Best Of

cindyny, enjoy your trip to the Cape. Take photos and it will be nice to have family visit.

Sandy, as Gilda Radner would say, "It's always something" and that seems to be your fate right now. Hope you can get a dental appointment quickly.

Illinoislady, I would expect that with all the regulatory agencies being disbanded that utility costs will continue to rise. This may just be a harbinger of what is to come for all of us. That definitely is a significant increase though. Raising your indoor temperature to 80 degrees may place you at risk for heat-related health issues such as dehydration, and elevated BP. I would discuss this with your doctor especially if you are still on fluid restrictions.

It is supposed to be a scorcher of a day with feels like temperatures of 105 degrees. I am not working outdoors at all and PT was at 10:30 today so I was home by noon. PT was taking a half day and is headed to the beach for the weekend. We are supposed to get severe thunderstorms this evening around dinner time so we'll make plans to go out to dinner tomorrow night. We need the rain. I am hoping it cools down but forecasts say no for the weekend.

Receptionist booked me through August so I will discuss this with her next week. I thought she was discharging me in a week, but I know she is not pleased with full extension of my left knee. Ortho had ordered additional PT as needed. Did my routine and will be sore tonight.

My one orchid is in bloom again and I have another that is forming buds so I expect it will flower soon. They seem to like light from the south which is what we get in the back of the house.

I am hoping I can finish the flower bed that DGS and I worked on. I just need to finish weeding one section of about 10-15 feet and then want to mulch the entire lower area that I didn't get to yet. DH went to Home Depot and got 10 more bags of mulch so I have 13 which should be enough for this bed; total of 22 for this bed.

I want to work on installing poles for chicken wire fencing on the azalea bed. I can then mulch it, we can enclose it and call that a day. I will need about 15-18 bags of mulch for it. I don't use as much mulch as I used to because I naturalized some beds with ferns. I used to buy 265 bags, with home delivery, and used every one of them but those days are over.

I hope everyone stays safe during this heat wave and am waving hello to everyone that normally posts here.

I got the CMC joint in both wrists injected today. He said my left one is ready to be popped out, if I am willing. I made a new appointment with the plastic and hand surgeon who I already know.

Tippy now has 28 buttons. There are still words that he would like to have. I didn't order for several months.

The activity band for older and slower folks will arrive today. I have a friend in her 80's who is participating in RAGBRAI this week. A yearly thing for her.

The college student who drowned in the river is said to have mistaken the Mississippi for a sidewalk. The perils of collegiate drinking, especially in Wisconsin.

I was lucky with curbside finds this morning. A set of three nested wooden crates (the fourth and smallest had been crushed by traffic) and a plastic pet staircase.

A bit of this and a bit of that.

Good morning. Still under our heat advisory today. Sandy, just wow. I know you do what you have to because you really have no other choice, but I still keep hoping and praying for a silver lining to show up and stay a good while for you. If you were writing a book about your "experiences" people would look on it I bet as loosely based fiction. It is really incredible.

Nothing special here today. No where to go although often we noticed what we forgot at the store by what we are doing or cooking etc. I'll catch up with my straggler bills and work on my list of projects.

Hope you all have a good day and everyone gets a break from tedious issues if they are going on.

Our new opener also has the app, and it's much quieter. Still waiting to hear back from the gas grill service company with a quote and a date. Astound came over today to set up the cable and wi-fi mesh network. We won't have cable boxes, as the TVs are all "smart" and our service is streaming DirecTV (we canceled the physical satellite). We decided not to reinstate the landline, as we've gotten used to using our cells for everything. After a year, I'm finally used to having mine with me 24/7. Meanwhile, the fridge is still not making ice or dispensing water because the guy who's coordinating that crew (who'll also be removing the footboard from the twin XL bed) is out sick and the part in question still hasn't been delivered. The construction crew is still making tweaks, and the contractor coordinator hasn't gotten us the blinds he promised—so there's no privacy yet. Also have to have a couple of outlets rewired before the TVs are delivered.

