Preparing for Hurricane Matthew

Mike finally decided to trade in his Droid Bionic phone for a Samsung Galaxy 7 after doing some research on the Galaxy 7. So on the 3rd of this month, we went down to the Verizon store in Vero and traded in his old phone for the Samsung. As always with a new cell phone, there are differences from the old phone and Mike has been learning about the Galaxy's features.

We have spent this last week preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew - buying bottled water, a few non-perishable groceries and filling the gas tank in the Outback and the gas cans we use for the generator. We didn't have too much outside stuff to put away, but I have a lot of potted plants that we moved inside of the garage. 

Mike and I grew up in Lake Worth, FL and we know what to expect with a hurricane. But this is Tinker's first hurricane and we'll see how he does. Fortunately he doesn't have any anxiety during thunderstorms - I guess as long as he has his best friend Bear, everything will be OK.

We have no shutters on our house and I moved everything that was breakable away from the windows - putting smaller items in dresser drawers and larger items in closets. Our house went through the 2005-06 hurricanes. We know there was roof damage, but according to Barb (our neighbor) she doesn't remember the previous owners having any windows damaged. I did go around the house taking photos of everything and I took photos outside of our house, trees and landscaping. 

Mike got Barb's and our generator ready with the extension cords, so they would be ready in case our power goes out. Barb always goes to stay with a friend in town during the storms, but Mike will be able to keep her refrigerator running if we lose power.

So now we just sit and wait for Matthew to arrive. We haven't had any rain today, but since about 4 p.m. the winds have been picking up. We've been getting winds averaging around 20-30 mph with wind gusts from 30 to almost 50 mph. We did have some rain about an hour ago, but it has stopped.

We still have power, but as the winds increase I'm not sure how much longer it will last.

House, dog & cat sitting

Fletcher came up from Ft. Lauderdale for a visit on Labor Day weekend. He brought his dog Vala and Doug's dog Diva to visit also. Tinker, Vala and Diva all get along well together, but I know Tinker is always glad when they go back home and he has "his" house and us all to himself. I fixed Fletcher's favorite meal of Pepper Steak and rice on Sunday for dinner. Monday before he left to go back home we went to Sebastian Roadside restaurant for a late breakfast. 

While Fletcher was here we talked about how the wifi signal could be better in the family room especially when we're watching movies on Apple TV. The wifi router is in the office on the other side of the house and Fletcher suggested that we get a wifi extender. So on Labor Day after Fletcher went back home, I went down to Best Buy in Vero and bought a wifi extender. I put it about half way between the family room and the office and it seems to have improved our wifi reception.

Fletcher flew up to Boston on the 23rd to visit some friends and Mike and I (and Tinker)

D.A.R. application, Mike's PT and other things

Mike spent the first 2 weeks of this month going to physical therapy 3 days a week as follow-up to his knee replacement surgery.

We drove up to West Melbourne on the 3rd to see the movie Star Trek Beyond at the IMAX theater there. Afterwards we stopped at 5 Guys to have a couple of bacon cheeseburgers and fries - the small cheeseburgers. 

We had some sad news that a high school friend of Mike's had died earlier this month and we drove down to Lake Worth on the 13th to attend his funeral. 

Before our next door neighbor moved several months ago, she gave me about 2 dozen Flaming Torch bromeliads from her garden and a few of them are blooming. 

I've been kind of toying with the idea for years of joining the Daughters of the American Revolution. So this month on the 25th I met with Laura from the D.A.R. at the Vero Library and we went over the records and documentation I have proving my relationship back to my

Mike's Physical Therapy and Home Nurses

Mike came home from Sebastian Medical Center late in the afternoon on July 1. Dr. Maes has arranged for home physical therapy and nurse visits for 2 weeks. The first weekend Mike was home a physical therapist and nurse came on Saturday and Sunday. From July 5 to July 15 we had a physical therapist come Monday through Friday and we had a nurse come 3 times a week. 

