Friday and Saturday

Friday started at 6 AM when everyone got up. We had to meet Sadie at Kohl's in Madison at 8 AM. We left home but had to go back to get Mary Kate's phone. We met Sadie and all shopped. Mary Kate bought me a nice, light coat. It is stylish and I feel good in it. The sleeves were a little too long but MK said she could fix them. I wore it out of the store. We went to Dick's and dropped Richard and the kids off and we went to Micheal's and then to Hobby Lobby. Sadie had to go to work at 10 AM so she left us. We stopped at Book's A Million in Madison and I got Nate and Sophia a book a piece. Mary Kate bought some books for presents.

Saturday started early too, but at 7 AM. Mary Kate had to prepare her stuffing and she had to chop up the celery and onions and mushrooms, etc. We had cooked the turkey from a frozen state all night long at about 275 degrees. It was done and was good. We had the small smoked turkey too. They went to Trudy's earlier than I did. I wanted to eat lunch with Frank so I left at 12:30 PM. Rachel and the kids were already there. Frankie hadn't come because he was all stressed out. He called me tonight and apologized about not coming but I understand. He has had a lot of stress at work and can't deal with it. He said they would come down when they could.

The feast at Trudy's was good and we certainly had enough food and then some. Mary Kate had prepared some games for the children but I left after 2 hours in order to get  home before dark. We watched the Auburn-Alabama football game and I listened to it on my way home and finished watching it with Frank. Alabama didn't play as well as they could and Auburn beat them by a touch down in the last seconds of the game. Richard was glad since he's a Auburn man. Both teams will be in a bowl game so there's more college football to watch.

Family

Mary Kate and family came in around 9:30 last night. We went to bed at 11:00 PM. Got up this morning and made pancakes. Trudy and her family come for lunch. They brought the barbeque and it had to cook a while longer so we had it for supper. We all had a fun time talking and the kid played on their devices. Sadie wants to go shopping early tomorrow morning and we are meeting her at 8 AM at Kohl's in Madison. There will be crowds but it will be fun being all together and shopping too. I really have nothing to shop for because I have a closet full of clothes I've bought this season. I have to buy a new purse to keep up the tradition of Granny getting a new purse on Black Friday.

Frankie called and said his family would be here Friday at 4 PM, after we got back from shopping.  We all will be at Trudy's house Saturday and will watch the Iron Bowl there. We are going to have enough food for an army and have 14-15 people to serve.

I gave the kids their Christmas money today (Frankie will get his tomorrow). I'm glad it getting close to the 1sst of the month for my check book is getting low. I used my account to pay the Christmas money for I don't know how much money there is in the main account. I could find out, but I knew I had it. So many things are automatically taken out of the main account that I'm afraid the balance will fall too low.

We'll go to bed early tonight so we can get up at 6 AM tomorrow. We'll be getting in with all the crowds of people but that's what Sadie wants to do. She has to work tomorrow from 10-2 PM.

Cold, Wet Day

I had to go into town again today. I went to the pharmacy, Tenn Valley Wholesale, Walmart and Mattress King. At Mattress King, I got another mattress for the one we bought before. To return it, it would have cost $150.00 and the swap out fee was $100.00. If Frank doesn't like this mattress, he can have mine and I'll take the new one.

At Walmart I got two rotisserie chickens for when Mary Kate and her family get here. I have a frozen peach cobbler I will cook along with two kind of brownies. I got two cauliflowers for fresh veggies and I already have some fresh broccoli. I have some sour cream for a veggie dip.

I made a list of things to do the next two days. Tomorrow, I need to stop by the shoe shop to pick up a pair of shoes they were stretching and then stop by the barbeque place to pick up the smoked turkey. I also have to cook the brownies and cobbler tomorrow. Thursday morning, I need to clean out a space for the upright freezer Trudy and George are giving us. Mary Kate can help me with that. Trudy and her family will be over around lunch time. She's cooking a pork roast in the crock pot for our supper Thursday night. Mary Kate and family are coming in late Wednesday night. MK'll be cooking Thursday.

Frankie and his family will be in town Friday at noon. We'll be Black Friday shopping. Trudy said he will come over here first. Maybe he'll check into a motel before he does, and I'll see him when we get back from shopping.

Saturday is the Al-Auburn game and our Thanksgiving feast at Trudy's. Frank will be by himself Saturday. I'll try not to stay very long so I can get back home to be with him.  Mary Kate and family will leave Sunday morning from Trudy's to go home. Frankie just called and said that they were looking forward to coming and would probably be over here around 1-2 PM Friday. We can call him when we are getting ready to go home after shopping.

