I promised myself that I would start posting more on here.  I can't believe it's been a whole week.  I blab too much on FB and should save those posts and put them on here instead.
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There has been a lot of rain and consequently a lot of flooding in the Detroit area.  Big cities are covered in concrete so there is nothing to absorb large amounts of rain and it just builds up.  Plus, there is Lake Erie nearby and the St. Clair river.  People love to live on the water, until an easterly wind drives it into their homes.  
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Today, it is sunny.  My Tulips have opened up.  The Daffodils are still being daffy.  Orioles, Grosbeak and Red-winged Blackbirds are back at the feeders.  I put my Hummingbird feeder up, but have not seen any.  They usually come rolling around May 15th, but can be earlier.

My lawn is rich and green and covered in beautiful sunny, yellow Dandelion blossoms.  When I was a kid, our house was quite a ways back from the road.  The front lawn went from house to road.  In the spring, that long lawn was covered with Dandelions and my Mother thought it was the most beautiful "garden".  Perhaps that is why I love Dandelions?

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I am finishing up a genealogy that I started the beginning of April.  It has been so interesting.  Research shows great grandfather's fighting in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.  Being captured by Indians in the French Indian War.  

You can always tell in a genealogy if the father went off to fight.  On the family group page, there will be one or two children born, than a gap of a few years, then six or seven more children born.

I've often wondered why there are no soldiers on my father's side of the family.  I know none of them would have enlisted on their own, but............................I can't remember their dates right now, but maybe they were lucky enough to be either too young or too old to be drafted.

My Daddy was just the right age for WWII, but he got a deferment because of a heart murmur and his father was ill, so he had two farms to take care of.  He wouldn't have wanted to go anyway.

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Did I show you the pillow front for Della's pillow I finished?

I also crocheted and stuffed a dog that looks kind of like their dog.

I think I will give her the dog the next time I see her and wait on the pillow until baby brother is born and I get to see him.

Most people rush in to see the new baby.  I've never done that.  I always talk to the older sibling(s) for awhile and then ask them if I can see their new baby.  There is so much attention given to the baby and I don't want the older child to feel they are kind of overlooked.

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Now I am working on the worded Baby Boy blanket for the new baby boy--arriving in July, and also started x-stitching the wedding shower gift for my grandson Stephen, who is getting married NEXT June.  I won't be in crunch time for this one!!! (like I was with Maddie's.)

 I'm doing this in blue.  The pattern was free!!

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As for physical therapy--after 3 weeks, my back felt good.  But...after the Wednesday treatment, it feels worse than it did when we began.  My last session is Monday and then Wednesday, back to the Physiatrist to see what he'll do next.

I wish he'd give me another week of Prednisone, so I could work on picking up sticks and working in my gardens with no pain, but I am sure he won't.

Time flies when you're having fun....and even when you're not.  

I'm doing physical therapy for my lower back issues.  Not much they can do when stenosis, arthritis, degenerative discs are present, but we will give it the old college try.

The first day was all about stretches, exercises to do at home.  That wasn't getting it, so on the second appointment, with a real "hot spot" on my left lower back, I just asked him if he would press on that spot.  I could feel it was swollen and inflammed.

Man--he got right on it.  Deep tissue massage, using his elbow!  It hurt like heck and I kept forgetting to breathe through the pain.  I got up the next morning and could feel the swollen part was "down" and the deep pain was gone.

So...that's how the last two sessions have gone.  I get on the recumbent bike and pedal for 400 steps--the amount of steps it would take me to get up to the corner, a few stretches, then I show him where the pain is and he gets right on it.

I think PT might help--temporarily anyway.
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Now for some gossip--I try so hard not to gossip, but sometimes it's just too good to not pass on--at least to my blog buddies anyway.

Dar---you remember Dar right?  Hadn't come to visit in weeks, came over and told me that while she was doing her Dad's bedding, she decided to turn the mattress top to bottom and under the mattress--just like a 16 year old boy, her Dad had hidden pornographic magazines!  Her Dad is 96 years old.

She left them there.

"Did you look at them?" I asked.

"Noooooooo!" she answered.

Then she went on with her dusting and for the heck of it, while she was dusting his TV remote, she turned it on.  Up came the last  channel he had watched.  People having sex.

"That's what you get for that expensive 500 channel cable package you have," I laughed.  "Maybe you need to set up some parental controls."
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That evening, Dar and her Dad walked in.

"Can we stay here for awhile?"

"Sure.  What's going on?"

"I have a gas leak.  I've called the gas company and they are on their way.  It was making Daddy and I sick and we both have headaches."

