Sunday Morning

5:30 am (Good Grief - what Am I Doing up at this hour ?? ). Here's Reg with his Sunday paper. Today, in addition to his banana, I cut him up a plate of oranges from our tree for his breakfast. It was a little wet to pick them but well worth it.

Saturday Rob Helps Dad Building Kitchen

Reg is still working on the kitchen, and Rob came over to help him. The cabinets are VERY heavy and so much of the putting together requires 2 strong people. The guy who we paid to put in the 2 toughest cabinets asked if we wanted "Crown Molding" because it would alter how he put in the supports. We didn't, and he hung the corner wall cabinet and put up the suspension rails for the other cabinets. Turns out - in the secret IKEA Language, "Crown Moulding" is not the ornate, 4-8 inches wide stuff you see on This Old House or HGTV. It is just the 1 inch trim that goes along the top and sides of the cabinets. Reg found this out by going to IKEA and getting sent to talk to the store kitchen Guru Guy. This is why we paid the extra money for the IKEA contacted decorator - who is supposed to tell customers about these things BEFORE they start putting thier kitchens together. Unfortunately - the designer who we got assigned was not up to par. This has caused us a lot of money, time, extra work and (on my part) tears and heartache - plus it is now 4 weeks without a kitchen. I would never ever recommend getting an IKEA kitchen to anybody who I like ( but what a great way to destroy and demoralize an enemy).

Notice in the backgroud of the pictures all the tucked here and there temporary pockets of kitchen areas.

Audrey has Pneumonia

Wednesday Rob called to ask if I could stay with Audrey. She had been to the Doctor's office and he diagnosed her with Pneumonia again. She gotten 2 shots that day (plus medicine to take at home) and she would need to stay home from school.

When I got there on Thursday morning her fever was way down and she was feeling better - but still not up to her usual self. You can see from her eyes that she is still feeling wiped out at 8:00 am. For almost 3 hours she just played on the Nick Jr web site while I plied her with water & juices, and Chicken Noodle Soup for lunch. I taught her how to use the bowl as a cup to drink the broth, explaining about poor manners but when something is good for you it's OK to do it.

She started to perk up and by the afternoon she was her bubbly ball of energy again - wanting to run and play. She loves to have me wrap myself in the long vacuum hose that has a cover that looks like Python Skin. Then she tells me which Power Ranger she is and who I am supposed to be. Then she runs to the next room and waits for me to yell "Help Help Pink Power Ranger (Yellow Power Ranger, Green, etc), I am being attcked by a giant Python snake". She comes charging in yelling things the Power Ranger TV Cartoon characters yell and chops off the snake with her foam sword, pulls all the loops off me and rescues whoever I am (she likes me to be Grandpa or Papa, Avery or Sydney or Kylee, etc). She wants to play this game over and over. She just loves it.