Busy weekend . . . . .

Worked Saturday, cut the grass for the first time (and the earliest time in the year that I’ve ever had to cut it!), then went out to a local watering establishment to hear our old bass player’s new band and to see old friends that we hadn’t seen in awhile.  It was a fun time.  We had to leave earlier than we wanted to as we were hosting our cribbage group the next day.  ■  Sunday didn’t turn out to be the nice, warm day they had originally forecasted.  Bummer.  It would have been nice to sit out on the patio.  ■  The picture to the left is of the lights on the trees next to our patio.  ■  A little guitar playing and then time for bed.  ‘Night.

Took this picture of Abby . . .

Pretty neat picture of Abby.  Just look at her.  ■  Off to work today at 3:30, but probably home early.  It’s spring break and a lot of the lessons are cancelled for this week.  Hurts the income.  ■  Going out to see our old bass player’s new band this Saturday.  Trying to get a few more people to come with us.  ■   This switching health insurance is more than a pain.  It’s hard to figure out what is what with medications.  ■  Appointment with doctor yesterday was fine – although a strange start to it.  When I arrived at the doctor’s office all the lights were out; there was no furniture in the waiting area – that was all stacked up outside the office in the hallway.  I called the doc’s main number and asked if they had moved, or closed their Fox River Grove office.  No, they hadn’t.  Apparently they had the entire office repainted; the painters had moved the furniture out, but no one had been there to move it back inside and set it up.  ■  Back to figuring out my meds situation.

Cool and then warm again . . .

The weather was cool yesterday (Monday), but it warmed up this afternoon. ■  The grass is growing already.  I’ll probably cut it tomorrow, or Thursday.  I don’t believe I’ve ever cut my grass this early in the year.  ■  The painting on the right was included in the email I send out to our chamber networking group.  We normally meet Wednesday mornings, but we’ve cancelled the meeting for this week – so all the members can sleep in a bit.  ■  Doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon.  We’ll see what he says about my health.  At least I feel good.  ■  We’re hosting our cribbage group this Sunday.  Good thing Holly told me ‘cause I was thinking of doing a blues, booze, and bbq on Sunday.  That’ll have to be postponed to another Sunday.  ■  I’ve been messing around, a little more seriously, with DADGAD tuning on guitar.  It’s a very Celtic sounding tuning and opens up many possibilities in playing and composing songs.  ■  I’ve also been practicing my square-neck dobro playing.  That’s an entirely different instrument.  More on that in the future.  ■

Record temperatures . . . . .

I took this screen capture off my iphone on Tuesday, 03/20/2012.  This is just for documentation purposes – we’ve been having record high temps in March.  Heck, we’ve hardly had a winter at all.  The weather is wacky!  ■  This weekend is our daughter’s baby shower.  It should be fun for all involved.  Not me ‘cause I get to stay home, which is good.  ■  Took my first square neck dobro lesson today.  What’s a dobro?  Easier for you to look it up.  There are square neck dobros and round neck dobros.  Check out this youtube video to hear how beautiful it sounds:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjGcIhxGP3c&feature=related

Time for bed.  Got a cardiologist appointment tomorrow morning.  ■  ‘Night.

Legs, doctors, work, . . .

Took Holly to the doctor today.  The kneeling she did on the floor making curtains for the new baby (not here yet) came back to bite her badly. Her right leg/knee is giving her severe pain.   After an office visit we headed off to the hospital for x-rays and then to Osco for meds.  It seems the meds started to help, but then something happened and she it put her back a couple of steps.  She’s got ice on it now and we’ll see how she does tomorrow.  I doubt she’ll be able to go to work.  She can hardly walk and she does a lot of walking at work.  The building complex she’s in is huge.  ■  Took the dogs to the bank with me today along with another Abby & Zoe thank you card.  It’s hard keeping up trying to give the tellers a new card each time I make a deposit.  ■  TFB.  ‘Night.

End of another weekend . . .

. . . and on to the start of another week.  ■  Quiet weekend this one.  Worked Saturday then did steak on the grill Saturday night.  Holly had gone to Green Bay to see her mother, so it was just the girls and I.  I had planned to do steak on the grill and bang, bang shrimp on Sunday, but we just weren’t hungry enough for both.  So we just had bang, bang shrimp.  Excellent.  ■  I’ve got two doctor’s appointments this week.  O’ joy.  ■  Our son is back in San Diego as of Saturday.  They ended up not needing him to deploy to the middle east.  ■  The pic is of an old guitar I have – a Goya (Korean Martin) and an old Laney AOR 30 amp.  The guitar is one of my favorites.  The way the bridge is set negates the guitar from ever intonating accurately.   The G and the B strings are always a little out.  Frustrating, but for noodling around and song writing it’s perfect.  The Laney amp was built in the 80s.  It’s a very warm tube amp – probably my favorite, but it’s really not gigable as the handle is not secure (not that that couldn’t be fixed), but it’s also heavy.  ■  Worked on a couple of new Abby & Zoe cards.  Those are the cards I give to our driveup bank tellers when we go to the bank – with the dogs, of course.  ■

Too tired . . . .

