Well, it's been almost a week so let's get some coffee and catch up, shall we? Oh, wait. I'm not supposed to drink coffee, even decaf anymore. Or at least,I'm supposed to cut down. I finally got to see the gastro doctor( and I really like her) and she is pretty sure I have acid reflux disease (GERD). And of course there is a list of foods that it is 'suggested' that I refrain from eating. When we looked at the list, the funny thing is that none of those foods seem to bother me. I can't relate the pain to any food in particular. A bowl of Cheerios and low fat milk gave me awful pain (no I am not lactose intolerant) and yet a piece of fried chicken didn't bother me at all. It's very weird. Anyway, there is of course more medicine and an endoscope on Aug 4. That will make sure it's only reflux and not some other hideous thing. She also gave me some nitroglycerine tablets for chest pain but said "oh, they may give you a wicked headache and make you dizzy because they'll drop your bp". Makes you want to run right out and pop one of those babies, doesn't it?

This was a frustrating week knitting wise for me. I am working away on my Adamas shawl and I once again cannot count. Or when I put the needles down, the gremlins are knitting away and making mistakes when I am not looking. It has been an extremely humbling experience. This is what I have so far. I am having a hard time getting past this point (thank goodness for lifelines) and am wondering if I should just cast off and block this bit and give it to a Barbie doll. It's just the right size. No, I'll keep going. I really want to wear it to a wedding in August so I'll keep plugging along. I really like the color. It's full of bits of green and purple and blue.but it's hard to photograph. This is my TdF kal project and I am hoping to earn a polka dot jersey so persistence is the name of the game! The tour started today. Sadly, my Silence-Lotto team is not among the top finishers but it is only day one. There are three more weeks to go.

We had a quiet July 4th. I always like the 4th. It's full of fireworks which I love and parades and good food on the grill. These are some shrimp and chicken kabobs that we cooked for dinner. There was pasta salad and corn on the cob (wrapped in foil with butter and basil and cooked on the grill, to die for) and brownies. It was delicious and the rain held off long enough for us to eat outside and indulge in some swimming. The pool is cleaned and was very inviting. I was very good about not taking any bathing suit photos! Em and Jim were there for dinner. (El and Kate had to work.) Our town does fireworks on the 3rd (I have no idea why, probably so the firemen can spend the 4th with their families which is ok with me). They were really great. We always go early and take a picnic and scope out our favorite spot. Then we eat and wait for it to get dark. This year we walked the mile to the school pulling our red wagon along with the cooler in it. It made getting home so much easier. Last year it took us an hour and a half to get home. With the price of gas? No way. We can all use the exercise.

My aunt is stable and they have performed all the procedures they can think of on her. She has a pacemaker and they did the ablation so her heart rate seems to have settled down. Hopefully she'll be coming home in the next day or so. Thank you all for the good thoughts and wishes. It really helps. I'm working away on her socks. Sock one is just about done and number two will be otn soon after.

Pk and I took Monday and Tuesday off to spend a few days together. With the holiday on Friday, we get a five day weekend. I think this should be the norm but who listens to me? We have no plans other than to play, swim and eat. And go to the movies and see Will Smith's new movie called Hancock. I hear it's good.

I hope you are all doing well and that things in your neck of the woods are going smoothly.