Cold Day

I guess our fall is over. A big storm is coming our way for the next two days. When Trudy and I  were caring the groceries in it was sleeting a little. She spent the night last night and we planned the menu's for Thanksgiving then we went out to Walmart and bought the groceries. It was $207.00 for two dinners. I have to pick the smoked turkey up Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 PM. That will be for the Saturday dinner but I guess Frank can have some before then since he won't be going to the Saturday dinner. Frankie and his family will be here Friday. I guess they will stay in a motel since nobody has room for them at their house. But there's room for the Thanksgiving feast Saturday at Trudy's house.

Mary Kate is making her dressing-some with gluten and some without. We'll have sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole and fresh veggies and dip, ham, turkey, George's pumpkin pie and I have an apple pie and a peach cobbler I'll cook sometime so we should have plenty of food. Plus drinks. It will be a lot of fun for the whole family.

Frank's still coughing but he seems better since he got the Z pack. Dr Sharp got my letter today and said he wants me to stay on Ativan, a small dose. It's good because I like to sleep and I don't sleep without it.

I practiced Joy to the World and have been practicing it for several weeks now. The hard part is the runs with 6ths. I've practiced it over and over and still make mistakes. I have another two weeks before the choir sings it and I hope I can get it down. Sis Toone asked me to play a piece for the Primary children to sing at the Christmas party at church. I can do it if it's only the part I practiced. I seem to be the go to person when it comes to piano playing. I guess that's what I've wanted, to be recognized as a musician but it's seem to come all at once. Things will calm down once the holidays are over. 

Primary Baptism

Susie Newell asked me to play at a Primary baptism today. She and Matthew and another lady came and got me. I was flattered that they did. I could have driven myself but it was nice to be transported with style and company. The service was nice. I didn't even use my piano glasses. I will tomorrow when the choir sings. I've been practicing on the piece all week and I hope I can play it well. The choir part is sort of dissonant and I hope it doesn't sound like they are out of tune. I've got to read my Sunday School and Relief Society lessons tonight. I meant to read them earlier in the week and just review them Saturday night but that didn't come to pass this week. I'll keep trying.

Trudy will be over Sunday evening sometime. Her back was hurting too much to come Friday night.

Frank tried to put a new ballast is the fluorescent light fixture today but he couldn't steady his hand enough to get the screw in. We called Bro Hansen and he came over and did it. Frank said he could wire it and Martin left. He couldn't so we called Martin back and he came back and tried. Come to find out that the ballast was for a one light fixture and we have a two light fixture. The man at Tennessee Valley Wholesale sold me the wrong ballast but I had gotten two and the other one was for a two light fixture so Martin could wire it and the light worked. Now we don't sit in darkness... 

A blast of Polar air is on it's way for tomorrow. I have my boots out and will wear them. I have a new sweater that's open in the front that I haven't worn since I got it and I think I will wear that with a black skirt. Will need to wear another coat in order to stay warm. My coat has a stand up collar and it makes my earrings fall off if I'm not careful. The little backs that go on the earrings are too small for my fingers and I don't use them.

Trip To The Apple Store

I didn't go to exercise today. I cooked lunch and then drove to H'ville to the Apple store where I met Sadie and Trudy. Trudy knew what needed to be done to Frank's laptop and ipod. We worked with a tech for about 45 minutes and he told Trudy how to fix the machines. Sadie went to a store and Trudy and I went to the Ulta made-up store. I needed to get some more mineral veil that was tinted. I was going to order it by phone but the Ulta store was right there so I got it today.

It rained all the way to H'ville but stopped while we were there. There was lots of Friday traffic on the way home. Frank had called the Dr for a Z pac to help him get over a chest infection and I picked it up on the way. I hope everyone is well for Thanksgiving.

Trudy is coming over to spend the night. I have a baptism to play the piano for tomorrow so I'll have to leave before 1 PM. Sis Knewell is going to come pick me up for it.

H'ville Again

This trip was to the pain clinic. We have to go monthly to get Frank's Rx. I tried to get some satisfaction from the SAS shoe store for my shoes being too small, but the man said they didn't take already worn shoes. He was very busy and we just left. They just lost two customers. I took the shoes to the cobbler and had then stretched lengthwise and may, just maybe, I can wear them again.

