Wow. Almost December? Really?

Time is flying by!  I've neglected my little blog terribly this year.  I post pithy little comments on Facebook all the time, but completely ignore my special place.  Got to do better about that!

Here is a quick catch up on what we've been doing for the past 5 months.

July
1. As I posted before, we put Sophie to sleep on July 2nd.  It was a horrible, hard day, followed by very hard weeks.  We miss our girl terribly.  Carmen was very depressed for a long time.
2. Went to see Cats
3. Did PT on my knee
4. Did my annual mammogram
5. Went to a party to say good bye to Der Mad Stamper who is moving to Kansas.  Yes, on purpose!

August
1. Dad had heart surgery to repair a valve.  All went well, he was a model patient and was up and around in no time.  We are all very relieved it went well and nothing more needed to be done.
2. More PT
3. Had an MRI on my knee.  Determined I have a torn medial meniscus and arthritis in my knee.  They can do surgery to fix the tear, but said it most likely won't fix the pain because of the arthritis.  I have chosen to continue with exercise and weight loss to see if I can get it under control.  
5.Attended the Are We There Yet? letterboxing gathering.  Awesome! (and Der Mad Stamper was there.  Still hasn't moved as far as I know).
6. Saw Greater Tuna
7. My Auntie Jan, cousins Debbie, Doug and Susan and their various assorted friends came out to visit for a few days.  Had a lovely, but short, visit with them.

September
1. FMS/IT/BFP retreat.  Had last minute changes because of the weather, but we had fun.  Hmm, still need to finish that photo book.
2. Got a surprise invitation to see Chicago from Julie and a group of friends of friends of people with season tickets.  Woo hoo!
3. More PT
4. I joined LA Fitness and signed up for a personal trainer.  I know!  Who'da thought?
5. Ritha & I started going to aquafit classes every week.  We committed to each other that we would go once a week until the end of the year.  We've been doing pretty good, too!
6. G & I went up to Trout Lake to go camping at the ECETI (Enlightened Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence) homestead. Very interesting people there.  Horrible weather, didn't see any UFOs, but managed to have fun anyway.
7. Graduated from PT. 

October
1. Rinda had to have Raz put to sleep.
2. Saw Spamalot
3. Had a tooth filled - yay, no root canal needed!
4. Camped at Stubb Stewart State Park for the Night Boxing with Zombies letterboxing gathering.  Too much fun!  Great park.  I think we ended up with over 50 boxes that night in just a couple of hours. 
5. Renewed my notary license.
6. Spent a few hours searching for Tigger, the runaway whippet here in Gresham.
7. Had the annual eye appointment.  Had to up the power of the close vision part of my contest so I can actually read stuff without reading glasses again.  Sigh.  Getting old sucks.
8.  Went to the information class for Weight Loss for Life (more about that later).
9. Went cider pressing with Mom and Dad at  the Cedar Creek Grist Mill.
10. Got my hair cut.
11. Had a pumpkin carving contest at work. I'll post pictures later.
12. Workout with trainer and aquafit every week.

November
1. Silent auction at work.  Spent too much money, but it was for a good cause.  Won the basket for the dog goodies, some earrings, handmade cards, some beaded thingys that are barefoot decorations.
2. Started Weight Loss for Life.  Starting weight - 266.
3. Went to Ritha's house for a scrapping party.  Worked on my secret theater project.  Only got the stuff prepared, but that was a big step up from where I started, which was a stack of playbills a foot high.
4. Went to the Pretty Kitty Craft Bazaar.  Bought some fun stuff and won the dog basket in the silent auction.  Lots of goodies for $30!  Again, all for charity.  This time for House of Dreams, a shelter for abandoned and homeless cats.
5. Got surprise theater tickets to see American Idiot from another friend of a friend that has season tickets they couldn't use.  I need more of those friends!
6. Saw Inspecting Carol.
7. Picked up Ochenta for a trial run (more about that in a separate post).

Huh. If you asked me I would have said we haven't been doing much, but when you write it out, things look more interesting!

I promise to do better with my little blog.