TIME FLIES

Has it really been almost a month since I last wrote? And so much has happened. I guess that is why I haven't found the time to share my stories.
First the cats, I need to tell you that we found a good home for our two cats. Animal loving people with 2 children. Out in the country with chickens, a goat, a horse and I do not know what else. They were excited and so were we.But I kind of expected it: one came back to the house while we were gone. She had a choice, go back to her adopted home or be an outside cat. She wants to stay and be an outdoor cat. So far that has worked well. My allergies are much better. The doctor says that my sinuses are as bad or worse after 2 months of anti-biotic and my next option is surgery. I feel much better and the coughing is much less so needless to say I don't consider surgery an option right now. I am taking allergy shots once a week and we will see how that is going to work. Our second cat also left it's adoption home but has yet to show up. We hope she is alive and well at someones house. If that is the case I am OK with that. Just hope she is not still wondering around or got hurt. Time will tell.

Last week Wednesday we left for a 5 day trip to Oklahoma for Bob's 50Th class reunion.
We spend the first night in Dallas with Bob's brother Bill and his wife Lynette. Always fun and we love to stay with them. On Thursday we left for Oklahoma City. On the way we stopped at the home of one of Bob's fraternity brothers.Three other fraternity brothers and their wives joined us at Joe and Kathi's beautiful home and we enjoyed a wonderful Mexican lunch. Kathi trains horses and is an artist, among many other talents and is a most interesting person. From there we drove into Oklahoma City and spend the evening and the night with an old friend of Bob. I had met them before and was looking forward to seeing them again. It happened to be my birthday that day and they took us to a great restaurant to celebrate. They even popped a bottle of champagne for the occasion. It was a most memorable birthday.
On Friday we drove to Tulsa where the class reunion was and visited some longtime friends of Bob, Carol and Randall White. That evening was the cocktail party and Carol and Randall decided to join us. It was held outdoors at the airport. Weather was great and Bob visited with many of his old classmates. On Saturday morning we went to his old high school for an assembly. Lots of jokes, stories and skits. For lunch we were the guests of Marian and Chuck Yaden at their country club. Great lunch with the best baked potato soup I have ever tasted. I am hoping Marian can talk the chef into giving me his recipe. Saturday night was the big dance and dinner party at another country club. The food was fabulous and we had a great time. No dancing for us. We don't dance well together and the dance floor was far to crowded. We always plan to take dance lessons after a night like that and we never get around to it. I would love to be a good dancer. So maybe some day we will. On Sunday we were of to the lake with the whole clan and had a light lunch before we got on the road home. I think it was a great reunion for Bob and a great opportunity for me to get to know his friends better.
Today we decided to finish our front porch. We tiled it 2 weeks ago and had to put the grout on. That is a hard job. On your knees for several hours and scrubbing and wiping up a storm. Wore my knees and arms out. I will know it tomorrow. But there is always Ibuprofen. The porch looks great and now I can put my plants back on it to make it look finished. Little by little we will finish this house.
No pictures this time, I will do better on that next time.

Cats and Pecantrees

Well the verdict is in, I am severely allergic to my two cats and to pecan trees. We will begin shots next wednesday.
I have to find a new home for Cleo and Cloe, wich will not be easy. Then a thorough house cleaning and shots. I should be a lot better soon. I will still be on allergy medication for at least 6 months until the shots start kicking in. just knowing what is wrong is such a relieve. I know it will be better not to have cats. Many people are allergic to them and we never know which grandchild may have problems with it. Kyle with his asthma being one of them.
Work is going well and we are about to finish up the front porch. Then it will be on to some front yard work and the back porch. Never a lack for projects. Keeps us young and happy.

1 More day

It has been about two weeks since my last blog and I hope you have missed it just a little. Sorry about the lapse.
About 10 days ago I decided it was time to get serious about getting rid of my chronic cough. I have tried all possible medications on the market, over the counter as well as prescription and none have made the slightest bit of difference. Both my general practitioner and the ear-nose-throat and allergy guy have been able to diagnose it. It is zapping me of all energy and work is a real chore. So, I think I know my body well enough to make a decision. Tomorrow we will do allergy testing for all inhalants, including everything in our new house, the cats and believe it or not deer.
In order to get a true reading I stopped taking all medicines except blood pressure for 10 days. It is getting a little harder every day. Less sleep, more cough, sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes etc. Two more days and I can start taking my Clairetin again and maybe know what is making me sick. So pray that it does show some kind of allergy. Ones we know what it is we can do something about it. I'll keep you posted.