After lunch, I went shopping for some food. We didn't need much. Frank wanted some hand soap and some cellophane tape and I got some more cans of beans and tomatoes for my goulash I always make. I bought two pies for Thanksgiving. I'll need some food for the family when they are here and when they come over here Thanksgiving day. Trudy says she'll take care of the food, but there's a lot of people to feed and I want to have enough.

The weather is colder but I just wore a long sleeved shirt and my vest. The leaves are almost gone from the trees. Winter is looking down on us. They had several tornadoes up north and a lot of damage was done. This is not the usual tornado season but anytime the weather changes and a cold front comes into warm air, tornadoes can form.  

Just Blogged

I just blogged about the day's activities and a lot more and this window came down and said did I want to log back on a site. I said no, but it wouldn't let me publish my blog so I said yes, and the blog I had just written disappeared. I hope it was published and not sent to outer space.

Football

Trudy left when I did when I went to help feed the animals. Friday afternoon we went to Staples and got a hanging folder box and hanging file folders to put our important papers in. Trudy got them in folders and now we have just got to refine the folders. We should be able to find the information without much trouble.  It had rained during the night and the ground was wet where the animals were. The chicken pen was muddy and slippery but I did okay. The chickens were hungry. Karen got 5 eggs.

I came home and studied the outline of the lesson I'll be teaching in Relief Society tomorrow. It's about loving God more than the world. Hopefully, I've studied enough and the sisters will help out with my questions.

Haven't practiced the piano yet. Football is on all afternoon. Auburn is playing now and Ala will play at 6:45 this evening. We'll watch the AL game but I had to have a break after watching Vandy play. If I sit in the recliner, I want to take a nap. It's so easy to nod off in that chair.

Lost Yesterday's Blog

Instead of hitting the Publish on the blog page, I hit the close and lost what I had written.

Today I stayed up and studied my lesson for Sunday. I got two pages outlined and tomorrow will study what I've outlined and read the lesson again.

I went to Karen's to feed the animals. In a week, Ken will be home and it will be his job again. He really has too many animals to take care of, especially since his job requires him to be out of the country a lot, plus he's having trouble with his hip that he hurt when he was in a motorcycle wreck. I guess he's attached to the animals like we are to our birds.

Frank has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The doctor gave me some medicine to help with his memory and an antidepressant to help with depression. He said he was better than the last time that he saw him. I read The 36 Hour Day which is about Alzheimer's and it was depressing. Time will tell. I found a couple of support groups I may go to.

Dr Sharp

Trudy came yesterday and spent the night with us. She got up and after breakfast she cooked three meals for us. I'll need to freeze some of it because we won't be able to eat it all. It was a big help to us. I had a Dr's appointment and had to leave at 10:15 AM and Trudy stayed and left later. She also had a Dr's appointment.

Dr Sharp told me to get up and read when I couldn't fall asleep and not to take more medicine. I'm used to going to sleep when I want to and staying up will be different. I don't have a book I'm interested in right now. I have the Kindle paperwhite to learn how to operate and maybe that's what I can do if I can't sleep.

I stopped by Walmart on the way home to get some cottage cheese, milk and allergy pills that were in a bottle and not in the bubble wrap. I refuse to spend my time trying to peel the wrapper off of the pills. It's a pain so I got the same medicine in a bottle.

My last stop was to the pharmacy. I had called in one prescription and had two others to fill. They didn't have one Rx and I had to wait for them to get it from another pharmacy. I spent about 20 minutes waiting for it. I'll be able to help Karen with the animals tomorrow. I also need to practice the choir piece that we're doing in two weeks. I'll have to leave out some notes to get it up to speed in such a short time.

Breakfast

Got to Cracker Barrel at 8:00 AM and Sandra and the new neighbors, Susan and Michael, were already there. There was 6 adults and 2 children. The Adams and the Sweeny's weren't there. I found an order that didn't cost much and I got water. It was all under $5.00. I could have spent more but didn't want to. Came home afterwards. Forgot to go by the pharmacy even though I had written myself a note to do so last night. I'll pick it up Monday. I have a Dr's appointment in Huntsville at 11:20 AM.

We've watched football all afternoon. Texas A&M vs Mississippi State. A&M won. Now we're waiting for the AL & LSU game at 7 PM. I don't know if I can sit through another 2 more hours of football, but I must.

Friday

Didn't go to exercise. Gloria called me and asked if I would like to teach a lesson in Relief Society the 17th. I am glad to do it. I read the lesson for the first time this morning. Afterwards, I got dressed and went grocery shopping.

