Helicopters ........................

We must have a million helicopters in our front yard. I call the seed pods on the maple tree helicopters, since they twirl as they fall to the ground. We had some wind Sunday and it looked like a snow storm as they came flying down. They are everywhere and get tracked inside on our shoes or on the kittie's fur. Maggie May has entertained herself with trying to catch them.

I've gotten behind in all my work around the house and yard. I switched my arthritis medicine from Celebrex to meloxicam because it was so much cheaper. It didn't work at all for me even when I doubled the dosage. As a result, I ended up with sore joints and aches and pains all over my body. I had to go back to the Celebrex last Thursday, and have finally begun to feel better. I decided I would be willing to pay about $100. a month not to be in such pain. At least I tried the cheaper alternative. Anyway, I didn't get much done for a couple of weeks. Hope I can get busy on some yard work this week.

Azaleas .........................

Today is a wet, dreary day - but I won't complain because we really do need the rain. I got almost all my garden planted over the weekend - tomatoes, zuchinni, yellow squash, cucumbers, and green peppers. I also replanted the lettuce and radishes since they didn't come up that well. I'm sure all my plants are loving this rain.

The azaleas are in full bloom now and are so pretty. I wish they bloomed all summer. The bushes are full of honey bees and butterflies. There is a huge old tree across the road that has a bee hive in it, so we get lots of honey bees here. You can actually see the honey leaking out of the tree.

Retirement preparation ..............

I just realized that I haven't posted all week. I apologize. I've been busy getting things in order for Hubbie's retirement. We talked to several investment firms and decided on the one we want to handle our pensions and 401Ks. Once that was done, I started looking for health insurance. I decided that as long as we are healthy, we are better off to go with a policy that has a high deductible and less coverage. I can't see paying $1,400.00 a month to continue the coverage we have through Hubbie's employer, since the only thing we used his insurance for last year was one doctor visit for each of us and our prescriptions. None of the policies I've been looking at pay for prescriptions you are currently taking during the first year.

I went to my doctor Tuesday and had my annual physical. Before I dropped our insurance I wanted to make sure I'm healthy. Luckily, all my tests came back normal. I discussed my medicine with the doctor. We dropped one prescription completely, changed one to over the counter medicine, and changed two from more expensive medications to generics that are $10.00 for a 3 months supply at Walmart. That will lower the cost of my medicine from $370. a month to about $30. a month. That's a big difference. I'm sending Hubby to the doctor to get checked out and to get his prescriptions reviewed.

Everything is so green and pretty now. The azaleas are bursting out in blooms. The pollen is still falling, but it is not as bad as it was several weeks ago. This is such a pretty time of year. I want to spend all my time outside.

Pollen .....................

The pine and oak pollen is terrible. I haven't been able to open my windows this week even though we've had temperatures in the 90s. Even with the windows closed, it"s found it's way inside and covered everything in a yellow film. I went out and got in the car today and couldn't see out of any of the windows. The whole car was enveloped in a layer of pollen. The floor of my porch is yellow and all the outside furniture is coated. Everything feels gritty.

I'm thankful that I'm not allergic to pollen. We may get a thunderstorm tonight. The rain will help to take some of the pollen out of the air and will wash it off things. We could use a little rain on the garden and flowers, too.

My azaleas are beginning to bloom. They are always so colorful. The grass is growing like a weed - oh, that's right - my grass is made up of weeds. If it's not raining tomorrow, I'll have to get out on the mower.

April heat wave ...............

We're having a little April heat wave. It got all the way up to 93 this afternoon. As you can see, Mazie Grace decided to spend the afternoon napping in the planter. Maggie May retreated to a cool spot under the deck. I donned my shorts, teeshirt, and sandals, grabbed a tall glass of ice tea and finished reading a book. Yes, we were a lazy bunch.

My day started off wrong. We had a thunderstorm around 3 AM that woke me up when the lights went out. Hubby went off to work around 5 AM. He called me later and said that Vepco had about four counties without electricity, and he didn't know when the lights would be back on. I was beginning to get cranky, when they finally came back on at 10 AM. We have plans to get a generator before next winter.

While the lights were out, I got involved in the book I've been reading - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I couldn't put it down even when the lights came back on, so most of my day was spent reading. I've started another book by the same author - The Girl Who Played With Fire. So, I probably won't get any work done until I finish reading it.

Happy Easter ............................

Wishing each one of you a wonderful Easter! Hope your weather is as perfect as ours and that the Easter Bunny brings you some goodies.

Mary