The new window now has blinds

September 10, 2013 – Tuesday

66 degrees/hazy/high humidity

Pentoga Road

It’s quiet here in the little house on Pentoga Road this morning. Aunt Sue and Uncle Terry arrived last night, Sargie didn’t get home until well into the evening, and I think everyone’s catching up from a long Monday. Even Brutus is still asleep. When I motioned for him to come downstairs with me earlier this morning, he let out a long sigh, lay his fat head down, and closed his eyes. Yep, I’m on my own this early AM. It’s a lonely road I sometimes travel.

Not a lot to write about. I spent the majority of yesterday morning hanging blinds in the new window in the downstairs bathroom. I get so disgusted. What should take me twenty minutes takes two hours and twenty minutes, but being resolute pays off. I wish I'd be around way down the line when someone decides to replace those blinds, takes them off, and wonders what kind of crackpot, carpenter-wanna-be put those up?!

The rest of the day was spent reading and grading papers. With two large classes, papers seem to be coming in from every which direction. I have an electronic filing system set up on my computer so I can keep everything straight, but it’s a chore.

I’m really enjoying my students so far. They range from being college freshmen to grandparents. There are several experienced teachers taking the course for certification and some are enrolled because they want to learn more about our wonderful state of Alaska. I like the diversity very much… makes for interesting reading.

Brutus and I took the time to walk four miles yesterday and did quite well. There was no swelling with the knee and other than a bit of weakness following the walk, it felt normal. I’ll continue with this regimen for the rest of this week and if everything feels fine, will ramp up the mileage a bit.

I purchased my mileage tickets to see the boys in October. I’ll leave on the 9^th and get home on the 19^th. Matt said he’d pick me up in Boston early on the 9^th and we’ll be out on the golf course later that day. Sounds like a perfect way to start my visit. He and Luke will discuss the Dad Exchange and I’m looking forward to spending time with Luke and family. Luke doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to teach me some of his advanced, highly secretive, trapping techniques. If he doesn’t, I’ll simply send him to his room without supper. Sometimes its good to be Dad.

I worked on the doghouse for an hour and have the porch roof covered. Now it’s a matter of getting back to Iron Mountain for more supplies. I’m so close… yet so far.

We had a wonderful visit last night with Aunt Sue and Uncle Terry. Sargie arrived home carrying huge pizzas and the four of us sat and talked and gabbed and laughed. Sargie’s off today and we’re going to do some sight seeing around the area and not get too serious about life.

Uncle Terry and I talked and at least for now, he’s going to touch up the kitchen cabinets. Only two really need painting. He’ll blend in the old paint with new and he says they should be just fine. As a professional painter during his pre-retirement years, Uncle Terry knows these things. I’d rather spend the short time they are here visiting and having fun rather than working. (You’ll remember we painted the house last fall.) Originally, we were going to strip the wallpaper, sand and paint all the cabinets, and do the whole thing, but, whew, that sounds like a LOT of work. It’s a busy time of year right now so we’re going with Plan B and worry about the rest somewhere down the line. If I feel the need for pain this winter, I’ll strip the wallpaper… and maybe someone will ram bamboo shoots under my fingernails while I visit the dentist. All are equally pleasurable.

I received the results from the blood tests of last week and discovered I have iron poor blood. Remember the old Geratol commercials? I used to laugh about the old people who had to take that stuff.

So now, I find I'm anemic and will begin taking iron in some fashion. I refuse to take Geritol. That's only for old people.

The low iron count might explain this summer’s bout of headaches and fatigue. Those, combined with the repaired knee, made me feel like my get-up-and-go done got-up-and-went. I’ll start taking the iron immediately in anticipation of getting my old energy back.

To loosely quote Robert Frost, "I've got miles to go before I sleep." Well, the old professor has itchy feet and is ready to roll.

Thanks to taking a daily dose of Metamusil, my cholesterol is being held in check rather than having to go back to taking Lipitor. (Thanks Luke!) My second son, Luke, is an EMT/firefighter and put me onto the benefits of drinking a big ol’ gloppy glass of psyllium husks daily. It’s become my beverage of choice and Luke tells me that in the "in circles," simply everyone is doing it.

So that’s my world in a nutshell… pretty ho hum. Does anyone need a bushel or two of tomatoes? I’ve got vines of them. As predicted, they all are ripening at once. I talked with Yooper Brother Mark last night and someone else was trying to give them tomatoes. You couldn’t buy a garden tomato here all summer and suddenly, people have them falling off their vines. I can about every other type of vegetable, but tomatoes are something I don’t do. We simply don’t use that much tomato paste or sauce.

Failing all that, it’s time to get this uploaded, grab another cup of coffee, listen to the news, then begin to read papers.

After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

This guy was crossing Pentoga Road during yesterday's walk. Boy, can I relate.