I made it to the gym today, which always makes me feel good about myself.  In addition to actually showing up, I was able to do higher weights on several machines, which I count as more visible progress.  

On the way home I stopped for a few groceries, and although hungry after my workout I was good - only picked up fish and chicken and some fresh fruits and veggies.  I felt even more righteous <g> at the check out line when I saw the guy in front of me with his only items: ice cream and beer.  

The clouds are building up again this afternoon; we could be in for some more of the monsoon.  While we 'probably' (!) don't need any more rain today (although in a week or so it would be helpful) the clouds sure are pretty.

The clouds were impressive yesterday.... wish I'd taken some pictures.  

So it was no real surprise later when we got (yet more) rain/wind/thunder.  This time the wind was so intense that at one point that the hedges were rocking and rolling, and there were waves in the pool.  But it didn't last too long, and at least <g> it was not raining at 11:13 pm when I went out to let the irrigation go.  

It's a a pretty good guess that everything is quite saturated at this point.  

And speaking of good guesses...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EppdVuV0z8I

Progress update on Cottonwoods:

The score? Woodpeckers - (at least) 6; Cottonwood - 0

I've been doing some yardwork this morning (raked and filled one big can, cleaned the pool, picked up citrus, etc.) and have been sweating bullets.  But I've been able to come inside and cool off between stints.  They are still out there working.  At least I have been bringing them LOTS of water to drink.  

Let's start this Friday off with a smile (or two).

Yesterday I was pulling out of the driveway, and stopped at the mailbox.  There were folks across the street trimming Joy & Dick's palm trees, and asked if we had any that needed some attention.  

His price sounded fair ($35 each) so I agreed to have them come over when they finished.  Since it looked like they were almost done with the palms, I pulled back into the garage and went back inside; errands would have to wait.  But it turned out that they were doing other trees over there also, so it was several hours before they rang the bell.

Of course they asked if I wanted anything else done (we do have quite the forest, and he did mention how heavy the Chinese Elms look out front.) I had him look at the cottonwoods, which have some serious dead limbs that are just waiting to crash down during the monsoon winds.

They did the palms, but since it was already pretty late by the time they got here they're coming back this morning to do the cottonwoods.  I'll be glad to get rid of those accidents-waiting-to-happen.  

Some big, heavy limbs have already come crashing down, and I consider us lucky that they didn't do any damage to person or property!

My oldest friend (as in we've-known-each-other-the-longest, growing up next door to each other since we were toddlers) Bev is currently battling her 3rd go-round with Ovarian Cancer.  She's helping organize a fund-raising event in New Haven, and here's the website she's just put together.

  

http://dtcnewhavenwalk.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1083859

Donate if you can!

Yesterday I watched the 50th anniversary celebration on TV (once I got home from Busy Bees) and then last night watched the entire 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech on MSNBC.  Very powerful.

The BB meeting got me into a quilting frame of mind, plus I finally had the oomph yesterday afternoon to get back to work on the Panel Challenge - but <sigh> my next 2 blocks came out smaller than the original 4.  As you can probably guess, that did not make me happy... and I can't even use drinking as an excuse.

We had a (couple) more monsoon storms yesterday, one in the late afternoon where it poured for almost half an hour (with accompanying high winds, bright lightning, and loud thunder) and then again later in the evening, although for not quite as long the second time. 

Between storms I moved the grill closer to the back door so I could have some light (and also be rain-free), and did up some steaks at 9:00 when Alex got off of work.

This morning after my meds were delivered (it seems to be around 10:00 am each time, which is nice because it doesn't kill my whole day sitting around) I went out and set the irrigation gates (yes, we have irrigation tomorrow evening.)  Of course with all the rain we've had (with lots more predicted over the next 3 or 4 days) it hasn't dried out enough to mow in preparation; naturally Alex is bummed <g> that he won't get to spend part of his day off today doing the main ditch for me.... 

