The Day Before...

Mary Kate will be here tonight. The wait has been so long that it's hard to believe that it's about time to go the hospital (tomorrow at 5:30 AM).

I made a couple of bookmarks this morning. They are nothing to write home about. I had these white purchased bookmarks and I added to them, but they aren't as good as the ones I made from scratch.

Dad's well on his way on his liquid diet. He was quite grumpy this morning but he got better. He's done this liquid diet before and remembers the bad parts!

The compressor for the refrigerator came today. I don't know when the old refrigerator will get fixed with Dad out of commission for a while. Ah, this too shall pass...

Yesterday, All My Trials Seemed So Far Away...

I don't know if I got that title right...Saturday was a total wash out and I didn't want to waste the time and effort it would have taken to blog about it. My mood was as grey as the skies. Yeah, I'll blame it on the weather.

Today was better. Church was good. The Decker's were going to Ga. for their son-in-law's graduation, so I drove to church. That meant that I could leave right after church was over. The Primary Presidency gave us a treat-some fudge and a spoon dipped in fudge or something- and I kept smelling it during Primary so I broke into it and snacked on it between songs. I hope I didn't leave sugar on the piano keys!

Took a nap and then helped give the birds a bath. Cooked a pot of beans forgetting that Frank goes on a liquid diet tomorrow. Mary Kate can't eat beans so I guess I'll freeze them. She'll be here tomorrow night and Tuesday at 5:30 AM we'll have Dad to the hospital.

It Came

It was just a refrigerator, but I acted like a kid with a new toy after it was plugged in! I kept wanting too open the door to feel the cold! I knew it would never cool if I kept opening the door so I left it alone. It is nice to not have to bend over and get something out of the cooler.

There are things that I can't put up because they go beside the refrigerator-baking pans, etc.- so I can't really clean up the kitchen until our refrigerator is fixed. We can empty the coolers and put them back downstairs and puts the water bottles back where they were. It was good that I had filled so many bottles with water for they were great in the freezer. I'll vacuum the floors tomorrow. I did two loads of laundry today.

It got up to 62 degrees today. The skies were still grey. I think a cold front is headed our way and Dad said we could have tornadoes tonight. Hope not. The weather is surely messed up. A sign of the times I believe.

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Christmas day was very quiet. No one came because of Dad's operation so near so we did nothing. There was no quiet hum of a happy refrigerator. Our rented one will come tomorrow (Friday). It will be so good to have a working ice box in the house. I have no food to put in it but I can take care of that after we have one.

The operation is Tuesday. We have to be at the hospital by 5:30 AM. Dad can stay 2 nights if needed. Hopefully, he won't need to stay any longer. Mary Kate will be with me while the operation is going on. My brother said he'll be coming too. I guess I'll need to take material to read and money to eat with. Mary Kate is bringing Sophia and Nate with her. They will stay at Trudy's house while M.K. is at the hospital.

Sunday, I'll need to make up a lot of jello because Dad has to eat only liquids all day. I like jello too, so I'll need to make up a bunch! I really have nothing more to say. As I said, it's been a very quiet day. Ho-ho-ho!

Christmas Gathering

A good time was had by all! Katie and Harrison (great nephew) couldn't come for Harrison had the flu. Ruth had a nice lunch fixed and after lunch we opened the gifts. I didn't realize that Jim and Tammy's two girls would be there so I didn't have anything for them but they did get some presents. My brother gave me two polished rocks of fossilized wood and a spider pin with two pretty dark stones for the body and gold legs and some kind of light colored rocks (polished) for eyes. I left at 4 PM.

The Sears man got the refrigerator running but didn't stay long enough to see if it would cool! It cooled down to 50 degrees before it stopped. So we're back to walking up and down the stairs to replace the bottles of ice for the coolers. Today, we went to Rent To Own and rented a refrigerator to be delivered Friday. What a joy it will be to be able to have a refrigerator again! We surely take for granted our modern conveniences. At least, my refrigerator is clean even if it won't cool!

Escape Again

I did my usual escape act this morning and didn't get going until 10:00 AM. I piddled around and bugged Dad about getting ready to go to the lab. He was busy on the computer seeing if he needed any more tests and finding out when Sears was coming to fix the compressor in the refrigerator. We got a call tonight saying they would be by between the hours of 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM. That pretty much gets it!

