[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #44611

Hi Colleen,
Little Aliza is getting to be a little doll. She must be so cute! I feel bad as I had to stay home from babysitting for the last two weeks.
It must be getting closer to the time when Barbara gets to be a grandmother. Is the baby due mid August? She must be getting so excited. It will be a fun time to share with her.
I think they have the schools separated like that because it is the most economical way of doing it. It’s not like when we were younger and all grades could be put into one school. There are just too many students now to do that.
I have definitely been taking it easy although I did manage to cook dinner the last two nights-so Greg is free from that chore now. I feel better the fever is gone. Mostly it’s still a lot of coughing. I hope that will be gone by the weekend. At least I can take that cough medicine at night at get some rest now though.
We are in for a little cool down for a couple of days.
We had to miss the last t-ball game of the season but it ended up that Jenny and the kids didn’t go anyway as Kendall got sick right before the game. I do enjoy those Tuesdays as we all go out to eat afterwards. She said they are enjoying their participation medals. Now they will think they are in the Olympics. lol
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #44609

Hi Dianne,
I think every area has homeless. Out in the country where we live they are not as visible but they are there. My daughter used to work with a local homeless agency. As Adele said many have mental health problems or substance abuse problems. Some are chronic and then there are the poor people who really have just fallen on hard times and just need a leg up in the world.
I know it is a much more serious problem in more heavily populated areas.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #44504

Hi Colleen,
All the kids from Kendall’s school will go when they change schools. They have one school from Kindergarten to third grade. Then they have a middle school and then they have a junior high. So each time they change schools the whole grade will go too. I too hope that she will grow out of school making her nervous. I kind of think she will as her friends become more and more important in her life.
That’s funny that you wanted a Corvette but ended up with a Falcon. That’s when the reality of what we want collides with what we can afford.
I think one of my new Philosophy favorites is Fresh Cream. It kind of smells like whipped cream-it makes you want to lick your own arm when you have it on. lol I also love-i think it’s called Beach Party-it’s like pina colada meets sunscreen. Very summery!
I haven’t been getting better so I was going to make a Drs. appointment today. Greg pointed out that if I did that i would probably have to wait another 2 or 3 days to be seen so he talked me into going to immediate care yesterday. He drove me over after he came back from golf yesterday. i have a lower respiratory infection and am on a zpak, prednisone, inhaler and codeine cough medicine to help me sleep through the night. So I hope that I will be on the mend. I probably should have gone in sooner but you hate to go in and then they tell you it’s a virus and all you can do is rest and drink fluids and take Tylenol and let it run it’s course. It’s hard for me to tell the difference between what will need intervention and what won’t. i hate wasting the doctor’s and my time if there’s nothing to be done anyway. Anyway, I hope that i will be better soon. I’m tired of being sick. It’s been more than a week now and it’s bothering me that so many thing need to be done but I just don’t have the strength to do them yet. What can i say-I’m a mess!
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #44499

Hi Dianne,
Yes, those of us on here with husbands are very lucky as we all seemed to have found very good men. We like to complain about the silly things that they do but we know that it’s all in good fun and we wouldn’t trade them for the world. Actually one of the first things that attracted me to my husband was that he seemed so mentally healthy-unlike so many of the guys back in the late 60’s or early 70’s who seemed to be a bunch of whiny babies-blaming all their deficiencies on everyone else but themselves. That’s why back then I preferred dating men older than me as they weren’t so childish. However, Greg is actually younger than me but only by about 8 months.
I do love the Philosophy brand. However, since the company was sold the perfumes no longer have the staying power that they once had. The same is true of the Tova perfume and I have worn that for 20+ years. I think the new companies change the formulas to save money.
I have tried Cheryl’s cookies. They are good but very very sweet. of course the kids love them! Mrs. Prindable’s apples are really good. I prefer the ones with the nuts on the outside rather than the candies and those are a little harder to find.
I’m so sorry that you came from a family of domestic violence. I’m sure that has had some lasting effects on your life. My Dad was sometimes not an easy man to live with as he sometimes had a temper but he was never ever violent.
As to your ex-it sounds like you were very wise to leave the relationship. It’s much much better to be single and happy than married and miserable. My sister has been divorced for ages and ages and she has such a full life. She has many good women friends and she is very active and travels all the time, ballroom dances, takes courses, does charity work and has an extremely full life.
I do remember the Ramblers. It seems there were tons of those in that salmon color. I remember that the front seats of them tilted all the way back. Weird huh? In case you needed to sleep in your car or what.
My first car was a Chevy Vega. And I actually never had my very own car until after I got married. When I lived at home I used my Mom’s car and when I went to college i didn’t need one and when i lived in Chicago I took public transportation or used a cab if it was late at night.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #44377

