Somehow - a month after I had the flu - I got bronchitis! The doctor was surprised to see me, but said it wasn't unusual for this to happen. I spent two days with a fever, went to work one day, stayed home the next, went back again, only to go to the doctor the next day...so working for 2 1/2 days in a week - that about sums it up. The cough is horrible, but hopefully breaking up and getting better. I really did sound like I was coughing up a lung...and the doc said I was not contagious...hmmm....so how come it gets passed around so easily?? I am tired of taking pills, that's for sure and I will certainly be glad when I get my sense of smell back. Seriously, I had candles burning and realized I could not smell a thing...not even the spaghetti sauce cooking on the stove! No garlic, no onion, nothing! Gotta love the PuffsPLUS tissues, though - they are so kind to your nose!! I highly recommend them.

My Dad's older brother Robert (Uncle Bob) passed away last week. He was over 80 years old. Dad had left to drive to TN last Sunday and pick up his younger brother, then they went to NC and spent time with Uncle Bob. One thing I remember about Uncle Bob is that he would always say "Well, hello pretty (purty) girl!" to most any female he met - smart guy, Uncle Bob. He didn't have to remember names that way (though we know he knew ours!). He has three daughters-in-law - two of which are named Debbie, plus grand-daughters and great grand-daughters - and grandsons too - but perhaps the 'double deb' was the root of it all. Uncle Bob looked a lot like his Mom, my Grandma. Silver thick hair and a sweet smile. His wife, Aunt Josie, is an artist and Uncle Bob would do the framing of her water color and oil paintings. Dad is going to start driving back tomorrow and should be home Tuesday.

I really can't go into detail about an event that occurred recently - but will say it was quite a shock and left me with knot in my stomach. Though no pain was intended, it happened and has hurt several people. Trying to keep my mind off it has not been easy so to say the least, its been stressful.

Three folks retired from Sears last week - in efforts to retain their 'lump sum' pension by leaving by the end of February. One had 45 years of service, one 38 and one 32. Thats hard to believe in any work environment, but in retail these days - unheard of! I wrote each of them a poem and went to their 'luncheon' with Kyle. Though I didn't have much of a voice, and still coughing, I read the poems and visited for a little bit. It was nice.

R asked and I agreed to let one of his friend's dogs stay here while they saved some money for a pet deposit. "Cole", the pit bull, is a big dog and got along well with R's "Drift". We found out one morning that Cole can get over a chain link fence, but at least he sat nicely at the back door until I came to leave for work. That meant that the two of them were in the garage until someone could be home to be outside with them. One day, while we were at work, Cole managed to open the door from the garage to the house...and the two of them had quite a day messing up the living room. There was also evidence that they were on my bed and in R's room...probably lounging around, taking a nap. They left a couple of 'piles' which were less than lovely and R had the joy of cleaning up. He took the leaf rake to collect all the trash strewn around the room! Cole has since gone home to his master, and Drift misses him and moans frequently. Cole was well-behaved (to a certain extent) and at least listened when told to "sit".

In a couple of weeks, I'll go to the doctor with L & J for the ultrasound! So exciting! They hope to find out what they are having and start planning the nursery. Several folks have mentioned a shower, so sounds like they'll have lots of help preparing! There is so much cool stuff out there now for babies!