Linda's Sunflower

Left home at 10am this morning. Visited mom - who was in a good mood and happy to see us. She repeated the same story over and over, but that's not unusual for this stage of her dementia. Thank goodness she still knows who we are. She may get our names confused, but she knows us. Headed out to Suzuki to look for a new car. Brandon had a great car-buying experience there the first of July, and bought his first brand new car all on his own - with no co-signers. Three and a half hours after arriving, we left with a brand new 2012 Suzuki SX4 - Crimson Red. I was getting pretty desperate for a car. My Saturn was getting more and more unreliable. We haven't sold it yet. I think we'll keep it for Kaitlin to drive when she can so she doesn't have to drive her truck and spend so much on gas. I do know I'm not putting any more money in it. Had my birthday dinner at Abuelo's after we left Suzuki. Brandon graciously bought our dinner for my birthday, even though ...

I'm not sure where time goes. As I get older, it just seems to fly by. I celebrated my 55th birthday on Wednesday. It was a quiet day - day 3 of a 3 day vacation. I didn't do much of anything except read and hang out on the computer. Blissful! Corby fixed fajitas for dinner, and we have plans to go to Abuelo's tomorrow for my birthday dinner. Rhonda got out of rehab yesterday afternoon. I hope she continues to take care of herself, do all of the exercises they prescribed, and continues eating healthy. Those are probably 3 tips that all of us could abide by. Last night's World Series game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers was a classic. The Cardinals won it in the 11th with a home run, but the lead changed hands so many times I couldn't keep up with it! Right now, they are tied 2-2 in Game 7. GO CARDINALS!

Final score K-State 59. KU 21. YAY!

We are dealing with new systems at work. Our features sections are now going through CCI instead of Dewar. This means that layout is being done through Mactive, using a remote server in Tacoma, Washington. Have we had problems? YES! Do they have everything figured out yet? NO! Are we using another new system to "ad dog" - make sure ads are on the pages and released? YES! Will I survive? MAYBE! It was a rough week. I don't think the "powers that be" were totally prepared, so we had some rough times. I'm sure we'll get it all figured out sometime soon, but it was a very stressful week. Thank goodness I'm on vacation until Thursday. Hopefully! As long as there aren't any major problems. Thank goodness Hope, my assistant, has picked up on the new system very quickly, and I definitely think she can handle my absence. Corby bought another pumpkin at Walmart yesterday, and decided to carve it. Looked pretty good in the dark last night.  

Kaleb is home for the weekend! YAY! He got home early Friday evening. The kids went out to Hamburger Heroes for dinner and then the boys went to a movie with friends. Had a lot of fun on Saturday. Got up early and had breakfast at The Beacon. They have the best breakfast in town! From there we went and visited mom and then went to Derby to visit Rhonda in rehab. She continues to do well. We finally made it out to Tanganikya Wildlife Park in Goddard. It was a beautiful day, mid 70's with a mild breeze, and the park is beautiful! The baby tigers were precious, but because they are behind glass the pictures aren't that great. We saw exotic monkeys, giraffes, rhinos, bunnies, turtles, alpacas, lemurs and white tigers. The twins hand fed the alpacas and lemur. It's a little expensive, but worth seeing the animals up close and personal. I imagine the park will continue to grow and get more and more animals. GREAT FUN! We also did g...

It's been a busy week... New layout system at work...going live next Monday. Hope I survive it! Rhonda is doing well at rehab, lots of physical therapy going on. We need to get her moving, and able to move around her apartment so she can be self-sufficient. Fingers crossed.... Terry took mom to Grene Vision this morning - got her lens put back in her glasses, and they straightened them out after her fall over a week ago....

It's a cool, rainy, beautiful day! Abby is spending it camped on clean clothes. I had to put a towel over the top so she wouldn't get fur all over them. Corby fixed whole wheat pancakes and turkey sausage for breakfast. Then we ran to Walmart to pick up a few things. I bought mom, and me, a winter shirt. I need to go to K-Mart sometime this week and find mom some winter clothes. She has some from last year, but I know she'll want a few new things. The Chiefs came back from being down 17-0 to the Indianapolis Colts and beat them 28-24, IN Indianapolis! WAY TO GO CHIEFS! After losing their first 3 games, they've won the last two. The Cardinals are behind the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 in the first game of the NLCS. Hope they come back and win too! Kaitlin is fixing chicken enchiladas for dinner. Yummy!

What a busy day! Corby had to work today, so Brandon, Kaitlin and I headed out early this morning. Grabbed breakfast at Quik Trip and then visited mom. I took one of my scrapbooks and we looked through it. I think she enjoyed seeing the pictures, though her vision isn't very good. Ran by Marilyn's and picked up some paperwork for Rhonda to sign. Then went and visited Rhonda at the rehab place in Derby. It's pretty nice and she walked to lunch while we were there. Hopefully within a few weeks she will be able to go home. We were starving when we left Rhonda's, so stopped at Freddy's in Derby and grabbed lunch before heading home. Picked Corby up and did our grocery shopping at Leeker's. Doesn't take much time to spend $150! Brandon, Kaitlin and I went and saw THE IDES OF MARCH with George Clooney and Ryan Gosling (Corby stayed home). It was a really good movie.