I practiced the piano this afternoon. Tomorrow is the neighborhood breakfast at 8 AM. Last month, I forgot it but will go tomorrow. I have some washing to do and practicing to do and Trudy is coming over to spend the day with us. Frank hasn't found his wallet yet. Perhaps Trudy can help us look for it. I believe it's in the house some where.

Thrusday

I went into town to go to the PO and mail Mariam's birthday present and I took my blue leopard spotted pants with me since I planned to go to Goody's. I have only one shirt that can go with those pants, I wanted to find another shirt. Ii found one and then I looked for another shirt for I had a 20% off card and I didn't know if I had bought enough for it to qualify. I got 20% off of both shirts.

I have worn all of my jeans and can say that I'm glad I got them. One pair, the dark blue, has a low waist and I feel more comfortable with a belt on. I don't like a way-below-the-waist pair of pants.

I practiced the piano for over an hour. I have a new piece that requires a lot of practice to learn it and I have a feeling that Summer-Rae will want us to sing it soon. Plus the Christmas music and some of it is hard. Summer-Rae is playing for the Community Chorus and has a lot of music to learn. I need to find out when they will be singing and go hear them.

Frank couldn't find his wallet and decided it must be in the garbage. He went out to the road and went through each sack but didn't find it. It's his dementia catching up with him. I told him it wasn't in the garbage but he couldn't be satisfied until he went through each sack.

Bad Day

I had my alarm clock set for 6:20 AM so I could get up with enough time to shower and do my hair and still have plenty of time to get to exercise on time. But early this morning, around 2 AM Frank fell in the bathroom. I couldn't get him up so I called 911 and since we didn't need an ambulance, the paramedics were sent out. They picked Frank up and got him back in bed. I got up early and got my shower and heard some moaning in Frank's room. He had wet the bed and was trying to get his wet clothes off. I helped him with that and he went into the bathroom but wet the floor there. He was standing leaning over the sink and I couldn't get him to come to bed and had to call Martin to come over and get him into bed. He was sitting on the side of the bed and wet again so after I got him in dry clothes, I took him to his bed in the living room. He slept there until lunch. After eating lunch, he stayed on the living room bed. I don't know what happened to him today. I missed exercise and helping Karen with the animals. I spent the afternoon washing bed sheets, mattress covers and clothes. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

What Day Is It?

I thought it was Monday and missed a Dr appointment. It wasn't on the calendar. I had it down for next week. I'll have to pay for the missed appointment.

Working with Karen really wears me out. We brought the horses from down the road back up and by not having to walk up and down the road might help the tiredness. I came home and after lunch and Frank's shower, I just sat in the recliner and snoozed between telephone calls.

I missed Mariam's birthday. It's right after Josh's birthday and I missed his too. Karen gave me some doll clothes and I'm sending them to Mariam. They are worth lots more than $15.00 which she would have gotten if I sent money. A present is better anyway. I'll mail the package after exercise Wednesday.

Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday

Fed the animals and waited for Mary Kate and Sophia and Nate to arrive. They got here around 8 PM Friday.

Saturday, we all went shopping. We wet to H'ville to GNC to see if we could get some protein powder to help Frank to stop loosing weight. He weighed 145 lbs the last time we weighed and that's down from the 153 he weighed that last time we went to the Dr. We got some drinks from GNC because they had little carbohydrates and the powders had too much. From there we went to Khol's in Madison. WE dropped the kids off at Books a Million while we shopped. I got three pair of jeans and bought Mary Kate a purse and I got a new purse. The jeans were a bit tight in the waist and I've been afraid to try them on at home for fear that I got them too small. Mary Kate took them up for me and I'm wearing a pair now and they aren't too tight. I have two other pair I'll have to try on and see.

Saturday evening, Nate showed us how he could play the xylophone (bells) and the drum. He's moving right along and I wish I could see him when he performs in school. That will never happen but I was very happy to have him play for us. Sophia said she would sing for us the next time she came which will be in three weeks, at Thanksgiving. They will come over here Thanksgiving day and we'll have something to eat and then we'll have the Thanksgiving feast at Trudy's on Saturday. Trudy's going to get a table from the church and chairs and everyone will be able to sit together and have a meal together. It will be nice.

Sunday, I rode to church with Karen for Mary Kate and kids were going over to Trudy's after Sacrament to pick up a head board for a bed. I got home from church at 2 PM. Choir practice lasted longer than usual. They were all packed and ready to leave for home. It was sad since they hadn't had all that long a visit, but they will be back in 3 weeks and Richard will be with them. We'll go shopping Black Friday but not early enough to fight the crowds.