Tonight, Frank vacuumed behind the refrigerator and he cleaned off the top, too. I couldn't reach it. The top wasn't as nasty as previous tops. If I can't see the dirt, I don't go looking for it.
I cleaned out the refrigerator and it looks like new. Hopefully, by the time I get home, it will be working and cooling just fine. But it will be empty. Maryleen brought by some ground round and we ate some for supper and I put the rest in the big freezer in the basement.

My neighbor, Brenda Adams, sent over a big chunk of jam cake today. It's like fruit cake and was very good! Brenda is our chief angel who watches over us and her husband, Bobby, cleared out our woods for us and cut a broken limb off the apple tree that had a lot of apples on it. We have good neighbors.

I will get up at 6:00 AM and start getting ready to go to my brother's house. I have a box of empty jars for Ruth and I have a slew of gifts for the nephews and nieces. It will be a fun time. I hope to get there around 10:00. I want to beat Bill, my brother's oldest son, because the other times I went, he and his family were already there and I can tell him I beat him there! Just a small ho-ho for the Christmas season! I'm sorry to leave Frank but he can't travel.

Fat Cruel Fat

Ah--h-h-h--hhh! All this inactivity is putting pounds on my small frame! If my knees hurt, I take a nap. If they don't hurt, I take a nap. Am I running away from life? Who knows! I'm beginning to think that my life is at a dead end. Pain is not our friend!

Yesterday the rain finally stopped. The temperature was 56 degrees! Today it was 40 something with the wind blowing. Tomorrow, the temperature is supposed to get up to a mighty high of 32 degrees! I have to take Frank to get his blood drawn again for the operation which is Dec. 30th.

Speaking of fat, I got my niece and nephews a Whitman's Sampler for one of their presents and I got us a small box of Russell Stover chocolates to share with Dad now and then. Our diet hasn't been very good since the refrigerator has been down and out of the blue tonight he comes into my room asking for chocolates! I made him leave the room so he wouldn't find my hiding place and I got the chocolates out. He chose 4 pieces. If I had left the box with him, he would have eaten most of the box! I really hadn't thought of them myself, but if it makes him happy, it's okay. I have to think of what I eat because my activity level is so low, and who can eat only one piece of chocolate? It usually causes a feeding frenzy!

Cloudy Saturday

The paper said that we had met our rain total and now we weren't in drought conditions. That's good, but I'm tired of the grey skies. Grey, gray, the computer says "grey" is misspelled.

We got the truck running. It seemed like something was draining the battery and causing it to go dead all the time. Frank checked it with some instrument and found out where some of the drains were. I drove it into town today. That was my second trip into town. I had gone earlier to finish buying the presents for my brother's Christmas get together. Trudy and the kids were going but she has a Dr. appointment she can't miss.

My house, kitchen, is a wreck! We have three coolers sitting on the floor. The refrigerator and freezer are open. Every time I glance over, I want to shut the doors but no need to! Tuesday, the men from Sears will come and fix the compressor. I will be gone all day so I won't have to put up will all of the confusion that will be going on in my house! We'll have the move the birds into my room with the door shut, for there will be soldering going on and the birds don't need to breathe in those fumes .

I'm taking two old typewriters to my brothers. One belonged to my mother. She would sit on the couch and type letters once a year to her friends. The other typewriter belonged to my mothers sister, Aunt Edna. I used to use the larger one to type school papers on . Wow! How times have changed! I'm getting rid of two old typewriters and my brother is becoming owner of two old machines! At on time, he said he wanted them.

Friday the 19th

I found out another nephew and his wife will be at my brother's Christmas party so now I have to buy two more gifts. I'll go out tomorrow and get them. My knees have been hurting so much lately that I don't want to go anywhere. The one store is not too far to walk and if I stay away from Walmart, I'll be okay. I'll go to Russell Stover's to get one of the gifts. I may pay more but I won't have to walk like I would at Walmart and then it might be that Walmart wouldn't have what I want.