. . .  to do a longer post.  ■  Worked today. ■ Went to Sam’s Club for stuff.  ■  Steak on the grill again tonight.  ■  Sleep med is kicking my a$$;.  Night.

Weather’s getting warmer . . .

It’s 66º right now and it’s going to be 70º later this week.   I’d expect us to be in the 30s and 40s.  This is indeed unusual.  ■  The pen & ink to the right is of a cabin/home in Colorado.  This one was a rush job and they should receive it tomorrow.  ■  Holly’s on her way home from Louisville.  She’s probably about an hour, or so away.  I’ve got to figure out what to have for dinner.  I think a quick trip to Jewel is in order.

Busy week drawing . . . . .

Been a short, busy week drawing.  The pencil sketch to the left is of a house my brother rented while his home was being repaired due to damage from a fire.  This house is right on Puget Sound.  Beautiful location.  ■  Got an order for a pen & ink drawing of a home in Colorado while we were out in Gig Harbor, Washington.  That took priority and I finished it and got it shipped on Thursday.  The customer will receive it Monday.  They needed it by Tuesday at the latest, so I had to push other things aside in order to get it done.  ■  Holly’s in Louisville this weekend to make curtains for the baby’s room.  ■  Work tomorrow, so once again it’s time-for-bed.  Of course I’ve got to get the dogs off the bed before I can climb in.  ‘Night.

Back from the Pacific NW . . .

Got back tonight from the Pacific northwest – Gig Harbor, WA to be exact.  Went out there to see my mother and brother.  It was a great trip.  Wish we could have stayed longer.  More tomorrow.

02/29/12–Leap Year! Everyone hop just once. . . . .

It’s been awhile since I posted.  I intend to post much more often than I’ve been doing, but all of a sudden I run out of time at the end of the day.  ■  The drawing to the left my rendition of the elephant on our granddaughter-to-be’s curtins, or sheet, or something.  Heck, grandfathers never know.  At any rate that went on the front of the baby shower invitation card.  ■  I don’t normally work on Wednesdays, but the person that does is sick, so I’m going in.  I’ve got a little time before I have to go.  ■  The temps have gone up today.  It’s supposed to get close to 55º today.  That’ll mean most of the snow we have will melt.  Now the dogs will come in with muddy feet.  It’s better when it’s snow.  ■   Scanning some old pictures right now.  They’re for my mother.  We’re putting them on one of those electronic picture frames that will automatically do a slide show for her.  ■  Got to run. ■

Snow!

Snow in February?

I’m back! But a tooth has been extracted.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted.  I apologize for my absence.  ■  Spent a couple of days in Wisconsin last week for a funeral.  Sad, but life goes on.  ■  Looked up a recipe for “Bang, Bang Shrimp” on the web.  We had this appetizer at Bonefish Grill and it’s fantastic.  We’ve got the sauce down, but now we need to get the shrimp cooking part right.  ■  Went to my dentist today to get a tooth pulled and a bone graft on it.  It’s kind of strange having the tooth gone, but not too bad with the bone graft filling in the missing space.  I’ve got one, or two stitches in there – I can feel the thread with my tongue.  ■  The drawing above is a pencil sketch of my dentist’s office.  I washed the color in using a painting program on my iPad.  Not too bad.  The bricks appear a little too red, but I was rushed.  ■

Up All Night . . . and sad news . . .

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I ran out of my sleep prescription meds and was basically up all night.  I’ve spent all day running about on the phone, net, and in the car chasing medical stuff.  Seems the new insurance company we have won’t pay for my sleep med.  It’s now going to cost me $171 every month.  If I don’t get it my lack of sleep puts my heart in AFIB.  That’s a life-threatening and stroke threatening condition.  If I were a insurance company I wouldn’t want to pay that either, but then again I doubt they do pay that much.  The pharmaceutical company has their prices jacked-up.  The med I take is a generic one – not the “brand name” version.  ■  On a brighter note I do some much-needed updates on the Kalo Foundation website.  And on a continuing bright note, the drawing above is a sketch of “Rocket Billy’s” in White Stone, Virginia.  Our daughter and son-in-law were married out there.  ■  On a sad note, my old brother-in-law passed away last night.  We’re waiting to see what the funeral arrangements will be.  ■  Off to the pharmacy to pick up my med.  ■

Quiet weekend . . . . .

It was a quiet weekend.  We stayed home both Friday and Saturday nights, but attended an annual superbowl party tonight.  That was fun.  Especially seeing old friends that we haven’t seen in awhile.  ■  And is it Superbowl, or Super Bowl?  One word, or two?  ■  Planning a trip out to see my mother and brother in Gig Harbor, Washington.  It’s a 4 hour flight.  I’m not looking forward to flying.  ■  The sketch you see here is of one of our local restaurants named “Cary’s Restaurant.”  Just a quick pencil sketch to keep my skills up.  ■  We’re going to try and get Bullfrog back in its original form.  This time we’ll stick to more blues stuff.  No more “Brown Eyed Girl.”  Time for me to GTB.  ‘Night. ■