After that Mike was able to go to outpatient physical therapy here in Sebastian and he is going 3 days a week. Mike's not been cleared to drive yet, so I take him to his appointments. There are several physical therapy offices here and Mike chose Longevity Rehab Center in the same building as his surgeon.

We have both been impressed with the care he received at Sebastian Medical Center, the home physical therapy and nurses from Nurse on Call and his outpatient PT. Mike probably has another 2 weeks of PT after this month. 

Since my landscaping partner is out of commission this month, we had a landscaping company come and plant our new flowers and put down the mulch we had bought. It was a special from Angie's List last month and In the Son Lawn came the morning of the 18th and the owner and 1 helper did the work in a little over 3 hours. I had paid for 4 hours, so the owner looked around and they trimmed our oak tree in the front yard and planted a couple of plants in a smaller flower bed. 

I thought that was nice that they looked for things to do so I would get the 4 hours I had paid

Mike's knee surgery & some Landscaping

The first half of this month we had cousins visit and Mike's doctors' appointments for tests prior to his knee surgery.

On the 16th we went to Sebastian Medical Center to attend "Joint Camp" in preparation for Mike's surgery. We were given a run-through on what to expect during Mike's stay before and after his knee surgery and about the physical therapy he would receive after the surgery. We were also told about what items we would need at home after he came home from the hospital - a walker, a chair for the shower, etc.

This last half of the month has been almost as busy. As I mentioned in my last post, Mike's cousin Mary Lynn from California had to replace the stove in her rental house in Melbourne. So on the afternoon of the 21st we drove up to her house and met the appliance company that was delivering the stove and the plumber who was doing some work on her house.

We had bought some new plants for our front flower bed and it was now apparent that Mike wouldn't be able to help me plant them and put down the mulch. Fortunately, Angie's List had a special on landscaping for 2 men for 4 hours for $259 and we've made arrangements for a company come next month to do the work. I've placed the new plants in their pots in the front flower bed where I think I want them planted. 

We did move the Lady Palm from the front flower bed where it was getting too much sun

Visits from Cousins and Mike's prep for Knee Surgery

We've been busier this month than usual. My cousin Jimmy and his wife Sally from Illinois came on the 10th for a visit. They have a time share in Orlando and their son and his family came from Texas for a visit. Jimmy and Sally drove over to visit with us for a few hours while their son and his family went to Disney. We just had homemade subs and a pasta salad I fixed for lunch. It didn't occur to me until after they left, that we hadn't taken any photos! I guess it was because we were having such a good visit, that we didn't stop for photos.

Mike's cousin Mary Lynn from California flew in to Orlando late in the evening on the 9th to check on her rental house at Melbourne that is now empty. We drove up to her house the day of the 9th and left her our air mattress, a table lamp and a bedside table to use while she stayed there. We drove up to see Mary Lynn on Saturday the 11th and she always has a few small jobs for Mike to do around the house. Mary Lynn took us out for dinner to Squid Lips in Melbourne. Mary Lynn left on the 15th and we drove up that day to get our stuff we had left for her to use.We always enjoy seeing Mary Lynn the few times we get together.

June 13th was Mike's 74th birthday and we drove down to Vero to have dinner at Outback Steakhouse. The steaks are always good there. 

Mike has been having knee problems for a while and our primary care doctor recommended

Rain, Dining out and a Movie

Well, the title pretty well sums of the last half of this month!

We had 5" of rain on May 17 and 2" on May 19 - I'm not complaining because our plants really liked the rain and we didn't have to put out the sprinkler to water that week.

We went to dinner at the Italian Cousin here in Sebastian on the 18th and had their spaghetti dinner. It's such a large portion that we have learned to eat only half and bring the rest home for another meal. 

Today we went down to Vero to see the movie X-Men Apocalypse in 3D - which we really enjoyed.

Afterwards we went to Olive Garden for dinner. We both ordered the unlimited salad and soup with breadsticks. I had the chicken and gnocchi soup and Mike had the pasta e fagioli soup and we both had a second bowl of soup. It's always a good choice and even with the