I got another small cooler to put my medicine in. I was worried that the temperature would fluctuate too much as the lid on the larger cooler was lifted. I have several frozen bottles in the cooler as the source of cold. I misstated the time we would be without a refrigerator. The repairman will come Dec. 23. All in all, we will have been without refrigeration for 5 days. It's the pits!

Tonight, we found that the large cooler leaked! I think we found it in time that the floors weren't hurt. Dad took the plug out and found out why it leaked. He fixed it but we aren't putting loose ice in it, only frozen bottles. I guess I'll go shopping and buy some one serving meals so we won't have left overs. Dad stills wants his beans. We packed one serving sizes in Ziploc bags and that worked, but a pound of cooked beans might be too much for a cooler. Oh, well. I've got to cook the beans now because they are already soaking.

Adventuresome Day

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water....The refrigerator's compressor died today. Dad called Sear's and some man came out and checked it. We think the compressor is still under warranty so it shouldn't cost too much. I have medicine that has to be cooled at all times and that's been a worry. I went to the Dollar store and bought 3 bags of ice (they cost $2.00 a bag!) and got two coolers from downstairs to put the ice in.We put the milk and some other food in the big cooler and didn't get the smaller cooler ready until tonight when Dad said ALL of the food had to be out of the refrigerator. I have lot of bottles of dressing and ketchup, etc. on the table to be thrown away and the trash has already gone out! We might be two weeks like this! All we need is a tent in the living room to make this camping trip fun.

I have to go to exercise class tomorrow for I missed Mon. and Wed. The people are so nice and they worry about you if you miss too much. I really like it when I'm there but it takes me getting up at 7:00 AM and putting on make-up and getting dressed and feeding Dad and then getting out the door by eight or some time after that. I feel rushed (wa-a-a-h, wa-a--ah) but I do enjoy going or being there.

Misty Day

It never rained hard today while I was out but it misted all day.

I went to town after lunch and bought the Christmas presents for Uncle Bubba's gathering. I found the remote control cars I wanted to get for Will and Harrison and got Lynn and Katie a soft throw blanket. I already had the other presents. I ended up at Walmart and got a list of things but forgot the sheet metal screws Frank wanted. I came home and wrapped presents. I don't really enjoy wrapping anything, but I thought the boys would like to unwrap their presents. Their presents required 6 AA batteries each. Frank always has batteries on hand and I could include the batteries with the presents. Hopefully, the rain will be gone Dec. 23. and it won't be too cold.

December?

I've finally gotten used to it being December and half the month is gone! I'm glad I gave the kids a check for the grandchildren for the P.O. is wild right now.

I'll go to my brother's house the 23rd. I already have Ruth's gifts and will get the adults, Bubba, Bill & Lynn and Katie a Whitman's Sampler and the two boys a car that runs with a box with controls. It will be fun. Frank and I don't celebrate. That's mostly my fault. My mother never did anything for Christmas so I have no Christmas traditions and I'm too old and tired to start anything now. Trudy wants to start a tradition with them coming for a visit Christmas eve and that will be nice. We couldn't start this Christmas because Dad has his operation Dec. 30th and I was worried that he might "catch" something and then the operation would be postponed again.

I drove into town to go by Dr. Walker's office to pick up some shoulder exercises. My right shoulder is a bit sore and I thought it might be the rotor cuff. The exercises are simple and I believe I'll actually do them! Frank wants to do them too.

Mary Kate and family might get a Shih Tzu dog. I hope Richard won't be allergic to it. Having a dog that would live until I died would be okay. I don't grieve very well so wouldn't want to have a dog that would die before I did.

Monday 10-15-08

It was another grey day and that's the way I felt, so I went back to bed. I got up at 10:00 AM and sometime later put my face on. I was in the kitchen talking to Dad when I realized I had a Dr. appointment at 11:30 ! I got there on time but had to wait 1 1/2 hrs.! I saw the Dr. at 1:00 PM. It was a well check so I was cool about it. I had to go by the bank and the Herb store and then I came back home. I rested most of the rest of the day and went over to Karen's house at 6:00 PM for our scripture study. It was great as always.

I'm waiting for the blog to save itself. It's slow to save tonight. Now! I'm ready to go.