20 minutes later the gas company shows up--wouldn't want to hurry.  It's only a gas leak, which could go off and blow up every trailer on that line!

She went out to talk to them, her Dad stayed in with me.  Knowing his predilection for porn, I felt a little creepy.  He just sat and petted Maggie the cat.
YIKES!  Maybe he has a cat fetish?

Dar was back in about 20 minutes.  Not a gas leak.  The underground sewer line is plugged and it decided to pick her house to back-up.

Come to find out, the "cap" that connects house to sewer line had popped off some how, so for the last couple of weeks, every time they flushed, or any water going down the drain has drained out UNDER HER HOUSE--onto the cement slab below and out onto her lawn!
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Men dressed in Hazmat suits came out to inspect.
Other men came out to flush out the under ground sewer lines.
We don't have city water or sewer.  Our "drains" go into lines underground which eventually drain out into a retention pond that is pumped out and carried away in tanker trucks every month.

Thankfully the park is liable for any expense to get this mess cleaned up.

One of the park maintenance guys stopped by yesterday, just to see if everything was working.  He asked her to turn on the water faucets and see if it drained away correctly.

It did not!

So, men came in with hoses, attached to powerful jet-like water and put them down the little sewer pipes that are in the lawns between each house.  In the line between her house and the one to the east of her, they found two large cloth rags.  They have spoken to the people who live in that house, but we have no report if they have been fined or just reprimanded.

Still--she had raw sewage on the cement slab under her house and her lawn.  The park maintenance guys are going to have to clean that up and then spread lime under her house and on the lawn to kill any bad buggies.

Can you imagine what viruses and diseases could result from this mess?  It's like we are living in a 3rd world country.

This park is very nice.  Only manufactured coded homes are in here--no old style mobile homes.  Everything is maintained well, with lovely gardens and the like.

But--who knows what old gas lines, water and sewer lines lie just below the surface.
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Hey--I'm working on an interesting genealogy and I'd better get back to it.

Life is good--at least on the surface.  LOL

I guess I didn't realize how the whole water heater fiasco was affecting me emotionally.  Stress.

The independent plumber who said he'd do it--did not return 4 of my calls when I told him I was ready.

The bottom rusting and leaking--I kept imagining the whole bottom giving way (as the one did right after I moved in here) and having another 40+ gallon flood in my bedroom.

Knowing the floor underneath, holding up all that weight, could collapse and water heater shift downward, snapping off gas and water lines.

Having to dig through piles of clothes to find something to wear.

Biggest worry about the cost.

I lost 7 pounds in one month.
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On Wednesday I went up to Home Depot--having researched and found they sell water heater's for manufactured homes.  They had the one I had found on-line and the salesman and I set down to write up the deal.

However--they could find no plumber contractor's who wanted the job.

After a few calls, the salesman bent toward me and said, "Why don't you just get AAA Service to do it?"

Well--duh!  They put in my new furnace 6 years ago and are very highly recommended in this area.

The salesman called them and let me talk to the receptionist.  Good to go.

The receptionist called my "special daughter" and got her credit card number and I was in business.

It was set-up Friday.  I had attached the hose and drained as much as I could so they wouldn't have to spend time on that.

There was 8" of lime sediment in the bottom of that tank and, come to find out, the one I've had for 13 years, was not made for a manufactured home.  The bottom vent wasn't sealed, so a bit of carbon monoxide has leaked out all these years..whenever the furnace came on and pulled air from the rooms.

It took them an extra hour to modify and get it in place.  They didn't charge extra.  The total price was the same as the original quote.  The guys were great.  They let me watch and explained things along the way.
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I left the door on the closet and the water heater open all Friday night to dry out, although the guys tested the floor and it was stable.

Saturday, I closed up the door on the water heater space and hauled all my clothes, that had been lying in piles all over my bedroom floor, back in the closet--spring and summer clothes toward the front.

Then I vacuumed up everything and decided to mop the hallway and kitchen, which hadn't been mopped since before Christmas.  Cleaned up the kitchen.

Today, I can barely walk!!  

I keep forgetting that everything is okay now and even taking my shower this morning, I kept waiting for the hot water to run out.

It's all going to be all right now.

