BOOOOOOO!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN ... WHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Spooks and Goblins and Witches, OH MY!!!!
October 31, 2000 -BOOOOO!!! Happy Halloween. WHAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!!!
Mary Ann works today, but Heather is planning to haunt the neighborhood in search of mischief and treats, and I will be terrifying the goblins and monsters arriving at our front door. Mary Ann and I celebrated Halloween Saturday night, spending time with several of her workmates at a quaint little bar. I was a skeleton-faced court jester (see above) and Mary Ann was a Victorian vampire. We had fun dancing the night away, but when it became apparent the costume contest was not going to be done until closing, we opted to leave at 12:30. We enjoyed a day visiting with our friends, Nancy and Dave, on Sunday, and I muddled through another day of work yesterday. My fantasy football team won yet again, but nothing is a sure lock. I carved a pumpkin this morning that resembles someone very close to me (see if you can guess who).
If you guessed Mary Ann's sister, Jean .... I'm sorry, but that's the wrong answer 8^) I hope everyone has as much fun tonight as we do. WHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
October 28, 2000 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TIM!!!! Today is my brother, Tim's, Birthday. I hope you have a great day, Bro (I'll have to call him later). The doctor on Monday started me on some blood pressure medication and next week I will go in and get some lab work done. Thus far, my pressure is still pretty high, and I haven't been sleeping well all week (I don't know if that is related to the medication). Mary Ann was given a diet to follow and we are both suppose to start exercising more. Mary Ann and I are going out tonight all dressed up in costume. We will be out with a few of her workmates, but we may also go to a Halloween party by one of my workmates as well. After yesterday at work, I am really looking forward to some time off from work this weekend.
October 24, 2000 - Great news today ... no, we didn't win the Lotto. Mary Ann went into a meeting at corporate and was pulled aside into human resources. So .... on November 6th, she will be the new FIRST assistant store manager at the Bartells in Auburn. She was so excited, we drove out there after she got home to check out her new digs. It's a nice store and appears to be a shorter drive from our home. She's also getting a fair raise, but she'll be putting in more hours and her days off will change. We went out to dinner to celebrate and just got home.
October 23, 2000 - The lottery numbers were picked Saturday night and guess what ..... WOOHOO!!! No, we didn't win, but no one else did either. It's now up to an insane $32-34,000,000. I'll buy some tickets today, so we are still in the running with 7,000,000 other people. Mary Ann and I have doctor's appointments today. Mary Ann's cholesterol is high and my blood pressure has been above 150 every time I've checked it recently. I thought it best to see if I should go on medication and Mary Ann wants to know what she can do about her cholesterol. My fantasy football team once again was victorious and I believe I have the highest point total for the week. I know I am due for a fall soon, but I'm going to enjoy the view from the top of the hill as long as I can. With the change in Internet service at the end of the month, my primary e-mail address will become active and be cbtee@home.com . My existing e-mail at foxinternet will be inactive after November 1st. If you are unsure how to find me, my other 2 e-mails are cbteeg@hotmail.com or cbtee@u.washington.edu . I check them all pretty frequently.
October 20, 2000 - Just got home from work. I was talking with my friend, Dave, the other night and he had mentioned getting DSL Internet service. I had been checking, from time to time, if broadband was yet available at my house. Over the past year, none was in my area. Well, I checked on-line once again ... and I will be getting cable Internet service in 2 weeks :^) So, my web cam will be up and running from now on (you'll get to look at my front yard or some such thing, maybe a Kitana-cam). I'll also use it for free long distance calls. Heather is at her school tonight participating in their Friday night activities (I need to pick her up at 10). Her little boyfriend broke up with her this week. Funny how he can go from "Mr. Wonderful" to "that jerk" in the blink of an eye. She's already scoping out a new boyfriend. It's been raining hard the past two days, typical Seattle fall weather. Kind of dreary, but I work the weekend, so, I DON'T CARE. The Washington State Lottery is up to $30,000,000 right now. We bought 2 tickets and are awaiting our numbers to be drawn tomorrow night (like that will ever happen). Ahhhh, the dream of financial security :^)
October 18, 2000 - What a week so far. Last Tuesday as we left Heather's doctor's office in Seattle, the main belt on the van for the alternator, water pump, power steering, etc., came off. I ended up pulling into a shop and the mechanic put the belt back on (no way for me to do it in that he had to take the wheel and inner fender cover off) for about $35. He had noticed an oil leak around the main pulley at the end of the crankshaft and that it was slightly skewed. I suppose the leaking oil lubricated the belt enough to come off. Well, I made an appointment for the van for Tuesday of this week. Monday night, Mary Ann calls me as I'm leaving work and tells me she is broken down at her old store in Renton. Apparently, the belt came off as she was leaving an appointment in Bellevue, but she continued driving for about 10 miles, putting it in neutral if the temp got too high. She made it as far as her old store until the battery light came on and waited about 4 hours for me to get off work. By now, it was too late to take it to a shop, so I struggled with it for about an hour and then gave up. Fortunately, one of the employees at Bartells called her boyfriend who has a car trailer. We ended up putting the van on a trailer and dropping it off at the shop that night. Sooooo .... new seal, new oil pan gasket, new timing chain and timing chain cover gasket (the timing chain cover was leaking oil along its edge, so rather then have to pay for all the labor again in the future, I thought I might as well get a new timing chain- two birds, one stone), oil pressure sensor, belt, oil, lube, filter, labor .... and the tally is ... $650. It looks like I'll be making a withdrawal from our emergency fund this week :^( Heather's ear is looking good and she has had no adverse effects from the IV in her arm. We had a good weekend. We went to the theater and watched "Meet the Parents" (very funny movie) as well as picked up some new clothes for Heather and new work shoes for Mary Ann. My fantasy football team kicked butt once again. Unfortunately, the Seattle Mariners lost to the NY Yankees yesterday and that was just too painful to watch. We ended up turning the channel to see the end of the Presidential debate, marveling at how little can be said of substance by one man; how questions and accusations could be deflected with repetitive, vague answers. It certainly solidified my choice this year and as they said in the paper this morning (USA Today), "he was smiling at the end, happy it was over, but perhaps even happier that so many people were watching the Yankees and Mariners instead".
