Out, damned stone

Gave birth this morning.  Thankfully, no photos or stats.

Now I can try to be human again.

Diabolical Stone

I really hate the fact that when a bunch of old geezers get together there is always one topic that gets batted around until we all realize how pathetic we sound.  That is the topic of our health.  I guess that is because we all have our health issues and someone in the group is always recovering from a recent battle with some sort of new ailment we have yet to deal with or are all too familiar with ourselves.

I'll try to be brief and only mention it because, well........turns out I don't have much else to talk about. 

We got home from Portland last Monday all set to get a few good days of unpacking and settling in done before returning for the Memorial weekend.  That lasted until 3am Tuesday when I woke up to the too familiar beginning pain of a kidney stone.  Teri says my last one was Feb 2009.  It went pretty well, we went over to the Soldotna ER, I got an IV of Torodol and flushed it before the meds fully took effect.
Out before McDonald's quit serving the breakfast menu. 

This time I got the IV w/Toradol and a cat scan.  Doc says you have a 4mm stone, here's some Vicodin and a filter to catch it in, go home and drink a lot.  By Thursday I have used up the paint filters and am peeing into a coffee filter in a sieve.  Sometime, when we are drinking, I'll tell you how to do that when you have a bowel movement involved.  I'll need Dave Barry to join us to do it right.  By now I am dying to get off the Vicodin and the rotten way I feel on it.

I decide that we are going back to the ER Friday morning if nothing changes.  So Friday morning comes with no pain and a clear head.  We have dinner at Sara and Emil's and decide it is a go for Portland Saturday morning.  Still haven't seen the stone but there have been enough mishaps to have missed it.  So off we go.

We see the first flag display in Sandy just east of the city.

It is impressive.  There is a tent with lots of photos and an old geezer dying to talk war stories so I avoid it.

And look!  It is all for sale.

Then we spot this guy about 40 blocks east of Ryan & Judy's.

We separate but end up behind him on their street.  He pulls in about six houses up from theirs with the mattresses still on top of the car.  At least he didn't have his buddy on top of them "holding them down".  I've seen photos of that move.

Ry & I go to the Timbers game (a barn burner/heart breaker that ends 1-1) Saturday night and Sunday He and Judy buy......................A NEW CAR! (thank you Bob for that intro).  Teri and I entertain Nina while Momma and Papa do lots of "boring stuff".

Then we drove three cars home.  Would you believe, I didn't get a photo?  Try to picture a white Prius V.  That is the new version with the same drive system as our with a new body style (wagon).

My plan to get photos this morning before we went home was foiled when I woke up at 4am.  That #%&$*@! stone was back!  Teri (used to getting dressed before dawn and driving me to the ER) executes the drill and we do the IV w/Toradol and cat scan again at the Portland VA ER, but not before registering some pain in the low nines (sorry, but I AM a wimp).  Doc says it is still 4mm but it has moved to the Ureter and only has to get through the bladder and the prostate to make it to the screen.  He does a bunch of consults and says "it could take two weeks........." I didn't hear much after that having passed out at TWO WEEKS.  Holy crap!  As Frank would say.

So, back to Flowmax, Vicodin and lots of water.  Teri drove us home and it is back to getting up every hour at night to pee.  At least they gave me a much improved filter system, hopefully preventing those little mishaps.

Hope all is better with you all out there.  We have enough health care issues to talk about.

Stay hydrated.

Last Phase Completed

Phase three (?) complete.  Now all we have to do is unpack all those boxes and wonder what we were thinking when we packed them. 

The container showed up at 8 AM sharp (well after I met him at Walmart and led him here).  Roger, the driver, was a great asset.  He got the car out right away and gave us lots of pro tips on how to move furniture around.  As well as doing plenty of heavy lifting.

First unload the Subaru.

These guys knew what they were doing.  I could see many ways we could have really screwed this one up.

And the Subaru makes first touchdown on "Outside roads".

Emil and Sara brought some friends over and they did the heavy lifting and trucked all the stuff that needed to go upstairs.

Now the house is full of boxes and every time you unpack one it quadruples in volume.

Hope the vehicles enjoyed their brief stay in the garage; looks like it will be a while before they get back in.

Well, I better get back to unpacking, Teri is hard at it after a brief phone break.

It's back to Portland this weekend so we'll get a break from it for a bit.

Weather still perfect here.

A NEW DOOR!

Just doesn't sound all that exciting.  But it is nice to have a secure and energy efficient entry.  The old one had lots of character but really needed retirement.

So, if you know anyone needing a 90 something year old door.  Here's one needing a new home.

The new one fit great and we even kept the old inside trim and half of the outside trim.

Back in Redmond gearing up for the "stuff" arriving on Thursday.

Weather here is perfect.

Someone's Four

In Portland for the weekend.  Things are really blooming here.

R&J's Azalea and Rhododendron in the background.

First and only bloom on the Rhododendron but tons of buds just a few days off.

The whole town is busting out in flower.

Tomorrow I hang a new front door for Ryan & Judy.  Hope to have pictures before we head back.

Meanwhile, someone turned four.  Had a party at the Children's Gym.  An old auto dealership converted to a gymnastics school.

 That is one long trampoline

The "bar room" had about six sets of bars.

Louis wasn't impressed.

Then there were cupcakes.  

There was quite a variety of methods for attacking them.

And then there was just one candle left.

And pin the ear on the Kitty.

Louis was still unimpressed.

Check in tomorrow for those always exciting door pics.

Consuming is Exhausting

Our own personal Bend/Redmond stimulus program is doing fine.  So far we have replaced most of the stuff that was deemed too far gone to rate space in the container.  That includes, but not limited to, two new beds, new washer & dryer, a new dining table set, a new couch, two new chairs w/ottoman, numerous towel racks, coat hooks, shower curtain stuff and much more.

New bed for guest room.

New hickory dining set.

New couch and chairs. Still have the ominous "DO NOT REMOVE" tags.

New TV table.

After all that there was still some money left so we bought a NEW CAR! Use Bob Barker's voice for that last sentence.  Teri's been whining ever since we had to part with the Prius in Florida so we got a new one.  

That still leaves a few things to acquire on the local market.  Like:

A bar-B-Q

String trimmer

End tables

Bigger TV? We are currently using the one from the Fifth wheel which will end up in the bedroom.

Night stands

Whole house vac

And then there is the inside of the garage and shop.

All this and we haven't begun to discuss tools.  I guess those will have to be acquired the old fashion way.  I'll simply purchase them as they become essential for the next project.  Next one is already in the Que.

Household goods are in SEATAC and should arrive here next week, we have yet to schedule the exact day.  At this rate, we'll be full up before it gets here.  I'm glad for the relatively restful time before the "stuff" arrives.

Weather is perfect here.

Update

No pics yet, soon.

We are no longer homeless. That lasted a long time, didn't it?

All went smoothly and we closed on the Redmond house last Wed.  Our container of stuff (got to think of George Carlin every time I use that word) should get to SEATAC around Monday and we hope to be offloading soon thereafter.  That should at least be faster than loading was; they give you a whole 6 hours to unload.  Emil says that should be no problem as he has done it before.

So for now we are concentrating of bolstering the local economy.  Seems that we need more stuff before we can settle in.  You know, just the basics; beds, washer/dryer, table saw, jointer, drill press.

Today it is TV hook up, carpet stretching and trying to figure out the heating/cooling system, fireplace and lawn sprinkler.  Seems like they have dandelions here too.  Good thing; I'd hate to give up my war with the evil yellow flowers.

Stay cool.