Nice Sunday

The meetings were good today. The Primary was to sing so Karen and I sat up front. She was worried because I saw her counting little heads and wondering if any kids would come up front. After the Sacrament, the children were called up and a lot came. We sang Christmas Bells and the younger children had little jingle bell they shook while they sang. After that song, we did Away In The Manger. On the chorus, the older girls sang the descant...actually, they sang the descant in the Christmas Bells(!). In Away...the boys were supposed to sing the "asleep" part while the girls carried the a-sleep out. The boys didn't come through but all in all they did a great job!

Our Home Teachers came over today. We have great Home Teachers and they come every month. They got to talking about guns and it was fun to hear all the tales bout the guns. Bro. Hill said he would come over Thursday and look at the truck and see if a nut fell off the starter. The truck battery is on charge again and hopefully once Bro Hill gives it the once over, it will start and I can drive it and keep the battery charged. The heater will heat but the air conditioner won't cool.

It's two weeks 'til Frank has his operation. I surely hope he'll be able to go through it this time. I got see Dr. Walker tomorrow for my 6 mo. well check. Will go to exercise class and then probably come back home for I don't have two hours worth of anything to do in town.

Oh-h-h-h

I didn't want to go but I had to go. It was dark, dank and dismal and I finally made the first descending step, holding on the the bannister's bar tightly for fear of falling. I had already thrown the load down into the darkness and all that was left was for me to follow. Gingerly, I stepped lightly, not wanting to fall. Finally, I was at the bottom step. All I needed now was to pick up my load and make my way to the back of the house. It was dark and cold but I made the trip.

Next, I had to stuff the load into the hole. I finally got it all in and then the decision came...hot or cold? I choose hot and then cold. I could have it both ways. Finally, with the twist of my wrist the hot water cascaded into the hole and finally my job was done. I swiftly made it back to the bottom step and hurriedly made my way back into the light. Another load of laundry done!

Frosty Morn

Frosty Morn used to be the name of a brand of bacon years ago, but that was what it was like at 8 AM this morning. The ice on the windshield was pretty thick. After exercise class, it's only 9:30 AM and nothing is open except Walmart and K Mart. I went to K Mart to look for cotton squares for Dad. They didn't have any so I went to Walmart. I found some cotton ovals that might do for him. If it snowed last night, I didn't see any. It's supposed to be in the 50-60's tomorrow or maybe it's supposed to rain...I'm not sure.

I stopped by the locksmith to get some keys made. We'll need them when we put on the new door handles. After the new storm doors are installed, we'll paint the front door (white)(something that's been needed to be done for years...). It takes a lot of energy to do this stuff yourself and Frank and I are as energetic as a couple of dead plants!

We did the yearly calendars today. I know when I have to go to H'ville to pick up Frank's Rx's and I can use this information when I have to make Dr. appointments.

Dad's operation is Dec. 30. We will pay bills early since I don't know how to use the computer to pay them. Operation time is not the time to have to worry about paying bills. Dad will probably stay 1-2 nights.

Rain, Rain,Rain

It rained all last night and all day today and is still raining at 7:00 PM! A cold front is moving in and some of this rain may turn into snow! It was sleeting when I took the trash out this afternoon. I had my chicken factory black boots on and my real raincoat (plastic). I tried to heft a heavy bag into the can and slipped and fell on my hiney! I had to roll over on my knees to get up and I hoped no one saw me. Luckily, I didn't break anything! I think it was the stinking boots on the floor mat that made my foot slip.

I didn't get out of the house. It was too gloomy and rainy. We gave the birds a bath. Gert is my friend again, after many months. He gets out of his cage and gets on my hand and doesn't seem nervous about it.

I'll get out tomorrow and go to exercises class and then finish my shopping. The sun is supposed to come out and maybe it will come out early.

Nice Day

We went to town to Lowe's and got 2 storm doors, a new door knob for the front door and a new drill to replace the one that doesn't work. Then we stopped by Staples to get two calendars. The day was overcast and we bought some new wipers for the car. That thrills me because the wipers have been bad for a while. I got the expensive ones so they would work better and would last longer. Dad read where it said that the wiper should be changed every year. Ha! We only got new ones when the old ones wore out.