All the rain, however, did make the ground nice and soggy making it possible for me to spend some productive time weeding.  The horses were happy with all the piles that I gave them, and it will make mowing (down the road sometime) much easier, so the end result is worth it.   But the process is a lot of hard work, and my back doesn't enjoy it at all.

Then I cleaned out the pool (which was a bit of a mess) and once I stop sweating I'll pop into the shower and go run some errands.

How soon they forget...

When I checked out the images on the CD, 

it jogged my memory about my foot injury. 

Now I remember that I had stubbed my pinky toe big time and was pretty sure I'd broken it. There's not much they can do for a broken toe, but when my entire foot swelled up we just wanted to make sure it was only my toe that was involved. (Which did turn out to be the case - lucky break for me!)

Alex came by on his dinner break last night with Panda Express (beats cooking!), Jeannie stopped by later while walking Molly and Lucy, and Tom called to report in from "the Holler" in the Shenandoah mountains.  Busy evening! 

Weird dreams lately.... WHERE do some of these things come from?  

This morning's MRI was uneventful - though noisy as ever.  Afterward I asked if I could see the images on the computer; I'm still as curious as ever.  As Dad used to say:

I was told that's not allowed 'because there is all sorts of patient info on there' (though you'd think it would only be my info on the screen, and why that would be an issue I don't know...) 

But the technician did offer to make me a CD.  He asked if I'd had any other procedures done there (yes) and said he'd pop them on also as long as he was at it.  I haven't had a chance to check out the CD yet, but am especially curious about an x-ray of my foot in 2011...I have NO memory of an injury to my foot.

On the way home I stopped in at Harbor Freight to (finally) buy a replacement for the electric hedge trimmer that was stolen during the Shed/Shop Heist a few years ago.  Armed with my 20% off coupon, I asked the cashier to point me in the right direction.  

Turns out they don't carry that item, so that's another thing to add to my Home Depot list.

Quick stop at the grocery store, and once home I called Aetna Specialty to order next month's supply of Forteo (be be delivered on Thursday, signature required.)  Hopefully she gave me the correct ID# this time. Last month I had to keep calling UPS and Aetna back several times to get the necessary numerical info just so I could find out the approximate delivery time so I could at least pop into the shower at some point.

It's muggy out there and definitely not a dry heat these days; I will NOT miss the monsoon humidity once it leaves.  Last night we had some serious rain/thunder/lightning here.  

After one particularly loud BOOM (which accompanied a bright flash of lightning) I thought we might lose power, but we didn't.  Later, watching the news, it seems that fun was pretty much restricted to Tempe.  We did, however, have some weather issues on this side of town; the I-17 underpass at Greenway (just 3 miles from here) was closed due to flooding.

Hope this afternoon is more productive than yesterday afternoon
(when I napped away most of it.)

Sunday morning I worked out at the gym, and got in a really good session on my legs.  And it is getting easier to find the machines I'm looking for, which is some progress at least.

In the afternoon Patti came over and we tried to figure out how to fix the wobbly ceiling fan. (Tom hasn't had much luck with it, either.)  The problem seems to be where it's connected to the ceiling - but there's no obvious way to get at that connection.  I'm thinking I'll take a picture and head over to Home Depot and see if someone there can help.

I grilled chicken for a late dinner, and had invited Alex to join me when he got off of work at 8:00.  My original plan was to have leftovers, but when he asked if he could include his roommate Clay there went that plan out the window. <g>

This morning I had my measuring session at the gym.   

The good news is that my body fat has dropped 1.8% since I started at the gym, which is great incentive to keep working out.  The bad news? I still have a ways to go to get it to where it should be.

When I got home there was a message on the answering machine that tomorrow's MRI had been cancelled because Aetna would not approve it, and wanting me to call back and confirm I'd gotten the cancellation notice.

When I called back to confirm, it turned out that if I wanted to bypass the insurance and pay for it myself, they'd give me a 'discounted price'. Since I was already sitting down, I asked her to check on what that price would be.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it's 'only' $277,
so I'm going ahead with the procedure after all.