Nick took Atticus outside to enjoy the nice fall weather while he raked leaves. Atticus was pretty good at first, but he keep seeing things to chase. He's really, really fast! Nick had to bring him back inside after a short while or he wouldn't have been able to rake a single leaf.
Katherine turned 37 yesterday, November 9th. She spent the day with Andrew out in Montauk. She's been trying to catch a striper (striped bass) all summer. I hope she got one on her birthday!
We will celebrate another day. It's a crazy week. We are having a cesspool put in under our driveway today. They are out there with big equipment and trying not to hit the overhead wires. Mike has been nervous. He's not happy about the driveway and the grass being torn up, but we have no choice. The older cesspool has been giving us too much trouble.
On top of this, I'm supposed to have dental surgery Friday, but I can't until I get cleared by my oncologist. My blood count is too low right now, so I have to retest (I did one Monday) tomorrow morning. Frankly, if I had to put it off I wouldn't care. The cesspool is costing roughly $15,000 and the dental work is a few thousand, too! A tough week financially!
James turned 35 today! He missed being a Halloween baby by less than 2 hours.
Michael became a 39-year-old on October 11th. I can't believe I have a kid who is almost 40.
Katherine will be 37 next week, on November 9th.
We owe Jamie a birthday dinner. Unfortunately, the cesspool died and they had to dig up the front yard today. It's going to be a big expense, around $10,000, because they are going to put a new cesspool in under our driveway.
James doesn't seem to mind. He says he doesn't need anything, but I'd at least like to get him a gift card or two and maybe a crossword puzzle book. He does the crossword at work.
We took Michael to Aki, our favorite sushi restaurant. Michael is going to make Katherine's birthday dinner. By tradition, she likes Western Hospitality Casserole.
Halloween was pleasant enough. We didn't have a lot of kids, maybe 30 or 40. So I have a bunch of leftover candy. I put the unopened bags in the freezer.
Michael came on Saturday for a roast beef dinner, and we hit the farmstand for the last time of the season. I bought some cider donuts that actually taste like cider. Best I've ever had. I will have to watch for them next year.
Julie has been going downhill fast in the past weeks. I was up at night sick and full of anxiety thinking what to do. We finally opted to have someone come to our house.
We said goodbye to Julie earlier this week. It was easier than I expected. The vet was so nice and kind.
I held her in my arms while Nick and Mike were nearby. When it was over and Dr. Heather listened with the stethoscope she said, "Julie has her wings now."
Julie snoozing with kitten Atticus
She always looked so different after aRight after Hurricane Henri, the East Coast was hit by Hurricane Ida. Sadly, a number of people died, mostly from flooding.
Michael and Megan's house took some damage from flooding. They are waiting on someone to fix the walls and floor, etc. The water came into their basement via the garage, which is at the end of a slanted driveway.
Fortunately, it did not reach into their office, where Michael works from home every day. Michael does programming for some kind of police in Michigan. It is cool he can work from home, hundreds of miles away!
On another note: Mike and I had a nice lunch with John, Noreen and John Joseph today. I was happy to be able to eat half a Reuben sandwich after having stomach issues for two days. Stressing out about Julie. She has this inoperable tumor on her stomach, but it doesn't seem to bother her terribly. She eats fine and sleeps most of the day. I had thought it was her time to go, but not just yet.
We have had her over 5 years! We did keep our promise to Uncle Jimmy to take care of her as best as we could. She is such a sweet dog.
I had a PET scan recently and am happy to post it came up clear! As in, cancer free!
Stuck on meds for a long time because I did have stage 4 cancer but that's okay. I don't have to deal with the BIG C at the present time. I just hope it never comes back again!
Obviously, Easter happened before the previous few posts but I forgot to write about it. Here are some pictures:
This is Megan's hand. She could not join us to color eggs so