Other Noteworthy Thoughts since Sept. 25th Post

Russ was home for his birthday weekend. The weather was beautiful! He worked along side the Dryer Repair Man on getting the dryer ready for fall work. The task was finished and would be tested during the fall harvest.

We went to Kurt and Karen's party for Mom and Dad's Anniversary and Mom's Birthday (and Karen's Dad's Birthday) on Sept. 30th. I spent a lot of time playing with my grand baby, Nicholas. It's easy to see Nicholas' growth these days. He's crawling and working towards walking! It's fun to see the progress! (See Nicholas' updates - sidebar, link @ "Where Else to Go"). We all had a great time at the party. Note to Kurt and Karen: Thanks for throw such a great party!

Russ went back to Virginia on Tuesday, October 2nd. He had originally planned on coming home the weekend of Oct. 13th. But due to employee changes (one foreman quitting and another starting) and other work related factors, Russ wasn't able to keep those commitments. Thus, Russ wasn't able to be home for the majority of the harvest this year.

When I wasn't helping with the fall harvest, I took care of some other odds and ends - most of which didn't matter much. One thing I did was work on controlling the gopher population. I worked on that the weekend Russ was home. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, making being outdoors a bonus.

Since Russ went back the weather has been much cooler and/or rainy. I haven't done much outside other than help with field work. We've had one absolutely beautiful day since he went back. And that was on Mom's birthday, Saturday, October 13th. I spent most of the day chopping stalks while Jeff combined corn and Ronny hauled the loads.

Other than that, I've been mainly working on my old quilting projects. The cat and dog entertain me while I work. Virginia is growing so much. It's fun to see her growth. And Doobie has learned to play with her a bit. Note about Doobie: this wet, cool weather is affecting her greatly. Her arthritis is making her left hip hurt to the point that she doesn't want to do stairs. I've been lifting her over the stairs to get her into the house. I think when I was working in the field and she spent most of her time outdoors, the cool weather took it's toll on her. I'm hoping that when the rain stops and the air dries out, she will improve. I've been giving her a whole Previcox pill to see if it helps. But, I just started that a couple days ago. She's been receiving a half pill otherwise.

Well, I think that's most of what's noteworthy.

A note about Mom and Dad: I was told that Calvin tried combining the corn at Mom and Dad's place last weekend. Apparently he got stuck a couple times with the combine and once with the truck. Mom and Dad have received more rain than we (and Calvin) have. At this posting, I believe that the corn is still in the field there. And with so much rain in the forecast, I'm sure it'll be in the field for quite some time yet. This is just speculation, but I'm thinking that they may have to wait for a good frost before they are able to get the corn out. These thoughts make me appreciate that we were able to get our crop out of the field when we did.

Another note: Parkinson's disease is taking it's toll on Dad. He's having a lot more bad days than he used to have. I used to blame it on his poor hearing when Dad would make odd comments during conversation. But, after spending time with Dad AND knowing that the hearing aids have been tinkered with by the hearing aid doctors to the point that they are fine, I know it's not Dad's hearing that is causing him grief. The Parkinson's disease is the culprit. Dad has become more unsteady on his feet too. These are a couple things that are easy to see that are affecting Dad. I note these things because I think it's noteworthy.