Thank goodness it's Friday! Corby and Kaitlin went to Red Lobster for dinner, so I enjoyed a bit of quiet time at home. Brandon went to dinner w/Brady. Now we are chilling and watching the Cardinals in the playoffs. GO CARDS! I've always been a Cardinals fan, probably because I have relatives who live in St. Louis. Thinking about going to the Bob Seger St. Louis concert in December...I am a huge fan and he's one performer I've never seen in person. Hope tickets aren't too expensive! Headed to visit mom (as usual) in the morning and go visit Rhonda in rehab.

Rhonda finally went to the Derby Rehab center today. I hope 2-4 weeks of rehab will put her back on her feet and able to take care of herself! Crazy busy day at work. Of course, when isn't it? Corby grilled steaks for dinner. Brandon bought them for us on Saturday. Said he likes to eat steak, but doesn't know how to cook it. Well, his dad does! They were yummy. Had baked potatoes too! Mom called tonight and wondered when someone was coming to get her. I told her she got out yesterday when Terry took her to the doctor. I think Marilyn is going to take her to see Rhonda on Friday evening. We'll go over on Saturday, as usual, and then go and see Rhonda. Corby has to work. Kaitlin wants to go see THE IDES OF MARCH with George Clooney and Ryan Gosling, so we're hoping to do that Saturday afternoon. Steve Jobs, the founder of APPLE, passed away today from pancreatic cancer. While I'm not a big fan of APPLE products, he was a true visionary and the IT world is be...

Rhonda is still in the hospital. Her potassium level was high this morning, and they want to get it under control before sending her to rehab. Hopefully she'll go tomorrow. I stopped and visited her on my way home tonight. Mike is doing okay after his fall. Nothing broken, thank goodness. Terry took mom to the doctor today, after her fall on Sunday night. She had a regular appt. scheduled for next Monday, but we thought maybe she should get in earlier and make sure everything was okay. The doctor said they treated mom's bruises and contusions correctly, and she didn't appear to have any broken bones. Thank goodness! Brandon stopped by Best Buy on his way home and picked up The Lion King and African Cats - both came out on Blu Ray today. Can't wait to watch them! Corby fixed hamburgers in cream of mushroom soup, mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner. Yummy!

Rhonda is headed to rehab in Derby tomorrow. They still had some things to take care of today... Diana took Mike to the ER this afternoon, after his bad fall at Cowtown on Friday night. His knee will be fine, there's a bit of water on it, but it should heal okay. At least the city is picking up the tab on his medical bills. Mom fell last night, bruised her head, her arm and her knee. I am going to call the doctor tomorrow and see if I can get her in. If not, her regular 2 month appt. is next Monday.  

I was just reading my current issue of Entertainment Weekly, and I totally agree with their Top 5 Picks for TV'S COOLEST COPS: #1 - Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs -- Miami Vice (1984-89) #2 - Lennie Briscoe and Mike Logan -- Law and Order (1992-95) #3 - Mary Beth Lacey and Christine Cagney -- Cagney and Lacey (1981-88) #4 - Joe Friday and Frank Smith -- Dragnet (1952-59) #5 - Dave Starsky and Ken Hutchinson -- Starsky and Hutch (1975-79) I have DVD's of all the Miami Vice seasons, and three of the Starsky and Hutch seasons. I loved to watch Dragnet when I was a kid. Law and Order in the early days was really good, though it's run its course now. And I loved watching Cagney and Lacey. I remember a show featuring female cops was quite the sensation back in the early 80's. I may have to break out my Miami Vice DVD's and watch a few episodes. LOVE Don Johnson!

I only read 7 books in September. It was a busy month at work, as well as with family health problems... 1) Tea & Destiny - Sherryl Woods (paperback) 2) Light the Stars - RaeAnne Thayne (paperback) 3) Betrayal of Trust - J.A. Jance (hardback) 4) Kill Me If You Can - James Patterson (hardback) 5) 1105 Yakima Street - Debbie Macomber (Kindle) 6) Thorn in My Side - Karin Slaughter (Kindle single) 7) Goddess of Vengeance - Jackie Collins (hardback) These are all authors I read regularly, except for Thayne. Light the Stars was the first book of hers I've read. Her writing is similar to Woods, and I enjoyed both books. J.A. Jance is one of my favorite authors, and Betrayal of Trust did not disappoint. I really enjoyed Kill Me If You Can, I think it's one of Patterson's better books, at least in the last few years. LOVED the Slaughter single, Thorn in My Side. If you like suspense thrillers, she is one of the best authors out there today! It's been a w...

Busy Saturday as usual... Visited mom...she was having a pretty good day. From there we went up to visit Rhonda at St. Francis. They are sending her to a rehab place in Derby on Monday... Had plans to go and look at a Great Pyrenees puppy after we left the hospital, but decided the timing wasn't right to get a puppy. We did our grocery shopping at Dillons, and just as we got home I got a phone call and found out that my brother Mike had a bad fall last night and bruised his face & knee really bad. He's okay, thank goodness, but I think I'm going to wrap my other two siblings in bubble wrap. I've had enough of family emergencies over the last week! K-State beat Baylor today 36-35 today, by scoring a field goal in the last couple of minutes. It was a back and forth game, so we were really happy that K-State won. And Kaleb got to be there in person! Oh, mom won some cool glasses at Bingo last night...