December 18 and 19th Ruth

I arrived at 12:30pm to get the credit cards from Wedad so that I could return stuff. Wedad asked if I could stop by Penney's to get a pancake pan with Christmas trees etc. I told I would try. Went down to the Tempe Marketplace again to return the ULTA and World market items.

World Market return was 86.00 M/C and some change- musical instruments, a berry wreath and some berry sprigs.

ULTA- It took a long time for the girls to process the returns, they were rude and inquisitive as to why I would be returning so much stuff. I told them we simply changed our mind.
There will be 3 separate returns on the AMEX, the computer couldn't;t handle everything at once. I don't have the receipts in front of me, so I am recalling from memory the totals.

1ST- 343.00
2ND- 90.00
3RD- 14.76
This was perfumes, hair products, lotions, nail polish, etc.

I hurried back to Bill and Jean;s to pick up Jean and take her to the Doctor Khaled appointment. Our appointment was at 3:20pm and we were not seen until 5:30pm. It was dark when we left his office. Skip and Joan stopped by, they were in the area. They sat and chatted with Jean about Christmas shopping and plans for next week. Jean enjoyed her time and was very glad to see them. They had another appointment so left us after a half hour. Both will be by today to say hello to Bill.

Once inside the office, Jean and I waited and waited. At 5:30, Dr. Khaled came in, chastised Jean for not coming in, in over 4 years. His lecture wasn't as vicious as it was with Bill, but he indicated that it is very important that Jean be seen regularly. We went over medications, he had no changes for her. He also let us know that it is better for Jean to be on Coumadin, but her chart indicates that certain allergies to Coumadin prevent Jean from pursuing that route. He ordered 3 separate tests for Jean, routine maintenance, A complete Lipid, metabolic and cholesterol work up. An echo cardiogram and a nuclear stress test. These are basically the same tests that Bill had last month, however they require 4 separate days in which we will need two caregivers. I reminded Dr. Khaled about Bill's procedure, I asked him if it would be possible to schedule Jean's appointments until after Bill's January 15Th surgery. He said of course, he doesn't want to overwhelm Jean or her family with multiple appointments. The office will begin scheduling Jean the 3rd week of January, to give Bill plenty of time to recover.

Once Jean and I left the office, we stopped at the Starbucks around the corner and got much needed coffee. A marble macchiato for Jean and three shots of espresso for me. I called Wedad to let her know that we were on our way, she told me she placed a to go order at Red Lobster and I went to pick it up. The place was a madhouse and I had to wait awhile there too. Came home, Wedad and I got dinner on the table and Bill and Jean came out to eat. After dinner all was quiet. Jean was fairly exhausted from the day and slept soon after dinner, little talking throughout the night. Both slept very well.

December 19Th- Howard called at the crack of dawn- 8:09 am to tell me the Septic Company was here. I had completely forgotten about the appointment. I didn't know where the septic tank was located so I had to call Jay. We found it and the guy went to work. It took about an hour to empty out the tank and he gave me an itemized bill when he was through. All his notes are on the receipt. Apparently the drain field out there is saturated and may need to be rerouted somewhere else. It's in the notes. I paid him by check- $395.00.

After he left I went to work wrapping the rest of the gifts. Flemings pest control stopped by to spray the rest of the house and check on the ants.

It is quiet now, both are watching Matlock. I am going to shower Bill and Jean and get Bill to shave his beard today.