Sleep . . .

Schist.  My sleep has been crap lately.  I sometimes fall asleep easily, but only sleep for 2, or 3 hours; then wake up and am up for 2, or 3 hours and then go back to be and sleep for a few more hours.  Sometimes I can’t fall asleep and then am up for hours before I do.  None of it makes sense.  Right now I’m hot and sweating and yet I’m chilled.  And I’m not asleep.  Last night Zoe came in to our room and went ‘round and ‘round by my side of the bed until she finally stepped between the hose for my CPAP and the bedside table and then went for the door and pulled the CPAP off the bedside table.  Luckily it didn’t break.  I can’t sleep without the CPAP machine.  Sleep is what I need, but can’t seem to get.  ■  Going to bed now.

The weather has turned warm . . . . .

The weather has taken a turn for the better – warmer - 70° today.  I like it.  ■  Went down to Louisville for Easter weekend.  Libby & Jay needed us to babysit our grandkids.  It was a delightful time.  That’s a picture of Maggie Byrd and I playing guitar.  ■  Headaches.  I’ve had a continuous headache since Monday.  It’s just there – more than slight – and pulsating.  If it doesn’t go away in the next few days I’ll get an appointment with my neurologist.  When they tested me a few years ago to try and find the cause of my headaches they did an MRI (jeeze I hate those!) and found I had a small brain tumor.  It’s not cancerous and I may have had it since I was a child.  They didn’t think that the tumor is the cause of the headaches anyway.  Since I now have a pacemaker/defibrillator MRIs are out.  ■  Aaron’s going to Naples, Italy next month for a month courtesy of the Navy.  Should be an interesting experience for him.  ■ 

Snow in March . . .

We were expecting a couple of inches, but it look more like 5-6 inches on top of my grill.  Just when we thought winter was over.. … ■  My desk/office reorg is taking longer that I thought – heck longer than it should.  I look at all the stuff and wonder what to do with it.  If I were smart I’d just bring a large trash bag up here and just throw it all out.  ■  Went and saw our old bass player’s new band – actually one of his new bands – Yesterday’s Children.  10 people in the band – 5 piece horn section, drums, guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and singer.  They were good.  Lots of Chicago, Buckinghams, Ides of March, etc.  Really good.  ■ 

Car working . . . new drawing order ….

My 15 year old Honda CRV was overheating.  The temperature gauge would climb from normal to high and then go back down to normal.  I finally thought to check the coolant level for the radiator.  It was low, so I bought some, filled it up and drove the car to test it.  Yup, it seems I was just low in coolant.  An easy fix.  That’s something I’ll have to remember to check every so often.  ■  Got an order for a pen & ink of a home.  That’s a picture of it in this post. That driveway must be a PITA to shovel in winter!  ■  We’re going to Kenosha, Wisconsin this coming Sunday afternoon to see a  band our old bass player is in.  The band does a lot of Chicago, Buckinghams, etc horn music.  The band starts at 3:00 pm so I thinking we’ll leave here early enough to drive up there and have lunch at the bar before the band starts.  ■  TFB.  ‘Night.  ■

A Flight of Fancy . . . . .

Another bird painting completed.  This one’s a Blue Jay.  ■  The temps are coming up – spring is in the air.  The snow is melting and the dog’s feet are muddy.  We like the warm temperatures, but not the mud.  ■  Practiced with Pat this past Saturday afternoon  and will practice again tonight.  I might join him  for a few songs this Saturday night.  Songs – City of New Orleans, Lyin’ Eyes, Knockin’ On Heavens Door, Dock of the Bay, Love Is A Rose, Down By The River.  ■  Need to get my minimal recording studio set up.  Dying to record some stuff.  ■

Sad day.

My daughter called me this afternoon and asked if her Uncle Jym had passed away.  She had seen something on facebook about him.  I don’t have a facebook account, so I have to rely on others that do.  And, yes, it seems that Jym has passed away.  No other details at this point.  We’ll probably find out more tonight via facebook.  ■ 

Billy Galaxy–2 nights this weekend . . .

Went out to Vicky’s Place in McHenry to hear Billy Galaxy play.  Tonight (Saturday) we’re going to go hear him at The Crystal Lake Rib House.  ■  Dang, but it’s cold out.  -6° right now.   Too cold for the final day of February.  ■  Zoe’s had problems with the cold in the past, but seems to be doing alright now.  Last year when it was so cold she would pick one leg up from the ground to warm it up – then put that leg down and pick up another one.  One time she even laid down in the snow – sort of gave up.  Had to yell at her to get her to get up and get inside.  We’ve, on a couple of occasions, had to go outside and kind of pull her to get her going back to the house.  She seems to handle the cold a little better this year.  ■  Having some work done upstairs next week.  Shoe molding (or moulding – the British spelling) installed, three interior door fixed, some transition strips put in, framing for our octagon windows in our master bedroom and later on redoing the kid’s bathroom.  ■■■■  more later. 

New card . . . . .

