Hair Cut and friends in the hospital

Thursday afternoon I finally got my hair cut. When I walked in Pat said she wasn't sure she'd see me today! I had delayed this one three weeks! For the next one we're waiting 7 weeks with time for a perm if needed. I haven't had a perm since the fall, but in summer I'll probably break down and get another one to keep my sweat head from being flat against my head. Pat was the one to suggest signing up for a perm just to make sure she had the time to do it in case I wanted it. I told her I'll call her about a week ahead and tell her if I want a perm or not.

Turns out Gerry Mettler (and his wife) from the photo club who just had the triple bypass, go to Pat's church. Pat cuts Lora's hair too and said Lora's hair grows a lot faster than mine.

It was drizzling out today but around 45F so warmer. My daffodils are blooming! On the way home I filled up my gas tank at one of the cheapest gas stations in town and it was $3.44/gallon, so for just under 12 gallons I paid $40 dollars! As I passed by two other gas stations (Chevron) their gas was $3.55/gallon!

Ellie Walker had commented her electric bill was around $300 last month. I came home and saw mine was just short of $30 so I suggested she might consider getting the insulation in her ceiling replaced. She lives in a older manufactured home so I'm sure any insulation she has is pretty useless. I e-mailed an older couple who are friends of mine who live in the court where she lives, asking them if they'd share information about their electricity so my friend could compare. They let me know they are spending under $100/month and they have an all electric home. Ellie kept talking around the issue so don't know if she'll do it. If she spends the money on the insulation she'll save the money on the bills.

Thursday night was photoclub meeting with competition. Again, there weren't very many prints in the competition. Two of Lori Montgomery's which had been matted couldn't be put in either the small or large print categories, which has happened to mine in the past. The print has to be 96 sq in or smaller and the mat can't be any larger than 96 sq in. That's why I've been cutting my foamcore board to the exact size of the print -- just to avoid those complications. Too frustrating figuring out the logistics otherwise.

My print of the red hibiscus got 22 points for 1st place in large color prints. Echoes of the Past--the interior of the old house through two doorways got 21 points for 2nd. The picture of the old house with clouds added was the only one of my prints that didn't place. I only entered 8 (3 large color, 4 small color, 1 small monochrome) this time compared to 12 last time. I was talking during some of the announcements so didn't catch what point count some of the small pictures got. The Pelican drying out got 20 points. I entered it in small print in B&W/sepia. Barney had a print of inside the old house with the stairs and floor which turned out really good. Someone said they could see that hanging in a kitchen which made me realize, I hadn't been thinking --where would people hang this picture? I need to be thinking of that too. The print of the winter scene with a creek and ice and snow peaked interest. Lori M asked where I had taken it, and I let her know she was with me, a year ago January, when we went to Joseph area to take pictures of eagles. That's another one I had to really work on to make look natural! ~8>))))

One of my flickr buddies, Troy Baker and his wife came to the meeting. I ended up sitting next to him and eventually introduced him to Larry Goodhew, who also lives in Milton-Freewater. Troy works for the water district (don't remember all the details) and it turns out he knows Dale Cosper too (the guy who shouted at me for trespassing)! He said Dale can be quite gruff at first, but is a good guy. For Troy's photos go to http://flickr.com/photos/12351740@N02/

I had printed out the three good pictures I took of Barney Krom posing in the window of the old house as 4x6's and gave them to Barney. He really like the Grand Pose with him looking to the right! I entered the most normal one of him in the small print competition and it got good enough points to be sent on for another competition! Wild!

I received the Wacom pen and pad I had ordered to take the place of the mouse in touching up my photos. Haven't had a chance to try it out. You can see it here http://www.wacom.com/bambootablet/

Thursday it rained off and on here, and Friday morning, around midnight, the wind really picked up. It stayed windy (gusts up to 27 mph per wunderground.com), but didn't sound quite as bad as it had, though it was 43 F so it was chilly outside.

Friday I called St. Mary Hospital to see if Gerry Mettler was in ICU but he wasn't. I had offered to take him flowers from the photo club and they don't allow flowers in ICU. I printed out two pages of photos I'd taken of the old house south of the Dalles to take to Gerry, since he's the one who told us where to find it.

In the afternoon I went to Jacky & Fiedlers and picked out a bouquet they said they'd have ready in around 15 minutes. I wandered around looking at the neat stuff there. I found a stuffed mastedon that I decided would be perfect for Gerry. Doris Jacky, my cousin, was there so we chatted for a while. She said her daughter, Linda, (retired school teacher) who had cancer of the uterus and had been treated last year was nearing her final treatments when she started having terrible abdomen pains. Turns out scar tissue was going crazy inside of her and causing problems, so she's at St Mary too. I took the flowers and mastedon to the area behind Christ Lutheran and took a couple of pictures to send to Lori Montgomery so she could pass them on to the club so they could see what they got Gerry. He was sound asleep when I arrived in his room so I just put the stuff on his table and left.

When I got home there was a message from Janet saying Sandra had her surgery and was doing fine. I didn't even know she was going to HAVE surgery! I called and found out Sandra has been having female problems all winter so had surgery Thursday morning surgery to fix that. Once inside the doctors found she had endometriosis going crazy--tissue adhering to the abdomen walls and all over the place. She also had fibroids and they found a grapefruit sized one on an ovary, so they did a hysterectomy. Sandra is recovering quite well.

I have another friend, Robertta Hunt, in the hospital who had knee surgery Thursday morning.

I could have visited 4 people and didn't even know it!

I drove up to Palouse Falls this afternoon (1-1/2 hours each way) to see it there were any spring flowers out. There weren't, but lots of water was going over the falls and, from the right angles there was a rainbow, which I tried to catch by adjusting my circular polarizing lens. It is a pretty boring drive going up from Walla Walla so I drove back through Starbuck and Waitsburg. More stuff to look at that way.

The rain is supposed to be a definite for Sunday. Maybe that's when I can try to learn how to use the Waucom pen.