Our neighbor, who hunts, offered to kill a deer for us. We would just pay the packing price. It would probably be about $2.oo a pound. I would need to get a game cookbook. I saw one somewhere but I don't remember where!

We bought new storm doors because the ones we got before were cheaply made. The new ones are a much better quality. The door knob has a handle instead of a round knob (does knob mean "round"?). Now, if we could just get a newer model car! Some day. After all, the Accord is only 19 years old!!

Gloomy Day, Stormy Night

It was overcast all day today and the wind was blowing. I could see the storm clouds blowing in but it didn't begin raining until about 6: 15 PM. I was on my way over to Karen's house for scripture study. The rain really began coming down. Ken loaned me an umbrella and I really needed it. I drove 45 mph on Hy 72 and had the wipers on high. I saw lightening but heard no thunder. Dad said he heard the thunder at home. We need the rain so I don't mind the inconvenience of it all.

I didn't feel like going to Sam's today. I was just anxious about all the news of the economy. I do want to buy more canned goods but I guess today wasn't the day. I just washed clothes and made some potato salad and did houses work today.

Dad's working on weighing the things he's sending to the troops. He's sending some batteries and some magazines and other stuff. Maybe he'll have someone pick the package up at the house because I don't want to have to go back to the P.O. again and stand in line forever.

Gloom and Despair

There is so much gloom and despair in the world. The news is the same each day...bad. The Big Three car companies want the government to bail them out so they won't have to go bankrupt. It's the tax payers money they would get. Senator Shelby is dead set against the bail out. It would be bad for all those people to loose their jobs. Mark Levine has mentioned "depression" in his radio talk show. Until now, we have been so spoiled with life going along as it should, and now all hades is breaking out. I don't know how it will effect us yet, but it might. Only the Shadow knows...

Went to exercise this morning and then by the Post Office to mail Mary Kate's Christmas gifts she left here in order to get Forrest's weight bench in M.K.'s van. The P.O. line was at the door when I got there and there was only 2 workers! You pray for patience and then go the Post Office and wait in line for 15 or more minutes! There's another P.O. in town in Railroad Bazaar but it is clear across town, past Walmart.

We didn't have scripture study tonight and will have it tomorrow night. Karen's son, Brent is home and I bet the family went out to eat.

I still have some Christmas shopping to do even though I've taken care of the grandchildren. I'm thinking about going to Sam's tomorrow and I could look there.

We got the truck battery charged and the truck back in the front yard. I was thinking about getting a better truck but with the Accord so old, it might be better to use that money to upgrade the family car.

Saturday Is A Special Day

I went to the card this morning at 10:00 AM. There were three of us plus the teacher and her 8 year old daughter. We made two bookmarks and three cards. They were Christmas cards. I made all of my Christmas cards in June. I gave Mary Kate 50 of the cards I had made. If Richard doesn't like them that's okay.

We did some embausing (that's the way it sounds even though it's spelled wrong!) on two of the cards and it really looks good. I have the materials to embause but I have never tried to do it by myself. I got home at 11:45 AM. After lunch I went to bed for a rest. Both of my knees were hurting and I just wanted to get off my feet. Seems like I've been taking naps most every day lately. Didn't have much to say today, either.

This was a Friday

I slept in this morning. Was getting dressed at 10:30 AM when a package came and it was my new AT&T cell phone. It's slimmer than my Verison phone and is a metal pink. I like it. I haven't used it yet but I know I'll like it. I don't like the ring tones, but I picked the least obnoxious one! Dad enjoyed setting it up for me.

The leaves are off the trees now. I haven't gotten out to rake the leaves from the ditch. I guess I'll wait until the road gets flooded and then I'll go out and see what I can do.

I have a card party tomorrow at 10:00 AM. I need to go to support Mary and for myself too. I need to sit down and make some cards. I have so many already made that that might be the reason I haven't made any in a long time. I'll get at least four cards made tomorrow.

