Finally figured it out

For the life of me, I could not figure out why the picasa photo application in the left column of this blog was not working. Today, I conquered it and now it works! It is a simple way to get to our photos. Nothing special, just a small victory over the software gremlins.

Roberto and his team have been working non-stop for the past two days prepping our landscaping for the next growing season--pruning, triming, new plantings, new gorilla hair, etc. Roberto always does this the last two weeks of December because of his billing practice. He only bills me once a year, in December. Originally, I found this to be terribly inconvenient but after 16 years of practice, I simply budget for it. After all these years, I finally asked him why he does it that way.

"Meester Pat, some of my clients are my savings accounts. You are one of the best, you always write the check the minute I give you the bill."

He does the major prepping just before he delivers the bill so there are no issues that need to be dealt with that would hold up payment. Works for me! And for him. I should also say that his team works on our yard and several of the neighbors' yards weekly during the year too.

Mary's fentanyl patch needs changing every 3 days so last night was a fresh dose. Today has been "sleepy time gal" for her. I think the drug is simply knocking her out on the first day of a fresh patch and day 2 and 3 she is more alert but still sleeps a lot. Strong narcotics will do that! Nothwithstanding the sleepiness, she is eating three good meals a day. Fried egg, toast and fruit for breakfast, a cube steak sandwich for lunch and we're doing sloppy joes for dinner. Thankfully, food intake is not a problem. She weighs herself daily and its fluctuating plus or minus a pound from day to day. Very consistent.

Looks like we'll have Christmas dinner at our friend Ingrid's place this year. Ingrid's son, Maurice, is home from his 3rd year of law school and he loves to cook so it should be a very nice event. We are hoping MaryR and her daughter Emilie will join too.

The house is full of Christmas music. I have my iPod in a speaker system playing in the large open space (TV room, Dining Room and Kitchen) while Mary's iMac is playing songs in the master bedroom. We both love the songs of the season filling the house.