Hi Adele,
As you can imagine I have read a lot and given much thought to the whole adoptive situation for many years. I think one of the worst things for the kids is that the first act in their lives was a rejection by their own mother and despite the reasons it’s a difficult thing to get over and sometimes causes the kids to compensate in many different ways. As they get older they understand her reasons but it is much harder to control how they feel about the rejection. We can know something in our minds but still struggle with feeling it in our hearts. We come from a unique family where 5 of the 8 cousins on Greg’s side of the family are adopted. But each kid has had their struggles. I think the biggest mistake was that in the early 80’s it wasn’t really recommended to have the child and parents see a therapist. The idea then was that it was nurture over nature. The theories have changed and now some sort of counseling or meetings are recommended and I think that would have helped a lot in our particular case. I think it would have helped during the teenage years when all kids struggle with identity anyway.
Mono sucks! That’s all I can say. Especially for an older person. Plus I got sick mid October and we didn’t get an actual diagnosis until December when I was beginning to feel better. It’s not something that first springs to mind for someone in their 60’s. Fortunately, I didn’t have any problems with my spleen bursting while they were trying to figure out what was wrong as that is sometimes a big problem. That could have been a disaster. Jenny was the one that kept saying she thought it was mono. I should have listened to her right away and mentioned that to the doctor. They thought it was everything else but that. Seems so simple in retrospect.
Last night we went to Jenny’s but i probably should have stayed home. I freaked out all the kids when I had a coughing fit during dinner. They thought that I was strangling and I scared them. Then i started feeling feverish again by the time we got home and spent another night coughing and sweating. Yuck! I think if I am not feeling much better by Monday i will have to try to get into the doctors. I know she will be booked up but i can probably get into the nurse practitioner which is fine for something like this. I just hate going in if it’s just a virus that no one can do anything about anyway.
Maybe you have those ear crystals that Greg was checked for. I hope it’s something simple. At least it is not your artery as that would be a whole different story. I think for the crystals they give you like head exercises or something.
What did you think about the husband and wife team where he sang and she danced. I couldn’t figure out if they were serious and if people were laughing with them or at them. I hope it was all an act and they really didn’t think that they were good. Otherwise someone needs a serious reality check. lol At least they didn’t get passed on. It sometimes amazes me what some people think is talent. lol
Greg is out golfing a scramble today. I walked out to the mailbox and practically passed out. I don’t know how he can be out in this heat but he loves it. Not me. I like 72 degrees. lol
Hope you had a good time with your company last night.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #44375

Hi Colleen,
I looked for those little trees online but they must have sold out. H20533 is similar but the trees that I saw had round glass type ball ornaments like those that you would put on a regular tree but tiny.
I must say that the Q doesn’t have much variety in gifts for kids. And many things are recycled from year to year which is not good for long time watchers as we have seen it all by this time. I’m sure your grand daughters will like the tablets- what kid wouldn’t? Plus Owen will like the dinosaur. I think that’s something new this year. Now I just wait until closer to the season and shop online for the kids as they seem to change their mind about things that they like from now until Christmas. It’s nice to get it done early but it’s just not something that I am able to do anymore. So you will be all done and be able to put your feet up while the rest of us are dashing around(at least dashing through the internet) lol
I can’t believe that Ron is just like Greg. He too has hundreds of pairs of WalMart reading glasses laying around yet he is still always looking for just the right ones. Plus he will not get rid of the old ones that are no longer strong enough so we have those damn glasses everywhere. Half of which are useless. And then we wonder why we have so much clutter. I swear i will clean something all up neatly and within three weeks it is full of stuff again. Junk must multiply while we sleep. I have trying to pare down and so far I have not made much of a dent in all our stuff. It seems like something else always comes up to get me off track with my projects. lol
I do like the solar lights and also went crazy with them a few years back. We used to have them all around the pond which looked nice and I bought some new ones for out there but for some reason Greg hasn’t put them up yet. I don’t know what he is waiting for.
I think you hit the nail right on the head. I’m sure the nerve to Greg’s leg and foot is what is being pinched by the disc. Hopefully things will continue to improve.
Kendall has been fine this summer which kind of indicates that perhaps the stomach problems are stress related to school. After this year she will have to change schools too as the middle grades are in a different location. So different from when I was in school and all grades 1 through 8 were in the same building. Of course that was a small Catholic school. Speaking of that-our Catholic grade school in town had to close down this year. Not enough students or money to keep it going. Sad to see.
Kendall was showing me her new backpack and lunchbox that she got from Justice-I’m sure your grandaughters probably shopped there at one time too. It seems to be a popular store for the young girls-I don’t know if it is nationwide but i kind of think it might be.
I think Kendall might be our fashion designer or stylist as she has kind of a boho way of putting things together that always comes out cute. I love the way that we are imaging our grands futures. Hopefully they will all be happy and well adjusted no matter what path that they choose.
Too hot to do much of anything today.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #44312