Very Busy Day

I was up at 7:00 AM and so was Dad. He wanted to go to H'ville today and we planned to go early, but he wanted to pay some bills first. All of this takes time, so we left at 11:00 AM! We went to the Apple Store and the IPhone went back. It was too expensive to hook it up to a phone line! Then we went to the AT&T store and had our second land line put on a new cell phone for me. It will be pink and has no texting and no fancy stuff. We ate lunch at McDonald's and then came home. I was going to the Temple tonight but we got back at 3:00 PM so I had to cancel the trip. That was good for I was rather tired after all the walking and standing we did. I'm also tired of driving an the interstate going 70 mph! I think the car pulls a little to the right.

I remember when I got my first bike. It was a used one and I was disappointed at bit but I loved it just the same. I rode with my friends in the neighborhood and I rode by myself. I was going down this steep hill one time and fell and got my knees skinned up. I can still see some of the black cinder material under my skin!

I remember being in the Brownies and then the Girl Scouts. In high school I got into the troupe where there were some of my friends and we all went as high as we could in the GS in the 50's.
I would usually go to Girl Scout camp in the summer. I would go by myself if no one else I knew was going. One time we were working an a lanyard and I decided I didn't want to finish it and the councelor wrote on my paper that I didn't finish things I started. That made me mad. I had a bad attitude even when I was a young whipper snapper. I loved working on the badges and was lucky to have leaders for our age group.

The Girl Scouts bought some land where Elk River and Anderson creek met and called it camp Anderel. I don't know if they use it any more or not but I got into the first group of girls that was able to camp there. It was primitive camping and I loved it! After we put our tents up (canvas tents), we dug a trench around the outside of the tent. I ask why and was told that if it rained, the trench would carry the water away from the tent. It did rain and the trench worked! We slept on air mattresses and I accidentally pushed a safety pin into the mattress, like I would do at home. Well, the air leaked our. At night, I would blow the mattress up and in the morning I would wake up on the ground! And with that same pin I hung a face cloth from the tent. It made a small hole in the tent and when it rained, the water dripped, dripped onto my face! We used latrines dug with a post hole digger. I had read about trap door spiders and I found one's nest and dug it up to show the others. I spent time sharpening my small ax and then I cut my finger or knee with it! I learned a lot of things not to do when you're camping. I was in the 9th grade when this happened.

Remembering...

I remember when milk was delivered to your doorstep. The cream collected on the top of the milk and to get "red cap" milk, one would have to shake up the bottle. The cream could be poured out and then you had "skim milk" or "skimmed milk". The glass bottles would be washed out and put back on the porch with a note rolled up in the top of the bottle with the next order on it.

I remember listening to the radio on Saturday mornings for the kids shows. I remember a show called "The Shadow". I think if was a mystery. I remember when the first T.V. came out. My Uncle Warren had one but all I remember is the "snow" that showed up on the screen. We got a T.V. when I was 12 years old. I loved Sunday night when Walt Disney came on. I loved to watch Tinkerbell! Later on, we got a color T.V.

I learned to type in high school. I used typewriters in college and don't remember when personal computers came out.

I remember when the first man flew around the earth.. I don't know if I believe man went to the moon. If we were so successful going to the moon, why didn't we go back? The Shadow knows...

Dr. Day

We saw the skin Dr. at 9:15 AM and then went to H'ville to the Apple store to return and get another holder for the IPhone. Dad might decide to swap it for an IPod. The IPod would do what he wants the IPhone will do except it won't be a phone, too. I'm glad my "toys" aren't as intricate as Dad's are!

I was a bit disappointed the operation was postponed. I guess I was pumped up for the event and now have to wait 4 weeks and hope all goes well.

I gave all the children their Christmas checks to buy the grandchildren their presents. I didn't feel like making anything this year and a check was easier to give.

Cold Monday

I stayed under the covers until late morning so I didn't see the snow flurries. I heard about them on the radio. When I went out to drive to Karen's house, the windshield had some ice on it! I turned the heater and the windshield wipers on to get rid of it. I don't have a scraper and I'll need to get one.

Frank was to have his operation tomorrow morning, but this morning, he woke up with 101 degree fever. The operation will be Dec. 30. More waiting.

Our study time was good tonight. After listening to the computer lesson, we discuss what our impressions are and then go on to talk about other things. We'll be going to the Temple Thursday. I need to get my recommend updated soon.