Meanwhile, I fractured out an ancient amalgam in one molar (speaking of old stuff, it was the first filling I ever got, when I was 15) and have to figure out how to shoehorn a dental appointment in. And ithe most aggravating development was having the cats' visiting vet appointment for 8/7 canceled because the vet company (TheVets.com) suddenly ceased operations. Was up for hours last night trolling for visiting vets in Chicago—and there are few and far between (the ones in operation are either not taking new patients, don't serve either this or Edgewater's ZIP code, or both). We had a great vet for Heidi, but her clinic in Edgewater closed and she moved halfway across the city. And getting BangBang into her carrier for the move will be hard enough; if she senses she's going to the vet it'll be next to impossible. Soliciting advice from every cat whisperer I can find, bought some calming chews & drops, and have transdermal gabapentin on hand should it come to that.

Here late, but nothing really going on. We are hot, hot, hot today so not going to be outdoors too much. We do find the 'feeling' a bit better where we live since we are away from concrete and brick buildings and roads and other structures that hold heat. Still, with no breeze at all I can't say it's too pleasant outside. Thank goodness for our shade. My kids were all for having many of the trees done away with here and I quickly ax'ed that idea. Mainly as our land (somewhat hilly) likes to shift a bit and it is what assists us so well in not suffering as much from heat. Having mainly lived in Calif. (we moved shortly after they were born) for most of their life and having the much cooler climate then, as well as almost no humidity, they are not always happy with what they consider big drawbacks from a lot of trees ( like Fall with leaf clean-up and many kinds of bugs they think live in the trees ) and don't consider — our area in Illinois has always been a 'buggier place with or w/o trees and obviously warmer than the Calif. coast, along with high humidity at times.

My daughter especially despises the bugs which in turn for some reason seem to really gravitate to her. Anyway, we need our trees and it is in fact, one of the very reasons Dh and I chose to live out at the lake. Much of the landscape here has been left mainly in it's wilder form — and we are treated to wonderful wildlife visitors and great shade and a quiet aspect you could never have in town. While I'm not highly fond of bugs, most here are mostly annoying to see and deal as you shoo them away. It is the ticks and mosquitoes that get to me the most. I find the rest fairly manageable since most are of the outdoor variety.

Got something of a jolt. Our electric which gets ( we have budget billing) calculated every three months will jump from $126.00 a month to $185.00. Pretty major. No wonder I'm seeing so many solar panels show up around town. We have too many trees here, but I doubt it would be in our budget anyway. So, I've already begum some measures (very small at the moment) to cut back our electric usage and we will see if in the next three months I can keep it from going up anymore. May have to up our summer a/c setting to 80.

Carole, thank you for mentioning the quote. My mother was much the same as yours. Always a helper and almost never complaining about much of anything. She lead by example more than criticism. I was I think more like her when I was young, but time and the 5 yr. cancer pill made me a bit sour and quick to anger. I have fought that since and I'm usually all right. It's probably time to stop beating myself up about it.

Betrayal, Chris, Cindy, Taco, Harley and anyone who may be in any heat I hope you will stay hydrated and not out any longer than you need be. Pools, a good thing to use now if you have them. Cindy, yep, you likely are truly enjoying that freedom now. So good to ditch that boot. Sounds like you are going to end up with a really successful procedure so something to soothe the pain of the restrictions you had to undergo. I'm hoping the same for Betrayal and her knee. Aging is something of a huge test in will and attitude. At least I have found it so. Thank goodness I seemed to have reached a point where I don't have wall to wall appts. with Dr's and I hope to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Hope you are all having a good day, and a safe and healthy one.

One of my all time favorites:

You are goodness and mercy and compassion and understanding. You are

peace and joy and light. You are forgiveness and patience, strength and

courage, a helper in time of need, a comforter in time of sorrow, a healer

in time of injury, a teacher in times of confusion. You are the deepest

wisdom and the highest truth; the greatest peace and the grandest love.

You are these things. And in moments of your life you have

known yourself as these things.

Choose now to know yourself as these things always.

Neale Donald Walsch