Happy Birthday A Day Late

Yesterday was Joe's birthday. Happy Happy Birthday! We did get to see him last night, I wasn't sure if he already had plans but he called in the afternoon so we all went out to dinner, nothing fancy since we are all waiting for payday next week, but so nice to get to see him and his girlfriend Elizabeth (great name!) and spend a little time with them. After dinner they were off to join up with her kids who apparently think Joe is just wonderful (which he is) and spend some time with them. I'm so glad that he has found someone who is supportive and makes him happy and who is NOT CRAZY! I really like her and am looking forward to getting to meet the rest of her family.

What else have we been doing this past week? Not a whole lot, again, waiting for payday next week and trying to stretch what money we have until then. The week that Keith was up in Fresno cost quite a bit of money what with gas and eating out and all, but in the long run will be money well spent. He is now a certified card carrying (albeit temporary until the permanent one comes in the mail) full fledged conductor. This week he is in RCO training, radio controlled operations I guess that stands for. They actually take a controller that is strapped to a special vest and control a locomotive just like a little radio controlled car or something. I had no doubt that he would be able to figure this out even though he was a little leery, he has driven heavy equipment and forklifts and all kinds of things like that, and if you can drive an excavator around, seems that you should be able to handle a locomotive. I imagine guys who have grown up with video games would probably have an even easier time with it all.

The switch was flipped and the mornings have suddenly gotten cooler. I'm SO GLAD that summer is coming to an end because I am tired of being hot and sweaty and going through two bras a day. I hate the feeling of sweat along the bottom bra band, me having gotten the heavy sweating gene from Dad, who always had a handkerchief to wipe his brow even on cool days. There is nothing more uncomfortable that a wet sweaty bra, let me tell you! Ugh. I'm so ready for some normal we can leave the windows open weather now. Yesterday I didn't have to turn on the a/c until 4 pm. So nice!

I'm doing some housework this morning and going through some recipes trying to figure out what's for dinner. I've been having some loose rocks in my ears dizziness this week which has been making me a little cranky. I don't like that dizzy light headed feeling if I bend down or move my head the wrong way. I've done the laying on the bed and putting your head in different positions thing that is supposed to make the rocks go back where they belong but so far it hasn't worked all that well. The condition is actually called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, BPPV for short, where calcium crystals that normally belong in a certain part of the ear get dislodged and travel to parts of the ear where they don't belong, making you dizzy and sometimes sick to your stomach when you move your head. Very similar to seasickness and almost as much fun! It's a fairly common condition, especially as you age, so we were wondering if a lot of the reason that older people fall could be partly caused by this. Makes sense to me.

And, along with feeling dizzy, my ear has a constant rushing sound in it. I guess it's the sound of my blood pumping along and I've kind of gotten used to hearing it all day long, but sometimes it gets annoying, too, especially because it makes me half deaf in that ear.

Other than that, though, life as usual and the weather is getting cooler, and the birds are still enjoying (tremendously) the backyard bird feeder, and I'm still enjoying watching them and so are the cats.