My son's "numbers" are going back up again.  If you have or know someone with cancer, you know the numbers are critical to watch.  However, tests revealed that none of his tumors are growing.  He did have to have a large Melanoma removed under his arm.   7 hours after they removed the stitches, the whole wound reopened and his girlfriend had to rush him back to the hospital.  I feel sorry for his girlfriend.  She is a rather odd duck, and drinks a bit more than I care for, but I'm sure glad he has her there with him.
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Wednesday I went to the new Doc.  A Psyiatrist.  Fizz-i-ah-trist.  Never heard of that kind of Doc. He doesn't just use one method to deal with the back pain/shoulder pain/ whatever pain people have.  He has many methods to try.  Oral steroids, steroid injections, physical therapy, traction, manipulation, or referral to a surgeon.

He has started me out on oral steroid and physical therapy.  He knows I've been the whole injections route and don't want to go there again and he knows I will not have surgery.

I was impressed with the young man and his carefulness in starting with the lowest way to help, instead of rushing into something.

Thankfully, even though I can't take anti-inflammatories because of the blood thinner, I can take Prednisone with no ill effects.  Personally, I love Prednisone..it makes me feel so good and gives me energy.  I hope it works the same this time.  
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Saturday-----I just can't believe it.  After taking one day's worth of the steroid, I woke up with no back pain.  Just amazing.

Oh--did I tell you the water heater is leaking?
Oh--did I tell you the plumber, who promised to call Thursday or Friday to set up the install appointment, hasn't called?

Trying to find out when he can get to work before I set up my physical therapy appointments.

I think I will just watch the Master's Golf tourney today and Sunday for forget about the problems of the world!!!!!!

Well, it's been fun around here lately.

My water heater went out, AGAIN, on Friday and I didn't notice that I had no hot water until I tried to take a shower Saturday morning--in preparation for grand daughter Madeleine's wedding shower.
Heated up water on the stove to do a wash up of important parts of this old body.  Tried to wash my hair in the kitchen sink, which didn't work out too well, so I just rinsed it in cold water.  I read somewhere it's good for the hair to rinse with cold water.  That very well may be, but it sure isn't good for the head.  Br-rr.
I have to get a new heater--which the repair guy told me last month, but I was hoping for a miraculous cure.
That put me in a bit of a panic, but I couldn't do anything about it then, so............
I did manage to get Maddie's wedding cross stitch done in time and got it framed Friday.  I had a 70% off coupon for framing at Michael's, but of course it was for a "custom" frame and mine was just an ordinary frame, so..................

I got an e-mail from Maddie's older brother Stephen, Friday night, that he and his girl friend Carolyn just got engaged.  They will marry June 6, 2020.  So Grandson Marcus got married last June, Maddie will marry the end of May and Stephen next June.  I already have the pattern for Stephen and Carolyn's wedding cross stitch.  Get them grandkids married off so I can get more great grand babies.  LOL
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There were a lot of people at Maddie's shower.  Daughter Karen held it at her home.  Might as well.  Her living room is as big as any hall and much nicer.

So many people and so much noise, it wore me out.  I'm good for about 4 hours in this kind of situation, then...I just droop.  Nice to get home to the silence.

I watched my Spartans lose in the Final Four.  When I watched the Texas Tech team take out the other Michigan basketball team, I worried that we'd have to play against them.  Such was the case.
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Sunday, I emptied out my bedroom closet in preparation for the water heater guy to come and check things out.

All my clothes are piled in a corner of my bedroom.  Shoe rack and other things stored on that floor, are also adorning my bedroom floor.  

I had finished up my office of all unwanted, un-needed items and it feels good to have my Swedish Death Cleaning project done.  Now to Spring cleaning with the washing of windows and curtains and the pulling out of furniture to vacuum and dust.  

And of course, my back is giving me all sorts of pain.  I go in this week to a new doc.  A Psyiatrist.  Never heard of that kind of Doc.  They specialize in problems with the spine, muscles, skeletal structure.  I can't see that he will be able to do much for my L2 and L3 degeneration, but I will give it a try.

At least one worry has been taken away.  My Dear Daughter from another mother told me she would take care of paying for the heater.  

I have a roof that is only 6 years old, as is the furnace.  A 2 year old refrigerator and an appliance service plan that takes care of the other appliances.  Once I get the new water heater, I "think" I will be good to go for the rest of my life.  Nothing else in this house should have to be replaced.  
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I decided to make a small pillow for great grand daughter Della.  She loves Elmo.  Now, you all know what Elmo looks like.  You all know what color he is.  Picture tiny cross stitch after tiny cross stitch, row after row, of the same color.

I may go blind before I'm done with this!!!

What a fiasco!!

I packed up Elise' afghan to mail.  I didn't look at the mailing box, just found one that the afghan would fit in.  Weighed it, $11.00 for the postage, I scheduled a pick-up at my front door.  The mail man picked it up and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Three days later, I got an e-mail from the USPS, it was a flat-rate box I had used and I still owed $8.95 in postage.  ARRGH!  Paid it and hoped they hadn't delayed the package.  

