KateP's musings

      I left here just before 11:30 and no sooner than that I hit a traffic snag on 95.   Between Orange and west Haven.   As usual people tried to cut in on the lanes, I saw one motorcycle acting like an evil Knievel wanna be. I arrived at Gills by 12:15. We had time to talk with each other.   She liked the shoes, and so did Murph. I had to hide them where he couldn't reach.    After a time Stephanie, Faith, Paula, and Damien arrived.   The order doesn't matter, and it's not important.     We dedicated the following hours to preparing pompoms for the table decorations and reviewing the caterers' schedule.    They have a few people coming to do all that.   Around 3 or so Damien and I left.   Stephanie left before 2 due to several reasons, including knee pain.    I headed to the Big Y in North Branford and went shopping. It took me maybe an hour or so.   I got a lot of things it came to ...

Today is my first in person or live meetup since the pandemic shut down everything.   The Finding friends group will be going to Lavender Pond Farm and then to Niantic Boardwalk for an afternoon activity.   I am so looking forward to this even if my brother and sister are thinking otherwise.   I told them about it Friday morning and they didn’t think it was a great idea or they didn’t think it was a great idea for me to go back to the gym yet.      I haven’t been to Niantic and its right on the Connecticut River.    We have the option to bring our lunch or buy something there.   I will be taking pictures and taking precautions. The weather is absolutely beautiful for this too.   Its 60 degrees and sunny and will be in the 70’s today.   No rain at all.

I was expecting the weather to be cloudy, cold and very windy and it was as the day progressed.   It started off sunny and 45 degrees.   It was pretty much the same in Killingworth.   This is probably a good thing.   I have heard from friends across the country.   They did get snow and it ranged from 8 in to a total foot.   I baled on the gym in the morning despite the fact I saw A on FB.   So he knows I was online and despite the fact I promised I can’t.   I have things I wanted to do before the day got away.   So I met with A this week at our normal time.   Tuesday I was very tired and we talked about.   He reminded me that I am pre-Diabetic (something I may not have shared with the Doctors this week) and the reason I was tired because of the sugar and breads I have been having.   He suggested that I can no longer have desserts or sweets of any kind.   No breads either and this entire are going to be tough A did ...

The day started off pretty cool at 48 degrees and very sunny.  I was looking forward to the temperatures going into the 70’s for the hike into Red Rock Canyon. Before we went though  we had to do some errands in the same area.  They wanted to meet with their attorney for stuff.  So I kept myself busy. I went to a coffee shop called Leone  Cafe and had breakfast. It was quite a busy place and I got an egg white Asparagus Omelet with a salad. I thought it was strange to include a salad with breakfast but what do I know the other options were things I couldn’t have.  I had coffee with it. I sat out on the patio and did some people watching. The meal came to $12. 99. It was still a bit cool but nice. IF you need to go to a public restroom you will need to go down the street into another building.  Where the Lawyer’s office is located. I learned that this Business center that included a wide range of stores and restaurants and offices all had ...

The Surprise party was a huge success (although she admitted as the hours passed she kind of knew something was being planned). Only a handful of people dressed up (mostly sibs, and kids, and of course my sister and Bil).   The party was to start at 2 but Sis thought it was at 1.   A fact I mentioned when I arrived at her house today.   There was plenty of food.   Appetizers included cheese and crackers, stuffed breads, veggie platter with dipping sauce, bruschetta, and pizza.   The buffet had everything as well, pasta, eggplant rollattini, chicken piccata, roasted potatoes, and steamed vegetables and salad and the bread.    I showed some restraint and didn’t have EVERYTHING and still it was good but I didn’t have dinner when I came home.   There was some dancing to the 80’s music as well.   I did get up there but grew tired and breathless, and sweaty in a very short time.   Evidently I need to still work on my energy level and ph...

It is the morning after the Auction and I would have to say it was a huge success.  There were about 90 people in attendance.  The food was great and the auction was fun.  I managed to bid on a few items (such as movie basket, and some other things) I made myself a limit on the bids no higher than $50.   Liz called me on my way to pick her up (I was going to be early anyway) and said she was running late and she would meet me there.  I really was not surprised but I was a little annoyed.  She doesn’t realize how much she is like Mom in that aspect but there was no reason to make her feel worse about it.  I stopped at Walgreen’s and got money and then headed to the school.  I was early so I waited for a bit and then voila! Lights on and i went in and took my place.  I found a table for LIz and myself and as time went on noticed it was still empty so by the time Liz came I moved us to another shared table.  Glad we did.  One...

