HAPPY BIRTHDAY LARRY

Today is my brother Larry's birthday.

He is my youngest brother.  Actually, my youngest sibling.  I was 16 years old when he was born.  I remember holding him for hours when he was a baby and just being amazed at his little tiny fingernails.  Larry was premature, so he was very tiny.  He and I have always been close despite the age difference between us.

I spoke with him just a little bit ago and he, like everyone else, has this upper respiratory infection.  What a way to spend your birthday!

I stayed home from work today and went to the doctor and that is what I have too.  I thought I just had a stomach virus with my fever, headache and upset stomach.  Imagine my surprise when the doctor said it was mucus in my throat making me lose my voice and giving me nausea.  I'm on antibiotics now and am out of work until Monday.  I've taken just one dose so I'm not feeling better yet, but I know by this time tomorrow I will feel a lot more like myself.  Joe is also sick and did not have the chance to go to the doctor.  He has some over the counter medicine that the pharmacist thinks will help him until he can get to the doctor on Monday.

Larry is the brother who got me into taking pictures of the sunrises.  He is a great photographer -- probably the best of the family.  The other day he posted photos he took at Valley Forge on facebook and I asked him if I could use them for this blog.  He said, "Absolutely!"  Larry lives not too far from Valley Forge and enjoys going there to take photos.  These are my favorites of the ones he posted.

Looking at these I feel as if I have traveled back in time to the 1770s.  I almost expect the troops and George Washington to be walking around.  But as Larry can tell you it was COLD on New Year's Eve when he took these.  We can only imagine how bad those poor soldiers had it.

So happy birthday, Larry.  I know this isn't the best day for you, but I still hope you have a good day.  Hopefully by the weekend we will all be feeling better and be able to have a good time at the restaurant when we go out.  If we go out?  No, I'll be positive and we will be going out to celebrate our birthdays.  If we can't have a cookout like the summer kids in our family the least we can do is go to a nice restaurant.

BACK TO WORK

 

It was back to work today.  I kept thinking it was Monday.  Funny how that happens when you have a day in the middle of the week off.  The room above is my shelving section of the library.  It is the non-fiction room.  This is just half of it.  Well, a little less than half.  Lots of work to do in this section.

It was lots of work all around today.  Not only did I have all of my end of the month reports to do, I had end of the year reports and filing to do.  Plus I got nine boxes of books and videos to unpack and put on the proper shelves shipped to me.  At least the day went quickly.

I still wasn't feeling too well today.  I really felt horrible.  But a little after lunch I started feeling some better.  I'm still not 100% but I'll take anything at this point.  When I got home though, Joe is feeling worse.  If it's not one thing, it's another around here.

I wanted to start undecorating, but I am just too tired.  Tomorrow I don't go in till 11:30 so hopefully I will get something done in the morning.  Am I the only one with cards and decorations still up?  I don't usually feel this way, but this year I just want it all done with and gone.  I feel as if I've been celebrating for over a month (since Thanksgiving) and just want to get back to normal (whatever that is).

Enough of my rambling.  I'm really tired and I'm going to head for bed.  Until later.    

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope this year brings health and happiness to you all.

As you can see from my last post I no longer have my calendar to write from on the first day of the month.  But I found a book in the library with a poem for each month of the year.  So I am doing that this year.  Starting the month with a thought is a good thing to me.  I'm really going to have to think about something to do next year, but at least I have a year to do that!  Maybe I'll find another calendar to use.

Last night Joe and I watched the fireworks from Penn's Landing on TV.  They are always wonderful.  And I feel we get as good a view but without freezing or having to shove through hundreds of people to see.

 
I had so much I wanted to do yesterday, but unfortunately I got sick.  I have felt so bad all day -- fever, nauseous, headache.  It is something that is going around here on the east coast.  At least I am feeling better now, but it has been a rough day.  I felt so bad I actually ended up crying.  Not a good way to start the new year.  I hope that's not a sign that the rest of the year is going to be full of sickness.  I want to think of it as getting all the bad stuff for the year over with on the first day.  Unfortunately after we ate dinner Joe started feeling sick and went to bed.

We were going to go to Walt and Carole's house for dinner.  She was going to prepare all the veggies and I was going to bring the ham and dessert.  Well I guess you know that didn't work out.  We are now aiming for Sunday.  But the 14 lb. ham was already defrosted so I had to cook it.  It took 5 hours to cook.  Then I sliced it down, froze some for another meal, froze the bone to give to my sister for soup (she makes split pea soup with the ham broth, I don't), put some in the meat drawer to make sandwiches later this week, and then have a big ziplock bag to take over for Sunday dinner in the fridge.  It was a BIG ham.

Joe and I ended up having a couple slices of ham, baked potatoes, and spinach for dinner.  I went to 7-11 and got some coke which I've been sipping on all evening.  It started settling my stomach.  I guess I'll be getting Joe some diet coke if he is still sick in the morning.  I hear him snoring away so that is good.

I recorded the Mummer's Parade.  I was just too sick to watch it, but I can't NOT see the Mummers on New Year's.  It's 6 1/2 hours long.  I've watched just the comic divisions in the beginning (about 45 minutes of it).  I will watch some of it each day this week.  My favorite part of the parade is the string bands.  Can't wait to see them, but they are always at the end.

Oh, dem golden slippers.  That is the "theme" song of the Mummers.  Almost all of them wear golden slippers and carry parasols while they do the Mummer's strut.  My dad was a Mummer and he could STRUT!

Philly soft pretzel anyone?

"Uncle Sam" had a tribute to the troops.  It was a nice performance.

    This week I will be undecorating the house from Christmas.  I hate seeing all the decorations going, but it is time.

I will be putting up my snowflakes and snowmen.  I just can't leave things bare after decorating from the beginning of October.  It's too depressing for me.  So blue and white lights and snowflakes make it an ice castle for a few weeks before putting up the hearts and red lights for Valentine's Day.  Pictures coming later.