I checked the tracking the next day and found it was delivered March 22nd, at their front door.  I hope that is true because I have received NO WORD from New Jersey that she had received it. Maybe she is sending a Thank You card by snail mail?

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Sister Susan's birthday was Thursday.  Wednesday she came down and spent almost 3 hours here, going through all the extra floss I had and the knitting and crocheting patterns AND all the cross stitch patterns.  We emptied two large plastic storage tubs, she took one home that she had filled, I filled up another one to drop off at the Salvation Army down the road and I threw out a large box of stuff.

Remember the Nativity cross stitch I did last year?

I loved it so much.  I had it stretched on foam core, but I couldn't afford a frame.  Susan gasped when she saw it and said, "That is so beautiful!"  So...I just gave it to her.  

I kind of regret it, but...I still can't afford a large frame for it, so I will never hang it and I have to be decisive in my "getting rid of stuff I will never use", and if it was still here when I die, I'd want her to have it anyway.  So..............................

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Grand Girl, Madeleine's bridal shower is next Saturday--they moved it up a month....which means, I will not have this finished in time.

I'm working on the lettering, but then have to have it matted and framed and don't know when I will get the extra $$$ for that.  I do know, somehow, it will be ready for their wedding, end of May.

For her shower, I will type up a card with:

"Something old, something new.

Something borrowed, something blue,

and a lucky penny for her shoe."

and tape on it the penny I saved from the year she was born.

~~ The day each grand child was born, I took a penny from that year and put it in a small white satin pouch I had.  Then on their wedding day, I gave them their "lucky" penny.  Grand son Marcus put his in his pocket.  The girls tape them to the instep of their shoe.  It is under the foot arch and doesn't interfere with them walking--it isn't even felt. ~~

I have already given her my big Kitchen Aid stand mixer, so this all should suffice for a nice shower/wedding gift.

Because I get bored with just one project, I am also crocheting the Baby Boy blanket for my next great, expected mid-July.  I had one all finished and put away, but my next door neighbor finagled it away from me for an unexpected baby shower she had to go to.

It's okay because I have revamped the word placement and the one I am working on will be even better.

They haven't chosen a name as yet.  I like David--nice strong Jewish name.  My grandson-in-law thinks Shamus or Levi would be good.  Isn't Shamus an Irish name?  He named their dog Ruppert, so no telling what he wants to name his kid.  

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Of course, with the NCAA Basketball Tournament, sitting in my recliner, working on my hand work, has been occupying a lot of my time.  Plus, I just finished up a large genealogy.

My Michigan State Spartans are still in the Tournament.  They play Duke on Sunday and I'm fearful Duke will take us out.

Oh well.  It's raining here all weekend, so I have time to sit and watch and maybe........just maybe, in between, get more of this office cleaned out.  

Maybe..............

Continuing with my Swedish Death Cleaning process...this computer room is the last room to be decluttered.  My sister is going to come down, perhaps this week, and go through the two huge plastic storage boxes I have of crocheting yarn/patterns and cross stitch patterns.  

I have cross stitch patterns from the late 1970's, when daughter Karen first taught me how.  That box is filled to the brim.

Yesterday, during a half-time from a basketball game, I came in here and hauled that box out to the living room...and pulled something in my right side, just below my rib cage.  I didn't think too much of it, until the pain woke me this morning.  (I was sleeping on my right side).

Last night, when I turned this desk lamp off to go to bed, I banged my shin on a stack of two long plastic boxes containing my two youngest grandkids afghans.  I noticed that this morning too.  Blood and a scabby sort of thing on my shin--the blood was evident on my bed sheets.

It's like an obstacle course in this room, with a narrow walkway to get in and out of this room.  

Plus, my living room is a mess.
I sorted out a big box of extra embroidery floss, into chronological color numbers for my sister to go through to fill out her stash.  It's on the card table, plus the large plastic tubs full of the patterns.

I did empty one long plastic box.  It has my youngest grand daughter, Elise's afghan.  Her 15th birthday was Saturday and I mailed her the afghan on Wednesday.

 I fear this Swedish Death Cleaning process is going to kill me and I'm not even Swedish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Other than that, yesterday I watched 4 basketball games.  I must confess, I'm getting tired of it.  I hear squeaky basketball shoes in my sleep!

PLUS--I am finishing up a very large genealogy, so I have to make room in here to lay out my pedigrees and stack my book pages.