Dear Mom,     I can’t believe how quickly this weekend went by but unfortunately I spent most of Saturday in bed.  Friday night I didn’t do much I had dinner (a hamburger) and of course the rest of the night is now turning into a blur until about Saturday morning early morning.  I had gotten what I call kidney shots (or muscle spasms) and they hurt like hell.  I took some muscle spasm but I ended up tossing it up.  I ended up falling back to sleep until about 9.  I stayed in bed until 10 and then I got up for a little while and got some errands done and then came home and went back to bed for the rest of the day.     Sunday I felt a lot better but I noticed my stomach not fully better so I treaded light for most of the day.  I did have a bowl of cereal before the Mexican train game but it felt heavy.   I did go to bingo and then stopped by Liz and Nelson’s to drop stuff off.  That afternoon I went to the ...

Dear Mom,     The last couple of days seem to have been quite long and busy.  I have a lot of work starting to pile on my desk and trying to organize it was/is becoming a challenge.   I had some doctor appointments and I had a lovely but alas short visit from Jim and Emily.     I have been hit hard with a lot of incoming eobs and mail from the “Payment Processing depart that gets a lot of the lockbox stuff they give to me.  I wish when they get it they give it to me sooner than they have.  At the same time I realize they have a procedure to go through and probably a backlog of stuff as well.  LAS brought it to my attention that a few people have noticed.  I flat out told her it isn’t their business.  SHe shrugged but pointed out people are noticing.  She keeps encouraging me to ask for help.  I don’t want to (and besides I don’t think anyone can be really spared)  WHat’s the hold up you ask. ...

November 16, 2013 Dear Friends: Another Saturday is almost gone.  I slept late because of taking the Alka-Seltzer Cold med last night.  I went to check on the  cat and fed it and stayed with it for a short time.  I might go back this afternoon if they haven’t come home yet. I made amends with Mom although she is still piss-assed mad at me. She is getting ready for a wedding this afternoon it is at 4.  I offered to give her a ride but she declined.  She says it will be light still.  I also pointed out that if it goes later it will be dark.  I still say she is taking too many risks. The rest of my work day went well.  I got much done and got home and got ready for the dinner.  It was great.  My meal came out late but I ate most of it and shared it with Evette.  I was pretty full by then.  I got to see some old friends that I worked with and they looked great. It was nearly 9 when I got home and Mom was in bed.  My entir...

October 28, 2013 Dear Friends: Hey how are you all?   I hope the last half of your weekend was great.   Mine turned out okay but the morning and mid afternoon was a bit stressful.   While at bingo I had to fill a delightful incident report out when I saw Bernie’s foot bleeding.   We had to use the second floor dining room yesterday because there was an event going on in the main dining room w/extra tables from the recreation room.   It was hot, crowded and when Bernie was moving his chair his shoe came off.   So I had to fill it out.   The nurse there was giving me an attitude. When I got I had lunch and then Mom and I got into it as the time approached to leave for the play at Parson’s.   We snapped at each other (she thought I was mumbling under my breath and I was but not being nasty).   It was tense on the way there but once we were with the others and saw the play it was fine. What was the play you ask? ...

October 25, 2013 Dear Friends: I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning.  I kept ignoring the alarm and the subsequent snooze button ringing.  When I finally did get up I managed to read some emails, watch TV and iron the clothes I wore to work..  I left before 7:30 and had little to no problem with traffic. except for the sun glare in the morning. I spent the first part of the morning  doing re-address mail and when Lockbox came I worked on that. until the next round.  The volume seemed light to me and it was light yesterday but making sure I catch up on stuff is what made it seem a lot. I heard from Nancy this morning.  She was hoping I could watch the dogs for the night as she and Patrick were invited to dinner out of town..  I explained to her I had previous commitment..  I felt bad for her.   I hope she got someone. We had our wings and cake for Regina’s Birthday today.  Amongst their moving to new desks.  I...