I’ve been working on this one for quite a few days on and off.  I think I’m done.  I’ve got no more to say.  ■  Still relatively cold out, but much warmer than it has been.  It’s 12 ° out – at least not in the negative numbers like it has been.  Makes one hope for summer.  ■  Have to go to the Coumadin clinic to get my blood checked and then on to see my Kidney doctor.  ■  After that Pat and I should practice some acoustic songs together.  ■  TFB. ■

Seein’ Billy Galaxy . . . . .

Out to see Billy Galaxy about a week, or so ago.  Had a nice time.  Billy played at Vicky’s Place in McHenry, IL.  Good gig for him.  Maybe one of these days I’ll join him for a few songs.  ■  Holly went to Louisville for the weekend;  Aaron took off for Bloomington; it was just me and the dogs.  Made steak and watched The Outlaw Josey Wales.  Good movie. ■  TFB.  ‘Night.

I’ve thought of posting every day, but . . .

I haven’t done it.  Bad me.  ■  It’s been cold.  That’s with a CAPITAL “C” – it’s –5 degrees right now.  Too cold.  ■  Way too cold.  It’s –5 degrees.  Too cold for me; too cold for you.   ■  TFB.  Yup.  ‘Night.  ■

It’s so delicious . . . . .

. . .. yes it is.  It’s turkey breast smoked in a low and slow grill.  It’s good.  That’s what we cooked on Sunday night. Had it for lunch today too.  ■  I’ve got to remember to refill the wood chips in my smoking bucket.  Getting down to enough for maybe one more fire.  ■  Abby is very watchful over Zoe.  When Abby wants to go out she doesn’t want to leave Zoe inside, and usually sits and waits for Zoe to get off their couch (yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s “their” couch now.)  If Abby does go out first shell wait at the top of the patio until Zoe actually makes it outside.  ■  TFB.

It’s cold outside .. . . . . . ….

 

I started this post early this morning.

I know it’s winter, but it’s cold outside.  Got down to -11° last night.  It’s now a balmy -3°.  Burrrrrrr.  Have a couple of places I need to go, but no rush.  I think I can put them off until tomorrow when it’ll be a little warmer.  ■ 

Now I’m picking it up here = much later at night.  ■  Watched Young Guns I and II tonight.  Didn’t finish YG II.  They were/are good movies.  Of course I’m partial to westerns.  That’s what we watched when we were kids.  Do you remember “Wanted Dead, or Alive”, “Bonanza”, “Gunsmoke”, “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid”, etc.  That’s what we grew up on.  “The Rifleman”, “The Lone Ranger”, “Roy Rodgers”, “Fury”, “Circus Boy” (ok, who remembers Circus Boy?)  I do.  And the list goes on and on.  “The Cisco Kid”, “Rawhide”, “Sky King” – ok, Sky King wasn’t  a western, but it did take place out west.  ■  I can hear Abby snoring in our room next door.  It is time-for-bed (TFB).  ‘Night.  ■

Interesting stuff . . . . .

I’m a big reader of Reddit.  Lots of interesting stuff on there and a great site to search for information on things.  Today I happened to read a post on on their askreddit subdirectory and found out things like (shortening things up here):  Neutrogena Facial Soap out of the pump container cleans out stains on everything.  Works better than most laundry products.  Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are just melamine sponges.  Peanut butter gets gum out of your hair.  Hydrogen peroxide will clean bloodstains out of fabric. 

More snow . . . . .

More snow . . . . well, what do expect in February in Cary?

Yup, more snow, but it is February in Cary.  ■  Making some progress on my office – at last.  Still quite a bit to go.  ■  I ordered car mats for my CRV from WeatherTech and they arrived today.  Got to put ‘em in my car, but first I want to vacuum the front of the car where they’re going.  Pretty fast service – ordered on Saturday, Jan 31st and they arrived this afternoon – February 3rd.  It appears that they don’t make the mats until you order them.  Yeah, pretty fast service.  ■  And one more picture for Roxanne and Bob.  I know you two miss this!  ■

A lot of snow . . . . .

As you can tell, we got a lot of snow.  Not sure how many inches, but quite a few.  They closed the schools today and garbage pickup either.  ■  Our across-the-street neighbor, Jac, has tirelessly used his snow-blower to clear not only his driveway, but also ours and our next door neighbor’s driveway as well.  Thanks, Jac.  ■  And Holly just told me that O'Hare airport reported 19” of the white stuff.  ■  It’s rather cold out ----  7 ° (not –7), but cold enough.  It looks like a cold spell for a few days and then starting to warm up by the weekend.  ■  I’ve been in the process of updating a few pieces of software that I use to new versions.  Takes time to download and install the programs.  ■  Still working on getting my office organized, but I think I’ve lost ground over the past few days.  Not good.  It’s hard to throw things away.  ■  Need to organize my stuff for taxes. Should be pretty simple this year as I’ve had few orders.  I haven’t worked on my website for probably 3 years and my rankings in search engines have gone down.  That’s yet another think on my plate that needs to be done – update my website.  ■  Just about time for bed.  ‘Night.  ■