But enough about being sick. We are working hard around the house. The grass is coming in nicely in the front yard and Bob has been working on the front porch all week. It had no slope to it so every time it rained (which isn't often) it would stand in water. Now that that has been remedied we are putting down tile. The tile is about the color of our brick and it is looking good. I can not wait until we are through so that I can put my plants back on the porch and hang my hanging baskets back up.
We have also been gathering flat rocks to build a walkway to our porch from the road. We have several, all lined up along the road waiting to be placed in our walkway. All that should make the yard look so great and I can finally start planning some landscaping.



We had a record week in the Cat's Meow. Isn't that power for the cause when you have no energy and would rather be in bed. But I should not complain. With the economy in the mess it is in I should welcome the work and income, and I do. Bob and I feel very blessed that both our businesses have done well in these tough times. We had a cute "Back to school" tea party for about 8 little girls and their moms and grandmothers. They had a realy good time as you can see on the pictures. I have ordered some books with tea party ideas and hope to do many more in

Baby Hope

I know that some of you have seen this picture of Hope on Laura's blog, but I wanted to share it with those who haven't. Meet Hope Madeline Robinson.
Laura and Michael are the proud parents and Kyle (8) and David (5) are the doting brothers.
She is our newest addition to the family and my last chance for a grand-daughter on the Robinson side.
She is a beautiful child and this is my favorite picture of her. That is just my opinion as a grand
mother and I'm sticking to it. Cat

Is it Allergies ?

Yesterdays doctors visit went well. Not that running lights down into your sinuses is such a great experience.. Coughing for 6 month isn't either.
I still have horrible sinuses even though I have no other symptoms, no headache, sore throat, runny nose or fever. After 5 weeks on anti-biotics I would have expected more improvement then what I saw on the cat-scan. We have now changed anti-biotics and I am scheduled for allergy testing on the 25th. Made sense to me that ones we find out what is causing all the problems I can do something about it. So we'll see, and I will keep you posted.

Bob and I started a new project this week. Our front and back porches weren't finished when we moved in. We finally got tired of looking at plywood and are tiling both. I'll post pictures when it is finished.

Pam requested some pictures of our house and I am posting a couple of indoor shots that were taken early on. I am posting at home and most of the house pictures are on the computer at the shop. I will try to post others later when I am writing on the business computer.

A day at the Cat's Meow

Yesterday being a record day (40 for lunch) for the Cat's Meow, today's slower pace was a welcome reprieve. Yesterday we had a group arrive at 11:30 to eat lunch and after that play a game called "Mahjongg". They left at 3:30, full and happy.Mahjongg is a Japanese or Chinese game, I think. Looked like a lot of fun. Maybe we should try our hand at it.

Our specials this week were all Italian. Italian Club Panini Sandwich, Artichoke Soup, Chilled Cucumber Soup and Tiramisu for dessert.


Talking about food; Laura asked if I could include some recipes from time to time. So this week I will share with you how we make the Italian Club Panini. 2 Slices Sour Dough bread. Spread one slice lightly with mayo and the other with Olive spread (put a jar of drained green olives in the blender or food processor, together with about a tablespoon of olive oil and blend until it is a paste). Layer with a slice of provolone cheese, 4 thin slices of ham, 4 small slices of pepperoni and 2 slices of salami. Close your sandwich and brush the top lightly with some olive oil (don't soak it) put on the panini grill, olive side down and brush the other side with oil. Grill until golden brown (or in a skillet on top of the stove, olive side down. Brush the top side with olive oil and turn over when bread is a golden brown) Serve with an Olive on top. Enjoy

Tomorrow is my check-up appointment with the Allergy clinic and we will find out how much good 6 weeks of anti biotics have done. I am not coughing as much and at least sleep at night. But I would like to find out what causes it. So we will pressure the Doc to do some testing. I'll keep you posted.