October  19, 2013 Dear Friends; Well here it is  Saturday Morning and I here I sit trying to empty out my email boxes.  Mom is downstairs reading the paper that apparently came later then usual.  I actually got up after her.  My letter to James has not gone yet and I am a bit peeved.  I have sent it three times but it just isn’t leaving the outbox.  He is going to have it three times.  I guess I tried the “don’t send it before “ option and it didn’t work for some reason.  It worked last week! It is amazing I have had computers for years and should understand them but I don’t.  I always panic when things go wrong or it dies.  That’s when I call up my Guru next door.  One day he won’t be there anymore.   Maybe its time I go to computer classes or something.  It s also the reason I try and have a computer blog because then I can see what is going on and if something does go wrong I can have access it to it. Well eno...

August 13, 2013 Dear Friends. You can always tell when the summer is drawing to a close.  The days get shorter, the air is cooler, school begins again  and   The Big E Blog starts up.  The annual event actually starts a month from today and goes for seventeen days. I am not in a good space.  Mom and I got into it over stupid shit again.  We were both sharp with each other and when she spoke back to me I said see ya.  I have been fuming all day about it.  I told a few people about it (fewer than normal) and I talked with liz about it.  She says that it must have been building up for awhile.  She did say she found herself doing the same things that Mom does and feels awful about it.  She reminded me that Mom will be mad so let her. Work went well I got a lot done and managed to work on more of the re-address mail until it was time to go home.  i found out that my friend AnnMarie who works in Pathology is being laid off....

July 27, 2013 Dear Friends  it’s a few minutes before midnight and it is quiet here.  Mom has been in bed for nearly 2 hours.  I Have been home from the games since maybe around 8.  I have been multitasking heavily between the TV (watching things like the Dr. Who programs on BBC America) and the computer (visiting the forums and blogs). M&R picked me up a little after 2 and a very short time later we were at Gary and Carol’s house we were the last of the group to arrive.  Once we were all in side we emptied our bags with our contributions and then we sat down and began to eat.  We ate about an hour and half and then started the thirteen rounds of the game.  We had the pleasure of Stan’s Daughter Michelle (?) with us and she was lovely.  She caught on quickly on how to play the game. Of course I had a lot of stuff and even though I promised in this entry I would be careful-I flopped but haven’t had the aches and pains that I would be...

Spent a lovely afternoon at the Mercy Center to hear a friends poetry reading as well as music and art.  Each of them experienced life threatening events and learned how to deal with it through different aspects of art.  It really was a lovely way to spend a rainy afternoon. The only downside was I had been sneezing and sniffling through the entire day and I just was beginning to feel miserable.  It all started before I left for bingo.  I am thinking that the pollen and the rain started it all for me.   I left the house just after 8:30 my plans to attend an early mass went out the window and so I headed to Dunkin donuts for breakfast.  I went to the nursing home and had breakfast and then went in and hung around.  I was there before everyone came in.  AFter awhile people came in and so I spent time chatting.  Time sort of just got away from us and then we got ready for bingo.  We did start on time and finished on time...

I can’t believe it is Saturday night.  Today went by awfully quick.  It all started around 6 when I got out of bed and did some surfing on the net.  I spent the morning doing laundry and then around noon time I got ready for the fashion show. We met a little after 1 at Carriage Green Assisted Living complex .  Dr. T was already in her first costume and she looked great.  Eventually the rest of the girls arrived and we set up.  The administrator helped set up the chairs while we got instructions and made some changes to the script.  My sole job was to make sure the girls were ready and to cue the MC.  We started at 2 pm and we were finished by 2:30.  Afterwards we had refreshments including ice cream...woohoo.  Overall we had a huge success and we probably will be doing more things for this place.  This might mean we will no longer be doing activities for WRHH.   Sadly some of the girls chose not to participat...

I feel as though I should be getting ready for the dance now.  Mike and Roberta will be here by 7:30 (or shortly after that ) to pick me up to go to Meriden.  I have just to iron my black pants I will be wearing with the blue top that Cousin Donna gave me last week.  I hope it fits!  I am having doubts right now.  It is sleeveless as well.  I will wear my windbreaker jacket as there isn’t anything else to go with it. I have been writing up the minutes to Thursday’s minutes and have sent them off to Chairman Phil to approve or revise.  It has been a rather long time since I got them out this quickly.  There have been periods of time where I would get them out quickly and there have been times where it was weeks or not at all. I have also been watching the NCIS Ziva David Marathon on USA.  I am not sure how USA network picked these episodes but I am glad they did.  Some of them I will have to miss obviously..  But I...