October 13, 2000 - Finished another stretch at work today. Mary Ann took Heather to the doctor this morning and the good news is we are done with the IV antibiotics. The mid-line was removed and Heather is oh so happy. Mary Ann will have a rare Saturday off this weekend and we will enjoy 2 days off together for the first time in a long while. I'll give Marla a call tonight and maybe plan to go visit this weekend. It looks like it will be tough to get overtime at work for a while. I've been thinking of signing up with an agency service and picking up some extra days at other facilities. I figure next week I'll do it. I've been wanting to do the MCSE training, but I haven't got the guts to shell out the $5000 or so and do it. Maybe after the New Year, I guess. Mary Ann hasn't heard anything about a promotion yet and was really stressing this week about the time she had to take off because of Heather's ear infection. I don't think it should have any effect on her moving up in the company, but she has been worrying, nonetheless. Heather has slowly been catching up on her homework and I plan to work with her this weekend and get it all done.
October 9, 2000 - Pretty tired this morning .... we have to give Heather her IV at 10PM and 6AM and as a consequence, we aren't getting a lot of sleep. The weekend was long at work, but my fantasy football team stomped again this week and I am now W5-L1 and 60 points ahead on total points. I got Heather off to school and we have a doctors appointment for her this afternoon. Her ear is looking much better. Our supply of Antibiotics is running out, so I'll need to call the home healthcare company today.
October 7, 2000 - Happy Birthday, Mom!!! I called my mom up this evening and had a good talk with her. She had an enjoyable birthday and was at my brother's (Tim) house having a nice dinner with them. With all the frenzy we had to deal with this past week, I ended up ordering a gift on-line for her on Tuesday. Heather and I had tried to find something last weekend at the Super Mall, but with Heather in the hospital I had no chance to look again. Heather came home Thursday night. The infection is an extremely nasty bug that requires IV antibiotics. They placed a mid-line in her Thursday (a catheter inside a large vein extending from the inside of her right elbow to just below her shoulder) and the home healthcare representative walked me through giving the antibiotic. We were sent home with a large box of supplies and the antibiotics and IV pump. Three times a day, Heather has to sit down for 1/2 hour hooked up to the syringe and pump. Although they have an oral antibiotic available, it effects the growth plate on bones and so they do not give it to children (could weaken new bone growth or effect continued bone growth). Heather is getting use to it and even administered the meds herself tonight. I told her she would be waaaaay cool at school with an IV and sure enough, she got a lot of attention. Mary Ann picked up all her school work she missed and I hope we can get her caught back up next week.
October 3, 2000 - What a crazy few days. I had worked some overtime today and yesterday, but unfortunately, left early both days. Heather's ear had progressively gotten worse over the weekend. Yesterday, Mary Ann took her to the doctor and they set up an appointment with an ears, nose, throat MD in Seattle for today. The infection had developed two LARGE abscesses on the front and back of the ear, and it would be necessary to lance them open to drain them. Today, Mary Ann took Heather to the clinic at 9:30 AM. They had planned to lance the ear in one of their outpatient surgical rooms, but Heather was beyond hysterical and it was apparent she would need some sedation. My insurance, for whatever reason, would not allow them to use anesthesia at the clinic for the procedure, and as a consequence, she had to be admitted to Swedish Medical Center. I had left work early (just a couple of blocks over) and Mary Ann headed off to work at around 2:30 PM. Heather was scared, but I was surprised that she allowed them to place an IV in her wrist (lots of squirming, but she got through it). They started her on IV antibiotics, and after sitting there all day, we finally took her to the OR at 9 PM. I gowned up and held her hand all the way into the surgical suite, where she was given sedation and knocked out before I stepped out. Fifteen minutes later, the abscesses were lanced and wicks were placed to keep them open so they would drain overnight. Mary Ann just got there when we returned from the OR, and I eventually headed home to take care of the animals (Mary Ann is staying with her overnight). Hopefully, we'll be able to bring Heather home tomorrow.
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
December 1999/January 2000
