Home Buying Class

Clay and I are going to a home buying seminar today. We went to one of these classes a couple of years ago, but it's time for a refresher. We have been thinking about purchasing a home for years, but have been dragging our feet. The way home prices have escalated we may find ourselves priced out of the market. But we have to find out for sure.

Friend in the UK

Clay's friend Bill who hails from Scotland has been sending us postcards. He found out from my blog that I like to collect postcards from places far away, and he has sent us several cards since.

This one comes from Cardiff in Wales. The photos depict: National Museum of Wales, Roath Park Lake, Cardiff Castle, Llandaff Cathedral and Cardiff Castle from Bute Park.

Thank you, Bill, for thinking of us!

Elena is 2!

I wanted to share this adorable picture of Elena which was sent to me by her mama. The photo was taken on Elena's second birthday earlier this week. What a grown-up little girl she's getting to be.

Happy Birthday Elena!

Ironworld

I have been quite lax about keeping up with postcarding lately. However, my profile is still posted on PostcardX and once in a while my name comes up in a random search and I am the fortunate recipient of a postcard - almost always from some place I've never been or even heard of.

It's always a thrill to get a bit of land mail. A postcard or letter is 100 times better than junk mail and bills, don't you think? A couple of days ago I got a wonderful card from Sara B. on PostcardX. The card was from Ironworld Discovery Center in Chisholm, MN.

I looked up Ironworld on the web and the place sounds fascinating. Visitors can take a scenic ride on this vintage trolley. Ironworld is the largest museum complex on Minnesota's Iron Range and displays the history, culture and technology of Minnesota's Iron Ranges. They also have ethnic foods and music and you can take mine tours.

So what's an Iron Range? I wondered that myself. I found a defnition via Google. It's a region in the northeastern section of Minnesota with multiple distinct bands of iron ore. The area has a unique history of mining and immigration.

I love it when I learn something new thanks to someone who took the time to send me a card. Sara also wrote me a wonderful note on the card telling me all about her day. Thank you Sara!

I need to get busy and start sending out some cards of my own including making use of my Postcrossing account.

Sun

Wow, we had some really beautiful weather today. Temperatures hit the 70's which is more like summer weather for Seattle. The forecast is for sun the rest of the week. Seattleites should be smiling now - no more of that complaining about the weather I hear in the elevators so often. :)

Eyes

On Wednesday when Clay went back to the doctor he was told that the extra applications of artificial tears helped the moisture levels in his eye but not enough. So the doctor put in what is called a contact bandage - a simple non-corrective soft contact lens. This is one that could stay in for up to a month so no worries about taking it out and putting it back in and losing the thing in the process.

The doctor had some concern that the lens might come out because the curvature of Clay's eye is different from most. But once he got it in there he thought it fit pretty well. The first couple days after getting the lens Clay experienced some discomfort from his lower eyelid rubbing against the edge of the lens. There was also a decrease in eyesight on top of poor sight to begin with. The last couple of days though the discomfort has gone away and a little of the sight has returned. But we're not sure if the thing fell out!

I looked into his eye trying to find edges of the contact, but I couldn't see it. He goes back on Wednesday so we'll have to see what the doctor says...

Tax Day

Well it's here again. The day we all have to file our taxes with the IRS. Did you get yours filed on time?

As usual Clay and I were late getting our information to our tax accountant. So I was not surprised when we were told that they had to file an extension on our behalf. What does surprise me is that no one at our accountant's office had time to call and let us know they were doing that!!

We took our papers to their offices on March 27. When I called on the 13th to ask about the status of our returns I was told "oh we filed an extension on that as soon as we got your stuff." Why couldn't they call us to let us know that two weeks ago??

It could be the end of May before they have time to do our return. Sounds like our accountant has more business than they can handle. It might be time to look for a new tax preparer.

Happy Easter!!

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. We definitely did. Clay and I went to Olympia and attended church with my mother. Everyone there was in a happy, festive mood. Then we took Mom out to lunch/dinner at a local buffet. Even the weather cooperated for the most part. It's nice to see some sun on Easter when we usually have rain for this holiday.

Eye Appointment

Clay had another follow up appointment with his eye surgeon on Wednesday. His vision has not been great lately. Clay was due in another month or two to get stitches out, but the doctor noticed Wednesday that a stitch was loose and "not doing us any good" so he decided to remove it. Silly me, I made the mistake of asking at that point "how many stitches are in there?" When the doctor replied "oh, 18-20" I heard Clay gasp. I'm sorry, I should not have asked that one! Wow, I thought he would say 5 or 6 stitches.

It took the doctor 10-15 minutes and he ended up removing 3 stitches altogether. The process of taking out stitches was a stressful one for both of us. Stressful for Clay because the doctor was shining a bright light in his eye plus the process is a bit uncomfortable. Stressful for me because I had sufficient eyesight to see the tools the doctor was using - an X-Acto knife and a pair of tweezers. Yikes, Clay, don't move! The procedure went well though and Clay just has to take antibiotic drops for a few days - a normal practice when removing stitches.

The doctor also said the surface of his eye is drier than expected and more rough in texture. He is thinking about giving Clay a "contact bandage" which is like a contact lens that goes over the eye to keep the moisture in. We really hope that will not be necessary because it would be a big hassle to take care of, and if it's something Clay has to take in and out he will not be able to see it. Anyway, the doc has him doing his artificial tears 6 times a day and if that works he won't need the contact bandage. He goes back on Wednesday the 19th to see how everything looks.

As for surgery we still have to wait to find out what the final result will be. Healing can take a year or more and we are only 5 months in.

Pictures of Elena

It's been too long since I've seen the lovely Miss Elena. Check out these great pictures her mom Kristina just sent me! Elena will be two soon and she looks more and more like both her parents every day. As you can see she has a very patient kitty who lets her squeeze her while they swing.

Does anyone else notice how much the kitty looks like the bear? Tabby stripes, white face and paws...

Pain

My asthma has been getting better very slowly, but still there is a lot of coughing. Last week I managed to pull a chest wall muscle while reaching to open the lock of my car's passenger door. Ouch! I didn't realize the extent of my injury until a couple of days later. I ended up in quite a lot of pain.

Every time I coughed the dull ache turned into a sharp stabbing in my chest. I can't even sleep on my back beacuse the pain is too great. I was quickly calling the nurse to find out just how much ibuprofen it was safe to take. The coughing is getting less each day though, and is pretty manageable now. The pain in my chest is still a problem but that too gets a little better each day. Soon I hope to be able to sleep on my back again.

How did this happen? One of my coworkers had a similar chest wall injury a week before mine. When I found out how he did it I thought it was funny. Until it happened to me! The lesson to be learned from this is never, ever laugh when someone else is in pain. You might just find out exactly how much pain they are in!