAVAIR, 726000D



Grams,



I'm sure you already heard, but I did much better on my test this time around. I decided to retake the required officer test in order to try for a higher score. My recruiter wanted me to score 6 more points in order to make my score more competitive...I scored almost 20 points higher!! That currently makes me the third highest scoring applicant and the highest scoring female applicant at the moment! OCS here I come!! Okay...maybe not, but I definitely improved my chances of getting in.



RESPONSE FROM KAY

No I hadn't heard. CONGRATULATIONS! So what happens now? Does it go before a Board with the other applicants to be approved and/or accepted?????



THERESA REPLIES

Yes. My package will most likely be up for the April review board since March is right around the corner. My recruiting officer seems extremely confident that I'll earn a spot in one or both of the programs I selected.

They told me that with my scores and the fact that I'm a minority female will really up my chances. They're trying to diversify the officer programs in the Navy so being a high scoring minority female applicant with a solid college GPA, and work experience is all going to work in my favor.









Home for the day

I'm Bone tired and feeling a bit fluish.. so I came came for the day and got some much needed rest. Sister Diana and I have a true appreciation of rest time.. Right Dee? Ahhhhhhhh

Monday Morning

Whew! I just got finished jog/walking with Bev, another atty in the office. We are training for a 5K fun run on March 22. The run is on Mercer Island, and we already know the route, so we did part of it today. I made it 39 minutes before crawling back to the office. Bev went for another 5 or 10 minutes.



I am really being careful and every time I get too winded I walk. Bev is short, so she can still jog while I walk. Works out well.



Now I have to get my blood sugar back up before I try working on stuff here at the office.



Later,

Diana

Confusing Dreams

We lost the basketball game yesterday (their main guy scored 33 points on us!), but have another today. Anyway, between the game and who knows what else, I had an aggravating dream where Sid (among others) was bugging me. Grrrr....



Jessica bought a couple of cashmere sweaters at work yesterday (marked down from $230 to $39) and I am wearing one of them today. I feel really cool. Usually stuff from JB's store is not appropriate for a 60 year old woman. (Plus, most will not fit!!!!).



Noah is doing well, but we haven't seen as much of him this term since Gavin is coaching rather than heading up the rec basketball team. As soon as the high school season is over, we can start watching Noah and Gavin play again. I look forward to it!



The weather is finally warming up. Bill and I might get to ride our bikes this weekend!



Love,

Dee

Tom home???

We are anxiously awaiting news that Tom has arrived home.

Mercer Island won last night (since you ask), but it was CLOSE CLOSE CLOSE!!

The temperature got up to 54 degrees today. Hooray!

There is another basketball play off game tomorrow. Fun!

Love,

Dee

Wish I Could, Sid

I would love to see Mr. Mira and hear his fabulous voice - even at the nefarious Can-Can. Sadly, there is a basketball play off game tonight and the Islanders will fold if I am not there cheering them on.



All is well here.



Love,

Dee

Go Check it out Diana!!!

Vince Mira



02-17-2009 19:00 at Can Can

94 Pike, Seattle, Washington

Cost: FREE



Alone at Work

Apparently today is a holiday, because I am the ONLY person here at work. It is kind of nice, actually.



I imagine Tom is beginning the recovery phase of his journey. Always tedious, boring and slow. Hang in there, dear Tom. By summer you will be out dancing and singing with the ZoiBoyz!



I have eaten all my Valentine's Day candy already. I figured it was better to just get it over with quickly and somehow that would be less damaging.



Love,

Dee

Happy Birthday Judi!!

And I agree.. That is a great picture of Diana!



Love Sid and Sandra

Update on Tom

Last time I mentioned Tom having surgery, I said it would be on the 11th. Instead, it's scheduled for Friday/13 and Sat/14--Valentine's Day. First day, the doc fixes (removes/replaces) the disks between cervical vertebraes 4-5-6 and then the second day, operating from the back of Tom's neck, the doc puts titanium braces on the bones themselves to make them rigid and dremels away excess bone buildup from the spaces that the nerves run through. We are waiting for the Air Force to approve the procedures. Despite the urgency of the situation, the pain Tom's suffering, and the ever increasing loss of feeling and function in his arms, the Air Force wants a peer review done first. We're hoping the peer review can be accomplished today and the surgery go as scheduled tomorrow. We'll see. It's all out of our hands.

Opps, Tom's awake--soon Judi will be as well if she isn't already!!