Hi Adele,
I think a lot of places have a “drop off” policy where they will only take the materials so far. I imagine if you offered the delivery guys some extra money they would take it up into the house for you. Just a thought. It will be nice to get that all over and done with. Doesn’t it always end up taking longer than we expect?
I have been watching AGT. I wish they hadn’t passed that mother and son dance team through. There’s something kind of creepy about that. I told Greg that night that she needs to find a different partner. Also I wish they hadn’t passed the chain saw guy through-that is creepy in a different way. lol I’m glad they didn’t pass the nipple pulling guy through.
The second night there were some tearjerking stories. I loved when Louie put through that little girl through and she was jumping up and down with her Mom and screaming he hugged me-he hugged me-that was just as important as the fact that she got put through. lol I’m sure you teared up about the boy who was singing for his Mom who put him up for adoption. Being an adoptive Mom myself I always think how hard it must be for those women to give the baby away and how that is the ultimate act of love-sacrificing your own feelings to give your child a better life. I know he probably feels the rejection like all adoptees do especially as he has siblings whom she kept-that’s always a tough one for adoptees. But he has two loving parents who probably are giving him many opportunities that she couldn’t-I think he will realize that when he is a little older. Also I hope people saw that it is better for a child to be with two loving parents no matter if they are same sex or not. A family is a family is a family(to paraphrase Lyn Manuel Miranda lol)(lest I get blamed for plagiarizing lol) no matter how it’s configured and it’s much better for a child than being in the foster system no matter how well intentioned and how good that system is-there’s nothing like a permanent place to call home for a kids stability. I am sometimes amazed at the strength and the drive of some of these kids who have gone through some hard hard times. Okay, off the soapbox. I know you worked in the foster system and I hope that I didn’t step on your toes. I was just always under the impression that the goal was to get children with parents whether it be back to their biological or with adoptive. We know someone who adopted a baby through the foster system but that must be pretty uncommon as I would imagine it is usually older kids in the system. Anyway, I was betting that the stories about the kids were the ones that were tugging at your heartstrings. I don’t think that boy with the two Dad’s got put through either and I thought he was good and so did Greg.
Oh Greg is definitely a keeper. This time was kind of easy as I had some easy meals planned that didn’t take a lot of work to begin with. Luckily I caught him before he put miracle whip in the cucumbers and sour cream-that’s because he doesn’t listen to me when i tell him how to do things. Does anyone else have this problem. I swear he tunes me out half way through the explanation. i start talking and halfway through his ears close-it’s a known medical phenomena. lol Except-duh-it’s called cucumbers and sour cream-not cucumbers and miracle whip. lol
When I had mono he had to everything for about 6 to 8 weeks-cook-clean shop-do laundry-everything. I felt so bad as he would come home from working all day and then have to take care of me but i literally couldn’t do anything. I was like a wet dishrag. Just taking a shower and changing my pajamas was an effort every day. I really could not do more-plus I was like a cat and slept 20 hours out of the day. He definitely can cook and clean and I’ll bet any guy can if he has to-although I know Gary has physical limitations so that is a different story.
Well, I have been long winded enough.
Celine Dion is singing on the Today show this morning. I really love her. if I ever go back to Vegas I would like to see her show.
Gosh the Olympics will be starting in two weeks. Don’t forget to wear your Americana and support the USA.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #44310

Hi Colleen,
Austin is a fancy dog-he has a summer home and a winter home. lol It seems like you mentioned that Ron was looking for another puppy again-or was I imagining that?
That was nice that the restaurant let you take home the all that you can eat plate. A lot of places wouldn’t have given you all that much to begin with but made you ask for refills. However, so many places give you way too much food. It’s good to take it home for the next day. I feel bad if we are going out to dinner before a play or concert in the summer and I can’t finish and have to leave it behind. It’s different in the winter the food would still be okay in the car in the cold but in the summer it would go bad out there.
You did good during CIJ getting all those gifts. I got some flameless candles and a set of those little trees from Mr. Christmas. No gifts except for me. lol I saw I think it was from Kringle Express a set of 5 little trees with different colored balls on them and thought of you because you always buy something like that for your SIL’s that you can split up. I thought those trees were really cute.
Greg’s back is better-although it’s not his back that hurts-it’s his leg. His leg feels better-not sure about the foot right now. The prednisone really helps. I’m hoping once he gets this irritation calmed down that he won’t have anymore trouble as they said his back is not bad at all according to the MRI.
Hope that you are keeping cool.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

in reply to: It's July! Let's Celebrate America! #44308

Hi Barbara,
I am the opposite. I always lived in the country except when I was really little and then for a few years in my early 20’s I lived in Chicago. If I hadn’t done that I probably never would have met Greg. I would like to stay where we are now but I wish we had built a house all on one level instead of a two story. Also now that all the kids are gone I wish the house was a bit smaller. It’s a lot to upkeep and I just don’t have the energy for it anymore so a lot of things fall by the wayside. But Greg loves the land and the pond and his putting green and garden so I imagine I will have to keep climbing the stairs.
I hope we all get a little break from the high temperatures soon. I think they are everywhere right now.
Keep those puppies cool.
Gail

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